US will be invited to Astana talks: Turkish FM

Turkey,Terrorism,Diplomacy, Sun, 15 Jan 2017 IANS

Ankara, Jan 15 (IANS) The United States would be invited to Syrian peace talks due to be held on January 23 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Officials from Turkey, Russia, and Iran met in Moscow on Friday in preparation for the summit, and decided to invite the US to the negotiations, Xinhua Agency reported.

"We have agreed to invite the US to the talks. The US will be in Astana. We do not deny the contribution and role of the US," Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

The Foreign Minister also stressed that Turkey opposed to the inclusion of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the peace talks.

"If you invite a terrorist group (YPG), then you should also invite Al-Nusra, the Islamic State. This is nonsense," he said, adding that Washington must end its cooperation with terrorist groups.

"We clearly say that all weapons supplied by the US to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) ended up in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hands," the minister added.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, yet Washington does not list the YPG as a terrorist group.

Cavusoglu's comments came in the wake of US States Department spokesman Mark Toner's statements to the press on Tuesday. Toner said the PYD should be party to any Syrian peace talks, and sooner or later have a place at the negotiating table.

Toner claimed the US supports any effort aimed at getting political negotiations back on track and solidifying the ceasefire in Syria.

The Assad regime and the moderate opposition will be expected to meet for talks for the first time in nearly a year in Astana.

--IANS

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"If it rains today, Alpaca the cart, and you push it."



Kevin Wehrer

was this week's winner.



The winner's name will be put into a drawing for a free month subscription or extension.



Look for a new photo Monday.
NAB is educating young people against corruption: Chairman NAB

ISLAMABAD: National Accountability Bureau (NAB) Chairman Qamar Zaman Chaudhry on Saturday said NAB is educating young people against corruption as they are Pakistan's future.



Addressing the NAB officials, he said the Planning Commission of Pakistan has included a chapter devoted to issues of corruption in the 11th five-year plan. "We intend to work closely with Planning Commission of Pakistan to achieve the goals set in the 11th five years plan for eradication of corruption."



He also said corruption is not only a vice in its own right but it also triggers a chain reaction and leads to injustice and mistrust. He said NAB is essentially a complaint-driven organisation.



He said, "Starting with 2014 which can be called basically a year of re-invigoration of NAB, we have moved with new zeal and effort. Through detailed introspection and analysis of organizational weaknesses, overhaul of procedures and business processes, all pillars of the organisation i.e. operations, prosecution, human resource development and awareness and prevention have been reactivated."



He said that an effective accountability mechanism is quintessential for economic growth, investment and stability of social order. The intervention by NAB has acted as a catalyst, as transparency is a prerequisite for promoting investment and economic growth. Since its inception, NAB had adopted the enforcement-based approach in its fight against corruption. Beside enforcement, special focus is therefore being given to awareness and prevention activities to educate the people at large about corruption.



He said, "More than 42,000 character building societies (CBS) have been set up in universities and colleges across the country to build an effective edifice against corruption. The students of various universities and colleges of the country regularly organize meeting of character building societies (CBS) in their respective universities and colleges. This has proved very successful in order to aware students about the ill effects of corruption and more universities and colleges are joining hands with NAB in its country wide campaign against corruption."



He said, "Fighting corruption is a challenging task. Serious efforts to combat corruption have been started with this realisation that it is our collective social responsibility that it would result in common good and that we all are together in eradication of corruption."



He said that NAB is determined to corruption-free Pakistan and all the citizens of Pakistan refuse to tolerate or accept corruption as a way of life. He called upon every single member of the society to make an effort by setting their personal, professional and official conduct above any type of influence.



The chairman ordered all officers/officials of NAB to adopt and demonstrate absolute fairness and transparency in discharge of their national duties. He said, "I call upon the intelligentsia, the academia, civil society and media to sensitise the people about the adverse impacts of corruption on our society and economy."



At the end, the chairman praised the performance of all officers/officials and said that NAB's performance remained excellent for the last three years which has praised not only national but international watchdogs in their reports. He urged all the officers/officials of NAB to double their efforts in performance of their national duty which is eructation of corruption from the country.


"challenging fun"

- Entertainment Weekly

Dear Paul, I just dreamed of airships flying between raindrops. I just returned from 2042 CE, where I sold my hardcover copy offor seventy million Neo-Euros, because it had your response to this e-mail from way back in 2007 scotch-taped onto the inside of the cover. A Paul Levinson collector paid top Neo-Euro, because of the authentic archaic e-mail printout from you. It turns out that not many of your e-mails from before your tenure as CEO of HBO/Cinemax and terms as United Nations Secretary General will survive that far into the future. So, please respond to this e-mail, to help found my great-grandchildren's fortune. My Will will stipulate that they must share with your great grandchildren. Thanks! Tom
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.
When Notorious RBG came out in late 2015, it was immediately on my radar. But I don't typically read new releases, so I'm not one to rush out and buy them.

I finally pushed Irin Carmon and Shana Knizhnik's biography of Ruth Bader Ginsberg up my list to be my first read of 2017.

I tried to set a clear line between subject and book in pulling my thoughts together for this review. It's an important distinction, especially in nonfiction.

I liked the subject matter better than I like this book and in subject matter, I include Carmon and Kniznik's reporting, which I enjoyed more than Carmon's writing (something I can relate to as a journalist who is a better reporter than writer). They did a good job building a thorough profile of an amazing woman -- lots of good details, which is really the key.

I don't know what it was about the writing that didn't totally click. It just didn't. It wasn't bad by any means, but it didn't make me want to consume voraciously like I often do.

It was interesting to read about Ginsberg's approach to change; she was very pragmatic and preferred slow and steady change.

She also championed gender equality, specifically, and brought cases of male discrimination (such as different social security benefits as a caretaker) to the Supreme Court, sometimes as a back door to championing women's issues.

I agree with that stance. Feminism shouldn't be about if women are better than men but about giving both equal opportunities.

I love that Ginsberg uses Ms. and insists on that  her feedback on a profile in The New York Times was to ask if the paper had refused, because she had been referred to as Mrs. Ginsberg.

This was a three-star rating, but I added another star because I love the the visuals of this book. Great job by someone there. In general, the annotations on Ginsberg's writings were a nice touch. The idea to make them look handwritten with arrows, rather than a ton of asterisks or something, was a great touch. That really enhanced my reading of the book, because I do not speak leagalese and would have missed its implications.
SARATOGA -- A Greenwich man was arrested recently on a rape charge that stemmed from an alleged sexual encounter with a teen in 2014, police said.

Alec B. Dacus, 22, was charged with second-degree rape in connection with allegations he had sex with a teen under the age of 15 in Greenfield, according to the Saratoga County Sheriff's Office.

He was charged in 2014, but was believed to have fled the area and gone to Florida when he learned the case was under investigation, police said.

Sheriff's Deputy T.F. Moldenhour stopped him for speeding on Grange Road in the town of Saratoga recently, and determined he was wanted on a warrant for second-degree rape.

Dacus was arraigned in Greenfield Town Court and sent to Saratoga County Jail for lack of bail.
HUDSON FALLS  Pastor Steve VanDixhorn of Pine Knolls Alliance Church knows neighbors will have questions about his churchs proposal to open a Safe/Sober Living House at 2 East St.

We will be going out to talk to the neighbors about it, to reassure them, VanDixhorn said last week. We will answer the questions. We are going to be good neighbors.

VanDixhorn said the South Glens Falls church looked at 15 different sites before it decided to put an offer in to the bank that holds the mortgage on the East Street home.

The house will host up to six people, who must have jobs, be able to pay rent and will have already established their sobriety.

The Planning Board will hold a public hearing on the application at 6 p.m., Jan. 23, at Village Hall to discuss the proposal.

VanDixhorn said the house will be what is sometimes referred to as an Oxford House or a three-quarters house.

Its different from a halfway house, he said, because the residents are farther along in their sobriety.

There will be strict guidelines, VanDixhorn added. There will be absolutely no alcohol, drugs or pornography.

Sometimes what happens is that people who come out of treatment programs wind up living in situations where others are still doing alcohol or drugs, he said. These people need to be supported and live in an environment without alcohol, drugs or pornography.

VanDixhorn said there will be no treatment at the house, but there will be a contact person who will be immediately available if there are any issues.

We dont want the people living in our house to disturb the neighbors, he said. Ours will be a supportive living arrangement for people still growing in their recovery.

Pine Knolls has been very active in the sobriety and recovery community.

This is something we have been developing for more than two years, VanDixhorn said.

Judy Moffitt, co-chair of Friends of Recovery, Washington-Warren counties, said Pine Knolls has been a key advocate to the recovery community.

Pine Knolls has been a great place for recovery, from all hurts, habits and hang-ups, as they are home to Celebrate Recovery, she said. Its an amazing Christian 12 step program for adults that helps not only with chemical addiction but all issues that all people have.

Moffitt, who attends Pine Knolls, said the church also offers a program called the Landing, which is Celebrate Recovery for middle school and high school students.

It helps them with their hurts, habits and hangups. We have seen amazing healing during our inception of the program, she said.

The church also supports a Steps to Hope Nar-Anon Family support group.

We offer help to people who love someone who struggles with addiction, Moffitt said.
GRANVILLE  May Winchell still has hope, a belief that her son, missing for three years as of Jan. 18, could walk through the door of her home someday, safe and sound.

I havent given up hope that he is still alive, the Fair Haven, Vermont resident said last week.

Despite thousands of hours of investigation and searching by police, volunteers and family members, Jonathan Schaffs disappearance remains a sad mystery.

Winchell and many of Schaffs loved ones have theorized the 23-year-old Fair Haven resident was abducted and killed by someone he came across in the hours before he was reported missing, after he spent a night at a Granville bar that was then known as Riverside Pub.

But so far, police have no evidence to explain where he went, or who may have been involved with his disappearance if he was the victim of foul play.

Vermont State Police remain the lead investigative agency, as it was concluded the day after Schaffs disappearance that he had walked into Vermont on Route 149, based on witness statements and the discovery of his cellphone in a truck in Loomis Trucking Co.s parking lot in West Pawlet. Vermont State Police did not respond to repeated email and phone inquiries for comment about the case last week.

Granville Police and New York State Police, including the agencys Major Crimes Unit, have worked with them, and the agencies took part in a renewed effort over the summer that included re-interviewing more than two dozen people who were at the bar that night and others who knew or had contact with Schaff. Some were asked to take polygraph tests to try to determine the veracity of their stories, and a number agreed to do so, police said.

A water-filled slate quarry in West Pawlet, Vermont, near the trucking company parking lot, was searched by divers in June. That search did not stem from a specific tip, but instead because of the quarrys proximity to where Schaff was last seen in Route 149.

Still, Granville Police Chief Ernie Bassett said there havent been any substantial new leads since the quarry search. But police havent given up.

We have been working on the leads as they come in, said State Police Senior Investigator Robert Stampfli, who supervises State Police investigators in Washington County.

Vermont State Police initially theorized he fell into the Mettawee River, which runs behind the trucking company parking lot. But searches and extremely low water levels over the past two summers made it clear he was not in the river.

Washington County District Attorney Tony Jordan said his office has been apprised as the investigation has continued.

There were some pretty aggressive combined efforts last summer, but so far, there hasnt been much from it, he said.

The rumor mill has pinned blame on a number of people, none of the accusations provable so far. One story had Schaff buried in a new concrete floor in the bars basement. Police said no such floor was ever poured. Others have blamed some of the people he scuffled with at the bar.

Winchell said the disappearance made no sense on a number of levels. Her son would regularly call her for a ride home if he was at a bar or a friends house drinking. But he didnt call that night, and apparently chose to go with a couple he had just met.

I just wish he would have called me. None of this would have happened, she said.

Night at the bar

Schaff, a former Hadley resident who worked at Wal-Mart in Rutland, Vermont, has relatives in the Granville area and occasionally patronized the villages bars.

Riverside Pub, long known as Beebes Thirst Parlor before a series of ownership changes, was fairly busy the night of Jan. 17-18 when Schaff was there for several hours with friends and at least one relative. He had gotten into a fight with a Vermont man and his eyeglasses were broken, but Schaff suffered only minor injuries, according to police.

Police said Schaff stayed until last call and was walking at about 4:30 a.m. with two people he had met that night who were going to give him a ride.

The people who agreed to give him a ride had parked their car at the trucking company parking lot and said they stopped to smoke a cigarette along the road during the walk. Schaff kept walking, and they told police when they got to the lot, he was nowhere to be found.

He was reportedly heavily intoxicated when he left the bar. The man Schaff fought with at the bar has been questioned extensively, and he told police and a Post-Star reporter he had no involvement in the disappearance.

Winchell said she has remained in regular communication with Vermont State Police as the investigation has continued, and she said the assignment of a new lead investigator to the case last spring resulted in renewed efforts. The family sought to hire a private investigator but so far hasnt come up with enough money.

She said so many questions remain unanswered, and the years without her son have been devastating.

Its very frustrating, she said. I dont know what else we can do.

Social media remembrances

Friends and relatives continue to post on Schaffs Facebook page, and on a page dedicated to the search effort.

Not a day goes by that youre not on my mind, but its hitting me real hard today, wrote a niece, Courtney Rathbun, one day last month. I just want to be able to spend your birthday with you. I want you home. I want (expletive) answers.

I pray to God for you and your family that some closure will come sooner then later, wrote Jamie Wilson. I miss your shy smile and your big heart.

Schaffs father, John Schaff of Cambridge, has had his grief turn to anger. He is angry at what he believes were missteps by Vermont State Police in the days after his sons disappearance, dedicating much of their efforts to the conclusion he had fallen in the river, and a lack of communication with Schaffs loved ones.

Three years and we dont know a damned thing, he said.

Granville Police Chief Bassett said police will continue to follow the case wherever the leads go.

You just have to plug away and hope something develops, he said.

Anyone with information in the case is asked to call Granville Police at 642-1414 or Vermont State Police at 802-773-9101.
Lake George, Saratoga Springs and Fort Ticonderoga will be stops on Gov. Andrew Cuomos proposed Empire State Trail, a statewide system of bicycle and walking trails.

Tourism officials and trail advocates say the proposed 750-mile trail system, about half of which already exists, will expand an already robust bicycle touring economy in the region.

Were excited, and were certainly willing and wanting to do anything and everything we can to assist in the promotion of it, said Michael Consuelo, executive director of Lake George Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Bicycle tourists will appreciate having a planned route with lodging, restaurants and attractions along the way, said Robin Dropkin, executive director of Parks & Trails New York.

More people are looking to do it and looking to do it in a digestible way, she said.

Cuomo has proposed developing 350 miles of new trails in phases over three years to establish a 750-mile recreational trail system for hiking and biking along scenic vistas and through historic communities.

Cuomo has not yet identified the route, but has said the Erie Canalway trail, a partially completed off-road trail from Buffalo to Waterford, would be part of the system.

The Erie Canalway trail connects at Waterford with the partially completed off-road Champlain Canal trail from Waterford to Whitehall.

Lake George already is connected to the Champlain Canal trail via the off-road Warren County and Feeder Canal bike trails, which go from Lake George through Glens Falls to Fort Edward.

It is unclear how Fort Ticonderoga might be connected with the trail system, said Dropkin, of Parks & Trails New York.

Im not quite sure how its going to get stitched together, she said. We have to find out some more about that.

The Lakes to Locks Passage, which coordinates the Champlain Canal trail, hopes the state will allocate some of the funding to complete gaps in the trail, such as the uncompleted section between Fort Ann and Whitehall, said Janet Kennedy, the groups executive director.

We actually have a couple of projects with shovel-ready plans that we are looking for dollars, she said.

Another gap is in the southern portion of the trail.

Cuomos proposal includes establishing a website and app that will promote trails and provide descriptions that include the level of difficulty.

State marketing is equally beneficial with funding for infrastructure, Dropkin said.
Im feeling a little bit better about the future this week.

We all should be.

It turns out that many of Donald Trumps cabinet picks dont exactly believe the same things he does.

Mike Pompeo, Trumps pick as CIA director, said he would not authorize waterboarding of terrorism suspects even if ordered to by Trump. His reason? It is against the law.

James Mattis, Trumps pick for defense secretary, said Russia is one of the principal threats facing the United States and that NATO is one of the most successful military alliances in modern world history. He also said he had a high degree of confidence in the U.S. intelligence community and, while he called the Iran deal imperfect, we should not pull out of it.

Jeff Sessions, Trumps pick for attorney general, said he did not believe Muslims should be denied admission to the United States and he would not favor a Muslim registry. He also said we should avoid surveillance of religious institutions unless there is just cause.

John Kelly, Trumps pick for the head of Homeland Security, said that a physical barrier would not do the job when it came to stopping illegal immigrants. He also had high confidence in the intelligence community, did not believe in the mass collection of data on citizens, was opposed to torture and was against any type of registry.

Rex Tillerson, Trumps pick for secretary of state, disagreed with Trump about climate change and does not think the U.S. should pull out of the Paris climate accord. He supported Americas commitment to NATO, believes a proportional show of force is needed against Russian intelligence because of hacking, and does not think Japan and South Korea should be given nuclear weapons.

All these opinions fly in the face of promises that President-elect Trump made during the campaign.

Promises that often seemed to be contrary to the best interests of the country.

It was great to see that Trumps cabinet choices not only had a working knowledge of the U.S. Constitution, but a moral compass to guide them.

The beauty of our government structure is that not too much power is placed in any one branch of government, and while the president has significant powers, even his authority is limited.

So when Bill Clinton was elected president in 1992, I was concerned, but not worried that the country would take a dramatic change in direction.

I always felt the country was stronger than any one person, and splitting power between the two parties was ultimately good for the nation.

But then Trump came along.

Sure, there was part of me that wondered if this was exactly the type of shakeup the Washington establishment needed, but there was a larger part of me concerned about his morality, his substantial conflicts of interest with his businesses, a penchant for lashing out at even the smallest bit of criticism and an inability to consistently stick to the facts.

Our country is supposed to be the shining light on the hill, not the foul-mouthed bully in the alley. After hearing what Trumps cabinet had to say, I believe our country can continue to be that beacon for the rest of the world.

But it will be a challenge.

Ken Tingley is the editor of The Post-Star and may be reached via email at tingley@poststar.com. His blog, The Front Page, discusses issues about newspapers and journalism. You can also follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/kentingley.
On Friday, Donald J. Trump will be sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

We cant emphasize enough the great respect we have for the office of the president, the U.S. Constitution and the peaceful transition of power that is unique to our form of government, and one we believe most of us take for granted.

We dont envy the new president.

He enters office with the country divided in ways we have not seen before.

We see it daily on our own website, with neighbor attacking neighbor on Facebook, Twitter and comments on our news stories.

As a local newspaper, we dont weigh in on the national debate often unless we feel it has a significant local impact.

But the ugliness in our own communities needs to be addressed.

This should not have to be said, but no one wants the new president or the new administration to fail.

We are all Americans.

We want our country to flourish, our economy to grow, our infrastructure to be fixed, affordable health care for all and the environment to be protected.

So the first thing we ask of all of you is to stop with the ugliness.

Stop the nasty comments.

Stop arguing on Facebook.

Stop telling, and start listening.

Freedom of speech only works if someone is listening. Too many of us have stopped listening.

Our time can be better spent reading more, researching issues, reaching out to elected representatives and advocating positions backed by facts in a calm and civil manner that allows us to, just for a second, consider the other persons point of view.

We suspect many of you will laugh at us for making such a request. But we believe the current behavior is simply un-American and cannot continue.

We remind those with extreme political views that the country is not made up of just liberals and conservatives, but dozens of shades in between, including many who are so apolitical they cannot name one member of the U.S. Supreme Court or who the incoming vice president will be. Our own editorial board is a cross section of backgrounds and beliefs.

We should resolve to make a better country in 2017, a grassroots commitment to be a better, more understanding people who hear each other.

We should start immediately, and on Friday we should all come together to celebrate the inauguration of Donald Trump and that peaceful transition of power.

It is a chance to reset the national agenda and, more importantly, for our elected representatives in Washington to get things done.

To compromise.

To consider new ideas.

Thats something we havent seen in some time.

We also want you to consider the role of the media and small newspapers like ours.

We will say it again. We have one agenda for our newspaper  to do the right thing.

Our seven-member editorial board  four newspaper employees and three citizen representatives  has no political affiliation or agenda and its viewpoints are separate from the journalism our reporters do on a daily basis.

We hear regularly from many readers who tell us they depend on us to hold public officials and institutions accountable. When readers see a wrong, they often contact us in hopes we can expose it.

But we are also hearing that many have lost confidence in us. If that is the case, we will try harder.

So, as a new president takes office and the political winds shift, we make one commitment to you: We as an editorial board will continue to call them as we see them to the best of our ability.

It is the will of the people that Donald Trump is president, but for his supporters and those who voted for him, you must also realize that the concerns about the new president transcend political ideology and his opponent.

This must be acknowledged.

There are many in this country who are deeply concerned, including some on our editorial board, about the new presidents business conflicts, nepotism and his penchant for arguing what is and what is not fact, which often changes day to day.

This is something that has never been seen before.

It is the medias profound responsibility to hold elected officials accountable for what they say and do. That has been true of all presidents, and the new president should be held to the same standards.

It is not a left-wing conspiracy.

It is not about politics.

It is about what is true and what is right and wrong and the standards to which we should hold our leaders.

We as citizens need to remain vigilant, especially with our free press under attack.

On Friday, the new president and his administration will begin to govern.

There is no time for spewing insults on social media and rehashing the election, or the performance of the past administration.

The new president must move forward and realize all presidents are criticized relentlessly.

When Harry Truman left office, his approval rating was 22 percent. It was the worst ever for a U.S. president. Yet, he is now considered one of the greatest presidents in history.

The electorate is fickle.

We would like to see the new president set an example for civility in an attempt to end the divide and bring us together.

Bluster, swagger, bluffing and bullying may serve business titans well in the art of the deal, but governing a country, representing us as a people and facing a world in crisis is something much different.

A failed deal may lead to a poor result for the next financial quarter, but a failed policy means millions of nameless and faceless people could be left without health insurance, or driven from their homes by military conflict.

That is the burden of the U.S. president.

We also believe that our planet is at a crossroads and that the policies of this president and this administration regarding climate change may well decide the future of the human race.

So yeah, were rooting for Donald Trump to succeed.

Local editorials represent the opinion of The Post-Star editorial board, which consists of Publisher Terry Coomes, Controller/Operations Director Brian Corcoran, Editor Ken Tingley, Projects Editor Will Doolittle and citizen representatives Dan Gealt, George Nelson and Tim Robinson.
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Home Regional News East
The members highlighted their different areas of interest, drew the Vice Presidents attention to various policy areas of importance as well as issues theyve faced within those sectors.

They also had the opportunity to offer suggestions and adjustments to the issues raised. Robin McCone, a director at UKGCC, offered some innovative revenue collection ideas that were of great interest to Dr. Bawumia.

The Chamber members also indicated the need for changes within the civil justice system as it relates to the private sector.

Dr. Bawumia was very receptive to the chambers mission, the key policy points presented, as well as its members insight on their different sectors.

He expressed his gratitude and said he is looking forward to working with more business friendly companies in Ghana.

Dr. Bawumia also emphasized the goals of the NPP to holistically ensure Ghana is a profitable place for global business. He also stated several of his initiatives for his first 100 days in office.

The Vice President further agreed to have a quarterly meeting with the UKGCC. For his part, the CEO of the chamber, Tony Burkson, expressed his excitement at working with the new government.

My members and I are excited about the opportunity to work alongside the government of Ghana to achieve its developmental goals and enter into a new age of Ghanaian prosperity.

The Chamber thanks the Vice President for his time and looks forward to more successful and fruitful meetings like this in the future, he added. The meeting was held on December 20, 2016.
This, they, said, would create jobs for the youth in the coming years.

The Agenda is a follow up to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda on Financing for Development, the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and the Paris Agreement on climate change and the African Unions Agenda, 2063.

With French President, Francois Hollande, in attendance, development assistance amounting to 20 billion Euros to participating countries, by 2018, was pledged by France.

To this end, the Heads of State and Governments indicated that education and vocational training would be high priorities, as these will improve human development and the integration of young Africans in the labour market.

They, therefore, agreed to strengthen the management of education systems on the continent by focusing on quality, particularly by putting in place efficient training and assessment policies, as well as promoting top-quality vocational training.

An appeal was made to international partners to increase their support for the sectors of education and vocational training in Africa, and also for consideration to be given to modern, accessible and vocational content, which met the needs of the labour market.

The communique also touched on the importance of mobility and the movement of skills on the continent, in order to encourage economic dynamism and innovation.

In addition, the importance of innovation and digitisation to encourage the diversification of economies was highlighted.

Participating countries at the Summit also pledged to support incentive-based policies to facilitate innovation, including incubator and acceleration programmes for startups and clusters, as well as access to finance and investment capitals.
READ MORE: Woman grabbed for attempting to smuggle cocaine into prison

The US ambassador made the comments when he paid a courtesy call on the speaker of parliament Professor Aaron Mike Oquaye.

He said: "I would particularly like to work with you and your body to see governance issues address such as the passage of the Right to Information Bill, laws such as ensuring that MPS can introduce private member can introduce legislation, and such as ensuring that the public accountant committee operate in sportsman way to ensure that the public treasury is protected."

The speaker of parliament in his inaugural speech among other initiatives said he intends to allow private member bill, saying the narrow interpretation of the constitution that hindered the introduction of bills by MPs should be discarded.

Ambassador Jackson also affirmed his country's commitment to helping Ghana improved financial accountability.

Energy, health and education sectors would also continue to benefit from the support of the American government, he announced.

He also announced that a congressional delegation from the USA would be visiting Ghana this year to interact with a number of institutions, including Ghana's legislature.

READ MORE: Prez Nana Addo clarifies the rationale behind new ministerial portfolios
He withdrew the request after a furious public outcry, saying his interest in the facility is threatening to "mar" the beauty of the transition.

Today [Saturday] was the final day for him and his family to vacate that premises and that was done by close of day and it shows he is not the kind of person that lacks a place of abode. He has finally packed out of the government bungalow and his now living at his private residence, the Greater Accra Regional organizer of the NDC Anthony Nukpenu has confirmed in a broadcast.

For a person of his nomenclature he has several personal buildings that he occupies but for now I know he is living around the Kawukudi enclave which is around the Gold House and that is where he will be residing for the moment until further notice, he told Accra-based Citi FM.

The bungalow serves as the official residence of Ghana's vice presidents but Mahama's refusal to vacate the building left the current vice president stranded.

The former president has denied claims that he has refused to vacate his official residence to allow the current vice president Dr Mahamudu Bawumia to occupy it.

Mahama said the reports are mischievous and are only meant to "embarrass" him when he had formally informed the incoming administration through his former chief of staff Julius Debrah to continue staying in the house.
The president could have asked parliament to pass an Act to formulate the policy like what the NDC did with SADA. But creating a whole ministry for a particular group of people is highly unacceptable and flies in the face of the constitution," the NDC MP said.

President Nana Akufo-Addo on Friday named Boniface Abubakar Saddique as the Minister-designate for Zongo Development.

READ MORE: Prez Nana Addo clarifies the rationale behind new ministerial portfolios
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"I am very proud and extremely humbled that God has chosen me to lead this great people, the Ghanaian people at this critical time...," he said.

"Today, it is the beacon of African's path to a future of freedom and responsible governance," he added.

He prayed to God to give him the talent and capacity to steer the affairs of the country well irrespective of our "differences, religious and ethnic differences to achieve our common purpose."
We have buried two people as a result of post-election violence in Sefwi Wiawso and Dunkwa. They were NDC people who were attacked NPP members after the elections, he said.

You have these people move not just to toll booths and other places but even to the flagstaff house, beat up uniformed persons and tear up their clothes and then claim they [Invisible forces] are in charge, he added.

Kofi Adams noted in an interview with Accra-baed Citi FM that the president must be held responsible for the killings, saying he has done little to prevent his party supporters who are victimising their opponents.

Following the declaration of the 2016 elections, there has been widespread disturbances and attacks on public facilities by NPP members.

At a press conference Friday, the NDC National Chairman warned that they'll fight back if NPP supporters who are attacking NDC loyalists are not restrained.

Meanwhile, the police have deployed more personnel to some strategic public institutions to prevent further attacks.

They have also warned to deal ruthlessly with anyone engaged in the destruction of public properties.
Dr Salisu Kwayabura, the Chief Medical Director (CMD), Borno State Hospital Management Board (BSHMB), told the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Maiduguri.

Kwayabura said that the amount was expended to procure modern hospital facilities to enhanced the quality of health service delivery in the state.

He said that the state government had also employed about 4,300 health workers because of shortage of health providers in the last three years.

He explained that the health workers included 158 doctors, 1094 nurses and midwives, 29 laboratory scientists, 150 laboratory technicians, 250 community health assistants and 12 pharmacists.

The CMD lamented that out of the 16 health facilities in the state, 13 of them were completely destroyed by Boko Haram terrorists.

He said the government had already commenced the renovation of the affected hospitals.

Government had laid a solid foundation for the take up of all relevant health project with a view to enhancing good service delivery in the sector.

The state government has also constructed a health care centre with about 250 bed spaces to provide free heath care for expectant mothers and children of between age 1-5 to reduce complications and mortality rate, Kwayabura said.

ALSO READ: Shettima calls for probe of FGs N500m Chibok school reconstruction fund
In a letter addressed to the convener of the group, Mrs Obiageli Ezekwesili, which was made available to the media on Sunday, the government said it was unable to postpone the trip as scheduled.

The letter dated Jan. 14 was signed by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

It reads: Thank you for your letter, dated Jan. 13, which is in response to ours of Jan. 11, requesting that we change the date of the proposed guided tour of the North-East to accommodate a Pre-Tour Meeting between your organisation and some top officials of the Federal Government.

We have also noted the conditions you gave for embarking on the trip which include the said Pre-Tour Meeting and the retraction of some remarks allegedly made by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.  Gen. Tukur Buratai, which the #BBOG finds to be slanderous.

We regret, however, to inform you that we are unable to postpone the trip as scheduled. 

The government insisted the team would proceed on the trip on Monday as scheduled because of the narrow window available to have a good weather on the day.

It said that payment for the satellite downlink streaming of the mission had been made for the day and shifting the date will require another round of booking to secure such a slot.

The government added that apart from the BBOG members, local and international journalists had been invited for the trip, while some preparations had been made by the Nigerian military.

It noted that the remarks purportedly made by the Chief of Army Staff and the request for a meeting with its certain top officials were irrelevant to its request for the BBOG to join in the search mission.

The government stressed that it extended the invitation to the BBOG in recognition of the groups commitment to the safe release of the Chibok girls in captivity and interest in the welfare of those who had been released.

We hope that the BBOG will drop its conditions and join the trip which shows the commitment of the Federal Government to securing freedom for the Chibok girls and its transparency in handling the issues of the girls," the government said.

The government had in a letter of Jan. 11, invited members of BBOG to a short trip in a military operational flight into Sambisa forest in search of the missing Chibok girls.

In the letter, the government asked the BBOG to nominate three of its members to join on the guided trip out of which two would join the sorties due to limited seats on the search plane.

The government had stated that the trip would avail the BBOG the opportunity to witness and better understand the efforts being made to secure the freedom of the girls and other victims of Book Haram terrorists.

The BBOG had in its reply to the invitation letter requested the government to meet certain conditions before the tour and also demanded for a change in the scheduled date.

ALSO READ:Oby Ezekwesili is Pulse Person of the Year 2016
KADA`s National Secretary, Mr Muhammad Askira, gave the advice in Maiduguri on Sunday in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

NAN reports that KADA is the umbrella body of the various communities in Chibok, Borno.

The communities include Ymir Ali, Njoma, Gwandan Rimirgu, Mikabu as well as Chanchan Bulguma in Askira Uba axis of southern Borno.

Askira said the Chibok people were impressed with the determination of the Federal Government to rescue the remaining 126 girls under the captivity of Boko Haram insurgents.

We the Kubaku communities are appealing to Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, the convener of the BBOG group, to stop frustrating the Federal Government`s effort towards rescuing our daughters.

We cherished your resilience and all the support to the plight of the Chibok people.

However, you should also realise that we must work together and speak with one voice before we can achieve what we desired to achieve.

We are very much aware that the military has continued to dislodge remnants of Boko Haram terrorists in the Sambisa forest.

More than 4,000 women and children had been rescued within one month and this means they are moving closer to where our daughters are being hidden.

They, therefore, need our collective support and prayer to enable them to dislodge all the insurgents and rescue our remaining daughters.

We thank the BBOG and its team of comrades for showing so much love for our people throughout our sorrowful days,  he said.
Dan-Ali gave the assurance on Sunday in an interview with newsmen shortly after the ceremony to commemorate the 2017 Armed Forces Remembrance Day at the Eagle Square, Abuja.

He said that the need to promptly pay them informed the introduction of identity card for military retirees in 2016, adding that their allowances had been improved upon.

He encouraged the troops in the frontline in the North-East to continue to give their best.

Also, in an interview, the Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, commended the troops for doing their best for the nation.

I will use this opportunity to commend our troops in the various operations, both the one within Nigeria and outside of Nigeria.

They have been doing creditably well and we appreciate their contributions to peace both within and outside.

I enjoin them to continue to do more, to be more professional, to be more diligent and also, to be more hard working in all their duty posts, he said.

Mrs Veronica Aluko, the Chairperson of widows of fallen heroes, also commended the armed forces for taking care of families of officers and men who had paid the supreme sacrifice in defence of the nation.

The armed forces have done a lot; they have even recognised us and given us a name, she said but appealed for empowerment of widows through skills acquisition.

Retired Col. Micah Gaya, the Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, urged government not to relent in supporting the legion so that they could in turn assist dependents of fallen heroes.

The fact of the matter is that we know that this day is celebrated every year.

But what we are looking forward to is the improvement that will follow, in terms of being able to help the widows, the dependents of the fallen heroes, not just the ceremonial part of it.

That is why I will appeal to government to assist the Nigerian Legion so that we will be able to meet with our constitutional responsibilities of taking care of the dependents of the fallen heroes, Gaya said.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that earlier, President Muhammadu Buhari led other top government officials including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, to lay wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldiers.

NAN reports that the president spoke through video conference with troops in the North-East and commended them for dislodging the terrorists from their last strong hold in the Sambisa forest, thereby restoring the sanity and territorial integrity of the nation.
According to Daily Post, a Boko Haram member, Alkasim Salisu was arrested in the Rigasa area of Igabi LGA in Kaduna State.

The DSS spokesman, Tony Opuiyo also said in a statement that Salisu had fled the military operation in Yobe State to settle in Kaduna where he and his cohorts had planned to launch attacks on select targets in Kaduna metropolis including the railway station.

Opuiyo also added that On the 13th January, 2017, the agency rescued four oil company kidnap victims from their abductors at White House Estate, Rumukwurushi, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The kidnap gang was led by Emmanuel EYO, earlier arrested in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State.

During the rescue operation supported by the military, a staff of the Service sustained gunshot injuries in his leg while three members of the gang were killed in the exchange of fire.

ALSO READ:Soldiers arrest 4 terrorists in Borno

One AK.47 rifle, one magazine containing 59 rounds of 7.5mm ammunition and three (3) locally made pistols were recovered from the gang.
According to Daily Post, the group also sent a protest letter to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, through the Rivers state police commissioner.

The group, in a statement said The EFCC, DSS and Police at various times have come out to say that they are only in court or at conflict with the former First Lady Dr. Dame Patience Ebele Jonathan.

This is laughable, there is no way these agencies can separate a humble, loyal and loving wife from the physical.

This treatment of disrespect is coming after a man had served this country meritoriously by leaving behind the biggest economy in Africa and as Africans exemplary leader.
The militant group also called on the President to fire the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Babachir Lawal.

Lawal was indicted by a Senate committee for allegedly diverting funds meant for the rehabilitation of some Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camps.

Magu, on the other hand, was accused of fraudulently renting a posh apartment that is beyond his salary, among many allegations levelled against him, in a report carried out by the Department of State Services (DSS).

According to Punch, the militants said Buhari has 14 days to sack the officials or they will embark on a mass protest in major cities across Nigeria, including Abuja.

The spokesman of the group, General Hart Bradford, in a statement said We are giving the President 14 days ultimatum to sack the SGF and the EFCC chairman, otherwise we shall have no option than to carry out mass protest in Abuja and other cities across the country until the SGF and EFCC chairman leave office.

ALSO READ:Buhari threatens to use force on militants

The group also alleged that Buharis administration is full of corrupt people, and called for the re-instatement of the security aides of the Rivers Governor, Nyesom Wike.
Trump swiftly resumed his speech in Reno, Nevada after a suspect, who was wrestled to the floor during the incident, was briefly detained then released.

The 70-year-old real estate tycoon reappeared to cheers just minutes after being led away by Secret Service agents who shielded his body with their own.

"Nobody said it was going to be easy for us, but we will never be stopped, never ever be stopped," he declared.

"I want to thank the Secret Service. These guys are fantastic. They don't get enough credit. They don't get enough credit. They are amazing people."

Just before the fracas, Trump was seen shielding his eyes from the lights in order to peer into the crowd as a struggle broke out.

Trump "was removed from the stage" by agents in his protective detail "after a commotion occurred in the crowd," the Secret Service said.

"Immediately in front of the stage, an unidentified individual shouted 'gun'. Secret Service agents and Reno Police Officers immediately apprehended the subject."

However no weapon was found following "a thorough search" of the subject and the surrounding area, the statement said.

Television footage showed a suspect pinned to the ground by officers and searched, before he was led away by local law enforcement.

The candidate appeared unrattled and spoke with his usual self-confidence, finishing his planned remarks and accepting applause before returning to his plane safely.

"I'm actually a Republican ... but I just don't support Donald Trump," the protester, who identified himself as Austyn Crites from Reno, told reporters after he was released.

Crites, 33, said that he agreed with Trump on many issues, but added: "I believe that he's very dangerous for the country."

Crites told NBC News 4 that he came armed "with just one sign that said 'Republicans against Trump.'"

The protester told The Guardian that he was knocked to the ground, punched, kicked and choked by Trump supporters when he attempted to silently hold up the sign.

On social media, Trump supporters pilloried him as a Hillary Clinton mole, pointing to what they said was his deleted pro-Hillary Facebook page.

Crites told The Guardian that he believes the Democratic candidate is the only person who can stop Trump, and said that he briefly canvassed for her campaign.

Trump, in a campaign statement, thanked the Secret Service and local and state law enforcement "for their fast and professional response."
This is coming on the heels of Senator Kabir Marafas call to Ekweremadu to decamp to APC if he wants to keep his seat.

According to Punch, the Publicity Secretary of the Enugu state APC, Kate Offor said Ekweremadu will be an unwelcome guest in the party.

She also alleged that the Deputy Senate President contributed to the destruction of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Offor said Whatever is the position of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we want him (Ekweremadu) to remain in PDP.

We wish to make it very clear that Ekweremadu is an unwanted guest in Enugu State APC.

ALSO READ: PDP says Deputy Senate President will not defect to APC

Let him stay and salvage the inferno festering in the PDP. We dont want one party state.
Further east, Syrian government troops lost ground to the Islamic State group near the key Deir Ezzor military airport.

The escalating violence augurs ill for peace negotiations in Kazakhstan later this month.

In the Wadi Barada region northwest of Damascus, fresh clashes broke out between rebel groups and advancing government forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Regime shelling of the Deir Qanun village killed nine civilians including at least three children, the Britain-based monitor said in an updated toll.

Another 20 people were wounded in the attack.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said it was the "highest toll" there since the truce came into force on December 30.

Omar al-Shami, spokesman for the Wadi Barada Media Committee, gave a toll of 12 killed and said shells struck a temporary shelter where displaced women and children had been seeking refuge.

The activist group published gruesome pictures of what it said was the aftermath of the attack, including photographs of blood-stained floors and body parts wrapped in blankets.

Fighting has persisted for weeks in Wadi Barada, which is the main source of water for the capital.

Locals struck a truce with Syrian authorities on Friday to allow maintenance teams into Wadi Barada to restore water to Damascus, but the deal was called off after chief negotiator Ahmed al-Ghadban was killed the next day.

Deal 'null'

Both sides accused each other of assassinating the retired army officer, who had only assumed his duties to restore the water supply on Saturday.

"The agreement was considered null this morning after the regime's multiple violations and especially after the killing of the negotiations official," Shami said.

Shami told AFP the government's maintenance workers left Wadi Barada without completing the repairs, leaving 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs without water.

An official from the reconciliation ministry earlier said the local deal in Wadi Barada "had not completely collapsed".

"We are communicating and pursuing new efforts in parallel with the ongoing military action," the official said.

Many battlefronts have quieted since the nationwide ceasefire brokered by regime backer Russia and opposition ally Turkey.

The deal excludes IS and its jihadist rival, the Fateh al-Sham Front -- formerly the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front.

On Sunday, IS fighters edged closer to Deir Ezzor military airport, despite heavy air strikes by government warplanes.

The Observatory said Sunday raids in Deir Ezzor killed five civilians, including two women and two children.

It was the second day of the jihadist group's brutal assault on regime-held territory around the city.

US invited to Astana

It came despite more than 120 regime air strikes as well as heavy artillery fire, said Abdel Rahman.

A military source told AFP that Russian warplanes had carried out "a series of air strikes" around the airport and on several nearby hilltops.

IS unleashed a wave of tunnel bombs and suicide attacks against government forces on Saturday, leaving 12 government fighters dead.

Another 20 IS jihadists were killed in clashes.

The group has lost swathes of territory in northern Syria to Kurdish fighters as well as to a Turkish-backed rebel alliance, but it remains on the offensive in other parts of the country.

In addition to its push in Deir Ezzor, IS recently recaptured Palmyra in central Syria from government forces.

Syria's conflict began with protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 but has since morphed into a multi-front war.

Although they support opposing sides in the war, Moscow and Ankara worked closely to negotiate the nationwide truce and are preparing talks in the Kazakh capital Astana set for January 23.
"The bodies of eight people have been recovered. Four people have been saved, and they say 107 migrants were onboard the boat in all," the agency's press office said.

Search operations were continuing after nightfall in poor weather and sea conditions, it said.

A French warship, patrolling under the EU's Frontex border operation, picked up the survivors and two merchant ships were heading for the area, located about 50 kilometres (30 miles) north of the Libyan coast.

A Frontex plane and an Italian naval helicopter also joined the operation.

On Friday, around 550 migrants were picked up from four inflatable dinghies by Italian coastguard vessels, an an Italian naval ship, an NGO boat and a merchant vessel.

In recent years Italy has been on the front line of migrants arriving across the Mediterranean and has been pushing for agreements with governments in North Africa to facilitate returns.

People-smugglers have exploited the chaos in Libya since the 2011 uprising that overthrew dictator Moamer Kadhafi to traffic migrants in boats to Italy 300 km (185 miles) away.

According to the Italian interior ministry, over 180,000 migrants landed in Italy last year, an annual record.

The UN has said more than 5,000 people died in 2016 trying to cross the Mediterranean, most of them on the Libya-Italy route.

In another incident, the bodies of six migrants were found washed up on beaches near Algeciras, the port on the southern tip of Spain near Gibraltar, the Spanish sea rescue service said on Saturday.
A Davenport man with a criminal record that has taken him through the Iowa, Illinois and federal court systems has been charged peddling heroin in the Quad-Cities.

Jonas Ross III, 36, of 6302 Appomattox Road, is charged with three counts of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance.

Ross also is being held for failing to appear for his court hearings on charges of possession with the intent to deliver heroin, possession of marijuana and failing to affix an Iowa drug tax stamp.

According to one of the arrest affidavits filed in connection with the new charges, Davenport police officers with the departments Tactical Operations Bureau set up a controlled drug buy with Ross on July 5. A confidential source was used to buy .25 grams of heroin from Ross while Davenport police officers watched and video-recorded the transaction.

Possession with the intent to deliver not more than 100 grams of heroin is a Class C felony under Iowa law that carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.

In the earlier cases, on May 19, an officer on foot patrol in the 700 block of West 3rd Street saw Ross placing marijuana into a cigar wrapper while seated in a vehicle, according to an arrest affidavit filed by Davenport Police Officer Jarrad Cockshoot.

During a search of the vehicle, officers seized 2.7 grams of heroin from Ross pants pocket. He also had 2.5 grams of marijuana in his hands.

Failing to affix a drug tax stamp is a Class D felony in Iowa that carries a prison sentence of up to five years. The marijuana possession charge is a serious misdemeanor that carries a jail sentence of up to one year.

Ross has a criminal record that includes drugs and weapons charges. He served three years in federal prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was released from Leavenworth Penitentiary in June 2009.

Ross also has survived being shot. On Dec. 21, 2004, he sustained seven gunshot wounds after he was shot by a man whom he had robbed and the man shot Ross in retaliation, police said.

Ross also is on probation in Iowa for felony domestic assault from a 2014 case. He is not scheduled to be released from probation until Oct. 16, 2018.

Ross was being held Saturday night in the Scott County Jail on cash-only bonds totaling $17,000 and secured bonds totaling $30,000.

Police said additional charges against Ross are possible as the investigation continues.
Durant, Iowa, police are asking the public's help in identifying a man who robbed at gunpoint the Casey's General Store at 504 5th St. about 3 p.m. Saturday.

Durant Police Chief Orville Randolph said the man is described as white, and he was wearing a black stocking cap, a light gray sweatshirt with yellow lettering, blue jeans and black work boots.

The man displayed a firearm to the clerk and fled the store with an undetermined amount of cash.

Anyone with information is asked to call the Durant Police Department at 563-785-6049 or the Cedar County Crime Stoppers at 563-886-6618.
The Davenport Police Department will hold three workshops for applicants to the department to give people a chance to decide if they want or are qualified to be a police officer.

The workshops will be held from 6:30-8 p.m. Wednesday at the Davenport Police Department, 416 Harrison St.; from 9:30-11 a.m. at the Davenport Public Library-Fairmount Street Branch, 3000 N. Fairmount St.; and from 7-8:30 p.m. Jan. 24 at the North Family YMCA, 624 W. 53rd St.

Applicants must be 21 years old at the time of appointment. Applicants must have a high school diploma or GED and at least 30 hours of college credits from an accredited college or university. Education substitutes are one year of active military duty or one year of being a sworn officer.

Applicants also must be a U.S. citizen at the time of the written examination and must be able to pass an extensive background check, including a polygraph test.

Starting salary is $53,623 per year, plus benefits.

Bilingual applicants are desired.

Those who are hired must become an Iowa resident in either Scott or eastern Muscatine counties within two years.

Applications will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. Jan. 30.

For more information about the Davenport Police Department, visit the city of Davenports website at cityofdavenportiowa.com and scroll down under the heading Departments for the Police Departments website.

-- Thomas Geyer
DES MOINES  State troopers, teachers, workers at correctional and mental health facilities, and other public employees across Iowa have various health insurance programs with their respective employers. For teachers, for example, the programs vary by district.

Gov. Terry Branstad wants to do away with that system and establish one health insurance program for all public employees.

Its commonly called a master contract, and its one of the changes Republicans, with their newfound control of the states lawmaking process, are proposing to how the states public employees bargain for their wages and benefits.

But representatives of some of those public employees say such a one-size-fits-all approach would have an adverse effect on employees and employers alike.

Branstad signaled his desire for a master health insurance contract shortly after the Nov. 8 election that resulted in Republican control of the governors office and the Iowa House and Senate for the first time in two decades. Not long after the votes were counted, his administration withheld health insurance proposals during collective bargaining sessions with the states public employee unions. Administration officials said state lawmakers may change the collective bargaining process this year, altering how health insurance plans are negotiated.

Branstad said he thinks a streamlined master contract would provide savings for the states taxpayers and also help smaller public employers, such as school districts, better withstand health care costs. Branstad regularly cites the example of a small employer experiencing cost increases because of high health care costs for one employee with significant health care needs and compares a master contract to the states public employees retirement fund, which is standard for all.

We can save a lot of money and provide quality insurance coverage for all the employees and do it in a way that both protects the health insurance and the coverage but at the same time reduces the cost dramatically at a time when we have some significant budget issues, Branstad said. If you can have one big master contract spread that risk ... that can be substantial savings (for smaller employers).

But leaders of two organizations that represent tens of thousands of Iowa public employees say a master contract would have the opposite effect. They say removing the ability for employers to customize their health insurance contracts to their respective needs would be counter-productive.

We bargain the total package, and then we sit down with our school board and then try to best figure out where we can divide that money up, said Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, which negotiates more than 300 contracts statewide for teachers. Some districts have chosen to put that money in a good insurance plan ... others have said, Were going to put that in salaries. ...

Its very different across the state.

For example, Wawro said, Cedar Rapids schools have insurance plans with high premium costs, but the district attempts to make up for that by offering more in salary. The much smaller school district in Ogden, Wawro said, has a health insurance package with extensive coverage but sacrifices in salary.

If you know youre going to have a good family (insurance) plan, thats something that brings people to a small community or a rural community, Wawro said. "Thats important to people."

Danny Homan said the union over which he presides, which represents 40,000 Iowa public employees in law enforcement, corrections, mental health care and other fields, negotiates roughly 160 contracts. He said each contract is tailored to the health care coverage desired by the employees in that area and that customization would be eliminated by a statewide master contract, which he said would be devastating.

Each and every one of those contracts has unique health insurance provisions that have been mutually agreed to by the employer and the union over a number of years of bargaining. There could be little quirks in there that are unique to that employer and that group of employees, Homan said. So now youre going to have to come up with a plan that addresses or just flat out ignores all those unique circumstances.

Homan and Wawro said a statewide master contract also could harm local businesses because current contracts often stipulate the insurance be purchased through local companies.

Homan also expressed concern that a master contract could include the state requiring public employees to contribute more to their health insurance plans, which Branstad has proposed in past collective bargaining negotiations but was rejected by an independent arbitrator. Homan said public employees often negotiate for lower out-of-pocket premiums at the expense of salary increases, and increasing premiums without a corresponding increase in salary would take money out of the employees pockets and thus the local economies. He also noted a statewide premium increase would disproportionately affect various public employees; for example, he said a $200-per-month premium increase would be felt more by a legal clerk than a county attorney.

Iowa Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, said Democrats in the Iowa House plan to oppose Republicans efforts to change the states collective bargaining laws. But with their majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans do not need any Democrats approval to pass legislation, assuming at least 51 of 59 House Republicans and 26 of 29 Senate Republicans support any given proposal.

The current collective bargaining system, we tried to expand it when we were in charge (from 2007 to 2010), and a number of Republican legislators said at that time that the current law was working well, Smith said. The current law is working well. And I want us to keep the current law.
DAVENPORT  Tenna Jensen Moore, 85, of Davenport, passed away Jan. 9, 2017.

Respecting Tennas wishes, there will be no funeral.

As per a prearranged plan, Tenna has been cremated.

Anna Tenna Hornshog Jensen was born April 11, 1931, in Durrup, Denmark, the fifth of nine children.

She came to the United States at the age of 23, after living on her own several years in Copenhagen, Denmark. She arrived by the ship Oslofjord in the port of New York, May 8, 1954.

Her first job in this country was as a hostess at Bishops Cafeteria, in downtown Davenport. She worked there for about four years. She then took a job at the Davenport Bank.

She married Donald James Moore, of Davenport, on Sept. 21, 1960, in Macomb, Illinois.

She went to barber college in Davenport and then joined her husband, Don, cutting hair.

They operated Don and Tennas Hair Place, 1352 W. 3rd St., Davenport, for 30-plus years. Tenna retired from barbering in 2014.

She and Don were members of Jehovahs Witnesses, last attending at the Davenport Central Congregation Kingdom Hall, at 1175 Lincoln Road, Bettendorf, Iowa 52722. Expressions of condolence may be sent to this address.

Tenna was an accomplished pianist and enjoyed volunteering her talents at the Kingdom Hall for several decades.

Her hobbies included music and working in her yard. She especially enjoyed crossword puzzles.

Tenna was a very private person but enjoyed the friendship of many people. In earlier years, she was a wonderful hostess and cook, with a Danish flair.

All of Tennas blood relatives have lived in Denmark. Tenna and Don never had children; she is survived by a brother and a sister, in Denmark, and several nieces and nephews.

Tenna was preceded in death by her husband, Don Moore, on July 3, 2016. They were both residents of the Davenport Lutheran Home at the time of their deaths.

The family would like to thank the staff of the Lutheran Home for their exceptional care of several family members over the years.

She will be remembered in the thoughts and hearts of many.

Online condolences may be directed to the family at iowacremation.com under obituaries.
My thoughts

U.S. Senior Airman (SrA) Nicholas Schmidt, left, receives a plaque from fellow service members in recognition of his work at Edwards Air Force Base in California. I keep some type of camera with me at all times; even if its just a phone. Ive learned those moments happen when you least expect them. After four years, my son had decided to leave the U.S. Air Force and return to civilian life. He had two years of overseas duty, and the last 16 months, he was stationed at Edwards AFB in California. I had flown out to help him pack up and drive home to Iowa and, hopefully, spend time just talking. During his last full day on base, we walked through a maze of hallways in his building, up some stairs into an office space when I heard a voice say, Gentlemen lets do this. Several heads popped up from cubicles and moved toward my son. A staff sergeant appeared from around a corner holding a large plaque. Luckily, I had stopped just inside the office door and had just enough time to pull my phone out and capture a few images of this impromptu presentation. In a world that recognizes individuals by last name only, it was a surprise to hear his first. The sergeant said several things and concluded by reading part of the inscribed plaque  412th TW Weapons Standardization, Fighter Squadron Load Crew Member, Nick Schmidt. Thank you for all the hard work, dedication, hilarious stories and moments. The talent you shared amongst us all in W.S. will be missed ... but never forgotten. A moment I'll never forget.
Doug House, chairman of the Rock Island County Democratic Party, and Dino Leone, president of the Quad-City Federation of Labor, announce plans for Standing Up for Our Principles, a rally welcoming political activists, as well as first-timers wanting to learn how get involved.

The free public event will be Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 5:30 p.m. at the Plumbers and Pipefitters Hall, 4600 46th Ave., Rock Island. Free food will be provided by local organized labor groups and the Rock Island County Democratic Party. For more information, visit www.ricountydemocrats.org.

The rally is headlined by national and local leaders urging action at the local, state and federal levels. Speakers include:

 Michael T. Carrigan, president of the Illinois AFL-CIO, the federation of labor unions representing 900,000 Illinois workers

 Glenn Poshard, former U.S. Congressman and president emeritus of the Southern Illinois University System

 Clem Balanoff, who ran Sen. Bernie Sanders presidential campaign in Illinois

 The Rev. Dr. Dwight Ford, pastor of Grace City Church, Rock Island
Council: With $1.5 million in unpaid sewer bills, the city of Davenport will look at implementing a new program to take action against property owners with more than $500 in outstanding debt.

The City Council will discuss authorizing Mayor Frank Klipsch to sign an agreement with Iowa American Water Co. that would allow water service to be turned off for those with unpaid sewer bills.

The Davenport City Council will meet for its committee-of-the-whole meeting at 5:30 p.m. Wednesday in City Hall, 226 W. 4th St., Davenport.

Schools: Because the Davenport Community School District, and several others in the Quad-Cities, are closed Monday for Martin Luther King Jr. Day, the Davenport School Board has set up three meetings for Tuesday.

Only one of the sessions, however, is open to the public. That one is 7 p.m. in the Jim Hester Board Room at the Administrative Service Center, 1606 Brady St., Davenport. The agenda is on contract negotiations  with Food and Nutrition Services personnel, with para-educators and with the districts secretaries.

The teachers contract expires on June 30, 2018, and the board will vote on extending that date two years. The resolution is to modify the contract terms, which would remain in effect to June 30, 2020.

The two other meetings on Tuesday are closed: one at 5:30 p.m. is to discuss strategy with a lawyer in matters that are currently in litigation, where litigation is imminent or where disclosure would put the district at a disadvantage. The second one, at 6:30 p.m., is a session that is exempt from Iowas Open Meeting law; it concerns negotiations with a collective bargaining unit.

Sports: Rock Island native Chasson Randle, who was signed to a 10-day contract by the NBAs Philadelphia 76ers will play a game close to home Monday when the Sixers take on the Milwaukee Bucks in an afternoon game at the BMO Harris Bradley Center in Milwaukee. The Times Don Doxsie will be on hand to chronicle the event.

The Quad-City Mallards play at home twice during the week, hosting Tulsa at 1 p.m. Monday and Missouri on at 7 p.m. Friday.

Big Story: Millions of Americans are anxious to see what a Trump administration and the Republican-led Congress will do with Obamacare. Theyve said they would kill it. But then what?

Political reporter Ed Tibbetts is talking to some of the thousands of Quad-Citians with a special stake in the debate: People worried about losing coverage, others who have seen premiums increase, and medical professionals who, like everybody, are grappling with the uncertainty.

Their stories and more on the expected transition away from the Affordable Care Act will be Sundays Big Story.
Show us the list, Gov. Branstad.

Terry Branstad reiterated his goal to defund Planned Parenthood in last week's Condition of the State address. Send the money to other clinics that don't perform a constitutionally protected procedure, he argues. It's not a new position for the long-time, outgoing governor. But, this time, Democrats lack the power to stop it.

Not a penny of federal or state cash is spent on abortions and hasn't been for years. In fact, abortions are just 3 percent of the organization's total national caseload. Testing and treatment for sexually transmitted diseases, cervical cancer screenings and contraception make up the bulk of Planned Parenthood's services, according to the organization's annual report. Planned Parenthood operates 12 clinics in Iowa, including one in Bettendorf.

Branstad's ideologically driven pitch isn't novel, mind you. He's following a well-warn trail blazed one way or another from Texas to Indiana, where crackdowns shuttered clinics and left thousands of poor women without reproductive care. They, too, drafted lists of "alternative" clinics where treatment is supposedly available for women. The results aren't particularly reassuring.

Florida tried this exact same approach last year. It's so-called list, including dental offices and school nurses, made it an overnight laughingstock. Things got worse when the Zika virus spread through Miami. Gov. Rick Scott, a proponent of the anti-Planned Parenthood movement, had no choice but to seek out the organization's help in spreading the word and doling out condoms. No other medical network had the means or the expertise. Scott learned the hard way.

Indiana's draconian no-funding policy shuttered clinics and weakened Planned Parenthood throughout the state, which was the point. And, within a year, an HIV outbreak  centered in poor, rural towns with a heroin problem  only made the sudden dearth of STD and contraception services more obvious.

Yet Branstad's administration was unable to provide details when pressed. It's a shocking lack of preparation for a such a sweeping policy shift.

Look, we get it. Science doesn't consider a life viable until it functions on its own. Hence the legal definition of a fetus. But there's no doubt some highly subjective gray area in when a life begins. This issue segregates this editorial board just like the rest of society. And the rape and incest situations only further confuse an already complicated debate between the head and the heart.

Research has shown contraception to be best method at reducing the number of abortions. And it's a realm where Planned Parenthood shines.

It's also an incontrovertible fact that, at present, abortion access is a constitutional right. Laws like what's now circulating Iowa are, in a very real sense, little more than obvious attempts to limit access. Texas' attempts to kill clinics resulted in women having to drive hundreds of miles for care, essentially locking out the poorest.

But the fact remains that similar recent experiments have exposed the important role Planned Parenthood uniquely fills in society, a lesson Florida and Indiana officials learned the hard way. Through its network of clinics and army of volunteers, it's positioned to respond to STD outbreaks in a way that no other organization can. It offers reproductive care to women who are isolated, either by geography or economics. Planned Parenthood is more than abortions, regardless of what the misinformation campaign says. Right now, it's best positioned to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.

And Branstad and his administration still can't explain how that gap would be filled.

Branstad's proposal could take all that away from thousands of Iowans. That's unless his list can accomplish what previous attempts have failed to do.
Breast cancer afflicts nearly 250,000 women each year, with nearly 40,000 dying from the disease.

Early detection, increased awareness of the importance of regular exams and improvements in treatment options have helped steadily lower cancer death rates since 1990.

But many of those treatments, including surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, can be debilitating. A devastating cosmetic side effect from chemo, for instance, is for a woman to lose her hair.

Canada Lytle, owner of five A Perfect 10 Nail Salon and Beauty Bars in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, has come up with a way to help women fighting breast cancer and also give back to her home state.

Lytle opened her first salon five years ago in Rapid City.

Since opening her first salon in 2011, Lytle has added more salons near the Catron Boulevard Wal-Mart and at Rushmore Crossing, along with two locations in Sioux Falls, to go with her flagship location in the West Omaha Plaza.

Lytle, a licensed cosmetologist for 23 years, owned a real estate company in Las Vegas, but sold that business to be closer to family in Rapid City.

Aiming to continue A Perfect 10's growth Lytle decided to develop and market her own line of nail polishes.

Her reasons were essentially two-fold.

First, she hopes having her own line will help her to expand beyond the borders of South Dakota.

Secondly, she wanted to show her gratitude to her home state that has given her so much success, she said.

Since we are a womens-based business, I thought what better way than to give back to breast cancer patients. We have a lot of clients who have breast cancer and are going through treatment, Lytle said.

For every bottle of nail polish sold, Lytle donates another bottle to Susan G. Komen, a non-profit organization supporting those fighting the disease to use as a safe non-toxic cosmetic.

Giving something tangible takes the gesture beyond the relative invisibility of a monetary donation, she said.

You just feel a little better about yourself when your nails are painted, Lytle said.

Developing the line took about six months. Finding a manufacturer that could produce non-toxic polishes was a priority, she said.

Her line is one of what are known as 7-free polishes, made without potentially harmful chemicals, including dibutyl phthalate, formaldehyde and toluene, formerly common ingredients incorporated as hardeners or preservatives or to provide a smooth finish on nails.

Lytle said it was especially important for her polishes to be as chemical-free as possible.

With cancer patients they already have plenty of chemicals going into their bodies, she said.

She also wanted to have some fun with marketing, giving her colors some quirky names, including Hanky Panky (a hot pink), Hangover Blues (blue, of course), Brick it to Me Gently (deep red), Nice Ash (a grayish-purple) and Beer Me (sparkling brown).

We went a little edgy with the names, she said.

Lytle launched the original line of 14 colors on Jan. 2. She plans to add 10 more hues in the next couple of months.

Sales so far have been good at all five locations, and the donation of the additional bottle to cancer patients has been well-received.

Were just excited to pamper survivors in this way and give them something special, and even though it is just nail polish, its a way to make them feel pretty, said Meagan Huisman, marketing and communications director for the Susan G. Komen Great Plains, based in Sioux Falls.

Fighting breast cancer is not an easy journey and people struggle with it a lot, Huisman said.

Any little thing we can do to lift their spirits is always exciting.
This has been a week of ups and downs for Wade Rice of Rice Honda-Suzuki-Victory in Rapid City.

As reported earlier this week, Minneapolis-based Polaris announced the discontinuation of one of its two motorcycle lines.

Production of Victory motorcycles will cease immediately, with the company focusing on the Indian brand instead.

Rice said the loss of Victory has forced him to rethink how he will proceed with his new dealership, now well under construction on East Eglin Drive near Cabelas.

A planned redesign of Hondas line of Gold Wing touring motorcycles in the coming months will help fill the gap, he said.

The three-wheeler and side-by-side parts of our business are really growing, Rice said Monday. Its the August part thats going to suffer.

But Rice is growing in other areas. Rice said a new dealership offering Polaris off-road UTVs will open this month in leased space at 11778 Constitution St. in Summerset, next door to AMD Distribution.

They will operate out of that space until a new building right next door is completed, hopefully by August, he said.

Helping seniors at home

Dion Lowe and Ken Peter are partnering up to offer an online business to help seniors live in their homes longer. The title, AIP Life, stands for Aging In Place.

My partner and I are in our late 40s. Like everyone else, were starting to experience with our parents and grandparents, that theyre getting to age where they need more assistance, Lowe said.

The rising costs of nursing homes and assisted living facilities, often thousands of dollars a month, spurred the men to try to help people stay in their homes even for a few months longer.

Instead of going into an assisted living facility six months or a year before you need to, that could save you $100,000, Lowe said.

They offer a wide range of services from personal assistance devices, such as alarm clocks and telephones, grab rails and video door bells, to emergency response systems and even full smart-home technology.

There are lots of devices that can help people in their own homes, Lowe said.

They have been working for a year to get AIP Life up and running, fine-tuning their website and testing the products they want to sell.

We just launched the website about six weeks ago, he said.

For more information, call Lowe at 605-430-2949 or visit aiplife.com.

Gotta Dance celebrates

In a release, owner/manager Marilyn Simon offered a big thank you to the teachers, students and fans who have help the studio grow over the past half decade.

Also renting studio space there are Black Hills in Motion, Sultry Shimmy and The Health Habit, she said.

Simon said the studio has new teachers, group and private lesson packages, an open house and other events going on to celebrate the milestone.

Her Friday night themed dance parties are popular events. Coming up on Jan. 20 is a super-hero party and a Harry Potter-themed costume party is set for Jan. 27.

Gotta Dance is located at 412 Oshkosh St. Drivers headed west on Main Street can see the studio in the Gap.

Call Simon at 605-355-5118 or email her at marilyn@gottadancerapid.com for more information.

T-Mobile update

A reader first alerted us to a Twitter post concerning a potential new major wireless provider coming to South Dakota.

Jon Freier, a T-Mobile executive vice president of Sales and Operations at the company's headquarters in Bellevue, Wash. tweeted this earlier this month:

Cant wait to open @Tmobile stores in @SouthDakota this year! Well be open as soon as we can!, Freier tweeted, including a photo of a T-Mobile truck with Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the background.

A T-Mobile spokesman replying to an email inquiry also referred me to Freier's Twitter post, but offered no additional details.

According to the Public Utilities Commission, wireless companies now serving the state include AT&T, Commnet, James Valley Wireless, MN Wireless, Nextiva, PureTalk USA, Sprint, Verizon and Ztar Mobile.
Editor's note: This is the first story in a two-part series examining former Gov. Bill Janklow's lucrative but little-remembered sale-leaseback deal, which was struck in 1986 and expired last month. The articles are based on interviews, the Janklow Papers at the University of South Dakota, archived news stories, and financial documents obtained from state government. Part two will publish Monday.

As governor, Bill Janklow liked to white-board his ideas and would often end up standing in front of a jumble of arrows, circles, squiggles, words and numbers so dense that it was incomprehensible to everyone but him.

In the early 1980s, when the then-governor drew up his plan to reap a windfall for the state treasury by selling dozens of state-owned buildings, then investing the proceeds in an annuity and leasing the buildings for the states continued use  a transaction known as a sale-leaseback  he stumped even his own budget director.

I said, Huh? recalled Steve Zellmer, now of Rapid City. It took me a while to get my head around it.

It took Janklow several years, plus the passage of state and federal legislation, but he finally struck an extremely convoluted deal in 1986 just weeks before he left office. Hes now dead, but the deal lived on  and on, and on  until last month.

In simple terms, Janklow sold 118 state-owned buildings for $188 million, including the State Penitentiary in Sioux Falls, the Human Services Center and Correctional Treatment Unit in Yankton, the Custer State Hospital, and the State Veterans Home in Hot Springs, among others.

The state allowed underwriters to take a $4 million cut minus their own expenses and used part of what was left to buy a $172 million annuity, leaving state government with $12 million in leftover cash. The money was earmarked to build or repair 18 structures statewide, ranging from public-radio transmitter towers in rural areas to new buildings on Black Hills university campuses.

Later refinancings of the deal netted another $17 million, Janklow later reported, raising the states total take to $29 million.

For the past 30 years, ending in December, the state quietly used the biannual income from the annuity to lease the buildings while continuing to use and maintain them. Only now, with the last transactions complete, is ownership of the buildings reverting to state government.

If it all sounds confusing, thats because it was, and still is. At the time, Janklow openly described the deal as selling buildings without really selling them. He variously referred to the deal as trying to invent money by doing alchemy through a shell transaction.

All of this is fiction, Janklow was quoted as saying in 1986. We literally made money out of nothing.

And yet, what was good for the state was bad for the nation. While South Dakotas treasury filled with millions of dollars, the federal treasury lost untold millions in income taxes because investors in the sale-leaseback deal received tax-exempt interest.

That is why Congress ultimately outlawed similar deals, and why Janklow  ever the maverick  had to race and barter to get the deal done while deploying his trademark blend of persuasion and persistence.

Inadvertent loophole

The seeds of the sale-leaseback deal sprouted in 1981 when financiers across the country awoke to the lucrative potential of a loophole in federal tax law. The loophole was created, apparently unwittingly, by Congress when it passed the Economic Recovery Tax Act.

One section of the voluminous law was intended to allow companies with low tax bills to use sale-leaseback transactions to sell their tax breaks  including depreciation deductions for buildings and equipment  to other companies with higher tax bills. It was called safe-harbor leasing, because it protected the participants from scrutiny by the Internal Revenue Service.

The law was apparently intended to help only taxable entities. But enterprising underwriters realized that the law also made sale-leasebacks attractive for tax-exempt entities, including nonprofit organizations, cities and states.

Tax-exempt entities do not pay income tax and therefore receive no tax breaks on the buildings and equipment they own. The new tax law, with its loophole for sale-leasebacks, presented an opportunity to sell those unusable tax breaks to investors, merely by selling property for quick cash and leasing it back over a longer term.

Government sale-leasebacks began to pop up around the country. One of the earliest and splashiest deals was in Oakland, Calif., where the city sold a museum and auditorium to investors for $55 million.

In South Dakota, sale-leaseback discussions were struck up by a seemingly unlikely pair: a Republican governor and a Democratic financier.

Farm crisis spurs budget creativity

The Republican governor was Janklow, who trod a novel path to the office.

Janklow was born in Chicago and was only 10 when his father died of a heart attack. Janklows mother moved the family to her hometown of Flandreau, S.D., where the teenage Janklow, with his tough-talking Chicago accent and matching attitude, clashed with the locals. He got into trouble, dropped out of high school, served in the Marine Corps  which he later credited with turning his life around  and then reportedly talked his way into the University of South Dakota despite lacking a high school diploma.

He graduated from the USD law school in 1966 and went to work as a legal aid attorney on the Rosebud Sioux Indian Reservation, where he earned a reputation as a winning trial lawyer. In 1974, he was elected the states attorney general, and in 1978 he won his first gubernatorial race at the age of 39.

Janklows first term as governor coincided with the onset of the 1980s farm crisis, when plummeting crop prices and soaring lending rates turned some farmers financially upside down and sent many of them into foreclosure. The farm crisis was a drag on the state budget, which depended largely on economic activity created by farmers to generate sales-tax revenue.

Janklow, whose motor never stopped, met the challenge of declining revenues with a flurry of ideas. He was a man so hard driving that when he died in 2012, his son, Russell, was surprised that the cause was cancer. Russell reportedly always thought his dad would die of a heart attack, yelling at someone on the phone or something.

The sale-leaseback idea was on Janklows mind as he cruised to a landslide re-election win in the fall of 1982, according to letters in Janklows private papers, which are now open to researchers at the University of South Dakota.

The letters flowed between Janklow, the brash Republican governor in Pierre, and Michael Dougherty, a Democrat and South Dakota native who had founded an investment banking firm five years earlier in Minneapolis.

Dougherty, Janklow similarities

Despite their contrasting political labels, Dougherty and Janklow had strikingly similar backgrounds.

Like Janklow, Dougherty suffered tragic loss as a boy. He was 7 when his mother died of cancer and 14 when his father died of a heart attack.

Doughertys older brother, Bill, became the de facto leader of the family and took over their fathers livestock commission business at the Sioux Falls Stockyards. Michael Dougherty went on to attend college but  like Janklow  got into trouble and was asked to leave for what he described as disciplinary and academic reasons.

Dougherty was soon drafted into the Army. Like Janklow, who had been transformed by the Marines, Dougherty came out of the military a changed man.

He went on to earn a degree in political science and history from the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul, Minn. Shortly after his graduation in 1966, the same year Janklow graduated from law school, Dougherty was hired as the campaign manager for South Dakota Democratic gubernatorial nominee Robert Chamberlin.

Chamberlin lost to Republican Nils Boe, and Dougherty left politics behind. But the Dougherty name lived on in South Dakota political circles, because Michaels older brother, Bill, a fellow Democrat, served as the states lieutenant governor from 1971 to 1975. Bill Dougherty then transitioned into a longtime lobbying career at the state Capitol that included a close relationship with Janklow.

Michael Dougherty landed at a Minneapolis brokerage firm as a municipal bond salesman. He left that job in 1977 with three partners to found the investment banking firm of Dougherty, Dawkins, Strand & Yost.

Plan goes to legislators

By 1982, Dougherty was pitching the sale-leaseback concept to Janklow. Existing South Dakota law made sale-leasebacks impractical, so Dougherty assigned his lawyers to draft authorizing legislation. Janklow introduced the bill to the 1983 Legislature and convinced lawmakers to approve it.

The minority of legislators who cast no votes expressed a fear that a sale-leaseback would contribute to the federal governments budget woes. They viewed sale-leasebacks as tax shelters, because the deals gave investors depreciation deductions to avoid higher income taxes.

Some of the legislators who voted with the majority, including influential Republican Sen. George Shanard, of Mitchell, had similar concerns but shrugged them off.

Granted, theres no question that its a loophole that robs the federal treasury, Shanard was quoted as saying. However, it is a loophole now available to and being used by private citizens, and by a couple of other governments.

As it turned out, members of Congress were also talking about sale-leasebacks in 1983, and their attitudes were not so permissive.

Congressional resistance

In February 1983, while Janklows bill was making its way through the South Dakota Legislature, Congress was growing concerned about the revenue it was losing to sale-leasebacks.

A U.S. House Ways and Means subcommittee conducted a hearing that very month to learn more about the deals. Three months later, U.S. Rep. J.J. Pickle, a Texas Democrat, introduced a bill to make sale-leasebacks less attractive by tightening restrictions on depreciation deductions and making other changes to tax law.

Pickle seemed as stubbornly committed to stopping sale-leasebacks as Janklow was to participating in them. During a June 1983 hearing on Pickles bill, the congressman brought some colorful Texas flair to the fight.

Pickle said the burgeoning sale-leaseback industry was an Alice in Wonderland world of off-budget finance with tax breaks that served as a carrot to entice investors.

I might add, this is no scrawny carrot, either, Pickle said. It is a big carrot. Bugs Bunny never had a bigger carrot in all his life.

The Congressional Budget Office concurred. A CBO analysis of Pickles bill said the potential market for sale-leaseback deals involving tax-exempt entities was $2 trillion. That was the total value of property owned by nonprofits and state and local governments that was eligible to be included in sale-leaseback transactions. The only limit on the market, the analysis said, was the amount of money that investors could pour into it.

The effect on the federal budget was potentially severe, the CBO warned, because of the tax breaks investors received for owning tax-exempt property. Speaking hypothetically, the CBO calculated that if sale-leaseback deals totaled $2 billion in 1984, the federal government would lose $100 million in tax revenue; if the value of the deals increased to $10 billion by 1988, the government would lose $1.5 billion in revenue.

Pickles bill did not pass, but its language was incorporated into the broader Deficit Reduction Act of 1984. The section including Pickles sale-leaseback restrictions came to be known as the Pickle rule."

Janklow and Dougherty watched Pickles efforts warily as they waited through 1983 and much of 1984 until federal law on the topic was finally settled.

Meanwhile, the South Dakota Legislature passed a bill in early 1984, before the Pickle rule was passed, that allowed cities to participate in sale-leaseback deals. That allowed Rapid City to speed ahead with a $40 million sale and leaseback of its civic center to fund an expansion, with underwriting in part by Doughertys firm. The term was 15 years, and Ray Woodsend, the city attorney at the time, recalled recently that it was paid off early.

The state's sale-leaseback deal was still a work in progress, and with the Pickle rule in place, Janklow went back to the white board.

Put in a 'Pickle'

Until the Pickle rule was adopted, South Dakotas sale-leaseback plan was envisioned as a sale of state buildings to investors, who would benefit from depreciation deductions while the state invested the sale proceeds and spent the interest. The buildings were to be leased to the state for a nominal sum, and at the end of a contract term of possibly 15 years, the state would buy back the buildings with the original sale proceeds.

In response to the Pickle rule and its crackdown on depreciation deductions, Janklow and his brain trust hatched a Plan B that was based on a complex "arbitrage" transaction. That's a term describing the simultaneous buying and selling of investments in different markets to take advantage of a higher price in one and a lower price in the other.

Under the new plan, the state would sell its buildings to investors and pay them back at a relatively low rate of interest, which the investors would accept because the interest was tax-exempt. The state would use the proceeds of the sale to buy a higher-yielding annuity  a financial instrument that pays fixed returns over the course of the purchasers life.

The annuity would be tied to the lives of state employees in the state retirement system, only to stop paying out if all the employees died suddenly. And the state would accept lower future annuity income in exchange for receiving some of the returns upfront in a lump sum. That lump sum would be spent to build and repair state structures, while the future annuity income would be used to make lease payments on the buildings.

While it was technically a sale and leaseback of buildings, that aspect of the deal was really just the vehicle that allowed the state to borrow money from investors and then invest the borrowed money for a higher return.

Throughout 1985, Janklow and some of his staffers were quoted as saying they were close to getting the deal done. But something was holding them up  possibly the working out of complex details, and perhaps also the negotiation of various terms, fees and commissions, according to Harry Christianson, of Rapid City, who was among the horde of lawyers involved.

Christianson said Janklow negotiated from a strong position, because the underwriters involved in the deal had spent several years working on it and had a strong incentive to complete it, while Janklow could take it or leave it.

Janklow was squeezing on what the underwriters got for a fee, and he squeezed them until they screamed, Christianson said in a recent interview with the Journal.
The Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo may not officially start until Jan. 27, but as anyone at the Central States Fairground can tell you, the festivities are already well underway.

On Friday night, the World Series of Team Roping kicked things off in the James Kjerstad Events Center at the Central States Fairground in Rapid City. The competition runs through Sunday and is a qualifier for the 2017 World Series of Team Roping Finale on Dec. 11-17 in Las Vegas.

It attracted droves of fans, vendors and ropers and also marked the unofficial start of the Black Hills Stock Show and Rodeo, transforming the official 10-day event into a nearly monthlong affair. For most of the people involved, thats a good thing.

All these events are part of the stock show for us, said Dale Christensen, a salesman for Rodeo Rigs based in Hammond, Mont. Its now basically a month long. Were going to be here for as long as theyre here.

Leslie Schweigert, a saleswoman and daughter of the owners of Rays Western Wear and Saddlery in Oacoma, said that if people are at the fairgrounds, so are the salesmen. Her company has been coming to the stock show for more than 15 years and each year, she said, it seems to get longer.

Sometimes it seems like it gets too drawn out, it gets too long, Schweigert said, while also noting that as more events are added, more time is needed.

One such event is the World Series of Team Roping qualifier, which is staging an official event at the Black Hills show for the first time ever this year. The event will include more than 200 horses and between 150 and 200 riders, a number Lance Allen, producer of the roping competition, hopes will only increase in the coming years.

I would call this one a success, Allen said. We want it to grow. Id like to see twice as many competitors next year.

For team roper Barney Jorensen of Sturgis, who started coming to the Black Hills Stock Show in 1989, thats music to his ears. Calling the World Series of Team Roping the best gig going for ropers, Jorensen observed that every year, all the events are bigger and better.

As for the fans, the length doesnt seem to bother them  especially when it means seeing the professionals in action.

Its definitely longer, in order to get everything in, said Marylu Weber, of Rapid City. She and her husband, Henry, have lived in the area for the past four years and hope to catch some cutting in the days to come. Anything that has to do with horses and cattle, were interested.
The late William Safire, a certified wordsmith who had been a speechwriter for President Richard Nixon before becoming a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist for The New York Times, concluded, after reading 56 of them, that there had been only four great presidential inaugural addresses: Abraham Lincoln's first and second, Franklin Roosevelt's first, and John F. Kennedy's only.

As a low-ranking private first class in the United States Marine Corps then, I listened to the Kennedy speech and still remember being moved by his summons to the responsibilities of citizenship: "So, my fellow Americans, ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country." Sensitive to his narrow popular-vote victory over Nixon just two months earlier, Kennedy was careful to avoid any partisan domestic issues and instead spoke of our collective commitment to the survival of our nation's security and liberty, for which he pledged, "We shall pay any price, bear any burden, meet any hardship, support any friend, oppose any foe."

Like 3 in 4 male Americans of my generation  and because of a military draft that, if you could see lightning and hear thunder, took you  I served in the United States military. "Back then," as Karl Marlantes, a Marine combat veteran of Vietnam and the author of "Matterhorn," writes, "it was called 'the service.' Today, we call it 'the military.'" Then, it was a broadly accepted obligation of citizenship; today it's an optional vocation answered by less than 1 percent of Americans. When Ronald Reagan ran for president, 412 of the 535 members of Congress had served in the military. In the 115th Congress today, less than 1 in 5 have worn the uniform.

Then, because of the draft, almost every American family had an intensely personal interest in U.S. foreign policy. War was not a policy debate. War was not a spectator sport. Families in every American neighborhood knew well that war could  and did  kill people whom you knew and even loved and made neighbors into widows and orphans.

What made the draft work so well from before Pearl Harbor up until Vietnam was  as the late Northwestern University professor (and U.S. Army draftee) Charlie Moskos, a pre-eminent scholar of the military, explained  that "America was drafting from the top of the social ladder."

President Franklin Roosevelt had four sons, all of whom served in combat. Elliott Roosevelt enlisted in the Army Air Corps and flew 300 combat missions; Jimmy earned both the Navy Cross and the Silver Star as a combat Marine in the Pacific; John, a Navy lieutenant, was awarded the Bronze Star; and Navy Lt. Cmdr. Franklin Jr., for bravery under fire, won the Silver Star.

Moskos argued: "The answer to the question of what are vital national interests is found not so much in the cause itself. ... Only when the privileged classes perform military service, only when elite youth are on the firing line does the country define the cause as worth young people's blood and do war losses become acceptable."

The U.S. war in Iraq, which began 14 years ago, was the first war in 156 years that the U.S. had entered without a military draft to fight it and without tax increases (there was actually instead a selfish tax cut) to pay for it. A new president reminding all of us that war really does demand equality of sacrifice  now that could be an inaugural address worth listening to.
On Tuesday, Gov. Daugaard hailed the decision by online retail giant Amazon to begin collecting sales taxes on purchases made by South Dakotans. By Tuesday evening, more than a few state residents made it clear they did not share the governors enthusiasm for the news.

Some even went so far as to cry foul when they learned that a loophole created by a 1992 Supreme Court decision will be closed on Feb. 1 in the state. The decision in the Quill Corps. v. North Dakota case meant that online companies were not required to collect sales tax in states where they had no physical presence.

Clearly, a lot has changed since 1992 when the digital economy was in its infancy. In fact, it wasnt until 1994 that Amazon emerged as an online bookseller. Today, the company has 180,000 employees and plans to add another 100,000 over the next 18 months as it is on its way to becoming the second largest employer in the nation after Wal-Mart.

But Amazons role in changing the retail landscape is hardly a secret. Many if not most of us have shopped on the companys website, which offers an endless array of merchandise to purchase. As an added bonus, South Dakotans have been able to skip paying sales tax when they made a purchase from Amazon even though there is a state law that says they are obligated to pay up.

The decision to circumvent that law, meanwhile, has cost the state millions in tax revenue, money that otherwise would have been collected if the products were purchased at a store in South Dakota.

The decline in sales tax revenue due to the Internet economy is especially harmful to a state like South Dakota that does not have a state income tax, a corporate tax, and an inheritance tax. As a result, a decline in sales tax revenue will eventually have a huge impact on even basic government services like public safety and education.

In addition, the now antiquated Supreme Court ruling gave an unfair competitive advantage over local stores and retailers that not only collect sales tax but pay property taxes, employ local residents and in many cases re-invest into the community.

Its also important to note that Amazon is not the only online retail business that has agreed to collect sales taxes on items purchased by South Dakotans. As a result of a law passed last year in the Legislature that required certain online companies to collect the sales tax more than 100 businesses have started doing so, according to the governor.

The collection of sales tax should not be controversial. Everyone needs to pay their fair share or we all could suffer the consequences in the long run.
John 1:29-34, Second Sunday in Ordinary Time. Cycle A

Author: Father Walter Schu, LC | Source: Catholic.net

John 1:29-34

The next day he saw Jesus coming toward him and declared, "Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! This is he of whom I said, After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me because he was before me. I myself did not know him; but I came baptizing with water for this reason, that he might be revealed to Israel." And John testified, "I saw the Spirit descending from heaven like a dove, and it remained on him. I myself did not know him, but the one who sent me to baptize with water said to me, He on whom you see the Spirit descend and remain is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit. And I myself have seen and have testified that this is the Son of God."

Introductory Prayer: Jesus, thank you for this opportunity to be with you, my Lord and my God. You always seek me first. Even my desire to encounter you is a fruit of your love for me, of the action of your grace in my heart. I trust that this day will be filled with the graces I need to respond generously to your call to holiness and to be your apostle.

Petition: Lord, help me to be a witness to you with the same courage, humility, and openness to the Holy Spirit as John the Baptist.

1. John Saw Jesus Coming Toward Him. - Jesus is always coming toward us, too. Why? Because he loves us. He never imposes himself. He doesnt burst through the door and force us to accept him or even acknowledge him. But he does remain close, hoping we will catch a glimpse of his love and, in that instant, recognize that he is everything our hearts long for. What will happen if we open the door of our life, of our heart, to Christ? He will call us to abandon the tight confines of our egotism, greed, lust, envy, and selfishness. He will open undreamed-of horizons and give a rich, new dimension to our poor, fleeting days on this earth. He will bestow on us a transcendent mission: to testify to him not only with our words, but with everything that we are.

2. John Testifies to the Lamb of God. - As John the Baptist sees Jesus coming toward him, he proclaims: Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world! Johns title for Jesus is rich in meaning. Fifteen hundred years before Christ, during the exile in Egypt, the blood of the paschal lamb spread on the Israelites doorposts saved their families from the angel of death, who slaughtered the first-born of the Egyptians. As a result, Moses was able to lead the chosen people to the Promised Land. Christ is the true Lamb of God who offers himself in sacrifice to take away our sins and to open to us the Promised Land of heaven. Johns testimony requires humility: His own disciples leave him to follow Jesus. Do I strive for this same humility? Do I put my testimony to Jesus above my own self-interest?

3. John Recognizes Jesus Through the Holy Spirit: Johns testimony was so convincing that many of his own disciples became followers of Jesus. Yet John himself claimed that at first he did not know Jesus. What did he mean by this enigmatic phrase? As Jesus relative, John certainly knew who he was; however, the precise moment in which Jesus was to begin his Messianic mission remained unknown to John. It was only through the action of the Holy Spirit that John fully recognized Jesus as the Chosen One of God, who was now to be revealed to Gods chosen people. The Holy Spirit seeks to work with the same power in our own lives. What attachments to worldly interests still distract me from the Holy Spirits action? What fears still hold me back from letting him do with me whatever he pleases? Do I fully trust in him who is love itself?

Conversation with Christ: Thank you for always coming toward me, Lord. Thank you for your love for me. At times I dont know what you see in me, Lord, but even in my weakness and sinfulness I want to return love with love. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit, help my love for you to be bold and ardent.

Resolution: I will ask the Holy Spirit to help me openly bear witness to Christ during the day.
Frayne Olson, North Dakota State University Extension crops economist, believes pulse crops, particularly field peas and lentils, are likely to hold up their value into 2017.The main reason pulse crops have held their value -- over the past year or so -- is due to India, one of the main pulse producing and consuming countries. India has experienced a couple tough production years.Theyve had two very dry years in a row, and their inventory has been brought down, said Olson. Last year they stepped into the world market and some of that is coming from Australia, Canada and the United States.India has two production seasons, a winter season and a summer season, with the latter having just wrapped up and being the smaller of the two.The big crop is the winter season, which was just planted and has started growing, said Olson. The pulse market is a bit uncertain on how big that crop is going to be. (India) not only needs a very good year in order to meet their existing needs, but also to expand or rebuild some of their inventories.Though India is buying in the world market, theyre being very cautious about how much they buy. Based on conversations Olson has had with people in the industry, the big concern moving forward for pulse growers in the U.S. is if India has a good winter crop.If they have a good crop, prices will soften, he said. If they have an average year or a slightly below-average year, pulse prices will hold into the next growing season. Farmers need to understand whats happening and there arent a lot of new crop contracts being offered yet due to this uncertainty of how big Indias crop is going to be.U.S. farmers saw an increase in pulse acres for 2016 due to industrywide commodity price drops. Olson suggests pulse acres may slip a little in 2017.As farmers start doing their planning for 2017 and they figure out what kind of acreage they want for different crops, they usually have a rotation or a set of crops they grow, he said. Yeah, they can flip some acres from one crop to the next and have some flexibility, but theres some decisions to make.They know they have so many acres of these core crops theyre going to grow, but what are they going to do with those other acres? Thats of course where this shifting and changing occurs, Olson added.Olson said North Dakota pulse yields were very good in 2016, except for a few areas in the state.There was some disease pressure in some areas, so some farmers individually are frustrated right now, he said. My concern is if you increased your acreage last year and it turned out well for you, I do think there will be interest in planting them again. However, I recommend they have some of that production contracted ahead of time. You dont want to go into the growing season completely exposed.With the pulse market moving forward, its a bit of a high risk proposition, despite things looking good currently.There is some downside risk, he said. If India has a very good production year, prices will fall because they are such a huge consumer and producer of pulses worldwide. What happens over there will have a big impact on our local prices.Another dynamic for farmers to monitor in the pulse market is on the Canadian side. Canada produces more pulse products than the U.S., but they do have some quality issues.They had increased their acreage 40-50 percent from the year before, so they grew a lot more and have a lot more to sell, said Olson. Theres a wide range of qualities out there and in the pulse industry quality is a very important attribute. The buyers are being very picky in what theyre willing to pay for.Theres a quality spectrum and that is a big reason why buyers are jittery. Theres a lot of unknowns about the future, Olson concluded.
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On small ranch parcels and near wooded nooks, hidden cameras triggered by anything that moves are capturing images of the Norths mightiest winged predators this winter in the Bitterroot.

No one knows for certain what researchers will learn from the thousands upon thousands of images of eagles swooping down to feed on carcasses strategically placed around the valley.

But through the magic of the Internet, people from both near and far will have a chance to take part in helping identify the golden and bald eagles that have stopped in for a bite on private lands scattered about the valley floor.

This winters camera trapping operation in the Bitterroot Valley is being led by Rob Domenech, executive director of Missoula-based Raptor View Research Institute, and MPG Ranch ecologist Kate Stone.

As of last week, the project has 12 cameras recording everything that has fed on deer carcasses from Lolo to Sula since December.

The photographs theyve captured so far this winter have been remarkable.

In one, a bald eagle with its wings spread wide stares down a magpie resting on a rib cage bleached white against the snow. A second photo shows a group of crows watching intently as a bald eagle swoops down on a golden eagle standing atop a carcass.

The photographs captured between December and March may add a puzzle piece or two to the understanding of how eagles make use of the winter habitat offered in the Bitterroot.

We already know that eagles have an incredible fidelity to the Bitterroot Valley, Stone said. Golden eagles return here year after year to winter after breeding in the far northern reaches of Canada and the wilderness of Alaska.

Since 2011, the two research organizations have been working together to capture and either band younger birds or place tiny GPS transmitters on older eagles that provide exact locations of the birds up to 12 times a day.

Some of the birds that weve fitted with transmitters here in the Bitterroot have summered in the Brooks Range in Alaska, Domenech said. And then they come back down here to winter. The transmitters have been a great way to learn about how eagles use the mixed habitat here in the Bitterroot and to find important migration corridors.

The solar-powered transmitters weigh between 45 and 90 grams and are about half the size of a pack of playing cards. They are designed so the eagles can pull them off whenever they chose.

One Bitterroot eagle that researchers have nicknamed Wanderer for its frequent forays from the Bitterroot to Glacier and the Rocky Mountain Front has been packing a transmitter since 2013.

That transmitter is still going strong, Domenech said.

Since the transmitters are expensive, they are reserved for adult birds.

The reason we target adults is because they are the tried and true survivors, he said. We know that they can make these long migrations because they have done it before. We know from band returns that eagles can live up into their mid-30s. I think they can live longer than that. I believe there are bald and golden eagles that are 40 years plus.

While the conservation success story of bald eagles is well known, Domenech said there is a lot of evidence that golden eagles are in decline.

No one is certain about why thats occurring.

Many are lost to vehicle collisions that happen when an eagle feeds on carrion too near a road. Some die from electrocution from power lines or from being shot. Changes in habitat can be a problem, too.

In the Bitterroot, the presence of lead in blood samples taken from captured eagles has been a troubling trend.

Of the 70 eagles that researchers have captured in the valley, 89 percent have had elevated levels of lead in their blood.

The wintering birds here show really high levels of lead, Domenech said. We have to assume that they are getting that here in the valley.

And eagles arent the only creature being impacted.

Both Stone and Domenech believe that eagles pick up most of the lead while feeding on gut piles left behind by hunters.

Stone said a lead bullet can lose up to 20 percent of its mass after striking an animal. X-ray scans show elk and deer killed by a lead bullet are full of lead fragments.

That means the hunter is consuming the lead and anyone in their family who eats the meat is consuming it, too, she said. Thats a conservation message that were trying to spread. There are private landowners and block area managers who dont want lead used on their property anymore.

We have long accepted lead as poisonous in so many other uses, she said. Its a conservation message that people can actually do something about. Finding a way to impact global climate change might seem daunting, but everyone who hunts can do something about lead.

By tracking the movement of eagles in the Bitterroot, Stone said the researchers have also learned just how important private lands in the valley are to the raptors. Many of the camera sites have been set up on land protected by conservation easements.

This research really provides some solid data on how important those working lands are to wildlife, she said. Its been a way to open up dialogue with the ranching and farming community that is really valuable.

The hope is that others interested in citizen science will find time to log on to www.Zooniverse.org to help the two researchers sift through the thousands of photos captured this winter.

The website allows anyone in the world to help tag animals in images, Stone said. Anyone can participate. They can look at our images and help us identify the birds that show up. If they see an eagle with a tag, they can let us know about that, too.

So instead of me going through five million images  which wouldnt be possible  we can get some help from others, she said. Last night, I was tagging penguins.

Anyone interested in learning more about the ongoing project can attend a talk and fundraiser at the Stevensville Cafe on Thursday, Jan. 26th from 5:30 to 8 p.m.

People can learn how they can participate and see how to process images there, she said.

The researchers will also be set up at the MPG Lab on Missoulas First Friday in February. The lab is located in the Lambros Building at 1001 S. Higgins.

Stone has also started a crowd sourced fundraising effort for the project. That can be found here: https://www.crowdrise.com/bitterroot-valley-winter-eagle-project/fundraiser/katestone3
Stevensville Mayor Jim Crews has asked the state to host a public meeting on a proposed new gravel pit just west of the communitys airport.

But before that can happen, other nearby landowners will have to make the same request.

The proposed gravel pit is located north of Stevensville off the Eastside Highway near some old buildings once used to grow mushrooms.

I know there are a lot of people in the community who are not aware of it, Crews said. Im asking the state to hold a public meeting to help make the community aware of whats going on.

The Montana Department of Environmental Quality received an application for a 13-acre, open cut mine (gravel pit) north of Stevensville on Nov. 21.

The application was determined complete on Dec. 8, said DEQ Public Policy Director Kristi Ponozzo.

The state sent letters to 42 landowners within a half mile of the site explaining the proposal.

Under state law, 12 of those landowners would have to request a public meeting for the state to move forward and offer one. The deadline for making that request is Jan. 23.

So far, Ponozzo said four landowners, including Stevensvilles mayor, have requested a public meeting.

If the state receives those additional eight requests, it will be required to hold a public meeting within 30 days of Jan. 23.

The public would be allowed to offer comments at the public meeting, she said.

The operator of the proposed gravel pit is Jake Yoder. Under the proposal, work would be permitted at the site from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Saturday. The site would be reclaimed by 2042.

The application can be viewed on-line at https://searchopencutpermits.mt.gov/ and then enter Opencut #2863.

There are a lot of people who arent paying attention, Crews said. I know the county gravel pit off Airport Road is starting to play out.
Feb. 15, 1938 - Jan. 12, 2017

Adele Rose (Arnzen) Nuxoll, 78, came into this world on Feb. 15, 1938 in the little farming community of Greencreek, Idaho. She was the daughter of George J. and Agnes Arnzen. She was born into a family of ten brothers and sisters. She is preceded in death by her parents, and brothers: Father Ken Arnzen and Delph Arnzen; sisters: Dolores Phillips, Joan Arnzen and Celine Robbins. She is survived by brothers: Neil Arnzen (Betty), Cliff, Dick, and Wayne, as well as numerous nieces and nephews.

After graduating from Greencreek High School, she attended Holy Names College in Spokane, Washington and graduated with a degree in Medical Technology in 1960. Adele married Ken Nuxoll on Jan. 26, 1968. At this time, Ken and Adele lived in Missoula. She worked at St. Patricks Hospital and then at Community Hospital.

They raised three children: Tom, Lynn and Jan. In 1976 they built a cabin in Sula. After retirement in 1996, they moved to Sula and to this day you can find Ken tending to the fire inside. Adele was very fond of Montana history and in particular, Bitterroot history. She loved to see the many beautiful sights in Montana, enjoyed seeing new country in the mountains, and talked about all the wildlife that had been spotted.

Adele bagged her Moose in 2011- with the help of some special friends. She spent countless hours sewing; there was never a scrap of material that was not used or a hole in clothes that was not mended. She enjoyed cooking and canning. Adele hosted Thanksgiving dinner for her Sula Family for almost forty years.

Adele is survived by her husband Ken, three children and their families: Tom (Melody) Nuxoll of Corvallis, Lynn (Pete) Boehm of Missoula, and Jan (Chris) Lien of Three Forks. Tom and Melody have three girls: Dani, Sami, and Lexy. Dani is married to Chris Hale and have two girls: Joelle and Eliza. Lynn and Pete have two kids: Leo and Olivia. Jan and Chris have three girls: Paige, Reese and Charlie.

Ken was a faithful caretaker to Adele at their home until a few days prior to her death, which took place at Marcus Daly Memorial Hospice surrounded by her loving family.

The Mass of Christian Burial Service will be held at 11 a.m., Thursday, Jan. 19, at St. Francis of Assisi Catholic Church in Hamilton, with a reception to follow at the Pastoral Life Center. The internment will be held at Sula Cemetery in the Spring. The Rev. James A. Connor will be officiating.

In lieu of flowers, please make donations to Marcus Daly Hospice.

Brothers Mortuary and Crematory are honored to serve the family. Condolences and memories may be shared with the family at www.brothersmortuary.com
HELENA  The Senate on Thursday passed a resolution to hire its own attorney and join a lawsuit over the length of the term of Commissioner of Political Practices Jonathan Motl.

At the end of last year, a group that includes the past secretary of state, former legislators and others filed a lawsuit that seeks to extend the term of Motl.

Motl is still in the position, but Republicans have said they will challenge any decisions he issues.

Also Thursday, Senate President Scott Sales, R-Bozeman, and House Speaker Austin Knudsen, R-Culbertson, sent Secretary of State Corey Stapleton an undated letter asking Stapleton to withhold Motls salary until a new commissioner is appointed.

The commissioner was appointed in a letter from Gov. Steve Bullock in 2013 and confirmed by the Senate that same year. Both Bullocks letter and the resolution confirming Motl say his term ended Jan. 1.

Commissioners serve six-year terms and the lawsuit argues Motls started in 2013. Opponents say Motl did not start his own term but assumed the one of past commissioners who were never confirmed by the Senate.

Senate Resolution 2 passed on a 33-17 vote. Republicans hold a 32-18 majority.

Sen. Nels Swandal, R-Wilsall, who carried the resolution, said the Senate needed its own attorney and couldnt be represented by Legislative Services Division because it was too busy with the Legislature in session. He added the attorney general, who has joined as a defendant along with Bullock in the suit, cannot represent the Senate.

The fact the Attorney General has filed something will help us out, certainly reduce our costs, he said. But it doesnt mean as a Senate, as a body, we should not defend our rights.

Senate Minority Leader Jon Sesso, D-Butte, said that while he doesnt question the end of Motls term, the Senate shouldnt join in the suit.

If the resolution were only to state our firm belief that Jan. 1, 2017, is the date, then I guess its worth stating that for the courts benefit to reiterate what is already in the record. But to go so far as to start spending money and intervening in a lawsuit is not what I can support at this time.

The resolution was passed without a fiscal note to indicate how much it might cost to hire the attorney.

Republicans have criticized Motl as unfair, saying he goes after members of their party for campaign violations more than he puts Democrats financial filings under the microscope. Motl has said he looks at each party with the same scrutiny.

As to Sales and Knudsens letter to the Secretary of States Office regarding Motls salary, Stapleton says his office has no administrative oversight of Motl, and recommendeds that Sales and Knudsen take their request to the Department of Administration. So they sent a letter to Department of Administration director John Lewis, referencing a state law that says an officials salary will be withheld if there is a court proceeding contesting the officials title.

We expect your department to adhere to the law, their letter to Lewis said.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Administration said the letter had been received and department officials are looking into the matter.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Since its launch in 2009, Graduation Matters Montana has taken root in 58 communities and helped drive the states graduation rate to historically high levels over the last three years.

But its not clear yet whether the states new superintendent, Elsie Arntzen, will offer her support to the program, which gets most of its funding from the private sector, created by her predecessor.

In an interview Friday, Arntzen said the decision hadnt been made on whether the program will continue in its current form.

Earlier in the week, her federal relations director, Dylan Klapmeier, said in an email with a new administration beginning, the Graduation Matters program is being phased out in a responsible manner.

Klapmeiers email said OPI employees were continuing to monitor the funds that had already been disbursed to ensure that they were used in a responsible manner. However, the email said, the program had very few strings or accountability measures tied to the money to begin with.

The program has been supported by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Since 2012, the foundation has granted $900,000 to the initiative that provides up to $10,000 in grants to communities interested in implementing the program.

Additional funding has come from the Steele Reese Foundation, State Farm Insurance, BNSF Foundation, Applied Materials, AT&T, DA Davidson, IBM, the Student Assistance Foundation and First Interstate Bank Foundation.

In total, $1.3 million has been invested in the program, according to a program overview compiled by former OPI Senior Policy Advisor Deborah Halliday last December.

Since its inception, the states high school graduation rate has risen to an all-time high from 80.2 percent in 2010 to 86 percent in 2015. The American Indian dropout rate was cut by 30 percent in that same time period, the overview said.

Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation executive director Mike Halligan said that organization would be willing to work with Arntzen.

I respect the decision of the new Superintendent of Public Instruction to move forward with her own initiatives that encourage students to graduate from high school, Halligan said. Given the mutual goals of helping youth understand the importance of high school graduation, Im certain the existing Graduation Matters Montana program will complement any new initiatives introduced by the new superintendent and Ill begin the process of locating another educational entity that can help lead the GMM program as we move forward.

Arntzen said she plans to reach out to communities to get a better understanding of what they need to move forward. Her focus will be on developing programs that serve all of Montanas schools.

In particular, Arntzen pointed to the existing Early Warning System that all of the states schools can use to help ensure that students earn a high school diploma. While its probably too late to ask the Legislature for additional funding for that program, Arntzen said she does plan to seek advice from communities to see if that should be a priority.

School district officials will take note of how Arntzen chooses to proceed.

Missoula County Public School Superintendent Mark Thane said there has been an Early Warning Systems working group at OPI for some time. While its not a new initiative, Thane said how its messaged could change with the new administration.

Whether or not the new administration chooses to continue the messaging around Graduation Matters, I think there will still be an emphasis around whos at risk and how we can intervene meaningfully, Thane said. Ive had no direct contact from OPI with regard to any of those changes. Quite honestly, we dont know what the future is for initiatives like Graduation Matters given the transition at OPI.

Stevensville High School Principal Brian Gum said Graduation Matters has made a difference in that community.

Graduation Matters has been a phenomenal program for Stevi, Gum said. For us, over the past five years, weve obtained a decent amount of funding to improve our graduation rate, which has gone through the roof. In the 2009-2010 school year, we had a graduation rate of 77.8 percent and now we are at 94.74 percent. Weve done a lot of work and it has paid off.

Gum said there is a direct tie to the Graduation Matters program.

It is an awareness thats out there, the implementation of programs that weve been able to pull into our advisory programs. And weve attended summer training sessions, he said. At Stevensville schools, (Graduation Matters) is a K-12 program. Everyone is on board. It works at a lot of levels and has allowed us to do a lot of activities.

The program was recently implemented in Florence after school officials wrote a grant for funding to prevent students from failing core classes, improve attendance and create community awareness on the importance of high school graduation.

In its first program two weeks ago, high school students signed banners with a pledge to graduate. The banners will hang in the high school gym.

School counselor Sherry Williams said plans call for incorporating the program into all grades later this year.

We want to hold an event for the younger grades where the high school students play a major part in inspiring and mentoring the younger grades, Williams said. It seemed the Graduation Matters program was a new concept to many. We look forward to having it become an integral part of the Florence-Carlton culture.

Missoulian reporter Chelsea Davis contributed to this story.
BILLINGS - When Yellowstone National Parks aching cold and deep snow claims the lives of winter-weakened bison, predators like wolves are one of the beneficiaries.

Wolves know the bison are going to die so they wait and scavenge a lot, said Doug Smith, Yellowstones Wolf Project leader.

Yellowstone estimates on average that about nine out of every 100 bison die each winter. With the parks bison population now around 5,500 animals, that means roughly 500 bison could perish this winter. With adult bison ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, those carcasses will be a substantial source of protein for park predators and scavengers, especially top predators like wolves who in the winter dont have to compete with hibernating grizzly and black bears.

Yellowstone is a pretty good place to be a wolf, Smith said.

Studies in the parks Northern Region have estimated that wolf survival is due in large part to that reliable source of bison meat, composing as much as one-quarter to one-third of a wolfs scavenging activity. Without bison carcasses, Smith said the parks wolves may not have enough to eat in the winter.

Aged couple

Such a large source of food may be one reason the park contains the longest-known pair bond between two wolves ever recorded. Alpha male 712 will be 12 years old this March, an incredibly long life considering that on average Yellowstone wolves live only to age 5.

Wolf 712s mate is a white female popular with photographers. Because shes never been captured and collared, Smith isnt sure how old the white wolf is, but shes been with her black mate for more than seven years. Wolves begin breeding at 2 or 3 years old, so the female is almost as old as 712.

Its a cool story, Smith said. Theyre probably the most famous wolves in the park.

The two lead the Canyon pack, which roams the area around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Hayden Valley, north of Yellowstone Lake.

This pack has been very comfortable near developed areas, exemplified by their use of a highway culvert to stash pups in 2008, denning near park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs in 2009, and regularly using roads as travel corridors during the winter months, according to the Yellowstone Wolf website.

Given their familiarity with the park and its bison, Smith said the alpha pairs winter routine is likely to include checking places where bison are known to die in hopes of finding a large, already dead meal.

I can guarantee you they are going to all of their old spots, he said.

Darting

Smith also goes to all of his old spots in the park in the winter when searching for wolves to dart from a helicopter. Darting wolves allows him to collect physical information and fit animals in almost every pack with GPS collars. So far this winter, though, cold and wind have kept his crew from helicoptering aloft.

Thats bad news for information collection because the last two years were also poor for darting and collaring. Whats even more frustrating is that out of the 12 wolves the park did capture last winter, collars on five of them failed within a few months of deployment. Annually the park attempts to collar 15 to 20 wolves, with at least one collar in each pack. Twenty to 22 collared wolves is the long-term average, so Smith said 12 is disappointingly low.

As a result, in two of the Northern Regions larger packs, one has no collar and the other contains only one wolf with a working collar. The problem with the lack of collars was demonstrated in November and December when much of the Junction Butte pack disappeared from the park and wandered into Montana. While there, three members of the pack were legally killed by hunters north of the park. Park researchers are trying to understand the impact that the hunting seasons in surrounding states have on park wolves. Another three park wolves from the 8 Mile pack were also shot this hunting season, Smith said.

At last count, Yellowstone contained about 100 wolves in 10 packs, a population that has remained fairly stable since 2008. Lower wolf densities may be one reason that the parks wolves havent had an outbreak of disease for eight years, defying researchers predictions that distemper would strike every three to seven years.

Wolves are coming into equilibrium with the environment, Smith said.
HELENA  Montanas new top game warden says he will miss his days in the field, but hopes to bring some fresh ideas and enthusiasm as Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks looks to the future.

Dave Loewen became FWPs chief of law enforcement this week following 17 years as a field warden and game warden sergeant.

Loewen accepted the chief position after a labor settlement in which the State Board of Personnel Appeals, in response to grievances filed by Loewen, told the department to appoint him to his position of choice, according to a Jan. 2 FWP email to staff. FWP made mistakes in its 2015 hiring process for law enforcement chief, the emails says, and administration accepted the boards determination.

The decision ousted Tom Flowers as chief, who told the Billings Gazette he was disappointed and felt FWP did not back him by deciding against filing an appeal.

Loewen declined to speak about the decision or other personnel matters in an interview Thursday with the Independent Record.

Loewen, a Butte native, recalled the typical what do you want to be when you grow up assignment from grade school, and writing then that he wanted to be a Montana game warden. He enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard out of high school, spending four years mostly in southern California doing law enforcement and search and rescue. He returned to Montana, earning a teaching degree in art and biology from the University of Montana Western.

Loewen was working security for a federal court when he decided to apply for a game warden position, was hired and moved to Glasgow in 2000.

I dove in head first and it was the best thing I ever did, he said. You take a kid who was born and raised in Butte and stick him up in Glasgow, that was kind of a culture shock. But that was an excellent learning experience for me, being up in that rural environment I really learned how a game warden should work.

Loewen spent three years in Glasgow, meeting his wife and then transferring to Helena as a field warden. He was later promoted to sergeant.

Conservation law enforcement is just extremely rewarding because everyone benefits from what we do, he said. There was never a day I dreaded going to work.

While he will miss time in the field, Loewen sees the chief position as an opportunity to take the baton and face challenges including advancing technology, staffing and funding.

Its easy to think technology doesnt impact conservation law enforcement. It does, he said, pointing to drones and social media as examples.

The nature of a game wardens job lends itself to community policing, Loewen said, by staying involved in the community and proactively averting problems when possible. But as law enforcement, the job does put wardens in some challenging and potentially risky situations.

Ill always say that I think game wardens have the most dangerous law enforcement job in society, he said. Everyone we deal with is armed, were usually by ourselves in the middle of nowhere with no backup and where communications arent that great.

So by default we have an extremely dangerous job, and so by default we have to be very tactful in the way we approach people, talk to people and deal with violations.

The Legislature is on the top of the priority list for Loewen as FWP testifies on various bills. He believes most lawmakers and their constituents see the value in what wardens do, but realizes even a single negative incident involving a game warden can erode that confidence.

Game wardens are public servants and we have to remember that we are accountable for everything we do, he said. Were in the public eye and our professionalism is absolutely paramount.

Loewens appointment did not go unnoticed as lawmakers convened in Helena for the legislative session.

When considering a bill to allow electronic hunting licenses, Sen. Jennifer Fielder, R-Thompson Falls, said she was concerned about giving FWP carte blanche use of electronic data considering the departments direction with the new law enforcement chief leans militaristic.

Loewen says he briefly met with Fielder following the comment and plans to meet with her again to assuage any concerns.

What was apparent is there is some belief out there, and I will call it an unfounded belief, that my style is a bit militaristic. Nothing could be further from the truth, he said. That is maybe coming from some people that disagree with me philosophically, and may be trying to sway people one way or another for me or against me. Its really unfortunate that happens because we really all have to work together and were all on the same team.

Following the Legislature, Loewen hopes to tackle about 10 game warden vacancies,primarily in eastern Montana. FWP has long struggled with retaining wardens in the typically more rural eastern part of the state.

Finally, he plans to look at internal processes and procedures to refine and streamline them.

Those are the things were looking at  but no overwhelming or sweeping changes, he said. We have a great bunch of guys and gals out there doing their job and I want to make sure theyre equipped to do their job and be successful.
Members of the states contractors association testified Thursday in support of a bill to provide emergency funding to the Department of Transportation to pay for more than 30 road construction projects that had been put on hold, even after the governor announced a $10 million loan to fix the problem just hours earlier.

Republicans in the House Appropriations Committee, which heard House Bill 203, carried by Rep. Greg Hertz at the request of his partys caucus, questioned the timing of the announcement by Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock at a lunch before the bill was heard. Bullocks office said it learned about the moneys availability recently.

Late last year, Mike Tooley, director of the department, told the association the DOT was delaying $144.5 million in road projects due to a budget shortfall. The department would have used $14 million from the state Highway Special Revenue Fund to leverage federal matching dollars.

The fund, however, is projected to run out of money by July 2017 and wouldnt be able to pay for project bills when they came due in 2018. The fund gets its money from the states gas tax, which both Republicans and Democrats have said may need to be raised to keep money in the fund.

Tooley said he will let the 30 projects out to bid as soon as possible, perhaps before February. He said the money is not an appropriation, but could be used as a short-term loan from the general fund to bridge the gap between when contractors submit bills and the federal government reimburses the state. Those loans are typically used a couple times each year. In 2016, the longest lag in federal reimbursement was six days, he said.

Theres a lot more comfort now, he said.

The money was welcomed by some contractors who testified at the hearing, but too late for others.

Deb Poteet, who runs Poteet Construction in Missoula, said she had to lay off employees when she heard the projects would be delayed.

Those employees are now on unemployment, are now taxing another portion of the state budget, she said, adding she didnt buy trucks or skid-steers as planned.

The governors office said the loan will be repaid through the gas tax.

This solution is not ideal, Bullock said in his speech at the contractors association lunch in Helena. But its one step closer to finding a long-term funding solution that ensures that Montana does not fall into an infrastructure crisis.

Rep. Greg Hertz, R-Polson, said his House Bill 203 was still necessary in case something else came up. Hertzs bill would make $14.4 million from the general fund accessible this year as well as next. Before the session, Republicans said they would move to gut Bullocks proposal for early childhood education, which was $12 million over the next biennium in the general fund budget, and use the money for highway projects.

Hertz and other Republicans on the committee criticized the timing of Bullocks announcement.

If it takes the Legislature to move (the governor), Im more than happy to help, he said. We fixed it as soon as we got to town here. Up until then the only person who could fix this issue was the governor.

They also questioned why news of the fund shortfall didnt come out before the election.

Tooley said his department knew the balance in the fund was declining but that it wasnt clear how bad things were until the governor presented his budget and the Department of Justice, which also uses the special revenue fund, submitted its plans.

The revenue fund has been struggling since 2008, Tooley said, but was kept afloat by an infusion of cash from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which did not require state matches for highway projects.

Since the money is a loan and not an appropriation, it appears to get it around a state law that requires special revenue accounts to be spent down to zero before accessing general funds.

Rep. Carl Glimm, R-Kila, pushed Tooley on when he knew he would have to delay the bidding process, saying he believed you knew long ago you wouldnt be able to let these projects.

Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, said the budget situation shouldnt have been a surprise as a letter went out in early September warning about issues. Members of the Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee also received an update on the funds problems in September, with an analyst from the Legislative Fiscal Division saying the fund would have a deficit of $20.7 million by the end of fiscal year 2017.

Ballance also questioned using the Medicaid reimbursement for road construction, saying two days ago the Legislature learned that hundreds of Montanans with Medicaid are on a waiting list for services.

I do find it a stunning coincidence on the day the contractors are in town and the day this bill is heard we find out this money can be spent.

But Rep. Kelly McCarthy, D-Billings, questioned Ballance on the claim, saying that the Medicaid wait-list was a problem of availability of services, not of money.

Putting that $10 million back in Medicaid would give us a larger reversion down the road, he said.

One thing both Democrats, Republicans and the department agreed on is that the solution, either from Hertzs bill or the governors $10 million, is a short-term fix to problems with the revenue fund. Last year the governors budget director attributed problems with the fund to more efficient cars that use less gas and a decline in diesel purchases. The states gas tax is 27 cents per gallon of gasoline and a reduced rate for some diesel. That generated $300.5 million for the DOT and $38.9 million for the DOJ in 2016, the last completed fiscal year. The governors office expects those agencies will only receive $234.6 million and $33.7 million in 2018, a decline of about 20 percent.

Bob Warren, with the contractors association, called increasing the states gas tax to bolster the fund a big hot potato.

Eventually something of that magnitude is what its going to take to fix this, Warren said.

The committee took no action on the bill Thursday.
Anglers can find the new 2017 Georgia Sport Fishing Regulations Guide online and in print, announces the Georgia Department of Natural Resources Wildlife Resources Division.

The new 2017 Georgia Sport Fishing regulations is the place to start for any angler looking for new places to fish, changes to laws and regulations or other information, said John Biagi, fisheries management chief. Our biologists and staff do their best to make sure this guide book has the most current and accurate information so it is always a good idea to review this publication each year before you head to the water.

The 2017 Georgia Sport Fishing Regulations Guide provides helpful information, including color fish identification charts for both freshwater and saltwater fish, license purchasing information, contact information for Wildlife Resources Division and Coastal Resources Division fisheries management offices and DNR law enforcement offices, trout stream listings, public fishing area information, state record fish listings and complete fishing regulations for Georgia.

You may view, download and print the guide atwww.gofishgeorgia.com/fishing/ regulations . www.georgiawildlife.com/ OfficeContact .

New information highlighted in this years guide includes:

 Public Fishing Areas: Georgias 9 available public fishing areas are now open seven days a week.

 Walleye: The daily creel and possession limit at Lake Blue Ridge has changed from 15 fish to the statewide limit of 8 fish.

The WRD website, www.gofishgeorgia.com/fishing, is a great place to start when learning about fishing. New or experienced anglers can find information about taking kids fishing, reservoir and river fishing tips, fish ID information and much more.

Additional resources include the Wildlife Resources Division blog (www.georgiawildlife. wordpress.com ), where anglers will find current and hot fishing reports for different parts of the state.

For more information about Georgias fishing regulations or for information about where and when to go fishing, visit www.gofishgeorgia.com/fishing.
Kathmandu, Nepal: famous Nepali rapper Anil Adhikari, who is widely known as Yama Buddha, has been found dead in London.

Family source of Yama Buddha have confirmed his death. It is said that Yama Buddha, 29 committed suicide in his residence in northern London. He was found dead in his bathroom on Sunday morning.

The cause behind the death is not confirmed yet. He had been living in London with his wife.
Kathmandu, Nepal: With the ousting of controversial Lokman Singh Karki from the post of chief commissioner of the Commission for the Investigation of Abuse of Authority (CIAA), the widespread raised concern of now is that the only constitutional anti graft body would be remain paralyzed due to dillydallying to appoint the appropriate person.

While announcing Karki unfit to hold the post of the chief of the CIAA, the Supreme Court (SC) had ruled on Sunday that he be replaced by a qualified person. While declaring Karki unqualified, the apex court had also directed the government to appoint a person qualified as per the constitution.

Though the SC has not specified about the qualifications of to be appointed person, it has clearly stated in the verdict to appoint a person qualified as per the constitution. Symbolically, the verdict has raised a serious question over the attitude and intention of the political parties and other concerned stake holders responsible to the appointment process.

Another, serious question of now is that who is going to be appointed as the new chief of the CIAA. Following the landmark verdict, the people in genera also seem suspicious over the future course of anticorruption movements in the country.

As political parties used to be motivated with vested political interests while appointing either commissioners in the CIAA like constitutional bodies or any other state agencies, it is being feared that political parties would influence the government to repeat again such a mistake by appointing disqualified person to fulfill their vested political interest.

Another complication emerged to qualified chief commissioner is existing setup of the CIAA. As the constitutional provision does not allow appointing more than five commissioners, including the chief commissioner, there would not be alternative of appointing one of the commissioners as the chief commissioner of the CIAA.

The CIAA has already five commissioners- Deep Basnyat, Nabin Kumar Ghimire, Ganesh Raj Joshi, Raj Narayan Pathak and Sabitri Thapa Gurung. All of them including Karki were appointed as per the provision of the interim constitution.

But the Article 238(6) of the constitution clearly states that one should have at least 20 years of experience in the fields of accounting, revenue, engineering, law, development or research and he/she should be a distinguished person to hold the commissioner's position.

To appoint someone into the post of chief commissioner from outside, either one of the commissioners has to resign or remove through the impeachment or be declared unfit from the Court to hold the post of commissioners of the CIAA, just as it happened in the case of Karki.

As of Karki, four commissioners qualification to hold the posts has also been questioned over their qualifications and the appointment process as well. As Karki got removed from his responsibilities for not having 20 years of working experience in government services, remaining four other commissioners would also be removed on the same ground as they have also been accused of not having 20 years of working experience as stated in the new constitution.

In the writ petition filed by Dakshya Bahadur Chhetri at the apex court in last November, none of the existing commissioner except Pathak has 20 years of working experience in government offices.

Interestingly, commissioner Pathak also would not fit to appoint as the CIAA Chief Commissioner as he was also dragged into controversies for involving in the controversial activities while investigating in the fraud cases. Renowned orthopedic Dr. Govinda KC, who had exerted pressure to the parties to impeach Karki, had also demanded to impeach even Pathak in the alleged charge of involving in the misconduct while investigating some corruption cases.

There is also an argument that remaining commissioners also be removed from their position in the context of their head already removed from responsibility for not meeting the criteria set by the constitution. These all legal, constitutional and political complications to appoint the chief commissioner would obviously delay the appointment process triggering setback in the anticorruption movement.

Though Commissioner Basnyat is working in capacity of acting chief commissioner of the CIAA based on seniority since Karki was suspended on October 19 after lawmakers registered an impeachment motion in the parliament, the CIAA has done nothing except some minor activities to control the rampant corruption in the country.
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The Lookout Wild Film Festival returns to the Memorial Auditorium Community Theater Jan. 20-22. It will be a weekend of "the best outdoor adventure and conservation films from around the world and right in our own backyard," said organizers.

The fifth annual LWFF will feature films on sentimental hikers, vanishing species, snow artistry, river surfing, treking through deserts, geriatric big-river paddling, mountain biking in snow and more.

Buy a ticket for a specific block of films or go all in with the weekend pass.

Here is the schedule:

Friday, Jan. 20,

7-10 p.m. with reception to follow

Saturday, Jan. 21

Yoga and Timelapse films 1 p.m.

Matinee Films 2-5:30 p.m.

Primetime films 7-10:30 p.m.

Sunday. Jan. 22

Yoga and Timelapse films 1 p.m.

Matinee 2-6 p.m.

For tickets click here
KNOWLES' FIRST LAW:Whenever a controversy over symbolism erupts in the media, it's usually disguising a completely different symbolic message altogether.

KNOWLES' SECOND LAW:

The old state cults will be re-established under the cover of Woke.

KNOWLES' THIRD LAW:

The old statues and symbols currently being torn down will eventually be replaced by the icons and idols of the new/old state cult.

KNOWLES' LAW ON UFOS:

The probability that a UFO story is a deliberate hoax is correlative to the amount of mainstream media coverage it receives.
Seguin, TX (78155)

Today

Generally cloudy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 86F. Winds SSW at 15 to 25 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy with a slight chance of showers and thunderstorms, mainly this evening. A few storms may be severe. Low 53F. Winds NNW at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 30%.
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 Flash

Thousands of protesters gather and march from Union Square up Fifth Avenue to Trump Tower in opposition of President-elect Donald Trump.

Thousands of protesters gathered in the U.S. capital of Washington D.C. Saturday to show their anger at President-elect Donald Trump who is set to take over the White House on Friday.

The protesters, mainly from civil rights groups, chanted "no justice, no peace" as they proceeded along the National Mall toward the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

The demonstration took place just after Trump traded accusations with U.S. civil rights icon congressman John Lewis, who said Trump's presidency was "illegitimate" during an interview.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart(not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results," Trump tweeted.

Lewis is a veteran Democrat congressman representing Georgia.

As the date for Trump's inauguration draws nearer, multiple organizations have called for protest against him.

In one of the most major protests, a Women's March scheduled for Jan. 21 is said to be joined by hundreds of thousands.
 "Punishment and Moral Risk" | Main | "Prison Work Programs in a Model of Deterrence" 

January 15, 2017

Nebraska Supreme Court decides "undocumented status" can be proper, but not conclusive, sentencing factor when deciding on probation sentence

As reported in this local article, headlined "Immigration status can be used to help decide sentencing, Nebraska Supreme Court says," the top court in the Cornhusker State handed down an interesting ruling late last week. Here is the effective press summary of the decision:

A persons immigration status can be considered when deciding if someone should be sentenced to probation rather than jail, though it cannot be the sole factor, the Nebraska Supreme Court ruled Friday. It was the first time the states highest court has weighed in on the issue of whether criminal defendants can be denied probation solely because they are in the country illegally. Jose Cerritos-Valdez had appealed after being sentenced to 230 days in jail and a $500 fine for two misdemeanors, attempted possession of a controlled substance and driving under the influence. His driving privileges were revoked for one year. During sentencing, Sarpy County District Judge David Arterburn expressed reluctance to sentence Cerritos-Valdez to probation. One condition of probation is to obey all laws, and to do that, the judge said, would require Cerritos-Valdez to leave the country, because he was in the United States illegally. Arterburn also said hed like to get some guidance on the issue from a higher court. The Supreme Courts ruling, written by Judge Stephanie Stacy, said that while this is an unsettled area of law, a consensus has formed in other courts that defendants cannot be denied probation solely because they are in the country illegally.

The full ruling in Nebraska v. Cerritos-Valdez is available at this link, and here is the heart of the court's nuanced analysis (with footnotes/cites removed):

This case presents the narrow question of whether a defendants undocumented status is a relevant consideration when determining whether to grant or deny probation. We have not previously considered this question, but other courts have. While the law in this area is not well settled, a consensus has developed that it is impermissible for a sentencing court to deny probation based solely on a defendants undocumented status. Beyond that broad proposition, courts differ on when, or for what purpose, a sentencing judge may properly consider a defendants undocumented status when deciding whether to impose probation. Generally, in discussing whether it was proper to consider a defendants undocumented status in connection with deciding whether to impose a sentence of probation, other courts have focused on whether the defendants status implicated other relevant sentencing considerations. For instance, some courts have held it is appropriate to consider the effect of a defendants undocumented status on his or her ability or willingness to comply with conditions of probation. Other courts have reasoned that a defendants undocumented status or a history of repeated illegal reentry into the U.S. may demonstrate an unwillingness to conform his or her conduct to the conditions of probation or show that a probation sentence would not be at all effective for that defendant. Still others have held that the undocumented status of defendants may be considered as it relates to their criminal history. At least one court has noted that a defendants undocumented status is properly considered as it relates to the defendants employment history or legal employability. And we note that in some instances, defendants have specifically asked the sentencing court to consider their undocumented status, arguing it would be error not to consider it. Based on the foregoing, we agree that a defendants status as an undocumented immigrant cannot be the sole factor on which a court relies when determining whether to grant or deny probation; however, a sentencing court need not ignore a defendants undocumented status. When deciding whether to grant probation, a defendants undocumented status may properly be considered by a sentencing court as one of many factors so long as it is either relevant to the offense for which sentence is being imposed, relevant to consideration of any of the required sentencing factors under Nebraska law, or relevant to the defendants ability or willingness to comply with recommended probation conditions.

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A forum on assessing China-U.S. relations under the Trump presidency is held on Saturday in Beijing by the Pangoal Institute on Saturday. [Photo/China.org.cn]

Chinese scholars urged the U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to commit to the longstanding One China policy through clear and predictable policies on China, in order to ensure smooth China-U.S. relations under the incoming administration.

At a forum on Saturday assessing China-U.S. relations under a Trump presidency, some eminent Chinese scholars described the One China policy as the "bedrock" of China-U.S. relations that should be upheld by the president-elect, indicating China would be unlikely to make concessions on this regard.

The U.S. president-elect took a phone call from Taiwan's Tsai Ing-wen several days after his election victory in November, transgressing the protocol in China-U.S. relations established for many years, evoking a strong protest by China.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump was quoted as saying "[everything] is under negotiation including One China," without elaborating on what the terms of renegotiation would be.

Michael Pillsbury, a China advisor to Trump and the author of several books on China, spoke at the Beijing forum. He touched on six issues of most concern to China, namely, the One China Policy, Tibet, China's border disputes with India, the deployment of the THAAD anti-missile system in South Korea, disputes in the South China Sea and bilateral trade.

Pillsbury argued that the three historical communiques between Beijing and Washington (published respectively in 1972, 1978 and 1982), all of which emphasized the One China policy, are not treaties and, therefore, have to be "refreshed or repeated" by every incoming U.S. president. He said that some American presidents in the past would announce they accepted the three communiques within a week of assuming office, but Trump so far made no such pledge and would need to be watched in the days ahead.

Yuan Peng, vice president of the China Institute of Contemporary International Relations, retorted that the communiques are indeed "of binding nature" according to the interpretation of many experts on international law. Moreover, he said, all the previous American presidents had reaffirmed they would adhere to the One China policy, which had thus become an "established rule" in American practice.

"If Mr. Trump does not do so, China-U.S. ties have no future and no prospect going forward," he stressed.

Yuan went on to say that the greatest criticism after the telephone conversation between Trump and Tsai came from within the U.S., indicating more pressure in store for the new president if he did not accept the One China policy.

Pillsbury published an article on the website of the magazine National Interest on January 12 in which he said that, "there is a possibility that China may make once unthinkable concessions toward what is likely to be the new administration's most important demands of a new bilateral relationship: eliminating its unfair trade practices and reducing our trade deficit."

Trump threatened to impose a 45 percent tariff on Chinese goods on a number of occasions during his election campaign.

An Gang, a senior researcher with Pangoal Institution, the Beijing-based think tank hosting Saturday's forum, retorted in his own commentary that the business tycoon-turned-politician, and some of his cabinet nominees, perhaps have a "deep-seated mindset of trading for benefits". However, he argued that "many things in international relations are not going to be solved through this mindset, let alone China exchanging trade for the national interest."

The scholars attending the forum also urged the incoming president to lay out more specific and predictable China policies, complaining the president's views so far have been quite "unpredictable" and murky on what he plans to do with the world's most important bilateral relationship.

Pillsbury talked about a "strategic ambiguity" or "unpredictability" in Trump's China policy. He said the president-elect believed the U.S. needed to be unpredictable to deal with China, as China is the "smartest negotiator."

But Yuan Peng urged more clarity in Trump's policies. "We only know what Mr. Trump is against, but not what he wants."

Ruan Zongze, the vice president and senior research fellow of the China Institute of International Studies, said China-U.S. ties have reached a "turning point" with Trump's election victory.

For the first time since the two countries established diplomatic relations 37 years ago, the U.S. has become a "variable" in the equation while China is a "constant", meaning relations may change due to the changes in Trump's policies. However, Ruan also said "China is now willing and capable of shaping [future] China-U.S. relations."
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NEW YORK (AP)  Cassandra Clare and Laurie Halse Anderson are among more than 160 Simon & Schuster children's authors and illustrators who added their names to a letter sent to the company's chief executive in protest of the recent decision to publish a book by the far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos.

A letter to Simon & Schuster CEO Carolyn Reidy denounced Yiannopoulos as a "hate-monger" and white supremacist. The signees didn't call for Reidy to cancel publication of Yiannopoulos' "Dangerous," scheduled for March and already the subject of intense criticism, but they warned that Simon & Schuster risked its "considerable reputation and weight."

"This man, and this book, are not America," the letter reads. "This man, and this book, are not the bulk of Simon & Schuster. This man, and this book, are not us, the authors and illustrators of Simon & Schuster. We believe that the children we write for deserve a better America."

Simon & Schuster issued a brief statement in response, saying that it does "appreciate and respect the feelings and opinions of our authors." The publisher has previously defended its decision by noting that it works with "a wide range of authors with greatly varying, and frequently controversial opinions."

The book by Yiannopoulos is being published through Simon & Schuster's conservative Threshold Editions imprint, where authors have included former Vice President Dick Cheney and President-elect Donald Trump.

Other Simon & Schuster imprints have published books by Trump's Democratic rival for the 2016 presidency, Hillary Clinton, and by such Clinton backers as Amy Schumer and Bruce Springsteen.

Yiannopoulos writes for Breitbart News, considered by many a platform for the so-called "alt-right" movement, an offshoot of conservatism that mixes racism, white nationalism and populism. Last summer, he was kicked off Twitter after leading a harassment campaign against "Ghostbusters" star Leslie Jones.

The Chicago Review of Books has tweeted that it won't review any Simon & Schuster releases because of the Milo book. The National Coalition Against Censorship and such industry groups as the American Booksellers Association are backing Simon & Schuster, contending that withdrawing "Dangerous" would have a "have a chilling effect on authors and publishers."

When news of the deal broke in late December, "Dangerous" quickly rose to the top of Amazon.com's best-seller list. Interest has since leveled off and the book ranked No. 388 as of midday Thursday.
SIOUX CENTER, Iowa  Soon students studying agriculture at Dordt College will be able to harvest the power of a new 6E John Deere tractor.

ICON Ag & Turf of Le Mars, Iowa, donated the use of the farming vehicle to the Sioux Center-based college, which has a growing agricultural program that has students from 19 states and four foreign countries.

According to Alyssa Sulsberger, ICON Ag and Turf brand director, Dordt will be allowed use of the tractor for 300 hours. The higher education institution operates the Dordt College Agricultural Stewardship Center, which includes a 200-acre student-managed farm about two miles north of Sioux Center.

Dordts agriculture program offers students a hands-on learning approach where they can raise livestock and grow row crops, small grains and produce. The donated tractor will be used to teach freshman taking agricultural classes about farm safety. Additionally, students enrolled in Dordts new Pro-Tech program will make use of it. The Pro-Tech program will allow students to earn two-year degrees or certifications in either farm operations or management.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY -- The key to Gerkin Windows and Doors 85 years of continued success is no secret, Scott Gerkin said.

The reason that I think we have done very well is that our mission has been to build the highest-quality product with a great value and not wavering from that mentality, said Gerkin, the vice president of sales, and a company employee for more than 30 years.

The grandson of Virgil Gerkin, who founded the company in 1932, Gerkin is well aware of the South Sioux City-based manufacturers culture and reputation.

Gerkin noted that even after his father and uncle sold the company to Midwest Energy  a predecessor to Mid-American Energy Co.  in 1985 or when the Schneider family took ownership in 1991, the original Gerkin quality standards remained intact.

Sometimes theres a push on the market to build cheaper, but thats not anything weve ever wanted to do, Scott Gerkin said. The culture here is to offer the best quality, the best value and to have very good service to go with that.

Innovative and quality products coupled with steady growth has served the commercial and residential vinyl and aluminum window and door products manufacturer well since it relocated from Sioux City to South Sioux City in 1991.

In 2004, just 13 years after the move across the river, Gerkin built a new 170,000-square-foot plant/headquarters at 5000 Rhino Road, which is named after the companys Rhino commercial aluminum window and door series.

Only a few years into the new facility, Gerkin needed another expansion so that it could increase the production of insulated glass, and that 30,000-square-foot plant opened up across the street at 3405 Daniels Lane in 2013.

That allowed for us more room to bring in new equipment for existing product lines and expand our capabilities of production, Scott Gerkin said.

Even with the extra room from moving insulated glass production across the street, Scott Gerkin said space was still tight at the main facility, which prompted the company to break ground on a 73,000-square-foot addition to its Rhino Drive campus late last year.

We are just going to expand everything that we have now in this existing plant, he said. It gives us more room to increase our capacity for production, more room for additional material and more room for finished goods and processing the shipping.

The new addition is expected to be complete sometime in 2018, but Gerkin was not sure if it would lead to additional jobs. At the end of 2016, Gerkin Windows and Doors had just over 200 employees company-wide.

Weve had an increase in workforce this year and well see where that goes  I cant say for sure where thats going to take us  but as the company continues to grow, we will certainly be hiring people as needed, Scott Gerkin said.

One catalyst to the growth has been the increasing demand for commercial-style aluminum windows in residential construction inside of the company's customer demographic area, which is considered to be about a 500 mile radius around its headquarters.

Gerkin noted this style of window, which typically features floor to ceiling glass that allow more light into the home, has been popular on the coasts and waterfront properties for a while, but has caught on in the Midwest.

Until we kind of came across that opportunity, we had only been using aluminum windows for commercial use, and now we found a really nice niche for that on the residential use, he said.

While his family may no longer own the company, Gerkin is proud of the legacy his grandfather started, and that his father and uncle carried on continues to be well represented nearly nine decades after it began.

Theyve always been one to go after high-quality product lines, and to see the Schneiders take on the same mentality and expand the size of the company and the quality of the products with new products over the years has been extremely exciting to see and fun to be part of, he said.
LOS ANGELES  Count Bellamy Young as one who thinks Michelle Obama should consider running for president.

I would vote for Michelle Obama today, tomorrow and every day until its real, the Scandal first lady says. No one has married form and function as well as Michelle. Shes awe-inspiring.

Before getting the role as the fictional first lady, Young studied all of the women who actually held the job.

Many, she says, were important players in their husbands administrations and, easily, could have been great leaders of the country.

Dolly Madison would have been ah-mazing, Young says. She was incredible at diplomacy. Edith Wilson, she says, filled in for her husband, Woodrow, after he suffered a stroke. When Hillary (Clinton) took on health care, I thought, What a partnership! That was like two people bringing the full force of their being to help this country run.

Mellie Grant, the first lady Young plays on the ABC drama, is running for the highest office and will discover when the show returns later this month if she gets the job. Because the first five episodes were shot before the real election, current affairs had no impact on what Scandal planned to do.

Creator Shonda Rhimes admits reality has prompted writers to change direction in the past, but this outcome was determined before Hillary Clinton lost to Donald Trump.

Mellies fate could be more first lady-friendly.

Unwilling to spoil the opener, Young says the results change everything. It remains the moment in Mellies life she can never go back from.

To prove as much, the first episodes trace how the former first lady and Virginia senator gets to that fateful day.

Professionally, Young would love her character to win  the shift would give her plenty to play and a chance to show how she deals with another kind of pressure.

I think she would be far more decisive than Fitz (her husband, played by Tony Goldwyn). But I think she would step in it as often as she would save the world.

When the series began in 2012, Young had two lines and thought she was out after three episodes.

Every day has been a gift, the 46-year-old actress says. Normally, youre just lucky to have a job, but to have a job where you grow and change and youre flawed and you succeed and you lose a child and you run for president and you divorce your husband  its just been the gift of a lifetime.

Mellie Grant, she adds, has never found her center. She has spent her life trying to fill it with other things to appear or feel OK, but she never really has been happy.

That state, Young says, isnt great in real life, but it makes compelling television. So I tell the writers to keep her miserable as long as they want.

Sometimes, cast members say, Rhimes uses bits of her actors personalities in their characters.

When we read these scripts, I look over to Shondra and she sees these secret parts we think we hide so well.

Luckily, we are far more different than we are alike. But we are loyal and we get even smarter when we get angry.

The biggest difference? I care if people are comfortable in a room. And thats the last thing Mellie cares about.

A shift in Scandals presidency? Its just a matter of time before we know.

Scandal returns Jan. 26 on ABC.
CHEROKEE, Iowa -- Hours before hundreds of visitors descend on downtown Cherokee for the 17th Annual Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival on Friday and Saturday, more than 100 students will have received hours of instruction from some of the pros who gather for this event.

The Music Clinic, which starts the Jazz & Blues Festival, is a bit of a sleeping giant when it comes to collateral benefits.

"We have never been able to do it (the Music Clinic in Cherokee) until this year," said Corbett Butler, director of bands at Alta-Aurelia High School. "So I'm excited to go and participate. The kids are ready to start performing!"

Alta-Aurelia's jazz band, Butler noted, started its season with a contest in Council Bluffs, Iowa, on Saturday.

The timing really can't be better as these high school jazz musicians receive a day's worth of clinic work just as their jazz band season commences.

Students from the following schools will report to Cherokee Middle School on Friday for the Music Clinic: Cherokee Middle School, Cherokee High School, Sioux Central High School, Alta-Aurelia High School and Bishop Heelan High School.

David Sharp leads the 2017 Music Clinic, at the behest of Jim Oatts, who directed the effort for years until relocating with his family from Des Moines to Philadelphia.

Sharp, professor of instrumental music and jazz at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa, Iowa, directs the Indian Hills Jazz Band. He, in turn, helped recruit musician-clinicians James Poulsen, Tim Crumley and Steve Charlson.

Additionally, Sioux Cityan Justin Kisor is on board as a clinician. Kisor, a North High grad, has played trumpet professionally for years.

Following a full day of instruction on Friday, the music heats up in downtown Cherokee with bands and professionals playing in four venues: The Northwest Iowa Musicians take over The Copper from 6-9 p.m., Break Even plays at the VFW from 8-11 p.m., Damon Dotson performs from 9 p.m. to midnight at the Brightside, and Chad Elliott plays from 9 p.m. to midnight at The Gasthaus.

The annual Cherokee Jazz & Blues Festival Jam Session takes place from 1-5 p.m. Saturday at The Gathering Place. Hector Anchondo, a native of Omaha, leads an effort whereupon anyone with an instrument and an interest may take the stage. Anchondo, according to Mark Buschkamp, executive director of the Cherokee Area Economic Development, brings lots of credibility to the Cherokee County seat.

"Henry Anchondo was a semifinalist in the 2015 International Blues Challenge in Memphis, Tennessee," he said. "In 2016, he was a finalist."

Dotson, an Iowa Great Lakes native, who is now based in Des Moines, has opened for legendary figures such as BB King, Willie Nelson and The Beach Boys. Elliott, meantime, released his 20th album in 2015. The Lamoni, Iowa, native performs more than 200 shows per year. Both Elliott and Dotson are returning to Cherokee for encore performances, having been past Blues Fest entertainers.

"This will be my fourth Jazz & Blues Fest," said Elliott, who later this month will start recording an album entitled, "Ringgold," named for the Iowa county in which he was born. "I play at The Gasthaus and the people there are just great. I remember one year playing and people came in and started dancing, shuffling atop the crushed peanut shells on the floor. I hope to get people dancing again this year."

"This event has become part of the cultural experience in Cherokee," said Buschkamp, who has been involved in planning a number of Blues Fests. "It creates culture and an atmosphere for music. It's a pretty important part of who we are."

The other Saturday events include a "Bonus Band" performance by J. Jeffrey Messerole from 5-8 p.m. at The Brightside and the Big Band Dance led by the Mearl Lake Orchestra from 6-9 p.m. at Western Iowa Tech Community College in Cherokee.

"We'll probably have around 900 to 1,000 people who show up over two nights for this," Buschkamp said.
Nina Grotto is a door-to-door saleswoman, and shes a standout at her job.

Shes got her sales pitch down, and last year, she sold 7,000 boxes of cookies. This year, shes determined to do even more.

The 17-year-old high school student from Hinsdale, Illinois, has been selling Girl Scout cookies since she was in the first grade. And while most strangers will buy a box or two, she said some people hide when they see her approaching their door.

A lot of people will buy one or two boxes just because youre out in the cold, Grotto said. But there are a lot of people who just dont answer the door.

Girl Scouts, along with Rodan & Fields reps, LuLaRoe consultants, Matilda Jane trunk keepers, Jamberry consultants and other independent direct sales businesses have popped up in doorways, on social media and in email inboxes in recent years, as stay-at-home parents and overworked career people seek ways to create positive cash flow.

But it also means that friends, family and even strangers have had to navigate tricky etiquette situations at home and at work when asked to support these business endeavors.

There are no real rules when it comes to whether you should purchase from your friends or family, but you really shouldnt feel you have to do it, said Diane Gottsman, a national etiquette expert and owner of The Protocol School of Texas.

Gottsmans friend recently asked her to purchase a bottle of shampoo from a friend whod started selling a new line. Her answer: No.

Shes pitching everyone privately and calling and badgering us, Gottsman said.

On the other hand, sellers do have a right to sell. That means they can post on social media and they can let friends know that theyve started a business.

They can also sell at the office if their job allows it, but many offices have no solicitation policies for this specific reason, Gottsman said.

But when you start to tag and put pressure on others to purchase your goods, then youve gone too far, Gottsman said.

Youll know that youve gone too far if you notice that your friends feel uncomfortable.

And if youre continually asking friends and families to make a purchase, then its going to get uncomfortable quickly.

Etiquette is using common sense and making others feel comfortable, said Sue Fox, founder of Etiquette Survival in San Luis Obispo, California.

Lisa Pilotto, a consultant with Rodan & Fields, said she tries to do this by being as authentic as possible.

I truly believe that the products and business that I have to share are a gift, and when I have the opportunity to share them with people, I think my genuine love for the products and the opportunity shines through, Pilotto said.

However, it doesnt matter how genuine I am if people dont know that I have a gift to share, so I post information, testimonials and personal videos frequently on social media, and I find ways to weave what I am doing into conversations in an authentic way.

As a result, she said, 20 percent of her customers are people she didnt previously know.

But, she said, friends shouldnt feel any pressure to make a purchase, nor should they feel bad or guilty if they decide not to buy something.

It might break up a friendship, but if it does, then that wasnt a very strong friendship, Gottsman said.

Still, if the people selling are good friends or family members, they may want to know why you simply wont purchase their product or the cookies that their child is selling, said Jacqueline Whitmore, founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach.

And realize that when its your turn to sell something, that they might not buy something in return, Whitmore said.

If the person selling is a good friend or a child of a friend, but you really dont like the product or cookies, it may be worthwhile for the sake of friendship to simply offer to make a donation, Whitmore suggested.
LAWTON, Iowa | A fire destroyed two structures and damaged a barn at a Woodbury County farm Saturday.

Bronson Fire Chief Jamie Amick said no one was injured in the fire that was reported after 2 p.m. at a property on Eastland Avenue, about two miles south of Lawton.

"It looks like the owner had been doing some burning outside and it caught some dry grass along one building and spread to another building that was surrounded by 50 round hay bales," Amick said, adding one of the bales was fully engulfed in flames when crews arrived.

Amick said two smaller buildings were destroyed, and the big barn on the property had some fire damage but was saved.

Crews from Bronson, Lawton, Sergeant Bluff and Moville assisted with the incident.
SOUTH SIOUX CITY | For decades, Americans voted only on election day. Eventually, some absentee voting options arose and, since 2004, early voting has particularly been pushed by the two major political parties.

Would having voting not in polling booths and only via mailed ballots be a step too far? While such mail-only balloting is required in three western states, a proposal to do that in Nebraska has people divided on the necessity of such a groundbreaking change.

Currently, there is a limited scope for when mail-only ballots can be used in Nebraska elections. But many voting machines in Nebraska are nearing the end of their useful time and replacement funding may be a problem. That's why the Nebraska Legislature is looking at moving the state to all-mail elections.

Randy Meyer, of South Sioux City, is a long-time Dakota County Republican Party official. Meyer said Friday that he dislikes a move to mail-only balloting for the state, saying voting should not be that easy.

"A person needs to expend some energy to vote," Meyer said.

Meyer also fears postal snafus.

"There are problems with the mail, things getting mailed and not arriving," Meyer said.

Oregon adopted all-mail voting in 2000, and was followed by Washington (2011) and Colorado (2013). Colorado had a 71 percent turnout in November in its first presidential election with all-mail voting.

Currently in Nebraska for primary and general elections, only counties with a population of fewer than 10,000 people can apply to have elections in precincts conducted solely by mail. Neal Erickson, deputy Nebraska secretary of state for elections, has said postage costs alone would make conducting an all-mail election in heavily populated areas cost-prohibitive.

A chief reason to embrace all-mail voting is because it appears to boost voter turnout, Cedar County Clerk David Dowling said. Such mail voting has been present in eight of 13 Cedar County voting precincts for about five years.

"I think it is the way to go. You get a better voice of the people," Dowling said.

Dowling noted mail-only voting has worked in states such as Oregon. He talks with clerks in other Nebraska counties and has heard more openness to the change statewide

"I know a lot of bigger counties are wanting it...I think it has a pretty good chance this year," Dowling said.

Dowling also said the all-mail voting is less costly to operate in Cedar County, in spite of postage costs.

"The people in our county seem to really like it. And we save money on it too. We don't have to pay rent on a polling place. We don't have to hire five people to sit there as poll workers," Dowling said.

On the flip side, some people have concerns about voter fraud with all-mail voting and caution that a wholesale change for Nebraska could be too much. Two legislators representing northeast Nebraska have not embraced moving to voting only by mail.

Sen. Tyson Larson of O'Neill, who represents District 40, said he is still seeking research to make a decision on whether he would support all-mail voting. Some precincts in Cedar County, which is part of his sprawling district, offer mail voting.

"There are precincts in District 40 that are currently all mail. They seem to be well received, but that does not mean everyone likes it," Larson said.

State Sen. Joni Albrecht, who lives in Thurston and represents District 17, said some elderly people in rural Nebraska like voting by mail but the majority of people do not. Albrecht said she's heard that having a variety of voting options in best.

Albrecht doesn't support moving to all-mail voting.

"I feel that there should be options," Albrecht said. "I know many of my neighbors feel that it is their duty and they prefer to vote on election day at their polling location. Others have expressed to me their concerns about the integrity and safety of their ballot."

Dakota County Clerk Joan Spencer, who has been the county's top election official since 2015, said she knows some people only like to vote in a booth.

"They want to have that right to go to the polls," Spencer said.

Spencer said so far the only mail-only elections in Dakota County have been smaller special elections, such as a Homer school bond issue referendum in June 2015. Ballots were mailed to voters prior to the election, and people either mailed their completed ballots back or dropped them off in person at the Dakota County Clerk's Office in Dakota City.

There were no problems with using postal mail in that Homer election, Spencer said.

Spencer has talked with other Nebraska county clerks about mail-only voting, summarizing that "they do like it." Spencer is a bit uncertain on whether mail-only balloting should be required statewide, saying she is "not entirely opposed to it."

Spencer said she suspects voter turnout would rise and county costs, such as paying poll workers, would drop.

Dowling said the all-mail voting has been held in Cedar County precincts that are rural and where it is difficult to find polling places that are handicapped-accessible. That includes towns such as Fordyce and Obert. He said people in the other larger county towns also have asked to get mail voting.

"I have had very, very positive response to it," Dowling said.

Dowling, who has been the Cedar County election official for 30 years, said he mails out ballots 22 days before an election and people like the option of filling them out at their kitchen tables.

Dowling noted in some special elections, such as primary contests, typical voter turnout is less than 10 percent. He said with mail voting, those Cedar County primary voting turnout totals have moved to the 30 to 40 percent range, while bigger general elections have moved to above 70 percent turnout.

"It has really increased voter turnout....That's a heck of an improvement over what we had," Dowling said.
Editor's note: Beginning today and continuing every other Sunday through the conclusion of this year's session of the Iowa Legislature, our five local lawmakers will share their Statehouse views.

Sen. Bill Anderson, R-Pierson

The biggest hurdle of this General Assembly will be putting in place a budget that is fiscally sound. We are beginning the session with disappointing news from the December Revenue Estimating Conference. The revenue estimate for this fiscal year was decreased by $96.2 million. The estimated reduction in revenue will make the budget process during this legislative session challenging.

On Tuesday, Gov. Terry Branstad gave his final Condition of the State address. In it, he laid out his plan for the budget, including measures to defund abortion providers, traffic safety, and other issues. It has been a pleasure to work with Gov. Branstad and I am excited to continue working with Iowas next governor, Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. She will do a fantastic job bringing her energy and love of Iowa to the office.

Beyond getting our budget on a fiscally sound trajectory, some of our priorities for this upcoming session include tax reform, education choice, and ensuring no tax dollars are provided to health care clinics that provide abortions. Iowas tax system is one of the most complicated and simplifying our tax code will greatly benefit all Iowans. I have been a strong proponent of education savings accounts. I believe we will finally be able to accomplish this meaningful reform giving parents the choice of where and how their children are educated. I was taught at a young age life is precious and must be protected. Iowa must end the funding of abortion providers. There are many great organizations in Iowa which provide family planning and health services. Our plan will provide women with more health care options.

I am optimistic about the session and will be chairing the Commerce Committee. This is an exciting new role. With Republican majorities, we will get through this tough budget year and enact positive legislative reforms improving the lives of Iowans.

Rep. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City

First of all, it is an honor to serve the people of the 6th District. I thank you for placing your trust in me as your state representative. Walking into the Capitol on my first day and taking the oath of office was truly a humbling experience that Ill never forget.

I have been assigned to serve as vice chair of the House Judiciary Committee and to serve on the Ways and Means, Education, and Veterans Affairs Committees, and on the Justice Subcommittee on Appropriations

Our campaign platform centered around creating conditions in which all constituents in the 6th District have the freedom to pursue their interests and those of their families and communities in the ways they think best. Youll remember those goals included legislative initiatives around tax reform, school choice and a return to more local control of schools, freezing senior property tax valuations, protection of Second Amendment rights, and greater protections for all lives, including the lives of the unborn.

So lets get started on whats happened during opening week.

Due to a sluggish agricultural economy faced with commodity prices below the cost of production, which is having a ripple effect in other industries, Iowas revenue growth is slowing.

When the Legislature adjourned last year, the budget was balanced. However, an updated revenue projection has created a manageable budget shortfall of around $117 million. This will require reductions to the current state budget.

Even with tight revenues, House Republicans believe theres never a bad time to review Iowas complex tax code. House Republicans will look for ways to make Iowas tax code simpler, fairer and more competitive as the session gets under way.

Please know I want to hear your thoughts as we move through this 2017 session. You can reach me at jim.carlin@legis.iowa.gov or 515-281-3221 or 712-253-4270.

Rep. Chris Hall, D-Sioux City

To begin, thank you to the people of Sioux City for affording me another term in the Iowa House. Im proud to represent you. The first week of the new legislative session began with family, introductions, and formal speeches by the governor and chief justice of the Supreme Court. My committee assignments this year include Agriculture, Commerce, and Appropriations, where I will serve as the ranking member.

Unfortunately, session begins with a challenging budget even while Iowas economy is stable. Due to excessive tax cuts and credits in recent years, the budget surplus has gone from $900 million in 2014 to $0 in the current budget year. What is more frustrating is that these tax cuts have not reached the average person. During the past two years, for example, the state has actually paid some companies to do business here while paying no taxes in return.

Fiscal discipline does not involve passing every tax cut you can throw a stone at, nor every opportunity to spend. It is a question of what the state can afford. The excess giveaways of recent years resulted last week in a proposal by Gov. Terry Branstad to cut existing programs, while GOP legislators continue to discuss the creation of new ones. Specifically, Branstad proposed to cut funding from community colleges, public safety and the justice system. One-party control might now give taxpayers pause.

As in years past, I appreciate The Journal providing this space to legislators. My goal will be to inform readers and provide objective information, so you can decide whether you agree.

Why do these updates matter to you? The condition of the budget impacts your property taxes, your childrens schools, state parks, public safety programs and health care for seniors and the disabled. For business and citizens alike, sound government is essential.

Take care and stay in touch this year.

Rep. Tim Kacena, D-Sioux City

The 87th Iowa General Assembly kicked off last week with the news of where the governor would like to make cuts to pay for the excessive tax breaks given over the past two years that resulted in a $100 million deficit for this fiscal year. The proposed cuts include $35 million from Iowas 15 community colleges and the three state universities; $20 million from the Department of Human Services, an agency that deals with the most vulnerable children in the state; $15 million from the Department of Corrections, where the correctional officers are already understaffed and morale is plummeting to levels not seen in many years; $14 million from Medicaid; and $7.7 million from the judicial branch where judges have not had a raise in more than six years.

These cuts should have never been on the table considering that the state had a budget surplus of $900 million in 2014. So somehow we have managed to spend a billion dollars in two years without any real growth in the state.

On a personal note I found the first week to be very entertaining. There are some very good and genuine people down here, and there are some really egotistical and arrogant people, as well. I do not think that I will be able to find any Eisenhower Republicans, so at this point I would settle for some Reagan Republicans, but it seems to me that the Tea Party Republicans have a pretty tight grip on the Statehouse.

Finding the middle will be more difficult than I thought, but I am always hopeful that we can find a middle.
Over the course of the past several years, the Siouxland business community has experienced exceptional growth as numerous businesses and industries have chosen to expand or locate in our region. One of the significant challenges associated with maintaining this strong economic progress is ensuring our local employers have access to an abundant and well-trained workforce.

The Siouxland Initiative (TSI), in partnership with the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce, has played a leading role in helping to address this issue by developing and implementing a comprehensive workforce solutions strategy in collaboration with our public and private sector partners. The goal of this unified strategy is to help increase the supply of qualified workers through labor force attraction, education and skills training.

According to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, of the 31 million jobs created in 2018 requiring post-secondary degrees, nearly half of those will go to individuals with an associates degree or occupational certificate. Most of these will be in middle-skilled professions.

Recognizing these critical developments, TSI is committed to serving as a leading advocate for the establishment and expansion of technical and career training programs in our local schools. Through competency-based instruction and hands-on experience, students are afforded the opportunity to obtain certified occupational skills, resulting in further education and culminating in meaningful employment. Encouraging our young people to pursue in-demand skilled labor professions is crucial to creating a sustainable pipeline of trained talent.

Our region is extremely fortunate to be home to a variety of post-secondary institutions including Briar Cliff University, Morningside College, Wayne State College, St. Lukes College, Western Iowa Tech Community College, Northeast Community College and the University of South Dakota. These institutions have demonstrated the willingness and ability to customize their curriculums to meet the needs of the regional business community and are vital partners in the education of our future and existing workforce.

The upskilling and reskilling of our existing labor force is equally important to addressing our workforce challenges. As articulated in a recent Bloomberg article, It is simply not possible to weather the current technological revolution by waiting for the next generations workforce to become better prepared.

Programs such as the National Career Readiness Certificate (NCRC) help to ensure that job seekers and current employees possess the skills that employers deem essential to workplace success. A recent laborshed study conducted by Iowa Workforce Development discovered that over 9,000 NCRC holders are residing within the Siouxland community. This is an extremely positive step in closing the skills gap.

Identifying and promoting opportunities to engage Siouxlands untapped workforce is another important component of our ongoing workforce development strategy. Barriers to employment, such as a physical condition or personal situation, can make it hard to find or keep a job. The Siouxland area is home to a number of organizations dedicated to helping individuals overcome these obstacles. Finding workers in a tight labor market often requires employers to stretch the bounds of ordinary recruiting and hiring practices.

Finally, it is absolutely imperative that we grow our local labor pool by recruiting outside talent. For this reason, TSI has initiated a variety of communication initiatives via traditional and social media with the goal of attracting new employees to Siouxland.

In addition to highlighting our areas many employment opportunities, substantial focus has been placed on promoting our regions many existing quality-of-life attributes. Numerous studies and empirical data have shown that young professionals and families are increasingly drawn to creative, culturally-vibrant communities.

Recent reports indicate that approximately 66 percent of prospective candidates between the ages of 25 and 34 identify potential communities before even looking at employment opportunities. Although significant improvements have been made over the past several decades, we must continue to build upon amenities, cultural activities and recreational opportunities that will prove attractive to employment prospects.

A comprehensive approach to workforce development requires substantial employer engagement, deep community connections, industry-driven education and training, and the establishment of strong networks. While it is neither the mission nor the intent of TSI to replace the existing workforce recruitment efforts of individual companies, we intend to serve an integral role in complementing and supplementing these efforts by facilitating and overseeing a strategic course of action that will benefit the entire Siouxland community.

Solving our workforce challenges will not happen overnight. However, TSI remains committed to partnering with our regional stakeholders to ensure our employers have access to an abundant and qualified labor force now and into the future.

Kory Menken is director of workforce solutions for the Siouxland Chamber of Commerce/The Siouxland Initiative.
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We were thrilled when we found $730 plane tickets from Chicago to Vietnam.

Friends had recently traveled to Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, so we knew wed need to get our visas ahead of time.

What we didnt know was that we had booked our October flights shortly after the country changed its visa regulations.

In April, according to a State Department official, the U.S. and Vietnam ratified an agreement that permitted Vietnam to issue 12-month, multiple-entry visas to U.S. citizens. The U.S. similarly allows Vietnamese citizens multiple-entry, 12-month visas for short-term business or tourism.

But once the new visa regulations went into effect, we found that 12-month visas were the only ones available, instead of the former 30-day visa option. And the fee had skyrocketed.

Just how expensive was it? It depended on whom we asked. The Vietnam Embassys website doesnt list prices. It simply directs people to an email address and a phone number with multiple extensions. Phone calls to each extension went unanswered.

An email to vnconsular@vietnamembassy.us did garner a response within a day. The Washington, D.C., embassy cited a $220 fee. The Houston consulate, however, quoted us $200, and San Francisco, $185.

Prices have since shifted; a recent email to the consulate in San Francisco offered an $80 visa for a one-month, single-entry visit, which would have sufficed for our vacation.

Because fees appear to be flexible, its a good idea to check with multiple consulates and the embassy for the lowest price. Youll need to mail your passport and include a prepaid return envelope. Passports must be valid for at least six months beyond your planned stay.
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Ltd., Hospira Pty Limited, Hospira Puerto Rico LLC, Hospira Singapore Pte Ltd, Hospira UK Limited, Hospira Worldwide LLC, Hospira Zagreb d.o.o., ICAgen, Idun Pharmaceuticals, Industrial Santa Agape S.A., InnoPharma, InnoPharma Inc., International Affiliated Corporation LLC, JMI-Daniels Pharmaceuticals Inc., John Wyeth & Brother Limited, Kiinteisto oy Espoon Pellavaniementie 14, King Pharmaceuticals Holdings LLC, King Pharmaceuticals LLC, King Pharmaceuticals Research and Development LLC, Korea Pharma Holding Company Limited, Laboratoires Pfizer S.A., Laboratorios Parke Davis S.L., Laboratorios Pfizer Ltda., Laboratorios Wyeth LLC, Laboratorios Wyeth S.A., Laboratorios Pfizer Lda., MTG Divestitures LLC, Mayne Pharma IP Holdings (Euro) Pty Ltd, Medivation, Medivation Field Solutions LLC, Medivation LLC, Medivation Neurology LLC, Medivation Prostate Therapeutics LLC, Medivation Services LLC, Medivation Technologies LLC, Meridian Medical Technologies Inc., Meridian Medical Technologies Limited, Monarch Pharmaceuticals LLC, Neusentis Limited, NextWave Pharmaceuticals, NextWave Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, P-D Co. LLC, PAH USA IN8 LLC, PF Americas Holding C.V., PF Asia Manufacturing B.V., PF PR Holdings C.V., PF PRISM C.V., PF PRISM Holdings S.a.r.l., PF Prism S.a.r.l., PFE Holdings G.K., PFE PHAC Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Pfizer Holdings 1 LLC, PFE Wyeth Holdings LLC, PFE Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) LLC, PHILCO Holdings S.a r.l., PHIVCO Corp., PHIVCO Holdco S.a r.l., PHIVCO Luxembourg S.a r.l., PN Mexico LLC, PT. Pfizer Parke Davis, Parke Davis & Company LLC, Parke Davis Limited, Parke Davis Productos Farmaceuticos Lda, Parke-Davis Manufacturing Corp., Parkedale Pharmaceuticals Inc., Peak Enterprises LLC, Pfizer, Pfizer (China) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, Pfizer (Perth) Pty Limited, Pfizer (Thailand) Limited, Pfizer (Wuhan) Research and Development Co. Ltd., Pfizer AB, Pfizer AG, Pfizer AS, Pfizer Africa & Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Veterinarian Products & Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer Anti-Infectives AB, Pfizer ApS, Pfizer Asia Manufacturing Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Asia Pacific Pte Ltd., Pfizer Atlantic Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Australia Holdings B.V., Pfizer Australia Holdings Pty Limited, Pfizer Australia Investments Pty. Ltd., Pfizer Australia Pty Limited, Pfizer B.V., Pfizer BH D.o.o., Pfizer Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer Biofarmaceutica Sociedade Unipessoal Lda, Pfizer Biologics (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd, Pfizer Biologics Ireland Holdings Limited, Pfizer Biotech Corporation, Pfizer Bolivia S.A., Pfizer Canada Inc., Pfizer CentreSource Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Chile S.A., Pfizer Cia. Ltda., Pfizer Colombia Spinco I LLC, Pfizer Commercial Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Commercial Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Commercial TRAE Trading Kft., Pfizer Consumer Healthcare AB, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare GmbH, Pfizer Consumer Healthcare Ltd., Pfizer Consumer Manufacturing Italy S.r.l., Pfizer Corporation, Pfizer Corporation Austria Gesellschaft m.b.H., Pfizer Corporation Hong Kong Limited, Pfizer Croatia d.o.o., Pfizer Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Development LP, Pfizer Development Services (UK) Limited, Pfizer Domestic Ventures Limited, Pfizer Dominicana S.R.L, Pfizer ESP Pty Ltd, Pfizer East India B.V., Pfizer Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer Egypt S.A.E., Pfizer Enterprise Holdings B.V., Pfizer Enterprises LLC, Pfizer Enterprises SARL, Pfizer Europe Finance B.V., Pfizer Export B.V., Pfizer Export Company, Pfizer Export Holding Company B.V, Pfizer Finance Share Service (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Financial Services N.V./S.A., Pfizer France International Investments, Pfizer Free Zone Panama S. de R.L., Pfizer GEP S.L., Pfizer Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer Global Supply Japan Inc., Pfizer Global Trading, Pfizer Group Luxembourg Sarl, Pfizer Gulf FZ-LLC, Pfizer H.C.P. Corporation, Pfizer HK Service Company Limited, Pfizer Health AB, Pfizer Health Solutions Inc., Pfizer Healthcare Ireland, Pfizer Hellas A.E., Pfizer Himalaya Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Holding France, Pfizer Holding Ventures, Pfizer Holdings Corporation, Pfizer Holdings Europe Unlimited Company, Pfizer Holdings G.K., Pfizer Holdings International Corporation, Pfizer Holdings International Luxembourg (PHIL) Sarl, Pfizer Holdings North America SARL, Pfizer Hungary Holdings TRAE Kft., Pfizer Inc., Pfizer Innovations AB, Pfizer Innovations LLC, Pfizer Innovative Supply Point International BVBA, Pfizer International LLC, Pfizer International Markets Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer International Operations, Pfizer International S. de R.L., Pfizer International Trading (Shanghai) Limited, Pfizer Investment Capital Unlimited Company, Pfizer Investment Co. Ltd., Pfizer Investment Holdings S.a.r.l., Pfizer Ireland Investments Limited, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 1 LLC, Pfizer Ireland PFE Holding 2 LLC, Pfizer Ireland Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer Ireland Ventures Unlimited Company, Pfizer Italia S.r.l., Pfizer Italy Group Holding S.r.l., Pfizer Japan Inc., Pfizer LLC, Pfizer Laboratories (Pty) Limited, Pfizer Laboratories Limited, Pfizer Laboratories PFE (Pty) Ltd, Pfizer Leasing Ireland Limited, Pfizer Leasing UK Limited, Pfizer Limitada, Pfizer Limited, Pfizer Luxco Holdings SARL, Pfizer Luxembourg Global Holdings S.a r.l., Pfizer Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer MAP Holding Inc., Pfizer Manufacturing Austria G.m.b.H., Pfizer Manufacturing Belgium N.V., Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland GmbH, Pfizer Manufacturing Deutschland Grundbesitz GmbH & Co. KG, Pfizer Manufacturing Holdings LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Manufacturing LLC, Pfizer Manufacturing Services, Pfizer Medical Technology Group (Belgium) N.V., Pfizer Medicamentos Genericos e Participacoes Ltda., Pfizer Mexico Luxco SARL, Pfizer Mexico S.A. de C.V., Pfizer Middle East for Pharmaceuticals Animal Health and Chemicals S.A.E., Pfizer New Zealand Limited, Pfizer Norge AS, Pfizer North American Holdings Inc., Pfizer OTC B.V., Pfizer Overseas LLC, Pfizer Oy, Pfizer PFE ApS, Pfizer PFE AsiaPac Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Australia Pty Ltd, Pfizer PFE B.V., Pfizer PFE Baltic Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Belgium SPRL, Pfizer PFE Brazil Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE CIA. Ltda., Pfizer PFE Chile Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Colombia Holding Corp., Pfizer PFE Colombia S.A.S, Pfizer PFE Commercial Holdings LLC, Pfizer PFE Croatia Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Eastern Investments B.V., Pfizer PFE Finland Oy, Pfizer PFE France, Pfizer PFE Global Holdings B.V., Pfizer PFE Ireland Pharmaceuticals Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco 2 S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Italy Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Pfizer PFE Limited, Pfizer PFE Luxembourg S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Mexico Holding 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE Netherlands Holding 1 C.V., Pfizer PFE New Zealand, Pfizer PFE New Zealand Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Norway Holding S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE PILSA Holdco S.a r.l., Pfizer PFE Peru Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Peru S.R.L., Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Holding LLC, Pfizer PFE Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer PFE Private Limited, Pfizer PFE S.R.L, Pfizer PFE Service Company Holding Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer PFE Singapore Holding B.V., Pfizer PFE Singapore Pte. Ltd., Pfizer PFE Spain B.V., Pfizer PFE Spain Holding S.L., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding 2 S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Sweden Holding S.a.r.l., Pfizer PFE Switzerland GmbH, Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 1 B.V., Pfizer PFE Turkey Holding 2 B.V., Pfizer PFE UK Holding 4 LP, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 1 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 2 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 3 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 4 LLC, Pfizer PFE US Holdings 5 LLC, Pfizer PFE spol. s r.o., Pfizer PFE Ilaclar Anonim Sirketi, Pfizer Pakistan Limited, Pfizer Parke Davis (Thailand) Ltd., Pfizer Parke Davis Inc., Pfizer Parke Davis Sdn. Bhd., Pfizer Pharm Algerie, Pfizer Pharma GmbH, Pfizer Pharma PFE GmbH, Pfizer Pharmaceutical (Wuxi) Co. Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceutical Trading Limited Liability Company (a/k/a Pfizer Kft. or Pfizer LLC), Pfizer Pharmaceuticals B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Global B.V., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Israel Ltd., Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Korea Limited, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals LLC, Pfizer Pharmaceuticals Ltd., Pfizer Pigments Inc., Pfizer Polska Sp. z.o.o., Pfizer Private Limited, Pfizer Production LLC, Pfizer Products Inc., Pfizer Products India Private Limited, Pfizer Research (NC) Inc., Pfizer Romania SRL, Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A., Pfizer S.A. (Belgium), Pfizer S.A. de C.V., Pfizer S.A.S., Pfizer S.G.P.S. Lda., Pfizer S.L., Pfizer S.R.L., Pfizer SRB d.o.o., Pfizer Saidal Manufacturing, Pfizer Sante Familiale, Pfizer Saudi Limited, Pfizer Seiyaku K.K., Pfizer Service Company BVBA, Pfizer Service Company Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Services 1, Pfizer Services LLC, Pfizer Shared Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Shareholdings Intermediate SARL, Pfizer Singapore Holding Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Singapore Trading Pte. Ltd., Pfizer Spain Holdings Cooperatief U.A., Pfizer Specialties Limited, Pfizer Strategic Investment Holdings LLC, Pfizer Sweden Partnership KB, Pfizer TRAE Holdings Kft., Pfizer Trading Polska sp.z.o.o., Pfizer Transactions Ireland Unlimited Company, Pfizer Transactions LLC, Pfizer Transactions Luxembourg SARL, Pfizer Transport LLC, Pfizer Ukraine LLC, Pfizer Vaccines LLC, Pfizer Venezuela S.A., Pfizer Venture Investments LLC, Pfizer Ventures LLC, Pfizer Worldwide Services Unlimited Company, Pfizer Zona Franca S.A., Pfizer spol. s r.o., Pharmacia, Pharmacia & Upjohn Company Inc., Pharmacia & Upjohn Company LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn LLC, Pharmacia & Upjohn S.A. de C.V., Pharmacia Brasil Ltda., Pharmacia Hepar LLC, Pharmacia Holding AB, Pharmacia Inter-American LLC, Pharmacia International B.V., Pharmacia LLC, Pharmacia Limited, Pharmacia Nostrum S.A., Pharmacia South Africa (Pty) Ltd, PowderJect Research Limited, PowderMed, Purepac Pharmaceutical Holdings LLC, Redvax, Renrall LLC, Rinat Neuroscience, Rinat Neuroscience Corp., Roerig Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Roerig S.A., Sao Cristovao Participacoes Ltda., Searle Laboratorios Lda., Serenex, Servicios P&U S. de R.L. de C.V., Shiley LLC, Sinergis Farma-Produtos Farmaceuticos Lda., Site Realty Inc., Solinor LLC, Sugen LLC, Tabor LLC, The Pfizer Incubator LLC, Therachon, Thiakis Limited, Treerly Health Co. Ltd, US Oral Pharmaceuticals Pty Ltd, Upjohn Laboratorios Lda., Vesteralens Naturprodukter A/S, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AB, Vesteralens Naturprodukter AS, Vesteralens Naturprodukter OY, Vicuron Holdings LLC, Vinci Farma S.A., W-L LLC, Warner Lambert, Warner Lambert Ilac Sanayi ve Ticaret Limited Sirketi, Warner Lambert del Uruguay S.A., Warner-Lambert (Thailand) Limited, Warner-Lambert Company AG, Warner-Lambert Company LLC, Warner-Lambert Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Warner-Lambert S.A., Whitehall International Inc., Whitehall Laboratories Inc., Wyeth (Thailand) Ltd., Wyeth AB, Wyeth Australia Pty. Limited, Wyeth Ayerst Inc., Wyeth Ayerst S.a r.l., Wyeth Biopharma, Wyeth Canada ULC, Wyeth Consumer Healthcare LLC, Wyeth Europa Limited, Wyeth Farma S.A., Wyeth Holdings LLC, Wyeth Industria Farmaceutica Ltda., Wyeth KFT., Wyeth LLC, Wyeth Lederle S.r.l., Wyeth Lederle Vaccines S.A., Wyeth Pakistan Limited, Wyeth Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd., Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Company, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals FZ-LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals LLC, Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Limited, Wyeth Puerto Rico Inc., Wyeth S.A.S, Wyeth Subsidiary Illinois Corporation, Wyeth Whitehall Export GmbH, Wyeth Whitehall SARL, Wyeth-Ayerst (Asia) Limited, Wyeth-Ayerst International LLC, and Wyeth-Ayerst Promotions Limited.

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South Jersey Industries, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides energy-related products and services. The company engages in the purchase, transmission, and sale of natural gas. It also sells natural gas and pipeline transportation capacity on a wholesale basis to residential, commercial, and industrial customers on the interstate pipeline system, as well as transports natural gas purchased directly from producers or suppliers to customers. As of December 31, 2021, the company had approximately 147 miles of mains in the transmission system and 6,815 miles of mains in the distribution system; and served 384,062 residential, commercial, and industrial customers in southern New Jersey. In addition, it markets natural gas storage, commodity, and transportation assets on a wholesale basis for energy marketers, electric and gas utilities, power plants, and natural gas producers in the mid-Atlantic, Appalachian, and southern regions of the United States. Further, the company owns and operates rooftop solar-generation sites. Additionally, it owns oil, gas, and mineral rights in the Marcellus Shale region of Pennsylvania; acquires and markets natural gas and electricity to retail end users, as well as provides total energy management, fuel management, and energy procurement and cost reduction services. The company was founded in 1910 and is headquartered in Folsom, New Jersey.
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.
If the number of staff in a bureaucrats office decreases while they are in charge, they feel tremendous shame which means most of the bureaucrats will fight to keep the whaling section in their ministry at all costs. And that is true with the politicians as well. If the issue is closely related to their constituency, they will promise to bring back commercial whaling. It is a way of keeping their seats.

JAPANESE Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has embarked on a high-profile business trip to Southeast Asian countries and Australia to strengthen trade, security, and other regional cooperation.But while he held talks with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney, ocean activists say there is something amiss in the meeting as whale hunting in the Southern Ocean was not included in the agenda.Whaling in the Antarctic has strained diplomatic ties between Australia and Japan. The International Court of Justice ruled in 2014 that Japans whaling program is unlawful and therefore it must cease once and for all. The Federal Court of Australia also told Japan to stop its massive whaling in the region.Despite the rulings, however, Japan ignored them and practically turned deaf ears to global condemnation.For one thing, whaling is uniquely Japanese, a tradition that dates back since time immemorial  a cultural tradition that only Japanese can understand.Chris Burgess wrote in The Asia-Pacific Journal an analogy comparing between Japan and whales.He said to deny Japan from whaling is tantamount to denying Japans existence, an insult to its national pride and identity.Speaking of Japanese-ness, whaling is not an isolated case that Japan has blatantly misunderstood.Take for instance the demand for apologies for its wartime past. Japan withheld apologies and if it did, the form and content are rather ambiguous.Japanese prime ministers have acknowledged the pains and sorrows wars have inflicted to hundreds or thousands of victims, but the nations officials continue to visit the Yasukuni Shrine to pay respect to war criminals.The comfort womens issue is another thing.Survivors have demanded apologies and compensation, but Japan strongly denied forcing women into sex slavery  besides hasnt Germany or America done it too?Japan has been condemned by its Asian neighbours for glossing over wartime crimes yet it continues to rewrite schools history textbooks extolling its military past. Japan claims innocence to fingers pointed at him as if Japan is simply maligned with impunity.Simply put, Japan and whales are inseparable. Whale is a delicacy bringing back nostalgia of home and childhood, as Rupert Wingfield-Hayes wrote in BBC News, Tokyo To the Japanese, ethics and morality on meat-eating are practically relative and arbitrary the same way Australians slaughter kangaroo for its meat or how British cook adorable rabbits for a hearty meal, or how Americans make a burger out of a holy cow.For the Japanese, meat means whale. Could there be a deep chasm between eastern and western thought in regard to being a carnivore?What Japan might have overlooked is the scale and magnitude of its whale hunting. Japan hunts for 333 mink whales each year traversing and trespassing international waters and marine sanctuaries.Following the release of the Academy Award-winning documentary, The Cove (2009) , which showed the brutal whale slaughter turning waters into blood red, Taiji has become ground zero for local and international activism. Taiji is a town located in Higashimuro District, Wakayama Prefecture.The film brought global awareness on how fishermen round up some 1,000 dolphins a year to sell to marine parks or kill for meat.In response to it, Megumi Sasaki produced a documentary film, A Whale of a Tale , in an attempt to shed light on the juxtaposition of contrast between Japanese and non-Japanese thoughts in regard to whale.Her film, however, did not get as much attention as The Cove.Japan did not sail to international waters to hunt for whales, not until 1934 , eventually ending up to Antarctica. The nations confidence was boosted with its advancing technology including the introduction of steam ships and grenade-tipped harpoon guns. Further, whales helped keep Japanese citizens fed both during and after World War II.Just like its display of military might in the heydays of territorial expansion, the Japanese whaling fleet commands strength and fearless dominion over international waters.The Sea Shepherd has been in the media spotlight, unfazed with the Japanese fleet.The marine conservation group has launched an annual campaign to confront and send the Japanese fleet back home minus the whales.Dramatic confrontations like adrenaline-packed action movie have taken place in high seas. The head-on clashes, however, have been said to be illegal posing risk and danger at sea.The Sea Shepherd has been charged in a U.S. court for its action despite its noble cause. The U.S. arm of anti-whaling group Sea Shepherd has agreed to pay AU$3.332 million (US$2.25 million) to Japanese whalers for breaching a court injunction.But just like the Japanese, who can stop the Sea Shepherd?This year, the group dispatched two vessels to mutually bully and harass the Japanese fleet. Sea Shepherd Global vessels, the Ocean Warrior and the MV Steve Irwin, left Australias Southern Operations Base the first weekend of December carrying 51 crew members from eight countries.Their goal is to intercept the Japanese fleet, which departed from Japan in late November, and prevent them from killing their self-allocated quota of 333 minke whales. This years campaign is dubbed as Operation Nemesis Matt Collis of the International Fund for Animal Welfare suggested it is critical to maintain diplomatic pressure on Japan.He said external pressure can only be successful if enough decision-makers in Japan understand the risks to Japans wider interests by continued whaling and start to question the wisdom of that decision.He also noted that the main option for governments is to make strong diplomatic protests to Japan as 33 countries have already done so, including Australia, the U.S., Mexico, South Africa and all 28 EU member states, led by New Zealand.The Japanese government needs to understand the changes that have taken place in the course of human history. This is the era where global awareness on the state of the planet has become more urgent than ever.Part of the difficulty to stop Japanese whaling is rooted in its bureaucratic system. Japans whaling is government-run, a large bureaucracy with research budgets, annual plans, promotions and pensions.If the ministrys office in charge of whaling is downsized, it discredits the bureaucrats and politicians. For now, downsizing or demolishing the whaling section is not possible. As BBC noted:Activism has to continue to put pressure on Japan sending a message that time has changed.Remember what the small neighbour South Korea did. Victims of comfort women protested every Wednesday without ceasing since the 2005 in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul.The move was aimed at forcing the Japanese government to make public and face-to-face apology, as well as to offer individual compensation for its wartime sex crimes.As a constant reminder, the now aged women in their 80s or 90s, supported by various civic and academic groups, put up bronze statues in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and in major cities worldwide.The statues depict young girls who were forced to served as comfort women for Japanese soldiers during World War II. The sight has embarrassed embassy officials. Recently, these grandmothers have stroke a breakthrough. The Japanese government finally caved in to their demands for formal apology and compensation. However, there is a string-attached to the compensation package. Japan asked the South Korean government to remove the statues they have erected in front of the embassies and elsewhere.A big whale statue might not be needed to put up in front of every Japanese embassy around the globe, but a sustained pressure can send the message across: it is sad to say goodbye to whaling, but time has changed.It is time to free the whales.Follow @DGreenJournal on Twitter
District 7 (Pennsylvania) of the United States Trotting Association held its annual meeting on Saturday (January 14) at the Omni Bedford Springs Resort in this city in the southwest corner of the Keystone State, the hometown of District Chairman Sam Beegle.

Fellow directors Russell Williams and Rich Gillock, along with USTA CEO/VP Mike Tanner, were also present and helpful in discussions at the well-attended meeting.

In polling attendees about the USTA proposed rule changes, so that the Pennsylvania directors can represent the opinions of its membership at the USTA annual meeting, starting on February 26 in Las Vegas, the following were the membership opinions:

1. (Dead Heat language)  Rejected.

2. (Driver Insurance by Racetrack)  Rejected.

3. (Outrider)  Rejected.

4. (Mile rate in program)  Rejected.

5. (Symbol for 2nd tier starter)  Accepted.

6. (15YOs in amateur races)  Rejected.

7. (Purse Distribution)  Rejected.

8. (% of trainer/driver % to retired horses)  Rejected.

9. (Qualifiers from 60 days to 30 days)  Rejected, with one dissenting vote.

10. (Omitted horse drawn, others out one PP)  Rejected.

11. (Breaker must go outside or inside)  Accepted.

12. (Specific pylon violation standards)  Accepted, with one dissenting vote.

13. (Appeal / objection relationship)  Tabled, and asked to be reworded.

14. (Registration without owners signature)  Accepted.

15. (Delete spayed or neutered)  Accepted.

16. (Register foal online)  Withdrawn / moot with passage of #14.

17. a. (Letters/spaces in names from 18 to 20)  Accepted.

17. b. (Disallowing former names)  Rejected.

18. (Definition of outstanding)  Accepted.

19-28. (RUS rules)  Tabled; no RUS racing in Pennsylvania.

29. (Movement after allowing tuck)  Rejected.

30. (Track Directors)  Accepted.

31. (Term lengths for Directors)  Rejected.

32. (Language housekeeping)  Accepted.

The other major topic discussed at the meeting was the first of a set of revisions in the funding of fair racing in Pennsylvania. Saturdays discussion focused on the initial item for which a framework had been reached, a revamping of the Fair Sire Stakes, which were strengthened by the PA Breeders giving a portion of their revenue stream to these PA-sired races. There will be an A and a B division in the Fair Sire Stakes for the first time, the latter in large part to replace the Quaker State races, which had no assured source of funding.

Pennsylvania Department of Agriculture Deputy Secretary Fred Strathmeyer, whose departmental portfolio oversees harness racing, gave a broad overview of the proposed and possible future restructurings of fair funding that will allow Fair Sire Stake purses to increase and also shore up funding in administrative areas. Questions were asked about the developing program, specifically the Fair Sire Stakes proposal; as much information as could be was imparted to the gathering, with the prospect of further discussion likely this Thursday, with the annual Fair Sire Stakes meeting at the Pennsylvania Fair Convention in Hershey, PA.

(PHHA)
Fact one: Over the past decade, state K-12 education spending has increased 51 percent in Washington, from $13.75 billion in the 2005-07 biennium to $21 billion currently. Most of the increase occurred in the last four years.

Fact two: Per-student spending in Washington rose 21 percent over the last six years, from $9,945 to $12,052. Thats about $1,300 more than the $10,700 national average, though well short of what national leaders like New York and Massachusetts spend.

So why are the Legislature and Gov. Jay Inslee struggling to pump billions more into K-12 education over the next biennium?

The answer is simple. The state Supreme Court in October told legislators that it still hasn't complied with its 2012 McCleary decision  which found that the state is violating the Constitution by not making ample provision for the education of children.

Finding a solution is murkier. For one thing, it's still not clear how much more money will satisfy the court's demands. The court simply ordered that the state must fully fund K-12 basic education. It set no target. K-12 spending must be considerably more than adequate and must be the states first budget priority, the court said.

The Legislature has increased spending by $2.3 billion in recent years to address McCleary. This money has gone largely to funding all-day kindergarten and class size reductions in lower grades.

But lawmakers have not addressed what the court considers the unconstitutional way school district workers are paid. The court said those are basic education costs and should be borne by the state  not propped up by voter-approved local school property tax levies.

Without clear, numerical targets from the court, the case has become something of a Rorschach blot for legislators. Some see McCleary as an opportunity to end the funding disparity between rich, urban school districts and poorer, rural districts. That disparity makes rural taxpayers pay more for schools less able to compete for teachers.

"The inequity in local levies is kind of outrageous, said Patty Wood, a member of the State Board of Education and former Kelso school board president. When you look at the compensation of what our teachers get paid in different districts, it's not equitable. So our number-one cry has been 'Fix the compensation.' If you can fix that then ... that should take care of so much more."

So far, solutions are scant. Last month, Gov. Jay Inslee released a plan to raise more than $4 billion for public education through a combination of taxes including a new capital gains tax, a carbon tax and an increase in the business and occupation tax.

The bulk of this money would be allocated toward increasing teacher and administrator salaries and benefits, along with setting aside funds for teacher training and hiring additional K-3 staff.

According to Inslee, his plan would pay for property tax relief for about 75 percent of Washington's property owners. For some homeowners, the cut would be upwards of $250. The remaining residents would see no change or increase in property taxes.

Inslee says he's trying to respond to the high court's concerns that too much school funding depends on local property tax levies.

So far, Inslee's proposal is the one only one formally on the table. The states Education Funding Task Force consisting of four Democrats and four Republicans  missed a Jan. 9 court deadline to announce its recommendations. (Two local legislators, Republicans John Braun of Centralia and Ann Rivers of La Center, are on the committee.)

According to a third-party report to the task force, school districts in the state pay, on average, an additional $14,000 per teacher on top of what the state pays.

Inslees plan, though, wouldnt just close that gap. All teachers would get salary increases under his plan.

For example, beginning teachers, who now make an average of $35,700, would make nearly $55,000 after fulfilling several professional development milestones.

A teacher with 16 or more years of experience, now earning an average salary of $67,000, could earn up to $85,000. Health benefits for teachers and school administrators would also increase.

This is partly why some legislators, Republicans in particular, are getting sticker shock.

Thats one of the principal reasons why we have the Education Funding Task Force is to find out, whats the true cost of local levies, money going towards basic education? said Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia. And frankly we dont have the actual answer.

19th District State Rep. Jim Walsh, an Aberdeen Republican who represents Cowlitz County, said Inslee's request for $4 billion is too large.

Along with other Republicans, the freshman legislator said Inslees inflated funding request includes additional services that shouldn't qualify as "basic education." (See sidebar on the history of this definition).

Wood, the state school board member from Kelso, agrees that the governor's plan might be asking for too much, but she said its a good start.

"I like the specificity of this, and I think he might have shot too high for a lot of people in the state in terms of salaries," Wood said. "I am hoping we do see an increase in base salaries, especially for brand-new teachers."

Longview teachers union president Ray Clift said he liked a lot of the elements of the governors plan, including the salary increase and health benefit increase.

Well the big thing is, teachers have to have a competitive wage," Clift said. Longview is paying quite a bit less than the larger districts in Vancouver Were trying to be competitive... An increase in salary helps with that.

"We're really hopeful that part of his plan will go through," Clift added. "We're glad to see the recognition that the problems exist and we actually need to do something to address the issues of McCleary."

From the day the court issued the McCleary decision, many observers asked if the high court had authority to order the Legislature how to spend money.

Will someone challenge it as a violation of separation of powers?

I think the Supreme Court has constitutional gray areas in trying to force the Legislature  They walk a thin line, Rep. Walsh said.

State Sen. Dean Takko, D-Longview, said hes seen some indication of that discontent already in emails and letters circulating around the legislature. That worries him.

I hope we dont get to that point, because things will really melt down then, Takko said.

The Legislature has until September 2018 to figure out how to comply with McCleary. It has accrued about $50 million in fines since the court in 2014 imposed a $100,000-a-day penalty for noncompliance with its decision.

Even I have some questions about (the Supreme Court mandate), but Im not sure thats the fight you want to take on, Takko said. I think its better to try and do the right thing for education and kids than to sit there and have a fight with the Supreme Court, because I dont think thats going to get you anywhere.
Is it a way to make public school funding more fair or a state money grab?

Or is it both?

A complicated proposal called a levy swap may yet arise as one of the ways for the Legislature to comply with the 2012 Supreme Court McCleary decision, which ordered the state to fully fund basic education.

19th District state Sen. Dean Takko says the idea could pit urban against rural legislators. Representatives from rural areas  who are largely Republican but include Southwest Washington Democrats Takko and state Rep. Brian Blake  support the idea, which could make state school funding more equitable for small, rural school districts.

If we do a levy swap, (rural districts) will probably come out ahead on it, said Takko, though he added that he didnt think the swap would be enough to address McCleary. Whether its a whole lot or a little bit, we would benefit from a levy swap here.

Homeowners in property-rich districts like Seattle would get significant property tax hikes under this plan. But schools in Southwest Washington may benefit.

So what exactly is a levy swap? It involves increasing the states share of property tax collections and, in some cases, decreasing local taxing districts share.

Picture a pie. A Longview homeowner, for example, currently pays $12.38 per $1,000 of assessed property value. The state now collects 17 percent of that, and the rest goes to other taxing districts like schools, cities, fire and cemetery district and ports.

A levy swap would involve the state taking a bigger share of the pie. In some cases, though, other taxing districts would get less.

This is because theres a legal cap on how much property owners can be taxed. As the state takes a bigger bite out of the available tax to increase school funding, other taxing districts could see their shares shrink.

In Cowlitz County, about half of the taxing districts are at or very close to their caps, Cowlitz County Assessor Terry McLaughlin estimates. This includes at least three fire districts, including Cowlitz 2 Fire & Rescue. It could lose revenue if the state gobbled up a bigger share of taxing authority.

Cowlitz 2 Chief Dave LaFave said his fire district, which serves Kelso, Lexington and the rural area around the Kelso-Longview area, is at its limit on local levies and struggles for funding. In November Cowlitz 2 resorted to a voter-approved $11 million bond to pay for facility improvements, raising its levy rate to $1.80.

A levy swap would definitely have an impact on our budget, he said.

In part the levy swap is an attempt to fix what some legislators say is an unfair tax system for rural school districts, where landowners pay proportionately higher taxes to sustain schools.

In part, though, its an alternative to the $4 billion tax plan Gov. Jay Inslee has proposed to comply with the McCleary ruling.

State Rep. Jim Walsh says Inslees proposal for a capital gains tax, for example, is "a foot in the door for an income tax, although there is no serious discussion of an income tax.

Alternatives to the levy swap, Republicans say, are not good.

Im not interested in the governors taxes, said 20th District state Sen. John Braun, R-Centralia, who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee.

He added that the voters have shot down an income tax for years and the carbon tax in November.

If you won't set priorities, there's no limit to what well spend. ... Its pretty clear from the voters that they want us to live within our means.

While a levy swap hasnt been proposed yet in any of the plans to address McCleary, Walsh banked on it as an answer to the McCleary problem throughout his campaign last fall.

No one has specifically proposed how much the states share of property taxes would be raised under a levy swap. However, the state can theoretically raise its take from local property taxes  now $2.14 per $1,000 of assessed value  to $3.60 per thousand.

This would hit areas with high real estate values harder than rural areas. In Seattle, the owner of a $505,000 home (the median price of houses sold there last month) would pay an extra $737 annually if the state took its full legal share of property taxes. In Cowlitz County, the owner of a $200,000 home (last months median sales price) would pay $294 extra.

With no specific proposal on the table, its uncertain whether a levy swap could raise enough for the state to comply with McCleary. And if the state doesn't lower the tax caps and local school levies, rural homeowners could get stuck with tax increases, too.

"I'm not convinced property tax is going to be able to fix it," McLaughlin said.

Inslee made a veiled swipe at the levy swap idea during his inaugural address Wednesday in Olympia.

We arent raising anyones property taxes, Inslee said.

But Braun said some sort of levy reform is necessary to even out the funding disparity between rich and poor school districts.

"Levy reform is about making (levy) rates fair around the state," Braun said. "We have to insist that we cant solve this without doing levy reform."
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A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off from California on Saturday, returning the company to flight for the first time since a fiery launchpad explosion in September. The 230-foot (70-meter) rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:54 a.m. PST (1754 GMT) to deliver 10 satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc.

"It's a clean sweep  10 for 10," SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker said after the satellites were released.SpaceX founder and entrepreneur Elon Musk's ambitious flight plans had been grounded since the September 1 explosion during fueling ahead of a pre-flight test in Florida.

About 10 minutes after Saturday's launch, the first stage ofthe rocket, which had separated from the rest of craft,successfully touched down on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, a feat previously accomplished by four other returning Falconrockets.

Mission looks good. Started deploying the 10 Iridium satellites. Rocket is stable on the droneship.  Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 14, 2017

SpaceX intends to reuse its rockets to cut costs. "Rocket is stable," Musk posted on Twitter. "Mission looks good." Two other returning Falcon boosters landed on the ground. The mission tested changes implemented by SpaceExploration Technologies Corp, known as SpaceX, since the launchpad explosion.

Accident investigators determined that a canister of heliumburst inside the rocket's second-stage liquid oxygen tank,triggering the explosion. The canister is being redesigned, butuntil then SpaceX is addressing the issue by modifying itsfueling procedures.

The explosion destroyed a $62 million SpaceX booster and a$200 million Israeli communications satellite that it was to put in orbit. The accident clouded the company's aggressive agenda, whichincludes beginning to ferry U.S. astronauts into space next year, when it also plans to make its first voyage to Mars.

Saturday's flight begins to clear a logjam of more than 70 planned missions, worth more than $10 billion, involving SpaceX Falcon rockets, which last flew in August, SpaceX said. The launch is the first in a seven-flight contract with Iridium worth $468.1 million, company spokeswoman Diane Hockenberry said.

SpaceX aims to launch 27 rockets in 2017, more than triplethe eight flights the privately held firm managed in 2016,according to a report on Friday in the Wall Street Journal. In addition to its dozens of commercial customers, SpaceX is one of two companies hired by NASA to fly cargo to the International Space Station.

The company's 2017 agenda includes the debut launch of a heavy-lift booster, flying its first reused rocket and repairing the Florida launchpad damaged in the explosion.

Reuters
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A Syrian refugee whose selfie with German Chancellor Angela Merkel went viral is suing Facebook for defamation, his lawyer said, after the social networking site failed to take down a series of posts accusing him of being a militant and criminal.

Anas Modamani, a 19-year-old refugee from Damascus, was pictured in September 2015 taking a selfie with Merkel during her visit to a refugee shelter in Berlin's Spandau district. The image came to define Germany's response to the refugee crisis, when Merkel opened the country's borders to hundreds of thousands of asylum seekers.

But in the following months Modamani's image was shared on Facebook on a series of anonymous accounts, alongside posts claiming he was responsible for militant attacks and murder, including the Brussels Airport bombing of March 2016.

Facebook has repeatedly refused to take the posts down, saying they do not violate the company's rules, Modamani's lawyer said. "Whenever something happens in the news related to refugees, his picture reappears," Modamani's lawyer, Chan-jo Jun, told the Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone.

Facebook could not be reached immediately for comment by the Thomson Reuters Foundation. A Facebook spokesperson told Britain's Guardian newspaper they had received a takedown request from Jun "alleging that a specific item of content on our platform violates Mr Modamani's right of personality".

"Access to that reported content was quickly disabled, so we do not believe there is any basis for him to seek an injunction," the spokesperson said. One post falsely linked Modamani to an incident in Berlin last month, when a group set fire to a sleeping homeless man on a train station platform, Jun said.

The post was shared 500 times and was likely to have been seen by at least 25,000 people, he said. Jun filed a preliminary injunction against Facebook Europe in December, and a court hearing is scheduled for Feb. 6 in Wurzburg, southern Germany, he said.

The case comes as Germany's justice ministry considers new policies to crack down on fake news by making Facebook and other social media companies criminally liable for failing to remove hate speech. Facebook should be treated as a media company rather than a technology company, the justice minister said in November.

Modamani now works in a fast-food restaurant in Berlin, his lawyer said.

Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook's chief executive, announced a series of measures in November to stem a flood of "fake news" articles in the wake of the U.S. presidential election. He said Facebook would make it easier for users to report fake news, and more difficult for fake news providers to make money through its advertising system.

Reuters and the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The Thomson Reuters Foundation is the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience.
Merkel backs multilateral approach as Trump presidency nears

AP, Berlin :

German Chancellor Angela Merkel is stressing as she awaits Donald Trump's inauguration that the world's problems need solving in cooperation, rather than by each country individually.

Asked at a news conference Saturday about protectionist tendencies in the U.S., Merkel said she will seek a dialogue with the new president.

"I don't want to get ahead of that, but I am very much convinced that we as partners benefit more if we act together than if everyone solves problems for themselves, and that is a constant fundamental attitude on my part," she said.

Underlining the importance of the Group of 20 industrial powers, which Germany chairs this year, she said that the international response to the financial crisis "was not a response based on isolation, but a response based on cooperation, on common rules for regulating financial markets, and I think that is the promising path."

Merkel has made clear that she's unhappy about the possible demise of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement as a result of Trump's desire to withdraw the United States. Trump has criticized Merkel's decision to allow large numbers of migrants into Germany.
China hands over 2 ships to Pak Navy for strategic port security

China handed ships to Pak to safeguard trade routes under China-Pakistan Economic Corridor.

PTI, Karachi :

China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the 46 billion US dollars China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India. China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.

The Gwadar port in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The ships-named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar-were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.

A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.

"The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.

He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPEC's land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army's new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.

China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.
BNP Standing Committee Member Dr Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain speaking at a discussion marking the 15th anniversary of Dr Mosharraf Foundation Ltd held at Kh Mosharraf Hossain College Auditorium on Saturday.
Jewellers raise gold prices

Business Desk :

Jewellers in Bangladesh have announced increases in gold prices in the beginning of the new year after reducing the prices four times in past six months.

In the new pricelist, the price of the most refined quality of gold, or 22 carat gold, is rising by Tk 1,283 to Tk 46,073 from Tk 44,790 per bhori (11.664 grams).

Bangladesh Jewellers' Association (BJS) said in a news release on Friday the new prices of gold, and silver, too, will be effective from Saturday.

The prices have been readjusted as the global prices increased recently, BJS General Secretary Dilip Kumar Agarwal told bdnews24.com.

Gold prices shot up by up to Tk 2,425 per bhori in two phases in June for the last time. The prices dropped four times in the next six months.

The new gold prices (per bhori/11.664gm) are: 22 carat - Tk 46,073, 21 carat - Tk 44,032, 18 carat - Tk 38,491, Traditional gold - Tk 25,078. Besides, the new silver price (per bhori/11.664gm) is: 21 carat (cadmium) silver - Tk 1,108.
Digitisation leading country towards middle income status

City Desk :

Successful implementation of digitisation programme has been leading the country towards middle income status through realising the Vision 2021.

This was disclosed at the inaugural ceremony of a Digital Innovation Fair- 2017 organised at the Public Library ground in Rangpur yesterday.

The fair was arranged for further accelerating the digitisation programme through sensitising and bridging the common people with ICT and reaching government services easily to their doorsteps for building a digital Bangladesh.

Access to Information (a2i) Programme of the Prime Minister's Office with the assistance of USAID and United Nations Development Programme organised the fair.

As many as 52 stalls have set up in four pavilions in the fair.

Divisional Commissioner Kazi Hassan Ahmed inaugurated the fair as the chief guest with Deputy Commissioner Rahat Anwar in the chair. Additional Divisional Commissioner (Revenue) Abdul Mazid spoke it as the special guest.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (ADC-General) Priyosindhu Talukder, ADC (Revenue) AKM Maruf Hassan, ADC (Education & ICT) Ruhul Amin Mian and Additional District Magistrate Rabiul Islam, addressed, among others.

Kazi Hassan Ahmed said digitisation has been progressing enthusiastically across the country.
Aparna Sen on why she continues making films she believes in

to the ongoing Pune International Film Festival (which runs till January 19) Aparna Sen stopped by in Mumbai. The Kolkata-based veteran actress-filmmaker is chairperson of the jury.

She was looking forward to soaking in some world cinema and enjoying Punes cool climes. A shawl and a pair of socks should do fine, right? she asks when we meet her at a coffee house in Juhu. Mumbai and Kolkata are not exactly cold, she intones.

Whenever possible, Sen visits Mumbai to catch up on whats latest in her five-year-old grandson Haroons (daughter Konkona's tot) life. He has picked up Bengali, Hindi, English and Punjabi. But he prefers to talk to me in English. He refers to me as mummum - thats what Konkana calls me, she says endearingly.

Known for films like 36 Chowringhee Lane (1981), Paroma (1984), Mr and Mrs Iyer (2001) and The Japanese Wife (2010), Sen is currently in the midst of post-production of her next English film, Sonata, which stars Shabana Azmi, Lillete Dubey and herself. Adapted from Marathi litterateur Mahesh Elkunchwars play of the same name, the film revolves around three unmarried women facing a mid-life crisis.

Sen plays a professor, Azmis a banker and Dubey essays the role of a scribe.

Ask Sen about dealing with two powerhouse actresses (Shabana and Lillete) and she laughs, You mean were there catfights and ego tussles? Did they give me a tough time during the shoot? Not at all, we are far from that. We completed the film in 20 days in Kolkata. We were all so into the character that there was no time to do anything else.

Sens association with Azmi goes back decades. She calls me Rina. Thats my pet name; only those close to me refer to me by that name. This explains my rapport with Shabana. And I call her Munni; thats what her folks have called her at home since childhood. She tells me when she shoots with me; its difficult for her to shoot with someone else. Shooting with Shabana is pure joy. We discuss, dissect and she just dives into the role.

Ironically in the film, Azmi plays a Bengali character while Sen plays a woman from Uttar Pradesh. Thats the novelty as we stepped outside our zones. It would be given that I play a Bengali and she from UP, but our role reversal has just added to the film.
New Zealand strike back at Bangladesh

Imrul Kayes is stretchered off after hurting his hip during a dive after being hit on the 4th day of 1st Test between New Zealand and Bangladesh at Wellington on Sunday.

AFP, Wellington :

New Zealand stormed back into the first Test against Bangladesh Sunday, with three quick wickets to back up a Tom Latham century and set the stage for an intriguing final day in Wellington.

After being on the back foot for most of the first four days, New Zealand were boosted by reducing Bangladesh to 66-3 in their second innings, at 122 by stumps.

"Funny things can happen on that last day as it did against Pakistan in that last series," Latham said, referring to the dramatic finish to the November Test when New Zealand took nine wickets in the final session to beat Pakistan.

Bangladesh were also sweating over Imrul Kayes, who was injured on 24 and taken to hospital for hip x-rays.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim, unable to field because of an injured hand, was confirmed as being available to bat if required.

Bangladesh have never beaten New Zealand and pace bowler Taskin Ahmed said their chances of a breakthrough victory were damaged with the loss of three wickets in the last five overs on Sunday.

Bangladesh had been hoping to declare on Monday in time to give New Zealand a challenging target, but Taskin said that may change.

"It depends on the situation. Obviously we are looking for a win but it depends. It's a pretty flat wicket and when the batsmen get set it's easy to score."

A short-pitched barrage by the Bangladesh quicks and poor shot selection against part-time spinner Mahmudullah stopped the New Zealand first innings at 539.

The tourists built on the 56-run lead to be 66 for three at stumps in their second innings with Mominul Haque not out on 10 and Tamim Iqbal out for 25.

After New Zealand resumed the fourth day at 292 for three, opener Latham batted on to 177 to ensure the follow-on mark was comfortably passed.

BJ Watling (49) and Mitchell Santner (73) reduced the deficit to less than 100, with Santner and Trent Boult (4 not out) frustrating Bangladesh with a 35-run partnership for the final wicket.

Santner lofted Shakib Al Hasan over the long-on boundary for six, his third of the innings, to overtake his previous best 71 against India at Kanpur four months ago.

- Bouncer barrage -

Bangladesh tried to rattle the New Zealand tail with short balls. Santner took one fierce blow to the head from Taskin Ahmed and Neil Wagner was hit three times by Kamrul Islam drawing blood from his chin.

Wagner, New Zealand's short-ball specialist, passed a concussion test and replaced his helmet after the third blow only to be dismissed two balls later for 18.

Despite the pace barrage, it was part-time spinner Mahmudullah who broke through the Watling-Santner partnership.

The pair put on 73 after Latham's dismissal to reach 471 for six when Mahmudullah came into the attack and the innings was all over 68 runs later.

Mahmudullah's first ball was short-pitched and well off-line which Watling went to smack to the boundary only to scoop it into the hands of wicketkeeper Imrul down the leg side.

With his fifth ball, Mahmudullah had Tim Southee trapped in front for one.

Wagner was caught behind trying to hook his way out of Kamrul's bouncer onslaught to give Imrul his fifth catch, a Test record for a substitute wicketkeeper.

Latham, who spent 463 minutes at the crease, was trapped in front for 177 by Shakib Al Hasan.


Hawker eviction continues

Clashes between police and hawkers in Paltan area

Illegal establishments being bulldozed by Dhaka South City Corporation at Motijheel area on Sunday.

Staff Reporter :

A clash took place between hawkers and police in Paltan area on Sunday as Dhaka South City Corporation with the help of Dhaka Metropolitan Police conducted eviction drives against the footpath hawkers in Gulistan, Motijheel and Paltan areas.

DSCC Mayor Sayeed Khokon has stressed that the eviction drive will continue for the sake of general people. On the other hand, the hawkers have threatened to siege the Nagar Bhaban today (Monday) morning.

"For the sake of the people DSCC will make the pavements free from hawkers. The eviction drive will continue until the goal obtained," the mayor said while addressing a press briefing at Nagar Bhaban yesterday afternoon.

The DSCC took the decision on January 11 in a meeting that hawkers will not be allowed to sit in pavements before evening in working days. It also decided that the holiday markets will be more effective and attractive as the hawkers can sale their goods there. According to the meeting, those decisions were set to implement from yesterday (Sunday).

Earlier on Saturday, one of the hawkers' organisations, Bangladesh Hawkers Union, angrily reacted on the decision. The organisation announced siege programme of the Nagar Bhaban on Sunday morning. But they have

not been seen to observe the programme. On Sunday morning, some hawkers tried to sit in Gulistan footpaths. But they left the place with their goods seeing presence of a large number of police.

Police have been seen on alert in Gulistan area since morning. The DSCC Executive Magistrate, Khan Mohammad Nazmus Shoyeb, led the eviction drive at 2:00pm from Ramna, Paltan, Baitul Mukarram and Matijheel areas.

Some of the hawkers attacked the DSCC officials in Purana Paltan intersection during the drive. The hawkers also threw stones to vehicles. Later, the hawkers instead of throwing stones took shelter in different buildings in the area after police started taking action. The hawkers then shouted slogans against the eviction drive.

The DSCC mayor told the press briefing that the eviction programme will not be stopped. "We want the hawkers will sell their goods in holiday markets and in the evenings of every working days," he said.

Replying a question the mayor said, "It is not true that the people do not buy things from the pavements after evening. The hawkers sell their goods until deep night as the people use the pavements long time after evening."

As the new move of recovering the pavements in Gulistan and Matijheel area, the police have been seen alert in those areas with water cannon and other vehicles. DSCC officials were also there with ambulance.

Apart from this, some hawkers have been seen standing in Gulistan pavement without their goods in sad appearances.

"I'm bearing my family needs by operating a temporary shop in the pavement for 12 years. Now the city corporation is evicting us. How I will provide my family needs every day? Without arranging an alternative way we can't accept this decision. We will never leave the place," said Shipon, a hawker from Gulistan area.


Pre-regn of hajj pilgrims begins

UNB, Dhaka :

The pre-registration of interested hajj pilgrims for the year of 2017 under the government management began on Sunday, said Religious Affairs Minister Principal Motiur Rahman.

The Religious Affairs Minister came up with the information while talking to reporters after inaugurating the online service at his office.

Principal Motiur Rahman said an agreement over the number of Hajj pilgrims will be signed with the Saudi Government next month. This year, the government has published a list of 964 hajj agencies this year and the intending pilgrims can pay their registration fees through 25 banks selected by the government, said the Minister. Last year, a total of 1,40, 994 people completed their registration for performing hajj and of them 1,01,829 pilgrims went to Saudi Arabia for performing their hajj, said Motiur.

The rest, those who failed to go to Saudi Arabia for performing hajj even after completing their pre-registration in 2016 due to quota system will be able to perform hajj this year, he said.

The Minister also said this year an IT expert team from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) was formed to monitor the technical division for making the process transparent and error-free.


First phase Ijtema ends with Akheri Munajat

Lakhs of people join first phase Akheri Munajat seeking drive blessings of Almighty Allah for the peace of Muslim Ummah on Sunday.

Gazipur Correspondent :

The first phase of Bishwa Ijtema, the second largest Muslim congregation after Hajj, ended on Sunday with Akheri Munajat seeking Divine Blessings and mercy of Almighty Allah.

Noted Islamic Scholar Maulana Mohammad Saad from Delhi conducted the Akheri Munajat (final prayers) that began around 11:02am and continued till 11.30am.

Thousands of Muslims from home and abroad gathered at the Bishwa Ijtema grounds on the bank of River Turag in Gazipur's Tongi to join the Akheri Munajat.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina also took part in the Akheri Munajat from Bangabhaban and Ganabhaban respectively.

Bishwa Ijtema began on Friday morning amid five-tier security arrangements.

Bangladesh Railway operated 19 special trains on different routes so that people can go to the Ijtema venue to take part in the Akheri Munajat.

Thousands of devotees from 17 districts and different countries joined the first phase of the annual event, organised by Tabligh Jamaat. Eight of the participants died during this time.

The three-day congregation began on the bank of the Turag River after Fazr prayers on Friday.

Thousands of devotees, both from home and abroad, have gathered at the venue and took part in the prayers and discussions.

Some 6,887 overseas devotees reached the Ijtema venue from several countries, including India, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Panama, Egypt, Oman, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Iran, Japan, Canada, Cambodia, Mozambique, Russia, the USA, Sweden, Belgium, Italy, Kenya and New Zealand.

The District Administration of Gazipur set up around 56 free medical camps in and around the Ijtema venue with beds and first aid and other treatment facilities, while the doctors did their duties round the clock.

The 2nd phase of the Ijtema is scheduled to begin on January 20 at the same venue and will end on January 22 to be attended by devotees from 16 districts.

Tablig Jamaat has been organising the Ijtema at the venue since 1967. But, Ijtema is held in two phases since 2011 to ease the accommodation problem.

Moulana Giasuddin, a senior member of the Ijtema organising committee, said devotees from 32 districts, 16 in each phase, are joining the two phases of Ijtema this year.

Meanwhile, eight devotees died at the Ijtema ground from Thursday to early Sunday due to old-age complications and illness.
People`s eye on verdict today

Victims` families want capital punishment: AG for exemplary punishment of killers

Staff Reporter :

The verdict on sensational Narayanganj seven murder case is fixed for today after two and a half years of the occurrence and one year of court proceedings marked by noisy incidents around the court.

All eyes are fixed on the verdict because of involvement of powerful people in the ruling party and also from disciplined forces.

Judge Syed Enayetur Rahman of Narayanganj District and Sessions Judge's court will deliver the verdict after prolonged hearing.

After completion of the defence arguments on behalf of 23 arrested accused and 12 fugitives, the court had earlier set the date to pronounce its verdict on November 30.

On the day before the verdict today, Selina Islam Beauty, widow of the slain councillor Nazrul Islam hoped for an exemplary punishment of the accused.

"If the punishment makes an example, no one will dare to commit such heinous murders again," said Beauty while talking to The New Nation yesterday.

Demanding capital punishment for the killers, Beauty said, "Once such a punishment is ensured for killers, no other wife will lose her husband, no child will lose their father, and no mother will lose her son.

The bereaved Beauty also demanded immediate arrest of some of the killers who remained absconding.

The slain councillor's wife says her family has been threatened many times over the cases.

"We have received death threats in the mail," she said. "We still do not feel safe."

"All the murderers should be punished. They should be awarded capital punishment." We have lost our loved ones," Bijoy Kumar Paul, son-in-law of slain senior lawyer Chandan Sarker, told The New Nation yesterday.

He said, "The court should establish a precedent with this verdict, so that no one could ever think of committing such murders again."

Narayanganj City Corporation councillor Nazrul Islam along with his three aides and driver were kidnapped allegedly by a team of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB)-11 on April 27 in 2014.

Besides, senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver Ibrahim were also picked up by the same team as they witnessed the abduction of Nazrul and his associates.

Subsequently all the seven bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya river days after their abduction. Two cases were filed in this connection-- one by Nazrul's wife Beauty and the other by Chandan Sarkar's son-in-law Bijoy Kumar Paul-- accusing 35 persons.

Several probe bodies were formed by the government, Police and RAB following the murder case.

CID was given the charge to investigate the case as per the directive of the High Court while the government assigned Detective Branch of Police with the task.

On November 12 of 2014, the Supreme Court after hearing a petition of Attorney General exempted CID from the investigation. More than a year later, on June 4 of 2015, the High Court directed RAB, the government's seven-member probe committee, the Inspector General of Police and the CID to submit progress reports on their investigations.

RAB found 21 of its members including three top officials of RAB-11 unit involved in the incident. The RAB personnel are: Hamidul Haque, Hira Miah, Belal Hossain, Abu Tayab, and Arif Hossain, all of whom are the members of RAB 11.

The three top official of RAB 11 unit Lt Colonel Tareque Sayeed, Lt Commander Masud Rana and Major Arif Hossain made confessions of their involvement in the case. All the three top officials of RAB, including Tareque Sayeed, who is the son-in-law of Disaster and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury (Maya) were sent to forced retirement by the military forces of the country.

Nur Hossain, a prime accused in the case and Narayanganj City Awami League leader, and also a former councillor, who fled to India after the murders took place, was arrested in Kolkata on June 14, 2015. And the other one (Nazmul Haque) is missing after November 2014 in the same place in India. In November 12, 2015, Indian government handed over Nur Hossain to Bangladesh

After years of investigation, the Detective Branch of Police pressed a charge sheet against 35 people on April 8, 2015.

On February 8, after a number of hearings, a Narayanganj court indicted all the 35 names of the chargesheet for the seven murder incident. The formal trial of the case in Narayanganj began on February 29, 2016.

Twenty three accused including senior RAB officers - Tarek Sayeed Mohamad, Arif Hossain and MM Rana -- are now in police custody.

Among the other accused, 12 people remained absconding. Out of the 12, eight were members of the Narayanganj-based RAB 11.

From the very beginning, the Beauty and his family claimed that Nur Hossain had paid Tk 60 million to senior officers of the local RAB unit to carry out the murders.

"The countrymen want exemplary punishment for the killers of the seven persons and I also want the same," said Attorney General Mahbubey Alam.

He came up with the remark in response to a query during a press briefing at his office in the Supreme Court premises on Sunday.

The Attorney General hoped that an exemplary punishment would be awarded to the offenders in the Narayanganj seven-murder case, as the trial court will deliver its verdict on Monday.

He also said the incident of the seven-murder in 2014 was a pre-planned killing.
College teacher hacked to death in Khulna

Staff Reporter :

A college teacher was allegedly hacked to death by some unidentified miscreants at his rented house in Amtoli area on the Sher-e-Bangla Road in Khulna city early Sunday.

The victim was identified as Chitta Ranjan Gain, 45, a lecturer at English Department of Shaheed Abul Kashem Degree College in Khulna, our Khulna correspondent reports quoting police.

Quoting the locals, Khulna Sadar Police Station Officer-in-Charge (OC) Shafiqul Islam said, "After cutting the grills of the window, miscreants entered the house and hacked him to

death. They also took several grams gold and valuables."

Police recovered the body from his residence at House No 59 Amtoli around 1:30pm, the police official said.

The hands and legs of the victim were tied with clothes and there were several injury marks in his legs and head, the OC said.

"Primarily, we suspect it was case of robbery as a big steel almirah and a cupboard were found broken," the police official said.

Chitta Ranjan was at the house alone on the fateful night as his wife Lucky Golder and two daughters stayed at their home town Ashashuni upazila in Satkhira, the OC said.

The body has been sent to the Khulna Medical College and Hospital morgue for an autopsy, he said.


60 lakh displaced in BD: Internal migration on rise: IOM study

Staff Reporter :

Indicating increased temperature and rainfall disparity as major concerns, the International Organization for Migration [IOM] on Sunday said that climate change effects so far have displaced around 60 lakh people from their homes in Bangladesh.

Revealing the findings of a latest study conducted by Displacement Solutions in Bangladesh, Maldives and Nepal; the IOM further said the climate change is now adversely 'affecting the lives and livelihoods of Bangladeshis'.

The study report was presented at a Regional Dissemination Meeting, titled: "Assessing the Climate Change, Environmental Degradation and Migration Nexus in South Asia", held in the city's Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The report was prepared conducting survey on 320 families in four upazilas of Khulna, Patuakhali, Rajshahi and Sunamganj districts by a research team under the supervision of Md Golam Rabbani, lead consultant of Bangladesh Centre for Advanced Studies.

Issuing caution, the report said the climate change and environmental degradation would further contribute to the movement of people living in this region.

It said: "Country's costal districts are very vulnerable to cyclones, storm surges, tidal floods, salinity intrusion and sea level rise. On the other hand, the north and north-east regions are susceptible to drought, flashfloods and riverine floods, making people's lives difficult."

Referring to the research Md Golam Rabbani said: "Ninety-two percent respondents felt the impacts of internal migration have made the women

more vulnerable as male members of their families go for work outside their own districts."

In another report prepared by Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre [IDMC], said around 9.6 million people of Bangladesh will migrate between 2011 and 2050 due to climatic affects. The number of displaced persons would be excluding temporary and seasonal migrations.

Against this backdrop, Md Golam Rabbani said: "As an impact of sudden-onset disasters, over 19 million people across the world were displaced internally in 2015. Of the total, 7.9 million or 41 percent were from South Asian countries."

Besides, eminent climate expert and former vice chancellor of BRAC University Professor Ainun Nishat said: "To get the solution of the problem, alternative livelihoods for the affected people must be ensured as feel discouraged for the migration."

It is to be noted that, Bangladesh is widely recognized as one of the most vulnerable countries to cyclone storms and constant flooding. Since 2000, the country has experienced more than 70 major natural disasters.

Experts say, one-fifth of the country is flooded every year, and in some years, up to two-thirds of the land mass is inundated. Weather-related disasters due to climate change each year cause outbreak of diseases, including diarrhea, that kills many children under 5 years of age.

Not only that, an Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change [IPCC] report had claimed that a one meter rise in sea level would inundate some 13 per cent of land mass in the southern belt, displacing some 15-20 million people by 2050.

At the same time, the World Bank had estimated that by then half of all Bangladeshis will live in urban centers. These findings also had suggested a possible correlation between climate change and the rapid growth of urbanization in Bangladesh.

For Bangladesh, the current growth rate of urban population is 4.8 per cent per year. Major metropolitan areas saw population expand from 1.6 million in 1974 to 20.15 million in 1991. By 2001 this had risen to 23.1 million and by 2006 to 35 million.

In this context, the urban population may reach about 68 million, or 37 per cent of the total population, by 2015. And obviously, it will be an adverse impact of climate change, the experts say.


Cold wave kills 180,000 in Peru

Al Jazeera News :

Recent cold weather in the Ayacucho region of south-central Peru is being blamed for the deaths of up to 180,000 alpacas.

These usually hardy animals appear to have been made vulnerable to the cold weather by a series of ongoing environmental factors. Much of the region has been experiencing drought conditions since August last year. Lack of water in lagoons had a direct effect on the alpacas' breeding season.

Lack of rainfall also resulted in stunted grass growth, so the animals have endured poor grazing for several months, weakening them further. Large numbers of deaths of alpacas, and the other South American camelids - llamas, vicunas and guanacos - are not unknown. Outbreaks of extremely cold air from the Antarctic, known

as friagens, occur during the winter months. The friagen of 2003 killed more than half of all the country's alpacas when temperatures plunged to minus 35 Celsius. Last winter's cold weather reportedly killed 50,000 alpacas in the southern Puno region. The fact that these deaths have occurred in the summer months do make it very unusual, but alpacas are not quite as tough as people often think.

They are not particularly good at foraging in cold or snowy weather. They also do not carry much body fat and their coats contain no water-resistant lanolin. In recent days, there have been reports of heavy rain in the region. It may be that the animals' coats have been penetrated by water, making them vulnerable to the combination of low temperatures and strong winds. Alpaca wool is a major export in Peru. More than $150m of fleeces are sent abroad each year.
PM off to Davos to join WEF

BSS, Dhaka :

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina left here tonight for Davos on a five-day official visit to Switzerland to join the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF).

Executive Chairman of the WEF Prof Klaus Schwab invited her to attend the Forum who would be the first elected Bangladeshi leader to attend the high profile

annual global meeting that draws statesmen, top business leaders and the intelligentsia to discuss crucial global issues, foreign ministry sources said.

The four-day meeting will be held January 17-20 in Davos, a mountain resort at Graubnden in the eastern Alps region of Switzerland, under the theme "Responsive and Responsible Leadership". An Eitihad Airways flight carrying the premier and her entourage members took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 10:15 p.m.

Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhit, Commerce Minister Tofael Ahmed, Minister for Road and Bridges Obaidul Quader, Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon, PM's Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Chief whip ASM Feroz, Chief of three services, cabinet secretary, principal secretary, and dean of diplomatic corps saw the prime minister off at the airport.

The flight is scheduled to reach Zurich International Airport at 6:45 a.m. (local time) on Monday.

Bangladesh Ambassador to Switzerland and Permanent Representative to the UN Offices Shameem Ahsan will receive the prime minister at the airport.

From the airport, the premier in a ceremonial motorcade would be taken to Silvretta Parkhotel where she will be staying during the visit.

On her way to Davos, Sheikh Hasina would make a stopover at Abu Dhabi International Airport for one hour and 20 minutes.

The foreign minister and state minister for ICT Junaid Ahmed Palok would be, among others, in the PM's entourage.

The prime minister will attend the opening plenary of the WEF on January 17 and before the inauguration of the plenary, she will hold a meeting with WEF Executive Chairman Klaus Schwann.

During her stay in Davos, Sheikh Hasina will attend a number of events on the sidelines of the Forum. She will join a workshop titled "Shaping a New Water Economy" and an interactive session on "Harnessing Regional Cooperation in South Asia".

The prime minister will also hold bilateral meetings with leaders of different countries.

On January 18, the premier will take part in an event titled "Worlds Underwater" as well as the plenary session on "Leading the Fight against Climate Change".

On January 19, she will attend an interactive session titled "Informal Gathering of the World Economic Leaders: Responsive and Responsible Leadership in a Multipolar World".

Besides, the premier will attend an event titled "Women Leaders Dinner: New Frontiers of Leadership" to be held at Schatzalp of Davos-Klosters in the evening the same day.

Concluding her five-day tour, the prime minister will leave Zurich International Airport for home at 2.35 p.m. on January 20 and is expected to arrive in Dhaka January 21 morning.
The Undead Archives

I have finally salvaged my pre-Blogger TDR archives and added them into Blogger. They are almost totally in the form of one giant post for each month. And the formatting strayed from the originals. Sorry. But historians everywhere can rejoice that this treasure trove of my thoughts is restored to the world.
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Paris, TX (75460)

Today

Windy with strong thunderstorms likely. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. High near 75F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 90%..

Tonight

Some clouds this evening will give way to mainly clear skies overnight. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 43F. Winds WNW at 15 to 25 mph.
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.

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ikmAs it turns out, its not illegal.

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Cautions for Indians using sextoy

When using sextoy, keep the following three things in mind

Keep sex toys clean

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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.

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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

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The privately funded class, eLaunch, short for Entrepreneaurial Launch, will host a Comedy Night fundraising event from 6 to 9 p.m. Feb. 11 at the Rent One Park banquet room in Marion. Money raised at the event will benefit the students in the program as they start their own businesses and invest in next year's program.

There will be three professional comedians, Andrew Frank, Eric Brown and Nathan Colombo. The event will also have a 50/50 raffle and silent auction.

Tickets for Comedy Night are $30 in advance, $35 at the door and $50 per couple. Reserved tables of eight are $200. Tickets are for sale at Farmer's State Bank, 2806 Outer Drive in Marion or online at planetreg.com/comedynight.

eLaunch, now in its second year, is designed to teach high school students from across the county to network and communicate efficiently with entrepreneurs. Students attend classes, meet with local business people and develop their own businesses as a group and as individuals.

For more information, contact Quincie McFarland at 618-727-1888.

 The Southern
MARION  It is no secret Democrats, locally and nationally, had a rough night Nov. 8. The partys local leadership are taking stock and looking to the future to see how best to rebuild their base in Southern Illinois.

There seemed to be no one silver bullet that led to the sweeping losses for Democrats in Southern Illinois, but what many are pointing to as a principal issue is a shift in the partys national platform.

Theres a lot of difference between a Southern Illinois Democrat and a Democrat say in California or New York, said Jim Kirkpatrick, former Democratic Chair for Williamson County who served as representative of the 117th District after John Bradley resigned at the beginning of the year.

Bradley lost in the election to Dave Severin.

Many local leaders said that area Democrats feel left behind as top-of-the-ticket candidates skew further and further left, focusing on what they see as fringe issues including gay rights and environmentalism. They said these are important issues, but are not the core values many Southern Illinois Democrats hold dear.

Jim Eaton, Democratic Party chair for Franklin County, said the message needs to shift back to the working class.

Those people need jobs, too, Eaton said of LGBTQ and environmental activists. Kirkpatrick said he thinks this focus on special interests really damaged Hillary Clintons campaign in Southern Illinois.

I think part of the problem with the Clinton campaign is it did not address issues with white, middle class voters, he said.

Cody Moake, Williamson County Democratic Chair, agrees.

Nationally, sometimes its hard to attract yourself to a presidential candidate that doesnt always have the same feelings as you do, and that is where we run into some issues, he said, adding that this can really hurt down-ticket races and is in part what led to straight party voting for Republicans. The local guys could neither isolate themselves nor compare themselves to those in the national races.

This move away from traditional, working-man values have also given the Republican opposition fodder to skewer Democrats in campaign ads.

They have successfully labeled us from the party of a working man to the party of the man who wont work, Eaton said.

Franklin County experienced a historic shift this election, with the traditionally Democratic stronghold voting strongly Republican. He said the Republican Party was able to secure the labor vote pretty easily.

Somehow the Republican Party stole those (voters) away while we had our back turned looking at these other issues, he said.

Eaton said he believes that if the local party returns back to this working-man base with its platform, they still stand a chance with the far left-leaning voters. He said those who may, as an example, skew Green Party, are not likely to skip over a conservative Democrat to vote Republican.

We are going to get those liberal voters, too, Eaton said, adding that trying to get this message sent up the flagpole of to the state and national party leaders has been no easy task.

Also echoed among local leadership was the issue of incumbency. Out with the old and in with the new was the prevailing sentiment last year.

The voters were trying to say something, said Randall Crocker, Franklin County Board chair. The Republican Party was able to mobilize voters under this banner of anti-incumbency.

Kirkpatrick said as a result, Southern Illinois lost some of its strongest advocates.

Its really tragic that he lost that race, he said of Rep. John Bradley.

I guess rhetorically (the Republican Party) had it drilled into their head that those guys were no longer fighting for labor rights and thats just simply not the case, Moake said of the big push to vote out Bradley and Senator Gary Forby.

However, Eaton said their voting record simply did not reflect the narrative being put out there about them during the campaign. He used gun control as an example, an issue that many Democrats in Southern Illinois hold in common with Republicans.

If it wasnt for Gary Forby, and John Bradley, and Brandon Phelps there would not have been a concealed carry law passed. They used a lot of political capital of theirs to get that stuff voted on, Eaton said.

Volume and proliferation of message were two stumbling blocks for Democrats in November.

This election showed that we have not been getting our message out like we need to, Kirkpatrick said.

Moake agreed.

For some reason we have done a very poor job of securing, or putting in concrete, our foundation, which is that of fighting for workers' rights, he said.

Eaton said the Republicans have overshadowed the Democrats' message with their loudness.

We have to do things that mirror that or take it a step further, he said. Making our voice louder and standing on our foundation to do so.

Moake said he wants to see more candidates disengage from the mudslinging and focus more on their records. Many have said the nastiness of running for office has turned many good candidates away.

Its kind of like become a circus rather than a campaign, Kirkpatrick said.

Would you want to put your family through that? Eaton asked.

The question remains, however, how do you have a campaign about issues when most discussions start as shouting matches? The answer is unclear.

The next two years will be crunch time for local Democrats. They hope to regain some ground with Illinois congressional races and to reverse power with the governors race in 2018.

I think theres a lot of hope for the future of the Democrat party and I think we are going to see that maybe in two years in the governors race, Kirkpatrick said.

Eaton said it is time for a change in stance.

Weve constantly been playing defense. Its time that we change that trend and we play offense, Eaton said. Luckily we have a governor that is making that transition easy on us.

He said the hope is to capitalize on Gov. Bruce Rauners unpopularity and play that with, in his words, when  not if  Donald Trump missteps. He said working together as a unified party will hopefully bring them success in the near future.

One of the biggest takeaways for Eaton is a simple one: Always be on guard.

Dont underestimate anybody running for office if they are well-funded, he said.
The American Red Cross issued an emergency appeal for blood donations Jan. 4, but the situation got worse Friday.

Most of the blood drives scheduled for Friday had to be canceled because of an ice storm that impacted the region. Joe Zydlo, external communications manager for Missouri-Illinois region of ARC, said the organization expected to collect at least 518 units at blood drives on Friday. Add in the drives that were already canceled for Saturday, Sunday and Monday, and the total rises to 728 units of blood.

The roads dont seem to be as bad; its the sidewalks and those types of things, Zydlo said. Its unfortunate that it happened, but that is winter weather.

Theresa Keith, MLS, blood bank lead at Memorial Hospital of Carbondale, put those numbers in perspective.

We average about 500 units blood ordered per month," Keith said. "About half of that actually gets transfused."

The potential blood donations lost on Friday is more than Memorial Hospital of Carbondale uses in a month.

This is one of two times per year that the Red Cross goes to an emergency appeal," Zydlo said. "The current one is a reflection of what happened in November and December through the holidays and from winter weather, colds and flu."

The American Red Cross had more than 120,000 appointments made during the first week after the national appeal. The problem, Zydlo said, is weather like the ice storm on Friday.

Blood does have an expiration date. Keith said Memorial has set quantities they try to keep, but right now it is really difficult.

We try to keep 24 to 30 units. Right now we are holding in the high teens, Keith said.

She added that type A is holding about normal, but O positive is really low. Both Memorial Hospital and Herrin Hospital are just squeaking by Keith said.

Allison Sadler, lab director at Marshall Browning Hospital in Du Quoin, said the hospital uses between 15 and to 25 units per month, sometimes as high as 30 units.

On the shelf at all times, I have anywhere from 10 to 15 of packed cells. We also have four to five units of fresh frozen plasma, Sadler said, adding that plasma, which contains clotting factors, is used for open bleeding.

The Red Cross has done well keeping the hospital supplied. For a small hospital like Marshall Browning, one trauma can deplete the blood supply.

We all know each other, so we can call neighboring hospitals to see what they have on hand, Sadler said.

She added that their supply of type O negative has been low a couple times, but Pinckneyville Community Hospital had two units when Marshall Browning was down to one.

When you are down to that low a volume, you are concerned, she said.

For example, the hospital had 17 units of blood on the shelf Friday. They try to keep most common types of blood, which are O positive and A positive. They also have to keep O negative on hand because it is the universal donor blood type.

Keith said the more donations you have coming in, the more likely you are to find the unit you need for a patient.

Get out and donate, Keith said.

The best product to replace blood is blood. Donating is a crucial thing. People should donate if they can, Sadler said.

Zydlo expected more cancellations for the weekend related to the weather. He suggests potential donors check the American Red Cross blood drive Twitter feed @RedcrossBLDMOIL or call 1-800-RedCross (1-800-733-2767) for information about specific blood drives or appointments.
Many people now spend ample time each day texting, posting to social media and watching videos on their smartphones. Devices such as phones and tablets might play big roles in many peoples' lives, and few may realize just how much time they're spending on their devices.

According to Nielsen's Total Audience Report, Americans aged 18 and older now spend more than 11 hours a day watching television, listening to the radio or using phones and other electronic devices. Common Sense Media, a nonprofit focused on assisting people in navigating the world of media and technology, notes that American teens and tweens spend about nine hours using media for enjoyment. Research conducted by Silentnight, a United Kingdom-based bed and mattress company, found that mobile phone usage, at eight hours and 41 minutes per day, in the UK has now exceeded the amount of time people spend sleeping. Sleep experts warn that constant exposure to electronic devices is contributing to poor sleep and can have other negative effects on a person's health.

Cutting back on electronic device usage can prove challenging. However, with some patience and practice, it is possible to wean off devices without digital withdrawal symptoms.

Keep tech devices out of the bedroom. Make bedrooms device-free zones so they don't disturb sleep. Various studies have found the blue light emitted from phones and other electronics can wreak havoc with the body's natural circadian rhythms, reducing melatonin production and causing the body to think it's daylight. Turn off devices at least 60 to 90 minutes before bed to give the mind time to wind down.

Reach for a book. When a diversion is needed, grab a book or another reading material. Keep magazines, traditional books instead of e-books and newspapers at the ready.

Turn off notifications. Eliminate pop-ups and audible sounds. Check posts and emails on your own schedule.

Delay turn-on times. Push back the time that you first turn on a phone or another electronic device by a couple of minutes per day.

Leave phones home when running quick errands. Leave phones at home when stepping out of the house to run quick errands. Follow suit when shopping for groceries or heading to the gym for a workout.

Set limits. Establish a schedule when devices can and cannot be used in the house, enforcing this schedule strictly. When not on devices, get outdoors or engage in physical activity.

A popular new resolution is to cut back on the amount of time spent using electronic devices. This can reduce dependence on technology and help improve overall health as well.
While his to-do list may have been stymied by party politics, local lawmakers say President Barack Obama forged his own path in office.

He pulled the U.S. out of difficult financial times and expanded health care coverage, Sen. John Matthews said.

Obama also gave minorities hope that there are no dreams and goals beyond their reach, Matthews said. It might be hard to do, but its possible and that gives people hope.

Obama will leave the White House on Friday after two terms in office.

Local lawmakers say he moved the country forward in the areas of health, economics and the environment. They hope the progress will continue after hes gone.

Obama will be remembered for doing a lot of things, but think one of the top four would be saving this country from going into a great depression, Matthews said.

Matthews, D-Bowman, referred to the recession of 2008, a period of sharp economic decline which has been described as the worst economic period since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

I think the second thing he will be noted for is saving the automobile industry, with the third thing being that he provided a safety net for the least of these by providing good health care for millions of Americans that did not have health care before, Matthews said.

The Affordable Care Act, also referred to as Obamacare, has provided roughly 20 million adults with insurance.

Finally, I think hell always get high marks for his example as president. There were no great scandals. He was a great example for families of America, so I think that example would be published as a lasting legacy, Matthews said.

Matthews said he is concerned whether the election of Republican Donald Trump as president and a GOP-controlled Congress will carry forward Obamas policies.

I think once the president gets in office, the difference between rhetoric and reality will set in. I hope that they can look out for the best interest of all Americans, he said.

Rep. Gilda Cobb-Hunter, D-Orangeburg, said, Under the presidents leadership, weve created jobs, rescued the auto industry and rebuilt the economy, led the fight to ensure equality for all Americans and made a historic commitment to protecting the environment and addressing the impact of climate change.

Cobb-Hunter said history will be the ultimate judge of Obamas legacy.

In my opinion, however, President Obama will be viewed as a transformative leader who refocused and reaffirmed American leadership in the world and made affordable health care a reality, she said.

Cobb-Hunter has concerns about the incoming administration.

I am concerned about the capacity of the incoming administration to govern and their apparent inability to get out of the campaign mode. For the countrys sake, I am hopeful that President-elect Trump and his team are successful in mastering the steep learning curve they face, Cobb-Hunter said.

Rep. Justin Bamberg, D-Bamberg, said while Obamas election as the first black president will resonate for years to come, there are some other aspects of his tenure that were equally impressive.

The other aspect of his presidency is the manner in which not only he carried himself, but his family during the course of eight years. Its quite frankly impeccable: the grace and the manner in which he spoke to people, including those that refused to work with him for political for personal reasons, Bamberg said. I truly do admire that about him.

Obamas efforts to pass the Affordable Care Act are noteworthy and will definitely be part of his lasting legacy, Bamberg said.

Its truly amazing that despite the borderline government shutdown and the majority of the Congressional Republicans refusing to ever work with him, he still managed to get so much accomplished from the creation of jobs in this country to the efforts and the work that was done to combat the new-age great depression we went through, Bamberg said.

Bamberg is concerned Obamas efforts in the areas of health care and criminal justice will be scrapped under the new administration.

With one stroke of a pen, the new majority and the White House can undo whats taken eight years to do, Bamberg said.

He added, Its a very scary thought but with that said, Im not looking at what Donald Trump campaigned on. I will respect him and give his administration a fair chance to allow their actions - and not their words - to cause me to believe that they will do a good job or not.

Sen. Brad Hutto, D-Orangeburg, said while Obamas election as the first black president was historic, his ability to steer the country out of a recession, including salvaging the auto industry, was among his other noteworthy accomplishments.

He inherited a terrible economic situation, and he was instrumental in taking some bold steps to put people back to work and injecting money back into the economy to make sure that we didnt lose automotive jobs, Hutto said.

He started off at a time that was very challenging and led us back to economic prosperity. I think were going to look back on his presidency and remember that he led us at a very trying time when we were at war and the economy was in worse shape than it has been other than the Great Depression, he said.

Hutto said Obama was also the only president to pass a law addressing the nations health care challenges.

A lot of people had tried and talked about it, but he actually is the one that got that done. Its not perfect and improvements have to be made, but weve made steps in the right direction on health care, Hutto said.

The legislator also admired how Obama and his family represented themselves during their time at the White House.

I dont think anybody can criticize the way that theyve represented his country, he said.

Hutto hopes the new administration will spend more time building upon rather than dismantling Obamas health care legacy.

The people have spoken. Trump is the president and we have to accept that and move forward. Thats part of life in America. We go in four-year increments and if that doesnt work, there will be a correction in four years, he said. I hope for the best during this time.

Rep. Jerry Govan, D-Orangeburg, said Obamas election as president was just one way he changed America.

Considering the opposition he faced, that he was elected a second time speaks volumes about his legacy, Govan said.

It exceeded everyones wildest imagination, and he deserved it because he worked hard, Govan said. In spite of the fact that his policies did not please everyone, I think he was elected to a second term based on the merit of where he had brought the country from.

Obamas achievements in bringing the country back from financial collapse, while navigating the country through war and trying to provide everyone with access to affordable health care were commendable, he said.

Govan also noted the integrity and grace Obama and his family conducted themselves with during his presidency.

The Obamas were an excellent first family, he said.

Govan noted that he has concerns about the incoming administration, particularly as the parent of a military servicewoman.

My only concern is that the president-elect seems to have a penchant  at least at this point  for changing the rules. I just think that we have to have consistency. We need someone that can bring this country together because the country is still divided, Govan said. My hope is that we dont all of a sudden want to change the rules to try to accommodate the party in power and sacrifice those values that are so important in American politics.

Rep. Russell Ott, D-St. Matthews, said it is ironic how much the country has divided from the time when Obama was first elected. He is hopeful about the future.

I think what Im most proud of with President Obama  and his entire family  is that he showed us what a good family structure looks like and consists of. He basically was an unbelievable role model for our youth, Ott said.

He added, For me, his legacy is going to be his willingness to tackle the big problems and issues. That includes the capture and killing of 9-11 mastermind Osama Bin Laden, the crafting of the Affordable Care Act and leading the country out of financial crisis.

Ott is hopeful that the incoming administration will help to solve the nations biggest challenges with more than just little tweets and making disparaging remarks about other people.

If were going to fix our problems, its truly going to take a leader willing to sit down at the table and bring people together and listen to different ideas from different backgrounds, and then try to put together something that works for the vast majority of Americans, he said.

The bottom line is I have major concerns about the way Trump is approaching a lot of his decisions that he has been making up until this point, but he is going to be everyones president and we need to be supporting and rooting for him because his successes will be all of our successes, and his failures will be all of our failures, he said.

Im hoping the very best for him and Im going to support him in any way I can, but if I see him doing things or making decisions that I dont agree with, then Im going to call him out on it, Ott said. That is what democracy is all about.
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If there were any doubt that lawmakers are ready to see Gov. Nikki Haley move on to her new position as U.N. ambassador for soon-to-be President Donald Trump, the formal reaction from the House and Senate leaders to her State of the State removed it.

House Speaker Jay Lucas: I appreciate Gov. Haleys selfless service to the people of South Carolina over the last 12 years. Fixing our crumbling infrastructure, offering quality education to our children, providing tax relief for South Carolina taxpayers and stabilizing our retirement system will be the Houses priorities for this upcoming legislative session. Once Gov. Haley is confirmed as ambassador to the United Nations, I look forward to working with then-Gov. (Henry) McMaster as the House continues to champion the needs of South Carolina families.

Senate President Pro Tempore Hugh Leatherman: South Carolina is a growing state, rich with opportunity. The governors address offered reflection on key accomplishments that make our state better  Weve made tremendous strides to better our state, but there is work that remains to be done.  South Carolinians are watching and have given us the opportunity  and responsibility  to make this the most productive time in our states history.

Haley and lawmakers have had a sometimes tumultuous relationship, with the governor effectively using her rising tide of popularity to get her way.

Strengthening her position has been the success of Secretary of Commerce Bobby Hitts agency in recruiting industry since 2010, giving her a record hard to match on economic development.

And going front and center on removal of the Confederate flag from the Statehouse in the wake of the Emanuel 9 tragedy in Charleston earned her respect here and around the world.

Haley has had the political capital to spend and she used it.

Just days ahead of her confirmation hearing and near-certain approval for the U.N. position, the Bamberg County native on Wednesday used the State of the State to reflect on six years as governor, a position she won by rising from near political obscurity to today being one of the Republican Partys brightest national prospects.

She called being governor "the greatest honor of my life and thanked the people of South Carolina.

And thus she will exit as a popular governor in whom the state is proud  both of her time in office and of the prospects for her in the new position.

Lawmakers will join the praise even as they look forward to a new day under McMaster, in whom they are placing hopes for a more cooperative relationship.

Where we go from here remains to be seen, but Haleys expressed confidence in her successor cannot hurt: Your love of South Carolina gives me great comfort, as I know you cherish our state and its people, and I know you'll take care of them."
Oregons system of Vote By Mail offers a model that for South Carolina would save millions of dollars to buy new voting machines, avoid long lines for voting, and insure total security for elections results.

It is used for all elections: federal, state, and local, whether primary, general or special, and has been in operation for roughly 25 years. One result is increased voter participation by working parents and senior citizens. The system makes voter fraud virtually impossible, and research has shown that the system favors neither party.

The idea originated with Oregon county elections officials and has fully met their goals of substantially saving money and increasing voter participation. The Vote By Mail has been adopted in whole or part by three western states, and South Carolina could become a leader in showing it works in the South.

Twenty days before each election, ballots are mailed by the county election officials to the address as registered by each voter. Each ballot is customized to the address/precinct so that they are voting only on the federal, state, and local elections for their precinct. Any registered voter who doesnt receive a ballot mail for some reason, or loses one, can go to the elections office and get one.

Ballot integrity is ensured by the voter signing the return envelope on the outside and the elections officials visually matching that signature to the signature on file with voters registration. The ballot itself is in a separate inside envelope. Once the signatures are matched, the inside envelope is separated from the outside one and the ballot scanned electronically to record it, which ensures both voter privacy and a secret ballot by each voter.

To ensure the integrity of the election, the system also provides a paper record of every vote, which can be recounted by hand if a recount is needed.

Every household in the state also receives by mail a voters pamphlet, with a concise biography and party identification of each candidate. Voters can refer to it while filling out their ballot, which means they can vote a heir own pace in the privacy of their homes during the three weeks before the election. Typically, the ballots are received before the last week.

Starting one week before the election, county elections officials begin counting ballot, using optical scanners, with results electronically recorded in the statewide voter database. This allows candidates, political parties and the media to monitor turnout as it unfolds.

This process means that early voters arent bothered by robo-calls and mailers and knocking on the doors by canvassers because they are known to have already voted. It also means that candidates and their political party can focus on those who havent yet voted. No elections results are released until the polls close on the day of election.
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Swift has announced the launch of a Proof of Concept (PoC) to explore whether distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be used by banks to improve the reconciliation of their nostro databases in real time, optimising their global liquidity.

Under the current correspondent banking model, banks need to monitor the funds in their overseas accounts via debit and credit updates and end-of-day statements. The maintenance and operational work involved represents a significant portion of the cost of making cross-border payments. This PoC will test whether distributed ledgers may be able to help banks reconcile those nostro accounts more efficiently and in real time, lowering costs and operational risk, Swift said.

As part of Swifts global payments innovation (GPI) initiative, which seeks to deliver a new standard in cross-border payments, the new PoC was scoped in collaboration with leading correspondent banks. Swift GPI member banks can apply to participate in this PoC, set to launch in early 2017, it said.

Whilst existing DLTs are not currently mature enough for cross-border payments, this technology, bolstered by some additional features from Swift, may be interesting for the associated account reconciliation, says Wim Raymaekers, head of banking market and Swift GPI. This PoC gives us the opportunity to test DLT and determine if it can be applied to this particular use case.

A number of government and private institutions in the Arab region have already announced the proposed adoption of Digital Ledger Technology, or blockchain. In the UAE for example, the Dubai government has launched a blockchain strategy for 2020. Several banks and telecommunications companies have also unveiled pilot DLT programmes.

Khaled Moharem, head of Middle East & North Africa at Swift, said: The region has proven to be an early adopter of new technologies and Swift is looking forward to working with local banks, financial institutions and companies as part of the cooperatives global payments innovation initiative to deliver new standards in cross-border payments.

Swift will deploy open-source Hyperledger technology, and combine it with key Swift assets to bring it in line with the financial industrys requirements. Using a private blockchain in a closed user group environment, with specific user profiles and strong data controls, user privileges and data access will be strictly governed.

Damien Vanderveken, head of R&D, SwiftLabs and User Experience at Swift, added: Swift will leverage its strong governance, PKI security scheme, BIC legal identifier framework and liquidity standards expertise to deliver a distinctive DLT PoC platform for the benefit of its community.

Swift GPI was launched in December 2015 to deliver a new standard in cross-border payments. With more than 90 banks signed up, representing more than 75 percent of Swifts cross-border payments traffic, the initiative has seen tremendous industry support and is set to go live in early 2017, it said.  TradeArabia News Service
BMW i is the first automotive brand in the world to offer customers an interactive, 3D augmented reality experience of their products in a pilot programme which is being rolled-out from today.

Using Tango, Googles smartphone augmented reality technology, customers can explore their ideal BMW i3 or i8, as a real-size, interactive visualization, the company said.

Our vehicles are emotional products and to get that emotional feeling, you really need to experience them, said Andrea Castronovo, BMW Group vice president, sales strategy and future retail. In situations where the desired product isnt available on the spot, this visualisation is the next best thing, he continued.

Piloting initially in a double-digit number of sales outlets, selected Product Geniuses will be provided with a consumer mobile device which is Tango-enabled. Using this, they can then support customers to visualise and experience the BMW i products, using augmented reality to create a 3D image which can be explored interactively: the customer can open the boot or the doors, even getting inside the car to take a closer look at the interior.

Eric Johnsen, head of business development for augmented reality at Google, said: The thing that sets Tango apart is the fact that it understands the context of the space that its in. So the wheels are really on the floor, for example, giving the whole experience a much more realistic feel.

The quality of the images created is certainly extremely realistic. In our initial tests, we saw people ducking down when they were getting into the car, as if there really were a roof there for them to bang their heads on, Andrea Castronovo recalled. Its that level of detail which means this technology offers the customers real added value, he commented.

BMW i is the first automotive brand to use Tango to provide customers with this interactive experience. BMW i is the spearhead of innovation at the BMW Group, so its clearly a good fit for the pilot of this new customer and retail tool, explained Stefan Biermann, BMW Group head of innovations sales, BMW i.

The BMW i Visualiser App is the latest innovation in the BMW Groups Future Retail programme, which began rolling out around three years ago and which has transformed the customers experience of buying a car. Many significant elements of Future Retail, such as the Product Genius or the Virtual Product Presenter, have set new benchmarks for the industry.

The BMW i Visualiser was designed and developed by Accenture, integrating BMW i picture data of the vehicles into an app which uses Tango technology. It offers customers a new and interactive way to experience the car, with functions that enable customers to open the door or switch on the lights. In order to keep the user-experience as intuitive and simple as possible, the app is a visualiser instead of a full configurator, where features such as interior and exterior colours or wheel rims can be altered at a touch of the screen. Once the visualisation is complete, the customer can save the data and share it with others, including BMW i sales outlets, via social media, email or QR code.

Once the pilot is successfully completed, it is planned to offer the app on Google Play so that customers with Tango-enabled devices can download it for use any time, any place. We believe that over the next couple of years, the majority of premium Android devices will be Tango-enabled, said Eric Johnsen. Augmented reality has such huge potential for retail, were just getting started, he continued.  TradeArabia News Service
Global leaders in government and business will gather for the official opening of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW) in the UAE capital tomorrow.



Taking place on the theme Practical steps towards a sustainable future, this years ADSW is expected to receive 38,000 attendees representing 175 countries, including five heads of state, more than 80 government ministers, and 880 exhibiting companies from 40 countries.



Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week, hosted by Masdar, is a global platform addressing the interconnected challenges and opportunities of sustainable development, renewable energy and water security. Held every January under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi and Deputy Supreme Commander of the UAE Armed Forces, the event is based on the key pillars of Policy, Leadership, Business, Academic Research, and Community Awareness.



Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week 2017 began with two key policy events: the Atlantic Council Global Energy Forum on January 12 and13, held in partnership with the UAE Ministry of Energy, and the 5th General Assembly of the International Renewable Energy Agency, on January 14 and15.

As part of the week, the 10th World Future Energy Summit (WFES) opens tomorrow at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec). WFES drives the business case for sustainability, and is now firmly established as a leading global platform for turning renewable energy goals into business opportunities.

Held under the theme of Sustaining the Clean Energy Consensus; Empowering New Players, WFES 2017 will bring together the worlds leading technology providers, government delegations, innovators, and thought leaders.

Tomorrows ADSW opening ceremony is immediately followed by the Awards Ceremony of the 9th edition of the Zayed Future Energy Prize. The afternoon programme is dedicated to Abu Dhabi Global Action Day, a high-level conference aimed at turning the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development into practical and innovative solutions in policy, investment, technology and partnerships  with a focus on the steps to be taken by both government and business.



The opening ceremony, presidential keynotes and Global Action Day programme on January 16 will include five heads of state. Addressing delegates at the ceremony will be Nursultan Nazarbayev, President of Kazakhstan. Also in attendance will be Horacio Cartes, President of Paraguay and Maithripala Sirisena, President of Sri Lanka.



Keynotes will also be given by Luis Guillermo Solis, President of Costa Rica; Pushpa Kamal Dahal, Prime Minister of Nepal; and Filip Vujanovic, President of Montenegro. Dr Thani Al Zeyoudi, UAE Minister of Climate Change and Environment (MoCCE), will open Global Action Day.



Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of Masdar, said: Having marked our 10th anniversary last year, we are proud to host ADSW as we embark on the next 10 years of our success in the UAE and international markets. ADSW 2017 is one of the first global platforms to debate the outcomes of COP22 in Marrakech, and to take further action to adopt renewable energy, clean technologies and sustainable development following the ratification of the Paris Agreement. It is also a gateway to the opportunities of the Middle East & North Africa, today one of the fastest growing and most cost-competitive markets for renewable energy and clean technology.



Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week hosts the World Future Energy Summit, which this year marks its 10th anniversary, the 5th International Water Summit, and EcoWaste.



More than half of the exhibiting companies are small and medium sized business (SMEs) from leading clean-tech nations including Germany, France, Japan, the United States and the UK, further illustrating the commercial dynamism and growing maturity of the sector.



ADSW 2017 will shed light on the practical steps needed to unlock further expansion of the renewable energy and clean technologies sectors, and to deliver sustainable solutions in water and waste, added Mohamed Jameel Al Ramahi of Masdar. - TradeArabia News Service
Atkins, a global leader in design, engineering and project management consultancy sector, said one of its units has been awarded a key contract by state-owned Oman Power and Water Procurement Company (OPWP).



As per the deal, Atkins Power and Renewables will provide technical advisory services for the development of the Power 2021 Procurement Cycle in the sultanate.



The scope of work includes a site selection strategy to determine the projects optimum location, and drafting the project definition report and competition paper.



OPWP, a member of Nama group, requires an expansion of the installed capacity of the power system by at least 800 MW to meet the forecast demand requirements of 2021, said a statement from Atkins.



The current demand for power is in the region of 6,000 MW. This additional capacity represents a significant increase, it stated.



The additional of at least 800 MW of combined cycle gas turbine generation (CCGT) capacity in the region draws on the experience and expertise of a number of departments in differing geographies within Atkins, ranging from power generation and interconnection, process and mechanical, civil and structural, environmental, water and planning specialists, said the company.



The project is being managed by a team of engineers based in the power office in Abu Dhabi, with support from the wider Atkins community in the UK, Oman and Bangalore (India). It is expected to be completed within 18 months.



Atkins said it is also supporting the evaluation of developer prequalification submittals, and will assist with agreeing on the final short list of developers through to bid evaluation and award of contract to the successful bidder.



The development will provide additional security of supply to Oman and improve margin particularly during summer months when demand is greatest, he added.



Callum McLaurin, the project director and head of business Middle East, said: "This is considered a strategic win as it provides us with exposure to a major client in the region with significant expansion plans and enables both parties to develop a mutually beneficial working relationship."



"Furthermore, this win enables us to expand our Omanisation programme via additional recruitment and also enhances our corporate CV in the ME region and in Oman," he added.-TradeArabia News Service
As we move into 2017 it is widely known that most legacy access control cards and smart cards in the industry are easily copied and cloned. But it is important to remember that even if you are using a secure technology (like EV1), cards can still be copied if there is careless use of the smart card Keys.



Not only can you buy traditional card cloning machines, but you can now also buy open hardware to exploit poorly written code that extracts AES smart card keys in a matter of minutes. If these smart card keys become known, then ID cards can be recreated (even if businesses are using the highly secure EV1 technology).



There is also the realisation in the industry that when many thousands of cards are issued with a common numbering scheme and key structure, that effective key management and lifecycle strategies need to be developed.



So the question is - how to we ensure that our smart cardkeys remain secure and uncompromised at all times?



To increase key security at the manufacturer level, leading smart card providers can offer a secure object, which is written to the smart card using a separate set of keys. Although this provides customers with a layer of protection, if these keys become known the system security is still at risk as cards can be freely created. So to mitigate against this vulnerability, UK-based Lumen ID, a leader in smart card deployments, recommends that customers look internally at their Key Generation Ceremony and process.



Very often smart card migration project success involves ensuring that smart cardkey structure and code is both written and managed in the most secure, anonymous and auditable way. Because after all, isnt it audit that drives behaviour? Questions such as how the keys are generated, how they are kept secret and how they are disseminated in global corporate environments, require robust answers to ensure that access control security is maintained.



An end-to-end security management process for securing and protecting smart card keys can be easily achieved using multiple, independent factors such as:



1) The generation of a private, anonymous key structure thats only known by the customer

2) Key rotation

3) Credential management software for the allocation of unique identifiers and to connect to existing Access Control Systems & databases.

4) Use of encrypted card printers & credential encoders



1) Generation of an anonymous, private key structure.



Although customers are assigned random and unique shipping keys by the card manufacturer, it is important that keys can then be subsequently changed by the customer to an anonymous keyset; thus ensuring the utmost level of security and autonomy.



Historically smart cards where supplied completely personalised, with all of the information necessary for the card to function initially included within the card. For security & costs reasons however, the growing trend now is for most cards to be supplied minimally personalised, with further personalisation then required on-site.



The first step in the deployment of a truly secure smart card credential starts with the creation of a unique, private key structure that never leaves the clients secure area. During the customers initial key generation ceremony Lumen ID recommends that smart card keys and passwords never exist in human readable form.



They should never be written down and indeed no one person should know the pre-curser to re-generate the keys. It is best practice to create a keyset that is derived using multiple paraphrases from numerous members of security staff. This ensures distribution of trust as no one person knows the complete passphrase. From the combined passphrases a unique customer keyset is then created, along with a set of secure Key Configuration cards (eg. Admin and KEY change cards) that are used to initiate readers and other security devices so that they can all operate seamlessly using the same keyset. The benefit here is that the manufacturer only knows the initial card shipping keys. But because they dont know the customers active cards and the unique paraphrase cards, the keys will always remain anonymous.



2) Key rotation.



It is recommended that Keys be capable of being changed periodically and recreated by the customer as and when required. Smart card suppliers should never be able to recreate the customers active keys ensuring a degree of separation from the key management process. Opt for secure readers that can be used across different platforms and which allow key rotation. New keys should be capable of being distributed securely into the system using a secure reader key change configuration card.



At Lumen ID we also recommend that keys do not reside on the access control readers directly.



This rationale is also supported by recent government standards bodies for access control in the UK - CPNI (Centre for the Protection of National Infrastructure) and NIST (National Institute of Standards & Technology),in the USA. These bodies emphasise the importance of not holding keys in the reader in case its stolen with keys examined and extracted over time. Instead they recommend that keys should be held in the secure location of an access control door control panel.



As an added layer of security and to eradicate any risk of key extraction or interface replaying, then Lumen ID recommends the use of a smart `Cipher box (that sits between the card reader and the door control panel) to independently hold the keys.



3) Credential management software to allocate unique identifiers to the credential.



Ensuring key autonomy is made further difficult for enterprise level customers that often have problems such as the use of multiple card technologies and multiple access control systems per region. How can they create a common global credential thats unique and highly secure, irrespective of its regional environmental differences?

This is achieved using a top level credential management software interface that talks to the SQL databases of multiple access control systems. The credential management interface remotely manages the allocation of unique identifiers to the global credential. It controls all the key elements in the end-to-end credential solution including; Printer Encoders and Card Number Ranges. It also provides a full audit trail of credential/key management actions and provides real time alerts of prohibited actions for command and control.



4) Opt for encrypted card readers &printer encoders to provide on-card data protection.



Encrypted card printers/encoders which hold the customers private keys directly in the SAM of the encoder are also now available. When used in collaboration with key configuration cards and credential management software, printer encoders can successfully allocate a unique identifier to ID cards and ensure that on-card key/data protection is digitally assigned to an end access control credential.



Conclusion:

Securing credential key structure and ensuring distribution of trust at all levels of the access control credential process is essential. A robust, continual audit procedure should be put in place to ensure that keys are never compromised. As manufactures and suppliers have no knowledge of the keys generated as part of this anonymous process, it is also essential that they are created and managed in a systematic, secure and auditable fashion. When choosing a smart card solutions provider ensure that they have the software tools available to allocate a unique ID to the credential, program the credential and vitally to provide a secure audit trail as to the ongoing validity of the credential.



Dr George Redpath is a joint managing director at Lumen ID. With over 30 years experience of global, enterprise level, smart card deployments, Lumen ID has developed the experience and software tools to ensure that secure credential management and audit processes exist for customers worldwide.


Boeing and Indias SpiceJet have announced a commitment worth $22 billion for up to 205 airplanes during an event in New Delhi, India.



Booked at the end of 2016, the announcement includes 100 new 737 MAX 8s, SpiceJet's current order for 42 MAXs, 13 additional 737 MAXs which were previously attributed to an unidentified customer on Boeing's Orders & Deliveries website, as well as purchase rights for 50 additional airplanes.



"The Boeing 737 class of aircraft has been the backbone of our fleet since SpiceJet began, with its high reliability, low operation economies and comfort," said Ajay Singh, chairman and managing director, SpiceJet. "With the next generation of 737 and the 737 MAX we are sure that we can be competitive and grow profitably."



SpiceJet, all-Boeing jet operator, placed its first order with Boeing in 2005 for Next-Generation (NG) 737s and currently operates 32 737 NGs in its fleet.



"We are honoured to build upon more than a decade of partnership with SpiceJet with their commitment of up to 205 airplanes," said Ray Conner, vice chairman, The Boeing Company. "The economics of the 737 MAXs will allow SpiceJet to profitably open new markets, expand connectivity within India and beyond, and offer their customers a superior passenger experience."



The 737 MAX incorporates the latest technology CFM International LEAP-1B engines, Advanced Technology winglets and other improvements to deliver the highest efficiency, reliability and passenger comfort in the single-aisle market.



The new airplane will deliver 20 percent lower fuel use than the first Next-Generation 737s and the lowest operating costs in its class  8 percent per seat less than its nearest competitor.  TradeArabia News Service
Air France has inaugurated its Boeing 787s first commercial flight to Cairo, allowing passengers to travel to the Egyptian capital on board the new aircraft up to six times a week.



Equipped with the latest new travel cabins, the Boeing 787 has 30 seats in Business, 21 in Premium Economy and 225 in Economy.



According to B787 new flight schedules to Cairo, flight AF570 departs Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 14:30 and arrives in Cairo at 20:00. On its return, flight AF567 leaves Cairo at 1:35 and arrives at Paris-Charles de Gaulle at 5:30.



Flights will be operated on Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.



On board the new Boeing 787, passengers will experience:

The latest Air France cabins: a cocoon in the sky in the Business cabin (30 seats), and comfort for all in the new Premium Economy cabin (21 seats) and in Economy (225 seats);

A wi-fi connection on board adapted to the requirements and habits of customers (from 20MB to 200MB for a price ranging between 5 and 30);

Mood lighting adapted to the different stages of the flight;

Additional comfort and space with the new Premium Economy seats;

Windows that are approximately 30 per cent larger than on similar aircraft, equipped with an electronic window darkening system;

A lower cabin altitude and enhanced in-flight humidity levels for greater travel comfort. - TradeArabia News Service
DOUGLAS  Eleanor and Jess Rodgers celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on Dec. 29, 2016.

Eleanor Whitaker and Jess Rodgers were married Dec. 29, 1951, at Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Rapid City, South Dakota. His aunt and uncle, Francis and Helen Kolego, stood up with them.

She was born and raised in rural Converse County, the daughter of Ruth and Walter Whitaker. She graduated from Douglas High School in 1952.

He was the son of Laura and Bob Dixon of rural Niobrara County. He also graduated from Douglas High School, but in 1951. They met when he came to Douglas for school in the fall of 1948.

After a few years in Douglas, they moved to Casper in 1954. He worked for Montgomery Ward in the tire and auto parts division for 13 years. When the Wards went out of the retail business, he accepted a job with Procter and Gamble. He retired from P&G after more than 25 years, having served as a section sales manager and key account manager, covering several states. During that time, he was issued 31 company cars.

She was employed within the public relations field, office management and similar positions during her working years.

Their children were born and raised in Casper. They are Dave (Debb) of Casper, Cheri Gerou (Phil) of Evergreen, Colorado, and Darin (Crystal) of Casper. They had the misfortune of losing two sons, Richard J. Dick and Walter W. Skip. They have seven grandchildren, four step-grandchildren and seven great-grandchildren.

After his retirement in 1992, they moved to rural Converse County and returned to agriculture, the life they both grew up in. They live south in the LaBonte community where she was raised.

When asked if they had any advice for newlyweds about building a lasting relationship, he replied, tell the guys its those three little words that do wonders  its not I love you, but yes, my dear.
Wyoming Events

LARAMIE: UW Planetarium shows, 7 p.m., Jan. 17, This Months Sky. 8 p.m., Jan. 20, Greek Mythology. A STAR Observatory tour (weather dependent) follows at 9 p.m. Tickets cost $3 for students and $4 for non-students, Physical Sciences Building basement. Advance tickets are available in the Physical Sciences Building, Room 204.

SHERIDAN: Life in Antarctica, 6 p.m., Jan. 18, Sheridan Fulmer Library Inner Circle. Sheridan residents Lenny and Rhoda Bonneau lived and worked at McMurdo research station in Antarctica as support crew with the United States Antarctic Program. Program includes the film, Antarctica: A Year on Ice, photos and questions and answers with the Bonneaus. It will last approximately two hours and is appropriate for all ages.

LARAMIE: UW residence halls open for spring semester, 8 a.m., Jan. 20.

CHEYENNE: 5th Annual Schwartz Memorial Plunge, Jan. 21, 1 p.m., Sloans Lake at Lions Park, 4603 Lions Park Dr. Celebrate and honor the life of TSgt Matthew Schwartz and benefit the EOD Warrior Foundation. Participants will plunge into the frigid waters of Sloans Lake at Lions Park. The fee to participate is $25 for early registration. All funds raised go to support the EOD Warrior Foundation mission of helping EOD warriors and their families. Info: www.eodwarriorfoundation.org.

TORRINGTON: Quality used book sale, Feb. 4 to 18, 2017 E. A St., Goshen County Library Foundation. Items individually priced. Half-price sale, Feb. 13-15; box sale, Feb. 16-18. Sale hours 10 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., Saturday. Info: 307-532-3411.

SHERIDAN: Spring book discussion series, Sheridan County Library System. Books are available for checkout at the front desk of each library. Fulmer Library, 6:30 p.m.: Feb. 14, English Creek; March 14, The Meadow; April 11, The Round House; May 9, Cowboys and East Indians. Story Library, 6:30 p.m., Jan. 30, The Namesake; Feb. 27, The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down; March 27, The Book of Unknown Americans; April 24, Children of Syria (video). Tongue River Branch Library, 4:30 p.m.: Feb. 7, The Book of Unknown Americans; March 14, The Namesake; April 25, Children of Syria (video).

CHEYENNE: Organic farming conference, Feb. 21-22, Laramie County Community College. There is a fee to register, and lunch is provided. To register and for more information, go to http://bit.ly/2017organic, or call (970) 217-3362 or erooney1@uwyo.edu. Registration can also be paid at the door, but seating is limited to 100.

CHEYENNE: Zontas Ladies Night Out, March 3, 2017, presented by Zonta Club of Cheyenne. Tickets $75. Evening includes plated dinner, keynote speaker Pastor Yevette Christy, an opportunity to shop from more than two dozen vendors and an evening of fun. Proceeds used in Zontas campaign to raise awareness about human trafficking and for local scholarships. Sponsorship and vendor opportunities still available. Info: (307) 509-0473; www.cheyennezonta.org

Wyoming Theatre

CHEYENNE: Ballet Wyoming presents Peter Pan, Jan. 20, 7 p.m., and Jan. 21, 2 p.m., Cheyenne Civic Center. Tickets range from $15 to $40 and are required for all, regardless of age. Purchase online at www.balletwyoming.com/buy-tickets.

CHEYENNE: Annie, Cheyenne Civic Center Performing Arts Theatre, Jan. 25. Tickets: www.cheyenneciviccenter.org or 307.637.6363

GILLETTE: Annie, 7 p.m., Jan. 26, Cam-Plex Heritage Center Theater. The National Broadway Tour. Reserved tickets $29.50 to $79. Cam-Plex Ticket Office, 307-682-8802 or www.cam-plex.com

SHERIDAN: A Fine and Pleasant Misery  the Humor of Patrick McManus, 7:30 p.m., Jan. 28, WYO Theater. Adults $25.50; seniors and military $22.50; students $20. Info: (307) 672-9084; www.wyotheater.com

SHERIDAN: Wally Wales Movie Night, 6 p.m., Feb. 9, Sheridan Fulmer Library. Celebration of silent movie star Wally Wales, who was born and died in Sheridan. Evening includes double feature of Wales movies with short presentation on his life and career at intermission. Program is approximately two hours in length and is appropriate for all ages.

Wyoming Music

LANDER: Fremont Symphony Orchestra annual free winter afternoon concert, 3 p.m., Jan. 21, 2017, Covenant Presbyterian Church, 875 Fremont. The Mid-Winter Musicale and Mingle FSO Fund Raiser features solo and instrumental ensemble performances by FSO members. While admission is free, donations are greatly appreciated and the orchestra will accept them at the door. Info: (307) 332-6776.

LANDER: Fremont Symphony Orchestra, 7 p.m., Lander Valley High School Concert Hall, March 18, 2017, The Roaring 20s, features a Charlie Chaplin silent film, The Rink, which the orchestra will accompany. Guest conductor Andrew Greene (Peacherine Ragtime Society Orchestra, Baltimore, Maryland) will direct the work.

(Submit events to calendar@trib.com)
When Yellowstone National Parks aching cold and deep snow claims the lives of winter-weakened bison, predators like wolves are one of the beneficiaries.

Wolves know the bison are going to die so they wait and scavenge a lot, said Doug Smith, Yellowstones Wolf Project leader.

Yellowstone estimates on average that about nine out of every 100 bison die each winter. With the parks bison population now around 5,500 animals, that means roughly 500 bison could perish this winter. With adult bison ranging from 1,000 to 2,000 pounds, those carcasses will be a substantial source of protein for park predators and scavengers, especially top predators like wolves who in the winter dont have to compete with hibernating grizzly and black bears.

Yellowstone is a pretty good place to be a wolf, Smith said.

Studies in the parks Northern Region have estimated that wolf survival is due in large part to that reliable source of bison meat, composing as much as one-quarter to one-third of a wolfs scavenging activity. Without bison carcasses, Smith said the parks wolves may not have enough to eat in the winter.

Aged couple

Such a large source of food may be one reason the park contains the longest-known pair bond between two wolves ever recorded. Alpha male 712 will be 12 years old this March, an incredibly long life considering that on average Yellowstone wolves live only to age 5.

Wolf 712s mate is a white female popular with photographers. Because shes never been captured and collared, Smith isnt sure how old the white wolf is, but shes been with her black mate for more than seven years. Wolves begin breeding at 2 or 3 years old, so the female is almost as old as 712.

Its a cool story, Smith said. Theyre probably the most famous wolves in the park.

The two lead the Canyon pack, which roams the area around the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and Hayden Valley, north of Yellowstone Lake.

This pack has been very comfortable near developed areas, exemplified by their use of a highway culvert to stash pups in 2008, denning near park headquarters in Mammoth Hot Springs in 2009, and regularly using roads as travel corridors during the winter months, according to the Yellowstone Wolf website.

Given their familiarity with the park and its bison, Smith said the alpha pairs winter routine is likely to include checking places where bison are known to die in hopes of finding a large, already dead meal.

I can guarantee you they are going to all of their old spots, he said.

Darting

Smith also goes to all of his old spots in the park in the winter when searching for wolves to dart from a helicopter. Darting wolves allows him to collect physical information and fit animals in almost every pack with GPS collars. So far this winter, though, cold and wind has kept his crew from helicoptering aloft.

Thats bad news for information collection because the last two years were also poor for darting and collaring. Whats even more frustrating is that out of the 12 wolves the park did capture last winter, collars on five of them failed within a few months of deployment. Annually the park attempts to collar 15 to 20 wolves, with at least one collar in each pack. Twenty to 22 collared wolves is the long-term average, so Smith said 12 is disappointingly low.

As a result, in two of the Northern Regions larger packs, one has no collar and the other contains only one wolf with a working collar. The problem with the lack of collars was demonstrated in November and December when much of the Junction Butte pack disappeared from the park and wandered into Montana. While there, three members of the pack were legally killed by hunters north of the park. Park researchers are trying to understand the impact that the hunting seasons in surrounding states have on park wolves. Another three park wolves from the 8 Mile pack were also shot this hunting season, Smith said.

At last count, Yellowstone contained about 100 wolves in 10 packs, a population that has remained fairly stable since 2008. Lower wolf densities may be one reason that the parks wolves havent had an outbreak of disease for eight years, defying researchers predictions that distemper would strike every three to seven years.

Wolves are coming into equilibrium with the environment, Smith said.
The annual point-in-time count, which tallies Wyomingites who are homeless on a given day, is set for Jan. 27.

The count includes people living in homeless shelters as well as those living in parks or cars or under highway bridges, for example. All Wyoming counties will take part.

According to a news release, the event will be led by the Wyoming Homelessness Collaborative as well as Continuum of Care, a program created by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

In the count performed a year ago, local agencies reported that 857 people in Wyoming were homeless  a 48 percent increase from 2010.

According to the department, Wyoming has seen a 14.1 percent increase in homeless families since 2015.

The event affects Wyoming programs that receive HUD dollars because grants are based on the number of homeless people in the state.

Karla McClaren, the homelessness program manager at the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said in a news release that the count is vital in helping us serve the homeless population of Wyoming and aids us in identifying the gaps in services.

McClaren said the count gives homelessness programs a view of how they are performing statewide and who is using the current programs and reveal what adjustments need to be made. The count also helps state leaders develop policy and planning decisions.

This year, we are focusing on including as many people as we can who are struggling with homelessness, focusing especially on youth, Brenda Lyttle, a senior administrator with the Wyoming Department of Family Services, said in the statement.

Gov. Matt Mead will sign a proclamation at 10:40 a.m. Jan. 26 at the Wyoming Rescue Mission in Casper that declares Jan. 27 as Homeless Count Day in Wyoming.
Wyoming education officials say theyre adopting a wait-and-see approach as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office and his pick to lead the Department of Education prepares for her confirmation hearings.

What exactly that means for the roughly 93,000 public school students in Wyoming remains to be seen. Wyoming Board of Education Chairman Pete Gosar said it was too early to draw too many conclusions about Trump and Betsy DeVos effect on education here.

Im not sure where (Trumps) going to go with education, agreed Kathy Vetter, the president of the Wyoming Education Association.

State schools superintendent Jillian Balow, meanwhile, was hopeful the new administration will give states more control over education.

President-elect Trump talked about several (education) things throughout the campaign, she said. Really it boils down to more authority by state. He said over and over again that it should be left up to the states.

During the campaign, Trump called Common Core a very bad thing and said he might cut the education department. He told a rally in Ohio that he wanted to cap student loan payments and said in his announcement speech that education has to be local.

In September, then-Republican candidate Trump announced a plan for a nationwide school voucher program, to the tune of $20 billion. Two months later, after his title became president-elect, Trump tapped DeVos, a Michigan-based philanthropist, to head the U.S. Department of Education.

Reading the tea leaves with DeVos is at one time easy and complicated. Her history in Michigan suggests a strong support for voucher programs, school choice and charter schools. But, as has been noted by people including Vetter and Gosar, she has no experience in public education.

I dont think that should be a deal breaker, Gosar said, but it helps to have experience in the field.

Charter schools

What DeVos does have experience with are charter schools and school vouchers; in Michigan, she was a vocal and financial supporter of both. Wyoming only has a handful of charter schools, officials said, and state law gives much control of those institutions to local school boards.

Should DeVos be confirmed, it would be an easy assumption to make that she would push the creation of more charter schools nationally, Gosar said. Natrona Countys school board has rejected attempts to create a charter school here.

Margarita Rovani, the operations manager for Snowy Range Academy, a charter school in Laramie, declined to comment, saying she and her colleagues wanted to wait and see.

But, she added, our hope is that Trump and his cabinet will enact legislation that will help charter schools continue to grow and flourish across the nation, and especially in Wyoming, where we have so few charters.

Vetter rejected the use of public funds for private schools, which she said DeVos supported in Michigan.

A lot of charter schools she supported in her state were private schools, and she wanted to take tax dollars and give it to private schools, she said. Its really going to hurt public schools in the United States.

DeVos experience and support for vouchers fits in well with Trumps plan to take $20 billion in federal education funds and use the money for vouchers for students in poverty. His plan would also call for the states to contribute a total of $110 billion for the program, which would create a system where federal money follows students, to either a public or private school.

Vetter said her organization was firmly against such a program. Like DeVos support for charter schools, Trumps plan would take money away from the pool of public school funding, she said.

Vouchers are just another way to take taxpayer dollars and give them to private schools, she said.

Balow, the schools superintendent, was more conflicted on vouchers. On the one hand, they allow for school choice, which she stressed she supported. It also would help at-risk students, who are the most likely to move from school to school.

On the other hand, she said, Trumps program could hurt Title 1 schools stability of funding. Students could take the money that would go to Title 1 schools and go elsewhere, to a private, for-profit school.

To not have that stability of funding could be detrimental to the student population, she said.

She added that she doesnt want to see ... taking resources from public education. So if we can find a voucher program or savings account outside of resources to public education, thats a very interesting conversation to have.

Experience

On vouchers specifically and DeVos ability to lead the department generally, Rob Boston was blunt and skeptical. His organization, Americans United for Separation of Church and State, has been critical of several of Trumps cabinet picks, including DeVos.

I dont think shes qualified at all to be the secretary of education, he said. She simply has no background in public education. ... She doesnt appreciate the role public schools play in American society.

But Balow said that DeVos lack of qualifications may be a good thing. The national education department had become overly politicized, she said, calling for the department to get out of advocating policy and instead focus on managing funds.

If youre going with that philosophy, the exact qualifications may matter less than they do at the state level even, she said.

Balow holds that opinion partially because she wants the federal government to more fully leave educational decisions to the states. The December 2015 passage of the Every Student Succeeds Act was supposed to do just that, she said. The law, which replaced No Child Left Behind, forbids the federal government from implementing mandatory standards like Common Core. That power lies with the state.

But that delegation hasnt always happened as Congress had intended, officials said. Vetter and Balow said the federal education department had already begun overstepping its authority as rules and regulations of ESSA were implemented.

Balow believes Trump and DeVos will give states more control over education.

I think we were on a path to some pretty significant overstep or overreach by the U.S. Department of Education, she said. I would anticipate that under a Trump administration and based on what he has said, we will see that authority returned to the state.
CHEYENNE  A new bill would bar anyone on federal terrorism watch lists from buying guns in Wyoming.

We need to do something about people who are going to attack us getting weapons to do it, said co-sponsor Sen. James Anderson, R-Casper.

Anderson said he heard a presentation on the issue at a legislative committee meeting last year and asked for a bill to be drafted.

Seventy-one percent of Americans believe that banning gun sales to people on the federal no-fly watch list would be at least somewhat effective at preventing terrorism, according to a June poll by Gallup.

Senate File 75 would add people on the FBIs Terror Screening Database  which includes the no-fly list  to the list of people who are not eligible to possess guns in Wyoming.

Democrats in the U.S. Senate have unsuccessfully pushed several times to pass federal legislation barring people on the terror watch list from purchasing firearms. The efforts, which were repeatedly defeated, were intended to pressure Republican senators who oppose any form of gun control.

But if the measure placed conservatives in a difficult political position, it included a further wrinkle.

Because there is little judicial oversight of the various terror watch lists included in the FBI database, several liberal and civil liberties groups  who are already often opposed to the lists  were concerned about taking away the constitutional right to bear arms from American citizens without due process.

Anderson indicated he was ambivalent about that issue.

I dont happen to believe that the military and the police state would make those many mistakes, Anderson said of who ends up on the terror watch list.

But he also acknowledged that taking away the Second Amendment rights of people who have not been convicted of any wrongdoing in court could be a problem.

I dont agree that anybody whos on the terror watch list, on the no fly list, should have those kind of rights, Anderson said.

The problem is some of these guys are not convicted of anything, so thats kind of a problem when you start talking about somebody whos not convicted and pulling his rights.

Anderson said that his bill may not be ready for prime time and might not be come up for a vote this session. But he said that keeping potential terrorists from purchasing firearms was a serious issue and that he hoped the bill would lead to discussion at the Legislature.

We need to do something about this nationwide, Anderson said. But maybe it isnt state-by-state.
The night before the Wyoming Legislature convened, a group of about 20 lawmakers met in Cheyenne with representatives from a sportsmens organization. Their conversation centered on a Colorado law that provides money for local governments to respond to federal land plans  effectively giving municipalities a better chance of influencing the discussion.

The Wyoming Wildlife Federation wasnt asking lawmakers to sponsor an identical bill but rather to move this conversation beyond management and to solutions, said Jessi Johnson, the federations public lands coordinator.

The gathering, which was attended by nearly a quarter of the Legislature, suggest lawmakers are already looking at alternatives to a controversial constitutional amendment intended to transfer control of public lands away from the federal government.

Wyoming Senate President Eli Bebout said he still plans to introduce the public lands amendment, although he doesnt know if he has enough support from lawmakers to place it on the ballot.

I dont really know whats going to happen with that, the Riverton Republican said Friday.

Senate Joint Resolution 3 would specify in the Wyoming Constitution how federal public land would be managed if Washington transferred it to the states. It needs approval by two-thirds of the Senate and House. Then voters would decide whether to change the Constitution.

Legislative observers said their own informal tallies of lawmakers suggest the bill will fail, the result of vocal sportsmen who adamantly oppose transferring federal public land because of concerns over access.

Our impression as of right now is it doesnt have enough to pass, Johnson said. Weve heard that from a couple legislators as well. However, that isnt written in stone.

Cheyenne Republican Rep. Landen Brown doesnt think at this point he will vote for the measure. He doesnt believe the state has the resources to increase its land possession from 3 million to 25 million acres.

I wont speak for the body, but I would say it faces an uphill battle in both chambers, said Brown, a freshman.

Bebout said he doesnt think its likely that Washington will transfer the land but that the state should be prepared in case it happens.

He said he is unsure when hes going to introduce the bill and to what legislative committee he would assign it.

Bebout supports the effort because the U.S. Forest Service has closed roads, decreasing hunters and anglers access, Bebout said. It takes a decade or more to permit oil and gas development and grazing, he added, which is too slow when market conditions for business constantly fluctuate.

He blames the federal government for the virtual disappearance of the timber industry in Wyoming. Federal regulations make it impossible to log, he said, and its management of land has made the West vulnerable to wildfires.

Bebout showed a picture on his mobile phone that he took from an airplane over Togwotee Pass of two sections of Shoshone National Forest.

One was brown and deadened, with trees killed by bark beetles and susceptible to wildfire. The adjacent section was verdant, with newer trees that had filled the land. It had previously been clear-cut, Bebout said.

Johnson, of the Wyoming Wildlife Federation, disagreed with Bebouts characterization that the federal government destroyed the timber industry. She said rangers in many national forests in Wyoming cannot find companies to remove trees when they are invited.

Wyomings trees  they dont have a lot of marketable value in the sense that theyre not these big redwoods or trees in the Pacific Northwest, where you can get multiple planks of wood, she said. Its a very market-driven industry.

Although the constitutional amendment would prohibit outright sale of the public land, sportsmen worry the state would still resort to land selloffs. They believe Wyoming would be overwhelmed by the regulation and management costs. A sale of land to private companies or people could forever shutter access to the states famed landscapes.

Bebout said Wyoming shouldnt enter a transfer agreement with the federal government unless Congress turns over all mineral rights and promises to pay to fight wildfires, which are a consequence of terrible federal management practices, he said.

But the demand that the federal government must pay to fight wildfires makes no sense, said Stephanie Kessler of the Wyoming Outdoor Council.

Why would the American people pay for the cost of something theyve given away? she asked.
MOSCOW  With eager anticipation, the Kremlin is counting the days to Donald Trumps inauguration and venting its anger at Barack Obamas outgoing administration, no holds barred.

Careful not to hurt chances for a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have deferred questions about their plans for future contacts with Trump and any agenda for those talks until he takes office on Friday.

Trumps open admiration of Putin has brought wide expectations of improved Moscow-Washington relations, but Trump has not articulated a clear Russia policy. His Cabinet nominees include both a retired general with a hawkish stance on Russia and an oil executive who has done extensive business in Russia.

At the same time, Russian officials are blasting the outgoing administration in undiplomatic language, dropping all decorum after Obama hit Moscow with more sanctions.

Moscow calls Obamas team a bunch of geopolitical losers engaged in an effort to inflict the maximum possible damage to U.S.-Russia ties to make it more difficult for Trump to mend the rift.

In a clear effort to avoid risking a rapprochement with Trump, Putin showed remarkable restraint when the U.S. expelled 35 Russian diplomats over accusations of meddling in the U.S. election campaign. Instead of a usual tit-for-tat response, Putin invited U.S. diplomats children to a New Years party at the Kremlin.

Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russias ambassador to the U.S. were in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on Dec. 29, the day Obama hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for election-related hacking, according to a senior U.S. official.

Moscow similarly refrained from retaliation when the White House last week added five Russians, including the chief of Russias top state investigative agency, to the U.S. sanctions list.

On Sunday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence insisted the Trump presidential campaign had no contacts with Russia and denied that the incoming national security adviser spoke with Russian officials in December about sanctions. He added that such questions were part of an effort to cast doubt on Trumps victory.

While Putin and his lieutenants hope Trump will open up to Russia, they know any attempt to fix ties will face massive obstacles, including possible strong resistance in the U.S. Congress.
SPAIN

Demonstration held for pro-Basque group

BILBAO  Tens of thousands of people demonstrated Saturday in the Basque city of Bilbao, calling for some 350 imprisoned members and sympathizers of the armed pro-Basque independence group ETA to be allowed serve their sentences closer to home in northern Spain.

In addition to prisoners families and pro-independence politicians, some relatives of ETA victims took part for the first time in the annual demonstration.

Protesters marched through the city holding placards that read I Denounce the Spanish governments policy of dispersing ETA prisoners in 40 prisons across Spain to restrict contacts between them.

ETA killed 829 people in its nearly four-decade campaign to create a Basque homeland in northern Spain and southwest France. The group announced a permanent cease-fire in 2011, but Spains Interior Ministry says there will be no change in its dispersion policy until the group fully disarms and its members ask for pardons.

China

Acclaimed linguist Zhou dies at 111

BEIJING  Zhou Youguang, a linguist considered the father of modern Chinas Pinyin Romanization system, died Saturday at the age of 111.

Born in 1906 during Chinas last imperial dynasty, the Qing, Zhou died at his home in Beijing, one day after celebrating his birthday, according to state broadcaster Chinese Central Television and other official media outlets.

After receiving a Western-style education at Shanghais St. Johns University, Zhou moved to the United States and for a time worked as a banker.

Returning to China along with other idealistic youths after the communist victory in 1949, he was placed in charge of a committee working on a new system to allow Chinese characters to be converted into Roman script.

Adopted by the Peoples Republic in 1958, Pinyin has virtually become the global standard due to its simplicity and consistency.
Arizonas biggest technology business group will push for legislation to restore career and technical education funding for high school freshmen and boost private-investment tax credits in 2017.

The Arizona Technology Council says its legislative priorities are aimed at improving the business climate for high-tech companies by widening access to capital, supporting tech-related job growth and attracting and training tech workers.

Arizona already is a center of technology business, with major employers including Raytheon Missile Systems in Tucson, said Alex Rodriguez, the Tech Councils vice president for Southern Arizona.

But the state remains at a disadvantage in workforce education and the availability of capital to fund startups, he said.

We have a lot of successes we can point to in the state, Rodriguez said. Our vision is to make Arizona the fastest-growing tech hub in the nation.

JTED funding

The Tech Council is again focusing on the restoration of funding for ninth-grade career technical education, including the Pima County Joint Technical Educational District and 13 other similar districts statewide that operate across school-district boundaries.

Programming runs the gamut and varies by high school. Pima Countys JTED program boasts more than 60 offerings, including industrial skills like precision machining and welding; auto repair; computers and media; culinary arts; biosciences; fashion design and technical theater.

Some programs allow students to work toward industry certifications or transfer credits to Pima Community College programs. Some offer internship opportunities.

The Legislature dropped funding for freshman-level JTED programs in 2011 and has not restored it despite the pleas of schools, business groups including the Tech Council, and various chambers of commerce.

JTED is a program that produces skilled technicians and gets them out to companies where they can add value on day one, Rodriguez said. We should be expanding a highly successful program, especially one that serves disadvantaged students.

A founding member of a local manufacturers group that has supported JTED industrial programs said freshman funding is critical.

The problem right now is, theres not enough funding to get those kids exposure to different things, said Jeremy Schalk, vice president of Hi-Tech Machining and Engineering.

Shalk said thats important because the sooner students select a career track, they can work toward achieving a technical credential, or toward a degree at Pima Community College, allowing them to land jobs right out of high school.

Shalk is a founding member of Southern Arizona Manufacturing Partners, which was formed in 2012 to build a pipeline of talent in critical areas such as precision machining.

Last year, Desert View High Schools precision machining program won accreditation through the National Institute for Metalworking Skills (NIMS), which certifies machinists, including computerized machine operators and related tradesmen.

Tucson High Magnet Schools machining program was approved for NIMS accreditation last month.

After graduating from high school, students can transfer some credits to Pima Community College under a dual-enrollment program and work toward associate degrees. Pimas machining program won NIMS accreditation last year.

When they have a NIMS certification, I have a good idea of where they are are on their path, said Shalk, who has hosted JTED interns and hired several program grads.

Angel tax credit

Supporting startup ventures is also at the forefront for the Tech Council through the use of angel investors  affluent individuals classified as accredited investors who can be solicited for private equity investments.

A tax credit created in 2006 gave angel investors a 30 percent state credit on qualifying investments, or 35 percent for investments in rural or bioscience startups.

But the program reached its statutory cap of $20 million in credits last June and remains suspended pending further funding authority.

Tucsons Desert Angels and the Phoenix-based Arizona Tech Investors Forum were two of the three most active angel investment groups in the Southwest from 2010 to 2015, according to the Angel Resource Institute at Willamette University.

Curtis Gunn, chairman of the Desert Angels, said the Arizona Angel Tax Credit program has been vitally important in boosting investments in Arizona tech startups.

The expiration of the credits has leveled the playing field to the disadvantage of Arizona, Gunn wrote in an email. There is no longer any reason for members of Desert Angels to focus on Arizona-based companies and more of our investment dollars are going out of state.

A 2014 study by the Arizona Commerce Authority showed that the angel tax credit program showed a 2.3-to-one direct return on investment, with more than $60 million invested by angels seeding an additional $420 million in financing, for an estimated overall economic impact of more than $1 billion.

Its an asset-producing program, rather than being a taxpayer liability, Rodriguez said.

School funding

The Tech Councils ongoing legislative priority is to adequately fund the states schools, from preschool programs to the universities.

Rodriguez said the council members remain concerned about school and university funding levels and, despite a contentious political climate, hes encouraged by Gov. Duceys apparent move to boost school spending.

Red or blue, what Arizonans want is an education governor and a Legislature that supports education funding, he said.

Other Tech Council legislative priorities include:
2016 was a record year for the local housing market, both in terms of new home construction and falling foreclosure rates.

The number of foreclosures last year was a 10-year low, data from the Pima County Recorders Office shows, with a 2016 total of 1,820 foreclosures  the lowest since 2007, when the housing market crashed and distressed sales began to climb, peaking at 6,793 in 2010, when a slow descent began.

The local trend was part of a national one that saw foreclosures at 10-year lows across the country in most major metropolitan areas, data from ATTOM Data Solutions show.

But, while analysts say the downward trend is good news, the market is still not completely healthy as investors bought distressed properties before they sold in a traditional foreclosure.

It appears that investors are becoming more savvy at identifying distressed properties before they go into foreclosure and that banks (and) government institutions are letting more properties go to investors instead of taking them back to sell for themselves, said housing analyst Ginger Kneup, owner of Bright Future Real Estate Research. The combination of both traditional foreclosure and investor sales  what I call distressed sales  still accounts for over 10 percent of existing homes sales instead of the 2 to 4 percent of a more healthy Tucson housing market.

Still, the lower number of foreclosures gave homebuilders a bump in confidence.

The year closed out with 2,697 single-family residential permits  a 24 percent increase over 2015.

Homebuilders opened 40 new communities that offered buyers many new choices all over town and across all price points, Kneup noted. The existing home market improved as fewer foreclosures came to the market, giving more homeowners the mobility to see their existing homes and move up to a home better suited for their current needs.

She said the Southern Arizona Home Builders Associations buy new initiative, which kicked off last year, also had an impact

That really gave homebuyers the resources they needed to better understand the value of buying a new home, Kneup said.

The program  Buynewtucson.com  highlights the energy efficiency of new homes and offers Realtors information on pending developments to promote new-home sales.

Land brokers predict even more housing activity in 2017 and 2018.

Not only was 2016 a very strong year in residential permits and local economic news, but we have actually been improving steadily for the past five years, said Will White, with Land Advisors Organization. We are seeing very strong demand from homebuilders for land and lots in the southeast, Vail and north Marana areas as they have become increasingly optimistic about Tucsons current state and future potential.
We've collected a few front pages from newspapers.com to give you a look at some January 15 papers in history. With a subscription to newspapers.com you can search the Arizona Daily Star and many other newspapers using keywords or dates, and download articles or pages.
WASHINGTON  Heres how members of Congress from Arizona voted in the week ending Jan. 13.

HOUSE

STOCK MARKET DEREGULATION

Voting 344 for and 73 against, the House on Jan. 10 passed a bipartisan bill (HR 79) that would roll back Securities and Exchange Commission regulations so that unproven, small companies could market their securities more quickly but with fewer investor protections.

In part, the bill would authorize start-ups traded on public exchanges to use a simplified securities form that is now available only to established companies that have met strict transparency and financial-stability standards. The bill also loosens SEC registration requirements for private offerings aimed at raising up to $500,000 from a limited number of investors.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate.

Voting yes: Tom OHalleran, Congressional District-1, Martha McSally, R-CD2, Paul Gosar, R-CD4, Andy Biggs, R- CD5, David Schweikert, R-CD6, Trent Franks, R-CD8, Kyrsten Sinema, D-CD9

Voting no: Raul Grijalva, D-CD3, Ruben Gallego, D-CD7

JUDICIAL FREEZE

OF $1 BILLION RULES

Voting 238 for and 183 against, the House on Jan. 11 passed a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 5) allowing courts to indefinitely delay new federal rules that would impose a cost of $1 billion or more annually on the economy. If a petition seeking judicial review is filed within 60 days of the rules effective date, courts could stay the rule indefinitely until the legal challenge is resolved. In defining the term $1 billion, the bill counts compliance costs but not the savings to society that result from factors such as improved job safety and environmental protection.

The bill also would increase the judicial branchs power over regulations issued by executive-branch agencies.

A yes vote was to send the bill to the Senate, where it could face a filibuster.

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

No: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

RULES FOR BLACK LUNG, WORKPLACE SAFETY

Voting 195 for and 227 against, the House on Jan. 11 refused to exempt from HR 5 any major new rules issued under the Federal Mine Safety and Health Act or Occupational Safety and Health Act to protect workers against irreversible lung diseases, cancer or physical injuries.

A yes vote was to adopt the Democratic-sponsored amendment.

Yes: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

No: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

REPEAL OF HEALTH LAW, CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY

Voting 227 for and 198 against, the House on Jan. 13 adopted a budget blueprint for fiscal 2017 (S Con Res 3) that would set the table for later congressional passage of bills to repeal the tax and spending portions of the Affordable Care Act, defund Planned Parenthood and weigh possible cuts to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. Because the Senate had adopted the resolution, this vote put it into effect. Congressional budget resolutions do not require a presidential signature.

A yes vote was to expedite passage of a bill .

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

No: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

REINS ON SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION RULES

The House on Jan. 12 passed, 243 for and 184 against, a GOP-sponsored bill (HR 78) that would place additional paperwork and disclosure requirements on the Securities and Exchange Commission in its adoption of rules for financial markets.

A yes vote was to pass a bill to restrain the SECs rulemaking process.

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks, Sinema

No: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego

DIVESTITURE OF HOLDINGS BY SEC CHAIRMAN

Voting 194 for and 233 against, the House on Jan. 12 defeated an amendment to HR 78 that sought to require the Securities and Exchange Commission chairman and his immediate family members to divest themselves of all securities they hold in financial institutions regulated by the agency.

A yes vote was to require extensive portfolio divestiture by the SEC chairman and his immediate family.

Yes: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego, Sinema

No: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks

Not voting: None

DEREGULATION OF DERIVATIVES MARKET

Voting 239 for and 182 against, the House on Jan. 12 passed a bill (HR 238) that would trim the Commodity Futures Trading Commissions power to regulate the derivatives market under the 2010 Dodd-Frank financial-regulation law.

An independent agency, the CFTC oversees derivatives trading as well as futures trading in farm commodities, oil and natural gas. I In part, this bill would subject proposed CFTC rules to time-consuming cost-benefit analyses and impede the regulation of overseas derivatives trading by subsidiaries of U.S. financial institutions.

A yes vote was to send the Senate a bill that would reauthorize the CFTC for five years with weakened regulatory authority.

Yes: McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks, Sinema

No: OHalleran, Grijalva, Gallego

WAIVER FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Voting 268 for and 151 against, the House on Jan. 12 joined the Senate in passing a bill (S 84) to exempt retired Gen. James Mattis from the National Security Acts requirement that uniformed personnel wait at least seven years before serving as secretary of defense  in deference to the U.S. tradition of civilian control of the military. Mattis, a 44-year Marine Corps veteran, awaits a Senate vote on his nomination to lead the Pentagon .

A yes vote was to give final approval to the bill.

Yes: OHalleran, McSally, Gosar, Biggs, Schweikert, Franks, Sinema

No: Grijalva, Gallego

SENATE

FIRST STEP IN HEALTH-LAW REPEAL

The Senate on Jan. 12 voted, 51 for and 48 against, to clear the way for expected passage as early as next month of a bill that would start the demise of the Affordable Care Act.

This vote adopted a budget framework (S Con Res 3) allowing the Senate to repeal the ACAs tax and spending provisions (including its Medicaid expansion) by a simple majority vote. Measures to repeal non-budgetary features of Obamacare will remain vulnerable to Democratic-led filibusters, complicating the repeal and replace two-step .

A yes vote was to set the stage for taking down the 2010 health law.

Voting yes: John McCain, R, Jeff Flake, R

CUTS TO SOCIAL SECURITY, MEDICARE, MEDICAID

On a 49-49 tie vote, senators on Jan. 10 turned back an amendment to S Con Res 3 by which the Senate would formally embrace President-elect Trumps campaign statements that he would not cut Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid. The amendment also sought to put the Senate on record as opposing any repeal in the Affordable Care Act that would cause 30 million individuals to lose health insurance or raise the cost of prescription drugs for seniors.

The vote occurred during debate on a GOP-sponsored budget resolution for fiscal 2017-2026 .

A yes vote was in opposition to the GOPs planned restructuring of Social Security, Medicare or Medicaid.

No: McCain, Flake

WAIVER FOR SECRETARY OF DEFENSE

Voting 81 for and 17 against, the Senate on Jan. 12 granted an exemption that would allow retired Gen. James Mattis to serve as secretary of defense .

A yes vote was to send the bill to the House.

Yes: McCain, Flake
Amphitheater Superintendent Patrick Nelson, who has overseen the district since 2012, says he wants to retire while things are running smoothly. I want to leave things for the next person working as well as possible, he says.
Its a cloudy Friday morning and there are few men milling around the parking lot at Southside Presbyterian Church. This is where day laborers, many of them undocumented immigrants, congregate hoping to get an offer to work for the day.

While they worry daily if they will work or not, if you talk to the workers, youll find their worries run deeper: their future. Specifically, they are concerned about what will come after Jan. 20 when Donald Trump takes office.

Trump is scaring people, said Humberto Lopez Robles, a day laborer.

With the inauguration of our next president days away, the concerns and worries among many immigrants are unmistakable. Will Trump the candidate be Trump the president? Will deportations, already a concern, tick upward? Will local law enforcement, emboldened by a more aggressive immigration policy, ramp up stops of Latino motorists? And will Trumps campaign racist rhetoric become a new political staple for Trump supporters inside and outside government?

Lopez Robles is willing to cut the President-elect some slack for now. Not everything he says hell be able to do because Trump changes from one day to another, said the Sonoran-born migrant worker. But Trump remains an uncertainty which worries immigrants, including himself, Lopez Robles added.

I worry about being detained, he added in Spanish.

To alleviate the concerns among Mexican immigrants and to answer their many questions, a coalition of community groups planned a forum Saturday afternoon at the John D. Valenzuela Youth Center in South Tucson, about six blocks east of Southside Presbyterian Church.

We want the community to know their rights, said Belem Chagolla, a member of Paisanos Unidos, one of the groups in the coalition. With the change in the presidency we want to bring some calm to people and answer their questions.

From Chagollas and Lopez Robles perspectives, their concerns are valid and real.

Trump initiated his improbable campaign lashing out at Mexican immigrants and a promise to build a big wall on the 2,000-mile-long U.S.-Mexico border. And throughout his campaign, his bellicose promises to get tough on Mexican immigrants, as well as Muslims, and to repeal President Obamas temporary residency relief for young undocumented immigrants known as DACA, fueled his jingoistic campaign.

Initially many Mexican and Latino immigrants might have laughed off Trumps presidential campaign as they took turns batting around Trump pinatas but as his campaign took wind in the Republican primaries, his words built up dark clouds over immigrant families. In August, a day after meeting with Mexican President Enrique Pena Nieto, a blustery Trump landed in Phoenix and in a speech rocked his base with his commitment to close the border. And since his Electoral College victory, Trump, who lost the popular vote, has not rolled back on his promises.

What is going to happen to the Dreamers? asked Chagolla in a telephone interview, referring to the young undocumented immigrants who were brought to the country when they were children and who were given temporary work and residency permits.

Chagolla takes Trumps words seriously. He has called for a deportation force, which has instilled widespread uncertainty among families and individuals who have little legal protection.

But undocumented immigrants do, in fact, have rights, although too many are unaware that they do.

Im afraid but I have rights, said Chagolla who is not a legal resident although her husband is and their children are U.S. citizens. Those legal rights include a hearing before an immigration judge which can keep undocumented immigrants from being immediately deported and allow them to be released on bond.

The Constitution and laws protect me, Chagolla added.

The few legal rights afforded to undocumented workers just might be a sufficient wall of protection. Thats the beautiful wall that the President-elect will have to climb over.
The familiar pink exterior of the Old Pima County Courthouse is being replaced by a more authentic hue.

A restoration team has discovered the original color of the historic 1929 building was an earthy adobe shade.

The courthouses pink facade likely emerged as the original paints yellow and red undertones faded in the sun, said Corky Poster, architect and principal with Poster Frost Mirto, which specializes in historic preservation. The county hired the firm to oversee the restoration of the iconic courthouse.

As subsequent painters sought to match the faded color each time it was repainted, the courthouse grew pinker over time, he said.

The original color was discovered in the buildings interior, on part of a door jamb that had been protected from sunlight for almost a century, Poster said.

It was a time capsule, he said. Its like they put the paint color in a box and buried it. It gave us a very good notion of the color.

The update to the paint color will be the most noticeable change to the courthouses exterior resulting from its restoration, said Linda Mayro, director of the Pima County Office of Sustainability and Restoration.

The restoration project will return the Spanish Revival-style courthouse to the architects original vision, while adhering to the U.S. secretary of the interiors standards for restoration, she said.

Were trying to restore the integrity of the architects and countys intent back in 1929, she said.

Mayro presented the plans for the color change to the Tucson-Pima County Historical Commission on Jan. 11, and all members supported the new paint, she said.

The new color was developed by Dunn-Edwards Paints, which for years had manufactured paint to match the courthouses existing rosy tone, with a color called Old Pima Pink.

The updated color, which harks back to the original, will be known as New Pima Pink, because it still has rosy undertones, said Sam Samaniego, architectural service representative for Dunn-Edwards.

CROWNING ACHIEVEMENT

Designed by architect Roy Place, the old county courthouse is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The 1977 nomination form submitted to the register describes it as the most outstanding Spanish Colonial Revival building in Arizona, a departure from the primarily European-style county courthouses throughout the country.

The nomination describes its red-tiled roofs, the elegant tiled dome topped with a copper lantern, balconies with carved ornamentation and archways lining a covered walkway overlooking the courtyard.

Its kind of the crowning achievement of Roy Place  probably Tucsons best architect that most folks never heard of, Poster said.

Places heyday was between 1920 and 1940, and hes responsible for nearly all the public works buildings constructed in those years, as well as dozens of University of Arizona buildings, Poster said. Place also designed the Southern Arizona Veterans Affairs Health Care System on South Sixth Avenue and the Pioneer Hotel downtown.

On Friday afternoon, many visitors passing through El Presidio Park behind the courthouse were enthused about the new paint, which is already applied on a west-facing section of the courthouse.

Its fantastic they were able to find the original color, said Robert Munoz, who works for Pima County financial services. It adds to the history of the building.

But some were disappointed to see the hallmark pink go away. Sharon Rhoy, who worked in the courthouses Justice Court offices before her retirement, said the new shade is boring.

Its not going to stand out. I loved the charm of the building the way it was, she said. I was attached to the pink because I think it complemented the architecture.

For Rob McCright, who works in the TransAmerica building downtown, the courthouses new hue is an aesthetic improvement.

Currently, theres so much pink, he said. I actually think itll look better. The only downside is hell have to change how he gives directions, he said.

You wont be able to say, Go to the pink building and turn left, he said.

RENOVATION PLANS

Pima County officials are taking advantage of the vacant state of the courthouse to embark on the renovation project, Mayro said. The courthouse emptied in 2015 after the Justice Courts, treasurer, assessor and recorders offices moved out.

Plans are in the works to convert it to a regional visitors center, she said.

Repairs planned for the courthouse include replacing the electrical, air-conditioning and plumbing systems; fixing broken tiles and repairing leaks on the buildings turquoise dome; and redoing the roof using the historic red tiles.

The estimated cost of the exterior rehabilitation and systems upgrades is about $11 million, and additional costs of building out tenant spaces is still unknown since the designs arent finished, said Lisa Josker, Pima County director of facilities management.

Contractors recently discovered the courthouses Dillinger Courtroom  where infamous bank robber John Dillinger and his accomplices were arraigned in 1934  was originally bigger than its current size, Josker said. Removing ceiling tiles in an adjacent jury room revealed the original wood trim extends from the courtroom into the jury room. The courtroom will be restored to its original size, Josker said.

The exterior renovation of the courthouse should wrap up in April or May, but completion of the more extensive interior renovations will take another 18 months or so, Poster said.

The restoration teams initial assessment of the courthouse revealed its in good condition.

It has by no means been neglected. The county has been a very good steward of the building, he said.
OPINION: "While we may not always agree on the path to take, in our discussions its clear that we all want a similar result: excellence in education at TVUSD. To achieve this goal, we need to vote 'yes' on Prop 494," writes Thomas Trask, a candidate for the Tanque Verde Unified School Distr
Editors note: This article is part of an ongoing series examining depression, suicide and mental health awareness in Chippewa County.

The Chippewa Falls School District's superintendent received an extensive education in areas from financial planning and social-emotional behavior to crisis management, to everything between.

But in all that training, one very important topic Dr. Heidi Eliopoulos has discussed frequently in the last few years was somehow missed.

"My training is really diverse, but suicide is something we didn't talk about once," she said. "You unfortunately learn through experiences then and have to figure it out the first few times."

After two Chippewa Falls High School students took their own lives in the last two years, Eliopoulos and colleagues Jennifer Andress and Chris McMasters decided something needed to change.

In September, the three brought together nearly 20 community members to form a committee on preventing suicide in Chippewa Falls. Those members include pastors, funeral home directors, Chippewa Falls Police Chief Matthew Kelm, representatives from HSHS St. Joseph's and Sacred Heart hospitals, the Western Region Recovery & Wellness Consortium and others.

"While we don't have the answers because we don't have the expertise, we thought all these people who are doing great things, let's bring everyone together and see if we as a community can figure this out," Eliopoulos said.

How to react

Alan Dunham, youth pastor at Chippewa Valley Bible Church and member of the Chippewa Falls suicide prevention committee, was impressed after the first meeting by how many people were invested in the topic.

"The number of people that are taking this seriously, and the variety of organizations, is encouraging to see," he said.

The church has held two funerals in the last two years for teenagers who have ended their own lives.

While churches in general are seen as places of hope, Dunham said responding to those touched by the deaths has been difficult. More than hope, he thinks these meetings will give him practical resources parents and loved ones can use when a suicide occurs.

The committee has met twice, with even more people turning up for the second one. A main focus of the discussion was how to respond as a community to suicide. Eliopoulos wondered if there was a way to plan in advance how people should publicly discuss a suicide, especially one involving a teenager.

They also reached out to Jennifer Muehlenkamp, who teaches psychology at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and is considered a suicidologist, someone who studies suicide behaviors and prevention.

The three brought information from Muehlenkamp back to the second meeting, with an exciting announcement.

Starting conversations

Muehlenkamp told them about strategies about how people (individuals, families and communities) respond after a suicide. It looks at the best practices in policies and procedures following a suicide.

As a member of Prevent Suicide Chippewa Valley and the statewide coalition, Muehlenkamp said a lot of strategy talk in the field of suicideology has recently turned into what's called postvention.

"By having a systematic process in place among many different groups, everyone approaches the loss in a structured manner we know will minimize risk and increase likelihood of other people seeking help," Muehlenkamp said.

In Chippewa Falls, Eliopoulos said this has been the missing piece in the conversation.

"We have a lot of strong constructs in our community for prevention, and a lot of caring organizations work to make our community a connected place," she said. "But when we talk about a comprehensive system of support, we are missing this little piece, coordinated efforts around postvention."

Muehlenkamp also told them about National Alliance on Mental Illness New Hampshire, a group which has developed a postvention model Muehlenkamp said is one of two gold-standard models for postvention throughout the country.

Even better? The group developed a training they provide to communities.

"What we are seeking to do, they actually do that," Eliopoulos said. "They support communities in developing their own postvention plan."

Andress secured the $1,200 in funding to pay for the training, and Eliopoulos announced the dates. The school district is hosting a two-day Connect Training, a suicide postvention training and planning workshop, Wednesday, Feb. 22 and Thursday, Feb. 23.

A community-wide response

Their main goal for the training is to come up with a community-wide response when a death by suicide occurs.

"I'm hopeful we'll walk away with a plan so after a tragedy we have an agreed-upon plan where we can work as a community with our response instead of in pockets," Eliopoulos said.

NAMI New Hampshire recommends representatives from all the organizations the school district invited, with one exception. Eliopoulos said they also recommend the county emergency management director, who has response plans for natural and man-made disasters.

The two-day training will put together templates, protocols and responses for various sectors in the community, as well as focus on how to help those who have depression.

Dunham, who works mostly with youth at Chippewa Valley Bible Church, thinks these conversation tools are essential, not only for the church but for communities in general.

"Those questions are really helpful to have in your toolbox, and I'd love to be able to pass things like that on to our church," he said. "That's going to have a ripple effect that's going to be really positive. And the more training people get, the more understanding there will be of why people do take their own lives."

He also hopes those conversations move outside of the church and ultimately bring people closer.

With the advancement of technology, Dunham worries personal relationships have lost their value. He's hopeful this training will remind people how important it is to make time for face-to-face interactions and personal connections.

"The whole idea of people not being alone, noticing when people are slipping away into isolation," Dunham said. "We're retraining our communities how to talk, get together. We have to live constantly in a mindset of looking out for each other."

While each postvention model is tailored specifically for the group working with it, Eliopoulos would love to help start these conversations in other school districts and cities in Chippewa County.

Muehlenkamp, who is also the director of UW-Eau Claire's suicide prevention program, said she hasn't heard of any other area cities working on a community-wide response. While a lot of groups have done smaller versions within their circles, including the campus's program, Chippewa Falls is the only city in the area that has taken this on as a whole.

Muehlenkamp is hopeful it will catch on.

"I'm quite thrilled Chippewa Falls is able to pull this together (because) it is needed in their area," she said. "I'm hoping the model they get established could then be an example for Eau Claire to use."
About BYTE

For the last few years, policy makers, news outlets and experts across different fields have been talking about the promises and perils of Big Data. What they mean is the collection and processing of vast data sets that might be very different and might be moving in near real time.

At the height of this debate, the European Commission asked legal experts, academics, political scientists, technology experts and privacy experts to come together to help the Commission make policies that would enable the benefits of big data, but would also ensure that big data activities were responsible.

The BYTE project was the result of the Commissions call to action. The project is made up of 11 partners from 10 countries and has run for three full years.

The BYTE project has used real world evidence to identify opportunities and challenges in big data processing, including challenges like new business models or privacy concerns. The project used seven case studies in different sectors to identify real achievements and concerns stemming from big data, and problems that could come about in the future, if actors do not take a responsible approach. BYTE used our case studies to identify real challenges and potential solutions to enable responsible big data practice.

The outcome of the project is a research roadmap and a policy roadmap for big data in Europe, based on a vision of responsible and adaptive European innovation.

The research roadmap focuses on what we need to be able to do and what questions we need to answer to enable responsible big data practice moving forward. The policy roadmap focuses on what governments and large institutions need to do to create an appropriate legal and policy space for responsible European innovation. This includes changes to EU US data relations, changes to Intellectual Property Rights and privacy principles as well as support for changing industries.

BYTE Community and Final Event

However, social, ethical and legal concerns remain, and industry needs input from academic experts and citizen groups to further enable responsible big data practice. In response, BYTE is organising a community of legal experts, social scientists and civil society organisations. The purpose of the BYTE Big Data Community is to feed citizens concerns directly to industry through the Big Data Value Association (or BDVA for short).

The BDVA is a network of industry and academic practitioners driving data innovations and the BYTE Big data community will be embedded within it.

BYTE is inviting interested organisations to participate in the community to speak directly to industry during BDVA networking events. Community members can also participate directly in setting up research priorities for the European Commission and get involved in designing the European Commission-funded research work programme.

To find out more or to join the BYTE big data community, please visit our website.

There, you can also register for the final conference of BYTE project, where our results will be presented and discussed. The conference will take place in London, UK, on 9 February, 2017.

Attendance is FREE, but registration is required. Limited bursaries to take part at the event are available on request.

We will be explicitly discussing energy and environment, health, and smart cities, and are interested in speakers and participants particularly from these sectors!

Connect with BYTE also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/BYTE_EU

and on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/groups/8112322
Indiana Sheriff's Office in Vanderburgh County arrested a man - Justin Matthew Swart - Saturday, January 14, 2017, after an alleged attack and gun incident at a family home in Evansville. After a hectic dispute that saw a gunshot fired and a young child was put at risk the 31-year-old man fled the scene but was later picked up on a street away from the house at 6050 Maggie Valley Drive.

Indiana family called 911 - operator warned Sheriff's office he was armed

In a statement released by the Sheriff's Office, Sheriff Dave Wedding said that the incident happened on Saturday, January 14, 2017, at approximately 3:15 PM.

Officers responded to a report that a fight was going on at the house. The 911 operator warned the officers that the open phone line indicated there was some weapon involved as she could hear people shouting, telling the man to "put down the gun."

Hectic family argument turned into a gun incident

When officers arrived they found a distraught family who had undergone a frightening experience. One of them was a small child. The over the top rage and family endangerment was all over an argument with a family member about auto parts. The argument escalated to a terriyfing ordeal, when Swart went bersek and started rampaging around the house. According to other family members, he armed himself with a handgun after "tearing up the house," and at least one gunshot was fired in front of the terrified victims.

It was said that Justin fired the gun out on the porch of the house.

Terrifying incident not over - strangulation

Eventually, a family member managed to get Swart to hand over the gun, but the attack did not end there. He grabbed hold of one of the people and started strangling the victim. Officers say that the child witnessed all of this violence in the home.

When the law enforcement officers arrived, Swart had run out of the house so they had to locate him, which they managed to do without inciting any further violence.

Crime, rage, and the consequences

Right now Justin Swart is sitting in the Vandeburgh County Jail with no bond pending. He has been charged with several offenses including;
Cold weather doesnt affect Brianna Buhrow. Not while the 17-year-old Chippewa Falls High School senior works at Goodies Sweet Treats and More, 18220 County X, Chippewa Falls.

Its always warm in the bakery, super warm, she said. It feels like summer all of the time.

Buhrow has worked at Goodies since May under Wisconsins Youth Apprenticeship Program. Shes one of 3,600 students working for 2,046 companies in the state under the program.

Her work is being noticed.

Buhrow, the daughter of David and Nancy Buhrow, was one of four students in the program selected to attend Tuesdays State of the State Address by Gov. Scott Walker. She got to go inside Walkers office and meet him.

Walker introduced her and three other students in the program during the speech before state representatives and senators.

Gavyn, Matthew, Caitlin and Brianna are just a few of the students who got a head start on their career through youth apprenticeships offered while they are in high school, Walker said during the address. This program has more than doubled since we took office. Thanks to all of you for being here this afternoon.

With that, the students stood up and were greeted with applause.

It was kind of like, I shouldnt be there. It was very exciting, she said. It was nice to be there to witness politics and what goes on and everything.

Buhrow was selected for the honor after John Goodman of CESA 10 in Chippewa Falls left a message for Laura Bushendorf, the high schools career and technical education coordinator. Goodman explained the governor wanted students to represent the youth apprenticeship program. Bushendorf then nominated Buhrow for the honor, and that led to her trip to Madison on Tuesday.

She kept the trip quiet. The school put out a couple of tweets on Twitter about her going to the State of the State address. She then explained to inquiring students that she was mentioned during Walkers speech.

Perhaps just as exciting, Buhrow got a chance to pursue a passion of hers. She completed Chi-His cooking classes in her junior year.

My love is baking, she said.

She began cooking with her grandmother. When she was five, she got an Easy Bake toy oven.

Today, she enjoys baking cakes.

I love decorating them; to make them extravagant and unique, she said.

Buhrow said Goodies owner Kelly Poppe-Gale has been a mentor to her, and she thanks Poppe-Gale and Buschendorf for the chance to work at the bakery.

She hopes to continue there this summer, and then attend one of two universities that have already accepted her: the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse or the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

She wants to major in business while in college and eventually own her own bakery.
BEIJING -- China on Saturday told the United States that one China policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is nonnegotiable."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks in response to US President-elect Donald Trump's statement that the one China policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

"Everything is under negotiation including one China," Trump was quoted as saying in a Friday interview with the Wall Street Journal.

It must be pointed out that there is but one China in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement issued on Saturday evening.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognized fact and no one can change it," said Lu.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous US governments to the one China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said.

Lu urged the US side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas.
Members of Chinese communities in San Francisco Bay Area gather in front of the hotel where Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen's was staying in Burlingame, California, to protest her stopover in San Francisco after her trip to Central America. [Photo by Zhu Lin/chinadaily.com.cn]

Around 500 members of Chinese communities in San Francisco Bay Area gathered Saturday morning in front of the hotel where Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen was staying in Burlingame, California, to protest her stopover in San Francisco after her trip to Central America.

The demonstrators raised slogans such as "One China", "No Taiwan Independence", "Tsai is trouble maker". A spokesman of the organizers said they hoped Tsai would hear the voices of overseas Chinese and stop "Taiwan independence" attempts.
President Xi Jinping believes his visit to Switzerland will inject positive energy into the recovery of the world's economy.

Xi made the remark in a speech after arriving at Zurich airport on Sunday ahead of the Davos world economic forum.

Swiss President Doris Leuthard hosted a grand welcome ceremony at the airport for Xi.

The Chinese president is on a four-day trip to Switzerland until Wednesday, during which he will pay a state visit to Switzerland, attend the forum and visit some Geneva-based international organizations.

In his speech, Xi said that he will work with other relevant parties to explore long-term measures for the world's development, establish a community of common destiny for mankind and safeguard international peace and stability.

Mentioning that Switzerland is one of the Western countries that had recognized the People's Republic of China at the earliest stage, Xi said that the China-Switzerland relationship has become a model for cooperation between two countries with different social systems, development periods and sizes.

As a country that has long upheld a neutral position, Switzerland, with numerous international organizations headquartered, has played a positive role in the resolution of global and regional affairs, Xi said..

Last year, China and Switzerland established a strategic partnership, which Xi said has taken the bilateral ties to a new level. It was the first such partnership China had developed with another country.

On Friday, Xi said in an article published by Neue Zurcher Zeitung, a leading Swiss daily newspaper, that China will continue to be a huge market supporting world economic growth and a hot destination for foreign investment.

"We meet at a time of angst about the prospects of the world economy, growing backlash against economic globalization, and rising populism and trade protectionism," Xi wrote in the article.

anbaijie@chinadaily.com.cn
Narendra Modi can pick up a tip from the Samajwadi Party ramlila.

If he doesn't want L K Advani as President, he might anoint him Bharatiya Bhishma Pitamah, suggests Sunanda K Datta-Ray.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Clearly, Akhilesh Yadav acquired more than a master's degree in environmental engineering in Australia.

He also learnt that Australia's mother country kicks senior politicians whose use-by date has passed upstairs.

India doesn't have a House of Lords for discards, but the Margdarshak the Samajwadi Party has invented is expected to admire the new Netaji commanding the troops from his impotent eminence.

However, the old Netaji is determined to pedal back if only he can lay hands on the bicycle.

Not for him David Cameron's famous, 'I was the future once!' In fact, Teresa May might be slightly uneasy about Cameron not yet being a safely belted earl.

The mix of mythology, history, folklore, thriller, suspense and superstition that is politics is as exciting as TV.

It reflects a stream of consciousness that is as native (not 'pure', that's Narendra Modi's prerogative, says Ravi Shankar Prasad) as the Ganga despite pollutants and alien muck.

Foreign bodies have been so thoroughly internalised that Prince Andrew admitted in Calcutta that although the British left behind a bureaucracy, Indians developed it.

John le Carre can't have had that in mind when claiming in his memoirs that the more chaotic a country, the more intractable its bureaucracy.

Otherwise, Dinanath Batra's Shiksha Bachao Andolan Samiti would have pulped the book as it did Wendy Doniger's

India that is Bharat that is Uttar Pradesh (or Gujarat) is a village.

Its political arena is a funfair where antiquity haunts modernity and a rustic jadugar mesmerises the masses with his mockery and mimicry of lesser performers.

The plot retells the national epic of the stepmother, who wants to see her son on the throne.

He being more interested in real estate than his father's estate, she gives a modern twist to mythology and incites an accomplished, ambitious and obliging daughter-in-law to edge out her stepson.

Not to be outdone in being wily, the stepson and his winsome spouse move in next door to 'protect' the hapless father.

The stepson now has a Congress Hanuman in his struggle against Dad's mahamantri, but Dad is a formidable warrior.

His chariot moves in eight directions, flying and landing while battling armies of adversaries.

At heart he is a simple wrestler, who would rather his daughters-in-law kept to the kitchen and the puja room.

'If all of you want to join politics, who will make the chapatis?' he cried plaintively, opposing the Women's Reservation Bill.

'I am doing exactly that,' the stepmother can retort virtuously while working relentlessly to prove that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world.

The Victorian Englishwoman who didn't want the franchise because any woman worth her salt ensured her husband and son voted as she wanted obviously took her cue from India's purdah-bound zenana.

This is something that should have been proudly proclaimed by a prime minister, who is transforming India into Bharat single-handedly -- well, almost single-handedly -- for the likes of Batra are always there to cheer from the sidelines in hopes of rewards of corporate directorships, parliamentary nominations or even ministerial portfolios.

But Modi is too mealy-mouthed by three-quarters. Although Barack Obama was 'Barack', the Queen, who treated him to lunch, wasn't 'Elizabeth' as she was for Nelson Mandela.

Nor did he call Britain's national bard a plagiarist although ancient India's mastery of 'genetic science' enabled Karna to be born outside the womb long before Shakespeare's Macduff 'was from his mother's womb/Untimely ripped.'

Modi's reference to elephant-headed Ganesha left people wondering what happened to the menagerie of centaurs, mermaids, sphinxes and other hybrid products of our ancestors' skill in 'plastic surgery.'

Believers also expected the late P N Oak's dogmas -- the Taj Mahal was a Siva temple called Tejo Mahalaya, Dutch is the language of the daityas -- to receive official sanction.

Most remiss of all, although life is Rama's lila and many think the Samajwadi Party drama is the story of a TV serial, there's no mention of the Hindu ancients inventing spaceships for Ayodhya's Maryada Purushottama to whizz round the universe like Modi does round the world.

But Modi can pick up a tip from the Samajwadi ramlila.

If he doesn't want Lal Krishna Advani as President, he might anoint him Bharatiya Bhishma Pitamah, Bharat's Fearsome Paternal Grandfather.

Indians love titles; this one has the right Hindutva ring.

It could be the prime minister's guru dakshina to a wronged veteran before he carries out his threat to pick up his jhola and walk away like the faqir he claims to be.
Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who survived miraculously for six days under a huge ice-and-snow debris after an avalanche hit his post before losing life to multiple organ failure, was on Sunday awarded the Sena Medal.

The doughty soldiers wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal received the medal from Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat at the Army Day parade.

A resident of village Betadur in Dharwad district of Karnataka, the Madras regiment soldier was pulled out alive from under 30 ft of ice-and-snow debris where he lay buried for six days on the unforgiving Siachen glacier.

Dubbed as the miracle man, the soldier had managed to stay alive for six days in minus 45 degree Celsius temperature, buried under ice and snow after an avalanche

struck his post on February 3.

-- Siachen: Toughest call of duty for the Indian soldier

Ten Army personnel, including Koppad, were buried alive on February 3 in an avalanche in Siachen, the worlds highest battlefield. In a miraculous turn of events, Koppad was found alive buried under snow in critical condition after six days of rescue efforts.

The Lance Naik was flown to Delhis Army Referral and Research Hospital for treatment where he died on February 11 due to multiple organ failure, after waging a grim battle for life for nine days.

Among others, his death was deeply condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the whole nation paid glowing tributes to the 33-year-old soldier.

He had served for 10 years in difficult and challenging areas out of his 13 years of service.

He had also served in the north-east in 2010-2012 where he participated in operations against National Democratic Front of Bodoland and United Liberation Front of Asom.

Image: Army chief General Bipin Rawat awards the Sena medal to Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad's widow. Photograph: Manvender Vashist/PTI Photo
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Lead by example with hope, never fear, Mrs. Obama said. And know that I will be with you, rooting for you and working to support you for the rest of my life.

 Michelle Obama, Jan. 5, 2017

Mrs. Obama spoke these words during a speech honoring school counselors. And while her words were directed at the audience, they easily come from the heart of school counselors and educators, too.

Twice in the short week since returning from the holidays, these words have wrung especially true. School counseling and education have never been for the feint of heart. Plentiful hugs and years of watching kids grow from kindergartner through fifth grade are the tradeoff for the heartache many of our kids endure. Still, we hope.

While our mission is to create lifelong learners and successful citizens, we first must ensure that every child feels safe and welcome at school. For most kids, feeling safe is easy when surrounded by caring adults, expectations for behavior and learning. For a growing number, though, school feels anything but safe.

To leave home in the morning could mean you can no longer see mom. Will she be there when you get back? Will she be okay? What will have happened while you were gone? Some days, it is safer to stay home.

To leave home in the morning means you got yourself and your siblings up, even if you are 8 years old. Youve learned to use an alarm clock from funds donated by RCU, a parent-teacher organization or other community partners.

You do your best to take care of the winter gear from community clothing drives and individuals, including school employees. If you didnt know, an adult at school taught you to put your hat and mittens in the sleeves and to bring everything back so you can play outside. Sometimes an adult at school encourages you to leave it there so it doesnt get lost or taken.

Because youre at your second or third school this year, you dont want to belong and its hard to feel safe when you dont belong. Slowly, though, you find an adult to trust, someone who seems they might care about you and not only what you know.

You might even begin to share. Were living with friends. Moms having a baby. We dont have any food. Theres fighting in the house. A stranger crawls into my bed and touches me at night. The adult listens, doesnt judge and finds ways to help, even a little.

These scenarios are very real in our schools, for our kids. Upon our return, we learned one of our families is relying on a friend for housing and care because their mom has been jailed. Another family may be placed in foster care because their home is dangerous. These are but two families of the many in our schools impacted by mental illness, drug abuse, and too few resources.

Most often we are not talking about bad people. Their moms and dads truly love them. We remind the kids they are loved. We let them know they can be mad at what is happening, too. We tell them their parents want them to be safe and to do their best, even when it is hard. We tell them that we care, too.

On Fridays, we hug them a little tighter, we tell them again how much we care for them, how proud we are of them. We hope they will be back on Monday and hope their resilience will carry them through. There is no room for fear, there is too much to do to teach them to survive, to grow, to be safe.

I wish I werent writing about Chippewa Falls. I wish I could say the future is looking brighter. I can say that Ill be rooting for our kids and working to support them for the rest of my life.

On Fridays, we hug them a little tighter, we tell them again how much we care for them, how proud we are of them. We hope they will be back on Monday and hope their resilience will carry them through.
BEIJING  Viet Nam and China issued a Joint Communique on the occasion of the official January 12-15 visit to China by Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong.

The visit was made at the invitation of Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping.

The Joint Communique said that during the visit, the Vietnamese Party chief held talks with Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, and met with Chinas Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang; Chairman of the National Peoples Congress of China (NPCC) Standing Committee Zhang Dejiang; Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Yu Zhengsheng; and Secretary of the Chinese Party Central Committees Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Qishan.

Party General Secretary Trong and Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC Yu Zhengsheng also attended a friendship meeting celebrating the 67th anniversary of Viet Nam-China diplomatic ties and the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Besides Beijing, the Vietnamese party chief also visited Zhejiang Province.

The Joint Communique said the two sides agreed that the visit was very successful, contributing greatly to enhancing mutual trust, strengthening the traditional friendship, and deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations, while helping promote peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

It noted that the two sides signed a number of co-operation documents during the visit.

It said Viet Nam and China are neighbours with long-lasting traditional friendship and both are socialist countries led by communist parties. The two countries share similarities in political regimes and development policies, and faced correlated future. Sustainable development of each country and bilateral friendship and co-operation was of great importance to both nations. In the context of new historical conditions, and the international and regional situations undergoing rapid and complicated changes, the persistence in the leadership of the communist party and the socialist institution is a correct choice that suits the fundamental and long-term interests of both countries and peoples.

Viet Nam and China will stringently pursue the orientation of friendly neighbours, comprehensive co-operation, long-term stability and looking towards the future and uphold the spirit of good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners, the communique said.

The two countries will always develop bilateral relations on the basis of strategic and long-term visions, and follow the major orientations of the Viet Nam-China relationship, the communique said.

It said the two countries will maintain mutual respect, promote strategic exchange, enhance political trust, properly solve differences, deepen win-win co-operation, and continually foster stable, healthy development of the Viet Nam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership in order to bring greater benefits for both countries and peoples while contributing more to peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.

The two sides agreed to maintain and strengthen high-level exchanges through various forms including bilateral visits, special envoys, hotlines, annual meetings and meetings on the sidelines of multilateral forums, thus timely exchanging viewpoints on important issues in the relationship between the two Parties and countries, as well as on regional and international situations. Such exchanges would also help define orientations and directing the growth of Viet Nam-China ties in the new period.

Five major areas

The leaders concurred that both Viet Nam and China have entered an important period of socio-economic development, and it was necessary to optimise the overall co-ordinating role of exchange and co-operation mechanisms, such as high-level meetings between the two Parties and the Steering Committee for Bilateral Co-operation, with a focus on improving effectiveness of the partnership in five major areas.

First, they should effectively implement the co-operation plan between the two Parties in the 2016-2020 period, while increasing collaboration between central agencies of the two parties and among Party organisations in localities, especially in provinces and areas along the border.

The two sides should actively promote exchanges and co-operation between the National Assembly of Viet Nam and the National Peoples Congress of China, and between the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference.

Second, the two countries should strengthen exchanges and co-operation in diplomacy, defence, security and law enforcement.

Third, the two sides should further promote result-oriented partnership in economy and trade, and formulate sound strategic plans for bilateral co-operation. Co-operation in agriculture, environment, science-technology and transportation should also be strengthened.

Fourth, both countries should encourage exchanges and links between the two peoples, especially the youth, using flexible and diverse forms, in order to enhance mutual understanding and friendship. It is also necessary to expand partnerships in culture, education, tourism and media.

Fifth, the two sides should optimise the role of the Viet Nam-China Joint Committee on Land Border and the Committee on Viet Nam-China Land Border Gate Management, while implementing well the legal documents on land borders between the two countries.

Straightforward, sincere

The communique said the two sides have discussed sea-related issues in a straightforward and sincere manner. They underlined the need to observe common perceptions reached by leaders of the two Parties and countries, and the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Viet Nam and China.

The two sides should also make the best use of the governmental-level negotiating mechanisms on border and territory issues, and pursue negotiations and friendly consultations to seek fundamental and long lasting solutions acceptable to both sides, the communique added.

It said both sides have agreed to carry out follow-up work after finishing the joint field survey in the area off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin while accelerating negotiations on demarcating the area beyond the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf and promoting co-operation for development in the Gulfs waters. They also agreed to continue to promote the efforts of the working group on co-operation for development at sea, and to effectively step up joint projects in less sensitive fields as agreed previously.

Both sides agreed to continue to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (South China Sea) (DOC), work towards the early formation of a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) on the basis of consensus and consultation, effectively controlling disputes at sea and avoiding actions that would further complicate or expand disputes, while maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

The Vietnamese side affirmed its consistent pursuit of the one-China policy, support for the peaceful development of Cross-Strait relations and Chinas great cause of unification, and resolutely opposes actions for an independent Taiwan in any form. Viet Nam does not develop any official ties with Taiwan. The Chinese side welcomed Viet Nams stance.

Both sides also agreed to boost coordination and co-operation within multilateral frameworks and fora like the United Nations, Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC), ASEAN-China and Mekong  Lan Cang, thus working together for maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world. - VNA
by Gia Loc

HCM CITY  Students from 30 HCM City universities are offering house-cleaning services to raise funds for Tet, Lunar New Year festival charity.

The community-based programme is being organised by the honorary South African consul in the city, o Thi Kim Lien, and is called Nha Sach on Tet (Cleaning House to Welcome Tet).

The money raised will be used to buy presents and the materials needed to make 1,000 sticky rice cakes to gift homeless people and those living in social welfare centres.

Spring cleaning is a traditional practice in anticipation of Tet, and often in cities these days, since families do not have the time to do the job themselves, hire cleaning services.

Nguyen Le Phu Thinh, a second-year student at the HCM City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology (HUFLIT) who also took part in the programme last year, said, The happy smiles, warm hugs and hand shakes from homeless people who got the traditional sticky rice cakes last year encouraged me to continue this year.

Cleaning houses is not hard work, he said.

Last year nearly 700 sticky rice cakes were presented to homeless people.

We went around the city looking for them and handing over the cakes.

Vo Nguyen Minh Nhut, a third-year HUFLIT student who is doing this for the third year, said through the programme he made sticky rice cakes for the first time.

It was interesting.

Spic and span: A student cleans a house in HCM Citys District 3 to raise funds for making and donating sticky rice cakes to homeless people and residents of social welfare centres. VNS.photo.Gia Loc

In large cities, unlike in other places where it is a custom, many young people like Nhut never get to make the cakes before Tet.

Tran Duong Kim Thanh, a second-year student at RMIT University, said last year she cleaned three or four houses.

I have more friends after attending the programme besides learning many things such as how to bring happiness to others.

Huynh Thi Nguyen of District 3 said she used the students service because she had children the same age.

In the past she used to hire companies for the task.

I want my children to see the work done by these students and learn. The programme can teach them the dignity of labour and they can earn money themselves to do charity rather than ask their parents for money, she said.

Lien, the South African consul, who is organising the programme for the third year, hailed it as very humanitarian.

The programme would be expanded throughout the country to benefit more and more disadvantaged people, she added.

True to tradition: City students make banh chung, a traditional Tet food, during the annual Spring Volunteer Campaign. VNS/Photo.Thuy Trang

Other charity programmes

From January 7 to 25 the city-based Viet Nam Students Association is organising a Spring Volunteer Campaign with charity activities at hospitals, shelters, orphanages, special schools for children with disabilities, social welfare centres, students and workers dormitories, bus and train stations and other places in the city besides Tho Chu Island in the Mekong Delta province of Kien Giang.

Using spring themes, students design and decorate the dormitories occupied by students who do not go back home for Tet.

They will also sing and perform skits at the dormitories and make sticky rice cakes and jam to donate to poor people and students.

The Lunar New Year this year falls on January 28. VNS
by Hong Van

Without exception, kids love festivals. And Vietnamese kids are no exception.

And without exception, their favourite festival is Tet, the Vietnamese Lunar New Year, which is coming soon.

A key reason for this festival being their favourite is "lucky money". As in several other Asian cultures, offering lucky money is a prosperous custom, a way to send sincere wishes and share blessings.

Typically lucky money is given in red, shiny envelopes with some Chinese characters printed on it, usually imported from China. In recent years, however, there has been a shift towards a wide range of made-in-Viet Nam, customised envelopes, the outcome of creative, entrepreneurial talents of Vietnamese youth.

o Ha Linh, a 24-year-old Ha Noi resident, recently ordered dozens of customised envelopes and cards.

Offering lucky money on Tet is a family tradition. It is a way to show our sincerity and care for those who we give it to. So I am very meticulous in choosing the envelopes that we give it in, said Linh.

And considering health issues and environment problems, as well as product design, I will certainly choose made-in-Viet Nam paper envelopes, said Linh

These customized envelopes are very eye-catching, unique and genuinely Vietnamese, so it is okay that their prices are a bit higher than imported ones.

The materials used for making these envelopes vary. Kraft paper is widely used for its eco-friendliness, and there are wooden card with delicate carvings of flowers. Since the upcoming Tet is the Year of the Rooster, the fowls image is likely to be featured on many envelopes and cards. Then there are vintage-style designs that use the kraft paper as background to additional decorations.

Besides the rooster, images of the traditional paintings bearing iconic images of banh chung (square sticky rice cake), peach blossoms and fireworks are popular. These images are likely to stir nostalgic memories of traditional Tet celebrations.

I am happy that these impressively designed and decorated envelopes are not difficult to find this year. I am happier to see individual students and groups of students making and selling them. Souvenir shops popular among teens, like FairyCorner, Giftshop and Blueangel are selling the eye-catching envelopes, cards and Tet-themed bookmarks.

Nguyen Ba Thieu, a student from Binh Duong Province in the south, started making the designer envelopes last year.

When I saw more people buying them, I started making them. On the one hand, it gives me extra income. On the other, it helps me to satisfy a passion for making handmade stuff. I design and make the decorations for each envelope batch by myself, said Thieu.

Thieu also uses kraft, a type of recycled paper, for his envelopes. For this year, Thieu has made just 10 designs.

Few but unique, he said, adding, there is cultural story about the customs of Tet celebration behind these little envelopes.

It is a Vietnamese custom that on the final day of the lunar year, people cook square sticky rice cake which takes more than 10 hours. The whole family gathering around the burning stove, the eagerness on kids faces, these are images that come to mind when one mentions Tet. They are images that capture close family bonds, which is a beautiful culture of Viet Nam.

Yet, some people, for different reasons, fail to be present at home on these moments. Therefore, my design is like a reminder for people who appreciate valuable moments with family.

Thieu is among many young people who are passionate about the made-in-Viet Nam envelope project.

If we are meticulous and passionate about handmade products, not to mention traditional Vietnamese customs, we can take advantage of the current demand for homemade, good quality envelopes, said Nguyen Tram Anh, 28, of Ha Noi. Anh began making and selling the lucky money envelopes this year.

Customers are willing to pay a bit more for the envelopes, if the beautiful and meaningful design and decoration matches their needs, said Tran Thi Xuan, a souvenir shop owner.

Xuan said she sold both Vietnamese and Chinese envelopes, but Vietnamese ones were selling better, about two weeks away from Tet.

Xuan said the made-in-China envelopes that she imported were similar in colour (red), material (plastic paper) and has general messages like Happy New Year or wishes in Chinese characters that mean Talent or Blessings, but those made in the country were more colourful and had a wider variety of designs.

Another feature that is likely to attract buyers is that the many made-in-Viet Nam envelopes have funny and catchy phrases popular among the youth. I bet they would love it very much, said Linh.

With many leaders and experts exhorting "Buy Viet Nam first", buying homemade envelopes would signal an auspicious start for the Vietnamese economy, towards greater self-reliance.  VNS
CEDAR FALLS  A city panel has endorsed a restoration of two 1880s-vintage downtown Parkade building spaces  though one of the storefronts will not be as pink as the business would have liked.

The Cedar Falls Planning and Zoning Commission approved a proposal by Mimi Rice to renovate and restore two spaces at 116-118 Main St. previously home to Mainly Lous restaurant.

The space at 116 Main St. is a retail outlet for Root, an organic cosmetic business founded by Krista Dolash of Janesville. The space at 118 Main St., will be occupied by Wilbo, a burger, brat and beer restaurant anticipated to open this spring. Wilbo is in the former location of The Landmark Beer and Spirits, which moved to 107 Main St. where Luna Art and Wine was previously located.

Rice recently received a $75,000 Main Street Iowa Challenge Grant for historic preservation and restoration, which she said will exceed the $150,000 required as a condition of the grant. She said the work inside the Wilbo space is underway. Rice co-owns the building with her husband, David Farris, with whom she operates the Cypress Lounge, 209 State St. They and their son, Alex Kreimeyer, will co-operate Wilbo, drawn from a grandsons nickname.

Both spaces, in an attempt to re-create their historic appearance, will have a gray base color at the front and rear with accents, Rice said. Root will have pink accents, and Wilbo will have harvest yellow-gold accents.

In an earlier proposal by Root in June, the City Council, upholding a recommendation of the city staff, Community Main Streets design review board and the Planning and Zoning Commission, voted 5-2 against allowing Dolash to paint the storefront in solid pink, which Dolash said is part of her business brand. She was willing to compromise.

Rice told Dolash she could have the storefront trim in the shade of pink that is the signature color to her business.

I still wanted our pink storefront, Dolash said, noting she had tried to compromise unsuccessfully with the Design Review Committee and would prefer a generic storefront if we cant do our branding.

Rice said she still hopes Dolash ultimately is satisfied with the final product with pink trim.

Additionally, Community Main Street executive director Carol Lilly said of Root, Were really excited to have them here.

Dolash is opening a new store in downtown Iowa Citys pedestrian mall in February, and will be painting that our signature pink color, she noted.

We are thrilled that Iowa City is so supportive of our branding, and they are thrilled that we have distinct branding, Dolash said.

The proposal for the Cedar Falls storefronts will go before the City Council on Monday for final approval.
DES MOINES (AP)  MidAmerican Energy has announced it will build a wind farm in Boone and neighboring Greene counties and another in Mahaska County.

The company said in a news release the two will be the first built as part of its Wind XI project.

The Beaver Creek project in Boone and Greene counties will have 85 turbines that will generate 170 megawatts. The Prairie wind project in Mahaska County will have 84 turbines that will provide 168 megawatts of power. Construction is expected to begin in April and be finished by the end of the year.

In April the company announced its planned $3.6 billion investment in the Wind XI project, which calls for construction of 1,000 turbines that will add 2,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity in Iowa.
CEDAR FALLS  The Cedar Valleys newest pet store is working to forge a strong relationship with those working to save abandoned dogs and cats.

Pet Supplies Plus made sure three area adoption and rescue organizations were part of its grand opening activities Jan. 7 and 8. The store also has a cat adoption room with felines from the Cedar Bend Humane Society.

I have two rescues myself, a Rottweiler mix and a Chihuahua mix, said store owner Suzy Schares. So I like that we get to do a lot of different adoption events and rescue events.

Schares opened Pet Supplies Plus, 713 Brandilynn Blvd., in The Bluffs Retail Center at Pinnacle Prairie, a new $14 million strip mall in the growing Cedar Falls commercial district along Viking Road near U.S. Highway 58.

The business, currently the only dedicated pet supplies store in Cedar Falls, had a soft opening Wednesday but held its grand opening activities after the holidays.

Its been going fantastic, she said. We had a very strong opening and weve held steady. I feel weve hired a great team  that are doing a great job.

Opening a pet store was a major career change for Schares, who previously served as a city clerk in several communities and resigned as Waterloos city clerk and human resources director last year when the chance to own a business presented itself.

Schares traveled to Pet Supplies Plus headquarters in Livonia, Mich., and wound up securing four franchises. Three other stores will be opened at other Iowa locations over the next two years, she said.

Theyre a very family- and community-oriented business, she said. I liked that.

The 7,200-square-foot Cedar Falls location touts itself as a neighborhood style store but still carries a wide range of premium and basic pet foods, toys and equipment. Staff also will carry heavy items to customers vehicles.

Were smaller in size, but we have just as many products, Schares said.

The store does not sell dogs and cats, leaving that to the adoption agencies, but does carry fish, exotic birds, reptiles and critters like chinchillas and hamsters.

One unique feature at Pet Supplies Plus is the self-service dog wash, allowing pet owners to bring in their pet to an area with hoses, shampoo, conditioner, a blow dryer and towels.

They get to leave the mess and we get to clean it up, said Schares, noting the service does not require an appointment. The store also is expecting to get a license to trim pet nails soon.

Last weekends grand opening celebration resulted in donations for three local pet organizations based on customer votes.

The Cedar Bend Humane Society received the most votes and received $1,000 from the store. Cedar Valley Pit Bull Rescue and Waverly Pet Rescue each took home $250 checks.

Pet Supplies Plus is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sunday. Brian Adamson is the store manager.
WATERLOO  A new commercial building near one of the busiest intersections in town is taking shape.

A 5,400-square-foot commercial building is now visible at 126 E. Ridgeway Ave., near the intersection of East Ridgeway and Kimball avenues.

It is on the site where a Hardees and later Tokyo restaurant were located. Hardees closed years ago and Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse relocated to 1931 Sears St. at the Crossing Points mall near Crossroads Center.

Its a totally new building. The stores face Ridgeway, said Jim Benda, a real estate broker involved with the project.

Its about a $1 million project, Benda said, being constructed by Dr. Ken Budke of Cedar Falls. The first commercial tenant for the space has been secured.

Your Pie Inc., a made-to-order brick oven pizza franchise which originated in Athens, Ga., is opening one of its first two establishments in Iowa. It combines fast food and casual dining. Customers can order and watch their pizza being made and have it made to order and ready in a short amount of time.

The restaurant also offers pairings of craft beer with different kinds of pizza plus gelato  Italian ice creams  for dessert.

Your Pie will take about 2,000 square feet of the structure.

The restaurant is anticipated to be open when construction is complete, in about March or April.
WATERLOO  A Waterloo police lieutenant accused of roughing up a delivery driver while off duty during an alleged road rage incident in June was found not guilty.

After three days of testimony, jurors began deliberations at about 11 a.m. Friday and around 2:25 p.m. Friday reached a verdict acquitting Lt. Corbin Payne of misdemeanor assault charges.

Payne briefly smiled as the verdict was read. He then hugged his wife.

Prosecutor Michael Whalen said Payne had approached 22-year-old Robert Carlisle Jr. in a Kimball Avenue parking lot moments after Carlisle allegedly narrowly missed hitting a car Paynes wife was driving while he passed at high speeds. The state said Payne banged on Carlisles vehicle, yelled at him and pulled him out of the drivers seat by the throat, leaving red marks on Carlisles neck.

The law does not tolerate someone taking the law into their own hands, Whalen told jurors during closing arguments Friday. He way overreacted, ladies and gentlemen.

Defense attorney Heather Prendergast attacked the credibility of Carlisle, who had allegedly hurled a cold coffee drink at another motorist who complained about his driving in an unrelated incident in November.

Prendergast said during the June incident Payne took initiative when he saw dangerous driving, and alleged it was Carlisle who was looking to pick a fight, allegedly using profanity when Payne confronted him about his driving. She said Payne was justified because he told Carlisle to remain in his vehicle and merely held out his hand to push Carlisle back when he exited and approached aggressively.

Jurors were allowed to consider if they believed Paynes actions were justified and reasonable to prevent injury to himself.

Whalen argued Payne wasnt justified because the off-duty officer started the incident when he confronted Carlisle in the parking lot and had the alternative of calling for on-duty police officers to address the driving offenses.

The state alleged Payne left the scene before officers arrived in order to duck intoxication tests. The defense noted Paynes wife told him it was time to leave to de-escalate the situation and drove him from the parking lot, and he called authorities and told them he would be at home if they wanted to talk with him.

Prendergast also disputed the motive of a passerby who testified Payne had grabbed Carlisle by the neck. She said the passing driver had his own unrelated run-in with police that soured his image of law enforcement.

Payne, who hasnt returned to full duty since the investigation began in June, still faces a police department internal affairs inquiry, said Chief Daniel Trelka.

Payne was placed on desk duty after the incident and then placed on leave when the charge was filed in August, Trelka said. Payne was later assigned to a non-police function job at the department pending the outcome of the internal affairs investigation.

The charge halted the internal affairs probe, which can now resume because of the verdict, Trelka said. He said the outcome of the internal affairs matter will likely take a few weeks.
DES MOINES  Elected by Iowans in November, state legislators convened last week at the Capitol in Des Moines.

For the next three to four months, they will write new laws, repeal regulations and determine how to spend more than $7 billion in state tax revenue.

To earn the support needed for a seat in the Iowa Senate or House, those legislators  as candidates during the 2016 campaign  made many pledges to voters.

The legislators chosen for this story are from across the state and represent a mixture of Republicans and Democrats, senators and representatives. Some of them were involved in the states most competitive races during the 2016 campaign.

Republicans will have a much easier path to achieving their goals during the 2017 and 2018 legislative sessions. They hold majorities in both the Senate and House and can pass bills with only Republican support and send the legislation on to a Republican governor, Terry Branstad.

Conversely, Democrats will need at least some Republican support in both chambers just to get a bill to the governors desk.

All of the comments and pledges chosen for this story were made by the candidates prior to the Nov. 8 election.

Sen. Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine On water quality: Lofgren does not approve of a proposed sales tax increase to fund water quality projects. He says he worries a sales tax increase would hurt the economy.

On the minimum wage: Lofgren does not think the states minimum wage of $7.25 per hour should increase, saying he thinks it would hurt businesses and job creation. I dont want to stifle our economy, he said.

On the school funding formula: Lofgren says the formula needs revision, but does not approve of allowing schools to spend out of their reserves for an extended period. He says his preference is to allow districts to use unspent funds earmarked for other purposes.

On financial literacy: Lofgren thinks financial literacy should be taught in public schools, just as other basic subjects like math and language. Financial independence doesnt just happen, he said.

Rep. Ross Paustian, R-Walcott

On the school funding formula: Paustian supported legislation introduced in 2016 that would have given districts a one-year pass to spend from their reserves but required them to replenish that spending the following year. During the campaign, Paustian said he would support letting districts use funds earmarked for other purposes.

On water quality: Paustian opposes the sales tax increase, saying not enough of the raised revenue would go toward water quality projects. (The tax also would fund conservation and recreation projects.) Paustian supports a plan proposed in 2016 that would use funds from existing state revenue streams, including its infrastructure budget and a tax on water meters.

Rep. Phyllis Thede, D-Bettendorf

On the school funding formula: Thede supports allowing districts that are permitted to spend less per pupil than other districts to draw from their reserve accounts. This is money that was never intended to sit in the bank, she said.

On human trafficking: Thede wants anti-trafficking efforts to target those who pay for prostitution and provide counseling services for victims.

On the minimum wage: Thede thinks the states minimum wage should be increased.

Sen. Craig Johnson, R-Independence

On the budget: Johnson said lawmakers should stick to the states 99 percent spending limit, which requires legislators to budget for less revenue than the state anticipates. It should always be a tight budget if were doing our job for the taxpayers, Johnson said.

On regulations: Johnson said Iowas regulatory atmosphere should be inviting as possible for new businesses, and the state should reduce its regulatory burden.

Rep. Walt Rogers, R-Cedar Falls

On water quality: Rogers thinks the water quality projects should be funded by the states infrastructure fund, similar to the proposal made last year in the Republican-led House.

On higher education funding: Rogers said he would like to increase funding for the University of Northern Iowa.

On tax policy: Rogers said he would like to lower the states corporate tax rate.

Rep. Ras Smith, D-Waterloo

On mental health care: Smith said he thinks the state should reopen and fund state-operated mental health institutions in Mount Pleasant and Clarinda that were closed in 2015.

On abortion: Smith said he is supportive of abortion rights at a time when Republicans have indicated they would like to stop all state funding to womens health care clinics that perform abortions, like Planned Parenthood.

Rep. Skyler Wheeler, R-Orange City

On gun laws: Wheeler said he supports stand your ground legislation, which gives individuals broader leeway to use lethal force to protect themselves from perceived danger by, generally, removing the requirement an individual first attempt to retreat from potential harm.

On abortion: Wheeler said he supports protecting unborn, innocent life from conception to natural death. Legislation covered by that support would include personhood legislation, which gives full individual rights to fertilized eggs.

Rep. Jim Carlin, R-Sioux City

On tax policy: Carlin said he thinks tax cuts are needed to ease the financial burden on Iowans. He proposes cutting corporate tax rates.

On abortion: Carlin also stated his support for personhood legislation. Bills which bring about incremental change on the life issue have the potential to save lives, Carlin said.

On marriage: Carlin said he would support a constitutional amendment that defines marriage as between one man and one woman.

Sen. Waylon Brown, R-St. Ansgar

On water quality: Brown said he wants lawmakers to develop a long-term funding solution that puts state money in programs that have the greatest impact on actually improving water quality.

On school funding: Brown said he wants the state to set school funding levels that are timely and not so high the state cannot deliver on the promise. I will strive to get responsible funding numbers approved by the general assembly as quickly as possible so schools can set their budgets accordingly, Brown said.

Rep. Jane Bloomingdale, R-Northwood On the school funding formula: Bloomingdale said she thinks the formula should be adjusted to account for districts with outsized transportation costs. We could free up some funds for classroom resources, which would help our rural schools quite a bit, she said.

On tax policy: Bloomingdale said she thinks the state needs a more competitive and less restrictive business tax structure.

Rep. Sharon Steckman, D-Mason City On tax credits: While she said some state tax credits are great, like those that spur economic development in municipal restoration projects, she feels the state gives away too much tax revenue at the expense of other funding priorities like public education. If we scrutinize tax credits the way we scrutinize teachers and education, it might be a different story, Steckman said. So I think thats an area that we need to really take a look at.

On medical cannabis: Steckman said she thinks the state should permit the production and dispensation of medical cannabis for treatment of certain ailments like epileptic seizures.
WATERLOO  The Waterloo Schools will again offer the Camp Invention program to children entering grades one through six, in partnership with the National Inventors Hall of Fame.

The weeklong summer adventure includes lessons that explore connections between science, technology, engineering and innovation. The week begins June 19 at Lincoln and Lou Henry elementaries, and fliers have been sent home with students.

Local educators will facilitate program modules, and high school and college students will serve as leadership interns.

Register by March 20 to receive $25 off the base price of $225. Go to www.campinvention.org or call (800) 968-4332.

A limited number of scholarships provided by local and regional donors will be available based on financial need. For more information, call 433-1839.
WATERLOO  Up to a quarter inch of ice was on track to hit northeast Iowa in the overnight hours between Sunday and today.

The majority of the storm is expected to track between midnight and noon today, according to the Des Moines bureau of the National Weather Service.

Waterloo and points north and east of the city are under a winter weather advisory. Places like Des Moines and Fort Dodge are under an ice storm warning and forecast to get higher amounts of ice.

Northeast Iowa will likely get between a tenth of an inch of ice and a quarter of an inch, according to projections Sunday.

Freezing rain is somewhat common, but it takes pretty precise weather conditions to get more than a quarter inch of ice, which is what areas to the west and south of the Cedar Valley will be seeing, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Jim Lee.

That only occurs probably once or twice a decade, Lee said. So this amount is somewhat unusual.

But besides slick driving and walking conditions, northeast Iowa isnt expected to see many tree branches or power lines coming down. Lee said thats because the ice amounts are low, and there is not expected to be much wind.

When winds are stronger, its a lot easier to take (ice-covered branches and power lines) down, but there is not as much wind this time, Lee said.

Ice accumulation occurs when above-freezing temperatures in the air cause precipitation to become rain, but below-freezing temperatures on the ground turn that rain to ice, Lee said.
100 Great Iowa Nurses Program

IOWA CITY  The 100 Great Iowa Nurses program will offer financial education awards to support graduate-level nursing students in Iowa.

The program plans to offer at least two $1,500 awards to students pursuing an MSN, DNP or PhD.

Nursing students across Iowa are encouraged to apply for available financial award opportunities to complete or further their nursing education. Applications can be found at www.greatnurses.org/financialawards.

Black Hawk County Farm Bureau

WATERLOO  Black Hawk County Farm Bureau will offer up to $4,000 in county scholarships this year.

Scholarship information has been sent to all the Black Hawk County schools. To qualify, applicant must be high school seniors, and their parents must be current Black Hawk County Farm Bureau members.

The applicant can be going into any field of study. If they are planning on majoring in an ag or ag-related field of study, they should complete the Iowa Farm Bureau Federation Scholarship available at www.iowafarmbureau.com to be considered for both county and state scholarships.

County applications can be picked up or emailed from the county office; the email address is blackhawk.county@ifbf.org or call 234-2747.
R.I.P. Obamacare? While President-elect Donald Trump and congressional Republicans are eager to finally repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act, political rhetoric will now collide with reality and its popular provisions.

Republicans have had their issues with the law  philosophical and logistical  including:

Mandates for individuals to have health-care coverage or face tax penalties.

The requirement for businesses with more than 50 employees to offer plans to employees.

The 0.9 percent increase in the Medicare tax and a 3.8 percent investment tax, along with an array of other taxes and subsidies.

The transfer of Medicare funds ($716 billion from 2013-2022, according to a 2012 Congressional Budget Office estimate) to underwrite the program.

Increased federal assistance to state Medicaid programs (Iowa among them) for the low-income residents.

A blizzard of electronic documentation required to improve efficiency and quality of care, but also burying hospitals and physicians in paperwork and metrics.

Changes in reimbursement based on quality-of-care benchmarks.

According to the Obama administration, the ACA has enrolled 12.7 million in the marketplace, obtaining policies from private insurers, and 20 million people overall when taking into account expansion of the Medicaid program and young adults under 26 remaining on their parents policy.

Gutting the plan entirely would mean rescinding that provision for young adults as well as doing away with:

The requirement individuals with pre-existing conditions, including cancer, not pay higher premiums. Trump has agreed to maintain this. Not allowing insurance companies to cherry pick individuals based on health status would be one of the difficulties in concocting any replacement law.

A cap on premiums for people over 55 at no more than three times those paid by young adults. House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., has proposed making it five times, albeit with some form of tax offset.

The prohibition on gender-based premiums, which allowed insurers to charge women more than men of the same age. The ACA also mandated coverage of preventive health services  mammograms, Pap smears and birth control  without co-pays, and covered maternity care.

The cap on out-of-pocket expenses at $7,150 for individuals and $14,300 for families. While high deductibles under Obamacare have been a big complaint, its a trend. Higher ceilings are possible.

The elimination of lifetime limits on coverage, which often were capped at $1 million or $2 million although catastrophic injuries or life-threatening diseases can exceed that amount.

The generous federal subsidies for state Medicaid programs, which Gov. Terry Branstad is using in Iowa, supposedly to save money, although the jury is out. Loss of those payments would create more state budget problems.

House Republicans have passed legislation at least 52 times to repeal the ACA, but never proposed a possible replacement. Seven years into the ACA they may have wished they had.

Any overhaul should be done surgically, not with a hacksaw. John Noseworthy, president and CEO of the Mayo Clinic, told the Washington Post he has urged the Trump transition team to replace and repair, rather than repeal. Reverting to the pre-ACA landscape should be avoided, carrying human and political risks.

First, throwing 20 million enrollees into the lurch is not inconsequential. Neither is ending the popular health-insurance reforms, despite the furor over the funding mechanisms.

With this country in the midst of an opioid epidemic  from OxyContin to heroin  that takes more lives annually than either gun violence or traffic accidents, 30 percent of those who got coverage through the Medicaid expansion have mental health or addiction issues. Gov. John Kasich, an Ohio Republican, has warned 700,000 people in his state would lose coverage.

Hospitals sustained huge cuts in Medicare payments with the ACA. In some cases those losses were partially offset by a reduction in bad debts because more patients had coverage. Hospitals would take a big hit if the ACA is repealed without changes in Medicare payments and other federal funding.

Insurers such as Blue Shield Blue Cross have stated if federal cost-sharing subsidies are eliminated for low-income recipients, consumers should expect significant premium increases in 2018, making coverage even more unaffordable for millions of working Americans.

Some semblance of orderly, responsible replacement may be forthcoming. The Republicans hold only a two-vote margin in the Senate and four of their members  Susan Collins of Maine, Rand Paul of Kentucky, Tom Cotton of Arkansas and Bill Cassidy of Louisiana  have been pressing for a replacement.

Republicans have a minefield to traverse in cobbling together a new law that maintains as many of the popular ACA reforms as possible without the more onerous mandates. They must do so while avoiding a hasty repeal that throws ACA beneficiaries and the health-care industry into chaos.
With Hillary Clintons 2.83 million vote margin over Donald Trump, her supporters are convinced our president-elect cant succeed as he doesnt have the majority of Americans support. Trump enthusiasts note he won 2,600 counties to Hillarys 500, winning 83 percent of the geographic nation and therefore best represents We the people.

What American voters of all political stripes havent grasped, as Daniel Henninger of The Wall Street Journal reports every politician since ancient Athens has run on hope to win office and power. Once past the voting, politics is about public policies, whose real-world effects either sustain or diminish hope. Hope is the helium-filled balloon of politics. Governing in office is the gravity that pulls it back to earth.

Trump will become our 45th president Friday. Despite his declaration of his intelligence, business acumen, his assembling of the best Cabinet ever, a Republican-controlled Congress and his promise to make America great again, as Jay Winik, Council on Foreign Relations, suggests, the president-elect will soon learn how little control he has over his agenda.

Arm-chair critics are retorting what agenda? To be fair, Trump has not stated his goals for his first 100 days or hopes for his first two years in office. For now, lets put that aside.

It might do Trump well to take a history lesson. The presidency is often characterized by unanticipated, not anticipated, events.

Whatever Abraham Lincolns surprise at winning in 1860, it had to be a greater surprise to watch the South secede from the Union and the ensuing Civil War.

Other presidential unanticipated moments include:

Herbert Hoover: Oct. 29, 1929, stock market crash.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt: Dec. 7, 1941, attack on Pearl Harbor.

Harry Truman: Deployed atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Dwight Eisenhower: Sen. Joseph McCarthy, R.-Wis., hearings on alleged communists on Eisenhowers staff.

John F. Kennedy: Bay of Pigs fiasco and building of the Berlin Wall.

Lyndon Johnson: Vietnam, and North Korea capturing Navys USS Pueblo.

Richard Nixon: Watergate and impeachment.

Gerald Ford: Cambodia seizing U.S. merchant ship Mayaguez.

Jimmy Carter: Iranians holding Americans hostage for 444 days.

Ronald Reagan: The Cold War, Grenada and Iran-Contra affair.

George H. W. Bush: Iraq invades Kuwait.

Bill Clinton: Bombing of Oklahoma City federal building

George W. Bush: 9/11 and the Great Recession.

Barack Obama: ISIS.

Starting Jan. 20, 535 members of Congress and life-changing moments will take precedence over Trumps will. Congress, and not the president, approves the Cabinet, what bills will be debated, establishing the budget and confirming Supreme Court appointments.

Additionally, there are more than 29 agencies independent of presidential control. Finally, states are controlled by 50 autonomous governing bodies.

Trump will soon realize the power he (and 44 previous presidents) thought he had will evaporate.

Trumps rhetoric will soon become a moot point. Americas 325 million citizens should settle back and watch how Trump handles the unexpected. That will define his leadership capability and presidency.
Roe v. Wade

EDNA BRUNKHORST

WAVERLY  Jan. 22 is the anniversary date of the Roe v. Wade decision of the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973 that made abortion legal in this country. That date has been designated as Black Monday ever since. It was a despicable decision that changed our cultural delight in freedom to a culture of death.

The number of women who die from abortion is unknown due to poor reporting and definition issues. We do know for every abortion another life has been taken, the life of the unborn child.

This year may bring us hope the end is near as we do have a pro-life plank in the Republican platform, and Republicans now have majority in both houses of Congress and President-elect Trump is on record as also being on the side of life.

It is up to the citizenry to hold these entities responsible for saving the lives of the unborn. The immediate need is to stop all federal money going to Planned Parenthood, the largest abortion provider in the country. Our taxes should be used for helping families not killing their unborn members.

Middle class

JEFF BERGSTROM

CHARLES CITY  You know a lot of times rich people do not create jobs. Demand for a product or services or medical care are what create jobs, and the middle class people create the most demand for products and services or even medical care.

Give the middle class a meaningful tax break and jobs will be created because the middle class will then spend more on goods and services and thus improve and keep the economy going.

The Republican Party needs to start seeing and realizing this. You know, the GOP has tried trickle down economics for 30-plus years and it has never worked and never will work  period.

Also, why repeal Obamacare when it can be fixed? Have you ever known Congress to pass a bill and get it totally right the first time? Now that the GOP is virtually in total power of Congress they need to think about what I said here.

Reply to Abraham

KIE MAAS

WATERLOO  Fred Abrahams column in the Jan. 8 Courier made me choke. He says the presss important function of keeping us informed is threatened by Donald Trump. He thinks Trump has convinced millions ... the press is biased and cant be trusted. Really? We have had a biased press for decades. In fact that is the reason for the various news outlets that have started in the last 40 years.

The press and the network news already influence and manage information by reporting news that lines up with their cultural and ideological views and ignoring other news. Anyone who believes abortion is wrong is labeled an extremist. I believed them before I actually got to know some pro-life people. If you believe what the Bible says about marriage you are considered a homophobe.

There are many other derogatory labels attached to people with conservative views. When you give up reading, you give someone else the ability to shape what you think. If you are a Christian, read the Bible daily. Also check out some news sources on the internet and decide for yourself: The Heritage Foundation, founded in 1973, The Federalist and MercatorNet to name a few.

Forcing society

DAVE SMITH

WATERLOO  What do we know about the LGBT community?

Over a period of a few decades, activists for the LGBT movement transitioned steadily from their initial demands for equal protection under the law to demands for gay marriage. Now we see they insist on a gender-free society. Now they promote the right to force society at large to accept an individuals ability to discern and to declare ones self to be whatever sex one chooses.

Victories in the bathroom bill fights have not been enough for radicals. The movement has set its sights on destroying Christianity itself. By insisting no minister or priest can refuse to marry gay couples, the LGBT movement reveals itself to be a cult.

Roundabouts

Dr. MARK HECIMOVIS

CEDAR FALLS  Some people believe Black Hawk County residents are a bunch of rubes who lack skill, common sense and spatial awareness in driving; most notably when faced with a curvilinear road challenge such as a roundabout.

Maybe it is true. If this is the case, stop the madness and leave the remainder of University Avenue a straight stretch of road dotted with a generous supply of traffic lights. However, in my brief existence here in Cedar Falls, this appears to be an error in judgment. Of course, there are those who lack the knowledge of proper navigational proficiency, including indicating ones intention when exiting (i.e., using their blinkers) a roundabout. With time, this will improve.

Having recently moved to the area from Australia (although originally from the U.S.), where roundabouts are as ubiquitous as Iowa corn stalks, I emphatically support these 100-year-old brilliant road structures, as they have been shown to be a safe and effective traffic design. Well done, Cedar Falls; we rubes will eventually learn.

Polarized Congress

ERNEST NUNNALLY

WATERLOO  Ronald Reagan gave the Christian evangelicals a seat at the table. They hadnt had much to do with Ford, Nixon (a Quaker, technically) or Eisenhower. But they were well-organized, well-funded and they had a bully pulpit they could use every Sunday in church that cost the GOP nothing in advertising fees. It was a slam-dunk, politically.

The trouble was Christian evangelicals dont do pragmatic political reasoning. They dont seek compromise. They regard their interpretation of the Bible and what it implies for the United States as holy and incontrovertible. As a result, they are impossible to negotiate with. Because you cant cut deals with them in Congress, your only option is to fight them in the public arena.

But now the Republicans have a tiger by the tail. They depend on the evangelicals for votes, but any hint they might actually compromise with the Democrats, i.e., actually govern the nation properly, is met with cries of treason! Moderate Republicans find themselves challenged by tea party zealots. They have to tack hard to the right if they want to win in the primaries. Result: polarization.
The Nicoya Robusto Medio is one of two blends launched by newcomer Nicoya Cigars in 2016. Nicoya Cigars was founded by Australian entrepreneur Gerard Hayes. Nicoya is best known as the name of a large peninsula located on the Pacific Ocean side of Costa Rica. It was also a part of Nicaragua until 1824. For this project Hayes wanted to pay homage to the people of Nicaragua  and he decided to head to that Central American country to make his cigar. Hayes would select A.J. Fernandezs Tabacalera Fernandez to make his brand. While Fernandez has been working with large companies as of late such as Tabacalera USA and General Cigar, he continues to work with boutique brands such as Foundation Cigar, La Palina, Southern Draw Cigars, Senor Rio Cigars, and Nomad Cigar Company. In each of those cases, Fernandez has worked with the brand to produce a quality release. Today we take a look at the Nicoya Robusto Medio. Overall, I found this to be another excellent release for Hayes and Nicoya Cigars.

There are two blends in the Nicoya Cigars line  with both currently only offered in a Robusto format. The name medio translates to medium and that is is pretty much where the Nicoya Robusto Medio falls. The other offering by Nicoya is the Nicoya Robusto Fuerte  a bolder offering.

Without further ado, lets break down the Nicoya Robusto Medio and see what this cigar brings to the table.

Blend Profile

The Nicoya Robusto Medio features a multi-national blend.

Wrapper: Ecuadorian Habano Rosado

Binder: Mexican

Filler: Nicaraguan, Dominican

Country of Origin: Nicaragua (Tabacalera Fernandez)

Vitolas Available

The Nicoya Robusto Medio is available in one size  a 5 x 52 Robusto. This is the same size as the Nicoya Robusto Fuerte. Both cigar blends are each available in 20 count boxes.

Appearance

The Ecuadorian Habano wrapper of the Nicoya Robusto Medio is medium brown and as the wrapper name indicates there is a touch of rosado. There was some oil on the surface. In addition the wrapper had some visible veins and visible wrapper seams. Overall I considered the surface of this wrapper to be a little more on the bumpy side.

The band of the Nicoya Robusto Medio features three red circles on a silver background. The circles on the left and right sides have white lion images on it. The center circle has large white N on it. Above the center circle is the text NICOYA CIGARS etched on it. Below the center circle is the text ESTELI NICARAGUA etched on it. The sides of the band have a silver and gray aeronautical styled wing design.

Preparation for the Cigar Experience

Prior to lighting up the Nicoya Robusto Medio, I went with my usual choice of a straight cut to remove the cap. Once the cap was removed, I moved on to the pre-light draw. The cold draw delivered a mix of wood, cedar, natural tobacco, and a slight amount of floral notes. Overall I considered this cigar to have a satisfactory pre-light draw. At this point I was ready to light up the Nicoya Robusto Medio and await what the smoking experience would have in store.

Flavor Profile

The start of the Nicoya Robusto Medio delivered a combination of wood, natural tobacco, and a mix of black and white pepper. I also detected some fruit sweetness. As the Robusto Medio moved through the first third, the wood and natural tobacco became the primary notes. I found the pepper and fruit notes to settle into the background. At the same time, the retro-hale produced an additional layer of white pepper and cedar.

By the start of the second third, there was a little more distance put between the wood / natural tobacco combination in the forefront and the pepper / fruit combination in the background.

Just past the midway point of the Nicoya Robusto Medio, I found the wood notes exhibited more cedar qualities. At the same time the natural tobacco receded into the background joining the pepper notes. The fruit sweetness remained further in the background.

The last third saw the Nicoya Robusto Medio have primarily a cedar profile in the forefront. The pepper was a little more prominent. I also still picked up a touch of natural tobacco. This is the way the cigar experience came to a close. The resulting nub was firm to the touch and cool in temperature.

Burn and Draw

When it came to the burn of the Nicoya Robusto Medio, it scored quite well. The Robusto Medio had a little bit of curvature along the burn line, but this was easily remedied with a few touch-ups. This cigar took a straight burn path and was never in danger of tunneling or canoeing. Meanwhile the resulting ash was tight and firm with nearly a white color. As for the burn rate and burn temperature, both were ideal.

As for the draw of the Nicoya Robusto Medio, I would describe it as being not too tight, nor too loose. This cigar did produce quite a bit of smoke along the way. Overall its a low maintenance cigar to derive flavor from.

Strength and Body

When compared to Nicoyas other blend, the Nicoya Robusto Fuerte, the Nicoya Robusto Medio is going to be a little more dialed-back. As mentioned earlier this cigar lives up to the name medio  meaning medium. This is a cigar that maintains a medium level of strength from start to finish. In terms of body, the Robusto Medio also started out medium. By the last third, the Robusto Medio progressed into medium to full territory.

In terms of strength versus body, I gave a slight edge to the body throughout the smoking experience.

Final Thoughts

In addition to living up to its promise of being medio, the Nicoya Robusto Medio is going to deliver a solid smoking experience along the way. This isnt a cigar thats going to have a flashy or exotic flavor profile, but its still going to deliver a good flavor profile. One thing worth noting is that the Nicoya Robusto Medio is a completely different blend than the Nicoya Robusto Fuerte  and in turn is going to deliver a very different smoking experience. In the end, I found the Nicoya Robusto Medio to be a cigar I could recommend to a novice or experienced cigar enthusiast. As for myself, this is a cigar I would definitely smoke again  and its worthy of picking up a five pack to have in the humidor.

Summary

Key Flavors: Wood, Cedar, Natural Tobacco, Pepper

Burn: Excellent

Draw: Excellent

Complexity: Medium+

Strength: Medium

Body: Medium (1st 2/3), Medium to Full (Last Third)

Finish: Excellent

Rating

Assessment: 3.0-The Fiver

Score: 90

References

News: n/a

Price: $10.00 to $12.00

Source: Gifted

Brand Reference: Nicoya

Photo Credits: Cigar Coop
Q: If a U.S. intelligence agency determined an elected official was conspiring with a foreign official or government, what agency would they report to?

A: It might depend on who the official was. According to the CIA, Both the Congress and the executive branch oversee the CIAs activities. They might approach the National Security Council, the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. Within the U.S. Department of Justice, the FBI is responsible to the attorney general, and it reports its findings to U.S. Attorneys across the country. The FBIs intelligence activities are overseen by the Director of National Intelligence, according to fbi.gov.

Q: How many days of school can a student miss, such as for sickness or vacation, before they can be in trouble for attendance?

A: It depends on whether the absences are considered excused or unexcused by the building administrator, said Janelle Darst, Cedar Falls Community Schools spokeswoman. Any absences considered excused would not count against the student under the attendance policy. If the absences are considered unexcused then a parent receives letters from the school at eight days that notifies them of the attendance policies and at 12 days to schedule a meeting to remedy the problem, she said. If the meeting doesnt correct the issue then it may get sent on to the county attorneys office for remediation. Darst noted only building principals can determine if an absence is excused or unexcused. Also, even if absences are excused, an excessive number can have a negative impact on the students academic progress.

Q: What is the difference between the CAPS program the Cedar Falls School District is implementing and the former co-op program the Waterloo Schools had in the 1960s and 1970s and before that?

A: The basic difference is co-op students go to a place of work on their own and the Center for Advanced Professional Studies is a project/group-based setting. Cedar Falls High School does offer a co-op program for juniors and seniors. In that case, students secure the employment on their own at an off-site location, explained Cedar Falls Community Schools spokeswoman Janelle Darst. A course, World of Work, is required and students receive credit for co-op placements. CAPS is a partnership with local businesses to put students in a skilled career environment. They will study at a host business for about 2-1/2 hours per day with high school teachers and business mentors. They will earn high school and Hawkeye Community College credit. Darst said this is an opportunity to provide career readiness skills by focusing on real-world experiences outside of the classroom. Students will learn what it means to be a professional, problem solving, interacting with clients, doing quality work, meeting deadlines and communicating effectively. Direct instruction will be limited; instead students will be guided with mentors to complete a project.
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar in the New York Times:

In 1776, Thomas Jeffersons friend Senator Richard Henry Lee expressed both of their opinions when he asserted in Congress, referring to Muslims and Hindus, that true freedom embraces the Mahometan and the Gentoo as well as the Christian religion. In 1777, the Muslim kingdom of Morocco became the first country in the world to formally accept the United States as a sovereign nation. In 1786, when the United States needed protection from North African pirates who were stealing ships and enslaving crews, it signed the Treaty of Tripoli, which stated that the government of the United States of America is not, in any sense, founded on the Christian religion, as it has in itself no character of enmity against the laws, religion or tranquillity of Musselmen. In 1785, George Washington declared that he would welcome Muslim workers at Mount Vernon. In 1786, Jefferson triumphed in his Bill for Establishing Religious Freedom in Virginia, by persuading the Legislature to overwhelmingly reject attempts to include Jesus Christ as the religious authority in the bill. Jefferson later declared that this was one of his three greatest accomplishments.

Clearly, some of our founding fathers were very comfortable extending religious freedom to include Islam. They should have been. Islam didnt just show up in America one day like an excited tourist. America imported it when we brought slaves over from Africa, an estimated 20 percent of whom were Muslim.

More here.
Anthony Daniels in The New Criterion:

In Russia in 1839, Custine wrote that Tsar Nicholas I was both eagle and insect: eagle because he soared over society surveying it with a sharp raptors eye from above, and insect because he bored himself into every tiny crack and crevice of society from below. Nothing was either too large or too small for his attention; and sometimes one feels that political correctness is rather like that. For the politically correct, nothing is too large or too small to escape their puritanical attention. As a consequence, we suspect that we are living an authoritarian prelude to a totalitarian future. Whether medical journals be large or small depends, of course, on the importance that you attach to them. As a doctor I am inclined to accord them more importance than the average citizen might; but what is indisputable is that they are not immune from political correctness, quite the reverse. Reading them, one has the impression of being buttonholed by a terrific bore at a cocktail party, who wont let you go unless you agree with his assessment of the situation in Somalia.

At first sight, medicine might appear an unpromising subject for political correctness. You are ill, you go to the doctor, he tries to cure you, whoever you might be: what could be more straightforward than that? But in fact medicine is a field ripe for political correctnesss harvester. The arrangement by which health care is delivered is eminently a subject of politics; moreover we live in the golden age of epidemiology, in which the distribution of health and disease is studied more closely even than the distribution of income. Inequalities are usually presented as inequities (they have to be selected carefully, however: I have never seen the superior life expectancy of women, sometimes considerable and present almost everywhere, described as an inequity, even though the right to life is supposedly the most basic of all in the modern catechism of human rights). The decent man abominates unfairness or injustice: therefore the man who abominates unfairness or injustice is decent. Political correctnesslinguistic and semantic reform as the first step to world dominationcame comparatively late to medical journals. This is because, where intellectual fashions are concerned, doctors are usually in the rear, rather than the vanguard. Their patients plant their feet on the ground for them, whether they want them planted there or not; for there is nothing quite like contact with a cross-section of humanity for destroying utopian illusions.

More here.
Already thinking about your summer plans? Icelandic discount airline WOW Air just announced Tuesday that it will begin flights from SFO and LAX to Iceland for just $99 a way! Iceland, here you come!

Starting today, seats on WOW's new flights are on sale for only $99 each way, that includes taxes and fees on any travel beginning in June 2016. The 340-passenger flights head straight to Reykjavik's Keflavik Airport (KEF) in Iceland, where travelers can then connect to WOW's 21 other European destinations, including Berlin, Paris, Copenhagen, and Amsterdam for as low as $199 a way. What a loophole!

WOW, which has been flying between Iceland and Europe since 2011, began low-fare flights from Boston and Baltimore in early 2015 and will also launch Toronto and Montreal this coming spring. Similar to other discount airlines such as Ryan Air, their shockingly low prices come with a catch: you can bring exactly one carry-on of 11 pounds or less (so basically just a backpack).

Not convinced Iceland is worth the money? That's where you're wrong. Wickedly photogenic, Iceland is filled with natural wonders. Try a hike to Gullfoss (the countrys most famous waterfall) or the spouting waters of Geysir (the name says it all). And, of course, you'll have to take a dip in The Blue Lagoon. Sure, its a bit of a Disney-fied version of Iceland, but theres no denying that youll feel positively invigorated before your flight home.

See more Iceland recommendations, including when to book your trip, here.

Bathing in the Blue Lagoon is said to promote health. (Photo: John Huba, Art & Commerce)
How to watch, what to know about South Dakota State at Northern Iowa
Lekki Lagos, February 1st 2019. Rilla Web Hosting, one of the top players in domain registration and web hosting has announces its full ...
At least 18 Democratic lawmakers have said they will boycott US President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration this week, after disclosure of Russias alleged meddling in the 2016 election and his rebuke of civil rights icon John Lewis, according to a media report on Sunday.

Democratic Representative Lewis blasted Trump in an interview to a news channel, saying he would boycott the ceremony for the first time since he arrived in Congress in 1987 because he doesnt see Trump as a legitimate president in light of Russian interference, CNN reported.

Lewis was one of three black lawmakers to testify against Trumps attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions last week.

Trump had called Lewis all talk and no action and told him to focus more on fixing and helping his district rather than complaining about the Russias role.

I will NOT attend the inauguration of @realDonaldTrump.

When you insult @repjohnlewis, you insult America, tweeted New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, making public his decision to boycott Trumps swearing-in ceremony on January 20. Some members of Congress have said they will be protesting in DC and in their districts instead of attending the event.

All talk, no action. I stand with @repjohnlewis and I will not be attending the inauguration, California Rep. Mark Takano tweeted.

For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis, California Rep. Ted Lieu said in a statement released by his office.

Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva said he will not be attending the inauguration of Trump as the next president.

The office of Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the dean of the United House of Representatives, confirmed to CNN he wont be attending the inauguration.

It is with a heavy heart and deep personal conviction that I have decided not to attend the #TrumpInauguration on January 20, 2017, California Rep. Mark DeSaulnier tweeted. I will not be attending inauguration of @realDonaldTrump but WILL participate in the @womensmarch on January 21st, New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez tweeted.

Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader said, Ill do my best to work with him (Trump) when I think hes doing the right thing for the country. But he hasnt proved himself to me at all yet, so I respectfully decline to freeze my ass out there in the cold for this particular ceremony.
The accused had consumed fish and rice after kidnapping, raping and murdering the minor girl at Bhayander.

The horrific rape and murder incident of a four old girl in Bhayander raises questions about the safety of minor children in the city. The Thane rural police have appealed to residents to keep an eye on children when they venture outside the house for playing. They have also asked residents to remain vigilant against miscreants and anti-social elements. Often it has been observed that strangers lure children on the pretext of offering them chocolate and kidnap them. The assault and murder of minor girl in Bhayander has shocked residents.

Three men have been arrested by the police and they are searching for the fourth accused. Mahesh Patil, Thane Rural Superintendent of Police confirmed about the arrest. The incident occurred on 9th January when the four year old girl Humera Mahibrooza Qureshi went missing when she had stepped out of the house for playing. Her parents approached the Navghar police and reported about the incident as they filed a missing compliant.

Two children noticed a cat which was trying to eat something as a childs hands and fingers of the foot was visible as they informed people. People alerted us as we went to the spot were the murder occurred. We removed the body from the drain and identified the victim as Humera. Since Humeras clothes were recovered near the place we suspected that she was raped, said Mahesh Patil.

A team was formed by the Navghar police to investigate this case.

Later they nabbed the prime accused Mohammad Younis Haji Mohammad Basheer Saha alias Jiru (24).

After probing this case, it was ascertained that the accused had lured the victim with chocolates and took her near drain. The other accused Mohammad Rozan Ishaque Raini alias Langda (38), Jitendra alias Jitu Theerthprasad Rao (32) and Rajesh too were present there.

After raping the minor, Jiru assaulted the girl with a sharp weapon as she sustained injuries and died. Subsequently, Jiru and his accomplices dumped her body in the drain, said Mr. Patil.

Later they went to a nearby hotel and had fish and rice. Police started questioning local people for gaining more information about the crime.

A post mortem examination has confirmed rape. They nabbed the accused Jiru as he confessed about committing the crime, said a source from Navghar Police Station.

Police also took Jitendra and Rozan into custody. The other accused Rajesh is absconding and police are searching for him.
I am not an atheist. I am messed up if I am agnostic. A few years ago, probably after I had darshanat the Balaji temple, Tirumala Hills, I was moving along with my family in the free prasad queue. Puliyodharai (Tamarind rice) was served as prasad that day. The man before me in the line after receiving the prasad, asked for more. The bare-chested volunteer, after a quick negotiation, accepted a 50-rupee note with alacrity, swiftly left the counter, removed the towel that was draped around his dhothi, flung it on the camera which was supposed to monitor such unfair practices, returned quickly, stuffed the divine rice hurriedly packed in a palm leaf and pushed it to the buyer and completed the transaction. He retrieved the towel from the camera and continued his work as usual.

Recently, I accompanied a person to another hill-temple (this time, it is Mysore. The person stuffed a 500-rupee note into the palms of a tout a.k.a. security staff. The access and the treatment was instant. Darshanapart, the person was garlanded by the priest (who was taken care separately), given the fruits, flowers, and sacred ash, vermillion. My embarrassment to have adjuncted this person is a different matter.

When VIPs visit for long hours, the commoners are in for a prolonged pause, even wait for a day or two. People with more money win! When such special darshans are entertained, does God endorse Orwellian parity of Some are more equal? Who gets more of Gods grace? The one who jumped the order, or the one who followed dharma dharshan?

There is no need to offer bribe to worship Him. But we do! If God could be achieved through money, people would have decorated Him in their living room instead of visiting the temple. With an ardent devotion, we go to Tirumala and end up having darshan for hardly a couple of seconds. When, in the first place, people accept the need for middlemen to reach God and worship as an investment in the expectation of something in return, then why the hypocrisy of shouting against corruption? Temples are supposed to be nothing but holy places, with peaceful environment so that devotees can sit and pray peacefully.

Whoever pays more gets more nearer to God. One theory argues that it is an ultimate test of faith, and visits yield fruits only if an element of pain involved. Those in authority from temple administration to civil officials to politicians to vendors to brokers are cahoots in design. When the Ladduprasadham is sold in black market, does it retain its sanctity? The touts freely flock and flourish in and around the shrine. How can it escape from corruption when it is functioning like a large business house giving biased treatment to the rich and resourceful?

Stay confined to our homes or visit the temple down the lane and be true to ourselves. God will praise my bhakthi and shower His blessings rather than taking the odious path. Why not patronise our local shrines? If we dont find God at home and heart, how can we find him elsewhere? Why should we go to a temple where darshan has to be bought or bribed? When someone says that he controls access to God, and that too for money, I feel cheated there itself. Is it fine if I indulge in a little charity, rather than bribing the middlemen? Service to humanity is service to God.

Who should find the solution? God or Human? I am confused.
Aiken, SC (29801)

Today

Sunshine and clouds mixed. High 78F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

A few clouds. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 62F. Winds light and variable.
Anthony DiStefano, of Aiken, spent 29 years in state and federal government including with the Ohio General Assembly, the U.S. House of Representatives and two executive agencies of the federal government.
Suddenly I woke up on a different planet.

When a loved one becomes ill, its like landing on a new planet.

They tell you to pack your bags but you are not sure what to take along. A book of Psalms and a package of tissues are a good place to start. Important medical papers are a must and a compact toothbrush may come in handy.

And then theres the shopping list, a little unusual. Never mind the weight; youre travelling to a different planet now.

When we first received the diagnosis, it didnt really register. ALS is hard to describe and doctors hesitate to paint the whole picture. Perhaps this is for the best. The disease progresses differently in each patient. We immediately registered at the Neurological Clinic in Hadassah Medical Center where a special unit for ALS had been created. The staff, headed by Dr. Marc Gotkine, was patient and caring.

Hope is stronger than fear.

Attached to this unit was Anat, a wonderful social worker from ISRALS, the Israeli organization dedicated to helping ALS patients and their families. She gently prepared us for the future, giving us clear guidelines on how to proceed. Their motto is hope is stronger than fear.

Still, there was no way to be completely ready and the unexpected became the norm. Daily functions which we had always taken for granted now became a challenge. I say we, but I was the bystander, painfully watching as my husband, Rabbi Dovid Frid, bravely struggled to remain independent. Never complaining, he accepted his lot even though he knew what was coming. I never heard him question as to why this happened and when people came to visit, he always had a smile. And thus he remains, until this very day.

My husbands greatest love in life is learning and teaching Torah. He taught in our home  practical Jewish law and insights on the weekly Torah reading to women and the laws of Kashruth to a group of young men who were preparing for the Rabbinate. It hurt when he had to stop.

Then three years ago, Dovids struggle with ALS took a turn for the worse. Almost without warning, his breathing capacity decreased to the point where he needed an emergency tracheotomy. After a months stay in Hadassah Hospital we came home to a new reality. Almost completely paralyzed and permanently connected to both breathing and oxygen machines,

Dovid needed 24-hour surveillance and help in all areas of daily functioning.

In the beginning, we continued with one caregiver and my older children and I took on the night shift. But staying awake all night and then going straight to work or school in the morning proved to be debilitating. On the verge of collapse, we hired additional help, not covered by government insurance. In fact, insurance covers less than half of the cost. When we found ourselves sinking into debt, we had no choice but to set up a fundraising campaign. These funds, donated by caring people from around the world, enable us to provide our beloved husband/father with the best of care at home, surrounded by his loving family.

But I am drifting. I started off describing life on a new planet and our strange shopping list. Not exactly like the one for the supermarket. This one included a ramp from the street to our apartment, the latest features of electric wheelchairs, nursing tables, oxygen machines, hi-low office chairs, the Yad Sarah catalogue alongside websites of technicians who could design all kinds of gadgets, anything to give Dovid more quality of life and some measure of happiness.

The to do and to learn lists were just as long. I had to learn the ins and outs of myriad government agencies, the Ministry of Health, the National Insurance Institute, the Immigration Office. I had to learn how to administer medicines, operate machines and give injections and believe me, the one thing I never wanted to be was a nurse.

I possess a secret weapon sent straight to me from Heaven: caring people.

I am no superwoman but I do possess a secret weapon sent straight to me from Heaven, and that is PEOPLE: family, friends and even complete strangers. Without them, I would have sunk a long time ago.

All my children, led by the sterling example of our oldest, stood solidly by our side from the outset, changing work schedules, leaving their own families for days and nights, dealing with bureaucracy and doing anything else that was required. Our extended families have helped in so many ways, even from across the ocean. One distinguished and very busy Rosh Yeshiva (head of a Torah institution) never misses a Friday visit to bring joy to my husband, even when he has just stepped off the plane. Old friends from all over the world came to our rescue, giving of their time and money just when it seemed that we would have to give up.

The wonderful community we live in came forth with endless offers of assistance. Accepting help is not easy and very humbling. My neighbors, however, insisted that I was doing them a favor, and at times they almost had me convinced!

My close friend brought me rice and potatoes from my neighbors up the hill for over a year. When things became a little calmer, I felt it was time to stop. A month or so afterwards, she met me in the store. The week I stopped bringing you food, she told me, our 20-year-old car finally died. We really need a new car, so can you please let me start bringing you rice and potatoes again?

As my sons Bar Mitzvah approached, I did not know how I was going to handle it. In the end I didnt have to. The entire Bar Mitzvah was executed by loving friends. No problem, it was so much fun! (Staying up half the night to set up the buffet and getting up at 6 AM to lay out the Kiddush, done gorgeously in silver and blue.)

And of course, our beloved Bikur Cholim head, who has an antenna hidden somewhere in my house so she can pick up exactly what I need. She never takes no for an answer. Its impossible to mention everyone. Your acts and words of kindness are stored forever in my heart.

And then there are the strangers. I was floored to discover that most people are intrinsically good! It is not possible that I just happened to meet all of the nice people in the world, because almost everyone I met was nice.

Kindness is a mindset. You dont have to be rich or powerful, you just have to train yourself to think about others.

Total strangers from all over the world opened their hearts and pocketbooks. An untold number of top doctors and professionals do not mind when I pester them even during their vacations. We have also been blessed with dedicated caregivers who always show patience and truly care. Even taxi drivers took my number to find out helpful information and have actually called me back!

Kindness is a mindset. You dont have to be rich or powerful, you just have to train yourself to think about others. Sometimes a small deed, one kind word or a smile can save a person.

I will never forget the words of the young Arab nurse who was assigned to our case when Dovid had to be hospitalized. She had recently finished nursing school and this was her first time on the ward. She made some error and I admit that I was not very nice about it. Later, I apologized, explaining that I was dealing day and night with a life-threatening situation and was a bit stressed out. She could have reacted coldly, but instead she said words that warmed my heart. I admire your dedication. I believe it is your religious beliefs and your faith in God that give you the strength to deal with this. Those words gave me strength to go on.

There are no politics in the hospital, no disputes over land, no ideological differences, just good people who want to help. It gives you something to think about. If all the wicked and selfish people would just leave us alone, we could live in peace.

I eventually discovered that this new planet I landed on isnt a different planet after all. Its just the side that the newspapers fail to write about. Its the beautiful side full of wonderful, caring people.

May we all be blessed with good health, happiness and success and continue to see the good in this world.

Please pray for the speedy recovery of Dovid Yehoshua Ben Leba Malka and all ALS patients.

If you would like to help the Frid family to continue providing their beloved husband/father with the care he needs, please visit: www.causematch.com/loveyourneighbor
October 28, 2014

The story of Araby Ibrahim, also known as Araby al-Hadj Dib, an alleged Lebanese jihadist who holds a Danish passport, is just one of many immigrants who decided to return home to fight what they believe is a holy war in Syria. The Danish man was arrested some time in June on suspicion of being a member of the Islamic State (IS).

His lawyer, Fawaz Zakaria, said he was charged with being a member of a terrorist group in Syria in addition to taking part in the internal strife in Tripoli. Zakaria denied in an interview with Al-Monitor that Ibrahim took part in the fighting in Lebanon but acknowledged that he fought in Syria. "He wanted to help the Syrian people get rid of the regime, he fought with several groups; first with Ahrar al-Sham, then [Jabhat] al-Nusra and finally with IS. His goal was to help the Syrian people face the regime's crimes. Ibrahim is being prosecuted for fighting in Syria, yet Hezbollah militants are fighting with the regime side by side and are killing Syrians without being told a word; this isn't law, this is the corrupted Lebanese system, Zakaria said.

Ibrahim was arrested and the Lebanese security forces killed his cousin, Swedish passport holder Munzer al-Hassan, who is suspected of being the mastermind behind the Duroy Hotel bombing in Beirut on June 14 that involved two Saudi nationals.

[Ibrahim] left Copenhagen for Hama, Syria, via Turkey, a Lebanese security source told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity. There he fought with IS against Ahrar al-Sham, before he was captured by this group in early January. But one of the captors identified him, since they know his father very well. They called the latter as a favor and handed him his son, the source said.

According to the same source, the father brought his son to Tripoli via sea from Turkey. The 19-year-old man was in custody for a few hours, then released, the source continued. He was arrested on suspicion of having links to jihadists, but they werent able to convict him.

Another source, one close to the family, said that Ibrahim was severely beaten. The family presented a medical report by a doctor from Tripoli, which was translated into English. Al-Monitor obtained a copy of the medical report that reads: The result of the examination: the [victim] sustained traumas and cutaneous irritation on his body that spread to the back of the neck, the upper thorax and the back chest ribs; the injury resulted from an attack by a hard, solid item. The report also said that Ibrahim was bruised on his upper body, around his wrists and on his back. The family source denied all allegations linking Ibrahim to IS, claiming that he only came on a visit to Lebanon and was arrested because of false reports.

The entire family is with IS, the security source responded to the familys denial. [Ibrahims] father is known to the Lebanese authorities as one of the main traffickers of jihadists from Europe to the region. He uses a different name in Denmark. His uncle Saddam was killed in clashes with the Lebanese authorities in 2007 prior to the Nahr al-Bared war with Fatah al-Islam, and his uncle Mohammed was arrested in Germany in 2006 for his involvement in the failed train attack.

Al-Monitor found out that two other cousins of Ibrahim, Al-Mutassem Dib and Hassan Dib, were killed in a twin attack on a Syrian army checkpoint at Krak des Chevaliers in Syria. Al-Mutassem was the suicide bomber who drove the car into the checkpoint and his brother was killed in the clashes that followed the attack. Both brothers hold Swedish nationality.

The Danish security services, PET, estimates that more than 100 Danes have joined the ranks of IS, most of them Arab Muslims but also several Danish converts. I believe this estimation is low and very conservative, Allan Sorrenson, a seasoned Danish reporter who has been covering the Middle East for years, told Al-Monitor. The number is more likely to be 200 or even more, yet the prisoner in Lebanon is the first case of an arrest with links to [IS], he said.

Magnus Ranstrop, a leading expert on terrorism with the Swedish National Defence College and an author of several books on the subject, agrees that the number is much higher than 100. Ranstrop told Al-Monitor about the features of the Danish foreign fighters recruited by IS. One feature is that many have a criminal background. In fact, some members even leave crime groups to join extremist [groups]; in this way it becomes an exit strategy from gangs, he said. According to Ranstrop, there are many reasons for those [men] to join IS: excitement, a new identity and a new chapter in life, also a sense of discrimination and alienation in Denmark. [Belief in] the Day of Judgement and Jannah [paradise] is also a strong draw.

It remains unclear whether Ibrahim will be prosecuted any time soon. Yet, a Lebanese security source told Al-Monitor that there is Lebanese-Danish collaboration in the case. They contacted us because he holds their nationality, the source said. But hes also Lebanese. Therefore, the Lebanese authorities have all the right to try him here.

In other words, the security source wanted to say that Ibrahim has to wait with hundreds if not thousands of Islamists held without trial at the notorious Roumieh prison, located north of Beirut  a place that has various nicknames, one being the Islamists emirate.
January 12, 2017

RAMALLAH, West Bank  As the temperature drops during the cold months of December and January, Ramallah's al-Haddadin Street  Arabic for blacksmiths  teems with life. This is the selling season for blacksmiths, who own the shops lining this street, since the demand peaks for handmade metal chimneys, as well as other furnishings for homes, restaurants and hotels.

Despite the modernity of the central West Bank city of Ramallah  a political, economic and cultural center  the workers of al-Haddadin Street still adamantly preserve their craft. They manage to preserve their identity and cultural heritage and also take into consideration modern designs that keep pace with industrial progress and the needs of Palestinians.

Al-Haddadin Street extends from the Clock Tower roundabout to the city's vegetable markets, where shops line both sides of narrow streets, leaving just enough room for the passage of a single car in one direction.

Shopkeeper Mohammed Rashed told Al-Monitor, This street got its name from the blacksmith shops that started opening there about 70 years ago. There are now more than 20 stores providing a source of livelihood for dozens of workers and shopkeepers.

Al-Monitor met Rashed in his workshop while he was making a metal chimney. He first cut the tin sheets, then bent and rolled them to form a chimney. Later he will add a smokestack and decorations.

Rashed said that his work, just like other famous Palestinian handicrafts, is all handmade and that he does not use laser-cutting or computer design.

My workshop is one of the first workshops that opened on this street. My father opened it in 1952, he said. The street initially included one or two shops, but when numerous blacksmiths came here to open their own shops it became known as al-Haddadin Street. Citizens from all the surrounding areas of Ramallah and al-Bireh come here to buy our products.

Samir Kamal al-Salihi, 60, is known on this street as Sheikh al-Haddadin, or Master of Blacksmiths. His father was also among the first to open a blacksmith shop on this street. This street dates back to 1950. It is one of the oldest streets in the city, he told Al-Monitor.

Salihi graduated with a specialization in industry in 1977 from the Qalandiya Training Center, which is affiliated with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees. His studies and drawing talent helped him succeed and master his craft. He said he is now one of the most skilled blacksmiths, despite his lack of modern equipment.

Blacksmith work was different when Salihi first started out in his father's workshop. Back then, workshops manufactured window frames, staircases, construction equipment and simple cooking utensils. This craft evolved and now blacksmiths can sketch designs and execute almost any design requested by a customer.

When our shop first opened, our main product was roof water tanks," he said. "Nowadays we furnish restaurants and shops in the summer, and we manufacture chimneys in winter, in addition to the manufacturing of windows and doors."

Salihi boasted about his ability to skillfully execute any requested design. We manufacture anything the customers may imagine," he said. "People come to us to execute their designs  that are not available in the market. Sometimes a design can be expensive, and we prepare something very similar at a cost that our customer can afford.

Just like Rashed, Salihi never uses the computer; he does everything manually. This makes my product neater and more durable. Manual work enhances my innovative capacity, he said. We developed many of our products to suit the Palestinian lifestyle, especially our chimneys. Our chimneys are now multi-purpose. In addition to heating we added a piece for baking and cooking and water heating.

He continued, Blacksmithing work was very simple and consisted of welding two iron rods together and then adding steel sheets and tin. New developments are being introduced every year. Now we work with thermal glass, ornaments and other additions. These developments were added to the industry as a whole, not just to the chimneys.

The manual manufacturing of products, specifically chimneys, is currently time-consuming, which means welders are unable to manufacture large quantities, said Rashed, who only manufactures one chimney each day or, sometimes, every other day.

He said his customers are from all social classes, so he manufactures his products according to the customers request and budget. Some chimneys are made of thin tin, which is very cheap at a price not exceeding 70 shekels [about $20] per metal chimney, while other chimneys cost up to 1,200 shekels [more than $320], he said.

Workers on this street seek the support of authorities, such as the Ministry of Economy, to preserve their craft in light of the influx of cheap Chinese products on the Palestinian market.

Undersecretary of the Ministry of Economy Manal Farhan told Al-Monitor, The ministrys executive five-year plan under preparation for 2017- 2022 will take this sector into account. It will provide for its development, support and regularization.

She said, The governments new strategic plan will focus on small and micro industries, including blacksmithing. The ministry intends through this plan to provide professional and training support and improve the technical qualifications of workers in this sector through the technical institutes in Palestine.

Despite the difficulties faced by these blacksmiths in terms of high costs, increasing raw material prices and cheap competition, they insist on preserving and promoting their craft to fend off any threat of extinction.
January 15, 2017

In a horrific incident in 2013, a microbus driver harassed a girl, then ran her over multiple times when she refused to move until her family arrived to deal with him, killing her. Nobody stopped him, and he got off for being a juvenile.

Earlier this month, the Egyptian parliament approved tougher penalties for sexual harassment, doubling the minimum imprisonment sentence to a year instead of six months, and increasing the fine to a minimum of 5,000 Egyptian pounds ($267) and a maximum of 10,000 pounds instead of 3,000 to 5,000 pounds. In cases of recidivism, the punishment is doubled.

Upon Cabinet approval, the bill would amend Article 306 of the Criminal Code.

Yet despite the presence of such provisions, 99.3% of women in Egypt are reported to have been sexually harassed. Civil society has stepped in, encouraging women to speak up and urging men to take a stance.

Even if we have the most progressive law and the most progressive policy in the world and people do not think of sexual harassment as a crime, then we are not really doing anything, said Alia Soliman, the communications manager at HarassMap, a volunteer-based organization with a mission to end the social acceptability of sexual harassment in Egypt. Until this day, the survivor is blamed, and the harasser is given many excuses, Soliman said.

Established in 2010, the organization maps sexual harassment and provides a platform for survivors to freely and anonymously report sexual violence. It is also a tool to identify harassment trends, and to know which areas need more working on.

Different teams tackle the epidemic through various lines of work.

One of the projects is the "Safe Corporates" program, which tailors sexual harassment policies for private companies and trains employees about the types of harassment and how to report an incident.

People don't consider verbal sexual harassment as an act of sexual harassment. It is considered a minor thing by many people. It is actually not, and according to the law it is a crime, Soliman said.

HarassMap is also present on university campuses all around Egypt, conducting workshops and raising awareness among students. At Cairo and Bani-Suef Universities there is a unit to report on-campus harassment. There is a plan to spread such units to more universities, Soliman said.

An on the street team in different governorates goes around talking to people about speaking up against this problem, intervening and reporting to the police instead of being passive about it.

But police themselves are part of the problem in Egypt.

In June 2014, interim President Adly Mansour enacted a law against sexual harassment after civil society lobbied intensely for it. Yet the law is flawed, and places burdens on the woman, said Hala Mostafa, one of the three founders of the I Saw Harassment initiative.

The law dictated that a survivor needs to capture the criminal, take two witnesses and head to the police station. But experts say that 90% of the time, police threaten the woman, belittle what she is going through or try to convince her to abstain from filing a legal case. Even if the survivor is able to get through all of this, a bribe as small as 20 pounds  a little more than a dollar  could give the harasser access to her contacts and address. She and her family are then subjected to threats, blackmail and scandal to drop charges.

The number of cases filed do not constitute even 0.1% of the amount of harassment actually taking place in Egypt, Mostafa said.

Mostafa cites political, social and religious reasons for the epidemic.

Consecutive regimes in Egypt used sexual harassment and rape to punish their opposition, be it men or women, she said. Security forces do not shy away from harassment, whether acting on their own or on orders, experts said. There are documented accounts of girls raped inside security vehicles.

Meanwhile, there is a religious discourse that through the extreme objectification of women regards the mere act of a woman's leaving her house as a proof of the woman's lack of virtue, therefore making her in their minds a legitimate target for inappropriate sexual approaches and harassment. As a result of incorrect upbringing, some girls blame harassment on themselves.

I Saw Harassment was launched in October 2012, during the reign of Muslim Brotherhood President Mohammed Morsi, when the tone against women was high, Mostafa said. The volunteers saved many women during protests, sit-ins and demonstrations, as well as public crowded places, especially during national and religious holidays.

Most recently, another initiative was launched early 2016, specifically targeting men who are passive toward sexual harassment, dubbed Malaksh Feha (Mind Your Own Business). The idea is to get men to read sexual harassment testimonials in front of the camera for the first time to record their reaction to these stories, said Allaa Emad, who is behind the campaign. It consists of a series of movies, each with a different story and character. Emad managed to collect 73 stories from women all over Egypt and of different age groups through her online campaign. One story tells how a Quran teacher, supposedly among the most religious people, harasses women.

Asked whether the campaign is working, Emad replied, Yes. Some men have actually sent me stories of their intervening.

Targeting a younger generation, Not Guilty reaches out to school children. The 5-year-old organization educates and informs them about what they should do if they are ever inappropriately touched in group sessions, getting the idea through using puppets, songs, coloring books, cards about feelings and skits. Not Guilty also trains the trainers, and spreads awareness among parents and grandparents for better upbringing.

Egypt does not lack laws, nor does it need harsher punishments. Egypt lacks political and social will [for change], Mostafa said.

Nevertheless, the 2014 law, for the first time in the history of Egyptian legislation, used the more general term harassment in place of rape. More women are standing up for themselves, filing complaints and using social media in their favor. The media now discusses sexual harassment, which was previously taboo, playing a role in combating it.
January 12, 2017

The new secretary-general of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, sees in the Paris peace conference on Jan. 15 a realization of his long-held view that peace and conflict resolution can only be achieved and sustained through ongoing multilateral diplomacy. Guterres is now contemplating how to leverage the expected outcomes of the conference.

According to a senior official close to him, speaking to Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, Guterres intends to strengthen and reform the UN under his mandate as secretary-general. In his own words from Jan. 3 upon taking office: Only global solutions can address global problems, and the UN is the cornerstone of that multilateral approach.

The fact that he was a consensus candidate by all Security Council permanent members should help this process. He is fully aware of the need to conduct a thorough dialogue with the incoming Donald Trump administration, which is not exactly supportive of a strong UN. He will meet President Trump soon after Trumps inauguration. The senior UN official noted that Secretary-General Guterres intends to strengthen the role of the UN in regard to peacemaking and peacekeeping.

Upon taking office, Guterres also said, Let us make 2017 the year of peace. His priority will be a surge in diplomacy for peace. He plans to be personally involved in the issues of the Iran deal implementation, ending the civil war in Syria and achieving a two-state solution for Israel and Palestine.

Guterres will start his diplomacy for peacemaking and peacekeeping by immediately dialoguing with the leaders of Russia (he already met with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Nov. 24), China, the United Kingdom, France and the European Union, and as mentioned with President-elect Trump after his swearing-in. He believes that these governments are on board regarding the Iran deal (with the unknown position of the new Trump administration). On Syria, on the other hand, the diverging views of Moscow, the United States and the EU regarding an end to hostilities and power sharing between Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and the Sunni leadership must be bridged. As for the Israeli-Palestinian issue, Guterres would emphasize the importance of Israel complying with Security Council Resolution 2334; it is an issue that would require serious work. He believes in a two state-solution based on Security Council Resolutions 242 and 339, the Oslo Accord and the 2002 Arab Peace Initiative.

The secretary-general intends to report to the Security Council in three months on Israeli compliance with Resolution 2334. According to the senior official, Guterres had instructed UN personnel in the West Bank to thoroughly inspect and report the Israeli building of settlement housing in contradiction to the Security Council resolution. Guterres does not consider the resolution as a hostile UN move against Israel, although he was disheartened by Israel cutting its contribution to the UN by $6 million. The UN source noted that for Guterres, the resolution intends to ensure the viability of the two-state solution. The secretary-general sees his reporting as part of the UNs peace efforts. When Guterres says that 2017 must be a year of peace he also keeps in mind the fact that June 2017 will mark 50 years of the occupation, and he refers to peace between Israel and a new Palestinian state, he said.

Guterres strongly believes in multilateralism when it comes to peacemaking, with an important role for the UN headquarters and UN specialized agencies. While he respects the leading role of the United States, he believes in greater equality of influence between all the permanent status stakeholders and parties. He intends to consult with the five Security Council permanent members (United States, Russia, France, United Kingdom and China) on a regular basis on all international peace efforts. In this context, the latest Quartet report (from the United States, Russia, EU, UN) on the Israeli-Palestinian issue would serve him as a basis for a future two-state solution process.

According to the UN source, Guterres has five measures in mind to advance a two-state solution:

UN reporting on Israels settlement activities in relation to Security Council Resolution 2334.

Increased UN assistance to the Palestinian Authority through the international donor mechanism and the UN specialized agencies.

Cooperation with the French and the other four members of the Security Council to make the two Paris conferences (June 3, 2016, and Jan. 15, 2017) a basis for a sustainable international two-state solution process.

Dialogue with the five Security Council heads on a two-state solution process based on all Security Council resolutions.

Establishing a P5+1 (five UN Security Council permanent members, plus Germany) framework for an Israeli-Palestinian two-state solution process (in addition to the P5+1 group on the Iran deal).

Guterres is not expecting a positive response on these policies from the incoming Trump administration, but he intends to have an ongoing dialogue with the new US president and US secretary of state on these positions, hoping to reach a consensus among all permanent Security Council members.

A senior Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs official dealing with the UN told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity that given the record of the UN on Israel, and especially the latest Security Council resolution, Israel will refuse to work with the UN on any issue related to the Palestinians, except for special arrangements in the Gaza Strip. Israel will have a one-track foreign policy, in coordination mainly with the new Trump administration, he said.

This Israeli position is fundamentally mistaken. Guterres, while a veteran diplomat, reflects a fundamental change in current international relations and conflict resolution, toward collective diplomacy efforts. And this change is the key to a new two-state solution process.
January 13, 2017

When 2016 was drawing to a close, Moscow surprisingly agreed to divide Syrian warring factions into good and bad guys and to recognize the idea of the moderate opposition.

On Jan. 10, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov announced the preparation of talks between the Syrian government and the armed opposition in Kazakhstan's capital, Astana, on Jan. 23. The rebels are seriously preparing for the talks. On Jan. 11, Astana hosted a meeting between Syrias opposition figures and the nonmilitary opposition to find common ground for the upcoming negotiations. Previously, they accepted the terms of a deal to cease hostilities and confirmed their commitment to United Nations Resolution 2254 (2015) endorsing a road map for Syrias peace process.

Moscows road to the recognition of large opposition movements, including Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, as negotiating partners was long and tortuous. In April 2016, at the UN, Russia insisted on blacklisting Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham. Now Russia consents to the talks with them. When the Russian Ministry of Defense published the list of seven opposition factions Dec. 29, it raised many eyebrows among domestic and foreign experts. There have been very few Russian articles and commentaries expounding on this key step by the countrys military and political establishment and on the very selection criteria. Yet Russias move requires explanation, as something extraordinary has happened.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said in October 2015 that the Free Syrian Army (FSA), and the moderate opposition in general, remained a phantom grouping with nothing to brag about. Since the very onset of Russia's military operation, Russias Ministry of Defense added its usual strong flavor of anti-Americanism to reports about the elimination of alleged Islamic State (IS) militants in Latakia and Idlib and the inexplicable destruction of Liwa al-Haqqs headquarters in Raqqa province in Syria. Russias Foreign Ministry was insistent on establishing contact with the opposition in Syria. Unsurprisingly, it was Jaish al-Islam rather than IS and Jabhat Fatah al-Sham (formerly Jabhat al-Nusra) that officially declared war on Russia.

In this context, President Vladimir Putins statement that Russia was supporting FSA units  providing them with air cover, arms and ammunition in joint operations with Syrian troops against Islamist militants  came as a bolt from the blue in December 2015. Still, subsequent comments of Lt. Gen. Sergei Rudskoy, head of the Main Operative Directorate of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, about the countrys support of the FSA's combating IS failed to clarify the situation. Some Russian experts supposed that Russian airstrikes had backed Liwaa Soqour al-Raqqa. Talal Salu, the spokesman for the Syrian Democratic Forces, confirmed the airstrikes, but denied any cooperation.

On Dec. 25, 2015, Russian airstrikes killed Zahran Alloush, the head of Jaish al-Islam, near Damascus and neutralized several field commanders of Ahrar al-Sham. The opposition regarded the bombings as an attack on the outcome of the expanded meeting in Riyadh that had been held Dec. 8-10, which was convened to set the stage for talks in Geneva and included Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham, among others. The Jaish al-Islam and Ahrar al-Sham militant groups, which took part in the Geneva talks, openly read from the same script as IS and clearly demonstrated that they were on the same page, Lavrov said in April. However, Moscow started to alter its stance to some extent in the spring of 2016, when Russian special services reportedly offered assistance through Syrian intelligence to FSA rebel forces in exchange for cooperation and coordination to counter IS.

Subsequently, Russia mended fences with Turkey and approved Operation Euphrates Shield, albeit behind the scenes. In the summer, Ankara started to deploy troops in the buffer zone, including the units of Fatah Halab, the alliance of Syrian rebel factions. It eventually allowed the restoration of government control over eastern Aleppo, forcing the opposition to retreat to Idlib. These episodes can be defined as the turning points in Russias attitude toward Syrias armed opposition. The public statements of the foreign minister first pointed to Moscows changing rhetoric in early October as Lavrov mentioned possible joint law enforcement bodies in Aleppo, which would include government law enforcement bodies, the police and the armed opposition groups, on condition that the latter distance themselves from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. In early December, Lavrov publicly confirmed the Turkey-facilitated talks with the Syrian armed opposition.

The groups that do not throw their full support behind the Astana talks will be treated as forces that are undermining political conflict resolution and siding with Jabhat Fatah al-Sham as their foxhole buddy. However, despite Turkish pressure, the Syrian opposition doubts the willingness of Bashar al-Assads regime to compromise. It also lacks certainty that Moscow has persuaded Damascus and Tehran to abandon their efforts to reach Idlib and to send forces to fight IS in the center and in the east of the country. The regime has repeatedly issued public statements that every inch of the land must be freed. However, these statements seem to ignore the developments in Syria over the last six years, including crippled governance, the apparent inability of the central government to control the periphery, the loss of trust among most Sunni citizens and the elimination of a network of agents and informants that somewhat stabilized the system before the war.

The moderate opposition, therefore, is concerned about a possible offensive of the Iranian and Syrian governmental forces in Idlib as soon as it engages in fierce combat against fundamentalist factions. In this scenario, Damascus and Tehran might deftly use divisions among moderate opposition groups likely to occur in a restructuring after their distancing themselves from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham.

A comprehensive cease-fire will allow moderate opposition factions, which do not feel the need to join the ranks of the radical opposition and form a united front against Assad, to upgrade militarily and politically and distance themselves from Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. On Dec. 28, 10 FSA factions (roughly 18,000 soldiers) announced the first real step toward their full integration. At the same time, complex processes are taking place within Ahrar al-Sham. On Dec. 10, the establishment of Jaish al-Ahrar, a new faction within the opposition movement, was proclaimed. The move indicates that Ahrar al-Sham has split into two parts: the one backed by Turkey leaning toward the FSA and the one gravitating toward Jabhat Fatah al-Sham. This could show that rejecting the formula Moscows terrorist is Washington's freedom fighter is a step in the right direction.

In general, Moscows maneuvers in the Syrian swamp seem to reveal its desire to act as a mediator managing the conflict rather than just be a party that, among other things, sustains losses. Hence, it appears to result in the Kremlin's willingness to negotiate with various opposition factions in northwestern Syria.
January 15, 2017

"Why did Turkey do this to us?"

Fehim Tastekin reports that many Syrians blame Turkey, once a close ally of Damascus, for the war, which has claimed the lives of more than 400,000 people, according to United Nations and independent estimates.

Tastekin, a columnist for Al-Monitors Turkey Pulse, reports from Damascus that being a Turk in Syria is a bit difficult nowadays. No one will harass, insult or attack you, for sure, but everyone has a few words to say about Ankaras transition from friend to foe.

Tastekin writes, In a cafe booked by a group of friends, the owner had joined the dancing patrons. When he learned we were Turks, he couldn't resist a few stinging words despite all the commotion around. 'Six years ago, I was an [Turkish President Recep Tayyip] Erdogan fan, and the two countries were friends,' he said. 'A Turkish friend who used to come and go cautioned me to go easy, saying that not everything is what it looks like. He proved right and we were badly mistaken. Still, I wish the best for the Turkish people, but the harm that Erdogan did to us will unfortunately reach Turkey as well.'

Syrians doubt Turkeys ability to restrain terrorist armed groups in Syria. The international media may be preoccupied with the cease-fire, Tastekin reports, but one can hardly say it has led to great excitement in Damascus  not because of indifference, but because there is little faith that Turkey can fulfill its commitment to rein in armed groups. And the groups that really give the Syrian army a hard time are Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and the Islamic State (IS), which are excluded from the deal. Put briefly, the sentiment in Damascus is that the cease-fire is better than nothing, but a far cry from fixing all problems.

Damascus swirled with speculation that Erdogan and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad might meet at the upcoming summit in Astana, Kazakhstan. According to Syrians, Tastekin writes, the prospect of Assad sitting at the same table with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is hard to swallow. Yet even if the two come together for the sake of national interests and diplomacy, Syrians say this would be seen as Erdogans defeat, not Assads.

Tastekin observes, The war comes to Damascenes in the form of killer rockets fired abruptly from the countryside, water and power cuts that make life unbearable, soaring prices, searches at checkpoints that slow traffic and more than 2 million people displaced from war zones. Still, the city continues to function, and social and economic life remains vibrant. Fighting in areas west of Damascus has led to a potable water crisis affecting as many as 5.5 million in and around the capital.



Reporting from Aleppo, where a UN official last week described the destruction as beyond imagination, Tastekin reports, I encountered deep anger against Turkey. When people heard we were Turks, their attitudes hardened. The question we heard most was, 'Why did Turkey did this to us?'

Tastekin discovered that the Russian military police sent to Aleppo were mostly Chechen. All 250 of them were said to be loyal to Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. Tastekin said his knowledge of the Caucasus facilitated his conversations with a Chechen soldier. I asked him, 'Ah, you were serving under Shamil Basayev.' He panicked and signaled me to shut up. From 1992-1993, Basayev was tolerated by Russia and had recruited volunteers from the Caucasus and participated in the battles of Abkhazia. Basayev later emerged in the battles for Chechnya's independence and fought against the Russians. In the second Chechen-Russian war, Basayev's forces split; some joined Kadyrov, and those continuing to resist Russia set up the Caucasus Emirate. These two groups became dedicated enemies. Some from the Caucasus Emirate joined Jabhat al-Nusra (now Jabhat Fatah al-Sham) and the Islamic State (IS) in Syria. Now Basayev's former soldiers were allied with the Syrian regime to confront their former comrades. It was not wise to share a hotel with these soldiers: Finding another hotel became the first task of the next day.

Tastekins account offers firsthand testimony from Syrians about the role of Jabhat Fatah al-Sham and other armed groups, a perspective often left out in the simple "government vs. rebels" narrative in much mainstream reporting on the conflict. I was terribly shaken by what I saw in Aleppo. It became meaningless to ask who was responsible and why, Tastekin writes.

Abadi seeks reset with Turkey, Saudi Arabia

Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi is seeking to improve relations with Iraqs neighbors in support of Iraqi unity, the shared threat from the Islamic State (IS), and the need for stability in Iraq once the terrorist group is defeated, Ali Mamouri writes.

Iraqi-Turkish relations, which have been particularly acrimonious because of the presence of Turkish forces in Bashiqa  the Turks are reportedly there to train fighters against IS  may have steadied, at least for now, after Turkish Prime Minister Binali Yildirims visit to Baghdad on Jan. 7. At a joint press conference, Bildrim backed Iraqs territorial integrity and Abadi declared that Iraqs request for the withdrawal of Turkish troops from Bashiqa was agreed.

Mamouri quotes a source in intelligence that the recent rapprochement between Iraq and Turkey was the result of ongoing efforts by the intelligence apparatus to resolve disputes between the two countries behind the scenes with Abadi's support and guidance.

The Iraqi source also told Mamouri that efforts are underway for a possible rapprochement with Saudi Arabia. The day after Al-Monitor published Mamouris article, Reuters reported that Iraqi Foreign Minister Ibrahim al-Jaafari had been carrying messages between Riyadh and Tehran in an attempt to reduce tensions.

Such an effort by Abadi could provide a much-needed spark for an Iran-Saudi dialogue on regional issues. The Iran-Saudi divide has inflamed crises in Syria, Bahrain, Yemen and Iraq. The prospects for an improvement in Iran-Saudi ties may have been set back last week by the death of former Iranian President Ayatollah Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, who had been a proponent of rapprochement between Tehran and Riyadh.

In an exclusive interview in 2015, Rafsanjani told Al-Monitor, We do not inherently have any issues with Saudi Arabia or other Arab countries, because they are Islamic, and we see cooperation with them as a priority in our constitution. Even though they provided support for Saddam [Hussein] during Iraqs imposed war on Iran, our differences were very quickly resolved once they responded to Iran's postwar policy of detente and stepped forward to cooperate. The [1987] killing [of Iranian pilgrims] in Mecca was among the disputes, and it was resolved by the order of the Imam [Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini] because the essence of the matter [of our relations] is not such that we [inherently] have conflict.  Recent events in the region, meaning the events in Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Bahrain, are among the issues that have created a distance. Of course, if the Iranian government and [its counterparts] decide to work together, things wont be difficult and will be as they were in the past. It is possible to normalize the situation with a swift move for the sake of the Muslim world as a whole. I really believe it is possible.

Ali Hashem writes that Iranian-Saudi relations have otherwise mostly suffered from a lack of conviction in the necessity of rapprochement. He continues, There are also other causes for the tensions. One main element missing is regional stability. Another missing element is the presence of political influencers who dare to take initiatives despite the repercussions. The regional struggle is no longer political or driven by economics. Blood between those fighting in the name of Iran and its regional foes is being shed in the name of God  and this makes a solution in the near future a godly solution.
January 15, 2017

NICOSIA, Cyprus  Whenever I go to Cyprus, I like to go to Paphos Gate, a gap in the massive Venetian walls that encapsulates the islands condition. On the one side, the flags of Cyprus and Greece flutter in the wind above an old concrete pillbox that looks as if it were built for a World War II film. On the other side are the flagpoles of Turkey and Turkish Cyprus, but their flags are rigid  they are made of metal. They stand behind a fence topped with barbed wire and in front of a Turkish army pillbox.

In between these symbols of hostility, cars and pedestrians pass through the gate. Yes, Cyprus has been divided into two armed camps since the Turkish invasion of 1974 but, like the traffic through Paphos Gate, life goes on.

While walking to the gate Jan. 13, I met an old journalist friend who has lived in Cyprus for years. Nothings changed, he told me with a bemused shrug of his shoulders.

But when I got to the gate, I saw things had changed. The pillboxes are empty. In the 1980s, I used to see Turkish Cypriot soldiers walking along the Venetian wall behind the fence. There would be Greek Cypriot troops watching them from the pillbox opposite and, at a fork in the road just inside the gate, Swedish UN troops watching both sides.

On Jan. 13, there was no soldier of any color to be seen.

But my friend was right in that the Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders had just finished four days of negotiations in Geneva and had not reached a settlement.

The two sides agreed to set up a working group to thrash out their differences on security and the Treaty of Guarantee  a 1960 independence agreement that allows for Turkey, Greece and Britain to intervene unilaterally on the island if they think the status quo has been jeopardized.

The group will begin meeting Jan. 18.

For the first time, the two leaders  Nikos Anastasiades of Greek Cyprus, whose government is the only one recognized by the world, and Mustafa Akinci of Turkish Cyprus, whose breakaway state is recognized only by Turkey  exchanged maps on the boundaries of the constituent states of the envisaged Federation of Cyprus.

Since the 1974 invasion, Turkish Cypriots, who are roughly 25% of the population, have enjoyed 36% of the island. By the newly drawn maps, Anastasiades would cut this to 28.2% and Akinci would reduce it to 29.2%. In other words, the two sides are within 1% of agreement on territory.

Anastasiades rightly called this a milestone.

Another first at Geneva was that Greek Cypriots found themselves across the negotiating table from Turkey. Greek Cypriots have always said that Turkey calls the shots in north Cyprus, as it defends and finances the Turkish Cypriot administration.

But Anastasiades sitting across the table from Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu was not enough to reach a deal. A fact that is little appreciated among Greek Cypriots is that Ankara cannot push Turkish Cypriots to go further than they want to go. If Akinci were to accuse Ankara of selling out Turkish Cypriots, that would create serious problems for Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at home.

They dont want a solution, said the Turkish Cypriot technician who connected me for a satellite broadcast with France 24 TV after the Geneva conference ended. Everybody wants what they want, he said.

On the other side of the Green Line, as the demarcation line is known, Christos Agathokleous kindly offered me a lift in his car.

Turkey is doing a big extortion against us, he said of Geneva. He was pessimistic about a solution. Its not Turkish Cypriots fault. Turkey is using them.

Skepticism about reunification is widely shared in Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot academic Mete Hatay says that through his work for Peace Research Institute Oslo he has observed that most people want a settlement but just dont see how it can happen. The Cyprus conflict is a pretty comfortable one, and in this cold peace, people just arent hurting enough to make the necessary compromises.

The hardest nut to crack in the negotiations is the issue of security. From December 1963 through the Turkish invasion of 1974, a lot of people were kidnapped and murdered or massacred by fanatics on both sides. A rough rule of thumb is that until the invasion, the Turkish Cypriots suffered most of the atrocities. During the invasion, the Greek Cypriots got the worst of it.

The upshot is that today Greek Cypriots do not feel secure with 30,000 Turkish troops on the island. And Turkish Cypriots will not feel secure under a government dominated by the Greek Cypriot majority. What is security for one side is a threat to the other.

Turkish Cypriots are not scared of all Greek Cypriots, just some Greek Cypriots, said Simon Bahceli, a former journalist who now runs a cafe in Turkish Nicosia. And the one thing the Greek Cypriot fanatics fear is the Turkish army.

Bahceli referred to the occasional incidents of Greek Cypriots throwing stones at Turkish Cypriot cars that cross the Green Line, and beating up Turkish Cypriots. He told Al-Monitor, The [Greek Cypriot] government condemns these attacks, but they never find the attackers and prosecute them. And its easy to find people in Cyprus.

He added, Nobody is ever brought to justice, and that does worry Turkish Cypriots.

I read these quotes to George Koumoullis, a Greek Cypriot economist and columnist for the Cyprus Mail newspaper.

Im ashamed to say this is true, he said over lunch in a restaurant in Greek Nicosias Ledra Street. Koumoullis said the thugs who attack Turkish Cypriots belong to the establishment, and the establishment wants to make sure that nobody is prosecuted.

Another person interviewed in Ledra Street, Andri Petridou, agreed that such incidents worked against a settlement, but said there were fanatics on the Turkish side as well.

If both sides are to go further [toward a settlement], we have to punish the fanatics, she said.

On the final day of the Geneva talks, Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said the main stumbling block was Turkeys insistence on keeping troops on the island and the right to intervene, as conferred by the Treaty of Guarantee.

Polls have shown the Turkish Cypriots want such protection. In the last week of 2016, the Turkish Cypriot newspaper Dialogue published a survey that found 89% of Turkish Cypriots would like a number of Turkish soldiers to remain after a settlement, and the same percentage supports the Treaty of Guarantee.

Koumoullis thought that if the two sides could agree on, say, 10,000 Turkish troops remaining after a settlement for 10 years, that Greek Cypriots would accept that in a referendum. But, he stressed, there would have to be a cast-iron guarantee that at the end of 10 years, the troops would be withdrawn because Greek Cypriots do not trust Turkey.

Petridou said she would vote for such a settlement, and the popular vote is key. In 2004, the Turkish Cypriots voted heavily in favor of the Annan Plan settlement, but Greek Cypriots rejected it.

Hubert Faustmann, a professor of politics at the University of Nicosia (on the Greek side), thought Koumoullis idea was feasible, but he had one reservation. He told Al-Monitor, I very much doubt that you can give such a cast-iron guarantee because who is going to kick Turkey out?

It is this kind of problem that the working group that starts Jan. 18 will have to resolve.
MUSIC BILLY CORGAN

Singer Billy Corgan poses at MTV studios in New York, May 2, 2005. (AP Photo/Jim Cooper)

(JIM COOPER)

Musician Billy Corgan made stops in several small Alabama towns this weekend.

The Smashing Pumpkins frontman is traveling the country as part of his "30 Days" project. Along the way, he's documenting his journeys and sharing them on Facebook and other social media.

And on Saturday, he stopped by the small northwest Alabama town of Killen on his drive from Nashville to Muscle Shoals. Corgan perched beside the old Shoal Creek Bridge (which he called a "picturesque background") and performed "Snail," a song off the Pumpkins' 1991 debut studio album "Gish."

After Corgan made his way to Muscle Shoals on Saturday night, he was seen in Jasper, where he ate at Warehouse 319. And on Sunday, Corgan traveled to Oneonta, where he performed at Analog on Third, a record studio.(Find out more about Analog on Third here.)

Watch highlights from his performance across Alabama here:
Danny Carr

Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Danny Carr was sworn in as DA pro tem. (Special)

Jefferson County Deputy District Attorney Danny Carr on Saturday was appointed to serve as District Attorney while a perjury charge is pending against District Attorney-elect Charles Todd Henderson.

Carr was appointed district attorney pro tem by presiding Jefferson County Circuit Judge Joseph Boohaker.

Henderson was to take office at 12:01 a.m Tuesday but is suspended under Alabama law because of the felony perjury charge.

Carr, who Henderson had designated as his chief deputy, has worked as a prosecutor for 15 years in that office.

Carr is a graduate of Miles College Law School, Alabama State University, and Jackson-Olin High School.

"The Jefferson County District Attorney's Office will continue to work for all of the citizens and communities of Jefferson County," Carr stated in a press release.

Henderson was indicted Friday by a special grand jury of one count of first-degree perjury related to testimony at a trial in a divorce case in which he formerly served as guardian ad litem for a minor child.
Protesters gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S., denouncing President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.



"We are not going to allow Donald Trump to bury the Statue of Liberty," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told a standing-room-only crowd at historic African-American church in downtown Washington during one of dozens of rallies around the nation.



In Chicago, more than 1,000 people poured into a teachers' union hall to support immigrant rights and implore one another to fight for those rights against what they fear will be a hostile Trump administration.



Ron Taylor, pastor of a Chicago-area Disciples for Christ Church and executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, told the audience there, "Regardless of what happens in the coming days we know that good will conquer evil and we want to say to each and every one of you, you are not alone."



In Los Angeles, several hundred people rallied at a downtown Mexican-American cultural center and plaza. Some carried signs saying "Here to Stay" and chanted "Si se puede," Spanish for "Yes, we can."

In Birmingham, demonstrators gathered on the steps of the federal courthouse to speak out against Trump's immigration agenda and his appointment of U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, as the next U.S. attorney general. Sessions, an outspoken critic of the Obama administration's immigration policies, played a critical role in helping Trump craft his immigration policy positions during the campaign.



The protests mark the latest chapter in a movement that has evolved since 2006, when more than a million people took to the streets to protest a Republican-backed immigration bill that would have made it a crime to be in the country illegally.



Saturday's events in in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, California, and elsewhere took place as thousands participated in a "We Shall Not Be Moved" march and rally in Washington ahead of Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.



The line to enter Metropolitan AME Church in Washington stretched nearly a city block. People attending included immigrants who lack permission to be in the country and their relatives and supporters. Also present were elected officials, clergy and representatives of labor and women's groups.



Participants carried signs with messages including "Resist Trump's Hate" and "Tu, Yo, Todos Somos America," which translates to "You, me, we all are America."



"I stand here because I have nothing to apologize for. I am not ashamed of my status because it is a constant reminder to myself that I have something to fight for," said Max Kim, 19, who was brought to the U.S. from South Korea when he was 6 and lacks legal permission to stay in the country.



The Washington crowd urged Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress not to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, aimed at helping people like Kim who were brought to the country as children.



Michael Takada of the Japanese American Service Committee urged the Chicago audience to "disrupt the deportation machine" that he and others fear will ramp up under the new president. He also urged them to keep a close eye on their local police departments and speak out if they see those departments help "ICE to deport our community members."



Dr. Bassam Osman, chair and co-founder of The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, elicited one of the loudest cheers from the crowd when he called out the president-elect by name in an opening prayer: "Lord, this land is your land, it is not Trump's land."



While there was plenty of cheering, there was also uneasiness and fear of what's to come after Trump is sworn in.



Rehab Alkadi, a 31-year-old mother of a young son who came to the United States four years ago from war-torn Syria, said she doesn't believe she can be deported because "there is a war in Syria, but who knows. It's so scary, what Trump says," she said. "He said a lot of things bad about the Muslim people."



In Los Angeles, Jorge-Mario Cabrera, spokesman for the Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights of Los Angeles, said, "We put the Trump administration on notice that we're not going to sit idly by while he destroys our community."



President Barack Obama in 2012 launched an executive effort to protect some young immigrants from deportation, after multiple proposals failed in Congress.



The creation of the DACA program was heralded as a good first step by advocates who hoped it would be a prelude toward overhauling immigration laws. But that didn't happen, and Republican-led states pushed back against Obama's plans to expand the program.



Now the focus is on the next administration. As a candidate, Trump promised his supporters stepped-up deportations and a Mexican-funded border wall, but it is unclear which plans the celebrity businessman will act on first, and when. And many immigrants are fearful of the campaign rhetoric but less motivated to protest in the absence of specific actions.



Many participants Saturday said they would keep the pressure on Trump and said they planned to participate in next Saturday's Women's March on Washington.

"The threat of deportation is imminent for our communities," said Cristina Jimenez, executive director of United We Dream and one of the rally's organizers. "We will keep fighting. We're not going back into the shadows."
In her final speech as U.S. Attorney General, Loretta Lynch said the Justice Department has "measurably improved the lives of countless Americans," but equality under the law still is a work in progress.

"Our work is far from finished," Lynch said from the pulpit of Birmingham's 16th Street Baptist Church. "I know that while our accomplishments should make us proud, they must not make us complacent."

Lynch's speech was held at 16th Street Baptist in commemoration of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

The church is the site where four young girls were killed and 22 others were injured in a 1963 racially-motivated bombing amid the Civil Rights Movement. The church is included in the Birmingham Civil Rights District, which President Barack Obama recently declared as a national monument.

Lynch was appointed as attorney general by President Obama and was sworn into office in April 2015. She is the second woman and first African-American woman confirmed as the country's chief law enforcement officer.

"I could not be prouder of the Justice Department's record of achievement over the last eight years," Lynch said, praising the administration of American's first black President, Barack Obama. "I know that we - along with our colleagues across the federal government and at the state and local levels - have measurably improved the lives of countless Americans. We have come a long way in our struggle to build a society worthy of the promises set forth in our founding documents. But there is no doubt that we still have a long way to go."

"Fifty years after the civil rights movement finally put an end to so much of the state-sanctioned discrimination and the regime of racial violence that terrorized our country for decades, we still see our fellow Americans targeted simply because of who they are - not only for their race, but for their religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well," Lynch continued. "Fifty years after the passage of the Voting Rights Act, we see new attempts to erect barriers to the voting booth. And 50 years after this very church was bombed for its role in the civil rights movement - an unspeakable act of malice that killed four little girls - we see anti-Semitic slurs painted on the walls of synagogues. We see bomb threats and arson directed at mosques. And as we stand here today in this holy place, we cannot help but remember the tragic shooting that claimed nine innocent lives during Bible study at Mother Emanuel AME in Charleston in 2015."

Lynch praised the efforts by the Obama administration and others to see that hate crimes in America are prosecuted and that the country makes good on its pledge "that all men are created equal."

"Above all, I have seen all of you: men and women of goodwill who love this country, who believe in its promise and who are working to fulfill its founding creed," she said. "I have seen your hopes and, yes, your dreams. I have seen your faith and I have seen your works. And because of that, I have faith in you.

"Yes, these are challenging times and yes we undoubtedly have more challenges to come," Lynch continued. "But many of our greatest strides, in equal rights, in human rights, in civil rights have come after some of our most heartbreaking losses."

Lynch said although her time as attorney general is coming to an end on Friday at noon, she still will be working alongside other Americans and leaders to continue the fight for unity and equality.

"Over 200 years ago, we decided what kind of a country we wanted to be," Lynch said. "And we haven't gotten there yet. Our way forward has not always been on the path called straight. But we are Americans, and we have always pushed forward. And what we have learned from all our challenges is not that our values are not true and good, but that every generation must commit to them and work to make them real for the challenges of their time."

Other speakers at the event included U.S. U.S. Representative Terri Sewell D-Alabama, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Alabama Joyce White Vance and Birmingham Mayor William Bell. They all praised Lynch's efforts to move the country forward.

Speaking of Addie Mae Collins, Carole Robertson, Cynthia Wesley and Denise, the four little girls killed in the 1963 bombing, Sewell said their "ultimate sacrifice" paved the way for women and African-Americans to take on leadership roles in America.

"Loretta and Terri can because Addie Mae, Carole, Cynthia and Denise cannot," Sewell said. "We owe a debt we can never repay."

After President-Elect Donald Trump takes office Friday at noon, votes on Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Alabama, and other appointees from the Republican administration can be held. Trump has appointed Sessions to replace Lynch.
Moving trucks are busy in Washington, D.C. these days. Thousands of residents are packing boxes, filling out change-of-address forms and cleaning out their files (leave your email jokes below) after eight years in the nation's capital.

They're outta there soon, supplanted by a mosh of men and women arriving as part of the new Donald Trump administration.

The Obama folks are dutifully checking off their to-do lists, too, trying to enact, declare, proclaim and launch last-minute agenda items while they can, particularly those they do not entrust to the care and feeding of Trump and his minions.

That may be why U.S. Attorney General Loretta Lynch is packing in some late-game frequent-flyer miles. Two days before she comes to Birmingham to make her final speech as the nation's top law enforcement officer, at the historic 16th Street Baptist Church, Lynch was in Chicago Friday announcing the results of a year-long Department of Justice investigation into the practices of the nation's second-largest police department, an investigation sparked by the heinous killing of 17-year-old Laquan McDonald, who was shot 16 times by Chicago police officer Jason Van Dyke in October, 2014.

What they found wasn't surprising to long-time critics of the department, including local activists and the American Civil Liberties Union: deep, systemic violations of citizens' constitutional rights. Chicago cops routinely used excessive force, particularly in retaliation, the feds' report detailed; shot at fleeing suspects, and dismissed most claims of misconduct. Those investigations that were conducted were also often tilted to favor officers, the report said.

On the day before, Lynch was in Baltimore, announcing an agreement with that city to a consent decree after another DOJ investigation found the BPD to have also committed egregious violations of the U.S. Constitution against the people it is supposed to protect and defend.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Vanita Gupta, head of the DOJ's' civil rights division, said those violations "disproportionately harmed Baltimore's African-American community and eroded the public's trust in the police."

Nearly 20 cities across the nation--including New Orleans, Portland, Oregon and Newark, New Jersey, where the feds found that 75 percent of pedestrian stops were without constitutional merit--are under similar consent decrees, requiring them to implement comprehensive police reforms while monitored by an independent observer. Chicago will soon join them.

The decrees are binding, legal agreements negotiated between the cities and the DOJ, then filed in court.

That means Jeff Sessions can do nothing about them when, in all likelihood, he succeeds Lynch as Attorney General. He can't undo them, or in any way impede their implementation.

Thank God.

My concern, however, is that he'll stymie any further investigations into departments around the nation still plagued by egregious police practices.

How could I think otherwise after hearing him testifying before the Senate Judiciary committee earlier this week? Sessions was earnest and knowledgeable, and clear about his convictions. Yet I came away believing the Alabama Senator is more concerned about police "morale" than protecting the civil rights of American citizens against unconstitutional police practices.

"It's a difficult thing for a city to be sued by the Department of Justice and to be told that your police department is systemically failing to serve the people of the state or the city," Sessions testified.

He further blamed police wrongdoing on "...individuals within a department who have done wrong."



"These lawsuits," he added, "undermine the respect for police officers and create an impression that the entire department is not doing their work consistent with fidelity to law and fairness."

I really wonder if Sessions has read any of the DOJ reports (if not, Senator, here's a link), or if he's studied the history of these investigations, which were created in 1994 when by Congress passed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994. It prohibits "a pattern or practice of conduct by law enforcement officials" that deprives persons of "rights, privileges, or immunities secured or protected by the Constitution or laws of the United States."

The DOJ, through its civil rights division, says it has launched 25 investigations into systemic, unlawful police practices since the law was enacted just over two decades ago. Not all of them found fault with the departments, but those that did, resulted in the consent decrees are allowing departments do simply do their jobs better, fairly and legally.

And many departments have welcomed the federal investigations and agreements after finding it difficult to muster local and state support for implementing institutional change in their police practices.

Indeed, the police I know wear their uniforms with pride, embrace their duty to "serve and protect" with all seriousness and work to ensure they and their fellow officers are--borrowing Sessions' own words--"doing their work consistent with fidelity to law and fairness."

Sessions' supporters consistently described him as a man who believes in the "rule of law."

I certainly hope so because the law declares that agents of our government cannot act unconstitutionally against its citizens--and it will soon be Jeff Sessions' sworn duty to enforce that law.
Dog fighting

23 arrested in Washington County dog fighting ring.

(Washington County Sheriff's Office)

At least 23 people have been arrested since authorities in Washington County raided a dog fighting ring at a home on U.S. 45 late Saturday, records show.

The suspects were held in the Washington County Jail Sunday morning, according to Sheriff's Office records.

Washington County Sheriff Richard Stringer told WKRG News 5 that up to 40 vehicles were towed away when the suspects were arrested at the home near the Mississippi state line.

A variety of agencies, including the Alabama Department of Conservation, assisted with investigation, WKRG reported

Dog Fighting is a Class C felony in Alabama. It's punishable by up to 10 years imprisonment.

The law is applicable to anyone who owns, possesses, keeps or trains any dog with intent of fighting another dog.

Even spectators can be charged criminally.

Those charged in Washington County include:

Derick Jones

Darryl Berry

Kelvin Walker

Latrell Gray

Chastiey Turner (also charged with misdemeanor marijuana possession)

Chantaria Kirby

Smith Parnell

Kenneth Bell

Demarcus Moody

Timothy Finch

Shaeinka Kirby

Jessica Leverette

Charles Wiley

Brian Johnson

Sharon Tatum

Ana Spotts

Thelma Kirby

Rolanda Kirby

Kenyora Todd

Kaprianna Walker

Maranda Fenton

Sharon Berry

Kemma Kirby

The sheriff's records do not indicate whether the suspects have been released from custody, nor do online records list their bail amounts.

Additional details were not immediately available.
Everybody ought to get a fair shake. And everybody should pay their share of the freight.

That is just.

But dang. There were things said in the Birmingham Water Works Board this week in the name of justice - in the name of social justice -- that just make you want to say ... whaaat?

Like when Water Works staff explained to the latest incarnation of the board why it buys massive amounts of critical water-cleansing chemicals directly from manufacturers.

Because it's cheap. Because they ship it in on trains direct to Birmingham. There's no need for a middle man, and therefore no need to pay a middle man.

And this, to several board members, was a problem.

"I don't want cost to be a driving factor in the way decisions are made," member George Munchus said.

No lie.

And board member William Muhammad said much the same.

"We can't allow cost to be the determining factor as far as social justice is concerned."

And everybody who ever paid a jacked up water bill did a full-on double take. Two members of the board openly believe it's better to pay more - and inevitably pass that cost along to overburdened ratepayers - so the system can spread that money around.

The Water Works -- and the wall.

Yes, the extra cost would be spent in the name of social justice, to pay disadvantaged businesses and female-owned and minority firms. But the end result - as always when it comes to Birmingham water and sewer issues - is that customers and ratepayers would pay for the whims and the wishes of politicians and board members.

Water Board Chair Sherry Lewis didn't listen, thankfully. "I'm always going to be conscious of the cost," she said, and the board went ahead and approved the chemical contract. Muhammad and Munchus voted against it, and so did Brenda Dickerson, the newest member of the board.

Truth is I've had, and still have, high expectations for Dickerson. You could have mowed me down with a Weed Wacker when Birmingham City Council President Johnathan Austin chose to push her for the board instead of his ally and now-former board member Kevin McKie, because she is smart and highly educated and a handful of unpredictability.

She's a former associate dean for enrollment at Harvard's Kennedy School who has railed against misspending and lack of transparency by the city and the mayor. She's likely to lean toward the council in the legendary mayor-council spitball fight, but anybody who thinks this lady is going to be a toady has not been around her.

She told other board members Thursday, in the way of introduction, that she would always side with the citizen and stand for "accountability, transparency and full disclosure."

But there is a long, long way to go. This board went into executive session Thursday to figure out how to divide business between its two high-priced law firms. This board erected a temporary barrier - activist Frank Matthews called it the water board's "Trump Wall" - to separate itself from the audience. This water board proceeded to escort Matthews out of the room when he became irate because a new board policy prevented citizens from signing up to speak to the board more than once every two month.

That's not transparency, or accountability, or disclosure. Or justice.

And this week - as I hold my breath and still remain hopeful this board will hold all those things dear - more grand jury subpoenas were issued to people who have been associated with the water board.

This board has a chance to be better. Not to the venders and contractors and middle men who want to get paid, and not to the board members who want to pay them. This board has a chance to be better to the customers who pay the bills, and must pay their own rising bills.

That is the justice that matters.
Last-gasp effort for the two-state solution leaves Palestinians out in the cold.

Paris, France  Like something out of a dark comedy in which you are forced to live each day over and over again, yet another Middle East peace initiative has reconvened, promoting renewed confidence in the ever-elusive two-state solution.

If John Kerrys recent speech was considered a eulogy of the two-state settlement, this latest Paris summit is surely the effort to once again bring it back from the dead.

Indeed, the two-state solution has been announced dead time and again  as far back as when Bill Clinton, as US president, tried to spearhead negotiations between Yasser Arafat and Ehud Barak.

Yet, as recently as US Secretary of State Kerrys speech, Western countries  particularly the US  keep trying to revive it.

READ MORE: Francois Hollande  Two-state solution is the only way

Missing from these initiatives is a concrete idea of who the Palestinians are even represented by.

Western countries have obviously favoured the Fatah-dominated Palestinian Authority (PA), led by Mahmoud Abbas  a president whose term ended eight years ago  and unelected bureaucrats.

But the PA cannot even claim to be representing those Palestinians only living in the occupied territories, since it does not even maintain control of the Gaza Strip, where nearly two million of them live.

The PA also faces widespread criticism in the Israeli-occupied West Bank where its security forces cooperate with the Israeli military.

Other Palestinian groups, including Hamas, remain noticeably absent from these meetings.

Palestinians living in the diaspora, including the millions who have only known life in refugee camps in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan and elsewhere, are conspicuously absent from the discussion, despite the Palestinian call for the refugees Right to Return home to Israel-Palestine being a fundamental question to resolving the Israeli-Palestinian impasse.

Palestinians living inside Israel under what many human rights observers consider to be clear discriminatory laws, meanwhile, are left out of the conversation entirely, which requires a questioning of why the conflict is being framed without their voices.

These facts are not particularly eye-opening to Palestinians and those observers who have been following this issue closely for the past few years.

But this reality appears to fade when one enters the diplomatic arena.

Though Israel denounced this latest French initiative, to be sure it has only benefited politically and economically from the 20-year-long peace process known as the Oslo Accords  a fact that has been well covered.

Israels resistance to the French conference can surely be explained by the fact that its current government has all but outright rejected the notion of a Palestinian state and  in keeping in line with previous governments  resisted any efforts to involve the wider international community.

It is for these same reasons that Israel has been so combative with regards to recent UN efforts  though merely symbolic  to recognise a Palestinian state and call for Israel to abide by international law and halt its settlement construction.

READ MORE: Summit tackles elusive Israel-Palestine peace

But for all these UN resolutions, International Court of Justice opinions, and peace conferences, not a single political actor in the diplomatic arena has chosen to address the most crucial question: Who will actively force Israel, the occupier, to abide by international law?

Western governments cant claim ignorance to this question and to Palestinian demands.

They have been actively fighting the largest nonviolent, grassroots effort to force Israel to abide by international law  namely, the boycott, divestment, and sanctions movement that has been endorsed by more than 200 Palestinian civil society organisations.

While France, the country that is ironically hosting the peace conference, has all but banned BDS advocacy, Kerry in his remarks even bragged about fighting it: We have strongly opposed boycotts, divestment campaigns, and sanctions targeting Israel in international fora.

Whether or not one supports BDS efforts, Western governments allergy to the movement, along with their unwillingness to offer alternatives for frustrated Palestinians to force Israels hand, has raised questions among many.

In fact, that BDS activists enjoy such support, particularly among Palestinians on the ground, probably means they, too, should be part of the conversation  but, like most Palestinians, they have been left out.

Ultimately, while recent efforts to call on Israel to abide by international law and halt its settlement activity may have renewed some observers optimism, it remains to be seen what will tip the balance of power in the current conflict and force an actual settlement.

One thing that 20 years of peace conferences and summits have taught us, however, is that these charades certainly wont change much.
What you say may cause deep damage that will last longer than a governments mandate or a financial year.

Dear Mr President-elect,

I am writing to you as a migration researcher and the coordinator of the Casa del Migrante (Migrants House) in Tijuana, which provides assistance mainly to men who have been deported to Mexico from the United States.

I am also writing to you as the descendant of Chinese migrants, born in Tijuana, at the southern border of your country, where I have witnessed the impact of US migration policies first-hand while I was growing up.

The US has deported more than two million immigrants between 2010 and 2015. This represents more than twice the population of San Francisco. But, we also need to understand that we are talking about actual people and lives.

In recent years, the Mexican government has taken several steps affecting migrants trying to enter the US, such as introducing checkpoints within Mexico, and raising the speed of some freight trains on which Mexicans and Central Americans travel towards the American dream.

I will tell you why this matters.

When I worked at the border between Guatemala and Mexico, I met Sandra, a woman from Honduras who was travelling towards the US with her 16-year-old daughter. Sandra was running away from the Mara Salvatrucha gang, one of Latin Americas most powerful street gangs, which was trying to recruit her child by force.

As they tried to board one of these freight trains, Sandras daughter managed to get on the train, but Sandra fell on to the rail tracks because of the trains high speed, and lost her left leg in the accident. Sandra spent weeks in the hospital, away from her daughter, who could not get off the train and spent two months looking for her mother.

READ MORE  Dear Donald Trump: A letter from a Syrian refugee

Why am I telling you this story?

Because raising the speed of freight trains from 10 km/h to 60 or 70 is one of the measures that have been indirectly supported through different US programmes and funding schemes.

Through the years, the control of migration to the US has started to take place from the south of Mexico itself. In real life, these policies result in broken families, mutilations, death, and suffering.

Unfortunately, cases like that of Sandra and her daughter are very common. Just enter any migrant shelter in the south, along one of the migration routes that crisscross Mexico, or go on the main square of a city like Tapachula, and youll see migrants with makeshift leg prostheses made out of PVC tubes and sellotape.

Let me tell you about some other cases.





I met Maria when she was staying in a shelter for migrant women in the north of Mexico. She was captured in California, on her way to work as a domestic worker, and deported. Marias main problem was not the deportation itself, but that her four-year-old child, who is a US citizen and was in the nursery at the time of her mothers deportation, was sent into foster care.

Now Maria is facing arduous processes that may take years, and may not even allow her to see her daughter again.

Another common story is that of deported war veterans. After serving the United States in several wars, some vets end up being deported to Mexico because they have committed a felony and are not US citizens. After serving their sentence in the US, and although theyve lived most of their life in the US and have pledged to protect this country, they are deported.

I am telling you these brief stories to give you a glimpse into the real-life consequences of complex migration policies. I hope you can imagine how many different scenarios can exist and how hard it is for every one of those millions of persons to get back on their feet after a deportation or migration-related problem. In your new job, your decisions will not only impact the lives of US citizens, but also those of millions of fathers, mothers and children in dozens of other countries.

READ MORE  Mexico: New plan to help citizens in US after Trump win

I trust that your administration will represent US citizens and their concerns as best you can. I do not expect that the decisions you make in this area will leave us all satisfied. I simply ask that, before you take steps that will affect the future of millions of migrants and their families, you listen and have an open mind to understand how these decisions can not only affect other countries, but yours.

One last thing: Id like to remind you how important your public discourse will be during your mandate. What you say may cause deep damage that will last longer than a governments mandate or a financial year. Your discourse can become the ground for years of racism and xenophobia towards people who only want to survive, to work, and to give their loved ones the chance of a decent life.

Your mandate will leave its mark on the worlds history. I hope that this legacy will make you  as well as your voters and the millions of people who havent voted for you, but whom you now represent  proud.

Best of luck.

Sincerely,

Jose Carlos Yee Quintero

This text has been edited for clarity and length. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
The latest revelations throw a glimmer of light on the systemic corruption in Israel, analysts say.

Jerusalem  The smell of scandal has swirled around the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, for years. But only now is the smell starting to turn to a stench, say analysts.

Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, have long been known for cultivating close relations with Israels leading business families. Those ties, many Israelis assumed, explained why the famously parsimonious couple managed to indulge such expensive tastes.

Past investigations have looked into first-class transatlantic flights and stays at top hotels, but foundered on a lack of evidence that the Netanyahus had traded the high life for favours.

Until recently, most of the Israeli public had been amused, rather than outraged, by stories of astronomical bills at the prime ministers residence for wine, ice-cream and hairstyling.

But the latest revelations have the potential to be far more damaging. This week one Israeli commentator suggested Netanyahus conduct risked being compared to the behaviour of a head of a banana republic.

Police are pursuing two parallel investigations, dubbed cases 1,000 and 2,000. The latter may turn out to be the most serious.

In the first case, according to leaks, Netanyahu accepted gifts from wealthy businessmen worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. The prime minister allegedly offered his benefactors assistance in return.

Arnon Milchan, an Israeli billionaire and Hollywood film producer, who has previously outed himself as a former Mossad agent, is said to have sent Netanyahu cigars and champagne. In exchange, reports say, Netanyahu successfully lobbied John Kerry, the United States secretary of state, on behalf of Milchan for a 10-year US visa.

In another case, the Australian billionaire James Packer is believed to have showered Netanyahus family with gifts, as he tried to gain permanent residency, and tax status, in Israel.

Netanyahus lawyers do not deny that he received the gifts, but say they were not intended as inducements.





The second case relates to audio recordings of lengthy meetings between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, the owner of the Yedioth Ahronoth media group, which includes Israels largest paid-for newspaper.

Case 1,000 in short: In return for gifts offered to PM Netanyahu by wealthy businessmen, he allegedly offered his benefactors his assistance

In exchange for helping him obtain a 10-year US visa, Israeli billionaire Arnon Milchan buttered him up with champagne and cigars

Australian billionaire James Packer allegedly showered Netanyahus family with gifts while trying to gain permanent residency and tax status in Israel

According to details that emerged this week, Mozes reportedly offered favourable coverage to help Netanyahu stay in power and even suggested that his company would hire journalists of the prime ministers choosing.

In return, Mozes is said to have asked Netanyahu to promote legislation to end the free distribution of a popular rival daily, Israel Hayom, forcing it to become a paid-for title. Netanyahu is alleged to have responded positively to the proposal.

In one of the recordings, as elections neared in early 2015, Netanyahu can reportedly be heard warning that he will deal with Mozes if Yedioth Aharonoth campaigns against him.

On Wednesday, a former deputy chief of Israels supreme court, Eliyahu Matza, told Army Radio that on the basis of these reports it would be clear to any novice jurist this was a case of bribery.

Netanyahu is expected to be questioned by police for a third time on the allegations in the next few days. His lawyers have indicated that they will argue that Mozes was the one extorting Netanyahu, which is why the prime ministers officials recorded the conversation.

But Matza discounted such a defence. An office holder threatened with extortion goes to the police, he said. If hes prime minister, he can turn to the attorney general. If hed done so, he would have remained above any suspicion, but he didnt.

READ MORE: Exclusive  Israel lobby infiltrates UK student movement

Oren Persico, a reporter with Seventh Eye, an Israeli media watchdog website, characterised Mozes offer, from what is known so far, as worse than bribery. It looks more like a mob-style operation to offer Netanyahu protection from Yedioth Ahronoth, if the prime minister helped damage a media rival, he told Al Jazeera.

The recordings were found on a phone during a search of the belongings of Ari Harow, Netanyahus former chief of staff, during a separate fraud investigation.

On Saturday, Channel 2 TV produced transcripts of parts of the conversation. Netanyahu can reportedly be heard telling Mozes: We are talking about moderation, about a reasonable media, we need to lower the hostility towards me.

Mozes responds about forthcoming elections: We need to make sure you will be prime minister.

On Sunday, as more jurists publicly condemned the tapes, Netanyahu told party officials: Theres a campaign of biased leaks, intended to mislead the public and distort the true picture, as if there were offenses here that didnt happen.

The attorney general, Avichai Mendelblit, reportedly waited some six months after the recordings came to light to authorise an investigation.

The foot-dragging has fuelled concerns that Mendelblit, who was appointed by Netanyahu, is too close to him to act impartially.

On Wednesday justice ministry officials and police investigators said they had opposed the delay in questioning Netanyahu and believed it had harmed the investigation. Meir Gilboa, a former head of the police national fraud squad, told the Haaretz newspaper: The long delay seems blatantly implausible.

Yousef Jabareen, a member of the Israeli parliament belonging to the Palestinian Joint List party, told Al Jazeera: If Israel were a properly run country, the evidence against Netanyahu would already be sufficient to force him to resign. It is difficult, however, to have confidence in either the attorney general or the prosecutors. The legal authorities have been under relentless attack from Netanyahus government for years and their independence has been severely undermined.

From the outset of the allegations, Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, posting on Facebook: There will be nothing because there is nothing.





The background to the case is a decade-long war for readers between the two biggest-circulation newspapers in Israel. Persico said that, until the late 2000s, the Yedioth Ahronoth group had enjoyed near-monopoly status in Israels print media. Netanyahu had grown increasingly concerned about the bad coverage he was receiving from the paper and the support it was offering his political rivals.

After he lost the election to Ehud Barak [in the late 1990s, after his first term as prime minister], Netanyahu was rumoured to be telling friends he needed his own paper to limit Yedioth Ahronoths influence, said Persico.

Case 2,000 in short: Arnon Mozes, owner of Yedioth Aharonoth media group, reportedly offered biased and favourable coverage to help Netanyahu to stay in power in return asking Netanyahu to promote legislation to end free distribution of their rival paper, Israel Hayhom. Netanyahu allegedly went through with this proposal Until 2000 the media group enjoyed near-monopoly until Netanyahu had grown too concerned about negative coverage from the paper Legally, as a legislator, Netanyahu was not allowed to receive any gift of more than $70 in value without declaring it

In 2007, as Netanyahu prepared for a return to power, his political patron Sheldon Adelson, a US casino billionaire, launched the Israel Hayom newspaper. Freely distributed, it soon had a circulation of up to 400,000 a day, making it more widely read than Yedioth Ahronoth.

Israel Hayoms barely disguised cheerleading for Netanyahu quickly earned it an unofficial title  the Bibi-paper, after Netanyahus nickname.

Rival politicians have complained that Israel Hayoms backing helped Netanyahu to win the 2009 election and has kept him in power since. They have alleged that Israel Hayoms staunch support for Netanyahu was a form of illicit election funding by Adelson to bypass local political funding laws.

Persico agreed. The Israel Hayom paper was effectively a political gift from Adelson, a propaganda tool to serve the interests of Netanyahu and his family.

Freedom House, a US-based civil liberties watchdog group, downgraded Israels press status to partly free last year because of Israel Hayoms growing impact .

Adelsons paper was never profitable. An investigation by Haaretz this week showed that he sunk some $190m into it in its first seven years to keep it afloat. The losses continued to grow.

But Yedioth Ahronoth possibly paid a higher price, as its ad revenues plummeted with its falling circulation.

Adelsons pockets are very deep, said Persico. He and Netanyahu used Israel Hayom to bring Yedioth Ahronoth to its knees financially. It was this prolonged financial crisis at the paper, added Persico, which drove Mozes into making Netanyahu the offer currently under investigation.

A key meeting between the Yedioth owner and Netanyahu occurred in late 2014, around the time the Israeli parliament was considering legislation specifically to curb Hayoms activities and thereby strengthen Yedioth. Netanyahu publicly opposed the bill, while rival parties in his government coalition supported it, giving it a good chance of success. It was never brought to a final vote, because Netanyahu called elections in early 2015, before the legislation could pass.

The election effectively killed the negotiations between him and Mozes.

OPINION: Anti-Zionism and anti anti-semitism in British politics

Isaac Herzog, the leader of the opposition Zionist Union party, said this week that Netanyahus use of Israel Hayom as a bargaining chip in the talks confirmed claims that the editorial offices of Israel Hayom were and are run by Benjamin Netanyahu.

The occupation has served Netanyahu and his predecessors well at times like this. They can always escalate things with the Palestinians to prevent public pressure building for dealing with corruption. by Jafar Farah, head of Mossawa

But Jafar Farah, head of Mossawa, an advocacy group for Israels large Palestinian minority, said the talks between Netanyahu and Mozes were only the tip of the iceberg.

This is more than just about Netanyahu, he told Al Jazeera. The recordings throw a glimmer of light on the systemic corruption in Israel. The main political players are connected to networks in the media and big business, and behind the scenes they fight each other for control.

Since his 2015 election victory, Netanyahu has reserved for himself the communications ministry and required of his coalition partners that they agree to any media initiatives he proposes.

Critics have argued that Netanyahu is using the ministrys powers to pressure media companies, especially Israels two loss-making commercial TV channels, to give him more supportive coverage.

Herzog demanded this week that Netanyahu immediately relinquish the communications ministry or he would petition the courts. The question now is whether these new cases will bring down Netanyahu.

Jabareen noted that as a legislator he was not allowed to receive a gift of more than $70 without declaring it. That alone should give us a sense of the magnitude of what Netanyahu has done, he said.

Netanyahus closest allies, however, have claimed that he is the victim of persecution. David Bitan, chair of his Likud party, told reporters: In other countries, people do that [topple governments] through military coups. But we took it a step further. We do this through police coups.

The analysts who spoke to Al Jazeera believed Netanyahu might be able to weather the storm, given an apparent lack of interest so far from the public, his close ties to the attorney general, and little appetite among his government coalition partners for early elections.

Farah said Netanyahu would also distract public attention from the allegations by focusing on security matters. The occupation has served Netanyahu and his predecessors well at times like this, he said. They can always escalate things with the Palestinians to prevent public pressure building for dealing with corruption.

If Netanyahu is indicted, he would almost certainly have to step down. That is what happened to his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, when he was charged  and later convicted  of receiving cash in envelopes from a businessman.

Olmert succeeded Ariel Sharon, who was himself the subject of a series of police investigations that were dropped when he fell into a coma in 2006 and later died.
A half-century of Israeli occupation is not going to be meaningfully addressed by international meetings.

As representatives of 70 nations gather in Paris today to discuss the moribund Middle East peace process, a healthy dose of scepticism is in order. Not so much about the conferences prospects for success  it is not designed to succeed beyond the fact of being convened and producing a communique  but rather about the purpose of this exercise.

According to its French conveners, the objective of the conference is to reaffirm the international communitys collective commitment to a two-state settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, and, presumably with an eye towards the incoming Trump administration, emphasise that there is no alternative to this paradigm.

A serious commitment to such an objective could take several paths: Putting political flesh on the bones of the recent United Nations Security Council Resolution, 2334. The resolution condemns all Israeli settlement activity as illegal and calls upon member states to distinguish in their dealings between Israel and the occupied territories; collectively recognising Palestinian statehood; and/or determining that the Oslo agreements, and more broadly the formula of bilateral negotiations without preconditions under American auspices, has endangered, rather than promoted, a two-state settlement.

In other words, a conference that does not put the Israeli occupation and mechanisms for ending it front and centre of its deliberations does not really qualify as an international conference on promoting a two-state settlement.

OPINION: The two-state solution is dead

A conference that does not put the Israeli occupation and mechanisms for ending it front and centre of its deliberations does not really qualify as an international conference on promoting a two-state settlement.

The conferences draft communique would, in this respect, be laughable, were it not so tragic. Its preamble, for example, lauds Secretary of State John Kerrys 28 December 2016 speech on the Middle East, which in significant respects seeks to water down not only key provisions of UNSC 2334, but also the prevailing international consensus on the question of Palestine.

More importantly, it specifically and exclusively references Kerrys statement that, 23 years after Oslo, there is no role for the international community in ending the occupation and consummating a two-state settlement beyond coaxing Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

If the French hosts indeed endorse the trope that we cannot want peace more than the parties themselves, and, in view of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahus furious denunciation of the conference, and clear preference of creeping annexation over Palestinian statehood, one wonders why Paris has gone to the trouble of convening this meeting at all.

To the extent that the communique can be said to make demands of the international community, it is purely declarative and does not go one iota beyond what is already expressed in UNSC 2334 and similar resolutions, and therefore already binding on conference participants as a matter of international law.

The communique reaches the highest levels of absurdity in its approach to Israel and the Palestinians.

Its concluding paragraphs call upon both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution, and to disavow official voices on their side that reject this solution, as if not only the Israeli government, but also its Palestinian counterpart, is teeming with voices demanding exclusive sovereignty from the Mediterranean Sea to the River Jordan.





More to the point, what difference would it make if Israeli ministers followed Netanyahus lead and expressed verbal support for this formula, while losing no opportunity to undermine it in practise?

To be fair, the Paris Conference does throw its massive weight behind the actualisation of its proclaimed objective: Paragraph II offers economic incentives and increased private sector involvement, further meetings between international partners and the Palestinian side to strengthen Palestinian institutions, and of course Israeli and Palestinian civil society fora. Cest tout.

Those who believe the self-interest of the international community, and particularly Western governments, will eventually produce a resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are expected  in all likelihood  to be deeply impressed that Paris has managed to convene 70 governments, including the outgoing US secretary of state to sign off on this damp squib, and hope it may yet produce a new Security Council resolution before the White House turns orange.

More realistic proponents of Palestinian self-determination will immediately recognise that a half-century of the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip is not going to be meaningfully addressed by international meetings. Unless the conditions have first been created by the Palestinians themselves to make those meetings productive. This could happen through mobilising all the resources at their disposal, both inside Palestine and in the diaspora, and by effectively mobilising all those who support their cause.

It is a tall order with no alternative.
Only days away from the inauguration of Donald Trump as President of the United States, much of the discourse of his incoming administration has surrounded the building of a wall between the US and its longtime ally, Mexico.

Trump made undocumented immigration a cornerstone of his campaign, one that relied heavily on the belief that large numbers of people were crossing the US border from Mexico and Central America and were committing crimes and suppressing wages for the American worker.





What is ignored is that unauthorised immigration has steadily declined since reaching a peak in 2007. The US is risking ruining diplomatic relations with its neighbour and ally, Mexico, as well as spending billions in taxpayer money, for essentially a non-issue.

Still, Trump made the case that no group has been more economically harmed by illegal immigration than African Americans. He toured around the country with Jamiel Shaw, a California man who lost his young teenage son to violence perpetrated by an undocumented immigrant. It was a clear wedge issue for Trump as he entered into a contentious relationship with Spanish-language media over his incendiary comments about Mexican immigrants.

Non-Latinx black and Latinx (a gender-inclusive term referring to people of Latin American descent) people have at times had a tenuous relationship throughout the Americas. The Dominican Republic and Haiti have a long history of strife over citizenship, nationality, and jobs. There is a minority of African Americans who view Latinx immigrants as interlopers who benefit from a civil rights legacy stained with the blood of black freedom fighters.

Latinx people in turn carry anti-black sentiments with them and view blacks as lazy and prone to criminality. These cultural misunderstandings open the door for both groups to be blinded by racism, xenophobia, and ultra-nationalism by the powers that be in nations like the US. Black and brown interests are inextricably linked, even on the issue of immigration.

Black immigration

Though the vast majority of African American voters turned their backs on Trump, he still garnered a greater percentage of black votes than Mitt Romney did in 2012. Some would attribute this to his promises to bring jobs back to the country, which is closely tied to his hardline immigration policy.

However, a closer look at undocumented immigration from an international perspective would show that it is not simply a brown phenomenon. Black people have historically crossed socially constructed borders to improve their life prospects, and this continues today. The humane and fair treatment of immigrants should be at the forefront of both black (non-Latinx) and Latinx peoples agendas and should be a subject that unifies them.

Blacks in the US must understand that their ancestral brethren, members of the non-Latinx African diaspora, are greatly affected by US immigration policy. by

While the estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants in the United States have been the subjects of constant debate, often left out of the discourse are the 400,000 of them who are black (non-Latinx).

Further, the Underground Railroads purpose was to cross socially constructed borders in search of better lives for those who were persecuted.

The Mason-Dixon line was a border that separated slave states from free ones, but with the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, some slaves had to travel further north and cross a national border into Canada. Slaves in Texas crossed the border into Mexico where they were free and protected from slave catchers. This history of cooperation between black and brown is often lost as the media and politicians propagate a narrative of competition over employment.

The face of contemporary undocumented immigration is quickly shifting. A number of Haitians travelled to Brazil after the 2010 earthquake, and were provided with humanitarian visas by the Brazilian government, which was in need of workers at the time.

As the Brazilian economy took a turn for the worst, the Haitian migrants embarked on a perilous journey north into Central America. They faced bandits, unscrupulous coyotes, and detention in unfamiliar countries. Some were stuck in Costa Rica, others in Mexico.

The ones who make it close to the US border have often been thoroughly exploited and drained of economic resources. Some of the people taking this route come from other nations in Africa, including Sudan, Burkina Faso, Congo, Nigeria, and Cameroon.





In fact, many of the Haitians pretend to be Congolese because they are both francophone and they believe continental Africans receive better treatment and are more difficult to deport. The Obama administration changed its policy regarding Haitians, vowing to deport any of them without documents.

Immigrant detention in the United States is also a civil rights issue. A report by the Southern Poverty Law Center states that the conditions in detention centres have resulted in deaths and detainees allege that there have been beatings. Immigrant detention fits with the framework of the larger prison industrial complex which preys upon disadvantaged Black and brown people.

Unnecessary tensions

Solutions to our immigration issues are multifaceted and multicultural. It is an international issue that must be solved through cooperation between nations not the building of walls.

The current myopic view of unauthorised immigration leads to unnecessary tension between black and brown people, which allows for them to be easily divided by their common political adversaries. Blacks in the US must understand that their ancestral brethren, members of the non-Latinx African diaspora, are greatly affected by US immigration policy.

Latinx people need to fully understand that their futures are tied to Africa and Haiti. Just as our cooperation led to freedom for many along the Mexican border, Black and brown organisations should work together to lobby for sensible answers to our immigration problems and reform the conditions of immigrant detention, which the American Civil Liberties Union has called brutal and inhumane.

Jason Nichols is a professor, columnist and current Editor-in-Chief of Words Beats & Life: The Global Journal of Hip-Hop Culture, the first peer reviewed journal of Hip Hop Studies.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Imagine a hypothetical situation: A former FSB officer provides a dirty dossier about US presidential candidate Hilary Clinton. He has left the Russian intelligence services and now operates his own private intelligence firm, with the implicit approval of the FSB.





Once the dirty dossier is published, its accuracy and sourcing is widely questioned  and even whether the media should have reported on the allegations at all. That FSB officer is then outed in the US press, but the Russian authorities put out a gagging order on their domestic media preventing reporting about him.

That quickly proves pointless  as we live in the internet age. Once his name is made public, a range of anonymous Russian security sources brief the Russian press that the officer is a highly regarded professional, and former colleagues rally around him, saying much the same. His reputation is bolstered in order to make the allegations made against Clinton seem more credible. How would the US press respond?

This is in fact exactly what has just happened during Trumps final approach to the White House, except it wasnt the FSB  it was the British Secret Intelligence Service, colloquially known as MI6, and it wasnt a former FSB officer turned private investigator, it was Chris Steele, a former MI6 agent. He is now in hiding and the subject of excited media speculation here in the UK.

Yet, while we would treat the FSB scenario as evidence of nefarious meddling by a foreign state in a US election, we seem totally fine with a former MI6 agent quite possibly doing the same.

There is, however, a subtle difference in the two situations. While the Kremlin scenario would indeed be meddling with full state approval  as is the case with the hacking of the Democratic National Committee, for example, the case of Chris Steele highlights a growing movement within the intelligence services of highly motivated officers and former agents, who are willing to take extraordinary, but personal, steps to prevent Donald Trump taking office. There is no evidence to suggest, however, they are doing this with the approval of the British government.

MI6 Trump concerns

At the time the dossier was going round, I understand from talking to those who know Steele well, that he was privately very concerned about civil unrest on the streets, and was also deeply worried, as many serving intelligence officers were, about Trumps stance on NATO, and his sympathies for Vladimir Putin.

These are not unusual views among serving Western defence officials, and they are very legitimate criticisms of the pending disaster that is the Trump administration. Steele was also a man who had run MI6 operations in Russia, had been working with the assassinated Russian spy Alexander Litvinenko shortly before his death, and who greatly feared that Trump would take the United States into an alliance with the Kremlin.

OPINION: America was a stan long before Trump

Clearly with support from at least some former colleagues at MI6, it begins to look very much like a transatlantic deep state stitch up  in which profit and political motives align perfectly for Steele to produce a dossier that is dirtier than the facts allow. That many in the CIA may feel the same gives the entire affair a deeply anti-democratic tinge.

For further evidence of this, look to the fact that in the final months before the dossier was eventually published by Buzzfeed, Steele is said to have been working for free. Look only to the growing list of people who have leapt to his defence, and you will see a whole movement who, upset by Trump, are willing to defend a former MI6 officer who appears to be subverting the American democratic process.





A former Foreign Office official briefed the Guardian newspaper that Steele was a highly regarded professional. British officials suggested that Steele would have tapped up his network of sources deep inside the country, with another citation attributed to a possible third Foreign Office official. A former colleague appeared on the flagship current affairs programme BBC Newsnight also vouching for his personal credibility.

The former British ambassador to Russia, Sir Andrew Wood, has also spoken in his defence. The Independent newspaper cites current and former officials explaining away discrepancies in the dossiers findings. Another newspaper claims that senior British security sources have put emergency measures in place to protect Steeles immediate safety.

One well-connected tabloid press editor has, however, suggested the serving MI6 chief, Sir Alex Younger, is livid. Of course the MI6 chief would have to say that, and likewise, Number Ten has remained silent on the matter. If these officers are acting without the full approval of the government, this only makes the murmurings coming from within the deeper recesses of MI6 more worrying. Is this a deep state movement actually acting semi-independently from their leadership?

I am no fan of either Donald Trump or Vladimir Putin  in fact, I despise both, but we can at least recognise that in the case of Trump, the mechanics of the US election were fairly carried out, and Trump did win. To thwart such a victory would do far more damage to US democracy than even Trump may manage (hopefully).

I wish he hadnt won, of course, and it is obvious that many within the US and British intelligence community wish he had not either, but democracy is more important than the private political views of intelligence officers. Whether it is the FSB or MI6, the principle of serving or former spies not getting involved with foreign countries elections is sacrosanct. You cannot, on the one hand, denounce Putin for doing it, and then be doing it yourselves.

Alastair Sloan is a London-based journalist. He focuses on injustice and human rights in the UK and international affairs, including human rights, the arms trade, censorship, political unrest and dictatorships.

The views expressed in this article are the authors own and do not necessarily reflect Al Jazeeras editorial policy.
Trio convicted of carrying out a 2014 deadly attack on police executed by firing squad, state news agency reports.

Bahrain has executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, including an Emirati officer, prosecutors in the island kingdom said.

Abbas al-Samea, 27, Sami Mushaima, 42, and Ali al-Singace, 21, faced the firing squad on Sunday, a week after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecution said in a statement carried by the official BNA state news agency.

They are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve, which had warned on Saturday against the move.

                #bahrain #un #Gcc     pic.twitter.com/wFXnhN84Lu  M. Altoplani (@mohdhassan79) January 15, 2017

Activists reacted with rage, calling it a black day and posting images of protesters clashing with police on social media.

This is a black day in Bahrains history. It is the most heinous crime committed by the government of Bahrain and a shame upon its rulers, said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

Amnesty International said the executions were carried out after an unfair trial and despite claims from the men that they were tortured in custody.

Bahrain denies practising torture.

Sami Mushaima 42 years old

Abbas AlSamea 27 years old

Ali AlSingace 21 years old

tortured to confess, executed this morning #Bahrain  Maryam Alkhawaja (@MARYAMALKHAWAJA) January 15, 2017

The punishment is likely to further poison ties between Bahrain, its ally Saudi Arabia and Iran, which Bahrain accuses of fomenting unrest, including by supplying arms to Shia rebels who carried out several bomb attacks on security forces.

Iran, a sharp critic of Bahrains government, denies links to Bahrains opposition. It does, however, champion their cause.

Tehran called the punishments reckless.

Bahrains government has demonstrated that it does not seek a peaceful resolution and a way out out of the crisis, said Bahram Qasemi, the spokesman of Irans foreign ministry, quoted by the official news agency IRNA.

Death sentences

The Bahraini high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed the policemen.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help security forces put down a month of protests led by the countrys Shia majority.

Bahrains majority Shia population has for decades accused their rulers of discrimination in matters of jobs, housing and political say.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would consider declaring martial law if the drug problem deteriorates, adding no one can stop him from making such a decision.

I have to protect the Filipino people. It is my duty. And I tell you now, if I have to declare martial law, I will declare it, Duterte told a gathering of businessmen in his hometown of Davao on Saturday evening.

I dont care about the Supreme Court. No one can stop me, he said. The right to preserve ones life and my nation  transcends everything else, even the limitations.

READ MORE: Rodrigo Duterte  I once threw a man from a helicopter

Under the 1987 Constitution of the Philippines, the president can declare martial law up to 60 days in case of invasion or rebellion.

The constitution makes no mention of drug violence as a justification for declaring it. Congress and the Supreme Court also have the power to review any such declaration.

But Duterte said that his duty to preserve the Filipino people, and the youth of this land is sufficient to suspend the writ of habeas corpus.

Not about invasion, insurrection. Not about danger. I will declare martial law to preserve my nation. Period, he said.

Death toll continues to climb

It is not the first time that Duterte has openly discussed declaring martial. On Thursday he said the constitutional provision giving Congress and the Supreme Court power to review martial law declaration needed to be revised.

But he also said earlier in January that he had no plans of declaring martial law, saying it was nonsense, adding that it did not improve the lives of Filipinos when it was declared in the past.





In 1972, then President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law, citing the threat of communist insurgency in the country.

WATCH: Rodrigo Duterte talks to Al Jazeera

In August of last year, Duterte was angered when the Chief Justice sent him a letter questioning his decision to release the names of judges accused of links to the illegal drug trade.

If this will continue and if you will try to stop me, then fine. Would you rather I declare martial law? Duterte was quoted as saying.

Duterte won the May 2016 presidential election largely on a platform of fighting the illegal drug trade.

As of mid-December, less than six months into his presidency, more than 6,000 people have been killed as part of that war on drugs. Dozens more have been reported killed since January 1, 2017.
Frances Hollande tells representatives from 70 countries it is up to Palestinian and Israeli leaders to achieve peace.

Paris, France  A two-state solution in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is the only way to bring lasting peace and security to the Middle East, Francois Hollande, Frances president, said.

His comments came as officials and civil society groups from more than 70 countries gathered to discuss ways of bringing the decades-old conflict back to the negotiating table.

During Sundays conference in Paris, Hollande highlighted the wars in Syria and Iraq and said Middle East peace can only be achieved through a negotiated settlement directly between Palestinians and Israelis.

How could we expect the Middle East to return to stability if we cannot find a solution for one of its oldest conflicts? he asked.





The summit on the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process was the second called by France in the last eight months.

It was not attended by either Benjamin Netanyahu, Israels prime minister, or Mahmoud Abbas, Palestinian Authority president, which led many observers to question its significance.

The one-day Paris conference focused on economic incentives, efforts by civil society groups, and capacity building for a future Palestinian state.

France has been a major backer of the Palestinians, providing $43m in aid in 2015 and Palestine remains the leading beneficiary of French budgetary assistance.

Hollande noted more than 150 organisations from Palestine and Israel have been brought together under the peace initiative with positive results.

But despite Frances efforts, analysts expressed scepticism at the relevance of the Paris summit.

READ MORE: Who speaks for Palestine?

Alain Gresh, a journalist from Frances Le Monde diplomatique newspaper, said the initiative was launched in response to the French parliament vote in December 2014 to officially recognise the State of Palestine, which failed to come to fruition.

The then-foreign minister Laurent Fabius said they wouldnt recognise it, but that theyd try a diplomatic initiative. And if this initiative was to fail, theyd recognise Palestine. But little by little, this talk of recognition disappeared, said Gresh.

Of the 193 UN member states, 137 officially acknowledge Palestine as an independent state.

Lost opportunity

Francois Burgat, a political scientist and author, said if the French government wanted to meaningfully bring about peace, it could have taken a harder line with Israel as the occupying power.

In the last crisis in Gaza, we saw Hollande affirm Israels right to defend itself and for the first 15 days into the war, France took no initiative to stop the bloodshed, Burgat, a senior research fellow at the French National Center for Scientific Research, told Al Jazeera.





While no Palestinian officials attended the Paris meeting, Husam Zomlot, ambassador at large for the Palestinian government, told Al Jazeera the French peace initiative was a crucial step to reaffirm the international consensus about the Palestinian cause  that is a cause of foreign military occupation that must end.

The two-state solution, agreed on in the 1993 Oslo accords, has been largely lost with negotiations between the two sides broken off by ever-increasing Israeli settlement activity and violence carried out by both sides.

The settlements are considered illegal under international law and were denounced last month by the passing of a UN Security Council resolution, which was vehemently castigated by Israeli officials.

READ MORE: The French peace initiative emptied of all substance

Netanyahu, meanwhile, denounced the French summit.

The conference convening today in Paris is a futile conference, he said.

It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians. It aims to force conditions on Israel that conflict with our national interests.

It further distances peace because it hardens the Palestinians positions and helps them avoid direct negotiations without preconditions.

Tomorrow will look different  and tomorrow is very close.

Trump card

Another variable in any two-state solution is the role of the US, Israelis staunch ally.

President-elect Donald Trump has nominated a pro-settlement American as US ambassador to Israel and suggested the US embassy could be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in what would be a highly contentious decision.

Jean-Marc Ayrault, Frances foreign minister, said on Sunday that Trumps embassy move would have extremely serious consequences.

While the Paris meeting was praised by participants, Gresh said he believes even French officials are sceptical it will help revive peace talks as Trump prepares to assume the US presidency on January 20.

I dont think French diplomats think this initiative will go anywhere, especially because of Trump, he said.

When the French thought about this initiative, they thought theyd be working with [presidential candidate Hillary] Clinton, but now they clearly see this going nowhere.

Hollande said ultimately it is up the leaders of Israel and Palestine to secure a lasting peace.

The idea is not to dictate to the parties in the conflict the way forward, he said.

I would like to reaffirm here that direct negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis are the only way forward. It is up to their leaders to find an agreement and to convince their people of the necessary compromises.
Lawyers say activists held in political witch-hunt but government justifies the arrests on grounds of incitement.

The lawyer for one of several anti-corruption activists detained recently by Jordans General Intelligence Directorate (GID) has demanded the immediate release of his client, saying that he is innocent and has committed no crime that warrants his detention.

Husam al-Abdallat, a former high-ranking Jordan government official, was among the activists arrested in Amman, Jordans capital, by the GID, on the night of January 12.

Speaking to Al Jazeera from Amman, Musa al-Abdallat, the lawyer, described Husam al-Abdallats detention as a political witch-hunt by the intelligence department, which is trying to silence Jordanian patriots who speak out against political and economic corruption.

Abdallat said he tried to contact Fawaz al-Otoom, the State Security Court prosecutor, but was turned back by the guards at the gate and no one answered the phone at the prosecutors office.

The State Security Court prosecutor is legally responsible for issuing the arrest warrants used to hold the detainees, with his office is located at the GID headquarters.

Too busy to meet

The State Security Court deals with serious crimes, such as terrorism and drug cases and cases deemed against the government.

Mohamed al-Shamout, lawyer for another detained pro-reform activist, Mohamad al-Otoom, a retired GID general, told Al Jazeera on Sunday that he was able to talk to the prosecutor, who said he was too busy to meet [the lawyer] today, but asked the lawyer to come back at 10:30am [local time] on Tuesday in order to meet his client and find out if any criminal charges would be filed against him.

Besides Otoom and Abdallat, the GID arrested retired Lieutenant-Colonel Wasfi Rawashdeh, a former member of parliament; retired Brigadier-General Omar Osoofi; and a member of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood.

It is unclear how many activists have been arrested so far, but the number, according to local news reports, ranges between 16 and 19 people.

OPINION: Why did Jordanian police attack journalists?

Al Jazeera has learned that the arrests were made after a meeting at Husam al-Abdallats home on Thursday afternoon, convened to discuss  according to the organisers  ways to facilitate reform and combat corruption in the public arena.

Local news media said Otoom was present at the meeting, but Otooms wife, Um Moath, speaking to Al Jazeera by phone from Amman, rejected the reports.

She said her husband had received a phone call at home from the GID on Thursday at 4:30pm local time telling him to come for a meeting with General Faisal al-Shoubaki, head of the GID, at 6:00pm for a discussion on public issues in Jordan.

She also denied insinuations by the local news media that Otoom harboured anti-government and anti-king leanings.

My husband served this country and the king for 30 years and was always a loyal soldier, she said.

Arrest warrants

Before his retirement in 2006, Otoom served as head of training at the GID, then as director of Officers Staff Affairs and finally, as the GIDs chief of station in Sudan.

It is not clear if Otoom ended up meeting Shobaki or not. His lawyer said he would have to wait until Tuesday to meet his client to find out what happened.

Otoom is a pro-reform activist within a politically active wing of Jordans Military Veterans Association informally called Tayyar, or Current.

The Military Veterans Association is a civil organisation that caters for the economic and social needs of retired soldiers.

READ MORE: Amman protest  Jordan-Israel natural gas deal in focus

In his first public statement since the arrests, Hani Mulqi, Jordans prime minister, was quoted by the state news agency, Petra, on Sunday as saying: The security agencies detained individuals based on arrest warrants issued by the prosecutor of the State Security Court for committing incitement that would arouse the public opinion.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Khaled al-Majali, a retired GID officer and an active member of Tayyar, said the group wants more accountability and transparency in response to allegations of corruption in government institutions.

The security-intelligence establishment in the country is trying to undermine the credibility and the character of the pro-reform activists by spreading false allegations against them to mislead the public, he said.

Public issues

Wesam al-Abdallat, brother of Husam al-Abdallat, told Al Jazeera his brother was asked by the GID to attend a meeting with high-ranking officers at the intelligence department to discuss public issues.

My brother was never against the regime or the king. My family had served in the military for over 50 years, Wesam al-Abdallat to Al Jazeera.

When Al Jazeera contacted the GID headquarters in Amman for its comment on the detention of the activists, a spokesperson who declined to identify himself said that the GID did not arrest any of the individuals in question.

He referred Al Jazeera to the State Security Court for additional information on the subject.

Al Jazeera called the State Security Courts office at the GID headquarters, but no one answered the phone.

Adam Coogle, a Middle East researcher for Human Rights Watch, told Al Jazeera that the detainees could either be released after possibly signing a pledge to stop their public activism or face prosecution.

Since 2011, Jordanian authorities have prosecuted many political activists in the State Security Court under the vague charge of undermining the political regime  a terrorism provision.

If authorities prosecute them for online activities, they could also be charged with violating provisions of the Electronic Crimes Law.

Follow Ali Younes on Twitter: Ali_reports
Monitoring group says seven dead in assault on village in contested valley which supplies water to the Syrian capital.

Troops allied to the Syrian government have shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area near its capital Damascus, killing at least seven civilians, according to a monitoring group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said shells hit al-Reem banquet hall in the village of Deir Qanun on Sunday.

The incident occurred in the Wadi Barada valley, which is the main source of water for Damascus.





The banquet hall has been housing hundreds of civilians who have escaped the intensified fighting for Wadi Barada that started on December 22, according to local activists.

The SOHR said besides the fatalities, at least 20 other people were wounded in the attack, some of them critically.

This is the highest toll there since the beginning of the truce [on December 30], said Rami Abdel Rahman, SOHRs head.

A difference source, the activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Centre, said 12 people were killed and more than 20 injured in Sundays shelling.

The group posted pictures of the bloodied floors of the hall on social media, some of them showing bodies with severed limbs.

Medical teams have been unable to move around the valley because of the fighting and it is not clear if the dozens of injured are getting any immediate care, according to Fuad Abu Hattab, an exiled local resident and a Wadi Barada Media Centre activist.

The Syrian Civil Defence, a team of volunteer first-responders in rebel-held parts of Syria, also put the death toll at 12.

Heavy clashes between government troops and rebel forces have rocked Wadi Barada since Saturday, after the death of the government official who negotiated a deal to restore water to Damascus.

Ahmed al-Ghadban had been on his way to the main Ain al-Fijeh spring with government maintenance teams when he was killed.

Opposition fighters and government officials have traded blame over the killing of the retired army officer, who had assumed his duties on Saturday.

OPINION: How far is Russia willing to go in Syria?

Under the agreement, Ghadban was to oversee teams working to repair the infrastructure that supplies Damascus with water in exchange for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of rebel fighters willing to do so.

About 5.5 million in Damascus and its suburbs have been without water since December 22.

Fighting has persisted in Wadi Barada since the December 30 ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

The ceasefire and planned talks are the latest efforts to negotiate an end to a conflict that has killed more than 400,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
International effort to re-ignite moribund talks between Israelis and Palestinians under way in French capital.

Paris, France  A French-led effort to kick-start long-stalled discussions on a two-state solution between Palestinians and Israelis got under way with the two main players absent from the summit.

Though representatives from 70 countries and organisations arrived, hopes of a breakthrough in the stagnant peace process were low on Sunday without any representatives from either the Palestinian Authority or Israeli government at the Conference for Peace in the Middle East held in Frances capital, Paris.

We are all aware of the need to mobilise to re-start the peace process, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told the delegates.

Im fully aware of the reservations surrounding this conference and doubts about whether it should be held at this time. But there is no time to be lost.

READ MORE: Israel and Palestinians squabble over Paris conference

It is the second such meeting organised by the government of President Francois Hollande after a first in June, which was attended by more than 20 nations and groups.

Mobilisation has constantly grown since the 3rd of June. This has already delivered some significant results, said Ayrault.

The two-state solution has been forcefully re-submitted. Now is definitely not the time to stop. The parties are very, very far apart, and the goal is to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had balked at attending the conference, saying it pushes peace backwards.

Its a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians, under French auspices, to adopt additional anti-Israel stances, Netanyahu said on Thursday.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was also absent. He formally opened an embassy of Palestine at the Vatican City on Saturday.

OPINION: The UN settlement resolution is too little, too late

The one-day Paris conference will focus on economic incentives, efforts by civil society groups, and capacity building for a future Palestinian state.

But it was met with widespread scepticism.

The only interesting thing will be whether Hollande in his speech today brings back the idea of recognising a Palestinian state, but I dont think he will, Alain Gresh, a journalist with Le Monde Diplomatique, told Al Jazeera.

Al Jazeeras Natacha Butler, reporting from Paris, said that while hopes for a revitalised peace process were low, the sheer number of participants at the conference on Sunday was noteworthy.

We are expecting at the end of the day for the 70 countries here to pledge their commitment to a two-state solution, and call on both sides to stop ongoing violence, Butler said.

The conference comes amid a sustained period of bloodshed. Last week, a Palestinian attacker rammed a truck into a group of Israeli soldiers, killing four and wounding more than a dozen in Jerusalem.

The assailant was shot dead by Israeli troops.

Since October 2015, 247 Palestinians, 40 Israelis, two Americans, a Jordanian, an Eritrean and a Sudanese national have been killed in a wave of violence, according to an AFP news agency count.

While a rare and recent UN Security Council resolution demanding a halt to Israeli settlement-building in the occupied territories has raised optimism, the prospect of a Donald Trump presidency in the United States has raised concerns about peace prospects.

Trump has nominated a pro-settlement American as his ambassador to Israel and suggested the US embassy could be moved from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in what would be a highly contentious decision.
New world order pushes cashless agenda to have access and to monitor every financial transaction on the planet

When Narenda Modi, the Prime Minister of India, banned the 500 and 100o rupee notes, which, according to Wakingtimes.com, are the 2 highest denomination notes in India . . . worth around $7.50 and $15.00 respectively, the effects on the Indian population, especially the poorest, were immediate and chaotic. Using the excuse that banning these cash notes would eliminate black money transactions that provide no tax revenues was a poor attempt at covering up the true intention of the NWOs agenda for a planet where buying and selling anything is digitally based.

A cashless society is one of the final planks in the architecture of the scientific dictatorship. The claws and tentacles are still gripping their agenda, regardless of who the President of the United States is, albeit, President- elect Trump may be able to slow the process down a notch. The NWO would like nothing more than to employ robots and become eternal transhuman gods. Theyll keep the masses sick and uneducated, satiating them with tainted water, vaccines, GMOs and chemtrails. The newest generation has been raised on social media, clouds and thumbs. Many only know division and war, surveillance and common core. Most would love the idea of not using that dirty cash. Besides, they are already trained to use the phone to buy and sell, making every transaction available to the NSA and the other NWO minions.

Knowing and controlling every single transaction requires they be digitized. Cash will eventually be outlawed. The road is paved for that conclusion. And its not just India that is experimenting. In Sweden, 900 of 1600 banks no longer keep cash. According to CNBC.com, Kenya has been using the M-Pesa, a mobile phone payment system since 2007. Out of population of 44 million, 19 million people depend on it. Venezuelan President Maduro also intends to ban the 100 Bolivar note. He says it will help him stop crime. Right.

According to Washingtonsblog.com, it was a USAID office, at the behest of President Barak Obama, that initiated the push on India to pull the rupees out of circulation. The program is called Catalyst: Inclusive Cashless Payment Partnership. The director, Alok Gupta, is the same man who helped create Indias billion person biometric identification program. The originators of the project believe Catalyst is a sustainable and replicable model . . .  And, of course, when globalist converge, Bill Gates cant be too far behind. Just like vaccines, ole Bill thinks being cashless will improve peoples lives. Right.

Clean food for trade, anyone?

Sources:

WakingTimes.com

CNBC.com

WashingtonsBlog.com

BetterThanCash.org

(Photo credit: Wakingtimes.com)
Ministry labels 10 slain youths terrorists but El Arish residents vow to bring to justice all those who killed them.

Egyptians in El Arish, a city in the north of the Sinai Peninsula, are accusing the government of the extra-judicial killing of 10 youths by security forces.

The Egyptian interior ministry, which heads the security forces, said on Friday that members of an armed group opened fire at the security personnel as they approached their hideout in an abandoned house.

It also described those killed as terrorists.

However, residents of El Arish said six of those named by the ministry had been detained months ago by Egyptian authorities.

On Saturday, the residents held a meeting and demanded a judicial trial of anyone who took part in the alleged killings as well as the release of youths detained without charge.

The residents labelled Egypts interior minister an enemy of the state and demanded resignations of parliamentarians from their region.

Listen ruler of Egypt [President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi], the sons of El Arish and the sons of Sinai are one hand, an El Arish leader said at the meeting.

They will select a committee to speak on their behalf. They dont feel that their sons are safe in your jails. They want all of them released immediately, especially those who have no court rulings issued against them.

They also want to bring to justice all those who killed our sons. Otherwise, we will bring them to justice our way.

The residents threatened to begin a civil disobedience campaign unless their demands were met within seven days.

OPINION: Sinai insurgency  An enduring risk

El Arish and Sinai are inhabited by Bedouin tribes whose relationship with the central government has been uneasy for years.

The tribes complain of lack of development and of being collateral damage in the government war with armed groups and smugglers.

Police and security forces are often accused of torturing them to death.

Killings of suspects

There are growing accusations that the Egyptian government is killing suspects in detention before claiming they were killed in attacks.

According to a Human Rights Watch report, the government said that its counterterrorism operations in north Sinai killed at least 3,091 terrorists between January and July 2015.

The Arab Organization for Human Rights, a London-based organisation, reported that more than 361 people were killed in Sinai by the Egyptian army in 2014 for allegedly being wanted for terrorist activities.

Nearly 1481 people have been arrested for the same reasons without a shred of evidence or legal due process, the organisation said.

OPINION: Walking into a trap  How I ended up on trial in Egypt

Residents of the mountainous region often complain of heavy-handed tactics by security forces, including collective punishment following particularly deadly attacks against government forces.

The campaign grew more deadly and widespread after the militarys 2013 overthrow of Mohamed Morsi, Egypts first freely elected president.

Sisi, who led Morsis removal when he was his defence minister, said last week that 25,000 soldiers are deployed in northern Sinai to fight armed groups.

The previously undisclosed figure appeared to underline the magnitude of the challenge the military faces.
UN special rapporteur on human rights Yanghee Lee has been denied access to some areas in Myanmars northern Rakhine State, with the government citing security concerns for its decision.

Al Jazeera also learned on Sunday that Lee was only allowed to speak to individuals who were preapproved by the government while she visited Muslim Rohingya villages in the area.

These are things that will certainly hamper her investigation, Al Jazeeras Florence Looi, reporting from Sittwe, said. Lack of access will make her job more difficult.

As part of her 12-day visit to Myanmar, Lee is spending three days in Rakhine  home to around 1.2 million stateless Rohingya, a Muslim minority that has suffered decades of poverty and repression, and been denied basic rights, such as citizenship and freedom of movement.

READ MORE: Global leaders warn Aung San Suu Kyi over Rohingya

Lee also visited the border guard posts, attacked in October, as well as a prison.

Northern Rakhine has been under strict military lockdown since October 9, when a gang killed nine border police officials near the border with Bangladesh, leading to a clampdown that has left anywhere between 84 and 400 Rohingya dead.

According to the UN, at least 65,000 Rohingya have reportedly fled across the border to Bangladesh to escape violence allegedly committed by the military, including the burning of homes, rape and murder of civilians.

The Myanmar government and military have denied all the allegations.

On Friday, Lee met Muslim community leaders during her visit to a Rohingya neighbourhood in Sittwe.

Lee also visited border guard posts, the attacks on which in early October triggered clearance operations by the military.

But a powerful ethnic party rejected a request for a meeting with Lee on Friday evening.

We are not meeting her because we dont believe she and her organisation [the UN] have a will to resolve the issues fairly, Ba Swe, joint secretary of the Arakan National Party, told Anadolu Agency on Saturday.

The issues will never be solved as long as they accept these Bengalis as members of this countrys ethnic groups, Ba Swe said, using a term that suggests Rohingya are illegal immigrants from neighbouring Bangladesh.

International pressure

The crisis in Myanmar has put Aung San Suu Kyis administration under international pressure, with rights watchdog Human Rights Watch criticising the government of the Nobel Peace Prize laureate for failing to hold the countrys military accountable for the crackdown on Rohingya.

Lee continues her travels through the conflict zone on Sunday before returning to Yangon later in the week.

Al Jazeeras Looi also said the UN envoy will also look into reports that the flow of aid to the Rohingya has been severely curtailed since the military operation began three months ago.





The UN said they are concerned about the rising rate of malnutrition among the Rohingya in this area, because this is an area where food security is already in doubt, Looi said, adding that as many as 150,000 people are dependent on aid.

Across the border in Bangladesh, Al Jazeeras Maher Sattar, who is reporting from Coxs Bazar, said Rohingya refugees have also corroborated reports of abuse.

Weve come across people, who have been shot. Weve come across children. Every single person here, they are quite unanimous in their stories of villages being burned and relatives being killed.

A law passed in Myanmar in 1982 denies Rohingya  many of whom have lived in Myanmar for generations  citizenship, making them stateless.

The law denies Rohingya rights to Myanmar nationality, removes their freedom of movement, access to education and services, and allows arbitrary confiscation of property.

Rohingya have fled Myanmar in droves for decades, with a new wave of migrations occurring since mid-2012 after communal violence broke out.

Because of their lack of citizenship, they are also considered as refugees in Bangladesh, and many of them are confined in refugee camps for decades.
In an article wrote for Chinese newspaper Peoples Daily titled Call for Responsive and Responsible Leadership on Friday, Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman of the World Economic Forum, expected that President Xi will show how China will assume a responsible and responsive leadership role in world affairs.



This year Klaus Schwab says the focus is on Responsive and Responsible Leadership. As people are living in a world marked by uncertainty, volatility and deep transformational changes, leaders have to be responsive and responsible and taking the right decisionsis the daunting task of todays leaders, he stressed.



He also explained that to achieve this goal, leaders need sensitivity to serve as their radar system, and values and vision as their compass.



Four main tracks will be explored by stakeholders, he mentioned, namely reimagining global cooperation, revitalising the global economy, reforming capitalism and preparing for the Fourth Industrial Revolution.



Xi Jinping will become the first Chinese president to attend the meeting and will address a record 3,000 delegates at the opening plenary session next Tuesday. Speaking about Chinas growing power and influence in world affairs, Schwab wrote he could foresee that President Xi will show how China will assume a responsible and responsive leadership role in world affairs.
Past and present, Muslim militants continue relying on the same inhumane tactics to terrorize "infidels." The devastating effects of one of these occurred last August in Turkey: a child "recruited" by the Islamic State blew himself up in a suicide attack that left at least 51 people  mostly fellow children  dead.

This child was one of countless nameless, faceless children seized, beaten, and indoctrinated in Islam, until they become willing "martyrs" and executioners. Known as the "cubs of the caliphate," they are graduates from "schools [established by ISIS] to prepare hundreds of children and teenagers to conduct suicide attacks." The Islamic State is fond of showcasing these abducted children turned criminals.

A few days ago, ISIS posted a video of its "cubs," most of whom appear to be about ten years of age, walking around an abandoned amusement park, where they savagely execute hostages tied to rides. One child, reportedly only four years old, shoots five rounds into a tied up victim while screaming, "Allahu Akbar!" Another little boy slits the throat of his victim next to a kiddie train before planting the knife in his back. Last November, ISIS posted another video of four children  one Russian, one Uzbek, and two Iraqis, aged between 10 and 14  executing civilians.

One Christian clergyman explained the Islamic State's strategy: "They dislocate the families, they take the newborn babies, and they put them in Islamist families," where they are indoctrinated in jihad, or what is called in the West "terrorist activities."

Children who managed to escape ISIS say they were repeatedly beaten and fed "endless propaganda," including that they must kill their non-Muslim parents: "We weren't allowed to cry but I would think about my mother, think about her worrying about me and I'd try and cry quietly," one little boy said.

Seizing and indoctrinating children for the jihad is hardly limited to ISIS. Over the last three years, Boko Haram, the Islamic jihadi group terrorizing Nigeria, has kidnapped, enslaved, beaten, and indoctrinated more than 10,000 boys  some as young as five years of age, and many from Christian backgrounds  into becoming terrorists.

"They told us, 'It's all right for you to kill and slaughter even your parents,'" said a former captive who witnessed a beheading on the day he was enslaved. Other boys held down the victim and explained: "This is what you have to do to get to heaven."

Girls were kept in a separate camp and raped, often by captive boys, as a way to show the latter the boons of becoming warriors for Allah (the deity that permits his slaves to enslave and rape "infidel" women). An escaped girl, Rachel, now 13 and pregnant by rape, told of how dozens of boys from her village tied up a kidnapped man and beheaded him. They told the younger children watching not to "have feelings about it." "If you go there [Boko Haram training camps], you can see 12-year-olds talking about burning down a village," said another escaped girl, adding, "They have converted."

A boy, now ten, served as babysitter for infants and toddlers kidnapped or conceived by rape: "The children, none older than 4, watched jihadist propaganda videos and rehearsed a game called 'suicide bomber' where they ripped open sacks of sand strapped to their torsos."

These Nigerian children, some as young as six, have been used to terrorize neighboring Cameroon, a Christian-majority nation. During a jihadi raid, more than 100 screaming boys suddenly appeared  barefoot, unarmed, or swinging only machetes  and ran toward a military unit, which gunned them down. As Col. Didier Badjeck explained, "It's better to kill a boy than have 1,000 victims. It's causing us problems with international organizations, but they're not on the front lines. We are."

Another report, published just days ago, tells of more experiences from abducted boys and girls, and how Boko Haram showed the former how to "have fun" with the latter, including by "learning to subdue a struggling victim during sexual assault." One escaped 16-year-old girl said, "I was raped almost on a daily basis by different men. When they became fed up with me, they asked the little boy, who has often watched them do it, to take over."

But it's not just ISIS and Boko Haram who seize, enslave, beat, and indoctrinate boys for jihad (and girls to "make it up" to the boys). This practice is also taking place in Yemen, Somalia, and even "moderate" Mali. Indeed, a cursory internet search reveals the extent of this phenomenon. In 2012, 300 Christian children were abducted and forcibly converted to Islam in Bangladesh. After convincing impoverished Christian families in Bangladesh to spend what little money they had to send their children to study at supposed "mission hostels," Muslim con men would "pocket the money" and "sell the children to Islamic schools elsewhere in the country 'where imams force them to abjure Christianity.'" The children are then instructed in Islam and beaten. After being fully indoctrinated, the once Christian children are asked if they are "ready to give their lives for Islam," presumably by becoming jihadi suicide bombers.

Why are Islamic jihad groups resorting to this tactic of enslaving and indoctrinating children into becoming jihadis? Most Western analysts believe that this is a reflection of weakened, desperate groups: "[t]he growing trend for ISIS to use child soldiers as suicide bombers, particularly in Iraq, has been suggested as a sign of how stretched their resources are in the region," noted one report.

Or it could suggest that ISIS, Boko Haram, etc. are simply following another page of the jihadi playbook. For over a millennium, Muslim caliphates specialized in seizing and enslaving tens if not hundreds of thousands of young non-Muslim boys, converting them to Islam, and then beating, indoctrinating, and training them into becoming jihadis extraordinaire.

The most famous of these were the Ottoman Empire's janissaries  Christian boys who were seized from their homes, converted to and indoctrinated in Islam and jihad, and then unleashed on their former families. As the author of Balkan Wars explains, "[d]espite their Christian upbringing, they became fanatical Muslims and earnestly maintained their faith as warriors of Islam. This cruel practice of what today can be defined as the 'brain cleansing' of the Christian populations of the Ottoman Empire is perhaps the most inhuman Turkish legacy."

That Turkey is now suffering from the effects of this system  such as when a child suicide bomber killed 51 people in the name of jihad  may be called "ironic."

Western analysts would not be oblivious to this "new" jihadi tactic  optimistically portraying the reliance on children as proof that jihadi groups have "stretched their resources"  if they had Islamic studies departments that actually disseminated facts instead of pro-Islamic myths and propaganda. As with all unsavory aspects of Islamic history, the institution of child slave soldiers has been thoroughly whitewashed. Although young, terrified boys were seized from the clutches of their devastated parents, the academic narrative is that poor Christian families were somewhat happy to see their boys taken to the caliphate where they would have a "bright future" as "soldiers and statesmen."

The price of the modern West's inability to comprehend Islam's medieval tactics is not just ignorance concerning the nature of the enemy, but ignorance concerning his victims as well  in this case, countless nameless children. As Mausi Segun, a human rights activist discussing the plight of Boko Haram's child jihadis put it, "[t]here's almost an entire generation of boys missing. My guess is that a large majority of them will die in the conflict [as forced jihadis]." And they will die completely unknown in the West  just another victim group to be sacrificed on the altar of political correctness, lest Islam's reputation be besmirched.
Trump's inauguration is less than a week away. While President-Elect Trump appears to be extraordinarily strong dealing with the tsunami of 24/7 vitriol launched at him from the left and Washington establishment, he is still a human being.

The Bible says that when Moses grew tired, "Aaron and Hur held his hands up  one on one side, one on the other  so that his hands remained steady till sunset."

Folks, it is crucial that we hold Trump's hands up through Inauguration Day. The left is incensed over the prospect of Trump emancipating us from their eight years of dictatorial slavery. As delusional as this sounds, the left hopes to block Trump from being sworn in as the 45th president of the United States.

Numerous left-wing wacko groups, including paid protesters, vow to "shut down" the inauguration.

Nutcase Rosie O'Donnell wants to impose martial law to delay Trump's inauguration.

Joseph Goebbels said, "If you tell a big lie enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it." The left is relentlessly repeating the huge lie that the Russians hacked the election. They want Americans to believe Russia tampered with the vote count, stealing the election from Hillary. The left's lie is absurd.

Concluding that no gutter tactic is too low to stop Trump, CNN and BuzzFeed partnered in promoting an unverified bogus claim that Trump hired prostitutes to urinate on a hotel bed slept in by Michelle and Obama. Yes, folks, this is how disgusting and evil the left's insanity to block Trump has become.

As I said, at the heart of the left's panic, fear, and rage is the prospect of Americans liberated from eight years of leftists forcing their far-left radical, anti-God, anti-America and anti-traditional values agenda down our throats.

Pray for our president, folks. Let's all join together and hold his hands up high.
Nobody pays bribes to people unable to deliver favors. Thus, we learn that the Clinton Global Initiative will be shutting down and heartlessly laying off 22 workers. New York State is so concerned that it has issued a WARN Notice:



Date of Notice: 1/12/2017 Event Number: 2016-0132 Rapid Response Specialist: Stuart Goldberg Reason Stated for Filing: Plant Layoff Company:

The Clinton Foundation

1271 Avenue of the Americas, 42nd Floor

New York, NY 10020 County: New York | WIB Name: NEW YORK CITY | Region: New York City Contact: Veronika Shiroka Phone: (646) 775-9184 Business Type: Social Advocacy Organization - Clinton Global Initiative Number Affected: 22 Total Employees: ----- Layoff Date: 4/15/2017 Closing Date: ----- Reason for Dislocation: Discontinutation of the Clinton Global Initative ERNUM: 86-83268 Union: The affected workers are not represented by a Union. Classification: Plant Layoff

This shutdown was inevitable, whichever way the election went. The CGI would have been a transparent bribery mechanism for a sitting president, had Hillary won. And with her defeat, bribes are no longer effective, so donations were drying uyp, as Michael Sinaito reports at the Observer:

Foreign governments began pulling out of annual donations, signaling the organizations clout was predicated on donor access to the Clintons, rather than its philanthropic work. In November, the Australian government confirmed it has not renewed any of its partnerships with the scandal-plagued Clinton Foundation, effectively ending 10 years of taxpayer-funded contributions worth more than $88 million. The government of Norway also drastically reduced their annual donations, which reached $20 million a year in 2015.

My friend Richard Baehr wonders: "How will Haiti and Kazakhstan survive?"
Australia has been widely condemned in Europe, by some legal scholars, and by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees for intercepting and repatriating refugees from Sri Lanka arriving by boat. Yet in secret, at least 6 European nations have turned to Australia for advice and help on dealing with their own invasion of boat people. Ellen Whinnett of the Australia Telegraph reports:

AT least six European countries and the European Union have secretly asked Australia for advice on how to stop the flood of asylum-seekers crossing into Europe by boat. The private talks have been held despite the European Union publicly rejecting Australias tough refugee policies, which include boat turn-backs and offshore processing. News Corp can reveal that while the EU publicly criticised calls by former prime minister Tony Abbott for Europe to adopt Australian policies, they discreetly asked Australian officials for advice on how to stop the boats. As recently as November, Australia sent senior Border Force officials to Warsaw in Poland to address border protection agencies who are trying to stem the flow of boats across the Mediterranean, mainly from Libya to Greece and Italy. (snip) It is understood Australia briefed the United Kingdom on its strategy, before former UK prime minister David Cameron urged EU leaders in March to follow the Australian example and turn back boats which were departing from Libya in northern Africa. Austria is also understood to have sought advice from Australia. A number of European nations and the European Union have sought advice from the Australian Government on Operation Sovereign Borders, Mr Duttons spokesman told News Corp.

Australia, a wealthy, continent-sized nation with billions of much poorer Asian neighbors to the north, is a bit more honest about the threat it faces by mass invasion by poor people under the banner of refugee status. Europe went with the failed Merkel Strategy of pretending that everyone crossing the border is worth hosting, no matter how alien or even hostile the culture being brought in.

Now, they are not honest enough to admit failure and withdraw their condemnation of Australia. Hypocritical realist is slightly better than reckless idealist, but still does not qualify as worthy of governmental power.

President Obama made a secret deal with Australia to accept up to 2,400 refugees rejected by Australia, something his successor should cancel and publicize to the American people.

Hat tip: John McMahon
Protestors are promising to disrupt many of the events surrounding Donald Trump's inauguration, with some protest leaders promising violence.

No venue will be safe from protestors, including the inaugural parade, inaugural balls, and every place in betweeen.

Daily Caller:

On the day of President-elect Donald Trumps inauguration protesters are planning an anti-capitalist march, road blockades and disruptions to inauguration balls. The protests will likely include property destruction, a source with intimate knowledge of the protest plans told The Daily Caller Friday. The blockades are not limited to roads but will also be at every security checkpoint, the source said. The source added that the protesters blockading each checkpoint will represent a different liberal cause such as climate change or money in politics. A group called #DisruptJ20 is the most active in the planned protests for the inauguration. Organizers for #DisruptJ20 are planning to kick off the inauguration protests on Jan. 18 with a gay dance party outside of Vice President-elect Mike Pences Chevy Chase, MD home. Fox News reported Friday on audio of a protester saying #Disrupt20 plans to crash the pro-Trump Deploraball on Jan. 19, which The Daily Callers source confirmed. The source said that several of the balls on inauguration night will be disrupted as well. The Fox News report also described an anti-capitalist protest emanating from Logan Circle on the morning of the inauguration. The individual with intimate knowledge of the protests told TheDC that property damage will likely result from the protest. Thousands of police officers from across the nation, 5,000 National Guard troops and local police will be providing security for the inauguration.

The potential for clashes between pro and anti-Trump demonstrators is high. Motorcycle groups plan on countering anti-Trump protestors with demonstrations of their own. And clashes with security are guaranteed given that the protestors want to crash private events in order to disrupt them.

No doubt most protestors will be peaceful, which the press will be sure to point out no matter how much violence there is. But the mob is a funny thing and once violence begins, even the most peaceful of protestors can lose their cool.

Along the parade route, there are going to be thousands of armed law enforcement personnel. Despite heavy security and screening along the route, it's a distinct possibility that some protesters will avoid detection and do their best to spoil Trump's triumph. With all the over the top, overheated, hysterical rhetoric about how dangerous Trump is to America, you hope that there is no incident that threatens the president elect or anyone else.

But don't bet on it.




The people who want to destroy the Trump presidency demand that John Lewis, be awarded absolute moral authority (shades of Cindy Sheehan) for his public denial of the legitimacy of the next commander-in-chief. At least that is the conclusion one must draw from the torrent of abuse Donald Trump has received for his tweets suggesting that Lewis should better spend his time helping his constituents.

Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to......  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017

mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017

John Hinderaker of Powerline was the first brave man I saw taking on the dictate of the bien pensants that Lewis Must Not Be Criticized.

Lewis is invariably described as a civil rights icon, but the man is an utter fraud. He has been coasting on his 50-year-old reputation for decades. Andrew Breitbart exposed Lewis as a liar when he claimed, falsely, to have been subjected to racial epithets by a crowd outside the Capitol. Lewis disgracefully testified against Jeff Sessionss nomination as Attorney General, again playing the fake race card. And, for what its worth, he didnt consider George W. Bush a legitimate president, either. There is no reason to treat John Lewis with kid gloves, and Donald Trump doesnt do so.

Already a leader of the left wing (SNCC) of the Civil Rights Movement, Lewis had the fortune (bad and good) to be savagely beaten on the head by Alabama State Troopers (under the command of Democrat Governor George Wallace), and today bears the visible scars. This sacrifice in a great and victorious cause, combined with his position as a man of the left, built the armor of an unassailable hero around Lewis. The American left created a claque around him, requiring any serious discussion of the man to include a disclaimer as to his heroic status and infallibility. He became a valuable weapon: a voice that could present outrageous lies. Such as the phony racist epithets cited above.

This made him the perfect voice to go where no elected representative should go following the operation of the constitutional machinery for picking a president.

I would like to point out that the American public has been fed political garbage before by flawed human beings accorded national hero status. Charles Lindberghs status in the United States in the 1930s exceeded the heroism of Lewis. He was seen as the embodiment of the American spirit, and was almost universally loved throughout media and popular opinion.

But he also thought Chancellor Hitler should be negotiated with and visited the Nazi regime to great fanfare.

(The story doesnt end there, and Lindbergh did see the light as events proceeded, and provided valuable intelligence on the Luftwaffe. But Lewiss story does not end here, either.)
Sony have published certified Android 7.0 Nougat firmware builds to the PTCRB, a former cellular certification forum for American cellular operators. Sony are looking to move the firmware version from 32.2.A.5.11 to 32.3.A.0.372 and this news follows the recent announcement that Sony released the Android 7.0 Nougat software update for the Xperia X flagship series of devices. At this juncture it is not clear when the new Android 7.0 Nougat ROMs will be released for these customer devices but the hope is that this will only be a small number of weeks.

The Xperia Z3+ smartphone, Xperia Z4 Tablet and Xperia Z5 family (presumably encompassing the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact, Xperia Z5 and Xperia Z5 Premium) of smartphones are former flagship devices. These handsets and the Xperia Z4 Tablet were released into different markets around the world in the second half of 2015, meaning that they are all approximately eighteen months old. Each device is based around the Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, which is an octa-core, big.LITTLE, 64-bit System-on-Chip with an unfortunate reputation for overheating. Each of these devices with the exception of the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact benefits from 3 GB of RAM, except for the Xperia Z5 Compact, which has 2 GB of RAM. It is encouraging to see Sony supporting its older flagship devices in line with several other manufacturers, such as Samsung releasing Android Nougat for the Galaxy S7 and HTC reckoned to be releasing its own software build for the European versions of the HTC 10 device by mid-February.

Android Nougat will bring with it a number of features and benefits, including new and improved animations and features, the new split screen application multitasking mode, new manual camera settings. As mandated by Google, Sony are including the underlying improvements to battery life including App Standby and the improved Android Doze mode. Its not clear if Sony will be implementing their STAMINA power saving mode into their builds of Android 7.0 Nougat; on older software updates, Sonys STAMINA mode appeared to be a name-changed Android Power saver toggle as seen on Nexus devices. Sony are also including Android Nougats improved drop-down notification panel. Theres other news in that Sony are incorporating Google Now into the home screen, something that would have required close cooperation between Sony and Google.
According to state law, fines, penalties, and license money shall be appropriated exclusively to the use and support of the common schools ... . An exception is fines for overloaded vehicles. Seventy-five percent of those funds go to state highways; 25 percent go to the county general fund where the fine or penalty is paid. Fifty percent of money forfeited or seized in enforcing drug laws goes to counties for drug enforcement. Vehicles seized in drug law cases may be used by law enforcement agencies or sold with the proceeds going to schools.
A gazillion years agomore precisely during that formative year right before the millennium, dearest millennialsa dude named Martin Stamper made his name here in the Duke City by hypnotizing folks with his quirky conglomeration of rocanrol music, bluegrass, rap and raga. His multi-methodical project, Fast Heart Mart was the talk of the town. Stamper, diagnosed with a congenital heart defect and consequently the recipient of a defibrillator buried deep in his chest, went on to escape the heavy gravitational pull of Burque and the Land of Entrapment, touring New Zealand and most of central Europe, recording music for films and television and brilliantly busking in sunny San Diego, where the dude is practically a household name. Additionally, Stamper gained heaps of rocanrol cred by opening for acts like our dear friends The Handsome Family, Calexico, Bob Log III and Sleepytime Gorilla Museum. Fast Heart Mart returns to his roots here in Burque with sidekick, multi-instrumentalist Roblyn Crawford on Sunday Jan. 15. The two will be playing a show at Low Spirits (2823 Second Street NW). In a further addendum to the profundity and hypnotic potential of this $5, 21+ show, Jessica Billey and the Rib Wrenchers follow Stamper and company at 10pm, whilst Dave Payne and Saltcedar play at 9pm. But Fast Heart Mart takes the stage at 8pm, and damn it you all better go to this one because those stories are, indeed, right. But what matters most is the feeling you'll get: hypnotized.
COLUMBUS  Winter Storm Jupiter didn't have an astronomical impact on the Columbus area, but it was certainly an inconvenience.

Freezing rain that started early Sunday afternoon turned local streets and sidewalks into sheets of ice as the slow-moving winter storm made travel treacherous from New Mexico to Wisconsin.

It was so slick in Columbus that two city street department trucks working to treat roads before the morning commute were involved in minor fender-benders early Monday.

The massive ice storm closed schools, shut down businesses and canceled events across the area.

"It's an ice-skating rink out there," Columbus Public Schools Superintendent Troy Loeffelholz said Sunday night after making the decision to cancel Monday classes across the district.

Lakeview Community Schools, Scotus Central Catholic, local Catholic elementary schools and Central Community College all made the same decision as road conditions continued to deteriorate as light rain fell throughout the night before freezing on roads and sidewalks. The temperature hovered just below the freezing mark during the overnight hours.

Major roads that were pretreated with brine held up better against the ice, but side streets quickly became slippery in Columbus.

Loeffelholz was also concerned that district workers wouldn't be able to keep ice off sidewalks and parking lots at the schools, putting students and staff at risk for falls.

"I'd rather err on the side of student safety," Loeffelholz said while noting that the missed day will be made up at the end of the school year.

Lakeview officials made the decision to cancel Tuesday classes around 5 p.m. Monday, just as the storm was wrapping up.

Superintendent Aaron Plas was concerned about refreezing overnight that could make travel dangerous again Tuesday morning.

"It's going to get pretty bad tomorrow from what they're saying," he said after communicating with the National Weather Service and state and county roads officials.

Scotus and Columbus Public also made the decision to cancel Tuesday classes, and Central Community College campuses didn't open until 10 a.m.

An ice storm warning extended until 7 p.m. Monday for Platte County, where around a quarter-inch of ice accumulation was expected.

Barbara Mayes, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, said temperatures that got just above the freezing mark Monday limited the storm's impact on the Columbus area.

"That's all it took for it not to be a catastrophe," she said. "Some other areas it did end up being a catastrophe."

Because of the warmer temperatures here, much of the precipitation fell as steady rain throughout Monday, which actually helped melt some of the ice on roadways.

"That was really a double bonus for us," Mayes said. "We got lucky."

Parts of southeast Nebraska weren't as fortunate. More than half an inch of ice accumulation was reported in the Fairbury area.

Columbus also benefited from the light winds, which limited the potential for damage to ice-coated trees and power lines.

A tree limb did fall on a power line around 9:30 a.m. Monday, briefly knocking out electricity for around 430 customers of Loup Public Power District in the Bradshaw Park and Wagner Lakes areas.

Power was restored within 30-45 minutes, according to Neal Suess, the utility's president and CEO.

A second outage caused by an ice-covered tree occurred shortly before 2 p.m., affecting 850-900 customers north and east of Hy-Vee, some for as few as 20 minutes and others for a little over an hour.

The biggest concern for most areas was slick highways, streets and sidewalks.

"Certainly the biggest impact is travel on untreated roadways," said meteorologist Josh Boustead with the weather service's Valley office.

City crews pretreated major roads and intersections Friday and Saturday with a salt brine and salt-sand mix, and were back out at 3 a.m. Monday to hit many of the same areas.

However, rain can wash away the brine over time and the city doesn't have enough material on hand to treat all of the more than 500 lane miles of local streets, so workers focused on the heavily traveled roads.

"You try to do the best you can," said Public Works Director Greg McCaffery, whose crews get help from police officers to identify trouble spots.

Jay Nickolite, the city's street superintendent, said most of the main roads in Columbus were in good shape around 6 p.m. Monday, but untreated residential streets remained slick.

City street crews planned to be out early Tuesday morning with salt, sand and brine to treat roads again after the refreeze expected overnight.

"Hopefully we get some warmer temperatures tomorrow and get everybody melted off," Nickolite said.

Columbus Rescue transported two people to the local hospital on Monday with injuries sustained during slips on the ice, and Columbus Community Hospital reported fewer than 10 emergency room visits over the 24-hour period related to the slick conditions.

The good news is high temperatures are expected to reach the mid-40s for Columbus on Wednesday and Thursday, which should get rid of all this pesky ice.




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.
SOAS says all old white teachers are racist and victimise BAME students

Are old white, male dons unable to teach young black students? Students at Londons School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) created a report to answer the question they pose. Called Degrees of Racism, the student union demands that all academics must be prepared to acknowledge that they are capable of racism.

Well, we all have our prejudices, even SOAS students and people on the Student Unions executive.

One student is quoted:

Both of my tutors are white men. How can I have a rapport and feel comfortable talking to a 60-year-old white man? Our experiences of life are so different and youre coming from completely different places.

Wouldnt it be good idea to learn how to relate to the old white boy, of which there are so many?

The report begins from making an argument that identity is of paramount importance in education. It paints all BAME students as victims.

The BME Attainment Gap project was conducted as studies show that there has been a gap between the degree attainment of white and BME (Black and Minority Ethnic) undergraduates at SOAS, with a greater proportion of white students attaining either a 2:1 or first class degree.

Might this be down to family money, class, society and more?

These gaps cannot be attributed to differences between students at entry at SOAS, thus suggesting factors within SOAS contributing to this finding.

So it must be racism, then. Is it unconscious racism, or unwitting racism, if you will, because racism didnt prevent BAME students gaining a place at the college? We also dont know why the BAMe students who made it to SOAS survived being taught by white teachers, who make up the bulk of education professionals.

A worrying number of students reported having experienced explicitly racist comments and behaviours in class, both from other students and from teachers.

Thats from the champions of reason and learning at SOAS student union, the same group that wants to boycott Israel and Israeli academics. Maybe if there were more Israeli academics in visible places at SOAS, the non-Israeli students would relate and understand the situation better? Because its all about identity, isnt it.

Karen Strike

Posted: 15th, January 2017 | In: Reviews Comment | TrackBack | Permalink


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Al Baker said: I am delighted to be here to officially open the Qatar Airways Premium Lounge at Paris-Charles de Gaulle Airport, the third such lounge of its type within our growing network. This further demonstrates our commitment to France and to showcasing the very best of our product offering, whether in the lounge itself, the modern aircraft that we fly on our triple daily service to Paris, or our further expansion with the announcement that Qatar Airways will operate direct flights to Nice from 4 July this year.
What used to be a quieter alternative to Bali, Labuan Bajo is on its way to becoming the next top visited destination in Indonesia.

Tragedies have a way of redemption through rediscoveries. Talks of an alternate to Bali began in right earnest after a suicide bomber killed over 200 in a packed nightclub in Kuta in 2002. It didnt take long for many to make a beeline to Labuan Bajo in Flores island, a shanty beachside town in Indonesia slogging its way up the respectability and popularity ladder.

Fish wholesale was the economys backbone; the local fish market here is still an eye-opener to the astounding diversity and generosity of the sea. I strolled around gaping at the largest varieties of fish I had ever seen under one roof; the dried ones grinned back at me. The pace of development has picked up in the last few years with most of it restricted to the area around the promenade and the flanking street, Soekarno Hatta.

www.LABUANBAJO-FLORES.com

Bajo Dive is one of the oldest establishments where I met Patris, a diving instructor. The rising prospects of Bajo impelled his move from Bali a few years ago. But I dont want Bajo to be the next Bali, he said. I moved here because Bajo was not Bali. I wanted Patris to tell me more about the not Bali bit of Labuan Bajo but by then the group he was taking diving to the Pink Islands arrived.

Donnie Pramaffandi took me a bit forward with that. The spiffy Donnie, who works with Kalstar Aviation, said he hoped Bajo remained the quiet and rusty town it was always. But from the ground it was pretty clear that the chances of Labuan Bajo remaining so was thin. There are large investments happening here by Italians and Australians mostly fronted by locals, revealed Kasim Mambut, proprietor of the Ayo Mandiri Foundation where the blind are trained to be masseurs. And these investors are in a hurry to make their monies that they dont care about the locals or the environment.

tripadvisor/ TRAVELLER PHOTO BY JOENI H

Tourist arrivals in 2013 was 54,147  a number projected to grow ten times by 2019. Readying the necessary infrastructure will take $1.2 billion of which private investments are expected to form a large chunk. One fallout of this, besides the ever-expanding land fill, are the haphazard constructions that are coming up around the bay area adhering to no safety and environment norms. Putting on his professor avatar (the others are popular or profane depending on how you look at it) Wally, who runs the Tree Top Bar with his son Mathews close to the Labuan Bajo harbour, warns that if it was a bomb in Bali, it will be a natural calamity in Bajo.

I had to point out that despite what his friends said about him, he was unusually silent for a long while. See, in Bali we have the Nyepi festival where we celebrate a day of silence, he said standing up to go downstairs. We had run out of beer. So are you silent on Nyepi? I asked. My friend, Bajo can never be Bali.

Wally had moved here in the 80s when Bajo, as locals call it, was not even a blip on the tourism map. He had begun his career as a diving instructor in 1976 and came here when his clients began to demand a change of scene from the ever-bustling Bali. You know, the harbour back then was a small, quaint one with some trees, beneath which were a few benches for passengers and a small harbour masters office, he said.

Difficult to believe. as earlier that day I had joked my way around it and found a melee of ferries and freight carriers and fishing boats. I didnt see a single tree either.

The entrepreneurs pumping in the money have no respect for the environment  just filling up more and more of the sea with earth levelled out of mountains in the name of development, he rued.

Thommen is a communications consultant, corporate filmmaker and travel writer
Indians are no longer settling for cliched restaurant set-ups for their meal and are looking for unusual and adventurous spaces to dine in.

The global concept of Dinner In The Sky is catching up fast and wide. Chandigarh-based CCPL Hospitality offers this unique dining experience, with a platform which can seat up to 22 guests, along with six crew members, who can whip up food mid-air, while you enjoy the adrenaline kicking in!

Up in the air, deep in the hinterlands, at a celebritys home, or at a cozy backyard  no, were not talking innuendo, but are referring to the spaces new-age Indians are fleeing to, just to enjoy a meal. It is no more about going to a crowded restaurant, which has perhaps kept its decor same ever since the 1980s, and placing an order from the menu that is economical on choices, forcing you to be abstemious, and hurriedly finishing your meal as the waiter anxiously pacifies other waiting customers. As the millennials say, going to a restaurant is almost an outmoded concept now, as they are taking a step ahead to reinvent ways to make dine-outs all the more delectable.

Renowned chef, consultant and food historian Osama Jalali says were heading towards a re-invention of the concept of dining, with the number of pop-up eateries and out-of-the-ordinaire eating spots mushrooming across the country. Indians are starting to think that its passe to go to restaurants now. If they want to eat biryani, they would prefer it at someones household, known to create some of the best biryanis, than have it at a restaurant. These ways of allowing pop-ups and households in a city hosting food-lovers to share a meal with them is also making way to highlight regional cuisines in our country. People now prefer to enjoy food in the comforts of a home, than at a traditional restaurant set-up, which has such little space for experimentation, Delhi-based Jalali asserts.

Taking the idea of pop-ups a notch higher, British chef James Sharman is pushing the boundaries of where Indians eat, by hosting a pop-up at Amitabh Bachchans Pratiksha Bungalow in Mumbai, on 17th of this month, where one can buy a ticket and be a part of the dinner.

Unique dining: Altitude is coming into play in the dining stage. (Above) Dinner in The Sky in Paris.

Chef Sharman, who has worked in the kitchens of Noma in Copenhagen (ranked as the worlds best for many years), has included India as one of the locations to set up a pop-up as a part of his One Star House Party project, to set up 20 restaurants across 20 countries in 20 months. He has been setting up these pop-ups across the world in some of the most unusual places  from the base camp of Mount Everest, to an abandoned printing house in Hong Kong. The pop-ups help create a very raw and honest experience. Its about serving food were excited about, rather than just displaying our ability with the food we have been making for years. Never before has there been a restaurant where quite often the diners have a stronger general knowledge of that cuisine than the chefs. What makes it so spatial is when we take the food and experiences weve come to love, and create a menu with our techniques. We have been blown away by the vivid identity of food in Mumbai. Were working on a menu that combines the flavours and ingredients we feel have defined the food here, with the techniques weve learnt and developed through our careers, elaborates Sharman.

Allowing space for flavours to come together with eclectic, informal settings, pop-ups and dinners at unconventional spaces seem to be striking a chord strongly with Indians, with seats to pop-up dinners selling out like hotcakes!

Indians are also looking at eating their fare in style, and interestingly, altitude is coming into play. With the global concept of Dinner In The Sky catching up fast and wide, platters are being lifted up scores of metres above ground level, giving diners an out-of-the-world experience, literally! Chandigarh-based CCPL Hospitality is allowing many across the northern parts of India to take this unique dining experience, where a platform which can seat up to 22 guests, along with six crew members, who can whip up food mid-air, while you enjoy the adrenaline kicking in!

These platforms allow an experience that is beyond imagination for diners and can be lifted and transported to any location we wish to  by the sea, amidst the mountains, by the river, anywhere at all. The crew members can create menu from any cuisine, using induction methods. The concept is becoming increasingly popular as many people are taking to it at events. Were also planning to take it across other regions in the country, says Gursimran Singh Walia, the director-advisor of CCPL Hospitality.

Technology also seems to be playing a big role in helping find extraordinary dining ways. With Locals, a global platform, is allowing people to find home-dining opportunities and has been growing big in our country too. Health-conscious Indians are no longer risking it by eating at restaurants when they travel within the country, but are reaching out to other households through this website, and are enjoying home-cooked meals from different cultures, wherever they go.

Mumbai-based Kushala K., an IT professional, has been welcoming many families to the taste of Karnataka cuisine at her home in Mumbai through With Locals.

It is amazing to see the kind of cultural exchange that informal platforms like these allow, which a restaurant doesnt have space for, to converse and share life experiences. One can never imagine how enriching a simple meal sharing can be, says Kushala.

There have also been instances when Indians have been driving all the way into the hinterlands, to get their hands on a particular cuisine. People arent settling in for quick takeaways, or home-deliveries, as distance really doesnt seem to hinder the hunger Indians have for good food.

The Bangala is a stay, based in the interiors of Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu which has entirely dedicated and structured itself around food. Through numerous cooking demos and master classes by chefs who have been passed on cooking mastery over generations, this place has become synonymous to the most authentic Chettinad food in the country, making people traverse miles together from across the world to this quaint location. Meenakshi Meyappan, owner of The Bangala and author of The Bangala Table: Flavours and Recipes from Chettinad, says, People from within the country and across the world come here for the food, and hence food has become a very important part of The Bangala. People passing by districts around drive here for a meal.

All in all, go wherever you are lead towards food; this seems to be the new-age mantra. So, where are you planning your next big feast?

If opera and food are two of your loves, why not bring them together? Head to Budapest, where you can dine at the centre-stage of the iconic Hungarian State Opera House  enjoy your fillet-meal with private opera concerts and the entire theatre can be yours till the length of your meal, if you wish for!

For all those who like your food piping hot, this is the place you need to have a meal at. El Diablo in the Canary Islands of Spain, is an eatery that is placed atop a volcano and the chefs make use of the heat generated from the volcano to grill your favourite meat. Be it poultry or a veal-fillet, theres no way your meat cannot be well done in this place, with the temperatures reportedly reaching as high as 450 degrees Fahrenheit here!

If you like to devour your meal with a view, this is one of the highest spots to have a meal. Enjoy some of the most magnificent views of Singapore, as you sit down for a dinner in a capsule atop Asias largest observation wheel! The elaborate four-course dinner gives you all the time to catch the best glimpses of the ever-bustling city.

To serve you a meal amidst glaciers, the culinary team at Four Seasons Whistler, British Columbia, has been making all the effort to fly you in a helicopter, all the way! Enjoy an open-air buffet with a menu of sausages, cocktails and much more.

Take your dining experience to the most unusual it can get, through this Steam Plant dining in Washington. Sit down next to a massive steam boiler, while you savour your platter of clams or meats. This is the smokiest your dinner can perhaps get!
The company to make an investment of Rs 1,000 crore to set up two greenfield plants.

The greenfield plants would house multiple bottling lines for carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Thums Up and Limca, juices and juice-based drinks like Minute Maid and Maaza, packaged water, as well as Kinley soda.

Mumbai: Hindustan Coca-Cola Beverages(HCCBL), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in India, is setting up two greenfield plants at Ahmedabad and Nellore with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, a top official said.

HCCBL currently operates 26 bottling plants and covers about 65 per cent of bottling operations for Coca-Cola in the country. "We are setting up two greenfield plants at Ahmedabad and Nellore. Sanand (Ahmedabad) will be commissioned this year and Nellore next year," HCCBL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer T Krishnakumar told PTI here.

"Between the two plants, over the next three years the investment would be at least Rs 1,000 crore. The two plants would add 4-5 per cent of our capacity," he added. Besides these, the company will invest Rs 750 crore to set up a plant at Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh.

It recently laid the foundation stone for the 110-acre plant which is likely to be commissioned by 2018. Krishnakumar, however, said it would be difficult to estimate the capacity addition from the Madhya Pradesh plant at present.

The greenfield plants would house multiple bottling lines for carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Thums Up and Limca, juices and juice-based drinks like Minute Maid and Maaza, packaged water, as well as Kinley soda.

In 2012, the Atlanta-based beverages major Coca-Cola announced investment of USD 5 billion along with its partners in India by 2020 on various activities, including setting up of new bottling plants.

Last year, HCCBL had suspended manufacturing at a few of its plants. Krishnakumar said the closure or opening of new plants is to establish a supply chain that meets the demand from consumers.

"Our supply chain was set up in 1997-98, with certain geographical thought process, with a certain portfolio thought process. "From 1997 to 2016, the whole landscape has changed.

We have a different mix, we have a larger portfolio, we have a larger choice. We constantly need to re-engineer our supply chain to match that demand pattern that we have established," he said.
The then gangster had also given his number to the actor in case he ever wanted help.

Mumbai: It goes without saying that Rishi Kapoor is one of the most versatile actors in Bollywood and his life has been an adventure of its own kind. The Kapoor and Sons actor spilled some beans about his personal life in his biography: Khullam Khulla: Rishi Kapoor Uncensored.

That he does not fear backlash is known to all, what baffles us immensely is the fact that Mr. Kapoor had been to Indias most wanted man, Dawood Ibrahims house.

While on a vacay to Dubai with close friend Bittu Anand, Dawoods man, who was stationed at Dubai airport to see which Indian celebrity entered the region, handed over a phone to Rishi Kapoor and Dawood was on the line.

"If there is anything you need, just let me know, said Dawood and invited him and his Anand for a cup of tea at his residence. In his memoir, the Bobby actor clarifies that the incident took place in 1988, way before the 1993 bomb blasts that grabbed world attention and featured his name in Indias most wanted list.

However, Kapoor defended his decision of accepting the tea date as he did not see any harm in it. Dawood, in Kapoors eyes, was a gangster and not terrorist.

"That evening, Bittu and I were picked up from our hotel in a gleaming Rolls Royce. While we were being driven to his home, a conversation went on around us, in Kutchi. I don't understand Kutchi but my friend did, and he realized that we were being driven around in circles, so we wouldn't know the exact location of his house. Dawood, immaculately dressed in an Italian ensemble that wasn't exactly a suit, greeted us warmly and apologetically explained, 'I called you to tea because I don't drink or serve alcohol," Kapoor recalls the day in his no-holds barred book.

Kapoor, Anand and Dawood went on to talk for four hours straight where the then gangster revealed how he had never killed anyone but had gotten someone killed. "I have carried out petty thefts but I have never killed anyone, though I have got someone killed,' he revealed. He claimed to have had someone shot in a Mumbai court for lying," Dawood told Kapoor. He also complimented the actor for his performance in Tawaif (1985), which, in his opinion, glorified his name as Rishis characters was called Dawood.

But fate had other plans and Rishi and Dawood bumped into each other, years later. Dawood, who was shopping with his 10 bodyguards at a posh mall, ran into Kapoor and asked him to buy whatever he wanted. The actor, however, turned down the request politely, saying, I appreciate your gesture but I'd like to do my own shopping,' Kapoor curtly told Dawood.

And that was the last time Kapoor saw Dawood.
The SC has in reports suggested to increase the judicial manpower by at least seven times to overcome the crisis.

A whopping 2.8 crore cases are pending in district courts across the country which are short of nearly 5,000 judicial officers. (Photo: File)

New Delhi: In an alarming scenario, a whopping 2.8 crore cases are pending in district courts across the country which are short of nearly 5,000 judicial officers.

The situation has led to suggestions in two Supreme Court reports to increase the judicial manpower "manifold"  at least seven times  to overcome the crisis by appointing about 15,000 more judges in the coming few years.

The suggestions and some sharp remarks came out in two reports issued by the Supreme Court -- 'Indian Judiciary Annual Report 2015-2016' and 'Subordinate Courts of India: A Report on Access to Justice 2016'-- which also highlighted that nearly 15,000 more judges would be required in next three year to overcome this critical situation.

Data showed that district courts across the country are grappling with a backlog of 2,81,25,066 civil and criminal cases in the period between July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. But a large number of matters, 1,89,04,222, were also disposed off during the period.

One of the key reasons for the huge figure of pending litigation is the shortage of judges in subordinate courts which is "a cause of concern", as there are 4,954 judges' posts vacant when the sanctioned strength of judicial officers was 21,324, the report on subordinate courts said.

"Based on the study and keeping in mind the future growth in institution of cases, it is found that the present judge strength is insufficient to deal with a huge figure of

pendency of cases, which is a cause of concern.

"Additional judicial manpower and support staff, as well as infrastructure is required immediately to handle the situation," the report said.

In the backdrop of the tussle between the judiciary and the executive over appointments of judges and infrastructure, the report came out with sharp remarks over the failure of the government in dealing with these issues.

"The immediate requirement itself shows that enough has not been done to increase the judges strength of the subordinate judiciary. The State is obliged to carry out the decisions of the Apex Court and increase the Judge-Population Ratio to 50 per million as held in the All India Judges Association case.

"The present judge strength is sufficient just to handle the fresh cases filed each year which ensures constancy of pendency figures. It is necessary to understand and predict that case filing patterns would change in future and device methods to keep pendency in manageable limits," it said.

The report on the subordinate judiciary also referred to the recent data of National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) which showed that with the present strength of judicial officers in district courts, trial in only approximately 13 per cent cases was completed under the IPC during a year.



"This clearly shows that the existing strength of judicial officers needs to be enhanced at least seven times so that trial is completed within a period of one year," the report said, adding that the "judicial manpower needs to be augmented manifold to cater to the situation".

The figures complied in the annual report till June 30 last year show that the district courts in Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh were the worst affected as they were short of 794, 792 and 624 judges respectively.

While the sanctioned strength of judges in lower courts in Gujarat, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh is 1953, 1825 and 2394 respectively, the number of working judicial officers is only 1159, 1033 and 1770 respectively.

The difference is also huge in Delhi where the total sanctioned strength is 793 while there were only 486 working judges, with 307 positions being vacant.

The data on vacancy of judges shows that trial courts in Northeastern states of Sikkim, Manipur, Tripura and Meghalaya, were the only ones where the vacant positions were the least, with 4, 11, 29 and 16 vacancies respectively.

Expressing concern over the figures of pending cases, the report compiled on subordinate judiciary said that in the next three years, an additional 14,597 judicial officers and sanctioned judge strength of 35,155 are required in the trial courts to cater to the problem.

According to the annual report, district courts in Uttar Pradesh peaked in the pendency of cases at 58.8 lakh, including 43.73 lakh criminal cases. However, these courts also disposed of the maximum number of cases at 34.83 lakh.

Maharashtra had the second highest tally of pending cases across states with a backlog of 31.8 lakh matters, which include 20.39 lakh criminal and 11.4 lakh civil, followed by West Bengal at 26.95 lakh, Bihar at 20.88 lakh and Gujarat at 20.56 lakh undecided ones.

The pendency in Delhi stood at 5.98 lakh, comprising 4.32 lakh criminal and 1.65 lakh civil matters. The courts in the capital, however, disposed of 6.45 lakh cases by June 2016.

Besides Delhi, seven states were found with higher disposal rate, with Tripura and Himachal Pradesh deciding over 58 per cent of the cases. Other five states which disposed of over 51 per cent cases are Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana, Tamil Nadu and Assam.

Highlighting the importance of judiciary and timely delivery of justice, the report said "justice is one critical component of citizenship which cannot be neglected.

"Overworked judges, overburdened court staff, chronic shortage of court-space and unending wait to justice does not complement the policies of the State."

"The role of a robust judiciary in a nation's development is pivotal. With development and a corresponding growth in litigation, more judges will certainly be required to handle the same so that justice is done in its truest possible sense," it said.
The Rajya Sabha MP said once the Mahabharat (battle) starts at the ground level, everybody will know what aar ya paar is.

Mumbai: Amid suspense over Shiv Sena-BJP tie-up in the BMC polls, senior Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Saturday said his party will never bend before the politics of pressurisation of its ally.

The Shiv Sena will never bend before politics of pressurisation and will not run behind the BJP unnecessarily. More than transparency, this fight (Mumbai civic polls) will be a fight of aar ya paar (through and through) and the confidence that people have on the Sena, Raut told reporters in Mumbai.

The Rajya Sabha MP said once the Mahabharat (battle) starts at the ground level, everybody will know what aar ya paar is.

Whatever may be the results (of the BMC polls), the Sena will only play politics on its own terms and conditions. The BJP should remember the weighing scale of power never stays still, said Raut.

He further said, Mayor will be from the Shiv Sena for the whole term. We will not accept any kind of permutations and combinations.
Those seriously injured in the incident will be given Rs 50,000 each from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund.

SDRF team rescue a dead body of a passenger of a boat which capsezed in Ganga river in Patna on Saturday. (Photo: PTI)

New Delhi/Patna: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Patna boat tragedy even as the death toll in the accident rose to 24.

The incident occurred on Saturday when a boat carrying 40 people capsized in Ganga River in Bihar's Patna. Those seriously injured in the incident will be given Rs 50,000 each from the Prime Minister National Relief Fund.

Modi had on Saturday night condoled the loss of lives and postponed his programme, scheduled for Sunday, in Patna.

"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted last night.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.

The State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) have been pressed into service for rescue operations.

The incident occurred when people were returning from a kite-flying event, which was organised across the river by the state governments tourism department on Makar Sankranti on Saturday.

Eyewitnesses told this newspaper that when the incident occurred in the evening, no police or security personnel was there to monitor the event. The kite flying event was organised on the other side of the Ghat where there was very less security. The incident occurred when the overcrowded boat was about to reach the NIT Ghat, an eyewitness said.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the incident and directed the officials to intensify search and rescue operations. This is a tragic incident and I have asked officials to intensify search and rescue operations, he said.

The chief minister Nitish Kumar also announced an exgratia of Rs 4 lakh for the family of those who died in the incident. Patna district magistrate Sanjay Agarwal and SSP Manu Maharaj also visited the site.
New Delhi: In a unconventional move, a prominent Delhi school has barred parents having more than two kids from seeking admission for their wards, in an attempt to motivate people to have fewer children.

Salwan School in West Delhi's Rajendra Nagar has mentioned this condition in registration forms issued by its two branches- Salwan Montessori and GD Salwan.

"Parents having more than two children, including whose admission is sought, need not apply," the form read.

The clause is also applicable for teaching positions at the schools. Candidates with more than two children cannot apply for job.

According to Sushil Salwan, Chairman of the Salwan Group, "The regulation has been put keeping in mind the increasing population in the country. This is our way of contributing to the issue by motivating people to have lesser children."

Delhi government had last year issued guidelines abolishing arbitrary criteria such as parent's education, their profession, age, oral test and interview. However, the rider imposed by Salwan school is not mentioned in the list.

Nursery admissions began on January 2 with the process for 298 private schools and EWS and DG categories commencing from January 10.

The application process for the first category will conclude on January 23 while for the remaining two categories will end on January 31.

The first list will be displayed on February 28 and subsequent lists will come out on March 15 and 31.
arlier this week Amazon had pulled out the offending doormats from its website in Canada.

Some Twitter users have tagged Swaraj in their tweets complaining that beach sandals with Gandhi's image were being sold on the Amazon US site. (Photo: screengrab)

New Delhi: India on Saturday asked its ambassador to the United States to convey to Amazon, that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments.

The stern warning comes on the heals of the doormat controversy, and on a day when external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj reportedly received several complaints about Amazon selling flip-flops with Mahatma Gandhis image on them.

Earlier this week Amazon had pulled out the offending doormats from its website in Canada after Ms Swaraj threatened to revoke the visas of all Amazon officials and not grant any visas henceforth to them unless the company apologised for selling these offensive items.

Some Twitter users reportedly tagged Ms Swaraj in their tweets complaining that beach sandals with Gandhijis image were being sold on Amazons US site. News agency PTI quoted the posting on the Amazon as saying, CafePress  Gandhi Flip Flops  Flip Flops, Funny Thong Sandals, Beach Sandals with a listed price of $16.99.
A video surveillance team of the Election Commission also has the recording of Kejriwal's remark.

Chandigarh: A day after Arvind Kejriwal asked voters in Punjab to take money "offered" by political parties, the returning officer in Jalandhar has served a notice to AAP, seeking its reply on the statement which is seen as a violation of the model code of conduct.

"A notice has been served to AAP by the returning officer concerned seeking the party's reply within 24 hours on the statement made by Kejriwal," District Election Officer Kamal Kishore Yadav said on Saturday.

Informing that it is in violation of the model code of conduct, he said the matter will be sent to the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab and the Election Commission of India for further action.

A video surveillance team of the Election Commission also has the recording of Kejriwal's remark, Yadav, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar, said.

"The state goes to polls on February 4. All parties will give you money. Accept it, but vote only for AAP," Kejriwal had said during a road show in Jalandhar yesterday.

The Goa Chief Electoral Officer had on January 9 said they had received information about the AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister asking people to accept money to vote and sent a report to the Election Commission of India for further action.
The warning comes in wake of spate of videos uploaded by jawans vary of facilities provided to them.

New Delhi: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat said jawans who take to social media to express their complaints could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country on Sunday.

He also said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, "we want to restore peace on the Line of Control".

"But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," he asserted.

The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations in New Delhi, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

"If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," Gen Rawat said.

"Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that)," he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.

"It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border," he said.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.

"Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts," he said.
The stampede occurred at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata.

Chaotic scene after a stampede at a jetty at Kochuberia in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

Kochuberia: Six Ganga Sagar pilgrims, including a woman died in a stampede at a jetty at Kochuberia in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district today.

District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman in the hospital.

Ten people were also reported to be injured.

The stampede occured at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

A search has been launched by naval divers to find out anybody who might have fallen into Buriganga river during the stampede, they added.

A total 16 lakh pilgrims took their holy dip in two days on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Ganga Sagar, West Bengal Public Health Engineering and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee said.
The Army Chief was speaking at Army Day celebrations here where he presented gallantry medals to soldiers.

New Delhi: Referring to cases of jawans taking to the social media to air their grievances, Army Chief Gen. Bipin Rawat said on Sunday that jawans taking to the social media could be punished as their act lowered the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.

If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issues and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly, Gen. Rawat said.

Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that), he said, referring to cases of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances. It (airing grievances on social media) has an (negative) impact on brave jawans who are serving the country along the border, he said.

The Army Chief was speaking at Army Day celebrations here where he presented gallantry medals to soldiers who had showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

Siachen miracle man Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who survived miraculously for six days under a huge ice-and-snow debris after an avalanche hit his post before losing life to multiple organ failure, was also posthumously awarded the Sena Medal here.

Gen. Rawat also said that despite Pakistans continuous engagement in a proxy war against India, we want to restore peace on the Line of Control... But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir had turned very volatile. Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LoC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts, he said.

On the northern front, India wants peace with China. Both sides are adopting confidence-building measures (CBMs) so that tensions on the border can be reduced. Despite transgressions on the LAC, the armies on both sides have improved on mutual coordination, said Gen Rawat. Warning those who try disrupt the peace through terror activities, Gen. Rawat said efforts to restore peace on the border must not be viewed as our weakness.

The Army Day parade at the Field Marshal Cariappa Parade Ground saw marching contingents from six different regiments and a display of missile systems such as the Brahmos and Akash, besides combat demonstration by different schools of infantry which fired medium-range guns.

About 87 defence attaches from 35 countries, including the US, Russia, China, Israel and some African nations, were present at the event.
Mr Dubey is a member of the PAC as well as the standing committee on finance.

New Delhi: In what seems to indicate pressure on the high-profile Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of Parliament, a senior BJP MP, literally batting for the government, has urged the panels chairman K.V. Thomas to postpone its proposed January 20 meeting with RBI governor Urjit Patel and top finance ministry officials. The committee is scheduled to discuss monetary policy and demonetisation. Interestingly it will be the RBI governors first meeting with the PAC after the demonetisation announcement by the Centre on November 8.

In a letter to Mr Thomas dated January 9, a copy of which is with this newspaper, Lok Sabha BJP MP from Godda Nishikant Dubey, citing ministry officials preoccupation with preparations for the Budget to be presented on February 1, requested Mr Thomas to reschedule the meeting to February 9, when Parliament will be on a break. Incidentally, the RBI governor had earlier skipped his appointment with the standing committee of finance last month, after it had summoned him to discuss the demonetisation issue.

Mr Dubey is a member of the PAC as well as the standing committee on finance.

The PAC looks into the finances of various departments of the Central government and the January 20 meet holds a lot of significance as it will be for the first time after the demonetisation that RBI governor Urjit Patel will appear before the committee. The panel is likely to ask him and senior finance ministry officials some pointed questions on the demonetisation issue and overall monetary policy.

In this context, a ruling party MP requesting the PAC chairman to postpone the meeting seems to be indicate the pressure being applied on the committee to delay a discussion on a matter like demonetisation that has shaken up the entire financial structure of the country.

It also raises eyebrows on how any member of a parliamentary panel can in his personal capacity place such a request before the chairman.

The BJP MP has written to Mr Thomas that as a former Cabinet minister and senior MP, you well know that the General Budget is a very time-consuming exercise that takes the entire attention of the finance ministry... The officials concerned (summoned by the committee) need to pay their undivided attention to the formulation of the Budget and may not be able to fully give time for the PAC meeting. Therefore, I am requesting you to postpone the meeting and schedule it after February 9, after Parliament goes into its Budget session break.

Interestingly, when asked to respond, Mr Thomas, a Congress MP from Kerala, denied having got any letter from Mr Dubey and claimed the RBI governor will be appearing before the PAC on January 20 as scheduled.

The letter by Mr Dubey goes on to highlight the friction within the panel on party lines, that was quite evident last week when its BJP-led members had reportedly forced the PAC chairman to clarify his earlier statement that the panel could summon Prime Minister Narendra Modi to discuss the issue of demonetisation if the need arises.
PM Narendra Modi too expressed grief over the accident and announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the victims family.

Patna: As the state mourned the death of those who died in the tragic boat accident in Ganga river on Sunday, the Opposition demanded strict action against officials for lapses in the tragic incident which led to the killing of at least 24 persons on Saturday.

Senior BJP leaders Sushil Kumar Modi and Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav, who visited the accident site, said that arrangements made for the kite flying festival was poor and asked the chief minister to take responsibility and resign on moral grounds.

He took credit for the Prakash Utsav and Kalachakra puja in Bihar and now he must also accept the failure which led to the killing of so many innocent people who had gone to celebrate Makar Sankranti festival, Mr Sushil Modi said.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar later chaired a high-level meeting with administrative officials and directed them to fix responsibility and initiate action. Prime Minister Narendra Modi too expressed grief over the accident and announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh for the victims family.

According to district administration, FIR against one of the boat operators who had survived in the accident and the owner of an amusement park has been registered. A video footage showed that there were two overcrowded boats which had capsized in the river while bringing people back from the kite flying festival.

Mr Sushil Modi, while pointing out at the ill arrangements and administrative lapses, said when the government could make events like Prakash Parv and Kalachakra successful by spending Rs 200 crore why the Makar Sankranti festival was ignored. The government didnt invest much for the event which was being celebrated by the poor people. 

A large number of people, including women and children, had gone to Sabalpur Diara on the banks of the Ganga river to attend the kite-flying festival which was organised by the state tourism department on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Saturday.

Eyewitnesses told this newspaper that they couldnt find enough boats to return back to Patna on Saturday after the event was over and also complained of being stuck at Sabalpur Diara and the poor arrangements made by the administration before the accident.

People couldnt find many boats to return which forced them especially youths to jump on the available boats, an eyewitness said.
Kejriwal said AAP would cancel all fake cases under the NDPS Act filed by the Badals against innocent youths.

Chandigarh: National Convener of Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) and Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal said on Sunday that SAD leaders Badals and Congress leader Amrinder Singh have ruined the border districts of Punjab by never giving any heed to their genuine problems and declared that an AAP government would promote agro-based industry in this area to support farmers and generate general employment for people.

Agro-based industry is the need of the hour, especially in the border districts of Punjab to support farmers and generate general employment for youth, and an AAP government will be committed to doing so, Mr Kejriwal said while campaigning at the border area here.

Even the industrial units, which shifted from Punjab due to the apathy of SAD-BJP government, would be brought back with tax incentives and a pre-condition that 80 per cent of the jobs should be given to Punjabis, he said, adding that a special economic package would be announced for the special development of the border area.

Terming Akali Dal leader Bikram Singh Majithia as an agent of the international drug mafia, Mr Kejriwal said that he would not only be put behind bars, but would be made to cough up double the money he allegedly earned from the drug business by an AAP government.

Mr Kejriwal also said AAP would cancel all fake cases under the NDPS Act filed by the Badals against innocent youths who opposed the drug mafia.
The Centre is keen to have NH-2, which is the main lifeline of landlocked Manipur, re-opened at the earliest.

New Delhi: Union home minister Rajnath Singh, along with senior Cabinet colleagues, including finance minister Arun Jaitley and defence minister Manohar Parrikar, reviewed the security situation in Manipur on Sunday as the state has been witnessing an economic blockade for the last 75 days.

Top security officials, including Army Chief General Bipin Rawat and home secretary Rajiv Mehrishi, also attended the hour-long meeting, in which various possibilities were discussed on how the blockade of NH-2 can be removed as it has crippled the Northeastern state.

The Centre is keen to have NH-2, which is the main lifeline of landlocked Manipur, re-opened at the earliest. Security forces had managed to successfully reopen a second highway, the NH-37, ahead of Assembly polls in Mani-pur on March 4 and 8. The Union home ministry has already rushed 20,000 para-military personnel to Manipur, which has witnessed large-scale violence following the economic blockade imposed by the Union Naga Council since November 1 on NH-2, which connects Imphal and Dimapur.

Earlier, in a terse meeting, the Union home ministry had asked the state government to take responsibility for the humanitarian crisis arising out of the economic blockade by the UNC, saying that they must ensure it ends and that no one would be allowed to take political advantage of the situation. The Union home minister had already written twice to chief minister O. Ibobi Singh, asking him to ensure the reopening of the highway, but the letter did not yield any result.

The Centre had also sent minister of state for home, Kiren Rijiju, too to visit Manipur to explore possibility as to how the crucial highway can be re-opened. Following his visit, Mr Rijiju had said it was completely unacceptable to have such blockades in which thousands of people were suffering and both the Central and Manipur governments will work together to end it.

The state government has not been able to end the blockade. It must end as soon as possible as law and order is the responsibility of the state government. Nobody will be allowed to take political advantage out of a humanitarian crisis where common people are suffering, Mr Rijiju had said.
French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day visit to India, also sent out a message to China without naming it.

New Delhi: Days after China blocked Indias proposal in the UN to designate Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, France, a key member of the world body, supported New Delhi, saying there are very strong arguments in favour of such a move against the Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief.

French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day visit to India, also sent out a message to China without naming it. The international communitys determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat, he said.

Pointing out that JeM is already included in the (Sanctions) Committees list of terrorist organisations, he said: Therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested. Mr Ayrault said France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UN Security Council.

India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UNSC to blacklist Azhar for Pathankot attack. Since then, China had twice imposed technical hold on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 blocked it.

We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached, said Mr Ayrault.
PM Modi saluted the courage and invaluable service of the soldiers and officers, including the veterans.

New Delhi: Greeting officers, soldiers, veterans, civilians, ex-servicemen and their families on the occasion of Army Day, President Pranab Mukherjee said: The Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security of India, whilst defending our borders across some of the most perilous terrain in the world.

Exuding confidence that the Army will continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power in the coming years, the President, who is also the supreme commander of the armed forces, noted that Indian Army is known for its professionalism, selfless commitment and the unparalleled bravery.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted the courage and invaluable service of the soldiers and officers, including the veterans. Greetings to all soldiers, veterans & their families on Army Day. We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army, he tweeted.

Mr Modi said the Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of the nation or helping citizens during natural disasters.

We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully, the Prime Minister said.

Every year, the Army celebrates January 15 as the Army Day to commemorate the day when General K.M. Carriappa took over the command of the Army from General Sir F.R.R. Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949, and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post Independence.
Anil Vij went on to say that Mahatma Gandhis image would be removed gradually from currency notes as well.

New Delhi: Haryana minister Anil Vij said on Saturday that Mahatma Gandhis image had not helped khadi and had caused devaluation of the currency, sparking widespread outrage with even his party BJP condemning the remarks, forcing him to withdraw them.

The five-time MLA from Ambala Cantt, who has made controversial remarks in the past as well, also said that it was good that Mahatma Gandhis image has been replaced with that of Narendra Modi in the calendars and diaries of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) as the PM is a better brand. He went on to say that Mahatma Gandhis image would be removed gradually from currency notes as well.

The senior BJP leader said, Gandhijis name has no patent on khadi. Since his name has been attached with khadi, it has only gone down. When his image was put on notes, the currency also got devalued.

On being asked why the BJP government at the Centre continued with Mahatma Gandhis image on the new currency notes introduced after demonetisation, he said, It will also go gradually.

Taking to Twitter Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi said, Hitler and Mussolini were also very powerful brands. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala attacked the Modi government, saying it was doing what the British did. He said, Subjugate people and institutions and use the power of the state to stifle every dissenting voice, but Modiji, Anil Vij and BJP must remember that you can kill Mahatma Gandhi, remove his photograph, abuse him, but Gandhi has always lived in Indias soul.

The BJP also condemned the ministers remarks, and said they were his personal views. BJPs national secretary Shrikant Sharma said, The party does not associate itself with his remarks. These are his personal comments. We condemn them.

He also said that Mahatma Gandhi was an icon for the BJP and the country, and the party held his values in high esteem. Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar also quickly distanced himself, saying the minister made the remarks in his personal capacity.

Later, Anil Vij tweeted, The statement given by me in connection with Mahatma Gandhi was given in my personal capacity. To avoid hurting anyones sentiments, I am withdrawing it.

Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhis great-grandson, alleged that it was a well orchestrated campaign from the high command, and that the minister was speaking the language of the RSS.
Despite state BJPs wishes, central leadership not keen on disturbing Team Modi in Delhi.

New Delhi: Defence minister Manohar Parrikar, once hailed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi as among the brightest of gems in his team, is unlikely to return to Goa politics for now. Despite a growing demand from its Goa unit that Mr Parrikar should be sent back to assume the mantle of chief minister if the BJP retains power, the BJP high command, it was learnt, is not in favour of disturbing the Union Cabinet.

In Uttarakhand also, it is unlikley that the party high command would favour one of its former chief ministers for the top post. The three former chief ministers  B.C. Khanduri, B.S. Koshiyari and Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank  are currently members of Parliament and the central leadership, sources said, told the state leadership that jo MLA hai wo MLA rahenge aur jo MP hain wo MP he rahenge (the MLAs will remain MLAs and the MPs will stay MPs).

In Goa, where the Assembly election is scheduled for February 4, Mr Parrikar is playing a key role in the partys election strategy, and is one of the star campaigners. Sources said that if the BJP manages to retain power, Mr Parrikar would have a big say in the selection of current chief minister Laxmikant Parsekars successor.

Mr Parsekars tenure has been marred with controversies. Maharash-trawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which snapped its ties with the BJP earlier in January, was also critical of Mr Parsekars leadership. The name of Union minister Sripad Naik, who is an MP from the state, is also doing the rounds as a potential candidate for the state chief ministers post.

In Uttarakhand, where Assembly elections are scheduled for February 15, the names of former BJP chief ministers, who are now members of Parliament, are still circulating for the chief ministers post. But, the party high command seems to be in favour of giving responsibility to a new face. However, supporters of Satpal Maharaj, who had joined the saffron fold from Congress ahead of the last Lok Sabha elections, are also lobbying for him to get the top post. Meanwhile, Vijay Bahuguna, who was a Congress chief minister, but later switched to the BJP, is lobbying hard for a BJP ticket for his younger son Saurabh from the Sitarganj Assembly constituency, from where the Bahuguna senior is currently an MLA.
The tribal organisations have threatened to boycott urban local bodies elections for granting 33 per cent reservation to women.

Fear of social boycott and exile has forced 37 women candidates to withdraw their nominations from elections so far. (Representational Image)

Guwahati: The ruling Naga Peoples Front said on Sunday that it would not withdraw any candidate from the February 1 election to urban local bodies in the face of a boycott call by tribal bodies in Nagaland.

The tribal organisations have threatened to boycott urban local bodies elections for granting 33 per cent reservation to women. Fear of social boycott and exile has forced 37 women candidates to withdraw their nominations from elections so far.

The apex tribal councils and NGOs are opposing the elections claiming that 33 per cent reservation given to women is an infringement of Naga customary laws that dont grant women administrative rights and violates of Article 371(A) of the Constitution, which safeguards Naga customs and traditions.

Despite the boycott call, there are 185 women candidates in the fray with as many as 90 women from the ruling NPF filing their nominations. While 24 of the BJPs 79 candidates are women, the Congress had only 11 women among its 38 candidates.
The news was well received by actor Mark Hamill who has portrayed Skywalker on screen.

The responses were mostly comparing the gibbon and Luke Skywalker (Photo: Twitter)

Star Wars is one of the most successful movie franchises in the world which has given memorable dialogues, legendary characters and has garnered a huge fan following among audiences consisting of generations across the decades.

Luke Skywalker has been a widely followed character played by different actors over the years and the popularity is such that scientists impressed by the character decided to give the name to a new species of Gibbon which they discovered in south-west China.

The news of the Hoolock Gibbon named Skywalker was welcomed by Mark Hamill, an actor who has played the character previously.

Giddy over the Gibbon news-Gobsmacked that ANY species of animal could be named in honor of my character! I'll stop now. #MakeAMonkeyOutOfMe pic.twitter.com/pEdSVkXeMu  Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 12, 2017

The actors reaction to the news of the species swinging between trees being named after the iconic character was followed by tweeple giving their own hilarious take on it.

@HamillHimself I guess the phrase "well I'll be a monkeys uncle" hold new meaning for you  Alejandra Nirenberg (@a_nirenberg) January 12, 2017

@HamillHimself of course, now I have King Louie in my head



"Now I'm the king of the swingers whoa the jungle VIP" #MakeAMonkeyOutOfMe pic.twitter.com/Jw2tbu8EmB  felicia ruiz (@katwomanfifi) January 12, 2017

The Gibbon is not the first species to be named after a popular icons, as outgoing US president has a fish, lizard and parasite named after him among other things and a spider was recently named after a hat in Harry Potter.
Admits to over dozen similar offences with many girls in Delhi, UP and Uttarakhand.

New Delhi: In a shocking revelation concerning crime against children, a 38-year-old serial rapist, who was on the prowl and used to sexually assault school-going min-or girls, was arrested by the East Delhi police on Saturday. In a span of one week, the accused had sexually assaulted three girls. A CCTV camera installed in the area led to the arrest of the accused. The police said that he has committed over a dozen cases in UP and Uttarakhand.

The Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (Pocso) offender and paedophile has been identified as Sunil Rastogi, a native of Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, who came to Delhi in 1990. However, he left Delhi in 2004 and started living in Rudrapur in Uttarakhand. What has emerged as even more shocking is that Sunil is married and has three daughters and two sons. He worked as a tailor in New Ashok Nagar but was thrown out of his locality because of his pervert behaviour.

According to the police, on December 13, 2016, a Pocso case was registered in the New Ashok Nagar police station after a 7-year-old minor girl was sexually assaulted by the accused. The police had registered a case in this regard. The police became alert and grew suspicious when they received two more cases of Pocso from New Ashok Nagar where the school-going children were sexually assaulted in a similar fashion on January 10, 2017.

With the stark similarities in all the three cases where three innocent girls between the age group of seven and 10 years became the target of the heinous crime by a paedophile, the New Ashok Nagar police began a probe and constituted a special team. The team matched the statements of the minors who had become the prey of the perpetrator. They found that he had misled the girls on the pretext of giving them clothes and stating that their father had sent him. Based on credible information and with the help of CCTV camera footage, the police picked-up Sunil for questioning. He spilled the beans upon sustained questioning.

During questioning Sunil admitted that he had committed the alleged offences. He also admitted that he has committed similar offences with many minor girls in New Ashok Nagar in Delhi, Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh and Rudrapur in Uttarakhand.

The accused disclosed that he used to target little girls. Whenever he found any minor girl going home from school, he used to mislead the child on the pretext that her father had sent clothes and other articles to give the same to her. He then took her to an isolated place, said DCP Omvir Singh.

It has also been revealed during the interrogation that many cases, including NDPS, molestation/theft were registered against the accused at various police stations in Rudrapur, Delhi, and Ghaziabad. He has been sent to judicial custody and the SHO of Rudrapur police station has been asked to come to Delhi to take his custody in connection to the cases registered against him in Rudrapur, added the DCP.
Tambes family is in trauma as they too are not getting any confirmation about their sons whereabouts.

Mumbai: Ministry of external affairs (MEA), government of India, is yet to get details of Tabrez Tambe, an alleged ISIS recruit who was supposedly detained in Libya. ATS sources said that they had asked the central government to get in touch with Libyan authorities immediately after Tambes case came to light however are yet to receive a reply. Meanwhile, Tambes family is in trauma as they too are not getting any confirmation about their sons whereabouts.

MEA sources said, The government is yet to get confirmation about the same from the Libyan government. We have carried out formal communication on the issue but a reply is yet to be received. We are yet to get confirmation. However, MEA spokesperson Vikas Swaroop said, I am checking on the matter. Right now, we have no details. Our Mission in Libya is ascertaining the facts from the local authorities

Sources said, ATS officials have already asked the government about the Tabrez case. They are yet to receive reply from the government.A relative of Tabrez with whom his brother Saud and his mother are living told this newspaper on condition of anonymity, Tabrezs mother and all his family members are clueless about his whereabouts. He was a nice person. I dont know how he got mixed up in all this. We just wanted to know if he is fine or not but we are not getting any details about him.

Tabrez 28, a youth from Mumbra, who left to work in Egypt in January 2016, is suspected to be the latest youth from Maharashtra to have joined the proscribed ISIS. Sources said that he had called to tell his family about his arrest.
The physiotherapist was brutally gang raped and murdered more than a month ago.

Mumbai: Despite questioning over 400 people, the Vile Parle police couldnt find any lead in the rape and murder case of the 25-year-old physiotherapist. Now sources said the Crime against women cell will simultaneously start the investigation in the case. The physiotherapist was brutally gang raped and murdered more than a month ago. The cell has received instructions from senior officials to probe in the case.

Vile Parle police questioned everybody including her boyfriend, sister and sisters boyfriend, her best friend but nothing has come up, so now women cell will look into it simultaneously to solve the case, said an officer from the cell.

Sources said, After senior officials informed the cell to look into it, team members met the deceaseds parents and other people around the area who knew the her. The senior of the cell will soon interrogate other people in the case. The study of the case will start from the initial stage.

Police also questioned history-sheeters in the area. The police teams are now waiting for DNA samples of the victim and the main suspects to given them a clue. The physiotherapist, in the wee hours of December 6, was discovered naked in her house in a chawl in Vile Parle east. The unidentified accused had allegedly tried to burn her down.
The bird that was found near Thane creek was rescued by wildlife enthusiasts, who rushed it to TSPCA.

Mumbai: Two young flamingos  which are in a critical condition  were allegedly shot at by airguns recently. Ironically, one of them was found at the northern part of the Thane creek, where the government plans to inaugurate a flamingo sanctuary in February.

The other was found near a jetty around Godrej hillside colony in Vikhroli. Both the birds are now being treated at avian expert Dr. Rina Devs clinic in Bandra. Activists say this is the first time such incidents have occurred. The bird that was found near Thane creek was rescued by wildlife enthusiasts, who on Thursday rushed it to Thane Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (TSPCA).

The bird, which was observed to be in distress, was admitted to the animal hospital after activists intimated the forest department about the rescue. Dr. Dev examined the bird at the TSPCA and it was found that its right wing was fractured and it had a maggot-infested wound. The treatment of the flamingo began with administration of fluids, medication, cleaning and dressing.

It was then kept under observation for a day and shifted to Dr Devs clinic on Saturday. Dr Dev said, The bird is better, but its condition is still critical and it will have to be made stable. The bird will undergo orthopaedic surgery after its overall condition stabilises.

Speaking to The Asian Age Pawan Sharma, founder of Resqink Association for Wildlife Welfare (RAWW), said, This case clearly reflects an organised poaching racket and it needs to be taken care of on immediate basis. We will be speaking to the mangrove cell about it and, in co-ordination with locals and photographers, keep an eye on such activities. We are also going to take up the matter of setting up a rescue centre for marine animals. There is an urgent need for a state government-run facility for city wildlife, its conservation, welfare and management.

The other flamingo was rescued by a RAWW team after it was spotted by a fisherman around 4.20 pm on Sunday. The team rushed the bird to Dr Devs clinic. The bird, which is also suffering from a wing injury, is more critical than its counterpart and a small surgery had to be performed on it to patch up the wound.
D-Rep John Lewis had said on Friday, he thought hacking by Russians had helped Trump, a Republican, get elected in November.

Washington: President-elect Donald Trump began a long holiday weekend that honours slain black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. by blasting another African-American activist and politician who said he doesn't see Trump as a "legitimate president".

Democratic Representative John Lewis, of Georgia, had said on a segment of "Meet the Press" released by NBC on Friday he thought hacking by Russians had helped Trump, a Republican, get elected in November. Lewis said he does not plan to attend Trump's January 20 inauguration, the first time he'd missed such an event since being elected to the House in 1986.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that Lewis was falsely complaining about election results and instead "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested)."

"All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" Trump tweeted.

Lewis, who has been a civil rights leader for more than half a century, was beaten by police during a march he helped lead in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, drawing attention to hurdles for blacks to vote. He protested alongside King that day and on other occasions.

"I believe in forgiveness," Lewis said in the segment about Trump. "I believe in trying to work with people," Lewis said. "Its going to be very difficult. I dont see this President-elect as a legitimate president."

Supporters of Trump see him as a brash person who tells things as they are. His comments about Lewis came ahead of an anti-Trump march in Washington headed by the Reverend Al Sharpton. The protest by about 2,000 marchers kicked off a week of rallies planned by dozens of groups against Trump before, during and after the inauguration.

DisruptJ20, which is working with Black Lives Matter and other protest groups, said they are planning to disrupt balls celebrating the inauguration in Washington.

Trump won the presidency with less support from black and Hispanic voters than any president in the last 40 years, only 8 percent and 28 percent respectively, polling data has showed.

Several of Trump's fellow Republicans criticized his tweet.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska tweeted that "John Lewis and his 'talk' have changed the world."

Neoconservative critic Bill Kristol tweeted "It's telling, I'm afraid, that Donald Trump treats (Russian President) Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis."
Hey all,

My partner (Aussie) and I (American) are in the process of starting up our de facto visa and we have found ourselves frustrated and lost. Basically our situation is this:

We will be living together only just under a year (11 months) once this visa is lodged. Our living situation is the hard part because I am currently on a holiday visa for the second time around and haven't worked since September due to this, so I haven't been paying for things with him. Also, we live on our own but my partner's parents paid for his place while he was going through uni, so we don't have any payments we make together regarding financial aspects for our home. How do we go about lodging this part of the application? We are very much a couple and can prove it in other areas of the application, just not this. We pay for all of the groceries and phones and car on our own, just not the home.

Also, we find ourselves focusing on a million things at once and we don't even know how to get organized or what to pinpoint and start with on the application. If you have any tips that would be awesome!!

SIDENOTE- the reason we are applying for this application at 11 months is because my visa will be up soon and we have our relationship registered through NSW, so we are covered on that aspect. Thank you!
So, backstory: me and my partner were set up via family, my uncle is married to my partners best friend. We've really hit it off since we started speaking January 2016. In August is when we first met when I travelled over to Vietnam. Our relationship has been a real success but we're really dealing with the bigger question of how to move forward.



I'm obviously an Australian citizen, we have a visiting visa for my partner to come to Australia, it is 3 months with the possibility of extending.



I really want to know if my plan is sound, because we've been planning a lot in what to do, where to go next. If she comes here for the 3 months, we extend for another 9 months, during this time we've married in Australia, and at the end we put in our spousal visa.



Is this plan sound? Previously, we had worked on a plan of prospective marriage visa into spousal visa, but that option always seemed to be more expensive and potentially taking a lot longer with us being mostly apart during the process.



I'll be honest, all of this Visa stuff really flies right over my head, it's way too complicated for any normal everyday person. I'm also not the most wealthy of people, and the price tag on all of this is something I will spend a very long period of my life saving up for.
FWD

SUV

According to a report from Car and Driver Brazil , the Creta pickup has been approved for production and will arrive in 2018. That means it will arrive even sooner than the Santa Cruz, which will be its bigger brother.We have full confidence that the Creta truck will debut in 2018, since the Sao Paulo auto show isn't until November. So technically, the production car won't be ready until 2019.As we've said in a recent story, the Kia KX3 and Hyundai Creta are responsible for a 70% boost in the sales of the two companies. They are kind of a big deal, even though you've never heard of them.The pickup will be based on the existing platform and built locally in Brazil, just like the Fiat Toro and Duster Oroch. We have no details about the powertrain, but it should beand powered by a four-cylinder ethanol engine.We're so confident about the Creta truck happening because there's already been a concept two moths ago. It was mean, green and with a beach vibe. Hyundai called it STC, short for Sport Truck Concept, and it looked very little like the actual Creta.The study was 4.65 meters long, 1.85 meters wide and 1.63 meters tall. Though most of those dimensions will change, the 2.8-meter wheelbase seems adequate. By comparing it to the regular Creta's specs, we find that it's 38 cm wider and has a 21 cm longer wheelbase.Check it out and tell us what you think. But remember, there's no way this will ever come to the States. In fact, it's too weird for some of the other emerging markets where the Creta is sold.
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3 Is the 2017 Peugeot 3008 Better Than the New Volkswagen Tiguan?

4 Peugeot Unveils New Rallye Raid Contender, The 3008 DKR
The facility in Nevada will have the capacity to generate 70 megawatts of power thanks to its rooftop solar panel array, which is roughly seven times more than the current largest installation on a single roof, which is located in India.Thanks to the incredible scale of the solar panel array on its roof, along with the setup of Powerpack batteries, Tesla will have a net-zero-energy production facility that is powered from renewable sources. It will not need to use the Nevada power grid, and it will not require any fossil fuels, which should make its critics silent on that matter.Once everything is in order and production reaches its full potential, Tesla will have a world-class battery factory that will become a textbook example of how to build this kind of product in a sustainable way.If Tesla s first Gigafactory was not green enough for you, it is time to learn that it has been designed to save water using a closed-loop system, and its heating will be achieved using waste heat, which comes from battery manufacturing. The Gigafactory will also recycle batteries on site, which marks the completion of the circle for the automaker and energy solution supplier.Teslas officials revealed these facts about the Gigafactory during a presentation that was dedicated to investors. Evidently, the main facts about it reached the Internet, and the guys at Electrek were ready to publish them when the data was available.The investors that participated in the tour also got to see the battery pack of the upcoming Model 3 , which will employ the 2170 type of battery cells.Tesla has hired a German company to help coordinate the production of battery cell cases at the Gigafactory. As the company has already announced, the facility in Nevada will not be the only one of its kind, as it wants to build more in the future
The FAAs drone registry appears to have helped authorities in Seattle identify the owner of an aircraft that clipped the iconic Space Needle on New Years Eve. The drone had its camera rolling as it approached the 605-foot tower as workers prepared for a New Years light display on the very top of the structure. The aircraft clipped a guard rail before coming to rest what appears to be a few feet away from the workers. No one was hurt and nothing was damaged on the Space Needle but the drone owner may be facing charges.

Assuming he doesnt have an exemption, the flight busted the FAAs 400-foot maximum altitude by hundreds of feet and the presence of the workers means it was in violation of rules on overflying people. Seattle Police officials told local media they are considering charges of reckless endangerment against the pilot. Its not clear whether the aircraft was being flown recreationally or for a commercial purpose. Its also not the first time its happened. It looks like the drone tractor beam we installed on the Space Needle is working, Space Needle CEO Ron Sevart sarcastically told CNN in a statement. This is the third time weve recovered a drone on our property.
Flying a seaplane off of the water is well up there on the list of the most purely fun things to do in aviation. When you take one of the most enjoyable of human endeavorsflyingand combine it with zipping across the water, you get a rush thats tough to beat when engaged in doing anything thats legal.

The great news is that you can alight on public waters (with some conditions) in a seaplane in 49 states. The Seaplane Pilots Association publishes a list of seaplane flight schools and state-by-state water flying information.

The bad news is that one state, Colorado, bans seaplanes from all public waters. This is the story of one persons efforts to reverse that ban and again allow access. While its a work in progress, in my opinion, its a textbook guide for anyone seeking to expand aviation access or fight against limitations.

I Just Want to Fly a Seaplane in My State

Ray Hawkins was a CFI before he even graduated from high schooland no, he did not spend three of the happiest years of his life in ninth gradehes that kind of overachiever.He went on to spend 20 years in the Air Force and is now employed by a federal agency with an aviation connection. When it came time for his flight review a few years back, Hawkins decided that adding a seaplane rating would be an enjoyable way to meet his recurrent training requirement. What he thought was going to be just a matter of calling to schedule dual with a local operator turned into a task that has been going on for some six years. Not only could he not find seaplane instruction within his home state, he discovered that seaplanes had been banned from the public waters somewhere during the arm-waving, sky-is-falling fear of airplanes engendered by the attacks of 9/11.

Hawkins contacted the state agency responsible for the ban, Parks and Recreation, to discuss it, its basis and to see what would be involved in getting it overturned. As he worked his way up the chain of command, he repeatedly met with flat refusals to reconsider the prohibition. In the meantime, Ray started reaching out to Colorado pilots who had seaplane ratings, seeking support in his pursuit of water access for seaplanes. He established the Colorado Seaplane Initiative.

During a meeting of the Parks and Recreation commissioners, Hawkins proposed a minimal demonstration of seaplane operationsone airplane, one hour. The commissioners directed a subcommittee to come up with procedures for the demonstration. After some delay, the committee reported that it would be impossible and hypothesized a parade of horrible things that would happen should seaplanes be allowed on lakes in the state, claiming that the lakes were overcrowded with boats already, that seaplanes would bring invasive species into the states lakes and that seaplanes could not mix safely with boats (despite them doing so for generations on much more crowded lakes in other states).

At a subsequent meeting, Hawkins sought to speak in response to the reasons that employees Parks and Recreation had used to justify a seaplane ban. He brought Steve McCaughey, executive director of the Seaplane Pilots Association to give a presentation on safety and how seaplane pilots protect against transportation of invasive species. Hawkins was given a full three minutes to present his facts; McCaughey was not even allowed to speak. Hawkins realized that he was up against closed minds.

Colorado is known for its outdoor recreation. Its citizens engage in it at a level nearly unmatched in any other stateits regularly ranked as one of the two or three least obese states in the nation because of that fact. Seaplane flying is incredibly attractive to outdoor sport enthusiastsoutdoor recreation types are the target market for the new Icon A5 amphibian. While the altitude of some of the states lakes have to be considered for seaplane operations, the scenery and availability of outdoor recreation in the mountains make seaplane operations an excellent match.

Legislation

The next step for Ray Hawkins was to seek legislation to allow seaplanes on public waters in the state. He did his homework and found that Texas had passed what he considered to be common sense regulations for seaplanes on public waters in the state. He used it as a model for legislation for Colorado. With limited knowledge of state legislators, Hawkins recognized that for his proposed legislation to even get introduced, much less go anywhere, he would have to retain a lobbyist who was respected on both sides of the political aisle. He also recognized that a bill identified with one or the other political parties would stand little chance of passage in todays polarized atmosphere, so he would do his best to get bipartisan support for seaplane access legislation. Hawkins found Kelly Sloan, a lobbyist with a political consulting firm who had access to and could speak with legislators for both political parties.

Lobbyists dont work for free. Hawkins began fundraising to pay Sloans fees. At the same time, he found a privately owned lake whose owners liked the idea of seaplanes on their lake and would work with Hawkins to make it happen. He organized a seaplane splash in on Lake Meredith in southeastern Colorado to take place in the summer of 2016.

Hawkins and Sloan found legislators who wanted to expand recreational activities for their citizens to include seaplane access to public waters. A bill was introduced in early 2016. It was assigned to the Transportation committee and came up for hearing in Juneabout the same time as the splash in was to happen, so there was increasing public interest in the bill and a good turn out of supporters for the committee hearing.

The committee hearing did not go well. The opposition to the billpersonnel from Parks and Recreationcame in with overwhelming force, primarily citing the concerns with invasive species. It is a very real concernColorado has very strict inspection laws for recreational boating to protect against invasive species that have done serious damage to lakes in other states. While several states have inspection requirements for seaplanes to protect against invasive species and Hawkins bill addressed the issue, supporters were unable to overcome some of the legislators reliance on the opinions of Parks and Recreation. The committee voted the bill down 8-5. The good news was that the vote did not go along party lines.

The seaplane splash in at Lake Meredith proved to be a big success. The invasive species inspection was conducted at a nearby airport (limiting access to amphibians) with a senator who supported the access bill doing the first inspection. Four seaplanes were in attendancenot bad for a first of its kind event in a state that bans water access.

In the wake (sorry) of the event, Lake Meredith became the first seaplane base in Colorado since 9/11. It is privately owned, so a pilot seeking to land on it must get permission and sign a waiver of liability.

With the dawning of the new legislative session in 2017, Ray Hawkins and seaplane access supporters are continuing fundraising to help push the access bill toward passage and have gathered additional supportersthe bill is expected to be introduced soon.

Supporters have also gathered facts in anticipation of what will be a fight with Parks and Recreation at the legislative committee level. They have experts on invasive species risks and how those are dealt with for seaplanes in other states. The will be showing the training courseput together by the Seaplane Pilots Association and AOPA for seaplane pilots on inspecting their airplanes for invasive species and preventing their transportation. They will be pointing out that pilots, unlike boaters, are used to inspecting their craft before each operationthat theres nothing magic about adding an invasive species inspection to the preflightso a pilots can complete training to conduct such inspections and do so before landing on Colorado waters. They will be seeking testimony or affidavits from regulatory officials in other states as to how they have successfully prevented transportation of invasive species by seaplanes and how pilots self-certify such inspections.

Parks and Recreation officials have argued that pilots simply wont obey the law regarding invasive species inspection. However, as Hawkins has pointed out, pilots are currently obeying the law not to land on Colorado waters. Theyre demonstrating that they are law-abiding, so what evidence is there that they wont obey the law to inspect their aircraft for invasive species as part of their preflight?

Evidence

Hawkins and supporters are also prepared to address safety concerns by pointing out the extent of training and testing required to obtain the necessary certification to operate a seaplane versus the lack of training to operate a boat. They have obtained data on the concentration of boats on Colorado lakes and will be able to provide evidence, not supposition, that the addition of seaplane operations will not overcrowd the lakes. They will also be able to provide evidence of the rate of drunk boating compared with the nearly infinitesimal rate of pilots operating impaired.

Ive been involved with several matters in which pilots have sought to expand airports or protect airports from having operations limited or shut down. Ive seen all sorts of approaches to those issuesfrom pilots showing up at town hall meetings and saying that anyone who is against the airport is an idiot (not particularly effective), to well-organized, fact-based presentations that recognize the concerns of the antis. I think Ray Hawkins initial, individual action on a step-by-step basis with the agency responsible for the ban and then moving to a professional approach to creating legislation to overturn the ban while simultaneously fundraising aggressively to support seaplane access and holding events to increase public awareness and support for seaplane access is the way someone who wants to accomplish something in support of aviation is most likely to be effective.

Ray Hawkins and his supporters have a lot of work ahead of them during the legislative session. I wish them great success.

By the way, this year the number of Colorado seaplane splash ins has been doubled this year: there will be one on May 20th at Lake Meredith Seaplane Base (Ordway, CO) and one on July 15 at Kenney Reservoir, Rangely, CO.

Rick Durden holds an ATP with type ratings in the Douglas DC-3 and Cessna Citation, is a CFII and seaplane instructor and the author of The Thinking Pilots Flight Manual or, How to Survive Flying Little Airplanes and Have a Ball Doing It, Vols. 1 & 2.
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There are plans for a 800 million to 1 billion mixed use development in Blackfriars

A scion of one of Malaysia's wealthiest real estate dynasties has said that plans to build one of the tallest residential towers in London will not be bulldozed by Brexit.

Abigail Tan, head of the St Giles Hotels Group, is to press ahead with a 800 million to 1 billion mixed use development in Blackfriars, despite rising costs linked to the collapse in the value of the pound.

She told the Press Association: "Our plans haven't been altered by Brexit, yet. Blackfriars is still viable and we're pushing ahead with it, although we're cautious of costs rising.

"We're still investing heavily in the UK and still have faith in the UK economy as a hub for business and finance."

St Giles, whose parent company is listed Malaysian firm IGB Corporation - headed by Ms Tan's father Robert Tan - is waiting for Southwark Council to rubber-stamp planning applications.

The Blackfriars development will consist of a hotel and what would be one of the tallest residential towers in London, along with commercial and retail space.

If Southwark approves the plans, the development could be up and running as soon as 2020.

However, Ms Tan also said the group might have to "get creative" if the pound continues its downward trajectory and costs soar.

"We don't really know about Brexit because the Government hasn't said anything about its plans. We might have to get creative if costs go up," she added.

But Brexit has provided a tonic for the St Giles' two London hotels, with the fall in sterling against the euro resulting in increased spending power for Europeans in London.

"We have seen Europeans spending more, especially in our bars, since the collapse in the value of the pound," Ms Tan said.

The London hotels, at Heathrow and central London, are turning over 17 million with gross profit of 10 million.

The group is also on the expansion trail.

There are currently nine hotels under the St Giles moniker, but Ms Tan wants 20 by 2020. With a site secured in Birmingham, the businesswoman is also looking at opportunities in Spain, Cuba and the US, where it already operates the Court and the Tuscany in New York.
Former Countryfile star Julia Bradbury has spoken out about her battle with depression.

The TV presenter, 46, said she turned to a psychologist for help after struggles in her professional and personal life when she was in her thirties.

She told the Sunday Mirror: " Things came to a head. I was dealing with a stressful work relationship.

"There was a battle of wills going on and a romantic relationship that wasn't going very well. Also I had been diagnosed with endometriosis, which affected my moods. It all got on top of me."

The mother of three said she hopes sharing her experiences will help other people adding: " Everyone has bad times. My own experience with depression was serious enough for me to go to my doctor and ask for a referral.

"I went to see a psychologist for a few months and he was really good. It did help to talk to someone neutral.

"Sometimes you want to talk to someone outside your family who isn't even a friend because you don't want to be judged.

"I was still functioning but the counselling gave me support. It got me back on track."

Bradbury, who presents ITV's Britain's Best Walks, is now preparing to launch a campaign for the mental health charity MQ, calling for more research.
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire warned the parties of the dangers of running divisive campaigns and how they could hamper efforts to rebuild power sharing in Belfast

The Secretary of State for Northern Ireland said he is not considering the reintroduction of Direct Rule from Westminster.

James Brokenshire told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show on Sunday morning that he is not contemplating any alternatives to devolved government in Northern Ireland.

He also refused to be drawn on the possibility of Northern Ireland being run on the basis of a "joint authority" with Dublin.

"I'm not contemplating any alternatives to devolved government in Northern Ireland. That is my absolute and resolute faith," he said.

"My responsibility is to see that we are working with each of the parties to ensure that we are not looking at further division.

"My concern is that an election campaign will be divisive, will actually lead to greater distance between the parties.

"My absolute focus is on how we bring the parties together. There is a a relatively short period of time after the election - about three weeks - to see an executive being formed.

"What I'm focused on is that we maintain the institutions. It's important that we are working together to see that people are focused on the great opportunities for Northern Ireland."

Mr Brokenshire also said that the ongoing political chaos in Northern Ireland will not derail Brexit.

With a Stormont election on the cards, Mr Brokenshire warned the parties of the dangers of running divisive campaigns and how they could hamper efforts to rebuild power sharing in Belfast.

A deadline of 5pm on Monday has been set for Sinn Fein to nominate a deputy first minister to replace Martin McGuinness.

His resignation was precipitated by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal - a botched eco-scheme set to cost 490 million - but the row also reignited a range of other disputes dividing the DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition.

Mr Brokenshire said Brexit would not be hampered by a potential 25-day Stormont election campaign, polling in late February or early March and a possible three weeks of negotiations following that to form a new executive.

"I should also stress that we are not delaying the (Brexit) timetable. We still remain absolutely committed to triggering the Article 50 process by the end of March," the Secretary of State told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

"Nothing changes that."

Mr Brokenshire said a Stormont election was increasingly likely but that contacts with the parties are ongoing.

He also said Northern Ireland should not lose out in the Brexit negotiations if there is no serving first and deputy first minister at Stormont.

He said the ministers would remain in their roles even with an election and they will continue to be consulted.

Mr McGuinness's resignation automatically removed DUP leader Arlene Foster from her position as first minister - as executive structures dictate one cannot govern without the other.

The political crisis in Stormont will come to a head on Monday afternoon as the Assembly sits.

The reappointment process is one issue to be raised, along with emergency proposals by DUP Economy minister Simon Hamilton aimed at reducing the RHI overspend and a Sinn Fein motion of no confidence in DUP Speaker Robin Newton.

Mr Newton has been under political pressure over his handling of a recalled Assembly session to debate RHI before Christmas.

He has also been forced to defend himself against conflict of interest accusations in regard to his handling of Assembly exchanges on a controversial charity in his east Belfast constituency.

The devolution meltdown has cast a shadow of uncertainty over a series of big ticket Stormont Executive plans.

One of those is a payment scheme for households losing out under the UK Government's so-called "bedroom tax" and, also on Monday, DUP Communities minister Paul Givan will by-pass the Executive to ask for direct Assembly approval for the support measure.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood warned it may be illegal for the UK Government to push ahead with Brexit if there is no devolved government in Stormont.

"Northern Ireland is most exposed in the event of a hard Brexit and yet our voice faces the risk of being sidelined and silenced," he said.

Mr Eastwood also warned of the risk of a hard border with the Republic and its impact for business and working families.

The Foyle MLA said a hard Brexit would undermine the Good Friday Agreement.

And he added: "Mr Brokenshire has no right to speak on behalf of anyone in Northern Ireland - including on Brexit."
Sinn Fein MLA Michelle O'Neill has confirmed her party will not nominate a deputy First Minister on Monday.

Sinn Fein MLA Michelle O'Neill has confirmed her party will not nominate a deputy First Minister on Monday.

The party have until 5pm on Monday to nominate a deputy First Minister or the Assembly will collapse.

Former deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness resigned last Monday after outgoing First Minister Arlene Foster ignored his advice to her to step aside while an independent investigation into the cash for ash scandal takes place.

Read More

Ms Foster criticised the move, claiming: "His actions have meant that at precisely the time when we need our government to be active, we will have no government and no obvious way to resolve the RHI problems."

Read More

On Sunday night Ms O'Neill confirmed that Sinn Fein will not be re-nominating for the position of deputy First minister on Monday, and called for an election to allow the people to have their say.

She has expressed discontent not only with the DUP, but also with the British Government over the vote in last year's referendum to withdraw from the European Union.

For over ten years Martin McGuinness has worked to ensure that the institutions in the North delivered for all the people," she said.

"During that time, he has faced threats and disrespect. But he persevered, working with three successive DUP leaders, because it was the right thing to do.

The actions of the British government over this period in failing to honour their agreements and imposing Tory policy, austerity, and Brexit against the will of the people undermined the political process."

She also lashed out at the Irish Government, claiming they have "consigned themselves to the role of onlooker and presented themselves as some sort of impartial referee".

"That is a fundamental mistake," she said.

"They are the custodians of the agreements that are being hollowed out on their watch and that has compounded the current crisis.

Against this background the DUP has failed to live up to their responsibilities to represent all in the community and to promote equality and respect."

Ms O'Neill said the cash for ash scandal as eroded confidence in the institutions and insisted that Mr McGuinness resigned last week, "because it was the right thing to do".

Meanwhile the senior Sinn Fein representative also said that her party "remains committed to dialogue".

Last week there were apparent mixed messages from Sinn Fein over proposed talks with Ms O'Neill saying the party was "not interested" in entering negotiations before the electorate had their say on the conduct of the DUP at a press conference in Belfast while Gerry Adams said the party was "always open to talks".

Read More

On Sunday Ms O'Neill said: Sinn Fein remains committed to dialogue. This will require a step change from the governments and other parties. There can be no return to the status quo at Stormont. At this time there is no basis for credible negotiations to reinstate the institutions and we now must move to an election."
Northern Ireland Secretary James Brokenshire warned the parties of the dangers of running divisive campaigns and how they could hamper efforts to rebuild power sharing in Belfast

Political chaos in Northern Ireland will not derail Prime Minister Theresa May's Brexit timetable, Secretary of State James Brokenshire has said.

And with Sinn Fein urging a Stormont election be called on Monday, Mr Brokenshire warned the parties that divisive campaigns could hamper efforts to rebuild power sharing in the future.

"I should also stress that we are not delaying the (Brexit) timetable.

"We still remain absolutely committed to triggering the Article 50 process by the end of March," the Secretary of State told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

"Nothing changes that."

The British Government's insistence on its Brexit timetable means that the split from Europe could be triggered while the parties in Stormont are deep in post-election power sharing talks and with no first or deputy first minister in Northern Ireland.

Mr Brokenshire said ministers would still be in their jobs and would continue to be consulted.

SDLP leader Colum Eastwood warned it may be illegal for the UK Government to push ahead with leaving the EU if there is no devolved government in Stormont.

"Mr Brokenshire has no right to speak on behalf of anyone in Northern Ireland - including on Brexit," he said.

Sinn Fein's Mairtin O Muilleoir, Stormont Finance Minister, repeated calls for the beneficiaries of the RHI scheme to be published and urged an early election.

"The public will have their say now," he said.

"I think people are looking for an opportunity to say they have zero tolerance of corruption, zero tolerance of bigotry and they want to have respect and equality. And that's what will be on the ballot paper."

Sinn Fein said it will not nominate a replacement for Martin McGuinness when the political crisis in Stormont comes to a head on Monday afternoon as the Assembly sits.

His resignation was precipitated by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal - a botched eco-scheme set to cost 490 million - but the row also reignited a range of other disputes dividing the DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition.

The reappointment process is one issue to be raised when the Assembly meets, along with emergency proposals by DUP Economy minister Simon Hamilton aimed at reducing the RHI overspend and a Sinn Fein motion of no confidence in DUP Speaker Robin Newton.

The earliest election date is five weeks from Monday and there would also be up to three weeks of negotiations following that to form a new executive.

Mr Brokenshire said he was not contemplating alternatives to devolved government in Northern Ireland.

Mr McGuinness's resignation automatically removed DUP leader Arlene Foster from her position as first minister - as executive structures dictate one cannot govern without the other.

Doubts remain over whether he will stand for an Assembly seat due to ill-health.

Long-serving South Down MLA for Sinn Fein Caitriona Ruane announced she will not seek re-election.
Carrickfergus man (50s) assaulted in his own home by armed robbers

A man was taken to hospital after being attacked by armed robbers who broke into his home in Carrickfergus.

Four children were in the house at the time of the incident on Saturday evening in the Oakfield Drive area of Carrickfergus.

It was reported that shortly after 8pm a number of men forced their way into a house in the area.

Two of the men were believed to have been carrying suspected firearms.

They demanded money from a male, aged in his 50s, who was in the house at the time before assaulting him and making off with a sum of cash.

The victim was treated in hospital for cuts and bruises. A woman, and her four children who were in the house at the time were not injured.

Detectives are appealing for anyone who has information about this incident, or anyone who noticed any suspicious activity in the area, to contact detectives at Ballymena Police Station on 101, quoting reference number 1073 of 14/01/17.

Or if someone would prefer to provide information without giving their details, they can contact the independent charity Crimestoppers and speak to them anonymously on 0800 555 111.
Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th January 2017 ATO at the scene on the Brians Well Road in west Belfast where an overnight security alert continues. in the area. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com

Press Eye Belfast - Northern Ireland 15th January 2017 Police at the scene on the Brians Well Road in west Belfast where an overnight security alert continues. in the area. Picture by Jonathan Porter/PressEye.com

PACEMAKER BELFAST 15/01/2017 Police and ATO at the scene of a security alert in the Brians Well Road area of west Belfast on Sunday Morning. ATO are conducting searches and the road has been closed. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 15/01/2017 Police and ATO at the scene of a security alert in the Brians Well Road area of west Belfast on Sunday Morning. ATO are conducting searches and the road has been closed. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

PACEMAKER BELFAST 15/01/2017 Police and ATO at the scene of a security alert in the Brians Well Road area of west Belfast on Sunday Morning. ATO are conducting searches and the road has been closed. Photo Colm Lenaghan/Pacemaker Press

A viable explosive device which could have killed or maimed has been made safe following a 24 hour security alert in west Belfast.

A section of the Brians Well Road in Dunmurray was closed for two days following a report to police that a suspicious object had been there left.

On Sunday evening the PSNI announced that the security alert had ended, revealing that a viable explosive device had been found and made safe by army experts. The remains have been removed for forensic examination.

PSNI officers, the police helicopter and army's ATO were involved in the operation.

The area was secured by police and a full clearance operation began on Saturday evening.

PSNI Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said it is fortunate that no-one was killed or maimed by the device.

"We are relieved to have taken this explosive device out of circulation," he said.

"I believe it was designed to kill or seriously injure officers serving the local community in West Belfast, but it was also left in a position where there is every possibility that it could have killed or maimed members of the public.

"Those who left this device have shown callous disregard for the safety of the local community and the police officers serving this community. We are extremely fortunate that no one was killed or seriously injured."

Chief Supt Noble thanked the local community for their patience and understanding during the police operation.

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Whatsapp Police and ATO during a major operation in the Poleglass area of West Belfast (Photo - Kevin Scott / Belfast Telegraph)

"Our primary aim has been community safety," he said.

"We are committed to doing this by working with the community.

"The security operation caused significant disruption to the people of the area, but was required in order to keep people safe.

"Secondly, it is important to condemn those criminals who caused this upset, the overwhelming number of people in the community do not want this type of activity and we as a police service will continue to work to bring those responsible before the courts.

"The blame for this incident lies squarely on the reckless individuals who placed this device.

We have had officers in the area since yesterday evening (14 January). These officers have worked hard to keep people safe during the security operation. However, these same officers could have been better used in meeting areas of community concern. Arresting drug dealers, drink drivers or working with victims of domestic abuse, for example.

I would ask anyone with information on those who may be responsible to contact detectives in Musgrave Police Station on 101.

"Or, you can contact Crimestoppers and speak with then anonymously on 0800 555 111.
President Michael D Higgins has led tributes to former diplomat Dermot Gallagher, who has died.

The former ambassador to the US and Nigeria was a significant figure behind the scenes in negotiations relating to Northern Ireland, including the Anglo-Irish and Good Friday agreements.

He was 72.

Mr Higgins said: "Mr Gallagher dedicated a lifetime to public service, serving with distinction as ambassador to the United States and making a significant contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland.

"Sabina and I send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and former colleagues at this sad time."

Mr Gallagher was born in Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim.

In a 40-year career in government and diplomatic service he served as secretary general at the Department of Foreign Affairs and held the same position in the Department of the Taoiseach.

His first ambassadorial post was to lead the Irish embassy in Lagos, Nigeria, in the mid-1980s.

He was subsequently posted to Washington in the 1990s.

Mr Gallagher also chaired the Garda Ombudsman for a number of years and was also centrally involved in the development of the Battle of the Boyne site.

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan described him as loyal and committed.

"Dermot will be greatly missed by his many friends and colleagues in my department, in the GAA to which he also made a huge contribution and in Co Leitrim.

"I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife Maeve and to Dermot's children Fiona, Aoife and Ronan," the minister said.

Fianna Fail leader Micheal Martin described Mr Gallagher as a dedicated and erudite diplomat.

"Dermot played a significant role in helping to bring about and facilitate the northern peace process, and has left an indelible mark on the diplomatic and public service landscape," he said.

Sinn Fein leader Gerry Adams had close contact with Mr Gallagher during talks in Northern Ireland.

"I met Dermot many times during those years and worked closely with him in our efforts to advance the peace process and the implementation of the Good Friday Agreement," he said.
Max Mosley has denied money to fund press regulator Impress was put together by his father and 1930s fascist leader Oswald Mosley.

The former motor racing boss said he inherited the money from Oswald, adding his father received it from his father with the cash passed down through the years.

Mr Mosley said the cash for the only officially-recognised UK press regulator is "family money" from a family trust, adding it is "impossible" for him to exert any influence over Impress.

He also said it is "pure guff" for media outlets to suggest the proposals for press regulation would benefit conmen, warlords and politicians.

The Independent Press Regulation Trust agreed to a 3.8 million four-year funding deal for Impress and said this money has been guaranteed by the Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust.

This was set up by Mr Mosley, a victim of a newspaper sting involving images of him at a sex party, with Impress also receiving a "generous" donation from writer JK Rowling.

Newspapers could soon be forced to pay their opponents' legal costs linked to libel and privacy actions, even if they win in court, if they are not signed up to an officially-recognised regulator.

Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which contains the provisions, has yet to be implemented - much to the frustration of victims of press abuse.

Questioned about where the money for Impress has come from, Mr Mosley told BBC One's Sunday Politics: " The money comes from a family trust. It's family money. The thing is you have to understand somebody had to do this."

Pressed on the issue, and whether it was put together by his father, Mr Mosley replied: " Not put together by my father - my father inherited it from his father and from his father.

"The whole of the middle of Manchester once belonged to the family, that's why there's a Mosley Street.

"This is actually completely irrelevant because as we have given the money, I have absolutely no control.

"If you do the most elementary checks into the contract between my family trust, the trust that finances Impress, it is impossible for me to exert any influence. It's just the same as if it'd come from the National Lottery."

Presenter Andrew Neil said people would find it ironic that money to fund the press regulator has come from Britain's "historically best known fascist".

Mr Mosley replied: "You see it hasn't."

He added it has come from a family with deeper historical roots than his father, adding: "That's why there's a Mosley Street in Manchester. This is complete drivel because the fact of the matter is we have no control.

"Where the money comes from doesn't matter. If it had come from the National Lottery, exactly the same, Impress is completely independent."

Mr Mosley also told Mr Neil: " I do not have a vendetta of the press and stop saying that, it's not true. You submit evidence for it or don't put it forward."

Mr Mosley repeatedly said the press could start their own Leveson-compliant regulator, stating this would leave them with no complaints.

Most newspapers have signed up to rival regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), the press-funded body which has not sought official recognition.

Ms Mosley said: "What they all omit is a full reading of section 40 because that cost shifting will only apply if 'it's just and equitable in all circumstances'."

Mr Neil asked Mr Mosley to address the view that media outlets think the proposals are a "charter for conmen, warlords, crime bosses, dodgy politicians, celebrities with a grievance against the press".

Mr Mosley replied: "It's pure guff and the reason they're doing this is they want to go on marking their own homework, as they have ever since the war, despite seven investigations.

"So the fact of the matter is the press do not want to make sure that life is fair.

"All I want is somebody who has got no money to be able to sue in just the same way as I can."

Conservative former culture secretary John Whittingdale said he did not believe the Government will repeal section 40.

He told the same programme: "What I'm arguing for is not to implement it but it will remain on the statute book.

"And if it then became apparent Ipso simply was failing to work, not delivering effective regulation and the press were behaving in a way that was wholly unacceptable as they were 10 years ago, then there might be an argument at that time to think in that case we are going to have to take further measures, of which section 40 might be one."
The Government is backing a recruitment campaign by Southern's owners, Govia Thameslink Railway, believing it will end the reliance on overtime

Plans to recruit a pool of 200 "trainee" drivers to help improve services on Southern Railway have sparked a fresh row.

The Government is backing a recruitment campaign by Southern's owners, Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR), believing it will end the reliance on overtime.

Members of the drivers' union Aslef are banning overtime in a dispute over driver-only trains, which is leading to services being cancelled or delayed every day.

A Department of Transport source said the Government will work with GTR to boost recruitment and train hundreds of drivers to cut the need for overtime.

The company will launch an advertising campaign on Monday.

The source said: "GTR has already embarked on the UK's largest ever driver training programme as part of its objective to maintain a pool of 200 trainee drivers."

Southern are urging people who want to work part time as drivers to apply, said the source.

More flexible working could open up careers to people from "all parts of society".

The reliance on overtime has to stop, the Government believes.

Mick Whelan, general secretary of Aslef, said Southern had never employed enough drivers to fulfil its franchise commitments.

"That's why the company is cancelling so many trains, after eroding the goodwill of its drivers, who are no longer working overtime.

"It is currently cancelling 25% of its services on non-strike days, because of our overtime ban.

"So it would need to recruit 300 more train drivers just to deliver the service it promised to deliver when it won its franchise.

"As for its plan to recruit a new pool of 200 trainees, I suspect, on cost, and retention of knowledge, it would be a nonsense.

"I see the hand of Chris Grayling (Transport Secretary) here, who wants a headline on a quiet Sunday, rather than a sensible plan to resolve the problem at the heart of this industrial dispute.

"And I wonder which trade union these new drivers would join?

"No one has to be a member of a trade union, but 96% of the train drivers in England, Scotland and Wales choose to belong to Aslef, so I look forward to these new drivers joining our trade union."

A GTR spokesman said: "The campaign is a continuation of what is the UK's largest recruitment campaign of train drivers ever undertaken to meet our ongoing objective to maintain a pool of 200 trainee drivers across the franchise.

"This helps us bring in new fleets of trains across Thameslink and Great Northern and reduce to a minimum our dependence on rest day working so that we can deliver a more consistent service for our passengers."

Aslef members on Southern staged three strikes last week and are set to walk out for three more days later this month.

Members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union are also embroiled in a dispute with Southern and will strike again later in January.
The National Gallery in London was lit up in the colours of the Belgium flag after the attacks in Brussels last March

Three people who were detained in a series of anti-terror raids in the Brussels suburb of Molenbeek, where some of the Paris and Brussels attackers lived or travelled, have been freed by Belgian authorities.

Ine Van Wymersch, spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutor's office, said that the three were questioned, then released overnight.

No weapons or explosives were found during the weekend raids. Ms Van Wymersch declined to provide more details on the investigation.

Belgian authorities have been on high alert since suicide bombers attacked the Brussels airport and Metro system on March 22, killing 32 people.

AP
Anti-Trump demonstrators make their views known at McPherson Square in Washington (AP)

Donald Trump has sparked fury after tearing into renowned civil rights leader John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire's White House victory.

Mr Trump's Twitter outburst has intensified a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honouring Martin Luther King.

Trump tweeted that Georgia Democrat Mr Lewis "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results".

The incoming president added: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Mr Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, had his skull fractured during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-Americans view Mr Trump's inauguration compared with Barack Obama's eight years ago.

It also demonstrated that no one is immune from scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism.

Mr Trump has found political success even while attacking widely-lauded figures before and after the campaign - a prisoner of war, parents of a dead US soldier, a beauty queen - and now a civil rights icon.

Mr Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said on Friday that he would not attend Mr Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on January 20 - the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining the US Congress 30 years ago.

"You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard," he told NBC's Meet The Press in an interview to be shown on Sunday .

"It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president."

Mr Lewis added: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

His spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Mr Trump and said the Mr Lewis' "opinion speaks for itself".

"We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election," she said.

US intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Mr Trump win.

After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Mr Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats.

But he also emphasised that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines".

Democrat Mrs Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Mr Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.

Mr Lewis' Democratic colleagues rushed to his defence on Saturday.

California's Ted Lieu said he too would skip Mr Trump's inauguration.

"For me, the personal decision not to attend the inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis," he said.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Mr Trump to apologise to Mr Lewis and the people in his district.

"It is disheartening that Trump would rather sing the praises of Vladimir Putin than Georgia's own living social justice legend and civil rights icon," state party spokesman Michael Smith said.

But Mr Trump continued to jab Mr Lewis on Saturday night, saying that the congressman "should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US".

"I can use all the help I can get!" Mr Trump tweeted.

Yet the president-elect's assertion that Mr Lewis' district is "falling apart" and "crime infested" is hard to prove.

Georgia's 5th Congressional District includes the Atlanta metro region, considered one of the nation's fastest-growing areas.

Its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.

Crime statistics for the specific district are not measured by the government and Atlanta officials have reported a significant drop in crime in recent years, although they created a gun violence task force last year to address an increase in murders.

The district has an 8.2% unemployment rate and the median household income is about 48,000 dollars (39,300), according to the Census Bureau.

The area covers part of the wealthy Atlanta neighbourhood of Buckhead, along with the headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, Emory University, Georgia Tech, several historically black colleges and universities and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world's busiest.

But the dispute may be helping sales of Mr Lewis' books.

His defenders have been urging Twitter followers to buy them - a strategy apparently succeeding.

By Saturday night, a bound collection of his March trilogy - graphic memoirs for young people about his civil rights activism - was number one on Amazon and a more traditional memoir, Walking With The Wind, was second.

Last autumn, the third of Mr Lewis' March books, on which he collaborated with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, won the National Book Award in the young people's literature category.

AP
China's foreign ministry has rejected Donald Trump's suggestion that he might use support of Taiwan as a bargaining chip in future negotiations (AP)

China's foreign ministry has again rejected US president-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that he might use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two sides.

Spokesman Lu Kang said the "one China" policy was "non-negotiable".

Since recognising Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory - a status quo that Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election.

"The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China," Mr Lu said in a statement.

"That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change."

Mr Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday that "everything is under negotiation, including 'one China'."

The interview is the latest indication Mr Trump will shake up the US-China relationship, particularly on Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.

China was already angered by Mr Trump's December 2 phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to Taiwan's leader in nearly 40 years.

Beijing considers any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.

Mr Trump then said in a television interview that he did not feel "bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade".

After attacking China repeatedly during his campaign, Mr Trump has continued to disparage China on his Twitter account.

He has attacked Beijing over its military build-up in disputed areas of the South China Sea, allegedly manipulating its currency to put American companies at a disadvantage, and not doing enough to curb North Korea's nuclear programme.

He has also announced that a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro, a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book called Death By China.

Mr Trump told the Journal that he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he took office, though he repeated his contention that China was manipulating the yuan.

So far, Beijing has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan and to push for positive co-operation between the two sides, though state-run media have run several strongly worded editorials attacking Mr Trump.

Chinese political observers said on Sunday they expected Beijing's response to change once Mr Trump was inaugurated on January 20.

"Trump has not taken office yet, so he is an ordinary person now," said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University.

"Therefore, there's no need for China to take his remarks seriously or further respond to what he said."

Tang Yonghong, a professor at Xiamen University, said China needed to convince Mr Trump that "if he wants to make money from the Chinese mainland, he must be a friend of China instead of being an enemy".

"I think Trump is handling international relations, including Sino-US relations, with a businessman's logic," he said.

"He wants to see how China will respond to such provocation."

AP
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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
Jem's Birding & Ringing Exploits in the Eastern Province and elsewhere in Saudi Arabia
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/01/2017 (2120 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Frustrated by blanket statements and actions being made on behalf of all Manitoba First Nations, Birdtail Sioux First Nation Chief Ken Chalmers wants to clear the air.

His community hasnt made a decision on whether it would endorse Enbridges Line 3 Replacement Project, which the federal government green lit last year, and remains open to speaking with any party interested in pursuing economic activity on the Dakotas traditional lands.

Chalmers believes that Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs Grand Chief Derek Nepinak has thrown shade over his communitys economic efforts and made investors less prone to looking at the provinces First Nations communities as places of opportunity.

Hes taking the leverage out of my territory, where I cant do anything, Chalmers lamented.

This week, the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs officially filed an appeal to challenge the Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Projects approval, which they began openly pondering last month.

The project would replace a 40-year-old pipeline that ships crude oil from Alberta, through Westman and into the U.S., roughly doubling its present capacity to 760,000 barrels per day, or about 9.5 per cent of the national daily crude oil production.

In a press release outlining the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs appeal, its noted that this increased daily capacity would make it less likely Canada meets its Paris climate change commitments.

Enbridge Line 3 will lead to further environmental degradation, including the risks to the watershed from spills, the effects of leaving decommissioned pipeline in the ground and public safety issues associated with the project itself, the release outlines.

Nepinak noted in the release that he believes indigenous voices and legal orders have been marginalized and that the federal government has not lived up to Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus past comments about the importance of the federal governments relationship with the nations indigenous people.

Chalmers said that while he understands Nepinaks position, he also believes that his own voice, as a non-treaty Dakota chief speaking on behalf of his community, has been marginalized in the grand chiefs approach to this matter.

Hes got to recognize that we have underlying rights to this pipeline and each First Nation should have that ability to look into business in the surrounding economy and maybe go into it, Chalmers said, clarifying that Nepinak did not consult with him prior to filing legal action against the pipeline.

We would like to develop those relationships with industry, and Im not very happy with the lawsuit, and as chief of Birdtail, he should have talked to us  at least talked to us, and the communities that are affecting in our traditional territory, Chalmers said. Were quite capable of rejecting this pipeline or were quite capable of working with the company.

Although Birdtail Sioux First Nation is listed as one of the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs 64 member nations, Chalmers does not believe the provincial organization represents them  particularly as it relates to economic matters.

Birdtail Sioux First Nation is actively pursuing a number of economic development efforts in their Westman community, including a gaming and business centre, a two-kilometre rail spur and development of some 1,884 of connected land.

If Nepinak finds success in killing the Enbridge Line 3 Replacement Project, what then, Chalmers asked.

I dont know if he wants to sit around and beg for things, he said, asking whether Nepinak expects Manitobas First Nations to simply sit on welfare.

Messages left with the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs communications department via both phone and email were left unreturned by press time on Friday.

Enbridge has reportedly engaged with 150 indigenous communities along the Line 3 Replacement Programs path, from as far away as 300 kilometers. Enbridge officials have clarified that this consultation included not only formal meetings, but also their participation in indigenous ceremonies whenever invited, such as sweat lodges, land blessings and elder gatherings.

Even so, these efforts do not appear consistent, with Canupawakpa Dakota Nation Chief Viola Eastman clarifying that she did not become aware of the previous councils Line 3 approval until a few months after she was elected about a year ago.

As for ensuring indigenous communities realize tangible benefits from the project, Enbridge affirmed through emailed correspondence on Friday that it is committed to ensuring First Nations get a fair share of the benefit, having already negotiated agreements covering 70 communities.

By the time the Line 3 Replacement Project is complete and the new line in service, Enbridge has pledged to have made more than $27 million available in capacity funding, community sustainability and committed contracts.

Enbridges record on contracting with indigenous-owned businesses will continue, a spokesperson wrote, noting that since 2009 the company has spent more than $350 million on contracts with indigenous-owned business.

Our community investment program has a strong indigenous focus  as one example, Enbridge has provided safe and affordable housing to many indigenous families through a partnership with Habitat for Humanity, the spokesperson noted.

We will continue our efforts to engage with indigenous communities and remain committed to strengthening a relationship built on openness, respect and mutual trust.

 tclarke@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @TylerClarkeMB
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 14/01/2017 (2120 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A young woman who repeatedly ripped off her employer using false returns has received a form of probation as punishment.

You not only decided to steal once, you decided to steal on 45 separate occasions, Judge John Combs told the young woman during sentencing this week.

Crown attorney Brett Rach said Real Canadian Superstore called police on June 1.

Superstore is plagued by shoplifting, but this time the store called police to report that two employees were accused of internal store frauds.

One of those employees was 18-year-old Kenia Jasmin Miranda Amaya, who pleaded guilty in September to fraud.

At the time of the thefts, she was employed in the stores clothing department.

The investigation showed that Miranda Amaya and a co-accused made false returns into an account using a debit card for items that were never purchased.

Miranda Amaya maintains that she bowed to peer pressure from co-workers who encouraged her to commit the frauds.

Rach said the fraud involved 45 transactions that came to $1,952, although its not clear whether that was the total fraud between the two offenders or just the number of frauds committed by Miranda Amaya.

She has no prior record, and received an 18-month suspended sentence. She has to pay the money back to Superstore, and do 40 hours of community service work.

The legal status of the co-accused wasnt noted.

 ihitchen@brandonsun.com

 Twitter: @ianhitchen
Political chaos in Northern Ireland will not derail Brexit, Secretary of State James Brokenshire has said.

With a Stormont election on the cards, Mr Brokenshire warned the parties of the dangers of running divisive campaigns and how they could hamper efforts to rebuild power sharing in Belfast.

A deadline of 5pm on Monday has been set for Sinn Fein to nominate a deputy first minister to replace Martin McGuinness.

His resignation was precipitated by the Renewable Heat Incentive (RHI) scandal - a botched eco-scheme set to cost 490m - but the row also reignited a range of other disputes dividing the DUP/Sinn Fein-led coalition.

Mr Brokenshire said Brexit would not be hampered by a potential 25-day Stormont election campaign, polling in late February or early March and a possible three weeks of negotiations following that to form a new executive.

"I should also stress that we are not delaying the (Brexit) timetable. We still remain absolutely committed to triggering the Article 50 process by the end of March," the Secretary of State told the BBC's Andrew Marr Show.

"Nothing changes that."

Mr Brokenshire said a Stormont election was increasingly likely but that contacts with the parties are ongoing.

He also said Northern Ireland should not lose out in the Brexit negotiations if there is no serving first and deputy first minister at Stormont.

He said the ministers would remain in their roles even with an election and they will continue to be consulted.

Mr McGuinness's resignation automatically removed DUP leader Arlene Foster from her position as first minister - as executive structures dictate one cannot govern without the other.

Mr Brokenshire refused to be drawn on the possibility of Northern Ireland being run on the basis of a "joint authority" with Dublin.

"I'm not contemplating alternatives to devolved government in Northern Ireland," he said.

The political crisis in Stormont will come to a head on Monday afternoon as the Assembly sits.

The reappointment process is one issue to be raised, along with emergency proposals by DUP Economy minister Simon Hamilton aimed at reducing the RHI overspend and a Sinn Fein motion of no confidence in DUP Speaker Robin Newton.

Mr Newton has been under political pressure over his handling of a recalled Assembly session to debate RHI before Christmas.

He has also been forced to defend himself against conflict of interest accusations in regard to his handling of Assembly exchanges on a controversial charity in his east Belfast constituency.

The devolution meltdown has cast a shadow of uncertainty over a series of big ticket Stormont Executive plans.

One of those is a payment scheme for households losing out under the UK Government's so-called "bedroom tax" and, also on Monday, DUP Communities minister Paul Givan will by-pass the Executive to ask for direct Assembly approval for the support measure.
A bomb left on the side of a road in Northern Ireland was designed to kill police officers, it has been claimed.

The explosive was found in the Brians Well Road area in west Belfast on Saturday after a tip-off that a suspicious object had been left in the area.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland cordoned off the road and called in the helicopter for overhead searches, and bomb disposal teams were deployed in the two-day operation in the Poleglass/Dunmurry area.

The bomb was made safe at the scene and taken away for further forensic examination.

Chief Superintendent Chris Noble said local PSNI officers were the target but that civilians could have been killed or maimed.

"We are relieved to have taken this explosive device out of circulation," he said.

"I believe it was designed to kill or seriously injure officers serving the local community in west Belfast, but it was also left in a position where there is every possibility that it could have killed or maimed members of the public.

"Those who left this device have shown callous disregard for the safety of the local community and the police officers serving this community.

"We are extremely fortunate that no one was killed or seriously injured."

Chief Supt Noble thanked local people for their patience and understanding during the course of the operation.

"Our primary aim has been community safety. We are committed to doing this by working with the community.

"The security operation caused significant disruption to the people of the area, but was required in order to keep people safe," he said.

Chief Supt Noble said those behind the incident were criminals.

"Secondly, it is important to condemn those criminals who caused this upset.

"The overwhelming number of people in the community do not want this type of activity and we as a police service will continue to work to bring those responsible before the courts," he said.

"The blame for this incident lies squarely on the reckless individuals who placed this device."

The security operation began on Saturday evening with officers on the street until Sunday evening.

"These officers have worked hard to keep people safe during the security operation.

"However, these same officers could have been better used in meeting areas of community concern - arresting drug dealers, drink drivers or working with victims of domestic abuse, for example," the officer said.

The PSNI appealed for anyone with information on those who may be responsible to come forward.
Update 2pm: Gardai have arrested a man in his mid-20s in connection with the assault in Bray this morning.

He was arrested this afternoon and is being held at Bray Garda Station under Section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
A man was attacked and a woman and four children escaped injury in a burglary at a house in the North.

The PSNI said an armed gang broke into the home in the Oakfield Drive area of Carrickfergus shortly after 8pm on Saturday night.
Three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police in Bahrain have been executed by firing squad.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift criticism from human rights groups and sparked outrage among opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated.

Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.

Bahrain's public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad early on Sunday. The executions were the first in the US-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men.

Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 215 of killing two Bahraini policemen and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the country's security forces in a 2014 bomb attack. Their death sentences were upheld by a Bahraini court last Monday.

Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face low-level unrest led by a majority Shiite population that feels marginalised by the Sunni monarchy.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets on Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumours spread that their executions were imminent. .

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust. He urged the kingdom's allies to "publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings".

Protests and clashes continued on Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shiite areas.

One police officer was injured when several people shot at a police patrol in Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, the Interior Ministry said.

Al-Samea and Mushaima alleged they were subjected to electric shocks, beatings, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation and sexual assault while in custody, Amnesty International reported in 2015. Al-Singace's mother says her son was also tortured, according to British rights group Reprieve.

"It is nothing short of an outrage - and a disgraceful breach of international law - that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said. "The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on 'confessions' extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham."

Bahrain's last execution was of a Bangladeshi man in 2010. A number of death sentences have been issued since then.
Donald Trump has sparked fury after tearing into renowned civil rights leader John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire's White House victory.

Mr Trump's Twitter outburst has intensified a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honouring Martin Luther King.

Trump tweeted that Georgia Democrat Mr Lewis "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results".

The incoming president added: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Mr Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, had his skull fractured during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-Americans view Mr Trump's inauguration compared with Barack Obama's eight years ago.

It also demonstrated that no one is immune from scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism.

Mr Trump has found political success even while attacking widely-lauded figures before and after the campaign - a prisoner of war, parents of a dead US soldier, a beauty queen - and now a civil rights icon.

Mr Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said on Friday that he would not attend Mr Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on January 20 - the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining the US Congress 30 years ago.

"You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard," he told NBC's Meet The Press in an interview to be shown on Sunday.

"It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president."

Mr Lewis added: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

His spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Mr Trump and said the Mr Lewis' "opinion speaks for itself".

"We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election," she said.

US intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Mr Trump win.

After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Mr Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats.

But he also emphasised that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines".

Democrat Mrs Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Mr Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.

Mr Lewis' Democratic colleagues rushed to his defence on Saturday.

California's Ted Lieu said he too would skip Mr Trump's inauguration.

"For me, the personal decision not to attend the inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis," he said.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Mr Trump to apologise to Mr Lewis and the people in his district.

"It is disheartening that Trump would rather sing the praises of Vladimir Putin than Georgia's own living social justice legend and civil rights icon," state party spokesman Michael Smith said.

But Mr Trump continued to jab Mr Lewis on Saturday night, saying that the congressman "should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US".

"I can use all the help I can get!" Mr Trump tweeted.

Yet the president-elect's assertion that Mr Lewis' district is "falling apart" and "crime infested" is hard to prove.

Georgia's 5th Congressional District includes the Atlanta metro region, considered one of the nation's fastest-growing areas.

Its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.

Crime statistics for the specific district are not measured by the government and Atlanta officials have reported a significant drop in crime in recent years, although they created a gun violence task force last year to address an increase in murders.

The district has an 8.2% unemployment rate and the median household income is about $48,000, according to the Census Bureau.

The area covers part of the wealthy Atlanta neighbourhood of Buckhead, along with the headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, Emory University, Georgia Tech, several historically black colleges and universities and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world's busiest.

But the dispute may be helping sales of Mr Lewis' books.

His defenders have been urging Twitter followers to buy them - a strategy apparently succeeding.

By Saturday night, a bound collection of his March trilogy - graphic memoirs for young people about his civil rights activism - was number one on Amazon and a more traditional memoir, Walking With The Wind, was second.

Last autumn, the third of Mr Lewis' March books, on which he collaborated with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, won the National Book Award in the young people's literature category.

AP
A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait today over a bomb threat - but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No EW117, an Airbus A330-203.
Donald Trump has pledged to secure a rapid trade agreement with Britain as he predicted leaving the European Union would be a "great thing" for the UK.

In an interview for The Times, the US president-elect said people voted for Brexit because they "want their own identity".

He also used the interview to signal his desire for a new arms reduction agreement with Russia saying the numbers of nuclear weapons should be "reduced very substantially".

In contrast to Barack Obama, who said Britain would be at the "back of the queue" when it came to a trade deal with the US, Mr Trump made clear it would be a priority for his administration.

"We're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly. Good for both sides," he said.

He made clear that - unlike his predecessor who urged British voters to back Remain - he welcomed last June's referendum vote.

"People, countries want their own identity and the UK wanted its own identity," he said.

"Brexit is going to end up being a great thing."

Despite having prompted fears of a new arms race last year when he said the US needed to "greatly strengthen and expand" its nuclear capability, Mr Trump indicated he would like to strike a new nuclear deal with Russia.

"For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that's part of it," he said.

The president-elect - who will be inaugurated on Friday - also spoke of his belief that German chancellor Angela Merkel had made an error when she opened Germany's doors to migrants.

"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals," he said.

In his first UK interview as president-elect, Mr Trump said he would be inviting Theresa May for an early meeting in Washington.

"I love the UK," he said. "She's requesting a meeting and we'll have a meeting right after I get into the White House and it'll be, I think we're gonna get something done very quickly."

He disclosed that the Prime Minister had written to him shortly after Christmas with a copy of Winston Churchill's address to the -Americans after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbour.

In her letter, she said she hoped the feeling of "unity and fraternal association" between the two countries was "as true today as it has ever been".

In what was described as a wide-ranging interview, Mr Trump said orders would be signed next Monday to strengthen America's borders.

They could include travel restrictions on Europeans coming to the US as well as "extreme vetting" of those entering from parts of the world known for Islamist terrorism.

Mr Trump was highly critical of US foreign policy, describing the invasion of Iraq as "possibly the worst -decision ever made in the history of our country", -likening it to "throwing rocks into a -beehive".

He said Afghanistan was "going badly" and the offensive to retake Mosul - Islamic State's last stronghold in Iraq - had turned out to be a disaster.
BUDAPEST: The US embassy in Hungary said on Thursday that comments in the Hungarian right-wing press that two local...
Cumberland County may not have that many hotel tax scofflaws, but local bed and breakfast owners would rather see the issue nipped in the bud before it becomes a bigger problem.

County officials discussed the matter during the Jan. 11 commissioners finance meeting. The issue, it seems, is rooted in the rising popularity of vacation rental sites like Airbnb. These web services connect potential renters with property owners, who have listed their rooms or homes with the site for specific periods of availability.

But theres no definitive answer as to who, in this case, should be collecting taxes.

What were asking for is a level playing field, for there to be a way to make sure everyone follows the rules, said Dee Fegan, head of the Pennsylvania Association of Bed & Breakfast Inns.

As a full-time commercial operator, Fegan is required to collect and remit state sales tax, as well as the countys 3 percent hotel tax. But for those whose business is done entirely online, its much easier to get away untaxed.

We have added about 15 operators [to the tax registry], and theres probably another 20 out there that we know about but cant track down quite yet, County Treasurer John Gross said.

Combing through online rental listings to find untaxed properties is tedious work for Gross office, he said.

It also isnt a guarantee that someone will start paying. Half the operators who have been contacted so far have registered. The other half have simply taken down their postings, although theres no guarantee they wont crop up again.

Looking at the volume of listings online, compared to the number of known rental operators, Fegan estimated that the county is being shorted around $20,000 per year.

State code specifies that local lodging taxes apply to any accommodations rented in increments of less than 30 days, and must be remitted by the entity collecting payment. When dealing with online brokers, however, the definition of collecting is a sticky issue.

Nationwide, a number of jurisdictions have taken a hard stance toward online brokers such as Airbnb, maintaining that those companies must record taxes if and when renters use the companys online payment module to pay for reservations.

Airbnb, and other companies, have maintained that they are only a service provider, and that only property owners are collecting in a legal sense and must remit taxes on revenue they receive.

Nevertheless, Pennsylvanias state government reached an agreement with Airbnb last year to begin collecting state sales tax. But the company provides only payment  not a list of operators or any information about them.

By just accepting the check, youre agreeing to allow people to continue operating illegally, Fegan said.

Registered operators, and government officials, would prefer that sites like Airbnb provide details as to who their clients are, to make sure that housing being used for commercial purposes is up to commercial standards.

Fire safety, plumbing and other requirements are much tighter for commercial uses. Building and licensing codes also require commercial insurance, but there is no way to verify if under-the-radar online operators have adequate liability protection.

Further, enforcement of local taxes is an issue the state has not taken responsibility for.

I dont think theres any political appetite to deal with the situation, which is why the state agreed to take their check for the 6 percent [sales tax] and look the other way, said Shireen Farr, COO of the Cumberland Area Economic Development Corp. They will always say its a local enforcement issue, not a state issue.

Fegan has developed handouts for tourism businesses to post, explaining the legal requirements for lodging providers.

Gross also said his office has worked with townships and boroughs to bring municipal codes into play, with Carlisle, Upper Allen and East Pennsboro having done checks on rental listings to ensure fire codes and other matters are being met.
PARIS: People with monkeypox can spread the virus up to four days before symptoms appear, with more than half of...
Analysis

As Primary Health Care grapples with the resignation of its criminally charged chief executive Peter Gregg, focus has turned to whether the company's chairman Rob Ferguson should also stand down.

Criticism has been flying about Ferguson's handling of the crisis that has engulfed the company following Gregg being charged with two counts of falsifying records while an executive at Leighton Holdings. The critics include sources very close to the company, as well as governance experts, none of whom are willing to be quoted publicly.

Ferguson signed off on Gregg's appointment in February 2015 despite being informed by Gregg he was under investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Around the same time, it turns out, corporate-identity consultant Tony Spaeth was worrying that this could be a larger problem. Yahoo has a major stake in Jack Ma's Alibaba. Credit:Evan Vucci "There is a numeric limit to the universe of names, the combinations of letters of five syllables or less that are pronounceable, avoid offence in principal languages, and are not someone else's property. A population explosion of business entities, on top of product proliferation, means we are rapidly depleting the supply. And as more companies think "global," more seek global name protection, vastly increasing the pool of possible conflicts." Since then, the number of registered trademarks in the U.S. has more than doubled to almost 2.2 million. Tech explosion

David Placek, the founder and president of Lexicon Branding Inc., the Sausalito, California-based firm responsible for a lot of familiar names in technology and other fields (BlackBerry, Pentium, PowerBook, Swiffer, Dasani), had someone run a search for me of trademarks for just computing hardware and software: 819,934 in the U.S., and 5.5 million in the 30-odd countries that Lexicon tracks. The digital era's explosion of gadgets and apps has gobbled up available names at a voracious pace. For words of seven letters or fewer, there are 8.4 billion possible letter combinations -- including includes Aaaaaaa and Zzzzzzz. The number of plausible, pronounceable names is much, much smaller. So are we running out? "It is getting harder to find names that are significantly better than something like a Cendant or an Altaba," Placek said.

"It's not impossible." At Lexicon, coping with the shrinking number of available names has meant investing ever more in legal and technological resources to screen names, and using artificial intelligence, linguistics research and other tools to pick better ones. At A Hundred Monkeys, a smaller naming firm across the San Francisco Bay in Berkeley that does a lot of work with startups, the focus is on familiar words. "Actual things that make sense to people in the English language make more sense than trying to get people to align behind a seven-letter word you just invented," said creative director Eli Altman.

'Dotcom' fades Altman added that this can mean longer names and internet addresses (although his company still seems to land on a lot of short ones: Buoy, Eero and Hiya, to name three), and that he doesn't think we're running out of those. One thing that seemed like a big problem for the namers 15 years ago is less significant now: Scarce dot-com internet addresses are no longer must-haves "We know from research we've done that, for consumers, having a dot-com is way less important than it was in 2000," Placek said. Added Altman: "Almost everyone uses search to get to where they're going. If you have any type of activity on your site and anyone has a modicum of interest in what you're doing, they'll get there."

The increased use of voice interfaces such as Apple Inc.'s Siri and Amazon.com Inc.'s Alexa ought to make the specifics of URLs even less important. Still, there is a finite universe of potential names out there. For words of seven letters or fewer, there are 8.4 billion possible letter combinations -- and that includes Aaaaaaa and Zzzzzzz. The number of plausible, pronounceable names is much, much smaller. Drug challenge In pharmaceuticals, where U.S. Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency rules aimed at preventing misprescription and consumer confusion sharply limit drug namers' options, there are clear signs of exhaustion.

What else would you call nzetra Xsail, Vemlidy and Taltz (all drugs approved by the FDA last year)? For the rest of the corporate world, I guess we're not quite there yet. The success of Google and Facebook is evidence that what at first seem like really weird or mundane choices can still become familiar and hugely valuable brands. It might be that longer, stranger, clunkier names could eventually become familiar and valuable, too. I'm a big fan of 1980s Chinese business-naming conventions: How about calling your company Fujian Jinjiang Chendai Xibian's No. 2 Daily Necessities Factory. Still, the very existence of consultancies specialised in naming -- Placek started Lexicon in 1982, and he thinks it was one of the first -- is indication that the work has gotten harder. It is surely going to get harder still. It strikes me that this may be yet another way in which the room to innovate and carve out market space is being crimped.
Tom Orren Wamberal Who will argue with the decision to set up an independent tribunal to monitor parliamentarians travel expenses? However, the first major political party which says it will forthwith choose to fly domestic economy class will really get our attention. At a time when Centrelink overpayments are being recovered, the business class travel perk for MPs (and bureaucrats) is an unfair anachronism, is no longer affordable and is completely unnecessary. It was given up by most businesses decades ago. It's time. David Hind Neutral Bay Who in their right mind would want to be a federal politician? For the job they do they are paid peanuts. They spend vast amounts of time away from their families and are required to attend all manner of social and formal occasions when I'm sure they would rather be home in bed.

On top of this, half of the country didn't vote for your party, and so don't care much for you anyway, while the press are watching your every move in search of an appetising headline. Finally, unless you are blessed with a so called "safe seat" your life in politics can be equated to that of a WWII tail gunner. Be a politician? No thanks. Ross MacPherson Seaforth Members of Parliament claim they need to take family members on supposed "official business" trips because of the large amounts of time they spend away from home ("Cormann's $23k in Broome trips", smh.com.au, January 15). These members sought preselection knowing there would be periods of absence from the family. Like other members of the commercial workforce required to have long periods of absence from the family, MPs should pay for their own family travel. Official visits or no official visit. If MPs are not happy with this arrangement it's time to get out of the kitchen.



John Tingiri Mornington (Vic) No doubt Mathias Cormann will have no problem explaining away the $23,000 multiple trips to Broome for himself and his wife. All Labor's fault, as usual. Lindsay Allan Paddington

Weddings Parties Anything. Not a band. It's what Liberal politicians are willing to claim travel expenses for. Doug Steley Heyfield, Victoria Senator Arthur See No Donors is likely to be appointed minister for health. Given cuts to dental care programs will he now become Arthur See No Dentist? John Bailey Canterbury

Obama a creditable president in a faulty system Paul McGeough gives us a thoughtful analysis of Barack Obama's time in the Oval Office ("A dubious legacy", January 14-15). However, I don't think he gives enough weight to the enormity of Obama being the first black president.

"Fake" news is not a new phenomenon. Obama was subjected to vicious racial misinformation during his whole time in office. Donald Trump stoked those fires in his "presidential" campaign. That Obama "stuck to his belief that he was President for all Americans" was to his credit.

And shouldn't we be paying more attention to the USA voting system? Obama was hampered by structural deficits in the way USA "democracy" operates. Will we ever know the impact on the election result of the 14 states that installed new restrictive voting laws - which usually target minorities - before the 2016 election?America - the land of the free - especially free not to vote.

Fifty eight per cent is the estimated voter turn out for the 2016 election. The real question is why so many Americans don't consider it their duty to vote? What is wrong with Americas' sentimental, hand-on-heart citizenship that produces these results? Systemic problems have meant Trump will enter the White House "with a historically low primary vote , with a historically low approval rating, with vast divisions within his party and within his nation at a time when the current world order seems to be in flux" ("And now for something completely different", January 14-15). Obama can't be held responsible for this. Until the system is changed, the problems will only be exacerbated.

Jan Kent Farmborough Heights War with China, or everybody's friend?

The late Malcolm Fraser and now Paul Keating have both raised the possibility of war with China (Letters, January 14-15).



When the views of two ex-prime ministers from opposing political parties overlap to such a great extent, it is rather more than simply fascinating.



Keating's remark, that the Australian people need to take note, is an understatement. It is time for serious questions about Australia's alliance with the US to be asked and answered.



Nick Deane Marrickville Once we went all the way with LBJ, do we really have to travel with Trump? Laurie Urane Haberfield China's arrival as a great power will require countries to negotiate, but domestic politics, even in China, could get in the way as hardliners cry "appeasement" for their own advantage. Some years ago Paul Keating commented that efforts by Russia, Britain and France to contain the newly emerged German empire ended in tears in the First World War. In China's case, there is even more reason to seek a mutual accommodation, as all the major players have nuclear weapons. James Moore Kingsgrove

With China being a major trading partner and America becoming the world's aggressor Australia should cut all military ties with all countries and declare it self neutral. Let's be everybody's friend.



Neville Warner East Lindfield

Mum buoyed by Danny I too have great memories of the Prince Edward Theatre but the organist's name was Noreen Hennessy not Maureen (Letters, January 14-15). I still have a laugh about my mother and her friend who were going to see the movie King of Kings at the St James Metro. They were chatting and walked past the intended theatre and ended up in the Prince Edward and saw Danny Kaye in Knock on Wood. Not what they expected but they did enjoy Danny Kaye.



Graeme Woodlands Wyee Point Can-do Baird v whingers Nathan English of Balmain (Letters Jan 14-15) is a Balmain boy who may not cry but he certainly whinges and abuses. Sadly, his tirade of abuse is aimed at our "can do" Premier Mike Baird who is busting his guts to remedy the decades of neglect by a series of pigmy premiers who delivered nothing to NSW.



David Scarlett Killara

A message to our Premier, Big Baird, don't start vast projects with half-vast plans.



Allan Rodd Tennyson Point Skinner should stay The capacity of the health system to resist reform is legendary ("NSW has its own expenses problem", January 13). Minister Jillian Skinner has made her mark. Her nurture of the infant Western Sydney Integrated Care project is but one example. There is pressure on Skinner to quit cabinet in the spirit of renewal.

In opposition and in government this minister has fulfilled John Hewson's call for governments to "think and strategise several decades ahead". The gains being made in NSW should not be put at risk simply to advance another political career. Michael Fasher general practitioner, Adjunct Associate Professor University of Sydney, Conjoint Associate Professor University of Western Sydney, Wilberforce Hail British justice

I've taken my pick, Evan Whitton (Letters, January 14), and I'll stick with the system we've got, thanks. It was the English jurist Sir William Blackstone who said it was better that 10 guilty people escape than one innocent suffer. If French courts achieve a 95 per cent conviction rate, and take only a few days to convict, then one has to wonder how many innocents may be suffering. Besides, how can "fewer than 50 per cent of guilty defendants [be] convicted", if an individual is, rightly, presumed to be innocent until proven guilty, and by virtue of not being convicted is not proven guilty? I trust Whitton is not suggesting we determine guilt based on opinion  that's a system we must avoid at all costs.



Simon Hoyle Mosman Fairfax's life of service James Fairfax, who died last week, is rightly remembered for his philanthropy to the visual arts ("Prominent philanthropist and arts patron James Fairfax dies", smh.com.au, January 12). His visionary commitment to medical research also deserves to be well-known. In 1958, as a young man, he was one of the founders of the Children's Medical Research Foundation, later renamed the Children's Medical Research Institute, which was set up to discover how to prevent, treat and cure serious diseases of childhood. For the remaining 59 years of his life, he was unwavering in his support, including a 31-year involvement in the institute's management and governance and very generous donations to research. For the last 24 years he supported the ground-breaking research of Professor Patrick Tam, who investigates how foetuses develop and the causes of birth defects. A truly remarkable record of sustained commitment to a cause he believed in. Roger Reddel Westmead

Cock of the walk As we edge apprehensively towards the inauguration of the 45th president of the US, I am struck by the contemporaneous transition to the Year of the Rooster. In the Chinese calendar, this is regularly symbolised by a striking creature with brilliant red and yellow plumage and a prodigious golden crest, beady eyes, and puffed out chest. Oh! If only I were a cartoonist. Peter Russell St Ives Privileged political class guilty of theft

The time has surely come to dispatch with the weasel words and call it for what it is ("How a career unravelled", January 14-15). When a politician says they have been guilty of an "error of judgment" in claiming entitlements, what it really means they are guilty of theft from the money provided by the hard working people of Australia. The same people who can only dream that one day they may have some of the privileges bestowed upon the political class. Norman Atkinson Braidwood MPs are called "The Honourable", but they need a watchdog to keep them honest. A plebiscite to scrap this title? Joe Payne Coogee I presume the 2 per cent in Saturday's readers' poll who disagreed with tighter restrictions on MP's expenses were all pollies and their families.

Anne Ramsay Kiama In resigning her Ministerial position, Sussan Ley has done the honourable and decent thing because she is an honourable and decent person. Geoff Black Caves Beach My vote goes to Sussan Ley, who unexpectedly (and at great personal cost) has been the catalyst in saving taxpayers many thousands in legal, but unwarranted, "entitlements" claims made by politicians. Well done. Marian Attfield Mt Colah
Controversies over politicians' entitlements and the Centrelink debt recovery system have taken their toll on the Turnbull government, new polling shows.

A Reachtel poll, commissioned by activist group GetUp! and taken before Sussan Ley's resignation and in the midst of ongoing issues surrounding Centrelink's automated debt collection system, found increased support for the opposition, with Labor leading the Turnbull government, 54 points to 46.

While primary support for the Liberal party and Labor was deadlocked at 32 per cent, the opposition captured the majority of the "undecided" support 33.3 per cent to 19.4, with 58.5 per cent of those still making up their mind answering they would preference Labor higher.

The poll, which took in 2126 respondents, focused heavily on the Centrelink issue, which has seen close to 200,000 notices of potential overpayments issued since coming online in July, with many claiming to have been incorrectly found to have owed money.
Work will begin this year on transforming Queensland's "largest sandpit" at Brisbane Airport into the newest gateway to Australia - a facility with the same capacity as busy Singapore Airport.

The sandy area  more than eight metres deep in some places and three kilometres long  will become Brisbane's $1.4 billion new parallel runway by September 2020.

Brisbane's New Parallel Runway project director Paul Coughlan (left) with works inspector Des Hasemann on top of 11 million cubic metres of sand that is ready to become Brisbane's new runway. Credit:Tammy Law

The weight of the 11 million cubic metres of sand has already acted like a giant sponge drawing out water for the past two years.

"Parts of this site have settled almost three metres," Brisbane's New Parallel Runway project director Paul Coughlan said.
It is a mistake to take research money from universities to fund gaps in the National Disabilities Insurance Scheme, the new chairman of Australia's high-profile Group of Eight (Go8) university body, Queenslander Professor Peter Hoj said this week.

University of Queensland vice-chancellor and UQ Senate president Professor Hoj was recently appointed the head of Australia's leading university research body, the Group of Eight universities.

University of Queensland Vice Chancellor Professor Peter Hoj Credit:Damien Bredberg

The Australian newspaper reports that the Federal Government intends to transfer $3.7 billion from the Education Investment Fund to the National Disabilities Investment Scheme to fill a funding shortfall.

The Education Investment Fund is used to pay for new infrastructure at Australia's universities.
The Queensland Government's building watchdog has ordered an independent investigation into the collapsed eight-metre high brick wall during an $11 million rectification program at Villanova College at Coorparoo.

Fairfax Media last week reported that an eight-metre tall brick wall over the top of Villanova's College's senior area and tuckshop suddenly collapsed on December 27 while no students were at school.

The Queensland Government has now ordered an independent engineer examine why a brick wall at Villanova College collapsed. Credit:Tony Moore

Principal Mark Stower described the accident during non-school hours as "the grace of God" and confirmed the section had been repaired around 12 months ago.

Prominent Queensland building firm Hutchinson's Builders are spending $11 million at Villanova College replacing non-galvanized steel used in some construction on site since 2012 with galvanized steel.
Six Queensland beaches were closed during parts of Sunday after deadly box jellyfish were found and shark sightings reported.

Eight deadly box jellyfish were caught during a drag near Lamberts Beach in Mackay forcing its closure on Sunday morning.

Box jellyfish stings can kill an adult in two or three minutes. Credit:National Geographic

Two other local beaches, Eimeo and Sarina, were also shut after box jellyfish were found while Moore Park Beach near Bundaberg remains closed after stinger sightings.
Mechanicsburgs newest spot to enjoy food and beer is located at the same address of an old favorite that closed last year.

The York Street Grille opened last month at 398 N. York St., the same location as the former Grandpas Growlers, a longtime community staple that closed in May 2016 when its owners retired. The owners of the new venue also acquired Grandpa Growlers liquor license.

York Street Grille co-owner David Guy said he and co-owner Anne Arroyo wanted to open a local-type of place and to feel a part of the community in the borough, much in the same fashion as the homey Grandpas Growlers.

We offer consistent quality food in a family atmosphere, said Guy, who described the 4,000-square-foot restaurant that seats 150 as an upscale pub. The unique menu features a wide selection of appetizers, soups, salads, entrees, pizza and kids meals, as well as 20 varieties of beer.

So far, business has been good, Guy said, with the Cuban sandwich and the adult shells and cheese entree as two of the venues biggest sellers.

The Cuban sandwich comprises pulled pork with gruyere cheese, Dijon mustard, sliced ham and dill pickles pressed on a fresh baguette, according to the York Street Grilles website. Other available sandwiches include angus burgers, crab cake, classic cheesesteak, and everyones favorite comfort food, grilled cheese with a signature twist of bacon and tomato jam.

The adult shells and cheese entree features a mild queso sauce tossed with large seashell pasta, topped with stewed tomatoes and bread crumbs. Patrons may order the dish to also include chicken, beef or shrimp. Other available entrees include the York Street strip steak, fish and chips, crabcakes, and seafood or truffle pasta.

Pizza choices include truffle alfredo, margherita, Hawaiian and California, as well as traditional varieties.

The York Street Grille may be new, but Guy and Arroyo are far from newcomers in the restaurant business.

They also own the Firehouse restaurant and the MoMo BBQ & Grill in Harrisburg and plan to open a carbon copy of the York Street Grille next month on state Route 22 in Lower Paxton Township.

Jeff Palm, executive director of the Mechanicsburg Area Chamber of Commerce, said he thinks its great that Guy and Arroyo were able to turn over the former Grandpas Growler and open a new restaurant on the same site.

The people who own (the York Street Grille) have lots of experience of running restaurants, Palm said. They know what works and what doesnt work. It should be a longstanding business here. All of their other restaurants have last for years and years.

The York Street Grilles kitchen is open on Sunday-Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. The bar closes later. Brunch is available on Sunday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.

For more information, visit www.yorkstreetgrille.com.
A young woman has serious head injuries after she was hit by a truck on the Bruce Highway north of Gympie.

The Emerald woman, aged in her 20s, was struck just before 10pm on Sunday, with the crash closing the highway for several hours.

A woman is flown to Brisbane after being hit by a truck north of Gympie.? Credit:RACQ LifeFlight

She was driven to Gympie Hospital, where she was airlifted by RACQ LifeFlight Rescue helicopter to Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital

Police are investigating. The truck driver wasn't hurt.
A bad batch of ecstasy believed responsible for up to 20 overdoses may still be available on the streets, police have warned.

A surge in overdoses near Chapel Street this weekend also prompted at least one nightclub to warn party-goers to avoid the "very dangerous synthetic drugs" making the rounds along the busy strip.

Hospitals were flooded with people from Friday night to Sunday morning after the powerful drugs, believed to be MDMA laced with GHB, were distributed along the precinct.

A 17-year-old boy remains in The Alfred hospital in a serious condition, while police are also examining the death of a 30-year-old man, who died of a suspected drug overdose in Elwood on Friday.
Melbourne jewellers plan to hold crisis meetings in the coming weeks to discuss with police a series of violent armed robberies on jewellery stores in the city's most prestigious suburbs.

Jewellers  including one Toorak jeweller who has been robbed twice since October  will raise their fears of violent thefts by teenage gangs after three jewellery stores were targeted this month.

"We understand that business owners, as well as the wider community, are concerned following a number of incidents over the past couple of months where armed robberies have taken place at jewellery stores," a police spokesman said in a statement on Monday.

"These incidents have a significant impact on victims, whether it's those who are in the store at the time of the offence or those business owners who are left with the loss of stock and damage to their stores."
Police have found three brothers who went missing from their home in Mornington.

Jai, Beau, and Chase Masters, aged nine, 10 and 12 respectively, went missing from Meridian Way, Mornington about 7.15pm on Sunday.

Jai, Beau, and Chase Masters are missing from the Mornington area.

Police had concerns for the children's welfare due to their age and appealed for public assistance.

They were found safe and well on Monday morning.
Cheryl Oprandi is a Property Consultant with www.sellleaseproperty.com.au

Looking ahead to 2017, WA has to be considered as a separate market to the other states. Here, property is on the move. No longer is there a need for buyers to be hesitant and wait a while because 'prices will reduce more'. It is time to buy, but where?

There are many factors involved when assessing an area that could have potential financial growth for buyers. The major factors to consider are new government infrastructure plans, employment opportunities, zoning changes to enable subdivision and school population increasing.

The following 8 areas all have positive changes within the suburb aligning with these major factors, and the growth of the suburbs are not solely dependent on first home buyers or overseas investors.
Washington: Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday issued a stern parting rebuke to President-elect Donald Trump, warning him against absolving Russia for recent actions and to watch what he says.

"Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests and so therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound," Mr Brennan said on Fox News Sunday.

"It's more than just about Mr Trump. It's about the United States of America."

The warning came as Mr Trump's aides were forced to deny a report that the President-elect's advisers had told UK officials the incoming president's first foreign trip would be to Iceland, where he would meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
"Unfortunately, one of them was her husband, Joe DiMaggio," Wilder is quoted as saying in his biography, Nobody's Perfect. "And he didn't like what he saw, or what everyone else was seeing." DiMaggio hadn't planned on visiting the set that night, and was waiting for his wife at the St Regis Hotel, where the couple were staying. But columnist Walter Winchell had persuaded him to come along. Monroe was not happy her husband had shown up. But he was even more unhappy and angrily stormed off. Later that night the couple had a screaming fight in their room. The next morning, her hairdresser covered up Monroe's bruises with make-up. Three weeks later, Monroe filed for divorce. Newlyweds Joe DiMaggio and Marilyn Monroe in San Francisco in January 1954. Credit:AP Wilder never used the Lexington Avenue footage and reshot the scene on a closed lot in Hollywood, though photographs of that night appeared everywhere. Except for some brief, grainy shots from a newsreel covering the divorce, footage from that night was never screened.

"The footage immediately disappeared," Wilder said in the biography. "But one day I'm sure some film scholar will dig it up." The story of the night Marilyn Monroe's white halter-top dress blew up was well known among Jules Schulback's children, and even among his grandchildren. His granddaughter Bonnie Siegler said he bragged from time to time about his personal film shoot with Marilyn. "He was a real raconteur," said Siegler, a graphic designer who runs her own company, Eight and a Half. "I didn't know if the story was real." But even though she had never seen it, she often told people that her grandfather had footage of Marilyn Monroe on the subway grate. Siegler's older sister, Rayna Dineen, said her grandfather, whom they called Opi (a German term of endearment), was rarely without his camera. "He would be filming everywhere, all the time." There were reels of vacations, family picnics, birthday parties and bar mitzvahs. He had even filmed a 12-minute day in the life of his daughters, depicting them waking up, brushing their teeth and going to school.

"But the Marilyn story was one of his favourite stories to tell," Dineen said. After 35 years in the same apartment, Schulback was forced to leave. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation had bought the townhouse where he lived and the one behind it and wanted to reconfigure the property. So Siegler and her husband, Jeff Scher, helped move her 92-year-old grandfather to a new place on the other side of Central Park. In 2004, in the arduous packing up of Schulback's home, the couple came across a big stash of film. It was stored in a backroom that the family called "Opi's fur room", where Schulback had once assembled garments from animal pelts for his business. "No one ever wanted to go back there," Siegler said. "But when we went in, we found this plastic bag filled with just tons of film, home movies, bought movies and everything mixed together." Bonnie Siegler looks at 16mm film of Marilyn Monroe, shot by her grandfather, on a reel-to-reel at her home in Connecticut. Credit:New York Times Siegler's husband, an experimental filmmaker, couldn't wait to screen the films. He was particularly interested in seeing whether Monroe and the subway grate footage actually existed. "It was like this family myth," Scher said. "So long rumoured and never confirmed."

The same was true for its source material. For decades, innuendo swirled around the Lexington Avenue shoot for The Seven Year Itch. Monroe and DiMaggio had married that January and had already had a bumpy ride, the Yankee Clipper enraged by her exhibitionism and by rumours of infidelity, according to Lois Banner, the author of the 2012 biography Marilyn: The Passion and the Paradox. "She was having an affair with her musical director at the time, and everyone knew about it in the business," said Banner, a professor emeritus of history and gender studies at the University of Southern California. So before he even arrived on set, there was tension. "DiMaggio," Banner said, "was not happy with Marilyn." There are several theories as to why the footage from that night was never used. Some believe the Manhattan shoot was done purely as a publicity stunt, which was made even more sensational when DiMaggio showed up. Some biographers say the enthusiastic crowd was just too noisy, making the film unusable. A third theory was that the footage was too risque and Monroe wanted to shoot a more demure version, so as not to further infuriate her husband. There was even talk at the time that she wasn't wearing any underwear. Wilder tried to put those rumours to rest in his biography. She had put on not just one but two sets of underwear, he said.

Banner said all three reasons quite likely played into the final decision to reshoot. "But the photographs of that night had gone viral by the time the film was being put together," she said, "and played a great role in her fame." The skirt-blowing scene used in the finished film is incredibly brief and tame. The image many people have of that moment comes from the press shots and publicity stills in New York, and not from the finished movie. In the pelt room of Schulback's apartment, Scher excitedly gathered up the old metal film canisters. None were labelled, he recalled. Later that night in his studio in the couple's apartment on West 16th Street, Scher slowly and carefully wound the film, since some of it was very brittle and in danger of breaking. He did a few repairs and then began looking at it using a light box, spooling it from reel to reel by hand. There were about 50 rolls of 16-millimetre film and around 75 rolls of 8 millimetre. There were the family outings and parades. The birthdays and bar mitzvahs.

And there, amid the mundane scenes of precious everyday life, was Marilyn Monroe, in crisp, colourful Kodachrome. "This stuff just popped out," Scher said. "It was real! Preserved like the home movies are, too. Just these moments in time." Scher could clearly see Monroe's dress billowing up. "Like a parachute with a pair of legs attached," he said. "It was startling. Like seeing a myth materialise." Scher called out to his wife: "It's really here!" They watched all 3 minutes, 17 seconds in amazement. "There was something so magical about it," Siegler said. "For years I didn't know if it was real. I certainly didn't believe it wholeheartedly. And there it was. It was like the end of the story." The film starts with a spliced-in intertitle that reads "World Premiere"  Schulback's little inside joke.

And then there is Marilyn Monroe, in a white terry robe, coming down the stoop of a white-shuttered building at 164 East 61st Street, between Lexington and Third avenues. It was the earlier scene  before the subway grate footage  that Schulback had shot. Cameramen and press photographers are gathered outside as the actress smiles and waves. Cut to Monroe in a second-floor window wearing a slip and blow-drying her hair. Ewell walks down the street and into the building. The film cuts inexplicably to 30 seconds of what must be a Shriners parade in Manhattan, then jumps to another intertitle, which reads "Our Baby". And suddenly, there is Monroe again, this time on the subway grate in that famously fluttering white dress, holding a matching white clutch in her right hand and a red-and-white-striped scarf in her left. Schulback was incredibly close, filming right behind Wilder's shoulder, stopping to wind his hand-held camera every 25 seconds. Now and then, a silhouette of the director's arm intrudes into Schulback's crystal-clear shot. At one point Wilder, in a fedora, passes across the frame. Monroe gets into position and yawns, while the cinematographer sets up the camera. Through a gap in the film crew, Schulback captures just her face, looking off to the left, serious and unsmiling. Then Ewell is there, chatting with Monroe, who pushes him into position. The dress flutters again, Monroe holds it down, bending slightly, smiling and talking to Ewell, but it flutters up some more and she laughs, her head thrown back. It blows up again, but she doesn't push it down this time, and it flies up over her head, clearly revealing two pairs of underwear that, because of the bright lights, do not protect Monroe's modesty quite as much as she might have liked.

Then, as suddenly as she appeared, Marilyn is gone, and the film reverts to home-movie mode: Edith Schulback walking on the grass at a family outing in the country. It's like being shaken from some crazy dream, back to reality. Interest in that moment in film history from more than 60 years ago endures. The new movie musical starring Ryan Gosling and Emma Stone, La La Land, makes brief filmic reference to it in the opening number, with a young dancer's yellow dress blowing up. And a Snickers commercial from the Super Bowl last year stars Willem Dafoe, Eugene Levy and a computer-generated Monroe on the famous set. "It's that iconic image," said Banner, the Monroe biographer. "People are still fascinated by the context in which it all happened." After screening the film with her husband, Siegler immediately told her grandfather that she had found the footage. "I was so excited about it  more for the reason that his story was true." She shrugged. "But he never had any doubts." Schulback moved in 2005 and died six months later.

Siegler and Scher made a print and screened it for about 100 people in 2004 at the upstate home of their friends Kurt Andersen and his wife, Anne Kreamer. The two couples had started a small film festival for neighbours and friends, hanging a sheet on the side of a barn and serving popcorn, ice pops and beer. The people in the audience that northern summer night had no idea what they were in for. "That scene is one of the most iconic scenes in American cinema," said Andersen, an author, radio host and a founder of Spy magazine. "So to have film of it actually being shot, it's like watching the Zapruder film. It's just extraordinary." The crowd that evening sat in silence as Marilyn Monroe's dress blew up on the side of the barn. "People were gobsmacked," Andersen said. "They were like, 'What did I just see?'" That was the only time anyone outside the family had seen the film. Until now.
New York: Zhou Youguang, known as the father of Pinyin for creating the system of Romanised Chinese writing that has become the international standard since its introduction some 60 years ago, died on Saturday in Beijing, Chinese state media reported. He was 111.

In recent decades, with the comparative invincibility that he felt great age bestowed on him, Zhou was also an outspoken critic of the Chinese government.

Zhou Youguang, then aged 106, in his study in Beijing in December 2011. Credit:New York Times

"What are they going to do," he asked bluntly in an interview with the BBC in 2012. "Come and take me away?"

In fact, they had already done that once before, long ago.
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Screams heard coming from woods were one of the only clues to one of the most gruesome and baffling murders ever seen.

Helen Fleet was walking her dogs through Worlebury Woods near Weston-super-Mare when she was stabbed ten times, battered around the head and strangled to death.

The brutal attack on the 66-year-old took place on March 28, 1987, but more than 30 years later her killer has never been found.

Despite one of the largest investigations in the seaside town's history, no real motive for the horrific attack has ever been established and it is thought that Mrs Fleet just happened to be in the woods at the wrong time.

Mrs Fleet, who lived with her younger sister Betty Brough in Osborne Road, had been out walking with her two dogs that Saturday when screams were heard at around 12.20pm.

Twenty minutes later, Sylvia Lewis from Worle, who was also walking her dog, overheard barking and discovered Mrs Fleet lying motionless.

Mrs Lewis, who was friends with Mrs Fleet, ran to the nearest house on Worlebury Hill Road for help.

It was then that David Davies and his wife Hazel went into the woods and found Mrs Fleet dead with her beloved white West Highland terrier Bilbow and brown mongrel Cindy nearby.

A huge murder hunt was launched by police and more than 120 officers were working on the case at the time. Some 500 statements were taken but no one was ever caught for the daylight savage attack.

Police attention soon focused on trying to identify a youth who was seen running fast along Ashbury Drive.

Detectives thought he may have been the same person who was seen rushing down nearby Farm Road towards Milton Road carrying a yellow hard hat or crash helmet.

They soon began working on a theory that Mrs Fleet may have known her killer after reports that she had been chatting to a youth two days before the murder.

Six weeks into the investigation and they put out a photofit of a man, but it did not led to fruition for investigators and his identity still remains unknown.

Witnesses also spotted another two youths running out of the woods, around 30 minutes after the murder.

One was aged 15 to 18, 5ft 5ins tall with dark trousers and a white ski jacket with red and blue trim.

The other youth, seen separately, was aged about 16 and was also wearing a ski jacket with red and grey or dark blue squares.

Some 13 years after the murder, another reconstruction, this time on HTV's Crimestoppers, brought up another potential witness.

A man came forward and suggested Mrs Fleet had been talking to a youth who played with her two dogs on the day of her death.

He believed the pair knew each other and were talking quite openly.

It squared with information from other people shortly after the killing about the teenager she had been seen talking to two days before she died. And it was reported at the time that he bore a strong resemblance to one of the youths seen fleeing from the woods shortly after the killing.

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The fresh information saw Detective Superintendent Mike Hemms, who was leading the investigation at the time, tell the Bristol Post: "We believe Helen's killer was a local boy who had a good knowledge of Worlebury woods.

"We are having a number of items examined by forensic scientists for DNA evidence.

"Despite this, I am asking for anyone to come forward who has any information about the murder, particularly anybody who may have been confided in by the murderer since March 28, 1987.

"We believe he has told someone about his action."

As time continued evidence collected in the original investigation, including Mrs Fleet's clothing has been sent for re-examination in the hope of finding DNA that will lead to her killer.

Just last year retired police officer Chris Clark said he believed Mrs Fleet could have been the first victim of a serial killer.

He told national papers that her murder had a stark resemblance to the murders of Kate Bushell, 14, from Exmouth, Devon and 41-year-old Lyn Bryant in Cornwall, both of which remain unsolved.

Miss Bushell was killed on November 15, 1997 while exercising a neighbour's Jack Russell. Her throat had been cut and residents spotted a blood-soaked man running from the area, but he was never found. The teenager's body was discovered by her father in a field just 700 yards from the family's Exwick home.

Less than a year later housewife and mother-of-two Lyn Bryant was knifed to death on October 20, 1998 while walking her lurcher on the Roseland peninsula near her home in Truro. The 41-year-old, a grandmother, had been stabbed in the neck, chest and back.

The killings, which happened in the 1980s and 90s, were not been officially linked by police, who are still investigating the death of Mrs Fleet.

Now more than 30 years later the murder is inquiry is still open and being looked into by the Avon and Somerset cold case team.

Anyone with information about her death can contact Detective Sergeant Peter Frake in the Major Crime Review Team on 101.
The following people were sentenced on Dec. 20 in Cumberland County Court of Common Pleas. All sentences include costs and run concurrently with other sentences unless otherwise specified. Probation is unsupervised unless indicated otherwise. Driving under the influence (DUI) offenses generate different mandatory-minimum sentences based on an offenders prior convictions in the past 10 years.

Sentenced to State

Correctional

Institute

Boiling Springs

Keith Figari: One to 2 years and costs for sexual abuse of children, consecutive; 5 years concurrent probation for 50 counts of sexual abuse of children; 15 years on SORNA. (Masland)

Carlisle

Tyler Russell Fox: Six months to 5 years for theft by unlawful taking or disposition, credit of 26 days. (Guido); One to two years for DUI and a $500 fine; 90 days and a $500 fine for driving while under suspension-DUI-related. (Guido)

Joshua D. Myers: Twenty-seven months to 5 years for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance-heroin, credit of 17 months. (Ebert); Five days to 6 months and a $1,000 fine for DUI-controlled substance, consecutive. (Ebert)

Luis Ines Pedroso: Ten to 20 months for person not to possess/use firearms-delinquent; 18 to 36 months, consecutive, a $100 fine and restitutions of $3,735 and $1,000 for theft from a motor vehicle. (Peck)

Shane Allen Winters: Twelve months probation for disorderly conduct; 12 to 24 months for obstructing administration of law or other governmental functions. (Placey); Twelve to 24 months for fleeing or attempting to elude police officer; a $300 fine for driving while under suspension, DUI-related; a $300 fine for required financial responsibility. (Placey)

Mechanicsburg

Kyle Edwin Kratzer: Twelve months to 24 months and restitution of $147 for receiving stolen property; 6 months probation for theft from a motor vehicle; 6 months probation for loitering and prowling at nighttime. (Placey); Twenty-four to 48 months and restitutions of $20, $30 and $9,085 for burglary-adapted overnight accommodation-no person present. (Placey)

Michael E. Poet: One to 2 years and restitution of $147 for receiving stolen property; costs for criminal conspiracy to theft from a motor vehicle, concurrent; 1 to 2 years for unlawful possession of Schedule I controlled substance, credit of 229 days. (Masland); Two and 1/2 years to 5 years and restitutions of $9,085, $20 and $30 for criminal conspiracy to burglary-adapted overnight accommodation-no person present. (Masland)

Sentenced to

Cumberland County

Prison

Camp Hill

Selina A. Cooper: One to 2 years and twelve months probation, consecutive, for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with Intent to Deliver a Schedule I, controlled substance-meth. (Masland)

Carlisle

Brandon Davidson Black: Thirty days to 11 months, 48 months probation for criminal mischief; 6 to 12 months and restitutions of $4,238.40 and $8,660 for criminal conspiracy to theft by unlawful taking. (Placey)

Morgan Wade Bowers: Two to 23 months and a $150 fine for corruption of minors; 12 months probation and a $100 fine for propulsion of missiles onto a roadway. (Peck)

Mitchel L. Carr Jr.: One hundred eighty-two days to 365 days, 36 months probation and 24 hours of community service for endangering welfare of children-parent or guardian; 182 days to 365 days and 24 hours of community service for simple assault. (Placey)

Rodney Allen Hill: Six to 12 months and restitution of $399.28 for terroristic threats; 6 to 12 months and 12 months probation for obstructing administration of law or other governmental functions. (Placey)

William Paul Lehner: Thirty days to 6 months and a $750 fine for DUI, second offense; costs for unlawful possession of small amount of marijuana; $300 fine for accident involving damage to unattended vehicle or property. (Placey); Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI; 3 to 6 months for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance-cocaine; 3 to 6 months and 12 hours of community service for obstructing administration of law or other governmental functions. (Placey)

Brett Anthony Lemanski: Twelve months probation for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia; 60 days and a $500 fine for driving while under suspension-DUI-related (alcohol in the system); 5 days to 6 months and a $1,000 fine for DUI. (Placey)

Joshua Lee Long: Three to 23 months, 48 months probation and restitutions of $8,660.25, $4,238.40 for criminal conspiracy-burglary; 9 to 23 months for criminal conspiracy to theft by unlawful taking or disposition, concurrent with count two (above); 12 months probation and costs for criminal conspiracy to burglary-not adapted for overnight accommodation  no person present; costs for criminal conspiracy to criminal mischief; costs for criminal attempt to theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Placey)

Charles Leroy Louder: Thirty days to 2 years and a $500 fine for DUI. (Peck)

Nicholas Eugene Perry: Five days to 6 months and a $300 fine for DUI, second offense. (Ebert)

Gregory Steven Pianis: Eleven and 1/2 months to 23 months and a $100 fine for simple assault. (Peck)

Marina Nicole Shughart: Seven to 23 months, a $100 fine and restitutions of $867.60 and $45.45 for criminal conspiracy to burglary overnight accommodation-no person present. (Peck)

Chambersburg

Benjamin McGraw Roschy: Five days to 6 months and a $300 fine for DUI, second offense. (Masland)

Enola

Harrisburg

Stephen Anthony Arnold: Six to 23 months and a $100 fine for forgery-unauthorized act in writing. (Peck)

Kim Louise Carpenter: Five days to 6 months and a $300 fine for DUI, second offense. (Peck)

Lemoyne

Brandon Alexander Klawitter: Five days to 6 months and a $300 fine for DUI, second offense. (Ebert)

Mechanicsburg

Anthony D. Amicucci: Four to 11 months and a $50 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Ebert)

Rachel M. Morgan: Forty-eight hours to 6 months, a $500 fine and restitution of $1,733.42 for DUI. (Peck)

David Stewart Sansoni II: Six to 12 months, restitutions of $2,271.74, $350, 12 months probation for simple assault; 1 to 6 months for criminal mischief, consecutive. (Placey)

Middletown

Lindsey Marie Wagner: Three to 23 months and restitution of $300 for criminal trespass; 12 months probation for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Placey)

Mount Holly Springs

Timothy Richard Brandt: Three to 23 months, a $100 fine and restitution of $87 for retail theft, credit of 68 days. (Placey)

Newport

Joseph Thomas Bohn: Three to 12 months and a $25 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Ebert)

Newville

Devin Thomas Cooper: Forty-five days to 90 days for disorderly conduct, consecutive. (Guido)

Other

Bobby W. Carpenter: Three to 23 months for theft by deception. (Placey)

Knowledge Shyleeque Anderson: One hundred-eighty days to 365 days and 24 hours of community service for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance-heroin; 24 months probation for criminal use of communication facility. (Placey)

Keith Damian Lowery: Five days to 6 months and a $2,500 fine for DUI, second offense; a $25 fine for restrictions on drivers licenses; a $25 fine for unlawful activities. (Peck)

David Frey Martinez: Four to 12 months, 48 months probation, 24 hours of community service and restitutions of $100 and $4,126.80 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Placey); Four to 12 months, 48 months probation, 24 hours of community service and restitutions of $500 and $3,247.80 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Placey)

Jalal Paige: Twenty-four days to 12 months and 24 hours of community service for criminal conspiracy to simple assault; 24 months probation for criminal conspiracy to theft by unlawful taking. (Placey)

Sentenced to

Probation

Boiling Springs

Timothy Scott Grimm: Two years probation, a $150 fine and restitution of $6,000 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Peck)

Camp Hill

Cody Dennis Myers: Twelve months probation and a $200 fine for unlawful possession of Schedule I controlled substance-heroin. (Peck)

Carlisle

Rodney Allen Hill: Twelve months probation for accident involving damage to attended vehicle or property; $200 fine for drivers required to be licensed. (Placey); Twelve months probation for simple assault. (Placey)

Joshua Lee Long: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI; $200 fine for reckless driving. (Placey); Twenty-four months probation and restitutions of $5,147, $4,930.18 and $1,000 for criminal conspiracy to burglary-not adapted for overnight accommodation-no person present; costs for criminal conspiracy to theft by unlawful taking or disposition; costs for criminal mischief. (Placey)

Brian Donald McMullan: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI; a $100 fine for unlawful possession small amount of marijuana. (Masland)

Michael Darrell Mitchell: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI. (Guido)

Alex Morales: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI. (Guido)

Luis Ines Pedroso: Twelve months probation and restitution of $197.99 for retail theft. (Peck)

Nicholas Eugene Perry: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI. (Ebert)

Ricky Lee Sampson: Eighteen months probation and a $50 fine for simple assault. (Ebert)

Dillsburg

John P. Harhi: Twelve months probation and a $250 fine for simple assault. (Brewbaker)

Elliottsburg

Clinton Lamar Arnold: Thirty-six months probation and a $250 fine for unlawful delivery, manufacture, possession with intent to deliver a Schedule I controlled substance-marijuana. (Masland)

Enola

Zachary Wayne Barninger: Seven months probation and a $100 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Brewbaker)

Gardners

Lisa Marie Cuff: Six months probation, a $300 fine and 12 hours of community service for DUI; costs for public drunkenness. (Placey)

Harrisburg

Michelle Aleece Gum: Twenty-four months probation and restitution of $701.92 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Guido)

Mechanicsburg

Michael L. Doty: Twelve months probation and restitution of $95.69 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition; $100 fine and restitution of $33 for retail theft; costs for simple trespasser. (Masland); Twelve months probation, a $100 fine and restitution of $1,516.85 for writing bad checks. (Peck)

Austin Jeffrey Sawyer: Ninety days, a $50 fine and restitution of $2,400 for harassment. (Peck)

Middletown

Eric Lemelle Strickland: Nine months probation, a $100 fine and restitution of $303.37 for theft by unlawful taking or disposition. (Brewbaker)

Newville

Dylan Kenneth Sherman: Six months probation and a $50 fine for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Placey)

Shippensburg

Patrick ONeill Redden: Twenty-four months probation and restitution of $7,430.47 for simple assault. (Masland)

Wormleysburg

Donald Jay McCormick: Six months probation and a $300 fine for DUI. (Guido)

Other

Nia Nicole Clark: Two years probation, a $150 fine and restitution of $3,511.49 for theft by deception. (Peck)

Kenneth Roy Varnes: Ninety days probation, a $100 fine and restitution of $259.94 for criminal conspiracy to retail theft. (Peck)

Sentenced to

Electronic

Monitoring

Carlisle

Todd C. Rowland: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Mary Frances Rusnak: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Gardners

Dennis J. Lehman: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension-DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Harrisburg

Jimmy Helms: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Shippensburg

Douglas Merle Varner: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension. (Brewbaker)

Other

Kathy R. Shields: Sentenced to electronic monitoring for driving while under suspension, DUI-related. (Brewbaker)

Sentenced to Fine

Carlisle

Joshua Lee Long: Costs for unlawful possession of drug paraphernalia. (Placey)

Edward Anthony Simoncelli Jr.: Sentenced to a $100 fine for public drunkenness; a $100 fine for disorderly conduct. (Guido)

Enola

Curtis Lee Malone: Sentenced to a $50 fine for unlawful possession of small amount of marijuana; a $200 fine for driving while under suspension. (Ebert)

Other

Alex Morales: Sentenced to a $300 fine for public drunkenness. (Guido)
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To celebrate the opening of the Second Avenue Subway, we have commissioned the first New York Guide to Subway Jargon. Here it is  after 98 years in the making!

Sick passenger (noun): Patently lame excuse for lateness. I meant to call you on your birthday, but there was a sick passenger on the train ahead of us.

Zizmor (noun): A blemish or disfigurement that causes the stomach to lurch. When I finally pulled the leech off my nose it left an oozing Zizmor.

Hand shame (verb): To accidentally grab the pole where someone else is already grabbing it.

Kinky pinky (verb): To deliberately grab the pole where someone else is already grabbing it.

Hangry birds (noun, plural): Hunger pangs activated by the smell of someone elses fried chicken. See also: Colonel Knowledge (knowing that someone on the train is carrying KFC, but not being visually able to locate the source).

Grampification (noun):The shock one feels upon being offered a seat by someone you thought was your age. (Fem: Grammafication)

Doork (noun): Dork who blocks the door without realizing it.

Joork (noun): Jerk who knows hes blocking the door but keeps standing there, watching people maneuver around him.

Bunwich (noun): The very tight space between two other commuters.

Snudge (noun): A real nudge pretending to be inadvertent.

Train traffic ahead (noun): Colloquial for, Brace yourself for bad news. E.g., The boss called a special meeting for 3 oclock today. Could be train traffic ahead.

Nod squad (noun, plural): Two or more passengers napping on the same bench.

Warm shoulder (noun): The shoulder a stranger has fallen asleep on.

Sniff & run (noun): An extremely under-populated car surrounded by extremely overcrowded cars.

Grudge budge (noun): The grimace made by a person who must move over an inch to make room for you.

Grudge buddies (noun, plural): The bonding emotion felt by former grudge budger and grudgee when they must make room for someone else.

BBB (adj.): Short for Baby Bump Blindness. To not notice an 8-months pregnant woman holding onto the strap in front of you while you sit playing Candy Crush.

Blobstacle (noun): Escalator rider who stands on the left side, not moving.

ROTFL (noun): Anything Rolling on the Floor Loudly, e.g., an empty Snapple bottle.

Point and shoo (verb): To indicate a wet or sticky spot on the seat before someone sits down.

New natives (noun, plural): People who got on just one stop before you, but act as if they own the seat.

L-and-back (noun): A hipster. Literally, someone who takes the L back and forth to their coding job.

Tooth squad (noun, plural): Individuals dedicated to blacking out the teeth of smiling news teams on subway ads.

Bubbleheads (noun, plural): Individuals who add word and thought bubbles to posters, usually referencing the president, police, or private parts.

NJ devils (noun, plural): Young people from New Jersey who drink in Greenwich Village then add devil horns to PATH train posters before vomiting and heading home.

Box shock (adj.): To be suddenly awakened by a boom box and someones sneakers near your nose.

Family dollar (verb): To give a single dollar to a subway performer or performers on behalf of all the members of your family.

Post-a-boo (verb): To sneak a peek at your neighbors Post.

Peek-a-News (verb): To sneak a peek at your neighbors Daily News.

A.M. mayhem (noun): Being offered an A.M. New York by three or more people on your way into the train.

Suspicious package (noun): Male standing too close.

Second Ave (verb): To take longer than anyone thought possible. I ordered my burger at 4 and they Second Avenued it at 11!

Read Lenore Skenazys column every Sunday morning on Brook lynPa per.com
Eagles were in a struggle to stay unbeaten until this safety saved them
CBDT inks Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement

Published: January 14, 2017

The Central Board of Direct Taxes (CBDT) has entered into a Bilateral Advance Pricing Agreement (BAPA) on the with Indian subsidiary of a Japanese trading company.

Earlier, CBDT also had modified an existing Bilateral APA with another Indian subsidiary of a Japanese company to include rollback provisions. Thus, total three BAPAs have been signed by CBDT with Indian subsidiaries of Japanese companies all including rollbacks. With this total number of BAPAs entered into by CBDT is now eight.

What is Advance Pricing Agreement (APA)?

The APA Scheme was introduced in the Income Tax (IT) Act, 1961 in 2012 and the provisions related to rollback were introduced in 2014. It strengthens Governments mission of fostering a non-adversarial tax regime. It endeavours to provide certainty to taxpayers in the domain of transfer pricing by specifying the methods of pricing and setting the prices of international transactions in advance. Under BAPA, certainty in tax treatment is provided for the next 5 years while rollback provides dispute redressal for a maximum of four past years preceding APA years.

Month: Current Affairs - January, 2017

Topics: Apas  Business  Economy  Japan  National  Taxation

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New Jersey synagogues threat 'mitigated,' governor says

The Federal Bureau of Investigation said the source no longer poses a threat to the community.
A former Air Force officer who has visited many parts of the world is convinced that his southeast Missouri hometown of Desloge is still one of the best places in the world to live.

David (Dave) Shaw is a tall and dignified man with a deep but pleasant voice that immediately commands respect. Born in Bonne Terre to a lead worker and his wife who had their only son later in life, Shaw grew up in a home on what is now Desloge Drive.

"My mother and dad were in their 40s when I was born," he said. "I had a sister who was 14 years older than me and she passed away a couple of years ago. I remember going to Cub Scout meetings and my mother would be sitting there with gray hair.

According to Shaw, his dad worked for St. Joe Lead most all of his life and had a very strong work ethic.

"He worked there in the mines in the daytime and would get home around three o'clock," he said. "We'd have an early supper and then Dad would go out and paint the interior of houses at night. He'd get home around 11 o'clock, smoke a cigarette, go to bed, get up at 5 o'clock and do it all again. He did that for many years  day after day after day."

Shaw was obviously inspired by his father's work ethic  he got his first job at the age of 15.

"I was a desk clerk out at Rosener's when it was the motel out there," he said. "I worked for Leeman Rosener who is one of the most influential men in my life. My dad would drive me out there and then when he'd get off from painting a house, he'd pick me up and bring me home at night. Then I got my license and was able to do my own thing."

Shaw graduated from Desloge High School in 1964, after which he attended Mineral Area College where he earned an Associates of Art Degree in Engineering. He next planned to attend the University of Missouri-Rolla  now Missouri University of Science and Technology  but had a last minute change of mind.

"I had been working for Sparks Funeral Home at the time and decided I wanted to make a career out of being a funeral director and embalmer," he said. "So, I went off to mortuary school in Dallas, Texas. I was there for a year and came back to do my apprenticeship here at Boyer's.

"Once my apprenticeship was done I was going to be vulnerable for the draft, so the draft started looking at me pretty close and I joined the Air Force in 1968. I was in a lot of neat places. I was overseas for four assignments. The overseas assignments were really good. I was in Puerto Rico for two-and-a-half years, in Australia for two years, Korea for two years and in Holland for three years.

"I was initially in for four years and then got out. I came back to work locally  I worked at Boyer's for a while and sold insurance for Prudential a while  but I missed the Air Force big time and so I went back in as an officer in 1974 and did 21 years then. So, I have about 25-and-a-half years total of service  four years of it enlisted and the rest as an officer."

By the time Shaw left the Air Force he had achieved the rank of lieutenant colonel. He then began a second career working 16 years as a management negotiator representing the St Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association.

"I served as a fiduciary trustee on several pension plans, a medical insurance plan and training programs," he said.

Shaw has three adult-aged children  two boys and a girl. One of his sons is a vice president and property manager for a large St. Louis real estate firm; the other works at a St. Louis printing plant. His daughter followed him into the Air Force.

"It was very fortunate that when she was getting a commission at the University of Missouri-Rolla, I was still on active duty and was able to swear her into the Air Force," he said. "After I swore her in, I put out my hand and said, 'Welcome to my Air Force.'

"Years later, when I got ready to retire she was a captain on active duty and she read the retirement proclamation during my retirement ceremony. Then she walked over, saluted me, stuck out her hand and said, 'Your Air Force is in my hands now.' Of course, I was crying like a baby and she was too. It was a precious moment."

Looking back on his life to this point, Shaw credits his "growing up" years in Desloge for molding and shaping him into the man he became.

"My uncle was the mayor of Desloge at one time back years ago," Shaw said. "He ran a Ford dealership in town. When you look at the listing of the mayors down there at city hall, I knew six of them personally and was on a first-name basis with three of them. I've always had a warm spot in my heart for small town America and the values that it has. I've lived in big cities and I've lived in foreign cities, I've lived in rural areas, metropolitan areas and it's all good  it's just that some is 'gooder' than others.

"Those of us who got to go to Desloge High School in the '50s and '60s, were really blessed with a faculty that taught everything that was good about America. When you look at the film, "It's a Wonderful Life," and you see Bedford Falls vs. Pottersville  Desloge at that time was Bedford Falls. It was cohesive, we didn't have a lot of crime, we didn't have a lot of poverty. It was just a good place to grow up."

In addition to his first boss, Leeman Rosener, Shaw recalled others in Desloge who became mentors to him.

"Through the years I was fortunate to work for good people and they gave me a good moral compass," he said. "Mom and Dad gave me a good moral compass, too, but it got reinforced in the places where I worked too.

"Burlin Boyer taught me a sense of honesty and integrity that is just remarkable. He was like a second father to me and I'll cherish the moments I had with him just because he was a genuinely good man. He loved to laugh and he loved to joke."

And then there was Jack Stegall.

"Jack was a popular guy in the city, but he was also famous because he was a prisoner of war during the Korean Conflict," Shaw said. "He was the janitor at the high school. Now, when I went to high school, everybody was on par  I mean, there was the principal, the teachers, the students, the janitors, the cooks  and it was all like one big family. To look down on a janitor just wouldn't be acceptable, and Jack was friendly with everybody."

Several years ago, Shaw and several other Desloge High School graduates decided they wanted to do something special in memory of Stegall and in recognition of his time as a POW in Korea.

"Charlie Boyer had the original idea to honor Jack with a flag at Brightwell Park because Jack was on the Park Board when Brightwell Park was established," Shaw said. "We started raising the money with the alumni from Desloge High School and soon found out that Jack was not the only Korean War POW to be honored because John Cole had died in captivity. So, we readdressed everything and decided to make it a dual thing for both Jack and John."

Shaw recalled that none of the men promoting the project knew for certain what kind of response they'd receive from their former classmates, but it turned out even better than what they'd hoped.

"The generosity of the alumni was just remarkable," he said. "You'd put a jug out and you'd say you have a flagpole for Jack Stegall or John Cole. They'd ask, 'Well, what do you need?' and they'd start dropping fives and tens in the bowl."

Shaw said he was "impressed" by the crowd that came out on Labor Day 2015 for the flagpole dedication ceremony.

"I was really wondering if we were going to have many there because Labor Day's a pretty busy time in Desloge and besides the parade and the activities going on at the park, I wasn't sure how well it was going to go, but I did know that Jack Stegall was a very popular guy.

"You know, there's just some people in your life that you'd never have a bad word to say about. I mean, he was just one of those guys and I think out of respect for Jack  because a lot of people went to school with him or they knew him from when he was up there and wanted to honor him  it was really an honor to do it."

Since the project's completion, Shaw has joined the Desloge Chamber of Commerce and now sits on its board of directors. Asked why he chose to get involved in the organization, he said, "I still think that Desloge is a great place to live and my life has always been such that 'either lead, follow or get out of the way.'"

A phrase that aptly describes the life of Dave Shaw is "pay it forward." He truly believes people can make a positive difference in the lives of others if they'll just give it a try.

"If there's one thing that I'd like people to think about, it's that we all influence other people," he said. "Either we're doing it in a positive or a negative way. I see so much negativity in things going on in the country that it scares the hell out of me.

"I also think that we're as divided a nation as we've every been and that scares the hell out of me too. We're always going to have differences of opinion and that's healthy. You can disagree without being disagreeable, but if you're going to put out your position, you need to have the respect to listen to the other position as well."
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There is no sign of an amendment to the Drug Price Control Order (DPCO), even as the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority (NPPA) struggles to fix prices of drugs in the absence of market data.
Infosys, Indias second-largest software exporter, is planning to take its software platforms to a larger set of customers and earn 10 per cent of its revenues from them by 2020.
With demonetisation having no impact on the non-ferrous metals segment, London-based Vedantas standalone business divisions are expected to have had higher volumes in the December quarter from the corresponding period last year, said analysts.
Nusli Wadia, chairman of Wadia group of companies, has written to the market regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India, and the Ministry of Corporate Affairs (MCA) complaining against government-owned Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and UTI Mutual Fund (UTI-MF) who voted for his removal from the boards of Tata Steel, Tata Motors and Tata Chemicals.
Holding the Nitish Kumar-led Bihar Government responsible for the Patna boat tragedy, Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Sunday said the tragic event shows the failure of the grand alliance government in the state.

Singh said, "This event was organised by the Bihar Government and this incident is an example of the failure of the Bihar Government. This shows how the government is working on ground."

At least 24 people were killed when a country boat capsized in river Ganga near NIT ghat in Patna last evening.

According to reports, the victims were returning from diara area after participating in a Kite festival organised by the state government on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'.

The Bihar Government has constituted a three-member inquiry team headed by Principal Secretary of State Disaster Department Pratya Amrit to look into the matter.

The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the family of the deceased.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which the Prime Minister was to address via video conferencing has been postponed.
The government is considering a proposal to increase foreign direct investment (FDI) limit in print media sector to 49 per cent from 26 per cent at present.

Currently, the policy permits 26 per cent foreign direct investment in the publishing of newspapers and periodicals dealing with and current affairs through government approval route.

According to sources, the government has started a consultation process on the matter with an aim to attract more foreign funds in the sector.

Last year, the government relaxed norms in several sectors, including civil aviation, defence, private security agencies, pharmaceuticals and food processing industry.

During 2015-16, foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country increased by 29 per cent to USD 40 billion, from USD 30.93 billion in the previous fiscal.

Foreign investments are considered crucial for India, which needs around USD 1 trillion for overhauling its infrastructure sector such as ports, airports and highways to boost growth.

Foreign investments will help improve the country's balance of payments situation and strengthen the rupee value against other global currencies, especially the US dollar.
It might seem a long time until summer when the Parkland is still experiencing winters cold temperatures and frozen precipitation, but preparations are already underway for the 2017 Relay For Life of St. Francois County  and this years fundraiser for the American Cancer Society (ACS) promises to be a mixture of both the old and new.

For those who might not be aware of the Relay For Life movement, ACS bills it as the worlds largest fundraising event to fight every cancer in every community with four million participants in 6,000 events worldwide in 2016. In fact, last year, 297 people reportedly participated in the local Relay For Life, raising $71,685 for ACS.

The St. Francois County event is set to begin at 5 p.m. July 21 and end at 6 a.m. July 22. One major change to this years Relay is its return to its long-time home, Mineral Area College, after last years move to North County High School.

Although St. Francois Countys Relay For Life (SFCRFL) has been one of the top regional fundraisers for the ACS since its start in the 1990s, team participation has dropped somewhat in recent years and this is something Steering Committee co-chairs, Sonya Bahr and Sarah Dement, along with ACS Relay For Life Staff Partner Shanna Hayes, are hoping to turn around this year.

While the pair have never held the annual events top spot before, but theyve both been long-time participants in Relay and know what works and doesnt. The pair explained that the return to Relays former location this year became necessary after the event faced an unexpected problem last year.

The committee had decided to move the event to a different area high school each year because there were some concerns on the part of our survivors about the uneven walking surface we had at MAC, Bahr said. What we hadnt anticipated when moving our Relay to North County High School was that the school is near a residential area, although we hadnt noticed it before the night we had the event.

According to Bahr and Dement, as the event moved into the early morning hours, nearby residents became upset by the volume of the stadiums sound system and called the police department to complain about the noise.

The police came to the stadium intending to shut us down, Dement said. We were able to talk them out of it after we said wed turn the sound system down.

Bahr said the committee realized that the other schools where they intended to hold Relay in subsequent years  Central, Farmington and West County high schools  were also located in residential areas.

So weve decided to move back to MAC  who has always been a wonderful host for Relay, Bahr said. Were also going to see what we can do about the uneven track.

She said there is also going to be a greater focus on kids at Julys Relay For Life that has as its nationwide theme, Paint Your World.

They are our future, Bahr explained. We want to get them involved in Relay while theyre still young.

Hayes is hoping, along with Bahr and Dement, that more people will consider participating in Relay this year  and an activity coming up later this month will give potential participants a chance to find out how they can be a part of making this years event a success.

RFLSFC will be holding a Team Captain Kick-off Party for the annual event at 1 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 29 at Elizabeth Hall, 210 East Woodlawn Drive, in Leadington, Hayes said. Everyone is invited to the kickoff to learn about how to help the American Cancer Society save more lives from cancer.

Bring your team members so we can celebrate, remember, and fight back. We are coming together to make a difference in the fight against cancer. The program will highlight how the community has benefited from funds raised and how you and your team can do your part in the fight against cancer.

Guests will have the opportunity to register a team and pick up supplies for the Relay For Life event. This is our communitys opportunity to help save lives from cancer by taking our message to more people and raising more dollars to fund the fight, she said. Together, our efforts can make a big difference.

As for ACS, Relay For Life Manager Eric Page Sr. said the organization is looking forward to another great year for the local Relay For Life fundraiser.

"The ACS is very excited about the 2017 RFLSFC and its new leadership, he said. This Relay has a long history of excellence, and the new event chairs will certainly continue that tradition, while bringing new energy and excitement to the event. I can't wait to see what they have in store for us this summer.

Visit relayforlife.org to learn more about the event, or contact Shanna Hayes at 573-718-3746 or shanna.hayes@cancer.org.
Supporting the letter written by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) employees to Governor Urjit Patel protesting against operational "mismanagement" post demonetisation, the Congress on Sunday said the central bank's reputation lies in tatters today.

"RBI was told only on November 7. The currency management and the management of the capital is responsibility of the reserve bank under law. The reserve bank could have told the government it cannot be done... RBI's reputation and respect today lies in tatters. It has been battered very badly," Congress leader Anand Sharma said.

Calling the step of 'illegal', Sharma said the autonomy of the central bank has been undermined due to the invalidation of the Indian currency.

"The RBI's autonomy has been severely undermined by the invalidation of the Indian currency. What has happened is illegal. It is the violation of the RBI act because neither the RBI has the powers to demonetise nor the Government of India. Only the Parliament can extinguish the value of the currency," he said.

In a strongly worded letter addressed to Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Governor Urjit Patel, the United Forum of Reserve Bank Officers and employees have alleged that post the government's move, the image of the central bank has been dented beyond repair.

"We request the Governor of the RBI, its highest functionary and protector of its autonomy and prestige, to do the needful urgently to do away with this unwarranted interference from the Finance Ministry and assure the staff accordingly as the staff feels humiliated," the letter added.

Various employee unions of the central bank have objected to the government "impinging on RBI autonomy" and have written to Patel to take action against the "unwarranted interference".
PM salutes Indian Army on the occasion of Army Day

The Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi has saluted the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army, on the occasion of Army Day. .

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"Greetings to all soldiers, veterans & their families on Army Day. We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army. .

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Indian Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of our nation or helping citizens during natural disasters. .

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We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully," the Prime Minister said. .

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Days after China blocked India's proposal in the UN, the world body's key member France has pitched for designating Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief as an terrorist, saying there are "very strong arguments in favour" of such a move.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day India visit, also sent out a veiled message to China without naming it, saying "the community's determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat."

Pointing out that Azhar's outfit JeM "is already included in the (Sanctions) Committee's list of terrorist organisations", he told PTI in an interview, "therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested".

That's why, he said, France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UNSC.

India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as an terrorist for masterminding the attack on Pathankot Air-base.

Since then, China had twice imposed "technical hold" on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 last, it blocked it, becoming the only country to do so.

"We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached," said Ayrault, whose country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

He said France will now discuss with India what should be done. "India knows it can count on our support," he added.

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, was one of the three terrorists freed by India in exchange of 166 hostages of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999.

Azhar, at that time, belonged to Harkat-ul Mujahideen, and soon after his release, he floated the new outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan which carried out several attacks in India, including on Parliament on December 13, 2001, and Pathankot Air-base.
Kenneth Rogoff can pinpoint the moment he started to grow concerned Donald Trump would be the next US president: It was when Rogoffs fellow attendees at the World Economic Forums annual meeting last January said it could never happen. A joke Ive told 1,000 people in the months since leaving Davos is that the conventional wisdom of Davos is always wrong, says the Harvard professor and former chief economist of the International Monetary Fund. No matter how improbable, the event most likely to happen is the opposite of whatever the Davos consensus ...
US President urged his countrymen to protect and safeguard democracy in his final weekly address to the nation before handing over power to President-elect Donald Trump.

Obama reiterated the message he expressed in a farewell speech on Tuesday in Chicago, calling on Americans to remain involved in the work of citizenship and be "guardians" of democracy, Efe news reports.

"Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better president and you made me a better man," the President said in the address, which went live on Saturday morning.

"Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the goodness, the resilience, and the hope of the American people," Obama said.

"I've seen neighbours looking out for each other as we rescued our economy from the worst crisis of our lifetimes. I've hugged cancer survivors who finally know the security of affordable health care. I've seen communities ... rebuild from disaster and cities like Boston show the world that no terrorist will ever break the American spirit," he said.

Obama said it had been the honour of his lifetime to serve as US president and that he would work as a citizen for the American people for the rest of his days.

Obama's second term in office will conclude on January 20 when Trump is inaugurated as the United States' 45th President.
Donald Trump has been crowing as companies, including Ford, renounce plans to move factories to Mexico. But the main beneficiaries of this shift back to the arent saying much by way of celebration  industrial robots dont tend to speak.
Two Chinese-manufactured ships have been handed over to Pakistan in Gwadar Port.

The ships were received in a formal ceremony at the port by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

They have been named PNS (Pakistan Navy Ship) Hingol and PNS Basol and will be deployed for the security of the port, reports the Dawn.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West, Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were also present during the handing over ceremony on Saturday.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships namely PNS Dasht and PNS Zhob after they are constructed.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the land and sea routes of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

The security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army.
US civil rights activists vowed to defend hard-fought gains in voting rights and criminal justice during the presidency of Donald Trump, kicking off a week of protests ahead of the Republicans inauguration.

About 2,000 mostly black protesters ignored steady rain to march and rally near Washingtons Martin Luther King Jr Memorial, as speakers urged them to fight for minority rights and President Barack Obamas signature healthcare law, which Trump has vowed to dismantle.

Al Sharpton, the rallys organiser and a veteran civil rights leader, said Democrats in Congress needed to be sent a simple message: Get some backbone.

We march in the driving rain because we want the nation to understand that what has been fought for and gained, that youre going to need more than one election to turn it around, he said.

The rally drew fewer people than organisers had initially expected, but Sharpton said afterwards he was satisfied with the turnout, given the rain and temperatures hovering just above freezing.

I really didnt think wed get those kind of numbers, he said in a telephone interview.

Trump, a New York real estate developer, won with a populist platform that included promises to build a wall along the Mexican border, restrict immigration from Muslim countries and dismantle Obamacare.

Among the protesters' chief demands on Saturday was protection for the young undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" from being deported in case Trump revokes the executive orders President Barack Obama instituted to keep them from being sent back to their countries of origin and which allow them to obtain work permits.

Monica Camacho, an undocumented young woman who came to the US from Mexico in 2002 when she was 7 years old, and who joined the protest to make it clear that despite being afraid, she and in her situation will keep fighting.

"This is our home. As immigrants, we give a lot to give this country. Our parents brought us here when we were little, and it is also the country of our parents," she said.

"The community is worried, it's scared, but we're going to keep up the struggle anyway. There's always the fear of what can happen but we're sticking together," the young woman said.

His choice of Senator Jeff Sessions, an Alabama Republican, to become attorney general has raised concern among many on the left that Trump could weaken voting rights for minorities and roll back criminal justice reforms.

We will march until hell freezes over, and when it does, we will march on the ice, said Cornell William Brooks, president and chief executive of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People.
Samajwadi Party leader Amar Singh, who has been blamed for the conflict between Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, on Sunday said that he would be returning to London for his treatment.

"I was undergoing treatment in London, but was summoned due to the developments here. Now, I will be going back to complete my treatment," Singh told ANI.

He further said that he would be returning towards the end of March.

Asserting that he is willing to resign to keep Mulayam Singh Yadav's family united, the Samajwadi Party leader had earlier rubbished allegations that he was responsible for the ongoing political tussle in the party.

Attempting a truce between Akhilesh and his father Mulayam, he said, "I am folding my hands. What do you want?"

Reaching out to Akhilesh, he said, "I'm folding my hands. What else do you want?""If he is the son of Mulayam Singh ji then he is also like my son. Mulayam Singh is his biological father and since the age of four, he has been living with Shivpal Yadav ji."

"For me he is not the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, not a big leader of the state ..he is the son of my big brother Mulayam Singh ji," he added.

Meanwhile, sources have confirmed to ANI that Singh and another party member Jaya Prada will not participate in any of the election campaigns in the wake of split within the Samajwadi Party.

Currently, both Akhilesh and Mulayam are waiting for the Election Commission to pass its judgement over the Samajwadi Party's 'cycle' symbol, with both the warring factions staking claim to it.

The Election Commission had earlier on Friday reserved its judgement on the issue.

The Mulayam camp claims that the convention in which Akhilesh was anointed as the party chief was against the party constitution.

After the split in the party last week, both sides had submitted signed affidavits of legislators and office bearers representing them to claim control over the party's name and symbol.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Union Minister of Food Processing Harsimrat Kaur Badal on Sunday taunted Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh over his decision to contest the upcoming Punjab polls from Lambi, and referred the latter as a 'coward'.

Harsimrat told ANI, "Someone, who calls himself a 'fauji', will not run away from the battle like a coward at the sight of the first general in front of him."

"No wonder he left the fauj and came back to his palace."

"Lambi is a just a ploy to run away in order to avoid losing badly," she added.

Earlier on Saturday, Amarinder Singh declared that he will contest the upcoming state assembly elections from Lambi, which happens to be the home turf of the ruling Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while also contesting from the home seat of Patiala.

It would be the first time in the history of Punjab that a former chief minister will take on a current one, that too in the latter's home constituency.

Captain Amarinder stated that he had sought the party high command's permission to contest from Badal's constituency Lambi to ensure the total defeat of the Akali leadership in Punjab responsible for destroying the state through drugs, mafia and 'goonda raj'.

Assembly elections in the state will be held on February 4, where people of Punjab will vote for 117 legislative seats.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
An FIR has been lodged against the operator of the boat which capsized yesterday in the river Ganga, in Bihar's Patna city, killing 24 people.

The operator, who was also on the boat at the time tragedy struck, was one of the lucky survivors.

However, the FIR was registered against him as the number of the people onboard was reportedly more than the vessel's capacity.

Amateur footage of the tragedy confirmed that the boat was carrying passengers, from a kite flying event, well over its intended capacity.

The dramatic visuals of the capsizing boat show several passengers swimming towards safety and a few seem to have been pulled into the waters along with the sinking boat.

The boat was carrying around 40 people, of which 24 have been declared dead so far.

Meanwhile, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry and directed officials to discontinue kite flying at Sabalpur Diara.

Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad told ANI that arrangements should have been more robust, while assuring that an inquiry will expose loopholes and the defaulters will be caught.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi today sanctioned an ex-gratia of two lakh rupees each to the next of kin of those died in the Bihar boat tragedy. He also approved 50 thousand rupees each to the seriously injured persons from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Slamming Haryana Minister Anil Vij's statement on Mahatma Gandhi, the Opposition on Sunday termed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as anti-Gandhi and Anti-Nehru, adding that the people in the party are against the ideologies of both the freedom fighters.

"These people are against the ideas of Gandhiji. Such people were involved in Gandhiji's murder that is why they are saying all this. Thinking that they will praise Gandhiji is wrong. They are anti-Gandhi and anti-Nehru and will always remain so," Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Tariq Anwar said.

Meanwhile, Congress leader Meem Afzal also struck the same chord, saying that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) were against the ideologies of Gandhi and Nehru.

"Whenever elections will be around the corner, you will find BJP and RSS making such statements. Their ideology is against the views of Gandhi and Nehru," Afzal said.

"BJP wants to remove Gandhiji from everywhere, but they won't be able to remove his image from hearts of people. This is the same government which supported the Britishers and not our freedom fighters," he added.

The controversial Haryana minister had earlier said that from the time Gandhi's name has been associated with Khadi, the industry has never been able to stand up.

Vij's comment comes in connection with the ongoing controversy over the photo of the prime minister replacing that of Gandhi in the 2017 wall calendar and table diary published by the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

The cover photo on the calendar and the diary shows Prime Minister Modi weaving khadi on a large 'charkha' in the same pose as Gandhiji.

However, the BJP was quick in condemning the remarks clarifying that it was not the stand of the party.

Minutes after making the controversial comment, Vij retracted his statement saying, "The comment I made on is my personal opinion. To avoid hurting anyone's sentiments, I take it back."
Taking cognizance of soldiers' grievances who have complained though social media of poor treatment and bad quality food being served to them, the Centre on Sunday decided to set-up a new mechanism to solve their problems.

According to Ministry of Defence sources, the government has opined that since there are thousands of military units in place, it would be difficult to resolve the matter at each and every level and hence they have decided to install a new mechanism.

This development has come at a time when Army Chief General Rawat on Sunday urged the jawans to discuss their grievances directly with him instead of posting them on social media.

Addressing the Army Day function in the capital, he said, "There are proper channels in place for the jawans to put across their grievances. If they are not satisfied with action taken, they can contact me directly instead of airing their problems."

"A few of our friends have taken to social media to speak about their complaints. This affects the soldiers deployed at the borders," he added.

Earlier on Friday, General Rawat announced a new grievance redressal system under which complaints would reach him directly while the identity of the complainant would be kept a secret.

Last week, A BSF soldier, Tej Bahadur Yadav, deployed along the India-Pakistan border in Jammu and Kashmir, alleged in a Facebook video that troops are served bad quality food,

Similarly, Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh of 42 Infantry brigade expressed his grievances against the sahayak (orderly) system in the army and how soldiers were forced to "wash clothes, polish boots and walk dogs" for seniors.

He said that he was being victimised by his superiors for complaining against it.

On Saturday a second soldier, Nursing Assistant Naik Ram Bhagat, expressed concerns against discrimination in another video in which he said, "It is not just his pain. It is the pain of the whole Army.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hitting back at Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi over his reaction on Haryana minister Anil Vij's statement, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday said the Congress represents Mussolini and Italian fascism.

"Rahul Gandhi and Congress Party are so jealous and envious of the Prime Minister's popularity that they can't hold themselves back without making some comment against him every day. Rahul Gandhi and his party represent Mussolini, Italian fascism better than anybody else," BJP spokesperson G. V. L. Narasimha Rao told ANI.

Accusing Rahul Gandhi of turning the Congress party into a political mafia, Rao said the former had no moral ground to comment on anybody.

"It's Rahul Gandhi and his party that have converted the Congress Party into a political mafia. Therefore, he has absolutely no moral ground to comment against anybody else," he said.

Reacting to Vij's statement that Narendra Modi is better brand than Mahatma Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday tweeted Hitler and Mussolini were also very powerful brands.

The controversial Haryana Minister had earlier said that from the time Gandhi's name has been associated with Khadi, the industry has never been able to stand up.

Vij's comment comes in connection with the ongoing controversy over the photo of the Prime Minister replacing that of Gandhi in the 2017 wall calendar and table diary published by the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC).

The cover photo on the calendar and the diary shows Prime Minister Modi weaving khadi on a large 'charkha' in the same pose as Gandhiji.

However, the BJP was quick in condemning the remarks clarifying that it was not the stand of the party.

Minutes after making the controversial comment, Vij retracted his statement saying, "the comment I made on Mahatma Gandhi is my personal opinion. To avoid hurting anyone's sentiments, I take it back," he said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who never fails to seize any opportunity "to celebrate the many cultures, languages and beliefs that make our country such a wonderful place to live", has wished Tamilians in Canada and around the a happy Thai Pongal on Sunday.

In the video, posted on his social media, he begins with a Tamil greeting "Vanakkam!" and says, "Over the next few days, Tamils in Canada and around the will gather with loved ones to celebrate Thai Pongal. Each day of this festival has its own special meaning and traditions which are tied to abundance, peace and happiness."

"In 2016, the House of Commons voted unanimously to recognise every January as Tamil Heritage Month. I encourage everybody to reflect on the strong heritage of Canada's Tamil community. Our nation is stronger and richer because of Tamil-Canadians," he adds.

Sharing his views on how to make Canada a "wonderful place to live", he says, "This year also marks Canada's 150th anniversary, and we should seize every opportunity to celebrate the many cultures, languages and beliefs that make our country such a wonderful place to live."

"On behalf of our family, Sophie and I wish everyone marking Thai Pongal a joyful harvest festival," he concluded.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday arrested Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist Fayaz Ahmad Ganaie, an associate of slain LeT Commander Abu Bakr near Jammu and Kashmir's Sopore area.

However, the details about his arrest are yet to be ascertained.

Abu Bakr was killed on December 2016, in a six-hour-long encounter in Sopore.

He was holed up in a residential house in Bomai. The security forces blasted the building where he was hiding and firing from.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sushant Sigh Rajput has been one such person, who grabbed all the limelight last year, for every good and odd reason.

2016 has been a year that saw Sushant's tremendous performance in 'M.S. Dhoni: The Untold Story,' which brought him much appreciation and made him the most searched celebrity on Google.

.

While hitting the red carpet at Jio Filmfare Awards last night, the 'Kai Po Che' actor went down his memory lane to speak about the long walk he has taken to achieve the stardom today.

"Last time I attended Filmfare awards back in 2006, as a background dancer, with Shiamak Davar. It was a great experience. It's after 11 years that I am coming back here again, and guess what, I am performing and nominated for best actor," he told Filmfare, with a sense of pride.

Now, that's what we call SUCCESS!

In a black-n-white suit, the 30-year-old actor looked hot and classy as ever.

On the work front, he will next be seen in Dinesh Vijan's 'Raabta, alongside Kriti Sanon, which is scheduled for a June release, this year.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Karan Johar has never been hesitant about sharing his fall-out with Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan or disclosing his sexuality and in tune with the same the ace director has in his recent biography disclosed his 2002 spat with now best friend Kareena Kapoor Khan.

In his biography 'An Unsuitable Boy', Karan revealed that they did not speak to each other for more than nine months.

The 'Ae Dil Hai Mushkil' director has written his side of the story in the book, "My first problem was with Kareena. She asked for too much money and we had some kind of a fallout at that time. 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge!' had just released, directed by Kunal Kohli. She said, 'Aditya Chopra's assistant Kunal Kohli has made this flop, so Karan Johar's assistant, Nikhil Advani is not to be trusted either'."

The 44-year-old goes to talk about the reason behind the clash, "The weekend of 'Mujhse Dosti Karoge's release, I offered her 'Kal Ho Naa Ho', and she asked for the same money that Shah Rukh Khan was getting. I said, 'Sorry'."

The television personality further stated that this demand of Kareena hurt him due to which they were not in talking terms.

Shedding light on the rough patch of their friendship and how the filmmaker signed bubbly actress Priety Zinta for 'Kal Ho Na ho', he revealed, "I was very hurt. I told my father, 'Leave that negotiation room' and I called her. She didn't take my call, and I said, 'We're not taking her.' And signed Preity Zinta instead. Kareena and I didn't speak to each other for almost a year. For a year, we looked through each other at parties. It was very idiotic. She was a kid; she's a decade younger than me."

Karan wrote, "We were releasing 'Kal Ho Naa Ho' in November. We had shot the film in June, July, August and in September I had to shoot the songs, make the promos and so on. So, I had to head back, while my father continued the treatment in New York. That was the time Kareena Kapoor called me. It was August. We had not spoken for nine months. She called and said, 'I heard about Yash uncle.' She got really emotional on the phone, and she said, 'I love yoou and I am so sorry I haven't been in touch. Don't worry'."

Bollywood's new mommy and the ace filmmaker have worked in several popular movies including, 'Gori Tere Pyaar Mein', 'Bombay Talkies', 'Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu', 'We Are Family' and 'Kurbaan'.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Nacogdoches, TX (75965)

Today

Overcast. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High 81F. Winds S at 10 to 20 mph..

Tonight

Variable clouds with thunderstorms - possibly severe, especially this evening. Damaging winds, large hail and possibly a tornado with some storms. Low 51F. SSW winds shifting to NW at 10 to 20 mph. Chance of rain 90%.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday announced an ex-gratia from the Prime Minister's Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased in the horrific Patna boat tragedy, and Rs.50, 000 for those seriously injured in the incident.

At least 21 people were killed when two country boats capsized in river Ganga near NIT ghat at Patna in Bihar yesteraday.

Over 40 people were returning from diara area after participating Kite festival on occasion Makar Sankranti. This festival was organized by the state government. NDRF and SDRF teams have been pressed into relief and rescue operations.

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered inquiry into the boat tragedy. A three member inquiry team has been constituted headed by Principal Secretary of State Disaster Department Pratya Amrit.

The state government has also announced rupees four lakh ex-gratia payment to the family of each of the deceased.

Also, Disaster Response Force (NDRF) Director General R.K. Pachnanda has said that twenty one bodies have been recovered so far, after two boats carrying about 40 people turned turtle in Ganga river in Patna.

Pachnanda told ANI that three NDRF team are at the site to recover more bodies and the rescue operation is underway.

"21 bodies have been recovered so far, search and rescue operation is underway. 3 NDRF teams are at the spot. We are trying our best. We have deported three teams for the operation. It is extremely tragic incident. People were taking boats one after another. When the people realised that their boat was capsizing they tried to jump to the other boat then both the boats capsized due to over load," he added.

Earlier, Prime Minister Modi also expressed his grief over the loss of lives in Patna boat tragedy.

The Prime Minister's Office tweeted that PM has extended condolences to the bereaved families.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Expressing grief over loss of lives in the Patna boat tragedy, Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday hoped that the inquiry instigated in the matter will expose the loopholes and the defaulter responsible for the hapless incident.

"I am really saddened by the unfortunate incident. Such incidents should not take place; the arrangements should have been more robust. I firmly believe that the inquiry, which has been instigated, will expose loopholes and bring out at what level the fault took place," he told ANI.

Meanwhile, an FIR has been lodged against the operator of the boat which capsized yesterday in the river Ganga, in Bihar's Patna city, killing 24 people.

The operator, who was also on the boat at the time tragedy struck, was one of the lucky survivors.

The FIR was registered against him as the number of the people onboard was reportedly more than the vessel's capacity.

Amateur footage of the tragedy confirmed that the boat was carrying passengers, from a kite flying event, well over its intended capacity.

The dramatic visuals of the capsizing boat show several passengers swimming towards safety and a few seem to have been pulled into the waters along with the sinking boat.

The Bihar Government has constituted a three-member inquiry team headed by Principal Secretary of State Disaster Department Pratya Amrit to look into the matter.

The state government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the family of the deceased.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which the Prime Minister was to address via video conferencing has been postponed.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday expressed grief over the drastic Bihar boat tragedy claiming 17 lives.

"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," tweeted the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

At least 17 people were killed after a boat turned turtle in the Ganges River in Patna, Bihar today, whereas eight people were rescued and 25 others swam to safety.

According to reports, the accident took place when the boat, carrying at least 34 people, was about to reach the river bank.

The boat was returning from a kite festival on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Dozens of Pakistani human rights activists gathered outside the Pakistan High Commission in London to protest the disappearances of political activists.

The protestors gathered under the banner of the Awami Workers Party (AWP), the UK arm of the socialist Pakistani political party, and called on the Pakistani government to ensure safe return of the activists, reports the Geo News.

A number of critics and activists have reportedly disappeared across Pakistan and their whereabouts are unknown, despite assurances by Interior Minister Chaudhary Nisar that updates about the activists would be released soon.

Those who have disappeared include bloggers, poets, writers, and commentators and are known for their progressive and liberal online activism.

The protesters also called upon the Pakistani authorities to respect the fundamental right of freedom of speech and assembly of citizens guaranteed by the Constitution.

They said that they were deeply concerned about the disappearances of prominent progressive activists and were unable to ascertain who was behind them, but added that there was a clear pattern in the disappearances of the bloggers.

A petition was also presented to the Pakistan High Commission which reminded the Pakistani government of its obligations towards protecting the rights of its citizens.

Earlier this week, four bloggers and social media activists went missing from Islamabad, Lahore and Nankana Sahib in Pakistan. They were identifies as Salman Haider, Waqas Goraya, Asim Saeed, and Ahmed Reza Naseer.

Following the developments, Human Rights Watch had also asked Pakistan to urgently investigate the apparent abductions of activists who campaigned for human rights and religious freedom, saying their near simultaneous disappearances raised concerns of government involvement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
is planning to invest a sum of Rs. 30,000 crore into Reliance Jio Infocomm to further its development and improve its signal strength.

The company in its board meeting held earlier on Friday decided to invest another Rs. 30,000 crore into its telecom unit and sell 600 crore preference shares to raise the amount. These preference shares will be sold through a rights issue and will be nine percent non-cumulative optionally convertible (OCPS) available at Rs. 50 each including a premium of Rs. 40.

RIL had already invested Rs. 1.71 lakh crore while setting up its telecom venture Jio Infocomm. Ever since its launch on September 5, 2016, Jio has amassed more than 70 million users, owing to its free voice calls and data plans. The subscriber addition rate is said to be one of the highest, thereby, raising Rs. 30,000 crore last year and rights issue in two tranches in January and September.

The telecom major, however, has been suffering from lack of network coverage and call drop, which it now looks to overcome with the new investment.

The company's board has forwarded a statement in this regard to the National Stock Exchange.

RIL is also expected to launch Jio's VoLTE feature phones with prices staring at Rs 999.
Does lady luck matter? Yes, it does, at least for Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor.

After winning the 'Critics' Award For Best Actor (Male)' at the Filmfare Awards last night, the actor posted a picture on 'Instagram' of his wife Mira holding the award in her hand to express his love and happiness for the two ladies.

The 35-year-old captioned the pic, "Came with one stunning lady and heading home with two. Thank you #filmfare. #udtapunjab congratulations @aliaabhatt and @diljitdosanjh"

He received accolade for his incredible performance in . 'Udta Punjab'.

It was Mira's first award event and while speaking to Filmfare, she said, "I am absolutely excited to be a part of something that is honouring the best performances of the last year. I just hope he wins," and look, he won!

Shahid on the same note said, "I am the happiest man. I am so happy to be here with Mira and it's a very special Filmfare."

Other than this, Sasha's win was also special because of the much-controversy and hurdles the movie faced prior to its release.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China and Vietnam have agreed to manage maritime differences and safeguard the peace and stability of the disputed South China Sea.

A joint communique issued on Saturday said that both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, reports Xinhua.

The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.

China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, according to the communique.

It said that both sides agreed to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.

During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including talks with President Xi Jinping, and separate meetings with Premier Li Keqiang, top legislator Zhang Dejiang, top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and top graft-buster Wang Qishan.

Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas, the communique said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has conveyed that Naypyidaw wants to address the Rohingya issue and other concerns in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding.

However, the letter did not use the term 'Rohingya', reports the Daily Star.

The letter was handed over to the Prime Minister on Wednesday by Myanmar's State Minister for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin, who visited Dhaka recently as a special envoy.

"The special envoy also presented to the Prime Minister the state counsellor's letter expressing her confidence that Myanmar and Bangladesh would be able to address the issues of mutual concern in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding between the two countries," according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar.

The statement said that Myanmar and Bangladesh "have agreed to start consultations for verification and repatriation of those who are proved to have fled from Myanmar following the 9 October attacks against police outposts."

During the visit, U Kyaw Tin held meetings with Prime Minister Hasina, Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque.

Earlier, Myanmar had urged the UN special rapporteur on human rights as well as the international community to avoid using the term "Rohingya" and instead address them as 'Muslim community in Rakhine state.'

The country's majority Buddhists refuse to use the term Rohingya to refer to members of the group, whom they consider to be "Bengalis," illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh, though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At least 10 prisoners were killed in Brazil's fifth prison riot this year, the media reported on Sunday.

Police and military forces were deployed at the Alcacuz prison as a riot broke out between two gangs on Saturday night, the BBC reported.

The wave of prison violence started on January 1 when at least 56 inmates were killed at the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex in Manaus.

Victims were decapitated and their bodies thrown over the prison wall.

Sergio Fontes, the Public Safety Secretary for the state of Amazonas, said the riot started over the control of the drug trade in prison.

In another riot, four inmates were killed on January 2 at the Prison Unit of Puraquequara in Manaus.

In the neighbouring Roraima state, 33 persons were killed on January 6 at the Agricultural Penitentiary of Monte Cristo.

On January 8, four prisoners were killed in the Desembargador Raimundo Vidal Pessoa public jail in Manaus.

Prisoners also escaped from other prison units during the unrest.

Jose Carvalho da Silva, the interim director of the Anisio Jobim Penitentiary Complex, was removed on Tuesday after the deadly riot and corruption allegations by two inmates.

Brazilian President Michel Temer and Justice Minister Alexandre de Moraes announced the creation of a new National Security Plan to improve the country's prison system.

Brazil has the fourth-largest prison population in the world with more than 622,000 people behind bars, according to the Justice Ministry.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Political prisoner, activist, journalist, hymn-writer, emerging think tanker, aspiring novelist, "tribal elder", parliamentary candidate for North West Durham, Shadow Leader of the Opposition, Speedboat, proudly banned from Twitter so officially more dangerous than the Taliban, eagerly awaiting the second (or possibly third) attempt to murder me.
Former Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony on Sunday asked Congress leaders to end their infighting, saying it was eating into their support base.

"What many fail to realise is that the support base of not just the party but its leaders is slipping because of this infighting," Antony told the media.

"The need of the hour is for the leaders to come out of the comfort zone of their coteries. They should not fear criticism," he said.

The statement comes at a time when former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has not entered the Congress headquarters for over a month, has been called to Delhi to meet party Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday.

Ever since its rout in assembly polls last year, the Congress has been divided, with Chandy, state party President V.M. Sudheeran and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala heading their own factions.

In December, Chandy's aides were left out when 14 district committees of the party were reconstituted by the party high command.

Chandy expressed his anguish by not taking part in two crucial party meetings in Delhi, including the Political Affairs Committee meeting on Saturday.

--IANS

sg/lok/mr

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
A girl who was abducted 18 years ago from a Florida hospital in the US has been found alive and safe in the state of South Carolina, media reports said.

Kamiyah Mobley was taken from a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, hours after she was born in 1998. The Jacksonville Sheriff's office said on Friday that Mobley lived in Walterboro, South Carolina, Xinhua news agency reported.

The woman who has been taking care of Mobley, and claimed to be her mother during the past 18 years, was arrested Friday morning and charged with kidnapping and interference, according to the sheriff's office.

South Carolina found the 18-year-old woman with the the same date of birth but a different name, and officials believed fraudulent documents had been used to establish her identity.

Earlier this week, she submitted DNA that was tested and investigators received confirmation that she was in fact Kamiyah Mobley. Authorities said that Mobley appeared in good health.

Mobley will be extradited back to Jacksonville, but it is up to her to decide if she wants to reunite with her family as she is now 18.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
China and Vietnam issued a joint communique, pledging to manage maritime differences and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

According to the communique issued on Saturday, China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, it said.

Both sides agreed to manage maritime differences and avoid any acts that may complicate the situation and escalate tensions so as to safeguard peace and stability of the South China Sea, said the communique.

The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.

During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

According to the communique, the two countries agreed that it was of great importance and strategic guidance to bilateral ties that the high-level officials of both countries and parties, especially the top leaders of the two countries, maintain frequent contact.

Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas.

Vietnam supports and will actively participate in a summit forum on the international cooperation along the Belt and Road to be hosted by China in 2017, said the communique.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The government's November 8 move last year to demonetise higher denomination currencies was said to be aimed at tackling the issues of black money and counterfeit notes. But it has also uncovered the skewed ratio of ATM machines, as compared to the population, providing a boost to the makers of such machines.

As the cash crunch eases, the banks are likely to increase ATM orders and manufacturing is set to get a fillip in 2017, say the ATM companies.

"Annually, we supply about 15,000 ATMs to the domestic market. The banks are focusing on the problem at hand of not having adequate cash. Once that situation improves, they will divert attention to deploying more ATMs. We already have got large orders with us that we will be rolling out in 2017," Navroz Dastur, Managing Director, NCR Corporation, told IANS.

NCR Corporation claims to have 47 per cent market share in the ATM market.

" should push the demand up. State Bank of India has placed an order of 7,000 ATMs with us. Similarly, Punjab National Bank and Canara Bank have placed large orders that we will be rolling out this year," Dastur said.

For 2017, NCR is expecting a 33 per cent increase in its ATM manufacturing.

"It (demonetisation) should increase the orders because we are going into 2017 with a solid backlog of ATM orders. I would estimate 18,000-20,000 units in 2017," he added.

Diebold Nixdorf, another ATM manufacturer, said now that the drive is over, banks are talking about more ATM deployment.

The company claims to have manufactured around 50 per cent of the existing over 200,000 ATMs in India.

"Banks are talking about ATM deployment. We are hearing of more deployments for the rural areas. We are also sitting on a healthy backlog," Jaivinder Gill, Vice President and Managing Director  South Asia, Diebold Nixdorf, told IANS.

"We foresee significant growth. There should be a fair increase this year," Gill added while refusing to give exact figures.

has shown that India is a highly under-penetrated market as far as ATMs are concerned, Dastur said.

"There are 150 ATMs per million people in India compared to 350 per million people in China and 1,000 per million people in the US," he said.

India has 625,000 villages and only 40,000 villages have ATMs, K Srinivas, Managing Director and chief executive officer of BTI Payments, told IANS.

BTI Payments, a non-banking entity that has Reserve Bank of India (RBI) licence to deploy white-label ATMs, uses the brand name India One. White label ATMs can be used by customers of any bank and these are connected to all banks through the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).

"In the next four to five quarters, or by the end of 2017-18, we will deploy 47,000 ATMs," Srinivas said.

"In 2013 we got the licence to deploy 9,000 ATMs in three years. We are currently at 4,300 ATMs," he added.

Corporation Bank, which had placed an order of approximately 150-200 ATMs in 2016-17, may go in for increased orders in 2017 depending on their requirement. The bank currently has about 3,000 ATMs.

"Sudden increase in ATMs will not happen. It is planned growth and ATMs are ordered depending on need. As it is we have a policy of deploying an ATM with every new branch," Eknath Baliga, Manager, KYC-Anti-money Laundering Cell of Corporation Bank, Mangalore, told IANS.

The manufacturers are also gearing up to provide Aadhaar-enabled ATMs from July this year. Users will have the option of withdrawing the money from ATMs using their Aadhaar details and biometric identity through a thumb impression. According to the RBI, guidelines had been issued that all ATMs need to be Aadhaar-enabled by June 30.

The ATM manufacturers say that the machines supplied for the last two years or so already have the hardware required along with the biometric identifiers. As soon as the banks decide, the manufacturers can integrate and roll out the software, they say.

According to Dastur, already about 85 to 90 per cent shipments are happening with the biometric reader. Some customisation of software would have to be done depending on how the banks want to put their transactions through.

The users need to put in their Aadhaar number and provide thumb impressions for the machine to give out money, he added. The machine can also function with just the thumb impression, which would come in handy in rural situations, where the customer may not always remember his or her Aadhaar number, he said.

According to him, older ATMs can also be converted with some hardware and software changes.
Delegates from over 70 nations gathered in Paris on Sunday for major international conference in a bid to kick-start the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestine.

Palestinians have welcomed the French initiative but Israel -- which is not attending -- says the conference is loaded against it, reported BBC on Sunday.

Reports say a draft statement for the meeting calls on Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and avoid taking "unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations".

It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognise" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without an agreement by both sides.

Israel rejected international involvement in the peace process, saying a settlement can only come through direct talks and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Paris meeting "a rigged conference" which Israel would not be bound by.

"[It's] rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances," he said. "This pushes peace backwards."

Days before leaving office, US Secretary of State John Kerry would be at the meeting to ensure "whatever happens in this conference is constructive and balanced".

Spokesman Mark Toner said the US did not "want to see anything that attempts to impose a solution on Israel".

With Netanyahu snubbing the conference and Trump's administration "reserved" about it, according to a French diplomat, Sunday's gathering could be seen as an effort to isolate Israel.

Pro-Israel demonstrators planned a protest on Sunday in Paris.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The hills of Himachal Pradesh on Sunday saw a marginal rise in mercury owing to cloudy conditions, but the Met office here forecast chances of more rain and snowfall in the next three days.

Most of the prominent tourist towns like Shimla, Narkanda, Kufri, Manali and Dalhousie may witness moderate snowfall, Met office director Manmohan Singh told IANS.

Keylong in Lahaul and Spiti district was the coldest place in the state with a low of minus 11.6 degrees Celsius, a rise from Saturday's 13.9 degrees Celsius.

Shimla recorded the minimum temperature at 1.6 degrees Celsius against 0.5 degree Celsius on Saturday.

Kalpa in Kinnaur district recorded a low of minus 2.8 degrees Celsius, while it was 6.2 degrees Celsius in Dharamsala and one degree Celsius in Manali.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Afghan Eduction Ministry on Sunday said the Islamic State terror group has kidnapped 14 teachers from Nangarhar province.

The ministry said the incident took place on Sunday when students were busy with exams at the Mesher Mullah Sahib Madrassa in Kot district. "A group of IS fighters entered the madrassa and left, taking 14 people with them," the ministry said.

The ministry called on security forces and tribal elders to do "everything possible" to secure the release of the abductees.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The Prime Minister of Israel criticized the international peace conference taking place in Paris in support of the two-state solution for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, describing it as "useless".

Benjamin Netanyahu again slammed the Paris talks on Sunday, in which representatives from 70 countries are slated to approach the complex conflict that has engulfed the Middle East for the past seven decades, Efe news reports.

"The conference is being coordinated between the French and the Palestinians. Its goal is to try and force terms on Israel that conflict with our national needs," the Jewish leader said during his weekly cabinet meeting.

"It is a useless conference," he added.

Netanyahu went on to say that the summit was "among the last twitches of yesterday's world".

The experienced right-wing politician claimed the Paris talks would push peace further away "because it hardens the Palestinian positions and it also pushes them away from direct negotiations without preconditions".

Israel has declined to participate in the conference and has said it would not feel bound by any decision adopted in Paris.

Meanwhile, US Secretary of State John Kerry told the Israeli Prime Minister that the ongoing Paris peace conference would not have irreversible consequences for Israel.

Kerry phoned Benjamin Netanyahu to assure him that the talks, organised by France, would not lead to a United Nations resolution condemning Israel or to any kind of sanction.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Pope Francis and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met here to open a Palestinian embassy in the Vatican City.

"We are very grateful about the role that the Holy See has played for a just and lasting peace in the Holy Land, and for having opened an embassy of Palestine in the Vatican for first time," CNN quoted Abbas as saying on Saturday.

"We are proud to be the birthplace of Christianity and about having one of the oldest Christian communities in the world."

The Vatican has long held that a two-state solution was the best road to peace in the Holy Land, and the Pope has taken steps to raise the profile of a Palestinian state by formally recognising Palestinian statehood in a legal document in May 2015.

The Vatican in November 2012 referred to Palestine as a State when the UN voted to recognise it as a non-member observer.

Issa Kassissieh, the Palestinian ambassador to the Holy See, called the move "a significant achievement for the Palestinian people".

Israel has yet to respond to the news.

Many other countries, including Israel, have embassies in the Vatican City.

The Pope in June 2014 hosted Abbas and late Israeli President Shimon Peres for an unprecedented prayer ceremony at the Vatican.

The UN General Assembly adopted a resolution in September 2015 allowing the "State of Palestine" and the Vatican to raise their flags outside of UN headquarters and UN offices.

Abbas said he will attend a conference in Paris on Sunday to explore ways to restart the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is among officials from more than 70 nations who plan to attend the conference. Israel has said it will not participate.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has said that no one could stop him from declaring martial law if the drugs problem worsens in the country, the media reported.

"If I wanted to, and it will deteriorate into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law if I wanted to. No one will be able to stop me," Duterte said in a speech to business people in the southern city of Davao on Saturday.

But the President said he would declare martial law not on the basis of invasion or insurrection but to preserve the country, Inquirer daily reported.

"The aim would be to preserve the Filipino people and the youths of this land," he said, adding that he is acting to prevent the country from becoming a narco-state.

"My country transcends everything else, even the limitations," he added.

About 6,000 people have been killed in six months under Duterte's anti-drugs crackdown.

Martial rule would allow Duterte to use the military to enforce civilian law and detain people at length without charge.

The Philippines Constitution says a President can only declare martial law for 60 days and then only to stop an invasion or a rebellion. But Duterte said the 60-day limit "would be gone".

However, his comments contradict remarks made in December when he appeared to rule out the use of martial law, saying it was "nonsense" and had not improved people's lives in the past.

The President did not end his speech without slamming his critics, who claimed that he wanted to declare martial law to extend his term.

"Those in Manila thinking about martial law, lengthening your stay ...b*lsh*t," he said. "I do not need the presidency at this point in my life," he added.

Duterte has vowed to rid the country of illegal drugs and his campaign has seen thousands die in police operations and unexplained killings by suspected vigilantes.

About a million drug dealers and users have handed themselves in to police. The crackdown has led to international condemnation, with outgoing US President Barack Obama urging Duterte to prosecute his war "the right way".

Some human rights lawyers say Duterte's support for a shoot-to-kill policy could make him vulnerable to prosecution for crimes against humanity at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

--IANS

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Police regained control of the Alcacuz state penitentiary in Nisia Floresta, a city in the northeastern Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, where 10 inmates died in a riot, officials said.

A police special response unit entered the prison's cellblocks on Sunday and secured the facility, which was affected by a 14-hour riot, the Rio Grande do Norte Security Secretariat said.

Police regained control of the prison's perimeter on Saturday night, then they secured the yards before entering the cellblocks, Efe news reports.

Police and military forces were deployed at the Alcacuz prison as a riot broke out between two gangs on Saturday night.

The riot at the prison, the largest in Rio Grande do Norte, involved rival gangs of prisoners, following the pattern of the recent fights that have left more than 100 inmates dead in Brazil this year.

The Alcacuz state penitentiary has a capacity of 620 but currently houses 1,150 inmates, the Justic Secretariat said.

Brazilian officials have been dealing with a wave of violence at prisons since the start of 2017.

On January 1, 56 inmates died in a fight at a prison in Manaus, the capital of Amazonas state.

A fight at a prison farm outside Manaus left four other inmates dead.

At least 33 inmates died in a riot at a prison in Boa Vista, the capital of Roraima state. Investigators found two other bodies buried at the Boa Vista prison, but the victims had been killed and buried before the riot.

Two inmates were murdered earlier in January at a prison in Paraiba.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday greeted soldiers on the Army Day and remembered those who made the "supreme sacrifice" in the line of duty.

"Greetings and felicitations to all officers, soldiers, veterans, civilians, ex-servicemen and their families on the occasion of Army Day," he said.

"Today, we remember our bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The nation is indebted to them and their families," the President said.

"I wish to place on record our deepest appreciation for the dedication and devotion of our soldiers in their service to the nation," Mukherjee said in a statement.

"The Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security of India whilst defending our borders across some of the most perilous terrain in the world."

"It provides stability during internal security challenges and is often called upon to provide assistance during natural calamities."

The President also said the Indian Army is known for its "professionalism, selfless commitment and the unparalleled bravery of its rank and file".

"I am confident the Indian Army will continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power in the coming years."

The Army Day is celebrated on Jan 15.

--IANS

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Haryana Hammers will be eager to maintain their all-win record and hold on to the top spot when they take on Punjab Royals in a Pro Wrestling League (PWL) tie at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium here on Monday.

Monday's contest, the last league match of this year's Pro Wrestling League, won't affect the teams much as both have already qualified for the semi-finals.

However, the second placed Punjab may have a chance to displace Haryana from the top spot if they win on Monday. They are on six points -- two behind Haryana -- and one more win will put both teams on par at eight points.

In that case, the team with greater number of wins in the league stage will finish the league stage at the top spot and will face the fourth-placed team.

Haryana are on a winning spree. They have defeated Mumbai Maharathi, Uttar Pradesh Dangal, Delhi Sultans and Jaipur Ninjas.

On the other hand, Punjab lost their first match to Jaipur Ninjas, but quickly got back to groove with easy wins over Mumbai, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.

Both teams are considered as strong contenders for the title, and a win on Monday will give a psychological edge to the winners.

Punjab are strong in the men's category, as their captain Vladimir Khinchegashvili of Georgia has won all his four bouts in the 57kg weight category, while Azerbaijani grappler Togrul Asgarov has won two crucial bouts.

On the other hand, Haryana's hopes are pinned on Abdusalam Gadisov of Russia (97kg), who has also won all his four bouts along with Magomed Kurbanaliev of Russia (70 Kg). Sofia Mattsson of Sweden (53 Kg) and Marwa Amri of Tunisia (58 Kg) too are unbeaten in the tournament so far.

Sofia will take on Odunayo Folasade Adekuoroye, whom she had defeated at the Rio Olympics. A stiff battle is expected to be seen in the women's 48kg weight category, where Indu Choudhari will face Nirmala Devi.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Terming replacement of Mahatma Gandhi's picture from the 2017 calendar and diary of the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo a "marketing exercise", Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said it was part of the all-out efforts to promote "Brand Modi".

"My perception is that they (the Modi government) have tried to reduce everything to a marketing exercise. This is about promoting Brand Modi and putting the brand on everything the government has control of, overlooking the fact of not just popular imagination but a historical fact," Tharoor told IANS on the sidelines of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival here.

He said the move was "inappropriate" and showed the government in poor light.

"Gandhiji's relationship with the handloom industry and khadi is so organic and so fundamental with the image of him and his charkha that it is deeply embedded in the public consciousness. You cannot just change the image so easily. To put it mildly, it was inappropriate.

"We should not give it too much importance because to my mind it suggests trivialisation of national iconography that does not stand to the credit of those who thought of it," he added.

A political storm rages over Modi's picture spinning the charkha appearing on the cover pages of the KVIC calendar and diary, instead of the iconic picture of Gandhi weaving Khadi on a simple charkha wearing his trademark loin cloth.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The South Korean Prosecutor's office investigating a corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend said on Sunday that they are close to deciding whether to seek an arrest warrant against Samsung Group heir Lee Jae-yong on bribery charges.

According to Yonhap news agency, the prosecutors said the decision could come as early as Monday and that they are in the "final" review process regarding the warrant, taking into account various factors, including the possible impact of the arrest of Vice Chairman Lee.

"We plan to make a decision on whether to seek the warrant before a regular press briefing tomorrow (at 2.30 pm on Monday)," Lee Kyu-chul, the spokesman for the probe team in the case, said.

"We are taking into account all of issues raised so far, but the most important factor for us to consider is the law and principle," he added.

The de facto leader of Samsung Group allegedly gave billions of won (South Korean currency) to various organisations linked to Park's confidante, Choi Soon-sil, in return for the government's backing of a controversial merger of two Samsung affiliates in July 2015.

The group has acknowledged providing funds to the organisations but denied they were a bribe.

Lee was grilled by the special prosecutors for 22 hours until early Friday. The charges under consideration include bribery and, depending on the source of the funds, embezzlement and breach of trust.

Lee is accused of giving false testimony during a parliamentary hearing in December, when he claimed to have "never" made donations expecting something in return.

Meanwhile, special prosecutors are poised to summon Culture Minister Cho Yoon-sun and former presidential chief of staff Kim Ki-choon, possibly this week over the allegations that the Park administration had blacklisted certain cultural figures.

They have been looking into the suspicion that Cho and Kim were involved in the alleged creation and management of a blacklist intended to block dissident artists from getting state support, said the report.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Seven civilians were killed and two injured in a roadside bombing in Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Sunday.

A roadside bomb hit a civilian vehicle in Pachiragam district, Xinhua news agency quoted the Interior Ministry as saying.

Taliban militants and other insurgent groups have been using Improvised Explosive Devices to target security forces but the weapons also inflict casualties on civilians.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Six pilgrims, all women, suffocated to death during a mad rush to board a vessel from the crowded jetty on their way home from Gangasagar fair in West Bengal on Sunday after taking the holy dip, a state minister said.

"Six aged women died at Kachuberia temporary hospital due to heart attack. They had fallen senseless due to suffocation," state Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira, told IANS over phone from the area.

"The mishap occurred as the pilgrims got imapatient due to the long queue at jetty number five in Kachuberi and tried to outdo others in boarding the vessel," he said.

Naval divers have been deployed to search for anyone who may have fallen into Muriganga river (distributor of the Hooghly river) during the mad rush, officials said.

State Panchayat and Public Health Engineering Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the pilgrims were involved in a mad rush to board the vessels in view of the approaching low tide which would have halted launch movement on the river for hours.

Around 1.6 million pilgrims from across India and abroad had gathered at Sagar island, around 150 km from Kolkata in South 24 Parganas district, this year for the annual Gangsagar Mela on Makar Sankranti. The bathing had started from Friday night.

This island is considered auspicious by the Hindus, who converge here at this time of the year to take the holy dip and pray by offering a coconut at the Kapil Muni temple.

The Ganga Sagar Mela is rated as the second largest assembly of people after the quadrennial Kumbha Mela (fair).

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Sri Lanka is building a mega port city project in its capital Colombo that will transform the country into an international financial and business hub in the Indian Ocean region in the coming years.

The $1.4 billion project, which is currently under-construction near Colombo Harbour, is Sri Lanka's largest foreign investment and the port city would be the first of its kind in the South Asian region, Xinhua news agency reported on Sunday.

The project is an investment of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) and has to date employed hundreds of locals.

"I feel very proud to be contributing towards this project as a Sri Lankan. The project is going to create more than 80,000 jobs within the next 20 years, which will benefit Sri Lanka immensely," said Chiranthi Balapatabandi, Marketing Communications Executive of CHEC Port City Colombo, the project's contractor.

Balapatabandi said that the project would help promote Sri Lanka's economy by encouraging foreign direct investments and private sector growth.

Sri Lanka, taking advantage of its strategic location, is seeking a strong role in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

"The Colombo port city will make Colombo a better place for Sri Lankans living overseas to return to their motherland to work and live. I truly believe the project is going to help Colombo become a vibrant business hub in South Asia," Balapatabandi said.

The project, which initially began construction in September 2014 under the former government, was suspended in March 2015 by President Maithripala Sirisena's government due to environmental concerns.

However, in March 2016, the project was given the nod by the government after successful discussions between the two countries and with all environmental reports cleared.

--IANS

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Among the outstanding American statesmen (and one stateswoman) to never become President, Daniel Webster never let ambition, pride or popularity deflect him from his inalienable political principle: his country's preservation, even by tactical compromises over policies that might be personally detestable, and negotiations over force. But he is chiefly remembered as a polished, powerful and persuasive orator who once even bested the Devil.

And while Webster (1782-1852), whose 235th birth anniversary falls on January 18, was a prominent lawyer and twice Secretary of State, this particular achievement only came in an iconic story.

Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (first published in a newspaper in 1936, and as a book in 1937) is a typical American adaptation of the "Bargain with the Devil" genre popular across all forms of Western art since "Faust". However, some motifs about the making of the US, nationalism, rights and justice keep it from being another "tall tale".

Partly inspired by Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1824), it tells about New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone, who unwisely makes a deal with the Devil (in the form of the suave Mr Scratch) for a prosperous period in return for his soul. However, when time is running out, he seeks the help of Webster, now a prominent politician, who began life as a lawyer and was keen to help anyone from his New Hampshire.

And Dan'l Webster, as rendered, was no ordinary man for when he "stood up to speak, stars and stripes came right out in the sky, and once he spoke against a river and made it sink into the ground. They said, when he walked the woods with his fishing rod, Killall, the trout would jump out of the streams right into his pockets, for they knew it was no use putting up a fight against him; and, when he argued a case, he could turn on the harps of the blessed and the shaking of the earth underground".

But even he is hard-pressed and all legal stratagems fail though "he was a great lawyer, Dan'l Webster, but we know who's the King of Lawyers...".

Even his trump card, that Stone is an American citizen who may not "be forced into the service of a foreign prince", is countered, as Scratch says he has been an American earlier -- ever since "the first wrong was done to the first Indian", and "the first slaver put out for the Congo".

Ultimately, Webster plays his last card, insisting on a trial, and when Scratch points out it is not a case for any ordinary court, offers "let it be any court you choose, so it is an American judge and an American jury".

Scratch complies, summoning a "jury of the damned" (including Americans who fought for Britain in the Independence War, a Native American chief, colonial governors, a pirate), all evil, but all Americans. Presiding is a judge of the Salem Witch Trials who had never repented his role, like the others.

It still goes hard for Webster, and he is ready to go down fighting before suddenly realising that it is he who is the actual target, and will be in their power if he succumbs to rage. He instead switches to making a gentle but powerful speech about man and his faults, and even how they play their part in the making of a glorious country.

And the jury require no time to decide, finding for the plaintiff, with their foreman observing: "Perhaps 'tis not strictly in accordance with the evidence, but even the damned may salute the eloquence of Mr Webster."

Nothing else Benet (1898-1943) wrote in his short career equalled this story, which won the O. Henry Prize, the most prestigious award for short stories, in 1937, inspired an Academy Award-winning Hollywood movie in 1941 and another modernised version (starring Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Love Hewitt) in 2003, serials, radio shows, plays (including one by Benet) and countless reference in other works from a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode to a Superman novel.

What of Webster himself? His future is foretold by Mr Scratch, whom he forces to sign a promise not to molest Stone or anyone other New Hampshire man. He is told that he will come close to becoming President but will not make it, have both his sons die in war, and his last great speech will make many of his followers turn against him, questioning his loyalties and calling him names. But Webster is unfazed and kicks the Devil off.

All that came to be pass. Webster declined to accept Vice Presidency under two Presidents who died soon into their terms, his speech for the Compromise of 1850, which averted the Civil War (in which both his sons died) by a decade, earned him both bouquets and brickbats and scuppered his Presidential candidacy in 1852.

But he is ranked an orator to be emulated, one of the five greatest Senators ever and future President John F. Kennedy featured him in his Pulitzer-winning "Profiles in Courage".

(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted atvikas.d@ians.in)

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some 90 Punjabis of Indian origin from Canada's Toronto area are flying to Punjab to campaign for the AAP in the February 4 assembly election, a Canadian daily reported.

"I want to be a part of real change," said Surinder Mavi, a 31-year-old Brampton resident whose planeload of Aam Aadmi Party election volunteers would depart on Tuesday, the Toronto Star said on Saturday.

The daily quoted Mavi as saying that his political awakening began with his arrival in Canada eight years ago when he realized that bribes were unnecessary and basic rules like stopping at red lights were respected.

"I thought to myself, 'Why shouldn't the system work like this in Punjab?'"

Mavi said the Toronto area volunteers were part of a campaign that would see thousands of Indian expatriates arrive in New Delhi on Thursday to help the AAP in the state election, the daily said.

Mavi would ride an AAP campaign bus to rally support in 16 of Punjab's largest constituencies.

Punjab will elect 117 legislators. The battle is expected to be three-way, with the ruling Akali Dal-BJP coalition challenged by the Congress and the AAP.

In 2014, after landing a job as a senior technical service analyst at a major Canadian bank, Mavi decided it was time to act. He joined the Canadian branch of AAP.

The Star quoted Kanta Murali, an expert on Indian at the University of Toronto, as saying that the Punjab battle would be "a good bellwether for the effect demonetisation has had" on Indians.

Azad Kaushik, Canadian president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, admitted to "an anti-incumbency factor" in Punjab.

But he told the Star over phone from Delhi, where he was visiting, that the BJP's economic record would keep its state coalition in power.

Kaushik also accused the AAP of having "failed miserably" in Delhi, which the AAP rules.

"Polls in the last several months have indicated widely different results. But all show the AAP having a significant impact (in Punjab)," the Canadian daily said.

Mavi, whose parents live in Punjab, said the Toronto volunteers would largely be staying with family and relatives as they campaign for the AAP.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Sunday called US President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to move the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as a "provocation".

When answering a question from a French TV reporter about Trump's relocation pledge and his words about seeing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the minister said: "Of course, it's a provocation. I think he would not be able to do it."

"It would have extremely serious consequences," Ayrault warned on the sidelines of the Middle East Peace Conference held in Paris.

"When you are President of the United States, you cannot take such a clear-cut, unilateral position on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," he added.

France on Sunday convened an international meeting to seek ways to revive the stranded Middle East peace negotiations and to restate the "two-state solution".

The meeting brought together representatives from about 70 countries, including the UN Security Council permanent members, key European countries and major Arab states.

However, neither Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were represented in the meeting.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
US President-elect fired back at civil rights icon John Lewis, who said he did not view the real-estate mogul's election victory as legitimate.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime-infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk  no action or results," Trump tweeted.

Trump made the remarks after Lewis told NBC in an interview that the Republican would take office as an illegitimate President, citing the US intelligence community's allegations that Russia interfered in the election to harm his Democratic Party rival, Hillary Clinton, Efe news reported.

The 76-year-old Lewis  who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech  said he would not attend the Presidential inauguration for the first time in his 30 years in Congress.

"I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this President-elect as a legitimate President," Lewis said in his interview.

"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," he added.

He said he would not attend the inauguration ceremony for that reason.

"It will be the first one that I miss since I've been in Congress," he said. "You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong, is not right."
The UN welcomed the United States' decision to lift some sanctions imposed on Sudan.

"This decision is recognition of steps taken by the government of Sudan during recent months in a number of important areas," said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Marta Ruedas, in a statement on Saturday.

She congratulated Sudan "on the implementation of these steps which have led to the improvement of relations between the Republic of Sudan and the US", Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN official further said that this decision would provide a solid platform for the sustainable development in Sudan.

On Friday, the US President Barack Obama issued a decision cancelling two executive orders imposing economic sanctions on Sudan while the Sudanese Foreign Ministry welcomed the American decision

The ministry regarded the US decision as "a fruit of a close cooperation between the two countries in international and regional issues of mutual concern."

The US has been imposing sanctions on Sudan since 1997 and putting it on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism since 1993.

Meanwhile, a Sudanese top diplomat said on Saturday that his country expected full normalization of relations between Sudan and the US after the step.

"The U.S. decision on lifting the economic sanctions on Sudan came as a result of a comprehensive dialogue that has continued for about two years," said Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour at a press conference here.

Ghandour stressed the importance of the U.S. decision to lift sanctions on Sudan, saying "these decisions will remove all the barriers which have been crippling the flow of investments to Sudan".

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Actress Sonam Kapoor says winning the Best Actress award for "Neerja" is special and that she will cherish the moment forever.

Sonam won the Critics' Award For Best Actor (Female) for her performance in "Neerja" at the 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards here on Saturday night.

Directed by Ram Madhvani and produced by Fox Star Studios and Bling Unplugged, "Neerja" featured Sonam in the lead. She essayed the late valiant flight attendant Neerja Bhanot, who lost her life while saving others on a hijacked Pan Am plane a Karachi.

Sonam tweeted: "Winning the best actress award for 'Neerja', was a truly special moment... But it was made more special because Aanand L Rai gave it to me... love you sir. Thank you Filmfare. I'll forever cherish this moment."

Actress Athiya Shetty also congratulated Sonam with a tweet: "Congratulations to the kindest one, Sonam Kapoor. Nobody could have played Neerja with such honesty and love. Shine on."

Fashion designer Masaba Mantena said that Sonam took he audience on "a magical, emotional roller coaster" with "Neerja".

Filmmaker Satish Kaushik said that Sonam deserved it, while Rajkummar Rao said: "Heartiest congratulations Sonam. Many more to come. More power to you. Very happy for you."

-*-

Had lost faith in awards: 'Aligarh' co-writer

Actor Manoj Bajpayee's victory as the Best Actor (Male) at Filmfare Awards for "Aligarh" is a huge achievement for the LGBTQ community, says the movie's co-writer Apurva Asrani, who had "lost faith in awards".

"I had lost faith in awards. But Manoj Bajpayee winning a mainstream award for playing a gay protagonist is huge for India's LGBTQ! Aligarh," Asrani tweeted on Sunday.

To that, Manoj, who shared the award with Shahid Kapoor ("Udta Punjab"), tweeted: "It's all due to your writing and Hansal Mehta."

In "Aligarh", Manoj played a gay professor.

-*-

Mahesh Bhatt gives life lessons to Alia

Veteran filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt congratulated his 'little big girl' Alia Bhatt for her big win at the Filmfare Awards, and gave her some words of wisdom.

Alia won the Filmfare Best Actor Award (Female) for her performance as a Bihari immigrant in "Udta Punjab". The 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards was held here on Saturday night.

Mahesh tweeted: "Alia, once you become fearless life becomes limitless. Congratulations to you my little big girl!"

Her sister Pooja Bhatt also lauded her skills as an actor, and said that it is the "beginning of many more to come".

"Bravo gorgeous, brave one! This Alia is the beginning of many more to come," tweeted the actor-filmmaker Pooja.

Besides her family, Alia's colleagues also congratulated her fo the big win.

Actress Athiya Shetty posted: "Congratulations to this bundle of talent Alia! Every time I see her perform, I message her saying 'But how?!'. May there be many more."

Her "Udta Punjab" co-star Shahid Kapoor, who won the Best Actor (Male) award, also said that she deserved the award.

--IANS

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(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here on Sunday to attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Xi is the first Chinese President to attend the mega-summit and will be one of the highlights at the event. All eyes will be on Xi's address at a time when US President-elect Donald Trump has talked about protectionism.

Prior to the Davos meeting, Xi is scheduled to have talks and meetings with Swiss leaders in Bern, as the two countries seek to cement their innovative strategic partnership that was established last April.

China and Switzerland have enjoyed long-term exchange and cooperation. In 1950, Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognise and establish diplomatic ties with the newly-founded People's Republic of China.

Switzerland was also among the first European countries to recognize China as a full market economy.

In recent years, Switzerland became the first European continental country to conclude and implement a free trade agreement with China.

Xi will later travel to the ski resort of Davos to attend the WEF annual meeting being held from January 17-20.

He will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on January 17 to share China's views on charting the course for globalisation.

--IANS

gsh/dg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Zhou Youguang, who simplified Chinese language by introducing Pinyin, died here on Saturday. He was 112.

Pinyin is the romanised form of Mandarin characters -- one of the most complicated languages of the world -- which makes it much easier to learn the ancient language, especially for foreigners.

Chinese is the world's most spoken language, thanks to China's booming population and its diaspora.

Mao Zedong is the Pinyin version of Mao Tse-tung.

Zhou and his colleagues began working on Pinyin in 1955 and took three years to develop it.

The most striking thing about Zhou's involvement was that he was neither a linguist nor a lexicographer but an economist, who returned home to China from Wall Street, according to the New York Times.

But because of a fortuitous meeting in 1955, and a lifetime love of language, he was conscripted by the Chinese government to develop an accessible alphabetic writing system, the newspaper recalled.

Zhou's father was an official of China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing, which endured continuously from the 17th century until 1912.

Zhou was born in Changzhou, in eastern China, on January 13, 1906.

In 1927, after studying at St. John's University in Shanghai, he graduated from Guanghua University there with a degree in economics.

--IANS

gsh/vt

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
At the Hooda lunch, young Congress leaders reserved their attention for party veteran Ahmed Patel. Political secretary to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Patel is also in the thick of things in the protests against demonetisation led by Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi. As it was evident that Patel would be a key person advising Rahul Gandhi, young party leaders continuously praised the speech he (Patel) made at a party event against demonetisation on January 11. There were repeated demands from the young party leaders that Patel repeat some of the Urdu couplets he had read during his speech. An embarrassed  but also delighted  Patel eventually succumbed to the flattery.
Embattled Samajwadi Party (SP) patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday received an 'option B' with Lok Dal offering its symbol and president post to him in case the SP symbol 'cycle' was frozen by the Election Commission.

Lok Dal president Sunil Singh told reporters here that his party in EC's records was a registered, unrecognised party that was formed by veteran socialist leader Charan Singh way back in 1980 and "netaji" (Mualayam) is its founder member.

"I offer Lok Dal's symbol and president post to 'netaji' and am ready to contest the polls with him," Singh said.

Lok Dal, which has the old election symbol of farmer ploughing field (khet jotta kissan), on which Charan Singh had become the chief minister of UP, wants to contest Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and has already short-listed names of 100 candidates.

"I want Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to understand that his uncle Ramgopal Yadav is working under pressure of CBI to save his son and daughter in Yadav Singh case. Bureaucrats backing him will no longer be there after polls. He should understand that 'netaji' is his father and his real well wisher," he said.

"I want them (Mulayam-Akhilesh) to resolve the dispute and if it does not happen and cycle symbol goes to Akhilesh or EC freezes it, Lok Dal is with Mulayam," he said.

"I have met Mulayam Singh and offered him to contest the elections on our symbol," he said.

In 2012 elections, Lok Dal had contested 76 seats and but all their candidates lost in the polls.

Lok Dal's offer came amid hectic discussions by leaders of rival camps on various options and ramifications once the poll panel gives its order.

The EC, which reserved its order on the dispute over 'cycle' symbol, has kept both sides guessing with leaders of warring camps exploring various scenarios as little time is left for the process of filing nominations to start for the first phase of the staggered polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The state will have a seven-phase polling beginning February 11 and filing of nomination papers starts as early as Tuesday.

The confusion notwithstanding, a large number of ticket seekers thronged residences of Mulayam and his defiant son Akhilesh.

Throughout the day, Mulayam and Akhilesh stayed put in their bungalows in the VVIP security zone which has seen high voltage political drama ever since the family feud broke out in the Yadav clan six months back, splitting the ruling party ahead of the crucial elections.

"Akhileshji is our face and we will seek vote on it. The new symbol, if given by EC, however, will be a challenge but we are prepared for all situations. We are relying on the work done by the CM in past five years and people will support us," a highly confident SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan, considered close to Akhilesh, told.



Taking full control of the ruling party after being crowned as its head at a disputed national convention here on January 1, Akhilesh has been going a whole hog consolidating his grip over the organisation.

He has already made new appointments of district chiefs who were dumped by Shivpal and also released the list of candidates for the Legislative Council polls in his capacity as the SP chief.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the EC, which has told both the sides that a judgement will be delivered at the earliest.

Citing precedents, Election Symbol Order of 1968 and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, including Section 29A, the Akhilesh camp argued that since the numbers are stacked in favour of the CM, the symbol should go to him.

The Mulayam camp, on the other hand, said since there is "no vertical split in the party such as SP (Mulayam) and SP (Akhilesh), the Commission lacks jurisdiction to allocate symbol to one of the groups.

The Mulayam camp also argued that since no resolution was passed at the convention called by Akhilesh loyalist Ramgopal Yadav on January 1 removing Mulayam as the party president and that the party is one, para 15 of the Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 does not apply on the case.

But, the claim was countered by the Akhilesh camp which said in one of the letters addressed to the Commission, Mulayam loyalist Amar Singh has used the term 'splinter group' and that both sides are before the Commission staking claim over symbol which indicates a 'dispute'.
At least 18 Democratic lawmakers have said they will boycott US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration this week, after disclosure of Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 election and his rebuke of civil rights icon John Lewis, according to a media report on Sunday.

Democratic Representative Lewis blasted Trump in an interview to a news channel, saying he would boycott the ceremony for the first time since he arrived in Congress in 1987 because he doesn't see Trump as a "legitimate" president in light of Russian interference, CNN reported.

Lewis was one of three black lawmakers to testify against Trump's attorney general nominee Sen. Jeff Sessions last week.

Trump had called Lewis "all talk" and "no action" and told him to focus more on "fixing and helping" his district rather than "complaining" about the Russia's role.

"I will NOT attend the inauguration of @realDonaldTrump. When you insult @repjohnlewis, you insult America," tweeted New York Rep. Yvette Clarke, making public his decision to boycott Trump's swearing-in ceremony on January 20.

Some members of Congress have said they will be protesting in DC and in their districts instead of attending the event.

"'All talk, no action.' I stand with @repjohnlewis and I will not be attending the inauguration," California Rep. Mark Takano tweeted.

"For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis," California Rep. Ted Lieu said in a statement released by his office.

Arizona Rep. Raul Grijalva said he will not be attending the inauguration of Trump as the next president.

The office of Michigan Rep. John Conyers, the dean of the United House of Representatives, confirmed to CNN he won't be attending the inauguration.

"It is with a heavy heart and deep personal conviction that I have decided not to attend the #TrumpInauguration on January 20, 2017," California Rep. Mark DeSaulnier tweeted.

"I will not be attending inauguration of @realDonaldTrump but WILL participate in the @womensmarch on January 21st," New York Rep. Nydia Velazquez tweeted.

Oregon Rep. Kurt Schrader said, "I'll do my best to work with him (Trump) when I think he's doing the right thing for the country. But he hasn't proved himself to me at all yet, so I respectfully decline to freeze my ass out there in the cold for this particular ceremony."

Missouri Rep. William Lacy Clay's spokesperson said that Clay will be in his home state speaking to schoolchildren.

California Rep. Barbara Lee said she wouldn't endorse a president defined by "racism, sexism, xenophobia and bigotry."

New York Rep. Jose Serrano, California Rep. Judy Chu, Illinois Rep. Luis Gutierrez, California Rep. Jared Huffman, Massachusetts Rep. Katherine Clark, Oregon Rep. Earl Blumenauer, New York Rep. Adriano Espaillat are among others who have decided not to attend the inauguration.
Three Chinese, including two women, and a Nepalese driver were arrested with huge amount of illegal foreign exchange in Nepal, police said today.

Acting on a tip-off, police had intercepted the Scorpio while they were trying to exit the Kathmandu Valley with the illegal cash yesterday.

The trio were carrying around USD 260,000, around 118,000 Euro and some amounts of Canadian dollars, Francs and Australian Dollars totaling Nepali Rs 47 million, police said.

"Three Chinese nationals, including two women, in possession of a huge cache of illegal foreign currencies were arrested from Nagdhunga on the outskirts of Kathmandu yesterday," police said.

They were arrested while they were exiting the Kathmandu Valley on a private vehicle. The trio are being interrogated with the help of interpreters, they said.

The Nepalese man identified as Pemba Tamang (39), from Rasuwa district, was arrested for helping the trio, police said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three persons have been arrested for allegedly abducting a man who duped them by making them invest in a foreign firm on pretext of doubling their money in three months, police said today.

Later, police also arrested the man who was abducted and his accomplice for allegedly cheating the trio.

A woman had complained to police that her brother Kushal Chopra left their house on January 11 and did not return, DCP (East) Omvir Singh said.

Next day, she got ransom calls and messages demanding Rs 36 lakh for freeing her brother, he said, adding investigation was initiated in the matter by Shakurpur police station.

"Based on cellphone locations, a police party searched for the accused at various places like AIIMS, Safdarjung, Chanakyapuri, Dwarka and Najafgarh.

"But they kept changing their locations and later switched off their phones once they reached Najafgarh," he said.

On January 13, the culprits switched on their mobile phones and their location was traced to Laxmi Nagar, Singh said.

The team laid a trap and apprehended one accused, Aman, and Kushal was rescued, the officer said.

The other two accused Pankaj, the owner of a club in Gurgaon, and his business partner Akash were also nabbed later.

During interrogation, Kushal told police that Pankaj and Akash called him to meet at Connaught Place but took him to a hotel in Gurgaon where he was held.

The accused told the police that last year, Kushal had asked them to invest in the foreign firm which he claimed was registered under RBI.

Kushal had introduced them to Manoj as the director of the company.

"Manoj had urged them to invest money in the company to get it doubled in three months. The trio invested Rs 36 lakh in the firm. However, they didn't get any profit or their principal amount," the officer said.

Following this, a case of cheating was registered against Manoj and Kushal.

On the basis of the trio's statements, Manoj was called for questioning.

During interrogation, Manoj told the police that in August 2016, he went to Hong Kong where he met the director of the company who then made Manoj the director and asked him to look after their business in India, the officer said.

"During investigation, when searches were made on internet, it was revealed that the company is Bulgaria-based and they are running a parallel economy in Bulgaria and are causing huge financial loss to Bulgarian government by using cryptocurrency," the DCP said.

Following this Kushal and Manoj were also arrested in the cheating case.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Some 90 Punjabis of Indian-origin from Canada will fly to Punjab to campaign for Aam Admi Party (AAP) in 16 of the state's largest constituencies for the assembly elections on February 4.

They will arrive in Punjab on January 19.

"I want to be a part of real change," Surinder Mavi, a 31-year-old Brampton resident who helped in organising the plane load of "election volunteers" was quoted as saying by Toronto Star.

Mavi said the Toronto area volunteers were part of a campaign that will see thousands of Indian expatriates arrive in Dehli in Punjab to help in the elections, it reported.

Mavi's political awakening began with his arrival in Canada eight years ago, when he realised bribes were unnecessary and basic rules, like stopping at red lights, were respected.

For the election, Mavi will ride an campaign bus that will rally support in 16 of Punjab's largest constituencies.

He had joined the Canadian branch of AAP, which had burst onto the Indian political scene two years ago with a platform of ending the culture of "bribe-taking," the daily reported.

The key platform issues in campaign will be AAP's proposals to fight widespread drug abuse among the youth and programmes to give farmers more money for their crops.

Azad Kaushik, Canadian president of the Overseas Friends of BJP, admitted to "an anti-incumbency factor" in Punjab. But he told the Star over phone from Delhi, where he was visiting, that the BJP's economic record would keep its coalition with Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) in power in Punjab.

Kaushik also accused AAP of having "failed miserably" in Delhi, which it governs. "Polls in the last several months have indicated widely different results. But all show the AAP having a significant impact (in Punjab)," it reported.

The Punjab elections is likely to witness a three-way fight between SAD-BJP, Congress and AAP in all 117 seats.
Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash on Sunday said allowing private to air might have security implications and that the government needs to keep that in mind if it wants to give the nod.

"From democracy point of view, the idea of allowing them to do so looks "very simple" and "must be done", but given the diversity and internal security concerns of India, which also has thousands of kilometres of borders, the move has a lot of implications," he told PTI in Hyderabad.

Noting that new FM channels are going to come in as a few months ago the government had auctioned frequency bandwidth for a few hundreds of them, he said, "You need to seriously ponder over this (whether to allow FM channels to air news) before you take that step."

While it's true that private television channels have been allowed to telecast and current affairs programmes, radio has a "different audience, different kind of reach and there are a lot of issues about them", he said.

Surya Prakash was in Hyderabad in connection with Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union's first edition of International Television Dance Festival, hosted by Prasar Bharati, in the city on Hyderabad.

Asked if he was in favour of making All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan  owned by Prasar Bharati  corporate entities so that dependence on the government for funding was reduced and there was greater flexibility in decision-making, he said he had heard that somewhere a group of government secretaries made that recommendation, but added that he did not exactly know what they had in mind.

"AIR and Doordarshan are already part of Prasar Bharati. Prasar Bharati is an autonomous corporation established by Parliament. Now, suppose if you want to hive off AIR and Doordarshan from Prasar Bharati...Yes, you can do that but first, you have to repeal the Prasar Bharati Act. Once you take away AIR and Doordarshan, there is nothing left there (with Prasar Bharati). You have to repeal the Prasar Bharati Act if you want to do it," he said.

Asked if there is a proposal to merge Prasar Bharati with the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, Surya Prakash dubbed it as "some story floated in some newspapers and it has no legs to stand up as to what is meant by that".

Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash

"When there is an act passed by Parliament called Prasar Bharati Act, and Parliament created an autonomous corporation called Prasar Bharati and gave All India Radio and Doordarshan to it, what do you mean by the merger of Prasar Bharati into Information and Broadcasting Ministry?

"Again it boils down to this, anything you want to do with Prasar Bharati or the entities owned by Prasar Bharati, you have to repeal the Act. For that you have to build political consensus," he said.

Asked if Prasar Bharati has exercised its autonomy, Surya Prakash said it's the will and law of Parliament.

"Even as Parliament said you (Prasar Bharati) are an autonomous corporation, 95 per cent of employees are central government employees who have been loaned out to Prasar Bharati, and salaries of those employees are paid by Union government. This is where the things are at the moment," he said.

"What about the autonomy of Prasar Bharati? I will say Prasar Bharati is on road to autonomy. Sometimes, some things take the time to fructify," he added.
.In will create well over 7,500 temporary jobs for its upcoming sale, and these positions will mostly be in logistics to ensure smooth deliveries.

.In will host its 'Great Indian Sale' between January 20-22, 2017.

"We have opened more than 7,500 seasonal roles for our upcoming Great Indian Sale. These roles will be available at 27 Fulfilment Centres, over 100 delivery stations and close to 15 sort centres across the country," India Vice President - India Customer Fulfilment Akhil Saxena told PTI.

He added that throughout the year, Amazon.In generates thousands of seasonal job opportunities, as well as opportunities for long term career development.

"Recruitment for seasonal roles is now underway and will be trained for the upcoming sale. We are excited to welcome these new personnel," he said.

Locked in an intense battle for leadership in the Indian e-commerce market with local rivals like Flipkart and Snapdeal, Amazon.In has aggressively invested in expanding its infrastructure and delivery capabilities.

The company has invested in six new Fulfilment Centres (FCs) last year, taking the total number of operational FCs to 27 in 10 states.

"The infrastructure that has been built helps thousands of sellers reach millions of new customers across the country. It has also enabled Amazon.In to offer faster and quicker delivery of products to more pin codes," he said.

The US-based Amazon has committed investments worth over USD 5 billion for its India operations.
Vice President M Hamid Ansari and Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan expressed their condolences over the Bihar boat tragedy in which 24 people have lost their lives.

In a message Ansari said he prayed to the Almighty to give the bereaved families of the victims the strength and fortitude to withstand this immense loss.

"It is with profound grief that I have learnt of the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. My thoughts are with the bereaved families. I'm informed that the central and state government agencies have been carrying out relief and rescue work," he added.

Mahajan also condoled the loss of lives of several passengers.

"I'm pained to learn that a boat carrying several persons capsized in river Ganga in Patna. It is tragic that more than 20 passengers have lost their lives. I convey condolences to the bereaved members of their families," she said in a message.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Amidst squabbling in the party over selection of DCC presidents, CWC member and former Chief Minister A K Antony today asked state Congress leaders to end infighting and work to strengthen the party's eroded mass base.

"The mass base of the party and also that of leaders has eroded. The leaders should end infighting and work to strengthen the party," he told reporters here.

He pointed out if the leaders fight each other, they would not get the youth to join the party to strengthen it.

"Party workers should work more practically and study the issues before making comments," he said.

Antony's statement comes at a time when former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is scheduled to meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on matters connected with organisational restructure in the state.

Chandy, who had kept away from the party's political affairs committee meeting yesterday, had said in a Facebook post that he would meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on January 17.

He had said that some media reports connected with his stand on the reorganisation issue were contrary to facts and some were even exaggerated and that he had not said anything on the selection of DCC presidents.

"But I have some clear views on the matter and that I will convey to the leadership," he had said.

Chandy had concluded the post by saying that people in Kerala wish to strengthen the party led United Democratic Front and also the part and "in that process I will be in the forefront".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Issuing a warning, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat today said the soldiers who take to social media to air their grievances could be punished as their act is "akin to crime" and lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.

Gen Rawat, who took over as head of the force just 15 days back, told officers and jawans in an address on the occasion of Army Day that there are proper ways to air grievances and if anybody was not satisfied, they could contact him directly.

"In the recent days, some our colleagues have been using social media to air their grievances in front of the media. It affects those brave soldiers who are, as per the glorious traditions of the Indian Army, serving the country and guarding the borders," he said in his address in Hindi at the Parade Ground here.

He said the Army must continue to raise their morale.

"Aapne jo karwai ki hai, aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (The act you have committed is akin to crime and can be liable to punishment)," he told those using the social media.

"If any jawan has any kind of problem, you have a system to air the grievances for redressal. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," the Army Chief told the soldiers of the 12 lakh-strong force.

His remarks came amid a raging controversy after an army man posted a video on social media criticising the use of soldiers as 'sahayaks' of the officers.

The army man's video came after similar acts by a jawan each of BSF and CRPF.

Only two days back, Gen Rawat had described social media as a "two-sided" weapon which can be used favourably but can also be detrimental.

He had asked his men to directly communicate to him through the "suggestion cum grievance" boxes that will be set up across the formations.

On the occasion of 69th Army Day celebrations here, the Army Chief inspected the parade at Field Marshal Cariappa Parade Ground here. Marching contingents from six different regiments and display of missile systems such as Brahmos and Akash were among the highlights of the event.

What stole the show was combat demonstration by different schools of infantry which fired medium-range guns, besides battle tanks rolling past the parade.

87 defence attaches from 35 countries including the US, Japan, Russia, China, Israel and African nations attended the event, said a senior army official.

The function came to an end with Indian army's 'Janbaaz' motorcycle daredevils performing stunts and a team of paramotorists flew by with a tricolour and flags of the three defence forces.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
The wife of an army jawan has said her husband is on a "hunger strike" for the past four days to highlight poor service conditions within lower ranks and she too has started a similar agitation in his support.

Richa Singh, the wife of Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh, whose purported video on alleged poor service conditions of personnel has gone viral on social media, said her husband was being made to do menial jobs like car washing and shoe polishing for his superiors.

She too started her fast four days ago.

"I am on a hunger strike to support my husband -- Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh. My husband is also on a hunger strike for the past four days at Fatehgarh (UP)," Richa told PTI over phone from her hometown Rewa, around 500km from here.

Singh is with 14 Rajputana Rifles and currently posted in Fatehgarh.

"My husband is under house arrest at Fatehgarh after the video raising the issue of discrimination surfaced," she alleged.

A couple of days ago, a purported video of Singh was uploaded on social media where he is speaking about army men being allegedly made to do menial tasks at the residence of officers.

Richa demanded her husband be removed from the duties of 'sahayak' (buddy). "Army men of Sepoy, Havildar and Lance Naik ranks do 'sahayaki' (provide auxiliary services)," she said.

"My husband joined the army for serving the nation and not for doing the household chores at officers' homes," Richa said.

She said, "The condition of my husband has been deteriorating but no medical help has been provided to him."



Richa said her husband was earlier posted in Dehradun and joined duties in Fatehgarh on December 21. The purported video was shot in Dehradun, she added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security and will continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power in the coming years, President Pranab Mukherjee today said here.

On the occasion of Army Day, he greeted all officers, soldiers, veterans, civilians, ex-servicemen and their families.

"The Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security of India, whilst defending our borders across some of the most perilous terrain in the world.

"It provides stability during internal security challenges and is often called upon to provide assistance during natural calamities," the President said in his message.

Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, noted that Indian Army is known for its professionalism, selfless commitment and the unparalleled bravery.

"Today, we remember our bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The nation is indebted to them and their families. I wish to place on record our deepest appreciation for the dedication and devotion of our soldiers in their service to the nation," he said.

Mukherjee also exuded confidence that the Army will "continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power" in the coming years.

On this day in 1949, Lieutenant General K M Cariappa had taken over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Army from General Sir Francis Butcher.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal today welcomed state Congress president Amarinder Singh's decision to contest from Lambi assembly constituency against him and expressed confidence that people of Lambi would not fall prey to his machinations.

Comparing Congress and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) with the 'dharvis' (attackers, robbers), Badal said though he welcomed the decision of Amarinder to contest from Lambi seat as anyone was free to contest from any seat in the state, he was confident that people of Lambi would not fall prey to their machinations.

Amarinder had yesterday said he had sought the party high command's permission to fight the election from Lambi assembly to ensure the "total defeat" of the Akali leadership in the state.

Addressing a rally here, Badal termed both Congress and AAP as "anti-Punjab" parties which would "ruin" the state if anyone of the two came to power.

"The current poll can be termed as a fight between 'vikas' (development), represented by SAD-BJP and 'vinaash' (ruin), represented by Congress and AAP," he said, alleging that both the parties had colluded with the anti-social elements and were inciting them to resort to anti-democratic steps like hurling of shoes at the SAD leaders.

Badal claimed that SAD-BJP alliance was committed to ensure development of all sections of the society.

Lambasting AAP, he said that the party neither cared for the ethos of the state nor was it aware of its culture. Terming AAP as "att di dushman" (highly anti-Punjab) and its people, Badal said that though the state of Delhi was full of people from Punjab, the AAP government led by Arvind Kejriwal had not appointed even a single Punjabi as its minister.

He urged the people to not fall prey to the "false promises" of AAP as many of them like waiving of loans were not practical at all.

Terming SAD-BJP alliance as an "alliance for development, peace and communal harmony", Badal said the forthcoming election was highly crucial as it would decide whether the state would choose the path of development or destruction (if AAP or Congress came to power).

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bahrain today executed three Shiite men found guilty of killing three policemen, including an Emirati officer, the prosecution in the Sunni-ruled kingdom said.

The three faced the firing squad, a week after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecution said in a statement carried by BNA state agency.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out across Shiite villages following rumours that the authorities were going to execute the three men.

They are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve, which had warned on Saturday against the move.

Scores of men and women took to the streets after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

"No, no to execution," the protesters chanted.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including the officer from the United Arab Emirates.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help security forces put down a month of protests led by the country's Shiite majority.

"Reports that Bahrain is set to carry out its first executions in six years, based on confessions extracted through torture, are deeply alarming," Reprieve director Maya Foa said on Saturday.

Brian Dooley, head of the Washington-based Human Rights Defenders, said if the executions were carried out it "would be a new, enormously alarming step from Bahrain's regime".

"Washington should warn its Gulf ally that this would be a reckless, frightening level of repression to pursue, likely to spark rage and further violence in an already volatile region," he said in a statement.

Bahrain is a strategic ally of the United States and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Bahrain today executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers.

The three Shiite men faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor's office said in a statement carried by BNA state agency.

Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has a majority Shiite population which has long complained of marginalisation.

It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since March 2011 when security forces brutally crushed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising demanding reforms and a constitutional monarchy.

The announcement of the executions triggered protests in Shiite villages, where demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.

Pictures shared online by activists also showed relatives of those executed weeping over their deaths.

Authorities in Bahrain do not permit international agencies to cover events independently.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out across Shiite villages following rumours that the authorities were going to put them to death.

They are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve, which had warned on Saturday against the move.

"It is nothing short of an outrage - and a disgraceful breach of international law - that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said in a statement.

Reprieve said the executions went ahead "despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture."



Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: "This is a black day in Bahrain's history."



"It is the most heinous crime committed by the government of Bahrain and a shame upon its rulers," he said in a statement.

Scores of men and women had taken to the streets yesterday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

Later yesterday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

"No, no to execution," the protesters chanted.

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Former Punjab chief minister was on Sunday cremated with full state honours at his native village Barnala.

His son and ex-MLA Gaganjit Singh and grandson Samar Pratap Singh jointly lit the pyre.

Once the bugle sounded, a pall of silence descended at the cremation ground before police personnel fired shots in the air as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

Several people had gathered to pay homage and bid a tearful adieu to Barnala with many turning up at their residence here to pay their last respects to the leader.

Later, Barnala's body was taken to the cremation ground at his native village Barnala.

Barnala took over reins of the state in the difficult period when militancy was at its peak in the mid-80s. He died at Chandigarh at the age of 91.

Barnala, who served as chief minister from 1985 to 1987, was admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh.

A moderate leader of the Akali Dal, he became chief minister after the Rajiv-Longowal accord to usher in peace in the troubled state was reached in the summer of 1985.

As Governor of Tamil Nadu, Barnala had famously refused to recommend dismissal of the DMK government in 1991 when the late Chandrashekhar was the Prime Minister for a short time.

When he was transferred to Bihar following his refusal, he chose to resign as Governor.

He had also served as Governor of Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Barnala was Agriculture Minister at the Centre in the Moraji Desai government and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included Punjab cabinet minister Tota Singh, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Delhi Naresh Yadav, Congress MLA Kewal Dhillon, Uttrakhand forest minister Dinesh Aggrawal, Punjab Haj Committee former chairman Aslaq Mohammad Khan.

Former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal also visited the family of Barnala earlier in the day.
Upping the ante ahead of the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls, to be held on February 21, Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray today warned party workers against a "treacherous and cunning friend", a veiled reference to its ally BJP.

Thackeray was addressing party workers from Ghatkopar and Shivaji Nagar at his official residence 'Matoshree' in suburban Bandra.

"We may have to contest elections against a treacherous and cunning friend this time. We have contested against Congress, NCP and even some traitors who left Shiv Sena. We have even fought against those having blood relations (reference to MNS)," Thackeray said.

Shiv Sena, which is the single largest party in BMC, has been targeted indirectly by ally BJP on several occasions.

Leaders of both the parties have maintained that they are keen on fighting the BMC polls together, with BJP stressing that "transparency agenda" should be the core point for stitching an alliance.

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BJP's Central Election Committee tonight held a meeting to finalise its candidates for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls.

The party is likely to announce candidates for a majority of 70 seats in the hill state, which goes to polls on February 14 and for the seats in UP.

The seven-phase UP assembly polls start from February 11. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party president Amit Shah besides other CEC members attended the meeting.

Another CEC meeting is scheduled for Tuesday in which names of more candidates will be finalised. It had held its first meeting on January 11 in which candidates for Goa and Punjab polls were finalised.

In the run up to the CEC meeting, Shah has been holding deliberations with top party leaders from Uttar Pradesh to narrow down differences over likely party candidates and evolve a consensus.

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)



Shah has been pulling out all stops to lead the party to victory in UP, which in terms of political implications is more important than all other four poll-bound states combined.

It has been out of power in Uttar Pradesh since 2002 and was a declining force till the 'Modi wave' catapulted the party to an unprecedented success in 2014 Lok Sabha polls when it won 71 of the 80 seats.

Party sources believe that it may not be possible for the saffron outfit to repeat the 2014 feat of capturing over 42 per cent of vote share but it hopes to emerge a winner in the state's fractured polity by garnering more that 30 per cent of votes.

SP and BSP won a majority of 403 seats in 2012 and 2007 assembly elections by pulling in 30.4 and 29.16 per cent of votes.

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Congress state unit chief Sachin Pilot today condemned the cane-charging incident on party's youth activists in Bhilwara, saying the state government is trying suppress voice of people.

Demanding action on those responsible, Pilot said the ruling BJP government is violating all democratic values.

"Youth Congress activists had gone to raise people's voice who are fed up with the demonetisation step. It was a peaceful protest yesterday. However, they were cane-charged when they requested to present memorandum to the district collector," he said in a statement.

He alleged that BJP government is exploiting people of all classes. "People from all walks of society are feeling oppressed," he said.

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The bodies of four more persons were recovered today from the river Ganga taking the toll in the boat tragedy here to 24.

Around 40 people were said to be onboard the country boat when it capsized near NIT ghat last evening.

When asked whether there could be more bodies lying in the river, Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit told PTI that hopes were fading, but rescue works by the SDRF/NDRF teams were still going on.

"No more family has come forward to claim about missing kin in the boat tragedy," he said.

The revellers were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area) across the river after watching a kite festival on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'.

The boat had been retrieved from the Ganga, the senior official said adding it was intact in one piece.

Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed



grief over the boat tragedy and ordered a high level probe into the incident.

He further directed the officials to provide ex-gratia assistance of Rs four lakh each to the next of kin of the victims at the earliest.

Kumar also directed the Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit, Central Range DIG Shalin and Patna's District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal to carry out rescue operations at war footing and make proper arrangement of treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) of those persons rescued from the river after the boat tragedy.

The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of various engagements with the ruling JD(U) scrapping 'dahi-chura' feast that its state unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh was scheduled to host today.

Another function scheduled for the day to mark the start of redevelopment work of the dilapidated Mahatma Gandhi Setu which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to address via video conferencing from the national capital was also postponed, the state unit BJP President Nityanand Rai said.
Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high level meeting to review the boat tragedy that claimed 24 lives.

Kumar took detailed information from Tourism department officials about the kite festival held at Sabbalpur diara (riverine area) here yesterday, according to an official release.

The passengers of the boat were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara across the river after watching the kite festival arranged by the tourism department on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'.

The Chief Minister also took stock of the situation from Disaster Management Department's Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit and asked him to give a detailed report, the release said.

Kumar ordered a high level probe into the incident.

Altogether, 24 bodies were fished out and identified, and none was missing in the incident.

During the meeting, Kumar directed the officials to ensure that boats ply following guidelines.

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The latest prison riot in northern Brazil is thought to have killed more than 30 people, some of them beheaded, officials said today, tripling an earlier estimated death toll.

"There are probably more than 30 dead" at the Alcacuz prison in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, police investigator Otacilio de Medeiros told reporters after leaving the jail.

The bloodbath that erupted last night was the latest of several gruesome gang-related massacres this year in the country's overcrowded prisons.

Another official earlier said at least three inmates were beheaded -- a feature of similar massacres in other jails at the start of this month.

Security forces stormed the prison at dawn today and restored order after 14 hours of violence, local authorities said.

Officials said members of two separate drug gangs had come out of different parts of the prison and clashed violently.

"There are at least three inmates dead because we were able to see their heads," state prisons manager Zemilton Silva told local media yesterday.

The prison, just outside the state capital Natal, is built for a maximum of 620 inmates but currently houses 1,083, the state justice department said.

Brazilian media said the riot was thought to be a clash between Brazil's biggest drug gang, the First Capital Command (PCC), and a group allied to its main rival Red Command.

Experts say the wave of violence is part of a war between drug gangs battling for control of one of the world's most important cocaine markets and trafficking routes.

The series of massacres in the first week of January left 100 prisoners dead -- many of them active members of gangs, authorities said.

The biggest bloodbath, in the northwestern city of Manaus, left about 60 dead. It appeared to be an orchestrated mass killing targeting members of the PCC.

It was thought to be a backlash by the PCC's rivals for its violent expansion.

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Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan today slammed Donald Trump for equating the actions of intelligence community with that of Nazi Germany and warned the president-elect to watch what he says as it could have adverse effects on national security.

"What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany. I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly," Brennan told Fox .

He was responding to questions on a tweet by Trump after some media reported about an alleged intelligence community document which claimed that the Russian intelligence agencies have compromised Trump's personal and financial information.

"I think it was disgraceful, disgraceful, that the intelligence agencies allowed any information that turned out be so false and fake out. I think it's a disgrace, and I say that and I say that, and that something that Nazi Germany would have done and did do," Trump had said.

Both Russia and the US intelligence agencies have denied such report, which has been under circulation for the past few months and was prepared by a former British intelligence agent during the elections.

"Well, I think as the Director of National Intelligence said in his statement, this information has been out there circulating for many months. So, it's not a question of the intelligence community leaking or releasing this information, it was already out there," Brennan said.

However, he did acknowledge that the intelligence community in its briefing with the president-elect did brief him about the circulation of such a report.

"Bringing to the attention of the president-elect, as well as to the current president that this was circulating out there was a responsibility in the minds of the intelligence directors, of the intelligence community to make sure that there was going to be no evaluation of it, but just making sure that the president-elect was aware that it was circulating," he said.

The intelligence community, he said, is prepared to support the president-elect and his incoming team.

"So, there is no interest in undermining the president- elect and the national security team that's coming in. It's our responsibility to make sure that they understand exactly the dangers that are on the world stage, so that as they can decide on which policy courses they want to pursue, they have both the full benefit of the expertise, the capability, the experience and the intelligence that we have so that they can make the best decisions for this country," he asserted.

Brennan at the same time warned of dangers and pitfalls of differences between the intelligence community and the president-elect.

"There are many dangers. I think the world is watching now what Mr Trump says, and listening very carefully. If he doesn't have confidence in the intelligence community, what signal does that send to our partners and allies, as well as our adversaries?" he said.

"So, I think Mr Trump has to be very disciplined in terms



of what it is that he says publicly, he is going to be in a few days' time, the most powerful person in the world in terms of sitting on top of the United States government and I think he has to recognise that his words do have impact. And they can have very positive impact, or they can be undercutting of our national security," Brennan said.

Responding to reports that Trump is planning to lift sanctions on Russia, Brennan observed that Trump does not has much information on the capabilities of Russia.

"I don't think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia's intentions, and actions that they are undertaking in many parts of the world. And that's with the obligation and responsibility of the intelligence community is," he said.

"I very much hope that our relationship with Russia improves in the coming administration -- absolutely -- because there are very important things we need to do, not just on counterterrorism, but trying to deal with political instability around the globe. But here is a fair amount of responsibility on Russia's part to change their behaviour, change their actions," he said.

"Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of the various actions that it's taken in the past number of years is a road that he I think needs to be very, very careful about moving down," Brennan warned.
To facilitate acceptance of subscriptions for Further Fund Offer of CPSE ETFs, has introduced an online mechanism for investment and subscription of exchange-traded fund on its Internet-basedbook buildingsystem (iBBS) platform.

The facility, which will be provided through the iBBS platform, will be made available to trading members registeredwithmutual fund industry body Amfi.

The exchange will conduct a mock session for BiMF ( iBBS Platform for Mutual Fund) module on the iBBS platform on January 16-17. Also, a mock trading session in this regard was conducted on Saturday.

The mock session is being conducted to familiarise the participants with the new segment on the iBBS platform for subscription and bidding of the second tranche of CPSE ETFs.

has received approval from Sebi to extend its stock exchange mechanism currently being used for accepting subscriptions for sovereign gold bonds (SGBs) to Further Fund Offer (FFO) of CPSE ETFs.

Also, no separate registration will be required to access the platform.

"The exchange is in receipt of the Sebi approval for providing stock exchange mechanism similar to the Sovereign Gold Bond mechanism through the iBBS platform to trading members... For subscription of FFO of CPSE ETF. The BiMF module on the iBBS platform can be accessed through Internet and leased line," BSE said in a notice.

The issue size of FFO, which will open on January 17 and close on January 20, is Rs 4,500 crore with a greenshoe option of Rs 1,500 crore.

The FFO is open to all categories of investors, including anchor, retail, retirement funds, QIBs, non-institutional investors and foreign portfolio investors (FPIs). An upfront discount of 5 per cent is being offered to all categories of investors.

Central Public Sector Enterprises ETF, which functions like a mutual fund scheme, comprises scrips of 10 PSUs -- ONGC, Coal India, IOC, GAIL (India), Oil India, PFC, Bharat Electronics, REC, Engineers India and Container Corporation of India.

The government had launched its first CPSE ETF in March 2014, taking the ETF route to disinvestment for the first time. It had raised Rs 3,000 crore through the ETF then.

Last week, NSE had said it has introduced an online facility for the investment and subscription of exchange traded fund on its e-IPO platform.
Chechen strongman Ramzan Kadyrov said today his forces had detained more than 50 insurgents linked to the Islamic State jihadist group, completing a major security operation.

Kadyrov wrote on Instagram today that security forces had captured an armed group coordinated by a Chechen fighter located in Syria, with the latest arrests taking place in various locations yesterday.

"Now the whole group of bandits has been neutralised and more than 50 members have been brought to police stations," Kadyrov said.

He also posted a video of himself speaking to a group of the captured men in Chechen.

The Moscow-back leader of the North Caucasus region called the operation - planned since last summer - "a big success for the law enforcement agencies."



The Russian North Caucasus is one of the major sources of foreign jihadists fighting in Syria and Iraq.

The Chechen leader said police yesterday detained several participants of the armed group including an "especially dangerous terrorist" named as Imran Datsayev who threw a hand grenade but was captured alive.

He said Datsayev testified that he received orders from Islamic State to kill a police officer and had killed a police sergeant last November.

Russia fought two brutal separatist wars over the past two decades in Chechnya but the region has been largely pacified under Kadyrov's iron-fisted rule.

A dwindling group of Islamist insurgents are still fighting the authorities in Chechnya and across the volatile North Caucasus, and sporadically launch eye-catching attacks.

Kadyrov, a former fighter against Russia's rule who now supports President Vladimir Putin, regularly announces raids to capture insurgents, which he sometimes personally coordinates.

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A new human H7N9 avian flu case has been reported in China's southwestern Guizhou Province, local officials said today.

According to the provincial health and family planing commission, the 79-year-old patient is from Kaili City in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong Autonomous Prefecture.

The patient went to the fever clinic of the people's hospital in the prefecture and tested positive for the virus yesterday.

It is the third human H7N9 case reported in the province this winter.

The patient is receiving treatment. People who had close contact with the patient were put under medical observation and have not tested positive for the virus yet, state-run Xinhua agency reported.

H7N9, a bird flu strain most likely to strike in winter and spring, was first reported in humans in China in March 2013.

Yesterday, a 36-year-old roast-duck vendor from Henan Province died after contracting the flu.

More than 10 cases have been reported since January 1, in Jiangxi, Shandong, Hunan, Guangdong, Guizhou, Shanghai and Macao.

Experts with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that China had entered high season for infection of the H7N9 virus, and the possibility of more reported cases in southern China was not being ruled out, the report said.

The public should avoid contact with dead poultry, live poultry, birds and their waste, and purchase only certified poultry products, they advised.

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China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.

China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn reported.

The Gwadar port in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.

A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.

"The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.

He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPEC's land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army's new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.

China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.

The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU.

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The outgoing Obama Administration has lashed out at China for blocking India from becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) by describing the Communist giant as an "outlier" in its effort to bring New Delhi on board the elite grouping.

"Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, told PTI in an interview.

The US statement comes a week ahead of the Obama Administration passing on the baton to the Trump Administration.

Officials say it is because of the Chinese resistance that India could not become a member of the NSG, where all decisions are taken on the basis of consensus.

"The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for and that the United States supports India's entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG," she said.

"We worked very closely with India to support India's application into the NSG, but we also recognise that there continue to be some concerns, some reservations that some of the members of the have expressed that need to be worked through," she said.

"We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly, there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China. As we move through all the other elements of the membership, I think, we're on a good path forward," Biswal said.

So what remains is to be able to have a very clear understanding of what is the basis of China's reservations and to try to work through those. So that will be something that would move on to the next administration to carry forward, she said in response to a question.

"But this is something that the President himself has personally engaged on, the Secretary (of State), (National Security Advisor), Ambassador (Susan) Rice and down the line, this has been an area of intense effort by this administration," Biswal said.

While India not becoming an NSG member is disappointing, Biswal said the Obama Administration is "very very gratified to see India's entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)".

China is advocating a two-step "non-discriminatory" approach for admission of countries who have not signed nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the NSG.

As per the new stand announced by Beijing in November, it first wants to find a solution that is applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions to admit specific non-NPT member.

China's stand for non-discriminatory criteria is regarded significant as Pakistan, a close ally of Beijing too has applied for the NSG membership along with India.
Heavy clashes erupted overnight between regime and rebel forces near Damascus after the official who negotiated a deal to restore water to the Syrian capital was killed, a monitor said today.

Government workers had entered the formerly rebel-held area in the Wadi Barada region near Damascus on Friday to begin restoring water to the capital after weeks of shortages.

"Fierce fighting broke out after midnight between regime forces, fighters from Hezbollah and the rebels, after gunmen killed the negotiator, Ahmed al-Ghadban," said Rami Abdel Rahman of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Ghadban had been on his way to the Ain al-Fijeh spring with maintenance teams, he told AFP.

But following the killing of Ghadban, "regime forces and their allies tried to advance to Ain al-Fijeh," bombarding rebel positions with heavy artillery, said Abdel Rahman.

The two sides accused each other of killing the retired army officer, who had only assumed his duties to restore the water supply yesterday.

Under the agreement, Ghadban was to oversee teams working to repair the infrastructure that supplies the capital with water in exchange for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of rebel fighters willing to do so.

The official SANA agency reported on Saturday night that "terrorists opened fire" on Ghadban after he left a meeting with armed groups in the village of Ain al-Fijeh.

Activists and civil committees in Wadi Barada denounced the killing of Ghadban, which they said had been ordered by the regime with the intention to "kill any hope of a peaceful solution".

In a joint statement, they urged rebel factions not to attend peace talks in the Kazakh capital Astana later this month and called for international observers to monitor the ceasefire.

Fighting has persisted in Wadi Barada since the entry into force on December 30 of the ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

The violence caused damage to pipes, leaving more than five million people in Damascus without water.

The ceasefire and planned talks are the latest effort to negotiate an end to a conflict that has killed more than 310,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

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The Commerce Ministry today said it has launched a mobile app 'SEZ India' which provides detailed information related to special economic zones.

The app was launched under the ministry's e-Governance initiatives.

"The app and would help the SEZ units and developers to find information easily and track their transactions on SEZ Online System," the ministry said in a statement.

Developers and units can now file all their transactions digitally through this system and track the status, it said.

The app is available on android platform. It has four sections - SEZ Information, SEZ Online Transaction, Trade Information and Contact details.

The SEZ online transaction is a dynamic submenu that tracks the Bill of Entry/Shipping Bill processing status and also does verification.

"The app also helps the Importers/Exporters to track the status of Bill of Entry/Shipping Bill integration and processing in the EDI system of the ICEGATE," it added.

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Actress Dakota Johnson has hinted at exploring her bisexual side.

The 27-year-old actress, may venture into another part of her sexuality after splitting from boyfriend Matthew Hitt last spring.

In an interview to Vogue, Dakota appeared to keep fans guessing and said, "Can we make things really juicy? Can we say that I'm taking this time to explore my bisexuality? Or that I have given myself to the Lord following the release of my sexually explicit trifecta of films?



"I think I'm a little bit heartbroken all the time, even when I'm in a happy relationship."



Dakota also said that did she doesn't do well in casual relationships because her feelings tend to become intense over time.

"My feelings, even the good ones, get so intense that they hurt," added the actress.

Dakota, whose film "Fifty Shades Darker" is slated to release on February 15, features on Vogue magazine's cover for this year's second month issue.

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The AAP dispensation is mulling constructing foot overbridges in the national capital on public-private partnership (PPP) model, to reduce financial burden on the government.

PWD Minister Satyendar Jain has asked the department to commission a feasibility study on the new concept so that private players could be attracted to build more such facilities to meet growing demand.

The move is intended to reduce financial burden on the government which get such bridges constructed through its own agencies like PWD and others.

"As per the plan, the government will give private players advertisement rights on foot overbridges constructed on PPP model for a stipulated period so that they can recover the construction cost.

"A feasibility study will be carried out by the Public Works Department on all aspects of the proposal," said a senior government official.

These foot overbridges will have best facilities like ramp and escalator, the official said.

Another official said that as part of the study, PWD will also select areas where new foot overbridges are required.

A report in this regard will be submitted to the minister soon, the second official said.

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The Dhanbad-Chandrapura railway line crossing through underground mines fire zone is in danger and immediate measures needed to be taken for smooth movement of trains and safety of passengers, a high level expert team has said.

The track is East Central Railway's (ECR) main corridor for passenger and freight trains. Over 24 passenger and express trains including Howrah-Ranchi Shatabdi Express, Dhanbad-Kerala Alappuza Express, Ranchi -Gorakhpur Mourya Express, Garib Rath Express, Ranchi-Bhagalpur Vananchal Express ply on a daily besides coal rakes.

Dhanbad Deputy Commissioner A Dodde today said the Directorate General of Mines Safety (DGMS) officials had been asked to present technical reports for preventing accidents on the railway track which is under Dhanbad rail division of ECR.

Following it, senior scientists of Central Institute of Mining Research Fuel (CIMRF) and experts of Central Mine Planning and Design Institute Limited (CMPDIL), DGMS, Bharat Coking Coal Limited (BCCL) and district administration inspected the railway line yesterday and directed initiating immediate measures, he said.

Eighteen miners had died and five are feared trapped under the rubble at Lalmatia open cast mines in Godda district of Jharkhand following the cave-in on December 30 last year.

The Jharkhand government had asked the deputy commissioners to take precautionary measures in their respective districts.

Dhanbad Rail Division (DRM) manager M K Akhori said the railway track near Sinidih, Sendra Bansjor and Anagarpathra is in danger from fire in BCCL mines for the last two decades. Poisonous gas is billowing out in South Govindpur railway siding.

"Fire is on under the railway track. Efforts are already on to check it and ensure safety of the track for smooth movement of rail traffic," he said.

Mine fire in Dhanbad is about a century-old problem. The Dhanbad-Jharia rail line is already routed out due to the danger from fire, Akhori said.

"Besides collieries of BCCL, over 98,000 families and railway tracks are under threat," he added.

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Iran: A medieval theocracy, barbaric punishments

Iran Human Rights (JAN 15 2017): In the last few days, at least 26 people, including two women, were reportedly executed in various Iranian prisons.





14 PRISONERS EXECUTED





According to close sources, at least 14 prisoners were reportedly hanged at Karaj Central Prison on Saturday January 14 on drug related charges. Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of ten of these prisoners: Mohammad Soleimani, Ali Ebadi, Ali Reza Moradi, Majid Badarloo, Omid Garshasebi, Ali Yousefi, Seyed Ali Sorouri, Ebrahim Jafari, Ali Mohammad Lorestani, and Mohsen Jelokhani.





12 of these prisoners were reportedly transferred to solitary confinement on the morning of Sunday January 8 in preparation for their executions. In a recent joint statement, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch called on Iranian authorities to halt these executions. Iran Human Rights had also released a statement calling on the Iranian authorities to halt these executions.





According to a family member of one of the executed prisoners, two women were among these prisoners. They were reportedly transferred from Gharchak Prison to Karaj Central Prison for execution. The names of the two women are not known at this time.





AT LEAST 5 PRISONERS EXECUTED





At least five prisoners were reportedly executed at Karaj's Rajai Shahr Prison on Saturday January 14. According to close sources, these prisoners were sentenced to death on murder and Moharebeh (enmity against God) charges. Iran Human Rights has obtained the names of four of these prisoners: Siamak Shafiee, Abouzar Alijani, Saeed Teymouri, and Reza Naghizadeh.





ONE PRISONER EXECUTED





On Thursday January 12, a prisoner was reportedly hanged at Hamedan Central Prison on drug related charges. Iran Human Rights has identified the prisoner as 37-year-old Babak Asghari.





"Babak was arrested in July 2011 and was sentenced to death in May 2013 for possession and trafficking of four kilograms of crystal meth and three kilograms of hash," a confirmed source tells Iran Human Rights.





AT LEAST THREE PRISONERS EXECUTED





According to the human rights news agency, HRANA, at least three prisoners were hanged at Qazvin's central prison on Thursday January 12. HRANA has identified one of the prisoners as Akbar Kabiri, sentenced to death on drug related charges. The names and charges of the two other prisoners are not known at this time.





TWO PRISONERS EXECUTED





According to a report by Iranian state-run media, IRIB, two prisoners were hanged at Rasht's central prison on Saturday January 14 on drug related charges. The report does not identify the names of the prisoners, but mentions other details about them. One of the prisoners was identified as 31 years old, charged with trafficking two kilograms of crystal meth. The other prisoner was reportedly charged with trafficking one kilogram and 766 grams of crystal meth.





ONE PRISONER EXECUTED





According to the Iranian state-run media, Rokna, a prisoner was hanged at a prison in the city of Sari on Wednesday January 12 on murder charges. The report does not identify the name of the prisoner, but cites the age of the prisoner as 21 years.

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Source: Iran Human Rights , January 15, 2017
With the Congress announcing the list of candidates for the Assembly elections in Punjab next month, the party is facing revolt over ticket distribution as some of the leaders contemplating to contest the polls independently.

The party's third list which included the announcement of candidates contesting from Jalandhar west, Jalandhar north, Aadampur and Shahkot has exposed the disagreement over ticket distribution with some of the leaders opposing the authorised candidates, while some announcing to stand in the polls independently.

Congress has fielded Councillor Sushil Rinku from Jalandhar west who is facing opposition from former city mayor Surinder Mahe, as the latter opting to stand in the Assembly polls on his own.

Mahe said that he formulating a strategy to contest from the Jalandhar west seat independently and if the party does not take any decision over this issue, he will announce his decision soon.

In Aadampur former Jalandhar MP Mohinder Singh Kepi has been given the ticket by the Congress, whereas a local party leader has started protesting against the decision while terming Kepi as Anit-Dalit and an outsider.

Jagdish Jassal said that, "Kepi's policies are anti-Dalit and he did not take any steps for the Viyana and Talhan issues. He is an outsider and no such candidate will be tolerated in the area".

Jassal warned that if the party does not change the candidate from Aadampur, he will soon announce his action against the decision.

For Shahkot, Congress decided to field-in Hardev Singh Sharowalia for the Assembly elections instead of its local leader Navjot Dahiya, also the party's state general secretary.

Dahiya fought the last Assembly polls with a ticket from PPP and was willing to contest fro Congress this time after PPP's merger with the party.

Even though Dahiya has not made any remarks over this decision, sources close to him say that he has worked a lot in the past five years but was still not given the ticket and "may make an explosive announcement in one or two days".

Similarly, state vice president Avtaar Henry was stated to the contender for the ticket from Jalandhar north Assembly constituency, but was overlooked by the party as it chose Tejinder Singh Bittu after Henry's name was removed from the electoral roll.

After Bittu was opted by the party to contest from the constituency, the party's former MLA Rajkumar Gupta came out in the open to protest the move following which the ticket was given to him.

Sources say that even this decision can changed by Congress and Henry's son Baba Henry may be the final candidate to fight from Jalandhar north.

Assembly elections in Punjab will ne held on February 4.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das today asked to desist from being flippant about Indian symbols and icons, cautioning it that "indifference will be at your own peril".

"Amazon, better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril," Das said in a tweet.

In another tweet however he added: "Comment on was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it."



Last week, after a strong protest by India over selling doormats depicting Indian flag, the e-retail giant removed the offensive article from its Canadian website.

A spokesman for Amazon based at its headquarters in Seattle had told The Washington Post that the doormat was no longer for sale on its website.

After the Indian flag incident, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had received several complaints of Amazon selling flip-flops with Mahatma Gandhi's image.

Amazon,better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril.  Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

Some Twitter users have tagged Swaraj in their tweets complaining that the beach sandals with Gandhi's image were being sold on the Amazon US site.

When asked, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup did not specifically mention the issue, saying, "As a follow up to the matter regarding the sale of doormats with the Indian flag on Amazon, our Ambassador in Washington has been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments.
Punching holes in the government's claims on the success of campaign, an analysis by two renowned experts reveals that the programme may not have yet made any impact on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into focus sectors.

The investments should be examined from the point of view of fresh capacity addition in the domestic production and not on account of round-tripping of funds, the report said.

"The statements regarding the contribution of FDI to India's development which ignore these critical features of FDI would be misleading, if not mischievous. India should start taking an objective view based on appropriate empirical evidence," it said.

The report was prepared by K S Chalapati Rao, Professor (Retd), Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), and Biswajit Dhar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University. The policy brief was based on a study being conducted at ISID.

The 'Make in India' initiative was launched in September 2014 with an aim to promote India as an investment destination and a global hub for manufacturing, design and innovation. Under this programme, the government is focusing on 25 sectors including defence, food processing and leather.

The report also showed that FDI under the automatic route fell by nearly 30 per cent during April-August period of 2016-17 fiscal.

"FDI equity inflows through the automatic route, which allows foreign investors to take their own decisions without waiting for specific government approval, fell by almost 30 per cent during the first five months of the current year," the report said.

This fall would not have occurred had the foreign investors responded consistently to the more liberal policy environment of the government, it added.

According to the government data, FDI during October 2014 to May 2016 grew by 46 per cent to USD 61.58 billion after the launch of programme.

"These claims, however, ignore the simple fact that decisions on long-term investments will not be taken instantly and will be based on careful analysis of investors' future requirements and the relative advantages offered by alternative locations globally," it added.

Further, it said the overall FDI increase during January - September 2016 was achieved in a large measure because of a huge jump in the acquisition of existing shares by foreign investors by displacing the existing investors.

The authors have pointed out major deficiencies in the official data, which, according to them, have remained "unnoticed" till now.
Four members of a family drowned while crossing a river in Hamirpur district, police today said.

35-year-old Sunita Devi, a resident of Pathnaudi village, had gone to visit a fair with her three children Pratima (12), Annu (7) and Kapil (4) yesterday across Burma river, they said.

As they failed to get a boat, the used tyre tube to cross the river while returning but lost balance and drowned, police said, adding bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Former French premier Manuel Valls has come under fire for his cautious stance on taking in refugees during the migrant crisis, in a fraught second debate of leftwing candidates for the presidency.

Valls, who quit President Francois Hollande's government last month to stand as a candidate in the primary, was accused of only admitting a few thousand migrants during his time in office.

"I get the feeling that the French people were much more generous than their leaders," said Vincent Peillon, a former education minister who is considered an outsider in the contest.

Another candidate, Benoit Hamon, told Valls that France had a duty to "show its values, especially when it comes to migrants and refugees".

Valls hit back that "an open-ended policy (of accepting migrants) is not possible".

"I think France was right to follow this policy and history has proved us right," he added.

The influx of more than one million asylum seekers -- mostly from war-torn Syria -- into the European Union in 2015 triggered the worst refugee and migrant crisis on the continent since World War II.

France's EU heavyweight neighbour Germany opened its doors, bringing in 890,000 asylum seekers in that year alone and fueling debate about why other EU states could not take more.

The French political attacks showed once again that a week ahead of the first round of voting on January 22 followed by a runoff on January 29, Spanish-born Valls' campaign is struggling to take off.

A poll of TV viewers after the debate had Arnaud Montebourg, who served as economy minister in Hollande's government before quitting, as the most convincing of the seven candidates. He polled 29 percent, ahead of 26 percent for Valls.

With Hollande ruling out a bid to retain the presidency after a torrid five years in power dogged by unemployment and terror attacks, the Socialists are seeking a presidential candidate who can at least salvage some pride for the party.

Current projections show the Socialist candidate, whoever it is, crashing out in the first round of the election, as voters across Europe lean to the right or opt for anti-establishment and anti-immigration parties like Marine Le Pen's National Front.

The majority of polls currently predict that conservative candidate Francois Fillon will face Le Pen in the decisive second round on May 7, although after Donald Trump's win in the United States and the victory of Brexit in Britain, no-one is taking anything for granted.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow's inauguration will go ahead on January 19 as planned, his spokesman said today as Barrow flew into Senegal at the request of west African leaders.

"Jammeh's term shall end on the 19th and the same date president-elect Barrow's term begins. Nothing will change that. He will be sworn in and shall assume office on that date without fail," spokesman Mai Fatty, who accompanied Barrow to Dakar, told AFP.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Hit by a ban for a long time, people in Goa's mining belt are looking at the upcoming Assembly polls with hopes of getting their livelihood back and the new government to mitigate hardships.

As the poll campaign picks up in the mining belt of Bicholim, Sankhalim, Sanguem, Quepem talukas, covering 700 sq kms area, one can see scores of trucks rusting alongside the roa, posing a grim picture in this iron ore rich belt.

The ban on iron ore extraction and export in Goa imposed in 2012, was lifted by Supreme Court in April, 2014, with a cap on export till 20 million metric tons.

"Just after the 2012 (state assembly) elections, the ban was imposed. The industry is limping back to normalcy. People are agitated. They want the answer from politicians why they were forced to face this agony," president of All Goa Truck Owners Association, Nilkant Gawas, told PTI from his village Navelim.

Navelim was once was busy with the iron ore extraction and transportation activity, now lies lifeless akin to other villages like Pale, Velguem, Sonshi of the mining belt.

"Mining did begin in a small way. But out of 18,000 trucks, 8,000 trucks are without any cargo to carry. They are left to rust along with fate of their owners," Gawas said.

The cap on exports coupled with lack of enthusiasm among mining companies to revive their activities, has hurt the business sentiment of this belt.

"Mining may not be the sole issue but it is one of the issues in this election. People want to know why the industry was put to shambles," Shivdas Madkar, a youth dependent on mining activity, said.

"The state government did give financial aid to people affected with closure of mining activity. But it was not enough, they want to know who was responsible for the ban," he said.

While there is visible dissident among people against politicians, with elections around the corner, people's hope of a better livelihood from mining has also revived.

"Past is past. We can't just make our politicians a punching bag and keep on blaming them. They were partially at fault, but what happened between 2012-2014 was horrible and everyone contributed in their own way for it," Vikas Gaonkar, a truck owner from Morlem said.

"The only hope that we have right now is that the new government will have a fresh perspective towards mining industry. Also the cap of 20 MT should be lifted so that those relying on mining industry get some work," he added.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In the backdrop of videos posted by a BSF jawan on social media claiming poor quality food being served to soldiers, Union minister Jitendra Singh today said the government is committed to providing every comfort and convenience to military and paramilitary personnel.

"The government always takes due cognisance of the reports and inputs it receives and it is already very clear about providing every kind of comfort and convenience, depending on situations in which the deployment of military and paramilitary forces are made," he said on the sidelines of a function in Samba.

Asserting that the nation is indebted to the services of the armed forces, Singh said the government and the country as a whole accord highest priority and respect to the Army and the paramilitary forces personnel.

"It is Army Day today and I think there is no second opinion that we have one of the finest army in the world. We are proud of our military and paramilitary forces and it is because of them, that when we sleep they remain awake and when we eat they stay hungry and that is how the country is well guarded and protected," the MoS in the PMO said.

While refusing to comment on the Facebook post of BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadar Singh, the Minister said the government takes care of the comfort of the soldiers.

"I won't be able to comment on specific instances but as I said as a matter of policy and principles, the government, the ministries of Defense and Home are very clear about taking due care of the soldiers," Singh told reporters.

On the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's picture on KVIC calendar and diary, he said the Opposition's allegation that Mahatma Gandhi has been "replaced" by Modi has no logic.

"I think that accusation or allegation or observation that is being made is quite out of context and is devoid of any logic or rationale," Singh said.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
In a strong rebuttal to allegations of scam in sale of KG gas field, the Gujarat government has said there is no "underhand" dealing as the field is being transfered from one PSU to another, and the country's asset continues to be with the public sector.

Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) had originally considered selling the Deen Dayal gas fields in Bay of Bengal to BG Group of UK but last month, stuck a deal to sell them to state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for USD 1.2 billion.

In an interview to PTI, Gujarat Chief Secretary and GSPC MD J N Singh said, the fields in KG basin, off the Andhra coast, were at "some particular point" seen as "very very promising gas site in the country."



But "we reached a particular point... We did not have enough financial strength to go forward with it beyond a point. And then, we started looking for some strategic partners or others who along with us could do it.

"There was initially British Gas and some others in the discussion, ultimately by consensus, it was felt it is much better if it is done with a PSU and an Indian PSU," he said.

ONGC, he said, is technically and financially much more sound and it also has the advantage of having gas fields at adjacent block in KG basin.

Asked about Congress MP Jairam Ramesh's allegation of a Rs 8,000 crore scam in a Central PSU being used to bail out GSPC that was on verge of a loan default, he said, "It is a political thing. I don't want to respond to it."



"But it is a win-win situation if the country's assets continue to be with the PSU. (By transferring) from one PSU to another, there is no private dealing, no underhand dealing.. So, where is the question of conspiracy or judicial enquiry?" he asked.

Even if the gas fields, where GSPC has till now spent close to USD 3 billion, were to have been sold to British Gas "at a higher cost", it would "always (be) open to question".

(Now), it goes to ONGC. We are very happy," he said.

Ramesh, in an open letter to SEBI Chairman U K Sinha, had alleged that GSPC has been trying to recover gas from the KG basin block for more than a decade without much success despite massive borrowings of close to Rs 20,000 crore.

Alleging that ONGC had flouted listing guidelines and did not secure approval of minority shareholders for the transaction, he said the state-owned company "suddenly" after 2014, had a realisation that buying GSPC's gas block in KG basin is a virtue.

GSPC has spent large sums of money, hired foreign experts and imported sophisticated equipment and yet could not find gas. "Then, why does ONGC deem it fit to pay Rs 8,000 crore to acquire this very block?" he said demanding a probe into the deal.

ONGC is to pay USD 995.26 million for the three



discoveries in the KG-OSN-2001/3 block that are under trial production since August 2014.

Another USD 200 million will be paid as advance consideration of six other discoveries, for which GSPC has been finalising an investment plan for bringing them to production.

GSPC, which had a debt of Rs 19,716.27 crore as on March 31, 2015, has so far made 9 gas discoveries in the Bay of Bengal block. Of these, three - KG-08, KG-17, KG-15 - commonly known as Deendayal West (DDW) fields - have been approved for development.

But against an approved field development plan (FDP) cost of USD 2.75 billion, GSPC has seen a huge cost-overrun, incurring USD 2.83 billion as on March 31, 2015.

Additionally, it had incurred an exploration cost of USD 584.63 million, taking total expenditure as on March 31, 2015 to USD 3.41 billion.

The trial production from the DDW field commenced in August 4, 2014, but the average production achieved was only 19.45 million standard cubic feet per day, against a targeted commercial production of 200 mmscfd.

Commercial production has not commenced as production rate has not yet stabilised. The DGH approved FDP had envisaged commercial production from December 2011.

As per the approved FDP of DDW fields, the estimated oil and gas in place (OGIP) was 1.952 trillion cubic feet (tcf) with a projected cumulative production of 1.0596 tcf at a recovery rate of 54.3 per cent.

ONGC will buy GSPC's entire 80 per cent stake in the block. Jubilant and Geo Global Resources (GGR) own 10 per cent stake each in the block.

GSPC began trial production of a very small volume of gas from August 4, 2014 but has not yet reached commercial production.
Three men were executed by firing squad in Bahrain this morning (15th) according to the Attorney General.

The three men executed were Ali Al-Singace (21), Abbas Al-Samea (27) and Sami Mushaima (42).





Commenting, Maya Foa, a director of international human rights group Reprieve, said:

"It is nothing short of an outrage - and a disgraceful breach of international law - that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions. The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on 'confessions' extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham





"It would be shameful if the UK continued to support Bahrain's security apparatus and Ministry of Interior in the face of such terrible abuses. The British Government must urgently review its close relations with the Kingdom, and make clear that it condemns these appalling crimes."





"The execution of these torture victims was made possible by various actors in Bahrain's criminal justice system, and the UK is providing assistance to all of them. In the last four years, the UK government has paid more than 5 million pounds to train Bahraini police officers, prosecutors, judges, prison guards in the death row prison where these men were held, and a supposedly 'independent' torture watchdog which declared one of these men was lying about his torture allegations without ever conducting a medical examination.





The three men are the first people executed in Bahrain since 2010 , and the first Bahrainis executed since 1996





The execution came less than a week after Bahrain's highest court upheld their death sentence on Monday 9 January 2017.





There are now concerns about two other men on Bahrain's death row who are also at imminent risk of execution, Mohammed Ramadan and Husain Moosa. Both say they were tortured into providing false confessions at the same police station as the three men who were executed today.





Torture





The executions went ahead despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture.





A UN Special Rapporteur, Dr Agnes Callamard, has called them  extrajudicial killings





During his police interrogation, Mr Mushaima was beaten, electrocuted and sexually assaulted. Although he was illiterate, he was forced to sign a document that he could not read.





Mr al-Samea, a school teacher, was also tortured during his interrogation, including electric shocks to his genitals and suspending him from the ceiling. He was sentenced to death even though his school provided an alibi letter.





The third man, Ali al-Singace, was just a teenager when he was convicted in absentia. His mother says he was also tortured into making a false confession after police arrested him.





Their families were summoned to Bahrain's Jau prison on Saturday for their final visit, although jail authorities refused to tell them that this was what was happening. They describe being surrounded by over 50 police officers and heightened security procedures at Jau.





UK complicity





The UK Foreign Office has spent over 5 million in aid money on reforming Bahrain's human rights record since protests swept the Gulf kingdom in 2011.





However, Reprieve has evidence that this aid program failed to protect the three men from torture and execution, and actually contributed to their abuse.





Documents obtained by Reprieve, and reported in the Observer today, reveal that Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons helped plan inspections of custody facilities in Bahrain, including the CID station where all three men were tortured (both before and after the inspection.) The six-page inspection report failed to mention their allegations of torture.





Bahrain's police has received repeated training from the UK's College of Policing , which refuses to publish full details about its work.





Hundreds of prison guards at the death row jail where the executed men were detained have been trained by a Stormont-owned body, Northern Ireland Co-operation Overseas (NI-CO).





NI-CO also trained two oversight institutions in Bahrain, an Ombudsman and a Special Investigations Unit , which rejected Mr al-Samea's torture complaint without conducting a proper investigation.





 Reprieves research into UK support for Bahrain is available here , while further detail about the cases is available on request.





 A pre-recorded video interview of Ali al-Singace's mother is available on request
The Haryana and Chandigarh units of the Congress will gherao the regional office of Reserve Bank of India on January 18 in protest against "RBI's failure to do its constitutional duty at the time of demonetisation".

"The RBI has failed to do its constitutional duty at the time of demonetisation, due to which people had to suffer a lot. The misery of the people has not ended, but they are still suffering," Haryana Congress President Ashok Tanwar said addressing a press conference here.

Tanwar said the HPCC had summoned a meeting of party MLAs and MPs from the state here today in view of the decision to gherao the RBI office, which will be part of Congress' national programme to gherao RBI offices at other places in the country as well on January 18.

The meeting had been summoned by senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP from Himachal Pradesh Viplove Thakur and was attended among others by former Union Minister Pawan Kumar Bansal, former Haryana Minister Ajay Singh Yadav and two MLAs of the Haryana Congress.

However, former Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda and most of the legislators were not present at the meeting, but Viplove Thakur said, "I had summoned the meeting at a short notice.

"The MLAs and other leaders who could not attend informed me over phone that they had pre-scheduled engagements. However, they have assured that all of them will be present here on January 18".

"I talked to Hooda also, there is no groupism in the party. It is a national programme of the Congress party (on Jan 18) and everyone will participate in the event," she said to another related question.

Bansal, who is also former MP from Chandigarh, said, "We have decided to gherao the RBI because it has failed to do its constitutional duty and has happily surrendered its autonomy."



About the demonetisation step, Bansal said, "For the first time such a thing has happened in the country, which is unconstitutional, against the law and against the rules and regulations of the RBI. This decision of the Modi government has been thrust upon the people."



"According to a conservative estimate, the demonetisation step will hit country's GDP by atleast 1 per cent, which is nearly Rs 1.5 lakh crore," Bansal said, adding "also, cashless society is not practical in a big and diverse country like India."



Slamming the demonetisation decision, Bansal said, "When people deposited the demonetised currency in the banks, the banks imposed cash handling charges."



When asked why Congress had done poorly in the recently held civic polls in Chandigarh, Bansal did not agree that people of Chandigarh had backed demonetisation decision of the government, saying other factors were at work here.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Three live cartridges found in the baggage of a French tourist, going to Goa via Delhi and Mumbai, has put a spanner on his visit to India after Delhi High Court refused to quash the FIR against him under Arms Act.

Herve Croso, 64, had claimed in his plea that when he boarded the plane from Charles de Gaulle airport at Paris, his luggage was screened and no bullets were found.

However, while boarding the connecting flight to Mumbai from IGI Airport, three cartridges were found, based on which an FIR under the Arms Act was lodged against him.

Croso has sought quashing of the FIR on the ground that the live cartridges were not in his bag when he boarded the plane at Paris and someone appears to have kept the bullets in his bag by tampering with it at Delhi Airport where he stayed for about 13 hours before his flight to Mumbai.

Justice A K Pathak dismissed the Frenchman's plea, saying it was being investigated whether the bullets were put in the baggage by tampering with it or he was carrying it himself and since the probe was on, there was no justification in quashing the FIR.

"I am of the view that facts have to be verified during the investigation. Whether the live cartridges were kept by tampering the baggage of petitioner or were carried by the petitioner himself is a subject matter of investigation, which is still on.

"At this stage, when investigations are still in progress, I do not find any justification to entertain the writ petition and quash the FIR," the court said.

According to the petition filed by advocate Ramni Taneja, the case in the trial court has not proceeded further although there have been various miscellaneous hearings from time to time from December 2, 2016.

Croso, who arrived in India on November 30, under a multiple entry tourist visa valid from November 7, 2016 to May 6, 2017, has claimed he has no criminal record whatsoever in France, in India or anywhere else in the world.

He has contended, in his plea, that he was not in "conscious possession" of the bullets and "mere custody without the awareness of the nature of such possession does not amount to any offence under the Arms Act".

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
(HCCBL), the bottling arm of Coca-Cola in India, is setting up two greenfield plants at Ahmedabad and Nellore with an investment of Rs 1,000 crore, a top official said.

HCCBL currently operates 26 bottling plants and covers about 65 per cent of bottling operations for Coca-Cola in the country.

"We are setting up two greenfield plants at Ahmedabad and Nellore. Sanand (Ahmedabad) will be commissioned this year and Nellore next year," HCCBL Chairman and Chief Executive Officer T Krishnakumar told PTI here.

"Between the two plants, over the next three years the investment would be at least Rs 1,000 crore. The two plants would add 4-5 per cent of our capacity," he added.

Besides these, the company will invest Rs 750 crore to set up a plant at Hoshangabad, Madhya Pradesh. It recently laid the foundation stone for the 110-acre plant which is likely to be commissioned by 2018.

Krishnakumar, however, said it would be difficult to estimate the capacity addition from the Madhya Pradesh plant at present.

The greenfield plants would house multiple bottling lines for carbonated beverages such as Coca-Cola, Sprite, Fanta, Thums Up and Limca, juices and juice-based drinks like Minute Maid and Maaza, packaged water, as well as Kinley soda.

In 2012, the Atlanta-based beverages major Coca-Cola announced investment of USD 5 billion along with its partners in India by 2020 on various activities, including setting up of new bottling plants.

Last year, HCCBL had suspended manufacturing at a few of its plants. Krishnakumar said the closure or opening of new plants is to establish a supply chain that meets the demand from consumers.

"Our supply chain was set up in 1997-98, with certain geographical thought process, with a certain portfolio thought process.

"From 1997 to 2016, the whole landscape has changed. We have a different mix, we have a larger portfolio, we have a larger choice. We constantly need to re-engineer our supply chain to match that demand pattern that we have established," he said.
Bloggers and activists in Pakistan are living under the climate of 'increased insecurity' following disappearance of several bloggers early this month.

The Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) has expressed alarm over a growing sense of insecurity among bloggers and civil society activists and called for immediate recovery of missing social media critics.

Four Pakistani activists - Waqas Goraya, Asim Saeed, Salman Haider and Ahmed Raza Naseer - known on social media for their secular leftist views often against the military went missing from Islamabad on January 4.

"The authorities are surely aware of a climate of increased insecurity and fear among bloggers and activists after at least four bloggers were picked up in the last few days. The anxiety is fueled not only by the continued disappearance of the four men but also a vicious online smear campaign against them," the HRCP said today in a statement.

It said: "Whoever has disappeared the four bloggers has done Pakistan a great disservice. Not only have their deeds done untold damage to Pakistan's reputation, but also led to us being firmly counted among nations where expression in the cyber space makes activists extremely vulnerable.

"It is vital that all elements of the state, including the elected government and the security establishment, reflect on the reasons why fingers are being raised against state agencies for these disappearances. They must consider why families of the missing men or the civil society would suspect involvement of state agencies."



The HRCP says even if any of the missing bloggers are suspected of any wrongdoing, their apprehension in this manner cannot be justified. If such is indeed the case, law must be followed and courts should have a chance to examine the case against them.

"It is in everyone's interest that the missing bloggers are recovered without delay. It must be understood that national interest is in following the rule of law and due process without any exception.

"We urge the competent people in the government to reassure the bloggers and activists that it retains the will and the ability to prevent violation of their rights and provide them a safe environment to air their views and engage in activism.

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Leading actress Trisha, who was targeted by pro-jallikattu groups for posting comments on the bull taming sport, today said she was never against or opposed to it and that she had deactivated her Twitter account after it was hacked and a comment sent, putting her in insensitive light.

Trisha said she was deeply troubled and defamed for no fault of hers over the last week on the jallikattu issue.

"I made my stance very clear on my social networking account yesterday that I have never been against or opposed to jallikattu," she said in a statement here tonight.

"I'm a proud Tamilian by birth and I believe and respect the Tamil culture and tradition and I will never go against the sentiments of my own people who have been instrumental in my growth and stature," she said.

She said she was "deeply" hurt at the "disrespect" and abusive language aimed at her and to those who supported her by "some vested interests".

"In the midst of this, to make my stance clear, my Twitter account was hacked and a tweet (from twitter handle @trishtrashers) was sent out, putting me in very insensitive light and hurting my fellow Tamilians," she said.

"This effort by them to detach me from the Tamil audience whom I value much will not happen. I'm confident about this," she said.

Considering the gravity of the issue, she said she had deactivated her account and had taken it up with the higher authorities.

"I type this (statement) out with a lot of hurt and pain. I assure from the bottom of my heart that I am never against my own people and keep wondering why anyone would go through such an extent to defame and put me in bad light," she said.

Thanking her fellow colleagues and well wishers who had rallied to her support, including Tamil film icon Kamal Hassan, she said, "This (statement) makes my stance very clear, once and for all".

Yesterday, Kamal Haasan and actor Simbu had come out in support of Trisha, targeted by pro-Jallikattu groups for her association with animal rights group PETA, which opposes the sport.

An animal lover, she had appeared in advertisements of People for Ethical Treatment of Animals, supporting adoption of homeless dogs.

Some Jallikattu supporters had on January 13 picketed the site of the shooting of Tamil film "Garjanai", starring Trisha, in Sivaganga district. She was not present there at that time. Abusive text messages accompanied with images of Trisha wearing a PETA T-shirt have gone viral on social media.

PETA has been opposing Jallikattu and had written to the President and Prime Minister, arguing against any ordinance for holding Jallikattu in the state as demanded by the state government and others.

The group has come under severe attack from Jallikattu supporters who even demanded that PETA be banned.

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Bollywood actress Gul Panag says Indian celebrities do take a stand on issues but have to be prepared for the backlash.

The actress feels one has to be very strong to withstand the massive opposition they might face for voicing an opinion.

"Indian stars do take a stand, look at what you do to them once they take a stand. The backlash that comes, you have to be prepared for it and I think (you) really grow a thick skin as well," Gul told PTI.

"But then the bread and butter gets affected because the power of the public narrative is such. My point is, the reason a lot of famous people will not take a stand is because of the fact that they would probably be unpopular."



Recently, Hollywood actress Merly Streep's speech criticising US President-elect Donald Trump was highly praised. Several celebrities, both in Hollywood and Bollywood, raved about her brave comment.

Her speech, however, also drew comparison with Indian stars, with several people questioning whether the Indian film industry can take a political stand like that as well.

In the past, stars like Shah Rukh Khan, Aamir, Salman have faced backlash owing to their comments on issues of the country and recently on row over Pakistani actors working in Hindi films.

Gul, who also contested elections as an Aam Aadmi Party candidate, says both the "left wing and right wing" can shun people having opposing views.

When asked if the moment a celebrity associates itself with a political party a certain section starts shunning them, Gul says, "Not just a certain section, not just political parties, I think any celebrity who tends to challenge the narrative will get some backlash, it depends what the narrative is, so it's not always a right wing or a left wing narrative."



Citing an example of a friend, a "successful Bollywood actor who took a particular view on Pakistani actors not being welcomed in Indian films", the actress says he has been "ostracised by the 'liberals'."



Gul says the situation is such that her actor-friend, who "also has a life outside of acting, pursues hobbies like horse riding," now has been shunned even by the industry.

"I think everybody should have an opinion but the fact is he has been ostracised by the film industry at large for having that opinion. I don't agree with his opinion personally but that's his opinion and he has been ostracised and that's happened by the industry.

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India remains committed to reforms and open trade barriers, Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das said today.

"Remain committed to economic reforms, ease of doing business & open trade. Sometimes get touchy when our icons are involved," Das tweeted.

His tweets come in the backdrop of reports of US-based e-commerce giant Amazon putting up on sale flip-flops with Mahatma Gandhi's image on their website.

Last week, after a strong protest by India over Amazon selling doormats depicting Indian flag, the e-retail giant removed the offensive article from its Canadian website.

The e-commerce company reportedly has yet again put up another product which is objectionable and hurts Indian sentiments.

Earlier in the day, Das in his personal capacity tweeted as Indian citizen that Amazon should desist from being flippant about Indian symbols and icons.

"Amazon, better behave. Desist from being flippant about? Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril," he tweeted.

"Comment on Amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it," Das said in a tweet.

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Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe today reaffirmed their commitment to cooperate on maritime security and deepen defence ties, as both nations feud with China over sea territory.

Abe - in Indonesia on a regional tour that has taken in Australia and the Philippines and will include Vietnam - said their two island nations gave maritime cooperation the "highest priority".

"Japan will actively encourage cooperation on maritime security and encourage the development of the remote islands of Indonesia," he said through a translator at the presidential palace in Bogor.

Last month Tokyo and Jakarta unveiled an agreement aimed in part at strengthening Indonesia's ability to defend its vast marine borders.

Indonesia has no argument with China over ownership of reefs or islets in the disputed South China Sea. But Beijing's expansive claims overlap with Indonesia's exclusive economic zone - waters where a state has the right to exploit resources - around the Natuna islands.

Indonesia has vowed to protect its sovereignty from intrusions by fishing vessels, and has blown up foreign boats in a show of force, including some from China.

Japan, which has a territorial row with China over disputed islands in the East China Sea, has worked to strengthen ties with members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations such as Indonesia.

It has repeatedly stressed that maritime disputes should be addressed according to law.

The defence and foreign ministers of Japan and Indonesia will meet this year to discuss deepening "cooperation in the fields of defence and security", Abe added.

Widodo said Japanese investment in Indonesia had nearly doubled from 2015 to almost USD 5 billion last year. The two leaders discussed opportunities centred on large infrastructure projects including a medium-speed rail line and key port.

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Asserting that Donald Trump won the presidency in an electoral landslide, the incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus today said that it is irresponsible to question the President-elect's legitimacy.

He was responding to questions on legendary human rights champion Congressman John Lewis and several other lawmakers questioning legitimacy of the presidential election.

"I think it's incredibly disappointing and I think it's irresponsible for people like himself to question the legitimacy of the next United States president. I think putting the United States down across the world is not something that a responsible person does," Priebus told ABC in an interview.

"Putting the United States down across the world is not something that a responsible person does. I think President Obama should step up.

"So I think the administration can do a lot of good by telling folks that are on the Republican side of the aisle, look, we may have lost the election on the Democratic side, but it's time to come together," the incoming White House Chief of Staff said.

"John Lewis stood up in an interview and said that Donald Trump was not a legitimate president. That's insanity. And it's wrong," he said, adding that Director of National Intelligence James Clapper has said many times, that there is no evidence that any outcome of the election was coined.

President-elect Trump won 30 of 50 states.

"This man won in an electoral landslide. And to question the legitimacy of the next United States president, you know, and you're worried about a Twitter that says, hey, why don't you get back to work instead of questioning my legitimacy? Too bad," he said, expressing his frustration.

Priebus also argued for more press people covering the



White House and thus creating more space for them as and when necessary.

At the same time, he refuted reports that the incoming administration is planning to move out journalists from the White House to other building.

As per a report in Esquire magazine, the incoming administration is considering evicting press corps from the White House either to the Old Executive Building or to the White House Conference Center near Lafayette Square.

"Let me tell you where this is coming from, and I know that some of the folks in the press are uptight about this, and I understand. The thing that's been discussed is whether or not the initial press conferences are going to be in that small press -- and for the people let's not to this that don't know this, that the press room that people see on TV is very, very tiny. Forty-nine people fit in that press room," Priebus told ABC in an interview.

"The one thing that we discussed was whether or not we want to move the initial press conferences in the Executive Office Building, which, by the way, is the White House. So no one is moving out of the White House," he asserted.

"That is the White House, where you can fit four times the we must of people in the press conference, allowing more press, more coverage from all over the country to have those press conferences. That's what we're talking about," he said.
Thousands of devotees took part in the annual Rath Yatra of Lord Jagannath organised here yesterday by ISKCON with religious fervour and enthusiasm.

The devotees, numbering in several thousands, paid obeisance to Lord Jagannath during the Rath Yatra organised by ISKCON's Girgaum Chowpatty temple.

The colourful yatra commenced from the iconic Shivaji Park Grounds in Central Mumbai at 3 PM and returned to the same place at around 6.30 PM after passing through Shiv Sena Bhavan, Plaza, Maruti Mandir, Portuguese Church, Gokhale Road, Khed Galli, Silver Apartment and Prabhadevi areas.

ISKCON spiritual leader Radhanath Swami Maharaj performed the 'maha aarti' on the rath for Lord Jagannath, Lord Balabhadra and Devi Subhadra amid religious chants.

Addressing the gathering, he said, "On this auspicious day of Makar Sankranti, which symbolises peace and prosperity, ISKCON is celebrating the Rath Yatra of the Lord.

"Makar Sankranti is the first solar festival which takes place after winter solstice and signifies the return of longer days. Similarly, when one takes shelter of Lord Jagannath and participates in the Rath Yatra, he makes a start for brighter sides in his life. Devotees of Lord Jagannath enjoys happiness not only in this life but eternally," said Swami Maharaj.

"Over the years, the Rath Yatra has become an important cultural festival of India as it brings people together from different walks of life."



During the Rath Yatra, activities like distribution of vedic literature, spiritual fun and fair for children were organised by ISKCON.

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Blog Hinangai

While there is much discussion in Guam about the economic benefits of increasing the islands military presence, the damages/dangers that they represent are rarely mentioned. This blog, a supplement to the Peace and Justice for Guam Petition, is meant to counter that by providing information about the US military in Guam, with the hopes of steering policy away from a dangerous unilateralist course to more sustainable notions of regional development and a strengthening international solidarity.
Congress MP and author Shashi Tharoor today said the Jalianwala Bagh centenary in 2019 will be a "good time" for the British to apologise to the Indians for wrongs committed during their rule.

The former diplomat, who was speaking on his book 'An Era of Darkness: The British Empire In India' before inaugurating the Kolkata Literary Festival-2017 here, said, "Either the British Prime Minister or a member of the royal family can come and convey their own profound apologies to the people of India, not just for that atrocity (Jallianwala Bagh massacre) but for all wrongs done during the empire."



"Why not use that opportunity ? ... That would be a very fine gesture because after all the wrongs were done in the name of the Crown," he said.

According to him it's never too late to admit. "But the fact is that what the British have done is opposite."



"They (British) have brushed it under the carpet. There is a certain historical amnesia. You are finding it in the way in which the British are relating to their own colonial past and on top of that, a lot of romanticising of the empire - a lot of self justification is taking place, including, British historians today, who praise the empire as a good thing," Tharoor said.

"I am concerned, what is to my mind the best thing to do is to seek a certain atonement, which in the case of the British they have never apologised to the people of India for what was done here for 200 years. There are a couple of examples I have mentioned in the preface of the book," he said.

He gave the example of the Canada Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who apologised for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident where hundreds of Hindu, Sikh and Mulsim immigrants were denied entry into Canada and turned away from the port of Vancouver to return to an uncertain and ultimately violent fate in India.

Tharoor said, "London would not look like London today



without the resources that were looted from India and from the other colonies."



He said his latest book was prompted by his speech at the Oxford University in 2015. "The speech itself, to be earnest was sparked-off by Oxford Union debate choosing a topic about Britain owning reparations to former colonies."



"Reparations particularly were not of great interest to me in the sense that I don't think you can calculate the loss and damage done in any reasonable terms today," he said.

"Any sum that is credible to make up for the damage and the loot would not be payable and any sum that is payable would not be credible," Tharoor said.

According to him things would be fine once such an apology is made.

"Once an act of atonement has taken place we can be more free to concentrate on today's relationship, which is after all a relationship of sovereign equals which is not today a one-sided colonial relationship anymore," he explained.

" ... I believe history should be confronted for itself and not as something that is intended to influence today's relationship," he said, adding "I am not suggesting that our policies towards Britain today should be in anyway different."



"As far as we are concerned, the past should be dealt with for its own sake and on its own terms. I am not suggesting anything about today's relationship," he said.

On his book 'An Era Of Darkness: The British Empire In India', Tharoor said it goes into some detail about the nature of British rule in India -- the financial and the expropriations. "It also takes up the various arguments in favour of the empire and discredits them," he said.

"Obviously Bengal played such an important role in the freedom struggle that a book like this would be of some particular interest here I assume," he said it has been well received in the country.

The British edition of the book will be out on March 2 this year.
Amid protests against the ban on Jallikattu, the police on Sunday detained several people at various places in some southern districts for attempting to organise the bull taming sport.

Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.

People hoisted black flags at Palamedu village for not allowing them to hold in connection with Pongal festivities and local temple functions, they said.

Shops at several localities remained closed and black flags were also hoisted at Alanganallur.

Both Palamedu and Alanganallur are famous for in Madurai district.

A police officer said they were maintaining strict vigil in such localities.

Police stations have been alerted to prevent any attempt to hold Jallikattu, the officer added.

The die-hard supporters of the sport along with major political parties in the state have been demanding an ordinance for conducting after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on it.

Yesterday, 149 persons were detained in Madurai district for staging protests against the ban.

The Supreme Court on Thursday had said it could not give its verdict on Jallikattu before Pongal.

Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK) Working President M K Stalin had led a protest in Chennai on Friday in this regard.
The Jind Superintendent of Police has ordered a probe into allegations that a company duped about 250 investors of Rs 12.5 crore on the promise of providing them plots.

According to the complainants, the company gave them letters of allotment for plots in Green City Colony for which they had paid Rs 12.39 crore. They alleged that they were not given possession of the plots and on enquiring they found that the colony does not exist, Investigating Officer Harish Kumar said.

They then approached the company officials for returning their money who refused following which they approached the Jind SP who ordered a probe into the allegations, police said today.

Police have registered a case against three company officials--Pradeep Jain, Reena Jain and Praveen Kumar from Delhi.

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With the BJP facing heat over the controversial remarks by its leaders against eminent filmmaker Kamal, party's Kerala president Kummanam Rajasekharan today asserted that the director had insulted Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

In a Facebook post, Rajasekharan said everyone should "listen to Kamal's statement on Prime Minister, which is unparliamentary and highly deplorable".

He also said that the director, in a recent speech, had affronted national award-winning actor Suresh Gopi, the party supported Rajya Sabha member from the state.

The BJP leader also attached a video clipping on his FB, which shows Kamal, the chairman of Kerala Chalachitra Academy, terming Modi as 'naradhaman' (lowest of mankind).

Attacking Gopi, Kamal said the actor became the supporter of the right-wing to get the Rajya Sabha seat.

Last week, BJP General Secretary A N Radhakrishnan had come out against Kamal and even asked him to leave the country if he cannot respect the interest of the nation.

"Kamal's suitability for the position of Chairman of Chalachitra Academy is his opposition to Prime Minister Narendra Modi," he had said.

The "Meghamalhar" director had been under attack from Sangh Parivar outfits for some time over his alleged remarks in connection with the playing of national anthem during the screening of films at the IFFK in December 2016.

However, former BJP state chief C K Padmanabhan had objected to Radhakrishnan's remarks and stated that no one has the right to ask another person to leave the country.

Padmanabhan also said that none can doubt the patriotism of Kamal and he had made immense contributions to the film industry.

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:The interdisciplinary character of the ongoing third edition of the Kochi-Muziris Biennale (KMB) allows for a rethink of conventions that hold spaces and aspects to be unique to forms and styles, according to eminent theatre personality Anuradha Kapur.

A visitor since 2012, the former Director of the National School of Drama in New Delhi has seen a "widening of perspective and discourse' at KMB 2016.

"The Biennale and the conversations it begins produce a new kind of spectator. In the theatre, people come with fixed horizons and fixed expectations of narrative. The experience here changes so radically," a KMB release quotingKapur said.

Noting that the close proximity between the works offers the opportunity for dialogue, she said "For what is supposedly a space to house visual art, the inclusion of dance, music and theatre embodies something special. It alters the spaces and in so doing, the experience."



This was particularly true, Kapur said, of KMB 2016 participating artist Anamika Haksar's theatre production 'Composition on Water', the site for which shares a room at Aspinwall House with artist P K Sadanandan's elaborate wall mural.

"To be housed in a space where there is a constant dialogue creates a sort of cross-pollination, which also affects both the people who inhabit the spaces as actors and the audience.This also allows for newer connections to be made for the works' respective progressions," she said.

"The artist becomes a spectator and the actor becomes something else entirely."



"Meanwhile, the spectator is within an experiential space where there's something happening in front and something else happening in the back," Kapur added, putting the "extraordinary itinerary of experiences" down to the curatorial vision of Sudarshan Shetty.

Noted filmmaker and cultural activist Madhushree Dutta observed that Shetty's style of 'subtle spatial curation' had allowed connections to form between styles and genres.

"Beyond the Biennale, there is debate at the national level about how different forms like dance and theatre would clash and not gel with the rest of the artworks."



"Whether people are incensed or enthused, it's great that Sudarshan provoked these discussions," Dutta said.

Well-known theatre director and playwright Roysten Abel also expressed his appreciation for the ambitious vision and scale of the Biennale during his visit on Saturday.

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The minor girl who had been critically injured after being set on fire by miscreants for opposing eve-teasing in Kalahandi district, was shifted to Ispat General Hospital (IGH) here for treatment.

"Her condition is critical and doctors are keeping a constant watch," said a senior doctor at IGH.

The girl is being treated free of cost as the state government is bearing all her medical expenses, a senior district official said.

Collector of Sundergarh B S Punia said, "I have instructed the IGH authorities not to charge any money from the girl's family as the state government is bearing all the expenses."



The 10th standard student, who had been set on fire at Madhupur village in Lanjigarh block, was shifted to IGH from Veer Surendra Sai Hospital, Burla yesterday.

She was first treated at Bhawanipatna hospital, but was shifted to Burla after her condition deteriorated. Finally she was brought here yesterday as IGH was fully equipped for burn injuries, the doctors said.

Meanwhile, a team of the Crime Branch Police from Cuttack consisting of three inspectors today visited the girl and spoke to her parents.

The statement of the girl was recorded by Executive Magistrate Nibharani Bhattarchaya, police said.

Union Tribal Affairs Minister Jual Oram and member of State Women Commission Snehanjali Mohanty also visited IGH.

Six persons have been arrested so far in connection with the January 12 incident. Those arrested include the two main accused and their parents.

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In a country like ours, where 30 crore population is below poverty line, the lawyers should help them without charging fees, Supreme Court judge A K Sikri today said here.

Speaking at 13th K K Luthra Moot Competition, held at Delhi University from January 13 to 15, Justice Sikri urged the law students, gathered from across the country and abroad, to work as litigant lawyers as legal system demands them.

"In this country, 30 crore population is below the poverty line and litigation lawyers should also help these poor persons without charging any fees as it will give you satisfaction in your life...

"While working as litigant lawyers, initially you may not earn like corporate lawyers but after some hard practice, you will earn good fees," he told the students.

In the competition, the first position was secured by George Washington University, USA, while Rajiv Gandhi University, Patiala, Punjab remained the runners up.

The moot court was organised by Delhi University's Campus Law Centre on the law of sedition and the propriety of death penalty as a punishment for the offence.

The three-day event had students from 75 colleges participating from across the country and abroad.

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What started as an attempt to counter the existing definition of "nationalism" by JNU teachers has now shaped up as a book titled "What the Nation Really Needs to Know".

The month-long "nationalism lecture series" was conducted last year by JNU Teachers Association (JNUTA) following the alleged "branding" of the university as a "den of anti- nationals" when three of its students were charged with sedition for participating in an event during which anti- national slogans were allegedly raised.

Twenty-four lectures delivered by eminent academicians, intellectuals and historians including Romila Thapar, Harbans Mukhia, Tanika Sarkar, Jayati Ghosh, Prabhat Patnaik, Amit Sengupta, Mridula Mukherjee, Makaranad Paranjpe and Apporvanand, have been compiled and edited in the book published by HarperCollins India.

"The nationalism row was a historical movement in not only JNU's history but also the country's. The book is an important archival document for us as to how the university stood up against forceful feeding of an idea of nationalism," a JNUTA member said.

The 368-page book will be launched at JNU on January 25 when the third series of lectures - "Democratising social justice" will conclude. The second series was on "Azaadi".

Lectures that are part of the book were delivered as sit-ins at the administrative block-venue of protest after the student's arrest. The place began to be known as "azaadi chowk" of the "freedom square" until last month when the administration banned holding protests in that area, terming it to be a violation of university norms.

Four JNU professors- Janaki Nair, Rohit Azad, Mohinder Singh and Mallarika Sinha Roy- have contributed to the editing of the essays while the pictures taken by students during the lecture series have also been included in the book.

Nair has written an introduction for the book in which the lectures that were delivered in Hindi have been retained in that language only.

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Mali's president has called for Gambian leader Yahya Jammeh to step down and avoid an unnecessary "bloodbath" by clinging to power and forcing a potential military intervention.

The Gambia's political crisis dominated a summit co-organised by Mali and France as Gambian president-elect Adama Barrow made a surprise appearance to meet with west African leaders seeking their help to end the impasse.

"On January 19, I dare to hope that African wisdom will convince our brother (Jammeh) that the good Muslim that he claims to be understands the greater good for The Gambia, which does not need a bloodbath," President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita yesterday told journalists.

Barrow is expected to take power on January 19 when Jammeh's mandate runs out, but the strongman has refused to cede power after disputing the result of a December 1 election won by Barrow.

Barrow flew to Bamako unexpectedly on Friday after holding crisis talks in Banjul with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, Liberian leader Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Ghana's John Mahama.

Malian and Ghanaian sources confirmed to AFP heads of state had also received Barrow on the margins of the summit.

The leaders of at least 30 nations had gathered in Bamako to discuss jihad on the continent and Africa's impact on the European migrant crisis -- but the Gambian crisis ended up topping the agenda.

The Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS), a 15-nation bloc, has repeatedly called on Jammeh to respect the result of the vote and leave after 22 years in power.

The spectre of a military intervention rose after declarations by the United Nations and African Union in recent days that boots on the ground could get the green light without a rapid resolution of the crisis.

Mohamed Ibn Chambas, head of the UN Office for West Africa and the Sahel, said on Friday that ECOWAS would ask the Security Council to approve the deployment of troops to The Gambia if Jammeh continues to refuse to leave office.

ECOWAS has made clear in the past force will not be ruled out as a last resort.

Meanwhile, west African defence chiefs met in Abuja to discuss the crisis, Nigeria's chief of defence staff said, "as part of efforts to mitigate the political impasse," notably including neighbouring Senegal.

In a sign of Barrow's growing international clout, French President Francois Hollande met the president-elect and was pictured shaking his hand.

There are just four days left of Jammeh's five-year term, but he warned the international community on Tuesday that "undue external interference" was unnecessary.

Jammeh has said he will not stand aside until the country's Supreme Court decides on his legal challenge seeking to annul the result of last month's polls, which he had initially conceded. The ruling however is unlikely to happen before May.

It was Hollande's last trip to Africa as president before his term ends, and Keita described him as the "most loyal" of French presidents to the continent.

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The silent rally of Maratha community in the city under the banner of 'Maratha Kranti Morcha' has been postponed to March 6 in the wake of election code of conduct currently in force for the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls.

Earlier, it was decided that the rally would take place on January 31 but in a meeting held in Mumbai today it was decided to hold the rally on March 6, a statement issued by the organisers said.

The Mumbai rally is supposed to be the last in the series of rallies that were taken out throughout the state by the community members demanding inclusion in OBC category and strict punishment for accused in the Kopardi rape and murder case.

Some leaders had objected to the date of January 31 as election code would have restricted the government from making any promise or assurance regarding the demands.

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The Central and the Maharashtra government have signed a memorandum of agreement (MoA) for financial assistance to Sainik School in Satara district.

The school in western Maharashtra, set up in 1961, is the first in the series of around 25 Sainik schools currently running in the country with the objective of preparing boys for entry to the armed forces as officers.

The MoA was signed in Delhi on January 13 between representatives of Maharashtra government and the Defence Ministry, which governs the Sainik Schools Society.

With the MoA in place, the school administration has heaved a sigh of relief as expenditure on heads like meal allowance of students, scholarship, building maintenance, training grants, staff pension and subsidy for various other activities will be taken care of by the government.

The signing of the MoA will entail financial assistance of around Rs 5 crore from Maharashtra government to the school annually and the development is likely to result in a fee cut, an Education Department official said.

In absence of such an MoA, the burden used to fall on students who had to pay a hefty fee, thus, depriving pupils from poor sections of a chance to enter the prestigious institution.

So far, around 1,500 ex-students of the school have joined the Army, Air Force and Navy as officers, while many others are serving in government and private sectors.

School alumni and parents have thanked Union Minister of State for Defence Subhash Bhamre, Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Finance Minister Sudhir Mungantiwar and Education Minister Vinod Tawde for their efforts in getting the MoA inked.

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A 1970s-vintage mosque has been torched in the US city of Seattle and the police have arrested a 37-year-old homeless man, who had previous run-ins with worshippers there, in connection with the incident.

Police believe a fire at a Bellevue mosque yesterday was set by the man but they said there was no evidence of a hate crime. "Nor is there any connection to recent vandalism at a Redmond mosque," Police Chief Steve Mylett was quoted as saying by The Seattle Times.

Bellevue police and firefighters responded to the Islamic Centre of Eastside after a witness reported flames coming from the 1970s-vintage, wooden building. The fire destroyed the north side of the mosque. Nobody was inside, the report said.

Police found the homeless man, lying on the ground at a nearby parking lot, and approached him initially to see if he was injured, said Mylett.

He didn't appear intoxicated, officers reported.

Charging papers, for second-degree arson, were expected to be filed against the man on Tuesday, Hogan said.

Last year, the man came to the mosque on occasion and said he wanted to pray, Imam Faizel Hassan said. But the man used profanities and created conflicts that led the mosque to exclude him, Hassan said.

"Very few people knew him. He is homeless. I would not describe him as Muslim," the Hassan said.

The mosque, the only one in Bellevue, can draw 100 people for the five daily prayers and 1,000 on Fridays.

"We want our Muslim brothers and sisters to know we stand with them," Mayor John Stokes said during the conference.

Firefighters salvaged "many holy books that were important to the mosque," Stokes said.

Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has urged people to not jump to conclusions about motive.

"We need to learn more," he said.

In the past week, in an apparently unrelated incident, an Auburn man who had allegedly threatened to kill members of the Islamic Center of Eastside was charged with malicious harassment, a hate crime.

Kamal Samater, 36, was arrested on January 6 in the mosque's parking lot, after allegedly telling a man in the lot that he was "going to assassinate every one" at the mosque, and yelling "There is no place in America for Muslims.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Indian Overseas Bank has been asked to pay Rs 50,000 by the apex consumer commission to a man for delaying the crediting of a cheque amount of Rs 24,652.82 into his account.

National Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission (NCDRC) bench comprising Justice D K Jain and member M Shreesha, asked the bank to pay the money to East Delhi resident R K Sharma while dismissing its revision petition filed against New Delhi State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission order.

In its judgement, the state consumer commission had upheld a district fora's order asking the bank to pay the money to the man while holding deficiency in service on part of the bank.

"We are of the view that the revision petition is without any substance... We do not find any jurisdictional error in impugned order, warranting our interference in Revisional jurisdiction, more so when the total amount involved in the case is a meager sum of Rs 50,000," the commission said.

In his complaint filed before the district forum, Sharma had alleged that the bank caused delay in the credit of his Savings Bank account, the proceeds of the cheque in the sum of Rs 24,652.82.

The bank had alleged that Sharma had failed to mention the account number and the account holder's name on the pay- in-slip, at the time of deposit of the cheque and the particulars were filled up later.

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With its ambitious Wi-Fi project in Connaught Place and Khan Market losing popularity due to poor connectivity, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) has now tied up with MTNL in a fresh attempt at offering free internet connectivity in its areas.

NDMC had partnered with Tata Teleservices in 2014 to provide the service in inner and outer circles of Connaught Place, one of the significant business and leisure centres in the city.

The civic body had claimed that the service is the largest in India. Similarly, NDMC had partnered with Tata Docomo to provide the facility in Khan Market.

At present, the service can be availed by 5,000 people with an average speed of 512 Kbps. The first 20 minutes within a 24-hour period are entirely free after which scratch cards can be purchased in various denominations in the market.

However, visitors and traders have been complaining for months that the service is not functioning seamlessly, a claim confirmed by the civic authorities.

"We had earlier launched the services with full preparation, but the plan did not work well. Initially, it worked fine but the connectivity has been slow lately," a senior NDMC official told PTI.

"New Delhi Municipal Council Smart City Limited, a public limited company wholly owned by NDMC, has signed a joint venture with Millennium Telecom Limited (MTL) -- a subsidiary of MTNL -- to develop telecom access networks in our areas to provide FTTH (Fibre to the Home) to the residents," he said.

The project has also been listed on the civic body's "Smart City" agenda in the budget for 2016-17 presented last week. It plans to begin the new services in Connaught Place and then proceed to further areas.

NDMC had in 2015 announced that all the areas under its jurisdiction will soon be a Wi-Fi zone and had joined hands with Indus Towers Limited to replace 18,500 street-light poles in its areas with 'NextGen digital poles' which will be fitted with Wi-Fi access points, LED bulbs and CCTV cameras which, it claimed, is first-of-its kind initiative in the world.

However, the project had taken a back seat with the Delhi High Court directing NDMC to not sign the contract for award of tender till it hears a plea filed by Reliance Jio challenging the tender process. Fresh tenders have now been floated for the purpose.

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Country's premier disaster response and rescue force NDRF is likely to raise four new battalions with around 4,000 personnel as the Home Ministry is finalising a plan to this effect.

The four new battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will be stationed in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

The Home Ministry is finalising the plan for raising the new battalions and a proposal is expected to be sent to the Union Cabinet for its approval soon, a Home Ministry official said.

The NDRF will start the process of hiring around 4,000 personnel (1,000 personnel in each battalion).

The disaster response force currently has 12 battalions stationed in different parts of the country for easy deployment during natural disasters and other emergencies.

The force is specially trained to deal with calamities like earthquakes, floods, cyclones and man-made disasters.

The NDRF had earned laurels for its services during floods in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Tamil Nadu; cyclone in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and earthquake in Nepal.

A team of NDRF was even sent to Japan to help authorities there in handling the Tsunami a few years ago.

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Less than a week ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration as the next US President, top Democratic leader Bernie Sanders today expressed concerns over the policies and rhetoric of the incoming administration and said there is need to make the new president accountable.

"We all remember that Trump was one of the leaders of the so - called birther movement trying to delegitimise the presidency of our first African-American president Barack Obama, which is an outrage. So, I think right now, the focus has got to be on how we hold Trump accountable. What has been doing in the last week, attacking Hollywood actresses for criticising him, I mean what would is this guy living in?" Sanders, a former Democratic presidential candidate, told ABC in an interview.

"But right now what my job is, and I think the job of Democrats and Republicans, is to protect the middle class and working families of this country from some devastating ideas that Trump has proposed," Sanders said.

Trump is all set to be inaugurated on January 20.

"I have great concerns, and apparently Republicans do as well, and there's going to be an investigation about the role that Russian hacking played in getting him elected," he said.

"Do I think Russians supported him? Do I think they tried to get him elected? Do I think it worked against Clinton? I do. And that is something that has to be investigated," he said.

"My job is right now going beyond media conflicts and words is to say that Donald Trump, among other things, told the American people he would not cut Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid, and right now Republicans in the House and Senate are doing just that. So, I want Trump to send out a tweet saying that he's going to keep his campaign promises," Sanders said.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu today dismissed as "futile" an international conference in Paris seeking to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"The conference convening today in Paris is a futile conference," he told ministers at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians with the aim of imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs," he said.

Netanyahu's government has bitterly opposed the conference, saying only direct talks with the Palestinians can end the long-running conflict.

The Palestinians have welcomed the multilateral approach, saying years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation of the West Bank.

The conference is being held without either the Israelis or the Palestinians, but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet French President Francois Hollande in the coming weeks to be briefed on the outcome, French diplomats said.

Netanyahu declined a similar invitation, they said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault formally opened the assembly of foreign ministers and representatives from around 70 countries and international organisations.

"We are here to reiterate strongly that the two-state solution is the only one possible," Ayrault said.

The conference comes just five days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel.

Israel fears measures discussed at the conference could be taken to the UN Security Council before Trump takes office.

In a break with previous administrations, Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Abbas warned yesterday that such a move could "bury the hopes for a two-state solution".

The city's status is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict, which is why foreign embassies are currently based in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

Hard-line Israeli lawmakers, including some from Netanyahu's Likud party, have said Trump's win represents an opportunity to quash the chance of Palestinians obtaining an independent state.

Netanyahu, who says he still supports a two-state solution, appeared in his comments today to be looking forward to the impending change in the White House.

"This conference is among the last spasms of yesterday's world," he said. "Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close.

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Ruling that the debate on corruption against the backdrop of demonetisation is a throwback to "bad old days" of rich versus poor discourse under Indira Gandhi, CII President Naushad Forbes said wealth and dishonesty should be delinked and we should be respectful of "honest riches".

In an interview to PTI, he said the corruption debate post currency recall has turned into the 'rich versus poor' narrative.

"I think that's wrong. It should not be seen as a rich versus poor debate. It should be seen as an honest versus dishonest debate. And the honest-dishonest debate is not rich-poor," he said.

The association between richness and dishonesty is "very troubling" and a throwback to the days of the 1970s under Indira Gandhi, he said.

Forbes said that India has moved a long way in the last 25 years from the times when there was an emphasis only on rhetoric to an emphasis on new economy, and cautioned that it should not go back to 1970s.

"There is this association, that we sometimes heard, made between richness and dishonesty which is very troubling. It is a throwback to bad old days of Indira Gandhi... And the economy that we have moved to in the last 25 years, we should not go back. So the rich and dishonest, these two words should be delinked," he said.

Rubbishing the contention that rich people are more dishonest than the poor, he said, "We should be equally respectful of honest riches, as we are of poverty."



Asked what the government should do to disassociate itself from this debate, Forbes said, "From the government point of view, what people in policy and politics say, they should also be respectful of wealth and recognise that this is something people should aspire for."



Asked why he calls it a throwback to 1970s, he said in those days government was not too impressed with the business class.

"In the bad old days of the 70s there was this general perception that richness was bad, industrialists were crooked... These generalisations. We have moved away from this feeling in last 25 years and we shouldn't lose it.

"So, this rhetoric that somehow associates richness with dishonesty is very damaging to the country, we shouldn't go back to the bad old days of the 70s," he said.

He said to disassociate from this viewpoint, industry has to emphasise that there might be a crooked industrialist, but a typical industrialist is not dishonest.

"The typical industrialist is an industrialist who is working in an honest way to contribute to the economy and should be respected for the wealth that results. That wealth in itself is something to respect when it is obtained honestly. That message is something that we have to work hard on as an industry," Forbes said.
The ruling Naga People's Front (NPF) today affirmed not to withdraw any candidate from the February 1 elections to Urban Local Bodies in the state in the face of the boycott call and warning of ex-communications to candidates by different tribal organisations in Nagaland.

Accepting the resolutions of respective tribal organisations, so far 53 candidates out of the 535 validly nominated candidates have withdrawn.

The boycott call and warning to candidates have been given against 33 per cent reservation for women in urban local body (ULB) elections.

NPF has filed nominations of 255 candidates for the 26 municipal and town council elections but 12 of them have already withdrawn in compliance with the tribal body resolutions. Extended nominations came to end on January 9 while the last date of withdrawal is January 17.

However, the NPF central officials today held a meeting in the residence of its President Shurhozelie Liezietsu and took stock of the situation arising out of the ensuing Municipal and Town Council election in the state.

The NPF officials resolved that the NPF would go ahead with the election process as per the schedule announced by the State Election Commission.

Since the tickets of the party were issued to the primary and active membership holders of the party after administering pledge, the NPF resolved that no ticket holder should withdraw from the fray.

"Stern disciplinary action shall be initiated against those candidates who withdraw their nomination papers," an NPF official said.

The NPF also expressed dismay over the use of force by some organisations in preventing some of the NPF ticket holders in filing their nomination papers.

Further, the NPF appealed to the Naga Hoho, Eastern Nagaland Public Organisation and the citizens of Nagaland to cooperate and support the government decision to conduct the election to the urban local bodies.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
More than 1,600 people died due to extreme conditions across the country last year, with severe heat wave claiming the largest chunk of the total deaths at 40 per cent, followed by flooding and lightning.

The IMD said 2016 was the warmest year ever recorded, globally as well as in India. Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded 51 degrees Celsius, highest ever recorded in the country.

January and February were the warmest winter months ever, according to IMD, which records patterns since 1901.

Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra topped the casualty list with the states contributing 35 per cent of the total. They together recorded 552 deaths due to extreme patterns.

According to a report by India Meteorological Department (IMD), 40 per cent of the total deaths were due to severe heat wave, which claimed more than 700 lives in the country, with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together recording the maximum deaths i.E more than 400.

Gujarat and Maharashtra registered 87 and 43 deaths due to heat waves respectively.

Cold wave claimed 53 lives in the country.

Lightning claimed more than 415 lives and the worst hit were the eastern states of Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Odisha alone recorded more than 132 deaths due to lightning while 43 deaths occurred in Maharashtra.

IMD last year started issuing summer and winter forecasts with heat wave and cold wave warnings.

After two consecutive droughts, India last year had a normal monsoon, but several parts of the country witnessed heavy to very heavy rainfall, causing flooding in many areas.

More than 475 lives were lost in floods and thunderstorms. Bihar alone saw nearly 146 deaths due to flooding between July 25 to September 3.

2016 saw four cyclonic storms in Bay of Bengal, the major being severe cyclonic storm Vardah, which killed 18 people in Tamil Nadu.

"We have tried to minimise the loss of lives, especially in large scale events like cyclones and heavy rains. For example, accurate predictions helped minimise loss of lives during Vardah and prediction of heavy rains. But when it comes to events like lightning, it becomes difficult as at several instances it takes places in villages and hamlets.

"In such a scenario, mobile companies can play a pro-active role in helping disseminate information in a particular district or hamlet by sending alerts," IMD Director General K J Ramesh said.
A ranching family in Oregon is applauding the arrest of the leader of a U.S. Forest Service crew that carried out a planned burn in a national forest that spread onto the familys property. The repercussions of the singular incident have reached all the way back to Washington, where Forest Service Chief Randy Moore denounced the sheriffs action. The incident has once again exposed tensions over land management in the West, where the federal government owns nearly half of all the land.
Online budget network of hotels OYO is planning to expand its footprints in South Asia and South East Asia, besides strengthening its service by introducing a concierge service called OYO Captains.

"Our focus is expanding in the domestic market as we still feel there is a huge opportunity here in the country. We are continuously trying to bring in new products and services to our customers for a better travel experience. However, we are also looking at increasing our footprint in a couple of overseas markets in South Asia and South East Asia," OYO Founder and CEO Ritesh Agarwal told PTI here.

However, he did not reveal destinations saying nothing has been finalised yet.

In India, he said, OYO is looking to strengthen its footprint in top leisure and pilgrimage destinations like Goa, the North-East (Shillong and Gangtok), Tirupati, Varanasi, Shirdi, Nasik, Jaipur, Vishakhapatnam and Mahabalipuram.

"For future growth, we continue to build on success in the top six travel markets - Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata and Ahmedabad," he added.

OYO currently operates over 70,000 rooms in 200 cities in India and Malaysia.

In India, OYO is present in 165 major business and travel destinations including Delhi, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Goa, Jaipur, Ahmedabad, Shirdi, Tirupati, Agra, Rishikesh, Bhopal, Haridwar, among others, and plans to launch many more.

After adding rooms and hotels to its platform, OYO is now looking to provide quality service like WiFi, AC, TV, spotless linen, hygienic washrooms and OYO Captains.

"OYO Captains will be like concierge service who will ensure smooth travelling experience and build personal relationship with customers," he added.

Each OYO Captain will be responsible for 30-40 properties in his locality constituting an average of 300-400 rooms, Agarwal said.

"We already have about 320 people to do quality audit and now they will be turned into OYO Captains with additional responsibility of smoothening consumer experience. We will basically be bringing these back-end people to the front now.

So now, we will only be hiring an additional 20-30 people as OYO Captains. Now, customers can directly reach out to OYO Captains for any complaints and guidance of the area," he said.
Pakistan army today called for better border control and intelligence sharing with Afghanistan to check movement of militants across the porous border and warned the neighbouring nation against indulging in the blame game.

It was conveyed by Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Qamar Javed Bajwa who made a telephone call to President Ashraf Ghani to condole the loss of life in recent terror attacks in Afghanistan.

"(The) COAS suggested a robust border management mechanism and intelligence cooperation to put a stop to and fro movement of terrorists across the border. He said that the elements inimical to peace in the region are strengthened by the blame game," according to a statement.

Bajwa also reiterated Pakistan's cooperation with Afghan government and people to eliminate the scourge of terrorism which is affecting peace and stability of the whole region.

He emphasised that Pakistan has come a long way in its fight against terrorism of all hue and colour and has eliminated all safe havens in the process.

President Ghani thanked General Qamar Javed Bajwa for his sentiments and reiterated that both nations must work together for peace and stability in the region, according to the statement.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Patna boat tragedy from the PM National Relief Fund.

Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

Last night, while condoling loss of lives, the PM has postponed his programme scheduled for today in Patna.

"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted last night.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.

At least 20 people, including some minors, drowned when a boat capsized on the Ganga in Patna, suspectedly because of overloading.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Vice President-elect Mike Pence Today said he was "deeply disappointed" by John Lewis' decision to skip Donald Trump's inauguration and expressed hope that the Congressman would "reconsiders" his decision.

Pence said those Democratic lawmakers planning to boycott the inauguration should review their decision.

"Donald Trump won this election fair and square, thirty of 50 states, more counties than any Republican since Ronald Reagan, and the American people know that," he said.

"While I have great respect for John Lewis, and for his contributions, particularly with the civil rights movement. I was deeply disappointed to see someone of his stature question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's election as president and say he's not attending the inauguration, and I hope he reconsiders both positions," Pence said.

"We'd even had recounts in this election where the numbers for the president-elect had actually gone up. There's no question about the legitimacy of this election, and for John Lewis to make those statements is deeply disappointing," he said.

"This is disappointing, too, because I truly do believe this is a time when the American people should be celebrating the peaceful transition of power. That's what this week is really all about, and to know that four living presidents will be on the stage acknowledging that peaceful transition of power, the world will be watching, will hear the first remarks that Donald will make as president of the United States in his inaugural address," Pence said.

"I I hope that John Lewis, and some others who have joined his plans to take a pass on the inauguration, will rethink that, will be with us and will celebrate this extraordinary moment in the life of our nation and the life of democracy," he said.

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Two plaques holding former prime ministers Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi responsible for the 1984 riots will be part of a memorial which has been constructed by the Delhi Sikh Gurudwara Management Committee here as a "reminder of injustice" towards the victims.

The metal plates, titled "Dastan-e-Indira Gandhi" and "Dastan-e-Rajiv Gandhi", were presented to the office bearers of the DSGMC by the 1984 Riot Victims Council.

They read: "Indira Gandhi, the then prime minister, in a self-styled dictatorial manner, ordered the Operation Blue Star thereby attacking Sri Harmandar Sahib, Sri Akal Takht Sahib, Sri Amritsar Sahib, where Sikh sangat had gathered to commemorate the martyrdom of Sri Guru Arjun Dev.

"In this so called military operation, thousands of innocent Sikhs were killed, sacrileges committed and Sri Akal Takht razed to the ground. Hundreds of Sikh military personnel, falsely implicated in sedition cases, were killed after dragging them out of their barracks (sic)."



The group said widows of riot victims will carry these plaques to the gurudwara.

"The plaques tell the truth. This is what had happened. This is what Indira and Rajiv did. We have received the plates. The committee members will now take a decision on where they will be installed.

"The only thing that we need to talk through is whether these two attackers merit a mention at a memorial in a gurudwara," General Secretary, Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee, Manjinder Singh Sirsa said.

The memorial, called "The Wall of Truth", has been built in an area of 2,500 sq m at a cost of Rs 2.25 crore at the Gurdwara Rakabganj Sahib Complex near Parliament.

It was today thrown open to the public.

The structure has names of thousands of Sikhs killed in the riots and people from other communities who laid down their lives trying to save them etched on its walls.

The 'Wall of Truth' had courted controversy in 2013 with the Congress-backed SAD (Delhi) opposing the choice of venue.

At the memorial, space has also been given to the observations of different panels which were set up by the government to probe the riots.

The decision to build it had come in 2013, close on the heels of acquittal of Congress leader Sajjan Kumar, who was facing allegations of perpetrating the riots, by a Karkardooma court in April that year.

The construction work had begun in November 2014.

"Congress was dead against the construction of the memorial. It even moved court against it. Also, the Sheila Dikshit government had in November 2012 scuttled our efforts to name a park in Punjabi Bagh to commemorate the killing of innocent Sikhs," Sirsa said.

He said the DSGMC chose the venue, just a stone's throw away from Parliament, "to remind the government of its failure to do justice to its people".

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight expressed sadness over the loss of lives in West Bengal stampede and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

"Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly," he added.

He approved ex-gratia from PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede.

The stampede occurred at 6 pm during Ganga Sagar festival at Kochuberia in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, resulting in the death of at least five people, including a woman.

District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman, in the hospital.

The stampede occured when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said.

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Police today claimed to have solved a dacoity case, wherein 40 kg gold ornaments of a private finance firm were looted on December 28, 2016, with the arrest of four members of an inter-state gang and a Mumbai-based jeweller.

The incident had taken place at the branch of the firm in Sangareddy district of Telangana.

"With these arrests we have also detected three other similar cases of dacoity in Telangana and at Kalaburgi city of neighbouring Karnataka," police said.

"Special police teams nabbed gang leader Lakshman Narayan Mudhang alias Bhayya, Ganesh Bhonsle alias Patil, Subhash Pandey and Vijay Kumar besides Kumar Pal Trilokchand Shah, a jeweller from Mumbai," Cyberabad Police Commissioner Sandeep Shandilya told reporters here.

The five accused were apprehended from different locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka in past few days, he said, adding, 3.5 kg gold was also recovered from their possession and efforts are on to nab the remaining accused.

On December 28, five men posing as CBI and police officials came in a black SUV and fled after looting 41.8 kg gold ornaments and Rs 91,000 cash from the branch of the finance firm under R C Puram police station area, the top cop said.

The accused told the staffers that they had caught a thief who claimed of having kept stolen gold with the branch and that they had information about "irregularities" in currency exchange in the wake of demonetisation, police said.

They got the strongroom keys from the staff, under the pretext of checking the records and collected the jewellery and before fleeing allegedly threatened the employees at gunpoint and locked them in a bathroom, the Commissioner said.

During investigations, police found that the SUV was using registration numbers of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Commissioner said, "Shah has been financing the accused for committing offences. He purchased the booty and offered 50 per cent of market value to them."



"The jeweller had also received stolen gold ornaments weighing about 17 kg after the dacoities at branches of the finance firm in Kalaburgi and R C Puram and had paid the accused over Rs 1.2 crore," the CP said.

Earlier, the gang was involved in dacoity at the mini branch of the finance firm at R C Puram branch on February 4, 2015 wherein 3.9 kg gold jewellery and cash of Rs 86,000 was looted besides dacoity attempt at branch under KPHB police station limits here on May 29, 2015.

Dacoity at Kalaburgi city in Karnataka took place on March 2, 2016 wherein 12 kg gold ornaments and Rs three lakh were looted.

According to police, Lakshman and others know each other



and are partners in various crimes for the past few years.

Lakshman used to identify the finance branch to be looted and conduct recce before committing the offence while Patil operates in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, police said explaining the role played by the arrested accused in the crime.

Subhash used to procure vehicles and mobilise associates. Vijay Kumar is the cousin of Lakshman who provided food, shelter and participated in the recce on his bike, police added.
Police today foiled attempts to conduct Jallikattu in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, detaining several people even as 'Mattu Pongal', third day of the harvest festivities, was celebrated with fervour in the state.

Amid protests against the ban on the bull-taming sport, police today warned of action against those violating the Supreme Court order on the sport, associated with Pongal festivities.

Madurai Superintendent of Police, Vijayendar S Bidari, denied reports that Jallikattu was conducted in the district.

"Around 2,000 police personnel are keeping a vigil across the district. We have taken steps to provide security in the area," he said.

Sufficient police force has been deployed in the district to prevent any untoward incidents, he said.

"Every one should follow the (SC) order. Everybody should be aware that we will take action as per the law. People should cooperate," he said when it was pointed out that the sport is usually held on 'Kanum Pongal', the fourth and final day of Pongal festivities, at Alanganallur.

Some locals claimed that at Singampunari in Sivaganga district hundreds of people gathered for "Manjuvirattu" (an event in which bulls are used) which, they said, was held for a brief period.

Police said they chased away a crowd which tried to organise Jallikattu at Alangudi in Pudukottai district, and also foiled a bid to conduct it at the Sri Thadikonda Swamy temple.

Meanwhile, people offered prayers to bulls and cows on the occasion of "Mattu Pongal", third day of Pongal festivities where people offer prayers to these and other farm animals.

Cows and bulls were washed by their owners. Some of them had their horns painted and decorated with shining caps besides coloured beads and tinkling bells while others had sheaves of corn and flower garlands tied around their necks.

In Madurai district's Palamedu village, a place famous for Jallikattu events, people performed special poojas to some temple bulls.

Jallikattu supporters were seen offering pongal (sweet rice made of jaggery with rice and milk, in a traditional mud pot) to the local deity before giving it to the bulls.

Local youths said 'symbolic' Jallikattu was held in some places but police denied it.

At Palamedu, people hoisted black flags for not allowing them to hold Jallikattu. Shops at several localities remained closed.

Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.

(REOPEN MDS6)



Meanwhile tension prevailed in Panangadi village in Sivaganga district as youths gathered near a farmhouse where MLA and actor Karunas was staying, along with their bulls, for holding Jallikattu today.

Police said Superintendent of Police Mangaleswaran and an Inspector persuaded the youths to disperse after a heated argument with them.

The actor also intervened and assured police that jallikattu would not be held violating the Supreme Court order.

Later, speaking to reporters, he urged the Centre to promulgate an ordinance and help people organise Jallikattu.
New York City police shot and killed a man who refused to drop a screwdriver he was using to threaten his mother in Queens, officials said.

The New York Police Department received a 911 call from a screaming woman early yesterday and two officers responded, said Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan.

The officers found a 28-year-old man holding his mother in a small stairwell and threatening her with a screwdriver. The frantic woman screamed: "He's going to kill me! He's going to kill me!" Monahan was quoted as saying by New York Post.

The officers ordered the man, identified by police sources as 28-year-old Jahlire Nicholson, to drop the screwdriver, but he refused.

The officers then tried to disarm Nicholson and during the scuffle, shot at him with a Taser, missed, but managed to free the woman, identified as Jarzette Jacobs, 55.

But Nicholson still would not heed commands to drop the screwdriver, and approached the officers with the tool in his hand, Monahan said.

"It's a dangerous weapon. A screwdriver you can be stabbed with, the same way you can be stabbed with a knife," the officer said.

With that in mind the officers each squeezed off one shot, hitting Nicholson in the shoulder and leg. He died of his injuries at a hospital, officials said.

The two officers, who were not immediately named, were treated for ringing in their ears, police said.

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Britain's Prince William is getting ready to quit his part-time job as an air ambulance rescue pilot to become a full-time royal.

The second-in-line to Britain's throne will leave his job with the East Anglian Air Ambulance this summer, according to The Sunday Times.

The 34-year-old Duke of Cambridge and wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will also make Kensington Palace in London their permanent base from later this year when their son Prince George starts school.

Their daughter, Princess Charlotte, is also expected to attend a London nursery.

The move follows months of discussion within the royal family, who are said to have been "very supportive" of William's decision.

A royal source told the newspaper there had been "no pressure from above" to increase William's workload but "he knew there would come a point where this would be his life for ever more. He has always been a lot less reluctant than people think to take on more work and this phase of his life."



William had recently rejected suggestions he was a reluctant Royal, insisting he took his responsibilities "very seriously".

He said: "If you're not careful, duty can weigh you down a awful lot at an early age.

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Rajeev Singh, Member (Finance) in Board, will take charge as interim CEO of the public broadcaster after S C Panda retires in February.

The previous CEO Jawhar Sircar had quit in October last year, a few months before his tenure was due to end, following which Panda, who is Member (Personnel), was made the acting CEO. However, Panda is also due to retire in February.

The issue of vacancies arising due to Panda's retirement was discussed in a meeting headed by chairman A Surya Prakash in Hyderabad yesterday, sources said.

"In a key decision, the public broadcaster decided that its Member Finance Rajeev Singh will take over as interim CEO, after the present incumbent S C Panda retires in February," a source told PTI.

The sources said that a need was felt for the expeditious appointment of the two top posts of the CEO and well as Member (Personnel).

It is learnt that the I&B ministry had issued an advertisement for the post of Member Personnel and received several names.

The process of finding a CEO for the board which oversees the country's public broadcasters All India Radio and Doordarshan is also underway, it is learnt.

The sources also said that the Board meeting being held in Hyderabad was also unique as these meetings are generally held in Delhi itself.

"There have been no instances, at least in the recent past, of a Prasar Bharati meetings being held away from Delhi. However since the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Dance Festival, which is a mega event, is being held in Hyderabad, the city was chosen for the meeting of the board," a source said.
In a first of it's kind initiative, the Gujarat Government organised a special kite festival today at Rajkot where more than 4000 divyangs (differently abled) citizens from 11 districts of Saurashtra region enjoyed flying kites.

Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani too was present during the 'Divyang Patang Mahotsav', held at Race Course ground, to encourage differently abled citizens, said an official release here.

Speaking at the function, Rupani said the unique event, which saw participation of more than 4000 divyangs, has found it's place in the Limca Book of Records.

Rupani asserted that his government is committed to the welfare of divyangs, for which, many schemes have been floated, including issuance of life-time pass for them to travel anywhere in Gujarat through state transport buses, said the release.

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Regime bombardment of a flashpoint region near Syria's capital today killed seven civilians, a monitor said, in the deadliest attack there since a nationwide truce came into force.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces shelled Deir Qanun, a village in the Wadi Barada region, which is the main source of water for Damascus.

"This is the highest toll there since the beginning of the truce" on December 30, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

At least 20 other people were wounded in the attack, some critically.

Activists from the Wadi Barada Media Committee said on Twitter that the shells struck a temporary shelter where displaced women and children had been seeking refuge.

Heavy clashes between regime and rebel forces have rocked Wadi Barada since overnight Saturday, after the official who negotiated a deal to restore water to Damascus was killed.

Ahmed al-Ghadban had been on his way to the main Ain al-Fijeh spring with government maintenance teams when he was killed.

Opposition fighters and government officials accused each other of killing the retired army officer, who had only assumed his duties yesterday.

Under the agreement, Ghadban was to oversee teams working to repair the infrastructure that supplies the capital with water in exchange for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of rebel fighters willing to do so.

Some 5.5 million in Damascus and its suburbs have been without water since December 22.

Fighting has persisted in Wadi Barada since the entry into force on December 30 of the ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

The ceasefire and planned talks are the latest effort to negotiate an end to a conflict that has killed more than 310,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.

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Donald Trump has been crowing as companies including Ford renounce plans to move factories to Mexico. But the main beneficiaries of this shift back to the US aren't saying much by way of celebration -- industrial robots don't tend to speak.

While globalisation's detractors blame countries such as China and Mexico for stealing the factory jobs of the West, experts point to less obvious culprits which are harder to scapegoat and to overcome in an interconnected economy with complex supply chains.

Since US manufacturing employment peaked in the late 1970s, according to Michael Hicks of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana, "95 percent of job losses were due to productivity improvements including automation and computer technology, rather than trade".

Indiana is one of the rust-belt states where Trump triumphed in November, and the president-elect has promised a punitive border tax against outsourcing companies as he bids to become "the greatest jobs producer that God ever created".

But while the US economy is pumping out manufactured goods in record volumes, it is achieving that feat with 7.3 million fewer factory hands than in 1979, government figures show.

Automation has transformed the productivity of manufacturing since industrial robots first started painting, cutting, welding and assembling in the 1960s.

And experts point to more recent innovations such as artificial intelligence, management apps and 3D printing as new threats to shop-floor workers as well as to white-collar staff.

Hicks -- who has known former Indiana governor Mike Pence, Trump's incoming vice president, for years -- dismissed recent announcements by Ford, Indiana air-conditioning brand Carrier and others as "political theatre".

"The apparent change of heart of these American companies is due to the hard math of expected tax cuts and regulatory changes (under the Trump administration)," he told AFP in a phone interview, noting that under company projections, robots rather than wages will account for the bulk of planned investment that is being redirected from Mexico to the US.

Vows to renegotiate trade pacts, or declare China a currency cheat, played well for Trump on the campaign trail but trends such as automation have already rendered much low-skilled US labour obsolete.

The total output of US manufacturing rose more than 250 per cent from 1980 to 2015, but its workforce slumped by roughly 40 per cent in that time, according to analysis by the Brookings Institution in Washington.

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Ruling ally Republican Party of India (A) wants to contest on 29 seats in the upcoming BMC polls and has also sought deputy mayor's post, if BJP and Shiv Sena seal an alliance and come to power in the civic body.

"If BJP and Shiv Sena are forming an alliance for BMC elections, then my party would like to have a share of 29 seats. We can easily win these seats and share power. We will also like to have post of deputy mayor as well as chairman of standing committee for atleast one year," RPI(A) leader and Union Minister of State for Social Justice and Empowerment Ramdas Athawale said today.

There is uncertainty over whether BJP and Shiv Sena will contest together the polls to the cash-rich BMC.

"If Shiv Sena and BJP contest elections separately, it will be division of votes. If both the parties contest election jointly and RPI(A) supporting them; then our alliance can win some BMC seats, which were traditionally won by the opponents. Hence, there should be a practical approach before breaking the alliance," Athawale said.

He also said that if the alliance does not take place, then his party will support BJP.

"If the alliance did not work out, then RPI(A) would like to have at least 50 seats, so that RPI(A) and BJP can jointly win more seats," the Rajya Sabha member said.

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In a quick U-turn, former Punjab minister Satpal Gosain, who had quit BJP along with his grandson Amit Gosain two days ago, today rejoined the party in the presence of Union Minister Vijay Sampla here.

Gosain, who came to BJP office in the car of Sampla, the Punjab unit chief of the party, later told media that he "had never left his mother party".

"BJP is in my blood, how can I leave the party," he said, adding he had gone to Chandigarh to only see Congress leader Amarinder Singh in personal capacity.

Gosain, a former Punjab Health minister and three-time MLA from Ludhiana, had joined the Congress on Friday.

All 117 assembly constituencies in Punjab would go to polls on February 4, results of which would be out on March 11.

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A Scottish cathedral has been criticised for allowing the reading of a passage from the 'Quran' which was aimed at promoting understanding between the two faiths.

St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow during a Eucharist service last week marked the feast of the Epiphany by including a guest reader who read from 'Surah 19' in the 'Quran'.

"The decisions which have led to the situation in St Mary's Cathedral are a matter for the provost and the cathedral community but the Scottish Episcopal Church is deeply distressed at the widespread offence which has been caused," said Church Primus, the Most Rev David Chillingworth, in an online post today.

"We also deeply regret the widespread abuse which has been received by the cathedral community. In response to what has happened at the cathedral, the Scottish Episcopal Church will bring together all those who are involved in the development of interfaith relations," he said.

Members of the Glasgow's Muslim community had been invited to join Epiphany celebrations at the church last week.

It provoked criticism because Muslims revere Jesus as a prophet, but not the son of God.

The cathedral's provost, the Very Rev Kelvin Holdsworth, said the reading was aimed at promoting understanding between the two faiths.

Some church leaders, including the Right Rev Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, feel the reading in a church setting as "ill-advised".

"Christians should know what their fellow citizens believe and this can include reading the Quran for themselves, whether in the original or in translation. This is not, however, the same thing as having it read in Church in the context of public worship," he said.

Police are reportedly also investigating instances of online abuse related to the issue.

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The South Delhi Municipal Corporation (SDMC) has decided to set up a bio gas plant in Najafgarh area with capacity for management of 150 metric tonne dung and kitchen waste refuse per day.

The bio gas plant is to be set up over a two acre land near Goyala Dairy Road in Nazafgarh zone of South Delhi Municipal Corporation(SDMC) said a senior municipal corporation officer.

The project will be executed on build, operate and transfer(BOT) basis for 10 years and will be further extendable up to five years with consent of both the parties, the officer said.

The project will be implemented under the supervision of the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy.

In SDMC, cattle waste is generated daily from three dairy colonies- Nangli Dairy, Goyala Dairy and Kakrola Dairy- having more than 2800 dairy plots out of which 1380 dairies are run.

There are more than 18300 cattle in the dairies which generate 368 MT cattle dung.

The SDMC commissioner PK Goel said that the bio-gas plant will also manage kitchen waste being generated in and around these dairies.

He termed the project as a major initiative under Swachh Bharat Mission and added that it will go a long way in overcoming the state of insanitation in the municipal areas.

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Shiv Sena is "likely" to go it alone in the upcoming city civic body polls, party sources said today, even as it formally begins talks on alliance with BJP tomorrow.

Leaders in both Sena and BJP feel that the parties will fare better if they contest on their own, and, if needed, they could go for a post-poll tie-up for the Asia's biggest civic body -- the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Sources in BJP also said that their party should be ready to go alone instead of yielding to the demands of Sena, which shares power with it at the Centre and in Maharashtra though the ties have been frosty since the 2014 Assembly polls.

The polls to 10 municipal corporations, including the cash-rich Mumbai civic body, will be held on February 21.

"An internal survey by our party shows that we will win around 85-90 seats in case we were to contest allying with the BJP. But that number will shoot up to 110-115 seats if we go solo. In such a scenario, it would not be advisable for us to take the BJP onboard for the polls," a source close to Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray said.

The survey also revealed that BJP will win around 35-40 seats if it contests in alliance with Sena but the number will go up to 60-65, if it goes solo, he said.

"It is in our best of interest to contest the polls separately. Thus, it is most likely that we will both contest as separate entities. Yet, BJP remains a natural ally of Sena. Even if we contest separately, we can always engage in a post-poll alliance," the source said.

He said Sena and BJP will formally begin seat-sharing talks from tomorrow and three leaders from each party have been entrusted the task of carrying out the negotiations.

"Sena leaders Anil Desai, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai will carry out the talks with BJP leaders Ashish Shelar, Vinod Tawde and Prakash Mehta," he said.

"At the outset, the BJP has demanded 115 seats, while Sena is not ready to give it more than 75 seats. The alliance is impossible if BJP remains adamant on its demand," he said.

Another source in the Sena said the party chief, in a recent meeting with Sena ministers, has given them full autonomy to suggest names of probable candidates.

"However, there is a caveat here. Uddhavji has even said that if the candidate fails to win the seat suggested by the minister, he would have to resign from the government. This has become a do or die battle for us," he said.

The election is crucial for Sena as BMC has remained its stronghold even when the Congress-NCP ruled the state for 15 years and could help the party redeem its position after it slipped to the status of a junior partner of BJP following the Assembly polls.

Meanwhile, a source in the BJP claimed their internal survey has predicted that the party would get anywhere between 90 to 103 seats if it contests on its own.

"The diatribe launched by Sena against BJP and its leadership in 'Saamana' (Sena's mouthpiece) is an indication that they are apprehensive about the BMC slipping from its political grip," he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had argued in favour of a pre-poll alliance with the Sena, and had said that if there will a tie-up, it would based on transparent administration in the BMC.

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French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said today that if US President-elect Donald Trump moves the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem it would have "extremely serious consequences".

Speaking as 70 countries gather in Paris to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Ayrault told French TV he believed Trump would find it "impossible" to fulfil the pledge he made during his campaign to transfer the embassy.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," Ayrault said.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas warned yesterday that peace could be dealt a mortal blow if Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel, moves the embassy to Jerusalem.

Doing so would reverse decades of US policy that has until now maintained that the final status of Jerusalem - whose eastern and largely Arab side has been occupied by Israel since 1967 - should be determined in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The Paris meeting is mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as US president.

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Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who survived miraculously for six days under a huge ice-and-snow debris after an avalanche hit his post before losing life to multiple organ failure, was today awarded the Sena Medal here.

The doughty soldier's wife Mahadevi Ashok Bilebal received the medal from Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat at Army Day parade here.

A resident of village Betadur in Dharwad district of Karnataka, the Madras regiment soldier was pulled out alive from under 30 ft of ice-and-snow debris where he lay buried for six days on the unforgiving Siachen glacier.

Dubbed as the 'miracle man', the soldier had managed to stay alive for six days in minus 45 degrees Celsius temperature, buried under ice and snow after an avalanche struck his post on February 3.

10 Army personnel, including Koppad, were were buried alive on February 3 in an avalanche in Siachen, the world's highest battlefield. In a miraculous turn of events, Koppad was found alive buried under snow in critical condition after six days of rescue efforts.

The Lance Naik was flown to Delhi's Army Referral and Research Hospital for treatment where he died on February 11 due to multiple organ failure, after waging a grim battle for life for nine days.

Among others, his death was deeply condoled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while the whole nation paid glowing tributes to the 33-year-old soldier.

He had served for 10 years in difficult and challenging areas out of his 13 years of service.

He had also served in the north-east in 2010-2012 where he participated in operations against NDFB and ULFA.

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Terming former BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu a "traitor", Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged that he has betrayed his "mother party", the BJP, which brought him into the politics.

She was addressing an election rally in favour of her brother and Revenue minister Bikram Singh Majtiha in Matewal which falls in Majitha constituency.

Harsimrat alleged that Sidhu has betrayed his mother party, BJP, and the people of Punjab.

Taking a dig at Sidhu, she said that his pratice to laugh in the comedy show on the small screen has also helped him to make his own mockery.

Claiming that it was the BJP which brought him in the politics and made him MP four times, she alleged that Sidhu "stabbed" the party on its back and "cheated" with the people of Punjab by not serving them despite being the MP.

Slamming the former MP, she said that he initially bargained with the AAP but could not get any space there as his aspirations were too high. But he succeeded in striking a deal with the Congress for his "vested interests" and not to serve the people of Punjab.

She said that there was no danger to Akali Dal from Sidhu with his joining the Congress party since Sidhu has always remained an "aimless" politician.

Claiming that PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh was afraid to take on General J J Singh from Patiala assembly constituency, she stated that this is the reason why Amarinder was talking about contesting from Lambi constituency.

Meanwhile, Sidhu's wife Navjot Kaur attacked the SAD



alleging misrule by the Badal leadership.

"They have destroyed the state with the kind of hooliganism they have done in Punjab in the last ten years. This land will never forget this.

"Instead of standing by this party, people should support the party which has brought in a new thinking to save the state," Kaur said.

She added that Sidhu will contest from Amritsar (East) seat and will also address 70 rallies.
BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha today expressed grief over the boat tragedy in river Ganga last evening in which 24 people lost their lives.

Sinha, in whose Patna Sahib Parliamentary constituency the mishap occurred, said he has asked the state government to thoroughly probe the "mismanagement" and fix responsibilities in the matter.

"I condole the death of the victims of the boat tragedy in the Ganges on an auspicious occasion like Makar Sankranti," Sinha told PTI.

The victims, including some minors, drowned when their boat capsized near NIT ghat last evening, suspectedly because of overloading. Around 40 people were said to be on board the country boat when it capsized.

Speaking over phone from Pune, Sinha said, "I was happy after receiving an award yesterday, but after hearing about the boat tragedy I felt very sad."



"In this hour of grief I am with the families of the deceased," he added.

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At least six pilgrims died while returning from Ganga Sagar fair here on Sunday, which the officials initially said was a but the state government later claimed it was not.

District officials initially said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman in the hospital.

The occurred at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said, adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

A search has been launched by naval divers to find out anybody who might have fallen into Buriganga river during the stampede, the officials said.

Later however, Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira told PTI that six elderly women died after falling ill during a rush to board a vessel at a jetty in South 24 Parganas district while returning from the Ganga Sagar fair.

The incident occurred when there was a mad rush of pilgrims to board vessels at jetty number 5 to reach Kolkata, he said.

A few people fell unconscious while several took ill during the incident, he said, adding they were taken to a nearby temporary healthcare centre where six people, all elderly women, died.

"These women were very old. Most of them were above 75 years of age and were very weak. They died natural death. Doctors said that they died of heart attack," Pakhira said.

"The rush was because there would be no vessel for about eight hours due to low tide," he said.

State ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Arup Biswas also denied that it was a .

After the initial reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had even tweeted: "Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased."



The PMO also tweeted: "PM approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs. 50,000 for those injured in the stampede in WB."



South 24 Parganas' District Magistrate PB Salim said the state government would provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.

He also denied that any stampede had taken place in Kachuberia as reported earlier.

A total 16 lakh pilgrims took the holy dip in two days on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Ganga Sagar.

Salim said there were eight deaths at Ganga Sagar mela last year mainly because of cold weather condition which rose to nine this year - from January 12 till today.
South Sudan's government is claiming that the UN Security Council mandate to send a new contingent of 4,000 peacekeepers to boost the existing force has expired.

Minister of Information Michael Makuei told the Associated Press that December 15 was the expiration date for the deployment of peacekeepers to bolster the existing 12,000 UN troops in South Sudan. He said a new resolution is needed for the additional troops.

The UN mission in South Sudan responded in a statement saying that its mandate to increase the protection force had been extended by the Security Council until December 2017.

The UN Security Council decided in August to send additional peacekeepers after clashes killed hundreds in South Sudan's capital Juba. South Sudan initially objected to the force and has delayed its deployment.

In October, UN peacekeeping chief Herve Ladsous told members of the Security Council behind closed doors that it appeared South Sudan's intent was to "delay the deployment and reduce the political impact of the" regional protection force as much as possible, while stringing along negotiations to "avoid triggering punitive measures", according to a copy of his statement obtained by AP.

South Sudan's civil war began in December 2013 and has killed tens of thousands of people.

Makuei also announced today that President Salva Kiir created four new states in South Sudan bringing the total number to 32.

"It is the will of the people," Makuei said of the move. Kiir had already increased South Sudan's states from 10 to 28 in December 2015, a move that was criticised by opposition forces who claimed that the new states were a form of political gerrymandering.

A UN panel of experts said in November that the creation of so many new states "has served to heighten ethnic tensions, shift political loyalties and increase competition for power and resources in a deteriorating economy".

The UN says South Sudan is experiencing ethnic cleansing and is at risk of genocide.

"The proliferation of states actually increases central power," said Alan Boswell, a researcher on South Sudan based in Nairobi. "Kiir can offer new states in complex political negotiations with local communities to lure or divide them.

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Keeping their fingers crossed over EC's decision on 'cycle' symbol, leaders of rival Samajwadi Party camps today discussed various options and possibilities even as ticket seekers thronged residences of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.

The EC, which reserved its order on the dispute over 'cycle' symbol, has kept both sides guessing with leaders of warring camps exploring various scenarios as little time is left for the process of filing nominations to start for the first phase of the staggered polls in Uttar Pradesh.

The state will have a seven-phase polling beginning February 11 and filing of nomination papers starts as early as Tuesday.

While Mulayam and Akhilesh stayed put in their separate residences here, a large number of ticket seekers accompanied by their supporters, gathered outside their bungalows in the VVIP security zone which has seen high voltage political drama ever since the family feud broke out in the Yadav clan six months back, splitting the ruling party ahead of the crucial elections.

"Akhileshji is our face and we will seek a vote on it. The new symbol, if given by EC, however, be a challenge but we are prepared for all situations. We are relying on the work done by the CM in past five years and people will support us," a highly confident SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan, considered close to Akhilesh, told PTI.

Interestingly, the Mulayam camp, which too has declared its candidates, are confident of retaining the symbol and waiting for the EC decision before deciding its next step.

"Confusion still persists in both the SP camps as a number of candidates declared by both factions are common. We will work on it and decide our strategy once EC's decision is out," a senior SP leader said.

Shivpal Yadav, who returned to Lucknow after presenting his side before the EC in Delhi, when asked at the airport said, "I hope EC will decide in favour of 'netaji' (Mulayam Singh Yadav). The situation will be clear very soon."



SP state president Naresh Uttam, appointed by Akhilesh replacing his warring uncle Shivpal, has said, "The entire party is behind our national president Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected unanimously...We are confident of retaining the 'cycle' symbol."



Uttam, who paid a courtesy visit to Mulayam yesterday on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, has said, "Father and son are very much together. We will fight under Akhilesh and 'netaji' (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will guide us. He is not only a father but also our leader.

Uttam's remark came against the backdrop of Mulayam



surprisingly softening his stand towards his son, saying Akhilesh will be the next Chief Minister, though his statement failed to iron out the differences between the father-son duo on contentious issues like party president's post which Akhilesh does not want to give up.

Unfazed by ongoing power tussle in the ruling party, Akhilesh is busy finetuning the poll strategy with his close aides.

Party insiders said he was preparing a new list of candidates, dropping tainted nominees and giving ticket to deserving ones.

Taking full control of the ruling party after being crowned as its head at a disputed national convention here on January 1, Akhilesh has been going whole hog consolidating his grip over the organisation.

He has already made new appointments of district chiefs who were dumped by Shivpal and also released list of candidates for the Legislative Council polls in his capacity as the SP chief.

Meanwhile, all eyes were on the EC, which has told both the sides that a judgement will be delivered at the earliest.

Citing precedents, Election Symbol Order of 1968 and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, including Section 29A, the Akhilesh camp argued that since the numbers are stacked in favour of the CM, the symbol should go to him.

But the Mulayam camp said since there is no vertical split in the party such as SP (Mulayam) and SP (Akhilesh), the Commission lacks jurisdiction to allocate symbol to one of the groups.

The Mulayam camp also argued that since no resolution was passed at the convention called by Akhilesh loyalist Ramgopal Yadav on January 1 removing Mulayam as the party president and that the party is one, para 15 of the The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 does not apply on the case.

But, the claim was countered by the Akhilesh camp which said in one of the letters addressed to the Commission, Mulayam loyalist Amar Singh has used the term 'splinter group' and that both sides are before the Commission staking claim over symbol which indicates a 'dispute'.

The EC may come out with an interim order if it is unable to decide on the case before January 17 as the process of filing nominations for the first phase of UP polls will begin that day.
Spain's King Felipe VI met today with Saudi King Salman, official media said, during a visit coinciding with talks to sell Spanish warships.

Felipe, 48, was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by Salman, 81, who decorated him with the cordon of King Abdul Aziz, the highest Saudi honour for a foreigner, the Saudi Press Agency said.

Later they discussed relations between the two friendly nations and how to further develop them "in various fields", it said.

They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East.

Felipe arrived late yesterday in Riyadh for a three-day stay.

The Spanish foreign ministry said its minister Alfonso Dastis, and Public Works Minister Inigo de la Serna, would accompany Felipe during the visit.

Spanish media have linked this trip to a much anticipated deal to sell Avante 2200 corvettes for an estimated two billion euros (USD 2.1 billion).

"We can only confirm that negotiations are very advanced to build five warships which would be sold to the Saudi navy," a spokesman for state-owned Spanish ship builder Navantia told AFP.

Spain is the seventh largest arms exporter in the world, and Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of military gear.

This year's Saudi budget allocates 191 billion riyals (USD 51 billion) for military spending including equipment and weaponry, down from 205 billion riyals spent in 2016.

A separate budget allocation of 97 billion riyals is to pay for new naval bases for the Border Guards, and other security projects.

Rights groups have said any Spanish sale of warships to Saudi Arabia would be illegal under international law.

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Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said state governments should not take any steps which demoralise the nationalistic forces and encourages people who work against the national interest.

"As far as BJP is concerned our stand is always clear that any work or decision should not be made which encourages anti-national forces and the nationalists get demoralised," Singh told reporters.

The Union Minister of State for PMO was replying to a question on the decision of the Jammu and Kashmir government to provide compensation to the family members of those killed or injured during last year's unrest in the Valley.

Singh said the state government should work on 'Raj Dharma', without caring for any religion or region.

"I feel that without caring about religion or region the government must concentrate on Raj Dharma which says that the country is more important. Any decision that encourages the anti-national forces should not be taken," Singh said.

Speaking in the state Assembly on January 9, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti had said, "They are our own children and we have to ensure their rehabilitation. We have kept an amount of Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia as compensation for the next of kin in case of deaths."



"In any such extreme case, the government is committed to provide jobs to the next of kin to these families and the children who have lost their eyesight. Our government is ready to provide jobs to their family members," she said, adding that thosehaving permanent disability will get Rs 75,000.

On the contentious issue of the settlement of immigrants from Bangladesh and Myanmar in Jammu, the Union Minister said people who raise objection to the grant of state subject to West Pakistan refugees must make their stand clear on the issue.

"I feel that the government has taken cognisance and will take measures as it is important in a state where the issue of state subject is shown so much concern. The West Pakistan refugees are not given state subject then how can one tolerate that people from other countries settle here," Singh said.

"The people who make tall claims on the issue of state subjects should clear their stand (on the settlement of immigrants in Jammu)," he said.

On the implementation of GST in Jammu and Kashmir, Singh said the Union Finance Minister has been holding talks with finance ministers of all states and reservations, if any, are being addressed.

"For the implementation of GST, meetings are being held by Finance Minister Arun Jaitley with state finance ministers and clarification is being made on differences, if any," Singh said.

He said as far as GST is concerned, it is going to benefit the states.

"To attract investment it is necessary to create incentives. If disincentives are created then new investments will not come but those which have set up businesses here will find another alternative," he said.

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While hailing the positive side of demonetisation, RSS-affiliated trade union, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has asked the Centre to take note of its immediate adverse side effects and turn it into an opportunity to help labour and less privileged segments.

During its 137th national executive committee meeting held in Pune recently, the BMS also cautioned the government against pressurising the people to go for digitisation.

"We take serious note of the immediate adverse side effects like defects in implementation, cash shortage, slowdown in market, job losses, retrenchments, migrant labourers returning to their home towns.

"MSMEs, manufacturing and construction sectors are facing setbacks and these may have immediate impact on the overall economic situation, which needs to be realistically assessed," the resolution adopted by BMS said.

It said that as a result of the note ban, the government has earned huge revenue, which may lead to surplus revenue situation.

"This gives a great and rare opportunity for the government to radically contribute to the labour and other groups in social sector that need developmental priorities.

"Social sector includes labour, below poverty line (BPL) people, socially and economically backward people, villagers, tribals, lower middle class, agriculture sector, micro and small industries etc. They are immediately adversely affected by the so called demonetisation drive," stated the resolution.

It said the Centre has a "moral duty" to provide "colossal funds" for the development of labour and other social groups by planning "meticulously" and considering their total job security, wage levels and welfare.

"Thrust has to be given to provide minimum wages, social security, employment, health and education, especially in the rural parts of India. India needs smart villages more than smart cities.

"The so-called demonetisation is only one of the series of measures required for the complete change in the developmental economics. The government should persuade the people and not pressurise them to go for digitalisation," reads the resolution.

BMS, which has already welcomed the demonetisation move in its demands, asked the government to give sufficient budgetary assistance to labour and other social sector groups on a priority basis.

The BMS has also asked the government to take urgent



steps against job losses, retrenchments, manufacturing slow down, market slow down, etc, "which is a result of the demonetisation drive".

"Centre should continue to take steps other than demonetisation to radically improve the pathetic situation of our rural and informal economy and push aggressively MGNREGA and various social security and poverty alleviation schemes to mitigate the ill effects of demonetisation," the resolution said.

It also demanded to raise the income tax exemption limit to Rs 5 lakh and said income tax system should be abolished in the near future.

BMS also congratulated the bank employees in the country for working overtime and lauded the efforts taken by the employees involved in printing and transporting the currency notes.
Sukinda Chromite Mine (SCM) of Tata Steel located in Odisha's Jajpur district has bagged 5 awards including Par Excellence award as the best mine amongst participants of the state from Indian Bureau of Mines (IBM).

SCM was adjudged first in overall performance and systematic and scientific development of mine, second in Dump management and third position in afforestation, a Tata Steel release said today.

The awards were presented on the concluding day of 19th Annual Mines Environment and Mineral Conservation (MEMC) week 2016-17 celebration on Friday here.

A total 79 operating mines of Odisha including iron, manganese, limestone, granite, chromite had participated in it. The prizes were given on the merit of environmental protection measures, soil conservation in the lease hold area, stakeholders management, sustainability measures taken in the mines. A panel of judges selected by IBM nominated the mine after rigorous assessment.

Being the first mine in the country to roll out sustainable development framework in January 2016, a concept proposed and promoted by Union Ministry of Mines for the development of culture of sustainable mining in the country, SCM had set the standards for best practices.

It was also honoured with the prestigious Bala Gulshan Tandon Excellence Award for overall performance for 2015-16 given by Federation of Indian Mineral Industries (FIMI) in October 2016, the premier mining body of the country and CII ITC Sustainability Award 2015 for Excellence in Corporate Social Responsibility, it added.

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Chief Minister V Narayanasamy today paid floral tributes at the statue of saint Thiruvalluvar on the Tamil poet's birth anniversary.

Ministers, legislators and delegates of various outfits also garlanded the statue and recalled the immortal contributions of the poet.

The day was celebrated as Tiruvalluvar day here as part of the celebrations of the Pongal harvest festival.

Speaking on the occassion, Narayanasamy said that Tirukural, the magnum opus of Thiruvalluvar, is an eternally relevant literary creation of the saint



A team of volunteers of the Puducherry State unit of Bharatiya Janata party led by its president V Saminathan garlanded the statue here.

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Thousands of protesters took to the streets of Bilbao in northern Spain, calling for amnesty for prisoners of the ETA Basque separatist group.

Protesters in the Basque country, who hold this demonstration every January, held up placards of a finger pointing to the sky as they denounced the prison conditions endured by Basque separatists.

Almost all members of ETA, a group that gave up armed resistence to Spain in 2011, have been jailed but the movement has refused to disband.

They have been calling for an amnesty for their incarcerated members so they can be reunited with their families.

Basque newspaper Gara estimated the number of people in the Bilbao streets on a rainy day as 78,000, while police declined to give a crowd estimate.

An association defending the rights of ETA prisoners released a statement blasting "those who keep in prison prisoners who have long served their sentences imposed by the courts".

It also demanded that the prisoners be transferred to jails closer to their families.

The collective of Basque political prisoners (EPPK) recently gave up its demand for universal amnesty but has asked for negotiations over suspending sentences on a case by case basis.

According to prisoners' families association Etxerat, in August 2016, some 279 ETA members were incarcerated in Spain with another 79 in France.

ETA has been blamed for the deaths of 829 people in bombings in Spain since its creation in 1959.

It wants to create an independent homeland from the Basque regions in northern Spain and southwest France.

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Sri Lanka's main Tamil party TNA will not be a part of the ongoing constitution-making process and will quit if the government abandons the idea of finding a political solution to the Tamil issue and more devolution is not considered, a senior party leader has said.

"We have a mandate from the people for a federal constitution with the merger of North and East to resolve the National question. Discussions are underway with the government on how best to come to an agreement. We cannot accept the 13th Amendment as a comprehensive power sharing mechanism," said senior Tamil National Alliance (TNA) member Dharmalingam Siddharthan.

"If the Government abandoned the idea of finding a solution for the National question, we won't be part of the Constitution making process and we would be compelled to leave it," Siddharthan was quoted as saying by the Sunday Times.

The report said the TNA had been pressing for a power sharingarrangements in the new constitution. It wants a system in a merged north and east provinces based on a federal structure.

However, the south-based Sinhala majority parties are averse to even discussing a federal solution to the Tamil minority issue.

President Maithripala Sirisena addressing a political gathering in the southern district of Galle yesterday ruled out a federal solution.

Referring to what he termed "misinformation" carried out in the media by political opponents, Sirisena said "my government will never agree to grant federalism in this country".

Six sub-committees which sought public opinion on different areas of the proposed constitution have reported their findings to the main steering committee.

Parliament is to be reconvened as a constitutional assembly to discuss the proposals.

The meeting which should have happened last week did not take place due to a reported disagreement between the two main partners in the ruling coalition, President Sirisena's Freedom Party and the premier Ranil Wickremesinghe's United National Party.

Sirisena's SLFP is of the view that the existing 1978 constitution could be amended without going for changes which require a national referendum.

The new Constitution will replace the current executive president headed constitution adopted in 1978.

The government expects the new Constitution to address the demand of Tamil minorities for political recognition.

With the defeat of the Tamil Tigers in 2009 the Tamil groups have opted for maximum devolution as opposed to LTTE's goal of a separate Tamil homeland.

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France warned of "serious consequences" today if Donald Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital as representatives from 70 countries met in Paris to try to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians are attending the conference, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed as "futile".

France called the gathering to reaffirm global support for a two-state solution to the seven-decade-old conflict, seen as increasingly reclusive.

The Palestinians have warned that Trump's campaign pledge to move the US embassy to the contested city of Jerusalem could torpedo their chances of obtaining an independent state.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned such a move would have "extremely serious consequences" and predicted the incoming US leader would find it impossible to implement.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," he told France 3 TV.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

The status of the city is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

President Francois Hollande told the gathering that the prospect of two independent states coexisting side-by-side was "not the dream of yesterday's system".

"It remains the goal of the entire international community for the future," Hollande said.

Netanyahu, who insists only direct talks with the Palestinians can bring peace, has dismissed the Paris meeting as "a last gasp of the past".

Today, he called it a "futile" exercise aimed at "imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs".

Both Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas have been invited to meet with Hollande to discuss the conclusions of the Paris talks.

Abbas is expected to travel to Paris in the coming weeks but Netanyahu has rejected the offer, French diplomats said.

The conference is mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as US president.

Trump has said "there's nobody more pro-Israeli than I am" and his choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a hardliner who says he looks forward to working from "Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem".

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Two persons apparently suffocated to death in their rented accommodation from smoke from a brazier in Jai Jawan Colony here, police said.

Pawan Yadav (22) and Dilip Chaudhary (20), hailing from Bihar, were found dead in their room today. It seems they died of suffocation from smoke from the wooden brazier they had lit last night, they said.

The victims worked as domestic helps in nearby localities, police said, adding an empty liquor bottle was found in the room.

The bodies have been sent to the Jaipuria Hospital mortuary. The cause of death will be ascertained after police receive the postmortem report, SHO at Bajaj Nagar police station Manoj Kumar Gupta told PTI.

A case has been registered under Section 174 of IPC and the matter is being probed, he said.

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Left parties today announced its list of candidates for 105 Assembly seats in Uttar Pradesh.

Six left parties, including the CPI and the CPI(M) have already decided to contest 140 of 403 seats in the assembly elections together and in today's list, a maximum of 58 candidates have been fielded by CPI and 18 by CPM, a party release issued here said.

CPI-ML has put up candidates on 17 , All India Forward Bloc on 7 and SUCI(C) on 5 seats, the release said, adding the names of 35 remaining candidates will be announced soon.

As per the release, six communist parties have formed an alliance against all the communist and capitalist forces to contest the assembly polls in the state.

It added that the anti people policies of the BJP government at the centre had an adverse impact on the people in Uttar Pradesh.

The result of these policies is note ban which has troubled the common man and benefited the corporates.

Criticising the state government, the release said that the policies adopted have affected farmers, labourers and the poor.

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Minister of State for External Affairs V K Singh has visited Bahrain and held talks with senior ministers on issues related to labour.

"Following up on labour issues in the Gulf. MoS @Gen_VKSingh visits Manama, holds talks with Ministers of Labour & Interior of Bahrain," External Affairs Ministry Spokesperson Viaks Swarup tweeted.

There are nearly five million expatriate Indians in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries: Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

A majority work as blue collar workers, and there are frequent labour-related issues.

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Leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly Vijender Gupta has written to the Union Urban Development Ministry seeking to authorise Delhi Development Authority (DDA) to implement Land Pooling Policy, claiming it will provide cheaper houses to 20 lakh families.

In a press release, Gupta alleged that the Delhi government is intentionally not implementing this scheme and, therefore, lakhs of families are not getting cheaper houses and farmers are not getting remunerative prices of their land.

"Standing Committees of South Delhi Municipal Corporation and North Delhi Municipal Corporation had given their approval to urbanise 89 villages of the capital. Map prepared by DDA based on this approval of municipal corporations, was sent to Revenue Department of the Delhi government for verification of relevant khasras and for issue of notification.

"Delhi government has kept matter pending intentionally so that Union government is not able to claim credit for providing cheaper housing to the poor," the BJP leader alleged.

He also claimed that DDA wanted to declare 95 villages of the national capital as development area for their development but Delhi government does not want this to happen.

"Delhi government is creating number of obstacles in the matter. That is why notification to declare 89 villages as urbanised villages has not been issued so far.

"For the reason, number of legal hurdles is coming in the way of developing these villages as scheme of Union government to provide houses to 20 lakh people is intentionally blocked by Delhi government," he said.

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World's rich and powerful people, including over 100 from India, as well as government heads from the UK, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be in this Swiss ski resort for 5-day WEF Annual Meeting beginning tomorrow to hold discussions on global and need for a 'responsive and responsible leadership'.

Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman, Niti Aayog's Arvind Panagariya, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek and Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu are among the prominent attendees from India at the elite talkfest, where Modi government's demonetisation move, as also the fear of 'de-globalisation' in the wake of Trump Presidency in the US, will be among key topics of discussion.

There will be a special session on India where the panelists will discuss the country's anti-corruption and tax reform programmes and how inclusive the results can be.

Besides, more than 100 Indian CEOs and business leaders, including the next chief of Tata Group N Chandrasekaran, will be present at the event which will see overall more than 3,000 participants from more than 100 countries, including 1,200 CEOs, the biggest such gathering ever, who will huddle over important economic and geo-political issues before the world.

There will be an estimated 300 public figures, including more than 50 heads of state and government, and many participants from media, academia, and NGOs.

Over the next five days in snow-laden Davos, where the temperature could fall to as low as minus 20 degrees, the 47th Annual Meeting of the (WEF) will be held amid a growing focus on fight against terror across the world, including Europe, and would incidentally end on the day when Donald Trump assumes office of the US President.

Top global leaders expected to be present include British Prime Minister Theressa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will open the meet along with Swiss President Doris Leuthard, even as some others like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and South African President Jacob Zuma will give this year's annual jamboree of the rich and powerful a miss.

Jinping will be the first Chinese President to attend the 47-year-old summit, which will also see presence of Pakistan President Nawaz Sharif, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from the region. Former Pakistani Army Chief Raheel Sharif will also be there.

Ahead of the summit, the WEF said economic inequality, societal polarisation and growing environmental dangers are the top risks facing the world over the next 10 years while India alone can see this year a staggering 93 per cent holding jobs without social security benefits.

These would be among the key issues to be discussed by the world leaders at the meeting.

"Trends such as rising income inequality and societal polarisation triggered political change in 2016 and could exacerbate global risks in 2017 if urgent action is not taken," the WEF said.

The annual study further noted that key drivers of these risks can be arrested or reversed through building more inclusive societies, for which cooperation and long-term thinking will be vital.

The Summit will also see a host of bilateral meetings on the sidelines, including by Gadkari and Sitharaman, who would also meet Swiss Minister for Economic Affairs Johann N Schneider-Ammann on efforts to conclude the long-pending EFTA free trade agreements.

Switzerland will also host the traditional informal WTO ministerial meeting, with around 30 participants including from India, which will work towards concrete results at the upcoming ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December.

(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.)
The White House today tended to side with the Democratic lawmakers who have decided to boycott Donald Trump's inauguration over alleged Russian meddling in US presidential election and his rebuke of John Lewis, asking the president-elect to reach out to the civil rights legend.

Lewis, leading a pack of 18 lawmakers, has blasted Trump in an interview on CNN, saying he would boycott the ceremony for the first time since 1987 because he doesn't see Trump as a "legitimate" president in light of the Russian interference.

White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough later told the network that "these Democrats and others have pointed out that they have got significant concerns (over Russian meddling with the purpose of helping one candidate and hurting the other)."



"My hope would be that the president-elect will reach out to somebody as consequential - and as somebody who is such a leader - as John Lewis ... And hopefully not just reach out to him, but pursue some of the policies that Lewis has literally fought, bled and gone to jail for over the course of his remarkable life," McDonough said.

He said Trump reaching out to Lewis would send a message to Americans that "we're prepared to work together, but would also send a message to the Russians, that we are united."



"Their efforts to divide Americans, to weaken the country, to advance their own interests, at the expense of America, is going to fail."



Trump - who will become the 45th President of the US after he takes over from Obama - has lashed out at Lewis on Twitter for the boycott of the January 20 inauguration ceremony.

"Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US. I can use all the help I can get!" Trump said sarcastically in a tweet.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to...Mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" he said in a series of tweets.

Lewis today was on a talk show. Appearing determined to stick to his decision, he went a step further and said he will not invite Trump to Selma, Alabama, the site of the historic civil rights marches.

"By going to Selma - like President (George W) Bush, President (Bill) Clinton, President Obama - maybe he would learn something," Lewis told NBC's 'Meet the Press'.

"Iwould not invite him to come," he said, but quickly added he would not do anything to stop Trump from coming.

McDonough also insisted the outgoing Obama administration believes Trump is the elected president of the country; and this has been articulated by Obama several times in the past.

"He will be inaugurated on Friday. And he will come into office hopefully strengthened by the kind of transition that we have tried to run in this White House," he said.

But Obama does not plan to jump into the debate of legitimate and illegitimate of the election of Trump.

"The president is not going to get in the middle of this right now," he said.

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Accused by AAP of being soft on the Badals, Amarinder Singh today said if elected to power, he would not shy away from "hanging" those guilty of sacrilege and drug mafia even if it is the "Badals themselves", evoking a sharp reaction from the ruling party which said the Punjab Congress chief had gone "berserk".

Amarinder also slammed AAP leader and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, calling him names like a "coward".

Amarinder said, if his party is elected to power in next month's assembly polls, he would launch immediate inquiries into all incidents of major crimes such as religious sacrilege, as well as the drug and other mafias.

"I will hang the guilty from their heads, even if it is the Badals themselves who are found to be implicit in such crimes," he said while addressing a rally here after paying obeisance at Mehraj gurdwara in Rampura Phul.

Hitting back, SAD secretary and spokesman Daljit Singh Cheema said "from the tone and tenor of the statement, it becomes clear that sensing crushing defeat, Amarinder has gone berserk".

"His statement shows that he had no positive agenda except vendetta politics in which he indulged during the previous tenure as chief minister," he said.

The SAD spokesperson asserted that party leaders are not afraid of "bogus threats" and Amarinder should stop day dreaming of becoming chief minister.

Amarinder also also attacked Kejriwal, describing him as a "small and sneaky man" who did not have the guts to fight him on the electoral battleground.

"Punjab does not tolerate cowards like the AAP leader", said Capt Amarinder, adding that if left to AAP or the Akalis, Punjab will never be able to restore its lost pride and glory.

Challenging Kejriwal to fight against him from Lambi constituency, he said "AAP is a party of outsiders which is getting outsiders to campaign and coordinate the elections since they did not have any trust or ties with Punjabis."



He said he would ensure that Kejriwal does not succeed in taking over the state, with which he has no connect.

He said he has decided to fight Chief Minister Parkash Singh on his home turf Lambi to free Punjab from the clutches of the Akalis, who had been "looting" the people of the state for the last 10 years.

Amarinder charged the Badal family with trying to inflame communal passions to polarise voters by not getting a proper investigation done into the cases of religious sacrilege in the state in recent past.

Referring to the problems faced by Punjab under "10 years of Badal misrule", Amarinder pledged to fulfil all the promises made by him and his party, including farm debt waiver, for which 33 lakh people had signed forms.

He promised to bring industrial growth back on its track and reiterated his commitment to continue with all the ongoing public welfare schemes.

"From power to water to atta-dal scheme, no welfare programme will be stopped by my government," he said.

He reiterated his promise to finish off the drug mafia within four weeks of forming the government.

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh today said the Badals "will not be spared" for registering "false cases" against people during their 10-year tenure and that he would "teach them a lesson" for allegedly looting the state.

"The Badal family, and their cronies such as local Akali MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, involved in registration of false cases against innocent people, will not be spared," he said.

Amarinder claimed that all the "5 lakh false cases" registered by the Badal family against its political opponents would be investigated again by his government on assuming power and he would ensure that the local MLA, who had left Congress for "personal gains", suffers for his "misdeeds".

Exhorting people to vote for Khushbaj Singh Jatana, the Congress candidate from the assembly segment, he assured them that his party is committed to "setting right all the wrongs done by the Badal family".

Referring to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal's 'Sukhvilas', a hotel-cum-resort which reportedly charges around Rs 5 lakh per night, as an example of "loot", Amarinder alleged, "The Badals are only interested in promoting their family interests and are not concerned about the welfare of Punjab."



"I will punish the Akalis for what they have done to the state. I will make sure that every one of them, including the Badals, is punished for destroying the youth of Punjab with drugs and for exploiting the state's financial and other resources through other mafias such as sand, land, cable TV," the state Congress chief said.

Asking people not to get carried away by the "false promises" of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Amarinder claimed, "The Delhi Chief Minister wants to capture power in Punjab by hook or by crook."



"AAP has no concern for the people of Punjab. They have been bringing supporters from other states to take forward their political and electoral agenda," he alleged.

"Punjab belongs to Punjabis, with no place for outsiders who are here only to loot the state and its people," Amarinder said.

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Sending a forceful message to Israel's prime minister and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries called today on Israel and the Palestinians to revive work toward long-elusive peace, including an independent Palestinian state.

The closing declaration at a Mideast peace conference in Paris urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also warned them against taking one-sided actions that could hurt talks, an apparent reference to Israeli settlement building.

While the Palestinians welcomed today's declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference "rigged" and cooked up behind Israel's back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

The French organisers argued the conference was necessary to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the solution favoured by the international community for the past two decades.

Many members of Netanyahu's coalition want to abandon the two-state solution and expand settlements, and some have even called for annexing parts of the West Bank. Trump's campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence.

In a nod to Israel, the final declaration of today's conference included criticism of incitement and "terror", a reference to Palestinian attacks. And some of the pro-Palestinian language in an earlier draft was removed after diplomats huddled in Paris today.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu, represented the US at today's talks and defended the effort.

He rejected Israeli criticism of the conference, saying the concept of a two-state solution to the conflict is "threatened" and must be reinforced if it is ever to happen. The communique, he said, endorses that without imposing a resolution.

"Given where things are going and what is happening, that is particularly important," he said.

He also warned that it's too early to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem, as proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump. "This is not the right time," he said. "We think it's ill-advised."



Trump's administration did not take part in the meeting.

While Netanyahu has voiced support for a two-state solution, his critics, including Kerry, have said that continued settlement construction on occupied territories raises questions about his commitment to pursuing a peace deal.

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said today's statement amounted to a rejection of Israel's occupation and settlement construction in captured territories. He said it sent a message that Israel "cannot achieve peace and stability" without ending its occupation.

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Chinese President Xi Jinping was today headed for Switzerland to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos where he is expected to make a strong case for globalisation and counter US President-elect Donald Trump's assertion to pursue America-centric protectionist policies.

Xi accompanied by his wife Peng Liyuan and high power delegation left Beijing for a four-day visit to Switzerland.

Xi will pay a state visit to the European country from January 15 to 18.

During his stay in Switzerland, Xi will attend the 47th World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos on January 17 at the invitation of Professor Klaus Schwab who is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

He would be the first Chinese President to attend the Davos summit.

He was expected take the centre stage at the Davos ahead of Trump taking over the office on January 20.

His decision to attend the meeting was largely seen as an attempt by China to make a strong case for globalisation which benefitted it to emerge as the second largest economy of the world, second only to the US.

With its USD 2 trillion exports declining, China wants the present global trade system to continue and apprehensive that Trump's pro-America policies to revive job growth and boost its exports has raised global concerns that it would lead to more protectionist policies upsetting the globalisation.

Wang Yiwei, a professor at Renmin University of China at the decisive moment of the turning point of the international community, Xi's attendance is to boost confidence in globalisation, and guide the process towards more open, inclusive, balanced direction that will benefit all parties.

It is expected that China will offer perspectives and proposals and exert active efforts to drive economic globalisation toward more inclusive development, and all parties will have an objective and in-depth understanding of China's economy, state run Xinhua agency said in a commentary.

Besides state visit to Switzerland, Xi also would visit the visit the UN Office at Geneva.

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A fortnight ahead of the start of the Budget session of Parliament, the goods and services tax (GST) Council will on Monday try to find the resolution to issue of administrative turf between the Centre and states, as well as definition of coastal states.

Sources said shortage of time due to the coming elections in five states could come in the way of finding an early solution.

Andhra Pradesh Finance Minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu hoped a solution to both issues might be found out at the meeting. He will not attend the meeting but will send an officer to represent the state as he is going to attend the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Uttarakhands Indira Hridayesh told Business Standard some solution to the administrative turf issue has to be found in consensus to implement the GST. But the Centre is not agreeing to states demand to give them sole control over assessees up to Rs 1.5 crore of annual turnover.

It is almost clear that GST would not be introduced from April 1. Industry needs clarity on the rules at least three-four months in advance.

GST has to be implemented by September 16, as the Centre and the states would lose their right to impose taxes after that. The focus in on whether the GST can be implemented by July, if not April.

The administrative control over assessees, known as dual control in popular parlance, has divided the Centre and the states for some time.

States have been demanding sole control over those with up to Rs 1.5 crore of turnover. The Centre wants cross-empowerment  control of both the Centre and states over assessees in a pre-determined ratio.

"We want sole control over assessees; up to Rs 1.5 crore of turnover, but the Centre is not ready. It wants to control certain proportion with itself," Hridayesh said. She said the Centre and states would sit together and have to find a solution to this vexed issue.

Ramakrishunudu said he hoped this issue is resolved at the meeting on Monday.

On whether the Centre has offered any alternative on dual control, some state finance ministers said neither the Centre nor states had time due to the coming elections in Uttar Pradesh, Punjab, Goa, Uttarakhand and Manipur.

After the previous Council meeting, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had said, "Dual control is a complex issue. We have not found a solution. The discussion was inconclusive." He had said the Council was not deliberately resorting to voting, as this would set a precedent.

Ramakrishnudu said Andhra Pradeshs stand on the issue of definition of coastal states was intact. While the Centre wants to take 12 nautical miles beyond coasts as Union Territory and tax any item sold there, coastal states are averse to this as they levy tax on these.

"We want status quo (states should have control over 12 nautical miles)," he said. He said about Rs 600 crore a year was realised by the state on the sales of bunker to foreign going vessels and on gas explored in territorial waters.

After the previous meeting earlier this month, Jaitley had said the Constitution states what is not a part of scheduled state is Union Territory. This issue has been pending in the courts also and is currently before the Supreme Court.

The case of states, Jaitley said, was that they should be allowed to levy taxes. Jaitley said a constitutional solution to this vexed issue has to be found. The issue is also sub-judice at present.

Despite being an unrelated issue, demonetisation has also irked some states, particularly West Bengal, and such states are demanding higher compensation, estimated at Rs 55,000, for revenue-losing states a year.
Moving the head of Tata Consultancy Services to the top job at Tata Sons' holding company fills a critical hole for the salt-to-software conglomerate, but it leaves another at its most valuable company ahead of a complex and unpredictable 2017.

The promotion of Tata veteran Natarajan Chandrasekaran - the well-regarded, high-performing boss of TCS under whom shares have quadrupled - should be no surprise.

But the departure of Chandrasekaran, known as Chandra, from the Tata group's most profitable arm still rattled investors. They sent TCS shares down more than 4 percent on Friday, a day after it also posted better-than-expected quarterly results.

"The IT industry is facing headwinds, and shareholders would have preferred Chandra to stay as CEO for some more time," said Souvik Guha, an analyst with Shriram Asset Management, which owns shares in TCS.

Indeed, for Tata Sons, promoting one-time Tata intern Chandrasekaran to chairman of the $100 billion conglomerate is something of a gamble: to help unpick the group's boardroom troubles, he leaves behind the growth engine and crown jewel.

The vast majority of Tata Sons' annual revenue comes from dividend payouts. Key businesses include Tata Steel and Jaguar Land Rover-owner Tata Motors. But TCS, with its IT services and consulting businesses, accounts for nearly 90 percent of total group revenue.

Investor concerns highlight the outsized importance of TCS, more than 70 percent owned by Tata.

"Investors were more confident about Chandra," said a fund manager at a local mutual fund, which owns shares in TCS.

"In a tough time when volume growth is elusive, you want someone with a proven track record and it would been preferable to have someone from the business side."

Chandrasekaran has been replaced at TCS by Rajesh Gopinathan, described by analysts and insiders as a meticulous operations man. Fund managers fret, however, over the vision for the IT services firm, at a time when it needs to tackle slowing growth in the industry and a problematic period ahead.

From an incoming Donald Trump administration in the United States, determined to clamp down on visas vital to the smooth operations of IT services companies in their biggest market, to the still unravelling fallout from Britain's move to bow out of the European Union, TCS will face one of its most complex years.

Some also fear that Chandra will have little opportunity to lavish attention on TCS in the new role, as he will be saddled with untying the Gordian knot of Tata Sons politics, and also overseeing 200 group companies - all against the background of a bitter ongoing spat with its ousted chairman Cyrus Mistry.

Mistry has publicly detailed the complex array of problems the conglomerate faces from its troubled European steel segment, from ethical concerns to allegations of fraudulent transactions at its Air Asia India joint-venture, and a host of other issues.

ROCKING THE BOAT

Chandra, who joined the Tata group in 1987, rose through the ranks to become TCS CEO in 2009. Under his leadership, TCS revenue has risen almost fourfold and its workforce has almost tripled.

TCS has fared better than rivals Infosys and Wipro. This is despite a rapidly evolving landscape that has forced IT services players to rethink some increasingly commoditised services and innovate with offerings such as automation and artificial intelligence to win clients and boost revenue.

The size of TCS has long been its strength, but the changes in the industry mean its size could also become a challenge.

"In a time marked with multiple challenges and key headwinds impacting the IT sector, this is not an apt moment to rock the boat for TCS," said Reliance Securities analyst Harit Shah, adding that Chandra's relationships will be missed.

TCS has more than tripled the number of its $100 million plus accounts in the last six years to 34 from 10, according to data from JPMorgan. Over that same period, Infosys has only grown that customer base to 18 from 11.

Its stock has also vastly outperformed both Infosys and its third-largest Indian rival, Wipro, in that same period.

Inside the company, executives at the 350,000-strong firm are more confident, describing the new TCS chief, Gopinathan, as "hands-on".

""Chandra will be at the helm and he will continue to guide the new CEO," said RK Gupta, managing director at Taurus Asset Management, which owns TCS shares.
Saturday, January 14, 2017 at 7:12PM

Android maker Andy Rubin has been out of Google for over two years already but it looks like hes kept busy and is planning to re-enter the segment he left. Rumour has it Rubin is planning to launch a company thatll produce a high-end smartphone that will focus on artificial intelligence and have a bezel-free screen and ceramic back. The company, which will be called Essential, has been registered by Rubin as Essential Products Inc. in California back in November 2015. The word Essential has also been submitted at the end of last year to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office with smartphones, tablets, and mobile OS software as part of the outfits goods and services. The company is supposedly composed of around 40 people with a lot of them recruited from both Apple and Google.

According to Bloombergs sources, Essential is working on a suite of devices for the mobile and smart home markets. And Rubin was allegedly talking to carrier executives at CES this year. The phone itself, while still in prototype, is said to have a display bigger than 5.5 inches but itll be smaller in size because of the lack of bezels. Itll supposedly have a pressure-sensitive interface (a la Apples 3D Touch), ceramic back, and a magnetic connector that isnt just for charging. The connector will also supposedly support accessories like a spherical 360-degree camera Essential is reportedly working on.

It isnt clear yet how AI will fit into the phone but Rubin has been saying that AI is the next platform and itll be about "data and people training AI systems to learn." The phone is supposedly coming as soon as mid-2017 with a price tag close to the iPhone 7s US$649. But we cant say yet.

Source: Apple Insider
"The Singapore Airlines service has performed extremely well in its first three months of operation and if Canberrans can continue to support the service as they have to date we would not be surprised to see a fifth service," he said.
The attack could have been much worse, as one of the dogs had tried to maul his head. Instead, it bit into a set of headphones he had been wearing.
"Like all these things, no matter what you put in, there will always be someone who'll disagree with it totally. But the idea of this is to have the conversation, and I don't care what side you come down on, we'll be better for it."
Yet instead of being part of the solution, our current crop of educators are more often than not the equivalent to the priesthood of the Middle Ages. This usually means that the prevailing state of play is that we must not question their validity but keep providing tertiary educators with vast treasure, closing our eyes to the meaninglessness of much of what they do.
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 ...
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.
Photo: Castanet Staff - File Photo

Note: For privacy reasons Castanet will not reveal the name of the woman involved in the following story.

A 55-year-old Kelowna woman is in an induced coma in Kelowna General Hospital battling the affects of the H1N1 virus.

She has been in the Critical Care Unit at KGH since Jan 3.

According to her husband (we'll call him Steve) she appears to have contracted the virus while on vacation in Las Vegas.

The family was in Vegas for a week over Christmas.

Steve says his wife woke up Dec 29, the day they were to fly back home, complaining she couldn't breathe.

"It was like an elephant sitting on her chest," he says.

He says he got his wife some juice and water and she took some NyQuil thinking it was just a cold.

"She seemed to settle down," he says.

"She hadn't slept much and she was dragging her butt a bit at the airport, but we left on time and flew back home."

Steve says they eventually went to a walk-in clinic on New Year's Eve and eventually to emergency a few days later when she still didn't feel well.

"I put her in a wheelchair and wheeled her in," says Steve.

"The emergency nurse took one look at her and could see what was going on. She took the wheelchair from my hands and took her in the back. By 11 a.m. the next morning they told me they would have to induce her and put her in this drug induced coma."

He says at the time she was admitted, his wife only had about 10 per cent lung capacity.

After 11 days in a drug induced coma Steve says his wife appears to be making a turn for the better.

"You can tell," he says, "her numbers are coming back to normal ranges and her x-rays are starting to clean up."

"Without them (Doctors) saying anything definitive one way or another you can glean from their actions and what they are doing and how they are bleeding her off of the drugs and some of her oxygen concentrations, (shows) that they are optimistic."

While Steve has never before had a flu shot he says this is the first year his wife has not had the shot.

Steve says his wife's illness was enough to prompt him to get inoculated.

So far at least two people, including an Okanagan woman in her 50's, have died as a result of the H1N1 virus in BC. In Alberta ten people have died from it. Across the country, including BC and Alberta, there were 26 confirmed deaths from H1N1 as of Jan. 13.

News reports out of Nevada indicate three people in Southern Nevada have died as a result of the flu.

While there has been no official confirmation those people died from the H1N1 virus, the US Center for Disease Control says H1N1 is the most common strain being detected this flu season.

Click here to find out more about vaccine availability.
Photo: Flickr/BC Gov't

Okanagan residents can talk directly to Finance Minister Mike de Jong during a telephone town hall on the provincial government's budget priorities.

The Okanagan call-in takes place Monday, at 7 p.m., and is part of a series of town halls reaching out to communities across the province.

Communities invited to take part include: Beaverdell, Bridesville, Christina Lake, Grand Forks, Greenwood, Hedley, Hope, Kaleden, Kamloops, Kelowna, Keremeos, Merritt, Midway, Naramata, Okanagan Falls, Oliver, Osoyoos, Peachland, Penticton, Princeton, Rock Creek, Salmon Arm, Summerland, Vernon, Westbridge, and Winfield.

Residents with landlines, and those who have signed up online with mobile phone numbers, will receive a call just before 7 p.m. to join the one-hour conversation.

De Jong will take questions directly from callers and ask all participants to take part in a few poll questions aimed at setting priorities in the budget.

Cellphone users must sign up on the budget conversation website to participate.

Those unable to call in can also participate in forums on housing affordability, government priorities and economic growth, as well as submit questions or comments via the website.
Photo: Google Street View

The regional district is proposing a newlaunch on the west side of Okanagan Lake.

The district is applying to various provincial agencies to establish a boat launch at the end of Bancroft Road in Wilson's Landing.

Application will be made to the province for a Crown land tenure License of Occupation. In addition, staff will apply to the Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure for a permit to construct a boat launch and amenities.

The area off Bancroft Road has been used by locals to launch boats.

The regional district will also consult with the Wilson's Landing community to discuss financial considerations for development of the boat launch. Those will be considered during the 2017 board budget discussions.
Photo: Deborah Pfeiffer

A Penticton family has spent the last few days dealing with a cougar family which is roaming close to their home.

Bradley Beatty, who lives on Basham Court, said the mother and three cubs showed up Thursday night, when he was outside with his dog.

"It felt like "Snakes on a Plane," he said. "But we were calling it cougars in the cul-de-sac."

The next day he came home from work and heard about the picture of the family under the deck, which first appeared on Facebook.

At the time, he said, the RCMP had left a card on his door, warning the cougars were under the deck next door.

In the evening he observed there were four under the deck, as he could see four sets of eyes. But later that night they appeared to leave.

That was it for Friday night, but then Saturday morning came a big standoff, he said.

"At about 8 a.m. I came outside with the dog and went to look over the deck and I saw the mother cougar coming out of the carport, and it was huge."

He and the dog went in the house and the cougar then went to the front of his truck. After his wife set off the car alarm it went back to the deck next door.

They called the RAPP line and conservation officers showed up. The officers were monitoring the situation as of Saturday morning.

"It's still an unfolding situation," said Beatty. "And it's nerve-wracking because they keep coming back and we don't know when they are going to be around the corner."

Mike Hanley, who took the Facebook picture of the cougars from his Cleland Drive home, said he also saw the officers in the neighbourhood on Saturday morning.

For now the neighbours all hope the situation has a happy ending.

"The conservation officers have been great keeping us updated," said Beatty. "We are hopeful the cougars move somewhere safe out of the residential area."

The Conservation Officer Service could not be immediately reached for comment.

Castanet will provide more details as they become available.
Photo: CTV

A Vancouver man who couldn't find any housing moved into a U-Haul locker with his belongings late last year  although it didn't last for long.

Returning from a trip, the man identified as Michael told CTV News, that he first decided to live in his car when he came up with the second idea.

"All my stuff was in storage, I had to put it there because I had to give up my apartment to leave for so long," Michael said. "When I came back I found I was going in and out of my storage locker getting stuff."

While the new digs only cost $200 a month, Michael had to slink around in secret in order to use the building's bathroom and drinking water after hours.

A YouTube video he uploaded of his temporary home has become an online hit, racking up hundreds of thousands of views.

"I know that doing something like staying in a storage locker is pretty controversial, and I knew building it the way I did would generate some sort of buzz," he said.

And it didn't last.

U-Haul told CTV News that Michael's two-month stay ended when staff caught and immediately evicted him from the storage building in November.

Michael has since moved into a West End apartment building.
Photo: Contributed

UPDATE: 4:12 p.m.

Vernon, Kamloops and Clearwater search and rescue teams were able to find an injured snowmobiler and transport him to hospital on Sunday morning.

Kamloops and Clearwater search and rescue teams received a call around 7:30 a.m. for an injured snowmobiler who went over a cliff.

With the use of Vernons helicopter winch team, they were able to locate the injured man near Blue River.

Leigh Pearson, search and rescue manager, said the man had a significant broken leg but is confident he will make a full recovery.

The team transported the man in stable condition to Kelowna General Hospital.

 with files from Alanna Kelly

UPDATE: 1:30 p.m.

An injured snowmobiler spent the night out in the North Thompson backcountry with search and rescue personnel before being winched to safety on Sunday.

The Okanagan-based winch rescue team flew by a B.C. Air Rescue helicopter to the scene in the Smoke Creek area south of Blue River.

The man had to be winched out due to the steep terrain.

"The male was transferred to BC Ambulance in Kamloops at 1:10 p.m.," said Ian Wilson, vice president of Wildcat Helicopters. "He was injured at approximately 5:30 p.m. (Saturday).

"He spent the night with rescue personnel on location until he was extracted by us today."

The man's injuries, age and hometown were not disclosed.

UPDATE: 12:25 p.m.

An injured snowmobiler has been lifted out of the backcountry in the North Thompson region by the Okanagan-based winch rescue team.

The team was flown out by a B.C. Air Rescue helicopter from West Kelowna earlier this morning.

The injured sledder, believed to be male, will be transported to a hospital or a waiting ambulance, said Ian Wilson, vice president of Wildcat Helicopters.

An RCMP helicopter is said to have spotted the victim early this morning in the Smoke Creek area south of Blue River, but could not land in the steep terrain.

The specialized team was then called in to help out.

Castanet will provide further details when they become available.

A B.C. Air Rescue helicopter with a winch rescue team has been called in to help in the rescue of a person in a mountainous area near Clearwater, north of Kamloops.

The team was called in to attempt "the extraction of an injured party" after an RCMP helicopter in the region was unable to land, said Ian Wilson, vice president of Wildcat Helicopters.

Wilson was unable to provide further details on the location of the individual.

He said the chopper left West Kelowna around 10:20 a.m.
To many of us at McCormick Place on Tuesday night, it felt a lot like the end of a Chicago dream. You know, those final, increasingly melancholy moments of reverie before someone wakes you up by screaming in your face.

So what's worse? The rousing, or your dread thereof?

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That was the question that hung over the night, articulated by those standing in security lines, an unintended consequence of the decision by a president who was formed in Chicago to break from protocol and return to his hometown, and its people, to say goodbye.

By doing so, Barack Obama had created a natural bookend to his victorious beginnings in Chicago's front yard. Late on that November night in 2008, cameras had abandoned cramped TV studios filled with pundits and novel touch screens and settled on an expanse of inner-city green, filled with throngs of happy people of many stripes. "All climaxed in the park's overtly populist mix of open space, throbbing humanity and urban excitement," I wrote at the time. After, I'd stood outside Tribune Tower with an editor, watching waves of Chicagoans pouring down the Magnificent Mile, shouting their excitement as they promenaded through the street.

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But that was a fall night filled with improbable outdoor warmth. Tuesday was rainy and raw.

Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 75 President Barack Obama boards Air Force One at O'Hare International Airport on Jan. 10, 2017, in Chicago. (Alyssa Pointer / Chicago Tribune)

Obama's event was in the threadbare section of chilly McCormick Place, the marquee space being previously reserved for a recreational boat show, aimed mostly at the 1 percent. Even the images and videos selected by the White House to occupy Obama's supporters during the wait for the president  his chopper stymied by high winds  seemed to emphasize Obama's fragility, the fragility of an ideal.

Pete Souza, a gifted former staffer at this newspaper who became the official White House photographer, has two dominant modes of documentation. One is to photograph Obama from behind or to the side  Souza's lens sharing the presidential gaze on Rio de Janeiro's Christ the Redeemer or Stonehenge, emphasizing not awe at the president or his office, but the president's awe at what the world contains. In those silhouettes and contextual portraits, Obama invariably appears small, his famous ears often prominent. When these shots were seen in rapid succession, as they were Tuesday night by the audience for the speech, there was a sense of "Where's Waldo?," but it was easy to see yourself, whoever you may be, in the man, comfortable in the confines of his own skin, staring out in wonderment. Usually at natural marvels, or at some poignant nexus of sacrifice and change.

Souza has always loved shooting Obama with children  in his candids, kids pull on Obama's hair, get up in the presidential visage, wondering about what may be his thing, or just craving a conversation. Unlike adults, who often seem overwhelmed or sycophantic, the kids in Souza's shots are mostly just interested in the man as a man, as he demonstrably is interested in them. He usually has either copied their antics, or joined in with them, and with an ease few parents can muster.

Obama has been the first selfie president, the first president to venture Between Two Ferns, and for all the attention being given to how Donald Trump has mastered and upended the media (and so stipulated), the Obama video library that played at McCormick Place on Tuesday suggested a man who figured out somewhere in his second term that he was the first president who can, and probably should, serve as the host, reporter and analyst of himself.

Was Obama's final speech a night of the people, as was the case in 2008? Or was this all a show for Anderson Cooper and his panel in the visually prominent booth of CNN, a network news operation that did not yet know of its imminent date with Trumpian pique on Wednesday?

MOST READ ENTERTAINMENT NEWS THIS HOUR

One sensed ambivalence from the stagecraft. Efforts had been made to successfully accommodate thousands of ordinary people, but the central space also wanted to pretend those supporters were not fully there, except for the token bleacher of populist proxy, a weird pointer to campaign staging. The main space you saw on TV was a managed square of VIPs, insiders and potential donors to Obama's presidential library, but the standees were in a chutelike rectangle, down and off to the side. The semiotics put them outside the space, which had not been the case in 2008. Not that anyone seemed to mind. It was understood that Obama had only one chance left to address the world from Chicago. He did his best to talk to everyone.

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Rhetorically speaking, though, it's hard to craft a message of hope, or even to recount your accomplishments, when everyone in the room knows of all the feverish work being done at that very moment to undo that which represents the values at your core. And when you are also trying to advocate for the peaceful transition of power to those undoers, as Obama clearly was determined to do, his dire warnings of an atrophying democracy notwithstanding, you inevitably tie yourself in knots. For all his self-awareness, Obama did not address the elephant in the room, the central failure most painful to those in attendance  his proven inability to pave the way for a simpatico successor.

How could he? What would have been the point?

He was left to speak for history. And so he did, crying out for decency and civility, arguing that the extremes of inequality risked dangerous corrosion to the democratic ideal. In a cold room on a tough night, he quoted Harper Lee, of the need to walk a mile in the shoes of another, of the advisability of putting away your self-congratulatory Facebook feed, of the dangers posed by any abandonment of the American sense of common purpose. He argued for respect for facts  while managing to hide his incredulity at having to do so. He said that science and reason mattered. In this moment, that needed to be said, too. Incredible as that seems.

Obama said democracy can buckle when it gives way to fear, and that democracy is threatened when it is taken for granted.

There was a sadness and an ecumenical wisdom to all these words, despite the hope for hope in the room. He promised to be a good citizen for the rest of his days. And in doing so, he seemed to grow older.

Perhaps the most poignant moment came when Obama said that he suspected, and rightly so, that many present still could not believe they had pulled off the last eight years. He suggested that his much-loved wife, Michelle, was of that mind and that he harbored some of the same disbelief himself. He was like Prospero in that moment: "We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep."

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Thousands of the people who loved him then let out a sigh  part valedictory, part bereaved, part stoic. They wandered out into the night, not quite knowing where they were, since whenever you leave McCormick Place, you never quite know where you are.

But the wake-up call from Trump Tower was only hours away.

Chris Jones is a Tribune critic.

cjones5@chicagotribune.com

Twitter@ChrisJonesTrib

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Expand Autoplay Image 1 of 126 Woody introduces the gang to a homemade spork toy with self-esteem issues in "Toy Story 4." Read the review. (Pixar / AP)
My wife and I recently flew from Paris to Washington, D.C., on United Airlines. The original flight was delayed for 3 1/2 hours, while passengers were waiting in line with their boarding passes, and eventually canceled.

We were re-booked on the next available flight the following morning. The United service desk provided notice of an EU regulation that said we were due compensation of 600 euros each.

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We both submitted requests to United for the compensation, including the requested supporting documentation. To date, we have received no response from United, other than an automated acknowledgment that we submitted the form. I have been unable to reach United's customer care, despite several phone calls and being put on hold for 50 minutes until the line went dead.

We would like help in getting United to process our request and provide compensation. If United will not respond, we would like to know how best to pursue compensation with the EU regulatory authorities or with the U.S. Department of Transportation.

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 Steven Brenner, Bethesda, Md.

A: United should have compensated you promptly. But the claims process can take weeks, months or, in some cases, even years.

You're dealing with a European consumer regulation called EU 261, which requires airlines operating within the EU to compensate passengers during a delay. For a delay of 3 1/2 hours, it requires a 600 euro compensation. It doesn't say how quickly United should pay up, though.

EU 261 can be a little confusing, and airlines take full advantage of that. So it's not uncommon to receive one of the leaflets that say you're entitled to compensation and then never receive it. I publish a handy guide on EU 261 on my consumer-advocacy site (http://elliott.org/frequently-asked-questions-about-eu261/).

You could have reached out to the U.S. Department of Transportation, but I'm not sure if that would have done you much good. EU 261 is a European law, enforced by European aviation authorities. The DOT has limited jurisdiction and probably would have forwarded your complaint to United.

You also might have contacted a third party that specializes in EU 261 refunds, like Airhelp.com or Refund.me, but there's no guarantee the company would be able to get a faster resolution, and it would take a cut of your compensation as a commission.

I'm confident that United eventually would have sent you the compensation to which you were entitled. You could have sent the airline a gentle reminder by email  I list the names, numbers and email addresses of United's customer-service executives on my advocacy site (elliott.org/company-contacts/united-airlines).

I contacted United on your behalf, and it cut you and your wife checks for 600 euros each.

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Christopher Elliott is the ombudsman for National Geographic Traveler magazine and the author of "How to Be the World's Smartest Traveler." You can read more travel tips on his blog, www.elliott.org, or email him at chris@elliott.org.

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Local knitters make hats ahead of the Women's March on Chicago, which coincides with the National Women's March in Washington, D.C., on Jan. 21, 2017. (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune) (Nancy Stone / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

When a woman apprehensive about Donald Trump's presidency broke down in tears at Lynn Coe's North Side shop, Coe offered her an unusual remedy: Come knit with us.

Dozens of women have packed the store in recent weeks armed with bright pink yarn and knitting needles to create hats for the Jan. 21 Women's March on Chicago, where thousands are expected to gather the day after the inauguration.

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The cat-eared caps  dubbed "pussyhats"  have become one of the more visible symbols of a movement that began immediately after Trump's election to raise awareness and voice concern over the future of women's rights. Hundreds of thousands are expected to turn out the same day for the Women's March on Washington, which is expected to be the largest gathering in response to Trump's inauguration and has sparked discussions about gender, race and class.

Organizers expect thousands throughout Illinois to board buses for D.C. and thousands more to gather at Grant Park for the sister march in Chicago. Many have said they plan to wear the handmade pink hats as a symbol of solidarity and empowerment, though even the hats are not without controversy.

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To meet the demand for the pink hats, Coe has held "knit-ins" at her Lincoln Avenue shop Knit 1. Since Pussyhat Project co-founders put the pattern online and set a goal of 1 million donated hats for participants to wear as they march, women and men alike have squeezed into tight corners and sat on window ledges furiously knitting at Coe's store. When Coe ran out of pink yarn, she turned to a local supplier who dyed the balls of yarn for her.

Coe said the knitting project seems to be cathartic for many participants, and she's been a bit surprised by the level of emotion and passion people brought to the typically tranquil activity. Coe, who said she grew up in a political household in Hyde Park in the 1960s and '70s, had been cautious about mixing politics and work.

"I don't feel that way anymore," said Coe, 58. "I feel like this is too important. I don't think any of us can afford to be silent this time around."

Like many women who demonstrated for civil rights and equality decades ago, Coe said she never imagined herself marching for women's rights in 2017.

"I thought we were done with that," she said. "I really thought that we wouldn't have to fight that battle again, but I guess you can't ever be complacent."

G. Marie Leaner, a Chicago real estate broker who grew up in Washington Park on the city's South Side, knows those battles well. Leaner said she was active in the women's equality movement more than 40 years ago when she was a proud member of the Chicago Women's Liberation Union.

She views the upcoming march as a continuation of that work.

"It's consistent with my values and my reality," Leaner said. "Why would I stop now?"

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Not even a business conference in California will deter her. Chicago's march is one of more than 200 sister demonstrations scheduled to take place throughout the world that day, and Leaner said she plans to attend one in Los Angeles.

But many who are planning to turn out don't have a history in activism.

Erum Mohammed, a 32-year-old lawyer from Palatine, said being an American-Muslim woman from Chicago compelled her to want to march for the first time.

"The negative comments toward women, ethnic and religious minorities, are so un-American," she said. "As Americans, we have to stand up against hate."

Yet the enthusiasm surrounding the demonstrations has been met with difficult questions about race, identity and inclusion.

With such a broad swath of women from different generations, classes, races and religions, uniting under the banner of women's rights posed its own challenges. For instance, while the women behind the "pussyhats" extolled them on their website as a way to reclaim a derogatory term, some would-be marchers have said they were offended by the name and dainty color.

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Even the event's original name, Million Women March, stirred controversy. Organizers quickly scrapped it after concerns arose of co-opting the name of the historic 1997 march by African-American women in Philadelphia. Shortly after the first Facebook post about the national event, pressure to include diverse voices at the helm began to mount. The organizers who also saw it as a priority did just that.

In Chicago, march Co-chairwoman Liz Radford, 45, who works in marketing, said organizers were cognizant of the roles of race and diversity from the start. They created Champions of the March, a council of women from a variety of racial, ethnic, religious and professional backgrounds who had experience with community organizing and advocacy to advise and help lead.

"Diversity has become a huge center point," Radford said. "It's a Chicago march, and a Chicago march is a representative march of all areas of Chicago. It's a big ask, but that's what we're reaching for."

Jaquie Algee, a labor union community relations director who serves on the council, said she was impressed with the way organizers "worked hard with intent to make sure all voices are heard." The result, she said, is that thousands of women of all races have pledged to attend.

"I am doing this because I'm standing in the gap for those who can't," Algee said. "Issues that concern African-American women in the Roseland community of Chicago  I am one of those women  are being heard, as well as concerns by my sister who lives in Lincoln Park."

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On the day of the march, the schedule calls for music around 9:30 a.m. in Grant Park. A rally is scheduled to begin about 10 a.m. with a long list of speakers addressing reproductive rights, racial justice, immigration, gun violence and issues involving the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community. Members of the cast of "Hamilton" are slated to sing and speak. The march, which organizers hope will be the largest outside of D.C., will follow, winding its way through the Loop, with a brief stop at Federal Plaza, before returning to Grant Park.

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Anyone who supports women's rights, regardless of age or gender identity, is welcome, Radford said. David Kodeski, who plans to march, said he developed a deep respect for women growing up with three strong-willed sisters.

"It's not just women. It's not just queer people. It's not just people of color. It's not just people of different religions. We're all in this together as a country," said Kodeski, a writer and performer who also works at the University of Illinois at Chicago. "The divisiveness of (Trump's) campaign and what seems to be his policies and the people he's surrounding himself with, those things needs to be spoken out against."

In her Evanston practice as a clinical psychologist, Sheila Flaherty, 68, said many of her sessions since the election have revolved around her clients' fears of what a Trump presidency may bring. If nothing else, she hopes the march provides a measure of comfort.

"I know that it won't overturn anything, but for us to come together and to see each other's faces, is going to be really powerful," she said. "It will help us feel that we are not alone moving forward."

deldeib@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @deldeib
A Lakeview teenager was ordered held on $1 million bail Saturday for a suburban home invasion late last year where he and another male posing as a utility worker to rob the home of a flea market business owner.

Caleb Cates, 18, appeared to smirk in disbelief after receiving the order from Cook County Judge Adam Bourgeois Jr. at the Leighton Criminal Court Building on charges of home invasion and armed robbery.



"This is a dangerous individual," Bourgeois said of Cates, before ordering bail.

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Cates, of the 800 block of West Cornelia Avenue, already facing a pending aggravated unlawful use of a weapon charge, is accused forcing his way into a home in the 600 block of Eastchester Road in Wheeling, during a home invasion last October. The home belonged to the operators of a jewelry business at a Swap-O-Rama flea market, according to prosecutors.



The home's surveillance system captured video of Cates and the second unidentified male approaching the home wearing hard hats and carrying clipboards, said Assistant state's attorney Margaret Hillmann.



As the pair approached the home, the 17-year-old daughter of the homeowner called her father to see whether he scheduled any utility work at the home, Hillmann said. As the teen spoke with her father, who denied having any work done there, her 75-year-old grandmother deactivated the home's security system and opened the front door, prompting the men to force their way inside, authorities said.

Cates and his accomplice forced the older woman down to the ground, and struck the teen who came running to her grandmother's aid, Hillman said.



The girl then yelled for help to her phone, which was still connected to her father before one of the men grabbed it, authorities said. The intruders forced the victims into a sitting position, with Cates trying unsuccessfully to bind the teen with zip ties, authorities said.



Cates allegedly pulled a black handgun and told the victims he didn't want to hurt anyone, and demanded access to the home's safe box, Hillmann said. The teen said she did not have the combination to it. One of the invaders searched the other rooms of the house and grabbed about $1,500 from the master bedroom. The men also took the keys to the homeowner's Mercedes, but were spooked by the sudden appearance of Wheeling police.



With one of the doors barred, the unidentified intruder smashed a window at the home and the men fled, leaving behind many items, including the hard hats, zip ties and keys to the Mercedes.



Authorities said fingerprints on the hard hat, which was sent to a crime lab for analysis, traced back to Cates, who has the UUW case from December, as well as previous juvenile felonies.



Both victims also identified Cates as one of the intruders. If he posts bond, Cates was ordered not to contact the victims or go near the home.
People from a dozen organizations and communities gathered to rally for immigrant and refugee rights Jan. 14, 2017, at Chicago Teachers Union headquarters on Chicago's Near West Side. (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune) (Erin Hooley / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune)

Student Cindy Agustin fears her parents will be deported and she'll never see them again.

Nareman Taha worries the government will create a Muslim registry to track people of her faith.

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Teacher Jaime Serrano is concerned about his second-grade students, some of whom are anxious they will be separated from their families.

"It's heartbreaking," he said. "They are really scared."

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Anxiety about the future  and resolve to change it  brought more than 1,000 people together Saturday for a Chicago rally against President-elect Donald Trump's hard-line immigration proposals.

Protesters chanted "no justice, no peace," waved signs reading "We Are Here to Stay," and cheered community, faith and labor leaders who called for unity and action.

The rally, held at the Chicago Teachers Union headquarters on the Near West Side, coincided with similar protests in dozens of other U.S. cities Saturday, six days before Trump is to be inaugurated.

During his campaign for the White House, Trump adopted strict positions on immigration, including building "a big, fat beautiful wall" at the U.S.-Mexican border. But he also sent mixed messages, and now many people wonder exactly what he will do as president.

"I mean, that's the issue with Trump, right? He's completely unpredictable," Chicago rally organizer Lawrence Benito said in an interview prior before the event. "He says one thing and then he walks it back. I don't know what to expect."

Immigration activists, Benito said, will watch Trump's first 100 days in office closely.

"We're going to be prepared  for what we can anticipate  for the fight to come," said Benito, head of the Illinois Coalition for Immigrant and Refugee Rights, the rally's lead organization.

Agustin, a 27-year-old graduate student at the University of Chicago, said in an interview she is an immigrant from Mexico living in the U.S. without legal permission and worries that she won't be able to renew her work permit and find a job upon graduation.

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Worse, she said, is the possibility her parents will be deported, leaving her with the agonizing decision between going to Mexico with them or staying in the U.S. and not seeing them again. "If I leave the country, I would not be able to come back."

Serrano, who teaches kindergarten through second grade in Chicago Public Schools, said many children of Mexican origin fear being separated from their parents.

"I had a little girl say she cried all night long after she heard Trump wanted to deport Mexican immigrants," he said.

Taha, co-founder of Arab American Family Services, said in some ways, Muslims are under more stress now than after 9/11, when many were viewed with suspicion.

Many young Muslims, she said, didn't experience 9/11, and for older Muslims, Trump's victory "is bringing back that trauma experience  that you are different, that you're not one of us."

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"But we want to message him: We are here to stay," she said.

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During the rally, organizers announced the details of a platform they are sending to local, state and federal lawmakers. It calls on officials to oppose, among other things, mass deportations, a Muslim registry and private immigrant detention centers.

The platform also accuses the incoming administration of having "already explicitly communicated its intent to commit violence upon undocumented immigrants, refugees, Muslims, LGBTQ individuals, low-income families, those who lack health care access, the elderly, and many more."

Erica Rangel, an organizer with Enlace Chicago, which aids residents of Little Village, said immigrants are willing to stay involved and take action.

"People are passionate about the issue," she said. "It's something that touches them very deeply, something they live with on a daily basis."

sroe@chicagotribune.com

Twitter @SamRoe
A Chicago police officer accused of having sexual contact with an underage girl has been charged with felony criminal sexual assault, according to police and Cook County state's attorney officials.

Officer Eugene Ciardullo, 51, was arrested by fellow officers at his home Saturday afternoon, department spokesman Officer Jose Estrada said. Cook County Judge Maria Kuriakos Ciesil ordered him held on $75,000 bond Sunday.

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Prosecutors said in court Sunday that Ciardullo began communicating with the victim and her friends via social media when she was 16 years old. Prosecutors and police said the victim identified Ciardullo as the person who began having a "sexual relationship" with her when she was 17.

"The defendant and the victim discussed their age difference and defendant told the victim he could lose his job and go to jail if they were caught," assistant state's attorney Ed Murillo said. "The defendant told the victim to tell people who asked about their relationship that they were just good friends."

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The Tribune is not publishing additional details about the victim to avoid identifying her.

Ciardullo admitted to the allegations and knowledge of the victim's age, prosecutors said.

Ciardullo, who wore sweatpants and a black coat, remained silent throughout the court hearing. He is expected to return to court Tuesday.

Ciardullo, of the Scottsdale neighborhood, is assigned to the department's Deering District on the South Side, Chicago police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi said.

The felony charge against the 21-year department veteran was approved Saturday.

In addition to his employment with Chicago police, Ciardullo worked as a part-time security guard at a Chicago Public School in Mount Greenwood, a neighborhood known for its large number of police and firefighter residents. Michael Passman, a spokesman for CPS, said Ciardullo's employment with the school district ended last month.

"A part-time security officer at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences was removed from his position in December in response to serious allegations, and the individual is no longer an employee of Chicago Public Schools," Passman said. "The school responded promptly and followed proper protocols after it became aware of the allegations, and CPS is cooperating with law enforcement as it investigates the matter."

About two dozen of Ciardullo's family members were in court and appeared rattled by the allegations, with some relatives holding each other's trembling hands while crying. One man braced his forehead against a gallery pew in an apparent daze.

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Relatives declined to comment following the proceedings.

Ciardullo's defense attorney, George Grzeca, said the officer's career achievements included four commendations and 100 honorable mentions. He is also a four-year veteran of the Marine Corps.

Grzeca also declined to comment further outside court.

If he does post bail, Ciardullo will have to surrender his passport and any firearms he owns. He also is barred from using the internet and having any contact with people younger than 18. According to court records, Ciardullo has seven children; all of them are adults, Grezca told Kuriakos Ciesil.

Grzeca said his client has turned in his service weapon.

The internal affairs division is also investigating the case, Guglielmi said, and will present its findings to the Chicago Police Board to determine what discipline should be ordered.

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"The Chicago Police Department is currently also investigating this incident internally and administratively," Guglielmi said in a statement. "We remain committed to the highest levels of accountability for our officers and members and will not tolerate any activity or actions that undermine the integrity of the hard working men and women of our Department."

Ciardullo has been a Chicago police officer since August 1995, according to city records.

Throughout his career with the Police Department, Ciardullo has amassed about 40 complaints on allegations ranging from minor personnel violations to excessive force but has only been found to have committed wrongdoing on two occasions. He was given a 10-day suspension in 2001 stemming from an excessive force allegation and a two-day suspension in 2008 for a violation related to "weapon/ammunition/uniform deviation," the records show. It's unclear in the records if Ciardullo served those suspensions or fought the penalties.

Details of the actual allegations within those complaints were not available.

Chicago Tribune's Jeremy Gorner contributed

tbriscoe@chicagotribune.com

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Chicago police investigate where two people were shot near West 47th Street and South Marshfield Avenue in the Back of the Yards neighborhood Jan. 15, 2017. (E. Jason Wambsgans / Chicago Tribune)

A man was killed in Ukrainian Village and seven other people were wounded in Chicago shootings from Sunday afternoon to early Monday, police said.

The fatal shooting was at 1:10 a.m. Monday, when a 36-year-old man was shot in the 2200 block of West Chicago Avenue. A shooter in a black SUV chased him to the corner of Chicago and Oakley avenues and shot him in the abdomen, face and left leg.

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The man collapsed outside Fatso's Last Stand, a popular neighborhood hot dog joint whose door was shattered in the shooting. He was taken to Stroger Hospital in critical condition and pronounced dead at 2:05 a.m.

He was later identified as Marlon Pollard, of the 1400 block of Darrow Avenue in Evanston, according to the Cook County medical examiner's office.

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Pollard was on parole in the June 9, 2008, killing of Brandon Arnold, 26, at a Citgo gas station, 7138 N. Sheridan. Arnold was filling his car's gas tank about 6:30 p.m. that day when a gunman opened fire, then fled, police said at the time.

Pollard was found guilty in 2010 of second-degree murder in Arnold's killing, and ordered to serve a 15-year prison sentence, although he was given credit for time spent in jail and paroled in July 2015, according to records.

Other shootings:

At 1:45 a.m. Monday, a 28-year-old man was shot in the West Chatham neighborhood. He was in the passenger seat of a parked car when two people walked up and fired shots. He was shot in the hip and got himself to Saint Bernard Hospital. His condition was stabilized.

About 12:25 a.m., a 28-year-old man was shot in Englewood. He was walking on the sidewalk in the 6900 block of South Normal Avenue when someone fired shots from a silver sedan and he was shot in the hip. He went to Advocate Christ Medical Center and his condition was stabilized.

About 8:10 p.m. Sunday, a 33-year-old man was shot in the South Austin neighborhood. He got himself to West Suburban Medical Center with a gunshot wound to the lower left leg after being shot during a robbery in the 600 block of North Leclaire Avenue, police said. He was listed in good condition.

Ten minutes before that, a 36-year-old woman was shot in the Brainerd neighborhood. She was shot in the leg in the 600 block of West 95th Street and then went to Advocate Christ Medical Center. Her condition was stabilized.

A 16-year-old boy was in the 6300 block of South Cottage Grove Avenue in Woodlawn just before 2:45 p.m. when he was shot in the shoulder. He was taken to Comer Children's Hospital, just blocks away north of Midway Plaisance from the scene of the shooting, where his condition was stabilized. The boy told police that someone he didn't know came up to him and fired shots at him.

Two men were shot and critically wounded in the Back of the Yards neighborhood, according to police. The men, ages 31 and 60, were in the 4600 block of South Marshfield Avenue when they were shot just after 2:25 p.m., police said. The younger man was taken to Stroger Hospital, while the older man was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital. Both men were listed in critical condition. Officials said the shooting was believed to have been carried out with a rifle. The shooting took place in an alley that parallels 47th Street, with a Walgreens on one side of Marshfield on 47th and a liquor store on the other. Information on the circumstances of the shooting was not immediately released.

Check back for updates.
A Chicago police officer photographs the scene of a police-involved shooting near the intersection of West Madison Street and South Homan Avenue on Jan. 15, 2017. (Stacey Wescott / Chicago Tribune)

A Chicago police officer early Sunday fatally shot a man who was suspected of being involved in a shooting that wounded three people, according to officials.

Just before 12:25 a.m. Sunday, patrol officers in the area heard gunshots and responded to the intersection of Homan Avenue and Madison Street near the city's East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, said Sgt. Michael Malinowski.

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The officers saw a 34-year-old man, who they believed was involved in the shooting, leaving the scene. Officers began chasing the man on foot.

The man, who was armed with a gun, ran to a nearby alley in the 3300 block of West Monroe Street, and officers confronted him there, Malinowski said. One of the officers shot the man multiple times, police said.

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Officers rendered aid until paramedics arrived at the scene. The man was taken to a hospital and underwent surgery early Sunday. The 34-year-old man, identified as Herbert Johnson, of the 3100 block of West Madison Street, was pronounced dead at 7:09 a.m., according to Cook County medical examiner's office.

Two women and a man were injured in the shooting that prompted officers to stop and chase the man, which was believed to have started following a dispute about a woman, police said.

A 51-year-old woman was shot in the chest, and her condition was stabilized at a hospital. Police found the wounded woman in the 3400 block of West Madison Street.

A 30-year-old man was shot in the buttocks, and his condition was stabilized at an area hospital, police said. A 21-year-old woman was grazed in the left leg, and she was listed in good condition at an area hospital.

Officers were not injured during the incident. A weapon was found at the scene in the alley where the confrontation took place, police said.

When investigators interviewed the victims of the Madison Street shooting, all those interviewed told police the shooting happened after a heated dispute that began while Johnson and at least some of the people who were shot were standing in line to buy alcohol at a store, police said. Johnson began to argue with the victims about a woman, and when they left the store, Johnson followed them, pulled out a gun and started shooting, according to police.

The victims "thanked 11th (Harrison) District officers for saving their lives," said police spokesman Anthony Guglielmi, in an email.

Earlier, on Madison Street, officers placed numerous evidence markers in front of a funeral home. Officers also blocked off portions of Homan Avenue, which appeared to be a mostly residential area.

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Motorists slowed down as they passed the outskirts of the crime scene, rolling down their windows to ask if anyone was killed.

A woman wearing pajamas arrived at the scene about an hour after the shooting took place, attempting to cross police tape while asking what her fiance did.

"Please tell me," she shouted.

A woman in the neighborhood yelled out, "He got shot, baby."

On Madison Street, a different woman, who did not want to be identified for fear that she might be shot, said she had just picked up a late-night dinner and was walking home when the first shooting took place.

She said the man who was later shot by police had been inside a store on Madison Street with other people. She recalled that he opened fire after he walked out of the store and yelled, "What the (expletive) you said."

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"As soon as he walked out the store, he took about one step by me," she said. "He just pulled (the gun) out. I fell backwards and crawled up under the car. I don't know where everybody else went because I couldn't see them, I was under the car. But I don't know what he did that for."

She said the woman who was shot in the chest had been walking to the store when gunfire erupted.

"She walked right into it," she said.

Though she didn't know the woman's name, she recognized her as someone who lived in the neighborhood.

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She said a police car was driving on Homan Avenue as the shooting took place, but she did not see what happened next because she was hiding under a car.

The officer who shot the man Sunday will be placed on administrative leave for 30 days pending an investigation into the use of force in the incident.

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Officials from the Independent Police Review Authority were on the scene investigating the shooting.

Sunday's shooting marks the third officer-involved shooting since the beginning of the year.

The first officer-involved shooting took place the morning of Jan. 1 as officers tried to pull over a Hyundai that ignored a stop sign in the 12000 block of South State Street. An officer fired his gun twice, wounding the man during a struggle to restrain him, police previously said.

The other police-involved shooting took place Jan. 2 in the 2500 block of North Lowell Avenue. An off-duty officer shot Jose Nieves, 39, several times during an argument, police previously said. Nieves, who was not armed, later died at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center. Days after the shooting, the officer was stripped of his police powers by Superintendent Eddie Johnson.

Check back for updates.
WASHINGTON  The outgoing CIA director charged on Sunday that Donald Trump lacks a full understanding of the threat Moscow poses to the United States, delivering a public lecture to the president-elect that further highlighted the bitter state of Trump's relations with American intelligence agencies.

John Brennan's pointed message on national television came just five days before Trump becomes the nation's 45th president amid lingering questions about Russia's role in the 2016 election even as the focus shifts to the challenges of governing.

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"Now that he's going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, he's going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that U.S. and national security interests are protected," Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday," warning that the president-elect's impulsivity could be dangerous.

"Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests," Brennan declared.

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Trump, who has unleashed a series of aggressive tweets against the U.S. intelligence community and his political rivals in recent weeks, responded aggressively on Twitter several hours later.

"Was this the leaker of Fake News?" Trump tweeted Sunday evening, referring to a recent document that contains unverified financial and personal information that could be damaging to the president-elect. The Associated Press has not been able to verify the contents of the document.

The president-elect remained behind closed doors in his Manhattan high rise Sunday. His team worked to answer questions about his plans at home and abroad once he's sworn into office on Friday.

Among Trump's immediate challenges: the United States' complicated relationship with Russia, crafting an affordable health care alternative that doesn't strip coverage from millions of Americans, and growing questions about the legitimacy of his presidency.

Civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., is among several Democrats in Congress who vowed to skip Trump's inauguration, charging that Russian interference in the 2016 election delegitimizes his presidency.

"There will be many more members who join us in this decision," Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., wrote Saturday on his Facebook page.

Trump's lieutenants pushed back hard Sunday in a round of television interviews.

"I think it's incredibly disappointing and I think it's irresponsible for people like himself to question the legitimacy of the next United States president," incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said of Lewis on ABC's "This Week," insisting that Republicans did not question the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's victory eight years ago. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on "Fox News Sunday" that he hopes Lewis will change his mind and attend.

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Priebus later acknowledged that conservatives  led by Trump himself  spent years questioning Obama's eligibility to serve as president, suggesting he was not born in the United States.

Trump has done little to encourage unity in recent days, instead inflaming tensions with his critics through a series of tweets. The incoming president tweeted Saturday that Lewis should pay more attention to his "crime ridden" Atlanta-area district, adding that the civil rights leader was "all talk."

Lewis suffered a fractured skull when he led a march in Selma, Alabama, more than a half century ago and has devoted his life to civil rights.

The current White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said "Lewis has literally fought, bled and gone to jail" during what he called his "remarkable life." He encouraged the incoming president to move past Lewis' criticism.

"That would be the kind of thing that would not only send a message to the American people that we're prepared to work together, but would also send a message to the Russians that we are united," McDonough said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Questions about Trump's relationship with Russia have dominated the days leading up to his inauguration.

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Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is set to become Trump's national security adviser, has been in frequent contact with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for the alleged election hacking, a senior U.S. official said.

After initially denying the contact took place, Trump's team publicly acknowledged the conversations on Sunday.

"The conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats," said Vice President-elect Mike Pence, also in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

Repeated contacts just as Obama imposed sanctions would raise questions about whether Trump's team discussed  or even helped shape  Russia's response. Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly did not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions or the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, a decision Trump quickly praised.

Trump has repeatedly called for a better relationship between the U.S. and Putin's government. He suggested in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he'd consider easing the latest sanctions on Russia.

"I think he has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road," Brennan said.

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Associated Press
WASHINGTON  Donald Trump's incoming White House chief of staff warned the director of the Office of Government Ethics on Sunday to "be careful" about criticizing Trump's handling of his business conflicts.

OGE Director Walter Shaub this week criticized Trump's plan to shift ownership of his businesses to his sons, and his office has sought to influence Trump on the issue on Twitter for several weeks.

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"The head of the government ethics ought to be careful because that person is becoming extremely political," Priebus said on ABC News' "This Week with George Stephanopoulos."

Priebus suggested that Shaub, who was appointed by President Barack Obama, was supportive of Hillary Clinton during the campaign.

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"Apparently, may have ... publicly supported Hillary Clinton as calling out the president with info on Twitter about our disentangling of the business over a month ago," Priebus said. " So I'm not sure what this person at government ethics, what sort of standing he has any more in giving these opinions."

Priebus added that he supports the move by House Oversight Committee chairman Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz's proposing an investigation of Shaub.

"Jason Chaffetz was correct to call for an investigation into the government ethics department in the government for the positions they've taken in this campaign," Priebus said.

The Washington Post
Polish Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz speaks during the official welcoming ceremony of the U.S. troops in Zagan, Poland, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. The ceremony comes 23 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland and also marks a new historic moment  the first time any Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATO's eastern flank. (Krzysztof Zatycki / AP)

WARSAW, Poland  Polish leaders welcomed U.S. troops to their country Saturday, with the defense minister expressing gratitude for their arrival and calling it the fulfillment of a dream Poles have had for decades.

The ceremony in the western Polish town of Zagan comes some 23 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland. It marks a new historic moment  the first time Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATO's eastern flank. The move has infuriated Moscow.

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"We have waited for you for a very long time," Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz told the troops as snow fell. "We waited for decades, sometimes feeling we had been left alone, sometimes almost losing hope, sometimes feeling that we were the only one who protected civilization from aggression that came from the east."

The American deployment includes an armored brigade of 3,500 American troops from Fort Carson, Colo. It comes in reactions to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its backing of separatist insurgents in Ukraine's east.

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Those actions have frightened many in Poland, the Baltic states and other countries in Eastern Europe that were once under Moscow's control.

The Polish government organized several other events across the country, including in downtown Warsaw, to welcome the Americans.

"This is an important day for Poland, for Europe, for our common defense," Prime Minister Beata Szydlo said.

The troops are due to fan out across seven countries from Estonia to Bulgaria for exercises. A headquarters unit will be stationed in Germany. After nine months they will be replaced by another unit.

NATO will also deploy four multinational battalions to its eastern flank later this year, one each to Poland and the three Baltic states. The U.S. will also lead one of those battalions.

The Kremlin has denounced all these deployments, saying it considers them a threat to its own security and interests.

Associated Press
WASHINGTON  Vice President-elect Mike Pence denied Sunday that the Trump campaign had any contacts with Russia during the campaign.



Repeatedly pressed on the issue on "Fox News Sunday," Pence eventually answered directly, saying, "Of course not."



"Why would there be any contacts between the campaign" and Russia, he said.



He added that questions about contacts with Russia during the campaign were part of an attempt to cast doubts on the legitimacy of Trump's election.





"This is all a distraction, and it's all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election," Pence said. "The American people see right through it."

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Pence also denied that Trump's incoming national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, spoke to Russian officials in December about sanctions that had been announced as retribution for Russian hacking in the election.



"I talked to General Flynn yesterday, and the conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to new U.S. sanctions against Russia and the expulsion of diplomats," Pence said.
From left: Brig. Gen. William J. Walker, Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz, Maj. Gen. Bradley A. Becker and Brig. Gen. George M. Degnon during a news conference on Dec. 14 at the District of Columbia National Guard armory in Washington. (Bill O'Leary / The Washington Post)

WASHINGTON  The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump asked the head of the District of Columbia National Guard to remain in command throughout Inauguration Day after media reports that he would leave in the middle of the ceremony created controversy, the Guard said.

Maj. Gen. Errol Schwartz told The Washington Post on Friday that he will be removed from his post immediately after Trump is sworn in as president. That irked at least one D.C. Council member because Schwartz will have to abandon his post during one of the Guard's most important operations, helping maintain security and order during Washington's highest-profile event.

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As is customary for presidential appointees, Schwartz had offered his resignation after Trump was elected. In an interview Friday, Schwartz said he learned he would be replaced on Jan. 20. He said the transition team ultimately asked him to stay in the job for a few additional days, but only after the report of his departure had been published Friday on The Washington Post website.

Schwartz said he turned down the transition team's offer because, by then, he had begun packing up his office and notified his staff. He said he believes the offer came only as a result of the negative attention his departure attracted.

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He declined to comment further.

Transition officials for the new administration on Friday said the team asked Schwartz to stay on through the inauguration to maintain continuity. They did not immediately respond Saturday to questions about when and how that offer was extended.

Military officials on Saturday backtracked from earlier statements indicating that Schwartz had not been asked to stay on by the new administration. One said he learned he had been mistaken, and that additional paperwork that became available Saturday showed that the transition team had in fact asked Schwartz to maintain his command for several days into the new presidency. That official did not know when that offer was made.

Another senior military official said he believed the offer came before Friday.

Maj. Byron Coward, a spokesman for the D.C. National Guard, also said the offer from the transition team to Schwartz came Friday afternoon. He said Trump transition officials asked Schwartz to stay on an additional three days. Coward said that was the first time Schwartz had any notion that the transition team wanted him to stay in command throughout the inauguration.

On the morning of the inauguration, Schwartz will command not only members of the D.C. Guard but also 5,000 unarmed troops dispatched from across the country to help.

Brig. Gen. William J. Walker, who also has been involved with inauguration planning, has been named Schwartz's interim replacement. He will take command on Friday at 12:01 p.m.

That moment, when the new president is sworn in, is the standard time for many political appointees to step out of their jobs as a new administration takes over.

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Unlike in states, where the governor appoints the National Guard commander, in the District that duty falls to the president.

Schwartz, who was appointed to head the Guard by President George W. Bush in 2008, maintained the position through President Barack Obama's two terms.

Schwartz began his military career in 1976 by enlisting in the Guard, formally called the Militia of the District of Columbia National Guard. He also oversees the Air National Guard, which combined with the Army Guard has an authorized strength of 2,700. He has served in several leadership positions, notably commanding the 372nd Military Police Battalion.

The Washington Post's Joe Heim and Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.
Mel Bergstein, who helped point the way for what became Accenture and founded Diamond Technology Partners, saw the strategic business potential of technology when many saw computers simply as high-speed adding machines.

"He was remarkably visionary," said Paul Carroll, who was a reporter for the Wall Street Journal when he met Bergstein about 1986. "He came up with the idea of digital strategy, the idea that information technology should drive (business) strategy."

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Carroll, the author of "Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM," said Bergstein also was remarkable for his focus on values, integrity and loyalty. Those attributes were Bergstein hallmarks, according to Chunka Mui, who worked for and with Bergstein for the last 30 years.

"He always built firms that felt like family and that were focused on employees," said Mui, the author of "Unleashing The Killer App" and a former Diamond partner. "He believed that leaders had first and foremost responsibility for values."

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Bergstein, 74, died on Dec. 25 of complications related to treatment for leukemia diagnosed in 2011, according to his son, Seth. He had lived in Winnetka for more than 30 years.

He was born Melvyn Bergstein in Brooklyn and grew up in Manhattan. After graduating from Stuyvesant High School, he went on to undergraduate studies at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania, where he got a bachelor's degree in accounting in 1963. He later became a certified public accountant.

He worked for a time in his father's stationery store before joining what was then Arthur Andersen in New York in 1968. He became a partner in 1976.

From 1972 to 1984, Bergstein ran the Andersen Technology Services organization out of Stamford, Conn., according to his family. In 1985, he became chief technology officer and moved his family to Winnetka.

In the early 1980s, Bergstein became focused on the coming technology revolution and was one of the early partners in what became Andersen Consulting. In 1986 he was named to the Global Board of Andersen.

Michael Krauss, at one time head of global marketing for Andersen and later a Diamond partner, said that while Bergstein was not a founder of what became Accenture, he was a key figure in its development.

"Without Mel's vision, there would have been no consulting, no Accenture," Krauss said.

Bergstein left Andersen in 1989 and founded Diamond in 1994. He was chairman and CEO until 2007 and then chairman from 2007 to 2010. Seth Bergstein said the company was sold in 2010 to PwC, formerly PricewaterhouseCoopers, for about $400 million.

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"He reshaped the way companies used technology," Mui said. "It became an integral part of driving their business strategy."

Carroll noted that Bergstein's vision extended from an early understanding of the potential for outsourcing information processing services to a 1989 conversation that led to a Wall Street Journal column that Carroll said "didn't quite predict the cloud but came pretty close."

Mui said that at Diamond, Bergstein sent out a weekly message reminding everyone in the company that employees came first, followed by a focus on the company's "great clients," and then by concern for investors.

That was the experience of David Moon, who worked with Bergstein at Diamond. "Client service was important, shareholders were important, but so was the birth of my child," said Moon, who added that when Bergstein entered a room where a large project team was meeting, "everybody lit up."

"He taught me a lot about both how to be an executive but also how be a human," Mui said.

In addition to his son, Bergstein is survived by his wife of 51 years, Tina; another son, Adam; and five grandchildren.

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A private memorial is planned.

Megan is a freelance reporter.
In steadfast pursuit of gender equality and to promote nonconformity, it's become popular in some social circles to start early, very early, by raising young children in a gender-neutral way: not revealing the baby's sex at birth, dressing them and their bedroom in various shades of oatmeal, encouraging them to play with gender-neutral toys. There's also pressure on corporations to help; parental complaints led Target to stop sex-segregating its toys, for instance.

Offering kids the opportunity to pursue what they'd like, freed from societal expectations, is an undeniably positive thing  whether it has to do with toys, clothing or their future aspirations. But the scientific reality is that it's futile to treat children as blank slates with no predetermined characteristics. Biology matters.

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A large and long-standing body of research literature shows that toy preferences, for example, are innate, not socially constructed or shaped by parental feedback.

Most girls will gravitate toward socially interesting toys, like dolls, that help social and verbal abilities develop. Most boys will gravitate toward toys that are mechanically interesting, like cars and trucks, fostering visuo-spatial skills.

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One recent study, published in Infant and Child Development, showed that these preferences emerge as early as 9 months of age  before children are developmentally aware that gender differences exist, at around 18 months.

Another piece of evidence comes from studying girls who were exposed to high levels of testosterone prenatally, in the case of a genetic condition called congenital adrenal hyperplasia, or CAH. Girls with CAH tend to be gender nonconforming, and will prefer toys that are typical to boys, even when their parents offer more praise for playing with female-typical ones. This speaks to the vital role of hormones in developing gender preferences and sex differences in behavior, more broadly.

We also see the same trend in our primate cousins, including rhesus and vervet monkeys. Young female monkeys gravitate toward dolls while male monkeys prefer wheeled toys, despite the fact they aren't encouraged by other monkeys or their caregivers in their choices.

In the face of scientific data, the gender-neutral movement nevertheless continues to gain momentum. Its adherents took heart in a study published last year in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, which touted the idea that the brains of women and men are identical. If so, that would support to the theory that gender is an artificially created, outdated concept.

However, an immense body of neuroimaging research has shown brain differences between the sexes. One meta-analysis of 126 studies found that men have larger total brain volumes than women. Men also show greater white matter connectivity running from the front to the back of the brain, while women have more of these connections running between the two hemispheres.

Additionally, when researchers reanalyzed the data from the "no sex differences" study, they found that it was possible to correctly identify whether a brain was male or female 73 percent of the time. But this discovery did not receive much attention from the media. As a result, the initial study's misinformation continues to spread.

I hear from many well-meaning parents who raised their children in gender-neutral homes and were surprised to find that they nevertheless gravitated toward stereotypical interests and toys. Little boys who were given pots and pans to play with turned them into makeshift toy cars, complete with self-generated engine sounds. Little girls turned to one another and started playing house.

The gender-neutral trend capitalizes on fears that parents have of inadvertently limiting their child's potential. We want the best for our children; for daughters to grow up to be as competitive for STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) jobs as their male counterparts, and for sons to possess strong social and communication skills.

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But whether your child leans toward gender-atypical traits will likely have more to do with the prenatal environment  testosterone levels in utero  than a perfectly balanced upbringing. Besides, so long as children are given the option to take part in activities they find interesting, there's nothing wrong with being gender-typical.

Acknowledging inherent sex differences isn't harmful or sexist; differences don't necessitate one sex being better than the other.

Tribune Content Agency

Debra W. Soh is a sex writer and sexual neuroscientist at York University in Toronto.

Related stories:

Boy Story creators want to give boys a doll of their own

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When boys wear dresses: What does it mean?

'I don't want to be a princess. I want to be a pilot.'
Tuesday, when President Barack Obama spoke with trepidation of the state of our democracy right now in his farewell speech, it struck me how iconic his presidency was. As Martin Luther King Jr. Day approaches and countless across America will be celebrating the life of this great man, Obama's words seem all the more fitting. Obama phrased it: "Show up. Dive in. Persevere. Sometimes you'll win. Sometimes you'll lose. ... And more often than not, your faith in America  and in Americans  will be confirmed." What was even more symbolic was that as he leaves office, he will become the citizen himself that he once addressed.

King was a man of peace, and his beliefs mirror Islamic beliefs that champion peace. As I grow older, I realize that his cry for unity amongst diversity is in fact a universal belief held by compassionate people of faith or no faith. As a member of the Ahmadiyya Muslim Community, I believe in what Obama said  that my faith in America will be confirmed.

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 Rabia Salim, Plainfield
In this Jan. 11, 2017, photo provided by Sherman Hiatt, people work to put out a wildfire triggered when a pile of chicken manure caught fire in a barn near Charleston, Ark. (Sherman Hiatt / AP)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark.  How high is too high for a pile of chicken manure?

Eight feet, apparently.

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Chicken waste is an excellent fertilizer, but with the growing season still weeks away it's piling up in barns across the South. To reduce the risk of fire from spontaneous combustion, poultry experts are warning farmers that piles 6- to 7-feet high are high enough. One pile caught fire in western Arkansas this week, triggering a wildfire that destroyed a mobile home.

"This hit the sweet spot," said Karl VanDevender, a professor and extension engineer for the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture, after describing the mix of moisture, texture and decomposition needed to produce a burning pile of waste.

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Normal composting at 130 to 145 degrees will kill pathogens, but extra moisture in the stack can help drive temperatures over 170 degrees, raising the risk of a fire, he said.

"If you see smoke, it's kind of iffy. If you break in, you may introduce oxygen and set it off. Have water nearby," he said. "If you have litter stored and stacked, keep an eye on it."

Charleston Mayor Sherman Hiatt, who is also his town's assistant fire chief, said the manure stack that caught fire Wednesday was 8 or 9 feet high. It set nearby hay ablaze and then flames jumped a highway and raced away on a steady 25 mph wind. It took about four hours to douse the flames; no one was injured.

"I think most farmers are pretty diligent in their methods, but sometimes freak things happen," said Hiatt, himself a cattle farmer who worked a poultry waste fire at another farm two years ago.

Arkansas is among the nation's leading poultry-producing states, with Georgia and Maryland. Agriculture schools in chicken country have published brochures on how to store chicken litter, and the University of Maryland goes so far as suggesting having the fire department on hand if farmers intend to move a smoldering pile of waste.

VanDevender said that because so many factors go into igniting a waste pile, it's difficult to predict when one might catch fire.

"With biological processes, we throw precision out the window," he said.
A dog named Dax successfully chased down an alleged domestic violence offender who fled from a vehicle on Interstate 94 early Sunday morning, according to the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

Deputies received a 911 call about 12:40 a.m. reporting a domestic battery in a vehicle on the side of the westbound Interstate 94 off-ramp at Route 60 in Mettawa, officials said.

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Before sheriff's deputies and Illinois state police arrived, the suspect, Jermaine D. Ausley, 30, of Chicago, fled the scene, according to the Sheriff's Office. The vehicle Ausley fled was found to be stolen, authorities said.

Jermaine D. Ausley, 30, of Chicago (Lake County Sheriff's Office / Handout)

Deputy John Forlenza and Dax, his canine partner, tracked Ausley's scent to the 1900 block of Amberley Court in Lake Forest, where they found Ausley hiding under a tarp in an outbuilding, officials said.

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Ausley was taken into custody without further incident, authorities said. He was turned over to state troopers, taken to the Lake County Jail and charged with two counts of domestic battery, obstructing a peace officer, criminal trespass to building and criminal trespass to vehicle, according to reports. He was being held Sunday at the jail, with bail set at $40,000.

Ausley is scheduled to appear in court Friday.

lhammill@tribpub.com

Twitter @lucashammill
The North Shore Baptist Ministers Alliance had a meeting to discuss the annual MLK event which this year is themed, "Unity in the Community", on Saturday, January 7, 2017 at Gideon Baptist Church in Waukegan. (Mark Ukena/Lake County News-Sun) (Mark Kodiak Ukena / Lake County News-Sun)

It was 1963 when Martin Luther King, Jr. marched on Washington, declaring his dream about human equality that became a hallmark of the Civil Rights Movement.

Nearly 54 years later, as Monday marks the observance of a national holiday honoring King, Lake County leaders call for unity, fearing the recent election of Donald Trump may unravel the social progress that King inspired.

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Like much of the nation, Lake County is deeply divided, being largely Republican, with pockets of Democrats, according to Angelo Kyle, a former Lake County Board member.

The North Shore Baptist Ministers Alliance hosted its annual King Celebration on Jan. 8, focusing on bringing together different communities, including the Latino Coalition, said Kyle, who was also the event's chairman.

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"This year, there is a special event  because of the election of Donald Trump, we are emphasizing unity in the community," Kyle said. "We are trying to bridge the gap of division in our community."

Thousands of people attended the event titled "His Dream Uniting Our Destiny" at the First Corinthian Baptist Church, 1529 Elizabeth Ave. in North Chicago. It focused on the "significance and importance of working relationships with all the ethnicities," because what they have in common is they are all residents of Lake County, Kyle said.

"We all want a good job, we all want a quality of life," Kyle said. "That was the main thrust of Dr. King, that was his goal. We want to emphasize the goal of Dr. King that we all live together."

King's message is relevant today, particularly because the election of Trump has "garnered a deep division within the community," Kyle said.

The alliance has sponsored an event on King's birthday since the 1970s, said Wade Stevenson, pastor of Gideon Baptist Church in Waukegan and current president of the alliance.

"It has been our desire to promote and keep in focus some of the issues that were pertinent back in Dr. King's day," Stevenson said. "I think we're dealing with some of the same issues."

For Stevenson, those issues also included jobs, economic stability and education.

This year's program was designed in response to "many of the things that have happened around the nation," Stevenson said.

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Days after Trump's U.S. attorney general nominee Jeff Sessions faced contentious congressional appointment hearings, Waukegan alderman and 2017 mayoral candidate Sam Cunningham said that King's message of equality may be in jeopardy because Sessions has "a history of anti-MLK efforts."

Though Sessions has denied allegations that he once supported the Klu Klux Klan, Cunningham believes that although everyone is entitled to their own ideas and opinions, the standard is higher for the nation's top prosecutor.

"You cannot be biased," Cunningham said of the role of attorney general. "I don't think you can be perceived to be biased, in my opinion. We must feel confident that that (bias) will not interfere with what laws are on the books now."

If King were alive today, Cunningham said the leader  known for non-violent civil disobedience  would "definitely" be speaking one-on-one with Trump and Sessions.

"I don't think MLK would ever tell the president, 'You can't do that,'" Cunningham said, adding that he believes King would be asking how to move from the position that we are in.

Cunningham believes that King's spirit of equality and unity are not "at the table" with a government led by Trump and involving Sessions, not just on civil rights issues for black Americans, but also for the gay and lesbian communities and other civil rights issues that will inevitably arise in the future, he said.

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"Preconceived notions are not forward-moving thoughts," said Todd Fletcher, pastor of the First Baptist Church of Lake Forest, and a Lake County re-entry specialist who works with people released from jail. "It is a hindering, backwards way of thinking."

Several Lake County leaders said that although holding conferences and events honoring King are important, real progress is made with action.

"I'm hoping (this) MLK Day, there is a move to action, not just celebration," Cunningham said.

Like Stevenson, Cunningham and others agreed that eduction was a priority. Fletcher said it is acceptable to have a difference of opinion, but that groups need to agree on moving forward.

"MLK focused on the maintenance work," Fletcher said. "It was needed then. It is needed today."

Erin Gallagher is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
Fifth-graders at Prairie Trail Elementary School in Wadsworth got to walk in the shoes of a civil engineer and imagine themselves creating a city on Thursday.

The more than 100 students from Gurnee School District 56 were led by Darrell Kuntz, project manager at the Lake County Division of Transportation, who said his work touches the lives of everyone who travel on the county's roads and bridges.

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"Civil engineers build the infrastructure that supports towns and cities," Kuntz said. "If you have a desire to help people solve problems, engineering could be a path for you."

With that in mind, Kuntz gave the children free reign to create their own version of a town or city on a blank map of a section of Lake County.

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From left: Prairie Trail fifth-grade students Magdiel Rivera, Josian Perez, Zaira Feliz and Melanny Villagomez sketch a city for an engineering project on Thursday. (Yadira Sanchez Olson / Lake County News-Sun)

In groups of four to six, students used their imagination to come up structures they think are needed for the daily operations of a society. Using rulers and pencils to sketch, each student contributed with drawings of buildings, such as a bank, neighborhood or school.

"We're adding places that people would actually want to go to," said 10-year-old Aseel Judah, after going through a list of her group's map, which included a museum, hospital and park.

In another group, 11-year-old Sophia Romero said she loves pets, so she drew a bone-shaped building that would be the pet shop in her town.

A building originally intended to be a Starbucks was turned into a bank by 10-year-old Marcus Fernandez after his drawing didn't quite turn out the way he planned.

The drawings, erasures and re-workings of plans for the students' fictitious communities were a lesson on the challenges of engineering.

"When it comes to solving a problem, there are many different ways to go about it," Kuntz said. "You just have to find the one that works the best."

Lake County Division of Transportation project manager Darrell Kuntz talks to fifth-grade students of Prairie Trail Elementary School on Thursday. (Yadira Sanchez Olson / Lake County News-Sun)

In Zaira Felix's group, students discovered another challenge when they couldn't agree on where to make a road that would connect the neighborhood homes to the buildings they drew.

"It's a struggle agreeing on the things we want," Feliz said.

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Thursday's visit by Kuntz also included a glimpse at a trailer of an IMAX film soon to screen at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago in February about the human ingenuity behind engineering marvels big and small.

After playing the "Dream Big: Engineering Our World" trailer for the fifth-graders, Kuntz invited them to learn more about all the different types of engineering careers so they can decide whether they would want to make that their chosen field.

Yadira Sanchez Olson is a freelance reporter for the News-Sun.
International Dairy Queen Inc. expects Dairy Queen signage to be removed soon from a location in Zion following the company's decision to cancel its corporate franchise agreement with the local owner, who was accused of directing slurs at a biracial customer in front of her young children on Jan. 4.

"While we do not have specific information regarding immediate next steps, we anticipate that the signage will be removed from the Zion, Ill. location in the next few weeks," International Dairy Queen spokesman Dean Peters said in an email.

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The business owner, James Crichton, said Thursday that he is trying to sell the property at 1215 21st St. near Sheridan Road.

"What I'm working on will show up here in a few months," Crichton said, but he did not elaborate.

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The owner of the Zion Dairy Queen allegedly called Deianeira Ford racial slurs in front of her children on Jan. 5, 2017. (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune) (Chris Walker/Chicago Tribune)

Crichton, a Lake Villa resident, said during a brief phone conversation that he had "nothing to say" about the incident that prompted a police response and ultimately lost him his Dairy Queen store.

The property was last sold in 2011, according to the Lake County Recorder of Deeds' office. JJC Holdings, which was organized in Colorado and has principal offices in Lake Villa, bought it for $200,000 from a now-dissolved corporation based in Wadsworth.

The Dairy Queen was thrown into controversy after Deianeira Ford, 21, of Tinley Park, said Crichton called her and her children racial slurs after she did not receive her full order and asked for a refund.

Crichton, who is white, initially denied the accusations, but a Zion Police Department report issued the next day confirmed Ford's account. The responding officer wrote that Crichton "proudly admitted" to using the racial slurs and said he "would be happy to go to jail over the issue."

Ford posted on Facebook that when she asked Crichton his name, he first said it was "Bill Clinton" and then said, "'Better yet, I'm Donald Trump,' and told me to go back where I came from."

The responding officer also wrote that Crichton said he is "fed up with black people."

Peters said International Dairy Queen was not aware of such a situation ever occurring at any of its other locations.

Crichton later apologized and asked for forgiveness in a statement released Jan. 6 through International Dairy Queen, calling his actions "inexcusable and unacceptable."

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The Lake County chapter of Black Lives Matter organized a celebration protest at the Dairy Queen on Jan. 7, after Crichton's franchise agreement was pulled. Ford attended the gathering with her attorney, Renea Amen.

Under the terms of the agreement with International Dairy Queen, the restaurant will remain closed and won't reopen as a Dairy Queen unless ownership changes at that location.

Zion Mayor Al Hill said the city could not revoke Crichton's business license because of the incident, citing free speech protections.

Ford said on Thursday she was doing "all right" and is "glad how the outcome came out."

"The main thing, really, that I got out of this whole experience is the fact that a lot of people, no matter the race, no one thought it was OK, and I had a lot of support from the community behind me," Ford said.

Amen, Ford's attorney, said Friday that she and Ford weren't sure yet about their next step.

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"We are still in the same place we were last week," Amen said. "Dairy Queen and I are still in talks. At this moment, nothing's changed."

Ford's 3-year-old daughter is a "little sponge," Ford said, and recalls the incident when the family drives by other Dairy Queen locations.

Ford, a full-time student at Prairie State College, recently worked as a dispatcher at the south suburban Harvey Police Department. She said she plans to relocate to Zion with her children on Friday.

News-Sun Reporter Frank Abderholden contributed.

lhammill@tribpub.com

Twitter @lucashammill
Zion police have identified a man who was found dead inside a residence Wednesday night.

Shafon L. Hayes, of Zion, died of complications related to a gunshot wound, Lake County Coroner Howard Cooper said Friday. The death was a homicide, Cooper said.

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Hayes was found at 11:17 p.m. Wednesday inside a residence in the 2300 block of Gideon Avenue, Zion police said. The victim was 39, according to police.

The Lake County Major Crimes Task Force, the Lake County Coroner's Office and the Zion Police Department continue to investigate the incident. Officials asked anyone with information to call Zion police at 847-872-8000.

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lhammill@tribpub.com

Twitter @lucashammill
SJC names new director of Alumni Affairs

Saint Joseph's College has appointed Michelle M. Searer as its new director of Alumni Affairs and Parent Relations. Shearer most recently served as vice president of the South Shore Leadership Center in Valparaiso where she was responsible for enrollment, marketing and program development for regional community leadership programs. She also has served as vice president for enrollment management and marketing at Malone University in Canton, Ohio' associate vice president of enrollment and marketing at the College of DuPage in Glen Ellyn, Ill.; and director of marketing and communications at Indiana University Northwest in Gary. Searer holds an MBA and BS degree in Business Administration from Indiana University, a post master certificate in Enrollment Management from Capella University and is currently in the dissertation phase to complete her Ph.D. in Leadership in Higher Education. In her new role at SJC, Searer will focus on planning and implementing the College's alumni programming, activities, and engagement efforts as well as manage a portfolio of prospects for donor cultivation. A resident of Wheatfield, Searer has served in a variety of leadership positions within the community, such as America's Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest Indiana; Lakeshore Public Television; South Shore Leadership Alumni Council Center; and area Chambers of Commerce in Indiana and Illinois.

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Ivy Tech honors local student leaders

Thirteen students from Ivy Tech Community College's Northwest region were among those honored recently through the Ivy Tech Student Leadership Academy (SLA). A program designed specifically for Ivy Tech, SLA provides students with an opportunity to develop their leadership and professional development skills. The students were chosen through a competitive application process, with more than 600 students applying. Area students receiving the honor are Nibal Abdelsalam, Haley Brooks, Julie Burton, Mitchell Chmielewski, Kelly Davidson, Tamara Golden, Crystal Grasso, Christine Madrigal, Miguel Molina, Kyle Sanchez, Christina Sears, Jacob Williams and Annastesia Workman.

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Valpo appoints Dean to College of Nursing

Karen Allen, RN, Ph.D., FAAN, will join the Valparaiso University faculty as dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions, effective July 3. Most recently, Allen has served as professor of nursing at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Mich. In her role as dean, Allen will be responsible for the strategic leadership, coordination and guidance of the College. Allen holds a Ph.D. in nursing sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a master's in nursing administration and a bachelor's in nursing from Andrews University. She also has been inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. Recently, the college of Nursing and Health professions expanded to offer new health care programs, including health care leadership, physician assistant studies, public health, and health administration. The College also launched a doctor of nursing practice program, becoming the first university in Indiana to offer this degree.

Methodist Hospitals names new VP of Human Resources

Tracey L. Crandall has joined Methodist Hospitals as Vice President, Chief Human Resource Officer. She comes to Methodist from Inova Health Systems in Falls Church, Va., where she was Vice President of Human Resources. Prior to that, she worked as Vice President of Human Resources at Fresenius Medical Center. Tracey brings a background in talent acquisition, employee relations and organizational change. She holds her MBA from DeVry University Keller Graduate School of Management in Downers Grove, Ill.

County surveyor appointed to committee

Lake County Surveyor Bill Emerson, Jr. has been appointed as one of two Indiana representatives on the National Association of Counties  Environmental, Energy and Land Use Steering Committee. The National Association of Counties brings county officials together to advocate with a collective voice on national policy, to exchange ideas and to pursue solutions. The steering committee is responsible for all matters pertaining to air, water, energy and land use.

 Staff report
A man killed in a single-car crash on Ind. 2 near Union Street Saturday morning has been identified as William L. Rayner, 58, of Hebron, according to a press release from the Lake County Coroner's Office.

The Coroner's Office was called to the crash at 6529 East 181st Street at 9:22 a.m. Rainer of the 500 block of Orchard Avenue was pronounced dead on the scene at 9:59 a.m.

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Witness John Bryant said it appeared the motorist was traveling eastbound in Ind. 2 when he hit the guardrail on the bridge over Singleton Ditch which launched his vehicle into the air. Bryant owns the farm where the vehicle came to rest.

"The guardrails on that bridge are close to the highway," Bryant said.

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The vehicle clipped eight of the guardrail posts, jumped the 60-foot wide ditch south of the bridge and landed on the other side where the vehicle hit another three-foot-high guardrail before coming to a rest, according to reports. The engine came out of the vehicle and the car came to a rest upside down.

Bryant said another farmer arrived in his work truck and attempted unsuccessfully to open the door with a crowbar and sledgehammer to get the man out of the vehicle before first-responders arrived.

Lake County Sheriff's Department spokesman Mark Back said the agency's Crash Reconstruction Unit is investigating whether speed was a factor in this crash. The speed limit on that section of the roadway is 55 mph.

Bryant said this was the third fatal crash at the bridge in six years.

The bridge is on the county Highway Department's schedule for widening in 2018.

Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
File photo of a stamp collection featuring the "Zhaoling Liujun". [Penn Museum website]

A Chinese museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi province has openly demanded the return of two horse relief sculptures displayed at a University of Pennsylvania museum. The sculptures were illegally sold overseas.

The Zhaoling Museum made its announcement on Jan 11 via its official WeChat public account, calling on the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) to return the pieces so that the "Zhaoling Liujun", a set of six horse relief sculptures, can be reunited.

The six memorialized horses lived during the Tang Dynasty. They were allegedly the favorites of Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin. Together with other decorations and monuments, the six pieces were supposedly placed at the gate of the emperor's tomb.

"We believe it is most reasonable for the two horses to be returned to China from the Penn Museum  The University of Pennsylvania has long been dedicated to global cultural heritage protection. We hope that the Penn Museum can reach a consensus with China on this issue and make a greater contribution to the protection of the common cultural heritage of human beings," the Zhaoling Museum stated.

The other four horse sculptures are currently on display at the Forest of Stone Steles Museum in Shaanxi. Two replicas are standing in for the horses in Pennsylvania.

Citing archives from the Shanghai Museum, earlier media reports revealed that the two missing pieces were sold for $125,000 to the then-director of Penn Museum by notorious antiques smuggler Lu Qinzhai, after Lu ordered the theft of the sculptures from the tomb.

According to the Zhaoling Museum, professional principles dictate that a museum must obtain its exhibited items without any legal burden. It should not purchase relics that have not been reported to authorities, and should assist in the return of improperly obtained articles if permitted by law. For exhibits dating earlier than 1970, museums should be able to prove that its items were acquired through proper channels.

"The Penn Museum should not have purchased the two horses, which were obviously excavated after deliberate sabotage that created damage on the [sculptures'] surface. We hereby demand that Penn Museum negotiate a plan to reunite the six horses," the Zhaoling Museum stated.

It went on to articulate how the separated art pieces have damaged the completeness of the Zhaoling Liujun, which are best observed in full. The Zhaoling Museum also guaranteed that the two relief sculptures would be under good protection and would be available for viewing by both casual admirers and researchers.

The University of Pennsylvania and Penn Museum could not be reached for comment as of press time. It remains to be seen whether they will respond to the call.
Swiss President Doris Leuthard said Thursday that the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a stabilizing effect on both Europe and the world in light of the many changes and challenges affecting the international landscape.

"I think there are different expectations, (and) it will be a very important visit for the whole of Europe and perhaps with some elements that have worldwide recognitions," Leuthard told Xinhua in an interview.

"As you know we are in a difficult situation ... I think China can use this situation to show its world power status and how it can be a factor of stability," she added.

She was referring to the changes of governments which have already taken place or could take place in some big powers of the world, as well as lingering tensions in several country-to-country relations.

Switzerland was among the first European countries to recognize China's market economy status, the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China, said Leuthard.

She attributed the development of bilateral relations to the trust and confidence between Berne and Beijing, as well as the fruits of many years of discussions, meetings and mutual understanding.

This bilateral relationship will be reinforced by Xi's visit, and new space will be opened for cooperation for the ties to move up a new ladder, said Leuthard, who has been at the helm of the Swiss government since the beginning of the year.

"There is an expectation on the bilateral level, (and) we will sign quite a lot of new agreements and in so doing enlarge our fields of cooperation," she explained.

Xi will pay a state visit to Switzerland from Jan. 15 to Jan. 18, at the invitation of the Federal Council of Switzerland.

During the visit, Xi will attend the 47th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on Jan. 17, at the invitation of WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.

He will also visit the United Nations Office at Geneva and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the International Olympics Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne on Jan. 18, at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, and IOC President Thomas Bach.
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Beijing will spend 18.2 billion yuan (2.6 billion U.S. dollars) to fight air pollution in 2017, officials said Saturday.

This year, the city will strengthen air pollution treatment, replace coal with clean energy for 700 villages, phase out 300,000 high-polluting old vehicles, close or upgrade 2,570 polluting factories, said acting mayor Cai Qi while delivering the city government work report to the annual session of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, which opened on Saturday.

Cai said Beijing will take tougher measures to improve the city's air quality in 2017.

The city will "strictly implement emission standards, enhance the environmental law enforcement and establish an environmental protection police force," he said in the work report.

Acts of excessively or secretly discharging pollutants will be severely punished, Cai added.

According to an official of the Beijing Public Security Bureau,the 150-strong environment,food,drug and tourism safety police force has been established and will be officially inaugurated soon.

The environment police squad can detain suspects in serious environment-related cases, the official told municipal lawmakers.

The environment police will work with the city's environmental protection authorities to crack down on violations in environmental protection, Fang Li, head of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau, told reporters with qianlong.com, a major news portal of the capital.

Beijing's environmental watchdog handled 13,127 environment-related cases in 2016, with fines totalling 150 million yuan (21.8 million U.S. dollars), including 40 million yuan for nearly 1,400 air pollution cases.

Last year, Beijing had 198 days with good air quality, an increase of 12 days from 2015. Its average density of PM2.5, airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diameter, was 73 micrograms per cubic meter in 2016, down 9.9 percent from 2015.

The city aims to control the annual average density of PM2.5 to around 60 micrograms per cubic meter this year, said Lu Yan, head of the Beijing Development and Reform Commission.
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Chinese procuratorates at all levels in 2016 approved the arrest of 19,345 suspects involved in telecom or cyber fraud.

The information was released at a national meeting attended by chief prosecutors at all levels on Saturday.

It was told at the meeting, procuratorial agencies will research "campus loans" offered to university students, to prevent possible fraud schemes targeting relevant groups.

The authorities pledged to continue applying "high pressure" on those who commit telecom and cyber fraud this year.

It said a special campaign to address the stealing, leakage and sale of citizens' personal information would also be improved.




A J-15 "Flying Shark" carrier-based jet fighter takes off from the Liaoning aircraft carrier during its latest exercise. [Photo / MOD]

The Chinese PLA Navy's Liaoning Aircraft Carrier battle group returned to base in Qingdao, Shandong Province on the afternoon of Jan. 13, after completing trans-sea exercises beginning on Dec. 20 of last year, the Ministry of National Defense (MOD) has announced.

The Liaoning carrier, along with destroyers, frigates and carrier-based J-15 jet fighters and helicopters, operated in the Bohai Sea, Yellow Sea, East China Sea and the South China Sea, passing through the Miyako Strait, Bashi Channel and the Taiwan Strait.

During the training, J-15 jet fighters practiced ship-based take-offs and landings in different maritime conditions, as well as simulated aerial combat and peer-to-peer refueling.

The exercise was an opportunity for the Liaoning carrier battle group to practice coordination between vessels and aircrafts as well as logistic support in a prolonged mission. The carrier battle group also exhibited its initial achievements in combat capabilities, according to the MOD statement.

It said the battler group "effectively responded to various maritime and aerial conditions."

The battle group passed through the Taiwan Strait during the wee hours of Jan. 12, PLA Navy spokesperson Liang Yang confirmed separately. Liang said the Liaoning and its escorts strictly followed the protocol regarding how large vessels should pass through straits. He said all ships reinforced duties to ensure safe passage.

Chen Yueqi, the battle group's commander, said the training was a comprehensive one that involved "total elements and total procedures". He also said that all planned exercise components and trials progressed smoothly, meeting their intended objectives.

The MOD said further training exercises of the Liaoning would be decided based on actual conditions.
In a recent press conference, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry made clear that the United States has been more deeply engaged in more places to greater effect than at any time in American history. This is especially true of Africa:

We have worked long and hard with country after country [in Africa], with governments and civil society every single day to combat hunger, to increase digital access, to train the leaders of tomorrow, said Secretary Kerry. One of the most enduring efforts of President Barack Obama may be the Young Leaders Initiatives, and particularly the Young African Leaders Initiative.

In Nigeria, the United States took the lead in helping the country through a difficult election process and in the fight against the terrorist group Boko Haram. Weve helped the Somalians fight back against al-Shabaab. We have worked diligently to promote peace in South Sudan and worked with the region to try to bring people together and turn away from the potential of challenged and failing governments, said Secretary Kerry.

The U.S. has helped push back against any number of violent extremist groups, including most recently supporting the Libyans in their fight against Daesh in Sirte, Libya.

Together with its international partners, the United States led the fight to assist countries battling against Ebola, stopping the spread of the disease in its tracks. It wasnt easy, said Secretary Kerry. But President Obama made the daring choice of sending some 3,000 or so American troops there to build capacity so the U.S. could deliver health care, along with the French and British. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people whom it was predicted would die by Christmas of two years ago, were saved.

And through the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, the U.S. has brought the world to the threshold of the first AIDS-free generation in 30 years.

In the years ahead, the U.S. will continue its mission in Africa and around the world of advocating on behalf of democratic values, human rights, including the freedom of the press; and contributing to the global goals of stability, prosperity, and peace.
"By 2020, the total labor productivity in Northeast China will grow by an average annual rate of 6.2 percent, which will lay a solid foundation for the development of the northeastern region into a forefront of the country's modernization." During the key stage to revitalize the northeast industrial base, the National Development and Reform Commission published the "13th Five-Year Plan for the Revitalization of Northeastern China," which clarifies the general course, describes development targets, puts forward the steps to be taken and points out the direction for the overall revitalization of the Northeast so as to win this tough battle.

As an old industrial base, Northeast China occupies a critical position in the countrys development. Thus, the revitalization of Northeast China's economy is not only an important task for the development of the national economy, but also for the revitalization of state-owned enterprises.

The northeast old industrial base achieved brilliant results in the planned economy period and made outstanding contributions to the building of an independent and complete industrial system. But because of structural and institutional conflicts, coupled with China's economic development trend showing higher and more complex divisions, it turns out that how to focus on the revitalization of the northeast economy has become an urgent task.

It should be noted that Northeast China has undergone many difficulties in recent years. Since 2014, the growth rate of Northeast China ranks last in the country. In 2014, the GDP growth rate of Heilongjiang, Liaoning and Jilin was 5.6 percent, 5.8 percent and 6.5 percent respectively, and then in 2015, they were respectively 3 percent, 5.7 percent, 6.5 percent. From January to September in 2016, the economic growth rate in Liaoning was -2.2 percent, in Jilin 6.9 percent, and in Heilongjiang 6 percent, compared to a national average of 6.7 percent. Northeast China ranks at the bottom of the four developing areas in China. The grim situation facing the region is therefore not only a development problem for the three provinces, but also for the whole nation.

To rejuvenate and revitalize the Northeast economy, we need to focus the utmost attention and take effective measures to make the old industrial base flourish and bloom.

For the Northeast, the investment environment can directly determine the speed of economic development. Fortunately, a series of policy support for investors has brought great hope. Throughout last year, the CPC issued a series of initiatives to help the Northeast. These initiatives were taken in a timely manner, which can help to solve the pressing problem of the development for the regional economy.

In order to revitalize the Northeasts economy, its unavoidable to get rid of unresolved institutional mechanisms conflicts and long-term economic structural problems. There is an explicit explanation as to the plight facing the Northeast in "Several Opinions on Comprehensive Revitalization of the Northeast Old Industrial Base:" The level of marketization needs improving; the state-owned enterprises lack vitality; the development of the private economy is not sufficient; integration between development of technology and economy needs deepening. These conflicts and problems come down to the institutional issues, and the issues of industrial institutions and economic institutions. Industry is the pillar of modern economy, as well as the leverage of the development of the national economy. The flourishing and blooming of the national economy cannot do without the development of the industry. We hold great hopes for the fertile lands of Northeast China. The region has great advantages in population, resources, industry, intellectuals, infrastructure, location etc., and has great potentials. In the long run, the Northeast has the conditions for economic development, so the present difficulties are only temporary as long as reforms are implemented.

Zhang Shenglei, PhD in International Relationships, Macau University of Science and Technology.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.
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Russia will deploy more S-400 Triumf missile systems to Crimea after the Obama administration extended sanctions against Russia for its actions in Crimea and Ukraine, said local media Saturday.

"Deployment of additional S-400 systems to Crimea is foreseen, but I will not talk about the timing now," said Lt. Gen. Viktor Sevastyanov, a senior Russian air force commander, was quoted by RIA Novosti agency as saying.

An anti-aircraft missile regiment armed with the S-400 system had entered combat duty in Crimea, Russia's Southern Military District announced Friday.

The S-400 Triumf, by far Russia's most advanced surface-to-air missile system, is capable of hitting an airborne target at a distance of up to 400 km with medium- and long-range missiles.

Outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama ordered Friday to extend punitive measures against Russia imposed in March, 2014 for one more year for "its purported annexation of Crimea and its use of force in Ukraine."

The United States and its allies accused Russia of fueling the conflict in southeastern Ukraine and illegally incorporating Crimea.

Moscow insisted that a vast majority of Crimea residents voted to rejoin Russia in a popular referendum.
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The United States would be invited to Syrian peace talks due to be held on Jan. 23 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said Saturday.

Officials from Turkey, Russia, and Iran met in Moscow Friday in preparation for the summit, and decided to invite the U.S. to the negotiations, state-run Anadolu Agency reported.

"We have agreed to invite the U.S. to the talks. The U.S. will be in Astana. We do not deny the contribution and role of the U.S.," Cavusoglu said at the 9th Ambassadors' Conference in Ankara.

The foreign minister also stressed that Turkey opposed to the inclusion of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the peace talks.

"If you invite a terrorist group (YPG), then you should also invite Al-Nusra, the Islamic State. This is nonsense," he said, adding that Washington must end its cooperation with terrorist groups.

"We clearly say that all weapons supplied by the U.S. to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) ended up in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hands," the minister added.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, yet Washington does not list the YPG as a terrorist group.

Cavusoglu's comments came in the wake of U.S. States Department spokesman Mark Toner's statements to the press on Tuesday. Toner said the PYD should be party to any Syrian peace talks, and sooner or later have a place at the negotiating table.

Toner claimed the U.S. supports any effort aimed at getting political negotiations back on track and solidifying the ceasefire in Syria.

The State Department would make a recommendation to the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump once they receive an invitation to Astana, he added.

The Assad regime and the moderate opposition will be expected to meet for talks for the first time in nearly a year in Astana.
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Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan left Beijing on Sunday morning for a four-day visit to Switzerland.

At the invitation of the Swiss Federal Council led by President Doris Leuthard, President Xi will pay a state visit to the European country from January 15 to 18.

During his stay in Switzerland, President Xi will attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017 in Davos on January 17 at the invitation of Professor Klaus Schwab who is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

At the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, Xi will visit the UN Office at Geneva, the WHO and the IOC on January 18.

Xi's entourage also includes senior officials Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu and Yang Jiechi.
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Chinese economy likely to hit bottom in 2017: economist

Xinhua | Updated: 2017-01-15 07:13

BEIJING -- The Chinese economy is likely to hit bottom in 2017 as several factors will combine to support the bottoming process, a Chinese economist said Saturday.



If investment, supply-side structural reforms and the fostering of new growth momentum achieve desired results, there is a high probability that the economy may bottom this year, said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the development research center of the State Council.



On the demand side, manufacturing investment is on the up, while infrastructure spending will remain strong, which mean overall investment will stabilize in 2017, he said.



If China's capacity-cut targets are solidly delivered, producer prices will keep going up to support the broader economy, while new technologies and new business models will help cultivate fresh growth momentum, Wang pointed out.



Buoyed by increased government spending on infrastructure and booming home market, the economy held steady against rising headwinds, with GDP expanding stably at 6.7 percent in each of the first three quarters of the year.



Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said earlier this month that he estimated that the economy would keep the same growth rate for the full year.



The World Bank on Tuesday kept its forecast for China's economic growth rate for 2017 at 6.5 percent, saying that the economy will continue sustainable growth as it is rebalancing from manufacturing to services, despite reemerging concerns for property markets.
Swiss President Doris Leuthard speaks during an interview with Xinhua in Bern, Switzerland, on Jan 12, 2017. [Photo/Xinhua]

GENEVA -- Swiss President Doris Leuthard said Thursday that the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a stabilizing effect on both Europe and the world in light of the many changes and challenges affecting the international landscape.

"I think there are different expectations, (and) it will be a very important visit for the whole of Europe and perhaps with some elements that have worldwide recognitions," Leuthard told Xinhua in an interview.

"As you know we are in a difficult situation ... I think China can use this situation to show its world power status and how it can be a factor of stability," she added.

She was referring to the changes of governments which have already taken place or could take place in some big powers of the world, as well as lingering tensions in several country-to-country relations.

Switzerland was among the first European countries to recognize China's market economy status, the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China, said Leuthard.

She attributed the development of bilateral relations to the trust and confidence between Berne and Beijing, as well as the fruits of many years of discussions, meetings and mutual understanding.

This bilateral relationship will be reinforced by Xi's visit, and new space will be opened for cooperation for the ties to move up a new ladder, said Leuthard, who has been at the helm of the Swiss government since the beginning of the year.

"There is an expectation on the bilateral level, (and) we will sign quite a lot of new agreements and in so doing enlarge our fields of cooperation," she explained.

Xi will pay a state visit to Switzerland from Jan 15 to Jan 18, at the invitation of the Federal Council of Switzerland.

During the visit, Xi will attend the 47th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on Jan. 17, at the invitation of WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.

He will also visit the United Nations Office at Geneva and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the International Olympics Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne on Jan. 18, at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, and IOC President Thomas Bach.
President Xi Jinping on Sunday kicked off his first overseas trip of this year to Switzerland, where he will speak on China's economic situation as well as Beijing's stance on current global problems.

Xi will visit Switzerland from Sunday to Wednesday, during which he will also attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum at Davos on Jan 17 and visit the United Nations headquarters in Geneva, the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee on Jan 18.

China will continue to be a huge supporter of world economic growth and a hot destination for foreign investment, Xi said in an article published Friday in Neue Zurcher Zeitung, a leading Swiss daily newspaper.

"We meet at a time of angst about the prospects of the world economy, growing backlash against economic globalization, and rising populism and trade protectionism," Xi wrote in the article.

Francois Subiger, an official responsible for media services at the United Nations office in Geneva, said that China has been deeply involved in solutions to problems concerning peace, security and development in recent years, according to a report of the Xinhua News Agency.

Switzerland was among the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China, and was among the first group of European countries to recognize China' market economy status. The first industrial joint venture China entered into was with Switzerland.

China and Switzerland established an innovative strategic partnership in April during a state visit to China by Johann Schneider-Ammann, the country's president at the time. It was the first such partnership China had developed with another country.

Since the inception of the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement (FTA) in 2014, bilateral trade and mutual investment have flourished. Against the sluggishness of the global economy, bilateral trade reached $44.27 billion in 2015.

In 2014, the Chinese and Swiss central banks signed a currency swap agreement worth $24 billion, which was intended to provide liquidity support to economic and trade exchanges between the two countries.

In 2016, China Construction Bank, a leading Chinese State-owned lender, set up a branch in Zurich, marking the official launch of the renminbi clearing business in the world's largest offshore financial hub.
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In a few days' timethe global elite will be rubbing shoulders in Davos once again for the World Economic Forum. President Xi Jinping will be taking centre stage at the annual meeting  the first such appearance by a Chinese head of state. He is expected to deliver a keynote speech and highlight Chinese proposals to improve global governance and revive the world's economy at the conference.
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Jean Musy, president of The Foreign Press Association in Switzerland and Liechtenstein says President Xi Jinping is going to explain what China could endeavor for the global cooperation and peace during his coming visit to Switzerland on 15-18 January.

Musy says the world is in a quite difficult moment as it is unclear what are the external policies of United States while Donald Trump is going to swear in soon.

But he says China has a very clear policy portfolio for its involvement in the world and huge room has existed for China and Europe to forge closer partnership in global cooperation.
Foreigners who have graduated within the past year with a master's degree from a Chinese or a foreign university are eligible to search for work in China, starting from this year.

The Ministry of Education, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as well as the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security have issued a joint statement outlining requirements for eligible students who wish to seek employment within the country.

A qualified student must be at least 18 years old, healthy, possess a clean criminal record, and have grades averaging above 80 percent, or a B+/B under the letter-grade system.

The jobs these students take must match the individual's academic specialties.

Qualified international students at Chinese universities will be granted work permits and employment licenses. Qualified students at foreign universities will first be granted work permits, followed by an employment license after arriving in China and obtaining a work visa.

Employment licenses for foreign graduates are valid for one year upon first arrival, with subsequent licenses being valid for up to five years at a time.
Panda lovers can expect more spectacular views of the bear in cinemas as the first IMAX 3D panda documentary began filming on Tuesday in Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Return To Nature documents the conservation, breeding and rehabilitation of giant pandas in a breeding base in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and a research center in Dujiangyan city.

Drew Fellman is director of the film. Filming is expected to take nine months.

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding and Canadian-based IMAX Corporation are cooperating on the film, which is funded by Global Cause Foundation, a US non-profit.

Officials from the Chengdu research base said they hope the documentary can help promote protection of giant pandas as well as Chengdu's image as an international tourist destination featuring pandas.

The Global Cause Foundation has been working with the Chengdu base for many years and has set up research projects to release pandas to the wild.

IMAX Corporation signed a deal with the Chengdu research base to shoot the panda documentary in October 2015.

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Film's love story gets poignant set: Normandy
Photos of the two horse relief scupltures at Penn Museum. [Screenshot Photo/Penn Museum website]

A Chinese museum in Northwest China's Shaanxi province has openly demanded the return of two horse relief sculptures displayed at a University of Pennsylvania museum. The sculptures were illegally sold overseas.

The Zhaoling Museum made its announcement on Jan 11 via its official WeChat public account, calling on the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology (Penn Museum) to return the pieces so that the "Zhaoling Liujun", a set of six horse relief sculptures, can be reunited.

The six memorialized horses lived during the Tang Dynasty. They were allegedly the favorites of Emperor Taizong, Li Shimin. Together with other decorations and monuments, the six pieces were supposedly placed at the gate of the emperor's tomb.

"We believe it is most reasonable for the two horses to be returned to China from the Penn Museum  The University of Pennsylvania has long been dedicated to global cultural heritage protection. We hope that the Penn Museum can reach a consensus with China on this issue and make a greater contribution to the protection of the common cultural heritage of human beings," the Zhaoling Museum stated.
Chen Baoguo, an awards-winning actor, stars in the hit TV series The Last Visa, adaptd from Chinese diplomat Ho Feng-shan's heroic story. [Photo provided to China Daily]

One of the most well-known faces on China's small screen, Chen Baoguo recently said that his latest series, The Last Visa, gave him an opportunity to revisit Prague after 30 years.

The 46-episode series is based on the story of Ho Feng-shan, a Chinese diplomat in Austria in the late 1930s, who rescued thousands of Jews from the Holocaust by issuing them visas to leave Europe in defiance of his superiors.

Speaking about his experiences in Prague, Chen who stars as Lu Huaishan, the fictional Chinese vice consul to Vienna, in the series, says that as most of the old architecture in Austria was destroyed during World War II, the director took the crew to the Czech Republic to film the series.

Chen says that the filming reminded him of his first visit to Prague in the 1980s as a member of a Chinese movie delegation. He also added that to make the scenes more realistic he persuaded the director to borrow old costumes from a local studio in the city.

Zhang Jingjing, the actress who played the young diplomat's wife in the series, said that the director also used a former concentration camp as a set for the series.

Giving details at a promotional event in Beijing on Jan 12, she said: "When we walked into the place, the cold walls made us shiver."

Zhao Qing, a veteran actor included in the cast, said the series was a re-creation of history.

The series, which started its run on Beijing Satellite TV on Jan 1, is currently ranked eighth in the China's TV rankings.

Related:

Nie Yuan to star in TV series

'Nirvana in Fire' receives China's top copyright award
Rice noodles with snails, a signature dish sold at street stalls in south China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, are being exported to the United States, a company said.

A combination of Han, Miao and Dong cuisine, "luosifen" is made from pickled bamboo, dried turnip, fresh vegetables and peanuts, and served in a spicy noodle broth flavored with river-snails.

In Liuzhou city, Guangxi, luosifen is usually sold from roadside stands or in night markets.

On Jan 13, about 50,000 packets of such noodles, worth about 600,000 yuan (about $87,000), were shipped to the United States, said Jia Defa, manager of Liuzhou Luozhuangyuan Food Company Ltd.

The popular local cuisine has entered international market long ago, but has never been officially exported due to standards compliance problems.

With improved technology and quality control, companies in Liuzhou are now able to produce noodles compliant with international standards.

Luozhuangyuan was cleared by the inspection and quarantine agency to export last year, and the recent shipment was the first to be exported to the United States and Canada with customs clearance.

Listed as an intangible cultural heritage for Guangxi in 2008, the dish was featured in the hit foodie-travel show A Bite of China in 2012.

According to Liuzhou government, there are more than 5,000 Luosifen noodle shops on Taobao, with 200,000 packets sold everyday.

In 2016, sales of the noodles generated 1.5 billion yuan.

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New Year's menu gets royal touch at McDonald's

Quanjude uses QR codes to curb counterfeiting
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Michael Pillsbury (L), director of the Center for Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, speaks at the Pangoal Insight Forum. [Photo by Cui Shoufeng/chinadaily.com.cn]

It is possible that the China-US relations will be better under US President-elect Donald Trump than his predecessor Barack Obama, although a delicate period of nine or 10 months may lie ahead, a senior US strategist has said.

Michael Pillsbury, director of the Center for Chinese Strategy at the Hudson Institute in Washington, said on Saturday at a seminar hosted by Pangoal Institution, a Beijing-based think tank, that "the possibility of improved relations between the two sides exists".

Beijing's proposals such as the "new type of major country relationship" and "the Belt and Road Initiative", both floated by President Xi Jinping, were neither approved nor supported by the Obama administration, which did not openly object to them either, he said.

"The Trump administration could take a fresh look at these ideas put forward by China," said Pillsbury, who also advises Trump on China policy.

Less than a week to go before Trump's inauguration, many are still wondering what the new administration means for the China-US ties. On a Wednesday hearing, Trump's nominee for Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, former Exxon Mobil Corp chairman and chief executive, talked about China in an openly hostile manner.

Tillerson referred to Beijing's reclamation works on reefs and islets in the South China Sea as "an illegal taking of disputed areas without regard for international norms", and proposed to restrict China's access to those islands. He also blamed China for "not being a reliable partner" in defusing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.

Tillerson also told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that "I don't know of any plans to alter the One-China position", which Pillsbury sees as "a sigh of relief" for Beijing in an article published on the National Interest magazine on Thursday.

It is important to note that there are different voices around Trump and inside his team too, said Pillsbury. The president-elect is open to different opinions from his ministers", hence one "cannot take the testimony of a Cabinet member as Trump's own view", he added.

"Personally I do not want a comprehensive confrontation with China, it is important that we reduce our differences in smallest areas," said Pillsbury. The road to "Make America Great Again" goes to Beijing, as the bilateral cooperation will be more important, he added.

Trump's ambition to double the US growth rate, which has remained 2 percent in the last 30 years and increase jobs at home, mirrors his focus on trade, said Pillsbury. "To do this, one factor is to reduce our trade deficit from $500 billion to zero. That means the country that takes more American exports really helps."

The meeting between Trump and Jack Ma, founder of the Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd on Jan 9, bodes well for both US small- and medium-sized companies struggling to export their products and China's image, said Pillsbury. If Alibaba signs major deals with US companies, that could create many jobs for Americans, added Pillsbury.
CAIRO - A bomb threat forces a Germany-bound passenger flight from Oman to land in Kuwait Sunday, The state-run KUNA news agency.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

KUNA news agency of said 299 people on board were evacuated over the incident.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.
When it comes to tolerance, it is our tradition to display a big heart. That is why one can normally get away with making the same mistake twice, as one will be given the benefit of the doubt.

Republican Donald Trump appears at a campaign roundtable event in Manchester, New Hampshire, US, October 28, 2016. [Photo\Agencies]

But one will seldom be given the benefit of the doubt twice, because doing the same wrong for a third time shows intent.

When United States president-elect Donald Trump broke his country's longstanding diplomatic protocol and answered a "congratulatory call" from Taiwan leader Tsai Ing-wen, the Chinese foreign minister merely responded by calling it a "petty trick" by Taipei.

When, just nine days later, Trump told Fox News Sunday the US would not "be bound by the one-China policy", Beijing simply reiterated that acknowledgement of one China is fundamental, and non-negotiable, for healthy ties.

To many, that was a mistake Trump made twice.

Yet when Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Sunday "Everything is under negotiation including one China," reinforcing the impression that he intends to use Taiwan as a bargaining chip, Beijing did not go beyond what it had already said.

Such a measured response can only come from a genuine, sincere wish that the less-than-desirable, yet by-and-large manageable, big picture of China-US relations will not be derailed before Trump even enters office.

It would be a blessing for both parties, and indeed for the world, if such goodwill could be appreciated and reciprocated. But that seems unlikely.

It seems wishful thinking to assume Trump and his team's remarks on Taiwan have been based on bluster or miscalculation. On the contrary, it appears the next administration is intending to use the one-China policy as its trump card.

Taiwan has been off limits in China-US diplomacy thanks to the understanding that it is a Pandora's box of lethal potential, and that opening it may upend the hard-earned, firmly held fundamentals governing the relationship.

If Trump is determined to use this gambit on taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves.

It would be good if after his inauguration Trump can demonstrate more statesmanship. But Beijing should not count on his raising the stakes being a pre-inauguration bluff, and instead be prepared for him to continue backing this bet.

It may be costly. But it will prove a worthy price to pay to make the next US president aware of the special sensitivity, and serious consequences of his Taiwan game.
US president-elect wrong if he thinks principle is negotiable, Beijing says

Beijing has warned US president-elect that the one-China principle is not subject to negotiation, and observers said Donald Trump is miscalculating if he wants to use it for leverage.

A week before taking office, Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that "Everything is under negotiation including one China."

In response, Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement on Saturday, "The one-China principle, which is the political foundation of the China-US relations, is nonnegotiable."

"The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China," Lu said. "That is the fact acknowledged by the international community, and no one can change it."

"We urge relevant parties in the US to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan question, approach Taiwan-related issues with prudence, and honor the commitment made by all previous US administrations of both parties on adhering to the one-China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," it said.

The three China-US joint communiques were issued between 1972 and 1982 to guide China-US relations.

Teng Jianqun, research director at the China Arms Control and Disarmament Association, said it was necessary for the ministry to make timely comments on what he said was Trump's radical rhetoric aimed to test how China would respond.

"It is totally unacceptable to China for Trump to treat China-US relations as a business for transactions," Teng said.

He suggested the government respond strongly to any such remark and also remain coolheaded in formulating related policies.

Dong Chunling, a researcher on US studies at the China Institutes of Contemporary International Relations, said that the one-China principle is common sense, the cornerstone and bottom line for relations between China and the US.

"Trump is miscalculating if he wants to use this as a bargaining chip," he said.

Such remarks have raised hurdles for Sino-US relations, and increased the likelihood of friction between the two sides, Dong said.

Shi Yinhong, director of the Center of US Studies of Renmin University of China, said he believed the one-China principle is not only nonnegotiable  such provocations could trigger serious countermeasures from China.

If, after inauguration, Trump continues to attack or disavows the one-China principle, there could be no cooperation between Beijing and Washington, Shi said. Beijing could respond by taking severe diplomatic moves, including recalling its ambassador and degrading the diplomatic relationship, Shi added.

But Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University in Shanghai, told the Associated Press on Sunday, "Trump has not taken office yet, so he is an ordinary person now."

Contact the writers at zhaohuanxin@chinadaily.com.cn
Popeye holding up a book about cartel chief Pablo Escobar. AP

Jhon Jairo Popeye Velasquez Vasquez, Pablo Escobars chief assassin, has been released from prison after serving 23 years. Four days prior to his release, a Colombian judge expedited the proceedings for his probation status. At 9pm on Tuesday night, the 52-year-old convict stepped out into the streets in the company of Public Defender officials, shielded by a motorcade of armor-plated vehicles. Popeye had sent a handwritten request to officials that morning to ask for protection.

The former convict has admitted to killing more than 300 people and ordering the death of over 3,000 others during a period of heavy cartel violence from the late 1980s to the early 1990s. Yet the former assassin  who entered the criminal underworld at the height of the cartels reign, when he was just 18  is afraid of freedom. He knows there is a price on his head and that he has made a lot of enemies given the crimes he committed, and the fact that he was a key witness in several trials  including the one related to liberal presidential candidate Luis Carlos Galan Sarmientos murder in 1989. Alberto Santofimio Botero, a fellow politician, was convicted for his part in the murder.

Popeyes release was scheduled for Monday, but was delayed until Tuesday night so that officials could make sure he did not have any pending charges. Meanwhile, victims were trying to understand how a drug trafficker who terrorized the nation two decades ago could be leaving prison after serving just three-fifths of his sentence.

He studied 14 diplomas while in prison and earned a degree in environmental sciences

The operation for Popeyes release became the mystery of the day. As time passed, photojournalists crowded in front of the gates of the maximum security prison with their cameras ready to capture his departure. The facility is in Combita, two hours outside of Bogota.

The police had to coordinate a deployment of security forces to escort the freed man. The first group traveled with him to the Albarracin toll booth on the highway toward Bogota. Another group picked him up and accompanied him to the capital. His final destination was unknown. Local media outlets say Popeye will join a rehabilitation group to help with his reintegration into society.

While in prison, Popeye studied for 14 diplomas and earned a degree in environmental sciences. The coldness with which he described his crimes has always surprised listeners. If Pablo Escobar were born again, I would go with him without giving it a thought, he said in an interview. Yet he has also said that he was a retired criminal who was in his winter quarters. In February 2013, he told El Tiempo newspaper that, once free, he would like to have a chance to redeem himself for the crimes he had committed. I am a man who is looking for an opportunity in society. A man who is at peace with himself. When I leave, I repeat, I have no intention of hurting anyone. I am not afraid of justice because Ive realized that even for a man like Popeye there can be justice.

Popeye turned himself in to the authorities in 1999 alongside Pablo Escobar. He stayed by his capos side in the prison that Escobar himself built and from which he escaped one year later. The former hitman will be on probation for four years. He will be required to hold periodic meetings with authorities and keep his commitment to not break the law again.

His release has opened old wounds from the war on drugs  wounds that have yet to heal.

Translation: Dyane Jean Francois
(Photo : Xinhua) Trong and Xi chat while having tea.

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China turned on the charm in another attempt to mend strained relations with fellow communist state Vietnam -- and weaken India's growing military influence -- with a lavish welcome for Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee now in Beijing on a four-day official visit.



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Vietnam remains China's most implacable foe in the disputed South China Sea and continues strengthening the military forces defending its coast and the islands in the Spratly Islands Archipelago it controls.



Some of Vietnam's islands were seized by China in the 1970s and 1980s after naval battles the Vietnamese lost. China is concerned about recent events that point to increasing military cooperation between India and Vietnam.



India has been selling more and more weapons to Vietnam -- especially guided missiles of all types -- and is now training Vietnamese pilots to fly Russian-made jets and Vietnamese submarine crewmen to operate their Russian-made diesel electric submarines.



President Xi Jinping, who is also General Secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, held talks with Trong at the Great Hall of the People. Trong's visit comes as both countries celebrate the 67th anniversary of diplomatic relations.



Xi hailed the growth of the all-round strategic cooperative partnership, citing progress in friendship, political trust, cooperation and cultural exchanges.



As for their maritime disputes, Xi said both sides must increase communication and consolidate mutual trust to lay a solid political foundation for the settlement of disputes and work together on maritime exploration and cooperation.



Describing the two countries as "comrades and brothers," Xi said China views relations with Vietnam strategically and from a long-term perspective, and hopes the two countries will properly manage and control disputes.



Xi suggested cementing political trust through close contact between top leaders and parties to offer strategic guidance. He proposed expanding military and security cooperation, and coordinating on global issues.



On the other hand, Trong also spoke of expanded maritime cooperation and achievements in trade, investment, tourism, defense, security and non-governmental exchange.



Trong, who arrived in China on Jan. 12, congratulated Xi on China's achievements under the leadership of the 18th CPC Central Committee. Vietnam hopes to combine its "Two Corridors and One Economic Circle" plan with China's Belt and Road Initiative, he said.



This is Trong's first China visit since he was re-elected chief of the CPV in January 2016, and his first foreign trip in 2017. He is also the first foreign leader China has received this year, which reveals the importance both sides attach to their partnership, said Beijing.



Indian Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar said Vietnam "is a close friend." He noted several initiatives are underway to further boost bilateral defense cooperation.



India is offering Vietnam its Akash medium-range, supersonic, mobile surface-to-air missile (SAM) defense system; the supersonic BrahMos cruise missile (the world's fastest) and the new Varunastra advanced heavyweight anti-submarine torpedo that can deal with China's fleet of Russian-made Kilo-class diesel electric submarines.



Also as part of this expanded strategic cooperation, India this year will begin training fighter pilots of the Vietnam People's Air Force on its Sukhoi-30MKI fighter.



For the past three years, the Indian Navy has been training submariners of the Vietnam People's Navy on how to operate their common Russian-made Kilo-class submarines, which are noted for their extreme quietness that complicates detection.



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Tagschina, Vietnam, Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam Central Committee, President Xi Jinping, India, spratly islands, Minister of Defense Manohar Parrikar
(Photo : JGSDF) Wheeled Armoured Vehicle (Improved).

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The first prototype of a new eight-wheeled armored personnel carrier (APC) for use by the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force (JGSDF) has been developed to help defeat an invasion of any in a string of Japanese held islands in the East China Sea coveted by China.



The prototype of the recently unveiled "Wheeled Armored Vehicle (Improved)" will be the forerunner of a new class of infantry fighting vehicles that will replace the Type 96 Wheeled Armored Personnel Carrier in service with the JGSDF since 1996.



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Both wheeled APCs look alike to the untrained eye but it's "under the hood" where the superiority of the new APC lies.



Japan's Ministry of Defense said the new APC will feature improved protection against a variety of modern threats such as RPGs and IEDs (improvised explosive devices). The new machine will also be fitted with a more powerful engine and a strengthened suspension to cope with the increased weight and payloads.



Equally important is the machine's modular design that will confer a versatility and room for future growth in capabilities compared to the Type 96.



Built by Komatsu Limited, the prototype APC can carry 11 men: three crew members and eight dismounted infantrymen.



It will be fitted with a remote weapons station mounting either a Howa Type 96 automatic grenade launcher or a .50 caliber (12.7 mm) M-2HB machine gun. These are the same weapons mounted on the Type 96.



The prototype APC is 8.4 meters long; 2.5 meters wide; is 2.9 meters high and weighs about 20 tons.



Its engine is a 10.8 liter diesel engine capable of developing 500 horsepower (372.8 kilowatts), allowing the vehicle to attain a maximum speed of 100 kilometers per hour on paved roads.



The rear compartment will be modular in nature, and mission modules can be fitted on the APC as required by the mission. In addition to the basic APC variant, a communications support vehicle and an engineering variant were shown on the video released by the government.



Trials with the prototype are expected to last until 2019. Production will follow.



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Tagseight-wheeled armored personnel carrier, Japan Ground Self-Defense Force, East China Sea, china, Wheeled Armored Vehicle (Improved), Komatsu Limited
(Photo : Getty Images) Staring on Monday (Jan. 16), China will start requiring app makers to register if they plan to set up a new storefront, change an existing one, or close its business.





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The Cyberspace Administration of China has posted a notice on its website asking mobile app stores to officially register on its offices. The action has been taken to control the proliferation of fraudulent applications across the Internet.



China is one of the biggest cybermarkets in the world and is host to numerous app stores. Major technology companies such as Alibaba and Apple also have their app stores in the country. However, Google does not operate its Play Store in China as it is banned from operating. Many of such app stores do not have strong security features, putting Chinese consumers at risk.



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The rules will come into effect on Monday (Jan. 16). The main reason for instituting these laws is to safeguard the users from apps, which deliberately defraud or steal from users. In many cases, the apps are shut down after carrying out nefarious activities, making it difficult for the regulators to take hold of them.



The regulator website stated, "Many apps have been found to spread illegal information, violate user rights or contain security risks."



The notification stated that the registration is required if an app store plans to set up a new storefront, change an existing one, or close its business.



In the wake of massive security breaches around the world, the Chinese government is looking to make cyberspace a more secure place for its citizens. The country recently ordered Apple to remove certain news apps from its store in China for violating local regulations.



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TagsCyberspace Administration of China, Google, apple, apps
(Photo : Getty Images) Despite Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu's opposition, France has opted not to cancel the conference and continued to promote their initiative.

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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed this weekend's Middle East peace conference in Paris, saying that it is "rigged."



Sunday's conference is expected to be attended by over 70 nations, and its aim is to explore ways to resume stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts. However, Netanyahu's Israeli government refused to take part in the conference, although the Prime Minister has hinted that he is ready to hold bilateral talks.



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The Palestinian authority is, however, in favor of the multilateral approach, saying that years of negotiations have not ended Israel's occupation of the West Bank.



"It's a rigged conference, rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances," Netanyahu said on the sidelines of a meeting with Norwegian Foreign Minister Borge Brende in Jerusalem.



Netanyahu said that the conference will not obligate Israel and that it will only serve to push peace backwards. He added that the conference is a last gasp of the past before the future sets in.



Efforts to find a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian have stalled since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.



The Paris conference comes after a landmark Dec. 23 UN Security Council resolution that called for Israel to halt settlement building in Palestinian territory. The resolution passed by a 14-0 score after the United States broke its long tradition of defending Israel and abstained from voting.



Israel is worried that Sunday's conference could produce measures that could be then taken to the UN Security Council for approval before Jan. 20, when Donald Trump is sworn in as the new US President.



Trump has signaled that he will have a more favorable policy towards Israel than Barack Obama.



Obama's administration became increasingly frustrated with Israel's settlement building in East Jerusalem and West Bank. Israel occupied the West Bank in 1967.



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TagsIsrael, Palestine, Israel-Palestine
(Photo : Getty Images. ) China on Saturday transferred two patrol ships to Pakistani navy to beef up the security of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor. The names of these two ships are PMSS Hingol and PMSS Basol.

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China on Saturday handed over two maritime patrol vessels to Pakistani Navy for joint patrolling of sea routes passing through the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), according to a report published in the Karachi based newspaper Dawn.



The Dawn claimed that the two Chinese ships, PMSS Hingol and PMSS Basol, have been officially handed over to the commander of the Pakistan Navy Vice-Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.



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"The ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today and the (Pakistan) navy would become stronger with the induction of these maritime vessels," Hussaini was quoted saying.



The Chinese government is now likely to transfer two more ships to Islamabad very soon, with reports suggesting that the work over them has already started. The names of these two ships are reportedly "Dasht" and "Zhob."



The Nawaz Shariff government is leaving nothing to chance to protect the multi-dollar CPEC project, which was partly inaugurated in October last year. It has already created a new division of the army that is completely dedicated in securing the CPEC route and the Gwadar port.



Pakistan has pinned huge expectations on the CPEC project, claiming that it would change the economic fate of the country. Last year, Prime Minister Nawaz Shariff said that it would prove to be a game changer not only for Pakistan but also for the entire South Asian region.



In fact, many countries including Iran and Russia have openly expressed their desire to join the ambitious project.



However, CPEC has been dodged with several controversies and security issues that at times threatened to sabotage the project.



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TagsCPEC, China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, Pakistan, China and Pakistan, china
(Photo : Getty Images) The Chinese government has named Qi Zhala as the new governor of Tibet, one of china's most highly politically sensitive regions. He would be replacing Luosang Jiangcun.

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China has appointed a new governor for its autonomous and insurgency prone region of Tibet, state news agency Xinhua reported on Sunday.



Qi Zhala, 58, will now replace the outgoing governor Luosang Jiangcun, who will now take over as secretary of the region's National People's Congress.



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Qi is considered as one of the veteran leaders in the Communist party, having served on several key posts including the region's Communist Party vice-secretary and party chief of Lhasa city. He hails from neighboring Yunnan province, where he served on several officials posts before being transferred to Tibet in 2010.



As a governor, Qi would wield substantial power in Tibet's day-to-day affairs, as he would be the second most powerful official in the region, after the regional Communist party chief.



Over the past few months, the Chinese government has carried out major re-shuffles in key posts in Tibet. Last August, China appointed Wu Yingjie as the new communist party secretary for the Himalayan region.



Political analysts said that China only appoints those officials in Tibet who are capable of addressing the insurgency and other contagious issues affecting the politically sensitive region.



The Tibetan region has been dodged with insurgent activities ever since the Himalayan region became part of Mainland China in 1949. Beijing has constantly accused the controversial spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, for fomenting insurgency activities.



The Dalai Lama fled China in 1949, after leading a failed uprising against the Chinese government. Since then, the Buddhist leader has been living in exile in India's northern state of Himachal Pradesh.



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TagsTibet, china, China and Tibet, Tibet Governor
(Photo : Lockheed Martin) JAGM.

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The U.S. military's AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile, the weapon that's killed more people than any other of its type in the war on terror, is going to be replaced and its replacement has again destroyed another moving target



Long synonymous as the weapon of choice for precision killings of radical Islamists in the Middle East, Hellfire is the primary assassination weapon of U.S. aerial drones such as the General Atomics MQ-9 Reaper.



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Its successor, the Lockheed Martin Joint Air-to-Ground Missile (JAGM), was launched by an AH-64D Apache pilot during a test on Dec. 7, 2016 and destroyed its target, a small boat, from a distance of four kilometers guided by both laser and radar sensors.



The test was the tenth successful JAGM flight test. It demonstrated JAGM's maturity and capability against different kinds of targets in a variety of environments, said the U.S. Army.



In May 2016, JAGM was fired for the first time from an unmanned aerial vehicle and destroyed its target, a truck speeding at 32 km/h. It was the seventh test for the missile.



JAGM is a U.S. joint military program to develop an air-to-surface missile that will replace the Hellfire; the air-launched BGM-71 TOW and the AGM-65 Maverick missile. The U.S. Army, Navy and Marine Corps plan to buy thousands of JAGMs, which can be launched from helicopters, manned fixed-wing planes and unmanned aerial vehicles.



Among the aircraft that will deploy JAGM are the Boeing AH-64 Apache attack helicopter; the Sikorsky SH-60 Seahawk maritime helicopter; the Bell AH-1Z Viper attack helicopter and the General Atomics MQ-1C Gray Eagle a medium-altitude, long-endurance (MALE) unmanned aircraft system.



The $66 million JAGM missile engineering and manufacturing development contract was awarded to Lockheed Martin in 2015. JAGM should reach initial operational capability in 2018.



JAGM weighs 49 kilograms and has a length of 180 centimeters, dimensions almost similar to that of the Hellfire. The maximum range of both missiles is eight kilometers.



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Tagsoint Air-to-Ground Missile, JAGM, AGM-114 Hellfire air-to-surface missile, Lockheed Martin
On this date, January l5, l697. Salem and the Massachusetts Bay Colony proclaimed a day of fasting and repentance before God for the tragic error and folly of the Salem witch trials. Among the reasons for the day of fasting given by the resolution were, "so all of God's people may offer up fervent supplications unto him, that all iniquity may be put away, which hath stirred God's holy jealousy against this land; that he would show us what we know not, and help us, wherein we have done amiss, to do so no more."

The witch trials, a senseless, isolated and unbiblical miscarriage of justice, left an unfair stain on the reputation of all New England's Puritans. Over 150 suspected witches were imprisoned and nineteen were hanged during a few frenzied months of 1692. Most of the accused were women and social misfits. Sad to say, only a few of Salem's townspeople opposed preacher Samuel Parris, who encouraged the proceedings.

The hysteria began when two children had fits and claimed they were bewitched, naming people of the town whose spirits they said they had seen. The evidence presented was usually groundless accusation, scapegoating, or the product of mass suggestion. At the trials no evidence of Satan worship or the practice of witchcraft was presented. Breaking with precedent, the court did not require two witnesses, or even a showing that the accused had committed any acts. It was enough if a witness had seen a ghostly form like one of the accused.

Some Puritan clergy recognized that the real evil was in the accusers rather than those accused of witchcraft. Increase Mather spoke out strongly against the trials, calling for implementation of the Biblical principle of two or three witnesses. Such was the prestige of Increase, that the trials quickly ended. Today we look back on the whole episode as a tragic example of misdirected zeal.

Five years after the Salem witchcraft trials, the Massachusetts legislature passed a resolution that a day of general fasting be held on January 15, 1697. The resolution was adopted so God's people could offer up prayers for God to help them in their errors and keep them from repeating such sins which could only bring God's judgment on the land. Judge Samuel Sewell and those who had served as jurors in the trials all confessed their error and prayed for God's forgiveness and guidance in the future. Indeed, Judge Samuel Sewall, who had presided over many of the capital judgments, published a written confession acknowledging his own "blame and shame."

Salem village drove out Reverend Samuel Parris for his role in the trials. In 1710, the Massachusetts legislature reversed some of the convictions, and in the following years authorities gave compensation to the families of the accused witches.

Bibliography:
Glasgow Quran Reading: Scottish Episcopal Church 'Deeply Distressed At Offence' Caused

The head of the Scottish Episcopal Church has said it is "deeply distressed at the widespread offence that has been caused" by a reading from the Quran at St Mary's Cathedral.

The Epiphany service at the Glasgow church included a contribution from Muslim law student Madinah Javed, who went beyond the reading included in the order of service to include extra verses explicitly denying Jesus was the son of God. It is not clear whether the dean, Kelvin Holdsworth authorised the extra verses or whether he was unaware Javed had recited the controversial passage.The incident has been widely condemned.

Bishop David Chillingworth said the SEC had a long commitment to interfaith work but that "This work, like all works of reconciliation, must be founded on truth. We approach others with open hearts but we stand in the truth of the gospel of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ."

In an implicit criticism of Holdsworth and St Mary's, he continues: "Those who seek to work in the area of interfaith relationships must weigh carefully whether the choices which they make are appropriate or otherwise. In today's world, those judgements must give careful consideration to good relationships which have been carefully nurtured over many years in a local context. They must also weigh carefully the way in which national and international issues shape perceptions of what is appropriate or inappropriate."

While Chillingworth says the SEC is distressed at the offence that has been caused, he also says it also deeply regrets "the widespread abuse which has been received by the Cathedral community". He says the Church will explore how interfaith work "can be carried forward in ways which will command respect", concluding: "Our desire is that this should be a worthy expression of the reconciliation to which all Christians are called."

In a blog post on Friday, Holdsworth  who has declined to comment for Christian Today  wrote: "No-one pretends that Muslims and Christians believe the same things. We know that Muslims don't believe in the divinity of Christ  that's a known and accepted fact. It isn't surprising."

However, he said accounts of the service had stirred up "the most incredible pot of hatred I've ever encountered". He continued: "This same Quranic reading has been given before in services and no outcry has happened. Is it because this is in a cathedral run by a gay man? Is it because the recitation was given by a young woman? Clearly those things are factors as they feature in some of the abuse."

He denied charges of synchretism, saying: "Syncretism means the amalgamation of different religions or cultures. We simply are not in that business when we do our interfaith work. We hold fast to Christian orthodoxy and we welcome those who come in peace."
Hundreds of Prayer Warriors Descend on Washington to Provide Prayer Shield for Donald Trump

Like angels from heaven, hundreds of "prayer warriors" have descended on Washington D.C. to undertake a crucial mission: protect U.S. President-elect Donald Trump by building a "prayer shield" around him ahead of his Jan. 20 inauguration.

Among these prayer warriors are the members of a new group called POTUS Shield (as in President of the United States) who gathered inside the National Press Club on Thursday, CBN News reported.

Pastor Eric Majette from Virginia Beach, Virginia said POTUS Shield is composed of pastors from all over America.

"We're actually a prayer group. We pray for leaders across our nation  a group of pastors come together to pray for our nation and our leaders, particularly the new administration," he said.

Speaking at the gathering, Alveda King, the niece of famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and the director of Civil Rights for the Unborn, said they are counting on God to bring sweeping positive changes to America.

"We're really not looking for Mr. Trump or any human to change America, but we know God can and will do it," she said.

Pastor Leon Benjamin from Richmond, Virginia addressed the concerns aired by members of the African-American community who fear that the Trump administration will mean trouble for them.

"We must believe for the best," Benjamin told CBN News. "It doesn't matter who is in the White House as long as there is faith that God has not forsaken us and that He has not left us because of a transition of power. That would be dreadful for us as pastors and leaders to say 'Oh my God, we're doomed now!' So we're very hopeful."

Other prayer warriors descended on Capitol Hill to pray not only for Trump but also for Ben Carson, the former Republican presidential candidate and Trump's nominee as Housing and Urban Development Secretary, during his Senate hearing.

Meanwhile, TIME reported that Trump has invited some of his former critics in the Christian community to take part in his inauguration. The weekly magazine found out that Rev. Sam Rodriguez Jr. is expected to stand on the inaugural platform together with Trump and proclaim Jesus' famous words from the Sermon on the Mount: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven."

He will be joined by Cardinal Timothy Dolan of New York, who is expected to read aloud a passage from Solomon's prayer to God when he became king of Israel. "Even one who is perfect among human beings will be regarded as nothing without the wisdom that comes from you," the passage reads.

Both Rodriguez and Dolan were known Trump critics during his campaign.
Theresa May To Call For National Unity In Major Brexit Speech

Prime Minister Theresa May will use a major speech on Brexit next week to call on Britons to reject the acrimony of last year's referendum and unite around the vision of a Britain more open to the world, her office said on Sunday.

May intends to begin the formal process of negotiating the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union by the end of March, but has given little away about what deal she will be seeking, frustrating some investors, businesses and lawmakers.

She is due to make a speech in London on Tuesday before an audience including foreign diplomats as well as Britain's own Brexit negotiating team and other senior officials, May's Downing Street office said in a statement.

It said she would stress the need for Britons, who voted for Brexit by 52 to 48 per cent after a deeply divisive campaign, to unite around common goals such as protecting and enhancing workers' rights.

"Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it  'Leaver' and 'Remainer' and all the accompanying insults  and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly Global Britain," May is expected to say.

Downing Street did not say whether May would reveal her stance on some of the key questions, such as whether she will try and keep Britain within the European single market or customs union or, if not, what level of access she will aim for.

The problem for Britain is that the EU is likely to insist on freedom of movement for EU citizens in return for full access to the single market, while many of those who voted for Brexit did so precisely in order to be able to restrict immigration.

May's speech will be closely watched by financial markets for information on which of these divergent goals she will prioritise.

After she said in a TV interview a week ago that post-Brexit Britain would not be able to keep "bits" of its EU membership, the pound fell sharply as the comment was interpreted as signalling a clean break from the single market.

Tuesday's speech will take place at Lancaster House, a grand Foreign Office property close to Buckingham Palace that has hosted numerous international summits.

Downing Street said the choice of venue was to underline May's theme of a global Britain.
Tuesday

Association of Legal Administrators: Houston Chapter meeting. 11:30 a.m.-2 p.m., Houston Club, 910 Louisiana.

Topic: Lee McMurtry with Andrews Kurth Kenyon and William Strange with Fidelity Investments presenting "Retirement Plan Update"; Stephen May presenting "Social Media How-To".

Cost: $40 for non-members.

Reservations: chaptermanager@alahou.org.

Wednesday

Energy Prospectus Group: Luncheon. 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m., H.E.S.S. Club, 5430 Westheimer.

Speakers: Larry Lawyer and Andy Clifford of Topco Offshore.

Cost: $40-$50.

Reservations: : www.energyprospectus.com or 281-435-8874.

Thursday

Texas City-La Marque Community Advisory Council: Meeting. 5-7 p.m., Nessler Center, 2010 5th Ave. North, Texas City.

Topic: Small business and economic development.

Speakers: Doug Baumann, director, Galveston County Small Business Development Center, and Carolann Peters, senior business advisor, GCSBDC.

Reservations: Jose Boix, 409-945-0492, email jaboix@aol.com by Monday.

Friday

Texas Business Conference: Hosted by the Texas Workforce Commission and the Society for Human Resource Management Texas State Council. 8:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m., Hyatt Regency Houston, 1200 Louisiana.

Topic: Legal issues associated wtih operating a business in Texas.

Cost: $125.

Reservations: 512-463-6389 or www.twc.state.tx.us/texas-business-conferences.

Sparking Success - the Intersection of Business and Diversity and Inclusion: Conference hosted by Rice University's Jones Graduate School of Business. 9 a.m.-4 p.m., Rice University, McNair Hall's Shell Auditorium, 6100 Main.

Speakers: Stephen Klineberg, founding director of Rice's Kinder Institute for Urban Research; Elizabeth Campbell, partner and chief diversity officer at Andrews Kurth Kenyon; and Subha Barry, vice president and general manager of Working Mother Media.

Cost: $25.

Reservations: https://business.rice.edu/rice-business-diversity-and-inclusion-conference.
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A Wisconsin man and one of the FBI's Ten Most Wanted showed up in a surprising place - El Paso, Texas.

FBI Agents and El Paso police officers arrested 24-year-old Terry A.D. Strickland on Sunday morning on warrants stemming from the shooting of two men in Milwaukee on July 17. He was booked into the El Paso County Jail.

In a statement, the FBI said they received a tip in the last several days that Strickland was temporarily living in El Paso. Investigators tracked him down from there.

Milwaukee police found two men, ages 38 and 39, shot outside the home where Strickland was believed to be living at with his daughter, officials said.

TEXAS FUGITIVE: Man sought for 1983 slaying in Austin added to FBI list

Witnesses said the shooting grew out of a group of seven or eight men arguing in front of the home, the FBI said. Strickland is charged with using a .40-caliber handgun and shooting into the group.

FBI

Strickland allegedly then stood over one man and repeatedly shot him. He then turned around and shot the other victim in the head, officials said. He then fled the scene and left his daughter at the home, officials said.

Strickland, who is originally from Illinois, was charged with two counts of first degree intentional homicide with the use of a dangerous weapon. An arrest warrant was issued for him on July 28.

SOUGHT: Fugitive last seen in Houston added to most wanted sex offender list

A charge of unlawful flight to avoid prosecution was added against Strickland and a federal warrant was then issued for his arrest by the U.S. Eastern District of Wisconsin.

Strickland had a $100,000 reward offered for any information leading to his arrest.

Strickland was the 512th fugitive to be placed on the FBIs Most Wanted list which was established in 1950.

>>>Click through the gallery to see the most wanted fugitives in Texas.
In a letter to the editor Jan. 6, Mike Stoecker shared some of his opinions on Montgomery County's ongoing water issues and closed with a quote attributed (incorrectly) to Thomas Jefferson. I would like to offer up a response to Stoecker by opening with a fitting quote that actually came from Jefferson: "honesty is the first chapter in the book of wisdom."

In his letter, Stoecker uses misinformation and debunked theories in an attempt to persuade the public that Montgomery County does not have a groundwater problem but, instead, that residents are the victims of corrupt, big-government regulation. Nothing in his response addresses the real problems that our utilities are experiencing because of water-level declines, and you can't explain them away with misinformation and conspiracy theories.

Let's look at one glaring example. Data from the U.S. Geological Survey shows that water levels in the City of Conroe's wells have declined approximately 400 feet since the 1950s  half of that in the last 13 years. Not only does Stoecker's letter ignore the water-level declines our aquifers are experiencing, he makes the stunning statement that "the only wells in Montgomery County that actually needed to lower their pumps to continue pumping groundwater were in The Woodlands." This is absolutely, categorically false.

Numerous utilities in Montgomery County have had to lower their pumps due to declining water levels, including the city of Conroe and at least two utilities around Lake Conroe. Based on a quick survey of 12 utilities in the county, 11 have lowered their pumps at least once, and the remaining one has had declines but not yet enough to force them to lower pumps. Furthermore, several of the utilities described more severe actions they have been forced to take such as permanently reducing the capacity of their wells or replacing them entirely.

One of the conspiracy theories advanced by Stoecker is that "LSGCD was pretty much SJRA's creation in the first place, needed only for the purpose of imposing Draconian restrictions on groundwater pumping in order to create a market for comparatively expensive surface water from Lake Conroe." The Lone Star Groundwater Conservation District was created by the Texas Legislature and approved by the voters in 2001. Stoecker offers no evidence that SJRA manipulated the Legislature or the voters in 2001 or that they were actively involved in the district's creation. Stoecker asserts without any support that SJRA successfully implemented a 10-year scheme, beginning before Lone Star was created and culminating in 2010 in the execution of contracts with 80-plus local utilities, to build an unnecessary surface-water plant so it could sell a product at cost.

To be blunt, SJRA has existed since 1937 and does not operate to turn a profit. SJRA has been selling significant volumes of surface water since the 1940s and didn't need to "create a market" to sell more. And if SJRA was motivated to sell additional surface water, it surely didn't need to concoct the ridiculous scheme suggested by Stoecker to achieve that result. SJRA has numerous customers downstream of Lake Conroe with rapidly growing demands that could have been more easily served with Lake Conroe water.

Further, SJRA had no reason to offer or undertake a countywide surface water project other than the need of the county to reduce its groundwater consumption, while still supplying its growing population with sufficient clean water. SJRA could have just as well constructed a surface-water plant to serve its customers in The Woodlands and left the rest of the county to fend for itself, in the process creating clear winners and losers depending on which water users had easy and affordable access to surface water, the Catahoula Aquifer and other alternative sources of supply. But SJRA did not choose to shrink from the challenge of doing what, in its opinion, was in the best interest of the county as a whole.

Stoecker's letter also repeats the long-debunked myth that SJRA's appointment of a single member to the Lone Star board is somehow a conflict of interest and has allowed SJRA to control the outcome of its regulatory decisions. Stoecker ignores the principle of majority rule and the fact that Lone Star's regulations were adopted unanimously. Lone Star has a nine-member board, including one member appointed by the City of Conroe. No single board member controls the district. And Conroe's representative voted to approve the district's pumpage rules, along with SJRA's representative and every other member of the board.

Contrary to Stoecker's baseless claims, no one was forced or manipulated into making the decision to manage Montgomery County's aquifers. The representatives on the Lone Star board chose to take a long-term view of water planning that ensures reliable water supplies for future generations. It would certainly have been easier and more politically expedient for them to just adopt his shortsighted view of unlimited pumping in spite of the warning signs and the experience of experts and other utilities in our region. And it is disgraceful to disparage with nothing more than misinformation and conspiracy theories the excellent planning and work that's been accomplished to ensure our future water supplies.

Jace Houston is general manager of the San Jacinto River Authority.
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Contracts and conflicts are normal fare for most commissioner's court agendas, but cats are another breed of politics rarely traversed by elected officials.

"My purpose here today is to seek a variance to the order prohibiting the keeping of wild animals, specifically servals, adopted Oct. 9, 2001," said James Van Duker.

The former ExxonMobil chemical engineer has grand plans for raising Savannah cats, a cross-breed of a serval and house cat and selling them to the general public.

Van Duker wants to raise the cats on his 2.5-acre lot near US 59 in Liberty county, but is prohibited from doing so because of the 2009 resolution.

"They are the largest domestic cat in the world," he said, "weighing two times or more larger than a normal cat."

He explained that the cross-bred cat has a good temperament for humans and has a considerably low incident rate of injury to human beings, according to a website.

Another website also says the animals have a 50 percent kill rate for their prey, but humans are on that list.

"They are legal in all but four states and 10 states allow them with a permit, including Texas," he told the court.

The family moved to Texas in 2008 where Van Duker accepted a job as a chemical engineer for ExxonMobil. He moved overseas in 2011 to Papua, New Guinea where they were introduced to the animal and other tame wildlife.

He moved to California where he resigned from ExxonMobil in 2013 and took up real estate all the while researching the serval and breeding with a house cat. He moved to Texas in September of 2016 with the intent of breeding Savannah cats.

The cats have a coat similar to a leopard and commissioners had some concerns that they would be mistaken for a wild animal and shot.

"I'm more concerned about the expectations that your neighbors have," said Commissioner Mike McCarty.

"Whether it be a letter of support from the neighbors or knowledge of this and give them the right to speak to us as well [on this issue]," McCarty said.

Van Duker admitted he had not met with the neighbors to let him know what his intentions were.

He agreed to abide by the Texas Health and Safety Code that has set parameters on the care and breeding of the animals.

Commissioners tabled the motion until Van Duker could give proof that he had spoken to his neighbors and gathered their reaction or until they had an opportunity to speak to the court if necessary.

Former ABC-13 television reporter Wayne Dolcefino was at court to ask the commissioners a favor.

"I'm here today representing my firm [Dolcefino Consulting], but also representing a number of the oyster companies involved in litigation with Chambers-Liberty County Navigation District," he said. "I know this is a Chambers County deal, but at the same time, since your commissioners court signed a resolution in support of the Navigation District lease with a company called STORM, also known as Jeri's Seafood, I thought it was important to come and ask you nicely if you would put on your agenda to rescind your resolution in support."

The former broadcast investigator said he found fundamental transparency issues with the contract and the execution of such.

"Public agencies should spend public money wisely and do deals in the light of day," he said. "There were secret, illegal negotiations," he alleges, 'with one party to give away a precious resource that belongs to everyone in this room for a song."

Dolcefino said there are oyster companies and public leaseholders who would willingly spend a $100K for an acre of oyster lease, but instead, it was given away for $1 an acre by the Chambers-Liberty County Navigation District.

Commissioners cannot by law respond to comments from the public but will consider adding it to the agenda for future consideration. Lawsuits have already been filed against the individual commissioners. Liberty County was not named in the suit.

Judge Knight and County Tax Assessor-Collector Rick Brown discussed the procedures involved in the purchase of delinquent tax property since there apparently was a good bit of misinformation being propagated on a local website. Bids that were offered were completely legal with no 'so-called' backroom knowledge that was not already privy to the general public by newspaper, posted at the courthouse or found online. Commissioners, however, turned down the bids in an effort to recoup a larger return on the property.

The Dayton News sat down with Liberty County Tax Assessor-Collector Rick Brown to discuss the procedure on a basic level so that all residents can be involved in the purchase of properties that are in a delinquent state.

In other commissioner action:

-- Commissioners approved fire protection services agreement with Tarkington VFD and the Liberty County Firefighters Association. The measure was introduced by new Liberty County Fire Marshal Bill Hergemueller.

-- Penny McMullen was appointed as Indigent Healthcare Director effective Feb. 1, 2017.
Happy New Year! I hope your year has started off with a bang, as I know mine has with the start of session.

During this legislative session, as a way to help you keep up with important issues, I will be writing this column once a week to share things I hope are of interest to you which are happening at your Texas Capitol each week.

Here are five things happening at your Capitol this week:

1.85th Legislative Session Begins

On Jan. 10, the 85th Legislative Session began. Set to last 140 days during odd-numbered years, the session is the time the Texas Legislature has to pass a two-year budget and address existing and proposed new laws. It has and continues to be one of my greatest honors to represent you in the Legislature. Part of the oath of office all members of the Legislature take, calls for us to preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of our great state. This is a great reminder that in the busyness of session, legislators should never stray from the guiding principles of our Constitution. I take this pledge very seriously and strive to represent you well in Austin.

2.States Revenue Estimates

The primary purpose, and only constitutionally required task, of a legislative session is to prepare and pass a balanced state budget for the upcoming two fiscal years. To provide the Legislature with a guideline as to what revenue is available, State Comptroller Glen Hegar released his Biennial Revenue Estimate. He estimates $104.9 billion in state revenue will be available for general-purpose spending in the two-year budget period, beginning on Sept. 1. This number guides the members as we prepare the state's budget.

This estimate is down by a significant amount compared to the last biennium. While this will create several challenges for our state, I will be working with my colleagues on the Senate Finance Committee to ensure we are able to find greater efficiencies in our state budget, making sure to get the most out of every state dollar.

3.DETCOG Reception

The night before the 85th Legislative Session began, many residents from Senate District 3, including County and City Judges, Commissioner and Mayors, attended the Deep East Texas Council of Governments reception. It was a great show of involvement from the people of East Texas who are making their voices heard at the Capitol.

I look forward to working with members of this delegation and would encourage more constituents to become involved. Seeing you at the Capitol is a reminder to me of who I represent in the Texas Senate. As always, feel free to contact your Senate office if my staff or I can assist you.

4.Last Sunset Advisory Commission Meeting

This week the Sunset Advisory Commission held its final meeting to make recommendations for reforming state agencies. One of the recommendations voted on was to create the Texas Behavioral Health Executive Council which would house the boards for Psychologists, Marriage and Family Therapists, Professional Counselors and Social Workers. The Licensed Chemical Dependency Counselors and the Council on Sex Offender Treatment would also be regulated by this Council. Each board will maintain its autonomy in creating rules, but will have increased resources to assist in administrative tasks as well as to address enforcement issues. We also voted on recommendations for the Optometry Board, Texas Medical Board and the Texas Department of Transportation.

All of the recommendations the Commission has voted on over the last year will now be drafted into bills, to be considered by the Legislature. I look forward to continuing to work on these important pieces of legislation to ensure our state's government is working as efficiently as possible.

5.Working with House Members

Within Senate District 3 there are 10 House Districts. As we represent many of the same individuals, my office works closely with the House offices all year round to ensure we are able to effectively advocate for the people we represent at home. We are blessed to have such great House members to represent East Texas.

Each session, I make it a priority to work with each state representative to discuss issues they are working on, as well as to share my goals for the next few months. As I am sure you understand, working with the House is important because no bill can be passed by a single chamber. Close coordination ensures that the voice of East Texas is heard loud and clear in our state's legislature.
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UPDATE: A man was charged in the wrong-way crash on the Southwest Freeway. Read more: http://www.chron.com/news/houston-texas/houston/article/Suspected-drunk-driver-accused-in-fatal-wrong-way-10862385.php.

At least two women died in wrecks caused by suspected intoxicated drivers on Houston roads early Saturday. State troopers also followed a man on a high-speed chase from Galveston to Pasadena that ended in gunfire, and a pedestrian was killed near Jersey Village.

A suspected drunk driver killed a 19-year-old woman in north Houston 1:30 a.m. when his SUV left the North Freeway feeder road, crossed a grassy median just before West Road and entered the northbound main lanes, Houston police said.

The man's SUV slammed into a Toyota Rav-4 carrying seven women in their late teens and early 20s. The two cars spun out of control. The man's vehicle, an SUV with no passengers, stopped moving when it hit the freeway retaining wall. The women's Rav-4 slid on to the feeder road.

COMPARISON: Texas, Louisiana drivers named the worst in the country

The crash killed a woman sitting in the back seat on the passenger side. The other six women were taken to area hospitals in various conditions, including another 19-year-old who was taken in serious condition to Memorial Hermann Hospital.

The man was taken in stable condition to St. Joseph Medical Center downtown, where police planned to test his blood for intoxication.

Police have not yet released names of the victims or suspect. HPD spokesman John Cannon said Saturday afternoon that investigators had determined the man was intoxicated. Police plan to file charges including intoxication manslaughter and intoxication assault.

BANNED: Houston truck driver declared threat, to be kept off road

Another fatal crash came after a man driving the wrong way on the Southwest Freeway main lanes caused a five-car pileup about 3 a.m. Saturday, according to Houston police.

A possibly intoxicated man in a black Dodge Durango SUV drove north in the southbound lanes near the Westpark Tollway, HPD spokesman John Cannon said. He sideswiped a black Scion TC and hit a white Chevy Tahoe head-on.

The Tahoe was then struck by a blue Honda CR-V, while the Scion driver lost control and was hit head-on by a white Chevy Impala, the spokesman said.

One female was pronounced dead at the scene. Eleven people were taken to area hospitals, including one girl in critical condition.

"We don't know much yet because we have so many people that we have to interview at hospitals," Cannon said.Police have to await doctors' permission before interviewing injured victims or the suspect, who was also taken to a hospital.

The driver likely will get a citation or face charges, especially if police determine he was intoxicated.

And about 10:30 p.m. Friday near Jersey Village, a pedestrian walking in the street on FM 529 died after he was struck by a driver, who stopped and called 911. The Harris County Sheriff's Office said the victim was an unidentified man whose next of kin could not be reached.

The pedestrian was walking against traffic in a westbound lane in the 13600 block of FM 529, near North Eldridge Parkway. A man driving a red Hyundai Veloster struck the pedestrian with the left front side of the vehicle, sending his body flying into the center lane.

The unidentified victim died at the scene, according to the sheriff's office. No charges are expected since the pedestrian failed to yield the right of way as he was walking in the street at night.

In addition, a police chase started about 9 p.m. Friday when state troopers got several calls about a reckless driver speeding and nearly hitting other vehicles on the northbound Gulf Freeway in Galveston.

A trooper spotted the driver in a Ford Excursion and tried to pull him over, but the driver instead tried to speed away. Police chased him north on the Gulf Freeway to Beltway 8.

At one point, state troopers and Harris County Precinct 8 constable's deputies opened fire on the driver, who managed to drive away. No one was injured.
Two John Cooper School students were chosen to attend the inauguration of President-Elect Donald Trump Jan. 18-22.

Senior Grace Reagan and freshman Pablo Flower, along with other high school students across the nation, were selected to participate in the ninth Envision Presidential Inauguration Leadership Summit, provided through Envision Impact Series.

The students will spend five days participating in various leadership programs and listening to renowned guest speakers, including Nobel Prize winner Malala Yousafzai, Carly Fiorina, Martin O'Malley, Spike Lee, Gen. Colin Powell, Abby Wambach, Paul Begala and Tucker Carlson.

Additionally, the summit scholars from across the U.S. will form small-group delegations focusing on national and global solutions to current and future challenges faced by the nation. The six topics students will choose from are Drones, Clones & Genomes, Curing the Future, Racing Extinction, Imagining Peace, A Smarter Planet and Pathways to Power.

Both students said they have plans to pursue political involvement in the future. Specifically, Reagan will focus on "International Affairs  Maintaining Peace" and Flower will work to improve education.
American Apparel will be closing all 110 of its retail stores, as well as its Los Angeles headquarters.

The popular retailer, known for colorful cotton basics and its Made in America  Sweatshop Free logo, was acquired by Gildan Activewear on Jan. 10 for $88 million. At its peak in 2007, the bankrupt retailer was valued at $1 billion.

Gildan, a Canadian t-shirt and underwear maker, will reportedly close all American Apparel stores by the end of April. As many as 3,400 employees could lose their jobs.

This was always about buying assets out of bankruptcy, Gildan spokesman Garry Bell told the L.A. Times. The reality is this wasn't a purchase of an ongoing concern.

American Apparel was founded in 1989 and known as much for its edgy marketing campaigns, often featuring edgy models in minimal clothing, as its controversial founder, Dov Charney.

Charney was outspoken about his support for worker rights and immigration reform, views which clashed with reports that he had sexually harassed and assaulted employees. In 2014, the board ousted Charney as chairman and CEO, citing the sexual harassment allegations and misuse of company funds.

Following the Charney incident, the brand name took a serious hit, which led to a revolving door of higher ups and culminated in the brand filing for bankruptcy in 2015. Throughout this time, Charney was fighting his ousting in the courts. Currently, he is working on a clothing startup.

The brand ultimately failed to close enough stores and adapt to the demands of the fast-fashion industry, with teens turning to cheaper retailers, like H&M and Forever 21. American Apparel filed for bankruptcy again last November.

Gildan will likely not produce any American Apparel products in California, but could manufacture items in cheaper states.

The political climate in the U.S. has made things very fluid for a lot of companies, Bell told the LA Times. We will evaluate all these options.

As the stores close, the companys goods will likely get picked up by wholesale buyers. These items will still carry American Apparel tags, but at a lower cost.

Gildan sells clothing through other retailers, such as Target and K-Mart, and the fate of the American Apparel brand will likely follow a similar path.

Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
Two people were hospitalized after suspected drunk driving wrecks late Saturday, according to authorities.

In the first wreck, around 11 p.m., a man was headed north on Ranchester when he lost control and slammed his SUV into a light pole and an iron fence, police said at the scene.

Fire crews pulled him from the vehicle and he was taken to the hospital in stable condition.

Houston police told reporters at the scene that the driver was highly intoxicated.

Then, around 11:30 p.m., a man speeding west on Louetta hit the turn lane curb, then bounced off and lost control, skidding across lanes of traffic and through a ditch before slamming into a power pole.

He was pinned inside the car and responding firefighters struggled to extricate him before he was rushed to the hospital in critical condition, according to authorities.

The driver - who was not publicly identified - was allegedly intoxicated and had beer in the car, according to Harris County Constable Precinct 4 deputies.
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The vandals behind the pro-Trump graffiti on Rice University campus have been identified as current students at the Houston college, according to authorities.

Controversy and outrage erupted Friday after police discovered "Trump 16" and other scrawling appeared on the Berlin Wall memorial outside the Baker Institute for Public Policy.

The same night, "#DeportSpanos" and "TRUMP BABY!" were scribbled on a mural fastened to the side of the Moody Center shipping containers.

RELIGIOUS DESTRUCTION: Vandals cause 'serious' damage to Texas church

While the vandalized mural was removed Friday, a university spokesman said the Berlin Wall segment would be covered until a professional art conservator could remove the scrawl.

The new vandalism covered the original message "Salut mes amis," which was painted before the wall fell in 1989.

The memorial has been in place on Rice campus since 2000.

VANDALIZING SANTA: Headless decorations don't slow holiday spirit

As news of the vandalism spread through social media, students, alumni and locals were outraged.

"THIS is deplorable," wrote one Facebook user.

"It breaks my heart to see that Rice students apparently did this terrible thing," wrote another.

The university soundly condemned the students' "appalling" actions.

INCOMPLETE: A quarter of anti-Trump Portland protesters didn't vote

"Vandalism of an important symbol of freedom and of student art are deeply concerning," President David Leebron and Provost Marie Lynn Miranda said in a campus-wide statement released Saturday night.

"We ask everyone in our community to join us in condemning such behavior and to work together to prevent such hostile acts and to protect the Rice property that contributes so much to our experience and quality of life."

The statement did not name the students involved or specify whether they would face charges.

Houston Chronicle reporter Lindsay Ellis contributed to this report.

>>>Click through the gallery to see the damage and images of other, more creative graffiti.
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Story updated on Monday, January 23:

With tremendous help from the community, my friend Alli and I have been able to find the adorable dog -which we've named Daisy - a temporary foster home. She is currently getting her vaccinations in order and has an appointment with a local vet to get spayed. Once she heals from the surgery, she will be available for adoption in about two weeks. For more information about Daisy and her adoption status, visit the Best 4 Pets website dedicated to her.

Original story:

Lost dogs are seen all the time in Houston, but Saturday while I was out with a friend, we came across a pooch that was different from any others I'd seen before.

My friend, Alli, and I were driving back to my apartment off of Binz St. in Houston Saturday afternoon around 2 p.m. when we saw a dog without a collar and leash walking by a father and his daughter.

"I don't think that dog belongs to them," Alli told me.

"But it's walking right by the little girl and is looking at her. It must be theirs, right?" I said to her.

SAD STORY: Dog at shelter gets excited when owners arrive, but they get a new dog instead

We wrote it off and drove slowly by the father, daughter and pooch, but something told us to turn around and ask if that dog was theirs.

We pulled into the parking lot across the street from the Children's Museum and asked them if she belonged to them. They told us, "No," but they also said that she's been accompanying families all afternoon.

"She has been following families to their cars and turning around whenever they don't take her with them. She turns around and finds a new family to walk with," the father told us.

HEART STRINGS: Houston dog adopted by rescuers after 20-foot fall down pipe

"This girl knows how to work the system," I thought and at that moment she worked my own heart. She greeted us with her big brown eyes and wagging tail and kisses to the hands.

Our hearts melted and the pursuit of finding this little pooch's home began.

Alli took her to see if she has a microchip, but she doesn't, so we began calling animal shelters (preferably no-kill shelters) all afternoon, but everywhere we called was full. The calling continued into Sunday morning, but we still had no luck in finding a shelter to take the sweet girl.

With this, we offer a call to help. If she has grasped on your heart strings as she did for us, share this article so that we can find her home and owners. If you know who this dog belongs to or wish to adopt her, visit her Best 4 Pets profile for more information.

ADOPTION SUCCESS: UH cheerleaders help 15 dogs get adopted before they are put down
When the bodies of three teenagers were found in July 1982 near Lake Waco, chills ran through Central Texas.

Kids were kept inside, Lake Waco was off limits to teens and many wondered who could have done it.

Eventually four people were convicted in the deaths of Jill Montgomery, Raylene Rice and Kenneth Franks.

GRUESOME CRIME: Looking back at the 'Candy Man' 42 years later

Now, the last of the four defendants in a case that sparked years of litigation and multiple blogs has died.

The Texas Department of Criminal Justice said 57-year-old Anthony Melendez passed away Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, in a prison hospice at the Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony, near Palestine.

Prison spokesman Jason Clark told the Waco Tribune that privacy laws prevented him from releasing the cause of death.

Melendez was serving two life prison terms after pleading guilty to two counts of murder in the case and testifying against David Wayne Spence at his trial in Bryan.

LOST: Man searches Houston streets for missing brother

Spence was executed in 1997. Melendezs brother, Gilbert, who also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two life prison terms, died in prison in 1998 of HIV complications.

The fourth defendant, Muneer Deeb, also was sentenced to death after a trial in Cleburne. His conviction was later overturned and he was acquitted at a 1993 retrial in Fort Worth. He died from cancer six years after being released.

LETHAL INJECTION: Texas carries out first execution of 2017

Prosecutors said Deeb hired Spence to kill a teenager named Gayle Kelley so he could collect on a life insurance policy he had on her. Spence botched the job, mistaking Montgomery for Kelley, prosecutors said. Montgomery, 17, was at Koehne Park at Lake Waco with her friends Rice, 17, and Franks, 18.

The bodies of the teens, who were stabbed a total of 47 times, were dumped at Lake Wacos Speegleville Park.

>>>Click through the gallery to see details about cold cases for which investigators are still searching for clues.
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When Norwegian author Tom Egeland recently posted on Facebook about photographs that had changed the course of warfare, he naturally included Nick Uts Pulitzer Prizewinning shot of a naked Vietnamese girl fleeing a napalm bombing during the Vietnam War. Facebook deleted the photo, however, and suspended Egelands account. Afterposten, Norways largest newspaper, wrote a scathing editorial about this act of censorship and posted the photo on its Facebook page. Facebook removed that, too. Then the prime minister of Norway followed suit, posting the picture, and once again, Facebook deleted that post. After an international media outcry, Facebook finally relented and reinstated the photo. (Facebook cited nudity for its decision, though the image has been reproduced around the world for a generation.)

The episode is just one example among many of censorship on major social-media platforms, which hold near-monopoly status over online life. Google possesses 64 percent of the U.S. search-engine market and collects 82 percent of ad revenues from online searches. Google also owns YouTube, which has almost complete ownership of the video-hosting market. Facebook holds a 42 percent share of all U.S. social-media traffic, but that market includes unrelated services like Twitter. Facebook confronts no real competition in terms of the market for connecting with family and friends. When rivals like WhatsApp or Instagram pop up, Facebook simply buys them. LinkedIn has its own niche for professional networking, and Snapchat is popular among young users, but Facebook remains dominant. Twitter may be a troubled company, but at present it also has no real competitors for what it does (though start-up Gab.ai hopes to change that). And Amazon has 74 percent of the U.S. e-book market. Millions of readers use its Kindle device or software, which dont support the open e-pub standard used by other platforms. If you lose access to the Amazon marketplace, Kindle owners cant read your book.

These platforms generally claim that they dont censor content but only delete it when it violates copyrights, contains nudity, or is abusive. Yet its easy to find cases where the meddling looks subjective. Facebook banned an ad for an event promoting body positivity that used a photo of plus-size model Tess Holliday, for example. Ads may not depict a state of health or body weight as being perfect or extremely undesirable, Facebook said in a statement. Ads like these are not allowed since they make viewers feel bad about themselves. Instead, we recommend using an image of a relevant activity, such as running or riding a bike.

Social-media firms often take political stands as well. With their enormous clout, Facebook and Twitter can manipulate public opinion on a range of issues. Plenty of reason exists to believe that these companies, overwhelmingly run by liberals, have discriminated against conservative users and viewpoints. Twitter has banned conservative journalists Robert Stacy McCain, Charles C. Johnson, and Milo Yiannopoulosprovocateurs, to be surebut not left-wing agitators, such as Black Lives Matter supporters. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey personally participated in Ferguson protests.

To the extent that peoples lives have been harmed by tweets, they have almost always been victims of social-justice warriors on the left. This includes Justine Sacco, who was fired from her job while on a flight to South Africa after an ill-considered tweet, joking about getting AIDS in Africa. Her remark instigated an online attack by Gawker writer Sam Biddle. Biddle, who has also tweeted that nerds should be constantly shamed and degraded into submission and bring back bullying (he claimed to be joking), still has his Twitter account. In May, the technology site Gizmodo revealed that Facebooks trending topics feature was manipulated by a left-leaning staff that routinely suppressed right-of-center stories. Facebook held a meeting with some conservatives to reassure them but ultimately fired its entire trending-topics team and replaced it with an algorithm.

Facebook also rejected blogger John Hinderakers ad for an event exploring the minimum-wage debate and ignored his appeals. After Hinderaker posted about the dispute on his popular conservative site, Power Line, Facebook approved the ad, saying that an algorithm had incorrectly flagged it as violating a policy against financial apps and that a technical glitch prevented his appeal from going to the proper place. The Daily Callers Mark Tapscott experienced something similar when Facebook wouldnt let him post a link to a story about the Clinton Foundation. After public complaints, Facebook explained that the post was removed in error and restored as soon as we were able to investigate.

These sorts of glitches and errors seem overwhelmingly to affect conservative groups. As an experiment, an Israeli NGO called Shurat HaDin (the Israel Law Center) created two nearly identical Facebook pages, one pro-Israel and the other pro-Palestine, and reported them both to Facebook as abusive. The pro-Israel page was removed for violating community standards, but the pro-Palestine one stayed up.

Because they are reflexively anti-regulation and proprivate property, conservatives have often sided with the tech companies in these disputes, saying that as private firms, they are free to allow or disallow, to promote or suppress whatever they wish. The growing power of these firms raises new concerns, however. Conservatives have no difficulty seeing censorship on college campuses as a major problem, even at private universities. But if a conservative speaker gets disinvited from a university, he or she can find other interested schools. By contrast, those who lose access to Facebook, Twitter, or YouTube are effectively exiled from vast tracts of the online public square.

Ironically, many social-media companies themselves advocated for net-neutrality regulation that would prevent Internet service providers from favoring one online site over another. They clearly perceived the threat that potential censorship by ISPs posed to their business, though the broadband market is more competitive than the social-media sphere. Some have proposed treating the social-media monopolies the same way that they want to treat ISPsas utilities. These firms, its worth noting, are already reaping the benefits of utility-like regulation. Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act grants them broad immunity from liability for what gets posted on their sites by saying that they are merely platforms, not publishers. But to the extent that they are manipulating content based on point of view, they are clearly acting more like publishers than like, say, the telephone company. At a minimum, these platforms should be forced to choose one or the other model, instead of getting the best of both worlds. Either they are common carriers with an obligation to provide a nondiscriminatory service to all, or they should be liable for what is published on their sites.

Photo: bombuscreative/iStock
Donald Trump might be the most urban president in American history. He was raised in Queens and makes his home in a midtown Manhattan high-rise. Hes lived in New York City his entire life. His personal fortune is heavily tied to the prosperity of cities. He built his business empire from a foundation in Manhattan real-estate development. He understands cities as only those who spend years living in them can.

But Trump polled poorly in major urban centershe won just 18.4 percent of the vote in Gothamand its easy to see why. He offered few specifics on his plans, and his focus was largely on the industrial economy, which had long since collapsed in central cities. Coastal hubs like New York and San Francisco have staked their futures on postindustrial technology, finance, and business services. Other cities aspire to do the same. The idea of bringing back factories has little appeal in such places, which see them as the old economy.

Trump did make a direct pitch to black voters, asking them, What do you have to lose? by voting for him. He stressed law and order and promised to rebuild our inner cities. Citing the water crisis in majority-black Flint, Michigan, he promised an ambitious new infrastructure plan. But blacks have long been a reliable Democratic constituency. It wasnt realistic to expect Trump to flip the black vote substantially. (He did outperform Mitt Romney among blacks, though.)

Because of his lack of specificity, its hard to predict what Trumps urban policies will be. But his campaign gives us some clues. First, given his pro-police and law-and-order stances, Trumps administration is unlikely to retain the Obama administrations aggressively anti-cop posture. It also seems unlikely that Trump will continue Obamas federal push into further housing regulation via HUDs controversial initiative, Affirmatively Furthering Fair Housing (though Trump did not address this issue directly during the campaign). From an urban perspective, its not clear how Trumps infrastructure policy will play out, but a formative event in the building of the Trump reputation was his rescue, in the 1980s, of Wollman Rink in New York. Trump took over a failing city ice-rink renovation projectit was vastly over budget and years behind scheduleand completed it in a matter of months. Trump clearly gets urban construction.

Trumps relationship with many big-city mayors is likely to be adversarial. Such mayors often lean hard left, and it will likely be to their political advantage to pick fights with the new president. The reaction of Minneapolis mayor Betsy Hodges, who lashed out at Trump in a series of Facebook posts after the election, may be instructive. Peoples lives, livelihoods, safety, and well-being are at stake, she wrote. We must continue, as always, to take a stand against what is coming, to fight for and with people against the meanness that is upon us. Given Republican dominance at the federal level and in a majority of statehouses, the Left will look to cities and mayors to push a political agenda at odds with Trumps policies.

Immigration will almost certainly be a major flashpoint. Big cities have become home to increasingly large numbers of immigrants. Miami is 75 percent foreign-born, San Jose 40 percent, and Houston 29 percent. These numbers dont include U.S.-born children of immigrants. Many shrinking cities like Detroit and Dayton see immigrants as their best hope for repopulation. Moreover, Trump has vowed to crack down on illegal immigration, and most big-city mayors are de facto open-borders ideologues. Many preside over so-called sanctuary cities, where local governments, including law enforcement, refuse to cooperate with federal immigration laws. Trump says that he will revoke federal funding to sanctuary cities, and many mayors have already vowed to defy him. Whether he remains resolute in this standoff will offer an early test of Trumps commitment to his agenda.

To a large extent, Trumps urban strategy has yet to be formed. But cities are in his DNA. If the new president does nothing more than roll back the Obama administrations intrusions into urban policy, hell do some good for American cities.

Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images
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Is there really a debate on vaccine safety? Experts in vaccines, autism, and pediatrics answer questions on the topic in the wake of a controversial anti-vaccine column penned by Cleveland Clinic executive Dr. Daniel Neides. Clinic leadership, including CEO Toby Cosgrove, have disavowed Neides' message, which called into question the safety of childhood vaccines and connected them to neurological disorders such as autism and ADHD.

(The Plain Dealer)

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Are vaccines safe? Even if they don't cause autism, are they dangerous in other ways?

The subject surfaced recently after Dr. Daniel Neides, a family physician and executive in the Cleveland Clinic's Wellness Institute, penned an anti-vaccine column that quickly gained international attention. The column was disavowed by the institution, most recently in an opinion piece by Clinic CEO Toby Cosgrove.

We asked local and national experts to weigh in on the column and its more controversial claims:

Q. Let's start with the most obvious question: Do vaccines cause -- or "trigger"-- autism?

A. Unequivocally no. That's from everyone who spoke with The Plain Dealer and the dozens of peer-reviewed studies they referenced, which show that vaccines [and vaccine ingredients] do not cause autism, even in children who are at increased risk of the disorder.

It's also from the Centers for Disease Control, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the World Health Organization, Autism Speaks and the Autism Science Foundation, the Institute of Medicine, and the American Medical Association, among others.

"The one paper that kept this belief going was horribly flawed and ultimately retracted, " said Dr. Fred Volkmar, director of the Yale University Child Study Center and an expert on autism spectrum disorders.

Q. Formaldehyde, the stuff we use for embalming, is in some vaccines. How is that good for injecting into kids?



Fruits-- including pears-- naturally contain formaldehyde in larger amounts than what's found in vaccines.

A. Turns out there's a lot of formaldehyde that's naturally part of our everyday world -- in the air in small amounts, in fruits and vegetables, in meats, and in our own bodies. It's actually something important we need to produce DNA and the amino acids that make up proteins.

So why is it in some vaccines, including polio, flu and others? It performs a critical job, said Dr. Paul Offit, a pediatrician and chief of the division of infectious diseases at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia. Formaldehyde inactivates, or kills the virus so we can receive the vaccine and be protected from a future exposure, but not get sick from the virus in the shot. It's also there in tiny amounts, which studies have shown pose no threat.

"You have more formaldehyde circulating in your blood stream at any time -- 10 times more than you would ever get from the vaccine," Offit said.

Q. Do we really give a vaccine to babies for a disease that's sexually transmitted? Couldn't that vaccine wait?

A. Hepatitis B vaccine - delivered in a series of three doses -- is indeed recommended for newborns. And hepatitis B, a serious disease that can cause lifelong illness, can be spread through sexual contact.

But that's not the only way it's spread, the doctors said. The virus is highly contagious -- about 50-100 times more infectious than HIV -- and spreads through contact with blood, saliva, and other bodily fluids.

Before routine childhood immunization began in the U.S. in the early 1990's, hepatitis B was infecting 16,000 children younger than 10 years old a year. About half of these children were infected by their mothers while passing through the birth canal. The other half though weren't exposed through sexual contact.

Kids can get the infection from sharing a toothbrush with an infected relative, or being exposed to even a small amount of blood or saliva. There's even record of babies being infected when given pre-chewed food from an infected person.

Q. Can babies' immune systems handle so many vaccines?

A. Yes, they can. It seems like babies, because they're still developing, might be more sensitive to things. But any baby who came into the world unprepared to deal with germs, allergens, bacteria and viruses wouldn't survive very long.

Every day, a healthy baby's immune system fights off millions of germs. Vaccinations introduce only tiny amounts of a potential attacker -- an inactivated (i.e. dead) virus, a weakened virus, or a piece of a virus or bacteria.

Compared to even the simple act of eating, breathing, and touching surfaces, these exposures are less than a drop in a very, very large bucket.

"Vaccinations are one of the triumphs of pediatrics and public health," Volkmar said. Because so many kids get vaccines at regular intervals now though, it's easy to mistakenly associate the shots with just about anything that goes wrong in development, he said.

While some worry that babies might be too fragile to receive multiple vaccines at once, the infant immune system is already very robust, experts say. Babies have to fend off millions of germs and allergens every day in order to survive. The amount they encounter in vaccines are negligible in comparison, and most vaccines contain weakened or inactivated viruses, or only pieces of the viruses or bacteria they may encounter later. By inoculating them, the infants are then spared more serious disease.

Q. Neides, and many others, say they just want vaccines to be as safe as possible. Shouldn't we aim for that?

A. All of the doctors we spoke with want vaccines to be as safe as possible. No one argued with that goal.

But, said several, it's important to first note just how safe they are today. It can take up to 10 years of safety and other testing before a vaccine is approved in the United States, and the products are also monitored and studied closely for side effects by the FDA after they're released.

Vaccines aren't perfect though. Some can have some scary side effects in a small number of cases.

"Vaccines have safety issues, like any medical product," said Offit, who created the rotavirus vaccine. "The oral polio vaccine could itself cause polio. It was rare, but it was real."

The experts said there's a difference between advocating for vaccine safety and unfairly blaming vaccines for conditions and diseases that are completely unrelated, such as autism, or damning vaccines for their "toxins" without evidence of harm. People who do that, they say, aren't vaccine safety advocates. They're anti-vaccine.

"If they want to make vaccines safer, then they should take on issues that would make them safer," Offit said. One of those: gelatin used as a stabilizer in chicken pox vaccine can cause hypersensitivity reactions in some children. There are other stabilizers available, he said, and it would be helpful if vaccine safety advocates pushed for change there.

Q. Why are so many kids diagnosed with autism today than 50 years ago?



A. Without a doubt, more children today are diagnosed with autism or autism spectrum disorder than 50 years ago, without a doubt. That's largely because doctors have broadened their definition of what autism is -- hence the more appropriate "autism spectrum disorder" label.

Much of the increase in autism diagnosis -- the most recent estimates are that 1 in 68 kids are affected -- is due to this broadening, said Volkmar, fellow autism expert Dr. Max Wiznitzer of University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital, and Dr. David Gorski of the Science Based Medicine blog. Doctors also are better at screening for the disorder, and kids who used to get other labels (such as mental retardation) are now sometimes diagnosed as on the spectrum.

These changes in practice don't account for all of the increase, though. It's likely cases are on the rise, though it's unclear why. While there is no single known cause of autism, strong genetic factors and a number of environmental factors such as having older parents and low-birth weight contribute to the disorder.

Volkmar also cautioned that some of the data used to gauge the number of children with autism nationwide is weak because it is taken from phone surveys of parents.

Q. So, why didn't we see more kids with Individualized education plans (IEPs) in the 1950's and 1960's?

A. Partly because there were no IEPs available until the mid-1970's, when the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) passed.

But beyond that, Wiznitzer said, many of the children who would have benefited from special education and the practice of "mainstreaming" that brings children with intellectual differences into classrooms with typically-developing children were kept out of public school during that time.

"Kids with autism weren't put into public schools in the 60's," he said. "That's one of the reasons that the 1975 special education laws were passed that mandated the IEPs."

Q. What's the danger in letting Neides share his thoughts?



A. Neides shared opinions that can be found in a lot of places online and are shared by some other doctors, too.

The danger in this particular exercise of free speech, the experts said, is that Neides' use of the Cleveland Clinic name probably made people think the information he shared was not just opinion, but evidence-based medicine approved by a well-respected institution.

"The Cleveland Clinic is an excellent medical organization," said Offit. "So what does this mean? Does this mean that the mainstream is now buying into this nonsense? I think that's the dangerous game that we play."

Said Wiznitzer, "If you write something that influences people not to vaccinate, there's a public health consequence, but it's not just a consequence for the people who don't vaccinate, it's a consequence for everyone around them."
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Jay Tamilio, 17, makes adjustments to the cardboard box that would be his overnight shelter, on the steps of Lakewood Congregational Church after joining other youth group members, including those from St. Peter's Episcopal Church, on Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017.

(Thomas Ondrey/The Plain Dealer)

Olivia Bando, center, and Eliza Richardson bring out a cardboard box that would be their overnight shelter outside Lakewood Congregational Church. Joined by other youth group members, including those from neighboring St. Peter's Episcopal Church, they solicited donations to help the homeless on Saturday, Jan. 14, in LCC's 13th Homeless Awareness Sleep Out.

LAKEWOOD, Ohio -- Cardboard boxes provided the only shelter Saturday night for about 30 teens spending the night outdoors to raise money and awareness for local agencies providing support for the homeless.

The Homeless Awareness Sleep Out, being staged for the 13th year, is a cornerstone ministry for the youth group of Lakewood Congregational Church, 1375 West Clifton Blvd.

Members of the group, from grades 6 to 12, gathered Saturday afternoon to start building their box shelters, then spent the evening seeking donations from passersby in front of the church along Detroit Avenue. Collections resume after adult chaperones rouse the teens by 6 a.m. Sunday. They share their experiences and reflections at Lakewood Congregational's 10 a.m. worship service.

Young people from neighboring St. Peter's Episcopal Church, 18001 Detroit Ave., also joined the sleep-out effort this year.

Agencies receiving support from LCC are the Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless, Y-Haven and Family Promise of Greater Cleveland. Funds from St. Peter's will also go to Lakeside Men's Shelter, Laura's Home and the Wade Park Domicile.

Online donations are accepted at lcc-church.org.
SPENCER, OH -- It's 8 o'clock on a cold and snowy Thursday morning. Laura Jordan is chopping apples and grapes and scooping meal worms from a container, making "breakfast" for three cedar waxwings and a bluebird she nursed back to health, each brought to her with broken wings that didn't heal well enough to return them to the wild.

The songbirds share a large cage and the sociable waxwings seem pleased to have the bluebird as part of their flock. Jordan, founder of the Medina Raptor Center, says the center is now equipped to handle songbirds, although they are pretty high maintenance.

"Songbirds are more hands-on," she says as she opens the metal door to place the jar-lid 'bowls' full of breakfast on the cage floor. "We are feeding them constantly -- every 10 or 15 minutes. The ones with the fastest metabolisms and the ones squawking the most are the ones I feed first when I come in. Those and the babies in the incubator. They need food right away."

Each week, the Center provides three pounds of fruit, 5,000 meal worms and 1,000 wax worms to feed the songbirds alone. Their annual food expense for all of the birds is more than $25,000 a year, and the center operates completely on donations.

Jordan, a 65-year-old Rocky River native who has lived in Medina county for the past 40 years, says she feels like she has been saving animals since the day she was born, but "technically speaking, I worked with the SPCA until 1985, then worked with raise-and-release programs for mammals."

The mammals were a frustration for her. "I didn't see the point," she says, getting some "pinkies" (feeder mice) ready for another raptor feeding. I was rehabilitating 40-50 raccoons a year, and nobody wanted the raccoons on their property." After finding "sitters" to feed the babies round the clock, and making sure the raccoons were released in a place where they could find food, water and shelter, she said she is not sure any of them survived. That is when she turned her focus to birds. Her husband, Bill, built the center for her in 1990, and they started it up with their own money.

Jordan says she was meant to do this work. It is difficult, both emotionally and physically, and it is all day every day. She sees raptors hit by cars, poisoned by pesticides or by lead from bullets in deer carcasses. She sees screech owls whose legs were cut off by someone felling a tree and not checking the cavity for wildlife. Arrow punctures. Fires. Wind destroying nests. But the rewards are worth it, she says. "With raptors, the rehab can be so complicated sometimes," says the woman licensed by both the state and federal government to keep and care for these birds. "Bringing them back is an accomplishment. But it's more than that. I feel I saved a life, probably the same thing a fireman feels when he carries a baby away from a disaster."

Jordan walks across the workroom and opens a large chest freezer, less than halfway filled with mice, rats and chicks, to thaw some food for the raptors. "We're getting pretty low," she says, and shakes her head. "I couldn't do this without my volunteers," and as she says this, two cars pull into the Raptor Center parking lot. "This is a very Christian group we have here. It just happened that way. They may not admit it, or think about it consciously, but what we do here is very God-driven. There have been times when we are down to our last dollars and a donor steps up just in time to keep us going."

Two volunteers, Debbie Parker and Jackie Chambers, enter the center. Parker has been showing up faithfully for eight years to help Jordan with the morning chores. The 56 raptor enclosures need to be cleaned every day, several times a day for the babies. The women help water and feed, help with weighing the birds and with physical therapy. They scout for intruders both human and animal. "The diggers are the worst" Jordan says. "Minks are especially viscious. They will dig into an enclosure and just chase the bird back and forth, tiring out a bird that is trying to heal from trauma."

She doles out some chores for the day, and the volunteers head off in opposite directions. Jordan heads for the bald eagle's enclosure, one of the biggest for one of the biggest birds.

"Security here is good," she says. "We have cameras everywhere, including in every cage," she says as she greets Mgisi, a female bald eagle who imprinted on humans and was mistreated before being brought to the center. "Hi girl! Good morning 'gisi!" Mgisi calls out when she hears her name, throwing her head back and emitting five sharp cheeps, followed by a throaty, staccato sound like high-pitched laughter.

"I say prayers for all of these birds," Jordan says, securing the door of Mgisi's enclosure after delivering some food. "In the end, hopefully I have the right knowledge and the right meds to fix them, but it really is up to Him."

The sturdy, energetic woman strides back to the main building. "A wonderful man from Cincinnati donated the whole camera system eight years ago," she says, pointing one out. I can watch the babies in cages. I can release birds earlier because I can see them flying on their own and hunting on their own. I can use my phone to check on each bird before I go to bed. And those cameras are so helpful in the hospital. I was in Tennessee, but could tell them back in Ohio exactly what to do."

Jordan babies those cameras, and doesn't know what she'll do when the system needs to be replaced. The entire operation relies on the generosity of people who, like her, love animals, especially birds.

"We see over 400 birds a year," she says. "I'm thrilled if we can get 100-150 back into the wild. Some, when they come in, are already dead. Not literally, but," her voice trails off. She never stands still, and is portioning out more meals as she reflects on the problems of her work.

"Car hits are the number one reason raptors end up here," she says, plucking a pinkie from a bowl of water, squeezing out the moisture and handing it to Swirls, a bony 16 year-old tabby who is finally gaining some weight thanks to Jordan's TLC. "Poisoning is second," she says. "It's usually not intentional, just people using what they do. So much of it is lethal, even to humans. That's some powerful crap they're selling. You can use an old fashioned mouse trap. Better yet, there is a natural repellent for mice. It's called Fresh Cab. It looks like a sachet and it smells so good, but the mice hate it. So, unless it is a car hit or a bullet, the injury is usually environmental."

The volunteers come back into the warmth of the office, check with Jordan to see if there is anything else she needs, then leave for the day. It's 1 PM, at least another hour before Jordan will get to leave for lunch. Everyone else gets fed first. Jordan will be on her own until the evening crew of volunteers shows up, though her husband Bill sometimes stops in to lend a hand.

Jordan admits, grudgingly, to being tired sometimes, especially in the summer when the center is filled to capacity, new birds showing up daily.

"We walk around like zombies in here in the spring and summer, we are so busy," she says. "I'm not a vet. I am doing my best, and sometimes it works. I pray about it at night, and I wake up sometimes and know exactly what I need to do."

She sits down, for the first time in five hours. Her bright blue eyes glisten as she talks about the joy this work brings. "Seeing an eagle fly after you've worked on it -- there is nothing like it. When you set them free, they never look back. They just go. That's so awesome, that's your job. You know you've done it well when they take their place in the wild again."

The Medina Raptor Center receives no state or federal funds. They are staffed entirely by volunteers. They are currently at full staff, but those wanting to apply can mail an application to Medina Raptor Center, P.O. Box 74, Spencer, Ohio 44275. Donations can be also be sent to this address, the center's PayPal account or Amazon Smile. Items can be donated through Amazon Wish List or arrangements can be made to deliver items by emailing the center at MedinaRaptor@gmail.com

Instructions for accessing and bringing in an injured bird can be found on the raptor center's website, www.MedinaRaptorCenter.org. There you will also find updates on birds brought to the center, ways to 'adopt' a bird, news about the center and raptors, and the supply wish list.
Heroin overdose deaths on rise

Ohio continues to be a national leader in heroin overdose deaths.

(cleveland.com file photo)

The New York Times published a story last March about a historic church in Massachusetts that reluctantly closed its bathrooms to the public after several heroin addicts overdosed in the building's restrooms.

"We weren't medically equipped or educated to handle overdoses, and we were desperately afraid we were going to have something happen that was way out of our reach," said the Rev. Joseph O. Robinson, rector of the church.

It was a legitimate fear, even for a sanctuary that specializes in the rescue of troubled souls. As cheap and lethal heroin continues its deadly onslaught on America, churches aren't the only places confronted with the challenge of addicts using drugs on their premises. There is no shortage of reports of heroin users who have overdosed in public spaces, sometimes with the calculated hope that public safety workers would reach them before they die.

A married couple from the Cincinnati area overdosed last week in a White Castle restaurant with a three-year-old child and a nine-month-old infant at their table. Police were summoned to the restaurant after the wife fell to the floor and the husband slumped against a window.

An alert manager took the children to the restaurant's office while officers tended to the parents. The couple survived and was charged with child endangerment and illegal use or possession of drug paraphernalia.

This sad, frustrating and pathetic type of story is no longer an anomaly. People who are hopelessly addicted to opioids are literally killing themselves in public, sometimes with their children in tow. This begins another emerging chapter in the heroin scourge that America will soon be forced to confront: the developmental plight of heroin babies and heroin children.

America once fretted about the number of children born with crack cocaine in their systems. Researchers in the 1980s and 1990s studied whether fetuses exposed to crack would lead to the birth of children with severe emotional, mental or physical health issues. It turned out that many of the worst fears about a coming generation of crack babies were somewhat overstated.

While prenatal exposure to crack or cocaine sometimes led to premature births and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, it didn't lead to natural born killers. The economic and social circumstances that crack babies were born into turned out to be more powerful determinants of future anti-social behaviors than prenatal exposure to crack.

The verdict is still out on heroin. It's already proving to be a totally different, and deadlier, scourge. Death statistics reveal that 55,403 people died of drug overdoses in 2015, with opioid-based medication and heroin being the primary drivers of the epidemic.

Unborn babies aren't immune from heroin's reach. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report last summer that revealed a frightening surge of babies born suffering from opiate withdrawal. Opiates were found in 1.5 cases of every 1,000 babies born in 1999. The number of such births was 6 in 1,000 in 2013.

Those numbers are dated, which likely means that the actual count of babies born already addicted to heroin is much larger. These helpless babies, who often have tremendous difficulty breathing, eating and keeping a stable body temperature, have the added challenge of surviving a criminally unfit parent.

When a child is forced to watch a parent overdose on heroin in a White Castle, America must then keep a close eye on that traumatized child. An army of heroin babies is now gathering and growing on the horizon. How can we prevent them from leaving the cradle for the grave?
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, at the Republican National Convention on July 21, 2016 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.

Silicon Valley billionaire and outspoken Donald Trump supporter Peter Thiel is considering a bid to run for governor of California in 2018, according to a report in Politico.

According to the publication, those in communication with Thiel say that a bid is unlikely, but added that he has yet to explicitly rule it out. Thiel has been discussing the prospective bid with a small circle of advisers that include Rob Morrow, who has worked at Thiel's hedge fund Clarium Capital.

Thiel founded PayPal , was Facebook 's first professional investor, and sits on its board. He is worth an estimated $2.7 billion. He also is one of the president-elect's most prominent supporters.

However, a Thiel victory in California could be difficult, as the President-elect garnered only 30 percent of the presidential vote in Californiaone of the country's most politically liberal states.

Thiel and Clarium declined to comment on the matter to Politico. A representative at Thiel's Founders Fund did not immediately reply to CNBC's request for comment.

Politico's entire story can be found on its website.
Politicians and leaders from both parties  including Vice President-elect Mike Pence  have visited Selma with Lewis over the years. In 2015, Presidents Barack Obama and George W. Bush went to Selma with Lewis and others to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Bloody Sunday.

On what became known as "Bloody Sunday" in 1965, Lewis was badly beaten by Alabama state troopers on Selma's Edmund Pettus Bridge during a march for voting rights.

Rep. John Lewis said he would not invite President-elect Donald Trump to visit Selma, Alabama, with him, though he also would not "do anything to prevent him from coming."

"By going to Selma," Lewis said of Trump, "maybe he would learn something." But, he added, "I would not invite him to come."

The civil rights leader made the remark in the same interview with NBC News' Chuck Todd in which he also said Trump was not "a legitimate president."

Trump reacted to an early clip of that interview on Twitter, calling Lewis "all talk, talk, talk - no action or results," leading many leading Democrats  and a few Republicans  to publicly rush to Lewis' defense.

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On the question of Trump's legitimacy, the Georgia congressman believes there was a "conspiracy" and that "the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

Lewis, agreeing with Sen. John McCain, called for a "special commission to get to the bottom of what happened."

In the meantime, Lewis said it would be "almost impossible" for him to work with the incoming president.

However, asked if some of the responsibility for Hillary Clinton's loss falls on the Democrats, Lewis conceded "maybe we didn't do everything that we could've done."

On the eve of Martin Luther King Day, Lewis said of race relations in the country, "we made a lot of progress  but we're not there yet. The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in American society."

Lewis added, "It is difficult to see our country come to where it is today."

The congressman also made headlines earlier in the week when he testified against Trump's attorney general nominee, Sen. Jeff Sessions.

When asked why he decided to testify, Lewis responded that Sessions doesn't "have a history of  being on the side of what is fair and what is just."

With Sessions likely to be confirmed, however, Lewis said he will work with his Democratic colleagues "to try to get him to do the right thing."
Trump dismissed Lewis, a Freedom Rider who was beaten during a 1965 march in Selma and was arrested and jailed repeatedly in opposition to segregation, as "all talk, talk, talk - no action or results."

Some Democrats had said they were boycotting the event prior to Saturday, but more Democratic members of the House said they would not attend after Trump in a series of tweets attacked Rep. John Lewis of Georgia, who a day earlier said he doesn't see Trump as a "legitimate president" due to alleged Russian interference in the election.

Twenty Democratic lawmakers now say they are skipping Donald Trump 's inauguration ceremony on Jan. 20, a number that grew Saturday after the president-elect dismissed a congressman who is a civil rights icon as "all talk."

Grijalva plans to spend the day at home, meeting with constituents he believes will be affected by President-elect Trump's administration.

"My absence is not motivated by disrespect for the office, or motivated by disrespect for the government that we have in this great democracy," Grijalva said. "But as an individual act  yes, of defiance  at the disrespect shown to millions and millions of Americans by this incoming administration, and by the actions we are taking here in this Congress."

The Arizona Congressman stood in the House Chamber and explained Friday that he would not remain in Washington, D.C. for the inauguration.

Below are the Democratic lawmakers who do not plan on attending.

The attack, coming just days before Martin Luther King Jr. Day, seem to have energized a number of Lewis' fellow Democratic lawmakers, as they joined his boycott of the inauguration after Trump's tweet storm.

Rep. Barbara Lee

"Donald Trump has proven that his administration will normalize the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party," said Rep. Barbara Lee in a statement, an 18-year veteran of Congress. "On Inauguration Day, I will not be celebrating. I will be organizing and preparing for resistance."

Lee cited concerns over Russian hacking and a "divisive and prejudiced campaign," alleging that the president had normalized bigotry and appointed a white nationalist  former Breitbart Executive Chair Steve Bannon  as his chief strategist. Bannon has denied being a white nationalist.

Rep. Ted Lieu

Congressman Ted Lieu said in a statement that Trump would be in violation of the Constitution when he takes office next week because of his many alleged conflicts of interest. Lieu said he would oppose Trump when necessary and work with him when possible, but he believed the president-elect went too far when he attacked Lewis.

"For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple," Lieu said. "Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis."

Rep. Mark Takano

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Rep. Judy Chu



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Georgia

Rep. John Lewis

Lewis sat down for an exclusive interview with NBC's Chuck Todd on Friday and explained that he did not consider Trump's presidency as legitimate because of Russian interference.

"That's not right. That's not fair. That's not the democratic process," Lewis said about the alleged Russian hacking, which U.S. intelligence officials believe was to help Trump get elected and to discredit Hillary Clinton.

Lewis said he could not attend the president-elect's inauguration in good conscience, a view that has gained support since Trump attacked Lewis' leadership and performance on Twitter in response.

"You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong," Lewis said.

This is the first time Lewis has not attended the inauguration since he entered Congress 30 years ago.

Illinois

Rep. Luis Gutierrez

"I could not look at my wife, my daughters or my grandson in the eye if I sat there and attended as if everything that candidate Donald Trump had said about The women, about The Latinos, or The Blacks, The Muslims or any of the other things he said in his speeches and Tweets  that any of that is OK or erased from my memory," the congressman said in a Jan. 10 statement.

Massachusetts

Rep. Katherine Clark

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Michigan

Rep. John Conyers, Jr.

Rep. John Conyers, the dean of the House of Representatives, will not attend the inauguration, his office told CNN on Saturday. A reason was not reported.

Missouri

Rep. William Lacy Clay

A member of the St. Louis-area congressional delegation, Rep. William Lacy Clay will not attend Trump's inauguration. His spokesman, Steve Engelhard, told the Post-Dispatch that he would "be back home in St. Louis speaking to school kids" instead.

New York

Rep. Jose Serrano

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Rep. Nydia Velazquez



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Rep. Yvette D. Clarke



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Rep. Adriano Espaillat

"Many have given their lives and dedicated their lives to working to fulfill Dr. King's dream and make it a reality, and it is up to us to preserve his legacy and the legacy of President Barack Obama to ensure that we do not go back in time!," Espaillat wrote in a post on his Facebook page on Saturday.

"President-elect Donald Trump is trying to take us back! And the people Trump is appointing- Steve Bannon, Jeff Sessions - are trying to take us back!

That's why I am not attending the presidential inauguration. Donald Trump and the hate-filled rhetoric that plagued his election simply will continue in his administration.

THIS is not Dr. King's Dream!"

Oregon

Rep. Earl Blumenauer
The president-elect's stance that all politically appointed ambassadors must, with no exceptions, be gone from Day One risks cutting off nations' direct line to the president while Congress wades through the lengthy process of approving their successors, analysts said.

A plan by Donald Trump to turf out dozens of ambassadors on the day he takes office risks months of uncertainty in some of the most sensitive parts of the world, according to several experts.

This could be especially pertinent because of Trump's penchant for making candid foreign policy statements from his Twitter account; a good ambassador might be able to provide their host government with reassurances and explanation perhaps absent from the president-elect's forthright 140-character messages.

"You do not want to have a situation where countries are left without a direct link to the president for that long," said Julianne Smith, director of the Strategy and Statecraft Program at the Center for a New American Security, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

It's standard procedure for all ambassadors appointed by an administration to leave their posts at the end of the president's final term.

But this process is usually staggered, with some diplomats taking a so-called "grace period" and leaving their offices weeks or even months after the inauguration.

This can be because of family reasons, if the diplomat has school-aged kids, for example, or because there's a crisis in the host country that the ambassador's familiar hand can help steer.

In a move to make a mark on Day One, Trump has signaled he will not allow any politically appointed ambassador to take this grace period, a senior State Department official told NBC News.

The New York Times also spoke with several American diplomats who saw a cable saying much the same.

All of them, without question, will have to be out by the afternoon of Jan. 20.

This will mean U.S. embassies in countries such as China, Japan, India, Saudi Arabia, and across Western Europe will be looking for a new ambassador come the end of this month.

In total, ambassadorships for some 80 countries, international agencies, and issues (the ambassador at large for global women's issues, for example) will be vacant all at once.

Any new appointments will have to be approved by Congress, a lengthy process in the easiest of times, but a potentially months-long slog when there are dozens of envoys to get through.

The embassies would not be rudderless during this time. When there is no ambassador the deputy mission chief takes over as what's known as a "charge d'affaires."

These people are almost always senior career diplomats themselves, and perhaps even more versed in foreign policy than their politically appointed bosses.

But this is no substitute for the symbolic importance of an ambassador, according to Smith.

"If you're a country where you have got some friction with the U.S. ... you are going to find yourself without an interlocutor," she said. "Number twos are often very capable senior diplomats, but in times of crisis these countries want someone with a direct line to the president."

Politically-appointed diplomats are usually either major fundraisers for the president or his political allies. They make up around 35 percent of the ambassadors currently in service, according to data compiled by the Center for Public Integrity, a nonprofit journalism organization based in Washington.

The other 65 percent are career ambassadors, people who have risen through the diplomatic service and are mostly based in Africa, South America and some of Asia.

Even in the internet age, where the State Department can spread its message from Washington using mass-media, the subtle, personal touch of a good ambassador is as vital as ever, according to Raffaello Pantucci, director of international security studies at the Royal United Services Institute, a London-based think tank.

"Messages that you broadcast to the world are not the same as the ones you want to deliver in person," he said.

Furthermore, at a time when the loudest messages coming out of Washington may well be emanating from the next president's social media accounts, an ambassador who has a good relationship with his or her host country could be crucial in providing context.

"Mixed signals are also dangerous. Ambassadors can calm down any anxiety," said Smith, at the Center for a New American Security. "Without that, countries reading Twitter and press releases could be left guessing."

Professor Scott Lucas, a U.S. foreign policy expert at England's University of Birmingham, agreed that forcing all ambassadors out from day one was "an absolutely risky move."

He said the policy was unsurprising given what he said were the the president-elect's other bombastic pronouncements before taking office.

"It's very much, 'My way or the highway,'" Lucas said. "He is saying, 'We are in charge and we set the rules.' But it's done in not a very thought-out way."

Like Trump's statements questioning America's intelligence community over alleged Russian hacking, his ripping-up-trees approach to diplomatic officials is bad for morale, the professor added.

"You have a president-elect who has shown no respect for serving personnel," he said.

Not everyone agrees the move will be so detrimental. Among them is James Edward Hoare, an associate fellow at London's Chatham House think tank.

"Diplomacy will carry on, with the professional staff stepping in until Mr. Trump has made his new political appointments," he said. "While [Trump's decision] indicates a lack of generosity and a wish to show who is in charge, as well as a certain amount of personal inconvenience to those concerned, [the ambassadors] must have all known that they would be out of office pretty soon after mid-January."

How countries will react to long periods without an ambassador is hard to judge.

Japan and South Korea, both nervously eyeing their noisy neighbor North Korea, will both be without ambassadors, as will China.

Trump spent much of his candidacy attacking Beijing, but his pick for ambassador, Iowa Governor Terry Branstad, has described Chinese President Xi Jinping as an "old friend."

This position will be a priority appointment for Trump. But given its high-profile nature, particularly in Trump's administration, the ambassadorship's approval is going to be met with "a lot of scrutiny" in congress, according to Smith.

Saudi Arabia, a member of the anti-ISIS coalition, will also be looking for a new top diplomat, as will India, Australia, and a Western Europe beset by a migration crisis, terror threats and a resurgent Russia.

"Countries [without ambassadors] will left in the dark, and they could choose to take advantage of that and make a risky move," Smith said. "If they are not getting a signal right away they may think that's a chance to test the new administration."
MoDOT prefers flyover ramps at 70 and 63

Following public and stakeholder meetings, MoDOT is moving ahead with its preferred idea of a flyover at the 70/63 connector.
Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping (R) and Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong (Source: VNA)



The Joint Communique said that during the visit, the Vietnamese Party chief held talks with Party General Secretary and President of China Xi Jinping, and had meetings with Chinas Premier of the State Council Li Keqiang; Chairman of the National Peoples Congress of China (NPCC) Standing Committee Zhang Dejiang; Chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) Yu Zhengsheng; and Secretary of the Chinese Party Central Committees Commission for Discipline Inspection, Wang Qishan.

Party General Secretary Nguyen Phu Trong and Chairman of the National Committee of the CPPCC Yu Zhengsheng attended a friendship meeting celebrating the 67th anniversary of Vietnam-China diplomatic ties and the upcoming Lunar New Year.

Besides Beijing, the Vietnamese party chief made a tour of Zhejiang province.

The Joint Communique said the two sides agreed that the visit was a success, contributing greatly to enhancing mutual trust, strengthening the traditional friendship, and deepening the comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership between the two nations, while helping promote peace, stability and development in the region and the world.

The two sides said Vietnam and China are neighbours with long-lasting traditional friendship and both are socialist countries led by the communist parties. The two countries share similarities in political regime and development policy and correlative future. Sustainable development of each country and the bilateral friendship and cooperation bear great importance to both nations. In the context of new historical conditions, when the international and regional situation is undergoing rapid and complicated changes, the persistence in the leadership of the communist party and the socialist institution is a correct choice that suits the fundamental and long-term interests of the two countries and peoples.

The two sides affirmed that Vietnam and China will stringently pursue the motto friendly neighbours, comprehensive cooperation, long-term stability and looking towards the future and uphold the spirit of good neighbours, good friends, good comrades and good partners.

The two countries will always develop the bilateral relations on the basis of strategic and long-term vision, and follow the major orientation of the Vietnam-China relationship, the statement said.

It added that the two countries will maintain mutual respect, promote strategic exchange, enhance political trust, properly solve differences, deepen win-win cooperation, continually foster the stable, healthy development of the Vietnam-China comprehensive strategic cooperative partnership, in order to bring greater benefits for both countries and peoples while contributing more to promoting peace, stability, and prosperity in the region and the world.

The two sides agreed to maintain and strengthen Vietnam-China high-level exchanges through various forms including bilateral visits, special envoys, hotlines, annual meetings and meetings on the sidelines of multilateral forums, thus timely exchanging viewpoints on important issues in the relationship between the two Parties and countries as well as on regional and international situations, and defining orientations and directing the Vietnam-China ties growth in the new period.

They concurred that both Vietnam and China have entered an important period of socio-economic development, thus it is necessary to optimise the overall coordinating role of exchange and cooperation mechanisms, such as high-level meetings between the two Parties and the Steering Committee for Bilateral Cooperation, with focus on improving effectiveness of partnership in five major areas.

Firstly, the two sides should effectively implement cooperation plan between the two Parties in the 2016-2020 period, while increasing collaboration between central agencies of the two parties and among Party organisations in localities, especially in provinces and areas along the border.

The two sides should actively promote exchanges and friendship cooperation between the National Assembly of Vietnam and the National Peoples Congress of China, and between the Vietnam Fatherland Front and the Chinese Peoples Political Consultative Conference.

Secondly, the two countries should strengthen exchanges and cooperation in diplomacy, defence, security and law enforcement.

Thirdly, the two sides should further promote the result-oriented partnership in economy and trade, while making good strategic planning for bilateral cooperation. Affiliation in agriculture, environment, science-technology, and transportation should also be strengthened.

Fourthly, both countries should encourage exchanges and links between the two peoples, especially the youth using flexible and diverse forms, in order to enhance mutual understanding and friendship. It is also necessary to expand partnership in culture, education, tourism and media.

Fifthly, the two sides should optimise the role of the Vietnam-China Joint Committee on Land Border and the Committee on Vietnam-China Land Border Gate Management, while well implementing legal documents on land border between the two countries.

The two sides have discussed the sea-related issues in a straightforward and sincere manner. They underlined the need to observe the common perceptions reached by leaders of the two Parties and countries, and the agreement on basic principles guiding the settlement of sea issues between Vietnam and China.

The two sides should make the best use of the governmental-level negotiating mechanism on border and territory and pursue negotiations and friendly consultations to seek fundamental and long lasting solutions acceptable to both sides.

The two sides agreed to well implement follow-up work after finishing the joint field survey in the area off the mouth of the Gulf of Tonkin while accelerating negotiations on demarcating the area beyond the mouth of the Tonkin Gulf and promoting cooperation for development in the waters. They agreed to continue to promote the efforts of the working group on cooperation for development at sea while effectively stepping up joint projects in less sensitive fields as agreed previously.

Both sides agreed to continue to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (DOC), work towards the early formation of a Code of Conduct of Parties in the East Sea (COC) on the basis of consensus consultation, effectively controlling disputes at sea and avoiding actions that would further complicate or expanding disputes, while maintaining peace and stability in the East Sea.

The Vietnamese side affirmed to consistently pursue the one-China policy, support the peaceful development of Cross-Strait relations and Chinas great cause of unification, and resolutely oppose actions for an independent Taiwan in any form. Vietnam does not develop any official ties with Taiwan. The Chinese side welcomes Vietnams stance.

Both sides also agreed to boost coordination and cooperation at multilateral frameworks such as the United Nations, the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, the ASEAN-China, Mekong  Lan Cang, thus working together in maintaining peace, stability and prosperity in the region and the world.

The Joint Communique noted that the two sides signed a number of cooperation documents during the visit./.
We wrote last week that Theresa Mays has already set out her aims for negotiation. The contours, contrary to so much wishful thinking to the contrary, are discernable. We will leave the EU altogether. We will seek to opt back, so to speak, into bits of it  but outside the ECJs authority. This would mean Single Market access, based on a mutual recognition of standards and maintaining some present customs arrangements. We would pay for access to some projects and for some services. We would control our trade.

And lo and behold, we find exactly this prospectus set out in todays papers for her Europe speech on Tuesday.

Sunday Times: The prime minister will finally lay her cards on the table, making clear that the UK is set to pull out of the single market and the European customs union in order to regain control of immigration and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

Sunday Telegraph: Shes gone for the full works. People will know when she said Brexit means Brexit, she really meant it, a government source said.

Sunday Express: Downing Street aides are understood to have spent the past two days rewriting the speech to ensure it sets out Number 10s position as clearly as possible.

The original version of the speech was rejected because it did not send out a strong enough message. It is understood that Mrs Mays joint chief of staff Nick Timothy has penned the revised version and was still working on it last night.

Observer: May is expected to focus on building common goals  such as protecting and enhancing workers rights  in an attempt to create a consensus after months of acrimonious exchanges.

Sun on Sunday: In a historic speech to assembled diplomats from around the world, she will announce her intention to quit the single market and withdraw from the European Courts jurisdiction. She is also expected to pull out of the customs union  giving her ministers freedom to strike trade deals with countries around the world.

At this point, we own up. It didnt take journalistic digging to discover Mays plan (well, only a bit). Her thinking was clearly laid out in her speech to the Conservative Conference last October. Let me be clear, she said, We are not leaving the European Union only to give up control of immigration againIt is not going to a Norway model. Its not going to be a Switzerland model, she added. It is going to be an agreement between an independent, sovereign United Kingdom and the European Union.

Which means, since controlling our borders is incompatible with being a Single Market member, that we wont be a member. As for customs, leaving the customs union does not in practice necessarily mean losing our present customs access  but we shall see.

The Sunday Telegraphs account says that Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, and David Davis, the Secretary for Exiting the EU, have been closely involved in crafting the speech. Mr Johnson saw the Prime Minister on Tuesday while Mr Davis has been in regular contact, though neither are understood to have seen the final draft. This sounds likely enough, especially if Timothy, our former columnist, is still toiling away on the draft. But ConservativeHome is told that the Ministerial troika that really counts is May, Davis  and Philip Hammond.

Taking the Chancellor with her will be one of the Prime Ministers main objectives in terms of party management. She will naturally be keen not to allow the Foreign Secretary any room to distance himself from her negotiating strategy. But the Chancellor is businesss main man in the Cabinet, and his view matters.

The speech is unlikely to suggest what Mays response will be if our interlocutors reject her demands outright  or, more likely, seek to drag the talks out to put pressure on her. She does not have to say so directly this week. But she will need to at some point before Article 50 is moved. She will need to make it clear that a good deal  thats say, a deal which meets her requirements  is better than the Most Favoured Nation status alternative, but that no deal, and MFN, is a lot better than a bad deal.

The biggest strategic weakness of David Camerons renegotiation is that he was never prepared to walk  thats to say, to say plainly that he was prepared to lead Britain out of the EU were his demands not met. His head ended up on a spike. His successor will want to avoid the same fate.
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Our weekend morning emails feature the very best news and exclusive content from our team of reporters

Horrified onlookers watched on as a pack of out-of-control hounds on a hunt attacked a pet dog and its owners who were enjoying a walk on a West Cornwall beach.

The hunt rode onto Gunwalloe Beach to take their horses into the sea for a dip at around 3.30pm on Saturday afternoon.

But instead of going into the sea the pack of dogs appeared to huddle together unsupervised on the beach, before a commotion broke out and the hounds began chasing something.

It's not currently known which hunting group was on the beach.

Witness Julian Parrott, of Helston, said: "We could hear the hounds baying as if for blood.

"We saw a greyhound running for its life on the beach being pursued by the pack of hounds, with inept efforts by the huntsmen to keep them under control."

The beach was busy with walkers and families enjoying the sunny afternoon, but the mood quickly changed.

One of the hunters reportedly dismounted his horse and ran towards the dogs, in an attempt to stop them attacking the pet.

Meanwhile the dog's owners, an elderly couple who did not wish to be named, were also attempting to save their pet from the pack.

According to onlookers, the couple managed to grab the dog, but the hounds continued to attack.

Another witness said: "It was a horrifying scene, the man attempted to fight off the hounds with his wife's walking stick and was bitten several times on his hand and arm during the incident. His dog was bitten on the back.

"One of the hunters attempted to brandish a stick at the dogs to put them off, but was unable to prevent them mauling the pet and its owners.

"This was an incident where the hounds' bloodlust was out of control. It was shocking to see and I couldn't believe that they took the hunt on to a public beach where families were walking.

"That could just have easily have been a child."

One of the huntsmen apparently apologised to the shocked and distressed couple, before they left to go to hospital to get their injuries checked.
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You don't have to watch the whole thing; he doesn't threaten any world leaders or anything.

On some of those phrases, you can sure see the influence. But there's more than the voice.

Remember the scene where Dr. Evil freaks out over not getting the laser-beam-wielding sharks he demanded? According to one anonymous SNL alumnus, "I've seen that conversation between Lorne and the set designer 500 times at 10:30 on Saturday night." Also, Michaels, like Dr. Evil, "ends everything by bringing his pinkie up and chewing the fingernail."

But the connections might go even deeper than that. For example, Dr. Evil ransoming the world for a surprisingly low one million dollars seems like a reference to the time Michaels went on SNL to offer the Beatles a paltry three grand to reunite.

SNL Studios

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Historical footnote: They did not accept.

Allegedly, this pinkie-heavy performance was based on an impression fellow SNL alum Dana Carvey used to do, who was at least a little "pissed off" at Myers for cribbing it for his movie. Still, it's hard to "own" an impression of someone else, and Myers had the unique idea to use a Lorne Michaels impression for a villain in his movie ... oh, wait, no, the Kids In The Hall had already done that just the year before.
Chinese ambassador to U.S. cautions against irresponsible talk on S. China Sea issue

(Xinhua) 15:56, January 14, 2017

WASHINGTON, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Ambassador to the United StatesCui Tiankai cautioned certain American nationals against making irresponsible remarks on the South China Seaissue, while expressing hope to have closer communication and cooperation with the new U.S. administration.

Speaking on Thursday night in New York while attending an annual gala dinner of the China General Chamber of Commerce -- U.S.A.(CGCC), Cui said China looks forward to building a new type of relationship with Washington, featuring non-conflict, non-confrontation, mutual respect and win-win cooperation.

"It is hoped that everyone will make constructive contribution toward that end," the ambassador said.

He urged "some people" in the United States to be more careful and act in a more responsible way when talking about possible disputes in other people's waters.

Cui's remarks came after U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for Secretary of State talked tough on the South China Sea dispute.

Rex Tillerson, former chairman and CEO of the oil giant ExxonMobil, told a Senate hearing Thursday that China should stop island building in the South China Sea and be denied access to these islands, which China regards as an integral part of its territory.

Meanwhile, Cui highlighted the importance of China-U.S. relations in realizing China's goals of building a relatively prosperous society.
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Every year since the Campaign for Paid Family Leave was founded in 2012, Chair Catherine Bailey said she has seen progress toward establishing the benefit in Connecticut.

In 2013, the General Assembly established a task force to study the issue, with recommendations released the following year. In 2015 and 2016, analyses were conducted to determine how a system could be implemented. A report by the Institute for Womens Policy Research released last year determined that it could be feasible.

The exciting thing is I think were coming to a place in Connecticut where policymakers are no longer asking why this is needed, said Bailey, who is also public policy director for the Connecticut Womens Education and Legal Fund. Theyre asking how we can get it done.

Advocates of paid family leave also received a boost earlier this month when Senate President Pro Tempore Martin M. Looney said a paid leave law should be enacted this year.

Everyone should be able to care for a a newborn child, a sick family member or for themselves in the event of an illness without the added stress of a financial hardship, Looney, a Democrat who is recovering from a recent kidney transplant surgery, said in his General Assembly Opening Day remarks.

Looney told Hearst Connecticut Media he has proposed a bill that would start the conversation. If you dont introduce it, it will never pass, he said.

State Rep. Christopher Rosario, D-Bridgeport, said he expects it wont be easy to get Republican members on board, but said its a fight worth fighting.

Opponents of a statewide mandate say it should be up to each individual businesses to determine whether its a benefit they want to provide. Some legislators, including state Rep. Themis Klarides, Republican minority leader, have spoken out against paid family leave laws in the past.

(Republicans) have a bigger presence and well have to work with them and find a middle ground, like with anything else we do at the Capitol, Rosario said.

After Republicans won an equal number of seats in the state Senate last year, with Lt. Gov. Nancy Wyman having the potential to break a tie in favor of Democrats, the two parties reached a power-sharing agreement last month. Republicans now have the right to force a vote on what business comes up in the Senate.

Looneys bill, which has been referred to the Labor Committee, is similar to past drafts, establishing an employee-funded pool that would be used to pay eligible claimants up to 12 weeks of paid leave each year for the birth of a child, a non-work-related illness or to care for a family member.

Past bills have set different requirements for how much an employee would have to make to receive the benefit, how many employees a company would need for the law to apply and the maximum a worker could receive in weekly pay, usually up to $1,000 a week.

Looney said he is open to negotiating the details. But the Connecticut Business & Industry Association has warned it would be costly to implement and burdensome for employers.

We 100 percent support businesses that voluntarily adopt one of these program for their employees, said Eric Gjede, counsel for CBIA. What we dont support is an across-the-board mandate that affects businesses of all sizes. It imposes a bunch of new burdens on businesses.

He said with the states budget woes, it is not in a position to add the 120 or so staffers it has been estimated are needed to run the program.

Gjede said the state should consider providing incentives for companies to offer the benefit on their own. Try using the carrot not the stick for once, he said.

Steven Hernandez, executive director for the Commission on Women, Children and Seniors, said he understands concerns about the cost. The Institute for Womens Policy Research has estimated the upfront costs of such a system in Connecticut at more than $13.6 million.

The problem of course is the upfront funding, Hernandez said. The state cant do that. But what if we were able to engage a skilled nonprofit provider that could do this work and fund the upfront costs?

He said in Massachusetts and Washington, D.C., nonprofit insurers are handling what he calls the client-facing aspects of certain benefits.

In that kind of system, appeals and decisions would still be handled by the state, but a nonprofit could handle the intake of applications, deal with claimants and fund the upfront costs, he said. The insurer could then be paid back through the fund.

This hasnt been done before in quite this way, Hernandez said. But throughout this work we have made sure that in no way do we want to privatize this benefit. If a for-profit venture was running this benefit, profit would prevail.

Looney said the state should not be playing catchup on these issues, but should be leading the way, as it did when it became the first state to require paid sick time.

A handful of states, including California, Rhode Island and New York, have passed paid family leave laws.

Other states have adopted this and most other nations that are advanced democracies have adopted this, Looney said. Its a humane employment policy.

ktorres@hearstmediact.com; 203-330-6227
GENEVA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Swiss President Doris Leuthard said Thursday that the upcoming visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping will have a stabilizing effect on both Europe and the world in light of the many changes and challenges affecting the international landscape.

"I think there are different expectations, (and) it will be a very important visit for the whole of Europe and perhaps with some elements that have worldwide recognitions," Leuthard told Xinhua in an interview.

"As you know we are in a difficult situation ... I think China can use this situation to show its world power status and how it can be a factor of stability," she added.

She was referring to the changes of governments which have already taken place or could take place in some big powers of the world, as well as lingering tensions in several country-to-country relations.

Switzerland was among the first European countries to recognize China's market economy status, the first Western countries to establish diplomatic relationship with the People's Republic of China, said Leuthard.

She attributed the development of bilateral relations to the trust and confidence between Berne and Beijing, as well as the fruits of many years of discussions, meetings and mutual understanding.

This bilateral relationship will be reinforced by Xi's visit, and new space will be opened for cooperation for the ties to move up a new ladder, said Leuthard, who has been at the helm of the Swiss government since the beginning of the year.

"There is an expectation on the bilateral level, (and) we will sign quite a lot of new agreements and in so doing enlarge our fields of cooperation," she explained.

Xi will pay a state visit to Switzerland from Jan. 15 to Jan. 18, at the invitation of the Federal Council of Switzerland.

During the visit, Xi will attend the 47th World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting on Jan. 17, at the invitation of WEF founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab.

He will also visit the United Nations Office at Geneva and the World Health Organization (WHO), as well as the International Olympics Committee (IOC) headquarters in Lausanne on Jan. 18, at the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, WHO Director-General Margaret Chan, and IOC President Thomas Bach.
Technology has been transforming the educational world for the past few years. Every year, new edtech companies bring innovative products to the table -- from online certification platforms to websites that offer interactive learning apps.

Weve seen a lot of well-established eLearning websites that do their part in nurturing the next generation. But this didnt stop innovators from introducing features that set the tone for the future of the edtech industry.

Here are four of the most promising edtech startups that could become the key players:

1. Studypool

Working out of their dorm rooms as college freshman, Studypool founders Richard Werbe and Jimmy Zhong ironically skipped weeks of classes to reinvent how students learn through a concept called "Microtutoring."

CEO Richard Werbe explains, "Microtutoring breaks down conventional tutoring into smaller, more digestible pieces of learning. By eliminating the barrier of set-time tutoring sessions, students can master subjects more efficiently on a time interval tailored to their needs. Typical sessions last one to 10 minutes but can take up to several hours depending on the student. Werbe emphasizes that learning is all about mastery, and Studypools mission is to make mastering a particular subject matter easier for students.

He continues, Think about when you were stuck on that tricky algebra question in high school and you called your smart friend for help. That was microtutoring! Studypool is doing that times ten million. It's like having thousands of friends that are professional tutors that can help 24/7, on demand. By using today's online technology, Studypool has created the infrastructure needed to support Microtutoring.

Related: Top 5 Freelancing Jobs That Are Best Suited For Women

Studypools aggressive approach has made a splash on the Internet since its launch in 2014 as students discovered the appeal of Microtutoring. One early customer Daniel Zhang gave the website a glowing review: "I got help with a kinematic physics equation lying in bed in my dorm room at two in the morning! Within a month of its launch, Studypool had thousands of users.

Today the company has raised $2.3 million in seed funding, has helped over a million students, and offers services from over 40,000 verified tutors. Werbe reports that the platform is growing faster than ever and is seeing significant revenues.

2. Peergrade

Other than reading books and gaining experience, accepting feedback is one of the best ways to learn. True, evaluating a students performance and providing assessments are normally for teachers. But with Peergrade, students can evaluate and grade each others work through peer assessment sessions.

Launched in 2015 by co-founders David Kofoed Wind, Malthe Jrgensen, and Simon Lind, Peergrades original goal was to help teachers keep up with a growing number of students while still providing the close attention and fair evaluation they deserve.

Continuous budget limitations for educational institutions force teachers to teach larger classes and consequently cut back on the number of written assignments or grade more homework, says David. Letting students partake in the process of evaluating and giving feedback enables them to learn from the work of others.

The platform works by allowing teachers to create online assignments and specify the criteria for evaluation. As students hand in their work, it goes through other students for peer-assessment first. Once all feedback is given, the teacher can get a full overview of the session.

Last year, Peergrade received a total of $300,000 in seed funding. It is now being used in major universities across Denmark and neighboring countries. Interested organizations can also use their service for free through their website.

3. Time Machine Tours

Its no secret that a lot of students find history as one of the most boring subjects. Perhaps its due to the heavy reliance on thick textbooks and bland teaching methods available in the school system.

Time Machine Tours -- an iOS app founded by Kyle Hudson in 2015 -- is set to forever change the way history is learned. Utilizing GPS technology, users can tell the exact location of photographers when they took historical photos.

History lessons are presented to them in big blocks of text and their eyes glaze over. Time Machine Tours lets kids access and experience history in a way theyve never been able to before, says Hudson.

The app offers tours that utilize augmented reality, with which users can hold their phones over the actual locations. This creates the illusion that makes users feel as if theyre staring into the past. Like it or not, it is a much more engaging way to learn history than reading in a classroom or library.

Currently, Time Machine Tours is only available in selection locations -- namely New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and Washington DC. New content is being added monthly with new locations, but for now, theres no announcement of a major expansion or funding.

Related: Lessons for the New CEO From 5 Great Leaders of History

4. ClassTag

ClassTag is a different kind of startup that focuses not on the students, but on the parent-teacher relationship. Everyone should be aware that it is both the parent and teachers job to foster learning minds. Thats why schools hold parent-teacher conferences that allow collaboration and create a better learning environment for students -- at home and in the classroom.

Related: How Social Media is Reshaping Today's Education System

Founded by Vlada Lotkina in 2015, a Wharton MBA and former Fortune 500 executive, ClassTags main objective is to provide a classroom community. This utilizes the collective effort of teachers and parents in tending to the needs of the students. With the platform, teachers can organize events, schedule conferences, and launch newsletter campaigns to maintain open communication.

ClassTags mission is to help teachers engage parents in the classroom by handling the busy work, says Lotkina. Our service is carefully crafted to simplify logistics and communications issues in classrooms.

Currently, ClassTag is being used by leading private and public schools. According to Lotkina, the platform borrows from corporations the concept of getting employees involved in programs that match their interests, particularly in charity and volunteering events. Since parents highly value their childrens education, they are guaranteed to participate in opportunities provided by platforms like ClassTag.

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My country tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrims pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.

The high, melodic singing of fifth-graders from throughout the state filled the legislative chamber of the historic Old State House.

This surprising musical selection, such a welcome change from God Bless America and the national anthem, made me teary-eyed, for some reason, probably because it transported memories back to fourth grade, more than half a century ago, and the weeks after the assassination of a president. We sang it every morning in Stamfords old Belltown School.

I had walked over on a chilly, sunny breezy winter morning to see whether Jessica Brocksom, of Milford, Connecticuts new Kid Governor, had any words of advice for Gov. Dan Malloy. You know: secrets to statewide popularity, and how to get along with others; stuff Malloy needs if he thinks hes going to roll the political dice for a third term.

I figured Malloy could use some inside advice from a popular state politician, an obvious rising star, who defeated six other candidates by pushing an anti-animal cruelty platform.

Elena Tipton of East Hartford, the states first Kid Governor and Jessica sat next to each other, the center of attention, amid some local Milford lawmakers who spoke too long; Secretary of the State Denise Merrill; black-robed state Supreme Court Justice Dennis Eveleigh; and the ever-present U.S. Sen. Dick Blumenthal, who clearly had fun talking to a crowd with so much more maturity than your average swamp-dwelling congressman.

He took a head count of kids who had pets, then praised Jessicas agenda.

She is going to raise money so that more animals are given better homes, Blumenthal said. Shes going to fight for tougher laws. All around the country there are still fights between animals that are sponsored by people. They bet on them, and very often they attract people who deal in drugs and all kinds of other criminal activities ... I hope you all visit me down in Washington. I need friendly faces down there.

Jessica was brief and businesslike. Thank you, to all the fifth-graders around the state that had the confidence in me to represent them and make a difference in the lives of animals that are not being treated kindly, she said. I have always loved animals and knew that some were not being treated right.

Her year-long term will include the production of videos; a blog; and appearances at schools throughout the state.

Alas, Brocksom and Malloy had almost zero face time together. It was a good occasion for the governors never-ending campaign to slow down for a half hour, take a breath and show some humanity. I had escaped the state Capitol and headed northeast, through Bushnell Park, toward the heart of downtown Hartford a mile away, for the possible occasion.

Fresh from a self-promoting radio appearance, Malloy essentially blew in and out of the Old State House, now just a mostly closed, ceremonial museum after a funding tug-of-war between the Legislature and the state Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

This is the peaceful transference of power, which hopefully well celebrate next week in Washington on a different scale, he told the chuckling pupils, teachers and parents.

In brief remarks, Malloy tried to stray from Wonkville, but never mentioned by name either Jessica (the incoming individual) or Elena, now a sixth-grader. Was I the only one who noticed? Well, theres a civics lesson there. Malloy defaulted into post-election policy speak.

I wish that we realigned our curriculum to make sure that by the time someone graduates from high school, they actually understand the role they play in our democracy and the protection of it, and what that democracy actually means to them; and how it makes our country different, Malloy said. Before him, sitting without chairs  on the same floor where back in the 1790s, the states leaders gathered to discuss Connecticuts early problems  was the small sea of bright 10- and 11-year-olds.

Today, you all are participating in that learning experience, and understanding that elections are part of that process and I hope, based on this experience today that you will never miss an opportunity to vote in your young lives and then once you become 18, because we need smart people to participate in our elections, Malloy culminated. It is a way that we defend our democracy.

Malloy, who as the chairman of the Democratic Governors Association put a lot of political capital into the recent presidential race, was a few hours away from announcing that he would head to Washington for the Trump inauguration. Well, if you cant beat them ...

Ken Dixon can be reached in the Capitol at 860-549-4670 or at kdixon@ctpost.com. Visit twitter.com/KenDixonCT. His Facebook address is kendixonct.hearst. Dixons Connecticut Blog-o-rama is at blog.ctnews.com/dixon/
Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl Lob'STAR auditions open

Video auditions are open for the first LobSTAR to have a starring roll in the 2023 Nova Scotia Lobster Crawl. Often we get people who say, 'How do I get to help Lucy the lobster come out of the Atlantic?' or 'How do I get to be a judge at the ...
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China and Vietnam on Saturday issued a joint communique, pledging to manage maritime differences and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.

China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, according to the communique.

Both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, it said.

Both sides agreed to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC, said the communique.

Both sides agreed to manage maritime differences and avoid any acts that may complicate the situation and escalate tensions so as to safeguard peace and stability of the South China Sea, it said.

During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including talks with General Secretary of the CPC Central Committee Xi Jinping, and separate meetings with Premier Li Keqiang, top legislator Zhang Dejiang, top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and top graft-buster Wang Qishan.

Yu and Trong also attended a grand reception marking the 67th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties as well as the upcoming Lunar New Year.

According to the communique, both sides believed that the visit was a great success that had further enhanced political mutual trust, consolidated traditional friendship, deepened strategic partnership of comprehensive cooperation and contributed to regional peace, stability and development.

The two countries agreed that it was of great importance and strategic guidance to bilateral ties that the high-level officials of both countries and parties, especially the top leaders of the two countries, maintain frequent contact, it said, calling for more exchanges and cooperation via bilateral mutual visits, sending envoys, hotlines, annual meeting and meetings at multilateral occasions.

Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas, the communique said.

Vietnam supports and will actively participate in a summit forum on the international cooperation along the Belt and Road to be hosted by China in 2017, said the communique.

Besides Beijing, Trong also paid a visit to east China's Zhejiang Province, it said.
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China on Saturday told the United States that one China policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is nonnegotiable."

Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang made the remarks in response to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's statement that the one China policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

"Everything is under negotiation including one China," Trump was quoted as saying in a Friday interview with the Wall Street Journal.

It must be pointed out that there is but one China in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement issued on Saturday evening.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognized fact and no one can change it," said Lu.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous U.S. governments to the one China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said.

Lu urged the U.S. side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas.
Earlier this month, a group of Government officials sat down with Jared Kushner, Steve Bannon and other senior aides of President-elect Donald Trump for a 'get to know you' meeting.

One of the first messages from Team Trump was to the point. 'He's not going to stop tweeting,' they said.

This may not exactly have been the news the British delegation  or the world at large  was hoping for. But it should not come as a surprise. To paraphrase Tony Blair, he ran for office as Donald Trump, and this Friday he will begin to govern as Donald Trump.

Like it or not, Theresa May has to find a way of creating and cementing a 'special relationship' with the new Feline Grabber In Chief

To some of us this is a terrifying prospect. In fact, to some of us this is a 'pack your bags, head for the airport and find a remote farm in the Australian Outback to live for the next four years' prospect.

But Theresa May and her Ministers have nowhere to hide.

Like it or not, they have to find a way of creating and cementing a 'special relationship' with the new Feline Grabber In Chief.

That process began just before Christmas when the Prime Minister's two most senior aides  Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill  jetted off to Trump Tower for a meeting with members of the incoming administration. The details of their discussions remain shrouded in mystery. But speaking to Government insiders, it's clear these early contacts were broadly positive.

'To be honest, Trump's people are pretty impressive, politically,' said one. 'Look at someone like Bannon. Yes, he's had his share of criticism. But when you talk to him he's got a good strategic eye. You have to remember he's spent 25 to 30 years thinking about this stuff and preparing for this moment.'

The Prime Minister is setting out more detail of her negotiating strategy on Tuesday

May and her team have not had that luxury. Until 10pm on election day, a Trump presidency was not on their radar.

And even though their focus has understandably been on managing the fallout from the EU referendum  the Prime Minister is setting out more detail of her negotiating strategy on Tuesday  the economic, political and geo-political challenges thrown up by a Trump presidency could actually exceed those posed by Brexit.

There was a moment of comedic confusion last week when Transport Secretary Chris Grayling was told of major disruption on the M1. Whats the cause? he asked. Jam, Minister, came the reply. I know theres a jam, whats causing it, said Grayling. Er jam, Minister. It transpired that a lorry carrying jam had shed its load across the entire carriageway. Advertisement

I recently asked a Government Minister what issues he thought would be thrown up by Trump's election. 'Well, he could start World War Three,' he said. I laughed. 'No, I'm being serious,' he responded. 'If you look at his stance on Nato, that's very, very dangerous.'

Not everyone in Government takes such an apocalyptic view. Indeed, to a number of Ministers, Trump may even represent the missing piece of the Brexit jigsaw. 'The discussions we've been having over trade have genuinely been fantastic,' said one. 'They've literally been saying, 'Let's do a deal. What do you want? Let's start next week.'

But these same Ministers are also aware that when trade talks begin in earnest, they will be conducted very much on Trump's terms.

'This is the guy who wrote The Art Of The Deal,' one senior Government adviser told me.

'When we sit down with him we're going to need some serious negotiators in the room.'

It's clear that May and her colleagues are initially viewing Trump through the prism of risk versus reward. The rewards are economic. The risks relate to global security.

ndeed, to a number of Ministers, Trump may even represent the missing piece of the Brexit jigsaw

'Take the Putin relationship,' said one Minister. 'What we don't know is what Trump is going to want to offer him to cement the relationship. It could be an old-fashioned grand diplomatic gesture, like making his first overseas trip to Moscow. Or it could be something that could give us more of a problem.'

The nature of these potential 'problems' were graphically illustrated last week with the revelation that a former MI6 agent, Christopher Steele, had produced a dossier claiming Trump had been compromised by Soviet intelligence.

Trump dismissed these claims as a fabrication by political opponents and 'a failed spy'. But as it happens, I know Christopher Steele, and whatever the validity of the allegations in the dossier, he is a serious, conscientious and well-respected former intelligence officer. And concerns over the nature of Trump's relationship with Putin  in particular its implications for the pooling of US/UK intelligence  are shared by the wider intelligence community.

But setting aside the murkier elements of the prematurely unfolding Trump psychodrama, the key to the maintenance of 'the special relationship' will  as ever  rest primarily on the personal chemistry between its protagonists.

And paradoxically, this may be to May's advantage.

In personality terms, May and Trump are like chalk and cheese  or chalk and a taco bowl.

But as one of the Prime Minister's colleagues points out: 'Theresa isn't the sort of person who minces her words. When she meets Donald Trump she's going to talk to him straight. And I think that he'll respect that.'

This exercise in 'blunt diplomacy' was road-tested earlier last week, when Boris Johnson had what I understand were 'constructive but frank' discussions with members of the Trump transition team. The results were positive. 'They can take it,' a Johnson ally reported.

Which is just as well, because May has made her personal views on Trump fairly clear. 'Unacceptable,' was her no-nonsense response when asked her views about Trump's attitude to women. And when he claimed in June there were 'no-go areas' for police in several British cities, she chastised him for being 'just plain wrong'.

But that was six months, and a lifetime, ago. Since then the world has changed. And the Prime Minister knows that, publicly at least, she has to change with it.

'What we see is a series of opportunities,' was the official response from a Downing Street spokeswoman when I asked about the dawning of the Trump era. However, I got the sense that, as we spoke, she was also keeping her fingers crossed.

Maybe she should uncross them. The truth is, no one really knows what a Trump presidency will bring.

'Having spoken to some of Trump's team, I get the sense that they're still finding their way,' one ministerial aide told me. 'I suspect it'll take about six months before we can form a proper judgment on where they plan to take this.'

So relax. Theresa May has six months to get to grips with Donald Trump. But remember, that farm in the Outback is taken

Veteran Westminster lobby hack Andy McSmith has been appointed by Gerard Coyne as his press supremo in the struggle with Len McCluskey for leadership of the Unite super-union.

McSmith, formerly of the Daily Mirror and The Independent, first learnt his spinning skills after being dragooned into acting as press officer for the late Robert Maxwell.

As McSmith recounts in his blog: 'One of my first tasks was to sit in while Maxwell was interviewed by the media correspondent of the Financial Times, Raymond Snoddy, who, on being introduced to me, told me, 'You're very brave! You know he has had 17 press officers, and he has sacked every one?'

Maxwell claimed this was not true, but when challenged to name one he had not fired, was unable to.' I trust Coyne will prove a more amenable employer.

The shock resignation of Tristram Hunt as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central has created another by-election headache for Jeremy Corbyn. But with a Labour majority of more than 5,000, it also presents an opportunity for the party's dwindling band of wannabe MPs.

One name already being floated is that of David Prescott  son of former Deputy Leader John Prescott  who was recently taken on by Corbyn as a speechwriter but who has his own parliamentary ambitions. Another contender is reported to be Corbyn aide Karie Murphy, whose attempt to secure the Falkirk selection created a crisis for Ed Miliband. 'They're both desperate for a seat,' one MP informs me. 'But I'm not sure Jeremy can take the risk of trying to parachute them in.' He would never be so brazen. Would he?
Aged about eight, I went to a new school in Camden, and told my classmates at Primrose Hill Primary that my name was Richard

I didnt want to be a girl! I wanted to be a boy, like my three brothers.

Until the age of about ten, that is, which means whenever I see or read anything about children and trans I cant help thinking: there but for the grace of God.

I was the least girlie little girl on the block. If given dolls, Id chuck them out of a high window.

When I watched Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best? on BBC2 last week, it made me glad I was a child of the 1970s rather than today, as Im pretty sure Id have been given a label such as gender dysphoric, and encouraged to explore my gender issues further  in fact, maybe too far.

Aged about eight, I went to a new school in Camden, and decided it was time to walk the walk. I wore my older brothers cast- off bell-bottom brown cords and told my classmates at Primrose Hill Primary that my name was Richard.

At home, the only real fights I ever had with my mother were when she made me wear dresses for special occasions or family photos  a trigger for a total, Exorcist-style tantie on my part.

I didnt want to wear any item of clothing that told the outside world I was female. My mother would have to subdue me to force my rigid limbs into a loathed tight-sleeved Laura Ashley lawn smock (rather pretty  I wish Id kept it) while I levitated with rage.

Now, of course, my mother would be called out for failing to take a gender affirmative position, while I would have been online for hours a day, discovering about puberty blockers and becoming the boy I then thought I wanted to be.

I watched Transgender Kids with some sympathy, but also with concern. As the show revealed, theres a surge of children seeking gender reassignment surgery, and Western society is bending over backwards to accommodate them. In the US, there are 20 summer camps for children who feel they were born in the wrong body, and 40 clinics to help them change, chemically and surgically. In the UK, there has been a huge spike in children seeking such referrals, too.

Im all in favour of having a less pink/blue world, where girls must play with Barbie dolls, and boys with trucks and guns. This would help close the gender gap gently, and, somewhere over the rainbow, we might all live in perfect harmony like that old Coke ad.

But Im very clear on one thing when it comes to trans kids. Having sex is not legal until the age of 16. But children as young as nine can start the process of changing sex, enabled by their parents and the medical profession, and this way madness lies.

In one scene in the programme, a little Canadian girl said she wasnt sure if she wanted to have the surgery to complete her transition to female but got muddled as to whether she wanted to become a boy/man, or a girl/woman.

Ella, left, and Alex, right, on the BBC Two show, Transgender Kids: Who Knows Best?

This was enormously revealing. As I know, its not uncommon to feel confusion as puberty threatens. And its not uncommon for the confusion to clear, either.

I stopped having a power struggle with my mother (over dresses) after nature seized the driving wheel. In no time at all I wanted to wear very tight trousers and stilettos, totter up and down the Kings Road and pick up boys in pubs.

I am not so insensitive or stupid as to think that my experience means anything. I cant generalise from it. I never felt I was born in the wrong body, and probably wasnt gender dysphoric in any clinical way at all.

But I mention my own feelings as a child as, for me, it brings us to the nub of what I think is a problem.

NHS CRISIS Speaking of the funding crisis in the NHS when I couldnt hear the whirr of the electric toothbrush, I called my surgery. They said they didnt do free hearing tests, but Specsavers did. The chain does indeed offer free hearing tests, then great hearing guaranteed  or your money back. We shouldnt freak out about the privatisation creep. Theres no reason you should pay for my hearing aids. Co-funding in our NHS is already with us, so wed all better get used to it. Sorry? What did you say? What? Advertisement

With full-on gender reassignment, ideally doctors have to start drug treatment before puberty kicks in, especially with boys, when faces thicken, facial hair sprouts, and they develop an Adams apple.

Its so rewarding to watch these kids give birth to themselves, one surgeon from Boston said with paternal pride. Yes, he said kids.

As a society we are handing our children sovereignty over something as important as their sex when theyre still kids.

In the film, one person  called Lou  spoke of their regret at having a double mastectomy and taking puberty blockers as a teenager, saying the decision to transition haunts them to this day. I bet it does.

In the 1970s, it was another country. You could sit it out.

My mother must have thought: She doesnt want to wear dresses; she thinks she wants to be a boy. This too shall pass. And all Im saying is: she was right.

So now we know why gorgeous Claudia Winkleman looks as if shes slept in a skip and applied her make-up in the dark with a trowel.

Her mum Eve Pollard banned mirrors when Claudia was growing up.

Its a good idea but sadly wouldnt work these days.

My lot check themselves using the camera on their iPhones.

So now we know why gorgeous Claudia Winkleman looks as if shes slept in a skip and applied her make-up in the dark with a trowel

Claudia's mum Eve Pollard (pictured) banned mirrors when Claudia was growing up

BA, you're on my roll of shame

Flew to Lyons on BA and scoffed the croissant they handed out.

But on the flight back on Thursday, it was Day Two of BAs M&S on board service.

The cart took over an hour to reach row 21, by which time I was eating pages of High Life mag.

I decided to splash out on a focaccia sandwich (4.95, or 625 Avios points, whatever they are).

The hostess said M&S had loaded only one bacon roll, two beef sarnies and three ploughmans for both the flight out and return from France, and it had all run out.

So there was not just no free food, there was no food. On our flag carrier, too.

You cant roll out M&S on board without any rolls, BA!
Picture this: it is well past midnight in the deeply grim Soviet city of Sverdlovsk. In a squalid communist-era hotel, the bedside phone rings for the fifth time.

My friend and colleague Rachel answers wearily.

She knows who is on the line. It is the same prostitute who has called her four times before, asking for Mr Hitchens.

I loathe and mistrust Donald Trump. I think he is an oaf and a yahoo who has gravely damaged the standards of public life, writes Peter Hitchens

Look, Rachel explains in her perfect Russian. I am not the person you want. He is alone and asleep in room 362. This is room 243. I am alone and awake in it. I do not want your services.

Not possible, replies the prostitute in bored tones. Mr Hitchens was allocated room 243. I was ordered to call room 243. So I am calling it. Room 243 must have been the one with the camera.

Such, in those days, was Soviet bureaucracy. It was unimaginable that we would defy the plan in this way. The tart was following her orders to the letter. By swapping rooms, Rachel and I had sabotaged weeks of scheming by the Sverdlovsk KGB.

This went on all night, while I slept undisturbed. So far as I know, it was the KGBs only attempt to lure me into a honey-trap during my years as a correspondent in the USSR.

They did send an attractive middle-aged woman to travel in a neighbouring sleeper on the Ostend- to-Moscow Express, as I made my way to set up home in the Soviet capital. But that wasnt, I think, about sex.

Romance failed to blossom, anyway. They hoped (correctly) that I would hire this brisk but shady lady as my assistant, a job she was very good at.

She disappeared as soon as the KGB worked out, through close observation of my private life, that I could not possibly be a spy. As a parting gift, they rather clumsily installed a microphone in my car, in case they were wrong.

At almost exactly the same moment, the now-famous spymaster Christopher Steele was arriving in Moscow, under diplomatic cover as a second secretary at the British Embassy, but actually working for the Secret Intelligence Service (MI6).

I was an icy Cold Warrior, consumed with loathing of the Evil Empire and all in favour of British nuclear weapons, whereas Mr Steele had recently left Cambridge, where he is said to have been an avowedly Left-wing student with CND credentials, and a confirmed socialist. Isnt MI6 an odd organisation?

I was an icy Cold Warrior, consumed with loathing of the Evil Empire and all in favour of British nuclear weapons, whereas Mr Steele had recently left Cambridge, writes Peter Hitchens

But in any case, I think I can claim to have some knowledge of the strange world of bugged rooms, naughty ladies and blackmail of which we have heard so much this week.

Ive also kept in touch with Moscow and Russia, places utterly transformed since the 1990s, whereas, it is said, Mr Steele hasnt been back for 20 years.

And I must say I am deeply unimpressed with the document in which extraordinary, sordid claims are made against Donald Trump. Nameless sources, said without evidence to be reliable (a trusted compatriot), repeatedly make vague, untestable claims. It is padded with general political statements to make it look grander than it is.

The most convincing bits in it are the blacked-out sections. These at least cannot be shown to be wrong  unlike the claim that Trumps lawyer, Michael Cohen, met Kremlin officials in Prague in August 2016. Mr Cohen says he has never even been to Prague.

I loathe and mistrust Donald Trump. I think he is an oaf and a yahoo who has gravely damaged the standards of public life. I fear what he may do. But that does not mean I lose all sense of proportion.

Like it or not, he has been duly and lawfully elected as the head of state and government of the USA. If we believe in either democracy or law, or both at once, we must respect this fact. We cannot approve of, or help, attempts to topple him by scandal and smear, before he has even sworn the oath of office.

We should also stop being so pious. Far better men than Mr Trump, such as Jimmy Carter, have been disasters in office. John F. Kennedy, now revered as a sort of saint, had a private life which in this age would have brought him down in weeks.

And maybe the Russians did try to influence the American elections. I think it likely but unproven. But President Obama openly sought to influence our EU referendum, and it is now proven that the CIA tried to get us to join the Common Market at the start in the 1950s.

Around the same time, the CIA was (quite rightly in my view) spending a fortune defeating the communists in Italian elections. And we and the USA engineered and paid for a violent putsch against the elected government in Iran, for which we are still bitterly resented there.

Once you slip beyond the curtain of public relations into the real, cold world, as I have been lucky enough to do, life turns out to be a good deal more incredible than you thought it was. But there are still some things that its wiser not to believe.

Although he didnt see or hear her deliver it, Oxford professor Joshua Silver got hold of a draft of Home Secretary Amber Rudds Tory conference speech, presumably so that he could be properly offended by it.

She had made a typically empty Tory pledge to make it harder for British companies to employ migrants and to ensure foreign workers were not taking jobs British workers could do.

Although he didnt see or hear her deliver it, Oxford professor Joshua Silver got hold of a draft of Home Secretary Amber Rudds Tory conference speech

Nothing, of course, actually happened. But Prof Silver, right, complained to the police, who have recorded it as a non-crime hate incident.

Laugh or fume as much as you like, this is now the law of England. And it will get worse.

A few years hence, anyone who says any such thing will face arrest and prosecution. Wait and see.

Great film Rachel... shame about the slip up

Here comes that rare thing  an intelligent and entertaining film. Its called Denial and it is about the London libel trial that destroyed the reputation of the ghastly David Irving, who claims that Hitler did not industrially mass-murder Europes Jews. The best thing about it is that the decisive courtroom scenes are word-for-word true.

Tom Wilkinson, one of the great actors of our age, beautifully portrays the cool, restrained disgust with which Richard Rampton QC cross-examined Irving. He destroyed him not with histrionics, but on the facts. Irving was shown beyond doubt to be a hateful bigot who purposely told untruths.

Of course, its a film, so there are embellishments. Irving (who is quite good-looking) is played by Timothy Spall, doing his impression of a disgruntled codfish (or me, if you prefer).

Deborah Lipstadt, who fought the Irving case and looks, well, like an American professor, is portrayed in Denial by the glamorous Rachel Weisz

Deborah Lipstadt, who fought the case and looks, well, like an American professor, is portrayed by the glamorous Rachel Weisz. And Im not sure the makers fully understand how English law works.

But one thing cheeses me off. At the end of the trial, Prof Lipstadt is shown listing a number of things which everyone knows to be true. The Holocaust happened. The Earth is round. Elvis is dead. Slavery happened. Yup, so far, so good. Then we get: The ice caps are melting.

Sorry, but this is a category error. Apart from the curious fact that sea ice has actually been expanding at the South Pole in recent years, the man-made global warming thing remains a belief and an opinion.

It may be true. It may not be. Those who dispute it are not evil or bigots. To compare their doubts to Irvings lies is plain wrong, especially in a film about a trial that hinged on absolute truth.

If you want to comment on Peter Hitchens click here.
A young woman was left so traumatised after giving evidence at the trial of several men involved in the Rochdale sex gang that she compared it to 'being abused all over again'.

'Lily', from Rochdale, Greater Manchester, remains anonymous as she speaks for the first time on Crimes That Shook Britain: Rochdale Groomers about how she was sexually abused from the age of 11, and was ignored by police when she reported one of her abusers aged 15.

She later bravely went on to help the Greater Manchester Police with their investigations when her cases were reopened in 2012.

It was, however, at the cost of her mental health - and she even admits on the programme that she wouldn't go to the police if she was raped again.

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'Lily' (posed by an actress) was sexually abused from the age of 11 until she was 16, by Freddy Kendakumana, Abdul Huk and Roheez Khan

At 15, Lily entered a relationship with then 22-year-old Freddy Kendukumana, who was convicted of rape and sexual activity with a minor and jailed for eight and a half years

Taxi driver Abdul Huk, then 32, approached Lily - he would give her cigarettes and alcohol in return for sexual favours. He was found guilty of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for four years

Roheez Khan was convicted of sexual activity with a minor and witness intimidation and jailed for 6 and a half years

'You know the more interviews I did, the more stuff I was remembering. I don't think they realised the scale of how big it was,' she explains in documentary series Crimes That Shook Britain, which looks at the case of the Rochdale groomers.

'My mental health really deteriorated and I couldn't handle it. I had a point where I tried to commit suicide and I just didn't even want to be here anymore.'

Nazir Afzal, former Chief Crown Prosecutor, who took on the cases at the time, knew what he was asking from the girls taking part in the trials.

He explained: 'Nobody can exaggerate how traumatic any trial is and particularly when it's sex offending, you are having to talk about the most intimate things that have happened to you and you're a child.'

When Lily was asked to stand up in court and explain the accounts of her sexual abuse in detail it was traumatising.

'When I had to give evidence it was the worst thing I've ever done, It just felt like I was being abused all over again,' she says.

'They tried to say I was completely bonkers and I couldn't decipher from what was real and what wasn't real, that I would go with anyone and everyone, that it was my fault and that I made my own choices and it was just horrible.

'I just felt like scum, like I was nothing.'

(Left) Shabir Ahmed, 59, was jailed for a total of 19 years for conspiracy, two counts of rape, aiding and abetting a rape, sexual assault and a count of trafficking within the UK for sexual exploitation. (Right) Taxi driver Abdul Aziz, 41, was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy and nine years, concurrently, for trafficking for sexual exploitation

Kabeer Hassan, 25, was sentenced to nine years imprisonment for rape and conspiracy

ROCHDALE SEX GANG CASE Twelve men were prosecuted for sex trafficking, rape, trafficking and engaging in sexual activity with a child. The abuse occurred between 2004 and 2009 and the men were sent to trial in 2012. Nine were convicted, of them eight were of British-Pakistani origin and one an Afghan asylum seeker. Three were not convicted. Shabir Ahmed, 63, was the ringleader of a child sex exploitation ring, grooming girls as young as 13 for sex in Rochdale and Bolton. He was given a 19-year sentence for conspiracy, two rapes, aiding and abetting rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking. Taxi driver Abdul Aziz, 41, was sentenced to nine years for conspiracy and nine years, concurrently, for trafficking for sexual exploitation. Kabeer Hassan, 25, was sentenced to nine years for rape and conspiracy. Taxi driver Abdul Huk was found guilty of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for four years. Freddy Kendukumana, was convicted of rape and sexual activity with a minor and jailed for eight and a half years. Roheez Khan was convicted of sexual activity with a minor and witness intimidation and jailed for 6 and a half years. Greater Manchester Police and the Crown Prosecution Service came under fire for how they handled reported claims of rape and abuse and have since apologised. Advertisement

Lily had been placed in foster care when she was 11 after her alcoholic mother could no longer cope, and it was during that period that she was first sexually assaulted by a 19-year-old man who lived two doors away.

By age 13, Lily was allowed to move back in with her mother, who was still struggling with alcohol abuse, and over the next few years she would encounter men who would give her alcohol and cigarettes in return for sexual favours.

When she was 15 she was approached by a then 32-year-old man named Abdul Huk - also known as Saj - he was found guilty of sexual activity with a child and was jailed for four years.

Lily also had a relationship with a then 22-year-old man named Freddy Kendukumana, who violently assaulted her and raped her - she reported it but the investigation wasn't taken seriously.

On the strength of Lily's evidence he was eventually convicted of rape and sexual activity with a minor and jailed for eight and a half years.

Just before she turned 16, she found herself in a relationship with a then 23-year-old man called Roheez Khan who sexually exploited her and then threatened her and her mother when she tried to escape the abuse.

Nazir Afzal, Former Chief Crown Prosecutor, who took on the Rochdale sex gang case was determined to put wrongs right and the result meant the law was eventually changed

He w as convicted of sexual activity with a minor and witness intimidation and jailed for six and a half years.

Six of the males were acquitted and two other men were found guilty of sexually exploiting Lily and both received jail terms.

'In a way I've got justice for what the men did, but if I walked down the street now and I was raped I wouldn't go to the police, not because of the police, just because I wouldn't put myself through being re-victimised again and again and again.'

She hopes that she will be able to move on from her horrifying past and not be defined by her scars.

She explained: 'Once I can get through this part of my life and I can get my life on track I want to be remembered for things like helping people or being really good at something.

'I don't want to be reminded of being that vulnerable girl who couldn't defend herself, that's not what I want to be remembered by.'
Festival fashion combines equal parts comfort with Instagram-worthy style.

And while the last few year shave seen crop tops, denim cut-offs, fedora hats and flower headbands become music festival staples, there is another rising trend hot in their tracks.

Glitter, which was popular in the nineties, is making a comeback, but not as you know it.

Sparkle sparkle: Glitter has become a huge trend in festival fashion

Summer sun: Three friends from Tasmania have started a company called Glitoris on the back of the trend

Fun and friendship: Co-founder Ali Gay (right) told Daily Mail that glitter has become increasingly popular

All that glitters: Glitoris has pop-ups at festivals and does gorgeous designs on people's faces

Girls, and even some more daring men, are embracing glitter in a big way, covering their bodies in it to make sure they stand out form the crowd.

The trend is so popular a mobile company has started a glitter business, setting up stalls at festivals to add a touch of sparkle to event-goers.

Cheekily named Glitoris, it's the brain child of three friends from Tasmania: Ali Gay, 27, Grace Richards, 26, and Victoria May, 26.

The three girls met when they were 14 in their hometown of Launceston, as as festival regulars, know the trends that work.

Small beginnings: The girls started the business by bringing glitter in their bags to festivals and having fun applying it to people

Get Glitoris: Now they travel all around Australia with their glitter skills

Unique: No two Glitoris designs are the same according to Ms Gay

Doesn't discriminate: And despite what people think, they glitter people of all ages and genders

Before they officially started the business, the women would take little pots of glitter with them whenever they attended festivals.

'We'd have our bags full of our glitters from the reject shop,' Ms Gay told Daily Mail Australia.

'When you have glitter on its an invitation for people to say "hi" to you. So people would talk to us and we'd put glitter on them too.'

In 2014 they decided to set up stall, and made their professional glitter debut at Tasmania's Party in the Paddock.

BFFs: Ms Gay started the company with friends Grace Richards and Victoria May

Starting out: Their first festival was Paddock at the Park in 2014, and the company has grown from there

Friendly: Ms Gay said that glitter was an invitation for people at festivals to talk to you and make friends

Aesthetic: They said glitter goes with every outfit, and there is no limit to what you can do with it

From there they realised there was a market for Glitoris, and they started applying to set up stall in more festivals around Australia.

Three years on they're the first, and biggest, travelling glitter company in Australia.

In 2017 they already have more than 30 festivals booked, including Laneway, Mardi Gras, the Adelaide Fringe Festival and Dark MOFO.

All this means a lot of travelling, and a lot of glitter.

'We have around 30-40 kilograms of glitter in our HQ right now,' Ms Gay explained.

'All of our glitter is hand cut and picked by us. We have bio-glitter as well, for festivals who want that.'

Buying in bulk: The team have around 30-40 kilograms of glitter in their HQ

'Festival spirit': Ms Gay said that people often tell Glitoris that they feel beautiful with the glitter on

Coming soon: The Glitoris gang are heading to the Laneway Festivals, Mardi Gras and the Adelaide Fringe Festival soon

And despite what people may think, glitter isn't just for girls.

'We glitter everyone,' Ms Gay said.

'Girls and guys, anyone in between. We glitter people of all ages. We glittered two senior professors from the University of Sydney last year, they loved it.'

And in the end, according to the glitter goddesses at Glitoris, the most important thing is to be open, inclusive and ready to help people get in the festival spirit.

'People have said to us "I've never felt so beautiful", or "You make me feel like how I feel like inside" after we've glittered them,' Ms Gay.

'Glitter just helps to convey having fun and the festival spirit.'
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng met General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong Friday evening, calling for enhanced strategic communication and political trust between the two neighboring countries.

Yu, who is chairman of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), said China-Vietnam ties had entered a new stage of sustained healthy and steady development under the guidance of both countries' top leaders.

The current situation had not come by easily and, thus, should be all the more valued, said Yu.

He called on both countries to make the most of the opportunity to enhance strategic communication, strengthen political mutual trust and pragmatic cooperation, and expand people-to-people exchanges to inject new dynamic into the comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation between the two.

The CPPCC is willing to further deepen exchanges with Mat Tran to Guoc Vietnam (Fatherland Front of Vietnam) to contribute more to China-Vietnam ties, he said.

Trong, for his part, said it is the consensus between Vietnam and China to boost traditional friendship and bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.

The Vietnamese side spoke highly of the relations between the Fatherland Front of Vietnam and the CPPCC and hopes they will make greater contribution to developing bilateral ties, Trong said.

After the meeting, Yu and Trong attended a grand reception marking the 67th anniversary of the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties as well as the upcoming Lunar New Year.

China and Vietnam established diplomatic ties on Jan. 18, 1950. Both countries celebrate Lunar New Year, which falls on Jan. 28 this year.

Trong arrived in Beijing on Thursday for a four-day official visit.
Being a parent is not an easy job.

But while some are strict and authoritarian when it comes to raising their children, others take a much more light-hearted approach.

Whether it's telling amusing white lies to get the kids to behave or annoying them with hilarious pranks when they're a bit older, some parents have proved their sense of humour is better than their kids'.

And thanks to the wonders of the internet, Bored Panda has compiled a list of parents who took trolling their offspring to the next level.

Our mushroom brother: One couple convinced their kids that their brother turned into a mushroom after not bathing - and even put pics in their family albums to 'prove' it

They're on the case! One dad dressed up his dogs in hard hats and goggles after his kid said their apartment had lost power

One mum and dad convinced their two children to shower by making them believe that they had a brother who turned into a mushroom after he refused to take a bath.

They even went so far as to add pictures of mushrooms to their family photo album to lend credibility to their tall tale.

'Our mushroom brother,' one of the siblings captioned the post.

Another person revealed their father dressed up their family dogs in hard hats and hi-vis vests just to send a joke text.

'My apartment lost power for two days,' they wrote on imgur.

'I complained to my dad, and minutes later, I got a text: "They're on the case!"'

Still embarrassing! This couple have been married for 41 years and still know how to embarrass their children

Effort! 'My dad put googly eyes on everything in our refrigerator,' wrote one person

'My dad put googly eyes on everything in our refrigerator,' wrote one person on Reddit.

Another person shared the hilarious beach picture they got from their parents - which included their dogs feet in between the couple's.

Another person shared a picture of their parents outside a museum.

But the couple had posed strategically to cover letters leaving the impression they were at the 'Museum of A**.'

'What I love about my parents is that after 41 years of marriage, they still know how to embarrass their kids,' their child wrote alongside the image on imgur.

Romantic: One couple sent their child a romantic beach photo that featured the family dog

It's his room now! One father told his son the dog had taken his room after he left for college - and sent this Photoshopped picture

Slightly overboard? An overprotective dad taped over the speedometer to ensure safe driving

Meanwhile, one very overprotective father found a novel way to make sure his kids never drove above the speed limit.

He simply pasted stickers with the word 'No!' over the part of the speedometer.

A woman called Justine shared a picture from her trip to grab pancakes with her father - where he arranged his food and condiments to look like a Pac-Man game.

'My dad was looking at me like this for like 5 minutes until I looked down at his plate,' she wrote on Twitter.

Look what I did! This dad took his daughter for pancakes and spent it playing with his food

Anything you can do, we can do better! After their son shared a shot from Disney World, his parents responded with their version

And another hilarious father sent a Photoshopped image of his son's room after he moved to college.

'My Dad said my dog took over my room after I left for College,' the son wrote alongside the image.

It showed the family pet enjoying his new room - and appeared to have redecorated it to his style already.

One person shared a collage of their friend's parent's reaction to their son's trip to Disney World.

He had posted a shot showing him hoisting his girlfriend in the air during their trip - so his parents responded with their own, hilarious version.
Khloe Kardashian's new show, Revenge Body, has received mixed reviews since it first aired on Friday evening.

The show sees the reality TV starlet mentor men and women who have been dumped in reinventing themselves 'from the inside out.'

But while some think there is nothing wrong with this, others have slammed the message as harmful.

One of them is 20-year-old blogger, Sophia Hatzis, from Manly, New South Wales, who struggled with anorexia for six years.

Helpful or harmful? Khloe Kardashian's new show, Revenge Body, has received mixed reviews since it first aired on Friday evening

Not so positive: But while some think there is nothing wrong with this, others have slammed the message as harmful

'She's lost all this weight and can fit into whatever size clothes after her breakup with Lamar. She can now fit into a hot pair of jeans and it's a big middle finger to her exes and anyone who ever called her the "fat Kardashian",' Ms Hatzis wrote on her blog.

Ms Hatzis said she knew why Khloe was doing it because she was 'there once too.'

'I was much younger than her, of course. Maybe around 13 or 14. But I remember being the "fat" one. In fact, I'll never forget it. I remember being the one who stuck out like a sore thumb when compared to everyone around me,' she wrote.

Speaking: One of them is 20-year-old blogger, Sophia Hatzis, from Manly, New South Wales, who struggled with anorexia for six years

'I was there': 'I remember being the "fat" one. In fact, I'll never forget it. I remember being the one who stuck out like a sore thumb when compared to everyone around me,' she wrote

'I looked so different to everyone else. I had developed adult curves at a young age. I had DD cup boobs by the time I started Year 8. I wasn't getting taller. And I wasn't a size 8, like many of the other girls my age.

'One day I got sick of it. I was packed to the brim with disdain for who I was. I wanted to be someone else. Anyone else. I was trapped in this awkward, developing body and I didnt know how to deal with it.'

Ms Hatzis said she was constantly bombarded with messages about being 'thin' and that nobody her age in the popular media looked like her - instead they were 'hot and tiny and dressed to impress.'

New woman: Ms Hatzis said she was constantly bombarded with messages about being 'thin' and that nobody her age in the popular media looked like her - instead they were 'hot and tiny and dressed to impress'

Not a good message: Ms Hatzis said she 'succumbed to the pressure' and felt as though she had to mould herself into someone else because 'who I was obviously wasn't good enough'

Ms Hatzis said she 'succumbed to the pressure' and felt as though she had to mould herself into someone else because 'who I was obviously wasn't good enough.'

I wish there'd been someone there to say: "Place less focus on what your body looks like"

'Pretty much the premise of "Revenge Body." Change yourself so you'll finally get that attention or affirmation from someone else,' Ms Hatzis said.

'And that is so wrong on so many levels.'

Ms Hatzis said the problem is that this goal is not set for you, but to 'prove to someone else that you could do it.'

Offering a different perspective: 'Pretty much the premise of "Revenge Body." Change yourself so you'll finally get that attention or affirmation from someone else,' Ms Hatzis said

'And then when the initial rush goes away theres nothing but loneliness and disappointment. Your problems didnt go away. Some of them actually got worse,' she added.

Ms Hatzis said she wishes someone had stopped her in high school and convinced her not to changed her body as it would not make her happy.

'I wish there'd been someone there to say: "Place less focus on what your body looks like and the weight you are and place more focus on what your body can do. What training can do for your body and your mind. Focus on how nutritious foods make you feel",' she wrote.

'Wrong on so many levels': Ms Hatzis said the problem is that this goal is not set for an individual, but to 'prove to someone else that you could do it'

We should be moving forward: "Revenge Body" just feels like another step backward,' she said

'I feel like now, seven years on, its better. We have campaigns like the Dove Campaign that show an array of body types and ethnicities in the mainstream media.

'But "Revenge Body" just feels like another step backward.

'We have these conflicting messages. One camp is encouraging us to love ourselves the way we are and embrace what we have. To focus on our health and wellbeing rather than our weight.

'The other side of the camp is bringing out Revenge Body, a show dedicated to encouraging women to change their bodies and their image to gain the attention of people who didnt show them respect in the first place.'

'We have these conflicting messages': Ms Hatzis concluded her post by asking what young girls and women were supposed to believe

A shame: 'The opportunity to make that step forward was dampened by the pressure to conform and that is such a shame,' she concluded

Ms Hatzis concluded her post by asking what young girls and women were supposed to believe.

'That they should be happy, healthy and learn to love who they are? Or that they should change themselves into something society pushes as ideal?' She questioned.

'Khloe has the power to challenge the status quo. Shes got the reach to make a real difference. But the opportunity to make that step forward was dampened by the pressure to conform and that is such a shame.'

Sophia Hatzis sencourage body positivity and breaks down the negative messages circulating in popular culture on her blog, The Beauty Breakdown.
Mummy blogger Sophie Cachia, also known as The Young Mummy, live streamed the birth of her second baby, Betty, on Saturday.

The popular blogger wanted to show what the process was like and keep her fans up to date by streaming the entire journey live on Snapchat.

And now, the adoring mother has shared beautiful post-birth photos taken shortly after she and her husband, Jaryd, found out their baby was a girl.

Scroll down for video

'I never realised how much I loved your Daddy until I saw how much he loved you': Sophie Cachia has shared beautiful post-birth photos following her daughter's birth on Saturday

An intimate moment: 'It took me a few hours to grasp the concept of you because it was like I was looking straight down at Bobby all over again. You are your big brothers twin!' She said

Happy family: Ms Cachia, now a proud mother of two babies, was pictured glowing with joy

'Was that a dream? Did I actually just give birth to a girl?' Ms Cachia wrote on Instagram on Sunday morning.

'For two parents who were so convinced they were delivering a boy - Baby Hank - even right up to when bub was put on my chest (and I quickly thought the umbilical cord was a penis) Betty you have blown our minds!!!

'It took me a few hours to grasp the concept of you because it was like I was looking straight down at Bobby all over again. You are your big brothers twin!!! Absolutely besotted by you darling girl.'

Big brother: Ms Cachia also shared an adorable photo of her little boy Bobby cuddling his new baby sister

Among the pictures, taken by Melbourne photographer Elsa Campbell and The Birth Photography Collective, was a stunning photo of Jaryd looking adoringly at his new little girl.

'Look how much your Dad loves you already. This photo truly sums up the quote "I never realised how much I loved your Daddy until I saw how much he loved you",' Ms Cachia wrote.

Ms Cachia shared each step of her 20 hour labour before giving birth shortly before midnight.

Daddy and baby: Ms Cachia also posted a picture of Jaryd holding little Betty shortly after birth

Following the labour, Ms Cachia posted a picture of her partner holding the newest addition to their family with the caption: 'Introducing B2. Mum and Bub all ok. Has been a long day- will see you all tomorrow xxx.'

After experiencing pains on Friday, Ms Cachia continued to experience contractions when she woke up on Saturday and was forced to call the hospital.

'So according to the hospital I am in labour everybody... woo!' she told her equally as excited Snapchat followers.

Live streaming: Before her birth, Ms Cachia, who has more than 170,000 followers on Instagram, said she wanted to document the birth so people could see what labour is really like.

Sharing her journey: After experiencing pain on Friday, Ms Cachia continued to experience contractions when she woke on Saturday and was forced to call the hospital

By 4pm Ms Cachia was at the hospital, having her breathing assisted by a nurse.

Soon after she posted: '12 hours later and my epidural has kicked in. Praise the lord. Shutting up shop, no more kids ever again. Seriously.'

Before the birth, Ms Cachia, who has more than 170,000 followers on Instagram, said she wanted to document the birth so people could see what labour is really like.

Each step: By 4pm on Saturday Ms Cachia was at the hospital, having her breathing assisted by a nurse

'I want to share in the beautiful moment that birth is': At 36-weeks pregnant the Melbourne-based mum posted on Instagram that she intended to post photos and videos of her labour live on the social media app

'I've spent days, weeks, months and years TRYING to describe certain things to family, friends and followers about the beautiful/hideous process that labour is,' Ms Cachia explained.

'So I want to go further and document it live in video format for the world to see and share in the beautiful moment that birth is.'

'No, no va-jay-jay close ups will be highlighted so you can all be at ease.

'But there will be no edits, no filters, no worries on my behalf as I concentrate on my number one job that day - and it's to bring a healthy bub safely into the world.'

Elsa Campbell shares her work on Instagram and The Birth Photography Collective's work can be found on their Instagram page, here.
With a name like Ryan Reynolds, the bar for achievement is set pretty high these days.

But one 29-year-old sharing the name of the Golden Globe-nominated star is certainly giving him a run for his money after being elected as the mayor of a village in upstate New York.

Ryan is the mayor of Whitney Point, a tiny village with a population of just 964 people. In fact, the town is so small that his mayoral duties only require 20 hours of work per week.

Flying high: Ryan Reynolds (center) is the mayor of Whitney Point, a tiny village in upstate New York with a population of just 964 people

On his way: Ryan was elected as mayor at just 28 years old, having won his first election aged only 23

However, according to a recent Reddit AMA, the elected official took part in, he also spends a fair chunk of his time being forced to explain his name.

'Most people dont actually believe that I am Ryan Reynolds. They just doubt that its actually my name,' he said. 'I get a lot of "seriously?" or "really? wow" comments.'

Of course there were plenty more questions leveled at Ryan online on the topic, such as one user querying: 'How will you convince Hugh Jackman to team up with you for Deadpool & Wolverine?'

Living up to the name: Ryan has received plenty of attention for sharing a name with Golden Globe-nominated actor Ryan Reynolds

Clearing it up: Ryan recently took part in a Reddit AMA where he answered several questions about being confused with the Hollywood star

'Someone do a Hugh Jackman & Ryan Reynolds AMA request and ask them to come visit Whitney Point,' he responded. 'I will be glad to give them a tour of the Village and help them coordinate filming here.'

Others used the name as a reason to question his true motives for doing the AMA.

'Did you post this AMA because you really wanted to talk politics or because your name is Ryan Reynolds?' asked one user.

'If all I wanted to talk about was my name, I wouldnt be here,' he said. 'I dont consider it an asset. Its just a designation. My mother actually named me after the actress Meg Ryan which I have always chastised her for'

Doing his duty: The town is so small that Ryan's mayoral duties only require 20 hours of work per week

Elected as mayor at 28, Ryan ran for office for the first time at just 21 and won his first election at 23.

In his current government role, he makes just $3,600 salary, which he supplements by also working as a manager at a local store.

Elsewhere in his Reddit AMA, Ryan explains that despite his lofty held office in his rural village, he still has plenty in common with other men his age.

'I am a hardcore gamer, gym enthusiast and huge Game of Thrones fan,' he said. 'As far as mayors go, I think I'm pretty unique.'
Anti-Trump protesters are so excited for Ivanka Trump and her husband Jared Kushner moved to Washington D.C. that they are going to 'help' her move.

The activists behind the Dear Ivanka Instagram have recently announced their plans to stage a protest outside the future First Daughter and her husband's home that they have dubbed 'Help Ivanka Move' on Monday, January 16.

The Halt Action Group have put out a call online for protesters to come to the event with cardboard boxes bearing messages for Ivanka, Jared, and, in particular, her father.

On her way: Protesters are planning on staging an event outside of Ivanka Trump's home on Monday titled 'Help Ivanka Move'

Showing up: The event, organized by the activists behind the Dear Ivanka Instagram account

In posters promoting the protest, boxes are shown bearing phrases such as 'abortion rights', 'freedom of speech' and 'nuclear regulation'.

'The boxes represent freedoms that people are fearful of losing,' the group said in a press release.

Dear Ivanka began last year by posting glamorous photos of Ivanka and her family with serious and thought-provoking captions such as: 'Dear Ivanka, I've been raped and I need to have an abortion.'

The couple and their children are preparing to move to Washington, D.C. as Jared is to take up a new role in the White House alongside his father-in-law.

Having left her company behind, Ivanka is to focus on raising her children in Washington.

Instructions: Protesters are encouraged to created boxes bearing messages for Ivanka and her father about their concerns

Taking a stand: The group claim that the boxes and their messages 'represent freedoms that people are fearful of losing'

Heading out: Ivanka and her family will soon be moving to Washington, D.C., as Jared prepares to join the White House as a Senior Adviser

'My husband, Jared, and I will be moving with our family to Washington, D.C., where Jared will serve as Senior Advisor to the President,' Ivanka Trump wrote in a post on Facebook.

'I plan to take time to settle our three young children into their new home and schools.'

'When my father takes office as the 45th President of the United States of America, I will take a formal leave of absence from The Trump Organization and my eponymous apparel and accessories brand,' she wrote. 'I will no longer be involved with the management or operations of either company.'

Attorney Sheri Dillon, who advised Trump on relinquishing his role in an array of Trump Organization companies, described Ivanka's new role at a press conference Wednesday.

A new job: Ivanka is stepping back from her executive role to 'to settle our three young children into their new home and schools' she wrote

She said Ivanka would have 'no further involvement with or management authority whatsoever with the Trump Organization.'

'As she and Jared move their family to D.C., Ivanka will focus on settling her children into their new homes and their new schools,' Dillon said, using nearly identical language to that used by Ivanka in her post.

Ivanka is resigning her role as Executive Vice President of Development & Acquisitions after 11 years with the organization.

Her withdrawal from the Trump Organization was brought about by several factors. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is a trusted advisor to her father, and is being brought onto his West Wing staff.

Some ethics experts have warned that even this move violates at least the spirit of anti-nepotism legislation enacted after Bobby Kennedy served as his brother's attorney general.

Having Ivanka simultaneously running the family business would have proved untenable.

Letting her hair down: Ivanka Trump was photographed stepping out of her Park Avenue apartment on Wednesday morning

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME: Ivanka Trump and Jared Kushner are moving into a luxurious new home in DC's tony Kalorama neighborhood

THE TOUGHEST JOB IN THE WORLD: Ivanka Trump will focus on raising her three children

Boy's club: Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr will run the family business along with an executive. Ivanka Trump's husband, Jared, is joining the White House staff

Glamorous look: Ivanka wore her long blonde hair in a very straight style, allowing it to flow loose around her shoulders

Famous face: People stopped to take photos of the future First Daughter as she walked out of her door

She also is expected to pick up some of the ceremonial roles traditionally associated with the first lady while Melania Trump remains in New York to raise her young son, Baron.

Ivanka Trump is also stepping down from her role from her Ivanka Trump fashion brand.

According to Kushner's attorney, Ivanka also will recuse herself from participating from decisions around the new Trump luxury hotel in Washington, Vanity Fair reported.

The withdrawal from professional work comes amid amid a short-term professional blow to Ivanka (whose father and husband are both billionaires).

According to Sheri Dillon, 'Through instructions in the trust agreement ... President-elect Trump first ordered that all pending deals be terminated. This impacted more than 30 deals, many of which were set to close by the end of 2016.'

'As you can well imagine, that caused an immediate financial loss of millions of dollars, not just for President-elect Trump, but also for Don, Ivanka and Eric.'
Who? Hermione Corfield spent last year juggling an English degree with long days filming ITVs lavish period drama The Halcyon. The 23-year-old, who has now deferred her final year at University College London, has already starred alongside Laura Linney and Sir Ian McKellen, and modelled for Pocket Sport and eyewear brand William Morris London.

Big break The daughter of menswear designer Emma Willis, Hermione fell in love with acting at school and, after finishing her A-levels, spent three months at the prestigious Lee Strasberg Theatre & Film Institute in New York.

For five months of filming, Hermione lived her character. Her days began at 6am with having her hair set in curls, and she covered the walls of her East London flat with Lee Millers prints of women in wartime to get a feel for the period

She has since squeezed filming into her university holidays, with roles in Pride and Prejudice and Zombies and Mission: Impossible  Rogue Nation, in which she shared a scene with Tom Cruise.

When you work with a big star like him, youre prepared to keep your head down, says Hermione. But Tom was really nice.

The Halcyon is her first major TV role.

The big idea? Best described as Downton Abbey meets Upstairs, Downstairs, The Halcyon follows the lives of staff at a five-star London hotel during the Second World War. Hermiones character Emma Garland is the daughter of the hotel manager, played by Steven Mackintosh.

Emma is a fair but fiery receptionist, who falls in love several times. For five months of filming, Hermione lived her character. Her days began at 6am with having her hair set in curls, and she covered the walls of her East London flat with Lee Millers prints of women in wartime to get a feel for the period.

Whats next? Its back to action films for Hermione, with roles in xXx: Return of Xander Cage, starring Vin Diesel, and King Arthur: Legend of the Sword, directed by Guy Ritchie  both due out this year.
Doaa at the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) awards last year

In 2012, Doaa Al Zamel and her family fled the war in Syria for Egypt. But as the situation there worsened, 19-year-old Doaa and her fiance decided to attempt the dangerous sea crossing to Europe in search of a better life. Melissa Fleming tells the harrowing story of the tragedy that unfolded

It is better to have a quick death in the sea than a slow death in Egypt, Doaa said to her fiance Bassem.

On Saturday 6 September 2014, the call finally came. Doaa carefully packed a change of clothes, their toothbrushes, a large plastic bag of dates and a big bottle of water in the Mickey Mouse backpack shed kept from her school days in Syria.

She carefully wrapped their passports, engagement contract, mobile phone and money  the 500 euros and 200 Egyptian pounds they still had after their two previous failed attempts to leave the country  in plastic bags and secured each bundle underneath the straps of her tank top, the first of four layers of clothing she had carefully selected for the journey.

Doaas fiance Bassem, who drowned

At 11pm, their bus, packed with other refugees, came to a halt about half a kilometre from a barren sandy beach. Get out and run to the shore! the smugglers shouted. They noticed other buses already parked there and hundreds of people ahead of them wading through the shallow waves. Bassem kicked off his flips-flops, took Doaas hand and they sprinted towards the water. He thought they would somehow be safer if they got ahead of the crowd.

One or two wooden dinghies were moving towards them, but to reach them they had to struggle through breaking waves until the water was up to Bassems shoulders. It would have been over Doaas head but her thin life jacket and Bassems tight grip kept her afloat. The life jacket rose to the surface and circled her face; she realised then that the beach shop had sold them fakes. She did her best to keep her face above the water.

They reached the dinghy and Bassem pulled himself over the side while a smuggler lifted Doaa up. Everyone was ordered to sit still as they were taken to a larger boat waiting on the horizon.

Hundreds of people were already on board when they climbed on to the deck. They soon learned that a good number of these weary travellers had already been on the boat for days, drifting at sea, while the smugglers impatiently waited for others to arrive so that they could fill every spare inch of the trawler. The more people they could pack in, the more profit they would make.

Masa with her sister Sandra in Gaza, left, and shortly before setting sail, right; Sandra died in the shipwreck

Bassem estimated there were at least 500 refugees on the boat when they finally set off. If each passenger had paid $2,500 as they had, the smugglers would be collecting more than $1 million for this journey. Only half of the passengers had life jackets and Doaa suspected that many of them were no better than hers.

Doaa started to talk to a family of four seated close by. They were from Damascus and the parents were trying their best to comfort their two little girls, Sandra, six, and Masa, 18 months.

Everyone on the boat must have a sad story to tell, Doaa thought as she watched Masa and her mother make their way to the stinking toilet, but few people would mention their past. Their talk was instead focused on the future, getting through the ordeal of these miserable days at sea and starting new lives.

As the days stretched forward, a kind of solidarity formed. People reached out to help the children  entertaining them with stories, offering them sips of water or biscuits. Nobody had any idea where they were. There were no landmarks, just a vast body of water surrounding them. Every now and then people tested their mobile phones for a signal, but there was none.

On the second night the passengers shivered in the cold, their thin layers of clothes soaked from the waves that had splashed on to the deck. When the sun rose on the third day, it became swelteringly hot. Doaas clothes stuck to her and the plastic-wrapped documents and phone felt as though they were melting into her skin.

The ship that rescued Doaa and the ten other survivors

It was late afternoon when another boat approached. Move, the smugglers said. They had to switch boats if they wanted to continue on the next leg of their journey. To Doaas surprise only about 150 passengers disembarked along with her and Bassem.

One of the smugglers explained that the waves were too high for a boat containing so many people, so they had to split up. Doaa looked around, confused yet hopeful, and noticed that the two little girls Sandra and Masa and their parents were with them.

People began to relax and the mood brightened a little as they sensed they might be getting closer to their destination. The boat seemed to move faster than before over the now calm sea as passengers laughed and joked together.

Relieved parents helped their children remove their life vests so that they could be more comfortable. Some took refuge beneath plastic rice sacks that had been tied together and rigged to provide shade, but Doaa fell asleep in the sun.

Shed only been napping for a few minutes when the sounds of an engine and men shouting insults in an Egyptian dialect startled her. A blue fishing boat was approaching at great speed. Doaa could see about ten men on board. You dogs! they shouted. Sons of b*****s! Where do you think youre going? You should have stayed to die in your own country.

They began hurling planks of wood at the refugees, their eyes wild with hatred. What the hell are you doing? one of the smugglers shouted. Sending these dogs to the bottom of the sea, came the reply.

The fishing boat appeared to move away, but turned back and accelerated towards them on a direct collision course. There was a scramble for life jackets and Doaa could hear the men laughing as they hurled more pieces of wood. She couldnt believe that anybody would try to sink a boat carrying children. All around were screams of terror and people shouting desperate prayers.

The fishing boat rammed into the side of theirs. The impact was sharp and sudden. Bassem grabbed Doaa, managing to stop her from falling overboard. Then she realised that their boat was beginning to turn on its side. She had one hand on the railing to keep her balance and the other clutched Bassems hand. Listen to me, Doaa, he said. Keep hold of my hand. Dont let go and we will make it. I promise, I wont let you drown.

The fishing boat rammed their boat again and Bassems hand was yanked away. Doaa lost sight of him in the mass of people tumbling forward. She held on to the railing as tightly as she could, but as the boat plunged downward, she slid into the sea, sinking below the surface, trapped beneath the plastic rice sacks. There was no air to breathe and no path to the surface.

Doaa managed to keep Masa and Malek afloat during their ordeal; sadly Malek died shortly after this photo was taken

Then she saw a glimmer of sunlight and a tear in the plastic. She stretched her hands through the opening and pulled herself up, gasping for air when she reached the surface and grabbing on to the edge of the sinking boat.

Overwhelmed with panic, Doaa began shouting for Bassem, over and over again, terrified that he might be one of the dead and dying all around her. Then she heard his voice above the screams and spotted him in the sea. The metal of the boat was cutting into her hands. She longed to get to Bassem, but she couldnt swim and the boat was sinking at an angle that was drawing her towards the spinning propeller; people were being dragged into its blades. Let go! Bassem cried as he tried to swim towards her, but the waves moved him away.

Doaa closed her eyes and threw herself into the water. She felt her headscarf being yanked away and the ends of her long hair being pulled by those drowning below her as they tried to save themselves. Somehow she managed to push their hands away and tried to stay afloat, doing her best to tread water as she watched the boat sink into the waves.

Doaa slid beneath the sea. There was no air, no path to the surface

Then she spotted Bassem swimming towards her with a childs rubber ring. Put this on so that you can float, he said as he passed the partially inflated ring over her head and held on to it, treading water beside her.

Darkness slowly descended on the survivors floating in the sea, which turned black and choppy. Doaa shivered as her wet clothes clung to her and she gripped Bassems arm, terrified that he would float away. Hours passed and the loud sobs of the children became weak whimpers.

Between 50 and 100 people had survived the shipwreck, but as the night wore on, more would die from cold, exhaustion and despair. Some who had lost their families gave up, taking off their life jackets and allowing themselves to sink into the sea.

Masa, the child Doaa saved, in happier times (left) and recovering in hospital in Crete

Amid the despair, a solidarity emerged among those who were left, clinging to boards and remains of the wreckage. People with life jackets moved towards those without them, offering a shoulder to hold on to for a rest. Those whose spirits remained strong comforted and encouraged those who wanted to give up.

An older man swam towards them, clutching a small baby on his shoulder and looked at Doaa with pleading eyes. Im exhausted, could you please hold Malek for a while? The baby was wearing pink pyjamas and crying. The man explained that he was her grandfather, a fisherman from Gaza, and that 27 members of his family had been on the boat and drowned. Please look after her. Consider her part of you. My life is over.

Bassem and Doaa focused their attention on the small child, stroking her head, taking comfort from having the childs body next to theirs. Maleks grandfather, seeing she was in good hands, said goodbye. The next time they looked in his direction they saw him floating face down in the sea, just ten metres away.

Malek was shivering. Doaa had heard somewhere that rubbing a persons veins along their wrists keeps them warm so she tried that and began to sing songs that her mother had sung to her. Bassem was also being lulled to sleep by her singing, but Doaa knew that she had to keep him awake or he might slip away. She clapped her hands at the side of his head to rouse him and noticed his face was turning from yellow to blue.

Doaa wanted to give up, but the childrens survival was more important

Allah, give Doaa my spirit so that she may live, Bassem said. Dont say that, Doaa pleaded, knowing that he was exhausted and losing consciousness. She felt his hands slip from her grasp and watched him go limp and slide under the water. Doaa tried to pull him back towards her, but he was beyond her reach. Bassem, she cried, over and over again. Dont go, I cant live without you! But he was dead.

For Doaa this was the end of everything. She wanted to let herself slip into the sea with Bassem. But then she felt Maleks tiny arms around her neck and realised that she alone was responsible for this child. She had to try to keep her alive.

It was now Wednesday afternoon. Doaa had been in the water for two days and there were only about 25 survivors left. Among them was the family she had met on the boat with two small daughters; Sandra and Masa were both wearing life jackets but the older girl, Sandra, was having convulsions. Her father was holding her, trying to soothe her through his sobs.

Sandras mother swam towards Doaa holding Masa. Please save my baby, I wont survive. Without hesitation Doaa reached for Masa and placed her beside Malek, whose head nestled just below Doaas chin.

Doaa receiving an award for her bravery and her work to draw greater attention to the refugee crisis at OFID last June

As night fell, the sea became shrouded with a heavy fog. The girls began to shift restlessly and cry and Doaa did her best to calm them, but was afraid to move her aching arms in case she lost her grip on them. Their weight on her chest almost stopped her breathing and she longed for a drink of water. But she felt such a deep connection to these two children that their survival was more important to her than her own life.

After four days in the ocean, with nothing to eat or drink, Doaa wanted to give up but Masa and Malek filled her with the determination to live. Eventually the few remaining survivors were spotted by a chemical tanker, the CPO Japan.

The men on the tankers lifeboat were amazed to see such a slight young woman still alive among so many corpses. She pleaded with them to save the babies nestled beneath her thin jacket first. They were taken and wrapped carefully in thermal blankets.

Some who had lost their families gave up, sinking into the sea

Then Doaa was wrapped in a blanket and someone placed a wet sponge between her lips so that she could draw moisture from it. Tasting fresh water she suddenly felt thirstier than she had ever been for all those days floating at sea.

Meanwhile, the baby girls were not moving. It would take them four hours to reach Crete and the medical attention they so badly needed. The crew did everything they could to help with all the first aid training they knew, but they were unable to resuscitate little Malek. She had survived four days in the water but died soon after she was rescued. Doaa began to sob when she heard the news. She felt as if her heart was being torn out of the exact spot where Malek had rested her head.

Masa was taken to a paediatric unit in Heraklion, Crete. She was on the verge of death, suffering from acute kidney failure, hyperthermia and dehydration, and the doctors worked around the clock to save her. Her fight for life became a top news story in Greece and the hospital switchboard was flooded with calls from families wanting to adopt her.

Doaa (second from right) with her siblings in Sweden

Doaa was given a home in Crete by the translator who first heard her story. He and his wife had four daughters of their own. Meanwhile, word was spreading through Arab social media about the woman who survived one of the worst refugee shipwrecks and saved a baby girl. She was flooded with messages from families who had lost loved ones, each one reminding her of the grief of losing Bassem and Malek.

Then one message caught her eye: I think you have saved my niece Masa, with a photo attached. It was the same Masa she had cradled in her arms at sea. She replied immediately, Yes, that is the same Masa who has rescued me!

This is an edited extract from A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea by Melissa Fleming, to be published by Fleet on 24 January, price 16.99. To pre-order a copy for 13.59 (a 25 per cent discount) until 29 January, visit you-bookshop.co.uk or call 0844 571 0640; p&p is free on orders over 15
The beauty worlds networking club Cosmetic Executive Women has been building brands, boosting careers and hosting the industrys most coveted awards for 25 years. To celebrate, were giving you the chance to help choose this years make-up and skincare heroes

CEW president Caroline Neville with Joan Collins

They do say that its not what you know but who you know. And if ever an organisation was the embodiment of that its Cosmetic Executive Women. For the past 25 years, CEW  as it is known to insiders  has been bringing people working in the beauty world together, helping them to advance careers, build brands and have a good time while theyre at it via some appropriately glamorous events.

THE HALL OF FAME The CEW Product Demonstration at Olympia London is the beauty worlds hottest ticket. Its the perfect platform for new brands to launch  and for classic brands to strut their stuff. CEW members  true beauty insiders  then vote on the products put forward for the awards each year, meaning that every win in the CEW Beauty Awards is something to shout about. And some products win year after year  affirming their status as true beauty classics in this highly competitive world. You may be familiar with most of the following Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser (winner in 2010, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016)

Aussie 3 Minute Miracle range (2007, 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2013)

Elizabeth Arden Eight Hour Cream Skin Protectant (2007, 2009, 2011 and 2012)

Clarins Beauty Flash Balm (2006, 2008 and 2010)

Batiste Dry Shampoo (2010, 2011, 2012, 2015 and 2016)

St Tropez range (2009, 2010, 2012 and 2016)

Benefit  Best New Make-up Product, Eyes, Prestige (2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016)

Marc Jacobs  Best New Womens Fragrance, Prestige (2008, 2010, 2012, 2016) Meanwhile Clarins has notched up 13 trophies and Elemis and Liz Earle Beauty Co 12 each, while Charlotte Tilbury has confirmed her status as make-ups meteoric star with six wins in the past two years alone. Advertisement

CEW was established in the UK in 1992 in the footsteps of its highly successful US sister organisation. At the time, very few women held top jobs in the cosmetics world  which is extraordinary when you consider that its predominantly women who buy beauty products.

But today, CEWs roll call of 1,200 members is a Whos Who of the beauty world  from make-up artists and super-facialists to journalists and ad execs  and (hurrah!) many of CEWs female members now hold some of the top jobs in the industry. (Since 2014, men have also been invited to join, although they are still outnumbered by the organisations feminine force.)

As Twiggy, who was honoured in the CEW Achiever Awards, observes: CEW is a fabulous network of dynamic beauty professionals that enables women in business to create opportunities to grow their careers or brands.

And now you too can gain insight into the business and networking secrets of some of CEWs highest-profile members, which are invaluable whatever field you work in.

As regular readers will know, CEW is also famous for its Beauty Awards, the winners of which are featured every year in YOU. Regarded as the Oscars of the cosmetics world, the awards help women take a short cut to the products that really work, recommended by those in the know.

Winners are showcased  and sell out  on QVC and in retailers nationwide and, as you can see from the Hall of Fame (see box, right), CEW has helped propel many products to beauty classic status.

To celebrate 25 years of CEW fabulousness, we are offering the chance for one reader and a friend to attend two CEW Beauty Awards events: the CEW Product Demonstration in London  the beauty worlds most coveted event, with a swag bag to swoon for  and the glittering and delicious CEW Beauty Awards lunch, which celebrates the best in the industry. Here you will be among the first to know which products from the hundreds judged by CEWs members are about to be fast-tracked to cosmetic superstardom, following in the footsteps of classics such as Liz Earle Cleanse & Polish Hot Cloth Cleanser, Aussie 3 Minute Miracle Reconstructor and Clarins Beauty Flash Balm.

Isabella Rossellini, interviewed by Jo Fairley

Beneath the immaculately made-up image that CEW presents to the world, however, this is a very serious organisation. Apart from regularly assembling some of the brightest business talent under one roof  many of whom are engaged in its ongoing mentoring programme to help younger women soar in the beauty world  CEW has notched up many other impressive achievements along the way.

These include lobbying to have the beauty industrys contribution to the UK economy recognised (via a reception hosted by the then Chancellor George Osborne at No 11 Downing Street); compiling an invaluable handbook  Living & Working with Cancer  for women affected by the disease; donating an ovarian cancer scanner to St Barts hospital and a breast cancer scanner to The Royal Marsden, and donating 175,000 to the Eve Appeal for its research project that will provide women with screening and/or prevention options.

So, all together now, happy birthday, CEW. And heres to another 25 beautiful years.

AN AUDIENCE WITH THE STARS Celebrity beauty ranges and fragrance launches have consistently grabbed headlines over the past 20 years. And lets not forget the famous women who have become the iconic faces of beauty brands. CEWs membership has been lucky enough to hear first-hand from the women concerned, who have shared their stories at hot-ticket breakfasts and lunches. The stellar line-up has included Isabella Rossellini

Christy Turlington

Sarah Jessica Parker

Elle Macpherson (right)

Kylie Minogue

Joan Collins Advertisement

THE BEAUTY MOGULS INSIDER SECRETS

At seminars, workshops and panels, CEW members get to hear from fellow beauty high-flyers about how they built their businesses. Theres a wealth of wisdom to be shared, and it applies even if your business has nothing to do with moisturisers and mascaras. Heres what every entrepreneur or would-be successful woman can learn from some of CEWs highest-profile figures.

Nicola Mendelsohn CBE, Vice President of Facebook Europe, the Middle East and Africa

Make mobile the focus for your business. The average person is spending three hours a day consuming content on a mobile device and its a huge opportunity for businesses to reach their audience.

Be disruptive (or get disrupted). Even the most powerful and seemingly successful companies arent immune to something bigger, brighter and better coming along. Train your business to expect constant change  and build the capacity to adapt to it.

Get a mentor  and become one. Its so important to build yourself a personal board of directors: a close group of people who champion you, confidantes you can count on and coaches to help you make the right decisions. But make sure to be on other peoples boards, too. You would be surprised at how much you can learn by being a sounding board for other people.

Chrissie Rucker MBE, Founder of The White Company

Think like a customer all the time. Make sure that you test and experience your product, service and brand experience as a customer, because this is vital.

Always have a longer-term vision and spend time creating it as a team. Knowing what you want to be in five or even ten years time really helps decision making. It is also important to focus on which projects are the most important to deliver. Im a great believer in doing five things really well rather than 20 badly.

Be resilient and calm. Things will go wrong, that is inevitable, but getting stressed doesnt help. Its a gift to run your own business, so enjoy it and remember to make proper time to celebrate the great moments with your team.

Aileen Dalisay, UK Head of health and beauty, Google

Great ideas can come from anyone in your company. Innovation is not exclusive to your research and development department, nor your digital team. So create an atmosphere of open communication, collaboration and sharing of ideas. Be willing to implement new concepts and test their effectiveness.

Think more about the customer than the competition. Provide the best user experience and they will love what you have to offer. Continually analyse what their problems and needs are, and how you can best fulfil these. One of my favourite stories is of a brand that tracked what people were searching for online about hair colour and from there discovered ombre hair colouring, which is now massive.

And finally, focus, focus, focus. There is nothing more harmful to growth and innovation than too many things at once. Choose fewer, bigger bets that drive transformational growth. Ask yourself: will this help me reach 10,000 customers or would I rather focus my time on building a product to serve one million customers?

AND THE GONGS HAVE GONE TO

Less well-known than the Beauty Awards are CEWs Achiever Awards, which recognise talented people in the beauty world. One winner, make-up artist Charlotte Tilbury, observed that scooping a CEW Achiever Award was a game-changer. As you can see, shes in very good company.

2007 Roja Dove is the industrys most respected perfumer and leading authority on the history of scent. He has the incredible ability to identify over 800 different scents blindfolded. 2008 Carolina Herrera Since starting her fashion label in 1982, Carolina has dressed Oprah Winfrey, Renee Zellweger and, most notably, Jackie Onassis. Her debut scent launched in 1988 and her most famous fragrance, 212, in 1997. 2009 John Frieda is one of Britains most iconic hairstylists, with clients including the late Princess of Wales. Described as the founding father of modern hair products, he opened his first salon in 1976 and in 1988 his range debuted in Boots. 2012 Dame Anita Roddick founded the ethical and natural beauty store The Body Shop in 1976. She died in 2007; her award was given posthumously. 2016 Terry de Gunzburg The French-born cosmetics guru was recruited by Yves Saint Laurent in 1985 to develop the fashion houses make-up range. She created YSLs cult highlighting pen Touche Eclat, one of which is sold every ten seconds. She launched her own brand, By Terry, in 1998. 2002 Mary Quant OBE The fashion designer is famous for creating the miniskirt in the 1960s. She expanded her brand into cosmetics and, in 1966, created the Paintbox, a make-up palette boasting everything you need for todays face, all together, ready for action. 2003 Evelyn Lauder was a driving force behind the success of the Estee Lauder companies. She was involved in new approaches to skincare and make-up and came up with the name for Clinique in the 60s. She died in 2011. 2004 Dame Vivienne Westwood helped set the style for punk music in the 70s and 80s. She launched her first fragrance, Boudoir, in 1998. For the past decade, Westwood and her husband and design partner Andreas Kronthaler have worked with make-up artist Val Garland. 2005 Barbara Hulanicki made her name with the cult fashion brand Biba, which she started with her late husband Stephen Fitz-Simon. Biba was the first store that let customers try make-up before buying it. 2007 Diane von Furstenberg The Belgian-born fashion designer, who is best known for her iconic wrap dress, launched a beauty line in 1978, plus her first fragrance, Tatiana, named after her daughter. DVF is now a global luxury lifestyle brand sold in more than 55 countries.

HOW TO NETWORK LIKE A PRO

Vasiliki Petrou, chairman of CEW and executive vice president of Unilever Prestige, reveals how to make connections that count.

Do your research If you can find out beforehand who is attending your event, youll get much more out of it. Build up a target list of who you would love to meet and a little on their recent projects/experience to get the ball rolling when you do encounter them. By knowing who you should speak to you can manage your time more effectively and make it more valuable.

Step out of your comfort zone If you work within a small industry it is tempting to speak to the same people every time. Resist this urge and make sure you speak to someone new. I follow the 70/30 approach  spending 70 per cent of time making new connections, and the rest maintaining existing ones.

Find common ground While we are there for a business need, its key to show your human side in order to form relationships. I always aim to discuss at least one thing outside of work when networking  people become much more receptive and conversation flows so much better when you realise you share the same love of art or have young children in common.

Share your experiences Talking about key challenges can help to build common ground with peers, as often they will be experiencing the same thing. Obviously I dont suggest sharing strategy secrets with competitors, but there is a lot we can learn from each other, especially in such a digitally vibrant world.

Make time to follow up Dont leave it until the next event to continue the conversation. We all have good intentions of arranging that breakfast/lunch/drink but its easy to let time slip. Set some time in your diary the day after to follow up with the people you hit it off with and get a date in. Ive had some of my best meetings following this rule.

WHAT THE WINNERS SAY

Vanita Parti MBE, founder of Blink Brow Bars I was thrilled to receive the CEW Members Award for Achievement in 2009. I joined CEW to learn and share knowledge with people in the beauty industry. Being recognised by those I admired and worked with raised Blink Brow Bars profile hugely. I appreciate how CEW encourages start-up brands through accolades and networking events. It is also wonderful to hear about women who have pushed against boundaries and grown in the beauty industry, which inspires me to continue to do just that. Twiggy, model CEW is a fabulous network of dynamic beauty professionals and enables women in business to create opportunities to grow their careers or brands. As a woman in the beauty industry for many years, it was an honour to be recognised with a CEW Lifetime Achiever Award. I love the beauty industry and Ive had so much fun over the past year creating my own beauty range with M&S, so Im sure Ill continue to work with CEW for many years to come. Charlotte Tilbury, founder of Charlotte Tilbury make-up CEW is an industry institution. Caroline [Neville, CEW president] and her team have supported me in so many ways. Winning the CEW Achiever Award in 2014 and four CEW Beauty Awards in 2016 was a game-changing moment for me. Thea Green MBE, founder of Nails Inc I have been a member of CEW for 15 years. I love how it supports the beauty industry with its different initiatives  it really is a great support network for women in beauty. In 2002 I was honoured to receive a CEW Achiever Award for my brand, which really enforced the UK beauty industrys love for nails. Margo Marrone, founder of The Organic Pharmacy CEW was a huge support to The Organic Pharmacy in our early days. I had never before come across a network that supported women in such a positive way. Winning the Members Achiever Award in 2004 gave a new brand like us a huge boost. I am forever grateful for this and the continued support of CEW.

WIN tickets to the beauty Oscars!

CEW has teamed up with YOU to give one lucky reader the chance to experience the glamour of the CEW Beauty Awards for themselves. We are offering tickets for you and a friend to attend the 2017 CEW Product Demonstration Evening and the CEW Winners Announcement Lunch.

One of the most anticipated events in the beauty industry calendar, the 2017 Product Demonstration Evening will be held at Londons Olympia on Tuesday 21 February 2017. Here the winner and a friend can discover more than 300 of the years most exciting products, talk to brand experts about their latest innovations and enjoy mini treatments and drinks in the relaxation area, before leaving with a goody bag containing a selection of the products featured on the day.

Then, at the CEW Winners Announcement Lunch and awards ceremony in April, you can both enjoy a sit-down lunch at the London Hilton on Park Lane with some of the top names in beauty, and be among the first to learn which products will be taking home a coveted Beauty Oscar. The event will be held on Friday 28 April 2017.

HOW TO ENTER

Visit mailonsunday.co.uk/YOUbeautycomp and enter your details.

Terms and conditions

The competition is open until 11.59pm on Saturday 21 January 2017. One winner will be drawn at random after the competition closes and will be notified via email within one week of the closing date. Prizes are non-transferable and there is no cash alternative. The competition is open to citizens of the UK, aged 18 or over. Employees of Associated Newspapers, CEW associates and their families, households or agents are not eligible to enter. Usual promotion rules apply, See mailonsunday.co.uk/furtherterms. Accommodation and transport to and from the events not included. To access the Product Demonstration Evening, photo ID will be required. One goody bag each. The editors decision is final. If you enter after the competition closing date your entry will not be counted.
Mamata has for long faced accusations of appeasing her massive Muslim vote bank

Social media, especially Twitter, loves a silly game. Replace movie or book names with a funny word.

It never fails to entertain tweeple, and usually trends at the top. A couple of days ago, one such top all-India trend - #Replace- RamWithRong - was neither silly nor funny.

The education board under the Mamata Banerjee government had changed the traditional Bengali term for rainbow from ramdhonu (Ram's bow) to rongdhonu (bow of colour) in higher secondary textbooks, quietly dropping the word Ram.

Or aakashi (sky blue colour), for instance, was changed to its Urdu/Persian avatar, aasmani.

The story got reported and there was instant outrage. Mamata has for long faced accusations of appeasing her massive Muslim vote bank (in Bengal, we are looking at 27 per cent, and that is the official figure).

She has been criticised for payouts to imams and muezzins, and accused of shielding criminals.

But this brazen engineering of language has a more sinister feel to it and in both sides of Bengal, it brings back terrible memories.

The education board under the Mamata Banerjee government had changed the traditional Bengali term for rainbow from ramdhonu (Ram's bow) to rongdhonu (bow of colour)

When Pakistan founder Muhammad Ali Jinnah, PM Liaquat Ali Khan and education minister Fazl-ur- Rehman pushed for Urdu as the lingua franca even of East Pakistan, now Bangladesh, they triggered the Bhasha Andolan, or the language movement.

What the Bengal government is doing today is darkly similar to what the report of the East Bengal Language Committee in 1949 sought to do.

It recommended replacing Indo-Aryan or Sanskrit-origin words in Bengali with Urdu, Persian and Arabic-origin ones.

In 1952, the government in Islamabad suggested that Bengali be written in the Arabic script as a solution to the language conflict.

But it only helped the famous Bengali resistance dig in deeper.

Public figures like M Shahidullah and Dhirendra Nath Dutta openly opposed the government, students went on rampaging protest and many were killed on February 21, 1952, in police firing, making 'Ekushey February' a day that still unites Bengalis all over the world.

The language movement was the beginning of the end of Pakistan's iniquitous rule in a nation which later fought its freedom war Mukti Juddho and became Bangladesh, a tribute, again, to the language and culture that binds it.

Shahidullah, the linguist from Dhaka University and a luminary of the '50s Bhasha Andolan, later wrote: 'It is true that there are Hindus and Muslims.'

'But what is transcending is that they are in essence Bengali. This is a reality.'

'Nature with her own hand has stamped the indelible mark of Bengali in such a manner on our appearance and language that it is no longer possible to conceal it.'

For all her astonishing political savvy, Mamata Banerjee is playing with fire.

Her actions and decisions are sowing the seeds of Hindu anger and Hindutva politics.

The RSS and its tributaries like the VHP and Bajrang Dal are expanding base in the state

Already, the BJP has emerged as the dominant opposition in Bengal. The RSS and its tributaries like the VHP and Bajrang Dal are expanding base in the state.

In 2013, there were about 800 Sangh shakhas, while now there are 1,500 odd.

Kolkata's Brigade Parade Ground, once Jyoti Basu-led Left's pulpit, hosted RSS drills and chief Mohan Bhagwat's speech on Saturday, which was beamed live for followers in several districts.

Bajrang Dal, a non-existent force till recently, sends out videos of bike processions and rallies in districts like Burdwan, Birbhum, Nadia, and South and North 24 Paraganas.

Malda and Dhulagarh riots, alleged killing of lower-caste Hindus by fundamentalists in Nadia's Juranpur, Hooghly's Hanskhali or Kharagpur only arm the saffron force with inflammable material.

When elements like hate spewing imam of the Tipu Sultan mosque Nurur Rahman Barkati are allowed a free run, the vicious air damages both ordinary Hindus and Muslims, creating deep, new rifts.

But RSS's Bengal pranth karyavah (state secretary) Jishnu Basu says the pace of growth is not enough.

'We have still not done enough in the state to make especially lower caste Hindus feel secure. A lot more needs to be done.'

If all this is not a storm warning, one doesn't know what is. Bengal needs mature governance and a cool head, and not covert surgical strikes on its identity and language.
Shayara Bano, a 35-year-old mother of two is fighting against triple talaq

A Muslim woman from Uttarakhand, who is spearheading a legal battle against 'triple talaq' divorce, says the All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB) and some clerics requested her to withdraw her Supreme Court petition.

Shayara Bano, a 35-year-old mother of two, said she promptly rejected their appeal and firmly expressed her determination to carry on with her fight in the interest of lakhs of Muslim women suffering due to the 'discriminatory' practice.

The triple talaq is a Sharia law custom that allows men to end a marriage, simply by saying 'talaq' - or divorce - to their wives, three times in succession.

The apex court is hearing a lawsuit seeking a ban on three specific practices permitted under Muslim personal law: triple talaq, polygamy and nikah halala (a woman wishing to wed a man from whom she is divorced must first marry someone else).

'A month ago some people talking to me on behalf of the board asked me to withdraw the petition from Supreme Court', Bano told Mail Today.

'They told me 'when you are not going to gain anything from it personally why are you maligning the Muslim community?'

'I said to them I may havelost everything but I'm fighting for other women who are going to face such a situation.'

Muslims are India's largest minority community with a population of 155 million and their marriages and divorces are governed by the Muslim personal law, ostensibly based on the sharia.

Shayara Bano (pictured) says the All India Muslim Personal Board (AIMPLB) and some clerics requested her to withdraw her Supreme Court petition

The AIMPLB, a non-governmental body which oversees the application of Muslim personal law, opposes any ban on triple talaq and polygamy.

The board, however, said it has no information about the incident narrated by Bano.

A source said some local member in Uttarakhand's Kashipur area where the woman stays may have tried to contact her, but there was no such move officially from AIMPLB.

'There is no need for that when we are legally challenging her petition, which is pending in the Supreme Court,' the source said.

The story of Bano, a postgraduate in Sociology, is shocking. She endured a bad marriage, an abusive husband, and physical and mental agony for over a decade.

She was allegedly made to undergo as many as six abortions by her husband, who forcibly administered her pills which ruined her health.

On October 10, 2015, her husband sent a letter to her parents' home where she was staying for almost a year.

Inscribed on that piece of paper were three words: 'Talaq, Talaq, Talaq'. However, the Centre's support to at least seven Muslim women led by Bano who have moved the Supreme Court is a shot in the arm for the petitioners.

While defending the validity of triple talaq before the apex court, the AIMPLB took the ground that if the practice is discontinued, a man could even murder or burn his wife alive to get rid of her.

The board also contended that the Constitution does not touch upon personal laws and therefore, the SC cannot examine the question of constitutional validity of the practices of marriage, divorce and maintenance in Muslim personal law.

The government argued that there is no reason that women in India should be denied their constitutional rights when 'Muslim countries where Islam is the state religion have undergone extensive reform' in this sphere.

'Gender equality and dignity of woman are non-negotiable, overarching constitutional values can brook no compromise,' the Centre said in its affidavit.

'These rights are necessary in letter and in spirit to realise aspirations of every individual woman.'
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Liu Qibao, head of the Communist Party of China Central Committee's publicity department, met with Vo Van Thuong, his counterpart of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV), here on Friday.

The meeting is part of an official visit to China by General Secretary of the CPV Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong.

Liu said the two sides need to enhance media cooperation as well as cultural and people-to-people exchanges so as to contribute to the bilateral comprehensive strategic partnership of cooperation.

Thuong, head of the CPV Central Committee's Communication and Education Commission, said Vietnam was willing to implement the consensus reached by top leaders of both countries to further deepen cooperation and cement traditional friendship.
What brand of cellphone do you use? Do you live in a rented house? If yes, how much do you pay for it?

No, these aren't questions you are likely to encounter at a job interview or a TV game show.

However, a Delhi private school wants this information from parents of prospective nursery students.

Some private schools in Delhi, flouting HC norms, asked about parent's mobile handset and address in their nursery admission forms (file picture of parents waiting to fill admission form)

The admission form uploaded on the website of Adarsh Public School in Dwarka's sector 12 seeks personal information regarding parents, with part (3) and (4) of Question 2 asking for 'the mobile handset name and model no used by guardian'.

The admission form of Adarsh Public School, which asks the parent/guardian to give details of their social and economical status

Criticising the move, Delhi's Directorate of Education (DoE) said: 'If this is true, we will examine whether it violates the High Court direction.'

'The High Court has given strict admission criteria which is transparent, justifiable and equitable. Appropriate action will be taken (against the school).'

Nursery admissions, for the upcoming academic session, in over 1,400 private schools in the national capital began on January 2.

According to DoE guidelines, parents' achievements and professional fields cannot be the criteria for admission as all children have equal rights.

As India is a developing country and literacy rate is not 100 per cent, giving weightage to parents' education criteria is unjust for those children who do not have educated parents, officials say.

Competition to get into the best nursery schools is fierce, as Delhi's parents, like their counterparts all over the world, try to give their children every possible advantage in a competitive, globalised playing field.

On December 7, newly appointed L-G Anil Baijal approved the nursery admission guidelines for 298 private unaided schools.

The Delhi government had directed these schools, running on DDA land, to withhold nursery admission process till new guidelines are notified.

The remaining 1,400 schools are free to decide criteria and their points for admission, but they will have to steer clear of a list of 51 norms, which the government abolished last year.

The application process for admissions will end on January 23.

Sumit Vohra, founder of the parent community 'admissionsnursery.com', said: 'How are nursery admissions related to mobile handsets of parents?'

'Schools are asking for parents' income, education, and profession, among other things, which have been withheld by the HC last year.'

Condemning the action, chairperson of Action Committee Unaided Recognised Private Schools SK Bhattacharya, said: 'If the school has done this, it is absolutely wrong. I am not in favour of this.'

Despite several calls and messages, the principal of Adarsh World School, Savita Sharma, was not available for comments.

Adarsh Kindergarten School in Vikaspuri, Venkateshwar International School in Dwarka and DAV Pushpanjali School in Pitampura are also asking for similar information.
There's an embarrassment of riches at India's airports following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move.

Authorities have seized huge amounts of cash, gold and jewellery between November 9 and December 31, 2016.

According to a top Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official, the force managed to confiscate 351.62kg gold (biscuits and jewellery), 50 kg silver and Rs 71.48 crore in cash from 59 airports across the country during 50 days of demonetisation.

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport is second on the list with 42.77 kg gold, 6.15 kg silver and Rs 9 crore in cash

Mumbai has the highest contribution on all three counts with 256.74 kg gold, seven kg silver and Rs 32.14 crore in cash recovered by the CISF.

Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport is second on the list with 42.77 kg gold, 6.15 kg silver and Rs 9 crore in cash.

Kolkata and Raipur have secured the third and fourth positions respectively with 16.198 kg and 12.2 kg of gold.

The CISF personnel have also recovered 10.86 kg silver and Rs 6 crore in cash from Kolkata.

The CISF cracked 13 cases, including five at IGI Airport in which passengers were involved in smuggling contraband such as heroin, cocaine, ketamine, marijuana, etc.

'We have been expecting rise in smuggling of gold and cash during the demonetisation period. These are huge figures and also indicate panic being created among black marketeers in the country,' said a CISF official.

'A majority of the seizures were done during the first half of the demonetisation period.'

'We have completed the details of the seizures and handed over the cases to the concerned income tax and customs departments. The chances of seizure at airports are always on the higher side due to the tight security. Despite that, black marketeers have chosen the aerial route for smuggling, which is quite amazing.'

Apart from that, the CISF cracked 13 cases, including five at IGI Airport in which passengers were involved in smuggling contraband such as heroin, cocaine, ketamine, marijuana, etc.

The highest seizure was done at Bengaluru International Airport when CISF officials have recovered 22 kg of ketamine worth Rs 4.5 crore from a flyer.

Besides that, 18 kg methaqualone on June 20 and 35 kg and 10 kg pseudoephedrine on March 19 and June 27 were recovered by CISF personnel at Delhi Airport.

According to a top Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official, the on March 19 and June 27 were recovered by CISF personnel at Delhi Airport.

The force also detected 208 ammunition and 12 firearms from passengers' belongings last year.

The contribution of IGI Airport is 41. Four cases in smuggling of wildlife - animals or articles - were also registered at Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Since the security at all 59 civilian airports in the country under the CISF is tight, a large number of passengers do not come forward to claim their belongings once they are seized.

The CISF has recovered unattended properties worth Rs 38.44 crore in 2016 and Rs 28.18 crore was handed over to airport operators after completing the formalities.

The CISF personnel are the ones involved in manual and computerised checking and they come first during detection of smuggled items.

The accused have cooked up different modus operandi to smuggle gold and cash. They have also used the cargo service for it.

'As smugglers are coming up with new techniques, the challenges are on the rise to provide security as well as keeping close watch on illegal transportations through air. We are working in tandem with customs and local police of respective cities to minimise crimes,' said the official.

The aviation industry is also vulnerable to forged tickets, visas and passports. A large number of touts active across the country pose as travel agents.

The CISF has apprehended 475 touts and 425 of them have been handed over to police for criminal proceedings.

The remaining 50 were also handed over to concerned airport operators for their involvement in other offences.

The security agency has also nabbed 74 people for entering into terminal premises on cancelled or edited tickets.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat urged swayamsevaks in West Bengal on Saturday to strengthen themselves with an aim to create a 'potent Hindu samaj' for creating a powerful Bharat (India).

Addressing more than 4,000 swayamsevaks on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Kolkata's Birgade Parade ground, Bhagwat reminded that RSS was meant to work on its own and not in reaction to anything.

'We must work to organise our own society. Our organisation is not to oppose anyone, but to safeguard the interests of Hindu society, its glorious heritage in this independent nation. We are a Hindu samaj and Bharat is our nation,' Bhagwat said, adding the biggest mistake Hindus could commit is to remain weak.

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat (centre) at a rally in Kolkata, where he urged the members to built a strong Hindu society

'In a free country, can Hindus perform their religion without any hindrance? If we can't, then how will we ever earn respect across the world?' Bhagwat said.

Blaming the minority Hindu community for their plight in neighbouring Bangladesh, he said: 'Our founders had clearly stated that we should not blame others for our own plight.'

Bhagwat stressed on the need for RSS to strengthen its organisation across Bengal.

'We must organise and empower ourselves so that no one can stare at us. One who has power will always command respect,' he said.

Taking a dig at the state administration, which had opposed the rally, Bhagwat said it is always fun to work and reach the target despite odds and hurdles.

'RSS founder Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, despite all odds, had formed this organisation for the unity of Hindus.

Many people had opposed us and our work, but we are standing firm,' he said, asking RSS cadres to increase their activities.

'You should spend one-third of your time each day and one-third of your income in the development of the country,' Bhagwat said.

Saturday's event had run into trouble after Kolkata Police denied permission to RSS for the event.

Finally, the rally got a green signal after the Calcutta High Court intervened asking police to allow the event with conditions.
Amid the raging controversy over replacing Mahatma Gandhi's pictures from the calendar and diary of Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC), BJP leader and Haryana minister Anil Vij added fuel to the fire on Saturday by saying that Modi is a better brand than Mahatma Gandhi.

Vij's remarks evoked sharp reactions from political parties and across social media.

But that did not stop him as he went on to say that Gandhi was responsible for the decline in demand for khadi and even said that Gandhi's face on Indian currency notes was also responsible for its devaluation.

Anil Vij said Gandhi was responsible for the decline in demand for khadi and even said that Gandhi's face on Indian currency notes was also responsible for its devaluation

'Ever since khadi became linked with Gandhi's name, khadi (industry) has not been able to rise and it has been on a decline,' the BJP leader said.

'Gandhi has such a name that since the day his picture was printed on the currency notes, the currency's devaluation began,' Vij further said.

The Haryana minister, who is a five time MLA from Amabala cantonment and enjoys a reputation for his honesty, even said that Gandhi's image will be eventually removed from the currency notes.

Anil Vij tweeted that the statement made him on Mahatma Gandhi were his personal remarks and he would like to retract it.

His own party leaders have condemned the remark and Harayana CM Manohar Lal Khattar also quickly distanced himself from the controversial statement saying: 'this is his (Vij) personal statement.'

The statement was also slammed by Tushar Gandhi, Mahatma Gandhi's great-grandson, who alleged that it was part of a well orchestrated campaign from the high command and not an isolated comment.

Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took to twitter to condemn Vij's remarks.

Facing criticism from all quarters, Vij later withdrew his remark and tweeted: 'The statement given by me in connection with Mahatma Gandhi was given in my personal capacity.'

'To avoid hurting anyone's sentiments, I am withdrawing it.'

But this is not the first time Vij has had a foot-in-mouth episode. Known as the ruling BJP's enfant terrible, Anil Vij is notorious for shooting his mouth off, making remarks, usually nasty ones.

There is a long list of people - from actor Parineeti Chopra and boxer Vijender Singh to politicians Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi - who have faced his ire or have been the target of his unprovoked barbs in the past two years.

On most of these occasions, he has quickly retracted the statements.

'Hitler was a bigger brand'

Hitting out at Haryana Minister Anil Vij for his controversial remark that Prime Minister Narendra Modi is a better brand than Mahatma Gandhi, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Saturday that dictators Hitler and Mussolini were also very powerful brands.

The Congress vice president took to twitter to chastise the senior BJP leader in Haryana for his comments that drew widespread criticism, with even his own party condemning the statement.

'Hitler and Mussolini were also very powerful brands,' Rahul said in his tweet.

Rahul Gandhi took to twitter to condemn senior BJP leader in Haryana

The controversial remarks were slammed by Vij's own party members as well. Haryana CM Manohar Lal Khattar also distanced himself from the remarks.

Vij had told reporters that it was good that the image of Mahatma Gandhi has been replaced with that of the PM in the calendar and diary of Khadi and Village Industries Commission as Modi is a 'better brand' and went on to say Gandhi's image would be removed from the currency notes too.
The Delhi government will launch a food surveillance programme on Monday to determine the quality and hygiene of the food served in restaurants and fast food chains across the city.

The drive will cover major food hubs as well as sale of packaged food items like chips and juices.

In the first phase, target areas to be covered under surveillance will be Connaught Place, Karol Bagh, Chandni Chowk, Khan Market, Lajpat Nagar and a few others, sources in the department said.

The Delhi government will launch a food surveillance programme on Monday to determine the quality and hygiene of the food served in restaurants and fast food chains across the city

The purpose of the programme is to ensure that eateries are conforming to conditions laid out in the Food Safety and Standards Act, 2006.

'It will have a great preventive effect in the food market regarding unsafe and unhealthy food all across the national Capital, including leading food chains here,' said Dr Mrinalini Darswal, Food Commissioner Department of Food Safety.

According to Darswal, this is one of the most ambitious programmes undertaken so far and the department has tied up with nine private laboratories with 'microbiological' trial facilities.

Microbiological tests can detect pathogens and spoilage organisms in food which a normal chemical test facility cannot scrutinise.

Earlier, the department was conducting only chemical testing due to shortage of staff and food inspectors.

'We have started our microbiological food testing labs which can detect bacteria, fungus and virus inside a food item. The officials can also write their comments in reports on the kitchen hygiene of these food eateries, besides sample tests,' Darswal said.

The commissioner said food officials will pick thousands of food samples everyday from the market irrespective of the size and brand of an outlet.

'The officials from private labs will pick up surveillance samples (for preliminary testing) and if these food samples fails at in the initial testing then the government food inspectors will pick legal samples for prosecution purpose,' she said.

Food fix Food officials said the programme was planned after they received complaints from consumers against popular food chains operating in the city.

Food on sale at a snack market at Meena Bazar, in Old Delhi

The officials said the raids will include cooperatives such as Mother Dairy, transnational food chains like McDonald's or Pizza Hut, and domestic businesses like Haldiram or Bikanerwala.

'Our sole aim is to ensure hygiene and standard quality served to the people by these eateries,' said Darswal.

Reacting to the programme on food safety, spokesperson for Domino's Pizza said they have always 'maintained highest quality standards' and strictly adhere to all policies applicable on the food business.

The officials said the raids will include cooperatives such as Mother Dairy, transnational food chains like McDonald's or Pizza Hut, and domestic businesses like Haldiram or Bikanerwala

'We always look for areas for continuous improvement in our operations, supply chain and storage. As a practice, in case of a customer complaint, we closely investigate the matter and immediately take necessary measures,' the spokesperson said.

Queries sent to other popular city food chains like KFC, Pizza Hut, McDonalds did not elicit any response.

The food and drug department of Delhi carries out surprise inspections and raids of food establishments and draws samples of food articles that can be potentially adulterated, substandard or misbranded.

Reacting to the programme on food safety, spokesperson for Domino's Pizza said they have always 'maintained highest quality standards' and strictly adhere to all policies applicable on the food business

However, in the programme beginning Monday the scale will be wider, said officials.

As per the official process, when the department receives a complaint about an adulterated food item, a report is filed and marked to the designated district officer, after which the officer collects samples.

The samples are sent for testing where the food analyst supervises the work and sends the reports back to the department concerned.

Officials said the programme is part of a larger initiative to spruce up food safety standards in the Capital.

Officials said the programme is part of a larger initiative to spruce up food safety standards in the Capital

'A proposal has been sent to the Central government for commissioning more food laboratories and revamping the existing ones. The Centre has agreed to fund for state-of-art food laboratories,' officials at food department said.

The FSSAI recently trained at least 23,000 street vendors all across Delhi for food hygiene.

'This was done under Pradhan Mantri Kaushal Vikas Yojana (PMKVY), a flagship scheme of the Ministry of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship and all the street vendors have been registered, trained food hygiene and provided with a certificate,' officials said.
We round up the Sunday newspaper share tips. This week, Midas looks at H&T, The Sunday Times' Inside the City at Cobham and the Sunday Telegraph's Questor at Pearson.

FINANCIAL MAIL ON SUNDAY - MIDAS

H&T is the UKs largest pawnbroker, but has recently branched into other fields as well, says Midas in the Mail on Sunday.

It has started to offer personal loans and foreign exchange for customers. Midas believes that as these new businesses expand and develop, its share price is likely to rise.

Already it is winning new customers with its loan offering, increasing its loan book by 123 per cent last year to 9.4million.

It also claims to offer the best foreign exchange prices on the high street.

It has gone digital too, so customers can apply for loans online and can post photos of items they would like to pawn to receive an estimate before deciding whether or not to go ahead.

H&T has had to adapt after its boom during the financial crisis and while gold prices were so high started to cool. However, it has shown it has the potential to do this with some success, says Midas.

Stockbroker FinnCap believes profits will rise 36 per cent to 9.3 million for the year just ended, increasing to 10.2 million in the current year.

A dividend of 9p is forecast for 2016, surging to 12p this year.

Midas verdict: At 270p, the shares have performed well in recent months and the price should rise as the new businesses gain ground. Buy.

THE SUNDAY TIMES - INSIDE THE CITY

Its been a difficult few months for Cobham, with four profit warnings since 2015, says John Collingridge in The Sunday Times Inside the City.

The Dorsetbased company is the maker of an air-to-air refuelling kit.

Its woes stem from the ill-fated $1.5billion takeover of American wireless company Aeroflex in 2014, says Collingridge.

Now new chief executive David Lockwood and finance director David Mellors face some tough choices, to help reduce the 1.03billion debt pile.

Although investors may not like it, they may have to back another discounted cash call, unless it can renegotiate debt covenants with its lenders, the column suggests.

Alternatively it could sell assets, such as its Australian air services business, though that could take too long.

Or a takeover and break-up of the company could be a third option.

Cobhams refuelling business is world class, and many rivals covet its wireless technology, says Inside the City. 'The vulture are circling.

It adds that if rivals do swoop, it could be one last payday for its advisers who earned fees on the Aeroflex and rights issue, but not if they are jettisoned and replaced first.

Inside the City verdict: Hold.

THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH - QUESTOR

Pearson faces a series of issues, including a strong US economy, an enduring reliance on print and an online threat to revenues, says James Ashton in theSunday Telegraphs Questor column.

For a start, education spending looks to be less of a priority for incoming president Donald Trump than it was for George W Bush when former chief executive Dame Marjorie Scardino decided to focus the company on education.

Secondly, a booming economy with near full employment means potential students may be less inclined to enrol in courses  and thus buy textbooks  and more likely to learn on the job instead.

Thirdly, print still accounts for about a third of Pearsons activities, at a time when students are less interested in owning books and increasingly happy to rent them instead.

For a company that would be a technology player, with a vision of lifelong, screen-based learning, its top line looks distinctly old-economy, says Questor.

And finally, it is finding it tough to convince customers they need to keep paying for content when so many study aids can be found for free online.

One bright spot could be a sale of Pearsons 47 per cent stake in Penguin Random House. Chief executive John Fallon has previously indicated that 2017 could be the year to do it.

The stock has ticked up marginally from 786p where it stood when Questor last took a look in early December and yields six per cent, says Questor. But for investors that dropped Pearson as it has struggled over the past two years, it is too early to re-enrol on the share register.

Questor verdict: Avoid for now.
A former FBI agent who played a key role in cracking the disappearance of two Missouri boys, one of whom had been missing for nearly five years, is rejoicing in the 10-year anniversary of the rescues, known as the 'Missouri Miracle.'

Lynn Willett followed her instincts when she encountered suspect Michael Devlin in suburban St. Louis in 2007.

That instinct led her to Ben Ownby and Shawn Hornbeck, who had been held captive for nearly five years.

Scroll down for video

Shawn Hornbeck, who had been held captive for nearly five years, was found with Ben Ownby who had been kidnapped four days prior to Willett's rescue

Willett followed her instincts when she encountered the suspects who eventually confessed and led her to the two boys

She said that saving the boys was 'a significant day for all of us.' Ownby was 13 when Devlin abducted him from a school bus stop in rural Franklin County.

Four days later, he was found in Devlin's Kirkwood apartment along with Hornbeck, who was 15 and had been missing since 2002.

Devlin later was convicted and is serving multiple life sentences.

Ben, 13, was kidnapped after getting off of a school bus in 2007

Willett, 57 and retired from the FBI since 2010, attended Ownby's Eagle Scout ceremony years ago.

Shawn Hornbeck gave a brief interview about his life after rescue, and the ten-year anniversary of his freedom.

'I knew my family was out there and they would never give up,' he told Fox 2 News.

'It's a part of my life that I had to accept and I have. '

Shawn Hornbeck gave a brief interview about his life after rescue, and the ten-year anniversary of his freedom

Willett hasn't forgotten January 12, 2007, when she and FBI Special Agent Tina Kinney were checking tips about white pickup trucks resembling one seen near Ownby's abduction.

One led took them to a pizza restaurant in a St. Louis suburb, where the eatery's manager, Devlin, owned such a vehicle.

Devlin wouldn't make eye contact with the investigators, and Willett said: 'my Spidey-senses were up, almost immediately.'

But he gave them permission to search his truck.

Ben, pictured at 13, was missing four days when he was found January 12, 2007. He has since stayed out of the limelight

'I had a sense very early on, based on the way he was answering questions, that it wasn't quite adding up,' Willett remembers of Devlin, who kept mentioning a godson named 'Shawn.'

When Willett told him that tire tracks at the kidnap scene could be the key in solving the case, Devlin lowered his head, told her he was a 'bad person' and confessed that the godson 'Shawn' was the missing Hornbeck, and that he also had Ownby.

'He said, "I have Shawn." I said, "Take us to him,''' she said.

Michael Devlin admitted to Willett after she searched his vehicle that he had the boys and is now serving two life sentences

Accompanied by investigators, Devlin unlocked his apartment door and announced, 'The police are here,' Willett said. The boys were playing video games. When Ownby ran to her, she told him, 'You're with the FBI, and you're safe.''

She says she's reluctant to talk about the day the boys' disappearances ended.

'I want the story to be theirs to tell,' she said.
Austria needs 'a law which prohibits fascistic Islam', Heinz Christian Strache said

The head of Austria's far-right Freedom Party has called for a law banning 'fascistic Islam' and Muslim symbols, comparing them to the Nazis and saying Islam could wipe out European society.

Austria needs 'a law which prohibits fascistic Islam', Heinz Christian Strache told several thousand supporters at the party's new year meeting in Salzburg.

'Let us put an end to this policy of Islamisation... otherwise we Austrians, we Europeans will come to an abrupt end.' Strache said.

The junior coalition party OVP called on Wednesday for halving the number of asylum applications accepted this year to around 17,000.

Strache responded by saying: 'We need zero and minus immigration.'

Any law against extreme elements of Islam should be similar to the law Austria introduced after WW2 banning the Nazi Party and Nazi symbols, a party spokesman said when asked for clarification.

The Freedom Party's anti-Muslim message has been well-received by a large minority of Austria's electorate.

Its presidential candidate Norbert Hofer was defeated in a run-off vote last month but gained 47 percent support.

The Freedom Party's presidential candidate Norbert Hofer was defeated in a run-off vote last month but gained 47 percent support

The nation of 8.7 million people has received more than 130,000 claims for asylum from people fleeing war and poverty in countries such as Afghanistan, Syria and Iraq since the summer of 2015.

About 600,000 Muslims, some of whom arrived during Europe's migration crisis, live in Austria.

The party, which has long called for a ban on face veils, also called for changing the way refugees are taken care of.
A school system employee in Maryland who had a lighthearted quarrel with a student on Twitter has been fired

A school system employee in Maryland who had a lighthearted quarrel with a student on Twitter over spelling has been fired.

Katie Nash, the media services coordinator with the Frederick County Public School System, was let go after she corrected a youngster on social media, after he spelled tomorrow wrong.

On January 5, a student tweeted to the account, asking that schools be closed 'tammarow.'

Nash responded from the district's account, 'But then how would you learn how to spell 'tomorrow?''

On Friday afternoon, she confirmed that she'd been let go due to the incident.

She says she was told not to tweet anymore after the interaction.

The response from Nash's FCPS tweet garnered more than 1,000 retweets and 1,000 likes and she became the subject of a hashtag, #KatiefromFCPS and #freekatie.

Spokesman Michael Doerrer confirmed that Nash had been let go, without providing details, according to Frederick News Post.

Nash said that she had anticipated a more thorough conversation about the expectations from her employers regarding the tone of her tweets.

In the perceived banter, she corrects a students spelling in a tweet to the school system

Nash took to Twitter again to express her sentiments for the school system and its students.

She continued: 'As a new employee, I think I sort of would have expected that there would have been some counseling or some suggestions on how to improve,' she said.

'Any social media manager is looking for increasing engagement, and that's sort of the expected parameter,'

'I think a conversation about how we engage with students would have been completely appropriate and I would have welcomed that.'
Police have offered a $1 million reward for information about a 40-year-old Victorian murder mystery.

Homicide detectives announced the new reward for information on the 1977 murders of Suzanne Armstrong, 28, and Susan Bartlett, 27, on Sunday.

The women were stabbed to death in a frenzied attack in their home in Easey Street, Collingwood, on the night of January 10, 1977.

Susan Bartlett (pictured) was stabbed 55 times and her body found in the hall outside her housemate's bedroom in Easey Street, Collingwood in 1977

Police have a DNA profile of the offender, but testing in 1999 eliminated all eight prime suspects in the case.

Homicide Squad Detective Inspector Michael Hughes said that he hoped the big reward will encourage someone to come forward and help solve the case.

'We are also hoping that today's $1 million announcement will encourage someone out there with crucial information or direct knowledge of these murders to come forward,' Insp Hughes said in a press release.

'We believe after 40 years someone out there knows something and it is time for them to come forward.

Suzanne Armstrong (pictured) was raped and stabbed 29 times and before being found on the floor in her bedroom

Ms Armstrong's 16-month-old son was left unattended in his cot for two days before the bodies were discovered at their home in Easey street in Collingwood (pictured)

Police on Sunday offered a $1 million reward for information into a 40-year-old Victorian murder mystery in which two young women were raped and stabbed multiple times

'These unsolved murders have been extremely devastating on these two young women's families and after all this time we would like to provide them with closure.'

Ms Armstrong was raped and stabbed 29 times and before being found on the floor in her bedroom.

Ms Bartlett was stabbed 55 times and her body found in the hall outside Ms Armstrong's bedroom.

Ms Armstrong's 16-month-old son was left unharmed and in his cot for two days before the bodies were discovered.
GENEVA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss people applauded Chinese President Xi Jinping's signed article published ahead of his Jan. 15-18 state visit to Switzerland, saying more exchanges will lead to deeper friendship and better state-to-state relations.

At the beginning of the article, Xi cited the well-known Swiss poet and Nobel laureate Carl Spitteler as saying that there is no greater happiness than having friends who share the same outlook and destiny.

Lena Schulz, a Zurich resident, saw "a very friendly message" in the article published Friday in the Swiss daily Neue Zurcher Zeitung.

"Switzerland and China can cooperate in many areas to benefit their two peoples," Schulz said. Before reading the article, she had heard about Xi's trip from TV news.

"There is a different China in different eyes. I hope I can travel to China soon, and watch the (2022) Olympic Winter Games in Beijing," she told Xinhua.

Increased people-to-people exchanges are among what Xi envisions for the future development of China-Switzerland relations in his article, in addition to continued high-level communications, practical innovation cooperation and a China-Switzerland free trade zone.

"I can't agree to this more," said Felix Schmit, who was interviewed by Xinhua on the streets of Zurich, which is Switzerland's biggest city and an economic, financial and cultural center in Western Europe.

"More exchanges will lead to better understanding and deeper friendship, hence better state-to-state relations," he said.

In sharing his feelings about Xi's article, Swiss netizen Adrian Heberlein said Switzerland and China can learn from and benefit each other through exchanges, while Ruedi Gamma praised the Swiss federal government for making the wise decision to develop an open dialogue with China in seeking common interests.

During his first overseas trip in 2017, Xi's scheduled attendance at the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos and a tour of mostly Geneva-based international institutions have also drawn close attention.

"I have great hopes now of Xi participating in Davos (meeting). There you have a lot of leaders and decision markers present ...it is a great opportunity to convince other people to follow and work together on these issues of keeping the world an open place, environmental protection and all of that," said 41-year-old Swiss businessman Andries Diener, who had been based in China for years.

As a participant in WEF annual activities several times, Diener said he has "never been so concerned" about the "less predictable" world than today, where "the trend towards protectionism and populism is completely the other direction" to openness, exchanges and mutual respect.

He believed an "impact on the world has to come from countries like China."

Francois Subiger, an official responsible for media services at the United Nations (UN) office in Geneva, noticed that with increasingly more Chinese faces and voices in UN agencies over the years, China has turned from an onlooker into a participant and a leader on different issues, deeply involved in solutions to problems concerning peace, security and development as an important player in the international arena.

In France, Switzerland's neighbor, China expert Pierre Picard from the University of Paris VIII said the content of Xi's article shows China's intention of developing friendly cooperation with countries of different sizes, and that the people-to-people exchanges Xi advocates are badly needed for a globalization that benefits all people.
Two female parking officers have been fired after they were accidentally recorded talking about their boss's appearance and personal life.

A 27-year-old casual employee of Sydney's West Council and her full-time colleague were recorded criticizing their superior and partner around 5.30pm on October 13 after their dinner break, according to The Daily Telegraph.

After trying to delete the recording, the parking officers were fired when their damning comments were released.

Unions are now claiming their dismissal is 'an unprecedented breach in relation to workplace surveillance'.

Two female parking officers with Sydney's West Council have been fired after their body cameras accidentally recorded the pair talking about their boss's appearance and personal life (stock image)

The council workers, who often work in Newtown in west Sydney (pictured), were fired when confronted with a transcript of the conversation

The Inner West Council, which introduced body cameras last year after several officers were attacked, does not have a policy regarding their private conversations, The Daily Telegraph reported.

The 27-year-old former parking officer said she believes her female colleague accidentally began recording their conversation when she bumped her body camera.

The co-workers were caught discussing their boss's appearance and partner's weight before alleging their superior had not been faithful in the relationship.

They also referenced another co-worker who they said was racist.

Unions are now claiming their dismissal is 'an unprecedented breach in relation to workplace surveillance' (stock image)

When the full-time council employee realised her camera had captured the entire conversation, she sent a request to delete it from the system to the IT officer.

A few days later she was confronted with a transcript of the conversation and resigned.

The 27-year-olds casual officer was fired on October 20 during a phone call. She claims she didn't say anything in the conversation but was fired simply because she was there.

United Services Union acting metropolitan manager Sandie Morthen told The Daily Telegraph the incident was an 'inconceivable' breach of the workers' rights.
The snow lay a foot deep as I slid my way alongside railway tracks, and it had covered the nearby piles of abandoned sleepers and dishevelled huts in a thick white coat.

In front of me were two decrepit wooden carriages  smoke seeped from a home-made chimney stack poking out on one side.

I parted a stained brown rug hanging over a doorway. Inside were eight teenage boys, some huddled beneath blankets for warmth in temperatures plunging to minus 15 degrees.

One coughed repeatedly, telling me he was sick. Another stared disconsolately through the steamed-up window. A third had no socks despite the bone-chilling cold, while a fourth wore just a thin sweater and cotton trousers.

Charities estimate up to 2,000 migrants and refugees, many of them minors, are clustered around this derelict railway depot in central Belgrade as Serbia becomes a new front line in our continents long-running migration crisis. Above, one of the derelict carriages where migrants shelter

Inside one carriage were eight teenage boys, some huddled beneath blankets for warmth in temperatures plunging to minus 15 degrees

The pitiful scene was eerily familiar from so many films. Yet this dreadful sight of human desperation was found in the heart of bustling modern Europe, not a war-torn continent from decades earlier.

Charities estimate that up to 2,000 migrants and refugees  many of them minors  are clustered around this derelict railway depot in central Belgrade as Serbia becomes a new front line in our continents long-running migration crisis.

These were child refugees and migrants from Afghanistan, sent by their families to seek new lives away from the conflict, chaos and poverty engulfing their own country. The youngest said he was just 13.

Young migrants trudge through the snow at the railway depot in Belgrade. Doctors with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told Mail On Sunday's Ian Birrell that they had treated ten incidents of frostbite, some serious, during the past week and that almost half the cases in their emergency clinic were people aged under 18

Some had spent five months in these appalling conditions.

My shoes are broken, said one 15-year-old. They fell apart so it is very cold when I walk about.

In the adjacent carriage, sharing a pan of eggs and a loaf of bread, were ten Afghan men.

Hundreds more migrants wandered nearby, swathed in blankets or eating their single daily meal of lentil stew handed out by volunteers.

One man squatted in the snow to shave, seeing his reflection in a broken car mirror.

Others heated water in cans over open flames, then undressed to take makeshift showers using plastic bottles held by friends as more snow fell.

Carmen Mohammad, seven, tucks into a meal of lentil stew provided by volunteers

Yet more stripped off to wash their only set of clothes  then pulled soaked jeans and jerseys straight back on again despite the freezing weather. I shivered just watching in my warm anorak and thick sheepskin gloves.

I found pre-teenage children sleeping in warehouses, melting snow dripping from huge holes in the roof. Inside the air was thick with acrid smoke from burning tar-coated sleepers, set alight in the desperate struggle to stay warm.

Among them were eight-year-old Nasir and his brother Aziz, ten.

They are so hungry and cold, crying at night, said their older brother Gulagha, 30.

He said they were forced to flee after the Taliban shot dead their father, accusing the family of telling the authorities about a weapons cache. My mother told me she would never forgive me if I failed to protect my brothers.

With grotesque symbolism, the broken buildings crammed with migrants sit beside a luxury waterside development going up by the Sava river. Meanwhile, daily life in a thriving European city continues yards from these squalid scenes.

Doctors with Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) told me they had treated ten incidents of frostbite, some serious, during the past week and that almost half the cases in their emergency clinic were people aged under 18.

The organisation rushed in generators to pump warm air into the warehouses when a big freeze struck Belgrade last weekend. It was so cold the machines only managed to raise the temperature to freezing point on the first night.

European policies cannot continue to neglect thousands of people in the Balkans, said Andrea Contenta, MSFs humanitarian affairs adviser.

About 50 migrants a day  but sometimes twice that number  are smuggled into Serbia. Most come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria, taking the well-worn Balkan route from Greece

Whether they are refugees, migrants or asylum-seekers, they are still human beings in need of help.

The problem is simple: people continue flocking to Europe in search of sanctuary or prosperity but neighbouring nations have sealed borders with fences, cameras, armed guards and dogs, while helicopters monitor from the sky.

About 50 migrants a day  but sometimes twice that number  are smuggled into Serbia. Most come from Afghanistan, Iraq, Pakistan and Syria, taking the well-worn Balkan route from Greece.

Serbs have been tolerant since the crisis exploded, aware most migrants pass through their nation. But now only 20 a day are allowed into Hungary and the visa-free Schengen zone.

The United Nations estimates there are already 7,500 refugees and migrants in Serbia, more than three-quarters of them in official camps. Relief groups believe the real figure is much higher  underlined by the distressing scenes in Belgrade.

Serbia is becoming a buffer zone, some kind of purgatory, warned Rados Djurovic, director of the Asylum Protection Centre, a local charity providing legal support.

Migrants wait in line to receive a plate of free food during a snowfall outside a derelict customs warehouse in Belgrade

Crouching in the bitter cold to eat his stew was Omar Mohammad, a teacher from Mosul, in northern Iraq, who was with his son Carmen, seven, and daughter Karben, ten.

He told me horrific but all-too-familiar tales of seeing Islamic State beheadings, children forced to shoot people, and kidnapped Yazidi girls sold in the street.

I want my children to have a future where they can go to school and have a safe life, he said. The family spent almost 8,000 paying smugglers to escape from Mosul to Turkey, then on through Greece and Macedonia to Serbia. Now they have no funds left but are hopeful of being allowed into Hungary, before heading to Finland.

Many others are young single men who could be stuck in Serbia for years if they register with authorities and join official waiting lists for departure.

So most try to find illegal ways into neighbouring countries.

Two weeks ago, security forces pulled over a truck with German number plates in central Serbia and found 41 migrants in its trailer. The same day, 36 more were discovered in another van.

A few days earlier, Croatian authorities found a van filled with 62 migrants, several passed out due to carbon monoxide poisoning. Two Iraqi men and a Somali woman have frozen to death in recent days in Bulgaria.

Wahab, a 16-year-old Afghan, claimed to have made it twice into Hungary and once to Croatia before being captured by border guards and deported to Belgrade. The Hungarians were OK but the Croatian police beat us with sticks and took all my money, he said. I had 50 but they took that and my mobile phone.

One Afghan man, who wants to move to Italy, had failed in five border crossing attempts, having been deported last year after living illegally in Britain. I dont like London now, he said, but I will keep trying to get through.

Despite Serbias softer approach towards migrants, the government asked aid groups to stop distributing food and clothing three months ago, claiming that such handouts simply lured fresh arrivals.

We have to be discreet in what we are doing now, said Petar Bojovic, co-ordinator for Refugee Aid Serbia.

Europe has shown itself pathetically incapable of coming together to tackle this flood of desperate and determined people, with nations adopting wildly differing approaches. Above, migrants warm themselves by a fire in front of an abandoned warehouse in Belgrade

There is a fear that if numbers get too big then things could backfire badly. The government warning highlighted growing public concerns, despite the countrys own recent experiences of war just two decades ago.

Perhaps there was a greater level of empathy here, said Bojovic. But people do not want the migrants to stay. Until now, most just wanted to reach the border but some are now wondering what life might be like in Serbia and if they could get jobs.

One Belgrade cafe owner told me he had lost customers after serving migrants, despite only accepting those who were clean and decently dressed. There are stupid people everywhere in the world, he said. And a nearby child care centre for young migrants had received hostile letters from locals complaining about dirt and possible disease.

The spiralling crisis is costing Serbia more than 300,000 a week just to feed those in camps.

We try to do our best but funds are limited, said Ivan Gerginov, spokesman for Serbias Commissariat for Refugees and Migration. We have become the bottleneck of Europes migrant crisis because our neighbours closed their borders. We are worried about the future because there is no unified European answer to this crisis.

Gerginov is right. Europe has shown itself pathetically incapable of coming together to tackle this flood of desperate and determined people, with nations adopting wildly differing approaches.

The result  exemplified by the desolate railway children of Belgrade huddled beneath blankets  is scenes of human misery we might have thought were long consigned to history on our continent.
An Indian family taking the final walkthrough of their $658,000 home ended the day at a loss - emotionally and financially.

Ali Asgar Kaderbhai had already signed the contract and put down a $30,000 deposit on a new home for his family on Davis Islands in Tampa, Florida.

When they arrived at the home, dressed in traditional Sari garb, two neighbors allegedly emerged and asked, 'are the f***ing ragheads moving in?'.

The pair then threatened to break windows, and burn the house down if they decided to call the neighborhood their home, according to court documents.

Ali Asgar Kaderbhai had already signed the contract and put down a $30,000 deposit on a new home for his family on Davis Islands in Tampa, Florida when they were racially abused

Neighbor David Howard, pictured, allegedly threatened to 'burn down' the house and began cursing at the family and their realtor

The suit, however, is against the original owners of the home which was selling for $658,000.

When the family decided they did not feel safe in the neighborhood following the incident, the sellers, Herbert and Janice Donica refused to refund their $30,000 deposit.

'The Donicas think that what their neighbors did was reprehensible,' attorney Richard McIntyre told ABC Action News.

'But, the Donicas have substantial damages as a result of Ali's failure to close.'

The suit, however, is against the original owners of the home which was selling for $658,000

Ali could not even bring himself to describe the hatred spewed at him as he stood with his bewildered family and their realtor, who called 9/11 and asked if it constituted as a hate crime.

Ali said he felt 'Only shock, shock, and disbelief,'

'It's so challenging, even for me to express it, it's very hard actually, and especially on Davis Island you would not think in a thousand years (it) might happen.'

When the family decided they did not feel safe in the neighborhood following the incident, the sellers, Herbert and Janice Donica refused to refund their $30,000 deposit

According to the suit, neighbor Debbie Olson stormed out of her home, shouting that the Ali Asgar's were 'f***ing up the neighborhood.'

Ali's attorney believes that homeowner Herbert Donica should be held responsible as he should have known that his racist neighbor would pose problems for the family

She then knocked on her neighbor David Howard's door, who approached the family and began cursing at the family and their realtor.

He also allegedly accused the Donicas of 'lying' and that 'those people' would not be moving into the home.

Ali's attorney believes the Donica family should be held responsible for the sale falling through - as they should've known that having a neighbor who was racist would cause problems for the new buyers.

The suit alleges three counts which include fraud in the inducement, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and tortious interference with a contract.

Another resident of the neighborhood, who is also Indian, has said that she has felt hostility from the accused neighbors and 'wasn't surprised' that the incident occurred.
Julie Bishop was so close to attending the Portsea Polo event that Hugo Boss had been engaged to dress her - but she cancelled the night before.

The foreign minister had been scheduled to attend as a guest of Alfa Romeo - the main sponsor of the luxury event on Victoria's Mornington Peninsula on Saturday.

Despite Fairfax Media being told of Ms Bishop's guest status and her unworn Hugo Boss clothing, her office denied she had planned to go to the polo.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop posing for photographs with partner David Panton at the Portsea Polo in 2016

Ms Bishop attended the event in 2016 with Mr Panton - and billed taxpayers $2716

Competitors take part in the Portsea Polo on Saturday January 9, 2016

Rebecca Judd, Shanina Shaik, and Georgia Love stunned in very different outfits at the annual Portsea Polo on Saturday

Her name - and her partner, David Panton's - were also on the guest list at the Alfa Romeo marquee, the Herald Sun reported

Her office contacted the event organisers on Friday evening to notify them she wouldn't be coming - just hours after health minister Sussan Ley resigned following a travel expenses scandal, it was reported.

Ms Bishop's absence at the event was attributed to her being in Sydney for Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit.

Although Portsea Polo organisers would not comment on her no-show, a PR company for the event said she was 'all but assured' earlier last week, Fairfax reported.

Radio personality Andy Lee and his lovely girlfriend Rebecca Harding at the Portsea Polo

Bec posed with her husband, former AFL star Chriss Judd

Sweeping her signature blonde tresses into an elegant up-do, Alex Nation opted for a glamorous makeup palette of a bronzed complexion, defined brows, a metallic eye, lashings of mascara and a nude lip

Ms Bishop attended the event in 2016 with Mr Panton - and billed taxpayers $2716.

On Saturday, it was revealed raft of high-profile Australians had signed an open letter calling on Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to immediately establish a federal anti-corruption watchdog.

The letter was signed by more than 40 signatories including former WA premier Geoff Gallop and Australian Council of Trade Unions president Ged Kearney, along with prosecutors, lawyers and academics.

The public is sick and tired of the lack of accountability revealed by repeated scandals involving federal politicians and others

The signatories say the independent watchdog will help restore integrity, accountability and trust in the federal parliament and public service.

'The public is sick and tired of the lack of accountability revealed by repeated scandals involving federal politicians and others,' the letter says.

'It's time to create an independent anti-corruption watchdog to investigate and expose corruption and serious misconduct at the federal level, including among federal parliamentarians.'

It came after the former health minister resigned from the front bench on Friday following revelations she had bought property on the Gold Coast during a taxpayer-funded trip.

Mr Turnbull has flagged a new independent authority will be established to monitor work expenses of federal politicians, a move supported by minor parties and crossbenchers, to make MPs' taxpayer-funded expenses more transparent.

Competitors are seen in action at Portsea Polo in January 2016
Her high-end wardrobe choices have already caused a storm in austerity Britain  and now Theresa May is to grace the pages of the worlds most influential fashion bible.

The Prime Minister has secretly posed for celebrated portrait photographer Annie Leibovitz in a fashion shoot for American Vogue.

Mrs Mays spread in the forthcoming April edition is said to be part of a charm offensive as she prepares to meet Donald Trump.

After those leather trousers...Theresa May is to grace the pages of the worlds most influential fashion bible

But it has raised eyebrows because it comes just weeks after Anna Wintour, the glossys long-serving editor, received a damehood in the New Years Honours List.

And it follows the Trousergate storm, which erupted after Mrs May wore a 995 pair of leather trousers by Amanda Wakeley for a magazine feature, only for Tory Nicky Morgan to criticise her extravagance.

It earned the anti-Brexit MP Ms Morgan a ban from No 10.

The fruits of the Prime Ministers modelling session for Leibovitz, who has taken some of the most memorable images of the past 40 years, will be unveiled in the issue which goes on sale in March  the month Mrs May is expected to travel to Washington for her first meeting with the new US President.

It is also the month she has vowed to trigger the Article 50 process to withdraw Britain from the EU.

A senior source said: The Vogue shoot will form a central part of Operation Trump. Theresa knows she needs to raise her profile in the US and Anna Wintour was only too keen to help.

Mrs May and her Downing Street aides were wrong-footed by Mr Trumps shock election victory, with former Ukip leader Nigel Farage winning the race to become the first British politician to meet the President-elect.

The shoot has raised eyebrows because it comes just weeks after Anna Wintour, the glossys long-serving editor, received a damehood in the New Years Honours List

The PM is now set to meet Mr Trump within the next two months, after two of her key aides travelled to Washington last month to pave the way.

The Prime Minister has long been a fan of Vogue, and said a lifetime subscription to the magazine would be her luxury item when she appeared on Radio 4s Desert Island Discs.

But her choice of the US title over the UK edition  for which former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher posed in a 1985 photoshoot with David Bailey  is striking.

The deputy editor of the British edition is Emily Sheffield, the younger sister of Samantha Cameron.

How The Mail on Sunday reported the subsequent storm over Mrs May's choice of trousers

And when Mrs May took power after the Brexit vote, Ms Sheffield spoke angrily about how she deplored the casual denigration of the achievements of David Camerons Government by the new regime, who, she said, suggested that the reign of the Cameroons was about posh boys with vanity projects.

A Downing Street spokesman said the decision to pose for Ms Leibovitz was taken before Mr Trumps victory, because Mrs May was a lifelong fan of the magazine.

He added that Ms Wintours honour had been proposed by the Foreign Office. Ms Leibovitzs work stretches back to her days as a photographer for Rolling Stone magazine in the early 1970s, when she captured the last official image of John Lennon and Yoko Ono just five hours before he was killed.

The 67-year-old photographer, who commands fees of up to 150,000 a day, has also taken official pictures of the Queen, including one for her 90th birthday last year.
Diplomat John Negroponte said the 35-page dossier prepared by ex-M16 spy Christopher Steele should never have been made public

The damning dossier which claimed President-elect Donald Trump cavorted with prostitutes during a trip to Russia has been dismissed as 'garbage' by a former top US intelligence chief.

British-born diplomat John Negroponte, who served as director of National Intelligence and Deputy Secretary of State under George W. Bush, said the 35-page dossier prepared by ex-M16 spy Christopher Steele should never have been made public.

The explosive report into Trump's alleged ties with Russia, including the most scandalous allegation that he paid for prostitutes to perform a 'perverted' sex act in front of him in a hotel room during a 2003 Miss Universe contest, surfaced this week after it was sent to President Obama, Trump and US intelligence heads and leaked to the media.

It has cast a deep shadow over Friday's forthcoming inauguration ceremony.

But last night Negroponte, a senior Republican figure who signed a letter before the US election last November warning Trump would be the 'most reckless' President in history, defended him saying: 'I'm a little bit surprised that the matter was even brought to the attention of the President and the President-elect.

'How can you build a whole dossier on one unconfirmed report. Right now, I'd put it in the garbage category.

'I've seen thousands of reports and I've seen many where he didn't have another source to corroborate the allegation and so we just put it off to the side. I'd be saying 'The President doesn't need to see that yet but let's keep and eye on it and see what happens'.'

Steele remained in hiding last night with his second wife and three children after fleeing his Surrey home this week when the report became public.

He is said to be in fear of his life.

Meanwhile, Trump's inauguration plans were described as 'in total chaos' by one wealthy supporter

Cambridge-educated Steele, who Trump branded a 'failed spy', was said to have been paid 130,000 to compile the dossier after his intelligence firm, Orbis, was hired by Trump's Republican enemies and supporters of Democrat rival Hillary Clinton to dig dirt on the billionaire mogul.

When Trump won the election in November, Steele reportedly continued digging without pay after becoming so worried about alleged ties between Trump and the Kremlin.

It was suggested yesterday that UK intelligence services, while aware of the dossier, could not verify any of the claims so had not shared the details with senior British politicians.

In America, despite their scepticism about the claims, intelligence chiefs worried about a media leak briefed the incoming and outgoing Presidents.

Meanwhile, Trump's inauguration plans were described as 'in total chaos' by one wealthy supporter.

The source said several millionaire Trump donors who have paid around 100,000 to attend Friday's swearing-in have yet to receive their tickets.

Trump has come under fire for 'cashing in' on the event by hiking prices at his newly-opened Trump International Hotel in Washington DC, which will be the centre of festivities.

The source said: 'The new President and his family have made it clear their hotel is ground zero during the inauguration so if you want to have any chance of getting close to him, you have to stay in his hotel.'

Suites which normally go for 2,000 a night are being offered at 8,000 a night, with a five-night minimum stay, the insider claimed.

'The rooms are going for two or three times what a comparable room goes for at any other five-star hotel in town,' added the source. 'Where's the money going? Straight into Trump's pocket.'
Sci-fi queen Zoe Saldana has spoken out against the famously liberal acting community of Hollywood for 'bullying' Donald Trump.

Although the Star Trek actress does not support the president-elect, she believes insults flung at him during the race for the White House turned off much of middle America.

The 38-year-old said that Hollywood grew 'cocky and arrogant' and became 'bullies' while voicing their distaste for Trump during the election.

Zoe Saldana , 38 (left), said Hollywood actors 'bullied' Trump after they became too 'cocky and arrogant'. The sci-fi actress added they helped create empathy for the billionaire

Poll Do you think Donald Trump is bullied by Hollywood? Yes No Do you think Donald Trump is bullied by Hollywood? Yes 3351 votes

No 1028 votes Now share your opinion





She said: 'We got cocky and became arrogant and we also became bullies.' Saldana explained that by doing so, celebrities created empathy for the billionaire.

The Guardians of the Galaxy star said: 'We were trying to single out a man for all these things he was doing wrong... and that created empathy in a big group of people in America that felt bad for him and that are believing in his promises.'

Trump has been frequently berated himself for bullying tactics, including seemingly mocking a reporter with disabilities.

Trump launched a Twitter attack on civil rights legend and Congressman John Lewis, a few days before Martin Luther King Jr Day, on Saturday.

The Georgia Democratic Rep. said he thought Trump was an 'illegitimate president' and that Moscow helped steal the election from Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

In a tweet Trump said Lewis should 'spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.'

Several users rebuked Trump's remarks, and many have even questioned his intelligence.

Georgia Democratic Rep John Lewis, was the subject of a Trump tweet storm this weekend. He called the president-elect an 'illegitimate president' on Friday

Trump tweeted on Saturday that Lewis, a democratic senator in Georgia, 'should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results'

One of the first to do so was House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, who Tweeted: 'Let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed.'

'John Lewis is an American hero,' Rhode Island representative David Cicilline, said in a tweet directed at Trump.

'You're a fake billionaire who won't release his taxes. Put down Twitter and get serious about governing.'

Saldana's analysis echoes comments made by Hawaiian-born Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who told the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire show this week it was time Americans got behind Trump, who takes office on January 20.

Zoe Saldana's (left) comments echos fellow actress Nicole Kidman (right). The Hawaiian-born Australian actress said it was time Americans got behind their new president.

She said: 'I just say he's now elected and we as a country need to support whoever's the president because that's what the country's based on. However that happened, he's there, and let's go.'

Saldana, who plays a Cuban gangster's moll in Ben Affleck's prohibition era gangster movie 'Live by Night,' has spoken out frequently against prejudice in Hollywood.

One of the movie's most pleasing aspects, she says, was its unflinching depiction of racism in the Deep South that was so ingrained that police officers and judges were proud to call themselves members of the Ku Klux Klan, the white supremacist hate group.

The Trump campaign that defeated Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton was criticized for stoking racial tensions with its rhetoric against Mexicans and Muslims, but Saldana is hopeful the country will never return to the dark days of segregation.

'I'm learning from (Trump's victory) with a lot of humility,' the mother of two-year-old twin boys told AFP.
A senior prison chaplain has been suspended after he was arrested over an alleged sex attack.

Sikander Pathan was removed from his full-time duties at Feltham  one of Britains biggest centres for young offenders  last week.

It came after the imam was questioned by officers on December 29 last year over claims that he violently assaulted a woman in Staines, Surrey.

Sikander Pathan has been removed from his full-time duties at Feltham  one of Britains biggest centres for young offenders

A Surrey Police spokesman said: A man has been arrested on suspicion of sexual assault and assault, and bailed until March 8.

Mr Pathan, 47, is one of the most experienced Muslim prison chaplains in the country, having provided spiritual care to inmates at Feltham in West London for more than a decade.

He is now regional chaplain for all jails in London. He also serves as secretary of the national Muslim Chaplains Association and has spoken widely on the risk of radicalisation behind bars.

Mr Pathan, 47, has provided spiritual care to inmates at Feltham in West London for more than a decade

In 2011, he gave evidence on the topic to MPs on the Home Affairs Select Committee. Mr Pathan has also worked as an NHS chaplain, vice-principal at a madrasa school and preaches at a mosque near Heathrow.

A decade ago, he spoke to a newspaper about his chaplaincy work at Feltham, saying: When the boys come to prison and are going through a low patch, quite often they open themselves up to a chaplain.
Danielle Laskie, 47, has married US inmate Timothy Wright, a convicted murderer, after the pair met on a pen pals website

An Australian nurse has married an American prisoner who is serving life in jail after the pair fell in love writing love letters for two years.

Danielle Laskie, 47, met her husband Timothy Wright, a convicted murderer, on a pen pals website - and is now fighting to get him release so they could be together.

The 30-year-old inmate has been behind bars at the Buckingham Correctional Centre in the US state of Virginia since 2008 after he was sentenced to 63 years with no chance of parole for the first-degree murder.

He was found guilty of shooting dead a 19-year-old man after they allegedly became embroiled in a love triangle - but Wright has long maintained his innocence.

But his life sentence has not deterred the health care worker from putting pen to paper when she stumbled across his profile.

'There was something about it to me that seemed honest,' she told The Age.

Locked up more than 16,000 kilometres from her, Ms Laskie revealed how their friendship blossomed into a serious relationship the old-fashioned way - by writing letters

The 30-year-old inmate has been behind bars at the Buckingham Correctional Centre in the US state of Virginia since 2008

Locked up more than 16,000 kilometres from her, Ms Laskie revealed how their friendship blossomed into a serious relationship the old-fashioned way.

She sent her first letter to Wright - and four weeks later, she received a six-page reply in her mailbox.

And after months of letters, phone calls and sending messages via JPay - an email service that allows people to communicate to inmates - they fell in love.

'I knew I was in love after the first six months of knowing her,' Wright told the publication via JPay.

Before she embarked on her trip to meet him in person for the first time last year, Wright proposed - and much to his delight, she said 'yes'.

'You just know when it's the right person. It all happened very quickly but it just seemed so right. It just seemed so perfect,' she said.

The health care worker decided to write to an inmate after watching an American prison documentary that inspired her to reach out

The pair fell in love the old-fashioned way - after writing letters to each other (stock image)

Ms Laskie said she decided to write to an inmate after watching an American prison documentary that inspired her to reach out.

The pair met officially last October and Ms Laskie said Wright was everything she expected from the letters and photographs they sent to each other.

They exchanged their vows on her third visit in front of Wright's grandparents as she opted for a pink suit while her groom was dressed in his everyday prison jeans and button shirt.

Despite his life sentence, Ms Laskie believes firmly in his innocence and she has set up social media campaigns and petitions in an effort for his release.
Former Tory Minister Sir Nicholas Soames last night launched a blistering attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over his countrys threat to take down Boris Johnsons deputy.

Sir Nicholas warned Mr Netanyahus government not to repeat the outrageous threat by Israeli diplomat Shai Masot against Sir Alan Duncan, which was exposed by The Mail on Sunday last week.

Masot and an aide to pro-Israeli Minister Robert Halfon were fired after a secretly recorded film showed them discussing taking down pro-Palestinian Sir Alan with a little scandal and putting another senior Tory MP, Crispin Blunt, on a hit list.

Former Tory Minister Sir Nicholas Soames (left) launched a blistering attack on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right)

Sir Nicholas said: Israel has not heard the last of this. We must make it very clear indeed to Mr Netanyahu and his government that we will not tolerate this kind of outrageous behaviour.

For a diplomat at Israels London embassy to talk of taking down Sir Alan is disgraceful. Israel cannot behave like this.

Mr Netanyahu would not tolerate a British diplomat acting like that in Israel for a second and he has to be made to understand he cannot do it here either.

It is the equivalent of the way Russians use intelligence to suborn democracy in other nations.

Our disclosure of the secret film involving Masot, who has close links to Israeli intelligence, and Maria Strizzolo, an aide to Mr Halfon, made headlines around the world.

Israels ambassador to the UK, Mark Regev, made a grovelling apology to Mr Johnson and Sir Alan. Masot was sent home to Israel in disgrace and then fired by his government.

A furious Theresa May intervened to order the dismissal of Strizzolo, who, unusually, worked as a civil servant in Mr Halfons Skills section of the Department for Education, paid by the taxpayer, as well as his Commons assistant, paid by Tory HQ.

Shai Masot (front, right) and an aide to pro-Israeli Minister Robert Halfon were fired after a secretly recorded film showed them discussing taking down pro-Palestinian Sir Alan

Our disclosure of the secret film involving Masot, who has close links to Israeli intelligence, and Maria Strizzolo, an aide to Mr Halfon, made headlines around the world

Mario Strizzolo revealed in the leaked tape that Mr Halfon and Sir Alan had clashed in the past over the Middle East

Strizzolo revealed in the leaked tape that Mr Halfon and Sir Alan had clashed in the past over the Middle East.

In a Commons debate last week, former Foreign Office Minister Sir Hugo Swire called on Mr Johnson to investigate the serious issues raised by the MoS report.

The take down Duncan scandal is to be investigated by the Foreign Affairs Select Committee, chaired by Mr Blunt, who was targeted by Masot and Strizzolo in the film.

Mr Blunt said: I hope to include this matter in the committees wider inquiry into the Middle East peace process.

Mr Blunt described the scandal, revealed in an undercover sting by the Qatar-based Al Jazeera TV station, as interference in British politics of the murkiest kind.
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Chinese economy is likely to hit bottom in 2017 as several factors will combine to support the bottoming process, a Chinese economist said Saturday.

If investment, supply-side structural reforms and the fostering of new growth momentum achieve desired results, there is a high probability that the economy may bottom this year, said Wang Yiming, deputy director of the development research center of the State Council.

On the demand side, manufacturing investment is on the up, while infrastructure spending will remain strong, which mean overall investment will stabilize in 2017, he said.

If China's capacity-cut targets are solidly delivered, producer prices will keep going up to support the broader economy, while new technologies and new business models will help cultivate fresh growth momentum, Wang pointed out.

Buoyed by increased government spending on infrastructure and booming home market, the economy held steady against rising headwinds, with GDP expanding stably at 6.7 percent in each of the first three quarters of the year.

Xu Shaoshi, director of the National Development and Reform Commission, the top economic planner, said earlier this month that he estimated that the economy would keep the same growth rate for the full year.

The World Bank on Tuesday kept its forecast for China's economic growth rate for 2017 at 6.5 percent, saying that the economy will continue sustainable growth as it is rebalancing from manufacturing to services, despite reemerging concerns for property markets.
Two top aides to President-elect Donald Trump denied a published report on Saturday that he is planning to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks after taking office.

The Sunday Times of London reported that Trump had told British officials that such a summit was being planned, possibly to be staged in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

'The story is a fantasy,' one Trump aide told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another said the report was not true.

Trump, who takes office on January 20, has spoken of seeking warmer relations with Russia.

Two top aides to President-elect Donald Trump (left) denied a published report on Saturday that he is planning to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin (right) weeks after taking office

Britain has been among the biggest critics of the Kremlin, in particular providing assistance for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Prime Minister Theresa May (above) is expected to meet with Trump in February

He told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he would 'at least for a period of time' maintain sanctions against Russia put in place by President Barack Obama for cyber hacking.

But Trump suggested to the newspaper that he might lift the sanctions if Russia proved helpful in the fight against Islamic State militants and on other U.S. objectives.

In addition, an US-Russian alliance could spell trouble for Britain, which has been among the biggest critics of the Kremlin, in particular providing assistance for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria.

British sources fear that a frosty relationship between Theresa May and Putin could affect trade with America, if Trump cosies up to the Russians.

According to the Sunday Times, British intelligence services are also keen that a new 'special relationship' would not compromise the security of British agents working in Russia.

It follows the leaking by former MI6 agent Christopher Steele of the now-infamous 'dirty dossier' regarding allegations surrounding Donald Trump and a Moscow hotel room.

A meeting between Trump and May is expected to be organized for late February.

Two of Trump's cabinet picks, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary nominee James Mattis, have signaled a far harsher tone toward Moscow in their Senate confirmation hearings.

U.S. intelligence agencies blame Russia for cyber hacking that interfered with the U.S. presidential election. Trump has said he accepted the intelligence agencies' conclusion.

On Saturday, FBI Director James Comey refused to confirm whether or not the bureau is investigating links between President-elect Trump and Russia.

In a closed-door briefing on Friday, the law enforcement officer said he would 'never comment' on a potential FBI investigation.

The Justice Department's Inspector General Michael Horowitz announced on Thursday an investigation will be carried out to look at whether Comey followed policy and if he improperly disclosed nonpublic information regarding the Clinton campaign.

Critics said Comey's decision to stay tight-lipped was hypocritical referring to the time he broke protocol during a press conference where he explained why he wouldn't charge Hillary Clinton for the email scandal.

US intelligence official James Clapper released a report last week saying the agency had found ties between the Putin and Trump and found evidence that the Russian government staged cyber attacks on the US to influence the election.
Tory Brexit cheerleader Jacob Rees-Mogg is ready to take on Labour pro-EU MP Chris Bryant in a battle to succeed John Bercow as Commons Speaker.

Allies of Vote Leave supporter Rees-Mogg have persuaded him to run for the post, claiming they are determined to stop the Speakers chair being taken over by a prominent Remain supporter.

The prospect of a spectacular Rees-Mogg versus Bryant contest emerged ahead of Mr Bercows expected retirement as Speaker next year.

Tory Brexit cheerleader Jacob Rees-Mogg is ready to take on Labour pro-EU MP Chris Bryant in a battle to succeed John Bercow as Commons Speaker

The pair are two of the most colourful personalities in Westminster  and poles apart on everything from gay rights to their starkly differing wardrobes.

Arch-traditionalist, Right-wing, Old Etonian, multi-millionaire, City tycoon Mr Rees-Mogg, 47, and aristocratic wife Helena de Chair are expecting their sixth child.

He wears a double-breasted suit, opposed gay marriage, is a global warming sceptic and devout Catholic who called for happy clappy guitars to be banned in church.

Trendy, Left-wing, Welsh-born, ex-Anglican priest Mr Bryant, 55, prefers pink and orange silk ties, says too many showbusiness stars went to private schools, claimed Tory housing cuts were social cleansing the poor, supports moves to combat climate change and urged Mr Bercow to celebrate kiss a ginger day.

The former Europe Ministers partner is businessman Jared Cranney.

Mr Bercow, who became Speaker in 2009, is expected to quit his 151,000-a-year job by 2018 at the latest.

Arch-traditionalist, Old Etonian, multi-millionaire, City tycoon Mr Rees-Mogg, 47, and aristocratic wife Helena de Chair are expecting their sixth child. Pictured: Rees-Mogg aged 12

Asked if he wished to become Speaker, Mr Bryant - seen here in the cellars under the Houses of Parliament - declined to comment

Mr Rees-Mogg made clear yesterday he would not make a final decision on standing for Speaker until Mr Bercow announced he was going.

But he said: It is very flattering that some friends have suggested that I could be Speaker. It is one of this countrys great constitutional roles.

Tory MP Richard Benyon said: Jacob has an encyclopaedic knowledge of procedure and he would be steeped in all the traditions of the place.

Another MP backing Mr Rees-Mogg said: Jacob would be a brilliant Speaker.

He has only been an MP for six years but is respected on all sides of the House.

A spokeswoman for the Speaker declined to comment

His wonderful wry sense of humour would be a huge asset in defusing arguments in debates.

And when Brexit is going to dominate Parliament for years, it make sense to have a Speaker in tune with the mood of the nation and not MPs, many of whom are still determined to sabotage it.

For all his posh vowels, Jacob is a true man of the people.

Asked if he wished to become Speaker, Mr Bryant declined to comment. But supporters of Mr Bryant, seen as an ally of Mr Bercow, insisted he would be a much better choice than Mr Rees-Mogg.

To argue we need a Brexit Speaker because of the referendum is barmy, said one.

The whole purpose of the Speaker is to stand up for MPs, not the Government. The case for a Speaker who is not a Brexit propagandist is overwhelming.

Chris is a modern parliamentarian and a modern man. He has been an MP for 15 years and makes Rees-Mogg look like a novice.

A spokeswoman for the Speaker declined to comment.
The troubled child abuse inquiry is risking further controversy by going into prisons to ask criminals if they were molested when they were young.

Critics warn the plan could encourage inmates to make false allegations and lodge unwarranted claims for compensation.

The so-called Truth Project is part of the 100 million inquiry which allows survivors of child sex abuse to tell their stories, without their accounts being tested, challenged or contradicted.

Officials will go into jails later this year to ask criminals if they were molested when they were young. Pictured is HMP Pentonville

Officials will go into jails later this year to ask prisoners to share their experiences, in the belief that many turned to crime after their lives went off the rails when they were abused as children.

Inmates stories may be published anonymously in official reports on the scale of past abuse and cover-ups in Britains schools, childrens homes and churches.

But barrister Barbara Hewson said: I think it is trawling.

Its all very well to say they want to look into institutional abuse but the more they do this and encourage people, some people will start to think maybe they can go for compensation.

They may well be people who have a long history of dishonesty and who see this as an opportunity to portray themselves as being wronged.

Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor was questioned by Scotland Yard following lurid false allegations made by a fantasist

Former Tory MP Harvey Proctor, who was questioned by Scotland Yard following lurid false allegations made by a fantasist, added: There is no veracity in the Truth Project because statements are made to it without any checks.

Anyone can say anything about anyone and it is not checked, but it goes down in history as truth. Many of the prisoners will have lied to the courts, but the inquiry has the default position that they believe what is said.

The inquiry has not held a single public evidence session under its latest chairwoman, Professor Alexis Jay

Although claims will not be challenged by inquiry staff, cases will be handed to police to investigate, and prison and probation staff have been briefed about the plan to take the project into jails.

The huge public inquiry into historic child abuse has been beset by problems since it was set up by Theresa May in July 2014.

Its first three chairwomen quit, and it has still not held a single public evidence session under its latest chairwoman, Professor Alexis Jay. In addition, five of its top lawyers have quit.

A spokesman for the inquiry said: The Truth Project is open to all victims and survivors of child sexual abuse, wherever they are.

There is evidence to suggest that victims and survivors are over-represented in the prison population. Therefore, we are planning a phased roll-out of the Truth Project in prisons in 2017.

The Truth Project does not have legal consequences, but lets victims and survivors of child sexual abuse bear witness.

The projects first report is due to be published in September.
Nicky Morgan urged the PM not to adopt a blinkered approach to cutting immigration

Nicky Morgan was last night heading for a fresh clash with Theresa May after urging the Prime Minister not to adopt a blinkered approach to cutting immigration.

The Remain-supporting former Education Secretary who was barred from Downing Street last month in a row over the Prime Ministers leather trousers  spoke out following reports that Mrs May would use a major speech on Tuesday to signal a hard Brexit line on controlling borders.

Mrs Morgan pointed to a new poll which found that a majority of Leave voters would object to tougher immigration controls if it came at any financial price to them personally.

Mrs May is expected to use her speech to the foreign diplomatic corps at Londons Lancaster House to set out her vision of the newly global Britain she hopes to build in the aftermath of Brexit  and to repeat her pledge to set aside old divisions over the referendum.

Reports yesterday claimed the Prime Minister will set out a clear blueprint for Brexit with tough control of borders as a red line in negotiations which would only be likely to be granted by Brussels if we pulled out of the single market.

Soft Brexit supporters, such as Mrs Morgan, believe that leaving the single market would exact a disproportionate economic toll on UK businesses due to lost trade opportunities.

A YouGov poll, commissioned by the Open Britain campaign, found that 54 per cent of Leave voters would object to the trade-off if it meant they would be even a penny worse off. The figure rose to 59 per cent for Leave voters in the North  and 63 per cent of Labour-supporting Leave voters.

When asked if they would be prepared to be 100 a month worse off in exchange for greater control of immigration, the poll found that just 11 per cent of all Leave voters agreed.

Mrs Morgan said the findings underline the publics desire for the Government not to let a blinkered focus on immigration control damage peoples financial prospects.

Mrs Morgan criticised Mrs Mays decision to wear these leather trousers and, subsequently, was banned from Downing Street

She said: The Government will be doing a disservice to the country and to both Leave and Remain voters if it dogmatically pursues a hard, destructive Brexit where immigration control is the be-all-and-end-all, our economy is undermined and people are left poorer.

The former Cabinet Ministers renewed intervention in the debate follows an extraordinary spat last month with Mrs Mays top aide Fiona Hill over designer leather trousers costing nearly 1,000 which were worn by Mrs May in an interview.

Mrs Morgan criticised Mrs Mays decision to wear the trousers and, subsequently, was banned from Downing Street.

In her speech, Mrs May is expected to say: One of the reasons Britains democracy has been such a success is the strength of our identity as one nation, the respect we show to one another as fellow citizens.

And that is what we are seeing today. The overwhelming majority of people, however they voted, say we need to get on and make Brexit happen.

Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it  Leaver and Remainer  and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly Global Britain.
The owners of one of Sydney's most iconic restaurants claim the standards of fine dining have decreased dramatically and been replaced by hipster students wearing shorts who swear in front of customers.

Michael McMahon, who owns the famed $15 million Catalina restaurant in Rose Bay with his wife and children, told The Daily Telegraph professional waiters dressed in a crisp shirts and table's draped in white table cloths are a thing of the past.

Mr McMahon, who bought the waterfront restaurant in 1993 for $1.5 million, said the growing 'trendy casual' culture in the city's service industry has paved the way for lazy and inappropriate behaviour.

'Our waiters wear long pants and not shorts. We don't throw a basket of bread on the table when people sit down and we treat people like grown-ups,' Mr McMahon said.

Michael McMahon, the owner of Sydney's iconic Catalina restaurant (pictured), claims the standards of fine dining have decreased and been replaced by a 'trendy casual' culture

Mr McMahon said the growing trend has paved the way for lazy and inappropriate behaviour and made crisp white table cloths a thing of the past

Mr McMahon's son James said he was uncomfortable at a hipster eatery recently when the maitre d kept swearing in front of him

'We went to a restaurant a few weeks ago and I won't say what it was, but it was a nice room and it was one of those places that everyone is talking about and is quite popular at the moment,' he said.

'And we had this waiter that kept coming up to us saying, "Too easy, too easy." You'd ask for something and he'd say, "Too easy." I just think it's horrible.'

His son James, who is the floor manager of the Catalina, told The Daily Telegraph he also had an uncomfortable experience at a trendy hipster restaurant.

Mr McMahon bought the waterfront restaurant in 1993 for $1.5 million

Mr McMahon said a waiter at an up-and-coming restaurant kept telling him everything was 'too easy', which he felt was too informal

Catalina is a frequent hot spot for celebrities (pictured left is Tammin Sursok and Ronan Keating and wife Storm Keating on the right)

'I went to a place yesterday that I really like and I go there a lot, but the maitre'd was like "F  yeah mate, f  yeah",' he said.

'Now I'm not too precious about stuff like that, but I thought "steady on".'

The successful restaurateur announced this summer he is expanding the Catalina with a 220 square metre extension overlooking Sydney's Harbour.

Catalina is a frequent hot spot for celebrities and is pictured often on social media.
Finance Minister Mathias Cormann billed taxpayers more than $23,000 for weekend trips to the beach resort town of Broome with his wife over five years.

The revelation comes just a days after Health Minister Sussan Ley resigned after a travel expenses scandal in which she travelled to Queensland's Gold Coast on taxpayer money to buy an apartment.

Between 2010 and 2014 Cormann, the West Australian senator and his wife made five taxpayer-funded trips to Broome on weekends for electorate business.

Liberal senator Mathias Cormann pictured in 2015 with wife, lawyer Hayley Ross

The West Australian senator and his wife made five taxpayer-funded trips to Broome (pictured)

One of Cormann's trip, a three-day stint in Broome (pictured) in July 2014 cost taxpayers $6696, including $5662 on flights

A three-day trip in July 2014 cost taxpayers $6696, including $5662 on flights.

Senator Cormann also claimed $820 in travel allowance and $214 in car costs.

A previous trip from Friday to Sunday at the start of July 2013 cost taxpayers $4563, and a similar trip in May 2012 cost $4831.

The total cost of the five trips was $23,088.

Finance Minister Mathias Cormann

However a spokeswoman for Cormann jumped to the defence of the Finance Minister, claiming all of his expenses on the trips to Broome were completely legitimate and always appropriately declared.

'Senator Cormann's job as a senator for Western Australia necessarily involves travel across his very large electorate to attend functions and meet with constituents, business and community stakeholders,' the spokeswoman told Fairfax Media.

'Inevitably, much of the travel and attendance at functions and events in the electorate, whether in Perth or across regional WA, occurs Fridays to Sundays, when Senator Cormann has returned back to his home state from interstate parliamentary work commitments.'

Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has announced he will overhaul the parliamentary entitlements system by establishing a new independent body to oversee MPs' expense claims.

A stunning view of a beach in Broome, which is located in the Kimberley region of Western Australia
Jeremy Corbyn is doomed to electoral failure because he and his supporters are not amused by bawdy programmes such as Mrs Brown's Boys, a Labour MP declared yesterday.

Stella Creasy said a cultural split between the party's 'intelligentsia' and average voters would prevent Corbyn from winning a General Election.

The Walthamstow MP made her remarks after another calamitous week for Mr Corbyn, during which he was rocked by the Commons resignation of former leadership hopeful Tristram Hunt, and was forced to abandon a shambolic New Year relaunch.

Stella Creasy said a cultural split between the party's 'intelligentsia' and average voters would prevent Corbyn from winning a General Election

Ms Creasy asked a conference of the Fabian Society  a talking shop for highbrow liberals  whether anyone in the audience watched Mrs Brown's Boys, the BBC's hit sitcom starring the Irish comedian Brendan O'Carroll.

When she was greeted by laughter, she pointed out that it had been among the most popular programmes at Christmas, attracting more than eight million viewers. 'It beat the Queen's Speech and yet the intelligentsia are horrified,' she said.

'They don't get the joke.'

Ms Creasy, a moderate who has faced criticism by Left-wing supporters of Mr Corbyn, said the fact that the party's hierarchy failed to watch the programme highlighted 'the cultural divisions' which stymied attempts to devise progressive, election-winning policies.

Ms Creasy asked a conference of the Fabian Society  a talking shop for highbrow liberals  whether anyone in the audience watched Mrs Brown's Boys

Former Education spokesman Mr Hunt, who resigned from his Stoke- on-Trent Central seat, was once tipped as party leader.

He has quit his seat for a job as head of the V&A museum after despairing of the party's electoral chances under Mr Corbyn.

Other moderate MPs are expected to follow his example in an attempt to destabilise Mr Corbyn through a series of by-election defeats.

The by-election at Stoke, where Labour holds a majority of 5,179, will be fought between Labour, second-placed Ukip and the Conservatives.

A spokesman for Mr Corbyn declined to comment on whether he watched Mrs Brown's Boys.
As an enthusiastic fish-keeper, Alex Cunnison liked nothing better than watching his colourful pets dart around the tank in his living room.

But little did he know that - however relaxing they were to look at - his tropical fish were making him seriously unwell.

In fact, the 70-year-old contracted an incredibly rare disease that baffled doctors and left him struggling to breathe.

Last night the retired bus driver - whose illness was so unusual that it was written up in a medical journal - told the Scottish Mail on Sunday how cleaning his aquarium nearly cost him his life.

Alex Cunnison has a rare disease that was caused by inhaling the water from his tropical fish tank over a period of years

As part of his fish-keeping routine, Mr Cunnison would place one end of a hose in the tank then suck on the other end to start siphoning out the dirty water into a bucket.

Although he never swallowed the water, he inhaled bacteria which then infected his lung.

He became sicker and sicker - but at first had no idea that his aquarium was to blame.

Instead, he feared he had cancer when he started losing weight and developed a persistent cough which left him struggling to breathe.

Mr Cunnison feared he had cancer when he started losing weight and developed a persistent cough which left him struggling to breathe

He was forced to cancel a sunshine holiday as mystified doctors struggled to find the cause of his symptoms.

After months of tests, medics revealed the astonishing truth - that bacteria inhaled as he siphoned water from the fish tank had caused a potentially fatal fish tank granuloma - a type of lesion - in his lung.

Such an infection is so rare the case has now been detailed in a medical journal as only the third of its kind ever reported.

Last night Mr Cunnison spoke of the life-threatening ordeal caused by his shoal of small tropical fish. He said: I could have died. It was taking over my whole lung.

I enjoyed looking after the fish. They were really nice to look at, pretty bright colours and quite relaxing. I enjoyed looking at them - at the time. If Id only known.

After months of tests, medics revealed that bacteria inhaled as he siphoned water from the fish tank had caused a potentially fatal fish tank granuloma - a type of lesion - in his lung

The father-of-four kept 20 tropical fish in a large tank measuring about four by three feet.

To clean it, he would start siphoning water with his mouth using a rubber pipe, then let it run out into a bucket.

After about six years, he and partner Kathline Bellard, 65, decided to redecorate and gave the fish to his grand-daughter Millie, now 12.

But months later Mr Cunnison developed a cough which left him struggling to breathe.

He said: I put it off for a good couple of months but eventually I made an appointment with the doctor when my partner put the pressure on. I had trouble breathing; I was stuggling to catch my breath and was light-headed and dizzy. Its frightening. Id lost a wee bit of weight too - and Im only eight stone two as it is.

He said: 'I really appreciate the NHS for all they did'

I went to the doctor who sent me straight up to the hospital for an x-ray. He phoned back that same evening to make an appointment for the following morning. I assumed it must be cancer. We had a sleepless night.

They said it wasnt cancer, but it might be TB. I cancelled the holiday to Tenerife.

Over the coming months further tests eliminated TB and identified the bacterium which was slowing destroying Mr Cunnisons lung as Mycobacterium Marinum.

Found in water, it typically causes lesions on the skin through a cut or scratch, although this is rare. To find it in the lungs is rarer still.

The consultant at the hospital was baffled. Eventually they said it was an infection fishermen get. That was the first thing they asked me: did I go fishing? I said no. Then we mentioned that I used to siphon the fish tank with my mouth. But I hadnt had them for a year and a half - the lesions must have just been there, growing all that time.

I really appreciate the NHS for all they did.

Wed been doing it every month, cleaning the tank out, never thinking anything would happen. Now I wish Id got a pump to clean the tank - but people have siphoned fish tanks like that for years.

Mr Cunnison, of Livingston, West Lothian, is now free of infection after a year of treatment with a cocktail of antibiotics

Mr Cunnison, of Livingston, West Lothian, is now free of infection after a year of treatment with a cocktail of antibiotics. He no longer keeps fish - and neither do Millie and her mum Nicola, Mr Cunnisons 46-year-old daughter.

Dr Donald Noble, consultant physician at St Johns Hospital, Livingston, said: Mycobacterium Marinum is an environmental bacteria which can cause chronic skin infections in aquarium workers. However, infection in the lungs is highly unusual. This is the only reported case of lung infection due to M. marinum in Scotland and there are only a few case reports reported in the medical literature worldwide. In this case the likely route of infection was from siphoning water from a fish tank after initiating the siphon by mouth.

These infections cause progressive destruction of lung tissue and are often difficult to treat.

Mr Cunnisons case was reported in the Scottish Medical Journal in November.

The paper said: We report only the third documented case of pulmonary infection with M. marinum in an immunocompetent individual.

Colin Pannell, of the Federation of British Aquatic Societies, said: Ive been keeping fish for 45 years and Ive never heard of anything like this. The chances of anything like that happening have got to be millions to one. Dont swallow the water  and if it goes in, spit it out and use a mouthwash. But if you want to be absolutely safe, use a pump.
A young woman who was abducted from hospital just eight hours after being born told her kidnapper she loved her yesterday as she prepared to be reunited with her biological family  after 18 years.

Kamiyah Mobley was snatched from a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1998 in a notorious kidnapping, given a new name and brought up just 200 miles away by a woman she believed to be her birth mother.

Called Alexis Manigo, she was raised by Gloria Williams with her other children in Walterboro, South Carolina, until Friday when police finally revealed her true identity following a tip-off and DNA testing.

Kamiyah Mobley, now 18, was found living in South Carolina on Friday living under the name Alexis Manigo. Gloria Williams, 51, has been arrested for kidnapping the girl from Florida

Kamiyah Mobley (left in a composite created by police) was kidnapped by a woman pretending to be a nurse (right) 18 years ago

Williams, 51, who was arrested and faces extradition from South Carolina to Florida, could be jailed for life if convicted of the kidnapping. But in incredible scenes yesterday, Kamiyah told Williams, I love you, Mom, as the two spoke through a security grill at Colleton jail.

On Friday, Kamiyah had a tearful videophone conversation with her biological mother, Shanara Mobley, father Craig Aiken and grandmother Velma Aiken. Last night, her real mother was reported to be en route to South Carolina to be reunited with her daughter.

Mrs Aiken said: Nobody works miracles but God. I know now that he heard my prayers. She added that the teenager doesnt act like were brand new people. She acts like shes been talking to us for a long time. Shes alive, well and looking good.

But there was no sign Kamiyah would turn her back on her kidnapper. Posting on Facebook under her assumed identity, she wrote: My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted. My mother is no felon.

It is believed Williams suffered a miscarriage shortly before July 10, 1998, when a woman wearing a blue floral smock and green scrub trousers took eight-hour-old Kamiyah in a white blanket and disappeared.

Authorities said the suspect had roamed the halls of the University Medical Center in Jacksonville for 14 hours, but grainy CCTV footage could not identify her.

Kamiyah Mobley prepares to speak to mother Gloria Williams, left, who is in jail

In incredibly emotional scenes, Kamiyah holds the grill that separates her from Williams as they talk

Now Williams is facing charges of abduction which could result in her being imprisoned for life

She spent five hours with Kamiyah and her mother, then aged just 16, before saying the baby had a fever and taking the infant away. Nurses thought she was a member of their family.

A nationwide police hunt followed. Detectives were hampered by the lack of a photograph of the baby and put together a composite.

Relations with the childs parents were strained as Kamiyahs father, Craig, then 23, was already in jail on a drugs charge when she was born and was later jailed again for lewd, lascivious and indecent assault on a child, as Shanara was only 15 when the baby was conceived. Mrs Aiken claimed police suspected Shanara of playing a part in the kidnap and put pressure on him to tell them what he knew.

After an anonymous tip-off to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, a DNA sample from the teenager was taken and it was matched with the DNA taken the day Kamiyah was born. The test confirmed the girl was, in fact, Kamiyah.

Last night, her father Craig said: I always hoped and prayed this day would happen. I always felt she was alive and she would find us.
New evidence uncovered by scientists examining D.B. Cooper's necktie has led to a shocking new twist in the recently closed, unsolved case.

A team of vigilante scientists, the self-titled Citizen Sleuths, devote their time to exclusively researching the mysterious hijacking, in which Cooper parachuted from a plane with $200,000 and was never seen again.

After examining the JC Penney tie left behind by Cooper, the Sleuths discovered a number of rare elements on its surface, which indicate that Cooper may have worked as an engineer for Boeing before the historic hijacking.

Cooper left his tie on the plane before parachuting out the back of the aircraft

After examining the JC Penney tie left behind by Cooper, the Sleuths discovered a number of rare elements on its surface

Using an electron microscope, the scientists were able to pull more than 100,000 particles from the tie, which contained traces of 'rare earth elements'.

'They're used in very narrow fields, for very specific things,' said Tom Kaye, associate researcher for the group told King 5 News.

Such elements included Cerium, Strontium Sulfide, and pure titanium. They were used at the time of Cooper's hijacking by Boeing in the production of their Super Sonic Transport Plane.

Such elements included Cerium, Strontium Sulfide, and pure titanium. They were used at the time of Cooper's hijacking by Boeing in the production of their supersonic Transport Plane

Boeing was cultivating high-tech equipment, like radar screens, in the 1960s and 1970s which utilized the elements found on Cooper's discarded tie.

'The tie went with him into these manufacturing environments, for sure, so he was not one of the people running these (manufacturing machines),' Kaye said.

'He was either an engineer or a manager in one of the plants.'

It has been 45 years since DB Cooper hijacked a plane and then parachuted into the woods somewhere around the border of Oregon and Washington with $200,000, which would be worth more than $1 million today

Kaye and his team are appealing for members of the public with experience in aerospace engineering during that time period to help them investigate further.

It has been 45 years since DB Cooper hijacked a plane and then parachuted into the woods somewhere around the border of Oregon and Washington with $200,000, which would be worth more than $1 million today.

The FBI announced in July of 2016 that they would no longer be investigating the case, as they had exhausted all leads.

However, they finished their official statement on a hopeful note: 'Although the FBI will no longer actively investigate this case, should specific physical evidence emerge - related specifically to the parachutes or the money taken by the hijacker - individuals with those materials are asked to contact their local FBI field office.'

The facts of the case are that on November 24, 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper bought a ticket at Portland International Airport in Oregon and boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 to Seattle, Washington.

Cooper was later described by passengers and the crew as being in his mid-forties and just under 6 feet tall, wearing a dark suit and black necktie with loafers and a raincoat.

Once the plane took off, he ordered a bourbon and lit a cigarette before casually handing flight attendant Florence Schaffner a note.

On November 24, 1971, a man identifying himself as Dan Cooper bought a ticket at Portland International Airport in Oregon and boarded a Northwest Orient Airlines Flight 305 to Seattle, Washington

Schaffner later told the FBI that she did not look at the note until Cooper whispered to her: 'Miss, you'd better look at that note. I have a bomb.'

He then told her his demands.

Cooper asked for $200,000, four parachutes and a fuel truck to be waiting on the runway when the flight landed in Seattle.

Schaffner conveyed his demands to the cockpit and the plane then circled the area for two hours so police and the FBI could gather Cooper's money and parachutes.

Authorities later found this parachute bag believed to be the one Cooper deployed

The FBI previously recovered partial DNA evidence from items including one parachute

When the plane landed, an employee of Northwest brought Cooper 10,000 unmarked 20-dollar bills and four parachutes in a knapsack, at which point the 36 passengers and Schaffner were allowed off the plane.

While that aircraft was refueling Cooper told the crew that they were to fly to Reno at an altitude of no more than 10,000 feet and a the slowest possible speed that would still keep the plane airborne.

The plane took off again at 7:40pm, two hours after landing, and Cooper ordered the members of the crew who were still on board to gather in the cockpit with the door close.

A helicopter takes off from search headquarters to scour the area hijacker Dan Cooper might have parachuted into two days before, on Oct. 28, 1976 in Woodland, Washington

Three planes followed behind, but a little over 20 minutes after the plane left Seattle a red light alerted the crew that the back hatch had been opened on the plane and Cooper was gone.

Once the plane landed in Reno the FBI dusted for fingerprints and collected the parachute and tie that Cooper left behind.

They then began to speak with all those who had seen the man to get an idea of what he looked like.

Both Schaffner and flight attendant Tina Mucklow, who had stayed on the plane when it took off from Seattle again with Cooper, had nothing but nice things to say about the criminal.

'He seemed rather nice. He was never cruel or nasty. He was thoughtful and calm all the time,' said Mucklow.

It was almost nine years before there was a break in the case, which came in February 1980 when eight-year-old Brian Abrams found some of the money that had been given to Cooper.

Eight-year-old Brian Abrams found some of the money that had been given to Cooper in 1980

While on vacation with his family in Washington the young boy discovered three bundles of cash while searching for firewood to build a campfire.

It was unclear how the money got there, and since that time the other 9,710 other bills and parachutes have never been found.

A number of conspiracy theories of the potential identity of the mysterious 'DB Cooper' have cropped up over the last four decades.

D.B. COOPER: THE CONSPIRACIES According to Richardson, the true identity of DB Cooper may be Richard Lepsy, who went missing from Grayling, Michigan Ross Richardson, a Michigan author, put forward a theory linking the mystery of DB Cooper to an obscure missing person case involving a married father of four who vanished two years before the skyjacking and was never heard from again. According to Richardson, the true identity of DB Cooper may be Richard Lepsy, who went missing from Grayling, Michigan, in October 1969, leaving behind his wife and four children. The night news of the hijacking broke, Lisa Lepsy, Richard's daughter, recalled that when DB Cooper's composite sketch was shown on TV, everyone in her family looked at each other and exclaimed, 'That's dad!' 'We were stunned because the resemblance was unbelievable, and my brothers and I were all sure that was our dad,' she told WZZM. There were other similarities between Cooper and Lepsy. Richardson noted that the black tie that was left behind by the hijacker was the same black tie that was part of Lepsy's uniform at the store in Grayling. He also said, citing the FBI, that the suspect was wearing loafers during the hijacking; Lepsy's favorite pair of shoes were loafers. Richard Lepsy, however, is only the latest in a long list of names that have been floated over the years in connection to the DB Cooper mystery. Richard Lepsy, however, is only the latest in a long list of names that have been floated over the years in connection to the DB Cooper mystery A filmmaker and his team of 40 experts sued the FBI in September of 2016 in an attempt to prove that a loose cannon ex-army helicopter pilot is in fact legendary hijacker DB Cooper. Thomas Colbert believes 'Cooper' is actually Robert Henry Rackstraw, a 72-year-old Vietnam vet living in San Diego. If he wins, Colbert his team of 40 sleuths - who include former FBI agents, criminologists, journalists and attorneys - may finally have what they need to prove their suspicions are correct. The most far-fetched theory to the series' finale was that Draper would become DB Cooper Television junkies were quick to spew conspiracy theories about the ending of the beloved show Mad Men, which finished its final season in 2015. Many viewers were racked by how the series could end, which features a dashing adman named Don Draper who reinvented himself as a new man after the Korean War. The most far-fetched theory to the series' end was that Draper would become DB Cooper, hijacking the infamous plane and jetting off into a dark night never to be seen again. In response to the theories, the show's creater Matthew Weiner said point-blank to CNN that the Cooper conspiracy was not feasible. Advertisement

In 2011, an Oregon woman claimed her uncle was the elusive plane bandit, saying she had been told by the FBI that her evidence is enough for them to close the file on the case.

In 2011, an Oregon woman, Marla Cooper, claimed her uncle was the elusive plane bandit

Burdened by guilt over her knowledge surrounding the case, Marla Cooper claimed she had a 40-year-old family secret protecting her uncle, a man named Lynn Doyle Cooper.

Marla Cooper said she was eight years old when her uncle, whom she called LD Cooper, came to her home, badly injured, for Thanksgiving in 1971 - the day after the infamous incident. He claimed his injuries were the result of a car crash.

Later, she said, her parents came to believe that L.D. Cooper was the hijacker. Mrs Cooper never saw her uncle again after that day and was told he died in 1999.

It was the FBI's most promising lead for the mystery of who was behind the hijacking.
JUBA, Jan.14 (Xinhua) -- Authorities in South Sudan's central state of Jubek have inaugurated Jubek Model Secondary School built with support from the Chinese government.

The new school located in the suburb of Gudele, west of the South Sudanese capital of Juba, is built using a grant of 8 million U.S. dollars provided by China to construct two schools in South Sudan.

The 2,200-square-meter facility comprises of 16 class rooms that accommodates about 1000 students, running water and a 24 hours solar power.

Jubek State Governor Augustino Jadalla Wani said Friday the new school is going to fight congestion in public schools and also reduce the cost of traveling long distance by secondary school students.

He lauded Beijing's efforts to continue seeking lasting peace and stability in South Sudan, adding that China's support to South Sudan's oil, construction and education sectors would help shore up the young East African country into prosperity.

"Lack of public schools in the capital has been a major problem to our children because most schools are located east of Juba. I sincerely congratulate and thank the People's Republic of China for this great offer. I hope this school is going to be among the best schools in the whole country," Wani said.

Minister of Education Wani Sule advised the school management to maintain the modern facilities with proper, cautioning the local community against theft of solar panels and other property.

On his part, Zhang Yi, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan said the successful completion of the project signals China's good and sincere friendship with South Sudan.

Zhang revealed that China had contributed toward construction of two other Schools (Yapa and China Friendship Secondary schools) in Jubek state, totaling to three China-aided secondary schools.

In addition to building schools, the Chinese government will embark on capacity building for South Sudanese teachers, Zhang pledged.
A migrant ship carrying around 100 people has capsized in the frigid waters off Libya, aid groups said.

Only four survivors were rescued from the freezing waters after hours of searching, the groups added.

Eight bodies were recovered but poor conditions were hampering the search taking place 30 miles off Libya's coast, Italy's ANSA news agency reported.

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Migrants, most of them from Eritrea, jump into the water from a crowded wooden boat during a rescue operation at the Mediterranean sea on August 29 last year

Flavio di Giacomo, Rome spokesman for the International Organization of Migration, said four people had been rescued out of an estimated 110 aboard.

He said more details would become available after the four are brought to shore.

In a statement, the Italian coastguard's press office said: 'The bodies of eight people have been recovered.

'Four people have been saved, and they say 107 migrants were onboard the boat in all.'

A French warship, patrolling under the EU's Frontex border operation, picked up the survivors and two merchant ships were heading for the area, while a Frontex plane and an Italian naval helicopter also joined the operation.

On Friday, around 550 migrants were picked up from four inflatable dinghies by Italian coastguard vessels, an an Italian naval ship, an NGO boat and a merchant vessel.

The vast majority of migrant ships set off from Libya's lawless coasts, where smugglers operate with impunity charging desperate migrants hundreds of dollars apiece to make the dangerous Mediterranean crossing.

Migrants in an overcrowded boat, which was about to capsize, are rescued by Bettica and Bergamini ships of Italian Navy at Sicilian Strait, between Libya and Italy on May 25, 2016

Last year saw a record high number - 181,000 people - heading to Italy by sea, the EU rescue operation Frontex reported.

West Africans, most of them hailing from Nigeria, accounted for most of the migrants in 2016, with a 10-fold increase in their numbers since 2010, Frontex reported.

The UN has said more than 5,000 people died in 2016 trying to cross the Mediterranean, most of them on the Libya-Italy route.

In another incident, the bodies of six migrants were found washed up on beaches near Algeciras, the port on the southern tip of Spain near Gibraltar, the Spanish sea rescue service said on Saturday.

The six were all men, apparently from sub-Saharan Africa.
A 13-year-old girl remains in a stable condition in hospital after she was struck by two cars as one driver failed to stop in an alleged hit-and-run.

Emergency services were called to Roberts Road in Greenacre, south-west of Sydney, following a two-car collision on Saturday night.

Witnesses have told officers the teenage girl was thrown onto the bonnet of a grey Toyota Camry after she was hit by a black Toyota Hilux when she ran across the road.

A 13-year-old girl remains in a stable condition in hospital after she was struck by two cars as one driver failed to stop in an alleged hit-and-run

A St George Hospital spokeswoman told Daily Mail Australia the girl remains in a stable condition but would not comment further on the incident.

This comes after the driver behind the wheel of the Hilux allegedly fled from the scene after they failed to stop.

Paramedics treated the girl before she was taken to St George Hospital.

The driver of the Camry is currently assisting police with their inquiries.

Police are urging anyone with the information on the incident, or the Hilux, to contact Bankstown Police or Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000.
Chris Bryant claims that the Kremlin is seeking to uncover similar dirt on senior figures

A former foreign office minister has claimed that Russia is attempting dig up dirt on senior British politicians with similar techniques that led to the 'dirty dossier' on Donald Trump.

Chris Bryant, a Labour MP who formerly chaired a parliamentary group on Russia, claims that the Kremlin is seeking to uncover scandals on figures such as Boris Johnson and Liam Fox, according to the Observer.

Former MI6 agent Christopher Steele, who remains in hiding, was hired initially by Trump's rivals for the Republican primary vote and then by the democrats.

A document alleging that Russians were able to blackmail him with material including a lurid sex tape was leaked this week, but the validity of its content has not been verified.

He told the newspaper: 'Any minister who goes into the Foreign Office and has responsibility for Russia, they [Moscow] will be, in any shape or any form, trying to put together information about them.

'My main point is that I am absolutely certain that Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, Alan Duncan and David Davis will have absolutely been looked at.'

While Trump vehemently denies the allegations, the boss of MI6 is also said to be 'livid' that the ex-spy's actions have put them in an extremely difficult position with the new US administration - just weeks before Mrs May is due to make a crucial visit to Washington where she will try to lay the groundwork for a post-Brexit trade deal.

Politicians who have direct involvment with Russia, such as Boris Johnson and Liam Fox, could be in the Kremlin's sights

Tory MPs and former Ukip leader Nigel Farage have urged Mrs May to distance the UK from the memos and make clear to Mr Trump's team that the authorities had nothing to do with it.

In an alarming Twitter post on Thursday, the Russian embassy in London suggested Steele was still working for MI6 and briefing both ways against Mr Trump and Moscow.

A Russian embassy spokesman said the tweet  which said MI6 officers are never ex  reflected the mood in Russia.

The Foreign Office said it would not be commenting on reports that Steele spoke to government officials before handing his memos to the FBI.

A senior No10 source insisted Team Trump have had 'every opportunity' to raise concerns about British involvement with officials.
Senator Sam Dastyari has failed miserably when he attempted to drink goon from a cask at the Parkes Elvis Festival.

More than 20,000 Elvis Presley fans flocked to Parkes in NSW's Central West over the weekend to celebrate the musical legacy of the king of rock 'n' roll.

And among the crowd was the embattled Labor frontbencher, who described himself as the 'Halal Elvis' at the annual event.

He swapped his politician suit for sequins and tight flared pants as he met with locals to get tips on how to 'become an Elvis impersonator?'

Mingling with the community, he was asked to take a swig from the goon sack - only for the wine to miss his mouth and stream down his face in a hilarious video.

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Senator Sam Dastyari was spotted attempting to drink goon out of a cask at the Parkes Elvis Festival over the weekend

In the video, which was posted to his Facebook page, Mr Dastyari also assured taxpayers that the trip was 'self funded'.

He also spoke fondly about the multiculturalism display at the event.

'You're in the middle of summer, you've got a whole lot of people who have chosen to dress up in lycra and there's something strangely Aussie about it,' he told ABC News 24.

'There's a Sri Lankan Elvis, there's an Indian Elvis, there's an Indigenous Elvis.

'And today, I'm going to be Halal Elvis.'

Mr Dastyari was all smiles when he said he was impressed to see diversity at the 25th festival after the rural town scored the 'highest One Nation vote' in NSW.

The Labor senator described himself as 'Halal Elvis' as he attended the annual event

Tens of thousands of fans dressed as Elvis Presley, with many taking part in the street parade at the 25th annual Parkes Elvis Festival in the rural Australian town of Parkes

Elvis fans of all ages gathered in Parkes to celebrate the legacy of the king of rock 'n' roll

'Here's what's amazing... Parkes was the one town in country NSW that actually had the highest One Nation vote,' he said.

'And you come here and you see this kind of diversity senses in the community.

'And you have to ask yourself, "How out of touch is Australian politics? And what's really going on at the ground?"'

His comment comes as tens of thousands of fans of all ages dressed in their favourite outfits to pay tribute to the music legend.

The week-long festival wraps up on Sunday, which included a range of activities and events, including look-a-like contests, Elvis tribute competitions and a street parade.
Three people were taken to hospital after a fight broke out on a party boat on the River Thames.

Police boarded the vessel near Westminster Pier after the brawl erupted at about 11.30pm on Saturday.

The Met's Marine Policing Unit (MPU) was scrambled to the scene, and one man was arrested on suspicion of affray, a spokesman for Scotland Yard said.

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Three people were taken to hospital after a fight broke out on a party boat on the River Thames

The spokesman said that three people were taken to hospital for treatment, and added that their injuries were not believed to be life-threatening.

In a tweet, the MPU described the incident as 'a serious assault.'

The RNLI's Tower lifeboat and paramedics from London Ambulance Service were also drafted in to deal with the situation.

Sports journalist Toby Gilles witnessed the aftermath of the incident.

On Twitter, he said: 'Something serious going on at or near Westminster Pier. About 20 police cars with sirens/lights on.

'Someone wrapped in foil being wheeled away. Another walking wounded being led away.

In a tweet, the MPU described the incident on board the party boat as 'a serious assault'

'Gentleman wrapped in foil, clearly in and out of consciousness, led away in wheelchair two yards from me.

'Loads of people on Westminster Pier being questioned by police. Can clearly see one man in cuffs.

'God only knows what's happened on Westminster Pier. Some police and most ambulances leaving. Nobody saying a thing. Hope everyone's ok.'
Viet Cong veteran Vo Ban Tam remembers the first time he crossed paths with John Kerry on the banks on the Bay Hap river, a day that ended in bloodshed.

Almost a half-century later, the now 70-year-old Mekong Delta shrimp farmer locked eyes with the US Secretary of State on Saturday and they warmly grasped hands in mutual respect.

Kerry returned to the Vietnam waterway at the end of a visit to the Communist nation, less than a week before he was to leave office, searching for the spot where he won a Silver Star for bravery as a young US Navy lieutenant.

On February 28, 1969, as the skipper of Swift Boat PCF-94, Kerry was patrolling when Vo Ban Tam's unit launched an ambush.

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US Secretary of State John Kerry shakes hands with Vo Ban Tam, 70, who was a member of the former Viet Cong guerrilla and who took part in the attack on Kerry's Swift Boat in 1969

The plan, the Vietnamese guerrilla told his former adversary on Saturday, was to use rifle and grenade fire to lure the heavily-armed American craft into range of a shoulder-held rocket launcher.

Kerry won a Silver Star for bravery for his actions during the guerrilla attack - he shot dead one Vietnamese fighter, and saved his crew from a counterattack

This tactic had paid off for the Viet Cong in the past but on this day Kerry made a dramatic decision, deliberately beaching his boat then storming ashore to pursue the operator.

Grabbing an M-16 rifle the then 26-year-old chased down the guerrilla and shot him dead, saving his crew from a counterattack.

Vo Ban Tam remembered the dead man, 24-year-old Ba Thanh, as a respected member of the Viet Cong's main force in Ca Mau province, trained to use the prized launcher.

'He was a good soldier,' he recalled, speaking through an interpreter on the banks of same river, shortly after Kerry re-visited the scene of the ambush for the first time.

Kerry had never before learned the name of the man he shot. During his unsuccessful 2004 White House campaign, opponents tarnished his war record by claiming he killed a teenager.

Vo Ban Tam admitted that thanks to Kerry's action the Viet Cong had not been victorious that day, but he recalled proudly how his comrades often had the upper hand

But US officials preparing for Kerry's visit tracked down Vo Ban Tam and his account confirmed Kerry's memory that his slain adversary was an adult.

Vo Ban Tam admitted that thanks to Kerry's action the Viet Cong had not been victorious that day. But he recalled proudly how his comrades often had the upper hand.

'We were guerrillas, we were never there where you were shooting,' he boasted, telling Kerry they could hear his boat coming that day a kilometer off.

'Well, I'm glad we're both alive,' Kerry said.

Kerry became an anti-war activist after returning home later that year, despite holding Silver and Bronze stars, and three Purple Hearts

Kerry returned from Vietnam later in 1969. Despite holding Silver and Bronze stars for valor and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action, he became a prominent anti-war activist.

The tall, young, erudite Yale graduate stood out among veterans and his devastating testimony before a Senate committee in 1971 sealed his celebrity.

He forecast that Washington's search-and-destroy missions and brutal pacification measures would fail to overcome the Vietnamese determination to resist foreign occupation.

On behalf of his own American comrades in arms, he famously demanded: 'How can you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?'

US Secretary of State John Kerry (L) and Dartmouth College associate professor of history Edward Miller ride a boat on the Bay Hap river in Vietnam, searching for the spot where the 1969 battle took place, on January 14, 2017

Kerry went on to become a senator, a presidential candidate and finally secretary of state -- and he never forgot Vietnam, becoming a leader in the post-war reconciliation.

Now, with just days to go before the start of Donald Trump's presidency marks the end of his tenure at the State Department, Kerry plans more visits.

He wants to work on environmental problems with the Lower Mekong Initiative while he and fellow veterans are involved in plans to open a US-funded Fulbright University in Vietnam.

Pollution and climate change are now the biggest threat to the Mekong Delta - father of 10 Vo Ban Tam saw his entire shrimp stock wiped out last year by pollution

Pollution and climate change are now the biggest threat to the Mekong Delta with encroaching salination a huge issue -- father of 10 Vo Ban Tam saw his entire shrimp stock wiped out last year by pollution.

The United States is a huge market for Vietnamese shrimp, but measures to deepen trade ties are threatened by Trump's opposition to measures like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

Vietnam was the first stop on Kerry's last foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat, and he wanted to return there after meetings with senior officials.

Two days before he had been having a sleepless night in Hanoi's French colonial-era Hotel Metropole, an aide told AFP.

Kerry began pouring over Google's online map, zooming in on the lazy curves of the Mekong Delta's waterways in order to find the spot.

He also called his former turret gunner from his boat to compare memories of the fateful day and prepare the expedition.

On Saturday, sitting on the prow of a tourist boat with Dartmouth College historian and Vietnam War expert Ed Miller, Kerry spread a copy of a war-era map across his knees.

Kerry began pouring over Google's online map, zooming in on the lazy curves of the Mekong Delta's waterways in order to find the spot of the attack

He also called his former turret gunner from his boat to compare memories of the fateful day and prepare the expedition

Using the chart, Miller's studies and his own memories he guided the vessel up the muddy creek.

Families came out of their homes to watch the small flotilla pass where decades before they might have fled for cover.

'This right here, where we are right now, was a very heavily Viet Cong controlled area,' he told reporters, noting that insurgent activity in Ca Mau went back to French rule.

Leaders in Washington back then had not understood this, mistaking a fight against Vietnamese self-reliance and patriotism for a Cold War geopolitical struggle, he argued.

Despite holding Silver and Bronze stars for valour and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action, John Kerry became a prominent anti-war activist Alex Brandon (Pool/AFP)

The lessons of US failure in Vietnam have stayed with him as he studied more recent crises.

'It impressed on me the notion that you really need to analyse and understand what lies underneath the slogans,' Kerry told reporters on the boat.

And in a dig at George W. Bush, the president who defeated Kerry in 2004, he cited an example from the US war in Iraq: 'It helps to know the difference between Sunni and Shia.'
Two women and one man were rushed to the hospital early on Sunday morning after each suffered a suspected drug overdose at a Sydney casino.

NSW paramedics were called to Marquee Nightclub at The Star casino three times between 3am and 4am after the three revellers, who are all aged in their 20s, were found semiconscious or unconscious, according to The Daily Telegraph.

The 28-year-old man, 25-year-old woman and another woman in her 20s were found in separate areas of the nightclub.

Two women and one man, all aged in their 20s, were rushed to the hospital around 3am on Sunday after each suffered a suspected drug overdose at Sydney's The Star casino (stock image)

NSW paramedics were called to Marquee three times between 3am and 4am after the three revellers, were found semiconscious or unconscious in separate areas (stock image)

Paramedics were first called to treat the 25-year-old woman who was barely able to move when she was discovered on a staircase just before 3am.

A second ambulance had to be called when paramedics discovered a second woman also suffering from the symptoms of an overdose.

The women are believed to have taken GHB, which is sometimes referred to as liquid ecstasy because of its euphoric effect.

The 28-year-old man, 25-year-old woman and another woman in her 20s were taken to hospital and appeared to be distressed. It is alleged they took GHB (stock image)

Both were semiconscious and distressed when they were taken to hospital while tied down on stretchers, according to The Daily Telegraph.

Less than an hour later, paramedics were called back to The Star after a 28-year-old man was found unconscious in the nightclub bathroom.

He was taken to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

Daily Mail Australia contacted The Star for comment.
This is the shocking moment a black Northwestern University PhD student was tackled to the ground when police thought he'd stolen the car he was driving.

Lawrence Crosby is now suing the Evanston Police Department for excessive force and false arrest following his confrontation in Chicago in October 2015.

Authorities released dashboard video recordings on Wednesday of the moment Crosby, then 25, was pulled over for a traffic stop and subsequently beaten and cuffed.

The video also included audio of the 911 call made by a woman who thought Crosby was trying to break into a vehicle, which sparked the series of events.

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Police released dashboard video recordings this week of the moment Lawrence Crosby, then 25, was tackled to the ground in Evanston, Chicago in 2015 after they refused to believe he owned the car he was driving

Footage shows police signalling for Crosby to stop in the 1500 block of Ridge Avenue in Evanston about 7pm on October 10, 2015.

He can be seen getting out of his Chevrolet with his arms in the air before telling officers he owns the vehicle.

A number of officers shouted at Crosby as they approached him with their guns drawn, before wrestling him to the ground.

Crosby, who was studying for his doctoral degree in civil engineering, repeatedly told the officers he owned the car and had the documentation to prove it.

He also tried to tell them he was fixing a piece of loose molding on the top of his car when the woman spotted him and mistakenly thought he was trying to steal it.

When police eventually realized Crosby did own the car, the student was charged with disobeying officers. The charged were later dropped in March 2016.

A number of officers shouted at Crosby as they approached him with their guns drawn, before wrestling him to the ground after pulling him over in Evanston

The 25-year-old Northwestern University PhD student repeatedly told the officers he owned the car and had the documentation to prove it as they wrestled him to the ground

When police eventually realized Crosby did own the car, the student was charged with disobeying officers. The charged were later dropped in March 2016

Crosby filed a civil lawsuit last year against the city and arresting officers. The footage was released after an alderman's request at an Evanston City Council meeting last week, the Chicago Tribune reports.

Police justified the actions of the arresting officers saying they thought they were responding to an auto theft.

Evanston Police spokesman Joseph Dugan said the officers delivered knee strikes and open-handed strikes like they had been trained.

'He was not injured, no bruises, his face was fine,' Dugan said.

'The use of force is justified,' he said. 'They had to make a decision with what they had at the time.'
Beachgoers wearing barely-there swimwear or even nothing at all could receive $1100 fines for doing so.

Those daring to bare at Sydney's many beaches could get the hefty fines or be forced to leave under legislation.

But they aren't likely to get one, as the laws are old and councils have relaxed the enforcement of them, according to The Daily Telegraph.

A group of women go topless at Sydney's renowned Bondi Beach

Two topless women bask in the sun at one of the regions many nudist beaches

Two nude women pose for a photograph on the rocks at one of Sydney's nudist beaches

The laws were created in a time when the approach to swimwear was much more conservative.

However, attitudes have shifted - and so have the costumes, many becoming smaller and smaller.

Jean Harmey, 92, said once, over 50 years ago, she'd headed for the beach wearing what would now be considered a conservative bikini, only to be almost instantly stopped by a beach inspector.

'He told me I simply couldn't wear something like that on the beach. The way he told me made it seem like he was disgusted by the fact I was wearing a bikini,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

Attitudes towards swimwear and its size or cut have changed over the years

A spokesman for Waverley Council spokesman said they 'never' had issues with toplessness at Bondi.

South in Cronulla, a spokesman for the Sutherland Shire said it was rare to receive a complaint about nudity and no fines had been issued in recent years.

The region also has its share of nudist or clothing optional beaches, many of which are sign posted or obviously marked.

Although fines up to $1100 can be handed out, they usually are not enforced
Police have found the getaway car used in a violent daylight jewellery store robbery and released images of one of the suspects.

However, the five offenders who brazenly smashed through a store in Toorak, Melbourne on Saturday afternoon remain at large.

After one struck a staff member over the head with a gun during the second raid on the store in three months, the suspects fled, leading police on an eight-kilometre chase before abandoning the car in Collingwood where it was later found, 9 News reported.

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Footage has emerged showing a suspected Apex gang jewellery store robbery in Melbourne

Images police released of one of the suspects in the robbery

The men shower a jewellery store with glass after smashing the cabinets with hammers

Police had to give up the chase in Richmond after it became too dangerous.

The robbery was captured in clear CCTV footage, showing the pack of hooded men showering the IMP Jewellery shop with broken glass after smashing cabinets with hammers.

One of the men is seen bludgeoning a staff member with the butt of a gun before fleeing the scene with a large collection of jewellery in a getaway car, eluding police.

Further images show what appears to be one of the suspects leaving the store.

It's not yet known exactly what was stolen.

The victim was treated for non-life threatening injuries but is living in fear after the robbery  the second to strike the store in three months.

Police found the getaway car in Collingwood and also released this image of one of the suspects

One of the men bludgeoned a staff member with the butt of a firearm before fleeing the scene with a large collection of jewellery

The same store was robbed in a near identical incident in October

Several staff members at the Toorak Road store were present at the last robbery, with one only just returning from stress leave, reports ABC.

Store owner Tony Fialides, who hit headlines chasing the armed thieves out of his shop during the previous raid, has told of his shock at Melbourne's scourge of crime, reports Herald Sun.

'I'm incredibly disappointed...I've had people from interstate and overseas saying: 'What's going on in Victoria?'.

The raid bears a strong resemblance to the last heist on October 25, when gun-toting bandits wreaked havoc on the store and left with $200,000 in jewellery.

Police said they were investigating if the latest incident was linked to others.

All four men are described as being of African appearance and believed to hold ties to the notorious Apex gang.

Apex are behind a wave of violent car thefts, home invasions and robberies across Melbourne, sparking a taskforce to be launched specifically to tackle the gang.

Store owner Tony Fialides has told of his shock at Melbourne's scourge of crime
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan left Beijing on Sunday morning for a four-day visit to Switzerland.

At the invitation of the Swiss Federal Council led by President Doris Leuthard, President Xi will pay a state visit to the European country from January 15 to 18.

During his stay in Switzerland, President Xi will attend the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2017 in Davos on January 17 at the invitation of Professor Klaus Schwab who is Founder and Executive Chairman of the World Economic Forum.

At the invitation of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Margaret Chan and International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach, Xi will visit the UN Office at Geneva, the WHO and the IOC on January 18.

Xi's entourage also includes senior officials Wang Huning, Li Zhanshu and Yang Jiechi.
A Brazilian businessman added to his riches after he betting $35,000 worth of chips on a single roulette spin - and won $3.5 million.

Pedro Grendene Bartelle, the president of shoe company Vulcabras-Azaleia, bet and won big in the Hotel Conrad in Punta del Este, along the Uruguay coast, according to Casino Online.

People surrounding the tables filmed Bartelle's bet and celebratory huddle with friends when he won the millions on January 3.

Brazilian businessman Pedro Grendene Bartelle (left and right), the president of shoe company, Vulcabras-Azaleia, and son of one of the wealthiest magnates in his country, bet and won $3.5 million in the casino roulette of the Hotel Conrad in Punta del Este, in Uruguay coast

Bartelle's (right) uncle, Alexandre Grendene Bartelle, a Brazilian businessman and billionaire, co-founded Grendene, the world's largest manufacturer of sandals, with his brother, Pedro Grendene Bartelle, in 1971

The video showed Bartelle and his friends stack their chips on the number 32. Bartelle appeared confident in his decision while reassuring bystanders and sipping on a glass of wine.

Seconds later the casino erupted in applause and the group of men huddled together and jumped around in a circle as they congratulated Bartelle on the win.

Bartelle's uncle, Alexandre Grendene Bartelle, a Brazilian businessman and billionaire, co-founded Grendene, the world's largest manufacturer of sandals, with his brother, Pedro Grendene Bartelle, in 1971.

His nephew is currently the president of Vulcabras-Azaleia, the third largest footwear company in domestic market and in Latin America, only after Brazilians Alpargatas and his uncle's company, Grendene.

In 2014, Alexandre Bartelle reached billionaire status, according to Forbes magazine.

His company, Grendene produces Havaianas flip flops and his net worth has topped at $2.1 billion.

Seconds later the casino erupted in applause. The group of men (elft and right) then huddled together and jumped around in a circle as they congratulated Bartelle on the win
A man killed when a tree fell on his head in a remote part of Tasmania was on a camping trip with friends.

The man, 21, was struck and killed as he and several friends tried to cut down a tree for firewood in Cockle Creek about 2pm on Saturday.

'Police and ambulance attended but, despite all that, he couldn't be saved and a helicopter was used to medivac the deceased out of the area,' Inspector Matthew McCreadie told AAP on Sunday.

A man, 21, was struck and killed Saturday as he and several friends tried to cut down a tree for firewood in Cockle Creek (pictured, file photograph)

'There is no indication that there is anything other than a coroner's investigation (needed) for this.'

Cockle Creek hosts the most southerly road in Australia and serves as an entry point to Tasmania's Southwest National Park.
Silicon Valley billionaire and Donald Trump supporter, Peter Thiel, is reportedly planning a 2018 bid for California governor.

Three Republicans, who are familiar with his thinking, told Politico that the PayPal co-founder and early Facebook investor, has been discussing a potential run with a few advisers.

But some who know of Thiel's plan to enter the race have their doubts he'll go through with it.

Silicon Valley billionaire and Donald Trump supporter, Peter Thiel (pictured) is reportedly planning a 2018 bid for California governor, according to three Republicans, who are familiar with his thinking

Mainly because California is an unfriendly territory for a Republican who is outspoken about his support for Trump.

The 49-year-old is also a very private figure, sources told Politico.

However, the entrepreneur has not ruled running for governor out of his long-term plans.

Earlier this week, in an interview with the New York Times Thiel talked about why he supported Trump.

'Everyone says Trump is going to change everything way too much,' Thiel told the Times.

'Well, maybe Trump is going to change everything way too little. That seems like the much more plausible risk to me.'

But some who know of Thiel's (right) plan to enter the race have their doubts he'll go through with it. Mainly because California is an unfriendly territory for a Republican who is outspoken about his support for Trump. However, he has not ruled out a 2018 bid for office

Thiel, who also spoke at the Republican National Convention (pictured), last summer, was portrayed as an outcast in Silicon Valley for supporting Trump and giving him $1.25 million

Thiel told the Times that 'even if there are aspects of Trump that are retro and that seem to be going back to the past, I think a lot of people want to go back to a past that was futuristic - The Jetsons, Star Trek. They're dated but futuristic.'

Thiel, who also spoke at the Republican National Convention, last summer, was portrayed as an outcast in Silicon Valley for supporting Trump and giving him $1.25 million.

Last month, it was reported that Thiel was believed to be giving lectures on heterodox science at The Berkeley Institute, a private academic institution in California, according to The Verge.

The institutes website listed a course on heterodox science with a special guest instructor.

The site says the instructor is an author and founder of IMITATIO, which describes itself as a force to press forward the consequences of Rene Girards remarkable insights into human behavior and culture.

Thiel and French philosopher, Rene Girard, and another devotee, Robert Hamerton-Kelly, founded IMITATIO.
In business they say the customer is always right - but not if you're the owner of a Western Australian zoo.

David Cobbold who owns the Peel Zoo in Pinjarra received some negative feedback from a woman whose children visited recently regarding the lack of animals and the value for money.

But a clearly unimpressed Mr Cobbald hit back at the woman claiming her 'second hand information' was incorrect and that he dismissed her 'ludicrous feedback'.

Western Australian zoo owner David Cobbold (pictured) has hit back at a customer who criticised the lack of animals in the Peel Zoo

The woman said that her two children, both aged under five, visited the zoo with a German au pair and that it took them less than an hour to visit all exhibits due to 3/4 of the animals being 'absent'.

'The feedback was 3/4 of the animals weren't there and they finished looking at everything in an hour,' her Facebook message to the zoo said.

'It cost $50 for my two kids under five yrs old and my au pair to visit for an hour!

'It would have cost them less to visit the Perth Zoo...she was really looking forward to seeing the koala as the highlight but even the koala was on holidays.

But Mr Cobbald question the woman's maths and doubted the information that she was provided by the au pair and her young children.

He also said he would be happy if the woman didn't return to his zoo.

'I consider it highly unlikely, nay impossible, for 'two kids under five yrs old' to be capable of solving this equation,' he replied.

A woman claimed to Mr Cobbard (centre) that her two children and au pair recently visited the zoo but was disappointed that 3/4 of the animals weren't there

The woman's message to Peel Zoo

Mr Cobbard's initial response to the woman's complaint

Mr Cobbard's initial response to the woman's complaint

'I also consider it impossible for 'German au pair' to solve the equation regardless of her mathematical ability, because she would have no way of knowing the total number of animals in our collection.

'I can inform you that we have 78 enclosures and all but one of them is occupied. The odd one out was vacated yesterday afternoon, when we sent Sherman, the Southern Hairy Nosed Wombat, to his new home in Bunbury.

'You have simply jumped to a conclusion because it is convenient for you to do so...The jump enables you with the feeling of self-righteous indignation that you obviously enjoy.

'My own conclusion is to thank you for not 'returning to (our) zoo.'

'I prefer serving more intelligent creatures.'

Mr Cobbald added to his initial comments on Saturday with a long Facebook post clarifying his original comments.

He said that he 'doesn't pander to the fatuous diatribes of misguided imbeciles' and that he 'fears he had already wasted too much of his valuable time suffering a fool.'

He also gave an indepth analysis of how long he believed that it would take to view every animal display and found it 'mathematically impossible' that it took them less than an hour to see everything.

Mr Cobbald question the woman's maths and doubted the information that she was provided by the au pair and her young children (pictured Peel Zoo)

The feud between Mr Cobbard and the woman whose children visited Peel Zoo (pictured) has divided opinion

Mr Cobbalds post has been met with a mixed response with a number of people labeling him a 'hero' for standing up to a 'keyboard warrior' while others have slammed him as a 'jerk' who is seeking attention.

'This man is my hero!!,' one person wrote.

'My word! Superbly put, in every point. This was a delight to read,' wrote another.

'What an exceptional reply to what appears to be an exceptionally dim-witted sort of person,' said another.

While others were not so kind.

'This man is a rude and condescending jerk. I worked with him and left in tears. Never have i walked out of a job before. He is a horrible human,' wrote one person.

'Your derogatory comments weren't required nor professional. As a business owner, you should be ashamed,' wrote another.

'You are so unbelievably petty. Have some class as a business owner and treat your business page, and paying customers with some respect,' said another.
A woman who was having a 'bad day' is accused of crashing her SUV into a T-mobile phone after she tried to exchange a cracked iPhone.

Shinobia Montoria Wright, 26, was arrested after she crashed her 2005 Nissan Armada into a Palm Springs T-mobile store and caused $300,00 worth of damage on Thursday.

Wright, from Wellington, Florida, is also accused of smashing the store's glass displays with a squeegee and attacking a store employee in the neck.

Shinobia Montoria Wright, 26, was arrested after she crashed her 2005 Nissan Armada into a Palm Springs T-mobile store and caused $300,00 worth of damage on Thursday. She told the store manager she was going to 'bug out' if she wasn't able to exchange her cracked iPhone

She previously told a store manager she was going to 'bug out' if she wasn't able to exchange her cracked iPhone, the Palm Beach Post reported.

According to the police report, she told the manager it was her birthday on Wednesday, when she first came into the store on South Congress Avenue and 10th Avenue North.

The manager added to Palm Springs police that she seemed to be under the influence of a substance when she came into the store

She was taken to JFK Medical Center in Atlantis for injuries she sustained to her forearms in the accident, and hospitalized after a mental health evaluation under the Baker Act.

She told police she was having a 'bad day' because she was made to pay for her phone's replacement even though she had insurance.
The 'Rubber Girls' who wore kink-style latex to sell tyres are back with a raunchy new ad campaign to get your car serviced.

Glamour models Laura Lydall and Parnia Porsche have featured in some of Australia's most complained-about commercials in recent years for Ultra Tune.

This time, the Rubber Girls hose each other down with a fire extinguisher - soaking their tank-tops and short-shorts - as their convertible Mini Cooper goes up in flames.

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Laura Lydall is pictured in the advertisement for Ultra Tune getting sprayed with a fire extinguisher

Ms Lydall starred in the commercial alongside Parnia Porsche (left)

The 30-second clip begins with the pair driving along a country road, when their muffler suddenly falls off and sparks flames.

The women scream at each other and jump out to spray the car - and each other - with a fire extinguisher.

The Mini Cooper then explodes and douses the pair in oil.

'Avoid unexpected situations,' a voiceover then says.

A man, driving an Ultra Tune roadside assistance car, then pulls up and asks: 'Car trouble?'

Ms Lydall, the blonde model in the commercial, is the fiancee of Ultra Tune chairman Sean Buckley

The pair wore tight tank-tops and denim short-shorts in the 30-second clip

'Get your car serviced at Ultra Tune,' the voiceover says.

The advertisement is part of a series of five.

In another advertisement with the same 'Unexpected Situation' tagline, the Rubber Girls get a flat tyre and are rescued by Jean Claude Van Damme.

Ms Lydall, the blonde model in the commercial, is the fiancee of Ultra Tune chairman Sean Buckley.

A previous commercial featured the Rubber Girls dressed in latex to sell tyres.

The Advertising Standards Board (ASB) received hundreds of complaints about the commercial, largely for 'objectifying women'.

A behind-the-scenes shot of the making of the advertisement is pictured

Glamour models Laura Lydall and Parnia Porsche are pictured together

Ultra Tune chairman Sean Buckley is pictured with his fiancee and star of the commercial

The ASB ruled in the company's favour.

The women responded to the hype with an open letter, to say they were 'independent, strong women', news.com.au reported.

The pair said they should be able to choose what they wear and what they do for work free from judgement.

In regards to a 2014 commercial, Ms Lydall told Daily Mail Australia people 'overracted'.

'We as women, we were in control of the situation,' she said at the time.
Prince William is set to give up his career as an Air Ambulance pilot to become a full-time royal

Prince William is expected to give up his career as an Air Ambulance pilot to become a full-time royal.

However, it has been suggested that he will not take on more work than his 68-year-old father as he does not want to be seen as 'elbowing his father out of the way'.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are set to make a permanent move from Anmer Hall in Norfolk to Kensington Palace in September as Prince George starts school in London.

William, 34, is said to be keen to spend more time on causes that are important to him, including tackling homelessness and raising awareness about mental health issues.

But he is reportedly wary of being seen to be 'elbowing his father out of the way' and does not want to overshadow Prince Charles' role as heir to the throne.

A friend told The Sunday Times: 'Some people may question why William still wont do as much as Princess Anne but he is dead set on not queering his fathers pitch.

'He sees that Charles will probably be in his seventies before he becomes king and he doesnt want to be seen as elbowing his father out the way.'

William's move towards becoming a full-time royal comes as the Queen hands over some of her duties to younger members of the royal family.

The 90-year-old will be stepping down as patron of more than 20 national organisations in April, it was announced last month.

A royal source said there was 'no pressure from above' for William to increase his royal duties, adding that he 'has always been a lot less reluctant than people think to take on more work'.

He has faced criticism for his apparent reluctance to throw himself into royal duties and was accused by some of being 'work shy'.

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge are expected to make a permanent move from Anmer Hall in Norfolk to Kensington Palace in September

Last year, he spent 80 days on official engagements, while Kate, 35, had visits and meetings on 63 days.

In comparison, Prince Philip, 95, carried out official meetings and visits on 110 days of the year, while Prince Charles spent 139 days on public engagements.

The Queen undertook official engagements on 80 days of the year, while Princess Anne had the busiest calendar with 179 days of engagements.

William responded to criticism last April by insisting that he takes his royal duties 'very seriously', adding that he would be the 'first person' to accept more responsibilities when the Queen decided it was time.

He began his job as a part-time pilot for the East Anglian Air Ambulance Service in 2015 and has spoken of his enjoyment of the role.

William will not take on more work than his 68-year-old father as he does not want to 'overshadow' Prince Charles, it has been suggested

His piloting contract ends in March but it is thought that he may continue to work for the service until the summer.

William and Kate are reportedly hoping to expand their own Royal Foundation charity and want to focus more on causes like mental health.

The Duke and Duchess, along with Prince Harry, have openly lent their support to the helping people battle mental health issues and launched the Heads Together campaign last year.

Prince George, three, is believed to be on the list for the 19,620-a-year Wetherby Pre-Prep School, the same school attended by his father.

Kensington Palace declined to comment.

It comes as the Queen hands over some of her duties to younger members of the royal family
A pit bull terrier that viciously attacked a young girl as she was riding a horse with a friend on the beach was photographed lurking in the water just moments earlier.

Jessica Capes, 11, was with her mother Jolanda at a Perth beach on Tuesday morning to protest the local council's decision to permanently close the stretch to horses.

Mrs Capes said the dog latched onto her young daughters left foot, hanging onto her skin for 20 seconds before eventually letting go and attacking the horse.

Pictured: The suspected pit bull terrier dog (right) was photographed lurking in the water just moments before attacking 11-year-old Jessica (also pictured) as she rode a horse

'It leapt up and bit her on her left foot but he didn't just bite, he hung on like a tug-of-war rope,' Mrs Capes told the Joondalup Times.

'He hung on to her foot for a good 20 seconds while we were all frantically screaming.'

Jessica was rushed to hospital with a gash across the base of her foot, and spent two days recovering after surgery to open and flush the puncture wounds.

The dog owner, who said he was going back to his car to lock his dog up before returning to assess the damage, disappeared without a trace.

Yolanda Capes, the young girl's mother, said the dog owner said he was going back to lock his dog up but never returned. She wrote a plea for information on Facebook

In a plea on Facebook last week, Mrs Capes sent out an open message to the community to come forward with details regarding the incident.

'To the irresponsible owner of the dog who bit my daughter and her horse whilst she was riding at Whitfords Horse Beach at 10 this morning, thanks for coming back to assist us!,' she wrote sarcastically on Tuesday afternoon.

'We are in Joondalup Hospital waiting for treatment. If anyone saw the incident and can give me a description of the dog and his owner it would be much appreciated.'

Joondalup Mayor Troy Pickard told the publication said the council was investigating and stressed the importance of 'responsible dog ownership'.

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Mrs Capes for comment.
Pictures of the British spy embroiled in the Donald Trump sex dossier leak enjoying a family beach holiday have surfaced as a source claimed the ex MI6 agent sold his salacious reports for 200,000.

Christopher Steele spent years undercover in Moscow and compiled a 35-page report claiming that Trump was open to blackmail after allegedly being secretly filmed paying prostitutes to take part in a sex game on a presidential suite bed.

The new photo shows the married father-of-four, who has been forced into hiding, looking like a normal family man as he enjoys a break in Whitley Bay in North East England on New Years Day.

Pictures showing the British spy embroiled in the Donald Trump sex dossier leak enjoying a family beach holiday have surfaced as a source claimed the ex MI6 agent sold his salacious reports for 200,000

A friend of the 'real life James Bond', who does not want to be named, now claims Mr Steele sold his report in 16 installments of $15,000 to anti-Trump Republicans, according to the Mirror.

They told the paper: 'He was just a hired gun. His motive was money and he knew which side his bread was buttered.'

Steele, who like Bond studied at Cambridge University, has packed his bags and fled his 1.5million Surrey mansion 'fearing for his life' and Russian reprisals after the story broke.

Those close to Mr Steele say they fear he may never come out of hiding.

The married father-of-four set up his own intelligence agency - Orbis Business intelligence company - in London after leaving Russia but his career now lies in tatters.

Steele's reports, claim Russia has tapes of Trump engaging in 'perverted sexual acts' while in a Moscow hotel room.

Steele, who like Bond studied at Cambridge University, has packed his bags and fled his 1.5million Surrey mansion 'fearing for his life' and Russian reprisals after the story broke

They circulated for months among major media outlets but neither the news organisations nor U.S. law enforcement and intelligence agencies have been able to corroborate them.

BuzzFeed published some of Steele's finding on its website on last week.

The President-elect and his aides have furiously denied the allegations in the reports and Trump branded Buzzfeed 'fake news' for printing them.

Pictured: Mr Steele's empty 1.5million home in Farnham, Surrey, bristles with CCTV cameras

Pictured is the main entrance the offices of Orbis Business Intelligence where the Christopher Steele works from

Russian authorities also dismissed them.

Christopher Burrows, a director and co-founder of Orbis with Steele, told The Wall Street Journal, which first published Steele's name, that he could not confirm or deny that Steele's company had produced the reports on Trump.

Steeles involvement in the dossier leak has also embarrassed Prime Minister Theresa May only weeks before she is due to fly to America to meet the new US President.

The revelations have also damaged Britains shaky relations with Vladimir Putin.
Philip Hammond warned yesterday that the Government will come out fighting with tax cuts if the EU tries to wound Britain by refusing a trade deal.

In a tough stance backed by Number 10, the Chancellor said the UK may be forced to change its economic model if it is locked out of the single market post-Brexit.

Theresa May will declare tomorrow that she is ready to pull the UK out of the single market, customs union and the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice in a clean break with Brussels.

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Chancellor Philip Hammond said the UK would do whatever it takes to 'regain competitiveness' if it is denied a good trade deal

But, setting out her blueprint for global Britain, the Prime Minister will stress her determination to strike tariff-free trade deals with the EU that replicate the best aspects of our current arrangements  but without the free movement of workers.

Yesterday, Mr Hammond was asked by a German newspaper if the UK could become a tax haven by further lowering corporation tax in order to attract businesses if Brussels denies a deal.

In his strongest language yet on Brexit, the Chancellor said he was optimistic a reciprocal deal on market access could be struck, and he hoped the UK would remain in the mainstream of European economic and social thinking. But he added: If we have no access to the European market, if we are closed off, if Britain were to leave the European Union without an agreement on market access, then we could suffer from economic damage at least in the short-term.

Theresa May (pictured in Downing Street on Friday) is preparing to flesh out her plans for cutting ties with Brussels - making clear that cutting immigration will be a red line

In this case, we could be forced to change our economic model and we will have to change our model to regain competitiveness. And you can be sure we will do whatever we have to do.

The British people are not going to lie down and say, too bad, weve been wounded. We will change our model, and we will come back, and we will be competitively engaged.

Sources said Downing Street and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson were aligned with Mr Hammonds view. Last night the pound fell against the dollar, dropping below $1.20 for the first time since October. It was blamed on increased certainty the UK will leave the single market.

Earlier this year Mrs May committed Britain to having the lowest corporation tax of the worlds 20 biggest economies. The intention is a rate of 17 per cent by 2020.

Appearing on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today, Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn slammed Mr Hammond's warning, saying he was risking a 'trade war'

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said Mr Hammonds comments were a recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe.

He told the BBC: He appears to be making a sort of threat to (the) EU community saying, Well, if you dont give us exactly what we want, we are going to become this sort of strange entity on (the) shore of Europe where therell be very low levels of corporate taxation, and designed to undermine the effectiveness or otherwise of industry across Europe. He claimed it would turn Britain into a sort of bargain basement economy.

Mr Corbyn continued to say he would prioritise the economy and access to free movement over curbs on immigration.

Last week Mrs May said Britain was leaving the EU and it was not a case of trying to decide which bits to cling on to. Whitehall officials say the issue is whether the UK can find a way of replicating the free movement of manufacturing and pharmaceutical goods that is permitted under the customs union, while being free to strike its own trade deals.

Membership of the customs union prohibits Britain making its own free trade arrangements with other countries. Mrs May is expected to say she is being ambitious in seeking such deals, but outside of the constraints of the customs union and single market.

She is also expected to confirm that, once the Brexit deal is complete, she is open to a period of transition to give business time to adjust to the new regime.
NAIROBI, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- China's precedent setting decision to ban processing and trade in ivory products injected fresh vitality in global efforts to save elephants and other endangered wildlife species, Executive Director of United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) Erik Solheim told Xinhua during a recent interview.

"This is one of the most important and positive decisions for global conservation of wildlife which has been made over the last few years," said Solheim in Nairobi.

China in December 2016 announced a ban on processing and sale of ivory products by the end of 2017.

Global wildlife campaigners hailed China's ban on ivory trade terming it a milestone in efforts to eradicate elephant poaching in Africa.

"I am so pleased with this decision because it will have an immediate impact on African elephants," Solheim remarked adding that other countries should take a cue from China and close their ivory markets.

China's rising diplomatic and economic clout will embolden global campaign against illicit trade in wildlife products.

Solheim noted that China's large footprint in Africa places it at a strategic position to advance the continent's wildlife conservation agenda.

He urged Beijing to spearhead campaigns against cross-border trade in ivory products through public awareness alongside lobbying for total closure of remaining market for trophies.

"It is essential for China to reach out to other countries like Vietnam which is a key market and many others to boost global efforts to fight ivory trade," said the UNEP boss.

He emphasized that international collaboration in law enforcement and public education will boost efforts to eliminate elephants poaching.

"We need to bring to court offenders and give them severe sentences. There is need to inform everyone that ivory trade is endangering African elephants," Solheim told Xinhua.

The UN environmental agency has partnered with Chinese celebrities to raise awareness on threats facing Africa's iconic mammals like elephants and rhinos.
Prince Harry has introduced girlfriend Meghan Markle to Kate Middleton for the first time.

The actress also met the Prince's niece, Princess Charlotte, during the trip to Kensington Palace.

A source told The Sun that Kate was 'really looking forward' to meeting Miss Markle and added that the meeting was very 'important' to Harry.

Prince Harry has introduced Meghan Markle to Kate Middleton for the first time. A source said Kate was 'really looking forward' to meeting Miss Markle before the meet up

Prince Harry is believed to really value the opinion of sister-in-law Kate Middleton when it comes to his girlfriend

The actress also met the Prince's niece Princess Charlotte (pictured) during the trip to Kensington Palace

The insider said: 'They are very close and he really values her opinion on girlfriends.

'Obviously Harry's mother, Princess Diana, died when he was very young so Kate really fulfils that older sister/maternal role. It went really well.'

The couple have just returned from their first romantic holiday together in Norway, where they reportedly watched the Northern Lights.

With a month to go until Valentine's Day, the Prince Harry is now said to be planning their second romantic getaway  a trip to Verbier, his favourite Swiss ski resort.

With a month to go until Valentine's Day, Prince Harry (left) is planning a romantic getaway with girlfriend Meghan Markle (right)  to Verbier, his favourite Swiss ski resort

Sources at the resort told the Daily Mail that Royal aides have already carried out a recce to check potential security issues.

Miss Markle met Prince William two months ago at Kensington Palace while Kate was in Norfolk.

The time the 35-year-old has spent at the palace is seen as a sign of how serious relationship has become.
Lecturers who are '60 year old white men' are unable to teach black and minority ethnic (BME) people, students have complained.

The students, who are studying at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), said under-representation of black people among the teaching staff, relative to the student body, made students feel 'isolated', unable to engage with their studies and lecturers.

The comments were taken from interviews with students by the SOAS Student Union, which is part of the University of London, and submitted in a report which was researching into why less black and minority ethnic (BME) students achieve 2:1 or first class degrees than their white peers.

Lecturers who are '60 year old white men' are unable to teach black and minority ethnic (BME) people, students at SOAS have complained (stock image)

The report, called Degrees of Racism, said BME students' confidence and engagement during their studies is affected by 'racial exclusion and discrimination in the learning and teaching environment at SOAS'.

It added that this is due to combination of many factors, including a 'white curriculum', BME students being 'excluded' from classroom discussions and both other students and teachers had said 'explicitly racist comments' to BME students.

When describing 'barriers' students face when they want to access support from lecturers and tutors, it said: 'Non-white students were comparatively less likely than their peers to be able to access the advantages of cultural familiarity with their tutor.

The comments were made in a report by the SOAS student union, which was investigating why less BME students achieve 2:1 or first class degrees than their white peers (stock image)

'Some felt it unrealistic to expect their white tutors to be able to empathise with their problems, especially those who had experienced racial abuse in comparable settings in the past.

'For non-white students from working-class backgrounds, the gap in life experience was sometimes compounded.'

This statement was followed by quotes from students who said:

 'Both of my tutors are white men. How can I really  have a rapport and feel comfortable talking to a 60 year old white man'

 'I find it hard to tell a white teacher my problems.'

 'Most teachers come from privileged backgrounds which [some] BME students can't relate to.'

The union's report suggested that lecturers 'must be prepared to acknowledge that... they are capable of racism' to combat the issues of racism students face (stock image)

The union's report suggested that lecturers 'must be prepared to acknowledge that... they are capable of racism, and should be prepared to discuss how' as a way to combat the issues their students face.

However, the report face a backlash from other academics.

Sir Anthony Seldon, 63, vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, told The Sunday Times: 'White people can't teach BME students? Really? I think this claim is unfair and untrue and disrespectful to universities and members of staff. We are human beings, first, second, third, fourth, fifth.'

The report comes after students demanded figures as Plato, Descartes, Immanuel Kant and Bertrand Russell should be largely dropped from the curriculum simply because they are white.

The union said studying philosophy 'the majority of philosophers on our courses' should be from Africa and Asia.

A spokesperson for SOAS said: 'While the recommendations and conclusions do not necessarily reflect the view of the whole SOAS community, they have helped to spark productive debate. We value the contributions of all our staff and students to these conversations.

'We want to make sure that the higher education experience is a positive one for students from all backgrounds.'

He added that questions of diversity and inclusion are 'integrated' across the work of the university, and the school has commissioned a report looking at the attainment gap with the University of East London.

Dr Deborah Johnston, pro-director (Learning and Teaching) at SOAS, said: 'We attach a great deal of importance to our diverse community here at SOAS. It enables a wide range of perspectives to be brought into the classroom, which greatly benefits and enriches the academic debates and discussions. Our diversity is something of which we are very proud.'
Tourists are being warned not to visit one of Sydney's most popular hot-spots and risk their lives for an Instagram photo.

Huge rogue waves smash the Figure Eight Pools in the Royal National Park, south of Sydney, but it won't stop visitors from playing in the rock shelf.

The National Parks and Wildlife Service has this week launched a website dedicated to warning tourists, almost a year after 70 people were injured at the idyllic site.

Scroll down for video

A woman does a handstand at the Figure Eight Pools in south Sydney's Royal National Park

A wave creeps up behind a woman as she gets her picture taken at the idyllic site

The website warns people not to visit due to 'freak waves' if it's stormy, mid or high tide.

'Huge rogue waves smash Figure Eight Pools a LOT,' the website reads.

'You can't see them coming and they'll wash you off your feet and across sharp rocks.'

And despite a 'high risk' danger alert on Sunday, Instagram was flooded with images of people hanging out in the Figure Eight Pools.

'It's too dangerous to visit Figure Eight Pools now,' the alert said on Sunday morning.

'Huge rogue waves smash Figure Eight Pools a LOT,' the website reads (three women are pictured there on Sunday)

The website warns people not to visit if it's stormy, mid or high tide

'You can't access the rock platform because it's covered in water and breaking waves.

'You won't be able to see the pools or take a photo.'

The Figure Eight Safety site offers suggestions for alternative sites instead of risking safety.

'We've seen head injuries, broken bones, and bad cuts and bruises from slipping on rocks. Injured people have had to stay overnight because there's no emergency access,' it reads.

'Think it won't happen to you?

A woman is pictured sitting at the edge of one of the Figure Eight Pools

Despite the warnings, Instagram was flooded with images from the site over the weekend

'Instead of breaking a limb at Figure Eight, try some other beautiful places to snap a selfie.'

An interactive checklist is at the bottom of the page for those intent on visiting for those intent on visiting.

The checklist advises visitors to check the tide and weather, tell someone your plans before visiting the isolated and hard to reach site, to charge your mobile and pack water, food and a first aid kit.

'I understand and accept all risks involved,' the checklist says.

'I am still going despite being warned about rogue waves, dangerous conditions, the hard walk, no facilities, no emergency access, and the high risk of injury.'

'Instead of breaking a limb at Figure Eight, try some other beautiful places to snap a selfie,' the pools at the Royal National Park is pictured

The pools are only accessible by a two to three hour return walk

The site is only accessible by a return three to four hour walk. There are no facilities.

On January 24 last year, 70 people were injured and three were airlifted to hospital by a freak wave.

One man suffered head injuries and two suffered leg lacerations. Another had serious cuts to the chin.

Just two weeks prior, about 100 visitors were left with cuts, grazes and bruises after a powerful wave knocked swimmers off their feet.

In a similar incident, two men were airlifted to hospital last July.

An interactive checklist is at the bottom of the page for those intent on visiting for those intent on visiting

'Don't risk it,' the website says, 'Beware at Figure Eight Pools'

Three people were airlifted to safety in January last year

A freak wave at the Figure Eight Pools last January is pictured
Sir Philip Green's wife Tina is set to hand over the keys of an exclusive London townhouse to her 25-year-old daughter Chloe.

The Top Shop heiress is believed to be preparing to move into the Belgravia townhouse which has been extensively renovated over the past six months.

It is understood the property was purchased for 10 million and features a new roof terrace, a lowered basement floor and even a glass roof.

Lady Tina Green has been overseeing the refurbishment of a 10 million property in Belgravia

Lady Tina, pictured, controls the Green family fortune which is worth some 5 billion

Chloe Green was pictured last week sitting courtside at an NBA game in the O2 in London

The property was purchased using an offshore company from a friend of the Greens Daniel Pittack.

The four storey town house was purchased by Pittack in November 2014 and he sold it on to Mottistone Holdings, who are based in the British Virgin Islands, for a 100,000 profit.

Mottistone shares an address with Tina Green's design firm, Green and Mingarelli Design, who are based in Monaco.

Lady Green controls the family's fortune and is worth an estimated 5 billion.

The house has six bedrooms and a roof terrace.

One source told the Sunday People: 'It is like a palace and is being done out in an incredibly high standard with no expense spared.

'Chloe's mum has been in charge of doing up the property and has visited it to keep a close eye on progress. The plan is for it to be handed to Chloe as her first proper house of her own, so Lady Tina wants everything perfect.'

Her father Sir Philip, pictured, spent much of the summer on his 100 million yacht, pictured

Chloe Green already has a flat in the area but the house will be a significant upgrade.

Details of the property purchase and refurbishment have emerged BHS pensioners still await news about the fate of their pensions.

Sir Philip sold the retail chain to serial bankrupt Dominic Chappell for just 1. At the time the company had a 571 million pension scheme deficit.

Sir Philip was accused of 'systematically' plundering from the company and enriching his family with dividend cheques, before leading it to disaster prompting calls for him to be stripped of his knighthood.

Lady Green herself received hundreds of millions of pounds in dividends from BHS before it was sold and lives in Monaco, a tax haven.

As BHS went into administration, Sir Philip was sunbathing on his 100 million super yacht Lionheart.
Employers across Britain and North America are fitting their staff with wearable tracker devices to monitor their fitness, productivity and stress levels 24 hours a day.

At least four companies - including a major bank and part of the NHS - are using 'sociometric badges' to measure the conditions of their staff.

The credit card-sized devices created by Humanyze include a microphone that analyses the tone, speed and volume, but not the content, of a person's voice, scan for proximity to others and measure physical activity and sleep patterns.

'It's looking at the amount of time you talk, who you talk to, your tone of voice, activity levels, dynamics like how often you interrupt,' Humanyze CEO Ben Waber told The Times of the devices, which are worn on lanyards around employees' necks.

'By mining that data, you can actually get very detailed information on how people are communicating, how physiologically aroused people are, and can make predictions about how productive and happy they are at work.'

At least four companies - including a major bank and part of the NHS - are using 'sociometric badges' to measure the conditions of their staff

For more than five years Humanyze, a spinoff from MIT's media lab, has been studying what Waber calls 'people analytics' in hopes of helping companies think about how they organize themselves, according to Business Insider.

By collecting data, employers can gain insight into how they can operate more efficiently.

The badges reveal who talks to whom and for how long and show stress levels based on heart rate and voice inflection.

Humanyze takes the data and creates visual maps of employees for companies to evaluate.

For more privacy, companies can't see the individual results of each employee; they can only see anonymized and aggregated webs of data.

Employees themselves, however, are given detailed information about their own productivity in the workplace.

The data tracker is carried on a lanyard that its user wears around his or her neck throughout the day

'What we provide is a technology that allows them more visibility in their lives,' Jeremy Doyle, Humanyze's vice president, told Canadian Business last year. 'When they have more information, they're more able to take action.'

The badges are believed to be used at consulting firm Deloitte, parts of the NHS and one major bank, but Waber did not specify.

Lloyds, HSBC, Santander and NatWest/RBS told The Times that they were not working with Humanyze. Barclays did not respond.

The trackers are worn only with consent from staffers.

Chris Brauer, director of innovation at Goldsmiths, University of London, said that the next development could be 'biometric CVs', which would require job applicants to reveal breakdowns of the data collected on their monitor.

'The basic premise we're working from is the augmented human being,' he told The Times. 'That will be the optimal productivity unit in the workforce.'

CEO of Big Brother Watch, Renate Samson, however, said it's 'unacceptable for businesses to discriminate against staff based on the monitoring and tracking of their personality, fitness and out-of-work lifestyle'.
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Britain is still on flood alert - but the big freeze is officially behind us, with the country looking forward to a much milder week ahead.

Temperatures in the north-east of Scotland will be well-above average, with highs of 12C expected in Aberdeen - making it hotter than Barcelona.

Despite the prospect of better weather, flood alerts are still in place on the Yorkshire coast, as well as in Norfolk due to high water levels from the high tide at Great Yarmouth.

Scroll down for video

Britons are looking forward to a much milder temperatures in the next few days, after a storm surge battered the country this week. Pictured are people enjoying a stroll on the beach at Saltburn, north Yorkshire

The big freeze is now behind us, with highs of 11C to 12C expected in the west and north of the UK. Pictured are huge icicles in Weardale, County Durham, today

The capital has been hit with rainy weather today. Pictured are shoppers in Wimbledon, south west London

Tourists battled the rainy weather to pay a visit to the Tower of London earlier today. The south east is not expected to enjoy the milder temperatures seen across the rest of the country

The milder temperatures expected in the north and west are due to a large area of high pressure that is drawing in warmer air from the Atlantic. The map shows temperatures in the UK today

A flooding alert also remains in place in south-west London, affecting those who live by the Thames between Putney Bridge and Teddington Lock.

The milder weather in the west and north of the UK in the coming week is due to a large area of high pressure that is drawing in warmer air from the Atlantic.



It comes after thousands were evacuated from their homes on Friday night as those in West Mersea in Essex, Whitby in Yorkshire and Hornsea in East Yorkshire were hit by flooding.

Earlier in the week, emergency services evacuated 7,000 homes in Great Yarmouth, Norfolk, while evacuations also took place in the seaside villages of Jaywick, Mistley and West Mersea in Essex, and along the Suffolk coast.

Despite the rough and windy conditions, there were a number of walkers enjoying a stroll along the beach at Saltburn, near Teesside, earlier today

A man wearing wellies is pictured taking a closer look at the waves at Saltburn, near Teesside, earlier today

Despite the milder weather expected over much of the country in the coming week, the south east will remain colder. Pictured are couples and families enjoying a walk on Saltburn beach today

Huge icicles formed over a ledge in Weardale in the North Pennines during the recent freezing overnight conditions

Despite the prospect of better weather, flood alerts are still in place on the Yorkshire coast, as well as in Norfolk. Pictured are a couple enjoying a stroll on the beach in Saltburn, north Yorkshire

Stormy weather has battered the coast of Britain this week. Pictured is the pier at Saltburn, near Teesside

The central spine of the country will see rainy weather at the start of the week, with some brighter spells later on

Despite the warmer weather expected over much of the country in the coming week, the south east will remain colder due to a feed of cool air coming from the continent.

Those in East Anglia and the south east were wrapping up warm on Saturday night, with temperatures dropping to a low of -3.5C in Santon Downham in Suffolk.

However, the wintry weather expected in the east of England was not as bad as feared on Sunday night, with the Met Office dropping their yellow weather warning for snow and ice.

Londoners got out their umbrellas and raincoats as the capital was hit with showery weather today. Pictured are shoppers in Wimbledon today

More rain is expected into the beginning of next week. Pictured is a pedestrian sheltering from the rainy weather in Wimbledon (left); and tourists in London's Trafalgar Square earlier today (right)

A man is pictured trying to protect his parcel from the rain in Wimbledon town centre earlier today

Moving into the start of the next week, the south east and East Anglia will see temperatures again dropping to lows of -2C and -3C overnight. Daytime temperatures will peak at about 2C to 3C on Monday and Tuesday.

Rain is forecast down the spine of the country on Monday, with the showery weather lingering around on Tuesday.

Met Office forecaster Emma Boorman said: 'An area of high pressure in the south west of the UK is drawing in milder air from the Atlantic, as winds rotate in a clockwise direction around it.

'The mildest temperatures in the coming week are expected in Aberdeenshire and on the Moray coast. '

Flood alerts remain in place on the east coast and parts of London. Pictured is flooding in West Mersea, Essex, on Saturday
A couple are among almost 100 Brits suing a Greek hotel after their dream wedding was ruined when they fell ill with severe stomach bugs - caused by people defecating in the swimming pool.

Danielle, 30, and Mark Woollaston, 38, have launched legal action against the Marelen Hotel in Kalamaki on Zante.

The pair travelled to the Greek island for two weeks to get married and stayed at the three-star resort with 50 friends and family members in August last year.

But their wedding celebrations were ruined because of a severe gastric illness outbreak at the hotel during their stay.

The bride, groom and the majority of their guests were then diagnosed with Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes severe symptoms, on their return to the UK.

Danielle, 30, and Mark Woollaston, 38, have launched legal action against the Marelen Hotel in Greece after dozens of their wedding guests suffered severe gastric illness at the hotel during their stay. Pictured above, the Woollastons on their wedding day with friends

Danielle and Mark, who live in Sutton Coldfield, have now instructed expert personal injury lawyers to investigate the outbreak at the Marelen Hotel.

Other guests who are also taking legal action told how the swimming pool was closed for several days due to faeces in the water.

Mark said on Sunday that the couple's dream 15,000 wedding was ruined by the illness.

The company director, who lives with Danielle and their two children Sophie, seven, and Cameron, five, added: 'We both felt unwell during the holiday.

The bride, groom and guests of the 15,000 wedding were then diagnosed with Cryptosporidium, a parasite that causes severe symptoms

'I was suffering from diarrhoea, vomiting and horrendous stomach cramps on the actual day of the wedding.

'It spoilt the day and it is so frustrating and disappointing.

'I didn't get to eat any of my wedding meal that we had paid for due to fearing I would have to go straight to the toilet.'

Mark and personal banker Danielle were both forced to take time off work after returning from the holiday as a result of the illness they suffered.

Many of their guests were also unable to go to a wedding reception they held back in Britain because of ongoing symptoms they were suffering.

Danielle said: 'It was a once-in-a-lifetime event ruined and we will never be able to get that back.

'We spent all that money and the best day of our lives has been ruined because people can't be bothered to clean the pool.

'The first week everyone was fine but the second week we all started dropping like flies. I would say the majority of the 50 guests were ill, including the children.

'I was in bed for three days before the wedding day and only made it by dosing myself up on medication.

The pair had travelled to the Greek island for two weeks to get married and stayed at the three-star Marelen Hotel in Kalamaki on Zante (pictured above) with 50 friends and family members in August last year

A total of 93 disgruntled holidaymakers have instructed expert international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the outbreak of illness at the resort (pictured above)

People who are suing the resort say they noticed the the swimming pool was closed for several days due to faeces in the water

'Two of the groomsmen who are normally the life of the party were really ill and had to go back to their rooms early.

'The most upsetting thing is that our wedding, a celebration with our families and friends, was spoilt not once but twice because of this outbreak.

WHAT IS CRYPTOSPORIDIUM? Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite which causes severe gastric symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting. It is often spread through contaminated water in swimming pools or due to poor food hygiene. The parasite can cause long-term heath implications in those who are affected. Advertisement

'When we returned to the UK we knew many guests would be unable to attend the second wedding reception because we ourselves were still feeling unwell, so we knew others would still be suffering.

'I am not surprised we are not the only group of holidaymakers who have fallen ill at this hotel this year.

'All we want to know now is what caused our illness and ruined our wedding and why was more not done to protect the guests of the hotel.'

A total of 93 disgruntled holidaymakers have instructed expert international personal injury lawyers at Irwin Mitchell to investigate the outbreak of illness.

The group legal action also includes an another wedding party who travelled to the Marelen Hotel after their guests also suffered with Cryptosporidium.

People from that party noticed the the swimming pool was closed for several days due to faeces in the water.

Over a third of the 93 people affected are children with 33 youngsters suffering from illnesses including diarrhoea, abdominal pain and tiredness.

The guests of the wedding fell ill during the second week of the trip, just days before Danielle and Mark were married

Many of the couple's guests were also unable to go to a wedding reception they held back in Britain because of ongoing symptoms they were suffering.

Jatinder Paul, an associate solicitor and expert international personal injury lawyer for Irwin Mitchell, said: 'Cryptosporidium can have serious, long-term health implications for those affected.

'We are now representing almost 100 people who were affected by illness at the Marelen Hotel following holidays this year and we are still receiving enquiries from other guests at the hotel.

'Many of our clients are giving us the same description of their time at the hotel and the problems that they faced, including problems with faeces in the swimming pool, which our clients tell us was not dealt with as promptly as it could and should have been.

'We would encourage anyone who stayed at the Marelen Hotel this summer and has since experienced gastric symptoms to see their GP at the earliest available opportunity.

'We would also like to speak with them as they may be able to help with our investigations.'

Cryptosporidium is a microscopic parasite which causes severe gastric symptoms like diarrhoea and vomiting.

It is often spread through contaminated water in swimming pools or due to poor food hygiene.
Jeremy Corbyn was accused of being 'out of touch' today after he again refused to say that immigration needs to come down after Brexit.

The Labour leader denied that levels of inflows were a problem - making clear that he thinks the only issue is exploitation of cheap labour from abroad.

The veteran left-winger also fuelled despair among Labour moderates by insisting he will not quit even if the party loses crunch by-elections caused by MPs abandoning politics.

Interviewed on the BBC's Andrew Marr show today, Jerey Corbyn again dismissed the idea of limits on immigration

The comments came in an interview on the BBC's Andrew Marr show, during which Mr Corbyn also complained the media was being too mean to him and made a highly undiplomatic joke about Donald Trump's hair.

Former shadow education secretary Tristram Hunt became the latest senior figure to announce he is leaving politics last week, opting to take a role running the Victoria and Albert museum.

Labour faces serious challenges from Ukip and the Tories in Stoke-on-Trent Central - which voted heavily for Brexit - and Copeland.

The votes are expected to be held on the same day in March in what could be a critical moment for Mr Corbyn's leadership.

He suffered a fresh blow today as a poll found voters had more trust in Theresa May to preserve the NHS.

On Tuesday Mr Corbyn's long-planned New Year relaunch collapsed within hours after he used interviews to reject the idea of limiting free movement - just hours after the party had briefed he would support the principle.

Asked directly today if he thought immigration should come down, Mr Corbyn replied: 'It will be part of the negotiations of access to Europe, if we have access to the single market there will be an issue surrounding that.

'What I have been talking about all along is ending the grotesque exploitation and the undercutting that goes on.

'Let's look at the issue of the flow of people in the context of access to the free market, but let's not blame migrants for the problems we have.

'Let's look instead at an economic system that has created these levels of inequality and injustice within our society.'

Struggling to explain the party's position, shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said it would not 'die in a ditch' for the principle of free movement.

But she insisted membership of the European single market was more important.

'Labour's principle has always been that the economy is the most important thing,' she told ITV's Peston on Sunday.

The former Shadow Education Secretary is standing down as MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central to take up a job running the Victoria and Albert Museum

'The first priority of any government is the safety and security of the citizens, the second most important priority is the economy.'

Tory MP Nus Ghani said: 'Once again, under repeated questioning, Jeremy Corbyn refused to say that immigration into Britain is too high. And his Shadow Foreign Secretary also said that getting control of the numbers coming here from Europe isn't a priority.

'Labour don't want to get control of our borders and are completely out of touch with ordinary working people. They do not speak for the concerns and aspirations of people in our country.'

The Labour leader trails the PM heavily on ability to handle the health service - traditionally the party's strongest issue - despite a week of furious attacks.

Even his allies have suggested that Mr Corbyn only has a short period of time to prove he can turn around dismal poll ratings.

But asked today if he would be 'toast' if Labour loses in Stoke, Mr Corbyn said flatly: 'No.'

He insisted the votes were an 'opportunity' to challenge the Tories on policies rather than a 'problem'.

Mr Corbyn was also pressed on his New Year relaunch, which reportedly includes a plan to emulate the populist approach of Mr Trump.

In a response that will not endear him to the incoming US commander-in-chief, who famously boasts a mop of blond hair, the left-winger joked: 'Is it the hair? I've got my own.'

Shadow foreign secretary Emily Thornberry said Labour would not 'die in a ditch' for the principle of free movement, but access to the single market was more important

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth last week voiced sorrow at Mr Hunt's departure, while former Ukip leader Nigel Farage said the party was 'doomed'

Mr Corbyn moaned that the media were not being 'fair' towards him.

'I don't think the media are very fair in many ways, particularly towards the Labour party,' he said.

He suggested there should be a guaranteed 'right to reply' for everyone who was criticised in the press.

'I think we need a process where there is a right of reply; I think we also need to remove the levels of concentration of ownership,' Mr Corbyn explained.

'Murdoch taking over completely Sky, for example, is a problem. There is also a question of the BBC charter renewal. We would support the renewal of the BBC charter and the role of the BBC as an organisation that must educate, entertain and inform.'

A survey by ComRes for the Sunday Mirror and the Independent found 43 per cent thought the Tories would do a better job of managing the NHS this winter, compared to 31 per cent who backed Labour.

The party's poor showing came despite almost half of voters - 47 per cent - agreeing the Red Cross was right to say the NHS was in a 'humanitarian crisis'. The research was carried out between Wednesday and Friday last week.

A separate poll by Opinium for Observer found 30 per cent trusted the Conservatives most to deliver a successful Brexit, compared with just 13 per cent for Labour and 11 per cent who cited Ukip.

Some 36 per cent of respondents said they did not trust any of the main parties or did not know.

On immigration, 22 per cent had most faith in the Conservatives to introduce a more rigorous system.

Ukip was second on 17 per cent and Labour third on 14 per cent.

On Tuesday Mr Corbyn's long-planned New Year relaunch collapsed within hours after he disowned claims he would attempt to limit free movement.

He also announced, and then abandoned shortly afterwards, a proposed salary cap, before announcing hikes to taxes on the middle class.

There is speculation that a dozen MPs could quit the Commons early anticipating a Labour bloodbath when the next general election comes.

But asked what the resignations meant for his authority, Mr Corbyn said: 'I haven't lost control of the party.

Chancellor Philip Hammond said the UK would do whatever it takes to 'regain competitiveness' if it is denied a good trade deal

'The party isn't out of control. We are a very large party with a growing membership, we have a vibrant policy-making process. We have a party which is very active.'

He added: 'I'm not expecting any other MPs to resign.'

In spite of the brickbats, shadow chancellor John McDonnell claimed it had been a 'pretty good' week for Labour.

Asked whether Mr Corbyn would stand down if the polls show no signs of improvement before the next general election, Mr McDonnell told Sophy Ridge on Sunday on Sky News: 'It's not going to be the situation before the next election, it's not, it's not.'

In his interview today, Mr Corbyn sharply criticised a warning by Chancellor Philip Hammond the Government could retaliate by slashing corporation tax if UK firms faced new tariff barriers outside the EU.

'It seems to me a recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe in the future. That doesn't really seem to me a very sensible way forward,' he told BBC1's The Andrew Marr Show.

He said the Prime Minister's negotiating strategy risked damaging British exporters.

'She appears to be heading us in the direction of a bargain basement economy on the shores of Europe where we have low levels of corporate taxation, we will lose access to half our export market,' he said.

'It seems to me an extremely risky strategy. There needs to be more discussion, more consultation and recognise that there is a close co-operation with Europe that is going to have to continue when we are outside the EU.'

Mr Corbyn confirmed that Labour would not seek to block the Government from triggering Article 50 - marking the start of the formal two-year negotiating period - but indicated it could seek to ally with MPs from other parties in the Commons to influence what shape Brexit takes.

'The Brexit vote isn't a one-off thing. It has got to be agreed by 27 national parliaments, it has got to be agreed by the European Parliament. There is quite a long way to go on this,' he said.

'It is going to have to keep coming back to the House of Commons and we will make sure it does keep coming back to the House of Commons. We will keep on pressing the Government on this.

'There are MPs in all parties that must be concerned about the future of industries in their constituencies, must be concerned about the future trade relationships we have.'
This person might be a terrible driver - but at least they're honest.

A photograph of a homemade bumper sticker that reads 'Sorry I can't go any faster, got too many demerits' is getting widely shared in New Zealand.

The picture received around 12,000 reactions since it was posted on the Only in New Zealand Facebook page on Sunday.

A photograph of a homemade bumper sticker that reads 'Sorry I can't go any faster, got too many demerits' is getting widely shared in New Zealand

The handwritten sign was attached to a red Toyota with brown tape.

'It might stop some tailgating idiot from annoying him!' one commentator wrote.

Another one said she identified with the Toyota driver: 'I let everybody know I can't go faster either. I drive a company car with a built in GPS which monitors my speed,' the woman wrote.

Eagle-eyed Facebook users noted the picture appears to have been snapped in Mount Maunganui.

For those who are 'Straight outta points' but don't feel like crafting their own sign, bumper stickers to a similar effect are available for purchase online.
A passenger jet carrying almost 300 people was forced to make an emergency landing after the pilot received a bomb threat while flying over Iran.

The Eurowings flight was en-route between Salalah in Oman to Cologne when the pilot declared an emergency and diverted to Kuwait.

The Airbus A330 had just passed Shiraz at 38,000 feet when the pilot decided to change course and head for Kuwait, rather than land in Iran.

The Eurowings flight was forced to divert to Kuwait after the pilot received a bomb threat

The aircraft was flying at 38,000 feet over Iran when the pilot decided to land in Kuwait

Following the emergency landing, security officials found no evidence of a bomb and said the claim was a hoax.

The passengers were due to be flown from Kuwait to Cologne following the emergency.

The aircraft was about two hours into its flight when the emergency was declared.

The Kuwaiti news agency KUNA quoted Mansour al-Hashemi, spokesman for nation's civil aviation authority, as said 'initial investigations confirmed the plane was explosives-free'.

Eurowings said there were 287 passengers and 10 crew members on board the 12-year-old jet, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait 'for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities'.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa. It began offering direct flights from Cologne to Salalah in October.

Tal Muscal, a spokesman for Lufthansa, confirmed the flight was diverted and that no explosives were found on the plane.

'I do know there is nothing on board.'
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of years ago, China envisaged a world where people live in perfect harmony and are as dear to one another as family. Today, President Xi Jinping has given the world a new name -- a community of common destiny.

Since Xi first proposed the concept in late 2012, it has gone on to shape China's approach to global governance, giving rise to proposals and measures to support growth for all.

There is the new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, and the Belt and Road Initiative set out to better connect the world. Xi has also come up with a new security concept that is designed to pool efforts to build universal, sustainable and comprehensive security.

"The concept of a community of common destiny transcends all sorts of differences in human society and targets greatest possible benefits for all," said Tang Qifang, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.

At the United Nations Office at Geneva on Jan. 18, Xi will deliver a keynote speech on building such a community, sending the message again that China is fully committed to creating "one home for all of mankind," as Xi called it in his 2017 New Year speech.

"This is a very advanced notion born out of changing world conditions, and an embodiment of the Chinese aspiration to share peace and development with the world," Tang said.

EQUAL PARTNERSHIPS

In his first diplomatic activity as China's top leader in late 2012, Xi shared his perception that "the world has increasingly grown into a community where one's destiny is interwoven with that of another." The concept came up time and again in his speeches over the years that followed.

According to Xi's vision, our future lies in the hands of all countries -- equally -- and all nations should pursue dialogue rather than confrontation with one another, and forge partnerships instead of alliances.

China is working to expand convergence of interests with more and more countries, such as Pakistan, Laos and Cambodia, and form communities of common destiny on a bilateral basis.

It has also approached nations in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East to develop similar communities by pushing forward win-win cooperation.

In the course of pursuing equal partnerships, China has actively participated in reforming the global governance system by addressing unreasonable and unjust aspects of the system.

While addressing the Business 20 (B20) summit in Hangzhou last year, Xi highlighted equitable and efficient global financial governance, open and transparent global trade and investment governance, green and low-carbon global energy governance, as well as inclusive and interconnected global development governance, as priorities for global economic governance, showcasing China's commitment to contributing its wisdom to the world economic growth.

Also as part of its efforts in this regard, China champions better representation and say of developing countries in the international governance system, calling for the equal participation of all countries in making rules.

"China's vote in the United Nations will always belong to developing countries," Xi told the general debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

He also advocated valuing both righteousness and interests in shaping international relations, saying that righteousness comes first.

This has become an important principle guiding China's cooperation with other developing nations, and the rationale for China's rush to the aid of other countries at times of difficulties.

China was there to help African countries during the Ebola outbreak, to help save lives after earthquakes in Nepal and Ecuador, and to alleviate the water shortage in the Maldives.

"In Xi Jinping, and messages he has delivered, the world sees a China that embraces its responsibilities, stands by developing countries through thick and thin, and participates in setting international rules and reforming the global governance system," said Tang Zhimin, director of China ASEAN studies at Thailand's Panyapiwat Institute of Management.

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

In the community of common destiny, the development of one country is closely intertwined with that of other countries.

"China will always work to contribute to global development," Xi said during the UN general debate, welcoming other countries to get on board China's express train of development. "Development for all is development for real."

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in this spirit, as was the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the South-South Cooperation Fund, and increased investment by China in the world's least developed countries.

The AIIB has allocated loans totaling 1.73 billion U.S. dollars in nine infrastructure projects across seven countries since it started operating in January 2016.

Connecting some 60 countries, the Belt and Road Initiative has been aligned with many national and regional development strategies, bringing forth more and more cooperative projects, including railways, roads and ports.

The Initiative will gain greater popularity because "in it, the interests of many parties converge and with it, the common development of mankind will be promoted," said Cui Hongjian, director of the department of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

In addition to these development efforts, China has placed great emphasis on creating a safer world to make sustainable development possible, evident in its proposed solutions to risks and conflicts, and increased support for UN peace efforts.

In 2015, Xi promoted a concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security to tackle challenges. "No country can single-handedly seek absolute security for itself, and neither can it gain stability from unrest in other countries," he said.

China does not pay lip service to the cause of peace. It takes action.

Currently, nearly 2,500 Chinese military personnel are involved in nine UN peacekeeping operations. From 2016 to 2018, China will account for 10.2 percent of the UN Peacekeeping assessed contributions.

In 26 years of involvement in peacekeeping missions, China has lost 13 soldiers.

With its constructive proposals and active participation in peacekeeping operations, China has contributed greatly to promoting world peace and multilateralism, said Zhu Shuai, a researcher at the China Center for Information Industry Development.

"China has shown to the world that as a responsible country, it will continue efforts toward the goal of achieving common development for mankind," Zhu said.
A Japanese ship has been caught with a slaughtered minke whale in the Antarctic in defiance of an international court decision against Tokyo's hunts, activists claim.

The Nisshin Maru whaler factory ship was spotted by a helicopter from the Sea Shepherd organisation in the Australian whale sanctuary around the nation's Antarctic territory.

Crew on the Japanese ship were allegedly seen scrambling to hide the slaughtered whale with a large plastic sheet, while the fleet's harpoons were also quickly covered, it has been claimed.

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An ocean conservation organisation claims to have found a Japanese ship in the Australian Whale Sanctuary with a dead minke whale on its flensing deck

'The whale killers from the Nisshin Maru were caught red-handed slaughtering whales in the Australian whale sanctuary,' Ocean Warrior Captain Adam Meyerson said on Sunday.

'The Steve Irwin (Sea Shepherd's flagship) has shut down their illegal operations and caught them trying to hide the evidence.'

It comes shortly after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe visited Australia.

The Japanese fleet set sail on November 18 last year in defiance of a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling and international opposition.

Sea Shepherd released photographs of a dead minke whale on the deck of the Nisshin Maru, a factory ship, adding that the vessel's crew covered the carcass with a tarp when its helicopter approached.

The dead whale is the first to be documented since the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said Sea Shepherd. It has spent more than a decade harassing Japanese harpoon ships during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

The Sea Shepherd organisation said the Nisshin Maru whaler factory ship was spotted by the helicopter of Sea Shepherd's MY Steve Irwin

The crew was allegedly seen scrambling to hide the slaughtered whale with a tarp, while the fleet's harpoons were also quickly covered

'The fact that the Japanese crew went to cover up their harpoons and the dead minke whale on deck just shows that they know what they're doing is wrong,' the captain of Sea Shepherd's MY Steve Irwin, Wyanda Lublink, said in a statement.

The news came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney, with their talks focusing on trade and defence.

Japan is a signatory to the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on whaling in force since 1986. But it exploits a loophole allowing whales to be killed for the purposes of 'scientific research'.

Australia's Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said in a statement his government was 'deeply disappointed' Japan had returned to whaling in the Southern Ocean this summer.

The crew of the Japanese whaling ship Nisshin Maru were allegedly caught red-handed

'We will continue our efforts in the International Whaling Commission to strongly oppose commercial whaling and so-called 'scientific' whaling, uphold the moratorium on commercial whaling and promote whale conservation,' he added.

In 2014 the United Nations' ICJ ordered Tokyo to end the Antarctic hunt, saying it found permits issued by Japan were 'not for purposes of scientific research'.

Japan cancelled its 2014-15 hunt after the ruling, but restarted it the following year under a new programme with a two-thirds cut in the target catch number - saying the fresh plan was genuinely scientific.

Tokyo claims it is trying to prove the whale population is large enough to sustain a return to commercial hunting. But the meat from what it calls scientific research often ends up on dinner tables.

No one was available for comment at Japan's Fisheries Agency.
Twelve of the most infamous jihadi extremists in prison will be placed in isolation inside three jails at a cost of 1million per year.

Anjem Choudary, who was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2015 for supporting ISIS, is thought to be among the prisoners due to be separated.

It is believed that the hate preacher, who has been encouraging British Muslims to wage holy war on the West for years, is trying to radicalise other inmates.

Anjem Choudary, who was jailed for five-and-a-half years in 2015 for supporting ISIS, is thought to be among the prisoners due to be separated from other inmates in new units

Another of the high-profile inmates expected to be isolated is Michael Adebolajo, one of the men who killed soldier Lee Rigby outside his Woolwich barracks in 2013.

Adebolajo and Michael Adebowale were sentenced to life in prison after they ran the soldier down in a car then hacked him to death in front of people in the street.

It is said that Adebolajo is now using his notoriety to radicalise other Muslim inmates.

The killer also had his front teeth knocked out in a Belmarsh jail, south east London, last year when he was attacked by five other inmates.

The Ministry of Justice intends to set up three isolation units in Woodhill prison, Milton Keynes, Frankland in County Durham and Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire, reports the Sunday Times.

The high-security units would be staffed by 40 employees, allowing 'specialist management' of prisoners who pose a radicalisation risk to others.

Another of the high-profile inmates to be isolated is Michael Adebolajo (left), who was sentenced to life fr killing soldier Lee Rigby with Michael Adebowale (right)

It follows a Government review into radicalisation in British prisons last year, after which the ministry pledged more action to tackle radicalisation within prisons.

Although prison officials, including Imams, have advised that the 12 prisoners are offered mental health treatment and 'spiritual guidance'.

In February last year, the then Prime Minister David Cameron revealed that terrorists could be locked in separate prisons and Imams could be banned from visiting jails under new proposals.

The pair ran Lee Rigby (pictured) down in a car then hacked him to death in front of people in the street

Revealing that currently around 1,000 of Britain's prison population have been identified as extremist or vulnerable to being radicalised, Mr Cameron said inmates convicted of terrorism offences could be relocated to separate locations if prison governors deemed it necessary.

The measures - part of a 'new front' to tackling radicalisation in jails - would prevent prisons becoming a recruitment target for extremists, where terrorists are able to convert 'weak' individuals to Islam through 'intimidation, violence and grooming' to spread a 'warped view of the world'.

'We will not stand by and watch people being radicalised like this while they are in the care of the state,' Mr Cameron declared in a major speech on prison reform - the first by a prime minister solely on jails in two decades.

'And I want to be clear: I am prepared to consider major changes: from the imams we allow to preach in prison to changing the locations and methods for dealing with prisoners convicted of terrorism offences, if that is what is required.'

In August, the Ministry of Justice responded to the review of justice looking specifically at extremism within prisons, firmly setting out plans for greater segregation.

A spokesman said: 'Planning is under way to create specialist units within the high security estate to allow greater separation and specialised management of extremists who pose the highest risk to other prisoners.

'We are also reviewing options for improving the identification and management of extremist prisoners. Prisoners are categorised and managed according to their risk, and this principle will be maintained.'

It is thought that one of the new units will be in Frankland (pictured) in County Durham

HMP Woodhill in Milton Keynes (pictured) is also thought to be one of the three prisons that will house the new units

Whitemoor, in Cambridgeshire, will also be one of the prisons to house a high-security isolation unit, it is understood

The Sunday Times today claimed that the units will be staffed by 40 employees, with 12 prisoners identified, and three prisons to hold the units.

However, the Ministry of justice is refusing to identify the men attempting to radicalise inmates in British prisons on security grounds.

It claims that the exact details, including time frames for the opening and the budget for the units, have not yet been decided.

A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: 'Islamist extremism is a danger to society and a threat to public safety  it must be defeated wherever it is found. We are committed to confronting and countering the spread of this poisonous ideology behind bars.

'Preventing the most dangerous extremists from radicalising other prisoners is essential to the safe running of our prisons and fundamental to public protection.'
Georgia Varley was killed when she fell between a train and the platform at a Liverpool station

Railway union bosses are fighting the introduction of new trains that it is claimed could have saved a 16-year-old girl who died when she fell between a carriage and the platform.

Georgia Varley had just left a house party in the Wirral when CCTV caught her leaning against a train at Liverpool's James Street station.

The guard, Christopher McGee, gestured for her to stand back but he had already sent the signal for the driver to start the train.

Miss Varley fell between the carriage and the platform and was killed. McGee was sentenced to five years in prison for manslaughter in 2012 after a court heard he had shown an 'appalling disregard for her safety'.

More than five years later the authority that oversees the Merseyrail network is buying new trains that it claims will be safer.

The new designs would 'significantly reduce the risk' of such a tragedy happening again, according to Merseyrail.

The Times reported that rail inspector described the trains as an 'exemplar' of safe design at an industry meeting last week but they are still at the centre of the clash between union leaders and rail bosses.

The 52 new trains do not require a guard and the driver would be responsible for opening and closing the doors.

The new trains will have cameras so drivers can see what is happening along the length of the train and a 'sliding step' that removes the gap between the door and platform.

Rail unions claim this is unsafe, despite rail regulator approval, and the idea has already sparked a string of Southern Rail strikes.

The RMT union has now set Merseytravel an end of the month deadline to deliver a 'cast-iron' guarantee that guards will keep their jobs - or risk an industrial dispute.

CCTV caught Miss Varley leaning against a train. The guard, Christopher McGee, gestured for her to stand back but he had already sent the signal for the driver to start the train

A Merseyrail statement said: 'The Liverpool city region needs and deserves new trains, which will be modern, safe, faster and comfortable, with more capacity to support the economic growth of a modern city region.

'The new trains will be safer than the ones they replace - and there will still be staff on board focusing on customer duties.'

When Miss Varley died Merseyrail guards closed the passenger doors then boarded the train, shut their door and sent a code to the driver, telling them it was safe to start the train.

A report by the Rail Accident Investigation Branch into her death identified a 12-second gap after Merseyrail guards boarded trains, during which 'serious accidents' could happen because they could not necessarily see the platform.

More than five years on from the fatality the authority that oversees the Merseyrail network is buying new trains that it claims will be safer. The trains have cameras so drivers can see what is happening along the length of the train and a 'sliding step' that removes the gap

It recommended equipment that would allow the person who decided when a train leaves to observe the platform for as long as possible.

Paula Redmond, Varley's mother, told The Times: 'Any improvements that may be made that would prevent another tragedy such as Georgia's can only be a positive thing.'

The RMT maintain that the only way to guarantee safety was is to have a 'second safety-critical person on the train'.
Ten dead dolphins have washed up on the beaches around the West Country in as many days, prompting fears among conservationists over the exact cause.

Pollution, trawler nets, inclement weather and jet skiers have all been cited as likely causes for the demise of these marine animals.

Clare Riley was among those who found the latest dead dolphin on the beach near Smeaton's Pier in St Ives, Cornwall.

Concern: A dolphin found at Smeaton's Pier in St Ives, Cornwall is the tenth discovered dead along West Coast beaches in as many days, prompting fears over what could be killing them

'It was sad to see - I've been in Cornwall for six years waiting and hoping to see dolphins and I was finally rewarded two weeks ago with an awesome display of a pod playing and surfing the waves at Gwithian,' she said.

Another resident, Tony Mason, said: 'I saw them at Gwithian last Sunday, swimming around jet skiers. To then find that one dead was so sad. Such a beautiful creature.'

Between January and March last year, 61 dolphins, porpoises and whales were found dead around Cornwall's coast, the steepest rise in the death toll since 2006, according to the Cornwall Wildlife Trust.

They said previous post-mortem tests showed creatures washed up on the shores had died from a number of causes, including pollution, illnesses, natural causes and after being caught in fishing nets.

Scientists have been working with the fishing community to fit sea-going trawlers and other boats in Cornwall larger than 14m with 'pingers', which emit underwater noises to drive dolphins away from fishing nets.

Abby Crosby, from the wildlife trust, urged people to report any dead whales, porpoises or dolphins.

At the start of 2016, 61 dolphins, porpoises and whales were found dead around Cornwall's coast, the steepest rise in the death toll since 2006, according to Cornwall Wildlife Trust

'The most important piece of advice is for people to report these sightings of stranded cetaceans so we can gather more information on what is killing them,' she said.

Paul Trebilcock, from the Cornish Fish Producers' Organisation said: 'Cornish fishermen have been at the forefront of using acoustic pingers.

'All of this is hopefully contributing towards a reduction in the interaction between fishing gear and cetaceans.'

A wildlife trust spokesman added: 'Volunteers have been collecting data on strandings for many years and we now have over 5,500 records on our database, the earliest dating back to 1308.

'This information is vital in helping us to conserve wildlife and cannot be learnt from studying live animals. We can learn about causes of death and threats to survival.'
A chilling police statement in which a terrified Kim Kardashian described the moment she lost 8.5m worth of jewels in a Paris robbery was published today for the first time.

The 36-year-old reality TV star told officers that she 'heard a noise at the door' and 'shouted out' but no one answered.

She described how masked thugs grabbed her and took her out to the entry hall.

She said: 'I was in a bathrobe, naked underneath. We went back to the bedroom and they pushed me onto the bed.'

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Reality star Kim, 36, was woken at 2.35am on October 3 as she slept in her luxury Paris apartment

She described how masked thugs grabbed her and took her out to the entry hall of luxury appartment (pictured). The alleged mastermind behind the robbery has been charged, according to a French prosecutor

The statement release comes as the full names of the alleged gang members behind the robbery were made public, and Ms Kardashian prepared to travel to France to give evidence against them.

The mother-of-two was in a state of severe shock when she was quizzed for an hour from 4.30am by detectives on October 3 last year.

Less than two hours earlier five men broke into her central Paris apartment where she was sleeping alone after a fashion week dinner on a Sunday night.

'I heard a noise at the door, like footsteps, and I shouted to ask who was there, but no one answered,' said Ms Kardashian in the statement leaked to Le Journal du Dimanche.

She added that she called her bodyguard at 2.56am and saw trough her sliding doors two people arrive with a male reception who was tied up.

The concierge was Mr Abdulrahman, 39, who was forced to take the gang to the flat at gunpoint.

The suspects' homes were searched, with documents and other potential evidence being seized. A suspect (right) is pictured being escorted to a police station

Sources say that 'months of surveillance' has taken place, including phone taps. A suspect is pictured being taken to a police station in Paris

Referring to the robbers, Ms Kardashian said: 'Both men were hooded, one had a ski mask and he had a cap and a jacket with 'Police' on it.

'The second man had the same 'Police' clothes, but did not have any ski mask. The man with the ski glasses was about 1.7m (5ft 6in), thin, black trousers, black boots.

'The second man, also European, was taller and he stayed with the security guard. He was around 1.8 (5ft 9ins) and was dressed in the same way as his accomplice. It was the one with the ski mask who stayed with me.'

Aomar Ait Khedache, a 60-year-old nicknamed 'Old Omar' and Didier Dubreucq, 60, and dubbed 'Blue Eyes' have been arrested on suspicion of robbery.

Referring to one of the men, Ms Kardashian said: 'He had a strong French accent and asked me for my ring [In English]. He looked at what was on the bedside table. It is worth $4 million.'

Police arrested 17 people over the robbery on Monday, including two brothers in their 50s accused of disposing of a $4m engagement ring. Two men are pictured being arrested during the dawn raids

Following repeated requests to produce her diamond engagement ring, Ms Kardashian told the robbers that she 'didn't know' where it was.

She said a gang member then 'took out a gun' and she 'showed him the ring'.

'He had gloves. He asked me where the jewels and the money was. He grabbed me and took me out to the entry hall. I was in a bathrobe, naked underneath,' she said.

She added: 'We then went back to the bedroom and they pushed me onto the bed. And at that point they tied me up and put plastic cables and scotch tap on my hands, and then taped my mouth and my legs. They took me to my bathroom, more specifically in my bathtub.

The reality star then listed the jewellery they had taken.

Ms Kardashian described how a masked thug grabbed her and took her out to the entry hall.

She said: 'In my jewellery box there were two Cartier diamond bracelets, a Jacob necklace in gold with diamonds, earrings with diamonds by Loraine Schwarz, and others by Yanina.

'There were three gold necklaces by Jacob, little bracelets, jewels, rings. A necklace by Loraine Schwarz with diamonds, another little necklace with six diamonds underneath.

'Another diamond necklace with the name of my son "Saint" on it. There was also a Jacob diamond cross. There were two rings in yellow gold. I think they robbed me of $5 million.'

In fact, the total haul was worth around $10m, or 8.5m.

Ms Kardashian continued: 'Then they ran away. During the theft, they had the hotel's mobile phone and it did not stop ringing, and they spoke in French.

'I got the impression they were saying they had to leave. Then I succeeded in pulling off the tape from my hands and my mouth. I guessed that they were a bit inexperienced in the manner in which they had tied me up.'

Asked if she was would recognise the attackers, Ms Kardashian said: 'Perhaps the small one, with the ski mask, but I'm not sure.'

Aomar Ait Khedache and Didier Dubreucq have been charged with a range of offences, including armed robbery.

Ait Khedache is said to have admitted his involvement in the well organised heist after his DNA was allegedly found on ties used on Ms Kardashian's wrists.

Kim posted this image of her engagement ring on Instagram before it was stolen in the robbery

His son, Harminy Ait Khedache, 27, is one of eight others also charged. Pierre Bouainere, a 72-year-old alleged career gangster, and a woman named only as Christiane, 70, who was the girlfriend of Aomar Ait Khedache, have also been charged.

Yunice Abas, 63, has reportedly admitted his involvement, according to judicial sources. He is said to have dropped a piece of jewellery as the gang escaped on bicycles.

Ms Kardashian is being kept informed about all developments in the case, and her lawyers have made it clear that she is prepared to return to Paris to give evidence.
An elderly widow was conned out of her 300,000 home after a trusted friend convinced her to move out because of a 'gas leak' before selling it.

And despite being the victim of the betrayal of trust, the grandmother who is in her 70s will not be able to get her house back.

Instead, she is having to live in rented accommodation while the home where she thought she would live out her final days has been recently valued at more than half a million pounds.

Ravina Rattan, 68, pictured, convinced her friend Mohinder Kaur Manku to move out of her home because of a fake 'gas leak'

On Friday, the con woman who sold her West London house, Ravina Rattan, 68, was jailed for six years.

Her victim, grandmother Mohinder Kaur Manku, 74 can now only hope that that a confiscation hearing to be held at some point in the future will result in Rattan's own home in Ealing being seized.

Then it could be sold and the proceeds used to pay Mrs Manku the market value of her home at the time it was sold in 2013 - around 300,000

On Friday at St Albans crown court when Judge Marie Catterson jailed Rattan she branded her a 'swindler'

Rattan had been a trusted friend of Mrs Manku and her daughter and granddaughter and took charge of their financial affairs.

But she was able to trick them into believing there had been a gas leak at the property in Greenford where they lived.

Rattan told them they had to get out of the house while work was carried out to repair the gas leak and even sent a taxi to collect them.

Then with the family out of the way and living in a variety of temporary addresses, wicked Rattan sold their home for 250,000

Jailing the 68 year old con woman who had been been found guilty in December of two charges of fraud and money launderng, Judge Catterson told her 'In ordinary language what you did was effectively to swindle Mrs Manku and her family out of the roof over their heads.

'Your actions amounted to cynical exploitation of very vulnerable people.'

Rattan sold the property in Greenford, pictured, after Mrs Manku moved out and now the victim cannot return home and must wait for a court proceedings to seize Rattan's own house to see if she will receive the 300,000 value from her own home

The judge told Rattan because she had been so trusted, she had abused the position of power she had and 'targeted' 74 year old Mrs Mankau who she knew was particularly vulnerable because of her inability to speak or write English.

Incredibly, the court heard that because of Rattan's heartless betrayal, Mrs Manku has lost her the four bedroomed home she had owned and where she thought she spend her last days in comfort.

She is presently living in rented accommodation with her daughter and granddaughter

Just before Christmas the house Rattan stole from her was valued at more than half a million pounds.

But while Rattan languishes in prison, confiscation proceedings will take place which could see her own home in Noel Road, Ealing seized and sold.

Indian born Rattan's trail of deceit had started in 2007.

At the time a care home she owned in Lyme Regis, Dorset was in danger of being repossessed because of the debts she had run up.

She knew Mrs Manku from years before when the pair were young girls and living in India.

Rattan was jailed for six years at St Alban's Crown Court and faces losing her own home in Ealing, West London in order to compensate Mrs Manku for the theft of her house

Rattan had also kept in contact with a brother of Mrs Manku who lived in India and through him met up with Mrs Manku and her family who were living in the four bedroomed end of terrace property in Verulam Road, Greenford

The jury at Rattan's trial heard Mrs Manku, a frail and elderly Mrs Manku is unable to speak English and was seen as an easy prey for Rattan who had access to her cheque book and bank cards and identity documents

Rattan had hit on a plan to remortgage Mrs Manku's home to raise the money she needed to solve her own financial problems

By forging the old lady's signature she was able to make a completely bogus mortgage application in the name of Mrs Manku for a 200,000 loan.

The loan was secured and the money - 198,891 - paid into a Barclays Bank account which Rattan had set up in Mrs Manku's name and which she controlled.

Within days the money had been withdrawn and was never seen again.

The contact number for 'Mrs Manku' that had been put down on the mortgage application form and given to the bank was in fact Rattan's own mobile phone number which meant she could field any calls and enquiries.

Mrs Manku and her daughter had no idea what had taken place or the fact that there was now a new 200,000 mortgage on the property in Mrs Manku's name which had to be paid back.

By May of 2009 no payments had been made.

Rattan had even managed to persuade the Mrs Manku's daughter Kuljinder to pay in her wages to a bank account that she had control over.

The daughter had to go to Rattan every time she wanted money

In 2011 the mortgage company that had been duped by Rattan into advancing the 200,000 loan commenced repossession proceedings concerning the house in Greenford.

Rattan then came up with a plan to sell the property.

She told the family a gas leak had been found at their home and they had to move out while work was carried out. They didn't even have time to collect personal property

Rattan immediately had the property boarded up and changed the locks.

The three briefly stayed at Rattan's home in Noel Road, Ealing and then moved into a hotel in Acton, West London for five months before ending up in run down hostel type accommodation in Harrow.

The three were forced to live in one room with Mrs Manku and her daughter having to share a bed. They had to share a bathroom and toilet with others living in the building.

All the time Rattan had kept them away from their property with a string of lies about the work that was needed to be done.

In fact Rattan had managed to 'sell' the house during 2013 for knock down price of 250,000 to someone she knew.

Judge Catterson said that price had been far below the true value for the property at the time which she estimated would have been at least 300,000, if not more

The court was told the new owner sold it a year later in 2014 for 420,000.

In a recent valuation carried out for the court hearing, the property was said to be worth 550,000

Giving evidence with the aid of an interpreter Mrs Manku told the jury in December she had never sought to re mortgage her home in 2007 and never knew the 200,000 money had been advanced to her.

She said she trusted Rattan to help her with financial matters and said she would sign cheques from time to time so that Rattan could withdraw money for her.

Mr Mark Gadsden prosecuting asked her 'Did you authorise Mrs Rattan to sell your home?'

She replied 'No'.

Mr Gadsden 'Did you know she had sold your home?'

'My relatives told me,' she replied.

Asked about why she had moved out of her property she replied 'She told me to leave because of a gas leak'

Mrs Manku told the court how she and her family subsequently went from living in a comfortable four bedroomed house that she owned, to living in a cramped run down rented property.

She said her brother back in India would send her money to pay the rent.

'I was happy in my own home and I wanted to stay there. My husband had bought that property and he wanted us to stay there and we were happy there,' she told the court.

Mrs Manku's extended family who live in Birmingham discovered what had happened after realising their relative was no longer living at her home.

By going on the Internet they discovered the the house had been sold and called in the police.

Police and social services found Mrs Manku and her daughter and granddaughter living in cramped and dirty conditions and immediately got them moved into more suitable accommodation.

A police spokesman said the family remained in rented accomodation at present and because of what had taken place and new owners living in the house in Verulam Road, it would not be possible for Mrs Manku and her family to return there.

Detective Constable Simon Allen, of the Met's Specialist, Organised and Economic Crime Command Unit said: 'This was a sustained and malicious abuse of trust of a vulnerable woman that resulted in the loss of a family home.

'Rattan has shown no remorse for her crimes and has continued to deny any knowledge of the fraud despite the overwhelming evidence against her gathered by investigating officers.

'The sentence handed down by the court today reflects the severity of Rattan's crimes and the devastating result of her fraudulent behaviour.'
An MP is calling for a 10 'visitor tax' for EU citizens when they come to the UK - to help pay for beefed-up border security.

Charlie Elphicke, the Tory MP for Dover in Kent, said he wants travellers from the EU to pay the 10 charge, and fill out a security form, when they arrive.

He said the cash raised should go into a fund to help pay for additional security to tackle illegal immigration - and be handed to the Border Force.

Charlie Elphicke, the Tory MP for Dover in Kent, said he wants travellers from the EU to pay the 10 visitors charge

Explaining the idea last week, he wrote on the Conservative Home website that leaving the EU would mean 'a lot of change'.

He wrote: 'We need a visa waiver system post-Brexit. Leaving the European Union will mean a lot of change - nowhere more so than at our borders. The end of unchecked EU immigration will require a beefing up of our border controls.

'The rising threats of organised crime, trafficking and terror mean we must invest more in intelligence to keep our country safe.

'Yet at the same time we want to maintain the free flow of trade that is the economic lifeblood of our nation, and have smooth journeys for legitimate travellers too. All these changes can be expected to require costly investment.

'How could we do it and be ready in two years' time? My proposal is that we plan now to adopt a visa waiver system for EU visitors like the US ESTA system.

'This should raise some 250 million a year - enough to increase the UK's Borders Budget by 50 per cent.

'With this extra money, we can boost our efforts to combat traffickers, terrorists and criminal gangs.

'In addition, the visa waiver system would provide a wealth of information we could use to strengthen our intelligence effort. If we also invest in tried and tested systems we will be able to automate much of the processing.

'This way, border officers can focus on the greatest risks, helping to make our borders as strong as they can be.'

He said that to 'meet the borders challenge' the 10 visa waiver should be put in place, adding: 'Nothing happens without money. So the first question is how we can raise the cash needed to make the necessary investment in our borders.

'Years ago, the USA hit on the idea of turning the border into an asset by making visitors pay for it. The USA's ESTA system charges a fee of $14 - equivalent to around 10 - for a 'visa waiver'.

'We could adopt that system and apply it to a visa waiver scheme for visitors from the EU.

'Introducing a 'European Travel Authority' (ETA) visa waiver for 10 a time would raise a lot of cash.

Elphicke said the cash raised should go into a fund to help pay for additional security to tackle illegal immigration - and be handed to the Border Force. Pictured above, people in the queue for European passports at Gatwick Airport (file photo)

'24.2 million EU visitors a year paying 10 would provide 242m. Given that the Border Agency's budget is currently some 500m, the ETA system could fund a 50 per cent increase in the Borders budget.

'The ETA would not simply bring in cash. It would bring information too. EU visitors would be required to fill in an online form setting out who they are, where they live and where they intend to stay while in the UK.

'By building on the existing US and Canadian systems - so we can avoid another Government IT debacle - we could check people against watch lists, well before they leave for Britain.

'If we get it right, we will be able to check across databases in real time to put a stop on known criminals seeking to visit our shores, before they start their journey.

'Border officers would be able to focus on persons of interest on arrival while allowing everyone else to speed through the arrivals halls.

'An effective border IT system will enable us to count people in and count them out precisely and immediately.

'This means we will know right away when a person has over-stayed their visa. And as they will provide the address they intend to stay at - Border officers will also know where to start looking for them as well.'

He added: 'The extra funds from the ETA system should enable greater investment in intelligence to counter trafficking and criminal networks.

'It should provide funds to invest not just in tried and tested systems - but also to counter emerging security threats like migrants landing on the south coast.

'The more we can invest in intelligence, the more successfully we will be able to co-operate with other European states. This will be at the heart of how well we are able to deal with the new and emerging threats to our national and border security.'

He added: 'Leaving the EU is a huge national project. The situation with our borders will be one of the most complex parts of it.

'By adopting a US style visa waiver system we can fund the investment we will need to make in our border controls.

'And using the tried and tested systems already in operation around the world would enable our dedicated Border officers to focus on the people who are the greatest threat.

'By taking action now we can be ready to implement such a scheme immediately on Brexit. In doing so, we would enable trade and legitimate visitors to flow freely while benefitting from enhanced security at the border.'

Speaking to his local paper this week, Mr Elphicke added: 'Protecting the British people from terrorists must be our priority. So border security needs to be tighter than ever before - starting at the Dover front line.

'That's why as we leave the EU we must invest in our borders and increase the borders budget, with a new system that makes the best use of intelligence and allows universal watch list checking.

'Bringing in a visa waiver system like the US for travellers from the EU would net 250m a year - increasing the borders budget by half.

'By acting now, Britain can become a world leader in border security. Post-Brexit we must show the world Britain means business.'

Critics say it will hit tourism, with alanrogers99 writing: 'More pulling up the drawbridge from the outers. Don't we need tourism?'

Writing online johnharris66 wrote: 'Is the assumption behind the proposal that EU visitors will pay 250 million a year, but UK visitors to the EU will pay nothing?

'This seems unlikely to me, in which case - and assuming reciprocity - it will be UK travellers to the EU who are in effect funding the scheme.

'It would be far better to negotiate a visa system - as with Australia - which is free and provides a rapid online response (in passing, it is quicker for UK visitors to Australia to pass through immigration than UK passport holders returning to Heathrow to pass UK immigration).'
A one-year-old boy was accidentally killed by his older sister, after she found her mother's loaded gun and shot him.

The mother, Erica Bautista, was home at the time, and paramedics responded to a frantic call for help from the Northern California home.

Paramedics at the scene found the baby on a bedroom floor in Chowchilla home, with a bullet wound to the head. He was rushed to the hospital, but did not survive the ambulance ride, reported the Huffington Post.

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A one-year-old boy was accidentally killed by his older sister, after she found her mother's loaded gun and shot him. The mother, Erica Bautista, was home at the time, and paramedics responded to a frantic call for help from the Northern California home (pictured)

The gun was registered to the mother, who has worked as as a corrections officer for 16 years, but was not a duty weapon. The girl was under six years old.

Investigators are looking into whether or not the weapon was stored improperly. If so, Bautista could face criminal charges.

Lt Jeff Palmer of the Chowchilla Police Department said in a statement: 'Anytime a child gets a hold of a firearm, and there's some sort of a negligent discharge it's a criminal matter.

'Don't leave them loaded, and absolutely don't leave them in an area where a child can get his hands on it.'

Town police provide free gun locks, and Palmer warned that firearms are not something to be taken for granted, according to Huffington Post.

Lt Palmer (pictured) of the Chowchilla Police Department said that the gun was likely not stored safely, and that 'Most kids are very curious, if things that are left around it is obviously a huge danger'

Town police (pictured) provide free gun locks, and Palmer warned that firearms are not something to be taken for granted, according to Huffington Post

Palmer said to NBC4 that they don't know how the girl got the gun, and that 'Most kids are very curious, and if things like that being left around it is obviously a huge danger.'

Chowchilla authorities said they couldn't remember a case similar to this in at least 20 years in their town, which is home to 20,000 people.

The tragedy is still under investigation, and the names of the children involved are being withheld. Madera County District Attorney's office will decide whether or not to file charges, reported Huffington Post.
A growing number of Democrat lawmakers are boycotting Donald Trump's inauguration this week, after a feud broke out between the President-elect and civil rights campaigner-turned-Representative John Lewis, who said he will not be a 'legitimate' President.

There are now 19 Democratic Representatives, including Lewis, saying they will spurn Trump's swearing-in in favor of focusing on their constituents or even taking part in protests and 'resistance' movements.

They include four members of Congress who said they would not attend after Trump hit back at Lewis on Twitter Saturday, saying the lawmaker - who once campaigned alongside Martin Luther King Jr - was 'all talk, no action'.

Donald Trump'd inauguration is being abandoned by Democrat lawmakers after he called Rep John Lewis (right) 'all talk and no action'. Lewis earlier said he was boycotting the swearing-in

California Representative Mark Takano tweeted this image of Lewis (far right) marching with Martin Luther King Jr during their civil rights campaign, and said he stood with Lewis

On the other side of the country, New York Representative Yvette Clarke said Trump had 'insulted America' when he made his remarks about Lewis

Trump had tweeted: 'Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.

'All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!'

He later doubled down on the claims, saying: 'Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US. I can use all the help I can get!'

Lewis became famous in the 1960s as a prominent civil rights campaigner who became the youngest of the Big Six - the others including Martin Luther King Jr.

THE BOYCOTTERS So far 17 Democrat Congressmen will not attend Trump's inauguration: Arizona Rep Raul Grijalva California Rep Judy Chu California Rep Mark DeSaulnier California Rep Jared Huffman California Rep Barbara Lee California Rep Ted Lieu California Rep Mark Takano Georgia Rep John Lewis Illinois Rep Luis Gutierrez Michigan Rep John Conyers Missouri Rep William Lacy Clay Massachusetts Rep Katherine Clark New York Rep Yvette Clarke New York Rep Adriano Espaillat New York Rep Jerrold Nadler New York Rep Jose Serrano New York Rep Nydia Velazquez Oregon Rep Earl Blumenauer Oregon Rep Kurt Schrader Advertisement

He took part in mixed-race 'freedom rides' across America, to challenge laws that demanded segregated buses. He was beaten multiple times and arrested for doing so. He had also been beaten multiple times by the KKK and others for participating in civil rights marches.

Trump's criticism came after Lewis's Friday promise not to attend the inauguration.

'I don't see this President-elect as a legitimate president,' Lewis, who has represented Georgia's 5th congressional district since 1987, told NBC News.

'I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.'

He added: 'You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong.'

Trump's furious retorts to Lewis - which also derided Lewis's district as being 'in horrible shape and falling apart' and talked of 'burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US' - led to other Democrats refusing to play ball.

New York Representative Yvette Clarke Tweeted Saturday: 'I will NOT attend the inauguration of @realDonaldTrump. When you insult @repjohnlewis, you insult America.'

Clarke's fellow New Yorker, Jerrold Nadler, tweeted: '@realDonaldTrump stands with V. Putin. I stand with @repjohnlewis.'

He was confirmed not to be attending by Politico.

She was joined by three California Representatives - Ted Lieu, Mark Takano and Judy Chu - who had similar objections.

Lieu's office released a statement in which he said: 'While I do not dispute that Trump won the Electoral College, I cannot normalize his behavior or the disparaging and un-American statements he has made.'

He complained about Trump's 'racist, sexist and bigoted statements' and concluded: 'For me, the personal decision not to attend Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis.'

Trump tweeted Friday that Lewis was 'all talk - no action' and called Lewis's district 'falling apart' and 'crime-infested' after Lewis said he would boycott Trump's inauguration

He later doubled down on his claims saying that Lewis should 'finally' focus on 'the burning and crime-infested inner cities'

Among the others who have said they won't be attending are Arizona's Raul Grijalva (left) and California's Judy Chu (right)

Three other Cali Reps won't attend (l-r) Jared Huffman said he would be with constituents; Barbara Lee will be 'organizing resistance' to Trump and Ted Lieu dislikes Trump's statements

New York Congressman Jose E Serrano, who represents the Bronx, said he 'cannot celebrate the inauguration of a man who has no regard for my constituents'

Meanwhile, Takano tweeted: '"All talk, no action." I stand with @repjohnlewis and I will not be attending the inauguration.'

And Chu wrote: 'After much thought, I have decided to #StandWithJohnLewis and not attend the inauguration.'

Mark DeSaulnier tweeted Friday, before Trump's Tweet: 'It is with a heavy heart and deep personal conviction that I have decided not to attend the #TrumpInauguration on January 20, 2017.'

But on Saturday he cast 'shame' on Trump for 'kicking off #MLKWeekend by criticizing one of our most treasured civil rights leaders' and thanked Lewis for his 'service, activism & personal sacrifice for our country'.

Not everyone is spurning the inauguration because of Lewis, however.

Arizona Representative spoke on the house floor Friday, the day before Trump's controversial tweet, saying that he was 'not motivated by disrespect for the office or motivated by disrespect for the government that we have in this great democracy'.

However, he said, he wanted to make 'an individual act... of defiance at the disrespect shown to millions and millions of Americans by this incoming administration, and the actions we are taking in this Congress.'

Oregon Representative Kurt Schrader said Trump 'hasn't proved himself to me at all yet, so I respectfully decline to freeze my a** out there in the cold for this particular ceremony'

Michigan's John Conyers (left) and Massachusetts' Katherine Clark (right) are both refusing to attend. Conyers didn't give a reason, but Clark said she didn't want to attend the 'pageantry'

(l-r) California's Mark Takano took Lewis's side; Missouri's William Lacy Clay will spend Friday with St Louis kids; and Illinois' Luis Gutierrez said Trump wants to 'turn back the clock'

Three more California Representatives, Jared Huffman and Barbara Lee, also threw their lot in with the 'nay' camp.

Huffman said he would rather make 'a positive difference' with his constituents, suggesting he might 'pitch in' building homes or cleaning up flood debris rather than go to DC.

Lee was more strident in her views, saying in a statement that Trump normalized 'the most extreme fringes of the Republican Party.

'On Inauguration Day, I will not be celebrating. I will be organizing and preparing for resistance.'

Friction about the Trump Presidency wasn't restricted to the coasts, however - the Midwest got in on the action too.

Illinois Rep Luis Gutierrez told CNN's New Day he would not attend the swearing-in of a man who would 'turn back the clock on women and turn back the clock on immigrants and the safety and freedom that we fought for them.'

The office of Michigan Representative John Conyers told CNN that he would not attend the inauguration, although no reason was specified.

And on Friday Missouri Representative William Lacy Clay's office told the St Louis Post-Dispatch that he would be 'back home in St Louis speaking to school kids' rather than attending the DC inauguration.

Clay had previously said that he would work with Trump if his policies 'are in the best interest of my constituents in St Louis, and working families across this country.' Otherwise, he said, he would 'vigorously oppose him'.

New York Reps Yvette Clarke (left) and Nydia Velazquez (right) have both declined to attend. Clarke said Trump had 'insulted America' with his remarks about Lewis

NY Rep Adriano Espaillat said his refusal to attend was 'an individual act... of defiance at the disrespect shown to millions and millions of Americans by this incoming administration'

Massachusetts Rep Katherine Clark told The Boston Globe on January 5: 'I support the peaceful transition of power, but I don't feel that I need to attend the pageantry associated with and for this President.'

She was the only one of the Massachusetts congressional delegation who would not attend, the paper said.

Three more New York representatives also swore off the inauguration: Adriano Espaillat, Jose Serrano and Nydia Velazquez.

Espaillat said on Facebook that Trump and his appointees were trying to take the country 'back in time' and said 'the hate-filled rhetoric that plagued his election simply will continue in his administration.'

'THIS is not Dr King's Dream!' he added.

Serrano was more terse, tweeting: 'I will not attend the #inauguration2017 next week- cannot celebrate the inauguration of a man who has no regard for my constituents. #Bronx.'

And Velazquez tweeted that while she wouldn't be present at Trump's swearing-in, 'I... WILL participate in the @womensmarch on January 21st.'

On Friday, Cali Rep Mark DeSaulnier (left) tweeted he would not join in the inauguration, while Oregon Rep Earl Blumenauer (right) said concern among his constituents was 'unprecedented'

New York Representative Jerrold Nadler tweeted that he 'stands with John Lewis' in the argument between the civil rights fighter and the President-elect

That march will take place in DC the day after the inauguration, and according to its website, is set up in response to 'the rhetoric of the past election cycle' which has 'insulted, demonized, and threatened many of us'.

And in Oregon, Representatives Earl Blumenauer and Kurt Schrader both swore off DC on January 20.

Blumenauer said on Facebook that 'there is unprecedented concern by my constituents about the many threats posed by the Trump administration' including 'health, environment, nuclear weapons and immigration [policies]'.

So, he said, he would 'forgo the inauguration' and instead speak to his constituents to 'prepare for the coming assault on the values and programs we hold dear.'

His fellow Oregonean, Shrader, was less poetic.

'I'm just not a big Trump fan. I've met the guy and never been impressed with him, he said to Oregon Public Broadcasting Thursday.

'I'll do my best to work with him when I think he's doing the right thing for the country. But he hasn't proved himself to me at all yet, so I respectfully decline to freeze my a** out there in the cold for this particular ceremony,' he said.

There are many seats to fill at the inauguration, but most Democrats will be present for the event, despite the nearly 20 rebels

On Sunday, as rehearsals (pictured) took place, Trump struck out at 'angry Democrats' saying 'so many Obama Democrats voted for me'

Trump struck out at 'angry' Democrats on Twitter Sunday, in what appeared to be a reference to the increasing numbers of Democrats dropping out.

'The Democrats are most angry that so many Obama Democrats voted for me,' he said in a two-tweet tirade.

'With all of the jobs I am bringing back to our Nation, that number will only get higher. Car companies and others, if they want to do business in our country, have to start making things here again. WIN!'

But he also found himself in hot water once again when it was announced that he had cancelled a Martin Luther King Day visit to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture.

Trump's team announced the visit Saturday, as news of his argument with Lewis spread.

But according senior-level transition sources who spoke to ABC News, Trump will now visit the museum after he has become President.

Mike Pence also came out swinging against Trump's detractors in an interview on Fox News Sunday, calling John Lewis' remarks about his boss 'deeply disappointing'.

VP-elect Mike Pence appeared on Fox News Sunday to defend Trump's tweets against Lewis, saying Lewis' response was 'deeply disappointing' and Trump had 'the right to defend himself'

Veteran host Chris Wallace asked Pence whether Trump's remarks about Lewis were fair - given his work over decades.

'I think Donald Trump has the right to defend himself,' Pence said to kick off his response.

'When someone of John Lewis stature, someone who is not only an icon in the civil rights movement but also someone who by virtue of his sacrifice on that day that we know as Bloody Sunday, he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and it was through that the Voting Rights Act itself - for someone of his stature to use terms like, "this is not a legitimate president", its just deeply disappointing to me.

'And I hope he reconsiders.'

He also said that although Trump had mentioned Lewis in the tweets and specifically referred to 'his district', the remarks were about 'literally generations of failed policies coming out of Washington DC', and not Lewis specifically.

During the rehearsals Sunday, a group of stand-in took the place of Melania and Donald Trump (to the left of the central figure) and Mike and Karen Pence (to the right)

Rehearsals continued Sunday for the big event. DNC interim chair Donna Brazile is another prominent Democrat who will avoid the inauguration

It's not just lawmakers that are giving Trump the cold shoulder - other Democrats have their own plans for the 20th.

According to Politico, Clinton backer David Brock is gathering more than 200 of the left's biggest donors during the inauguration to figure out what the Democrats did wrong last year, and to plot Trump's downfall in years to come.

'What better way to spend inaugural weekend than talking about how to kick Donald Trumps a**?' he said.

Donna Brazile, interim chair of the DNC, will also be ditching DC in favor of a conference in Paris, Politico said.

And a young Democratic operative from the Clinton campaign told the site that those who leave the city are refusing to rent out their homes on AirBNB, as they're worried about having Trump supporters in their home.

However, the Democratic exodus isn't absolute.

Most Democratic lawmakers will still attend to observe the peaceful transition of power.

Hillary Clinton will be among those in attendance.

Trump will be sworn in as the 45th President of the United States on Friday. The Capitol (pictured, during inauguration) is still being prepared for the ceremony




Mark Zuckerberg 'wants to be emperor', according to Facebook staff

Facebook insiders have told how Mark Zuckerberg quotes Greek legends to staff and 'wants to be emperor'.

In the latest indicator that he may one day run for president, Vanity Fair quotes several friends of the CEO who say he is well suited to politics and has designs for a career beyond Silicon Valley.

They say the 32-year-old is naturally drawn to leadership, with the phrase 'he wants to be emperor' apparently 'common' among his peers.

'Hes been incredibly careful about cultivating a specific type of persona over the past few years,' said one friend, suggesting Zuckerberg's move into politics is in the works.

His fascination with Greek legend also seeps into his management style. Zuckerberg is said to have once recited lines from the movie Troy to a packed room of Facebook staff.

When new employees ask why they should join the company, he apparently urges staff to tell them: 'Because people will remember your name.'

While Zuckerberg has yet to make any statement suggesting he will run for office, friends said he would most likely make a bid in 2024 when he is 40.

Earlier this year, Zuckerberg fuelled rumors he was plotting a political bid when he vowed to visit every state in the US.

Announcing his New Year's resolution on his Facebook page, he said: ' My personal challenge for 2017 is to have visited and met people in every state in the US by the end of the year.

'I've spent significant time in many states already, so I'll need to travel to about 30 states this year to complete this challenge.'

He explained he had made the decision after 'a tumultuous year'.

'My hope for this challenge is to get out and talk to more people about how they're living, working and thinking about the future.'

Zuckerberg has designs for a career beyond the technology world, said friends, and is naturally drawn to leadership. He is pictured above with President Obama hosting a town hall in 2011 and with Secretary of State John Kerry last June

At the start of the year, the 32-year-old announced his plan to meet people from every state in the US by visiting them all

He also recently added one of President Obama's senior advisers to the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, a social change initiative which he runs with his wife.

'I'm excited to work with David on this. He has great experience building movements as part of companies like Uber and as campaign manager for Barack Obama's presidential campaign,' he said, excitedly announcing the collaboration earlier this month.

Zuckerberg steered clear of sharing any personal response to the election result.

He shared a photograph of himself with his young daughter watching news coverage of the result and instead spoke about the 'change' he hoped to see instead of acknowledging either candidate specifically.

Zuckerberg reacted to the election result by sharing a photograph of himself watching it with his daughter. His caption spoke of making the world 'better' and his hopes for the future

Even in a leaked memo to staff where he defended board member Peter Thiel for his outspoken support of President-elect Donald Trump, he diplomatically encouraged open mindedness.

Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan are seen above at the White House in 2015

'There are many reasons a person might support Trump that do not involve racism, sexism, xenophobia or accepting sexual assault. I know there are strong views on the election this year both in the US and around the world. We see them play out on Facebook every day.

'We can't create a culture that says it cares about diversity and then exclude almost half the country because they back a political candidate,' the memo said.

Zuckerberg worked enthusiastically with President Obama and his administration during his eight years in office.

The pair hosted a town hall meeting together in Palo Alto in 2011.

He also welcomed Secretary of State John Kerry to Facebook's Silicon Valley headquarters for a private tour in June 2016.

On Saturday, Zuckerberg touted a virtual reality tour of The White House given by Barack and Michelle Obama.

'You can experience anything in virtual reality -- like getting a tour of the White House from the President and First Lady,' he said, uploading the footage.
JINAN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese insurance regulator said that a state insurer used an iPhone and a voice recorder to eavesdrop on inspectors.

China Insurance Regulatory Commission Shandong bureau said Saturday that the eavesdropping devices were found at the Weifang office of Yingda Taihe Property Insurance.

The regulator had been inspecting the Shandong branch.

On Jan. 6, inspectors found the iPhone and voice recorder taped under their chairs. Neither Yingda nor the regulator elaborated on how the tapping devices were found.

"Their purpose was to listen in on the discussions, so that they could obstruct and thwart inspections," sources with the insurance regulator said.

Four people -- Lu Wentao, vice general manager of the Weifang subsidiary, and three other company employees Han Tao, Yang Changhao and Cui Zhao, have been implicated in the incident. Yingda said all four have been removed from their posts and are under investigation.

The Shandong regulator, angered by the scandal, said in a statement that "in a modern society when every one is called upon to learn and obey the law, executives and employees of a state-owned insurance company adopted such gravely improper means to confront inspection. They need to rectify their work ethic, morals and legal consciousness."

It said the company kept large amounts of money off the balance sheet, and tampered with its expenditures.

According to the Insurance Law, those who obstruct inspections can face fines of up to 500,000 yuan (about 72,000 U.S. dollars) and have their business license revoked.

The Yingda company is registered in Beijing.
A union boss has warned that his members will just flout strike laws if they are toughened in a bid to prevent arepeat of the misery endured by Southern Rail passengers.

Steve Hedley, RMT assistant general secretary, hailed the drivers and conductors who have been crippling services as 'absolute heroes' and suggested they would ignore any new legislation.

The remarks emerged as 50 Tory MPs signed a letter urging the government to beef up the rules.

They insisted a judge should rule on whether industrial action on critical public infrastructure is 'reasonable and proportionate'.

Hundreds of thousands of passengers endured another week of travel chaos last week, with drivers on Southern walking out for three days and bringing services to a standstill

Aslef's president Tosh McDonald (left) and RMT chief Mick Cash (right) are adamant they will not back down in the Southern Rail dispute

There should also be a legal obligation for unions to run a 'skeleton' service of at least half of normal journeys.

But Mr Hedley reportedly told TalkRadio last week: 'If they try to bring something like that in we'll just break the law.

'The trade union movement was founded by people breaking unjust laws. Unjust laws are meant to be broken.'

Backbencher Chris Philp first urged Transport Secretary Chris Grayling to introduce tougher laws at the end of last year.

A letter to the Sunday Telegraph also signed by former ministers Dominic Raab, Nick Herbert and Sir Gerald Howarth said: 'We fully respect the right to strike. But this right must now be balanced with the right of the wider public to get to work and get home to see loved ones.'

Hundreds of thousands of passengers endured another week of travel chaos last week, with drivers on Southern walking out for three days and bringing services to a standstill.

There is still no end in sight to the bitter dispute with management over whether conductors or drivers should be responsible for pressing the button to open train doors.

Another tranche of action is due next week, with union bosses such as Aslef's president Tosh McDonald and RMT chief Mick Cash adamant they will not back down.

Steve Hedley, RMT assistant general secretary, hailed the drivers and conductors who have been crippling services as 'absolute heroes' who would ignore any new legislation

The RMT union and the Transport Salaried Staff's Association also held a 24-hour strike on the London underground last week in protest at closures to ticket offices.

The MPs wrote: ''It is not fair that such wide-scale disruption can be caused on so flimsy a pretext. New legislation is needed to require strike action on public infrastructure to be 'reasonable and proportionate' in the eyes of a High Court Judge. There should also be a requirement for a skeleton service to still run on strike days.'

Mr Philp told the Sunday Telegraph: 'We have a few hundred striking rail workers stopping 300,000 people getting to work.

'This is not reasonable, fair or proportionate so a change in the law is needed to recognise the right the general public has to get to work  especially with the threats of militant strike action now being made in other industries and on the rail network in other parts of the country.'
China has rejected President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion he could use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two nations.

The country's foreign ministry described the 'one China' policy as 'non-negotiable', in a statement released on Sunday.

Since recognizing Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory - a status quo that Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election.

China has rejected President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion he could use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two nations

'The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China,' spokesman Lu Kang said.

'That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change.'

The public remarks came after Trump said 'everything is under negotiation, including "one China",' in an interview with the Wall Street Journal.

The comments were the latest indication Trump will shake up the US-China relationship, particularly on Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.

Chinese foreign ministry spokesman Lu Kang described the 'one China' policy as 'non-negotiable' in a statement on Sunday

Trump had claimed on Friday in an interview that everything was up for negotiation between the two countries, including the 'one China' policy

China was already angered by Trump's phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen on December 2, which was the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to Taiwan's leader in nearly four decades.

WHAT IS THE 'ONE CHINA' POLICY? The policy is an admission by countries wanting to deal with mainland China that there is only one legitimate Chinese government - ignoring Taiwan. The island claims to be independent of mainland China and refers to itself as the Republic of China, however the policy dictates any country wanting to forge diplomatic relations with the People's Republic of China cannot have official ties to Taiwan. It was first recognized by the US in 1979, when president Jimmy Carter established formal diplomatic ties with Beijing. The US shuttered its embassy in Taipei as a result. The US has maintained strong 'unofficial' relations with Taiwan, however due to the policy it is not technically recognized. In fact, in the same year it officially signed onto the 'one China' policy, the US passed the Taiwan Relations Act - guaranteeing support for the island nation and pledging to defend it. Advertisement

Beijing considers any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.

Trump then said in a television interview he didn't feel 'bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade.'

After attacking China repeatedly during his campaign, Trump has continued to disparage China on Twitter over its military build-up in disputed areas of the South China Sea, allegedly manipulating its currency to put American companies at a disadvantage, and not doing enough to curb North Korea's nuclear program.

He has also announced a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro, a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book titled 'Death By China.'

Trump told the Journal that he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he takes office, though he repeated his contention that China is manipulating the yuan.

So far, Beijing has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan and to push for positive cooperation between the two sides, though state-run media have run several strongly worded editorials attacking Trump.

Chinese political observers on Sunday said they expected Beijing's response to change once Trump is inaugurated next week.

It is the latest example of Trump angering China, following on from his controversial phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen (pictured) on December 2

Trump has also said a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro (pictured), a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book titled 'Death By China'

'Trump has not taken office yet, so he is an ordinary person now,' Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University, said.

'Therefore, there's no need for China to take his remarks seriously or further respond to what he said.'

Tang Yonghong, a professor at Xiamen University, said China needed to convince Trump 'if he wants to make money from the Chinese mainland, he must be a friend of China instead of being an enemy.'

'I think Trump is handling international relations, including Sino-US relations, with a businessman's logic,' Tang said.

'He wants to see how China will respond to such provocation.'
South Australian jockey Josh Cartwright has been stood down from riding after deliberately ramming into other riders

An Australian jockey has been stood down after intentionally steering his horse into other riders in an alleged bid to allow his Norwegian girlfriend to win the race.

Josh Cartwright, from South Australia, was sitting near the back of the pack with $51 rank outsider 'Senior Council' at Morphettville on Saturday.

As his long-term girlfriend Anna Jordsjo made a charge for the finish line with $4 favourite 'Murti', Cartwright shifted out in the straight and cannoned in to another horse which in turn made heavy contact with the horse to the outside.

Cartwright pleaded guilty to reckless riding in the 1250-metre race, which Jordsjo went on to win - despite a late surge from a heavily disadvantaged Go The Journey.

He has also been stood down from riding pending the determination of a penalty.

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Cartwright (left, circled) was sitting near the back of the pack as his Norwegian girlfriend Anna Jordsjo made a charge for the finish line (right, circled)

Cartwright allegedly made the deliberate collision in a bid to help his girlfriend win the race

Jason Holder, rider of the second affected horse, almost came off but managed to regather and stay on his mount.

SA stewards found Cartwright had directed Go The Journey outwards at an acute angle in a reckless manner around the 200m mark.

Stewards opted to adjourn the inquiry to consider what penalty should apply.

The stewards also stood Cartwright down from all riding including trackwork.

Cartwright holds a dual licence and is scheduled to have his first runner as a trainer in the next few weeks.

Cartwright pleaded guilty to reckless riding in the 1250-metre race, which Jordsjo went on to win (pair pictured together)

Cartwright and Jordsjo's social media accounts are filled with photos of the pair enjoying romantic adventures

In October, Damien Oliver missed several key spring carnival meetings when he became the first Victorian jockey in a decade found guilty of reckless riding and was given a 20-meeting suspension.

In 2015, Brisbane jockey Luke Tarrant was outed for six weeks, reduced to four weeks on appeal, on a reckless riding charge from the Group Three Grand Prix Stakes.

One senior industry participant told The Advertiser the incident was 'disgraceful'.

'That looked absolutely dreadful, one of the worst things I've ever seen,' the participant said.

'It's like he had a total brain-snap. Thank god no one was injured.'
A spate of robberies at Melbourne jewellers has sparked fears organised crime bosses are ordering teenage gangs to carry out crime.

A pack of hooded and armed men set off from IMP Jewellery store in Toorak Village with a haul of valuable loot on Saturday, about 1pm.

Victoria Police and jewellery figures will hold crisis talks next week in response to the recurring robberies, with fears organised crime could be behind the teenage gangs, Herald Sun reports.

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CCTV footage of the robbery at IMP Jewellery store in Toorak Village, Melbourne

'These kids wouldn't have been able to do it on their own,' a jewellery trader told Herald Sun.

IMP Jewellery has an inscription on its goods, so it's likely the jewellery would have been melted down, a trader said.

'You can't take this stuff down to Cash Converters,' an industry source told the paper. 'You really need to be in the know to move it.'

The security seminar between jewellers and police will be held on January 24, Jewellers Association of Australia said.

The men shower a jewellery store with glass after smashing the cabinets with hammers

One of the men bludgeoned a staff member with the butt of a firearm before fleeing the scene with a haul of jewellery

Daily Mail Australia has contacted Jewellers Association of Australia for comment.

The armed robbery on Saturday was the second time the store had been raided in less than three months.

One of the men could be seen bludgeoning a staff member with the butt of a gun. The victim is being treated for non-life threatening injuries.

The alleged offenders then fled in a getaway car and evaded police.

Police gave chase for eight kilometres through South Yarra and Richmond before abandoning the pursuit when it became too dangerous for the public.

Police have released photographs of the men allegedly involved in the Saturday robbery

Police said they were investigating if the latest incident was linked to others

The getaway car is believed to have been stolen. It was later abandoned and found by police in Collingwood.

The raid bears a strong resemblance to the last heist on October 25, when gun-toting bandits wreaked havoc on the store and left with $200,000 in jewellery.

Police said they were investigating if the latest incident was linked to others.

Apex are behind a wave of violent car thefts, home invasions and robberies across Melbourne, sparking a taskforce to be launched specifically to tackle the gang.

Three other jewellers in Melbourne have been robbed already this year.

Store owner Tony Fialides (pictured) has told of his shock at Melbourne's scourge of crime

The store owner hit headlines chasing the armed thieves out of his shop during the previous raid
An inquest into the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell will begin after the police investigation is complete, leaked correspondence confirms.

William was just three years old when he vanished from his grandmother's backyard in Kendall, NSW, on September 12, 2014. He would be seven years old now.

Letters between coronial officials, seen by The Australian, detail the first firm commitment to holding a formal inquest.

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An inquest into the disappearance of toddler William Tyrrell (pictured) will begin after the police investigation is complete, leaked correspondence confirms

However, the police investigation still has hundreds of persons of interest attached to it, so it could be several years before the inquest could begin.

'All coronial matters, not just this matter, take a significant amount of time and resources to proceed to inquest. Some matters can take a few years,' one of the letters, written by Coroners Court registrar Ann Lambino, read.

'In general terms, the coroner does have jurisdiction over Williams disappearance, has police investigating this, and will conduct an inquest once their investigation is complete,' another letter read.

William was just three years old when he vanished from his grandmother's backyard in Kendall, NSW, on September 12, 2014. He would be seven years old now

However, the police investigation still has hundreds of persons of interest attached to it, so it could be several years before the inquest could begin

The correspondence said an inquest had to proceed because coroners exist to find out five factors: Who died, where they died, when they died and the manner and cause of their death.

As it was not even certain that William was dead, all of the factors were in question.

'Therefore this means that an inquest into his disappearance and suspected death must be held.'

The inquest would be conducted by NSW Coroner Michael Barnes, the man who cracked the case of murdered Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe.

Police have reportedly interviewed five people of interest in the William Tyrrell case, including accused paedophiles Tony Jones (right) and William Spedding (left)

The inquest would be conducted by NSW Coroner Michael Barnes, the man who cracked the case of murdered Sunshine Coast teenager Daniel Morcombe

Mr Barnes, known by colleagues as 'Cold Case Barnes' for his influential work in unsolved murders, was instrumental in tracking down Daniel Morcombe's killer.

Police have reportedly interviewed five people of interest in the William Tyrrell case, including accused paedophiles Tony Jones and William Spedding.

Detectives believe William was probably abducted, but was more likely an impulsive act by his captor rather than a planned snatching.

There is a record $1 million reward on offer for information on William's whereabouts.

Daniel Morcombe was just 13 years old when he was abducted from a Queensland bus stop in December, 2003.

After five-and-a-half years of investigations came up dry, Daniel's parents called for a coronial inquest with the hope of finding answers to their son's abduction and murder.

Morcombe (pictured) was just 13 years old when he was abducted from a Queensland bus stop in December, 2003

Held by Mr Barnes, the inquest was held beginning in October 2010 and concluding in April 2011 and called various 'peoples of interest' to give information.

It led to the arrest of paedophile Brett Cowan, who was jailed for life for murdering Daniel Morcombe.
The controversial Centrelink debt-collection program is getting a makeover.

But the Malcolm Turnbull government is standing by the system even as it threatens to erode voter support for the Liberals.

The Department of Human Services is making cosmetic changes to the letters sent to thousands of Australians asking welfare recipients to prove that past payments were not made in error.

Future letters from Centrelink will be written in a more simplified language and will include a designated 1800 number, the Australian reported.

Cosmetic changes are being made to the Centrelink letters sent to thousands of Australians asking welfare recipients to prove that past payments were not made in error

Welfare recipients will also be offered to have an internal review into their payments before debt-recovery begins, according to the Australian.

Additionally, Centrelink will take further measures to ensure letters are sent to recipients' correct addresses.

But Human Service Minister Alan Tudge made it clear the program was going to continue essentially unchanged.

'We do not resile from seeking information from welfare recipients when there's a discrepancy between [Australian Taxation Office] data and self-reporting data: it is a core principle we are sticking by,' Mr Tudge said in a comment to the Australian.

It remains to be seen whether the makeover will be enough to placate the critics who say the system should be scrapped.

Centrelink has been slammed for sending out tens of thousands of letters warning welfare recipients they may be in debt to the government - in what critics say is essentially a shakedown of the nation's neediest.

The letters, which landed on 169,000 doormats across the country last year, urge recipients to confirm past earnings, requiring some to produce pay stubs dating back as long as six years.

If an individual fails to disprove the government's claim, they might find themselves several thousand dollars in debt.

Fresh polling data shows nearly 50 per cent of respondents would be 'less likely' to vote for the Coalition due to 'errors' with the Centrelink system, the Australian reported.

The Malcolm Turnbull government is standing by the system even as it threatens to erode voter support for the Liberals. Mr Turnbull is pictured with Japanese PM Shinzo Abe on Friday

Jack Rogerson, 21, right, was wrongly billed for $3,000 after Centrelink's automated system made an error, his mother told Daily Mail Australia

The polling, which was conducted by ReachTEL and released by the lobby group GetUp!, showed 46.2 per cent of the 2126 respondents said they agreed with 'stopping' the system.

'Government MPs  living such a lavish life on the public purse  can't possibly understand how a false $3,000 debt can send your whole world crashing down,' GetUp! wrote on its website.

Since the program began, dozens of people have stepped forward to claim they were unfairly hounded by Centrelink.

They include a 21-year-old autistic man, whose mother told Daily Mail Australia her son was billed $3,000 after the automated system made an error.

One in five people who received the letters had no outstanding debt, Social Services Minister Christian Porter has admitted.
President-elect Donald Trump will not be paying a visit tomorrow to the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, transition officials told ABC News.

Senior sources initially said that Trump would visit the latest addition to the National Mall as part of his Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance  instead he'll commemorate the civil rights leader in some other way.

The change of plans comes on the heels of a testy back-and-forth between Trump and Rep. John Lewis, a congressman who marched alongside King, and said he didn't consider Trump a 'legitimate president.'

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President-elect Donald Trump will no longer be paying a visit to the new Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture, as the trip wasn't fully planned out

Speaking to NBC's Chuck Todd (left) this week, Rep. John Lewis (right), the most prominent civil rights leader in Congress, called into question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's election

In turn, Lewis said he would not be attending Friday's inauguration ceremonies.

'I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton,' Lewis told Chuck Todd on Meet the Press, in portions of an interview released earlier this week.

The full Meet the Press exchange aired today.

Trump greeted Lewis' comments with a series of tweets, suggesting the Georgia Democrat's district 'is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested).'

'Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!' Trump said.

Lewis represents much of downtown Atlanta, an ethnically diverse area, which features the world's busiest airport and the headquarters of many major American businesses including Delta Air Lines, Coca-Cola and CNN.

The original plan was for Donald Trump to visit the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture to observer Martin Luther King Jr. Day

President-elect Donald Trump sent out a trio of tweets this weekend that were highly critical of civil rights icon, Rep. John Lewis

Trump, as of late, has been feuding with CNN as well, calling the cable channel 'fake news' at his press conference on Wednesday, as he slammed the media organization for mentioning  but not leaking  the dirty dossier in its coverage.

Over the weekend, Trump continued tweeting about the dossier, while complaining about Lewis too.

ABC's transition sources said Trump's visit to the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture was pulled from his calendar due to scheduling issues and because the visit hadn't been fully planned out.

The transition team also announced that Clarence Thomas, the only African-American on the Supreme Court, would be swearing-in Vice President-elect Mike Pence at Friday's ceremony.

Lewis was the original sponsor of the legislation to build an African American history museum on the National Mall, introducing the first bill back in 1988.

He then backed the project for 15 years until Republican President George W. Bush signed it into law.

Lewis' civil rights activism is featured prominently in the museum.
A gang of young girls who allegedly beat up a woman on a train and then made off with her cellphone has been captured on camera making their getaway.

The six teenagers were spotted getting off an L Train in Brooklyn, New York, about 3:30pm on December 23.

Just moments earlier, they had set upon a 28-year-old woman who shook her head at the group for berating another elderly passenger, according to police.

In the alleged attack, the unruly mob repeatedly punched and kicked the woman in the head and body until she dropped her cellphone, DNAInfo reports.

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A gang of six young girls (pictured, left and right) who allegedly beat up a woman on a train and then made off with her cellphone has been captured on camera making their getaway

When the phone hit the carriage floor, the teens were quick to swoop on it and get off the train at Sutter Avenue, police said.

That's when security footage at the station captured them making a break for it and leaving the platform.

Their alleged victim then called police after getting off the train at a later stop.

No arrests have been made in the incident.
A woman who was pumping gas was killed after a car smashed into a New York gas station, pinning her between the pump and her car.

CCTV footage captured the moment the out-of-control vehicle, driven by a woman who was believed to be on drugs at the time of the smash, pinned a fellow driver to the floor on Long Island.

The incident happened on Saturday morning on in the town of Shirley in Suffolk County.

A woman from Long Island has been charged with driving while impaired by drugs after she crashed into a gas pump, which toppled over and pinned another woman, killing her

The driver tried to make a right turn into the Mobil gas station but missed the turn and crashed into the pump

Police say the driver, Renee McKinney, pictured, was on drugs when she attempted to make a right turn into a gas station

Renee McKinney, 53, was driving her 2002 Nissan Altima north on William Floyd Parkway near Moriches Middle Island Road in Shirley at around 11:25 a.m. when she attempted to make a right turn into the Mobil gas station, but missed the turn, police said.

She ended up slamming her car into Rosalie Koenig, 62, who was filling up her 2014 Nissan Frontier on the other side of the pump.

'This car came barreling through,' said Eileen Governale to the New York Post.

'The tires were screeching and they were burning. She plowed into the pump.'

Emergency Services arrived to rescue Koenig, 62, who was crushed between the petrol pump and her own car.

Rosalie Koenig, 66, of Mastic, New York, was pumping gas on the other side and became pinned between the pump and her 2014 Nissan Frontier

She was taken to Stony Brook University Hospital with serious injuries where she died on Sunday morning.

McKinney was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center while her passenger, Iesha Lemay, 33, was unharmed.

McKinney was arrested charged with driving while impaired by drugs.
Two women are fighting for their lives after being mown down by a 30,000 Range Rover 4x4 in a hit-and-run.

The two pedestrians were critically injured in the crash at about 5.45am in Leyton, east London.

Police were appealing for witnesses after a red Range Rover Evoque did not stop after it hit the women.

The two pedestrians were critically injured in the crash at about 5.45am in Leyton, east London

However officers said they have traced the car to an address in nearby Walthamstow and a man, aged 28, and 29-year-old woman were arrested on suspicion of GBH and failing to stop at the scene of an accident

They remain in custody.

A Met Police spokesman said: 'Police are appealing for witnesses after a fail to stop collision in Leyton left two women critically injured.

'Officers were called to reports of two pedestrians injured following a collision in Lea Bridge Road, at the junction with Orient Way, Leyton.

'The collision occurred as the women were crossing Lea Bridge Road. A red Range Rover Evoque struck them as they made their way across the eastbound carriageway.

'Paramedics attended and the women were taken to hospital; they both remain there in a critical condition.

'The car did not stop at the scene, but was subsequently traced to an address in Walthamstow.'

He added that officers from the Serious Collision Investigation Unit were investigating the crash.
BEIJING, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Chinese prosecutors will improve supervision of criminal investigations by the police authorities to ensure better due course of the law and human rights.

Procurator-General Cao Jianming told chief prosecutors at a national meeting on Saturday that the Criminal Procedure Law should be properly implemented and all procuratorial agencies should improve the supervision of the recording, investigation, trial and law enforcement of criminal cases.

Prosecutors were also told to play a greater role in the supervision of death penalty reviews.

China will begin to pilot a program whereby prosecutors are stationed at police stations downtown, the city outskirts and areas with high incidences of crimes, the meeting was told.

Implementation of supervisory system reform measures were stressed to fight corruption.

As procuratorial agencies in relevant pilot regions should properly carry out the reform measures, those in other regions were urged to ensure no weakening in the countercorruption campaign and no change in the "zero tolerance" stance against corruption.
A young easyJet flight attendant was sacked for eating a 4.50 bacon sandwich given to her by her manager on a flight, an employment tribunal heard.

Shannon Gleeson, 22, ate the baguette because she had a nut allergy and had not been able to find safe food to eat while working abroad for the first time.

But she was sacked from the company for gross misconduct and theft after failing to ask her manager if the food had been paid for.

An employment tribunal heard at Cambridge Magistrates Court last week was told that Ms Gleeson had breached company policy by not asking for a receipt.

The panel heard she may have been wrongly dismissed because easyJet's policy placed no obligation on the consumer to see a receipt if food was given to them.

Shannon Gleeson, 22, ate the baguette because she had a nut allergy and had not been able to find safe food to eat while working abroad for the first time

But Gleeson was fired from easyJet for gross misconduct and theft for failing to ask her manager if the food had been paid for (file photo)

Ms Gleeson, who is now 18 weeks pregnant, said: 'I am not a thief and that was what I was labelled as.'

The matter was then settled by the company out of court for an undisclosed sum on January 11 after it was heard there was no way of recording missing stock from a flight.

An investigation was launched by easyJet following the incident aboard a flight from Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport on January 3, 2015.

A fellow crew member told the company she had seen Ms Gleeson and the cabin manager eating a bacon baguette and croque monsieur meant for customers in the galley.

Ms Gleeson, who had been employed by the company for three years, was later called in to a meeting about the investigation.

She apologised for the incident and offered to pay the 4.50 fee but was sacked alongside the cabin manager for theft and gross misconduct.

The hearing heard there was no dispute that Ms Gleeson had eaten the food from her manager and not paid for it herself, but breached company policy by not asking for proof her manager had paid.

Introducing the case on January 10, employment Judge Michael Ord said: 'The actual incident is not in dispute.

'Ms Gleeson ate a bacon baguette and she had not paid for it. That is the extent of the mistake.'

He added: 'If I rang my insurance company and told them my Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow had been stolen they would want to see proof that I owned it.

EasyJet said Gleeson, who's now 18 weeks pregnant, had breached company policy by not asking for a receipt

'You have actually got to show some loss for there to be a theft. I see no evidence that anything was paid for or not paid for.'

The hearing was told the Luton-based company had no way of recording missing stock from a flight and that there was no 'black and white' policy in place for food given to staff.

Ross Fraser, the manager who dismissed Shannon, said: 'It doesn't say it in black and white, but the expectation is there. There is regular communication to all of the cabin crew.'

Judge Ord asked Mr Fraser if they worked together and he 'brought back a cup of tea for everybody would you ask me for a receipt?'

'I would have refused it [the tea],' Mr Fraser said.

Paul Hinton, from easyJet, told the hearing Shannon was an 'accomplice' in the theft.

He said: 'I feel that [offering to pay afterwards] was very much a case of closing the barn door after the horse had bolted.

'I think there was an element of choice. There was an element of knowing the rules were not being followed. I believe Shannon was an accomplice in it.

'There was in my opinion no way that she didn't know that the item was being consumed without the proper authorisation.

'Just because the paperwork didn't show it doesn't mean that it hasn't been stolen.

'It didn't need to be checked in my opinion. The fact that two revenue items had been heated and consumed was enough.'

Judge Ord questioned the fairness of the decision to fire Shannon for gross misconduct.

The matter was then settled by the company out of court for an undisclosed sum on January 11 after it was heard there was no way of recording missing stock from a flight

He said: 'She didn't take it from the trolley. She wasn't responsible for ensuring it was paid for. She accepted what had happened throughout and was open and honest.

'She apologised straight away and she has got three years unblemished, praiseworthy in fact, service.

'What further mediation factors would you have needed to come into play that would avoid dismissal?'

But Mr Hinton said he believed the process had been fair.

'In my 12 years of flying it is very unusual for a crew member to receive an item of revenue (passenger food),' he added.

'It would have raised alarm bells, especially with a crew member of three years' experience. That was the reason behind my decision.'

Judge Ord later said: 'The onus is on the purchaser to make the payment and I see no suggestion that the claimant was the purchaser.'

Representing her daughter, Neisha Gleeson told the court Shannon had only accepted the sandwich because she had a nut allergy and had not been able to find safe food to eat while working abroad for the first time.

Ms Gleeson declined to comment on the tribunal from her home in Bedford on Sunday.

EasyJet said in a statement on Sunday: 'easyJet has settled this matter with Ms Gleeson and so cannot comment in any further detail other than to say that we have clear and well-understood policies and the honesty of our employees is really important.'
Donald Trump's election has 'cast a long shadow' over the Davos International summit as world leaders prepare to discuss the rise in 'populist' leaders.

Critics often accuse the yearly World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps of being a snow-covered playground for well-heeled business and political elites.

But founder Klaus Schwab said this year's event, which opens Monday before a public start Tuesday, is reaching out to populist politicians who have ridden a wave of discontent among the masses.

'It's important to listen to the populists, and actually we have several sessions where we deal with these issues, and we have representatives of populist parties here with us,' Schwab said in an interview Sunday with The Associated Press. 'We have to take it (populism) seriously.'

President and Founder of the World Economic Forum, Klaus Schwab, in Davos, Switzerland where business and world leaders are gathering for the annual meeting

For a forum that strives to take the pulse of the world each year and produce 'a real hub of a global discussion,' Schwab said 'it would be soundly unrealistic and far from realities if we did not integrate the concerns of populists very much into our own deliberation.'

The annual conclave of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alps, grouping 3,000 delegates from the worlds of government, business, science and the arts, has created the caricature of 'Davos Man', a rich, rootless globetrotter who worships with fellow disciples in the church of free trade.

But this year, leaders say that Trump's election has led to uncertainty over the future, and one of the major topics of discussion this year will be whether leaders can agree on the root causes of public anger and begin to articulate a response.

'Regardless of how you view Trump and his positions, his election has led to a deep, deep sense of uncertainty and that will cast a long shadow over Davos,' said Jean-Marie Guehenno, CEO of International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think-tank.

Moises Naim of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was even more blunt: 'There is a consensus that something huge is going on, global and in many respects unprecedented. But we don't know what the causes are, nor how to deal with it.'

Staff members are briefed at the congress center where the annual meeting, World Economic Forum, will take place

A WEF report on global risks released before Davos highlighted 'diminishing public trust in institutions' and noted that rebuilding faith in the political process and leaders would be a 'difficult task'.

The global financial crisis of 2008/9 and the migrant crisis of 2015/16 exposed the impotence of politicians, deepening public disillusion and pushing people towards populists who offered simple explanations and solutions.

The problem, says Ian Goldin, an expert on globalization and development at the University of Oxford, is that on many of the most important issues, from climate change to financial regulation, only multilateral cooperation can deliver results. And this is precisely what the populists reject.

'The state of global politics is worse than it's been in a long time,' said Goldin. 'At a time when we need more coordination to tackle issues like climate change and other systemic risks, we are getting more and more insular.'

For this 47th Davos conference, a record turnout of some 3,000 people will gather around the theme of 'Responsive and Responsible Leadership,' alluding to the challenge of wise decision-making during a time of populist fervor.

Chinese President Xi Jinping, the first Chinese head of state ever to attend the forum, is perhaps the standout among 46 heads of state expected to be on hand. Xi's visit to Davos during an official visit to Switzerland is important, Schwab said, because it shows how the world is moving from a 'unipolar to a multipolar world.'

Swiss police officers walk inside the area of the congress center where the annual meeting will take place in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday

His presence is being seen as a sign of Beijing's growing weight in the world at a time when Trump is promising a more insular, 'America first' approach and Europe is pre-occupied with its own troubles, from Brexit to terrorism.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has the thorny task of taking her country out of the EU, will also be there. But Germany's Angela Merkel, a Davos regular whose reputation for steady, principled leadership would have fit well with the WEF's main theme of 'Responsive and Responsible Leadership', will not.

As for the United States, the incoming Trump administration will be represented by adviser Anthony Scaramucci, a financier who has attended Davos in the past. Schwab said WEF organizers knew Trump wouldn't attend this year because his inauguration Friday is on the conference's last day.

Trump has never attended the forum 'and I'm looking forward to having him here, and having him expressing his ideas,' Schwab said. 'I hope he will join us. I cannot predict that, it depends very much on the future of the politics of the U.S. administration.'

At the Swiss ski resort itself, snow blowers were out, setup crews were drilling their last rivets and audiovisual technicians were putting the final touches on big screens set to welcome glitterati like Matt Damon, will.i.am and Forest Whitaker. U.S. Vice President Joe Biden and Secretary of State John Kerry will also be attending the forum at the nearly mile-high Alpine village.

A man walks past the congress center with his skies where the annual meeting, World Economic Forum, will take place in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday

A worker uses a snow blower to clear the area in front of the congress center

Rightly or wrongly, Davos has become one of the most potent symbols of a growing disparity between the haves and the have-nots since the global financial crisis of 2008.

Trump's election in November, Britain's June vote to leave the European Union and rising populist movements from Poland to the Philippines testify to a rising disgruntlement with ruling elites seen as detached from the people.

'This is among the most important meeting in the WEF's history because business has to take up the challenges that exist in a populist world,' Richard Edelman, president and CEO of the Edelman marketing firm, told the AP.

Edelman said social and economic fears have been 'allowed to fester'  and businesses are best-placed to address them 'by paying their employees fairly, talking with, and empowering their employees.'

John Drzik, president of the global insurance and risk management firm Marsh, said Davos can be useful if it helps to identify and address problems.

'Probably the most positive thing is that there is a collective recognition of something,' he said. 'People who are there certainly have the power to lead, and can shift course.'

The mood is anything but celebratory.

Schwab speaks during an interview with The Associated Press in Davos, Switzerland, Sunday

Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on the final day of the forum.

Last year, the consensus here was that Trump had no chance of being elected. His victory, less than half a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was a slap at the principles that elites in Davos have long held dear, from globalization and free trade to multilateralism.

Trump is the poster child for a new strain of populism that is spreading across the developed world and threatening the post-war liberal democratic order. With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable.

The titles of the discussion panels at the WEF, which runs from Jan. 17-20, evoke the unsettling new landscape. Among them are 'Squeezed and Angry: How to Fix the Middle Class Crisis', 'Politics of Fear or Rebellion of the Forgotten?', 'Tolerance at the Tipping Point?' and 'The Post-EU Era'.

Guy Standing, the author of several books on the new 'precariat', a class of people who lack job security and reliable earnings, believes more people are coming around to the idea that free-market capitalism needs to be overhauled, including those that have benefited most from it.

'The mainstream corporate types don't want Trump and far-right authoritarians,' said Standing, who has been invited to Davos for the first time. 'They want a sustainable global economy in which they can do business. More and more of them are sensible enough to realize that they have overreached.'

But Ian Bremmer, president of U.S.-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, is not so sure.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news conference at Trump Tower on January 11

He recounted a recent trip to Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York where he saw bankers 'rejoicing in the elevators' at the surge in stock markets and the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation under Trump. Both Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his JP Morgan counterpart Jamie Dimon will be in Davos.

'If you want to find people who are going to rally together and say capitalism is fundamentally broken, Davos is not the place to go,' Bremmer said.

Suma Chakrabarti, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), believes a 'modern version of globalization' is possible but acknowledges it will take time to emerge.

'It is going to be a long haul in persuading a lot of people that there is a different approach. But you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water,' he told Reuters.

Still, some attendees worry that the pace of technological change and the integrated, complex nature of the global economy have made it more difficult for leaders to shape and control events, let alone reconfigure the global system.

The global financial crisis of 2008/9 and the migrant crisis of 2015/16 exposed the impotence of politicians, deepening public disillusion and pushing people towards populists who offered simple explanations and solutions.

The problem, says Ian Goldin, an expert on globalization and development at the University of Oxford, is that on many of the most important issues, from climate change to financial regulation, only multilateral cooperation can deliver results. And this is precisely what the populists reject.

'The state of global politics is worse than it's been in a long time,' said Goldin. 'At a time when we need more coordination to tackle issues like climate change and other systemic risks, we are getting more and more insular.'
The family of a 39-year-old woman diagnosed with dementia are fundraising so she can have one last road trip with her husband before her memories are 'taken away'.

Laura Borrell, from Hertfordshire, had to give up a law degree and became afraid to leave the house when she found herself easily confused, forgetful and struggled with her speech.

In June 2015 tests revealed she had frontotemporal degenerative dementia - a condition very rarely seen in anyone under the age 65.

Laura Borrell (pictured) had to give up a law degree and became afraid to leave the house when she found herself easily confused, forgetful and struggled with her speech

In June 2015 tests revealed she had frontotemporal degenerative dementia, which usually comes on in people aged 65 and older. Her family are fundraising so she can create memories with her husband, Philp, (pictured together) before hers are 'taken away'

Medics do not know how quickly her cognitive functions will decline, but Mrs Borrell, has been warned she will lose her short-term memory, forget familiar people and eventually become reliant on her husband.

Her family are now trying to raise 2,000 in a bid for Mrs Borrell and her husband Philip, 41, to be able to make some memories before they are 'taken' from her.

Mrs Borrell said: 'I haven't even had my 40th birthday but already I feel like life as I knew it is over.

'Not knowing how long I have left before I need further care is torture.

'I might wake up in five years' time and not recognise my husband, or it could happen in six months, we don't know.

Medics do not know how quickly her cognitive functions will decline, but Mrs Borrell, has been warned she will lose her short-term memory

'All I can do is try and make as many memories as possible while I still have them.'

The couple have now created a Go Fund Me page in the hope of raising funds so they can go on a road trip around America before Mrs Borrell's memory declines.

They have raised 1,600 so far and say they are in a 'race against time' to create special memories together.

When Mrs Borrell was 32-years-old she diagnosed with Ehlers-danlos syndrome, lupus and blood clotting condition Hughes Syndrome at St Thomas's Hospital in London.

She was then advised she would spend the rest of her life on medication and to never have children as pregnancy would put her health at risk.

Four years later in 2015 Mrs Borrell began slurring speech and she got 'muddled' with words.

She recalled: 'I was two years into a law degree at the time and suddenly I was struggling with my language in a way I never had before.

'I'd confuse certain words for others and sometimes would forget words entirely.

The have raised 1,600 so far and say they are in a 'race against time' to create special memories together

'It meant I got muddled and couldn't keep up with what lecturers were saying.

'There were changes in my personal life, too.

'My mum would call for a chat and I'd be unable to recognise her voice, despite the fact we talk all the time and are extremely close.

'Though I knew things weren't right I didn't want to acknowledge what was going on because I was scared of what my symptoms might mean.'

Mrs Borrell's symptoms became progressively worse and she dropped out of her law degree at the University of London, despite having another two years of the course still to complete.

NHS medics did brain scans and blood tests but Mrs Borrell then spent 2,000 on private consultations to hurry tests as her symptoms worsened.

When Mrs Borrell was 32-years-old she diagnosed with Ehlers-danlos syndrome, lupus and blood clotting condition Hughes Syndrome

Mrs Borrell said: 'I heard the word 'dementia' and felt sick. Like most people, I associated the condition with elderly people - whereas I'm not even 40 yet.

'I was told my cognitive functions would become increasingly impaired and I was likely to forget familiar people, places and things and become more dependent on loved-ones.

'I cried at the thought of losing my independence and not recognising my own husband. It felt like a shadow had just been cast over the rest of my life.'

On Monday she will return to hospital to be given the blood thinner Warfarin, in an 'experimental' attempt to stunt the symptoms

It is thought that Mrs Borrell has an autoimmune form of the condition that could be linked to the fact she has blood clotting condition Hughes Syndrome.

She was told not much research has been done on this particular form of dementia, and that it could be influenced by levels of glucose to the frontal lobe of the brain, which controls cognitive functions.

On Monday she will return to hospital to be given the blood thinner Warfarin, in an 'experimental' attempt to stunt the symptoms.

Mrs Borrell said: 'Philip was so supportive but we were both devastated. We've only been married five years and should have been looking forward to a lifetime of good times.

'Instead, I felt like I was a ticking time bomb with no idea how long I'd have to make memories before I forgot them.'

After being afraid to leave the house Mrs Borrell now spends days at home reading and playing the flute in an attempt to keep her mind as 'agile as possible'.

She said her husband Philip, a software project manager, has been her 'rock', and added: 'It's so hard for him knowing my condition will only get worse.

'But he is determined to make the best of our situation so we can embrace the time we have before things become too hard.'

In November, they decided to fundraise 2,000 to take a trip to America together where they hope to rent an RV van and drive for several weeks.

She has been told she will spend the rest of her life on medication and was advised to never have children as pregnancy would put her health at risk

Mrs Borrell said: 'I want to create memories with Philip while I can, before my ability to take things in is taken from me completely.

'So now we're racing against the clock, knowing my cognitive functions are likely to get much worse in the next few years.

'We honeymooned in America and I loved it, I've always been desperate to go back there and create more memories.

'I have no idea how long I'll still be able to do that, so we hope to go soon.'
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A house in Washington D.C.'s most elite neighborhood - home to the Obamas and Ivanka Trump, has gone on the market for $5.75 million.

The elegant six bedroom home, completed in the Federal Revival style, is at Six Kalorama Circle - just one block from Barack Obama and his family's post-presidency property.

The current First Family are moving into a $5.3million home in Kalorama on Inauguration Day, so 15-year-old Sasha Obama can finish out high school at the Sidwell Friends School. The Obamas are leasing the house from Bill Clinton's former press secretary Joe Lockhart and his wife Giovanna Gray, who works for Glamour magazine.

A house in Washington D.C.'s most elite neighborhood - home to the Obamas and Ivanka Trump, has gone on the market for $5.75 million

The elegant six bedroom home boasts a light and airy glass conservatory which has views over the backyard

The house, at at Six Kalorama Circle, also has a large modern kitchen in a minimalist monochrome style

The $5.75 million home is just one block from Barack Obama and his family's post-presidency property

The house, which is also a stone's throw from Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner's new home, also featured awood paneled library

Ivanka Trump and her husband, Jared Kushner, have also been house-hunting in the area, to put themselves close to Ivanka's father when Donald Trump takes the White House.

Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has also just spent $23 million to buy the biggest home in the area. The billionaire, who became the second richest person in the world this year, bought the 27,000 square-foot former Textile Museum to turn it into a pied-a-tierre in the city for himself and his family, the Washington Post reports.

Now you can become their new neighbor - if you have almost $6 million to spare.

The three-story 1930s home boasts six bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two partial baths, sunlit breakfast room and kitchen, four fireplaces, a formal dining room and a wood paneled library.

Amazon founder and Washington Post owner Jeff Bezos has also just spent $23 million to buy the biggest home in the area. Now you can become their new neighbor and own this stunning dining room - if you have almost $6 million to spare

The three-story 1930s home boasts six bedrooms, five full bathrooms and two partial baths and a sunlit breakfast room

The large home also has a kitchen, four fireplaces, a formal dining room and a wood paneled library

The large brick fireplace opens into a spacious living room perfect for entertaining - which may come in useful if - as is expected - members of Trump's incoming administration choose to live in the area

The home has large, spacious rooms - including five bathrooms, two half baths and six bedrooms

The home appears to be a bargain at $5.75 million, as another Federal-style home, situated next door, has gone on the market for $7.9 million

This current property has been on the market for several months. But its broker, Michael Rankin at TTR Sotheby's International Realty, is confident that it will be snatched up soon by members of the incoming Trump administration

There is also a glass conservatory and a roof deck, offering a 'commanding' view across the neighborhood - perhaps even over the home's famous neighbors.

Six Kalorama Circle also has a four-car garage, a private elevator, multiple original features, while the property boasts a large and level lawn.

Brokers and locals have already been speculating about what impact the presidential presence of the Obamas, and incoming First Daughter Ivanka Trump will have on property prices in the area.

But Kalorama has long been home to Washington's rich and powerful.

The house is based in Washington D.C.'s most elite neighborhood - which is also home to the Obamas (right) and Ivanka Trump (left)

Six Kalorama Circle also has a four-car garage, a private elevator, multiple original features, while the property boasts a large and level lawn

There is also a glass conservatory and a roof deck, offering a 'commanding' view across the neighborhood - perhaps even over the home's famous neighbors

The charming property comes alive at night when the light shows off the spacious home's multiple large windows

Brokers and locals have already been speculating about what impact the presidential presence of the Obamas, and incoming First Daughter Ivanka Trump will have on property prices in the area. But Kalorama has long been home to Washington's rich and powerful

The ambassadors of France, Monaco, the Netherlands, and Greece all live in the neighborhood while the Turkish Embassy is around the corner from Ivanka's new home.

This current property has been on the market for several months.

But its broker, Michael Rankin at TTR Sotheby's International Realty, is confident that it will be snatched up soon by members of the incoming Trump administration.

'As we get the next wave of people coming into the administration,' he told Bloomberg. 'You can be sure that we'll see more of them winding up in Kalorama.'

And this one appears to be a bargain at $5.75 million, as another Federal-style home, situated next door, has gone on the market for $7.9 million.
'Pure guff': Max Mosley denies funding for Impress came from his fascist father Oswald

Max Mosley has denied money to fund press regulator Impress was put together by his father and 1930s fascist leader Oswald Mosley.

His rebuttal came as footage emerged of a young Mosley appearing to punch out at a policeman during a fascist rally in 1962.

Speaking about the funding for the only officially-recognised UK press regulator, the former motor racing boss said he inherited the money from Oswald, adding his father received it from his father, with the cash passed down through the years.

Mr Mosley said the cash is 'family money' from a family trust, adding it is 'impossible' for him to exert any influence over Impress.

He also said it is 'pure guff' for media outlets to suggest the proposals for press regulation would benefit conmen, warlords and politicians.

The Independent Press Regulation Trust agreed to a 3.8 million, four-year funding deal for Impress and said this money has been guaranteed by the Alexander Mosley Charitable Trust.

This was set up by Mosley, a victim of a newspaper sting involving images of him at a sex party, with Impress also receiving a 'generous' donation from writer JK Rowling.

Newspapers could soon be forced to pay their opponents' legal costs linked to libel and privacy actions, even if they win in court, if they are not signed up to an officially-recognised regulator.

Section 40 of the Crime and Courts Act 2013, which contains the provisions, has yet to be implemented - much to the frustration of victims of press abuse.

Questioned about where the money for Impress has come from, Mosley told BBC One's Sunday Politics: 'The money comes from a family trust. It's family money. The thing is you have to understand somebody had to do this.'

Pressed on the issue, and whether it was put together by his father, Mr Mosley replied: 'Not put together by my father - my father inherited it from his father and from his father.

'The whole of the middle of Manchester once belonged to the family, that's why there's a Mosley Street.

Sir Oswald Mosley, father of Max, was the founding leader of the British Union of Fascists

Footage has emerged that shows a young Max Mosley appearing to punch out at a policeman during a fascist rally in 1962. The British Pathe newsreader reports that Mosley was arrested

'This is actually completely irrelevant, because as we have given the money, I have absolutely no control.

'If you do the most elementary checks into the contract between my family trust, the trust that finances Impress, it is impossible for me to exert any influence. It's just the same as if it'd come from the National Lottery.'

Presenter Andrew Neil said people would find it ironic that money to fund the press regulator has come from Britain's 'historically best-known fascist'.

Mosley replied: 'You see it hasn't.'

He added it has come from a family with deeper historical roots than his father, adding: 'That's why there's a Mosley Street in Manchester. This is complete drivel, because the fact of the matter is we have no control.

'Where the money comes from doesn't matter. If it had come from the National Lottery, exactly the same, Impress is completely independent.'

Mosley also told Neil: 'I do not have a vendetta of the press and stop saying that, it's not true. You submit evidence for it or don't put it forward.'

He also repeatedly said the press could start their own Leveson-compliant regulator, stating this would leave them with no complaints.

Most newspapers have signed up to rival regulator the Independent Press Standards Organisation (Ipso), the press-funded body which has not sought official recognition.

Sir Oswald, with his wife, Lady Diana Mosley, had four sons, including former racing boss Max

Mosley said: 'What they all omit is a full reading of section 40, because that cost shifting will only apply if 'it's just and equitable in all circumstances'.'

The broadcaster asked Mosley to address the view that media outlets think the proposals are a 'charter for conmen, warlords, crime bosses, dodgy politicians, celebrities with a grievance against the press'.

Mosley replied: 'It's pure guff and the reason they're doing this is they want to go on marking their own homework, as they have ever since the war, despite seven investigations.

'So the fact of the matter is the press do not want to make sure that life is fair.

'All I want is somebody who has got no money to be able to sue in just the same way as I can.'

Conservative former culture secretary John Whittingdale said he did not believe the Government will repeal section 40.

He told the same programme: 'What I'm arguing for is not to implement it, but it will remain on the statute book.

'And if it then became apparent Ipso simply was failing to work, not delivering effective regulation and the press were behaving in a way that was wholly unacceptable as they were 10 years ago, then there might be an argument at that time to think in that case we are going to have to take further measures, of which section 40 might be one.'

Mosley's discussion of how Impress would be funded came as footage from the British Pathe archive emerged showing him as a young man appearing to punch out at a policeman during a fascist rally in 1962.

The newsreader can be heard reporting: 'Sir Oswald's son Max was among those later arrested'.
Spanish police have seized 12,000 firearms worth a staggering 9 million including heavy machine guns capable of shooting down a passenger jet.

The terrifying cache featured military assault rifles, heavy machine guns and an assortment of handguns.

Four men and one woman were arrested following a lengthy investigation.

Spanish police photographs of some of the weapons seized as part of the major investigation

As well as the guns, officers seized thousands of euro in cash as well as ammunition

The gang purchased decommissioned assault rifles and converted them back to operational

It is understood members of the gang legally purchased decommissioned firearms and then returned them to full operation in an illegal gun shop.

It is understood the killers in the Charlie Hebdo attack used a similar method to secure firearms.

A spokesman for the Spanish Government said: "This modus operandi used to purchase weapons is the same as the one used for the attacks carried out in Paris on January 7th, 2015, against employees of the satirical weekly "Charlie Hebdo", in which 12 people were killed and another 11 injured, all with recommissioned weapons acquired at the time from a Slovak gunsmith.'

He also confirmed the police operation stemmed from the surveillance carried out on the weapons used by a terrorist in the attack against a Jewish museum in Brussels on May 24th 2014, in which four people were killed by shots fired by a citizen of French nationality and Algerian origin.

Under-cover agents from Bilbao, Girona, Barcelona, Santander and Valencia were involved in the investigation.

Once the decommissioned weapons were legally sourced, they were taken to a 'sophisticated workshop' in Guecho and reactivated.

Several heavy machine guns were part of the massive haul made by Spanish police

The haul including a wide range of military-grade weapons worth 9 million

So far, more than 8,000 military weapons ready for sale have been seized, including 29 long arms, various short arms, several canons and a range of ammunition of differing calibres.

The Spanish Government says police are continuing to crackdown on the illegal sale of weapons to organised crime gangs and terrorists. The police operation is being supported by EUROPOL, which has provided specialists to the team working in this area.
A fire that gutted a Washington mosque was said to be started by a homeless man who had previous altercations with worshipers there.

Isaac Wayne Wilson, 37, was arrested after he was discovered lying on a ground in a parking lot near the Islamic Center of Eastside, in a Seattle suburb, where a fire broke out in the middle of the night.

Bellevue Police Chief Steve Mylett said Wilson was arrested on suspicion of second degree arson, and on an outstanding warrant for felony first degree malicious mischief in Seattle.

A fire that gutted a Washington mosque was said to be started by a homeless man who had previous altercations with worshipers there

Firefighters found heavy fire on the first and second floors, but quickly prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the building. It was the only mosque in Bellevue before the fire

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Police and fire agencies received several calls alerting them to a fire at the center around 2:45 am, and arrested the suspect withing seven minutes of the 911 call.

Firefighters found heavy fire on the first and second floors, Fire Chief Mark Risen said, adding that firefighters quickly prevented the fire from spreading to other parts of the building.

The fire completely destroyed the north side of the 1970s vintage wooden building, but there were no injuries, the Seattle Times reported.

Imam Faizel of the Islamic Center of Eastside said he was shocked by the incident.

'As a community, yes we are heartbroken, we are sad that we have lost our place of worship. I have been the imam there for 16 years and never have we ever experienced anything like this,' he told a news conference.

Imam Faizel of the Islamic Center of Eastside said he was shocked by the incident in a news conference. He said 'As a community, yes we are heartbroken, we are sad that we have lost our place of worship. I have been the imam there for 16 years and never have we ever experienced anything like this'

It was the only mosque in Bellvue, and drew thousands of people for prayer, according to the Seattle times.

The motive remains unknown, Mylett said, and the incident is under investigation.

Court records show that Wilson has had run-ins for years with the police, according to KUOW.

He is currently being held at the King County Correctinal Facility in Seattle without bail, and authorities are looking into whether or not this was a hate crime, according to CNN.

The mosque solicited donations on its web site to rebuild, saying 'Together we can build something better, bigger, and beautiful.'

Mayor John Stokes said during a news conference: 'We want our Muslim brothers and sisters to know we stand with them'.

He also said that fire fighters were able to salvage many of the mosque's holy books, which are important to the place of worship, reported the Seattle Times.

Before and after: A fire gutted a Bellevue mosque and destroyed the north side of the 1970s vintage wooden building, but there were no injuries. Mosque leaders have launched a rebuilding fund on LaunchGood with a $500,000 goal

Mosque leaders are posting updates to the Muslim community, and have launched a rebuilding fund on on LaunchGood, with a $500,000 goal.

Varisha Khan, a senior at the University of Washington, said to the Times: 'It was really my second home. I was crying for quite a while.'

The Council on American-Islamic Relations in Washington state posted on Facebook, asking people not to: 'jump to conclusions about the motive,' saying that authorities 'have the situation under control', according to CNN.
A trade deal with the US could be sealed within just three months of Donald Trump entering the White House, Nigel Farage has predicted.

The former Ukip leader said the desire to reach a deal with Britain was so great in the president-elect's team that an agreement could be fast-tracked.

But he warned Theresa May would then be left with a decision whether to defy the EU by implementing the package before Brexit negotiations were complete.

The Prime Minister is desperately hoping to lay the groundwork for a trade deal with America when she meets Mr Trump for the first time in Washington over the coming weeks.

Nigel Farage told Sky News he expected the Trump administration to make clear it wants 'to get this done in three months'

Striking an arrangement with the US would show that Britain is still 'open for business' and a big player after the historic decision to cut ties with Brussels.

Mrs May is expected to stress the importance of boosting trade when she delivers a crucial speech on Brexit this week. Last week the PM held talks with New Zealand counterpart Bill English in Downing Street, where both stressed their desire to reach a deal.

Philip Hammond also signalled a more combative attitude to the EU today, threatening to slash taxes to lure in business if the bloc tries to 'wound' the UK in looming negotiations.

Mr Farage, who has already met Mr Trump twice since his victory, told Sky News today that while the president-elect's team was worried about being undercut by competitors such as China, they were keen to foster ties with 'equivalent' nations.

'I am absolutely certain, knowing not just Trump, but many of the Trump team, they want to show the outside world that they are not protectionist,' Mr Farage said.

'They're worried about trade with places like China. Where state subsidy is closing down steel production in America, or we could even argue South Wales, come to that. But when it comes to countries that are equivalent, they are open to doing business.

'I suspect within the first few months of a Trump presidency, there will be a big statement from (prospective US commerce secretary) Wilbur Ross, or someone like that, saying "we want to do this".'.

Mr Farage said he expected the Trump administration to make clear it wants 'to get this done in three months'.

Mr Farage, who has already met Mr Trump twice since his victory, said while the president-elect's team was worried about being undercut by competitors such as China, they were keen to foster ties with 'equivalent' nations

Last week the PM held talks with New Zealand counterpart Bill English in Downing Street, where both stressed their desire to reach a trade deal

'Then it's going to be up to the British government to respond to it,' he said.

The timescale floated by Mr Farage is far more compressed than that expected by most economists, who say it could take years to thrash out sensitive details of tariffs and access to markets.

The UK is also not legally able to strike a deal until the Article 50 process for leaving the EU is complete.

Mr Farage said people should be asking 'why is it taking so long?
The marriage advice Barack Obama dishes out to those inside his White House has been revealed.

Obama, who celebrated his 24th wedding anniversary last October, would advise those on his staff weighing up a proposal to ask themselves two simple questions.

The first question, according to the New York Times, was, 'Do you love her?'. The second was, 'Do you know for a fact that she wants to marry you?'

Obama's marriage advice helped convince Jonathan Capehart (right) to propose to his partner, Nick Schmit (left). The couple tied the knot earlier this month

Barack and Michelle Obama got married in October 1992. They are pictured together on their wedding day

And those two questions played a pivotal role in a proposal that led to former attorney general Eric Holder crying tears of joy as he married two men in Washington earlier this month.

Jonathan Capehart, a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer with the Washington Post, and former State Department assistant chief of protocol Nick Schmit, tied the knot at the Jefferson Hotel in DC on January 7.

During the ceremony Holder wiped away tears as he oversaw the wedding of Capehart, 49, and Schmit, 36.

'Ive done I dont know how many weddings... this is the first time Ive ever shed a tear as the officiant,' Holder said.

Schmit (left) and Capehart (right) married at the Jefferson Hotel in Washington DC on January 7. Former attorney general Eric Holder (middle) served as their officiant

Capehart (right) decided to propose after Obama's marriage advice was passed on to him by Valerie Jarrett. Obama's advice is to ask yourself two questions, 'Do you love (your partner)?' and 'Do you know for a fact that (your partner) wants to marry you?'

But since the ceremony, Capehart has revealed how Obama's advice - delivered to him by proxy - was the final push he needed to propose to his partner of six years.

The 49-year-old told the Times Valerie Jarrett, one of Obama's most trusted advisers, passed on the President's wedding advice while badgering him about not having already proposed at a cocktail party in February 2016.

'She was at it again,' he told the newspaper. 'I said, "Come on," and she said, "Jonathan, whats the problem? Whats going on?"

'Then she said: "I'm going to tell you what the president tells young straight guys who are on his staff and are in relationships. The first question he asks is, "Do you love her?" The next is, "Do you know for a fact that she wants to marry you?"

Valerie Jarrett (middle, in 2014) gave Capehart - a Pulitzer Prize-winning writer with the Washington Post - the advice in February 2016

The newly married couple is seen posing for a picture with NBC News anchor Andrea Mitchell

'If the answer to both those questions is yes, then you have to get married. If you dont want to, then you should end the relationship.'

After receiving that presidential push, Capehart decided it was time to propose, doing so a few months later while on a summer vacation in Italy.

The couple originally planned to marry at some stage later this year, however after the result of the election they decided to speed up the ceremony - considering the incoming administration is likely to be much less friendly to the LGBT community than Obama's has been.

President Barack Obama smiles next to his senior adviser Valerie Jarrett (left) during the graduation ceremony of the class of 2013 at Morehouse College in Atlanta

Barack and Michelle Obama are seen together on their wedding day more than 24 years ago in October 1992

Speaking at the ceremony, Jarrett said she was 'very pleased' her friend, Capehart, took her - and the president's - advice.

'When you find somebody who you truly love, what are you waiting for?' she said, before going on to somewhat surprisingly thank Donald Trump.

'All of us in this room are still mourning the outcome of this election,' she said, according to the Times.

'But lets give the devil his due. Id like to personally thank Donald Trump for one thing: accelerating our opportunity to watch Nick and Jonathan merge their two lives into one.'

President Barack Obama (left) served as a groomsman in the wedding of his longtime staffer and most frequent golf partner Marvin Nicholson (right), as he exchanged vows with Helen Pajcic (center)

Obama is no stranger to offering support and guidance to his staff on their nuptials.

Just earlier this month he served as a groomsman in the Florida wedding of his longtime staffer and most frequent golf partner Marvin Nicholson.

The White House trip director and the president's personal aide married Helen Pajcic at a private evening ceremony in Jacksonville at the One Ocean Resort and Spa.

Photographs from the nuptials show a smiling Obama posing next to the blushing bride and a smiling Nicholson.
Nearly 2,000 foreign criminals who were eligible for deportation are still in the UK more than five years after being released from jail.

Campaigners have slammed the Home Office for its failure to deport foreign criminals.

In total, there are almost 6,000 criminals awaiting deportation. The figure has jumped by almost a quarter since 2014.

William Danga is serving 15 years in jail after he raped two young girls while on bail

The Home Office faced considerable criticism over its controversial bill board system

National Victims Association spokesman David Hines told the Sunday Mirror: 'I am fed up to the back teeth of offenders being looked after more than victims.

'Foreign criminals should be collected at the doorstep of the prison and removed from the country.

'It is not fair on the victims, it is putting the public at risk and it is not fair on taxpayers who are having their money wasted on endless appeals.'

One case which caused particular anger was that of Congolese national William Danga. While on immigration bail awaiting deportation, he raped and violently assaulted two young girls.

The Home Office had been told to deport Danga in 2006 after he served a jail term for raping a 16-year-old girl.

The first attempt at deporting him failed as he had lost his passport.

Then a subsequent deportation bid had been foiled because he has children born in the UK and it was ruled he had a right to a 'family life'.

At his sentencing hearing in 2011, it emerged he was on bail at the time of the crime. He was later sent down for 15 years.

While on bail he struck again. He was jailed again in 2011, for 15 years.

According to the Home Office: 'We are determined to deport any foreign national offender who poses a threat to the UK. Last year we removed over 5,800, the highest number ever. Since 2010, we have removed nearly 33,000.'
'Do It Right Away' Office established in Shaanxi

The establishment of a new "Do It Right Away" Office in Lantian County, Shaanxi province has garnered widespread attention. The office, as its name suggests, urges the prompt solution of various affairs.

As part of the efficiency reform of the Xi'an municipal government, the new office was established after a meeting presided over by county magistrate Chen Shunli on the evening of Jan. 11. Six employees currently staff the office, soon to be joined by between 10 and 15 more.

According to Wang Yuandong, the office head, he and his staff handle various matters about which individuals or companies lodge official complaints. They also urge related departments to solve such matters in a timely fashion.

On Jan. 12, Gou Hanmin, 72, came to the office to complain about a problem with his telephone.

I came specially to the Do It Right Away Office to solve my problem, Guo said.

Gou is the first citizen the office ever received. After filling out a form and writing down Guos address, a staff member promised Guo that they would contact the appropriate department and ask them to go to Guo's home the very next day.

The county government hopes the name of the office can send a signal to citizens that their government truly is efficient. The office is expected to serve as a kind of lubricant for other governmental departments.
More than 5,000 bikers are expected to descend on Washington, DC, for the inauguration of Donald Trump on Friday in a dramatic display of support.

Chris Cox, 48, is organizing what he hopes will be a sizable rally for America's pro-Trump bikers, complete with musical performances and speakers - and he says they will have another purpose.

'In the event that we are needed, we will form a wall of meat,' he told Fox & Friends Saturday, adding that while the group is non-violent, they would stand up to any dangerous protesters.

'We'll be shoulder to shoulder with our brothers and we'll be toe-to-toe with anyone who's going to break through police barriers,' he said.

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Bike in action: Chris Cox (not pictured) is the organizer of Bikers for Trump; he says over 5,000 members will descend on DC Friday for the inauguration - and to potentially protect crowds

Supporter: Cox (pictured meeting Trump in May) will host a rally, including speakers and music, during the inauguration. The bikers will also help if protesters break police lines he said

Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a>

Despite his fighting talk, Cox said that he expects a peaceful transition and that his team will only be there was a last resort to deal with people who are 'assaulting women, spitting on them, throwing things at them'.

Bikers for Trump has 200,000 members, Cox claims, and he hopes they will draw in more from the nation's millions of motorcycle enthusiasts - particularly the many veterans and blue-collar workers supportive of Trump's presidency.

Cox started the group during the early days of Trump's campaign.

He says he was energized by the then-unlikely candidate's rhetoric - particularly his demands for a hands-off, small government.

It was that message, the traveling chainsaw artist explained, that made him an unlikely supporter of the Manhattan billionaire.

'I'm not going to spend much time critiquing the vessel of the message,' Cox told The Washington Post. 'It's the message I'm interested in.'

He also says that despite the image of bikers as white supremacists, Bikers for Trump is a multiracial group that pushes for 'racial reconciliation'.

Wheely enthusiastic: Cox also hopes to get Trump to support a bill he lobbied for. Pictured: Bikers, including Trump supporters, at a First Amendment demonstration in May

Cox has another motive: He's hoping to promote a bill that lobbied for, which calls for national parks and monuments to remain open even when Washington is closed.

That bill has been snarled up in red tape, and Cox - who also made headlines in 2013 when he mowed the lawn around the Lincoln Memorial during the government shutdown - hopes that Trump will help.

'My goal is for the bill not only to pass, but for it to pass with the most co-sponsors in the history of the House of Representatives,' he said.

'I'm optimistic that when Donald Trump sees it, he'll be for it.'

Cox has met Trump a number of times before - and says that the President-elect even called him to thank him for his organizing efforts.

But he said he didn't ask Trump about the bill.

'I didn't want to bog him down with anything unrelated,' he explained. 'It was a matter-of-fact conversation that I would have with my friends. We laughed a bunch.'
A police officer confronted by a fleeing gunman suspected of shooting three people fatally shot the man early Sunday, Chicago police said.

Officers were on routine patrol in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the city's West side when they heard gunshots and began chasing a 34-year-old man, police said.

'Officers initiated a foot pursuit during which the offender ran to an alley and confronted them with a weapon. As a result of this action, one of the pursuing officers discharged his weapon striking the offender multiple times,' police said in a statement.

Twenty-four people have been shot across the city over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend, leaving seven dead, according to Chicago Police (file photo from January 1, 2017)

Officers requested medical aid for the suspect, police said. The man was later pronounced dead at a hospital, the statement said.

The man's name was not immediately released. Police did not release the race of the gunman or the officers. They recovered a weapon at the scene.

No officers were injured.

The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the incident, police said. It said the officer who fired the shots will be placed on administrative duties for 30 days.

Three people were found shot in the area where the officers initially heard the gunshots, police said.

Shortly after midnight on Sunday on the West Side, Chicago Police officers chased and shot an armed man several times in the East Garfield Park neighborhood (file photo)

Two weeks ago, residents, activists, friends and family members of victims of gun violence marched carrying nearly 800 wooden crosses bearing the names of people murdered in 2016

A 51-year-old female sustained a gunshot wound to her chest and was hospitalized in stable condition.

A man, 30, who was shot in the buttocks was listed in stable condition. A 21-year-old woman was grazed on her left leg and listed in good condition.

It was the first police-involved shooting since the U.S. Justice Department on Friday announced its findings of a yearlong investigation into the Chicago Police Department.

The report found police had violated the constitutional rights of residents for years, including by frequently using excessive force, shooting at people who did not pose imminent threats and using stun guns on others only because they refused to follow commands.

Across the holiday weekend, 24 people have been shot leaving 17 wounded.

The most recent killing happened on Sunday morning in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood.

The most recent killing happened Sunday morning in the West Side Lawndale neighborhood. File photo shows a tribute to those who died in Chicago because of gun violence in 2016

In that incident police found a man who had been shot in the head lying on the sidewalk.

In the early hours of Sunday morning, a 34-year-old man was shot dead in Lawndale. He had been seen arguing with someone moments earlier.

On Saturday night a 26-year-old man was shot in the Austin area of the city.

He was the victim of a drive-by shooting and was shot several times.

Earlier in the evening, two men ages 27 and 39, were in the street in the Lawndale neighborhood someone got out of a black car and fired multiple shots.

The 27-year-old was shot in the head and chest and later died. The older man suffered a gunshot wound to the back and should recover.

In the South Side Englewood neighborhood, five people went into a house to shoot a man and a woman.

The 25-year-old man was killed while a 26-year-old woman was taken in critical condition to hospital.

A 20-year-old man was slain in the Marquette Park neighborhood earlier on Saturday evening after being shot in the chest.

The weekends first fatal shooting happened about 4 p.m. in Austin, where a 21-year-old man got into an argument with someone who shot him repeatedly.

Nine people were shot in Chicago last weekend.
Actress Judy Garland with third husband Sid Luft

Judy Garland had a chronic drug addiction that caused her to slash her throat with a razor, according to a revealing memoir by ex-husband Sid Luft.

Miss Garland, who played Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, died at her home in London of a drug overdose in 1969.

She was 47.

Mr Luft, the third of her five husbands, wrote about the stars drug abuse and depression in an autobiography he was planning before his death in 2005.

In the book, seen by the Sunday Times, Mr Luft describes Miss Garland walking towards him with outstretched arms and slashed wrists.

In another passage he speaks about the flow of blood after she slashed her own throat with a razor, only to be rescued by doctors who saved her life.

Miss Garlands hellish drug addiction left her screaming into her pillow for hours if she was deprived of pills and on one occasion Mr Luft found her semiconscious after taking pills.

Miss Garland with Mr Luft and children Lorna and Joe. Mr Luft, who died in 2005, claimed the actress once slashed her own throat with a razor

Editor Randy Schmidt said: 'More than any of her five husbands, [Luft] was the closest to what some might call the love of her life'

He told how he would stand over her at night to stop her accessing secret stashes of pills which she hid in cigarette packets.

Mr Luft blamed Miss Garlands addictions on studio bosses who gave drugs to child stars like his former wife.

Miss Garland first found fame aged just 17 when she was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz, but she also starred Meet Me in St Louis and Easter Parade.

She is the mother of Liza Minnelli and also had two children with Luft, Lorna and Joey Luft, who are both actors.

Judy Garland found fame at the age of 17 when she was cast as Dorothy in The Wizard of Oz

Lufts autobiography, Judy and I: My Life with Judy Garland, will be published by Chicago Review Press in March.

Randy Schmidt, who edited the memoir, said: Many people claim Judy... was an alcoholic. Sid disputes this and gives detailed testimony to her real demons, which were the pills.

More than any of her five husbands, [Luft] was the closest to what some might call the love of her life.

Even though they divorced in 1965, Sid was still the guy she most depended upon for the remaining four years of her life.

Judy Garland and actor Tom Drake in 1944 musical film Meet Me In St. Louis

Schmidt said the memoir was Sids long-lost love letter as he writes of Miss Garlands intelligence and torments.

Following the stars death the New York Times reported: Miss Garland's personal life often seemed a fruitless search for the happiness promised in "Over the Rainbow," the song she made famous in the movie "The Wizard of Oz."

Her father died when she was 12 years old; the pressures of adolescent stardom sent her to a psychiatrist at the age of 18; she was married five times; she was frequently ill; her singing voice faltered, and she suffered from the effects of drugs she once said were prescribed either to invigorate or tranquilize her.

The report added that Miss Garland was found by her fifth husband Mickey Deans, who discovered her dead on the bathroom floor at their home in Belgravia.
A cyclist was shoved down the road by a driver in his car during a snowy standoff in Canada.

Ottawa police are now investigating the incident that shows the pair arguing in the middle of the street before the driver finally begins to lose patience and pushes the biker down the road with his car.

The video, first posted by Ottawa radio station CFRA, shows the car pushing up against the cyclist while the man uses his bike as a shield to hold his ground while shouting 'no.'

An apparent standoff between cyclist and driver in downtown Ottawa was caught on camera

A fellow motorist pulled up to a crossroads to see a cyclist and a driver arguing and shouting

The video was shot by a motorist although it is not clear when the incident took place.

'No, you can't do that man,' says the man who shot the footage expressing sheer disbelief at what he was witnessing.

The clip which is just 39 seconds long does not show what led up to the stubborn standoff, or what became of the pair afterwards.

The cyclist would not move so the driver put the car into drive and began to nudge forward

The person who shot the video expressed his disbelief at what he was witnessing

Ottawa police deputy Chief Jill Skinner tweeted that investigators are looking for witnesses, including the person who filmed the incident.

They are also hoping to trace the driver of the car thanks to the license plate which was clearly shown during the clip.
Luke and Hillary Gardner were born on December 18, and 27 years later so was their son Cade

Most parents aren't likely to forget their child's birthday, but for this family it's especially easy.

Luke and Hillary Gardner were born on December 18, and 27 years later so was their son.

The odds of that happening are about one in 133,000, statisticians say. And that's a lot less likely than getting hit by lightning sometime in your lifetime, which some put at roughly one in 12,000.

They weren't aiming at a joint birthday when their son Cade Lee Gardner was conceived, said Luke Gardner, an assistant pastor at a Baptist church in northeast Mississippi and a student at a nearby campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.

'I really didn't even put it together until we got pregnant,' he said in a telephone interview Wednesday. 'Then we realized, "Oh, wow!"'

Using a smartphone app, he said, his wife calculated a due date of December 15, three days before their joint birthday. Her obstetrician called it for December 19.

Best birthday ever?: Luke and Hillary Gardner were thrilled to have their son Cade on their shared birthday

The couple wasn't aiming for a joint birthday when Cade was conceived, but when they did the math and realized that he was meant to be born around that date they made it their mission to bring him into the world on December 18, 2016

As soon as they realized that they could all share a birth date, they made it their mission to do so.

The couple from Baldwyn, Mississippi, got in some exercise to try to hurry the baby up a bit. The night of December 17, Gardner said, 'we went walking' around the parking lot at First Baptist Church of Baldwyn, where Gardner is outreach pastor.

Whether or not the exercise sped things up, Cade was born at 10:01 am on December 18, exactly 27 years after his parents' were.

'Hillary is exactly six hours older than me,' Luke Gardner said. She was born at 8.10am and her husband at 2.10pm on December 18, 1989.

They learned about their shared birthday before they started dating, while just part of a group of friends who hung out together.

'I saw it on a Facebook page first and asked about it,' Gardner said. 'I couldn't really believe it when I saw it. I had to confirm it with her.'

The chance of meeting someone born the same day as you is one in 365, explained Tumulesh Solanky, chair of the math department at the University of New Orleans. He said the chance of two people being born on the same day and having a baby on their birthday is about 1/365 times 1/365

The couple from Baldwyn, Mississippi, got in some exercise to try to hurry the baby up a bit. The night of December 17, Gardner said, 'we went walking' around the parking lot at First Baptist Church of Baldwyn, where Gardner is outreach pastor

The chance of meeting someone born the same day as you is one in 365, explained Tumulesh Solanky, chair of the math department at the University of New Orleans. He said the chance of two people being born on the same day and having a baby on their birthday is about 1/365 times 1/365.

'That comes out to .0000000751  seven zeros and then 751,' or about 7.5 in a million, he said, which comes to about one in 133,000.

Statisticians note that this ignores such factors as leap years and the fact that births are not evenly spaced throughout the year.

Gardner joked that if he and Hillary Gardner have more children, they may have to try for December.

'If we have any more kids, if we don't get pregnant in March, we'll have to wait till the next year,' he said.
This is the horrifying moment a 39-year-old woman ran over and killed a man in the middle of a Dallas street after an argument.

Lakinta Cosby, who has previously been arrested for prostitution, faces a murder charge after running down Sherron Berry, 36, on Saturday afternoon in the 3000 block of Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, Dallas.

The 39-year-old was driving a white car when she was caught on surveillance camera coming to a stop in the middle of the street, while Berry walked the opposite direction along the sidewalk.

This is the horrifying moment a 39-year-old woman ran over and killed a man in the middle of a Dallas street after an argument

Lakinta Cosby was caught on surveillance camera coming to a stop in the middle of the street, chasing after Sherron Berry who tried to flee before the car hits him

As he walks past the SUV, Cosby performs an illegal U-turn, mounts the sidewalk and drives after him.

Berry is seen fleeing for his life before the car hits him, although the moment of impact is just out of shot to the other side of the building.

Lakinta Cosby now faces a murder charge

But police reports reveal that Berry was killed in the collision.

The 36-year-old, who had a lengthy criminal record for everything from robbery to drugs offences and assault, was taken to hospital and pronounced dead.

Cosby then surrendered to police on Saturday evening, where she admitted running over Berry after a domestic dispute.

She was arrested and booked at the Dallas County jail, but her bail hasn't been set yet.
A relative of a hammer-wielding murderer has said he 'begged police' not to release him from custody over fears that he would kill someone just days before he attacked female officer.

The family member, who did not wish to be named, revealed that Dutch citizen and convicted murderer, Jamshid Piruz, 35, came to stay in his family's house in December 2015 after he rang them to let him know he was visiting the UK.

However, after a few days the family, who 'didn't want Piruz in their house', felt uncomfortable him being there after he was 'acting really weirdly' by 'looking for knives' in the house and attempting to 'strangle' the family's pet dog.

A family member of Jamshid Piruz has said they attempted to inform police he was dangerous before he was arrested in 2016

Shocking bodycam footage of Piruz attacking Police Constables Jessica Chick and Stuart Young was released

The relative then told Piruz he'd had enough and was booking him on a flight home to Holland.

He told The Sun: 'At first he was refusing. He said "if you take me in your car I'm going to make sure you die," so I asked him how he was going to do that and he said "I'm going to pull your steering wheel".'

The relative managed to get him safely to the airport before giving him 100 and leaving.

But after not hearing from Piruz, he began to worry and rang several police stations to track him down.

The relative eventually discovered from Holland Police that Piruz was being held in custody in the UK and 'couldn't believe' that he hadn't been told by British officers.

He added: 'I called the police back and told them what the Dutch police said and that was when they confirmed he was in their custody but because Im not a direct family member they wouldnt tell me anymore.

'I said "Im begging you, please dont let him go  hes dangerous" and at first they were like you dont have any evidence and then theyd laugh and be like "this isnt CSI".

Firearms officers Tasered Piruz three times but to no effect, because of the thickness of his clothing, other than to make him angry

Pc Young was hit in the neck during the attack, which took place in January last year

The relative was later told by police Piruz had been arrested for assault and was set to go to court the next day.

However, he was released.

The family was later contacted again to be informed of Piruz's second arrest, but did not know what had happened until they saw the news reports nearly a year on.

Pc Chick was trapped screaming behind a pillar by Piruz, who swung the hammer at her

Piruz had served six years of a 12-year jail term imposed in August 2007 for the 'cold-blooded' killing of his tenant in Almere a year earlier, according to Dutch court documents.

But despite being a convicted killer, he was still able to come to Britain in 2015.

He was then arrested and prosecuted for assault after he spat at a easyJet member of staff who told him he would need to buy a new ticket after missing his flight home to Holland on January 4, 2016.

After appearing in court and being ordered to pay compensation, he went on to burgle some garages in Crawley, West Sussex, where he stole some tools including a hammer.

On January 7, police were called after a member of the public saw Piruz attempting a further break-in which led to him attacking Police Constables Jessica Chick and Stuart Young.

He pleaded guilty at an earlier hearing to burglary, and the two counts of attempting to cause GBH earlier this year.

Judge Jeremy Gold QC jailed Piruz for life, serving a minimum of six years.
Martin Luther Kings wife was convinced he never cheated on her because he suffered a guilt complex that would have made him tell her.

Coretta Scott King said that the civil rights leader was faithful even though the FBI sent her tapes of him having sex with other women.

Mrs King said without a confession from her husband she had a gut feeling that their marriage was secure.

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The Reverend Martin Luther King Jr is welcomed with a kiss by his wife Coretta Scott King after leaving court in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1956

Martin Luther King (left) back in 1964 and his wife Coretta Scott King, who died in 2006(right)

Dr Martin Luther King speaks at the Chicago peace march on March 25, 1967

Dr King, whose life is celebrated on Monday in the US on Martin Luther King Day, was the subject of a smear campaign by the FBI which put him under intense surveillance.

FBI agents bugged his hotel rooms and attempted to destroy his marriage by sending Mrs King graphic recordings of him with other women.

The tapes were featured in the Oscar-winning film Selma, about the historic march from the Alabama town led by Dr King.

Mrs King addressed his supposed adultery in a series of interviews with her friend Dr. Barbara Reynolds, which are compiled in a book called My Life, My Love, My Legacy, which is out in the US Tuesday.

In the book Mrs King bluntly says: The question everyone wants to know is this: Do I believe my husband was unfaithful?

Mrs King, who was married to her husband for 15 years until his death, told Miss Reynolds that scandal sells books - fidelity does not.

Coretta Scott King, who died January 2006, widow of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr

Martin Luther King Jr listens at a meeting of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference

Mrs King said she believed her husband was no saint - but his but his faults were things like stepping out of his pajamas and leaving them on the floor.

The FBI did not share her views and at a press conference in 1964 its director J Edgar Hoover called Dr King the most notorious liar in the country.

A few days later one of his deputies, William Sullivan, wrote a vicious letter to King and gave it to an agent in Miami to post to him in Atlanta.

It became known as the suicide letter and called him filthy and abnormal and urged him to take his own life.

Portrait of American Civil Rights leader Dr Martin Luther King Jr

Dr King was shot dead in 1968 by James Earl Ray at the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee in a killing which galvanised the civil rights movement.

Mrs King, who died in 2006, told Miss Reynolds that she did not think that he acted alone and that his death was a conspiracy between the US government, Memphis police and the Mafia.

Mrs King also told Miss Reynolds that she was not very impressed with Dr King the first time they met in the 1940s and thought he looked like a boy.

Donald Trump has come under fire from Rep John Lewis, a hero of the civil rights movement, who said that he will boycott the Presidential inauguration.

Mr Lewis said that Mr Trump is not a legitimate President to which the President-elect hit back that his home district in Georgia was crime-infested.
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A rebel fighter was today forced to carry an injured child after a car bomb exploded in northern Syria.

The horrifying images show the devastation from another incident in the war-torn country, this time leaving youngsters bloody and hurt in Jub al Barazi, east of al-Bab.

Two men on the back of a pick-up truck desperately tried to help two injured children by placing them in the back of the vehicle in the town, which is 30 miles east of Aleppo.

One child, wearing a blue jumper, was photographed lying injured on the ground as a rebel fighter ran over to try and help.

A rebel fighter carries an injured child after a car bomb explosion in Jub al Barazi east of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab

A rebel fighter was forced to carried an injured boy who was caught up in the explosion which hit the town on Sunday

A pick-up truck was used to try and help injured children following the devastating car bomb which exploded in the northern Syrian town

A rebel fighter goes near an injured boy after a car bomb explosion in the key town of al-Bab - which is 30 miles east of Aleppo

The images from Sunday come just one day after rebel fighters were pictured after a mine exploded on the outskirts of al-Bab, the Islamic State group's last stronghold in northern Syria.

Nearly two months into its assault, Turkey has become bogged down in an unexpectedly bloody fight to retake the town - 250 miles north of the capital, Damascus.

It has been forced to pour in troops, take the lead in the battle from its Syrian allies and reach out to Russia for aerial support.

The fight for al-Bab underscores the precarious path Ankara is treading with its foray in to Syria, aimed against both IS militants and Syrian Kurdish fighters.

The explosion on Sunday left vehicles and buildings severely damaged and a number of rebel fighters were photographed examining the scene

Rebel fighters were photograhed inside a military vehicle, as they advanced towards the northern Syrian town of al-Bab

And on Sunday, a rebel fighter looked down as he walked past damaged vehicles following the explosion in al-Bab, Syria

Rebel fighters helped an injured man after a car bomb explosion in Jub al Barazi east of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab

A man reacts near damaged vehicles after a car bomb explosion in Jub al Barazi east of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab

The assault on the town had already driven a wedge between Turkey and the United States, and now the realignment toward Moscow - which supports the government in Syria's civil war - further tests Ankara's alliance both with Washington and with the Syrian opposition.

The battle itself has proven grueling.

Nearly 50 Turkish soldiers have been killed in its Syria operation, most of them since the al-Bab assault began in mid-November - including 14 killed in a single day.

The militants have dug in, surrounding the town with trenches, lining streets with land mines and carrying out painful ambushes and car bombings against the besieging forces.

Each time Turkish-backed Syrian opposition fighters have thrust into the city, they've been driven out.

An injured girl was left with blood on her face after a car bomb exploded in a town just 30 miles east of Aleppo in Syria

People were quick to inspect a damaged site after a car bomb explosion in Jub al Barazi, which is just east of al-Bab

A man reacts after a car bomb explosion in Jub al Barazi on Sunday January 15 - just one day after similar photos were taken

An injured woman reacts after a car bomb explosion in Jub al Barazi east of the northern Syrian town of al-Bab

More than 200 civilians are believed to have been killed since the attack began on November 13. Mud and cold rain have only made it more of a slog.

Mustafa Sultan, a resident of al-Bab and a media activist who has been covering the fight, said: 'The battle for al-Bab has been mostly about killing civilians and destroying the city, whether by Daesh or the Turks.

'The town is almost half destroyed. Daesh takes cover in hospitals, schools and these end up getting targeted.'

The Turkish military says it takes great care not to harm civilians, halting operations that could endanger non-combatants.

Capturing al-Bab is essential to Ankara's goals in Syria. Al-Bab had a pre-war population of 60,000 and it's not known how many remain there. Despite the tight IS seal, some still try to escape.
A pendant found at a Nazi-occupied concentration camp in Poland belonged to a girl experts believe may have been related to Anne Frank.

The necklace was recently discovered by archaeologists at the Sobibor death camp in western Poland.

They believe it belonged it to Karoline Cohn who was born in Frankfurt on July 3, 1929.

It is inscribed with the words Mazal Tov on one side and the Hebrew symbol for God and the stars of David on the other.

Researchers believe this pendant, discovered beneath a gas chamber at the Nazi-run Sobibor concentration camp in Poland, belonged to a girl who may have known Anne Frank. It is inscribed with a date of birth and the words Mazel Tov in Hebrew on one side (left), the Hebrew word for God and the stars of David on the other (right)

The pendant was found among the excavated remains of 'The Pathway to Heaven' - the route Jews were forced to walk to their deaths in gas chambers at the camp.

Cohn was deported from Frankfurt to Belarus in 1941. She was sent to live with thousands of others Jews in the Minsk Ghetto.

She was likely to have then been sent to Sobibor, which lies near Poland's border with Belarus, where the pendant was found or may have given it to someone who took it there.

Yad Vashem, The World Holocaust Remembrance Center, says Anne had an identical pendant

Anne was born in Frankfurt a month before Karoline and is said to have owned an identical pendant.

Researchers at the Yad Vashem database are trying to establish whether the pair had any connection to one another.

'Researchers are currently trying to locate relatives of the two families to further explore this avenue,' a statement on its website read.

Other items found at the Sobibor excavation include a ladies' watch, a Star of David necklace and a trinket with the image of Moses holding the ten commandments on it.



'Every time we dig, we reveal another part of the camp, find more personal items, and expand our knowledge about the camp.

'In spite of attempts by the Nazis and their collaborators to erase traces of their crimes, as well as the effects of forestation and time, we enhance our understanding of the history previously known to us only through survivor testimonies,' said Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist Yoram Haimi.

The pendant was found by archaeologists excavating Sobibor extermination camp in Poland where more than 200,000 Jew were killed during the Holocaust

Anne Frank was born in Frankfurt on June 12, 1929. She and her family fled Germany for Amsterdam when Hitler rose to power.

In 1942, she and her family went into hiding in a secret annex where they remained for two years.

They were arrested and taken to Auschwitz. Anne later died at Bergen Belsen, a camp in northern Germany.

During the two years she spent in hiding, Anne kept a diary and wrote several stories.

Her father Otto, the only member of the family to survive, later had them published.
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Landspace Technology Corporation, a private aerospace company based in Beijing, said it has secured a contract with Gomspace, a Danish company, to launch a series of satellites.

It is the first time for a private Chinese company to provide satellite launching services to the international market, the company said Saturday.

According to the contract, Landspace will use its Landspace-1 rocket to put Gomspace's satellites into orbit in 2018.

Landspace CEO Zhang Changwu said his company could not have won recognition from the overseas client without decades of efforts by Chinese workers in the aerospace industry, which has been developing for 60 years.

The total value of the global aerospace market could hit 485 billion U.S. dollars by 2020, according to market estimates, with the market value in China alone reaching 800 billion yuan (116 billion U.S. dollars) during the 2016-2020 period.

Sun Jiadong, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said the aerospace industry matters not only for space exploration, but also for economic and social development.

The civil aerospace industry has great potential and will grow very quickly, Sun said.
A migrant ship carrying 110 people has sunk off the Libyan coast and there are said to have only four survivors.

Pope Francis demanded Sunday that 'every possible measure' be taken to protect young refugees, as search and rescue efforts continued following the latest deadly Mediterranean migrant shipwreck.

Italy's coast guard said only four people survived the sinking of the migrant ship that went down 30 miles off the Libyan coast on Saturday.

Only eight bodies have been recovered.

Migrants, most of them from Eritrea, jump into the water from a crowded wooden boat as they are helped by members of an NGO during a rescue operation at the Mediterranean sea, about 13 miles north of Sabratha, Libya, on August 29, 2016 in one of many similar incidents

In his noon blessing, The Pope recalled that the theme of the church's World Day of Migrants concerned the particular vulnerability of young migrants - 'our young brothers' who often flee home alone and face 'so many dangers'.

'We must adopt every possible measure to guarantee young migrants protection and defense, as well as integration,' he said.

The UN refugee agency has reported a sharp increase in the number of unaccompanied minors reaching Italy - 25,846 last year, more than double the previous year.

Aid groups say if these young people survive the crossing, they are particularly vulnerable to exploitation and abuse by land-based traffickers once they reach Europe.

Pope Francis demanded a response

The International Organization of Migration, meanwhile, says it recorded 4,576 deaths in 2016 among migrants making the central Mediterranean crossing to Italy.

The total number of dead is unknown, given that many bodies are never recovered.

Two dead reached Italian shores on Sunday as the rescue ship Aquarius pulled into port in Messina, Sicily with some 300 migrants from rescue operations Friday.

Two coffins were offloaded for family members to claim, UNHCR said.

Usually, bad weather and rough seas deter Libyan-based smugglers from launching overloaded boats full of migrants bound for Italy.

But Italy's coast guard reported 550 people were rescued Friday and another 800 on Thursday alone.

Further west, Spain's maritime rescue service said the bodies of seven African migrants have been found dead along the Strait of Gibraltar since Friday.

The latest casualty was a woman who was found dead late Saturday aboard a drifting boat along the coast of Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta.

Seven survivors were handed over to Spanish authorities.

The rescue service says the coast is being patrolled for survivors on another drifting boat that reportedly departed from neighboring Morocco.
A train will travel a mammoth 7,500 journey from China to London as the Silk Road trading route is revived for a new era.

The East Wind locomotive will pass through Russia, Kazakhstan, Belarus, Poland, Belgium and France, before it pulls into Hackney Rail Freight terminal in London's East End on Wednesday.

Bringing an array of goods in 34 carriages from the manufacturing town of Yiwu in East China, the train would have finished an incredible 16-day journey.

The East Wind will travel a mammoth 7,500 journey from China to London as the Silk Road trading route is revived for a new era

Bringing an array of goods in 34 carriages from the manufacturing town of Yiwu in East China, the train would have finished an incredible 16-day journey

The trip will take it over mountain ranges, around deserts and across the vast Russian steppe.

The East Wind marks a revival in the ancient Silk Road trading route as well as a new era for UK-China relations.

In medieval times and even earlier, the route was used by merchants bringing their exotic wares to Europe from the Orient.

The East Wind 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 East Wind marks a revival in the ancient Silk Road trading route as well as a new era for UK-China relations

Due to the different rail gauges in each country, the same train can't complete the journey.

But it will start with the East Wind - named after a famous quote from tyrannical Chinese dictator Mao Zedong: 'The east wind will prevail over the west wind.'

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.

On the journey back to Yiwu  which makes 60 per cent of the world's Christmas goods  the carriages will again be laden with cargo such as timber, meat and wines.

Professor Magnis Marsden, from Sussex University's School of Global Studies, told The Observer: 'It's a new economic geography.

'It's not the big corporates who will be using the train, so it's very much in the tradition of the silk road.'
Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt could be set for a windfall of nearly 17million if the sale of Hotcourses is completed this week

Under-pressure Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt is reportedly set for a windfall of nearly 17million, if a business he helped to set up is sold this week.

Mr Hunt owns nearly half of Hotcourses, an education listing firm which he set up with business partner Mike Elms more than 20 years ago.

The firm is this week set to announce that it has been sold for a sum between 30million and 35million, Sky News reports.

Mr Hunt's involvement in the company is disclosed in the latest register of members' interests.

A legal source said a deal was close to being completed, according to Sky.

Documents at Companies House reveal Hotcourses had a turnover of 10.6million in the year ending July 31 2015, a 12.2 per cent decrease from the previous year.

The firm nearly sold in 2013, but directors failed to agree terms with prospective buyer Inflexion Private Equity.

Mr Hunt resigned from having an active role running Hotcourses after he became MP for South West Surrey in 2005.

Mr Hunt has declared that he has a shareholding of more than 15 per cent in the current register of members' interests

Mr Hunt is listed in Companies House documents as one of six shareholders, and has a 48 per cent stake in the business

But he has retained 48 per cent of shares in the company, which would net him around 16.8million if the sale goes through.

It comes at a time when Mr Hunt is facing questions about the state of the NHS, which the British Red Cross has branded a 'humanitarian crisis'.

Prime Minister Theresa May has said doctors surgeries should extend their opening hours to reduce strain on accident and emergency departments.

Representatives for Mr Hunt were unavailable for comment.

Mr Hunt owns 48 per cent of shares in the business, meaning he could net nearly 17million if the sale goes through for 35 million

The cash boost comes at a time when Mr Hunt is under pressure over the state of the NHS, with the British Red Cross describing it as a 'humanitarian crisis' - a claim denied by the government
Drug smuggling tunnels are being left unfilled on the Mexican side of the border, creating a golden opportunity for smugglers.

Mexican police and soldiers discovered two massive clandestine tunnels in the border city of Tijuana that officials believe were built to smuggle drugs into California late last month.

The tunnels were found in an area of warehouses across from Otay Mesa, about 400 yards away from each other. The area immediately north of the border is also a warehouse district.

Drug smuggling tunnels are being left unfilled on the Mexican side of the border, creating a golden opportunity for smugglers. Pictured is one found in December 2016

Prosecutors said Monday that one of the tunnels reached to San Diego, and the other was unfinished.

The Mexican Attorney General's Office said the tunnels were apparently used by the Sinaloa cartel to move drugs into the United States.

It said it found the tunnels after the US consulate in Tijuana determined the tunnels were being reactivated after apparently falling into disuse.

Speaking to the Los Angeles Times, a former special agent in charge of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in San Diego said the discovery the tunnels were still being used will be a massive attractive for smugglers.

The Mexican Attorney General's Office said the tunnels were apparently used by the Sinaloa cartel to move drugs into the United States. Pictured is a tunnel found in October 2016

A former special agent in charge of ICE in San Diego said the discovery the tunnels were still being used will be a massive attractive for smugglers. Pictured is a tunnel found in October 2016

'The biggest threat is that its a huge open invitation for drug traffickers, and its definitely going to be taken advantage of,' Michael Unzueta told the newspaper.

Tunnels going under the border have been filled by US authorities since 2007 on the American side of the border, however their Mexican counterparts have said it is too expensive to block them off.

It is estimated that there are about 20 tunnels still intact on the Mexican side.

'The biggest threat is that its a huge open invitation for drug traffickers, and its definitely going to be taken advantage of,' Michael Unzueta (middle) said

Border patrol officials have said they plan to bring up the issue with Donald Trump when he takes office this month. Pictured is the border wall in October 2016

Border patrol officials have said they plan to bring up the issue with Donald Trump when he takes office this month.

'We dont want to leave infrastructure in place in the form of half-completed tunnels for [cartels] to use,' National Border Patrol Council Vice President Shawn Moran said.

'The cartels are by no means stupid. Theyre taking the idea to work smarter, not harder, when it comes to these tunnels.'
Georgia preacher Eddie Long, who was as renowned for his controversial life as much as his fiery rhetoric, has died of cancer, aged 63.

Long was the popular senior bishop at the New Birth Missionary Baptist Church, in a wealthy black community outside Atlanta, where he preached the possibility of gay conversion and encouraged worshipers to pay the church tithes of 10 per cent.

But he was also mired in accusations, including claims that he had slept with five teens, and had misused his charity's funds, CBS News reported.

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Dead: Bishop Eddie Long died of cancer on Sunday. He had preached anti-gay sentiment and encouraged tithes of 10 per cent to his parishioners in a wealthy Georgia community

Accused: In 2010 and 2011 he was accused of grooming and sexually exploiting a number of teens, including (l-r) Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg and Jamal Parris

'Abused': Spencer LeGrande (left) was the fourth of the boys to initially come forward. Centino Kemp (right) was later identified as the fifth. Long settled out of court for a rumored $15m

Long, a charismatic and popular televangelist, died on Sunday according to New Birth.

'Bishop Long was known as one of the most influential faith leaders in the world. He stood strong as a Kingdom Builder, pioneering leader, and revolutionary mind changer,' the church said in a statement.

'Long was a family man and spiritual leader who was well respected and loved for his passion to unapologetically and courageously preach the gospel of Jesus Christ.'

His second wife, Vanessa, with whom he was married until his death, said: 'I am confident through my belief in God that my husband is now resting in a better place.

'Although his transition leaves a void for those of us who loved him dearly, we can celebrate and be happy for him, knowing hes at peace.'

But although she remained married to him until the end, Mrs Long temporarily filed for divorce from the pastor in 2011 after stories emerged about him having slept with a succession of teenage boys.

This came despite Long's claims that gay people could be converted to heterosexuality through faith in god, and repeated campaigns fighting gay marriage.

Maurice Robinson, Anthony Flagg, Jamal Parris and Spencer LeGrande all filed separate lawsuits in 2010 and 2011, accusing Long of having used his position as a pastor to coerce them into having sex with him.

A fifth accuser, Centino Kemp, was later named in the press.

Robinson's suit alleged that Long had indoctrinated him into a group known as his 'Spiritual Sons', who were ferried around the world in jets with the pastor and given the chance to meet celebrities.

They were also encouraged to have sex with him, according to Long's interpretation of scripture, CNN reported in 2010.

Famous: Long (seen here in 2006) was a celebrated and famous preacher and televangelist prior to the shocking claims. He had said that it was possible to make gay people straight

Ailing: Flagg (left) was seen looking ill in this photograph last year. He had claimed his weight loss was due to a new vegan lifestyle, but it now looks likely it was a result of his cancer

Flagg's suit accused Long of having taken part in a spiritual 'covenant' with him.

'It was essentially a marriage ceremony, with candles, exchange of jewelry, and biblical quotes,' Flagg's lawyer, BJ Bernstein, said at the time.

'The bishop [told] him I will always have your back and you will always have mine.'

Robinson's suit claimed that Long had taken him to Auckland, New Zealand, for his 18th birthday, and there they had engaged in oral sex.

The matter allegedly emerged after Robinson discovered that he was not the only 'Spritual Son', and broke into Long's office, stealing $1,300 of possessions in retaliation before being caught by police.

Vanessa Long removed the petition for divorce, and a spokesman for the bishop denied the claims, calling it a 'case of retaliation and a shakedown for money by men with some serious credibility issues.'

Separated: Long's second wife, Vanessa (left) petitioned for divorce in 2011 after the rumors about the boys came out. However, she took the petition back and stayed married to him

Long 'categorically and adamantly denies these allegations,' the spokesman said.

Nevertheless, Long eventually settled out of court in May 2011 for an undisclosed figure, estimated by some to be in the region of $15 million.

Former DeKalb County Prosecutor J Tom Morgan told CBS News that he thought 'they had to reach a settlement if they did not want any statement by the bishop on record.'

Long, who preached that faith in god would make people rich, also faced accusations about his acquisition of money during his career.

In 2005 the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that from 1997-2000, Long received more than $3.07 million from his non-profit charity, Bishop Eddie Long Ministries Inc.

In 2007, an investigation was launched into the tax-exempt status of his ministries. Long did not cooperate with investigators and it concluded without any findings of wrongdoing.

Long's failing health was noted in August last year, after video emerged showing the formerly bulky and muscular pastor looking frail and emaciated.

Rumors began to swirl that he might have cancer, but Long said his weight loss was just down to his new vegan lifestyle. In September 2016 he said he was recovering from an unspecified illness.
Tampa Officer Tim Bergman and his police pooch Indo were apprehending suspect Joey Kennedy (pictured) when he reportedly threw accelerant on them to try to escape arrest. In reaction, Bergman opened fire and shot Kennedy

A police officer and his K9 companion were set on fire after a suspect threw flaming accelerant on them Thursday.

Tampa Officer Tim Bergman and his police pooch Indo were apprehending suspect Joey Kennedy when he reportedly threw accelerant on them to try to escape arrest. In reaction, Bergman opened fire and shot Kennedy, reported the Tampa Bay Times.

Officers responded to a call of burglary in process at about 10:53am, and upon arrival noticed that a window on the side of the house was broken.

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They also recognized the car parked outside the house as belonging to Kennedy.

Officers were familiar with Kennedy who had outstanding warrants for arrest and a long criminal record.

Kennedy, 40, was seriously injured in the altercation and remains hospitalized. It is thought he will survive and charges are pending.

K9 officer Indo (left) received minor burns on his head, but was treated and is expected to recover quickly. Officer Bergman (right) quickly put out the flames, caused by 'Kilz' brand paint primer, and was not injured

Kennedy has been arrested in Florida more than a dozen times since 1992, and has served prison time for sexually battering a child, failing to register as a sex offender, and resisting an officer. His outstanding warrants involve probation violations for robbery and grand theft, according to the Tampa Police Department (pictured at the scene of the burglary)

K9 officer Indo received minor burns on his head, but was treated and is expected to recover quickly.

Officer Bergman quickly put out the flames, caused by 'Kilz' brand paint primer, and was not injured.

He has been placed on administrative leave, which is standard for officer-involved shootings, according to the Times.

Kennedy has been arrested in Florida more than a dozen times since 1992, and has served prison time for sexually battering a child, failing to register as a sex offender, and resisting an officer.

His outstanding warrants involve probation violations for robbery and grand theft, according to the Tampa Police Department.
Plans for a 4m Dartmoor whisky distillery backed by Prince Charles are being opposed by residents. Pictured: Charles enjoys a glass of rum at a factory in Guyana

Plans for a 4m whisky distillery backed by Prince Charles are being opposed by residents who fear it will ruin their views of Dartmoor.

The three-storey building will be located in the picturesque village of Princetown on a two acre site owned by the Duchy of Cornwall.

But locals say the development, which will include a visitor centre and shop, could be visible from four miles away.

The national park already has one whisky producer, Dartmoor Whisky Company.

Mother-of-four Liz Charlton, 49, told The Sunday Express: 'The whole idea is ridiculous.

'We already have a distillery outside the park and I dont see why we need one within it that will become the dominant feature when driving towards the village.'

Princetown Distillers, which is behind the development, chose the site because Dartmoor's low temperatures and high rainfall make it ideal for producing spirits.

A spokesman for the Duchy of Cornwall, which owns 67,460 acres of Dartmoor, said the development would create jobs and serve as a new visitor attraction.

Princetown was founded in 1785, and took its name from the then Prince of Wales.

It is home to Dartmoor Prison, and used to be served by the highest railway in England at 1,430 feet above sea level.

Princetown is home to Dartmoor Prison, and used to be served by the highest railway in England at 1,430 feet above sea level

Dartmoor Brewery - which produces beers including Jail Ale, Legend and Dartmoor IPA - is also based in Princetown.

The decision on whether to allow the development will be made by the National Park Authority at a meeting of Dartmouth Forest Parish Council this Friday.

Prince Charles is known to enjoy whisky, and last year visited Laphroaig distillery in Scotland, which carries his Royal Warrant.
Mike Pence dismissed claims that the Trump team had communicated with the Kremlin at all during the presidential campaign on Sunday.

The Vice President-elect said that the claims Russia had talked to the Trump team during the hacking and leaking of prominent Democrat emails was a 'distraction' technique.

'Of course not,' he told Fox News Sunday when asked bluntly about the claim. 'Why would there be any contacts between the campaign?'

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Denial: VP-elect Mike Pence (left) told Fox News Sunday that the Trump team had 'no contact' with the Kremlin. Claims swirled that Putin-led Russia helped them win the November election

Pence had initially dismissed the question as being a mistake in the infamous Russian dossier that also accused Trump of unusual sexual practices.

The dossier claimed that Donald Trump's lawyer, Michael Cohen, and Kremlin operatives had met in Prague in 2016.

But it later emerged that Cohen was elsewhere, and it was a different Michael Cohen at the meeting.

However, Fox News Sunday host Chris Wallace pressed him, referencing other claims put to FBI director James Comey in a Senate Intelligence hearing Wednesday that the Bureau was investigating links between Trump and Russia.

Comey had declined to say whether or not Trump was under investigation by the FBI.

But Pence waved off the claims, saying they were 'a distraction'.

The VP-elect said that 'it's all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election and to question the legitimacy of this presidency, the American people see right through it.'

Pence was also asked why Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak had met with retired Lt Gen Mike Flynn, Trump's chosen security adviser, the day that President Obama imposed sanctions on Russia.

Did Flynn talk about lifting the sanctions, Pence was asked.

'I talked to General Flynn yesterday, and the conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new US sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats,' Pence said.

No talk: Lt Gen Mike Flynn (left), Trump's security adviser, met with Russian ambassador Sergey Kislyak (right) but did not discuss the sanctions Obama laid down that day, Pence said
Mike Pence has defended Donald Trump as the controversy surrounding the president-elect's attacks on civil rights icon John Lewis rages on.

Trump fired off a series of tweets insulting Lewis over the weekend, after the 76-year-old Georgia Congressman said in an interview last week he does not consider Trump to be a 'legitimate president'.

Pence appeared on Fox News on Sunday morning, and was forced to answer questions from veteran host Chris Wallace about whether Trump's were fair - given Lewis' work over decades.

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Mike Pence has defended Donald Trump as the controversy surrounding the president-elect's attacks on civil rights icon John Lewis rages on

John Lewis enraged Trump last week by saying he will not attend the inauguration and saying the president-elect is not 'legitimate'

'I think Donald Trump has the right to defend himself,' Pence said to kick off his response.

'When someone of John Lewis stature, someone who is not only an icon in the civil rights movement but also someone who by virtue of his sacrifice on that day that we know as Bloody Sunday, he crossed the Edmund Pettus Bridge and it was through that the Voting Rights Act itself  for someone of his stature to use terms like, this is not a legitimate president, its just deeply disappointing to me.

'And I hope he reconsiders.'

Pence then added Trump's remarks were actually about, 'literally generations of failed policies coming out of Washington DC', and not Lewis specifically.

'I think Donald Trump has the right to defend himself,' Pence said when quizzed about Trump saying Lewis is 'all talk'

Lewis (pictured speaking at the Democratic National Convention in July 2016) was attacked by Trump as 'talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!'

Watch the latest video at <a href="http://video.foxnews.com">video.foxnews.com</a>

It comes after Trump tweeted on Saturday that Lewis 'should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.'

The incoming president added: 'All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!'

Trump has continued to use Twitter to attack his adversaries, just as he did throughout the campaign, and Georgia's Democratic party took special offense to these tweets about Representative Lewis.

In a statement, the party said: 'Donald Trump's loathsome remarks on Congressman Lewis and the 5th District not only illustrate the President-elect's classlessness - it further proves that Trump may be the most uneducated students of history to occupy the oval office.

John Lewis (middle) is seen walking across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma as part of the famous protests

Lewis, then just 21 years old, was savagely assaulted by a mob at the Rock Hill, South Carolina, Greyhound bus terminal during the Freedom Riders protest

'Congressman John Lewis has dedicated his life to ensuring that the United States lives up to its greatest expectations through nonviolence and grassroots activism.

'As a result of his and so many others' sacrifices, our nation was transformed into a society where the scales of justice found more balance.

'Congressman Lewis' legacy came at a steep price - he was jailed and beaten and bloodied. But he never gave up. He never gave in. And we, as a nation are the beneficiaries of his commitment to getting into good trouble.'

Lewis is among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, and has devoted himself to promoting equal rights for African Americans.

John Lewis addresses Nashville police officers outside the Hermitage Hotel on May 13, 1963

He participated in Freedom Rides, that were challenges to segregated families in southern bus terminals.

He also suffered a skull fracture during the march in Selma, Alabama, which he helped to organize more than a half-century ago.

The 16-term congressman also said Friday that he would not attend Trump's swearing-in ceremony - the first time he will have skipped an inauguration since joining Congress three decades ago.

'You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president,' Lewis said in an interview with NBC's Meet the Press.

President-elect Donald Trump speaks at a news cenference at Trump Tower on January 11, 2017 in New York City
Terry Strickland, a double murder suspect who has been on the run for six months, was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday

A double murder suspect who was on the FBI's most wanted list has been arrested in Texas six months after going on the run.

Terry Strickland was arrested in El Paso, Texas, on Sunday more than 1,000 miles from where he is alleged to have shot two men dead in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in July.

The 24-year-old was apparently seen opening fire on at a house in the city following an argument. Police discovered the bodies of the men, aged 38 and 39, afterwards.

Strickland was placed on the most wanted list and a $100,000 reward for information which could lead to his whereabouts was issued.

It's not clear whether the sum prompted his arrest. He was booked in to the county jail on Sunday morning.

Strickland found himself on the FBI's ten most wanted list in December. He was described as 'extremely dangerous' in a poster seeking his whereabouts.

According to The El Paso Times, he was part of a group of men who were arguing outside a home in Milwaukee on July 17.

The FBI placed Strickland on its most wanted list after he fled Wisconsin while charged with double murder

Witnesses claim to have seen him go inside the house to retrieve a 0.40 calibre handgun and come back outside where he opened fire on the group.

One of the men tried to stop him but was shot. Strickland then stood over him, shooting him repeatedly in the head, they said.

Detectives described the killings as 'vicious'.

He fled the state, leaving behind his young daughter. An FBI poster for appealing for his whereabouts read: On July 28, 2016, a state arrest warrant was issued for Strickland after he was charged with first degree intentional homicide (use of a dangerous weapon).

'Additionally, on October 7, 2016, Strickland was charged with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, and a federal arrest warrant was issued for him by the United States District Court, Eastern District of Wisconsin,' the poster read.

His occupation was listed as laborer by the bureau.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

Trend:

Over the past 24 hours, Armenias Armed Forces have 22 times violated the ceasefire along the line of contact between Azerbaijani and Armenian troops by using large-caliber machine guns, said Azerbaijans Defense Ministry Jan. 15.

The Azerbaijani army positions located in Farahli, Jafarli, Gizilhajili and Balajafarli villages of the Gazakh district and Alibayli, Aghbulag and Kokhanabi villages of Tovuz district underwent fire from the Armenian army positions located in Shavarshavan village of Noyemberyan district, Azatamut, Berkaber villages and nameless heights of Ijevan district, Aygepar, Mosesgekh, Chinari villages and nameless heights of Berd district.

Moreover, the Azerbaijani army underwent fire from the Armenian positions located near the Armenian-occupied Goyarkh, Chilaburt villages of the Tartar district, Horadiz village of the Fuzuli district, as well as from positions located in the nameless heights of the Goranboy, Tartar and Fuzuli districts.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
A cat had to be put down after a dog walker picked it up and threw it with such force that it burst its bladder.

Kerry Kingston was left with a 680 bill because her cat sustained such horrific injuries in the brutal attack, it had to be put down by vets.

Witnesses claim the man watched his dog 'trample' Onyx before he grabbed the eight-year-old cat by her hind legs and threw her over a fence and into a hedge.

Kerry Kingston was left with a 680 bill because her cat sustained such horrific injuries in the brutal attack, it had to be put down by vets

Residents living nearby in Hedge End, near Southampton in Hampshire, claim the man was walking a muzzled Staffordshire Bull Terrier at the time.

After being alerted by a neighbour Ms Kingston raced to her cat's aid and discovered Onyx was left unable to walk.

The cat's bladder had burst and she had to be put down by a vet hours later, leaving Ms Kingston with a 680 bill.

The 52-year-old grandmother said she had since tracked down the dog walker, but when she confronted him he denied attacking her beloved cat.

And when asked to pay the vet's fees, he refused on the grounds he 'had no money'.

Police and animal charity RSPCA are now investigating the incident after a vet confirmed Onyx's injuries were consistent with an attack.

Onyx's bladder had burst and she had to be put down by a vet hours later, leaving Ms Kingston (left) with a 680 bill

Ms Kingston said: 'I was so upset, cross and angry.

'If Onyx had died from old age or from being hit by a car we could have accepted it more easily.

'She must have been so scared. She was a lovely little cat and never caused any trouble.

'We think he was trying to chuck her in the pond.

'The vet was quite shocked and he could not understand how a dog caused such injuries, when there were no bite marks.'

She added it has made her 'think twice' about having another pet.

A spokeswoman from Hampshire Constabulary confirmed the force is investigating the cruel attack which took place shortly after 2pm on January 9.
David Wilkie has quit his health club after being told off for swimming too fast

He is an Olympic champion and in his heyday was Britains finest swimmer.

But that didnt help David Wilkie when he fell foul of a lifeguard at his local pool.

The 62-year-old, who won gold in the 200m breaststroke at the 1976 Montreal Games, was accused of swimming too fast and without care for other pool users.

The lifeguard told Wilkie that another swimmer had complained about being bumped into as they swam in adjoining lanes.

Wilkie had been using the fast middle lane of five in the 25m pool at the Royal Berkshire Virgin Active club in Bracknell.

The complaint has echoes of the incident when the racing driver Sir Stirling Moss, one of the countrys most recognisable sporting heroes of the 1950s and 1960s, was stopped for speeding by a traffic policeman who admonished him: Who do you think you are, Stirling Moss?

Speaking at his Surrey mansion, Wilkie, who achieved his triumphs in Olympic-size 50m pools, told the Daily Mail: I was just swimming as normal in the pool, doing front crawl, and the lifeguard came up to me and said, I think you banged into somebody.

Medal man: Wilkie brought home gold from the 1976 Olympic Games in Canada

Olympian: Wilkie pictured winning gold during the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, Canada

In 1977 Wilkie was awarded an OBE, having been named British sports personality of the year two years earlier

I said, Its the fast lane you know, this is rubbish. I think its just an over-zealous lifeguard.

Asked whether the pool attendant knew he was an Olympic champion, Wilkie said: Probably not.

After the exchange of words with the lifeguard, Wilkie asked to speak to a senior member of staff and resigned his membership of the 190-a-month club. I said to the manager, Im leaving  give me my money back, he said.

Wilkie, who swims around 60 lengths every day, added: You go to a swimming pool to swim  not to have lifeguards coming and telling you how to swim. Its ridiculous. Wilkie, who has two adult children with his long-term Swedish partner Helen Isacson, now swims at the 18m Macdonald Berystede Hotel & Spa in Sunninghill, close to his home.

Wilkie was given a hero's welcome when he returned from the Olympics (left), and a cameraman films Wilkie, who was then the World Champion breaststroker (right)

British swimmers Duncan Goodhew (left) and Wilkie (right) in 1980

A Virgin Active spokesman said of the incident: 'We take any complaints we receive from our members seriously. We spoke with Mr Wilkie to resolve his complaint and we were sorry to see him leave.'

Wilkie, who was born in Sri Lanka to Scottish parents and was educated in Scotland, won the silver medal in the 200m breaststroke at the 1972 Olympics in Munich before claiming gold four years later in a world record time that stood for eight years.

He also won silver in the 100m breaststroke in Montreal.

At one stage he held the British, US, Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic 200m breaststroke titles simultaneously, the only person to have done so

At one stage he held the British, US, Commonwealth, European, World and Olympic 200m breaststroke titles simultaneously, the only person to have done so.

Wilkie was famed for his long hair and moustache and is known for popularising the use of goggles and a swimming cap  although he claimed they were more for keeping his hair out of his eyes than for streamlining his body in the water.

At the time, swimming was still strictly amateur and he retired from the sport after the Montreal Games, aged only 22, in order to make a living.

He worked in television and then went on to make millions from a health and nutrition business. He now runs Pets Kitchen, which provides specialist natural foods and supplements for pets.
Donald Trump has thanked Bob Woodward after the legendary reporter defended him over recent scandalous and unproven allegations contained in an intelligence dossier.

Woodward, who famously covered the Watergate scandal with Carl Bernstein in 1972, suggested Trump had every right to be furious about the publication of the 'dirty dossier'.

In criticizing the report, Woodward took aim at his Watergate colleague - who helped report on the story for CNN.

CNN did not publish the full report, however shortly after the network broke the story, BuzzFeed posted the entire document that contained some sordid stories.

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Donald Trump has thanked Bob Woodward after the legendary reporter (pictured) defended him over recent scandalous and unproven allegations contained in an intelligence dossier

'In Trump's mind, he knows the old adage, "once a CIA man, always a CIA man", and no one came out and said those people shouldn't be saying things,' the 73-year-old said during an interview on Fox News.

'So act two is the briefing when this dossier is put out. Ive lived in this world for 45 years where you get things and people make allegations.

'That is a garbage document. It never should have been presented as part of an intelligence briefing.'

Woodward continued: 'Trump is right to be upset about that, and I think if you look at the real chronology and the nature of the battle here, those intelligence chiefs who were the best weve had, who were terrific and have done great work - they made a mistake here.

Donald Trump fired off two tweets about Woodward's comments on Sunday afternoon

'When people make a mistake, they should apologize.'

Trump was quick to tweet about the support on Sunday afternoon, sending out a pair of messages.

'Thank you to Bob Woodward who said, "That is a garbage document...it never should have been presented...Trump's right to be upset (angry)... about that...Those Intelligence chiefs made a mistake here, & when people make mistakes, they should APOLOGIZE." Media should also apologize,' he tweeted.

'Thank you to Bob Woodward... media should also apologize,' Trump tweeted on Sunday about Woodward's remarks

'Ive lived in this world for 45 years where you get things and people make allegations. That is a garbage document,' Woodward (pictured at Trump Tower earlier this month) said on Sunday

In criticizing the report, Woodward was taking aim at his Watergate colleague Berstein - who helped report on the story for CNN. The famous duo is pictured together in October 2014

Trump himself furiously denied the allegations in the dossier, which included claims he was secretly taped watching degrading sex acts by prostitutes in Moscow.

'Does anyone believe that story? I'm also very much of a germophobe by the way,' he said at a press conference in New York.

'It's all fake news. It's phony stuff. It didn't happen.'

The Russian government has also denied the allegations, describing the reports as: 'a complete fabrication and utter nonsense'.
The 42 inhabitants of a Pacific island have pocketed the equivalent of 426,000 each from Britains foreign aid budget in six years.

UK taxpayers have forked out more than 17.9million since 2011 to cover the costs of running a school, health centre and ferry service for the residents of Pitcairn Island.

The handouts to the islanders, who are descendants of sailors who took part in the Mutiny on the Bounty, will reach almost 3.5million this year alone. This is the equivalent of 82,750 each  more than three times the average British salary.

The 42 people living on the island are descendants of sailors who took part in the Mutiny on the Bounty

Their story has been retold a number of times on screen, including in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando (pictured)

Residents of the island, halfway between New Zealand and Peru in the South Pacific, all receive either a government wage or pensions paid for by the UK, as well as child benefit. They pay no tax.

After joining the British Empire in 1838, the overseas territory supported itself through the sale of stamps and coins, but the UK stepped in when interest in collecting declined.

Around 98 per cent of Pitcairns costs are covered by the overseas aid department, Dfid, which provides a doctor, nurse, policeman and teacher.

Around 98 per cent of Pitcairns costs are covered by the overseas aid department, Dfid

A ferry, which costs 1.2million a year to run, makes four annual trips to New Zealand, with voyages lasting 12 days each way

A social worker has been paid for since a child sex scandal in 2004 when six men, including the former mayor, faced charges including the rape of children as young as seven.

A well-equipped health centre has been built but islanders with serious medical problems are evacuated by sea and air to New Zealand at a cost of around 30,000 a time. Treatment is paid for either by a government loan or grant.

A ferry, which costs 1.2million a year to run, makes four annual trips to New Zealand, with voyages lasting 12 days each way.

As well funding a school and library, aid cash is used to subsidise a general store and post office. All houses on the island, which is less than three miles wide, are connected to the internet.

Pitcairn is one of 14 overseas territories where inhabitants have a right to British citizenship and the Government is obliged to protect their wellbeing under international law

On top of the money from Dfid, the EU is contributing 2.1million from 2014-2020, including paying for a new jetty and improved roads. A further 2.1million was given in the preceding six-year period.

The UK funds around 10 per cent of the EU aid budget.

Pitcairn is one of 14 overseas territories where inhabitants have a right to British citizenship and the Government is obliged to protect their wellbeing under international law. Others, including the Falklands and Gibraltar, are economically self-sufficient and levy taxes.

The Government is under renewed pressure to review its commitment to spend 0.7 per cent of national income on foreign aid, especially when elderly care in the UK is in crisis. Questionable projects exposed by the Daily Mail include an all-female pop group dubbed Ethiopias Spice Girls that received 5.2million in foreign aid. International Development Secretary Priti Patel announced last week she was stopping the funding.

Pitcairn was colonised in 1790 by nine mutinous sailors from the crew of the Bounty led by Fletcher Christian. They arrived from Tahiti along with 18 Polynesians.

Their story has been retold a number of times on screen, including in the 1962 film Mutiny on the Bounty starring Marlon Brando and Trevor Howard.

Alex Wild of the TaxPayers Alliance, said: Pitcairn is clearly a special case. But as with every spending decision, it is crucial that the money sent out is proportionate to need and spent efficiently.

A Dfid spokesman said: The UK Government has international legal obligations to support the British people on Pitcairn Islands.
Christmas market lorry killer Anis Amri may have been high on cocaine and ecstasy when he ploughed into a crowd in Berlin.

Amri, 24, was a drug dealer in the German capital to support himself as he plotted terror for Islamic State.

Now it is claimed he was also an addict.

A tow truck operates at the scene where a truck driven by Anis Amri ploughed through a crowd at a Christmas market on Breitscheidplatz square in Berlin

It has emerged ISIS terrorist Anis Amri may have been high on cocaine and ecstasy when he murdered 12 people on December 19

The Welt am Sonntag newspaper, citing security sources, said intelligence services will report to the parliamentary control committee of the Bundestag on Monday that he may well have been under the influence when he steered a hijacked lorry into the market on December 19, killing 12 and wounding dozens more.

Only the automatic locking system on the vehicles brakes brought it to a stop and prevented further carnage.

Italian police, who shot Amri dead in Milan on December 23, found no drugs on him or in his backpack.

They discovered only 1,000 euros in cash, a train ticket from France, a Dutch mobile phone SIM card and shaving cream.

According to the German news report, drug dealers in Berlin have told intelligence officials that Amri was a 'regular' consumer of drugs.

And in his hometown in Tunisia he was arrested several times for drug offences in his youth.

Officials are probing whether his love of narcotics may have contributed to him falling off the watchlist of the security services who did not believe a drug addict could also be a terrorist.

A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said he is open to launching a parliamentary inquiry into whether authorities made mistakes in handling the Tunisian man who drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin.

Attacker Anis Amri had been rejected for asylum in Germany but authorities had been unable to deport him.

Amri, who had used at least 14 different identities since coming to Germany, also was on their radar as a potential security risk.

Volker Kauder, the caucus leader of Merkel's conservative Union bloc, noted Saturday there are questions whether there were coordination problems between federal and state authorities, news agency dpa reported.

A senior ally of German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said he is open to launching a parliamentary inquiry into whether authorities made mistakes in handling the Tunisian man who drove a truck into a Christmas market in Berlin

He added: 'If one of is of the opinion that more needs to be done here, I am open to a committee of inquiry.'

Germany was rocked by terror last year, heaping pressure on chancellor Angela Merkel's open-door immigration policy.

A bloody week of violence that rocked Germany began on July 18 when Pakistani teenager Riaz Khan Ahmadzai, 17, posing as an Afghan refugee, hacked at passengers on a train in Wurzburg with an axe, wounding five.

He was shot dead by police.

Four days later mentally unstable German-Iranian teenager Ali Sonboly shot nine people dead during a rampage through a shopping centre in Munich before taking his own life.

Sonboly claimed he was taking revenge for being bullied at school with no political motive to the murderous rampage.

Earlier that month, a suspected ISIS airport bomb plotter hanged himself in a German prison after being arrested following a manhunt.

Syrian national Jaber al-Bakr, 22, was found dead in his cell in Leipzig, eastern Germany on Wednesday evening - having reportedly used his own t-shirt - and was taken away overnight.

He was detained on Sunday after three days on the run following a tip-off that he may have been looking to team up with associates in Leipzig.

Al-Bakr had built 'a virtual bomb-making lab' in a flat in Chemnitz and was thought to have planned an attack against either one of Berlin's two airports or a transport hub in his home state of Saxony, security sources said.

Chemnitz was on lockdown for hours when police raided his flat but failed to seize him before he was captured by fellow Syrian nationals who tied him up and handed him over to the authorities.

And on Monday, December 19, Tunisian ISIS fanatic Anis Amri hijacked a 35-tonne truck and ploughed it into a Christmas market in Berlin, killing 12 people.
Vice President-elect Mike Pence and incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus pushed back against a report that suggested the Trump administration was trying to remove the White House press corp from working at the White House.

Both Pence and Priebus tried arguing today that a report in Esquire about journalists being evicted from their current White House workspaces was based on conversations transition team officials were having about moving press briefings to a larger room.

'I think what the team told me is that there is such a tremendous amount of interest in this incoming administration that they are giving some consideration to finding a larger venue on the 18 acres in the White House complex to accommodate the extraordinary interest,' said Pence today on Face the Nation.

Scroll down for video

Both Vice President-elect Mike Pence (left) and incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus (right) tried to push back against a report that said reporters would be booted from working out of the White House - they said it's about having enough space for the briefings

Sean Spicer (left) went on the record with Esquire saying 'there has been no decision' on whether White House reporters would continue working out of their current office space

Priebus sang a similar tune on Meet the Press answering 'no' when Chuck Todd asked if reporters would no longer be able to go to work at the White House, like they do now.

'No, because the White House obviously is 18 acres, right Chuck?' Priebus answered. 'So the technical answer is "no."

But both top Trump officials suggested by their careful answers that a quote from an unnamed source to Esquire could be true.

On Saturday, Esquire published a report that said Trump transition teams officials were plotting to push White House reporters out of their workspaces under the briefing room as the president-elect continues to publicly clash with the press.

'They are the opposition party,' a senior official was quoted saying. 'I want 'em out of the building. We are taking back the press room.'

The Esquire story goes on to say that journalists' offices could be relocated to the White House Conference Center, located across Pennsylvania Ave. from the White House and outside the security gates, or to the Old Executive Office Building, the ornate building next door.

At stake is whether White House journalists will still be able to work from underneath the White House briefing room, as transition sources told Esquire there's a plot at hand to move the White House Press Corps from this venue

When incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer, along with Pence and Priebus, were asked about that specific issue  where the reporters will work  they all said it was up in the air.

'There has been no decision,' Spicer said in the Esquire piece, admitting 'there has been some discussion about how to do it,' he added, reportedly alluding to moving out the press.

'No decision has been made on that yet,' Pence said.

'That hasn't been determined, Chuck,' Priebus said to Todd.

Priebus argued this was about providing more access to reporters, not less.

'This is about quadrupling the amount of reporters that can cover our press conferences in the White House,' Priebus said on Meet the Press.

'As of right now the only thing that created this story, to make it clear, was the question of whether or not the press briefings, at least initially, are going to be in the [Old Executive Office Building],' Priebus continued.

'This is about press briefings, that's what created this story,' he offered.

But that portion of the Esquire story was not what got the attention of the White House Correspondents Association, with the group's president, Jeff Mason, sending out a statement today, saying he had scheduled a meeting to talk about the removal rumor.

'The White House Correspondents Association Board is aware of the comments from the president-elects team regarding continued news media access to the White House,' Mason said.

'On behalf of our members, I am meeting today with incoming press secretary Sean Spicer to try to get more clarity on exactly what they are suggesting,' he continued.

Mason explained that the White House briefing room, which Spicer, Pence and Priebus all complained was too small, was open to all media outlets who request access.

Additionally, it's proximity to West Wing offices, allowing reporters easy access to top spokespeople and administration officials, was the reason why the White House Correspondents Association would be fighting for the setup to remain the same, Mason said.

'We object strenuously to any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps,' Mason said.
Neighbours remember them as mother and daughter who werent just family but also best friends  the church-going woman and her impeccably polite teen who would even get their nails done together.

They were always happy, always together, said a family friend. After finishing high school, 18-year-old Alexis Manigo had been preparing to leave home and move away from Walterboro, a small South Carolina town, and her beloved mother Gloria Williams, to attend a technical college.

But instead, this young woman faces an extraordinary dilemma  one that has touched everyone who has heard her story since it broke at the weekend.

Kamiyah happy with Gloria Williams. Neighbours remember them as mother and daughter who werent just family but also best friends

In an astonishing conclusion to one of Americas most notorious missing child cases, police have discovered that Alexis was snatched from the arms of her real mother in a Florida hospital in 1998 by a woman posing as a nurse.

And that abductor is allegedly Williams, a 51-year-old social worker who has helped U.S. military veterans and was once head of youth projects at her local church, who has brought Alexis up for the past 18 years.

At the weekend, Alexis  or Kamiyah Mobley as we now know she was born  was reunited (if that is quite the right word for someone who was snatched just eight hours after her birth)  with her biological parents, Shanara Mobley and Craig Aiken, who live 200 miles away in Florida.

Mr Aiken described their hour together in a South Carolina detention centre  where her other mother is being held by police  as the best day of my life.

He said: We laughed, we chatted, we didnt allow any negative thoughts. We didnt talk about the kidnapping.

'Its going to be hard for her to turn this into a positive. Shes got very mixed emotions about the woman who raised her. But we are going to be there for her, this is just the start of a wonderful future.

To say this teenager may have very mixed emotions is clearly no over-statement. Williams  the woman she has called Mom ever since she could talk  awaits kidnap charges that could lead to her being given a life jail sentence.

Until what she had done was uncovered, family and friends believed Kamiyah was her real daughter.

However, in a development that is not surprising given the history of many other baby-snatchings, investigators believe that she had suffered a miscarriage a week before driving 200 miles to Florida to find a suitable replacement in a hospital maternity ward.

Williams gave birth to two subsequent children while Kamiyahs devastated birth mother also went on to have further offspring.

The baby-snatch triggered a huge manhunt across America. After years of false leads, investigators say they finally got a breakthrough when they were sent the original FBI drawings of the suspect which had been produced at the time of the kidnapping along with a photograph of Gloria Williams.

Inevitably, a huge and heated debate has erupted over how she should be punished if convicted. But it appears that at least one person will be urging leniency  the girl she stole.

My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted, the teenager wrote defiantly on Facebook. My mom is not a felon.

Allowed to see Williams at a bail hearing on Friday, in which the suspect waived her rights to resist extradition to Florida, a tearful Kamiyah touched fingers with her abductor through the mesh of the caged window of a security door.

I love you, Momma, she told her between sobs, adding that she was praying for her, as Williams blew kisses back. A reporter present described it as one of the worst things Ive ever watched  so much confusion, so much sadness.

Whereas some child-abduction cases end in abuse or some other tragedy, this one has simply highlighted the excruciating emotional complexity that ensues when the kidnapping  though criminal and heartless  seems to have resulted in a loving family life.

Kamiyah meets her real parents Shanara Mobley and Craig Aiken

Yet, while Williams has a respectable reputation in her town, records show she was charged with disturbing the peace two months after the kidnapping. She also reportedly has convictions for writing fraudulent cheques and welfare fraud.

She bought her modest home in 2012, having been evicted at least six times from a string of local addresses. Even so, some observers have pointed out that Kamiyahs life may have been better than if she had been left with her birth mother  whose life has been marred by other setbacks.

Those who know Kamiyah as the girl called Lexi admit their emotions are torn.

Joseph Jenkins, a friend and neighbour, said: She grew up with a lie for 18 years. And that lie was not the result of some momentary lapse of judgment but cunningly planned.

Lets turn the clock back to July 1998. Kamiyah Mobley was just eight hours old when she was snatched from University Medical Centre, a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.

The suspect, images of whom were captured in CCTV footage but which were too grainy to be of much use to police, was an African-American woman who had cleverly managed to persuade both the babys family and hospital staff that she had a perfect right to be there.

Over a period of 14 hours, she had roamed the busy hospital asking anxiously when mother and child were due to leave the maternity ward  convincing medical staff that she was a worried relative.

Meanwhile, to the girls family, she had posed as a health worker and befriended the exhausted mother over five hours, periodically visiting her bed. Witnesses recall she had intimate knowledge of the hospitals layout and was familiar with medical terminology.

Finally, she made her move. saying the baby had a high temperature and needed to be checked, she took the 8lb infant away wrapped in a white blanket, promising to return her within 20 minutes.

Instead  dressed in a nurses outfit and wearing surgical gloves and with fake hospital ID  she walked out of the hospital with the baby in her arms.

The babys paternal grandmother, Velma Aiken, later said she had been suspicious of the woman as she had a leather handbag slung over her shoulder but  to her eternal regret  didnt intervene.

Vital clue: An original drawing of the abduction suspect and a police mugshot of Williams

After police launched their hunt for the missing baby, Mrs Aikens son, 19 at the time, was arrested on under-age sex charges after he admitted Kamiyahs mother was only 15 when he got her pregnant.

In the meantime, police had few clues. In the first year, they investigated fruitless leads from as far away as Nova Scotia, Canada.

A $250,000 (208,000) reward was offered for information and the case featured on CNN and the TV series Americas Most Wanted.

Please bring my baby back, a distraught Ms Mobley pleaded during a TV interview. If you were faking a pregnancy or you just cant have no kids, how do you think I feel. Thats my first child.

Tip-offs  2,500 in total  continued to come in over the years but led nowhere. As for Ms Mobley, she was given $1.5 million (1.25 million in compensation from the hospital over the security lapse. She bought a house but later lost it when suffering financial problems. She also claimed she gave much of the money to friends and family who abused her generosity.

Investigators never gave up looking for her daughter but complained that she and the girls father were not very cooperative.

Neither side of the family was actively involved in looking for the baby, it was said, and the parents would not allow police to create photos of what Kamiyah might look like as a young girl to help inquiries.

Close: Kamiyah touches fingers with Williams through a jail security screen

However, the couple  who are reportedly still close  may genuinely have felt too upset rather than too apathetic.

Friends say that every year, Ms Mobley held a birthday party for her missing daughter, putting aside a slice of cake in the freezer just in case Kamiyah should return.

Wherever you are, you are truly missed and very much loved, she wrote in purple icing on top of the cake  a picture of which was post on Facebook  that was made for her 16th birthday.

Then, in December, two more tip-offs were given to the national Centre for Missing and Exploited Children. They prompted Florida police to switch their hunt to Walterboro, a 5,000 strong community 200 miles up the Atlantic coast.

One of these leads proved crucial  providing pictures that suggested Williams was the kidnapper.

Police have also revealed that Kamiyah herself suddenly had her own inclination she might have been kidnapped. It is possible that she might have discovered discrepancies in her personal records after she came of age.

Investigators who went to Walterboro found she had the same birthday as the missing child. Crucially, they then discovered that the documents used to establish her identity were fraudulent.

Police said that parallel interviews with local people also led them to believe the teenager could be Kamiyah. Now, DNA tests were needed. Happy to co-operate, Kamiyah gave a sample from a swab of her cheek last week. A team at Floridas police crime lab matched it with a tissue sample taken when she was born.

The next step was to arrest Williams last Friday  her daughter wasnt at home at the time.

Mike Williams, sheriff of Jacksonville, said the girl took the bombshell news as well as you can imagine. He said: This young woman was abducted as a newborn and she is going to need time and assistance to process all of this.

For its part, the hospital from which the girl vanished said it shared in the joy of her discovery.

It stressed that like most hospitals, we have specialised, state-of-the-art security measures in place, both personnel-based and electronic, to protect newborns and their mothers.

After 18 years with almost no developments in this haunting story, events are now moving at dizzying speed. Her birth family are hopeful she will move to Florida to be close to them.

They concede it wont be the sort of instant, joyous reunion beloved of Hollywood happy endings.

Shes got questions to answers I dont even know, said her father Craig Aiken.

I just need to put my arms around her and never let her go, said his mother, now 66. I dont want to scare her away. I want to go slowly.

Velma Aiken, who said she had always prayed she wouldnt die before seeing her granddaughter again, said she had heard that the only mother Kamiyah had ever known had, at least, raised her well.

All I know are tears of joy and happiness and a good feeling, knowing that shes all right and looking good, she added.

Facing an upheaval in her life that few of us can contemplate, it remains to be seen whether Kamiyah will ever quite be able to share the unalloyed joy of her new-found family.
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I have quite an imagination  yet Id struggle to dream up an Alpine hotel any more wonderful than Les Airelles.

Its officially one of the best hotels in France, one of only 16 thats been awarded a palace rating by the Ministry of Tourism for 'enhancing the image of the country' - and my girlfriend and I are discovering that this is no meaningless accolade.

Its location alone is the stuff of skiers fantasies, nestled among trees next to a tiny winding run - Jardin Alpin - in Courchevel 1850.

Hotel Les Airelles is officially one of the best hotels in France, one of only 16 thats been awarded a palace rating by the Ministry of Tourism for 'enhancing the image of the country'. Pictured is the sumptuous lounge area

Bedrooms at Les Airelles are simply wonderful - with beautiful fittings and bathrooms bedecked with Hermes toiletries

By all accounts, its one of the most prestigious plots of land anywhere in Europe.

This is the resort, after all, where billionaires and princes and princesses come to play in the snow - the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge holidayed here last season  and Les Airelles is in one of the best spots.

The building is a picturesque grand chalet inspired by Bavarian baroque architecture with 37 rooms and 14 suites. Its the stuff of fairytales from the outside and inside.

Fit for royalty: The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge holidayed in Courcheval last season, pictured

An ornate blushed-rose facade with prancing deer motifs and curved wooden balconies hides a lavish 19th-century Alpine-style interior.

Done badly, and this kind of aesthetic can be sickly sweet and tacky. But the interior designers used at Les Airelles clearly know their art.

The decor is intricate, elegant and classy, with beautiful antique furniture and lashings of warm wood.

The downstairs bar contains epic sofas, the plumpest of cushions, scattered liberally  and a couple of massive open fires.

Grand, yet cosy. A combination that takes real skill to achieve.

The old-fashioned Alpine theme  which has a whiff of the Austro-Hungarian about it - is carried right through to the staff uniforms - traditional French dresses for the ladies and cropped capri trousers with long socks, ankle boots and berets for the men.

Our bedroom is one of the suites, with a living room area, impossibly comfy king-sized bed and a rain-shower that creates a sort of mini-monsoon.

Just tremendous.

And the toiletries? All by Hermes and Cellcosmet. The squeal of delight from the girlfriend tells me they are top class.

The building is a picturesque grand chalet inspired by Bavarian baroque architecture with 37 rooms and 14 suites. Its the stuff of fairytales from the outside and inside

MOUTHWATERING MEALS ON THE MOUNTAINSIDE A tremendous option for a mountainside lunch at Courchevel 1850 is Le Chalet de Pierres - which is part of the group that owns Les Airelles, the LOV Hotel Collection. It's a huge cut above most ski resort restaurants and offers genuinely gourmet food. Advertisement

I'm more impressed by the brace of flat-screens  one in the bedroom and one in the living room  that both come with Apple TV.

And the view?

Pine trees and the resort's peaks. But also to a neighbouring palace-rated hotel. It's Courchevel, after all. It has three hotels with this accolade.

The facilities at Les Airelles include a pool in the basement, along with a stunning spa, hammam, sauna, outdoor Jacuzzi and even a barbers.

It's worth dwelling on the pool for a moment, though, because it's simply stunning.

The tiling is an exquisite mosaic and the light from underwater spotlights dances off it in a most beguiling way.

The facilities at Les Airelles include a pool in the basement (pictured), along with a stunning spa, hammam, sauna, outdoor Jacuzzi and even a barbers

The outdoor hot tub at Les Airelles is the perfect place to soothe away aches and pains from a day's skiing or snowboarding

Ok, so a lot of hotels have nice pools. But the Rolex clock above this one is an extra reminder that you're in the classiest of establishments.

The dining options, meanwhile, include a two-Michelin-starred restaurant (what else?) - Pierre Gagnaire.

Here the cooking is sheer artistry. We give it a whirl and our taste buds are treated to sirloin steak of wagyu beef, presse of poultry and clams with cornes of d'abondance mushrooms.

We're offered champagne as an aperitif  Pommery or Cristal.

Here Ted is pictured at Les Airelles' two-Michelin-star restaurant, Pierre Gagnaire, where the cooking is sheer artistry

We go the way of the rappers here.

Children are well-catered for, too, at Les Airelles.

Theres a mini ice rink complete with cute model penguins they can hold on to and an amazing games room containing a mini climbable castle, Xbox Ones, PlayStations, cinema area and a thrilling Star Wars games pod.

What makes the hotel so special, however, is the way the service just purrs.

For instance, every member of staff, from the cleaners to the bell hops, offers a polite bonjour monsieur/bonjour madam' to guests as they pass and napkins are replaced mid-way through breakfast if the one in use is looking a bit too ruffled (the fresh one is placed on the table by way of silver tongs).

The standards at Les Airelles are incredibly high throughout - it just doesn't put a foot wrong. Though the taps in Ted's bathroom were mislabelled

The service at Les Airelles just purrs, with guests taken care of right the way to the slopes. Pictured is a guest being fitted with ski boots in the frankly astonishing boot room

But perhaps its best summed up by the occasion when the ski boot-room attendant notices one morning that my girlfriend had arrived with just socks on her feet. When she returns after a day on the slopes, a pair of hotel slippers are waiting for her to wear for the journey back to the bedroom.

Its a hotel that doesnt put a foot wrong (though, gasp, the taps in one of our bedroom sinks is mislabelled).

The downside? Deep pockets are needed, with the cheapest room costing around 1,100 euros (950/$1,100) a night.

But if you can afford it, youll find yourself cocooned in the hotel of my dreams. And probably yours.
You are far more likely to die in a road accident than you are in a plane crash - yet most buses don't even have seatbelts.

So what's the basis behind the exhaustive (and at times infuriating) list of in-flight safety requirements?

MailOnline Travel spoke to pilots and aviation experts about why passengers have to put their seat-backs up, raise their window shutters and banish their phones before take-off and landing.

Headphones, cushions and blankets are often removed before landing to clear evacuation routes, but also so there's less to clear up after passengers disembark (stock image)

As for why we have to raise our windows to prepare for landing, Aviation Safety Network CEO, Harro Ranter, explains: 'Should an evacuation become necessary, it's important to have an outside view so you can decide if that side is safe.

'If flames are visible on that side, you'd need to evacuate through another exit.'

British Airways' head of flight and technical training, Captain Dave Thomas, added:

'This is actually required by regulation so you get accustomed to the amount of light outside the aircraft if you ever had to disembark in a hurry.

'This is the sort of "just in case" approach we take to the safety of our customers to ensure flying is as safe as we can possibly make it.'

According to one pilot, the interference caused when passengers don't switch their phones to flight mode is more annoying than dangerous (stock image)

It seems obvious that tray tables should be up for take-off and landing so as not hinder a possible evacuation but what about seat backs? Would those few inches really make a difference?

According to Mr Ranter, yes.

'It'd be more difficult to assume a brace-for-impact position should there be an emergency,' he explains.

And why must passengers relinquish items like headphones, pillows and blankets before landing? Has anyone ever suffered a mortal injury by way of flying cushion?

'Anything lying around in the cabin can hamper a possible evacuation,' he insists. 'But also, I guess it's more efficient for cabin crew, so there's less time spent on cleaning up after landing.'

The debate still rages on, it would seem, regarding the use of mobile phones and other electronic devices during take-off and landing.

'Phones must be off so signals do not interfere with aircraft electronics like navigational systems,' Mr Ranter states, as we are often told during safety demonstrations.

Passengers are required to raise their windows for landing so they are better accustomed to the light in the event of an evacuation - this being the riskiest part of a flight

However, pilot and author of Cockpit Confidential, Patrick Smith, told The Telegraph last year: 'At least half of all phones, whether inadvertently or out of laziness, are left on during flight.'

In a blog post for AirlineUpdates, another pilot wrote that transmitting mobiles are more irksome for the pilot than dangerous.

Youve probably heard this interference yourself when a phone is set near a speaker,' he explained. 'It sounds like a dit-dit-dit-dit tone and its pretty annoying.

At least half of all phones, whether inadvertently or out of laziness, are left on during flight

Finally, there's a good reason why all these regulations come into play during the beginning and end of the flight - while the rest of the time passengers are largely left alone.

'Most fatal accidents - around 40 per cent of them - happen during landing,' Mr Ranter explains. 'Yet, chances of survival are much higher.'

If you happen to nose-dive into the ocean during the cruise phase, however, the position of your seat won't help you.
With a month to go until Valentine's Day, Prince Harry is planning a romantic getaway with girlfriend Meghan Markle  to Verbier, his favourite Swiss ski resort.

Whispers from the resort tell me that Royal aides have already carried out a recce to check out any potential security issues.

Harry will be delighted to learn that the security team even checked out one of Verbier's top nightclubs, Casbah, for him.

Now, anticipation in the resort is building.

With a month to go until Valentine's Day, Prince Harry (left) is planning a romantic getaway with girlfriend Meghan Markle (right)  to Verbier, his favourite Swiss ski resort

My mole on the slopes said: 'Locals recognised staff who have previously skied behind Prince Harry when they came looking around Casbah recently.

'Now the whole place is buzzing about having a visit from Harry.'

Harry knows Verbier well  in 2013, he took his then-girlfriend Cressida Bonas to the resort and was seen canoodling with her on the slopes. He is said to be comfortable there as it is peppered with high-profile friends and family who can protect him.

The 32-year-old Prince and his special guest could find privacy in Richard Branson's pile The Lodge, although it costs 126,000 to rent the whole place over Valentine's week.

The 32-year-old Prince and his special guest could find privacy in Richard Branson's pile The Lodge (pictured)

Alternatively, they could stay in the Duchess of York's Verbier chalet. Actress Meghan, 35, who lives in Canada, is certainly used to the cold, but she is better known for her love of beachside yoga than snow sports.

The slopes are a favourite venue for Royal romancing. Prince William famously wooed the young Kate Middleton during ski trips to Klosters before they married. Last year he accompanied her on a family trip to Courchevel in the French Alps.

However, I can reveal that William's work commitments this year mean the Duchess of Cambridge may have to take their children George and Charlotte to ski school without him.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

Trend:

Azerbaijani serviceman Fikret Bashirov was killed as a result of shelling the positions of the Azerbaijani army by the Armenian armed forces, the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry said in a message Jan. 15.

According to Azerbaijani Defense Minister, Colonel-General Zakir Hasanovs order, Bashirov, who died as a result of Armenias another provocation on the line of contact between Armenian and Azerbaijani troops, was posthumously awarded with the third degree medal "For Distinction in Military Service".

The Azerbaijani Defense Ministry expresses condolences to the family of the killed serviceman.

The conflict between the two South Caucasus countries began in 1988 when Armenia made territorial claims against Azerbaijan. As a result of the ensuing war, in 1992 Armenian armed forces occupied 20 percent of Azerbaijan, including the Nagorno-Karabakh region and seven surrounding districts. The 1994 ceasefire agreement was followed by peace negotiations.

Armenia has not yet implemented four UN Security Council resolutions on withdrawal of its armed forces from the Nagorno-Karabakh and the surrounding districts.
I have proof that the Royal Family does carry cash after all  and rather a lot of it, judging by this picture of the Duke of Kent.

I spotted the Queen's cousin at a common old cashpoint around the corner from his Kensington Palace home withdrawing wads of 20 notes.

I couldn't help wondering if the Duke, 81, might be using the money to fork out on another pair of super-on-trend trainers.

Along with a flat cap, overcoat and plain brown trousers, the duke modelled a pair of very hip New Balance shoes.

I spotted the Queen's cousin at a common old cashpoint around the corner from his Kensington Palace home withdrawing wads of 20 notes

It could be that the Duke's granddaughter, Amelia Windsor, 21, has been offering him some tips.

And while we're talking about the achingly cool young Royal, I can reveal she was signed up by top agency Storm Models on Friday. The agency posted this picture of her with the message: 'So excited to have Amelia join us.'

Storm is where Kate Moss and Naomi Campbell kick-started their careers, and Lady Amelia, 36th in line to the throne, could be on a similar path.

It certainly should mean the end of her money concerns. Last week, I reported how Amelia, who has been waitressing during her language studies at Edinburgh University, had confided in friends that she couldn't afford to rent in London.

Amelia Windsor was signed up by top agency Storm Models on Friday. They posted this picture of her with the message: 'So excited to have Amelia join us'

It's official! Rosie Huntington-Whiteley is a yummy mummy-to-be, brother Toby has confirmed. I reported last week how I suspected the pitter-patter of tiny feet for Rosie, 29, and fiance Jason Statham, 49, but the M&S model's camp went quiet on me when I offered my congratulations. Toby, 25, a personal trainer/model, was more forthcoming. 'Yes, I'm very happy to be an uncle,' he told me. 'I think it's confirmed isn't it?' It is now!
Michelle Payne became Australia's sweetheart after beating all odds to create history as the first ever female winner of the the Melbourne Cup in 2015.

And she is still winning hearts after cutting a fine and flirty figure at at the Magic Millions horse racing event on the Gold Coast.

The jockey looked fresh as a daisy on Saturday in a black and white floral mini dress with a see-through lace design, under which she wore a black strapless bra.

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Flirty florals: Michelle Payne looked fresh as a daisy at the Magic Millions on the Gold Coast on Saturday in a black and white floral mini dress with a see-through lace design

The frock brought to mind spring despite the summer heat, with frilly white ruffle sleeves a matching smaller ruffle down the middle of the sheer section.

Cinched at her slender waist, the form-fitting Self Portrait dress ended at the thigh with a black skirt underneath an embroidered lace overlay with a black and white flower design.

The brunette beauty kept her locks in a chic up-do and completed her look with minimal, neutral make-up.

The 31-year-old recently revealed she's purchased her first filly which will be trained at her 16 hectare farm in Ballarat, NSW.

The filly was sired by champion Fastneck Rock and set the sportswoman back a cool $185,000.

Trackside style! Cinched at her slender waist, the form-fitting Self Portrait dress ended at the thigh with a black skirt underneath an embroidered floral lace overlay

Neutral base: The brunette beauty kept her locks in a chic up-do and completed her look with minimal, neutral make-up

New career: The 31-year-old has purchased her first filly which will be trained at her 16 hectare farm in Ballarat, NSW

'I think a lot of jockeys finish riding and don't know what to do with themselves,' she told The Sunday Telegraph of her new career direction.

Michelle Payne, now horse racing royalty, was given a red carpet entrance at the Magic Millions launch party in Surfers Paradise last week.

Michelle recently returned to the track after a hefty stint recovering from an injury suffered in May last year.

Now, ahead of her appearance at the 2017 Melbourne Cup, Michelle is seeking to impress Sheikh Mohammed, whose horse Qewy is a decent chance of a Cup start.

Chic: Michelle also looked sleek at another Magic Millions horse racing carnival party in Surfers Paradise last week

She's back: Michelle recently returned to the track after a hefty stint recovering from an injury suffered in May last year

Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum is the Prime Minister of the United Arab Emirates and a keen equestrian, and is also the founder of the reputable Godolphin racing stable.

His family value as reported by Forbes in 2013 was a staggering $48.5 billion.

Michelle's manager Phillip Roost said that while Payne was not a front-runner to secure a spot with Qewy, her performance was certainly peaking at the ideal time.

Jumping back on the horse! Ahead of her appearance at the 2017 Melbourne Cup, Michelle is seeking to impress Sheikh Mohammed, whose horse Qewy is a decent chance of a Cup start

'She has ridden a few winners recently and she is hitting form at the right time,' Roost told the Daily Telegraph.

'If she doesn't ride in the Cup this year it's not the end of the world,' said Roost.

'But if she got on Qewy that would be great and the hat is in the ring.'
Dick Gautier, the actor best known for his role as Hymie The Robot in the 60s sitcom Get Smart, has died.

The 85-year-old actor passed away on Friday night in an assisted living facility in Arcadia, California, after a long illness, his daughter Denise told The Hollywood Reporter.

The late star was one of the spy spoof's most popular characters despite only appearing on six episodes over the course of four seasons.

Sad: Dick Gautier passed away at 85-years-old in an assisted living facility in California on Friday, after a long illness, his daughter told The Hollywood Reporter. Pictured above in 2011

In 1989, Dick reprised his beloved robot role in Get Smart the TV movie.

The talented actor began his enduring career as a stand-up comedian who eventually starred on Broadway, in TV and film and even landed work as a voice over actor, writer and illustrator.

He was nominated for a Tony award for his role as Conrad Birdie in the original production of Bye, Bye, Birdie in 1960.

Known for: Dick, is best known for his role as Hymie the robot (second from the left). Don Adams, Edward Platt, and Barbara Feldon (left to right) also stared in the 60s sitcom Get Smart

In 1975, he had a short-lived role as Robin Hood in the ABC series When Things Were Rotten.

He also had regular roles on the short-lived series Mr. Terrific and Here We Go Again, and made notable appearances on The Mary Tyler Moore Show, Charlie's Angels, The Love Boat, Murder, She Wrote, and Nip/Tuck.

Dick also played Van Dyke's attorney in the 1977 film, Fun With Dick And Jane.

Starting in the mid-1980s, Dick began a thriving voice over career, heard on shows like G.I. Joe, The Transformers, The New Yogi Bear Show and The Addams Family.

Also, an accomplished artist, he wrote and illustrated several books about drawing and how to become a cartoonist.

Dick was married three times, and is survived by his three children from his first marriage.
PR Queen Roxy Jacenko has been pictured arriving home after taking a private jet to visit jailed husband Oliver Curtis, accompanied only by young son Hunter.

The mother-of-two from Sydney had previously told Hunter, two, and Pixie, five, their father was on a business trip in China.

But Roxy seemingly had no qualms taking Hunter to Cooma, in New South Wales, on Saturday, where Curtis has been jailed since being found guilty of insider trading in June.

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Going somewhere? PR Queen Roxy Jacenko and son Hunter Curtis, two, were pictured hopping off a private jet on Saturday after visiting jailed husband and father Oliver Curtis

The 36-year-old socialite and owner of PR firm Sweaty Betty was seen hopping into her luxurious Range Rover after arriving onto the tarmac at the airport.

With her hair styled in loose waves, she wore a casual white designer T-shirt with flower and bird motifs.

Holding a lavish navy handbag with her left hand, she also clung on to her son's arm as they walked to their car from the jet.

Roxy looked stern faced as she boarded the plane, but young Hunter smiled as he walked with his mum.

Changing story: The mother-of-two had previously told children Hunter, two, and Pixie, five, their father was on a business trip in China

Arriving on time: The 36-year-old socialite and owner of PR firm Sweaty Betty was seen driving her luxurious Range Rover after arrivign on the tarmac at the airport

Adventure time: Wearing her trademark aviator sunglasses, Roxy opened the right passenger door for Hunter

Always stylish: With her hair styled in loose waves, she wore a casual white T-shirt with flower and bird motifs

Helping hand: She played the role of doting mum as she helped her son Hunter into the car

If Hunter accompanied his mother to visit Curtis in jail, it would have been the first time either of the couple's children had been to see him.

Roxy's decision to only take her young son on the trip comes months after revealing daughter Pixie was struggling to cope without her father.

Once on-board the plane, Roxy appeared to attempt to calm her son's nerves about flying by giving him a set of building blocks.

Riding in style: Mother and son then both hopped aboard this lavish private jet, while daughter Pixie was no where to be seen

Tough times: Roxy's husband Oliver Curtis (left) was found guilty of insider trading in June

Mother and son then posed for selfies, with Hunter giving a thumbs up in the photo that was later uploaded to Instagram.

Ensuring her journey was fully covered on social media, she later took to Snapchat to share images from inside the plane that included Hunter watching an iPad.

The trip to visit Curtis comes just a week after it was claimed Roxy was planning on leaving her husband.

Style standards: Before hopping on the plane Roxy posted a selfie taken in a lift to show off her designer outfit

Play time: Onboard the plane, Roxy appeared to attempt to calm her son's nerves about flying by giving him a set of airplane building blocks

Take off: Roxy offered a peace sign, while Hunter gave a thumbs up as they posed for a selfie before the plane got in the air

A friend reportedly close to the PR maven said she planned on ending their four-year marriage as soon as her husband was released from jail.

'She has said that once Oli is out, she will end it,' the friend told the Daily Telegraph.

The friend said Roxy didn't initially want the split, but has been 'preparing for it for a while' and seems to have it 'worked out in her head'.

Happy family: Roxy's decision to leave Pixie (back) at home comes months after she revealed her young daughter was struggling to cope without her father
The Goldblum family is about to get bigger.

On Saturday, Jeff Goldblum's wife Emilie Livingston took to Instagram to confirm that the couple will welcome a second child in early April.

The 33-year-old dancer shared a photo of herself in a graceful pose on top of a barrel, revealing she was 15 weeks pregnant in the shot.

A new addition: Jeff Goldblum, 64, and wife Emilie Livingston, 33, only confirmed their pregnancy on Saturday, despite photos of Emilie surfacing from their December vacation

She captioned the shot: 'Round and round we go!

'Im 15 weeks pregnant in this shot and Im SO excited for our newest addition to the Goldblum family, arriving early April.'

Photos from the family-of-three's Hawaiian vacation in December revealed Emilie's burgeoning baby belly - but they waited a full month until confirming the exciting news.

Round and round we go: The gymnast took to Instagram to confirm the exciting news

The Independence Day actor and his pretty wife are already the proud parents of their 17-month-old son Charlie Ocean.

The couple tied the knot in November 2014.

Goldblum will next be seen in Thor: Ragnarok alongside Benedict Cumberbatch and Cate Blanchett.

The film has wrapped filming and is in post production. It will hit theaters in November 2017, giving Jeff plenty of time to dote on his new baby until then.
They have been partying up a storm as the new BFFs on the social scene.

And Sofia Richie and Paris Hilton didn't disappoint as they attended the Moschino Autumn Winter 2017 show in Italy on Saturday.

Sofia, 18, showed off her bralet and toned stomach in a bright coordinated tracksuit, as Paris, 35, put on a leggy display during Milan Fashion Week Men's.

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Blondes have more fun? Sofia Richie and Paris Hilton didn't disappoint as they attended the Moschino Autumn Winter 2017 show in Italy on Saturday

Sofia made the most of her enviable abs, wearing her bright tracksuit jacket open, flaunting her lace bra.

Wearing it with matching Moshino tracksuit bottoms, she put on a bright display in the ensemble emblazoned with smiley faces, peace signs and flowers.

Dressing the outfit up, she wore a pair of strappy black sandals, showing off a black Gothic pedicure.

Racy! Sofia made the most of her enviable abs, wearing her bright tracksuit jacket open, flaunting her lace bra

And wearing her blonde tresses in a loose ponytail parted in the middle, the model showed off her natural beauty with minimal make-up.

Making the most of her dewy fresh complexion, she framed her hazel eyes with defined brows, and accentuated her bee-stung lips with a touch of gloss

Accessorising with a delicate multi-chain gold necklace, her look was complete.

Sizzling duo! Sofia, 18, showed off her bralet and toned stomach in a bright coordinated tracksuit, as Paris, 35, put on a leggy display during Milan Fashion Week Men's

Meanwhile Paris, who was formerly best friends with Sofia's older sister Nicole, put on a leggy display in a Moschino-emblazoned mini-dress.

The thigh-skimming piece made the most of her long lean legs, which she covered with fishnet stockings.

Accentuating her tall stature with simple black pumps, the dress made the most of her slender waist with a yellow waistband.

Coordinating: Wearing it with matching Moshino tracksuit bottoms, she put on a bright display in the ensemble emblazoned with smiley faces, peace signs and flowers

LBD: Meanwhile Paris put on a leggy display in a Moschino-emblazoned mini-dress

Wearing her golden treses in loose curls, she made the most of her sharp bone structure witha touch of highlighter and bronzer.

Making her bright blue eyes pop with statement lashes and bold brows, she posed alongside Sophia and creative director Jeremy Scott.

And the duo shared an array of Instagram selfies and Snapchats as they sat FROW at the colourful show.

Crew strong: Making her bright blue eyes pop with statement lashes and bold brows, Paris posed alongside Sophia and creative director Jeremy Scott

Keeping their fans updated! The duo shared an array of Instagram selfies and Snapchats as they sat FROW at the colourful show
She's been fighting to save inmate Richard Glossip's life from death row for over a year.

And on Saturday, Susan Sarandon hit the stage for the docu-series Killing Richard Glossip at the Television Critics Association press tour panel in Pasadena, California.

The two episode docu-series, which is to set to premiere in March, includes interviews with the 70-year-old actress.

Looking good: On Saturday, Susan Sarandon hit the stage for the docu-series Killing Richard Glossip at the Television Critics Association press tour panel in Pasadena, California

For the panel, Susan kept it simple in a black top and matching bottoms, adding boots.

Killing Richard Glossip is about an inmate and former motel manager that was convicted of murder in 1997 and currently on death row.

In January 1997, Barry Van Treese was found murdered in a room at the Best Budget Inn in Oklahoma City.

The convicted murderer, Justin Sneed admitted he killed Treese - but said he was hired by Glossip.

Focused: The two episode docu-series, which is to set to premiere in March, includes interviews with the 70-year-old actress

Sneed avoided the death penalty and was sentenced to life in prison in the plea deal.

Glossip, who has maintained his innocence, was given a last meal three times in 2015 with a new date set for this summer.

Susan became a Glossip supporter after Sister Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man Walking, contacted her, according to People.

In action: For the panel, Susan kept it simple in a black top and matching bottoms, adding boots; pictured with Joe Berlinger, Sister Helen Prejean, Susan and Don Knight, his defense attorney

Support: Killing Richard Glossip is about an inmate and former motel manager that was convicted of murder in 1997 and currently on death rowl seen with Joe, Sister Helen and Don

The star played the author in the 1995 film with the same name; Susan won an Academy Award for her portrayal.

She told People magazine last year that 'Sister Helen Prejean called me and convinced me that this guy, Richard Glossip, was innocent.'

Adding that he 'needed another chance to have better representation to present new information that would establish a reasonable doubt as to his guilt and save him from being executed,' the magazine reported.

The show, created and directed by Joe Berlinger, is produced by RadicalMedia in association with Third Eye Motion Picture Company.

The two-night docu-series will premiere on the Crime And Justice Network beginning on Sunday, March 5.

In the moment: Susan became a Glossip supporter after Sister Helen Prejean, the author of Dead Man Walking, contacted her, according to People; seen with Don
Hailey Baldwin is known for hanging with squad of supermodels, but today the star shined solo on Instagram.

The 20-year-old star looked sultry in a series of social media shots posted this weekend.

In the Saturday snaps, the celebrity offspring previewed an upcoming photoshoot where the star stuns in swimwear.

White hot: Hailey Baldwin shared a sneak peak of an upcoming photoshoot on Instagram Saturday

The 5-foot 8-inch star looked fresh from the water as she showed of her bronze body in the 90's inspired look.

A pair of timeless high-cut briefs by Calvin Klein combined with a belly-baring mesh longsleeve to emphasize Hailey's long limbs and enviable abs.

You could spot the star's itty bitty tattoo of the word 'gente', Spanish for 'people', on her left hip in the body baring pics.

@renellaice A photo posted by Hailey Baldwin (@haileybaldwin) on Jan 14, 2017 at 2:35pm PST

In a closer shot, the daughter of actor Stephen Baldwin showed off a double pair of small diamond hoops.

Her strong features shined in minimal makeup that revealed a splash of sweet freckles upon the IMG model's face.

She made sure to thank celebrity photographer Renell Medrano in her tags.

Beach buddy: Kendall Jenner joined Hailey for some swimsuit glamour, seen in this shot taken by Miss Baldwin herself

But that wasn't the last of we'd see of Hailey's day at the beach.

She posted an artsy shot of her bestie Kendall Jenner also enjoying the sun in bikini mode.

In the shot, you can see the 21-year-old's flat stomach as the beauty reclines in a pair of aviator sunglasses.

Double denim: On Friday, the close pals were spotted leaving Kendall's apartment wearing matching jean jackets

Hailey captioned the pic: 'Kenny the jet. Photo by me' and added a heart-eyes emoji for extra effect.

The second generation star is never too far from her Kardashian accomplice.

Yesterday, the pair were spotted leaving Kendall's New York apartment wearing matching jean jackets on their way to shop at CVS.
It's the middle of summer in Sydney and a heatwave, with temperatures well into the 40s.

But that didn't stop Montana Cox dressing for freezing temperatures as she arrived at Sydney Airport on Saturday.

The 23-year-old Australia's Next Top Model star was rugged up in tracksuit pants and a thick black and blue faux-fur jacket.

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Chilly? Montana Cox dressed for freezing temperatures as she arrived at Sydney Airport on Saturday amid a heatwave

She appeared to have a jumper on underneath her jacket, and was also wearing warm wool socks.

The model was returning from icy Switzerland, where she enjoyed a Christmas holiday, so it's likely she had dressed for the cooler weather she left.

In fact, Montana even revealed the sub-zero temperatures in Zurich through an Instagram post.

Hot stuff: The 23-year-old Australia's Next Top Model star was rugged up in tracksuit pants and a thick black and blue faux-fur jacket

In the image, the brunette beauty held a finger to her temple as she snapped a bathroom selfie.

The caption read: ' -1, Schlieren, Zurich.'

The svelte stunner, who now lives in the US, has been working steadily since being crowned the winner of ANTM in 2011.

She is signed to the prestigious IMG Models, and has worked for renowned labels such as Chanel, Lanvin, and Dior.
She was granted a well-publicized divorce from Johnny Depp last year amid shocking allegations.

But it looks as though Amber Heard is starting 2017 with a new lease of life, after it was reported she is besotted with new rumoured flame Elon Musk.

The American actress, 30, was first linked to the 34-year-old billionaire businessman last summer, after he was said to have pursued her for 'years'.

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New year, new love? Amber Heard is said to be starting 2017 with a new lease of life, after it was reported she is besotted with new rumoured flame Elon Musk

A source told The Mirror: 'Amber is over the moon about her divorce but she is even happier about being able to go public with Elon.

'She was telling friends over Christmas how smitten she is with Elon.

'They are already planning a lot of adventures together and she's relieved she can move on with her life. It's an exciting new chapter for both of them.'

Admirer: The American actress, 30, was first linked to the 34-year-old billionaire businessman last summer, after he was said to have pursued her for 'years'

MailOnline has contacted Amber's representative for comment

Elon, who is reportedly worth an eye-watering 9.2billion, was spotted in the company of Amber Heard multiple times in August amid reports the tech billionaire has had an interest in the newly divorced actress for years.

The Hollywood Reporter spoke with a source who claims that Musk 'became infatuated' with Heard after the two appeared in the 2013 film Machete Kills.

The duo did not have any scenes together or get a chance to meet on set, so Musk began to email director Robert Rodriguez repeatedly in hopes that he could set up a meeting between himself and the actress - despite the fact that she was with Johnny Depp at the time.

Hanging out: Amber and Elon were spotted out together in Miami and London over the summer 2016

'If there is a party or event with Amber, I'd be interested in meeting her just out of curiosity,' Musk wrote in one email to Rodriguez.

'Allegedly, she is a fan of George Orwell and Ayn Rand  most unusual.'

A dinner was then reportedly set up between the two, but Heard did not show up for her scheduled sit-down with the business magante.

That did not deter Musk however, who again emailed Rodriguez, writing: 'Can you send her a note saying I would like to get together for lunch in LA?'

He then clarified what he was looking for, telling Rodriguez: 'Am not angling for a date. I know she's in a long-term relationship, but  Amber just seems like an interesting person to meet.'

No more: Heard filed for divorce from actor Johnny Depp in May after 14 months of marriage, and their separation was finalized in August (former couple above in January)

Heard and Musk were then spotted partying together at The Box in London, though the two were careful not to be photographed leaving the club together with celeb pals Cara Delevingne and Jared Leto.

Musk and Heard were also spotted together in Miami earlier in the summer, but a source close to the billionaire claimed the two 'were just friends.'

Heard filed for divorce from Depp in May, amid allegations about abuse she suffered at the hands of the Oscar-nominated actor, which he denied.

Their separation was finalized in August, with 53-year-old Depp agreeing to hand over $7million to his wife of 14 months.

Heard in turn said that the money she was given in the divorce would be given to the ACLU and Children's Hospital of Los Angeles, with both getting exactly $3.5million.

Pulling the plug: Musk became 'infatuated' with Heard after they both appeared in the 2013 film Machete Kills (Heard above in still from film) according to a new report

Stopping by: Musk appeared in a cameo role in Machete Kills (above) but did not get to meet Heard on set

Depp cut the first checks to both organizations in August, with his rep saying in a statement to TMZ: 'Following Amber Heard's announcement that her divorce settlement was to be divided equally and gifted to Children's Hospital of Los Angeles and the American Civil Liberties Union, two exceptionally deserving and important charities, Johnny Depp has sent the first of multiple installments of those monies to each charity in the name of Amber Heard, which when completed will honor the full amount of Ms. Heard's pledge.'

The rep then added: 'Ms. Heard's generosity in giving to these wonderful causes is deeply respected.'

Musk meanwhile is in the process of divorcing his wife Talulah Riley - again.

The South African-born tech billionaire and the English actress - who were married in 2010, divorced in 2012 and then remarried in 2013 - decided to call it quits this last March when Riley again filed divorce papers.

Musk, 45, and Riley, 30, first wed in 2010, at a ceremony held in Scotland, but divorced shortly after in 2012.

He announced on Twitter that it had been an 'amazing' few years and that he would always love her, paying out $4.2million in a settlement.

Splitting again: Musk's wife Talulah Riley (above in 2014) filed for divorce in March of this year, with the pair previously divorcing in 2012 before marrying again

Months after the first divorce, they were back together  and remarried in July 2013. But the couple lived apart for much of 2014 while Talulah wrote and directed her first feature film, Scottish Mussel.

Divorce papers were again filed in December 2014 with the couple insisting that the split was amicable and Musk agreeing to pay $16million in a settlement.

That action was withdrawn just a few months later.

Prior to his relationship with Riley, Musk was married to Canadian author Justine Wilson.

The pair wed in 2000 and then divorced in 2008.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has arrested and extradited an Iranian national accused of committing economic crimes.

Brigadier-General Masud Rezavani, an Iranian police official, has said that the detainee who has been involved in an economic corruption case at the countrys Oil Ministry was arrested in a Central American country and handed over to Iran this morning, Tasnim news agency reported.

Tasnim news agency identified the suspect as Alireza Zibahalat Monfared suggesting that he is linked to Billionaire Iranian businessman Babak Zanjanis case.

Babak Zanjani was arrested in December 2013 after accusations that he withheld billions in oil revenue channeled through his companies. Although the billionaire has denied the accusations, he has been sentenced to death.
Rapunzel makes a comeback in a brand new sequel and television series starring Mandy Moore as the princess.

The actress, 32, has returned to the role of the fairy tale heroine for the sequel Tangled: Before Ever After, after previously voicing the character for the Disney film Tangled and the short Tangled: Ever After.

A new trailer for the upcoming sequel, set to air on the Disney channel, follows Rapunzel before she marries her love Flynn Rider (voiced by returning actor Zachary Levi) and is once again magically given her long, long locks.

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Enchanted: Rapunzel's magical hair makes a comeback in a brand new sequel and television series starring Mandy Moore as the princess

She's back: Mandy Moore, pictured at the Golden Globes this month in Beverly Hills, has returned to the role of the long-haired fairy tale heroine after previously voicing the character for the Disney film Tangled and the short Tangled: Ever After

The sequel appears to take place in between the time of Tangled and Tangled: Ever After, and the trailer begins by showing Rapunzel with a head full of very short brunette hair - a hair 'do she ended up with at the end of the original film.

However that all changes after the princess wanders off into the night and is somehow magically given her long, blonde hair again.

'Do you see the 70 feet of my father's going to kill me growing out from my head!?' Rapunzel exclaims to her friend in a panic.

The fairy tale heroine is desperate to rid herself of the hair length, but not even a simple hair cut can do the trick.

Her usual style: The fairy tale heroine initially had a head full of short brunette hair in the trailer

Spellbound: Rapunzel finds herself back with her long blonde hair after venturing off into the night

Panicked: The young princess can't believe her long blonde hair has grown back

'Just cut it!' she orders her friend.

However, the strength of the hair ends up shattering the scissors.

'Uh oh,' her friend stammers.

'There shouldn't be any uh-ohs!' Rapunzel responds before laying her eyes on the broken scissors.

Cut that out! The princess ordered a friend to chop off her hair

'There shouldn't be any uh-ohs!' Rapunzel responds before laying her eyes on the broken scissors

'Surprise!' She shocks her love, Flynn Rider, with her new long locks

'Uh-oh,' she says.

The news seems to stun Rapunzel's love, Flynn, whose jaw drops when he finally sees her long locks.

'Surprise!' she says.

'I won't ask how it grew back, I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation,' he says, sitting on the chair with his face in his hand. 'I'm sure you'll share it when you're ready!'

No way: The news seems to stun Rapunzel's love, Flynn, whose jaw drops when he finally sees her long locks

'I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation': Flynn tries to find out how Rapunzel got the hair back

'Thank you, for understanding': Rapunzel says quietly

'Thank you, for understanding,' she says quietly.

'Oh come on, really!?' he exclaims.

Tangled: Before Ever After will premiere on the Disney Channel in March, and the series is set to air at some point after.

Ashley Judd has also lent her voice as Queen Arianna.

The mane attraction: The fairy tale princess scoops up her hair

Leaping into action: Rapunzel swoops into action with the help of her hair
She recently gave birth to her newborn baby daughter Dream in November.

So Blac Chyna has enlisted the help of two nannies to assist in caring for her nine-week-old little girl and son King Cairo, aged four.

The 28-year-old reality star looked relaxed with the troop as she enjoyed an afternoon of shopping in Calabasas.

Helping hands: Blac Chyna has enlisted the help of two nannies to assist in caring for her nine-week-old little girl and son King Cairo, aged four

Blac - whose real name is Angela Renee White - stepped out in black distressed jeans that revealed her numerous thigh tattoos beneath.

She teamed the ripped denims with a black and white tee that was emblazoned with a sad face with heart-shaped eyes.

A black mesh vest was layered over the graphic crew neck T-shirt as she made her way through the mall parking lot.

Retail therapy: The 28-year-old reality star looked relaxed with the troop as she enjoyed an afternoon of shopping in Calabasas

She's ripped! Blac - whose real name is Angela Renee White - stepped out in black distressed jeans that revealed her numerous thigh tattoos beneath

Mood? She teamed the ripped denims with a black and white tee that was emblazoned with a sad face and heart-shaped eyes

The fiancee of Rob Kardashian, 29, added a pair of sky high Christian Louboutin stiletto leather boots and small cherry red designer handbag.

Chyna's silky raven tresses were styled stick straight with blunt bangs, and she opted for a shimmering eye shadow, rosy cheeks and pale pink glossy lip.

One nanny was carrying little Dream, who was born via C-section at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Beverly Hills on November 10.

Chic: A black mesh vest was layered over the graphic crew neck T-shirt as she made her way through the mall parking lot

Fancy footwear: The fiancee of Rob Kardashian, 29, added a pair of sky high Christian Louboutin stiletto leather boots and small cherry red designer handbag

Mommy and me: The mother-of-two held Cairo's hand, who she shares with her ex and the boyfriend of Rob's half-sister Kylie Jenner, Tyga, 27

The mother-of-two held Cairo's hand, who she shares with her ex and the boyfriend of Rob's half-sister Kylie Jenner, Tyga, 27.

She and Tyga met in 2011 while she worked at the King of Diamonds club in Miami.

They officially began dating while Chyna was shooting the music video for the rapper's hit Rack City.

Luscious locks: Chyna's silky raven tresses were styled stick straight with blunt bangs, and she opted for a shimmering eye shadow, rosy cheeks and pale pink glossy lip

Babysitter: One nanny was carrying little Dream, who was born via C-section at Cedars-Sinai hospital in Beverly Hills on November 10

Sleeping beauty: The daughter of Blac and Rob slept peacefully in her baby carrier

The couple welcomed Cairo in October 2012 and announced their engagement two months later in December, however the pair never married and split in 2014.

Meanwhile the former video vixen seemed in good spirits after learning she will not be prosecuted after being busted for possession of ecstasy in Texas last year.

TMZ reported that prosecutors in Austin filed to drop the third degree felony charge against Chyna, and a judge agreed.

The former stripper was arrested for public intoxication and drug possession on January 29, 2016, after British Airways refused to board the tattooed exotic model on a London-bound flight due to her intoxication and verbal aggression.

Looked after: At one point Blac's two children were tended to by the nannies

Dismissed: Meanwhile the former video vixen seemed in good spirits after learning she will not be prosecuted after being busted for possession of ecstasy in Texas last year

Legal drama-free: Prosecutors in Austin filed to drop the third degree felony charge against Chyna, and a judge agreed, according to TMZ

She had admitted to a Saxon Pub bartender that she had taken Xanax, and she became 'verbally aggressive' when he refused to serve her more alcohol.

Police said they found two pills in her sunglasses case.

When police arrived at the airport she reportedly smelled of alcohol, and officers described her behavior in the arrest warrant as 'unpredictable.'

They said she was 'going from extremely angry, cursing at everyone then to crying.'

Casual chic: Blac took to Instagram the same day and posed for photos in her effortlessly cool ensemble
She's been by his side in VIP marquees and pictured holding him close on Instagram.

But Miss Universe Australia Caris Tiivel insists she's not dating up and coming AFL star Josh Dunkley, despite the widespread rumours.

And even though just days ago the Western Bulldogs player again uploaded a photo of them hugging one another, Caris told the Herald Sun they're not an item.

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'Just friends' Miss Universe Australia Caris Tiivel (right) has been rumoured to be dating young AFL star Josh Dunkley (left) but has since denied any romance, claiming the pair are just friends

'We are just friends,' the 23-year-old beauty said about her and her alleged beau.

Caris and Josh set tongues wagging in November when they were spotted looking cozy together at the Melbourne Cup carnival.

While the whispers have been constant, the Instagram accounts of both parties fail to give any proper insight.

Josh features two pictures of the pair together on his social media, including the recent snap of them at the airport, believed to be taken just before Caris flew out to the Philippines for the Miss Universe pageant.

Setting tongues wagging: The pair were first pictured together at the Melbourne Cup in November and again just days ago at Melbourne airport

Stunning: The 23-year-old beauty is this week in the Philippines attempting to win the 2017 Miss Universe title

'Nice weekend spent with this one,' he captioned the photo.

But the Perth-based model doesn't have a single shot of them on her account.

However, the pair's 'friendship' has been put on the back burner this week as Caris takes on the world in the annual beauty pageant.

One-sided? Caris, from Perth appears in a number of images on the AFL player's social media but he doesn't feature in any of hers

'Nice weekend spent with this one': Josh captioned a recent photo of the two on social media

Attempting to follow in the footsteps of Jennifer Hawkins, she admitted the enormity of the challenge ahead did have her feeling 'nervous'.

'I am getting a little nervous but I am very excited it is finally happening,' she said.

'I have been keeping up with my fitness and exercise, practising my pageant walking and poses, and working on my public speaking. I'm ready.'
Awards season is in full effect, with stars hitting up ceremonies and parties all across town.

On Saturday, Mandy Moore showed off her red carpet best while joining ladies of the small screen during Elle's Women in Television event in Los Angeles.

The 32-year-old talent wore a patchwork gown that was both edgy and classic to the celebration.

Wild style! Mandy Moore stunned in a glittering patchwork gown by designer Marc Jacobs

The eclectic Marc Jacobs gown combined a number of textures to dazzling effect.

Patent leather scraps, studs, bejeweled safety pins and animal patterns left the star making a punky impression on the red carpet.

Mandy paired the sleeveless gown with chunky black platforms decorated with shiny coal-colored spots.

Balancing act: The This Is Us actress opted for a simple makeup look to go with the wild looking dress

Lady in lace: Chrissy Metz wore a darling black gown with lacy details to the Saturday celebration

Pop of color! Constance Zimmer added a splash of color to her white St. John blouse with some bold magenta lipstick

The brunette beauty slicked her dark hair into an elegant up-do that looked to be dyed a shade darker than the star's Golden Globes tresses from last week.

She let the wild dress own the spotlight, opting for a simple beauty look that focused on strong brows and dark lashes.

The This Is Us star topped off the outfit with a pair of dangling silver earrings.

Chic as can be: Nicole Kidman looked timelessly chic in a well-tailored black frock

White hot: Zoe Kravitz was a knockout in a white strapless gown with matching silk shoes

Double trouble: Melora Hardin and Amy Landecker posted together, both looking lovely in their striking ensembles

Earth angel: Kathryn Hahn embraced an earthy vibe in an olive maxi skirt and mustard color shoes

At the event, Mandy was joined by many other small screen sensations.

Her This Is Us costar Chrissy Metz looked lavish in a black lace and silk number she paired with ballet flats.

UnReal's Constance Zimmer sported sassy magenta lips and a white pussybow St. John blouse alongside a glittering collection of diamond jewelry.

Linking up: Reese Witherspoon looked gorgeous in a chain patterned dress

Seeing green: Lisa Bonnet matched the setting in green hues

Snap: Laura Dern (L) and Shailene Woodley opted for red

Cute couple: Zoe Kravitz and arrived with boyfriend Karl Glusman

Nicole Kidman made a surprise appearance at the intimate event, wearing a well-tailored black and white frock with strappy heels.

Her Big Little Lies costar Zoe Kravitz showed up to the party in a white strapless gown with chandelier earrings.

TV actresses Amy Landecker, Kathryn Hahn, and Melora Hardin also looked stylish at the early evening event.

Good company: Actress Nicole and Zoe flanked Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers for dinner

Natter: Robbie and Zoe continued their chat outside

Plas: Kathryn Hahn and Reese Witherspoon looked delighted to see each other

Yap: Mandy and Chrissy were another two wagging chins

Family: Reese posed alongside her Big Little Lies daughter Kathryn Newton

The Elle event highlighted just some of the talent appearing in the magazine's February television issue.

The latest issue features four different covers, with Big Little Lies costars Reese Witherspoon, Zoe Kravitz, Nicole Kidman, and Shailene Woodley sharing the honors.

February's issue of Elle magazine hits newsstands January 17.

Who's who: The party was littered with A-listers
After walking the red carpet for her new film xXx: Return of Xander Cage and appearing on Ellen this month it's clear Ruby Rose has Hollywood in the palm of her hand.

But it wasn't always this way - the actress recently revealed she almost gave up after two years of struggling in Los Angeles, broke and jobless, and sleeping on a blow up mattress.

And now that her tinsel town dreams have come true, the Aussie says she wants to conquer Bollywood, too.

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Goals: And now that her tinsel town dreams have come true, the Aussie Ruby she wants to conquer Bollywood, too

'I didn't work for two years,' the former VJ told The Daily Telegraph, admitting she was scared that her USA visa would run out without her landing a single role.

Last week, the DJ told Ellen that she was so broke she didn't even have a proper bed.

'I started with a blow up mattress from Target that me and the dog slept on for about a year, next thing you know I'm on the Ellen show,' the 30-year-old said.

A breakthrough role in Orange is the New Black put her on the map, but Ruby's new career goals came from her xXx: Return of Xander Cage co-star Deepika Padukone.

Dreaming big: Indian screen star Deepika, 31, who Ruby's her xXx: Return of Xander Cage co-star, inspired Ruby to aim for her dream of one day starring in a Bollywood production

Bollywood bound: 'I said to Deepika that I want to do Bollywood, and then she was like 'you have to do it, you absolutely have to do it',' Ruby said in an interview with Yahoo Be

Indian screen star Deepika, 31, inspired Ruby to aim for her dream of one day starring in a Bollywood production.

'I said to Deepika that I want to do Bollywood, and then she was like 'you have to do it, you absolutely have to do it',' Ruby said in an interview with Yahoo Be.

Deepika is one of the highest-paid actresses in the world and is one of India's biggest stars.

Broke: Last week, the DJ told Ellen that she was so broke she didn't even have a proper bed when she moved to LA

After the two women worked closely together on the action thriller, Deepika offered to give Ruby a leg up in the Bollywood industry.

Ruby told the publication: 'I'm like 'I don't know if they'll take me', and she's like 'I'm going to get you put into one of my films''.
She's currently busy filming new series Gypsy for Netflix.

And while Naomi Watts is surely feeling blessed after scoring the highly-anticipated role, the actress couldn't help but take to Instagram on Sunday to playfully complain about the long hours on set.

The now 47-year-old posted a photo of herself looking bored in a screen shot from her role in TV mini-series Brides Of Christ, accompanied by the caption: 'Past midnight. Still on set.'

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'Past midnight. Still on set.' Naomi Watts posted a throwback photo to Instagram to express how tired she was on set filming her new Netflix series Gypsy

She added the hashtags: 'currentmood', 'fbf', 'not amused' and 'gypsy'.

In Gypsy, Naomi will play Jean Holloway, 'a therapist who begins to develop dangerous and intimate relationships with the people in her patients lives'.

Spotlight star Billy Crudup will play her husband in the psychological thriller.

Starring: In Gypsy, Naomi will play Jean Holloway, 'a therapist who begins to develop dangerous and intimate relationships with the people in her patients lives'

The series is being directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson, best known for Fifty Shades of Grey.

In addition to Gypsy, Naomi has a number of other projects in the pipeline.

This year, the blonde beauty will appear in the new season of David Lynch's Twin Peaks.

She will also be seen in the films The Book of Henry and The Glass Castle.
They've been anything but shy to flaunt their blossoming romance for all to see on social media.

And Megan Marx and her girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon remained true to style on Sunday when they shared Instagram updates of themselves packing up their apartment in preparation for the impending move to Bali.

The pair, who fell in love on a trip to Bali after meeting on The Bachelor last year, each filmed one other packing their suitcases with the essential items - including several sex toys.

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All the essentials! Megan Marx and her girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon shared Instagram updates of themselves packing up their apartment (including their sex toy collection) in preparation for the impending move to Bali

In one video shared to Tiffany's Instagram Story, Megan can be seen undulating wildly while brandishing the silicone object, which was a shade of vibrant purple.

Meanwhile, Megan shared a photo of Tiffany presenting her pink pleasure apparatus to the camera before switching it on and watching it vibrate with intense fascination.

Later on Sunday, Megan shared a photo of herself on the beach clad in a barely-there yellow bikini alongside the message: 'My last day in WA! Today I'm heading to live in Bali- Tiff will be meeting me in a week, and we'll be moving in together! Yippee!'

Violet surprise! In one video shared to Tiffany's Instagram Story, Megan can be seen undulating wildly while brandishing the silicone object, which was a shade of vibrant purple

Thanks for sharing! Meanwhile, Megan shared a photo of Tiffany presenting her pink pleasure apparatus to the camera before switching it on and watching it vibrate with intense fascination

It represents somewhat of a symbolic location for the couple, who fell in love in Bali late last year.

The loved-up blondes confirmed their romance last November after months of speculation they were more than just close friends.

'While we were in the show, it was just a friendship,' Tiffany said.

New beginnings! Later on Sunday, Megan shared a photo of herself on the beach clad in a barely-there yellow bikini alongside the message: 'My last day in WA! Today I'm heading to live in Bali- Tiff will be meeting me in a week, and we'll be moving in together! Yippee!'

'It probably wasnt until we were in Bali together that it was like, "Oh, this is more".'

Megan also explained that she was drawn to Tiffany from the moment they met but didn't act on it in the house.

'We had very different experiences when we were on the show,' she said.

'Obviously I found Tiffany very attractive but I was there to get to know Richie. But instantly we knew there was a very strong connection. I was so excited to meet her in Bali.'
He's not her lover or her sister, but Pascal Duvier has spent almost as much time by Kim Kardashian's side as anyone.

The former security guard for Kim, husband Kanye and much of the Kardashian clan was fired by the couple in the wake of the Paris robbery in October 2016.

And now Duvier has spoken out about the incident that left Kim fearing for her life, telling Fairfax media he would happily venture back to the French capital despite the incident.

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No worries: Kim Kardashian's former bodyguard Pascal Duvier (back) has said he will happily return to Paris despite the robbery that led to him losing his job

'If I would try to avoid all places I had bad memories, then I can't even stay home,' Duvier said.

'[I am] not avoiding anything. Unfortunately everywhere you are nowadays you have to be careful.'

On the night of the incident Duvier had left Kim in her hotel room and followed her younger sisters Kendall and Kylie to a Paris nightclub.

The bodyguard went to ground in the wake of the robbery, admitting he tried to escape the constant harassment from international media.

Left alone: On the night of the incident Duvier had left Kim in her hotel room and followed her younger sisters Kendall and Kylie to a Paris nightclub

Better days: After years protection Kim (left), Kanye, North (left) and the rest of the Kardashian clan, the bodyguard went to ground in the wake of the robbery to escape the attention

End of an era: Following the Paris incident Kim Kardashian and Kanye West fired Duvier, who had been with the family since 2012

No escape: 'If I would try to avoid all places I had bad memories, then I can't even stay home,' Duvier said

His family - including his two young daughters - were also targeted, with rumours circulating that the estimated $15 million heist was an inside job.

But in relation to the robbery, he this week refused to make any direct comment out of fear he may 'compromise the investigations'.

Having spent years by Kim and later Kanye's side, Duvier remained loyal until the end, also declining to comment on his firing in the wake of the robbery.

No messing around: The day before the robbery Duvier was hard at work protecting Kim from notorious prankster Vitalii Sediuk who attacked her on the streets of Paris

Flat out: Duvier had one of the busiest bodyguard jobs in the world protecting two of the biggest celebrities

'This is a question that comes up often and to be honest it doesn't matter if I do or I don't [work for Kim and Kanye],' he said.

'The client should be the one answering that question.'

Last Thursday, French police arrested 17 people over the incident and have since charged three men.
Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon are no strangers to the spotlight.



Both actresses made an appearance at Elle's Women in Television celebration at Los Angeles's iconic Chateau Marmont Saturday.

The Little Big Lies costars stunned in black and white outfits as they rubbed elbows with some of televisions most talented leading ladies throughout the evening.

Chic as can be: Nicole Kidman looked timelessly chic in a well-tailored black frock

Nicole looked demure at the intimate event, wearing a well-tailored black and white frock with strappy heels.

Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a loose chingon, with wavy tendrils framing her face.

Reese wore a preppy sleeveless dress with a white chain illustration on its bodice, while sporting sideswept blonde locks that reached past her shoulders.

Blonde ambition: Reese Witherspoon wore a sleeveless black dress while styling her blonde locks in a side-swept manner

The gals posed for some group shots alongside the rest of Big Little Lies' female stars.

Laura Linney, Shailene Woodley and Zoe Kravitz matched the group in a stunning collection of black, red and white.

While Zoe looked etherial in a white strapless number, Shailene and Laura both packed a punch in fierce red pieces.

The costars were joined by Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Meyers, who wore black lace in the chic snashot.

Classic colors: The ladies of HBO's Big Little Lies coordinated their outfits in black, red and white. Here, the castmates pose with Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers

The Elle event highlighted just some of the talent appearing in the magazine's February television issue.

The latest issue features four different covers, with Big Little Lies costars Reese, Zoe Kravitz, Nicole, and Shailene sharing the honors.

February's issue of Elle magazine hits newsstands January 17.

Old friends! Reese caught up with her former costar Kathryn Hahn
She's the lawyer turned Instagram model.

And Pia Muehlenbeck is certainly making the most of her career as she posted a raunchy beachside snap to her Instagram account on Sunday.

Wearing a tiny strapless bikini, the 22-year-old faced away from the camera and showcased her pert posterior and toned back both covered in a smattering of sand.

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Beach bum! Pia Muehlenbeck is certainly making the most of her career as she posted a raunchy beachside snap to her Instagram account on Sunday

On Friday, she also posted pics of herself in the same black bikini that showed off her generous bust, trim waist and slender legs.

Promoting a cultural festival, Pia captioned the photo: 'Just got my tix to @fyrefestival You better be coming!! They just announced @majorlazer and @disclosure.'

The snap saw the brunette beauty closing her eyes and resting her lithe arms above her head, as she lay down on the sand in barely-there attire.

Looking good! On Friday she also posted pics of herself in the same black bikini that showed off her generous bust

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Sizzling hot! Raunchy law graduate posed provocatively on the beach

A tiny bandeau-style bikini top almost could not contain her ample chest, while high-cut briefs with ties at the side drew attention to her enviably flat stomach and lean legs.

Appearing to have semi-wet tresses, Pia closed her eyes while soaking up the sun's rays.

Proving that not all moments are picture-perfect, the Sydney-based star took to her Instagram story, showing an out-take from the shoot.

Oops! Proving that not all moments are picture-perfect, the Sydney-based star took to her Instagram story, showing an out-take from the shoot

What the public saw: After posting the picture-perfect moment above, Pia was seen getting washed over by a wave, her legs and arms positioned in the air

Pia was seen getting washed over by a wave, her legs and arms positioned in the air.

Her straight locks appeared to be semi-wet with water drenching the ends.

'3 secs after my last Insta post, this happened!' she wrote, alongside three laughing face emojis.

'Here's the proof,' she continued....wait for it,' alongside the previous image shared to Instagram.

Bikini babes! A snap shared to Instagram on Saturday saw Pia almost busting out of her khaki bikini top as she enjoyed a pool party with a busty blonde friend

The raunchy photo came just days after she was seen enjoying a pool party with a busty blonde friend.

Taking to Instagram, Pia was sure to post a sexy holiday snap.

'Pool days with @brookenashhh,' she wrote, next to the image, that saw her ample assets nearly busting out of a khaki triangle bikini bra.

Many of Pia's 1.6 million followers were quick to lavish the social media star with praise, with one gushing: 'You seem to shine from deep within.'

'Such Beautiful smiles,' wrote another.

'Such beautiful smiles': Fans were quick to lavish Pia with praise, pointing out some of her finest physical attributes - like her beaming smile

'I'm living my dream!' Pia has turned her Instagram page into a business, which includes a blog and clothing lines

In October last year, Pia revealed to Daily Mail Australia how she quit her job as a corporate lawyer in Sydney, in order to start her own activewear brand and blogging venture.

'I'm living my dream,' Pia gushed.

'I used to work super long hours when I was a lawyer, and it was so tiring. These days, while I'm working super hard - and it's not all lounging about on a beach - I am doing something which I love. I wouldn't swap it for anything,' she continued.

Positive change: 'I used to work super long hours when I was a lawyer, and it was so tiring,' the social media stunner told Daily Mail Australia last year

Pia founded her own sportswear brand with her boyfriend and creative director Kane Vato, featuring a selection of yoga pants and crops tops, as well as yoga mats.

On the label's website, it says a portion of the profits are donated to conservation charities.

She has since branched out into swimwear and towels.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Irans oil ministry rejected reports about fall of the countrys condensate export to South Korea, SHANA news agency reported Jan. 15.

The ministry rejected a report by Reuters which claimed that South Korean condensate purchase from Iran has decreased significantly.

Loading of condensate in January is set to reach about 385,000 barrels per day, down from an estimated 462,000 bpd in December, Reuters reported Jan. 14.

The expected fall in Iranian ultra-light oil shipments is mainly due to a significant drop in purchases from South Korea, which is scheduled to import a six-month low of 111,000 bpd, nearly half the 201,000 bpd taken in December, Reuters quoted a source, who declined to be identified due to the sensitivity of the matter.

South Korea has increased the purchase of Qatari condensate after the Arab country offered more of the fuel for exports, according to the report.

Meanwhile, the Iranian oil ministry said that the report published by Reuters, likely is based on monitoring the tankers passed through Strait of Hormuz, meanwhile Iran has already several super tankers carrying condensate on the high seas near China, which partly supplied Irans condensate exports.

Recently, Reuters reported that Tehran has been aggressively marketing oil from its offshore storages.

It has sold more than 13 million barrels of oil that it had long held on tankers at sea, Reuters reported last week.

According to Reuters, Iranian crude and condensate exports last month hit a five-month low of around 2.34 million bpd, down 4 percent from the previous month.

Iranian oil exports to Asia last month fell about 18 percent from November to a nine-month low of 1.43 million bpd, as all major importers except for India cut their purchases.

The report added that loading for Europe rose by 14 percent from November to nearly 800,000 bpd, topping levels seen prior to the imposition of toughened Western sanctions in 2012.

The Islamic Republics average daily condensate export stood at 611,522 barrels in 2016.
Dev Patel has revealed the love he and his Lion co-stars developed for the youngest member of the cast.

At just eight-years-old, Sunny Pawar shared the role of Saroo Brierley with the Slumdog Millionaire star in the critically-acclaimed film.

And during in an interview published by The Daily Telegraph on Saturday, Dev told of the 'protective' feelings that he, Nicole Kidman and the rest of the cast had for the youngster.

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Close bond: Dev Patel (R) has revealed the love he and his Lion co-stars developed for the youngest member of the cast, Sunny Pawar (L)

He said: 'He's so beautifully innocent and that's why you get such a beautiful performance from him. He's just really enjoying it.'

After casting his net far and wide through Indian schools, the film's Australian director Garth Davis picked the Mumbai native to play the five-year-old version of Saroo.

And in his first acting role Sunny has already won a legion of adoring fans - including Dev, who had nothing but praise for his co-star.

Working together: At just eight-years-old, Sunny shared the role of Saroo Brierley with the Slumdog Millionaire star in the critically-acclaimed film

Chosen one: After casting his net far and wide through Indian schools, the film's Australian director Garth Davis picked the Mumbai native to play the five-year-old version of Saroo

He said: 'He's our little mascot on this movie. For him, he'd never been on a plane before or seen a Hollywood film and now he's leading this big movie.'

The pair's close bond shone through at the Golden Globes on Sunday when they took to the stage to introduce their new film.

Dev held the youngster in his arms as the dapper duo addressed the room full of Hollywood's A-list - and the 26-year-old revealed that he's had an input in Sunny's attire for the numerous events they've been attending together.

On the mic: The pair's close bond shone through at the Golden Globes on Sunday when they took to the stage to introduce their new film

Praise: In his first acting role Sunny has already won a legion of adoring fans - including Dev, who had nothing but praise for his co-star

'I said, 'we've got to get him in a Burberry suit' so we've both been rocking with Burberry together. I just phoned [designer Jonathon Bailey] and was like, "guys, come on, we've gotta get Sunny in a suit",' he said.

Sunny, who started work on the film when he was just six, also enjoyed a close relationship with Oscar winning actress Nicole.

The Australian plays his adoptive mum, Sue Brierley, and the young actor told the Daily Mail that she played a motherly role to him off-screen as well.

He said: 'She gave me a lot of love on set, like she was my own mother. Shes very affectionate and very warm. Nicole always said that Im a natural and I should always be a natural.'
He recently spent the festive season soaking up the sunshine in Brazil with his wife Camilla Alves and their three children.

But on Saturday, Matthew McConaughey and his stunning spouse were in decidedly more chilly climes as they touched down at New York City's John F Kennedy International Airport.

The 47-year-old actor looked casually cool for the excursion, donning a stylish camel coat over a light grey scarf, while a pair of aviator shades helped him go incognito.

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Big apple: Matthew McConaughey was spotted touching down at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport with his wife Camilla Alves on Saturday

He teamed the fashion items with a black cap from Texas music festival Austin City Limits, rounding out his ensemble with loose-fitting grey trousers and Nike sneakers.

Carrying a light blue backpack and a white plastic bag, the bearded actor walked just a few steps ahead of his belle, who looked equally stylish.

The 34-year-old beauty wore a high neckline grey speckled sweater with a black miniskirt and matching leggings.

So cool: The couple looked casually cool as they made their way through the bustling terminal

I will follow: The 47-year-old actor walked just a few steps ahead of his stunning spouse

With white bowling shoes adorning her feet, she pushed a small black suitcase through the terminal while a wide-brimmed black hat rested atop her raven tresses.

Last month, while enjoying a break in Brazil with his family, the Dallas Buyers CLub star was spotted enjoying a workout at a local outdoor gym in Belo Horizonte.

A romance between Matthew and Camilla blossomed after they met in 2006.

Stylish: Father-of-three Matthew looked stylish in a camel coat, teamed with a light grey scarf

Jet-setter: He recently returned from a trip to Camilla's native Brazil, where he soaked up the sunshine for the festive season with his family

The photogenic couple became engaged on Christmas Day 2011, eventually tying the knot in Austin, Texas - where they reside - in June 2012.

They're parents to sons Levi, eight, and Livingston, four, as well as daughter Vida, who celebrated her seventh birthday on January 3.

Meanwhile, Matthew is currently busy on the press circuit, promoting his new movie Gold, in which he plays a businessman who embarks on a search for the precious metal in the uncharted jungles of Borneo.
They attended the Magic Millions race day on the Gold Coast.

And on Sunday, Terry Biviano and husband Anthony Minichiello arrived home in Sydney.

The A-List couple were seen at Sydney Airport, along with stunning model Erin Holland, who also attended the glitzy Gold Coast event.

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A fond farewell: Terry Biviano and Anthony Minichiello arrived home in Sydney on Sunday after attending Magic Millions on the Gold Coast,perhaps catching the same plane as Erin Holland who was also seen at the airport

It appeared Terry and Anthony may have been on board the same flight as Erin, and it appears the couple are close with the former Miss World Australia.

Before going their separate ways at the baggage terminal, ex-NRL star Anthony planted a peck on Erin's cheek.

Terri appeared none the wiser, with her back turned, as Anthony delivered the fond farewell.

Strutting their stuff: Anthony wore a relaxed ensemble for his flight, whilst Terry looked her usual glamorous best as the pair made their way through the terminal

Stunner: Erin turned the terminal into her runway as she turned heads in a black dress that showed off her trim pins

Leaning in for the cheeky kiss, Anthony had a smile on his face.

Meanwhile, glamorous Terry didn't dress down for her flight - she looked every inch the stunning WAG as she made her way through the terminal.

The 42-year-old wore a pale pink sundress that featured a tie-dye pattern, with the short garment allowing Terry to flaunt her trim pins.

Lean in: Anthony had a grin on his face as he went in for a kiss on the cheek

Look away! Terry had her back turned during the kiss, appearing none-the-wiser

The shoe designer was well-heeled, wearing a pair of nude-coloured wedges on her feet, as she left her long locks out for the journey.

Anthony opted for a more casual look for the transit.

The former Roosters star wore a white linen shirt, that was unbuttoned to reveal a hint of chest hair.

He also wore navy shorts, with a pair of white Converse sneakers completing his laid-back summery look.

Not happy, Terry? At one point Terry sported a dour look on her face

Home again: Blonde beauty Erin seemed happy to have touched down safely following the flight

Fellow passenger Erin made the terminal her runway, walking through the busy airport in a black ensemble.

The 27-year-old stunner wore a short, simple dress that showed off her long legs.

She also wore a pair of sky-high black toeless boots.

Perhaps only taking carry-on luggage for her short trip, she slung a fancy Louis Vuitton duffle bag over her shoulder.

Deep in conversation: Anthony and Terry seemed to be chatting about something serious after their arrival

Stylish passengers: Anthony did the duties, wheeling the couple's luggage after picking up the suitcases at the baggage terminal

No doubt the famous travelers will be happy to be home after their time on the Gold Coast.

At the Magic Millions event, Terry and Anthony looked every inch the golden couple.

Terry was seen flaunting her flawless figure in an off-the-shoulder frock while posing alongside her dapper beau.

Meanwhile, Erin wowed at the event in a patterned 1950s-style frock by label, By Johnny.
Phoebe Tonkin appeared to be making use of some extra baggage allowance on Sunday.

Pictured at Sydney Airport, the 27-year-old strolled through the arrivals terminal with four suitcases in tow.

The actress cut a casual figure in jeans and a black top as she landed back in her home city after attending an event in Melbourne a day earlier.

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Coming home: Phoebe Tonkin appeared to be making use of some extra baggage allowance on Sunday as she returned to Sydney

Phoebe exuded an effortless elegance as she pulled her baggage through the airport.

The brunette, whose modelling career has seen her appear in Elle and Vogue, added a touch of glamour to her look with a gold necklace and gold hoop earrings.

A day earlier, Phoebe turned heads at the Portsea Polo in Victoria on Saturday.

Got everything? Pictured at Sydney Airport, the 27-year-old strolled through the arrivals terminal with four suitcases in tow

Busy schedule: The actress cut a casual figure in jeans and a black top as she landed back in her home city after attending an event in Melbourne

Hue beauty! Phoebe showed off her slender figure in a vibrant Ferragamo frock, as she attended Melbourne's Portsea Polo on Saturday

The actress, known for her role as Hayley Marshall-Kenner in The Vampire Diaries, highlighted her slender figure in a vibrant Ferragamo frock.

Phoebe, attending the event on behalf of luxury car brand Alfa Romeo, made a bold statement in a striped frock.

Thin black straps showed off her delicate decolletage and slender arms, while panels of bold coloured fabric created a wow factor.

Accessorising with just a pair of black strappy heels and delicate jewellery, Phoebe allowed the frock to be the focus.

Statement-making: Thin black straps showed off her delicate decolletage and slender arms, while panels of bold coloured fabric created a wow factor

Keeping her beauty look minimal, Phoebe styled her brunette tresses in relaxed waves and in a centre part.

The model's striking facial features were enhanced with a flawless complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara, a touch of bronzer on the apples of her cheeks and a nude lip.

The close pal of fellow Australian actress Teresa Palmer, captured moments of the event to Instagram.

Effortless: Keeping her beauty look minimal, Phoebe styled her brunette tresses in relaxed waves and in a centre part

Beauty: The model's striking facial features were enhanced with a flawless complexion, defined brows, lashings of mascara, a touch of bronzer on the apples of her cheeks and a nude lip

One particular image shared with the star's 3.5 million followers, saw Phoebe perched on a white wooden chair, in front of Alfa Romeo's signage.

'Feeling a little Italian here at the #alfaromeoportseapolo thanks for having us xx,' she wrote.

Earlier this week, Phoebe was announced as the face of Alfa Romeo Portsea Polo.

Social media savvy: The close pal of fellow Australian actress Teresa Palmer, captured moments of the event to Instagram

'I'm really excited to join Alfa Romeo for the day,' she told Auto Press.

'This is my first time attending the polo in Australia and my first time down to Portsea.'

The brunette beauty also expressed that she was excited to check out the fashions on the field.

'I'm looking forward to seeing the newly debuted Alfa Romeo Giulia, the amazing Australian fashion, and getting to experience all the fun of the polo from the Alfa Romeo marquee.'
She's kept a low-profile of late after spending months in the wilderness protesting to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Having now achieved an initial win, Shailene Woodley is putting her advocacy to one side as she got back to the day job and attended ELLE's Annual Women In Television Celebration 2017 in Los Angeles on Saturday night.

The 25-year-old actress showcased her enviable style at the star-studded bash, slipping into a chic pair of high-waisted palazzo pant that displayed her slender figure while she partied at hotspot Chateau Marmont.

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Style star: Shailene Woodley attended ELLE's Annual Women In Television Celebration 2017 at Chateau Marmont on Saturday night in style

The Divergent star - who had been vehemently supporting Standing Rock in recent months - teamed her leg lengthening trousers with a torso hugging black vest that accentuated svelte physique.

Adding a splash of colour, she draped a vibrant burnt orange coat from Salvatore Ferragamo over her shoulder to alleviate the minute winter chill in California.

Shailene took inspiration from her dynamic jacket as she matched her naturally full pout to her ensemble, while her glossy chocolate brown locks cascaded into tousled curl down her shoulder.

The Snowden star was at the star-studded party alongside her Big Little Lies co-stars Reese Witherspoon, Zoe Kravitz and Nicole Kidman, who co-produced the project.

Chic: The 25-year-old actress showcased her enviable style at the star-studded bash, slipping into a chic pair of high-waisted palazzo pant that displayed her slender figure at Chateau Marmont

Eye-catching: Adding a splash of colour, she draped a vibrant burnt orange Salvatore Ferragamo coat over her shoulder to alleviate the minute winter chill in California

Woodley plays Jane Chapman, a newcomer to town, opposite 'bossy know-it-all' Madeline Mackenzie, played by Oscar winner Reese.

Based on the best-selling 2014 novel of the same name by Liane Moriaty, the show centers on a group of women, all in different stages of motherhood, in Monterey, California.

The women's seemingly perfect lives begin to unravel to the point of murder in the seven-part dark comedy, set to hit small screens February 19 on HBO.

All smiles: Shailene took inspiration from her dynamic jacket as she matched her naturally full pout to her ensemble, while her glossy chocolate brown locks cascaded into tousled curl

Red carpet ready: The Snowden star was at the star-studded party alongside her Big Little Lies co-stars Laura Dern, Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman and Zoe Kravitz (L-R)

Earlier in the day, Nicole spoke about working with Reese at the TCAs in Pasadena, California: 'We're very, very close friends. We're able to talk about everything...I love that it's about women making something happen with friendship at the core of it.'

Kidman added: 'I was lucky because when I read the book, I really related to all the women in the book and I've met many women who've felt the same way.

'I wouldn't call them helicopter mothers - some of them are very attentive. There is such an array of emotions in the piece and that's what we excited to show the lives of these women in a very authentic way and yet entertaining.'
They're currently enjoying a romantic winter break in the sun.

And it seems that Georgia May Foote couldn't wait to share some of her sunny snaps from her getaway with George Alsford with her follows.

Taking to her Instagram account over the weekend, the 25-year-old actress shared a series of sun-soaked snaps of the couple enjoying their idyllic getaway.

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All loved up: It seems that Georgia May Foote couldn't wait to share some of her sunny snaps from her getaway with George Alsford with her follow

Clearly enjoying her break from the dismal winter weather in England, the former Strictly Come Dancing runner-up kept her followers up-to-date with the couples' movements.

In one sunny selfie, taken on the beach, the actress poses for a selfie playful picture complete with star hat and sunglasses.

With her long chestnut hair falling down past her shoulders and covering half her face, Georgia look the epitome of surfer chic.

Playful posing for the photo, shared by George on his own account, the former Corrie star can be seen pulling a cheeky face.

Fun in the sun: Taking to her Instagram account over the weekend, the 25-year-old actress shared a series of sun-soaked snaps of the couple enjoying their idyllic getaway

The star herself shared a series of loved-up photos over the weekend, which saw her and the male model cosying up as they topped up their tans.

Wrapping an arm around her boyfriend as they laid down on sun loungers, Georgia can be seen smiling as her boyfriend throws a smouldering stare off-camera.

Obviously delighted to spend some quality time with her beau, the actress captioned the snap: 'Saturday sunnin with me G,' followed by a love heart emoji.

Sneak-peek: Clearly enjoying her break from the dismal winter weather in England, the former Strictly Come Dancing runner-up kept her followers up-to-date with the couples' movements

Just chill: Georgia looked to be catching up on some important reading in-between snapping shots of her and George

Despite being more than happy to share snaps of her time away, Georgia has kept quiet when it comes to the location of her paradise isle.

Some of her Instagram fans have speculated that she's in either Thailand or the Maldives - and wherever it is it's stunning.

But despite her apparent need for secrecy, Georgia hasn't been able to stay away from social media.

'Sometimes you've got to run away for a bit' Georgia went make-up free in another snap, flashing a hin of cleavage in a floral bikini

On Thursday she posted a photo of herself on a sun lounger, surrounded by palm trees, looking naturally tanned and make-up free, with her windswept hair falling in natural waves around her face.

The pretty brunette looked intensely into the camera, wearing a busty white and pink floral patterned bikini top, and captioned the image 'Good morning!'

In another photo she appeared to be sunbathing topless, but posed with her back to the sun, casting a dark shadow over her face.

Fun in the sun: The former Coronation Street star later posted an artistic snap as she enjoyed a sunbathing session by the pool

Sunkissin: In another photo she appeared to be sunbathing topless, but posed with her back to the sun, casting a dark shadow over her face and making it hard to tell

'So chilled right now': Another image featured Georgia kicking back with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep, at nighttime

She captioned that one 'Sunkissin'.

'Sunny to stormy in seconds. Then straight back to sun #holidays,' came another post, showing some dark clouds and bright sunlight over a pool.

Another image featured Georgia kicking back with her eyes closed, seemingly asleep, at nighttime.

This one was headed: 'So chilled right now. In a hammock, reading my book and looking at the stars. Absolute peace and quiet. Sometimes u just got to run away for a bit #metime #holidays (sic).'

Flying solo: The actress and former Strictly contestant has been documenting the sights, uploading photos of the beach, the sea and the pool

It's unclear whether her new boyfriend is with her, whether she's on holiday alone or if she's with friends; but there are no snaps of anyone else.

Georgia - who split from Strictly star Giovanni Pernice last summer - was feeling in the festive spirit on Christmas Day and shared a snap of her kissing her hunky new beau.

With the pair leaning in for a steamy smooch, a loved-up Georgia wrote: 'My fave xmas prezzie.'

'Sunny to stormy in seconds': She couldn't resist sharing a snap of the couple's abode - despite storm clouds setting in

Pec-tacular: George, who stands at 6ft 3 in tall, has appeared in campaigns for Hugo Boss and Pepe Jeans

As she moved on front her split from Giovanni in August, it was revealed that she had fallen hook, line and sinker for handsome George.

George, who stands at 6ft 3in tall, is signed with Select Model Management, the same firm which represents Georgia.

He has appeared in campaigns for Hugo Boss, Pepe Jeans and Russell & Bromley, among other top-flight brands, and frequently shows off his gym-honed torso on his Instagram account.
She's currently enjoying a luxury holiday in the Caribbean.

And Australian beauty Natasha Oakley, 25, is indulging in some heavy romance while on vacation.

The busty blonde bombshell took to Instagram on Sunday to share a loved up snap of herself and beau Gilles Souteyrand lounging on the sand both wearing white swimsuits and flaunting heavily bronzed tans.

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Loved up! Natasha Oakley, 25, took to Instagram on Sunday to share a loved up snap of herself and beau Giles Souteyrand lounging on the sand both wearing white swimsuits and heavily bronzed tans

The photoshop enthusiast captioned the post: 'Love on the sand'.

Natasha's curves were on full display while Giles showcased his rippling muscles and enviable six-pack.

Days prior, the bikini blogger shared a shot of herself sitting on a white horse in a tiny black bikini, gazing across the seas from a beach on the idyllic island of Anguilla.

Photoshop enthusiast: Natasha recently shocked fans by revealing that she airbrushes her social media snaps, most of which picture the bronzed beach-bunny posing provocatively in barely-there swimwear

'My favourite moment': Blonde bombshell Natasha Oakley shared to Instagram a shot of herself sitting on a white horse in a tiny black bikini, while in Anguilla

In one snap, she sat on the horse and gazes off camera into the distance, putting her ample cleavage on display.

She showed off a golden holiday tan and had her long locks out in loose tousled curls.

In another image, she posed with the horse as she lead it through the shallows, wearing a black and white striped mini dress.

One can only dream! In another image, she poses with the horse as walks and leads it on the shore, wearing a black and white striped mini dress

Natasha wrote in part of her caption: 'Loving every moment in Anguilla but this one is definitely favorite. Hanging out on the beach with Indie,' she said, referring to the horse.

She also shared online a short Instagram Story video where she joins Gilles for a dip in the beach.

The model and personal trainer also shared online a snap of himself horse riding.

The duo - alongside Natasha's best friend and business partner Devin Brugman and others - have been staying at the tropical paradise for the past few days.

Romantic escape: Natasha is in the island paradise with boyfriend Gilles Souteyrand and best friend and business partner Devin Brugman and friends

Another day in the life! Gilles also shared online a snap of himself going horse riding on the beach

They've also enjoyed boating, with Natasha and Devin jumping from the yacht with a friend in one social media snap.

Natasha captioned it: 'Do something everyday that scares you.'

Natasha recently shocked fans by revealing that she airbrushes her social media snaps, most of which picture the bronzed beach-bunny posing provocatively in barely-there swimwear.

'I think that everyone is doing that (retouching) because of what they see in the media,' she told The Daily Telegraph.

'Do something everyday that scares you': They've also enjoyed boating, with Natasha and Devin jumping from the yacht with a friend in one social media snap

'I think with the general population are just trying to follow exactly what they see with pictures being edited'.

She also admitted that she feels pressure to look good all the time but is adamant her aim to look good is more for herself than anyone else.

'I feel it - I'm a human and a natural curvy woman!'
She's the daughter of Olivia Newton-John said to have undergone a $415,000 transformation.

And Chloe Lattanzi, 30, is known to flaunt her sizable assets on Instagram, sharing yet another busty selfie with her 37,000 followers.

This time her snap came with an inspiration message: 'Observe the moments you feel truly happy.'

Inspirational: Chloe Lattanzi, 30, is known to flaunt her sizable assets on Instagram, sharing yet another busty selfie with her 37,000 followers. This time her snap came with an inspiration message: 'Observe the moments you feel truly happy'

'I find them when I'm working and creating something. Whats yours? Love hearing your stories also this is a no brainer but whenever I'm with my James I'm truly happy. That's just obvious though,' Chloe added.

The next day she flaunted her cleavage once again as she posted a picture of herself sprawled over a bed in a furniture shop wearing a low plunging top and tight black pants.

'Looking for furniture (found my own house for real!!!!!!) with @equestriandesigns love these pants,' Chloe captioned the post.

Furniture shopping? The next day she flaunted her cleavage once again as she posted a picture of herself sprawled over a bed in a furniture shop wearing a low plunging top and tight black pants.

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'We are all sexual beings': Chloe Lattanzi tells Instagram followers to 'stay sexy' with new busty selfie after $415,000 Barbie doll transformation

A few days prior she posted another busty photo, imploring fans to 'stay sexy' with the hashtag 'we are all sexual beings'.

In the photo, a curvaceous Chloe posed in front of a red backdrop, holding one finger to her mouth, showing off her engagement ring.

An off the shoulder black top showcased her ample cleavage, while a corset around her middle emphasizes her waist.

Speculation: American surgeon Tahl N. Humes also told New Idea he suspected Chloe has had several breast augmentations and perhaps liposuction

Chloe captioned the photo with a bedtime message for her Instagram followers.

'Goodnight fellow cheeky buggars,' she writes, also adding: 'Stay sexy.'

The marijuana farm businesswoman also included the hashtags 'modelingisfun', 'celebrateyourself', 'celebrateyourwomanhood', 'noshameinyourcurves', 'itsoktofeelsexy' and 'weareallsexualbeings'.

Barbie doll: Last September, New Idea reported that Chloe had undergone $415,000 worth of enhancements, which included multiple boob jobs, fillers, rhinoplasty and botox

Last September, New Idea reported that Chloe had undergone $415,000 worth of enhancements, which included multiple boob jobs, fillers, rhinoplasty and botox.

'Chloe's totally obsessed with getting a Barbie doll body and nothing is ever quite good enough for her,' a source revealed.

American surgeon Tahl N. Humes also told New Idea he suspected Chloe has had several breast augmentations and perhaps liposuction.

Famous mum: Chloe is the daughter of Australian singer Olivia Newton-John (pictured in 2008)

Earlier this month, Chloe shared an emotional Instagram post about learning to love herself.

'It's scary! There's comfort in pleasing others. But we don't grow when we are comfortable,' she wrote.

'I have to fight everyday to let my freak flag fly and not let myself be pulled back into the line.'
Zoe Kravitz looked ethereal in a white strapless number at the Elle's Women in Television celebrations in LA on Saturday.

Held at the city's Chateau Marmont, she joined her Little Big Lies co-stars - which include Nicole Kidman and Reese Witherspoon - on the red carpet.

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Woman in white! Zoe Kravitz keeps it crisp at Elle's Women in Television event as she displays her svelte figure in an all-white ensemble from tip to toe

Keeping it clean: Zoe Kravitz looked ethereal in a white strapless number at the Elle's Women in Television celebrations in LA on Saturday

The daughter of rock star Lenny decided to channel her silvery white hair colour through the rest of her look for the evening.

Her crisp white dress was embellished with a pleated design at the top and cut off just above the ankles.

She wore strapped satin heels and sparkling drop earrings to complete the look.

The actress, 28, sported smokey-eyed make-up and a splash of pink on her lips.

Crisp: The daughter of rock star Lenny decided to channel her silvery white hair colour through the rest of her look for the evening

In good company: Held at the city's Chateau Marmont, she joined Robbie Meyers and Reese Witherspoon (pictured) on the red carpet

Chit chat: Her crisp white dress was embellished with a pleated design at the top and cut off just above the ankles

The Little Big Lies star stunned as she rubbed elbows with some of televisions most talented leading ladies throughout the evening.

Nicole Kidman looked demure at the intimate event, wearing a well-tailored black and white frock with strappy heels.

Her strawberry blonde hair was pulled back into a loose chingon, with wavy tendrils framing her face.

Loved up: Zoe Kravitz and Karl Glusman (pictured) attended ELLE's Annual Women In Television Celebration

It's love! Zoe also posed with Karl Glusman in an intimate shot where she perched on the edge of a wall and let her nestle into him, his hands around her waist

Happy: Zoe and Karl have been dating since October - following the time she was with her previous boyfriend, recording artist Twin Shadow

Reese Witherspoon wore a David Koma dress with a white chain illustration on its bodice, while sporting sideswept blonde locks that reached past her shoulders.

The ladies posed for some group shots alongside the rest of Big Little Lies' female stars.

Shailene Woodley, Kathryn Newton and Laura Dern posed alongside Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Meyers, who wore black lace in the chic snapshot.

Glam: The ladies posed for some group shots alongside the rest of Big Little Lies' female stars

Cool as ice: She wore strapped satin heels and sparkling drop earrings to complete the look. The actress, 28, sported smokey-eyed make-up and a splash of pink on her lips

The Elle event highlighted just some of the talent appearing in the magazine's February television issue.

The latest issue features four different covers, with Big Little Lies costars Reese, Zoe Kravitz, Nicole, and Shailene sharing the honours.

Zoe also posed with Karl Glusman in an intimate shot where she perched on the edge of a wall and let her nestle into him, his hands around her waist.

Line up: Shailene Woodley, Kathryn Newton and Laura Dern posed alongside Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Meyers, who wore black lace in the chic snapshot

Classic colours: The ladies of HBO's Big Little Lies coordinated their outfits in black, red and white. Here, the castmates pose with Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers

Karl is an American film actor who played the lead role in Gaspar Noe's controversial drama Love, and has also appeared in The Neon Demon and Tom Ford's Nocturnal Animals.

The couple have been dating since October - following the time she was with her previous boyfriend, recording artist Twin Shadow.

Meanwhile, the Fantastic Beasts actress was recently announced as having a larger role in the second film.

Director David Yates told CinemaBlend about Zoe's character return: 'Yes. Leta Lestrange comes into the second movie.'

Lady in charge: Nicole spent time talking with her Big Little Lies costar Zoe Kravitz and Elle Editor-in-Chief Robbie Myers during the dinner

'Shes quite complicated and damaged and confused, and Newt is absolutely still in love with her.'

He added: 'So, she has a kind of power over him, and she, yeah, shes a kind of tragic figure, so we will see a bit more of her in the second movie.'

She will also appear in Rock That Body with Scarlett Johansson, Demi Moore and Kate McKinnon, is slated to release in June 2017.

The film follows a bachelorette party in Miami, which goes horribly wrong when a male stripper ends up dead in the pool.
She made headlines after she posed naked while spooning her dog on Instagram.

And Caitlin Stasey continues to amuse her fans as she posted a pic of herself when she was promoting the new FOX drama series APB last week, with a meerkat photoshopped alongside her.

The Australian actress, 26, bizarrely captioned the post: 'This is my listening face.'

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A little weird? Caitlin Stasey continues to amuse her fans as she posted a pic of herself when she was promoting the new FOX drama series APB last week, with a meerkat photoshopped alongside her. The Australian actress, 26, bizarrely captioned the post:'This is my listening face'

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Fans joined in with her hilarity adding: 'that is my "do you really think i don't know you're talking shit" face.'

Others simply wrote: 'hahaha I love this.'

Caitlin made an appearance on stage for a panel discussion alongside her APB TV series co-stars.

Wearing a different ensemble to her red carpet look, Caitlin donned an off-the-shoulder green dress with long sleeves and a graphic floral print.

Caitlin stars as gifted technology officer Ada Hamilton in the upcoming police drama APB.

The show's plot centres around the tale of a technology billionaire who takes control of a Chicago police district so as to close the case of a murdered loved one.

New gig: Caitlin made an appearance on stage for a panel discussion alongside her APB TV series co-stars

Girl in green: Wearing a different ensemble to her red carpet look, Caitlin donned an off-the-shoulder green dress with long sleeves and a graphic floral print

The drama is loosely Inspired by the New York Times Magazine article 'Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans,' by David Amsden.

Caitlin's new gig comes amid controversy relating to her recent social media post, in which she is seen posing naked while spooning a dog.

She titled the strange shot 'John & Yoko' in reference to the iconic couple's penchant for nude images.

New role: Caitlin stars as gifted technology officer Ada Hamilton in the upcoming police drama APB

Must watch: The show is loosely Inspired by the New York Times Magazine article 'Who Runs the Streets of New Orleans,' by David Amsden
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

Sri Lanka is interested to resume import of crude oil and oil products from Iran, Susil Premajayantha, the countrys minister of science, technology and research, said.

Premajayantha made the remarks during a meeting with Irans foreign minister, Mohammad Javad Zarif in Tehran, IRNA news agency reported Jan. 15.

He expressed hope that the two countries energy co-op would be boosted after settling the remaining financial obstacles.

Zarif, for his turn, said that developing cooperation with Asian countries including Sri Lanka in various fields is a priority for the Islamic Republic.

Iran hasnt resumed oil export to Sri Lanka due to banking problems despite almost one year has passed since the sanctions on Iran have been eliminated.

The dispute over a huge unpaid oil bill due to Iran by Sri Lanka remains unresolved.

Last October, Mohsen Qamsari, the then director for international affairs of the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) said that the two countries are negotiating to resolve banking problems and it is expected that oil exports will be resumed in the near future.

Sri Lankan media reported Jan 15 that President Maithripala Sirisena has cancelled a planned visit to Iran beginning on January 21.

The Foreign Ministry has told Iranian authorities that President Sirisena will be unable to visit on the agreed dates due to other urgent commitments. However, no formal reasons have been announced.
His new belle Emma McVey recently took to Instagram to share a racy shot of the him completely naked in the bath.

And it was later Gary 'Gaz' Beadle's turn to show his appreciation for the brunette stunner's body, as he was spotted groping her bottom on a beach in Ajman.

As the couple walked along the coastline just north of Dubai, shirtless Gaz was seen palming his bikini-clad belle's pert bottom as she walked a few steps ahead of him.

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Soaking up the sun: Gary 'Gaz' Beadle and his girlfirned Emma McVey were recently spotted enjoying a sunny break in Ajman, just north of Dubai

And the 29-year-old reality TV star had good reason to be mesmerised as he walked beside the raven-haired beauty, who displayed her jaw-dropping curves in a skimpy white halterneck bikini with frilly detailing on its outer edges.

With a pair of stylish sunglasses resting atop her head, she was seen holding hands with her beau, who showed off his rippling muscles in just a pair of striped shorts.

Gentle sea waves lapped the lovebirds' feet as they meandered through the golden sands with a tactile Gaz hugging his girlfriend from behind.

Butting in: The Geordie Shore star was seen palming his stunning belle's bottom on the beach

He's not done yet! The reality TV star appeared to be helping his girlfriend during on their stroll

Itsy bitsy: The brunette beauty wowed as she stepped out in a skimpy white halterneck bikini

Body of work: Gaz also showed off his physique, wearing just a pair of striped swimming shorts

Gaz later laid down on his back, as Emma straddled him before leaning in for a kiss.

Emma recently shared a playful snap of her beau totally naked in the bath, where he was seen relaxing in a tub full of bubbles.

Gaz has been dating Emma, who was previously in a relationship with TOWIE hunk Mario Falcone, since August and the duo have been inseparable ever since.

Geordie scored: The Geordie Shore star has boasted about bedding hundreds of women

The one? However, Emma appears to have finally helped the amorous playboy settle down

Hugs: The TV star hugged the raven-haired beauty from behind as they two lapped up the sun

With his Lothario history, having bragged of bedding thousands of women and insisting her deserves 'a degree in pulling', many women have battled to hold Gaz down for a relationship.

Yet Emma appears to be succeeding, as the duo continue to share loved up snaps from their break, yet the latest may be the sauciest to date.

Adding a caption: 'Show me your sexy pose...', the stunning model shared the image of Gaz sitting curled over in the bath while using one inked-up hand to protect his modesty and placed the other over his mouth in a mock coy pose.

Wet and wild: The lovebirds soon waded into the warm and welcoming waters

She's got a ticket to ride: Emma straddled her man as he laid down on the golden sands

Sealed with a kiss: The photogenic pair shared a loving kiss during their leisurely excursion

Many of Emma's 182,000 followers delighted in the hilarious snap yet one disgruntled user penned: 'Why you need to post this in Instagram? I believe its a private picture keep it for your self.'

Another sizzling snap showed the duo soaking up the sun, with the model slipping into a strapless pink bikini with low-slung bottoms.

Her impossibly small waist and taut abs pulled focus on the snap, yet hunky Gaz held his own in his red swimming trunks which would not look out of place in a scene from Baywatch.

Cheeky! Gary and Emma recently proved the fun never stops as she took to Instagram to share a playful snap of her beau - totally naked in the bath

Happier than ever: The 29-year-old Geordie Shore star was seen reclining in the bubbles while his cheeky girlfriend snapped a shot, shortly before she shared an array of sexy bikini-clad snaps from their idyllic beach break

Proving her model credentials even in her downtime, Emma sizzled in a number of stunning bikini snaps. She appeared to have brought an incredible collection of swimwear, as she showed off her figure in the barely-there two-pieces.

The couple's romantic outing came after Gaz admitted he'd happily settle down with Emma, when he made the revelation during a series of drunken games with his co-stars for a Facebook Live chat with The Sun.

During a round of infamous party game Snog, Marry Avoid, Gaz surprised everyone by revealing he'd marry Emma, snog ex Charlotte Crosby and avoid another ex Lillie Lexie Gregg.

Bed time: The happy couple left no part of their holiday undocumented

Check me out! Emma looked phenomenal as she posed up as storm in her snaps

Sizzling: Gaz has been dating Emma, who was previously in a relationship with TOWIE hunk Mario Falcone, since August and the duo have been inseparable ever since

However, Charlotte recently offered an olive branch to her former flame, which he ignored. After an episode of Geordie Shore last month, she spoke about the time they visited a Love Lock Bridge together and fastened a padlock to show their love at the time.

She wrote: 'An interesting fact about this EP thats being played now on @MTVUK me and @GazGShore actually went to love lock bridge and did our own.

'.but it never got shown on the actual show. Its still there somewhere on the bridge. cant quite remember what it said.'

This is the life! The striking model looked phenomenal as she enjoyed her trip

Smouldering: Proving her model credentials even in her downtime, Emma sizzled in a number of stunning bikini snaps. She appeared to have brought an incredible collection of swimwear, as she showed off her figure in the barely-there two-pieces

Despite tagging her ex-boyfriend in the post, he made no comment on social media referring to the post.

The pair met when Geordie Shore began in 2011 and over the course of five years, viewers witnessed the pair struggle to make their relationship work.

Charlotte then claimed she was done with their romance for good in June as she sensationally quit the show claiming he was the reason, whilst branding him 'a liar and a cheat.'

All smiles: Gaz looked overjoyed to be enjoying such a chilled out time
She works hard to maintain her incredible figure.

So Suki Waterhouse wasn't going to let the fact she was on holiday get in the way of her workout as she headed out for a run along the shore of Mexico's Mayan Riviera on Wednesday.

Working up a sweat, the 25-year-old model seemed in good spirits as she headed off down the coast with the breathtaking views behind her.

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Dedicated: Suki Waterhouse wasn't going to let the fact she was on holiday get in the way of her workout as she headed out for a run in Mexico's Mayan Riviera on Wednesday

Working on her tan as well as her figure, Suki opted to wear a skimpy bikini for her jog which bore a paisley print and crossed over at the back.

She teamed the garment with a pair of black shorts which featured a lace trim along the hem and diamante detailing.

Allowing her natural beauty to shine through, the Vogue covergirl went make-up free on the outing whilst her golden locks were swept into a ponytail.

Jog on! Working on her tan as well as her figure, the 25-year-old model opted to wear a skimpy bikini for her jog which bore a paisley print and crossed over at the back

Suki's sun soaked break to the luxury Hotel Esencia in Mexico comes off the back of her family trip to Barbados over the festive period.

Meanwhile, her dreams of being a pop star have been dealt a major blow after her debut track failed to make the top 200.

The catwalk queen and actress was hoping to make herself a triple threat with another career in music, releasing her first single Brutally in early November.

Beach babe: Suki's sun soaked break to Mexico comes off the back of her family trip to Barbados over the festive period

However, several weeks on from its release, Suki's song has only been purchased 296 times meaning it fails to even scratch through into the top 200 tracks in the UK's download charts.

The track did achieve some success on streaming app Spotify, however, racking up 300,000 streams.

A representative for Suki told MailOnline the model has plans to release more singles late in 2017.
She's currently holidaying in one of the world's most stylish cities.

So Lindsay Lohan ensured she was dressed to impress as she stepped out in Milan on Friday.

Joined by Italian reality star Tommaso Zorzi, the 30-year-old actress seemed in good spirits as she headed out for a night on the town.

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Dazzling duo: Lindsay Lohan ensured she was dressed to impress as she stepped out in Milan on Friday where she was joined by Italian reality star Tommaso Zorzi

Looking effortlessly glamorous for the outing, Lindsay donned a sheer white blouse with a cute dog print.

She teamed the garment with matching trousers that bore long black lines across the seams and elongated her lean legs.

Layering up, the radiant redhead donned an emerald faux fur coat that complemented her velvet peep toe heels.

Two of a kind: The pair have been enjoying each other's company in Milan, and Tommaso was spotted on Lindsay's hotel balcony as they looked over at his phone

Adding yet another splash of colour, the Mean Girls star wore a slick of fuchsia lipstick on her plump pout.

She also carried a small black handbag in the crook of her arm.

Lindsay finished off the look by styling her trademark auburn locks in loose waves that framed her pretty face.

Cheeky! Over the new year, Lindsay appeared to be on Tommaso's mind as he shared a meme poking fun at the star, which he captioned: 'Sorry baby I had to post this'

Lindsay no doubt had some help with her ensemble from Tommaso, who describes himself as a 'Fashion & Lifestyle Influencer'.

The pair have been enjoying each other's company in Milan, and the star was spotted on Lindsay's hotel balcony as they looked over at his phone.

Over the new year, Lindsay appeared to be on Tommaso's mind as he shared a meme poking fun at the star.

The image showed Lindsay headed out of a shop holding cartons of cigarettes and snacks as he joked about people who make New Year's resolutions to be healthy.

'(Sorry baby I had to post this @lindsaylohan)' she captioned the snap.

Exes: Lindsay had a turbulent 2016 which she began in a relationship with Egor Tarabasov, though it unravelled around August when the duo had a highly publicised fight in Mykonos

Lindsay had a turbulent 2016 which she began in a relationship with Egor Tarabasov, though it unravelled around August when the duo had a highly publicised fight in Mykonos.

Speaking on Russian TV, the Mean Girls star also said of her ex-fiance, 'I went to bed and he broke into my house. He started strangling me. I feared that Egor may splash acid in my face.'

Egor strenuously denied the claims, however, and accused the star of starting a 'smear campaign' against him.
She's never been shy in showing off her bikini body on social media.

But The Bachelor star Megan Marx now says she's 'firmer' after undertaking a 28-day fitness program.

The blonde showed off the results with a before-and-after photo posted to her Instagram account.

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Bali ready! On Sunday, The Bachelor star Megan Marx shared a before and after photo after undertaking a 28-day fitness program, that has the blonde feeling fit and healthy ahead of her move to Bali with girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon

The star claimed that whilst she's 'always been reasonably healthy' she 'can see a difference in belly fat, and general overall tone'.

In her lengthy caption, Megan claimed that she's never taken before and after photos before, stating that she found the process 'a bit terrifying.

The star posted the picture from the airport, after revealing she is moving to Bali with her Bachelor co-star girlfriend, Tiffany Scanlon.

Fit physique: Megan posted the results of her fitness challenge to her Instagram page to show her fans

'Off to Canggu with ma new bod (at the airport now)', she wrote.

The loved-up pair, who are The Bachelor's first lesbian couple, had previously been teasing fans about the mystery location to which they were moving.

On Friday, they revealed they were moving to the Indonesian island, which is the place where they first fell in love.

In an Instagram video, the pair, each filmed one other packing their suitcases with essential items - including several sex toys.

All the essentials! Megan Marx and her girlfriend Tiffany Scanlon shared Instagram updates of themselves packing up their apartment (including their sex toy collection) in preparation for the impending move to Bali

In one video shared to Tiffany's Instagram Story, Megan can be seen undulating wildly while brandishing the silicone object, which was a shade of vibrant purple.

Meanwhile, Megan shared a photo of Tiffany presenting her pink pleasure apparatus to the camera before switching it on and watching it vibrate with intense fascination.

Later on Sunday, Megan shared a photo of herself on the beach clad in a barely-there yellow bikini alongside the message: 'My last day in WA! Today I'm heading to live in Bali- Tiff will be meeting me in a week, and we'll be moving in together! Yippee!'

Violet surprise! In one video shared to Tiffany's Instagram Story, Megan can be seen undulating wildly while brandishing the silicone object, which was a shade of vibrant purple

Thanks for sharing! Meanwhile, Megan shared a photo of Tiffany presenting her pink pleasure apparatus to the camera before switching it on and watching it vibrate with intense fascination

It represents somewhat of a symbolic location for the couple, who fell in love in Bali late last year.

The loved-up blondes confirmed their romance last November after months of speculation they were more than just close friends.

'While we were in the show, it was just a friendship,' Tiffany said.

Bali bound: Megan (L) and girlfriend Tiffany revealed on Sunday that they were moving to Bali, the place where they first fell in love

New beginnings! Later on Sunday, Megan shared a photo of herself on the beach clad in a barely-there yellow bikini alongside the message: 'My last day in WA! Today I'm heading to live in Bali- Tiff will be meeting me in a week, and we'll be moving in together! Yippee!'

'It probably wasnt until we were in Bali together that it was like, "Oh, this is more".'

Megan also explained that she was drawn to Tiffany from the moment they met but didn't act on it in the house.

'We had very different experiences when we were on the show,' she said.

'Obviously I found Tiffany very attractive but I was there to get to know Richie. But instantly we knew there was a very strong connection. I was so excited to meet her in Bali.'
His ex-girlfriend Nelly Riggio has been flaunting her new romance with pastry chef Adriano Zumbo.

And now it seems 31-year-old JP Huillet may also have moved on.

The My Kitchen Rules star posted a snap to Instagram on Sunday that saw him cuddled up with a stunning brunette.

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'This hottie': Reality star JP Huillet looked overjoyed on Sunday, cuddling up with a beautiful brunette during a trip to Sydney, as his ex Nelly Riggio continues posting loved-up snaps with her new partner, Adriano Zumbo

'When you go to Sydney and get to hang out with this hottie,' Brisbane based JP captioned the photo.

He tagged his female companion, Roxy Lazar, who is a 'Sydney brow artist'.

It's unknown if JP's trip to Sydney was specifically to meet up with Roxy for a romantic rendezvous, but he was clearly ecstatic to be in her company.

Shock split: Known as 'The Lovebirds' on the 2016 season of My Kitchen Rules, JP and Nelly broke up later in the year

The reality star sported a huge grin on his face as the pair spent time at trendy Sydney hot-spot The Grounds of Alexandria.

Meanwhile, JP's ex has moved on after their shock split, continuing to post pictures with her new partner, Adriano Zumbo.

Nelly and Adriano have been making every minute count this summer with a trip to the Maldives and lazy afternoons on a Sunshine Coast beach.

Beach baes: Nelly Riggio and Adriano Zumbo have been making every minute count this summer with a trip to the Maldives and lazy afternoons on a Sunshine Coast beach

The couple returned from the exotic overseas locale only to find themselves back on the sand this weekend.

The new couple each posted a picture on social media in which they're clad in their swimwear on a Queensland beach on Saturday.

Adriano posted an image in which he and his new MKR love are flat on their backs sunbathing, with Nelly showing off her slim form in a black and white marble design bikini.

Loved up: The new couple each posted a pic in which they're clad in their swimwear on a Queensland beach to Instagram on Saturday

The pastry chef flaunts his tan and his tattoos as he lays shirtless beside her, and captioned the picture with a cheeky, 'Beached as Bro!!'

Nelly also posted a picture to Instagram on the same day, with the pair smiling to camera in the sunshine with the ocean in the background.

'We've definitely made the most of summer so far! Soaking in the beautiful weather on the Sunshine Coast,' the 26 year old captioned the image.

Luxurious break: The couple returned from a exotic overseas locale in the Maldives only to find themselves back on the sand this weekend

The 35-year-old chef recently defended his relationship with the younger My Kitchen Rules Star when a critic attacked the pair on social media.

Nelly posted a photo of the pair kissing to Instagram last week, prompting one user to say they were 'horrified' and suggest there was a 20-year age gap between the couple.

Nelly and Adriano promptly fought back, confessing the pastry chef is 35 and his new love is nine years his junior, at 26.

The exchange started when a user called @darianorman wrote, 'Omg I was so horrified to see that photo...Is he 20 years older then you or what?'

Attacked online: The 35-year-old chef recently defended his relationship with the younger woman when a critic attacked the pair on social media

Adriano was quick to defend his relationship and answered the critic directly under Nelly's image.

'Bahahaha @darianorman well I'm 35 Nelly is definitely not 15,' Adriano hit back.

His My Kitchen Rules star lover then joined in the battle and backed up her boyfriend.

She wrote: 'Since when is my relationship any of your business. I'm 26 he's 35 but you're acting like a 2 year old.'
She had a terrifying start to her idyllic trip to Thailand after her plane failed to land.

Now, Holly Hagan, 24, proved that she's put her jet setting woes firmly behind her as she flaunted her incredibly pert derriere in a number of sultry snaps on Instagram.

The former Geordie Shore star - who is currently holidaying in Thailand with boyfriend Kyle Christie - opted to give her social media followers an eyeful of her perky posterior as she posed in her skimpy bikini for a raunchy belfie on Saturday.

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Belfie! Holly Hagan proved that she's put her jet setting woes firmly behind her as she flaunted her incredibly pert derriere in a number of sultry snaps on Instagram

Displaying her endless curves, she slipped into a minuscule two-piece that barely covered her toned rear as she let her blonde locks cascade down her back and highlight her intricate lower back inking.

Captioning to sultry snap, she wrote: 'You've gotta be resourceful when there's good lighting tho #standonthebathifyoumust'.

Flaunting her ample cleavage, the Northern lass teased at her buxom bust in her star print bikini with gold chain detail.

The plunging number highlighted her taut stomach and hourglass waist while she took her intimate selfie in her suite's bathroom.

In another figure-flaunting shot from her dreamy trip to South East Asia, Holly posted a revealing pic of her behind as she gazed out at the breath-taking view from their luxurious resort.

Star studded: Flaunting her ample cleavage, the Northern lass teased at her buxom bust in her star print bikini with gold chain detail

Bottoms up: In another figure-flaunting shot from her dreamy trip to South East Asia, Holly posted a revealing pic of her behind as she gazed out at the breath-taking view from their luxurious resort

Dressed in a hot pink bikini, Holly, simply wrote alongside the eye-popping display: 'Paradise'.

Holly's bikini clad appearance comes after she suffered a terrifying start when she revealed her and her boyfriend were onboard the 'scariest flight' of her life.

The MTV beauty took to Twitter last week to inform her 1.65million followers that she had suffered through the terrifying trip after which her representative confirmed to MailOnline that the plane failed to land.

Holly has jetted away from the blistering chill descending on the UK to soak up the sun in Thailand.

Terrified: Holly's trip to Thailand with her boyfriend Kyle Christie suffered a terrifying twist when she revealed they were onboard the 'scariest flight' of her life

Far from kicking off their trip to paradise in comfort, once she arrived and got on an inland flight, she was left terrified when her plane was diverted due to a failed landing.

Taking to Twitter after the incident, the stunning star wrote: ' Scariest flight of my life zero visibility so close to the ground in krabi and having to pull back up and divert to Phuket'.

A representative for Holly confirmed to MailOnline: 'Holly is currently enjoying a break in Thailand.

Supporting each other: The MTV beauty took to Twitter to inform her 1.65million followers that she had suffered through the terrifying trip after which her representative confirmed to MailOnline that the plane failed to land

Yay! Despite their sticky start, Holly and Kyle were certainly delighted to be going travelling as she shared a snap of their two rucksacks, champagne glasses and passports, with the caption: 'F**k January were off travelling'

'Her flight had to divert from Krabi Airport to Phuket Airport after a failed landing attempt in the former. The failed landing was due to exceptionally bad rain leading to poor visibility.'

Despite their sticky start, Holly and Kyle were certainly delighted to be going travelling as she shared a snap of their two rucksacks, champagne glasses and passports, with the caption: 'F**k January were off travelling'.

Kyle meanwhile shared a snap once he got on the plane, where he looked totally relaxed and added the caption: 'F**k you January Blues!

'We just booked a one way ticket to Travel around Asia....and yes I am watching TV with my sunglasses on, do what a want'.

No January blues here: Kyle meanwhile shared a snap once he got on the plane, where he looked totally relaxed and added the caption: 'F**k you January Blues!'

Back in holiday mode: Her rep said: 'Her flight had to divert from Krabi Airport to Phuket Airport after a failed landing attempt in the former. The failed landing was due to exceptionally bad rain leading to poor visibility'

Off she goes: Elaborating on her decision to leave, Holly went on: 'I'd been considering leaving for a very long time and it wasn't a split second decision as it may look on TV'

Holly's departure to Thailand comes shortly after she announced she was leaving Geordie Shore, the place she met Kyle, as she broke her silence last month via Instagram about quitting the show.

As her last episode aired on MTV last month, the fun-loving star posted 'a huge thank you to those involved in my Geordie Shore journey for the past 6 years!'

She continued: 'Considering I thought I was going to get p***ed for 6 weeks and thought I'd be going back to the call centre this has changed my life and I'll forever be grateful.'

'Thank you for being part of this journey': She ensured to let her fans know how she felt with her lengthy Instagram message

'I'll miss that f***ed up family': Holly finally broke her silence about quitting Geordie Shore after her final episode aired in December... as the cast pay tribute to her with sweet messages

Elaborating on her decision to leave, Holly went on: 'I'd been considering leaving for a very long time and it wasn't a split second decision as it may look on TV.

'I've not had a single regret since leaving but that's not to say I won't miss every single one of that f***ed up family. My brothers and sisters forever.

'I'm so proud and honoured to have been a part of MTVs highest rating show and I have memories that no1 can replace.
They're two of Hollywood's best-loved leading men.

So there was bound to be a flurry of excitement outside LA's Catch restaurant on Saturday when Chris Hemsworth showed up for a meal with Matt Damon.

And adding a third to the party was Chris' wife Elsa Pataky.

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Hunky dory: Hollywood heartthrobs Chris Hemsworth and Matt Damon catch up over dinner in LA with Chris' wife Elsa Pataky

Dinner date: There was bound to be a flurry of excitement outside LA's Catch restaurant on Saturday when Chris Hemsworth showed up for a meal with Matt Damon

Ever the protective hubby, Chris was sure to keep Elsa close as they battled through photographers to get from their car to the restaurant doorway.

Looking very bronzed, the Thor hunk kept his head down as he ushered his wife across the sidewalk.

In head-to-toe PAIGE, he sported a crisp white long-sleeved T, covered with a grey cardigan, finished off with taupe skinny chinos and tan matching shoes.

Blonde bombshell Elsa looked casual yet pretty in jeans, a black top and a green studded army-type jackets.

Protective: Chris was sure to keep Elsa close as they battled through photographers to get from their car to the restaurant doorway

Pals: Looking very bronzed, the Thor hunk sported a crisp white long-sleeved T, covered with a grey cardigan

Matt trailed along at their side, giving the cameras a wave as he entered the venue.

He wore jeans, a khaki sweater, and black jacket and a beanie hat.

Matt's wife Luciana Barroso was not in tow - perhaps opting to remain home with their three daughters - Isabella, 10, Gia, eight, and Stella, six.

Table for three: Matt trailed along at their side, giving the cameras a wave as he entered the venue. He wore jeans, a khaki sweater, and black jacket and a beanie hat

Chris and Elsa presumably had recruited a babysitter for their night out to look after their children, India, four, Tristan, two, and Sasha, two.

There seemed to be a touch of drama happening as well, as another man appeared to stagger between the two men, looking a little worse for wear.

Chris and Matt didn't seemed concerned, and looked as if they might be a friend of his, but he appeared to be in a much sorrier state than the two heartthrobs and Elsa.

Matt also stopped and posed for a selfie with an overjoyed passer-by.

Overdone it? There seemed to be a touch of drama happening as well, as another man appeared to stagger between the two men, looking a little worse for wear

Drama: Chris and Matt didn't seemed concerned, and looked as if they might be a friend of his, but he appeared to be in a much sorrier state than the two heartthrobs and Elsa

Perfect peepers: Chris's piercing blue eyes shone in the glare of the cameras

Having fun: Elsa looked to be enjoying the hustle and bustle, smiling brightly

Chilled out: Chris's buttoned down shirt gave off a relaxed vibe

Side by side: Matt looked to be in high spirits on the night

Catching up: The boys were clearly having a proper catch up following the hubbub of the Golden Globes last Sunday, which they both attended

The boys were clearly having a proper catch up following the hubbub of the Golden Globes last Sunday, which they both attended.

Elsa, 40, documented their journey to the event with a video en-route, as they drove through the streets of Los Angeles with what appeared to be a police motorcycle riding in front.

The day after, Matt joined Ben Affleck as he celebrated his upcoming Prohibition-era thriller Live By Night held at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood.

The 46-year-old star was there to support his best pal and Good Will Hunting co-star Ben and the pair were seen in stitches throughout the star-studded event.
It's the type of scene which greats Britain's Kate Middleton wherever she goes.

But it was Kim Kardashian's turn to get the princess treatment as she received a royal welcome in Dubai on Sunday.

In scenes reminiscent of the Duchess of Cambridge on tour, the reality star had a flower crown and garland placed around her neck after touring a music facility for children.

It's Kueen Kim! Kardashian is treated to a dance display as she gets the royal welcome in Dubai

Kueen Kim did her best Kate impression as she sat coyly and enjoyed a music performance from children who appeared to be wearing shirts with her face upon them.

In one shot she was joined by a man who looked to be Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed - the Crown Prince of Dubai.

However despite the similarites in welcome, Kim's outfit not something in which one could imagine the wife of Prince William.

In place of Kate's midlength skirts and matching shoes, Kim wore a ripped pair of jeans into which she tucked an oversized vintage Sade T-shirt.

Paying attention: Kueen Kim did her best Kate impression as she sat coyly and enjoyed a music performance from children who appeared to be wearing shirts with her face upon them

Stylish: Kim wore a ripped pair of jeans into which she tucked an oversized vintage print T-shirt

On her slim wrist was a man's gold watch, while otherwise she was devoid of adornment - a new normal for Kim, who was robbed of an estimated $10million of jewelery in Paris in October.

The 36-year-old's trip to Dubai marks her first overseas trip since the terrifying armed heist.

It comes as 16 people were arrested in connection with the robbery.

And Kim is even hopeful she may get her engagement ring back as police believe two unidentified brothers - who they have arrested - could have the information to lead them to the expensive piece of jewelery.

Restrained: On her slim wrist was a man's gold watch, while otherwise she was devoid of adornment - a new normal for Kim

An insider explained: 'They are involved in the diamond trade, and are thought to have handled the stolen jewellery.

'Their homes have been searched from top to bottom, and so has a jewellery shop in Paris which is also linked to them. The jewellery has not yet been found, but these brothers could lead us to it over the coming days.'

It is thought the jewellery could have been sold in Antwerp, Belgium as the source claims that is where items like these 'can be sold on with no questions asked'.

They added: 'Antwerp is a town where jewellery can be sold on with no questions asked. The men know the industry inside out, and may well know exactly where the ring went.'

Move over Kate! In scenes reminiscent of the Duchess of Cambridge on tour, the reality star had a flower crown and garland placed around her neck after touring a music facility




She's officially back at work, with a whirlwind tour of Dubai.

And Kim Kardashian was certainly working it as she strutted her stuff in a form fitting white dress on Saturday.

The reality star's outfit had long sleeves and a very high neckline in deference to the local custom in the conservative United Arab Emirates nation.

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Looking bootyful! Kim Kardashian shows off her shapely rear in a form fitting white dress as she heads out in Dubai on Saturday

But despite this it was by no means modest, clinging to Kim's shapely figure like it had been sprayed on.

The hemline was also a daring one, just low enough to cover her underwear.

Kim wore the dress with a black cap, as she set out to shop at the exclusive Mall Of The Emirates, where she was seen popping into Givenchy.

Covered up: The reality star's outfit had long sleeves and a very high neckline in deference to the local custom in the conservative United Arab Emirates nation

The 36-year-old mother-of-two headed to Dubai for her first public appearance since she was robbed at gunpoint while on a work trip to Paris in October.

She lost an estimated $10million of jewelry in the raid, including her newly upgraded $4million engagement ring.

But the real impact was on Kim's confidence, with the reality star left traumatised by the experience.

Leggy: Despite this it was by no means modest, clinging to Kim's shapely figure like it had been sprayed on

But after dramatically scaling back her commitments and holing up at home with her family over the festive season, it seems the mother-of-two is ready to return to the spotlight.

Kim was trailed by cameras from her show Keeping Up With The Kardashians wherever she went in Dubai.

Also noticeable were the burly security guards who kept a close and watchful eye on their charge.

Kim has replaced her security team since the Paris raid.
As a former model herself, Yolanda Hadid couldn't be prouder of daughter Gigi Hadid.

And on Sunday, the 53-year-old Dutch beauty took to Instagram to shout her praise for her oldest child as the 21-year-old stunner continues her collaboration with Tommy Hilfiger.

'Excited and Back in action........ @tommyxgigi #NewCollection #DreamTeam #February8,' the former Real Housewives Of Beverly Hills star wrote.

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Proud mom: On Sunday, Yolanda Hadid shared this behind the scenes shot on Instagram of her daughter Gigi Hadid getting back to work on her newest collaboration for Tommy Hilfiger

The selfie-style image is a behind-the-scenes shot of Gigi along with her mother who sits in the background flanked by two other 'Dream Team' members involved in the special TommyxGigi collection.

The blue-eyed beauty stole the spotlight, wearing minimal make-up with her hair pulled back into a messy pony-tail, as she stood with her mouth open revealing a 'surprised look.'

The cluttered background came complete with fashion vision boards and designs likely illustrating similar clothing to what Gigi donned in the shot.

Peace and palm trees: Gigi, who is a longtime muse and model for the brand, has teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger again for a second installment of the label set for debut in February in LA

Gigi, who is a longtime muse and model for the brand, has teamed up with Tommy Hilfiger again for a second installment of the label set for debut on February 8 in Los Angeles.

The designer will show the next TommyxGigi collection on Venice Beach one day before the official kickoff of New York Fashion Week - details which were shared on the collections official Instagram page last month.

Gigi also teased the new line as she took to Twitter on Saturday with an image of herself wearing a dark denim jumpsuit while holding up two peace signs with her hands over head.

'Forget frostbite': The next TommyxGigi collection will hit Venice Beach one day before the official kickoff of New York Fashion Week - details were shared on Instagram last month

She captioned the shot: 'Just finished the first styling sesh for the #TOMMYxGIGI Season II @TommyHilfiger show!!! So excited for February!'

The Los Angeles native also included two palm tree emojis.

Last fall the label was first debuted with the in-demand model walking her own designs down the NYC runway at Pier 19 in September.

Meanwhile, New York Fashion Week is set for February 9 through 17.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

By Fatih Karimov  Trend:

No new talks on nuclear deal which came into force last year will be held, Irans Deputy  Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said.

He made the remarks during a press conference in Tehran on the eve of the first anniversary of the implementation day of the nuclear deal between Iran and the six world powers, Irans Press TV reported Jan. 15.

The Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA aka nuclear deal) will not be renegotiated and it cannot be reversed, Araqchi said.

Except some technical issues, Iran doesnt have any negotiations with the US regarding the nuclear deal and its future, he added.

The top Iranian diplomat added that the new US administration can not abandon the JCPOA, however Tehran is ready to reverse quickly if they undo.

Iran is ready for any situation, Araqchi said. If the US president-elect Donald Trump tears up the deal, we will burn it.

Outlining the achievements of the JCPOA, Araqchi said that the nuclear deal turned Iran from being a menace to peace into a country with a decisive role in the world arena.

The Iranian diplomat further said that the Islamic Republic had to continuously deal with the US disloyalties, sabotage and the policy of calculated delay during the past year after implementation of the nuclear deal.

He also said that Iran views the extension of Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) by the US as a new sanction and violation of the JCPOA.

It should be noted that representatives of Iran and the six world powers (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) gathered on Jan. 10 in Vienna to address Irans complaint over Washingtons extending the sanctions against Iran for another 10 years.

Following the meeting the Joint Commission underscored the sanctions lifting commitments contained in the JCPOA, in particular as they relate to the Iran Sanctions Act, and recognized the US assurance that extension of the Iran Sanctions Act does not affect in any way the sanctions lifting Iran receives under the deal or the ability of companies to do business in Iran consistent with the JCPOA.
He was part of a much publicised and brief relationship with Taylor Swift last year.

But now that Hiddleswift is no more, Tom Hiddleston looked to be starting 2017 forging new friendships.

The 35-year-old British actor, who bagged a Best Actor Golden Globe for his role in The Night Manager in LA last week, was snapped hugging a mystery woman in London.

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New pal? Tom Hiddleston was pictured giggling with a mystery female companion while out in London last week - while a fan looked on in disbelief after spotting the acting icon

While there's nothing to suggest any romance between the pair, the actor caught the attention of a passer-by as he enjoyed a cosy chat with the brunette, who couldn't believe her luck.

The duo were spotted laughing as they stood huddled together on a dimly-lit street engaged in an in-depth conversation.

Dressed in a stylish pea coat, grey suede loafers and fitted skinny jeans, handsome Tom looked dapper as he giggled with his smitten pal.

Tight embrace: The 35-year-old British actor, who bagged a Best Actor Golden Globe for his role in The Night Manager in LA last week, was snapped hugging a mystery woman in London

And the lady looked understandably thrilled, as she put on a casual appearance wrapped up against the frosty weather.

Wearing a grey sweater dress with leggings and black ankle boots, she layered them with a long khaki puffer jacket.

Holding her phone as she hugged Tom goodbye, she beamed as she strolled off, while Tom watched her leave.

Turning heads: The actor caught the attention of a passer-by as he enjoyed a cosy chat with the brunette

Catching up? The duo were spotted laughing as they stood huddled together on a dimly-lit street engaged in an in-depth conversation

He appeared in good spirits following the exchange, holding his phone and laughing as he continued his night stroll.

The actor had good reason to feel upbeat, after he collected the prestigious Best Actor Golden Globe for the role of Jonathan Pine in the hit television adaptation of The Night Manager which also stars Hugh Laurie, Olivia Colman and Elizabeth Debicki.

Laurie and Colman also picked up awards last Sunday in the Best Performance by an Actress and Actor in a Supporting Role in a Series, Limited Series or Motion Picture Made for Television categories.

Smooth: Dressed in a stylish pea coat, grey suede loafers and fitted skinny jeans, handsome Tom looked dapper as he giggled with his smitten pal

Smitten? The lady looked understandably thrilled, as she put on a casual appearance wrapped up against the frosty weather

And as well as things continuing to go well in his career, things appeared to perhaps be on the up in his personal life, following his split from Taylor in 2016.

The duo's brief and fast-moving romance began last June, and was much-talked about as pictures of them emerged just weeks after the American popstar's split from DJ Calvin Harris.

However they announced their split in September, with both remaining publicly single since going their separate ways.

MailOnline have contacted Tom's representative for comment.

Watching her go: Holding her phone as she hugged Tom goodbye, she beamed as she strolled off as Tom watched after her leave
He may soon be joined by talented racing driver Valtteri Bottas at Mercedes.

And Lewis Hamilton looked in good spirits as he arrived at LAX airport on Sunday.

The British F1 racing driver, 32, stood out in a bright yellow hoodie as he made his way through the terminal.

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Turning heads: Lewis Hamilton looked in good spirits as he arrived at LAX airport on Sunday wearing a bright yellow hooded top and toting designer luggage

Williams are set to clarify their position on Valtteri Bottas' proposed switch to rivals Mercedes

Greeting the mild Californian climate in stylish ripped denim shorts, Lewis kept the hood of his zip up partially obscuring his face as he pulled his designer luggage through the airport.

Accessorising in a black cap and dark sunglasses, any attempt to go incognito was somewhat blighted by his fluorescent ensemble.

Wearing black and red trainers and carrying a camouflage backpack, the racing driver looked as though he was well kitted out for his stay.

Upbeat: The British F1 racing driver, 32, stood out in a bright yellow hoodie as he made his way through the terminal

His appearance comes amid the much-discussed potential transfer of Finnish driver Valtteri who is keen to take recently retired Nico Rosberg, after he unexpectedly announced his retirement following last year's Formula One world title win.

Addressing the potential move, Claire Williams of Williams Martini Racing said:

'It has been dragging on, and I think everyone wants to know. It is a great opportunity for Valtteri, and he has given a lot to Williams.

Packing for a long stay? Wearing black and red trainers and carrying a camouflage backpack, the racing driver looked as though he was well kitted out for his trip

'We've always said if we can make this happen on terms that are positive for Williams then it is probably the right thing to do.

'No one needs or wants a driver in your team that really wants to be somewhere else. It is not nice either to stop a driver who has such a great opportunity, particularly at this point of Valtteri's career, but it has to work for Williams and that is what we've been working hard on over the past six weeks.

'We are nearly there; we are at the tail end of it and hope we'll be able to make an announcement this coming week.'
Home And Away star Tai Hara has married Hi-5 beauty Fely Irvine in an emotional ceremony in Bali.

The pair tied the knot at the Alila Villas in Uluwatu, two years after the handsome 26-year-old actor proposed to the 28-year-old actress and singer in a Scottish castle.

Speaking to New Idea magazine, the couple said the nuptials were incredibly emotional, and they both cried while standing at the altar.

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Just married: Home And Away star Tai Hara has married Hi-5 beauty Fely Irvine in an emotional ceremony in Bali

'I felt completely speechless when Fely first walked towards me in her stunning dress,' Tai gushed.

'Everything else just slips away, standing at the altar with your best friend and the love of your life. It's just the two of you, the most overwhelming experience. I tried to hold it together...'

After having not one but THREE hen's celebrations last year, Fely wore three dresses on her big day.

So in love: The pair tied the knot at the Alila Villas in Uluwatu, two years after the handsome 26-year-old actor proposed to the 28-year-old actress and singer in a Scottish castle

Picture-perfect location: The pair tied the knot at the Alila Villas in Uluwatu

But the most special gown was the one she wore for her nuptials, with the actress revealing she had her parents' wedding rings sewn into the bust of her Grace Loves Lace dress, so they would be close to her heart.

50 of the couple's family and close friends attended the wedding, including Home And Away star, Demi Harman and boyfriend Alex Snow, Charlie Clausen and wife Gemma Lee and Jessica Grace Lee.

Brenton Thwaites acted as Tai's best man and in a quirky twist, Fely also had a best man, her brother Calvin Elizondo.

Bride tribe: Fely had not one but THREE hen's celebrations last year

The couple met four years ago while both auditioning for Hi-5,

They got engaged two years later and have now wed another two years on.

Fely joked that the couple do everything in 'two year intervals' and perhaps a baby will be next on the cards.

Baby plans: Fely joked that the couple do everything in 'two year intervals' and perhaps a baby will be next on the cards

The exotic beauty had a total of three hen's celebrations last year, at NSW Central Coast, London, and Las Vegas, with Tai also celebrating in the US.

The smitten couple announced their engagement in January 2015, after getting engaged in Scotland over the Christmas break.

At the time, Tai told New Idea how he hid the ring from Fely while away.

'I'd been carrying the ring around Europe': At the time, Tai told New Idea how he hid the ring from Fely while away

'I'd been carrying the ring around Europe for two weeks wrapped in three different bags and a sock, because it wasn't as if I could hide it in the hotel safe,' he said.

Fely, who is half Scottish and half Filipino, described the engagement to Daily Mail Australia as a complete shock: 'I didn't see it coming at all! It was perfect.'

Tai got down on one knee at her family's ancestral home - Drum Castle, in Scotland just outside Aberdeen - on their second anniversary.

Making it official: Tai got down on one knee at her family's ancestral home - Drum Castle, in Scotland just outside Aberdeen - on their second anniversary

Meanwhile, back in December, Fely revealed that she and Tai had purchased their own home.

Taking to Instagram, the brunette beauty shared a shot of a house key, captioning the snap: 'Officially home owners.'

In the shot, the key ring reads: 'This must be the place.'

Setting the date: The smitten couple announced their engagement in January 2015, after getting engaged in Scotland over the Christmas break

The girlfriend of Tai's former Home And Away co-star Kyle Pryor, Julia- Rose O'Connor, congratulated the pair on the purchase.

She used emoticons to comment on the post, including a champagne bottle popping open.

Fely tagged Tamarama Beach, suggesting her and her man purchased a pad in the eastern suburbs of Sydney.
She took a break from the spotlight to recuperate after being robbed at gunpoint in a terrifying heist.

But Kim Kardashian was back to her old self again as she posed for a photoshoot while on a trip to Dubai.

Sitting astride a buggy, posing with a falcon on her hand, and confidently giving the camera her best angles, this was the Kim of old.

She's back! Kim Kardashian is her old self again as she sits astride a buggy on Dubai modelling shoot at sundown on Saturday

Fur and feathers: The Dubai trip marks Kim's return to the spotlight, after she took a career break following a terrifying heist in October

There was only one difference - the mother-of-two was wearing rather more clothes than some of her more famous modelling shots.

A long fur coat was thrown over some red jogging bottoms and a long-sleeved shirt.

Still, rather than a rebranding, this was simply in deference to her location - she was in the conservative location of Dubai.

Covered up: The mother-of-two was wearing rather more clothes than some of her more famous modelling shots

Desert rose: Kim's heavy coat was no match for the winds at sundown

Kim's photoshoot came as more details emerged of the life-changing moment the 36-year-old was surprised in her rented luxury apartment back in October.

In her statement to police, which has just been leaked, Kim described the terrifying sequence of events.

According to the report obtained by Le Journal du Dimanche, Kim said: 'I heard a noise at the door, like footsteps, and I shouted, asking, "Who's there?" No one answered. I called my bodyguard at 2.56am. Through the door, I saw two people arrive, plus the night man who was tied up.

Covered up: A long fur coat was thrown over some red jogging bottoms and a shirt

One for the album: Kim has also returned to social media, and has been busy Snapchatting throughout for visit to the UAE

'It's the man with the ski goggles who stayed with me. He demanded with a strong French accent, my ring. It was on the bedside table. It's worth four million dollars.  I told him that I didn't know, he took out a gun and I showed him the ring.

'They grabbed me and took me into the hallway. I was wearing a bathrobe, naked underneath.

'Then we went in the room again and they pushed me on the bed. And, it was this time, they tied me up with plastic cables and taped my hands, then they put tape over my mouth and my legs.'

Strike a pose: Sitting astride a buggy, posing with a falon on her hand, and giving the camera her best angles, this was the Kim of old

Taking a ride: After plenty of posing, Kim hopped inside the ATV for a tour of the sands

One more selfie! Kim is always ready to take a picture

In she gets: Cameras followed Kim on the outing, recording everything for Keeping Up With The Kardashians

Fancy ride: Kim called shotgun and took the passenger seat

Items stolen from Kim included two diamond Cartier bracelets, a gold and diamond Jacob necklace, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings and a gold Rolex, but despite the huge haul, Kim believes the gang were not experienced.

She said: 'I think they robbed me of five million dollars. Then they left on the run.

'I felt they were a bit inexperienced because of the way they tied me up.'

Last week, 17 people between the ages of 44 to 72 were arrested in connection with the robbery and 10 people have now been charged, including the alleged mastermind.

The crew: Kim was surrounded by support staff on the desert location

Getting the hump? Kim and her glam squad pose against a backdrop of camels
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The Jump has left previous celebrity contestants with a legion of gruesome injuries, including a fractured back, a broken ankle and a dislocated shoulder.

And Josie Gibson seemed frightfully close to suffering a similar injury as she took a nasty tumble while training for Channel 4's disaster-prone series in Austria on Wednesday.

Clad in a bright blue ski suit, the 31-year-old Big Brother star winced as she skidded painfully onto her side, and had to be helped shakily up by an aide.

It comes as ex-Olympian Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards has reportedly been axed from his role as commentator on the show for voicing concerns about safety on the series, according to The Sun.

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Skating on thin ice: Josie Gibson seemed to frightfully close to suffering a similar injury as she took a nasty tumble while training for Channel 4's disaster-prone series in Austria on Wednesday

Dressed in a neon suit and black helmet, Josie had certainly looked the part when she first took to the slopes.

Embarking on a run with her trainer, the blonde appeared to hit the snowy conditions with ease as she effortlessly glided across the mountain.

However, Josie soon began to lose control of her speed, which caused her to slip and come crashing down onto her side at an awkward angle, with her legs flailing in the air.

Looking like a pro: Dressed in a neon suit and black helmet, the TV personality had certainly looked the part when she first took to the slopes

Oh dear: Clad in a bright blue ski suit, the 31-year-old Big Brother star winced as she skidded painfully onto her side, and had to be helped shakily up by an aide

Look out! With her arms outstretched as she tried to maintain her balance, Josie appeared tentative on her feet

With the slope staff and her instructors rushing over to check she was okay, it became clear that the incident had left Josie in shock.

Stumbling up from her skis, the former Big Brother star appeared to wince as she processed her pain and fear from the fall.

Helping her onto her feet, her trainer and co-stars pulled her in for a tight hug and a reassuring chat - after the undoubtedly scary incident for a non professional skier.

Sorry sight: Lying on her side with her skis flailing in the air, Josie looked far from a confident skier

A little help here? The blonde TV personality seemed a little stuck as she struggled to get back up without help

Gone for good? It comes as ex-Olympian Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards has reportedly been axed from his role as commentator on the show for voicing concerns about safety on the series

Controversial: The legendary sky jumper had revealed that he was 'very surprised' the disaster-prone series was returning for a fourth season after the amount of horrific injuries

Josie's fall comes as the show's commentator Eddie has been fired for raising concerns over the safety of competing on the show.

A source told The Sun: 'Producers didn't like what he was saying about the show as it came in for a lot of stick.

'They are really sensitive because of the amount of people who have broken their legs or been seriously hurt.

'It would be hard for Eddie to appear on the show after his comments because he would have to explain them and there is a high chance someone else will get injured.'

MailOnline has contacted a representative for Eddie for comment.

Feeling rough: With the slope staff and her instructors rushing over to check she was okay, it became clear that the incident had left Josie in shock

Taken quite the tumble: A dejected Josie lay on her back seemingly in exhaustion after the nasty slip

Disaster-prone series: The Jump has left previous celebrity contestants with a legion of gruesome injuries, including a fractured back, a broken ankle and a dislocated shoulder

Bit of a frosty situation: The reality star was almost horizontal at one point as she skidded helplessly on the slopes

However Channel 4 chiefs have allegedly dismissed claims that he was axed for his public mention of health and safety, and called his departure an 'editorial decision'.

A representative told MailOnline: 'Eddie was on previous series as a commentator and so it is a purely editorial decision not to bring him back.

'Eddie has never been involved in any aspect of the training programme for The Jump as this is the responsibility of qualified instructors who teach the celebrities to ski jump according to modern accepted standards.'

The legendary sky jumper had revealed that he was 'very surprised' the disaster-prone series was returning for a fourth season after the amount of horrific injuries.

He said: 'I kept telling the producers, 'It's going to get very difficult, very hairy' and they said, 'No it's all right' and they've carried on and they've had so many accidents.

'I was very surprised that they're going to have another series.'

Like Bambi on ice: Josie managed to pull herself onto her side as she tried to get her bearings

All good? Helping her onto her feet, her trainer and co-stars pulled her in for a reassuring chat

Ordeal: Josie allowed the aides to ease her skis off her feet after undoubtedly scary incident for a non professional skier

Feeling vulnerable: The Bristol-born star looked emotional as she adjusted her helmet and was helped up

Channel 4 responded to his remarks, telling the Radio Times: Eddie has worked on each series of The Jump as a commentator.

'Eddie has never been involved in any aspect of the training programme for The Jump as this is the responsibility of qualified instructors who teach the celebrities to ski jump according to modern accepted standards.'

Those taking part in this years series include reality TV stars Lydia Bright and Josie Gibson and models Caprice Bourret and Vogue Williams, as well as Welsh rugby player Gareth Thomas and comedian Mark Dolan.

In great spirits! Former football striker Robbie Fowler appeared to be in remarkably chirpy form as he hit the slopes

Fearless guy! The 41-year-old dived headfirst - literally - into the skiing action during the training day

Watch where you're going! The Liverpool-born sportsman seemed unnerved by his face-first fall

England rugby captain Jason Robinson OBE, footballer Robbie Fowler, Olympian and Paralympic athletes Kadeena Cox, Louis Smith and Jade Jones join the sporting lineup.

This years show will have some Royal connections with The Duchess of Cambridges future brother-in-law, Spencer Matthews of Made In Chelsea fame, and the Duchess of Cornwalls niece, Emma Parker-Bowles, also taking part.

The series last year saw Olympic gymnast Beth Tweddle break her back while competing on the slopes, but that hasn't stopped Bradley signing up for the 2017 series.

Quite the eye-catching number: He ruled the slopes in a skintight bright red skisuit

I believe I can fly: He launched himself vigorously into the air - but soon headed for a tumble

Dusting himself off: Robbie appeared unfazed as he got onto his knees and pushed himself off the snow

The show is now renowned for causing grave injuries to high profile stars, including Beth who reportedly received an estimated 100,000 pay-out for her injuries and also continued to seek psychological help for the trauma, afterwards.

Meanwhile, the same year, Olympic swimmer Rebecca Adlington dislocated her shoulder when she lost control and hurtled off a 100 metre icy slope at 30mph, earlier this year.

Other victims of bad luck on the mountainside included Made In Chelsea's Mark-Francis Vandelli, Olympian Linford Christie; Sarah Harding; Joe Swash; actress Tina Hobley, and Heather Mills.

Reality star Mark-Francis, 26, suffered a fractured ankle during a live event, and was forced to withdraw from the show after heading to hospital.

Enough to make anyone shiver! Robbie waited at the top of a steep drop to test out his jump

He's flying across the slopes: The sportsman seemed triumphant as he soared through the air just moments before his fall

Dancing on ice: From skidding flat on his stomach to crashing face-first into the snow, the striker was all smiles

Limbs a kimbo: Robbie took a wince-inducing tumble head-first down a steep slope at one terrifying point
She was at the centre of one of the most high profile relationship breakdowns of 2016.

Now Cass Thorburn, 45, has found some closure after a New Year's break in Cancun, Mexico and has decided to forgive Karl Stefanovic, 42, along with the friends and family who sided with him in the split, according to a new report in Woman's Day.

The magazine claims that friends revealed 'she's finally happy again...Cass is ready to forgive and move on- for the sake of her mental health and for her kids.'

Moving on: Cass Thorburn, 45, has found some closure after a New Year's break in Cancun, Mexico and has decided to forgive Karl Stefanovic, 42, and move forward for the sake of the family

The former ABC journalist's marriage to Karl broke down after 21 years and came under the public microscope following reports he had left her in September last year.

'Last year was the worst year of Cass's life,' friends said, according the the publication.

'She was blindsided by Karl leaving.'

'The worst year of Cass's life': Friends told Woman's Day 'she was blindsided by Karl leaving'

After months as the centre of attention, the mother of three reportedly took her children Jackson, 17, Ava, 11 and River, 10, on a New Year's holiday to Mexico, joining journalist Mike Amor, his wife Tracy and their kids for a restorative, family-oriented break.

Friends, who said Cass isn't ready to date yet, reportedly told the magazine she was looking to escape a city associated with bad memories and rediscover how fun life can be without Karl.

'Leaving last year's mess behind her gave her some head space, and being with her friends was fun. She felt isolated in Sydney.'

Family friends: The mother of three reportedly took her children Jackson, 17, Ava, 11 and River, 10, on a New Year's holiday to Mexico, joining journalist Mike Amor, his wife Tracy and their family for a restorative, family-oriented break (pictured, the families together)

Finding fun: Friends, who said Cass isn't ready to date yet, told the magazine she was looking to rediscover how fun life can be without Karl

Deserted: 'Leaving last year's mess behind her gave her some head space, and being with her friends was fun. She felt isolated in Sydney'

The magazine claims the break and long walks on the beach with Tracy have helped her rediscover her sense of self.

Cass told Mum Central last year that she was grieving 'just like every other mother and wife who is going through a marriage break up, only I have the added anxiety of having the spotlight thrust in my face at a time when what myself and my children really need is privacy.'

'I don't want to be scared to go out, but there are days when I dread going to the supermarket.

Re-energized: The magazine claims the break and long walks on the beach with Tracy have helped her rediscover her sense of self
She's on a mission to drop ten pounds and has been staying at a health retreat in Portugal to help her along the way.

So it comes as little surprise that Vicky Pattison, 29, wanted to show off the results of her hard work with a rather sexy bikini snap on Instagram on Sunday.

Showing off her toned abs, she looked incredible in an orange bikini, pulling the briefs down a little in a seductive fashion.

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'A bit of graft and willpower': Vicky Pattison showed off her incredibly toned figure in a sexy orange bikini at health retreat in Portugal after vowing to lose 10lbs

Now her trip away is complete, Vicky captioned the image to let her followers know she is loving the changes to her body.

She wrote: 'Well I'm heading home... Happier and healthier and ready to smash the rest of January with the help of @minivnutrition and a bit of graft and will power...

'I thought I'd post this as my last #JuicyOasis pic... It's not quite me in the red bikini but it's closer than I was last week!!!

Cheeky: A couple of days ago, Vicky showed off her weight loss so far by stripping topless for her latest social media snap, covering her chest with her hand

'I'm hoping to keep up the hard work and achieve my goal by the end of Jan. #JanPlan #MiniV #MiniMe.'

The latest post comes a couple of days after Vicky showed off her weight loss by stripping topless for her latest social media snap, covering her chest with her hand.

The reality star flaunted her flat stomach in nothing but a pair of tracksuit bottoms as she took a sneaky mirror selfie.

Vicky captioned the image: 'Progress not perfection.... Not too bad for the second week of January!!

'Still a long way to go but definitely feeling positive! Almost see a little bit of muscle definition creeping in there as well!

'Day off today so I'm going to do a couple quick @minivnutrition workouts in the gym and see who I can convince to come for a hike!!!

The previous day, Vicky had posted a flashback snap of her pre-Christmas body - and there was very little difference

Red hot: The previous day, Vicky had posted a flashback snap of her pre-Christmas body - and there was very little difference - but this is the shot Vicky referred to in her latest post

Clad in a red string bikiki, the former Geordie Shore beauty boats a slimline figure and ab definition.

She shared '#FlashbackFriday.... Already feeling better about myself but this is definitely my goal for the end of the month... '

Vicky is determined that losing an extra 10lbs will help her make a great start to 2017, after telling her Instagram followers that she wanted her body back.

She started the year with an inspiration post in which she snapped her gorgeous curves in swimwear on Sunday while introducing her January body plan.

In shape: Posting a swimwear selfie, Vicky vowed to lose 10lb and cut back on alcohol this year, in a bid to get back in shape earlier this month

She wrote: 'Now Christmas and New Year is out the way I'm defos getting this body back!! Back to the gym tomorrow'

Vicky added: 'My #JanPlan is to tone up again, lose 10 pounds, cut back on alcohol and sugar and improve my fitness levels!!!'

Vicky came out of the I'm A Celeb jungle this time last year believing she was the only contestant to have gained weight.

But she said at the time she had become 'too skinny' when she released a fitness DVD, in the aftermath of her similar weight gain on Geordie Shore.

In shape: Vicky (here in August 2016) says she's hoping to get her body back in 2017, despite previously saying that she didn't like obsessing over her weight

'When I first started losing all my weight I became obsessive,' she told The Mirror Online.

She added: 'In the end it was unrealistic for someone my height. I ended up looking too skinny. My mum was worried. My face looked gaunt and I became obsessed.

Vicky continued: 'I looked good and I was fitting in size six clothes but I had no social life. I felt guilty if I had a Nandos or a night out with my mates. And thats not the right way to live.'

By her own admission, the former queen of the jungle enjoyed an indulgent Christmas with new boyfriend John Noble.

But the TV personality, 29, was perfectly proud of her businessman beau's chiselled upper body in an image she posted online last week.

Beside his black and white selfie, she boasted: 'My man I'm a lucky girl'.

My man: Vicky Pattison has posted a shirtless snap of hunky boyfriend John Noble across social media

Christmas hangover? Vicky Pattison shared a glam selfie of her pouting in a car with fans on Monday and joked that it had taken a lot of work to get her looking good, joking that she had looked like a 'bag of p**s' before make-up

It comes after she gave fans a glimpse into her intimate celebrations with John, who she has recently branded 'the only man I have ever loved'.

She shared a snap of the pair cosied up on the sofa wearing Harry Potter loungewear, writing: 'Best Christmas ever with my love wearing our POTTER themed pressies.'

It was the couple's first Christmas and Vicky got into the festive spirit on Christmas Eve as she posed next to her shirtless beau in a cheeky Instagram shot.

Fetsive fun for two: It comes after she gave fans a glimpse into her intimate celebrations with new beau John, as they wore matching Harry Potter loungewear

Festive fun! It was the reality star's first Christmas with John and they posed for a cheeky selfie on Christmas Eve

Meanwhile, her former Geordie Shore co-star Charlotte Crosby prepared to hit the town in a silky slip dress, as Fearne Cotton geared up for an altogether different kind of night in cute festive pyjamas.

Vicky showed things were getting serious with John with the cute snap, as the businessman.

Going make-up free, she pouted for the camera, while John rocked a makeshift Santa costume with a Father Christmas hat and a shaving foam beard.

The I'm A Celebrity winner captioned the shot: 'Merry Christmas Eve from Santa and his little helper...'

Looking good: Charlotte Crosby prepared for a festive night in a tiny lace-trim floral minidress in a sexy midnight black hue

Ready for her close up: Abbey Clancy changed into Agent Provocateur lingerie for her festive selfie

Body goals: Geordie Shore star Chloe Ferry showcased her lean figure in skintight leggings

Pucker up! The reality star later cosied up to a mini Father Christmas doll

Meanwhile, Charlotte Crosby prepared for a festive night in a tiny lace-trim floral minidress in a sexy midnight black hue.

Showcasing her enviably lean legs in the thigh-skimming number, lengthening them further with some barely there triple-strap heels.

Proving quite the contrast to Charlotte, Fearne Cotton prepared for a cost night in with her social media documentation.

The presenter revealed she was fully embracing the Christmas spirit with a pair of white leggings adorned with festive tree print.

'Xmas eve dinner with my man': Stacey Solomon donned silky dusky pink dress for a romantic dinner with boyfriend Joe Swash

In the pink: Charli XCX rocked a tartan miniskirt as she showed off her incredible fuchsia tree and matching presents

Sibling love: Scarlett Moffatt flashed a grin as she spent quality time with her little sister Ava-Grace Moffatt - who looked adorable in an elf outfit

Throwback! Holly Hagan shared a nostalgic shot with Vicky Pattison, Charlotte Crosby and Sophie Kasaei from their Geordie Shore days four years ago

Not feeling the festive spirit? Geordie Shore star Marnie Simpson made no reference to Christmas as she rocked some denim thigh high boots for a night out

'Christmas Eve walks with the bestie': Fearne enjoyed a stroll with her best friend and ex X Factor contestant Kye Sones - who she has known since they were 11

'Festive legs!' The presenter revealed she was fully embracing the Christmas spirit with a pair of white leggings adorned with festive tree print

Jake Hall, 26, snuggled up to his new girlfriend Misse Beqiri, 29, during an ice-skating session at the Natural History Museum in London.

The former TOWIE star shared a smooch with his model girlfriend under misteltoe decorations in one sweet snap.

The couple joined MIC's Rosie Fortescue in a cooking mission to help the homeless on Christmas Eve.

How's Santa meant to get down? Fearne Cotton shared an adorable snap of her one-year-old daughter Honey Krissy standing in front of the fireplace

Sweet: Pregnant Stephanie Davis, 23, prepared for the momentous occasion with an adorable Instagram collage that saw her recreate a sweet 2013 snap with her mother Pauline

'Last of the presents wrapped': And the Celebrity Big Brother star seemed to be fully embracing the Christmas spirit, as she spent the eve wrapping presents

Monochrome maven: Made In Chelsea star Nicola Hughes rocked an understated look as she posed next to her Christmas tree

'Christmas vibes': Jake Hall, 26, snuggled up to his new girlfriend Misse Beqiri, 29, during an ice-skating session at the Natural History Museum in London

'Giving back': The couple joined MIC's Rosie Fortescue in a cooking mission to help the homeless on Christmas Eve

Pregnant Stephanie Davis prepared to welcome her first child, a baby son into the world in January, with an adorable Instagram collage that saw her recreate a sweet 2013 snap with her mother Pauline.

The former Hollyoaks actress, 23, and her mum swapped festive red onesies for matching white pyjamas in the new version on Christmas Eve.

The brunette beauty beamed as she showcased her large baby bump, which her mum placed an affectionate hand over.

Kiss under the mistletoe: The former TOWIE star shared a smooch with his model girlfriend

Sweet treat: The TV presenter posed with a white chocolate snack after 'stuffing her face'

Night on the tiles: Pixie Lott seemed to be having a whale of a time as she cradled a giant bottle of vodka

Thoughtful guy! Rochelle Humes revealed her husband Marvin surprised her with a 40kg wheel of cheese - the only thing that was on her Christmas wish list

'These humans are everything to me!' Vicky Pattison went for a raucous Christmas Eve meal with a big group of pals

Stephanie captioned the shot: 'Me and mum in 2013... till now me mum and bump Still every year in our matching pjs for Christmas Eve.'

Professing her love for all things festive, she added: 'Feel so Christmassy! Next year me and my little boy will wear matching ones hehe.

'Everyone who knows me knows how much I love love LOVE Christmas! I'm so giddy, been playing Christmas songs since September ha. Love my family so so much. Blessed xxxxx'

Loving life in London: Lily Collins indulged in some last-minute shopping in Regent Street

Look to the skies: The 27-year-old actress later shared a dreamy snap at the iconic Winter Wonderland in London's Hyde Park

Happy times: Phillip Schofield rocked an optimistic festive jumper as he posed in front of his tree

Pointing them out as she walked down her tinsel decorated stairs, the mother-of-two wrote in the snap: 'Festive legs. Merry Christmas Eve you lovely lot'.

Proving it was a family affair, Fearne also shared a photo of her one-year-old daughter Honey Krissy in sweet festive trousers standing in front of the fireplace.

She captioned it: 'Wondering how Santa is gonna get down that chimney with the fire burner in the way?'

Meanwhile Victoria Beckham turned Christmas Eve into a night of doodling fun with her children.

Pouty selfie: Ellie Goulding opted for a sultry snap for her Christmas Eve offering

Athletic gal: Ashley James eschewed the ordinary celebrations to work on her body as part of her London marathon training

Family affair: MIC star Tiffany Watson enjoyed a trip to the carol service with her dad

She proudly showed off her five-year-old daughter Harper's festive ahead of the big day with a shot, which she captioned: 'Harper is so excited!!!! Kisses on Christmas Eve!!! @davidbeckham @brooklynbeckham @cruzbeckham X VB'.

Tiffany Watson, of Made In Chelsea fame, stuck to a traditional celebration - opting to sing carols with her dad.

Posing with her entrepreneur father Clive in a sweet Instagram snap, she wrote underneath: 'Happy Christmas Eve from Papa Watson and I. Off to sing our hearts out at the carol service'.

Deck the halls! Singer Zendaya shared a snap decorating her epic Christmas tree with yards and yards of fairy lights

Let the presenter see the tan! Paddy McGuinness showed off his sculpted physique in a shirtless selfie

Cute central: Billie Faiers shared a sweet shot of her daughter Nelly

Walkies! Mark Wright enjoyed a stroll with three dog companions

Exciting times! Jools Oliver's brood seemed overjoyed as they inspected their presents ahead of the big day
She was left hospitalised with concussion after a nasty fall on the set of Quantico.

But Priyanka Chopra took a moment to reassure fans she was going to be Ok on sunday.

Taking to Twitter the 34-year-old wrote: 'Thank you for all of your warm thoughts and well wishes.

'I will be ok!' Priyanka Chopra updates fans after dangerous fall while filming Quantico stunt left her hospitalised with concussion

Update: The Indian actress took a tumble while performing a stunt for her hit FBI TV series Quantico on Thursday night

'I will be ok, and am looking forward to getting back to work as soon as I can.'

The Indian actress took a tumble while performing a stunt for her hit FBI TV series Quantico on Thursday night.

Her rep told TMZ: 'Yes, we can confirm there was a minor accident ... and [she] will return to work after the weekend.'

She is now resting at home.

The Baywatch star was not present during a Friday press appearance for her small-screen drama.

Tough job: The actress often performs difficult stunts. Here she is seen in October in NYC while shooting the top rated show

A source told the site that she was taken to the ER after she slipped while shooting a stunt and fell so hard on the floor that her head hurt.

It was added that she was 'examined, treated and discharged a few hours later.'

She was last seen looking in great health as she wore a plunging gold lace dress at Sunday's Golden Globe awards in Beverly Hills.

The star has already finished shooting Seth Gordon's action comedy Baywatch, in which she will play the main antagonist opposite Dwayne Johnson and Zac Efron. The film is due out May 26.

Chopra has become an overnight hit in Hollywood after working steadily in her native India.

Confirmed: Her rep told TMZ: 'Yes, we can confirm there was a minor accident ... and [she] will return to work after the weekend'

In 2000 she was the winner of the Miss World pageant.

She made her Bollywood debut in 2003's The Hero then starred in the critically acclaimed 2004 thriller Aitraaz.

Starring roles in the successful productions Mujhse Shaadi Karogi (2004), Krrish (2006) and Don (2006) established her as a leading actress of Indian cinema.

In 2008, she won the National Film Award for Best Actress for playing a troubled model in the drama Fashion.

In 2015, she began starring as Alex Parrish on Quantico. She is the first South Asian woman to headline an American network series.
Top-ranked Kerber admits pressure on in Grand Slam defence

Angelique Kerber admitted being world number one has piled on the pressure and said she is trying to shut out the noise as she attempts to defend a Grand Slam title for the first time at the Australian Open.

The German left-hander stunned Serena Williams in the Melbourne final last year and ultimately ended her 186-week stay on top of the rankings during a memorable season.

With a US Open title also to her name, Kerber, who lives in Poland, said her life had changed over the past 12 months, with more off-court obligations, less time for herself and the added burden of expectation.

Angelique Kerber of Germany practices ahead of the 2017 Australian Open, in Melbourne, on January 15 PAUL CROCK (AFP)

"I have much more things to do. That's changed," she said on Sunday.

"But I'm still trying to enjoying it. This is the part of being one of the best players. That was always the goal, so I'm trying to living it now."

"It's a new challenge for me, that's for sure," she added.

"But at the end, I'm still the same. I'm still doing the same things. I'm not thinking too much that I'm top-seeded now. When I'm thinking like this, the pressure is much higher."

Kerber opens her title defence with a first-round clash against Ukraine's Lesia Tsurenko on Rod Laver Arena on Monday, and faces the prospect of a potential quarter-final with French Open winner Garbine Muguruza.

It is feasible Kerber could lose her number one ranking to Williams in Melbourne, and she is taking nothing for granted.

- Turning point -

Last year she was match point down in the first round against Japan's Misaki Doi, and admitted coming through that scare proved to be a significant moment in her career.

"I think, yeah, it was the important point for my career. You never know if I lost the match what might happen," she said, adding that it had taught her she must be on top of her game right from the start.

"I have to be ready from the first round again. I will try to not put too much expectation and pressure on myself. I will try to do it like last year. That was the way I had my success. I will try to continue that this year again."

Kerber has not had a good start to 2017, falling to Ukraine's Elina Svitolina in the Brisbane International quarter-finals, then slumping out in round two of the Sydney International to Russian teenager Darya Kasatkina.

She struggled to find her rhythm and her usually strong forehand was often astray, but the 28-year-old has been working hard on the Melbourne Park practice courts and she is quietly confident.

"I think every tournament starts from zero," she said.

"I'm feeling good. I was practising good in the last few days here. Also my pre-season was very tough. So I hope that I can make the transition on the match courts here.

"For me, I'm expecting the same as I was expecting the years before -- going out there trying my best, fighting till the last point. This is always how I'm playing, how I am. This will not be changing."

German left-hander Angelique Kerber (R) stunned Serena Williams in the 2016 Melbourne final and ultimately ended Serena's 186-week stay on top of the rankings during a memorable season Saeed Khan (AFP/File)
Robot arms replace factory hands

Donald Trump has been crowing as companies including Ford renounce plans to move factories to Mexico. But the main beneficiaries of this shift back to the US aren't saying much by way of celebration -- industrial robots don't tend to speak.

While globalisation's detractors blame countries such as China and Mexico for stealing the factory jobs of the West, experts point to less obvious culprits which are harder to scapegoat and to overcome in an interconnected economy with complex supply chains.

Since US manufacturing employment peaked in the late 1970s, according to Michael Hicks of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana, "95 percent of job losses were due to productivity improvements including automation and computer technology, rather than trade".

Automation has transformed the productivity of manufacturing since industrial robots first started painting, cutting, welding and assembling in the 1960s OLI SCARFF (AFP/File)

Indiana is one of the rust-belt states where Trump triumphed in November, and the president-elect has promised a punitive border tax against outsourcing companies as he bids to become "the greatest jobs producer that God ever created".

But while the US economy is pumping out manufactured goods in record volumes, it is achieving that feat with 7.3 million fewer factory hands than in 1979, government figures show.

Automation has transformed the productivity of manufacturing since industrial robots first started painting, cutting, welding and assembling in the 1960s.

And experts point to more recent innovations such as artificial intelligence, management apps and 3D printing as new threats to shop-floor workers as well as to white-collar staff.

- 'Political theatre' -

Hicks -- who has known former Indiana governor Mike Pence, Trump's incoming vice president, for years -- dismissed recent announcements by Ford, Indiana air-conditioning brand Carrier and others as "political theatre".

"The apparent change of heart of these American companies is due to the hard math of expected tax cuts and regulatory changes (under the Trump administration)," he told AFP in a phone interview, noting that under company projections, robots rather than wages will account for the bulk of planned investment that is being redirected from Mexico to the US.

Vows to renegotiate trade pacts, or declare China a currency cheat, played well for Trump on the campaign trail but trends such as automation have already rendered much low-skilled US labour obsolete.

The total output of US manufacturing rose more than 250 percent from 1980 to 2015, but its workforce slumped by roughly 40 percent in that time, according to analysis by the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"These diverging lines -- which reflect the sector's improved productivity -- highlight a huge problem with Trump's promises to help workers by reshoring millions of manufacturing jobs," Brookings expert Mark Muro wrote in a blog post.

"America is already producing a lot. And in any event, the return of more manufacturing won't bring back many jobs because the labour is increasingly being done by robots."

Annual data from the International Federation of Robotics show an inexorable rise in the worldwide use of industrial robots. China is now the biggest market for them.

- 'Trade doesn't kill jobs' -

Even if jobs did return, Western consumers are likely to balk at paying the higher prices that companies would have to charge to reflect the higher input prices -- everything from wages to property leases and electricity tariffs -- of making those goods at home.

Take television manufacturing. Had that stayed in America, experts say, each set would cost hundreds of dollars more than they do now on average, limiting their affordability. Households would have stuck with one TV in the living room, instead of several dotted around the home.

"Trade doesn't kill jobs, it protects consumption," Hicks said, while also stressing that globalisation had created millions more jobs in Western nations' services and logistics sectors than it has destroyed in industry.

So if those manufacturing jobs are gone forever -- and new developments such as machine learning and nanotechnology portend a "Fourth Industrial Revolution" -- what can be done to assure the future of workers in the developed world?

Some ideas are in their policy infancy, such as a universal basic income, but others are well-known and perhaps more pressing than ever, including better education and re-training.

Such discussions will inform the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, coming up in the same week that sees Trump inaugurated as the 45th US president on January 20.

"We are at some kind of turning point in history," WEF founder Klaus Schwab said. "We need new concepts. We cannot have just populist solutions."

Experts point to more recent innovations like 3D printing as new threats to shop-floor workers as well as to white-collar staff John Biers (AFP/File)
President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered the military to 'blast' Islamist militants who have been on a kidnap-for-ransom spree in the Philippines, even if hostages would also be killed.

He said: 'They say "What about the hostage?" Sorry, collateral damage. Then if they are blasted everyday, that (kidnappings) would stop...So better not get yourselves kidnapped.'

The Abu Sayyaf, a loose network of Muslim militants formed in the 1990s with seed money from al-Qaeda, preys on the waters of the southern Philippines and has earned millions of dollars from kidnappings-for-ransom.

It beheaded two Canadian hostages last year after demands for millions of dollars were not met.

Rodrigo Duterte won elections in May 2016 on a pledge to wipe out illegal drugs, promising to stop Philippines becoming a 'narco state'

Duterte has also threatened to impose martial rule on the Philippines in an attempt to win his brutal war on drug dealers.

The 71-year-old said of the country's drugs problem: 'If I wanted to, and it deteriorates into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law if I wanted to. No one will be able to stop me.'

Duterte won elections in May last year on a pledge to wipe out illegal drugs, promising an unprecedented crackdown to stop the Philippines from becoming a 'narco-state'.

The crackdown has left at least 5,700 people dead in just over six months, raising concerns of a breakdown in the rule of law with security forces and vigilantes carrying out extrajudicial killings. There are even fears innocent people have been killed by their enemies, masked by the violence of the drugs war.

Manila's longtime ally, the United States, has led international criticism of the killings, with outgoing President Barack Obama urging Duterte to prosecute his war 'the right way'.

But Duterte, a former state prosecutor and Mayor of Davao, said the aim of his campaign was 'to preserve the Filipino people and the youth of this land'.

He has reacted furiously to the criticism and vowed to continue his war until illegal drugs are eradicated.

Duterte has raised the prospect of imposing martial law previously.

But his comments at the weekend were the most direct threat.

Martial rule would allow Duterte to use the military to enforce civilian law and detain people at length without charging them.

The Philippines last endured martial law during the 20-year rule of dictator Ferdinand Marcos, who was accused of plundering billions of dollars from state coffers and overseeing widespread human rights abuses.

The anti-drugs crackdown has left at least 5,700 people dead in just over six months, with vigilantes suspected of joining in the killing of drug dealers

Marcos declared martial law in 1972, invoking the threats of crime and a communist insurgency, and only lifted it in 1981.

He was finally ousted in 1986, when millions took to the streets in a 'People Power' revolt.

A new constitution drawn up in 1987 in an effort to avoid another dictatorship specified no president could rule more than a single six-year term.

It also said the president could impose martial rule for a maximum of 60 days and only to stop an invasion or a rebellion.

Parliament can revoke the measure within 48 hours while the Supreme Court can review its legality.

But Duterte, speaking to local businessmen in his home town of Davao in the south of the Philippines, warned he could ignore the 60-day limit.
Bahrain executions spark violent protests

Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers.

The three Shiites faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor's office said.

Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has a majority Shiite population which has long complained of marginalisation.

Bahraini authorities have intensified their crackdown on opposition despite repeated appeals by international rights groups MOHAMMED AL-SHAIKH (AFP/File)

It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since March 2011 when security forces brutally crushed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising.

The executions triggered protests in Shiite villages.

Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.

Pictures shared online by activists showed relatives of those executed weeping.

Bahrain authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out following rumours they were going to be put to death.

The death sentences are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve.

"It is nothing short of an outrage -- and a disgraceful breach of international law -- that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said.

Reprieve said the executions went ahead "despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture".

The European Union also condemned the sentences.

"This case is a serious drawback given that Bahrain had suspended executions for... (several) years, and concerns have been expressed about possible violations of the right to a fair process for the three convicted," an EU statement said.

- 'Black day' -

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: "This is a black day in Bahrain's history."

Scores of men and women took to the streets on Saturday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

"No, no to execution," the protesters chanted.

Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

Authorities have said that the trio and fellow defendants belonged to the same clandestine group which has claimed several bomb attacks in Bahrain.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.

The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Abbas al-Samea, 27.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help put down a month of Shiite-led protests.

Bahrain is a strategic ally of the United States and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday criticised the Bahraini authorities for what it called an "inconsiderate action".

Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, backed by Iran, slammed the executions of the "innocent" men as a "crime committed by the regime against the Bahraini people".

"It is clear that this execution will destroy every chance for a political exit out of Bahrain's crisis, and leads the country into an unknown future, threatening stability in Bahrain and the whole region," it said.

Brian Dooley, director of Human Rights Defenders at the Washington-based Human Rights First, urged the United States to use its influence.

"Washington should warn its Gulf ally that this would be a reckless, frightening level of repression to pursue, likely to spark rage and further violence in an already volatile region," he said on Saturday.

And Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Manama had been made "fully aware" of his country's opposition to the death penalty.

Since the 2011 uprising, Bahrain has arrested and put on trial hundreds of Shiites and cracked down hard on the opposition, despite repeated appeals by international rights groups.
US 'hostility' grows despite nuclear deal: Iranian official

US "hostility" to Iran is growing day by day despite Tehran's nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official said Sunday, ahead of the first anniversary of the historic accord.

"The United States has done whatever it can to slow down Iran's progress" after the deal, said Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the chief Iranian negotiator in the agreement that took effect on January 16 last year.

"In the last 12 months, we have witnessed delays and the disrespecting of promises by the US and some countries. Their hostility increases by the day," Araghchi told reporters.

An agreement between Tehran and six world powers saw a range of international sanctions lifted in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programme Atta Kenare (AFP/File)

The agreement between Tehran and six world powers saw a range of international sanctions lifted in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran has seen a rise in oil exports and increased investment in manufacturing since it came into force.

But Iranian officials have accused Washington of failing to abide by the deal, including with a raft of other sanctions related to non-nuclear issues that have helped deter major Western banks from returning to Iran.

US President-elect Donald Trump vowed during last year's campaign to tear up the agreement, considered a key victory for President Barack Obama.

Araghchi said it made little difference who was in the White House as international law required Washington to implement the deal.

"Whether its Obama or Trump, the US president is committed to cancelling laws that are against it," Araghchi said, adding that there would be no further discussions with US officials.
Congolese M23 rebels cross over from Uganda, 'clash with army'

Armed Congolese rebels crossed back overnight into the country from their longtime refuge in Uganda, prompting fears that a guerilla conflict put to rest in 2013 could be rekindled.

At least 200 former members of M23, an ethnic Tutsi group defeated by the Congolese army three years ago, arrived from Uganda and took over a village in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP.

Mende said the Congolese army was fighting two battalions installed in Ishasha village "who were supposed to be in Uganda under the responsibility of that country's authorities".

Members of the M23 rebel group waiting at a Ugandan army air base to be flown to the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2014 ISAAC KASAMANI (AFP/File)

"How could our Ugandan neighbours, with whom we are bound by very serious commitments, allow people who had been living in refugee camps to cross over -- armed -- into our territory?" he added.

Kinshasa said a former army general, Sultani Makenga, was leading one of the battalions.

No military spokesperson was available to confirm the clashes with M23. Omar Kavota, director of the Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said Sunday that sources in Ishasha had confirmed the M23 presence there but said "there hasn't been fighting or clashes yet".

- An 'old trick' -

Congo's resource-rich eastern provinces have suffered years of brutal conflict, with neighbouring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa's authority, and roaming armed militia triggering the mass flight of terrorised civilians.

After its November 2013 defeat at the hands of Congolese and UN forces, M23 agreed to a plan to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate its soldiers into DRC civilian life.

But the return of the former rebels has stalled, with fewer than 200 of the 1,900 sheltering in Uganda and only 13 out of hundreds left in Rwanda coming back.

During the civil war Congolese authorities denounced Rwanda and Uganda for allowing the rebel groups to use their territory as staging grounds for attacks. More recently, they have blamed the states for "bad faith" for allowing "criminals to circulate freely" instead of extraditing them to stand trial in DR Congo.

Uganda Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem, reached by AFP in Kampala, strongly denied backing the M23 move across the border.

"The fact that Uganda would arm or authorise M23 rebels to be based here (in Uganda) and destabilise the DRC is the fruit of their imagination. Why would Uganda arm the M23?" he said.

Kinshasa's central government would do well to "focus on the problems of governing its own country", the minister added.

Congo is in political limbo, as President Joseph Kabila has refused to step down after his second and final mandate ended in December.

A New Year's Eve deal calls for the appointment of a new prime minister and a transitional body to pave the way to elections in December 2017 -- but not all opposition groups have signed on.

A member of the country's political opposition coalition suggested the return of the M23 could be Kabila up to his "old tricks", fomenting unrest to detract from the political crisis in Kinshasa.

"Every time President Kabila loses ground on the political front, he reactivates armed groups with the goal of taking us back to the old situation" of instability, the opposition member told AFP, requesting anonymity.

The remains of a tank that had belonged to M23 rebel soldiers, seen in October 2013, a day after Congolese army troops captured the last rebel stronghold Junior D. Kannah (AFP)
Netanyahu slams 'futile' Paris peace conference

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed as "futile" an international conference in Paris seeking to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"The conference convening today in Paris is a futile conference," he told ministers at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians with the aim of imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs," he said.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends the weekly cabinet meeting at his office in Jerusalem on January 15, 2017 RONEN ZVULUN (POOL/AFP)

Netanyahu's government has bitterly opposed the conference, saying only direct talks with the Palestinians can end the long-running conflict.

The Palestinians have welcomed the multilateral approach, saying years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation of the West Bank.

The conference is being held without either the Israelis or the Palestinians, but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet French President Francois Hollande in the coming weeks to be briefed on the outcome, French diplomats said.

Netanyahu declined a similar invitation, they said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault formally opened the assembly of foreign ministers and representatives from around 70 countries and international organisations.

"We are here to reiterate strongly that the two-state solution is the only one possible," Ayrault said.

The conference comes just five days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel.

Israel fears measures discussed at the conference could be taken to the UN Security Council before Trump takes office.

In a break with previous administrations, Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Abbas warned Saturday that such a move could "bury the hopes for a two-state solution".

The city's status is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict, which is why foreign embassies are currently based in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

Hard-line Israeli lawmakers, including some from Netanyahu's Likud party, have said Trump's win represents an opportunity to quash the chance of Palestinians obtaining an independent state.

Netanyahu, who says he still supports a two-state solution, appeared in his comments on Sunday to be looking forward to the impending change in the White House.
India can win from any situation: Kohli

Virat Kohli said India have the self-belief to win from any situation after they chased down a daunting 351 target against England in his first match since taking over the one-day side captaincy full-time.

India appeared to be heading for a heavy defeat in Pune on Sunday night after being reduced to 63 for four before Kohli and the unheralded Kedar Jadhav struck blistering centuries in a 200-run fifth-wicket partnership.

The pair's dismissals in quick succession put the outcome into doubt again but before all-rounder Hardik Pandya held his nerve and smacked an unbeaten 40 to take India home with 11 balls to spare.

India's captain Virat Kohli celebrates after winning their first ODI match against England, at The MCA International Cricket Stadium in Pune, on January 15, 2017 PUNIT PARANJPE (AFP)

"Even in the Test series we believed that we could come back from any situation and win the game," Kohli, who led India to a 4-0 Test demolition of England last month, told reporters after the match.

"This was another case of the same thing. All 11 guys buying into the idea and believing that we can win from any situation," said Kohli.

The Eoin Morgan-led England team hit India hard with early strikes as the veteran Yuvraj Singh and Kohli's predecessor Mahendra Singh Dhoni both fell cheaply.

But Kohli and local boy Jadhav, who recorded his second ODI century in just his 13th game, enabled India to take a 1-0 lead in the three-match ODI series. The next match is in Cuttack on Thursday.

"The sooner you learn (from a particular situation), I think the team benefits from it and you become a stronger unit," said Kohli who is widely recognised as the best chaser in the game.

Calling Jadhav's knock as "outstanding", Kohli praised his team-mate for crafting his innings to perfection in front of a raucous home crowd, saying that some of his shots were barely believable.

England posted their highest ODI score against India after being put into bat and then had the hosts in early trouble and Kohli said the best way to some out of the situation had been to "counter-attack".

Kohli, who is now captain across all three international formats, has said he wants to use the England series as a chance to prepare for the next World Cup in 2019.

But he is also determined to defend India's title in the Champions Trophy which is being held in England in June.

"We were under pressure but the way we came out I think it just builds our confidence going into the next game," said Kohli.

England batsman Ben Stokes plays a shot during the first one-day international cricket match between India and England at The MCA International Cricket Stadium in Pune on January 15, 2017 PUNIT PARANJPE (AFP)
Hundreds attend last Rwandan king's funeral

Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of Rwanda's last king, Kigeli V, in the country's former royal capital Nyanza on Sunday.

Kigeli was buried in his homeland after his body was repatriated from Washington on Monday. He had been living in exile in the United States since 1992.

Kigeli actually died in October at the age of 80 but his funeral was delayed by a court battle between his relatives, arguing over where he should be buried -- in the US or his place of birth.

A priest gestures by the coffin of late King Kigeli V Ndahindurwa as relatives and friends attend the funeral service on January 15, 2017 in Nyanza Stephanie Aglietti (AFP)

The religious ceremony took place outdoors in the grounds of the old King's Palace, now a modest museum, in Nyanza, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital Kigali, a local journalist told AFP.

The Rwandan king's crown was placed on Kigeli's grey coffin while his family wore traditional "umushanana" dress.

Dozens of local residents joined Kigeli's family and Rwanda's culture minister Julienne Uwacu to pay their respects.

"He was a man who fought for Rwanda's independence," said 69-year-old farmer Anastaze Musonera.

"Even in exile, he was a friend of Rwanda. He didn't criticise, he didn't tarnish Rwanda's image."

Jean de Dieu Tuyinsize said he had learnt about Kigeli at school.

"We're happy he's come home to be buried here in Rwanda," said the 27-year-old builder.

The former monarch was buried on a hill near the tomb of his half-brother and predecessor Mutara III, who died in 1959.

The monarchy was abolished in 1961, two years after Kigeli, born Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa, ascended to the throne.

But by then he had already left the country after clashing with colonial power Belgium in 1960, having approached the United Nations for help in obtaining independence.

He was exiled first to east Africa before eventually settling in the US.

Kigeli had tried to come back to his homeland while still alive but failed to reach agreement with the country's government.
DR Congo opposition figure heads home after crisis deal

A DR Congo opposition leader accused of "high treason" returned to Kinshasa on Sunday two weeks after a key deal to end a political crisis in the vast African country.

Roger Lumbala, head of the small opposition Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N), was one of a few accused figures whose freedom or return from exile was agreed as part of the New Year's Eve deal.

Lumbala, who allegedly backed the M23 rebellion in the country's east, arrived back in the DR Congo capital on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight, according to AFP journalists at the airport.

Roger Lumbala, pictured in 2013, has returned to Kinshasa ISAAC KASAMANI (AFP/File)

After mounting a failed presidential bid in 2006 elections, Lumbala had his lawmaker's mandate invalidated in January 2013 for repeated absence, as he was reported to have spent much time in Uganda and Rwanda.

Democratic Republic of Congo authorities accused him of "high treason" and complicity with M23 rebels, who were defeated in November 2013 after an offensive by government and UN forces.

As part of negotiations which led to the December 31 deal, a coalition centred on veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi demanded the release from prison or amnesty from prosecution for seven "symbolic" opposition figures.

All sides agreed to the "immediate" release from prison or return from exile of four of the seven, among them Lumbala, who thus became the first to benefit from legal action being abandoned.

On Friday, DR Congo's Roman Catholic church leaders, who mediated last month's deal, voiced concern at the "delay" in freeing political prisoners whose release had been agreed.

The New Year's Eve deal called for the appointments of a new prime minister and a transitional body to pave the way to elections in December 2017 that could bring an end to the rule of President Joseph Kabila.
Spain's Felipe meets Saudi king as warship sale mooted

Spain's King Felipe VI met Sunday with Saudi King Salman, official media said, during a visit coinciding with talks to sell Spanish warships.

Felipe, 48, was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by Salman, 81, who decorated him with the cordon of King Abdul Aziz, the highest Saudi honour for a foreigner, the Saudi Press Agency said.

Later they discussed relations between the two nations and how to further develop them "in various fields", it said.

Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz (R) meets with Spanish King Felipe VI in Riyadh on January 15, 2017 BANDAR AL-JALOUD (Saudi Royal Palace/AFP)

They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East, before Felipe held separate talks with Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan and Minister of Commerce and Investment Majed al-Qasabi.

The Spanish king arrived late Saturday in Riyadh for a three-day stay.

Madrid's foreign ministry said its minister Alfonso Dastis, and Public Works Minister Inigo de la Serna, would accompany Felipe during the visit.

Spanish media have linked this trip to a much-anticipated deal to sell Avante 2200 frigates for an estimated two billion euros ($2.1 billion).

"We can only confirm that negotiations are very advanced to build five warships which would be sold to the Saudi navy," a spokesman for state-owned Spanish ship builder Navantia told AFP.

Spain is the seventh largest arms exporter in the world, and Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of military gear.

A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes over Yemen almost two years ago after Huthi rebels and their allies, troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, overran much of Yemen.

Riyadh feared the Huthis would seize all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Shiite Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

But the air campaign has faced repeated criticism from rights groups over civilian casualties.

This year's budget allocates 191 billion riyals ($51 billion) for military spending including equipment and weaponry, down from 205 billion riyals spent in 2016.

A separate budget allocation of 97 billion riyals is to pay for new naval bases for the Border Guards, and other security projects.

Rights groups have said any Spanish sale of warships to Saudi Arabia would be illegal under international law.

Felipe's father, Juan Carlos, who reigned from 1975 to 2014, has close ties to the Saudi royal family.

A Spanish consortium, Al-Shoula, is building a high-speed railway across the desert to link the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The project is behind schedule and is now set to open in 2018.
Baku, Azerbaijan, Jan. 15

By Khalid Kazimov  Trend:

Iranian President Hassan Rouhani has said that the Islamic Republic welcomes expansion of bilateral ties with Albania.

While speaking at a meeting with Albanian Foreign Minister Ditmir Bushati, who is on a visit to Iran, the Iranian president said expansion of ties would be in the favor of both countries, IRNA news agency reported.

Saying that the removal of sanctions against Tehran has paved the way for widening ties between the two countries particularly in economic and trade spheres, he called for involving the private sector in economic cooperation.

President Rouhani further touched upon terrorism issue and called for fighting against violence and extremism.

Earlier on Jan. 14 Bushati and his Iranian counterpart, Mohammad Javad Zarif, signed a memorandum of understanding to hold regular political talks.
Outgoing CIA chief warns Trump to watch his words

Outgoing CIA chief John Brennan launched a scathing attack on Donald Trump, warning him to watch what he says and suggesting the president-elect doesn't understand the challenges posed by Russia.

Brennan's stern words -- which sparked a quick Twitter retort from Trump -- were the latest salvo in the ongoing feud between the incoming Republican leader and US intelligence agencies, who have concluded Moscow meddled in the November election.

The 70-year-old Trump, who takes office on Friday, has nevertheless been effusive in his praise of Vladimir Putin, saying that if the Russian leader "likes" him, it would be an "asset" to help repair strained ties with Moscow.

CIA Director John Brennan warns that incoming-president Donald Trump be more disciplined in what he say publically ZACH GIBSON (AFP/File)

The Senate Intelligence committee meanwhile has launched a bipartisan probe into Moscow's alleged interference in US politics -- which could force officials in both Barack Obama's administration and Trump's government to testify.

"I don't think he has a full appreciation of Russian capabilities, Russia's intentions and actions," Brennan said of Trump on Fox News on Sunday.

"I think Mr Trump has to be very disciplined in terms of what it is that he says publicly," he added.

"He is going to be, in a few days' time, the most powerful person in the world, in terms of sitting on top of the United States government and I think he has to recognize that his words do have impact," the CIA chief said.

"He's going to have the opportunity to do something for national security as opposed to talking and tweeting," he added.

"Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests."

- 'Distraction' -

US intelligence agencies allege that Putin ordered a covert effort to interfere in the election to boost Trump and harm his opponent, Democrat Hillary Clinton.

A report from the Director of National Intelligence released this month said hackers working for Russia penetrated Democratic Party computers and accounts to release files embarrassing to Clinton, and also conducted a campaign of media manipulation with the same aim.

Trump's feud with intelligence agencies has been stoked by the leak of an unsubstantiated report that Russia had gathered compromising personal and financial material on the president-elect, and alleged close links between Trump and Kremlin aides during the campaign.

Hours after Brennan's rebuke, Trump slapped back at intelligence leaders on Twitter, echoing the words of Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward, who called the alleged Russia "kompromat" dossier "garbage."

And later, he sent another tweet, this time slamming Brennan for suggesting that Trump did not fully understand Russia -- and even seeming to hint that the CIA chief himself might have leaked the Russia dossier.

"Oh really, couldn't do much worse - just look at Syria (red line), Crimea, Ukraine and the build-up of Russian nukes. Not good! Was this the leaker of Fake News?"

Incoming Vice President Mike Pence on Sunday dismissed notions that the Trump team and the Kremlin had made contact during the 2016 race.

"This is all a distraction," he said on NBC's "Meet the Press."

"It's all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election and to question the legitimacy of his presidency."

- 'Salacious allegations' -

The unsubstantiated dossier about Trump, Russia and possible compromising material -- compiled by a former British MI6 intelligence agent doing opposition research for Trump's campaign opponents -- also said Moscow had incriminating video of the president-elect.

The fact that intelligence agencies had offered Trump a synopsis of the dossier -- which was later published in full online by BuzzFeed -- lent the allegations credence.

But Brennan said the intelligence community was only "making sure that the president-elect was aware that it was circulating."

"I think there are some very salacious allegations in there -- again, unsubstantiated," he said, adding it was "a responsibility in the minds of the intelligence directors" to inform Trump as well as the Obama White House of the report.

Brennan bristled at Trump's likening of the US intelligence community to Nazi Germany, calling it "outrageous."

"I do take great umbrage at that," the outgoing spy chief said.

Pence blamed the scandal on "media bias," in an interview with CBS.

Incoming Vice President Mike Pence dismissed notions that the Trump team and the Kremlin had made contact during the 2016 race DON EMMERT (AFP/File)

US President-elect Donald Trump during a press conference at Trump Tower in New York on January 11, 2017 TIMOTHY A. CLARY (AFP/File)
In Iraq's Mosul, university a casualty of anti-IS war

Some buildings at the University of Mosul are charred by fires, others rigged with explosives, and bullets still periodically fly past a campus scarred by the battle for the city.

The sound of a jet, the whoosh of a descending missile and the explosion as it hits home mark an air strike nearby that sends a stream of black smoke rising toward the grey clouds blanketing the sky over Mosul.

The university -- like others located in or near cities that were seized by the Islamic State group in 2014 -- has become a casualty of the war to push the jihadists back.

A member of the Iraqi special forces' Counter-Terrorism Service stands guard next to a damaged building at Mosul's university on January 15, 2017 Dimitar DILKOFF (AFP)

Iraq's elite Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) has retaken the university from IS, officers said, but the danger posed by the jihadists here is far from over.

There are "booby-trapped buildings in addition to chemical materials inside the university," Captain Saif Ali told AFP on the eastern side of the campus.

The chemicals may have been part of IS's rudimentary chemical weapons programme, which it has used to attack Iraqi forces, but which ultimately poses far less danger than the jihadists' bombs or bullets.

"We took control of chemical stores or laboratories that they worked in," Staff Major General Sami al-Aridhi, a CTS commander, said in Mosul.

Around nine barrels of "chemical mixtures" were found at the university, Aridhi said, adding that military engineers had been dispatched to the campus.

IS also used the University of Mosul "as a command centre," said Brigadier General Ali Aboud, another CTS commander.

Aridhi said that "wireless stations" in a command and control centre were still working when CTS forces arrived.

- Burned buildings, blood stains -

CTS forces attacked the university from two sides and were able to reach their main objective in five to six hours of fighting, Aridhi said.

IS deployed car bombs against them, but they were destroyed, he said.

Some campus buildings seem to have escaped relatively intact, but others are heavily damaged, with streaks of soot over the windows marring the tan exteriors of those that were set on fire.

The rusty tail of what appears to be an aerial bomb is lodged in the rubble inside a burned building with a sign at its entrance that reads: "Mosul Technical College."

Drops of blood make a trail on the stairs inside another building, while long, red-brown streaks show where a body was likely dragged down a hallway.

"Engineers Under Construction," a sign in the building says in English, fallen ceiling tiles scattered on the floor nearby.

On the eastern edge of the university, black-clad CTS members huddle around small wood fires to keep warm, one smoking a water pipe.

The fighting was "from building to building," said Haider, a CTS member who took part in the assault.

With the recapture of the University of Mosul, the battle for the eastern side of the city -- which is split by the Tigris River -- moves a step closer to its conclusion.

A top CTS commander estimated on Saturday that could take around 10 days.

But nearly three months after the operation to retake the city began, the fight for the smaller but more densely populated west Mosul is still ahead.

An elderly Iraqi man carries bags of bread on a street near Mosul's university on January 15, 2017 Dimitar DILKOFF (AFP)
Swiss police detain Tibet protesters as Xi arrives

Swiss police on Sunday detained 32 people protesting conditions in Tibet as Chinese President Xi Jinping began a state visit in the wealthy Alpine nation.

A statement from police in the capital Bern said one protester had doused himself in flammable liquid but was stopped by security forces from setting himself alight before being taken into custody.

Xi is in Switzerland for two days of bilateral talks before heading to Davos where he will become the first Chinese president to address the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of political, business and cultural elite.

Chinese President Xi Jinping (R) leaves the seat of the Swiss federal parliament in Bern, on January 15, 2017, as part of his state visit ARND WIEGMANN (POOL/AFP)

There were an estimated 400 people, including Tibetan exiles and Swiss supporters, at the protest that had been authorised by police, the ATS news agency reported.

Some waved a banner saying "No Trade With Murderers" and demanded independence for Tibet, which Beijing says it "peacefully liberated" in 1951 and considers an inseparable part of China.

Bern police said the individuals were detained for protesting outside the agreed zone and resisted being relocated.

Xi was due to address a state dinner later Sunday alongside Swiss President Doris Leuthard.

Monday's talks will focus on topics including climate change and trade.

China is Switzerland's biggest commercial partner in Asia. In 2013, the countries inked a free-trade pact that helped boost trade volumes to 31 billion Swiss francs ($30.7 billion, 28.8 billion euros) in 2015.

But the centrepiece of Xi's visit will be his keynote address in Davos, where he is expected to preach the advent of a new world.

Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th US president on the last day of the forum, a moment that many say will trigger fresh uncertainty about Washington's global leadership.
Russia has welcomed Donald Trump's comments that NATO was 'obsolete' and Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov said today: 'NATO is indeed a vestige of the past and we agree with that.'

In a hard-hitting interview at the weekend the US President-elect said: 'I said a long time ago that NATO had problems.

'Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago. Number two, the countries aren't paying what they're supposed to pay.'

Vladimir Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov (pictured, left) said he agreed with US President-elect Donald Trump (right) that NATO was 'obsolete' and a 'vestige of the past'

WHAT IS NATO? The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was formed in 1949 and is based in Brussels. It was initially designed to bring together countries who felt under threat from the Soviet Union and the communist Warsaw Pact countries The original members were Britain, US, Canada, France, Italy, Norway, Denmark, Belgium, Holland and Portugal Turkey, Greece and West Germany joined in the 1950s and Spain in 1982 But after fall of communism, Poland and most other Eastern European countries joined NATO, leading to mounting annoyance of Moscow NATO also has a 'crisis management' and global policing role and 18,000 military personnel are currently engaged in NATO missions around the world, including Afghanistan, Kosovo and the Mediterranean Advertisement

Trump's latest remarks have in particular caused further consternation among eastern European NATO countries nervous about Moscow following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014 and involvement in Ukraine in support of ethnic Russian rebels.

Mr Peskov, whose words usually mirror Mr Putin's thoughts, was reported in Rferl.org as saying about NATO: 'Considering that it is focused on confrontation and its entire structure is devoted to the ideals of confrontation, then, of course, this can hardly be called a modern structure meeting the ideas of stability, sustainable development, and security.'

During the election campaign Trump frequently said the US needs to be 'reasonably reimbursed' for the costs of defending NATO's 27 other members.

At the weekend Trump also hinted he wanted a deal with Russia over nuclear missiles which could lead to the lifting of some or all economic sanctions.

The United States currently has 1,367 deployed nuclear warheads and Russia 1,796 and Trump said he wanted those numbers 'reduced substantially'.

'Let's see if we can make some good deals with Russia,' Trump said.

Germany's foreign minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Europe was stunned by Trump's remarks on NATO.

'The interview statements of the American President-elect...caused, indeed here in Brussels, astonishment and agitation,' he said as he went from a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to talks with EU counterparts.

NATO AFP (AFP)

Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel seemed resignation to Trump's lack of interest in Europe, saying: 'We Europeans have our fate in our own hands.'

France's top diplomat Jean-Marc Ayrault said 'the best response' to Trump's comments was 'the unity of Europeans'.

Mr Stoltenberg's spokesman, Oana Lungescu, said: 'He is absolutely confident that the incoming US administration will remain committed to NATO.'

Underscoring the Obama administration's very different stance, US Vice-President Joe Biden made a farewell trip to Ukraine today to show support for the country, which has been virtually at war with Russia since the spring of 2014.

US soldiers (pictured, right) arrived in Zagan, Poland, last week and paraded along their Polish counterparts (left) ahead of a NATO deployment
Police enter latest Brazil prison to see inmates massacred

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Police in Brazil have entered two prisons in the country's northern state of Rio Grande do Norte where a riot left at least 10 inmates dead on Saturday, authorities said Sunday.

A statement released by the office in charge of state penitentiaries said the rebellion started Saturday afternoon in the Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho detention facilities, located next to each other outside the city of Natal.

Police entered the prisons on Sunday morning, according to the statement.

The riot erupted from fighting between rival gangs and was the latest in a series of massacres in the South America country's penitentiaries that have killed more than 100.

Authorities have said they expect the death toll from Saturday's rebellion to rise.

The Alcacuz facility has capacity for 620 inmates, but houses 1,083.

The last rebellion in Alcacuz prison was in November 2015, when a tunnel was discovered in one pavilion. The facility should house 620 inmates but has 1,083.

The recent outbreak of prison violence in Brazil began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Authorities said the Family of the North gang targeted members of Brazil's most powerful criminal gang, First Command, in a clash over control of drug-trafficking routes in northern states. Many of the dead were beheaded and dismembered.

Then on Jan. 6, in the neighboring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.
Caleb Ewan wins criterium prelude to Tour Down Under

ADELAIDE, Australia (AP)  Australia's Caleb Ewan has won the criterium prelude to the Tour Down Under cycle race for the second straight year and will wear the tour leader's ocher jersey into Tuesday's first stage of the opening event of the UCI World Tour.

Ewan, who rides for Australia's Orica-Scott team, was also the 2016 winner of the People's Choice Classic and was too strong in the final sprint at the end of the 50.6 kilometer event raced over 22 laps of a 2.3 kilometer street circuit in downtown Adelaide.

He held out the challenges of Ireland's Sam Bennett and Slovakia's Peter Sagan, both riding for the Germany-based BORA-Hansgrohe team.

Young Australian Ben O'Connor led the race until the 19th lap when Britain's Team Sky and Switzerland's Team Katusha-Alpecin moved to the front of the peleton, trying to set up the race for their sprinters.

Sagan then moved up on the 21st lap and looked a major threat until Ewan muscled his way into the clear.

"This is a great race to build your confidence and I sprinted a little earlier than I planned," Ewan said.
Congo warns of armed ex-M23 rebels crossing border

KINSHASA, Congo (AP)  Congo's government says 250 armed members of a former rebel group have crossed from Uganda into Congo.

Government spokesman Lambert Mende said Sunday the government was surprised by the incursion of two columns of the ex-M23 rebels entered Congo's North Kivu province.

North Kivu governor Julien Paluku warned that the former M23 members carried guns and ammunition and could attack.

M23 operated in eastern Congo from 2012 until it was repulsed by U.N. forces and Congo's army. Many rebels fled to Rwanda and Uganda before a 2013 peace agreement.

Uganda and Congo agreed last year to share intelligence to combat rebel groups active along the countries' border.
Anti-Trumper John Kasich to doubters: I'm no lame duck

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP)  In less than a year's time, Ohio Gov. John Kasich has gone from an "adult in the room" alternative in a fractious Republican presidential field, to a potential convention spoiler in Cleveland, to now facing a hostile new president who reached down personally to seize control of the state GOP.

The roller coaster ride has left many wondering whether Kasich's political star and personal influence have faded. To this, Kasich had a direct answer this week: "You know (how) they talk about lame duck? They never met me."

With his characteristic defiance, Kasich has re-emerged in recent weeks after a period of retreat that followed a painful decision to concede his presidential ambitions for a second time.

FILE  In this Nov. 10, 2016, file photo, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, following a ceremony where President Barack Obama honored the 2016 NBA champion Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team, answers questions from reporters outside the West Wing of the White House in Washington. In the weeks before President-elect Donald Trump's Jan. 20, 2017, inauguration, Kasich has emerged from a period of retreat after conceding his presidential ambitions for a second time. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

The 64-year-old Republican has vetoed what would have been one of the nation's most restrictive abortion laws and Republican-backed legislation further delaying Ohio's alternative-energy mandates. He has resumed his public schedule in Ohio and scheduled appearances over the next week in Atlanta for Martin Luther King Jr. Day and in Washington to discuss health care with senators and attend President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

Kasich is Republicans' singular 2016 presidential contender never to fall in line behind Trump. His actions cost Kasich control of the Ohio Republican Party on Jan. 6, when then-Chairman Matt Borges was pushed out by Trump's favored candidate after the president-elect made personal phone calls to some central committee members.

"The governor faces some unusual political problems because of the fallout of the presidential election," said John Green, of the University of Akron's Bliss Institute.

University of Dayton associate political science professor Nancy Martorano Miller said, "I think the rest of the state GOP is trying to walk that line between the two of them, because we don't know how this is going to play out. The big question marks are how is President Trump going to react to places and things and people that didn't line up behind him?"

That Kasich aides remain engaged on social media and that Kasich is writing op-eds and a book suggest the former congressman isn't done running for office, Miller said. In other words: This, too, is politics.

"They may be banking on a strategy that things go horribly wrong for the Republican Party in the next two years," she said. "It's a risky bet."

But Kasich has sustained voter support in his closely divided bellwether state. A Monmouth University Poll in October found that Kasich's anti-Trump stance hadn't hurt his overall favorability rating, though he has lost some support among fellow Republicans and gained some among Democrats.

During public events this week, Kasich espoused a message that's equal parts John F. Kennedy and Mr. Rogers, urging people to ask not what politicians can do for them, but to "stick your nose in somebody else's business" to help solve society's tough problems. Bracing the state for a painful budget cycle, he says that every person is special and that the country needs people engaged in their communities to effect change.

Nazek Habatfha, 35, of Dublin, is a graduate student and Islamic youth leader who petitioned for Kasich's eventual veto of the renewable energy bill. She said Kasich impressed her as he weathered the year's political blows without seeming to betray his values.
Indonesia, Japan affirm deeper ties during Abe's Asian tour

BOGOR, Indonesia (AP)  Japan and Indonesia on Sunday affirmed a deepening of economic and political ties during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is using a four-nation tour of Asia to underscore his government's role in countering China's assertiveness in the South China Sea.

After meeting with Abe, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the increase in Japanese investment in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, has been "very significant," doubling to $4.5 billion in January-September of last year.

He said the meeting was "warm, open and productive," and that the countries agreed that their defense and foreign ministers would meet in Indonesia this year under a new forum they established in 2015 to increase maritime cooperation.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, left, talks to journalist during a joint press conference with Indonesian President Joko Widodo after a meeting at Presidential Palace in Bogor, West Java, Indonesia, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017. (AP Photo/Achmad Ibrahim)

Jokowi said there were agreements on development of the Patimban deep-sea port and the Masela gas field in Indonesia, and for preliminary discussions on a Jakarta-Surabaya rail line.

Abe said an Indonesian-Japanese joint venture company would develop Patimban. He also pledged "business opportunities" worth 74 billion yen ($646 million) for coastal development and irrigation in Indonesia.

Abe's trip is largely aimed at taking a leadership role in promoting regional cooperation to counter Beijing at a time of increased tension between China and the U.S. and uncertainty about the policies of the incoming Donald Trump administration.

With the tour, Tokyo wants to send a message that its respect for a rules-based international system, in contrast to China's more aggressive behavior in the South China Sea, where it has vast territorial claims, makes it the best partner for Southeast Asian countries.

Abe said he and Jokowi "exchanged views on the development of the regional situation, including the South China Sea issue that has been a concern for the entire international community that will directly affect the peace and stability of the region."

"We reiterated the importance of enforcing the principle of the rule of law and peaceful settlement," he said.

Abe's swing through Asia has included two of America's main allies in the region, Australia and the Philippines. Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's hostility to the U.S. has raised doubts about his commitment to the U.S. alliance that Japan is a crucial part of.

Australia and Japan agreed to greater military cooperation, and in the Philippines, Abe pledged $8.7 billion in business opportunities and investment.

Jokowi said that in his meeting with Abe, he asked for Japan to open access for Indonesian agricultural goods, improve access for Indonesian nurses to work in Japan, commence a review of the Indonesia-Japan economic partnership agreement this year, and grant national carrier Garuda rights for a Jakarta-Tokyo-Los Angeles route.

After Indonesia, Abe will visit Vietnam, which the U.S. has cultivated stronger ties with as a part of President Barack Obama's pivot to Asia policy.

Trump, however, has said he will scrap U.S. involvement in the Trans Pacific Partnership trade agreement, which was a signature part of Obama's policy.

___

Wright reported from Jakarta, Indonesia.
Treasury chief says UK will adapt if barred from EU market

LONDON (AP)  Britain's leaders on Sunday signaled their resolve to play hardball in talks with the European Union, suggesting they will look for partners elsewhere if the bloc restricts access to its huge market.

Under pressure to reveal her Brexit blueprint, British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said she will call for a "truly global Britain" that is more open to the world when she sets out plans for negotiations with the EU in a speech later this week. Treasury chief Philip Hammond told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that Britain is prepared to "do whatever we have to do," including turning away from Europe to other markets, to protect its economy.

"If Great Britain left the European Union without an agreement on market access, then we could at least in the short term suffer economic damage," Hammond was quoted as saying. "In this case, we could be forced to change our economic model."

FILE - In a Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 file photo, British Finance Minister Philip Hammond speaks to South African businessmen during a visit to a British funded project in Cape Town, South Africa. Hammond said Sunday, Jan. 15 that the UK will take whatever steps necessary to stay competitive in the global economy, if the country is shut out of the European Union market. (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam, File)

Hammond also suggested that Britain could cut taxes to encourage companies to move to the U.K.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, suggested that May was prepared to trigger a full-scale "trade war" to get her way.

The comments come amid a standoff over migration into Britain. While Britain wants to curtail immigration from Europe, the EU says the U.K. must abide by rules guaranteeing the free movement of people if it wants to retain tariff-free access to the bloc's market of more than 500 million people.

British media interpreted the statements as a further sign that May is prepared to leave the EU without any form of privileged relationship, an option often described as "hard Brexit." Similar comments last week caused the pound currency to tumble to its lowest level against the dollar since October on concerns about damage to the British economy.

"May calls for clean hard Brexit," declared the Sunday Times. "May's big gamble on a clean Brexit," The Sunday Telegraph said.

Writing in the Sunday Times, David Davis, the British secretary of state for exiting the EU, underscored the government's position by saying Britain would "respect the views of the British people" and demand control over immigration.

"We will bring back control over our laws and make our own decisions on immigration, we will aim to maintain cooperation on security as it is now, if not enhance it, and we will seek the most open possible market with the EU while furthering trade links with the rest of the world," he wrote.

May has said for months that she will invoke Article 50 of the EU's key treaty, formally beginning the process of negotiating Britain's departure, by March 31.

But she has refused to reveal details about Britain's goals or its negotiating strategy, arguing that to do so would weaken Britain's hand. That lack of clarity has fueled allegations that her Conservative government's plans are in disarray.

But Europe may also be feeling the heat. In testimony to lawmakers last week, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that Brexit poses a greater threat to financial stability in Europe than in the UK.

Any disruption in Britain's sprawling financial services sector could restrict the flow of capital to European businesses that rely on U.K.-based institutions for big-money transactions.

"I am not saying there are not financial stability risks in the UK. And there are economic risks to the UK. But there are greater short-term risks on the continent in the transition than there are in the UK," Carney said.

___
Trump wants to hold summit with Putin in Reykjavik, Sputnik reported.

US President-elect Donald Trump said that he planned to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Reykjavik, Iceland, media reported Sunday.

The meeting with Russian leader is planned to be the first Trump's foreign trip and will be held in Icelandic capital, as it was three decades ago between the two countries, the Sunday Times newspaper reported.

Moscow is set to agree to the meeting between the leaders of the two countries, the newspaper reported, citing the sources who discussed the plans with the officials at the Russian embassy.

Trump will launch a work on a deal limiting nuclear arms within a "reset" in US-Russian relations, according to the newspaper.
The Latest: Trump promises health insurance for all

WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):

8:50 p.m.

President-elect Donald Trump says his plan to replace the nation's health care law will include "insurance for everybody."

FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2017 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. China's Foreign Ministry has rejected President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that he might use support of Taiwan as a bargaining chip in future negotiations between the two sides. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Trump made the comment in an interview with the Washington Post published on Sunday.

The president-elect says: "We're going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can't pay for it, you don't get it. That's not going to happen with us."

Trump declined to reveal any details.

An embrace of universal health care would mark a sharp break for most Republicans, as they plan to repeal and replace the current health care law.

A full repeal without an immediate replacement would strip health care insurance from millions of Americans.

Trump told the Post he expects Congress to address the issue in the coming weeks.

___

8:45 p.m.

Donald Trump is lashing out at CIA chief John Brennan for saying the president-elect doesn't understand the threat posed by Russia.

Trump tweeted of Brennan, "Was this the leaker of Fake News?"

The Sunday night jab was a reference to a recent intelligence briefing that raised questions about Trump's connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The CIA director said Sunday morning on Fox News that Trump lacks "full appreciation and understanding" of the implications of lifting sanctions on Russia.

Trump acknowledged Brennan's criticism and said he "couldn't do much worse" as president.

___

6:30 p.m.

President-elect Donald Trump says Britain's decision to leave the European Union will "end up being a great thing." He's also predicting that the EU will continue to break apart.

The incoming president made the comments in an interview with The Times of London and Germany's Bild newspaper. Trump is set to take office on Friday.

He said Europeans are upset about an influx in immigrants and "want their own identity." He predicted that other countries would leave the European Union as well.

He says: "I think it's gonna be very hard to keep it together because people are angry about it."

Trump indicated he doesn't care whether the EU stays together. His position marks a break from the Obama administration, which encouraged Britain to remain in the EU.

___

12:20 p.m.

The Trump team is taking a hard line on the ethics official who's questioned the president-elect's potential conflicts of interest.

Donald Trump aide Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) tells ABC's "This Week" that the independent watchdog "ought to be careful because that person is becoming extremely political."

"That person" is Walter Shaub Jr., director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Shaub has said the only way Trump could avoid a conflict of interest would be to divest from his business and place his assets in a blind trust.

Shaub has been summoned by the GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, to answer questions about his comments.

The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, says Trump's team and Republicans are "engaged in a blatant, coordinated attack" against Shaub for doing his job.

___

11:50 a.m.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence says it is "deeply disappointing" that civil rights icon John Lewis would question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's White House victory.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Pence said he respects "the sacrifice" the Georgia congressman made, but said that he is one of many people making "baseless assertions" that the president-elect's victory was illegitimate.

Trump tore into Lewis on Saturday, just days ahead of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Pence says that "Donald Trump has every right to defend himself."

He says the nation faces "deep challenges" and he hopes Lewis will reconsider his decision to boycott the inauguration and his remarks questioning Trump's victory.

___

11:15 a.m.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence says both he and Donald Trump welcome the oversight work by Congress into reports of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Pence said the incoming administration believes there is "no evidence of impact on voting machines," adding that "Donald Trump won the election fair and square."

He said that "we certainly respect the right of Congress to provide oversight and make inquiries where they see appropriate," but he said that "the American people have spoken."

President-elect Trump has described reports questioning the legitimacy of his White House victory as a "witch hunt." Pence said Sunday that there are efforts by the national media to "demean and question the legitimacy of this incoming administration."

___

11:10 a.m.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is calling the timing of a conversation between Donald Trump's national security adviser and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. "strictly coincidental."

In an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation," Pence says retired Gen. Michael Flynn sent a text message to the Russian ambassador wishing him a Merry Christmas and offering his condolences for a recent Russian plane crash.

Pence says, "it was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation" as new sanctions were announced. He insists the discussion did not address a decision by the Obama administration to expel Russian diplomats or extend sanctions over recent allegations that the Russian government interfered with the U.S. presidential election.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Pence also says the Trump presidential campaign had no contacts with the Russians ahead of the election.

___

10:55 a.m.

Sen. Rand Paul says that Rep. John Lewis' record as a civil rights icon shouldn't make him immune to criticism and debate.

In an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," the Kentucky Republican addressed President-elect Donald Trump's recent accusations that Lewis' district is "crime infested" and that he is "''All talk, talk, talk  no action or results," after Lewis questioned the legitimacy of Trump's White House victory.

Paul said he has a great deal of respect for Lewis, but "he's a partisan and I disagree with him on a great deal of issues."

He said, "I should be able to disagree with him and not to have it all come back to I have no appreciation for a civil rights icon because of this, and I think that's the part that I think is unfair."

___

10:35 a.m.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is so steamed about the FBI director that he thinks James Comey may want to find another job.

The Vermont senator  who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination  is among the lawmakers still angry about how Comey handled the election-year inquiry into Clinton's private email practices.

And now Comey is refusing to say whether the FBI is investigating possible links between President-elect Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.

Sanders tells ABC's "This Week" he thinks Comey "should take a hard look at what he has done. And I think it would not be a bad thing for the American people if he did step down."

The Justice Department's internal watchdog announced last week that he's investigating Comey and the department.

Some Democrats blame Comey's statements and actions in part for Clinton's loss to Donald Trump.

Trump's incoming White House chief of staff says the president-elect has confidence in Comey. Speaking on the same show, Reince Priebus describes Comey as "extremely competent" and says there are no plans to cut short his term as FBI director.

__

10:20 a.m.

CIA Director John Brennan says Donald Trump's "talking and tweeting" is not in the nation's interest and that the president-elect lacks a full understanding of the threat Russia poses to the U.S.

Brennan said Sunday the national security questions Trump will face after becoming president on Friday are not "about him." Brennan added that Trump needs to understand that "he's going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting." Such spontaneity, Brennan said, is not in the nation's national security interests.

Brennan said intelligence officials briefed Trump on a dossier of unverified but potentially damaging information Russia had on him because it was well known and they wanted the president-elect to be aware of it.

The CIA director spoke on "Fox News Sunday." Trump's choice to lead the agency is former Rep. Mike Pompeo.

___

10:10 a.m.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff says the president has sought an assessment on any interference in the 2016 election so that policymakers could address the issue.

Denis McDonough says it is "important for the president that we get a full assessment" to brief policymakers so they can "implement policies to make sure that doesn't happen again."

President-elect Donald Trump has lashed out at those who have suggested his win was aided by Russian involvement.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," McDonough said the intelligence community is "staffed by an unbelievably cadre of professionals" and he dismissed the notion that they would seek to undermine Trump's victory as Trump has suggested.

___

9:55 a.m.

Donald Trump's team is still plenty steamed after a leading House Democrat described Trump as an illegitimate president  and there are now calls for President Barack Obama to act.

Trump's incoming White House chief of staff says the congressman, civil rights leader John Lewis of Georgia, is being "irresponsible" and has started a "firestorm."

Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that Obama should "step up" and "call it what it is  it's wrong what is happening, it's wrong how some of these Democrats are treating President-elect Trump."

Lewis had told NBC that he didn't see Trump "as a legitimate president," and believes that Russian meddling in the election helped put Trump in office.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff addressed Preibus' call in a separate interview. Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Denis McDonough said "the president is not going to get in the middle of this right now."

___

9:35 a.m.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff says Donald Trump should mend relations with civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis to send a message to the American people and the world.

The president-elect tore into Lewis on Saturday for questioning the legitimacy of his White House victory, intensifying a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told CNN's "State of the Union" that Trump should address his differences with Lewis to "send a message to the American people not only that we are willing to work together, but to the Russians that we are united."

McDonough noted that Trump should recognize the role Lewis has played to advance civil rights policies, saying Lewis fought, bled and went to jail for the cause.

___
Russia-US ties hard to mend, interests differ sharply

MOSCOW (AP)  The Kremlin hopes that Donald Trump will move to improve badly strained Russia-U.S. ties once he takes office. Relations between Moscow and Washington are at their lowest point since the Cold War amid the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other issues.

It would be challenging to reach common ground on some issues even if Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin both want it, as the interests of Russia and of the United States differ sharply and many U.S. allies have a deep distrust of Moscow's intentions. On some issues, however, there is a measure of agreement.

Here is a look at some of the items on the Russia-U.S. agenda:

U.S. Army soldiers hold an American flag as they attend the official welcoming ceremony of the U.S. troops in Zagan, Poland, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. The ceremony comes 23 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland and also marks a new historic moment  the first time any Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATO's eastern flank. (AP Photo/Krzysztof Zatycki)

___

RUSSIAN HACKING

U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of meddling in the U.S. election through hacking, to help Trump win, claims that Russia has rejected. Trump last week conceded that Russia was likely responsible for hacking into Democratic emails, but insisted that didn't affect the outcome of the vote. He argued that the U.S. has been hacked by China and other countries as well.

U.S. and EU officials also have accused Russia of hacking other Western institutions and voiced concern that Russia may try to influence this year's elections in Germany, France and the Netherlands. The hacking issue is likely to weigh over Trump and could overshadow any possible attempt by his administration to improve ties with Moscow.

___

THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS AND ANTI-RUSSIA SANCTIONS

During the U.S. election campaign, Trump refused to condemn Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and even hinted that he would consider recognizing it as Russian territory. Such a move, however, would trigger massive opposition in the U.S. Congress and rattle U.S. allies, so it appears highly unlikely.

Led by Washington, the European Union and other U.S. allies have slapped Russia with several waves of sanctions in response to the annexation of Crimea and Moscow's support for a pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions, along with low oil prices, have driven Russia's economy into recession, and Putin sees getting them lifted as one of his top priorities.

Obama's administration and the EU tied rolling back the sanctions to progress in a 2015 peace deal for Ukraine, which has floundered. It would be difficult for the Trump administration to push for the sanctions' removal while clashes in eastern Ukraine are continuing.

Some U.S. lawmakers have proposed further ratcheting up anti-Russian sanctions.

___

SYRIA

Trump has said Russia and the U.S. should combine efforts to fight the Islamic State group in Syria.

Moscow long has pushed for such cooperation, hoping it would help turn the page on the Ukrainian crisis and improve its ties with Washington. Obama's administration ruled out such an alliance, however, because of the Kremlin's focus on shoring up Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Chances for U.S.-Russian cooperation in Syria are higher now when Assad's foes are weakened and demoralized following their retreat from Aleppo, the nation's largest city. With Assad's positions stronger than ever since the start of the conflict nearly six years ago, Russia may focus more on fighting IS, and would eagerly embrace cooperation with the U.S. if Trump offers it.

___

NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL

The New START nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by Russia and the United States in 2010 limited their nuclear arsenals to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads for each country. The treaty is set to expire in 2021, but they could agree to extend it as they both appreciate the measure of transparency the deal offers.

The treaty doesn't prevent either side from modernizing their arsenals, which Russia is already doing and Trump has vowed to do.

There have been frictions, however, regarding another arms control pact, the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which outlawed that entire class of nuclear missiles. Washington and Moscow have traded mutual accusations of violating the treaty.

___

NATO'S BUILD-UP IN EUROPE

The deployment of U.S. and other allied troops and weapons in the Baltics and Poland in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine has angered Moscow, which has described it as proof of Washington's hostile intentions.

Russia also has been sharply critical of NATO's U.S.-led missile defense plan, which includes a site in Romania and a prospective facility in Poland. Putin has described the program as an attempt to erode Russia's nuclear deterrent, dismissing U.S. claims the shield is intended to fend off a potential missile threat from Iran.

These issues are likely to remain a top irritant in U.S.-Russia ties.

A U.S. Army soldier plays with falling snow during the official welcoming ceremony of the U.S. troops in Zagan, Poland, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. The ceremony comes 23 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland and also marks a new historic moment  the first time any Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATO's eastern flank. (AP Photo/Krzysztof Zatycki)

Polish Prime Minister Beata Szydlo speaks during the official welcoming ceremony of the U.S. troops in Zagan, Poland,Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. The ceremony comes 23 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland and also marks a new historic moment  the first time any Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATO's eastern flank. (AP Photo/Krzysztof Zatycki)
6 killed in stampede during Hindu festival in India

KOLKATA, India (AP)  At least six people were killed in a stampede during a Hindu religious festival Sunday in eastern India, an official said.

The stampede took place as hundreds of thousands of people had assembled on the banks of the Buriganga river in West Bengal state, said the state's development minister, Mantu Ram Pakhira.

The stampede occurred as people were trying to get into a crowded boat, Pakhira said. Six women were killed and seven other people were injured.

The area where the stampede occurred is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) south of Kolkata, the capital of West Bengal state.
Red Cross staffer freed in Afghanistan weeks after abduction

BERLIN (AP)  The International Committee of the Red Cross says a staff member who was abducted in northern Afghanistan last month has been released.

The ICRC's head of delegation in Afghanistan, Monica Zanarelli, said Sunday that the man is "safe and sound" and is now with its team in Kunduz. The agency said it wouldn't comment on the identity of the abductors or their motives or give any details of the release.

The ICRC staffer, whose nationality wasn't specified, was snatched on Dec. 19 in the northern province of Kunduz as he was traveling to Mazar-i-Sharif. According to the Red Cross, three other colleagues were left unharmed.
A vet and an assistant have been mauled to death by three lions in an attack at a Jordanian wildlife reserve.

A security official confirmed the incident, and said the big cats were later put down.

He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to brief the media on the chain of evens which unfolded on Sunday.

A vet and an assistant have been mauled to death by three lions in an attack at a Jordanian wildlife reserve (file photo)

Hala Akhbar, a website linked to the Jordanian security forces, identified the victims as a Jordanian vet and his Pakistani assistant.

The incident took place in a wildlife reserve in the kingdom's western Balqa district.
Jamaica police say 6 suspects killed at checkpoint

KINGSTON, Jamaica (AP)  Jamaican police say six suspected members of a criminal gang have died in a shootout with police near the tourist zone of Montego Bay.

Police say in a statement that police returned fire when they were met with gunshots as they tried to stop a car at a highway checkpoint Saturday night in the town of Adelphi, about 10 miles (15 kilometers) east of central Montego Bay.
Outgoing CIA chief rips into Trump on Russia threat

NEW YORK (AP)  The outgoing CIA director charged on Sunday that Donald Trump lacks a full understanding of the threat Moscow poses to the United States, delivering a public lecture to the president-elect that further highlighted the bitter state of Trump's relations with American intelligence agencies.

John Brennan's pointed message on national television came just five days before Trump becomes the nation's 45th president amid lingering questions about Russia's role in the 2016 election even as the focus shifts to the challenges of governing.

"Now that he's going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, he's going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that U.S. and national security interests are protected," Brennan said on "Fox News Sunday," warning that the president-elect's impulsivity could be dangerous.

FILE - In this June 16, 2016 file photo, CIA Director John Brennan testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington, before the Senate Intelligence Committee. Brennan, said on "Fox News Sunday Jan. 15, 207, that Donald Trump's "talking and tweeting" is not in the nation's interest and that the president-elect lacks a full understanding of the threat Russia poses to the U.S. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)

"Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests," Brennan declared.

Trump, who has unleashed a series of aggressive tweets against the U.S. intelligence community and his political rivals in recent weeks, responded aggressively on Twitter several hours later.

"Was this the leaker of Fake News?" Trump tweeted Sunday evening, referring to a recent document that contains unverified financial and personal information that could be damaging to the president-elect. The Associated Press has not been able to verify the contents of the document.

The president-elect remained behind closed doors in his Manhattan high rise Sunday. His team worked to answer questions about his plans at home and abroad once he's sworn into office on Friday.

Among Trump's immediate challenges: the United States' complicated relationship with Russia, crafting an affordable health care alternative that doesn't strip coverage from millions of Americans, and growing questions about the legitimacy of his presidency.

Without providing details, Trump promised his plan to replace the nation's health care law would provide universal coverage, according to a Washington Post interview published late Sunday.

"We're going to have insurance for everybody," he said. "There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can't pay for it, you don't get it. That's not going to happen with us."

Meanwhile, civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., is among several Democrats in Congress who vowed to skip Trump's inauguration, charging that Russian interference in the 2016 election delegitimizes his presidency.

"There will be many more members who join us in this decision," Rep. Jared Huffman, D-Calif., wrote Saturday on his Facebook page.

Trump's lieutenants pushed back hard Sunday in a round of television interviews.

"I think it's incredibly disappointing and I think it's irresponsible for people like himself to question the legitimacy of the next United States president," incoming White House chief of staff Reince Priebus said of Lewis on ABC's "This Week," insisting that Republicans did not question the legitimacy of President Barack Obama's victory eight years ago. Vice President-elect Mike Pence said on "Fox News Sunday" that he hopes Lewis will change his mind and attend.

Priebus later acknowledged that conservatives  led by Trump himself  spent years questioning Obama's eligibility to serve as president, suggesting he was not born in the United States.

Trump has done little to encourage unity in recent days, instead inflaming tensions with his critics through a series of tweets. The incoming president tweeted Saturday that Lewis should pay more attention to his "crime ridden" Atlanta-area district, adding that the civil rights leader was "all talk."

Lewis suffered a fractured skull when he led a march in Selma, Alabama, more than a half century ago and has devoted his life to civil rights.

The current White House chief of staff, Denis McDonough, said "Lewis has literally fought, bled and gone to jail" during what he called his "remarkable life." He encouraged the incoming president to move past Lewis' criticism.

"That would be the kind of thing that would not only send a message to the American people that we're prepared to work together, but would also send a message to the Russians that we are united," McDonough said on CNN's "State of the Union."

Questions about Trump's relationship with Russia have dominated the days leading up to his inauguration.

Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is set to become Trump's national security adviser, has been in frequent contact with Russia's ambassador to the U.S. in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for the alleged election hacking, a senior U.S. official said.

After initially denying the contact took place, Trump's team publicly acknowledged the conversations on Sunday.

"The conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats," said Vice President-elect Mike Pence, also in an appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

Repeated contacts just as Obama imposed sanctions would raise questions about whether Trump's team discussed  or even helped shape  Russia's response. Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly did not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions or the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, a decision Trump quickly praised.

Trump has repeatedly called for a better relationship between the U.S. and Putin's government. He suggested in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he'd consider easing the latest sanctions on Russia.

"I think he has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road," Brennan said.

__
A look at some of the groups who plan to protest Trump

Hundreds of thousands of people are expected in Washington for the inauguration of Donald Trump, but hundreds of thousands are also expected to demonstrate against him or his agenda. A look at some of the groups expected to protest in Washington surrounding Inauguration Day:

ANSWER COALITION

The anti-war group the ANSWER Coalition is planning Inauguration Day demonstrations at two locations along the inaugural parade route down Pennsylvania Avenue. The plan to demonstrate at the U.S. Navy Memorial and Freedom Plaza, a large plaza about six blocks from the White House.

Demonstrators hold banners as they protest in opposition of President-elect Donald Trump, at McPherson Square, in Washington, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

DISRUPTJ20

A collection of groups calling their coalition DisruptJ20 after the date of the inauguration say people participating in their actions will attempt to shut down or cause delays at the security checkpoints going in to the inauguration ceremony. They intend to block checkpoints and in some cases risk arrest. Another DisruptJ20 event is a march that will begin at Columbus Circle, outside Union Station. Participants are being asked to gather at noon, the same time Trump is being sworn in as the nation's 45th president. The march will travel about a mile and a half to McPherson Square, a park about three blocks from the White House, where a rally is planned.

OCCUPY INAUGURATION

A group calling itself Occupy Inauguration plans to rally on the morning of Inauguration Day at Meridian Hill Park, about a mile and a half directly north of the White House. The group says speakers at the rally will include 2016 Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein. At 12:30 p.m. they plan to march from the park to McPherson Square, joining with demonstrations coming from Union Station. McPherson Square is where Occupy Washington camped out at in 2011.

WOMEN'S MARCH ON WASHINGTON
Utah State Prison bans just 2 books, both on manipulation

SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Utah prisoners can read violence-laced literature such as "Games of Thrones" but are barred from accessing two guidebooks on manipulation.

Robert Greene's "The 48 Laws of Power" and "The Art of Seduction" are the only two books specifically banned at Utah State Prison's five libraries, the Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2jnN7kA ). Prison officials were concerned they could instruct inmates how to negatively manipulate people, librarian Christie Jensen said.

Other states' prisons have far longer lists of banned books. For example, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prohibits more than 15,000 titles, including a biography of Oprah Winfrey and a collection of Shakespeare's love sonnets, according to Texas Civil Rights Project report.

Anna Brower Thomas of the Utah American Civil Liberties Union called the prison's ban on the two titles arbitrary.

"People can learn how to manipulate other people through all sorts of different sources. What is it about these two books that is so dangerous?" she said.

Jensen acknowledged the reasoning could apply to other books, such as a well-known self-help book by Dale Carnegie.

"A case, I think, could be made for 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' that that book could be used for evil, as well," Jensen said. "But we have that because that book is for positive reasons: how to make friends, how to influence people for good."

Also banned are 46 magazines dubbed sexually explicit, including Playboy and Hustler. Sex offenders also are barred from other works, mostly short stories, that could clash with their rehabilitation.

All reading material is screened before reaching inmates, who can ask the library to stock certain books.

Prison policy allows officials to deny those requests for a range of reasons, including poor writing quality. Jensen said inmates have a right to appeal those decisions, but she's never seen it happen.

"It's just because (inmates) know I'm not going to buy 'The Anarchist Cookbook,'" she said, "and they know I'm not going to buy a book on lock picking."

The prison's libraries have posted a list of books that are commonly banned at other facilities, such as Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Jensen said inmates will often ask if those books are prohibited at the prison, and she tells them: "No, it's the opposite. Those are usually banned and we actually have them."

___
Man on FBI's 10 most-wanted list arrested in Texas

EL PASO, Texas (AP)  A man placed on the FBI's list of 10 most-wanted fugitives after authorities said he killed two men in Milwaukee was arrested Sunday in Texas, the FBI said.

Terry A.D. Strickland, 24, was arrested in El Paso and booked into the jail. He has been charged in Milwaukee with two counts of first-degree intentional homicide and with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution.

Jail records do not list an attorney to comment on his behalf.

Authorities said Strickland was among a group of men arguing in front of a Milwaukee home July 17. Witnesses saw him go inside the house, emerge with a gun and fire into the small crowd. Authorities said Strickland fatally shot Maurice Brown Jr., 38, who was on the ground, then turned to Michael Allen Reed, 39, and shot him in the head.

"It was vicious," Milwaukee Police Chief Edward Flynn said when Strickland was added to the FBI's most-wanted list last month. "It was unnecessary. Neither individual posed the slightest threat to Mr. Strickland, but they paid with their lives for occupying the same space."

Authorities have said Strickland fled from the shooting in a black SUV, abandoning his 18-month-old daughter inside the house, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported.
Iceland is ready to organize a summit for Trump and Putin, but has not yet received a query, Sputnik reported.

Iceland expressed readiness to organize summit for US President-elect Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin, but has not yet received a query, local media reported Sunday, citing foreign ministry.

"The Icelandic government has not received a query with regards to this.If officials in Washington DC make a formal request for the Icelandic government to organise a summit in Reykjavik we will look at it positively and make this our input to improve relations between the US and Russia, remember the summit at Hofdi house in 1986," Icelandic Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said, as quoted by the Iceland Monitor news portal.

Earlier in the day, media reported that Trump plans to hold a summit with Putin in Reykjavik, Iceland, as it was three decades ago between the two countries.
Donald Trump has sparked fury after tearing into renowned civil rights leader John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaires White House victory.

Mr Trumps Twitter outburst has intensified a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honouring Martin Luther King.

Mr Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, had his skull fractured during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-Americans view Mr Trumps inauguration compared with Barack Obamas eight years ago. It also demonstrated that no one is immune from scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism.

Mr Trump has found political success even while attacking widely-lauded figures before and after the campaign  a prisoner of war, parents of a dead US soldier, a beauty queen  and now a civil rights icon.

On this Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, let it be clear that John Lewis is an American patriot. Trump's attacks on him further confirm it. pic.twitter.com/WavPT36Atu  Evan McMullin  (@EvanMcMullin) January 14, 2017

A photo I took of John Lewis in Selma during the 50th anniversary of "Bloody Sunday." pic.twitter.com/XzgExSxNd2  Michael Skolnik (@MichaelSkolnik) January 15, 2017

Mr Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said on Friday that he would not attend Mr Trumps swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on January 20  the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining the US Congress 30 years ago.

You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard, he told NBCs Meet The Press in an interview on Sunday.

Its going to be very difficult. I dont see this president-elect as a legitimate president.

YES, BULL CONNOR WAS A DEMOCRAT: Let's recall it was racist Democrats who beat up John Lewis--a fact he conveniently never mentions pic.twitter.com/JhsdA1LbwS  Dinesh D'Souza (@DineshDSouza) January 15, 2017

Mr Lewis added: I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

His spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Mr Trump and said the Mr Lewis opinion speaks for itself.

We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election, she said.

Donald Trump (Evan Vucci/AP)

US intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Mr Trump win.

After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Mr Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats.

But he also emphasised that there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.

Democrat Mrs Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Mr Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.

Mr Lewis Democratic colleagues rushed to his defence on Saturday. Californias Ted Lieu said he too would skip Mr Trumps inauguration.

For me, the personal decision not to attend the inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis, he said.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Mr Trump to apologise to Mr Lewis and the people in his district.
The Government will do whatever we have to to ensure Britain stays competitive if it is shut out of the EU single market after Brexit, Chancellor Philip Hammond has warned.

As Theresa May prepared to lay out her approach to the Brexit negotiations in a keynote speech on Tuesday, Mr Hammond hinted the Government was ready to push through aggressive cuts to business taxes to ensure UK-based firms remained competitive in the face of EU tariffs.

Negotiating demands must contain two red lines: full control of our borders and full control of our laws@TheSun https://t.co/CQZZS2SnYM  Leave.EU (@LeaveEUOfficial) January 14, 2017

In an interview with the German Welt am Sonntag newspaper, the Chancellor said while he was optimistic a reciprocal deal on market access could be struck, he was not going to lie down and accept it if it was closed off.

Philip Hammond, left, and David Davis

I personally hope we will be able to remain in the mainstream of European economic and social thinking. But if we are forced to be something different, then we will have to become something different, he said.

Lord Lawson: "Leaving the EU's Single Market is not 'a hard Brexit': it IS Brexit".  Roger Helmer (@RogerHelmerMEP) January 14, 2017

If we have no access to the European market, if we are closed off, if Britain were to leave the European Union without an agreement on market access, then we could suffer from economic damage at least in the short term.

In this case, we could be forced to change our economic model and we will have to change our model to regain competitiveness. And you can be sure we will do whatever we have to do.

The British people are not going to lie down and say, too bad, weve been wounded. We will change our model, and we will come back, and we will be competitively engaged.

If what's reported is true then May's hard #brexit will be too high a price for many who supported Union in last #indyref #BuildYes @theSNP  Chris Law MP (@ChrisLawSNP) January 14, 2017

His comments came amid fresh reports Mrs May is preparing to set out plans for a hard Brexit when she delivers her speech at Lancaster House  pulling out of the single market and the customs union in order to regain control of immigration and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.

While Downing Street would not be drawn on the claims, The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying: Shes gone for the full works. People will know when she said Brexit means Brexit, she really meant it.

The comments alarmed pro-Remain MPs. Former education secretary Nicky Morgan, who was sacked by Mrs May, said the Prime Minister should put maximum participation in the single market at the heart of her negotiating strategy and warned her not to do anything to damage the economy.
Manchester United host arch-rivals Liverpool at Old Trafford on Sunday.

Here Press Association Sport looks at some of the issues ahead of the Premier League match.

Fine time for Rooney to make history?

Great team performance & a proud moment personally to equal @SirBobby's record. It's an honour to join him as @ManUtd's leading goalscorer  pic.twitter.com/Rm769Gc52U  Wayne Rooney (@WayneRooney) January 7, 2017

Manchester United captain Wayne Rooney needs just one goal to eclipse Sir Bobby Charlton and become the clubs record scorer. The England striker drew level on 249 last weekend and nothing would give the boyhood Evertonian more pleasure than to break the record against Liverpool. However, his record against the Reds suggests Rooney may struggle. He has just six goals in 26 appearances against Liverpool  he has scored the same number against AC Milan. Rooney may also find the return to fitness of Zlatan Ibrahimovic gets in his way.

Can Coutinho hack the pace?

Liverpools Brazilian playmaker Philippe Coutinho made a welcome return from almost seven weeks out with ankle ligament damage in the midweek EFL Cup defeat at Southampton. The 30 minutes provided a good run-out but manager Jurgen Klopp must decide whether he can risk him from the start or use him again as an impact player. Judging by Liverpools performances in 2017 so far, Klopp may be tempted to give him a go from the off but he may not last 90 minutes.

Will Henrikh hit Klopp where it hurts?

Henrikh Mkhitaryan (Martin Rickett/PA)

Henrikh Mkhitaryan was a key player for Jurgen Klopp at Borussia Dortmund. The Liverpool manager is still an admirer of the Armenians silky skills and will be only too wary of the damage he can do now he has acclimatised to life at Old Trafford following his summer move from Germany. Mkhitaryan has been credited as one of the players who have had a significant influence in helping United to nine wins in a row and how well he does  or how well Liverpool cope with him  will be a pivotal factor.

Stand by for touchline fireworks

Jose Mourinho has words with Jurgen Klopp

Jose Mourinho has had his fair share of run-ins with officials this season and the sight of Klopp shouting and leaping about is unlikely to make the Portuguese any calmer. Both managers are emotional figures  Mourinho claims he is calmer than his counterpart  and there may be as many histrionics between the two dugouts as there are on the pitch.

Goals are surely guaranteed

Klopp on Sunday...



"We have this angriness.

We want a result.

We go there for no other reason."#MUNLIV pic.twitter.com/DParH0QFZe  Liverpool FC (@LFC) January 13, 2017
Jeremy Corbyn has accused Theresa May of preparing to launch a trade war with Europe if she does not get her way over Brexit.

With speculation mounting that the Prime Minister will announce the UK is to leave the single market, the Labour leader said she was pursuing an extremely risky strategy.

He sharply criticised a warning by Chancellor Philip Hammond the Government could retaliate by slashing corporation tax if UK firms faced new tariff barriers outside the EU.

Jeremy Corbyn, right, and Andrew Marr

It seems to me a recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe in the future. That doesnt really seem to me a very sensible way forward, he told BBC1s The Andrew Marr Show.

He said the Prime Ministers negotiating strategy risked damaging British exporters.

She appears to be heading us in the direction of a bargain basement economy on the shores of Europe where we have low levels of corporate taxation, we will lose access to half our export market, he said.

That was a triumph! Superb from Jeremy Corbyn on #Marr personable, affable, strong, principled, calm, likeable, positive



Booom   Jo Phillips (@joglasg) January 15, 2017

It seems to me an extremely risky strategy. There needs to be more discussion, more consultation and recognise that there is a close co-operation with Europe that is going to have to continue when we are outside the EU.

Mr Corbyn confirmed that Labour would not seek to block the Government from triggering Article 50 - marking the start of the formal two-year negotiating period - but indicated it could seek to ally with MPs from other parties in the Commons to influence what shape Brexit takes.

The Brexit vote isnt a one-off thing. It has got to be agreed by 27 national parliaments, it has got to be agreed by the European Parliament. There is quite a long way to go on this, he said.

It is going to have to keep coming back to the House of Commons and we will make sure it does keep coming back to the House of Commons. We will keep on pressing the Government on this.
Eighty three days after losing his European Tour card by 100 euros, Graeme Storm pipped Rory McIlroy in a play-off to win the South African Open.

Storm was given a reprieve when Patrick Reed failed to play enough events to join the Tour and he made the most of his second coming in Johannesburg.

Starting the day three shots clear of the world number two, he almost buckled under the heat as McIlroy made five birdies in a final-round 68.

Graeme Storm

But the Northern Irishmans bogey on the par-three 17th teed up a play-off which the Hartlepool man took.

He held his nerve to sink a close-range putt after McIlroy had finished the first time they went back up the 18th hole, but when McIlroy drove wildly the second time, he had a chance.

His first shot was not ideal either, though, following McIlroy into the rough, and back they went again.

Forget the Football,Rugby & Cricket today....The Sporting headlines should all go to @stormygraeme..... An incredible sporting Comeback !!  Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) January 15, 2017

Well done @stormygraeme a seriously popular winner!! Amazing what can be achieved after adversity, true northern grit #europeantour   Paul Collingwood (@Colly622) January 15, 2017

The third time out, McIlroys second shot on the par-four was a poor one, falling short of the green, and a 45-foot putt from Storm that skipped just past allowed him to take a par.
Outgoing CIA director John Brennan has ripped into Donald Trump for talking and tweeting about possibly easing sanctions against Russia.

He said the president-elect lacks a full understanding of the threat Moscow poses to the United States.

I think he has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road, Mr Brennan said on Fox News Sunday, a show Mr Trump routinely watches.

Donald Trump (Paco Anselmi/PA)

Now that hes going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, hes going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that US and national security interests are protected, he added.

The extraordinary televised lecture to the incoming president highlighted the bitter state of Mr Trumps relationship with the American intelligence community just days before he is inaugurated as the nations 45th president.

Mr Trump has repeatedly shrugged off intelligence that has convinced Republicans and Democrats that Russia tried to help him win the election.

He has publicly called for a better relationship between the US and President Vladimir Putins government, and suggested in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he would consider easing sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama as payback for the alleged election hacking.

Mr Trump has also suggested that the intelligence community is out to get him  including by the leak of a document containing potentially damaging, but unverified, financial and personal information on him.

He has likened the situation to Nazi Germany.

Mr Brennan called that comparison outrageous and said the intelligence community wanted the president-elect to know that the document was circulating among some news outlets.

However, an array of revelations has shed more light on the Trump-Putin relationship.

Retired General Michael Flynn, who is set to become Mr Trumps national security adviser, and Russias ambassador to the US have been in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for the alleged election hacking, a senior US official said.

After initially denying that Mr Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak spoke on December 29, a Trump official said late on Friday that the transition team was aware of one call on the day the Obama administration imposed the sanctions.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence, also in an appearance on Fox News Sunday, denied that Mr Flynn and Mr Kislyak discussed anything relating to the sanctions.

Mr Pence said he talked to Mr Flynn about this on Saturday. The conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new US sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats.

Repeated contacts just as Mr Obama imposed sanctions would raise questions about whether Mr Trumps team discussed  or even helped shape  Russias response.

Mr Putin unexpectedly did not retaliate against the US for the sanctions or the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, a decision Mr Trump quickly praised.
On sensitive U.S. stopover, Taiwan leader connects to Twitter

By Jane Lanhee Lee

SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 14 (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, carving a careful diplomatic path on her stopovers in the United States, visited the headquarters of micro-messaging service Twitter Inc and opened her official account on Saturday.

A source with knowledge of the president's travel through San Francisco told Reuters she met with the "head of Twitter" but declined to confirm if that person was CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey.

The source, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, did not provide further details of her meetings in the U.S. tech capital.

Tsai was returning from a week-long visit to Central America. But it was her stopovers in the United States that raised more interest after President-elect Donald Trump said last month he would reconsider the long-standing "one China" policy, whereby the United States acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China.

He reiterated that possibility in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, a week before his inauguration. China responded that the "one China" principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-U.S. relations.

Trump took a congratulatory call from Tsai after his Nov. 8 victory, sparking outrage from China, which believes the Taiwanese leader wants to seek formal independence from the mainland.

Tsai made a stopover in Houston on Jan. 7 and 8 before heading to Central America and arrived Friday night in San Francisco on her way back home. She did not appear to have met with any representatives of the Trump team during her short U.S. stays. But in Houston last Sunday, she met with Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Texas Governor Greg Abbott and sparked more ire in Beijing.

China had asked the United States not to allow Tsai to enter or have formal government meetings under the one China policy.

Cruz was pointed in his criticism of the Chinese, saying they needed to "understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves."

Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a renegade province ineligible for state-to-state relations. The subject is a sensitive one for China.

More than a hundred people were gathered outside the Hyatt Regency near San Francisco International Airport, some to protest and some to support the president.
Late Bangladesh collapse gives NZ sniff of unlikely win

WELLINGTON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - New Zealand captured three late wickets on Sunday to give themselves a sniff of an unlikely victory against Bangladesh in the first test at the Basin Reserve.

The visitors were 66 for three in their second innings at the end of the fourth day's play, with an overall lead of 122 runs. Mominul Haque was on 10 while night watchman Mehedi Hasan was run out for one with three balls left of the day's play.

Mitchell Santner had started the collapse of three wickets for 16 when he bowled Tamim Iqbal for 25, before Neil Wagner had Mahmudullah caught by wicketkeeper BJ Watling for five.

Santner then ran Mehedi out with a direct hit to give his side confidence for the final day's play, with two of Bangladesh's top-order batsmen under injury clouds.

Opening batsman Imrul Kayes retired hurt on 24 after he appeared to suffer a pulled muscle while taking a quick single.

Captain Mushfiqur Rahim did not field in New Zealand's innings of 539 due to suspected broken fingers, though he was seen padded up to bat if required on Sunday.

Imrul took the gloves in Mushfiqur's absence and snared five catches, a record for a stand-in wicketkeeper, in New Zealand's innings that was anchored by Tom Latham's career-best 177.

Latham, whose previous best was 137 against Pakistan in 2014, had resumed on 119 with Henry Nicholls, who was on 35 and the hosts on 292 for three.

Both were untroubled as they took New Zealand to 347 for three before Nicholls was caught at leg slip by Mehedi off Shakib Al Hasan for 53.

Watling and Latham then took New Zealand past the follow-on target of 395 but the opener was trapped in front by Shakib shortly after, just when a double century was on offer.

Part-time off-spinner Mahmudullah then took two wickets in one over, the first from a wide long hop that Watling shaped to smash to bring up his 13th test half century but succeeded only in nicking to Imrul.

Watling trudged off for 49 and was quickly followed by Tim Southee, who was trapped in front for one just four balls later.

Santner then made a career-best 73 before he was the last man out, bowled by Subashis Roy. It was his second test half century.
Davos elites struggle for answers as Trump era dawns

By Noah Barkin

DAVOS, Switzerland, Jan 15 (Reuters) - The global economy is in better shape than it's been in years. Stock markets are booming, oil prices are on the rise again and the risks of a rapid economic slowdown in China, a major source of concern a year ago, have eased.

And yet, as political leaders, CEOs and top bankers make their annual trek up the Swiss Alps to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the mood is anything but celebratory.

Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on the final day of the forum.

Last year, the consensus here was that Trump had no chance of being elected. His victory, less than half a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was a slap at the principles that elites in Davos have long held dear, from globalisation and free trade to multilateralism.

Trump is the poster child for a new strain of populism that is spreading across the developed world and threatening the post-war liberal democratic order. With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable.

"Regardless of how you view Trump and his positions, his election has led to a deep, deep sense of uncertainty and that will cast a long shadow over Davos," said Jean-Marie Guehenno, CEO of International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think-tank.

Moises Naim of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was even more blunt: "There is a consensus that something huge is going on, global and in many respects unprecedented. But we don't know what the causes are, nor how to deal with it."

The titles of the discussion panels at the WEF, which runs from Jan. 17-20, evoke the unsettling new landscape. Among them are "Squeezed and Angry: How to Fix the Middle Class Crisis", "Politics of Fear or Rebellion of the Forgotten?", "Tolerance at the Tipping Point?" and "The Post-EU Era".

The list of leaders attending this year is also telling. The star attraction will be Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president ever to attend Davos. His presence is being seen as a sign of Beijing's growing weight in the world at a time when Trump is promising a more insular, "America first" approach and Europe is pre-occupied with its own troubles, from Brexit to terrorism.

British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has the thorny task of taking her country out of the EU, will also be there. But Germany's Angela Merkel, a Davos regular whose reputation for steady, principled leadership would have fit well with the WEF's main theme of "Responsive and Responsible Leadership", will not.

'REJOICING IN THE ELEVATORS'

Perhaps the central question in Davos, a four-day affair of panel discussions, lunches and cocktail parties that delve into subjects as diverse as terrorism, artificial intelligence and wellness, is whether leaders can agree on the root causes of public anger and begin to articulate a response.

A WEF report on global risks released before Davos highlighted "diminishing public trust in institutions" and noted that rebuilding faith in the political process and leaders would be a "difficult task".

Guy Standing, the author of several books on the new "precariat", a class of people who lack job security and reliable earnings, believes more people are coming around to the idea that free-market capitalism needs to be overhauled, including those that have benefited most from it.

"The mainstream corporate types don't want Trump and far-right authoritarians," said Standing, who has been invited to Davos for the first time. "They want a sustainable global economy in which they can do business. More and more of them are sensible enough to realise that they have overreached."

But Ian Bremmer, president of U.S.-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, is not so sure.

He recounted a recent trip to Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York where he saw bankers "rejoicing in the elevators" at the surge in stock markets and the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation under Trump. Both Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his JP Morgan counterpart Jamie Dimon will be in Davos.

"If you want to find people who are going to rally together and say capitalism is fundamentally broken, Davos is not the place to go," Bremmer said.

PACE OF CHANGE

Suma Chakrabarti, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), believes a "modern version of globalisation" is possible but acknowledges it will take time to emerge.

"It is going to be a long haul in persuading a lot of people that there is a different approach. But you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water," he told Reuters.

Still, some attendees worry that the pace of technological change and the integrated, complex nature of the global economy have made it more difficult for leaders to shape and control events, let alone reconfigure the global system.

The global financial crisis of 2008/9 and the migrant crisis of 2015/16 exposed the impotence of politicians, deepening public disillusion and pushing people towards populists who offered simple explanations and solutions.

The problem, says Ian Goldin, an expert on globalisation and development at the University of Oxford, is that on many of the most important issues, from climate change to financial regulation, only multilateral cooperation can deliver results. And this is precisely what the populists reject.
Bahrain executes three Shi'ites convicted of killing policemen

RIYADH, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Bahraini authorities on Sunday executed three Shi'ite Muslim men convicted of killing an Emirati police officer and two Bahraini policemen in a 2014 bomb attack, the public prosecutor said, in the first death sentences to be carried out since 2008.
A representative of US President-elect Donald Trump refuted media reports about a proposed summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Icelandic capital, Bloomberg reported.

According to a representative, the information about the summit is false.

Earlier in the day, the Sunday Times newspaper reported that Trump plans to hold a summit with Putin in Reykjavik, Iceland, which will also be the first Trump's foreign trip after assuming the office.
Israel, Palestinians warned against solo steps harmful to peace

By John Irish, Lesley Wroughton and Marine Pennetier

PARIS, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Some 70 countries reaffirmed on Sunday that only a two-state solution could resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned against any unilateral steps by either side that could prejudge negotiations.

The final communique of a one-day international Middle East peace conference in Paris shied away from explicitly criticising plans by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to move the U.S Embassy to Jerusalem, although diplomats said the wording sent a "subliminal" message.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital despite international objections.

Countries including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council were in Paris for the conference, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as "futile".

Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians were represented.

However, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the meeting was seen as a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the incoming American president that a two-state solution to the conflict could not be compromised on and that unilateral decisions could exacerbate tensions on the ground.

The participants "call on each side ... to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees and which they will not recognise," the final communique said.

A French diplomatic source said there had been tough negotiations on that paragraph.

"It's a tortuous and complicated paragraph to pass a subliminal message to the Trump administration," the diplomat said.

REAFFIRMING RESOLUTION 2334

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters it would have been inappropriate to include the issue of moving the U.S. embassy, it being publicly debated in the United States.

Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto U.N. resolution 2334 demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Paris has said the meeting did not aim to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations could resolve the conflict.

The final draft did not go into any details other than reaffirming U.N. Security Council resolutions, including 2334. Diplomats said that had been a source of friction in talks.

"When some are questioning this, it's vital for us to recall the framework of negotiations. That framework is the 1967 borders and the main resolutions of the United Nations," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told reporters.

Kerry, who abandoned his efforts to broker peace talks in April 2014, told reporters that the meeting had "moved the ball forward."

"It underscores this is not just one administration's point of view, this is shared by the international community broadly," he said.

France, home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year and argued that it should not play second fiddle to the war in Syria and the fight against Islamic State militants.

FOLLOW-UP MEETING?

The final statement said interested parties would meet again before year-end.

But Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday that "this conference is among the last twitches of the world of yesterday ... Tomorrow will look different and that tomorrow is very close."

Britain added its criticism on Sunday. A Foreign Office statement said the Paris conference risked "hardening positions" given Israel had objected to it and that the U.S. administration is about to change.

Prime Minister Theresa May delivered a sharp rebuke on Israel last month to its U.S. ally when she scolded Secretary of State John Kerry for describing the Israeli government as the most right-wing in Israeli history. The criticism aligned her more closely with Trump.
Britain and UAE launch joint military exercises

DUBAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Britain and the United Arab Emirates launched a joint military exercise dubbed "Sea Dagger 2017", Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Sunday.

The exercise, which WAM said was aimed at "training on the planning, implementation and management of joint military operations", takes place as Gulf Arab and American rivalry with nearby Iran continues to simmer.

Saudi Arabia and its smaller Gulf Arab neighbours accuse Iran of seeking to spread its power in the Arab world at their expense by backing Shi'ite Muslim militants in conflicts throughout the region, a charge Tehran denies.

A U.S. Navy destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian military vessels in the the Strait of Hormuz last week.
Gambia's President-elect arrives in Senegal after talks fail

By Emma Farge

DAKAR, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Gambia's President-elect Adama Barrow has left the country for neighbouring Senegal, a coalition member and local media said on Sunday, a day after West African leaders failed to persuade President Yahya Jammeh to step aside.

Barrow, a former real estate agent, won a Dec. 1 election in the former British colony by a slim margin. Long-ruling Jammeh conceded defeat but then changed his mind, plunging one of West Africa's tourist hot spots into crisis and dimming hopes for democracy in a region accustomed to coups and autocratic rule.

Barrow, backed by the West and the African Union, is due to be inaugurated on Jan. 19, although Jammeh is seeking to block this pending a Supreme Court ruling on his legal challenge to poll results.

"He (Barrow) is in Dakar. He will be back for the inauguration and we are mobilising the whole country for that," said Isatou Toure, a member of Barrow's coalition.

A spokesman for Senegal's government was not immediately able to confirm his arrival which was also reported by state-owned news agency APS. Toure did not say why Barrow had gone to Dakar, although other supporters said he felt vulnerable given a lack of security.

The regional mediation mission to Banjul on Saturday, led by Nigeria's President Buhari Muhammadu Buhari and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was seen as the last attempt at a diplomatic resolution to the political impasse.

Talks with regional bloc ECOWAS in December had also failed.

The bloc will seek formal approval to send troops if Jammeh continues to refuse to step aside, U.N. Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel Mohammed Ibn Chambas said earlier this week.

"His Excellency the President reiterated his position and that of The Gambia Government," said a statement for Gambia's President on the State House website after Saturday's meeting.

Jammeh has cited irregularities in the polling process and is challenging the election results at Gambia's Supreme Court.
Sudan extends ceasefire by six months

KHARTOUM, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Sudan said on Sunday it would extend a unilateral ceasefire in fighting with rebels in the country's warring regions to six months, state news agency SUNA reported.

The move comes after the United States said on Friday it would lift a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan, but would wait 180 days before doing so to see whether Sudan acts further to improve its human rights record and resolve political and military conflicts, including in warring regions such as Darfur.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir asked the government at a special cabinet meeting on Sunday to prepare procedures to "accommodate for the positive impact of the United States lifting sanctions," SUNA reported.

Al-Bashir on Jan. 1 had already extended the ceasefire, in place since October, by just one month.

The United States said on Friday it would also unfreeze Sudan's assets and remove financial sanctions as a response to Khartoum's cooperation in fighting Islamic State and other groups.

The latest outbreak of fighting between the army and rebels in Kordofan and Blue Nile broke out in 2011, when adjacent South Sudan declared independence. Conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against Sudan's Arab-led government.

Sudan previously announced short-term truces in these regions in June and October 2016, which were followed by a fall-off in fighting in the southern Blue Nile and Kordofan regions but continued clashes in Darfur.

Sudan's economic problems have been building since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of oil output, the main source of foreign currency and government income.
MIDEAST STOCKS-Saudi stalls, Kuwait outperforms, Dubai slips

By Celine Aswad

DUBAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Stock markets in the Gulf diverged on Sunday with Saudi Arabia stalling near a six-week low and Dubai retreating on profit-taking, while Kuwait continued to outperform.

Saudi Arabia's index added 0.1 percent. Nine of the top 10 performers were from the insurance segment with Wafa Insurance in the lead, jumping 9.1 percent.

Interest in the sector has risen partly because of local media reports late last year that Saudi Arabia was looking at the possibility of including haj and umra pilgrims in a compulsory health insurance scheme.

Almarai rose 0.4 percent after the Gulf's largest dairy company reported a 1 percent increase in fourth-quarter net profit to 488.5 million riyals ($130 million), roughly in line with analysts' forecasts. Sales rose marginally and the cost of sales fell.

Analysts at NCB Capital said that despite the relatively flat earnings and revenue growth, strong margin expansion from lower operating expenditure and improving sales in Almarai's poultry segment were important positives.

The company, one of the few in Saudi Arabia that give forward guidance, said it would "continue to focus on costs control, efficiency gains and cashflow preservation while maintaining its strategic direction of profitable growth".

However the results revealed the dairy and juice segment had suffered its first year-on-year decline in sales, according to NCB Capital. This sent some other food producers lower, with Saudia Dairy and Foodstuff dropping 3.4 percent.

Bank Aljazira, the first bank to report earnings in the kingdom, reported a 4.4 percent drop in fourth-quarter net profit to 152 million riyals. Aljazira cited higher impairment charges for credit losses.

The bank's stock closed 0.4 percent higher after trading lower for most of the session.

However, some other banks were knocked lower, with Saudi British Bank dropping 1.4 percent.

Egypt's main index rose to yet another record close in healthy trading volume. The index has risen 56 percent since the currency was floated on Nov. 3.

Arabian Cement jumped its 10 percent daily limit for a third consecutive session to 9.91 Egyptian pounds.

Analysts have said the company is trading at a discount to its fair value and there is further upside potential because of improving industry fundamentals and an expected rise in product prices.

KUWAIT OUTPERFORMS, DUBAI HIT

National Bank of Oman lost 1.2 percent after posting a 19.9 percent fall in fourth-quarter net profit, at the low end of analysts' estimates.

Kuwait's stock market gained 1.9 percent with the largest logistics firm in the Gulf, Agility, and National Bank of Kuwait each climbing 3.0 percent.

Kuwait's index is up 8.2 percent since Jan. 1, outperforming the region after a long period of sluggish performance.

"Sentiment is very positive in the market but no change in fundamentals," said Bader Al Gahnim, head of regional asset management at Kuwait-based Global Investment House.

"From an economic perspective the country is well positioned due to prudent fiscal management and a lower fiscal break-even oil price."

Dubai's index pulled back 1.1 percent, its largest single-day decline in a month, retreating from a 15-month high hit last week. Some of last week's biggest gainers were among the main drags - builder Drake & Scull dropped 3.6 percent and Amlak Finance lost 2.2 percent.

Abu Dhabi's index edged down 0.1 percent. International Fish Farming Holding (Asmak) jumped 6.9 percent after a blog posting suggested a well-known Abu Dhabi individual investor had bought a strategic stake in the company.

But contacted by Reuters, an Asmak spokesman denied that, and said the company had also communicated the denial to the Abu Dhabi exchange.

SUNDAY'S HIGHLIGHTS

SAUDI ARABIA

* The index added 0.1 percent to 6,931 points.

DUBAI

* The index lost 1.1 percent to 3,678 points.

ABU DHABI

* The index fell 0.1 percent to 4,675 points.

QATAR

* The index edged up 0.3 percent to 10,742 points.

EGYPT

* The index rose 0.5 percent to 13,288 points.

KUWAIT

* The index added 1.9 percent to 6,223 points.

OMAN

* The index fell 0.3 percent to 5,744 points.

BAHRAIN

* The index edged up 0.3 percent to 1,215 points.
Tibet protesters detained in Swiss capital during Xi Jinping visit

VIENNA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Swiss police detained 32 Tibetans and Swiss nationals protesting against a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, a spokesman said.

Swiss authorities had limited the duration of the protest in the centre of Bern to two hours before noon (1100 GMT) to avoid the kind of confrontation that marked the last visit by a Chinese president 18 years ago.

Several people near a security zone set up for the state visit failed to comply with police instructions, Bern cantonal police said in a statement.

"Thirty-two people were detained to secure safety," a spokesman said.

At noon, police prevented a man from setting himself on fire, according to the statement. The man was taken care of by doctors.

Fourteen activists were detained near the Swiss parliament building in the afternoon as they continued to protest past the time restriction, waving posters saying "Free Tibet" and "Don't Deal With Killers", the association of Tibetan Youth in Europe said.

"The situation inside Tibet is getting worse day by day. Our people are being oppressed, our people are being imprisoned," the association's spokeswoman Migmar Dhakyel said.

"We are really concerned (about) how our government, our own government treats us, doesn't permit us to demonstrate."

Between 700 and 800 Tibetans and Swiss had gathered in the city centre and protested peacefully against the Tibet policies of China, Tenzin Nyingbu, President of the Tibetan Community in Switzerland & Liechtenstein, told Reuters.

Most of them left before noon as agreed with Bern municipal security, Nyingbu said.

The Chinese leader arrived in the Swiss capital for a gala dinner on Sunday afternoon. After holding talks with Swiss officials on Monday, he will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, a first for a Chinese president.

In 1999, demonstrators took to roofs overlooking the Swiss parliament with banners demanding "Free Tibet" during a visit by China's then-president Jiang Zemin.

Police intervened when people tried to throw eggs at the Chinese delegation. Jiang questioned Swiss leaders' control over their country and remarked that they risked "losing a good friend".
Death toll from Brazil prison riot tops 30 -source

SAO PAULO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - At least 30 inmates were killed in a prison riot in Brazil's northeastern region that broke out late on Saturday, a person with direct knowledge of the situation said.
Leading academic on climatology Prof. Senevi Epitawatte, in an interview with the Daily Mirror, speaks about the effects of global warming or climatic changes on Sri Lanka in the decades to come. Asserting that Sri Lanka would face severe effects of it in another 25-30 years, he called for action to stand up to the situation in terms of adaptation and mitigation. He recently published two

volumes on

geomorphology. Excerpts:

Q How do you look at the effects of global warming in Sri Lanka?

Global warming is a definite event. Drastic and unpredictable changes will take place as a result of global warming. The problems exist even now, and it will take a turn for the worse in the future. It will be a very serious situation in another 25 to 30 years time. The total biosphere, with human and other beings, will have a challenging situation by that time. Unfortunately, there are two arguments.

One section of scientists believes that climate change will take place. At the same time, another set, influenced by sponsorship of companies with vested interests, argues otherwise. They say evidence is very little to prove the phenomenon of global warming. According to my knowledge, it will happen definitely. Unfortunately, in Sri Lanka, the changes will take place not only in the tropical part but also in every other geographical area. In Sri Lanka, it will be even severe. Together, with the climatic change, the sea level will rise. According to the minimum predictions, the sea level will rise by at least 1.5 metres. At maximum it will rise by 15 metres. If it is a 15 metre rise, all the low land coastal areas will be submerged.

Intensity of rainfall will be high at times. It will cause flash floods. We cannot predict what kind of atmospheric behaviour will take place though.



Q Scientifically, why is it so severe for Sri Lanka?

It will be serious because of the rise of sea temperature. Alongside, the velocity of wind will change. The atmospheric moisture will also change. It will affect our vegetation, and eventually the entire environment. Intensity of rain will be severe.



Q How do you elaborate on disasters accompanied with it?

If there is more rainfall, it will lead to an increase of the insect population. We will witness more and more soil erosion. If there is more moisture in the atmosphere, then our crops should go for a phase of adaptation. That is another thing. This adaptation looks impossible in another 25 years. That is the challenge.

It means the entire crop cultivation pattern will change. Rubber cultivation may disappear. Especially, wetland paddy cultivation will get affected. All the settlements, in the low lying areas, will be under the threat of getting submerged by the rising seas.

People will be pushed upwards for resettlement. The Jaffna peninsula will virtually disappear in this manner in another 25-30 years. Then, people there will be forced to come to the central parts of the country.



Q How have you observed the effect of global warming in the present context?

A good example is the drop of the annual coconut a steady yield. If you analyze the yield, you can notice a steady decline during the past few years. The size of a nut is also getting smaller. Alongside, the number of nuts in a cluster has dwindled. It is a phenomenon observed all over the country. Cultivators say it is a reduction of 50 percent. The size of a coconut has also been reduced by 25-30 percent.

In the plantation sector, there are changes in tea, both in terms of quality and the extent of yield.

Q Recently, there were floods that wreaked havoc in Colombo. Is that a direct result of global warming?



We cannot interpret individual events in that way and link it with global warming. You have to take ten or fifteen events like that and analyze them for any conclusion. A trend analysis will only help in determining it.



Q How do you estimate Sri Lankas preparedness for it?

It is absolutely at zero level. We seem to be least bothered about it. The universities do not do enough research. What is necessary is to look at genetic developments to be introduced to crops. No research is done in this regard. We are not studying the socio-economic adversities involved. We have a very little link with the international organizations doing climate change studies. We cannot undertake very big research on our own because we are not technologically advanced enough. Unless we have collaborative programmes with advanced countries, we cannot do proper evaluation of the situation.



Q But, the government leaders talk a lot about participation in international fora about climate change. What are your views?

They have attended such conferences and have coffee with high delicacy sandwiches. They can enjoy elaborate meals with high delicacies. But, they do not bring ideas to be acclimatized in the local context. Actually, they can bring some ideas and instruct the university authorities to do some research in this regard.

Q What prompted you to compile the latest volumes of geomorphology?



That is the very reason. I was thinking of it for the last ten years. That is the only the contribution I can make. If the government is not interested in dealing with the issue, I can write such books and promote ideas. That is the reason for me to compile four books, especially on the climate, climatic change, land forms and biosphere. There are four volumes. Three other volumes will come in on human aspects. Even a little child can read these things.

Climatic change is related to geography. For geography, very little priority is given in the school curriculum. Geography is the main subject area where one can study environment and the climatic change. We have neglected this discipline.

Q How should we get ready for climate resilience?



I do not think we can do anything individually. Work has to be done with international cooperation. We can only do adaptation to changes in climate. Otherwise, we cannot stop it as such. We can concentrate on the development of our road network, urban areas and climate resilience agriculture, and housing in areas prone for floods. We can prepare for the situation through engineering techniques, cultural activities and all.

Climate resilient crop cultivation is an idea to consider. As for paddy, we see a difference between varieties we used 30-40 years ago and the ones being used at the moment. During the last 35 years, we have changes the genetic aspects of crops. We have better yields as a result. We develop varieties which yield within a shorter period. If there is constant rain and moisture, you can cultivate and collect harvests as early as possible. We have to develop other crop varieties in a similar way. We should work for genetic developments of livestock. It has happened historically.

Q In the central hills, we see landslides occurring whenever there is heavy rain. How is it linked with climatic changes?



The more it rains, the more you will see landslides. Besides, landslides are caused not only by climatic conditions such as rainfall but also by human activities. When mountainous lands are terraced for various purposes, deforested or cultivated with deep rooting trees, it will cause landslides. As for the recent landslide in Aranayake, it had been a forest area around 100 years ago. Later, tea was cultivated. Even that was neglected.

People settled in the lands. Every household had dug wells and pit toilets. That means the entire soil surface layer had been changed. Water absorption capacity has also changed. So, heavy rainfall causes landslides. It is a man-made situation. It is not purely a phenomenon of global warming.

QWhat is your suggestion to mitigate damage from such disasters in future?

If it happens everywhere, people can turn to nowhere. It is proverbially similar to people left with no choice in the event of the sky collapsing. We will have to teach people how to reckon with this kind of situation. Then, people can make informed choices. Secondly, you can develop a drainage system, crop pattern etc.

Areas restricted for human settlement should be earmarked. Such lands can be released for forestry or anything.
President Maithripala Sirisena is expected to issue a circular requiring the government offices to reduce the usage of air conditioners in the wake of the prevailing dry spell that may cause a power crisis as well, a Deputy Minister said today.

Deputy Minister of Energy Ajith P. Perera told a media briefing that a circular would be issued by the President to limit the usage of air conditioners and to reduce the temperature only up to 26 degrees centigrade on the air conditioners.

He said more energy had to be used when air conditioners were used to reduce the temperature of a building to as low as 22, 21 or 20 degrees centigrade.

He said State owned power stations had decided to use water sparingly as the levels in the reservoirs were decreasing fast.

Hydro power accounts to only 36 percent of the countrys electricity generation, but we have decided to use water sparingly given the present weather conditions, he said.

We expect to carry on without power cuts till March this year as inter-monsoon rains are expected around that time. However, a decision has to be made if the inter-monsoonal rains do not come as expected, the Deputy Minister said.

The Deputy Minister said there would not be an issue in the long term with the decision to go for solar power, while a major liquid gas (LNG) power plant would be constructed in Kerawalapitiya in the near future.
Sri Lankans have suffered serious set-backs for the past several decades due to impunity. It is becoming an increasingly difficult crisis beyond redemption. Government loses billions due to corruption, mismanagement and misappropriation of State funds. There is conspicuously an absence of investigation, justice or punishment. Robert Rothberg, a leading scholar of failed states had said that even when a State was weak, failing, failed or collapsed, ruling families and cadres arrogate to themselves increasing portions of the available pie.

All these constitute serious breaches of governments obligations. The failure by public authorities to bring perpetrators to book by imposing punishments and their reluctance to grant redress to victims is the simple definition of impunity. Impunity inheres where there is a deficit of democratic structures of accountability, fairness and impartiality.

Origins of impunity in Sri Lanka could be directly traced to the concept of presidential immunity in the 1978 Constitution. Presidents could not be sued during the tendency of the term, whether civil or criminal, prior to the enactment of the 19th Amendment. It was spoofed that the spouse could not have even filed a divorce suit at least.

Furthermore, both 1972 and 1978 Constitutions had included provisions for the politicians to make higher appointments to the judiciary and the public service. Executive President constitutionally wielded enormous powers. It had subsequently invaded all other areas in the government. Chief Justice, Attorney-General and the other key appointments were made at the behest of the President. The President appoints the members of the Judicial Services Commission (JSC) too. It is the JSC, which is entrusted with the powers to appoint promote, transfers, disciplinary control and dismissal of judicial officers in lower courts.



Impunity is the foremost indicator of the absence of institutions that promote pluralism, participation, impartiality, accountability and fairness. The 18th Amendment was a manifestation of the consolidation of wider powers to the Executive President. This was passed in Parliament with 161 voting in favour and 17 against. This created further isolation between the ruled and the ruler. Members who crossed over from the Opposition from time to time had been made Cabinet Ministers, the country with the largest Cabinet in the whole world. If sheep elect wolves to be their shepherds, then they deserve to be eaten  Anonymous.

During the past few decades, politicians, their henchmen, government servants with direct accessibility to power and authority; or friends, relations, children of those in power, if they had committed wrongful acts, such as criminal, civil, administrative, had not been brought under investigation or inquiry. Perpetrators finally had escaped arrest, prosecution etc. for wrongdoing. Impunity was consequently a creation by the State.

President has the power in terms of Article 34 of the Constitution to grant a pardon to an offender convicted in any court. A wife of former minister Milroy Fernando, had been sentenced to death for double murder by the Colombo High Court. She had been freed on a Presidential pardon to mark International Womens Day along with two foreign nationals, who had been convicted for drug offences! Many more who have been convicted similarly are yet languishing in jails! And why?

Furthermore, other victims, who had suffered numerous ordeals due impunity, suffer endlessly without any of hope of being able to see justice and fair play. Ending impunity and forging justice is therefore a distant dream unless there is meaningful political consensus to strengthen rule of law and to restrain the abuse of power.

"Due to political interference and manipulation, Police, the Attorney-General and the judiciary, had left ample room for criticism, and had acted biased without taking appropriate measures against perpetrators"



Due to political interference and manipulation, Police, the Attorney-General and the judiciary, had left ample room for criticism, and had acted biased without taking appropriate measures against perpetrators. The authorities thereby had overlooked prosecution, trial and suitable punishment in terms of the law. Attorney-General is the countrys principal prosecutor, who plays a crucial role within the criminal justice system. Due to endless politicisation of the Attorney-Generals office, there has been serious allegations that the Attorney-General too had contributed to the strengthening of the culture of impunity in the country.

The independence of the judiciary has been manipulatively exonerated, which had seriously impacted the rule of law. There had been broad consensus that the concentration of intense powers in one individual with immunities attached had been inimical to the constitutional balance of powers. Culture of impunity has accordingly been institutionalised, systematized, at their will, with reduced accountability and transparency. Presidential system guaranteed a political system  the winner takes it all and favoured anti-democratic dictatorial politics. Arent there two types of immunities the world over? Our MPs too, like in UK, USA, Australia, New Zealand and Canada, by law have been provided with immunity in Parliament to take part in debates without entertaining fears or worries about lawsuits. Remember, immunity beyond that would be controversial. Parliamentarians like Mervyn Silva and many others enjoyed immunity in Parliament, while enjoying unwritten benefits of impunity outside the precincts of Parliament. How about their children and similar mischief-makers who broke law and created quarrels in night clubs, without appropriate legal action against them?

Unlike in developed countries, we have diverse examples where crooks, fraudsters, liars and the like contesting political office having agreed to abide by 12th March agreement. On the other hand, people elected the present regime, to work effectively to provide solutions to an ailing democracy to restore good governance and rule of law. Shouldnt they remember that they too are under a microscope? Citizens, international community, potential investors and the like are also watching us.



We also had a Prime Minster, who had been accused of issuing a letter to Customs authorities to release a container with contraband. We also had powerful politicos, who had denied wrong-doing and involvement even after the Customs had revealed that there had been container loads of Ethanol imported illegally. Minister Bathiudeen had allegedly threatened the Mannar District Judge Anthony Pillai after the latter had ordered the arrest of a group of men, alleged to be supporters of the minister. The minister had telephoned the Judge to change the verdict and when he had refused to comply with the ministers request, a group allegedly under the political patronage of the minister, had pelted stones at the court building and had set fire to a section of it. Police had produced a B report that the attackers had caused damage amounting to Rs. 1.4 million. IMPUNITY ON LARGE SCALE! Our politicos cleverly abuse and manipulate political office with efficiency and effectiveness to maximise the outcomes to themselves and their kith and kin. All these had finally led to the erosion of rule of law and bad governance; the loss of public trust in law enforcement authorities and State institutions.



In Sri Lanka, impunity has now become an integral part in day to day governance. We have experienced instances where elected representatives had taken the law into their own hands and escaped, without being punished due to impunity.

Shouldnt the President consider creation of an independent office of the Attorney-General accountable to Parliament as in the case of Secretary-General of Parliament, Auditor-General and the Commissioner-General of Election under the present circumstances. If so, the AG will be able to handle his onerous duties with professional rectitude and fearlessness.

President and the Prime Minster, should be conscious that the dilemma they face is politically volatile in post-war Sri Lanka. Because impunity is corrosive. People suffer in the hands of police, other bureaucrats without redress. Women do not venture out at night. There are senseless killings, bribery, torture, etc. Indifferent or hostile public officers including dangerously low policing. Ongoing trends therefore favouring impunity must be reversed without delay. The government should also facilitate the judiciary to hear corruption, criminal cases etc. through a rapid response mechanism for timely action against IMPUNITY. Justice Mark Fernando had said  What is required is a fair-minded group of persons. Not just Constitutions, just laws or just institutions. Right persons and not institutions because Paradise even on earth is not a physical place of material development but a set of values, fairness, tolerance, non-discrimination and so on. Impunity is therefore a governance issue. The remedy is that the political leadership will require the POLITICAL WILL to involve effective functioning of all institutions.

It was because the institutions had failed and had broken down, that they had finally given birth to the culture of impunity. All these, ultimately, have benefited the haves at the expense of the have-nots, and has led to endless corruption, growing organized crime, drug rackets, poor economic growth and destabilization of the country. Professor Andrew Scott at Deakin University argues  More effective political leadership and judgement will be needed to channel these sentiments into policy change. Shouldnt the countrymen think we need good leaders 

RIGHT PERSONS?
At least 10 inmates killed as a result of a prison riot in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Norte, Sputnik reported.

The clashes erupted between the two opposing gangs in the prison of the city of Natal, where one of the gangs rushed into the prison block and initiated a mass brawl. Three prisoners were reportedly beheaded.

According to the Brazilian Ministry of Justice, about 1,100 inmates are serving sentences in the Natal prison, while it is designed only for 620 prisoners.

On January 6, 33 inmates died in a mutiny in a prison in the region of Roraima in the north of Brazil.

Human Rights Watch organization called on the Brazilian authorities in January to defend prisoners from gang violence.
All Island Lottery Dealers Association (AILDA) would boycott selling lottery tickets for five days from tomorrow (16) as their demands were not met as promised by the President, the Daily Mirror learns.

Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake also strongly maintains that the new price of Rs.30 would not be changed at any cost.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror Finance Minister Ravi Karunanayake said that the government was not in a position to fulfill these demands and the prices or the commissions that they anticipate to be amended would remain unchanged at all circumstances.

However, the association President Krishan Marambe said the government had not yet responded to their demands as promised.

The lottery ticket dealers protested since the latter part of last year over the price increase which was proposed in the budget 2017.

This came in the wake of the Finance Ministry decision to amend the lottery ticket price to be increased from Rs. 20 to Rs.30 with effect from January 01.

However, the lottery ticket dealers demonstrated against the price hike demanding that their livelihood would get affected if their commissions were reduced as a result of the price hike.

The protest which lasted over one week was called off on January 5 following an assurance given by President Maithripala Sirisena that he would immediately look in to the matter.

We called off our protest due to the promise made by the President that he would personally look into the matter. We cant sell tickets at the new price. Our sales have come down by 40 percent. We cannot trust the government or the Lottery Board any further. So, we would boycott till 20 January.

This is our livelihood. We had given enough time to solve the matter. It is not fair to risk our sales to cover the boards (NLB and DLB) expenses. Boards are earning millions of profits over our sweat and blood. In return what is left for us? It is Just our day-to-day income. Now the Board is robbing even that, Krishan said.

Commenting on the issue National Development Boards Chairperson Shyamila Perera told the Daily Mirror that she wasnt aware about the protest and somehow the Board had given an appointment today to speak on the matter with few members of the Sellers Association.

Im not aware about this protest. We had received 530 new applications for dealerships and out of that we recruited 280. Therefore we are totally prepared for this and we dont expect a huge impact on the Boards sales as a result of their protest, she said.

Development Lottery Board also had appointed 10 vehicles in the lottery distribution process within the Colombo and suburb areas avoiding a drop in sales, an official said.

Through the discussions we had with the people and the sellers, we have learnt that the sales had affected to some extent as most of the people have reduced the number of lottery tickets they purchase, she said. (Thilanka Kanakarathna)

Video by Buddhi
The following is the speech made by Minister of Foreign Affairs Mangala Samaraweera at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, London on Wednesday January 11, 2017. Excerpts

The topic on which I speak- The Reconciliation Process in Sri Lanka- in fact holds special significance for us Sri Lankans this week. This is because the Cabinet of Ministers recently declared the week from January 8 to 14 as the National Integration and Reconciliation Week. This coincides with the completion of two years since the historic Presidential election of January 8th 2015, and this is the first occasion on which this annual National Integration and Reconciliation Week is being observed in my country.

As one of the main features of this observance, on January 9 in schools and State institutions including in Parliament, the following Pledge for National Integration and Reconciliation was read out- resolving to work together, hand in hand, while respecting the richness of our diversity, to foster peace, understanding, mutual trust, and brotherhood; a new Sri Lanka united in its diversity.

Several of my predecessors too have spoken here at the Chatham House. This includes the late Mr. Lakshman Kadirgamar who spoke at length here, in 1998, about the danger faced at the time by our nation, and democratic societies everywhere, from terrorism.

Almost twenty years later, I feel fortunate to be here representing a country where the guns and the bombs have finally fallen silent.

"As an important measure to prevent non-recurrence of conflict, the Parliament, last year, unanimously adopted a Resolution for the Parliament to sit as a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new Constitution that would, among other provisions. "



Although the violence ended in May 2009, the healing of wounds of over two decades of conflict, achieving reconciliation and national integration, catching up on economic progress and development that eluded us due to conflict, and ensuring non-recurrence, remain challenging tasks for our Nation. Similarly, the tasks of improving governance, institutions, rule of law, and putting in place necessary measures to strengthen, promote and protect individual rights; while ensuring the dignity of all and building a truly national identity while preserving our pluralistic society  remain work in progress.

This week, 2 years ago on the 8th of January, the people of Sri Lanka courageously turned out to vote across the country to end authoritarianism, corruption and the politics of hate; they voted for a new democratic Sri Lanka where democracy, reconciliation, the rule of law and sustainable development would flourish.

This courageous decision by the people of Sri Lanka enabled us, for the first time in our countrys history, to form a Government of National Unity, bringing together, the two main political parties  the Sri Lanka Freedom Party headed by President Maithripala Sirisena, and the United National Party headed by Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe.

Having achieved a significant number of promises set out in the 100 Day Work Programme of the Government, the most significant being the repeal of the 18th Amendment to the Constitution, and the adoption of the 19thAmendment, fresh Parliamentary elections were called in August 2015.



The 19th Amendment, as most of you I am sure are aware,

Re-introduced the two-term limit of the Presidency,

Reduced the term of the Presidency from 6 to 5 years,

Established a Constitutional Council,

Restored Independent Commissions,

Recognised the Right to Information as a fundamental right, and

Recognised the Promotion of National Reconciliation and Integration as duties of the President.



The Government also had in its hands, the task of restoring Sri Lankas relations with the outside world, and restoring lost credibility. The Government, since January 2015, therefore, started reaching out to the international community, re-engaging with governments and international organisations.

The power of Parliament has been strengthened. Oversight Committees have been set up with Opposition members chairing several key Committees.

The Right to Information Act, which was enacted by Parliament last year is now in the process of being operational.

In two years Sri Lanka has made considerable strides from soft-authoritarianism towards consolidating a rights-based democracy with deeply entrenched institutions and values.

We are convinced and we recognize clearly, that societies that avoid looking at the past, fail to build sustainable peace. Sri Lanka has suffered conflict several times both in the South and in the North. There is hardly anyone in Sri Lanka who can claim to not having been affected by conflict. We know that traumatic memories dont simply vanish and we have learned, through experience since Independence, that grievances that are left unaddressed, can go on for generations, becoming entrenched, and holding the risk of descending into cycles of violence.

It is these realizations that cry out to us that our nation will never be able to achieve the full socio-economic development potential that our nation can reach, and our citizens are so deserving of, if we fail to address grievances, that risk plunging our nation into conflict once again, that led us to co-sponsor the Resolution that we worked on with members of the Human Rights Council in October 2015. The content of the Resolution is based on commitments that we ourselves as a Government, made to our people, and proposals that we presented to the Council based on the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission Report, the Paranagama Commission Report and advice of our experts.

As the President said in his Independence Day speech in February last year, Sri Lanka is committed to the implementation of that resolution so that we as a country can deal with the past honestly and truthfully, accept that past, put it behind us, and then move forward to build our Sri Lankan nation anew.

"This week, 2 years ago on the 8th of January, the people of Sri Lanka courageously turned out to vote across the country to end authoritarianism, corruption and the politics of hate; they voted for a new democratic Sri Lanka"

The set of actions that the Government has identified to deal with the past in a comprehensive manner, addressing the grievances of all victims, include truth seeking, justice, reparation and measures for guaranteeing non-recurrence. As a first step, we have enacted legislation to set up an Office on Missing Persons. Now that the Consultation Task Force set up to seek the views of the public has just handed over its Report to the Government on the 3rd of January, the relevant experts of Government, in an exercise coordinated by the Secretariat that has been set up to Coordinate the Reconciliation Mechanisms will be studying the Report and finalizing the designing of a Truth-Seeking Commission and a Reparations Office.

As some of you may be aware there are divergent views even within the government in respect of the participation of foreign judges in the proposed judicial mechanism.

However, despite this divergence of opinions, there is a clear consensus across the board on the need of an independent and credible domestic mechanism as promised by the manifesto of President Maithripala Sirisena. As a democratic and sovereign government, we will work out the architecture of such a mechanism in consultation with all the stake-holders.

Among the various multiple tasks we have undertaken, is the drafting through a consultative and inclusive process, of a National Human Rights Action Plan for the next five years beginning from this year (2017-2021).This draft Action Plan is currently before the Cabinet.

As you are aware, Missing Persons is a phenomenon that has plagued Sri Lanka for long years. Apart from steps being taken to set up the permanent Office on Missing Persons, we have also become parties to the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance. The draft enabling legislation to give effect to the provisions of the Convention is also presently before the Cabinet.



As you are aware, one of the first steps taken by the National Unity Government in January 2015 itself was to restore civilian administration in the North and the East of the country. We have also taken a series of symbolic steps to establish equality of all citizens, such as singing the National Anthem in both Sinhala and Tamil; promising the people to ensure that we dont allow our country to plunge into conflict and the shedding of blood of our citizens by adopting a Declaration of Peace on Independence Day in February 2015; and observing the National Integration and Reconciliation Week annually, beginning from this week.

As an important measure to prevent non-recurrence of conflict, the Parliament, last year, unanimously adopted a Resolution for the Parliament to sit as a Constitutional Assembly to draft a new Constitution that would, among other provisions.

Much of the preparatory work for the new constitution has now been completed. Wide-ranging public consultations were conducted for the first time in Sri Lankas constitutional history; much study, reflection and negotiation was undertaken to arrive at consensus at the six sub-committees set up and final negotiations on a draft are currently underway.

On the developmental front, a solid foundation for economic growth, job creation and broad-based prosperity is being laid. First, the government is dealing with the white elephant economy it inherited: debt, fiscal pressures and wasteful expenditure were serious problems that have now been stabilized.

"As the President said in his Independence Day speech in February last year, Sri Lanka is committed to the implementation of that resolution so that we as a country can deal with the past honestly and truthfully, accept that past, put it behind us, and then move forward to build our Sri Lankan nation anew"

The lessons and the choices of our history are clear to us today. We have a choice between impunity, conflict, corruption, extremism and poverty, or the rule of law, accountability, equality, multiculturalism, openness and trade. We have a choice between conflict and poverty, versus peace and prosperity.

The statement issued in Brussels earlier today by the European Commission on granting the GSP+ concession to Sri Lanka is yet another indicator of Sri Lanka moving along the right track.

Two years since the 8th of January in 2015, the National Unity Government remains steadfast in its determination to achieve the objectives it set out to achieve for our country. We have succeeded against far greater odds and more powerful foes. The challenges that we have before us are not easy ones. But determination and unity, and courage and moral fortitude drive us to embrace tough choices and endure hardship to break the cycle of missed opportunities and disappointments to achieve for our people, especially our future generations, the prosperous and peaceful land that they so deserve. We are determined to ensure our success.

That is why I say to the cynics again that there will be no U-Turn despite some detours from time to time.

Breaking from the past, we will confine those who spin webs from the threads of ignorance to the dust-bin of history; finally put prejudice, ignorance, mediocrity and opportunism behind us once and for all, and build a truly united, democratic, multi-cultural and prosperous Sri Lanka where peace, justice, equality, dignity and freedom for all, prevail.
It is a clinging paradox that many vicious wars and other acts of cruelty have been perpetrated by religious bigots justified by claims of religious conviction. The Crusades and the current Islamic conflicts are based on religious grounds. This is while all religions preach compassion and humanity.

While the goal is the same, the inspirations differ. For the theistic religions, it is a duty towards a Creator God. For Christians, Jesus Christ, the Son of God, preached a message of kindness and compassion towards fellow beings. Hindus saw it as an offering to an Athman, which was breathed into ones Soul and expected back in an improved form. Islam enjoins its adherents to follow the message preached by the Prophet as the Messenger of Allah. Buddhists are to follow the Dhamma as a means to self-improvement.

"In our society, instead of appreciating this commonality, we seek to compartmentalize - a sure recipe for conflict"



Without exception, all of them call for the practice of kindness and compassion.

In our society, instead of appreciating this commonality, we seek to compartmentalize - a sure recipe for conflict. The path we have followed is an attempt to cater to individual groups in a richly diverse nation. The result has been failure. It has mainly resulted in a ridiculous creation of such aberrations as Ministries for Christian, Hindu, Buddhist and Muslim Affairs. Assuming that these are created with genuine motives and not designed to create rewards with sinecures and fat benefits, the result has been of nil benefit. For what are Christian, Hindu, Buddhist or Muslim Affairs or interests that are diverse, distinct and different enough to surpass human interests?

Pain, sorrow, injustice and prejudice are as hurtful to all, irrespective of the label we happen to carry. Have we not just emerged from a terrible conflict portrayed however unjustly, by some prejudiced elements as a battle between a Sinhala Buddhist Army and a dispossessed Hindu Minority? Is it not bizarre, among other examples, that the wife of a Minister for Christian Affairs was convicted of the murder of her husbands mistress?

Is this what a sublime faith deserves? Much fuss is made of the need or otherwise of a provision in the proposed Constitution to include provision for Buddhism to be accorded a special place. I believe this is unnecessary and a needless provocation of followers of minority religions. Despite its vociferous supporters, I believe it to be wrong.



If five hundred years of domination by foreign forces, evangelical and demonstrably hostile to the then established religions failed to inflict serious injury, what reason is there to fear our own people? Will someone please explain why in a professed Buddhist nation, we have not succeeded in stopping the cruel and coarse practice of slaughtering cattle by slitting their throats and bleeding them to death in the insensitive view of victims awaiting their turn? Have we attempted to explain that in modern times, the availability of rapid transport and the accessibility of refrigeration meet the need to ensure bleeding as a means of reducing spoilage? This could well have prompted the need for what today seems a supremely cruel practice.

What has the Ministry of Buddha Sasana or for that matter, those for Christian, Hindu and Muslim Affairs done to really justify their existence and national outlay? Merely cataloguing, listing and data-gathering and engagement with ritualistic formalities is just not significant. The Buddha preached, as also the leaders of other religions, that discrimination of any kind was unwholesome. Where then do the Nikayas stand?

Have the Venerable Mahanayakas views on this matter been sought? If not, of what use are the costly processions of sundry worthies bearing unnecessary fruit baskets and Atapirikaras? Whom are they bluffing? Of course some customs and rituals need to be preserved. But obsession with them distorts and devalues all that the great philosophies sought to teach.

"Looking around us towards nations that are secular and those that are driven by various faiths, the evidence is overwhelming that Sri Lanka is best served by being secular - not necessarily by inclusion in any document, but in practice"



To end on a personal note to clear the air, I was born to traditional Buddhist parents, educated in a Christian school and count among my friends devout Christian, Hindu and Moslem adherents. They, one and all, are decent, tolerant and fine persons. I endeavour to follow the Dhamma of the Buddha, endeavouring to observe the Five Precepts of abstaining from killing, stealing, adultery, lying and partaking of liquor to the extent of intoxication. All these, one may notice, have to do with disciplined conduct, avoiding harm or pain to others.

I venture to suggest that if all Buddhists would strive as a minimum, to observe the Five Noble Precepts, it may contribute much more than vociferous clamouring for Constitutional or other bureaucratic provisions, towards making Sri Lanka a better place for all of us.

Looking around us towards nations that are secular and those that are driven by various faiths, the evidence is overwhelming that Sri Lanka is best served by being secular - not necessarily by inclusion in any document, but in practice.
At least seven civilian died and two other were injured in a bomb explosion in eastern Afghanistan, Sputnik reported.

The bomb exploded on the side of a road in Nangarhar province, on the eastern border with Pakistan, the ministry said, according to Xinhua news agency.

No one has claimed responsibility for the incident yet.

Afghanistan is experiencing political, social and security instability, in particular, due to the activity of Taliban, a militant group formed in the 1990s, seeking to establish Sharia law in the country. The crisis in the country prompted the emergence of local cells of other extremist organizations such as Daesh, which is banned in many countries.
Malaysian police detained six men suspected of connections with the Daesh jihadist group and seized bomb-making equipment during a raid in the city of Pasir Mas, Sputnik reported.

The suspects, aged between 30 to 40 years old, were detained at their homes. The police raided the houses after receiving information from the citizens, the police chief added.

"There is a possible element of the Islamic State [Daesh] involved. We are investigating further, as this a threat to the country's security," Kelantan police chief Datuk Dr Ab Rahman Ismail told reporters, as quoted by the Straits Times.

According to the official, ten police officers were involved in the operation.
Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. designs, engineers, manufactures, and markets commercial aerostructures worldwide. It operates through three segments: Commercial, Defense & Space, and Aftermarket. The Commercial segment offers forward, mid, and rear fuselage sections and systems, struts/pylons, nacelles, and related engine structural components; and wings and wing components, including flight control surfaces, as well as other structural parts. This segment primarily serves the aircraft original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or engine OEMs of large commercial aircraft and/or business/regional jet programs. The Defense & Space segment provides fuselage, strut, nacelle, and wing aerostructures primarily for U.S. Government defense programs, including Boeing P-8, C40, and KC-46 Tanker. This segment also engages in the fabrication, bonding, assembly, testing, tooling, processing, engineering analysis, and training on fixed wing aircraft aerostructures, missiles, and hypersonics works, such as solid rocket motor throats, nozzles, re-entry vehicle thermal protections systems, forward cockpit and cabin, and fuselage work on rotorcraft aerostructures. The Aftermarket segment offers spare parts and MRO services, repairs for flight control surfaces and nacelles, radome repairs, rotable assets, engineering services, advanced composite repairs, and other repair and overhaul services. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Sierra Space to enhance access to commercial space economy of the future. The company was formerly known as Mid-Western Aircraft Systems Holdings, Inc. Spirit AeroSystems Holdings, Inc. was founded in 1927 and is headquartered in Wichita, Kansas.
A total of nine Daesh terrorists were "neutralized" in northern Syria over the last 24 hours as part of the ongoing Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish military said Sunday, Anadolu reported.

Turkish authorities often use the word "neutralized" in their statements to imply the terrorist in question was either killed or captured.

According to a statement issued on Sunday by Turkish General Staff, a total of 186 Daesh targets including shelters, defense positions, command control centers, weapons and vehicles were hit with howitzers, tanks multiple-launch rocket launchers.

Separately, Turkish jets destroyed 12 other Daesh targets including a control point in air raids on al-Bab and Bzagah regions, the statement added.

The Turkish army is supporting Free Syrian Army fighters in liberating Al-Bab, a strategic city for Daesh, from the terrorist group. Sunday marks the 145th day since the city was surrounded in order to liberate it.

The operation is part of the Turkish-led Operation Euphrates Shield, which began in late August to improve security, support coalition forces, and eliminate the terror threat along Turkeys border using FSA fighters backed by Turkish artillery and jets.

In total, 43 landmines and 2,927 makeshift explosives have been defused since the start of the operation on Aug. 24.
Everest Re Group, Ltd., through its subsidiaries, provides reinsurance and insurance products in the United States, Bermuda, and internationally. The company operates through Reinsurance Operations and Insurance Operations segments. The Reinsurance Operations segment writes property and casualty reinsurance; and specialty lines of business through reinsurance brokers, as well as directly with ceding companies in the United States, Bermuda, Ireland, Canada, Singapore, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom. The Insurance Operations segment writes property and casualty insurance directly, as well as through brokers, surplus lines brokers, and general agents in Bermuda, Canada, Europe, South America, Canada, Chile, the United Kingdom, Ireland, and the Netherlands. The company also provides treaty and facultative reinsurance products; admitted and non-admitted insurance products; and property and casualty reinsurance and insurance coverages, including marine, aviation, surety, errors and omissions liability, directors' and officers' liability, medical malpractice, mortgage reinsurance, other specialty lines, accident and health, and workers' compensation products. In addition, it offers commercial property and casualty insurance products through wholesale and retail brokers, surplus lines brokers, and program administrators. Everest Re Group, Ltd. was founded in 1973 and is headquartered in Hamilton, Bermuda.
The following companies are subsidiares of Abbott Laboratories: 3A Nutrition (Vietnam) Company Limited, ABON Biopharm (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd., AGA Medical Belgium, AGA Medical Corporation, AGA Medical Holdings Inc., ALR Holdings, AML Medical LLC, APK Advanced Medical Technologies LLC, ATS Bermuda Holdings Limited, ATS Laboratories Inc., Abbott, Abbott (Jiaxing) Nutrition Co. Ltd., Abbott (UK) Finance Limited, Abbott (UK) Holdings Limited, Abbott AG, Abbott Asia Holdings Limited, Abbott Asia Investments Limited, Abbott Australasia Holdings Limited, Abbott Australasia Pty Ltd, Abbott B.V., Abbott Bahamas Overseas Businesses Corporation, Abbott Belgian Investments, Abbott Bermuda Holding Ltd., Abbott Biologicals B.V., Abbott Biologicals LLC, Abbott Bulgaria Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Capital India Limited, Abbott Cardiovascular Inc., Abbott Cardiovascular Systems Inc., Abbott Delaware LLC, Abbott Diabetes Care Inc., Abbott Diabetes Care Limited, Abbott Diabetes Care Sales Corporation, Abbott Diagnostics GmbH, Abbott Diagnostics International Ltd., Abbott Diagnostics Technologies AS, Abbott Doral Investments S.L., Abbott Equity Holdings Unlimited, Abbott Equity Investments LLC, Abbott Established Products Holdings (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Finance Company SA, Abbott Financial Holdings SRL, Abbott France S.A.S., Abbott Fund Tanzania Limited, Abbott Gesellschaft m.b.H., Abbott GmbH & Co. KG, Abbott Health Products LLC, Abbott Healthcare (Puerto Rico) Ltd., Abbott Healthcare B.V., Abbott Healthcare Costa Rica S.A., Abbott Healthcare LLC, Abbott Healthcare Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Healthcare Private Limited, Abbott Healthcare Products B.V., Abbott Healthcare Products Ltd, Abbott Holding (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding GmbH, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited, Abbott Holding Subsidiary (Gibraltar) Limited Luxembourg S.C.S., Abbott Holdings B.V., Abbott Holdings LLC, Abbott Holdings Limited, Abbott Holdings Poland Spoka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Abbott Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Abbott Iberian Investments (2) Limited, Abbott Iberian Investments Limited, Abbott India Limited, Abbott Informatics Asia Pacific Limited, Abbott Informatics Canada Inc, Abbott Informatics Corporation, Abbott Informatics Europe Limited, Abbott Informatics France, Abbott Informatics Germany GmbH, Abbott Informatics Netherlands B.V., Abbott Informatics Singapore Pte. Limited, Abbott Informatics Spain S.A., Abbott Informatics Technologies Ltd, Abbott International Corporation, Abbott International Enterprises Ltd., Abbott International Holdings Limited, Abbott International LLC, Abbott International Luxembourg S.ar.l., Abbott Investments Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Ireland, Abbott Ireland Financing Designated Activity Company, Abbott Ireland Limited, Abbott Japan Co. Ltd., Abbott Kazakhstan Limited Liability Partnership, Abbott Knoll Investments B.V., Abbott Korea Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Bangladesh) Limited, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco (Dos) SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Chile) Holdco SpA, Abbott Laboratories (Malaysia) Sdn. 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Ltd., Abbott Operations Uruguay S.R.L., Abbott Overseas Cyprus Limited, Abbott Overseas Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Overseas S.A., Abbott Oy, Abbott Point of Care Canada Limited, Abbott Point of Care Inc., Abbott Poland Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Procurement LLC, Abbott Products (Philippines) Inc., Abbott Products (Spain) S.L., Abbott Products Algerie EURL, Abbott Products B.V., Abbott Products Distribution SAS, Abbott Products Egypt LLC, Abbott Products Limited, Abbott Products Limited Liability Company, Abbott Products Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Products Operations AG, Abbott Products Operations LLC, Abbott Products Romania S.R.L., Abbott Products Tunisie S.A.R.L., Abbott Products Unlimited Company, Abbott Resources Inc., Abbott Resources International Inc., Abbott S.r.l., Abbott Saudi Arabia Trading Company, Abbott Scandinavia Aktiebolag, Abbott Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, Abbott South Africa Luxembourg S.a r.l., Abbott Strategic Opportunities Limited, Abbott Trading Company Inc., Abbott Universal LLC, Abbott Vascular Devices (2) Limited, Abbott Vascular Devices Limited, Abbott Vascular Inc., Abbott Vascular Instruments Deutschland GmbH, Abbott Vascular International, Abbott Vascular Japan Co. Ltd, Abbott Vascular Limitada, Abbott Vascular Netherlands B.V., Abbott Vascular Solutions Inc., Abbott Ventures Inc., Abbott West Indies Limited, Abbott drustvo sa ogranicenom odgovornoscu za trgovinu i usluge, Advanced Neuromodulation Systems Inc., Alere, Alere (Shanghai) Diagnostics Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Healthcare Management Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Medical Sales Co. Ltd., Alere (Shanghai) Technology Co. Ltd., Alere A/S, Alere AB, Alere AS, Alere AS Holdings Limited, Alere BBI Holdings Limited, Alere Bangladesh Limited, Alere China Co. Ltd., Alere Colombia S.A., Alere Connect LLC, Alere Connected Health Limited, Alere Connected Health Ltd., Alere Diagnostics GmbH, Alere DoA Holding GmbH, Alere GmbH, Alere GmbH (Austria), Alere GmbH (Germany), Alere HK Holdings Ltd., Alere Health B.V., Alere Health BVBA, Alere Health Corp., Alere Health Sdn Bhd, Alere Health Services B.V., Alere Healthcare (Pty) Limited, Alere Healthcare Connections Limited, Alere Healthcare Inc., Alere Healthcare Nigeria Limited, Alere Healthcare S.L., Alere Holdco Inc., Alere Holding GmbH, Alere Holdings Bermuda Limited, Alere Holdings Pty Limited, Alere Home Monitoring Inc., Alere Inc., Alere Informatics Inc., Alere International Holding Corp., Alere International Limited, Alere Lda, Alere Limited, Alere Limited (New Zealand), Alere Medical BVBA, Alere Medical Co. Ltd., Alere Medical Pakistan (Private) Limited, Alere Medical Private Limited, Alere North America LLC, Alere Oy Ab, Alere Philippines Inc., Alere Phoenix ACQ Inc., Alere Pte Ltd, Alere S.A., Alere S.r.l., Alere S/A, Alere SAS, Alere San Diego Inc., Alere Scarborough Inc., Alere Spain S.L., Alere Switzerland GmbH, Alere Technologies GmbH, Alere Technologies Holdings Limited, Alere Technologies Limited, Alere Toxicology AB, Alere Toxicology Inc., Alere Toxicology S.r.l., Alere Toxicology Services Inc., Alere Toxicology plc, Alere UK Holdings Limited, Alere UK Subco Limited, Alere ULC, Alere US Holdings LLC, Alere s.r.o., Alisoc Investment & Co, Amedica Biotech Inc., Ameditech Inc., American Generics S.A.S., American Medical Supplies Inc., American Pharmacist Inc., Antares S.A., Apica Cardiovascular Limited, Aquagestion Capacitacion S.A., Aquagestion S.A., Arriva Medical LLC, Arriva Medical Philippines Inc., Arvis Investments Limited, Atlas Farmaceutica S.A., Avee Laboratories Inc., Axis-Shield AD III AS, Axis-Shield AD IV AS, Axis-Shield AS, Axis-Shield Diagnostics Limited, Axis-Shield Ltd., BBI Animal Health Limited, BBI Diagnostics Group 2 Public Limited Company, Banco de Vida S.A., Bioabsorbable Vascular Solutions Inc., Bioalgae S.A., Biohealth LLC, Biosite Incorporated, Bosque Bonito S.A., Branan Medical Corporation, Brandex Europe C.V., British Colloids Limited, CFR Chile S.A., CFR Interamericas EL Salvador Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable, CFR Interamericas Nicaragua Sociedad Anonima, CFR Interamericas Panama S.A., CFR Pharmaceuticals, California Property Holdings III LLC, CardioMEMS LLC, Caripharm Inc., Cephea Valve Technologies, Cephea Valve Technologies Inc., Colibri Medical Aktiebolag, Comercializadora y Distribuidora CFR Interamericas Honduras S.A., Concateno South Limited, Concateno UK Limited, Consorcio Tecnologico en Biomedicina Clinico-Molecular S.A., Continuum Services LLC, Cozart Limited, Dextech S.A., Diagnostik Nord GmbH, Distribuciones Uquifa S.A.S., Domesco Medical Import-Export Joint-Stock Corporation, Duphar International Research B.V., Endocardial Solutions, Epocal (US) Inc, Esprit de Vie S.A., European Chemicals & Co, European Drug Testing Service EDTS AB, European Services S.A., Evalve Inc., Evalve International Inc., FARMINDUSTRIA S.A., Fada Pharma Paraguay Sociedad Anonima, Fadapharma del Ecuador S.A., Farmaceutica Mont Blanc S.L., Farmacologia Em Aquicultura Veterinaria Ltda., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV Ecuador S.A., Farmacologia en Aquacultura Veterinaria FAV S.A., Fernwood Investment S.A., First Check Diagnostics LLC, Focus Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Forensics Limited, Forestcreek Overseas S.A., Fournier Pharma Corp., Fournier Pharma GmbH, Fournier Pharmaceuticals Limited, Framed B.V., Gabmed GmbH, Garden Hills LLC, Global Analytical Development LLC, Globapharm & CO LP, Glomed Pharmaceutical Company Limited, Golnorth Investments S.A., Gynocare Limited, Gynopharm Sociedad Anonima, Gynopharm de Centroamerica S.A., Gynopharm de Venezuela C.A., Hi-Tronics Designs Inc., IDEV Technologies Inc., IG Innovations Limited, IMTC Finance B.V., IMTC Holdings B.V., IMTC Technologies Inc., Ibis Biosciences LLC, Igloo Zone Chile S.A., Igloo Zone S.L., Inmobiliaria Naknek S.A.C., Innovacon Inc., Instant Tech Subsidiary Acquisition Inc., Instant Technologies Inc., Instituto de Criopreservacion de Chile S.A., Integrated Vascular Systems Inc., Inverness Canadian Acquisition Corporation, Inverness Medical (Beijing) Co. Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Australia Pty Ltd., Inverness Medical Innovations Hong Kong Limited, Inverness Medical Innovations SK LLC, Inverness Medical Investments LLC, Inverness Medical LLC, Inverness Medical Shimla Private Limited, Inversiones K2 SpA, Inversiones Komodo S.R.L., Ionian Technologies LLC, Irvine Biomedical Inc., Kalila Medical, Kangshenyunga S.A., Knoll UK Investments Unlimited, LLC VeroInPharm, Laboratoires Fournier S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano Lafrancol S.A.S., Laboratorio Franco Colombiano del Ecuador S.A., Laboratorio Internacional Argentino S.A., Laboratorio Synthesis S.A.S., Laboratorios Lafi Limitada, Laboratorios Naturmedik S.A.S., Laboratorios Pauly Pharmaceutical S.A.S., Laboratorios Recalcine S.A., Laboratorios Transpharm S.A., Laboratory Specialists of America Inc., Lafrancol Dominicana S.A.S., Lafrancol Guatemala S.A. 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C.V., NeuroTherm LLC, Normann Pharma-Handels GmbH, North Shore Properties Inc., Novamedi S.A., Novasalud.com S.A., Nutravida S.A., OJSC Voronezhkhimpharm, Omnilab Iberia Sociedad Limitada, OptiMedica, Orgenics France SAS, Orgenics International Holdings B.V., Orgenics Ltd., PBM-Selfcare LLC, PDD II LLC, PDD LLC, PT Alere Health, PT. Abbott Indonesia, PT. 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Lawmakers on Sunday adopted article 17 of a new constitutional reform package that regulates parliamentary and presidential elections, Anadolu reported.

A total of 484 of 550 deputies participated the secret ballot session on Sunday evening at Parliaments General Assembly.

The changes were approved by a total of 342 votes. The motion was rejected by 135 MPs, three voted blank, two were invalid and two abstained.

According to the Article 17, the parliamentary and the presidential election will be held in Nov. 3, 2019. Until the next election day, current deputies and president will remain in office.

One last amendment is slated to be voted on in the coming hours.

Lawmakers have so far passed regulations that define and lay out parliaments responsibilities -- one of the most discussed items -- and the regulation of criminal liabilities for the president and top officials, as well as structural reforms to the nations highest judicial body.

Constitutional reform and the change to a presidential system has been on the political agenda since Recep Tayyip Erdogan, a former prime minister and Justice and Development (AK) Party leader, was elected president in August 2014. This marked the first time a Turkish president had been directly chosen by popular vote.

On Dec. 30, a constitutional committee of deputies from the ruling AK Party and the opposition Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) submitted a proposed bill to parliament for ratification. Turkey's largest opposition party, the Republican Peoples Party (CHP), and the Peoples' Democratic Party (HDP) remain opposed to the proposed changes.

If it passes parliament by 330 of 550 deputies, it will be voted on in a national referendum. If it obtains the support of 367 lawmakers, it can pass into law without referendum although Erdogan has said he would push for a referendum even if the draft is approved by the two-third majority.

Proposed changes to the constitution require a simple majority (51 percent). The AK Party has 316 seats and Erdogan hopes the support of the MHP, which has 39 seats, will secure a referendum.
Principal Financial Group, Inc. provides retirement, asset management, and insurance products and services to businesses, individuals, and institutional clients worldwide. The company operates through Retirement and Income Solutions, Principal Global Investors, Principal International, and U.S. Insurance Solutions segments. The Retirement and Income Solutions segment provides a portfolio of asset accumulation products and services for retirement savings and income. It offers products and services for defined contribution plans, including 401(k) and 403(b) plans, defined benefit pension plans, nonqualified executive benefit plans, employee stock ownership plans, equity compensation, and pension risk transfer services; individual retirement accounts; investment only products; and mutual funds, individual variable annuities, and bank products. The Principal Global Investors segment provides equity, fixed income, real estate, and other alternative investments, as well as asset allocation, stable value management, and other structured investment strategies. The Principal International segment offers pension accumulation products and services, mutual funds, asset management, income annuities, and life insurance accumulation products, as well as voluntary savings plans in Brazil, Chile, Mexico, China, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, India, and Southeast Asia. The U.S. Insurance Solutions segment provides specialty benefits, such as group dental and vision insurance, group life insurance, and group and individual disability insurance, as well as administers group dental, disability, and vision benefits; and individual life insurance products comprising universal, variable universal, indexed universal, and term life insurance products in the United States. It also offers insurance solutions for small and medium-sized businesses and their owners, as well as executives. Principal Financial Group, Inc. was founded in 1879 and is based in Des Moines, Iowa.
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.
The Travelers Companies, Inc., through its subsidiaries, provides a range of commercial and personal property, and casualty insurance products and services to businesses, government units, associations, and individuals in the United states and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Business Insurance, Bond & Specialty Insurance, and Personal Insurance. The Business Insurance segment offers workers' compensation, commercial automobile and property, general liability, commercial multi-peril, employers' liability, public and product liability, professional indemnity, marine, aviation, onshore and offshore energy, construction, terrorism, personal accident, and kidnap and ransom insurance products. This segment operates through select accounts, which serve small businesses; commercial accounts that serve mid-sized businesses; national accounts, which serve large companies; and national property and other that serve large and mid-sized customers, commercial trucking industry, and agricultural businesses, as well as markets and distributes its products through brokers, wholesale agents, and program managers. The Bond & Specialty Insurance segment provides surety, fidelity, management and professional liability, and other property and casualty coverages and related risk management services through independent agencies and brokers. The Personal Insurance segment offers property and casualty insurance covering personal risks, primarily automobile and homeowners insurance to individuals through independent agencies and brokers. The Travelers Companies, Inc. was founded in 1853 and is based in New York, New York.
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When Abraham-Louis Breguet first embarked on the business of exporting his timepieces, he was immediately drawn to Russia where he opened in 1808 a branch in Saint Petersburg. Christened the Maison de Russie, the venture came to an abrupt end three years later when, amidst a climate of mounting political tensions between Russia and France, Tsar Alexander I banned French imports from entering his territory.



Fortunately, a loyal Russian clientele continued to solicit the craftsmanship of Breguet. The conclusion of the crisis was marked by a particularly symbolic sale. As Napoleon's France capitulated before a Russian-led coalition in March 1814, a mysterious client arrived at the Breguet workshop on Quai de lHorloge: the Emperor of all Russia himself, Tsar Alexander I, travelling incognito and accompanied only by his manservant. The Tsar purchased two pieces and commissioned a series of pedometers to regulate the steps of his troops.



The first of the two documents acquired at auction is a letter to Abraham-Louis Breguet, dated December 1814, and requesting repair of one of the pieces purchased by the Tsar. The letter, written by the Tsars Chief of General Staff, Prince Pyotr Mikhailovich Volkonsky, states: The watch that His Majesty The Emperor purchased from you has been disturbed. His Majesty has ordered me to send it to you and kindly requests that you repair it.





The second letter is from Prince Nikita Grigorievich Volkonsky, who writes to the master watchmaker that, while he praises his Breguet timepiece (the precision of its function is admirable), he is forced to return it to the watchmaker since he is unable to gather the necessary funds to purchase it.
Watches and Wonders Creates its own Fondation Watches and Wonders Creates...

After the success of the first edition of Watches and Wonders Geneva in 2022, Rolex, Richemont and Patek Philippe have decided to create...

After the success of the first edition...
Many local Relay Foods producers have been left in limbo by the companys merger with Door to Door Organics, uncertain whether their products will be sold through the new company.

In June 2016, the Charlottesville-based online grocer Relay Foods announced that it was merging with Door to Door Organics, another online grocer based in Colorado. Earlier this month, Relay Foods announced that the newly merged company will begin operating solely under the Door to Door Organics brand and that its services as Relay would end Jan. 15, with the Door to Door Organics website opening to customers in Charlottesville, Richmond, Washington, D.C., and Baltimore on Jan. 13.

With the merger, Relay Foods closed its warehouses in Charlottesville and Richmond, laying off 48 employees in the Charlottesville area alone and leaving 25 employees in Virginia. Customers who migrate to Door to Door Organics will now be serviced from a warehouse in Pennsylvania.

Spokeswoman Nancy Shloss said produce growers, whole animal producers and primary distributor partners were contacted directly prior to the public announcement of the closure on Jan. 2. Other vendors were notified in a letter sent the day of the announcement.

We are in the process of reviewing our catalog and our logistics as we begin to service customers in this region from our Pennsylvania warehouse, the letter says. Some vendors may be able to continue to work with us, while some may not.

In an email, Shloss said they have reached an agreement their primary dairy producer, Pennsylvania-based Trickling Springs Creamery, as well as other Relay Foods producers that work with distributors, such as Bright Greens Smoothie Shakers, Bakemmm Bagels, Mason Dixie Biscuit Co., NoBull Burger, Health Warrior, Nellos Sauce and others.

Our team is working hard to iron out the details and determine how to onboard as many local producers as possible, she said. However, developing a logistics plan that allows Door to Door Organics to offer former Relay Foods producers will take time. One example of a roadblock to an easy transition is that Door to Door Organics offers only organic produce, meaning that any non-certified organic growers would need to be certified in order to make the transition with us.

* * *

But many former Relay Foods producers are currently not on the Door to Door Organics site  and they are unsure if that will ever change.

John Whiteside, owner of Wolf Creek Farm in Madison County, has been working as a producer with Relay Foods since they started. He said he was not surprised when they announced the merger.

Their objective was to maintain the kind of distribution they were doing here locally, which was centered around local Virginia farms, Whiteside said. I knew at the time, several months ago, that it was going to be difficult for them to maintain that with the Door to Door Organics model, especially the local aspect of it.

They called me in late December and said it looks as though were going to be rationalizing our catalog items that we carry around Door to Door Organics suppliers, thereby eliminating most of the supplier relationships weve got here in the Virginia area, he said.

Whiteside said Richmonds warehouse had the ability to take Wolf Creeks primal cuts of beef and further break that down into individual cuts, wrap them and label them with the joint Wolf CreekRelay Foods Artisanal Cuts label. Door to Door Organics does not have that capability, so if Wolf Creek continues on as a producer, they would receive the cuts of individually wrapped meat directly from the farm.

Any local farmer that they had in the Charlottesville area that was supplying them by delivering to their Carlton Avenue warehouse are going to be confronted with, even if Door to Door wanted to include that product in the catalog, logistically, how do they get it from the farm in Albemarle, Madison, Greene, wherever, up to Philadelphia in an economic matter, he said.

When Whiteside had a booth at the City Market, he would refer customers to buying his product on Relay Foods for a more convenient way to order, he said.

Weve invested an awful lot in building up that customer loyalty and customer base through Relay Foods. I would hate to see  from a business standpoint, but also for the sake of the customers  that just disappear, he said.

If his products wont be offered through Door to Door, he said he plans on working with Relay on sending out a mailer to customers, advising them of area locations where they can get Wolf Creek Farm meats and their bi-weekly delivery service.

Were kind of in purgatory here while we wait to figure out what Door to Door Organics decision is going to be, and then we communicate that out to the customers, he said.

* * *

Radical Roots Farm in Keezletown, southeast of Harrisonburg, is also currently not on the Door to Door website. Owner Lee ONeill said she is hoping they can work with the company, but they are still waiting to hear the decision.

Relay was very invested in working with us and other local producers, she said. As you build business with someone, you stop having business with other people because were moving more towards having business with them and that, so we dropped certain markets that we were doing because of more focus on working with Relay. So now were like, where are we going to go now?

Theyre working on strategizing for the future and considering what backup options they have in case Door to Door Organics does not pick them up. Usually around this time of year, she said, Relays produce manager would work with the farm on planning for the upcoming year. Radical Roots grew for Relays bounty shares, similar to a community-supported agriculture share, and they would ask them to grow certain things based on projections.

Right now, theyre doing their planning and are having to make their best guess on what they should grow more of in case Door to Door Organics does extend an offer to them.

I think that one of the challenges is that a lot of people that they were working with were small and medium scale, so youre going to feel that impact of losing something that was a sixth of our business, ONeill said. At different points, theyve been a quarter to a sixth of who we sold to, and thats pretty big.

She doesnt know what will happen next, she said, but shes remaining optimistic that something great will come.

Working with Relay, particularly our produce buyer, was amazing, ONeill said. I loved working with her and she really got what we were doing and the value of what we were doing. I feel like that was part of the success of Relay, is all the people that we know that worked there, they were all really great people doing really good work that they believed in, you could just tell.

* * *

Brigitte Rau, owner of Brigit True Organics, a skin-care company based in Charlottesville that had sold through Relay Foods, said she found out about the closure from the email that was sent to customers. She doesnt think she will be picked up by Door to Door Organics because they do not have any other skin-care products on their website.

After I got the email, I did look and see who I would talk to at Door to Door, who is the buyer, when I realized there was not even the product category, she said. I was a little surprised and I think my chance of contacting them in the next few weeks is very low; Im just waiting to see whats going on.

They were a contact to the D.C. area for her business, she said, so it will affect the area that her product reaches more than a financial impact. She said shes reaching out to other contacts she has in the D.C. area to try to fill that gap for customers.

I do feel Relay did a great job in promoting the area, promoting the local, small growers, like the old system of bringing the good country food to the big town, she said. I really enjoyed and appreciated that part of Relay. I think it was hard work for them.

Shloss said they cannot comment now on a timeframe for decisions regarding specific Relay Foods producers being brought on to Door to Door Organics, but they are notifying producers as soon as decisions are reached.

We have worked to make clear to all of our producers that we cannot make promises that we will be able to bring their products on board at Door to Door Organics, she said in the email. We are sincerely sorry to hear that some of our producers have not felt that we have made this clear.

Shloss said that, at this time, there are no plans to open a warehouse in Virginia.
After taking a stricter approach last year to enforcing limits on how long patrons can stay parked at two downtown Charlottesville lots, towing vehicles that are in violation, developer Keith Woodard is hoping that the state legislature will pass a bill to allow smaller cities to hire contractors to write parking tickets.

We are trying to find a friendlier way to enforce improper or unpaid parking in private lots other than to tow a vehicle parked without a displayed receipt, said Woodard, who manages parking lots on Water and Market streets.

Unfortunately, current laws do not allow for simply ticketing on private lots, and we would prefer that a ticket could be issued rather than for someone to incur the inconvenience and cost of being towed.

City officials also are looking to the legislature to pass a bill that would expand the citys authority as it prepares to hire a contractor to install and manage parking meters for 150 on-street parking spaces in the downtown area.

Last year, the City Council allocated $500,000 to establish a parking management fund. In November, officials announced the hiring of Rick Siebert as the citys first parking manager.

Del. David J. Toscano, D-Charlottesville, said Woodard asked him to introduce legislation that would allow local authorities to cite patrons who leave their vehicles in private parking lots for too long.

In November, the City Council asked area legislators to sponsor a bill so that the city could contract with an outside company to provide parking enforcement.

Toscano, as well as Sen. R. Creigh Deeds, D-Bath, are sponsoring bills that would permit the city to do so.

The bills, HB 1711 and SB 1169, would decrease from 90,000 to 40,000 the minimum population for cities whose parking ordinances may allow for law-enforcement officers, other uniformed city employees, or uniformed personnel under contract with the city to issue summonses or parking tickets.

Over the summer, Deane Dozier, an Augusta County resident, sent a complaint to Woodard Properties, expressing frustration after being towed one evening from the Water Street lot. She said she had to pay $150 in cash that evening to retrieve her car from the tow lot where it had been taken.

Responding to the letter, Woodard told her that his company had tried a couple versions of an honor system in the past, but that towing is necessary to assure compliance. He told her that its necessary now, but that new legislation could avoid similar scenarios.

Situations as you experienced could be avoided and that would benefit us all, he wrote to her in July.

Allowing local police to ticket cars in private lots seems a common-sense approach and far better than towing cars for the simple infraction of overstaying the time on a pre-purchased ticket, Dozier said Friday.

While neither bill would grant local authorities permission to issue tickets in private parking lots, Toscano legislative aide Carmen Bingham said its a preliminary step to allowing that.

While this request addresses a need the city has, it also is the first step to addressing the issue Woodard requested for private lot enforcement, she said.

As I understand it, we need that before anything can take place with us, Chris Engel, Charlottesvilles director of economic development, said about a possible arrangement with Woodard, adding, We havent broached that subject yet.
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One of the most important weeks of the year for the Swiss watch industry starts today. Watch fans, customers, retailers and industry analysts will be looking to the halls of Genevas Palexpo exhibition centre for signs that there is no let-up in innovation and creativity in the industry. Initial indications suggest that this is indeed the case, although I doubt whether a one-off watch made of cheese costing a million-plus Swiss francs will single-handedly make the industry great again.

Lest we forget, the SIHH will be overshadowed by the inauguration of the 45th President of the United States of America later this week and the British Prime Ministers speech on Brexit on Tuesday. The possible knock-on effects of both events on upcoming elections across Europe this year, plus Chinas five-yearly congress of the Communist Partys Central Committee, will probably shape the immediate future of the Swiss watch industry more than anything we will see in Geneva this week. As Daniel Franklin, Editor of the Economist's annual collation of predictions, The World in 2017, succinctly summarises: Dont expect a year of restful stability.

Nevertheless, just days before the SIHH opened, Vontobel last week released the welcome news that the Richemont Group, whose brands are the main focus at the SIHH this week, saw a surprise increase in its Christmas quarter sales (+6%). The groups jewellery houses were the main driver behind this growth, but it is still growth  something only too welcome in the industry at the moment.

The reaction to the models that you can discover from today on our new-look website will determine whether this growth continues. We have a number of major launches in store for you throughout the week, some ready for publication but tightly under digital wraps to respect embargos imposed by the brands, others that we will discover for ourselves for the first time over the coming days.

If this newsletter seems more business-oriented than usual, its for good reason. Thanks to the possibilities offered by our new website, we can now offer a more tailored selection of news to our readers. Since we already know that there are many industrial professionals who read this newsletter, we will soon be launching a separate newsletter targeted specifically at industry professionals. You can already sign-up at pro@worldtempus.com.
Congressional passage of the National Park Service Centennial Act in December 2016 provided much deserved recognition of the significant financial challenges our national parks face. Rounding out the 100th anniversary year of the park service, this new law helps our parks begin to chip away at their staggering $12 billion backlog of infrastructure repairs.

Whats on this $12 billion list? Everything from crumbling marble and masonry on the Lincoln Memorial to a faulty waterline across the Grand Canyon that provides drinkable water for millions of visitors each year.

Shenandoah National Parks portion of the $12 billion pie is about $90 million. Our park's maintenance backlog includes eroding hiking trails, historic structures in disrepair, and electrical and wastewater treatments systems in dire need of upgrades: a $90 million "to-do list" in this crown jewel of the national park system that welcomes some 1.3 million visitors a year.

Despite these financial struggles, our national parks continue to shine. And they also pump significant revenue into our economy.

Visitors to Shenandoah National Park spend more than $85 million in surrounding communities and support thousands of jobs in the public and private sectors. Nationwide, parks serve more than 300 million visitors annually who spend $17 billion in communities within 60 miles of national park sites, helping to support nearly 300,000 jobs and infusing $32 billion to the U.S. economy.

Considering the economic boost national parks provide, shouldnt we be investing in them more heavily?

Unbelievably, the entire National Park Service budget makes up just 1/14th of 1 percent of the federal budget.

Yes, Congress approved an additional $90 million in Fiscal Year 2016 to address the $12 billion list and an additional $28 million for roads and transportation-related deferred repairs and maintenance. While these increases will enable Shenandoah and other national parks to address more of their most critical requirements, the deferred maintenance backlog will continue to grow.

The centennial year of the National Park Service in 2016 renewed Americas (and the worlds) love for these magnificent places. Across the country, parks saw significant increases in visitation.

And while park employees embraced these 300 million visitors, they also braced themselves for the uptick in wear and tear on trails, roads, and facilities  and the lack of funding to keep pace with it.

President-elect Trump has indicated his intention to invest significantly in American infrastructure. As owners and stewards of these great places, American citizens should urge their congressional leaders to direct a sizable portion of this funding to national parks. We must support parks to a level that reflects their full value to our country.

Susan R. Sherman is president of the Shenandoah National Park Trust.
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Watchmakers, justifiably, love to draw parallels with the automotive industry. La belle mecanique as they like to say in French-speaking Switzerland, can apply just as much to the finest in haute horlogerie as it can to a supercar. Those parallels disappear, however, when you look at the biggest annual shindigs for both industries. In Geneva, these happen to be held in the same place  Palexpo, next to the airport. In January, one hall of the exhibition centre is filled with temporary facades for each of the exhibiting watch brands at the SIHH, with a few watches visible in show windows and the rest visible only to paying customers (retailers) and the press. In March, the world automotive industry occupies the entire exhibition centre, with its finest offerings there for all to see and, for the more mainstream models, touch, feel and sit in the drivers seat for the automotive equivalent of the wristshot.

At the Motor Show, thousands of people young and old flock to see their dream cars every year. For the first time this year, watch fans have the chance to do the same at the SIHH. We eagerly await the results, the demographics and the decision on whether the SIHH will do the same next year (and if it does, whether the public will come back).

For the watch industry, though, such events are inward looking affairs. Maybe this is why our correspondent David Chokron could not reconcile the fact that hypercars are quickly snapped up but hyperwatches have trouble finding customers. Charging a million for a sensual vehicle brimming with carbon fibre and laced with technology that comes straight from a Formula 1 car seems quite justified. But asking the same price for a watch whose unique selling point is that it is made of cheese? The news went viral for a day and some people found it funny. I was more concerned. Kids around the world tomorrow will wake up having dreamed about their comic book heroes and supercars, not about watches made of cheese. Yet it is these very children, who have probably already been to several motor shows, who, in twenty years time, will start looking to buy a car. They are not even encouraged to dream about choosing a mechanical watch later on in life, since the first time they open any quality newspaper or magazine they will discover that they will inherit their fathers anyway if they are lucky and they can concentrate on saving up for the BMW M3 they have had their eyes on since they were about thirteen years old. Yet just like the watch, nobody really needs 300 horsepower in their everyday lives. The difference is that they want it.

The logical response from the Swiss watch industry should be to make us dream about its products. This needs more than a hashtag, more than 140 characters and more than a viral video. Even Rolex, the brand that most people around the world spontaneously cite as the epitome of the luxury Swiss watch, merely informs us, rather unhelpfully, that its watches tell history. Where is the substance? When Jaguar launched its legendary E-Type in the United States, the print ad had a man standing next to one and the tagline said it all: Finally. But this was followed by a full six paragraphs of information about the car, its features and its price (The 1968 XKE is more powerful than any imported car selling under $10,000). In the same period, watch ads were also crammed with information. Nowadays, with the less is more approach we are simply left with less. Less information and less substance. The ads have a soul-shaped hole. Watch ads also still follow the adage if you have to ask, you cant afford it in an age of e-commerce where the reply is often if I have to ask, I cant be bothered. The opening sentence of the body copy in the Jaguar ad was The Jaguar XKE is the kind of car you dream about owning. QED.

The SIHH traditionally starts with the opening of the Roger Dubuis stand, which is redesigned each year from scratch to fit with the theme of the brands new watches. Having been treated to a sneak preview of their stand, I was reassured to find hard facts, clear prices and a new virtual reality experience that takes you inside the brands complicated mechanical movements. Their big news is a partnership with Pirelli (see a first look at the stand in the cover photo above) that evokes the smell of burning rubber. Its a chance for the brands customers to dream about a rubber strap made from the tyres of a Grand Prix winning Formula 1 car  a piece of history. Roger Dubuis also has a new slogan with a bold call to action: Dare to be rare. They are challenging us rather than lecturing us and I salute them for it.
Sierra Leone President Ernest Bai Koroma (R) meets with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Dec. 1, 2016 in Beijing, China. (Photo : Greg Baker - Pool/Getty Images)

China's transition to consumer-oriented economy exposes foreign companies to risks of losing younger generation of Chinese leaders, a recent study revealed. Homebred talents of Chinese are also poised to take over leadership and management positions previously handled by foreign nationals in China.



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The report as posted by CNBC said the gap between homegrown companies and foreign multinational in terms of recruiting the best Chinese talents has become narrower, with greater chances for local companies to employ next-generation local talents.



The factor that caused such tough competition in human recruitment is the growing prominence and size of domestic companies.



Bain & Company, a management and consulting firm, initiated a joint report along with LinkedIn China, and said that almost 6 of 10 regional roles in China's multinational companies are presently handled by Chinese citizens, and 9 of 10 regional roles in its domestic firms are also held by Chinese citizens.



For several years, China has been considered the best choice for one to build a career mainly due to its enticing compensation package and culture, access to the best global practices and opportunities for leadership development.



But now that China transitions its economy to serving consumers, which results in an increasing demand in service expertise, new employment opportunities arise.



"Recently, locally owned companies have upped their game in terms of experience, salary, and employee training and development they provide, in an effort to woo talent away from their multinational competitors," James Root from Bain was quoted as saying.



"Their fast-growing operations present opportunities for homegrown talent to rapidly take on leadership roles," Root added.



Manpower's Research Center's "2010 Foreign and Chinese Private-owned Companies Talent Competitiveness Survey" indicated that more Chinese nationals prefer to work for local businesses. The survey result was in stark contrast to a similar 2006 survey conducted by Manpower.


U.S. Navy crew members guide an F/A-18 Super Hornet fighter takes off from the deck of USS Aircraft Carrier Ronald Reagan on October 14, 2016 in Weat sea, South Korea. (Photo : Getty Images)

In response to the United States' plan to push through with the deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system in South Korea, China and Russia have agreed to implement unspecified countermeasures. Both countries fear that the system is a threat that is too close to their borders.



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South Korea's National Security Office Chief Kim Kwan-jin recently met with incoming U.S. National Security Adviser Michael Flynn, reaffirming that the THAAD's deployment will be pushing through as planned. The anti-missile system has been cited as a solution to potentially stop a nuclear attack from North Korea.



The THAAD's deployment has sparked worry from the two countries. China and Russia have grown concerned over the system's powerful radar, which can potentially compromise their security and do nothing to lower the tension on the Korean peninsula. They also believe that the deployment of the system in South Korea is an attempt to geopolitically contain them.



The two countries have also reaffirmed their commitment to a nuclear-free North Korea, believing diplomacy and not an arms race is the best way forward.



"We think the U.S.-South Korean decision to deploy the THAAD missile defense system has seriously threatened China's security interest," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang.



"For the region, it will also break the strategic balance. So, it's completely understandable to see countries in the region firmly oppose this decision."



He added that China and other countries have to address the respective legitimate security concerns and take necessary measures to safeguard their security interest.



Russia has shared China's sentiments and concerns over the deployment.



"Deployment of U.S. missile defense systems in South Korea clearly goes beyond the tasks of deterring 'the North Korean threat,'" said Russian Deputy Defense Ministry Anatoly Antonov in October.



He added that without a doubt, the U.S. and its allies will continue to build up the potential of the Asia Pacific segment of their global missile system, which will inevitably lead to disruption of established strategic balances both in the Asia Pacific and beyond.



First announced in July, the Obama administration promised the system by the end of the year. Aside from the strong opposition coming from the two countries, American activists also urged the outgoing U.S. government with a 100,000-strong petition to reconsider the decision.



However, the Obama administration shot the petition down, saying that the system would 'not undermine China or Russia's strategic deterrent'.



While the U.S. claims that its objective is to contain the nuclear threat in North Korea, it seems that the deployment will potentially add more tension in the Asia Pacific.


Kung Fu Yoga (Photo : FRAME FUNDA/YouTube)

If the clicks on major video-streaming sites in China are the basis, the trailer of the forthcoming Lunar New Year movie of Chinese actor Jackie Chan, Kung Fu Yoga would likely be another blockbuster.



In the preview, Jackie Chan, who portrays an archaeologist in search of a lost Indian treasure with the help of an old map, drives around with a lion on the vehicles backseat. The beast is real, not a computer-generated image. The lion is actually owned by the royal family of Dubai, according to China Daily.



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Save an Ancient Culture



In their search, Jackie Chans team is ambushed by mercenaries and left for dead. He uses his wide knowledge of history and kung fu to beat the mercenaries to the treasure and save an ancient culture, according to TVWeb.



Besides his huge fan base in China, Kung Fu Yoga is the result of a Sino-Indian co-production agreement between Beijing and Delhi which gives the movie as wider range of audience. The movie would also premiere at the start of the Spring Festival when Chinese visit the families and watch movies.



Joint India-China Productions



With the deal, three films would be jointed produced by India and China after the Indian Embassy in Beijing and the State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television signed the agreement. Besides Kung Fu Yoga, the two other films that would be the result of the agreement is a biographical feature on Xuan Zang and Buddies in India.



The feature is based on the pilgrimage to India of a 7th-century monk. Buddies in India would serve as the directorial debut of Wang Baoqiang, a comedian. It would also premiere during the Spring Festival, while Xuan Zang was released in April.



Jackie Chan has a following too in India because of his 1995 Hollywood hits Rumble in the Bronx and the 1998 Rush Hour. He also shot the movie The Myth in India in 2005. Disha Patani, an Indian actress who is in the cast of Kung Fu Yoga said working with Jackie Chan is a dream come true for her.






Zigong Lanterns Set to Light More Regions with Initiated Global Campaign

The annual Lantern Festival which usually runs a whole month has been featuring Zigong lanterns of different colors, shapes and sizes. (Photo : Getty Images)

Attended by representatives from the 46 foreign embassies in Beijing and hosted by the Chinese People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries (CPAFFC), the launching ceremony of the Zigong Lantern Festival's Global Campaign happened last Tuesday in Zigong of Southwest China's Sichuan Province.



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The festival, which has started during the Tang Dynasty in China, has reached other regions in 1987 and over the years has expanded to more than 50 countries all over the world.



But these lanterns are set to light still more regions.



Zigong Mayor Liu Yongxiang announced during the ceremony its "Two Hundreds" campaign which targets to promote Zigong lanterns by conducting 100 shows in 100 Chinese and foreign cities. Another project is the "Lanterns on the Silk Road" which focuses on developing the export of Zigong lanterns.



The ceremony was supported by the Information Office of the Sichuan provincial government, the Sichuan People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and the local government of Zigong.



According to a Global Times report, a cooperation agreement was signed between CPAFFC and the government of Zigong who will hand in hand market the festival around the world.



Zigong lanterns are currently being displayed in foreign grounds such as Auckland, Houston, London and Montreal, and will be part of the 2017 G20 Summit in Hamburg, Germany, the report said.



Zigong is one of China's Historical and Cultural Cities and is referred to as the Lantern Town of the South Kingdom.



The annual Zigong Lantern Festival which usually runs a whole month has been featuring Zigong lanterns of different colors, shapes and sizes.



The lanterns are made of bamboo, porcelain, glass, silk and paper and may take on shapes that are based on legends, myths, historical accounts, folk customs, movies and TV stories.


The Chinese-designed nuclear reactor Hualong One, known as the U.K. HPR1000 in its U.K. version, is now undergoing a Generic Design Assessment (GDA) to gain approval from the British government. The reactor will be used by General Nuclear Services (GNS) in its potential new nuclear power plant in Bradwell, Essex.



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GNS is a subsidiary of China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN) and the French company EDF. The joint venture included the development of new power plants in Sizewell, Suffolk and in Bradwell. The plant in Sizewell will utilize the French reactor design while that in Bradwell, the Chinese design.



The British government has asked nuclear regulators from ONR, a statutory public corporation which manages the process of GDA with the Environment Agency, to start the assessment of Hualong One design.



GDA is a policy for reactor vendors who wish to build nuclear projects in the U.K. It is a voluntary process and charges the cost of assessment to the requesting party. ONR has confirmed that they have already received the payment for the inspection of a Chinese design and will start the GDA process at once when everything necessary has been agreed upon with the requesting party, that is the GNS.



Mao Qing, project manager at CGN, said that the company is confident that Hualong One will meet U.K.'s requirements for nuclear reactor safety, security and design, and pass the GDA process.



According to World Nuclear News, GDA takes a number of years to be completed - about five years according to experts. If Hualong One were to be successful, it would receive a Design Acceptance Confirmation from ONR and a Statement of Design Acceptability from the Environment Agency.



"Confidence of other countries in Chinese-designed reactors will result from the investment in Bradwell, and this will help in developing a global market," said CGN chairman He Yu.


Travel peak appears by the end of the Chinese Spring Festival holiday. (Photo : Getty Images)

A crackdown on tour operators was conducted recently due to the numerous bogus travel packages sold to Thailand.



Chinese tourists have tripled to nearly a third of all Thailand's tourists by numbers and revenue but have recently slackened due to the "zero dollar" scheme.



The scheme involved selling very cheap packages to Thailand but once the tourist arrives, they are charged huge amounts for food, hotel, and transportation.



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The Thai government spearheaded a crackdown on these operators and is expected to affect a number of travelers ahead of the Spring Festival holiday season, Jan 27 to Feb 2.



Ruengdet Amorndetphakdee, the owner of D Land Holiday Co, said that they only sold 300 packages for the holiday compared with 800 last year.



"It's the crackdown," he said.



Central Plaza Hotel PCL also said that Chinese bookings had fallen. Tristar Floating Restaurant Co used to operate six cruise ships for Chinese visitors alone but is operating only one this year.



This Chinese New Year, the Thai tourism authority expects a 7.7 percent drop in Chinese tourists. However, the Thai government said that the drop will be offset by a 3.9 percent rise in tourists from other countries.



The crackdown also commenced during last year's Golden week when the police had shut three companies operating "zero dollar" tours and had seized 2,155 tour buses.



Amorndetphakdee said that the crackdown had made Thailand tour packages more expensive for Chinese visitors.



"Chinese travel agents are not recommending Thailand because it suddenly became more expensive. It is easier for them to sell cheap package tours to South Korea or Vietnam," he said.



Chinese travel agents said that the peak travel season would have been more profitable if the "zero dollar" scam did not pursue.


China to Build Research Center in South China Sea; Declares War on US If Meddling Continues

Indonesia seeks sovereignty over Natuna Islands in the South China Sea. (Photo : Getty Images)

China released a five-year plan to develop research on clean energy through establishment of a research center in the South China Sea.



The announcement was made by the State Oceanic Administration and is a sign of increasing influence over the disputed waters.



The administration said that they plan to conduct resource assessment and building of public service platforms in the South China Sea and island regions.



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China's aggressiveness over the territory is triggering attention in the U.S. as well. Rex Tillerson, President-elect Donald Trump's secretary of state nominee, suggested that the U.S. "send China a clear signal that, first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands also is not going to be allowed."



China responded through its state media and said, "unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish."



"Tillerson had better bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories," the statement added.



Bonnie Glaser, a senior adviser for Asia and the director of the China Power Project at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, did not agree with Tillerson.



"Some of the things Tillerson said were contradictory," Glaser said.



Glaser agreed with retired Gen. James Mattis, Trump's defense secretary nominee.



"The bottom line is the international waters are international waters, and we have got to figure out how do we deal with holding on to the kind of rules that we have made over many years," Mattis said.


Under Make in India programme, the government is focusing on 25 sectors including defence, food processing and leather.

New Delhi: Punching holes in the government's claims on success of Make in India campaign, an analysis by two renowned experts reveals that the programme may not have yet made any impact on FDI into focus sectors.

The investments should be examined from the point of view of fresh capacity addition in the domestic production and not on account of round-tripping of funds, the report said.

"Statements regarding the contribution of FDI to India's development which ignore these critical features of FDI would be misleading, if not mischievous.

India should start taking an objective view based on appropriate empirical evidence," it said. The report was prepared by K S Chalapati Rao, Professor (Retd), Institute for Studies in Industrial Development (ISID), and Biswajit Dhar, Professor, Jawaharlal Nehru University.

The policy brief was based on a study being conducted at ISID. The 'Make in India' initiative was launched in September 2014 with an aim to promote India as an investment destination and a global hub for manufacturing, design and innovation.

Under this programme, the government is focusing on 25 sectors including defence, food processing and leather. The report also showed that FDI under the automatic route fell by nearly 30 per cent during April-August period of 2016-17 fiscal.

"FDI equity inflows through the automatic route, which allows foreign investors to take their own decisions without waiting for specific government approval, fell by almost 30 per cent during the first five months of the current year," the report said.

This fall would not have occurred had the foreign investors responded consistently to the more liberal policy environment of the government, it added. According to the government data, FDI during October 2014 to May 2016 grew by 46 per cent to USD 61.58 billion after the launch of Make in India programme.

"These claims, however, ignore the simple fact that decisions on long-term investments will not be taken instantly and will be based on careful analysis of investors' future requirements and the relative advantages offered by alternative locations globally," it added.

Further, it said the overall FDI increase during January - September 2016 was achieved in a large measure because of a huge jump in the acquisition of existing shares by foreign investors (i.e M&As), by displacing the existing investors. The authors have pointed out major deficiencies in the official data, which, according to them, have remained "unnoticed" till now.
According to industry participants, the latest move by Sebi is a big positive for the industry, which has already started seeing a greater degree of interest from investors beyond top-15 cities over the past two years.

Mumbai: The Sebis decision to allow roping in celebrities to endorse mutual fund products at the industry level is expected to increase the awareness and attract more individuals from smaller towns to invest in equity and debt instruments.

According to industry participants, the latest move by Sebi is a big positive for the industry, which has already started seeing a greater degree of interest from investors beyond top-15 cities over the past two years.

Sebis move has brought a level playing field between the mutual fund industry and the insurance industry. This is definitely going to help improve the penetration of mutual fund products in India, said Sunil Subramaniam, CEO of Sundaram AMC.

Celebrities have helped in popularising various products which they have endorsed and expanded the market across sectors. The penetration of mutual funds in India is still very low and allowing celebrities to endorse it will definitely help in making it a household name in India, said Jaideep Bhattacharya, managing director and CEO of top3choice.com, a mutual fund distribution platform that runs on artificial intelligence.

Since the industry is well regulated in India with lot of guidelines to protect investors interest, Mr Bhattacharya said it is the safest platform to enter the capital market for even a person who lacks financial literacy.

In 2016, the mutual fund industry saw an addition of 70 lakh new investor accounts taking the total tally to around 5.3 crore with the total assets under management (AUM) close to about Rs 17 lakh crore. The regulator has allowed mutual funds to spend about 2 per cent of their total AUM on investor awareness programmes out of which half the amount should be contributed to AMFI for carrying out similar activities.
Mumbai: So far, Karan Johars autobiography An Unsuitable Boy has made headlines all over the country, thanks to the filmmakers honest controversial confessions. Apart from his tiff with Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol, the book also throws light on his fight with Kareena Kapoor Khan, who is currently his BFF.

In the book, KJo reveals that due to some disagreement on money issue, the two didnt speak for a year. Apparently, Karan offered Kal Ho Na Ho to Kareena, who expressed her desired to be paid same as her co-star Shah Rukh Khan, which didnt go down well with Karan, who then approached Preity Zinta for the role.

My first problem was with Kareena. She asked for too much money and we had some kind of a fallout at that time. Mujhse Dosti Karoge! had just released, directed by Kunal Kohli. She said, Aditya Chopras assistant Kunal Kohli has made this flop, so Karan Johars assistant, Nikhil Advani is not to be trusted either. The weekend of Mujhse Dosti Karoges release, I offered her Kal Ho Naa Ho, and she asked for the same money that Shah Rukh Khan was getting. I said, Sorry. I was very hurt. I told my father, Leave that negotiation room and I called her. She didnt take my call, and I said, Were not taking her. And we signed Preity Zinta instead. Kareena and I didnt speak to each other for almost a year. For a year, we looked through each other at parties. It was very idiotic. She was a kid; shes a decade younger than me, Karan has written in the book.

However, almost after a year, Kareena broke her silence and called Karan, and rest is history.

We were releasing Kal Ho Naa Ho in November. We had shot the film in June, July, August and in September, I had to shoot the songs, make the promos and so on. So I had to head back, while my father continued the treatment in New York. That was the time Kareena Kapoor called me. It was August. We had not spoken for nine months. She called and said, I heard about Yash uncle. She got really emotional on the phone, and she said, I love you and I am so sorry I havent been in touch. Dont worry.
The Hindi, Tamil and Telugu versions of xXx: The Return of Xander Cage almost did not make it to the screens on schedule, as they were not submitted for certification on time. While the Hindi and Tamil versions did make it to the theatres, the Telugu version has been delayed.

The news about the dubbed versions impending delay was brought to Vin Diesels attention, and he immediately questioned the films producers. When Central Bureau of Film Certification (CBFC) chief Pahlaj Nihalani heard of Vins concern, he immediately sprung into action. We broke the queue to certify the dubbed versions of xXx. Its a matter of Indias image abroad. We didnt want to be seen as a nation of slow, slothful bureaucracy. We viewed and certified the Tamil and Hindi versions on Friday. The Telugu version couldnt be certified, thanks to the wrong Key Delivery Message (KDM). Instead of the Telugu dubbed versions, Viacom ended up submitting two KDMs of the Tamil language version.

Confirming these developments, a source from Viacom says, We got the wrong KDMs from our head office in Paramount in the US. Weve corrected the mistake and resubmitted the Telugu version. The Hindi and Tamil versions were released as per schedule on Saturday. We hope to release the Telugu version in a day or two.

According to the source, Viacom had decided to release all four versions of xXx on January 14, six days ahead of its international release. Viacom had even announced advance bookings for the dubbed version, anticipating the certification would be done in time. However, this was not to be and Viacom had to postpone the release of the dubbed version to January 20, the source added.

Pahlaj though, has another story to tell. The dubbed versions of a movie can only be certified after the original is done. Viacom got its certification for the English language version on Monday. They submitted the dubbed versions on Wednesday, and expected us to watch all three versions on Thursday. How is that possible? Weve a pile of films to certify. Producers must learn to set plausible goals for their films certification. Were not breaking the queue for any producer or film. Its first-come-first serve basis at CBFC. However, this time we broke the queue so as to not tarnish our image in the international media.
Chennai: Superstar Rajinikanth on Saturday, while paying tribute to the late Cho Ramaswamy, noted journalist, political analyst and founder-editor of the Tamil magazine Thuglak, praised him and said Cho was a unique man and all politicians used to seek advice from him.

Speaking at the 47th Thuglak anniversary event, Rajinikanth, who was a close friend of Ramaswamy, stated he had told the Tamil star that he wished Jayalalithaa to be there till he lived.

Following prolonged illness and continuing treatment at the Apollo Hospitals in Chennai, Ramaswamy passed away on December 7,2016 days after the demise of iconic AIADMK leader and the former Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J Jayalalithaa.

Speaking on the death of Ramaswamy, Rajinikanth, earlier, told ANI, "I had come to offer my condolences and pay tribute. Cho Ramaswamy never compromised his writings for anybody's sake. My heartfelt condolences to the family members. May his soul rest in peace."

Cho had several laurels in his wreath like an actor, comedian, character actor, editor, film director and lawyer.

He was popularly known for his unbiased views on political matter and bold nature. His magazine carried critical thoughts and raging views with admirable fearlessness.

Ramaswamy has acted in 89 movies and featured in 15 plays, besides directing five movies and writing the screenplay for another five films.
There was a time in Sri Lanka when  to let their families know that they had made the four-day, 400-km journey from Jaffna to Colombo safely  people would write their own obituaries to be broadcast on radio and television. Today, the trip takes hardly six hours by bus. During the war, since most of the routes were blocked or barred, one had to go through no mans zones. There was no certainty about whether you would reach, said Sri Lankan artist T. Shanaathanan.

Rather than send a letter or postcard  which could take two-three months to reach home, an appearance on the death notices that were read out as a paid service following a news programme was the preferred method of updating loved ones.

Shanaathanans Cabinet of resistance No. 2, on display at Anand warehouse, Mattancherry, stores 25 such histories of resistance  collected over three and a half decades of civil war  in a library card cabinet. The method and mode of presentation and cataloguing are in themselves references to Sri Lankas colonial legacy  both its structures and its strife.

The stories we usually heard were about military operations or rebel attacks and statistics on how many people were killed. Personal stories of the hardships faced and how they were handled, like the ones told here, were not heard. I talk about a story of resistance from a civilian point of view, said Shanaathanan, who terms himself a facilitator of memory.

We never talk about the civilians affected by the 30-plus years of war and economic blockade. There are government and victory memorials. There is no civilian history. Its a crucial issue in post-war Sri Lanka. I work with memory and archive, presenting these ordinary people as being made artists and innovators by duress and circumstance, he said.

There are stories of innovations and workarounds such as the use of Palmyra fruit as soap  after the government banned the sale of soap in the North or the people who resorted to using his fridge as a bookcase for 25 years because there was no electricity.

Shanaathanan finds meaning in everyday household goods, seeing in such overlooked pieces museum objects on a par with artifacts like the debris and rubble. In showcasing this forgotten or alternate history, his work resists against what the winner has put up as canonical.

Since 2004, the Jaffna native has worked to collect firsthand experiences of individual tragedies in the hope of coming to terms with his own trauma. It is not just physical pain, but also the hardships the common man has to face daily in war-torn areas that causes mental trauma. I found that my experiences were not unique. They were shared by a people, he said.
The responses were mostly comparing the gibbon and Luke Skywalker (Photo: Twitter)

Star Wars is one of the most successful movie franchises in the world which has given memorable dialogues, legendary characters and has garnered a huge fan following among audiences consisting of generations across the decades.

Luke Skywalker has been a widely followed character played by different actors over the years and the popularity is such that scientists impressed by the character decided to give the name to a new species of Gibbon which they discovered in south-west China.

The news of the Hoolock Gibbon named Skywalker was welcomed by Mark Hamill, an actor who has played the character previously.

Giddy over the Gibbon news-Gobsmacked that ANY species of animal could be named in honor of my character! I'll stop now. #MakeAMonkeyOutOfMe pic.twitter.com/pEdSVkXeMu  Mark Hamill (@HamillHimself) January 12, 2017

The actors reaction to the news of the species swinging between trees being named after the iconic character was followed by tweeple giving their own hilarious take on it.

@HamillHimself I guess the phrase "well I'll be a monkeys uncle" hold new meaning for you  Alejandra Nirenberg (@a_nirenberg) January 12, 2017

@HamillHimself of course, now I have King Louie in my head



"Now I'm the king of the swingers whoa the jungle VIP" #MakeAMonkeyOutOfMe pic.twitter.com/Jw2tbu8EmB  felicia ruiz (@katwomanfifi) January 12, 2017

The Gibbon is not the first species to be named after a popular icons, as outgoing US president has a fish, lizard and parasite named after him among other things and a spider was recently named after a hat in Harry Potter.
New Delhi: Police has contacted one of the girls who was in the "kissing prank" video for which two youths were apprehended.

Sumit Kumar Singh (20) and Satyajeet Kadian (25) were apprehended yesterday from Gurugram in connection with the video where the former could be seen randomly kissing girls and running away.

Their arrest has been deferred for now since Sumit and Satyajeet told police that the girls who were part of the video are their friends.

Police on Saturday contacted one of the girls, who was in the video that was later taken down following a backlash, said a senior police officer.

The girl's family said that she will join the probe by Monday, he said.

Meanwhile, Sumit and Satyajeet were questioned for the second consecutive day in the matter, he said. A case was registered last week against Sumit under section 354 (assault or criminal force to woman with intent to outrage her modesty) of IPC and section 67 (punishment for publishing or transmitting obscene material in electronic form) of IT Act following outrage over the clip.

"There is a possibility that we might have to change the sections but that will be decided after the girls are questioned," police had said.
The men lured the child away with a chocolate, took turns to assault her and then killed and dumped her body in a swamp. (Photo: Representational Image)

Mumbai: Three men have been arrested for gang raping and murdering a four-year-old child in Bhayander area of Mumbai.

According to reports, the men lured the child away with a chocolate, took turns to assault her and then killed and dumped her body in a swamp. Whats worse, they then went off to enjoy a meal of fish and rice.

A fourth rape accused is still absconding, police said.

The child disappeared from her home at Azad Nagar in Mumbai on January 9, following which her family filed a missing complaint with the police. On January 11, her body was found after a passer-by spotted it in a swamp.

Post-mortem examination confirmed rape. Reports said that she had been hit on the head before being killed.

Police believe that the man who is the main accused, was an acquaintance of the girl's family. He and the others worked as labourers.
Search for prized fungus a way of life on Tibetan Plateau. (Photo : Getty Images)

After the travel ban imposed by the Chinese government to attend the Kalachakra initiation given by the exiled Tibetan leader the Dalai Lama in Bodh Gaya, search words on Tibetan Buddhism have been banned on WeChat.



The policing online was reported by the Munk School of Global Affairs and stated that Kalachakra related keywords were banned from WeChat. The ban applies to users with Chinese phone numbers.



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According to the report, "Censorship of keywords is not transparent and no notice is given to a user if their message is blocked. A message with a keyword that is blocked simply does not appear."



The report also stated that there was a "higher level of keyword blocking' on group chats, which could be due to nature of the 'semi-public sphere of online discussion groups."



Typing keywords like "Dalai Lama" and "Kalachakra" that are sent individually would not get banned. However, keywords combination of "Kalachakra," "Dalai Lama" and "Tibetan" is blocked without any notice.



The report revealed: "The blocking of Kalachakra related keywords demonstrates that censorship on WeChat is dynamic and keyword lists are updated in response to current events. The communication blockage on WeChat, shows that the restrictions on the Tibetans offline are mirrored online."



The Chinese government refuses to recognize the practice of the Kalachakra. Many Buddhists would travel illegally to Tibet.



"Taking advantage of the presence of the Dalai Lama, the Kalachakra teachings have inveigled Tibetans into illegally going abroad over the last decade," Zhu Weiqun, chairman of the Ethnic and Religious Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference.



China also refuses to recognize the sovereignty of Tibet because China claims that Tibet became a part of China during the Yuan Dynasty.


Kochi: In another shocking incident, one more person was subjected to severe torture after being stripped naked and tied to a post by moral police in Azhikode near Kodungallur in Thrissur on Saturday night.

Salam Sulaiman (47) of Menon Bazar, Pallippar-ambu, who was allegedly spotted under suspicious circumstances was tied to an electric post by a group of people and tortured for hours together and the visuals of the torture scene were taken on mobile camera and uploaded to the social media including Whats-App by the group.

He was released after police arrived at the spot. It is said that he was caught from near a house in the area where he is alleged to have frequented.

Salam who suffered serious injuries in the attack on his body and lost three of his teeth, has been admitted to the Kodungallur Government Taluk Hospital. Kodungalloor police have started an inquiry into the case based on a complaint by Salam and said that a five-member gang is understood to be behind the attack.

A case has been registered based on Salams deposition. Natives of the same area, Babu, Siyad, Mikhil, Saikumar and Chikku, belonging to the gang, who have been named by Salam, are absconding after the incident. Their age is not known. We have intensified the drive to nab them, said a police official.

Thrissur Rural SP N Vijayakumar said that there was no justification in resorting to torture and they should have instead informed the police. He also said that suitable action will be taken after conducting investigation in the case.
In a fresh revelation, anti-terror intelligence agencies have found instances of medicines from India landing up with the ISIS.

Hyderabad: In a fresh revelation, anti-terror intelligence agencies have found instances of medicines from India landing up with the ISIS.

The agencies strongly suspect that medicines supplied to the Gulf countries were ending up in Syria and Iraq for the use of the terror group.

At the recent All-India Police Science Congress in Kerala, a top IPS official of the Intelligence Bureau noted during a discussion on the ISIS: A total of 70 incidents of violence have been reported outside the area of ISIS control in 20 countries including several lone wolf attacks. The targets have been remarkably similar to the ones chosen by other terror outfits targeting India, whether it is the Indian Mujahideen or the Lashkar-e-Tayyabba.

The officer said, There have been loose ISIS motivated or inspired groups in Hyderabad (one led by one Yazdani), one in Roorkee and lone wolves like in Parbhani. Instances of supply of logistics have come to our notice, particularly in the form of supply of medicines.

According to top IB sources, around 300 individuals in India are on the radar of various police forces and central agencies for their proclivity towards the ISIS cause.

So far, around 100 persons have tried to travel to join ISIS and around 67 have reached the area of operation of the extremist group. Agencies have arrested about 60 persons, including some in Telangana state for linkages to the ISIS.

Explaining the magnitude of the problem, an IB officer said, Over 70 lakh Indians work in the Gulf and West Asia and remain vulnerable to radical propaganda. Several expats from Hyderabad based in the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia have joined the ISIS, as has one person from Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh who was based in Kuwait.

An Intelligence official from AP said, A person identified as Tulfizur Rehman, 38, an engineer from Machilipatnam who took up a job in Kuwait, has reportedly joined the ISIS. One more person, a scientist from Guntur, is working for the ISIS in Yemen.

Analysis by the police has revealed that recent ISIS recruits from India were young - about 90 per cent in the 18-33 age group. More specifically, half the recruits from India were in the 23-28 age group. About 70 per cent had a technical background and 50 per cent were graduates.

A top official of Maharashtra's Anti Terrorism Squad said, It has been noticed that states in South India with better education indices and economic wellbeing seem to have more sympathisers for extreme ideologies, possibly because the Gulf-based expat Indian community is predominately from these states.

India and Indonesia are not among the top listed countries that supply foreign fighters in Syria and Iraq. Tunisia, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Morocco, Russia, France, Lebanon, Libya, the UK and Turkey are among the top 10 countries with more than 500 fighters each.

Around 100 people have been detained and counselled and returned to their families. Much of the information came from family and community members

At least one of the six identified Indians in an ISIS video, Mohammed Bada Sajid, a former Indian Mujahideen terrorist from Azamgarh who was also in the wanted list for the Hyderabad blasts, was killed in August 2015 at Kobane.

No attack linked directly or indirectly to ISIS has yet been recorded on Indian soil.

An ISIS Indian cell run by Mohammed Shafi Armar was engaged in a conversation with more than 700 people but could raise about 20.

Stages of ISIS counter terrorism

Police comes up with a four-pronged strategy to beat ISIS terror plans
NIA had confirmed that Shajeer Adbulla, 35, who is suspected to be the main recruiter of IS in Kerala is in the camp still calling for holy war through social media. (Representational Image)

Kozhikode: Close to 50 Malayalis are suspected to be in the IS camps in Afghanistan, according to National Investigation Agency (NIA).

They were located at Nagrahar near Jalalabad in Afghanistans tribal area three months back, said an NIA officer.

Interpol had been alerted with all the details of the persons. The 50 Keralites include those who joined from the Gulf countries and the 21 missing persons from Kasargod and Palakkad, said the officer.

According to sources, there could be around 1,000 to 3,000 people in the Nangrahar camp recruited from various countries. NIA had confirmed that Shajeer Adbulla, 35, who is suspected to be the main recruiter of IS in Kerala is in the camp still calling for holy war through social media.

Shajeer had reportedly provided tips to those who are willing for jihad in making petrol bombs and attack the prime targets in the state  atheists and Sangh Parivar leaders.

In his FB post on January 10, Shajeer had called for jihad sympathisers to stop waging war in the chatboxes and instead start doing something on the field.

Meanwhile, sources reveal that missing persons communication to relatives back home has increased by time.
Bhopal: The wife of an army jawan has said her husband is on a "hunger strike" for the past four days to highlight poor service conditions within lower ranks and she too has started a similar agitation in his support.

Richa Singh, the wife of Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh, whose purported video on alleged poor service conditions of personnel has gone viral on social media, said her husband was being made to do menial jobs like car washing and shoe polishing for his superiors.

Read: Soldiers posting grievances on social media could be punished: Army Chief

She too started her fast four days ago. "I am on a hunger strike to support my husband  Lance Naik Yagya Pratap Singh. My husband is also on a hunger strike for the past four days at Fatehgarh (UP)," Richa told PTI over phone from her hometown Rewa, around 500km from Bhopal.

Singh is with 14 Rajputana Rifles and currently posted in Fatehgarh.

"My husband is under house arrest at Fatehgarh after the video raising the issue of discrimination surfaced," she alleged.

A couple of days ago, a purported video of Singh was uploaded on social media where he is speaking about army men being allegedly made to do menial tasks at the residence of officers.

Richa demanded her husband be removed from the duties of 'sahayak' (buddy). "Army men of Sepoy, Havildar and Lance Naik ranks do 'sahayaki' (provide auxiliary services)," she said.

"My husband joined the army for serving the nation and not for doing the household chores at officers' homes," Richa said.

She said, "The condition of my husband has been deteriorating but no medical help has been provided to him."

Richa said her husband was earlier posted in Dehradun and joined duties in Fatehgarh on December 21. The purported video was shot in Dehradun, she added.
Kolkata: A Bidhannagar court on Sunday turned down the bail plea of West Bengal Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) vice-president Jay Prakash Majumdar, accused in a cheating case, and remanded him in police custody for three days.

Majumdar was arrested on Saturday by Bidhannagar Police Commissionarate on charges of criminal conspiracy, fraud and cheating following a complaint by one Arupratan Roy, who accused him of cheating Rs 7.20 lakh in August last year.

The BJP leader, while coming out of the court, questioned the authenticity of the complainant and alleged that he was a victim of "political conspiracy".

"It's a fake complaint...There is no truth in the complaint. I have been framed," Majumdar said.

The Bengal BJP vice-president's arrest comes in the backdrop of the arrest of two TMC MPs by CBI in the Rose Valley chit fund scam. The TMC leadership had accused BJP of pursuing "vendetta" politics.
New Delhi: Dismissing Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati's allegation that her brother was being targeted under "planned conspiracy", BJP on Sunday said the accusation is "baseless" as the case in this regard was filed during the Congress regime.

"BJP dismisses all the allegations levelled by Mayawati. Instead of criticising the prime minister, she should respect the law and provide the proof if her brother is innocent... if he is innocent, he would be free otherwise he had to face the law," BJP National Secretary Shrikant Sharma said.

Earlier, referring to Enforcement Directorate crackdown on her brother Anand Kumar and his bank accounts, Mayawati had alleged that under a "planned conspiracy", money deposited in the banks by her party and some members of her family in a routine manner, was being highlighted by BJP and the central government in the media as if it was related to black money.

"Mayawati's allegation is baseless as case on her brother was registered during Congress regime and investigation is going on," Sharma said.

Training guns at Mayawati, he alleged that the BSP leader only collects money in the name of Dalits and has no concerned for them as "over 1,100 Dalits were killed and over 30,000 cases of Dalits' harassment came to light" when she was in power.

He alleged that because of Mayawati's "despotism and hands in gloves with criminals", she was dismissed by people in 2012 polls in the state.

"People now know the understanding between the SP and BSP of ruling the state alternatively. Mayawati never raises voices against Akhilesh government because of her connivance but only criticise the Centre," he said.

Alleging that she does not want the development of poor people, he said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is continuously working towards the uplift of the poor and villagers and the BJP will fight the polls in Uttar Pradesh on development and good governance.
Barnala (Punjab): Former Punjab chief minister Surjit Singh Barnala was on Sunday cremated with full state honours at his native village Barnala.

His son and ex-MLA Gaganjit Singh and grandson Samarpratap Singh jointly lit the pyre.

Once the bugle sounded, a pall of silence descended at the cremation ground before police personnel fired shots in air as a mark of respect to the departed leader.

Several people had gathered to pay homage and bid a tearful adieu to Barnala with many turning up at their residence here to pay their last respects to the leader.

Later, Barnala's body was taken to the cremation ground at his native village Barnala.

Barnala took over reins of the state in the difficult period when militancy was at its peak in the mid-80s. He died at Chandigarh at the age of 91.

Barnala, who served as chief minister from 1985 to 1987, was admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) Chandigarh.

A moderate leader of the Akali Dal, he became chief minister after the Rajiv-Longowal accord to usher in peace in the troubled state was reached in the summer of 1985.

As Governor of Tamil Nadu, Barnala had famously refused to recommend dismissal of the DMK government in 1991 when the late Chandrashekhar was the Prime Minister for a short time.

When he was transferred to Bihar following his refusal, he chose to resign as Governor.

He had also served as Governor of Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Barnala was Agriculture Minister at the Centre in the Moraji Desai government and Chemicals and Fertilisers Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet.

Prominent among those present on the occasion included Punjab cabinet minister Tota Singh, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) MLA from Delhi Naresh Yadav, Congress MLA Kewal Dhillon, Uttarakhand forest minister Dinesh Aggrawal, Punjab Haj Committee former chairman Aslaq Mohammad Khan.

Former Punjab chief minister Rajinder Kaur Bhattal also visited the family of Barnala earlier in the day.
Chandigarh: Former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala, who took over reins of the state in the difficult period when militancy was at its peak in the mid-80s, died here on Saturday at the age of 91.

Barnala, who served as Chief Minister from 1985 to 1987, was admitted to the Post-Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) here on Thursday.

A moderate leader of the Akali Dal, he became chief minister after the Rajiv-Longowal accord to usher in peace in the troubled state was reached in the summer of 1985.

Barnala was admitted to the Cardiac Care Unit of PGI and was shifted this morning to respiratory ICU where he breathed his last.

As Governor of Tamil Nadu, Barnala had famously refused to recommend dismissal of the DMK government in 1991 when the late Chandrashekhar was the Prime Minister for a short time.

When he was transferred to Bihar following his refusal, he chose to resign as Governor.

The government headed by Chandrashekhar then dismissed the Karunanidhi ministry using the "otherwise" provision in Article 356 of the Constitution after Barnala's refusal to make a recommendation.

He had also served as Governor of Uttarakhand, Andhra Pradesh, and Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

Barnala was Agriculture Minister at the Centre in the Moraji Desai government and Chemicals & Fertilizers Minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Cabinet.

Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal has condoled the death of former Senior Akali Leader.
Chennai: Batting for more humour and satire in daily life, Prime Minister Narendra Modi today termed humour as the "best healer" and said the power of a smile or laughter is more powerful than abuse or any other weapon.

Addressing the 47th anniversary of Tamil magazine Thuglaq, founded by Cho S Ramaswamy, Modi particularly referred to the noted journalist's ability for satire and humour and called for more of this in daily life.

"I think we need more satire and humour. Humour brings happiness in our lives. Humour is the best healer. The power of a smile or the power of laughter is more than the power of abuse or any other weapon," he said.

"Humour builds bridges instead of breaking them... And this is exactly what we require today. Building bridges, bridges between people, bridges between communities, bridges between societies," the Prime Minister said through video conferencing from New Delhi.

Remembering his "friend" Cho Ramaswamy, PM Modi said the actor-journalist had mastered the art of satire and humour and he was adept at communicating through a sentence or a cartoon.

Recalling one such cartoon, "This reminds me a cartoon of Cho wherein people are targeting me with their guns and the common people are standing in front of me. Cho asks who is the real target, me or the common people. How apt is the cartoon in today's context," he said without referring to any incident.

PM Modi did not elaborate either.

The Prime Minister has, however, been receiving flak from opposition parties, including Congress and TMC, besides the Left, over his demonetisation move, saying it had affected the common man though it was rolled out with the objectives of addressing black money, fake notes and terror funding issues.

The Prime Minister said humour brings out "human creativity".

"We are living in an age where one speech or one event can create multiple memes," he said.

He termed Mr Ramaswamy's passing away last month as a "personal loss" and said he knew the veteran political analyst for many years.
Hyderabad: Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has requested the Centre to increase the budget of subsidy provided to Muslims for their Haj pilgrimage, from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.

In a letter addressed to Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mahmood Ali said the pilgrims who avail this opportunity are very poor Muslims and it is felt necessary that the facility of extending subsidy for this noble cause should continue.

Read: Asaduddin Owaisi asks Centre to end Haj subsidy

"I request you to kindly look into the matter personally and see that all the measures are taken to continue the facility of providing subsidy and also to increase the subsidy budget from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore so that, more number of Muslim minority poor people will be brought under the cover," he said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media.
Donald Glover, winner of Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy for 'Atlanta,' attends FOX and FX's 2017 Golden Globe Awards after party. (Photo : Getty Images/Rodin Eckenroth)

Breakout television comedy show "Atlanta" is continuously getting praise from critics but fans of the show will have to wait for a while before they get a serving of the second season as creator and star Donald Glover will be busy on his other commitment of playing Lando Carlrissian in a Disney Han Solo standalone "Star Wars" movie set for a 2018 release.



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FX, the network which "Atlanta" is aired on, announced on Jan. 12 that instead of the show's second season being released in 2017, it would have to be pushed to 2018 to accommodate Glover's other projects, Deadline reported. Glover is a busy man these days, recently releasing his critically acclaimed album, "Awaken, My Love!" and now, he is set to be a film star.



In the recent Golden Globes, 'Childish Gambino' shared that playing Lando Carlrissian has definitely been a big deal for him since much of his movie roles in the past have been more of background characters. He was last seen in the big screen as Rich Purnell in the blockbuster hit, "The Martian."



"Atlanta" has been a big break for Glover after the show won a Golden Globe for Best Television Series - Musical or Comedy while he went home with the Best Actor in a Television Series - Musical or Comedy. Glover also won a Critics' Choice Television Award for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.



The 10-episode series still has pending nomination results from the NAACP Image Awards, People's Choice Awards, Producers Guild of America Awards and Writers Guild of America Awards.



The success of the show, which debuted on Sept. 6, got Glover a deal from FX that will ensure him more projects in the future aside from the upcoming seasons of "Atlanta," Variety reported. In terms of rating, the breakout comedy show amassed 4.8 million viewers per episode when the number of multiplatform streaming is summed.



Watch the video below for the Golden Globe acceptance speech of the "Atlanta" cast:






New Delhi: Days after China blocked India's proposal at the United Nations (UN), the world body's key member France has pitched for designating Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, saying there are "very strong arguments in favour" of such a move.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day India visit, also sent out a veiled message to China without naming it, saying "the international community's determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat."

Pointing out that Azhar's outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad "is already included in the (Sanctions) Committee's list of terrorist organisations", he told PTI in an interview, "therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested".

That's why, he said, France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UNSC.

India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as an international terrorist for masterminding the attack on Pathankot Air base.

Since then, China had twice imposed "technical hold" on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 last, it blocked it, becoming the only country to do so.

"We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached," said Ayrault, whose country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

He said France will now discuss with India what should be done. "India knows it can count on our support," he added.

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, was one of the three terrorists freed by India in exchange of 166 hostages of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999.

Azhar, at that time, belonged to Harkat-ul Mujahideen,and soon after his release, he floated the new outfitJaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan which carried out several attacksin India, including on Parliament on December 13, 2001 and Pathankot Air base.
Locals claimed that the ban on Jallikattu has dampened the festive spirits in the state, which celebrated the Pongal festival with huge furore. (Photo: file)

Chennai: The Tamil Nadu police, on Sunday, said that local police has been deployed in Madurai to enforce the Supreme Court order banning the bull-taming sport Jallikattu.

Madurai Police SP Vijayendra Bidari said, "We have deployed forces at all arenas where Jallikattu takes place. We are sensitising people about SC's order."

The police also detained several people at various places in some southern districts for attempting to organise the bull taming sport.

#WATCH: Villagers in Tamil Nadu's Palamedu offer special prayers, conduct a symbolic #Jallikattu event, defying SC's order. pic.twitter.com/iKwjDAyGwa  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.

People hoisted black flags at Palamedu village for not allowing them to hold Jallikattu in connection with Pongal festivities and local temple functions, they said.

Shops at several localities remained closed and black flags were also hoisted at Alanganallur.

Locals claimed that the ban on Jallikattu has dampened the festive spirits in the state, which celebrated the Pongal festival with huge furore.

The die-hard supporters of the sport along with major political parties in the state have been demanding an ordinance for conducting Jallikattu after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on it.

On Saturday, 149 persons were detained in Madurai district for staging protests against the ban.

The Supreme Court on Thursday had said it could not give its verdict on Jallikattu before Pongal.

DMK Working President M K Stalin had led a protest in Chennai on Friday in this regard.
New Delhi: Hijackers of the Indian the Indian Airlines flight IC-814 were supported by Pakistans spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), National Security Adviser Ajit Doval, who was one of the negotiators at the time, has alleged.

On December 24, 1999, the Kathmandu-Delhi flight was hijacked by five people soon after take-off, in what the worst hostage crisis in Indian aviation history. The flight had 180 passengers and crew on board.

According to media reports, Doval alleged that India could have solved the predicament if the hijackers were not aided by ISI, in Myra Macdonalds new book, Defeat is an Orphan: How Pakistan lost the Great South Asian War. Macdonald was the former India Bureau chief for Reuters.

Subsequently, terrorists Maulana Masood Azhar, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh and Mushtaq Zargar were released to defuse the situation.

The report also stated when the negotiating team landed, they discovered that two ISI men, a Lieutenant Colonel and a major, were there along with Taliban on the tarmac. The team also realised that the hijackers were communicating directly with ISI officers in Kandahar further worsening the situation, according to Doval.

"We were getting very good intelligence about all that was happening. If these people were not getting active ISI support in Kandahar, we could have got the hijacking vacated," Doval was quoted as saying.

In the book, Doval also commented that the support given by ISI eliminated all the pressure the negotiators were trying to pin the hijackers under. " Even their safe exit was guaranteed, so they had no need to negotiate an escape route. That is not the way hijackers talk. Normally the biggest fear is how to get out," he was quoted saying in the book.

He further narrates the tight deadline that the team was working with. Wanting the crisis to end soon, the then NDA government was pressing to solve the situation before January 1. This intensified the pressure the team was under, he was quoted as saying.
Family members mourn the death of relatives who died after a boat capsized in the river Ganga, in Patna on Sunday. (Photo: PTI)

Patna: With the recovery of four more bodies, the toll in boat tragedy in river Ganga in Patna climbed to 24 on Sunday while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a high- level inquiry and directed strict action against those responsible for any lapses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs 2 lakh and Rs 4 lakh respectively to the kin of those killed in the incident.

The boat was ferrying people who were returning from a four-day kite festival organised by the state tourism department on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti' when it capsized near NIT ghat last evening apparently due to "overloading".

Asked if there could be more bodies in the river, Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit told PTI that it was unlikely but the rescue work by the SDRF and NDRF teams was on.

"No more family has come forward to claim about missing kin in the boat tragedy," he said.

The boat had about 40 people on board who were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area) across the river after watching the kite festival.

The boat had been retrieved from the Ganga, the senior official said adding it was intact.

"We are saddened by this terrible tragedy and are with the families in this hour of grief. The Chief Minister has announced ex-gratia....

"He has ordered a high level probe into the incident and directed that strict action should be taken against those responsible for any lapses," state Tourism Minister Anita Devi said.

The Minister, however, rejected suggestions that adequate arrangements had not been made by the department for the event.

"We had made all arrangements and informed local authorities in writing. But there were some private boat operators," she said.

The Prime Minister today sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed from the PM National Relief Fund.

Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials to provide ex-gratia assistance of Rs four lakh each to the next of kin of the victims at the earliest.

Kumar directed the Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit, Central Range DIG Shalin and Patna's District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal to carry out rescue operations on war footing and make proper arrangement for treatment of the rescued people at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of other engagements including 'dahi-chura' feast that JD(U) unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh was scheduled to host today.

Expressing grief over the incident, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad said, "It is tragic that children have lost their lives on a day when we celebrate a festival.

Steps should be taken to avoid such mishaps. I am hopeful that action will be taken against those responsible for lapses."

The four-day kite festival which started on Saturday will not continue in the wake of the tragedy.
New Delhi: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans who take to social media to express their complaints could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.

He also said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, "we want to restore peace on the Line of Control".

"But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," he asserted.

The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations in New Delhi, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

"If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," General Rawat said.

"Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that)," he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.

"It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border," he said.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.

"Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts," he said.
Chennai: Tamil Nadu Chief Minister O Paneerselvam on Sunday appealed to Tamil scholars and poets to work for the development of Tamil language and the state.

"I appeal to the scholars, the activists (present here) to work for the development of Tamil language and for the welfare of the state by promoting Tamil language," he said, after presenting the 'Thiruvalluvar Day' awards to various scholars at a function.

Stating that it was the AIADMK government led by late party supremo J Jayalalithaa which instituted the awards to honour the Tamil scholars, he said, "Tamil Nadu government will continue the journey on the path shown by Puratchi Thalaivi (revolutionary leader) Amma (J Jayalalithaa)."

Panneerselvam also recalled that it was under her leadership, the state government passed a resolution in the Assembly requesting the Centre to announce 'Thirukkural' the Tamil treatise authored by saint-poet Thiruvalluvar as National literature.'

Later, Panneerselvam presented the 'Thiruvalluvar Award 2017' to well-known Tamil scholar P Veeramani, the 'Thanthai Periyar Award 2016' to senior political leader 'Panruti' Ramachandran, 'Mahakavi Bharathiyar' Award to professor S Ganapathy Raman, 'Pavendar' Bharatidasan award to K Bharati, and 'Thiru Vi Ka' Award to Maraimalai Illakuvanar, among others.

Earlier, Panneerselvam and his cabinet colleagues paid floral tributes to a photo of Thiruvalluvar that was kept near his statue at the Marina beach on the occasion.

January 15 is observed as Thiruvalluvar Day and a public holiday in the state.
Hyderabad: Students will converge at Veliwada on Tuesday to mark one year of the suicide of UoH Dalit scholar Rohith Vemula. Rohith and his friends had fought alleged caste discrimations at the site.

Joining them would be the families of Najeeb Ahmed, the JNU student who has gone missing, and Mohammed Akhlaq, who was killed for allegedly having beef at home, and a few of the Dalits who were thrashed in Una, Gujarat, for alleged cow slaughter.

Rohiths friend Dontha Prashand said the suicide had galvanised Dalit forces, especailly students, to become united.

Rohith, Prashanth and three other PhD students were suspended by the UoH administration following allegations of assault on an ABVP activist, Susheel Kumar. Apparently following political intervention, the university cracked down on the group, barring them from the hostel and the mess. They set up the Veliwada near the canteen. Rohith committed suicide on January 17.

The suicide saw political leaders converging on the university and demanding the removal of Vice-Chancellor Appa Rao Podile and action against Union minister Bandaru Dattatreya and a few others, amid a national outcry that figured in Parliament.

There is also a controversy over whether Rohith was a Dalit; it is learnt that the Guntur administration will declare him a BC.
Hyderabad: There is uncertainty about the passage of the Muslim/ST Reservation Bills in the ongoing winter session of the state Legislature.

The TS government had earlier indicated that the Bills  to raise quota for Muslims and STs to 12 per cent  would be introduced in the Legislature on January 17 or 18. With just a day left to finalise the Bills, the BC Commission is yet to submit its report recommending an increase in quota for Muslims. Moreover, the government and BC Commission are yet to arrive at a decision whether the quota should be increased to 9 per cent or 12 per cent.

We are ready with our report and waiting for an appointment with the Chief Minister. The Sudhir Commission recommended reservations for Muslims in the range of 9 to 12 per cent. This commission, too, is in favour of the same. Its up to the government to take a call on whether Muslim quota should be increased to 9 or 12 per cent, said official sources in the BC Commission.

Since 12 per cent quota for Muslims and STs is the poll promise made by the Telangana Rashtra Samiti during the 2014 elections, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao is keen to ensure that the promise is fulfilled.

The passage of Bills takes time. Sources explain that the Backward Classes Commission has to submit its report to the Chief Minister.

It has to be referred to the law department and then it goes back to the Chief Minister for approval. A Cabinet meeting has to be held for approval, and only after getting this nod can it be introduced in the Legislature.
Chandigarh: Surjit Singh Barnala, who almost became Prime Minister in the mid-90s but for his party ditching him, was a moderate Akali politician and played a role in the Rajiv-Longowal Accord that catapulted him to the chief ministers seat in Punjab during its worst period of militancy.

Painter, politician and author, 91-year-old Barnala was among the few who held various posts including that of Chief Minister, Governor and Union Minister.

Barnala was a candidate of the BJP and its allies in the election of the Vice President of India in 1997.

But in the previous year, he almost emerged as a consensus candidate for prime ministership when motley combine of parties formed the United Front after defeat of Congress.

His party Akali Dal, however, did not support him as it chose to go with the BJP which had just lost power after 13 days in government.

When Punjab was rocked by militancy in the 80s, Barnala stood by another moderate Akali leader Sant Harchand Singh Longowal who signed the Punjab Peace Accord in 1985 with Rajiv Gandhi, months after he had become Prime Minister.

Read: Former TN Governor CM Surjit Singh Barnala passes away at 91

Barnala was elected from the Barnala assembly constituency during the 1985 assembly polls held after the signing of the Rajiv Longowal accord.

He was unanimously elected leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) legislature party on Sept 27, 1985. He remained Chief Minister till May 11, 1987 during the peak period of militancy.

He was elected acting President of SAD on August 25, 1985 following the assassination of Longowal by terrorists. Barnala was appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu a post he held from May 1990 to February 1991.

He was Governor of Tamil Nadu for a second time from Nov 2004 to August 2011 holding two successive tenures. In his first term as Governor of Tamil Nadu, Barnala had famously refused to recommend dismissal of the DMK government in 1991 when the late Chandrashekhar was the Prime Minister for a short time. When he was transferred to Bihar following his refusal, he chose to resign as Governor.

The government headed by Chandrashekhar then dismissed the Karunanidhi ministry using the otherwise provision in Article 356 of the Constitution after Barnalas refusal to make a recommendation.

Born on October 21, 1925 in Ateli village in Gurgaon district of joint Punjab, Barnala did schooling from Nabha and did his graduation in Ll.B from Lucknow. He was involved in the Quit India Movement of 1942 after which he practiced law for some years. He was a five-time member of Punjab Assembly  1967, 1969, 1972, 1980 and 1985  and twice a member of the Lok Sabha in 1977 and 1998.

He entered politics in 1952 and unsuccessfully contested from Dhanaula assembly constituency losing by just three votes.

Barnala was Education Minister in the Gurnam Singh government and was instrumental in setting of the Guru Nanak Dev University at Amritsar.

He fought the Lok Sabha elections for the first time in 1977 and served as Union Agriculture, Irrigation, Water Resources, Forests minister in the Morarji Desai-led Janta Party government from 1977 to 1980.

He was also Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Power, Chemical and Fertilisers and Rural Development and signed the historic Ganga Waters Agreement (Farakka Agreement) with Bangladesh.

In 1998 Barnala was again elected to Parliament and became the minister for Chemical & Fertilisers and Food & Consumer Affairs in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet. Following the rift with Parkash Singh Badal and bifurcation of the SAD, he resigned from the post of party president but was later on again made President.

He was also a former Governor of Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh besides being Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands.

After his differences with Badal, he became patron of a four-party alliance and formed the Sanjha Morch in Punjab but it failed to make any impact. Barnala authored Story of an Escape which was translated from English to Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. His second book My Other Two Daughters was also transliterated in braille by Kunwar Singh Negi.

Barnala had faced tragedies on the personal front. His youngest son Neelinder died in a road accident in 1996 and his daughter Amrit Kaur died of cancer in 2012. He is survived by his wife Surjit Kaur and two sons Jasjit and Gaganjit.
Chandigarh: A day after Arvind Kejriwal asked voters in Punjab to take money "offered" by political parties, the returning officer in Jalandhar has served a notice to AAP, seeking its reply on the statement which is seen as a violation of the model code of conduct.

"A notice has been served to AAP by the returning officer concerned seeking the party's reply within 24 hours on the statement made by Kejriwal," District Election Officer Kamal Kishore Yadav said on Saturday.

Informing that it is in violation of the model code of conduct, he said the matter will be sent to the Chief Electoral Officer, Punjab and the Election Commission of India for further action.

A video surveillance team of the Election Commission also has the recording of Kejriwal's remark, Yadav, who is also the Deputy Commissioner of Jalandhar, said.

"The state goes to polls on February 4. All parties will give you money. Accept it, but vote only for AAP," Kejriwal had said during a road show in Jalandhar yesterday.

The Goa Chief Electoral Officer had on January 9 said they had received information about the AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister asking people to accept money to vote and sent a report to the Election Commission of India for further action.
Anyang Residents (Photo : Weibo)

Belief in geomancy or feng shui has caused a Chinese woman in Anyang to cut the network cables of Tongye town. For depriving 8,000 of her town mates of internet and telephone service for one day, the resident could possibly face a lawsuit.



Mrs. Cheng deliberately severed the cables to improve the feng shui in her house, Whats on Weibo reported. She is a believer in the ancient Chinese practice of organizing a house or office based on geomancys principles which focuses on balance and harmony to keep out negative energy.



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Electromagnetic Field Exposure



One possible reason behind Chengs action is she fears prolonged exposure to electromagnetic fields could negatively affect her health. A netizen possibly affected by the womans action suggested she move to the mountains if she believes the optic cables are bad for the brain.



Another netizen described Cheng as a cruel woman, explaining, In the present-day era, you can cut off anything, but dont cut off our wifi! One netizen commented the incident shows the value of education.



Other Feng Shui Victims



Because of a possible lawsuit, one commenter added, At least her feng shui will be very different in prison. Similarly, a Hong Kong designer who used feng shui to dupe a 25-year-old woman into having sex four times to save her shaky relationship with her boyfriend is the reason why Joey Lo Wai-leuk was arrested in June 2015.



In Vietnam, Chuang Kuo Jen, a Taiwanese feng shui master, is being hunted by authorities for allegedly kidnapping a 3-year-old boy from Ho Chi Ming City. Vnexpress reported that Vietnamese border guards in Quang Ninh Province returned the child to his mother a month after he was allegedly abducted by Chuang.



The mother went on Dec. 2 to Chuang to check if the location of her company in the Vietnam capital city could help improve her wealth. She brought her son with her whom Chuang asked to be left with him so he could tour the child around Ho Chi Minh City on Dec. 3. The next day, the two were gone and the woman sought the help of authorities who eventually located her son in Guangdong Province.






The impending alliance was long in the pipeline, with leaders from both sides dropping hints. (Photo: PTI)

Lucknow: Even as political pundits predict a pre-poll alliance between Congress and the Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh, in the run up to the decisive elections spanning February-March, reports indicate that a formal announcement of the same could be made any time in the upcoming week.

According to a report in the Hindustan Times, interlocutors from both the parties have started hectic parleys on drawing out a strategy for sharing the states 404-member assembly seats, and Congress sources were quoted as saying that the party hopes to contest in 100 seats.

The report also quoted SP sources saying that other factors such as constituencies, candidates and joint campaign strategies would be chalked out in the next two days, with senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad establishing channels of communications with relevant SP leaders to work out the details.

The impending alliance was long in the pipeline, with leaders from both sides dropping hints.

Earlier this month, Congress UP face Sheila Dikshit had announced that she would be happy to step aside for Akhilesh Yadav as the prospective chief minister of the state, if at all there were to be a pre-poll tie up.

Congress Partys election strategist for UP polls, Prashant Kishor, had also raised eyebrows late last year with his frequent visits to the Akhilesh camp.

The murmurs started after Akhilesh surprised everyone in September last, praising Rahul Gandhi as a good human being.

As the BJP continues to fret over its prospects UP, the Dimple-Priyanka posters with the slogan - "Mahilaon ka bajega danka" (women will lead from the front and emerge victorious) - seem to have energised Congress workers in the state.

The saffronites intends to tone down their rhetoric against the BSP and focus mainly on targeting Akhilesh Yadav. Some BJP functionaries have also been asked to open a backchannel with the BSP, if possible.

Meanwhile The BSP has so far shown no inclination of any post-poll allaince with the BJP.

While speculation ran rife that the Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) could be offered around 135 of the 403 seats by the SP, uncertainty prevailed in the BJP camp.

The BJP, which has begun the process of selecting candidates, seems somewhat apprehensive about the party's prospects in UP following the possibility of a grand alliance of "secular" parties.

Though the BJP was trying to take advantage of the family feud in SP, UP chief minister Akhilesh Yadav has emerged as enemy number one for the party.

A senior BJP functionary from UP, who has been providing regular feedback to the party high command, said, By going against the old guard, Akhilesh has managed to demolish the anti-incumbency against his government. The BJP functionary also said that the failure to project a chief ministerial candidate in Uttar Pradesh could hit the party hard.

On the other side, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar will be used by the proposed grand alliance to consolidate the Kurmi vote bank.

The proposed secular" grand alliance would include the SP (Akhilesh faction), Congress, RLD, JD(U), Peace Party, Rashtriya Janta Dal, Sanjay Nishads Party, Rajbhar Party and the dissident faction of Apna Dal led by Krishna Patel, mother of Union minister Anupriya Patel.

The Congress, which has been decimated in UP, was eagerly awaiting an alliance with the SP. Its learnt that nearly 135 seats left by the SP would have to be shared between parties which would form the proposed grand alliance.

Despite talks of seat sharing between the Congress and SP, the main problem areas are the constituencies where both the parties came second in 2012 Assembly polls. Two such constituencies are Banda and Aligarh.

While Congress came second in Aligarh, SP came second in Banda. "All these issues will be ironed out once we decide to join hands," a Congress leader said.
Responding to an avalanche of criticism from political parties, and from former RBI governors, on the delicate subject of the government infringing the domain of the countrys central bank, the Union finance ministry said on Saturday: It is categorically stated that the government fully respects the RBIs autonomy.

The finance ministrys statement also noted that consultations between the government and the RBI are undertaken on various matters of public importance, either mandated by law or evolved as a practice.

The defence is bland and seems to avoid addressing the context in which the criticisms have been made. The disapproval of the government by political parties for encroaching on the RBIs turf follows a sharp complaint by some RBI unions to governor Urjit Patel that the appointment of an officer by the government to engage in currency coordination with the RBI reflected a case of operational mismanagement by the RBI. Saturdays statement is perhaps meant to handle this criticism, although it does not say why an officer was despatched to coordinate with the RBI, when in the area of financial stability, monetary management and as the issuer of currency as well as the supervision of commercial banks in the country, the RBI enjoys autonomous status.

In pursuit of demonetisation, which was sprung on the country without any preparation whatsoever, the Narendra Modi government appears to have trampled on the autonomy of the RBI, with Mr Patel not demurring on the record, in effect caving in. Parliament needs to worry whether such a governor can protect the institutional integrity of the countrys central bank. But Parliament needs to do more. It should take steps to bring the RBIs autonomy and functional independence into the statute book in the same manner as that of the CAG.

In its reply to a parliamentary panel, the RBI has clearly stated that it was advised by the government to approve the demonetisation the PM had in mind, and it did so within 24 hours. This is severe self-indictment, and the rest follows.

It is this aspect of the matter, rather than the one noted by the RBIs unions, that has been considered by several former RBI governors who, in their time, hadnt hesitated to cross swords with the government. Such is the tradition that the RBIs longest-serving governor, Benegal Rama Rau, tendered his resignation days before he was to retire to protest against the observation of then finance minister T.T. Krishanmachari that the RBI was a department of the government. That tradition has to be protected.
In every speech he makes, Prime Minister Narendra Modi accuses his political opponents of being corrupt and of having built their political careers on black money, and pretends that he himself and his side are pure.

He is very angry because the Congress and others challenge him to speak the truth about the effects of demonetisation. They call him to account and ask him to acknowledge the grim reality that this policy has snatched the food from the plate of the poor and neutered the businessman and capitalist, wreaking havoc on the nations economy.

The PMs Sancho Panza Amit Shah, who has been heading the BJP in near-brutal fashion by squelching any point of view other than his own, has gone so far as to propose that those who criticise demonetisation are anti-national.

Both these gentlemen who are in the eye of the storm, and who will suffer a cruel loss of dignity and authority if coming poll results are not up to expectations, need to be reminded that Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhis first reaction after the PMs dramatic demonetisation speech on November 8 was that it was the first time that Mr Modi had acted like a PM.

The government was being given the benefit of the doubt. At that stage, the Congress leaders only worry was that if Mr Modi had scrapped the Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes, why had he announced the arrival of new Rs 2,000 notes (since black money is stacked in paper currency of high value)? It was a fair question. But there was no answer.

Mr Gandhis scepticism about the policy, his sharp criticisms, and his campaign, which upsets the BJP so much, came later  only when each passing day revealed new negative facets of demonetisation that the government refused to address, choosing instead to hide behind a cloak of self-righteousness.

It was evident that, to begin with, the country desired to give the PM a chance. But this man who is blessed with extraordinary powers of circumlocution, obfuscation and insinuation of inaccuracies to achieve the desired effect, simply refused to still the doubts of Parliament on leading questions relating to his policy on black money and corruption  which had by then begun to look like vague, contrived slogans. The man had feet of clay and it appeared he did not wish these exposed in the House.

His chorus boys kept up the noise and attacked the Opposition. But without finesse, they also pursued their mission of ducking the issue. For his part Mr Modi was probably just taking care not to utter falsehoods in Parliament. That has consequences. The floor of the House is not like a public rally where anything goes.

However, all this is now history. Now it is mostly academic to enquire if the people of Uttar Pradesh, the countrys most significant state politically where Assembly elections are due next month, are excited about demonetisation or disgusted and angry with it. The plain truth is this is not going to be a poll determinant.

The centre of gravity in UPs election politics shifted fundamentally once its young chief minister, Akhilesh Yadav, made up his mind to jettison his fathers old support system  brother Shivpal and bag boy Amar Singh, the repugnant symbols of the ancien regime. With that he was mostly clear of anti-incumbency in the broad sense.

This happened weeks ago, but the BJP didnt keep its eye on the ball. The RSS is at war with itself in UP and with other Hindu extremists and Mr Shah has no props he can rely on in the state.

And how badly advised the PM has been! Even at his recent Lucknow rally, he reserved his sharpest barbs for the BSPs Mayawati, thinking she was the main competition. The rally itself, which he proclaimed was his largest ever, was a sea of glum, unresponsive faces. The BJPs own visual feed, supplied to television channels, told the story of listlessness and petty rivalries among local leaders.

Those of them who do not get the partys go-ahead to fight the polls, or cant get tickets for their family, are not expected to sulk in a corner. They will be active saboteurs. No other party is so badly placed, though each has some trouble on those lines.

Unlike any BJP or BSP leader, the UP CM enjoys the image of being genuinely development-oriented and of being trans-caste. He is not a Yadav chieftain who will wield the lathi in the rural badlands against social and political opponents. He has also won kudos for not letting the hoods on board even in the name of fighting communalism, which basically meant thriving on the political symbolism of letting minority gangsters be, an art that his father Mulayam Singh Yadav had perfected.

Along with the supporting cast of the Congress and Ajit Singhs RLD in the western districts of UP  but unlikely without them at this stage  the chief minister appears to have the wind behind him.

Potentially, it is he who is seen as the one who can clean the Augean stables, not Mr Modi with all the tall talk of rooting out corruption. A man who flew to New Delhi in 2014 to take the oath as Prime Minister in the private plane of a controversial industrialist will be laughed out of court if he seeks to deepen the pretence of being Mr Clean.

The BJP, at its national executive meet in New Delhi last week, chose to be supercilious and uncaring. Not having a choice, nor the nerve to question the Prime Minister, it gave its endorsement to Mr Modis demonetisation, but chose to wrap it in religious imagery  calling the terrible effects of demonetisation, when people had to stand in long, frustrating queues for nothing, a sacred movement. This showed the saffron party just did not have its ear to the ground.

The people of UP fell for the Pied Pipers alluring tune about the Gujarat model in 2014. This time seems different. The fake surgical strike against Pakistan and then demonetisation, were meant to raise a cheer, but they raise a snicker instead. Mr Modi laid a morality trap for his opponents but can fall in it himself.
China will not allow its mammoth mobile online population to play Pokemon Go or other augmented-reality games until it completes a review of potential security risks, a Chinese digital publishing group said.

The roadblock was put up amid concerns that such games contain "rather big social risks" including potential threats to consumer and traffic safety, and the security of "geographic information", the China Audio-Video and Digital Publishing Association (CADPA) said this week.

The industry group said in a statement that it was informed of the move by China's State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television (SAPPRFT).

It said SAPPRFT was conducting a security review of such games in the meantime.

"Before then, SAPPRFT will not accept requests to approve such games and has advised domestic game developers to be cautious when considering developing, introducing or operating such games," the publishing association said.

Pokemon Go engages mobile users in a virtual chase for cartoon creatures appearing in their vicinity, as seen through their phone camera, but relies for many of its functions on Google Maps, which is blocked in China.

Beijing keeps tight control over surveying, mapping and geographic information. China is a huge potential market for gamers, with 1.3 billion mobile users by the end of 2015.

Some Chinese companies are already getting into the act, with tech giants Alibaba and Tencent recently introducing augmented-reality games with a theme linked to the Chinese lunar new year holidays beginning in late January.

It was not immediately clear how the digital-publishing association's announcement would affect those games.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Panasonic India expects about 24 percent of its overall sales to come from mobile phones.

To woo potential smartphone buyers in India, electronics major Panasonic is working on mobile apps that promises to "make life easier" as it attempts to catch up with bigger rivals like Samsung and Micromax.

Calling itself a "late entrant" in Indian mobile phone market - one of the world's fastest growing smartphone markets - Panasonic aims to roll out the new apps in the next 2-3 months.

"We are working on some really innovative applications, which would eventually make the life of people more easy. Maybe, in about a few months time, you would be exposed to those kind of applications and user interfaces which I think would differentiate the devices," Panasonic India & South Asia President & CEO Manish Sharma told PTI.

Admitting that the Indian market is dominated by Chinese companies, Sharma said a strong portfolio of devices isn't enough to grab market share in India.

"We have entered this market only two-and-a-half years before and by that time the market was penetrated. We have to catch up and only the devices will not let us do that. Possibly, in the near future, we would see more applications to come in and we are working right now," he said.

Sharma did not disclose the details of the apps that the company is looking at launching but said they "would eventually make the life of people more easy."

"I think that consumers still expect high quality products to come in. There is different set of consumers because they have their own preferences and eventually our idea is to be competitive in terms of supply chain," said Sharma, who is also Executive Officer at Panasonic Corporation.

"If we are able to manage the supply chain properly and better efficiencies in terms of bringing those products to India, I think that everything is competitive as far as business is concerned. Television is equally competitive," he said.

Smartphone shipments in India grew 11 percent year-on- year to 32.3 million smartphones in July-September 2016 quarter, while the same was higher by 17.4 percent than April-June 2016 quarter, according to research firm IDC.

Panasonic India expects about 24 percent of its overall sales to come from mobile phones. It expects sales of about Rs. 2,500 crores from mobile phones this fiscal, and its total projected sales stands at about Rs. 10,800 crores for FY 2016-17.

Panasonic India on Thursday inaugurated first of its kind Video and Still Photography School in India, offering an enhanced experience of the Panasonic 4K Technology available in cameras and camcorders.

Click on Deccan Chronicle Technology and Science for the latest news and reviews. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter.
Alexandria Vera, 24, pleaded guilty last year to aggravated sexual assault of a child and was hoping to avoid prison and just get probation. (Photo: AP)

Houston: A Houston-area middle school English teacher was sentenced Friday to 10 years in prison for having a long-term sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student who impregnated her.

Alexandria Vera, 24, pleaded guilty last year to aggravated sexual assault of a child and was hoping to avoid prison and just get probation.

State District Judge Michael McSpadden said his sentence was intended to send a message and make an example of her because he's aware of too many similar cases

"We want our educators to teach our students," the judge said. "We want them to keep their hands off the students."

Vera taught English in the Aldine Independent School District in north Houston in 2015 when she met the student.

Prosecutors said the boy's parents didn't object to their relationship and Vera told an investigator they were "very supportive and excited" when she disclosed her pregnancy. She aborted the pregnancy after a child welfare investigator questioned her, according to court documents.

McFadden said the boy and his mother wrote him letters that tried to put some of the blame for the relationship on the boy.

Vera, however, had a "history of straight-out deception," Denise Nichols, a Harris County prosecutor, said, including moving the boy and his father into her home to give the appearance the boy's father was her boyfriend.

Karen Lawson, a therapist testifying for Vera, said she thinks Vera "was driven by being in love" with the boy. She said Vera had seen domestic violence while growing up and had a deep need for love.

Vera initially was charged with continuous sexual abuse of a child, which carries a maximum life prison sentence, but pleaded guilty to the lesser assault charge. She will be eligible for parole in five years.
Washington: The incoming US administrations tough talk against China has set the stage for showdowns on everything from security to trade and cyberspace, but contradictory signals are sowing uncertainty over how far President-elect Donald Trump is prepared to go in confronting Beijing.

Highlighting the contested South China Sea as a potential flashpoint, Trumps Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson threw out an explosive challenge to Beijing on Wednesday by calling for it be denied access to artificial islands it is building in the strategic waterway.

A Trump transition adviser said that Tillerson, Trumps pick to be America's top diplomat, did not mean to suggest the new administration would impose a naval blockade, which would risk armed confrontation with China, something the new administration was not seeking.

But another official authorized to speak on behalf of the transition team pushed back on that view, saying Tillerson did not misspeak" when he said China should be barred from its man-made islands.

Amid the conflicting signals on policy, the team appears to be making progress on plans for a major naval build-up in East Asia to counter China's rise.

The transition adviser spoke about specifics under consideration, such as basing a second aircraft carrier in the region, deploying more destroyers, attack submarines and missile defense batteries and expanding or adding new bases in Japan and Australia.

They are also looking at installing air force long-range strike assets in South Korea, bordering China's nuclear-armed neighbor North Korea, said the adviser who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Trump, who succeeds President Barack Obama on Jan. 20, has vowed to greatly expand the US Navy to 350 ships, but his transition team has not made clear how he will fund this, amid other massive spending plans.

China's Foreign Ministry said it could not guess what Tillerson meant by his remarks, which came after Trump questioned Washington's longstanding and highly sensitive "one-China" policy over Taiwan. But an influential Chinese state-run tabloid warned on Friday that blocking Chinese access to South China Sea islands would require the United States to "wage war."

Trump's pick for defense secretary, retired Marine General James Mattis, did not endorse Tillerson's message on the South China Sea, which would seem at odds with Washington's own longstanding commitment to freedom of navigation for all.

Asked about the remarks at his confirmation hearing on Thursday, Mattis said China's actions in the South China Sea were part of a broader attack on the world order, but said the State, Defense and Treasury Departments needed to put together an integrated policy "so we are not dealing with an incomplete or an incoherent strategy."

The conflicting messages underscore the incoming administration's struggle in crafting an approach to one of the biggest foreign policy challenges facing Trump, who during his election campaign repeatedly bashed China, saying it was "killing" and "raping" America on trade.

Risks of retaliation

A former US official who has informally advised Trump's transition team said it may not have fully thought through the risks of any new US military or trade pressure on China.

"We should not underestimate China's willingness to retaliate in kind," the former official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

As part of a drive to protect American jobs, Trump has threatened to declare China a currency manipulator - even though economists say Beijing has been seeking to prop up, not weaken, its currency. He has also threatened to slap punitive tariffs on Chinese goods, risking a trade war that could hurt both countries and the global economy.

Trump has yet to name to his national security team high-level members with deep experience of the region, leading some analysts to question whether the new administration will have enough expertise to translate rhetoric on a more robust Asia policy into action.

But Trump has appointed two harsh China critics to his trade team - Peter Navarro, an academic who authored a book entitled "Death by China," and Robert Lighthizer, a former Reagan administration official.

Trump advisers dismiss concerns their approach could prove risky or counterproductive, arguing that a "peace through strength" stance will put real muscle behind US policy in the region after decades of under-resourcing due to US distractions elsewhere in the world.

"Once we start correcting the military imbalance, I actually think you will get more cooperation rather than less," the Trump adviser said.

Trump and his cabinet nominees have also vowed to step up pressure on China to rein in North Korea's nuclear and missile programs, including by holding out the possibility of "secondary sanctions" on Chinese entities found to be violating sanctions on Pyongyang.

But analysts say China may be in no mood to cooperate if Washington is leaning on it on other issues. Those include US pressure on Beijing to curb cyber hacking of US entities.

China's official responses to recent broadsides have been measured so far as they wait to see how Trump will act once he takes office.

"We have seen many conflicting messages from people within his prospective administration, said Tu Xinquan, a trade expert at Beijing's University of International Business and Economics.

But analysts say confronting Beijing over hot-button nationalist issues like Taiwan and the South China Sea could trigger strong reactions, especially in a year when President Xi Jinping is seeking to further consolidate power at a congress of the ruling Communist Party held every five years.

Zha Daojiong, a professor at Peking University, said the theme of clash of civilizations was becoming increasingly popular in Chinese circles and this was ominous.

"This does not bode well at all ... And it means that the continued war drums from America on the South China Sea would not help matters at all."
Washington: President-elect Donald Trump began a long holiday weekend that honours slain black civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. by blasting another African-American activist and politician who said he doesn't see Trump as a "legitimate president".

Democratic Representative John Lewis, of Georgia, had said on a segment of "Meet the Press" released by NBC on Friday he thought hacking by Russians had helped Trump, a Republican, get elected in November. Lewis said he does not plan to attend Trump's January 20 inauguration, the first time he'd missed such an event since being elected to the House in 1986.

On Saturday, Trump tweeted that Lewis was falsely complaining about election results and instead "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested)."

"All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" Trump tweeted.

Lewis, who has been a civil rights leader for more than half a century, was beaten by police during a march he helped lead in 1965 in Selma, Alabama, drawing attention to hurdles for blacks to vote. He protested alongside King that day and on other occasions.

"I believe in forgiveness," Lewis said in the segment about Trump. "I believe in trying to work with people," Lewis said. "Its going to be very difficult. I dont see this President-elect as a legitimate president."

Supporters of Trump see him as a brash person who tells things as they are. His comments about Lewis came ahead of an anti-Trump march in Washington headed by the Reverend Al Sharpton. The protest by about 2,000 marchers kicked off a week of rallies planned by dozens of groups against Trump before, during and after the inauguration.

DisruptJ20, which is working with Black Lives Matter and other protest groups, said they are planning to disrupt balls celebrating the inauguration in Washington.

Trump won the presidency with less support from black and Hispanic voters than any president in the last 40 years, only 8 percent and 28 percent respectively, polling data has showed.

Several of Trump's fellow Republicans criticized his tweet.

Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska tweeted that "John Lewis and his 'talk' have changed the world."

Neoconservative critic Bill Kristol tweeted "It's telling, I'm afraid, that Donald Trump treats (Russian President) Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis."
People listen to personal accounts of immigrants and refugees during an anti-Trump rally in Chicago (Photo: AP)

Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump plans to hold a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin on his first foreign trip shortly after taking office, the Sunday Times reported, though a Trump spokeswoman denied the report as completely false.

Mr Trump would seek to reset relations with the Kremlin, with Iceland the likely venue, emulating Ronald Reagans Reykjavik meeting with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 during the Cold War, the British newspaper reported, citing unnamed British officials it said had been informed of the plan.

Mr Trump, who will be inaugurated on Friday, would begin work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons as part of his bid to reset relations between the two powers, it said.

Citing unnamed sources, the Sunday Times said Moscow was set to agree to a Trump-Putin summit. Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks denied the report, saying it was completely false.

Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in London denied that President Putin will meet Mr Trump. This is rubbish, an attempt to undermine Donald Trump presidency, the embassy allegedly told BuzzFeeds Europe editor, Alberto Nardelli.

Iceland said it was not aware of such plans but was willing to host a summit to help improve relations between Washington and Moscow. The Icelandic government has not received a query with regards to this, Foreign Minister Gudlaugur Thor Thordarson said in reply to a question from the mbl.is news website.

If officials in Washington DC make a formal request for the Icelandic government to organize a summit in Reykjavik we will look at it positively and make this our input to improve relations between the US and Russia, remember the summit at Hofdi house in 1986, he said.

Mr Trump has expressed admiration for Mr Putin, and only reluctantly accepted US intelligence's conclusion that hackers acting on the Russian strongman's authority interfered in the US elections.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Mr Trump hinted that he may lift sanctions imposed on Russia over Moscows alleged cyberattacks if Russia helps the US on key goals such as fighting jihadist groups.

At the same time, Russian officials are blasting the outgoing US administration in distinctly undiplomatic language, dropping all decorum after Obama hit Moscow with more sanctions in his final week as President.
The South China Sea is home to strategically vital shipping lanes and is believed to be rich in oil and gas. (Photo: AFP)

Beijing: China and Vietnam pledged on Saturday to manage their differences and safeguard peace in the South China Sea, in a joint communique issued during a visit to China by Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong.

After "candid" discussions, the two countries agreed to "manage well their maritime difference, avoid actions that complicate the situation and escalate tensions, and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea", said the communique published in full by China's state news agency Xinhua.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, in addition to Vietnam, also have claims in the sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

In public statements, Chinese and Vietnamese leaders regularly talk up their common interests as "traditional" friends and neighbours, but conflicting claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea have become a major source of tension in recent years.

In the joint communique on Saturday the two sides agreed to continue to "fully and effectively" implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.

In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Vietnam's visiting prime minister their common interests far outweighed their differences, and called for their dispute in the South China Sea to be resolved through talks.

Vietnam is in the midst of a quiet military build-up which analysts say is designed as a deterrent, to secure its 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, as China grows more assertive in staking its claims in the South China Sea.
Rowan Blanchard (Photo : Getty Images/Frederick M. Brown)

"Girl Meets World" Season 4 is just one episode short of saying goodbye to fans. In episode 20, titled "Girl Meets Goodbye," Riley Matthews (Rowan Blanchard) would have to make a tough decision about her future.



In "Girl Meets Sweet Sixteen," Riley, Maya (Sabrina Carpenter), Lucas (Peyton Meyer) and the rest of their friends got to think about their future. Since they are all just in high school and so many things can happen in their lives, the friends wondered will they will always remain as close as they are now.



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Riley and Lucas also wondered if they will always be together. Since most relationships in high school do not necessarily last, the two are worried that their relationship will also end at one point.



But the biggest bombshell of the night came from Topanga (Danielle Fishel). The resident lawyer just got a job offer to work in England. If she will accept the job, it means that she and her entire family would have to relocate as soon as possible.



The twist was kind of expected since "Girl Meets World" Season 4 has already been canceled by the Disney Channel, but if another network renews it for another season, this means that the execs and writers would have to come up with another idea.



While speaking with TV Line, series creator Michael Jacobs confirmed that there are ongoing discussions regarding the fate of "Girl Meets World." Since fans have been clamoring of a renewal, some networks would want to grab the opportunity for the sake of their ratings as well.



"There are talks underway, but we are at the very, very beginning stages. And I can tell you it is because of the audience's reaction to the cancellation that there is interest in other places... Networks want to do something to gather an audience. The fact that there is an audience who has been so loyal says a lot," he said.



"Girl Meets World" Season 4, episode 20 will air on Disney Channel on Jan. 20 at 6 p.m. EST.







Tonight at 6:00 -- We're as old as we want. So where will we be? What if it's somewhere else? Girl Meets Sweet Sixteen. And then, Goodbye.

 Girl Meets Writers (@GMWWriters) January 13, 2017






Beijing: China on Sunday made it clear that the 'One China' policy is "non-negotiable" and "no one can change it", in a strong rebuttal to President-elect Donald Trump's plan to use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the 'One China' policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is non-negotiable", following Trump's statement that the policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, questioning the decades-old-policy followed by Washington in its relations with Beijing.

It must be pointed out that there is but 'One China' in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognised fact and no one can change it," Lu said.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous US governments to the One China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said without directly referring to Trump.

Lu urged the US side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Since his election, Trump has riled China by holding telephone talks with Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing-wen, who herself is toeing a hardline against Beijing.

China on the other hand is pressuring over 20 countries mainly in Latin America and Africa to not have diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Recently China prevailed over tiny African island Sao Tome and Principe to break off diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which in turn accused Beijing of offering big loans to entice the small countries to move away from Taipei.

Nigeria also broke off all diplomatic relations with Taiwan after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi few days ago.

Besides a showdown on 'One China' policy after Trump takes over, Beijing also apprehends a trade war as the US Presidential-elect wants to bring about a parity of bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of China.

China's exports to the US total to about $ 500 billion against $ 100 billion of American exports to the Chinese mainland.

Trump accuses China of devaluing its currency to gain more out of its exports.

Trump has also questioned China's island building in the disputed South China Sea and his Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said last week that China should be stopped from accessing the islands.
Paris: Major powers will send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts.

Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as futile and rigged. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented.

But, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the future American leader.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israels capital despite international objections.

It would be a unilateral decision that could escalate tensions on the ground, a senior French diplomat said.

Five days before he becomes president, its not negligible that 70 countries recall (the need for) a two-state solution when his administration could implement controversial measures that may aggravate things.

France has said the meeting does not intend to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that, ultimately, only direct negotiations between the two can resolve the conflict.

A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it, and asks the protagonists to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations.

Low point

Diplomats said there could also be an allusion to Trumps plans.

Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obamas administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Obamas secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement programme threatened Middle East peace, and that the two-state was in serious jeopardy.

Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had written to Trump warning that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the United States of its role as honest broker - and could lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel.

Home to Europes largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.

But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely.

Arab states have their own concerns about how Trumps relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line.

All this is premature. We need to give the new US administration time to assess what they want to do, said a Middle Eastern diplomat based in Paris.
A prisoner on an old mattress at the Instituto Penal Placido de Sa Carvalho in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. (Photo: AP)

Rio De Janeiro: Police in Brazil have entered two prisons in the countrys northern state of Rio Grande do Norte where a riot left at least 10 inmates dead on Saturday, authorities said Sunday.

A statement released by the office in charge of state penitentiaries said the rebellion started Saturday afternoon in the Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho detention facilities, located next to each other outside the city of Natal.

Police entered the prisons on Sunday morning, according to the statement.

The riot erupted from fighting between rival gangs and was the latest in a series of massacres in the South America countrys penitentiaries that have killed more than 100.

Authorities have said they expect the death toll from Saturdays rebellion to rise.

The Alcacuz facility should house 620 inmates but has 1,083.

The last rebellion in Alcacuz prison was in November 2015, when a tunnel was discovered in one pavilion. The facility should house 620 inmates but has 1,083.

The recent outbreak of prison violence in Brazil began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Authorities said the Family of the North gang targeted members of Brazils most powerful criminal gang, First Command, in a clash over control of drug-trafficking routes in northern states. Many of the dead were beheaded and dismembered.

Then on Jan. 6, in the neighboring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.

Experts say First Command, known by the Portuguese acronym PCC, is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the Brazils penitentiaries to expand its reach across the national prison system. The gang runs drug-trafficking operations both inside and outside prisons even though many of its leaders are in maximum security penitentiaries in Sao Paulo state
vThe 34-year-old Duke of Cambridge and wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will also make Kensington Palace in London their permanent base from later this year when their son Prince George starts school.

London: Britain's Prince William is getting ready to quit his part-time job as an air ambulance rescue pilot to become a full-time royal.

The second-in-line to Britain's throne will leave his job with the East Anglian Air Ambulance this summer, according to The Sunday Times.

The 34-year-old Duke of Cambridge and wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will also make Kensington Palace in London their permanent base from later this year when their son Prince George starts school.

Their daughter, Princess Charlotte, is also expected to attend a London nursery.

The move follows months of discussion within the royal family, who are said to have been "very supportive" of William's decision.

A royal source told the newspaper there had been "no pressure from above" to increase William's workload but "he knew there would come a point where this would be his life for ever more. He has always been a lot less reluctant than people think to take on more work and this phase of his life."

William had recently rejected suggestions he was a reluctant Royal, insisting he took his responsibilities "very seriously".

He said: "If you're not careful, duty can weigh you down a awful lot at an early age."
There are around 12,500 Muslims in prisons in England and Wales, of whom roughly 130 are serving sentences for terrorist offences. (Representational Image)

London: Britain will put around a dozen of the most dangerous jailed terrorists in isolated containment units in three prisons at a cost of around 1 million pounds a year, a media report said on Sunday.

The aim of the special cells is to isolate hard-core criminals from influencing and radicalising other inmates, 'The Sunday Times' reported.

"Preventing the most dangerous extremists from radicalising other prisoners is essential to the safe running of our prisons and fundamental to public protection," a spokesperson said.

The UK's Ministry of Justice expects to set up the containment units staffed in total by more than 40 officers at high-security facilities at Woodhill prison in Milton Keynes, Frankland in County Durham and Whitemoor in Cambridgeshire.

The move follows recommendations made by Ian Acheson, a former UK Home Office counter-terrorism official, who was commissioned in 2015 to investigate Islamist extremism in prisons.

There are around 12,500 Muslims in prisons in England and Wales, of whom roughly 130 are serving sentences for terrorist offences.

Anjem Choudary, one of the UK's most notorious Islamist hate preachers who was jailed last year for five and a half years for supporting the Islamic State terror group, is expected to be one of the inmates at the new containment units.

Michael Adebolajo, one of the two killers of the British soldier Lee Rigby in 2013, is expected to be the other.

The Ministry of Justice is yet to officially confirm details of the new scheme.
Pakistani Naval personnel stand guard near a ship carrying containers at the Gwadar port, some 700 kms west of Karachi. (Photo: AFP)

Karachi: China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the $ 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.

China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy on Saturday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.

The Gwadar port in Pakistans restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet vice admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.

A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.

The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today, Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.

He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a historic moment and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPECs land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the armys new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.

China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.

The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU.
Dhaka: In a letter to Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Myanmar State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi has conveyed that Naypyidaw wants to address the Rohingya issue and other concerns in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding.

However, the letter did not use the term 'Rohingya', reports the Daily Star.

The letter was handed over to the Prime Minister on Wednesday by Myanmar's State Minister for Foreign Affairs U Kyaw Tin, who visited Dhaka recently as a special envoy.

"The special envoy also presented to the Prime Minister the state counsellor's letter expressing her confidence that Myanmar and Bangladesh would be able to address the issues of mutual concern in a spirit of good neighbourliness, trust and mutual understanding between the two countries," according to a statement released by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Myanmar.

The statement said that Myanmar and Bangladesh "have agreed to start consultations for verification and repatriation of those who are proved to have fled from Myanmar following the 9 October attacks against police outposts."

During the visit, U Kyaw Tin held meetings with Prime Minister Hasina, Foreign Minister A.H. Mahmood Ali and Foreign Secretary Md. Shahidul Haque.

Earlier, Myanmar had urged the UN special rapporteur on human rights as well as the international community to avoid using the term "Rohingya" and instead address them as 'Muslim community in Rakhine state.'

The country's majority Buddhists refuse to use the term Rohingya to refer to members of the group, whom they consider to be "Bengalis," illegal migrants from neighboring Bangladesh, though many have lived in Myanmar for generations.
The bodies of four more persons were recovered today from the river Ganga taking the toll in the boat tragedy here to 24. Around 40 people were said to be onboard the country boat when it capsized near NIT ghat last evening.



When asked whether there could be more bodies lying in the river, Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit told PTI that hopes were fading, but rescue works by the SDRF/NDRF teams were still going on. "No more family has come forward to claim about missing kin in the boat tragedy," he said.



The revellers were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area) across the river after watching a kite festival on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'. The boat had been retrieved from the Ganga, the senior official said adding it was intact in one piece.



Meanwhile, the Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has expressed grief over the boat tragedy and ordered a high level probe into the incident. He further directed the officials to provide ex-gratia assistance of Rs four lakh each to the next of kin of the victims at the earliest.



Kumar also directed the Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit, Central Range DIG Shalin and Patna's District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal to carry out rescue operations at war footing and make proper arrangement of treatment at the Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) of those persons rescued from the river after the boat tragedy.



The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of various engagements with the ruling JD(U) scrapping 'dahi-chura' feast that its state unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh was scheduled to host today.



Another function scheduled for the day to mark the start of redevelopment work of the dilapidated Mahatma Gandhi Setu which Prime Minister Narendra Modi was to address via video conferencing from the national capital was also postponed, the state unit BJP President Nityanand Rai said.


Cracking down on people drinking liquor in public places, the Excise Department of Delhi government has arrested 1,250 violators in over last three months as part of its ongoing campaign. The department also impounded several cars in which violators were found to be consuming alcohol in public places.



Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia had launched the campaign on November 7, saying consumption of alcohol in the open, particularly near liquor vends and in vehicles, was not merely a safety hazard but a major problem for women security. "Excise department has arrested 1,250 violators for consuming liquor in public places. Besides, we have also impounded several vehicles, most of them cars, in which people were drinking alcohol," said a senior government official.



However, the exact numbers of such vehicles is yet to be ascertained. Intensifying the drive across the capital, Sisodia, who also heads the Excise Department, recently gave powers to sub-divisional magistrates and tehsildars to take action against violators besides forming ten additional teams. "We have increased the teams which visit liquor shops and catch those found drinking in the open.



"Apart from that, the department has also ordered all liquor shops to install CCTV cameras to keep a tab on people," the official said. On the first day of the campaign, 36 people were arrested while 41 were held the next day for drinking liquor in public places.



According to the Excise Act, anyone caught drinking publicly has to pay a fine of Rs 5,000 and anyone creating nuisance in public is also fined Rs 10,000 and awarded imprisonment of six months.
The Obama Administration has asserted that the Indo-US "strategic convergence" is at its highest point, as it hoped that the incoming Trump government would continue to prioritise the bilateral partnership of "paramount importance" to address global challenges. "I want to say, particularly (as) I sit in this position in the Department of State, the strategic convergence between the United States and India is at the highest point that it has ever been," Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia Nisha Desai Biswal told PTI in an interview.



"We see that by large we share a world view and we are now increasingly therefore talking to each other about challenges that we see as well as opportunities," she said. As a political appointee, Biswal's term at the State Department ends on January 20 along with that of Barack Obama as US President when Donald Trump would succeed him as the 45th President of the US.



"The US-India relationship is built on a number of fundamentals that I think are consistent. We have a set of values, for democracy, for a pluralistic society, for a free society," Biswal said. "We have a number of shared goals, objectives and inheritance to a rule-based international order, a desire to advance through peace and a focus on a shared prosperity," she said. Biswal said she believes that these fundamentals would continue to define the Indo-US relationship.



"The next administration coming in, comes in with an understanding and appreciation for the important role that India has played and the increasingly consequential role that India will play on the global scene. And that a US India partnership therefore is of paramount importance to those countries in advancing those shared goals and interests," she asserted.



"We have certainly seen that in how President Obama has approached this relationship. It's a relationship that Barack Obama came in on day one focused on and in seeking out to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to be his first guest at the White House for a state visit, in calling Prime Minister (Narendra) Modi immediately after the election results were announced and issuing him immediately an invitation to the White House and a desire to partner," Biswal said. This is because, for Obama, he has seen the important role that India has played and will play moving into the future, she noted.



"The world's oldest and largest democracies that have so much in common should make common cause in advancing both our own goals and for US and for India and for also how we work together to address global challenges," Biswal said. "We saw that in Paris Agreement, the role that India played, we are seeing that increasingly in how India is becoming a net security provider, a provider of humanitarian relief, how India is becoming a moral, security and strategic economic force for not only India, not only South Asia, but really at a global level," Biswal said.



"And so I think, the next administration coming in for all of those reasons would continue to prioritise the relationship with India," she said, adding that strategic convergence is the key highlight of the India-US relationship during the Obama Administration. "What we have tried to do that through strategic ones is to make sure that when we are pursuing policies and actions that we believe would either impact India or where India can play a role in trying to advance, we call, we talk, we engage and we share and bring India into that conversation. So this is not one of those easily visible and explainable outcomes," she said.



"We can talk about the agreements that have been signed, we can talk about the visits, we can talk about the increased economic investments in each other countries, all of those are very very consequential and much more easily visible and definable," Biswal said. "But the quality that is most important which is less visible to the outside eye is the fundamental shift in how we see each other on our strategic relationship and the fact that a Secretary of State will pick up the phone immediately on important issues, oh, I have got to check in with my Indian counterpart on this issue and make sure that it is ok with them. That's what I have hoped would transpire and that's where we are today," she added.



Indian-Americans, she said have played a key role in the bilateral relationship. "The role Indian Americans have played, is both during times when India was little understood and not as prominent globally and now during times when India is much more a leader and a driver across the world. Indian-Americans have sought to bring greater understanding of that relationship and support for that relationship," she said in response to a question.



"So for me as an Indian-American, who both understands where I want my country to go and what the goals and interests are of the United State and also know what it is that will appeal to the Indian ear, what they need to hear from us on how we engage with them, with respect, with dignity, with understanding, with appreciation for all of the complexities that are in India. That I believe has been the added value that I have been able to bring in trying to deepen the relationship," Biswal said. "I think there will be prominent Indian-Americans that I am sure will play that role for the next administration as well," Biswal said.
Actors Paul Wesley and Ian Somerhalder and writer/producer Julie Plec attend the 'The Vampire Diaries' panel during Comic-Con International 2016 at San Diego Convention Center on July 23, 2016 in San Diego, California. (Photo : Getty Images/ Matt Winkelmeyer)

"The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 returned to The CW on Friday night with episode 8 and received impressive ratings.



According to Deadline, episode 8 received similar ratings and audience share with its final episode in December 2016. However, season after season, "The Vampire Diaries" is still down a tenth from its Season 7 winter premiere episode that aired on Jan. 29, 2016.



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"The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 has already been canceled on The CW, but there are rumors saying that it could be picked up by another network. Unfortunately, it seems that The CW and executive producer Julie Plec are not open to the idea of re-opening the franchise just for it to have more seasons.



Plec has also written the finale episode for "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8, and she said that it is something that all of the fans would love. While speaking with Nerdist, the exec said that she tried to make sure that all of the unresolved issues in the show will be resolved in the finale.



"The content of it has definitely had to shift as a result of Nina Dobrev leaving the show and the disintegration of the Other Side as a story concept. When we got rid of those two things, Kevin's and my original pitch definitely had to adapt to the new world that we were working in. But thematically and emotionally, it is still incredibly similar to what he and I always talked about," she explained.



Meanwhile, Plec also responded to the rumors that Dobrev will return to "The Vampire Diaries" Season 8. The exec is positive that it will happen as long as Dobrev's schedule permits.



"The only thing I have been saying and will continue to say is that she is 100 percent committed to coming and we are 100 percent committed to having her. At this point, it is just logistics and I do not want to speak too soon because that would be crushing if we could not figure it out, but we are all extremely determined to," she said.



"The Vampire Diaries" Season 8 airs Fridays at 8 p.m. EST on The CW.






A middle-aged dalit woman was allegedly burnt to death at Tarma in Bihar's Muzaffarpur district, police said today. Rajkali Devi (45), wife of Bindeshwar Choudhary of Tarma village, was burnt to death late last night, Deputy Superintendent of Police (West) Ajay Kumar said.



The body was sent to the Sri Krishna Medical College and Hospital (SKMCH) for post-mortem. An FIR was lodged on the basis of the statement of the deceased's son Ashok Choudhary, Dy SP said.



In the FIR, Ashok alleged that one Prem Choudhary, who is former District Board member, burnt to death his mother by tying her with a cot when she was asleep at her house after having dinner, he said. Prem Choudhary was detained.


Days after China blocked India's proposal in the UN, the world body's key member France has pitched for designating Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, saying there are "very strong arguments in favour" of such a move.





French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day India visit, also sent out a veiled message to China without naming it, saying "the international community's determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat."



Pointing out that Azhar's outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad "is already included in the (Sanctions) Committee's list of terrorist organisations", he told PTI in an interview, "therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested".



That's why, he said, France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UNSC.



India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as an international terrorist for masterminding the attack on Pathankot Air base.



Since then, China had twice imposed "technical hold" on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 last, it blocked it, becoming the only country to do so.



"We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached," said Ayrault, whose country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.



He said France will now discuss with India what should be done. "India knows it can count on our support," he added.



Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, was one of the three terrorists freed by India in exchange of 166 hostages of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999.



Azhar, at that time, belonged to Harkat-ul Mujahideen, and soon after his release, he floated the new outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan which carried out several attacks in India, including on Parliament on December 13, 2001 and Pathankot Air base.



The French Foreign Minister, whose country has faced a number of terror attacks over the last few years, pitched for a "decisive action" against Pakistan-based terror groups like LeT, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen which are "targeting" India.



"France has very firmly condemned the terrorist attacks against India, including the recent one in Uri, and reiterated its full solidarity with India in its combat against terrorism," he said.



Clearly referring to Pakistan without naming it, he emphasised that all countries should fight effectively against terrorism "originating from their territory or territories under their control".



"We particularly want to see decisive action taken, in keeping with international law, against terrorist groups targeting India, particularly the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen," he said.



The French Minister was asked about his views on the surgical strikes carried out by Indian Army in September last to target terror camps based across the LoC in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir.



"Nothing can justify terrorism, which must be fought everywhere with equal determination. When a country is faced with a terrorist threat of this nature, it has the right to defend itself," he replied.



Ayrault also spoke about the scope of cooperation between India and his country in combating terror, the footprint of which is expanding and intensity increasing."France and India are both victims of terrorism, and they are in full solidarity vis-a-vis this scourge," he said.



He said the fight against terrorism is one of the cornerstones of India-France strategic partnership. In concrete terms, he said, France and India hold "constant and very operational exchanges" on the terrorist threat.



"We have a bilateral working group that brings together all the players concerned over counter-terrorism, and, among others, cooperation with regard to investigations and between our respective intervention units, the GIGN from the French side, and the National Security Guards from the Indian side. I welcome the development of all these cooperations," he said.
The outgoing Obama Administration has lashed out at China for blocking India from becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group by describing the Communist giant as an "outlier" in its effort to bring New Delhi on board the elite grouping.





"Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, told PTI in an interview.



The US statement comes a week ahead of the Obama Administration passing on the baton to the Trump Administration.



Officials say it is because of the Chinese resistance that India could not become a member of NSG, where all decisions are taken on the basis of consensus.



"The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for NSG and that the United States supports India's entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG," she said.



"We worked very closely with India to support India's application into the NSG, but we also recognise that there continue to be some concerns, some reservations that some of the members of the NSG have expressed that need to be worked through," she said.



"We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China. As we move through all the other elements of the NSG membership, I think, we're on a good path forward," Biswal said.



So what remains is to be able to have a very clear understanding on what is the basis of China's reservations and to try to work through those. So that will be something that would move on to the next administration to carry forward, she said in response to a question.



"But this is something that the President himself has personally engaged on, the Secretary (of State), (National Security Advisor), Ambassador (Susan) Rice and down the line this has been an area of intense effort by this administration," Biswal said.



While India not becoming a NSG member is disappointing, Biswal said the Obama Administration is "very very gratified to see India's entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)".



China is advocating a two-step "non-discriminatory" approach for admission of countries who have not signed nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the NSG.



As per the new stand announced by Beijing in November, it first wants to find a solution that is applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions to admit specific non-NPT member.



China's stand for a non-discriminatory criteria is regarded significant as Pakistan, a close ally of Beijing too has applied for the NSG membership along with India.
A 1970s-vintage mosque has been torched in the US city of Seattle and the police have arrested a 37-year-old homeless man, who had previous run-ins with worshippers there, in connection with the incident.





Police believe a fire at a Bellevue mosque yesterday was set by the man but they said there was no evidence of a hate crime. "Nor is there any connection to recent vandalism at a Redmond mosque," Police Chief Steve Mylett was quoted as saying by The Seattle Times.



Bellevue police and firefighters responded to the Islamic Centre of Eastside after a witness reported flames coming from the 1970s-vintage, wooden building. The fire destroyed the north side of the mosque. Nobody was inside, the report said.



Police found the homeless man, lying on the ground at a nearby parking lot, and approached him initially to see if he was injured, said Mylett. He didn't appear intoxicated, officers reported.



Charging papers, for second-degree arson, were expected to be filed against the man on Tuesday, Hogan said.



Last year, the man came to the mosque on occasion and said he wanted to pray, Imam Faizel Hassan said. But the man used profanities and created conflicts that led the mosque to exclude him, Hassan said.



"Very few people knew him. He is homeless. I would not describe him as Muslim," the Hassan said.



The mosque, the only one in Bellevue, can draw 100 people for the five daily prayers and 1,000 on Fridays.



"We want our Muslim brothers and sisters to know we stand with them," Mayor John Stokes said during the news conference.



Firefighters salvaged "many holy books that were important to the mosque," Stokes said.



Arsalan Bukhari, executive director of the Washington state chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations, has urged people to not jump to conclusions about motive. "We need to learn more," he said.



In the past week, in an apparently unrelated incident, an Auburn man who had allegedly threatened to kill members of the Islamic Center of Eastside was charged with malicious harassment, a hate crime.



Kamal Samater, 36, was arrested on January 6 in the mosque's parking lot, after allegedly telling a man in the lot that he was "going to assassinate every one" at the mosque, and yelling "There is no place in America for Muslims."
Embattled Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav today received an 'option B' with Lok Dal offering its symbol and national president post to him in case the SP symbol 'cycle' was frozen by the Election Commission.





Lok Dal national president Sunil Singh told reporters here that his party in EC's records was a registered, unrecognised party that was formed by veteran socialist leader Charan Singh way back in 1980 and "netaji" (Mualayam) is its founder member.



"I offer Lok Dal's symbol and national president post to 'netaji' and am ready to contest the polls with him," Singh said.



Lok Dal, which has the old election symbol of farmer ploughing field (khet jotta kissan), on which Charan Singh had become the chief minister of UP, wants to contest Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and has already short-listed names of 100 candidates.



"I want Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to understand that his uncle Ramgopal Yadav is working under pressure of CBI to save his son and daughter in Yadav Singh case. Bureaucrats backing him will no longer be there after polls. He should understand that 'netaji' is his father and his real well wisher," he said.



"I want them (Mulayam-Akhilesh) to resolve the dispute and if it does not happen and cycle symbol goes to Akhilesh or EC freezes it, Lok Dal is with Mulayam," he said.



"I have met Mulayam Singh and offered him to contest the elections on our symbol," he said. In 2012 elections, Lok Dal had contested 76 seats and but all their candidates lost in the polls.



Lok Dal's offer came amid hectic discussions by leaders of rival camps on various options and ramifications once the poll panel gives its order.



The EC, which reserved its order on the dispute over 'cycle' symbol, has kept both sides guessing with leaders of warring camps exploring various scenarios as little time is left for process of filing nominations to start for the first phase of the staggered polls in Uttar Prdesh.



The state will have a seven-phase polling beginning February 11 and filing of nomination papers starts as early as Tuesday. The confusion notwithstanding, a large number of ticket seekers thronged residences of Mulayam and his defiant son Akhilesh.



Throughout the day, Mulayam and Akhilesh stayed put in their bungalows in the VVIP security zone which has seen high voltage political drama ever since the family feud broke out in the Yadav clan six months back, splitting the ruling party ahead of the crucial elections.



"Akhileshji is our face and we will seek vote on it. New symbol, if given by EC, however, will be a challenge but we are prepared for all situations. We are relying on the work done by the CM in past five years and people will support us," a highly confident SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan, considered close to Akhilesh, told PTI.



Interestingly, the Mulayam camp, which too has declared its candidates, are confident of retaining the symbol and waiting for the EC decision before deciding its next step.



"Confusion still persists in both the SP camps as a number of candidates declared by both factions are common. We will work on it and decide our strategy once EC's decision is out," a senior SP leader said.



Shivpal Yadav, who returned to Lucknow after presenting his side before the EC in Delhi, when asked at the airport said, "I hope EC will decide in favour of 'netaji' (Mulayam Singh Yadav). The situation will be clear very soon."



SP state president Naresh Uttam, appointed by Akhilesh replacing his warring uncle Shivpal, has said, "The entire party is behind our national president Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected unanimously...we are confident of retaining 'cycle' symbol."



Uttam, who paid a courtesy visit to Mulayam yesterday on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, has said, "Father and son are very much together. We will fight under Akhilesh and 'netaji' (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will guide us. He is not only father but also our leader."



His remarks came against the backdrop of Mulayam surprisingly softening his stand towards his son, saying Akhilesh will be the next Chief Minister, though his statement failed to iron out the differences between the father-son duo on contentious issues like party president's post which Akhilesh does not want to give up.



Unfazed by ongoing power tussle in the ruling party, Akhilesh is busy fine tuning the poll strategy with his close aides. Party insiders said he was preparing a new list of candidates, dropping tainted nominees and giving ticket to deserving ones.

Taking full control of the ruling party after being crowned as its head at a disputed national convention here on January 1, Akhilesh has been going whole hog consolidating his grip over the organisation.



He has already made new appointments of district chiefs who were dumped by Shivpal and also released list of candidates for the Legislative Council polls in his capacity as the SP chief.



Meanwhile, all eyes are on the EC, which has told both the sides that a judgement will be delivered at the earliest.



Citing precedents, Election Symbol Order of 1968 and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, including Section 29A, the Akhilesh camp argued that since the numbers are stacked in favour of the CM, the symbol should go to him.



The Mulayam camp, on the other hand, said since there is "no vertical split in the party such as SP (Mulayam) and SP (Akhilesh), the Commission lacks jurisdiction to allocate symbol to one of the groups.



The Mulayam camp also argued that since no resolution was passed at the convention called by Akhilesh loyalist Ramgopal Yadav on January 1 removing Mulayam as the party president and that the party is one, para 15 of the The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 does not apply on the case.



But, the claim was countered by the Akhilesh camp which said in one of the letters addressed to the Commission, Mulayam loyalist Amar Singh has used the term 'splinter group' and that both sides are before the Commission staking claim over symbol which indicates a 'dispute'.




"Amazon, better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril," Das said in a tweet.





In another tweet however he added: "Comment on Amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it."





Last week, after a strong protest by India over Amazon selling doormats depicting Indian flag, the e-retail giant removed the offensive article from its Canadian website.





A spokesman for Amazon based at its headquarters in Seattle had told The Washington Post that the doormat was no longer for sale on its website.





After the Indian flag incident, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had received several complaints of Amazon selling flip-flops with Mahatma Gandhi's image.





Some Twitter users have tagged Swaraj in their tweets complaining that the beach sandals with Gandhi's image were being sold on the Amazon US site.





When asked, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup did not specifically mention the issue, saying, "As a follow up to the matter regarding the sale of doormats with the Indian flag on Amazon, our Ambassador in Washington has been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments."





In the third tweet, Das said: "Remain committed to economic reforms, ease of doing business & open trade. Sometimes get touchy when our icons are involved."

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das today asked Amazon to desist from being flippant about Indian symbols and icons, cautioning it that "indifference will be at your own peril".
A special spray technology that increases mango production and three new varieties of rose are the main attractions at the five-day Regional Horticultural Fair-2017 that began at the Indian Institute of Horticultural Research (IIHR) in Hesaraghatta on Sunday.





Five southern states and Maharashtra are participating in the fair which aims to bring all those involved in agriculture and horticulture together to make better use of research and technology. Around 125 scientists from across India will be sharing their expertise at the fair which coincides with the Golden Jubilee Year of Research in Horticulture. The theme is Horticulture for Rural and Urban Prosperity.



The fair was inaugurated by Dr T Mohapatra, director general of Indian Council of Agricultural Research, IIHR director M R Dinesh, and Dr K Narayana Gowda, former vice-chancellor of the University of Agricultural Sciences, Bengaluru.



Scientists are demonstrating the special spray technology, which increases mango production and reduces insects that damage the yield. Farmers visiting the fair seem to be impressed by the technology. Three new varieties of rose  Arka Ivory, Arka Pride and Arka Sukanya, developed by IIHR scientists  are also drawing farmers.



Dr B Narayanaswamy, principal scientist (agriculture extension), IIHR, said there was a lot of demand for the new varieties of roses. He said farmers in Chikkamagaluru district were growing them but they needed to be popularised at a wider scale. Their flowers are bigger, have more fragrance and can make better Gulkand.



In all, 58 varieties of fruits and vegetables are on display at the fair, which saw 7,000 visitors  farmers, NGOs, researchers, companies involved in agriculture and horticulture, agricultural universities, animal husbandry departments, individuals and institutions  on the first day alone.


BJP state president B S Yeddyurappa has decided to hold a meeting with disgruntled leaders of the party who had recently expressed their resentment against his style of functioning, on January 19 at the BJP office in Bengaluru.





Speaking to reporters in Chitradurga, Yeddyurappa said he will meet all those leaders who had signed a letter addressed to him. Some leaders including MLC Banuprakash have expressed their views. I have decided to meet them and listen to their grievances, he added.



Yeddyurappa, however, denied receiving any letter and said he will meet those who are said to have signed it. Except for those who have already been suspended from the party, I will meet all of them. I have invited all of them for the meeting, he said.

Sources in the BJP termed Yeddyurappas move as a damage-control exercise. A group of 24 party leaders, including some former ministers and sitting legislators, had reportedly sent a letter to him, taking exception to his style of functioning. They were reportedly upset with Yeddyurappas unilateral decisions, especially in appointing state, district and taluk office-bearers of the party a few months ago.



The letter has been sent to Yeddyurappa at a time when senior party leader K S Eshwarappa has raised a banner of revolt against him and, has been organising Sangolli Rayanna Brigade meetings against his (Yeddyurappas) wishes. It is learnt that RSS leaders have convened a meeting with Yeddyurappa and Eshwarappa on January 17 in Bengaluru to iron out the differences.



Asked about the meeting convened by the RSS, Yeddyurappa said: Such meetings are held frequently...There is no need to attach much significance to the meeting.



The former chief minister said the results of the elections to Agriculture Produce Marketing Committees (APMCs) are an indication that the ruling Congress is losing its popularity in the state. The elections have proved that people are in favour of the BJP, he said in a statement issued to the media in Bengaluru.



The Congress-backed candidates have been able to win only 50 APMCs despite the party being in power. The BJP-supported candidates have won 42 APMCs despite the party being in the Opposition. The results show that people in rural areas of the state have rejected the Congress, he added.






All India toppers of entrance tests such as IIT JEE, NEET and AIIMS 2016 came under one platform on Sunday and shared their experiences and exam strategies with students from Bengaluru.





Students of classes 6 to II PUC from Allen Career Institute, which organised Toppers Talk-2017, listened with attention as nine toppers from various states gave suggestions on the exams. The tips ranged from timely and periodic revision to last-minute preparation techniques, and time management to perseverance.



Aman Bansal, who topped IIT JEE Advanced 2016, emphasised regular revision and said it would help in the long run. Bhavesh Dhingra, who bagged the second rank in IIT JEE Advanced 2016, said effective time management played a crucial role in his success.

The toppers said following teachers and mentors was important to achieving the level of preparation needed.



The programme was attended by 3,000-odd students. The organisers said the event was aimed at giving students the right guidance. Ashish Arora, Physics and Academic Head, Allen Career Institute, Jaipur, who mentored all nine toppers of 2016, said, Persistence, Perseverance and Practice are the 3Ps which are extremely important for students to realise his dream in science.


Scientists should be more responsible in spending the taxpayers money as resources are limited in India, Nobel laureate physicist Serge Haroche has advised the Indian research community.





Since they receive taxpayer's money, the scientists cant live in an ivory tower. They must go to the society to explain their science and spend the research (funds) in a responsible way, Haroche told Kalyan Ray of DH in an interview.



Citing an example of the link between basic and applied research, the winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in physics said, Technology in astrophysics is useful in medicine. The researchers need to have right balance as there would be societal pressure on scientists (to deliver) since they use government money. Haroche is one of the Nobel laureates currently visiting India, thanks to a partnership between the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Nobel Foundation.



He attended the 104th session of the Indian Science Congress at Tirupati and a special conclave before the Vibrant Gujarat summit in Gandhinagar. Asked why the best students are no longer interested in pursuing a career in research, the septuagenarian scientist felt it was a problem, not limited to India alone.



The passion of doing science needs to be initiated among them and the best way to do that is by exposing them to science experiments. Also they need to be given a decent salary in their career to raise their family, he observed.



Interestingly, Haroche, a professor at the College de France who holds the Chair of Quantum Physics, is a student of celebrated French physicist Claude Cohen-Tannoudji, who received the Nobel Prize in 1997. He travelled to India first time three years ago with Tannoudji.


After the Turkish Army defeat at al-Bab, a knocked-out Leopard 2A4; an armored bulldozer and army equipment litter the ground. (Photo : YouTube)

Stupid tactics plus a lack of improved protection such as an active protection system (APS) has cost the Turkish Army fighting in northern Syria 10 of its precious German-made Leopard 2A4 main battle tanks, most to Russian-made anti tank missiles fired by ISIS militants.



The 10 Leopard were lost in a failed Turkish Army assault on the city of al-Bab on Dec. 22, 2016. The defeat of the Turkish attack is especially embarrassing because of the huge number of Leopards lost in this one action. ISIS also captured two Leopards and one FNSS ACV-15 amphibious armored combat vehicle during the battle.



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The Turkish Army admitted the deaths of 16 of its men at al-Bab while claiming to have killed 67 ISIS militants. Media sources said the army lost 35 men killed in the fight for al-Bab in December.



The battle for this town located 25 kilometers from Turkey's border and deep inside ISIS-controlled territory began with a Turkish attack on the Al Farouq hospital west of the city. The assault failed.



ISIS militant posted videos of their victory on YouTube, with these videos showing the knocked-out Turkish Leopards. One of the Leopards had its turret blown off.



Media reports said the Turkish Leopards were knocked-out by missiles striking their less heavily armored sides and rear. It also questioned why the Turkish Army insisted on sending tanks into a city where they were vulnerable to attacks from all sides.



The Turkish Army operates the Leopard 2A4, an 30-year old model considered obsolete by the Bundeswehr (the German Armed Forces), which operates the newest model, the Leopard 2A7. The 2A7 is protected by a special composite armor, which includes layers of ceramic.



The Leopard 2A4 has neither composite armor nor an APS, rendering it vulnerable to older Russian made anti-tank missiles such as the Kornet that can penetrate armor up to 1.2 meters thick.


In an apparent bid to steer clear of electoral politics, Islamic seminary Darul Uloom, Deoband, has decided to close its doors to politicians during the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.





According to seminary sources, senior clerics will not meet leaders of any party at the Deoband premises in Uttar Pradeshs Saharanpur district.



Sources said the decision was taken to avoid unnecessary controversies that might be triggered owing to visits by politicians during elections.



No electoral politics

It has been observed that political leaders often make attempts to gain electoral mileage from their visits to the seminary, a senior cleric in Deoband said, adding, We have decided to steer clear of electoral politics... though we cannot stop anyone from visiting the institution, no senior cleric will meet the political visitors.



During the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, too, the Darul Uloom had shut its doors to politicians.

Though the leading Islamic seminary had never issued a fatwa (religious decree)

in favour or against any political outfit, leaders had tried to use their meetings with the senior clerics to their electoral advantage, claiming that the clerics had endorsed them.



Sources said that such claims of endorsement could influence Muslim voters in the state.

Several leaders like former prime minister Indira Gandhi and SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav had visited the seminary and met the clerics before the elections.


The BJP on Sunday asked Nitish Kumar to accept responsibility for the Patna boat tragedy, which claimed 24 lives, and tender his resignation as chief minister.





Launching a frontal attack on the JD(U) strongman for the recurrence of such accidents, senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi said, If Nitish can take the credit for successfully organising Prakash Parv  the recently concluded Sikh festival  he should take responsibility for the death of the 24 people too and resign immediately.



The former deputy chief minister also said that an FIR should be lodged against Nitish in this regard.



BJP chief whip in the Assembly Arun Kumar was more scathing in his attack. Nitish gave his full attention towards successfully organising Prakash Parv in Patna and Kalchakra Puja in Bodh Gaya. But he paid little attention to Makar Sankranti, one of the most auspicious Hindu festivals. He has no moral right to continue as the chief minister, said Kumar, the BJP MLA from Kumhrar.




The Catholic Bishops Conference of India (CBCI) has raised objections to the Centres plan to set up an organisation for conducting nationwide tests for entrance to engineering, medical and other professional programmes.





The objections came after a section of media reported that a Group of Secretaries (GoS) in its report to Prime Minister Narendra Modi has favoured the idea of having a national testing organisation for holding entrance examinations for admissions to all higher educational institutions.



HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar had recently told DH about the governments plan to set up a National Testing Institute for conducting all entrance tests.



The problem with the recommendation (of the GoS) is that the rights of the minorities, autonomy of the institutions and the requirements of the students from diverse regions, languages and social backgrounds would tend to be overlooked, CBCI general secretary Bishop Theodore Mascarenhas said.



There was also no guarantee that the proposed national testing organisation will not land up in the same situation as the existing testing organisations are in today, he added.



The 11-member GoS, set up in October last year to look into the problems in the education sector and come up with new ideas to push the governments reform agenda, submitted its report along with recommendations to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday.



In its report, which was yet to be made public by the government, the panel of the top bureaucrats has reportedly recommended for making English mandatory for all students up to Class 10 from April this year.


Six devotees at Sagar Islands in West Bengal were killed in a stampede during the annual Ganga Sagar Mela on Sunday.





The deceased, all elderly women aged between 65 and 72, were killed after being trampled by hundreds of other who made a mad rush to board a vessel on their way back to Kolkata. About 25 people were injured in the commotion. The victims are yet to be identified.



According to authorities, most of the devotees came from Bihar and were returning home after taking the customary holy dip on Makar Sankranti, which fell on Saturday.



They were part of the three-day annual fair that takes place around Kapil Munis ashram on Sagar Islands in South 24 Parganas district, the site for a massive congregation.

The victims were rushed to a temporary hospital nearby but were declared dead on arrival. According to doctors, they were suffocated and suffered heart attack. The stampede occurred after pilgrims got impatient standing in the long queue at

Kachuebrias jetty 5 and tried to overtake each other while boarding, state Sunderbans development minister, Manturam Pakhira, told reporters.



Senior police officers on duty reported that the incident occurred around 6 pm when a large number of pilgrims had gathered at the jetty to catch a boat on their way back to Kolkata from where they were to board trains for respective destinations.



Disaster management teams have launched a search-and-rescue operation with help from the Coast Guard, a senior police officer said. Besides 20 vessels of various capacities, a state police drone was also deployed for aerial survey.



While the state administration announced a compensation of Rs 5 lakh for each victim, no official statement was issued till late evening.


An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in south Kashmirs Anantnag district on Sunday evening.





Sources said the gunfight erupted after a joint team of the armys 3 Rashtriya Rifles and a special operations group of the Jammu and Kashmir Police, on specific inputs, cordoned off Awoora village near a wildlife sanctuary in Pahalgam around 4 pm.



The militants hiding in one of the houses near Overa Nalla resorted to indiscriminate firing on the forces, which was retaliated, triggering an encounter, a source said.



A police official said that heavy exchange of fire was on till late evening. We have installed lights, made other arrangements and tightened the cordon in the area to ensure that the militants do not escape, he said.



Sources said that two to three local militants, affiliated to Hizbul Mujahideen, are believed to be holed up in the house in a sparsely populated village. They said heavy artillery is being used to neutralise the holed-up militants.



According to reports, as soon as the news about the encounter spread, locals from adjacent villages marched towards the encounter site and clashed with the security forces to help the militants escape from the cordon. The protesters tried to break the cordon to help the militants flee. However, forces fired tear gas shells to disperse them, even as they offered stiff resistance, a report read.


The Galaxy J3 is an android smartphone released by Samsung in 2016. (Photo : YouTube/CanerS Tech)

Samsung's Galaxy J3 (2017) smartphone is hinting a release soon after it was spotted receiving its WiFi certification from WiFi Alliance (WFA).



As per the Wi-Fi certification, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) will support 2.4GHz single band a/b/g/n and Wi-Fi Direct connectivity features, The Mobile Indian reported. In the said certification site, the device bears a model number of SM-J327VL, alongside a certification ID of WFA69687. The device got its WiFi certification on Jan. 10.



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No additional information regarding the device's specs and features are revealed on the listing, although the said device's WiFi certification predicts that the handset will be officially announced soon.



However, rumors suggest that the upcoming Galaxy J3 (2017) smartphone will be a budget-friendly device, as it target towards the entry-level market.



According to YIBADA, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) is an upgraded variant of its 2016 version with the same name.



According to released listings, the smartphone packs a 5-inch HD display with 720 x 1280 pixel resolution. Under the hood, Galaxy J3 (2017) will be powered by a 1.5 GHz quad Core Qualcomm Snapdragon 425 processor, coupled with Adreno 308 GPU. The Galaxy smartphone will offer 16GB of internal storage onboard, alongside a 1.5GB of RAM.



In its optics department, the Galaxy J3 (2017) will sport a 5-megapixel rear camera and a 2-megapixel front camera for selfies. Its software will run an Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow operating system, although new information from the WiFi certification website claims that the device will be coming in with Android 7.0 Nougat firmware.



Its connectivity options include basic connectivity features like 3G, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS and Micro-USB port. The smartphone will also house a 2,600 mAh battery.



According to a Zauba listing, the Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) sported a screen size of 5-inch and is pegged at a price of Rs 6,843. The listing further revealed that three units of Samsung SM-J327P were imported from South Korea to India for testing.



The Galaxy J3 (2017) device has previously been revealed on other benchmarking sites like in the databases of GFXBench, the Indian export import portal Zauba, and GeekBench.



No official announcement about the device's pricing and release date yet.






Theresa May will announce that Britain is seeking a clean and hard Brexit in a speech this week that will promise to create a strong new partnership with the European Union. The prime minister will finally lay her cards on the table, making clear that the UK is set to pull out of the single market and the European customs union in order to regain control of immigration and end the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. - The Sunday Times

Donald Trump is planning to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin within weeks of becoming president  emulating Ronald Reagans Cold War deal-making in Reykjavik with Mikhail Gorbachev. Trump and his team have told British officials that their first foreign trip will be a meeting with the Russian leader, with the Icelandic capital in pole position to host the superpower talks as it did three decades ago. In a bid to reset western relations with the Kremlin, Trump will begin work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons. - The Sunday Times

The chancellor, Philip Hammond, has suggested Britain could transform its economic model into that of a corporate tax haven if the EU fails to provide it with an agreement on market access after Brexit. In an interview with the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, Hammond said that if Britain were closed off from European markets after leaving the EU, it would consider abandoning a European-style social model with European-style taxation and regulation systems, and become something different. - The Guardian

The US media giant 21st Century Fox and Sky have begun privately reassuring MPs about plans for their controversial 18bn merger, in hopes of heading off political opposition to full Murdoch control of Britains dominant pay-TV operator. Lobbyists for the two companies are fielding inquiries from all sides of the Commons by insisting that the deal will not mean changes to Sky News. - The Sunday Telegraph

Tata Steels offer to pay hundreds of millions of pounds into its pension scheme in return for the release of the funds claim over the firms key Dutch plant is unlikely to clear the way for the company to hive off the scheme, experts warn. The Tata Group is looking at merging its European steel operations, including Tata Steel UK, with German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp. But Tata says it needs to separate the 130,000-member British Steel Pension Scheme from the business for the plan to go ahead. - The Mail on Sunday

A bidder for the Green Investment Bank (GIB) has launched a last-minute attempt to seize control of the state-owned eco-friendly lender. The government is weeks away from awarding Australian bank Macquarie the taxpayer-owned renewable energy lender in a deal worth 3.8bn. However, Jonathan Maxwell, chief executive of Sustainable Development Capital (SDC) has urged energy minister Nick Hurd to reject the Macquarie bid. - The Sunday Times

The US may soon adopt a more European approach to drugs procurement, with a national body or insurance companies tasked with negotiating on pricing, amid mounting concern that president-elect Donald Trump is planning a major clampdown. US government-funded healthcare programmes, such as Medicare and Medicaid, are not allowed to negotiate on pricing, which means prices of certain drugs have soared in recent years. - The Sunday Telegraph
China has Science and Technology Ties with 158 Countries and Regions

A new and more accurate DNA testing technique has been developed by Chinese scientists. (Photo : Getty Images)

China's ties in science and technology encompass 158 countries and regions in the world, according to the Ministry of Science and Technology.



The ministry said China has signed a total of 111 intergovernmental agreements on science and technology cooperation. In addition, China has taken part in more than 200 intergovernmental organizations devoted to boosting science and technology cooperation.



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The ministry said a stable intergovernmental cooperation mechanism covering major countries, regions and international organizations has taken shape. This mechanism has contributed to the improvement of China's capability in science and technology cooperation.



Statistics from the ministry also showed that some 70 science and technology offices with a staff of 146 diplomats have been established in Chinese embassies, consulates and diplomatic missions in 47 countries, regions, international organizations and multilateral mechanisms.



China's international push in science and technology follows a larger push at home.



Earlier this month, Premier Li Keqiang pledged better services and policies to bolster innovation in science and technology. Research institutions, universities and people taking the lead in science and technology innovation will be entitled more power in doing their job, said Li.



He said China must fully implement the strategy of innovation-driven development, nurturing new growth engines while accelerating upgrade of traditional sectors so as to maintain growth.



China will advance key projects in cutting-edge technology targeting future needs; improve infrastructure; enhance basic science and technology research and innovation and establish mechanisms to support S&T workers.



Distribution policies must be better implemented to honor and reward innovators, Li said. He said China is willing to offer opportunities for science and technology talent, from home or abroad, to fulfill their ambitions here in China.



Li called for integrated development of scientific achievements in various industries, cooperation between enterprises and science and technology institutions and workers, and better intellectual property rights protection.


Bicycle advocates want more protected lanes as Columbus develops plan

Columbus bicycle advocates want more protected bike lanes for safety as city embarks on new bikeways plan.
Butler (Photo : Stewie Griffin/YouTube)

As more Chinese move up the economic ladder, auspicious signs of wealth have been observed. One sign is owning a $4,500-thumb monkey as a pet during the Lunar New Year, and another is making trips to the Arctic and Antarctica during the spring break.



Others invest in international cinema, while some acquire EB-5 visas in the U.S. to become American citizens. The New York Times reported that some rich Chinese are acquiring English-trained butlers. These Chinese were inspired partly by the American TV drama Downton Abbey.



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Series Has Millions of Chinese Fans



Downton Abbey is a TV series about an English royal family that has a butler. The show is popular in China with an estimated viewers of 160 million, according to a 2014 Vanity Fair article. During a 2014 visit of Chinese Prime Minister Li Keqiang to the U.K., then British Prime Minister David Cameron gave him a script of Downton Abbeys first episode autographed by the series writer Julian Fellowes.



Butler Boot Camps



Although institutions that offer butler training and recruit would-be butlers have been operating in China for over 10 years, in recent years, the number of trainees have jumped, although most of the recruits are Chinese women, unlike British butlers who are mostly men. One such institution is the Chengdu-based International Butler Academy China which has been offering boot camps on managing homes, high living and dinner service that run for six weeks since 2014.



Christopher Noble, an American trainer at the academy, explained the growing popularity of butler service in China to wealthy Chinese vacationing overseas and being exposed to western service. However, some rich Chinese have second thoughts about hiring butlers. The reason is Theyre unwilling to have a butler who knows all the information about the family, Tang Yang, marketing director of the butler academy, said.






Miss Universe 2016 top 13 prediction: Neither Miss USA Deshauna Barber nor Miss Philippines Maxine Medina is no. 1

Miss Universe 2015 Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach, 27, is set to crown her successor on Jan. 30 at the Mall of Asia Arena, Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines. Steve Harvey will return as host during the coronation night with "America's Next Top Model" Cycle 23 judge Ashley Graham as the backstage host.



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It has been confirmed that 86 delegates will compete at the Miss Universe 2016. On Jan. 10, Tuesday, the Philippine National Police assured the safety in the country as it hosts the beauty pageant.



"As of now, we don't have any direct threat concerning the staging of Miss Universe pageant," Phil Star quoted PNP chief for Directorate Operations Senior Superintendent Emmanuel Licup as saying. He added that more than 1,300 cops will be deployed in Metro Manila alone for the pageant.



Many Filipinos fans wish for a back-to-back win but it appears that several candidates from other countries will not make that easy to achieve. Here are the 13 candidates predicted to make it to the top:



13. Miss Colombia



Andrea Tovar, 23, is from Quibdo, Colombia. With an Industrial Design and Photo Production degree, she dreams to create an innovative foundation that transforms Colombian products using raw materials from the Pacific region.



12. Miss Germany



Johanna Acs, 24, is from Tbilisi, Germany. She studies textile and clothing management.



11. Miss Mexico



Kristal Silva, 25, is from Ciudad Victoria, Mexico. Since she was young, she wanted to compete in Miss Universe.



10. Miss Jamaica



Isabel Dalley, 20, is from Montego Bay, Jamaica. Her dream is to become a marine biologist.



9. Miss USA



Deshauna Barber, 27, is from Washington, D.C. She is the first woman actively serving in the U.S. Army Reserve to win the Miss USA title.



8. Miss Chile



Catalina Caceres, 26, is from Santiago, Chile. She is an animal lover and she enjoys painting and volunteering.



7. Miss Philippines



Maxine Medina, 26, is from Quezon City, Philippines. She is a model and a residential condominiums interior designer.



6. Miss Japan



Sari Nakazawa, 23, is from Shiga, Japan. She is a senior dental student.



5. Miss Croatia



Barbara Filipovic, 19, is from Zagreb, Croatia. It is her dream to become a veterinarian and she loves playing with dogs and riding horses.



4. Miss Uruguay



Magdalena Cohendet, 22, is from Artigas, Uruguay. She is studying business administration at Universidad del Trabajo del Uruguay.



3. Miss Barbados



Shannon Harris, 22, is from Bridgetown, Barbados. In her country, she has worked with several charities. One of these is I Am A Girl, a charity that aims to empower high school girls by letting them know that their voice matters.



2. Miss Venezuela



Mariam Habach, 20, is from El Tocuyo, Venezuela. She is studying dentistry.



1. Miss Puerto Rico



Brenda Jimenez, 22, is from Aguadilla, Puerto Rico. She is studying Biology and Psychology Honors Student at the University of Puerto Rico.



Medina, Barber, Cohendet and Habach were among the 25 candidates who took part in a press conference in Vigan, Ilocos Sur, on Jan. 15, Sunday. During the event, the Philippine delegate was asked about what she wanted to teach her fellow candidates.



"I think it is being polite to everyone especially the elderly," Rappler quoted Medina as saying. She added that she has also been teaching her fellow candidates the Filipino honorific terms po, Ate and Kuya.



Watch a video of Wurtzbach welcoming the Miss Universe 2016 candidates here:







(Disclaimer: Views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not necessarily those of Yibada.)


In its latest policy document on Asia-Pacific security, China had presented an upbeat picture of its ties with India, referring to a deepening partnership, but was silent on contentious issues such as India's NSG bid and efforts to get JeM chief Masood Azhar banned by the UN, PTI reported. A white paper titled "China's Policies on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation", released on Wednesday, said China and India made "new progress" in bilateral exchanges amid divergence in ties over China-Pakistan-Economic Corridor as also India's growing strategic partnership with Vietnam. Further, in an interesting reference to counter-terrorism, the document without naming Pakistan, noted, "China believes that dialogue among different civilizations should be enhanced and a holistic approach taken to eliminate the breeding grounds of terrorism by addressing both its symptoms and root causes by political, economic and diplomatic means. At the same time, there should be no double standard in fighting terrorism, which should not be associated with any particular country, ethnicity or religion." The report said eight rounds of defence and security consultation and six joint military anti-terrorism training exercises have been held so far. ''Sound cooperation in personnel training, professional exchanges and other fields is being carried out,'' the policy document stated. ''The two sides have also conducted border defence cooperation which plays a positive role in maintaining peace and tranquillity in the border areas between China and India,'' the white paper said. It added that military officials of the two sides had visited each other in 2015 and 2016, and ''reached an important consensus on strengthening pragmatic cooperation between the two militaries and working together to maintain peace and stability in the border areas,'' it said. The paper went on to detail the status of relations with the US, Russia, Japan and South Korea and on the Asia Pacific security situation, it said the situation was stable on the whole, with a strong momentum for peace and development.










A UK government committee which is investigating the future of the border after Brexit will hear evidence on Monday on the issues affecting communities in Donegal and Derry relating to the UKs departure from the EU.

The Northern Ireland Affairs Committee will take public evidence in Derry for its inquiry into the future of the land border with the Republic of Ireland.

The inquiry is assessing the options for the future of the border under the different potential scenarios for the UKs future relationship with the EU.

The aim of the session will be to gain an insight into the views of communities,businesses and other organisations located close to the border, and how these should be addressed as part of the negotiations on leaving the EU.

The committee is made up of 13 MPs and will sit in the Guildhall in Derry. It will hear from Derry City and Strabane District Council, Donegal County Council, the Letterkenny Chamber of Commerce and the Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.

Michael Tunney, head of enterprise and economic development with Donegal County Council and Toni Forrester, chief executive of Letterkenny Chamber, will give evidence.

Other people who will give evidence to the committee will be Michael Gallagher, strategy manager, and Richard Osterhus, funding manager with Derry City and Strabane District Council; and Sinead McLaughlin, chief executive of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce.
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Sen. Jimmy Holley and Rep. Barry Moore met with the residents of Enterprise and Coffee County on Thursday at the Enterprise Farmers Market regarding the upcoming legislative session and their goals moving into the new term.

Both Holley and Moore said they anticipate the general fund budget and Medicare to be the focal points in the 2017 session, and will be working on dismantling Obamacare for the citizens they represent.

It is of interest to us and its certainly something that will be partnered with in the Trump administration, Holley said.

In reference to Obamacare, Moore said that the process may take a while, but was something that needed to be done.

Its a long, drawn out process, Moore said. It took some time to get it passed. Its going to take some time to replace it, but it certainly needs repealing and replacing.

Moore also polled the attendees on their opinions of two new bills that he wanted to introduce.

His first bill would allow business owners to decide whether or not they wanted to purchase workers compensation.

Currently, if a business has five or more employees then the business is required to purchase workers compensation. According to Moore, that shouldnt be the case.

I think it should be up to the business owners to decide, Moore said.

According to Moore, under his bill there would still be regulations for corporations who employee large numbers, but would focus more on helping the small business owner.

If a husband and wife own a lawn care company and its just them two, and they employee three other guys theyd have to purchase workmans comp, Moore said. They wouldnt be making enough money to support that.

Moores other bill would involve a fee on money wires out of state. The transfers currently cost nothing, which he said many are abusing, pointing out illegal immigrants as the main focus.

It would recover revenue for people not putting anything in, Moore said.

According to Moore, children are being educated and people are being taken care of in hospitals who get paid under the table because they dont have a social security card and cant or dont pay taxes.

When the floor opened for questions, Enterprise State Community College Choral Director Ken Thomas told Moore that it sounded like he was targeting illegals in the second bills.

I am targeting illegals, Moore said. Im targeting the people who dont put anything in.

The 2017 60-day legislative session gets underway the Tuesday, Feb. 2.
Monday, Jan. 16, is a state holiday in honor of Robert E. Lee, Americas greatest general.

By April 1863, Gen. Lee had brilliantly defeated four of Lincolns invading generals. In Lincolns obsession to collect his 40 percent federal sales tax for his Wall Street owners, he next selected Gen. Hooker, pitting 134,000 Federals against 57,000 Confederates.

Lee sent Gen. Jackson undetected around Hookers right flank, while Lee faced the center.

Jacksons surprise attack sent Lincolns tax collectors reeling, whereupon Lee charged Hookers center, thereby trouncing Lincolns fifth general.

Confederate Col. Charles Marshall recalled:

On the morning of May 3, 1863, the final assault was made upon the Federal lines at Chancellorsville. Gen. Lee accompanied the troops in person, and as they emerged from the fierce combat waged in the depths of that tangled wilderness, driving the superior forces of the enemy before them, Lee rode to the front of his advancing battalions.

The scene is one that can never be effaced from the minds of those who witnessed it. The white smoke of musketry fringed the front of the line of battle, while the artillery on the hills in the rear of the infantry shook the earth with its thunder, and filled the air with the wild shrieks of the shells.

The fierce soldiers with their faces blackened with the smoke of battle, the wounded crawling with feeble limbs from the fury of the devouring flames, all seemed possessed with a common impulse.

One long, unbroken cheer, in which the feeble cry of those who lay helpless on the earth blended with the strong voices of those who still fought, rose high above the roar of battle, and hailed the presence of their victorious chief.

Roger K. Broxton, president

Confederate Heritage Fund

Andalusia
Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales plot, cast: Everything you need to know

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales will go back to the roots of its initial setting - the ghost pirates, mythical treasures and a resilient, forward leading lady. (Photo : Getty Images)

"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" is coming up really soon and it is going to make big changes to the franchise. There are rumors that "Pirates of the Caribbean 5" might be Johnny Depp's last outing as Captain Jack Sparrow and will focus on a younger generation. Here's everything so far about the swash-buckling sequel.



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"Pirates of the Caribbean 5" cast members



The "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise has enlisted Brenton Thwaites as the son of Orlando Bloom's Will Turner. "The Maze Runner" actress Kaya Scodelario is also joining the franchise as Carina Smyth, who is rumored to be Captain Barbossa's daughter, Digital Spy reported. The character is also rumored to be a love interest for Thwaite's Henry Turner.



Javier Bardem is also joining the ensemble as Captain Salazar, the villain in "Dead Men Tell No Tales."



"Pirates of the Caribbean 5" plot



"Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales" has been described as a "reboot" although the plot will still continue with the story from the previous films. "The Curse of the Black Pearl" was such a huge hit when it came out 13 years ago, but the fire of the "Pirates of the Caribbean" franchise has slowly begun to dwindle since. The fifth film is expected to revive the movie's earlier successes.



The new movie is expected to focus on the younger generation and their new adventure. It is said that Henry Turner will come face to face with Captain Salazar, and both will be the main focus of the movie. It is also said that Henry's relationship with his father, Will, is going to be a point of interest for the sequel.



"Thrust into an all-new adventure, a down-on-his-luck Captain Jack Sparrow finds the winds of ill-fortune blowing even more strongly when deadly ghost pirates led by his old nemesis, the terrifying Captain Salazar (Bardem), escape from the Devil's Triangle, determined to kill every pirate at sea ... including him," the official synopsis of the movie reads, as reported by The Guardian.



"Pirates of the Caribbean 5" is Johnny Depp's last?



Depp's involvement in the fifth "Pirates of the Caribbean" film has been mired with controversy. Depp's former wife, Amber Heard, was apprehended in an Australian airport for bringing their dogs into the country without proper documentation. Although the charges were dropped, the exes issued a very controversial public apology to Australia. The nasty legal proceedings were followed by the Depp and Heard's divorce, during which Depp was accused of physical assault.



The succeeding controversies surrounding Depp was also added with rumors that he would soon retire from his role as Captain Jack Sparrow in the "Pirates" films.






Mrs. Sarah McGivern (nee Ward) passed away peacefully on December 9 last in the loving care of the staff of North-Hill House nursing home, St. Austell, Cornwall, England while surrounded by her only remaining sister, Mrs. Margaret Sanders, and her family, Brigid, Claire and Margaret.

This news cast a deep shadow of sadness over the entire community of Omeath village, her native Ardaghy and surrounding district. Sarah was born and reared and worked there for most of her life, except the last two years, and was very well-known and loved by all.

She was second eldest of the family of the late Patrick and Brigid Ward who resided in Ardaghy, Omeath.

It can be said that Sarah spent her life in the service of others, and was particularly attentive to her parents all their lives, tending to them faithfully in their last years.

She was also a tower of strength to her late brother, Jimmy, and never failed to help him in every way.

Sarah began to work at a very early age, which brought her to Warrenpoint, Newry, and to different parts of England, until she saw the need to return home to her ailing parents.

She had a very successful fast food business on the Shore Road, Omeath, which was open in the summer months. Many a young person was employed by her, and she was a great favourite with all of her customers, especially those from Belfast, who holidayed in Omeath during The Troubles.

In December 1975, Sarah married merchant seaman, Mr. Thomas McGivern, and they resided in Ardaghy, until he passed away in 1988.

She had a great pride in her home, and it was a special treat to visit her there. She was very hospitable and no one got away without being offered a cup of tea and dainties, which she always had in great supply.

Christmas was a very special time for Sarah, and great tribute has to be paid to her nephew, Martin Ward, who was a very regular visitor to his aunt, and never failed to turn up at that time of year to decorate the house for her, putting up the crib first, and then the Christmas tree.

In Sarahs later years, he made sure she had her needs and dinner daily, which he sent out from his supermarket in Newry, with her cousin, Mrs. Ann Mallocca.

She was very much loved by her extended family of nieces and nephews, and a large circle of friends, who were constant in visiting her, especially in the last few years when she was in failing health.

Sarah was a great neighbour and friend to all who knew her, and she was rewarded for her care and attention to the late Mrs. Molly OHagan, by Mollys daughter, Mrs. Mary Fegan, who, in turn, was unceasing in her concern for Sarahs welfare, right up to the time of her departure to Cornwall towards the end of August, 2014.

As housekeeper in the Mullany family household for 12 years, Sarah won the hearts of all, and as a tribute to her, Pat and Mary travelled home from London for her funeral.

They also made the long journey twice from London to Cornwall to visit Sarah in the nursing home.

Sarah spent the last two years of her life there, and was visited by her nephew, Martin Ward, and his wife, Teresa-Marie, accompanied by Sarahs niece, Gabrielle, and other family members during that time.

She is survived by her sister, Mrs. Margaret Sanders (Cornwall), sister-in-law, Mrs. Brigid Ward (Omeath), Mrs. Kathleen Ward (Blackpool), nephews, nieces, neighbours and a large circle of friends.

She was predeceased by her husband, Tommie; brothers, Phil and Jimmy and Mary-Ellen, her sister who died in childhood.

Her remains were repatriated with the assistance of The Kevin Bell Repatriation Trust. Having reposed at Dixons funeral home, Dundalk on Sunday, 18 December, a constant stream of sympathisers came to pay their last respects.

The removal took place to St. Laurences Church, Omeath, where her remains were received by Rev. Fr. Christy McElwee CC.

On Monday December 19, Rev. Fr. Jim Shevlin, assisted by Fr. McElwee, celebrated Sarahs Requiem Mass, and paid her many tributes for the life-long practice of her religious duties. Fr. Oliver Stansfield led the prayers at the graveside.

Mrs. Fidelma Bellew was the organist, accompanied by vocalist, Mrs. Carmel Rice, and their music and singing enhanced the liturgy, which was a celebration of Sarahs life.

The large attendance at her funeral was testimony to the great esteem in which Sarah and her family were held.

May she rest in peace.
Ata Johnson (L) and Dwayne Johnson attend the HBO Ballers Season 2 Red Carpet Premiere and Reception on July 14, 2016 at New World Symphony in Miami Beach, Florida. (Photo : Getty Images / Aaron Davidson)

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson is confirmed to take on the role of villain Black Adam in DC's upcoming adaptation of "Shazam." However, Shazam is not Black Adam's sole nemesis in the comic books, and fans are excited to see him potentially go head to head with another superhero: Superman.



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Speaking with Total Film, Johnson teased a possibility of Black Adam crossing into other movies in the expansive DC Extended Universe, particularly in "Man of Steel 2." "It was all agreed that the worlds are all interconnected... One day you will see Black Adam go at it with Superman or Batman or any of the DC characters," Johnson said. "But that said, there's a great independence to Black Adam from the DC world, allowing us to inject, not only viciousness, but also winking humor"



The "Shazam" movie won't be out until 2019, so there is a chance developments could change over at DC and Warner Bros. that might open up a possibility for Black Adam to appear in the highly-awaited "Man of Steel 2."



According to Batman-News.com, both Henry Cavill and Dwayne Johnson share the same manager, Dany Garcia, who shared a photo of both stars having a drink during the holidays. If this is not an indicator of a possible project with the two in the future, we don't know what else is. Garcia himself was also the one who confirmed that "Man of Steel 2" is being developed over at Warner Bros.



More recently, Johnson did further teasing about his upcoming projects in the DCEU. He took to Facebook to share that he had a "strategic meeting with the heads of DC Comics" about the entire DCEU. He added that what DC is planning is something fans have been waiting for, including "the most ruthless villain/anti-hero of all time finally coming to life."



Johnson also revealed that there are going to be "tonal shifts" in future DCEU movies. Although this wasn't detail yet, but fans will probably know soon once "Justice League" comes out.



In the meantime, Johnson will appear in "Fast & Furious 8."






Today, the Philippines celebrate Labor Day or locally known as Mayo Uno, it is a public holiday as announced by our president.

While labor groups are out on the streets to ask for a P125 across the board salary increase to compensate for the rising price of commodities, the Department of Labor focuses on launching job fairs to minimize the unemployment in the country.

Right this moment, there are 100 GMA Job Centers or kiosks in key areas nationwide like malls, department stores, city halls, and other public places in our major cities and key locations characterized by heavy human traffic, in order to increase the access to job vacancies and relevant jobs information.

The Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) announced that more than 100,000 local and overseas job vacancies nationwide will be offered to job applicants, including new graduates, by hundreds of employers and licensed recruitment agencies at jobs and livelihood fairs marking Labor Day in various regions today (May1, 2008).

Simultaneous conduct of the jobs and livelihood fairs are held today in collaboration with employers and recruitment agencies. In the National Capital Region (NCR), the main Labor Day Jobs and Livelihood Fair will be held at the World Trade Center in Pasay City. Similar activity will also be conducted simultaneously in other regions, namely, the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), Region 1 (Ilocos), 2 (Cagayan Valley), 3 (Central Luzon), 4-A (CALABARZON), 4-B (MIMAROPA), 5 (Bicol), 6 (Western Visayas), 7 (Central Visayas), 8 (Eastern Visayas), 9 (Zamboanga Peninsula), 10 (Northern Mindanao), 11 (Davao), 12 (SOCCKSARGEN), and Caraga Region.

The job fair held at the World Trade Center is expected to offer 30,000 jobs from the countrys seven key employment generating sectors, including cyber services, hotel and restaurant, health and wellness, banking, aviation, agribusiness, among others.

20,000 of the job vacancies are for overseas employment coming from 20 land-based, and 10 sea-based agencies, adding that overseas jobs also consist the majority of the jobs on offer to job seekers in the jobs fairs in other regions.

There will be 10 PhilJobnet workstations and 10 GMA Job Center kiosks to assist job seekers access online job opportunities under the supervision of the DOLEs Bureau of Local Employment (BLE).

A One-Stop Shop Pre-Employment Documentation Services composed of 10 government agencies to fast track the processing of applications and documents of job seekers and other clients, specially the new graduates.

So if you have relatives who are unemployed, newly graduate, wish to move to another job or seeking overseas employment tell them to visit the job fairs nationwide, there is still time to join the labor feast today! Good luck!
Its 57 days before the big day! Christmas! My most favorite time of the year. I am surprised at my self for not having put up the Christmas decorations as earlier as I used to (usually the Christmas tree is up in October). But I restrained myself and said I will do it later after the Halloween/ All Souls Day, as respect to my father who is gone before us and will no longer be able to celebrate Christmas with us this year and the succeeding years after. Sigh.

Anyway, I am trying to phase myself because I dont want to get too overwhelmed decorating. So today I tackled installing the curtains that will go along with the Christmas decortion theme I am planing for the house.

I know my American, Canadian and British friends are wondering in amazement, Im such a nut for my eagerness to put up Christmas decorations. But like Ive said in my previous post, the Philippines celebrates Christmas the longest and it is actually considered a season here.

I would like to talk about the difference of Christmas celebration here in the Philippines compared to U.S., Canada and UK.

1) We dont use real trees here.

Left: Our Christmas tree 15 years ago made of crumpled newspaper, my creation. Right: Last years Christmas tree, yup its plastic.

Yes we dont use real trees here because we dont have as much as abundant of pine trees or whatever kind of tree you use out there here in the Philippines. Cutting trees is illegal here. We either use plastic trees or other materials as Christmas tree like, strings, plastic bottles, newspapers, paper cups and many other stuff that can make a semblace of the holiday decorative tree. Plastic tree is recyclable and can be used for as long as you the tree is usable with proper storage and handling. We always think of ways we can save.

2) We dont have Chimneys here.

We make our children believe in Santa Clause but we tell them he gets in the house throughthe window.

3) We have 9 early mornings or nights novena masses as a prelude the main event, the birth of Jesus Christ.



Church goers during Simbang Gabi (Midnight Mass)

Being a Catholic country, Jesus and not Santa Clause is the center of our celebration here. The mass is held everyday starting December 16. Depending on your parish church there is a mass in the evening 8pm or early morning starting at 3am, 4am, and 5am. We call it Simbang Gabi. There is a belief that the wish of a person who has completed the 9 days novena mass will be fulfilled. I can attest to that.

4) Ham and Quezo de Bola is the star of the feast and not the turkey.

Fiesta Ham and Keso de Bola

Turkey is not so common here in the Philippines, the star of our Noche Buena (Christmas dinner) is the fiesta ham, sweet, smoked or chinese style, it doesnt matter as long as its plump, round and comes in the fiesta box package! Quezo de bola or cheese wrapped in red wax is also always present at the dinning table. (I will tell you more about our Christmas menu in my upcoming post so stay tuned)

5) Godchildren flock and visit to claim their Christmas gifts.

I have a dozen godchildren and every Christmas I make sure each of them has a gift ready because this is the only time of the year they come to visit. We call this Namamasko sa mga Ninang at Ninong na mga Inaanak.

6) Carolers flock your homes starting December 16.

Mostly its kids around the neighbor church choir members singing Christmas carols at nighttime starting at 6pm onwards. But actually the kids no longer sing nowadays, they just make noises with their improvised instruments like a drum made of a milk can and plastic, and maracas made of bottle caps. Then come December 25, they no longer sing but just knock on your doors or gates to claim their Christmas presents!

Even if our country is hot, we still consider December as our cold months. So we find a way to wear our sweatshirts and longsleves most especially when attending the early morning/ night novena mass.
Yeah, you heard right. The Boracay grotto in front of Willys Rock Station 1 in Boracay, the famous landmark at this favorite tourist summer destination in the country was chiseled off by an unidentified man two nights ago.

My sister was the first to tell me this news today while we were chatting and I was aghast and saddened. I need to confirm the news at Plurk but it took more than a couple hours before someone said it was true. I searched for info and there it was a news on Inquirer Provincial News February 5, 2010 confirmed it.

The report said there have been dispute of resort owners and businessmen in Boracay about the Virgin Marys presence on Willys Rock since not all of them are Catholic.





But for goodness sake that Virgin Mary/ Grotto has been there since I can remember, It was there the first time I went to the island more than 10 years ago and was there when we were there more than a month ago.

It was considered the most photographed spot in Boracay by tourist and its one of the spot I recommended my family to take photos at because I told them if you dont have a picture of you by the grotto youve never been to Boracay! Now that its gone what will separate the Boracay beach from the rest of the many beautiful white beaches around the Philippines? I mean seriously?

Well here was the last photographs with the Boracay Grotto/ Virgin Mary I took with my family:
Hello everyone! I just got back from my 5 days 4 nights solo trip to Malaysia with a short stop at Singapore. I missed my family, especially my daughter it would have been great if they were with me. Too bad that my best friend couldnt avail to use the other tickets because she didnt have her passport yet. I was lucky to meet some new friends who were staying at the same hotel I was in, they became my travel buddies for a couple of days.



My new found friends, travel buddies and hotel mates Pia and Orlyn they work for an offset printing house in Manila.

I had a blast and honestly getting lost in an unfamiliar place is fun but the homesick part is not. I missed the Philippines so bad, except the horrendous traffic and the smog, nothing really beats your own home town.

Anyway, to those who are planning a trip alone or with their family I will be making a post soon about the following.

How to plan a cheap/inexpensive out-of-the-country tip.

My Malaysian Escapade (focusing on what to do on your trip to Malaysia, what not and what you should visit, where to eat and where not where to shop how to save a lot of money on your trip)

My Short $5 Pit Stop to Singapore

For my 5days 4 night trip I spent a total of Php16,115.25 this amount covers all the expenses incurred for the entire trip including roundtrip airfare, hotel accommodation, food and drinks, leisure and tours, souvenirs, taxes and miscellaneous expenses . Not bad right? Of course!



Highlights of Day 1: Right on my finger tip, the KL Communication Tower , the 5th Tallest Communication Tower in the world.



Highlights of Day 2: The Batu Caves trip the place was over hyped I think , it was so filthy, there were trash everywhere, it was stinking the day I went there . I was badly disappointed, there was a ferris wheel, some tents food tents and who knows what to find in there!



Highlights of Day 3: a pit stop at the Marina Bay, Merlion statue in Singapore



Highlights of Day 4: The Petronas Twin Towers tour, KLCC and Aquaria.





Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand, Japan would be the next in line but this time I will have to make sure that the family will join me! It sucks going home at night in an empty hotel room.

How about you do you have plans for an out-of-the-country trip soon?

Stay gorgeous everyone!
Planning a trip to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia?

Youve come to the right place! Heres my step-by-step guide on places you can visit and things you can do when you are there! I can say Im an authority already because I did my trip there alone using maps and travel guides to Kuala Lumpur from the tourism office! This post is dedicated to everyone to everyone who would like to enjoy a cheap trip to Malaysia and Singapore. As the saying goes a penny save is a penny earned. (Click here for more tips on how to have an inexpensive out-of-the-country trip)

How much do you need to spend for your Malaysian trip?

Would you believe if I tell you that I spent a little over Php16,100 roughly around USD366 for my 4 days/ 4 nights trip to Malaysia. That amount already included the expenses I had during my short trip n Singapore . The amount covers the following expense:



Round trip airfare Manila to Malaysia and Malaysia to Manila via Cebu Pacific

Round trip bus fare Malaysia to Singapore and Singapore to Malaysia via Bus Online Ticket

Hotel accommodation for 4days/3 nights in a Malaysian Hotel via Agoda

Food and Drinks

Leisure and Tours

Souvenir items (Pashmina, Indian Anklet, Card Holder)

Taxes and miscellaneous expenses (travel tax, terminal fee, baggage check in)

I paid for my hotel accommodation and bus fare using my Paypal account . Doing so keeps me safe from revealing my credit card information and other important information to prevent identity theft and hackers.

How to get to Malaysia?

TIP 1: Subscribe to airline sale alert and book your flight early! The fastest way is to travel by air. I saved a lot on my airfare because I subscribed the an airline sale alert . I paid Php2,650.00 only for my roundtrip airfare to Malaysia.

TIP 2: Plan your trip ahead . Being a frequent traveler I am aware that air fares are much cheaper if they are purchased months before the actual trip date. I am subscribed to a couple of airlines sales alert so I can get updated immediately when they have low airfare promotions, and if I like the destination on sale I wont hesitate but see if I can book me a flight. I got my ticket from Cebu Pacific for Php2,200 + Php100 web admin fee+ go lite fee Php100 + insurance fee Php250. You can go away without the travel insurance but if you are traveling alone get it just in case. The web admin fee is a standard at the Cebu Pacific Website. I purchased my ticket during their 10/10/10 promo last October 10, 2010 so that gave me 3 months to plan ahead. Ive been traveling via Cebu Pacific for awhile now and I havent experienced any major issues that will make me not want to book a flight with them compared to the other economy airlines Ive tried in the past like traveling via Air Philippines (during the family trip to Cebu) and traveling via Sea Air (during one of the family trip trip to Boracay).

I save on my airfare to Singapore by taking a bus instead! I paid a total of SGD57.75 (Php1,905.75 @ Php33) for my round trip bus fare from Malaysia to Singapore and back!

Instead of traveling by air I decided to visit Singapore by bus, thanks to Dani for the information about the Bus Online Ticket an online bus ticketing website where you can book your trips in and around some Asian destination. I saved thousands of pesos doing this. The bus company is StarMart and the travel from Kuala Lumpur to Singapore (vice versa) takes about 5-6 hours with two stops in the immigration of Malaysia and Singapore, so you will still get your passport stamped if theres no problem involving your travel documents you can pass the immigration and wont be halted and be left by the bus.

You have a choice of riding a normal air conditioned bus or a double decker. But of course the double decker is highly recommended so you get a nice view of the road and whatever there is to see along the way. Or you can just sleep, the bus is very comfy and huge and cold!

The bus that will take you to Singapore from Malaysia will board and unload in front of Berjaya Times Square just below the Imbi Monorail Station. The bus that will bring you back to Malaysia from Singapore will board and unload in front of the Golden Mile Complex Beach Road Singapore (bus #100 pass through it).

Where to stay in Malaysia? Hotel Accommodations

Tip 3: I saved on my hotel accommodation by using Agoda. com an online hotel booking website that offer very cheap hotel accommodation at beautiful hotels everywhere around the world! For this trip my hotel expenses for a 4days/3 nights accommodation = US$87.92 (Php3,868.48 @ Php44)

I would have got a 4 star hotel in Malaysia if my mom and daughter joined me on the trip, but since I went alone I decided to go for a less expensive one and I found Presscott Inn Kuala Lumpur Hotel via Agoda.com the charges include taxes. I was upgraded to a superior room that can occupy two to four persons because of the two double beds in it.

Presscott Inn Kuala Lumpur is very near Medan Tuanku Monorail Station, the area is what they called the Golden Triangle and very near malls , restaurants, clubs and tourist spots, although my room was off the nice view of the KL Tower and Petronas, my hotel room window gave me a nice slice of the city view. My room was very decent, clean and spacious with two double beds complimentary 2 bottled waters, 2 sets of coffee, cream, tea and 4 sugar everyday. The toilet is small but enough to take a shower, brush your teeth and do number 1 or 2. Towels can be changed everyday just put the towel you want changed on the sink. The bed and room is cleaned everyday. The room has double lock, hair dryer, coffee maker, flat iron and ironing board and a spacious closet with a lot of closet hangers.

The hotel staff are very friendly and accommodating. I got there around 5am. Check-in time is usually 2pm. I requested to check in earlier and Thank God there were guests who checked out early so I got in a room at 6am without having to pay any extra for early check-in. Nice noh? FYI: The problem with early check-in is the room isnt clean when you get in yet because the house cleaner comes in at 9am. But thats not the hotels fault anyway since I got there earlier than I should . You can request for an extra bed covers to lay down on the bed you want to rest on and wait until the cleaning lady arrives to have the room made.

I love that whatever was displayed in their promotion and at the Agoda website was the same as what you will see in person. If you are traveling on a budget this hotel is one of the good choices.

Where to go in Malaysia? Top tourist destinations in Malaysia

Tip 4: Take the guided Malaysian Tour. Kuala Lumpur Tour via hop-on hop-off city tour bus. Before leaving your hotel, make sure to familiarize yourself with the area by getting those travel guides and maps that are free at the airport. For your first day in Kuala Lumpur, it is best to take the commissioned city tour . I highly recommended the KL Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour for RM38 the tour is good for 24 hours . This is one of Malaysias guided tours via bus . I highly recommend the KL Hop-On Hop-Off City Tour as it will take you to 42 major sights and attractions in Kuala Lumpur . Riding the Hop-on Ho-Off City Tour bus you can alight the bus anytime you want and stay there and ride another hop-on hop-off bus if you are done exploring . You have a choice to get the 24 hour or 48 hour tour in the bus. But the 48 hour tour for RM70 is the best choice if you are not in a hurry or in some kind of schedule like I have.

I personally got the the 24 hour ticket which allowed me to hop-off the Petronas Twin Towers stayed there and explore. I took a lot of pictures and went malling at the Suria KLCC Mall had lunch there and went for a stroll . I waited for another bus and hop-off at the KL Communication Tower around 4PM . I stayed there until sunset around 8PM.

There were a lot of stop-over at the hop-on hop-off bus. We had a stop over for a photo ops for 5 minutes at the National Palace, 5 minute stop to the Palace of Culture, KL Convention Center, National Museum, Little India, Central Market, China Town, Islamic Museum and many other major attractions. There are 22 bus stop overs and you can hop-on any bus at any bus station. You pay directly on the bus you will ride for the tour so dont worry where you have to pay. They also sell tickets for a tour in the KL Communication Tower for RM35 only, it will cost RM38 if you buy on site.

My DIY Kuala Lumpur Tour

Petronas Twin Towers

This is one of the top tourist must-see destination in Kuala Lumpur. Personally, I think the tour in the Petronas Twin Tower was very much hyped its not the best tour ever but its still worth it to step inside one of the worlds most popular and pictured destination. To get in the Petronas Twin Tower you need to queue at the ticket booth as early as 7AM and viewing starts at 9:30AM depending on the time on your ticket. The tower is not open for viewing on Sundays and Mondays. A ticket for a 15 minute tour on the bridge is RM10 while a tour including the observation deck is RM34 for adults, if you want to have a dinner date up there its RM200.

KL Communication Tower/ 5th Tallest Communication Tower In The World

I recommend the tour inside the KL Communication Tower, its one of the best tour in Kuala Lumpur you can have. For RM35 you get a audio guided tour in the observation deck which will give you an awesome view of Kuala Lumpur city and the Petronas Twin Towers. You can stay as long as you want. We waited until the sun sets and the city was lighted, what an amazing view! I love it.

Batu Caves/ Worlds Tallest Murugan Statue

I was also disappointed with my trip to the Batu Caves or maybe because I expected too much of it. Dont get me wrong the place is still a good place to visit in KL but I was very much disappointed to be welcomed by a filthy and stinky place. For a place of worship this one was very much not taken care of. I also feel sad for the cave, they killed mother nature/ the cave buy making cemented pavements, stairs and platforms and putting in electrical wirings, idols, and metal railing and lightings.

I hope I went to the Batu Cave at the wrong time or just right after a feast or sort the night before. The place needs to be maintained and cleaned. I guess they need to have an entrance fee or sort, I think tourist like me wont mind. The climb to get inside the cave was a work out, imagine climbing more than 260 steps!

The Worlds Tallest Murugan Statue, a Hindu god idol in front of the cave was breathtaking. Theres also a giant Monkey King Statue on the other side and some Hindu temples around. The cave was adorned with a number of Hindu idles and temples around, the view was nice except for the filth around.

Hot tip for an awesome cave adventure?

If you want to see a fresh live cave our caves here in the Philippines is still the best. Try the Puerto Princesa Underground River its amazingly alive and well preserved and only a boat ride can take you inside with only a lamp you will be carrying as lighting. Or you can check out Bathala Cave in Mindoro where you will walk on foot so better wear sturdy walking or mountain climbing shoes . Both are the freshest and livest cave Ive ever been in my life. Dont look up with your mouth opened for so long or God knows what you might catch with your mouth!

KL Convention Center

Is a venue for big events in Kuala Lumpur it is located in a 40 hectare of land where the Aquaria and the KLCC park can be found with a nice view of the Petronas Twin Towers. KL Convention Center is at the back of the Petronas Twin Towers passing through Suria Mall.

TOUR FOR KIDS

Cosmos Theme Park

Located at the Berjaya Times Square and is the largest indoor theme park in Malaysia they have this super huge super roller coaster in there the Super Sonic Odyssey. If you are traveling with a child dont forget to stop over here they will definitely enjoy. But adults will enjoy as well because there are so many rides I dont think Id let my daughter ride because they are way too scary. Entrance is RM38 for adult and RM28 for child. Its open from 12 noon to 10PM Monday- Friday and 11am to 10pm on Saturday, Sunday and Public Holidays.

Aquaria

For RM30 get acquainted with the sea creatures. Theres a nice free exhibit outside, a doctor fish / spa room, and fish / shark/ turtle feeding depending on the time and day of your visit.

NIGHT LIFE

I had a peek of how Malaysians party when I arrived on a Sunday 4AM. The Malaysian party people were just on the way home from a fun Saturday night party. They also dress very well, too bad I wasnt able to take a picture. The Golden Triangle is the place to be for clubbing.

I didnt go clubbing though, since I was alone. I dont want to open myself to anything unsafe. Better be safe than sorry right?

How to get to Batu Caves/going around Kuala Lumpur

Take a KTM Komuter Train (electric train) from KL Sentral RM1 only

The trains KTM Komuter Train and the KL Monorail are an efficient and inexpensive way of traveling around Kuala Lumpur.

Airport transportation to and from your hotel

If you havent arranged for a pick-up as soon as you arrive in the airport (KLIA or LCCT) Dont talk to the men in white polo-shirt, they are taxi (teksi) drivers and will charge you RM100-RM150 to take you to your hotel in Kuala Lumpur. Its a lot cheaper to get on a shuttle bus to KL Sentral, Sea Air has one for RM9 only! Then you can either take a cab from KL Sentral to your hotel not more than RM20 anywhere in KL or take the Monorail or the KLM Train RM1  RM2.50 if your hotel is located near one like mine. You can do the same thing on your departure (taxi then bus).

Shopping in Kuala Lumpure, Malaysia

Personally, I dont go out-of-the-country to do shopping because I can do that anytime from here, so it wasnt really on my to-do list, besides its so expensive in Malaysia! But if you insist you can go to Suria Mall for high-end signature items and Berjaya Times Square for super chic, fashionable, hip items (there are lots of Korean inspired clothing in there!) .

Where to Eat in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Food Tripping!

Secret Recipe is one of the popular Malaysian restaurant in Kuala Lumpur and you can find it everywhere you go. But if you want to try authentic I can recommend the hawker food stalls along the Mara Building in the Jamal Ismail street or if you feel safe in foods inside the mall you can go to Berjaya Times Square there is an Asian Food Court in there where you can have a feast of Asian food. I also ate in one of the oldest restaurants in the Golden Triangle just beside our hotel, most of the food are spicy! Malaysian food are generally spicy so ask them first if your picking a spicy dish or not (which often is spicy and very spicy :P) . If you cant eat Malay food and feel much safer with fast food they have a lot of KFC and Burger King in there.

Souvernir Items Shopping

I got a Pashmina (Indian veil) from the Little India (RM10), a card holder with the KL Communication Tower, Petronas Twin Towers, Sultan Abdul Samad Building as a design (RM10) and an authentic Idian anklet from the Batu Caves (RM10).

My opinion as a tourist in KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

If you love to see architecture wonders then Kuala Lumpur is the place to be in Asia. Theres so many fascinating buildings and establishments there and each of the building has its own unique character. Its such a feast of awesome architectural works Petronas Twin Towers is just one of the many buildings to admire in there.

Theres so many fascinating buildings and establishments there and each of the building has its own unique character. Its such a feast of awesome architectural works Petronas Twin Towers is just one of the many buildings to admire in there. Kuala Lumpur has a very diverse community where Malays, Chinese and Indians forming the majority of the ethnicity of the 2million population.

I love how disciplined they are when it comes to transportation. You can alight and ride a bus or a teksi (taxi) at the designated areas only. Walking is very normal in there.

You can alight and ride a bus or a teksi (taxi) at the designated areas only. Walking is very normal in there. The city is very clean.

Most can speak English but probably because of our similarity with them they try to speak Malay with me.

Generally friendly people but some of the Indian men in the Indian community are crude.

I hope I didnt forget anything in this post, in case I did dont be shy and ask at the comment section. I hope this post helps.

How about you have you been to Kuala Lumpur Malaysia? Which Malaysian hotel did you stay in? What airline did you take? Which tourist destinations did you visited? Do tell!

Stay gorgeous everyone!
I wouldnt have planned to go to Singapore if not for Dani (a PR friend) who told me about a bus that can take me from Malaysia where I will be staying for 4 days and 4 nights at a Malaysian Hotel. Knowing this I did not book to stay in any Singapore Hotel . How to get around Singapore/ Transportation The bus trip took about 5 hours one-way with two stops to the Malaysian immigration for departing Malaysia and to the Singapore immigration for arriving at Singapore. This means even arriving buses from the border will have to be checked at the immigration before being allowed entry or exit. This immigration process doesnt only happen in airports.

I rode a double decker bus by Star Mart and I purchase a ticket online for SG$55 or about Php1,815 (@Php33 exchange rate).

I left Malaysia at 10AM and arrive at Singapore at 4PM . The trip took longer because of two European who was in the same bus as I am and were asked to pay customs tax for the two pckss of cigars they were carrying. Where to eat/dine in Singapore? At the bus terminal in Singapore at Golden Mile Center along Beach Road Singapore I met Dani where she took me to some hawker food stalls nearby. She had me try them food she havent tried before! This hawker area is very popular in Singapore if you are going there for a food trip this is one of their must-try places.

Anthony Bourdaine visited this place too for one of his food adventure!

I forgot what I ate ! But its somewhere around SG$4-5.00 and a cold milk tea for SG$2.-3.00, sorry I forgot it was Danis treat! We passed by her then parted at another bus stop . I went for a short tour in Singapore alone riding a public utility bus! I was suppose to meet Monique (a blogger friend who works there) but she was on duty the time so I had no choice but to roam alone . FUN! Where to go in Singapore? Sightseeing in Singapore/ Tourist Destinations For SG$5.00 I think I covered most of the popular tourist destination in Singapore and had my photo opps with one of the most photographed place there, the Marina Bay area where the famous Merlion can be found. This is the same area where you can watch Singapore F1 Grand Prix live . This year F1 Singapore Grand Prix will be held on September 23, 2011 to September 25, 2011! Im so excited to be there!

Bus ride to tour around Singapore

I was able to do some sightseeing while inside the city bus

Its also where you can get a nice view of the Singapore airport with the awesome floating boat-like structure on top of a building! Amazing.

The Merlion at Marina Bay Singapore I almost missed my bus! But Thank God for maps I was able to go back to the Golden Mile center to catch my bus back to Malaysia in time. Phew! Unlike Manila, buses in Singapore are number coded and they only go to certain routes, if you ride a wrong numbered bus you will be taken to a different place and that will get you lost! My bus left Singapore at 11PM and by 6AM I was in Malaysia again and freshened up in the hotel in Malaysia I was staying at before I went for another Malaysian city tour.

How about you, have you ever tried going on an out-of-the-country trip alone? Which airline do you take for your trip? Where do you usually book your hotel when travelling? Stay gorgeous everyone!
Last week, I was invited by Nescafe to have a coffee farm experience, it is sort of an immersion on a life of a coffee farmer and a coffee. This happened at three farms and a coffee bean buying station in Davao del Norte, Mindnao. I was lucky to be one of the fisrt five bloggers Nescafe invited to have this trip. I had been into coffee shops in Metro Manila who let me experience how to be a barista and appreciate processed coffee already but this experience is one for the books because it was a beyond the cup encounter. Now I appreciate a cup of coffee more than ever.

Coffee Propagation

Coffee grows in trees, trees that are classified as shrubs anyway. Before, Nescafe would import seedling from Paris. But a few years ago they have learned how to propagate a seedling. Now we dont import these seedlings anymore!

This is where they do it. The Nestle Experimental and Demo Farm (NEDF) in Magdum, Tagum City, Davao de Norte, Mindanao. This is Nescafes a one-stop shop serving as a Robusta seedling production nursery, a local R&D center for new coffee selections, training and techno-demo center, a buying station and a composting facility for organic fertilizer.

From the tree they cut the stems in a such a technique only a Nescafe Agronomist know how

And then they propagate them for 3 months until they get the root of their own. When theyve grown roots, theyll transfer them again into another growing area for a couple of months.

Until it reach a certain height that is ready for planting! That is what they call the seedlings!

These seedlings are sold to coffee farmers by Nescafe for Php12.00 a seedling.

Coffee Plating

This is one of the fun part, coffee planting! They taught us the proper way of planting a seedling. From the depth of the hole where the seedling will be planted from which soil comes first .

After watching how to do it I was able to plant my own coffee tree!

After a couple of months we will come back (I wish) to do the bending of the tree we planted. Bending is important as to create that three stem tree/shrub which makes the coffee tree bear a lot of fruit for harvesting.

We visited a farm in Del Pilar, New Corella, Davao del Norte who planted some of the seedlings bought at the NEDF in November 2009. Now some of the coffee tree are flourishing and some are ready for harvesting!

Some farms plant more than just coffee, some plant banana, rice, calamansi and other crops.

After harvesting, the coffee beans are sun dried!

When the beans are dried they are hulled and are ready for selling and for quality testing at the buying stations

Coffee Beans Quality Control, Grading and Buying Stations

We visited one of Nescafes buying station in Tagum City, Davao de Norte. We were just in time for a delivery from a local coffee buyer.

They take samples from each sacks delivered to ensure quality.

Out of the samples taken only 300 grams will be used for the quality control and grading sampling



Beans are separated and weight according to their damage or problem if they are immature beans, insect damaged, crushed, black beans and other problems

When they weight everything the beans are then roasted and grinded for taste testing/cupping

I felt sad because this delivery did not past the quality testing. They failed by 1%!

Amazing Coffee Facts in the Philippines and Worldwide

Did you know that coffee is the 2nd most consumed beverage inside the household next to water worldwide?

Coffee is also 2nd to the largest traded commodity after petroleum globally?

The Philippines is the 2nd biggest Nescafe market in the world.

Coffee is the #1 beverage consumed in the Philippines

Filipinos consume more than 21 million cups (21,600,000 cups) every day. That means 900,000 cups every hour. 15,000 cups every minute and 250 cups every second.

Sadly only 30% of our coffee is locally supplied. The Philippines import 70% of the coffee beans!

The Nescafe Plan

With all this facts in mind the Nescafe Plan was created. The Nescafe PlanBefore we go through the entire experience we had a short briefing about the Nescafe Plan. The NESCAFE Plan is a global initiative that supports responsible farming, production and consumption. Nestle believes that for a company to be successful in the long term and create value for its shareholders, it must also create value for society.This is in line with Nestles global commitment to Responsible Farming, Responsible Production and Supply and Responsible Consumption in Coffee (for more details, please visit www.nescafe.com).

Another key program undert, a direct buying program that. At the core of the Farmer Connect Model are the, which are strategically situated at various points around the country. Through the direct buying stations, not only can small farmers sell their produce directly to Nestle, they are guaranteed of getting a buying price which is aligned with global market prices. It also enables farmers to get the payment within 8 banking hours, thus the farmers can immediately benefit from the sale of their produce to Nestle.

I have learned so much in this trip. I was actually convinced tomyself. It is hard work but worth the investment.From seedling it will start to bear fruit and ready for harvesting after 18 months and will bear fruit every 9 months. Return of investment (ROI) is about after 3 years and the rest will be your income minus the expense of renting the land or from your land purchase, and the man power you need to maintain your farm if you wont be hands on. But if you have an existing farm then this is a good investment.

You can ask Nescafe Philippines to know more about this or visit www.nescafe.com to know more about the Nescafe Plan and more beyond the cup of coffee you consume everyday!

Stay gorgeous everyone!
Apple Inc. keeps updating its iOS 11 firmware ahead of its release this summer 2017. (Photo : YouTube/EverythingApplePro)

A jailbreak tool from Team Pangu that is based on iOS 10.2 remains highly likely - at least that is what jailbreaking fans would want to believe as frustrations build up on the current status of the available iOS crack from Luca Todesco. The tool remains in beta and is largely useless for most jailbreak fans.



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A Reddit discussion thread seems to highlight the general sentiment on the Yalu JB tool by Todesco - that is unusable due to its beta status and a host of annoying limitations. To be fair, the creator has made clear that not all iPhones and iPads are supported and there many inconvenient elements to discourage users. Cydia is not fully supported as well as most of the jailbreak tweaks out there.



And there is the question of stability, which in fact is so problematic that Todesco himself has advised users to keep off unless they have some form of developer's skills. The hacker, however, has indicated that work is ongoing for the Yalu jailbreak not only to move out of the beta zone but also to jump from 10.1.1 to version 10.2.



But when exactly this happening, Todesco would not say and judging from the same Reddit post many believers are growing impatient. Some actually are convinced that the Yalu jailbreak will never wriggle its way out of the beta status.



Still, hope remains that a 10.2 jailbreak will soon drop if a report by Neurogadget is to be believed, which says "Pangu is still working on an iOS 10 jailbreaking tool." What exactly the basis of the claim is unclear but the report seems to hinge its hope on the thought that Team Pangu from China was successful in cracking the Apple mobile OS in the past so why not the latest version.



"It appears Pangu may be waiting for Apple to release its iOS update so they can release their jailbreaking tool too. It would mean Apple would be unable to offer a security patch right away, so users would be able to use their tool," the report declared, somehow echoing similar arguments in the past.



And that would be - Pangu is just waiting for the perfect timing to unleash its jailbreak work. The perfect timing is Apple releasing a big update, which Team Pangu will then answer by finalizing a jailbreak release that is certified to withstand firmware updates that contain jailbreak killers.



Yet the big question begs: When exactly is the next jailbreak release from Pangu, which as early as July 2016 has demoed that iOS 10 is open for jailbreaking? Too bad this is a mystery that the same Neurogadget report has failed to shed a light on.


It is always good to have some basic knowledge about a place before you travel there. Having some background information will help you relate to the places you visit and you will enjoy your experiences even more when you are there as well. In fact, you can ask for more information regarding Tuscanys history during your stay at Tuscany villa rentals. While enjoying the sites and feeling glamorous in a beautiful country, youll learn that Tuscany, which is one of the twenty Italian regions, has a rich and intriguing history.

First of all, the name of the region has been originated from an Etruscan tribe. This tribe settled in the area around 1000 BC. The area that later became known as Tuscany was ruled by a number of rulers like Ostrogoths, Herulians and many more and emerged as a distinct political entity with its separate set of rulers.

The invasions by various rulers led Italy into poverty. Then the Lombards came to Italy in 568 AD from the Northeast and gained control over areas which are now known as Tuscany, Piedmont, Liguria, Venice, and Lombardy. The king that was ruling Lombardy conquered the Byzantine capital in 751 AD pushing the borders of his area towards Rome. To save themselves, Rome asked the French Carolingians to take them under their rule.

Pepin was the king of the Franks. Charlemagne, his son, captured northern Italy and named it theThese political struggles caused a fragmentation that lasted until the late 19century. However, the Italian cities were allowed to govern themselves in spite of the political rifts.

As the struggles settled a bit, trade flourished throughout Italy encouraging the growth of skilled artisans and tradesmen. Around the 12th century, Italy gradually became more wealthy and consequently, more independent as republics with time.

As wealth and autonomy increased in Italy, it gave way to Renaissance and helped the region leave behind the negative impact of the Middle Ages. This phase gave rise to a kind of despotism known as signoria. The Medici family, due to their wealth and growing power, found themselves dominating the region. Later in 1737, when this dynasty ended, Tuscany became a part of the French Empire under Napoleon for a brief period.

Tuscany then came under the new unified Italy in 1860. However, the on going political turmoil and clashes between different merchants, landowners and workers led to violence which grew as a result of the conflicting ideologies that included anarchism, fascism and communism. In 1922, Italy came under Fascist rule till 1943.

After that, as World War II began, Tuscany became the frontline of war which consequently damaged many Tuscan cities like Livorno, Pisa and Florence. Tuscany played a major part during the world war in the Resistance movement.

After the war ended, the region began reconstructing itself and reviving back its lost artistic legacies and culture. Today, Tuscany is well established and flourishing. Its also very glamorous and well. Go there in style and enjoy your stay there  it is rich in culture and history!

Paige One writes about a variety of topics, from fashion to travel.

Did you know all this info about Tuscany before?

Stay gorgeous everyone!
Last weekend (May 3-5, 2013), I and nine other travel and lifestyle bloggers were invited by Zest Air to board their inaugural flight to Kota Kinabalu.

Did you know that:

Kota Kinabalu is Sabahs Capital City.

Sabah, North Borneo is a region in Malaysia.

Kota Kinabalu was known before as Jesselton Town also known as Api-Api

We had some breakfast via Manila Catering at the pre-departure are of NAIA Terminal 4.

We also had some photo-op by the big photo-wall at the pre-departure area where we also left our congratulatory message to Zest Air for another additional flight and travel destination.

Since it was the inaugural flight, our airplane was almost like a chartered flight with just us bloggers, some staff from Zest Air, Fleishman Hillard peeps (their PR), the pilot and his co-pilot and cabin crew and 10 other Zest Air VIP passengers was in the airplane.

We had a short program on the airplane where a lucky VIP passenger, the first one to book a paid-flight to Kota Kinabalu

Arriving at the Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2

we had a warm welcome by the locals headed by Tourism Malaysia as we alight the airplane Zest Air flight Z2501 by Tourism Malaysia.

Inside the KKIA Terminal 2, we were assisted by Bobby Alex, the Marketing Manager of. We rode a tourist bus to our hotel where we met our tour guide for our entire stay in KK, Philip.

Where we stayed at Kota Kinabalu City

We stayed at one of the 5 star resort and hotel in the city, the Sutera Harbour Resort located 10 minutes away from Kota Kinabalu International Airport (KKIA) Terminal 2.

We arrived at lunch time so we head directly to, the in-house restaurant of the hotel before settling in our rooms.

Our lunch was scrumptiousWe all enjoyed the lunch buffet!

After lunch we were given a time to freshen up and enjoy our rooms for a bit! Iris and I were room mates at

The room was huge! With free broadband internet and all amenities we needed! As we got in the room we were given a welcome fruit basket and chocolates!

I love the bathroom, we had a shower area and a bath tub!

First stop Sabah Museum

Then its time for the city tour!

Second stop Malls

Photography was not allowed inside, so thats all I can show you. I enjoyed the museum tour as we learned a lot of things when it comes to culture, wild life and history of Sabah.

Our tour guide said this mall is very popular because it sells very cheap/affordable electornics from mobile phones, tablets, LED TV, speakers and everything gadgetry

But since majority of us didnt have Malaysian currency with us yet we had to find a money changer to covert our Peso to Malaysian Riggit.

Along the way we had a view of other

sights to see in KK City

Third Stop Cocoa Boutique

This boutique is famous for selling authentic Malaysian chocolate, this place was preserved and maintained to remind people that Malaysia used to be the top Chocolate exporter in the world. But things changed and now their main industry is petroleum. Next is agriculture and third is tourism.

Fourth Stop: Dinner at Salut Seafood a floating restaurant in KK

I love the view of the restaurant at night, it was very well lit wit a cultural show on the side to entertain guest.

The food was the best part, seafood was serve fresh and food came one after another! We were all so full!

What I think of Kota Kinabalu City

I expected Kota Kinabalu as purely an island with over flowing beach area anywhere you turn. But I was surprised to find out more about this Asian travel destination. For our first day, we were taken to familiarization tour in the city, yes Kota Kinabalu is a City, the capital of Sabah, Malaysia!

Having said that its a city, they too have that traffic jam we all loath here in Metro Manila because of the overly populated highway with pretty tiny auto mainly Proton cars . Proton is the most popular car brand in Malaysia. The city proper was very much filled with business establishments, mainly of shopping malls , offices, and places of worship

What I love about Kota Kinabalu city is the diverse culture thriving in there, there are Catholic, Muslim, Buddhist, churches almost nearby each other. They all seem to be getting along well. It was very peaceful in the area, contrary to what I thought at the back of my head was happening there. Before leaving I even asked of our security while travelling the area as we all know Malaysian election just recently concluded and there is this tension going on because of the Sepadan Island located at Sabah, Malaysia where Kota Kinabalu city is.

Thats all for now, my next post will be about the famous beaches in Kota Kinabalu (Sapian and Manukan beach) and the Borneo Reef World, the first and only of sea adventure facility of its kind in Southeast Asia, and the Sabah cultural Heritage Tour we had at Mari Mari village!

How about you, have you seen this part of Kota Kinabalu yet?

Stay gorgeous everyone!

Some photos used in this post are from Pinayads.com
Studies in the Philippines show that only three out ten children have access to daycare and any form of learning.

Yesterday, I was invited to the sneak preview of UNICEF Philippines 3rd Auction for Action at the Yuchengco Museum at the RCBC Tower in Makati where I was able to see the lust-worthy items up for auction to benefit a unique education program that will provide children access to early learning via Supervised Neighborhood Play Program.

Parents are generally unaware that various forms of play actually keeps children healthy and sharpen a childs skill in listening, self-expression, observation and other skills for beginning literacy. Playing both structured and unstructured, lays foundation for a childs development and confidence, develop language skills, thinking, planning, organizing and decision-making. Children learn language quickly and easily through hearing and singing songs, having stories told or read to them, repeating rhymes and playing games.

With all these said, I definitely am excited to bid for any item I can afford! There are just so many lust-worthy items you can bid for at this auction. Heres just some of the items that caught my fancy!

I was immediately drawn by the SIGNED books by the authors themselves!

Waaah Mitch Albom signed The Time Keeper!

All these books were donated by National Bookstore! How generous!

I want them all!

Now with fellow book lover Kira Ramirez

Next on my list are the jewelries! This

This pouf Im sitting on and that mirror behind me!

Modern art home decor items!

And paintings!

I know the items all look good but they are way so much better in person! I took a video and will share it as soon as its uploaded. Meanwhile

Auction for Action is an online auction curated and presented by UNICEF Special Advocate for Children Daphne Osena-Paez that will start on October 21-27, 2013 You may visit www.ebay.ph/unicef. At the moment you may preview items for auction at www.unicef.ph

Have you seen a piece that is screaming your name? Save save save and bid bid bid soon I hope!

When I grow-up I wanna do something like Daphne does too! Shes such an inspiration!

Stay gorgeous everyone!
Growing up during my time, my parents and the people around me told me that girls should never ever do the first move in courtship.

But as I grow older, I realized that it was the girls who always do the first move because them boys have to see some interest before they do their thing. See, they are afraid of rejection as much as any of us do.

What I miss during my time though was when boys send love letter, flowers, chocolates , jewelries and seranade. Plus they are willing to wait for months or even years to get your sweet yes to be their girlfriend.

They dont send text messages, they send love letters and write their thoughts and feelings towards you in it. They make poems for you or copy verses of poems or love songs in the letters they write for you.

At this day and age, I dont like how courtship evolved to simple messages online or via cellphone. How people can get easily get instant dates online and instantly breakup online. But I guess thats techonology for us. I just miss the intimate, old days romonace.

Anyway, M&MS is bringing in its spontaneous fun to the most romantic time of the year. Through M&MS Fun First Move project, get a chance to win a special delivery service through M&MS Characters Red, Yellow and Green that will make your Valentines celebration fun and truly unforgettable.

M&MS Red, the leader of the gang, will tag along a boyband to have an exclusive live serenade for your special someone which will surely make her fall head over heels for you. Red adds, If you cant say it, you sing it! M&MS Yellow, the friendliest of them all, will send lots of warmth and love together with his life-size Teddy Bear mate. Yellow says, Who will not have a soft spot for an adorable Teddy especially when Im bringing it along with M&MS chocolates?

< And of course, M&MS Green, the confident and smart diva, never fails with her surprises. True to her personality of owning all things good-looking, she brings along a hot real-life cupid to deliver you and your gifts to your partner. Ms. Green affirms, We are sure to make heads turn and have others literally turn green with envy!

The biggest surprise is for the lucky grand winner! The ultimate Valentines date - a helicopter ride going to the scenic south of Manila for a dinner at an exclusive place where more romantic surprises await your special someone! How could someone forget an epic date like this, right? says Red.

So, are you game with the idea and curious on how to join? All you need to do is buy any two (2) packs of M&MS products from leading supermarkets, post a photo of the M&MS products you bought on your Facebook or Instagram accounts with the hashtag #mmsfunfirstmove. Make sure your Facebook and Instagram accounts are on public setting. Alternatively, you can present your proof of purchase to the M&MS sales promoters in store so they can process your registration. If you win, M&MS will get in touch with you to plan your ultimate Fun First Move! Promo runs from January 9 to February 5 2017 in time for the Valentines Day.

For full contest details, please follow www.facebook.com/MMsPhilippines.

Its easy to make your loved ones Valentines Day truly memorable, right? So what are you waiting for? Join the M&MS Fun First Move project and give your special someone the fun surprise this Valentines Day!

UPDATE: #MMSFUNFURSTMOVE Winner Announcement

With the help of #MMsFunFirstMove project, Jessa Bernales was the one who surprised her husband with a bouquet of flowers and an epic helicopter ride to an unforgettable date in Tagaytay.

This romantic surprise will surely take them, and their love to different heights, just ask the chopper pilot!

Aside from our grand winner, nineteen other romantics surprise their loved ones with the help of M&Ms Red, Green and Yellow.

M&Ms Red and his boy band make the winners significant others swoon and blush with their kilig-infused songs and charming demeanor. M&Ms Yellow, on the other hand delivers a big surprise, with the perfect cuddle buddy that will always remind them of the feeling of being in love  a giant teddy bear! And to take it up a notch, M&Ms Green brings along a hot real-life cupid! The hottie with the arrows shower the winning couples with gifts and affection.

Congratulations to all the lucky winners of M&Ms Fun First Move Project. And dont fret, you can still spoil your loved ones this Valentines day, show how sweet you are and gift them with M&Ms and your undying adoration.

The Promo ran from January 9 to February 5 2017. For more updates, visit www.facebook.com/MMsPhilippines.
New Year's revolution campaign helps house-hunters move to a new home at The Woodlands!

Property-seekers in Hampshire are being offered an unmissable opportunity to make a fresh start in 2017 by attending a special New Years Revolution Weekend at Taylor Wimpeys The Woodlands at Crookham Park development in Church Crookham!

On Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd January, the leading housebuilder is inviting prospective purchasers to come along to discover how to change their life for the better by moving to a fabulous new home for the new year.

By attending the event, customers can choose from a new selection of properties recently launched at The Woodlands, while finding out more about Taylor Wimpeys range of helpful homebuyer schemes, including Help to Buy and Easymover, which make moving even easier and more affordable.

Whats more, for this weekend only, special deals will also be available  including up to 10,000 towards the cost of stamp duty on selected plots, legal fees paid up to the value of 1,000 and removal costs covered!

Emma Jones, Regional Sales and Marketing Director for Taylor Wimpey, says: Our New Years Revolution Weekend is an ideal chance for those who might think moving to their dream home is out of their reach  whether they dont think they can afford it, or dont want the stress of selling an existing property.

We have a superb choice of incentives and exclusive offers which make the moving process so easy  so I would encourage potential buyers to come along during this special event at The Woodlands at Crookham Park to find out more!

Theres a wonderful choice of new homes currently available to reserve at The Woodlands at Crookham Park, including one and two-bedroom apartments from 225,000 and 270,000 respectively, two-bedroom houses from 335,000, three-bedroom designs from 385,000 and four-bedroom properties from 485,000.

The Help to Buy scheme enables eligible first-time buyer and those with a property to sell to secure a Government loan for up to 20% of their new homes full price, so they only need a 75% loan-to-value mortgage and a 5% deposit. The scheme is available with new-build homes up to 600,000 and theres no salary cap for Help to Buy customers.

With Easymover, homebuyers can let Taylor Wimpey help find a buyer for their current property in just a few weeks, and sometimes in as little as a fortnight!

Just 39 miles south-west of London, Crookham Park enjoys a convenient and peaceful location in Church Crookham, a large suburban village in north-east Hampshire. A wealth of community amenities will be created alongside the new homes.

The development is also within easy reach of Church Crookhams range of facilities for everyday needs, including shops, pubs and well-regarded schools.

Fleet railway station provides regular services to London Waterloo in under an hour, while the M3 is just four miles from home, putting the M25, Southampton and Portsmouth all within easy reach.

Property-seekers are invited to attend the New Years Revolution Weekend, which takes places on Saturday 21st and Sunday 22nd January from 10 am to 5pm at The Woodlands at Crookham Park.

The developments Sales Information Centre is located off Sandy Lane, Church Crookham, Hampshire, GU52 8LH, and open daily from 10am to 5pm. Alternatively, visit taylorwimpey.co.uk.
Sony expands 4K HDR TV line-up with new X Series and A Series

The world of HDR has been greatly expanding with the advent of video streaming services, 4K UHD Blu-ray, and recently with PlayStation4 gaming. Now, more than ever before, accurate image processing is playing a crucial role in delivering a dazzling picture according to the filmmakers or game developers intentions. The 4K HDR Processor X1 Extreme from Sonys flagship Z series, has been widely acclaimed for its ability to produce lifelike picture with superb texture, depth, colour, and contrast, bringing a significant leap forward in the space of HDR. With two new TV series, Sony introduces 4K HDR Processor X1 Extremes power to a broader audience.

Alongside the X1 Extreme processor, the new XE93 features Slim Backlight Drive+, an improved LED backlight technology allowing more precise and accurate local dimming control compared to Slim Backlight Drive. With its quad-edge LED structure and X-tended Dynamic Range PRO local dimming and boosting technology, it brings superior brightness and exceptional contrast  in fact it will deliver 10 times the XDR contrast of conventional LED TV.

In order to provide a wider selection of 4K HDR displays, Sony will introduce 4K HDR OLED TV as BRAVIA OLED. The A1 series offers a totally new visual experience with the combination of superior picture quality of OLED with X1 Extreme, the worlds first sound system in a large screen TV, and its unique cutting edge form factor.

Thanks to OLEDs over 8 million self-illuminating pixels, the A1 series brings a significantly enriched visual experience with unprecedented black, authentic colour, blur-less image and a wide viewing angle. The X1 Extreme precisely controls the tremendous number of pixels and extends the capability of OLED to deliver an exquisite 4K HDR picture.

BRAVIA OLEDs innovations do not end with incredible picture performance. A1 series is the worlds first large screen TV which can emit its great sound from the screen itself. Taking the advantage of the OLEDs backlight-less structure, Sony developed a new Acoustic Surface sound technology which can emanate the sound directly from the screen itself. This allows a perfect unification of picture and sound unattainable by conventional TVs. It produces a wide sound and image synchronization even off to the sides. Together with OLEDs exceptionally wide viewing angle, the A1 series offers unmatched visual and aural experience regardless of viewing position.

The Acoustic Surface technology lends to cutting-edge design of the A1 series by doing away with conventional speakers usually located around the TV. The result is a unique stand-less form factor with no distraction from the picture.

Both new XE93 and A1 series will additionally support Dolby Vision, the HDR format from Dolby Laboratories, which paired with Sonys unique technologies will further enrich the visual experience.

Sony also announced and array of additional 3 series of 4K HDR and 3 series of Full HD HDR televisions coming to retail in 2017. They all incorporate Sonys proprietary technologies including the newly-developed 4K HDR processor X1 (XE90 and XE85 series only) to deliver industry-leading picture quality.

Sony continues to bring excitement to customers through the enrichment of visual expression by incorporating a powerful mix of display device technologies with its own image processing technology.
Alzheimer's drug to make dental fillings history

MRC-funded scientists at Kings College London have discovered that a drug previously trialled in the treatment of Alzheimers disease could transform the way we treat tooth cavities, making man-made fillings a thing of the past.

The research team from the Dental Institute at King's College London was funded by the MRC to study tooth damage repair. Tooth stem cells repair damage by generating new dentine  the mineralised material that protects the tooth.

The team identified a series of signals, part of the cell repair process, that stimulate these tooth stem cells to start repairing damaged tissue. By using small molecules  glycogen synthase kinase (GSK-3) inhibitors  that switch on these signals they were able to stimulate the stem cells needed for repairing tooth damage.

One of these molecules, called Tideglusib, had already been used in clinical trials for neurological disorders, including Alzheimer's disease, so it had the clear advantage of having available patient safety data.

Using biodegradable collagen sponges to deliver the drug, the team applied low doses of small molecule GSK-3 inhibitors to the tooth. They found that the sponge degraded over time and that new dentine replaced it, leading to complete and natural repair. Their discovery represents a way to stimulate tooth stem cells to generate new dentine in large cavities, potentially reducing the need for fillings or cements.

As collagen sponges are already commercially-available and clinically-approved, the new treatment could be available in dental clinics reasonably swiftly.

Lead author of the study, Professor Paul Sharpe from King's College London said: "The simplicity of our approach makes it ideal as a clinical dental product for the natural treatment of large cavities, by providing both pulp protection and restoring dentine.

"In addition, using a drug that has already been tested in clinical trials for Alzheimer's disease provides a real opportunity to get this dental treatment quickly into clinics."

For full details, the paper 'Promotion of natural tooth repair by small molecule GSK3 antagonists' by Vitor Neves, Rebecca Babb, Dhivya Chandrasekaran and Paul T Sharpe is available at nature.com/articles/srep39654
Travel a priority for a third of Brits in 2017

A third of Brits say that travel is their priority for 2017, above traditional resolutions like spending less time on social media, getting better sleep and eating more healthily.

Exploring the world is now the main focus for millions of Brits, also beating spending more time with family and learning a new language.

Italy emerged as the number-one dream destination, with one in five planning to visit the country this year.

This was followed by Spain, America and Australia, with the Caribbean and even Iceland appearing in the top 10.

The survey commissioned by Travel Republic of 2000 British adults found 41 per cent have never failed a New Years resolution, while those who dont stick at it usually give up after just four months.

But two thirds of Brits are confident they will be able to achieve their New Years resolutions in 2017, with half of the nation planning to do more travelling this year.

Naomi Wilkinson, Marketing Director for Travel Republic, said: We expected, things like losing weight or getting fitter to be at the top of the list, but its great to see how big the nations appetite for travel is.

Almost as many people said they wanted to travel more as save more money  usually something that everyone puts at the top of their list.

Forty five per cent of respondents said their top travel resolution for the year was to visit a place theyd never been before.

Twenty per cent aim simply to do more travelling than last year and 18 per cent want to learn about a destinations history or culture.

One in five Brits put visiting Italy at the top of their must-visit list and the Mediterranean country also saw Romes Colosseum emerge as the top worldwide landmark for visitors to tick off their bucket lists.

This was followed by The Great Wall of China, and a bit closer to home the Eiffel Tower and The Louvre featured in the top ten.

According to the research, less than half of Brits describe themselves as well-travelled, providing the motive for setting New Years resolutions around travel.

The average Brit takes two holidays per year, and  no doubt influenced by the cold weather and returning to work after Christmas  is most likely to plan their years main trip in January.

Unsurprisingly, the weather is the top consideration to holiday bookers, with six in 10 respondents putting it ahead of the hotel, the landmarks and local culture.

While on holiday, over a quarter of Brits said that they develop a better relationship with their partner and its a good time for a family to bond.

And for 10 per cent their travel resolution for 2017 is to go on a multi-generation holiday.

Naomi Wilkinson said: With travel being at the top of so many Brits resolution lists for 2017, it is great that people recognise the benefits going on holiday can have on their relationships with friends and family.

Two thirds of respondents say theyre determined to achieve their New Year goals  we wish them good luck, and happy travels.

The Top 20 New Years Resolutions

Lose weight

Get fitter

Save more money

Travel more

Eat more healthily

Visit new countries

Read more

Spend more time with family

Get better sleep

Manage stress better

Change jobs

Take up a new hobby

Do something for charity

Quit smoking

Learn a new language

Spend less time on social media

Not stay at work too late

Work more

Quit drinking

Try an extreme sport

The Top 10 Places To Visit In 2017

Italy

Spain

North America

Australia

Canada

France

New Zealand

The Caribbean

Greece

Iceland
All-new Audi Q5 is ready to go on air in the UK

More comfortable, more agile, more efficient, more protective and better connected - the all-new Audi Q5 is about to build on the consistent sales success of its predecessor with an even stronger skill set, firmly securing it once more as a cornerstone of the Q range and a standard bearer for the brands uncompromising pursuit of progress.

Orders can now be placed in the UK ahead of first deliveries during April for Q5 models in either SE, Sport or S line specification, and pricing starts from 37,170 OTR for the 2.0 TDI quattro 190PS, rising to 41,040 OTR for the 2.0 TFSI quattro S line.

Standard equipment is now even more comprehensive than before, with features such as the Audi Smartphone Interface, the Audi parking system plus and powered tailgate operation present right from the SE entry point. Other notable standard features include Audi drive select, heated front seats, an acoustic windscreen, deluxe three-zone electronic climate control and pre-sense city collision prevention assistance.

Strong specification is just one of the factors contributing to a residual value that is not only the highest in its segment, but of any Audi model ever at launch  over three years/30,000 miles, the Q5 2.0 TDI quattro S line S tronic with 190PS is predicted to retain an exceptional 58.3* per cent of its original value, while every other Q5 model in the range achieves an RV over the same term of at least 55 per cent. Independent automotive valuation experts, CAP Monitor also rate the RV of the Q5 2.0 TDI quattro S line S tronic at an impressive 57 per cent over the same three year/30,000-mile term.

Typically Audi: quattro design language

The new SUV from Audi has a defined and taut stance. A sculpturally flared Singleframe grille with a solid frame dominates its aerodynamically flat front end. It is fitted with Xenon headlights as standard on SE and Sport models and all-weather LED headlights with a signature Q design on S line. High-resolution Matrix LED lamps with dynamic indicators can be chosen as an option regardless of model.

A distinctively curved and strongly undercut shoulder line gives structure to the side view. The strongly emphasised wheel arches are a reference to the quattro permanent all-wheel drive system, and the low greenhouse tapers back down early. Just as at the front, horizontal lines at the rear convey an image of width and presence. The tail lights are also available with optional dynamic indicators. The tailgate wraps around the C-pillars  a typical feature of the Q models from Audi. A diffuser insert integrates the exhaust tailpipes.

Weight saved: up to 90 kg lighter than the previous model

4.66 metres long, 1.89 metres wide and 1.66 metres tall with a 2.82-metre wheelbase  compared to the previous model, the new Q5 has grown in nearly all of its dimensions. Consequently, the unladen weight was reduced  depending on the engine  by up to 90 kg. Steels with maximum tensile strength and aluminium form an intelligent material mix in the body.

The new Q5 also stands at the top of its class in its aerodynamics. The four-cylinder versions attain a cd figure of 0.30 with the aerodynamically optimised roof. Wind noises are exceptionally low, and vibration comfort is high  the new SUV from Audi indulges the driver and passengers with the best interior acoustics in its class.

Spacious and wide: the interior

The workmanship quality in the new Q5 is uncompromising. The interior offers a lot of space for five people, and it surpasses the previous model and its competitors in key dimensions. Its horizontally oriented lines underscore the impression of width and comfort, and a three-dimensional trim strip runs across the entire width of the instrument panel. The new equipment lines concept offers customers a broad selection of colours and materials.

A three-spoke multifunction steering wheel is standard. When it is dark, the optional ambient lighting creates an attractive atmosphere in 30 different colours.

The rear seat back of the new Audi Q5 is split into three segments. Longitudinal and seat back angle adjustment are optional. Depending on the rear seat position, the basic volume of the luggage compartment ranges from 550 to 610 litres, 10 litres more than in the previous model. When the rear bench is folded down, this volume grows to 1,550 litres. Cargo loading is simplified by a power-operated tailgate fitted as standard, an optional variably folding mat, optional hands-free control of the power tailgate and manual lowering of the body via the optional air suspension.

Simply coherent: controls and displays

Operation of the new Audi SUV is intuitive and is marked by three great new features. The optional Audi virtual cockpit presents brilliant graphics on its high-resolution 12.3-inch screen. The driver can choose from two views  a classic view with large round instruments and a mode in which the navigation map or lists dominate.

The MMI terminal in the centre console acts as the main control element. In the top infotainment system, the optional MMI navigation plus features an 8.3-inch display and MMI all-in-touch incorporating a touchpad built into the rotary controller which recognises haptic feedback. The interactive system is able to comprehend handwritten entries as well as gestures familiar from consumer electronics such as zooming gestures.

The MMI operating logic is based on the flat hierarchies used in todays smartphones, and it offers such features as intelligent free-text search. The new natural-language voice control function also recognizes inputs from everyday speech.

Audi can deliver a newly developed head-up display as an option. It projects relevant information onto the windshield  including from driver assistance systems  as symbols and numbers that can be perceived quickly.

Audi navigation: Personal route assist

The new Audi Q5, like the Q7 and the A4, has a self-learning personal route assist function. After activating this function, the navigation system learns the routes and destinations that the customer regularly selects, and it associates this information to the parked position and time of day.

For as long as it is active, the system therefore learns from the customers behaviour and uses this information to suggest optimised route planning for the next trip  even while navigation is inactive. The navigation system incorporates the three most likely destinations into the calculation, taking into consideration both the arrival time and current traffic levels. For instance, the system can suggest that the customer activate navigation to find out about potential alternative routes. The driver decides whether or not to activate the function. He also has the option of deleting saved destinations. If the function is deactivated, the system does not store the destinations and does not consider deleted destinations or the routes driven.

Online via LTE: MMI navigation plus

Sport and S line models take advantage of an SD-card based MMI Navigation system, supplemented by a three-month free trial of the Audi connect suite of services. As an alternative, MMI navigation plus with the intelligent handwriting recognition technology of MMI Touch unlocks a full 36-month subscription to Audi connect via an embedded SIM with no data charge.

The free Audi MMI connect app produces a close interconnection between the car and smartphone or a smartwatch and offers other services. They include remote checking of important vehicle states, online media streaming and transmission of a calendar from a smartphone to the MMI.

High-end option: the infotainment modules

The Audi phone box connects smartphones to the vehicles antenna for optimal reception quality; it also charges smartphones inductively according to the Qi standard. The Bang & Olufsen Sound System with innovative 3D sound introduces the spatial dimension of height. The Audi smartphone interface also brings Apple CarPlay and Android Auto into the new Q5.

Driver assistance and safety systems

In its driver assistance systems, the new Audi Q5 also tops its segment with a broad range of high-tech options. In their intelligent interplay, the systems represent a next step towards piloted driving.

The predictive efficiency assistant helps the driver save fuel by specific information on the cars surroundings. Adaptive cruise control (ACC) can also ease strain in slow-moving traffic, while Audi active lane assist makes it easier to stay in lane. Distance warning alerts the driver when the distance to a vehicle drops below a safe distance.

Cross traffic assist rear, the exit warning system, collision avoidance assist and turn assist are other new features that perform excellently in pursuit of safety. The same applies to the pre sense systems  Audi pre sense city is a standard feature which warns of pedestrians and vehicles and may initiate automatic emergency braking within system limits. Park assist, the camera-based recognition of traffic signs and hill descent assist round out the features.

Powerful and efficient: TDI and TFSI engines

The new Audi Q5 is launching in the UK with a powerful 2.0 TDI engine producing 190PS and a 2.0 TFSI engine with an output of 252PS. This petrol unit is capable of returning up to 40.9mpg combined, which equates to 157 grams CO2 per km. The efficiency champion is the 2.0 TDI 190PS: up to 56.5mpg combined is achievable in conjunction with a low of 132g/km, depending on wheel size. The also intensively revised 3.0 TDI, coming at a later date, increases output to 286PS with 620Nm (457.3 lb ft) of torque.

Versatile and efficient: drivetrain

The drivetrain of the mid-size SUV has been redeveloped from the ground up. Automatic transmissions integrate a fuel-saving freewheel function. The driver controls it by a selection lever or by shift paddles on the steering wheel; in both cases, the control signals are transmitted electronically.

The new quattro drivetrain with ultra technology is standard equipment for the 2.0 TDI with 190PS, and for the 2.0 TFSI with 252PS. quattro with ultra technology always disengages the rear-axle drive whenever it is not needed, and if necessary it can proactively re-engage it. The new concept boosts efficiency without reducing traction or driving dynamics.

For the V6 diesel, Audi can deliver an optional sport differential at the rear axle which distributes torque between the wheels as necessary and thereby provides a maximum of driving dynamics  this is another new feature in this model series and in the competitive field.

Torque vectoring gives handling a refined touch. The intelligent software solution always delivers a dynamic, precise and controllable driving experience.

Resolving contradictions: the chassis

The new Audi Q5 enables handling that combines very different strengths  it is sporty while being extremely comfortable. Creating the basis for this are the newly developed five-link suspensions and also the new electromechanical power steering system. Dynamic steering is available as an option; it varies its gear ratio according to the driving speed and steering angle.

Customers can choose from two extension stages of springs and damping. The chassis with damper control offers a very wide spread between comfort and dynamics, which the driver can select via Audi drive select. In addition to adjusting damper control, the new adaptive air suspension can be used to vary the ride height of the car body over five stages.

In the standard system, Audi drive select, which accesses various technical modules, the driver can select one of as many as seven driving modes. The offroad mode emphasises the broad repertoire of talents the Q5 has when going beyond the beaten track.

The new Audi SUV comes from the factory with 18-inch alloy wheels (SE and Sport), and the S line package with 19-inch wheels. Wheels up to 20 inches in diameter are available as options.

The new Audi Q5 is manufactured at a newly constructed plant in Mexico. It will arrive at Audi Centres in the UK in the spring of 2017.

For further information visit the Audi online magazine Q5 illustrated audi-illustrated.com/en/q5.
Iraqi Ambassador Habib El-Sadr praised Egypt's support for Iraq's counter-terrorism efforts, highlighting the strategic relations that bind the two countries

Iraq's Ambassador to Cairo Habib El-Sadr has said his country to provide Egypt with the first petroleum shipment from Al-Basra Oil Terminal within days, according to a recent agreement signed between the two countries, the MENA state new agency reported Tuesday.

In December, Egypt's Petroleum Minister Tarek El-Molla announced the country was seeking to reach an agreement with Iraq over importing crude oil directly and that he hoped to finalise the deal in the first quarter of 2017.

In a Cairo meeting of the Organisation of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries (OAPEC) last month, El-Molla said that Egypt aims to import 1-2 million barrels per month from Iraq.

The move came as part of Egypt's efforts to secure domestic market needs for petroleum after the Saudi national oil company Aramco informed Egypt in November that shipments of oil products expected under a prior multi-billion dollar aid deal had been halted indefinitely.

In April 2016, the oil-rich kingdom agreed with Egypt on a $22-billion soft loan with facilitated payments to finance the latters petroleum needs for five years.

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Pollution hazard: Schools in Delhi to be closed for primary classes Schools in the NCR region will remain closed till November 8 as the air quality index touched 500 points

DU admissions: Mid-entry provision to be made available to fresh applicants The two-day window will be made available to candidates from Saturday

Indian Institute of Technology Delhi to set up offshore campus in Abu Dhabi Many other IITs are receiving offers from Middle East and South Asian countries for setting up their offshore
To build the largest and most complete Amateur Radio community site on the Internet - a "portal" that hams think of as the first place to go for information, to exchange ideas, and be part of whats happening with ham radio on the Internet. eHam.net provides recognition and enjoyment to the people who use, contribute, and build the site. This project involves a management team of volunteers who each take a topic of interest and manage it with passion. The site will stand above all other ham radio sites by employing the latest technology and professional design/programming standards, developed by a team of community programmers who contribute their skills to the effort. The site will be something of which everyone involved can be proud to say they were a part. We welcome your comments. The eHam.net Team, Revision 07/2020.
The head of Egypts press syndicate and two of its board members also face charges of spreading false news in a related case

A Cairo court has set a date for 25 February to issue a ruling on an appeal by the head of Egypts press syndicate and two board members against a two-year jail sentence issued in November for harbouring fugitives inside the syndicate's headquarters.

The judge set the February court date during the first appeal session in the case on Saturday.

In mid-November, a Cairo misdemeanour court sentenced the syndicate's chairman Yehia Kalash and board members Gamal Abdel-Reheem and Khaled El-Balshy in absentia after they failed to appear in court.

The trio, who were accused in April of harbouring journalists Mahmoud El-Sakka and Amr Badr, were released on bail of 10,000 EGP each and mounted appeals after the court verdict in November.

Journalists Mahmoud El-Sakka and Amr Badr were among many wanted on arrest warrants ahead of 25 April protests against the Egyptian-Saudi Red Sea island maritime-border agreement.

Badr and El-Sakka were arrested inside the Journalists Syndicate premises. They were later released on bail pending trial.

In an open meeting after the verdict, the syndicate decided to take all legal actions to appeal, stressing that this verdict will not distract the syndicate from the basic issues currently facing journalists, such as the new media law and economic crises.

After the verdict, syndicate head Kalash told journalists who had gathered in anger at downtown Cairo's syndicate headquarters that he was not worried about going to jail.

I urge you to face the real problems... such as the new press law, the social and economic rights of journalists and to focus on changing the syndicates bylaws, he told the group.

Kalash, Abdel-Reheem and El-Balshy are also facing charges of spreading false news about the police raid on the syndicate's headquarters on 1 May that resulted in the arrest of the two journalists.

A court session is yet to be set for this second charge.

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The ministry said the terrorist group's Hamdan Hussein planted a number of roadside bombs targeting security vehicles and led an attack last week on a security checkpoint that killed a policeman

Egypts interior ministry said it has killed a leading figure in the terrorist group Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis in a raid on a house in North Sinai, in a statement on the ministry's Facebook page on Sunday.

The ministry said police received information on the location of Hamdan Hussein, born in 1978 in North Sinai, who resided in Al-Arish City.

The tip, according to the ministry, revealed that Hussein was responsible for planting a number of roadside bombs that targeted security vehicles and leading an attack last week on a security checkpoint in front of Al-Arishs general hospital that killed a policeman.

Once police received permission from the state security prosecutor to raid Husseins house, they attempted to arrest him at his home.

According to the ministry's statement, Hussein opened fire on police, prompting them to shoot and kill him.

An automatic rifle and bullets were found in his possession.

Ansar Beit Al-Maqdis has claimed responsibility for the majority of attacks against security personnel and installations in the restive North Sinai.

Egypts army and police forces have been waging a war over the past three years against an Islamist militant insurgency in North Sinai that has seen hundreds of security personnel killed, as well as hundreds of terrorists killed in security offensives.

Last week, two separate terrorist attacks on checkpoints in North Sinai killed eight policemen and one civilian and injured 11 policemen and 10 civilians.

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The Pirate Bay which got the top spot on most popular torrent sites has once offered help to the authorities in catching child pornographers and criminals. But then, the police have refused to accept the helping hand of the website.

According to Digital Music News, most government agencies around the world wanted to shut down The Pirate Bay. Ever since, the torrent site was considered as a major hub for pirating illegal music, movies, film and pornography.

The authorities are working hard to stop the operation of the site. Nevertheless, the original founder of The Pirate Bay stated that the website once offered a helping hand to police officials.

Tobias Andersson revealed that more than a few years ago, The Pirate Bay offered to work with police in catching child pornography criminals. Andersson stated, "A fun thing about my time at the Pirate Bureau and The Pirate Bay was when the National Police, during the middle of the trial against us, called and wanted to consult about [abuse images] and TPB."

Furthermore, Torrent Freak noted that these revelations surfaced after the publication of a shocking article by Aftonbladet which stated how, over a prolonged period, its reporter's observed dozens of people sharing images of child abuse online. As a matter of fact, the publication even met up with some of its targets and conducted interviews in person.

With this scenario, Andersson went to meet the police and he has spoken with an officer and a technician. They had a detailed request to implement a filter to break certain content appearing on the site. "They wanted us to block certain [abuse-related] keywords," Andersson explains.

Obviously, keyword filters are extremely weak and easily because of the very public nature of torrent sharing. So, instead, Andersson recommended another method the authorities might make actual offenders easier to catch.

Andersson stated, "I told [the police] how they could see the IP addresses in a [BitTorrent] client belonging to those who were sharing the content." He added that "I showed them how to start a torrent at 0.1kb/s download to be able to see the client list but without sharing anything. Which is not really rocket science."

Although The Pirate Bay has offered a lending hand to the police, they are still unresponsive which indicated that they refused the assistance being offered. It was noted that the rejection of the authorities is due to copyright issues against the leading torrent site.
With a verdict on a government appeal in the Red Sea islands case expected Monday, Ahram Online provides answers to common questions about the case

The High Administrative Court is due Monday to issue its ruling on a government appeal against annulling a controversial maritime border accord that establishes Saudi Arabian sovereignty over two Red Sea islands.

The decision to transfer Tiran and Sanafir prompted outcry from many Egyptians and provoked protests when announced in spring of last year. The issue has been a source of tension between Cairo and the oil-rich kingdom, which has been one of the main financial backers of Egypt's current government, but recently halted fuel shipments.

Saudi and Egyptian officials say the islands originally belonged to Saudi Arabia and were only placed under Egyptian control when Riyadh asked Cairo in the 1950s to protect them.

While there is a court ruling blocking the maritime border deal that acknowledges this, the government last month approved the agreement and sent it to parliament for ratification.

Here are some answers to key questions about the case:

Why are the islands important?

The islands of Tiran and Sanafir are strategically positioned at the mouth of the Gulf of Aqaba, which leads to Israel and Jordan. They lie in key international shipping routes in the Red Sea. Egypts blocking of the Strait of Tiran in 1967 prompted Israel to launch the Six-Day War.

The strait also overlooks the Ras Hamid headland along the coast of Saudi Arabia's northwestern city of Tabuk.

The islands are vital to the security of Egypts Sinai Peninsula and Egyptian territorial waters in the Red Sea. They are also an important tourist destination, known to be great diving sites rich with coral reefs.

When did the legal debate start?

Rights lawyer Khaled Ali brought a case before the State Council's administrative court to appeal the deal shortly after it was announced in April 2016. He was joined by a large team including prominent rights lawyers Malek Adly and Tarek El-Awady.

In June 2016, the court annulled the maritime demarcation accord, saying the agreement contravened Egypt's constitution, which prohibits giving away any part of Egypt's territory to another country. The verdict stressed the islands remain Egyptian.

A more senior court, the High Administrative Court, is scheduled to issue its verdict Monday, 16 January.

What was the evidence provided by Ali and other lawyers in the case?

Evidence provided include historical maps, some officially issued by the government, three items of British correspondence dating back to 1936, and a 1940 Cambridge University atlas, all referring to the two islands as Egyptian.

Ali argued that under a 1906 maritime treaty between Egypt and the Ottoman Empire, the islands are Egyptian. The accord dates back before the founding of Saudi Arabia in 1932.

Did the govenment appeal the verdict overruling the deal?

In August, the State Lawsuit Authority, the body representing the government in legal cases, took two steps to challenge the annulment ruling. The first was lodging an appeal against the verdict before the High Administrative Court, whose ruling is due Monday 16 January.

It also filed two cases, in August and November, before the Supreme Constitutional Court arguing that the administrative court has no jurisdiction in matters related to sovereignty. The challenge is based on a previous ruling by the Supreme Constitutional Court that international accords are related to sovereignty and thus shall not be heard in court. The courts commissioner is still considering the two cases.

What are the possible scenarios in the case?

Khaled Ali told Ahram Online that the court on Monday will either reject the governments appeal, which means upholding the verdict annuling the deal and saying Egypt still holds sovereignty over the islands, or the court could send the case to another circuit of the High Administrative Court, thus leading to new round of hearings, possibly one or two.

The second scenario, sending the case to another circuit, will only happen if the current circuit, which for legal reasons can only reject appeals but not accept them, believes that the government's appeal has strong legal grounds, Malek Adly explained.

In this case, lawyers say a decision by that second circuit, dubbed the subject matter circuit, cannot be predicted. The decision of this circuit can vary from upholding the annulment of the deal, to ruling the islands are Saudi, or saying the case is a matter of sovereignty that lies outside the court's jurisdiction.

Were there any other verdicts in the case?

In September, Egypt's Court of Urgent Matters suspended the ruling by the administrative court that cancelled the deal and a higher urgent appeals court upheld the suspension. That case was brought by an individual.

But the administrative court said two months later that the Court of Urgent Matters ruling is void because it lies "outside the jurisdiction" of the court and refused a challenge by the government to block the deal annulment.

It said that the government's failure to implement the verdict would mean "undermining the provisions of constitutions and law."

Article 190 of the Egyptian constitution states that the administrative judiciary has sole jurisdiction in settling administrative disputes and is the only authority that can rule on a challenge to a lower administrative court ruling.

What is the latest move by the Egyptian government?

Despite the ongoing legal dispute over the accord, the Egyptian government approved the deal to hand over the islands in December and sent it to parliament for ratification.

Ali says the move by the government is "void and illegal" and unconstitutional because there is a court ruling annulling the deal.

The government says the court does not have jurisdiction in the case, which it says is a matter of state sovereignty, and that parliament has the final say in endorsing such deals.

How do MPs see the deal?

MPs are divided between opposing and supporting the agreement. Other lawmakers say the chamber should wait until the court gives a final verdict on the issue.

The 25-30 group  named after the two revolutions of 25 January 2011 and 30 June 2013  says the islands are Egyptian and has provided documents supporting that argument.

The Free Egyptians Party, which has the largest number of seats in the chamber, urged in a statement last week that the deal be subjected to "close scrutiny" by MPs, saying it supports whatever serves the national interest of the country.

Other lawmakers, including independent MP Mostafa Bakry, back the deal and say the islands are Saudi.

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Year-to-date, the Australian dollar takes the pole position as the best performing currency among the worlds most-traded currencies.

The rally in the Aussie was boosted by the noncommittal speech of Donald Trump regarding the economic stimulus - which pulled the US dollar down - favorable iron ore and gold prices.

Outlook for Australian economy looks bright

The Q3 Australian GDP of -0.5% q/q was far worse than expected. However, we remain relatively upbeat on the outlook for Australia, said analysts at Lloyds Bank. This is largely due to two factors. Firstly, measures boosting Chinas economy will also aid Australia, given Chinas importance as a key export market. This has been evident in the latest Australian trade data, which showed a shift from a A$1.1bn deficit to a A$1.2bn surplus.

Secondly, the positive shift in the commodity price cycle will assist Australia, as it remains a major exporter of coal and iron ore in particular, the analysts added.

Australian dollar rebounding from depressed valuation levels

The Aussie consistently traded below its fair value of US75 and US77 since the mid of last year, according to Ray Attrill, NAB's co-head of FX strategy.

"Rather than just saying it's a [US] dollar thing, which to some extent it is, it does suggest that the Aussie was beaten up unjustifiably," Mr. Attrill said, reports The Sydney Morning Herald.

Outlook for the AUD/USD

While the US Federal Reserve is likely to raise rates twice in 2017  according to the Lloyds Banks analysts the Reserve Bank of Australia is expected to stand pat. We forecast 0.80 for the AUD/USD by end-2017, said Lloyds Banks analysts.

However, not everyone is expecting the Aussie to trade higher.

Sean Callow, senior currency strategist at Westpac, believes that the rally in the AUD/USD will face hurdles above 75 cents, especially with USD downside ultimately limited by Fed tightening expectations in the months ahead, reports the Business Insider.
The visit by Belaruss President Alexander Lukashenko to Cairo celebrates 25 years of diplomatic relations between the two countries

Egypt and Belarus agreed to boost cooperation in the spheres of security, trade, cultural exchange and defence, according to a joint declaration signed between Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko during the latter's visit to Cairo on Sunday.

During a press conference for the two leaders, Lukashenko invited his Egyptian counterpart to visit Belarus at the soonest possible opportunity, stressing that the amount of mutual agreements signed between the two countries reflect a mutual desire to enhance future cooperation.

Lukashenko affirmed his country's support for Egypt's international policies, aiming to impose security and stability in the region.

The heads of states also noted that terrorism and extremism represent an imminent threat to regional and international security and stability, confirming the need to step up cooperation in the fight against terrorist organisations.

President Lukashenko arrived in Cairo on a two-day visit on Sunday to meet his Egyptian counterpart President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi for bilateral talks.

President Lukashenko is accompanied by a trade delegation representing 40 major Belarusian companies, aiming to look into investment opportunities in Egypt.

The Belarusian president is also scheduled to meet with Egypt's Prime Minister Sherif Ismail and other state officials.

Lukashenko will also take part in the opening of the Belarusian-Egyptian business forum that will coincide with his visit.

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nmimsnew said: Hi, Have you submitted your ACS as I am having the same issue.. can I submit the exam results where the subjects are mentioned or transcript is still necessary as it's confusing Click to expand...

If possible get a transcript/Consolidated memo containing all subjects and grades/marks scored against each. This is the ideal approach and what is clearly stated in ACS website. I am sure every university will provide that. All the best.Sent from my MI 4W using Tapatalk
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JWL said: I slightly hijacked another thread by asking about PUMA income for almost but not quite there retiree, so..



Coming to France from Japan with about 1.5 years before UK pension kicks in, for PUMA application what proof/document do I need to provide as evidence of previous year's net income?



Would a confirmation letter from my tax office suffice, or copy of relevant sections on my tax return (translated into French, of course)? Click to expand...

A letter from your tax office will assist, but if you have other non-taxable (or non-taxable in your country of fiscal residence), you are required to include documentation on that also (your world-wide income is taken into account). You should present all documentation you have re your income for the prioryear - which can be an issue as not all countries use the calendar year as the financial year. This, plus any income for which you don't have documentation, can be addressed via an attestation (in French).At least, that's my personal experience and I had no issues being accepted.Waiting for your French avis d'impot can be an issue for some time-wise and if your first declaration does not include all income for the prior calendar year.
Hi,I am moving to Ravenna soon and I would like to know the best neighborhoods to live considering the following points:- possibility to do stuff from "daily life" walking (walking distance from supermarkets, bank, leisure)- easy access to public transportation- easy access to supermarkets, shops, cinemas and restaurants- safe area where I can walk alone at night- area that is not tumultuous or noisy.As I intend to have a car, I know that living in the historic center would not be a good option due to the restriction on the circulation of vehicles. So I thank you very much if someone could recommend neighborhoods that meet my requirements.All the best,Lur
I was in the same position as you a few years ago, though moved to Cyprus last year.



As Emigrow says, it is hard to open a Thai account from the UK and it is best to wait until you get there. There are plenty to choose from; my account is with Siam Commercial Bank, but like the UK, they're much of a muchness and the attitude towards you will vary from branch to branch of the same bank. If there is an ex-pat club where you are moving to - where is this? - they will be able to help advise on any "farang friendly" branch manager.



I'd second Transferwise as the best people to use to transfer funds. If you can afford not to send your pension every month, let it build up in your UK bank account and transfer a few month's pension at a time - it saves charges.



A few suggestions:



- Don't close your UK bank account

- Don't cancel all your UK credit cards

- Look at the Post Office Credit Card - I believe they do not charge for overseas purchases - or Nationwide who only charge 1%. If you haven't got either card, apply now while you're still working and don't say "I'm about to move to Thailand"

- Sign up for everything to be sent electronically

- Try to retain an address in the UK - friend, relation or whatever. I've found it useful for various innocent purposes.



Good luck and remember it's very different living there than going on holiday!
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Disagreements over the need for jobs versus environmental and health risks are dividing a South Texas community where Exxon Mobil Corp. is looking to build the worlds largest ethane steam cracker plant.

San Patricio County Judge Terry A. Simpson, whos hoping to secure the deal to lure more jobs to the area, stands on the opposite side of community activists who are fighting to keep their farmland from being converted into what they say is a potentially dangerous petrochemical plant.

I dont begrudge them for being against the plant but, like I said, I have to look at the greater good of the county, Simpson said. We have to look at what it does for everybody.

Exxon is buying up about 1,400 acres of farmland just outside Portland city limits to build a multibillion-dollar petrochemical plant in a joint venture with Saudi Arabia Basic Industries Corp., a public company thats 70 percent owned by the government of Saudi Arabia.

The companies also are looking at a site in Victoria and two in Louisiana, but the San Patricio County location is leading the pack, project leader Robert W. Tully said by phone. They all meet Exxons requirements, providing a contiguous site, with a deep water port nearby and a local labor force with experience building and operating similar projects.

Were down to four (sites) and certainly the site in San Patricio County is at or near the top of that list, Tully said.

The new plant would produce 1.8 million metric tons of ethylene a year. An ethane steam cracker uses high heat and pressure to break down or crack natural gas to create ethylene and polyethylene, basic building blocks in plastics.

The proposed plant site also is just 2 miles from Gregory-Portland Independent School Districts high school and junior high. That has caused an uproar in nearby Portland, where the City Council voted unanimously Dec. 20 to urge Exxon and SABIC to find another location. Portland officials have little recourse since the project falls just outside city limits.

More than 2,500 people have signed a petition led by a local grass-roots group called Portland Citizens United, demanding that the county and school district withhold tax abatements and other incentives from Exxon and SABIC that would normally come with a project that large.

The entire town of Gregory, its 2,000 residents, much of nearby Portland and the citys only fire and police stations would be within 3 miles of the plants center, raising concerns about possible industrial accidents.

In Louisiana, officials issued a shelter-in-place order requiring residents to stay indoors over a 2-mile radius surrounding a Williams Cos. ethylene steam cracker in Geismar, Louisiana, after an explosion there in 2013 killed at least one worker and sent 73 more to the hospital, local reports indicate.

Simpson said the need to create high-paying jobs outweighs the potential risks. Many of the areas college-bound students dont return to the largely industrial coastal town after graduation.

The only reason why they werent coming back to the area was because we didnt have the jobs. Thats what they wanted me to do was create jobs for those people that their children and grandchildren would live here, Simpson said.

Troy Snody, the director of local grass-roots activists Portland Citizens United, said county leadership has failed residents and described Simpsons support of the project as jobs at any cost.

All these elected officials that are pro-growth, pro-jobs, they want to reflect the will of the people that voted them into office until the will of the people that voted them into office is different than their will, Snody said by phone.

The jobs at stake are enough to draw support from Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, according to local leaders who said the governors office has told them that the project is a high priority for the state.

It will cost between $10 billion and $15 billion to build, with as many as 6,000 people employed at peak construction and more than 10,000 temporary jobs created over the five-year construction beginning in 2020, according to Exxons application with the school and Tully.

About 230 permanent jobs would be created to run the facility paying at least $59,408, according to the application

Simpson said the facility would be assessed at around $12 billion, substantially increasing taxable property when finished. San Patricios current property tax base is assessed at $5 billion, according to 2015 valuations by the San Patricio County auditors office.

Exxon, SABIC, and Exxon-SABIC have sweetened the pot by each agreeing to pay $100 per student annually directly to the Gregory-Portland ISD over the 10-year abatement period, coming to more than $1.3 million a year, according to school board President Randy Eulenfeld. About 4,500 students are enrolled in the district.

Its a lot of money, but still puts the school board in a difficult spot, Eulenfeld said.

The higher tax base likely would make the Gregory-Portland ISD a so-called property wealthy district under state education finance rules, he said. That could require the district to return millions of dollars of funding to the state to be redistributed to poorer schools, he said.

Eulenfeld thinks that giving the companies some sort of tax abatement would give residents some control over the project. It also actually could slow growth in taxable land values, which might give the district extra time to prepare for the reduced state funding, he said.

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.

Activists are pressuring the school district to reject Exxons bid, arguing the location is just too close.

Simpson acknowledged that operating a petrochemical plant comes with risks.

I cant guarantee that these people will be 100 percent safe. I cant do that. Its not possible, said Simpson, who lives in the county seat of Sinton and lives a few blocks from a concrete plant that he considers potentially dangerous. Thats kind of a moron question to ask because we could have a tanker truck driving right in the middle of Portland and have an accident and explode; that would probably do the same amount of damage to Portland that this plant could.

Project leader Tully said Exxon and SABIC are looking at adding a buffer zone of close to a half-mile between the building and edge of the property to help protect the community if there was an accident.

Everybody has a different opinion on whats too close, but we look at it from a risk perspective, if our systems fail and something goes wrong we put this buffer zone in so we would not impact the external community, and thats what were trying to do, Tully said.

rdruzin@express-news.net

@druz_journo
The dreaded cattle fever tick  carrier of a blood disease that once nearly wiped out the U.S. cattle herd  has landed farther north in the Texas interior, worrying state and federal inspectors that the once-eradicated pest is no longer under control.

Texas animal health inspectors recently found new fever ticks Nov. 30 on a bull on a Live Oak County farm  about 110 miles north from the Mexico border where they were thought to have been permanently quarantined. Since then, the ticks have been found on seven neighboring premises, prompting the Texas Animal Health Commission to set up a temporary Control Purpose Quarantine Area. Its the fourth such quarantine zone, following ones set up in Willacy, Kleberg and Jim Wells counties.

There are currently more than 450,000 acres in Texas under various types of fever tick quarantines that have been set outside of the permanent quarantine zone since the ticks started showing up farther inside U.S. territory in 2014. The most recent quarantine zone has grown by nearly 45,000 acres in the past six weeks as more fever ticks have been found, and now covers 57,541 acres.

Inspectors are using genetic tests and epidemiological investigations to try to pinpoint how the ticks ended up in Live Oak  from transporting animals from quarantine areas near the border or from wildlife such as white-tailed deer and nilgai antelope carrying them farther into Texas. The latter is the biggest concern, indicating that previously successful efforts to contain the ticks to the border region are now failing.

Were doing genetic analysis of the ticks themselves to try to determine what population theyre most related to and where they could have come from, Dr. Andy Schwartz, executive director of the Texas Animal Health Commission, said in an interview.

The ticks are carriers for bovine babesiosis, a blood disease that in the 1800s wiped out much of the U.S. cattle herd and caused Kansas and other states to shun or restrict cattle from Texas.

In 1943, the ticks were declared eradicated from the U.S. save for a permanent quarantine zone along the Rio Grande established to control ticks that find their way across the river from Mexico. But during the past few years, the ticks have increasingly been found outside that zone, prompting expanded quarantine zones in border counties and temporary quarantine zones in three counties farther north.

I dont want to jump to conclusions, Schwartz said of the possibility the ticks are migrating north on the backs of wildlife such as nilgai, a non-native antelope thats become a nuisance carrier of the tick. The concerning thing is we havent determined the source of those ticks yet.

While cattle owners in quarantine areas are required to round up, inspect and treat cattle for ticks, the Live Oak County discovery was unexpected. A veterinarian called to examine the sickly bull called a state livestock inspector to check some of the ticks he found on the animals skin.

That day she tentatively identified those as fever ticks, thats the day we sprang into action there, Schwartz said of the inspector.

The bull likely was anemic from all the ticks drawing his blood, Schwartz said, but did not suffer from babesiosis.

While babesiosis is still an issue for cattle south of the border, it has not shown up in U.S. cattle for decades, he said.

I think its a tribute to the success of the program to have kept the fever ticks, the hot fever ticks with babesiois, out of the country, Schwartz said. Weve had some fever tick incursions, but none of them have been carrying babebiosis.

As in other quarantine zones, cattle in the Live Oak area must be dipped in a treatment solution every 10 to 14 days or injected with a vaccine every 25 to 28 days, which in either case usually involves costly helicopter roundups that are stressful to cattle. Hunters also are required to call inspectors to check any harvested deer for the ticks.

Once hunting season is over, state and federal officials also plan to set up feeders full of deer corn treated with a poison that kills the ticks and is aimed at preventing them from spreading from the infested ranches. Nilgai, which arent native to the U.S., have become particularly worrisome in South Texas as they travel long distances and can easily jump fences, but they are not believed to have strayed as far north as Live Oak County.

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.

Ron Gill, head cattle extension specialist at Texas A&M University, said the Live Oak County discovery worried ranchers who thought that as long as they followed protocol the fever tick wouldnt spread.

It periodically jumps out of the quarantine zone but not that far out, he said. Normally it will be one of the adjacent counties and theyll fight it back into the quarantine zone. So I think the thing thats got everybody more vocal about it now is it jumped a little further than usual.

Coleman Locke, who runs cattle in affected areas in Kleberg and Willacy counties, fears the tick could once again threaten the entire Texas cattle industry.

It concerns me as a cattleman, he said. Weve got to get it under control.  A lot of Texas cattle go to feed yards in Kansas and Nebraska to feed out. We need our Texas cattle to be able to go anywhere.

lbrezosky@express-news.net
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Ford Motor Co. is working on a plan to compensate parts makers that were preparing to supply the plant the company canceled, and it plans to return the land to the government of Mexico, an executive said.

The foundation was poured and some steel beams were going up at the site of the small-car factory that President-elect Donald Trump criticized on the campaign trail, said Joe Hinrichs, Fords president of the Americas. The company will eventually disclose the construction cost of the aborted project, he said.

Its not an easy decision to cancel a plant that youve already started, Hinrichs said. We dont take it lightly. It was a big decision to build the plant in the first place, and it was a big decision to cancel it.

Ford told Mexicos government of its intent to scrap the $1.6 billion factory on the morning of Jan. 3, just before making the decision public. The company, based in Dearborn, Michigan, now plans to build Focus compacts at its existing plant in Hermosillo, Mexico. Executives made the decision when they saw that the latest sales projections for the car were lower than expected, Hinrichs said.

We stayed true to our commitment to the Focus program to make it in Mexico, he said.

Ford has been attempting to make peace with Trump after the president-elect criticized the company during rallies and debates that preceded the November election. The second-largest U.S. automaker said when it canceled the factory that itll add 700 jobs to a plant in Flat Rock, Michigan. Trump tweeted his praise and turned his anger toward General Motors Co. and Toyota Motor Corp. for building cars south of the border.

Ford just announced that they stopped plans for a

$1 billion plant in Mexico and theyre going to be moving into Michigan and expanding, very substantially, an existing plant, Trump said last week during his first news conference since the election. I appreciate that from Ford. I hope that General Motors will be following, and I think they will be.

GM spokesman Tony Cervone declined to discuss the companys manufacturing investment plans. We look forward to engaging the new administration in conversation, he said.

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.

Ford has said its saving $500 million by moving Focus production to its existing Mexican plant from the now-abandoned site in San Luis Potosi.

The cost to compensate suppliers wont be too dramatic, Hinrichs said. Theres a lot of manufacturing in that area in central Mexico. So most suppliers are already there anyway. We dont anticipate any issues, but were obviously working with the supply base on that.

Ford had erected a steel skeleton at the Mexico site for the paint shop structure, Hinrichs said. He declined to say, for now, how much Ford had spent on construction that began last spring.

Were not giving out that number, Hinrichs said. Well have more to say about that.
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As a military child, Sharlee Krkosa went through six moves, with the latest taking her to the San Antonio area. Krkosa, who describes herself as extremely shy, said it takes a while for her to warm up to new people and places.

This year she decided to make a change.

Krkosa, 17, is one of two area students selected as one of 90 semifinalists for 2017 Military Child of the Year, according to the San Antonio nonprofit Operation Homefront.

This year I finally came out of my shell and made the realization that I cant waste valuable time being timid and afraid when I could be making wonderful friends, Krkosa, of Schertz, said.

Krkosa is the president of Student 2 Student at Randolph High School, which aims to welcome new students into school. The group recently held a Christmas party for incoming military children.

We try to make sure everyone at our school feels special and feels like they have a place at our school, Krkosa said.

When she lived in North Dakota, Krkosa began making cheer cards to hand out during the holidays to hospitals, nursing homes and overseas to troops.

She continued the tradition this year at San Antonio Army Medical Center and The Village at Incarnate Word.

Being a military child is the best experience in the world because it exposes me to so many different types of people and allows me to broaden my perception of their motivation, wants, and needs, Krkosa said. And one thing that Ive learned that everyone needs is to feel loved.

Krkosa is also a member of the National Honor Society, student council, and cadet dance team.

Her father, Air Force Senior Master Sergeant Tim Krkosa, works at Joint Base San Antonio Randolph.

In Del Rio, Benjamin Rawald, 14, was also selected as a semifinalist. Rawald completed all 138 merit badges for the Boy Scouts, where he is an Eagle Scout. He acquired the Outstanding Shooting Medal of Achievement from the 4H. Rawald, a freshman, also is an honor student at Brackett High School, where he recently got into powerlifting.

Hes the littlest guy, and someone told him he couldnt do it, but he said, yeah, I can, his mother, Kat Nielander, said.

His father, Brett Rawald, is stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base.

The six winners of the Military Child of the Year contest  one for each branch of the military  will receive $10,000 each, according to Operation Homefront.

Judges will select the winner based on scholarship, volunteerism, leadership, and extracurricular involvement.

Every winner will be flown to Washington along with a parent or guardian to receive the award from high-ranking military leaders.
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W ASHINGTON  Donald Trumps unlikely presidency that begins Friday brings measures of hope and alarm, with the potential of jarring change seldom seen in a nation viewed as the world's most stable.

A year ago, few Americans thought theyd ever see the words president and Trump spoken together. But that will be the case as of Friday morning when Donald Trump becomes the 45th president of the United States after being sworn in at the West Front of the U.S. Capitol.

The arrival of the brash billionaire to the White House marks an extraordinary moment in Washington, with time-honored policies threatened and political orthodoxy turned upside down.

His presidency will be unique because Trump is unique, said James Thurber, founder of the Center for Congressional and Presidential Studies at American University.

For one thing, no leader has ever used tweets to try to influence, Thurber said, referring to a Trumps Twitter remarks and rants.

More Information The issues ahead All this week, we will analyze some of the key issues that will confront President-elect Donald Trump after he takes office Friday, including immigration, military affairs, Obamacare, trade agreements and climate change. See More Collapse

An unusual presidency might be in order after a most unusual election campaign, which will be recalled for its harshness, Trumps nativist appeal and unprecedented Russian interference.

Now, after his stunning victory, Trump likely is assured of some success thanks to Republicans control of Congress, analysts and members of Congress said.

Trumps inauguration will be cheered by many convinced that government has failed them. His vow to simplify the tax system while eliminating special-interest loopholes wins widespread praise. Many who feel abandoned by globalization applaud Trumps vow to toughen Americas resolve in trade with China.

Texans will pay special attention to two of their own nominated to key positions, Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson as secretary of state and former Gov. Rick Perry as energy secretary.

Amid hopes for what Trump might achieve, the breadth of change he promises  from mass deportation and immigration curbs to redesigned health insurance and revamped foreign trade  has generated panic about what might lay ahead.

A Gallup poll this month found fewer than half of Americans are confident Trump can handle basic presidential duties, such as deploying the military wisely, far less trust than Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton enjoyed when they entered office.

Trumps inauguration poses questions on a host of weighty matters. His views toward NATO remain unclear after his warning during the campaign that he would defend NATO allies only if they fulfill their obligations.

He has vowed to swiftly crush the Islamic State, and his choice for national security adviser, Michael Flynn, in the past discussed the use of ground troops. But sending a fighting force into Syria would be politically risky at home and potentially lead to another protracted occupation in the Middle East.

On foreign trade, Trumps campaign assertions leave little doubt that the 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership is dead for now and that the North American Free Trade Agreement must be altered if its to survive. But the kinds of demands the Trump administration will make on Mexico in NAFTA talks have not been spelled out.

Trump has vowed to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program begun in 2012 by the Obama administration, under which nearly 750,000 immigrants who came to the United States as children have been shielded from deportation and given temporary work permits.

Trump seems unlikely to deport the so-called Dreamers, but their status would be uncertain with DACA abolished.

The many potential conflicts of interest posed by the Trump familys far-flung business enterprises  his financial disclosure filing listed more than 140 companies in some two dozen countries  offer the prospect of ethics skirmishes early and often.

Trying to tamp down concerns, Trump said at his news conference last week that he will place his vast holdings in a trust overseen by his two sons, well short of divesting himself of his empire.

The president-elect, rarely shy about overstatement, offered his view of the mood on the eve of his taking power.

Theres a great spirit going on right now, a spirit that many people have told me they have never seen before, Trump said.

Protests, promise

The demonstrations and pointed questioning that greeted Trump nominees in confirmation hearings last week presaged the hostilities that could persist.

Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, Trumps nominee for attorney general, endured protesters dressed as Ku Klux Klan members and was forced to deny to colleagues allegations that he has racist leanings.

Trumps hard-edged immigration proposals generated rallies and gatherings Saturday in Texas and across the country.

What began in November as a Facebook post by a grandmother in Hawaii exhorting women to protest Trumps election involved into the Womens March on Washington the day after inauguration. Nearly 200,000 people have said they will attend.

Trump can expect similar antipathy from Democrats on Capitol Hill.

Theres a great deal of fear in some quarters and many concerns, said U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-San Antonio. Having a president who is so impulsive, and with so much uncertainty about his true objectives, adds an unusual element to say the least, as well as danger to the world and to the families Im trying to represent.

U.S. Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, said he worries that the nation is entering a time of uncertainty and possibly chaos.  The president-elect has exhibited strange behavior. And its concerning how hes going out of the way to praise Vladimir Putin and Julian Assange and insult the American intelligence community.

Many in the Republican Party were slow to warm to Trump. Now theyre verging on giddy at the prospect of what might get done.

This is a unique moment to really shake Washington up, said House Ways and Means Committee chairman Kevin Brady, R-The Woodlands.

Bradys tasks in coming months could be the most strenuous on Capitol Hill: Along with tax reform, his committee will be in charge of a replacing the Affordable Care Act, primed for repeal. Congress passed a budget resolution last week to clear the way for repeal by instructing committees to start the process.

Brady predicted success in the hugely complex chore of revamping the tax code.

The opportunity comes around once in a generation to fix this costly, complex tax code. So the time is now, he said.

House Science Committee Chairman Lamar Smith recalls he was the first GOP House member to contribute money to Trump, the candidate who seemed to share his skepticism of climate change and Environmental Protection Agency dictates.

The EPAs recent ozone standard, which put more pressure on Houston to improve air quality and thrust San Antonio into nonattainment status for the first time, is among regulations that environmentalists worry may not get enforced.

Also, Trump has said he wants to overturn new water protection regulations that define which rivers, lakes and streams fall under EPA jurisdiction.

I think youd have to go back to Teddy Roosevelt and Andrew Jackson to see something of the nature that were going to be witnessing now, said Smith of San Antonio.

Amid high expectations, U.S. Rep. Will Hurd, another San Antonio Republican, sounded a note of caution.

Governing is hard and weve got to make sure we deliver on this opportunity, he said. Getting us all pulling in the same direction is going to take some time.

Perpetual campaign

If it feels like the presidential campaign never ended, theres reason.

Immigration rights groups and other liberal advocates are mounting resistance. The Democratic National Committee opened a war room that features former Hillary Clinton aides.

On the Trump side, Brad Parscale, the San Antonio ad executive who ran the Trump campaigns digital and media operation, confirmed he will head an organization supporting White House initiatives.

Parscale likely will rely on Facebook and micro-details about voters to mobilize backing for Trump, as he did in the campaign.

The American Action Network, a GOP-aligned advocacy group that doesn't disclose donors, on Thursday began a $1 million television and digital ad campaign in Texas and elsewhere supporting GOP efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Trump will need public support for much of what he wants to achieve, said Texas A&M University Professor George Edwards III.

Mandates, he said, are the currency with which presidents such as Ronald Reagan have engineered significant change.

But, Edwards added, Trumps loss by more than 2.8 million votes to Clinton falls far short of the mandate Trump aides have claimed.

There is no precedent in modern history for a new president to have such little public support, said Edwards, who holds the Jordan Chair in Presidential Studies Texas A&M.

Even so, Edwards believes that Trump will score achievements thanks in part to Democratic backing for stiffened trade policy and spending for infrastructure.

He will be much less successful when he needs to expand his supportive coalition either through rallying the public or converting members of Congress, Edwards said.

Princeton political scientist Julian Zelizer, in his 2015 book, The Fierce Urgency of Now, chronicled the Great Society changes Lyndon Johnson prepared to tackle when thrust into the presidency: landmark civil rights legislation; a voting rights bill; education reform; and a tax cut.

By some measures, changes proposed by Trump are no less consequential, among them ending a concerted drive to combat global warming and reversing global economic order by bringing manufacturing jobs back to the United States from China and Mexico.

I think the expectations are even greater for Donald Trump, Zelizer said. He is starting from Day 1 not only with tons of different policy proposals but also with changes in the way the process works.

Zelizer believes Trump will be greatly assisted by a GOP-led Congress on the same page on issues like tax cuts, deregulation, climate change and repealing Obamacare.

But, he added: Like all presidents, he will discover that when you start to dismantle things, when you start to take things away and make controversial decisions like building a wall, it can make the rhetoric seem much more scary, much more frightening. And I dont think this will go away.

Trump got an early sample of blowback when it was reported that his aides are working with Congress on the means for taxpayers to foot the bill for the multibillion-dollar border wall that became a rallying cry in his campaign.

Trump responded on Twitter, chastising the news media as dishonest and fake and promising that Mexico would later reimburse the U.S. Treasury.

I dont feel like waiting a year or a year-and-a-half. Were going to start building, he said at his news conference.

Mexicos new foreign minister, Luis Videgaray, reiterated last week that there is no way  no circumstances under which Mexico will pay for the wall, suggesting a long-running battle over what stands as a symbol of Trumps rise to power.

Jorge Castaneda, a past foreign minister, summed up the sentiments of many in Mexico to the wall  and to Trump.

Whats important is not who pays for it but whether there should be a wall, which is unfriendly, un-neighborly and nasty, with serious symbolic consequences and very real consequences for Mexico and Central America, he said.
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Just before one of the biggest events of her young life, 6-year-old Olayinka Olayande waved a miniature American flag in the air Saturday like a conductor directing an orchestra.

The youngster and her family immigrated to San Antonio from London in 2011. Earlier Saturday, Olayinka nodded as her mother explained that she wouldnt lose her Caribbean and Nigerian background and would receive a document that would declare her as a citizen of the United States of America.

Especially coming from our own heritage means she now has opportunities that werent presented to us when we were her age, Laseason Olayande said, her husband, Babatunde Olayande, at her side. I think thats paramount.

Olayinka was one of 50 children from 20 countries who became U.S. citizens Saturday at the DoSeum, San Antonios children museum. The naturalization ceremony was the second collaboration between the DoSeum and U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services.

The ceremony was one of Saturdays many events for DreamWeek, a citywide summit of events that aim to promote equality, tolerance and diversity, leading up to the citys MLK March on Monday.

After the national anthem and the Pledge of Allegiance, Senior Immigration Services Officer Juanita G. Reyes called each of the childrens names as they threaded their way through aisles to receive their certificates of citizenship. CIS branch chief Harvey B. Lugo handed the children their documents beneath an image of a large, American flag rippling in the wind, with the Statue of Liberty in the foreground.

Camera flashes and cellphone snapshots greeted San Antonios newest American citizens, who included the Martinez sisters  Lorena, 9, and Paola, 11  born in Mexico.

They smiled as they showed their certificates to their parents, Enrique and Magda Martinez.

They were waiting for this service a year ago, Magda Martinez said.

Enrique Martinez said he and his wife were thrilled when they heard that their daughters could take part in the special naturalization ceremony.

We felt with this citizenship, they can take advantage of the opportunities in the United States and Mexico, he said. They are very aware of the process because of my orientation to become a U.S. citizen. They were very excited to know they were going to become United States citizens.

Shokare Nakpodia, founder of DreamWeek, said the young citizens fulfill the idea of America.

What was actually done was to unite and strengthen families that have decided to make this their home, Nakpodia said, where they can flourish and bring all of their cultural talents. It doesnt get much better than that.

Keynote speaker Shahrzad Dowlatshahi, the citys chief of protocol, told the children about her own immigrant experience of being born in Iran and of having a mother from England and an Iranian father. She encouraged the children to embrace this special moment and to be proud of their roots.

You are a window of the world for many of your friends at school, Dowlatshahi said. You know what the world looks like.

After the ceremony, Ziyad Aljumaili, 40, told his 9-year-old son, Abdullah, how proud he was of his accomplishment.

Aljumaili, who worked with U.S. military forces in Iraq, said living in America had been his dream since he was a child. Now, hes happy to share his dream with his son.

Hes ready, hes looking for a bright future, Aljumaili said. I want my sons to grow up in a safe environment.

vtdavis@express-news.net
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick opened his full-throated endorsement of Texas legislation targeting transgender access to bathrooms by quoting the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

Patrick, joined by the proposals author, state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, told reporters at the Texas Capitol on Jan. 5, 2017: Martin Luther King said our lives begin to end the day we become silent on things that matter.

This legislation, the Texas Privacy Act, that Sen. Kolkhorst is filing today, is unquestionably one of the things that matters, Patrick said. Its the right thing to do. I know it, Texans know it and Sen. Kolkhorst knows it.

Debate over the measure  banning transgender people from using the Texas bathroom of their choice  will play out in the 2017 legislative session. We focused on the origin of Patricks King quotation.

Patrick offers no backup

We didnt hear back from Patrick about when and where the slain civil rights leader made the singled-out statement, which went noted in the Associated Presss account of Patricks remarks and quoted by the Dallas Morning News.

For our part, a web search for the quotation and King suggested by a professor yielded 2,980 results including books of poetry and documentation that President Clinton similarly quoted King in an April 2000 speech and Sen. Joe Lieberman did so in the Senate in June 2003.

So, Patrick was in bipartisan company in crediting the words to King.

On the other hand, we were unable to confirm that King made that exact declaration. Also, its worth noting, King probably didnt expound on bathrooms except toward widening access to public facilities.

A photo caption

We started our look into this topic by trying to gauge if King said the words aired by Patrick.

Right off, a web search yielded an undated New York Daily News photo of King giving a speech. The photo caption said: King was engaged in a battle with Sheriff Jim Clark over voting rights and voter registration in Selma. On March 8, 1965, King spoke from the pulpit on courage: Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Stanford researchers cant confirm

Separately, though, King experts either said he likely didnt make the quoted remark or if he did, its hard to confirm so with ease. That would be a research project, said Clayborne Carson, the Martin Luther King, Jr., Centennial professor of history at Stanford University and director of a research institute in Kings name. By phone, Carson told us thats because the institutes resources arent yet easily searched for a particular quotation. Put another way, he said by email, its easier to prove what King said on a particular occasion than to prove that he never said the quote in question on any occasion.

An institute research assistant, Ellen Ingebritsen, later responded that her search of the projects internal database and documents culled from the institute's King papers didnt turn up King making the statement. Then again, she said, the institute has yet to catalog the majority of Kings work from 1965. Otherwise, she said, King letters and telegrams from that year dont contain the words attributed to King by Patrick.

A similar confirmed King statement

Story over? Not quite.

Other experts helped us find that King made a similar yet less direct statement in the Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama, on Monday, March 8, 1965  the same date noted in the News photo caption and also the day after protesters met police violence after attempting to cross a bridge on the way to Montgomery, the state capital.

King, who would shortly lead a crossing of the bridge before turning around, said in part: A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.

To our inquiry, Doug Burgess, chairman of the universitys history department, said by phone that he posted the excerpt some 15 years ago. Burgess also helped us track down a YouTube video in which we saw King making the remarks, which the video attributes to a Nostalgia Company recording, "The Greatest Speeches of All Time, Volume II."

Separately, Carson told us his research took note of a similar King statement made Nov. 5, 1967, at his home church in Atlanta. King, exhorting parishioners to fight for whats right, said a persons failure to do so would amount to dying before death. "You died when you refused to stand up for right, you died when you refused to stand up for truth, you died when you refused to stand up for justice," Carson quoted King saying.

We also heard back from a King biographer, David Garrow, who said by email that his sense is that King didnt make the statement aired by Patrick. That "language does *NOT* in any way sound familiar to me as an exact quote," Garrow wrote. "I believe it is INVALID." Garrow summed up: "Your verdict on this ought to be something like 'Unproven, undocumented, & highly doubtful."

Texas professors: Quotation out of context

Asked to assess Patricks quotation, University of Texas historians Don Carleton and Paul Stekler each opined that Patrick presented Kings sentiment out of historical context.

Stekler, who helped produce, direct and write a documentary on the civil rights movement in 1967-68, said by email that King was in Selma to try and force federal action to ensure voting rights, a campaign that was successful with the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 in the aftermath of the police riot on the Edmund Pettus Bridge. He was advocating the expansion of rights for African-Americans in the South where they had been and were largely disenfranchised.

Patrick, Stekler wrote, employed Kings purported words in support of restricting the rights of transgender people. One use of the quote uses it in support of the expansion of rights, the other in restricting rights, Stekler said.

Our ruling

Per Patrick, King said our lives begin to end the day we become silent on things that matter.

Patrick didnt show nor did we confirm that King made this direct statement. Then again, Patrick didnt specify he was quote-unquote directly quoting King while King in 1965 made a longer proclamation that might later have been paraphrased in the 14 words that Patrick and others including President Clinton ultimately attributed to the civil rights icon.

On balance, we rate this claim Half True.
Egypt's Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed during a meeting with his Algerian counterpart Ramtane Lamamra on the sidelines of the Paris Peace Conference on Sunday the importance of implementing the UN-brokered Skhirat agreement of 2015 as the cornerstone to restore stability in war-torn Libya, which shares borders with both countries.

The meeting between the two ministers tackled areas of mutual interest between Egypt and Algeria, in addition to the situation in Libya, Egypt's foreign ministry spokesman Ahmed Abu Zeid said.

On Saturday, Egypt's Chief of Staff of The Armed Forces Mahmoud Hegazy discussed with the head of the UN Support Mission in Libya Martin Kobler the mechanisms to reach consensus between the numerous rival factions in Libya through the agreed upon declaration of principles, an army spokesman said.

Earlier this month, the Tunisian President Beji Essebsi told Tunisian magazine Leaders 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 told Ahram Online in early January that 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 also confirmed that Egypt is committed to establishing peace in Libya, whether through trilateral talks with Tunisia and Algeria, or in direct dialogue icluding Libya, its neighbouring countries, the United Nations, the African Union or the Arab League.

Last December, Libyan officials and representatives from the country's various political factions gathered in Cairo, issuing a declaration of principles, along with five proposed amendments to the UN-brokered Skhirat agreement of 2015, which aims to end Libya's civil war.

Egypt's President Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi discussed last Thursday in Cairo the latest developments in Libya with the chairman of the Libyan Presidential Council Fayaz Al-Sarraj.

Egypt's president also received in late 2016 Libyas House of Representatives speaker Aguila Saleh, who conveyed his intention to call on his country's parliament to consider the proposed changes to the Skhirat agreement.

The Skhirat 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 make it easier to achieve balance between the country's rival factions, a change in the duties of the army commander, and measures to maintain the independence of the armed forces and insulate it from involvement in political disputes.

Libya currently has two parliaments and two rival governments, effectively dividing the country into east and west.

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The National Farmers' Union (NFU) has issued a call for farmer feedback after the government announced a consultation on the safe use of drones in the UK, with many agreeing stricter controls need to be in place.

As drone use on farm is multi-dimensional and can improve production efficiency for farm businesses, farmers and landowners have been responding to the consultation to emphasise that the professional and responsible agricultural use of drones must be protected to enable farms to continue to use them safely.

Proposed measures being consulted on include mandatory registration of new drones over 250g, a theory test for users, increased penalties for misuse of the technology and potential new criminal offences to deter and address misbehaviour.

NFU Vice President Guy Smith said: There are exciting developments in the pipeline for on-farm done use, such as crop applications, which could keep British farming at the cutting edge and internationally competitive.

However, we are also very aware of instances of irresponsible use of drones by members of the public and have already seen the first instances of sheep worrying by drones. We are calling for government to address this and are hopeful that any new legislation will introduce measures to protect farmers and landowners from this behaviour.

In any instance, we would stress to drone owners the importance of not flying near livestock, who react in very unpredictable ways. There is risk of causing distress to the animals, sometimes fatal, and it can lead to trampling. These actions impact greatly on farm businesses and we urge that care is taken when flying in areas of farmland in particular.

Any drone owner should be responsible with its use and ensure the safety of people, animals and land. We would stress to any owner that they are familiar with the rules so they fly this machinery within the law.

'Tremendously exciting, but need regulations'

The CLA, which represents landowners, farmers and rural businesses, are also concerned that current regulations are not robust enough to ensure that privacy is maintained.

CLA President Ross Murray said: The use of drones both commercially and for recreation is growing fast. The potential for a wide range of industries, not least agriculture, is tremendously exciting, but we do need regulation to keep pace.

The growth in the availability of drones with high resolution cameras for leisure use, rather than industry, presents a significant risk to privacy and requires action. We need reassurance that drones being flown over private property or land are being done so legally, professionally and safely. We must also address the potential for damage to property and injury to livestock.

The global commercial drone industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, with industries from agriculture to mining tapping into the real business benefits that drones can deliver.

The global commercial drone industry is growing at an unprecedented rate, with industries from agriculture to mining tapping into the real business benefits that drones can deliver.
Arla Foods UKs managing director has issued a call to the food and farming industry to work together to 'form one single voice' around Brexit.

Tomas Pietrangeli has identified ways to make this happen. He has outlined why it is both 'exciting and daunting', but that the industry 'must protect itself' against the threats and maximise opportunities.

Mr Pietrangeli said there is 'no doubt' that Brexit brings uncertainty.

Although were optimistic about the future of the industry, severe damage could be done if the deal negotiated does not have food producers and farmers at its heart.

For every new opportunity that opens up for new dairy export markets, there is a concern about access to markets closer to home; for every call to revamp the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), there are concerns about what will happen to the levels of support that farmers receive.

Ive been encouraged by the start that has already been made, and was proud recently to add my voice and that of Arla Foods UK to the largest-ever coalition of food producers and farming unions. Together, we wrote to the Prime Minister spelling out the need for the food and farming industries to maintain access to labour and tariff-free access to the single market after Brexit.

It was really exciting to hear the potential for collaborative work with Government as the UK dairy industry seeks to access foreign markets. Any development that is good for our industry will ultimately be good for Arla and its farmer owners, and dairy is ready to rise to the challenges of Brexit and seek out its opportunities.

Mr Pietrangeli said the dairy industry cannot afford to be 'timid'.

He said: This is all the more important as signs emerge that the industry is beginning to improve, with milk prices rising.

We cant afford to be timid, and must speak openly to the Government about what the sector wants from Brexit  it is through these initiatives; industry discussion, research into what Brexit will mean for us and direct calls to action from decision makers, that we can be prepared for both the challenges and opportunities Brexit may bring.
Warrenton, VA (20186)

Today

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 58F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph..

Tonight

Partly cloudy skies early will give way to cloudy skies late. Slight chance of a rain shower. Low 58F. Winds SSE at 5 to 10 mph.
Events and things to do to celebrate Veterans Day in Cumberland County

Cumberland County will honor veterans for two weeks starting with the annual Veterans Day Parade on Saturday in downtown Fayetteville.
It is a mistake, say researchers Pierre Blanc and Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, to approach the Palestinian issue as a simple conflict, rather than one of survival amid conscious colonisation and apartheid

Ahead of the Paris Peace Conference which opened on Sunday, two prominent French researchers, Pierre Blanc and Jean-Paul Chagnollaud, spoke in Cairo about the ongoing agony of the geography of Palestinian dispossession.

The joint seminar of Blanc and Chagnolluad, who also write together on the same subject, was held by the French Institute in Mounira.

The Paris conference was intended to be held in 2016, but was pushed back amid fading media attention to the issue, in the Arab world and in the West, despite unabated Israeli colonisation of Palestinian territories.

In his attempt to answer the key question of Where does the Palestinian cause stand? Blanc, a prominent researcher in geopolitics, shared with his audience maps that might have shocked some depicting aggressive settlement activities on the part of Israel, arguably destroying all prospects of a Palestinian state as part of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Blancs first set of maps dated to a few years prior to the 1917 Balfour Declaration with the first kibbutz installed in the otherwise untouched land of historic Palestine.

As the maps of Blanc demonstrate, from the beginning there was a very cohesive concept of Jewish acquisition and expansion.

It was clear, he said, with the first 300 kibbutzen, that were put one after the other, were not just about taking grip of the land but also of the water resources beneath it, and that these new communities were fenced off.

This, Blanc added, while showing a second set of maps, was more systematically observed following the 1948 war, whereafter the homes and lands of a generation of Palestinians forced to leave were taken over.

With a third set of maps, depicting further dispossession when a second generation of Palestinians was forced to depart in the wake of the 1967 war, Blanc demonstrated the appearance of added factors to the colonisation process: security and religion.

The two subsequent Palestinian generations, Blanc said, had to first face the systematic deconstruction of whatever remained of Palestinian space, with the reconstruction of cities and the change of their names, and then an impossible life to live, especially in Jerusalem in what forced or prompted a new wave of massive exodus.

And like the original scheme of the early kibbutzen, Blanc said, the priority of acquisition went to territories with considerable water reserves and strategic assets.

According to maps of the post-Oslo Accords period, this strategy was not dropped or even amended. What the Palestinians got from the Oslo process, Blanc said, was essentially bits and pieces of territory over which they hardly had any serious sovereignty, and all the while the process of colonisation was never abated, but rather the opposed  considerably expanded on territories that were supposed to offer space for the aspired Palestinian state.

And while the Gaza Strip was somewhat spared from complete colonisation, it was eventually forced under an aggressive embargo, and it became almost impossible to cultivate anything there, or export, or fish in Gazan waters.

So, in a sense, Palestinian dispossession took a much higher curve, despite the Oslo Accords and the subsequent process of negotiations, Blanc said.

A few years down the road from the signing of the Oslo Accords, Blanc argued, Palestinian dispossession went from the territorial to the economic.

There was a process of de-development whereby the base of a Palestinian economy was all but fully dismantled, with Gaza today being highly dependent on Israeli products and with the trade balance (between the Palestinian Authority and Israel) firmly in favour of Israel, Blanc said.

While Blanc demonstrated near complete Palestinian dispossession in the space of four consecutive generations, Jean-Paul Chagnollaud noted that the call of the Palestinian cause in the wake of the 1948 War was overwhelmed by the Arab-Israeli conflict that came in the wake of the 1967 War. If there was one thing that could be granted to the Oslo Accords, it would be the re-introduction of the specific nature of the Palestinian national concept in the wider context of the struggle.

However, he argued that Israel, especially since 2001, under the government of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, firmly pursued a policy of Israeli domination over Palestinians, dismissing the international community and dividing the Palestinian national fabric and its support network.

Israel, Chagnollaud said, acted to impose an all-out supremacy, not just on the ground, but also in the socio-political and ideological fields, this policy being executed today by Israelis who were brought up in the kibbutzen of the 1950s.

This exercise of Israeli domination has hardly been challenged at all, Chagnollaud said, by the international community. There were some attempts or initiatives on the side of the US, but they were never really very efficient in challenging this Israeli domination, he said.

During the past eight years, he added, US President Barack Obama offered no new initiative while the Europeans seemed to hardly have any impact, or presence, except via a few statements here or there, and this promised conference, the Paris Peace Conference, of which few expect anything significant.

This, Changollaud argued, is happening while the Palestinians continue to be scattered, both in the geographic sense, on sporadic bits of the territories of historic Palestine and across the world, and in the socio-political sense that goes beyond the traditional division of the two leading forces of Hamas and Fatah.

While Pierre Blanc deems it hard to overcome the colonisation of historic Palestine ongoing for a century, Jean-Paul Changollaud noted it would hard, or even impossible, to reach a negotiated solution where diplomatic efforts continue to approach the issue as a "conflict," when "in fact it is basically about colonisation and also about apartheid.

Blanc and Changnollaud both agreed that there is little hope, therefore, for a breakthrough issuing from the Paris Peace Conference.

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Prince Harry has introduced Meghan Markle to Duchess Catherine.

Meghan Markle

The 32-year-old royal and the 'Suits' actress have been dating for a number of months and things are so serious that Harry brought Meghan to meet his sister-in-law Catherine and his niece Princess Charlotte at Kensington Palace.

A source told The Sun on Sunday: "Kate was really looking forward to meeting Meghan and she knew how important it was to Harry.

"They are very close and he really values her opinion on girlfriends.

"Obviously Harry's mother, Princess Diana, died when he was very young so Kate really fulfils that older sister/maternal role.

"It went really well and Meghan was very excited about meeting her."

Meghan already met Harry's brother Prince William, who is married to Duchess Catherine, a few months ago in London but Catherine was at their Norfolk home, Anmer Hall, at the time.

However, following her birthday earlier this week, Catherine, 35, travelled to London and was introduced to Meghan.

The insider explained: "Harry and Meghan went over to Kate's apartment in Kensington Palace.

"William was also there and she got to play with Charlotte who she just adored.

"Meg had bought Kate a small birthday present - a very smart leather-bound 'dream diary' for her thoughts and ideas which Kate loved.

"This just shows how serious Harry is.

"He wants to take their relationship to the next level."

Harry and Meghan, 35, have just returned from Norway, where they enjoyed their first holiday together.
Stella Maxwell wants her own emoji.

Stella Maxwell

The Victoria's Secret Angel admits she'd love to be depicted in tiny graphic form, complete with her own iconic little wings.

Asked which emoji she wished existed, she said: "One of myself, with little wings maybe."

And if the 26-year-old beauty was ever able to design her own set of the lingerie company's iconic wings, she knows exactly what she'd like.

She said: "[They would be] black, lacy and tight - super-sexy.

"They wouldn't be that big though. It's not about size but how pretty they look."

Stella had a great time walking in the annual Victoria's Secret fahion show in Paris last year, but was concerned about a wardrobe malfunction when she walked for the second time.

She explained: "The bejewelled, sheer body suit was my favourite but I felt like it started to ride down my body. I had this feeling to try to pull it up but then I was like, 'Don't start doing that on the runway'. But it was epic and I don't think you could see it falling down, so it was all good."

While Stella admits to working out every day for two weeks before the shows, one thing she would never do as part of her preparations as to have a facial in case her skin reacted badly.

She told LOOK magazine: "I didn't have the oxygen facial but Bella Hadid did and said it was amazing. I try not to play around with my skin too much before an event in case it breaks out. Everyone's skin is different."
Look away! Loooook away! croons Neil Patrick Harris in character as Count Olaf, as the opening credits for new Netflix original series, A Series of Unfortunate Events begin to roll. Based on the book series of the same name by Lemony Snicket (author Daniel Handlers pen name), and revamping the live action representation after the Jim Carrey-led movie did worse than expected, the streaming service is here hoping to showcase the misery and terrible nature that the 13 novels delivered. Fortunately for the masochists amongst us, thats something they manage to do here.

Neil Patrick Harris replaces Carrey as the villainous Olaf; a man whos clearly behind the fire which burned down the Baudelaire mansion and left Violet, Klaus and Sunny Baudelaire as orphans. Whilst the viewer quickly finds out that more is at play than the simple and tragic death of two parents, that doesnt mean the three incredibly smart children are aware of that fact right away.

Harris is a master in the camp, dark and gloomy role. At times hes dressing up as an Egyptian prince for a terribly-written play, at others hes in drag and doing his best to cash in on the Baudelaire fortune. Every move he makes is to further progress him towards a life of riches, but Violets inventing skills, Klaus quick-thinking and intelligence and Sunnys wit and extremely sharp tooth are there to scupper him at every opportunity.

Credit: Netflix

Every two episodes of the show adapt one of the 13 novels on offer from Handlers series, meaning that there is more than enough space for each chapter of the story to breathe and transpire. At times, this means that there are a couple of beats too many, but when this happens its so subtle that it doesnt manage to effect the overall product.

So, whilst A Series of Unfortunate Events may be the worst Netflix original series weve seen to-date, its for all the right reasons. It ticks all the boxes that Handler laid out with his original book series and does a much better job than the movie adaptation ever did when cramming three books worth of content into an almost two-hour flick.

Designed to attract both a young audience and those a little older than the people who may have read the book series, this is a show which looks set to enjoy a lengthy future and high viewership on Netflix moving forward. A triumph for all involved and yet another example of why the big screen isnt always the best place for a book adaptation. As much as youre encouraged to, dont look away.

Credit: Netflix

Lemony Snickets A Series of Unfortunate Events is available on Netflix now in all territories where the streaming service is available.

by Daniel Falconer for www.femalefirst.co.uk

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This initial meeting of the Champions focused mainly on organisational and operational issues. It provided the opportunity for the Champions and the UNFCCC Secretariat to review the work undertaken in its first year since its establishment in COP 21 and the major role it will continue to play in the future. On organisational issues the discussion included options needed to strengthen the work of the Champions, the coordination of activities, communications and support including roles of Advisory Groups and Friends of Champions.

Minister Seruiratu was accompanied by Fijis Ambassador to Belgium and France Deo Saran.

13 January, Paris: Fijis Minister for Agriculture, Rural and Maritime Development and National Disaster Management Hon. Inia Seruiratu attended a High Level Climate Change Champions Briefing and Planning Meeting in preparation for this years 23rd session of the Conference of the Parties (COP 23) to the UN Convention on Climate Change.As Fijis High Level Climate Champion, Minister Seruiratu met with the COP 22 Climate Champion, Minister Hakima El Haite of Morocco together with representatives of UNFCCC Secretariat.The meeting also focused on operational issues for Global Climate Action. In this regard the Champions proposed a calendar of events and activities including thematic priorities such as expansion of initiatives for small island states, in preparation for the May Session in Bonn.It was agreed that a series of meetings will be held from 20-25 February in Morocco. The Champions further agreed to urgently meet the Global Green Climate Fund to help prepare climate investment plans and build partnerships that could provide economic opportunities.
A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City.

In a statement, Eurowings said there were 286 passengers on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved, though the KUNA figure may have included flight personnel.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa.

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Additional Regional Scrubbing Centers Enhance Customer Capabilities to Protect Their Networks

BROOMFIELD, Colorado, Jan. 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --Multinational companies located in the Asia-Pacific region now have access to Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) mitigation solutions from Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT). The new scrubbing centers in Hong Kong, Tokyo and Singapore signify an expansion of the company's security service functionality. Level 3's security solutions provide layers of defense through enhanced network routing, rate limiting and filtering that can be paired with cloud-based scrubbing for a more comprehensive mitigation solution. The Asia-Pacific region is key for both Asian and multinational enterprises which demand global security services - making Level 3's cybersecurity solutions and global presence essential.

Explore the Numbers Behind the Asia Pacific Threat Landscape

http://news.level3.com/apacthreatlandscape

APAC Threat Landscape:

Australia , China and Hong Kong are listed among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a report by Project Sonar.

, and are listed among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a report by Project Sonar. IoT-compromising malware research by Level 3 Threat Research Labs reveals many connected devices are being compromised and enabling attacks reaching in excess of 600 Gbps.

Key Facts:

Level 3 opened the additional scrubbing centers to provide customers with infrastructure in the region to quickly mitigate attacks with less disruption to business operations.

Level 3's DDoS ingest capacity, 4.5 terabits per second, provides a high capacity to ingest massive attacks so customers can get back to business as usual.

The service is carrier agnostic and pulls all customer traffic into Level 3's globally located scrubbing centers for cleansing before forwarding legitimate traffic through a private connection or the public internet.

Level 3 now has 11 scrubbing centers on four continents. Other locations include Sao Paulo, Frankfurt , London , Chicago , Dallas , Los Angeles , New York and Washington, D.C.

, , , , , and 24/7 Security Operations Centers detect anomalies in global NetFlow sessions, perform impact analyses, notify customers of threatening conditions and then help them mitigate the issue.

Level 3's customers benefit from its global threat research, intelligence and mitigation actions, helping to create a safer internet ecosystem.

Level 3 in APAC

Level 3 began operating in Asia Pacific in 2004.

in 2004. Level 3 has 14 on-net markets throughout Asia Pacific with service reach to more than 50 markets in the region.

with service reach to more than 50 markets in the region. Level 3 offersits customers in the region Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Direct Internet Access, Ethernet Virtual Private Line, managed services, unified communications, content delivery networks (CDN) and security solutions.

Key Quotes:

Anthony Christie, Chief Marketing Officer, Level 3

"Our customers need an adaptive approach to tackling today's threat environment. The disciplined approach we've taken to monitoring the threat landscape to protect our network has put us in a unique position to work with our customers in Asia Pacific to identify and mitigate cybersecurity threats. Our expansive view of threats coupled with our full suite of enterprise networking services supports companies of all sizes located anywhere on the globe."

Additional Resources:

Learn how to Thwart a DDoS Attack

Read more about the product: Level 3 DDoS Mitigation Product Brochure

Uncover additional threat stats for the region: Safeguarding the Internet, Level 3 Botnet Research Report

About Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

 Level 3 Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Level 3, Level 3 Communications, Level (3) and the Level 3 Logo are either registered service marks or service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC and/or one of its Affiliates in the United States and elsewhere. Any other service names, product names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statement

Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to: increase revenue from its services to realize its targets for financial and operating performance; develop and maintain effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; avert the breach of its network and computer system security measures; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; manage the future expansion or adaptation of its network to remain competitive; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; manage risks associated with continued uncertainty in the global economy; manage continued or accelerated decreases in market pricing for communications services; obtain capacity for its network from other providers and interconnect its network with other networks on favorable terms; successfully integrate future acquisitions; effectively manage political, legal, regulatory, foreign currency and other risks it is exposed to due to its substantial international operations; mitigate its exposure to contingent liabilities; and meet all of the terms and conditions of its debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact Information

Media: Investors: Ashley Stewart Mark Stoutenberg +1 720-888-5950 +1 720-888-2518 ashley.stewart@level3.com mark.stoutenberg@level3.com

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/455639/Level_3_Asia_Pacific_Landscape.jpg

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140908/144115

To view the original version on PR Newswire, visit:http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/level-3-opens-asia-pacific-ddos-scrubbing-centers-in-hong-kong-tokyo-and-singapore-300388276.html
You have to give it to them. Sonam Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan (so many Ks, Johar would be proud) are pretty amazing.

Among other things, Sonam has the fine balance between being a fashion icon and an successful, critically acclaimed actress. And Kareena, is a true-blue movie star. She's been around for over 16 years, and is still roaring to go (with a trending baby in tow).

Together, they made Koffee with Karan very entertaining.

Sonam and Kareena are working on a movie together, Veere Di Wedding, and their chemistry is quite palpable. Refreshingly, it's not a Mean Girls vibe, but a inspiring, fun one. Kareena spoke about being a Koffee legend, through her appearances on the couch with various co-stars, boyfriends, brother and Saif. Sonam was not-so-subtly reminded about her past rather candid appearances, with Deepika Padukone and father Anil Kapoor.

Kareena sat on the Koffee couch comfortably and spoke about Hollywood; how she has no interest in going anywhere, with peace and best wishes towards Priyanka, Deepika and now Sonam. On being asked what she would do if she was stuck with Shahid Kapoor and Saif in an elevator, Kareena said she wished she was cast in Rangoon: "Lets call Vishal".

Winning moment of the show as far as Kareena is concerned was saying "I'm not ranking these boys now, at this point (while pointing towards her baby)," on being asked to rank actors Varun Dhawan, Ranveer Singh, Ranbir Kapoor, Sidharth Malhotra, Sushant Singh Rajput, during the Rapid Fire round.

Speaking of rapid fire, Sonam Kapoor was a lot more diplomatic and rehearsed, as far as personal life and working in Bollywood is concerned, which includes admiring Alia Bhatt's work in Udta Punjab, claiming she didn't do Neerja for the awards, and how he life has changed after the movie. She also about equal pay for actors and actresses in the industry. Not rapid, no fire.

Arjun Kapoor then joined them to pronounce Kareena the winner of the round, for the third time in this season. There was also some talk about Karishma Kapoor wanting Sonam to marry Ranbir. Could it be conjecture (pun intended) or could it be promotion for their upcoming film, Rajkumar Hirani's Sanjay Dutt biopic?

Nonethless, you'll definitely catch yourself laughing along during this episode quite a few times.

(Watch it Hotstar or Star World.)
(With elections being announced, many believe that the budget to be announced on 1 February, will contain sops for key sectors. There are two reasons for such sops. First, to counter the unfortunate effects of demonetisation on some sectors. And the second to win over key electoral groups. In this three part series, we explain why the three biggest segments that might benefit could be agriculture, milk cooperatives and milk processing units, and weaver units.)

Of all the communities hit by demonetisation, none has been hit as badly as the weaver community. This is true of the handloom sector as well as the powerloom sector. Weaver towns look almost ghostly, with most of the weaving units shut. And since most workers are daily wage earners, they have been thrown out without any safety net, except the assurance from the owners that they will be called back once the situation improves.

In Bhiwandi, there are tales about how weavers and process house owners were paid their last dues in Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes. The justification: When we negotiated rates, we had this currency in mind. Now you go and exchange it. Both process house owners and workers had to wait in queues in order to convert their currency into legal tender.

Tirpur in South India is also a ghost town. So is Varanasi where around a lakh weavers  who weave the famous Banarasi sarees  are out of job. The plight of Varanasi weavers has been covered by much of media.

One source talks of Lallapur which is home to some of the most skilled Muslim weavers and known for producing the citys best silk sarees and furnishings.

Reports talk of how the number of weavers had already plunged to 40,000 in 2015 from over 300,000 a few years ago. Many blame this exodus on communal tensions, but this hasnt been verified or documented. The post-demonetisation crisis will force skilled artisans and jobless weavers to abandon their profession and look for other work.

A similarly painful situation exists in Surat as well  where both the diamond cutting trade and the powerloom sectors have been hit.

A large number of weavers are located in the North-East. But typical of most government data, breakup of economic information about the states in the North East is almost entirely absent. In fact, this is also true for illegal mining, where even though huge black money is made from illegal mining, no data is available from the North East.

Politicians would have ignored the unemployed and the dispossessed as another instance of collateral damage, but for two factors. First, the numbers involved are very large. Data available from the Third National Handloom Census of Weavers and Allied Workers  2010 throws up some interesting numbers.

There are 24 lakh weaver households. Each household comprises approximately 4.59 people in statistical terms. That gives you a total weaver population of 1.11 crore people who are affected. Add to this the population of powerloom weavers  the number could be around 5 lakh households or 20 lakh people  and you have a figure of 1.3 crore people. This is too large a number to be ignored.

If you take the textile and apparel sector together, they are reported to have accounted for almost 51 million workers in 2015-16, The powerloom sector employed almost 65 lakh people. Multiply these numbers by 4 and you have a good idea of the number of people who have been adversely affected.

The second factor is that almost 73 percent of this number is from backward classes (see chart). This is a very important electoral group, especially in UP.

Slice the number further and you find that 15 percent of the total number comprises Muslims, which is another crucially significant electoral group  especially in Uttar Pradesh.

With elections being announced in UP and the North East, the weaver community suddenly becomes a critical focal group.

That is why, many analysts believe that the biggest sops in the budget might go towards helping re-settle weaver units. How these sops will be announced is anyones guess. But given the volatile combination of backward classes and Muslims, no government can afford to ignore this crucially important segment. It may be recalled how during the last general elections, even the ruling Congress wanted to announce loan waivers for the weavers of UP.

As mentioned in the second part of this series, the same will apply to the milk industry  which today accounts for a large number of Muslims  at least in Western and Southern India. Anecdotal evidence points to how many Hindus opted to abandon the milk industry in these territories during the 1950s and 1960s. That was when religious pressure groups began talking about how the gods would be upset if farmers sold their cows to traders after they stopped lactating.

Except for some part of Gujarat  notably Anand  most Hindus became squeamish about owning cows. Within a couple of decades, the cattle trade moved to the Muslims. Since they were now owners of cattle, it was natural that they would also consolidate their hold on the veterinary trade. Today, both the cattle and veterinary trades in West India is dominated by Muslims, much to the chagrin of Hindus.

Moreover, the Hindus and the backward classes are also actively involved in skinning carcasses and selling meat.

But given the BJPs discomfort towards appeasing slaughter houses and tanneries, it is not certain if any sops will be offered, or whether ideology will be replaced by political calculations. Sops for the milk industry will therefore remain a big uncertainty.

But incentives for forming milk cooperatives may be given a big push. Expect concessions for agricultural produce processing and storage units.

In other words, the current budget proposals might have sops for agriculture, milk cooperatives and for weavers. Since these sops extend to the entire country, nobody will be able to claim that they are targeted at states which go to the hustings.

Moreover, given the urgent national priority to improve child nutrition and to augment agricultural income, nobody can allege a partisan approach if agriculture and milk cooperatives are given a boost.

That could explain why the opposition is crying hoarse for the budget to be postponed. The Supreme Court has refused to intervene. Now it is up to the Election Commission.

(This is the third part of a three part series; First part: Budget 2017: With polls nearing, will Uttar Pradesh's farm sector, industry get a boost?; Second part: Milk is key to UP and so is leather; will cow vigilantism spoil the party for BJP?)

For full coverage of Union Budget 2017 click here.
New Delhi: Days after China blocked India's proposal in the UN, the world body's key member France has pitched for designating Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, saying there are "very strong arguments in favour" of such a move.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day India visit, also sent out a veiled message to China without naming it, saying "the international community's determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat."

Pointing out that Azhar's outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad "is already included in the (Sanctions) Committee's list of terrorist organisations", he told PTI in an interview, "therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested".

That's why, he said, France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UNSC.

India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as an international terrorist for masterminding the attack on Pathankot Air base.

Since then, China had twice imposed "technical hold" on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 last, it blocked it, becoming the only country to do so.

"We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached," said Ayrault, whose country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

He said France will now discuss with India what should be done. "India knows it can count on our support," he added. Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, was one of the three terrorists freed by India in exchange of 166 hostages of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999.

Azhar, at that time, belonged to Harkat-ul Mujahideen, and soon after his release, he floated the new outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan which carried out several attacks in India, including on Parliament on December 13, 2001 and Pathankot Air base.

The French Foreign Minister, whose country has faced a number of terror attacks over the last few years, pitched for a "decisive action" against Pakistan-based terror groups like LeT, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen which are "targeting" India.

"France has very firmly condemned the terrorist attacks against India, including the recent one in Uri, and reiterated its full solidarity with India in its combat against terrorism," he said.

Clearly referring to Pakistan without naming it, he emphasised that all countries should fight effectively against terrorism "originating from their territory or territories under their control".

"We particularly want to see decisive action taken, in keeping with international law, against terrorist groups targeting India, particularly the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen," he said.

The French Minister was asked about his views on the surgical strikes carried out by Indian Army in September last to target terror camps based across the LoC in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.

"Nothing can justify terrorism, which must be fought everywhere with equal determination. When a country is faced with a terrorist threat of this nature, it has the right to defend itself," he replied.

Ayrault also spoke about the scope of cooperation between India and his country in combating terror, the footprint of which is expanding and intensity increasing.

"France and India are both victims of terrorism, and they are in full solidarity vis-a-vis this scourge," he said.

He said the fight against terrorism is one of the cornerstones of India-France strategic partnership.

In concrete terms, he said, France and India hold "constant and very operational exchanges" on the terrorist threat.

"We have a bilateral working group that brings together all the players concerned over counter-terrorism, and, among others, cooperation with regard to investigations and between our respective intervention units, the GIGN from the French side, and the National Security Guards from the Indian side. I welcome the development of all these cooperations," he said.
Hyderabad: Police on Sunday claimed to have solved a dacoity case, wherein 40 kg gold ornaments of a private finance firm were looted on 28 December, 2016, with the arrest of four members of an inter-state gang and a Mumbai-based jeweller.

The incident had taken place at the branch of the firm in Sangareddy district of Telangana.

"With these arrests we have also detected three other similar cases of dacoity in Telangana and at Kalaburgi city of neighbouring Karnataka," police said.

"Special police teams nabbed gang leader Lakshman Narayan Mudhang alias Bhayya, Ganesh Bhonsle alias Patil, Subhash Pandey and Vijay Kumar besides Kumar Pal Trilokchand Shah, a jeweller from Mumbai," Cyberabad Police Commissioner Sandeep Shandilya told reporters in Hyderabad.

The five accused were apprehended from different locations in Maharashtra and Karnataka in past few days, he said, adding, 3.5 kg gold was also recovered from their possession and efforts are on to nab the remaining accused.

On 28 December, five men posing as CBI and police officials came in a black SUV and fled after looting 41.8 kg gold ornaments and Rs 91,000 cash from the branch of the finance firm under RC Puram police station area, the top cop said.

The accused told the staffers that they had caught a thief who claimed of having kept stolen gold with the branch and that they had information about "irregularities" in currency exchange in the wake of demonetisation, police said.

They got the strongroom keys from the staff, under the pretext of checking the records and collected the jewellery and before fleeing allegedly threatened the employees at gunpoint and locked them in a bathroom, the Commissioner said.

During investigations, police found that the SUV was using registration numbers of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The Commissioner said, "Shah has been financing the accused for committing offences. He purchased the booty and offered 50 per cent of market value to them."

"The jeweller had also received stolen gold ornaments weighing about 17 kg after the dacoities at branches of the finance firm in Kalaburgi and R C Puram and had paid the accused over Rs 1.2 crore," the CP said.

Earlier, the gang was involved in dacoity at the mini branch of the finance firm at R C Puram branch on 4 February, 2015 wherein 3.9 kg gold jewellery and cash of Rs 86,000 was looted besides dacoity attempt at branch under KPHB police station limits on 29 May, 2015.

Dacoity at Kalaburgi city in Karnataka took place on 2 March, 2016 wherein 12 kg gold ornaments and Rs three lakh were looted.

According to police, Lakshman and others know each other and are partners in various crimes for the past few years.

Lakshman used to identify the finance branch to be looted and conduct recce before committing the offence while Patil operates in Karnataka, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh and Telangana, police said explaining the role played by the arrested accused in the crime.

Subhash used to procure vehicles and mobilise associates. Vijay Kumar is the cousin of Lakshman who provided food, shelter and participated in the recce on his bike, police added.
Chennai: Batting for more humour and satire in daily life, on Saturday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi termed humour as the "best healer" and said the power of a smile or laughter is more powerful than abuse or any other weapon.

Addressing the 47th anniversary of Tamil magazine Thuglaq, founded by the late Cho S Ramaswamy, Modi particularly referred to the noted journalist's ability for satire and humour and called for more of this in daily life.

"I think we need more satire and humour. Humour brings happiness in our lives. Humour is the best healer. The power of a smile or the power of laughter is more than the power of abuse or any other weapon," he said.

"Humour builds bridges instead of breaking them... And this is exactly what we require today. Building bridges, bridges between people, bridges between communities, bridges between societies," the Prime Minister said through video conferencing from New Delhi.

Heaping encomiums on his "friend" Ramaswamy, Modi said the actor-journalist had mastered the art of satire and humour and he was adept at communicating through a sentence or a cartoon.

He recalled a particular cartoon Ramaswamy had done of him and said it was "apt" to the current situation.

"This reminds me a cartoon of Cho wherein people are targeting me with their guns and the common people are standing in front of me. Cho asks who is the real target, me or the common people? How apt is the cartoon in today's context," he said without referring to any incident.

Modi also did not elaborate.

The prime minister has, however, been receiving flak from opposition parties, including Congress and TMC, besides the Left, over his demonetisation move, saying it had affected the common man though it was rolled out with the objectives of addressing black money, fake notes and terror funding issues.

The prime minister said humour brings out "human creativity".

"We are living in an age where one speech or one event can create multiple memes," he said.

The prime minister paid rich tributes to Ramaswamy, considered close to Modi since his early days as the Gujarat

chief minister.

Modi, who greeted the audience in Tamil at the start of his address, besides extending his Pongal wishes in the same language, said Ramaswamy was one of the best multi-faceted personalities he had ever come across and hailed his role as a journalist, an actor, a lawyer and a political commentator, among others.

Though he donned many hats, Ramaswamy's role as the Editor of Thuglaq was the "jewel in his crown," he said.

It was not very easy to understand Ramaswamy and to do this, one had to understand his courage, conviction and sense of nationalism, "which went beyond parochial wisdom, linguistic and other divisions," the prime minister said.

He said even bitter critics of Ramaswamy found equal prominence in Thuglaq magazine even as he made the magazine "a weapon against all divisive forces."

"He was fighting for a clean and non-corrupt political system and in that struggle he never spared anyone. He was critical of those people with whom he had acted for decades, critical of those people who were friends with him for decades and critical of those who considered him a mentor. None was spared. He did not look at the personalities, but at the issues," Modi said.

Ramaswamy's satire made him lovable even to those whom he criticised and that was not a cultivated or cultivable virtue, but a "gift from the divine" which Ramaswamy used only to promote public interest, the prime minister said.

"Even those who criticised him were given the same prominence like that of Cho in Thuglaq. This is the truest democratic spirit in media and in public life. His thoughts and contributions are not limited to Tamil milieu and Tamil people. He inspired many generations of aspiring journalists and politicians spanning many cities in India. Thuglaq was not a mere political commentary but ears and eyes of millions of Tamil people," he said.

He also said Ramaswamy had once asked someone throwing eggs at him why he was hurling raw eggs and that he could instead make him an omelet.

He termed Ramaswamy's passing away last month as a "personal loss" and said he knew the veteran political analyst for many years. He also recalled that he had participated in a past Thuglaq anniversary function.

Modi said festivals such as Pongal, Makar Sankranti, Lohri and Bihu were being celebrated in different parts of the country and hailed the harmony such festivals bring.
The bodies of four more persons were recovered on Sunday from the river Ganga taking the toll in the boat tragedy in Patna to 24.

Around 40 people were said to be on-board the country boat when it capsised near NIT ghat on Saturday evening.

When asked whether there could be more bodies lying in the river, Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit told PTI that hopes were fading, but rescue works by the SDRF/NDRF teams were still going on.

"No more family has come forward to claim about missing kin in the boat tragedy," he said.

The revellers were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area) across the river after watching a kite festival on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'.

The boat had been retrieved from the Ganga, the senior official said adding it was intact in one piece.

According to reports, an FIR has been lodged against the boat operator as the number of people onboard the vessel were more than its capacity. The operator survived the incident.

The state government has ordered an inquiry into the incident.

A few on the ill-fated boat swam to safety, while some families said their fellow members had gone missing after the accident. Nine persons have been admitted to Patna Medical College Hospital. The search has been called off for the night due to darkness, officials said. Family members of the deceased and those missing were seen wailing at the ghat. Sources told PTI that the tragedy was suspected to have been caused by overloading.

#BiharBoatTragedy: Visuals of NDRF teams conducting search and rescue operations; Death toll rises to 24. pic.twitter.com/DX7zkHwLpx  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Chief Minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief over the tragedy and ordered a probe.

Kumar ordered cancellation of all subsequent events to organised in the diara (riverine) area as part of the Makar Sankranti festivities.

The kite festival from where the victims were returning was scheduled to continue for the next three days.

Bihar boat tragedy: PM announces ex-gratia from PMNRF of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs.50,000 for those seriously injured  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Bihar JD(U) President Basistha Narayan Singh said the JD(U) feast on Sunday, to which BJP leaders were invited for the first time since 2013 when the two allies had parted ways, also stood cancelled. The CM has instructed senior officials to seek details about the programme as to whether proper arrangements were made for the event, an official statement said. Kumar was closely monitoring the situation, it said.

Bihar: List of missing persons put up on board at the Patna Medical College & Hospital, family members await info #BiharBoatTragedy pic.twitter.com/vB1WPP8edR  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Patna boat tragedy from the PM National Relief Fund.

Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

PM expresses grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families  ANI (@ANI_news) January 14, 2017

With inputs from agencies
New Delhi: On the occasion of Army Day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi, on Sunday, saluted the courage and invaluable service of the soldiers and officers, including the veterans.

"Greetings to all soldiers, veterans & their families on Army Day. We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army," he tweeted.

We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2017

Modi said the Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of the nation or helping citizens during natural disasters.

"We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully," the Prime Minister said.

On this day in 1949, Lieutenant General K M Cariappa had taken over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Army from General Sir Francis Butcher.
Six pilgrims, all women, died due to suffocation during a mad rush of the crowds to board a vessel at Kachuberia on their way home from Gangasagar fair after taking the holy dip, a minister said. More than 35 people have been injured in the incident, according to CNN-News18.

"Six aged women died at Kachuberia temporary hospital due to heart attack. They had fallen senseless due to suffocation," Manturam Pakhira, state Sundarbans development minister, told IANS over phone.

"The mishap occurred as the pilgrims got impatient due to the long queue at jetty number five in Kachuberia and tried to outdo others in boarding the vessel," he said.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi expressed sadness over the loss of lives in the West Bengal stampede and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

"Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased," the Prime Minister tweeted.

"My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly," he added. He approved ex-gratia from PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede.

The injured have been admitted to Kakdweep Hospital and Diamond Harbour Sub-Divisional Hospital in Kolkata, which is 150 km from the famous Hindu pilgrim spot, according to Hindustan Times. The newspaper report also puts the number of casualties as seven, with six women and one child reported as dead even as official confirmation on the exact number of casualties is awaited.

The stampede occured at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

A search has been launched and naval divers have been deployed to search for anyone who may have fallen into Muriganga river (distributor of the Hooghly river) during the mad rush, officials said.

The fair, that takes place every year on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on the Sagar island, sees lakhs of people from all over the nation gather each year to take the holy dip in the River Ganga before it merges with the Bay of Bengal.

The only way to reach the island is through mini jetties that ferry between the mainland and the island where the Ganga flows into the Bay of Bengal. Therefore, massive crowd amassing near the docks, during the holy fair is not an uncommon incident, and the administration is usually prepared for crowd management.

However, the incident happened towards the end of the festival and the pilgrims were on their way back and were trying to board a launch at the jetty number five at the Kachuberia ghats.

The jetties can only traverse the river during high tides, which makes the commute slow as devotees have to wait for hours before the ferries can set sail. Therefore, when a large number of pilgrims hurried to board the launch before the high tide withdrew, the chaos triggered a stampede like situation that has so far claimed the lives of six people.

State Panchayat and Public Health Engineering Minister Subrata Mukherjee said the pilgrims were involved in a mad rush to board the vessels in view of the approaching low tide which would have halted launch movement on the river for hours.

According to CNN-News18, the situation has now been brought under control. Further details are awaited from the authorities.

Around 1.6 million pilgrims from across India and abroad had gathered at Sagar island, around 150 km from Kolkata in South 24 Parganas district, this year for the annual Gangsagar Mela on Makar Sankranti. The bathing had started from Friday night.

This island is considered auspicious by the Hindus, who converge here at this time of the year to take the holy dip and pray by offering a coconut at the Kapil Muni temple.

The Ganga Sagar Mela is rated as the second largest assembly of people after the quadrennial Kumbha Mela (fair).

With inputs from agencies
The British government must publish a detailed plan for Brexit by mid-February, setting out its position on future membership of the European Union's single market and customs union, a committee of lawmakers said in a report published on Saturday.

The Exiting the EU committee, made up of lawmakers from several parties including Prime Minister Theresa May's Conservatives and opposition Labour, also said the government should seek a transitional deal with the bloc.

May has said she will begin formal divorce talks with the EU by the end of March but has come under fire from businesses, investors and lawmakers for having revealed little about the government's Brexit plans.

"The government needs to publish its Brexit plan by mid-February at the latest, including its position on membership of the single market and the customs union, so that it can be scrutinised by parliament and the public," said opposition Labour lawmaker Hilary Benn, chair of the committee.

May has said giving a running commentary on preparations would weaken her hand in negotiations. She is due to say more about her approach to Brexit in a speech on Tuesday.

The committee said the Brexit plan must be presented in the form of a government policy document, alongside economic assessments of various options for market access and trade.

"We're not asking the government to give away its red lines or negotiating fall-back positions, but we do want clarity on its broad aims," said Benn.

The committee called on the government to seek to ensure continued access to EU markets for financial services firms and avoid the imposition of tariffs.

It also said May should commit to giving parliament a vote on the final Brexit deal.

The Telegraph newspaper reported that Labour planned to use the government's expected defeat this month in a court battle on how Brexit talks can be triggered to push for parliament to be given a veto on the final package.

The Supreme Court is due to rule on whether the government can use executive powers to kickstart the talks, as it had planned to, or whether it needs parliament's assent.

The Telegraph said that if the ruling required parliament to vote on a bill to trigger Brexit, Labour would put forward an amendment demanding lawmakers get a vote on the final deal as well.

Labour alone could not win a vote on such an amendment. The Telegraph said the party was sounding out Conservative lawmakers who were against Brexit to see if they would support such a move.

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Ludhiana: Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) president Sukhbir Singh Badal on Sunday challenged Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh to contest from Lambi seat only against his father and Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal and claimed he will meet his "nemesis" in the constituency.

"Why is he (Amarinder) keeping Patiala (urban) seat as a stopgap? This proves that he knows he can never win from Lambi and is only contesting the seat to project himself as the chief ministerial candidate of the party at a time when the Congress has not declared its CM candidate," he said.

Sukhbir claimed Amarinder, along with AAP leader Bhagwant Mann would meet their "nemesis" in Lambi and Jalalabad seats respectively and that both he and Badal would never leave their constituencies to contest from any other seat.

He was talking to reporters at Payal, 30 KM from Ludhiana, after addressing a public gathering.

Sukhbir said the SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress were engaged in a direct contest in both Majha and Doaba regions with AAP not having "any presence" in both these regions.

He said the AAP has presence in Malwa and that even in this region it was putting up a meaningful contest in 21 seats only.

"This means there is a triangular contest in only 21 out of the 117 seats in Punjab with all other seats witnessing a two-way contest between the SAD-BJP alliance and the Congress," he said.

About Jagraon and neighbouring areas, the SAD president said the Congress did not even have candidates in majority of seats.

The Congress candidate from Jagraon was a resident of Fatehgarh Sahib and even Congressmen were googling his name to find out his antecedents, he said.

Similarly, the Congress candidate from Ropar was a resident of Chandigarh and there was a widespread revolt against him in the constituency, Sukhbir claimed.

He claimed the people are happy with the development by SAD and have made up their mind to endorse the party once again.

They realise the tremendous progress made in Punjab and also the fact that if the Congress or the 'topiwalas' (referring to AAP) come to power, the state will be destroyed, he said.

The SAD president said Arvind Kejriwal was playing a "dangerous game in Punjab by courting radical elements". AAP was inciting violence in the state and this would take Punjab back to turbulent times if allowed to succeed, he said.

Sukhbir asked the people whether they would ever accept an outsider as chief minister. "Kejriwal has double crossed the entire senior leadership of Punjab and has fielded them in seats from where they cannot win. This is because he plans to become chief minister himself," he said.
India's foreign minister has apparently recovered national pride after making the world's largest online retailer bend. What happened was as follows. On 11 January, an Indian tweeted her a shot of Amazon Canada's online store, which sold peronalised doormats, some of which were in the colours of the Indian flag. Swaraj's correspondent wrote: "Madam. Amazon Canada must be censured and warned not to sell India flag doormats. Please take action."

Madam took action through three tweets. The first, fired off at 5:43 am read: "Indian High Commission in Canada : This is unacceptable. Please take this up with Amazon at the highest level." The second one, after she had digested the momentous event, was at 6:41 am and it read: "Amazon must tender unconditional apology. They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately."

Two minutes later, she sent a threat through her last tweet: "If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant Indian Visa to any Amazon official. We will also rescind the Visas issued earlier."

The doormat maker was of course not familiar with Indian culture. Western doormats have things like 'Welcome' written on them, and it is fine to step on them because there is no cultural offense. The doormats are offered in the colours of any nation's flag and most people buy their own to show their pride. In India, or rather South Asia, the feet are supposed to be unclean (perhaps because we are unable to keep our surroundings clean) and therefore doormats are seen in a different light.

Amazon Canada acted immediately and withdrew the link, which was from a third party supplier. The Amazon website is only a marketplace, where people sell their product. The majority of twitter comments were in favour of Swaraj's actions, because national pride runs strong in India. Some people felt Swaraj had overreacted. Firstly saying that India's self respect and national pride was not so fragile as to be damaged by such things. And secondly, particularly because Amazon has invested billions of dollars in India, it should have been treated with more respect.

I disagree. It does not matter who the individual or entity is. The government of India must deal with all equally. My problems with her actions are different. First, Swaraj's threats confirm what many suspect to be true of India. That it is not a nation that functions on the basis of rules and laws, but arbitrary and knee-jerk decision making. If Amazon's officials had secured their visas through proper paperwork, under what rule or law was Swaraj threatening to cancel them? If she felt a crime had been committed, as a law abiding citizen she should have registered a first information report or a complaint. Instead she fired off a twitter fatwa, acting like a despot.

The second thing is that, as has been noted, Amazon is a global marketplace. If one looks hard enough, there will be something causing offence to someone or the other's god or guru or prophet. And I can guarantee that this has not changed with the removal of the doormat product. Indeed, reports the next day said there were shoes being sold with the Indian flag (also offensive in our part of the world). What will Swaraj do the next time something like this pops up?

The third thing is that this sort of angry public nationalism comes very easily to our leaders. This time, last year, we were again discussing nationalism.

It was in February 2016 that the Jawaharlal Nehru University slogan shouting issue erupted. It was the dominant story for two weeks in the media, because apparently these slogans had caused great damage to India. The Lok Sabha took up three days to debate it. The education minister was so moved that she threatened to cut off her head. The home minister said Lashkar-e-Tayyaba and Hafiz Saeed were behind the slogan shouting. The prime minister himself entered the debate and tweeted about it, saying 'satyamev jayate', meaning truth always prevails. The National Investigation Agency was apparently going to probe the thing. The offending young men were arrested and one of them beaten up while in custody.

After all of this drama, what was the ultimate result? The BJP government has not filed the chargesheet. Raat gayi, baat gayi. This fraudulent, dhongi, nationalism, this showy, nautanki, emotional but insubstantial nationalism, is the same type that Swaraj has again shown.

It is a waste of national time and energy and ministers, particularly those who carry heavy responsibilities, should not participate in the circus.
The death toll in the boat tragedy in Patna rose to 25 on Sunday as rescuers recovered four more bodies, officials said.

"With four more bodies found, including that of a 12-year-old girl, the number of dead has gone up to 25," Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Agrawal told the media.

Pritay Amrit, the Principal Secretary in the Disaster Management wing, said the rescue and search operation would continue on Sunday.

According to witnesses, the overcrowded boat was returning from a kite flying festival, organised as part of Makar Sankranti by the Bihar Tourism Department, when the incident took place around 6 pm on Saturday.

Some witnesses claim that there were more than 100 people onboard the boat. They said that there was no police near the incident and they didn't respond in time. The witnesses claim that this was a serious lapse in administrative measures.

According to officials, 25 victims have been identified, including five children and women each and 15 men.

The capsized and broken boat was taken out of the Ganga river by a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Sunday.

A case has been lodged against the boatman and manager of an amusement park.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the tragedy.

The government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each victim.

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United cancelled its feast on Sunday to mark Makar Sankranti festival in view of the tragedy.

With inputs from agencies
Last year Kaber and Tenma created a song to reclaim the meaning of the pejoratively used term in Tamil  Poramboke. The word refers to land that is reserved for communities to share and use. Kaber's 'Poramboke Song' from 2016 was intended to be a wake-up call for citizens to be more involved in the environment they live in. In 2017, Chennai Poromboke Paadal with Carnatic doyen TM Krishna stays on point. Perhaps, the message is even stronger.

The new video features TM Krishna sitting at various spots along the East Coast Road in Chennai which have seen rapid 'development' over the years  concrete replaces sand, trees and anything else which is born from the Earth. Published by Vettiver Collective  Chennai's voluntary space that takes action on social and environmental issues  the video, running over nine minutes reaffirms the fact that Poromboke or the community land isn't meant for profit or to benefit one single person  it is meant to simply exist, naturally, unaltered for the sustenance of human life.

Poromboke ennaku illai, poromboke unnaku illai (Poromboke is not for me, it is not for you) Poromboke ooruike, poromboke bhoomikku (Poromboke is for the city, it is for the Earth)

Accompanied by violinist HN Bhaskar, Praveen Sparsh on the mridangam, and BS Purushottam on the kanjira, TM Krishna laments about how despite the Chennai floods of 2015, there is very little that we have learnt. How is it wise to construct buildings in water bodies, he asks. On the path that the river takes to reach the sea, what is the need for concrete? "The rivers did not choose to flow through cities, rather it was around the rivers that the cities chose to grow," he sings.

The film was conceived by Nityanand Jayaraman, a Chennai based environmental activist who, according to a report in The Times of India, wrote a 10,000-word piece on the issue and gave it to the lyricist Kaber from Tamil rock band Kurangan, who condensed Jayaraman's essay into a song.

Shot at the Ennore Creek and the associated wetlands  areas that are currently being encroached by the Kamarajar Port  2,000 acres of the wetlands will soon turn into real estate. According to the filmmakers, the creek is being used to dump toxic fly ash by Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation Limited (Tangedco). The video has been directed by Rathindran R Prasad who also shot the famous Kodaikanal Won't video responsible for Unilever buckling under pressure and providing compensation to those they wronged.
Kolkata: A court on Sunday sent to, three days police custody, BJP's West Bengal unit Vice President Jayprakash Majumdar, arrested for allegedly taking money from School Service Commission candidates on the pretext of getting them jobs.

The judge at Bidhannagar court also rejected a bail plea moved by the defence counsel.

Majumdar was arrested on Saturday after seven hours of intense grilling at the Bidhannagar North police station following a complaint by Arup Ratan Roy.

However, the BJP leader lashed out at the Roy in the court premises, saying he was not a candidate at the TET examination.

"Complainant himself is not an examinee of TT. This complaint is based on lies. The entire thing is a conspiracy," he said.
Patna: BJP leader Sushil Modi on Sunday alleged that "negligence" of Bihar government led to the boat capsize that claimed 24 lives and said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should take responsibility for the tragedy.

He also demanded that the state government postpone the proposed human chain on 21 January in support of prohibition in the wake of the boat disaster.

"The Chief Minister should take responsibility for the negligence that led to yesterday's (Saturday's) tragic incident... If the CM can take credit for the arrangements for Prakashotsav (in Patna) and Kalchakra (in Bodhgaya), then he should also take the responsibility of the death of 24 people," Sushil Modi said in Patna.

"It cannot be that Kumar would get credit for good administrative arrangements for 'Prakashotsav' and 'Kalchakra' while the administrative officers are held responsible for failures," he said.

Questioning the arrangements for the kite festival by the tourism department on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Sabbalpur diara, the BJP leader said, it was neither reviewed by the Chief Minister nor by Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who is the district's in-charge minister.

On the other hand, the government had spent Rs 200 crore on 'Prakashotsav' which was reviewed by the Chief Minister himself and top officials regularly, Sushil Modi said.

Around one lakh people had gathered at the kite flying site on the state government's promise to ferry them free of charge to the spot, he said, adding, "The people had to pay with their lives for the government's poor and inadequate arrangements on their return journey."

Asked whether he would seek the Chief Minister's resignation, the BJP leader said, "It is up to him (Kumar) to decide. We have pointed out the failures and negligence of the state government."

Alleging that the government was responsible for similar incidents in the past, he said, "The government did not learn any lesson from the two major incidents of Chhath and Dussehra when 22 and 33 people died respectively... The government does not know crowd control techniques."

"It has become a norm that the administration wakes up from deep slumber after every major incident," Sushil Modi claimed.

Questioning why all district administration officials were at RJD chief Lalu Prasad's residence, he said, "Probably they were there to receive the Chief Minister."

Now the government is trying to divert people's attention from the actual reason of the incident by saying people came in large numbers to see a 'Disneyland' fair, which is yet to start, the BJP leader said.

Sushil Modi appealed to the state government to postpone its human chain programme on 21 January aimed at garnering support for prohibition.

The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of the ruling JD(U)'s 'dahi-chura' feast apart from another function meant for launch of renovation of the dilapidated Mahanama Gandhi setu by Prime Minister Narendra Modi by remote control from Delhi, he said.

The BJP leader claimed that more than 1,000 people have lost their lives in various boat capsize incidents in the past one year in Bihar and added the government should make it mandatory that boats should have lifeboats to avert loss of lives.

Questioning the Bihar government's choice of officers to conduct an inquiry into the boat capsize incident, Sushil Modi claimed, "Those officers who were responsible for making arrangements, have been given the responsibility of conducting inquiry. What they will probe?"

The state government has formed an inquiry committee to probe the boat tragedy.

The committee comprises three officials, including the Disaster Management Department's secretary Pratyaya Amrit, Central Range Deputy Inspector General (DIG) (Patna) Shalin and Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal.
Chandigarh: Claiming that there was a "secret seat-sharing arrangement" between AAP and Congress, SAD asked them to forge a pre-poll alliance for Assembly polls instead of nurturing the "unholy nexus".

In a statement, Union minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the "secret arrangement" between Arvind Kejriwal and PPCC chief Amarinder Singh and his high command in Delhi has already been "exposed". She said the "open rebellion" by the Congress cadre in the state has exposed their plans of fielding weak candidates against each other. She said Congress had fielded weak candidates against AAP and the new-entrant in the state politics has reciprocated in similar fashion.

She claimed "this arrangement" was put in place so that both parties could forge post-poll alliance and form the next government in the state.

The SAD leader said the fact is that both the "post-poll partners of Delhi" want to befool the people of the border state on the pattern of the national capital.

AAP and Congress had formed a post-poll alliance after the Kejriwal-led party had fought its first ever election in the national capital. She said it is prerogative of the people to reject or accept any party or alliance. She reminded Amarinder that not a single "controversial incident" has occurred in Punjab between 2007 to 2014 but after the emergence of AAP the state was hit by a series of incidents including "desecration of Guru Granth Sahib".

Referring to the anti-Sikh riots, She said what Congress did in 1984 in Delhi and other parts of nation, AAP wants to repeat in Punjab.
Washington: As a candidate, Donald Trump said he wanted to make America's infrastructure great again. As president, he'll have plenty of ways to get started in his new home town.

The Arlington Memorial Bridge, Washington's most recognisable span over the Potomac River, is in such bad shape that it will be closed to all vehicle traffic during Friday's inauguration.

Hundreds of thousands will rely on the Metro subway to reach the Capitol and the National Mall, and they'll get a firsthand look at a system that's deteriorated significantly during the past eight years and has repair needs measured in the billions.

Even the Washington Monument is shut down because of a broken elevator. Visitors won't be able to ride to the top again until at least 2019.

Political leaders in the region, mostly Democrats, say the city's infrastructure mess presents an opportunity to Trump and Republicans in Congress to show they can govern and deliver on one of the new president's touted campaign promises. But as Trump gets ready to take office, they're not optimistic that he's ready to follow through.

"It'll be in his face. He'll see the worn-out infrastructure right here where he lives," said Eleanor Holmes Norton, a Democrat who's the District of Columbia's delegate in Congress. "But we don't yet have, especially for the first 100 days, any indication that he wants to start off with a plan."

Trump has promised to employ millions of workers to rebuild the nation's highways, bridges, tunnels and airports and make them "second to none" in the process.

It's an unquestioned need.

Nationwide, governments are short $1.4 trillion of the money needed to make necessary repairs to infrastructure  including drinking, wastewater and mass transit systems  through 2025, according to the American Society of Civil Engineers.

That's the problem with the Arlington Memorial Bridge, which connects the Lincoln Memorial with Arlington National Cemetery and is arguably the region's most pressing need. One of the five spans that bring vehicles across the Potomac River into traffic-choked Washington, it will be forced to close by 2021 without a reconstruction, expected to cost at least $250 million. The National Park Service won a $90 million federal grant last year to start the project, but is still looking for a way to come up the rest of the money.

"It's the absolute poster child for our crumbling infrastructure nationally," said Rep. Don Beyer, a Democrat who represents the Virginia side of the bridge. "We're allowing our national capital to crumble before our eyes and the eyes of the whole world. It's pretty embarrassing."

During the campaign, Trump positioned himself as capable of addressing the public works problem because of his business background. But his plans have been open-ended and short on specifics, and many Republicans in Congress are not eager to approve large-scale infrastructure spending.

A paper circulated after the election recommended using $137 billion in federal tax credits to generate $1 trillion in private-sector infrastructure investment over a decade. Such private investors are typically interested only in projects that create revenue, such as tolls. That solution isn't practical with many infrastructure projects.

Said Beyer, "I do not want to make Arlington Memorial Bridge a toll bridge."

Mayor Muriel Bowser said she hopes the inauguration will be "an opportunity to focus the incoming administration's attention" on the 85-year-old bridge. Vehicles weighing 10 tons or more have been barred from using it since 2014, and during the inauguration, it will be closed to all but pedestrians.

Metro, the city's beleaguered subway system, has handled past inaugurations smoothly. The system changes its schedule on Inauguration Day, opening earlier than usual and running trains at rush-hour levels throughout the day. Some downtown stations will be closed for security reasons.

But in 2009  when 1.8 million people attended President Barack Obama's first inauguration  Metro was in much better shape. Since then, ridership has declined and service has become less reliable amid a series of calamities, including track fires, derailments and collisions.

Metro's leaders say the system needs major new spending to reverse the decline. But elected officials in Maryland, Virginia and the city can't agree on a regional tax to fund the system. Republicans in Congress have been hostile to the suggestion of more federal dollars, saying Metro's problems result from poor management.

To balance Metro's budget, general manager Paul Wiedefeld has proposed laying off workers, raising fares, reducing service and asking local governments for bigger subsidies.

The Washington Monument is one thing that will get fixed regardless of whether Trump or Congress takes action. Billionaire philanthropist David Rubenstein came to the rescue of the monument with $3 million to fix the elevator, just as he paid for major repairs to the 555-foot obelisk after it was damaged in a 2011 earthquake.

Norton said going big on infrastructure could be a political win for Trump.

"He seems to understand, if you engage in building something, it tends to generate its own wealth," Norton said. "And by wealth he means jobs, so it would be a perfect way for him to proceed."
By John Irish and Lesley Wroughton

| PARIS

PARIS Major powers will signal to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is the only solution, with France warning him that plans to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts.Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, are in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as "futile". Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented. But, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the incoming American president.Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital despite international objections.Calling it a provocation, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the move would have serious consequences on the ground."One cannot have such a clear-cut, unilateral position. You have to create the conditions for peace," he told France 3 television. Paris has said the meeting will not impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations can resolve the conflict.

A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it. The communique asks the protagonists to "refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations".LOW POINT

Diplomats said the communique could be toughened up with an allusion to Trump's plans for Jerusalem and whether to have a follow-up to the French initiative intensely debated. "This conference is among the last twitches of the world of yesterday," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday. "Tomorrow will look different and that tomorrow is very close."Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a U.N. resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement programme threatened Middle East peace and the two-state solution.

Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had told Trump that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the U.S. of its role as honest broker - and could lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel.Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next U.S. administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely. Arab states also have concerns about how Trump's relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Susan Fenton)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
DUBAI Bahrain on Sunday executed three Shi'ite Muslim men convicted of killing three policemen in a 2014 bomb attack, the first such executions in over two decades, drawing condemnation from foreign officials including Shi'ite power Iran.Activists in the Sunni-ruled, Western-allied kingdom reacted with rage, calling it a "black day" and posting images of protesters clashing with police on social media. Reuters was unable to verify the protests.The move is likely to further poison ties between Bahrain, its ally Saudi Arabia and Iran, which Bahrain accuses of fomenting unrest, including by supplying arms to Shi'ite militants who carried out several bomb attacks on security forces. Iran, a sharp critic of Bahrain's government, denies links to Bahrain's opposition. It does, however, champion their cause.The executions happened less than a week after the country's highest court confirmed the punishment against Abbas al-Samea, 27, Sami Mushaima, 42, and Ali al-Singace, 21, found guilty of killing one Emirati and two Bahraini police officers.Iran called the punishments "reckless". "Bahrain's government has demonstrated that it does not seek a peaceful resolution and a way out out of the crisis," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Qasemi, quoted by the official news agency IRNA. Such executions are rare in the small Gulf island. The last similar case involving a Shi'ite Bahraini occurred in 1996. British Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said in a statement that Britain opposes the death penalty and he "raised the issue with the Bahraini Government."

DISCRIMINATION

Bahrain's majority Shi'ite population has for decades accused their rulers of discrimination in matters of jobs, housing and political say. State news agency BNA said the men were shot and killed in the presence of a judge, doctor and a Muslim cleric.Social media postings by activists showed demonstrators blocking roads with burning tires and throwing rocks at police who responded with tear gas in several Shi'ite villages.

The postings said at least one person was hurt by birdshot, according to a Twitter posting which included a photo of a young man bleeding from an eyebrow.An opposition group, the Duraz Youth Movement, urged civil disobedience and a work stoppage to protest the executions.Mass "Arab Spring" demonstrations in 2011 that were led by Shi'ites were crushed by the authorities with help from its Gulf Arab neighbours, deepening sectarian rivalry in the region.Authorities last year escalated a crackdown on its Shi'ite critics by imprisoning a top rights campaigner, shuttering the main opposition block and revoking the community's spiritual leader of his citizenship.

It has drawn criticism throughout from the international community, including from governments and rights groups who accuse it of being too heavy handed. Amnesty International said the executions were carried out "after an unfair trial and despite claims from the men that they were tortured in custody". Bahrain denies practising torture. Activists warned the move would undermine security."This is a black day in Bahrain's history. It is the most heinous crime committed by the government of Bahrain and a shame upon its rulers," said Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei of the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy. (Reporting by Noah Browning, Katie Paul and Omar al-Fahmy; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

This story has not been edited by Firstpost staff and is generated by auto-feed.
Indonesia and Japan have agreed to step up maritime security and start discussions on a major railway project to link the Southeast Asian nation's capital and second-biggest city, the leaders of both countries said on Sunday.

Japan has historically been one of Indonesia's biggest investors, but was dealt a blow in 2015 when President Joko Widodo's government awarded China a high-speed train project linking Jakarta with the city of Bandung in West Java.

Tensions around railway deals seemed to have eased on Sunday, when Japan Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said after meeting Widodo in Bogor, south of Jakarta, that Japan will cooperate with Indonesia to build infrastructure in the railway and other sectors.

The two leaders also discussed North Korea, with Abe saying its development of nuclear capability and missiles has reached "a new level of threat".

North Korea said last week it can test launch an intercontinental ballistic missile at any time from any location set by leader Kim Jong Un, adding the United States' hostile policy was to blame for its arms development.

On South China Sea, Abe said that Japan asserts the importance of the principle of upholding the law and solving a dispute peacefully.

"The issue of South China Sea has drawn the attention of the international community and directly affects the peace in the region," Abe said.

Maritime security cooperation is of utmost importance for fellow maritime nations, Japan and Indonesia, he said.

"Japan will actively encourage cooperation in maritime security and the development of the remote islands in Indonesia."

China claims almost the entire South China Sea, through which about $5 trillion worth of trade passes each year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims to parts of the sea.

While Indonesia is not part of the dispute over claims in the South China Sea, it objects to China's claim to waters around the Natuna Islands.

RAILWAY WARS

At an estimated cost of $5.5 billion, the Jakarta-Bandung line was seen in 2015 as a coup for China, which is vying for influence in the region under its "One Belt, One Road" policy and has ambitions to be a global train supplier.

The roughly 600-km (400-mile) Jakarta-Surabaya project is likely to cost less than the Jakarta-Bandung rail as the speed of the trains is slower and most of the land has been secured, according to Indonesia's transport minister.

The minister told Reuters in October that the government had invited Japan to work on the Jakarta-Surabaya project, which is aimed at slashing journey times between the capital and the East Java city by more than half to around five hours.

Japan and Indonesia also plan to develop the Masela gas block in Indonesia's Maluku Province and Patimban port in West Java, Widodo said on Sunday.

On other regional issues, Abe said North Korea's kidnapping of Japanese citizens is a very important challenge for his administration to resolve.

Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens decades ago. Abe has made resolving the emotive issue a signature pledge of his political career.

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Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed as "futile" an international conference in Paris seeking to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"The conference convening today in Paris is a futile conference," he told ministers at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians with the aim of imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs," he said.

Netanyahu's government has bitterly opposed the conference, saying only direct talks with the Palestinians can end the long-running conflict. The Palestinians have welcomed the multilateral approach, saying years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation of the West Bank.

The conference is being held without either the Israelis or the Palestinians, but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet French President Francois Hollande in the coming weeks to be briefed on the outcome, French diplomats said.

Netanyahu declined a similar invitation, they said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault formally opened the assembly of foreign ministers and representatives from around 70 countries and international organisations.

"We are here to reiterate strongly that the two-state solution is the only one possible," Ayrault said. The conference comes just five days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel.

Israel fears measures discussed at the conference could be taken to the UN Security Council before Trump takes office. In a break with previous administrations, Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Abbas warned on Saturday that such a move could "bury the hopes for a two-state solution".

The city's status is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict, which is why foreign embassies are currently based in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital. Hard-line Israeli lawmakers, including some from Netanyahu's Likud party, have said Trump's win represents an opportunity to quash the chance of Palestinians obtaining an independent state.

Netanyahu, who says he still supports a two-state solution, appeared in his comments today to be looking forward to the impending change in the White House.

"This conference is among the last spasms of Saturday world," he said. "Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close."
Washington: US President-elect Donald Trump harshly responded to civil rights icon John Lewis, calling him "all talk  no action" after Lewis said Trump was not a "legitimate" President, CNN reported.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad," Trump tweeted on Saturday.

Trump made the remarks after Lewis told NBC in an interview that the Republican would take office as an illegitimate President, citing the US intelligence community's allegations that Russia interfered in the election to harm his Democratic Party rival, Hillary Clinton.

The 76-year-old Lewis  who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech  said he would not attend the presidential inauguration for the first time in his 30 years in Congress.

Cornell William Brooks, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), said Trump's remarks were disrespectful and called on him to apologise.

"By disrespecting @repjohnlewis, @realDonaldTrump dishonoured Lewis' sacrifice & demeaned Americans & the rights, he nearly died 4. Apologize," Brooks tweeted, including an image of a bloodied Lewis taken during the Civil Rights Era.

Donna Brazile, the interim head of the Democratic National Committee, denounced Trump's remarks and said at a DNC gathering in Phoenix that Lewis "took action".

"He took action from marching from Selma to Montgomery. He took action in marching toward men wielding clubs across the Pettus Bridge. They fractured his skull because of the colour of his skin. But John Lewis never stopped marching for justice and equality," she said.

Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress, highlighting Lewis' contributions to the civil rights movement, swiftly condemned Trump.

"Ahead of #MLKday2017, let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed," tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.

California Senator Kamala Harris said Lewis doesn't deserve to be attacked by Trump.

"John Lewis is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality. He deserves better than this," she tweeted.

Later, Lewis responded to Trump's comments by saying, "Today, Donald Trump attacked me on Twitter. He said that I'm 'all talk' and 'no action',".

"I've been beaten bloody, tear-gassed, fighting for what's right for America... Sometimes that's what it takes to move our country in the right direction."

He continued: "Some leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past, when the power of law was used to deny the freedoms protected by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and its Amendments."

"It took massive, well-organised, non-violent dissent and criticism of this great nation and its laws to move towards a greater sense of equality in America."

Lewis is one of an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers who are boycotting Trump's inauguration after learning more about Russia's role in the 2016 election.
Kuwait city: A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait city.

KUNA quoted Mansour al-Hashemi, a spokesman for Kuwait's civil aviation authority, as saying "initial investigations confirmed the plane was explosives-free."

Eurowings said there were 287 passengers and 10 crew members on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa. It began offering direct flights from Cologne to Salalah in October.

Tal Muscal, a spokesman for Lufthansa, confirmed the flight was diverted and that no explosives were found on the plane.

"I do know there is nothing on board," he said.
DUBAI Iran will not renegotiate its nuclear agreement with world powers, even if it faces new U.S. sanctions after Donald Trump becomes president, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday.Trump, who will take office on Friday, has threatened to either scrap the agreement, which curbs Iran's nuclear programme and lifts sanctions against it, or seek a better deal."There will be no renegotiation and the (agreement) will not be reopened," said Araqchi, Iran's top nuclear negotiator at the talks that led to the agreement in 2015, quoted by the state news agency IRNA."We and many analysts believe that the (agreement) is consolidated. The new U.S. administration will not be able to abandon it," Araqchi told a news conference in Tehran, held a year after the deal took effect.

"Nuclear talks with America are over and we have nothing else to discuss," he added.

"It's quite likely that the U.S. Congress or the next administration will act against Iran and imposes new sanctions." Under Iran's agreement with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China, most U.N. sanctions were lifted a year ago. But Iran is still subject to an U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions, which are not technically part of the nuclear agreement.

(Reporting by Dubai newsroom)

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BEIRUT Islamic State militants launched their biggest attack in months on government-held areas of the Syrian city of Deir al-Zor on Saturday, leaving dozens of dead, a war monitor said.At least six large explosions rocked the city since dawn as the militants clashed with the army and allied forces, the British-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported.Syrian government warplanes hit back against Islamic State positions, the Observatory and state media said. Syrian state news agency SANA said the army was repelling attacks by the ultra-hardline jihadist group along several frontlines, including around the military airport controlled by the government.

Islamic State shelling killed three people and wounded nine in residential government-held districts, SANA reported. The fighting and bombardment killed at least 12 government forces and 20 Islamic State fighters, the Observatory said.

Islamic State controls most of Deir al-Zor province, which borders Iraq, including more than half the city, and has besieged the remaining government-held areas of the city for nearly two years. The Syrian government and its Russian ally have made regular aid drops into the encircled zone, where about 200,000 people live, lacking food and medicine.

Deir al-Zor province links Islamic State's de facto capital in the Syrian city of Raqqa with territory controlled by the militant group in Iraq. (Reporting by Ellen Francis, Editing by Angus MacSwan)

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By John Irish, Lesley Wroughton and Marine Pennetier

| PARIS

PARIS Some 70 countries on Sunday reaffirmed that only a two-state solution could resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned they would not recognise any unilateral steps by either side that could prejudge negotiations.The final communique of a one-day international Middle East peace conference in Paris shied away from explicitly criticising plans by U.S. president-elect Donald Trump to move the U.S Embassy to Jerusalem, although diplomats said the wording sent a "subliminal" message. Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital, despite international objections.Countries including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council were in Paris for the conference, that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as "futile". Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians were represented. However, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the meeting was seen as a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the incoming American president that a two-state solution to the conflict could not be compromised on and that unilateral decisions could exacerbate tensions on the ground.The participants "call on each side ... to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees and which they will not recognise," the final communique said.A French diplomatic source said there had been tough negotiations on that paragraph.

"It's a tortuous and complicated paragraph to pass a subliminal message to the Trump administration," the diplomat said.U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters it would have been inappropriate to include the issue of moving the U.S. embassy, it being publicly debated in the United States.Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto U.N. resolution 2334 demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.Paris has said the meeting did not aim to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations could resolve the conflict.

The final draft did not go into any details other than reaffirming U.N. Security Council resolutions, including 2334. Diplomats said that had been a source of friction in talks."When some are questioning this, it's vital for us to recall the framework of negotiations. That framework is the 1967 borders and the main resolutions of the United Nations," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, told reporters.Kerry, who abandoned his efforts to broker peace talks in April 2014, told reporters that the meeting had "moved the ball forward."

"It underscores this is not just one administration's point of view, this is shared by the international community broadly," he said.Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year and argued that it should not play second fiddle to the war in Syria and fight against Islamic State militants.The final statement said interested parties would meet again before year-end.But Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday that "this conference is among the last twitches of the world of yesterday ... Tomorrow will look different and that tomorrow is very close."Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said on Saturday that moving the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process, said the Paris meeting would help at stopping "settlement activities and destroying the two-state solution through dictations and the use of force." (Additional reporting Lesley Wroughton in Paris and Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Susan Fenton, Greg Mahlich)

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Beijing: On Sunday, China made it clear that the 'One China' policy is "non-negotiable" and "no one can change it", in a strong rebuttal to President-elect Donald Trump's plan to use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the 'One China' policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is non-negotiable", following Trump's statement that the policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, questioning the decades-old-policy followed by Washington in its relations with Beijing.

It must be pointed out that there is but 'One China' in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognised fact and no one can change it," Lu said.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous US governments to the One China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said without directly referring to Trump.

Lu urged the US side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Since his election, Trump has riled China by holding telephone talks with Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing-wen, who herself is toeing a hardline against Beijing.

China on the other hand is pressuring over 20 countries mainly in Latin America and Africa to not have diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Recently China prevailed over tiny African island Sao Tome and Principe to break off diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which in turn accused Beijing of offering big loans to entice the small countries to move away from Taipei.

Nigeria also broke off all diplomatic relations with Taiwan after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi few days ago.

Besides a showdown on 'One China' policy after Trump takes over, Beijing also apprehends a trade war as the US Presidential-elect wants to bring about a parity of bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of China.

China's exports to the US total to about USD 500 billion against USD 100 billion of American exports to the Chinese mainland.

Trump accuses China of devaluing its currency to gain more out of its exports.

Trump has also questioned China's island building in the disputed South China Sea and his Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said last week that China should be stopped from accessing the islands.
TAIPEI Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen said on Sunday her trip to Central American allies and transit stops in the United States had elevated the island's international profile, as China hit back at U.S. President-elect Donald Trump for his remarks on the "one China" policy.Beijing was also upset that Tsai was allowed to stop over in the United States on the arrival and departure legs of her trip to Central America the past two weekends, which it saw as a potential breach of the "one China" policy. Under the nearly four-decade old policy, the United States has acknowledged China's position that there is only one China and Taiwan is part of China. It has formal ties with China rather than the island of Taiwan, which China sees as a breakaway province to be reunified with the mainland one day."Our first objective (of this trip), was to consolidate our state friendships and allow Taiwan to walk on the international stage," Tsai said at Taiwan's international airport upon arrival on Sunday night.She said she had bilateral talks with four heads of state in Central America. "We also grasped the opportunity during our short transit time in the United States to visit industries and talk with important people in America," Tsai said.U.S. officials had said Tsai's transit stops were based on long-standing U.S. practice and Tsai's office had characterized her meetings on U.S. soil as private and unofficial.

The visit came amidst mounting controversy over Trump's remarks about Taiwan.China's foreign ministry said on Saturday that its "one China" principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-U.S. relations, and urged "relevant parties" in the United States to recognise the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue.

The comments, posted on the foreign ministry's website, were a direct response to Trump's remarks in an interview with the Wall Street Journal in which he suggested he might use the "one China" policy as a bargaining chip with Beijing.China had already been furious over Trump's call last December with President Tsai, who was congratulating him on his election. It was the first time a U.S. president or president-elect had spoken to Taiwan's leader since the "one China" policy was established in 1979.After attacking China repeatedly during the election campaign, Trump has continued to criticise China in Twitter messages over its alleged currency manipulation, for its military moves in the South China Sea, and for not doing enough to restrain North Korea's nuclear and missile programmes.

On her way to Central America, Tsai met with senior Republican lawmakers in Houston. During a visit to messaging service Twitter Inc on Saturday in San Francisco, Tsai reactivated an old account and tweeted: "Had a great visit to @Twitter HQ today. Thank you to @vijaya and team for showing us around!" (Reporting by Damon Lin and Fabian Hamacher; Writing by J.R. Wu; Editing by Bill Tarrant)

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The latest prison riot in northern Brazil is thought to have killed more than 30 people, some of them beheaded, officials said Sunday, tripling an earlier estimated death toll.

"There are probably more than 30 dead" at the Alcacuz prison in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, police investigator Otacilio de Medeiros told reporters after leaving the jail.

The bloodbath that erupted on Saturday night was the latest of several gruesome gang-related massacres this year in the country's overcrowded prisons.

Another official earlier said at least three inmates were beheaded -- a feature of similar massacres in other jails at the start of this month.

Security forces stormed the prison at dawn on Sunday and restored order after 14 hours of violence, local authorities said.

Officials said members of two separate drug gangs had come out of different parts of the prison and clashed violently.

"There are at least three inmates dead because we were able to see their heads," state prisons manager Zemilton Silva told local media on Saturday.

The prison, just outside the state capital Natal, is built for a maximum of 620 inmates but currently houses 1,083, the state justice department said.

Brazilian media said the riot was thought to be a clash between Brazil's biggest drug gang, the First Capital Command (PCC), and a group allied to its main rival Red Command.

Experts say the wave of violence is part of a war between drug gangs battling for control of one of the world's most important cocaine markets and trafficking routes.

The series of massacres in the first week of January left 100 prisoners dead -- many of them active members of gangs, authorities said.

The biggest bloodbath, in the northwestern city of Manaus, left about 60 dead. It appeared to be an orchestrated mass killing targeting members of the PCC.

It was thought to be a backlash by the PCC's rivals for its violent expansion.

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The marijuana industry enters 2017 with high hopes. Last year was arguably the best year ever for cannabis, and pro-legalization enthusiasts are counting on that trend to continue.

Entering 2016, 23 states had legalized medical cannabis while residents in another four states had legalized the sale of recreational pot. By year's end, five new states have legalized medical cannabis, two of which did so entirely through the legislative process (Ohio and Pennsylvania). What's more, the number of recreation-legal weed states doubled to eight, with Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, and the crown jewel, California, all voting in favor of their respective state's pot initiative.

The expansion of marijuana at the state level is being fueled by two catalysts. First, public opinion toward marijuana has drastically shifted since California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis back in 1996. At the time, roughly a quarter of the public wanted to see pot legalized nationally, according to Gallup. As of 2016, 60% of respondents wanted to see marijuana legalized nationally, an all-time high.

The second factor pushing the state-level expansion of weed is the "green" behind the green. Cannabis research firm ArcView believes the legal cannabis industry can grow by roughly 30% per year through the end of the decade, while investment firm Cowen & Co. pegs the legal marijuana market as being worth $50 billion by 2026. This would represent a compound annual growth rate of more than 23%. Industry participants want their hands on that growing slice of pie and so do state-level government officials who see marijuana taxes as a way of adding a new revenue source to their respective state.

Keeping kids away from pot remains paramount

But with marijuana's expansion comes one key danger -- a danger, mind you, that has long kept the federal government from considering the legalization of cannabis at the federal level. This danger is the belief that legalization will allow pot to more easily fall into the hands of adolescents.

There are certainly no shortage of studies suggesting that marijuana use in adolescents is bad news. For example, a 2015 study from Northwestern University found that adolescent cannabis use can have an adverse impact on users' long-term memory. Researchers examined the hippocampus (the area of the brain responsible for long-term memory retention) via MRI in subjects who had used marijuana for a period of three years and those who'd never used marijuana. What they found was a long-term memory test score that was 18% lower for the marijuana users, as well as an oddly shaped hippocampus.

In 2014, an abstract published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also appeared to demonstrate the adverse effects of pot use on adolescent brains. When comparing the MRIs of 48 users (some of which were adolescents) against 62 nonusers, researchers observed less gray matter in the orbitofrontal cortex, a region responsible for decision-making and motivation, for pot users compared to nonusers. What's more, marijuana users had lower average IQ scores.

This new study is worrisome

However, a new study from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program is especially worrisome.

The study found that Washington state teens (Washington legalized recreational weed in 2012) saw an uptick in pot use following the 2012 vote, and a significantly higher-than-average drop in the "perception of harmfulness," which is a measure of how teens view the dangers of marijuana use. Teens in states where pot is illegal have seen their perception of harm from marijuana drop by about 5% to 7%. By comparison, eighth-graders and 10th-graders in Washington state saw their perception of harmfulness fall by 14% and 16%, respectively. More so, cannabis use increased by 2% for eighth-graders and 4% for 10th-graders in Washington compared to a 1% decline in non-legal states.

Researchers also examined Colorado, which legalized recreational pot at the same time as Washington in 2012. Despite no significant change in teen perceptions or use, researchers have hypothesized that Colorado was more lenient regarding weed prior to its recreational legalization, therefore teens were far more inclined to use cannabis before it was legalized. This would explain the relatively unchanged use habits among teens since 2012.

What's also notable about this study is that its lead researcher was Magdalena Cerda. Cerda, along with assistance from Duke University, put out a study last March that found marijuana to be, in many ways, more dangerous than alcohol. After following a group of children born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1972-1973 through age 38, researchers discovered that persistent marijuana use has negative social and economic repercussions. The report notes that even after accounting for a number of common factors, regular pot users were more antisocial at work, experienced more relationship problems, and had troubles controlling their debt and cash flow, relative to people who don't use marijuana.

Long story short, there's a clear-cut concern that state-level legalizations are going to make it easier for teens to access marijuana, and that could work against the pro-legalization movement.

Colorado is setting an example

Even though Cerda and her research partners suggest that Colorado's stance toward pot may have been more lax than Washington state from the start, Colorado does have one thing working in its favor: a model policy on marijuana edibles.

Beginning on Oct. 1, 2016, Colorado instituted tougher edible standards that now require the industry to label all edible products with a diamond-shaped stamp bearing the letters T-H-C, which is symbolic of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. This should make it easy to identify edibles with marijuana versus non-pot products. Additionally, beginning this year Colorado will ban edibles in the shape of a fruit, animal, or human. Colroado's marijuana edibles approach could be exactly what California and other states need to calm fears that legalizing pot will increase teen use.

California, the state at the heart of Cerda's concern, will be setting aside $10 million annually for drug abuse education programs as outlined by Prop 64, but this $10 million doesn't begin until pot shops open their doors in 2018. Between now and then, there remains the concern that marijuana could be easier for California teens to access.

Also, according to the Los Angeles Times, Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) has introduced a bill that would ban marijuana billboard advertising on all state highways. Right now, it's only banned on interstate highways. Reducing pot impressions could allay fears that the ads would attract adolescents.

Clearly, the marijuana industry is a work in progress. Even with its rapid growth prospects, there are still a mountain of finer details that need to be hashed out before the industry is on solid footing. It's these "finer details" and the need to smooth out some of the bumps in marijuana's path to prosperity that should give potential investors reason to pause.
In this video from the Motley Fool Answers podcast, Alison Southwick and Robert Brokamp welcome Sean Gates to the show as they answer listener questions.

This latest question will be of interest to any parents or future parents who think their kids might one day head to college. The team hashes out the pros and cons of funneling cash into a tax-advantaged college savings plan for your child, rather than paying for tuition straight out of the old brokerage account or your cash reserves.

A full transcript follows the video.

This podcast was recorded on Dec. 13, 2016.

Alison Southwick: The next question comes to us from Lindsey in Arlington, Virginia. Someone else just down the road. "Thanks for all the personal finance advice via your podcast. I just had a baby, so of course I'm already thinking about saving for college. However, I'm still confused about the benefits of a 529 plan. My husband and I have approximately $200,000 in non-retirement investments as we started following The Motley Fool when we were in our early 20s." Oh! "We're in our mid-30s now. Should we start a 529 plan, or just keep investing and pull his future college fund out of our investments? We are well on track with our retirement savings and have a ten-month cash emergency fund."

Sean Gates: Boom!

Southwick: Yeah!

Robert Brokamp: Very impressive.

Southwick: We are most impressed!

Brokamp: We are most impressed!

Gates: I don't even have a 10-month cash reserve.

Brokamp: So 529 plans are so named after its section in the IRS tax code, 529. They're sponsored by states, often operated by financial services companies. And the benefit is that you put the money in, and it grows tax-free as long as the money is eventually used for qualified higher education expenses like tuition, room and board, and a few other expenses that you can use. It has to be a qualified university. It can't be -- I don't know -- some crazy place in the Bahamas. Something like that.

And one of the other benefits is, since you live in Virginia and I participate in Virginia's 529 plan as well, is the money that you put in can be deducted from the state income tax return as long as you participate in Virginia's plan. But you don't have to participate in your own state's plan. You can look for a better plan if your state's plan isn't very good. The best source of information about that is Savingforcollege.com. It rates all the plans so you can see whether your state offers a break and whether it's worth staying in your state.

So I would say 529s are a good idea. I have it for my kids, but they're not the only things out there. What's your take on 529s?

Gates: I think 529s are a great option. One of the other things that people, I think, get stuck on is what happens if their kid is a bum and they don't go to school and they can't use that money. Well, one of the nice things about a 529 is you can continually roll it to additional family members. So if you have multiple kids, and the first one's a bum, [that's a] bummer...

Southwick: Many successful people didn't go to college.

Gates: That's true.

Brokamp: That's right, or a self-starter, or an entrepreneur.

Southwick: Or an entrepreneur.

Brokamp: Right.

Gates: And that's a very fair point.

Southwick: Doesn't even need the money.

Brokamp: Right.

Southwick: Mom, thanks for the 529, but I already bought my Tesla, and my little start-up is doing fine, thank you.

Gates: The point of the story is most kids are bums.

Southwick: Oh, ho, ho.

Gates: So if the first kid is a tech genius and doesn't go to college, you can give it to the second child and they can use it. So eventually, it's pretty easy to use it up if you have multiple kids. You can also transfer it from yourself, actually. I know a couple of folks who have started a 529 for themselves early, before they even ever had kids, and then transferred it to their child to get a jump-start on savings for college.

Brokamp: Yes.

Gates: So there's a lot of flexibility in there.

Brokamp: One of the drawbacks for some people to a 529 is that you can only invest in mutual funds. And for people who really want to save for college and invest in individual stocks and are looking for a tax-advantaged account, there is the Coverdell Education Savings Account. It has a low contribution amount. You can only contribute $2,000 a year, but that's still nice.

There are income limits, so if you have an adjusted gross income of $110,000 if you're single and $220,000 if you're married, you're supposedly not allowed to contribute to it, but all you do, then, is just give the money to the kid and they contribute to the account themselves. And in that not only can you buy just about anything you can normally buy at a brokerage account, the money can also be used for qualified education expenses for a private elementary or secondary school. So it has a little bit more flexibility. It does have to be used up by the time the kid is 30, however.

Gates: And just a couple of additional gotchas. I think Bro's website is definitely one of the better resources to follow, but reciprocity is one thing that exists for a lot of these accounts, especially 529s, so if you're in Virginia, and you participate in the D.C. plan, you might still be able to claim that state tax deduction. So there's a couple of different areas where you don't have to use your state's 529 if you find a better alternative, as Bro mentioned.

And the final thing is you just want to make sure that how you classify your assets (parents versus grandparents versus the child's) is all sort of aligned when you go to file for FAFSA, so utilizing the various buckets that you have had saved makes a material impact on their ability to get education loans assuming that you haven't fully funded it via the 529.

Brokamp: Right.

Southwick: So you're looking way down the road.

Gates: Yeah.

Brokamp: Yeah. And FAFSA is the form you fill out to determine how much aid you're eligible for and definitely, the worst situation is for the kid to own the asset. And there are some great calculators out there called EFC calculators (basically expected family contributions) that will give you a rough estimate of how much aid you might be eligible for anyhow.
Speaking as 70 countries gather for Mideast peace talks in Paris on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned of "extremely serious consequences" if the US moves its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem as planned.

Ayrault told French media that he believed US President-elect Donald Trump would find it "impossible" to fulfill his campaign pledge to relocate the embassy.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," Ayrault said.

Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that peace efforts could be dealt a mortal blow if Trump moves the embassy.

Doing so would reverse decades of US policy, which has maintained that the final status of Jerusalem  whose eastern and largely Arab side has been occupied by Israel since 1967  should be determined in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

Three US senators introduced a bill earlier this month aimed at moving the US embassy from Tel Aviv. The bill includes a provision calling for consular funding to be suspended until a US embassy is established in the holy city.

Key players absent

The Paris peace conference is taking place without the participation of officials from Israel, the Palestinians or the incoming US government. And while it may seem like a long shot to try to restart beleaguered Middle East peace talks without any of the key players, organisers say that moving forward sends a message. They want both Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President-elect Trump to see that most of the world wants a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution. It also will affirm that the international community will not recognise changes to Israels pre-1967 lines without an agreement by both sides.

The Palestinians have welcomed the French initiative and Abbas was initially expected to attend, although his visit to Paris has been postponed. But Netanyahu says the conference is rigged against Israel and declined an invitation to a special meeting afterward.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders havent negotiated even indirectly since a previous US peace effort collapsed in 2014. Palestinian attacks on civilians and incitement to violence have heightened tensions, as has expanded Israeli settlement-building.

Israel has settled some 600,000 of its citizens in occupied West Bank and east Jerusalem, which is claimed by the Palestinians for a future independent state.

Israel captured both areas in the 1967 Mideast war. Netanyahu has ruled out a return to Israels 1967 borders, and many members of his coalition oppose Palestinian independence.

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The marijuana industry enters 2017 with high hopes. Last year was arguably the best year ever for cannabis, and pro-legalization enthusiasts are counting on that trend to continue.

Entering 2016, 23 states had legalized medical cannabis while residents in another four states had legalized the sale of recreational pot. By year's end, five new states have legalized medical cannabis, two of which did so entirely through the legislative process (Ohio and Pennsylvania). What's more, the number of recreation-legal weed states doubled to eight, with Nevada, Maine, Massachusetts, and the crown jewel, California, all voting in favor of their respective state's pot initiative.

The expansion of marijuana at the state level is being fueled by two catalysts. First, public opinion toward marijuana has drastically shifted since California became the first state to legalize medical cannabis back in 1996. At the time, roughly a quarter of the public wanted to see pot legalized nationally, according to Gallup. As of 2016, 60% of respondents wanted to see marijuana legalized nationally, an all-time high.

The second factor pushing the state-level expansion of weed is the "green" behind the green. Cannabis research firm ArcView believes the legal cannabis industry can grow by roughly 30% per year through the end of the decade, while investment firm Cowen & Co. pegs the legal marijuana market as being worth $50 billion by 2026. This would represent a compound annual growth rate of more than 23%. Industry participants want their hands on that growing slice of pie and so do state-level government officials who see marijuana taxes as a way of adding a new revenue source to their respective state.

Image source: Getty Images.

Keeping kids away from pot remains paramount

But with marijuana's expansion comes one key danger -- a danger, mind you, that has long kept the federal government from considering the legalization of cannabis at the federal level. This danger is the belief that legalization will allow pot to more easily fall into the hands of adolescents.

There are certainly no shortage of studies suggesting that marijuana use in adolescents is bad news. For example, a 2015 study from Northwestern University found that adolescent cannabis use can have an adverse impact on users' long-term memory. Researchers examined the hippocampus (the area of the brain responsible for long-term memory retention) via MRI in subjects who had used marijuana for a period of three years and those who'd never used marijuana. What they found was a long-term memory test score that was 18% lower for the marijuana users, as well as an oddly shaped hippocampus.

In 2014, an abstract published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences also appeared to demonstrate the adverse effects of pot use on adolescent brains. When comparing the MRIs of 48 users (some of which were adolescents) against 62 nonusers, researchers observed less gray matter in the orbitofrontal cortex, a region responsible for decision-making and motivation, for pot users compared to nonusers. What's more, marijuana users had lower average IQ scores.

Image source: Getty Images.

This new study is worrisome

However, a new study from the UC Davis Violence Prevention Research Program is especially worrisome.

The study found that Washington state teens (Washington legalized recreational weed in 2012) saw an uptick in pot use following the 2012 vote, and a significantly higher-than-average drop in the "perception of harmfulness," which is a measure of how teens view the dangers of marijuana use. Teens in states where pot is illegal have seen their perception of harm from marijuana drop by about 5% to 7%. By comparison, eighth-graders and 10th-graders in Washington state saw their perception of harmfulness fall by 14% and 16%, respectively. More so, cannabis use increased by 2% for eighth-graders and 4% for 10th-graders in Washington compared to a 1% decline in non-legal states.

Researchers also examined Colorado, which legalized recreational pot at the same time as Washington in 2012. Despite no significant change in teen perceptions or use, researchers have hypothesized that Colorado was more lenient regarding weed prior to its recreational legalization, therefore teens were far more inclined to use cannabis before it was legalized. This would explain the relatively unchanged use habits among teens since 2012.

What's also notable about this study is that its lead researcher was Magdalena Cerda. Cerda, along with assistance from Duke University, put out a study last March that found marijuana to be, in many ways, more dangerous than alcohol. After following a group of children born in Dunedin, New Zealand in 1972-1973 through age 38, researchers discovered that persistent marijuana use has negative social and economic repercussions. The report notes that even after accounting for a number of common factors, regular pot users were more antisocial at work, experienced more relationship problems, and had troubles controlling their debt and cash flow, relative to people who don't use marijuana.

Long story short, there's a clear-cut concern that state-level legalizations are going to make it easier for teens to access marijuana, and that could work against the pro-legalization movement.

Image source: Getty Images.

Colorado is setting an example

Even though Cerda and her research partners suggest that Colorado's stance toward pot may have been more lax than Washington state from the start, Colorado does have one thing working in its favor: a model policy on marijuana edibles.

Beginning on Oct. 1, 2016, Colorado instituted tougher edible standards that now require the industry to label all edible products with a diamond-shaped stamp bearing the letters T-H-C, which is symbolic of tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive ingredient found in marijuana. This should make it easy to identify edibles with marijuana versus non-pot products. Additionally, beginning this year Colorado will ban edibles in the shape of a fruit, animal, or human. Colroado's marijuana edibles approach could be exactly what California and other states need to calm fears that legalizing pot will increase teen use.

California, the state at the heart of Cerda's concern, will be setting aside $10 million annually for drug abuse education programs as outlined by Prop 64, but this $10 million doesn't begin until pot shops open their doors in 2018. Between now and then, there remains the concern that marijuana could be easier for California teens to access.

Also, according to the Los Angeles Times, Assemblyman Rob Bonta (D-Alameda) has introduced a bill that would ban marijuana billboard advertising on all state highways. Right now, it's only banned on interstate highways. Reducing pot impressions could allay fears that the ads would attract adolescents.

Clearly, the marijuana industry is a work in progress. Even with its rapid growth prospects, there are still a mountain of finer details that need to be hashed out before the industry is on solid footing. It's these "finer details" and the need to smooth out some of the bumps in marijuana's path to prosperity that should give potential investors reason to pause.

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Cathay Pacific Airways <0293.HK> is expected to announce job cuts, cost reductions and to shift flights to its short-haul arm when it unveils the results of a key review this week, as it grapples with growing competition from Chinese carriers.

The 71-year-old Hong Kong airline is under pressure to combat aggressive state-supported mainland carriers, and to position itself against an "open skies" deal signed last month between China and Australia.

Cathay scrapped its second-half profit forecast in October and announced a review of its business. The December edition of Cathay's staff magazine, seen by Reuters, reported Chief Executive Ivan Chu would unveil the results on Jan. 18.

Cathay declined to comment on the details of its review.

"The new management direction has to look past market share gains," said Will Horton, a Hong Kong-based analyst for aviation consultancy CAPA. "That hasn't been profitable and will become more competitive. It is well past time to get serious on costs."

Cathay's share price has tumbled to its lowest level since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009, and none of the 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters have a "buy" recommendation on the stock.

Some analysts say the carrier will for 2017 report its first full-year loss since 2010.

The rapid growth of Chinese rivals such as China Eastern Airlines <600115.SS> <0670.HK> and China Southern Airlines <600029.SS> <1055.HK> has put pressure on ticket prices at a time when Cathay's costs have risen because of the strength of the Hong Kong dollar against the Chinese yuan.

Lower cost hometown rival Hong Kong Airlines is also expanding rapidly to destinations served by Cathay.

ENTER THE DRAGON

James Pearson, who heads Basair Aviation College in Brisbane, said Cathay may need to slash its 33,700 workforce, reduce frequencies on underperforming routes and cut costs at short-haul arm Cathay Dragon, where it could shift more flights.

"[It could also] focus more greatly on ancillary products to drive incremental revenue, a focus on the back-end of the plane which hasn't traditionally been Cathay's forte," Pearson said.

Cathay does not have a low-cost arm, and costs at its short-haul carrier Cathay Dragon are nearly as high as those at the parent, said one source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Cathay is also caught on the wrong side of China's "one country, two systems" arrangement toward Hong Kong, as the regional hub is excluded from the air transport deals China is cutting.

The latest was an open skies agreement signed in October between China and Australia, a key market for Cathay for both direct flights and connections throughout Asia and to Europe.

Flights to the South West Pacific and South Africa - the bulk of them to Australia - represented 13.6 percent of Cathay's capacity in the first half of 2016.

The open skies deal allows mainland carriers unlimited capacity on routes to Australia, at a time when Cathay is not allowed to add any more flights to Australia's biggest airports and can only increase capacity by using larger aircraft.

Capacity between Australia and mainland China grew by 61.6 percent in the five years ended 2016, according to data from Flightglobal. Over the same period, capacity between Australia and Hong Kong grew by just 2.6 percent.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, the Hong Kong government said it had not held major talks with Australia about expanding air access since 2015, when no deal was reached.

Chinese hubs such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing have seized market share as a result.

"Almost three years ago, the three Chinese hubs shared less than a third of Hong Kong's connections. Now it's catching up," said Singapore-based UOB Kay Hian analyst K. Ajith, who has a "sell" rating on Cathay.

"One must rise while the other one must fall."

(Reporting by Jamie Freed and Brenda Goh; Editing by Alex Richardson)
"Saturday Night Live" returned for the first episode of the new year over the weekend, with Rogue One star Felicity Jones serving as host. However, after it was Alec Baldwin who opened the show, reprising his impression of President-Elect Donald Trump.

The cold open lampooned Trump's first official press conference as the president-elect -- and found comedy pay dirt in in the completely unconfirmed yet widely covered allegations that the 70-year-old businessman hired Russian prostitutes to perform a "golden showers" sex show in front of him.

"I'm not talking about the pee-pee. Because it didn't happen," Baldwin's Trump said after fielding his first question from a reporter. "And it wasn't as cool as it sounds."

WATCH: Alec Baldwin Opens Up About Playing Donald Trump on 'SNL': 'He's Not Somebody I Admire'

"I want to talk about what is really important, which is jobs, because I am going to bring back a thick stream of jobs back to this country," he added. "The biggest, strongest, steadiest stream you've ever seen. This country will be literally showered with jobs. Because I am a major wiz at jobs. It will be a golden opportunity for me as president to make a big splash."

Baldwin's Trump also addressed his plan to repeal of Obamacare when asked by one reporter if he's considered the fact that 20 million people will lose their health insurance and that many people could die as a result.

"Listen, sweetheart, I'm about to be president. We're all going to die," he shot back.

WATCH: Alec Baldwin Reacts to Donald Trump's Presidential Win: 'He's All Yours, America'

The relentless comedic takedown continued with special cameos by Steve Harvey (played by Kenan Thompson), who mocked the "Family Feud" host's recent genial sit-down with the president-elect, as well as a shirtless Vladimir Putin (played by Beck Bennett), who reminded Trump who is really in control of his presidency.

After the opening sketch, Jones took to the Studio 8H mainstage for her monologue, where she got a little help from a hologram Tina Fey (dressed in a white headscarf like a certain iconic "Star Wars" princess) who gave her some advice on how to host.

WATCH: Alec Baldwin's Donald Trump Impression Is Banned at Home by Wife Hilaria

"Don't be [nervous]. If Steven Segal can do it, so can you," Fey said. "Don't worry about what the reviews say."

"Does this show get reviewed?" Jones asked.

"Yes, way too much," Fey replied. "And no matter how it goes, the president of the United States will say it's sad and overrated. [But] it's fine, no one cares."

WATCH: Aziz Ansari to Host 'Saturday Night Live' for the First Time
This week retired US Marine Corps General James Mattis will face the US Senate during confirmation hearings to become our next Secretary of Defense. If confirmed, Mattis will be the CEO of the largest workforce and most complex bureaucracy on the planet.

Several years ago, I met General Mattis while writing a book about how leaders need to fight the immediacy of technological connectedness and take the time to think and reflect more deeply.

While Mattis had no specific cure for the immediacy afforded by technology, he looked back at the harried months leading to the war in Iraq, where he led a large part of the ground invasion. He soberly told me, Eventually you can answer all your e-mails, run hither and fro from meeting to meeting; you can attack a country and pull down a statue, and then say, Now what do I do with it?

I could not know then the tremendous impact he would have on my way of thinking as a strategist and leader. And while I have never served in uniform, here are four lessons General Mattis taught me about leadership.

1. Take the Time to Think and Reflect

Mattis values the time to be alone to think deeply, and he sees time spent in reflection as important for our national security.

Mattis loathes PowerPoint slides as a medium for briefing senior military leaders. He believes such presentations encourage speed of thought, confirmation bias and truncated assessments of multidimensional problems.

He taught me to be comfortable being alone with my strategic thoughts, noting how leaders manage their personal time for reflection is what makes or breaks them. Lack of reflection by senior leaders is the single biggest deficiency we have in the military today, he said.

2. Read Often and Read Your History

Mattis had a legendary library that once traveled the world with himat one point, it featured almost as many titles as Thomas Jefferson sold to help create the Library of Congress.

Mattis would have those in any chain of his command read from a selection of these books.

Mattis taught me that leaders should never stop reading and humbling themselves before the next great idea, while grounding their thinking in the context of history that envelopes all decisions they will ever make.

3. Get the Right Inputs or Youll Get the Wrong Outputs and Ideas

Mattis and now retired U.S. Army General David Petraeus taught me that the leader who allows divergent thinkers in the room gets you to a breakthrough strategy and the right big ideas.

Mattis and Petraeus jointly commissioned an unprecedented revision of the Counter Insurgency Guidance during the Iraq War. With their guidance, troops in both Iraq and Afghanistan obtained a bold new set of ideas that they could take to the battlefield.

The problem [with revising the Counter-Insurgency doctrine] would have been if you only had people working the content who knew infantry, the cockpit of a plane, or the bridge of a ship, he said. Adding a historic perspective, Mattis continued, You need people who have studied the human condition, and who have studied war . . . and have spent as much time reading Nelson Mandela or Marcus Aurelius as they have spent on their tactics books.

4. Empathy and Trust Are the Glue That Binds

Mattis taught me that trust is fragileand it can only be delivered by leaders who can put themselves in the shoes of those they lead.

Having studied war his entire adult life, Mattis understands that trust binds a solider to his or her leadership. The more you fight, the more you realize you must have an institutional cohesion that allows you to implicitly trust those under your command. Instilling trust is still difficult because war has so much fear and fatigue associated with it. The veneer of civilization gets rubbed off, Mattis stated.

As he prepared troops for the ground war in Iraq both mentally and physically, he never shied away from revealing the most disturbing possibilities.

He communicated to his troops frankly saying, Wed talk about what it was going to be like if the troops got what we called slimed or coated with chemical weapons.

I told them youre going to have to fight what we called dirty for 24 hours. Dirty referred to the troops possibly needing to defecate inside their own suits as they allowed time for the chemicals to dissipate.

Mattis then told the troops to think about what they would need to do after a chemical weapons attack.

After the troops came back to base, he said they would take off their suits, put them in a pile, and then burn them.

Ever a warrior as much as a thinker, Mattis advised: Were going to clean you and your vehicles. Were going to give you all new gear, and then were going to send you back to kill the people who did it to you.
Retired General James Mattis, President-elect Donald Trump's choice for Secretary of Defense, capped a series of head-turning confirmation hearings on Capitol Hill this week.

Early in the week, nominees presented a stark contrast to Senate Democrats. On one side, Americans saw well-prepared, highly dignified appointees appear before elected officials from both parties. On the other side, hostile questioners from the left grilled the nominees, almost reflexively manufacturing attacks on character and asserting gaps in knowledge  which, to a casual observer, seemed nonexistent. Half dozen nominees have been nothing  if not meticulously prepared. What does this portend for the coming Trump dministration?

First out of the box, Senator Jeff Sessions, nominee for Attorney General, and ExxonMobile CEO Rex Tillerson, nominee for Secretary of State.

Not far behind these two, Generals John Kelly (Homeland Security) and James Mattis (Defense). Their opening statements were cogent, if not at times compelling.

Realism seemed to permeate, even about Russia, China and the long road back to domestic tranquility and global American leadership.

By contrast, a former comic turned Democrat Senator pressed the case for parsing words in questionnaires filed 30 years apart, accusing Senator Sessions first of over- and then by under-inclusion, taking issue with legal terms of which, by his own admission, he knows nothing.

Other Senators knowingly took a dark interpretation of Senator Sessions exemplary record on human and civil rights, countermanding the impassioned appeal by liberal Republican Susan Collins of Maine, who sought to preempt character assassination as a tactic.

One Senator even breached 200 years of tradition to breathlessly grandstand against Senator Sessions.

Others tried to embarrass Rex Tillerson, who steadfastly maintained the dignity of the chamber, against an onslaught of leading questions. Drawn to do so, he demurred when prodded to speculate, decide hypothetical questions, make assumptions based on incomplete data, or declare policy on the spot.

So, what are we seeing? And what does it mean? What does the solid performance of these appointees, against a shaky backdrop, foretell?

First, these Trump appointees are demonstrating high respect for process and truth, something for which every American should be glad.

Second, we are learning something intangible about the future of this administration. Whether Democrats continue their stubborn resistance and inglorious slide, or choose to arrest it, is really secondary.

Primary is what we are learning about the quality of preparation, patience and temperament of those who will soon lead major departments.

The unspoken message is heartening. The nominees are not newbies. Nor are they misaligned with their assigned missions. They are seasoned professionals. And they are acting that way. They are proving candid and deep, sensible, at times even sage. They know the ropes, their fields, the challenges that lie ahead of them  and respect Congress. Or at least that is the distinct impression they leave.

Collectively, these early appointees have endured dozens of hours of leading questions, transparent attempts (largely unavailing) at character assassination, and attempts to derail their focus.

They have weathered the storm. All the while, Heartland Americans have watched the process, including these spasms of senatorial haughtiness, and wondered: Is there more to this team than we thought? Great depth, more decency, honor and hope?

The tables have somehow begun to turn. Senate Democrats cannot digest reality. Exhaustive witness preparation and performance tells you what lies ahead.

Trump appointees have been rocks, displaying mettle, method, and the power of focus. If this is how they all shake out, we know how the Trump Aaministration will conduct policy  they will go after -- and get -- results.

No wonder the media is evolving sooner than we thought, to grudging respect for these appointees.

How could they not? The Trump cabinet is listening and learning, proving prepared for what lies only days ahead.

By all appearances, they are organizing for success, as reflected in the hearings.

Preliminary inquiries reveal how this team does business.

Since the president-elect designated his future cabinet, nominees have conducted more than 300 meetings with Senators and staff, met with 87 of the 100 Senators, including 50 Republican Senators and 37 Democrats.

Behind closed doors, these nominees have reportedly tallied over 30 practice hearings, including 15 during the first week of January.

By one count, they have mastered complex binders, collectively answering 2,604 questions in practice sessions.

Broken down, they have responded to 120 questions per session, spent more than 70 hours in mock hearings, and fielded questions from 200 volunteers rotating through role playing. Something is afoot on the seven floors of the Trump Transition, at the old GSA Building on 18th and E. in Washington.

Extrapolate and you see where the Trump team is going. They take nothing for granted, do not jump to conclusions or assume knowledge.

They are about outcomes, even before the mission burdens them.

They are about self-control, self-awareness, self-discipline, and self-effacing presentation  in a word, leadership.

Obviously, we are at a cross roads. We seem to be at the front end of a cone, widening to patient reform and promised results. The hearings suggest predictability and fidelity to process and principle. That is a good start.

In front of us, an amalgam of professionalism, purpose and patience, more like George Marshall and George Schultz than George Soros.

All this is promising. These hearings tell us more than we thought. They are demonstrating a top-shelf team, starting with preparation.

These appointees' performances are salutary  indicative of long term success.

Senate Democrats may be out of touch, but these appointees have a grip. They strike average viewers as respectful and honest, capable and on task.

The contrast could not be more telling, encouraging, or head-turning.

May the cone open, and America again demonstrate its innate greatness.
China said Sunday that its one-China policy is non-negotiable after President-elect Donald Trump suggested that he might use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two sides.

China Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang reiterated in a statement that the government of the Peoples Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China.

"That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change, Lu added.

Since recognizing Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory  a status quo that Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that everything is under negotiation, including one China. The interview is the latest indication Trump that he will shake up the U.S.-China relationship, particularly on Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.

China had already been rattled over Trumps call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect had publicly spoken to Taiwans leader in nearly four decades.

Trump then said in a television interview that he didn't feel "bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade."

After attacking China repeatedly during his campaign, Trump has continued to disparage China on his Twitter account over its military build-up in disputed areas of the South China Sea, allegedly manipulating its currency to put American companies at a disadvantage, and not doing enough to curb North Korea's nuclear program.

He has also announced that a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro, a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book titled "Death By China."

Trump told the Journal that he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he takes office, though he repeated his contention that China is manipulating the yuan.

So far, Beijing has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan and to push for positive cooperation between the two sides, though state-run media have run several strongly worded editorials attacking Trump.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
President-elect Donald Trump blasted outgoing CIA Director John Brennan on social media Sunday after Brennan said Trump does not have a full understanding of Russias power and threat to the world.

I dont think he has a full understanding of Russian capabilities and the actions they are taking on the world, Brennan told Fox News Sunday.

He also suggested that Trump lacks a full appreciation of Russias aggression or about why President Obama imposed sanctions on the Kremlin for meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia is a road that he needs to be very, very careful about moving down, Brennan said.

Trump responded with a two-tweet message that criticized the CIA's record under Brennan and questioned whether the director had leaked a dossier of unverified allegations that Russia spies had obtained compromising personal and financial information about Trump.

.@FoxNews "Outgoing CIA Chief, John Brennan, blasts Pres-Elect Trump on Russia threat. Does not fully understand." Oh really, couldn't do...  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 16, 2017

The day after the dossier's contents were published by BuzzFeed, Trump posted on Twitter that intelligence agencies "should never have allowed this fake news to 'leak'" before asking "Are we living in Nazi Germany?"

Trump has repeatedly hoped for better U.S. ties with Russian President Vladimir Putin, and he has been particularly suspicious of the entire U.S. intelligence community since it concluded Russia and Putin tried to influence the elections, in an apparent effort to help Trump defeat Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.

Brennan said Trump likening the U.S. intelligence community to Nazi Germany for presumably leaking the content of an opposition-research dossier on him is outrageous.

"There is no interest in undermining the president elect, he said. Our responsibility is to understand dangers on the world stage so (Trump and his Republican administration) have the intel we have so they can make the best decision.

However, he said Trump needs to be disciplined and that hell face numerous challenges in his presidency that begins Friday -- with terrorism, cybersecurity, North Korea and Middle East instability among those at the top.

So many issues on Day One, said Brennan, who President Obama appointed to lead the CIA in 2013.

Fox News' Joseph Weber contributed to this report.
Congressional Republicans are trying to change federal guns regulations to make buying a silencer, or suppressor, easier. But critics dont agree with the argument that the proposed legislation is a safety measure to prevent hearing injuries.

The Hearing Protection Act, introduced earlier this week in the GOP-controlled House and Senate, if passed, would still require a background check to buy a silencer, which muffles or suppresses more than silences the sound of a shot.

However, buyers would no longer have to pay a $200 fee or wait for months after filing extensive paperwork with the federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Ive been shooting since I was a young child -- beginning with plinking with a .22 rifle and dove hunting with my Dad. My hearing has been damaged because of gun noise, South Carolina Rep. Jeff Duncan said Monday after introducing the bill in the House with Texas Rep. John Carter, a fellow Republican.

Had I had access to a suppressor, it may have protected me, as well as millions of other Americans, from this sort of hearing loss. This is a health issue, Duncan continued.

The National Rifle Associations lobbying arm supports the measures, saying suppressors are harmless and very rarely used in crime and that the joint bill would end the cumbersome and lengthy application process.

A similar measure failed in 2015. But supporters are optimistic this time with Republican Donald Trump set Friday to officially become president.

They point to the NRA having endorsed Trump and Trumps eldest son, Donald Trump Jr., a hunter, recently appearing in a promotional video for Utah-based SilencerCo.

I believe in American manufacturing. I love your product, Trump says in the video, in which he also argues that European countries freely allow the accessory. Its a safety issue.

The GOP lawmakers say the bill aims to cut through the red tape of owning a suppressor and, if passed, would remove the accessory from the scope of the National Firearms Act. They also say it would replace the outdated federal application process with the instantaneous National Instant Criminal Background Check.

The bill calls for a refund of the $200 transfer tax for applicants who purchased a suppressor after Oct. 22, 2015, the original date of introduction.

Critics point to a February 2013 situation in which fired Los Angles police officer Christopher Dorner killed four people in a series of attacks over 10 days that targeted law enforcement officials. They argue the fatal attacks might have been stopped earlier had Dorner not been using silencers.

Theres no evidence of a public health issue associated with hearing loss from gunfire, Kristin Brown, of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, told The Los Angeles Times. There is evidence of a public health crisis from gun violence, and we think thats where legislative efforts should be directed.

The bill is being introduced in the Senate by Idaho Sen. Mike Crapo, and its co-sponsors include fellow GOP Sens. Rand Paul, Kentucky, and Jerry Moran, Kansas.
In media mythology, the first 100 days is make-or-break time for a new president and an easily packaged time frame that is, of course, inherently arbitrary.

While the phrase conjures up an FDR-like New Deal, it can also be a tough slog as a new president tries to push legislation through Congress, get nominees confirmed and becomes enveloped by Beltway process stories.

But given Donald Trumps unique status as an outsider who ran against the establishment of both parties, the first 100 days could be more fiery than usual. And thats what Martha MacCallum is banking on.

We have to hold his feet to the fire, she told me in a phone interview.

The Americas Newsroom co-host is launching a new show Monday at 7 p.m. ET to chronicle the debut of the Trump administration.

MacCallum, a onetime Wall Street Journal staffer and stock exchange reporter for CNBC, says the business community is counting on Trump slashing regulations and cutting taxes. That in many ways is what the market is reading, she said. He needs to make sure thats one of his top priorities.

MARTHA MACCALLUM SET TO PREMIERE NEW PRIMETIME SHOW 'THE FIRST 100 DAYS'

On Sunday's "Media Buzz," MacCallum said that "the question has hung out there" since the election: "Will he become more presidential when he takes that oath of office?" As for the controversies that surround his statements and misstatements, she said: "I think in a strange way theres an acceptance of exaggeration with Donald Trump that we havent had with former presidents."

A political science major at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York, MacCallum says politics -- and history -- have always been her passion. She paid some serious dues, waitressing at four Manhattan restaurants while working as a fact-checker at a financial magazine. She also got bitten by the theater bug, studied acting and directing in graduate school and worked with a small theater company -- which may have helped her future career.

At the time I would have scoffed at any connection between the pure art form of theater having any relation to the news, she says. But in both its about connecting with your viewersTo be a good waitress is an art. Youve got to juggle a lot of tables and people.

The reason shell be serving up the new fare at 7 p.m. on Fox is that the slot opened up when Megyn Kelly decided to leave for NBC and Tucker Carlsons new show was moved to 9 p.m. MacCallum, who has three children, isnt sure shell continue in the evening -- she loves her morning partnership with Bill Hemmer -- but she is pumped about raising the curtain on the Trump presidency.

We have seen plenty of presidents get gobsmacked in the first 100 days, she says.
The 46th Rotterdam International Film Festival will run between 25 January and 5 February

Cactus Flower, a film by Egyptian director and artist Hala El-Koussy, was selected to compete at the 46th edition of the Rotterdam International Film Festival, which opens on 25 January.

The feature length film will be screened alongside 15 other films in the Bright Future Award section, which focuses on young and upcoming talents with a brave, singular vision in their filmmaking.

The screening will be the films premiere, and stars Menha El-Batrawy, Arfa Abdelrasoul, Salma Sami, Mostafa Darwish, and Farah Youssef.

Cactus Flower is the first feature length film for the director, who has previously created short films.

El-Koussy is an Egyptian artist born in 1974. She studied Business Administration at the American University in Cairo before traveling to London in 2001 for a masters degree in Image and Communication.

In 2010 she won the Hubert Bals Fund Project Development Fund from the Rotterdam Film Festival, as well as the Abraaj Capital Prize from Dubai.

In addition to a number of solo exhibitions, El-Koussy has joined tens of international group exhibitions in Europe and the Middle East since 2003.

Her work is part of collections around the world including Londons Tate Modern Museum and the Stedelijk Museum of Amsterdam.

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:


Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on Sunday previewed his ObamaCare replacement plan -- in an apparent effort to take the lead in the growing GOP effort to simultaneously repeal and replace the 2010 health care law.

Paul, who was a 2016 presidential candidate, said the bill that he and other congressional Republicans have crafted attempts to insure the most amount of people, give access to the most amount of people, at the least amount of cost."

Paul, a physician, has emerged in recent weeks as a leader in the repeal-replace effort, amid Republican concerns that fulfilling campaign vows to dismantle ObamaCare at the start of the 115th Congress could leave tens of millions of Americans uninsured.

Incoming Republican President Donald Trump has expressed similar concerns, despite campaigning on a winning repeal-replace agenda.

Paul tweeted on Jan. 6: "I just spoke to (Trump) and he fully supports my plan to replace ObamaCare the same day we repeal it. The time to act is now."

The Republican-led Congress has already taken votes toward repealing ObamaCare under a process known as budget reconciliation, which effectively keeps Democrats from blocking the effort and requires only a simple majority for passage.

Among the other Senate Republicans trying slow the repeal process, to synch with a replacement plan, are Susan Collins, Maine; Bob Corker, Tennessee; Rob Portman, Ohio; and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.

Paul suggested Sunday that the replacement plan will include more low-cost insurance plans

"One of the key reforms that we will do is, we're going to legalize the sale of inexpensive insurance," he told CNNs State of the Union." That means getting rid of the ObamaCare mandates on what you can buy.

Paul last week announced some of the early details of the plan on Fox News' "Special Report" with Bret Baier.

Paul said his plan borrows from previous GOP replacement plans and appears to have consensus among congressional Republicans.

"The ideas that we've taken for the replacement bill come from other Republicans' bills," he told Fox.

Paul said Sunday the plan also will include health saving accounts and tax credits to help customers save money.

He also suggested the plan will allow people and small businesses to create their own markets.

"There's no reason why (a business owner) with four employees shouldn't be able to join with hundreds and hundreds of other businesses that are small to become a large entity to get leverage to bring your prices down," Paul said.

However, he acknowledged rolling back Medicaid expansion as part of the ObamaCare repeal remains a big question.

Many Americans got coverage under Medicare expansion in states.

On the issue of Rex Tillersons effort to become the next secretary of state, Paul said hell support the former ExxonMobil CEOs bid.

"Yes, I will vote for Rex Tillerson," said Paul, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee holding the confirmation hearings. I was very impressed."
President-elect Donald Trumps incoming press secretary Sean Spicer denied a report from the Sunday Times on Saturday that said Trump was seeking to have a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iceland.

The Sunday Times reported that Trump aides told British officials that Trump plans to meet with Putin on his first foreign trip, possibly in Reykjavik. The paper, citing unidentified sources, reported that Trump plans to begin working out a deal to limit nuclear weapons and that Moscow agreed to the meeting.

According to the newspaper, Trump sought to emulate former President Ronald Reagans meeting with the Soviet Unions Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 that took place in the Icelandic capital. The two met in an effort to work on a major nuclear disbarment treaty at the height of the Cold War.

Spicer lashed out at the report on Twitter, calling it 100% false.

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"I'm not sure I can do this," I said to myself while climbing a few steps to take a practice ride for a zip line.

I was in northern Costa Rica, in the shadow of the country's majestic volcano Arenal. I was part of a group of about 25 tourists, ages 6-60, all fitted with helmets and industrial-strength harnesses, preparing for a zip line tour of the rain forest. As we waited for a practice run, there was laughing and joking in Dutch, French, Spanish and English.

But it was probably better that I didn't understand most of the jokes. I wasn't sure I was ready to laugh about possibly falling on my head. You could say I was a little nervous. And this was just for the six-second try-out. The real zip line experience was two hours long and much farther off the ground.

I realize that these days, a reluctance to embrace adventure tourism practically makes you an outlier. Experiences like parasailing, dog-sledding or trekking in the wilderness have become so commonplace that many travelers don't hesitate to embrace the latest thrill. But I'm not that type of person. I won't even let my 11-year-old get on a roller coaster, though he's pleaded for it. It's not just too high  it's also too fast, too much up and down, too much jerking around. I don't like my head spinning or my stomach leaping into my mouth.

But then we planned a trip to Costa Rica, where zip lining above the rain forest has become a standard part of the tourist experience. My husband refused to do it, but my son begged to try it. Friends and colleagues urged me to say yes, insisting it was safe and not unpleasant.

One friend, though, gave me pause. Like me, she's not fond of heights. Walking around New York City, where we live, she pointed up to a five-story brownstone and a 10-story building to show how high I could expect to fly. How did she feel about her own experience zip lining? "I didn't hate it," was all she said.

Now here I was, ready for my test run. A guide hooked me onto a double steel cable and showed me where to rest my right hand, encased in a kind of leather glove. The practice run was a little like traveling across a clothes line and about that far off the ground. The harness was wrapped snugly around my waist and thighs. I sat back, feet crossed, one hand on the cable, the other on the harness, and off I went. My son followed.

"Want to keep going?" I asked him, hoping he'd say no. But he nodded, determined. "Once you start, you have to keep going," I reminded him  and myself. There was no hiking trail back.

We got in a large wagon pulled by a pick-up truck up a mountain. As we rode, we were drenched by a warm, calming rain. We then hiked a little farther up to the first platform, one of about 15, with each cable line varying in height and length.

My son wanted me to go first. The guide hooked me to the cable and off I sailed. Flying above the emerald green rain forest might sound magical and serene, but at least to me, this was not. The metal hooks sliding against the cables made a loud, whizzing noise, like some kind of mutant tropical insect. I was sailing above the green treetops, yes, but also above the green viper snakes and the green basilisk lizards and the green walking stick insects and all the other creatures that give new meaning to the word camouflage.

Each time I was pushed off a platform to sail across the cable, I avoided looking down. Keeping my eyes on the next platform and the next guide waiting there helped staunch my fear  along with the knowledge that finishing each segment meant I was closer and closer to the end.

More than halfway through, I was fitted with a different harness. You can control your own speed by pressing down on one of the cables, but I was slowing myself down so much that I almost didn't reach the next platform. The new harness gave the guides more control.

Finally, we were done. My son loved it, calling it "heart-racing." He was happy to have spotted a howler monkey and asked if he could do it again.

I wasn't even tempted. "No," I said. I was just glad to have finished without panicking or pleading for a machete to hack my way through the tropical forest and back to civilization.

A few days later, another nervous tourist traveling with her family asked me about the experience. "Did you like it?" she asked.

She laughed when I couldn't answer. But the truth is, what I liked is that my son loved it.
Moody's Corp. has agreed to pay nearly $864 million to settle federal and state claims it gave inflated ratings to risky mortgage investments in the years leading up to the financial crisis.

The deal announced Friday was struck among the New York-based rating agency, the Justice Department and the attorneys general for 21 states and the District of Columbia.

It calls for $437.5 million to go to the Justice Department and $426.3 million to be divided among the states and the District of Columbia.

Moody's  along with the other two major rating agencies, Standard & Poor's and Fitch  were widely criticized for giving low-risk ratings to the risky mortgage securities being sold ahead of the crisis, while they reaped lucrative fees.
Far-right commentator Milo Yiannopoulos (yuh-NAH'-poh-lihs) has held a rally at the University of California, Davis.

The Sacramento Bee reports (http://bit.ly/2ixVEkb) Yiannopoulos stood on a picnic table Saturday at the campus quad and used a megaphone to decry Friday's cancellation of planned speeches by him and former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli.

Protesters used their own megaphone to periodically interrupt him.

Yiannopoulos then walked through the campus, followed by supporters and a loud group of counter-protesters chanting, "No Milo. No KKK. No fascist U.S.A."

Yiannopoulos writes for right-wing Breitbart News and is permanently banned from Twitter after leading a harassment campaign.

Shkreli was heavily criticized in 2015 for raising the price of a lifesaving malaria medication.
Accused Florida airport gunman Esteban Santiago had his guns seized twice by authorities before the Jan. 6 massacre, including a reported confiscation four years ago in Puerto Rico  but on both occasions investigations were closed and Santiagos guns were returned to him.

Santiago, 26, had a gun or guns taken by Penuelas police in Puerto Rico more than four years ago, The Florida Sun-Sentinel reported on Friday, though the reason for the action wasnt immediately clear.

It had to be some kind of complaint, police press officer Edward Ramirez said.

SUSPECT IN FORT LAUDERDALE AIRPORT SHOOTING REPORTEDLY CANCELED FLIGHT TO NEW YORK

The investigation lasted about two years and Santiagos firearms were eventually returned to him in May 2014. But not much else is known about that probe because Santiagos file had been removed from the Firearms License Office in Puerto Rico, The Sun-Sentinel reported, presumably by officials investigating the airport attack.

Shortly after his guns were returned, Santiago moved to Anchorage, where in November 2016 he had walked into an FBI office and allegedly told authorities that ISIS was influencing him and the government was attempting to control his mind.

Federal agents again seized Santiagos weapon and he was given a mental health evaluation  but doctors didnt think he needed to be committed, Santiago was released and his gun was returned on Dec. 8. Less than a month later, he allegedly walked into the Fort Lauderdale airport and killed 5 and wounded 6.

Its unclear if the weapons were the same in the two cases, or if any of those weapons were the same Walther 9-mm. semi-automatic handgun Santiago allegedly used during the baggage claim slaughter.

Nor is it clear why Santiago went to Florida.

He had some family there, but they said they hadn't seen him in years. He had also booked, and canceled, another flight, an Alaska-to-Puerto Rico trip that would have included a layover in New York on New Year's Day, according to a law enforcement official.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
The Army and local police are investigating the deaths of 11 Fort Hood soldiers who have died on and off the large Texas base in the past three months under mysterious circumstances, according to reports.

The most recent death involved Sgt. Alex Taylor, 23, of Texas City, Texas, who was found Wednesday unresponsive at his job at Fort Hood.

The Armys Criminal Investigations Command is probing Taylors death, Stars and Stripes reported Friday.

At this point in the investigative process we do not suspect foul play, but have not completely ruled it out while we conduct a complete and thorough death investigation, Criminal Investigations spokesman Christopher Grey told the paper.

Fort Hood said Taylors awards and decorations include the Army Commendation Medal, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Aviation Badge and Air Assault Badge, among others. He was part of the 15th Military Intelligence Battalition and enlisted as an aviation operations.

Taylor is at least the 11th Fort Hood soldier to have died in the U.S. since Oct. 12.

Three other soldiers were found unresponsive in October, November and December. Their deaths are under investigation by the Army and police in two Texas towns.

Three other soldiers died from gunshot wounds. One of them, Pvt. Kevin Paulino, 24, died from a gunshot while he was in Indiana, Stars and Stripes reported. The Army said the soldiers' deaths were under investigation.

Another two died of illnesses and two others died in auto crashes.

Investigators found the body of Pvt. Dakota Stump, 19, of Avon, Indiana, in the woods next to his flipped over vehicle Nov. 3, three weeks after he had been reported missing and declared AWOL, the paper reported.

Investigators believe Stump crashed into the woods after his vehicle left the roadway and rolled over multiple times.

Fort Hood said Army Criminal Investigation is investigating Stumps death.

Three soldiers from Fort Hood died November 12 in a suicide bomb attack at Bagram air base in Afghanistan: Staff Sgt. John Perry, 30; Private First Class Tyler Iubelt, 20; and Sgt. 1st Class Allan Brown, 46. Brown died of injuries suffered in the attack at Walter Reade National Medical Center in Bethesda Dec. 6, the Houston Chronicle reported Friday.

The Army said Sgt. Douglas Riney, who was assigned to Fort Hood, died in Afghanistan Oct. 20 in a firefight with the enemy.
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Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch will deliver her final speech as attorney general at a Birmingham church that was the site of one of the most violent attacks of the civil rights movement.

Lynch will speak Sunday afternoon at the city's 16th Street Baptist Church. The church was the target of a KKK bombing that killed four girls in 1963.

The speech will commemorate Martin Luther King, Jr. and comes on the eve of the national holiday named for King.

Lynch's speech comes days after President Barack Obama signed an order designating Birmingham's civil rights landmarks as a national monument.

The newly established Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument will include the 16th Street Church and the Birmingham park where protesters were attacked with fire hoses and police dogs.
The mayor of a Mississippi town under fire over the renaming of Martin Luther King Jr. Day said Saturday there will be a special meeting to honor the civil rights activist the right way.

A firestorm was created on social media Friday after the City of Biloxi posted on Twitter and Facebook that non-emergency offices would be closed in observance of Great Americans Day. The posts were made shortly after 5 p.m. and minutes later the backlash ensued.

According to the Sun Herald, the posts were edited to say that Great Americans Day was a state-named holiday, and to include a link to various MLK Day events. The posts have since been deleted.

Biloxi spokesman Vincent Creel told WLOX-TV that the city became click bait.

Were being called racist. Thats not the people of Biloxi, that is not the mayor, or the city council of Biloxi, Creel said. Its just unfortunate that were now being painted with that brush.

Mayor Andrew Gilich said the meeting would take place at 10 a.m., which hes expected to ask the City Council to change the ordinance to remember Martin Luther King Jr.

It was an honest error. I think they just pulled the verbiage from it and posted it on the tweet, and when there was a reaction to it, theres no cover up," Councilman Kenny Glavan told WLOX-TV. "You know, were all looking at it and saying, Hey, we need to change it.'

Gilich told the Sun Herald that the city passed an ordinance in December 1985 to call the third Monday in January Great Americans Day  a title that hoped to honor King and other great Americans.

Councilman Felix Gines downplayed the controversy, saying it gives us a chance to straighten it out.

We encourage you to come out and live the dream, this is what Dr. King is all about. Dr. Kings dream is about fighting, standing in there fighting, not sitting on the sidelines. Fighting to make that change, and we are making that change," he added.

Click for more from the Sun Herald.
A team of scientists selected by federal officials in Seattle have come across new evidence in the mystery of D.B. Cooper.

The Citizen Sleuths have been analyzing particles found on the clip-on-tie that Cooper left behind after he hijacked a Northwest Orient airplane in November 1971.

Tom Kaye, the lead researcher of the group, told King 5 on Friday that a powerful microscope used in their investigation has found more than 100,000 particles on the JCPenny tie.

He added that the group has been trying to identify where some of the particles, including Cerium, Strontium, Sulfide and titanium, may have come from.

More on this... DNA Test Fails to Solve D.B. Cooper Mystery

One place where the different elements were being used was at Boeing for their high-tech Super Sonic Transport plane, which was being developed in the 1960s and 1970s. Kaye says the evidence could point to Cooper being a contractor or an employee for Boeing where he wouldve had to worn a tie.

The tie went with him into these manufacturing environments, for sure, so he was not one of the people running these (manufacturing machines). He was either an engineer or a manager in one of the plants, Kaye told King 5.

Kaye added that hes looking for help from the public in identifying where some of the particles found on the tie couldve come from. The public can reach the researchers on the Citizen Sleuths website.

The FBI announced in July that it was no longer actively investigating the case, saying that it had exhaustively reviewed all credible leads" during its 45-year investigation and has redirected those resources to other priorities.

The FBI has investigated since a man calling himself Dan Cooper hijacked a Boeing 727 over the Northwest on Nov. 24, 1971. He later jumped out the back of the plane wearing a business suit and a parachute after receiving $200,000 in ransom money.

No sign of Cooper has emerged, though bundles of his cash, matched by serial numbers, were found in 1980.

The FBI says it has conducted searches, collected all available evidence and interviewed all identified witnesses. It says it's chased an immense number of tips but none have resulted in identifying the hijacker.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Click for more from King 5.
The Ministry of Antiquities denies claims on social media about the disappearance of a royal golden ring stored in the Egyptian Museum

Elham Salah, head of the Museums Department at the Ministry of Antiquities, has told Ahram Online that claims published on social media that an ancient royal golden ring has been stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square are "unfounded." The ring remains in the store galleries of the museum.

Salah explained that the ring was among items selected to be on display in a special temporary exhibition in 2002 inside the museum, along with other objects from the museum's collection and artefacts from the store galleries of Saqqara and the Giza Plateau.

Regretfully, Elham continued, the ring was not put on show and returned to the store galleries.

A few days ago, a researcher reportedly arrived to the museum and asked to examine the ring. The museum's curator asked the researcher to give them time to remove the ring from its wooden box in the store gallery, while most curators at time were busy filing an inventory of all the musuem's treasured collection.

Rumours apparently started on social media saying that the ring had disappeared having been stolen.

An archaeological committee was then formed to open the box and photograph the ring in order to prove that the ring is safe in the museum's galleries and is not stolen as claimed.

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The Kremlin hopes that Donald Trump will move to improve badly strained Russia-U.S. ties once he takes office. Relations between Moscow and Washington are at their lowest point since the Cold War amid the Ukrainian crisis, the war in Syria and other issues.

It would be challenging to reach common ground on some issues even if Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin both want it, as the interests of Russia and of the United States differ sharply and many U.S. allies have a deep distrust of Moscow's intentions. On some issues, however, there is a measure of agreement.

Here is a look at some of the items on the Russia-U.S. agenda:

___

RUSSIAN HACKING

U.S. intelligence agencies have accused Russia of meddling in the U.S. election through hacking, to help Trump win, claims that Russia has rejected. Trump last week conceded that Russia was likely responsible for hacking into Democratic emails, but insisted that didn't affect the outcome of the vote. He argued that the U.S. has been hacked by China and other countries as well.

U.S. and EU officials also have accused Russia of hacking other Western institutions and voiced concern that Russia may try to influence this year's elections in Germany, France and the Netherlands. The hacking issue is likely to weigh over Trump and could overshadow any possible attempt by his administration to improve ties with Moscow.

___

THE UKRAINIAN CRISIS AND ANTI-RUSSIA SANCTIONS

During the U.S. election campaign, Trump refused to condemn Russia's annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula in 2014 and even hinted that he would consider recognizing it as Russian territory. Such a move, however, would trigger massive opposition in the U.S. Congress and rattle U.S. allies, so it appears highly unlikely.

Led by Washington, the European Union and other U.S. allies have slapped Russia with several waves of sanctions in response to the annexation of Crimea and Moscow's support for a pro-Russia insurgency in eastern Ukraine. The sanctions, along with low oil prices, have driven Russia's economy into recession, and Putin sees getting them lifted as one of his top priorities.

Obama's administration and the EU tied rolling back the sanctions to progress in a 2015 peace deal for Ukraine, which has floundered. It would be difficult for the Trump administration to push for the sanctions' removal while clashes in eastern Ukraine are continuing.

Some U.S. lawmakers have proposed further ratcheting up anti-Russian sanctions.

___

SYRIA

Trump has said Russia and the U.S. should combine efforts to fight the Islamic State group in Syria.

Moscow long has pushed for such cooperation, hoping it would help turn the page on the Ukrainian crisis and improve its ties with Washington. Obama's administration ruled out such an alliance, however, because of the Kremlin's focus on shoring up Syrian President Bashar Assad.

Chances for U.S.-Russian cooperation in Syria are higher now when Assad's foes are weakened and demoralized following their retreat from Aleppo, the nation's largest city. With Assad's positions stronger than ever since the start of the conflict nearly six years ago, Russia may focus more on fighting IS, and would eagerly embrace cooperation with the U.S. if Trump offers it.

___

NUCLEAR ARMS CONTROL

The New START nuclear arms reduction treaty signed by Russia and the United States in 2010 limited their nuclear arsenals to no more than 1,550 deployed nuclear warheads for each country. The treaty is set to expire in 2021, but they could agree to extend it as they both appreciate the measure of transparency the deal offers.

The treaty doesn't prevent either side from modernizing their arsenals, which Russia is already doing and Trump has vowed to do.

There have been frictions, however, regarding another arms control pact, the 1987 Intermediate Range Nuclear Forces Treaty, which outlawed that entire class of nuclear missiles. Washington and Moscow have traded mutual accusations of violating the treaty.

___

NATO'S BUILD-UP IN EUROPE

The deployment of U.S. and other allied troops and weapons in the Baltics and Poland in response to Russia's actions in Ukraine has angered Moscow, which has described it as proof of Washington's hostile intentions.

Russia also has been sharply critical of NATO's U.S.-led missile defense plan, which includes a site in Romania and a prospective facility in Poland. Putin has described the program as an attempt to erode Russia's nuclear deterrent, dismissing U.S. claims the shield is intended to fend off a potential missile threat from Iran.

These issues are likely to remain a top irritant in U.S.-Russia ties.
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An 18-year-old South Carolina woman abducted from a Florida hospital hours after her birth is meeting her biological family for the first time.

Multiple media organizations report that Kamiyah Mobley met her birth parents on Saturday at the police department in Walterboro, the city 50 miles west of Charleston where she was raised under a false name.

Craig Aiken said after the 45-minute meeting he is still in shock about suddenly being reunited with his long-lost daughter, but their first meeting couldn't have gone better.

Mobley was only eight hours old when she was taken from a Jacksonville, Florida, hospital by a woman posing as a nurse. Police this week charged 51-year-old Gloria Williams of Walterboro with kidnapping and will be extradited to Florida to face charges.
A social media coordinator for a Maryland public school system says she was fired Friday after sending a relatively harmless tweet correcting a students spelling.

Katie Nash was managing the Twitter feed for the Frederick County Public Schools. On Jan. 5, one student tweeted to the schools account, @FCPSMaryland, asking to close schools tammarow.

Nash responded through @FCPSMaryland, But then how would you learn how to spell tomorrow? :)

The tweet garnered more than 1,000 retweets and likes and was the focal point of the hashtag #KatiefromFCPS, according to the Frederick News-Post. However, it was soon after she received school-wide attention when she became in trouble with school officials.

Nash and the student exchanged other tweets and the student insisted that he didnt mind the light-hearted spelling correction. She had other interactions with students on the schools Twitter feed before.

Nash told the paper that she was initially told not to tweet anymore, but still had access to the Twitter account. She added that she continued to tweet out school updates, but at the end of the school day Friday she was told she had been fired.

As a new employee, I think I sort of would have expected that there would have been some counseling or some suggestions on how to improve, she told the News-Post.

District spokesman Michael Doerrer told the paper that Nash was no longer an employee, but failed give details on her dismissal.

The tweets have since been deleted.

Click for more from the Frederick News-Post.
A Marine vet who fought in Vietnam is searching for the owner of a lost World War II Purple Heart.

The search has turned Don Crigger into a detective of sorts who feels duty-bound to solve the mystery, the News-Press in St. Joseph, Mo., reported Sunday.

A Purple Heart is extra special because a serviceman has shed blood for his country, Crigger said. It needs to be recognized, and someone needs to have that in their possession.

Twenty years ago a friend of Criggers bought of box of old photo frames at an antique store in Missouri, the Huntington Herald-Dispatch in West Virginia reported last week.

PURPLE HEART SPOTTED ON AIRPORT BAGGAGE CLAIM BELT FINDS ITS FAMILY

A few years later she rummaged through the box and discovered the medal with the name "Pete E. Cole" engraved on it, along with a serial number.

Crigger, 74, of St. Joseph, told the Herald-Dispatch his friend has cancer and has become fixated on returning the lost medal.

The ex-Marine knew from his own research that Cole enlisted in the Army on his 20th birthday in 1942 in Huntington, but not much more than that.

The Herald-Dispatch story provided new leads.

One led to a phone call with a woman in West Virginia who married one of Coles brother.

The News-Press reported the woman told Crigger that Cole died 44 years ago after surviving the war and had a daughter who lived in Ohio.

Crigger is now trying to track her down with the help of Zachariah Fike of Purple Hearts Reunited. Fike offered assistance after seeing the Herald-Dispatch story.

For a lot of these medals, specifically if it is a posthumous medal, this would have been the last tangible item that a family would ever receive of their loved one, Fike told the News-Press.

To be separated from something like that and then reunited with it, it has a lot of special meaning. In its own spiritual way, youre bringing that person back to that family.
A woman charged along with her boyfriend in the rape, murder and dismemberment of her adopted 14-year-old daughter took in 30 foster kids before her then-husband was deemed a sexual predator.

Former adoption worker Sara Packer and her ex-husband fostered the children from 2000 to 2010, when they led a transient life in northeast Pennsylvania, state officials confirmed on Friday. The state's Department of Human Services said it was reviewing the family's history leading up to the torture death of adopted daughter Grace Packer.

Sara Packer and her boyfriend, Jacob Sullivan, are charged with killing Grace in their Bucks County home before Packer reported her missing in July. Grace's body was found in a wooded area upstate in October, and the couple were charged with murder on Sunday after a joint suicide attempt.

Packer and Sullivan are being held without bail until a preliminary hearing set for next week. Neither has a lawyer listed in court records. But Sullivan apologized as he was led into court, the Intelligencer newspaper reported.

"I'm sorry for what I did," Sullivan said. "It was wrong."

Packer's ex-husband, David Packer, was convicted in 2011 of raping a foster teen and molesting Grace between 2006 and 2010, when the family lived in Allentown.

The foster teen, who was learning disabled, initially told police David Packer had had sex with her when she was 18 and Sara Parker knew about it, authorities said.

"As reprehensible as that may be, it isn't a crime," said Lehigh County District Attorney James Martin, whose office prosecuted the case.

However, the teen ultimately disclosed the sex had begun when she was 15. David Packer went to prison for about five years on statutory rape and indecent assault charges.

Sara Packer was barred from taking in more foster children and lost her $44,000-a-year job as a Northampton County adoption supervisor over unspecified misconduct. But she kept her two adopted children: Grace and her biological younger brother. And there would have been no child welfare checks unless a new complaint was filed, since adoptive parents have the same rights as other parents, Martin said.

"Grace, who was subsequently raped and murdered, was an adopted child. That adoption was already a fait accompli," he said. "It's a horrific story, but I don't know what else my office or the Allentown Police Department could have done at the time."

Within a few years, Sara Packer and the two children were living with Sullivan, a draftsman, in Glenside, in Montgomery County. In the fall of 2015, they sent Grace to live with a relative in North Carolina, where she spent several happy months, prosecutors said. When she returned home, the couple started plotting her death, a police affidavit says.

Sara Packer watched as Sullivan raped Grace on July 8 and then went out to buy Tylenol PM used to sedate Grace before they left her to die, bound and gagged, in a sweltering attic, the affidavit said. When they found her still alive the next day, Sullivan strangled her, police said.

They packed her body in cat litter and hid it in the house for several months before they cut it up with a saw and dumped it in the woods, police said.

The Packers had adopted Grace and her brother when she was 3, after a Berks County judge removed them from a home where they had been sexually abused by adults living with their parents. The Department of Human Services has opened a six-month review of the Packer family that will include checks on the welfare of the 30 former foster children, authorities said.

"If there is a systemic review that comes out of this horrible tragedy, at least we can take some solace in that ... so children like Grace are not forgotten, so they don't fall through the cracks," said Bucks County District Attorney Matthew Weintraub, whose office is leading the murder investigation.

Court records show the Packers divorced last June. David Packer's lawyer from a 2010 case said this week he couldn't comment. A man who answered the phone at Sara Packer's father's home declined to comment and hung up.
Zambia's former president, Rupiah Banda, was arrested by police for alleged abuse of authority and corruption.

Banda, 76, who ruled Zambia from 2008 to 2011, was charged with corruption Monday and released on bail of Kwacha 500,000 ($100,000) and ordered to turn in his passport.

Namukolo Kasumpa, spokesperson for the government investigating team, told journalists that Banda will appear in court on Tuesday. Banda is also scheduled to be questioned by the investigating panel on April 4.

He is accused of stealing $11 million, part of which he had used on his re-election campaign of 20 September 2011. Banda has denied all the charges.
George Corvington, a prominent Haitian historian best known for his exhaustive study of the Caribbean nation's capital of Port-au-Prince, died Wednesday at age 88, a close friend said.

Fellow historian and longtime friend Georges Michel said that Corvington died peacefully in his sleep at his home in the capital he wrote so much about. Michel said Covington had recently spent a few weeks in the hospital and the cause of death was heart failure.

"He's a giant that has fallen," said Michel, who is also a physician. "He was the greatest living Haitian historian."

Corvington's eight-volume, French-language "Port-au-Prince Through the Ages" chronicled the political and social history of Port-au-Prince, from its founding under French colonial rule in 1749 to the departure of President Paul Magloire in 1956.

Born in Port-au-Prince, Corvington began writing in the 1970s, collecting thousands of books that eventually formed a seemingly unmatched library collection. In addition to his work about the capital, a hilly coastal city that eventually swelled to an estimated 3 million people, Corvington also wrote about the National Palace and National Cathedral, iconic buildings that were destroyed in the 2010 earthquake that devastated much of Port-au-Prince.

Corvington himself narrowly survived the earthquake that toppled thousands of shoddily made buildings. When the disaster struck in the late afternoon on Jan. 12, 2010, Corvington was trapped under the debris of his home for about an hour before neighbors rescued him. He was not injured.

After the quake, the United Nations cultural agency UNESCO issued a call to protect Haitian artifacts from being pillaged from the country's destroyed historical sites, and helped Corvington salvage his own archives.

He was never married. Details about his survivors were not immediately available.
Hundreds of protesters gathered Friday to criticize a recent court decision in the Dominican Republic that could strip the citizenship of generations of people of Haitian descent living in the neighboring country.

The crowd peaked at about 2,000 people but thinned out during the march uphill to the Dominican Embassy to protest the decision passed two months ago by that country's court. The demonstrators urged people to boycott travel to the Dominican Republic.

Riot police set up metal barricades on a major thoroughfare that block protesters from reaching the district where the diplomatic mission is located.

The ruling has been met with sharp objection, from Caribbean leaders to the United Nations. On Friday, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights became the latest international entity to oppose the court decision, calling on the Dominican government to take urgent measures to guarantee the rights of those people affected.

Advocacy groups estimate 200,000 people, many of them of Haitian descent, could lose their Dominican citizenship because of the court ruling. Dominican officials say only about 24,000 would be affected.

Haitian officials have said little about the matter. President Michel Martelly has called it a "Dominican issue" and Prime Minister Laurent Lamothe posted on Facebook that a lot "is being done to solve the problem."

The lack of a robust response from the Haitian government was cited as one reason for the protest, which started out to oppose the Dominican court ruling, then turned into an anti-government demonstration. Protesters carried a white wooden coffin spray-painted with the slogan "Down with Martelly," then later burned it.

Friday's march is the latest of recent protests in Haiti, many of them critical of Martelly's government. A few have turned violent, with anti-government demonstrators last week burning tires outside the U.S. Embassy as they pressed for the departure of Martelly, accusing the U.S. of interfering in Haiti's domestic politics.

Haiti and the Dominican Republic have long had a volatile relationship as neighbors on the Caribbean island of Hispaniola. But the Dominican Republic put aside such differences and was among the first responders after Haiti's devastating 2010 earthquake.

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Paraguayan officials warned on Thursday of a possible environmental disaster because a flooding river is threatening a dump site for toxic residues.

State environmental chief Marina Cristina Morales said the Paraguay river already has flooded the Cateura dump in the capital city of Asuncion. The river has risen nearly 6.5 feet (2 meters) above normal, though it was still 9 feet (2.8 meters) below the level of a containment site for toxic waste.

"If the river continues to rise we will likely be facing an environmental disaster," Morales said.

The lower house of Congress approved the declaration of an environmental emergency alert on Thursday and the Senate was expected to also approve the use of more resources, including $1 million aimed at preventing the contamination.

The flooding, after days of torrential rains, already has forced the evacuation of about 300,000 people near the Paraguay and Parana rivers. Most of them were still evacuated Thursday, sheltered in camps of improvised tents.

Paraguay's weather service forecasts that the swollen rivers will begin to slowly recede back to their normal levels by August.
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A snapshot of Cambodia's fall, from a government minister evacuated by the United States in 1975:

NAME: Long Botta

HOMETOWN: Phnom Penh, Cambodia

CAMBODIA EXPERIENCE: Served as minister of culture in the U.S.-backed government and was one of only two Cambodian leaders evacuated. The rest chose to remain behind and were executed by the Khmer Rouge. Contacted by American diplomat Timothy Carney, he was given 45 minutes to gather his wife, two children, one suitcase and $50 before being extracted from Phnom Penh by helicopter. The event left him psychologically disturbed for several years.

LIFE AFTER CAMBODIA'S FALL: Joined the non-communist resistance fighting the Vietnamese-installed government in Cambodia after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, lived for a time in France and finally returned home in 2005 to begin what he says is a "second political life." At 72, he is now a member of Parliament from the party opposing authoritarian Prime Minister Hun Sen.

REFLECTIONS: Boarding the evacuation helicopter, Long Botta thought the Americans were planning a government-in-exile or armed resistance against the Khmer Rouge. "Only 15 minutes after the helicopter took off, then the (soldier) told us: 'Welcome on board.' I said to myself, 'Finished. We will leave Cambodia forever.'"

At that moment he felt betrayed by the U.S. government, but later he reflected: The Cambodians had destroyed themselves through gross corruption.
The wave of refugees streaming into Europe from the war-torn Middle East has stoked unabashed hate for Muslims in Poland and other Eastern European nations where many want no part of EU-mandated resettlement quotas.

With 8,000 mostly Muslims streaming in daily from Syria and other conflict zones, causing the largest immigration emergency since World War II, a split has formed between eastern and western Europe. While Western Europe, led by Germany, has agreed to absorb large numbers, Central and Eastern European nations have rejected EU quotas. Hungary, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, and Bulgaria are adamantly opposed to accepting Muslim refugees.

Poland says it will allow 7,000 refugees over the next two years, a number criticized by experts as too low.

Taking in 7,000 refugees in a country of 38 million inhabitants is, of course, a joke, said Jan Grabowski, a professor of history at the University of Ottawa, who writes extensively about Poland.

Muslim people, especially Arabs, are among the most hated people in Poland.  Michal Bilewicz, Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw University

Most East European nations are homogeneous and dont have traditions of accepting culturally different refugees. Recent polls indicate that many East Europeans have never met a Muslim, with their knowledge deriving from media accounts in which Muslims are linked to violence and terrorism.

Poland is 98 percent white and 94 percent Catholic. Muslims constitute 0.1 percent of the population.

There is very little diversity in this country, said Michal Bilewicz, associate professor of psychology at the Center for Research on Prejudice at Warsaw University.

According to a new poll conducted by the Center, a majority of Poles oppose absorption of Muslim refugees and disagree with the governments decision to accept 7,000. Seventy-three percent of respondents expressed negative feelings toward Muslim men and two-thirds said they would feel uncomfortable being among Muslims.

Muslim people, especially Arabs, are among the most hated people in Poland, said Bilewicz.

His view was reinforced by Professor Kazimierz Krzysztofek a prominent sociologist in Warsaw. He told FoxNews.com that Poles regard Islam as more oppressive than any other culture.

The individual doesnt count in their culture, he said in a phone interview.

Former Polish president Lech Walesa recently claimed that Muslim refugees would keep their customs, such as beheading for punishment.

Polands leading newspaper has banned letters about refugees because so many letters are offensive.

Politicians from the Law and Justice Party, the nationalist opposition, hope to capitalize on Polish discontent in the Oct. 25 national election. Polls show Law and Justice with a comfortable lead over the governing Civic Platform Party, which is more centrist.

At a recent debate in the Polish parliament, Law and Justice Chairman Jaroslaw Kaczynski whipped up hatred for Muslim immigrants when he claimed Sweden had so many militant Muslims that the nation was afraid to fly its flag because the flag has a cross. He added that Swedish schoolgirls cant wear short skirts because they fear Muslims will accuse them of immodesty and that Muslim Sharia Law exists in some Swedish areas.

Do you want the same situation in Poland? Kaczynski asked fellow members of Parliament.

The centrist Rzeczpospolita countered that Polands image abroad will be tarnished if it doesnt show greater solidarity with the EU and that the nations leverage in foreign policy will also be damaged.
At least 30 inmates have been killed in a prison riot in northeastern Brazil, a person familiar with the situation told Fox News.

The person, who requested anonymity because forensic work is under way, said the number of casualties could rise slightly. About a dozen other inmates have been taken to nearby hospitals, the person said.

The riot was the latest in a string of prison disturbances across Brazil that have killed more than 100 people within the past two weeks.

State security officials said fighting between rival gangs broke out Saturday at the adjacent Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho lockups near the city of Natal in the Rio Grande do Norte state.

Officials waited until dawn Sunday before entering to try to re-impose control, said state security chief Caio Cesar Bezerra.

"This way we guaranteed a calm intervention, a pacific intervention without resistance from the inmates," Bezerra said.

President Michel Temer expressed concern over the rebellion Sunday through his official Twitter page, saying he had been following the situation closely.

Like many prisons across the country, Alcacuz is overcrowded, with more than 1,000 inmates crammed into a facility meant for 620.

The recent outbreak of prison violence began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Authorities said the Family of the North gang targeted members of Brazil's most powerful criminal gang, First Command, in a clash over control of drug-trafficking routes in northern states. Many of the dead were beheaded and dismembered. Four others died at a smaller prison.

Then on Jan. 6, in the neighboring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.

Experts say First Command is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the penitentiaries to expand its reach across the national prison system.

Meanwhile, the prison chief for the southern state of Parana, Luiz Alberto Cartaxo, told Brazil's Globonews network that 21 inmates escaped from the Piraquara prison there on Sunday after using explosives to break through the prison wall. He said two other inmates died in a confrontation with police while trying to flee.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.
A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City.

In a statement, Eurowings said there were 286 passengers on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved, though the KUNA figure may have included flight personnel.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa.
U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged the incoming Trump administration to accept an invitation from Russia to attend Syria peace talks next week.

Speaking to reporters after a Mideast peace conference in Paris, Kerry said he supports the meeting that Russia, Turkey and Iran are co-sponsoring in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23 and that it "would be good" for the U.S. to be represented there.

"My hope is the next administration will decide to go," he said. "I think it would be good for them to go."

He said he hoped the meeting would make some progress and lead to a resumption of the Geneva talks, which are aimed at producing a transitional government and an eventual election in Syria. Kerry said the discussions in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, should not be a substitute for the process that got under way in Geneva in 2012.

After taking an active role in efforts to forge peace in Syria, the Obama administration has been watching latest developments largely from the sidelines, as Russia and Turkey have taken the lead. Kerry said he remained in touch with Russian, Turkish and other officials about the situation, but noted that his time as secretary of state was winding down with less than a week to go before the end of his term.

Russia conveyed an invitation to the meeting to Trump's choice for national security adviser, Michael Flynn, in a phone call in late December, according to the transition team.
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The Latest on a Paris conference on Mideast peace (all times local):

6 p.m.

More than 70 countries have called on Israel and the Palestinians to restate their commitment to a peace settlement and to refrain from unilateral actions.

The closing statement at a Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday was meant to send a powerful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump's campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence  the solution favored by the international community.

The statement urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also called for them not to take one-side actions that could prejudge talks.

While the Palestinians welcomed the conference, Israel called it "rigged."

___

2:30 p.m.

Sending a forceful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to say they want peace in the Mideast  and that establishing a Palestinian state is the only way to achieve it.

French President Francois Hollande said he was sounding an "alert" that peace talks should be revived for "the security of Israel, security of all the region" before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution.

While the Palestinians welcomed Sunday's conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "rigged" and cooked up behind Israel's back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration did not take part, and even the conference organizers weren't expecting any breakthroughs.

___

11:30 a.m.

French diplomats fear President-elect Donald Trump will unleash new tensions in the Mideast by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.

The French president warned Trump against any "improvised" or destabilizing actions after he takes office Friday.

"It is not a question of dictating to the parties," Francois Hollande insisted, acknowledging Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu's hostility toward the conference. "Only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can lead to peace. No one will do it in their place."

"The world cannot, should not, resign itself to the status quo," he told diplomats Sunday in Paris who came from across Europe, the Mideast and other regions.

Hollande urged them to support peace efforts by offering economic incentives to Israelis and Palestinians.

___

10:30 a.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly outspoken about Mideast tensions, was in Paris defending American interests at the conference in his last major diplomatic foray before he leaves office.

The conference marked the end of eight years of failed U.S. efforts at Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marked the "last flutters of yesterday's world."

"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

Palestinian officials hope the conference can lay out terms for eventual negotiations, notably on how to share Jerusalem and the need to stop Israeli settlements.

___

8 a.m.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press, the Paris Mideast peace conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."

It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

A draft circulating Sunday did not include direct reference to moving the U.S. embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.

"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known famous French Nazi hunter, said.

___

Aron Heller in Jerusalem, and Philippe Sotto and Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.
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Police in the Swiss capital of Bern say they've prevented a pro-Tibet protester from setting himself on fire on the sidelines of a demonstration against the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Bern police say 32 people were stopped for refusing identity checks and other disruptions Sunday as part of their deployment to secure Xi's visit. On the sidelines of a demonstration around midday, security officials prevented a man who had doused himself with a flammable liquid from setting it on fire.

Xi on Sunday kicked off a four-day visit to Switzerland, the first this century by a Chinese leader. It includes planned stops in Geneva, Lausanne and to the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Police spokesman Christoph Gnaegi said those taken in by police were later released.
A Serbian train halted at the border with Kosovo and bearing signs reading "Kosovo is Serbian," has fueled a major crisis in the Balkans and escalated a potential Russia-West row over dominance in the heart of the Balkans.

Serbia accused Kosovo's leaders on Sunday of "wanting war" and warned that it would defend "every inch" of its territory, a day after the train, decorated in Serbian Christian Orthodox symbols and flags, was prevented from entering the neighboring nation.

Kosovo, supported by much of the West, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. But, Serbia and its Slavic Orthodox ally, Russia, do not recognize the split.

Serbia has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo's north, where most of the country's Serb minority lives. NATO-led troops have controlled Kosovo's borders since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic issued the latest warning after the passenger train, painted in the colors of the red, blue and white Serbian flag, was prevented from crossing into Kosovo, where his government contends ethnic Serbs are under threat from Kosovo Albanians.

"Yesterday, we were on the verge of clashes," Nikolic said after a meeting of the country's top security body following the train's overnight return to Belgrade. He accused the Kosovo Albanians of "wanting war."

"We are a country which has to protect its people and its territory," Nikolic said, in the strongest rhetoric since the NATO-led troops took control of Kosovo's borders in 1999.

Serbia officially is seeking European Union membership, but has lately been sliding toward the Kremlin and its policies to increase its influence in the Balkans. Serbia has strained relations with most of its neighbors  something many analysts believe is a Russian influence.

Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said he had contacted the United States and the European Union to express his country's concerns.

"The time of provocation, conflicts and wars should belong to the past," Mustafa said, adding that such moves "are unacceptable, unnecessary actions that do not contribute to the normalization of the relations between our two countries."

Nikolic, who is staunchly pro-Russian, said the EU and the West have never been on Serbia's side or come to its aid.

"Why were the so-called international community and the Albanians so upset about one train?" Nikolic asked. "Maybe because it had 'Kosovo is Serbian' written on it, and because it had pictures of our icons inside."

He also urged that Serbia halt its EU membership negotiation in Brussels, including a key part that calls for normalization of relations between Serbia and Kosovo.

"My suggestion now is only to talk in Brussels when this train is allowed to pass. ... If there is no freedom of movement, what kind of Western civilization are we talking about then?" he said.

Nikolic also slammed the outgoing Obama administration, and the U.S. support of Kosovo's independence  comments that reflected the general presumption here that President-elect Donald Trump will be more favorable toward Russia and Serbia.

Referring to the naming of several locations in Kosovo after former President Bill Clinton, he said: "It seems to me that these are the last gasps of the outgoing American administration, whose representatives must earn the names of streets and squares they received for directly supporting, sponsoring the independence of Kosovo."

Tensions between Serbia and Kosovo have soared following the recent detention in France of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, on an arrest warrant from Serbia.

Kosovo has called the warrant illegitimate and urged France to ignore it, while Serbia is urging Haradinaj's quick extradition to face war crimes charges.
Fearing a new eruption of violence in the Middle East, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to push for renewed peace talks that would lead to a Palestinian state.

The conference is meant to be a forceful message to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that much of the world wants peace and sees a two-state solution as the best way to achieve it in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

"A two-state solution is the only possible one," French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said in opening the conference, calling it "more indispensable than ever" to solve the protracted conflict.

Netanyahu has snubbed Sunday's conference as "rigged" against Israel, and Trump's incoming administration isn't taking part.

The gathering is an "empty summit" that was cooked up behind Israel's back and is designed to force conditions on the country that are against its national interests, Netanyahu said.

French diplomats fear Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.

"Both parties are very far apart and their relationship is one of distrust  a particularly dangerous situation," Ayrault said at the conference. "Our collective responsibility is to bring Israelis and Palestinians back to the negotiating table. We know it is difficult, but is there an alternative? No, there isn't."

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is in Paris defending American interests at the conference, in his last major diplomatic foray before he leaves office. It marks the end of eight years of failed U.S. efforts at Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marks the "last flutters of yesterday's world."

"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to Trump's incoming administration.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."

It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

The final conference declaration also may warn Trump against moving the embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.

"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known famous French Nazi hunter, said. "If it existed and if the Arab world recognized the existence of Israel, we would find the means to solve all the problems very quickly."

The demonstrators loudly booed French lawmaker Pierre Lellouche when he took the podium and declared himself in favor of a "two-state solution" and the halting of Jewish settlements in the Palestinian territories.

Ariel Goldmann, president of the French Jewish association Fonds Social Juif Unifie, called the gathering a "mockery of dialogue, a mockery of peace, a historical mockery." Goldmann said he was "sad that France is lending itself to such a maneuver."
State Sen. Scott Surovell wants to make state colleges and universities more accountable to Virginia taxpayers.

Surovell, a Democrat from Mount Vernon whose 36th District includes part of Stafford County, said higher education is due for a shakeup in the wake of the discovery that the University of Virginia set aside $2.2 billion for strategic investments, which former board member Helen Dragas called a slush fund.

The situation with U.Va. squirreling away $2 billion has gotten the attention of the legislators, he said. Higher education will be in discussion this session.

Hes sponsoring a bill that would require board of visitors members in leadership roles, such as rector and vice rector, to be residents of Virginia.

Boards of visitors are made up of 12 members appointed by the governor to oversee state colleges and universities in Virginia. The board appoints the president, determines policies, sets salaries, fixes tuition and fees, awards degrees, approves changes to curriculum and oversees the internal audit office.

I feel like the role of visitors needs to be better clarified, Surovel said. The purpose is to look out for Virginia taxpayers and making sure the university is run correctly. I dont feel that someone from out of state brings the same perspective looking out for Virginians.

UMWs current rector, former Mary Washington Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Fred Rankin, is a Virginia resident. But the two previous rectors, Holly Cuellar and Pamela White. both lived out of state.

Surovel said while out of state members have some useful input, they should not be leading a board.

A lot of times, visitors are alumni and feel strongly about their alma mater, he said. Theyre looking out for the school and not Virginians.

The bill has been referred to the committee on education and health.

Another bill sponsored by Surovell (SB 1103) says if a board votes to certify a closed meeting improperly and does not meet the requirements of FOIA, a civil penalty of $500 each will be levied to members, which would be paid into the State Literary Fund. That legislation has been referred to the committee for general laws and technology.

He said he has additional bills involving higher education in the works. Not yet filed is a bill requiring boards of visitors to give the public 30 days notice and take public comment before approving tuition increases and one requiring four-year colleges and community colleges to make transfer credit guidelines clear so students transferring from another school dont take unnecessary courses.
When doctors said there were no options left for 7-year-old Lily Noakes, a spunky and spirited first-grader who battled brain cancer for six years, her family prepared for the end.

Lilys parents, Melanie and Eric Noakes of Stafford County, invited Andie McConnell into their home. Shes the executive director of the Fairy Godmother Project, a Fredericksburg area nonprofit with a mission far more serious than the one in the story of Cinderella. The group supports families with children with cancer.

Melanie Noakes and McConnell had become friends during the years that volunteers had worked with the family, offering meals and gas gift cards and sending teams to clean the house or rake leaves.

Lilys mother knew McConnell hadnt experienced a little ones last days. If she did, Melanie Noakes thought, maybe she could use that knowledge to help other families even more.

McConnell agreed, even though the thought terrified her.

The prospect of watching someones child die, oh my gosh, I was scared to death, McConnell said.

As it turned out, McConnell took what she observed Lilys deathbed and developed a blueprint for a new mission called the Stargazers Program. Volunteers assist with everything from planning funerals to running errands so families can get in every last minute possible with their children.

The program also includes financial help through whats become The Lily Fund.

When McConnell proposed the plan to her eight-member board, just a few days after Lilys death on Jan. 23, 2015, board member Jeremy McCommons looked across the table and said: This is it, Andie. This is what we should be doing for the families.

GROUP IS A GEM

McConnell and Stephanie Johnson, a professional photographer, started Fairy Godmother in 2011 to give families the support they needed during the darkest days of their lives. Both knew parents of children with cancer and were shocked that not all their friends came to their aid.

Some even disappeared altogether.

The women decided theyd fill in the gaps. Johnson organized a group of photographers to provide individual and family portraits, and McConnell began rounding up volunteers to cook meals, do housecleaning or raise money for gas gift cards or to help with bills.

More than five years later, the group has become the go-to agency in the region for families in this situation, as evidenced by those helped by the group.

The Fairy Godmother Project is one of the best things thats happened to us, said Tiffany Collins in June 2015, as volunteers did yard work around her Spotsylvania County home. She and her husband, Corey, had been devoting all their energy to Kadric, 4, and his baby sister, Callie. Kadric was 17 months old when he was diagnosed with leukemia.

Cancer is a lot of dark clouds, but its also a lot of silver linings, said John Leahy, as his daughter, Ceili, 19, battled cancer and leukemia. She eventually decided to stop treatments so she could enjoy her last days and died on Jan. 27, 2016.

Before her death, he said in a video that the Fairy Godmother Project has been a really great silver lining, a wonderful gift. It gave us a lot of time to be able to enjoy each others company and love life.

Our community is very blessed to have it, because in a lot of communities, these poor families have nowhere to turn, said Ashland Evans, manager of Mary Washington Hospice. He and McConnell have collaborated on ways to complementnot duplicatewhat each group does. The Fairy Godmother Project is a gem.

UNBELIEVABLY GENEROUS

Five years after the Fairy Godmother Projects creation, the group has more than 80 volunteers and a $300,000 annual budget. Volunteers get involved with families soon after a diagnosis and help as long as two to three years, depending on how long a child is treated.

The project provides about $6,100 worth of services each year, per family. That includes help with bills twice a year, if needed. In recent times, the group has served 16 families each year.

McConnell has been receiving a salary since 2015, and the group has another full-time employee and an office off William Street in downtown Fredericksburg.

Its gotten some grant money, but most donations come from local individuals and businesses. Some financial gifts are in memory of loved ones; other people assist the godmother cause by supporting its biggest fundraiser, an annual formal ball.

This community is unbelievably generous, McConnell said.

The group continues its original goal, but its mission has been formalized and its processes streamlined. Those who volunteer to work with families go through background checks, and McConnell asks all potential volunteers what they wouldor wouldntlike to do.

Some are perfectly suited to be lead volunteers, the primary contact for families. Others prefer to do office work or lawn chores.

The group just got a $10,000 grant from New York Life Donation and the National Alliance for Grieving Children. With that money, McConnell will hire a licensed clinic social worker to train volunteers to help families through the final process. Funds also will be used to put together a training video.

Every person who goes through the training probably will hear about Lily Noakes and the impact her last days had on the Fairy Godmother Project.

THERE FOR US

Lily had completed a clinical trial in September 2014, when doctors said there wasnt anything else they could do. McConnell started visiting regularly, each time bringing coffee for the mom and an eclair for the dad.

She also tried to engage Lily, asking on every visit if she could tell a story. When Lily finally agreed, the two started a ritual in which they passed Lilys Curious George monkey back and forth between them. They began each short tale with Once Upon A Time and finished it with The End.

McConnell also heard stories about Lily, a daddys girl who loved to sing with her mother and play with her big brother, Landon. When Lilys mother talked about the kind of life celebration she wanted for her daughter, or what should be mentioned at her funeral, McConnell listened and took notes.

When the family needed a prescription picked up or items from the grocery store, McConnell found a volunteer to run errands. When there were questions about medical equipment or ways to make Lily more comfortable, McConnell got them answered.

And, after Lily died and her family needed clothes to bury her in and to wear to the funeral, McConnell took them shopping and paid for the purchases with Fairy Godmother Project donations. McConnell also gave Lilys eulogy, starting it with Once Upon A Time, just like she did her stories.

We look back and reflect on the way she helped us, and it was wonderful to have the support of Andie and the Fairy Godmother Project volunteers, Melanie Noakes said. At some of our darkest times, even after the funeral, she was there for us.

A HUGE GIFT

As McConnell described the work of the fairy godmothers, emotions were written all over her face. She regularly bubbled with enthusiasm at how generous people are, with time and money. Shes thrilled with the way other agencies warmly welcome her suggestions of ways to partner.

Just as often, she cried at the memory of those who have died, saying theres a reason she doesnt wear mascara.

Eight of the 44 families the organization has helped have lost children. Four deaths came last year, and McConnell firmly believes her vigil at Lilys deathbed was meant to prepare her.

McConnell isnt joking when she says shes needed therapy herself to deal with the losses. Still, she sees the final opportunity to help families a huge gift, the second-biggest thing shes been given in life after her three children.

I witness more love in a week than the average person sees in a lifetime, McConnell said, adding that the heartache is tinged with incredible amounts of love and compassion. I have seen emotions that I wouldnt trade for anything.
The search for the next president of Germanna Community College was narrowed to about 10 candidates this week, according to board Chairman William Thomas.

He said Thursday that the school attracted 99 qualified applicants to succeed President David Sam, who is retiring at the end of this academic year.

I was pleased with the mix, Thomas said. In their cover letters, folks were expressing that Germanna is a really good place to be, and Virginia is a very good place to be.

Applications came in from all over the country, and at least a dozen had prior experience as community college presidents, he said.

Virginia Community College presidential search committees include input from the state chancellor, state board, local board, and local administrators.

Through initial interviews, the committee will narrow the field to the top three or four candidates, who will visit the campus in March for in-person interviews. Those candidates also will participate in public forums open to the community during their visit.

The presidential profile calls for leadership, student recruitment and success, knowledge of budget practices and ability to manage the colleges reputation as key qualities.

Sam said Friday that oversight of the construction of new buildings, including the permanent Stafford County campus and the new Locust Grove building, will put major demands on the next president, as will expansion of programs, including the state goal of tripling credential options.

That cant be allowed to slow down or stop, Sam said of the Stafford building construction.

Enrollment is another key area. Because community colleges admit almost all applicants, they are more sensitive to drops in enrollment than schools that can choose to be less selective to keep enrollment up. But 80 percent of community college enrollment is tied to outside factors, such as the unemployment rate. When unemployment is up, so is enrollment, Sam said.

In recent years, with low unemployment, enrollment has dropped. But the college is graduating more students, meaning more students who enroll complete their programs, he said.

Our success rate is going up fairly dramatically, which is, of course, why were here, he said.

Sam, who announced his upcoming retirement in August, was awarded president emeritus status by the state board in a vote this week, Thomas said. The honor carries privileges such as invitations to graduations and other events, but does not carry official duties or any compensation.

Sam will serve until the end of June, with the new president taking over July 1.

Germanna is going through its 10-year Southern Association of Colleges and Schools accreditation review, and Sams goal is to complete as much documentation as possible before he leaves, including some that is not due until after his departure. The accreditation team will visit the campus in the fall.

The college is dealing with mid-year budget cuts for the sixth or seventh time in his 10 years, he said. The cut of about 5.5 percent amounts to around $1 million for Germanna. Sam said the college has covered about half that shortfall through spending reductions and by freezing most hiring.

My goal is to have a budget that is as workable as possible, with all the hard decisions made by me before the new president comes in in July, he said.

The college has not had layoffs since Sam was made president, he said, and he hopes to avoid them this year, as well.
On Oct. 14, 2015, when the idea of a Donald Trump presidency still seemed far-fetched, Jerry Fitzgerald spent most of the day collecting signatures to help get the businessman on Virginias GOP presidential primary ballot.

Later that day, he saw Trump in person for the first time during the candidates rally at Richmond International Raceway. He said he was close enough to shake Trumps hand, though he settled for a picture.

On Friday, Fitzgerald expects to be near the mogul againbut this time it will be during Donald J. Trumps inauguration as 45th president of the United States. He plans to wear the red Make America Great Again hat that he purchased at the Richmond rally.

Fitzgerald, 49, who lives in Stafford County, said hed be disappointed if Trump does not touch on some of his campaign promisesincluding building a wall along the U.S.Mexico borderduring his inauguration speech. Im kind of in lockstep with everything hes going to do, said Fitzgerald, who works for Carter Machinery.

Fitzgerald said a fellow Stafford Republican Committee member got inauguration tickets from Rep. Rob Wittman, R1st District, and offered a pair to him and his wife, Cassandra.

Each House of Representatives member can distribute up to 177 standing tickets and 21 seated tickets. Spokeswomen for Wittman and Rep. Dave Brat, R7th District, said both congressmen are out of tickets.

Residents can also request tickets at the Presidential Inaugural Committees website: 58pic2017.org.

We have had so many requests that we had to stop taking names a while back, Brat spokeswoman Barbara Boland wrote in an email. Wittman spokeswoman Kathleen Gayle said the congressmans office had received about 500 requests for tickets.

Some Fredericksburg-area residents will also head to Washington in protest of the controversial Trump, whose statements about women and immigrants have led to accusations of racism and sexism.

Tom Beasley of Fredericksburg said in an email that he and about 10 friends will take part in a protest march the day after the inaugural.

In addition, Fredericksburgs Hurkamp Park will play host to a Silent Inauguration Friday. Participants will gather at 11:30 a.m., and observe 15 minutes of silence at noonwhen Trump takes the oath of office.

Fredericksburg resident Anne Little wrote in a news release about the event that silence is a way to escape the shrill noise of the president-elects words.

Join us in a spirit of love for our nation, Little wrote. Come join us and help those who have been marginalized, criticized, and hurt. Come join us and show our president-elect that many millions reject his divisive messages and wish to turn away from his words of hate and exclusion.

Caroline County resident Graham Parker, 17, who got two inaugural tickets from Wittman, said he planned to attend the inauguration regardless of who won the presidency. If Clinton had won, he said, he wanted to be able to say he was there for the first female presidents swearing-in ceremony.

Its one of the most historical events in our country, said Parker, a self-described moderate Republican who said he would have voted for Trump if hed been old enough.

Parker said he does not like some of the things Trump has said about women. But he said he does appreciate the president-elects vision of an America thats going to look better.

My personal big policy is transportation and infrastructure, and hes proposing a trillion-dollar deal for infrastructure, Parker said.

Meanwhile, Fitzgerald said he trusts Trump lock, stock and barrel, whether its on Supreme Court appointments or immigration policy.

He said one of his main concerns is the number of refugees entering the United States. At one point during his campaign, Trump said he planned to suspend the Syrian refugee program and deport those already here, according to news reports.

Fitzgerald said he also hopes Trump breaks away from the Paris agreement to combat climate change, adding that he does not believe in global warming.

I think people have just had enough of politicians in general, he said. And they just took a big gamble on Trump, whos not a politician.
The Spotsylvania County Sheriffs Office has identified the victims of a fiery crash Thursday night, but would not release any other information as it continues to investigate the incident.

Taylor Wolfe, 24, of Spotsylvania and Chelsea Favreau, 21, of Stafford County died in the single-vehicle wreck on Robert E. Lee Drive near Spotsylvania Courthouse, Maj. Troy Skebo confirmed Saturday. Both were passengers in the back of an extended-cab pickup truck, which caught fire after the crash, authorities said.

The driver and a front-seat passenger were able to exit the vehicle, but the victims did not, according to the Sheriffs Office. Its unclear if the victims died in the crash or the subsequent fire. No charges have been filed.

Skebo said authorities will not release the names of the driver and front-seat passenger until the investigation is complete. Deputies are scheduled to meet with the commonwealths attorney Tuesday to discuss the case, he said. I think more will be able to come out on Tuesday, Skebo said.

A GoFundMe account to help Wolfes family had raised $4,490 of its $5,000 goal as of late Saturday afternoon.

The account states that Wolfe was the father of a 5-year-old son, a 1-year-old daughter, and an unborn baby girl.

The crash occurred shortly before 11 p.m. Thursday, when a 2007 Chevrolet pickup crossed the double yellow lines in the 8700 block of Robert E. Lee Drive and ran off the road, police said. The vehicle caught fire after coming to a stop in a ditch. Authorities have not released any other details about the crash.

The front-seat occupants were taken to a hospital for treatment of undisclosed injuries.
PEOPLE of good will feel compassion for vulnerable individuals who are threatened with harm, while others fiercely defend the view that some human lives have so little value and potential that it is better to discard that life.

I have two bills filed so far for the 2017 session of the Virginia General Assembly. I hope they will both become law and save many of the most vulnerable lives.

One will help save the lives of drug addicts by making the anti-opioid drug naloxone more readily accessible to help those who have somehow fallen into a deadly dependence. This bill will no doubt see almost unanimous bipartisan support because everyone wants to throw a lifeline to someone in distress. We do this because we all agree that every life has value and potential.

The second bill, to prohibit most late-term abortions, is already being fiercely opposed by national organizations that perform these for profit. It is called the 20-Week Pain-Capable Unborn Child Protection Act.

If you think brutal killing would not be legal in a civilized society, you are wrong; it happens every day. The victims are babies in the womb who are guilty of nothing more than wanting to breathe their first breath, to see the light of day and enjoy the warmth, care and love we all desire. Opponents of my legislation ignore that the method used to terminate a late-term pre-born babys life is so barbaric and cruel that it would rival the worst torture ever conceived by the human mind.

Dismemberment abortions are commonly used to kill babies after 20 weeks gestation. This type of abortion is purposely dismembering a living unborn child and extracting him or her one piece at a time from the uterus through use of clamps, grasping forceps, tongs, scissors or similar instruments that, through the convergence of two rigid levers, slice, crush, and/or grasp a portion of the living unborn childs body to cut or rip it off.

Some support the excruciating death of babies for political reasons; others say mothers and doctors alone have the authority to impose this death by dismemberment sentence. Others justify dismemberment torture in cases of fetal abnormalities. My answer is simple: it is always wrong to impose a brutally painful death sentence on another innocent human life based on race, sex, disability or any characteristic or circumstance.

Earlier this year, I received a letter describing two babies with severe fetal abnormalities. Here are some excerpts:

Aaron and Christen were both born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Their parents, Cindy and Corky, were told that they would in all likelihood not live past the age of 2 due to the severity of their genetic disorder, and were advised not to go through with the pregnancy, since such abnormalities are always fatal.

Aaron became the poster-child for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, took part in a national fundraising event run by Jerry Lewis, got a law degree from the University of Florida and ran a very successful law practice. In his spare time, he lobbies in states across the nation for handicapped people, and often represents them pro-bono in legal cases. At 35, he currently lives in Florida.

Aarons sister, Christen, also worked with the Muscular Dystrophy Association, and has raised funds for others who face the same difficulties. She received her masters degree recently, and is focused on getting her doctorate. She, like Aaron, loves her life, and, at 30, enjoys every moment shes been given. They agree that every moment that they have been given past their second birthday is a gift.

Defenders of late-term abortion argue that the unborn child at 20 weeks is not capable of feeling pain. Numerous studies demonstrate otherwise.

This law is now in place in 15 states; in West Virginia, two-thirds of House Democrats voted in favor. Support for the bill extends across all demographics: millennials 78 percent, women 67 percent, AfricanAmericans 70 percent, Hispanics 57 percent. Yet Gov. Terry McAuliffe has promised to veto this common-sense, compassionate legislation, calling it damaging toward business. Perhaps that business is Planned Parenthood, his $2 million contributor.

What is the take away from all this? To quote Bernard Chazelle: ...A society that allows torture loses its soul and brings shame on its members. This grotesquely evil behavior must be banned, and compassion for the lives of all vulnerable people be embraced.

Del. Dave LaRock, a Republican from Loudoun County, represents Virginias 33rd House District.
MILITARY folks, particularly senior enlisted, arent normally prone to giddy excitement, but the expectations, the relief, and the hope for a reinvigorated military and a refocused national defense mission are obvious.

While not all of the troops are delighted with the prospect of a President Trump, nominating James Mattis as secretary of defense seems to be just what was needed for sagging morale and uncertainty within the ranks. With very few exceptions, airmen, soldiers, Marines, and sailors all are eagerly anticipating his confirmation. As one sergeant first class told me: When news of Mattis for SECDEF first broke, there was a resounding HOOAH throughout the entire Army.

The retired four-star Marine general is a living legend known for his support of a robust military, his devotion to his troops, and his skepticism toward the Iranian government. His nicknamesMad Dog and Warrior Monkhighlight both his fierce fighting skills and his keen intellect. He is so beloved by his troops that in a Military Times election survey, more than half of the troops surveyed said they would support him as a third-party candidate for president.

Undoubtedly, it will be a relief for active duty forces (and for most of us veterans) to see, under Mattis leadership, the too politically correct Pentagon once again focus on national defense and deterring warrather than on social-engineering programs and the radical plans of far-left bureaucrats.

Military members and advocates are also hopeful that a Trump presidency will usher in a new era of better pay and benefits for the troops, in addition to desperately needed funds for military readiness and infrastructure. It is no secret that the Obama administrations attempts to rein in military costs, combined with the drastic cuts imposed by sequestration, have had severe impacts on troop strengths, training and infrastructure.

Theres much that is wrong with the military today. Broken planes, overstretched budgets, extended deployments, and delayed maintenance are just a few. And in addition to badly needed money for these basic expenses, last month Navy leadership put forward a proposal for a 355-ship fleet that it says is necessary to handle the growing threats from Russia and China.

Adding another 47 ships to the Navys current fleet would undoubtedly have many benefits. Overworked sailors would see shorter deployments, and there would be far less stress and wear placed on warships. A larger fleet would mean stronger national security and it would be a terrific financial boon to shipyards in Virginia, Maine, and Mississippi. The question is where exactly the many billions of dollars would come from. Because theres one huge problem: The Defense Department is dead broke.

According to an article by Tom Spoehr in The National Interest magazine, that is the grim news Deputy Secretary of Defense Bob Work delivered to Gen. Mattis on Dec. 5 at a National Strategic Forum. Spoehr writes: Work admitted that DoD has breathtaking liabilitiesas much as $88 billion a yearthat ought to be addressed before procuring a single additional plane, ship, or tank. Unfortunately, the situation is even worse than that. Military leaders have testified to the problems caused by five straight years of budget cuts and how these cuts, combined with an extraordinarily high operational tempo, have resulted in a smaller, less capable military force.

On day one, the Trump administration will have to move forward quickly to work on a 2017 budget (Congress passed a short-term budget extension at the end of 2016, but that funding expires in April). The Pentagon remains cautiously optimistic that both the 2017 and 2018 budgets will reflect higher military funding.

Defense officials say sequestration remains the biggest hindrance to increased spending. One of Trumps campaign promises was to end spending capsbut he may run into some very partisan pushback. While conservatives in Congress have urged removing defense spending limitations, Democrats continue to insist that no budget increases will be given to the military unless equal funding is provided to non-military priorities.

There is no doubt the prospect of new leadership in the Oval Office and at the Pentagon have improved the militarys morale significantly. But, although Trumps promises have produced a guarded optimism, and Mattis leadership will undoubtedly inspire the troops, most of the desperately hoped-for military gains are still very much in the air. (What Mattis can do right away is stop spending untold dollars and man-hours training military personnel on the Pentagons latest social experiments.)

Congress will have a lot to say about how much extra money it is willing to spend to rebuild the military. Unfortunately, the fact of the matter is that despite Trumps promises, there just isnt much extra money lying around. Lets just hope that legislators will work together in a nonpartisan manner to ensure the military has the funding needed to meet growing demands on our national security.

Robin Beres is an associate editor of the editorial department and columnist at the Richmond Times-Dispatch. Email her at: mberes@timesdispatch.com
I KNOW Rex Tillerson. I've had hundreds of interactions with him. Rex was the president of the Boy Scouts of America, and I was the commissioner, the top two volunteer positions in the organization. We were partners for two years. We traveled the country together. We hiked the mountains in New Mexico together. We were joined at the hip.

I know Rex will make a superb secretary of state.

I first met him serving on the selection committee to choose the next chief executive officer of the Scouts. Rex was the CEO of ExxonMobil, and I was a lawyer from Orlando, Fla. We were to meet the candidates and had transcripts of video interviews they had previously recorded. I was sitting across from Rex and noticed his transcripts, positively embroidered with highlighting, margin notes, sticky tabs and questions. Looking at mine, there were a couple of notes.

I told him I was amazed he had the time to give it that much thought and attention.

Rex said, "Tico, my father was a professional Boy Scout. I grew up in Scouting. I spent many years on summer camp staff. Everything I learned I learned in Scouting as a young man. This is the most important thing I'm doing right now and it deserves my full attention." He took that job on and absolutely owned it. He did it with all his heart and all his might.

Over the next several years, I saw Rex in many unguarded situations. We would hike the back country at the Scout camp where we would run into kids. He was always a model of courtesy and respect to every person who approached, whether it was an 8-year-old boy asking him questions, or an 80-year-old guy telling him everything we were doing was wrong because we didn't do it the way they used to do it.

But no matter who it was, Rex would always make that person believe that his input matteredbecause he truly believes that all input mattered. He was always incredibly accessible and warm.

In the boardroom, he reasoned and planned at such a different level than the rest of us. If we were playing chess, I was using one board and he was playing in three dimensions.

Having watched Rex, I know that he lives the Scout Law in his lifetrustworthy, loyal, helpful, friendly, courteous, kind, obedient, cheerful, thrifty, brave, clean and reverent.

How do you live the values? You're a decent human being. You do what you say you're going to do. Your word is your bond. You value others and let them know they are valued, no matter who they are. You're loyal to the job you are doing.

And that's what he'll do at the State Department.

I know he will bring a well-designed and disciplined plan. He will "be prepared." He will have a clear understanding of the priorities that have to be achieved. He will satisfy differences, identify common goals and bring people together to accomplish those goals. I know that because I've seen him do it.

Rex will become an expert on all sides of every issue so he can reach lasting resolutions that best serve America.

He understands that the better you know the other side of a problem, the better opportunity you have to reach consensus and resolve tough issues.

Rex knows that if you want a true accord where people can move forward in good faith together, and one that survives the test of time, everyone must believe that you considered his positions and that the outcome is based on mutual benefit for all.

This is not brain surgeryit's the adage that I always try to teach young Scouts: The answer is simple; it's just not easy.

Treat people with respect and courtesy. Listen to everyone. Engender trust.

These are the skills a diplomat needs. Rex has them.

Rex is going to do everything that is best for our country, because that's the job he will have and that's the job he will dothe same way he's done every job he's ever hadwith all his heart, with all his soul and with all his might.

There is no better choice for secretary of state.

Tico Perez, an attorney in Orlando, Fla., is vice president of diversity for the Boy Scouts of America. He wrote this for the Orlando Sentinel.
Thank you for your continued coverage of Del. Mark Coles proposed legislation. Your coverage provides a window into his frightening alt-right agenda.

Cole, a Spotsylvania Republican, continues to work to solve nonexistent problems. His bill requiring proof of citizenship is a thinly veiled attempt at voter suppression. This legislation combined with his efforts at gerrymandering support a dark effort to control the power distribution in Virginia. Cole wraps this legislation in symbolic, patriotic language, saying he wants to honor the system.

Well, he is not honoring the system, he is creating shameful barriers that harken back to days of mass, blatant voter suppression. His efforts embarrass me as a Virginian.

He calls federal courts dumb, and laments he cannot implement these actions on a wider scale. Cole takes the opportunity to hope that both Democrats and Republicans will join in his voter suppression efforts. No thank you, Mr. Cole.

He also compares the myth of voter fraud with the Russians attempt to influence the election through hacking and manipulation of information. One of these issues is a threat to our democracy while the other is a trumped up, fear mongering attempt to power grab. Solving non-existent problems, using taxpayers dollars, is not a legislative priority but a personal agenda. Mr. Cole you are a delegate with a responsibility, bring honor to your position and stop needless new laws and work to solve real problems that impact the daily lives of your constituents.

Angela Williams

Fredericksburg
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The European Commission has registered a petition calling for a ban on the use of glyphosate, the key ingredient in Monsantos top-selling weedkiller.

The European Citizens Initiative (ECI) calls on the commission to propose a ban on glyphosate, to reform the pesticide approval procedure, and to set EU-wide mandatory reduction targets for pesticide use.

The initiative will be formally registered on 25 January, starting a one-year process for the collection of signatures in support of the proposal.

See also: On-farm trials focus on growing without glyphosate

Under EU rules, if the petition reaches a total of at least 1 million signatures from at least seven different member states the commission will be forced to react within three months.

In this scenario, the commission would have to decide whether to follow the request or not. But in either case, it must explain the reasons for its decision.

The ECI is a EU mechanism introduced in 2012 with the aim of increasing democracy by enabling EU citizens to directly take part in the development of EU policies.

The petition is being supported by Greenpeace, Pesticide Action Network and European campaigning organisation WeMove.EU.

EU review

The European Chemicals Agency is undertaking a review into glyphosate and whether it should be classified as a carcinogen by the EU. The review is due to be published this summer.

It comes after a study, led by Michael Antoniou, at Kings College, London, linked glyphosate to non-alcoholic fatty liver disease in rats.

Monsanto maintains glyphosate, when used according to label directions, does not present an unreasonable risk of adverse effects to humans, wildlife or the environment.

In July, the European Commission extended glyphosates current license for 18 months, while advising members states to restrict its use on pre-harvest crops and in public places.

Any ban disastrous for no-till farming

The NFU has warned against a ban on glyphosate, saying it allows farmers to control weeds in a way that benefits the environment through its application in planting methods that protect soil structure and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

NFU vice-president Guy Smith said: Glyphosate can help farmers reduce their carbon footprint when it comes to reducing cultivations and drying crops.

As we start the lobbying run in to the relicensing of glyphosate at the end of 2017 its not surprising to see new activity trying to demonise this key crop-protection material.

Its interesting the scientists behind the latest scare stories are the same ones who have tried to prove GM food causes health problems.

Mr Smith added that the NFU was redoubling its efforts in Brussels to ensure sound science dictates regulation.

Essex grower Ed Ford says glyphosate is a key ingredient in his no-till farming system at Childerditch Farms, in Brentwood.

An outright ban on glyphosate would be a disaster for growers, he told Farmers Weekly.
Video surveillance : Mayor wants more security cameras in Bonn

Bonn Should city councils be able to decide where to install video surveillance cameras? Mayor Ashok Sridharan says yes, but his plan has met strong opposition from city councillors.

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It does not currently look as if Bonn city council will give the green light to Mayor Ashok Sridharans (CDU) plan to ask the NRW state government to change the law so that NRW councils can decide where to install video surveillance cameras for security reasons.

At present, the law only allows the police to decide where to install cameras and then only to prevent typical crimes such as theft, assault or property damage. Cameras are only allowed in frequent crime areas, as shown by statistics over the previous five years.

All other parties in the council are currently rejecting his proposa

In future, the mayor would like Bonns council to also be able to decide where video cameras can be installed. He told the General Anzeiger on Friday that further details on implementation needed to be decided and that in any event a change in the law would first be required. However, apart from his fellow party members, the Burger Bund Bonn (BBB) and the Allianz fur Bonn (AfB), all other parties in the council are currently rejecting his proposal, or are at least critical of it, especially the citys plan to install cameras in areas where the homeless gather.

Critics include the Greens and the Liberals, who, together with the CDU, form a majority in the council. Green party spokesman Peter Finger said he did not expect his party to support an increase in the citys video surveillance powers. Werner Hummrich (FDP) said security was a sovereign task of the State administered by the police. He said he did not think it was wise to transfer this power to councils.

Bonn area police union positive about the proposal

CDU party leader Georg Fenninger said the party had always supported an increase in video surveillance. Barbel Richter (SPD) does not agree at all with Sridharans request, saying she would rather rely on the police and that the council should adopt other measures such as better lighting in squares and on streets.

Bonn police spokesman Robert Scholten said the police would not comment on the political discussions. However, the Bonn area police union was positive about the proposal. Talk of more security must be followed by actions, emphasised chairman Udo Schott. It was important for the security services to establish more control and one possibility would be to conduct video surveillance in appropriate places. However, there were big legal hurdles. He said it was important not to install dummy cameras but real ones that could not only be used in prosecutions but that would also be an effective preventative measure.

Hermann-Josef Borjans, spokesman for the BDK, the union representing Germanys criminal police, said it was necessary to put the legal requirements for video surveillance in NRW to the test because people were feeling less secure in many places. Councils could certainly give a precise local analysis of dangerous places - in cooperation with the police.
10 best Samsung smartphones to buy in India in 2017 Features oi -Harish Kumar Samsung fans can rejoice!

The Galaxy Note 7 fiasco made 2016 a bad year for Samsung, but the company seems not to consider it as a setback. The South Korean tech giant has ensured to launch a slew of smartphones in other price points that have become pretty successful for the company.

Undoubtedly, despite the Galaxy Note 7 battery explosion incidents and the recalling of the phablet, Samsung is still one of the most trusted brands among the consumers. The company is still sought after by most buyers as they hope that the upcoming smartphones won't have similar issues as the Galaxy Note 7.

Top 10 Most-awaited 6GB-8GB RAM Smartphones of 2017

In the meantime, the Samsung fans in India can get hold of some of the best smartphones available in the market right now. To be specific, the Galaxy J series has attracted many buyers with its USP of rendering long lasting battery life and 4G connectivity without making them spend a lot on the smartphone purchase.

Today, we have listed some of the best Samsung smartphones that you can buy as of yet. These smartphones include the Galaxy J series, On series and A series offerings as they are among the best sellers in the market. Check out the models from below.

Best Mobiles in India

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US intelligence leaked 'phony allegations' to media: Trump

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 1:14PM

US President-elect Donald Trump has again accused the country's spy agencies of leaking "phony allegations" against him to the media "even knowing there is no proof."

"It now turns out that the phony allegations against me were put together by my political opponents and a failed spy afraid of being sued," Trump tweeted on Friday morning.

On Tuesday, CNN reported that top intelligence officials told Trump that Russia had "kompromat" -- compromising material intended to be used against someone  on the president-elect.

Hours later, BuzzFeed published a 35-page document containing unverified information from former MI6 operative Christopher Steele who claimed that Trump was caught in a compromising position in Russia. The document claimed that Russia is in possession of "compromising" personal and financial information about Trump.

The British spy reportedly had initially begun compiling the dossier on the behalf of Trump's Republican primary opponent Jeb Bush.

Trump on Friday blamed "both Democrats and Republicans" for the disparaging reports, but he said they were "probably" leaked from US intelligence agencies.

"Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans - FAKE NEWS! Russia says nothing exists," he tweeted, adding, "Probably released by "Intelligence" even knowing there is no proof, and never will be. My people will have a full report on hacking within 90 days!"

Addressing a news conference in New York on Wednesday, Trump accused US spy agencies of using Nazi tactics to undermine him.

He said the published material about him is part of a "political witch hunt" campaign, and added that the leaks from the intelligence community were reminiscent of Nazi Germany.

Russia on Wednesday rejected the BuzzFeed document as "completely fake," adding that Moscow does not possess any blackmail file on Trump containing footage of him in a "compromising" position in a Moscow hotel.

Russian President Vladimir Putin's chief spokesman and aide, Dmitry Peskov, said the BuzzFeed report is a "complete fabrication and utter nonsense."

On Thursday, even outgoing US Vice President Joe Biden rejected the claims of "kompromat" on Trump as "unsubstantiated".

But, Biden condemned the president-elect for disparaging the country's intelligence community, saying Trump's statements casting doubt on US intelligence "play into the Russian narrative" of a beleaguered America.

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Algeria busts international spy cell working for Israel: Media reports

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:21AM

Algerian security forces have reportedly disbanded an international espionage network working for the Israeli regime in the North African country.

Algeria's Annahar newspaper reported that the 10 members of the spy ring were arrested in Ghardaia Province on Friday over allegations of fueling chaos and insecurity.

The detainees, who have Libyan, Malian, Ethiopian, Ghanaian, Nigerian and Kenyan nationalities, are currently being interrogated, the report added.

Meanwhile, el-Bilad daily said that initial information shows those taken into custody were working for the Tel Aviv regime

The spy cell used modern and sophisticated telecommunication and visual devices to spy on Algeria's security organizations, the report noted.

It went on to say that the arrested spies were also in possession of CDs containing Hebrew texts, videos of protests in Algeria, documents and statements promoting sedition, and phone numbers of people inside and outside the African country who were encouraged to join the spy cell.

There are no official diplomatic relations between Israel and Algeria.

Over the past years, African countries have arrested and sentenced several people on charges of espionage for the regime in Israel.

In 2015, a court in Egypt handed down a jail sentence to a man found guilty of spying for Israel in the restive Sinai Peninsula.

Earlier this month, Tunisia said the Tel Aviv regime is suspected of being behind the recent assassination of Mohamed Zaouari, an aviation engineer with ties to the Palestinian resistance movement, Hamas.

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Outgoing President Obama eases sanctions against Sudan

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 7:21PM

Outgoing US President Barack Obama has eased some of the economic sanctions imposed against Sudan, aiming to improve relations with the Islamic country.

Obama signed an executive order on Friday to ease but not eliminate some trade and investment sanctions against Khartoum, arguing that the East African country has shown "a marked reduction in offensive military activity, culminating in a pledge to maintain a cessation of hostilities in conflict areas."

The outgoing president expressed determination that the situation which led the US to impose and continue the 20-year-old sanctions had changed in light of Sudan's "positive actions" over the last six months.

"These actions include a marked reduction in offensive military activity, culminating in a pledge to maintain a cessation of hostilities in conflict areas in Sudan, and steps toward the improvement of humanitarian access throughout Sudan, as well as cooperation with the United States on addressing regional conflicts and the threat of terrorism," Obama said.

However, the White House noted that Friday's move did not impact Sudan's label as a state sponsor of terrorism.

The decision was made less than three months after Washington had extended sanctions against Khartoum for one more year, claiming that the Islamic country's policies were still an "extraordinary threat" to America's national security.

Sudan has been under US sanctions since 1997. Washington accuses Khartoum of supporting terrorist groups, and it has blacklisted the country as a state sponsor of terrorism since 1993.

The US has accused Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir of war crimes related to the conflict-torn Darfur region.

Violence broke out in Darfur in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels rose against the long-time ruler, accusing Bashir's Arab-dominated government of marginalizing the region.

There has also been tribal fighting in the region.

Some 2.5 million people have been displaced in Darfur, according to the latest UN figures, which also show that over 300,000 people have died there since violence began.

The United Nations African Union Mission in Darfur (UNAMID) was launched in 2007 in a bid to protect civilians and restore stability to the restive region.

Sudan insists that the conflict in Darfur has ended, and that it wants UN peacekeepers, who have been deployed to the region since 2007, to leave.

Darfur was a united region since its incorporation into Sudan in 1916 until 1994, when Bashir divided it into three states, adding two more in 2012.

Sudan welcomes easing of US sanctions

In response to the move on Friday, Sudan welcomed Obama's decision to lift some economic sanctions against Khartoum, saying it was a "positive and important" development in relations with Washington.

"The Sudanese ministry of foreign affairs welcomes the decision taken by President Barack Obama," Gharib Allah Khidir, the foreign ministry spokesman, said in a statement.

"This step represents a positive and important development for the course of bilateral relations between the United States of America and Sudan, and is the natural result of joint efforts and long and frank discussions," he added.

Khidir noted that Khartoum was "determined to pursue its cooperation with the United States until Sudan is removed from the list of countries that sponsor terrorism."

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2 Saudi soldiers killed in Yemen retaliatory attack on Najran

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 7:19PM

Yemen's army and popular committees have killed at least two Saudi troops in the kingdom's southern province of Najran, in retaliation for Riyadh's ongoing aggression against the impoverished country.

Yemen's Arabic language al-Masirah news channel said the soldiers were killed in firing by Yemeni forces at al-Sudais military site on Friday.

In another retaliatory rocket attack, Yemeni forces destroyed at least one Saudi army tank at al-Ash military base in the same province.

Yemeni forces also targeted several Saudi military bases and strategic positions in the southern province of Jizan.

Meanwhile, Saudi warplanes carried out multiple airstrikes on Yemen's provinces of Sana'a and Hudaydah.

In the southern port city of Mokha, one Yemeni civilian was killed and three others were injured when Saudi jets struck a residential area.

The Saudi war on Yemen, which has reportedly killed at least 11,400 people, was launched in an attempt to reinstate the former regime.

The Yemeni army, backed by Houthi Ansarullah fighters and allied popular committees, has been defending the country against the deadly Saudi aggression.

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African Union will stop recognizing Jammeh as Gambia's leader

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 3:59PM

The African Union says it will cease to recognize Gambian President Yahya Jammeh as the West African country's legitimate leader as of January 19, the date he is slated to hand power to the winner of a last month's election.

The AU's Peace and Security Council announced the decision in a statement issued following a meeting of West African leaders in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa on Friday where the participants made their last-ditch effort to persuade Jammeh to accept his recent election defeat and step down.

The statement warned of "serious consequences in the event that his [Jammeh] action causes any crisis that could lead to political disorder, humanitarian and human rights disaster, including loss of innocent lives and destruction of properties."

Jammeh, who has been in power for 22 years, lost the December election to the opposition coalition's candidate Adama Barrow by a thin margin.

The veteran leader initially conceded, but later changed his mind and called for a new vote, saying he would challenge the result in the Supreme Court.

Barrow has nevertheless asserted that his inauguration will go ahead regardless of the court case.

Jammeh has slammed the United Nations Security Council, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) which have called on him to concede defeat in the election, for taking "unprecedented and hasty resolutions against our republic and constitution."

The incumbent president has also ordered that "nobody be arrested or prosecuted" for acts during the pre and post election period.

West African leaders have repeatedly pursued mediation to ensure a peaceful transfer of power in The Gambia. Last month, after a visit to the country, they declared that ECOWAS did not yet intend to deploy its standby military force and sought a peaceful transfer of power.

Nevertheless, if Jammeh refuses to step down by the end of January 18, when his term expires, ECOWAS may use military intervention.

Jammah has already dismissed ECOWAS mediation efforts and accused the body of declaring a war against his country.

The Gambia's army announced loyalty to Jammah last week, going back on its initial pledge of allegiance to President-elect Adama Barrow.

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Cypriot president emphasizes withdrawal of Turkish troops

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 2:41PM

The Greek Cypriot president says the withdrawal of about 30,000 Turkish troops from Cyprus serves as a precondition for any agreement to reunify the Mediterranean island.

Nicos Anastasiades said there "must" be an agreement "on the withdrawal of the Turkish army."

He made the remarks at a press conference in Geneva on Friday.

Leaders of Cyprus' ethnic Greek and Turkish communities have been engaged in reunification talks in the Swiss city since January 9.

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan, however, ruled out a complete withdrawal of the troops.

Erdogan said such a move was "out of the question." He added, in televised comments, that the Greek Cypriot Republic of Cyprus and Athens "still have different expectations" on resolving the decades-long dispute. Turkish Cypriots "are working intensely and bring sincerity," he added.

The Turkish president also stated that there were major differences on the issue of a rotating presidency for any future united two-zone federation.

Erdogan said it was "unacceptable" that Turks could hold the presidency for only one term, while Greeks were allowed to do so for four terms. He said it was "fair" that Greek Cypriots have two terms for every term granted to Turkish Cypriots. "Apart from this, we told them (in Geneva) that 'no one should expect anything from us.'"

Erdogan's comments come a day after UN-brokered talks between rival Cypriot delegations broke up.

The new session of the talks for Cyprus ended with merely an agreement for the sides to meet again at a later time to make another attempt at finding a political solution to the dispute.

Anastasiades, however, seemed to be more optimistic, saying the negotiations had raised hopes that an agreement can be reached.

"We are on a path that creates hope," he said after talks with North-Cyprus President Mustafa Akinci as well as top diplomats from Turkey, Greece, and Britain on Friday.

Cyprus has been traditionally partitioned between ethnic Turks and Greeks.

In 1974, however, Turkey's armed forces occupied the northern parts of Cyprus in response to Greece's efforts to annex the Greek-speaking-majority eastern Mediterranean island to Athens.

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Yemeni forces, Saudi-backed militants clash near Bab al-Mandeb

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:29AM

Yemeni armed forces have reportedly engaged in heavy fighting with pro-Saudi militants near the strategic Bab al-Mandeb Strait in the southern part of the Arabian Peninsula state.

The clashes broke out on Friday after Saudi mercenaries, backed by Riyadh's military aircraft, seized the al-Zabab region of southern Yemen and the heights overlooking the al-Amri military base in the area, Yemen 24 reported.

According to militant sources, 11 Houthi Ansarullah fighters and eight militiamen loyal to the former Yemeni government were killed in the battles.

The sources said Saudi-backed militants are now advancing towards the areas near the Red Sea port city of Mokha.

Bab al-Mandab Strait is the narrow waterway separating the Arabian Peninsula from the Horn of Africa and links the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean.

It is a key strategic channel for commerce and trade, with an estimated 4 percent of global oil supply passing through it.

The developments come as Saudi fighter jets continue their deadly air raids against civilian targets in Yemen.

In the early hours of Friday, at least 17 people were killed and 13 others injured after Riyadh's warplanes attacked Yemen's southwestern province of Ta'izz.

The air raids hit residential buildings, economic centers and infrastructure in the area.

The Saudi warplanes also bombarded Razeh district in the northwestern province of Sa'ada, using cluster bombs.

The developments came as United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) representative in Yemen Meritxell Relano said almost 1,400 children have been killed and 2,140 injured as a result of the conflict in Yemen.

The Saudi war on Yemen, which has reportedly killed at least 11,400 Yemenis, was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate the former government.

The offensive has also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools and factories.

The Yemeni army, backed by Ansarullah fighters and allied popular committees, have been defending the country against the Saudi aggression.

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Background Briefing on Sudan

Special Briefing

Senior Administration Officials

Via Teleconference

Washington, DC

January 13, 2017



MODERATOR: Thank you, and thanks to everyone for joining us this morning. All of you have no doubt seen the release from the White House earlier this morning, the text of a letter to the speaker of the House of Representatives and the president of the Senate, as well as the text of an executive order that recognizes positive actions by the Government of Sudan in providing for the revocation of certain Sudan-related sanctions. So to talk about those  that executive order and to talk about the actions that we are taking and why, we have with us three senior Administration officials. For your benefit, I'll give you their names. We have with us [Senior Administration Official One]. We have the [Senior Administration Official Two]. And then we also have [Senior Administration Official Three].

Now, henceforth, the ground rules dictate that these will all be labeled and introduced as senior Administration officials. Now, we're going to have brief remarks by these officials to begin with, and then we'll hand it over to you for any questions. So without further ado, I'll hand it over to senior Administration official number one. That's [Senior Administration Official Two]. Sorry.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: This is [Senior Administration Official One].

MODERATOR: Sorry, [Senior Administration Official One]. I apologize.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Okay. So today's lifting of certain sanctions comes as a result of a sustained effort of intensive bilateral engagement with Sudan, and particularly sustained intensive engagement over the last six months that has focused on seeing progress from Sudan in five key areas. And we  just to go over them briefly, where we have seen this type of progress is in the area of conflicts in Darfur in the two areas of Southern Kordofan and Blue Nile.

The Government of Sudan at the beginning of this process in June announced a unilateral cessation of hostilities, and the period of normal fighting, which begins in the beginning of December  the dry season  this year for the first time since 2011, we have not seen a government offensive in Darfur or the two areas. Secondly, the government has taken significant steps to reduce obstructions to humanitarian access and to improve the environment for humanitarian organizations operating throughout Sudan. Thirdly, Sudan has changed its previous policy and approach and has not, over the past six months, provided arms to armed groups in South Sudan. And fourthly, the  Sudan has partnered with the United States in working to eliminate the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army and encountering terrorism, in particular the threat posed by ISIL.

So the actions taken today, in plain terms, will  by the Treasury Department will remove the trade embargo with Sudan and unblock the assets of the Government of Sudan. The President has also issued an executive order that after six months, provided Sudan sustains progress in these areas that we have been engaging on and the Secretary of State issues a report to that effect, then the Executive Orders 13067 and 13412 that had imposed the sanctions will go away.

We recognize that while the recent progress made by Sudan is encouraging, there is still much that needs to be done to address the needs of the Sudanese people and to address our concerns. However, in six months we've moved closer to achieving our goals than we have in really the past 20 years. So in taking these steps today, we are well positioned to continue to engage productively with Sudan and to apply pressure as necessary in support of further progress in areas including areas of Sudan's human rights record, its political space  restricted political space, and promoting democracy, and in addressing the root causes of the conflicts that have raged for years in Darfur and the two areas. So that in a nutshell is the actions taken and the rationale for that.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: If I could add a couple of things. This is [Senior Administration Official Two]. I just want to re-emphasize that this is the outcome of a comprehensive process of engagement. We've had twice-monthly committee meetings with the Sudanese Government for the last six months, and they've had clear benchmarks throughout the entire process. And on top of that, we also have been explaining that this is as much the beginning of a process as it is the end of a process. So the six months that we have been working with the Sudanese on this have been positive, and the steps we believe they have taken have been significant. But we also recognize that we have a long way to go and that this is the beginning of a longer process of smartening our sanctions in a way that will encourage continued achievements and steps in line with what has been made so far.

So one last note if I could, because we are at the end of an Administration. We also believe that this gives the new administration a lot more leverage. We've maximized leverage for them because we've handed them a large carrot and a large stick, and the carrot is that the new administration has the ability to make these sanctions relief permanent in six months, but they also have the ability to take them away. The general licenses we have put together can be removed if there's backsliding or if the progress doesn't continue. So with that, we think we're leaving the new administration in a very strong place to advance U.S. interests.

MODERATOR: Great, thank you. Any more remarks, or should we head over to questions?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: This is [Senior Administration Official Three]. I'm happy to do  just emphasize a few  couple technical information pieces. But then everything's really been covered pretty well, so I will after that just let you all go to questions for what you want to dig into, if anything, on the technical side.

Just to emphasize what [Senior Administration Official One] and [Senior Administration Two] said, the  all of the Darfur-related authorities, restrictions, and designations will remain through this, as well as the state sponsor of terror list restrictions. So these are the OFAC transactions non-Darfur would be authorized, but any other restrictions, export-related restrictions related to the state sponsor of terror list that other agencies administer, such as Commerce, would still be in effect. And as [Senior Administration Official Two] just said, I think it's important to distinguish between the general license that will take effect on Tuesday versus the executive order that would come into effect in six months potentially with regard to more permanently revoking the sanctions authority in this state. Under the general license, everybody will stay on the designated list, but there will be an authorization generally out there.

And so we would retain authority to revoke the general license at any time if there are complications. And then at that six-month window, as the new administration is assessing whether the progress has remained, that way we've given sort of an initial relief to the Government of Sudan that they can feel, but it's still a tentative one while we're assessing, and that allows us at the six-month period to either make that more permanent by removing the sanctions authority or not, and either revoking the general license or just recalibrating it based on the situation. So we try to provide continued incentive, but also maximum flexibility to adjust based on what's happening on the ground there at the time.

I think I'll leave it at that and just leave it up for questions.

MODERATOR: Great. Thank you so much. We're now ready to move to questions. Operator, did you want to give the ground rules?

OPERATOR: Once again, ladies and gentlemen, we're beginning the question and answer session. And if you'd like to ask a question, please to press the * followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You'll hear a tone indicating that you've placed yourself in queue, and all questions will be pulled in the order they are received. You may remove yourself at any time by depressing the pound key on your touchtone phone. And if you're using a speaker phone, please pick up your handset before depressing the key.

Our first question will come from the line of Michele Kelemen of NPR. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks. First of all, if you can explain: What businesses are going to be open? I mean, What kind of trade do you imagine will happen after this 180-day waiting period? And also, how much have you been in touch with the Trump transition about this? Do you expect them to, for instance, even continue to have an envoy on Sudan?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: I believe that's for [Senior Administration Official Three] to take the first one, and then I'll take the second one.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: Sure. This is [Senior Administration Official Three]. This will authorize all transactions there aside from the Darfur-related and state sponsor of terror. So, any financial transactions, import-export goods that aren't otherwise covered by dual use and other restrictions by other agencies. So it could be goods, technologies, and services. I'd defer to State on the types of commerce they expect to happen in the initial period. Our sense is there's certainly agriculture and oil trade that goes on. Whether under a general license that'll maybe just start to move, and then as businesses feel it out and see what's likely to happen at the six-month period is most likely in our experience the way these work.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah, this is [Senior Administration Official One]. Just like to weigh in. I mean, some of the areas that the Sudanese have expressed interest in, obviously, are agricultural machinery equipment, as well as actual agricultural products, transportation equipment, IT equipment, and in the energy field, and medical as well. Those are the main areas that they've been expressing interest in.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: And on the question on transition, we have briefed the transition team and have provided information about this. But we can't speak to their intentions or what they're going to do next.

MODERATOR: Great. Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from the line of Lesley Wroughton of Reuters. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Yes, good morning. I'm interested to find what you're thinking is of why Bashir has decided to cooperate with the U.S. What is  and also, to make these changes. What is behind this?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, let me say that Sudan has long expressed a desire to get out from under sanctions as well as other restrictions that the United States has imposed on Sudan going back 20 years. So, we have in the past few years looked for a way to engage with Sudan in a way that we could overcome some of the lack of trust of the past and to come up with an approach that would get the Sudanese to address concerns we've had, mainly in how they treat their own people. That involves primarily ending the conflicts internally and allowing humanitarian assistance to reach their people. And their interest in achieving sanctions relief, bringing the two together, gave each party something that they could agree to work toward. So that's how we think we've gotten the Sudanese Government's agreement in this. They have something to gain. And because we've taken this in an incremental approach, they had enough confidence that this could be a successful approach.

So this is not the result just of an effort over the last six months, which, as my colleague has said, has been an extremely intensive engagement period, but goes back before that, even  or even to early 2015 when we began exploring with the Sudanese and them with us how we could achieve some breakthrough in the mutual interests that we had.

MODERATOR: Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from the line of Anne Gearan of Washington Post. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi. Thank you, [Senior Administration Officials]. Just one point at the beginning: I really wish this could be on the record. This is  you're talking about U.S. Government actions, much of which is actually written out in public documents. It would be very helpful to have your explanatory comments be on the record, if you would take that into consideration.

Secondly, I just want to make sure I'm very clear on what happens in 180 days and what happens in six months. I know you tried to set this out at the beginning, but if somebody could just, like, give the first-grader's step-by-step of what happens when, I would really appreciate it.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: [Title withheld] is probably the best place for that.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: Sure, this is [Senior Administration Official Three]. The really short of it is that at  Tuesday, under the general license, everyone stays on a designation list and our executive authorities remain over this. But there's a general license up on the website that anyone can refer to so that if transactions are blocked because there are folks on the designated list  and actually, regardless of being on the list, it covers the Government of Sudan, so they should be blocked anyway  there's still an ability to  for banks or anyone else to refer to the public website and the general license, and assuming the transaction is within the lanes of that, allow the transaction to happen and assets would be unblocked at the same time as well.

The  that all remains for our authority up until the 180 days if the report is positive and positive to a degree that the administration wants to take the full revocation of sanctions authorities as opposed to continuing the general license in a different form or revoking it. At that 180 days, if the report is sufficient and everyone wants to make this more permanent, then the parts of the executive order would kick into effect that would remove the sanctions authority entirely with respect to the non-Darfur sanctions. And so one executive order would go away entirely and part of another executive order would go away so that we retain just the Darfur-related sanctions.

So the Darfur-related folks would stay on the list and still have all the full sanctions, but the other people related to the Government of Sudan that were on the list for the non-Darfur would come off the list and we would no longer need a general license and they wouldn't even get hits probably on a sanctions filter, and we would remove our authority from that.

QUESTION: So, if my line is still open, that means that as of Tuesday following the holiday Monday, some business could be done as long as it wasn't  it didn't touch the Darfur designations, and progress on that would be reviewed in 180 days, correct?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: That's correct. The executive order issued today requires that the Secretary of State, in consultation with the Secretary of the Treasury, with the administrator of USAID, with the Director of National Intelligence, and drawing on information from all sources, including specifically the NGO community, would have to issue a report as to whether Sudan had sustained the progress under the engagement we've had over the past six months during this upcoming six months.

If that report is positive, then the underlying executive orders, as [Senior Administration Official Three] has just explained, would go away and only the Darfur sanctions would remain  the designations under Executive Orders 13400.

MODERATOR: All right. Thank you. Next question, please.

OPERATOR: Our next question will come from the line of Felicia Schwartz of The Wall Street Journal. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi, thanks. I would second Anne's request. It's helpful to have people, the decision-makers, on the record. But in terms of the state sponsor of terror list, is it unusual  I know there are only three countries on the list right now, but is it unusual to have  to basically lift a trade embargo and keep that designation in place?

And then, secondly, you mentioned the sort of intensive engagement in twice-monthly meetings. If the Trump team, like, doesn't want to engage in this or it doesn't staff up or have a political envoy in place to continue this engagement, does that affect this six-month window? Or if they don't complete the report in time, for example, does that affect things? Thanks.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Well, on the second part of your question, really, the level of engagement will be up to the next administration, but it will not affect the requirement of this executive order that there be an assessment as to whether Sudan has sustained the positive progress in the five areas that we've been engaging with them on.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: On the first part of the question, for the state sponsor of terrorism list and the trade embargo, I think it is unusual to have both and to move forward with this, only because I can't think on memory of another country that had an embargo and the state sponsor of terrorism list and that this is the same sort of issues that we're facing here, so --

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: And this is [Senior Administration Official Three]. I'll just weigh in really briefly on that. I don't disagree with anything [Senior Administration Official Two] says, but I'll just note that the state sponsor of terrorism list and any trade restrictions based on that is a very different authority, so they're not really tied to the OFAC sanctions. They have their own trade restrictions, and much of that is administered by the Commerce Department. So while it's not common in the sense that, as you know, there's only three other countries on the list, so there's not a lot to have commonalities with, it's  they're really not tied. It's more that their  that has its own restrictions and those restrictions are going to remain. And, I think as [Senior Administration Official One] noted, there's sort of different tracks going on here.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. The other thing I will say is the sanctions that we have decided to give relief to are sanctions that have had an impact more on the people of Sudan, whereas the sanctions that are tied with the SST have more to do with the government and its security organs. We felt that the best place to start and engage on this was to do what would benefit most of the people of Sudan.

QUESTION: Is my line still open? Just in  but aren't you, like, unfreezing all the government's assets as part of this?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL THREE: So this is [Senior Administration Official Three]. So, yeah, there are  so as a  in terms of the assets that are blocked by OFAC that are related to the Government of Sudan, those would be unfrozen. But I think it's important to note that's not the same as the state sponsor of terror list trade pieces on dual use. So that's a very different thing. That's not what's blocking assets.

But also, to the extent that that's not necessarily all of the assets going back to the Government of Sudan, there's a couple factors for that. One, those assets would be blocked under the OFAC sanctions if there was even a small percentage of interest by the Government of Sudan. So some assets may be unfrozen that aren't even predominantly the Government of Sudan and they wouldn't go back to them, it's just that they had an interest in it. And the other piece is that any assets that are blocked and already attached under any pending civil litigation or civil litigation that's already happened and assets have been taken as a result of that would not be going back as well.

MODERATOR: Next question. And we'll have time for just I think two more questions.

OPERATOR: The next question in queue is from the line of Rachel Savage of The Economist. Please go ahead.

QUESTION: Hi there. So I was wondering if you could say specifically which officials in the Trump transition team have been briefed on this issue.

And secondly, as far as I'm aware from my sources, the bombing of Jebel Marra earlier in 2016 has effectively neutralized the last major rebel group in Darfur and fighting in the two areas has sort of been  sort of ground to a stalemate even before the latest cessation of hostilities. So I was wondering, in what sense do you think that this could give out the message that this is a reward for the Sudanese Government effectively winning the war, as it were? Because from my perspective, at least  from the sources I've spoken to  the Sudanese Government does seem to believe that they have at least sort of defeated most of the rebels in the country.

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL TWO: I'll take the first question on the Trump administration. We want to respect the new administration's deliberations and process, so we can't  we don't want to get into details about who exactly has been briefed or what their thinking is on that.

And on question number two, [Senior Administration Official One], do you want to take that?

SENIOR ADMINISTRATION OFFICIAL ONE: Yeah. I mean, let me say that though they're  they've fought to a stalemate, there has been since 2011 a dry season offensive every year in the two areas between the government and the SPLM-North, that fighting has raged year after year. This dry season, there has been no government offensive.

And in Darfur, yes, there was a major government offensive in the last dry season  last year, at the beginning of last year  and yes, the government took a lot of territory back. But there are still many armed elements that are in Jebel Marra and the government could have launched yet another offensive to try to take more territory, could have engaged in aerial bombardment of villages. They have not undertaken that.

So yes, the wars are not concluded. There is no signed cessation of hostilities agreement yet. But the point is that the  what we've tried to do is decrease the level of fighting. And by the government not launching its traditional dry season offensives, that, we think, has been a major accomplishment. We also continue to push all the parties to go back to the negotiating table to conclude a cessation of hostilities agreement and get on with negotiating the underlying political issues that have led to these conflicts.

MODERATOR: Thank you, everyone. I think that exhausts our questions and I certainly don't want to exhaust our officials  senior officials who are answering those questions. But thanks, everyone, for joining us on this call and that concludes the call.

I hope everyone has a good weekend.

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On Progress in Sudan

Press Statement

Mark C. Toner

Deputy Department Spokesperson

Washington, DC

January 13, 2017



Six months ago, the United States began a comprehensive engagement plan with the Government of Sudan aimed at ending the government's offensive military operations, improving humanitarian access, ending Sudan's destabilizing role in South Sudan, countering terrorist groups, and ending the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). Since then, Sudan has met our benchmarks and made significant progress toward these goals, as well as new commitments. As a result, the United States has decided to issue a General License lifting sanctions on U.S. trade and investment in Sudan. This is being done through a combination of actions, including immediate action by the Department of the Treasury to authorize expanded trade with and investment in Sudan, and the issuance by the President of an Executive Order that provides Sudan with a clear path to the permanent revocation of sanctions in six months if progress in these five areas continues. In addition, a number of waivers of statutory sanctions are needed to allow for this lifting of sanctions. Thus, the Secretary of State is waiving sanctions under the Darfur Peace and Accountability Act of 2006 today, while the Executive Order issued today by the President includes waivers under the Comprehensive Peace in Sudan Act of 2004 and the Trade Sanctions Reform and Export Enhancement Act of 2000.

Our engagement with Sudan under the plan has had multiple benefits for U.S. interests, the region, and the people of Sudan. It has had a positive effect on reducing conflict and addressing Sudan's humanitarian crisis. For example, in December, Sudan revised national regulations that govern humanitarian action, bringing them into line with international standards for the first time. Moreover, for the first time in five years, Sudan opened access for humanitarian aircraft to reach Golo, Central Darfur, and allowed a needs assessment to occur that will inform assistance efforts in Golo and other previously inaccessible areas. Regionally, Sudan has stopped providing arms to South Sudanese opposition groups, is cooperating with the United States to address the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army, and has begun working with the United States to combat wildlife trafficking. Finally, Sudan has become an important partner in countering the Islamic State in the Levant (ISIL) and other regional terrorist threats.

Despite these advances, there is still much more to be done to end Sudan's internal conflicts, ensure accountability for crimes of international concern, improve its human rights record, allow unfettered humanitarian access to vulnerable populations, and create space for greater political participation, civil society activity, and media freedom. The United States sees the progress made over the last six months as the beginning of a longer term process of addressing these critically important issues. While the United States stands ready to reimpose sanctions should there be backsliding, we are encouraged by the progress that has been made over the past six months, and will seek to build on this as we pursue important issues.

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United States Lifting Select Sanctions on Sudan

Fact Sheet

Office of the Spokesperson

Washington, DC

January 13, 2017



Why is the United States lifting sanctions on Sudan now? Today's actions to lift sanctions on Sudan and were the culmination of months of intensive bilateral engagement with Sudan. The United States and Sudan committed to focus on achieving progress in five key areas: ceasing hostilities in Darfur and the Two Areas, improving humanitarian access, ending negative interference in South Sudan, enhancing cooperation on counterterrorism, and addressing the threat of the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA). This process began in June, 2016.

What have we achieved? Over a six month period, Sudan made significant progress in each of these areas. Our frequent and robust engagement over this period gave us a forum to routinely address these issues, build new areas of cooperation, and use the incentive of sanctions relief as leverage to encourage Sudan to take positive steps like ceasing hostilities and committing to providing access for humanitarian relief to reach people in need of assistance. But we recognize a lot more work needs to be done.

How are sanctions being lifted? The Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) has announced an amendment to the Sudanese Sanctions Regulations (SSR) that will authorize all transactions prohibited by the SSR, as well as Executive Orders 13067 and 13412. In addition, the President is issuing a new Executive Order that provides a path for the permanent revocation of the sanctions in Executive Orders 13067 and 13412 in 180 days, provided that the Secretary of State publishes in the Federal Register on or before that date a notice stating that the Government of Sudan has sustained the positive actions that gave rise to the Executive Order and provides to the President a report on the Government of Sudan's progress.

What does that mean? During the next six months, U.S. persons will be authorized by OFAC to engage in transactions involving persons in Sudan; to import goods and services from Sudan; to export goods, technology, and services to Sudan; and to engage in transactions involving property in which the Government of Sudan has an interest. If the conditions in the Executive Order are met and the sanctions are permanently revoked in 180 days, U.S. persons will be able to engage in these transactions without needing OFAC authorization.

What next? This plan was carefully crafted to foster continued progress. As set forth above, the President's new Executive Order will provide for permanent revocation of the sanctions in Executive Orders 13067 and 13412 after a period of 180 days, provided the requisite conditions are met as described above. Moving forward, the United States will have additional tools to continue constructive engagement and apply pressure as necessary, in support of further progress in the five key areas, as well as progress on improving human rights, opening political space, and addressing the root causes of conflict in Darfur and the Two Areas.

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Mutinous Soldiers in Ivory Coast Say Their Dispute Is Settled

By VOA News January 13, 2017

Soldiers in Ivory Coast who staged a two-day mutiny a week ago to press their pay demands reached an agreement with government officials Friday to settle the dispute, representatives of both sides said.

Gunfire coming from military bases in Abidjan, Ivory Coast's largest city, had fearful residents worried that the soldiers' uprising might resume, but reports late Friday night said a final agreement had been reached in Bouake, the country's second-largest city and headquarters of the soldiers' movement at the center of the pay protests.

A bonus of nearly $20,000 per soldier  12 million CFA francs  was the central issue in Friday's negotiations, according to officials who declined to be identified. The government reportedly had pledged to pay the bonuses at the beginning of this week, but never followed through on that promise, the soldiers said.

Sergeant Mamadou Kone, a negotiator for the mutinous troops, told Reuters: "We've reached an agreement. They will pay 5 million [CFA francs] on Monday," with the remainder coming in monthly installments.

Eight independent West African nations use the CFA franc as their currency. It trades at a fixed rate of 100 CFA francs to one French franc.

Following last week's mutiny, Ivory Coast President Alassane Ouattara fired the heads of the army, police and gendarmes.

Bouake was the center of a rebellion that began in 2002 with a failed attempt to oust then-President Laurent Gbagbo. That uprising divided the country into the rebel-held north and the government-controlled south for nearly a decade.

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Japan Seeks to Limit China as Abe Visits Philippines

By Ralph Jennings January 13, 2017

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe's visit to the Philippines this week shows U.S. ally Tokyo's ambition to keep up with growing Chinese influence in the geopolitically strategic Southeast Asian country by ensuring steady flows of aid and investment, analysts say.

Abe traveled Thursday and Friday to Manila and Davao, the second-largest Philippine city and hometown of President Rodrigo Duterte. He's the first head of state to visit Duterte since the Philippine president took office June 30.

Duterte is seeking stronger ties with Japan as well as China to form a multicountry foreign policy with declining reliance on the United States. For Japan, stronger relations will help it contain China, which has distrusted Tokyo since World War II. Tokyo and Beijing also dispute sovereignty over parts of the East China Sea.

"From a geopolitical standpoint, I think the interesting thing about the visit of Japan has do to with, at least from the Philippine standpoint, [that] this is all part of the independent foreign policy thrust that the Duterte administration has been talking about," said Herman Kraft, political scientist at University of the Philippines Diliman.

Reminder of Japanese investment

Because the Philippines has laid out the red carpet to China and agreed to set aside the Beijing-Manila maritime dispute, Abe "probably thinks he should show face in Manila as a reminder that there's plenty of Japanese investments," said Song Seng Wun, an economist in the private banking unit of CIMB in Singapore.

Japan, the Philippines and the United States have been loosely allied since the Cold War in checking China's expansion. But the sometimes crudely spoken 71-year-old Philippine leader has threatened to scrap military alliances as he distances his country from Washington, which he says has too much influence.

The United States was the Southeast Asian archipelago's colonizer of nearly five decades through World War II. Before Duterte took office, U.S. ships were helping the Philippines keep alert for Chinese vessels in the disputed South China Sea.

Duterte visited China in October, winning a pledge of $24 billion in aid and investment from Beijing and agreeing to shelve disputes over control of the sea between them. Japan offered $1.8 billion in aid that month when Duterte visited Tokyo, and Japanese conglomerate Marubeni Corp. said it would spend $17.2 billion to improve Philippine highways, electrical power and mass transit.

Five deals struck

Japan was the largest source of Philippine direct foreign investment in 2015, with a total of $18 billion. That amount covers automotive factories, farming projects in remote areas and tourism facilities. Those investments give Japan a good name among Filipinos, who often worry about China because of the maritime dispute.

On Thursday, the two leaders met for 40 minutes and reached five deals, which cover Japanese help for agribusiness as well as a $5.2 million grant for Philippine coast guard speedboats and anti-terrorism equipment.

Japan already contributes heavily to the largely impoverished Philippines through the Manila-based Asian Development Bank, which has lent the Philippines an average $745 million per year since 2006 for poverty reduction.

"In the past years, Japan has really provided huge amounts of aid to the country in terms of poverty reduction, social protection, and also in terms of infrastructure that leads to more economic opportunities in the rural areas, so we are hopeful that this visit will move that forward," said Georgina Hernandez, spokeswoman for Philippine Vice President Leni Robredo.

Maritime security

Abe and Duterte discussed maritime security this week, too, according to Philippine media reports. The Philippine military ranks 51st in the world, well behind China, which ranks third, behind the U.S. and Russia.

It has looked in the past to Japan for help, especially as China expands its military presence in the contested sea, sometimes sending vessels into waters that Manila claims. Last year, Japan gave the Philippines two patrol vessels and said it would lease training aircraft. It had offered an additional 10 coast guard ships to Duterte's predecessor.

Japan has given military and development aid elsewhere in Southeast Asia to counter China's influence at sea.

Unlike the United States, China and Japan avoid criticizing Duterte's suspected 6,000 extrajudicial killings in a crackdown on illegal drugs. Abe instead pledged this week to help the effort through programs to treat drug users. Duterte said he welcomed the help.

Abe's visit need not stop Duterte from keeping up relations with China, and he shows signs of courting it by shelving the maritime dispute as head of the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations this year. China bristles when international organizations discuss its contested claim to about 95 percent of the sea.

Other countries, such as Indonesia and Vietnam, have reached out at the same time to China, Japan and the United States.

"It's not unprecedented in the sense that you would find examples in places like in Southeast Asia," said Rahul Bajoria, regional economist with Barclays in Singapore. "Singapore to an extent, India have had pretty decent success in terms of being able to attract investment from even contradictory sources, and so it really depends on how the [Philippine] government navigates this whole thing."

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Strikes Continue Against ISIL Terrorists in Syria, Iraq

From a Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve News Release

SOUTHWEST ASIA, Jan. 14, 2017  U.S. and coalition military forces continued to attack Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant terrorists in Syria and Iraq yesterday, Combined Joint Task Force Operation Inherent Resolve officials reported today.

Officials reported details of the latest strikes, noting that assessments of results are based on initial reports.

Strikes in Syria

Attack, bomber, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted 15 strikes in Syria:

-- Near Ar Raqqah, 13 strikes engaged five ISIL tactical units; destroyed four fighting positions, three car bombs, three tactical vehicles, a command and control node, a tunnel, an oil tanker truck, a front-end loader and damaged three supply routes.

-- Near Dayr Ar Zawr, two strikes destroyed three oil wellheads.

Strikes in Iraq

Attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft conducted seven strikes in Iraq, coordinated with and in support of Iraq's government: attack, fighter and remotely piloted aircraft against ISIL targets

-- Near Haditha, a strike destroyed a bunker.

-- Near Kirkuk, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a tunnel.

-- Near Mosul, four strikes engaged an ISIL tactical unit; destroyed four fighting positions, two heavy machine guns, two watercraft, an ISIL headquarters building, a car bomb and damaged eight supply routes.

-- Near Sinjar, a strike destroyed a mortar system and a fighting position.

-- Near Mosul, Jan. 12, a strike engaged an ISIL tactical unit and destroyed a fighting position. This event was not previously reported.

Task force officials define a strike as one or more kinetic events that occur in roughly the same geographic location to produce a single, sometimes cumulative, effect. Therefore, officials explained, a single aircraft delivering a single weapon against a lone ISIL vehicle is one strike, but so is multiple aircraft delivering dozens of weapons against buildings, vehicles and weapon systems in a compound, for example, having the cumulative effect of making those targets harder or impossible for ISIL to use. Accordingly, officials said, they do not report the number or type of aircraft employed in a strike, the number of munitions dropped in each strike, or the number of individual munition impact points against a target. Ground-based artillery fired in counterfire or in fire support to maneuver roles is not classified as a strike.

Part of Operation Inherent Resolve

The strikes were conducted as part of Operation Inherent Resolve, the operation to eliminate the ISIL terrorist group and the threat they pose to Iraq, Syria, and the wider international community. The destruction of ISIL targets in Syria and Iraq further limits the terrorist group's ability to project terror and conduct operations, officials said.

Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Syria include the United States, Australia, Bahrain, Canada, France, Jordan, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom. Coalition nations that have conducted strikes in Iraq include the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Jordan, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom.

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Militaries of China, Vietnam to enhance cooperation

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 10:09, January 14, 2017

BEIJING, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- Vice Chairman of China's Central Military Commission Fan Changlong met with Vietnamese Defense Minister Ngo Xuan Lich Friday in Beijing.

Fan said the Chinese military is ready to work with its Vietnamese counterpart to implement the important consensus reached between leaders of the Communist Party of China and Communist Party of Vietnam.

Armies of the two countries should continue to enhance mutual trust, properly manage and control disputes, and help push the China-Vietnam all-round strategic cooperative partnership to a new level, Fan said.

Lich said Vietnam is willing to work with China to expand pragmatic cooperation and promote the continuous development of the relationship between the two armies.

Also on Friday Chinese Defense Minister Chang Wanquan met with Lich. Chang expressed China's hopes to make joint efforts with the Vietnamese side to ensure regional peace and stability.

Chang proposed the cooperation between the two militaries in fields such as high-level contacts, personnel training, and border control.

Lich said that the Vietnamese side is willing to continue frequent high-level interaction, deepen pragmatic cooperation and propel the relationship between the two armies to a new stage.

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Daesh militants attack Nangarhar district, torch 60 houses

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:29AM

Militants of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have raided a district in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar, setting fire to some 60 houses there.

Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governor's spokesman, said people had fled their homes before the Daesh attack in Kot District on Friday, local media reported.

There have been no reports of possible casualties.

Local officials said that the raid came after Kot residents refused to pledge allegiance to the terror outfit.

Despite the presence of thousands of foreign boots on the ground, Afghanistan has been rocked by a surge in terrorist attacks, some of them carried out by Daesh.

The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan has raised concerns in the Asian country that has already been torn apart by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the 2001 invasion of the US and its allies.

Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, has been the main area where Daesh has managed to carry out high-profile attacks.

The terrorist organization, which is mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has recently managed to take recruits from Afghan Taliban defectors. It has also enjoyed defections from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

On October 11, 2016, at least 18 people were killed in a Daesh attack at the Karte Sakhi Shrine in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The assault targeted people commemorating Ashura, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam.

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Palestine appeals to Russia to stop potential US embassy relocation

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 7:43AM

The Palestinian Authority (PA) has asked Russia to intervene to stop the US from likely relocating its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds under President Donald Trump.

Saeb Erekat, the head of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) and chief Palestinian negotiator with the Israelis, has traveled to Russia on a mission to deliver a "written message" from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to the Russian government.

"It is asking President Putin and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's intervention in order to sit with the American administration to prevent the American embassy move to Jerusalem as there are consequences for this step," Erekat said in Russia on Thursday, referring to the message.

There have been indications that the incoming administration of President-elect Trump would want to move the American embassy to East Jerusalem al-Quds in a sign of the recognition of the city as the capital of an Israeli "state." This is while Palestinians want the West Bank, where East Jerusalem al-Quds is located and which Israel has occupied since 1967, as part of a future Palestinian state.

Erekat pointed to the international efforts to uproot terrorism and said, "You can't kill ideas with bullets. In order to defeat Daesh and terrorism, you also need to solve the Israeli-Palestinian problem, end Israeli occupation, and establish a Palestinian state side by side with Israel."

In a Friday interview with the French daily Le Figaro, Abbas warned that the Palestinians may consider "reversing recognition" of Israel if US President-elect Donald Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds.

"I wrote to President[-elect] Trump to ask him not to do it. Not only would this move deprive the United States of all legitimacy in playing a role in conflict resolution, it would also destroy the two-state solution," the Palestinian president said.

Abbas said that the PA was discussing "several options" with other Arab countries to respond to the potential relocation of the US embassy. Dropping recognition of Israel was one measure being contemplated, he said, expressing hope, however, that "we will be able to work with the next American administration."

The remarks come in the lead-up to the Paris conference on the settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict on Sunday. More than 70 countries, which will be participating in the meeting, are expected to reaffirm support for the two-state solution. Israel is deeply unsettled by the conference and has refused to participate in it.

The Paris meeting "may be the last chance for implementing" the two-state solution, Abbas said in his Le Figaro interview.

The Palestinian president has also reportedly sent letters to the leaders of China, and the European Union, asking them to "spare no effort" to stop the US from moving its embassy.

Trump, a former businessman with no background work in government or diplomacy, repeatedly said during his campaign that if elected, he would not hesitate to relocate the embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem al-Quds. While Trump is known for impulsive behavior and often flip-flopping rhetoric on world matters in the short period of time he has been involved in politics, his controversial rhetoric on Palestine has evoked strong opposition by Palestinians.

Erekat himself has previously warned the US against moving its embassy to Jerusalem al-Quds, saying all American embassies in the Arab world would have to close in the face of popular Arab outrage that would follow such an action.

On Tuesday, US Republican Senators Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and Dean Heller introduced the so-called Jerusalem Embassy and Recognition Act after being sworn into the 115th Congress in Washington. Similar moves by Republican majorities over the past two decades have been unsuccessful, but this time, they are apparently supported by the country's soon-to-be president.

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Ivory Coast clinches deal with mutinous soldiers

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:57AM

A deal has been reached between the Ivory Coast's government and the mutinous troops, days after a group of dissident army soldiers took over army bases in cities across the West African country, demanding bonus payments.

"A deal has been reached in Bouake (the Ivory Coast's second largest city) between the chief of staff, the defense minister and the (rebel) troops," said a source close to the presidency, speaking on condition of anonymity, on Friday night.

The source did not give further details, including the terms of the deal, but other reports said that disgruntled troops had agreed to return to their barracks.

Bruno Kone, a government spokesman, also confirmed the news, adding that the deal was clinched late on Friday.

It is, however, the second time that a deal to resolve the current standoff has been announced. President Alassane Ouattara said last week that a deal was clinched between Yamoussoukro and the rebels.

According to the initial deal, the government promised to pay each soldier 12 million CFA francs ($19,278) in bonuses. But troops later said they had not received any money.

The unrest began on January 6, when soldiers took control of Bouake, firing rockets and terrifying residents of the city. The mutiny, then, took momentum and spread to some other cities over the weekend, including Abidjan, the commercial capital.

On Friday, the troops relaunched their rebellion, prompting the government to clinch the second deal in a bid to put an end to the uprising.

The soldiers, belonging to an army composed of a patchwork of ex-warlords and their loyal men, also want pay raise, housing, and swifter promotion.

The Ivory Coast, the world's top cocoa producer, is West Africa's largest and most prosperous economy.

The French-speaking country emerged from nearly a decade of short wars and a protracted crisis in 2011. However, the factionalized, ill-disciplined military and increasing political divisions have sparked fresh concerns about the state of security in the country and how the government could continue to realize its economic objectives in the future.

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China, Vietnam Agree on Peaceful Resolution of South China Sea Dispute

Sputnik News

21:27 14.01.2017(updated 21:28 14.01.2017)

Beijing and Hanoi agreed on the settlement of the South China Sea dispute through negotiations, avoiding any escalation of the conflict, during the visit of Vietnam's leader Nguyen Phu Trong to China.

BEIJING (Sputnik)  Japan and Vietnam also agreed to fully implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea [between the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) members, including Vietnam] and China, according to the joint communique, Xinhua news agency reported on Saturday.

On Thursday, Nguyen Phu Trong, General Secretary of Vietnam's ruling Communist Party, arrived in China at the invitation of Chinese President Xi Jinping to discuss a number of issues with the Chinese officials.

The South China Sea dispute revolves around the the Spratly Islands, which are believed to be rich in oil and gas reserves. Beijing's territorial claims to the Spratly Islands run counter to those of the Philippines, Taiwan, Malaysia, Brunei and Vietnam. The dispute has been scaled down after Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte played down the country's concerns over Chinese artificial islands amid warming relations between the countries.

Beijing and Hanoi have a long history of relations. The two Asian nations established diplomatic ties in 1950. Despite the fact that their relations have been overshadowed by a military conflict in 1979, both China and Vietnam are now taking steps to improve ties in a number of spheres, including defense and economy.

 Sputnik

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Going Trump Style: Lithuania to Build Fence on Border With Russia's Kaliningrad

Sputnik News

15:13 14.01.2017(updated 15:22 14.01.2017)

Lithuania intends to build a 135-kilometer-long fence along its border with Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad.

VILNIUS (Sputnik)  Lithuania's 2017 budget includes such article as construction of a fence on the border with Russia's exclave of Kaliningrad, with 3.6 million euros ($3.8 million) set to be allocated for this purpose, the Lithuanian internal minister said Saturday.

"The sum will be enough for the construction of the fence. A modernized system for border surveillance will be installed near the fence, resources for which will be mobilized next year," Eimutis Misiunas was quoted as saying by Lietuvos Zinios news portal.

He added that the fence, expected to be 135-kilometer (84-mile) long, would help to prevent smuggling.

The interior ministry plans to announce a tender for the fence project, while the construction expected to start as soon as the weather allows, according to the news outlet.

The border between Lithuania and Russia's Kaliningrad runs for 255 kilometers and passes through the Curonian Spit and Curonian Lagoon, then following along the Neman River, Sesupe, Sirvinta, Liepona, Lake Vistytis. So far, the border of Lithuania and Kaliningrad region is marked only by special signs and a 13-meter control line.

 Sputnik

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Trump: Russia Sanctions to Be Upheld, but Maybe Not for Long

By VOA News January 14, 2017

U.S. president-elect Donald Trump says he would maintain sanctions against Russia imposed by the Obama administration but would consider lifting them if Russia cooperates on matters of common interest.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he would keep the sanctions in effect "at least for a period of time," but might lift them if Russia helps combat terrorism and collaborates with the U.S. on other matters important to the U.S. "If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things," he told the newspaper.

The U.S. initially imposed sanctions on Russia in 2014 after its annexation of Crimea. On December 29, President Barack Obama ousted 35 Russian diplomats from the U.S. and imposed additional sanctions in response to Russia's apparent attempts to influence last year's presidential election.

'One China' policy in question

The president-elect also told the journal that the U.S.' One China Policy, which declares Taiwan is part of China, would be up for negotiation. "Everything is under negotiation, including One China," Trump said.

Trump's latest remarks seem to depart from those his advisors made in December that a phone call from Trump to Taiwan's president did not represent a shift in U.S. relations with China or Taiwan. The call, made shortly after Trump's November presidential victory, was the first communication between U.S. and Taiwanese leaders since 1979, drawing a sharp rebuke from China.

A preview of future relations between the U.S. and Russia could be on display if the Trump administration accepts Russia's invitation to attend Syrian peace talks beginning January 23 in Astana, the capital of Kazakhstan.

Russia contacts

Sergey Kislyak, Russia's ambassador in Washington, extended the invitation in a December 29 telephone call with Michael Flynn, Trump's incoming national security adviser, according to incoming White House Press Secretary Sean Spicer. The Obama administration was not invited to the talks.

Flynn had several telephone conversations with Kislyak on December 29, the same day President Barack Obama ousted 35 Russian diplomats and imposed other sanctions in response to Russia's apparent attempts to influence last year's presidential election, Spicer confirmed.

Discussions between incoming administrations and foreign governments are not unusual, but multiple discussions on the day of the U.S. retaliatory actions would raise questions about whether Flynn and the ambassador discussed a possible Russian response.

Flynn's multiple phone calls with Russia's ambassador was first reported Thursday by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius, who wrote that the calls could be in violation of the Logan Act, a more than 200-year-old law that prohibits U.S. citizens from trying to influence foreign governments that are engaged in disputes with the U.S.

Probe to be launched

An investigation, meanwhile, will be launched into contact between the incoming Trump administration and Russia. Senate Intelligence Committee Chairman Richard Burr, a Republican, said Friday the committee will investigate "intelligence regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns," as well as Russia's apparent meddling in last year's U.S. presidential election.

Burr and the committee's top Democrat, Senator Mark Warner, issued a joint statement indicating the panel will use "subpoenas if necessary" to get testimony from the Obama administration and Trump's transition team.

The president-elect took to Twitter again Saturday morning, this time unleashing an attack on civil rights icon and Congressman John Lewis. Lewis told NBC Friday he doesn't consider Trump a "legitimate president," and blamed Russia for helping the real-estate mogul win the presidency. Trump responded by saying the lawmaker should concentrate on serving his constituents.

Lewis, a leader in the 1960s civil rights movement, said he will not attend Trump's January 20 inauguration, the first one he will miss in more than three decades.

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Poland Welcomes US Troops Amid Russia Fears

By VOA News January 14, 2017

Poland on Saturday formally welcomed a contingent of U.S. troops that arrived in the country earlier in the week, part of a NATO deployment aimed at deterring Russian aggression in the region.

Poland's prime minister, Beata Szydlo, and Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz welcomed the troops at a ceremony in the western Polish town of Zagan.

"The presence of American soldiers in Poland is another step in our strategy to ensure safety and security for Poland and the region," Szydlo said after telling the soldiers she hopes they "feel at home."

The first contingent of U.S. soldiers arrived in Poland from Germany Thursday, leading Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov to call the deployment a threat to Russia's "interests and our security."

"This is even more pronounced when a third party reinforces its military presence on our doorstep in Europe," the Kremlin spokesman told reporters.

Largest build-up since end of Cold War

Eventually, the U.S. plans to station more than 3,000 soldiers in Poland, marking the largest troop build-up in the country since the Cold War ended.

The mission, dubbed The Atlantic Resolve, will see the soldiers, along with 87 Abrams tanks and more than 500 vehicles, rotate between Poland and several other nearby NATO countries, including Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria and Hungary.

"This is America's most capable fighting force: a combat-ready, highly trained U.S. armored brigade, with our most advanced equipment and weaponry," U.S. Ambassador to Poland Paul James said during Saturday's ceremony.

The deployment was ordered by the Obama administration in 2014 as a response to Russian aggression in Ukraine.

U.S. soldiers, part of the Armored Brigade Combat Team, crossed the Polish border Thursday at the city of Olszyna and headed for their base in Zagan.

Over the coming years, Macierewicz said, there will be a total of 7,000 NATO and US troops stationed in Poland.

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Palestinians' Abbas: US Embassy Move Would Hurt Peace

By VOA News January 14, 2017

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas warned Saturday that moving the U.S. embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, one of President-elect Donald Trump's campaign promises, would "not help the peace process."

The controversial promise would be a break with previous U.S. policy, as well as with most the international community, over the status of Jerusalem - the city that both Israel and Palestine claim as their capital.

"We cannot say anything yet because it has not happened, but if this does happen it will not help the peace process," Abbas told reporters in Arabic in Rome, following a visit with Pope Francis.

Blow to two-state solution

In an interview Saturday with French newspaper Le Figaro, Abbas said that he had written Trump to warn him of the consequences of this action.

"Not only would it strip the United States of all its legitimacy to play a role in resolving the conflict, but it would reduce to nothing a two-state solution," Abbas was quoted as saying.

Abbas spoke with the pope ahead of the official opening of the Palestinian embassy in the Vatican. This is the third meeting between the two leaders, and the inauguration of the diplomatic mission follows a treaty the two signed in July of 2015.

The accord, which had been negotiated for years, outlines the parameters of the Roman Catholic Church's activities in the West Bank.

US as hold-out

The document also supports the two-state solution to the Palestinians' decades-old conflict with Israel, based on 1967 borders.

The Vatican formally recognized a Palestinian state in 2013, joining 135 countries that also have done so. The United States is not among them.

Israel is opposed to such recognition, saying the only way to end the conflict is through negotiations, which have not progressed in years.

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US Senate to probe into Russian hacking

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 2:57AM

The US Senate Intelligence Committee has said it would start a probe into Russian alleged hacking after reports showed Moscow had interfered in the 2016 presidential election.

Last Friday, US intelligence agencies published a report accusing Russia of hacking Democratic Party emails to influence the election, claiming that Russian President Vladimir Putin "sought to help" Donald Trump defeat his Democratic rival Hillary Clinton.

On Friday, the Senate committee said it would review all assessments, "including any intelligence regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns."

"As part of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence's oversight responsibilities, we believe that it is critical to have a full understanding of the scope of Russian intelligence activities impacting the United States," it added.

Most of the work will be conducted out of public scrutiny in order to protect confidential information, it added.

"The Committee will follow the intelligence wherever it leads. We will conduct this inquiry expeditiously, and we will get it right."

The probe is being supported by both Democrats and Republicans on the panel. It would see officials of both President Barack Obama's outgoing administration and the incoming government of Trump.

The intelligence community said that the hacked emails, which were reportedly provided to WikiLeaks by individuals working for the Russian government, were a regular source of embarrassment to Clinton during the presidential race and may have contributed to her defeat.

Trump, who had flatly rejected the reports previously, conceded for the first time Wednesday that Russia was behind the hacking of Democratic Party institutions, but said that not only Russia, but many other countries were hacking the US.

China, for an example, breached 22 million accounts in 2015 during a cyber attack against the US Office of Personnel and Management, the business mogul said.

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China, Russia work out 'countermeasures' against THAAD deployment in S Korea

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 8:19AM

China and Russia have reportedly agreed to take new "countermeasures" against the United States' decision to install an advanced missile system in South Korea.

Beijing and Moscow's plan "will be aimed at safeguarding the interests of China and Russia and the strategic balance in the region," China's state news agency Xinhua reported on Friday.

The US has received South Korea's approval to deploy the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system on Korean territory with the declared objective of countering potential threats from North Korea.

China and Russia, however, have been opposed to the installation of the system and perceive it as directed against themselves. They oppose the US's boosting of its military in the region and say the THAAD missiles would disrupt the equilibrium of power.

"China and Russia urged the United States and South Korea to address their security concerns and stop the deployment of THAAD on the Korean Peninsula," Xinhua said, but to no avail.

South Korea has recently been complaining that it has been subjected to "indirect" Chinese retaliation over its consent for the US deployment, including in the field of aerial transport.

The finalization of plans for the system's deployment has also triggered many protests within South Korea itself.

Meanwhile, Pyongyang announced this week that it was prepared to test-launch an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of striking the US mainland, saying Washington's hostile posture toward North Korea prompted it to develop such missiles.

Pyongyang has been attempting to strengthen its military capability to protect itself from the threat posed by the presence of US forces in the region.

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Russia's 'Liana' Satellites Can Keep an Eye on Ships, Subs or Even Fishing Boats

Sputnik News

20:57 14.01.2017(updated 22:20 14.01.2017)

Last week, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu confirmed that work is continuing on Liana, a new constellation of military satellites capable of advanced scanning for ground and sea-based radio signal emissions. Expected to be completed this year, the system will significantly improve Russia's space-based electronic intelligence capabilities.

On Tuesday, speaking at a meeting with senior military officials, Shoigu said that the Defense Ministry was actively engaged in the creation of the Liana space surveillance system, a constellation of satellites using the Lotos-S and Pion-NKS radio surveillance satellites. Once completed, the satellite cluster will replace the aging Soviet-era Tselina Electronic Intelligence (ELINT) satellites, and create an upgraded ELINT system for use on land and at sea.

The Liana network will locate ground-level radio signal emissions from both stationary and moving objects of various size, from ground and sea-based installations to enemy vehicles and vessels. According to military experts, the system's Lotos-S satellites will be tasked with ground surveillance, while Pion-NKS satellites will be charged with monitoring the seas.

Liana is the second-generation Russian system for space-based surveillance and targeting. Work on the project began in the early 1990s, shortly after the collapse of the Soviet Union. The Soviet predecessor to Liana was the Legenda, system built during the Cold War which used a network of US-P Signals Intelligence (SIGINT) and US-A ELINT satellites. That system was designed as a reconnaissance and targeting system for Soviet nuclear and anti-ship cruise missiles targeting US and NATO carrier groups and fleets.

The US-A used active sensing instruments, while the US-P used passive ones. Both were equipped with communications systems for transferring data to ships and submarines. The US-P's instruments were designed to detect targets via targets' emission of electromagnetic signatures, while the active ones were equipped with side-looking air-to-ground radar, providing all-weather, day and night-time surveillance and detection of surface targets, along information on their speed and direction. The nuclear-powered satellites were equipped with propulsion systems, and were able to make course corrections while in orbit.

The Legenda satellites' use of nuclear reactors sparked controversy in the late 1970s, after a US-A satellite failed to boost into orbit, reentering the Earth's atmosphere and leaving a trail of radioactive debris over uninhabited areas of Canada's Northwest Territories. This incident and other problems resulted in intensive efforts to improve the satellites' reliability. Over the system's lifetime, 42 US-A and US-P satellites were launched, the last one in the mid-2000s. The system was taken offline in 2007.

Development of Leganda's successor, Liana, began in the difficult period following the Soviet Union's collapse. Preliminary engineering on the project began in 1993, but the first Lotos-S and Pion-NKS satellites for the new constellation only began to be launched between 2009 and 2014, with designers making repeated upgrades to the system in the meantime.

The first Lotos-S to be launched faced numerous design problems and bugs which prevented it from functioning properly. Eventually the issues were resolved and a second Lotus-S was launched in 2014. During the same period, two Pion-NKS ELINT satellites were also launched.

Compared to its predecessor, the Liana satellites' design includes a higher working orbit (which was only 250 km for Legenda, but 1,000 km for Liana). This means an expanded scanning range, and improved lifespan. The new satellites also use solar panels instead of nuclear reactors. This became possible thanks to improvements in photovoltaic cell technology, and reduced power consumption of the system's onboard computers.

The Lotus-S also has one important capability that its US-A predecessor didn't: the ability to listen in on communications sent by enemy ships and vehicles, including communications using closed channels. This is possible thanks to the satellite's highly sensitive equipment, along its onboard signal-processing equipment.

The Pion-NKS also has an improved resolution compared to its predecessor, and features high efficiency radars.

The Moscow-based Almaz-Antey aerospace and defense concern is the lead developer on the Liana project, although dozens of other companies from across Russia are also involved. The system's control network is thought to be located outside Moscow. Control is responsible for making corrections to the satellites' orbit, and provides the military with exact coordinates in real time, allowing accurate monitoring and targeting of enemy units.

Earlier this year, an unnamed military source speaking to Russia's Izvestia newspaper said that the Liana network is also being designed to monitor the location and movement of submarines located in sea zones near Russia's coastline. For this purpose, there are plans, the source said, to create a network of active and passive sonar components installed on anchors near the coast. These systems would collect data before transferring it to the Liana constellation, which would then retransmit the information to the control network for monitoring and possible targeting.

The complete constellation of Liana satellites is expected to come online later this year. Military experts believe that between 6-8 satellites are necessary to monitor the Earth's surface in its entirety. The military remains hush-hush about the exact number necessary.

 Sputnik

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Sino-US war may be inevitable: Chinese media

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 10:14AM

Chinese media have warned that the belligerent posture by US President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state vis-a-vis China could lead to a "devastating confrontation" between China and the United States.

Rex Tillerson, Trump's nominee for secretary of state, said during his confirmation hearing before the US Senate on Wednesday that China must not only stop the construction of artificial islands in the disputed South China Sea but also be banned from them.

Although Tillerson did not explain how the US would be able to ban China from the islands  which have been built on reefs and shoals and been fortified with defensive weapons  his remarks prompted a flurry of strongly-worded reactions on Chinese media.

If Tillerson acted on his threats, Chinese state-owned China Daily said, "it would set a course for devastating confrontation between China and the US."

Another daily, Global Times, said in an editorial that the only recourse the US would hypothetically have would be all-out war.

"Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish," it said.

That scenario, the daily said, would inevitably necessitate the use of nuclear arms, adding that Tillerson had better "bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories."

Global Times is published under the auspices of People's Daily, the official newspaper of the Chinese Communist Party.

China claims almost all of the strategic and resource-rich South China Sea, which is also a major sea trade route. The territory is also claimed in part by Taiwan, Brunei, Vietnam, Malaysia, and the Philippines.

The US conducts periodic air and naval patrols in the disputed waters and is accused of deliberately raising tensions in a region it does not belong to.

Trump, too, has showed an inclination to irritate China by threatening to impose very high tariffs on goods imported from the Asian economic powerhouse. China is the largest exporter of goods to the US, holding hundreds of billions of US national debt. He has also challenged Chinese sovereignty on Taiwan, a highly sensitive issue for Beijing.

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China's aircraft carrier returns to port after drill

People's Daily Online

(Xinhua) 09:28, January 14, 2017

BEIJING -- China's aircraft carrier formation returned to Qingdao port Friday after finishing a drill, the Chinese navy said Friday.

Comprised of aircraft carrier Liaoning, a number of destroyers, some J-15 carrier-based fighter jets and helicopters, the fleet sailed through the Bohai Sea, the Yellow Sea, the East China Sea and the South China sea.

The formation passed through the Miyakato, Bashi and Taiwan straits, according to the People's Liberation Army Navy (PLAN).

J-15 fighter jets carried out exercises including taking off and landing in different hydrological and meteorological conditions, air-combat tactics, air refueling, and others.

The drill verified the combat capability of the aircraft carrier formation and construction and command of the high sea combat system, the PLAN said.

Chen Yueqi, commander of the formation, said the drill simulated real combat as much as possible, and achieved expected results.

Future drills of Liaoning will be determined by actual situations, the PLAN said.

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China calls on Trump to recognize Taiwan 'high sensitivity'

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 8:41PM

The Chinese Foreign Ministry has stressed that its "One-China" policy is not negotiable and called on US President-elect Donald Trump to acknowledge the "high sensitivity" of matters relating to Taiwan.

Beijing made the announcement in reaction to remarks Trump made in an interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday, in which he said he would not commit to the "One-China" policy unless China amends its currency and trade policies.

"The One-China principle, which is the political foundation of the China-US relations, is non-negotiable," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman in a statement released on the agency's website on Saturday.

The "One-China" policy refers to the policy or the diplomatic acknowledgement that there is only one state called China, despite the existence of two governments  one in China and another in the island of Taiwan.

Under the policy, the United States recognizes and has formal ties with the government in Beijing rather than Taiwan. China has considered Taiwan a breakaway province since a government was established there in 1949. Beijing believes the island will be reunified with the mainland one day.

"In order to avoid disruption to the sound and steady development of the China-US relations and bilateral cooperation in key areas, we urge relevant parties in the US to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan question, approach Taiwan-related issues with prudence, and honor the commitment made by all previous US administrations of both parties on adhering to the one-China policy," Kang added.

In an unprecedented move that angered China last month, Trump stirred tensions when he talked over the phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

During the interview, Trump defended his conversation claiming that "It would have been very rude not to accept the phone call." "We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we're not allowed to accept a phone call," he said.

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US president-elect refuses to commit to 'One China' policy

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 9:57AM

US President-elect Donald Trump has said that he will not commit to the 'One China' policy unless Beijing changes its currency and trade policies.

Trump, who has often questioned America's commitment to the 'One China' policy in the China-Taiwan row, made the remarks in a wide-ranging interview with The Wall Street Journal on Friday.

Asked if he supported China's policy on Taiwan, Trump said, "Everything is under negotiation including 'One China'."

The 'One China' policy refers to the policy or the diplomatic acknowledgement that there is only one state called China, despite the existence of two governments  one in China and another in the island of Taiwan.

Under the policy, the United States recognizes and has formal ties with the government in Beijing rather than Taiwan. China has considered Taiwan a breakaway province since a government was established there in 1949. Beijing believes the island will be reunified with the mainland one day.

Last month, Trump stirred tensions when he talked over the phone with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, an unprecedented move that angered Beijing.

Trump defended his decision on Friday, saying, "It would have been very rude not to accept the phone call," from Taiwan's president. The US president-elect has claimed that Tsai called him.

"We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we're not allowed to accept a phone call," he stated.

The conversation between Trump and Tsai was a first by a US president or president-elect since Washington cut ties with Taiwan in 1979 and committed to the 'One China' policy.

Despite trying to calm the tensions, the administration of President Barack Obama has also challenged the 'One China' policy by authorizing military deals with Taiwan.

On Friday, Trump also spoke about China's currency policy. He said he wouldn't declare China a currency manipulator on his first day in the White House, as he had promised. "I would talk to them first."

"Certainly they are manipulators. But I'm not looking to do that," he said.

Nevertheless, Trump slammed China's currency policy. "Instead of saying, 'We're devaluating our currency,' they say, 'Oh, our currency is dropping.' It's not dropping. They're doing it on purpose."

"Our companies can't compete with them now because our currency is strong and it's killing us," the billionaire lamented.

Trump has repeatedly accused China of devaluing yuan, a move that Washington says is done to favor Chinese exporters at the expense of their foreign competitors.

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Chinese Foreign Ministry Says One-China Policy 'Non-Negotiable'

Sputnik News

01:42 15.01.2017

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, and one-China policy is non-negotiable basis of the China-US relations, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said Saturday in response to the comments of US President-elect Donald Trump.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  On Friday, Trump, when asked about the policy on China, told that "everything is under negotiation including One China," to the Wall Street Journal.

"The one-China principle, which is the political foundation of the China-U.S. relations, is non-negotiable. In order to avoid disruption to the sound and steady development of the China-U.S. relations and bilateral cooperation in key areas, we urge relevant parties in the U.S. to fully recognize the high sensitivity of the Taiwan question," Lu said in a statement.

Taiwan is an inalienable part of China and only the government of the People's Republic of China is legitimate, Lu stressed.

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.

 Sputnik

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On-the-Record Press Call on Cuba Policy Announcement

The White House

Office of the Press Secretary

For Immediate Release

January 12, 2017



ON-THE-RECORD PRESS CALL

BY DEPUTY NATIONAL SECURITY ADVISOR BEN RHODES

AND SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY JEH JOHNSON

ON CUBA POLICY ANNOUNCEMENT

Via Telephone

5:55 P.M. EST

MR. PRICE: Good evening, everyone, and thanks so much for joining this call, especially on such short notice. We wanted to convene this call to discuss the changes to the policies and regulations affecting Cuban nationals that were announced late this afternoon. First, the ground rules. This call is on the record. We have on this call, for your awareness, Ben Rhodes, the Deputy National Security Advisor. We also have the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, along with another senior DHS official for question.

We'll do this call on the record, but it will be embargoed until the conclusion, so we ask that you please not use this material until the call concludes.

And with that, I will turn it over to Secretary Johnson to begin.

SECRETARY JOHNSON: Good evening. This is Jeh Johnson, Secretary of Homeland Security. As part of the normalization of relations with the government of Cuba, effective immediately I have repealed the "wet foot, dry foot" policy with regard to Cuban migrants that has been in place since the mid-1990s. Going forward, those Cuban migrants who arrive in the United States illegally, with some exceptions which I'll get into in a moment, will be subject to deportation consistent with our laws and our immigration enforcement priorities.

To the extent permitted by the laws of both our countries, the aim here is to treat Cuban migrants in a manner consistent with migrants who come here illegally from other countries, particularly other countries in the same region. This is a move toward equalizing our immigration policies with regard to those who come here illegally as part of the overall normalization process with the government of Cuba.

Along with the repeal of the policy, which I have done today, this is a product of an agreement with the government of Cuba. Essentially, what the agreement means is that past is past, but that the future will be different with regard our migration relationship with the government of Cuba. Going forward, if a Cuban migrants arrives here illegally, the Cuban government has agreed to accept that person back, specifically if the time -- between the time a Cuban migrant leaves Cuba, as demonstrated to us by the Cuban government, and the time that we commence a deportation proceeding against the individual is less than four years, the Cuban government has agreed to take that person back.

Now, the reason for the four-year period is because of the existence of a law in Cuba enacted in response to the Cuban Adjustment Act of the United States, the law in Cuba essentially says that if a person has left Cuba, after two years they are considered to have effectively migrated from Cuba. In the course of our negotiations, the Cuban government agreed, therefore, that if a person has been out of Cuba more than four years because the time they left and the time we commenced a deportation proceeding against them, which tolls that clock, they will take that migrant back.

Ultimately, we seek to get to a place fully consistent with the international law under which the Cubans will agree to accept everyone back who is ordered deported by our country. This is regarded by us as an interim arrangement until their laws are repealed. We also welcome repeal by Congress, by our Congress, of the Cuban Adjustment Act.

Under our agreement with Cuba, there was also the possibility that the Cubans will accept back migrants outside of this arrangement, but on a case-by-case basis. We are also today repealing the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program, which you should be familiar with. That, too, is effective immediately. We are leaving in place the Cuban Family Reunification Program. That program will continue.

I'll also add that with regard to interdictions of Cuban migrants at sea, by our Coast Guard, that is status quo. That policy and that approach will continue, as well.

So I'm happy to take any questions. But first, let me turn it over to Ben Rhodes if he has any comments.

MR. RHODES: Thanks, Jeh. Just a few contextual points. This grows out of the normalization of relations between our countries. What we've seen in recent years is a continued uptick in Cuban migrants coming to the United States. We attribute that to a variety of factors -- one, that Cuba has liberalized its own exit policies with respect to Cubans leaving the country; two, the change in our policy -- the normalization of relations that began on December 17, 2014 -- I think created an expectation in Cuba that this change might take place and therefore people were motivated to migrate. Also, though, the increase in resources available to the Cuban people, particularly through our remittance policies, also made it more possible for Cubans to travel.

What we've seen, therefore, is a steady increase to some 40,000 Cubans granted parole in fiscal year 2015; 54,000 roughly in fiscal year 2016. And what we had also seen is a growing number of Cubans who had begun a journey to try to reach the United States who were in a variety of Central American countries that was creating both humanitarian challenges and strains within those countries as large numbers of Cubans were essentially stuck there and then facing a very difficult and dangerous -- journey to our southern border in some cases.

So we wanted to ensure that we normalized our migration policies to the extent that we could and that we brought them in line with the way in which we treat other countries, as Jeh referenced. And so, again, what this does going forward is repeal the "wet foot, dry foot" provision such that we are returning to Cuba those people who come into our custody who traveled here illegally.

I'd just say a couple of other things here. Ultimately, of course, we believe that we'd like to see people be able to increase their economic prospects within Cuba. That is why we have taken steps to open up a greater commercial and people-to-people relationship, and have encouraged the Cuban government to pursue economic reforms. That, ultimately, is the best way to ensure opportunity for the Cuban people going forward.

And lastly, as Jeh said, the Cuban Adjustment Act is the legislative architecture around these policies. That provides preferences including adjusted status, green card status, and certain benefits to Cubans who are paroled into the country. That remains statute. But obviously under this change, we will not be granting parole to people who arrive here illegally by land or by sea. We do believe it would be the appropriate step for Congress to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act, even with the four-year clock that is embedded into Cuban law that, frankly, provides Congress with four years within which to assure full normalization of these policies to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act. And the Cubans have indicated that they will repeal their law, which is reciprocal to the Cuban Adjustment Act if and when Congress takes that action.

And with that, we're happy to move to questions.

Q Thank you both so much for doing this call. I was just wondering, for the last two years whenever the topic of "wet foot, dry foot" policy came up, the administration was adamant that the rule belonged to the Cuban Adjustment Act and, as an act of Congress, it had to be repealed by Congress, even if it was discussed as a presidential fiat. So why do this now with only a week left in the administration? And what changed that made you decide that this was possible and something that could be rescinded?

MR. RHODES: Well, Serena, a couple of things. First of all, we've been working sequentially through the normalization process. So there was the initial announcement December 17th, then we had to establish embassies, then we were focused on making a series of regulatory changes. So part of this was we arrived at the issue of migration later in the process. That's the first point I'd make.

The second point I'd make is that we saw the increase in migration, which I think is attributable to the factors I mentioned -- the liberalization of Cuba's own exit policies, the increased resources, particularly through remittances for Cubans, and, frankly, just the expectation in Cuba that this change might happen. And that increased the sense of urgency.

But the last point, which is an important one, is this policy is often discussed here as if it is purely unilateral. But for this to work, the Cubans had to agree to take people back. And we did not have that indication from them -- it was not part of my discussions with them leading up to December 17th and after. And it was only in recent years, as the uptick in migration continued, that they entered into those discussions with us. And then we, again, had to determine how to ensure that this was the best possible agreement, even as we both knew that our laws were in place -- in other words, the Cuban Adjustment Act, which the Cubans object to, was still in place. The Cubans made the adjustment to their law to extend this clock to four years, so it took time to negotiate various elements.

But again, I think this was the appropriate step at the appropriate time, and it makes sense from a perspective of our Cuba policy, it makes sense from a perspective of our immigration policy.

Look, the last thing I'd say is -- we do get asked about this a lot -- frankly, we did not want to speculate publicly about the likelihood of this change for fear of inviting even greater migration flows, and everything we said is actually entirely what we believe, which is that we do think Congress should repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act. It's the cleanest way to fully normalize our immigration relationship.

Q Hi, hi, thank you for doing this, and my apologies because I was late to the call, so I'm not sure if you already talked about that, but I was wondering what are the Cubans agreeing to -- the Cuban government? Are they agreeing to taking all Cubans back, including those with deportation orders? Is this happening, as well? And also, can you set a timeframe, just to find out -- just to realize what's going to happen with those Cubans, I don't know, now entering the border in Mexico? What's going to happen to them?

SECRETARY JOHNSON: I'll take that. Essentially, as I described in the first part of the call, what we've agreed to is, past is past and future will be different. Going forward, the Cuban government has agreed to take back those who have been ordered by an immigration court, deported from this country. Consistent with our laws, we will still hear claims for asylum like we do for everybody else.

And I explained earlier that if the period of time between the time they left and the time we begin a deportation is four years or less, they have agreed to take them back. The reason for the four years is because of the state of their laws in Cuba, which we expect will be repealed as part of the normalization process, and so that's generally how it works.

And as I mentioned earlier, interdictions at sea will continue, and those people will be returned as well.

MR. RHODES: I'd just add one thing. As Jeh indicated, it's a prospective policy. Going forward, the Cubans will be taking people back. Looking back, in addition to the case-by-case review that we can seek for individuals who have removal orders, you'll note in the joint statement that Cuba has agreed to accept the list of 2,746 people out of the Mariel boatlift. So there is a particular agreed-upon list of individuals who have procedure for return. But our goal was to set the policy direction going forward and to normalize, essentially, this migration relationship prospectively.

There's obviously an enormous number of -- there's a very large Cuban American population, and many Cuban migrants are already here. It was going to be too complicated, frankly, to significantly return people who are already here. We wanted to get things right going forward.

Q Hi. So just the first question I wanted to make sure I understood. So this would not impact Cubans who are already here? And so I just wanted to make sure I was clear on that. So this will be Cubans migrating to the country going forward?

And the second part was -- I'm obviously not an expert on this -- but it was my understanding that also under the "wet foot, dry foot" policy there was a lottery for a certain number -- 20,000 or so Cubans -- who could come here each year through that, and that also under the policy the U.S. was less, I don't know, vigilant in deporting Cubans who'd committed some sort of deportable offense. So I wondered if I'm correct on those points, if those also will change -- the lottery will go away, and the U.S. would become more aggressive at deporting Cubans who have made some sort of deportable offense.

SECRETARY JOHNSON: Let me take that. First of all, the policy, as Ben mentioned, is prospective. Going forward, effective immediately, those who arrive here going forward.

With regard to your question about the lottery, I'm going to turn it over to a DHS senior official. Go ahead.

DHS SENIOR OFFICIAL: Hi. So under our agreement -- so the 20,000 -- so we agreed in the 1994-95 Migration Accords with Cuba that we would accept for admission 20,000 Cubans per year. That continues to be the case under this agreement. This new agreement does not change that commitment by the United States.

MR. RHODES: But again, those are people who would come here through authorized procedures. So what this does is allow us to deal with Cubans arriving irregularly by land, as well as sea.

Q Hi, good afternoon. I saw a statement by Senator Menendez saying that Congress was not consulted on this. I just wanted to confirm that with you.

And I also wanted to know -- the Cuban Adjustment Act actually leaves a lot of discretion for the Attorney General to grant -- well, a lot of this question for him to decide on whether to grant that green card for Cubans who have been here a year. So I was wondering, since you think that Congress should lift the act, do you also think that the Attorney General should exercise that discretion and stop granting parole to -- well, granting residency to Cubans who have been here a year legally?

SECRETARY JOHNSON: The discussions leading up to this were very sensitive. The policy that we're announcing today is effective immediately. We did not want for there to be a mass exodus from Cuba in anticipation of a change in policy. So these were very sensitive discussions. And I'm going to turn it over to the DHS senior official to describe how the Cuban Adjustment Act works.

One point I'll make is, references in the law to the Attorney General back then now are to me, the Secretary of Homeland Security, because DHS was created after the enactment of the law.

Go ahead.

DHS SENIOR OFFICIAL: So I think the point you're trying to raise is that to some degree the decision whether to adjust the status of a Cuban national who has been paroled into the United States under the Cuban Adjustment Act is discretionary. I don't know if you can still -- is that the point you were trying to make?

Well, I'm assuming that's the point you were trying to make, assuming you can't answer my question. So there is case law that limits our authority to grant or deny adjustment under that law. But that is something that we will continue to consider and analyze moving forward.

MR. RHODES: I'd just add a couple things. On the congressional point, while we did not have regular updates on what were very sensitive negotiations, we have over the course of the last year or so, frankly, heard from members of Congress, from both parties, who were expressing increasing concern about the migration flows. In fact, in some cases, we were being urged to do something about it. And we've also heard increasing interest and even pieces of legislation being introduced that seek to amend or repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act, whether it's the benefits provided under the Cuban Adjustment Act or the act itself. So this is an issue that we've discussed with members of Congress from both parties, and around this announcement of course we're doing many notifications to those interested members.

And I should add to Serena's original question here -- that congressional interest is one of the things that gave us a greater impetus to act. It was clear to us that Congress was taking a greater interest in this issue, given the uptick in migration flows and the strain that that was placing on certain communities.

On CAA, again, the cleanest way to fully normalize is to repeal the act. So that is the -- that would be our recommendation. We have seven days, so it's not going to happen in that timeframe, but I do think actually there is bipartisan support for that type of effort going forward.

Q Hi, thanks for doing this call. I wanted to ask two things. One is just sort of a more technical thing. This happened by a Department of Homeland Security rule, right, so presumably in a subsequent administration, it could be undone and then the Cuban Adjustment Act is still there. I'm just wondering if for some reason this wasn't followed up on, and our Congress doesn't repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act, and the Cubans don't revise their policy with that four-year window, could we be left with the same situation sort of de facto that we have now?

And then secondly, just if you guys could put this in context a bit. This was a policy initially designed to give Cubans who are fleeing persecution a special way of getting to the United States. In making this move, is the administration essentially taking the position that this is no longer necessary or appropriate, I guess, giving the detente?

MR. RHODES: Jeh, you take the first question. I can handle the second.

SECRETARY JOHNSON: It's important to remember that this is the ending of a policy that was put in place 20 years ago. This is not the enactment of a policy that can be repealed by a subsequent administration. This is us repealing a policy unique to Cuba, given the nature of the relationship 20 years ago, which is very different right now. So I wouldn't characterize it as creating a policy that could be repealed.

Go ahead, Ben.

MR. RHODES: Yeah, I'd just say a couple of things. I just want to clarify, Julie, because of the nature of the way you phrased it. Keep in mind that the four-year provision is not six. So, in other words, it's four years from whenever the individual leaves Cuba. So, in other words, the earliest that that could enter into question is four years from today. But if an individual leaves Cuba a year from now, that's five years from today. It is a peculiarity, but Congress will have four years to repeal the Cuban Adjustment Act. During that time, we will be putting individuals who come into our custody, who have arrived here illegally, into removal proceedings. And again, the Cubans have committed to repeal their law, which was passed to be reciprocal to the Cuban Adjustment Act.

To your second question, I think a number of things have changed. First of all, I think as a general matter there are certainly individuals -- well, put it this way -- early in the post-revolution history, it was very clear that the overwhelming number of Cubans who came to the United States and ended up doing incredible things here in the United States absolutely had to leave for political purposes, or very much were leaving for political purposes. I think increasingly over time, the balance has tilted towards people leaving for more traditional reasons in terms of seeking economic opportunity and, frankly, having not just the benefits of "wet foot, dry foot" and the adjusted status, but also literal benefits under the Cuban Adjustment Act. That's not to say that they're not still people who have political cause to leave Cuba. And as we do with any other country, political asylum continues to be an option for those individuals. But we have seen the balance shift to more similar reasons in terms of people pursuing economic opportunity.

The second thing I'd say is that we believe that ultimately the best future for Cuba is one that is determined by the Cuban people, both in terms of their economic livelihoods and in terms of their political future. And, frankly, it's important that Cuba continue to have a young, dynamic population that are clearly serving as agents of change and becoming entrepreneurs, and being more connected to the rest of the world. And, frankly, we believe that this change is in service of creating more incentive for there to be the economic reforms that need to be pursued on the island in terms of opening up more space for the private sector, allowing foreign firms to hire Cubans, so that they can be responsive to the economic aspirations of their people.

So in the long run, the best way for Cubans to have this opportunity is for them to be able to pursue it at home through an economy that has continued to pursue market-based reforms.

Now, we believe very strongly, in this administration, of course, that our Cuba opening is the best way to incentivize that economic reform; that as more Americans travel, as more Americans do business, as there are greater commercial ties, that ultimately is going to create more opportunity for people in Cuba, as well as creating opportunities for Americans. And so that's very much the approach we'd like to see continued going forward, and ultimately the one that has the best opportunity to deliver results to the Cuban people.

The links between Cuban Americans and Cubans will remain as robust as ever. And, in fact, what we've done is open up for space for those links, because Cuban Americans can now travel, they can send unlimited remittances. Many of them are people who are focused on -- many of the commercial opportunities include Cuban Americans who want to contribute to the building and development of Cuba. So those links will remain very strong in the context of this policy change.

We'll take one more question.

SECRETARY JOHNSON: I just would like to emphasize something my colleague said a moment ago coming from me. Cuban migrants, like everybody else, will still be able to apply for asylum, consistent with our laws. So this is -- what we're doing is putting, to the full extent permitted under each nation's laws, putting Cuban migrants in the same place and on the same footing with migrants who come here from other countries who are available -- who are allowed to apply for asylum and the like. It's an effort to normalize the relationship and equalize it in the region and how we treat migrants from around the world.

MR. RHODES: We'll take the last question.

Q Thank you very much. Just wanted to clarify the situation on the U.S.-Mexico border. If a Cuban approaches the border tomorrow and presents himself to immigration with a Cuban ID card and nothing more than that, in the past they've been allowed entry and parole. Will they still continue to be allowed to cross the border into the United States to apply for asylum, or will they be turned away like other people? Will they still -- in other words, will they still have some kind of privilege under the Cuban Adjustment Act that will allow them to set foot in the country to make that asylum claim?

SECRETARY JOHNSON: The policy repeal is effective immediately. So a Cuban migrant, like a Guatemalan migrant or a migrant from El Salvador, can assert a claim of credible fear at the border when they arrive. But effective immediately, that policy -- our approach to Cubans arriving tomorrow will be the same as those arriving from other countries in Central America, Mexico, and otherwise.

MR. RHODES: And just to put a fine point on this, the Cubans will be treated like everybody else. People from anywhere can issue a claim of asylum; that does happen frequently. This is an important point, though: Under the current policy, they would have been paroled in, and then that would have put them into a position where they could begin to receive the benefits under the Cuban Adjustment Act. They're not going to be paroled in during whatever adjudication might take place of a claim.

So essentially they are being treated like people from any other country that arrives. There's not going to be a separate queue for Cubans. So just like any other migrant who reaches our border, they have certain claims that they can pursue, but they'll be treated as other individuals from other countries are. And if they are not paroled in, they will not be able to adjust and achieve the benefits under the CAA, which would be the current context.

So I think that's an important change, particularly in light of how this issue has been debated and discussed in parts of the country -- because, again, if people knew that they could achieve that parole into the country immediately, they also know that that would put them on a track towards the potential benefits afforded to them under the CAA. That changes -- it just treats the Cuban migrants like migrants from other countries.

MR. RHODES: Okay, thanks, everybody, for getting on the call. And we look forward to answering any other inquiries you may have going forward.

Jeh, is there anything else you want to say?

SECRETARY JOHNSON: No, that's it.

MR. RHODES: Great. Thanks, everybody.

END

6:29 P.M. EST

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Obama announces end to 'wet foot, dry foot' policy for Cubans

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 4:56AM

US President Barack Obama has ended a longstanding immigration policy that extends automatic residency to Cubans arriving in the country without visas.

The "wet foot, dry foot" policy was "designed for a different era," Obama announced in a statement on Thursday.

The 20-year-old policy allowed any Cuban migrant who makes it to the US to become legal permanent resident after a year.

"Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with US law and enforcement priorities," Obama said in his statement.

"By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries," the president added.

The policy shift came with only days left in Obama's presidency and after he had worked for years to normalize relations with Cuba.

However, the improved ties also prompted a surge of immigration from the island, with many hoping to become legal US residents under the unique "wet foot, dry foot" policy.

Obama said the Cuban government had agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered to leave the US.

In a statement on state television, the Cuban government hailed the agreement as "an important step in advancing relations" between the two countries which "aims to guarantee normal, safe and ordered migration."

Incoming President Donald Trump could undo the change after taking office next week. He has criticized Obama's moves to improve relations with Cuba.

The Obama administration and the Cuban government held 18 months of secret talks that led to a joint announcement on December 17, 2014, that the two long-time adversaries would restore diplomatic relations and release prisoners on both sides.

Obama capped his efforts with a visit to Havana last year.

Despite this, Washington continues to maintain its embargo on the country, which makes it illegal for US corporations to do business with Cuba.

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North Korea Calls for 'Fresh Way of Thinking' Under Trump Administration

Sputnik News

22:01 14.01.2017(updated 02:10 15.01.2017)

North Korea's Cabinet newspaper criticized the administration of US President Barack Obama and said it was time for "a fresh way of thinking," between the nations January 14, seemingly a direct statement to US President-elect Donald Trump.

The Minju Joson article, reported by the Korea Central News Agency (KCNA), criticized statements by Obama administration officials about North Korea's "alarming" weapons buildup, saying its ongoing ballistic missile tests are only a response to the US "nuclear threat and blackmail."

The article also defended North Korea's development of preemptive strike technology as measures only intended to counter US and South Korean threats and in line with international law.

"To develop [intercontinental ballistic missile] ICBM for defending the country's sovereignty and dignity and people's security can neither run counter to international law nor can be blamed as it is the exercise of the legitimate and independent right of the DPRK," Minju Joson said, referring to North Korea by its official name and acronym, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The DPRK will continue to bolster up its military capability for self-defense and preemptive strike with the nuclear force as its pivot as long as the US and its vassal forces' nuclear threat and blackmail persist," the report continued. It criticized "ceaseless war exercises" by the US and South Korea.

"Now is the time for the US to respond to the DPRK with a fresh way of thinking. The U.S. should make a bold decision of rolling back its anachronistic hostile policy toward the DPRK if it does not want to see the escalating tension," Minju Joson concluded.

KCNA offered its own analysis, noting that relations between the US and China could be strained under Trump's leadership.

Referencing reports that North Korea could be used as pawn in power struggles between the two global giants, it said "it is illogical to say that the DPRK can be used as a 'playing card' of others as the country is demonstrating its might as a political and ideological power and a nuclear power. Firm is the DPRK's position as a nuclear weapons state whether others recognize it or not."

North Korea is apparently seeking recognition as a nuclear state and bilateral talks with the US.

 Sputnik

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Iran to receive 130 tons of uranium: Nuclear energy organization

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 11:22AM

The Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) says the country is soon to receive as much as 130 tons of uranium from abroad.

The organization's spokesman, Behrouz Kamalvandi, made the announcement while speaking to the Islamic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) News on Thursday.

The Joint Commission monitoring the implementation of a 2015 nuclear deal between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries approved the purchase on the part of the Islamic Republic during a meeting in the Austrian capital of Vienna on Wednesday.

Kamalvandi said that the country had previously bought 220 tons of the material, and was currently in possession of a total of 350 tons. "Given that this amounts to a valuable resource, it places us in a very favorable position," he said.

"Of course, toward industrialization, we need more resources. Therefore, we continue to prospect and extract [uranium] inside the country, and have accorded priority to this task."

Planned enriched uranium production

Kamalvandi also said the country was to produce 100 kilograms of enriched uranium, and noted that the Commission had approved that the amount of the enriched material be calculated in accordance with the method proposed by the Islamic Republic.

"Now that our interpretation of the calculation method has been approved and applied, we are soon to start cleaning out the deposits at nuclear facilities and there would be space for 100 kilos more," he said.

Iran had refrained from stocktaking until our approach was approved, he said.

American guarantee

The nuclear deal, known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), was clinched in July 2015. As per the accord, which came into force in January 2016, the six world powers committed to lifting the nuclear-relation sanctions against Iran and the Islamic Republic agreed to limit its nuclear work in certain areas.

However, in a highly controversial move, the US Congress voted last December to extend Washington's sanctions law against Tehran, known as the Iran Sanctions Act (ISA) for another 10 years. The law authorizes the US president to re-impose bans. It was first adopted in 1996 to punish investments in the Islamic Republic over its nuclear program and its support for anti-Israeli resistance groups.

The Commission had convened to address Iran's concerns about the ratification of the ISA.

Kamalvandi said the American side had approved during the session to prevent the implementation of the law by applying relevant waivers.

The US State Department had said following the ratification of the law that it would waive those sanctions under the ISA that were nuclear-related.

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Iran's 9-month oil revenues top $29bn

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Tehran, Jan 14, IRNA -- Iran's oil revenues have reached $29 billion in the first nine months of the current Iranian calendar year (started on March 21), according to a top official with the Petroleum Ministry.

Amir-Hossein Zamani Nia, the Deputy Petroleum Minister for International and Commercial affairs, said Iran's exports of oil and oil condensates have doubled in comparison to the figure before the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA).

In a November 30 meeting, OPEC member states agreed to cut production for the first time since 2008 in a bid to raise prices.

However, Iran was been exempted from the OPEC decision for cutting production so that the country can increase production to the level before the imposition of sanctions.

The OPEC agreement is expected to leave a positive effect on Iran's oil revenues.

9341**1420

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Salehi: New nuclear power plants help save 22m oil barrels

IRNA - Islamic Republic News Agency

Kashan, Jan 14, IRNA -- Head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI) Ali-Akbar Salehi said on Saturday that construction of the new nuclear power plants in Bushehr help save some two million barrels of oil per year.

About 10 billion US dollars have been allocated for construction of the two nuclear power plants, which is regarded as the biggest industrial project in the country, Salehi said.

Russian experts are now involved in the construction of the two new nuclear power plants, he said.

1430**1420

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Obama extends national emergency on Iran

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 1:13AM

US President Barack Obama has declared the continuation of his country's national emergency against Iran, claiming that despite full commitment to its nuclear deal with the six world powers, the Islamic Republic still poses "an unusual and extraordinary threat" to America.

The outgoing president informed Congress of his decision in a letter on Friday, saying that the national emergency, which was declared on March 15, 1995, "is to continue in effect beyond March 15, 2017."

The National Emergencies Act requires the president to extend a national emergency within 90 days of its anniversary date, before it is automatically terminated.

Obama admitted in his letter that Iran had delivered on its commitments pursuant to the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), a landmark nuclear deal that was struck between Iran and the P5+1 group of countries -- the US, the UK, France, China, Russia, and Germany -- on July 14, 2015.

Under the landmark deal, which entered into force on January 16 last year, Iran undertook to put restrictions on its nuclear program in exchange for the removal of nuclear-related sanctions imposed against the country.

"Since Implementation Day, the IAEA (International Atomic Energy Agency) has repeatedly verified, and the Secretary of State [John Kerry] has confirmed, that Iran continues to meet its nuclear commitments pursuant to the JCPOA," Obama said in his notice.

"However, irrespective of the JCPOA, which continues to ensure that Iran's nuclear program is and remains exclusively peaceful, certain actions and policies of the Government of Iran continue to pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security, foreign policy, and economy of the United States," the outgoing president added.

In November, Obama extended a separate national emergency against Iran, which was originally declared by former US President Jimmy Carter on November 14, 1979.

He also extended the state of emergency with respect to Libya, Ukraine, Zimbabwe, Cuba and Venezuela.

A state of emergency gives the US president special powers, including the ability to seize property, summon the National Guard and hire and fire military officers at will.

The state of emergency also forms the basis for most US sanctions against other countries.

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Iraqi forces make more territorial gains against Daesh in, around Mosul

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 5:16PM

Iraqi army forces have achieved a string of swift territorial gains in and around Mosul as they are joined by allied fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces in a multi-pronged operation to push Daesh terrorists out of their last urban stronghold in the country.

Commander of Nineveh Liberation Operation, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah, said troops from the 9th Armored Division and Commando Regiment retook the village of al-Shamsiyat on Saturday afternoon, and hoisted the Iraqi national flag over a cluster of buildings there, Arabic-language al-Sumaria television network reported.

The commander stated that the development meant that the 9th Armored Division had completed the liberation of all villages and areas south of the eastern side of Mosul.

A local source, requesting not to be named, also said tens of Daesh terrorists had been killed in an internal dispute as the terror group loses ground at the same time that Iraqi forces advance east of Mosul.

The source said dozens of Daesh Takfiris fled their positions in several residential neighborhoods of eastern Mosul, and crossed the Tigris River on Saturday to take refuge in the western quarter.

Daesh commanders on the western bank of the Tigris River accused those arriving as traitors, prompting a nearly half-an-hour gunfight that killed and injured tens of Takfiris.

Moreover, the Iraqi Joint Operations Command (JOC) announced that Federal Police forces were clearing the southern part of eastern Mosul of booby-trapped houses and hidden explosive devices planted on roads.

Earlier on Saturday, members of the Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) established full control over the University of Mosul, and raised the Iraqi national flag over buildings inside the educational installation.

Iraqi Special Forces also liberated Eastern Yarmaja neighborhood from Daesh clutches.

Additionally, the Iraqi Defense Ministry said in a statement that a total of 174 Daesh Takfiris were killed on Saturday as the Air Force fighter jets struck the terrorists' positions across Mosul.

Pro-government fighters from Popular Mobilization Units -- more commonly known by the Arabic word Hashd al-Sha'abi -- also thwarted a Daesh offensive on al-Hazar district west of Mosul.

Iraqi army soldiers, supported by Hashd al-Sha'abi fighters and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17, 2016 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists.

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Iraqi forces fully recapture Mosul University from Daesh: Source

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 10:37AM

Forces with the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) have fully liberated the Mosul University, in a key advance against the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group in the strategic northern city.

A security source, speaking anonymously to al-Sumeria, said the full liberation of the university's premises occurred on Saturday. A day earlier, Iraqi special forces had entered the university's compound and liberated a number of its buildings.

The university served as a base to the terrorists, who have reportedly been using its laboratory to produce chemical weapons.

Abadi censures sectarianism

In a separate development on Saturday, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said during a conference on Iraq's political and security prospect in a post-Daesh era, that Iraq will not be a threat to any of the regional countries once its battle with the terrorist group is successfully over. He said a number of countries fear a post-Daesh Iraq, implying that those countries seek to stir sectarian tensions.

Iraqi President Fuad Masum, also speaking at the conference, said that most of the previously-occupied Iraqi cities have been recaptured from Daesh and that the full liberation of Mosul will take place in the near future.

Iraqi commander killed

Also on Saturday, a commander of Iraq's Popular Mobilization Units (PMU) was killed during a battle with Daesh terrorists near the eastern city of Baqubah.

The commander was killed along with five other PMU fighters in an area 55 kilometers northeast of Baqubah.

Iraqi forces have destroyed five Daesh bases 90 kilometers northeast of the city.

Elsewhere, in the western province of Anbar, Iraqi army forces thwarted a Daesh car bomb attack, which sought to target an army base.

A Daesh commander, identified as Abu Heydar al-Askari, was also killed in western Mosul.

Members of the CTS have made further advances against Daesh in Mosul, pushing the militants out of several districts in the eastern quarter of the strategic city.

Iraqi army soldiers, supported by fighters from Popular Mobilization Units  commonly known by their Arabic name Hashd al-Sha'abi  and Kurdish Peshmerga forces, launched a joint operation on October 17 to retake Mosul from Daesh terrorists. Mosul is the last urban area under Daesh's control in Iraq.

A total of 137,880 people have been displaced from Mosul and neighboring areas ever since the start of the operations, according to figures released by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) on January 9.

Daesh unleashed a terrorist campaign in Iraq in 2014.

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Iraqi Forces Retake Mosul University Campus

By VOA News January 14, 2017

Iraqi forces have secured the sprawling Mosul University campus after a battle with Islamic State militants, officials said Saturday.

"We can say that the university has been liberated," Maan Saadi, a major general in the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS), told AFP.

Saadi added that the Iraqi forces might recapture the entire eastern side of the city within the "next 10 days or so."

Iraqi forces said they also had secured three of Mosul's five bridges.

Saadi said the Iraqi army had retaken about 85 percent of the eastern side of the city since the U.S.-led coalition began bombarding Mosul in December.

Officials said the forces were meeting with less resistance than they had previously. In just the past two weeks, the Iraqi army has retaken several districts on its way to reaching the Tigris River, which divides Mosul roughly in half.

"We were targeted with only four car bombs, where before [IS] would send 20 in one day," said special forces Lieutenant Zain al-Abadeen. "And they aren't armored like before. They're just using civilian cars."

IS extremists took control of Mosul about 2 years ago. Mosul is Iraq's second-largest city.

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Trump open to lifting Russia sanctions if Moscow cooperates with US

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:4AM

US President-elect Donald Trump has expressed willingness to remove harsh economic sanctions against Russia if it cooperates with the United States in efforts such as counterterrorism, according to a report.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal on Friday that he plans to keep sanctions imposed on Russia by the outgoing Obama administration in response to the alleged Russian intervention in the 2016 presidential election "at least for a period of time."

But Trump said that sanctions would not be required if Moscow helped Washington in other ways.

"If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebody's doing some really great things?" the president-elect asked.

Trump also spoke of meeting with senior Russian officials, including President Vladimir Putin after he is sworn in as the 45th president of the United States on January 20.

"I understand that they would like to meet, and that's absolutely fine with me," he said.

Last month, the Obama administration announced a series of economic sanctions against Russia, as well as expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, over allegations that it interfered in the US election through cyberattacks.

Earlier this week, the outgoing administration imposed sanctions on five prominent Russians, including a close aide to Putin.

The US Treasury Department announced on Monday that the sanctions were meant to punish Russia over what it called human rights abuses.

Trump's senior aide Kellyanne Conway has denounced Obama's decision to impose harsh economic sanctions against Russia.

She has suggested that President Obama took these measure against Russia in order to "box in" Trump over the country when he takes office.

Washington and its allies had already levied broad economic sanctions against Russia and blacklisted dozens of its citizens after Moscow's alleged involvement in the Ukraine conflict.

Ties between the US and Russia further deteriorated when Moscow in 2015 launched an air offensive against Daesh terrorists in Syria, many of whom were initially trained by the CIA to fight against the Syrian government.

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Spain king due in Riyadh with talks on lucrative warship deal on agenda

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 10:14AM

Spain's monarch is due in Saudi Arabia to reportedly help secure a lucrative warship deal with Riyadh, which has been under fire by rights groups for its bloody war against neighboring Yemen.

King Felipe VI will start the three-day visit of the kingdom on Saturday at the invitation of Saudi King Salman.

The visit takes place in the light of a prospective contract to sell Avante 2200 corvettes, which can be equipped with missile systems and helicopter launch pads, for an estimated $2.1 billion, Spanish media say.

"We can only confirm that negotiations are very advanced to build five warships which would be sold to the Saudi navy," a spokesman for state-owned Spanish ship builder Navantia said.

Spain is the fourth biggest arms exporter to Saudi Arabia and seventh largest arms exporter in the world. According to the Brussels-based Group for Research and Information on Peace and Security, Spain's arms exports to other countries rose by 55 percent in 2011-15.

The Spanish and Saudi royal families have maintained an exceptionally-close relationship for several years, which has led to closer economic ties between the two countries.

In 2011, Former king Juan Carlos, Felipe's father, reportedly played a crucial role in securing a $7-billion contract for a Spanish consortium to build a high-speed railway in the kingdom.

The new arms deal is not considered a done deal yet. On the one hand, Riyadh is currently slashing its expenditures and, on the other hand, Spain has to compete with France which seeks to sell another type of navy ship to the oil-rich kingdom.

Rights groups argue that Spain's prospective arms deal with Saudi Arabia would be illegal under the international law, as the Saudi kingdom is currently committing war crimes in its military campaign, which killed thousands of Yemenis.

"The question is: is the contract legal or illegal. And it is clearly illegal," said Alberto Estevez, an expert on arms sales at the Spanish branch of Amnesty International.

Under a 2013 UN global arms trade treaty, he added, the sales of arms which could be used in attacks against civilians or other violations of humanitarian law is prohibited.

A coalition of rights groups in Spain, including Amnesty and Oxfam, has listed dozens of alleged Saudi war crimes in Yemen, including the bombing of hospitals and schools.

The Saudi war on Yemen, which has reportedly killed at least 11,400 Yemenis, was launched in an unsuccessful attempt to reinstate the former government.

The Saudi war has also taken a heavy toll on the country's facilities and infrastructure, destroying many hospitals, schools and factories.

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Syria's HNC opposition group supports peace talks in Astana

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 6:29PM

Syria's main opposition group, the High Negotiations Committee (HNC), has expressed its support for an upcoming round of peace talks between militants and the Syrian government in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

The HNC said in a statement on Saturday that it would back the participation of militants in planned peace talks brokered by Russia and Turkey, which will be held later this month.

"Concerning the forthcoming meeting in Astana, the [High Negotiations] Committee stresses its support to the military delegation" the HNC statement said after a two-day meeting in Riyadh, expressing hope that the talks would "establish a phase of confidence" in peace talks between the government and the opposition.

The HNC, which is backed by Saudi Arabia and a number of other countries in the Middle East and the West, has previously attended the UN-backed talks with Damascus representatives in Geneva.

The umbrella opposition group said talks in Astana could pave the way for the resumption of UN-backed negotiations in the Swiss city of Geneva next month. Its statement said the HNC "appreciates efforts" to make the talks fruitful.

It is not yet clear which groups have been invited to attend the talks in Kazakhstan.

Russia, Turkey to invite US to Syria talks

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said on Saturday that Ankara and Moscow have decided to invite Washington in the January 23 talks in Astana.

Cavusoglu said, however, that Turkey was still opposed to the participation of the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG) in the negotiations.

Russia and Turkey have managed to broker a nationwide ceasefire in Syria in December 2016, when Syrian pro-government forces took full control of the northern city of Aleppo from militants. The two, who support the opposing sides of the conflict in Syria, have maintained close contacts in recent weeks to revive the stalled peace process in the Arab country.

Many hope the talks in Astana could put an end to nearly six years of devastating militancy in Syria which has claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of people.

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Daesh launches new assault on Syria's Dayr al-Zawr, kills dozens

Iran Press TV

Sat Jan 14, 2017 3:41PM

Dozens of people have lost their lives when Daesh Takfiri terrorists launched a fresh offensive on the eastern Syrian city of Dayr al-Zawr, the so-called Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

The Britain-based monitoring group said at least six large explosions shook the city, located 450 kilometers northeast of the capital, Damascus, on Saturday as the extremists and government forces engaged in fierce fighting with each other.

The multi-pronged Daesh attack started from Baghaliyeh neighborhood near the northwestern flank of the city.

The group added that Syrian Air Force fighter jets carried out a series of strikes against Daesh positions in the area.

The aerial attacks reportedly targeted Baghaliyeh and Ayash neighborhoods as well as the peripherals of the 137th Brigade base west of Dayr al-Zawr.

Syria's official news agency, SANA, also reported that two people lost their lives and eight others sustained injuries as Daesh terrorists fired a barrage of mortar shells at the al-Joura and al-Qousour neighborhoods of the city. The projectiles caused material damage to local residents' houses and property in the targeted areas.

Daesh terrorists, who control most of Dayr al-Zawr Province, have kept the remaining government-held areas of the city under siege since 2014.

Syrian Army forces have withstood the blockade in light of air-dropped humanitarian assistance as well as military equipment flown into a nearby military airport controlled by government soldiers.

Syrian army, allies launch operation to liberate Palmyra

Meanwhile, Syrian government forces and fighters from allied popular groups have mounted a large-scale operation to retake the ancient Semitic city of Palmyra in the central province of Homs from Daesh terrorists.

An unnamed military source said some 10,000 soldiers and fighters have taken part in the offensive, and the forces aim to liberate Jazal oil field and Shaer gas field in the first phase of the operation.

The source added that Syrian forces and their allies have managed to advance three kilometers on the northeastern side of the Tiyas Military Airbase, which is also known as the T-4 Airbase and lies west of Palmyra.

Syrian and Russian fighter jets, together with Syrian artillery units, are supporting government soldiers and their allies in the operation to liberate Palmyra.

Late year, the Syrian Army managed to liberate the eastern sector of Aleppo, the country's second-largest city, which had fallen to militant groups back in 2012.

Government forces later secured the evacuation of remaining civilians and armed groups from the city under a ceasefire deal with the militant groups, brokered by Russia and Turkey.

The Aleppo deal set the stage for a landmark all-Syria truce deal between Damascus and foreign-backed militant groups operating in the country.

The diplomatic achievements were made following high-level trilateral talks involving Russia, Iran and Turkey in Moscow over the Syrian crisis.

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IS Attack in Eastern Syria Leaves at Least 30 Dead

By VOA News January 14, 2017

Monitors say Islamic State extremists in eastern Syria launched a fierce attack on government-held areas Saturday in the contested city of Deir Ezzor, killing at least 30 government fighters, militants and civilians.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the offensive came in waves of suicide attacks and rockets, as IS fighters battled to try to gain full control of territory linking their de facto capital of Raqqa in northern Syria with large swaths of IS-controlled territory in neighboring Iraq.

Government forces in Deir Ezzor, a divided city of 200,000 residents about halfway between Raqqa and the Iraq border, have been under siege by extremist fighters for nearly two years.

The IS attack, described as the largest assault on Syrian forces in the city in months, came as a large grouping of rebel forces fighting to topple the Damascus government announced support for peace talks brokered by Russia and Turkey. The talks are set to open January 23 in the Kazakh capital, Astana.

Astana agenda not clear

The planned talks are the latest effort to settle the long-running Syrian war, a conflict pitting Sunni rebel groupings against the government of President Bashar al-Assad, his Russian allies and Iran-backed Shi'ite forces.

For its part, the Saudi-based rebel High Negotiations Committee described the Astana meeting as a preliminary step expected to pave the way for United Nations-sponsored peace talks set for February 8 in Geneva. The HNC participated in previous rounds of Geneva talks aimed at establishing humanitarian cease-fires in the war-ravaged country.

However, the Astana agenda remained clouded Saturday, and it was not clear which groupings have been invited to attend.

A top official in the incoming U.S. presidential administration of Donald Trump confirmed Friday that Russia had invited a Trump designee to attend the Astana meeting. However, there has been no formal response to the overture, and it remained unclear Saturday whether the Trump administration would participate.

Peace goals strained

Meanwhile, fresh fighting Saturday in the Idlib provincial town of Maarat Mastrin, in northwest Syria, killed at least eight people. Monitors said three other civilians, including a child, were killed nearby in government airstrikes on Friday.

The province is controlled by a rebel alliance that includes al-Qaida-linked jihadists who are excluded from a truce deal in effect elsewhere in the country since December 30.

New fighting was also reported near Damascus in the Wadi Valley, a fertile area that supplies the capital's 5.5 million residents with drinking water.

Details were sketchy late Saturday. But monitors said the fighting, aimed at driving opposition fighters from the area, came a day after rebels and government troops reached a deal allowing water access to the city to be restored.

Syrian Observatory chief Abdel Rahman told the French news agency AFP that government forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies had triggered the new fighting with rocket fire. He said the barrage had come during a lull in fighting that has gripped the area since water supplies were contaminated by diesel fuel late last month.

The government linked the contamination to rebel sabotage. But the opposition said the contamination began after government airstrikes hit a key water-processing facility north of the capital.

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Tsai sees 'bilateral cooperation' as new diplomatic model: Tsai

ROC Central News Agency

2017/01/14 17:20:51

San Salvador, Jan. 13 (CNA) President Tsai Ing-wen () said while in El Salvador on Friday that Taiwan will shift away from one-way assistance to its diplomatic allies to a two-way model of bilateral cooperation to help their economic and social development.

At a breakfast with Taiwanese reporters traveling with her, Tsai said Taiwan should think about promoting diplomacy in new ways, including focusing on bilateral cooperation rather than simply providing aid to allies.

The president said that on her tour of four of Taiwan's diplomatic allies, which ended in El Salvador, she found that the countries are hoping to boost their economic development following a long period of political turmoil.

The Central American countries are also making an effort to improve infrastructure, education and public health, she said, noting that Honduras has sent many delegations to learn more about Taiwan's national health insurance program and other social welfare systems.

Bilateral cooperation should also entail strengthening bilateral trade and expanding market presences, Tsai said, after concluding during her visit that promoting cooperation in a market-oriented direction can create mutually beneficial results.

There may be opportunities for cooperation between Taiwan and its Central and South American allies, for example, in taking advantage of the South and Central American, North American and Asian markets, the president said.

The visit was Tsai's second overseas trip since she took office in May 2016. She visited Panama and Paraguay last June.

At Friday's breakfast, Tsai said that after the two visits, her government will propose a new trade policy for the region in an effort to base bilateral diplomatic ties on stronger trade exchanges.

In the future, she said, Taiwan will organize visits by Taiwanese industry and market experts and business delegations to Central America to explore investment and trade opportunities.

The president also noted the importance of talent and expressed her hope to increase Taiwanese scholarships for students from its diplomatic allies to study in Taiwan.

Taiwan is also planning to encourage Taiwanese youth to work with foreign youth to set up start-up companies, she said.

The president said her administration will continue to provide assistance in infrastructure and public health to its allies and will also seek a feasible commercial model of cooperation on infrastructure projects.

In response to questions on concerns that Taiwan might become a bargaining chip in the relationship between the United States and China, Tsai said she had heard the view, but did not seem worried.

"I feel that we are able to deal with such things, and will put Taiwan's interests first," she said.

Asked about Nigeria's recent demand that Taiwan move its trade office there from the country's capital, Abuja, to its largest city, Lagos, apparently under pressure from Beijing, Tsai said it was not conducive to the development of cross-Taiwan Strait ties.

She urged China to rethink its current strategy and whether it is helpful for cross-strait stability and regional peace.

The president was also asked about the issue of Nicaraguan President Daniel Ortega modifying the country's constitution to pave the way for his re-election to a third consecutive term.

She responded that she would not comment on other countries' domestic politics, but did say she hoped trade cooperation with Taiwan will help diplomatic allies promote economic and social development, and by extension improve democracy in those countries.

Following the visit to El Salvador, Tsai arrived in San Francisco later Friday for a stopover en route home. She is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Jan. 15.

Tsai's Central American visit is aimed at consolidating ties with Taiwan's diplomatic allies in that region and comes after the small West African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan on Dec. 20, 2016 in favor of ties with China.

(By Sophia Yeh and Elaine Hou)

ENDITEM/ls

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U.S. lawmakers introduce Taiwan Travel Act

ROC Central News Agency

2017/01/14 13:28:50

Washington, Jan. 13 (CNA) Several pro-Taiwan members of the U.S. House of Representatives on Friday jointly introduced legislation that encourages visits between the United States and Taiwan at all levels.

The Taiwan Travel Act was initiated by Rep. Steve Chabot with co-sponsorship from Ed Royce and Brad Sherman, ahead of a transit stop in San Francisco by President Tsai Ing-wen () on her way back to Taiwan after a visit to Central America.

Royce, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said as a thriving democracy, Taiwan is vital to U.S. interests in the region.

"By encouraging more frequent visits between our two governments -- including at the highest levels -- we will further strengthen the critical U.S.-Taiwan partnership," he said in a statement.

The bill states that since the enactment of the Taiwan Relations Act, ties between the United States and Taiwan have suffered from insufficient high-level communication due to the self-imposed restrictions that the United States maintains on visits by high ranking officials to Taiwan.

It should be the policy of the United States to allow officials at all levels of the U.S. government, including cabinet-level national security officials, general officers, and other executive branch officials, to travel to Taiwan to meet their Taiwanese counterparts, the bill says.

High-level officials of Taiwan should also be allowed to enter the United States, under conditions which demonstrate appropriate respect for the dignity of such officials, and to meet with U.S. officials, including those from the Department of State and the Department of Defense and other cabinet agencies, according to the bill.

Also, the Taipei Economic and Cultural Representative Office, and any other instrumentality established by Taiwan, should be permitted to conduct business in the United States, including activities which involve participation by members of Congress, officials of federal, state, or local governments of the United States, or any high-level official of Taiwan, it states.

Chabot introduced a similar bill last September, but it failed to pass before the 114th Congress ended on Jan. 3.

(By Tony Liao and Y.F. Low)

ENDITEM/cs



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Taiwan, El Salvador reaffirm bilateral ties, seek to advance trade

ROC Central News Agency

2017/01/14 12:43:50

San Salvador, Jan. 13 (CNA) The presidents of Taiwan and El Salvador reaffirmed their commitment to advancing relations between the two countries on Friday, expressing hope for further bilateral exchanges in such areas as trade.

President Tsai Ing-wen () met with her El Salvadoran counterpart, Salvador Sanchez Ceren, on Friday and received a medal from him. She expressed gratitude for the honor, saying that it represented the Central American country seeing Taiwan as a "close friend."

At a joint press conference following the talks, Tsai reiterated her administration's commitment to furthering cooperation between the governments and the people of the two countries and increasing efforts to advance bilateral trade relations to achieve results that are mutually beneficial.

In his remarks, Sanchez Ceren said that both countries have deepened their cooperative relationship through projects planned for 2014-2019 that cover areas of education, technology, children, tourism, energy and disaster prevention.

He also noted the potential in the growth of bilateral trade and hoped that the two countries will make better use of their free trade agreement to advance exports and imports between the two countries.

Commenting on the relations between the two diplomatic allies, Sanchez Ceren said both countries maintain a friendly relationship, adding that Tsai plays an important role in continuing to deepen bilateral ties.

Tsai, as Taiwan's first female president, is a symbol of the deep democratization of Taiwan, he said.

Following the meeting with her El Salvadoran counterpart, Tsai visited the secretariat of the Central American Integration System.

During her stay in El Salvador, Tsai and her entourage -- including Taiwanese government officials and business representatives -- also visited coffee manufacturers to learn more about the coffee industry there and tasted a cup of El Salvadoran coffee, in the company of El Salvadoran Vice President Oscar Samuel Ortiz.

In a post on her personal Facebook page, Tsai said coffee is El Salvador's most famous agricultural product. Noting that her delegation included representatives of Taiwanese coffee importers, she expressed hope that the Taiwanese public will have the opportunity to taste the high quality coffee from the Central American country.

El Salvador was the final leg of Tsai's nine-day state visit to Central America, which has taken her to Honduras, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

The president is scheduled to return to Taiwan on Jan. 15., after a stopover in San Francisco.

Tsai's Central American visit is aimed at consolidating ties with Taiwan's diplomatic allies in that region and comes after the small West African island nation of Sao Tome and Principe severed diplomatic relations with Taiwan on Dec. 20, 2016 in favor of ties with China.

(By Sophia Yeh and Elaine Hou)

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Turkey detains Erdogan's former security chief in post-coup crackdown

Iran Press TV

Fri Jan 13, 2017 1:41PM

Turkish authorities have arrested the former chief of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's security staff over his alleged affiliation to the network of US-based opposition cleric Fethullah Gulen, whom the Ankara government accuses of having orchestrated the failed July 15 coup attempt last year.

Maksut Karal was detained on Wednesday, and charged with being a member of a "terrorist organization" in addition to having backed the botched putsch, Turkish-language CNN Turk television news network reported on Friday.

Karal was relieved from his post under the presidential decree No. 675 issued on October 29, 2016.

He was first arrested last month as part of police investigations into illegal gold mining in the mountainous and seaside Kemer district, situated 40 kilometers west of the southwest coastal city of Antalya. He was taken into custody along with three other suspects but was later released.

Turkish officials say over 240 people were killed and more than 2,100 others injured in the coup attempt.

Tens of thousands of people, including military personnel, judges and teachers, have been suspended, dismissed or detained as part of the post-coup crackdown.

According to a survey conducted by the official Anadolu news agency, a total of 40,832 suspects have been arrested since the mid-July botched putsch. A total of 2,279 administrative and judicial judges, 104 members of the Appeals Court, 41 members of the Council of State, two members of the Supreme Court, and three members of the Supreme Council of Judges and Prosecutors have been arrested as part of the ongoing investigations.

Additionally, 168 army generals, 7,596 Security Directorate police officers, 17 governors, 74 deputy governors, and 69 district governors under the Interior Ministry have been detained.

International rights groups argue that Ankara's crackdown has gone far beyond the so-called Gulenists and targeted Kurds as well as government critics in general.

On November 24, the European Parliament decided to temporarily halt accession negotiations with Turkey over the large-scale crackdown.

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Turkish Forces Kill 18 Daesh Militants, Destroy 14 Targets in Northern Syria

Sputnik News

13:55 14.01.2017

Turkish military killed 18 Daesh militants and destroyed 14 Daesh targets in the town, including eight shelters, two vehicles, two headquarters and two defense positions, according to media reports.

MOSCOW (Sputnik)  The Turkish military's airstrikes killed 18 militants from the Islamic State (ISIL or Daesh) jihadist group in the northern Syrian town of al-Bab, media reported Saturday.

As part of Operation Euphrates Shield, the Turkish military also destroyed 14 Daesh targets in the town, including eight shelters, two vehicles, two headquarters and two defense positions, Turkish Daily Sabah newspaper reported.

According to the newspaper, a total of 214 positions were shelled by the Turkish military in order to enable movement of the anti-terrorist forces. Turkey also neutralized a total of 2,922 improvised explosive devices.

On August 24, the Turkish army launched Operation Euphrates Shield against militants of the Daesh group, which is outlawed in Russia and many other countries. Turkish forces, with assistance from Syrian opposition fighters, occupied the city of Jarabulus in northern Syria and are currently conducting its offensive on al-Bab. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said that the aim of the operation is to clear the region from terrorists and make it a safety zone for refugees.

The operation has been widely criticized both by the Syrian Kurds and Damascus, who have accused Ankara of violating Syria's territorial integrity.

 Sputnik

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Obama Extends Sanctions On Russia Over Aggression In Ukraine By One Year

RFE/RL January 14, 2017

U.S. President Barack Obama on January 13 extended all U.S. sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Crimea and aggression in Ukraine by one year through March 2018.

The move appears designed to make it harder for U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to roll back the sanctions after Obama leaves office on January 20. Trump has said he wants to improve relations with Russia and would take a second look at the sanctions, although several of his chosen cabinet members said this week that they support the sanctions.

In extending the sanctions, which were due to expire in March 2017, Obama said the Russian government and other people and organizations targeted by the sanctions have "undermined democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine" by their "use of force in Ukraine" and thereby "threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."

Because of the threat to Ukraine, Obama said, Russia's actions "pose an unusual and extraordinary threat to the national security and foreign policy of the United States."

The European Union has parallel sanctions on Russia that are due to expire in July. Italy and other EU members have said they would push to end the sanctions, especially if Trump carries out a softening of U.S. policy towards Russia.

Source: http://www.rferl.org/a/us-president-obama- extends-sanctions-russia-agression-in-ukraine-one -year-march-2018/28232805.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.

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The first cyber security start-ups have been selected for a major GCHQ programme.

The GCHQ Cyber Accelerator is part of a world-class Government-funded cyber innovation centre that will help keep the UK secure online.

Seven cyber security start-ups have been selected to join the new GCHQ Cyber Accelerator, powered by Wayra UK, which officially launches today.

Companies joining the accelerator will now begin a three-month development programme, during which they will receive benefits to help them scale all aspects of their businesses, including mentoring, contact with an extensive investor network, office space within the new GCHQ Cyber Accelerator, and access to GCHQ's world-class personnel and technical expertise.

Minister of State for Digital and Culture Matt Hancock MP said: "I congratulate all the companies selected to join the new accelerator facility which is now open for business.

"This is an important step in delivering our National Cyber Security Strategy, and supported by 1.9bn transformative investment in cyber security.

"Based in Cheltenham, the accelerator will help UK entrepreneurs create cutting-edge technology to better protect the nation from cyber attacks and make going online safer for all."

The companies selected to join the programme include:
Step by Step is growing and needs more space. Starting in January, this peer-to-peer group for educating ourselves about ways to reduce our risk for cancer and live a healthy lifestyle will be changing location.

The group will meet on Tuesday, Jan. 31 at Danville Mall in front of Karens Hallmark at 9 a.m. for a walk and then at 10:30 a.m. move to Natures Essentials, across from the mall, at 413 Mt. Cross Road, to talk, learn and have a delicious, healthy snack.

The focus for January, February and March is Cleansing the Mind and Body. At the January session, Step by Step partner Gingy Blakely will share information about staying healthy in a world laden with toxicity, from the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the foods we eat full of unwanted chemicals that negatively affect us, she said.

Dianne Whittle, the groups founder and a coordinator at the Cancer Research and Resource Center of Southern Virginia will provide educational materials and lead the discussion.

Each month will focus on cleansing body and mind, Whittle said. There will be a variety of information regarding using natural food and liquid ingredients easily available in our area as well as how to reduce cancer risk and lower risk for other chronic illnesses.

People can come for the walk or just the nutritional program. Of course, we hope most will participate in both.

For more information, call the Cancer Research and Resource Center, an outreach arm of VCU Massey Cancer Center, at (434) 421-3060 or email dwhittle@vcu.edu. The center is funded by Massey and the Tobacco Region Revitalization Commission.
The local Southern Christian Leadership Conference held its annual banquet Saturday night, where local civil rights leaders spoke out on the current political climate.

The Rev. William Avon Keen, president of the groups Virginia state unit, responded to President-Elect Donald Trumps disparaging of civil rights icon and Georgia Rep. John Lewis.

Trump recently called Lewis all talk and no action on addressing problems in his Congressional district after Lewis said Trump was not a legitimate president.

Keen, speaking in defense of Lewis during the SCLCs Stop the Killing Banquet celebrating Martin Luther King Jr. at the Stratford Courtyard Conference Center, said one of the groups main objectives is to talk the talk on civil rights.

If you walk the walk, talk the talk, Keen told at least 400 attendees at the event. Thats one of our purposes.

The mission of the SCLC is to work toward justice for everyone in the United States, Keen said.

He pointed out that Lewis was beaten unconscious by police on the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama, in 1965 while marching for civil rights.

Everybody here ought to be upset at what Trump said about Lewis, Keen said.

Keen reminded attendees of the SCLCs fight for civil rights locally, crediting the organization for getting the Ground Round restaurant and Howard Johnson hotel shut down after they would not hire blacks for management positions.

The group also pushed Advance Auto Parts in Danville to hire Hispanic and black workers, Keen said. The SCLC is also responsible for our politicians being in the positions theyre in today on [Danville] City Council, Keen said.

Our purpose is not to apologize, Keen said. Its not to be afraid. Our purpose is for you to walk the walk and talk the talk.

The banquet  which was also partly an informal church service led by local ministers  included music performances from Genesis at Traynham Grove Baptist Church in Nathalie, a speech from guest speaker the Rev. George Bates (owner of a consulting firm, The Advice Doctor), presentation of awards and scholarships, and a scripture reading.

Willie Fitzgerald, president of the Pittsylvania County Chapter of the NAACP, pointed to state Sen. Bill Stanleys  who Fitzgerald did not name  push for welfare of cats and dogs in the state. While everyone cares about animals, they need to be more concerned about killing babies and workers in Pittsylvania County making only $7.25 an hour  the states minimum wage (the federal minimum).

Nineteen states raised their minimum wage, and were still at $7.25 an hour, Fitzgerald said.

The Pittsylvania County Jail was built for 36 inmates, but has 108, and there are underfunded schools and underpaid teachers in the county, Fitzgerald said. However, the county is spending millions to build a new animal shelter, he said.
The Virginia Tobacco Commission has awarded $811,000 to Pittsylvania County for its SOVA Vineyard Development and Expansion Program.

The program was developed to grow production of wine grapes in Southside Virginia, something identified as the No. 1 issue for the Virginia wine industry in the Beyond 2015 strategic plan. Wines marketed as Virginia Wines must contain at least 75 percent of grapes grown in Virginia.

The program will reimburse those approved for a third of their eligible expenses so that they can expand their vineyards, up to $3,000 per acre. There is a limit of $15,000 for up to nine acres of vineyards, and $20,000 for more than nine acres, according to a news release.

Virginia wine production grew at about 6.7 percent annually for the first part of the decade, but it slowed to 2 percent in 2015, blamed on the lack of Virginia grapes.

Existing vineyards are defined as ones that have at least three acres of producing grapevines being used by a farm winery. New vineyards must install at least 5 new acres of vineyard to be eligible for funding.

Eligible expenses, according to the application, are the capital costs for the vineyard installation including supplies and materials for grapevines, trellising system, irrigation system and deer fencing. In order to be eligible, vines must be purchased from a nursery with a national reputation that can certify the vines meet phytosanitary standards as used in the nurserys state of business.

The application deadline is Feb. 15. The applications will be reviewed by an evaluation team for the strength of the application and given consideration for geographic distribution. Applicants must also attend one of several educational opportunities.

Since the funding came from the tobacco commission, applicants must live in the Southside area of the tobacco region, which includes the cities of Danville, Emporia and Martinsville, and Amelia, Appomattox, Bedford, Brunswick, Buckingham, Campbell, Charlotte, Cumberland, Dinwiddie, Franklin, Greensville, Halifax, Henry, Lunenburg, Mecklenburg, Nottoway, Patrick, Pittsylvania, Prince Edward and Sussex counties.

Were gonna do what we call new grower primers provided by Virginia Tech viticulture specialists, said Ashley Nauta, Vineyards Project Coordinator for Virginia Cooperative Extensions Central District. Theres one scheduled for Feb. 23, which is tied into the Virginia Vineyard Association technical meeting in Charlottesville. Theres another at Hunting Creek Vineyard on March 9 in Halifax County.

The program is a joint effort between the county, Virginia Cooperative Extension, Virginia Tech, Virginia Vineyards Association and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research. The target date for award announcements is March 1.

For more information, call (434) 432-7770 or email aswolfe@vt.edu.
Does election technology need to be upgraded across America? What is the connection between old voting equipment and a lack of public trust in election results? What can be done to calm fears of hacking in future elections? What new technology is needed now?To explore these and other questions, I interviewed several industry experts, including Antonio Mugica, the founder and CEO of the Smartmatic Group and Howard Horn II, the President of Advanced Kiosks Recent headlines have focused on foreign hacking and fake news that may have influenced voters in 2016. While recounts in several states and other election security investigation activities have not uncovered any hacking of voter machines, numerous experts have called for election security changes in process and technology moving forward.A December 2016 study found that eight in 10 voters and nearly 90 percent of poll workers believe upgrades to the nations voting technology will strengthen and build trust in elections.The research results were released by Smartmatic Corporation , a leading voting technology company. The survey, which was conducted by Edelman Intelligence, also found that one in five Americans who voted in the presidential contest do not fully trust that the national election results were accurately tabulated; and one in three have concerns about the accuracy of the voting technology used at their polling place.Furthermore, as depicted in the chart below, one in three voters say that the voting technology they used was outdated.Although no one has proven that voting technology was compromised or that votes suffered any relevant alteration, the overall conversation about the election is that "it was hacked." Unfortunately, public opinion  misled by unreliable news sources  is confusing email servers and online registration portals with voting technology, thus casting a shadow of doubt on the voting and counting systems.According to a survey we conducted, one in five Americans dont fully trust that the national election results were accurately tabulated  a percentage of the population that should be unacceptable in the country that identifies itself with democracy first. Our survey was conducted during election week, but it might be safe to predict that this percentage has increased after the conversation about "the hacking of the elections" has continued.Taking these factors into consideration, there are a few key steps I believe are necessary to secure Americas election systems.First, the U.S. needs to upgrade its voting infrastructure. While the United States is one of the worlds leading democracies, its election systems are outdated  a problem studies continue to illustrate. Upgrades are required to ensure old systems are replaced with more secure and transparent technology.Second, the Elections Assistance Commission must set and firmly enforce updated security and transparency standards across all states to safeguard election data.Third, states must take steps to perform audits before and after elections, monitoring for issues that may require action so that they can respond quicker, as well as demonstrating election integrity to restore public trust.Finally, as voting technology evolves to include more digital systems, we must produce electronicpaper-based audit trails as a means to continue building trust.The United States must first find the political will to begin a national debate on the need to modernize its elections. Garnering this political will is an obstacle, not only here in the United States but in almost every other country we have helped improve elections.Once this challenge is circumvented, then local governments have to deal with the costs of acquiring new technology. The upfront investment needed to upgrade the voting infrastructure usually presents an economic burden to most local governments. However, once the investment is made, the individual costs of each election are reduced. In 2000, after the Florida "hanging chad" episode, the country faced a similar situation. With the help of federal funding, states were able to update the infrastructure that is today nearing the end of its life cycle.Another challenge lies in re-engaging the public. The United States, a beacon of democracy, cannot tolerate the relatively low participation it has had in recent decades. It is imperative to build trust in the political process itself, educate citizens on the technologies and work required to improve the voting infrastructure, and drive action that will better secure the future of Americas democracy. Somewhat encouraging for local governments, our research indicates 69 percent of voters and 82 percent of poll workers would support initiatives to advocate for or fund improvements to voting technology.Given the increased threats to the security of U.S. democracy, its more important than ever to ensure that votes are protected from malicious outsider attacks and inherent human error. Vote protection can be provided by end-to-end encryption, and the integrity of the digital ballot box can be irrefutably demonstrated through the use of immutable public ledger technology such as blockchain.I believe it is only a matter of time before blockchain-like technologies gain more widespread use within the U.S. voting system as a way of proving that the security measures put in place to protect the votes have operated effectively and to unequivocally demonstrate that vote manipulation has not taken place. In fact, blockchain technology has already been successfully deployed by Smartmatic in the online voting solution we provided for the Utah Republican Party.As we think about these election issues, it is also important to recognize that similar technology is also used in a wide range of other government services. In that regard, I interviewed the leader of a company that offers a wide range of government kiosk services around the country.All kiosks need to be secure. The investment in self-service technology by the government or any organization is substantial, and the equipment has to be reliable and secure. The unique problem of a kiosk when voting is that the person has to be verified while the result has to be anonymous so that no persons voting record is being recorded. The process of paper that we have used for years had checks and balances from elections officials, comprised of the judge of the election, inspectors, clerks and party overseers. This process is what keeps the data secure and needs to be the case when using interactive kiosks for voting.Keeping up with technology and practices is vital. Larger companies tend to have technical managers who help develop standards with one of the Web standard organizations: ICANN, WC3 or The Web Standards Project. These organizations help define best practices that create updated standards for Web security.Many of the government projects we get involved with have separate hardware and software requirements that dictate how the project is to be done. Many times, if we were brought into the process earlier and had the ability to work with the different stakeholders, we could not only help design a more secure system but also save the organization money.To use blockchain is a design decision which needs to be evaluated together with other design decisions and taken into account with the whole system. Blockchain would ensure election results at a polling location are fair and accurate. The process has to ensure the checks and balances are there to secure the process to show the American voters that their votes are secure and the results are accurate.Furthermore, Marshall Nye, from our Advanced Kiosks Dev Ops team, said this: I think blockchain tech could be used to great effect, assuming that issues with the systems (kiosk, voting machine, etc.) inputting data to the blockchain are addressed. Unless we ensure that the data entry points are secure, then the fundamental value of blockchain systems is reduced. A database is only as good as the data fed into it, and the kiosk and person using the kiosks are by orders of magnitude easier to manipulate than blockchain. That being said, I can see how blockchain would increase the speed and accuracy of self-service and data-entry (though in a voting system, how one could reconcile the inherent anonymity of votes while ensuring 1 vote per person might prove challenging). Whether or not current government systems can integrate with the blockchain is an additional hurdle. I wouldnt be surprised that some of the larger government organizations would have trouble innovating at a quick pace depending on the resources available to them. Id be hard pressed to believe they could move to a new database system by 2018Any list of actions required to improve election technology must also address governance issues and disagreements between local, state and federal leaders. An article published last week by govtech.com pointed out that new election cyberprotections are causing confusion and concern Heres an excerpt of the quote from the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS), "While we recognize the need to share information on threats and risk mitigation in our elections at all levels of government, as we did throughout the 2016 cycle, it is unclear why a critical infrastructure classification is now necessary for this purpose."Since states have the authority and budgets to run elections, expect quite a bit of finger-pointing and budget battles over election technology in the coming years. Nevertheless, it is clear to me that election technology upgrades are needed and coming.While I expect to see quite a bit of jostling for position, get ready for a grand coalition of different stakeholders to come together to address our many voting challenges.If we can build robots with artificial intelligence, and if we can build cars that will drive autonomously, and if we can see distant galaxies with new high-powered telescopes. ...Can we hold a trustworthy election that cant be hacked in 2020?We shall find out soon enough.
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Two years after states around the country passed an unprecedented number of police reforms after the killing of George Floyd, some are struggling to make the new policies stick. The momentum for change has slowed from its earlier frenetic pace. Some of the reforms have been rolled back or at least tweaked after police complained that the new policies were hindering their ability to catch criminals. Legal experts say police killings of Black people over the last decade  epitomized by Floyds killing  have altered the trajectory of policing. But change has come about unevenly in thousands of police departments across the U.S.
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A plan by the new congressional Republican majority to defund Planned Parenthood could leave 30,000 Connecticut patients  mostly young women  without access to birth control pills, cancer screenings and other health care.

Its unlikely other providers can take care of such large numbers of patients, said Judy Tabar, CEO of Planned Parenthood for Southern New England. What (Republicans) are talking about is denying access to Planned Parenthood so women could not go to the provider of their choice.

The Republican plan, led by House Speaker Paul Ryan, would prohibit Medicaid from reimbursing Planned Parenthood for health care services it now provides, including prevention measures, testing for sexual diseases, yearly physicals and routine treatment for colds and ear infections.

Tabar said Planned Parenthood in Connecticut serves 60,000 patients a year, and about half of them receive insurance through Medicare. That means 30,000 patients, who do not have private health care and are unlikely to obtain it due to low incomes would be forced to find another health provider who accepts Medicaid.

The problem, Tabar explained, is that on average about 25 percent of physicians do not accept Medicaid patients, and in many parts of the state there are not enough doctors or clinics to handle a flood of additional patients.

Its unlikely other providers could see those patients, Tabar said. There are not enough health professionals in particular areas, so they come to us. We are the only provider they will see each year.

More Information Plan to "defund" Planned Parenthood The congressional Republican majority intends to prohibit Medicaid from reimbursing Planned Parenthood for health care services Connecticut Planned Parenthood 60,000 patients Insurance through Medicaid30,000 patients National Annual reimbursement payments from Medicaid and other public programs$533M* About two-thirds of Planned Parenthood patients nationally rely on programs such as Medicaid for their health care. Source: xxxx xxxx xxx xxx xxx | *40% of its $1.3B in revenue The plan to "defund" Planned Parenthood The Congressional Republican majority intends to prohibit Medicaid from reimbursing Planned Parenthood for health care services Planned Parenthood has 60,000 patients in Connecticut Of those patients, about 30,000 receive insurance through Medicaid Nationally, Planned Parenthood receives $533 million annually in reimbursement payments from Medicaid and other public programs, or about 40 percent of its $1.3 billion in revenue. About two-thirds of Planned Parenthood patients nationally rely on programs such as Medicaid for their health care. See More Collapse

In a written statement, the state Department of Social Services also said there are not enough providers who accept Medicaid to handle the Planned Parenthood patients.

Connecticut Medicaid has some alternate capacity in terms of enrolled providers, but nowhere near the level to serve the number of women who need these vital health services and are currently able to receive them from Planned Parenthood, the DSS said.

The DSS added the Republican plan would have unconscionable effects on the health care of women in the state.

If Congress bars Planned Parenthood from participating in Medicaid, there would be immediate negative effects on womens health in Connecticut and nationally, the DSS said. This would be unconscionable.

The potential loss of disease screening and early detection alone should be enough to stop the misguided notion of defunding Planned Parenthood  absolutely critical services like women wellness exams, breast and cervical cancer screening and treatment of cervical and urinary tract infections need to continue, the DSS said.

Long-held priority

The states Democratic congressional delegation opposes the Republican majoritys plan, along with GOP intentions to repeal Obamacare, which provides health insurance for low- to moderate-income people. But they are in the minority, and Republican President-elect Donald Trump has not indicated he would stand in the way of his partys intentions.

The continued attack against Planned Parenthood defies logic, Gov. Dannel P. Malloy said. Planned Parenthood provides hundreds of thousands of women with access to life-saving cancer screenings annually  saving lives in the process. Those who seek to defund them should be ashamed.

For Republicans, defunding Planned Parenthood has been a priority for years, mostly due to long-standing opposition to abortion, and the effort gained steam during the Obama presidency. For some, the goal is outright destruction of the nonprofit Planned Parenthood organization, which is a leading abortion provider.

The Planned Parenthood legislation would be in our (repeal) bill, Ryan told The Associated Press earlier this month, referring to the GOP intention to repeal Obamacare.

Planned Parenthood receives $533 million annually in reimbursement payments from Medicaid and other public programs, or about 40 percent of its $1.3 billion in revenue. About two-thirds of Planned Parenthoods patients rely on public programs such as Medicaid for their health care.

The remainder of Planned Parenthoods funding comes from a variety of sources, including contributions, private insurance payments, endowments and fees for educational programs, annual reports show.

Years ago, federal lawmakers prohibited the use of taxpayer funds to pay for abortions, except in rare cases when the womans life is in danger.

The state DSS noted that the plan to defund Planned Parenthood is aimed at those with low incomes.

No one should gloss over the fact that when were talking about Medicaid, by definition were talking about women with very low incomes, the DSS said. The health of all women should be protected, but the possibility of hurting the health of women without financial resources and alternatives is especially unacceptable.

The DSS added, women rely upon Planned Parenthood for their annual flu shots and other vaccines, mammograms, smoking cessation groups and treatment to name but a few of the vitally important services that will be much harder for women to find.

Tabar said Planned Parenthood will withstand the latest attempt to cripple its services.

We will never stop fighting to preserve access to services for our patients, she said. We have been here 100 years and will be here another 100. We are committed to keeping the doors open. There has been an outpouring of support.

Planned Parenthood plans to hold a rally Wednesday at the Capitol in Hartford to draw attention to the defunding plan. The CT Coalition for Choice says a visibility event will be held at the Legislative Office Building from noon to 4:30 p.m., followed by a rally and march to the Capitol.

We need your voices in Hartford to loudly demonstrate to our state lawmakers that we will not stand for any restrictions to reproductive health, rights and access in our state, organizers said in a Facebook post. We have the power to stop the attacks.
Week 2 in review: Nokia is back and the rumor mill is on fire

We knew it was coming and it has finally happened - Nokia is back in the smartphone game. The new Nokia 6 marks the glorious return and the industry is still quite busy poking around for more info on the new ambassador of the legendary Finnish brand.

To thicken the plot even further, HMD Global, which holds the rights to the name, has also promised a slew of other announcements on February 26. So mark the date and start counting down, as some info has also surfaced on a potential Nokia 8 flagship model. In the meantime, after some uncertainty, we are also happy to report that the Nokia 6 will be leaving China after all.

Although the spotlight was naturally usurped by Nokia, many other rumors also graced the first week of 2017, giving us a lot to look forward to.

Samsung might be gearing up for a whole new device family this year and the refreshed Moto G line should be coming shortly. LG is likely busy working on the G6 and it should come as no surprise that Xiaomi already has a Redmi or two in the works.

HTC started 2017 with a couple of hot announcements - the U Ultra and U Play devices. A new Vive handset should be coming shortly as well.

Huawei also has a new phone to kick off the year - unfortunately one with a seriously confusing name. And, as expected, the mystery surrounding the future iPhones and the Samsung Galaxy S8 keeps constantly unraveling bit by bit as well.



Android-powered Nokia 6 marks the brands return to smartphones Nokia 6 comes with Android 7.0 Nougat and an unibody carved from a solid block of 6000 series aluminum.





Nokia 6 hands-on shows that sweet metal body in full glory A bunch of live photos let us take a better look of the new smartphone.





Alleged Nokia 8 leaks - the company's 2017 flagship The device will allegedly come with a stunning camera and a Snapdrgon 835 CPU.





Moto G5 Plus hands-on images and specs leak, it looks just like the rumored Moto X (2017) So the handset that was said to launch either as the Moto X (2017) or Moto C is in fact the G5 Plus.





Nokia promises multiple announcements for February 26 Nokia (well, HMD) is coming to the MWC again, nostalgia and hope swell.





New Xiaomi phone leaks in live images The device is said to be the Redmi Note 4X. However, the design revealed by these images is different from what we saw at TENAA late last month.





Samsung Galaxy X1 and Galaxy X1 Plus leak The leak came in the form of a Weibo post that also revealed model numbers for these devices - SM-X9000 and SM-X9050.





Nokia 6 will become available on January 19 The recently announced mid-range smartphone will be exclusive to China, at least at first.





iPhone 8 to have stainless steel frame for its glass sandwich design Apple will thus abandon the aluminum alloys it's been using for its smartphones in the past few years.





New HTC Vive smartphone leaked in video The device is going to be resonating with your personality, self-expression and lifestyle, the video says.





Sony's 2018 flagship Xperia smartphone might have an OLED display The Japanese company is reportedly looking to finally adopt the technology for its top of the line offerings.





Nokia 6 might go global after all TA-1003 variant of the handset appears in Bluetooth certification and it may be the global unit.





Reports: No home button on Galaxy S8/S8 Plus; only Plus variant to sport dual-camera setup It's being said that even a prototype model of the Galaxy S8 has been developed, and sent to the tech giant's CEO and Vice Chairman.





Huawei P10 and P10 Plus to release in March or April This was revealed by the company's Chairman and CEO of the consumer division Yu Chengdong.





Motorola Moto G5 Plus leaks in a press image This comes less than a week after the device's hands-on images and specs leaked.





Yahoo is now 'Altaba', CEO Marissa Mayer stepping down This was revealed in a filing by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).





HTC U Play debuts with 5.2" 1080p screen HTC U Play comes with new AI assistant and Helio P10 but lacks 3.5 mm audio jack.





LG to release G6 one month before the Samsung Galaxy S8 Both devices are expected at MWC but LG Electronics will start selling their flagship on March 10.


Weekly poll: If the Nokia 6 goes global, will you get one?

Nokia is back and yet it remains out of reach - JD.com is taking pre-orders for the Nokia 6, but only in China. Still, more than 400,000 people have registered interest, whether its nostalgia or something else, the 6 looks like a bestseller.

If the Nokia 6 goes international, would you join these hundreds of thousands of people? If you answered yes, you must not have looked closely at the chipset - Snapdragon 430 is slow in every aspect (a shame to waste 4GB of RAM and a 16MP camera on it).

There are another 5-6 other Nokia phones incoming this year, perhaps it's best to wait?

Because the 16MP camera is not what the voters in a previous weekly poll wanted either. So, wheres the PureView magic? Way back in 2013 the mid-range Nokia Lumia 720 boasted a brighter aperture (f/1.9) for its Carl Zeiss-branded lens. More recently, the Lumia 640 XL had Zeiss lens too, a 100 or so phone. Even if its just a brand name people had expectations.

Yes, admittedly much of this is driven by nostalgia. Before you point it out, we do know this is HMD Global, but this is as close to True Nokia as well get - its led by many ex-Nokians and the headquarters are literally down the street from Nokia HQ. Still, those ex-Nokians were there when things started to go south... perhaps it's time to step off the hype train?




Haiti - Tourism : Inaugural flight of the Bahamas Air





Saturday morning at 9:00 am, the first plane of the Bahamas Air landed in Haiti at the Toussaint Louvertue International Airport https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19754-haiti-flash-new-air-links-with-the-bahamas-and-cuba.html



"It is with great pleasure that we welcome this new connection between Haiti and the Bahamas, an initiative that will, among other things, be an opportunity for us to strengthen the ties between our two countries, but also to ensure better cultural exchanges," declared Guy Didier Hyppolite, the Minister of Tourism come to welcome t the inaugural flight between the Bahamas and Haiti.



"Bahamas Air" now serves Haiti every Wednesday and Saturday



Departure from Nassau at 6:00 a.m. arrived in Port-au-Prince at 8:00 a.m.

Departure from Port-au-Prince at 9:00 am a.m. arrived in Nassau 11:00 a.m.



You can book your ticket now on : www.bahamasair.com/



Subsequently, the delegation of Air Bahamas, accompanied by Pierre Chauvet of the Citadelle Agency, visited the Museum of the Haitian National Pantheon (MUPANAH) to discover the History of Haiti. This visit is part of a prospecting tour of tourist sites in Haiti.



See also :

https://www.haitilibre.com/en/news-19754-haiti-flash-new-air-links-with-the-bahamas-and-cuba.html



HL/ HaitiLibre


















More than 10 years since their last solo release, Bethel Music's Brian & Jenn Johnson will debut their highly anticipated album After All These Years on January 27, capturing the wonder, conviction, and tenderness of heart behind the story of who they've become and who they've remained over the past season. Cowriting every song on the album together, After All These Years varies stylistically from previous projects, as each track is marked by a distinct and bright 80-piece symphony orchestra paired with timeless lyrics and instrumentation.

Songwriting, leading worship and overseeing Bethel Church's Worship Department for over 15 years, the album marks the duo's third solo release to-date, following in the footsteps of live-worship albums Undone (2001) and We Believe (2006). After All These Years carries a message that the unseen history we build with God is the greatest treasure that sustains our lives personally, from generation to generation. Stirring great hope for worshippers, the album reminds us to cherish our own history with God and to empower us to build a legacy that will last.

"We wrote this album because of seasons that God has proved His faithfulness in," share the Johnsons. "This project is the overflow and expression of that. We hope it inspires you to go after all that God is asking you to do. We've watched our parents and grandparents do this, and they have handed down a model that has influenced how we live and how we are dreaming into the future. Community, family, and carrying His name - that is the kingdom - and that is for every believer."

Over the last 10 years, the couple has continued their active involvement in songwriting and worship leadership through Bethel Music. Penning anthems "One Thing Remains (Your Love Never Fails)," "Forever (We Sing Hallelujah)," "No Longer Slaves" and "Love Came Down," many of Brian's songs have ranked in the CCLI Top 100 chart. A veteran songwriter herself, Jenn's hit songs "God I Look to You," "Come to Me," "Chasing You," "For the Cross" and "In Over My Head" are sung worldwide.

After All These Years Tracklisting

1. Mention of Your Name

2. Only Jesus

3. Gravity

4. I Won't Forget

5. Mercy and Majesty

6. Here I Bow

7. Greater Than All Other Names

8. After All These Years

9. You're Gonna Be Ok

10. For the One



About Brian & Jenn Johnson

Brian & Jenn Johnson are co-founders of Bethel Music, WorshipU, and have been integral in the production of more than 15 albums that have influenced the culture of worship across the global church. They are committed to raising healthy family, cultivating community, and fostering unity among worship leaders from around the world. Brian & Jenn's newest solo album, After All These Years will release in January 2017. Brian facilitates an atmosphere of faith in worship and has written anthems such as "Have it All", "We Will Not Be Shaken" and "One Thing Remains," which was awarded No. 1 song for ASCAP Christian Music and No. 1 Radio Single in 2013. Known for her powerful vocals and unique prophetic sound, Jenn has authored songs such as, "In Over My Head", "Come To Me", "God I Look to You" and "O Taste and See." Together they are passionate about raising up worshippers who take hold of their true identity and pursue intimacy with God above all else. Brian and Jenn reside in Redding, California, with their three wonderful children.

Get Connected With Brian Johnson

Website // www.bethelmusic.com/artists/brian-johnson

Facebook // www.facebook.com/brianjohnsonm

Twitter // www.twitter.com/brianjohnsonM

Instagram // www.instagram.com/brianjohnsonm

Get Connected With Jenn Johnson

Website // www.bethelmusic.com/artists/jenn-johnson

Facebook // www.facebook.com/jenn.johnson.bethel

Twitter // www.twitter.com/jennjohnson20

Instagram // www.instagram.com/jennjohnson20

Tags : bethel music brian and jenn johnson after all these years brian and jenn johnson new album
Published on 2017/01/14

Idols stars sign up to promote K-culture for a new online class, Kim Yuna's ice skates deemed a cultural assist ahead of the Winter Games, Comic Con is coming to Seoul in August, and why are more South Koreans choosing to drink alone?

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"S. Korean idol stars to join upcoming online class on Korean culture"

South Korea pulls out all the stops to promote its culture to the world, and technology is a particularly vital important aspect of that push. Now, according to this report on the Korea Times US, many South Korean idol stars will be appearing on a new online class designed to give foreigners a deeper understanding of Korea culture. Would you signup for an online class if you knew you'd be introduced to K-culture by some of your favourite stars?

...READ ON THE KOREA TIMES US

"Yuna Kim's Ice Skates Become 'Cultural Asset'"

South Korea never misses an opportunity to recognise, protect and promote its cultural: figure skater Kim Yuna has had a pair of her ice skates officially recognized by the Cultural Heritage (CHA) as a "cultural asset" ahead of the Winter Games that are set to take place in Pyeongchang in 2017. "Although the pair was made by foreign manufacturers", said a CHA representative, "it has distinctive value, having been worn by Korea's first gold medalist in figure skating at the Olympic Games".

...READ ON THE KOREA BIZWIRE

"'Honsul', the art of savoring the tipsy self"

There is a growing percentage of South Koreans who are choosing to remain single, that's despite the socio-cultural pressures to the contrary. One area where this shift has become visible is through the increased number of young people who are drinking alone at bars and clubs, a local phenomenon is known as "honsul". Young people are starting to feel more comfortable being single in a culture that places a high value on couples and relationships. According to Eric Klinenberg from New York University, "The biggest benefit of living alone is finding the time and space to reclaim solitude".

...READ ON THE JAKARTA POST

"Comic Con Seoul"

Comic book geeks unite: South Korea is getting its own Comic Con chapter in Seoul! In addition to the popular comic conventions in city's like New York, Chicago and Vienna, Seoul will now be getting its own convention that will open its doors in August. "ReedPOP will expand its global presence in the pop culture industry by bringing its highly-reputed brand, Comic Con, to Seoul in 2017". Video games, comics, webtoons and geek culture, in general, are very popular in South Korea, so expect big crowds later this year and plan accordingly!

...READ ON COMIC CON
Published on 2017/01/14

Playboy will get its own Korean edition in June, the Korea Times puts the works of Ryu Kyung-chai in the spotlight, check out a photoblog from a new food tour, and stay up to date with the rise of modern Korean art through the country's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art.

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"PHOTOBLOG: KIMCHI AND COLOUR IN SOUTH KOREA"

Intrepid Travel sent Ben Groundwater, a journalist, and Ben McNamara, a photographer, on a new food tour, "South Korea Real Food Adventure", to capture the experiences visitors can expect to enjoy on their culinary travels in Korea. If you like what you see in this photoblog, be sure to click on through to their website and book your own South Korea food adventure with them. The country's cuisine, from its world-class restaurants to its delicious street foods, was cited last year by a Korean tourism organisation as the number one reason foreigners choose to visit Korea-will you be one of them this year?

...READ ON THE JOURNAL

"Forgotten pioneer of abstract art Ryu Kyung-chai rediscovered"

The Korea Times shines a spotlight on the works of Ryu Kying-chai (1920-1995) and his contribution to Korea's abstract art scene. The piece notes that there is a tendency to neglect Ryu's contribution in favour of some of his peers (e.g. Kim Whan-ji and Yoo Young-kuk), but his work is becoming increasingly recognised in light of the recent rise of modern Korean art. "With little interest in following dominant styles or in attracting public attention", said Kim Hee-young, a professor at Kookmin University, "Ryu made an effort to embody his life experiences as painter, teacher and administrator".

...READ ON THE KOREA TIMES

"Korean edition of Playboy to be launched in June"

The popular men's magazine "Playboy" will see its first Korean version this June. According to the Korea Herald, "[t]he Korean edition will cover a wide range of topics including celebrities, social and political issues as well as lifestyle". Kim Young-chull, CEO of Kaya Media, added that they are "excited to show the excellent content of Playboy magazine and introduce attractive and thought-provoking content". Who do you think will feature on the cover of the magazine's first edition? Is the magazine's arrival in Korea a good thing? Let us know in the comment section below...

...READ ON THE KOREA HERALD

"National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art"

Korea's National Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art (MMCA) was founded in 1968 and rightfully prides itself as "a representative institution of Korean modern art". Here you can discover more about modern South Korea art, browse the organisation's research and collections, as well as take note of the many exhibitions being held across its branches in Seoul, Gwacheon, Deoksugung and Cheonju. Get cultured, get artsy: K-art is rising...

...READ ON MMCA
Published on 2017/01/14

Explore some of the wintery wonders around Pyeongchang, find out if studying in South Korea is for you, 10 Magazine visits the historic city of Namwom, and how friendly is Seoul to book lovers?

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"Wintry beauty of eastern Korea"

May Chen, writing for the Strait Times, visits the South Korean city of Pyeongchang and its surrounding attractions in Gangwon province ahead of the Winter Games in 2018. Next year, thousands of visitors will flock to the Land of the Morning Calm to catch the world's best athletes compete for gold, but May reveals that there is much more to be enjoyed in Pyeongchang, indeed the country at large, than most imagine: "There is more to South Korea than K-pop, K-drama, the bustling streets of Myeongdong in Seoul and the lush scenery of Jeju".

...READ ON THE STRAITS TIMES

"10 REASONS TO STUDY ABROAD IN SOUTH KOREA"

Are you a student who wants to study abroad? Have you considered South Korea? "South Korea is a unique and exciting country", writes Jennifer Euesden for 10 Magazine, "yet it remains one of the less popular destinations for students going on exchange". From its top universities to its rich and thriving culture, South Korea could just be the kind of world-class study destination you've been searching for. Go find out...

...READ ON 10 MAGAZINE

"Seoul for Book Lovers"

The popularity of Han Kang's award-winning novel "Vegetarian" has helped to place Korea on the literary map, but besides this novel gem, is South Korea the kind of place book lovers enjoy? Will foreigners be able to find books in English and other languages, or is everything in Korea? How are their bookstores? In this post on KBS World Radio you'll have these and other questions answered. "Seoul's colder seasons is a perfect time to cozy up to a good book indoors and for book lovers, there's no shortage of places to visit..."

...READ ON KBS WORLD RADIO

"TAKE IT SLOW AND RELAX IN THE HISTORIC CITY OF NAMWON"

Upon arriving in Korea, visitors will no doubt be impressed with the country's technological endowment-things are new, shiny, modern and connected in ways that's bound to impressive any and all visitors. "Eleven years into the new millennium and 60 after the start of the Korean War", writes Matthew Crawford, "the old Korea is becoming an elusive creature here in the South". There are, of course, plenty of stunning opportunities to experience the quieter, more traditional side of Korea-but as Matthew suggests, you do have to know where to look...

...READ ON 10 MAGAZINE
By William Schwartz | Published on 2017/01/14

When we're first introduced to Dae-gyoo (played by Im Chang-jung), the man is rather...uncouth. As in, Dae-gyoo is telling a woman about how the person he hates more than anyone else in the world is his father, as implicit justification for his handing over a small sum of money to be used for, well, presumably some sort of procedure that would prevent Dae-gyoo from becoming a father. Then he meets In-kwon (played by Lee In-sung), a generally obnoxious child who soon proves to be Dae-gyoo's nemesis as they travel Jeolla province, somewhat inconveniently, without a car.

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Yes, "Cracked Eggs and Noodlss" is of that common genre favorite- the road movie. But Dae-gyoo and In-kwon do not actually travel rural Jeolla so much as they do each other's hearts. Which ends up taking awhile. Considering how In-kwon has to resort to repeated public shaming just to prevent Dae-gyoo from abandoning him, well, it's little surprise that their relationship is a work in progress. For quite some time it's gratifying just to watch Dae-gyoo fail repeatedly one way or another.

Then something magical happens. We slowly start to root for Dae-gyoo because he starts being less about minimum obligation and more about just doing a good job for the sake of doing a good job. Consider how Dae-gyoo's makes money through record sales of dubious reputation. Dae-gyoo got interested in this field through an initial interest in music. This is not something we would guess from Dae-gyoo's generally juvenile behavior.

"Cracked Eggs and Noodles" explores parenthood by just posing this as a hypothetical. What if you could not run away from people, or just exchange them for less needy versions, because they won't go away? That's what defines Dae-gyoo's relationship with In-kwon. In many ways In-kwon is a mirror of Dae-gyoo, exposing Dae-gyoo's general frustration and helplessness at the whims of higher powers. It is only through genuinely bonding that the inevitable tragedies of life become bearable.

...And yep, those inevitable tragedies are of the melodramatic variety. In all fairness "Cracked Eggs and Noodles" doesn't hit us over the head with this stuff right away. Dae-gyoo is given quite a bit of time to react to the bad news that sets off the movie's second half, and his ability to make the best of a bad situation is a lot of what fuels his redemption. Dae-gyoo decides to be a good person, not out of the promise of reward, but because that's the right thing to do.

There's something ennobling about watching the generally proud Dae-gyoo humble himself in desperation. It gives the character desperately needed humanity, which may have been better spent on cuter scenes, where In-kwon is cheerfully cooking a custom pot of ramen. Overall "Cracked Eggs and Noodles" is a pretty basic entry in the cheers and tears format of cinema. The comedy is more from situations than it is from real jokes. It has plenty of heart, though, which is what really matters when the subject matter centers around emotional bonding.

Review by William Schwartz

"Cracked Eggs and Noodles" is directed by the late Oh Sang-hoon and features Im Chang-jung, Lee In-sung, Lee Sang-hoon-II, Maeng Sang-hoon and Uhm Soo-jung.

Cracked Eggs and Noodles DVD
Published on 2017/01/15 | Source

People look at a statue in honor of sex slavery victims in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan on Sunday.

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Japan on Friday recalled its ambassador to Korea and the consul general in Busan in protest over a statue in honor of sex slavery victims that has been set up in front of the consulate. Tokyo also halted negotiations to extend a currency swap agreement.

The moves come as Korea is effectively rudderless while President Park Geun-hye faces impeachment over a massive influence-peddling and corruption scandal, which has resulted in her suspension and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-an being put nominally in charge.

The statue, which honors victims of Japan's World War II campaign to draft Korean sex slaves for the Imperial Army, was set up by activists in front of the Japanese Consulate General in the southern port city.

Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se summoned Ambassador Yasumasa Nagamine Nagamine to protest, but the Japanese government apparently has no intention of backing off.

Park reached a deal with Japan in 2015 in which Tokyo made a non-committal apology for the atrocity and paid indirect compensation to the victims, but many here felt that let Japan off the hook.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on a TV program on Sunday, "Japan has already paid 1 billion yen to fulfill its obligations. Therefore, Korea should show sincerity". Part of the deal was that a similar statue in front of the embassy in Seoul should be removed. "The 2015 deal should be implemented regardless of regime change", Abe added.

Meanwhile, China continues to step up diplomatic pressure to get Korea to halt the stationing of a U.S. Terminal High-Altitude Area Defense battery here.

The pressure tactics have included canceling the appearances of Korean entertainers on Chinese TV, tax probes of Lotte Group affiliates in China, canceling charter flights to Korea and delaying certification for Korean electric-car battery makers.

The developments will not only exacerbate Korea's economic slump but also weaken regional cooperation necessary to deal with North Korea's nuclear threat.

But neither old nor new leaders in Seoul can afford to give the impression of caving in to foreign pressure. The deployment of the THAAD battery is seen as vital in countering the North Korean missile threat, while any attempt to remove the statue would touch a raw nerve among the Korean public.

A government source said, "The government should have done more to win the support and understanding of the public as reneging on these polices now could lead to even bigger problems".
Published on 2017/01/15 | Source

Cruise ship passengers disembark at the port in Busan last week.

Some 1.95 million tourists arrived in Korea aboard cruise ships last year, the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries said on Sunday.

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Some 1.2 million passengers entered at Jeju, 570,000 at Busan and 170,000 at Incheon, aside from crew, who numbered 700,000.

The cruise tourists spent W2 trillion, or W1.02 million per person (US$1=W1,195). Some 52,000 40-seat buses were chartered to transport them.

Cruise ships started making port calls in Korea in 2005. The number of passengers reached 1.05 million in 2014, but declined to 880,000 in 2015 due to the outbreak of Middle East Respiratory Syndrome.
LIVE Razboi in Ucraina, ziua 254: Putin ordona evacuarea populatiei din Herson / Ucraina se teme ca pierde accesul la reteaua Starlink / Sute de mii de locuinte din Kiev nu au electricitate / Inca o zi cu pierderi foarte mari pentru rusi
A Renewed Era of Federal-Tribal Relations

News Release from White House, January 2, 2017

BY KAREN DIVER, SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT FOR NATIVE AMERICAN AFFAIRS IN THE WHITE HOUSE DOMESTIC POLICY COUNCIL

Today the White House is releasing a report outlining some of the successes of this Administration while working on behalf of Tribes.

The Obama Administration has made historic progress over the past eight years in improving the nation-to-nation relationship between the United States and federally recognized Tribes. Together, the Obama Administration and Tribal Nations have accomplished shared goals and achieved milestones that upheld self-governance and self-determination  the foundation for prosperous and resilient tribal nations.

Today, the White House is releasing a report outlining some of the successes of this Administration while working on behalf of Tribes. The report sets a baseline of progress for Tribal Nations to reference in their ongoing work with the federal government, and outlines the priorities that the White House Council on Native American Affairs (WHCNAA) will continue to work on based on Tribal leaders recommendations.

President Barack Obama being honored with a blanket ceremony and song during the 8th White House Tribal Nations Conference in Washington, D.C., September 29, 2016.

While the Administration and Tribes have partnered for historic achievements, there is still much more to do. President Obama signed Executive Order 13647 on June 26, 2013, establishing the WHCNAA, which represents a path to a more effective federal government for Indian Country, bringing together federal Departments and Agencies from across the Executive Branch to break down siloes and coordinate for more effective programs.

As demonstrated over the past eight years, when Tribal Nations and the federal government work together in a true spirit of nation-to-nation cooperation, momentous progress can be achieved.

Read the full report HERE.

* * * * *

Improving the Nation-to-Nation Relationship

Over the past eight years, the Administration has strengthened the nation-to-nation relationship by striving to uphold the federal governments treaty and trust responsibilities to Tribal nations. Longstanding, historic disputes with Tribes and American Indians and Alaska Natives were settled during the Obama Administration, facilitating the opportunity for Tribes and the federal government to move beyond the tension and cost of protracted litigation. Those settlements have infused billions of dollars into Indian Country, creating opportunities for economic development, social services, and Tribal government programs. In addition, hundreds of thousands of acres of Tribal homelands have been restored in trust for Tribes. Some additional highlights include:



Providing a Process for Reestablishing a Government-to-Government Relationship with Native Hawaiians.

DOI promulgated a final rule that provides an administrative mechanism for reestablishing a government-to-government relationship between the United States and the Native Hawaiian community. Native Hawaiians are the largest indigenous group in the United States that lacks a government-to-government relationship with the United States. (Because 'indigenous' does not equal 'tribal'. Hello?) The rule would leave it to the Native Hawaiian community to decide whether to form a government, and to determine whether to seek a government-to government relationship with the United States.

Improving Tribal and Native Hawaiian Involvement in the National Historic Preservation Program.

In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA), early in 2016 the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation (ACHP) launched an effort to improve the effectiveness of the national historic preservation program. The ACHP is developing a set of policy recommendations and achievable implementation strategies that can be implemented through legislative, executive, or administrative action. Since the NHPA provides Indian Tribes a critical opportunity to have a voice in federal decision making about projects that might affect Tribal sacred and historic places, the ACHP sought input from Tribal leaders and preservation staff as well as intertribal organizations about ways to improve Tribal involvement in the national historic preservation program. Their responses are included in the recommendations and will be formally submitted to the next Administration and the incoming Congress at the end of this year. They will also provide direction for the ACHPs Office of Native American Affairs.



Improving Tribal and Native Hawaiian consultation in federal project planning.

In response to the issuance of the Presidential Memorandum on Tribal Consultation and building on the Advisory Council Historic Preservations (ACHP) longstanding efforts, the ACHP issued an unprecedented amount of guidance on topics ranging from the integration of Section 106 and the U.N. Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples to the role of applicants in federal-Tribal consultation. The ACHP also published Recommendations for Improving Tribal-Federal Consultation.

Protection of Confidential Information.

The ACHP issued a Frequently Asked Questions guidance document on protecting sensitive information about historic properties under Section 304 of the National Historic Preservation Act. Federal agency officials, SHPOs, THPOs, Indian Tribes, Native Hawaiian organizations, and other stakeholders in the Section 106 process often ask ACHP staff how sensitive information about historic properties can be protected from public disclosure.



read  Full Report
It's been 125 years since Dracula was published. And it's still scary.

lifestyle
The former Pakistan PM, who survived an assassination attempt on Thursday, delivered an address from a Lahore hospital on Friday.
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Grand Prize Winner: Donna Rickey Blog Winners: A Song for her Enemies by Sherri Stewart: Mary Ann Hake Spies & Sweethearts by Linda Shenton Matchett: Connie Ruggles Sword of Trust by DebbieLynn Costello: Brenda Walters Justice for Julia by Donna Schlachter: Natalya Lakhno Party Prize winners: Sherri Stewarts Winners A Song for her Enemies: Angie Pool Bottle of Dutch Syrup: Carol Koch Alscheff Corrie ten Boom book: Deb Gramie Burgess Linda Shenton Matchetts winners: $5.00 gift card to online retailer or choice (Kobo, B&N, AppleBooks, Amazon): Karen Hadley A Bride for Seamus: Carol Osterhouse Wotring DebbieLynn Costellos winners: Sword of the Matchmaker: Melissa Planas Sword of Forgiveness: Paty Hinojosa Gomez Shattered Memories: Charlene Zall Capodice Sword of the Perfect Bride: Licha Haney Donna Schlachters winner: Leather Journal: Lisa Turley

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HICKORY  A crocheting group formed with the mission of helping those in need is beginning its fifth year of work.

Catawba Crafters was started in January 2013 by Jo Boone and a friend.

Boone and her mother began crocheting for those in need decades earlier, when they both worked at Broughton Hospital in Morganton.

When Boone and her mother saw some of the patients at the hospital had nowhere to go when they were discharged, she and her mother began crocheting hats for the discharged patients, Boone said.

After Boones mother had a stroke and eventually developed Alzheimers disease, Boone said she got together with a friend to form a crocheting group to continue the effort.

Last year, the group produced more than 1,500 knitted items for people in need, including the homeless and people in nursing homes, Boone said.

The group donates the items to charitable groups like the Open Door Homeless Ministry and the Newton soup kitchen.

Over the years, there has been an increase in the demand the group has seen, Boone said.

In addition to hats, the group crochets wheelchair shawls, Afghans and an item called a fiddle muff.

The fiddle muff is crocheted item that is open at both ends. It can be used by people with Alzheimers disease or autism to help deal with fidgeting.

Pretty much anything that we find somebody needs that can be crocheted, were going to figure out how to do it, Boone said.

The group also will "adopt" a family in need each year around Christmas and helps meet the needs of that family, Boone said.

Beyond just helping those in the need, the group also has created strong bonds between its members.

I love it. It makes me feel good because were helping other people and were kind of like a therapy group, Boone said.

Boone said the group has been there for her throughout her personal struggles, such as dealing with her mother's illness, and the illness of her husband, who was diagnosed with pulmonary fibrosis.

Elizabeth Wooten, another group member, said the group helped provide a support system for her when her husband was overseas for military service.

Catawba Crafters meets twice a week: Mondays at 6 p.m. in the Southwest Library and Fridays at noon at the community table in the Mountain View Lowes Foods.

To become a member, one need only to show up, Boone said.
Samajwadi Partys internal wrangling over its symbol-- the bicyclehas fuelled speculation about what could be the possible logo of the factions led by Mulayam Singh and his son Akhilesh in the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.

They could be looking at an array of free symbols such as mortar and pestle, wool and needles, or dumbbells, which are up for grabs, to make their pick.

The Election Commission is expected to give a verdict on Monday on whom among the father and son duo will get to ride on the bicycle in the February-March elections.

In the event of a spilt in the SP and the EC not being able to take a call on who has the legislative majority needed to wrest the symbol, the bicycle could be frozen and both sides be asked to pick a new name and symbol in the interim.

Some claim that Akhilesh-loyalist Ram Gopal Yadav has asked the poll panel to allocate them motorcycle. Mulayam Singh Yadav had also made a reference to it as a possible symbol for his faction at a recent media interaction.

But the ECs list of free symbols does not have the option of a motorcycle and so it is unlikely that any of the factions would get it. It does, however, have a bicycle pump, which comes closest to the existing symbol.

Alternately, the factions could tie up with other political outfits to borrow their existing symbols. They will then have to inform the EC about the decision.

Read | Akhilesh Yadav needs SP cycle to change the poll narrative in UP

For instance, Mulayam could take up the Lok Dal offer of using its symbol of a farmer ploughing the fields.

ECs records show Lok Dal as a registered, unrecognised party that was formed by socialist leader Charan Singh in 1980 and mention Mulayam as its founder member.

According to the EC rules, all parties have to make their pick from the list of free symbols, unless they are a registered, recognised national or state party.

The EC has a list of symbols, which are reserved for recognised national and state parties. For instance lotus for the BJP and flowers and grass for the TMC across the country.

It also has a list of registered unrecognised parties and the list of free symbols approved for each state. No candidate can choose a symbol outside the list.

If parties that are recognised as a state party in one state choose to contest polls in other states, they will be allowed to use their allocated symbol only if no other party has precedence over them in symbol allotment.

For example, if Shiv Sena that has the symbol of bow and arrow in Maharastra chooses to contest in Bihar, it cannot use the symbol, as it is already registered with the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha there.

Parties rely on symbols to reach out to electorates who are unfamiliar with the names of candidates in the fray. Voting machines, too, carry symbols along with candidates names and photographs.

Full coverage of the Yadav family feud

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Claiming that there was a secret seat-sharing arrangement between AAP and Congress, SAD asked them to forge a pre-poll alliance for Assembly polls instead of nurturing the unholy nexus.

In a statement, Union minister and SAD leader Harsimrat Kaur Badal said the secret arrangement between Arvind Kejriwal and Punjab Congress chief Captain Amarinder Singh and his high command in Delhi has already been exposed.

She said the open rebellion by the Congress cadre in the state has exposed their plans of fielding weak candidates against each other.

She said Congress had fielded weak candidates against AAP and the new-entrant in the state politics has reciprocated in similar fashion.

She claimed this arrangement was put in place so that both parties could forge post-poll alliance and form the next government in the state.

The SAD leader said the fact is that both the post-poll partners of Delhi want to befool the people of the border state on the pattern of the national capital.

AAP and Congress had formed a post-poll alliance after the Kejriwal-led party had fought its first ever election in the national capital.

She said it is prerogative of the people to reject or accept any party or alliance.

She reminded Amarinder that not a single controversial incident has occurred in Punjab between 2007 to 2014 but after the emergence of AAP the state was hit by a series of incidents including desecration of Guru Granth Sahib.

Referring to the anti-Sikh riots, She said what Congress did in 1984 in Delhi and other parts of nation, AAP wants to repeat in Punjab.
Post shoe-hit incident, Punjab chief minister (CM) Parkash Singh Badal is scheduled to revive his election campaigning in the Lambi constituency on Monday onwards, while the Aam Aadmi Partys (AAPs) Jarnail Singh said on Saturday that he would prefer to defeat both Badal and Punjab Congress president Captain Amarinder Singh if the latter contests from the chief ministers constituency.

I will get an opportunity to defeat both Amarinder Singh and Badal, Jarnail said, reacting to Amarinders assertions that he would take the Congress high commands consent to fight against Badal.

Jarnail, during his campaigning, has been daring Amarinder too to contest from the Lambi constituency.

Both Badal and Amarinder are equally the enemy of the people of Punjab, especially of the Sikh Panth (Sikh community), Jarnail said.

Amarinder said at a press conference in Amritsar on Saturday that I want to contest from Lambi to end the misrule of the Badals.

Meanwhile, Badal has scheduled an aggressive campaign for three days from January 16 to 18 in Lambi.

The chief minister has been missing from his constituency since Wednesday when a protester hit him with a shoe in his eye.

Badals personal staff at Lambi said that the chief minister would be reaching his Badal village on Sunday evening.

Jarnail Singh said he has so far covered 57 of the total 72 villages falling in the constituency, holding nukkad (corner) meetings that, he added, got huge response.

Jarnail had also addressed an election meeting in Badal village on Thursday, a day after the shoe-hit incident.

The Congress is yet to announce its candidate from Lambi, where senior party leader Gurmeet Singh Khudian is a strong aspirant.

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Drug-sniffing dogs, deployed for the first time in Punjab to check transportation and distribution of drugs ahead of Assembly polls, have helped the law enforcement agencies to recover 58 kg of poppy husk.

Apprehending distribution of drugs by political parties to lure the voters, the Election Commission had ordered police to deploy 22 sniffer dogs at prominent places including inter- state borders, railway stations, bus-stands to check the movement of narcotic susbtances in the poll-bound state.

It is for the first time that 22 narcotics-trained sniffer dogs have been deployed during polls in Punjab. So far, dogs have led to successful recovery of 58 kg of poppy husk in Barnala and Bathinda districts, said additional director general of police V K Bhawra, who is also nodal officer for the state elections.

In the first case in Barnala district, on specific input, police raided a house but were unable to find any narcotic substance.

Then Kerry - a white sniffer dog - started barking near the heap of bricks lying in a verandah of the house. When bricks were removed, 4kg of poppy husk was recovered, Punjab inspector general of police (IG) and director of State Narcotics Control Bureau, Ishwar Singh said.

It eliminated the need to carry out the search of the whole house to find the contraband, he added.

Poppy husk is a banned substance and it is popularly known as Bhukki in rural areas of Punjab.

In the second incident, a sniffer dog helped police to recover a huge quantity of poppy husk from a car in Bathinda district.

Few days ago, during a special checking drive a car was stopped for search in Bathinda. Sam - a golden coloured Labrador - deployed there went to back side of the car and started barking. When the vehicle was searched, 54 kg of poppy husk was recovered, Singh said, adding that the canine had come in as an aid in effective detection of consealed drugs.

Deployment of highly trained dogs at key locations, like at the inter-state borders had also helped police in doing away the need for physical checking of each and every vehicle.

If each vehicle is being searched at inter-state border, then it can lead to huge traffic jam, said the IG.

Singh said a sum of Rs 1.25 crore has been sanctioned by the Punjab government for the training of dogs at Punjab Police Academy in Phillaur.

The canines have been hired for a month from the Punjab Home Guard Training Institute at Dera Bassi, where these are trained in collaboration with a foreign partner.
Uttar Pradesh chief minister Akhilesh Yadav is likely to meet Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi this week to form an alliance before the February-March assembly elections, pushing through a political deal that has been stirring despite a Samajwadi Party family feud.

Poll managers view the pre-poll arrangement as a win-win situation for both parties in the new political narrative after the Akhilesh faction won the battle of perceptions in the power struggle within the family.

A pre-poll alliance is all but certain to be announced this week, a Congress source said.

The national party has been relegated to the states political margins after being voted out of power in 1989, while the SP has by and large split with Akhilesh on one side and his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, on the other. The Congresss internal assessment is not so encouraging in case it runs alone.

Interlocutors of the two parties have started hectic parleys on sharing of seats for the states 404-member assembly, Congress sources said on Saturday. The Congress wants 100 seats to contest.

Specifics such as constituencies, candidates and joint campaign strategies will be thrashed out within the next 48 hour, sources in the Akhilesh camp said.

Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad has apparently established contact with SP emissaries to work out the deal.

Read | UP elections: Priyanka, Dimple posters make debut amid talks of SP-Cong alliance

Speculation on a Samajwadi-Congress alliance swirled after political strategist Prashant Kishor met Akhilesh in November, after meeting SP patriarch Mulayam twice apparently to discuss a potential partnership.

Mulayam had proposed a grand alliance for the UP polls, although he had walked out of a similar coalition between the Janata Dal (United) of Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasads Rashtriya Janata Dal and the Congress in Bihar ahead of elections there in 2015. He was unhappy with the number of seats given to his party to contest in Bihar.

Kishor, who was poll strategist for Kumar and Prasad, is now helping the Congress in UP.

The buzz grew after Akhilesh surprised everyone in September, praising the 46-year-old Gandhi as a good human being.

For his part, Gandhi dropped broad hints of a tie-up when a party functionary asked him at Wednesdays Congress convention about the UP polls. UP mein majaa aayega (It will be fun in UP), he said.

Read | Assembly elections 2017: It will be a fight for every vote in battlefield UP

Regional party leaders were reluctant to rush into Mulayams unity proposal because of the infighting within his family.

But bow that the 43-year-old Akhilesh is calling the shots in the SP, it is hoped that smaller outfits and parties with little presence in UP will join the alliance.

We understand ways are being found to accommodate the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD), Trinamool Congress, JD(U) and the Apna Dals Krishna Patel group by giving them seats in areas of their influence, a Congress leader in the state said.

A 12-point agenda has been identified for inclusion in the common minimum programme that will govern the coalition.

Read | Tie-up with Samajwadi Party may be Congresss only route back to power in UP

The Congress may get about 90 seats. The RLD 20 to 22 seats. The Trinamool had an MLA in the outgoing assembly. The party may be given a seat each in Mathura and Varanasi. The JD(U) and the Apna Dal may be accommodated in eastern UP, the Congress leader said.

The Akhilesh faction views the secular and socialist alliance a way to beat anti-incumbency in Indias most populous and politically crucial state. The family battle has only strengthened the chief ministers image, positioning him as a major challenger to the BJP and BSPs quest for power, the group believes.

At the centre of the fight is the SP election symbol  a bicycle.

We are waiting for the Election Commissions order on the election symbol. The alliance may be formalised once the situation becomes clear, a source said.

(With inputs from Umesh Raghuvanshi in Lucknow)
Filmmaker Karan Johar has never been hesitant about sharing his fall-out with Kajol and Shah Rukh Khan or disclosing his sexuality and in tune with the same the ace director has in his recent biography disclosed his 2002 spat with now best friend Kareena Kapoor Khan.

In his biography An Unsuitable Boy, Karan revealed that they did not speak to each other for more than nine months.

The Ae Dil Hai Mushkil director has written his side of the story in the book, My first problem was with Kareena. She asked for too much money and we had some kind of a fallout at that time. Mujhse Dosti Karoge! had just released, directed by Kunal Kohli. She said, Aditya Chopras assistant Kunal Kohli has made this flop, so Karan Johars assistant, Nikhil Advani is not to be trusted either.

The 44-year-old goes to talk about the reason behind the clash, The weekend of Mujhse Dosti Karoges release, I offered her Kal Ho Naa Ho, and she asked for the same money that Shah Rukh Khan was getting. I said, Sorry.

This Sunday, the super glamorous #KareenaKapoor & fashion queen @sonamakapoor are going to set the Koffee couch on fire! #KoffeeWithKaran pic.twitter.com/c6nacIMPsy  Star World (@StarWorldIndia) January 9, 2017

The television personality further stated that this demand of Kareena hurt him due to which they were not in talking terms.

Shedding light on the rough patch of their friendship and how the filmmaker signed bubbly actress Priety Zinta for Kal Ho Na ho, he revealed, I was very hurt. I told my father, Leave that negotiation room and I called her. She didnt take my call, and I said, Were not taking her. And signed Preity Zinta instead. Kareena and I didnt speak to each other for almost a year. For a year, we looked through each other at parties. It was very idiotic. She was a kid; shes a decade younger than me.

Karan wrote, We were releasing Kal Ho Naa Ho in November. We had shot the film in June, July, August and in September I had to shoot the songs, make the promos and so on. So, I had to head back, while my father continued the treatment in New York. That was the time Kareena Kapoor called me. It was August. We had not spoken for nine months. She called and said, I heard about Yash uncle. She got really emotional on the phone, and she said, I love you and I am so sorry I havent been in touch. Dont worry.

Bollywoods new mommy and the ace filmmaker have worked in several popular movies including, Gori Tere Pyaar Mein, Bombay Talkies, Ek Main Aur Ekk Tu, We Are Family and Kurbaan.

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Does lady luck really matter? Yes, it does, at least for Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor. After winning the Critics Award For Best Actor (Male) at the Filmfare Awards last night, the actor posted a picture on Instagram of his wife Mira holding the award in her hand to express his love and happiness for the two ladies.

The 35-year-old captioned the pic, Came with one stunning lady and heading home with two. Thank you #filmfare. #udtapunjab congratulations @aliaabhatt and @diljitdosanjh

Came with one stunning lady and heading home with two. Thank you #filmfare. #udtapunjab congratulations @aliaabhatt and @diljitdosanjh A photo posted by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on Jan 14, 2017 at 1:26pm PST

He received accolade for his incredible performance in . Udta Punjab.

It was Miras first award event and while speaking to Filmfare, she said, I am absolutely excited to be a part of something that is honouring the best performances of the last year. I just hope he wins, and look, he won.

A photo posted by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on Jan 14, 2017 at 11:11am PST

Shahid on the same note said, I am the happiest man. I am so happy to be here with Mira and its a very special Filmfare.

Other than this, Sashas win was also special because of the much-controversy and hurdles the movie faced prior to its release.

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Khullam Khulla. There could not have been a more apt title for actor Rishi Kapoors autobiography than these words from the hit song from his 1975 film Khel Khel Mein. The actor, 64, famous for his candour and wit on Twitter, comes across as a straight arrow that he is known to be as he walks the reader through his life, warts and all.

In his memoir  a first from the Kapoor family  Rishi Kapoor writes at length about growing up in a house full of celebrities and the privileges and pressures that came with being the son and grandson of cinematic legends such as Raj Kapoor and Prithviraj Kapoor.

A brash young man

The Kapoor children grew up knowing well just how big a deal their family was and Kapoor is honest about how success went to his head when he got a National Award for playing junior Raju in Mera Naam Joker (1970) and especially after the stupendous success of Bobby (1973). He admits to buying a popular magazine award for Bobby, and then feeling guilty for a long time, thinking this was the reason for the initial coldness between him and actor Amitabh Bachchan who probably felt that he deserved the award for Zanjeer. It was a mistake, and Im owning it up in the book. But that doesnt mean after that I bought all my awards, he says in an Facebook live interview with HT. I was so naive then a 20-year-old brash bacha.

Bollywood actor Rishi Kapoor along with his wife Neetu Singh and son Ranbir Kapoor during Sansui Colors Stardust Awards 2016 in Mumbai. (PTI)

But being a Kapoor, he says, does not mean everything came easy and living up to the family legacy was a struggle in itself. I may have not slept on pavements or gone hungry and had a huge hit in Bobby, but then on what? I was in the choppy sea all my life. I was battling the huge hurricane of action movies and competing with stars such as Amitabh Bachchan, Dharmendra, Shatrugan Sinha, and so on. I was a romantic hero in an action-films era.

Battling depression after Karz

He also writes about the nervous breakdown he suffered after Karz (1980), which clashed with Feroz Khan-Zeenat Aman starrer Qurbaani at the box-office, and did not do as well as he had expected. There was a time when I could not face people. I just lost confidence in myself. I could not work for a month and this was when I was overloaded with work and working with the biggest of directors, he says. These kind of things happen when you are overconfident about anything in life, and suddenly that doesnt work in your favour.

Fathers and sons

In the book, Rishi Kapoor shares what a hard taskmaster his father, Raj Kapoor, was on the sets. He is also open about his fathers love affairs with his co-stars Nargis and Vyjayanthimala. The actor says, as a child, he was scared of his father when he would come home drunk at night and pick fights with his mother, and that he eventually came to accept him for the creative and eccentric person he was. His relationship with his own son, actor Ranbir Kapoor, is also a traditional, formal one and the actor admits that he missed out on precious childhood years because he was working.

Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal honouring veteran actors Rishi Kapoor and Randhir Kapoor during the inauguration of the first phase of the historic Gobindgarh fort in Amritsar in December 2016. (Gurpreet Singh/HT Photo)

My time was very limited but I never failed in taking them on vacations and spending Sundays with them. But then I would have hated to be on hey buddy-back-slapping terms with my father and I dont expect my son to do the same. I believe ek izzat ki deewar honi chahiye, he says.

Im not the kind whod like to share secrets with him about his girlfriends. I wouldnt like that or ever do that. I am a different kind of father. I love my son to death but I cannot go overboard. Maybe I am wrong  that is debatable  but that is how I was brought up.

On not mincing words

He has been just as candid and opinionated about his friendships, fights and rivalries with contemporaries such as Jeetendra, Rakesh Roshan, Amitabh Bachchan, Rajesh Khanna, Salim-Javed and Sanjay Khan (who once threw a glass at him at a party). But isnt that supposed to be the way when you write an autobiography? Youre supposed to be truthful, he says, when asked if he was worried about how the book might be received. Ive no malice against anyone.

Actor Rishi Kapoor during the 23rd Annual Star Screen Awards 2016 in Mumbai. (PTI)

The actor admitted that while being outspoken got him into controversies on Twitter, he has never hurt anybody intentionally. If I do, I always apologise. I know diplomacy is not one of the great virtues of mine. I choose to be very outspoken and often I land myself into trouble.

The long road ahead

A heartthrob of the 80s, Rishi Kapoor is among the few actors of his time who successfully reinvented themselves. In his second innings as a character actor, he has played diverse characters from a middle-class maths school teacher in Do Dooni Chaar (2010) to the evil pimp Rauf Laila in Agneepath (2012) and the naughty 90-year-old grandfather in Kapoor & Sons (2016). This is his 45th year in Bollywood and Rishi Kapoor says he still has a long way to go. I dont think Ive even touched the pinnacle. Ive got to still work very hard and do a lot of movies.

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Yaga Venugopal Reddy is a man of few words, but his words carry a lot of weight  especially in the world of finance. Earlier this week, the soft-spoken former governor of Reserve Bank of India chose strong words to describe the state of play at the central bank. The institutional identity of the RBI has been damaged and it is facing reputational risk, Reddy told a television news channel, referring to demonetisation  the way the decision was made and handled.

It would be a mistake to club Reddys comments with the barrage of criticism the government has faced since it announced a ban on Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes on November 8. There are few central bankers in the country who match Reddys intuitive understanding of the financial markets and his long years of experience in economic administration. In 2003, when he was offered the top job at the RBI, he refused to sign up for the usual three-year term. He came on board only after Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayees government agreed to a five-year term. Vajpayee knew the worth of the man who would go on to shape Indias monetary policy in the peak years of its globalisation.

Read | Humiliated by note ban events, do away with interference: RBI staff to Guv

Members of the ruling dispensation cannot brush aside Reddys criticism under the pretext that he was a policy maker who benefited from the patronage of the Congress. A major part of his 11-year stint at the RBI  first as deputy governor and then as governor  was under the NDA government.

Also, Reddy doesnt have a reputation for speaking out of turn. If he has chosen not to sit it out, there is reason to believe the credibility of the RBI has been seriously undermined.

The note-ban decision is perhaps the biggest disruption Indias financial system has seen since Independence. Yet, it emerges now that the decision was taken by the government and not the RBI, although decisions such as demonetisation fall in the domain of the latter, which is a constitutional entity. Worse, according to the RBIs own admission made before a parliamentary committee, the central bank was given just a days notice to execute the decision.

These revelations, which surfaced through news reports over the past week, may have prompted Reddy to come out so strongly and press for a debate on the role of the central bank and how it should be run. To appreciate his concern over reputational risk, it is important to understand the historical context in which central banks evolved from holding bullion as physical collateral against issuing currency notes to issuing the same bills based on the governors promise that its value would be honoured. Anything that affects the credibility of the central bank, therefore, affects the financial stability and security of a country.

Read | To implement GST, Modi must now rekindle the spirit of Team India

That said, this is not the first time that the government has consciously or unconsciously sought to undermine the autonomy of the RBI. There have been many instances in the past when the government of the day has nudged the RBI and its governor to make a decision not to their liking. But there has rarely been a precedent in which a major decision has been made without consultations. Both sides have always found a way to agree to disagree. That healthy tradition appears to have been disregarded in the case of demonetisation. The RBIs institutional identity has been compromised and the consequences could be grave for a central bank that counts as among the worlds best and most respected  a reputation built by its illustrious governors.

Read | Demonetisation: Understanding the politics behind what PM sees as a game changer

The author is Chief Content Officer, Hindustan Times

Follow the author @rajeshmahapatra

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They democratised ownership, but we democratised management, Azim Premji, the chairman of Wipro Ltd, once remarked about the difference between his company, in which he held a significant majority stake, and cross-town rival Infosys Ltd, where the then prevailing belief seemed to be that every one of the eligible co-founders had a divine right to be CEO (in turn).

That was before Premjis son joined the family-controlled firm and Infosys decided to get an outside CEO.

Ive often wondered what would have happened had Infosys decided to shop for an outside CEO after Nandan Nilekani decided in 2007 that he no longer wanted to be at the helm. Perhaps the company may have found itself in a better place now.

Read | Shakeup at Flipkart symbolises intense battle against Amazon

Sure, there are enough instances of companies getting their succession plans spectacularly right with internal candidates.

Venture capitalists have never had a problem with moving founders out of executive positions and goings-on over the past year and, more recently, last week, show that they are willing (and happy, presumably) to exercise this right even in India.

Theres the well-chronicled instance of Housing.com, although founder Rahul Yadavs exit came after he famously imploded. Then, theres Flipkart.

Read | To the moon and back: Bengaluru start-up could be game changer in space missions

Last year, the board of the company, under pressure from largest investor Tiger Global Management, moved then CEO, co-founder Sachin Bansal to the post of chairman and made co-founder Binny Bansal (no relation, although the two are very close friends), CEO. Soon after, Mukesh Bansal (again, no relation to either), the founder of Myntra who had started looking after the e-commerce platform at Flipkart after his company had been acquired by the latter, left. For some time before these changes, the buzz in e-commerce and investing circles was that Tiger, and its iconic, if reclusive manager, Lee Fixel, thought Mukesh Bansal the best candidate to run the marketplace. And Mukesh Bansal and Binny Bansal, the buzz went, didnt really like each other. Binny Bansals ascent to the top slot meant Tiger and Fixel had picked him over his co-founder and Mukesh Bansal.

Last week, Tiger and Fixel made another change. Binny Bansal was made group CEO and Kalyan Krishnamurthy, a former Tiger employee who was seconded to Flipkart for his second trouble shooting assignment in the marketplace in four years, named CEO. Whatever the optics  Krishnamurthy reports to Binny Bansal who also oversees some of Flipkarts other businesses, including its logistics unit, and PhonePe, a digital payments start-up  the import of the move is clear: The founders have been moved to largely non-operational roles.

Read | Flipkart names Kalyan Krishnamurthy as CEO

The choice of Krishnamurthy, as opposed to an outside CEO, or someone else from Flipkart with a non-Tiger background, does raise the interesting question as to whose interests he will put first: Tigers or Flipkarts. After all, after his first stint at Flipkart, when Binny Bansal didnt seem very keen on his continued presence in the company, Krishnamurthy moved back to Tiger, overseeing its India portfolio.

Apart from venture capital investors, activist boards  all boards are expected to be activist, but few, especially in India, are  also change CEOs, but it is the rare promoter or founder that is asked to move out (indeed, I cant think of any examples of this in the Indian context) in such cases.

There are also times when the founders themselves decide to hire an outside CEO, as Googles Larry Page and Sergey Brin did when they hired Eric Schmidt. This is a tough call for founders and not everyone may have the maturity (and humility) to take it.

Read | As Flipkart turns 10, lessons it can learn from Infosys

Asking founders to move out isnt always an easy decision even for venture capital firms. Founders have a level of passion (and energy), and an eye for detail that are difficult, but not impossible, to find in others. In many knowledge businesses, they also tend to be exceptionally intelligent. But there are times when they are bad for business, simply because the lack the operational expertise or the experience (or both) that their companies desperately need at that point in time. It is easy to find people with the requisite expertise and experience. As for the rest, the venture capitalists can only hope that the outside CEO they are hiring acquires (or can be adequately incentivised to acquire) the kind of passion for the business the founders have; that the business has matured to a stage where this passion pervades the culture and has been institutionalised; or that they can convince the founders to stay on in a different, albeit meaningful role.

The last isnt easy, but it has happened before. The Bansals currently own 14-15% of Flipkart but it is still known as their company. Thats likely to continue even when they do not run it.

R Sukumar is editor, Mint

letters@hindustantimes.com

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Jagdish Rawat, 54, recalls how his elder brother had started showing leadership qualities even as a child. I remember related incidents, he said, recollecting the early years of chief minister Harish Rawat who hails from this scenic mountain village.

He said villages did not have toilets during their childhood years. Our village was no exceptionits streets used to remain littered with trash, Jagdish said as he sat chatting with HT in the spacious courtyard of Rawats recently renovated ancestral home. Hardly anyone would then bother about the unhygienic atmosphere, let alone children.

That did not go down well with his brother though he was a school-going boy then, Jagdish said. He (Rawat) gathered a group of village children, formed teams and the boys under his leadership cleared all the streets of trash, he said. Not only that, recalled a village elder, he and other children joined hands to set up latrines in the village to tackle the problem of open defection rampant during those days.

Rawat showed a similar initiative after he enrolled himself at a state-run intermediate college in Ramnagar, a town far from his village. My brother was still a teenager but when he came to know that some shady elements in that town were illegally brewing hooch, he decided to take on them, Jagdish said. Soon, he with his fellow students demolished crude boilers used to brew liquor.

Rawat also displayed grit in tackling the family situation after their father died when they were young. He pursued his education overcoming impediments, said his family members.

He used to trek about 10 km daily to attend his school and the jig-jag trail passed through a densely forested steep hill, said septuagenarian Mangla Devi reminiscing the childhood days of his cousin-in-law.

Rawats life took a political turn after he returned to his village after completing his graduation and law degree from Lucknow University. Fellow villagers asked him to contest the election for the post of village pradhan, and soon he rose to become a block pramukh. Secular minded as he (Rawat) was, he had a leaning towards the Congress, a party he joined in early seventies, Jagdish said.

Rawats political career took off after he defeated BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi from the Almora-Pithoragarh Lok Sabha constituency in 1980. All of us villagers celebrated the momentous occasion because defeating a seasoned politician was an achievement for a young man who was starting his career in national politics, said Mangla Devi.

All of us in our village celebrated the victory by performing a grand puja in our village temple, recalled Jagdish, saying Rawat always remained concerned about Mohnari and its people as he climbed the ladder of success in politics. Thanks to his efforts, our remote village got road connectivity for the first time after he became a member of parliament, said Rawats brother. He also got a school set up in the village so that children are not forced to traverse 16 miles daily to pursue studies.

The joy of his villagers knew no bounds when Rawat became the chief minister in 2014 after his stint as a Union minister in the UPA government. He also sanctioned a pumping scheme and a power substation for our village to ensure uninterrupted water and electricity supply to our homes, said Balam Singh, a local farmer.

Yet, Mohnari continues to grapple with problems, such as lack of medical and educational facilities. Agriculture has become unremunerative as wild animals frequently raid crops. Most villagers are now forced to eke out a living as daily-wage labourers, Ganga Devi, 44, told HT.

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India has always been in the back seat when it comes to a literary-magazine culture. In fact, Brooklyn borough of New York boasts of more literary magazines than the whole of India.

But lately a host of new digital ventures are trying to change that.

Much like acclaimed literary magazines such as The Paris Review, The New Yorker and London Review of Books, these new online lit-magazines are named after cities or regions -- The Bombay Review, The Bangalore Review, The Madras Mag, Mithila Review, etc.

Visually appealing, these magazines publish high quality work  art, essays, fiction, non- fiction, poetry  merging genres, forms and realities.

Interestingly, some of them are not published from the cities they are named after. Mithila Review, from example, is published from Delhi. Its founder, Salik Shah, says Delhi is the best place to run an independent literary press because it is the heart of political and intellectual ferment in the country.

Their founders have similar stories to share  starting with little or no money, a bunch of literary-minded friends working for free, and a dream and desire to take serious literature to a wider audience at a time when there seems to be growing enthusiasm for creative writing.

India lacks literary magazines, it doesnt have a Tin House or Granta, or even a good Brooklyn Review. The Bombay Review aspires to change that. An India that is increasingly reading online, needs literary magazines , says Kaartikeya Bajpai, 21, founder and editor-in-chief of The Bombay Review, a bi-monthly founded in 2014.

The magazine, he says, was started after he realised the poor ratio of Indian literary magazines compared to those in New York or London. While Brooklyn alone has over a dozen independent literary magazines  Breadcrumbs, The Atlas Review, Epiphany, etc,  India does not offer much in the genre with a couple of exceptions such as Muse India, The Little Magazine and Biblio, both published from Delhi.

Suhail Rasheed, who co-founded The Bangalore Review in 2013, says the magazine has its genesis in weekend discussion about art and literature among three friends. At some point, we realised how little literature and arts our modern lives offer us. These discussions gathered momentum and formed the Bangalore Review, says Rasheed, managing editor of the magazine.

The magazines, the founders say, give space to new voices that may or may not have found literary validation elsewhere  those often marginalised in literary conversations.

The Bangalore Review receives over 200 submissions every month and The Bombay Review gets about 150 on an average. Most common submissions are poetry and the least common are non-fiction essays, although we would like to see more of them, says Rasheed.

The contributors are from diverse backgrounds -- not just full-time writers and artists, they are bankers, lawyers, IT professionals, businessmen, housewives, and so on. When we receive a work, it is forwarded to one of our editors usually without the bio or any background information. This enables us to stay away from biases, he says.

Many young writers believe these online literary magazines are levelling the playing field of literature.I do not think you have to be a journalist or a professor of English or a seasoned writer to produce serious, perceptive work, says Amal Singh who contributes short fiction for Mithila Review. An IT professional, he works with a company that creates video content. One has to understand that even an engineer can produce something better than a cheesy love story. These new online magazines have emerged as a good platform to prove that.

While many believe that print -- and not pixels -- is the right medium to read literature, the founders of these magazines say there is a readership for digital literary magazines-- maybe more than print.

India has a lot of young and curious minds that know what they are reading and creating. I feel old already even though its been just over a decade or so since I was coding a website for my poetry, and reading all sorts of American magazines online, says Salik Shah, 28, co-founder, Mithila Review.

Bajpai adds, A lot of people today read more online than they read print books and magazines. Moreover, digital literary magazines ensure readership not only from one but multiple countries, something that a print magazine would require huge funding to achieve.

Sharing how Mithila Review was founded, Salik says, Any literary or artistic enterprise is a response to whats happening around us; the closer you are to the centre of action, the stronger and powerful is the response. Mithila Review, he says, was specifically a response to the JNU protests.

Delhi is always a place of action. Delhi is our museits a city which can be comforting and generous, but also equally heartless and cruel, like a stubborn loverimperfect but charming, crowded yet soulful, isolating, says Salik.

Its no coincidence, Salik says, that some of the most active writers and critics in the international science fiction and fantasy world happen to be from or in Delhi: Vandana Singh, Bodhisattva Chattopadhyay, Gautam Bhatia, Sami Ahmad Khan and others.

Rasheed says aspiring writers constitute a large chunk of the readership of The Bangalore Review. This is not surprising. Most people who read serious literature have wondered at some point if they could write themselves, or how to write or what to write, he says.

Bajpai adds, A lot of our readers are in the 18 -25 age group. However, online statistics and social media analytics show we are gaining a lot of readers between 30 and 55 years now.

So why does India lack a literary magazine culture? Salik says one of the many reasons is the lack of patrons to support small and independent literary presses. Besides, he says, our writers prize foreign publication credits than our own. Its not their fault. They pay well, and quality and readership of these foreign publications are really good. Though we gloat that we have one of the largest English-speaking population in the world, English is the language of our trade and education, not popular art, literature or films, he says.

Bajpai, whose magazine brings out an annual print anthology and organises literary events, says the trend of literary magazines is picking up but India has a long way to go in terms of quality, content, reach and gaining a larger audience interest in literary journals.

A lot of people today are not open to the idea of reading a lot of short fiction. Literary magazines in India will succeed when people start reading short fiction

on a regular basis and bookstores shelve literary journals from across the world, he says.

Aditya Sharma, a novelist, believes the biggest achievement of these magazines is that they have managed to keep the short story and poetry alive. Publishers these days hardly publish short fiction and poetry, he says.

Many like Amal believe literary magazines need to break free from their classic little magazine mould and reach out to the wider masses. Online magazines are best suited to achieve that. There are many serious readers and young writers from different professions, he says, People have a myopic view of what good literature is. It is all about telling different stories, differently.

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In July 2016, a four-storey building collapsed in Meerut, a satellite town near Delhi. Rescue operation went on for 24 hours and when everyone thought all under the debris were dead, it was Don who kept barking drawing attention to one particular point.

The personnel of National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) cordoned off the area and found a man, still breathing after removing four-five slabs of rubble. The man was taken to hospital and is now perfectly fine.

In the same month, several people were killed in Pithoragarh, Uttarakhand due to a landslide. An NDRF team was there helping the survivors. Don once again directed the rescuers to life under the rubble. This time it was a cow  alive but unable to move.

Don is now nearing retirement, but the canine still doesnt shy away from rushing to a disaster site to save lives. From the 2010 Lalita Park building collapse in Delhi to 2013 Uttarakhand flash floods, the 2015 Nepal earthquake to the Kanpur rail tragedy in 2016, he has served everywhere and saved over 100 lives.

The dog squad of NDRF, which was raised in 2006, is fast becoming countrys only force to sniff lives under the rubble. Earlier ITBP used to train the dogs. NDRF opened its training centre in 2011.

Like Don there are Sparky, Rubeena, Honey, Johnson and Bunty who are trained four hours daily to help in rescue operations.

Since dogs have been helpful in saving lives, we are expanding the squad. Before induction, they are trained for 56 weeks, where they are made accustomed to work in difficult circumstances. Usually, dog squads are trained to sniff explosives but this squad is different as it works on smell coming out from those alive, be it human or animal. They are trained by handlers in a way that they only sniff lives and nothing else when there is a disaster, said RK Pachnanda, director general of NDRF.

NDRF has 12 battalions and each battalion is mandated to have 36 dogs. Currently, however, there are only about 240 Labradors and German Shepherds. NDRF is planning to induct more Belgian Shepherds and Golden Retrievers.

The dog squad is now part of every rescue operation. During Nepal earthquake, our squad stayed there for 10 days and when there was no sign of life, the dogs sniffed and helped rescue people three days after the tragedy, Pachnanda said.

They are air lifted to disaster sites.

According to Dr Ashok, who takes care of the health of these dogs, wind speed is a crucial factor in rescue and handlers check the wind direction before letting the dogs go close to the disaster site.

To ensure that the dogs get used to human smell, handlers sleep with them during the training period. In training, we hide our staff under rubble and dogs perfect the art of finding them. Each dog serves for over 10 years, said Resham Singh, a dog handler.

Every dog is given a name and a microchip is tied to them for identification. They get rewarded for good work.

During training, they are made to climb obstacles and work in the dark for five-six hours. Cold weather and rain often affect the performance of dogs and they are given rest when the weather is bad.

Every dog has three handlers so that in case of transfer, they do not feel lonely.

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The three-month plan to make Connaught Place pedestrian-only zone could be cut short to a few days, NDMC chief has said of the proposal that is facing stiff resistance from traders in the citys business district.

From February 1, the middle and inner circles of Connaught Place, which gets around 500,000 visitors a day, will be closed to all vehicles in keeping with a plan cleared by the union urban development ministry early this month.

We have to be pragmatic. If the situation goes haywire, then we might have to call it off earlier. Execution is definitely a challenge. However, we are hopeful it will work, New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC) chairman Naresh Kumar told HT on Friday. He was responding to a question on the civic bodys preparations for the scheme.

The restrictions could be imposed in a phased manner, Kumar said, adding to the uncertainty over the project aimed at decongesting and reducing pollution in central Delhi.

The proposal was given the go-ahead by the ministry after extensive talks with NDMC and traffic police officials.

Traders have opposed the move, saying the plan would choke the outer circle even more and hit business. Instead of easing congestion, it would lead to traffic jams in the Outer Circle, going all the way to Mandi House, India Gate and other areas.

Read | Plan for Delhis car-free Connaught Place raises fresh hope in evicted vendors

We have been holding consultations with various stakeholders to deal with their apprehensions and come up with a foolproof plan. It has to be a win-win situation, Kumar said.

Bang in the middle of the city, Connaught Place is a traffic nightmare on most days. The situation worsens on weekends and public holidays.

The NDMC plans to introduce battery-operated vehicles and cycles-for-hire to get to the business district, Kumar said. Parking would be allowed in the outer circle and at Palika Bazaar.

The civic body was thinking of giving incentives to encourage people to use underutilised automated parking lot at Baba Kharak Singh Marg, an official said.

Pedestrian-only zone is a popular concept abroad. London, Montreal in Canada, and Copenhagen, the Danish capital, have areas where no vehicles are allowed. Many cities in Europe and Asia also have car-free zones.

Back home in Puducherry, Goubert Avenue that runs along the picturesque French Quarters is closed to motorised vehicles after 5pm.

Read | Vehicle-free Connaught Place: A much-needed angiography for Delhi

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The National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) has summoned government officers, asking them to produce details of students enrolled in private unaided schools under the Economically Weaker Sections (EWS)/ Disadvantage Group (DG) category over the last five years.

Commission officials said twelve deputy directors did not provide the information even after being served a pre-summon notice on September 12. The NCPCR issued another summon on January 6, asking officials to appear on January 17.

According to NCPCR, repeated reminders failed to yield any information from a majority of schools. The commission got information of only 491 schools out of the 1,187 private schools in the Capital.

We have waited for the reply for eight months, but to no avail. We have now summoned all deputy directors of education to appear before the commission in person and provide necessary information, said NCPCR member (education) Priyank Kanoongo.

Section12(1)(c) of the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act,2009, says every recognised private school imparting elementary education, even if it is not receiving any kind of aid or grant to meet its expenses, is obliged to reserve 25% of its seats for economically weaker or disadvantaged boys and girls.

The data asked by NCPCR is very voluminous, but we have still provided most of the data. Information regarding some of the smaller schools is still left but will be provided soon, said an official from the directorate of education.

The commission wants details about the number of students admitted, those already studying and drop outs between 2011 and 2016.

NCPCR issued the first letter on June 8 to director of education. A pre-summon was issued on September 12, which asked them to provide the data within seven days.

If they fail to submit the details by January 17, action will be taken, said an NCPCR official.

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Little girls begging for help amused Sunil Rastogi, Delhi Police said about the alleged serial rapist arrested in the capital on Saturday. Emboldened by the fact that the families of the victims did not approach the police, Rastogi allegedly thought he could get away with anything.

The 38-year-old tailor, allegedly involved in at least six cases of sexual assault, is a father of five children aged 15, 12, 10, 11 and 9 years. He lived in Kalyanpuri in east Delhi where he allegedly assaulted a minor girl in 2004. But her family did not report the matter to the police for the fear of social stigma.

Following week, he had allegedly assaulted another girl. Her family too did not report the matter to the police. However, police say, they forced Rastogi to leave Delhi after which he moved to Rudrapur in Uttar Pradesh with his family.

He, however, kept making frequent visits to Delhi to target minor girls, a police source said.

Read I How many girls did the Delhi serial rapist victimize?

Investigators say Rastogi told them that he travelled only by one train  Sampark Kranti Express, which runs between Delhi and Kathgodam  and marked dates on the calendar for his visits. He allegedly chose to travel only on odd dates.

Rastogi, police said, used to tell his wife that he visited Delhi for work. He would reportedly mark dates on the calendar and tell his wife that he has to visit Delhi to take orders for clothes and meet some boutique owners. He only chose odd dates for his travel, a police officer said.

Read I Superstitious serial rapist in lucky red jacket arrested in Delhi after 13 yrs

Police said they are probing if Rastogi abused his two daughters for which their mother will be interrogated. Rastogi claims he has lost the count of the number of girls he has victimised. We also suspect that he assaulted his children but that is unclear, the officer said.

The police now expect more parents to come out and report if Rastogi allegedly abused their children. The investigation in this case is on. We urge people to come forward and file complaints against molesters and rapists as silence encourages them, the officer said.

Read I Three years of manhunt, sketches and jail records led police to alleged east Delhi serial rapist

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The Delhi government is likely to notify new municipal ward boundaries this week, expediting the process for the upcoming civic polls in the city.

Officials said lieutenant-governor Anil Baijal has cleared the final delimitation draft of the 272 municipal wards, and the urban development department will issue a proper notification of the draft that has seen the redrawing of some wards.

While the number of wards in each of the three corporations has remained same, the number of wards in a few assembly segments has changed, ranging from three to seven.

With the L-G nod granted, an official gazette notification is expected in one or two days, a government spokesperson said.

As per the mandate, the municipal polls are required to be completed before April 27. However, the delay in the delimitation process had given ammunition to the opposition BJP and Congress to target the AAP government, accusing it of delaying the civic body elections.

Reacting to the development, BJP and Congress said the government should clarify why the process was delayed and that the municipal elections should not be delayed on this pretext.

We have been asking for completion of the process of delimitation for long. It is good that finally the government has budged. It would have been great had it been done on time. Now, further processes will be done in haste, said leader of Opposition in Delhi Assembly, Vijender Gupta. 1

Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said after the finalisation of delimitation procedure) the government should made clear which wards will be reserved for women and SC categories. Rotation has not been announced yet. The government should clear it as soon as possible as the delimitation process is already running behind schedule. The Congress demands that the election be held on time, said the leader.

Officials said the number of municipal wards across the three corporations will remain 272  104 each in north and south corporations, 64 seats in east corporation. However, the east corporation wards will change from the current configuration of four wards per assembly constituency, in a bid to rationalise the number of wards as per the local population according to the 2011 census.

Assembly seat like Matiala, the biggest assembly seat in Delhi, under the south corporation will have seven municipal wards. Similarly, Vikaspuri will have six, while the number of wards in a seat like Chandni Chowk under north corporation has gone down to three, an official said.

Once the Delhi government issues the notification, the approved draft of municipal wards and their redrawn boundaries will be uploaded on the governments website.
Three men allegedly kidnapped a person who with another accomplice had reportedly duped them of Rs36 lakh on the pretext of running a ponzi scheme.

All the five men involved in both the crimes  duping and kidnapping were arrested. They have been identified as Aman Kumar, Pankaj Trehan and Akash (kidnapping), while Manoj and Khushal (cheating).

On January 12, a woman filed a complaint at the Shakarpur police station that her brother Khushal went out on January 11 around 7.30 pm but did not return.

She received a call from unidentified men asking for a ransom of Rs36 lakh for letting her brother free. The complainant also received text messages demanding ransom.

During investigations, the call details and last locations of the victim as well as the kidnappers were tracked and analysed.

Based on the phone locations, a police team searched for the accused at various places, including All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Safdarjung, Chanakyapuri, Dwarka and Najafgarh.

Police said the accused kept changing their locations and switched off their phones as the former started conducting raids. However, on January 13 early in the morning the culprits switched on their mobile phones again and their location was traced to Laxmi Nagar in east Delhi.

The team apprehended Aman and got the victim Khushal released.

Khushal told police that Pankaj and Akash called him to meet them in Connaught Place and later took him to a hotel in Gurgaon. With his disclosure, raids were conducted and both Pankaj and Akash were nabbed.

During questioning, the accused told police that Khushal Chopra enticed them to invest in a Bulgaria-based company  One Coin. Khushal reportedly convinced them that One Coin was registered under the Reserve Bank of India. Khushal introduced them to another person Manoj as the director of the company. He convinced them to invest money in the company on the promise that the deposited amount would double in three months.

The three men invested Rs 36 lakh. However, neither did they receive a profit nor even their principal amount.

Deputy commissioner of police (east), Omvir Singh said, We again conducted detailed searches on the company, it came to light that One Coin is a Bulgaria-based company and they are running a parallel economy in Bulgaria and are causing huge financial losses to the Bulgarian government by using crypto currency.
Parents seeking nursery admission under economically weaker section (EWS) and disadvantaged groups (DG) are confused about the age-limit criterion after a goof up by the directorate of education (DOE) on its website.

While DOE in its guidelines said there is no upper age limit, the frequently asked question (FAQ) section on its website mentions upper age limit as four years for nursery admission under EWS and DG categories.

On January 9, DOE issued guidelines for admission under EWS/DG categories at entry-level classes in private unaided recognised schools of Delhi and said the minimum age limit for the children as on March 31, 2017, should be at least three years.

However, when parents checked the DOE website to seek answers regarding the admission process, they found the confusing information.

My domestic help asked me to fill the form on her behalf for her daughter. She is turning 4 years this April, but the FAQ said the child should not be more than four years old. But I had heard there is no upper age limit, said Mayur Vihar resident Jay Sharma.

Read: Nursery admission chaos looms as HC allows two criteria in applications

DOE officials said the website was not been updated due to which the information uploaded last year was showing. Last year, we had set an upper age limit but it was later challenged in the high court. As of today, there is no upper age limit. The website will be updated with correct information at the earliest, officials said.

Sumit Vohra, who runs an online portal admissionsnursery.com, said the portal received many queries on this problem. Parents are confused as the DOE website is giving them different information for same issue. DOE should immediately correct it, he said.

Every school keeps 25% seats reserved for EWS/DG category. The online and centralised admission process for the category started last year. Then, too, parents faced problems such as glitches with the software, especially in finding the schools in the location. Last year, the government had to conduct three rounds of admission to fill the seats. This year, too, the admission for the category is starting almost a week after the general category.
The strike by sanitation workers in east Delhi entered its 11th day on Sunday even as most of the agitating workers decided to stay at home.

Earlier on Saturday, around 83% of workers reported back to work. Officials said the sanitation conditions in east Delhi started getting normal on Saturday after a majority of workers resumed work. A section of sanitation workers, however, continued their protest outside the East Delhi Municipal Corporation headquarters.

Over 100 agitators were spotted at the corporations headquarters on Sunday along with the workers, who are on hungerstrike.

Sanjay Gehlot, president of MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union, said most employees have already received their salaries. The ones who are yet to get their salaries are supposed to receive it by Monday afternoon. We will meet with commissioner (EDMC) Mohanjeet Singh on Monday morning to discuss the other demands, which are under consideration, Gehlot said.

Read more: More than 83% workers join work, strike may end soon

The east Delhi areas that have been hit the most are Laxmi Nagar, Preet Vihar, Krishna Nagar, New Ashok Nagar, Vinod Nagar, Khichripur and other adjoining areas.

The MCD Swachhata Karmchari Union has announced another protest on February 7, which will see participation of municipal staff from various departments, such as horticulture, education, health and others. The sanitation workers will gather at Rajghat and later protest outside the chief ministers office and Delhi Secretariat and demand the implementation of the recommendations of the fourth Delhi Finance Commission report and pending arrears.

Since 2015, east corporation sanitation workers have gone on strike five times over non-payment of salary. This time, it was over non-payment of their salaries from October 2015.

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Parents with more than two children need not apply. Thats the condition put up by a private school in Delhi for parents seeking nursery admission for their children.

Salwan Montessori and GD Salwan School in west Delhis Rajendra Nagar mentioned the condition in its online registration form. The school said its decision is aimed at encouraging people to have small families.

Parents having more than two children, including whose admission is sought, need not apply, the online form uploaded on the websites of the two schools said.

Sushil Salwan, chairman of the Salwan Education Trust, said they have had the condition for the last 15 years in view of the increasing population of the country. He said the same condition is applicable for teaching positions at the schools and candidates with more than two children cannot apply for a job there.

Read: Distance, siblings rules get priority in Delhi nursery admissions

The condition has been there for at least 15 years. It was decided keeping in mind the increasing population in the country and the need to sensitise people on this issue. This is our way of contributing to the issue by motivating people to have fewer children, he said.

Last year, Delhi government issued guidelines abolishing 51 arbitrary criteria such as parents education, their profession, age, oral test and interview in nursery admissions.

However, the condition imposed by Salwan School is not mentioned in the list.

Nursery admissions began on January 2 with the process for 298 private schools and economically weaker section and disadvantaged groups (EWS/DG) categories commencing from January 10.

The application process for the all categories will conclude on January 31. The first list of selected candidates will be displayed on February 28 and subsequent lists will come out on March 15. Schools will also have to upload the points allocated to each applicant.

The admission process will close on March 31.
Sunil Rastogi came to Delhi by the Sampark Kranti Express and no other train, travelled only on odd dates and wore the same set of clothes -- a red jacket and a pair of blue jeans.

Delhi was a happy hunting ground for him. He could find a prey easily -- schoolgirls between the age of 7 and 11 -- and get back home safe after raping them, Delhi Police officials alleged.

He did it for 13 years. The red jacket was his lucky charm.

But, on Saturday 38-year-old Rastogis luck ran out. A tailor from Rampur in Uttar Pradesh, he was arrested from east Delhis Kalyanpuri.

He was arrested for allegedly raping two minors and molesting another in New Ashok Nagar. During questioning, he admitted to his involvement in various other cases in the area of New Ashok Nagar, Ghaziabad and Rudrapur in Uttarakhand, Omvir Singh, DCP (East), said.

He confessed to raping at least 13 girls but then kept changing his statement, police sources said.

Police suspect the list of victims to be much longer, as Rastogi, who has five children, two of them girls, frequently visited Delhi. He also has cases against him in Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

In the Capital, Rastogi used to prowl schools between 2pm and 4pm when students used to leave for home.

He carried a list of girl schools in his pocket. He would follow a group for a short distance and then pick a child who would stray from others.

He would tell the victim he was a friend of her fathers who had sent clothes and snacks. For every victim, he would stitch a new set of clothes and wrap a new parcel.

He would tell the child he had more presents for her and would take her with him and sexually assault her, a police source said.

A secluded staircase in New Ashok Nagar was his safe spot. At other times, he assaulted the girls in a dingy lane or a godown.

Read | Cries for mercy amused and encouraged east Delhi serial rapist

We received two strikingly similar complaints of minors being assaulted in New Ashok Nagar. The minors in their statement said the man was wearing a red jacket and promised them more new clothes, a police officer said.

A team was formed to identify the man after another complaint was received on December 13, the officer said.

Police scanned the CCTV footage of the area where Rastogi had raped the girls. Police were able to identify him but his face was not clearly visible. They spoke to the vendors and some of victims and got a sketch made. They went door to door with the sketch.

On Saturday, police were alerted about Rastogis presence in the area. A raid led to his arrest.

Rastogi cant believe his 13-year-run is over. He told police he was certain they would never get him.

Read | Three years of manhunt, sketches and jail records led police to the serial rapist

He seems to be mentally sick as he has some very weird notions. He is very superstitious and said he came by Sampark Kranti Express only and cancelled his visit if he missed the train, the DCP said.

He used to chant after getting down from the train. He believed that if he abused girls wearing his red jacket he would never get caught, Singh said.

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Three years of sustained surveillance, search through databases of criminals who are in jail or were released from jails across north India, door-to-door search and analysis of CCTV footage finally led the police to Sunil Rastogi, an alleged rapist of minor girls.

It started in 2013, when the local police in New Ashok Nagar received two complaints of two minor girls being molested in a strikingly similar fashion.

In both the cases, the minors alleged that the man who assaulted them wore a red jacket, a blue jeans and lured them with the promise of new clothes. They also said that the assaulter had laughed when they begged him to spare them.

The police accessed the CCTV footage from the area where Rastogi had allegedly assaulted the girls. Though the police got some clues from the footage, they were not enough to identify him. We only got shots of his back and side. His face was not clearly seen in the video. We tried to fine tune the footage but it did not help, a police source said.

Read | Father of five arrested for sexually assaulting minor girls in east Delhi

The police questioned vendors, shopkeepers and rickshaw pullers who claimed to have seen a man of similar description in the area. With the help of the footage, the description given by the local residents and minor victims, we got a sketch made. A door to door search was then initiated. Our men took the sketch around east Delhi but got no leads, a police officer said.

The investigators accessed the jail papers from across north India, which had the details of both convicts and under trials. The police also looked for men who were arrested in the last one year for assaulting minors from across north India.

We finalised a list of around 100 suspects. We matched the sketch that we had with their photos or sketches and zeroed-in-on three suspects. We took their addresses from the papers and took the probe forward, a police source said.

The investigators sought help from the local intelligence assets to find if any of the three suspects had visited east Delhi during the days when the crime was committed. After sustained efforts we were able to isolate Rastogi. Our network of informers also told us that he was seen in the area thrice in the past one week and also that he would be visiting Delhi again on Saturday. Following the input, a trap was laid and he was apprehended, a police source told HT.

Police said Rastogi confessed to the crime during questioning. He told the police he was certain that he would never get caught.

Read | Cries for mercy amused and encouraged east Delhi serial rapist

He seems to be mentally unstable as he has some very weird notions. He is superstitious and said that he came by Sampark Kranti Express only and cancelled his visit if he would to miss the train. He said his red jacket and blue jeans were lucky for him and he believed that if he abused girls wearing that, he would never get caught.

Omvir Singh, DCP, (East) said, He admitted his involvement in various other such cases in New Ashok Nagar, Ghaziabad and and Rudrapur in Uttarakhand. He revealed that whenever he found any minor girl going home from school, he used to approach her and the take her to an isolated spot.

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Something is rotten in the way we treat the jawans who guard our borders and other vital installations across the country. Recently, a jawan of the Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) shot dead four of his fellows with his service rifle at the Nabinagar power plant in Bihar. By Friday, a video by an army jawan complaining that he was being victimised by his seniors for writing to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying orderlies or sahayaks should not be made to polish their officers shoes went viral. Prior to this, a jawan of the Border Security Force made headlines with a post on social media showing what terrible food they got to eat.

Read | No widespread discontent: Home min report to PMO refutes BSF jawans complaints

What provokes these soldiers to break the discipline of a lifetime? Can we just put it down to individual caprice and brush the whole thing under the carpet? At the root of the problem is the deeply hierarchical nature of the armed and paramilitary forces, whose command structures and protocol that govern interactions between officers and men are still rooted in a colonial-era ethos. In the decades since Independence, very little has changed in the way the armed forces treat their recruits, who are still mostly from the rural hinterland. But the recruits have changed; their worldview and expectations have changed. Especially in this age of social media, old shibboleths about how enlisted men should behave can no longer hold true. There have been efforts of late to reform the way leave is granted for example; this being one of the main causes for unrest in the ranks; the other being the often inhumanly long hours they have to stay alert and on their feet. But the concept of separate messes for officers and men remains  it is not the fact that the officers and men do not eat together that is the problem; it is the difference in the quality of what they eat that is.

Read | Home Ministry asks paramilitary forces to redress grievances fast

Hierarchy is inevitable, and indeed necessary, in an armed force. But this also enjoins a greater responsibility on the officers who literally hold the power of life and death over the men and women they command. The army, navy and air force are comparatively better equipped to deal with these problems. The worst-off is the BSF jawan huddled over his gun in a desolate corner somewhere on the countrys borders or the CISF jawan patrolling our airports or large factories or the CRPF jawan in the jungles of Bastar. These paramilitary forces perform functions critical to the countrys security, but have never been given their due. The recent incidents should prompt some action before the disaffection spreads any further.
For IIT-Bombay student Raj Thakur*, coming out as gay  and comfortably so  had a lot to do with the support he received on campus. Id known I was gay since Class 7. It was only when I came to the IIT campus and saw the many students here who were out, proud and secure in their sexuality that I was inspired to come out too, he says.

IIT-Bombay was one of the first educational institutes in the country to install a support and resource centre for LGBTQ (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer) students. Called Saathi (Hindi for companion), it was launched in 2011.

By contrast, Nitin Sharma*, a medical student in central Mumbai, believes he would be a different person if his college campus were supportive of his sexual orientation.

Sexuality is never a subject of discussion, despite this being a college that aims to train the next generation of doctors, he says. People are rigid, and the easiest way to deal with it is to change your own ways. I now think of myself as asexual.

Last month, students at the Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS), Chembur, complained of homophobic harassment from peers and staff members. Considered one of the more liberal colleges in one of the more liberal cities in the country, the incident has highlighted the need for a concerted effort to embrace and include the LGBT student community.

The college campus can play a big role in ensuring a students confidence in and comfort with their sexuality, since students spend their formative teenage years here, say experts.

In the realm of sexuality and gender, education is key, adds Ashok Row Kavi, activist and founder-chairperson of the Humsafar Trust, an LGBT rights and health services NGO. Many students are totally unaware of their own bodies, and this is dangerous. There is so much misinformation because colleges are closed-up about these subjects  I have been to colleges where students think oral sex means kissing. With better education, not only can we have a friendlier society, but we could perhaps also bring down the rates of sexually transmitted diseases.

Dialogue about gender and sexuality is essential at the college level. Insensitivity can lead to bullying, apart from coming in the way of learning, says Pallav Patankar, a gender and sexuality consultant.

At TISS, for starters, the effort to address the issue has begun.

Read: CBSE announces exam dates for classes 10 and 12 | Full schedule

The Gender Amity Committee (GAC) has received a few complaints of verbal harassment on the basis of gender non-normative behaviour, says Shewli Kumar, associate professor and chairperson of the GAC. The GAC comprises faculty, elected student representatives and staff, and engages students, faculty and staff on issues of gender and sexual harassment.

Like all other institutes of higher learning, TISS has a diversity of students, faculty and staff, Kumar adds. We are addressing these issues by meeting complainants and those who indulge in such behaviour, having workshops with administrative staff, security guards, students and other members of the TISS community regarding their stereotypes and need to change their perceptions and attitudes.

Elsewhere in the city, other colleges are taking first steps towards making their campuses more LGBT-friendly too.

CHANGE THE GAME

At Topiwala National Medical College (TNMC), Parel, the annual college festival Aarambh has picked LGBT rights as its social cause this year.

To be held from March 6 to 9, the festival will bring together medical students, doctors and LGBT rights activists for a series of lectures, a street play competition and awareness videos.

Aarambh has partnered withthe Maharashtra Association of Resident Doctors, along with activists such as Ashok Row Kavi, Harish Iyer, Laxmi Narayan Tripathi, and the reigning Mr Gay World India, Anwesh Sahoo, for its initiatives.

Read: Exit exam for MBBS medical students? Its necessary, say experts

Its very important for this message to come from and to the medical community, says Preet Sharma, a third-year MBBS student and general secretary of the college. They can dispel many misconceptions and sensitise people based on scientific fact.

The fields of psychiatry, hormone therapy, gynaecology, endocrinology and dermatology are all closely linked to gender issues, and sensitive doctors can make a world of a difference, adds a gay student, on condition of anonymity.

On January 14, KC College in Churchgate is hosting a literary media festival with the theme of gender in media. This includes the third gender, says vice-principal Shalini Sinha. In fact, we have rechristened the Womens Development Cell the Gender Issues Cell  because we want transgender students to feel welcome.

At the festival, there will be essay, poetry and art competitions around the theme. We have a couple of students who have come out openly and are associated with the Humsafar Trust. We ensure that these students are available to counsel others and, when necessary, we consult with Humsafar for further help, Sinha says.

Ramnarain Ruia College in Matunga celebrated its annual Rose Day last September with a twist. Students were asked to come dressed in rainbow colours as a show of solidarity with the LGBT community, and gender-neutral rose-giving was encouraged. This was very wellreceived, says principal Suhas Pednekar. The idea is to show that everybody is a human being first. We found that the new generation is more open than ours, and how fortunate that is.

At IIT-Bombay, meanwhile, Saathi will host its first queer literature and art festival, on January 14. Free and open to all, the day-long event will feature discussions about the representation of queer people in cinema and books.

Speakers include LGBT activists Ashok Row Kavi and Parmesh Shahani, and mythologist and author Devdutt Pattanaik.

We have also developed a multimedia library in English, Hindi and Marathi called Saathi Connect, which has literature about understanding sexuality, says Omkar Masurkar, a thirdyear student and member of Saathi. The idea is to keep the conversation going.

Saathi Connect is freely available on www.saathi-connect.in.

* Names changed on request

(With inputs from Lavina Mulchandani)
A three-day bird monitoring of India programme, which is aimed at keeping a hawk-eye on18 common species of birds in the country, kicked off in Gurgaon on Sunday.

Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS) has tied up with three NGOs to organise this event.

The NGOs  Bird Life International, Give Nature a Home and Brings People For Birds  along with BNHS will carefully observe and monitor the fowls that are native to the region.

As the region lacks relevant scientific data on current common bird species, their distribution and numbers, events such as this are deemed necessary in order to get a clear picture on these common birds, experts said.

The participating NGOs that work extensively for the conservation of birds have invited bird enthusiasts, other NGOs, ornithologists, scientists and city residents to take part in the programme. The three-day event would afford them an opportunity to take a count of these birds across the state and upload the data on the BNHS website.

Over the course of this event, well adopt scientific methods for collating data. The local species are always ignored as they are commonly found, Purbasa Banerjee, biologist, BNHS, said.

The participants would also be encouraged to give the location of a particular species while uploading data, as it will help the experts draw up a detailed chart and map regarding their distribution pattern. The count began at 7 am and will continue till 5 pm during the three-day event.

Quizzed on the event, the Haryana wildlife department welcomed the initiative calling it a positive step towards the conservation of birds. Haryana urgently needs a bird census as it will help us know how many of them currently inhabit the region and devise an action plan to safeguard the species of common birds that are facing an existential threat due to rapid and large-scale urbanisation in the region. These birds include house sparrow, mayna, crow, bulbuls and owl,Shyam Sunder Kaushik, divisional wildlife officer, Gurgaon, said.

This programme can help us put in place a database of these species and keep track of the changing trends. The birds which are believed to be declining in number will be on view during the three-day event and well be able to put our heads together and suggest measures to ensure they arent lost to the next generation, Pankaj Gupta, a member of the Delhi Bird Watching Society, said.

Gurgaon will also be witness to a bird race and a waterbird census on February 2, which is globally observed as the World Wetland Day. The day marks the adoption of a convention on wetlands on February 2, 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar.

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China on Sunday made it clear that the One China policy is non-negotiable and no one can change it, in a strong denial to President-elect Donald Trumps plan to use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip. Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the One China policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and is non-negotiable, following Trumps statement that the policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

Everything is under negotiation, including One China, Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, questioning the decades-old-policy followed by Washington in its relations with Beijing.

It must be pointed out that there is but One China in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement.

The government of the Peoples Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, which is an internationally recognised fact and no one can change it, Lu said.

We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous US governments to the One China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques, he said without directly referring to Trump.

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A production executive of a leading electronics company was duped of Rs 2.28 lakh on the pretext of providing him a high-paying job in the USA.

The production executive, Jitender Singh of Om Nagar , was allegedly asked to pay money in instalments for verification, security deposit and fee for opening an international bank account. On tracking details of the bank accounts in which he deposited money, Singh found out that the company was registered on a fake address at Gautam Budh Nagar in Uttar Pradesh. He tracked the accused to an address in Faridabad but he refused to return the money.

A case was filed under sections 420 (fraud) and the IT Act against Rajiv Saxena at the Sadar police station on Saturday.

In his complaint, Singh said he received a call in June 2016, from a woman who told him that he was selected for a job in a company based in the USA.

Singh said the caller gave him the name of a company and said all expenses on visa, verification and tickets would be borne by the company. He also received a letter saying his visa process had been initiated and asked him to email all his documents.

A few days later, Singh received another call asking him to deposit a refundable security deposit of Rs 7,500. He deposited the money on June 8. Later, he was asked to pay Rs 53,262 as a refundable security deposit for verification and he paid it on June 16, police said.

Singh then received a call from another caller informing him that the selection process was completed. The caller also sent an appointment letter and a visa letter and asked him to deposit Rs 71,738 without which his selection would be cancelled.Singh said he deposited the amount on June 20.

He received another call demanding Rs 61,000 as a refundable security amount for opening an international bank account. Singh deposited the amount on July 13. The caller told Singh that his visa was approved by the US Embassy and he was required pay Rs 45,000 more. Singh refused to pay the amount and asked for a refund of the money paid till then, police said.

The accused mailed me a cheque of Rs 2.21 lakh and said the actual cheque will come through courier. The courier contained a blank paper and the address from where the courier was sent was fake, Singh said in his complaint.

Suspecting fraud, Singh checked the bank account in which he deposited the amount and traced the fake address to Gautam Budh Nagar Uttar Pradesh. He traced Rajiv Saxena at an address in Faridabad. Singh said Saxena returned Rs 75,000 but refused to repay the rest of the amount.

The matter was referred to the Cyber crime cell. They probed the matter and on finding the charges true, referred it for filing an FIR. The accused would be traced and nabbed soon, Inspector Kuldeep Kishore, the investigating officer, said.

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The Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) will soon start the construction of a cultural complex proposed on 10 acres along the Golf Course Road in Sector 53.

The civic body got the nod from the Urban Local Bodies (ULB) of the state government a week ago and the engineering wing will start undertake the work.

A new cultural complex is important as citys only cultural hub -- Epicentre -- temporarily shut down on Sunday as its lease is yet to be renewed.

The proposed cultural complex has been in limbo for the last two years. The ULB wanted Gurgaons proposed cultural hub to be developed on the lines of Bharat Bhavan, Bhopal.

Sudhir Chauhan, senior town planner, MCG, said, The plan to construct this cultural complex on the lines of Bharat Bhavan seems difficult, but we are still considering it. The other model we are considering is the India Habitat Centre, New Delhi. As we have got the nod for construction from the head office, Chandigarh, the engineering wing will start construction anytime in January. We have submitted the final draft to the engineering wing.

Bharat Bhavan is a multi-art centre set up to create an interactive proximity for the verbal, visual and performing arts. It seeks to provide a creative and thought provoking milieu to those who wish to contribute something new and meaningful in the contemporary scene of fine arts, literature, theatre, cinema, dance and music.

Chauhan said that the state-of-the-art complex will have an auditorium for 2,000 people. It will also have a theatre, art gallery, sculpture studio, workshop, library, exhibition centre, meeting or media hall, administrative blocks, guest house, cafeteria, dormitory for ladies and gents (40 persons) and convenience shopping complex.

The estimated cost for the entire project for which consultancy is to be provided is approximately Rs 100 crore, Chauhan said.

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A portable night shelter that opened last week remains closed, while the roof and floor at another has seepage leading to people sleeping on wet mattresses. One shelter has virtually no occupants for fear of anti-social elements on the prowl, while construction of an underpass has cut electricity to another and the toilets in some are locked as drainage pipes havent been installed.

These, in a nutshell, are the pitiable conditions in which the homeless in Gurgaon are sleeping this winter.

Since last November, seven portable night shelters, each capable of accommodating 12, were installed by the Municipal Corporation of Gurgaon (MCG) to ensure the citys homeless arent left out in the cold.

The cause, though noble on paper, has yet to translate into anything meaningful on the ground. A visit to four of such night shelters  at Iffco Chowk, Rajiv Chowk, railway station and Sector 15 Part II  revealed the appalling conditions in which the citys homeless have been housed.

A night shelter for men in Gurgaons Kanhai Village. (Parveen Kumar/HT photo)

A caretaker, 12 sets of beddings, two water dispensers, two LED bulbs and a mobile toilet in the vicinity had been provisioned for each of these night shelters. The portable cabins are 10 feet high and 28 feet wide. Such cabins were to come up at Bhim Nagar, Kanhai village, Sheetla Mata Mandir, Rajiv Chowk, Iffco Chowk and the railway station.

However, the locals were clueless when asked for directions to the portable cabins at Sheetla Mata Mandir, Bhim Nagar and Kanhai village.

The following is an overview of the miserable state of the four shelters that HT visited:

IFFCO Chowk

The portable night shelter was to be thrown open to the homeless at 7 pm on Thursday, but opened an hour late due to a power outage. Attendants, hired by the MCG, struggled to restore power as a makeshift electrical circuit attached to a transformer tripped owing to overload.

Tea and food vendors nearby said the homeless werent willing to move into the shelter as they feared for their security.

The MCG attendant at the spot, too, owned up to the shoddy upkeep and arrangement at the shelter.

We dont have any identity proofs. Hence, (homeless) people dont take us seriously when we tell them we are there to help them settle into the camp. We also have trouble stopping alcoholics and drug addicts from encroaching into this space. We have briefed the MCG officials on the state of affairs, but they didnt take any note of it, the attendant said.

The toilet cant be used as the drainage pipes are not in place.

The power cables attached to the shelter at Rajiv Chowk fell short following relocation. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Rajiv Chowk

As the attendant flips on his flash light, this correspondent caught sight of the attendance chart that suggested a high turnout over the last few days.

A tour of the portable toilets showed that they are in working condition and the number of mattresses, bedsheets and drinking water arrangement seemed adequate.

What dulled the impression was when the attendant let out that shelter has had no electricity over the last four days.

Moreover, the construction of underpasses at Rajiv Chowk by NHAI forced MCG to relocate the night shelter 50 metres away from its original spot.

The power cables attached to the shelter fell short following relocation. The attendant claimed that power will be restored within a week.

Since we cant light a bonfire inside the shelter, a few of us had procured a second-hand portable electric heater from an NGO to keep warm. However, with no electricity, the device is useless, Shyam, a mason and resident of Mahendragarh said.

The attendance sheet shows the facility at the Gurgaon railway station is in high demand. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Railway Station

The attendance sheet shows the facility is in high demand. At an average more than eight people are accommodated on a daily basis. The measures to ensure safety of occupants also seem adequate. A file containing ID cards and documents shows all the occupants are accounted for. The attendant said that with the arrangement adequate and records up to date, outsiders and anti-social elements wouldnt dare to hassle or harm the occupants.

However, not all is perfect in this shelter. The ceiling is wet with dew and the wooden floor has bore the brunt of a seepage in the pipeline installed below.

Though the mattresses are wet, the hapless occupants have little option but to sleep on them.

I came to Gurgaon last week hoping to earn daily wage by doing some construction work. The train to Jaipur leaves at 6 am and since I have no savings, night shelter seemed a feasible option. My baggage is wet from the seepage, but there is little I can do than shove newspapers under them, Mahipal Menaria, a resident of Bhilwara district of Rajasthan, said. The portable toilet here is locked as drainage is not yet ready.

The portable cabin was opened last week on the premises of Red Cross Society. However, during the spot visit by HT, the shelter and its toilets were found closed. (Parveen Kumar/HT Photo)

Sector 15 Part-II

The portable cabin was opened last week on the premises of Red Cross Society. However, during the spot visit by HT, the shelter and its toilets were found closed.

Reason? It is opened only when one needs it, Red Cross secretary Shyam Sunder said.

Our teams fan out to the railway station and bus stand to bring homeless people over. The teams leave at about 9pm, Sunder said.

Nearby shopkeepers said the facility has been closed since its launch and not a single homeless person has been housed here.

Quizzed on the same, Sunder said, My mobile number is available on social media. Those in need can find it and ask for help.

MCG joint commissioner, Vivek Kalia said, A six-member committee comprising the MCG and the Red Cross officials has been formed to take stock of the infrastructure and upkeep of these night shelters. We are aware of the glitches and efforts are underway to improve the condition at the earliest.

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At least 135 Pakistani fishermen are currently detained in Indian jails, the Foreign Office said in a report submitted to the Supreme Court.

The apex court had ordered Foreign Office in October to give details of the fishermen languishing in Indian jails, The Express Tribune reported on Sunday.

The court is adjudicating a constitutional petition filed by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum and the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research, through their counsel Advocate Raheel Kamran Sheikh regarding the repatriation of detained Pakistani fishermen, the paper said.

The petitioners requested that steps should be taken to obtain information about the presence of Pakistani fishermen in Indian jails, details of charges against the prisoners, and court judgements on the sentences handed down to them, it said.

The petitioners had made the federation through Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Secretary Ministry of Interior, the High Commission of Pakistan in India through High Commissioner and Pakistan Maritime Security Agency through its director general as respondents.

The Foreign Office in its one page reply stated that according to the information provided by the Pakistan High Commission in New Delhi, at present 135 fishermen are currently detained in India.

Out of these 135 fishermen, 98 are awaiting consular access, two prisoners are awaiting their repatriation to Pakistan and 35 are awaiting their national status to be confirmed, the FO said.

It also pointed out that in 2015, 121 fishermen were released from Indian jails and 9 fishermen were released in 2016.

Meanwhile, Raheel has claimed that there is a difference between the interior ministry and Foreign Office data.

The numbers of prisoners are understated. Prisoners released from Indian prisons have informed the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum that many people are still languishing in Indian prisons whose names are not available in the list compiled by the Pakistan High Commission, he claimed.

Raheel also said that the report does not specify the names of the prisoners, since when they have been detained and what legal assistance has been provided to them so far.
Tourists thronging Shimla in anticipation of fresh snowfall were in for a rude shock as cash crunch played spoilsport even as the capital town is battling electricity and water woes.

Due to the holiday on Saturday, most ATMs in town were dry by Sunday. Even ATMs on the Mall Road and surrounding areas displayed no cash available message on Saturday evening.

Last week due to heavy snowfall, there was less movement of people in the town and so they did not realise the cash crunch.

After normalcy was restored, people started rushing to the ATMs to withdraw money, said Atul Jaret,a Shimla resident, adding, There is still a cap on withdrawal but people are not getting even 4,500.

Meanwhile, erratic power supply was hinderance for traders in Shimla town, who were trying to go cashless. Those who have cash card machines could not use it due to the power outage, said Pradeep Kalia, a Shimla-based trader.

Yug Sabbharwal, a tourist from Jalandhar, said he tried to withdraw money from atleast four ATMs on the Mall road on Sunday but all were out of cash. All shops do not accept cash cards. It took nearly two hours for me to get 4,500, he said. He added, Banks should at least ensure cash availability in tourists towns like Shimla.

Shimla deputy commissioner and District Level Banker Committee (DLBC) chairman Rohan Chand Thakur said banks had been asked to ensure cash availability in its branches as well as ATMs. Directions will be passed to maintain cash availability especially on weekends, he said.

Cash availability remains an issue in Shimla, like other towns, post demonetisation. It took much longer time for recalibration of money dispensing machines and shortage of the new notes of 500 worsened the woes. Few days ago an incident of damaging a cash dispensing machine was reported near Lakkar bazaar. Someone broke the screen which had been displaying No cash availability for many days, Madan Sharma, Lakkar bazaar resident said.

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Army chief general Bipin Rawat has warned soldiers against using social media to voice their complaints, saying it could invite punishment as it dents the morale of the force.

After reviewing the customary Army Day parade on Sunday, Rawat said the force had a robust mechanism to look into soldiers problems, advising the troops against going public with their grievances.

A few colleagues are using social media to share their problems. It affects the morale of the jawans deployed at the borders and thereby the army, said Rawat, who took over as the army chief on December 31. Such actions could invite punishment, he warned.

Aapne jo karyawahi ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak bhi paye ja sakte hain aur sazaa ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (Your actions could invite punishment), said Rawat, referring to recent instances of jawans taking to social media to vent their anger.

Last week, a lance naik posted a video on Facebook, condemning soldiers being employed as sahayaks to officers.

The army chief, however, said the sahayak or buddy system was integral to the forces culture as the officer and his buddy forged a personal relationship, taking care of each other.

He said if jawans were not satisfied with the action taken on their complaints, they could contact him directly.

January 15 is celebrated as the Army Day to commemorate the day KM Cariappa (later field marshal) became the first Indian to lead the army in 1949. He took over from general Sir Francis Butcher.

In his first press conference as army chief on Friday, Rawat asked soldiers to directly communicate their grievances to the forces leadership.

Let troops have confidence in the senior leadership. Their grievances will be addressed in right earnest.

Rawat has already issued orders for suggestion and grievance boxes to be installed at several places in the army headquarters so that complaints can reach him directly. The model will be replicated at formations across the country.

Soldiers should submit their grievances with their names but their identities would not be revealed, the chief said.

Not just the army, the Border Security Force and the Central Reserve Police Force troops, too, have posted videos, complaining about food and work conditions.

Posthumous honour for Siachen hero

Lance naik Hanamanthappa Koppad, who defied death for a week after being buried under 35 feet of snow at the Siachen glacier last February, was on Sunday posthumously awarded the Sena Medal for gallantry.

The army chief presented the award to his wife at the Army Day parade. Koppad died at an army hospital in Delhi, shattering the hopes of the entire country praying for his recovery.

Rawat also awarded citations for outstanding performance to 14 army units, including 4 Para (Special Forces) and 9 Para (Special Forces).

Both special forces units were involved in Septembers surgical strikes against militant launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir.
Mulayam Singh Yadav loyalist Amar Singh, who has been at the forefront of the raging feud between the Samajwadi Party patriarch and his son Akhilesh, on Sunday said he is leaving for London for treatment.

Singh said he was in London when he was summoned back due to developments in the party.

I was undergoing treatment in London but was summoned due to the developments here, now going back to complete my treatment, he said here.

Singh said he would shortly leave for treatment in London and later Singapore.

I would be back sometime in late March, he said.

He leaves at a time when the Election Commission is set to deliver order on the symbol dispute in the SP.

Singh has signed on a few documents the Mulayam camp has submitted to the poll panel to stake its claim over the cycle symbol.He was conspicuous by his absence in Election Commission on Friday when the commission heard the two sides on the symbol issue.
A harmony march, started as a show of unity among different communities in Assam after the riots following the Babri Masjid demolition, and turned into an annual event, entered its 25th year on Sunday.

While rest of Assam was busy celebrating the post-harvest festival of Magh Bihu, hundreds gathered at Hajo, 24km west of Guwahati, to take part in Samanway Sobha Jatra and Monikut Festival.

The procession and festival, at the small town considered Assams oasis of communal harmony is symbolic of how residents of this sacred place have learnt to live in peace.

Hajo is home to Hayagrib Madhab temple, a four-century-old popular Vishnu shrine. The area is also considered holy by some Buddhists who believe Buddha attained Nirvana here.

The Powa Mecca mosque, constructed over 350 years ago, is located few kilometres away. It is believed the structure was made using soil brought from Mecca, Islams most sacred site.

The procession started in January 1993 to show unity among followers of different faiths in Hajo after communal riots spread across India following demolition of the Babri Masjid in December 1992, Siba Prasad Sarma, doloi (chief priest) of Hayagrib Madhab temple said.

The move initiated by the local unit of All Assam Students Union (AASU) has continued uninterrupted annually on the first day of Magh month, according to Assamese calendar.

Unlike other places, communal harmony has been a trademark of Hajo for centuries and the annual procession has helped reinforce it, said Dr Painuruddin Ahmed, former president of Powa Mecca mosque committee.

Like every year, on Sunday too, hundreds started the procession from near the Powa Mecca mosque and went till Hayagrib Madhab temple where it culminated in the festival.

Since next year will be the silver jubilee celebrations, we plan to organise it on a much larger scale so that the message of peace spreads further, said Sarma.

He urged the state government to construct a ropeway connecting both religious sites, located six kilometers apart, to reduce distance and also strengthen communal ties further.

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Border Security Force (BSF) on Sunday launched operation Sard Hawa at the western international border of Rajasthan, under which vigil will be beefed-up to check the instances of infiltration due to the dense fog in the area.

The operation will continue till January 28.

The purpose of the operation is to keep a hawks eye on the international border, where vigil has been beefed-up and officers have also been asked to be part of operation to motivate jawans, Deputy Inspector General (BSF), Ravi Gandhi said.

He said the jawans will patrol with advanced weapons in the police station areas near to the border.

We have increased the deployment of jawans on the border to maintain a strict vigil, as chances of infilteration rises due to dense fog cover on the international border, he added.
The Centre has extended indefinitely the deadline to file details of assets and liabilities by central government employees under a mandatory provision of Lokpal Act.

A new format and fresh set of rules are being finalised by the government in this regard.

The last date for filing such details was December 31.

There is no requirement for filing of declarations of assets and liabilities by public servants now. The government is in the process of finalising a fresh set of rules. The said rules will be notified in due course to prescribe the form, manner and timelines for filing of declaration of assets and liabilities by the public servants under the revised provision of the said (Lokpal) Act.

All public servants will henceforth be required to file the declarations as may be prescribed by the fresh set of rules, an order issued by Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) said.

There are about 50.68 lakh central government employees.

As per rules, notified under the Lokpal Act, every public servant shall file declaration annually pertaining to his assets and liabilities as on March 31 every year or on or before July 31 of that year.

For 2014, the last date for filing returns was September 15. It was first extended till December, then till April 30, 2015 and third extension was up to October 15. The date was again extended to April 15, 2016 and then July 31 for filing of the returns.

The last date was further extended till December 31 after Parliament had passed a bill to amend the Lokpal and Lokayuktas Act, 2013.

The declarations under the Lokpal law are in addition to similar ones filed by the employees under various services rules.

The DoPT had last year also issued an order bringing NGOs receiving more than Rs one crore in government grants and donations above Rs 10 lakh from abroad under the ambit of the Lokpal.

The order had mandated filing of returns of the assets and liabilities by such organisations and their executives -- director, manager, secretary or any other officer.
A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait city.

KUNA quoted Mansour al-Hashemi, a spokesman for Kuwait's civil aviation authority, as saying "initial investigations confirmed the plane was explosives-free."

Eurowings said there were 287 passengers and 10 crew members on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved.

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France has appreciated demonetisation in India, terming it as a bold decision which shows how determined Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to combat tax evasion, corruption and black money.

French Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault also hailed the significant reforms undertaken by Modi to attract foreign investments, saying they are in the right direction.

Appreciating the Make in India initiative, he told PTI in an interview that France wishes to be a major partner, thanks to its experience, expertise and recognised technologies.

At the same time, he said joint efforts should be made between the European Union and India to reduce trade barriers and pitched for reforms in India with regard to easing the import-export regime and improving the predictability and stability of regulations.

I am impressed by the boldness of this decision. It shows how determined Prime Minister Modi is to combat tax evasion, corruption and black money. Its also a measure aimed at modernizing the economy by accelerating the transition to a digital economy, Ayrault, who was here on a four-day visit, said when his views were sought on demonetisation.

We are following these developments with keen interest, he added.

He said The Indian economy is full of promise for entrepreneurs and we trust the governments resolve to support the countrys economic development.

The French Minister, who was here primarily to attend Vibrant Gujarat, said the bilateral economic ties are being ceaselessly strengthened.

Pointing out that French companies have a very strong presence in India, he said they invest, innovate and make in India.

About 1000 French entities are spread all over the Indian territory, employing almost 3,50,000 skilled workers, and the general feeling is that this is a land full of opportunities, he said.

However, bilateral trade remains at a more modest level, which is also due to French companies fully adopting the Make in India policy.

But we must continue our joint efforts, between the European Union and India, to reduce trade barriers, he said.
Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Sunday asked e-tailer Amazon to refrain from being flippant about Indian symbols and icons and warned the American e-commerce giant that indifference will be at your own peril.

Amazon,better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril.  Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

Remain committed to economic reforms, ease of doing business & open trade. Sometimes get touchy when our icons are involved, he said in a separate tweet.

In a third tweet, however, he added: Comment on Amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it.

The Secretarys comments came days after External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj received a complaint about doormats portraying the Indian flag being listed for sale on Amazons Canada website.

Two days after Amazons Canada portal removed the article with doormats depicting the Indian flag after India objected to it, the online company, on its US portal, put up another article of slippers with Mahatma Gandhis image on it.

Read | After flag incident, slippers with Mahatma Gandhi image now on Amazon

This provoked the Indian Ministry of External Affairs to say on Saturday that the company should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments.

As a follow up to the matter regarding the sale of doormats with the Indian flag on Amazon, our Ambassador in Washington has been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments, said MEA spokesperson Vikas Swarup.

Amazon describes the products as Gandhi flip flops as a pair of foam rubber flip flops. It costs $16.99, or about Rs 1,200.

Soon after India threatened it wont grant visas to any Amazon official if the company did not withdraw the Indian flag-themed doormat from its Canadian platform, the e-commerce website removed the article from the online marketplace, a media report said on Thursday.

Amazon must tender unconditional apology. They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately. /1  Sushma Swaraj (@SushmaSwaraj) January 11, 2017
The Narendra Modi government expects the economy to overcome the effects of demonetisation and take the path to revival by June 2017 as it believes that it has crossed the hump with more than Rs 10 lakh crore of new money pumped into the market and bank withdrawals already matching the money deposited each day.

We expect micro, small, medium enterprises, real estate sector and small traders who used to earlier deal with as much as 50% in unaccounted cash to join the growth wagon by June. As it is the private sector was not taking credit with investments limited to public sector in the pre-demonetisation phase, said a top government official overseeing the implementation of the unprecedented step by PM Modi to declare 85-86% of the high value currency as illegal tender on November 8, 2016.

According to the official, the government expects some Rs 75,000 crore of high-value currency to remain unaccounted with around Rs 14 lakh crore deposited into the backs of the Rs 15.60 lakh crore that was floating in the market.

With no estimates available on the figure of high value currency that will come from Nepal and Bhutan as well as some Rs 11,000 to Rs 12,000 crore that were deposited into cooperative banks due to confusion in the first four days, the exact figure of unaccounted money will take time to be calculated. Given that the RBI has only 60 machines that count, scan (for counterfeits) and shred the illegal tender, it will take the central bank 600 days to count the cash deposited in all of the machines that work 12 hours a day, the official said.

However, the RBI, according to the official, was mulling removing the limits on ATM (Rs 4,500 per day), bank (Rs 24,000 per week) and current account (Rs 50,000 per week) withdrawals as the currency situation has eased off considerably and there is no longer any hoarding of cash due to panic.

Apart from the non-availability of estimates of currency to be deposited from Nepal and Bhutan, the government was also grappling to identify the black money deposited as white in banks through Jan Dhan, farmers accounts, dormant accounts, new accounts (some two crore new accounts were opened in 45 days post November 8, 2016).

The Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) have been tasked to mine data on accounts that have had deposits of over Rs 1 crore. Forensic analysis of such suspect accounts and ancillary shell companies through which payments were made have begun. We expect that once black money is identified by financial sleuths, the suspects will be forced to declare their income and pay 50% tax apart from keeping a specified amount in bonds for a specified period, said the official.

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Days after China blocked Indias proposal, France has pitched in the UN for designating Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, saying there are very strong arguments in favour of such a move.

On a four-day India visit, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault sent out a veiled message to China, saying the international communitys determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat.

Pointing out that Azhars outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) is already included in the (Sanctions) Committees list of terrorist organisations, he told PTI in an interview, therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested.

Thats why, he said, France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UNSC.

India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as an international terrorist for masterminding the attack on Pathankot Air base.

Since then, China had twice imposed technical hold on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 last, it blocked it, becoming the only country to do so.

We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached, said Ayrault, whose country is a permanent member of the UN security council.

He said France will now discuss with India what should be done. India knows it can count on our support, he added.

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, was one of the three terrorists freed by India in exchange of 166 hostages of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999.

Azhar, at that time, belonged to Harkat-ul Mujahideen, and soon after his release, he floated the new outfit JeM in Pakistan which carried out several attacks in India, including on Parliament on December 13, 2001 and Pathankot airbase.

The French foreign minister, whose country has faced a number of terror attacks over the last few years, pitched for a decisive action against Pakistan-based terror groups like LeT, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen which are targeting India.

France has very firmly condemned the terrorist attacks against India, including the recent one in Uri, and reiterated its full solidarity with India in its combat against terrorism, he said.

Clearly referring to Pakistan without naming it, he emphasised that all countries should fight effectively against terrorism originating from their territory or territories under their control.

We particularly want to see decisive action taken, in keeping with international law, against terrorist groups targeting India, particularly the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen, he said.

The French Minister was asked about his views on the surgical strikes carried out by Indian Army in September last to target terror camps based across the LoC in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir.

Nothing can justify terrorism, which must be fought everywhere with equal determination. When a country is faced with a terrorist threat of this nature, it has the right to defend itself, he replied.

Ayrault also spoke about the scope of cooperation between India and his country in combating terror, the footprint of which is expanding and intensity increasing.

France and India are both victims of terrorism, and they are in full solidarity vis-a-vis this scourge, he said.

He said the fight against terrorism is one of the cornerstones of India-France strategic partnership.

In concrete terms, he said, France and India hold constant and very operational exchanges on the terrorist threat.

We have a bilateral working group that brings together all the players concerned over counter-terrorism, and, among others, cooperation with regard to investigations and between our respective intervention units, the GIGN from the French side, and the National Security Guards from the Indian side. I welcome the development of all these cooperations, he said.
BSP chief Mayawati, who turned 61 on Sunday, opted for a low-key birthday but asked for a big gift from the party cadre  a UP win in the February-March poll.

She dismissed the likely alliance between Samajwadi Party (Akhilesh Yadav faction), Congress and possibly RLD as of no consequence and pitched BSP as the only political alternative capable of stopping the BJP in UP.

In a bid to attract Muslims, Mayawati said neither the divided SP (torn between uncle-nephew feud) nor a SP-Congress alliance would be able to stop the BJP.

Only BSP is capable of stopping the BJP from winning UP. A UP loss would unnerve BJP and stop its top leadership from taking anti-people decisions like demonetisation that has caused 150 deaths across the country so far, she said while addressing party cadre at the BSP office here.

Asking the BJP leaders to probe the financial status of 300 top politicians of the country, including those from the BJP, she accused the Modi government of harassing her and her family and said the currency ban would result in BJP losing UP.

The BJP top leaders who are so interested in knowing how much I have gained financially should also reveal the financial status of BJP and other top leaders after comparing their status before they came into politics and after, she said.

Read | With election code of conduct in place, Mayawatis birthday to be low-key affair

The BJP that came to power at the centre on achche din promise should be ready for burey din (bad days) after it loses in UP, she said.

Targeting Samajwadi Partys Muslim votes, the four-time UP chief minister flayed chief minister Akhilesh Yadav, whom she described as a discredited leader under whose leadership the state witnessed Muzaffarnagar riots.

She also deftly played the Dalit card to counter the BJPs attempt to target her base vote. Rohith Vemula case, Una incident and the Dayashankar Singh case are still fresh in the mind of the people, she said.

Vemula, a Dalit scholar, had committed suicide under mysterious circumstances. Mayawati had dashed to Gujarat after the public flogging of Dalits in Una come to light. Mayawati had also used the derogatory remark passed against her by expelled BJP leader Dayashankar Singh as proof of BJPs upper caste mentality and anti-Dalit bias.

Dismissing opinion polls and surveys that showed BJP gaining in UP as work of a managed media she listed works that she would undertake when she wins UP.

Not only would all policies and programmes that were stopped after BSP lost power be restarted but my government would also order inquiry into all big financial deals of the Akhilesh government, she said.

She, however, reiterated that her government wont construct memorials for Dalit icons like she did during her previous regime. The mass construction of memorials during her previous term as CM had come in for sharp criticism from her rivals.

Read | Mayawatis UP election strategy: Focus on note ban, SP family feud

That project is over now. My governments motto would be sarvajan hitaiy, sarvajan sukhaiy and special focus would be on development, especially for the poor, weaker sections, minorities, Dalits and the oppressed, she said.

Claiming that there was a tacit understanding between BJP and SP, Mayawati questioned as to why the centre, which kept talking of poor law and order in UP, didnt dismiss the Samajwadi Party government.
Firebrand Patidar leader Hardik Patel is set to return to Gujarat on Tuesday when his six-month exile in connection with sedition charges ends.

A cavalcade of around 6,000 vehicles is expected to take him from the Gujarat-Rajasthan border to Ahmedabad, showcasing his popularity.

Before his return, Hardik spoke to HT and said he would take the issue of death of 13 Patidars to every home in Gujarat and make it an election issue for polls slated later this year. Edited excerpts:

Q. You have met many political leaders including Janata Dal (United) president and Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar. Have you ever tried to approach Prime Minister Narendra Modi as part of the agitation for OBC status to your Patidar community?

A. He (Modi) is equally responsible for the murder of 13 Patidar youths in August 2015, who were demanding nothing but reservation benefits in college admissions and government jobs. If General Dyer (as he addresses Amit Shah) issued firing orders, Modis silence made him equally responsible. I have no reason to try and meet him for OBC reservation or any other matter.

Q. What is your plan upon returning home after 15 months (nine months in Surat jail and six in exile in Udaipur)?

A. I will go door to door, meet Patidars as well as other communities, and let them know why we deserve reservation. I will also take the message forward that lets not spare those who killed our youths. My campaign will begin from Patan district on January 27.

Read| Will spend exile in Rajasthan by working for Patidar community: Hardik Patel

Q. Do you plan to enter active politics?

A. I am underage to contest (elections). But I will support and campaign for those who are well-wishers of our (Patidar) community. The BJP is our main enemy. I will actively campaign against Amit Shah in his constituency.

Q. What, according to you, made Anandiben Patel step down as CM in August 2016?

A. She was removed because she failed to do her duty. She had already disappointed her own Patidar community. She neither said a single word on the floor of the assembly nor passed any condolence message for the killed youths.

Q. Do you see any difference between the Anandiben and the current Vijay Rupani governments?

A. There is only one difference. The Patel government was a rubber stamp of Modi and the Rupani government is of (Amit) Shah.

Q. The OBC commission has asked PAAS to submit survey report on economic and social conditions of Patidars in response to your application seeking reservation. What is the status?

A. We are in the process to submit the necessary data to the commission. But if the state government wishes, it can help the community get the OBC status.

Read| Hardik Patel slams govt for demonetisation; vows to uproot BJP from Gujarat

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In a strong rebuttal to allegations of scam in sale of KG gas field, the Gujarat government has said there is no underhand dealing as the field is being transfered from one PSU to another, and the countrys asset continues to be with the public sector.

Gujarat State Petroleum Corp (GSPC) had originally considered selling the Deen Dayal gas fields in Bay of Bengal to BG Group of UK but last month, stuck a deal to sell them to state-owned Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC) for USD 1.2 billion.

In an interview to PTI, Gujarat chief secretary and GSPC MD J N Singh said, the fields in KG basin, off the Andhra coast, were at some particular point seen as very very promising gas site in the country.

But we reached a particular point... we did not have enough financial strength to go forward with it beyond a point. And then, we started looking for some strategic partners or others who along with us could do it.

There was initially British Gas and some others in the discussion, ultimately by consensus, it was felt it is much better if it is done with a PSU and an Indian PSU, he said.

ONGC, he said, is technically and financially much more sound and it also has the advantage of having gas fields at adjacent block in KG basin.

Asked about Congress MP Jairam Rameshs allegation of a Rs 8,000 crore scam in a Central PSU being used to bail out GSPC that was on verge of a loan default, he said, It is a political thing. I dont want to respond to it.

But it is a win-win situation if the countrys assets continue to be with the PSU. (By transferring) from one PSU to another, there is no private dealing, no underhand dealing.. So, where is the question of conspiracy or judicial enquiry? he asked.

Even if the gas fields, where GSPC has till now spent close to USD 3 billion, were to have been sold to British Gas at a higher cost, it would always (be) open to question.

(Now), it goes to ONGC. We are very happy, he said.

Ramesh, in an open letter to SEBI Chairman U K Sinha, had alleged that GSPC has been trying to recover gas from the KG basin block for more than a decade without much success despite massive borrowings of close to Rs 20,000 crore.

Alleging that ONGC had flouted listing guidelines and did not secure approval of minority shareholders for the transaction, he said the state-owned company suddenly after 2014, had a realisation that buying GSPCs gas block in KG basin is a virtue.

GSPC has spent large sums of money, hired foreign experts and imported sophisticated equipment and yet could not find gas. Then, why does ONGC deem it fit to pay Rs 8,000 crore to acquire this very block? he said demanding a probe into the deal.L
An encounter broke out between militants and security forces in south Kashmirs Anantnag district on Sunday, police said.

Acting on specific intelligence input about the presence of unspecified number of militants in Awoora village in Pahalgam area of the district, security forces launched a search operation in the area, a police official said.

As the forces were conducting the operation, the hiding militants fired at them, he said, adding the security forces retaliated, resulting in an encounter.

The SHO of Pahalgam said the encounter was continuing and the forces had not halted the operation for the night.

Meanwhile, security forces arrested a suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba militant, believed to be an associate of slain LeT commander Abu Bakr, in north Kashmirs Sopore.

A police official said the forces launched a cordon and search operation in Harwan area of Sopore. During the operation, local LeT militant Fayaz Ahmad Ganai was arrested, he said.

Arms and ammunition, including a pistol and army fatigues, were recovered from the militant.

The official said Ganai and Abu Bakr operated in the same area.

(With agency inputs)
Congress MP and author Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said the Jalianwala Bagh centenary in 2019 will be a good time for the British to apologise to the Indians for wrongs committed during their rule.

The former diplomat, who was speaking on his book An Era of Darkness: The British Empire In India before inaugurating the Kolkata Literary Festival-2017 here, said, Either the British Prime Minister or a member of the royal family can come and convey their own profound apologies to the people of India, not just for that atrocity (Jallianwala Bagh massacre) but for all wrongs done during the empire.

Why not use that opportunity ? ... that would be a very fine gesture because after all the wrongs were done in the name of the Crown, he said.

According to him its never too late to admit. But the fact is that what the British have done is opposite. They (British) have brushed it under the carpet. There is a certain historical amnesia. You are finding it in the way in which the British are relating to their own colonial past and on top of that, a lot of romanticising of the empire - a lot of self justification is taking place, including, British historians today, who praise the empire as a good thing, Tharoor said.

I am concerned, what is to my mind the best thing to do is to seek a certain atonement, which in the case of the British they have never apologised to the people of India for what was done here for 200 years. There are a couple of examples I have mentioned in the preface of the book, he said.

He gave the example of the Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau who apologised for the 1914 Komagata Maru incident where hundreds of Hindu, Sikh and Mulsim immigrants were denied entry into Canada and turned away from the port of Vancouver to return to an uncertain and ultimately violent fate in India.
A fat tax will be charged on junk food, if Prime Minister Narendra Modi clears a recommendation from a team of top bureaucrats he had constituted to suggest ideas on health, sanitation and urban development in this years Budget.

The 11-member group of secretaries recommended imposition of additional taxes on foods with added sugar, salt and saturated fats.

The suggestion was aimed at stemming a spurt in lifestyle diseases such as diabetes and hypertension, which are linked to junk food  a grey area in India without clear-cut guidelines on food and beverages considered unhealthy.

The term junk food has not been defined under the Food Safety and Standard Act.

Read | Maharashtra may make fast food costly so you eat healthy

The additional revenue from the fat tax should be diverted to the health budget, said the group, which included Union health secretary CK Mishra, and Dr Soumya Swaminathan, director general of the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), the nations top organisation for promotion of biomedical research.

This will help increase public spending on health, which is just 1.16% of the GDP now, said a senior government official.

If approved, such food products could attract higher tax under the proposed goods and services tax (GST) that the government has proposed to implement from this April.

Consumption of food high in added sugar, salt and saturated fat is seen as one of the major reasons for the increase in lifestyle diseases. To discourage people from eating junk food, we have recommended imposition of an additional tax on such food items, said a member of the group.

A final call will be taken by the Prime Minister.

The recommendations are likely to become government policy because a similar groups suggestions such as making Aadhar a money bill and advancing the Budget cycle were adopted last year.

Read | Are you a millennial who binges on junk food? You could have a fatty liver

But implementation could be a major challenge as a similar tax that Denmark experimented with in 2011 fell flat and the country had to roll it back a year later because of growing criticism. The Danes found that people went for cheaper alternatives, which defeated the purpose of having a junk food tax.

Many US states such as Philadelphia and California levy tax on sugary beverages, as does Mexico and Hungary.

Back home, the Kerala government last June proposed a 14.5% tax on food items such as pizza and burger served in branded restaurants.

Last October, the Delhi governments advisory agency proposed a tax on food and beverages with high sugar, salt and saturated fat. But it hasnt been cleared yet.

Over-nutrition is turning out to be a major health issue among adults in India. According to National Family Health Survey data for 2015-16, the number of obese people has doubled in the past decade.

A WHO study too found that 22% of children in India were obese and unhealthy.

Read | Junk food ads lead kids to make to unhealthy choices

The Modi-constituted group has recommended increasing public spending on health to 1.5% of the GDP by 2019.

It also suggested making ICMR the nodal agency for all health research, saying such a move will stop overlap of work done on health by government institutions.

There is limited and scattered funding with 80% going towards payment of salaries and buildings, said an official.

Read more | Junk it: UGC wants college canteens to take fast food off the menu

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Nawazuddin Siddiqui who has proved his talent in commercial and critical film as well says Indian filmmakers need to emphasize on the importance of realistic movies. He says without them, Indian films cannot make a mark globally. Actor's latest release is Haraamkhor.

The actor says, "We have to make such realistic films or world cinema won't take us seriously. Internationally, our films are known for dance, drama, music and that, they (global audiences) take lightly. How long will we keep making films where hero-heroine is dancing around trees?" Nawazuddin shared the challenges he faced in film, "Well, though I have no similarity with the character, but I understand his emotion. I have seen many teachers in real life, which come from the same background and morality and treat their profession like just another one, rather than a noble profession. So while acting, I incorporated such real life experiences to execute the character."

The actor talks about playing negative role, "There is nothing called negative character. The negativity and positivity exists in all of us. In addition, if you are talking about 'Raman Raghav 2.0', that was a real life character. So we have to understand and accept that such people exist in our society."

Nawaz added, "If you look at the end, they suffer, which is a clear indication that if you are wrong, you will be punished. However, I see no reason not to show such real characters in films, as that is the way to create awareness among the audience. Like the way we get to know about the society of Korea,Iran and other countries through their films, people will get to know about our country. Our films are a mirror of our society."

Also Read:

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Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash on Sunday said the government needs to keep that in mind that allowing private FM stations to air news might have security implications.

From democracy point of view, the idea of allowing them to do so looks very simple and must be done, but given the diversity and internal security concerns of India, which also has thousands of kilometres of borders, the move has a lot of implications, he told PTI in Hyderabad.

Noting that new FM channels are going to come in as a few months ago the government had auctioned frequency bandwidth for a few hundreds of them, he said, You need to seriously ponder over this (whether to allow FM channels to air news) before you take that step.

While its true that private television channels have been allowed to telecast news and current affairs programmes, radio has a different audience, different kind of reach and there are lot of issues about them, he said.

Surya Prakash was here in connection with Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Unions first edition of International Television Dance Festival, hosted by Prasar Bharati, in Hyderabad on Sunday.

Asked if he was in favour of making All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan -- owned by Prasar Bharati -- corporate entities so that dependence on the government for funding was reduced and there was greater flexibility in decision-making, he said he had heard that somewhere a group of government secretaries made that recommendation, but added that he did not exactly know what they had in mind.

AIR and Doordarshan are already part of Prasar Bharati. Prasar Bharati is an autonomous corporation established by Parliament. Now, suppose if you want to hive off AIR and Doordarshan from Prasar Bharati...yes you can do that but first you have to repeal the Prasar Bharati Act.

Once you take away AIR and Doordarshan, there is nothing left there (with Prasar Bharati). You have to repeal the Prasar Bharati Act if you want to do it, he said.

Asked if there is a proposal to merge Prasar Bharati with the information and broadcasting ministry, Surya Prakash dubbed it as some story floated in some newspapers and it has no legs to stand up as to what is meant by that.

When there is an act passed by Parliament called Prasar Bharati Act, and Parliament created an autonomous corporation called Prasar Bharati and gave All India Radio and Doordarshan to it, what do you mean by merger of Prasar Bharati into information and broadcasting ministry?

Again it boils down to this, anything you want to do with Prasar Bharati or the entities owned by Prasar Bharati, you have to repeal the act. For that you have to build political consensus, he said.

Asked if Prasar Bharati has exercised its autonomy, Surya Prakash said its the will and law of Parliament.

Even as Parliament said you (Prasar Bharati) are an autonomous corporation, 95% of employees are central government employees who have been loaned out to Prasar Bharati, and salaries of those employees are paid by Union government. This is where the things are at the moment, he said.

What about autonomy of Prasar Bharati? I will say Prasar Bharati is on road to autonomy. Sometimes, some things take time to fructify, he added.
Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday said Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh should resign if he cant remove the ongoing economic blockade on National Highways in the state.

Centre has provided adequate security to open the blockade but he(Ibobi) did not use it. If he cant remove the blockade he should resign, says senior Union Minister who is BJP election in charge for Manipur responding to a question during a press conference here on Sunday.

Read | Rijiju blames Congress government in Manipur for economic blockade

Javadekar who is BJP election in charge for Manipur along with partys NE in charge and MP Pralhad Patel was here on a two day visit to the state to monitor and take up partys plan of action for crucial assembly elections.

A smooth victory in last years assembly polls in neighbouring Assam has boosted BJPs confidence to overthrow 15 years Congress rule and grab power for the first time in Manipurwhich goes to polls on March 4 and 8 next.

On being asked why Centre is not initiating any step to resolve the issue of the ongoing economic blockade on National Highways in Manipur which is causing a lot of inconveniences to general public, the visiting Minister and BJP leader claimed, Centre cannot do at its own when there is an elected government in the state.

Earlier Manipur Chief Minister O Ibobi Singh however said that he had informed the Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh to intervene the situation in Manipur.

United Naga Council(UNC) called the blockade to protest the congress governments decision to elevate Jiribam and Sadar Hills as full-fledged districts since November 1 midnight.The UNC said the move has been done to bifurcate the ancestral land of the Nagas in Manipur. The state government has denied the assertions saying it was done for administrative convenience.
Unaccounted cash to the tune of Rs 52.5 lakhs, all in Rs 2,000 notes, has been seized at two places in the district and three persons arrested in this connection, police said on Sunday.

Fazlur Rahman (30) and Unnimoyi (52), natives of Kozhikode district, were found carrying Rs 50 lakhs in their baggage during a vehicle search at Valluvampuram between Kozhikode and Manjeri on NH 213 last night, they said.

The accused were travelling in a private bus from Kozhikode to Manjeri, police said, adding, the seizure was effected following a tip-off.

They were arrested as they could not account for the money, police said.

In another incident, Rs 2.5 lakhs was seized from a motorcycle-borne youth near the Manjeri police station during a routine check for traffic violation last night.

Jamsheer (22), native of Pattrakulam near Manjeri, was arrested and later released on bail, they added.
Rescuers fished out four more bodies from the Ganga Sunday morning taking the toll in Saturdays boat capsize in Patna to 24. An unspecified number of people are still missing with eyewitnesses insisting that there were two boats involved in the accident although there is no official confirmation.

A video shot by an eyewitness from the river bank shows two boats capsizing.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), which was pressed into service for rescue operation last evening around 8pm and worked through the night, could retrieve four more bodies by 9:30am on Sunday. The first body was retrieved around 5:30 am.

We have deployed eight deep divers to search for more bodies, NDRF commandant Vijay Sinha told HT. We could anchor one boat which capsized, but are unable to locate the second boat. The media has been agog with reports that two boats were involved in the tragedy, he added.

Among the bodies recovered on Sunday morning were those of a 40 year old man, a teenager, a youth in his early 20s, and a 4-6 year old child, said Sinha. Besides pressing into service its deep divers, the NDRF was also using maha jaal (large net) to fish out bodies.

The commandant said that boats had also been dispatched downstream to Deedarganj, 15-20 kms from the accident site, to check for more bodies.

Relatives of victims were dissatisfied with the arrangement at the Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH), where the bodies were sent for autopsy. Family members complained that dignity eluded them even in death, as there was no place in the hospital to keep the bodies, which were lying on the floor.

Ten survivors who were admitted to the PMCH on Saturday evening, were discharged from the hospital on Sunday.

Anxious family members and curious onlookers at Gandhi Ghat after the boat mishap on Saturday. (HT Photo)

Principal secretary of Bihars disaster management department (DMD), Pratyaya Amrit, who was camping at the site said, Twenty four bodies have so far been recovered. We have asked the NDRF to search downstream for more bodies and the second possible boat as well. We even asked the survivors who claim that there was only one boat which was overloaded and capsized.

Meanwhile, politics has begun over the tragedy. Former deputy chief minister and BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi blamed chief minister Nitish Kumar for the tragedy and demanded that an FIR be filed against the CM. He said that arrangements were woefully inadequate for the kite festival, hosted by the culture department on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

Modi also pointed that while arrangements were top class during the recently concluded Prakashotsava  the 350th birth anniversary celebration of Guru Gobind Singh  it was sub-standard for Makar Sankranti here. He even questioned the lack of deployment of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) and the NDRF personnel as well as the non-availability of ambulances.

Modi also demanded that the district magistrate (DM) and the superintendent of police (SP) should be exempted from VIP duty in Patna.

Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal and senior superintendent of police (SSP) Manu Maharaaj are facing the heat for having arrived late at the accident site. Both were reportedly on VIP duty on Saturday when the mishap took place.

RJD leader Lalu Prasad, a partner of the grand alliance government in Bihar, also conceded that the arrangement was not good. He said that the administration should have been more vigilant.

Chief minister Nitish Kumar has ordered an inquiry into the incident. Principal secretary, disaster management department, Pratyaya Amrit, Patna deputy inspector general of police Shalin and Patna district magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agarwal have been asked to probe the incident. He also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh each to the next of kin.

People had now begun questioning that some officers, who should be made accused, were on the probe panel.

According to some accounts, two country boats carrying around 60-80 people back from a kite festival on the occasion of Makar Sankranti capsized in the Ganga opposite NIT Ghat on Saturday evening.

The festival site is a kilometre away on a sandbar, popularly known as the diara, near the confluence of the Gandak and the Ganga rivers. The site, where the boat capsized was around 20 metres deep, SDRF sources said.

Around 75,000 people had visited the diara for the festival on Saturday. By the end of the day, most people hurried on to the few boats which were available there.

Onlookers on the Patna side of the ghat said the boats were about to reach the bank when they capsized.
The ministry of defence (MoD) has moved the Supreme Court against an Armed Forces Tribunal (AFT) order that criticised the army for throwing out its lowest-rung officers after holding them responsible for a terrorist attack at one of its bases in Akhnoor in 2003.

The tribunal had, in its last years verdict, dismissed the armys contention that the jawans failed to display the act of valour and committed a military offence.

The Indian Army is not an army of cowards. When a lapse takes place, largely attributable to lack of leadership at various levels, inadequate infrastructure and inadequate training, to brand all those at the lowest-rung carrying out sentry duties as cowards without a trace of valid evidence and take away their means of livelihood would be nothing but a gross travesty of justice, the AFT had said.

In its appeal before the top court, the army refuted the allegations against its senior officers and accused the soldiers of being cowards. Seeking dismissal of the eight soldiers, the army has challenged the AFTs opinion that the attack was due to a multi-dimensional failure in the security setup of the entire unit, especially the leadership. The guards at duty could not effectively engage and neutralise the attack, but ran away. They were expected to accept the challenge from the terrorist and give an effective reply to thwart it, the army said.

Before the tribunal, the jawans had argued that the terrorist attack was successful due to lack of able leadership and ineffective functioning of seniors. Taking their side, the tribunal had held no proper briefing was imparted to the junior-rank officers nor were they prepared to counter the attack.

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A three-member committee headed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet on Monday to decide on the chief of the countrys premier probe agency Central Bureau of Investigation.

The post of CBI director is lying vacant for over one month following Anil Sinhas retirement on December 2.

At present, Gujarat-cadre IPS officer Rakesh Asthana is the interim director of the investigating agency.

The selection committee has Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge and Chief Justice of India or his nominee as its other members.

A list of about 45 eligible IPS officers has been sent to the Prime Ministers Office for consideration as next CBI director, official sources said today.

The name of senior IPS officers Krishna Choudhary, Aruna Bahuguna and S C Mathur, among others are doing the rounds as strong contenders for the top post, they said.

Choudhary and Bahuguna are 1979 batch IPS officers of Bihar and Telangana cadre respectively. Chaudhary is Director General of Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) force and Bahuguna is Director of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Police Academy, Hyderabad.

Mathur, a 1981 batch IPS officer of Maharashtra cadre, is working with Maharashtra State Police Housing and Welfare Corporation Ltd.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wished all soldiers, veterans and their families on the occasion of Army Day saying the armed force always lead from the front be it in protecting the nation or helping citizens during natural disasters.

Greetings to all soldiers, veterans & their families on Army Day. We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army, Prime Minister Modi tweeted.

Greetings to all soldiers, veterans & their families on Army Day. We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2017

Applauding the Indian Army for its courage and valour, the Prime Minister said it has always protected the sovereignty of India.

Indian Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of our nation or helping citizens during natural disasters.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2017

Indian Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of our nation or helping citizens during natural disasters, he tweeted.

Remember the sacrifices made by the army, Prime Minister Modi said they put their lives at risk so that the citizens can live peacefully.

We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2017

We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully, his tweet read.

Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year, in recognition of Lieutenant General K M Cariappas taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on 15 January 1949.
A two-year-old girl from Rajasthans Bhilwara district died on Saturday after she was branded with a hot iron rod as part of a superstitious ritual to cure her of an illness.

The practice of singeing, known as raakha or daagna, is rampant in many villages of Bhilwara and neighbouring districts.

The villagers believe that putting a hot object at a specific place on the body opens up the clogged veins and arteries and cures ailments.

Every month we get at least one or two such cases of children being singed with hot iron rods falsely believing that it would heal them, said Dr OP Agal, a pediatrician at the Ajmer Medical College and Hospital.

It is still a popular practice here in Bhilwara district due to lack of awareness among the villagers, he said.

Police registered a case against unknown persons for hurting the child.

Doctors at the districts Mahatma Gandhi government hospital said when the victim was brought to the hospital on January 10 they noticed a burnt mark on her upper abdomen.

She was suffering from diarrhea and severe dehydration which resulted in breathing problems, doctors said.

On further inquiry we found out that the girl was singed with hot iron rods possibly by some local healers, said Dr Agal.

By the time she was brought to the hospital, she had already been ill for around four days and crucial time was already lost, he added.

After her condition further deteriorated, the girl was referred to the Ajmer Medical College and Hospital on January 13, where she breathed her last following renal failure.

Police said the family members maintained that they themselves had branded the girl, ostensibly to shield the real culprits.

We have registered a case for voluntarily causing hurt by dangerous weapons and means and endangering life or personal safety of others under relevant sections of the IPC and the Juvenile Justice Act, said Sedu Ram, station house officer, Banera police station, Bhilwara.
A whopping 2.8 crore cases are pending in district courts across the country which are short of nearly 5,000 judicial officers.

The situation has led to suggestions in two Supreme Court reports to increase the judicial manpower manifold -- at least seven times -- to overcome the crisis by appointing about 15,000 more judges in the coming few years.

The suggestions and some sharp remarks came out in two reports issued by the Supreme Court -- Indian Judiciary Annual Report 2015-2016 and Subordinate Courts of India: A Report on Access to Justice 2016-- which also highlighted that nearly 15,000 more judges would be required in next three year to overcome this critical situation.

Data showed that district courts across the country are grappling with a backlog of 2,81,25,066 civil and criminal cases in the period between July 1, 2015 to June 30, 2016. But a large number of matters, 1,89,04,222, were also disposed off during the period.

One of the key reasons for the huge figure of pending litigation is the shortage of judges in subordinate courts which is a cause of concern, as there are 4,954 judges posts vacant when the sanctioned strength of judicial officers was 21,324, the report on subordinate courts said.

Based on the study and keeping in mind the future growth in institution of cases, it is found that the present judge strength is insufficient to deal with a huge figure of pendency of cases, which is a cause of concern.

Additional judicial manpower and support staff, as well as infrastructure is required immediately to handle the situation, the report said.

In the backdrop of the tussle between the judiciary and the executive over appointments of judges and infrastructure, the report came out with sharp remarks over the failure of the government in dealing with these issues.

The immediate requirement itself shows that enough has not been done to increase the judges strength of the subordinate judiciary. The State is obliged to carry out the decisions of the Apex Court and increase the Judge-Population Ratio to 50 per million as held in the All India Judges Association case.

The present judge strength is sufficient just to handle the fresh cases filed each year which ensures constancy of pendency figures. It is necessary to understand and predict that case filing patterns would change in future and device methods to keep pendency in manageable limits, it said.
Amid protests against the ban on Jallikattu, police on Sunday detained several people at various places in some southern districts for attempting to organise the bull taming sport.

Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.

People hoisted black flags at Palamedu village for not allowing them to hold Jallikattu in connection with Pongal festivities and local temple functions, they said.

Shops at several localities remained closed and black flags were also hoisted at Alanganallur.

Both Palamedu and Alanganallur are famous for Jallikattu in Madurai district.

A police officer said they were maintaining strict vigil in such localities.

Police stations have been alerted to prevent any attempt to hold Jallikattu, the officer added.

Read: Politics of Pongal: Outrage over Jallikattu but not over drought in Tamil Nadu

The die-hard supporters of the sport along with major political parties in the state have been demanding an ordinance for conducting Jallikattu after the Supreme Court imposed a ban on it.

On Saturday, 149 persons were detained in Madurai district for staging protests against the ban.

The Supreme Court on Thursday had said it could not give its verdict on Jallikattu before Pongal.

DMK Working President M K Stalin had led a protest in Chennai on Friday in this regard.
The BJP is planning a role for Union minister of health and family welfare, Jagat Prakash Nadda, in Himachal Pradesh, ahead of the assembly election in the hill state later this year.

Nadda could be appointed president of Himachal Pradesh BJP after the elections in five states are over, a BJP leader privy to the matter told HT. Results of the assembly election will be announced on March 11. Sources said Nadda will continue to remain a union minister while heading the BJP in Himachal Pradesh.

Nadda was unavailable for comments.

His return to state politics could mark a generational change in Himachal Pradesh where former chief ministers Prem Kumar Dhumal (72) and Shanta Kumar (82) have been BJPs face for several years. Nadda is 56 and considered close to the RSS leadership. He was closely associated with ABVP, RSS students wing, in the national capital during student days.

In appointing him as the president of the state unit, then BJP leadership wants to signal its desire to look beyond the Prem Kumar Dhumal-Shanta Kumar combine, who are seen as arch rivals in state politics. A leader who is not seen as a mass leader, Nadda could never step out of the shadow of two veterans and moved to national politics when Nitin Gadkari was appointed BJPs national president in 2010. At present, he is a Rajya Sabha MP.

His name was also in contention for the BJP presidents post in 2014 after Rajnath Singh joined the Union council of minister, but lost to Amit Shah.

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The BJP will need a near sweep in the Uttar Pradesh assembly elections to see an NDA candidate as the next President of India.

Election for a new President is due in July when incumbent Pranab Mukherjee completes his five-year term.

The BJP has an overwhelming majority in the Lok Sabha and also rules 12 states. But that is not enough given the complex mathematics of a presidential election.

The electoral college to pick a President comprises of all elected MPs and MLAs. Each vote also has a weightage or value depending on the size of the population he or she represents. MPs have the highest value  708  for each vote while the value of an MLAs vote depends on the population of the state.

Uttar Pradesh, which is the most populous state, has higher weightage than north-eastern states.

The value of a UP MLAs vote  208  is the highest while Sikkim has the lowest representational value of eight.

A good show in UP, which has 83,824 votes in the presidential election, is therefore essential for the NDAs prospects in the presidential polls.

The NDA, as on date, doesnt have the numbers to get its own President candidate elected. UP polls will be make-or-break for Narendra Modi for presidential polls and also for many other things. If the BJP loses the polls, Modis scheme of things will have to be undone, CPI(M)s Lok Sabha leader Md Salim said.

The five states going to the polls  UP, Goa, Uttarakhand, Punjab and Manipur  together have 1,03,756 votes.

The state elections will be held on February 4 and March 8 and the results declared on March 11. Only after the UP polls, the picture will be clear, said Bhartruhari Mahtab, BJDs Lok Sabha leader.

Congress strategist Jairam Ramesh echoed similar sentiments.

UP polls will decide where the BJP stands in terms of the Presidential race. But it would always be good to select a consensus candidate, rising above partisan politics, for President and vice president, he said.

At present, the BJP is short by 0.17 million votes and it is impossible to elect its own candidate without any support.

The National Democratic Alliance (NDA), on the other hand, will need almost 75,000 more votes to win the prestigious election.

In the past, the NDA has seen a split in its ranks when it came to voting for a new President.

This year too, pundits expect a contest unless a consensus evolves.

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Uttar Pradeshs ruling party might be embroiled in a bruising fight for control but Samajwadi Party leaders are busy playing musical chairs over nameplates at the partys headquarters and official residences.

With just a month to go before assembly polls, the two warring factions  one led by chief minister Akhilesh Yadav and the other by his uncle Shivpal Yadav  are camping before the election commission with little chance of reconciliation.

It all began on October 23, when Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav expelled national general secretary Ramgopal Yadav, a key Akhilesh aide. Two days later, supporters of Shivpal removed Ramgopals nameplate from the SPs national headquarters in Delhi.

Ramgopals nameplate reappeared after a month when Mulayam revoked the expulsion. Now, after his third removal from the party in two months, Ramgopals nameplate has vanished once again.

Similar has been the case with Shivpals nameplate.

On October 26, three days after Akhilesh sacked Shivpal from his cabinet, the nameplate at his official residence, mentioning Shivpal Yadav as a minister, was replaced with one bearing only the leaders name.

Within two hours, Shivpals staff restored the original minister nameplate when Akhilesh went to meet governor Ram Naik.

Shivpals supporters and employees anticipated that the CM might re-induct Shivpal. Three days later, when Akhilesh did not announce his uncles re-induction, Shivpal moved out of the house, removing all his nameplates.

On January 1, when an extraordinary emergency special session of the party, summoned by Ramgopal, sacked Shivpal from the post of state president, Akhileshs supporters took only a few minutes to storm the state unit office of the party and remove Shivpals nameplate.

As the takeover of the office was not absolute, some supporters of Shivpal found the old nameplate of Shivpal Yadav, the minister and put it again at his office, despite the fact that Shivpal had ceased to be a minister for over two months.

The nameplate of Naresh Uttam, the new SP state president named by Akhilesh, was not ready then. But now it is.

On Saturday, the nameplate mentioning Naresh Uttam as SP state president came up at the state headquarters of the party.

The office has seen three different state presidents  Akhilesh Yadav ceased to be the SP state president on September 14 and was replaced by Shivpal. Now, Naresh Uttam holds the office.

Only one nameplate that has not changed is that of national president Mulayam Singh Yadav, despite the fact that Mulayam is not the national president of Akhilesh faction of SP that controls the party offices now.

For full coverage on Yadav Family Feud, click here

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Raju Bairwa, a daily wage worker comes to Jaipur everyday from Dausa district looking for work, but on most days he fails to get work and has to stay back in the city.

Standing outside the night shelter near Khasa Kothi waiting for his turn to get inside, he tells this correspondent that he usually goes back to his village, but at times he stays back to look for work the next day.

I get free food, a bed to sleep in and a quilt for the cold night at the night shelter, but I have to use the pay toilets to relieve myself, he says.

If I had money then I would gone back to my village and I have no money to use the pay toilets, so I am forced to defecate in the open.

There are many people like Bairwa, who spend nights at rain baseras or night shelters and are forced to defecate in the open.

With the onset of winter, the Jaipur Municipal Corporation (JMC) has set up night shelters at a number of places across the city for the poor and the destitute, but entry into the night shelters is given only on producing a photocopy of ID card.

Many beggars and poor, who do not have ID cards, spend nights on pavements in the chilly weather.

Suraj, another daily wage worker at Khasa Kothi says, There is sulabh sauchalaya near the night shelter, but if anybody has relief themselves at night when the pay toilet is closed, they have no other option but to defecate in the open.

Sulabh Shauchayala opens at 4.30-5am and closes by 10-11pm.

Ramjilal Meena from Sawai Madhopur at a night shelter outside the SMS hospital says the rates mentioned at Sulabh Sauchalaya is Rs 2 for using the lavatory, Rs 3 for bath, Rs 5 for using a western commode and using the urinal is free.

But the people who man the pay toilet charge Rs 5 for using the lavatory, Rs 10 for a cold water bath and Rs 20 for hot water bath, he says.

At night, the pay toilets are closed and people are forced to defecate in open.

Meena suggests that the rain basera in-charges should be given token by the JMC and people at the night shelter should be given these token to use lavatory at sulabh sauchalaya free of cost, as this facility is for poor and needy.

There is sulabh sauchalaya at most of the temporary night shelters and where there is no public toilet, the JMC has set up mobile toilets.

HT visited a night shelter outside the airport in Sanganer neighbourhood of the city.

Kalu Lal from Bandikui staying at the night shelter says through the facility is good, there is no water in the mobile toilet and it is so dirty that he prefers to defecate in the open early in the morning before the hustle bustle starts.

Kastur Chand, the guard at the night shelter says it is true that there is no water in the mobile toilet and toilets are so dirty that no one will use it.

I have complained many times to the JMC, but nothing has happened so far, he says.

The JMC has set up 28 night shelters of which 12 are temporary and remaining are permanent.

Banwari Lal Kumawat, of the Peoples Union of Civil Liberties, Jaipur, said the condition of toilets at permanent night shelters is also not good.

It is good that most of the night shelters are set up near sulabh sauchalayas, but it should be made free of people staying at the night shelters where only the poor and homeless stay, he said.

The mobile toilets set up outside a few night shelters should be regularly cleaned, so that people can use it.

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A technical snag in the radar facilitating take off and landing of aircraft has been rectified at Chaudhary Charan Singh Airport here, restoring normal air traffic in the state capital after it had taken a hit on Saturday.

Airport officials said an IndiGo flight from Delhi was the first to land here at 7.30 am on Sunday. It took off at 8.35 am.

Air traffic was thrown out of gear from 3 pm on Saturday after Doppler Very high frequency Omni directional Radio Range (DVOR), one of the primary ground based navigational tools, snapped. As a result, 20 flights, including an international one, were affected.

Airport director P K Srivastava said the engineers declared the runway safe at 12.36 am and we communicated the same to all the airlines.

He claimed that the management of passengers was perfect as airlines had communicated the cancellation of flights quickly.

Passengers cooperated with the airlines when they came to know about the cancellation of all the flights, he said.

Srivastava also said that the snag had caused apprehensions over movement of VVIPs.

Had the DVOR not been put in order, VVIP movement from the airport would have been hit, he said, adding that the traffic is absolutely normal now and all the flights are landing and taking off as per schedule.
After bringing the roof down with his performance in Mumbai on Sunday afternoon, Grammy Award-winning DJ David Guetta rocked Delhi the same evening.

Even though his performance in Bengaluru got cancelled, and his gig in Mumbai was delayed, Guetta did not disappoint his fans in either of the metro cities with laser webs and kitsch retro visuals on the Sunburn Arena stages on Sunday.

Adding to the party atmosphere was an LED screen flashing titles of Guettas hits accompanied by fusion of multi-colored psychedelic laser lights that matched each tune.

It takes a price to party. It has been such a beautiful journey and I am grateful that Sunburn has finally made the impossible possible. A big thank you to my fans for their constant support as I could have never done all of this without you. Thank you so much India, I love you and I will return soon, said Guetta.

With homegrown artistes Anish Sood, Nina Malika, Zaedan and Arsh setting the mood for Guettas act in Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi, Guettas India tour ended at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Delhi on a high note.

The hitmaker played songs like Hey mama, Titanium, Sexy bitch, Dont worry child and Without you.

Guettas multi-city tour and his first concert in Bengaluru was cancelled on Thursday due to the authorities having reservations about the law and order situation in the wake of the molestation incidents on New Years eve.

The second concert in Mumbai was scheduled for Friday, but due to police permission, it had to be pushed by two days. And even if it meant having to do two concerts in two different cities in a day -- Mumbai and Delhi -- Guetta took on the challenge.

Mumbai!!!!!!! We've made it! Great show this afternoon! Now in Delhi.... on stage very soon!! Thanks India !!! pic.twitter.com/AJ1J8xsgKU  David Guetta (@davidguetta) January 15, 2017

He performed in Hyderabad on Saturday night.

We have created global history today by achieving something that we have never done in our 10 year history of the brand. We would like to thank the authorities, the artists, all our partners and most importantly the fans for their incredible love and dedicated support. We lived up to our commitment of delivering two shows on a single day and not upsetting our fans. 2017 will be the biggest year for Sunburn, said Sunburn CEO Karan Singh.
The Noida Metro Rail Corporation (NMRC) said it will soon add 12 new air conditioned (AC) buses to its fleet in the city.

According to the plan, 50 buses were to be introduced in the first phase of the city bus service that was launched on December 14,2016. However, due to various reasons, 50 buses could not be put into service at the time of the launch. Over the last one month, NMRC began plying 38 buses on various routes.The remaining 12 buses will be operational soon, said NMRC officials.

At present, the 38 AC buses ply on five routes in Noida and Greater Noida  including one in Greater Noida, two in Noida and two between the two cities. The transport undertaking is also in the process of conducting a survey of new routes in Noida on demand from residents. The new routes will cover sectors 62, 54, 34, 53, 57, 59 and 52.

Sandeep Raizada, officer on special duty (OSD), NMRC, said, The 12 buses will be operational in a couple of weeks. The body work on the buses is in progress at the depot. Once the buses are ready, they will have to be registered with the transport department. The exercise will take 10 to 15 days before they start plying on city roads.

He said the response to the bus service has been encouraging. Initially, the daily fare collection was between R40,000 and R45,000. But now, it is R1.5 lakh a day. We hope this will increase as we are committed to providing buses to commuters at a good frequency and ensure a comfortable ride, Raizada said.

He said some new routes may be opened in Noida soon.

Earlier, the Federation of Noida RWAs (Fonrwa) members met NMRC managing director Santosh Yadav requesting for a route revision in the larger interest of residents living in sectors without last-mile connectivity with Metro stations.

We appreciate that NMRC considered our request and is planning to expand its AC bus service, AN Dhawan, secretary general, Fonrwa,said.
The Noida Entrepreneurs Association (NEA) has asked its members to help all remaining workers in their factories open bank accounts at the earliest. It sent an email to all member units asking them to get in touch with bank officials in their respective areas and expedite the process of opening accounts for their employees.

The district administration of Gautam Budh Nagar on Wednesday directed the NEA members and bank officials to work in close coordination to open accounts for their employees on a priority basis.

Vipin Malhan, president of the NEA, said, Following directions from the administration, our members have started working on it (opening accounts for employees). We are conducting a survey of employees who do not have bank accounts and have urged bank officials to help them open accounts without having to furnish their PAN cards or suggest a way to bring them into the banking system. We have also requested private banks to open zero balance account for our workers. The administration has also promised to help us in this direction.

However, the NEA said private banks arent willing to open zero balance accounts for workers under its member units.

We have, so far, managed to open accounts for 40,000 employees. However, there are still three lakh workers who need bank accounts of their own. We are compiling factory-wise data for exact figures, Malhan said.

The district administration has also appealed to banks, both public and private, to open at least one lakh accounts for unbanked people every month. The Noida district is home to at least 687 bank branches, both public and private.

BK Rai, deputy labour commissioner, Gautam Budh Nagar, said, Private banks arent willing to help us open zero balance accounts for our workers. The public banks are largely under-staffed and cannot expedite the process of opening accounts. The banks have also sought PAN cards and those who dont have them will have to fill out forms for opening accounts. Most of our workers dont have PAN cards.

AK Singh, the manager of a top bank in the district, said, Weve assured the administration of all possible help in this direction.
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers are protesting against giving tickets to turncoats who have joined the party just before the 2017 assembly polls. Many leaders from the Congress and Samajwadi Party have joined BJP in recent weeks as they were unsure of being fielded in the polls.

Gautam Budh Nagar is to go to polls on February 11, the first phase of the elections in Uttar Pradesh. There are three assembly segments  Noida, Dadri and Jewar  in Gautam Budh Nagar district.

Former Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Thakur Dhirendra Singh and his supporters had joined BJP on January 8. Singh quit the Congress and joined BJP on the assurance of a ticket from Jewar, as he was not sure that Congress would field him in the polls.

However, BJP workers in Jewar had protested against the development.

We expressed our stand to the partys top leaders, including state president Keshav Prasad Maurya, organisational minister Sunil Bansal and senior BJP leader Om Mathur. Ticket from Jewar should be given to a party worker, who has been associated with our partys ideology for years and has worked for the same with dedication. It should not be given to someone who has joined BJP just for a ticket, Thakur Harish Singh, former BJP president of Gautam Budh Nagar district unit, said.

Thakur Dhirendra Singh, however, denied any opposition to his candidature. Those who are protesting are not important to the BJP, he said.

Samajwadi Party MLAs from Dibai (Bulandshahr) and Shikarpur (Bulandshahr), Bhagwan Sharma and Mukesh Sharma, now associated with the BJP, are probables for tickets from the district. However, they are also facing strong opposition from BJP workers.

Former Samajwadi Party general secretary Ashok Pradhan also joined the BJP on Friday. BJP workers said they will protest if Pradhans family gets a ticket. However, Pradhan said that he is not intent on being fielded in the polls.

I have been a member of Parliament four times and also served as a minister in the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government. I do not want a ticket for myself, my wife or my daughter, as is being propagated by some leaders. I am an old BJP soldier and want to work with pure dedication, without a wish for a ticket, Pradhan, who represented the Noida-Khurja constituency in Uttar Pradesh as an MP in 1996, said.

A Bahujan Samaj Party local leader Ravinder Tongad, who joined the BJP in 2016, is also lobbying for a ticket from Dadri.

A party worker should be given preference over a turncoat when it comes to giving tickets. From Dadri, old party loyalist Nawab Singh Nagar is a better choice, Pradhan said.

Vimla Batham, BJP MLA from Noida, said, BJP is a very disciplined party. Once the tickets are finalised, all will work for the party to form the government in the state.

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Washington: The outgoing Obama administration has lashed out at China for blocking Indias entry to the nuclear suppliers group, describing the Communist giant as an outlier in its effort to bring New Delhi on board on board the elite grouping.

Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China, Nisha Desai Biswal, assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, told new agency PTI in an interview.

The statement comes a week ahead of the Donald Trump taking over as the 45th US president.

Officials say it is because of the Chinese resistance that India could not join the NSG, where all decisions are taken by consensus. An exclusive club of 48 countries, NSG controls the global trade in civil nuclear technology.

The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for NSG and that the United States supports Indias entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG, she said.

The US worked closely with India but it also recognised that there were some concerns and reservations among some members that needed to be worked through, she said.

We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China, Biswal said.

She talked about the need to have a very clear understanding of Chinas reservations and to try to work through those.

While India not getting NSG membership was disappointing, Biswal said the Obama administration was very very gratified to see Indias entry into the missile technology control regime (MTCR).

China has called for a two-step non-discriminatory approach for admission of countries that are not part of the nuclear-non proliferation treaty regime.

Beijing said in November it first wanted to find a solution applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions on admitting specific non-NPT members.

Chinas stand is significant as Pakistan, the all-weather ally of Beijing, too, has applied for the NSG membership.

And so I think, the next administration coming in for all of those reasons would continue to prioritise the relationship with India, she said, adding strategic convergence was the key highlight of the India-US relationship during the Obama administration.

She said there was a lot to talk about easily visible and definable objectives but the quality that was less visible to the outside eye was the fundamental shift in how we see each other on our strategic relationship.  and the fact that a secretary of state will pick up the phone immediately on important issues, oh, I have got to check in with my Indian counterpart on this issue and make sure that it is ok with them. Thats what I have hoped would transpire and thats where we are today, she said.

Indian-Americans, Biswal said, played a key role in the bilateral relationship by bringing greater understanding and support for the ties.

I think there will be prominent Indian-Americans that I am sure will play that role for the next administration as well, she said.
She is a devout Muslim who offers Namaz five times a day and reads aayats (verses) of the Quran every day as part of her religious practices. But that hasnt stopped Caren Chawa, 30, from travelling almost 5,000 km, from Lebanon in West Asia to the south central Bihar Buddhist pilgrimage town of Bodh Gaya, for what has essentially been a voyage of self-discovery.

An architect by vocation, Chawa is in Bodh Gaya to participate in the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama-led Kalachakra Puja, a popular event on the Buddhist religious calendar that brings to the town his followers from across the world.

Chawa confesses listening to the spiritual discourse of the Dalai Lama during the 10-day Kalachakra puja, which began on January 2 this year, helps satiate her quest for knowledge and peace. I experience a strange kind of relaxation here, she confessed.

Yet, her participation in the Kalachakra puja has not been easy.

Being a Muslim, I had to convince my parents and relatives to let me come to Bodh Gaya. My mother, an artist and father, a businessman in Beirut, convinced other members of my family to allow this journey, she said.

Chawa, who is single and resident of Beirut, said her parents called her up every day and asked about her wellbeing.

To a question as to whether she would convert to Buddhism in future, she laughed and said, Never. I am a staunch believer in Islam and Prophet Mohammed, who has given the Holy Quran to us. She said, reiterating only her hunger for knowledge and love for peace had brought her to Bodh Gaya.

She described the Dalai Lama as a great human being who had been striving for restoration of peace in the world. I regard him as a messenger of love, truth and peace. His preaching is an inspiration for me and I have learnt here to respect all the religions of the world, she said.

Chawa said, during her stay at Bodh Gaya, she visited the Mahabodhi temple every day and watched in silence the Mahabodhi tree, the place where Gautam Buddha attained enlightenment. She has also gone through many texts of the Mahayana sect of Buddhism.

Chawas strands of gray hair belie her age, making her look slightly older than her 30 years. But her exposure to other cultures and religious practices seemed to have bestowed upon her a more cosmopolitan outlook in life.

It comes as no surprise that Chawa also plans to read the Gita, soon.

I am told that the book offers answer to any or all questions on life. I will buy a copy of the holy book and go through it, she promised.

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Two crocodiles, which escaped from a sanctuary in Valmikinagar Tiger Reserve (VTR) in West Champaran, bordering UP and Nepal, swam 750 km through several rivers to reach West Bengal, only to be trapped and shipped back to their designated habitat.

The crocodiles were among the 15 shifted from Sanjay Gandhi Biological Park in Patna to the conservatory along the Gandak river in 2014 and tagged with chips to study aqua-marine resources in the area.

VTR conservator cum director RB Singh told HT that the male and female crocodile used the swollen rivers during floods to escape the sanctuary and swam a long way to West Bengal, where they were found in the Mahananda river.

Another five crocodiles, which also escaped the sanctuary, were tracked to Vaishali and brought back.

We received calls from West Bengal forest officials about their sighting in the Mahananda and despatched a team to bring them back. The Bengal forest officials had already trapped them and used the chip to find out that they were from VTR, Singh said.

The crocodile conservatory in VTR was set up as the Gandak, also known as Narayani on the UP border, has been a home to crocodiles for long but their population had dwindled, as locals from Bihar and UP killed them for their skin, used for manufacturing purses and belts.

It was found that the Gandak river, which crosses Sohagi Barwa area of UP and VTR were ideal to take up conservation plans for alligators, crocodiles and Gangetic dolphins, owing to its rich bio-diversity.

The Bihar forest and environment department had recently given the go ahead for the establishment of a tutelage centre for crocodiles in Madanpur range of the VTR where community conservation efforts are to be undertaken with help of scores of villages within the 900-square kilometre reserve.

VTR officials said the plan to locate the conservatory-cum tutelage centre around Bhapsa rivulet, a tributary of the Gandak and crossing Madanpur and VTR, drew upon the fact it was known for having a huge number of crocodiles and alligators in the 1950s.

The nearby Belwaha village under Bagaha police jurisdiction has been home to 35 crocodiles for four decades and people have lived with them without casualties on either side.

The conservator said, Steps have been taken to keep Belwaha at the core of the conservation programme and surveillance teams have been posted to save crocodiles from poachers.
RJD chief Lalu Prasad loves to play to the gallery.

On Saturday, he drew big eyeballs when he chose to baptise his four-month old grandson, son of daughter Misa, an MP, to politics as the toddler cuddled on the lap of chief minister Nitish Kumar during a feast thrown by Prasad to celebrate Makar Sankranti on Saturday.

Bolo Nana ji zindabad... bolo Nitish ji zindabad, Prasad kept urging the tiny tot, who looked with amusement at his grandpa. If there was a momentary awe, the veteran politician known for his charm, engaged the tiny tot more as he tried to teach a few ways of sloganeering by raising his right hand. Aisey bolo... zindabad, he said.

The chief minister was visibly amused as he fondled the four month old, who is still to be christened by his parents.

Laluji is in a hurry and wants him (grandson) to join politics, he quipped, as the people around there chuckled.

Whether the kid grows up to carry the RJD chiefs legacy is still too premature to predict, but there was politics in the air at the lunch with customary chura (beaten rice) and dahi (curd) topped with tilkuts (sweatmeat) in the menu hosted by the RJDs first family at their official 10, Circular Road residence.

In a show of bonhomie, Prasad put a tilak of curd (dahi) on the forehead of Kumar to herald an auspicious beginning to the New Year.

Lalu ji has put a tilak on my forehead to give his blessings. I am grateful. We are all (read GA partners) trying to implement the poll promises made before assembly polls in 2015. We do not forget our promises like others, he said, apparently taking a dig at the BJP for failing to keep its poll promises of 2014 parliamentary polls.

However, JD(U)s bid to invite BJP leaders to a similar party, had the Congress sulking. Asked about it, both bigwigs reserved comment.

On the BJP leaders not coming for lunch, Prasad said: They are scared of coming here. I had invited them, including senior leader Sushil Modi. He is lying about not getting an invitation.

Prasad also hit out at PM Narendra Modi over the latters pictures, instead of Mahatma Gandhi, on the calendar of Khadi department.

This is a wrong precedent. Modi cannot replace Gandhi. The soul of the father of the nation would be really unhappy, he said, even as senior leaders, including Raghuvansh Prasad Singh, deputy chief minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav and Misa, echoed similar sentiments.

Nonetheless, there was a festive mood at the sprawling bungalow where politicos of all hues mingled amidst a lavish spread of curd and chura, supplied mostly by workers.

We have used over 30 quintals of curd today. More is coming, said a senior RJD worker, in-charge of food at the venue.

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Terming former BJP leader Navjot Singh Sidhu a traitor, Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) leader and union minister Harsimrat Kaur Badal alleged that he has betrayed his mother party, the BJP, which brought him into the politics.

She was addressing an election rally in favour of her brother and Revenue minister Bikram Singh Majtiha in Matewal which falls in Majitha constituency.

Harsimrat alleged that Sidhu has betrayed his mother party, BJP, and the people of Punjab.

Taking a dig at Sidhu, she said that his pratice to laugh in the comedy show on the small screen has also helped him to make his own mockery.

Read | Beginning new inning on front foot: Sidhu after joining Congress

Claiming that it was the BJP which brought him in the politics and made him MP four times, she alleged that Sidhu stabbed the party on its back and cheated with the people of Punjab by not serving them despite being the MP.

Slamming the former MP, she said that he initially bargained with the AAP but could not get any space there as his aspirations were too high. But he succeeded in striking a deal with the Congress for his vested interests and not to serve the people of Punjab.

She said that there was no danger to Akali Dal from Sidhu with his joining the Congress party since Sidhu has always remained an aimless politician.

Claiming that PPCC chief Captain Amarinder Singh was afraid to take on General J J Singh from Patiala assembly constituency, she stated that this is the reason why Amarinder was talking about contesting from Lambi constituency.
A young Dutch birder from Amsterdam, armed with an infectious smile and a curiously Indian first name, Arjan Dwarshuis, has just broken the world record for maximum number of bird species seen or heard, recognisably, in a year. Arjan recorded 6,833 species in 2016 by jet-setting across 40 nations and breaking the American, Noah Stryckers record of 6,042 set in 2015. Of these, as many as 451 species were recorded by Arjan during his India leg of the Big Year 2016. When he was a baby, his mother literally threw him into the forests; he grew up identifying shell species on the sea shores and at 12, his eyes were roving for rare avian migrants. Arjan is currently a Bird Life International Species Champion supporting the renowned NGOs Preventing Extinctions Programme. He has set a target of raising 1,00,000 Euros for the programme that funds those trying to change things at a local level.

Apart from the excitement of numbers and issues of taxonomy, the global birding odyssey has lent Arjan a unique perspective on conservation as one in every eight bird species is threatened. Stressing on eco-tourism, Arjan says the only reason some patches of forest still stand is because a local guide is engaging their local community in conservation. So, eat local foods, stay at local places. You can show them (local community) they can benefit economically from eco-tourism. Otherwise, the forest is a supermarket (for exploitation). He is particularly concerned at the rapid decline of African vultures due to the poisoning. That rings an Indian alarm bell, too.

THE JUNGLES MATRIARCH

Chetna Choudhary Damdama and her grandmother, Maya Devi Damdama. (PHOTO: VIKRAM JIT SINGH)

Maya Devi Damdama is not a wilting widow of the countryside, who, like a venerable peepul, must bear final passage with quiet grace. Instead, she carries a rather self-assured air about her, her jaw is staunchly set to challenges and she radiates the energy of a compulsive do-gooder. She directs me to the forests behind her home in Damdama village near Pinjore. Our forests often catch fire but I do not watch helplessly. We village women use forest produce, so it is our responsibility also to protect trees/bushes and the creatures that live there. I exert all my influence in the administration --- that includes a daroga (police inspector) as my brother and a zila parishad member as my son --- to get firefighters to rush here and douse fires, she said.

Led by this formidable matriarch, Maya Devis family enjoys a reputation among locals of extending benevolence towards man and animal. In turn, Maya Devi counts among her benefactors, Haryanas top forest officer, principal chief conservator of forests, Amarinder Kaur, who has for 30 years worked to empower women self-help groups. Another such woman from Karnal district --- whom Kaur encouraged to grow out from her narrow rural confines --- groomed a son who is now a batchmate in service with Kaurs own son! One of the most satisfying moments in my career: to find that our sons emerged from different streams to rub shoulders as batchmates, quips Kaur.

I sensed in Maya Devi qualities of leadership and encouraged her. My vision is not only to empower women but the entire family so that we can institutionalise use of forest resources and yet conserve green wealth, Kaur told me. Maya Devi is thankful for concessional loans extended to women by government, though Kaur adds a caveat: Loans to women are often misused by the clan, so we find ways to avert such flawed outcomes.

Maya Devis vision is strongly embedded in her granddaughter, Chetna (13). Last Tuesday, the plucky girl saved a Sambar fawn from bloodthirsty stray dogs and people who wanted to kill the deer for churning out pickle. Her son, Bhag Singh Damdama, ensures that every summer tankers deliver water to wildlife spots in the jungle. Stray cattle and calves wounded on roads are special recipients of Maya Devis storehouse of compassion; she herself is a Krishna bhakt who without fail makes the annual pilgrimage to Vrindavan.

RAHEJAS RESPONSE

In last weeks column on tourist responsibilities in core wildlife areas, I published two photographs from the complaint of Gauri Maulekhi (PFA Uttarakhand) to the Uttarakhand and Union Governments. The complaint contended that real estate tycoon, Navin M Raheja, flouted laws in the core Dhikala zone of Corbett National Park by taking his private vehicle (DL3CY5389), not hiring a tourist guide, and dismounting from vehicle with elephants close by.

Rahejas spokersperson, Dimple Bhardwaj, has responded to this, stating, We would like to clarify that the picture used in article is an old time picture. We would also like to bring some light on the fact that this picture is of the time when vehicles were legally allowed at Dhikala Zone. Please know that he has been contributing towards wildlife and environment since ages. She added that Raheja Productions filmed more than 140 documentaries on wildlife/environment and bagged the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Awards for Environment Reporting. Raheja himself was awarded the Justice BP Banerjee Green Man Award for the film, The Rise and Fall of Ustad, and is a former member of the Union governments Tiger Crisis Cell and Steering Committee, Project Tiger.

vjswild1@gmail.com
Three people allegedly died of cold in Jharkhand as chilly weather conditions prevailed in the state, bringing down mercury to 5.1 degrees Celsius in Ranchi, lowest in three years.

Dwarika Mahato (60) and Tezi Mahato (60), from Giridih districts Birni block, and Tileswar Dangi (55), from Itkhori block in Chatra district, allegedly died of cold on Saturday.

The death toll due to cold wave in Jharkhand reached six after three people died in December.

However, Colonel Sanjay Srivastava, state project officer of disaster management department (DMD), clarified that cold wave is not considered as disaster in Jharkhand. Therefore, deaths due to cold wave are not registered and victims would not be compensated.

He said Rs 62.25 lakh has been released to all 24 districts in the state for cold wave mitigation. There is no shortage of fund. Districts have been asked to send requisitions whenever they require.

With mercury dipping, the number of patients suffering from cold related ailments has gone up. Over 60-65 patients are being treated at Ranchi Sadar hospital daily while 30-35 patients are visiting OPD of Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences (RIMS), hospital officials said. School students were the worst sufferers.

Ranchi Municipal Corporation (RMC) has arranged bonfire facilities for the poor at nine places in the city. The district administration is also distributing blankets among street dwellers and the homeless.

Ranchis minimum temperature on Saturday night was the lowest in three years, according to weather officials.

The city had recorded 5.5 degrees Celsius on January 15, 2016, 5.6 on January 19, 2015 and 5.5 on January 4, 2014. The lowest recorded temperature in the city was 3.2 degrees Celsius on January 1, 2008.

The citys temperature was lower than Jammu in the north which reeled at 10.1 degrees Celsius.

Officials also said that the suburb, Kanke experienced freezing conditions at under one degree Celsius.

Northwesterly winds, a result of snowfall in the Himalayan region, have pulled down the states night temperature by 4-6 degree Celsius below normal and cold wave conditions may continue for next 48 hours, the officials said.

Unrestricted wind flow from the Himalayan region has enhanced the chill effect. Average night temperature may hover 4-6 degrees below normal across the state for next 48 hours, said B K Mandal, director Ranchi centre of India Meteorological Department (IMD).

Besides Ranchi, Bokaro shivered at 5.7 degrees Celsius, six notches below the normal, Jamshedpur recorded 7.7 degrees Celsius, four degrees below normal and Chaibasa 6.8, five below normal, on Saturday night.

Update at 7pm: In view of cold wave situation, Ranchi district administration on Sunday issued directive to all schools to suspend classes up to Class-5 till January 17. After two days, the situation will be reviewed and directive will be issued accordingly, said Ranchi deputy commissioner Manoj Kumar.

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After surviving a rough week of challenging tasks and fights, Salman Khan kickstarted Bigg Boss Weekend Ka Vaar episode by congratulating Manveer Gujjar for winning a ticket to the finale week.

Talking about how Manu Punjabi and Manveer fared in the mall activity, Salman told them they had finally attained celebrity status and would no longer be addressed as common people .

Here are some of the highlights from last nights episode:

Nitibha evicted from Bigg Boss



Bigg Bosss saw the fears of commoners coming true on Saturday when Salman Khan announced Nitibha Kaul had been voted out of the show.

Salman blames both Bani and Lopa



Salman then moved on to discussing Bani and Lopas infamous fight that brought the house down. After hearing both Bani and Lopas side of the story, he said both were at fault and it was unpardonable. He also added that they could have handled the pressure and the situation in a better away rather than making it ugly . Condemning their actions and reactions, Salman said Lopa and Bani stooped to a new low just like Om Swamiji.

Salman slams Manu



Salman gave Manu a piece of his mind and said his spitefulness was very evident in the recent past. Salman added that Manu claimed Bani engaged in a gossip but actually Manu did it more often and never owned up to it. Manu defended himself, saying that if his comments didnt cause any harm to others, then he was not doing anything wrong.

These are our picks from last night, share yours @htshowbiz
At least seven civilians, including a woman and three children, were killed when their truck hit a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on Sunday, officials said.

The villagers were travelling from Pacheer Agam district to a nearby village in Nangarhar province, Hijratullah Rahmani district governor of Pacheer Agam told AFP.

Unfortunately, in the blast, seven civilians, including a woman and three children were killed and one wounded, he said.

No one claimed responsibility, but the interior ministry in a statement blamed enemies of peace and stability, a term Afghan officials use to refer to Taliban.

Nangarhar is also home to Islamic State group fighters, who are trying to expand their presence in Afghanistan by winning over sympathizers, recruiting followers and challenging the Taliban on their own turf.

Afghan civilians are paying a heavy price for the escalating conflict across the country. A total of 2,562 civilians were killed and another 5,835 wounded in the first nine months of 2016, according to a UN report.

Last week, over 50 people, mostly civilians, were killed in multiple Taliban bombings across Afghanistan.
Major powers will send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts.

Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as futile and rigged. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented.

But, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the future American leader.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israels capital despite international objections.

It would be a unilateral decision that could escalate tensions on the ground, a senior French diplomat said.

Five days before he becomes president, its not negligible that 70 countries recall (the need for) a two-state solution when his administration could implement controversial measures that may aggravate things.

France has said the meeting does not intend to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that, ultimately, only direct negotiations between the two can resolve the conflict.

A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it, and asks the protagonists to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations.

Low point

Diplomats said there could also be an allusion to Trumps plans.

Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obamas administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Obamas secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement programme threatened Middle East peace, and that the two-state was in serious jeopardy.

Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had written to Trump warning that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the United States of its role as honest broker - and could lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel.

Home to Europes largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.

But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely.

Arab states have their own concerns about how Trumps relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line.

All this is premature. We need to give the new US administration time to assess what they want to do, said a Middle Eastern diplomat based in Paris.
Bahrain on Sunday executed three Shia men despite widespread protests in the capital.

The three were convicted for the killing of three police officers in a bomb attack in March 2014, the BBC reported.

The executions came less than a week after the countrys highest court confirmed the punishment against Abbas al-Samea, 27, Sami Mushaima, 42, and Ali al-Singace, 21.

The execution by a firing squad was the first in the Arab country since a 2011 uprising, led by the Shia majority, calling for greater political rights.

The three were found guilty, along with seven other inmates, of belonging to a terror cell that took part in the March 2014 bombing of the village of Sanabis in which three policemen died.

The Sunni-ruled kingdom has escalated a crackdown on its Shia critics over the past year, including revoking the citizenship of the countrys most prominent Shia Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Isa Qassim.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Manama on Saturday after reports emerged on social media about the preparations being made for the execution.

Authorities in Bahrain do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.

Executions are rare in Bahrain, which borders Saudi Arabia and Iran.

It is nothing short of an outrage -- and a disgraceful breach of international law -- that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions, Reprieve director Maya Foa said in a statement.

Reprieve said the executions went ahead despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture.
Britain warned Sunday it might undercut the EU economically if it cannot obtain both single market access and immigration controls, as Prime Minister Theresa May prepared her big Brexit strategy speech.

Britain would be forced to change our economic model in order to remain competitive if it is shut out from access to the single market, finance minister Philip Hammond said.

His intervention came as newspapers said May was planning a clean divorce from the European Union when she sets out her Brexit strategy in a major speech on Tuesday.

May aims to launch two years of EU departure negotiations when she triggers the Article 50 exit process by the end of March, although a legal challenge is still pending before the countrys Supreme Court.

She has been under pressure to reveal her proposals for the talks that will establish the future relationship between Britain and the EU.

Matching reports in several weekly newspapers said she was prepared to accept a so-called hard Brexit: pulling out of the single market, the European customs union and the European Court of Justice, in order to regain control of EU immigration.

- Red line on immigration -

Hammond, in an interview with Germanys Welt am Sonntag newspaper, said Britain could not compromise on the main message from the June referendum vote to leave the EU: stemming the flow of immigrants from the bloc.

EU citizens would be free to travel to Britain and do business there -- but the debate was over the right to work, settle and set up businesses, he said.

Clearly we need people to come and work in our economy to keep it functioning, the chancellor of the Exchequer said.

But as for having no control, that has to stop.

He hinted that London was ready to push through aggressive cuts to business taxes to ensure British-based firms remained competitive in the face of EU tariffs.

Hammond said he wanted Britain to remain a recognisably European-style economy with European-style taxation systems, European-style regulation systems.

However, London would have to change course if we are forced, in order to regain competitiveness.

The British people are not going to lie down and say, too bad, he said, adding we could be forced to change our economic model and we will have to change our model to regain competitiveness. And you can be sure we will do whatever we have to do.

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told BBC television that the governments plans seemed like an unwise recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe.

- Stop the insults plea -

In Tuesdays speech, May will call for Britain to unite and get behind Brexit, pleading for an end to the insults and rancour between Leavers and Remainers, Downing Street said.

The speech would call on Britain to set aside old divisions, and unite to make a success of Brexit, said Mays office.

May has revealed little so far on her negotiating position.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying: Shes gone for the full works. People will know when she said Brexit means Brexit, she really meant it.

Hammond said he was expecting to start substantive negotiations just weeks after Article 50 is triggered.

We are ambitious to do this as quickly as possible, he said, and move seamlessly to the new arrangement in 2019, though there could be an interim period before it kicks in.

Bookmakers believe May will not trigger Article 50 by the end of March. The Supreme Court is considering an appeal against an earlier ruling that she cannot do so without the assent of parliament in London.

The EUs chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned Saturday the bloc must be aware of the risk to financial stability during what are expected to be very tough talks with Britain.
Prime Minister Theresa May will use a major speech on Brexit next week to call on Britons to reject the acrimony of last years referendum and unite around the vision of a Britain more open to the world, her office said on Sunday.

May intends to kick off the formal process of negotiating the terms of Britains exit from the European Union by the end of March, but has given little away about what deal she will be seeking, frustrating some investors, businesses and lawmakers.

She is due to make a speech in London on Tuesday before an audience including foreign diplomats as well as Britains own Brexit negotiating team and other senior officials, Mays Downing Street office said in a statement.

It said she would stress the need for Britons, who voted for Brexit by 52 to 48 percent in last Junes referendum after a deeply divisive campaign, to unite around common goals such as protecting and enhancing workers rights.

Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it  Leaver and Remainer and all the accompanying insults  and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly Global Britain, May is expected to say.

The extracts of Mays speech did not say whether she would reveal her stance on one of the key questions: whether she will try and keep Britain within the European single market or customs union or, if not, what level of access she will aim for.
China has handed over two ships to Pakistan Navy to ensure joint security of the trade route along the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor and the Gwadar port.

The formal handover of the ships, held at a ceremony at Gwadar port attended by Chinese officials, is likely to raise alarm in India.

The recently built and equipped ships with state of the art guns will be part of the Pakistan Navy, local media reported.

Pakistan Navy Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini received the ships, which have been named after nearby rivers Hingol and Basol.

Hussaini told his audience at the ceremony in Gwadar port that the Pakistan Navy has become stronger with the induction of the Chinese-built ships.

He said the ships, which have become part of the Pakistan Navy, will be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port as well as the sea route of CPEC.

The Chinese government will be providing two more ships to Pakistan Navy, named Dasht and Zhob .

Work on the ships is underway in China and is expected to be completed soon.

Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

China has so far invested $14 billion in 30 early harvest projects to be completed under the CPEC, a flagship project of the One Belt One Road initiative launched by Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Of the 30 projects, 16 were under construction, a statement quoted Chinese embassy deputy chief of mission Zhao Lijian as saying.

He said some early harvest projects would be completed by early 2018 while hydroelectric power projects would be ready in 2020.
More than $ 2.6 billion (18.2 billion Yuan) will be pumped into Beijings budget in 2017 to fight air pollution, it was announced over the weekend as northern China including the capital prepares for a heavy bout of smog from Sunday.

After some blue sky days last week, a spike was recorded in pollution levels in Beijing on Sunday, with the National Meteorological Centre predicting that smog is expected to hit Beijing, neighbouring Tianjin and Hebei besides Shanxi, Henan and Shaanxi in central China.

Circulars were issued to residents in the regions to take precautions and choose public transport over private vehicles to mitigate pollution levels.

At the beginning of 2017, a red alerts was triggered by severe smog in more than 20 cities. When authorities issue red alerts, some manufacturers are required to cut production, and heavily polluting vehicles are banned from the roads. China has a four-tier colour-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue, official Xinhua news agency said in a report.

Beijings authorities seemed to be gearing up to tackle pollution in 2017. This year, the city will strengthen air pollution treatment, replace coal with clean energy for 700 villages, phase out 300,000 high-polluting old vehicles, close or upgrade 2,570 polluting factories, Beijings acting mayor Cai Qi was quoted as saying at the annual session of the Beijing Municipal People's Congress, which opened on Saturday.

The city, the report said quoting Cai, will strictly implement emission standards, enhance the environmental law enforcement and establish an environmental protection police force.

He added that acts of discharging pollutants excessively or secretly will be severely punished.

The newly formed smog police for Beijing will be unveiled soon to further carry out checks and implement anti-pollution rules.

The 150-strong environment, food, drug and tourism safety police force has been established and will be officially inaugurated soon, a Beijing public security bureau officer was quoted as saying.

The environment police squad has been empowered to detain suspects in serious environment-related cases.

Over the years, Beijings air quality has improved.

In 2016, the Chinese capital had 198 days with good air quality, a rise of 12 days from 2015.

The Xinhua report said its average density of PM2.5, airborne particles smaller than 2.5 microns in diametre, was 73 micrograms per cubic metre in 2016, down 9.9% from 2015.

The city aims to control the annual average density of PM2.5 to around 60 micrograms per cubic metre this year, said Lu Yan, head of the Beijing Development and Reform Commission.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Sunday that if US President-elect Donald Trump moves the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem it would have extremely serious consequences.

Speaking as 70 countries gather in Paris to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Ayrault told French TV he believed Trump would find it impossible to fulfil the pledge he made during his campaign to transfer the embassy.

When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace, Ayrault said.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas warned Saturday that peace could be dealt a mortal blow if Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel, moves the embassy to Jerusalem.

Doing so would reverse decades of US policy that has until now maintained that the final status of Jerusalem -- whose eastern and largely Arab side has been occupied by Israel since 1967 -- should be determined in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The Paris meeting is mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as US president.

Read more | Palestinians may reverse Israel recognition if Trump moves US embassy to Jerusalem
Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who never fails to seize any opportunity to celebrate the many cultures, languages and beliefs that make our country such a wonderful place to live, wished Tamilians in Canada and around the world a happy Thai Pongal on Sunday.

In the video, posted on his social media, he begins with a Tamil greeting Vanakkam! and says, Over the next few days, Tamils in Canada and around the world will gather with loved ones to celebrate Thai Pongal. Each day of this festival has its own special meaning and traditions which are tied to abundance, peace and happiness.

In 2016, the House of Commons voted unanimously to recognise every January as Tamil Heritage Month. I encourage everybody to reflect on the strong heritage of Canadas Tamil community. Our nation is stronger and richer because of Tamil-Canadians, he adds.

Happy Thai Pongal to Tamils celebrating! Joyeux Thai Pongal aux tamouls qui celebrent! Iniya Pongal Nalvazhthukkal: pic.twitter.com/AT8YE4t3AB  Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) January 14, 2017

Sharing his views on how to make Canada a wonderful place to live, he says, This year also marks Canadas 150th anniversary, and we should seize every opportunity to celebrate the many cultures, languages and beliefs that make our country such a wonderful place to live.

On behalf of our family, Sophie and I wish everyone marking Thai Pongal a joyful harvest festival, he concluded.
It was 2008 and New Delhi was carefully watching a freshman Senator from Illinois as his insurgent attempt to capture the American presidency captivated the world. That, of course, was Barack Obama.

That year though, New Delhi was wary. Candidate Obama, while referencing Afghanistan, told cable channel MSNBC that we should probably try to facilitate a better understanding between Pakistan and India and try to resolve the Kashmir crisis so that they can stay focused not on India, but on the situation with those militants.

Months earlier, his campaign had attacked his rival in the primaries in a memo titled: Hillary Clinton (D-Punjab)s Personal, Financial and Political Ties of India. Among the items criticised was her co-founding the Senate India Caucus.

The initial months of Obamas ascension were not particularly reassuring either. Obamas transition team attempted to create a South Asian czar in the late Richard Holbrooke.

The Indians would have none of it. There were concerns over where things were going, recalled Walter Andersen, director of the Johns Hopkins Universitys South Asia Studies Program.

That opposition from India resulted in an AfPak remit for Holbrooke but also in a policy that marginalised India. Obama went to Beijing and spoke of China playing a role in South Asia. Worries were multiplying. Andersen attributed that to Obamas comparative lack of experience at the time.

But, he said, Obama was also a quick study. In late 2009, then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was the guest of honour at the first State Dinner hosted in the Obama White House. A year later, Obama addressed a joint sitting of Parliament and announced Americas support for India seeking a permanent seat on the United Nations Security Council.

By the next year, Hillary Clinton, then secretary of state, was speaking in Chennai about India taking on a large regional responsibility, even as she had already institutionalised a Strategic Dialogue process between the two countries.

At the time California Democrat Ami Bera was elected to the US House of Representatives, the relationship wasnt at the best point. Despite once describing Manmohan Singh as Mr Guru, policy paralysis in India coupled with a dispute over the arrest of New York-based diplomat Devyani Khobragade had nearly nulled progress on the bilateral front.

Tribal instincts came to the fore, Andersen said. Bera, co-chair of the Congressional India Caucus, said, That should have been handled better. Part of my obligation is educating my own colleagues on how actions that take place in US are perceived in India.

As the 2014 elections in India drew closer, there were concerns in Washington: How would then Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi work with the US, after a controversial visa bar and after the US embassy in Delhi ignored Gandhinagar. But, Andersen said, Modi showed real sophistication.

A personal slight didnt impact ties as he took over as prime minister. Obama reciprocated with equal grace. Theres genuine respect, said Bera of the rapport between the two leaders.

Andersen believes Obama possibly does not enjoy a relationship of such mutual admiration with another leader other than German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

As with Clinton in Obamas first term, a senior member of his Cabinet in the second term helped forge stronger links. Unlike his predecessor Chuck Hagel, US defence secretary Ashton Carters proactive policies with regard to India enhanced ties.

The secretary of defence certainly understands India and understands the region and thats been helpful in moving the relationship forward. India is also taking an increased role in security in the region and I think thats great, Bera said.

Two factors played into the upswing, according to Andersen: The Indian economy has gone quite well and the rise of China and their increasing assertiveness. The US was clearly looking for partners and India was the obvious case.

While periodic niggles remain, Obamas presence as chief guest at the 2015 Republic Day underscored a new dynamic between the two nations. As Bera said, I think it certainly is the high point of President Obamas foreign policy. I think both the president, the vice-president have commented the US-India relationship could be one of the defining relationships of the 21st century.

And the bilateral space has deepened and broadened to the extent that Andersen expects more of the same from the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

If Obamas global footprint has been shaky and marked with missteps, even his critics cant claim it hasnt left a positive mark on the India-US connect.

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Gul Bibi, an Afghan grandmother well into her eighties, never expected to become a fighter.

But now she is one of more than a hundred women in Afghanistans northern Jawzjan province who have taken up arms against Islamist militants.

Nearly all of the women have lost a husband, son or brother to the Taliban or the newly active Islamic State in the province bordering Turkmenistan.

I lost nine members of my family. The Taliban and Daesh (Islamic State) killed my five sons and four nephews, Bibi said by phone from Jawzjan. I have taken up arms to defeat the terrorists so other peoples sons wont get killed.

Determined to protect their families, the women approached a local police commander, Sher Ali, in December and asked him for guns and ammunition.

They came to me and said that if I didnt provide them with weapons they would kill themselves - before Daesh or the Taliban could, Ali told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State.

The women are not a properly structured group, he said; they have no uniform and have not received any military training other than how to point a gun at the enemy and shoot.

The Taliban has carried out attacks in Jawzjan for the last decade, part of a country-wide insurgency to topple the Afghan government and drive out foreign troops.

Islamic State became active in the province - a gateway to Central Asia - in early 2016, when a Taliban commander and 50 of his fighters declared allegiance to the ultra-hardline group, said Mohammad Reza Ghafoori, spokesman for Jawzjan governor.

On Dec 25, Islamic State fighters attacked Garmjar village and killed five civilians, burned down about 60 houses and forced 150 families to flee, he said by instant messenger.

Afghan women taken arms to fight against Taliban in northern Jauzjan province. pic.twitter.com/Xt3Rfcm8OK  Global Times (@globaltimesnews) January 9, 2017

A woman in her twenties, who did not want to give her name, said her husband and many other family members had been killed by the Taliban. Now she is fighting back, she said.

I hit the Taliban with this PK (machine gun), and the Taliban fled. Most of the their men died. I will stand against Daesh and will hit them too, she said by phone from Jawzjan.

Fight to death

The women fighters are not registered with the army or police and the government has not licensed their weapons, Abdul Hafiz Khashi, head of the security department of Jawzjan police, was reported as saying in the Afghan media last week.

Although local police have cautiously welcomed the new defence force, he said, the rag-tag womens unit has raised concerns among higher authorities.

We do not support any armed group, unless they come under one of our forces, Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said from Kabul.

We hope they join the Afghan security forces, so we can help them as part of our troops, he said.

But the women accuse the Afghan army of failing to protect their families from the militants.

First they killed my brother, then they killed my cousin, my uncle and my brother-in-law, said Zarmina, another woman fighter. Now that I have taken up arms, I am going to fight to the death.

Thousands of civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in violence since the Taliban government was brought down in the US-led campaign of 2001.

Afghan armed forces control no more than two thirds of national territory, and have struggled to contain the Taliban insurgency since the bulk of NATO soldiers withdrew at the end of 2014.

The United States has announced plans to send 300 Marines to the volatile southern province of Helmand, large parts of which are under Taliban control, as part of a regular rotation of troops helping train and advise Afghan forces.

Russia, China and Pakistan warned month last that the influence of Islamic State was growing in Afghanistan and that the security situation there was deteriorating.

Mariam lost three members of her family in the Islamic State attack on Garmjar village in December. She fled to Qush Tepa and joined the women fighters.

Daesh came, hit us, abused us, killed our people and burned about a hundred houses. They didnt leave anything for us. They killed three members of my family. They wanted to burn us, but we fled and came here, she said by phone.

When you have nothing left in your life, you will take up weapons and fight to the death.
Iran will not renegotiate its nuclear agreement with world powers, even if it faces new US sanctions after Donald Trump becomes president, Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araqchi said on Sunday.

Trump, who will take office on Friday, has threatened to either scrap the agreement, which curbs Irans nuclear programme and lifts sanctions against it, or seek a better deal.

Read | Iran approved to import additional 130 tons of uranium

There will be no renegotiation and the (agreement) will not be reopened, said Araqchi, Irans top nuclear negotiator at the talks that led to the agreement in 2015, quoted by the state news agency IRNA.

We and many analysts believe that the (agreement) is consolidated. The new U.S. administration will not be able to abandon it, Araqchi told a news conference in Tehran, held a year after the deal took effect.

Nuclear talks with America are over and we have nothing else to discuss, he added.

Its quite likely that the U.S. Congress or the next administration will act against Iran and imposes new sanctions.

Read | Iran will respond to US sanctions renewal as it violates nuclear deal

Under Irans agreement with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China, most U.N. sanctions were lifted a year ago. But Iran is still subject to an U.N. arms embargo and other restrictions, which are not technically part of the nuclear agreement.
There have been no talks yet about a possible meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President-elect Donald Trump, Russias RIA news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying on Sunday.

There have not been talks about a meeting yet, the Kremlins spokesperson Dmitry Peskov told RIA.

He was asked for comments after Britains Sunday Times reported that Trump had told British officials that such a summit was being planned, possibly to be staged in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

Donald Trumps spokeswoman also denied Sunday a report that the US President-elects first foreign trip after taking office would be a summit with Russian leader Vladimir Putin.

The Sunday Times in London, citing unnamed British officials it said had been informed of the plan, said Trump would seek to reset relations with the Kremlin, naming Iceland the likely venue.

But Trump spokeswoman Hope Hicks told AFP the report was completely false.

The newspaper said the meeting would emulate Ronald Reagans Reykjavik talks with Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev in 1986 during the Cold War.

Trump has expressed admiration for Putin, and only belatedly accepted US intelligences conclusion that hackers acting on the Russian strongmans authority interfered in Novembers elections.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday, Trump hinted he may lift sanctions imposed on Russia over Moscows alleged cyberattacks, if Russia helps the US on key goals such as fighting jihadist groups.
US-backed Iraqi government troops on Sunday fully liberated the sprawling complex of Mosul University, an Iraqi military spokesman said, a major step in the massive operation to retake the Islamic State group-held city of Mosul.

The spokesman for the Joint Military Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, declared the campus was under the full control of Iraqi special forces, officially known as the Counter Terrorism Service, who raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.

The troops searched campus buildings and removed bombs left by IS militants, Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil of the special forces said. Fadhil added that the troops also entered the nearby Andalus neighbourhood, which he expected would be fully retaken later in the day.

Iraqi forces had entered the university grounds Friday and managed to secure more than half of the campus the next day amid tough resistance from IS militants, who mainly deployed sniper and mortar fire to slow down the advancing troops.

Sundays progress is the latest in a string of swift territorial gains in recent weeks by the US-backed Iraqi military. Some 30,000 troops  a force that includes not only Iraqs conventional army but an array of other armed groups, including Shiite and Sunni paramilitary troops and Kurdish fighters  are taking part in the Mosul offensive which begun October 17.

The Islamic State group captured Mosul in 2014 along with nearly a third of Iraqi territory and large parts of neighbouring Syria. Iraqs second-largest city, Mosul is the last major IS urban bastion in the country.
Muslim villagers in western Myanmars troubled Rakhine state said Sunday that they hope positive change will result from a UN envoys visit to the region, where soldiers are accused of widespread abuses against minority Muslims, including murder, rape and the burning of thousands of homes.

U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Yanghee Lee concluded a three-day visit Sunday to probe the situation in northern Rakhine, where an army crackdown has driven an estimated 65,000 Muslim ethnic Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh in the past three months.

We really hope that her visit brings a positive change for Rohingya and we hope to gain our human rights, a displaced Rohingya man living temporarily in Kyee Kan Pyin village said on condition of anonymity due to security reasons.

Read | Persecuted in Myanmar, Rohingya Muslims find new home in Jammu

The crackdown began in October after nine policemen were killed in attacks by a shadowy group along the border. The government and the army have rejected the accusations of abuses and killings, saying recently that they have simply been conducting a clearance operation in the region.

Rohingya villagers and activists say hundreds of civilians have been killed, but the number cannot be verified because authorities have limited access of aid workers and journalists to areas where the deaths occurred. Recent satellite images showed thousands of houses were burned.

We have received hundreds of villagers whose houses were burned and they are living in our village and they have nowhere to go, said Kyee Kan Pyin resident Mohammad Hussein.

Despite living in Myanmar for generations, an estimated 1 million Rohingya are barred from citizenship in the Buddhist-majority nation of 50 million, and instead live as some of the worlds most persecuted people. More than 100,000 Rohingya still live in squalid internal displacement camps.

Read | Myanmar to investigate abuse of Rohingya muslims by security forces

Lee is on a 12-day visit to Myanmar to assess the human rights situation, less than a year after the formation of the democratically elected government of Aung San Suu Kyi. She is focusing her attention on the Rohingya, who mostly live in Rakhine state. She said she would present a report to the U.N. Human Rights Council in March.

During her visit to Kyee Kan Pyin on Sunday, Lee met hundreds of people who are temporarily living in the village after their houses were burned during the armys clearance operation.

We warmly welcome her visit, said the Rohingya man who did not want to be named. It is such a hopeful thing that the U.N. envoy came and met us in this kind of situation. But at the same time, we are worried for our security for talking to her because some villagers who have spoken to diplomats and international people have been arrested recently.

On Saturday, Lee visited the northern Rakhine prison where authorities say they are holding hundreds of Rohingya suspects in the October attacks that killed the nine policemen. It was unclear whether she had access to any of the prisoners.

Read | UN rights envoy to probe Myanmar Rohingya violence

On Friday, she visited Rakhines capital, Sittwe, in the southern portion of the state. She visited an enclave in Sittwe where 4,000 Rohingya are confined, but residents there were pessimistic that her mission would improve their situation.

This is Lees fifth mission to Myanmar. In November, she spoke out forcefully about the alleged abuses and called for an immediate and independent inquiry.
Outgoing CIA Director John Brennan ripped into Donald Trump on Sunday for talking and tweeting about possibly easing sanctions against Russia, saying the president-elect lacks a full understanding of the threat Moscow poses to the United States.

I think he has to be mindful that he does not have a full appreciation and understanding of what the implications are of going down that road, Brennan said on Fox News Sunday, a show Trump routinely watches.

Now that hes going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting, hes going to have tremendous responsibility to make sure that U.S. and national security interests are protected, Brennan added.

Trumps transition team did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The extraordinary televised lecture to the incoming president highlighted the bitter state of Trumps relationship with the American intelligence community just days before he is inaugurated as the nations 45th president. Trump has repeatedly shrugged off intelligence thats convinced Republicans and Democrats that Russia tried to help him win election.

Hes publicly called for a better relationship between the U.S. and President Vladimir Putins government, and suggested in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday that hed consider easing sanctions imposed by President Barack Obama as payback for the alleged election hacking.

Trump also has suggested that the intelligence community is out to get him  including by the leak of a document containing potentially damaging, but unverified, financial and personal information on Trump. Trump has likened the situation to Nazi Germany. Brennan on Sunday called that comparison outrageous and said the intelligence community wanted the president-elect to know that the document was circulating among some news outlets.

But an array of revelations has shed more light on the Trump-Putin relationship. Ret. Gen. Michael Flynn, who is set to become Trumps national security adviser, and Russias ambassador to the U.S. have been in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for the alleged election hacking, a senior U.S. official says.

After initially denying that Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak spoke Dec. 29, a Trump official said late Friday that the transition team was aware of one call on the day the Obama administration imposed the sanctions.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence, also in an appearance on Fox News Sunday, denied that Flynn and Kislyak discussed anything relating to the sanctions.

Pence said he talked to Flynn about this on Saturday. The conversations that took place at that time were not in any way related to the new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats.

Repeated contacts just as Obama imposed sanctions would raise questions about whether Trumps team discussed  or even helped shape  Russias response. Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly did not retaliate against the U.S. for the sanctions or the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats, a decision Trump quickly praised.

Pence on Sunday also denied that anyone from the Trump campaign contacted Russian officials before the election.

Brennan on Sunday roundly denounced Trumps approach to Russia and other national security threats, suggesting the president-elect has much to understand before he can make informed decisions on such matters. Trumps impulsivity could be dangerous, Brennan suggested.

Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests, Brennan said, saying twice that the matter is more than being about him.

I think Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of various actions it has taken in the past number of years is a road that he needs to be very, very careful about moving down.

There are costs to casting doubts on the credibility of the national intelligence community, Brennan added.

The world is watching now what Trump says and listening very carefully. If he doesnt have confidence in the intelligence community, what signal does that send to our partners and allies as well as our adversaries? Brennan said.

Its more than just about Mr. Trump, he said.
The outgoing Obama administration has lashed out at China for blocking India from becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group by describing the Communist giant as an outlier in its effort to bring New Delhi on board the elite grouping.

Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China, Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, told PTI in an interview.

The US statement comes a week ahead of the Obama administration passing on the baton to the Trump administration.

Officials say it is because of the Chinese resistance that India could not become a member of NSG, where all decisions are taken on the basis of consensus.

The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for NSG and that the United States supports Indias entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG, she said.

We worked very closely with India to support Indias application into the NSG, but we also recognise that there continue to be some concerns, some reservations that some of the members of the NSG have expressed that need to be worked through, she said.

We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China. As we move through all the other elements of the NSG membership, I think, were on a good path forward, Biswal said.

Read: Why NSG membership matters to India: All you need to know

So what remains is to be able to have a very clear understanding on what is the basis of Chinas reservations and to try to work through those. So that will be something that would move on to the next administration to carry forward, she said in response to a question.

But this is something that the President himself has personally engaged on, the Secretary (of State), (National Security Advisor), Ambassador (Susan) Rice and down the line this has been an area of intense effort by this administration, Biswal said.

While India not becoming a NSG member is disappointing, Biswal said the Obama Administration is very very gratified to see Indias entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR).

China is advocating a two-step non-discriminatory approach for admission of countries who have not signed nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the NSG.

As per the new stand announced by Beijing in November, it first wants to find a solution that is applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions to admit specific non-NPT member.

Chinas stand for a non-discriminatory criteria is regarded significant as Pakistan, a close ally of Beijing too has applied for the NSG membership along with India.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte has said he would impose martial law if the drug problem became very virulent, just a month after dismissing as nonsense any suggestion he might do so.

Duterte has made a brutal war on drugs a central pillar of his administration since he took office in the middle of last year.

Since July, more than 6,000 people have been killed in the anti-drug campaign, in both police operations and unexplained killings by suspected vigilantes. More than 1 million drug peddlers and users have been arrested or have surrendered to authorities.

Duterte, speaking to members of a chamber of commerce in the southern city of Davao late on Saturday, said he has sworn to protect the country against all threats, including drugs, which he said has affected about 4 million people.

Read: Philippine leader calls UN official idiot, joker for murder probe call

If I wanted to, and it will deteriorate into something really very virulent, I will declare martial law, he said.

No one can stop me, he said, referring to the Supreme Court and Congress.

My country transcends everything else, even the limitations.

The Philippines endured a decade of martial law from the early 1970s and memories of campaigns to restore democracy and protect human rights are fresh in the minds of many people.

Last month, Duterte appeared to rule out any possibility he might declare martial law.

Thats nonsense. We had martial law before, what happened? Did it improve our lives now? Not at all, he said.

Read: Philippine prez Duterte says once threw man from helicopter, would do it again
Belgian police were holding three people for questioning after anti-terror raids late Saturday in central Brussels, reports said.

Four raids took place in the Molenbeek district but no arms or explosives were found, the Belga news agency said, citing a spokeswoman for the Brussels prosecutors office.

The gritty Molenbeek area was home to several of those who took part in the deadly Islamic State-claimed November 2015 attacks in Paris and the suicide bombings of Brussels airport and the metro in March 2016.

The authorities stepped up security after the killings and there have been periodic police raids and arrests since then as the investigations have continued.

Press reports said the Molenbeek raids took place late evening, with armed police setting up a security perimeter during the operation.

Belgian-born French national Salah Abdeslam, the only known jihadist to have survived after the Paris massacres, hid in Molenbeek and was arrested there four months later, on March 18, 2016, four days before the attacks on the Belgian capital.

Some 20 people have been charged in Belgium in connection with the Paris attacks. Investigators say the Paris and Brussels attacks were carried out by the same cell.
Britains Prince William is getting ready to quit his part-time job as an air ambulance rescue pilot to become a full-time royal.

The second-in-line to Britains throne will leave his job with the East Anglian Air Ambulance this summer, according to The Sunday Times.

The 34-year-old Duke of Cambridge and wife Kate, the Duchess of Cambridge, will also make Kensington Palace in London their permanent base from later this year when their son Prince George starts school.

Their daughter, Princess Charlotte, is also expected to attend a London nursery.

The move follows months of discussion within the royal family, who are said to have been very supportive of Williams decision.

A royal source told the newspaper there had been no pressure from above to increase Williams workload but he knew there would come a point where this would be his life for ever more. He has always been a lot less reluctant than people think to take on more work and this phase of his life.

William had recently rejected suggestions he was a reluctant Royal, insisting he took his responsibilities very seriously.

He said: If youre not careful, duty can weigh you down a awful lot at an early age.
Russia is facing increased cyber attacks from abroad, a senior security official was quoted on Sunday as saying, responding to Western accusations that Moscow is aggressively targeting information networks in the United States and Europe.

US intelligence agencies say Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a cyber campaign aimed at boosting Donald Trumps electoral chances by discrediting his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential campaign.

Russia has dismissed the accusations as a witch-hunt.

Recently we have noted a significant increase in attempts to inflict harm on Russias informational systems from external forces, Nikolai Patrushev, secretary of Russias Security Council, told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily, according to excerpts of an interview to be published in full on Monday.

The global (Internet) operators and providers are widely used, while the methods they use constantly evolve, said Patrushev, a former head of the FSB secret service and a close ally of Putin.

Patrushev accused the outgoing US administration of President Barack Obama of deliberately ignoring the fact that the main Internet servers are based on the territory of the United States and are used by Washington for intelligence and other purposes aimed at retaining its global domination.

But he added that Moscow hoped to establish constructive contacts with the Trump administration. Trump, who praised Putin during the election campaign and has called for better ties with Moscow, will be inaugurated as president on January 20.
Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday telephoned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to condole the loss of life in recent terror attacks in Afghanistan and urged him to restrict cross-border incursions, an official in Islamabad said.

Inter-Services public relations chief major general Asif Ghafoor tweeted the statement, according to which the army chief pressed upon Afghanistan to cooperate in stopping the to-and-fro movement of terrorists from across the border.

The army chief suggested installing a robust border management mechanism and intelligence cooperation to restrict the movement of terrorists.

Elements inimical to peace in the region are strengthened by blame game, the statement read.

All safe havens of terrorists have been eliminated from Pakistan, the army chief was quoted as saying.

Gen Bajwa expressed concern about the tragic series of events that people of both the brotherly countries have faced over the last few years.

Ghani thanked Gen Bajwa for his sentiment and echoed his resolve to improve peace and stability in the region.

Earlier this week, scores of protestors gathered outside the Pakistan embassy in Kabul to demonstrate against Pakistans alleged support for insurgents in Afghanistan.

The demonstrators raised slogans against Pakistan Armys intelligence arm, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The protestors accused the Pakistan embassy of being a nest of spies in Afghanistan and said the ISI supports insurgents and has a hand in recent terrorist attacks in the country.
Two top aides to President-elect Donald Trump denied a published report on Saturday that he is planning to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin weeks after taking office.

The Sunday Times of London reported that Trump had told British officials that such a summit was being planned, possibly to be staged in the Icelandic capital of Reykjavik.

The story is a fantasy, one Trump aide told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another said the report was not true.

Trump, who takes office on Jan. 20, has spoken of seeking warmer relations with Russia.

He told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he would at least for a period of time maintain sanctions against Russia put in place by President Barack Obama for cyber hacking.

Read: Deepening ties: Trumps NSA in frequent contact with Russias ambassador

But Trump suggested to the newspaper that he might lift the sanctions if Russia proved helpful in the fight against Islamic State militants and on other U.S. objectives.

Two of Trumps cabinet picks, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary nominee James Mattis, have signaled a far harsher tone toward Moscow in their Senate confirmation hearings.

U.S. intelligence agencies blame Russia for cyber hacking that interfered with the U.S. presidential election. Trump has said he accepted the intelligence agencies conclusion.
A 15-year-old Muslim girl in the US has claimed she was evicted from a school bus by a driver twice because of her hijab, prompting her family to demand an apology from the school district.

Janna Bakeer, a girl who attends Timpview High School in Provo City, Utah, tried to ride a bus home when the bus driver used the buss intercom system and said, Hey you with the blue hair thingie, get off the bus, you dont belong here, according Randall Spencer, the familys lawyer.

Its (hijab) a part of who I am and where I come from and a part of my religion. Every day, I match my hijab with my outfits, Bakeer was quoted as saying by ABC News affiliate WBND-LD.

...the bus driver, she got her speaker and I was wearing a blue scarf. And shes like, Hey, you with that blue thing, you dont ride this bus and Ive never seen you ride it so get off, Bakeer said of the incident that took place last month.

She said she felt humiliated and started to cry as she got off the bus. I was just really embarrassed how everybody was staring.

The family said they talked with the school to get things worked out for the next time she needed to ride the bus, which happened last Friday.

I asked her politely, Can I please ride the bus today? and she (driver) just put her arm and blocked the walkway to the bus, Bakeer said.

I absolutely believe that it was discrimination, said the familys attorney Spencer.

The bus driver didnt even know Jannas name, we dont think, and could not have checked or known she was not on the list to ride the bus, Spencer was quoted as saying the Daily Herald.

All the bus driver knew is that she didnt know her before and she is a Muslim wearing a hijab, he said.

Caleb Price, spokesman for the Provo City School District, said students can only ride their assigned buses and that the girl was assigned to a different one from the one she boarded.

From what we can see in our investigation, there was nothing discriminatory about the school bus drivers behaviour, he said.

However, Spencer said Jannas been riding the same bus route since she was in middle school, with different bus drivers.

In addition to an apology, Spencer said the Bakeer family would like the district to do sensitivity training.

The incident comes amid a series of such cases of intimidation and assault that have been reported across the country atrgeting hijab-clad women following Trumps win.
A US woman has died from an infection that was resistant to all 26 available antibiotics, health officials said this week, raising new concerns about the rise of dangerous superbugs.

The woman, who was in her 70s, died in Nevada in September, and had recently been hospitalised in India with fractured leg bones, the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported.

The cause of death was sepsis, following infection from a rare bacteria known as carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE), which is resistant to all antibiotics available in the United States.

The specific strain of CRE, known as Klebsiella pneumoniae, was isolated from one of her wounds in August.

Tests were negative for the mcr-1 gene -- a great concern to health experts because it makes bacteria resistant to the antibiotic of last resort, colistin.

It was unclear how the womans infection acquired resistance.

Experts said she had been treated repeatedly in India during the last two years for a femur fracture and hip problems, most recently in June 2016.

Once the bacteria was identified in Nevada, the patient was isolated to prevent the infection from spreading in the hospital.

Postmortem tests showed her infection might have responded to a treatment called fosfomycin, which is not approved in the United States.

Paul Hoskisson, a researcher at the University of Strathclyde, in Scotland, said that several European countries, including Britain, license fosfomycin for intravenous use in such cases.

This is important because we are seeing increasing numbers of drug-resistant infections, and this is one of the first cases for Klebsiella where no drug options were open to the medical staff.

Multi-drug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae has been described by the World Health Organization as an urgent threat to human health.

According to Nick Thomson, leader of the bacterial genomics and evolution group at the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute in England, this bacteria is likely to become more and more resistant.

The report highlights international travel and treatment overseas as a feature in the introduction of this pan-resistant isolate into the USA, he said.

Since we live in such an interconnected society, this is important because this isolate represents a truly untreatable infection which leaves health-care professionals with few options but to seek to prevent further transmission.

Laura Piddock, a professor of microbiology at the University of Birmingham, said the case shows that doctors need the flexibility to use antibiotics licensed for use in other countries and shown to be active in the laboratory against the patients infecting bacterium.
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How do nations amass wealth and power when trillions of dollars swirl around the world and millions of workers cross borders every day seeking better opportunities?

The challenge is particularly important to the United States, which is in an incessant game of King of the Hill to remain the world's sole superpower.

Great Britain, Russia and other colonial powers had it easy in the age of empire, when a well-equipped expeditionary force could conquer weaker countries, subdue their populations and steal natural resources. Today's technological advances in weaponry, information and transportation make the old ways almost obsolete.

Today, we live in the age of partnerships, when wealth and influence are accrued through mutually beneficial trade, shared political values and the easy movement of labor. But the competition for power and privilege continues, with Russia and China working every day to bring the United States down. American businesspeople may not realize it, but because this great game centers on economics, they have become geopolitical foot soldiers.

Russian President Vladimir Putin is expertly employing Cold War-style spycraft, sowing instability in Europe and North America. As someone who served in the U.S. Army's Intelligence and Security Command from 1983 to 1990, I recognize the tactics: misinformation, bribes and blackmail.

Putin's goal is to destabilize U.S. political and trade alliances, increase his country's regional influence and cement his power using what Russians call non-linear warfare, a strategy spelled out by Vladislav Surkov, Putin's so-called gray cardinal.

Non-linear warfare leverages nationalist, ethnic, religious, class and economic differences to break apart political and economic coalitions. Turning trading partners against the U.S., breaking apart the European Union and supporting nationalist governments opens the door for Russia to demand fealty from its neighbors.

Russia's invasion of Ukraine and annexation of Crimea are proof of concept. Putin used Europe's dependence on Russian natural gas to avoid more serious consequences, and Exxon Mobil's investment in Russia prompted its then-CEO Rex Tillerson to oppose U.S. sanctions.

Russia successfully short-circuited past European alliances and drove a wedge between the U.S. government and one of America's largest corporations. Putin knows that Russia's shrinking population and energy-based economy cannot compete with the United States' ability to trade.

Now Russia aims to turn Americans against themselves using misinformation, while delegitimizing the U.S. in the eyes of others. The latest allegations of Russian meddling in U.S. politics are only the beginning, and U.S. multinationals are the next target. The Russian parliament passed a law last year requiring corporations to turn over all encryption keys for data stored or used in the country.

China has chosen a different tactic, turning globalization's tools against the United States. In March 1986, the government launched Program 863 to make the country technologically self-sufficient, both commercially and militarily, by welcoming foreign corporations to manufacture in China and learning from their intellectual property.

China is the most populous nation on Earth, with the world's second-largest economy. Multinational corporations have spent hundreds of billions in China to access that market, but the key conditions for any foreign company's investment are a local partner and the transfer of intellectual property to the government-supervised Chinese partnership.

Once China has acquired the technology it seeks, another company begins marketing an indigenous version and the government begins harassing the foreign investor. Google fled China in 2010, and the government began deleting Microsoft products from official computers in 2014 in favor of a locally produced alternative that looks remarkably similar.

"Over the last several years, virtually every leading American IT company has found itself in the Chinese cross hairs," Robert Atkinson, president of the Information Technology and Innovation Foundation, told Congress. "This high-tech harassment will in all likelihood continue until China finally gets what it wants: the complete replacement in China of foreign technology companies with Chinese ones."

Isolationism is not the answer. U.S. politicians and businesspeople need to realize they are in not just an economic competition, but a geopolitical one.

When the United States retreats, whether it's allowing Russia to invade its neighbors or allowing China to offer alternatives to the Trans-Pacific Partnership, the U.S. loses respect, influence and power.

Capitalism, and its key component liberty, are America's most powerful tools to accumulate power and wealth. American businesspeople are the ninjas of capitalism, admired and feared throughout the world for their prowess. Unleash them to generate wealth and improve lives, while making a profit.

The United States can win this competition. But hobble international trade, and the enemies of globalization - our enemies - win.
Look at Anna Deavere Smith's one-woman plays, which explore social issues by turning interviews with everyday people into vivid onstage performances, and you'll find a common thread of compassion.

Smith's most recent work, "Notes From the Field," looks at how black boys with little educational resources get funneled into the criminal justice system. In what the New York Times called one of the most relevant pieces of American theater in 2016, Smith made a case for compassion by portraying those in society who are shown little of it.

Her 2012 one-woman show "Let Me Down Easy," of which she will perform excerpts Tuesday at Baylor College of Medicine, likewise appeals to human empathy, in this case applied not to schools and prisons but to hospitals. The piece derives from interviews with doctors, researchers and patients (she spoke to one man a week before he died), as well as known figures such as cyclist Lance Armstrong and former Texas Gov. Ann Richards, who received treatment for esophageal cancer at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center.

Richards isn't the only connection Smith has made with Houston and M.D. Anderson. The actress' sister-in-law was treated for cancer there.

More Information Excerpts from 'Let Me Down Easy' When: 7 p.m. Tuesday Where: Wortham Center, Cullen Theater Tickets: $40; 832-487-7041, tickets.houstonfirsttheaters.com See More Collapse

So when Smith travels Tuesday to Houston to perform the piece, she'll be coming to a town with special resonance. Smith spoke to the Chronicle about what Houston and M.D. Anderson mean to her, as well as the calls to compassion in both "Notes From the Field" and "Let Me Down Easy."

Q: Your recent show, "Notes From the Field," explores the racial issues being discussing through the Black Lives Matter movement. How do you connect that piece to "Let Me Down Easy?"

A: It's clear in "Let Me Down Easy" that people who have resources get a better shot and are treated with more dignity than people who don't. That's very clear. I did much of the research at M.D. Anderson, which is an extraordinary place. When I think back on that time, I'm so grateful I had the opportunity to be there.

Q: How did the idea come up for the piece?

A: "Let Me Down Easy" started when I was a visiting professor at Yale Medical School. The head of internal medicine wanted me to interview about doctor-patient relationships. In my research, I went to Rwanda and South Africa. When I came back to the U.S., it was right after (Hurricane) Katrina, and I went (to New Orleans). Then I went to M.D. Anderson. It's a world-class hospital. I often talked about racism in terms of this great lanyard that everybody wore, which said, "Make Cancer History." I thought it would be great if we all wore something that said, "Make Racism History."

Q: You then were already thinking about the intersection of body, health and race.

A: "Notes From the Field" is looking at another industry, another institution where people who don't have advantages are likely to suffer. In "Let Me Down Easy," you see that people who are left out are going to be left out of good health care.

Q: Ultimately. what was the impact of M.D. Anderson on the creation of the play?

A: I was blown away by the professionalism there, the diversity of the professions, everything from surgeons to yoga teachers. I was able to talk to patients, children - one who ended up in a version of the play, to scientists working on proton therapy, physicists, nurses, people who give palliative care, this man who died within one week of talking to him. And all of these people committed to bringing an end to cancer. This is not a disease that one person's going to bring down.

Q: So the structure of the organization, one with many roles, bore meaning for you.

A: I used that as a metaphor. A lot of problems in the world aren't going to be solved by one leader. It's about people coming together and working in groups.

My late sister-in-law was able to be cared for at M.D. Anderson and put three more years on her life. I'm grateful for what M.D. Anderson gave them and us, a treatment that she could not have gotten elsewhere. In fact, my nephew, her son, will be in the audience when I perform in Houston.

Q: Does that mean you have a personal connection to Houston?

A: My brother did fly to Houston from Baltimore every week for three years while she was dying.

Q: Has doing this play changed the way you look at people like your brother's wife?

A: In the course of my writing, my mother died. Is your mother alive?

Q: She is, but this year we're dealing with the death of my grandfather.

A: Sorry about that. It's so hard. I have to say that the way I looked at my mother's death, I was just furious when there was anything rude happening. Doing "Let Me Down Easy" exposed me to the expectation that people who call themselves "in health care" - we say the health industry, which is what it is. Care is something that's very special. Having been in and out of hospitals, to write the play and to meet incredible doctors, I got upset if people were dealing with my mother with anything less than true caring compassion.

That is something I'm trying to bring forward with "Let Me Down Easy": the value of compassion, in a society where we're looking at our cellphone and trying to get more followers. It's important for us to think about how we all have an opportunity to be better caretakers, of even people who are well.
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Arthur Yarbough stands at a trailer-mounted barrel smoker, overseeing the cooking of 80 whole chickens at Caroline's Quality & Quantity, the barbecue joint he operates with his wife, Caroline, in Kountze, a tiny town 30 minutes north of Beaumont in the East Texas Piney Woods.

That's a lot of chicken for a barbecue joint that's open only on Fridays and Saturdays, I point out to him.

"When there's a funeral in Kountze for folks we know, we cook barbecue chicken for the repast," he says, referring to the post-funeral gathering where friends and family bring food.

Yarbough, 62, who has lived in Kountze his whole life, knows a lot of people and, regrettably, cooks a lot of chicken.

"There were five funerals this weekend," he says.

It's a tradition that reflects the best and worst of small-town life in Southeast Texas. Admirably, there's still a sense of community and a sense of obligation to take care of one's fellow citizens.

And yet many of these towns reflect hard economic times. Jobs in industries such as timber have gone elsewhere. Many young people eventually move to Beaumont or Houston, following better opportunities.

More Information Caroline's Quality & Quantity 320 3rd St., Kountze 409-246-8050 Open Fridays and Saturdays only, 10:30 a.m. until sold out See More Collapse

Similarly, the native East Texas style of barbecue found here is also showing strains from contemporary cultural trends.

Virtually every new barbecue joint that opens nowadays is Central Texas style - the beef-centric, Austin-based style that commands nearly all the media coverage that Texas barbecue attracts worldwide.

Only a few notable East Texas-style joints are still going strong, including Caroline's, as well as New Zion Missionary Baptist Church Barbeque in Huntsville and a handful of places in Beaumont and Port Arthur.

Yarbough isn't sure if his son, Arthur Jr., will take over the business. For now, Arthur Sr. still runs the pits every weekend.

Yarbough is no stranger to hard work. Even during boom times, life in Kountze was hardscrabble.

"I bought my first lawnmower in third grade," he says, adding that he later worked in the sawmill throughout his school years. He grew up in a family with a single mother and had to buy his own clothes.

"I had brothers and sisters, but they were a lot older than me and interested in other things," Yarbough says. "So I had to take care of myself."

After high school, he worked for Santa Fe Railway as a maintenance worker. Twenty-three years later, he retired from the railroad and was looking for something he and Caroline could do to supplement their income.

"As a kid, my friends and I would buy Cokes and some meat, and we'd go down to the creek and I'd cook for them," Yarbough says. That was a starting point. Then he remembered the spicy, garlicky all-beef sausages, known as "homemade links" or "Beaumont-style links," he grew up eating in Kountze. He developed his own recipe and opened Caroline's with his wife in 2001.

It was and still is a "ribs and links" joint, a classic East Texas-style barbecue-menu combination.

Yarbough smokes his handmade links in a remarkable, one-of-a-kind custom smoker made entirely of plywood. The size and shape of a large closet, the plywood box features walls that he "cured" by burning a fire inside until they became charred and no longer catch fire. He hangs the links at the very top and starts a small fire using oak at the bottom and smokes the links for up to 24 hours.

Yarbough cooks about 60 to 70 links every weekend, which is enough to satisfy the old-school barbecue fans who seek out this time-honored East Texas-style delicacy.

Much like the small towns of Southeast Texas, East Texas-style barbecue continues to hang on, even though the number of joints serving it is dwindling. I hope more people like Arthur and Caroline Yarbough keep the tradition alive.
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NUEVO LAREDO, Mexico - The two mothers stood wearily outside a rundown money exchange, one breastfeeding her infant and the other bouncing a toddler, staring at the international bridge just 500 yards away. It might as well have been a mirage.

Irina Ricardo had waited years for this moment, selling all her belongings in Cuba to afford a plane ticket to Ecuador and a grueling journey across Central America. That she had made it, with a 6-month-old baby and an 8-year-old son, seemed to her a miracle, especially with corrupt police and the dangers of the jungle along the way. But it was worth the risks, she had consoled herself, because soon they would be in Houston. Saturday, she found out they were too late.

Barely 48 hours earlier, President Barack Obama had unexpectedly repealed a decades-old policy allowing Cubans to stay legally in the United States if they made it to the American border. The change comes as Washington and Havana have restored diplomatic relations and following years of criticism that granting Cubans such a fast-track to American citizenship was an unnecessary relic of the Cold War.

At first, Ricardo thought it was a joke. But as the throng of Cubans outside Laredo's international bridge grew throughout the afternoon, her disbelief morphed into despair. She turned to Saray Dominguez, who was trying to get her 18-month-old son to eat. Their husbands had gone together to a nearby Catholic church, seeking a place to store their luggage.

"Had we known, we would have come earlier," said Dominguez, a 35-year-old former accountant for a luxury hotel in Cuba.

The two women were strangers, and their journeys to this street corner couldn't have been more different, but now their paths to Houston, where both had friends, seemed similarly impossible.

"We can't go back to Cuba," said Ricardo, who is 31. "We don't have anything there."

Yes, Dominguez agreed.

"If I have to spend years locked up in immigrant detention, I'll do that," she said. "I'm not going back."

B B B

Ricardo was a waitress in Havana, her husband an agricultural engineer. Together, they made just $65 a month, barely enough to afford a pair of shoes for their son, they said. After Ecuador briefly opened its border to Cubans, they sold their house and everything they owned to buy plane tickets to Quito in 2015. Like many Cubans, they planned to stay a few years and work to save up enough money for the journey to Texas.

Since 2009, the number of Cubans crossing at the southwest border has increased five-fold, and more than 41,500 came through there last year, a record. Of those, about 36,000 arrived here at Nuevo Laredo.

The sheer mass of arrivals has overwhelmed resettlement agencies from El Paso to Houston as Cubans receive the same welfare and benefits as other refugees. It's also caused problems across Latin America, creating bottlenecks of displaced migrants in Panama and Costa Rica and forcing those governments to airlift Cubans to the Texas border.

In Quito, Ricardo's husband worked as a mechanic, while she stayed home to care for their newborn daughter, Lia, and their young son, Ali. By November, they had saved enough money and Lia was old enough, they hoped, to make the journey.

It is a horrific one, involving busing across Colombia and paying bribes to police and criminals who have turned the desperation of Cubans into a lucrative enterprise. The most dangerous crossing is Panama's Darien Gap, a practically impenetrable jungle that is home to guerrillas, indigenous tribes, Dengue-carrying mosquitoes and poisonous snakes.

For 10 days, Ricardo and her husband trudged through the brush with their two children. Abandoned clothes and backpacks marked the way, and they encountered elderly travelers who couldn't keep going and were giving up to the jungle.

It would only get worse. After making it to Costa Rica last month, their guide lost them in the forest, leaving them wandering in circles for weeks. In Nicaragua, they had to pay bribes to local profiteers who wouldn't otherwise let them pass. By the time Mexican immigration authorities briefly detained them at that country's southern border with Guatemala, Texas seemed so close that Ricardo could almost see it.

On Thursday, as their bus pulled into Mexico City, a Cuban friend in Houston sent a Facebook message.

"They've closed the border," he said.

For Ricardo, his words didn't even make sense.

"Imagine, you've done this whole journey, putting the children in danger, for nothing," she said.

B B B

Dominguez, on the other hand, came via a far easier route. She and her husband also flew to Ecuador on a tourist visa in 2015, and she had her son, Aaron, in Quito. They stayed for a while - she worked at a gym and her husband at a restaurant - as they waited for relatives to sell the property they owned in Cuba and others in Miami to send them money.

Like many Cubans, they, too, anticipated that changes were coming to the Cuban Adjustment Act, a 1966 policy allowing them to enter legally and gain green cards after a year, the only nationality with such an expedited path.

For years, critics have said such an immigration benefit is no longer necessary, given the opening of the island's economy and Havana's gradual loosening of restrictions. They said Cubans were no longer coming here for political reasons but for economic ones. After Washington restored diplomatic ties in 2015 and Fidel Castro died in November, change seemed imminent. Still, Dominguez figured it would be President-Elect Donald Trump to cut the cord, not Obama.

"He's the one that doesn't want immigrants, who wants to build a wall," she said.

Planning to get here before Trump's inauguration, she purchased plane tickets to Panama last week. By the time they disembarked from the plane Thursday, it was already too late. Not wanting to believe it, they flew to Nuevo Laredo anyway. First thing Saturday, they walked across the bridge.

Border Patrol officials, Dominguez said, gave them two options: "Either we walk back on our own two feet or they'll bring us here."

She retreated to this corner, finding Ricardo in a similar state. Out of desperation, they clicked. Indeed, all around them Cubans were striking up friendships, making plans, trying to devise alternatives.

Some planned to stay on the bridge, where they said they would spend the night and attempt to protest the policy. Jose Castaneda, 28, said his journey had taken him to Guyana, a South American country neighboring Venezuela that is one of the few nations currently granting visas to Cubans. From there, he traveled through Brazil, Bolivia and Peru to arrive at Colombia while avoiding Venezuela, whose socialist government has close ties with Havana.

"I've gone through this much; I'm not going to give up now," he said.

B B B

Thousands of Cubans are receiving the news as they're still at the beginning or in the middle of their journeys. Victor Sainz, a 32-year-old refrigeration mechanic, said by telephone that he found out about Obama's repeal as he arrived at the border of Guatemala and Mexico last week. He is awaiting a visa to cross the country and said he would stick to his original plan, putting him at Laredo later this month.

"I've heard people say that we should ask for political asylum," he said.

But it's unlikely many Cubans would qualify. They first must prove they have a credible fear of persecution if they return to Cuba and then have a hearing before a judge. To receive asylum, they must demonstrate that they face persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, membership in a social group or their political opinion.

"It's impossible to prove this," Sainz lamented. "We're against the regime, and we're discriminated against, but how can we prove that?"

At the bridge in Laredo, Cubans said they received a list of resources in Mexico, including the address of a nearby migrant shelter. They said Border Patrol agents told them they could make an appointment to apply for asylum, but many had heard false rumors that the officials were tearing up the paperwork instead so were afraid to go.

Faced with little money and few options, many simply congregated here outside the bridge. Ricardo's daughter fell asleep on her chest as her son played a game on her phone. Dominguez's son began to wail. It had been hours since he had napped.

Soon their husbands returned. They had found them a place to stay at the shelter. They could no longer afford a motel.

"I'm very worried," said Ricardo's husband, Angel Diaz. "We're waiting for a miracle. The situation is very difficult."

He said he no longer had anything in Cuba or in Ecuador. There was nowhere to go.

"Maybe we'll just have to cross the desert like the other migrants," he mused. "One way or the other, we have to cross."
PARIS - It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming U.S. government.

But the French organizers say that's the whole point. They want Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to see that most of the world wants a two-state solution and is fed up with decades of conflict.

With chances for a Mideast peace deal lower than in years - perhaps a generation - French President Francois Hollande figures there's nothing to lose.

French diplomats fear that Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy to contested Jerusalem.

'Rigged' conference

So more than 70 foreign ministers and other top envoys are gathering Sunday in Paris to urge the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu says the conference is "rigged" against Israel and declined an invitation to a special meeting afterward. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris has been postponed.

Even the organizers know it's symbolic; no one expects a breakthrough. It's aimed at presenting Trump with a collective international push for peace once he takes office Friday.

For Obama's outgoing government, Sunday's meeting marks the bitter, disappointing end of eight years of failed Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. Days before leaving office, Secretary of State John Kerry will headline the Paris event - yet he's participating only to ensure that America's interest in a two-state solution is preserved.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press on Friday, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution." It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

Hollande's government has been trying for years to revive peace-making, pointing to diplomatic successes like the 2015 Paris climate agreement, its improved relations with Israel over the past decade and hard line against Israeli rivals Iran and Syria.

But with Netanyahu snubbing the conference and Trump's administration "reserved" about it, according to a French diplomat, Sunday's gathering looks increasingly like an effort to isolate Israel, not entice it to the negotiating table.

Pro-Israel demonstrators plan a protest Sunday in Paris.

Embassy an issue

Hollande too is a lame duck, leaving office in May - and his government has made no plans to follow up Sunday's conference with enforcement measures or outreach to Trump's team.

The final declaration may warn Trump against moving the embassy, which could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct negotiations.

The sides haven't negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S. peace effort in 2014. Palestinian attacks on civilians and incitement to violence have heightened tensions, as has expanded Israeli settlement building.
WASHINGTON - House Democrats still seething over FBI Director James Comey's handling of the election-year inquiry of Hillary Clinton confronted the law enforcement officer over his refusal to say whether the FBI is investigating possible links between President-elect Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.

The contentious, closed-door session Friday reflected the frustration of Democrats who blame Comey's statements and actions in part for Clinton's loss to Trump. In July, Comey announced the FBI investigation found Clinton's use of a private email server was "extremely careless" but not criminal. Then, days before the Nov. 8 election, he sent two letters to Congress, one announcing a review of newly found emails and then another saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

The Justice Department inspector general announced this week that he is investigating Comey and the department.

Democrats and Republicans who attended the briefing Friday with Comey and senior intelligence officials said several lawmakers pressed him in a tense session about his refusal to say whether there is an examination of alleged contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Russia.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the meeting was contentious but that Comey handled himself well.

"Yesterday morning if you asked me if I thought Comey was at the end of his career  I probably would have said 'I think so,' " King said. "Now I think he deserves to be reassessed, just by the way he handled himself. I was impressed."

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., repeatedly asked Comey if he had applied a "double standard" in disclosing investigations. Comey has previously said his standard was based on whether there is a need to reassure the public about a possible probe.

"Do you believe that standard has been met with reference to the possible investigation of the Trump campaign's possible connections to the Russian government? And if not, why not?" Nadler pressed. The congressman told Comey that he should clarify whether the FBI is investigating, as he did with Clinton's email probe.

According to Nadler, Comey responded he didn't think it was the same thing.

"That's what got many people in the room frustrated and upset," Nadlersaid. "He was being very hypocritical."

A declassified intelligence report released last week said Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence the election to favor Trump over Clinton.
A public feud between Donald Trump and Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., seemed to jettison any lingering hopes that the inauguration would temporarily ease partisanship in Washington and instead threatened to widen the rift between the two parties.

Lewis's assertion that Trump is not a "legitimate president" and his announcement that he would skip Friday's inaugural ceremony prompted the president-elect to sharply criticize the civil rights leader Saturday morning.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results," Trump wrote in two tweets. "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

The incident has left Democrats and Republicans bracing themselves for yet another showdown between the president and his political opponents - one that threatens to usher in a new era of the kind of crippling hyper-partisanship that often characterized the eight years of President Barack Obama's administration.

David Axelrod, former senior strategist and aide to President Obama, called Lewis "as genuine and decent a person as you'll find," but he worried that Democrats risk adopting an originally Republican playbook in their dealings with Trump and that it won't advance the party's interests.

"The question is how much can a democracy take of cycle after cycle of one side claiming illegitimacy," Axelrod said. "I as much as anybody else appreciate the anger because I was there when we basically faced a Republican blockade, even on things that Republicans had supported in the past. I saw how destructive that was and how difficult that was."

"If you care about our democracy, how do you proceed now? Do you pay him back in kind?" Axelrod asked.

Voicing the anger and disappointment of many Democrats in Congress and beyond, Lewis said in an interview with NBC News's "Meet the Press" that was published Friday that he does not believe Trump is a legitimate president, citing the findings of U.S. intelligence agencies that Russia intervened in the election to bolster Trump.

"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected, and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said.

The comments prompted anger from Republicans - even those who do not support Trump - who said that Democrats are disregarding their own breathless warnings during the campaign about the risks of failing to accept the election results.

"We listened to Democrats for the last two months of the campaign say that any suggestion that the elections weren't legitimate and the results wouldn't be accepted is dangerous and unpatriotic," said Doug Heye, a Republican strategist. "Now those same people are trying to delegitimize Trump and say that he shouldn't be elected president."

Trump's comments were all the more charged as they came at the start of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend and were seen as dismissive of Lewis's work in the civil right movement, a time when he was subjected to arrest and assault. Adding to the racial overtones is the disparagement of Lewis's district, which is majority black, as "crime infested."

Interim Democratic National Committee chairwoman Donna Brazile called Trump's comments an "attack on a living legend and a civil rights hero."

"I say that John Lewis took action. He took action marching from Selma to Montgomery," she said at a Democratic Party meeting in Phoenix.

At least a dozen Democratic lawmakers have joined Lewis, saying that they plan to skip Trump's swearing-in. And on Twitter on Saturday, many of them jumped to the congressman's defense.

Few Republican lawmakers weighed in. Two, Sen. Ben Sasse (Nebraska) and Rep. Kevin Yoder (Kansas), tweeted support for Lewis even as they urged him to attend the inauguration.

The Lewis tweets capped a week of Twitter flurries by the president-elect in which he went after what he viewed as insults from various people or entities, including Clinton, CNN, the intelligence community, BuzzFeed News and Meryl Streep.

"His fundamental rule is that if you come after me in any way, I'll come after you," Axelrod noted. "He thinks he can bully people into cooperation. My experience has been that can drive people further away and make it harder.

"There are some things that he's talking about wanting to do that he's going to need Democratic votes for."

- - -

The Washington Post's David Weigel in Phoenix contributed to this report .
AUSTIN -- State lawmakers lowered the state's constitutional spending cap Thursday, reflecting the downturn in the oil and gas industries that fuel much of the Texas economy.

Lawmakers lowered the cap to 8 percent, a drop from the 11.68 percent spending cap on new state spending approved two years ago.

The lower cap was unanimously approved by the Legislative Budget Board even as lawmakers are expected to tackle costly public policy issues, including the state's beleaguered foster care system and its public school finance formula, both issues the courts have considered flawed.

House Speaker Joe Straus, R-San Antonio, applauded the new cap. "Today's vote will allow the Legislature to produce a balanced, responsible state budget," said House Speaker Joe Straus.

The Legislative Budget Board is composed of Straus, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, R-Houston, and eight other lawmakers. The cap fulfills a constitutional requirement to limit government growth to that of the state's economy, which is estimated at 8 percent.

The new cap gives state lawmakers approximately $99.8 million dollars in state tax revenue not otherwise dedicated by the constitution in the upcoming two-year budget cycle, up from $92.5 billion in the current spending period. Texas' overall spending plan approved in 2016 totaled nearly $210 billion, which includes federal funds.

"The Texas economy continues to grow at a modest pace, and I do not expect that to change in the coming year," said Tom Currah, the state's chief revenue estimator, who blamed the downturn of the oil industry for dragging down the state's economy.

Currah said he sees signs for improvement, such as an uptick in job growth to about 200,000 jobs in the 12-month period that ended in October, but warned that bump pales in comparison to job growth of more than 300,000 jobs in years past.
"We've had problems here tonight. The forces of evil are always around."

Martin Luther King Jr. uttered those words before a Houston audience 50 years ago this October. The radical notion of peace never comes easy.

Klansmen marched on the sidewalk outside the Sam Houston Coliseum where King spoke. Smoke bombs in the air conditioning vents made the crowd think that the building was on fire, and stink bombs in the theater tried to drive crowd away.

King's moral opposition to the Vietnam War had turned one-time allies in the fight for civil rights into critics who doubted his patriotism. Days before King's speech - his last in Houston - the Forward Times ran an editorial that called his arrival an "imposition on the community" and claimed that his anti-war position bordered on treason. The editorial even accused Aretha Franklin, who was performing with King, of associating with peaceniks and compared her to Tokyo Rose or Axis Sally.

These were dark days for the great peacemaker. And the atmosphere across Houston was no better.

Texas Southern University was still recovering from chaos that erupted five months earlier. Protests had broken out on the eve of finals after administrators expelled the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee from campus, and false rumors spread of a white police officer killing a black child.

The Houston Police Department responded by marching on campus like an occupying army.

"There was no riot at TSU. It was war," reported The Houston Post.

Officers destroyed campus lighting, fearful of snipers and sharpshooters that only existed in their minds. Police eventually poured more than 3,000 rounds of shotgun and carbine fire into a TSU dorm. Some officers even brought their own deer rifles from home - as if black students were game to be hunted.

One officer was killed by a ricochet bullet, and 489 people were arrested. The supposed leaders of the student riot were never charged.

"Police terrorism" was what Rev. Bill Lawson called it at the time.

The next year, Houston Police Chief Herman B. Short was floated as a possible vice president for George Wallace and the segregationist platform.

The harrowing story of a half-century ago serves as a dark underside to the inspirational and uplifting tone that will dominate tomorrow's holiday. We'll bask in the dream of equality that King described. School bands, families and politicians will march in our city's two Martin Luther King Day parades.

But like parades on Memorial Day or Veterans Day, we should remember the people who survived the moments when the civil rights movement turned from dreams to violence, and protests turned to war. King's message may seem obvious to us now. But calls for peace and justice are rarely welcomed in their own time. And the forces of evil are always around.
In years past, the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday has been a happy celebration with lively marches, exalted oratory and the like. This year, however, as everyone knows, is different. In the past, we have honored the holiday as representing a milestone in American history, a day signifying progress in ending the historical scourge of slavery and its Jim Crow progeny, segregation. This year, though, there is a palpable tension across the land around issues of race and diversity, a scar left by the aftermath of an astonishingly divisive election.

The dissonance is striking and disconcerting. On the one hand, the country's first African-American president is wrapping up eight years in office with a high approval rating. On the other hand, the rate of hate crimes has spiked alarmingly, and white nationalist groups openly rally in public.

American culture is finally treating the African-American experience more forthrightly. Two recent examples are the film "Moonlight," a Golden Globes Best Drama winner involving the life struggle of an African-American man, and "Hidden Figures," a movie about three brilliant African-American women at NASA who were the scientific brains behind the launch of astronaut John Glenn. Yet, in contrast, social media is soaked in racist, homophobic and xenophobic screeds.

Diversity is expanding in the country's workforce and professions, but income inequality is worse than it has been in our lifetime, disproportionately affecting minority communities.

Public officials like Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton spend taxpayers' money to fight efforts by the State Bar to include more minority lawyers in its leadership and governance over Texas attorneys and to make it more difficult for poor people and elderly folks to vote. The U.S. Fifth Circuit Court, a conservative court, found that the state's recent election laws had a discriminatory impact on minority voting rights and that the evidence showed the Legislature actually may have had that invidious purpose.

What gives? In what direction are we moving as a society? What's happening to "the sacred ties that bind us together" about which President Barack Obama spoke in his farewell address Tuesday? Is our lack of civil society "enfeebling" those ties, as he warned? These are sobering questions. Our political leaders do not have an agenda of unity and solidarity. Instead they stoke the hot smoldering coals of division, enmity and insecurity.

Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. spoke poignantly that "the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice." However, the bending does not occur on its own inertia. The context for Dr. King's observation is that people's moral actions are necessary if we are to bend the arc toward justice; that is the only way it can happen.

This year's celebration of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday may be an appropriate occasion for all of us to reflect on our society and consider what steps each of us can take to bind up the wounds in our community and work toward a better civil society.

Our tools should be reconciliation, justice and love. These are nice words, warm and fuzzy. But, truth be told, they require much hard personal work on the part of us all - that is the only way the American dream of democracy will have life. Without reconciliation and love, we will not be able to bend the arc toward justice.

Harrington, a human rights attorney in Austin, is founder and director emeritus of the Texas Civil Rights Project.
"There are problems here tonight," Martin Luther King Jr. told a Houston crowd in 1967. "The forces of evil are all around."

The dark events I witnessed on a momentous Texas night 50 years ago underscored the accuracy of the civil rights leader's assertion.

A crowd of four thousand had assembled in a Houston arena to support King's efforts for the city's municipal workers, who were on strike in 1967. Outside stood a phalanx of Texas Rangers with white shirts, brown ties, distinctive stars and fancy gun belts girding ample bellies. Other Rangers with rifles were stationed on the building's roof "to prevent violence." Inside, peaceful melodies of Harry Belafonte and Joan Baez lifted the spirits of the strikers and those of us who had gathered to support them. A strong sense of solidarity prompted generosity, and the crowd filled buckets with dollars to meet workers' needs.

Then, just as expectations were mounting that King would soon appear, we heard a muted series of pops, and tear gas spewed from the ventilation system. The rancid gas caused spasms of coughing and retching that handkerchiefs and scarfs could not prevent. The crowd neared the edge of panic.

Amid this chaos, Dr. King emerged from the wings, strode to the podium and branded the act with a name. It was evil, he boldly asserted, the evil of racism. By crystalizing the act in a name, King made sense of the dangerous moment. Audience members who had been rushing to leave paused and returned to their seats. With a few more sentences, King brought the mass to its feet with a roaring declaration that we would not be bullied by the Rangers' cowardly actions. Many of us departed with renewed fervor for the civil rights movement, but a few months later, our leader was murdered in Memphis.

Most of us who honor King's memory may be forgiven for assuming that the hatred of that Houston evening had dissipated along with the tear gas, an assessment reinforced by the election of our first black president and South Carolina's decision to strike the rebel flag. Yet, it took only a few months of a rancorous presidential campaign to bring racism into the open.

President-elect Donald Trump would have us believe that his inflammatory statements were just campaign rhetoric, to be forgiven and forgotten in a ceremony of commitment when he is sworn in as our nation's new chief executive. The damage he has done stands in stark contrast against his calls now for civility and unity. His campaign helped to stoke social acceptance for racism and encouraged his supporters to give bigotry a voice. Witness the more than 1,000 bias-related incidents documented by the Southern Poverty Law Center since the November election.

Does Trump regret his statements? Hear the praise he lavished recently on a crowd of Alabamans: "You people were vicious, violent, screaming, 'Where's the wall? We want the wall!' ... You were nasty and mean and vicious and you wanted to win, right?"

In the face of such declarations from our nation's duly elected leader, one question looms: Who now will walk from the wings, take the podium and define the issue of racism for Americans? Who will condemn Muslim registries? Who will speak out for immigrants facing unjust deportation? Who will speak up for African Americans and poor Americans deprived of health insurance? Who will oppose efforts to eliminate school lunches for poor children and reduce welfare support? Who will inform Supreme Court Chief Justice Roberts that voter ID laws still abridge civil rights?

The stage is empty, and the odds are long against the emergence of another Martin Luther King Jr. Those of us who hope for an America that gives every individual his due, provides access to at least a minimal level of health and welfare for all citizens, protects the weak against violence - we must now point out the moral quagmire into which our nation has been plunged.

A half century after King's courageous pronouncement, evil still exists in America. It is now our duty to brand it racism.

A retired associate vice president of the College of William & Mary, Walker has been active in the civil rights movement since his undergraduate days at the University of Virginia, where he first heard King speak. Now a Virginia resident, Walker was an instructor of English at Lamar State College of Technology - now Lamar University - when he attended the Houston rally.
A St. Louis man driving a stolen vehicle was arrested early Friday after a store clerk became suspicious, Licking police said.

Thomas E. Spann, 27, was arrested on a misdemeanor warrant from Phelps County and charges of stealing a motor vehicle, driving while suspended and a registration violation.

Licking Police Chief Scott Lindsey said a police officer was called at 1:02 a.m. Jan. 13 after an employee reported a suspicious vehicle in the parking lot.

A computer check showed the 2001 Toyota Camry had the wrong license plates on it, and it had been stolen from Northwoods, a community in St. Louis County.

Lindsey said Spann initially refused an order from the officer to exit the vehicle. A Taser was displayed and he still refused, instead reaching inside the passenger area. The officer ordered Spann to exit at gunpoint, and he was taken into custody without further incident.

Spann was taken to the Texas County Jail as formal charges are sought.
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Kevin OLeary has a novel idea to balance Canadas budget  selling seats in the Senate.

The potential Conservative leadership contender told CTVs Question Period that Canadas upper house of Parliament should be a profit centre, not a cost centre.

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I dont know why we cant have a hundred thousand or a couple of hundred thousand committed each year per senator, the reality TV host said.

OLeary hasnt formally announced a bid to replace Stephen Harper yet, but has suggested he may do so as early as this week.

Canadas Senate examines and passes laws that have made it through the House of Commons, the chamber of elected MPs. Last year, Senators changed two of the Trudeau governments signature pieces of legislation  the middle-class tax break and assisted-dying bill.

Senators are appointed by the Prime Minister and make a base annual salary of $145,400. Those with additional responsibilities, like the Speaker, get extra pay and allowances for a car and home.

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As I write this Yemeni services will still be clearing up the damage caused last week when a Saudi air strike hit a primary school. Five people were killed in the strike, including two children, but coverage of their deaths has been muted.

Many refer to Yemen as a 'forgotten war', and the scale of death and destruction have become such a daily occurrence that few major broadcasters are even mentioning it any longer.

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It's been almost two years since Saudi forces began their bombing campaign. In that time schools, hospitals, homes, markets and even a refugee camp have become the scenes of massacres. The death toll has steadily climbed, surpassing 10,000 last August, with the political and military stalemate leaving no end in sight for the millions of civilians caught in the middle.

The terrible fallout of the bombardment has been condemned by the United Nations, the European Parliament and human rights researchers and aid agencies on the ground. The bloodshed has been so terrible that even the United States government, the biggest arms dealer in the world, has indicated that it will reduce exports to the Saudi regime.

The controversy has made its way to Whitehall, where growing opposition from NGOs and parliamentarians has forced government ministers to concede that Saudi forces have used UK cluster bombs in their onslaught.

Cluster bombs are among the cruellest and most deadly weapons that can be used in warfare. When the bombs are dropped they open up in mid-air to release hundreds of sub-munitions, which can cover large areas. The sub-munitions can last for years and kill indiscriminately.

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Unfortunately UK complicity doesn't end there, with UK sold fighter jets being flown over Yemen by UK-trained personnel and dropping UK-made bombs. The arms sales haven't slowed down: in fact the UK has licensed over 3.3billion worth of arms since the bombing began.

The legality of these exports is the subject of a Judicial Review that is being heard next month, following an application by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT).

On paper, UK arms export licensing criteria are very clear. They say that licences should not be granted if there is a "clear risk" that equipment might be used in violation of International Humanitarian Law. By any reasonable understanding this should end all arms exports to Saudi Arabia for use in Yemen.

The application for the review focused on clear, compelling and widespread allegations of Saudi Arabia violating international humanitarian law. It also raised serious questions about the process behind the decision that allowed them to be licensed in the first place.

This will be the first time UK arms exports have been examined in this way, and the outcome will be critical. If the application is successful then it will set a vital precedent and could be instrumental in changing UK arms export policy.

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Regardless of the outcome, we have already how weak and broken UK arms export controls really are. A brutal dictatorship can create a humanitarian catastrophe, kill thousands of civilians and flout international law, and the UK continues arming it. Instead of following its own rules on arms sales, the government has prioritised arms company profits over human rights.

The issue goes wider than Saudi Arabia. A recent investigation by CAAT and the Independent found that the UK government is the second biggest arms export in the world. Two thirds of these arms are going to the Middle East, with many going to countries on the UK's own human rights watch list.

We are always being told that the UK stands for human rights and democracy, but it is actively pouring weapons into some of the most oppressive and unstable regimes in the world.

Whatever happens next month it won't be the end of the debate. As long as terrible crimes are being committed with UK weapons and with our government's support, this campaign will continue. It's not just the arms sales that need to end, it is also the hypocrisy and the mindset that has allowed them to happen in the first place.
The Trump slump has begun. Trump has less public support than any President-elect on record. Only 44 percent of Americans say they approve of Trump's handling of the presidential transition, according to Gallup. That number is going down. It was 48 percent a month ago.

Compare that with George W. Bush, who took office in January 2001 after the fiercely disputed Florida recount. Bush started out with 61 percent support. Bill Clinton won the 1992 election with 43 percent of the popular vote in a three-way split with President George H.W. Bush and Ross Perot. Clinton's transition rating: 68 percent approval.

Honeymoon? Forget it. Only 37 percent of Americans have a favorable opinion of Trump in this month's Quinnipiac poll. Most Americans don't like Trump.

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There is only one way Trump can survive: perpetual political war. He got elected by dividing the country. It was not exactly the old division, left versus right. Trump provoked a populist-elitist division by fiercely attacking the cosmopolitan ruling class. ``There is nothing that the political establishment will not do, no lie that they won't tell, to hold their prestige and power at your expense,'' he told a rally in Florida in October.

Resentment of intellectuals and educated elites is an old theme in U.S. politics, going all the way back to Andrew Jackson. Trump exploited it relentlessly. He ended up carrying non-college educated white voters by better than two to one.

The cultural elite's response to Trump? Contempt. Actress Meryl Streep denounced Trump as a ``bully'' for his ``instinct to humiliate'' the less fortunate. Trump's response? Defiance. He called Streep ``one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood'' and ``a Hillary flunky who lost big.'' Contempt versus defiance. That is likely to be the prevailing mode of political discourse for the next four years.

Given the interference in the election by Russia and the FBI, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) told NBC News, ``I don't see this President-elect as a legitimate President.'' Trump's response via Twitter: ``Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime-infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.''

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A former Hillary Clinton campaign strategist said on MSNBC, ``What would be great is if [Trump] started conducting himself in a way that's consistent with the manner of all preceding Presidents. . . . Stop hurling insults. Stop hurling tweets.'' Trump's response? A defiant tweet: ``What are Hillary Clinton's people complaining about with respect to the FBI? Based on the information they had, she should never have been allowed to run -- guilty as hell.''

For Trump to survive, two conditions must hold. Republicans have to keep their majorities in Congress, and Trump's supporters have to stand by him. His supporters can threaten any Republican in Congress who opposes or even criticizes the President with a serious primary challenge.

Trump knows how to rally his army. He has weaponized social media. Twitter nurtures populism. It enables Trump to bypass the news media and communicate directly with his people, who regard the media as a despised elite. As President, Trump has to continue tweeting to keep his populist following on a war footing.

A revenge cycle is underway in American politics. The minute Barack Obama took office in 2009, conservatives organized a resistance movement. The Tea Party sprang into existence a few weeks after Obama's inauguration. Its mission was to oppose and obstruct everything Obama tried to do.



Now a resistance movement is emerging among progressive Democrats. Its mission is to everything Trump tries to do. Big city Democratic mayors say they will refuse to cooperate with efforts to deport immigrants who seek refuge in their cities. Democratic state officials are organizing to do the same thing Republican state officials did when Obama was President -- go to court to challenge the federal government's constitutional authority to pass laws they find objectionable.

The California legislature is retaining Eric Holder, Obama's former attorney general, to represent them in legal confrontations with the Trump Administration. ``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,'' the Democratic leader of the state senate said.

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The Democratic National Committee is setting up a ``war room'' to fight President Trump -- a research and communications operation aimed at rallying opposition to his policies, exposing his conflicts of interest and challenging his factual distortions.
We live in a world at constant risk of public health emergencies. In our increasingly interconnected world, public health emergencies can affect anyone, anywhere. The recent outbreaks of Zika, Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) and Yellow Fever have reminded us that disease threats are not limited to one country, one issue, or one pathogen. We saw the catastrophic impact of Ebola not only on the numbers of lives affected or lost and overwhelmed health systems but also on the economic development reversals of the affected countries. Yet Nigeria and Senegal were able to contain the outbreak rapidly due to better coordination, incident management systems, robust surveillance platforms and community engagement. One key takeaway is to ensure that each country builds the core capacities of the International Health Regulations (IHR) and ensures the safety of the public. Otherwise, the gains we have made over the past several decades can easily be undone. We must make sure that countries are encouraged, not punished, to report outbreaks and have the necessary support.

The post-Ebola landscape showed that Member States increasingly want WHO to go beyond its traditional normative role to engage and lead health aspects of emergency responses. Through the current reform of the WHO Emergency Programme, WHO is developing new operational capacities and capabilities for outbreaks and humanitarian emergencies.



Strong leadership is essential in the face of health crises. Complex public health emergencies demand a collective response with high-level political and diplomatic engagement at both the national and global levels. Local and international authorities must work together to put health at the centre of their security, economic and development agendas.

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In 2009, when I was Health Minister, we re-engineered our business processes to examine the weaknesses and opportunities in our health system. Following that exercise, we established a public health emergency management system from national to district level to prevent and provide rapid response to outbreaks. We introduced basic and advanced field epidemiology training program to build capacity of surveillance officers. We also set up an emergency operation centre and its team investigated hundreds of localised outbreaks. Ethiopia is now better positioned in incident management, coordination, surveillance and diagnostic capacity.

As Foreign Minister, I had the opportunity to shape the region's response to the Ebola epidemic, facilitating greater country ownership and promptly mobilising 200 Ethiopian health workers to join the African Union Support to Ebola Outbreak in West Africa (ASEOWA).

In my vision statement for WHO, I emphasise the need for national preparedness to deal with health threats and build capacity. As Director-General, I will ensure strong, coordinated and rapid global responses to health emergencies by strengthening WHO's capacity to lead by implementing and independently monitoring the newly-established WHO programme for outbreaks and health emergencies based on the 'six ones': one programme, one line of authority, one set of emergency management processes and performance metrics, one workforce, one budget and one set of emergency business rules and processes. I will regularly monitor and engage with emerging efforts, such as the recently-established Global Health Crisis Task Force.

We must harmonise emergency responses to ensure synergy and alignment between pandemic preparedness and response efforts at the global and local levels, as well as between existing and emerging health emergency financial instruments. The number of actors in global health governance and service delivery has grown exponentially over the past two decades. This proliferation of other global health institutions is actually an opportunity, creating a multiplier effect for great impact in improving health worldwide. If elected, I will lead from the front and place WHO at the centre of global health action.



Two weeks remain before the Member States of the WHO Executive Board convene to short-list the top three candidates for Director-General. I am running because WHO has the power to make tangible and positive impact on the lives of billions of people. I believe in WHO's mandate, I know what it takes to serve those who need the most care yet receive the least and I believe I can lead WHO to fulfil its potential.

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First, I am passionate about improving the health of people around the world - and I am a firm believer that healthy populations are the cornerstone of sustainable development.

Second, I have proven experience addressing the greatest health challenges of our time at their roots at both the national and international levels. These experiences have given me the technical skills needed to be successful as Director-General.

Third, having served as Ethiopia's Minister of Health and Minister of Foreign Affairs - as well as in several board leadership positions - I have the political leadership and diplomatic skills that WHO needs. For example, I brought together all UN Member States to agree to the Addis Ababa Action Agenda at the Third International Conference on Financing for Development in July 2015 to finance the sustainable development goals.
Cuban migrants demonstrate demanding to be allowed to travel to the United States in thee Turbo municipality, Antioquia department, Colombia on August 5, 2016. More than 2.000 Cuban migrants are in the country after Panama closed the border with Colombia last May 9 to stop the flow of mainly Cuban migrants in a desperate bid to reach the United States / AFP / RAUL ARBOLEDA (Photo credit should read RAUL ARBOLEDA/AFP/Getty Images)

The policy of "wet foot, dry foot" that President Obama ended late this week was a variation of the special status provided to Cubans fleeing that nation by every president since Dwight D. Eisenhower. Along with the Cuban Adjustment Act of 1966, these policies gave millions of Cubans a head start on legal permanent residence and a path to U.S. citizenship.

By any and every measure, those who fled Castro's Cuba -- as well as their descendants--have made enormous contributions to this country. Through hard work and entrepreneurial spirit, Cuban Americans revitalized South Florida, helping transform what had been a struggling region into a dynamic bridge to Latin America. And Cuban Americans have made their mark at the highest echelons of business, the arts, sports, education and government.

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Cuban Americans, later joined by numerous other Latino subgroups, have also given us a glimpse into our nation's future. While the process of demographic change is never easy, they've demonstrated that increased diversity need not be a zero-sum game, that the advancement of one group can be part of a rising tide lifting all boats. In that sense, the generosity extended to those fleeing the Castro regime has served our country as well.

At the same time, far too often our nation has failed to extend this generosity to other similarly situated groups, such as Haitians fleeing corrupt and dictatorial regimes and natural disasters, or Central Americans leaving countries wrecked by civil war, political persecution, and extreme violence. While it is true that our country cannot accept everyone seeking to enter from abroad, it is also true that we should always pursue the highest degree of fairness possible.

Most Americans would agree that no one seeking to become an "American by choice" -- whether as a refugee fleeing persecution, a legal immigrant reuniting with family members, or an undocumented immigrant brought to the United States as a child -- should be excluded from this precious opportunity based on their race, religion, or country of origin. If that is true, the converse is also true -- that certain newcomers should not be given easier access solely due to these characteristics.

We would have much preferred that this administration, and its predecessors for that matter, would have afforded greater generosity to all groups fleeing political persecution, civil war and extreme violence instead of closing off avenues for Cubans.

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Morocco is a country with everything you'll find in the more typical Mediterranean destinations of Europe with many African extras thrown in, and a price tag that's much more forgiving to strained wallets. I'm going to let you in on five of my top Moroccan favorites along with the hotels I personally recommend, but please don't stop at just these five. These are merely to get you started on your Moroccan exploration.

Menknes: Located in the north of Morocco, Meknes is a 9th-century medina surrounded by a 21st-century city. One of Morocco's previous capitals, it still holds several major historical sites: Mausoleum of Moulay Ismail, Bab Mansour (one of the most well-preserved gates in all of Morocco), Dar Jamai Museum (fascinating exhibits) and is one hour from Volubilis, a fascinating set of Roman ruins. Meknes' medina (defined as the "old arab quarter of a North African town") is what I like to call a "tester," as it's not so large as to utterly confuse you, but it's just enough to test your sense of navigation through an exciting real world maze. Inside that maze but close to its entrance is the well signposted Ryad Bahia.

Pristine in every way, this authentic Ryad makes you feel at home in Morocco's unique culture immediately upon your first steps through its gate. You'll be greeted with mint tea and a warm smile, ushered into the open air sitting room for a calming rest before being escorted on the "house tour." On the roof of the Ryad you can take in a sunset (or a sunrise) and get a better look at the old city which surrounds you. Ryad Bahia, and the city of Meknes, is the ideal first stop to introduce yourself to Moroccan culture and living.

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Fez: The old city of Fez has one overwhelming and awe-inspiring attraction, the behemoth medina. A UNESCO World Heritage site measuring an astonishing 2.4 square miles, it is one of the most well-preserved old cities in the Arab-Muslim world. One might think the world's largest car-free urban area would be a breath of fresh air for pedestrians, but you're in for a shock and a treat. The Fez medina is one of world's most complex mazes with treats and treasures down every little side alley. People do get lost here (often!), but thankfully there is always a local on hand to point the way to tourist site, your hotel or to the tannery (a site not to be missed).

Deep inside this huge medina, but not at all consumed by it, is the absolutely stunning Palais Amani Hotel. Your first glimpse of this private medina mansion-turned luxury hotel is the simple and unmarked front door, which belies the comforting opulence inside. You're immediately transported to a Moroccan world beyond the crazed medina, but still very much inside it. Take the elevator to the rooftop balcony-bar for a glimpse of what surrounds you, and then make your way back to your suite where the exceptional Amani staff are available to cater to your every desire. Palais Amani is without a doubt one of Morocco's finest hotels.

Merzouga: Don't be alarmed if you've never heard of this remote Moroccan gem, I hadn't either until my recently. It's the gateway village to an overnight experience you'll never forget, a night in the Sahara Desert: the dune covered, sand in the wind, plantless desert of your mind's eye. It's breathtaking and definitely worth the journey to this remote corner of Morocco. The travel arrangements can easily be organized by the reliable and accommodating Kasbah Mohayut.

Mohayut has everything you'll need for your Sahara experience including its own campsite in the desert for overnight stays with the obligatory camel trek. The key to a good camel adventure is happy, well-fed and well-hydrated camels (along with top-notch desert guides). Once in the desert, you'll be treated to the most amazing sunset of your life, authentic berber music and a feast fresh from the tajine. If you're lucky, your Mohayut guides will tell you their coveted collection of Berber jokes and teach you a few Berber phrases for later use on your adventures.

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Ouarzazate: Have you ever wondered where Hollywood gets some of those perfectly arid desert scenes from? Chances are some of your favorite desert classics have passed through Morocco at some point during their filming. It's a country that's been welcoming Hollywood directors since the '60s, and the town of Ouarzazate has been at the center of it all. From here you can take tours through the sets and locales of famous blockbuster hits: Cleopatra, Kingdom of Heaven, Sahara, Lawrence of Arabia and even the current filming of the HBO series Game of Thrones.

Dar Chamaa has the inside track on all filming, past and present, because it's here that many cast and crew are likely to stay. Dar Chamaa can easily set you up on a tour of cinema sites as well as anything you might need in the nearby Atlas Mountains (you can see them from the hotel balconies). The staff at Dar Chamaa is young and delightful, providing a fresh perspective on central Morocco and its hospitality. If movies aren't your style, the villages south of Ouarzazate provide a wealth of other activities from authentic Moroccan ceramics to the history of the 'Kasbah.' Have Dar Chamaa set up a schedule that fits your desires.

Marrakech: No trip to Morocco is complete without tackling the city at the heart of Moroccan tourism, the intensity of which will overwhelm you (it's meant to). Marrakech contains the modern soul of Morocco, the countries most intriguing sites and museums, and the fiercest medina of them all. Don't forget to bring your penchant for haggling because you're going to need it. Marrakech appears to unfold before your eyes every dusk on the main square, Jemaa el-Fnaa (the assembly of trespassers), a UNESCO site which has to be seen to be believed. I met a traveling couple on a rooftop bar overlooking the square who claimed they went to Jemaa el-Fnaa every night of their vacation in order to "people-watch." "We can't get enough," she said to me.

When I'd had enough, it was incredibly comforting to know I could retire to the serenity of the medina's Riad al Massarah, a quiet boutique hotel inside the Marrakech chaos. I was seriously impressed with how relaxing and comforting Michel and Michael (hotel owners) have made their tiny slice of an otherwise whirling medina. Pool, spa, hammam, library and rooftop breakfast all await your visit. By day you tackle the wonderous disarray of Marrakech's bustling beauty, and by night you settle into your cozy corner of sanity in Riad al Massarah.

And if these five suggestions aren't enough to satisfy your Moroccan cravings (and I'm certain they won't be), may I also suggest you take time to explore the cities of Essaouira, Rabat, Tanger, Agadir and Tetouan. All have their own unique spin on Moroccan adventure and are absolutely worth the visit. Enjoy!

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The saga of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin seems to get more complex and less clear each week. The latest chapter included a dossier gathered by a British intelligence veteran at the behest of Trump's political opponents, first from within the GOP, and then from interests associated with the Clinton campaign. The dossier included allegations that Russia had been cultivating Trump for years, of business ties between Trump and Russia, and of Trump's sexual misconduct while in Russia for business in 2013. There is no proof that these allegations are true, but they have taken most discussions of Trump's relationship with Russia in a new direction.

One of the challenges of probing the Trump-Putin relationship is that there are so many components to it with varying degrees of relevance and gravity. For example, Trump campaigned on a platform that included a less confrontational relationship with Russia. On its own this is a perfectly legitimate, if in the eyes of many misguided, political position and one that should be debated among the American people and our legislature. Trump also may, or may not, have business relationships with Russia that are of interest to the American people and that might inform his positions on Russia and might eave him vulnerable to conflicts of interest. We know that for quite a while during the campaign, Trump's most senior advisor was a man with strong ties to pro-Russia politicians in Ukraine. Again, this alone is not necessarily a problem, but given Trump's possible other ties to Russia, is troubling. According to the DNI report from earlier this year, it also seems that the Russian government preferred Trump to his opponent Hillary Clinton and that the Russian television network RT has made a lot of stories critical of Clinton and of the US more broadly. This seems to be a bizarre and irrelevant point, that while probably true should not cause a crisis in our democracy. According to that same DNI report, Russia illegally gained access to DNC emails and was involved in leaking those to the press during the 2016 election as a deliberate, and ultimately successful effort to damage Hillary Clinton.

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There is clearly a lot of pieces to Trump's relationship with Russia. The first question facing anybody trying to figure all this out is what is important and what is not. Much of what is now taking up the Trump-Russia bandwidth is not pertinent or significant and should not be treated as such. RT is a Kremlin mouthpiece that doesn't like the US and likes Trump. While that may be unfortunate it is hardly an existential crisis for democracy. Trump may have engaged in sexual shenanigans while in Moscow. That may be interesting, if true, but should not break a presidency. Trump doesn't support the mainstream hawkish view on Russia and its near abroad. Again, on its own that is simply policy position that should be discussed and debated like any other.

Some of the most important issues in the Trump Russia mess are in danger of being lost in waters now muddied by unproven stories about prostitutes, less than plausible assertions that Trump is some kind of semi-sleeper agent and what amounts to little more than kvetching by the DNI about RT. The first of these is that Trump benefited from a Russian effort to swing the election, not by having their state run media support him, but through Russia breaking into the DNC emails and leaking damaging information about Hilary Clinton. The second is that there is reason to believe, not least because of Donald Trump's steady refusal to dispel concern by releasing his tax records, that the Trump Organization has a financial relationship with Russia that will lead to conflicts of interest once he becomes president. Moreover, these potential conflicts of interest may drive US policy towards Russia. These are the two issues that raise deep concerns for the country and that any congress, regardless of party, that understood its role in our system of checks and balances as central to our democracy, would have begun investigating already.

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This first appeared elsewhere in August, 2013, on the 50th Anniversary of the March on Washington. While it does not address the rise of Trump and what he represents, I believe it is as relevant today as it was then. Maybe more so, as the need to resist the incoming administration can lull us into working to restore the "normalcy" of the Democratic Party's more subtle but ultimately no less lethal version of Government by Big Money. Let us dream larger!

Fifty years ago I told you I had a dream. Many of you have been taught to remember me only for the ideas I voiced then, as a civil rights leader. Yet even then, our march was for jobs and freedom. Some of you recall more, such as my talk Beyond Vietnam, delivered at the Riverside Church in Manhattan, in April 1967. I spoke then of the

very obvious . . . connection between the war in Vietnam and the struggle I and others have been waging in America. A few years ago there was a shining moment in that struggle. It seemed as if there was a real promise of hope for the poor  both black and white  through the Poverty Program. Then came the build-up in Vietnam, and I watched the program broken and eviscerated as if it were some idle political play thing of a society gone mad on war . . . . So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor and to attack it as such.

I have seen more today, and so have you. I have seen American forces and their proxies intervene in the internal affairs of countries from Latin America to Africa to the Middle East, always spilling streams of blood, innocent blood, often the blood of people who wanted nothing more than a country run for the common good instead of for foreign and domestic elites, and the blood of those who had nothing to do with the struggles but whose lives and well-being were thought collateral and expendable, by those you call your leaders.

I have seen that same disregard for lives that are as precious as ours  in the eyes of God and in the eyes of those whose vision has not been occluded by the insanity of the prevailing ideology  permit the use of the velvet fist of economic sanctions to inflict heartbreaking hardship and death on millions. I have seen horrible wars in Iraq, a country still reeling with the destructive force of the whirlwinds we unleashed there, and Afghanistan, where the best this country seems to be able to summon is the courage to send unmanned killing machines to extend the suffering into Pakistan.

Sadly, I predicted this in my Beyond Vietnam talk. I cited "a pattern of suppression which now has justified [U.S. actions] in Venezuela . . . in Colombia . . .in Peru." I noted our nation's "refus[al] to give up the privileges and the pleasures that come from the immense profits of overseas investment." And I warned,

When machines and computers, profit and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered. . . . The war in Vietnam is but a symptom of a far deeper malady within the American spirit, and if we ignore this sobering reality we will find ourselves . . . marching and attending rallies without end unless there is a significant and profound change in American life and policy.

But now more than ever, I see a polity that has war for economic and political empire embedded in the logic of its very being. I am weary, as I know you are, weary of war, weary of marching to end wars, weary of Dick Cheneys who express open contempt for the popular desire for peace, and weary of Bill Clintons and Barack Obamas who hear your pain and keep on causing it.

In that talk on war I also emphasized the need to take care of our own. A year later, the day before I left you, I spoke in Memphis, connecting the sanitation workers' strike to the Poor Peoples' Movement we were building. I said that there was no other period in history in which I would ask the Almighty to let me live. My explanation is even more true today. I acknowledged

Now that's a strange statement to make, because the world is all messed up. The nation is sick. Trouble is in the land; confusion all around. . . . But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period . . . in a way that men, in some strange way, are responding. Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. . . .we have been forced to a point where we are going to have to grapple with the problems that men have been trying to grapple with through history, but the demands didn't force them to do it. Survival demands that we grapple with them.

I was far more radical then than those who want to put me on a postage stamp and associate me with only the struggle for equal rights would have you believe. It was because I knew more; I saw more injustice than merely the evils of segregation, disgraceful and harmful though they were.

The Limits of Protest

And yet I know more now than I knew then. And you know it too. Those same forces, those same institutions, which cannot stop themselves from making war, from extracting the labor and resources of those in countries far poorer and weaker than ours, from throwing our own people out of work by the hundreds of thousands while crushing others with overtime, from building schools that drain vitality from the souls of our children, from turning the practice of medicine into a business that leaves tens of millions with less care than the people of Cuba have  those same forces cannot stop themselves from destroying God's gorgeous creation, from destroying the planet itself and all that live on it.

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Today I don't know that I would organize another march, because I have learned something else. And so have you, but it takes courage to even allow the thought. The decades of marching, protesting, demanding justice had their place, and they will have their place. But you must move beyond demanding economic and social and environmental and international justice from those who cannot give it, cannot permit it, can only feel threatened by what they perceive as the subversiveness of the demand for it.

They seem powerful and smart, but they are ignorant. Amos proclaimed the truth about those "who store up violence and robbery in their palaces." "[T]hey know not," he said, "to do right." And because of that ignorance, conditioned in them by their station in society, the minions of corporate power can be trusted to run neither your economic nor your political life, nor to provide you the information and ideas you require to understand what is going on around you and even inside you. No amount of protest will change that, nor can it reform the system that lets the majority of the super-wealthy buy themselves a government.

That means that the most urgent task, what God demands of you, is to create a movement that will compel those minions to lay down their weapons  physical and ideological and psychological  and step aside in favor of a new government, created by your own unstoppable movement. You must think the unthinkable: it is a time, I must say to you, for revolution. For peaceful, nonviolent revolution to be sure, but revolution nonetheless. Even in my 1967 talk, I said, "True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring." Is that any less true today?

The nation is in political and spiritual crisis, and the most fundamental manifestation of that crisis is that you have democracy in name only. You are ruled by those whose hearts and minds are themselves ruled by the compulsion to maximize corporate profitability, and only a peaceful revolution can change that.

The people I refer to command immense power, yet they can do nothing without your cooperation. To cause the eventual collapse of their regime, however, you must get serious. It is not enough to occupy public space. It is not enough to march in the streets. It it is not enough to write letters in support of those who blow the whistle and sound the alarm on ever-greater abuses. It is not enough to try to defend against every new war and threat of war, every new pipeline, every new attack on poor people and on working people and unions. You must take a longer view.

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Fulfilling a Bigger Dream

Ask yourselves, how do we build a single organization that can advocate for all the needs of the people and the planet, and which fights not only against what the promoters of another agenda thrust in your faces, but works for its own positive program, a program that arises out of love for all of Creation and all beings within it? What is that organization's strategy  over the years it will take to build the groundswell of direct action that will bring it to power  what, you must ask, is its strategy for washing away misinformation and false ideologies with truth, truth, and more truth? How will you use every one of those battles you are forced to fight to not only ameliorate the worst abuses in the short run, but to build the movement for the deepest change and to re-learn the power of united action, a lesson that we learned through doing 50 years ago?

Now, when I once more recall the words of the prophet, "Let justice roll down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream," I know more than ever that nothing can create this but a broad, surging river of humanity.

So my dream today is for a society where you no longer march, you no longer protest, because you are in charge, not others from whom you seek justice. My dream is for true democracy. My dream is for a regime of God's love on earth  and I do not mean by the dictates of any particular religious philosophy. And you can fulfill that dream.

March, yes, march for justice. March to stop a war. March to remove the license of certain elements among the police and others to kill people of color with impunity. March again for jobs. But let each march, each campaign for what is right, be an opportunity to broaden and deepen that surging river, to draw more people to the cause, to teach what is needed, and why it is needed, and to inspire with a vision of how it will inevitably come about.

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Because it will. God did not create you to witness, and be forced to participate in, the slow cooking of this beautiful planet. God did not create you to be passive, helpless bystanders to the economic and social and physical and spiritual victimization of yourselves or those who, no matter how different they look and sound, are your sisters and brothers and children. He did not create you to turn away from pain, injustice, and even horror, pretend that they are not there, so you can avoid feeling the soul sickness of helpless inaction.

God created you to build Heaven on earth. That vision is today so far from your reality, so far from what you have been taught can be done, that it must sound like some Utopian fantasy. But you have prophets today who can show you the way. Listen to them. Add your own voices, your own wisdom, your own creativity. Dream your own dream, then bring it into being.

Jesus taught, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." I say, do not dull your hunger and thirst in addictions, nor turn away from them towards distraction. If you allow your hunger and thirst in their full measure, you will be filled.
Exxon Mobil CEO and Chairman Rex Tillerson speaks as he and other top oil and gas industry executives testify during a Senate Finance Committee hearing on "Oil and Gas Tax Incentives and Rising Energy Prices" on Capitol Hill in Washington May 12, 2011. REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque (UNITED STATES - Tags: ENERGY BUSINESS POLITICS)

Amid a calculated and proactive realignment by Russia and China ahead of the inauguration of Donald Trump, Europe appears tense and scattered. The Gulf states seem to be waiting in limbo, without a preemptive strategy. Iran appears vigilant, eager to preserve its regional gains and protect itself from the new U.S. administration that seems intent to scrutinize its every action. The UN has launched a new era with the inauguration of its new Secretary General Antonio Guterres earlier this month, amid reinvigorated efforts by the Security Council and international envoys in conflict zones from Libya to Yemen via Syria. Russia has commandeered the Syrian issue from the UN in Geneva, and taken it to its backyard in Astana, Kazakhstan, deliberately excluding the international organization from the Syrian peace process. The Gulf countries have responded by clinging to the UN role and resolutions, and by renewing their wager on the partnership with Europe in rejecting Russia's hijacking of the issue and refusing to reward Moscow by allowing the talks in Astana to succeed, betting instead on their failure.

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Washington is still familiarizing itself with the new president as it bids farewell to the 44th president, Barack Hussein Obama, amid a deep division among Americans regarding the identity of their country at home and its foreign policy, especially with regard to its leadership of the world and US-Russian relations. The 45th president, Donald J Trump, will enter the White House next week, in the middle of a storm of controversy, apprehension, but also enthusiasm from his uncritical supporters. He enters the White House armed with threats against the media and his ability to stir up social media. Meanwhile, the unprecedentedly public rift between the president-elect and U.S. intelligence services over alleged leaks and Russian hacking shows no sign of healing.

All indications suggest Trump will keep his campaign promises, unless his cabinet and the establishment manage to restrain his arbitrary tendencies. His nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has given the House of Representatives a glimpse of his attitudes and convictions, but also made it clear that he had not coordinated in advance those positions with Trump, and that the final decision will be in the president's hands. The priorities listed by Tillerson indicate that he desires a partnership with Russia against the terrorism of ISIS and similar groups, and fighting the rise of Sunni and Shiite radicalism alike including the Muslim Brotherhood, unlike the Obama administration which he blamed for supporting radical Islamism and the rise of ISIS, and the implications of the U.S. abandoning its global leadership and traditional alliances especially in the Middle East. Tillerson vowed that Iran would be under a microscope, whether with regard to its support for extremists and militias, or its implementation of its commitments under the nuclear deal, which will be kept in place apparently contrary to what was suggested on the campaign trail, but will be reviewed. The nominee appeared to be a pragmatist, well verses in the language if strategic interests, bringing to the post his experience in energy and geography. Tillerson also had a lot to say about Russia and China.

The key difference between what the Kremlin wants for the American and European communities, by destabilizing them through support for nationalist movements and undermining their social cohesion, and what Tillerson wants for America and the world, lies in the principle of leadership and restoration of prestige. The Russian president, Vladimir Putin, benefited immensely from Obama's leading from behind, and reaped great rewards after the U.S. abandoned its global leadership. They had radical differences on the issue of the rise of Islamists to power in Egypt, Libya, Tunisia, and Syria. And this point is the subject of convergence that will newly emerge between Russia and the U.S. under Trump: opposing the rise of Islamists to power, including the Muslim Brotherhood.

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This will have implications for the relationship with Egypt, which is fighting the Muslim Brotherhood, and will affect Turkey if it remains a key sponsor of the Muslim Brotherhood project. Indeed, the joint message that will be sent by the Kremlin and the Trump administration will address all stakeholders, including the Arab Gulf states, declaring refusal to coexist with Islamic radicalism and any encouragement of the Muslim Brotherhood, in addition to declaring joint intent to eliminate ISIS and its ilk. Indeed, the shelf life of ISIS has expired, and the time has come to take it out of the equation with a joint Russian-American decision. However, relations between the two countries will not be confined to this convergence on fighting terror and extremism. The yardstick for US interests will differ from the one used by the Obama administration, and instead will be a version of what Tillerson described, in terms of reviving the U.S. global weight after the absence of US leadership allowed Moscow's rise and the reassertion of Russia's influence in its near abroad and the Middle East. Tillerson said the U.S. allies in NATO were right to worry about Russian resurgence, and that to restore stability, it is necessary to not only revive U.S. leadership but also assert its position vis-a-vis the threats coming from Russia. Tillerson therefore backed the continuation of sanctions against Russia until opportunities for cooperation are carefully explored. He also proposed giving room to cooperation with China, but insisted that China has not been a reliable partner and has failed to use its influence to contain North Korea. Tillerson said China's goals sometimes conflict with U.S. interests, saying Beijing always places its own objectives above all considerations.

Another major difference between Trump's administration and Obama's will emerge with regard to the relationship with Iran. There had been some convergence on the matter between the Kremlin and Obama. Obama's fixation with the need to conclude the nuclear deal intersected with Putin's need for a strategic alliance with Iran in Syria. Both effectively blessed the rise of Shiite extremism in Iran and rewarded it. While the Russian strategy was intent on fighting Sunni radicalism and stopping Washington's bid to push forward so-called moderate Islamists represented by the Muslim Brotherhood, Moscow turned a blind eye to the growth of radical Shiite Islamism represented by the Revolutionary Guards in Iran and Iranian proxy militias in the Arab region.

Tillerson placed the Muslim Brotherhood, Iranian elements, and al-Qaeda in the same basket of Islamic extremism. This is an important difference in the attitudes of the Trump administration and the Obama administration, and also between the Kremlin and the new White House depending on jow Russian-Iranian strategic relations evolve.

Iran is aware that the Trump administration will bring new pressures, but also through the Russian eagerness to have special relations with the new U.S. administration and even forge a grand bargain with Washington. This does not mean that Moscow is automatically ready to discard its strategic alliance with Tehran, but if Russia is forced to choose between Washington and Tehran, then Washington may take precedence.

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Russian-Iranian differences over Syria are not small ones. However, any rush to assume that a strategic divorce between them is coming is a mistake. Moreover, addressing the longstanding crisis of confidence between America and Russia, the competition over grand interests, and forging what may become grand bargain subsequently, are all things that take time because conditions have yet to fully ripen. In the meantime, Iran is bent on benefitting from opportunities wherever they may become available, in Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, and Yemen. Iran is adopting a strategy of building on victories on the ground while giving signs of diplomatic demarches and willingness to engage in dialogue on its own terms.

The diplomacy of the Arab Gulf states seem as if deliberately absent while moving to contain Iranian regional influence and Russia's hijacking of the Syrian issue, pending Trump's inauguration. The Gulf states seem reassured by the uncertainty surrounding the incoming Trump administration, because the certainty that comes with Obama has been disappointing. The remarks by Rex Tillerson this week have revived some hopes in the corridors of Gulf diplomacy, when he called for rebuilding the U.S.'s old, now fragile links, being firm with foes, and responding when they violate agreements, in reference to the nuclear deal with Iran. His caustic criticisms of Obama's policies reassured many in the Gulf and increased their sense of anticipation.

Waiting is not a policy, especially since all other parties are actively aligning and carefully planning their next moves. Insisting on keeping the Syrian issue in the UN is a position but it is not a strategy. Betting on the failure of the Astana conference in the absence of Saudi Arabia and European powers may be a winning wager, but this amounts to little more than a tactic in a time marked by Russian and Iranian victories in Syria. The Gulf states are in dire need for a comprehensive strategy of alignment, not just vis-a-vis the Trump administration, but also with regard to the Russian infiltration of the Middle East and Russian-Iranian victory in Syria, Iranian supremacy in Iraq, and Iranian incursions in Yemen. Perhaps the time has come for a Gulf initiative that would sweep the rug from under the feet of Washington, Moscow, and Ankara, and move away from the wait and see tactic.

The traditional cold, back-channel communication between Gulf countries and Iran has not advanced Arab interests, especially in the time of the love triangle between Iran, and Obama's America and Putin's Russia, allowing Iran to advance its strategic agenda in the Arab geography. Perhaps then Trump's tenure will make room for a new approach, but this cannot happen through complacency. It requires a calculated push and a daring initiative. It suffices not for the Gulf summit in Bahrain to task Kuwait with engaging with Iran based on mutual non-interference and good neighborliness. Iran has yet to respond anyway, and continues to arm cells, militias, and rebels in Yemen. The emir of Kuwait's dispatching of a high level delegate to offer condolences for the death of Iranian former president Rafsanjani was a good message but what is needed is a qualitative shift in Gulf-Iranian relations, in accordance to a comprehensive initiative coinciding with the new administration in the White House, in order to avoid relying on false preconceived notions regarding Trumps thinking: a pragmatic and realistic initiative.

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At 12:01 pm on January 20, 2017 Donald J. Trump will have the ability to order a nuclear attack on any city or any country in the world.

And no one can stop him. Under current protocols . . .

One man, and one man alone, makes a decision that can kill millionsOne man, and one man alone, makes a decision that can start a nuclear warOne man, and one man alone, makes a decision that can literally end civilization for millions of years.

And, at any moment before 12 Noon on January 20, 2017, one man and one man alone, can significantly increase the safeguards to protect the planet from any of this occurring.

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That man is President Barack Obama.

And we must ask him to do it. We must call him at 202 456 1414 now . . . . Because Donald Trump has a proven inability to control his impulses and is widely believed by mental health professionals to suffer from "Narcissistic Personality Disorder", a Cluster B personality disorder characterized by extreme sensitivity to criticism and a penchant for swift retaliation.Because Donald Trump has stated that he welcomes a nuclear arms race.Because Donald Trump has stated, on national television, that "When I'm wounded, I go after people hard and I try to unwound myself."Because Donald Trump's two chosen top advisors, the two who would conceivably be there to dissuade The President from taking any impulsive actions have not been vetted by Congress and, according to many, lack stable decision making skills themselves, Steven Bannon and General Michael Flynn.

But, even more importantly . . .

Because the world is a faster and much different place than it was when nuclear launch approval protocols were originally designedBecause we now have "fake news" that can, and has, mislead and caused even foreign Defense Ministers and General Flynn himself to fall prey and react hastily,Because Russians or Macedonians or 400 pound guys in their bedrooms in New Jersey could conceivably hack into information sources used by this "one man" or his advisors.

The nuclear launch authorization protocols must be updated and upgraded to include at least one other human being chosen by The American People (the Vice-President) or confirmed by The United States Senate, (The Secretary of Defense and/or The Secretary of State).

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The effort to do this is already underway. In the closing days of the just concluded 114th Congress a bill was introduced to update and upgrade. HR 6535, "The Nuclear Sanity Act" (text below) would require any President to obtain the written approval of both The Secretary of Defense and The Secretary of State before any nuclear weapon is launched, except when America is itself under attack. William Perry, Secretary of Defense under President Bill Clinton and author of "My Journey at The Nuclear Brink", agrees with "The Nuclear Sanity Act" and told this writer, "I don't think any one person should be able to end civilization, especially by mistake."

President Barack Obama can, today, issue an Executive Order that even Republicans, and all rational Americans, would discourage President Donald Trump from undoing, an Executive Order that will, instantly, make the world a safer place, a parting gift of historic proportion.

If you agree, please join this movement for nuclear sanity and tell President Barack Obama to upgrade the nuclear launch authorization protocols before he leaves office by calling The White House at (202) 456 1414 or sending The President an email with this simple form https://www.whitehouse.gov/contact

Thank you, in advance, Mr. President.
Foster care youth, 13, crashed truck stolen from Parsons auto dealership

A 13-year-old runaway in the Kansas foster care system died Oct. 29 after an Oct. 27 crash after running away from Successful Dreams in Parsons.
As Diplomats Powwow in Paris, PM Pans Pointless Peace Parley

The Fellowship | January 15, 2017 As Diplomats Powwow in Paris

Representatives from more than 70 nations  Israel and the Palestinians not among them  have convened today in Paris in an attempt to restart the peace process. However, reports The Times of Israels Tamar Pileggi, PM Netanyahu says that the framework being pushed at the summit is inherently anti-Israel:

As a multinational conference to relaunch Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts convened in Paris on Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu again dismissed the French initiative, calling it a pointless endeavor that was inherently anti-Israel.

The conference that is convening today in Paris is a pointless conference, he told ministers at the start of the weekly cabinet meeting on Sunday.

It was coordinated by the French and the Palestinians and aims to force conditions on Israel that conflict with our national interests, the prime minister said.

France is hosting more than 70 countries at the Sunday summit aimed at reviving the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process. The conference is expected to condemn Israeli settlement building and urge both sides to embrace a two-state solution to the conflict.

Netanyahu has previously claimed the talks were rigged against the Jewish state, insisting that direct bilateral talks between Jerusalem and Ramallah was the only way to negotiate a peace agreement.

At the Sunday cabinet meeting, Netanyahu reiterated his position that the Paris-sponsored initiative makes the prospect of peace more as it hardens Palestinians conditions and keeps them from direct negotiations.
Imperial Valley News Center

President Obama Designates National Monuments Honoring Civil Rights History

Washington, DC - In celebration of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, today, President Obama is designating three new national monuments honoring our countrys civil rights history and taking new steps to promote diversity in our national parks and other public lands. Building on the Administrations commitment to protecting places that are culturally and historically significant and that reflect the story of all Americans, todays designations will protect historic sites in Alabama and South Carolina that played an important role in American history stretching from the Civil War to the civil rights movement.

The new monuments are the Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument, Freedom Riders National Monument and Reconstruction Era National Monument.

Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument: The Birmingham Civil Rights National Monument will protect the historic A.G. Gaston Motel in Birmingham, Alabama, which served at one point as the headquarters for the civil rights campaign led by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that helped lead to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The monument will also tell the stories associated with other nearby Birmingham historic sites, including the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church which was the site of a bombing in 1963; and Kelly Ingram Park, where Birmingham Public Safety Commissioner Bull Connor turned hoses and dogs on young civil rights protesters.

Freedom Riders National Monument: The Freedom Riders National Monument is located in Anniston, Alabama and contains two sites that help underscore the Freedom Riders importance to the civil rights movement. The monument includes the Greyhound Bus Station where a racially integrated bus of Freedom Riders attempting to test desegregation was attacked in the spring of 1961, and the site where the same bus was firebombed and burned some minutes later.

Reconstruction Era National Monument: Located in coastal South Carolina, the new Reconstruction Era National Monument encompasses four sites throughout Beaufort County that tell the vibrant story of the robust community developed by freed former African American slaves in the Reconstruction Era South. This designation includes the Brick Baptist Church and Darrah Hall at the existing Penn Center on St. Helena Island as well as the Old Firehouse in downtown Beaufort and parts of Camp Saxton in Port Royal where the Emancipation Proclamation was read on New Years Day in 1863. These sites establish the first unit of the National Park System focused on telling the story of Reconstruction.

Protection for these sites is strongly supported by the local communities, elected officials, and a wide variety of stakeholders including civil rights organizations, environmental justice groups and historic preservation groups. Each designation was also supported by legislation introduced by members of the Alabama and South Carolina delegations.

Promoting Diversity and Inclusivity in Managing Our Public Lands and Water

President Obama is taking new steps to promote diversity and inclusivity in our nations system of national parks, national forests, monuments and other public lands and waters. Today, President Obama issued a Presidential Memorandum directing the agencies charged with managing the vast majority of Americas public lands and waters  the Department of the Interior, the U.S. Forest Service, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration  to work to ensure that all Americans have the opportunity to experience our great outdoors and engage in decisions about how our public lands and waters are managed. The Memorandum also directs agencies to prioritize building a more inclusive Federal workforce that is reflective of the diversity of our Nation.

Expansion of National Monuments Protecting Natural Resources in California and Oregon

In addition to the new designations honoring African American history, today, President Obama is expanding two existing national monuments to protect critical biodiversity, important historic and natural resources and vital wildlife habitat in California and Oregon.

Expansion of California Coastal National Monument: Today, President Obama is expanding the existing California Coastal National Monument by 6,230 acres to include six additional coastal sites proposed for protection in legislation introduced by members of the California Congressional delegation in 2015. The monument was originally designated in 2000 by President Bill Clinton and expanded by President Obama in 2014 to include Point-Arena-Stornetta in Mendocino County. Todays expansion will protect incredible coastal natural resources, scenic views, and areas of cultural and historical significance, including sites that provide insight into the Native peoples who first lived along Californias coast and places still important to local tribes today.

Expansion of Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument: Located in southwest Oregon and northern California, the current Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument protects the significant biodiversity at the intersection of three distinct bioregions, including wildlife habitat for nearly 200 species of birds. Drawing from two different reports compiled by the scientific community as well as a legislation introduced in the Senate in 2015, todays expansion will protect more than 42,000 additional acres of public land in Oregon and approximately 5,000 acres in California to increase vital habitat connectivity, watershed protection, and landscape-scale resilience for the areas unique biological values, particularly in the face of growing impacts from climate change.
Imperial Valley News Center

The Honor of Serving You as President

Washington, DC - This week, President Obama delivered his final weekly address thanking the American people for making him a better President and a better man. Over the past eight years, we have seen the goodness, resilience, and hope of the American people. Weve seen whats possible when we come together in the hard, but vital work of self-government  but we cant take our democracy for granted. Our success as a Nation depends on our participation. Its up to all of us to be guardians of our democracy, and to embrace the task of continually trying to improve our Nation. Despite our differences, we all share the same title: Citizen. And that is why President Obama looks forward to working by your side, as a citizen, for all of his remaining days.

Remarks of President Barack Obama as Delivered

Weekly Address

The White House

January 14, 2017

This week, I traveled to Chicago to deliver my final farewell address to the nation, following in the tradition of Presidents before me. It was an opportunity to say thank you. Whether weve seen eye-to-eye or rarely agreed at all, my conversations with you, the American people  in living rooms and schools; at farms and on factory floors; at diners and on distant military outposts  are what have kept me honest, kept me inspired, and kept me going. Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better President, and you made me a better man.

Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the goodness, the resilience, and the hope of the American people. Ive seen neighbors looking out for each other as we rescued our economy from the worst crisis of our lifetimes. Ive hugged cancer survivors who finally know the security of affordable health care. Ive seen communities like Joplin rebuild from disaster, and cities like Boston show the world that no terrorist will ever break the American spirit.

Ive seen the hopeful faces of young graduates and our newest military officers. Ive mourned with grieving families searching for answers, and found grace in a Charleston church. Ive seen our scientists help a paralyzed man regain his sense of touch, and our wounded warriors walk again. Ive seen our doctors and volunteers rebuild after earthquakes and stop pandemics in their tracks. Ive learned from students who are building robots and curing diseases and who will change the world in ways we cant even imagine. Ive seen the youngest of children remind us of our obligations to care for our refugees, to work in peace, and above all to look out for each other.

Thats whats possible when we come together in the hard, slow, sometimes frustrating, but always vital work of self-government. But we cant take our democracy for granted. All of us, regardless of party, should throw ourselves into the work of citizenship. Not just when theres an election, not just when our own narrow interest is at stake, but over the full span of a lifetime. If youre tired of arguing with strangers on the internet, try to talk with one in real life. If something needs fixing, lace up your shoes and do some organizing. If youre disappointed by your elected officials, then grab a clipboard, get some signatures, and run for office yourself.

Our success depends on our participation, regardless of which way the pendulum of power swings. It falls on each of us to be guardians of our democracy; to embrace the joyous task weve been given to continually try to improve this great nation of ours. Because for all our outward differences, we all share the same proud title: Citizen.

It has been the honor of my life to serve you as President. Eight years later, I am even more optimistic about our countrys promise. And I look forward to working along your side, as a citizen, for all my days that remain.

Thanks, everybody. God bless you, and God bless the United States of America.
President Barack Obama on Cuban Immigration Policy

Washington, DC - President Barack Obama: "Today, the United States is taking important steps forward to normalize relations with Cuba and to bring greater consistency to our immigration policy. The Department of Homeland Security is ending the so-called "wet-foot/dry foot" policy, which was put in place more than twenty years ago and was designed for a different era. Effective immediately, Cuban nationals who attempt to enter the United States illegally and do not qualify for humanitarian relief will be subject to removal, consistent with U.S. law and enforcement priorities.

"By taking this step, we are treating Cuban migrants the same way we treat migrants from other countries. The Cuban government has agreed to accept the return of Cuban nationals who have been ordered removed, just as it has been accepting the return of migrants interdicted at sea.

"Today, the Department of Homeland Security is also ending the Cuban Medical Professional Parole Program. The United States and Cuba are working together to combat diseases that endanger the health and lives of our people. By providing preferential treatment to Cuban medical personnel, the medical parole program contradicts those efforts, and risks harming the Cuban people. Cuban medical personnel will now be eligible to apply for asylum at U.S. embassies and consulates around the world, consistent with the procedures for all foreign nationals.

"The United States, a land of immigrants, has been enriched by the contributions of Cuban-Americans for more than a century. Since I took office, we have put the Cuban-American community at the center of our policies. With this change we will continue to welcome Cubans as we welcome immigrants from other nations, consistent with our laws. During my Administration, we worked to improve the lives of the Cuban people - inside of Cuba - by providing them with greater access to resources, information and connectivity to the wider world. Sustaining that approach is the best way to ensure that Cubans can enjoy prosperity, pursue reforms, and determine their own destiny. As I said in Havana, the future of Cuba should be in the hands of the Cuban people."
NSC Spokesperson Ned Price on U.S. Sanctions Designations for Syrian Regime Chemical Weapons Use

Washington, DC - Friday, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced sanctions designations for 18 senior Syrian regime officials in response to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW)-United Nations (UN) Joint Investigative Mechanism (JIM) reports last year that confirmed the regimes use of chlorine as a chemical weapon in 2014 and 2015 through an independent and neutral expert investigation. This is the first time the United States is sanctioning specific Syrian officials in connection with Syrias violation of the Chemical Weapons Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2118.

We condemn in the strongest possible terms the Syrian regimes use of chemical weapons. The Asad regimes barbaric continued attacks demonstrate its willingness to defy basic standards of human decency, its international obligations, and longstanding global norms. Syria agreed to join the Chemical Weapons Convention after its horrifying sarin chemical attack on Syrian civilians in the Ghouta area of Damascus on August 21, 2013, which killed more than a thousand people, many of them children. The United States worked closely with partners after that attack to remove and destroy the Syrian governments declared chemical weapons program  an unprecedented operation to eliminate a dangerous threat to innocent civilians in Syria and the international community.

The United States remains committed to working with our international partners to use all appropriate diplomatic mechanisms to hold the Syrian regime accountable for its abhorrent use of chemical weapons. We strongly urge every UN member state and parties to the Chemical Weapons Convention, including Russia, to support efforts to enforce accountability through the UN Security Council and using domestic law. The international community must make clear that chemical weapons use is unacceptable and violators will face significant consequences for their actions.
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Thanks to the success of Graeme Macrae Burnets His Bloody Project, Scottish literature has returned to prominence lately. The historical novel about a teenage boy who commits a triple murder was a surprise nominee for the Man Booker Prize and an unexpected bestseller. Published by small Glasgow imprint Contraband, it is one of the most successful novels to come out of Scotland in years.

For a country that many like to associate with gritty fare such as Trainspotting and Ian Rankins Rebus novels, where does its writing go from here? Besides various other crime writers, the big Scottish noises are mainly established figures such as John Burnside and Ali Smith. Little attention has been paid to emerging writers in their twenties and thirties.

You might be tempted to believe novelist Kirsty Gunns widely publicised recent attack on the direction of travel. She accused Scottish literature of having become overly politicised  particularly the way writers are funded by Creative Scotland. She fears the dominance of a nationalist political narrative that awards works that somehow benefit Scottish society or culture rather than artistic merit alone.

While I disagree that theres a nationalist agenda to blame, I do worry Scottish publishing has become somewhat inward-looking in recent years. With this in mind, heres what can we expect from the year ahead.

The coming highlights again point to much that is well established  we can expect some high quality. That would include three releases from the always prolific Burnside. There is a collection of poetry, Still Life with Feeding Snake, and his long-awaited new novel, Ashland & Vine (both Jonathan Cape). The novel is about a film student who drinks too much and develops an unlikely friendship with an old woman with a lifetime of stories.

John Burnside has three works due to be published in 2017 (Getty)

Also from Burnside is a novella, Havergey (Little Toller), which is set on a remote island and explores the idea of Utopia. Combining the same themes as his best work, environmental destruction and community survival, it may again demonstrate his continued relevance to Scottish and British literature  and resistance to easy classification.

Several new works come from internationally established writers who are under-recognised in their country of origin. A good example is Glasgow crime writer Denise Mina, who ought to be seen as one of Scotlands best living novelists. Her historical crime novel The Long Drop (Harvill Secker) received ecstatic early reader responses. It tells the story of Peter Manuel, a serial killer who lived in 1950s Glasgow, and spent a night with the husband and father of two of his victims before being arrested.

Edinburgh-born writer Shena Mackay also falls into this category. Having spent much of her life in London and now based in Southampton, the writer of acclaimed works like The Orchard Fire (1995) and Heligoland (2003) has never received appropriate recognition as a Scottish writer. Virago will this year publish her memoir and continue to reissue her backlist of 15 novels and collections of short stories. The reissues have begun to cement her reputation as one of the greats, and hopefully the memoir will further showcase her extraordinary talents.

If Mackay and Mina underline the strength of female Scottish writing, Nan Shepherds prominence on a new Scottish 5 note is a reminder that the classics were not all written by men either. Shepherds hillwalking memoir The Living Mountain (1944) has become popular in recent years thanks to championing by various other writers, yet her three Modernist novels about rural north-east Scotland remain under-read outside of Scottish universities.

This looks set to change thanks to Canongates release of The Weatherhouse (1930) this month. With a new introduction by the Orcadian writer Amy Liptrot, whose memoir The Outrun was one of last years highlights, The Weatherhouse tells the story of a former soldiers struggle to adjust to village life after returning from the trenches.

Shena Mackay will publish her memoir this year, as her back catalogue is reissued (Rex)

Speaking of vital reissues, Peter Mackay and Iain Macphersons The Light Blue Book: 500 Years of Gaelic Love and Transgressive Poetry (Luath) stretches this theme of inclusion to Gaelic verse. It came out just before the turn of the year and challenges popular conceptions with material that ranges from the suggestive to the erotic to the downright rude.

On the same theme of minority literatures, the veteran poet Robert Alan Jamiesons A Hundir Inboos till a Diein Lied: A Poetic Voyage Through the (Linguistic) Margins of Europe (Luath) is set to combine original poems in Shetlandic with translations of work from other marginalised languages, including Hungarian, Icelandic, and Catalan.

But if these various releases are important and interesting in different ways, none address the deficit I mentioned at the beginning. The good news is there are also a couple of promising signs of where Scottish writing goes next.

One is Glasgows small publishing house Freight Books. Jim Carruths Killochries was one of the most important books of 2015, for example, stretching the boundaries of what Scottish poetry can do in the form of a verse-novel. This year Freight is publishing Carruths second full-length collection, Black Cart, which focuses again on his rural upbringing near Glasgow and looks set for a larger audience.

Also on Freight will be The First Blast to Awaken Women Degenerate, the first collection by Rachel McCrum, one of the co-founders of the scene-defining Rally and Broad, a Scottish spoken word/musical cabaret show.

Yet the most discussed upcoming publication of the year is by new publishing venture 404 Ink, which incidentally received funding from Creative Scotland. This month it launched a crowdfunding pitch for its first collection of essays, Nasty Women, and met its target in less than three days.

Nasty Women will showcase a wide array of female voices, many of them new writers, focusing on intolerance and inequality to cover everything from Donald Trumps America to pregnancy. Like Freight, the arrival of 404 Ink is a sign that when we talk about cutting-edge Scottish publishing, the small publishers are increasingly defining the scene.

Timothy C Baker is senior lecturer in Scottish and contemporary literature, University of Aberdeen. This article was originally published in The Conversation
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Gone are the days of the understated shoe, instead, a chunky, towering new breed is taking their place.

Perhaps in part, an ode to the late, great glam-rock king David Bowie, this season the only way is up.

They really had their heyday in the Seventies  think Studio 54 and John Travolta in Saturday Night Fever  but, this a style that defies decades. Its the Spice Girls effect and 90s goth-glam all rolled into one.

On the runway, already statuesque models teetered on the lofty heights of sky high heels and for most designers, the higher the better.

For autumn/winter Maison Margiela featured tiger-stripe stacked platforms (Rex Features)

At Maison Margiela, John Galliano did what he does best sending stacked, chunky boots in giant tiger-stripe and emerald green, while Mulberry tapped into Londons rock n roll scene with pointed platforms in black, orange and claret snakeskin.

For Marc Jacobs, a reverence for all things gothic saw knee high, patent black leather lace-ups bear a larger-than-life chunky heel. A theme on-going at Vera Wang too, where they were paired with thigh-high split maxi skirts and boyish, boxy tailoring.

Platform Shoes Show all 7 1 /7 Platform Shoes Platform Shoes KG by Kurt Geiger Platform Ankle Boots 180 johnlewis.com Platform Shoes River Island Floral Embroidered Boots 75 river island.com Platform Shoes Hello Platform Boots, 69 topshop.com Platform Shoes Trudy Chunky Platform Ankle Boots 34.99 public desire.com Platform Shoes Asos Exaggerate Flame Platform Boots 55 asos.com Platform Shoes Alexander Wang Cora Boots 520 farfetch.com Platform Shoes Stella McCartney Platform Sandals 660 net-a-porter.com

Glam-rock platforms are having quite a moment off the runway too, with the high street offering up a legion of affordable alternatives but, just how easy are they to wear?

Heel-phobes might be put off by this trend but theyre surprisingly easy to walk in; compared with other heels anyway.

At Vera Wang, platforms were paired with boyish, boxy tailoring (Rex Features)

The added height from the platform at the front of the shoe levels out your foot, making it far more comfortable than staggering in a pair of needle thin stilettos. Similarly, the chunky heel offers a much sturdier base.

If its good enough for Baby Spice, its good enough for us so build up the inches and opt for a sky-scraping, Ziggy Stardust-esque shoe this season.
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The Cabernet Sauvignon grape has become ubiquitous around many parts of the wine world and the basis of many blends. It is especially fine to reach for at the moment when we need big, meaty, and rich red wines to sustain us through the cold months.

From Spain

Conde de San Cristobal  Marques de Vargas 2012

A wonderfully elegant bottle design reflects the sophisticated and modern Ribero del Duero inside. Its made by a top-notch estate, with the steely structure of Cabernet Sauvignon giving backbone to the blackberry fruit richness of Tempranillo and Merlot. An opulent, lush wine, perfectly suited to big, winter casseroles or tomato-based pasta bakes.

15.99 majestic.co.uk

Recommended You can now get wine that fits through your letterbox

From the United States

Wente Vineyards Southern Hills Cabernet Sauvignon 2013

Plenty of elegant structure is also present in this pure Cabernet wine from Californias Livermore Valley. But the cooler climate results in a slightly lighter and restrained wine than the previous one, with fresher fruit flavours to the fore, underpinned with a touch of spice. Balanced and appealing. Ideal with a rare steak or grilled lamb.

11.95 winedirect.co.uk

Food and drink news Show all 35 1 /35 Food and drink news Food and drink news Healthy living makes us more inclined to binge, research suggests Gluten-free breads, dairy-free milks and other plant-based products have been some of the most favoured foods in British supermarkets this year. However, while were busy filling our shopping trolleys with gluten-free goodness, were also jamming it with junk food and alcohol, new research suggests Getty/iStock Food and drink news Growing list of Vegan celebs Making the switch to veganism is a major lifestyle choice, one that many claim can improve energy levels, lower the risk of cardiovascular disease and clear up any skin issues. Beyonce, Natalie Portman and Jessica Chastain are among the growing list of Hollywood stars who have eschewed animal products from their diets in recent years. Theres also been an increasing number of professional athletes who have gone vegan, such as boxing champions Mike Tyson and David Haye, thus debunking the myth that following a plant-based diet will leave you feeling weak and malnourished. AFP/Getty/NARAS/iHeartMedia Food and drink news McDonald's has announced the launch of a new vegan burger on its menu in Germany This will mark the first time the German franchise of the fast food chain has offered a vegan burger to its customers. The Big Vegan TS burger consists of a patty made from soy and wheat. It is served in a classic sesame seed bun, and contains salad, tomato, pickles and red onion. McDonald's Germany Food and drink news Drinking too many protein shakes could lead to an increased risk of obesity and a reduced lifespan, a new study has claimed Researchers from the University of Sydney's Charles Perkins Centre carried out an investigation to determine the impact excessive consumption of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) has on the body. BCAA supplements are often consumed in the form of powder, which is then added to water to make a shake. Published in journal Nature Metabolism, the study found that while BCAAs help to build muscle, they can also negatively impact an individual's temperament, cause weight gain and lead to a shortened lifespan Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Britain consumes more chocolate than any other country Most people love chocolate but it turns out no one does more than the Brits  with the average Brit found to have consumed 8.4 kg of chocolate in 2017, according to new data. Chocolate consumption around the world is on the rise, according to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), which found that in the past year alone, Easter chocolate production has risen by 23 per cent Food and drink news 'Easter eggs should be banned for children under four' Dr Becky Spelman, chief psychologist at Harley Streets Private Therapy Clinic, is calling for Easter eggs to be banned for consumption for children under the age of four, claiming that giving them the opportunity to binge on chocolate so young will give them an unhealthy relationship with food later on. "This is a nightmare situation for parents of this generation as they have no idea how to teach their children to delay their response to cravings, she said, explaining that too many young kids binge on these chocolates because their parents dont know how to stop them. "Once a child starts overeating behaviour at a young age its very hard to turn things around for them in terms of food and their eating habits moving forward, leading to obesity from at very young age," she added PA Food and drink news Pineapple overtakes avocado as the UK's fastest-selling fruit According to Tesco, pineapple has overtaken avocado as the UKs fastest-selling fruit, with sales increasing by 15 per cent in 2017. In comparison, avocado sales rose by just under 10 per cent last year. The popular supermarket says the surge in popularity comes as shoppers buying the versatile fruit are beginning to use it as a main ingredient in everything from curries and barbecues, to juices and cocktails Getty Food and drink news Marks & Spencers launches stoneless avocados Rather than the result of genetic modification, the avocados are formed by an unpollinated avocado blossom. The fruit develops without a seed which in turns stops the growth, creating a small, seedless fruit. Whats more, the skin is actually edible, unlike a regular avocado. The flesh is much like that of a normal avocado - smooth and creamy, pale in colour and rich in flavour M&S Food and drink news Office teabags contain 17 times more germs than a toilet seat, reveals study The average bacterial reading of an office teabag was 3,785, in comparison to only 220 for a toilet seat. Other pieces of kitchen equipment also stacked up highly in their findings, with the bacterial readings averaging at 2,483 on kettle handles, 1,746 on the rim of a used mug and 1,592 on a fridge door handle Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New study shows drinking more coffee leads to a longer life There is good news and a final hope for coffee addicts and lovers. You will now be able to drink coffee for longer as new study shows its can lead to a prolonged life. Scientists showed that those who drank between two and four cups of coffee a day had 18% lower risk of death compared to non-coffee drinkers. PA Food and drink news Coke Zero is replaced with Coke Zero Sugar Coca-Cola is pulling the plug on its Coke Zero. The much loved drink will be replaced with a new improved taste. The move, backed with a 10 million campaign, is said to come from Coca-Cola supporting people to reduce their sugar intake. Coca-Cola want people make this move while not sacrificing sugary taste of Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola Food and drink news Starbucks introduce new avocado spread The avocado craze has grown from hipster brunch restaurants to Starbucks. Starbucks have introduced their new avocado spread earlier this year and it has the internet in debate. Some argue that it not a spread but guacamole while others question if there is any avocado in there at all. When buying the new spread you can also buy an optional toasted bagel. It is a must try for all avocado connoisseurs. Starbucks Food and drink news New Mars chocolate bar The iconic British chocolate bar is about to get its partner in crime. The new bar, named Goodness Knows, will replace the gooey caramel goodness of the mars bar with oats. It is said to be more like a Florentine biscuit with a thin dark chocolate bottom. While being moderately healthy Mars says that is has good intentions. One pack has 154 calories and will sell for about 90p. Mars Food and drink news Wine prices could increase because of Brexit Wine lovers across the UK might soon have to shell out close to a quarter more for their favourite tipple after Brexit, as a weaker pound and sluggish economy takes its toll, a new study shows Rex Food and drink news Chocolate may be good for the heart A new study, published in the British Medical Journal: Heart, found that moderate chocolate intake can be positively associated with lessening the risk of the heart arrhythmia condition Atrial Fibrillation Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Brits throw away 1.4 million bananas each year British families are throwing away 1.4 million bananas that are perfectly good to eat every day at cost of 80m a year, new figures have shown PA/Armin Weigel Food and drink news Rosemary sales spike over exam time There has been a surge a surge in sales of the herb rosemary after a recent study found it helps improve memory. According to high street health food chain Holland & Barrett, sales of the herb have increased by 187 per cent compared to the same time last year Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Gluten-free diets 'not recommended' for people without coeliac disease Avoiding wheat, barley and rye in the belief that a gluten-free diet brings health benefits may do more harm than good, according to a team of US nutrition and medicine experts Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Starbucks launches two new coffee-based drinks Starbucks is launching two new coffee-based drinks in the UK, as it strives to tap into consumers growing appetite for healthy beverages. The Cold Brew Vanilla sweet cream and the Cappuccino Freddo, will both be available in stores throughout the UK from the start of May Twitter/@SbuxCountyHall Food and drink news Cadburys Dairy Milk Tiffin is making a permanent comeback after 80 years The Cadbury Dairy Milk Tiffin, first produced in 1937, is making a permanent comeback to the UK. The raisin and biscuit-filled chocolate bar is being launched after a successful trial last summer saw 3 million chocolate treats  at the cost of 1.49 for each 95g bar- purchased by nostalgic customers Cadburys Food and drink news Pizza restaurant makes worlds cheesiest 'Scottie's Pizza Parlor' in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Facebook/Scottie's Pizza Parlor Food and drink news A pizza joint in Portland Oregon has created the worlds cheesiest pizza using a total of 101 different cheese varieties. Why not eating before a workout could be better for your health A study published in the American Journal of Physiology by researchers at the University of Bath found you might be likely to burn more fat if you have not eaten first Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news New York restaurant named best in the world A New York restaurant where an average meal for two will cost $700 has been named the best in the world. Eleven Madison Park won the accolade for the first time after debuting on the list at number 50 in 2010. The restaurant was praised for a fun sense of fine-dining, blurring the line between the kitchen and the dining room Getty Images Food and drink news Why you crave bad food when youre tired Researchers at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University in Chicago recently presented their results of a study looking into the effects of sleep deprivation upon high-calorific food consumption. Researchers found that those who were sleep-deprived had specifically enhanced brain activity to the food smells compared to when they had a good nights sleep Shutterstock Food and drink news Drinking wine engages more of your brain than solving maths problems Drinking wine is the ideal workout for your brain, engaging more parts of our grey matter than any other human behaviour, according to a leading neuroscientist. Dr Gordon Shepherd, from the Yale School of Medicine, said sniffing and analysing a wine before drinking it requires exquisite control of one of the biggest muscles in the body Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news British dessert eating surges after people ditch healthy eating in February : In heartening news for anyone feeling guilty about quitting their New Year diet, it seems lots of us have given in to our sweet tooths once again. New data from nationwide food-delivery service Deliveroo reveals there was a surge in Brits ordering desserts in February compared to the first month of 2017 Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news US congress debates definition of milk alternatives A new bill has been created that seeks to ban dairy alternatives from using the term milk. Titled the DAIRY PRIDE Act, the name is a tenuous acronym for defending against imitations and replacements of yogurt, milk, and cheese to promote regular intake of dairy every day. It argues that the dairy industry is struggling as a result of all the dairy-free alternatives on the market and the public are being duped too Getty Images Food and drink news Cadburys launches two new chocolate bars UK confectionary giant Cadbury has launched two new chocolate bars, hoping to lure those with a sweet tooth and perhaps help combat some of the challenges it faces from rising commodity prices and a post-Brexit slump in the value of the pound.The companys new products will be peanut butter and mint flavoured. They will be available in most major super markets as 120g bars, priced at 1.49, according to the company Cadburys Food and drink news You can now get a job as a professional chocolate eater The company responsible for some of your favourite chocolate brands  think Cadbury, Milks, Prince and Oreo  have officially announced an opening to join their team as a professional chocolate taster. The successful candidate will help them to test, perfect and launch new products all over the world. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news MSG additive used in Chinese food is actually good for you, scientist claims For years, weve been told MSG (the sodium salt of glutamic acid) - often associated with cheap Chinese takeaways - is awful for our health and to be avoided at all costs. But one scientist argues it should be used as a supersalt and encourages adding it to food. Getty Images/iStockphoto Food and drink news Lettuce prices are rising Not only are lettuces becoming an increasingly rare commodity in supermarkets, but prices for the leafy vegetables seem to be rising too. According to the weekly report from the Governments Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, a pair of Little Gem lettuces had an average market price of 0.86 in the week that ended on Friday, up from an average of 0.56 in the previous week  thats an almost 54 per cent increase. Getty Images Food and drink news Do-It-Yourself restaurant To encourage more people to cook and eat together, IKEA has launched The Dining Club in Shoreditch  a fully immersive Do-It-Yourself restaurant . Members of the public can book to host a brunch, lunch or dinner party for up to 20 friends and family. Supported by their very own sous chef and maitre de, the host and their guests will orchestrate an intimate dining experience where cooking together is celebrated and eating together is inspirational Mikael Buck / IKEA Food and drink news Ping Pong menu with a twist Gatwick Airport has teamed up with London dim sum restaurant Ping Pong to create a limited edition menu with a distinctly British twist; including a Full English Bao and Beef Wellington Puff, to celebrate the launch of the airports new route to Hong Kong Food and drink news Zizzi unveil the Maamgharita Unique pizza art has been created by Zizzi in celebration of the Queens 90th birthday. The pizza features the queen in an iconic pose illustrated with fresh and tasty Italian ingredients on a backdrop of the Union Jack Food and drink news Blue potatoes make a comeback Blue potatoes, once a staple part of British potato crops, are back on the menu thanks to a Cambridge scientist turned-organic farmer and Farmdrop, an online marketplace that lets people buy direct from local farms. Cambridge PhD graduate-turned farmer, Adrian Izzard has used traditional growing techniques at Wild Country Organics to produce the colourful spuds, packed with healthy cell-protecting anthocyanin, which had previously disappeared from UK plates when post-war farmers were pushed towards higher-yielding varieties

From Australia

Deep Woods Estate Redlands Cabernet Sauvignon Shiraz 2013

From the region in Western Australia that brings out the best of the grape, the Shiraz here contributes spice and rich-red fruit notes to the plum and chocolaty flavours of the Cabernet. A full-bodied, smooth, powerful wine, this is ready to drink now but will get even better with time. Decant well in advance and a rare rib of beef or a leg of lamb would be in order.

14.99 laithwaites.co.uk
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The UKs biggest high street banks provide the worst service to their customers and have a long way to go to stop unexpected fees and penalties, a new survey has found.

RBS, HSBC, NatWest, Barclays and Lloyds were the five lowest rated lenders in a new Which? customer survey. All of the big banks scored poorly for transparency of their charges and value for money.

Which? said confusing fees and penalties were a particular area of annoyance and remained a mystery to many people. The report accused banks of failing their customers by being unclear about costs of unauthorised overdrafts.

In November, the Financial Conduct Authority announced it would investigate overdraft fees which can amount to more than the interest on payday loans.

Vicky Sheriff, director of campaigns at Which? Said: If the banks aren't doing enough to ensure their penalty fees are fair, it is right that the regulator should step in.

A spokeswoman for the British Bankers Association defended the industrys performance, saying that lenders had invested heavily in digital technology to warn people when they might be about to be hit with fees.

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.

The BBA said the level of overdraft charges has fallen by 1bn a year and advised customers to speak to their bank to pre-arrange an overdraft to avoid being hit with unexpected fees.

Telephone bank First Direct, which is owned by HSBC, topped the Which? table with a satisfaction score of 85 per cent, while RBS came last, with 54 per cent.

The Which? survey evaluated how banks dealt with complaints, how clear charges and penalty fees are, how satisfied current account customers are with services received in branches and over the phone, as well as online and mobile banking.
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A Scottish bishop has revealed his deep distress at the response after a local Muslim student read Arabic passages from the Qur'an during a service at St Marys Cathedral in Glasgow.

David Chillingworth, the head of the Scottish Episcopal Church and Bishop of St Andrews, Dunkeld and Dunblane, said he was dismayed at the widespread offence and condemned the widespread abuse the cathedral community had since received.

In an online post, he said: The decisions which have led to the situation in St Marys Cathedral are a matter for the Provost and the Cathedral community but the Scottish Episcopal Church is deeply distressed at the widespread offence which has been caused.

"We also deeply regret the widespread abuse which has been received by the Cathedral community.

The controversy followed the decision to invite the student, Madinah Javed, 19, to read a segment of the Qur'an relating to the birth of Jesus Christ, in an attempt to help improve inter-faith relations in Glasgow. Islam considers Christ to be a prophet but not the son of God.

The move sparked a backlash from some Christian leaders who deemed it ill-advised and inappropriate.

Michael Nazir-Ali, the former Bishop of Rochester, said: Christians should know what their fellow citizens believe and this can include reading the Quran for themselves, whether in the original or in translation. This is not, however, the same thing as having it read in church in the context of public worship.

The authorities of the Scottish Episcopal Church should immediately repudiate this ill-advised invitation and exercise appropriate discipline for those involved.

Some social media users also targeted the church with a number of abusive messages.

Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Show all 10 1 /10 Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis An Iraqi Christian prepares for the first Sunday Mass at the Church of the Immaculate Conception in Qaraqosh Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christian soldiers attend the first Sunday mass at the Grand Immaculate Church since it was recaptured from Islamic State in Qaraqosh Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis An Iraqi Christian soldier holds his weapon during the first Sunday mass Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis An Iraqi Christian soldier lights a candle Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass at the Grand Immaculate Church since it was recaptured from Islamic State Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi priests hold the first Sunday mass Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Reuters Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Iraqi Christians celebrate liberation from Isis Reuters

Scottish police confirmed they were investigating some of the posts. A spokesperson said: "We can confirm we are investigating reports of offensive comments made towards St Mary's Episcopal Cathedral in Glasgow and inquiries are ongoing.

"Police Scotland will not tolerate any form of hate and encourages all communities to work together to ensure no-one feels threatened or marginalised."

The provost of St Marys, Kelvin Holdsworth, said similar interfaith readings had happened a number of times in the past in this and in other churches, and have led to deepening friendships locally, to greater awareness of the things we hold in common and to dialogue about the ways in which we differ."

Mr Chillingworth said the row would not deter the churchs attempts to build interfaith links.

He said: Those who seek to work in the area of interfaith relationships must weigh carefully whether the choices which they make are appropriate or otherwise. In todays world, those judgements must give careful consideration to good relationships which have been carefully nurtured over many years in a local context. They must also weigh carefully the way in which national and international issues shape perceptions of what is appropriate or inappropriate.

In response to what has happened at the Cathedral, the Scottish Episcopal Church will bring together all those who are involved in the development of interfaith relations. Our intention will be as a Church to explore how, particularly in the area of worship, this work can be carried forward in ways which will command respect.
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David Irving has claimed he is inspiring a new generation of Holocaust deniers through YouTube videos of his speeches.

The author, labelled antisemitic and racist by a judge in his failed 2000 libel action, said he received hundreds of emails a day from young people who back his views  many of them supporters of Donald Trump.

The 78-year-old, whose own description of himself as a 'historian' is widely disputed, told The Guardian: Interest in my work has risen exponentially in the last two or three years. And its mostly young people.

Im getting messages from 14, 15 and 16-year-olds in America. They find me on YouTube. There are 220 of my lectures on YouTube, I believe, and these young people tell me how theyve stayed up all night watching them.

They get in touch because they want to find out the truth about Hitler and the Second World War. They ask all sorts of questions. Im getting up to 300 to 400 emails a day. And I answer them all. I build a relationship with them.

Despite a mass of historical evidence to the contrary, Mr Irving has claimed only a few Jews were killed by the Nazis and that the concentration camp gas chambers were a hoax. He once compared the Auschwitz death camp to Disneyland.

His theories have been criticised by a range of respected historians, who accuse him of ignoring overwhelming evidence that millions of Jews were murdered by the Nazis.

He has also been arrested in a number of countries where Holocaust denial is a crime and served a year in prison in Austria for his views.

Once a highly regarded academic, Mr Irving has more recently been described as a maverick who produces provocations instead of serious scholarly work.

Despite this, Mr Irving said he had noticed a growing interest in his work and claimed the truth about the Holocaust is gradually coming out.

He said: This is thanks to the internet. Its how this new generation finds me. Theres a general belief among people out there that they are being misled.

David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer' Show all 4 1 /4 David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer' David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer' JOHN LAWRENCE David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer' GETTY IMAGES David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer' EPA David Irving: 'Hitler appointed me his biographer' AP

He said his fans mostly supported President-elect Donald Trump, who he thinks will be a good president and has his heart in the right place. He also praised Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, describing him as a very fine man and admitting he was impressed by him.

Mr Irving claimed the internet was responsible for fuelling Holocaust denial among people who did not trust the mainstream media.

He said: Its all to do with this phenomenon of people not trusting what they are told by their governments and newspapers. They seek around to find someone who provides some remedy to this. And they find me.

I am part of the remedy. Its not just that Im selling huge amounts of books around the world. One of the big changes of the last two years is the amount Im getting in donations.

It used to be small amounts, and they still come in, but people are now giving me very large sums indeed  five-figure sums. I now drive a Rolls-Royce. A beautiful car. Though money is completely unimportant to me.

The author was speaking ahead of the UK release of a new film about his legal dispute with Penguin Books after he accused them of libel for publishing a book calling him a Holocaust denier and claiming he had falsified evidence. The film, titled Denial, will cover the story of the court case, which Mr Irving lost. The judge concluded that Irving was anti-Semitic and racist and associates with right-wing extremists who promote neo-Nazism.

Irving had deliberately misrepresented and manipulated historical evidence, the judge added.
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Social media bosses will reportedly be grilled by Parliament as part of a new cross-party inquiry into the dangers of so-called fake news.

Facebook, Google and Twitter are expected to be called in for questioning by the committee amid fears the prevalence of inaccurate stories is undermining democracy.

The Commons Culture Committee is reportedly discussing the launch details and hopes it will begin holding sessions by late spring or early summer.

Committee chairman Conservative MP Damian Collins told The Sunday Telegraph some "fake news" stories were being distributed "maliciously" and that social media sites had a responsibility to combat the spread of inaccurate content.

Whats interesting is we've accepted that search engines have a responsibility to combat piracy on their websites, he said.

In a similar way, I think social media [companies] have a responsibility to ensure their platforms are not being used to spread malicious content.

It came as the BBC confirmed it would launch a "fake news" debunking team to tackle the recent increase in false news stories appearing across the web.

News and current affairs editor James Harding told staff the corporation would increase its commitment to dealing with deliberately misleading stories masquerading as news."

In December, a YouGov survey found two-thirds of Britons believed social media platforms should do more to filter misleading or fake news stories from users feeds.

Fake news was recognised as a problem during the US election campaign, when false reports about both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton were circulated widely online, including a conspiracy theory which led a man to enter a Washington pizza restaurant with an assault rifle to self-investigate the report.

Particularly around elections there is a responsibility to democracy to ensure their platforms arent being perverted to support the distribution of fake and malicious news, Mr Collins said.
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The government is prepared to abandon the single market, customs union and the European Court of Justice in order to achieve a clean break with the EU, Theresa May is expected to say this week.

The Prime Minister will also call for an end to the division which has maintained a hold over the country since the referendum, in a speech which is expected to give the most detailed insight yet into her approach to the forthcoming talks with Brussels.

But the reported announcements  which indicate a hard Brexit  have worried Remain campaigners, who branded it as an an incredibly reckless move by the Prime Minister, and one which she did not have a proper mandate for.

Ms May is expected to say that the UK will regain full control of its borders, even at the price of single market membership, and leave the customs union in order to pursue international trade deals, the Sunday Telegraph reported.

 Theresa May avoids directly answering four questions in a row on Brexit

In addition, Ms May is likely to say that the European Court of Justice will no longer bind UK laws, something which the Prime Minster has been in favour of since her Home Office days.

A source familiar with the plans told the Telegraph: Shes gone for the full works. People will know when she said Brexit means Brexit, she really meant it.

Remain campaigners hit back on Saturday night. There are millions of people of Britain now getting the hard Brexit not on the ballot and for which they never voted, said Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron.

"This speech proves that Theresa May is driving the country towards a divisive and destructive exit from the European Union.

"If the UK had voted 52-48 to remain you can bet that Theresa May would never be pushing towards a hard Remain. There would be no embracing of the Euro, no joining the Schengen Zone. But the Prime Minister seems hell bent on ripping up everything we share with the European Union no matter how damaging that is to the UK.

"This is an incredibly reckless move by Theresa May. It will harm the country for generations to come. The Conservatives once claimed to be the party of business, that record is in tatters."

Criticism also came from within Ms Mays own party. Anna Soubry, who campaigned to remain in the European Union, told Sky News: "The Government has no mandate for this. To go into the negotiation conceding on the single market and the customs union is extremely serious and very bad news."

Ms May will also use the occasion to announce her vision for a Global Britain which is open to the world and will seek to build a positive relationship with its former partners in 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

And the Prime Minister will highlight the importance of building common goals, such as the contentious issue of workers' rights  which many feared would be vulnerable to dilution after Brexit.

Calling for unity, the Prime Minister will say that while people were divided over the referendum, more will share a common view of the kind of Britain they want to build in the future.

Ms May is expected to say: One of the reasons that Britains democracy has been such a success for so many years is that the strength of our identity as one nation, the respect we show to one another as fellow citizens, and the importance we attach to our institutions means that when a vote has been held we all respect the result.

The victors have the responsibility to act magnanimously. The losers have the responsibility to respect the legitimacy of the result. And the country comes together.

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And that is what we are seeing today. The overwhelming majority of people  however they voted  say we need to get on and make Brexit happen. Business isnt calling to reverse the result, but planning to make a success of it. And the House of Commons has voted overwhelmingly for us to get on with it too.

So the country is coming together. Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it  Leaver and Remainer and all the accompanying insults  and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly Global Britain.

Ms May's speech will take place at Lancaster House, long associated with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, to an audience of foreign ambassadors and diplomats.

Since the 23 June vote, there have been numerous instances of questionable behaviour connected to the referendum. Reports of a significant spike in racism caused concern among many.

The decision of three High Court judges to bar Ms May from using the Royal Prerogative to trigger Article 50 and instead consult Parliament led to uproar, with one right-wing media outlet branding them 'enemies of the people'.

The case went on to the Supreme Court but Ms May has set a deadline of March this year for formally beginning the withdrawal process.
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Hospitals across the UK are cancelling "urgent" cancer operations as the NHS winter crisis worsens.

Some patients have reportedly been told with just a day's notice that their surgery has been postponed, with a leading surgeon saying it was "extremely worrying" that hospitals had resorted to the decisions.

Cancer operations have previously held a protected status but the demand for beds and lack of social care capacity has encroached on that.

Clare Marx, president of the Royal College of Surgeons, told The Observer: "Feedback from our members suggests that since the start of January, a large number of hospitals across the UK are now cancelling cancer surgery. This will be extremely worrying to patients and their families.

"It is heartbreaking for a surgeon to have to explain to a patient who has cancer that their operation has had to be cancelled as there are no beds available. It is increasingly clear that no part of the system and no patient is immune from the pressure the NHS is experiencing."

The Conservative MP Sarah Wollaston, chairman of the House of Commons' health select committee, wrote in the British Medical Journal: "The political response to a health and care system in severe distress, and more importantly to the people it serves, has been dismal.

"There has been a failure to grasp the scale of the financial challenge facing both health and social care and the consequences and inefficiency of their continuing separation."

The Observer found the first cancellations of cancer surgeries came in December and that the trend had sped up this year. In Leeds, it said, doctors pointed to a lack of intensive care recovery beds that had forced their hand.

An NHS England spokesman said: "Everyone in the NHS will be pulling out all the stops to make sure all patients get their surgery as quickly as possible. There has been a steady increase in operations over the last 15 years but, despite this, the NHS is helping more people survive cancer than ever before."

Dr Wollaston hit out at the Government after Downing Street said GP surgeries were not doing enough to meet NHS commitments to see patients twelve hours a day, seven days a week amid the growing crisis, leaving hospitals unable to cope with demand.

She told The Independent: "I cant see that theres anything to be gained by trying to scapegoat a section of the primary care community at a point where they are understaffed, under pressure, and frankly demoralised."

On Friday a survey indicated more than half of Britons  53 per cent  supported increasing National Insurance from 12 to 13 per cent so the extra revenue could be invested in the NHS. 26 per cent opposed the idea.

It came after Simon Stevens, the chief executive of NHS England, told MPs the health service "got less than we asked for" in funding, directly contradicting Prime Minister Theresa May.

Funding has been "back-ended" to the end of the decade and will actually fall in real terms in 2018-19, he said. Her claim to have added more money was "stretching it", he said.

Ms May had said Mr Stevens' five-year forward plan "would require 8bn of extra spending, we've actually put 10bn of extra spending in".
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Emily Thornberry has said Labour will not die in a ditch to protect the principle of free movement across Europe, as she attempted to clarify the partys immigration position.

It comes after briefed extracts of a speech earlier this week by Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, declared the party was not wedded to the principle of free movement  one of the EUs four freedoms.

However, when Mr Corbyn delivered the line during the speech in Peterborough, he said: Labour is not wedded to freedom of movement for EU citizens as a point of principle, but I dont want that to be misinterpreted, nor do we rule it out.

Asked to clarify Labours immigration policy on ITVs Peston on Sunday, Ms Thornberry, the shadow Foreign Secretary, replied: Were not going to die in a ditch for the sake of freedom of movement, European-style, as within the European Union.

She continued: Its up to negotiations but you know Labours principle has always been that the economy is the most important thing, that the first priority of any government is the safety and security of its citizens.

Now, do we think that theres too much migration coming into Britain? If you look at the crisis in the NHS at the moment, why is it that our health service is having to scurry around the world hoovering up nurses from the Philippines, because were not training up enough nurses, we dont have enough doctors, one in four of our doctors are going to retire in the next few years.

Earlier on Sunday Mr Corbyn refused to be drawn on the BBCs Andrew Marr Show whether he believed immigration to Britain should be reduced. But he insisted he would end the grotesque levels of exploitation and the undercutting that goes on.

On the freedom of movement, he added: It is going to be part of the negotiations about access to Europe. If we are going to have access to a single market then there is going to be an issue surrounding that.

Lets look at the issue of the flow of people in the context of access to a free market. Lets not blame migrants for the problems we have.

What we are going to be doing is negotiating a trade arrangement with Europe to make sure we are able to access those markets.

It will involve people from Europe working here just as much as there are two million British people living and working in the European Union. Are we going to cut ourselves off completely? I dont think so.

But the Conservatives seized on the interviews as evidence Labour can not be trusted to control immigration and deliver the will of the people in leaving the EU.

Nus Ghani, a Conservative MP, who is a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee in Westminster, added: Once again, under repeated questioning, Jeremy Corbyn refused to say that immigration into Britain is too high. And his shadow Foreign Secretary also said that getting control of the numbers coming here from Europe isnt a priority.

Labour dont want to get control of our borders and are completely out of touch with ordinary working people. They do not speak for the concerns and aspirations of people in our country.
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Multi-billion pound plans to renovate the Houses of Parliament are to be investigated by a committee of MPs amid growing concern about the cost of the project.

The chairman of the House of Commons Treasury Select Committee, Andrew Tyrie, says there is not enough evidence to justify the estimated costs of up to 4 billion.

The Palace of Westminster is said to be in urgent need of major maintenance work. Under proposals to be debated by the House of Commons later this month, MPs and peers would have to move out of the building for up to eight years while the work is completed.

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The restoration and renewal programme is estimated to cost between 3.5 and 4bn over five to eight years, Mr Tyrie said.

Neither the report by Deloitte nor that by the joint commission provides enough of the evidence needed to come even to a preliminary decision on these proposals.

So the Treasury Committee will attempt to collect some of it. This is why the committee has called for evidence on this massive, and hugely expensive, restoration project. The proposals certainly need thorough scrutiny.

Officials have previously concluded the Palace is at risk of a catastrophic failure such as a flood or fire because plumbing and electrical infrastructure is no longer fit for purpose.

Work is needed to install new piping and cabling, repair crumbling stonework, remove asbestos, restore 4,000 windows and repair damaged roofs.

The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Show all 20 1 /20 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Digital Economy Bill  Give every household the legal right to fast broadband  but if they live in some remote areas, theyll have to pay part of the cost themselves  Phone and broadband companies to be forced to release details of customer complaints and average broadband speeds  New powers to allow public bodies like councils and government department to share swathes of data  including unpaid bills Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Transport Bill  New laws to govern the development of driverless cars, drones and space planes which the Government hopes will encourage investment in the new technologies to take place in the UK  Making it legal for customers to buy insurance for driverless vehicles Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Planning Bill  Giving legal powers to villages and towns to set their own priorities for new housing. They wont be able to turn down new homes, but they will have a say in where they can be built  Create a new National Infrastructure Commission to push through big projects such as nuclear power stations and new rail and road links  cutting the amount of time it takes to develop them Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Jobs Bill  Give powers to local authorities to reduce the level of business rates they charge. City Mayors would also be able to increase rates in some areas to pay for specific infrastructure projects to that would boost local growth Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Markets Bill  Making it easier for consumers to switch electricity and gas suppliers  Cutting down the time it takes for the Competition and Markets Authority to launch investigations into uncompetitive practices Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Bus Services Bill  Give local authorities and mayors powers to set standards for local buses  including frequency of services and fairs  Force all bus companies to provide real time information on services to app developers so everyone across the country will have the same ability as Londoners to know when the next bus is coming on their smart phone Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 2007 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 NHS Overseas Charging Bill  Increasing the number of services for which the NHS charges foreign patients  Reduces the number of people from the European Economic Area who are eligible for free services Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Pensions Bill  Capping early exit fees on company pension schemes  Create a new pensions guidance body to help consumers know their pension rights  and make best use of previous Government reforms allowing pensioners the right to take the money they have saved in a lump sum on retirement to invest how they like Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Children and Social Work Bill  New obligation on councils to be a corporate parent to children in care and look after them even after they have grown up  Giving all children leaving care a personal advisor to help them find jobs, secure a home and deal with any problems  Create a new regulator for social work along the lines of Ofsted to drive up standards in the profession Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Education Bill  Force failing local authorities to convert all the schools in their area to academies  Reform school funding to address long standing disparities across the country that has disadvantaged schools in some rural areas Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 2015 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Higher Education Bill  Making it simpler and easier for companies and other providers to set up new universities around the country. Ministers want to encourage institutions like Harvard and companies like Google to consider setting up campuses in the UK  Allowing universities who have been rated "excellent" for teaching to charge more than those who are not  Law to force universities to publish information about their application processes broken down by ethnicity, gender and socio economic background Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Prisons and Courts Bill  New law to create reform prisons giving governors powers to set their own regimes and budgets  Obligation to publish re-offending rates by prison Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 National Citizen Service Bill  New law to force schools to promote NCS to all 16 year olds and putting the scheme for the first time on a statutory footing Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Lifetime Savings Bill  Putting into law a Government plans to give people on working tax credits who save 50 a month a Government "bonus" of 50 up to a maximum of 300 a year Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 2/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Soft Drinks Industry Levy Bill  Introduce a sugar tax on soft drinks to fund school sports Controversy Rating: 3/5 Change Britain Rating: 5/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Bill of Rights  A new bill of rights to replace the Human Rights Act that will be based on the European Convention of Human Rights but will also take account of English common law Controversy Rating: 5/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 This content is subject to copyright. The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Counter-Extremism Bill  New civil powers to allow authorities to ban so-called "extremist preachers"  New powers to intervene in Madrassas and other unregulated environments where children are present  New undisclosed powers to come out of Louise Caseys review of Muslim integration Controversy Rating: 5/5 Change Britain Rating: 4/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Criminal Finances Bill  Make it an offence for companies not to stop their staff facilitating tax evasion  New undisclosed powers for courts to recover criminal assets Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 2016 Getty Images The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Cultural Property Bill (Armed Forces)  Making it illegal for UK troops to damage cultural property in conflicts at home or abroad Controversy Rating: 1/5 Change Britain Rating: 1/5 The governments legislative programme for 2016-17 Wales Bill  Bill to put plans for further Welsh devolution on a statutory footing  following the new powers recently given to the Scottish Parliament Controversy Rating: 2/5 Change Britain Rating: 3/5

Under some proposals, MPs and peers would be allowed to continue to use the Palace for debates while the work is carried out. This carries a much larger price tag of up to 7 billion. The Treasury Select Committee will look at whether a plan to carry out the work over a longer period could cause less disruption.

Last week a cross-party group of MPs backed the alternative plan that would allow MPs to stay in the Palace of Westminster and establish two temporary debating chambers elsewhere in the building.

Edward Leigh, Conservative MP for Gainsborough, told the Architects Journal: The Houses of Parliament are an iconic symbol of our parliamentary democracy. To abandon it at one of the most critical junctures in our history is senseless.

Wasting money to build a permanent new chamber that will only temporarily house the Commons is pure folly. In this time of austerity its unjustifiable, and we intend to keep a close eye on the costs involved in this project.

Architects have suggested the House of Commons could meet in the Lords Chamber while the House of Lords relocates to the Royal Gallery, which is currently used for banquets and state receptions.

Under the current plans to temporarily move Parliament while the restoration work is carried out, MPs would be housed in a space in the Department of Health offices, while the Lords would set up a chamber at the Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre in Westminster.
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Bernie Sanders has suggested FBI director James Comey should step down from his post over his conduct during the presidential election campaign, saying his resignation would not be a bad thing for the American people.

The Vermont Senator described the way Mr Comey conducted the investigation of Hillary Clintons use of a private email server as outrageous and "unacceptable". The FBI boss wrote a letter reigniting the controversy just 11 days before the presidential election  a move Ms Clinton and many of her supporters blame for her election loss.

Speaking to ABC News on Sunday, Mr Sanders said: I think that Comey acted in an outrageous way during the campaign.

No one can say that this was decisive, or this is what elected Trump, but clearly his behaviour during the campaign in terms of what he said during the week or two before the election was unacceptable.

And it is interesting that he is not doing investigations about the possible ties between Trump's campaign and the Russians.

When then asked whether he thought Mr Comey should step down, Mr Sanders responded: I think he should take a hard look at what he has done and I think it would not be a bad thing for the American people if he did step down.

The American politician's comments come days after the Justice Department announced it would review allegations that Mr Comey mishandled the email investigation, after members of Congress complained actions taken by the FBI and Justice Department were politically motivated.

The Justice Department watchdog will look specifically into whether Mr Comey's press conference and notifications to Congress about the investigation before the election were appropriate under the department's guidelines.

Brian Fallon, the Clinton campaigns former press secretary and former Justice Department spokesman, told the New York Times the probe was necessary to restore the reputation of the FBI.

This is highly encouraging and to be expected, given Director Comeys drastic deviation from Justice Department protocol, he told the paper.

A probe of this sort, however long it takes to conduct, is utterly necessary in order to take the first step to restore the FBIs reputation as a nonpartisan institution.
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A senior Democrat on the Senate Intelligence Committee said she believes a Russian cyber and propaganda effort altered the outcome of the presidential election in Donald Trump's favour.

Senator Dianne Feinstein said she was "astonished" by the breadth of the Russian interference and that she hoped a forthcoming investigation would be "full and robust".

The committee plans to investigate Russia's attempts to influence November's vote as well as "intelligence regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns".

Speaking on NBC's Meet The Press, Sen Feinstein said: "I've had all of the major classified briefings. I have been astonished at what has been a two-year effort [at] Russia to spearfish, to hack, to provide disinformation, propaganda wherever it really could.

"And I think this has been a very sophisticated effort.

"And if we can't carry out an election without disinformation being pumped into it by another country, we've got a huge destruction of our system going on so we have to  we have to be full and robust in this look."

Asked whether she thought Russia intended to interfere, and whether its effort changed the result of the election, she said: "The answer is yes on both cases."

It came as departing CIA director John Brennan gave a damning appraisal of Donald Trump, warning the President-elect does not fully understand the threat posed to the US by Russia.

Speaking to Fox News Sunday with five days to go until Mr Trump becomes the 45th President of the US, Mr Brennan said the billionaire businessman's uninhibited "talking and tweeting" is not in the country's best interests.

Mr Brennan's comments highlighted the ongoing tension between the President-elect and the intelligence services, after the leaking of unverified raw intelligence alleging close ties between Mr Trump and Russia.
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Donald Trumps incoming administration could evict the press corps from the White House, it has been reported, after one senior transition official described journalists as the opposition party.

Reporters currently occupy a space inside the White Houses West Wing, where the press secretary gives briefings and the President holds press conferences.

But advisers are weighing up arrangements in the James S Brady briefing room in the wake of coverage they view as hostile, Esquire reported.

One unnamed official reportedly told the magazine: They are the opposition party. I want them out of the building. We are taking back the press room.

Mr Trumps press secretary Sean Spicer confirmed the transition team was discussing the situation, framing it as an opportunity to have more journalists at briefings.

There has been so much interest in covering a President Donald Trump, he said.

A question is: is a room that has 49 seats adequate? When we had that press conference the other day, we had thousands of requests, and we capped it at four hundred.

Is there an opportunity to potentially allow more members of the media to be part of this? Thats something were discussing. There has been no decision.

The press might be moved next door, to the Old Executive Office Building, or to the White House Conference Centre slightly further away, Esquire said.

Mr Trump recently won the praise of Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan for refusing to talk to a CNN reporter at his first media briefing in six months.

Mr Erdogan has himself cracked down on members of the opposition, academics, journalists and rights activists since a failed military coup in July last year, after which the government declared a state of emergency.

At the press conference in Trump Tower on Wednesday, Mr Trump refused to take a question from CNNs White House correspondent Jim Acosta, dismissing the reporter on the grounds that he and the network produce fake news.

Mr Acosta later claimed Mr Spicer had threatened to throw him out if he asked another question.

Incoming Trump chief of staff Reince Priebus told ABC's This Week: "The only thing that we discussed was whether or not we want to move the initial press conferences into the Executive Offices Buildingwhich, by the way, is the White House, so no one's moving out of the White House, that is the White Housewhere you can fit four times the amount of people in the press conference, allowing more press, more coverage from all over the country."
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Donald Trump will no longer visit the Smithsonian Museum of African American History and Culture to mark Martin Luther King Day, according to reports.

The President-elect had been planning to visit the museum on Monday but senior transition team sources told ABC News the trip has been cancelled, citing issues with scheduling.

It was not immediately clear what Mr Trump would be doing instead of the trip, while the sources told ABC News he would be marking MLK Day in another way

It comes a day after Mr Trump attacked a prominent civil rights leader on Twitter. In a pair of tweets on Saturday morning, he said Congressman John Lewis was "all talk, no action".

Recommended John Lewis does not see Donald Trump as a legitimate president

Mr Lewis, who has been a member of Congress since 1987, is an elder statesman of the party and a figure of huge respect for his role in the civil rights struggle of the 1960s. He took part in the march across the Edmund Pettis Bridge in Selma, Alabama, led by Dr King. In the bloody conflict that followed when police broke up the peaceful marchers, Mr Lewis suffered serious injuries.

But Mr Lewis said he would not attend Mr Trump's inauguration on 20 January, saying: I dont see this President-elect as a legitimate president.

In response, Mr Trump tweeted: Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart.

(Not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!

Trump's assertions that Mr Lewis' district is "falling apart" and "crime infested" are hard to back up with facts.

Georgia's 5th Congressional District, which includes the Atlanta metro region, is considered one of the nation's fastest-growing areas, although its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.

 Alec Baldwin returns as Donald Trump to mock press conference and dossier allegations

The district has an 8.2 per cent unemployment rate and the median household income is about $48,000, according to the Census Bureau.

Republicans and Democrats alike criticised Mr Trump for how he reacted to Mr Lewis' comments.

"The tweet is unnecessary, it's unfortunate," former Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele, who is African-American, said on MSNBC

"John Lewis has a walk that very few people in this country  least of all Donald Trump  have ever walked. So you have to respect that and pay attention to that in a real sense," Steele said.

One of Mr Lewis' Democratic colleagues, Rep Ted Lieu also declared he would skip Mr Trump's inauguration, in part to defend Mr Lewis.

"Trump  who lost the popular vote  has made a series of racist, sexist and bigoted statements. In addition, he has attacked Gold Star parents, veterans such as John McCain and now civil rights icon John Lewis," Mr Lieu said.

He added, "For me, the personal decision not to attend the Inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis."
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The head of MI6 used information obtained by former officer Christopher Steele in his Trump investigation, in a warning against Russian cyberattacks and attempts to subvert Western democracies, The Independent has learned.

Sir Alex Youngers briefing notes for his first public speech as head of the Secret Intelligence Service contained some of the material supplied by Mr Steele, according to security sources. Drawing on the alleged hacking carried out by Moscow in the US presidential campaign, he warned of the danger facing Britain and Western European allies, and especially to elections due to be held next year.

Security sources stress that MI6 had extensive information, British and international, on the Russian threat apart from that of Mr Steele. But they pointed out that he is held in high regard and the contribution he provided was valuable.

 MI6 chief warns of 'unprecedented terror threat in UK'

In one of his recent tweets, Mr Trump described Mr Steele as a failed spy. He also claimed in another tweet that James Clapper [director of national intelligence] called me yesterday to denounce the false and fictitious report that was illegally circulated. Made up, phony facts. Too bad!

Mr Steele had, in fact, a highly successful career in MI6, received a number of commendations and is highly regarded by both British and American intelligence agencies. Mr Clapper pointed out that what he had actually said was that the intelligence service has not made any judgement that the information in this document is reliable.

The information Mr Steele, who had been hired by political opponents of Mr Trump, gave to MI6 was disseminated through the UKs intelligence agencies including GCHQ who provided assessment to their American counterparts, the National Security Agency (NSA). Last week, The New York Times cited two people familiar with the conclusions of the US report into the Kremlins activities as being among the first to raise the alarm in the autumn of 2015 over the hacking of Democratic National Committee computer servers.

Security sources stress that the material Mr Steele had provided was very much raw humint (human intelligence) and that GCHQ had used its technological means to carry out its investigation. However, it enabled tracking of hackers outside Russia, in Eastern Europe, who may also have been used in the Kremlins American operation.

Senior officials could not confirm media reports at the weekend that reassurance has been sought by London from the CIA that the identities of British agents in Russia will be protected in shared intelligence, with concerns about links between Mr Trumps team and Moscow. One official said that the understanding was that unauthorised people should not have access to such detail in anything classified which is passed on.

The threat of outside interference in coming elections in France, Germany and, possibly, Italy, has led to greater liaison between Western intelligence services in which, say officials, US agencies continue to play a full part.

There were two strands to the investigation carried out by Mr Steele  Mr Trumps alleged susceptibility to blackmail and a cyber operation carried out by the Russians which benefited Mr Trump and damaged Hillary Clintons campaign. The intelligence agencies in the UK, it is believed, have focused on the cyber aspect of the dossier, rather than blackmail claims, because of the immediate threat it presents to this country.

In his December speech, at MI6s headquarters in London, Sir Alex scathingly criticised what he termed the brutality of the military offensive then being undertaken by the forces of President Bashar al-Assad and his Russian allies in Aleppo.

On cyber warfare and associated subversion, he said: The connectivity that is at the heart of globalisation can be exploited by states with hostile intent to further their aims deniably. They do this through means as varied as cyberattacks, propaganda, or subversion of democratic process.

Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Show all 14 1 /14 Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A lesbian couple kisses in front of mural depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the walls of a barbecue bar 'Keule Ruke' on May 19, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Barcroft Media/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A lesbian couple kisses in front of mural depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the walls of a barbecue bar 'Keule Ruke' on May 19, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Barcroft Media/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural VILNIUS, LITHUANIA - NOVEMBER 23: A woman walks past a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R) blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wall of a bar-b-que restaurant on November 23, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Many people in the three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are concerned that Russia, because Trump has expressed both admiration for Putin and doubt over defending NATO member states, will be emboldened to intervene militarily in the Baltics. Sean Gallup/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A woman walks past a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural AP Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A child walks past a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the walls of a bar in the old town in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis) AP Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural People walk past a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A man photographs a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural AP Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A young woman walks past a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R) blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the slogan "make everything great again," in reference to Trump's campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again," on the wall of a bar-b-que restaurant on November 23, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Many people in the three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are concerned that Russia, because Trump has expressed both admiration for Putin and doubt over defending NATO member states, will be emboldened to intervene militarily in the Baltics. Sean Gallup/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A morning commuter stops to look at a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Restaurant owner Dominykas Ceckauskas pose next to a mural on the wall of his establishment depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. / AFP / Petras Malukas (Photo credit should read PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images) Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A passerby photographs a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R) blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wall of a bar-b-que restaurant on November 23, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Many people in the three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are concerned that Russia, because Trump has expressed both admiration for Putin and doubt over defending NATO member states, will be emboldened to intervene militarily in the Baltics. Sean Gallup/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Getty

Our job is to give the Government the information advantage: to shine a light on those activities and help our country and our allies. The risks are profound and represent a fundamental threat to sovereignty: they should be a concern to all those who share democratic values.

Mr Steele and a Washington based company, Fusion GS, were initially hired by Republican opponents of Mr Trump and, after he won the Republican nomination, the Democrats. After Mr Trumps surprise election win their services were no longer required by the Democrats. However, Mr Steele and, it is believed, one of his American colleagues, continued to work without pay because they felt that what they were uncovering should see the light of day. Mr Steele passed on what he had found to the FBI and MI6 because he believed such material was a matter of national security for both countries.
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Michael Gove has secured the first UK interview with US President-elect Donald Trump apparently following a personal meeting.

The Vote Leave campaigner is the second British politician to meet with Mr Trump since his election - before Prime Minister Theresa May, and after Nigel Farage's visit to Trump Tower in November.

His interview will appear in The Times. Mrs May is due to meet the President-elect in the spring.

Mr Gove returned to The Times last year as a columnist, having worked there until his election in 2005. He ended his column when he was made Education Secretary in 2010.

The former Justice Secretary was sacked by Ms May when she became PM, following his abortive bid for the Conservative Party leadership in the wake of the Brexit vote.

Ms May's joint chiefs of staff Nick Timothy and Fiona Hill travelled to the US last month to build links with Mr Trump's team.

It followed her criticism of the tycoon when, during his campaign, he called for a ban on Muslims entering the US and claimed parts of London were no-go areas for the police. Ms May, then Home Secretary, said: "I just think it shows he does not understand the UK."
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Thousands of women are expected to take to the streets of London a day after Donald Trump is sworn in as President.

More than 14 thousand people have signed up to attend the Womens March on London on 21 January. There are 370 sister marches set to take place across the world.

The inclusive demonstration, which is open to people of all genders, calls for participants to come together to safeguard freedoms threatened by recent political events.

This march was triggered by widespread apprehension at the threat to human rights anticipated in the wake of recent political events, Beth Garner, one of the marchs organisers, told The Independent.

By coming together on the 21st, a multitude of different organisations working across the board on different social issues send a message that the politics of fear and division will not be accepted.

In 2016, we all saw an increase in hate speech and divisive rhetoric. Donald Trump's election was really a tipping point for me.

Garner said the actions of the billionaire property developer in the US could impact on women in the UK.

President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters

Women's rights are human rights and when one group is marginalised it affects us all, she said.

The President-elect has a record of making demeaning, sexist comments about women. This includes everything from boasting that when you are a star you can grab women by the p***y in a leaked 2005 tape to calling Rosie ODonnell a fat pig to saying Megyn Kelly had blood coming out of her wherever.

Celebrity supporters of the march on social media include Frankie Boyle, Charlotte Church, Ian McKellen, Alexa Chung, Pixie Geldof, Bianca Jagger, June Sarpong and Hardeep Singh Kholi.

The London demonstration mirrors the main rally in Washington DC which is expected to be one of the largest demonstrations in American history. More than 200 thousand people are expected to attend the protest, including high-profile figures such as Scarlett Johansson, America Ferrera, Katy Perry, Uzo Aduba, Zendaya, and Cher.

In London, protesters will gather in Grosvenor Square at 12pm before marching through Park Lane, Piccadilly, Pall Mall and then Trafalgar Square where a rally will take place at 2pm.

Organisations supporting the event include Amnesty International, Unite, Liberty, CND, Pride London, Black Pride, Womens Equality Party, The Green Party, Solidarity with Refugees, NUS, British Scientists for the EU, Women 4 Refugee Women and Women for Women International.
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The departing CIA director John Brennan has given a damning appraisal of Donald Trump, warning the President-elect does not fully understand the threat posed to the US by Russia.

Speaking to Fox News with five days to go until Mr Trump is sworn in as the 45th President of the US, Mr Brennan said the billionaire businessmans forthright talking and tweeting are not in the countrys best interests.

Mr Brennans comments highlighted the ongoing tension between the President-elect and the intelligence services, after the leaking of unverified raw intelligence alleging close ties between Mr Trump and Russia.

In a series of tweets after those explosive allegations were made public, Mr Trump appeared to blame the intelligence agencies for letting the dossier be released. He wrote: Are we living in Nazi Germany?

Mr Brennan told Fox News Sunday that Mr Trump had indeed been briefed about the allegations before they were reported by CNN, despite the President-elects advisers saying he was not aware of them.

What I do find outrageous is equating intelligence community with Nazi Germany, Mr Brennan said. I do take great umbrage at that.

There is no basis for Mr Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly, he added.

The CIA director, who will likely be replaced by Mr Trumps pick Mike Pompeo, advised the incoming President not to forgive Russia for its recent transgressions and warned him to watch his words and actions.

Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests and so therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound, Brennan said.

World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Show all 29 1 /29 World reaction to President Trump: In pictures World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures London, England Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty Images World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mosul , Iraq Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Manila, Philippines AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures New Delhi, India Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Karachi, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kabul, Afghanistan AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem. Israel Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Moscow, Russia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Seoul, South Korea AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Lagos, Nigeria AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Peshawar, Pakistan EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jakarta, Indonesia Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Hyderabad, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Kolkata, India AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia Getty World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Sydney, Australia AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Aleppo, Syria Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico AP World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago Reuters World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Jerusalem, Israel EPA World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Baghdad, Iraq Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Gaza Strip, Palestinian Territories Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Tokyo, Japan Rex World reaction to President Trump: In pictures Mexico City, Mexico Getty

Its more than just about Mr Trump. Its about the United States of America.

Speaking earlier on Sunday, President Barack Obamas chief of staff said the president had sought an assessment on any interference in the 2016 election so that policymakers could address the issue.

Denis McDonough said it was important for the president that we get a full assessment to brief policymakers so they can implement policies to make sure that doesnt happen again.

Mr Trump has lashed out at those who have suggested his win was aided by Russian involvement.

Speaking on CNNs State of the Union programme Mr McDonough said the intelligence community was staffed by an unbelievably cadre of professionals and he dismissed the notion that they would seek to undermine Mr Trumps victory as the President-elect has suggested.
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Donald Trump is to hold a summit with Vladimir Putin in his first foreign trip as president, according to reports.

The President-elect and his team have reportedly told British officials they will meet the Russian leader within weeks of Mr Trump's inauguration.

The two leaders will work on a deal limiting nuclear weapons in a bid to strengthen US ties with Russia, according to the Sunday Times.

The meeting is likely to take place in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, according to the reports, echoing Ronald Reagans historic superpower talks with former Soviet Union leader Mikhail Gorbachev in the city, which became one of the most important summits in the history of US-Russia relations.

A Trump adviser reportedly said the President-elect intended to meet Mr Putin at a venue outside the US and Russia very soon and that Reykjavik was under active consideration.

What does Putin want? Prestige  centre stage at the summit, the one-on-one meeting, the hand on the back from Trump, the advisor said.

That gives the US tremendous leverage. Mr Trump is master of the photo op and he will use that skill.

A spokesperson for Mr Putin however refuted the claims on Sunday, telling Russian journalists there had been no talks yet about a possible meeting between the Russian President and Mr Trump.

There have not been talks about a meeting yet, the Kremlin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov told RIA news agency.

It comes amid allegations  denied by the President-elect  that Russia may hold compromising footage of a sexual nature which could be used to blackmail him.

Despite the allegations, Mr Trump said earlier this week that he was prepared to meet Mr Putin, saying: I understand that they [the Kremlin] would like to meet, and that's absolutely fine with me."

On Saturday, a senior US official said the President-elect's national security adviser had been in very frequent contact with Russias ambassador to the US, suggesting Mr Trumps desire to build closer ties with Russia was well underway despite mounting concerns over the nature of the relationship.

Mr Trump has also suggested sanctions placed on Russia by Barack Obama could be lifted if the country works with the US on battling terrorists and other goals, reinforcing the notion that he is keen to warm the US relationship with Russia.

Reports that Mr Trump is to hold talks with the Russian President so imminently are said to have concerned senior figures in the UK Government, who fear that improving relations between the US and Russia could risk isolating Britain from important talks on the world stage.

Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Show all 14 1 /14 Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A lesbian couple kisses in front of mural depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the walls of a barbecue bar 'Keule Ruke' on May 19, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Barcroft Media/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A lesbian couple kisses in front of mural depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the walls of a barbecue bar 'Keule Ruke' on May 19, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Barcroft Media/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural VILNIUS, LITHUANIA - NOVEMBER 23: A woman walks past a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R) blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wall of a bar-b-que restaurant on November 23, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Many people in the three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are concerned that Russia, because Trump has expressed both admiration for Putin and doubt over defending NATO member states, will be emboldened to intervene militarily in the Baltics. Sean Gallup/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A woman walks past a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural AP Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A child walks past a graffiti depicting Russian President Vladimir Putin, left, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, on the walls of a bar in the old town in Vilnius, Lithuania, Saturday, May 14, 2016. (AP Photo/Mindaugas Kulbis) AP Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural People walk past a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A man photographs a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural AP Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A young woman walks past a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R) blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin with the slogan "make everything great again," in reference to Trump's campaign slogan of "Make America Great Again," on the wall of a bar-b-que restaurant on November 23, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Many people in the three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are concerned that Russia, because Trump has expressed both admiration for Putin and doubt over defending NATO member states, will be emboldened to intervene militarily in the Baltics. Sean Gallup/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A morning commuter stops to look at a mural on a restaurant wall depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Restaurant owner Dominykas Ceckauskas pose next to a mural on the wall of his establishment depicting US Presidential hopeful Donald Trump and Russian President Vladimir Putin greeting each other with a kiss in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on May 13, 2016. Kestutis Girnius, associate professor of the Institute of International Relations and Political Science in Vilnius university, told AFP -This graffiti expresses the fear of some Lithuanians that Donald Trump is likely to kowtow to Vladimir Putin and be indifferent to Lithuanias security concerns. Trump has notoriously stated that Putin is a strong leader, and that NATO is obsolete and expensive. / AFP / Petras Malukas (Photo credit should read PETRAS MALUKAS/AFP/Getty Images) Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural A passerby photographs a mural showing U.S. President-elect Donald Trump (R) blowing marijuana smoke into the mouth of Russian President Vladimir Putin on the wall of a bar-b-que restaurant on November 23, 2016 in Vilnius, Lithuania. Many people in the three Baltic nations of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia are concerned that Russia, because Trump has expressed both admiration for Putin and doubt over defending NATO member states, will be emboldened to intervene militarily in the Baltics. Sean Gallup/Getty Trump and Putin passionately kiss in street mural Getty

It has meanwhile emerged that Christopher Steele, the British former M16 agent who investigated Mr Trumps alleged Kremlin links, was so worried by what he was discovering that at the end he was working without pay.

Security sources told The Independent Mr Steele had became increasingly frustrated that the FBI was failing to take action on the intelligence from others as well as him that he also decided to pass on information to both British and American intelligence officials.

Mr Steele is now in hiding, under attack from some Tory MPs for supposedly trying to ruin the chances of Theresa Mays Government building a fruitful relationship with the Trump administration, while some also accuse him of being part of an anti-Brexit conspiracy.
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An American man spent more than $1,000 (820) to defend his right to use 300,000 pennies to pay his tax bill.

Nick Stafford delivered five wheelbarrows full of coins to his local Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to pay sales tax on two new cars, a haul weighing more than 1,600 pounds.

It took staff over seven hours to count the coins, with the offices automated counting machines unable to cope with the load.

Mr Stafford collected hundreds of rolls of coins and hired 11 people to help him break them open with hammers, a process which took four hours and cost him $440 (360) in labour.

He also purchased five wheelbarrows at $400 (330) to transport the coins, bringing his total expenses to $840 (670).

Mr Staffords dispute with the DMV started when repeated inquiries to his local office went unanswered, leaving him feeling aggrieved, the Bristol Herald Courier reports.

Eventually, he resorted to filing a Freedom of Information request to obtain his local offices direct number, but to no avail - a withholding of information that he believed violated public records law.

Mr Stafford subsequently filed three lawsuits against specific employees at the Lebanon DMV and against the DMV itself to obtain direct phone numbers for offices in Abingdon, Clintwood, Gate City, Jonesville, Marion, Norton, Tazewell, Vansant and Wytheville.

If they were going to inconvenience me then I was going to inconvenience them, he said.

A judge dismissed the lawsuits at Russell County General District Court on Tuesday however the states attorney general handed Mr Stafford a list of the requested phone numbers in the courtroom.

The phone numbers are irrelevant to me, Mr Stafford said.

I don't need them. I told the judge I think I proved my point here.

Recommended Leaving money to charity in your will could help reduce the tax bill

He paid $165 (135) for the three lawsuits, bringing his total spend to $1,005 (825) to obtain 10 phone numbers and the satisfaction of delivering 300,000 pennies.

Brandy Brubaker, a spokeswoman for the Virginia DMV, said it was happy with the outcome of the lawsuits.

We are pleased that the court agreed with our counsel that the argument was not a sufficient request to invoke the FOIA statutory penalties, she said.

We make every effort to share information with citizens as state and federal law allows.

Mr Stafford said the DMV had to accept his unusual form of payment because the US Coinage Act of 1965 says that coins are "legal tender for all debts, public charges, taxes and dues".
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An event featuring far-right journalist Milo Yiannopoulos and former pharmaceutical boss Martin Shkreli at the University of California was cancelled on Friday night after heated protests erupted.

Protesters broke through barricades erected by university police and surrounded the venue while vociferously shouting shut it down in the hours leading up to the event.

After liaising with university police and student affairs officials, UC Davis College Republicans, who sponsored the controversial talk, cancelled the event thirty minutes before Yiannopoulos was due to speak.

The scheduled appearance of the Breitbart editor, who was one of Twitters most notorious trolls before he was permanently banned from the site in July, was a stop on his Dangerous Faggot university tour. During the last leg of his tour at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Yiannopoulos mocked a transgender student by name for filing a Title IX complaint about bathroom access and suggested liberals were waging a war against men.

Shkrekli, who gained notoriety after he raised the price of a HIV-related drug by 5,000 per cent while working as the CEO of Turing Pharmaceuticals, was also scheduled to speak at the event.

Tensions rose as hundreds of protesters, holding signs saying you cant pink wash fascism and blowing whistles, encircled the venue. One group managed to push past police and form a human chain blocking the building's entrance and an activist who managed to get inside the venue was arrested.

President Trump protests Show all 20 1 /20 President Trump protests President Trump protests Patrons hold a sign as people march by while protesting the election of Republican Donald Trump as the president of the United States in downtown Los Angeles, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators rally following the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators march following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests Thousands of protesters rallied across the United States expressing shock and anger over Donald Trump's election, vowing to oppose divisive views they say helped the Republican billionaire win the presidency AFP/Getty Images President Trump protests Demonstrators protest outside the Chicago Theatre in Chicago, Illinois Getty President Trump protests A police officer aims a launcher after demonstrators threw projectiles toward a line of officers during a demonstration in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests An officer examines a vandalized police vehicle as demonstrators riot in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators take over the Hollywood 101 Freeway just north of Los Angeles City Hall in protest against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests A woman holds up a sign reading 'Trump you are an Idiot' as demonstrators gather during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump outside the City Hall building in Los Angeles, California EPA President Trump protests A masked demonstrator gestures toward a police line during a demonstration in Oakland, California Reuters President Trump protests Demonstrators protest against the election of Republican Donald Trump as President of the United States, near the Trump International Hotel & Tower in Las Vegas, Nevada Reuters President Trump protests Musician Lagy Gaga stages a protest against Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump on a sanitation truck outside Trump Tower in New York City Getty President Trump protests A woman yells as she takes part in a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests A man dressed in red-white-and-blue sits on the curb during a protest against President-elect Donald Trump in Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests A protester sets off fireworks during a protest against President-elect Donald Trumpin Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood AP President Trump protests University of California, Davis students protest on campus in Davis, California, U.S. following the election of Donald Trump as President of the United States Reuters President Trump protests An Oakland police officer checks out damage after a window was broken by protesters at a car dealership in downtown Oakland, Calif AP President Trump protests A protester faces a police line in downtown Oakland, Calif AP President Trump protests President-elect Donald Trumpis victory set off multiple protests AP President Trump protests A fire burns during protests in Oakland, Calif AP

Friction further heightened as protesters and supporters of the event came face to face at the first high-profile university protest of 2017.

We shut down the event it was great mission accomplished, one protester told CNN.

The universitys interim Chancellor Ralph J Hexter expressed his indignation about the protests.

I am deeply disappointed with the events of this evening, Mr Hexter said in a statement. Our community is founded on principles of respect for all views, even those that we personally find repellent. As I have stated repeatedly, a university is at its best when it listens to and critically engages opposing views, especially ones that many of us find upsetting or even offensive.

He said there were no broken windows or other property damage during the protest despite reports there had been.

Protesters zoned in on Shkreli, who has been dubbed a pharma bro and the most hated man in America, after he left the venue.

Its disgusting. Progressivism is about having a conversation, Shkreli, who was suspended from Twitter last week after harassing Teen Vogues weekend editor Lauren Duca, told reporters.

Shkreli was arrested in December 2015 on allegations of securities fraud and stepped down as the head of Turing Pharmaceuticals immediately afterwards. He has denied the charges and his trial is scheduled to begin on 26 June.

Yiannopoulos, an outspoken Donald Trump supporter, posted on Facebook that the event had been cancelled after violence from left-wing protestors.

Yiannopoulos was permanently suspended from Twitter in July following claims he had aggravated and helped lead the Twitter abuse of Ghostbusters actor Leslie Jones.

He has been dubbed a spokesperson for the so-called "alt-right movement" - a political movement which has been accused of racism, antisemitism, misogyny, and of sharing an ideology with far-right parties such as the French National Front.

At the end of November, Simon Langton Grammar School for boys in Canterbury chose to cancel a talk by Yiannopoulos because the Department for Educations counter-extremism unit decided to intervene over safety concerns and the threat of demonstrations at the school. Yiannapoulos attended the school but says he was expelled.

At the end of December, it emerged that Yiannopoulos had signed a $250,000 (203,000) contract with Threshold, a conservative imprint of publisher Simon & Schuster. Jones has accused Simon & Schuster of helping the likes of Yiannopoulos spread their hate.
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Nicole Kidman rarely speaks politics. While other Hollywood actors were busy expressing their contempt for Donald Trump, she always kept quiet.

However, Kidman decided to weigh in on the subject last week, suggesting America needed to come together and support the President-elect.

The 49-year-old has now sought to clarify her comments and insisted she was simply expressing her support for democracy and the American constitution.

I was trying to stress that I believe in democracy, and the American constitution. Its that simple, she told Access Hollywood.

When probed about whether she thought people had misconstrued her remarks, she said: Im just, Im out of it now. Thats what I said. Its that simple.

The Hawaiian born actor, who was raised in Australia but has dual citizenship, came under fire after she addressed the election of Mr Trump on the BBCs Victoria Derbyshire Show. Many saw the remarks as an expression of support for the billionaire property developer.

President Donald Trump life in pictures Show all 16 1 /16 President Donald Trump life in pictures President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump poses in a rocking chair once used by President John F. Kennedy at his New York City residence Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump with his new bride Marla Maples after their wedding at the Plaza hotel in New York Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Celina Midelfart watch the match between Conchita Martinez and Amanda Coetzer during U.S. Open. She was the date whom Donald Trump was with when he met his current wife Melania at a party in 1996 Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas serving as the grand marshal for the Daytona 500, speaks to Donald Trump and Melania Knauss on the starting grid at the Daytona International Speedwa Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Developer Donald Trump talks with his former wife Ivana Trump during the men's final at the U.S. Open Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and his friend Melania Knauss pose for photographers as they arrive at the New York premiere of Star Wars Episode : 'The Phantom Menace,' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire real estate developer Donald Trump talks with host Larry King. Trump told King that he was moving toward a possible bid for the United States presidency with the formation of a presidential exploratory committee Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump answers questions as Minnesota Governor Jesse Ventura looks on in Brooklyn Park. Trump said on Friday he 'very well might' make a run for president under the Reform Party banner but had not made a final decision Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump makes a face at a friend as he sits next to Panamanian President Mireya Moscoso before the start of the 2003 Miss Universe pageant in Panama City Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Entrepreneur Donald Trump is greeted by a Marilyn Monroe character look-a-alike, as he arrives at Universal Studios Hollywood to attend the an open casting call for his NBC television network reality series 'The Apprentice.' Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Simon Cowell present an Emmy during the 56th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump and Megan Mullally perform at the 57th annual Primetime Emmy Awards at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump, poses with his children, son Donald Trump, Jr., and daughters Tiffany and Ivanka Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Billionaire Donald Trump told Miss USA 2006 Tara Conner on Tuesday she would be given a second chance after reported misbehavior Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures Donald Trump holds a replica of his star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame as his wife Melania holds their son Barron in Los Angeles Reuters President Donald Trump life in pictures U.S. property mogul Donald Trump stands next to a bagpiper during a media event on the sand dunes of the Menie estate, the site for Trump's proposed golf resort, near Aberdeen, north east Scotland Reuters

I just say, [Trumps] now elected, and we as a country need to support whoevers the president because thats what the countrys based on, she said.

Kidman, who is a United Nations Women goodwill ambassador, also explained she is generally reluctant to speak about politics in the public domain.

Im always reticent to start commenting politically. Ive never done it in terms of America or Australia. Im issue-based, she said, explaining she is committed to womens issues.

Referring to Mr Trump Kidman said, Whatever, however that happened, hes there and lets go.

Kidman, who is a Roman Catholic, is believed to have donated to US Democratic party candidates in the past.
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New York City has a number of ambitious development and infrastructure projects underway.

Manhattan's most recent transportation upgrade came in the form of the glistening, $4.5 billion Second Avenue subway line, which opened on January 1.

On the other side of the island, Hudson Yards  the most expensive real estate development in American history  is under construction. And on an island in the East River, Cornell University is building a glassy tech campus with classrooms, a hotel, restaurants, and shops for future graduate students. By the middle of this century, the city will look different, and will likely attract even more new residents and tourists than today.

From Manhattan to Brooklyn, here is a look at some of the most substantial projects set to be completed in the next two decades.

The World Trade Center site

The World Trade Center site, 2010 (above) vs. 2016 in Manhattan (below) (Wikipedia Commons/Pixabay)

Since the September 11 attacks, New York City has been working to redevelop the 16-acre Manhattan site where the Twin Towers and surrounding buildings stood.

As of January, 2017, 1 World Trade Center (also known as the Freedom Tower, the tallest skyscraper in the city), 4 World Trade Center, 7 World Trade Center, a new transit hub, the 9/11 memorial and museum, a mall, and a park are all complete. Two more towers, a small church, and a performing arts center are still in the works. Construction is set to be finished by 2020.

Essex Crossing

Located on Manhattan's Lower East Side, Essex Crossing will feature 1,000 apartments available to low-, moderate-, and middle-income residents.

The $1.1 billion development will also include a Regal movie theater, a new street market, a bowling alley, and a cultural space.

The once-abandoned site, which features many parking lots today, is the result of a failed 1960s urban renewal scheme by mid-century developer Robert Moses. Construction of Essex Crossing began in 2015 and is set to be complete by 2024.

Cornell Tech Campus

Roosevelt Island today (above) vs. a rendering of the Cornell Tech campus on Roosevelt Island (below) (Wikipedia Commons/Cornell Tech)

Cornell, the Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, is building a new campus that will dominate NYC's Roosevelt Island.

The development, which will feature dorms, offices, classroom buildings, restaurants, and a hotel, will span 2 million square feet.

Costing an estimated $2 billion, the campus will open in 2017. The university received $100 million in capital funding from the city to help build the campus.

Hudson Yards

Hudson Yards is a 28-acre mega-development that contains 33 smaller projects. The new neighborhood is expected to be completed in 2024, and will be comprised of residential units, retail, restaurants, office buildings, and a public square. The area will stretch from 30th to 41st streets and 10th and 11th avenues in Manhattan.

Costing an estimated $20 billion, the overhaul is billed as the most expensive real estate development in American history. Before the development broke ground, the area was a rail yard and offloading space.

Hunters Point South

Long Island City, Queens today (above) vs. a rendering of Hunters Point South (below) (Wikipedia Commons/Hunter Point South)

Hunters Point South will be a 30-acre mega-development in Long Island City, Queens that prioritizes affordable housing  the largest of its kind in New York City since the 1970s, according to Curbed.

Over half of Hunter Point's 5,000 units will be offered below market rate. Gothamist reported that over 93,000 people applied for the apartments in 2015. The site will also feature a school, retail, restaurants, and a waterfront park with a ferry.

The project broke ground in 2013, with the second of three phases expected to be complete in 2018. There's no word yet when the third phase will be done, but so far, Hunters Point South has received over $2 billion in private investment.

Pacific Park

Formerly known as Atlantic Yards, the $4.9 billion Pacific Park project will bring 6,430 new apartments (2,250 of which will be priced below market rate), an eight-acre park, and a variety of shops to Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The site already boasts the world's tallest modular apartment building, which opened in November 2016.

The full Pacific Park development should be complete by 2025.

Industry City

(Wikipedia Commons/Industry City (Wikipedia Commons/Industry City)

The current buildings and streets in Industry City, an industrial complex in Brooklyn's Sunset Park neighborhood, date back to the 1890s. But a major redevelopment project is set to give them a makeover  the revamped Industry City will feature a hotel, shops, and a 16-building hub for tech startups.

Construction started in 2012 on the multi-billion-dollar project, but developers have not announced a completion date yet.

Read more:

 China's new topsy-turvy bridge actually has three bridges woven into one

 Japanese people are living so long that the country's definition of 'elderly' could change

 A 28-year-old who sold his company to Snapchat for $54 million and left to travel the world reveals why he has not spent a dime of his cut

Read the original article on Business Insider UK.  2016. Follow Business Insider UK on Twitter.
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Three police officers are facing administrative charges after shooting dead Tamir Rice, a 12-year-old boy who was holding a toy gun at the time.

Clevelands Quality Control Office, Integrity Control Section and Critical Incident Review Committee reviewed the case and suggested Timothy Loehmann, Frank Garmback and William Cunningham, should all face administrative charges for the death.

All three officers were on the scene when Tamir was shot and killed in November 2014. The person who alerted the authorities told the dispatcher that saw an armed boy but it may have been a toy gun rather than a real one.

This information was apparently not relayed to the officers who rushed to the scene.

After the shooting Tamirs sister ran to the gazebo in a state of panic and was handcuffed and placed in the back of the patrol car, according to a report by the Cuyahoga County Prosecutor's Office.

The officers could now face punishments ranging from 11 days suspension to termination of their roles, according to ABC news.

Tamirs family received a $6 million settlement from the city but said no amount of money could compensate for the loss of his life.

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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. 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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

"Tamir was 12 years old when he was shot and killed by police  a young boy with his entire life ahead of him, full of potential and promise. In a situation such as this, there is no such thing as closure or justice. Nothing will bring Tamir back, attorneys for the Rice family said in a statement, according to the Washington Post.
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Womens only seats are to be introduced on Air India flights, following a spate of sexual harassment reports on the carriers flights.

Plastic handcuffs will also be issued to flight crew to restrain "totally out of control" passengers.

From 18 January, six economy class seats will be solely dedicated to female travellers.

"We feel, as national carriers, it is our responsibility to enhance comfort level to female passengers," said Air Indias Meenakshi Mali.

"There are a lot of female passengers who travel alone with us and we will be blocking a few seats for them."

No extra cost will be imposed on the seats.

While some people praised Air Indias decision, others felt it was the wrong approach.

World news in pictures Show all 50 1 /50 World news in pictures World news in pictures 30 September 2020 Pope Francis prays with priests at the end of a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 29 September 2020 A girl's silhouette is seen from behind a fabric in a tent along a beach by Beit Lahia in the northern Gaza Strip AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 September 2020 A Chinese woman takes a photo of herself in front of a flower display dedicated to frontline health care workers during the COVID-19 pandemic in Beijing, China. China will celebrate national day marking the founding of the People's Republic of China on October 1st Getty World news in pictures 27 September 2020 The Glass Mountain Inn burns as the Glass Fire moves through the area in St. Helena, California. The fast moving Glass fire has burned over 1,000 acres and has destroyed homes Getty World news in pictures 26 September 2020 A villager along with a child offers prayers next to a carcass of a wild elephant that officials say was electrocuted in Rani Reserve Forest on the outskirts of Guwahati, India AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 September 2020 The casket of late Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Statuary Hall in the US Capitol to lie in state in Washington, DC AFP via Getty World news in pictures 24 September 2020 An anti-government protester holds up an image of a pro-democracy commemorative plaque at a rally outside Thailand's parliament in Bangkok, as activists gathered to demand a new constitution AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 September 2020 A whale stranded on a beach in Macquarie Harbour on the rugged west coast of Tasmania, as hundreds of pilot whales have died in a mass stranding in southern Australia despite efforts to save them, with rescuers racing to free a few dozen survivors The Mercury/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 22 September 2020 State civil employee candidates wearing face masks and shields take a test in Surabaya AFP via Getty World news in pictures 21 September 2020 A man sweeps at the Taj Mahal monument on the day of its reopening after being closed for more than six months due to the coronavirus pandemic AP World news in pictures 20 September 2020 A deer looks for food in a burnt area, caused by the Bobcat fire, in Pearblossom, California EPA World news in pictures 19 September 2020 Anti-government protesters hold their mobile phones aloft as they take part in a pro-democracy rally in Bangkok. Tens of thousands of pro-democracy protesters massed close to Thailand's royal palace, in a huge rally calling for PM Prayut Chan-O-Cha to step down and demanding reforms to the monarchy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 September 2020 Supporters of Iraqi Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr maintain social distancing as they attend Friday prayers after the coronavirus disease restrictions were eased, in Kufa mosque, near Najaf, Iraq Reuters World news in pictures 17 September 2020 A protester climbs on The Triumph of the Republic at 'the Place de la Nation' as thousands of protesters take part in a demonstration during a national day strike called by labor unions asking for better salary and against jobs cut in Paris, France EPA World news in pictures 16 September 2020 A fire raging near the Lazzaretto of Ancona in Italy. The huge blaze broke out overnight at the port of Ancona. Firefighters have brought the fire under control but they expected to keep working through the day EPA World news in pictures 15 September 2020 Russian opposition leader Alexei Navalny posing for a selfie with his family at Berlin's Charite hospital. In an Instagram post he said he could now breathe independently following his suspected poisoning last month Alexei Navalny/Instagram/AFP World news in pictures 14 September 2020 Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, former Defense Minister Shigeru Ishiba and former Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida celebrate after Suga was elected as new head of the ruling party at the Liberal Democratic Party's leadership election in Tokyo Reuters World news in pictures 13 September 2020 A man stands behind a burning barricade during the fifth straight day of protests against police brutality in Bogota AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 September 2020 Police officers block and detain protesters during an opposition rally to protest the official presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus. Daily protests calling for the authoritarian president's resignation are now in their second month AP World news in pictures 11 September 2020 Members of 'Omnium Cultural' celebrate the 20th 'Festa per la llibertat' ('Fiesta for the freedom') to mark the Day of Catalonia in Barcelona. Omnion Cultural fights for the independence of Catalonia EPA World news in pictures 10 September 2020 The Moria refugee camp, two days after Greece's biggest migrant camp, was destroyed by fire. Thousands of asylum seekers on the island of Lesbos are now homeless AFP via Getty World news in pictures 9 September 2020 Pope Francis takes off his face mask as he arrives by car to hold a limited public audience at the San Damaso courtyard in The Vatican AFP via Getty World news in pictures 8 September 2020 A home is engulfed in flames during the "Creek Fire" in the Tollhouse area of California AFP via Getty World news in pictures 7 September 2020 A couple take photos along a sea wall of the waves brought by Typhoon Haishen in the eastern port city of Sokcho AFP via Getty World news in pictures 6 September 2020 Novak Djokovic and a tournament official tends to a linesperson who was struck with a ball by Djokovic during his match against Pablo Carreno Busta at the US Open USA Today Sports/Reuters World news in pictures 5 September 2020 Protesters confront police at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne, Australia, during an anti-lockdown rally AFP via Getty World news in pictures 4 September 2020 A woman looks on from a rooftop as rescue workers dig through the rubble of a damaged building in Beirut. A search began for possible survivors after a scanner detected a pulse one month after the mega-blast at the adjacent port AFP via Getty World news in pictures 3 September 2020 A full moon next to the Virgen del Panecillo statue in Quito, Ecuador EPA World news in pictures 2 September 2020 A Palestinian woman reacts as Israeli forces demolish her animal shed near Hebron in the Israeli-occupied West Bank Reuters World news in pictures 1 September 2020 Students protest against presidential elections results in Minsk TUT.BY/AFP via Getty World news in pictures 31 August 2020 The pack rides during the 3rd stage of the Tour de France between Nice and Sisteron AFP via Getty World news in pictures 30 August 2020 Law enforcement officers block a street during a rally of opposition supporters protesting against presidential election results in Minsk, Belarus Reuters World news in pictures 29 August 2020 A woman holding a placard reading "Stop Censorship - Yes to the Freedom of Expression" shouts in a megaphone during a protest against the mandatory wearing of face masks in Paris. Masks, which were already compulsory on public transport, in enclosed public spaces, and outdoors in Paris in certain high-congestion areas around tourist sites, were made mandatory outdoors citywide on August 28 to fight the rising coronavirus infections AFP via Getty World news in pictures 28 August 2020 Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe bows to the national flag at the start of a press conference at the prime minister official residence in Tokyo. Abe announced he will resign over health problems, in a bombshell development that kicks off a leadership contest in the world's third-largest economy AFP via Getty World news in pictures 27 August 2020 Residents take cover behind a tree trunk from rubber bullets fired by South African Police Service (SAPS) in Eldorado Park, near Johannesburg, during a protest by community members after a 16-year old boy was reported dead AFP via Getty World news in pictures 26 August 2020 People scatter rose petals on a statue of Mother Teresa marking her 110th birth anniversary in Ahmedabad AFP via Getty World news in pictures 25 August 2020 An aerial view shows beach-goers standing on salt formations in the Dead Sea near Ein Bokeq, Israel Reuters World news in pictures 24 August 2020 Health workers use a fingertip pulse oximeter and check the body temperature of a fisherwoman inside the Dharavi slum during a door-to-door Covid-19 coronavirus screening in Mumbai AFP via Getty World news in pictures 23 August 2020 People carry an idol of the Hindu god Ganesh, the deity of prosperity, to immerse it off the coast of the Arabian sea during the Ganesh Chaturthi festival in Mumbai, India Reuters World news in pictures 22 August 2020 Firefighters watch as flames from the LNU Lightning Complex fires approach a home in Napa County, California AP World news in pictures 21 August 2020 Members of the Israeli security forces arrest a Palestinian demonstrator during a rally to protest against Israel's plan to annex parts of the occupied West Bank AFP via Getty World news in pictures 20 August 2020 A man pushes his bicycle through a deserted road after prohibitory orders were imposed by district officials for a week to contain the spread of the Covid-19 in Kathmandu AFP via Getty World news in pictures 19 August 2020 A car burns while parked at a residence in Vacaville, California. Dozens of fires are burning out of control throughout Northern California as fire resources are spread thin AFP via Getty World news in pictures 18 August 2020 Students use their mobile phones as flashlights at an anti-government rally at Mahidol University in Nakhon Pathom. Thailand has seen near-daily protests in recent weeks by students demanding the resignation of Prime Minister Prayut Chan-O-Cha AFP via Getty World news in pictures 17 August 2020 Members of the Kayapo tribe block the BR163 highway during a protest outside Novo Progresso in Para state, Brazil. Indigenous protesters blocked a major transamazonian highway to protest against the lack of governmental support during the COVID-19 novel coronavirus pandemic and illegal deforestation in and around their territories AFP via Getty World news in pictures 16 August 2020 Lightning forks over the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge as a storm passes over Oakland AP World news in pictures 15 August 2020 Belarus opposition supporters gather near the Pushkinskaya metro station where Alexander Taraikovsky, a 34-year-old protester died on August 10, during their protest rally in central Minsk AFP via Getty World news in pictures 14 August 2020 AlphaTauri's driver Daniil Kvyat takes part in the second practice session at the Circuit de Catalunya in Montmelo near Barcelona ahead of the Spanish F1 Grand Prix AFP via Getty World news in pictures 13 August 2020 Soldiers of the Brazilian Armed Forces during a disinfection of the Christ The Redeemer statue at the Corcovado mountain prior to the opening of the touristic attraction in Rio AFP via Getty World news in pictures 12 August 2020 Young elephant bulls tussle playfully on World Elephant Day at the Amboseli National Park in Kenya AFP via Getty

"It is an impractical move and will lead to gender discrimination," national president of Air Passengers Association of India Sudhakara Reddy told The Hindu. "The airline should not go ahead with the plan."

Air India has a mixed record with regards to gender equality. On International Womens Day in 2016, the carriers Flight 173 became the longest flight in history staffed only by women.

However, the carrier also drew criticism in 2015 after it announced it was grounding 125 overweight cabin crew members including air hostesses. The company said it was important to maintain a good level of fitness for safety reasons. In 2009 Air India fired nine air hostesses for being "overweight", saying their shape could "impair agility".



And in 2004 the airline generated outrage after saying air hostesses should not have any scars, acne, or any major marks on the face.
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Amazon has sparked condemnation from its Indian customers after it listed flip flops for sale with Mahatma Gandhis face printed on them.

The tech giant listed the Gandhi Flop Flops for $16.99 (14) but later removed the item following criticism.

It came just days after it was forced to apologise for listing Indian flag doormats on its Canadian website.

Mr Gandhi became the figurehead of the Indian independence movement from the British, and remains highly revered across the nation.

'Gandhi flip flops' listed on Amazon (Screenshot)

On Sunday, Indias Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das hit out at the company writing on Twitter: Amazon, better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril.

He later clarified his statement saying: Comment on Amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it.

On Wednesday, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj demanded an immediate apology from Amazon for selling the doormats and threatened to withhold visa approvals and rescind those already approved from Amazon employees until the issue was rectified.

She wrote: Indian High Commission in Canada :This is unacceptable. Please take this up with Amazon at the highest level.

Amazon must tender unconditional apology. They must withdraw all products insulting our national flag immediately.

If this is not done forthwith, we will not grant Indian Visa to any Amazon official. We will also rescind the Visas issued earlier.

Amazon India vice-president Amit Agarwal wrote to Ms Swaraj saying the doormats had been offered by a third-party seller on its Canadian website and there had been no intent to offend.

He said his firm was "committed to respecting Indian laws and customs".

"A third-party seller, not Amazon, had listed these products for sale in Canada... Amazon regrets the same. At no time did we intend or mean to offend Indian sentiments," he said.

In India, desecration of the national flag is punishable with fines and imprisonment.

The Independent has approached Amazon for comment.
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The One China principle is non-negotiable, the countrys foreign ministry has said, adding that it forms the political foundation for relations with the US.

The ministry also urged relevant parties to be aware of the sensitivity of the Taiwan issue, which is central to the One China principle.

The remarks come in response to Donald Trumps recent comments to the Wall Street Journal, in which he said that the US approach to One China was up for negotiation -- a statement which most likely caused anxiety in Beijing.

One China has been acknowledged by the US since 1979, when President Jimmy Carter developed closer ties with Beijing, at the expense of contact with Taiwan. He was the last US president to speak to a Taiwanese leader.

The US has since followed the One China policy in international relations, officially accepting Beijing as the only legitimate Chinese government.

The President-elects brazen rhetoric in regards to Taiwan has troubled the Chinese government, who have claimed the island for its own since 1949  giving rise to the One China principle.

In December 2016, Mr Trump accepted a congratulatory telephone call from Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen.

Soon after, in a further insult to China, he tweeted: The President of Taiwan CALLED ME today to wish me congratulations on winning the Presidency. Thank you!

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

He went on: "Interesting how the US sells Taiwan billions of dollars of military equipment but I should not accept a congratulatory call."

The Chinese government responded that it was seriously concerned by Mr Trumps approach, which they said threatened their sovereignty and territorial integrity.

Throughout his election campaign, Mr Trump was frequently critical of China, accusing the country of engaging in a "trade war" against the US.
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Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte said he has ordered his troops to bomb extremists who flee with their captives in a bid to stop a wave of kidnappings at sea, calling the loss of civilian lives in such an attack "collateral damage."

Duterte has previously stated that he had told his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts their forces can blast away as they pursue militants who abduct sailors in waters where the three countries converge and bring their kidnap victims to the southern Philippines. He said in a speech late Saturday that he had given the same orders to Filipino forces.

He said he instructed the navy and the coast guard that "if there are kidnappers and they're trying to escape, bomb them all."

"They say 'hostages.' Sorry, collateral damage," he said in a speech to businesspeople in Davao, his southern hometown.

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He said such an approach would enable the government to get even with the ransom-seeking militants. "You can't gain mileage for your wrongdoing, I will really have you blasted," he said.

His advice to potential victims? "So, really, don't allow yourselves to be kidnapped."

Duterte's remarks reflect the alarm and desperation of the Philippines, along with Malaysia and Indonesia, in halting a series of ransom kidnappings, primarily by Abu Sayyaf militants and their allies, along a busy waterway for regional trade.

On Saturday, ransom-seeking Abu Sayyaf gunmen freed a South Korean captain and his Filipino crewman who were abducted three months ago from their cargo ship.

The gunmen handed skipper Park Chul-hong and Glenn Alindajao over to Moro National Liberation Front rebels, who turned them over to Philippine officials in southern Jolo town in predominantly Muslim Sulu province.

The Moro rebels, who signed a peace deal with the government in 2986, have helped negotiate the release of several hostages of the smaller but more violent Abu Sayyaf, which is blacklisted by the US as a terrorist organisation, and regularly carries out kidnappings, beheadings and bombings.

Duterte's adviser dealing with insurgents, Jesus Dureza, said he was not aware of any ransom being paid in exchange for the freedom of the sailors. At least 27 hostages, many of them foreign crewmen, remain in the hands of different Abu Sayyaf factions, he said.

There has been persistent speculation, however, that most of the freed hostages have been ransomed off.

Without a known foreign source of funds, Abu Sayyaf has survived mostly on ransom kidnappings, extortion and other acts of banditry.

A confidential Philippines government threat assessment report seen by The Associated Press last year said the militants pocketed at least 353 million pesos ($7.3 million) from ransom kidnappings in the first six months of 2016.

The militants have mostly targeted slow-moving tugboats in the busy sea bordering the southern Philippines, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Associated Press
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Berlins housing secretary has been dismissed by the citys mayor following revelations he was a member of the Stasi prior to the reunification of Germany.

Andrej Holm, 46, had admitted to having received training from the East German secret police while he was still a teenager, but the newspaper Der Tagesspiegel revealed he concealed the extent of his involvement.

The affair has aroused strong feelings in Berlin, not only due to the citys fractured past but also because of its current housing situation, in which properties are scarce and rents are climbing.

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In a statement regarding the housing minister's dismissal, Berlin Mayor Michael Muller, of the Social Democratic Party (SPD), said: In the past weeks, Andrej Holm had the opportunity to examine himself and his own handling of his biography and to decide whether he can fill a high political office.

"His interviews and statements with respect to this question show me that he is not sufficiently able to undertake such self-reflection...Especially in Berlin, which was the epitome of a divided city, there must be no doubt about the work to overcome the past."

The Mayor asked construction minister Katrin Lompscher to dismiss Mr Holm on Saturday.

Mr Holm, who is associated with the far left Die Linke party  which evolved from the former East German rulers Socialist Unity Party  has worked for years against gentrification and property speculation, including as a professor at Humboldt University. He has also supported the squatting scene in the German capital.

Die Linke nominated him to be an independent housing secretary last year.

Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Show all 7 1 /7 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Trabi at intersection, Berlin 1997 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Same intersection. Under Malboro Country; graffiti: Mao More than ever. Berlin, 1997. Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures By the Berlin Wall on the western side, Winter 1987. Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Workers desk at Project Manual Reconstruction of the Stasi File Authority, Zirndorf, 2000 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Frau Paul, a former Eastern European political prisoner, outside the Hohenschonhausen Prison, Berlin,2006 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Klaus Renft, a musician, in his apartment in Berlin 2000 Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall - In pictures Herr Christian showing Funder the petrol station where he used to spy in disguise.

Mr Holm said years ago that he trained with the Stasi in 1989 and 1990 as communist rule crumbled. But it emerged that he wrongly stated to Humboldt University in 2005 that he had never been a full-time Stasi employee  a statement Holm says he thought at the time was correct.

Joining as a cadet when he was just 14, Mr Holm later trained as an officer and took on a full time role when he was 19-years-old.

The Stasi used a network of agents and informers to collect details on East German citizens to quash dissent. It disintegrated when East Germany collapsed.

As scrutiny of Mr Holm's past intensified last year, it generated a wave of public support for him.

At least 350 academics and housing campaigners released an open letter decrying Mr Holms treatment by some politicians and media outlets.

According to Deutsche Welle, they said: "As researchers, it is intolerable to see the way one of our colleagues is being treated. A treatment that is clearly trying to exploit a break in Andrej Holm's biography to prevent a political change."

Local housing campaign group Berliner Rents Referendum also wrote: This is not about the person 'Holm'. This is much more about the future of Berlin and which interests the government follows.

A socially sustainable city development and provision of living space is, from our perspective, fundamental to the future of Berlin. The property business, and the city, value profiteers want to see Andrej Holm fail."
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Deep-lying tensions between Kosovo and Serbia have erupted in a furious row after a Serbian train, emblazoned with patriotic graffiti, was blocked from crossing the border.

Serbia accused its neighbour, which gained independence after a bloody war in 2008, of plotting to blow up the train track in a bid to stop the route and of wanting to "provoke a full-scale conflict".

The train was the first of a new service from the Serbian capital Belgrade to the town of Mitrovica in Kosovo, where many ethnic Serbians live. Kosovo has said the route is a breach of its sovereignty and claimed turning back the train was an appropriate action.

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In a move that was itself condemned by Kosovo as an act of "provocation", the train was decorated in Serbian flags and messages reading Kosovo is Serbia in 20 world languages. Images painted on the carriages depicted Serbian Orthodox religious icons from monasteries in Kosovo, and staff were dressed in Serbias national colours.

Serbia said it was merely a mobile exhibition presenting our cultural heritage.

The two states have been embroiled in ongoing tensions since Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008 after a violent struggle. Neither Serbia nor Russia recognises Kosovan independence. Nato troops control Kosovos border.

Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said he had contacted the US and the EU to express his country's concerns about the train.

"I believe that turning back the train was the appropriate action and its entry into the independent and sovereign Republic of Kosovo would not be allowed," he said.

The deal between Serbia and Kosovo that changed history... or did it? Show all 3 1 /3 The deal between Serbia and Kosovo that changed history... or did it? The deal between Serbia and Kosovo that changed history... or did it? pg-38-kosovo-1-getty.jpg Getty Images The deal between Serbia and Kosovo that changed history... or did it? pg-38-kosovo-3-ap.jpg The deal between Serbia and Kosovo that changed history... or did it? pg-38-kosovo-2.jpg

Edita Tahiri, the Kosovan government minister responsible for dialogue with Serbia, called on the international community to act to stop the "illegal Serbian train".

She said: "Serbia has a dangerous plan that should worry us all  both Kosovo and international partners. This is a provocation towards Kosovo, which shows that Serbia has openly shown its aggressive policy, which endangers the sovereignty and territorial integrity and national security" of Kosovo.

However, Aleksandar Vucic, the Serbian Prime Minister, condemned the decision to block the train. He said he had ordered it to stop in the Serbian town of Raska, near the border, after allegedly hearing of Kovovan plans to arrest the driver and passengers.

Mr Vucic also claimed ethnic Albanians in Kosovo were planning to blow up the track. Kosovan police said they had checked the railway and found no explosives.

"This was an ambition to provoke a conflict, to start a wider conflict in this territory that we consider as ours," Mr Vucic said.

"It was my decision to stop the train in Raska to preserve the freedom and lives of our people, to prevent a wider conflict and show that we want peace."

We sent a train, not a tank, he added.

Serbian president Tomislav Nikolic said his country would defend every inch of its territory and accused Kosovan Albanians of provoking war.

Yesterday we were on the verge of clashes, he added.
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Pupils at a Swedish school returned from their Christmas break to find their classes had been segregated so that boys and girls studied separately.

It is part of a six-week trial at Adolfsberg School in the city of Orebro that teachers say will allow them to strengthen knowledge development among less confident students.

But students were largely opposed to the change, The Local reported.

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One, Beata Ejdeholt, said: If I had wanted to go to a girls school, I would have done it, but thats impossible anyway. They closed in 1974.

People are very unhappy and upset. We have questioned it and students have written about it on Instagram. We have raised it several times but they just say that some girls think it is difficult to give presentations in front of some guys.

Head teacher Anneli Widestrand said: I think it's a good way to break the pattern, to reach students.

The temporary move was designed to test new ways to meet students on an individual basis, she said. She believes some girls do not speak up in class when surrounded by boys.

Parents were informed by letter about the change, which is in place for all subjects except for science.
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Frances foreign minister said on Sunday a proposal by US President-elect Donald Trump to move the American embassy to Jerusalem would be a provocation with serious consequences.

One cannot have such a clear-cut, unilateral position. You have to create the conditions for peace, Jean-Marc Ayrault told France 3 television, as the Paris conference to kick-start an agreement for a two-state solution between the Israelis and Palestinians drew to a close.

Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are in the French capital for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as futile. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented.

But just five days before inauguration day, the conference provided a platform for the international community to send a strong signal to the incoming American president.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years. It would all but enshrine Jerusalem as Israels capital despite international objections.

Mr Ayrault said the move would have serious consequences on the ground.

Of course [its a provocation]. I think he would not be able to do it. Paris has said the meeting will not impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations can resolve the conflict.

A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it. The communique asks the protagonists to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations.

Diplomats said the communique could be toughened up with an allusion to Mr Trumps plans for Jerusalem and whether to have a follow-up to the French initiative intensely debated.

This conference is among the last twitches of the world of yesterday, Mr Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday. Tomorrow will look different and that tomorrow is very close.

Relations between the US and Israel have soured during President Barack Obamas administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Mr Obamas secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement programme threatened Middle East peace and the two-state solution.

Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had told Mr Trump that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the US of its role as honest broker  and could lead to the Palestinians going back on agreeing to recognise Israel.

Home to Europes largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.

But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the EU, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely.

Arab states also have concerns about how Mr Trumps relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line.

Reuters
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A passenger plane destined for Germany from Oman has performed an emergency landing in Kuwait after a bomb scare.

All 299 passengers on board the Eurowings flights were evacuated but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane was heading to Cologne from Salalah when the captain requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City, the state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said.

Mansour al-Hashemi, a spokesman for Kuwait's civil aviation authority, said: "Initial investigations confirmed the plane was explosives-free."

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in a statement.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of Lufthansa, and Tal Muscal, a spokesman for the German airline, confirmed no explosives were found on the plane.

"I do know there is nothing on board," he said.

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

Eurowings said the plane was being flown by SunExpress on their behalf and the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The model of the plane is thought to be an Airbus A330-203 and was scheduled to arrive in Cologne at 9.35am GMT on Sunday.

Agencies contributed to this report.
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Russia plans to improve and expand its naval and air bases in Syria, the Interfax news agency reported on Sunday, citing an unnamed source, as Moscow cements its presence in the Middle Eastern country, its only overseas military deployment.

The source told Interfax that Russia will start repairing a second runway at Hmeimin air base near Latakia, while the Tartus naval base will be upgraded in order to handle bigger ships such as cruisers.

President Vladimir Putin has announced a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, where they have been helping forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. But Moscow wants to retain a permanent presence both in Hmeimin and Tartus.

The source also told Interfax that Russia will still deploy S-300 surface-to-air defence systems and Bastion coastal missile launchers in Tartus.

Recommended Russia sends 12 more warplanes to Syria despite announcing withdrawal

Violence continued in the water-rich Wadi Barada valley on Sunday despite a fragile ceasefire, with opposition activists saying government shelling struck a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus.

The UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said shelling in Deir Qanoun village killed at least seven and injured more than 20, with some in a serious condition. The activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Center put the toll at 12.

Fighting has raged in the valley that provides the Syrian capital with most of its water supply, restricting the flow since 22 December, despite talks to stem the violence.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has fighters on the side of the Syrian government, said pro-government troops seized a hill overlooking the water source in the valley.

Reuters, Associated Press
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At the tip of the Arabian Peninsula, Yemens disastrous war has been raging for nearly two years. Somewhat overshadowed by the devastating crisis in Syria, it is nonetheless a major calamity: according to the UN, more than 10,000 people have lost their lives, while more than 20 million (of a total population of some 27 million) are in need of humanitarian assistance. More than 3 million people are internally displaced, while hundreds of thousands have fled the country altogether. There are reports of looming famine as the conflict destroys food production in the country.

This war has its roots in the popular uprising of 2011. That rebellion unseated the countrys long-time President, Ali Abdullah Saleh, whose General Peoples Congress (GPC) has dominated the countrys political life since Yemeni unification in 1990. But what really triggered the conflict that began in in 2015 was the years of failed transitional negotiations that followed Salehs ousting.

Recommended Starvation in Yemen so bad people are eating from rubbish dumps

The protest movement spread quickly across the country, its youth protesters soon joined by established opposition parties, as well as southern Yemeni separatists and the Houthi movement.

The Houthi movement emerged in the early 2000s; in brief, its a Zaydi Shia revivalist movement that seeks to redress the marginalisation of Yemens significant Zaydi minority, whose opposition to the Saleh regime erupted in outright violent conflict on six separate occasions between 2004 and 2010.

When defections from the military after the 2011 uprising threatened to trigger a civil war, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), with the support of the UN and assorted Western states, presented an initiative under the terms of which Saleh handed over power to his deputy, Abd-Rabbu Mansour Hadi, while his GPC entered into a power-sharing arrangement with an alliance of opposition parties.

Theresa May discussed the Yemeni conflict during an annual meeting of Gulf leaders in Bahrain last month (Getty)

The GCC initiative provided for a National Dialogue Conference which purported to address a wide range of challenges facing the country by bringing together representatives of all political orientations as well as regional actors and civil society. But the process was flawed from the beginning, and it proved impossible to secure an agreement about what a future federal Yemen would look like.

During the transitional period, the Houthi movement secured its stronghold in the Saada province of north-western Yemen and began to expand its territorial control to the south. It did this with the active support of Saleh, its erstwhile enemy, and elements from his old regime, who felt that they too had lost out in the new political dispensation.

The fallout of a bombing in the capital in September (Getty)

And as the economic and political situation in Yemen continued to decline  more people were killed in the transitional period than during the 2011 uprising  the Houthis opposition to what was increasingly seen as a corrupt and illegitimate regime gained broader support.

In January 2014, the Hadi government announced a plan to cut government fuel subsidies in order to secure outside support from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund. This increased the price of fuel by up to 90 per cent, and naturally met with widespread popular outrage.

The Houthis took advantage of this ill-feeling to enter the countrys capital, Sanaa, and secured the agreement of the main political parties on a new set of measures that might have put the transitional process back on track: the formation of a new, inclusive government, the withdrawal of Houthi fighters from territories they had seized, and a review of Yemens state structure.

But neither the government nor the Houthis ultimately honoured their commitments. Instead, the Houthis set up a shadow government, ostensibly to oversee ministries and fight corruption. And when Hadi tried to push through a federalism scheme to which they were opposed, and which clearly violated earlier agreements, they arrested a presidential adviser and surrounded the presidential palace. After months of pressure, Hadi and his government resigned in January 2015.

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. 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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. 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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. 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In a further provocation, just weeks later, the Houthis appointed a revolutionary council by constitutional announcement and marched south towards the northern port city of Aden, to which Hadi had fled before retracting his resignation and re-establishing his government. Faced with the Houthis advance, Hadi ultimately fled into exile.

This is when the conflict internationalised. Saudi Arabia, with the support of nine other states, launched a massive air offensive with the stated objective of restoring the Hadi government and reversing the Houthi advance.

Yemenis burying family members in Bajil, the day after a reported air strike by the Saudi-led coalition in October (Getty)

Since then, all attempts to end the conflict have ended in failure.

Talks in Kuwait between the opposing sides collapsed in August 2016. The sticking point was a UN-sponsored deal that proposed a political dialogue between the warring factions once the Houthi rebels withdrew from Sanaa and handed over their heavy weapons to a military committee, which would be formed by Hadi. The deal broadly matched the Hadi governments position, but the Houthis rejected it, insisting on a new unity government that would effectively end Hadis tenure.

Other efforts similarly came up short. On 16 October, the United Nations Special Envoy to Yemen, Ould Cheikh Ahmed, announced a 72-hour ceasefire in the conflict, which by then had been raging for 19 months, primarily to let in humanitarian aid. But any hopes that it would last were quickly dashed; the fighting resumed as soon as the three-day period had elapsed. A 48-hour ceasefire in November 2016 met a similar fate.

As things stand, no political solution seems forthcoming. And even if one does eventually emerge, Yemen now faces greater challenges than ever. The conflict has brought together a set of unstable alliances on both sides. The Houthis are allied with remnants of the Saleh regime, while the anti-Houthi alliance comprises Sunni Islamists, including al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula and Isis, a diverse mix of southern separatists, and the remnants of the internationally recognised government.

This is a highly complex war, and understanding it isnt easy. As a result, its become part of a regional narrative of sectarian conflict, with the Zaydi Shias seen as Iranian proxies in conflict with Saudi-backed Sunnis. However simplistic and misleading that narrative is, it has become entrenched  and that makes the conflict even harder to resolve.

For now, the violence seems set to continue. All the while, the country faces a humanitarian crisis of extraordinary proportions that no political settlement can easily address.

Vincent Durac is a lecturer at the School of Politics and International Relations, University College Dublin. This article first appeared on The Conversation (theconversation.com)
The Fine Gael deputy leader has said he holds up his hands after an ethics watchdog reported him to gardai over a political donation.

Dr James Reilly, a former health and children's minister and now senator, failed to retain his seat in Dublin Fingal in last year's general election.

The Standards in Public Office (Sipo) said he was among 66 candidates reported over possible breaches of ethics rules, including failures to return donation statements or certificates, statutory declarations, statements from a financial institution or expenses statements.

The ethics report said Dr Reilly received 1,000 euro in a single cash donation for the election and that he failed to prove that he had returned the excess to the donor, a farmer and personal friend of the GP.

As of December 12 last year, Sipo said it was still awaiting confirmation the money had been returned.

Dr Reilly said he did not ask the donor for a receipt at the time. He returned 800 euro of the money and claimed that if the donation had been in a cheque then he would not have run into the problem.

"Basically I put my hands up," he told RTE's Today with Sean O'Rourke.

"I forgot to give them a receipt."

Dr Reilly said he was unaware at the time about the rules on limits and documentation relating to cash donations.

He said the failure to provide some form of receipt from his neighbour was an oversight as he was busy selling his mansion in Moneygall, Co Offaly and new staff were hired in his GP practice.

"He (the donor) certainly found it amusing that he was getting money back from me," Dr Reilly said.

Unsuccessful election candidates have 56 days to file a donations' statement, which includes details of all monies received of more than 600 euro .

Fine Gael was the biggest election spender, running up a bill of 2.8 million euro, with Fianna Fail next on 1.7m euro. Labour spent just over 1m euro and Sinn Fein 650,000 euro.

Sipo said Labour spent the most on advertising, at just over 212,000 euro while Fianna Fail spent most putting up posters with a bill of just over 145,000 euro.

The Pro-Life Campaign was also listed having spent more than 40,000 euro during the election campaign.

Elsewhere, 24 candidates who failed to get elected to the Seanad in April have also been reported for failing to supply full information on donations.
Police are investigating after a man, who is critical in hospital, was found at James Everett Park, Bray

Two men have been left fighting for their lives after separate assaults.

In one incident a man in his late 20s was severely beaten and suffered head injuries in an attack in Bray, Co Wicklow.

Gardai said the injured man was found at James Everett Park in the town at about 1.45am.

He was treated at the scene before being taken to St Vincent's Hospital and then to Beaumont Hospital where his condition was described as critical.

Gardai said t he scene has been preserved for technical examination.

A man, also in his 20s, was arrested on Sunday over the attack and was being questioned at Bray Garda station under section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act.

Officers appealed for witnesses and anyone with information to come forward, particularly those who were in Bray town centre and the Little Bray, Fassaroe and James Everett Park areas between 1am and 2am.

In another incident, a man in his 20s was also left fighting for his life after a suspected stabbing in Birr, Co Offaly.

Gardai said the young man suffered a number of wounds in the attack on McAuley Drive in the town shortly after 1am.

The injured man was treated in the Midland Regional Hospital in Tullamore where his condition was also described as critical.

A man in his 20s was arrested close to the scene and was being held at Birr Garda station under section four of the Criminal Justice Act, gardai said.
Goretti Brady, managing director of the country's largest pharmacy chain Lloyds, is to leave the group in the coming weeks.

It is understood that Brady recently informed colleagues of her plans to leave the company in March.

She has been at the chain for over 16 years and held the top job for almost four years, driving the chain's aggressive expansion plan.

Brady leaves as a time of immense change at the company, which is now owned by US pharmacy giant McKesson. In September 2015, McKesson agreed to pay 408m to acquire the Irish pharmaceutical distribution business UDG Healthcare.

The company is in the process of integrating the two firms and has ambitious plans to roll out new services in the coming years.

In 2015, Lloyds was hit by a controversy over the level of dispensing fees being claimed by the pharmacy chain. Last year, Lloyds settled with the HSE.

Brady, a qualified pharmacist from Castlerea, Co Roscommon, previously worked as director of marketing and sales for the chain, which was formerly known as Unicare and briefly as Doc Morris before being rebranded as Lloyds.

The group has over 90 stores and Brady had ambitions to expand it to over 150 shops. She ran the rule over dozens of potential acquisitions.

At one point the company was in talks to takeover Sam McCauleys, an Irish-owned chain with 30 stores. However the deal did not proceed. She also oversaw a period of significant investment in the chain.
Retailers in Dundrum Town Centre, the country's premier shopping centre, have clashed with its new owners Hammerson over alleged poor trading over Christmas.

At a fraught meeting between tenant representatives and management last week a number of retailers claimed that trade and footfall had been below expectations.

Many are blaming an increase in parking charges introduced last August after it was acquired by the UK fund. As a result, shorter visits for food shopping and prescriptions collections, for example, have fallen, it is claimed.

Read More

Sources told the Sunday Independent that anchor tenant Marks and Spencer was among those who had voiced dissatisfaction with Dundrum's Christmas performance. The retail giant said it would not comment on private meetings. Neither Hammerson, which owns the centre in a joint venture with Allianz, or Dundrum Town Centre would comment.

This dispute comes against a background of rent increases. Dundrum commands the country's third-highest rents after Grafton Street and Henry Street and some retailers said that they may seek rent decreases if they do not see a pick-up in their business.

Read More

Some 76pc of leases at the centre are subject to upward-only rent reviews. When the Hammerson deal was announced in July the fund said 16 rent reviews had completed with another 56 to be finalised within 12 to 18 months.

Retail Excellence Ireland chief executive David Fitzsimons said there were growing concerns among retailers over their relationship with the new owners of several centres - the majority of which are property funds.
Hibernia Reit chief executive Kevin Nowlan's former role as the Nama portfolio manager tasked with managing the agency's relations with Sean Dunne is set to come under the spotlight as part of the developer's US bankruptcy proceedings.

The events leading up to the establishment of Hibernia Reit could also come in for detailed scrutiny following a decision by Dunne's wife, Gayle Killilea, to notify the courts in Connecticut of her intention to ask that Frank Kenny be subpoenaed to provide testimony in her husband's case.

Kenny is a senior advisor to Hibernia Reit which, since its 2013 flotation on the Dublin and London stock exchanges, has become one of the country's most significant property players.

Key to the company's successful strategy has been its investment in and development of a string of prime properties in Dublin's CBD (Central Business District), an area where Dunne and other major developers had concentrated their activities prior to the Crash and the transfer of their companies' multimillion euro loans into Nama.

In a formal 'Notice of Issuance' filed in the US bankruptcy court in Connecticut last Thursday, Dunne's wife stated her intention to request that Kenny testify at a deposition in Dunne's bankruptcy, and to provide certain documents to her.

Specifically, lawyers acting for Killilea have sought all documents, communications and correspondence that mention an email Kenny sent to Hibernia Reit ceo Kevin Nowlan on July 17, 2011, at a time when Nowlan was still working as a portfolio manager for Nama and handling the affairs of her husband.

In that email - a copy of which is appended to the papers submitted to the court - Kenny told Nowlan that: "I hear that our friend SD [Sean Dunne] is bidding for a [$]12m site on Long Island Sound in Rye, NY, to build two or three houses. This would be a third project - got to be running a $20/30m residential business at this point. Tough on those left unpaid in Dublin!!"

While it remains unclear what response, if any, Nowlan gave to Kenny's email, Nama moved against Dunne two days later on the morning of Tuesday, July 19, 2011. In a series of letters delivered by hand and by fax just before 11am that day, the agency demanded the repayment of loans amounting to 296.7m by 5pm on July 21 - just 53 hours later.

Elsewhere in her submission to the US bankruptcy court, Killilea has sought "all documents, communications and correspondence that concern, mention, were sent to, or were received from: Sean Dunne, Nama, Hibernia Reit or Kevin Nowlan. The former journalist turned property developer has also sought the delivery of copies of any documents, communications or correspondence that might exist relating to Sean Dunne's former commercial property assets including: Riverside IV; a prime site at City Quay; Hume House and AIB bank headquarters in Ballsbridge; 72-80 North Wall Quay; 76 Sir John Rogerson's Quay, and the former Jury's and Berkeley Court hotel lands in Ballsbridge.

Killilea has also looked for the production of copies of any correspondence or communications relating to Sean Dunne's former assets between Nama, Hibernia Reit or Kevin Nowlan with a number of parties. Notably, those parties include US private equity giants Cerberus, Blackstone and Oak Tree Capital. All three companies acquired a significant number of prime properties in Dublin's central business district - where Dunne's portfolio was largely concentrated - from Nama and other financial institutions at knockdown prices in the depths of the recession.

While it remains to be seen if Frank Kenny, a native of Dublin and a contemporary of Sean Dunne's as a student at Bolton Street DIT, will seek to have Killilea's subpoena quashed or modified by the court, she is within her rights, to call for him to testify and produce documents. Under US federal and state rules governing bankruptcy proceedings, an individual may be ordered by subpoena to attend a trial, hearing or deposition if it takes place within 100 miles of where they live, work or regularly conduct their business. The same condition applies in relation to demands for the production of documents or records.

In the case of Frank Kenny, his New York home is located less than 10 miles from the offices of Killilea's lawyers in Stamford Connecticut, where the proposed deposition would take place. A spokesman for Hibernia Reit declined to comment on the matter when contacted by the Sunday Independent.

Apart from Gayle Killilea and Sean Dunne's efforts to pursue Hibernia Reit, the company's activities have come in for scrutiny by Independent TD Mick Wallace. Last October, he used Dail privilege to highlight representations made over the course of two years by WK Nowlan, the company founded by Hibernia CEO Kevin Nowlan's father, Bill, to the Department of Finance in relation to the introduction of Reits in Ireland.

Wallace said: "The Department of Finance eventually ceded to this lobbying in 2013 by establishing the Reits model." The Wexford politician also highlighted an interview Kevin Nowlan gave in 2015 to economist David McWilliams for the RTE documentary, Ireland's Great Wealth Divide.

"He [Kevin Nowlan] said Ireland became an extraordinary place for a moment because virtually everything was for sale. He also said a lot of property for sale, by receiver or whatever, ends up in the Irish Times and Irish Independent, but they know enough people in Dublin to be able to go buy properties in Dublin without having to go to auction or onto the market. He stated they had done 18 deals, 16 of which were done off-market. These are the type of guys who now control much of the property market in Dublin, and it raises concerns about how we do big business in Ireland," said Wallace.
Outgoing Tullow Oil chief executive Aidan Heavey will look to take on new business interests in Africa as he moves on from the company after three "horrendous years" of turmoil for the oil sector.

Heavey told the Sunday Independent he would not join the board of any other companies, nor would he work for a company that competed with Tullow.

"I'm going to do some charity stuff, and I will do some business infrastructure investment projects in Africa," he said.

"Over the years I've helped some of the countries to bring in investment, I've helped bring in finance in countries, so I think I'll probably get more involved in that.

"The only company I'll be a director of is Tullow. But I will do other businesses... I'll take a bit of time but Africa is where I know best. I will never do anything that will compete with Tullow."
Tullow's outgoing boss Aidan Heavey has seen a lot of his paper wealth wiped out over the last few years. Five years ago a share in Tullow Oil was worth more than 15 (17) Today it's worth just over 3 (3.42).

But the Roscommon man thinks the company is on the up again. As the oil price has risen, so too have Tullow's shares -a year ago they were as low as 1.18. Its shares are "highly geared" to the oil price, analysts at Morgan Stanley say.

It has also implemented a restructuring programme including asset sales and big cuts in capital expenditure, hoping to use income from its massive TEN project off the coast of Ghana, which has recently started producing oil, to pay down its large debt pile. In 2015, Tullow had to amend a banking covenant to fend off the risk of a breach.

Having built the business from nothing, Heavey deserves enormous credit. It's perhaps unfortunate that his departure comes after such a precipitous share price decline - he had plans to retire much earlier but decided to stay on when the business ran into difficulty.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent Heavey said it was an "odd" feeling to announce his departure as boss. "I suppose I've spent half my life as CEO of Tullow, so it is strange. But that's life and you have to move on," he said.

"The last three years in the oil industry were horrendous. They were probably the worst I've ever seen with the oil price collapse and it was such a dramatic change to the oil and gas industry.

"I'd plans years ago to retire, but the whole industry had changed so it was important to make sure that we got the company in great shape - and we did that over the last two-and-a-half years. So once the programmes we'd set in place were finished ... it was a great platform for Paul to move in and move forward."

Paul is Paul McDade - Tullow's chief operating officer for over a decade - who is replacing Heavey in the top job. The announcement comes not long after the company announced chief financial officer Ian Springett, who has been in his role for almost a decade, was taking an extended leave of absence for medical treatment. It's a lot of change in a short space of time for a company whose top table has been very stable for a very long time.

McDade told Bloomberg during the week that investors shouldn't expect any "dramatic changes" when he ascends to the throne in April. "The hard work we've done over the last couple of years has put the company in such a good position, given the external environment," McDade added.

But he faces plenty of challenges. The company has cut its guidance for oil production from TEN this year. It's also had trouble at another oil-producing project there (Jubilee) and is in the middle of remediation works. A refinance of debt will take place, and there could be further asset sales.

"The change of management has added a degree of instability and probably comes later than investors would have liked - 2017 has many hurdles," says Darren McKinley, senior equity analyst at Merrion Capital.

Those hurdles aren't really Heavey's problem now. He's staying on as ceo until Tullow's AGM in April. After that he'll become chairman - not ideal from a corporate governance perspective, Heavey admits, but necessary, in his opinion, to ensure a smooth handover in Africa.

"We're very much a relationship business so we have a lot of relationships all over Africa with various presidents and business people and so it's quite difficult to say 'this is the new ceo and he's going to take it over'.

"The handover is quite a long process in Africa. People have to get to know somebody and they have to get used to them as the ceo and the go-to person, and that does take time. I know it goes against corporate governance but when you have a relationship business, and a business where it's all about contacts, especially in Africa, it does take time."

He feels the company is in good shape. "We sorted out all the issues in the business. We've streamlined it, so Paul's in a growth period. His challenge is to deliver that growth. The whole thing about me staying on as chairman for the two years is to help him with the relationships and smooth that over.

"But he's very much his own man. He'll do his own thing, and that's why he was picked."

Heavey began his working life as an accountant at Robert J Kidney, before moving to Aer Lingus. Then he was headhunted by a company called Tullow Engineering, which had an oil distribution arm.

"Back in the 80s, oil was really top of the pops, it was like the dotcom business in 2000. The Celtic Sea had a lot of companies starting off: Atlantic Resources, Conroy Resources, Eglinton Oil & Gas. Everybody at that time was looking at the industry. So it wasn't unusual for people to look at it, but what was unusual [about Tullow] was that in discussions with some banking friends we were talking about Africa.

"There were a lot of oil and gas fields left behind by major companies in Africa, and they were too small for them to develop and so that's really where Tullow came out of. It was just the era that I was in, and it was fascinating."

At 63, Heavey feels he's too young to depart the scene altogether. He wants to get involved in other projects in Africa - the place he says he knows best. Don't expect to see him appearing on the board of another Irish plc.

"The only company I'll be a director of is Tullow. But I will do other businesses, I'm too young not to. I'll take a bit of time but Africa is where I know best. I will never do anything that will compete with Tullow, because I still have major involvement.

"I'm going to do some charity stuff, and I will do some business infrastructure investment projects in Africa. Over the years I've helped some of the countries to bring in investment, I've helped bring in finance in countries, so I think I'll probably get more involved in that.

"I've been wandering around Africa for over 30 years, I've been in every country on the continent. The Irish are very well known and the Irish missionary services have been very well known but I also think the Irish approach to life is very similar to Africans. We get on very well. We communicate well. We're quite touchy-feely, so they relate to us.

"There's a very good link between Ireland and the continent and I've always said in the past that Ireland hasn't used those relationships as much as it should."

In two years' time (at most) Heavey will leave Tullow's board altogether. He feels proud of the contribution that it has made to the African continent. The best moment, he says, was when the Jubilee project turned Ghana into an oil-producer for the first time. "When you think of where Tullow started, a tiny little company in Ireland, and suddenly we had brought this giant field in Ghana, and Ghana had become an oil producer for the first time - and a major oil producer.

"The celebrations in that country - it was just mind-boggling. When you looked at that and all the people that were employed in Africa by Tullow, all the scholarships and all the training programmes that we had put through.

"You could fly on a helicopter from the east coast of Africa all the way to the west and stop off in Tullow sites in Kenya, Uganda, DRC, and Gabon - at one stage we had 15,000 people working for us in Northern Kenya."

As he looks forward to life after Tullow, he has few regrets.

"We've made loads of mistakes. That's life. Life is about making mistakes and how you react to them. I don't think there's any really big mistake. We made bad decisions over the last 30 years but you just shake yourself off and you get on with it. I don't really think about it. Life is about making mistakes and learning from them."

His advice for his successor McDade?

"My view on life is, if you have issues, you have problems, just sit down, have a cup of tea, think about it, and put a team in place. That's what Tullow's always done. We've never looked on challenges other than 'this is something to be solved and the best way to solve it is to sit down, have a cup of tea'."

"Never make a decision without thinking about it; never make a decision when you're hotheaded."

That goes for retirement decisions as well.
Sarah Walsh, who came up with the idea for her Baba Box when she returned to Dublin to give birth to her son Ted after 10 years in London Picture: Mark Condren

Baba Box is the brainchild of marketing maestro turned mumtrepreneur Sarah Walsh, who returned to Ireland in 2015, after a decade working in London.

Sarah painstakingly researches, reviews, picks and packs each individual product used in a variety of Baba Box subscription boxes, which can be bought as one-off gift purchases or in three or six-monthly subscriptions.

"I had been in London working as a marketing consultant and I moved back with my husband to Dublin in 2015 to start a family," Sarah said. "The idea came when I was on maternity leave, really from late 2015. I knew that at the time I didn't really want to go back into consulting; I wanted something more flexible so I could spend more time with my son and I always had the idea in the back of my mind that I would like to start something myself."

Sarah's light bulb moment came when she received a monthly coffee subscription as a gift from a friend.

"I am a big coffee nerd, so it was a really great gift; I got a different bag of coffee beans delivered to me each month and it was quite nice getting happy post like that rather than the usual bills and stuff," Sarah said.

"It can be quite lonely when you are home by yourself with a newborn, so I quite enjoyed getting these packages and trying out the new beans each month. That is when I started to think about other things new mums would like and how wonderful it would be to get other things delivered in the post as little treats."

Sarah began to research the area and found little available that was truly catering for this niche, but steady market.

"I looked at what was available and it became clear that there was nothing really out there for me as a new mother," Sarah said. "Subscription boxes are massive in the US and in the UK, but it is still quite a new phenomenon in Ireland. It is quite a new idea and I saw the opportunity in that this is something quite different too and particularly for the new mum market."

The more Sarah researched, the more she became convinced that she could offer something different, something other than the standard 'blue for boys, pink for girls and yellow for neutral' products she saw on sale.

"I always wanted to find stuff that was gender neutral and long before my son Ted arrived I have always been into shopping in independent businesses, where you come across products that you wouldn't necessarily come across elsewhere," Sarah said.

"So when I began planning Baba Box I was keen to tie my interest in shopping small into the business and offer people those unique products because there was a real gap in the market there for that; gift boxes that weren't blue and yellows and pinks and were filled with independent Irish and European brands and could also be gender neutral and contain stuff you could pass on to younger siblings."

In May 2016, when Ted was six months old Baba Box became more than just an idea, it began to form as a viable business; a number of independent brands got on board and in September the subscription service was launched into the market.

"I have had to work very hard to get it all together," Sarah said. "A lot has happened very fast, but newborns sleep a lot in the early days, so that gave me that time at the beginning and he naps quite well during the day now so I have three hours during the day to work with and the evenings when my husband comes home from work and I have the weekends."

Baba Box subscriptions are available as three month and six month packages starting from 36 plus post and packaging and feature a unique mixture of luxury, hand-picked items from organic cotton bodysuits and bibs to handmade burp cloths amongst many other products.

It supports home-grown Irish and independent European brands including Rain + Conker, Moobles & Toobles and Studio NL. Sarah also offers several standalone gift boxes including a newborn gift box and a 'breastfeeding mama' gift box.

"I have quite a few mums who actually buy it for themselves, but usually people will buy for new mums and it helps with that worry of not knowing what to buy them, it is all there and as a new mum I have tried and tested it all," Sarah said.

"Inside each box everything is wrapped in white paper with black and white string, so it feels like a little present inside the box, it is all wrapped and that is a nice feeling."

While motherhood has definitely helped Sarah to gain an in depth understanding of her target audience, her marketing background has also played a pivotal role in establishing the business as a recognised brand.

"It's funny because my customers are not always the final recipients of the boxes as people are often buying them as gifts for others, so that has been an interesting challenge," Sarah said.

"All of those years as a consultant you are giving advice to brands on how to do this and that, and suddenly you are in charge and you can decide and you don't have to wait for seven or eight people to agree with you; it's amazing to be able to do that, to use those skills in a different way and do something I really enjoy."

"So far I have had a brilliant reaction and many of the recipients of the boxes have got in touch over social media to say how much they loved them and used all of the products inside," Sarah added.

"Instagram and Facebook have been hugely important and I have used them in a very visual way; with brands that are more service-orientated it is harder to have that much of a following on the likes of Instagram for example, but when you have something quite visual and beautiful products like I do, which I photograph well and sometimes have cute babies with the cute product, it helps to showcase what I am doing and it works very well on those platforms."

After a promising first few months in business, Sarah hopes to grow steadily over the next few years.

"It has to be organic. I have a soon to be one-year-old now, so it has to grow bit by bit in a sense," Sarah said. "I have been very focused on the Irish and UK markets, but from early next year we will be offering worldwide delivery so that will change the focus of our marketing efforts."

"We have also focused on a lot of Irish and European brands for launch, but I have some brilliant American and Canadian brands lined up for the New Year too," Sarah added. "Again it is all stuff you wouldn't normally come across yourself, but are just lovely products to have and a combination of stuff for mum and baby as well. So there will be some branching out across the pond."

www.bababox.ie
Jay Y. Lee arrives to be questioned as a suspect in bribery case

South Korea's special prosecutor said it will take into account the economic impact of whether to arrest Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee in connection with an influence-peddling investigation involving the president.

The office also delayed by one day, until Monday, its decision on whether to seek the arrest of Lee, the third-generation leader of South Korea's largest conglomerate, or chaebol, citing the gravity of the case.

The special prosecution had said it would make a decision on Lee by Sunday. But spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told reporters on Sunday investigators were deliberating all factors including the potential economic impact of the arrest of Jay Y. Lee

Prosecutors have been investigating whether Samsung provided 30 billion won ($25.46 million) to a business and foundations backed by President Park Geun-hye's friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for the national pension fund's support for a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates.

The Samsung chief denied bribery accusations during a parliamentary hearing in December.

Taking into account the economic impact could prove beneficial to the 48-year-old Lee. The imposition of less severe punishment on erring business leaders to avoid negative economic consequences has precedent in South Korea.

"Law and principle are the most important metric, and after also considering various factors mentioned previously, we will decide by law and principle," the prosecution spokesman Lee said, referring to economic impact, without elaborating.

A Samsung Group spokeswoman declined to comment.

Samsung's Lee was questioned for 22 hours before leaving the special prosecutors' office in Seoul on Friday morning as part of the investigation into a corruption scandal that has led to President Park's impeachment by parliament.

Establishing a money-for-favour exchange between Samsung and Park or her surrogate is critical for the special prosecutor's investigation, analysts say.

COURT DELIBERATING

Park, the daughter of a military ruler, has denied wrongdoing, although she has apologised for exercising poor judgment. Her friend, Choi, who is in detention and facing her own trial, has also denied wrongdoing.

The Constitutional Court is deciding whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment vote.

If Park is forced to leave office, a presidential election would be held in 60 days. Among the expected contenders is former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The chiefs of South Korean chaebol have over the years had prison sentences shortened or forgiven, or received pardons, with the economic impact of imprisonment cited as a factor.

Jay Y. Lee's father Lee Kun-hee, who has been incapacitated since a 2014 heart attack, was handed a three-year suspended jail sentence in 2009 for tax evasion. He was later pardoned.

Samsung has acknowledged making contributions to the two foundations as well as a consulting firm controlled by Choi but has repeatedly denied accusations of lobbying to push through the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries Inc.

The world's biggest maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-screen televisions has delayed its annual executive promotions, which typically take place in early December, amid the scandal.

The special prosecution also said it plans to indict early next week National Pension Service chief Moon Hyung-pyo, who was arrested in December after acknowledging he pressured the fund to approve the merger while he was health minister.
Wal-Mart is overhauling its e-commerce team and elevating executives from its recently acquired Jet.com business, aiming to better challenge Amazon with more selection and lower prices.

The changes are meant to make Wal-Mart more "customer-centric", Jet founder Marc Lore, who is now ceo of Wal-Mart's e-commerce operation, said in a memo obtained by Bloomberg. Wal-Mart bought online retailer Jet in September for about $3.3bn, turning to the startup to bolster its online operation.

"Our strategy is about offering more choice, competitive prices - particularly on food and consumables," Lore said.

The company is streamlining its web team so that it can serve customers whether they shop online, via smartphones or in stores, according to the memo. Wal-Mart is under pressure as Amazon pushes deeper into the grocery business. Large retailers have traditionally used food to draw shoppers into stores, with hopes that they buy other goods with higher-profit margins. But now Amazon may pick off more of those customers. It is even targeting US food-stamp recipients.
One of the most challenging aspects of running any business is understanding how best to promote your company's brand and clearly communicate your message to your target audience. In today's fast-moving world of social and digital media, this has become more complex than ever before.

This week's entrepreneur knows more than most about these challenges because, for over 30 years, Conrad Jones has created and designed marketing and advertisement campaigns for businesses all across the country. His company, Conrad Jones Creative, which he set up in 2008, employs 10 staff and has an annual turnover of 1m.

I caught up with him in his Pembroke Street office in Dublin's city centre. In his 50s, Conrad looks cool and fit - someone who would be as equally at home in tech-trendy Silicon Valley as he is in his native Dublin.

"Much has changed in the industry since I started out," he says. "In the beginning, 80pc of what we designed was for use in the traditional print media, while today that trend has been reversed and now 80pc of what we do is focused on digital and only 20pc on print. Much of our work now includes offering services such as CGI (computer generated imagery), responsive website design, 3D animation, photography, videography, augmented reality and app development," he adds.

A significant number of his clients are from the real estate sector, including leading agency names such as Savills, Knight Frank, Cushman Wakefield, and Colliers as well as many prominent housing and commercial developers including McGarrell Reilly, Gannon Homes, Bridgedale, Castlethorn and the Comer Group.

"We are usually appointed by a developer or agent months in advance of the launch of a new site. We then work with the client to research a name for the development as well as deciding on all the branding, print and digital imagery involved in promoting it - essentially everything the public will see," says Jones. "It's like a first kiss where you only get one chance to make a good impression with the target market or you're not going to get a second date." The company is active in a number of other sectors. These include: hospitality, with clients like Bellinter House, the Temple Bar Hotel, Brambles Restaurants and Bombay Pantry; retail, where they work with Pinergy, Canon, Medipharm, Bold Bunny and Waxperts; the corporate sector, where clients include Brompton Recruitment and Career Compass and the education sector where they count GMIT among their growing customer base.

"Our key focus is on making our clients look good and helping them position, present and promote themselves to their target audience so that they can engage better with them as well as winning and retaining customers," says Jones.

"Central to this is making sure that we provide a high level of service and hand-holding to our clients as well as ensuring that the host of services that need to come together do so within the agreed timeline and budget."

Around the open-plan office, there are a variety of graphic designers, digital advertising specialists, web designers and app developers at work. In the background, classical music plays quietly. "We have a great team and it is their perfect blend of talents and age spread that enables us to create campaigns that seamlessly marry traditional print designs with the latest in digital formats," Jones adds.

Growing up in Ranelagh, Dublin, his father, Karl, worked as property editor for the Irish Times. "Ink and concrete were both in my blood from an early age so it's not surprising that I ended up in a business that included both of these influences," he says. After school he became a motorbike courier with Doherty Advertising Agency and during lunch, could regularly be found in the art room helping out the production team as they worked away with old-style Letraset.

"I realised that it was really the creative side of things that interested me," says Jones. In 1982, he got a job in property management with Gilbert Leon White where he quickly noticed that the quality of the advertisement material and flyers used to promote sales and lettings was poor. "I knew I could design something much better," says Jones.

"Then, in 1985, when my father showed me a press article about a new technology called desktop publishing and how a clever chap, called Steve Jobs, had launched a new machine, called the Apple Macintosh, to make the design process easier, I knew that this was for me. I signed up for a training course and was immediately hooked."

Spurred on by his love of design, he decided to try his hand at designing marketing material for builders and estate agents but the business simply wasn't sustainable due to the recession in the mid-1980s. His time was not wasted however, because he was able to use his experience to set himself up as an outsource design consultant for a number of independent print companies. Later he was offered a role with Nissan Motors managing the advertising and marketing for five of their biggest car dealerships.

By 2008, however, he was again itching to do his own thing and set up Conrad Jones Creative, this time with more experience behind him and a strong design team around him. "While we started out purely as a creative agency, we quickly went one step further and became strategically focused on developing fully integrated marketing strategies that would help our clients achieve their objectives," says Jones. "With the advent of digital services we saw that as a further opportunity to expand our services and become leaders in this space."

In 2014, Jones merged with Byers Marsh, a dedicated digital agency run by Michael Byers and Fiona Marsh. With Michael taking on the role of managing director of the combined entity and Fiona as studio manager, the move served to strengthen their position in the market while freeing up Jones to become creative director.

At this point, Michael drops into the studio to say hello. Having spent over 25 years in the business, he is excited about the future. "We are focused on doubling turnover over the next 30 months through a combination of new business development, acquisitions and breaking into the Northern Ireland and UK markets," he says.

After all this time does he still enjoy what he does? I ask Jones. "It's constantly changing and always challenging but I love it. In particular, I love when we meet a client for the first time and sit down with them and a blank sheet of paper to work up designs and campaigns. There really is nothing more satisfying than helping clients grow their business. That's the reason we exist. Only by helping other businesses become successful can we, ourselves, become successful" he adds.

Overview

Company: Conrad Jones Creative

Business: Marketing and graphic design

Set up: 2008

Founder: Conrad Jones

Turnover: 1m

No. of Employees: 10

Location: Upper Pembroke Street, Dublin 2

Conrad's advice for other businesses

1 Commit time and effort

Like everything else in life, being successful in business requires investing a lot of time and effort in making things happen. When starting a new business, you have to ask yourself one important question: "Am I prepared to commit the amount of time and level of effort required to succeed?"

2 Ensure you have adequate funding in place

Getting a business up and running usually takes longer than most of us ever expect. For that reason, it is important to make sure that you have enough funding available especially to get you through the first six months.

3 Employ people who are better than yourself

Some people always want to be the smartest person in the business. That's a big mistake. Don't be afraid to employ people who are better than you are. That way you can achieve significantly more than your own experience might otherwise allow.

For further information: www.conradjones.com
A Hollywood-style film studio planned for the Dublin docklands would catapult Ireland into a powerhouse of the international movie business, says acclaimed film maker Jim Sheridan.

And the multi-million Euro project would also create a huge number of spin-off jobs, directly and indirectly, linked to film making.

Dublin Bay Studios, an 80m complex proposed for the docklands, aims to attract international productions worth 400m to 500m a year to Ireland.

Among the backers are Alan Moloney, who produced the Oscar-nominated movie Brooklyn, and James Morris, the founder of TV3 and Windmill Lane Pictures.

They will find out later this month whether they've been given the green light for the ambitious project.

Dublin City Council is due to publish a draft of its planning scheme for the strategic development zone (SDZ) for Poolbeg West, where the studios will be based.

Bono has lobbied for the studio plan, while actors Liam Neeson and Cillian Murphy are also on board as strong supporters of the project.

Now, six-time Academy Award nominee Jim Sheridan has added his voice of approval to the venture, saying it is "totally necessary" to bring film production to the next level in Ireland.

Speaking to the Sunday Independent, he said the global nature of the movie business already made this country an attractive location from a financial perspective.

But the establishment of Dublin Bay Studios would help bring big-budget productions and huge financial resources to these shores.

"Movie production is international - and it's cheaper for many of them to do it here.

"Minister Heather Humphreys knows it's necessary. Our existing facilities are full up.

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"She came out with a creative initiative recently which was very good, and I think she could be very helpful if this gets going.

"I'd be very confident in the ability of the two people involved, Alan Moloney and James Morris, to make it a huge success.

"James has been there since TV3 and Windmill Lane days, and Alan, one of the best producers in the world, was behind Brooklyn and many other great movies."

The venture already has the backing of CAA, the largest talent agency in Hollywood.

James Morris says the ambition is to create Ireland's largest full-service film, TV and digital content production studio.

He claims the 20-acre project, which has an initial investment of 110 million, would create 1,800 direct jobs and a further 1,800 indirectly.

It would also provide a "nationwide" benefit, as it would serve as a catalyst for on-location filming throughout Ireland.

"I think we have a really good idea and I think our time is now. I can't think of an industry more likely to create sustainable, inner-city employment. At a local level, we are also confident that it works," Mr Morris said.

"This is the only model that will enable us to compete with - and equal - the top studios in the world, and put us on the map internationally."

With 180,000sq ft of sound stages, it would be the largest full-service studios in Ireland.
Lavish: Johnny Depp goes from one lawsuit to another

Johnny Depp has brought his former business managers to court, alleging they mismanaged his earnings during a lucrative period of his career.

The company has countered, saying the actor's spending is to blame.

Depp's lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court against The Management Group seeks more than $25m, alleging its owners failed to properly pay his taxes, made unauthorised loans and overpaid for security and other services.

Lawyers for The Management Group called Depp's lawsuit a "fabrication" and wrote in a statement that Depp never alleged any wrongdoing. The company says they "did everything possible to protect Depp from his irresponsible and profligate spending".

Depp's lawsuit accuses the company and its owners - attorneys Joel and Robert Mandel - of receiving $28m in payments for their services over the roughly 16 years they managed his finances. The company "actively concealed the true state of Mr Depp's finances while driving him deeper and deeper into financial distress," the lawsuit states.

Depp hired the Mandels in 1999 and their compensation was not subject to a written contract, his lawsuit states. It states they received 5pc of his income on hit films such as Pirates of the Caribbean and other major releases, including Alice in Wonderland and the 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory.

It alleges the company failed to file Depp's tax returns on time, costing him nearly $5.7m in penalties. The lawsuit also alleges the company overpaid for several services - including forgetting to terminate the lease on a home where Depp's mother lived temporarily, and spending $8m on security between 2012 and 2015 alone.

Depp learned of the problems after hiring a new management company in March 2016, the complaint states.

Management Group lawyers say Depp in fact owes The Management Group $4.2m from a $5m loan they provided the actor. "His tactics and lawsuit will fail, and he will be forced to pay back the loan as promised," wrote the lawyers.

The lawsuit came on the same day Depp finalised his divorce from actress Amber Heard. Their divorce judgment calls for the actor to pay his ex-wife $7m in installments - which she has earmarked for two charities - while allowing him to keep numerous properties and cars.

Depp isn't the only blockbuster star to take his former managers to court alleging mismanagement. Nicolas Cage sued his former business manager seeking $20m for alleged mismanagement in 2009 and the manager in a countersuit cited the actor's spending for his financial troubles. The case was resolved before trial.
Tickets for U2's Croke Park concert in July are already exchanging hands for more than 900 each despite not officially going on sale until tomorrow.

A number of U2 tickets became available on official and black market websites last week after diehard fans with access to pre-sale tickets chose to sell them on for a profit.

Sources in the industry said a flurry of activity has seen fans splash out to guarantee their places at the gig.

Fans who subscribed to U2's official website were granted access to a pre-sale ticket portal last Wednesday. An annual subscription costs $50 (47).

Tickets for the Lower Davin Stand and pitch areas of Croke Park have a face value of 76. There is an extra 3.30 charge for agent fees. Seats in other parts of the Cusack and Hogan stands range from 110 to 186. However, many of the tickets currently available on websites such as Seatwave and Viagogo are changing hands at much higher prices.

Seatwave is managed by Ticketmaster, the official ticket selling partner for the gig. It was advertising 650 tickets for sale last night. One pair of tickets for the standing section was being sold at 2,070 this weekend, including additional charges, 13 times above face value.

A spokesman for Ticketmaster said the Seatwave prices are not set by the company but by the person who is selling the tickets on.

"The thing about Seatwave is that it is a safe and secure market so tickets would be genuine. The ticket prices are set by the seller, which in this instance is not Ticketmaster, but that price may not necessarily be secured by the seller.

"Ticketmaster is just facilitating the sale."

Fine Gael TD Noel Rock, who has prepared a bill that would ban ticket touting, criticised the ticket retailer.

"We need this law to be enacted as soon as possible," he said. "Right now, the present situation suits touts, it suits Ticketmaster-owned Seatwave and as they make a commission from both buyer and seller, it suits Ticketmaster as it drives up early demand."
Victoria Beckham has reportedly launched legal action to halt the remaining Spice Girls from singing the group's famous hits.

Melanie Brown, Geri Horner and Emma Bunton were due to reunite later this year to celebrate the girl band's 20th anniversary, but Victoria and Melanie Chisholm have refused to take part.

Calling themselves GEM, the reunited Spice Girls were planning on performing the group's extensive back catalogue of hits, but the fashion designer has allegedly called in her lawyers over their plans.

According to The Sun, Victoria, known as Posh Spice during her pop star days, is refusing to let her former bandmates use any songs on which she has writing credits.

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A source told the newspaper the mother-of-four is resorting to "aggressive legal letters" to stop Mel B, Geri and Emma - a move that has apparently left her former bandmates saddened.

It is an extremely sad way for things to end after all they have been through together. The girls are devastated. It is an extremely sad way for things to end," the source told the publication.

One of the factors that allegedly led to Victoria calling in her lawyers is said to be GEM's leaked track, Song For Her, which left fans divided. The Sun reports she is concerned they were mixing Spice Girls hits with fresh material.

As well as having writing credits on Spice Girls hits, Victoria also co-owns the companies which control the bands legacy and finances.

The hugely successful fashion designer said last year she would prefer it if the reformed Spice Girls trio sang their own material.

"I do think they should sing their own material though, because what we did in the Spice Girls was so special," she told Claudia Winkleman. "If they sang Spice Girls songs I think I might be a bit sad."

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The legal news comes as it was also reported Geri Horner has pulled out of the reunion plans to focus on her family. The 44-year-old announced last October that she was expecting her second child, her first with husband Christian Horner.
A few years ago, Olwen Fouere was in Paris performing a French-language adaptation of novels by Roddy Doyle. She came across an article on a newly published play, the title of which caught her eye: Sodome, ma douce. She later translated the name, and the play, into English: Sodome, my Love.

"It's a wonderful juxtaposition," she says, smiling. The city destroyed in the Book of Genesis, of course, is synonymous with sexual 'crimes against nature'.

"I read the blurb and it described a woman buried in salt for thousands of years. She comes to life and tells her story of the destruction of Sodom, which is completely different from the biblical story. It's about cultural genocide really."

Fouere quickly tracked down a copy, and phoned for the rights the next day.

In 2010, she gave Sodome its world premiere in Dublin, in a co-production between her company, TheEmergencyRoom, and Rough Magic. Its playwright, Laurent Gaude, has stayed in touch ever since.

"On one of my visits to Paris, we were out together and he said 'I loved the way our artistic paths crossed. If you were interested, I would love to write a play for you'. Of course I was interested; it's such an honour for someone to say that to you." That work, Danse, Morob, opened in Project Arts Centre this week.

Fouere's performances are often marked by a strange intensity. Whether as a babbling vessel for the Liffey in her Finnegans Wake-based work riverrun, or stalking someone as Death in a red dress and heels in an adaptation of Jose Saramago's novel Death at Intervals, her grave eyes are likely to make laser-point contact with the audience.

But there's little intimidating about the Fouere sitting across from me, often nodding agreeably, her voice a soft murmur yet crystal clear. Performing since 1976, she's enjoyed mainstream success in bigger houses as well as pushing at the boundaries of theatre with contemporary outfits such as Operating Theatre, which she co-founded with the composer Roger Doyle in 1980.

"It was that moment of recognition," she says, casting back to her first meeting with Doyle. "Oh good, somehow I'm from a neighbouring planet." The company went dormant in the 1980s but had a resurgence in the 2000s, at which time it collaborated with director Selina Cartmell ("There was a feeling that her imagination was vibrating on a level that I wanted to meet.")

When Operating Theatre faded away again, Fouere set up TheEmergencyRoom ("a necessary space"), which has emerged as something of a production hub for adapting maddeningly modernist works of literature. It has presented, with co-producer Galway International Arts Festival, riverrun as well as an adaptation of the minimalist prose piece Lessness by Samuel Beckett.

That makes Gaude the only living writer in the company's ranks. He's certainly well decorated, having won the Prix Goncourt in 2004 - a high award in French literature. "He makes his living as a novelist," Fouere says. "But I think theatre is his big passion."

As an accomplished writer of magical realist plays, he certainly isn't short on devices. His 1997 work Onysos the Furious reimagined the Greek God of wine, Dionysious, as a beggar on a New York City subway platform. In Sodome, my Love, the fall of Sodom was seen not as an act of divine retribution but of exploitation, with shades of a misogynist culture and the HIV epidemic.

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"Legacy is a big thing for Laurent. How the past comes into the present, and perhaps the future, too. But also, the very porous membrane between the living and the dead."

Starting with the idea of a woman who carries her father on her back, Gaude wrote Danse, Morob having sought out echoes of revolutionary action in Ireland, as well as touching on Fouere's own history.

"He wove into that image the legacy of someone who had been a militant of some kind, involved in some kind of political struggle. Laurent became very interested in the no wash protest, the degree of debasement that those men had to go through, who stayed with it to prove their point. He was fascinated that men would go through that with the strength of their belief.

"And, knowing a little about my family background - my father was a military Breton who had been in prison - he mixed that in as well. What is the legacy that these things leave? The children carry that. The grandchildren carry that."

That leaves Fouere set to make her most explicitly political work in some time. She believes the island remains unresolved in accepting aspects of its revolutionary past, such as the 1981 hunger strike. But Gaude seems to have found a wry metaphor for facing the truth: the woman is led by a pack of dogs.

"Obviously, we don't have a pack of dogs, and even if we did, it probably wouldn't be right," says Fouere. Instead, she and co-director Emma Martin (who found wonderful canine shapes in her 2012 dance work Dogs) are making the most of a physically deft cast including Fouere, Judith Roddy and Emmanuel Obeya.

"They're her psychic dogs, those unresolved questions you don't want to deal with. You can't get away from that; they'll keep scratching away."

Danse, Morob is at Project Arts Centre until Saturday, January 28
Almost four in 10 patients who attended emergency departments were sent by their GPs between January and November last year.

Provincial hospitals tended to have the highest rate of GP referrals to their emergency departments, and in some cases 55pc of patients were sent for treatment by family doctors, figures showed.

Of those patients who were referred by their GPs, just under one in four were admitted to hospital.

The data was compiled by the Health Service Executive (HSE), and has been released at a time when emergency departments are struggling to cope with chronic overcrowding caused by an ageing population, bed and staff shortages, and gaps in primary care services - all exacerbated by a seasonal surge in illnesses.

Health Minister Simon Harris blamed the crisis on a "perfect storm" of conditions.

The HSE figures showed that 37pc of patients in emergency departments between January and November were referred by a GP.

A total of 58pc of patients who presented to Letterkenny General Hospital's emergency department in Co Donegal in November were GP-referred, while the figure was 57pc in Mayo General Hospital and University Hospital Kerry emergency departments, and 53pc at University Hospital Limerick.

GP referrals also accounted for more than half the patients in emergency departments in the Midland Regional in Mullingar, Co Westmeath, and Cork University Hospital.

All the hospitals experienced serious problems with overcrowding when the emergency department crisis peaked earlier this month, with a record 612 patients on trollies on January 3. Some of the most chronic problems were in Limerick and Cork.

A total of 23.5pc of patients referred by GPs to emergency departments were admitted between January and November. The age profile of the patients in attendance was predominantly elderly and included 89 patients who were aged 100, 98 patients aged between 101 and 105, three 106-year-olds, one 107-year-old and a 108-year-old.

The HSE cautioned that the figures were provisional.

GPs have said there is no correlation between the trolley crisis and doctors referring patients to emergency departments. GPs' groups said the overcrowding is exacerbated by the shortage of family doctors across the country, a surge in demand caused by the free GP service for children under six, and glaring gaps in the primary care facilities that are intended to help keep patients out of hospitals. Dr Liam Glynn, a Clare GP and chair of communications at the National Association of General Practitioners, said doctors acted as "gatekeepers" to hospitals.

"You would hope most people in emergency departments are referred by GPs, rather than self-referring," he said. "The more patients referred by a GP the better the system."

He said GPs strived to keep patients out of hospitals, referring only those patients most in need of hospital care.

In Dr Glynn's out-of-hours practice, Shannon Doc, only 7pc of patients seen over the Christmas period were referred to hospital, he said.

The HSE suggested those living in rural areas were more likely to call their local doctor first, rather than travel to the nearest hospital emergency department. There were more self-referrals in urban areas because emergency departments are more accessible.

Hospitals struggled to cope with a surge in patients to emergency departments in the first week of 2017. The HSE warned an influenza outbreak was a catalyst for the latest surge in visits was likely to worsen.
Dermot Gallagher awarded UCD honorary degree in October 2015. Pictured is Maeve Gallagher congratulating her husband Dermot on his Honorary Degree

Former secretary general at the Department of Foreign Affairs Dermot Gallagher has died.

Mr Gallagher - who hailed from Carrick-on-Shannon in Co Leitrim - had spent 40 years in diplomatic service.

He also held a number of senior positions in government departments.

In his career, Mr Gallagher had an influential role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Former junior minister and former senator Martin Mansergh paid tribute to Mr Gallagher.

He told RTE's Marian Finucane programme that Mr Gallagher had as "emollient style of negotiation and diplomacy".

Saddened by the passing of former DFAT SG, Dermot Gallagher. He will be remembered as a distinguished diplomat & for his key role in the GFA  Charlie Flanagan (@CharlieFlanagan) January 15, 2017

RIP Dermot Gallagher ex Irish Ambassador to the US who played a big part in the Peace Process in the early 90's. A true gentleman.  Ken Murray (@NewsMurray) January 15, 2017

So so sorry to hear of the death of Dermot Gallagher... He was a gentleman proud @LeitrimGAA and great company. #RIP  Lisa Clancy (@clancylisa) January 15, 2017

Dermot Gallagher RIP was a brilliant, creative and warm human being and diplomat. I was honoured to call him my friend  Ray Bassett (@ray_basssett) January 15, 2017

Michael D Higgins said Mr Gallagher "dedicated a lifetime to public service, serving with distinction as ambassador to the United States and making a significant contribution to the peace process in Northern Ireland".

"Sabina and I send our deepest condolences to his family, friends and former colleagues at this sad time," he said.

"I have learned with great sorrow of the passing of Dermot Gallagher, a former Secretary General of my Department who retired in 2009," Minister Charlie Flanagan said in a statement on Sunday afternoon.

"A proud native of Leitrim, Dermot ably served successive Governments with great loyalty and constant commitment. His talented service covered the spectrum of the Department's work from EU affairs to development aid. It included two Ambassadorial posts, in Nigeria and later in the US.

"However, perhaps it was in the area of Northern Ireland and the peace process that Dermot made his greatest contribution. As a young diplomat, he was part of the Government's negotiating team at the Sunningdale talks in 1973 and many years later he was a major figure in the negotiation of the Good Friday Agreement. As Secretary General of the Department, he also prioritised a focus on providing practical support to Irish citizens abroad.

"Dermot will be greatly missed by his many friends and colleagues in my Department, in the GAA to which he also made a huge contribution and in County Leitrim. I extend my deepest sympathy to his wife Maeve and to Dermot's children Fiona, Aoife and Ronan. Ar dheis De go raibh a anam."
Direction: President Michael D Higgins paid tribute to Castro, causing huge confusion in Irish embassies on how they should react Photo: REUTERS/Oswaldo Rivas

The death of Fidel Castro last November caused a diplomatic flurry in Irish embassies around the world as ambassadors sought urgent direction on how to react.

The confusion arose after President Michael D Higgins's glowing tribute to Castro differed sharply from the Government's more nuanced line on the Cuban leader's passing.

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Internal correspondence shows Ireland's diplomats overseas were unsure how they were to react publicly to Castro's death. In the aftermath, many sought both permission to sign books of condolence and advice from Government.

Briefing notes prepared for Taoiseach Enda Kenny after the Cuban leader's death encouraged him to refer to Castro as a "political giant" and a "significant figure". However, he was also told to mention Cuba's human rights record under Castro.

"Ireland has consistently made clear our concern about the restriction of freedoms and respect for human rights in Cuba," said the note prepared for Kenny.

"We cannot ignore Cuba's troubling record on issues such as respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms, including freedom of speech."

Amnesty International has questioned the repression of basic freedoms during Castro's time as Cuban prime minister and president.

At the time of Castro's death, President Higgins said: "Having survived some 600 attempts on his life, Fidel Castro, known to his peers in Cuba as 'El Comandante', became one of the longest-serving heads of state in the world, guiding the country through a remarkable process of social and political change, advocating a development path that was unique and determinedly independent.

"Fidel Castro will be remembered as a giant among global leaders whose view was not only one of freedom for his people but for all of the oppressed and excluded peoples on the planet."

Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan said President Higgins was entitled to comment on Castro's death, but conceded he was not a fan of Castro's work.

"If you go back over the last 40 years, no one in Irish politics has done so much work or had such a level of association with Latin American politics than Michael D Higgins," said the minister.

However, the President's comments sparked a flurry of activity in the minister's department as Irish ambassadors got in touch to see what they should say and do to acknowledge Castro's death.

They were encouraged to take a line that would be consistent with Government.

The embassies in Slovakia and Switzerland sought guidance, while Irish diplomats in the US also raised questions.

"Grateful for a steer on whether or not we should sign the book of condolence for Fidel Castro here in the United States, especially in the context of the US embargo," wrote Hilary Reilly from the Irish Embassy in Washington.
Garda Commissioner Noirin O'Sullivan has told the investigation into claims of a smear campaign against whistleblower Maurice McCabe that she was also sidelined by senior colleagues.

In her 10-page submission to Mr Justice Iarfhlaith O'Neill's inquiry, the Commissioner said she experienced "inequality and exclusion" while working her way up the ranks of An Garda Siochana.

Mr Justice O'Neill was tasked with investigating claims that senior gardai were involved in an orchestrated campaign to discredit Sgt McCabe after he highlighted garda malpractice.

Ms O'Sullivan told the retired judge she was also forced to raise concerns about not being informed about management issues when she was a deputy commissioner.

According to sources familiar with the submission, the Commissioner said she was kept out of the loop on the first internal garda investigation into quashed penalty points carried out by Assistant Commissioner John O'Mahony.

Ms O'Sullivan also told Mr Justice O'Neill she urged former Garda Commissioner Martin Callinan to withdraw his controversial "disgusting" comment about whistleblowers Maurice McCabe and John Wilson at a Public Accounts Committee (PAC) hearing.

Details of Ms O'Sullivan's submission have been confirmed by a number of sources familiar with the document.

She also said she had no knowledge of Mr Callinan's meeting with former PAC chairman John McGuinness in a hotel car park where the former commissioner is alleged to have made accusations against Sgt McCabe.

Mr Calllinan's meeting with Mr McGuinness is likely to feature prominently in any future inquiry into the allegations contained in protected disclosures made to Tanaiste and Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald last year.

It is understood Mr Callinan told the O'Neill inquiry the claims made by two whistleblowers were "hearsay".

Mr Callinan, who was approached by Mr Justice O'Neill in November, dismissed the claims as vague and said they had been the subject of distorted media reporting, according to informed sources.

He is also understood to have asked for an assurance that his constitutional rights would be protected and any fees incurred responding to the allegations would be covered by the State.

Mr Callinan and Ms O'Sullivan deny all allegation made against them by the whistleblowers.

Mr Justice O'Neill presented his report to Ms Fitzgerald on December 7 but the Justice Minister has yet to bring the report before Cabinet.

It is understood there are legal concerns over publishing the report due to the seriousness of the allegations made against all parties involved. The Attorney General's office has been examining the report for more than a month.

It was expected the report would go before Cabinet soon after the Dail recess but it is not scheduled for this week's meeting. A Department of Justice spokesman said: "The Tanaiste is engaged in the process of preparing proposals arising from the report with a view to their submission as soon as possible."
A Northern Ireland election could be called as soon as tomorrow evening, Foreign Affairs Minister Charlie Flanagan has warned.

In a column in The Irish News yesterday, Flanagan said that while issues over local political differences and devolved powers were not a matter for Dublin, the Republic "has a solemn responsibility to ensure that the (Belfast/Good Friday) Agreement is upheld".

Several issues may come to the fore in an election, including Sinn Fein's demands for an Irish Language Act for the North, which is opposed by the DUP.

Flanagan indicated in his column that the Irish language issue "must be addressed if the devolved institutions are to thrive".

He also touched on the thorny 'legacy' issue of the Troubles. After the Saville public inquiry into the killing of 12 Catholics by the British Army in Derry in 1972, a re-investigation of actions on Bloody Sunday and other killings by soldiers has taken place and three former British Army members are facing charges.

However, the 'legacy' re- investigation has expanded to examine evidence relating to IRA and loyalist killings and atrocities as well.

This, former paramilitary sources in Belfast said, was causing great disquiet, particularly among the 200 to 300 former IRA members who went 'on the run' after committing crimes in the North. They now face re-arrest and possible prosecution.

One major IRA atrocity that is being reinvestigated is the 'Kingsmill Massacre' of 10 Protestant workmen in South Armagh in January 1976.

The renewed inquest, held at the request of relatives of the victims last year, led to the revelations that fingerprints and possible new DNA evidence linked the atrocity to a number of senior republicans in the area.

Security and republican sources in the North last week expressed concern that a contentious election could be held amid rising tensions if IRA figures, some in senior positions in Sinn Fein, were arrested as part of the renewed historic crimes investigations.

The number of seats in Assembly elections has been reduced from the c urrent 108 to 90 and it is understood that Sinn Fein is hoping it can reverse recent electoral reverses in the North and could be in with a chance of gaining more seats than the DUP.

That could give Sinn Fein the First Minister position at Stormont.
The Sunday Independent today reveals details of an extraordinary exchange between Transport Minister Shane Ross and Road Safety Authority chairperson Liz O'Donnell which took place at a time when road deaths nationally were dramatically increasing.

The correspondence between the two public figures ultimately responsible for road safety relates to the appointment of board members to the RSA, their attendance at meetings and, bizarrely, to typographical and other errors contained in a draft of the RSA annual report.

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Last September, Mr Ross decided to reduce the RSA board membership by two to six members at a time when the RSA was seeking additional board members.

In a letter seen by the Sunday Independent, Ms O'Donnell appealed to the Transport Minister to reconsider this decision, noting with disappointment that the country was "experiencing a significant increase in road deaths".

She said the increase made it "all the more important" that the RSA board perform its statutory functions to its full potential, supported by board members with the necessary expertise.

There were 187 road deaths last year, a 15pc increase on 2015 when there were 162 deaths on the country's roads.

To date, the Transport Minister has declined to reconsider his decision.

The Sunday Independent has now obtained correspondence which informs the background of the Transport Minister's decision to reduce the board membership.

In an email to, and letter exchange with Ms O'Donnell, he accuses the RSA of being "amateurish and inexplicably cavalier" in its approach to detail; describes its annual report as a "sloppy piece of work" with "embarrassing" misprints and "grammatical howlers"; accuses board members of having "sporadic interest" in board attendance and says he is not convinced that the reappointments of certain board members "are in the interests of Road Safety or assist in the mission of the Authority".

In reply, Ms O'Donnell "regrets that the tone" of his letter is "unnecessarily confrontational"; takes exception at his suggestion that the RSA is "amateurish and inexplicably cavalier"; describes certain of his comments as "ill-judged and offensive"; refers to another comment as "untrue and misleading"; questions other of his assertions, expresses surprise at a statement at one point and also says his suggestion of poor performance by board members to be "misconceived".

At the conclusion of one letter to the Transport Minister, Ms O'Donnell said Mr Ross's correspondence suggested that he did not share the high regard in which the RSA was held "and for good reason" by the public and members of the Oireachtas.

The correspondence was exchanged following a meeting between Mr Ross and Ms O'Donnell on July 25 last, which was followed by a letter from the RSA chairperson to the Transport Minister on August 26. In reply to that letter, Mr Ross sent an email to Ms O'Donnell's private email account at 6.56pm on September 9 last, stating that it was timely that she had brought to his attention the imminent expiry of the board membership of four RSA directors.

He stated that he had considered her request that all four be reappointed, but that while he would ensure that the board was not left without the necessary numbers to function properly, he was "not convinced that such automatic reappointments are in the interests of road safety or assist the mission of the Authority".

In reply on September 12, Ms O'Donnell said she was "surprised" to receive his email and letter to her private email, stating that she had hoped to receive a "formal response" to her earlier request in July about RSA appointments about to expire in September and which required a decision by Mr Ross.

To be clear, she said, the request to have four existing board members reappointed arose as a result to discussions between officials in Mr Ross's Department and RSA officials. "It is incorrect to state that what is being sought are 'automatic reappointments'. What was under consideration was the filling of existing and upcoming board vacancies by way of new appointments and re-appointments," she said.

Ms O'Donnell was "surprised" that the Minister was not convinced that the appointment of the four outgoing board members was in the interests of road safety or assisted the mission of the RSA. Mr Ross had been sent detailed biographies and additional information on the board members, outlining their contribution beyond that of attendance at board meetings, including subcommittee participation, expert advice representation on academic and educational events and conferences. "These board members have all served during a period prior to my appointment when the Authority was expanding its remit and establishing itself as a highly regarded State Agency under the chairmanship of my predecessor. Since my appointment I can vouch for their commitment and hard work," she said.

In his letter, Mr Ross said he was surprised to discover at their meeting that the RSA board had never commissioned an evaluation of itself. He was glad to learn that she had now agreed to undertake an evaluation and effectiveness review in October. She had also decided to undertake a board self-assessment evaluation questionnaire.

But without the benefit of such a review, he said, it fell to him to decide whether to reappoint the sitting directors. It was a pity that he would not have such evaluations and self-assessments available before, rather than after the deadline. "I have very little basis for making the re-appointments, except of course your personal recommendation. Luckily, at least there is the annual report," he said.

Ms O'Donnell, in reply, pointed out that each board member had received corporate governance induction training and the Authority had become a member of the IPA Governance Forum.

Some of the more testy exchanges took place when Mr Ross turned his attention to a draft copy of the annual report, which he said was "normally the main source of information about directors", but the draft report contained no biographical information except for names and photographs. When he pointed this out, he said, brief biographies of the directors were provided and it was agreed to print a corrected report "at considerable expense" including these biographies.

The Transport Minister then said "the lack of such basic information" was not the only "deficiency" in the annual report.

On reading the section about 'Employee Benefits', he said "an embarrassing misprint jumped off the page. A figure in the item was a hundred fold wrong".

One "glaring misprint" might be understandable, he said - although he had never seen such a significant unnoticed mistake in an annual report. "Unfortunately, it was accompanied by at least 40 others, some of material nature, which made the RSA look amateurish and inexplicably cavalier in its approach," he said. What worried him was how none of the directors who are "seeking re-appointment" spotted the "extraordinary number of misprints".

He said: "There are mistakes on graphics. There are mistakes on diagrams. There are repetitions, spelling mistakes, inconsistencies, grammatical howlers and other errors." After the report was reprinted, it remained "riddled with errors", only some had been corrected. He said: "Yesterday, it went back for a third printing as it could not possibly have been allowed to appear in the public demesne in its unacceptable condition - although it had been passed by the directors." The directors, he said, were responsible for reading the annual report, amending it where necessary and passing it when satisfied. "How do we explain the RSA directors' unanimous satisfaction with such a sloppy piece of work? Did they take their eye off the ball?"

In reply, Ms O'Donnell questioned the Minister's assertion that the annual report was normally the main source of information about board members. She understood that other State bodies did not include such detail. However, she had no difficulty including the details.

She regretted that there were errors in the draft versions and that some remained in the final draft. "However, I am assured that none were of a material nature." What he referred to as a 'howler' was immediately corrected. "In fairness, this error was clearly a printing misalignment of a column in a table. Errors should not occur but I take exception to your suggestion that the RSA is 'amateurish or cavalier' in its approach to any aspect of its remit, on the basis of such errors in a draft document," she said.

In his letter Mr Ross also examined the "limited information" about some directors' attendance at board meetings.

One had missed 43pc of board meetings already held; another missed 43pc in 2016, after missing 30pc in 2015 and 50pc in 2014; another had missed 29pc in 2016 after missing 40pc in 2014 and 17pc in 2014. He said: "It is difficult to look sympathetically at your requirement to increase the size of your board, when some of the incumbents and treating their current positions as a la carte directorships.

"If you are permitted to increase your board to 12 members, it will be as big as Iarnrod Eireann, AIB or the DAA. In the circumstances outlined above, I see little justification for such an enlarged board."

He added: "Indeed, I should be interested in what you have done about the low attendance records of some of your board members, whether you think those with such apparently sporadic interest in board attendance should remain on the board, and how the annual report, the flagship document from the RSA, was published in such a cavalier condition." Ms O'Donnell said the Minister's suggestion of poor performance by board members in relation to the annual report was "misconceived". While board members were presented with a draft and made amendments and suggestions for edits on content and layout, it was not the function of the board to do a final proof read of the report for typographical or other errors which were not of a material nature. This was the responsibility of designers and technical staff.

While she regretted any errors, and would strive to avoid any such errors in future, she pointed out that the annual report was a 116-page document with 27,000 words and the executive had identified 44 punctuation/grammar errors, 27 typographical errors and 19 spelling errors in the latest version of the report.

Then she said it was "untrue and misleading" to state that the four board members were seeking reappointment, and she again pointed out that the recommendation to reappoint was made by her at the "instigation of your officials".

She said it was true that some board members had missed meetings due to "personal or professional reasons" but said his charge of "a la carte attitude'' by named board members was "ill-judged and offensive".

In his letter, Mr Ross also raised questions about the process used to select candidates for the three new positions Ms O'Donnell wished to add to the board, whether interviews were carried out, and what additional steps were taken to test the suitability of candidates.

"Did the panel really manage to complete the process of examining 62 applicants and selecting 21 candidates in a single day? The number of names sent up to me for appointment suggests a very shallow process," he said.

After considering "all aspects of the situation" Mr Ross proposed to reappoint two of the sitting board members, thereby ensuring a functioning board. Ms O'Donnell replied: "Regarding your well-known concerns about the new system for board appointments which you outline in your letter, I suggest you raise these with your colleagues in Cabinet." She assured him that the process to fill the additional places was "rigorous and time consuming" and confirmed that no candidate was interviewed as this was not provided for under the system. She noted that because of his concerns about the statutory process of appointment he did not propose to enlarge the board. "That is your prerogative as Minister". However, of more "immediate concern" was his decision to appoint only two of the four outgoing board members which would result in the RSA having a Chair and six ordinary members - the minimum requirement under the Road Safety Authority Act. "This will inevitably lead to the cancellation of meetings if two board members are unable to attend a meeting. In addition to reduce the board by two will disrupt the skill set and diversity of the board."

Later, she regretted that the "tone of your letter is unnecessarily confrontational" but took comfort that Mr Ross had taken no issue with the content of the annual report "other than typographical and grammatical observations".

She outlined the RSA's success in reducing road deaths since its establishment in 2006 from 365 to 166, and said the RSA was highly regarded by the public and members of the Oireachtas "and for good reason". She said Mr Ross's letter suggested he did not share this regard.

Ms O'Donnell then noted with disappointment a "significant increase" in road deaths in 2016, stating this made it "all the more important" that the board of the RSA could "perform its statutory functions to its full potential" supported by the necessary expertise by way of board members to oversee proper governance of the Authority. She respectfully suggested that Mr Ross reconsider his decision to reduce the board by two. The Sunday Independent understands that Ms O'Donnell has further written to Mr Ross at least once, and possibly twice to ask him to reconsider his decision to reduce the board membership.

To date, the Transport Minister has not reconsidered his decision, but is understood to be not adverse to doing so.
Details of an extraordinary exchange between Transport Minister Shane Ross and Road Safety Authority (RSA) chairperson Liz O'Donnell, which took place at a time when road deaths were dramatically increasing, are revealed by the Sunday Independent today.

The correspondence between the two public figures ultimately responsible for road safety relates to the appointment of board members to the RSA, their attendance at meetings and, bizarrely, also to typographical and other errors contained in a draft of the RSA annual report.

In an email to - and letter exchange with - Ms O'Donnell, the Transport Minister accuses the RSA of being "amateurish and inexplicably cavalier" in its approach to detail; describes its annual report as a "sloppy piece of work" with "embarrassing" misprints and "grammatical howlers"; accuses board members of having "sporadic interest" in board attendance; and says he is not convinced that the reappointments of certain board members "are in the interests of road safety or assist in the mission of the authority".

In reply, Ms O'Donnell "regrets that the tone" of his letter is "unnecessarily confrontational"; takes exception to his suggestion that the RSA is "amateurish and inexplicably cavalier"; describes certain of his comments as "ill-judged and offensive"; refers to another of his comments as "untrue and misleading"; questions other of his assertions; expresses surprise at one point at a statement he made; and says his suggestion of poor performance by board members is "misconceived".

Last September, Mr Ross decided to reduce the RSA board membership by two to six members, which ensured a functioning board. In a letter dated the same month and seen by the Sunday Independent, Ms O'Donnell appealed to the Transport Minister to reconsider this decision, noting that the country was "experiencing a significant increase in road deaths" compared with 2015.

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She said the rise in fatalities made it "all the more important" that the RSA board performed its statutory functions to its full potential, supported by the necessary expertise of board members to oversee proper governance of the authority.

Last year there were 187 road deaths, a 15pc increase on 2015 when 162 people were killed on the country's roads.

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To date, the Transport Minister has declined to reconsider his decision to cut the RSA board membership.

In her letter, Ms O'Donnell also said that Mr Ross did not share the high regard the RSA was held in by the public and members of the Oireachtas.

The Sunday Independent today publishes extensive correspondence which informs the background of the Transport Minister's decision to reduce the number of board members.

It has also been learned that Ms O'Donnell wrote a second letter to Mr Ross in October, informing him that the RSA board had expressed "serious concern" in relation to corporate governance, specifically the current skills/competency mix of the board and difficulties in reconstituting the audit and risk committee.

Mr Ross has consistently expressed concern at the manner in which appointments are made to State boards.

Last night, a spokesperson for the Transport Minister said: "There is no comment as regards content or details of letters published in the Sunday Independent today."

However, Mr Ross said: "Saving lives on our roads is absolutely the top priority for the RSA and I. This is our bottom line.

"This is why I am introducing legislation to ensure that all drivers caught driving over the alcohol limit will receive a disqualification and that disqualified drivers are 'named and shamed'.

"This is why I am committed to tackling the recent increase in road deaths in every way I can as minister.

"The support of the RSA behind these measures is welcome and I will continue to encourage the RSA's improvements at board level."
Seasoned campaigner: The Apollo House stand-off may be over, but Brendan Ogle hasn't finished fighting. 'This is just the beginning for Home Sweet Home,' he says Photo: Mark Condren

It's midday on Thursday and Brendan Ogle has just left Apollo House where his latest stand-off with the Government - as part of the Home Sweet Home campaign- has ended .

The last time we met, he told me: "I am looking forward to not being talked about."

Yet three years - and two very high-profile campaigns later - here we both are.

The trade union boss constantly wonders if this is the right path for him: "Should I be doing this? Can I withstand this level of pressure? Can I withstand this level of scrutiny? Have I got the mental and the physical fortitude to take the abuse that comes with putting my head above the parapet? I question that all the time," he says.

In his own words: "You would have to be sociopathic to enjoy this. And I don't think I am."

I put it to him that some critics accuse of being an egomaniac.

He vehemently denies that. "Well, I wish it was ego," he says.

Depending on who you talk to, Ogle is either an 'agent of chaos' or 'master negotiator'.

In 2012, he led ESB workers in their fight for pensions - threatening to turn out the lights on Ireland. A year later, his attention turned to water, spearheading a movement that has now seen half the country refuse to pay their bills, and in recent weeks, his sense of justice has been with the homeless.

"This is just the beginning for Home Sweet Home," he says. "This isn't over."

He settles in for lunch and describes how his transition from workers' rights campaigner to national campaigner transpired. After the ESB, he jetted to Cuba for six weeks to get his head straight but eventually grew bored.

"You're there and you're thinking: 'Why am I here? I am on my own in an apartment with a bloody laptop in a country where people speak a different language. And I'm on my own for six weeks. What the bloody hell am I going to do?'"

Two members of the Unite trade union arrived and with them came the opportunity for a new political-style role in the organisation. His interest perked up.

When he returned home, he found "this water thing was pretty much under the radar but it was clear there was something simmering".

He joined forces with Mandate's David Gibney and they set about building websites, social media platforms and organising branding to take the campaign nationwide. Within six months, 100,000 people were marching on the capital. On another occasion, 106 small protests were organised simultaneously throughout the country.

He recalls listening to Marian Finucane while RTE had reporters at various locations. "It felt a bit like St Patrick's Day," he says.

Now three years later, he is arguably the biggest thorn in the Government's side. "The campaign is the biggest social movement per capita in the world," he says.

I ask him, in comparison to the influence that TDs have in the Dail, how does it feel to wield that kind of power?

He puts down his knife and fork. "It's a very good question. Where is power? Is it in the Dail? Is it in a chamber of 158 TDs?

"People ask us - are you going to run for Dail? But we just sit back and say we believe the Right2Water and Home Sweet Home are shaping public awareness around those issues in a way that goes far beyond anything you can do standing up and making a three-minute speech until somebody rings a bell."

Does he believe in democracy? "Of course I do. Do I live in one? That's a different thing."

He wants to see an Ireland where politicians who break their election promises can lose their seats.

"The excuse politicians that use is that they are in a coalition. Well, I do negotiations and I understand sometimes you win, sometimes you lose and sometimes you compromise. But I have never been in a negotiation where I have come out with the very opposite of what I was looking for," he laughs, referring to Labour's U-turn on water.

On the Apollo House negotiations, he says Housing Minister Simon Coveney never wanted to appear as though he was doing a deal with a group of protesters.

"There was a moment in the meeting where it looked as though we were making a breakthrough and someone had gone out for a cigarette break. To break that awkward silence, I kinda says: 'Do you know what, Simon? Who would've known you could be the minister to solve homelessness?' And he looked at me and says: 'What, with Brendan Ogle?'"

Ogle uses a derisive tone to portray the minister's feelings.

He adds that Coveney didn't "play it well" when he suggested that Home Sweet Home's actions had not secured any new homelessness services. His comments "almost scuppered" the deal.

I wonder why it would matter who secured the kudos as long as the job was done but Ogle says the disagreement was about trust - not who took the credit.

Still, he is keen to offer proof that the accommodation centres are a direct result of Home Sweet Home's campaigning.

"It is demonstrated by the fact that on November 30, Dublin City Council published a report saying there would be four new hostels, and these two new hostels are additional to that," he says. "Everybody at the meeting said it: 'Home Sweet Home can take credit for this.'"

Some people would say his work is from the bottom of his heart - others have a more cynical take.

Does he want to run for the Dail? "No."

Has he sought members for a new party? "No."

Has he sought fundraising? "No".

Is this all part of a big stunt for his political career in the long run? "Absolutely not."

Whatever his political ambitions, one thing he is happy to tell me is that he has found love.

"Her name is Mandy," he says, as he poses for photographs. "I met her through the water campaign. And that's all you're getting. But I am very happy."

In his social view of the world, everyone is entitled to a home, everyone is entitled to health services and everyone is entitled to water.

As to how we would fund it, he believes even the unemployed already pay for these amenities through their consumption tax - and the excess would come from increasing taxes on the top 1pc and multinational corporations.

I tell him it feels as though Middle Ireland is picking up the tab now but he dismisses the idea: "Middle Ireland doesn't exist any more. Middle Ireland has been destroyed by the top 1pc of Ireland."

With the rising noise on the Left, it remains to be seen if he really is being upfront about any ambitions.

But before going to print, I decide to give him one more try. I text: has he definitely ruled out ever running for the Dail?

And the reply comes back: "I don't have a crystal ball."
Ireland's most-loved broadcaster Gay Byrne is upbeat and positive as he comes to terms with his cancer diagnosis, telling the Sunday Independent: "The treatment continues and we hope for the best.''

Gay was his usual sanguine self as he talked about his illness - echoing the thoughts of millions of well-wishers up and down the country who hope for his return to the airwaves in full health.

Last November, with typical understatement, Gay revealed to shocked listeners on RTE's Lyric FM the disheartening news that he was suffering from cancer.

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"I shall not be with our listeners on this day next week. Have to go to hospital... They think they may have discovered a bit of cancer in the prostate and they think it may have moved up into my back.

"I've had the most wonderful, fantastic, robust, good health all my broadcasting life," he said in usual breezy style during his enormously popular show on the classical radio station.

"It's my turn now... many, many people much worse off. Thank you for your good wishes," he signed off.

Now, nearly three months on, Gay is in the throes of cancer treatment, but he is tough and resilient and well aware that he is undergoing the same difficulties endured by so many who are touched by the disease in this country.

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And he is aware that prostate cancer is very treatable and the chances of a favourable outcome are quite high.

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In short, Gay is not feeling sorry for himself but ongoing medical treatment obviously interrupted the usual Christmas and New Year celebrations - a favourite time of year for the couple who were married in 1964.

"Everything is on hold while we do our best to look after Gay," his wife Kathleen Watkins told the Sunday Independent yesterday.

"He is doing well. The treatment is ongoing. Do thank the many people all over the country who have been in touch," Kathleen requested.

"We got all the notes and letters and cards. We read all of them. Thank you. Thank you to all those kind people.It's so much appreciated."

The broadcasting legend is being looked after by his devoted wife at their home in Ballsbridge and there is lots of help and encouragement from the family - as well as the good wishes of an entire nation.
The Government is being accused of neglecting rural Ireland as Bus Eireann faces major cuts ahead of the expansion of urban rail services.

The national bus carrier has told ministers it could run out of money within 18 months as it looks to restructure and cut costs.

Any further cuts to bus operations would be most felt in rural areas after a report by Grant Thornton advised the company last week to close its commercial arm, Expressway.

It comes as Irish Rail prepares for the roll-out of a new 10-minute Dart service that will cut waiting times for Dublin commuters by a third.

An increased electric rail service was due to begin last year but plans were shelved after drivers refused to allow new recruits into their cabs to familiarise them with operating the trains.

Senior figures in Irish Rail and the National Transport Authority (NTA) are confident they will be able to push the plan through by the middle of the year despite the ongoing training row with drivers, citing the recent completion of the Phoenix Park tunnel project as a reason for optimism.

National Bus and Rail Union (NBRU) general secretary Dermot O'Leary said the Government and NTA were ignoring rural Ireland and needed to do more to protect services outside Dublin. Closing Expressway routes, he said, would hit those who make the seven million journeys it provided every year. This would be worsened if Bus Eireann faced other service cuts.

"While there are issues in Irish Rail I would say the issues in Bus Eireann probably outstrip them in relation to rural Ireland losing its bus service," Mr O'Leary added.

"Those journeys across rural Ireland are every bit as important to customers as the enhanced Dart service will be to its users. The NTA has been very dismissive of that portion of people who use those vital services. There are no train or Dart services into Donegal for example."

The NTA said the physical and operational infrastructure was already in place for a 10-minute Dart service to be rolled out but there were industrial relations issues that needed to be ironed out.

An Irish Rail spokeswoman said there would be a number of advantages and opportunities on the back of the new service coming into operation.

"Moving to a higher-frequency service will provide an enhanced service for our existing customers," she said.

"For the company it may afford us the opportunity to turn the Dart line into a profit-making arm of business through increased revenue from the fares box. Given ongoing and ever increasing road congestion problems in the city, it may attract more people to take the Dart."

Bus Eireann and the NTA met with Transport Minister Shane Ross in recent days and he was told the company was looking to save 8m a year.

This would include cutting overtime and preventing accrued annual leave being carried over at the end of each year.
'There is something about a small island that satisfies the heart of a man," said Welsh ornithologist and naturalist RM Lockley.

I couldn't agree more when it comes to this particular independent plot of land - even if obviously there is ample room for improvement. Though a recent global index of 133 countries only rated Ireland 12th in the world of best places to live. While the World Economic Forum's assessment, which was released in Switzerland last January, scored Ireland 18 in an inaugural list of the world's best countries.

But then, what do mainlanders know about the hard knocks and rough edges of island life - especially during this wintry weather?

Sometimes you don't have to live on one to suffer - even coming close can be calamitous. As ships in rough seas know well, little islands can land you in deep water.

Like the Keeragh Islands off the coast of Co Wexford, which are little more than two acres and one acre respectively in size. Yet these barren and exposed islets have been the scenes of serious shipwrecks over the centuries. Such as the Niobe - bound for Cork out of New York this very month in 1847, and laden down with corn and meal for famine-stricken Ireland.

It was enough to make Thomas Boyse - the only recorded owner of a house on the larger Keeragh Island, who died on this day in 1854 - take altruistic action. According to the Reverend William Hickey, writing in 1868, Boyse built a hut on the island "in which he placed stores of potatoes, whiskey, wood, candles and matches, in case of any shipwrecked people arriving there at night".

Hickey went on to note that "nothing of those provisions were ever stolen, though it was notorious that they were there, in an open space, only half a mile from shore".

Kindness was matched by courage, when this month in 1874 the Italian brig Vittorisso G was driven in past the Keeraghs in a fierce storm and wrecked in Bannow Bay. The crew were saved by Duncannon lifeboat, which had to be hauled overland for five miles and launched from Fethard.

All of which proves the richness of island life - sometimes literally.

That poor boy done well, Dick Whittington, legged it to London because he heard its streets were paved with gold. But he might have done just as well in the Keeraghs - for they say traces of gold dust can be found in the sands on the islands, thanks to the 1819 wrecking of the Demarara - carrying gold bullion.

The future Lord Mayor of London made his fortune from the ratting abilities of his cat. But the mate of the King Arthur, which sank at Ballymadder in 1847, had the good fortune to save not just his own skin but also that of his feline friend. He survived by swimming ashore with his clothes tied in a bundle on his head - and his not so unlucky black cat perched on top.

For if no man is an island, a moggy is most definitely neither.
When Margaret Gallagher was a child, every Halloween night she would venture outside the family's quaint thatched cottage in Belcoo, Co Fermanagh, to see which direction the wind was blowing in.

"That always set a pattern for the months ahead," says the 74-year-old, speaking in her remarkable timepiece home, which was built in the 18th century and, in many ways, hasn't changed very much at all over hundreds of years.

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"If it was coming from the west we knew we would have a wet winter; the north east we knew it would be snowy; and if it was coming in from the north, we knew it would be cold and dry."

Overlooking misty fields and blanket bog to Cuilcagh and, below it, the twin villages of Belcoo and Blacklion, is her home that is now more than 280 years old and has never had running water, electricity, a television or a phone. And when it's cold, it's cold. But she knows how to keep warm.

With heavy snow forecast earlier this week, Miss Gallagher was well prepared inside her grade two listed home.

"I have a wireless radio and listen to the news headlines on that. I brought in plenty of logs and turf and carried in plenty of water, so I was well equipped for it. I have enough water now I could bathe the country for a small charge," she laughs. "I had to get up very early the other morning to knock the snow off the roof with a pole. If you don't do that it can damage the roof. It came down with a crash.

"With a house like this you have to prepare for what's coming."

Each morning she has a blazing fire to get going and all kinds of tasty cakes to bake. There's the fresh water to carry from the spring well in a nearby field for washing clothes and the floor. There are bags of logs and turf to fill and carry, and all before nine o'clock.

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"I tell you, I carry some turf, I also carry some water. I was born under Aquarius, but nobody carries more water than I do.

"People come to look at me as if I am an endangered species. That's grand, I am very endangered. But it's for real. I am not here to please an American tourist who is ooh'ing and aah'ing, looking at me, saying: 'I thought people in this lifestyle would have a long black skirt on them'. I say: 'Possibly, but if you see the path I have down to the well, a long black skirt would need a washing'."

With the front door open for circulation as the fire burns, there are double oil burners on the walls and the flames are reflected in mirrors to provide extra light. Every inch of Miss Gallagher's home may reflect the past or a bygone era to some, but to her this is her reality. It is her home.

"There never was a time for transition to something more modern. I was born into this house on January 26, 1942, at five past nine on a Monday morning. My mother died when I was 10, my father died in 1980. His father bought this house in 1887, and my take on it is if it was good enough for them, then it's good enough for me."

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There wasn't a lot of money in those days but there was always an open door, she says."By God, there was a welcome. There was no intrusion of a television, not that there is anything wrong with a television. I have a wind-up radio which I listen to in the mornings to get the time, the day, the date and the news headlines. The problem with televisions and everything else, there doesn't seem to be an off button ever used."

Miss Gallagher, who enjoys reading many books, fears that "solitude" is now gone from society. "We were taught so much long ago from the monks of old, particularly the monks who lived on Cleenish Island, about solitude and hospitality. But that is gone now. When you talk to someone they are on a mobile phone or an iPad, there is no eye contact. I do think we are slipping on hospitality. I think the day of the open door is gone."

She believes "a period of silence or solitude should be encouraged in the house" to help cope with the pressures of life.

That means cutting out on the television and internet use.

"I am not interested in what is going on in the world because I can't fix it, I can't fix what is going on in Northern Ireland, and I could even fix something if it was going on in my own homeland. The news doesn't interest me. And all this chatting about people you don't know: I don't think anyone in outer Mongolia is the slightest bit interested in what Margaret Gallagher is doing.

"Television is wonderful, but credit me with some intelligence. Coronation Street? Give me a book, let me read anything. Coronation Street is not on my radar, nor is that Bake Off. I hear more about soggy bottoms!

"When I bake the bottoms of my cakes are burnt black. I like everything burnt. I don't do soggy bottoms," she laughs.

In a hectic world, the pensioner wants to see hospitality "back on the agenda".

"There are some communities that are hospitable, there are others are not. Some ask you do you want a cup of tea, but you never ask anyone if they want a cup of tea. You make it, you just get it there, full stop. If they don't drink it, they don't drink it. Tough luck, but at least you made it.

"I don't like the modern kettles. I like my own kettle. It's always by the fire and is grand. I don't see the need to change something that is not broken, and sure if it was broken it would cost too much to fix. What would I want with a post kettle anyway? I don't even think like that."

When she isn't inviting her neighbours over for tea, the birds keep her company. "The birds are pretty expensive. It takes six loaves in the week, plus about three stone of bird seed, to feed all the birds I have," she laughs.

"I have the wren, Jenny I call her. Jenny seems to have a family; babies one day, adults the next. For her body weight she eats far too much, I keep saying this, and she's there all the time, she never leaves me. I have the sparrows, the blackbirds, the magpies, the crows. I have the whole lot."

She doesn't get lonely and enjoys the peace and calming influence of her home."It's part of me, it's my identity, it's who I am," she adds.

"This house makes a statement, it sits very comfortably on the landscape, even though I am surrounded by beautiful new homes. It says that you can't forget about your past, you bring it with you proudly into the future," adds Miss Gallagher with a smile.
American political anoraks/nerds/junkies are currently in their element. I count myself among them, gorging on the 24/7 news cycle that was so dull during the Obama years and that has suddenly come to life once more. We may come to mourn that dullness in due course but, for now, the constant reporting coming from New York and Washington is mind- boggling.

That Trump press conference last Wednesday had my eyes out on stalks and I spent an hour afterwards attempting to pick my jaw up from the ground.

Think about it, all that talk of Miss Universe, cameras in hotel rooms (or not), germaphobes, no tax returns, sons taking over the family business on a promise not to talk to Pop, the effective schoolyard shoving of a respected CNN journalist, etc etc. And that's before we even get to Putin and Russia and China

Jesus wept, it went on forever and I could not take my eyes off it. There were moments where I laughed out loud and then stopped to think that this isn't a weird episode of The West Wing, this is an address by the President-elect. Of America!

The man was busking and barking his way through the 45-minute event and all hope that a more 'presidential' Donald might show up evaporated. The rights and wrongs of that are for another column and another commentator but from my couch I watched the man who consumed airtime throughout the summer at a rate others could only dream of and that same man showed up last Wednesday.

He didn't change his tune or tone, that's who they voted for and that's who they got and that's who's going to live in the White House. Sometimes.

And maybe there's something refreshing in that - perhaps that's why he got elected.

Having driven through parts of America last July in the middle of the convention season, it was common to see dead towns, boarded-up shops, abandoned machinery on desolate fields - in other words, Trumpton, a land populated by the dispossessed who wanted anyone but Hillary, or indeed any politician at all, as president. And their guy showed up last Wednesday, angry, belligerent, fed up with mainstream this or post-truth that. He was singing the song that got him elected, why was I flabbergasted? Fellow US politics heads should read a fine memoir called Hillbilly Elegy by JD Vance. The author is a 31-year-old from the Appalachian Mountains and his story, a screwed-up American Nightmare that appears to have morphed into the Dream, is considered essential reading for those trying to understand how Trump got elected. We in Europe (for the most part) remain gobsmacked by that win even still but a few days outside New York, Chicago and Los Angeles will open your eyes to a very different America, one that is so fed up that they'd rather 'your man off The Apprentice' ran the country than ANY other politician in the land.

Could it happen here? I'm not so sure, although I got a good laugh when I read Michael O'Leary commenting that he had no interest in entering politics and that he wouldn't even vote for himself!

Meanwhile, the Irish Daily Mail cleverly released a poll in which they asked would we welcome a visit to this country by President Trump. The vote split 50:50. The breakdown showed that women rejected the idea 66:34 while men approved of the visit by - wait for it - 66:34. So, what to do? The Taoiseach will soon be heading for the White House but will he issue an invitation? If Trump came to town, would we be able to separate the man from the office and the good people of America he represents?

Whatever happens, it won't be boring and, rightly or wrongly, the Trump years (1? 4? 8??) are going to be fascinating.

To borrow a phrase: "Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy ride."
I didn't see Coronation Street last Wednesday. It is too soon for me to watch anything that even remotely resembles my own experience. In the popular soap, Michelle Connor, played by Kym Marsh, went into labour at 23 weeks, her waters breaking at her baby shower in true soap style. She was rushed to hospital and delivered her baby to his inevitable death, in a maternity ward surrounded by the sound of crying newborns.

By all accounts it was well handled and sensitively portrayed, unsurprising given that the actors involved have experienced late miscarriages - both Kym Marsh and Simon Gregson, who plays her husband Steve McDonald, lost babies at 21 weeks. Social media was awash with women praising the storyline and sharing their experiences and the media responded to the interest by calling on miscarriage and stillbirth support groups to advise people on how to respond to women in a similar situation. Women like me.

Last March I gave birth to a boy at 19 weeks, but his heart had stopped beating a week or so before that. Maybe I am imagining it but I believe I can pinpoint the very moment he died. It was a Tuesday evening. I was lying in a warm bath and I felt a couple of slow movements and then nothing. Experts will say that it was too early to feel anything at that stage of pregnancy, but I thought I had been feeling flutters from about 15 weeks. I started to get a horrible sense of foreboding at about 17 weeks and that night in the bath I just knew that the baby I was carrying had perished.

My husband told me I was worrying too much and reassured me somewhat. He's right, I told myself, all pregnant women worry - particularly 41-year-old pregnant women. I took comfort in remembering what the consultant had told the 12-weeks-pregnant me at my check-in visit at Holles Street: "At this stage, there is a less than 1pc chance of anything going wrong with this pregnancy." I tried to put all thoughts of doom out of my mind and went to bed.

As soon as I dropped my then three-year-old daughter to creche the next morning I rang the Merrion Fetal clinic to book a scan. I didn't have a consultant to call as I was a public patient at the midwife-led clinic at the National Maternity Hospital, as I had been with my daughter. I made an appointment for a 'reassurance' scan for the Friday and busied myself with work and mothering for the intervening couple of days.

A colleague dropped me to the hospital after a meeting. I mentioned half-jokingly that there would probably be bad news. I went in and sat in the waiting room until I was called. I lay on the bed as the midwife applied gel on my stomach and asked me if I wanted to know the sex. I just want to see if the baby is alive, I told her. She went quiet.

As she moved the transducer over my stomach we could see the baby curled up. There was a bit of movement and for a tiny moment I started to hope. But it was just my pulse. The silence was deafening. That horrible, empty silence that is every pregnant woman's worst nightmare. It sucked the oxygen out of the room and I felt as if I had been punched in the stomach. Even though I had been expecting bad news, the silence shocked me. I forced myself to stay calm. "It's dead, isn't it?" I said. "I knew it would be dead."

I can't remember exactly what she said after that but she was so very nice to me. And I felt sorry for her having to share in this horrific moment. I felt sorry for the other women in the waiting room who had to see my face as she led me in to the special room they have for people whose babies will never take a breath. I felt sorry for my devastated husband when he came to get me after I broke the news and I felt most sorry for my three-year-old daughter who would be so disappointed that she was never going to meet her much anticipated brother or sister.

I chose to spend the weekend at home before I went in to the hospital to begin the process of delivering the baby and I will always be grateful that I had that precious time. To say goodbye, to try and get my head around what was happening, to give the poor little mite inside me some time with his family.

I don't let my mind go back to the rest of the story. It is still too raw and too scary. It is too precious and it is too soon to share. I will some day, because the only thing that got me through the experience was reading the stories of others who had lost babies so late. I wanted all their intimate gory details so I would know what to expect. The thought of delivering a dead baby scared me so much and reading their stories helped me. It made me feel less of an anomaly - and less alone. It gave me a context for the horror and the disappointment and the shock. It wasn't just me. This happened to other women, too, and they survived.

But the majority of experiences I read, while they did help me feel less alone, they also made me feel like an outlier. Because unlike Michelle in Coronation Street, I wasn't desperate to meet my perished baby and hold him tight for as long as I could. I was terrified. Terrified of what he would look like. Petrified of my reaction. Horrified at the idea of unleashing the tide of overwhelming grief and trauma that I am still keeping at bay.

I didn't want to do any of the things that the wonderful bereavement nurse and the incredibly kind chaplain suggested. I didn't want to name the baby, I didn't want to take pictures, I didn't want to have a funeral, I didn't want to see him, I didn't want it to be real.

But I trusted them - and the advice of my amazing friend who had herself recently lost her baby - and I did some of those things. And as it turned out, naming the baby has made it much easier for my daughter to process the event. But, unless it comes from her, I dread hearing that name. It hurts every cell in my body to hear it. It hits me at a visceral, cellular level, in the same primal place as did my daughter's newborn cries.

The advice given by some of the support groups in the wake of the Coronation Street story suggests using the baby's name when talking to bereaved parents. To me, that would be like a sucker punch. That name reminds me that maybe everything I believed about myself was a lie: that I was strong, that I was healthy, that I was lucky, that life would be good to me. It brings me to a place where I feel like damaged goods, like a faulty woman because I failed to sustain that poor little baby's life and in that I let down my husband, my parents, my daughter, our family - all the people who were excited at the thought of our new baby, the baby that would have been their son, grandson, nephew, cousin, their baby brother.

Which is why I decided to write this piece. Not to criticise that advice - because I know that it is good advice probably for the majority of women - but to add another voice to the conversation. To share a part of my still unfolding story in the hope that it might be a balm to some other woman reading this who doesn't want to talk about her baby with anyone, even her closest friends. To pay it forward for the stories that helped me.

One piece I read in particular soothed me. It was an essay by the American writer Ariel Levy. She too gave birth at 19 weeks, in a hotel bathroom on a press trip to Mongolia. Her baby lived for a few minutes and her essay is one of the most compelling, honest, irreverent pieces I have ever read. It made me laugh and cry and, for some reason, it made me feel like less of an outlier. She describes her moments with her son as "black magic" and I really like that phrase. Seeing my 19-week-old baby boy was awesome in the real sense of the word. I bore witness to a miracle arrested, putting my eyes on a being that was not of this world and was not yet mine to see. Those moments I spent with him opened a vortex that can never be closed. It was both unnatural and supernatural. Like black magic.
Benedict Cumberbatch's Sherlock has a sister, the show revealed in a new twist (BBC/PA)

The series finale of the BBC's Sunday night drama Sherlock was called both "a treat" and "a flailing, noxious mess" by critics.

The Final Problem could have been Benedict Cumberbatch's last outing as Sherlock Holmes, as he and co-star Martin Freeman are much in demand in Hollywood and it is unknown whether they will reprise their roles.

In The Daily Telegraph, Michael Hogan wrote that "if this was the last-ever episode, which it surely won't be, it worked well as a sign-off", adding : "Last night's episode showcased all the elements that have made this modern-day reinvention such a hit - as well as those that have proved divisive."

He said the episode featured a "dazzling script" which "delivered laughs, excitement and emotion" and after "the adrenalin stopped pumping, there was even a happy ending."

He dismissed criticism of the drama as self-indulgent, smug and over-complicated.

"Would a glorified Midsomer Murders really be preferable to this exhilarating, endlessly creative series?"

He went on: "Seeing something of this calibre on our televisions on a dark, dank Sunday is a treat, not a trial."

Digital Spy's Morgan Jeffery wrote that the episode was "mostly satisfying" as an end to the detective drama.

"The ending they've chosen means that Sherlock could absolutely come back again - but it also absolutely might not. And if it doesn't, The Final Problem would serve as an imperfect but mostly satisfying finale."

He added: "The denouement's a bit baffling and some of the episode's logic is a little askew, but you'd be hard-pressed to watch The Final Problem and not feel moved."

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But Christopher Stevens wrote in The Daily Mail that the episode was "a n abject, flailing, noxious mess", "shockingly bad" and "self-indulgent rubbish".

"If you've woken up this morning with the angry feeling that you were robbed of an evening's entertainment, I share your sense of betrayal.

"Sherlock was, quite simply, the most nonsensical, verbose piece of television I've ever sat through," he wrote.

"The plot was incompetent. The dialogue was dreadful. The scenes were disjointed, the premise absurd, the ending made me want to reach for a plastic bucket and, most heinous of all, a classic creation was ruined."

He added that writer-creators "(Mark) Gatiss and (Steven) Moffat may just have done what Moriarty never could, and finished off the marvellous character of Sherlock Holmes."

Mark Lawson wrote in The Guardian that the episode had a "visual swagger far beyond the budget" and was "a fine way to go, if gone Sherlock has".

But he added that it might be better not to bring it back.

"Producers have cited the actors' crammed diaries as the main reason The Final Problem may bring Sherlock to a close after 13 episodes," he said.

"Yet keeping the stars artistically interested may be an equal challenge."

He continued: "Whether the sleuth could evolve further without becoming pointlessly distant from the source is a problem that may make it sensible for this to be the final episode."
Irish jockey Pat Eddery left his entire 1.3m (1.48m) estate to his partner leaving nothing for his four children, probate documents show.

Champion rider Eddery, who died in November 2015, aged 63, left his money to Emma Owen, who is 23 years his junior.

Expand Close Pat Eddery poses with horse owner Emma Owen (far left) and Trish Simonon (centre) and guest during Ladies Day at Glorious Goodwood held at Goodwood Racecourse on August 2, 2012 in Chichester, England. (Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pat Eddery poses with horse owner Emma Owen (far left) and Trish Simonon (centre) and guest during Ladies Day at Glorious Goodwood held at Goodwood Racecourse on August 2, 2012 in Chichester, England. (Photo by Dave M. Benett/Getty Images)

In a new will, said to be drawn up just two years before his death, the Irishman referred to Miss Owen as My Emma, reports the Daily Mail.

And he said that in the event Miss Owen died before him, the estate should be split between his children - equestrian artist Nichola, 34, former event rider Natasha, 31, and 22-year-old Harry.

He was also the father of jockey Toby Atkinson, 27, from an extra-marital affair.

Miss Owen began working for Eddery at his training yard in 2009, six months after his marriage to former wife Carolyn came to an end.

Expand Close Pat Eddery's daughters, Natasha (L), Nicola and son Harry unveil a plaque in their fathers honour at Ascot Racecourse on July 23, 2016 in Ascot, England. / Facebook

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Whatsapp Pat Eddery's daughters, Natasha (L), Nicola and son Harry unveil a plaque in their fathers honour at Ascot Racecourse on July 23, 2016 in Ascot, England.

Emma reportedly became his partner three months later and moved into his home at the 100-acre Musk Hill stud farm near Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire.

She is said to have had an uneasy relationship with Edderys daughters, who said they were not told he was in hospital for five days before he died of a heart attack.

At the time of his death, daughter Natasha put a message on Instagram saying she had not seen Eddery for five years due to his drinking, although they spoke on the phone.

Speaking about his will, she told the Daily Mail: I have put all my stuff about my dad behind me It doesnt really bother me. Its his choice. Im not upset about it because my dad was ill and I didnt see him as my dad any more.

Expand Close Pat Eddery and Reel Buddy pictured in 2003 / Facebook

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Miss Owen, who still lives at Musk Hill, said she believed Edderys daughter Nichola was contesting the will.

She told the Daily Mail Edderys daughters had walked out of his life because they just couldnt respect his decision to move on and be with someone he wanted to be with.

Eddery won 4,632 races in Britain during his 34-year career.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
The Syrian Civil Defence also put the death toll at 12, saying the shelling hit a displaced people's centre

Syrian government forces have shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area, killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others who were sheltering in a banquet hall, opposition activists said.

The violence in the water-rich Barada Valley near Damascus, which has raged since December 22, has tested the country's fragile ceasefire and restricted the flow of water to the capital.

Despite an agreement to allow maintenance workers in to fix the water facility in the rebel-controlled valley, the violence continued, also trapping an estimated 100,000 residents.

On Sunday, shells fell on the al-Reem banquet hall in Deir Qanoun village in the valley that houses hundreds of civilians who had escaped the intensified fighting.

The activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Centre said 12 were killed and more than 20 were injured.

The group posted pictures of the bloodied floors of the hall, some of them showing bodies with severed limbs.

In a video posted by the opposition Step News agency, a civilian in the hall said the shelling killed his wife, daughter and niece.

The distressed man called for help as he tried to piece together the bodies of his killed family.

"Their flesh was torn apart, so if there's someone to help us out," the man said as he walked away from the camera.

There were signs of massive destruction in the hall, with furniture broken, walls destroyed and blood stains on the tile floors.

Fuad Abu Hattab, an exiled resident of Barada Valley and an activist with the group, said medical teams have been unable to move around the valley because of the fighting and it is not clear if the dozens of injured are getting any immediate care.

Mr Abu Hattab said the centre has served as a shelter for many displaced civilians who escaped the ongoing violence in the valley and other parts of rural Damascus.

The hall has an area for weddings, as well as a restaurant and a number of rooms. It had largely been spared the intense fighting, he said.

The Syrian Civil Defence, a team of volunteer first responders in the rebel-held parts of Syria, also put the death toll at 12, saying the shelling hit a displaced people's centre.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at seven but said it was likely to rise because some of the injured are in critical condition.

Fighting has raged in the valley that provides the Syrian capital with most of its water supply.

In recent days, government and allied troops have been advancing in the valley despite talks to stem the violence.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has fighters on the side of the Syrian government, said pro-government troops seized a hill overlooking the water source in the valley on Sunday.

Meanwhile, in eastern Syria, Islamic State group militants kept up their offensive on government-held areas of the contested city of Deir el-Zour, attacking a military air base from several fronts.

The group said in statements posted on social media it attacked the airport from the west on Sunday, seizing a sentry base used by government soldiers there.

The Observatory said the group's militants also advanced on a hill overlooking the city.

If it secures the hill, the Observatory said, IS militants would be able to sever the road between the air base and another army base nearby.

Deir el-Zour carries strategic significance for IS as it links the group's Iraq territory to its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

The group is under intense pressure in both countries and has lost significant territory in recent months.

The extremist group, which controls most of Deir el-Zour province, has kept the provincial capital under siege since 2014.

The new multi-pronged assault that began on Saturday is its most intense attack on government areas since January 2016.

Government forces have withstood the encirclement thanks to air-dropped humanitarian assistance and weapons and ammunition flown into the airport.

Remaining residents have reported malnourishment and starvation amid severe shortages of food, water and fuel.

AP
Michael Chamberlain, who died last Monday aged 72, was the father involved in what became known as the Dingo Baby case, the murder trial that polarised opinion in Australia and whose twists and turns inspired the Hollywood film A Cry In The Dark (1988) starring Meryl Streep and Sam Neill.

The story began in August 1980 when Chamberlain, a Seventh-day Adventist pastor, and his wife Lindy, took their two young sons and nine-week-old baby daughter Azaria on a camping trip to Ayers Rock. The night after their arrival Lindy reported that Azaria had been taken from her tent by a dingo. A massive search was launched but the baby's body was never found, only the bloodstained jumpsuit she had been wearing. An inquest in 1981 accepted that Azaria had been killed by a dingo but added her body was disposed of with human involvement.

From the start many Australians took against the Chamberlains. Lindy seemed too cold and self-contained for a grieving mother, while their religious affiliation was regarded as weird. It was claimed, moreover, that a dingo would not have been strong enough to drag away a 10lb baby. Rumours began to circulate that Lindy had killed her daughter as part of some bizarre religious ritual.

Within months new evidence emerged which seemed to confirm public suspicions and a second inquest in 1982 charged Lindy Chamberlain with murder. Traces of "blood" had been found in the family car, and a bloody "hand print" was found on Azaria's jumpsuit. (Years later, DNA tests determined the "blood" was a chemical sprayed during manufacture; the "hand print" was red desert dust).

The prosecution claimed there was no dingo saliva on Azaria's jumpsuit, which Lindy Chamberlain put down to the jacket the baby had been wearing over it. But the jacket was missing, and police claimed she was lying. Lindy Chamberlain - heavily pregnant with her fourth child - was convicted of murder, accused of slashing her daughter's throat with nail scissors and making it look like a dingo attack. She was sentenced to life imprisonment; her husband was convicted as an accessory but released. Three years into Lindy Chamberlain's sentence, however, the search for a British tourist who had gone missing near Ayers Rock turned up Azaria's missing jacket in a dingo lair. Days later, Lindy Chamberlain was released and in 1987 a Royal Commission debunked much of the trial's forensic evidence .

The turnaround shook Australians's faith in their police and judicial system, but there were many who still questioned the dingo theory. A third inquest in 1995 left the cause of death open. In 2012, however, a fourth inquest was given a dossier of 14 serious dingo attacks since 1986 on humans, three of them fatal. The coroner finally ruled that a dingo had taken and killed Azaria. Michael Leigh Chamberlain was born on February 27, 1944 in Christchurch, New Zealand, but after converting to the Seventh-day Adventist Church in 1965 he migrated to Australia, where he took a degree in theology. In 1969 he married Lindy Murchison. Chamberlain worked as a Seventh-day Adventist minister in Tasmania, where Lindy gave birth to two sons. In 1977 the family moved to Queensland, where Azaria was born in June 1980.

Lindy Chamberlain gave birth to another daughter in prison, but the case had taken a toll on their marriage and they divorced in 1991. He went on to become an author and teacher and later married Ingrid Bergner, who survives him with their daughter and the two sons and surviving daughter of his first marriage.

Telegraph

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Jennifer Holliday said she did not realise that her participation would be interpreted as a statement of support for Donald Trump (AP/Richard Drew)

Broadway star Jennifer Holliday has pulled out of a concert celebrating Donald Trump's inauguration following protests from her gay and black fans.

Holliday, best known for her Tony-winning role in Broadway's Dreamgirls, said she had not considered that singing at Thursday's concert at Washington's Lincoln Memorial would be judged a statement of support for the President-elect.

She decided to withdraw after reading reports about how her participation was being viewed and apologised for a lack of judgment.

"It just really hit home for me," she said. "The gay community has been a big part of my life and my career. I feel there really wouldn't be a Jennifer Holliday or a Dreamgirls in the 21st Century without them. I needed to at least hear them out and learn why it would be such a great disappointment for them."

Several prominent entertainers have declined to perform at Mr Trump's inaugural festivities, though country star Toby Keith, the rock band 3 Doors Down and actor Jon Voight are still in Thursday's line-up. Jackie Evancho will sing the national anthem at the inauguration on Friday.

Holliday said it was painful to read racial epithets, insults and people wishing that she were dead "just for singing a song". She had been scheduled to sing the Stephen Foster song Hard Times Come Again No More.

"I had no idea it would be interpreted as a political statement," she said. "That's my fault for not paying attention to what the climate is like in the country right now."

President Barack Obama's inaugurations attracted top names like Beyonce, Bruce Springsteen, U2, Alicia Keys, Jennifer Hudson and others, in sharp contrast to those Mr Trump has gathered. But he has insisted that's how he wants it, saying the swearing-in festivities should be about the people, not the A-list.

Star-studded inaugural events for Mr Obama at the Lincoln Memorial in 2009, and for Bill Clinton in 1993, were televised by HBO, but the network's chairman said on Saturday that will not be the case this year.

Richard Plepler, the network's chairman and CEO, stressed that politics had nothing to do with HBO's decision.

He said HBO had been contacted shortly after Mr Obama's election to discuss its interest in the inaugural show, and top talent had already committed to the project. By contrast, he said Mr Trump's transition team contacted him two weeks ago and did not say who would be performing.

"I didn't know what the show would be," Mr Plepler said. "In order to do one of these things you must have the time and planning and coordination for the kind of production that would make it a good show."

Mr Trump's team has made the concert available to air at no cost but no network has publicly come forward to say it would. CNN said on Saturday it would cover the event, but it was not clear how much will be shown on air.

AP
The riot in the state of Rio Grande do Norte was the latest in a series of massacres in Brazil's prisons which have left more than 100 people dead (Michael Dantas/AP)

Twenty-seven inmates have died in eruptions of violence in two northern Brazilian prisons, officials have said.

State security officials said fighting between rival gangs broke out on Saturday at the adjacent Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho lock-ups near the city of Natal in the Rio Grande do Norte state.

Officials waited until dawn on Sunday before entering to try to re-impose control, said state security chief Caio Cesar Bezerra.

"This way we guaranteed a calm intervention, a pacific intervention without resistance from the inmates," Mr Bezerra said.

President Michel Temer expressed concern over the rebellion through his official Twitter page, saying he had been following the situation closely.

Like many prisons across the country, Alcacuz is overcrowded, with more than 1,000 inmates crammed into a facility meant for 620.

The recent outbreak of prison violence began on January 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas.

Authorities said the Family of the North gang targeted members of Brazil's most powerful criminal gang, First Command, in a clash over control of drug-trafficking routes in northern states.

Many of the dead were beheaded and dismembered. Four others died at a smaller prison.

Then on January 6, in the neighbouring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.

Experts say First Command is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the facilities to expand its reach across the national prison system.

Meanwhile, the prison chief for the southern state of Parana, Luiz Alberto Cartaxo, told Brazil's Globonews network that 21 inmates escaped from the Piraquara prison after using explosives to break through the prison wall.

He said two other inmates died in a confrontation with police while trying to flee.

AP
The Queen has attended church for the second Sunday this year after a heavy cold led to her missing festive services.

The monarch was joined by her husband the Duke of Edinburgh at St Mary the Virgin Church in Flitcham, Norfolk.

Also in attendance was David Armstrong-Jones, the second Earl of Snowdon, whose father died just two days earlier.

The former husband of Princess Margaret and celebrity photographer Lord Snowdon died aged 86 on January 13.

Created First Earl of Snowdon in 1961, Antony Armstrong-Jones had two children with the Queen's sister Princess Margaret, their eldest now being the second Earl.

The Queen missed her regular appearances at church on Christmas Day and New Year's Day because of the lingering respiratory illness.

She and Philip had been forced to delay their journey from Buckingham Palace to their Norfolk estate in the days before Christmas after she fell ill.

The Queen wore a purple coat and matching hat, carrying an umbrella to shield her from the morning rain.
European Union legal campaigner Gina Miller said her daughter with autism once asked why her mother had not killed the youngster at birth.

Mrs Miller said coping with daughter Lucy-Ann's disability turned her into a "lioness" and gave her the strength to cope with the high-profile legal struggle over the country's future.

Mrs Miller is the businesswoman behind the successful battle against triggering Britain's departure from the European Union without parliamentary approval.

She told the Mail on Sunday that Lucy-Ann's disability began to have an affect on the youngster upon the birth of her siblings.

Mrs Miller said: "She (Lucy-Ann) saw them growing and doing things that she couldn't do, and it made her frustrated.

"She started to get depressed and angry.

"Then one day, to my absolute shock, she asked me: 'Why didn't you just kill me when I was born.'

"Even now it breaks my heart to think that she even thought about such a thing."

Mrs Miller said Lucy-Ann's emotional intelligence helped to inspire her, though the mother remains fiercely protective and determined to stand up to "bullies".

She added: "I have always been a fighter, but my daughter turned me into a lioness."
There was no evidence that a bomb was on board a plane operated by Lufthansa's budget unit Eurowings bound for Cologne on Sunday, a company spokesman said in Germany, in reply to an enquiry.

He confirmed the plane made an emergency landing in Kuwait, having headed out from Salalah in Oman.

There were 287 passengers and 10 crew on board. Passengers would be flown back to Germany from Kuwait, the spokesman said.

More to follow...
#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...
The EU is looking to stop people taking unseaworthy boats in attempts to cross the Mediterranean

Pope Francis has demanded that every possible measure be taken to protect young refugees after a migrant ship sunk with four survivors out of an estimated 100 people aboard.

Francis was marking the Roman Catholic Church's World Day Of Migrants a day after the latest Mediterranean migrant ship disaster.

Italy's coastguard said only four people survived the sinking off the coast of Libya on Saturday, and only eight bodies have been recovered, although search and recovery efforts continued.

In his noon blessing, Francis recalled that the theme of this year's migrant day message concerned the vulnerability of young migrants, "our young brothers" who often flee home alone and face "so many dangers."

He said: "We must adopt every possible measure to guarantee young migrants' protection and defence, as well as integration."

The Italian Navy was searching for survivors from the vessel, which was believed to be carrying up to 110 people.

Only four survivors were pulled from the water, with at least eight bodies found so far.

Flavio Di Giacomo, from the International Organisation for Migration, told The Independent around 106 people were thought to have died and described the conditions at sea as "extremely bad".

The boat went down in waters between Libya and Italy, which has become the deadliest sea crossing in the world since the start of the refugee crisis.

It claimed the vast majority of more than 5,000 lives lost in treacherous boat journeys to Europe in 2016, the deadliest year on record, with people drowning or being crushed or suffocated in overcrowded smugglers' boats.

Saturday's disaster was the worst single incident so far this year, which has already seen at least 122 deaths at sea.

Rescue workers warn that the crisis is showing no sign of slowing in the Central Mediterranean, which has become the main route since the EU-Turkey deal was implemented in March to reduce comparatively shorter and safer crossings over the Aegean Sea.

At least 550 refugees were rescued on Friday alone off the coast of Libya, where continuing conflict and lawlessness since the British-backed defeat of Muammar Gaddafi has allowed the smuggling and exploitation of migrants to thrive.

Two people were found dead at the bottom of one of the four boats saved and the bodies of four other migrants were found off the coast of Spain. Several asylum seekers have also died in the extreme weather conditions gripping much of Europe in recent weeks.

More than 5,000 refugees were drowned, suffocated or crushed while attempting to cross the Mediterranean and Aegean seas in 2016, making it the deadliest year on record.

Many deaths are thought to go unrecorded, with bodies either disappearing or washing up on the shores of Libya, where authorities do not routinely release casualty figures. Some boats are sighted by Italian authorities but disappear before they can be reached by rescue ships.

The Unravelling the Mediterranean Migration Crisis (Medmig) project partly blamed Britain and EU nations for rocketing death rates, concluding that the refusal to open up legal routes for those seeking safety in Europe has increased demand for people smuggling on ever more dangerous routes.

Operations to combat the thriving trade have driven the use of smaller and less seaworthy boats to cross the Mediterranean, which are harder to spot by ships patrolling as part of the EUs Operation Sophia and authorities in north Africa.

Poorly made dinghies are now being loaded with more than 150 people a time, creating the risk of sinkings, capsizings or the inflatable bursting under the strain, as well as deadly fuel spills.

More than 1,600 migrants and refugees have arrived by sea in Europe so far this year. The vast majority of those arriving in Italy are African, from countries including Nigeria, Eritrea and Guinea, while most of the much lower number of asylum seekers reaching Greek islands are Syrian, Afghan or Iraqi.
Democrat John Lewis had his skull fractured during the civil rights march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans (AP Photo/Cliff Owen)

Donald Trump has sparked fury after tearing into renowned civil rights leader John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire's White House victory.

Mr Trump's Twitter outburst has intensified a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honouring Martin Luther King.

Trump tweeted that Georgia Democrat Mr Lewis "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results".

The incoming president added: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Mr Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, had his skull fractured during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-Americans view Mr Trump's inauguration compared with Barack Obama's eight years ago.

It also demonstrated that no one is immune from scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism.

Mr Trump has found political success even while attacking widely-lauded figures before and after the campaign - a prisoner of war, parents of a dead US soldier, a beauty queen - and now a civil rights icon.

Mr Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said on Friday that he would not attend Mr Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on January 20 - the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining the US Congress 30 years ago.

"You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard," he told NBC's Meet The Press in an interview to be shown on Sunday .

"It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president."

Mr Lewis added: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

His spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Mr Trump and said the Mr Lewis' "opinion speaks for itself".

"We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election," she said.

US intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Mr Trump win.

After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Mr Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats.

But he also emphasised that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines".

Democrat Mrs Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Mr Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.

Mr Lewis' Democratic colleagues rushed to his defence on Saturday.

California's Ted Lieu said he too would skip Mr Trump's inauguration.

"For me, the personal decision not to attend the inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis," he said.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Mr Trump to apologise to Mr Lewis and the people in his district.

"It is disheartening that Trump would rather sing the praises of Vladimir Putin than Georgia's own living social justice legend and civil rights icon," state party spokesman Michael Smith said.

But Mr Trump continued to jab Mr Lewis on Saturday night, saying that the congressman "should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US".

"I can use all the help I can get!" Mr Trump tweeted.

Yet the president-elect's assertion that Mr Lewis' district is "falling apart" and "crime infested" is hard to prove.

Georgia's 5th Congressional District includes the Atlanta metro region, considered one of the nation's fastest-growing areas.

Its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.

Crime statistics for the specific district are not measured by the government and Atlanta officials have reported a significant drop in crime in recent years, although they created a gun violence task force last year to address an increase in murders.

The district has an 8.2% unemployment rate and the median household income is about 48,000 dollars (39,300), according to the Census Bureau.

The area covers part of the wealthy Atlanta neighbourhood of Buckhead, along with the headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, Emory University, Georgia Tech, several historically black colleges and universities and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world's busiest.

But the dispute may be helping sales of Mr Lewis' books.

His defenders have been urging Twitter followers to buy them - a strategy apparently succeeding.

By Saturday night, a bound collection of his March trilogy - graphic memoirs for young people about his civil rights activism - was number one on Amazon and a more traditional memoir, Walking With The Wind, was second.

Last autumn, the third of Mr Lewis' March books, on which he collaborated with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, won the National Book Award in the young people's literature category.

AP
The plane was en-route from Oman to Cologne

A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat - but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. The plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City.

In a statement, Eurowings said the flight was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities", Eurowings said in a statement.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa.

AP
Donald Trump has sparked fury after tearing into renowned civil rights leader John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire's White House victory.

Mr Trump's Twitter outburst has intensified a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honouring Martin Luther King.

Trump tweeted that Georgia Democrat Mr Lewis "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results".

The incoming president added: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Mr Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, had his skull fractured during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-Americans view Mr Trump's inauguration compared with Barack Obama's eight years ago.

It also demonstrated that no one is immune from scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism

Mr Trump has found political success even while attacking widely-lauded figures before and after the campaign - a prisoner of war, parents of a dead US soldier, a beauty queen - and now a civil rights icon.

Mr Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said on Friday that he would not attend Mr Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on January 20 - the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining the US Congress 30 years ago.

"You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard," he told NBC's Meet The Press in an interview to be shown on Sunday.

"It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president."

Mr Lewis added: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

Expand Close Civil rights campaigner John Lewis (AP) / Facebook

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Whatsapp Civil rights campaigner John Lewis (AP)

His spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Mr Trump and said the Mr Lewis' "opinion speaks for itself".

"We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election," she said.

US intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Mr Trump win.

After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Mr Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats.

But he also emphasised that "there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines".

Democrat Mrs Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Mr Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.

Mr Lewis' Democratic colleagues rushed to his defence on Saturday.

California's Ted Lieu said he too would skip Mr Trump's inauguration.

"For me, the personal decision not to attend the inauguration is quite simple: Do I stand with Donald Trump, or do I stand with John Lewis? I am standing with John Lewis," he said.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Mr Trump to apologise to Mr Lewis and the people in his district.

"It is disheartening that Trump would rather sing the praises of Vladimir Putin than Georgia's own living social justice legend and civil rights icon," state party spokesman Michael Smith said.

But Mr Trump continued to jab Mr Lewis on Saturday night, saying that the congressman "should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US".

"I can use all the help I can get!" Mr Trump tweeted.

Yet the president-elect's assertion that Mr Lewis' district is "falling apart" and "crime infested" is hard to prove.

Georgia's 5th Congressional District includes the Atlanta metro region, considered one of the nation's fastest-growing areas.

Its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.

Crime statistics for the specific district are not measured by the government and Atlanta officials have reported a significant drop in crime in recent years, although they created a gun violence task force last year to address an increase in murders.

The district has an 8.2pc unemployment rate and the median household income is about $48,000, according to the Census Bureau.

The area covers part of the wealthy Atlanta neighbourhood of Buckhead, along with the headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, Emory University, Georgia Tech, several historically black colleges and universities and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the world's busiest.

But the dispute may be helping sales of Mr Lewis' books.

His defenders have been urging Twitter followers to buy them - a strategy apparently succeeding.

By Saturday night, a bound collection of his March trilogy - graphic memoirs for young people about his civil rights activism - was number one on Amazon and a more traditional memoir, Walking With The Wind, was second.

Last autumn, the third of Mr Lewis' March books, on which he collaborated with Andrew Aydin and Nate Powell, won the National Book Award in the young people's literature category.
It was the moment that summed up the whirlwind of confused emotions that must have consumed 18-year-old Kamiyah Mobley.

Less than 24 hours after discovering she had been abducted at birth from a Florida hospital, Kamiyah found herself in a South Carolina courtroom staring across at the woman who - until very recently - she had no reason to doubt was her biological mother.

Expand Close Shanara Mobley in 1998 after her baby was stolen / Facebook

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Whatsapp Shanara Mobley in 1998 after her baby was stolen

That woman, 51-year-old Gloria Williams, was now sitting behind a protective screen facing charges of kidnapping Kamiyah when she was just eight hours old.

Overnight she had gone from a mother to a kidnapper.

But Kamiyah showed no trace of anger towards the woman who had brought her up, at one point walking over to Williams and touching her hands through the screen. "I love you," she was heard to say to the woman she still called "Momma".

Williams, whose mother, father and pastor were also present, was seen blowing a kiss to her family. She is reported to have suffered a miscarriage a week before the abduction.

Expand Close Craig Aiken, the baby's father Photo: Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via AP / Facebook

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Whatsapp Craig Aiken, the baby's father Photo: Will Dickey/The Florida Times-Union via AP

Yesterday, Kamiyah again defended the woman who raised her - almost from birth - in Walterboro, South Carolina, a small, racially mixed town of 5,000 people, 50 miles west of Charleston, where the family moved seven years ago.

"My mother raised me with everything I needed and most of all everything I wanted," Kamiyah wrote on Facebook. "My mother is no felon."

Pictures posted on social media showed the two riding happily together in a car and Kamiyah with her high school friends.

"Momma" was the single word that Kamiyah later cried through the grille of a security door as Williams was extradited to Florida, where she now faces charges of kidnapping.

The case broke after a tip-off to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children led police to the home of Williams where they identified Kamiyah as the missing child of Shanara Mobley, abducted from a hospital room in Jacksonville, Florida, on July 10, 1998. DNA swabs and analysis of fraudulent documents used to register Kamiyah's "birth" by Williams quickly confirmed that the young woman who knew herself as Alexis Manigo was in fact Kamiyah Mobley.

Grainy footage, recorded on CCTV, showed pictures of a woman dressed as a nurse leaving the University Medical Centre, Florida, with the baby in her arms wrapped in a pink and blue blanket.

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But despite Kamiyah's apparent loyalty to her "mother", her biological family 200 miles away in Florida appeared to be overwhelmed by the news that the child they had lost was now found. They were reunited via a FaceTime videochat, according to police.

"I always hoped and prayed that this day would happen," Kamiyah's father, Craig Aiken, told a local TV station. "I never gave up, you never lose hope, no matter how much time passes."

Velma Aiken, Kamiyah's grandmother, said the family were taking things very slowly.

"I saw her the day that she was taken and I haven't seen her since and I don't want to scare her away," she said. "So I'm going slow motion."

"She's [Kamiyah] taking it as well as you can imagine," added Mike Williams, the sheriff of Jacksonville. "She has a lot to think about."

Kamiyah had only begun to suspect a couple of months ago that her past might not be altogether normal, he said, but declined to give any further details.

On Friday, investigators called retired detectives who had tried to find the missing baby to tell them of the latest development in the case, which had included 2,500 tip-offs from the public over the years.

"She looks just like her daddy," added Velma Aiken of her granddaughter after they were able to see each other for the first time. "She acts like she been talking to us all the time. She told us she'd be here soon to see us."

Velma Aiken said she was thrilled to know that they can speak with each other as much as they want. "I always prayed, 'Don't let me die before I see my grandbaby'," she said. "My prayer was answered."

Her mother Shanara Mobley told The Florida Times-Union newspaper in 2008 that every year on her daughter's birthday she had wrapped a piece of birthday cake in foil and put it in the freezer.

"It's stressful to wake up every day, knowing that your child is out there and you have no way to reach her or talk to her," she said.

Tesha Stephens, a cousin of Williams, said of Kamiyah: "Right now she's holding up. She's processing everything and she's probably going to have to take this day-by-day."

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
Lashing out: Donald Trump criticised Christopher Steele, the former MI6 operative who prepared a dossier about him, as a 'failed spy'. UK PM Theresa May distanced her government from Steele. President-elect Trump is seen here with comedian Steve Harvey, right, and businessman Greg Calhoun in the lobby of Trump Tower Photo: AP Photo/Evan Vucci

Donald Trump has lashed out at the ex-MI6 operative who prepared a dossier claiming Russia had explosive intelligence on him as a "failed spy" as Theresa May distanced the UK from the former agent.

Trump said Christopher Steele, who spent two decades with the secret intelligence service, collaborated with his political rivals to concoct "phoney allegations". He dismissed the alleged conspirators as "sleazebag political operatives", noting that Russia has denied collecting compromising information about him.

Steele's status as a former UK spy threatened to cause a diplomatic row, with the Russian embassy in London suggesting he was still working on behalf of the British government to damage both Mr Trump and the Kremlin.

Theresa May said in a press conference yesterday that her government had nothing to do with the so-called "dirty dossier".

"From everything you will have seen it is absolutely clear that the individual who produced this dossier has not worked for the UK government for years," she said.

Steele had originally been hired by political operatives eager for information that could damage Trump. He went to the FBI without their permission after he determined that what he had gathered was "sufficiently serious", a journalist who interviewed Steele last year revealed yesterday.

David Corn, of Mother Jones, the liberal news website, said the FBI asked Steele how he had obtained the information, and requested that he forward future findings.

Steele told him he had been trusted by the FBI because "my track record as a professional is second to none".

Trump reacted furiously to the release of the documents, which contain lurid but unsubstantiated allegations about his conduct in a Moscow hotel room. He and his aides have repeatedly disparaged CNN for reporting that a synopsis of the dossier had been presented to him at an intelligence briefing last week before it was published in full on Monday by Buzzfeed.

Kellyanne Conway, a top Trump adviser, denied that the President-elect had been briefed on the matter, and Trump called the reports "fake news".

Those claims were challenged by a subsequent CNN report on Thursday night which said James Comey, the FBI director, had discussed the dossier in a one-on-one meeting with Trump last Friday.

Other US media also reported that a meeting between Trump and Comey had taken place.

Joe Biden, the vice-president, said he and Barack Obama were briefed on the matter because US intelligence was concerned it would soon become public.

With ties between the incoming administration and the Kremlin now under heavy scrutiny, Trump's aides jumped into rapid response mode after the Washington Post claimed Michael Flynn, the retired general and soon-to-be national security adviser, had been in repeated contact with the Russian ambassador to Washington hours before Obama prepared to announce new sanctions on Moscow.

Sean Spicer, Trump's press secretary, said Michael Flynn had a single phone conversation with Sergei Kislyak, the ambassador, on December 28 to arrange a call between Trump and Vladimir Putin.

However, it was later reported that there had been several phone calls between the two men on that date, one day before Obama ordered 35 suspected Russian spies to leave the USA.

Obama made another controversial foreign policy decision yesterday, easing sanctions on Sudan despite the country's poor human rights record, in a surprise diplomatic breakthrough. The move was a reward for cooperation on counter-terrorism and intelligence sharing.

Trump received some welcome news as the path was cleared for James Mattis, the retired Marine Corps general, to be confirmed as his defence secretary. Gen Mattis needs a waiver to take the civilian post because he retired from the military within the past seven years, but President Obama said he would sign his appointment off after it passed the Republican-controlled Congress.

The process to confirm Rex Tillerson, the former ExxonMobil CEO nominated for secretary of state, has a more difficult path due in part to concerns over his links with Russia.

Telegraph Media Group Limited [2022]
'To a man like Steele there is only one option: hide, go on the run. But that's not as easy as it sounds, even for the experienced spook' Photo: Depositphotos

Last week was a nightmare for former MI6 officer Christopher Steele. With his long experience in Moscow working undercover against the SVR and FSB, Steele is a professional in the covert world. But now that he has been outed as the writer of the Donald Trump memo, with its scandalous claims, he has suddenly become one of the most-wanted people in the world. To a man like Steele there is only one option: hide, go on the run. But that's not as easy as it sounds, even for the experienced spook.

So what to do?

The first question he will have asked himself is this: how much time do I have? How much time before the anonymous black Mercedes with the three fit young men in it starts cruising noiselessly down the street? Or, worse, how long before the blues and twos and Mr Plod arrives, demanding embarrassing answers, plus the press pack?

Second question: What's my aim? A permanent disappearance, or can I just hide out till the fuss blows over?

This is what really demands clear thinking, just like they taught you at the Fort, or those scary intelligence officer's new entry course training exercises in seaside towns, pretending to be on the run with the Security Service, the Intelligence Corps and the local police hunting you down. But this time it's for real.

Think! Is this short term or for as long as it takes? Do you need a new identity to be truly safe? Perhaps most important of all, will my old mates at the Secret Intelligence Service (SIS, better known as MI6) help? Or am I on my own, suddenly a pariah of the Western and Russian intelligence community? Who can I trust?

If you're just on the run until it's safe to stick your nose out, the rules are different. Find friends you can trust, or find a safe bolthole and lie low. Think Lord Lucan.

If it's a long-term bug out, though, some other basic rules apply. First, get the hell out of the house - now! Next: it's cash only from now on, at least for the short term. No credit cards. No electronic trail. Get the biggest slab of money you can and move. Money's anonymous. That's precisely why governments hate it so much.

Next, get rid of that mobile. OK, it's your indispensable lifeline to work, friends, family, even your mistress in that secret app. But ditch it!

Remember: Transmission is treason. You can always get your hands on a cheap pay-as-you-go mobile, if that is important. Or use a call box - when you can find one.

Then it's time to grab that extra passport, acquired along the way in your work for British Intelligence. If you've had any nous, you've got more than one and some associated plastic too for when things quieten down. The Narodny Bank of Moscow has most money and there's more in Zurich.

The next move for the long-term runner? Blindingly obvious: get out of Britain as soon as you can. How? Forget airports and ferries. Far too dangerous. Go fishing for mackerel instead. Hire a fishing boat at Deal, Kent, for 500 and get dropped off on the Belgian coast on a rising tide at dawn, no questions asked. Once ashore and heading for Brussels (you have bought tickets to three different places, haven't you?) resist the temptation to contact your friends and family. Instead, take stock, hole up for a while.

Eventually, contact that mate you know in the press and plead your innocence. Tell the real story. Good luck. GCHQ will be on to you in a heartbeat. So will the reptiles.

So it's time to move - again. Now you have to wait. Just hope you don't get sick and have to go to hospital. And hope the cats are being fed. But once that first panic of flight has worn off, some serious soul-searching is required. Who will be hunting the fleeing spook? And, more important, why?

If it's just the media, no problem, he can wait that out. They'll soon move their resources to the next story. But if it's Western intelligence, then hiding on the Costa del Sol won't work for long. Has he committed any criminal offences? Will the Feds drag him back to the States to testify?

Legally, can they? The doubts crowd in. If it's the vengeful Russians, then the stakes are higher. Much higher. Polonium-210 in a cup of Tetley isn't a nice way to go. Where to run? Where to hide?

The spook on the run will be looking for a long-term hiding place, as well as weighing the chances of talking his way out of trouble. The niceties of extradition won't stop the Kremlin. So the pressures - security, financial, personal - plus the dangers will cause sleepless nights.

Thankfully, there are still a few places, even some quite comfortable places, with a sea view, where rules are not quite set in stone. Somewhere, perhaps, like unrecognised Turkish North Cyprus. Get there, get settled, then start to call in all those favours owed in more than 20 years of spying for your country.

Because you will want to get it straightened out eventually. Otherwise, there's always the danger that, one day, you look out of the window to see that anonymous black Mercedes with the three fit young men getting out...

John Hughes-Wilson spent 25 years in British military intelligence and special forces.
China's foreign ministry has rejected Donald Trump's suggestion that he might use support of Taiwan as a bargaining chip in future negotiations (AP/Evan Vucci)

China's foreign ministry has again rejected US president-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that he might use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip between the two sides.

Spokesman Lu Kang said the "one China" policy was "non-negotiable".

Since recognising Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory - a status quo that Mr Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election.

"The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China," Mr Lu said in a statement.

"That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change."

Mr Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published on Friday that "everything is under negotiation, including 'one China'."

The interview is the latest indication Mr Trump will shake up the US-China relationship, particularly on Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.

China was already angered by Mr Trump's December 2 phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to Taiwan's leader in nearly 40 years.

Beijing considers any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.

Mr Trump then said in a television interview that he did not feel "bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade".

After attacking China repeatedly during his campaign, Mr Trump has continued to disparage China on his Twitter account.

He has attacked Beijing over its military build-up in disputed areas of the South China Sea, allegedly manipulating its currency to put American companies at a disadvantage, and not doing enough to curb North Korea's nuclear programme.

He has also announced that a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro, a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book called Death By China.

Mr Trump told the Journal that he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he took office, though he repeated his contention that China was manipulating the yuan.

So far, Beijing has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan and to push for positive co-operation between the two sides, though state-run media have run several strongly worded editorials attacking Mr Trump.

Chinese political observers said on Sunday they expected Beijing's response to change once Mr Trump was inaugurated on January 20.

"Trump has not taken office yet, so he is an ordinary person now," said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University.

"Therefore, there's no need for China to take his remarks seriously or further respond to what he said."

Tang Yonghong, a professor at Xiamen University, said China needed to convince Mr Trump that "if he wants to make money from the Chinese mainland, he must be a friend of China instead of being an enemy".

"I think Trump is handling international relations, including Sino-US relations, with a businessman's logic," he said.

"He wants to see how China will respond to such provocation."

AP
A sea lion hitches a ride on a US Coast Guard boat crew off the coast of Newport Beach. (US Coast Guard/AP)

A young sea lion was so happy to be rescued after getting hooked by fishing gear off Southern California, it jumped into a Coast Guard boat.

The Coast Guard said a Los Angeles-area crew on patrol pulled the sea lion free on Saturday near Newport Harbour.

Officials say after a little persuasion, the sea lion hopped aboard the boat and posed for photos.

The animal was handed to a crew from the Pacific Marine Mammal Centre, which brought the sea lion to its rescue facility.

It will be rehabilitated and eventually released back into the wild.

AP
Six suspected criminals were shot by police

Six suspected members of a criminal gang have died in a shootout with Jamaican police near the tourist zone of Montego Bay, officials said.

Police said in a statement that police returned fire when they were met with gunshots as they tried to stop a car at a highway checkpoint on Saturday night in the town of Adelphi, about 10 miles east of central Montego Bay.

Authorities say one officer was wounded and six suspects killed.

They blame the gang for several murders around Montego Bay.
JMC Projects India secures new orders of Rs2,277 crore; Stock gains 2.6% JMC Projects (India) Limited (JMC), a leading Civil Engineering and EPC Company has secured new orders of Rs2,277 crores. The details are as follows: Water Projects in India of... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 2:08 pm

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Nykaa receives shareholders' approval for bonus issue and ESOP; Stock down 1% The Board of the lifestyle retailer FSN E-Commerce Ventures Limited (Nykaa), on October 3, 2022, approved Bonus Issue of Equity Shares in the proportion of 5 (Five) fully paid-up Equity Sh... November 04, 2022 | 04-11-2022 12:03 pm
Is traveling your passion? If you just nodded your head in a rather indecisive manner, by the time you finish reading this story, traveling will definitely become one of your most prized passions. We're bringing you some popular and off-beat weekend getaways from Delhi to help you get away from the daily bustle of your busy schedules. So pack your bags, and get ready to explore the unexplored like never before. Because one long weekend, coming right up!

Jodhpur

wanderershub

Nothing can beat the beauty of exploring colourful Rajasthani culture, especially when it's just a few hours of a drive away. To explore the intricate and mesmerising beauty of Jodhpur, all you need is an extended weekend. Trust us, you will be smitten by the anecdotes of the glorious past and the antiquity of this barren desert. The leisurely pace of rural life will be a welcome relief from your bustling city life. Dont forget to get yourself spoiled by the amazing food choices.

Distance: 558 kms

Keoladeo Ghana National Park/ Bharatpur National Park

wanderershub

This one should ideally be planned in pleasant weather only, as it will need you to be out for most of the time. Keoladeo Ghana National Park or Bharatpur National Park, as it is fondly called, is a paradise for bird watchers. In fact, the place is home to more than 400 exotic bird species.

Distance: 184 kms

Lansdowne

wanderershub

Lansdowne is a hidden gem you will fall in love with if you love the mountains and quiet. A road trip to this wonderful cantonment town will surely be a heartening experience. The town is also a base camp for Garhwal Rifles, which makes it well maintained, despite being remote. The hill station offers glimpses of British heritage and the peaceful Himalayan ranges.

Distance: 250 kms

Bhangarh

asijaipurcirlce

You must have heard of Bhangarh, the apparently haunted fort in Alwar district of Rajasthan. If you are not intimidated by the stories, this place makes for an amazing weekend getaway with friends. The fort has a number of temples inside it along with a Jauhari Bazaar that attracts a lot of tourists with its local artifacts and apparels.

Distance: 297 kms

Kanatal - Uttarakhand

traveltriangle

Tired of Mussoorie and Nainital? Consider heading to Kanatal, between Chamba and Mussoorie in Uttarakhand. This off beat weekend destination offers you much required peace and tranquility, but you can find a handful of adventure camps offering exciting activities amid the hilly terrain.

Distance: 317 kms

Munsiyari - Uttarakhand

holidayiq

Another hidden gem in the Himalayas, Munsiyari is popular among people who trek regularly. However, it is still an off beat choice from Delhi because it is less frequented by tourists. The quaint little hamlet in Uttarakhand gives you mesmerising and vivid views of the Panchachuli peaks, which is also the starting point for the Milam Glacier trek.

Distance: 572 kms

Pithoragarh - Uttarakhand

traveltriangle

Pithoragarh in the Kumaon region of Uttarakhand is beauty beyond explanation. It is often said that Pithoragarh is the place where the gods dine, and it could very well be so as the place is surrounded with snow clad peaks, perennial rivers, alpine forests and a lot more to explore. Still unspoiled by the commercialisation of big cities, this is one of the most gorgeous off beat destinations to visit from Delhi. Dont miss its mesmerizing Soar Valley.

Distance: 460 kms

Fagu - Himachal Pradesh

ghumakkar

Reach Kufri in Himachal Pradesh and give it a ditch for a small enchanting little town known as Fagu in the same region. The place is godly if you wish to explore the majestic Himalayan summits. Little stone house across the valley with lush green plantations make for an ethereal and charming weekend getaway. If you're planning a visit in February, make sure you take part in their popular ski fest.

Distance: 380 kms

Pangot - Uttaranchal

tripadvisor

Another trove for birdwatchers is Pangot, located in the Nainital district of Uttaranchal. The place is natures paradise for bird lovers with around 580 bird species, as per records. You are bound to come across some colorful fluttering feathers while strolling around the town. Although the place is little off beat for Delhites, the resorts here are beautiful to unwind in.

Distance: 310 kms
Last night saw a bevy of stars strutting down the red carpet of 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards 2017. Dressed in some of the most jaw-dropping outfits, the celebs left no stone unturned to make a statement.

The winner's list is already out and we are pretty sure that you have already acquainted yourself with it. As you might know, Aamir Khans Dangal, Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil and Sonam Kapoors Neerja swept all the major awards last night.

The star-studded event was hosted by none other than Shah Rukh Khan. The king of wit and humour, left the audiences in splits and kept the audiences entertained all through the night.

After bagging the Best Director award for his film Dangal, filmmaker Nitesh Tiwari said, "This award is the reassurance of how much people loved our film (Dangal). So I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone in India and abroad who loved and supported our film. It means everything."

indianexpress

Alia Bhatt who has always been appreciated for her flawless acting skills, managed to win the Best Actress (Female) award after beating a lot of seasoned performances.

After receiving the award, she said, "It's very close to my heart (Udta Punjab). Thank you Shahid for sending the script to me. Today is very special day for me. Sridevi ji receiving it from you is an honour. Another reason is my sister is here. Got her out of home."

Another actress who bagged the much-deserved Critics Award for Best Actor(Female) was Sonam Kapoor. Theres no denying the fact that the world saw a new side of Sonam Kapoor as an actress and with this film she showed it to everyone that she can act and how!

Another highlight of the evening was when Shatrughan Sinha was bestowed with the prestigious Filmfare Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by his daughter, actress Sonakshi Sinha.

After winning the award, the veteran actor said, "Many people feel if you get the Lifetime Achievement Award it's the end, but I feel it's just the beginning."

Winner of Best Actor Award (Male) , Shahid Kapoor took to Instagram to thank Filmfare and his Udta Punjab co-stars, Alia and Diljit Dosanjh.

He even managed to compliment his better half Mira Rajput in the same every message:

Came with one stunning lady and heading home with two. Thank you #filmfare. #udtapunjab congratulations @aliaabhatt and @diljitdosanjh A photo posted by Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) on Jan 14, 2017 at 1:26pm PST

Thank you Abhishek Chaubey and Sudip Sharma for conceiving Tommy Singh. The filmfare trophy belongs to you first.#drugsdimadi #whosthegabru  Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) January 15, 2017

Congratulations to @aliaa08 and @diljitdosanjh for the much deserved awards. Here's to cinema with content. Say no to drugs. #whosthegabru  Shahid Kapoor (@shahidkapoor) January 15, 2017

Check out the tweets of other celebs:

1. Karan Johar

2. Jacqueline Fernandez

3. Subhash Ghai

#Filmfare awards is always a pleasure to watch new comers to rising to superstars with high energy n excitements  pic.twitter.com/oBmmwu3IYL  Subhash Ghai (@SubhashGhai1) January 15, 2017

4. Shilpa Shetty

Man of the hour @jiteshpillaai . Pulled it off my friend.. Spectacular show #filmfare https://t.co/iU7uMggmFO  SHILPA SHETTY KUNDRA (@TheShilpaShetty) January 14, 2017

5. Boman Irani

6. Athiya Shetty

Congratulations to this bundle of talent @aliaa08! Every time I see her perform I message her saying 'But how?!'. May there be many more  Athiya Shetty (@theathiyashetty) January 15, 2017

7. Sonam Kapoor

Winning the best actress award for Neerja, was a truly special moment.. but it was made more https://t.co/gOJPmZpqj9  Sonam Kapoor (@sonamakapoor) January 15, 2017

8. Rajkummar Rao
1. Bengaluru Police Likely To Sue The Organisers Of David Guetta Concert For Defaming The City!

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said that he was deeply disappointed about Bengaluru's image being spoilt on "fictitious grounds."

"The event was not even being held in the city and yet there was propaganda against the city and the police. We didn't have any knowledge about the concert and came to know of it much later," said Sood.

2. 'Mean Girls' Star Lindsay Lohan's Instagram Bio Reads 'Alaikum Salam' & Internet Can't Handle It!

Lohan has wiped her social accounts clean and posted the message Alaikum salam on her Instagram bio. This has obviously triggered speculations that she has converted to Islam.

However, this is not the first time that she has shown a keen interest in another religion. Back in 2015, she had faced severe backlash in the US when she was spotted with a Quran in her hands.

3. According To This Fake Voter ID, Salman Khan's 64-Year-Old And Not 51 As We Thought!

During The Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC) elections, a fake ID of the Sultan actor emerged which mentions that the actor is 64 years old! Yup, you read that right!

4. Shahid Reveals Interesting Details About 'Padmavati', Says He'll Take Off His Shirt In Many Shots!

filmfare

The Udta Punjab actor revealed that he will go shirtless in the film! He said, "I have no-food days now because I need to be in a certain shape for Padmavati. My character has a lot of close ups, body shots.

5. After 2017's Version Of Urvasi Urvasi, AR Rahman To Release Unplugged Version Of These 5 Songs!

MTV

Going by the news that has been doing the rounds, Rahman didnt stop at just Urvasi Urvasi. He had announced that he will release unplugged versions of five more of his super hit songs! These songs are Enna Sona, Ranjha Ranjha, Aise Na Dekho, Tu Hai and Mann Chandre.
After a lot of hullaballoo around DJ David Guettas concert getting cancelled in Bengaluru, looks like the city police are now on a mission. No, they arent thinking of launching a women safety drive or anything but they have now decided to issue a legal notice against organizer Sunburn, for falsely accusing the police.

Speaking to Deccan Chronicle, City Police Commissioner Praveen Sood said that he was deeply disappointed about Bengaluru's image being spoilt on "fictitious grounds."

"The event was not even being held in the city and yet there was propaganda against the city and the police. We didn't have any knowledge about the concert and came to know of it much later," said Sood.

David Guettas concert in Bengaluru was scrapped following the mass molestation incident during New Years Eve. The reason for cancelling the show was due to the "law and order situation" in the city.

PTI

The official statement read,

"Due to the present law & order situation in Bengaluru following the events that transpired around New Year's Eve, the authorities have recommended against holding the David Guetta concert scheduled today in the city.

Whats more, the CEO of Sunburn Karan Singh had issued a statement which said,

"We at Sunburn tried our very best to make it happen but the authorities understandably are not prepared to take any chances. Hence today's concert unfortunately stands cancelled".

twitter

Renowned artiste Guetta is on a four-city tour across our country. Now that Bengaluru stands canceled, he will be performing in Mumbai, Hyderabad and New Delhi.
Rising crime in the country gets extensive coverage, but what gets overlooked is the state of police forces, who have to cope without even basic infrastructure to fulfill their duties. Many police stations lack vehicles, phones and wireless. There are 188 police stations without a single vehicle, 402 lack telephone lines, 134 don't have wireless sets and there are 65 which neither have a telephone line nor wireless sets, as per data compiled by the Bureau of Police Research and Development (BPR&D). There are 15,555 police stations in the country.

BCCL/ Representational Image

Manipur has 43 police stations without phones or wireless sets, the maximum for any state, while Chhattisgarh has 161 police stations without vehicles. Madhya Pradesh has 111 police stations without any telephone line, followed by Meghalaya and Manipur at 67 police stations each. Uttar Pradesh also has 51 police stations without a telephone line and 17 without wireless.

Of the total number of police stations in India, 10,014 are rural and 5,025 urban. The rest are railway police stations.

BPRD figures reveal there are only 10.13 vehicles for 100 policemen at the national level, with 1,75,358 vehicles in all available for law enforcement. Maharashtra has the maximum number of vehicles (17,131), followed by Tamil Nadu (15,926) and UP (13,452). Home ministry officials admit that insurgency-struck Manipur has police stations with inadequate facilities in remote areas which are an urgent reminder that the Centre and the states should work to create infrastructure. "In the case of Chhattisgarh and MP, most police stations are in Maoist-affected areas where wireless sets or vehicles are often snatched by Naxalites. This cannot be an excuse as police need at least phones, vehicles and wireless sets for communication and mobility," said an official.

BCCL/Representational Image

As on January 2016, there were 22,80,691 police officers across all states and Union territories. In a reflection of how successive administrations failed to provide housing to police personnel, only 5,56,539 cops have family quarters.

The problem doesn't end with the lack of facilities. Most police officers are overworked. According to the data, there is only one cop for every 729 people, despite multiple challenges, such as cyber crime and the significant threats of terrorism, communal violence and Naxalism.

The problem is particularly acute in Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Dadar & Nagar Haveli and Delhi where there is one policeman for 1,100 people.

Senior officers say the central paramilitary forces are better off than the civil police in terms of facilities and daily routines if the diversity of workload is compared.
The city police arrested a man with 180ml liquor worth Rs 100 from Bopal area of Gujarat's Ahmedabad district.

youtube/representational image

The accused, identified as Ranjit Vaghela, was on Wednesday granted bail on a bond of Rs 10,000, police said.

terrorism attack/representational image

"This was his (Vaghela) second attempt for the bail. Earlier, the magistrate court had rejected his plea and (he) was remanded to police custody," a senior police official said.

The Gujarat government, after facing criticism for not practicing prohibition laws effectively, has recently amended the laws to make them more stringent.

BCCL/representational image

Owing to the state government's stern move, law and order enforcement agencies too have increased their vigilance.
Emotions are running high as Barack Obama prepares to bid adieu as America's 44th President. The past eight years are proof of how brilliantly he delivered on his presidency; even though the years were peppered with failures and pitfalls, he managed to maintain a stance that was dignified 'to the T'. Donald Trump really has a tough challenge to live up to.

OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO

Obama's legacy is one that will be remembered by generations to come, especially for the accomplishments that set precedents for other nations - from legalising same-sex marriage across the States to allowing his daughter to take up a job at a diner, Obama really shone through as the leader of the first world.

In his honour, therefore, here are seven reasons that make him one of the greatest leaders the world.

1. He appointed the first African-American woman, Loretta Lynch for the position of United States Attorney General - a feat that countries like India can take note of and do well to appoint women in high-ranking power positions.

nbc

2. Obama inducted a record number of Indian-American representatives in his administration, acknowledging the diversity that the Indian-American community brought to his cabinet.

ripplo

3. Obama legalised same-sex marriage for all Americans because marrying for love should be the most important thing and he understood that without any malignancy in his heart.

AP

4. He expanded the scope of embryonic stem cell research that paved the way for major breakthroughs in research involving cancer and spinal injury, thereby leading the way forward in medicine for the rest of the world.

OFFICIAL WHITE HOUSE PHOTO

5. He allowed his younger daughter, Sasha Obama to take up a diner job during her summer break to help her learn the value of hard work, thereby setting an example of 'normalcy' for everyone who thought that an elite position always calls for high-end comfort.

AP
Afghan officials are pushing to create a "safe zone" for Taliban insurgents in a bid to wean them away from traditional sanctuaries inside Pakistan, in a radical and contentious strategy to de-escalate the conflict.

AFP

The plan underscores desperation in Afghanistan for out-of-the-box solutions to tackle the 15-year insurgency, as peace bids repeatedly fail and US-backed forces suffer record casualties in stalemated fighting.

If implemented, the strategy  aimed at undercutting Pakistan's influence over the Taliban  could, for better or for worse, be a game changer in a strife-torn nation where ceding territory to insurgents is seen as tantamount to partition.

"I urge the Taliban to return to Afghanistan. We should make a safe zone for them and their families," Kandahar police chief Abdul Raziq told a gathering of religious scholars and tribal elders last month.

"We can no longer rely on foreign governments and embassies to end the war. The Taliban belong to this country, they are sons of this soil."

That Raziq, arguably the most powerful commander in southern Afghanistan and long one of the staunchest anti-Taliban figures, would suggest such an idea amplified the shockwaves it created.

AFP

"The government shouldn't be giving safe zones to terrorists," warned former Helmand governor Sher Mohammed Akhundzada, while some observers dismissed the strategy as "illogical" as the Taliban already control vast swathes of Afghan territory.

Raziq did not respond to repeated requests for an interview, but a senior security official told AFP the government's goal "is to bring the Taliban from Pakistan to Afghanistan".

"We will separate a territory for them to come with their families. Then whether they want to fight or talk peace, they will be relieved from the pressure of Pakistan," he said, speaking anonymously.

Pakistan began supporting the Taliban movement of the 1990s as part of its policy of "strategic depth" against nemesis India.

Seen by many Afghans as the biggest obstacle to lasting peace, Islamabad has long been accused of playing a "double game" in Afghanistan: endorsing Washington's war on terrorism since the 9/11 attacks, while nurturing militant sanctuaries.

After years of official denial, a top Pakistani official in 2016 admitted for the first time the Taliban enjoys safe haven inside his country, which Islamabad uses as a "lever" to pressure the group into talks with Kabul.

However, Pakistan has hosted multiple rounds of talks ostensibly to jumpstart a peace process  without result.

The "safe zone" strategy appears to have taken shape as prominent Taliban figures call to make the insurgency independent of Pakistan's powerful intelligence agency, which they accuse of manipulating the group.

AFP

"The presence of our movement's key decision makers and institutions inside Pakistan means they can impose things that are against the interests of our movement and Afghanistan," Sayed Tayyeb Agha wrote in a letter last year to Taliban leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.

"To be able to make independent decisions, our leadership... should leave Pakistan," the former head of the Taliban's political commission added in the letter seen by AFP.

Afghanistan's National Security Council did not officially confirm the government strategy, saying only: "The Taliban are allowed to relocate to Afghanistan under state protection."

The Afghan security official said the government was in contact with Taliban leaders over the proposal, a fact corroborated by militant sources in Pakistan.

He refused to specify the potential location for the safe zone, and whether it will be immune from aerial bombardment or a ground assault, but insisted no areas with military installations will be handed over.

Speculation that the government was furtively trying to cede territory recently grew when local media cited secret military documents revealing Afghan forces were planning to retreat from two Helmand districts during a winter lull in fighting.

Afghan officials dismissed the report, while also rejecting longstanding claims that the Taliban leadership council  Quetta Shura  has relocated to Afghanistan.

But multiple insurgent sources told AFP that prominent members, including the Taliban's military chief Ibrahim Sadr, recently moved to an undisclosed location in Afghanistan.

AFP

"Ibrahim also urged Haibatullah to come to Afghanistan but he refused," a top Quetta Shura member told AFP.

Obaidullah Barakzai, an MP from Uruzgan province, argued that giving the Taliban a permanent address in Afghanistan would make it easier to convince them to participate in an "Afghan-owned, Afghan-led peace dialogue without interference from our neighbour".

However, Timor Sharan, an analyst at the International Crisis Group, said the strategy was flawed.

"It's like asking the Taliban to leave their brick-built houses and settle in a tent in the desert with half-hearted guarantees that they will not be bombed," Sharan told AFP.

"The Taliban need to receive a strong assurance from coalition forces, in particular, the US, before making the move."

But the Afghan security official insisted there was no military solution to the conflict.

"If this plan does not work, Afghanistan will be ready for another tough year of fighting," he said.
Bangladesh police on Saturday said they have arrested a top Islamist militant accused of being one of the "masterminds" of the country's worst terror attack at a popular Dhaka cafe and plotting murders of religious minorities including two Hindu priests.

BCCL

ISIS-linked outlawed Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen recruiter Jahangir Alam alias Rajib alias Gandhi was arrested Friday night from Elenga, some 120 km north of Dhaka, Counter-Terrorism and Transnational police unit chief Monirul Islam told media.

He said that Alam was one of the "key players" in the July attack on Holey Artisan restaurant who were captured alive so far as "13 of the 17 militants who were presumed to have plotted the attack were killed in encounters so far".

"During the initial interrogation he has admitted to his direct link to the plot of staging the attack on Gulshan's Holey Artisan and the subsequent Eid congregation in Sholakia," Islam said.

The official said the police investigations found that Alam was involved in plotting murders of 22 people including a slain Japanese national, a Hindu tailor, two Hindu priests, a village doctor, a Sufi Muslim, a professor of state-run Rajshahi University and several others in the past four years.

BCCL

The development came two weeks after five suspected JMB operatives were arrested for plotting attacks on the New Year's Eve and 30-kg explosives were seized from them.

A breakaway faction of JMB constituted the Neo-JMB which was behind the July 1 attack on the Dhaka cafe in which 22 people, including 17 foreigners, were killed. An Indian girl was among those killed in Bangladesh's worst terror attack.

Police said Alam's name surfaced during investigations when they found that he served Neo-JMB as the commander of the outfit for the Northern districts.

The arrest was made a week after Neo-JMB's most wanted leader Nurul Islam alias Marzan and another extremist were killed by counter-terrorism forces in Mohammadpur Beribadh area of the capital during a pre-dawn raid.

BCCL

Police had claimed that Marzan coordinated the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery.

Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury, who was singled out by the police as the neo-JMB chief and the key player in the recent terror activities in Bangladesh, and two others were killed in a police operation in Narayanganj on August 27.

Last week, RAB arrested 10 people from different parts of Dhaka for their suspected involvement with the cafe attackers.

A dozen other top and second-tier leaders of the New JMB group are still absconding.
Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency has taken 6 years to arrest a man who successfully passed himself off as the nation's Minister of Financial and Consumer Affairs.

Salamat Ali Chauhan was reportedly so good at his con that he even fooled the PM and fellow ministers. He'd been playing the long con, impersonating a government official even before the new government took over, marching around in perfect step with new ministers.

With his position, Chauhan had manoeuvred himself into a position of great favour, obtaining favours, bribes, and influence, with no one the wiser. He even had a physical office in Lahore, with staff, and recently submitted a request for official cars and security from the Lahore District Coordination Officer (DCO).

Not content with just doing nothing, he set up business as a loan provider.

reuters

Surprisingly, he'd even written to the Pakistani PM and the Ministry of Finance, asking for cooperation, and even asked to discuss the nation's unemployment problem with the PM. Chauhan is now being investigated, FIA officials told the media.

Also read: Pak Defense Minister Threatens To Nuke Israel After Reading A Fake News Article!
BCCL

Two days after a jawan posted a video critical of the army on social media, Army chief general Bipin Rawat said if army personnel don't use "proper, specified channels" to air their grievances they will be liable to be punished.

"Proper channels are in place for jawans to put across their grievances...if they aren't satisfied with the action taken, they can contact me directly," General Rawat during an address on Army Day today. Read more here

Here are 5 more stories for you:

1. Pakistan Interior Minister Admits That Islamabad Deals With Both 'Good Terrorists' and 'Bad Terrorists'

Reuters

Pakistan's interior minister has publicly and unwittingly acknowledged something the world has long known - Islamabad makes a distinction between 'good terrorists' and 'bad terrorists'. And the government is now facing a backlash from an aghast opposition for promoting this distinction, Pakistani media reported.

Last week, in the Pakistani Senate, interior minister Chaudhry Nisar said there should be a distinction made between banned terrorist outfits and banned sectarian organisations.

The meaning of the former is self-evident; the latter refers to extremist religious organisations. Nisar's comments were no slip of the tongue, because of yesterday, he went so far as to say there should be separate laws for the two groups. Read more here

2. Heat, Cyclones, Floods And Now Cold, 1600 Died From Extreme Weather In India Last Year

More than 1,600 people died due to extreme weather conditions across the country last year, with severe heat wave claiming the largest chunk of the total deaths at 40 per cent, followed by flooding and lightning.

The IMD said 2016 was the warmest year ever recorded, globally as well as in India. Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded 51 degrees celsius, highest ever recorded in the country.

BCCL

January and February were the warmest winter months ever, according to IMD, which records weather patterns since 1901. Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra topped the casualty list with the states contributing 35 percent of the total. They together recorded 552 deaths due to extreme weather patterns.Read more here

3. Your WhatsApp Messages Can Be Read Without You Knowing, Due To Encryption Related Issues

indialivetoday.com

The world's biggest mobile messaging service, WhatsApp, is vulnerable to interception, The Guardian reported.

According to the report, WhatsApp messages could be read without its billion-plus users knowing due to a security backdoor in the way the company has implemented its end-to-end encryption protocol.

The system relies on unique security keys "that are traded and verified between users to guarantee communications are secure and cannot be intercepted by a middleman," the report said. Read more here

4. Mastermind Behind Dhaka Cafe Terror Attack Arrested In Bangladesh

BCCL

Bangladesh police on Saturday said they have arrested a top Islamist militant accused of being one of the "masterminds" of the country's worst terror attack at a popular Dhaka cafe and plotting murders of religious minorities including two Hindu priests.

ISIS-linked outlawed Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen recruiter Jahangir Alam alias Rajib alias Gandhi was arrested Friday night from Elenga, some 120 km north of Dhaka, Counter-Terrorism and Transnational police unit chief Monirul Islam told media.Read more here

5. 'Vannakam!' Canadian PM Justin Trudeau Wishes Tamilians On Pongal, Wins Hearts Yet Again!

Reuters

On the occasion of Pongal, Justin Trudeau took an opportunity to not only wish the Tamil community but also recognize the rich heritage of the Tamil Canadians and hail January as the Tamil Heritage month.

Canadian Prime Minister, Justin Trudeau, who never fails to seize any opportunity "to celebrate the many cultures, languages and beliefs that make our country (Canada) such a wonderful place to live", has wished Tamilians in Canada and around the world a happy Thai Pongal on Sunday.

In the video, posted on his social media, he begins with a Tamil greeting "Vanakkam!" and says, "Over the next few days, Tamils in Canada and around the world will gather with loved ones to celebrate Thai Pongal. Each day of this festival has its own special meaning and traditions which are tied to abundance, peace and happiness." Read more here
l

The gunmen who kidnapped students and staff of the Tulip International School, Isheri Ogun State on Friday have demanded the sum of N1.2bn to released their victims.

According to a report by Channels Television, one of the victims family member was contacted on Sunday by the kidnappers for the demand of the ransom

Meanwhile, the Police in Ogun State have assured the family members of the victims of their prompt rescue as they added that they are already on the trail of the kidnappers.
Nigerian newspaper headlines January 15, 2017.

Punch

Two out of Nigerias three refineries were completely dormant in November 2016 as they could not refine a drop of crude oil throughout the period.

Vanguard

At last, the Federal Government talks with Niger Delta stakeholders, including militants, who have been bombing oil assets to draw attention to challenges in the oil region, begin tomorrow.

Guardian

The three non-academic staff unions in the universities, National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Non Academic Staff Union of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), are scheduled to begin a five-day warning strike from tomorrow, Monday.

Thisday

In a move to underline the militarys success in the antiterrorism war in the North-east, the federal government has invited the convener of Bring Back Our Girls (BBOG), Mrs. Oby Ezekwesili, to join a delegation for an assessment tour of Sambisa Forest and other battle spots on Monday, January 16.

Leadership

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that the partnership between the African continent and France has yielded fruits in so many positive ways but that France can do more to help Africa overcome its challenges.

Premium Times

The #BringBackOurGirls group has outlined a set of conditions to be met by the Nigerian government before accepting its invitation for a trip into Sambisa forest.

The Sun

Fresh facts have emerged on how gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, stormed the Ogun State branch of the Nigerian Turkish International College, NTIC, on Friday night and abducted five students and three members of staff.

The Nation

With about N6.215billion already spent in eight years on the new official residence of the nations Vice President in Abuja, the project remains enmeshed in controversy.
The Peace Corps of Nigeria says it will recruit 2, 000 youths from Lagos State this year, Mr Mutairu Habib, the South-West Zonal Commandant of the corps made this known to newsmen in Lagos on Saturday.

The corps is targeting to recruit 2,000 officers in Lagos State this year as part of efforts to reduce unemployment, he told a news conference.

The commandant said the recruitment was aimed at complementing efforts of federal and state governments in tackling youth unemployment.

Habid, who is also the State Commandant of the Corps, urged governments at all levels to key into the policies of the security outfit.

The National Assembly had in November 2016 passed the bill establishing the Peace Corps of Nigeria and it is currently awaiting presidential assent.

Also, Senate President, Bukola Saraki had said the passage of the bill would institutionalise the corps that had been in existence for several years as a voluntary organisation in the country.

The Peace Corps is a volunteer programme run by the United States Government since 1961 and to date, nearly 220,000 Americans have joined the Corps and are serving in 141 countries.

Habib, who was optimistic that the bill would be signed into law soon, said the corps would help to facilitate peace, community services, nation building among others.

According to him, the corps also has a vision and mission to train, educate and re-orientate youths on their future leadership roles in the society.

Habib said that already officers of the corps had started working as tourist guides and security operatives in schools, banks, and other organisations.

The youths, who after distinct initial training and orientation, are given the status of Staff Officers and are thus, entitled to monthly stipend paid jointly by the corps and the direct beneficiary of the corps services.

He said employed professionals in the various fields, who are willing to serve as Peace Corps Volunteers would be recruited.
The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Plateau chapter, Jibrin Banchir, on Sunday said Plateau Government owed N12 billion as retired workers gratuities.

Mr. Banchir told journalists in Jos that the amount covered 15 years of arrears.

He, however, commended Governor Simon Lalong for clearing the backlog of workers salaries.

The labour leader appealed to the governor to also pay gratuities of retirees, who had served the state since their youthful days.

We recently met with the governor and we told him that Plateau Government is owing over N12 billion gratuity for a period of 15 years.

We, therefore, appealed to the state government to explore all possible ways to pay it.

We are monitoring the Paris Club refund, this is the first tranche, the second, third and fourth tranche will come.

The Federal Government clearly said that 50 per cent of the Paris Club refund must be used in servicing workers benefits; salaries, pensions and gratuities.

We are done with the payment of salaries and pensions, and if we get another tranche, we should use it to pay the gratuities, Mr. Banchir said.

On leave and transport grants owed workers before consolidation in 2013, the labour leader said that the union was negotiating with the state government through the office of Head of Service.

He expressed optimism that the negotiating team would address the issue for the benefits of workers.

The chairman said that although workers and pensioners were still awaiting payment of other entitlements, they are happy salaries and pension arrears have been paid.

If we look back at the turbulent times we have had, we have no reason not to appreciate the government.

It is the first time, in more than 15 years, that we have receive December salary in December and we must commend the governor for that, he said.

He recalled that government workers were owed seven month salaries arrears; local government owed three months; state pensioners, nine months and local government pensioners, seven months.

He also appreciated the governor for promoting workers for the first time in nine years.

According to him, some workers even got double promotions because of the governors gesture.

On behalf of the Plateau workers, we appreciate the governor in a very special way and we will reciprocate by putting in our very best in discharging our duties, he said.
Suspected hoodlums has beaten the embattled traditional chief (Baale) Of Olode, Chief Lukman Ilufemiloye Alao to stupor for challenging his unlawful removal from office.

He was said to have been attacked by suspected thugs of the newly appointed Baale.

Trouble started for Alao when he went to the ancient town to deposit an injunction he got from the court to inform the members of the community of the impending suit challenging his removal when thugs suspected to be working for the incumbent pounced on him.

Alao who was in company of his wife, Rashidat Alao and younger brother were mercilessly beaten and his Lexus jeep (Rx 330) vandalized.

Narrating his ordeal in the hands of his assailants to reporters at Adeoyo Medical hospital, Yemetu, Ibadan on Saturday, the embattled Baale said the thugs which were too many for him to count ran after him from the community immediately they saw his car close to the market, giving him a hot chase with motorcycles but that he was eventually caught when his car suddenly stopped working as a result of the roughness of the road couple with the haste he drove.

Aside from his car that was badly damaged with stone, the Baale said N150, 000 cash was stolen from him couple with his other material belongings such as gold necklace, wristwatch, gold ring and his shoes, all valued at hundreds of thousand

Alao, who noted that his removal couldnt have been less illegal maintained that he was neither informed, called or even showed any evidence or petition written against him before the news of his removal filtered around town

Noting that he would be willing to abide by whatever decision or judgment the court rules on the matter, Alao said the reason he decided to challenge his removal in the court is to prove that if indeed the Olubadan has evidence of wrong doings against him, he would have been summoned to the palace, strip of the titles and his certificate of title conferment withdrawn from him

I had gone to the community, where I reside to paste a court injunction I got challenging my illegal removal as Baale when thugs suspected to be working with Dauda Odeyemi (Ejo) started chasing my car.

They started the chase from Fatusi but my car broke down and the thugs with about 70 motorcycles carrying at least 3 thugs pounced on me, my wife and younger brother who were with me in the car.

We were beaten but because I was the target, I was heavily beaten. My car was damaged, the N150,000 cash in my pocket was stolen. My gold necklace, ring and wristwatch were also stolen.

I was thereafter rushed to the Olubadan palace to show the king what they had done to me before I was eventually taken to the hospital.

My removal was illegal because I was never informed, called or even showed any evidence or petition written against me before the news filtered around town.

Although, I would be willing to abide by whatever decision or judgment of the court, but I have decided to challenge my removal in the court to prove that if indeed there are evidences of wrong doings against me, I would have been summoned to the palace, stripped of me title and my certificate of title conferment withdrawn from me, but that was not to be.

Meanwhile, two of the suspected thugs that attacked the deposed Baale were yesterday granted bail after the arraignment, Thursday.

The case which was between the commissioner of Police (claimant) versus Odeyemi Abdul wasiu, 47 and Musibau Lawal, 47 (claimants) held at Court 5, Magistrate Court, Iyaganku, Ibadan.

The charge sheet marked MC/43C/2017 accused the duo on a-four-count charge of conspiracy to commit felony to wit; assault occasioning harm.

That you, Odeyemi Abdul wasiu m, Musibau Lawal m and others now at large on the 11th day of January, 2017 at about 4pm at Olode town, Ibadan in the Ibadan Magisterial District, did conspire together to commit felony to wit; assault occasioning harm and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 516 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

That you, Odeyemi Abdul wasiu m, Musibau Lawal m and others now at large on the same date, time and place at the aforesaid Magisterial District, did unlawfully assault one Chief Lukman Alao m as a result he sustained injuries all over his body and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

That you, Odeyemi Abdul wasiu m, Musibau Lawal m and others now at large on the same date, time and place at the aforesaid Magisterial District, did unlawfully assault one Rasidat Alao f as a result she sustained injury on her face and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 355 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000.

That you, Odeyemi Abdulwasiu m, Musibau Lawal m and others now at large on the same date, time and place at the aforesaid Magisterial District, did unlawfully damage the following vehicles wind screen (1) Lexus 330 Jeep with Reg. No Baale Olode and (2) Nissan Altima Car with registration number OLORI Olode value yet unknown property of Chief Lukman Alao m and thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 451 of the Criminal Code, Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria, 2000., the charge sheet reads.

Source: Leadership
Verra presentato il prossimo 15 giugno alle ore 18  presso lo stabilimento della Colgate Palmolive di Anzio (via Palmolive, 18)  il Rapporto sul territorio 2017, redatto dall'Osservatorio diocesano delle poverta e delle risorse della Caritas della diocesi di Albano. Il documento, elaborato a partire dalle rilevazioni eseguite dallequipe di lavoro della Caritas diocesana, prende in esame lanalisi degli elementi e delle informazioni su situazioni di disagio e poverta, lavoro e immigrazione sul territorio diocesano, che comprende 13 comuni, raccolti a partire dal 2014 sino a quasi tutto il 2017, incrociando i dati pubblici ufficiali e quelli elaborati nella rete di 15 Centri dascolto parrocchiali.

L'obiettivo, si legge in comunicato, e quello di mettere a disposizione, sia per la Caritas diocesana che per le istituzioni pubbliche del territorio, quegli elementi dai quali puo scaturire una piu concreta conoscenza dei disagi e delle poverta, perche filtrata dallesperienza di una comunita presente, sensibile, piu attenta nellascolto.

Il rapporto verra presentato da Daniela Notarfonso e Rita Antonelli del Centro famiglia e vita di Aprilia (il consultorio diocesano, ndr), alla presenza del vescovo di Albano, monsignor Marcello Semeraro, del direttore della Caritas della diocesi di Albano, don Gabriele D'Annibale, e del direttore dello stabilimento di Anzio dell'Azienda Colgate Palmolive, Michele Patete.
What Is M-Pesa?

M-Pesa is a mobile banking service that allows users to store and transfer money through their mobile phones. M-Pesa was introduced in Kenya as an alternative way for the population of the country to have access to financial services. Safaricom, the largest mobile phone operator in Kenya, launched M-Pesa in 2007. The service is a blend of two entities where M means mobile and Pesa means money or payment in the Swahili language.

One of the drives for Fintech innovations, like M-Pesa, is financial inclusion, which is mostly geared toward an underbanked or unbanked group of people. Financial inclusion is an initiative that seeks to include residents who have no access to banks or who cant afford the required minimum deposits in the digital banking era. In order for this initiative to succeed, different sectors must collaborate in sharing data with each other and build a meaningful digital platform.

Key Takeaways M-Pesa is one of the innovative tools that have been birthed from the collaboration of telecommunication and banking sectors in East Africa.

M-Pesa began in Kenya and is being utilized in 10 countries, including India and Romania.

Emergent technology in the financial sector, or Fintech, has made it possible for financial services and products, like M-Pesa, to be more accessible at small costs.

M-Pesa makes it possible for unbanked people to pay for and receive goods and services using a mobile phone instead of utilizing a brick-and-mortar bank.

This cross-communication tactic used by M-Pesa is developing rapidly in sub-Saharan Africa, where the telecommunication and banking sectors are working together to create mobile banking services for those with limited access to traditional banking.

Understanding M-Pesa

M-Pesa is a virtual banking system that provides transaction services through a SIM card. Once the SIM has been inserted into the card slot of the mobile device, users can make payments and transfer money to vendors and family members with SMS messages.

Users with no bank accounts can access the numerous M-Pesa outlets distributed across the country. The money that needs to be stored is given to the kiosk attendant, who transfers the amount in digital form to the users M-Pesas account.

Cash collected from M-Pesa is deposited in bank accounts held by Safaricom. The bank accounts serve as regular checking accounts and are insured up to a maximum of 100,000 shillings (or $1000) by the Deposit Protection Fund.

M-Pesa provides receipts as proof of transaction. For a transaction to take place, both parties have to exchange each others phone numbers because the phone numbers act as account numbers. After settlement, both parties receive an SMS notification with the full name of the counterparty and the amount of funds deposited or withdrawn from the users account. The mobile receipt, which is received within seconds, helps to promote transparency for all individuals involved in a transaction.

An Example of M-Pesa

A farmer has no bank account and wants to deposit his commodity sale proceeds of 1,000 shillings goes to an M-Pesa outlet and deposits the money with the kiosk agent or attendant. The agent, in turn, uses her phone to access the clients account with the clients registered phone number and credit the account for 1,000 shillings.

The farmer gets an SMS notification on his cellphone within seconds of the deposit, confirming how much was deposited and what his current account balance holds. The farmer can also easily withdraw cash from his account by using the M-Pesa attendant's or agent's number provided at the outlet and a personal PIN.

Special Considerations

Through mobile payment services like M-Pesa, the standard of living in Kenya has improved greatly. Market traders, debt collectors, farmers, and cab drivers dont need to carry around or transact in a large amount of cash. This means that the occurrence of theft, robbery, and fraud is reduced. Also, individuals and business owners dont have to wait in long lines for hours to make their electricity and water bill payments because these can be made using M-Pesa.

Using M-Pesa allows small business owners in remote and rural areas to conduct financial transactions safely and easily via their mobile phones.

To combat fraud, Safaricom mandates that users of a Safaricom SIM card who want to register for M-Pesa have to do so with a valid government ID such as the Kenyan national identification card or a passport. This way, each transaction is marked with the identification of the party transferring, paying, depositing, or withdrawing money from an account.

Mobile money is increasingly being adopted in developing nations where a high percentage of the population has little or no access to traditional banking. Revolutionary services like Paga, MTN Mobile Money, Airtel Money, and Orange Money are disrupting the traditional payment systems used frequently by residents of emerging nations, by changing the economy from a cash society to a digital one.
I wrote a lot in high school but when I went to college I wanted to be a diplomat and travel the world, she says.

By then, Katherine had already travelled extensively. She spent her third year of secondary school in France, and in the year between school and college, she studied in Moscow.

I graduated in 2011. I went to Big Island, Hawaii, staying for two months, working on a farm picking Macedonia nuts. While I was there I started a novel. I finished it on Maui, where I stayed for a year.

Then I moved to Briancon in France, working as a teaching assistant. After that, returning to Maui, Katherine decided to work in real estate.

But the same week as I passed my test to get a license, I got my book deal. That was back in 2014.

Who is Katherine Arden?

Date of birth: October 22 1987, in Austin, Texas.

Education: Secondary school in Houston, Texas, with a year in France. Middlebury College in Vermont; French and Russian Literature.

Home: Vermont Family: Father and mother, stepmother and stepfather, younger brother.

The Day Job: Full-time writer. The challenge is to set a schedule, and seek out people to socialise with. Otherwise, you risk becoming a hermit. Interests: Hiking, rock climbing, trail running, yoga, gardening and vegan cooking.

Favourite Writers: Patrick OBrian, Mary Renault, Dorothy Dunnett. Their historical fiction makes them the grandparents of modern fantasy.

Second Novel: The second in the trilogy. Its set in medieval Moscow.

Top Tip: Finish what you start. Its much easier to start something, than to finish it. Writing it to the end teaches you more about your style of writing. Web:

www.katherinearden.com Twitter: @arden_katherine

The Debut:

The Bear and the Nightingale. Delrey: 14.28 Kindle: 10.95.

This beautiful literary fantasy novel includes elements of Russian folklore and fairytales. Set in a bleak area of northern Russia, mysterious forces threaten the happiness of a village. Young Vasya owns a magical necklace  can she keep the dark forces away?

I started with history, and let the fantasy slowly sneak in.

The Verdict: Original, surprising and exotic. Katherine is a force to reckon with.
Im afraid I simply couldnt do without the cheering presence of a bottle of wine at my dinner table in January and personally believe that it should be a requirement for anyone prone to melancholia at this time of year.

My suggestions this week are all red wines but red wines with a streak of freshness to keep them lively and to cheer up your palate as well as the cold dark evenings.

One suggestion below may surprise you as there are not many Moroccan wines for sale in Ireland.

I visited Morocco last Autumn and was completely charmed by the country and pleasantly surprised at the quality of the food from street stalls to fine dining.

What surprised me more was the quality of Moroccan wine.

Morocco has lots of upland regions suitable for grape growing and there has been a lot of investment in recent years, especially from France.

The best of the wines I tasted were from the Atlas Mountains les Coteaux dAtlas Appellation but they were not cheap  as much as 50 on wine lists. The wine below is from the Guerrouane region near Fez.

The supermarkets will be continuing with their special offers this month and SuperValu has a particularly large range under 10 so I recommend two below including a Chilean Carmenere.

Carmenere is an ancient Bordeaux grape that died out in France after the downy mildew and Phylloxera problems in the mid-late 19th centurybut it continues to thrive in the more favourable climate of Chile.

Dont forget that wine courses are about to begin in wine shops and night schools throughout the country. For an easier crash course however come along to the New Zealand wine fair and talk to some winemakers.

For the Diary:

The Great New Zealand Wine Tasting Consumer Event  6.30pm to 8:30pm, January 19, Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 8. Tickets: 15 via www.eventbrite.ie (search for New Zealand Dublin)

BEST VALUE UNDER 15

Ramon Roqueta Garnacha 2015, Catalunya, Spain - 14

Stockists: Mitchells CHQ, Glasthule and Avoca Kilmacanogue or via www.mitchellandson.com

From the generic Catalonia appellation where Grenache is king, this has pristine bright pomegranate and red currant fruits, soft and generous fruit on the palate and a clean finish.

Try with charceuterie or with Bolognese.

Las Moras Dada Malbec-Bonarda, Argentina - 10-13

Stockists: SuperValu, Baggot Street Wines, JJ ODriscolls

Named for the subversive Dada art movement the addition of Bonarda adds an injection of freshness to the dark brooding Malbec giving this a pleasing mix of red fruits and darker black chocolaty flavours.

On special in SuperValu for the next two weeks but well worth its full price also.

In Situ Reserva Carmenere, Chile - 10

Stockists: SuperValu

Carmenere always has admirable freshness compared to say Merlot but it can be a little green in its youth so it is usually a good idea to seek out older vintages.

This has a mix of bright blackcurrants and plush wine gum flavoured soft fruits on the finish.

BEST VALUE OVER 15

Domaine de la Zouina Volubilla, Morocco - 22.95

Stockists: Le Caveau Kilkenny www.lecaveau.ie, Greenman Terenure, Bradleys Cork

This is my first time mentioning a Moroccan wine on this page.

This winery is owned by a couple of Bordeaux producers so naturally has 50% cabernet sauvignon plus some syrah and mourvedre with solid earthy black fruits and a dry clean finish.

Try with a lamb and apricot tagine.

Montebaco Semele, Ribera del Duero, Spain - 18.25

Stockist: Karwig Wines Carrigaline www.karwigwines.ie

Ive praised the Ribera del Duero region here before and here is another fine example.

Fresh vibrant black cherry and plum tinged fruit, supple and fresh with lingering hints of tobacco and chocolate. Try with a hearty meat- based paella.

DArrys Original Shiraz Grenache, McLaren Vale, Australia - 19.99-23.99

Stockists: ODonovans, Ardkeen, McHughs, Martins, Molloys, Independents

Prices for this vary but you should be able to find it at around 20 which is not cheap for January but it packs quite a punch.

Full juicy black fruits with clove and cinnamon, ripe and soft but with good acidity and cut. Perfect for spicy food or warming up January.
The 2017 Toyota Highlander currently holds the number two spot in the midsize SUV segment and for good reasons. Toyota is known to offer great quality vehicles and the 2017 Highlander is no exception. Here's why the 2017 Toyota Highlander is an SUV worth paying for.

2017 Toyota Highlander: Under The Hood

According to a report from The Car Connection, the 2017 Toyota Highlander base trim LE is equipped with a 2.7-liter four-cylinder engine that is capable of 185 horsepower. This is paired with a six-speed automatic transmission that delivers the power through a front wheel drive (FWD) configuration with no all-wheel drive (AWD) option. The higher trim levels are powered by a 3.5-liter V6 engine with 295 horsepower. Accordingly, the new engine has gained 25 more horses from the previous model and this will be matched with an eight-speed automatic transmission. The 2017 Toyota Highlander also offers a hybrid engine that with 306 horsepower output as reported.

2017 Toyota Highlander: Fuel Economy

The 2017 Toyota Highlander's four-cylinder engine has a fuel economy rate of 20/24/22 miles per gallon in the city, on the highway and combined respectively. On the other hand, the 2017 Toyota Tacoma's V6 engine is more fuel-efficient. Usually, the more powerful engine consumes more gas but not in this case as the V6 is rated with 21/27/23 miles per gallon in the city, on the highway and combined. The hybrid engine delivers a fuel economy of 30/28/29 miles per gallon according to report.

2017 Toyota Highlander: Trims And Prices

Reports state that the 2017 Toyota Highlander is available in five trim levels from the base LE, LE Plus, XLE, SE and Limited where things get better as the buyer moves up to higher trim levels. The 2017 Toyota Highlander starts with a price tag of $30,630, $36,520, $38,520, $39,690 and $43,140 for the five trims respectively. Given the versatile engine options, great fuel economy and reasonable prices for the trims, the 2017 Toyota Highlander is certainly a vehicle that is worth paying for.
Panasonic has built an Autonomous Delivery System robot, called HOSPI. The robot has been designed mainly to serve people so that it can provide hospitality to all its customers.

What Does The Robot Feature?

The robot is said to be giving bus directions according to the reports. HOSPI would be at the Narita International Airports where it would be collecting used dishware in the airport lounge. Panasonic has said that there are still no plans to install these robots in any location permanently. The company describes it as a delivery machine that just uses certain mapping info with the collision avoidance algorithm and along with some of sensors to get around. There are like four hospitals in the world using the robot for carrying medicine and other bits around the campus. It is basically an indoor delivery robot, helping guests at a hotel in Japan where the robot would be serving bottled water.

What Does It Look Like?

With all the demonstrations shown it is quite clear that it is capable of serving customers in hospitality field everywhere. In addition, it is already in use in Japan where it is delivering medicines and supplies to patients and hospital staffs. The robot is five feet tall with a small head and a boxy body with no neck. It has screen on the face, which displays a simple smile showing kindness. It is capable of giving announcement from its speaker system. It is very similar to Savioke's relay robot, which was designed for delivering items to room in hotels.

HOSPI is different from other hospitality robots like SoftBank's Pepper , which is not constructed to carry things like the HOSPI. It is doing a remarkable job with the customers around and helping them with the best possible way it is designed for.
Samsung 4K TV has one innovative feature that almost everyone would love -invisible cables. This invisible wire solves a lot of problems that a lot of people are dealing with. By getting rid of ugly black wires, the South Korean tech giant proved yet again that it is paying attention to the market. There has been a growing trend for minimalist homes and television wires are among the biggest obstacles since hiding these cables can be challenging.

Samsung 4K TV Features

During the CES 2017, Samsung unveiled its new television sets. According to the firm, these television sets are better than the regular TV since it comes with Quantum dots. This technology improves viewing experience since the scenes will be displayed in rich detail irrespective of how bright or dark the room is.

The appearance of the newest TV from Samsung pleased a lot of people but the tech giant is not done with its bag of tricks. Aside from a new and improved technology that makes picture quality richer, it also comes with an "invisible connection" cable.

Goodbye Wire Clutter

Samsung Electronics America's Vice President of Consumer Electronics Marketing Dave Das explained that the company's QLED TV will solve cable clutter. Most people resort to thicker wall mounts or using something to block the clutter behind the television. The Samsung 4K TV would fit right into any home because it has no messy black wire. Instead, it comes with a thin cable that could easily blend in. This invisible cable could connect Samsung's 4K TV with all its peripherals.

Aside from its new cable, the QLED TV will also introduce a wall mount without a gap. This could make it easier to mount the TV set on the wall. If the new Samsung 4K TV proves anything, it would be the fact that the South Korean giant knows how the consumer electronics industry works.
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On January 3, 2016, my column recommended 12 stocks for 2016. They were divided into two groups: my favorite six picks and a second six.

The columns last paragraph promised to compare the results over the next 12 months to the S&P 500 and also presciently stated: Certainly I wouldnt be surprised if my second six beat my top picks.

Did they ever.

My second six averaged an incredible 40 percent gain thanks to my inclusion of chip-maker Nvidia (NVDA) that skyrocketed 225 percent last year  the very-best performer of all the S&Ps 500 stocks. The other five stocks in my second six picks and their 2016 results were: Warren Buffets Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.B, 23 percent), Delta Airlines (DAL, -1.6 percent), game-maker Electronic Arts (EA, 15 percent), tree-growing paper-maker Weyerhauser (WY, 5 percent), and by far my worst pick, biotech Gilead Sciences (GILD, -27 percent).

My favorite six stocks returned only 7 percent, underperforming the S&Ps 10 percent (not including dividends) return last year. Their numbers were as follows: Apple (AAPL, 12 percent), biotech Celgene (CELG, -3 percent), Walt Disney (DIS, -1 percent), Facebook (FB, 10 percent), General Motors (GM, 7 percent), and mutual fund company T. Rowe Price (TROW, 8 percent).

Going online

As you can see by the numbers above my tech picks did well. My 65 percent 4-stock tech average (Apple, Electronic Arts, Facebook, and Nvidia) was unreal, but my 8 non-technology choices were lousy  returning only one percent.

So this year Im going to recommend only technology stocks  the six that Sue and I own (in alphabetical order) are Alphabet (GOOG), formerly known as Google; Amazon (AMZN); Apple (AAPL); Facebook (FB); IBM (IBM) and Nvidia (NVDA).

We have the most money invested into our four largest holdings  Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Nvidia  while Alphabet and IBM are smaller positions. As I wrote here last August 28, Amazon and Facebook are my two favorite stocks.

As more and more shoppers purchase online, Amazon continues to grab market share from traditional department stores. Macys announced January 4 that it would close 68 stores, slashing more than 10,000 jobs.

The Journal featured in its briefcase section last week a Death by Amazon Index that used the composite stock prices of Dillards, J.C. Penney, Kohls and Macys. From February 6, 2012 to January 5, 2017, Amazons stock jumped 326 percent compared to the four-department-store average of only 28 percent  less than half the S&P 500s 70 percent gain for almost five years.

Besides its awesome retail business that now promises same-day delivery in most large cities, Amazons dominance (along with Microsoft) of the expanding cloud-storage boon is being cited as one reason for the massive lay-offs (5,500 workers) its competitor Cisco announced last summer.

Amazon has earned $2.1 billion over the 12 months ending September 30 as its profits continue to jump. Its artificial-intelligence-powered voice assistant Alexa is superior to Apples Siri, according to most experts, and Amazons original TV and movies have been hits. Fortune magazine last month chose Amazons founder and CEO Jeff Bezos as the second best business leader, trailing only Facebooks Mark Zuckerberg.

Zuckerberg is constantly innovating, laying out a 10-year road map that includes continued development of artificial intelligence and the best virtual reality platform, Oculus. Facebook is beginning to find ways to monetize its video platform, which rival Alphabet-owned YouTube has done so well. Just last week he announced a new initiative to have Facebook work more closely with the press and other media.

Given its worldwide use by 1.5 billion people and its ownership of Instagram (63 percent of the U.S. millennial generation, ages 18-30 use it), and the continued double-digit growth of advertising dollars spent online, Facebook should be in every aggressive portfolio. Even Pope Francis is on Instagram with nearly 3 million followers.

Last month, Forbes magazine chose Nvidia as the number one place to work and had a small picture of CEO Jen-Hsun Huang on its cover. Nvidia is the leading company making artificial-intelligence chips that power self-driving cars. Its also the leading producer of chips for video games and virtual-reality headsets.

Since I bought it at $27 a share in October 2015, NVDA has soared to over $100, yet contrary to Sues suggestion I have refused to sell any. I remember buying Tesla five years ago in the $20s and $30s, selling most of it in the $70s and my last 200 shares in the $120s, only to see Tesla soar to an eventual high of $290. Nvidia peaked at $119 last month but has declined more than 12 percent since then.

Alphabet

The fourth high-priced tech stock I own is Alphabet; it is the No. 1 recommendation of Bill Nygren, Oakmarks (OAKMX, up 18 percent last year) manager who has beaten the market for two decades. Even though he is a conservative value manager, he touts Alphabet as his best pick.

Nygren argues that the market undervalues Alphabets YouTube, the most watched video service in the world. He thinks that it also benefits from a strong tailwind from the shift in advertising dollars to online. (Alphabet and Facebook totally dominate online advertising.)

All four tech picks above sell at high price/earnings ratios  25 or above compared to the markets average of 18. However, my final two tech stock picks  Apple and IBM are much cheaper and therefore carry far lower risk.

Apple, the worlds largest company, trades at a 14 P/E ratio and should get a huge lift from lower corporate tax rates. Apple, with its $200 billion plus cash stockpile overseas, will also be the No. 1 beneficiary of an expected special low tax rate to bring money back to the U.S.

IBM is benefiting from its expanding cloud business and its ability to leverage its super-computer Watson to help doctors provide better diagnosis and treatments and even make more accurate weather predictions. (IBM owns the Weather Channel.) Its P/E ratio is only 13.

For readers who would prefer a technology mutual fund there is one great choice. T. Rowe Price Global Technology (PRGTX) has averaged a sensational 22 percent for 5 years and even a terrific 14 percent for 10 years (including the crash of 2008-09). It trounces its peers, scoring in the top one percent of all tech funds for 10 years and in the top 2 percent for 5 years.

As frequent readers of the column know, my favorite market sectors are tech and health care. However, the political risks are far greater for health care. Trumps negative comments on drug prices at his news conference Wednesday sparked a 3 percent loss that day even though the Dow gained 99 points.

Yet, overall, tech stocks are higher risk than health care, so dont overdose on them as Sue and I have done. Remember our slogan at Woodard & Company: Buy quality and diversify.
GREENSBORO  Another family lives in the home where Jaime Goode was raising her boys.

It still doesnt seem right to Michaela Brewingtons mom that she has buried her only daughter.

Debbie Huffines struggles with scars seen and unseen.

These are the victims of Menice Smith.

During an hours-long spree of violence that started in the early morning hours of March 24, 2014, the 41-year-old Smith killed Goode, 36, and Brewington, 46, and nearly bludgeoned Huffines, then 53, to death with a crowbar where they both worked.

Smith had previously been in relationships with Goode and Brewington.

While the troubled Smith, who confessed to the crimes in rambling rants to friends, died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head after a short police chase, others are still reliving that day as they try to move forward.

A survivors story

Police discovered the violent crime spree at 5:08 a.m. that Monday after Huffines called 911 and said she had been beaten. She told police the name of her attacker: Menice Smith.

For Huffines, the morning started like any other work day at the Yanceyville Street post office, where she spent the last 26 of her 27 years as a mail clerk.

Some mornings it would be at least 15 minutes before anyone else got there. And that person was usually Smith.

That morning when she arrived, Smith stepped out of the darkness and waved at her. Huffines unlocked the building so they could go in.

Smith, who had begun pacing back and forth, suddenly attacked her with the crowbar.

After knocking her down, he slowed his succession of blows to her head and torso only to straddle her body and press his face close enough to look deep into her eyes.

Huffines played dead.

And then he was gone.

Huffines tried punching the numbers 911 into her smartphone with bloody fingers.

Blood hemorrhaged from her head, making it difficult to see.

With Huffines details, police, who at this point were only investigating an assault, went hunting for Smith.

Huffines was rushed to the hospital, where she would eventually endure more than 100 surgeries.

Today, she is still under the care of doctors and has panic attacks if she is around large crowds too long.

I do not like to go out in public by myself, Huffines said. I force myself to do it, but I dont like to do it.

Even though it was easily determined that she was injured on the job, she is still caught up in the notoriously difficult red tape of federal workers compensation.

The blows broke bones in her hands and ribs.

Her scalp was split in several places.

Her teeth had been scattered across the floor.

She spends hours on the phone trying to talk to insurance claims people.

Over and over.

Were still trying to get dental bills paid, Huffines said.

Still, she is circumspect. Early on, she sent sympathy cards to the families of the other victims  people she didnt know but who shared in the horror. She felt she needed to do something.

I dont know why I was spared, Huffines said.

A mothers regret

Paula Glass, Goodes mother, watched her daughters eldest son, Trevon Jamal Goode, graduate from high school last spring with an advanced diploma.

That was supposed to have been her day, Glass said of her daughters absence as he walked across the stage. It wasnt supposed to be me standing there.

These days, Glass is raising Goodes other son, Jakorey Lee Fitzgerald, who was 10 when his mother died. She is also pressing Tre to apply for college, just as he and his mother had discussed.

She was such a good mother, such a good daughter, and I miss her every day, Glass said.

Goode, who grew up near Danville, Va., had overcome troubles in her past to raise those two sons, buy a house and start a business in Browns Summit. The boys helped her come up with the name: Browns Summit Medical Billing.

She and Smith lived just doors down from each other in the same subdivision.

What started with smiles as they checked their mailboxes ended up with Goode, just out of a long-term relationship, inviting him over.

Soon, they were dating and Smith was a regular visitor to her home. Smith had been a three-sport star for Reidsville High in Rockingham County and had a daughter of his own, who lived with her mother. Friends say that Smith, who often went home to Reidsville to have Sunday dinner with his mother, had plans to open a janitorial business on the side.

Glass remembers Smith was often quiet when she visited her daughters house and he was there. Sometimes they had polite conversation.

I thought he would be good for her, Glass recalled. I didnt see any red flags. My daughter must have seen something in him to let him into her life.

Court records show that Smith had a history of domestic and financial problems.

At some point, Goode broke up with Smith, although he continued to stop by her house.

Glass said the breakup came after Goode found out he had cheated on her.

At one point, Smith brought a woman to Goodes house to deny the allegations, according to Glass. But Goode wanted to move on.

When Huffines pointed to Smith as her assailant at the post office, police went to his house at 3579 Sydney Oaks Drive in Browns Summit.

But he wasnt there.

After one of Smiths neighbors told police he had a girlfriend down the street, officers would find Goode on a downstairs couch where she was believed to have been sleeping when Smith shot her in the head. The boys were still asleep upstairs.

Smith had apparently entered the home undetected.

Tre would go to live with his father in Virginia.

Jakorey, who received counseling, lived with his grandmother in Greensboro. Tre never got counseling, but Glass talks to him a lot. He came to live with her when he turned 18.

I just never imagined my daughter not being here, Glass said, but Im going to do everything I can for these boys.

Hes going to be suffering

Brewingtons mother, Audrea, said she never met Smith.

Her daughter, who had an adult son, had been a private person and never even mentioned him.

Audrea said she suspects the two met on the job. Brewington, who graduated from Andrews High in 1985 and majored in accounting at N.C. A&T, had worked for the Postal Service for 21 years.

The weekend of March 24, Michaela, whom friends and family called Chaela, had gone to church services with her mom. Later in the day, the two went to one of their favorite restaurants.

Audrea wasnt sure what to make of it as her daughter drove away, talking on the phone with a concerned look on her face.

It wasnt until the next day, when her daughter hadnt shown up for a hair appointment and then work, that the mother first heard about the perpetrator being someone she knew.

Audrea had been shopping when she got a call from her sister, who Michaela had listed as an emergency contact at work. A supervisor had called looking for her.

Audrea rushed to her daughters house, which by then had been cordoned off with yellow police tape.

Everything was like it was in slow motion, she said. I must have passed out. The cement was like a cushion. It didnt even feel hard.

The coroner had yet to remove her daughters body, which had been bludgeoned to the point that it wasnt clear how she had died.

Her daughters white Mercedes-Benz was missing. In its place was a Chevy Tahoe that Audrea didnt recognize.

It was late morning by then.

Smith had killed Goode earlier that morning, attacked Huffines and then shot himself around noon as police closed in on him after he wrecked Brewingtons car.

It was after checking the cars registration that police had gone to Brewingtons home on Pineway Drive.

The police lady told me right before I left, You dont have to worry about him anymore, Audrea recalled.

Hugs came by the hundreds during the funeral, as people sought to comfort her.

Afterward, she cried for days.

Then one night six months later, her daughter came to her in a dream.

Her Chaela was walking through a mall.

There was nobody but me and her, Audrea said.

She was calling her daughters name, but she wouldnt answer. She later asked her mother to take care of her son.

And then her daughter began to twirl like a spinning top and while she was sucked away in the dream, so, too, was Audreas depression.

When I woke up, all the stress and all the anxiety I was carrying was gone, she said.

She has few words for Smith.

Hes going to be suffering, Audrea said, wherever hes at forever.
With the redevelopment of the Bailey Power Plant and 343 apartments slated to be built in the Wake Forest Innovation Quarter, planning has now started for the next phase of development in this urban-based district for innovation.

Sitting on nearly 200 acres in the eastern part of downtown Winston-Salem, the Innovation Quarter, an enterprise of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center, has grown into a hub of activity primarily from revamped R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Co. factories and warehouses.

So far, public and private investment has topped $713 million in the innovation district and a little more than 100 acres have been developed.

The Innovation Quarter was conceived as a place where people can work, live, learn and play. It is a place for research, business and education in biomedical science, information technology, digital media, clinical services and advanced materials. Various events are held throughout the year, including networking and social events, classes, seminars, arts performances, educational lectures and food trucks.

The initial experiment is successful, said Eric Tomlinson, president of the Innovation Quarter. Weve attracted people who work here, live here and develop here.

Current projects

Wexford Science & Technology LLC has been the primary real-estate developer in the Innovation Quarter. The company previously became partners with Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center to restore Wake Forest Biotech Place, 525@vine, the Inmar Inc. headquarters and the 60-series building.

The 60-series building recently became home to The Bowman Gray Center for Medical Education of Wake Forest School of Medicine and Wake Downtown, a Wake Forest University location that will offer new academic programs in engineering and biomedical sciences. Wake Downtown classes began Tuesday.

Wexford is also redeveloping a portion of the Bailey Power Plant, including the main building and most of the surrounding grounds.

The majority of the projects developed by Wexford have benefited from North Carolina mill credit and federal historic tax credits. The City of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County provided some tax-based incentives.

Grubb Properties will develop residential housing and a variety of retail spaces wrapped around a shared parking deck, which will provide expanded parking for residents, employees and visitors to the Innovation Quarter. Construction is planned to start early this year with the parking deck to be completed first. The City of Winston-Salem and Forsyth County each agreed to provide economic assistance in support of the parking deck in the form of property-tax reimbursements.

Work continues on the Long Branch Trail, which will eventually run the entire length of Wake Forest Innovation Quarter. The Innovation Quarters development portion will extend 1.2 miles from East Third Street into the innovation district to Research Parkway near Business 40, then southward to Rams Drive and East Salem Avenue.

The city of Winston-Salem is constructing the northern end of the greenway. That section will run north from the East Third Street pedestrian bridge to Martin Luther King Jr. Drive at the north end of the Innovation Quarter. Completion for the southern portion is expected to happen by the end of this month, and the northern portion should be finished this summer.

The greenway in the Innovation Quarter will eventually extend past Rams Drive south on Research Parkway and link up with the Salem Creek Greenway, creating about a 20-mile loop from the north end of the Innovation Quarter back by way of Salem Lake.

As the Innovation Quarter has blossomed, its periphery has expanded. Several residential communities and businesses consider themselves part of the Innovation Quarter and are now included in maps of the innovation district, including the new 757 North apartments, a mixed-use affordable housing development that will have 115 units. Laurel Street Residential LLC of Charlotte and Goler Community Development Corp. based in Winston-Salem have teamed up to develop the site on North Chestnut Street. This project is expected to be completed by late May.

Planning for the future

The next step in developing the Innovation Quarter has already started.

Our next phase that we develop will be, hopefully, startup space as well as what we call matriculation space, Tomlinson said.

In using the term matriculation, he means offering space for five to about 15 employees, compared with one or two employees.

We need to create that startup and matriculation space in a way thats for entrepreneurs and innovators, he said.

Officials at the Innovation Quarter are also working on plans for the second phase of the northern area from Third Street to Salem Parkway, formerly the central area, of the district.

Tomlinson said this area will offer significant opportunities for Winston-Salem.

Plans are to double the square footage of the Innovation Quarter over the next 10 to 15 years at an estimated cost of another $800 million.

We envision another 2.5 million square feet of mixed-use development  office, residential, retail, low-rise, high-rise (buildings), focuses on modern industries, Tomlinson said.

He said this next phase of the Innovation Quarter will focus on attracting high-tech enterprises from other regions into Winston-Salem.

He expects them to be large and small companies from various sectors.

During a Town Hall meeting in November, Tomlinson said enterprise growth areas are expected to be in:

Biotech, bioengineering, digital health, devices and diagnostics.

Information technology, including data analytics and social media.

Advanced materials such as nanotechnology and smart fabrics

Creative digital arts such as gaming, virtual reality and augmented/mixed reality.

And in performance technology such as animatronics and prosthetics.

Attracting companies

and people

The challenge will be to find companies and users for the second phase of the northern area. But whats the best way to attract them?

The way to do that is not simply putting a shingle up or making a few phone calls, Tomlinson said.

He said that companies will be attracted by a favorable local and regional business climate, strong public-private partnerships and a strong and vibrant innovation community.

He also said that it will be important to retain companies and employees as well as attract people who moved away after graduating from local universities and the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

Now that the experiment is successful, we have a reason to believe that this is the place to be, he said of the Innovation Quarter.

Taylor Bryant, executive director of the Business-to-Business advertising practice for MullenLowe U.S. in the Innovation Quarter, said that continuing to attract a diversity of businesses, organizations and associations is critical to attracting and retaining workers, including local graduates.

But he said that doesnt mean positioning the innovation district as being all things to everyone.

To attract and retain the best talent, the Innovation Quarter needs to be a place that supports innovation in established businesses as well as helping to incubate new start-ups in completely new arenas, Bryant said.

Brooke Smith, senior director and head of brand sales, and Pete Richter, vice president of supply chain finance, both for Inmar, came back to Winston-Salem.

Smith, a native of Winston-Salem and graduate of Salem College, lived in New York prior to returning here.

It was important to me to have both a strong professional network as well as an innovative and vibrant community, Smith said in a statement. I knew I would live downtown, which is where I still live today, so the growth of Innovation Quarter (including its future vision) were a strong draw for me both personally and professionally.

Richter, a graduate of Wake Forest University, left the city in 2001 to work for Frito-Lay. Over the years, he has worked for several companies and lived in Chicago, Michigan and Boston.

He said in a statement that he returned to Winston-Salem in 2015 partly because of an opportunity with Inmar.

He said Winston-Salem has significantly changed, saying that when he left in 2001, the majority of employers were in banking, furniture, tobacco and textiles.

It was looking pretty dismal at one point with banks consolidating, tobacco under fire and textiles/furniture were struggling, Richter said.

Now, there is a bit of everything, including biotech, medical and food, he said, and banking and furniture have stabilized.

The diversity of employment has helped for sure, Richter said.

Inmar is highly involved in the innovation districts future.

As co-chair of the Entrepreneurial Committee for the Winston-Salem Alliance, I worked closely with others to assess our community gaps leading to efforts like bringing Venture Cafe to Winston-Salem, said David Mounts, Inmars chairman and chief executive. We are one of only five cities in the world to have this resource to help drive growth and opportunity.

Venture Cafe is a nonprofit organization that provides programming aimed at bringing the innovation community together.

He also said that Inmar collaborates with other companies in the Innovation Quarter and the Triad to use data and technology to provide new capabilities in health care and retail.

We also supported the funding of the Dioko Venture Fund with a substantial investment to increase capital available to early-stage companies, Mounts said.

A thriving community

Based on the most up-to-date figures, there are 37 service companies, 33 tech companies and 149 members of Flywheel LLC, along with 3,282 people working in the Innovation Quarter.

Flywheel, a 10,000-square-foot space where entrepreneurs and small business owners can work, will be moving late this month from its current space in the 525@Vine building to the Center for Design Innovation in the Innovation Quarter. Flywheel provides a community workspace concept for startups, consultants and freelancers in the form of membership plans tailored to their needs, network resources and programming focused on technology skills and business development.

Tomlinson said he has noticed over the years a growing pride in the Innovation Quarter among people in the innovation district and the overall Winston-Salem community.

It seems to me that many of the ingredients for a thriving innovation community are now here, Tomlinson said.

Bryant of MullenLowe said that the more concrete lure of the Innovation Quarter is modern, open workspace with facilities and resources that help foster creativity and collaboration.

So, yes, its easy to look at the Innovation Quarter and say its about how cool the buildings and the workspace are, but in so many ways it is not about the buildings at all  its about the sense of community and culture that is being created here, Bryant said. Its very appealing to a creative organization such as ours and the kind of talent we want to attract.

Over the next five to 10 years, Mounts of Inmar sees the innovation district as an epicenter for innovation and growth extending throughout the Triad.

North Carolina is consistently ranked among the best states for business, Mounts said. Innovation Quarter is one of the best examples of why that is true.

By 2030, officials believe the Innovation Quarter will have 9,000 people working there, five academic institutions, 2,500 living units, more than 1,500 graduate students, 5 million square feet of work space, more than 8,000 workforce trainees, and $1.7 billion in public-private investment.

The key strategy of Wake Forest Innovation Quarter to create an ecosystem where people are learning and discovering but also living and playing will continue as the nearly 30 additional available acres in the Innovation Quarter are developed over the next 20 years. Our commitment to the community remains to support health care and the training of minorities as part of Wake Forest Innovation Quarters continued growth, and were very excited about the future for us and our partner institutions down there, said Dr. John D. McConnell, chief executive of Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center.
The Trump team is taking a hard line on the ethics official who's questioned the president-elect's potential conflicts of interest.

Donald Trump aide Reince Priebus tells ABC's "This Week" that the independent watchdog "ought to be careful because that person is becoming extremely political."

"That person" is Walter Shaub Jr., director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Shaub has said the only way Trump could avoid a conflict of interest would be to divest from his business and place his assets in a blind trust.

Shaub has been summoned by the GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, to answer questions about his comments.

The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, says Trump's team and Republicans are "engaged in a blatant, coordinated attack" against Shaub for doing his job.
RALEIGH  Democrat Roy Cooper criticized GOP Gov. Pat McCrory and Republican legislators during the race for governor for a program that helps thousands of K-12 children in low- and middle-income families attend private or religious schools with taxpayer money.

Cooper and his top education allies would prefer the Opportunity Scholarship Program, started in 2014 and on track to benefit 6,000 children this school year, didnt exist and use the programs money for public schools. So its not surprising the new governor plans to shun the program in his first two-year budget proposal to the Republican-controlled state legislature, released in the coming weeks.

Obviously there will be no voucher funding in any budget that I propose with the General Assembly, Cooper said in an interview with The Associated Press before he was sworn in Jan. 1.

But that absence of funding will be essentially symbolic as there are no signs the grant program is going away. State law directs the program to receive more money annually through the next decade to ultimately cover six times as many students. That likely wont be soon altered as Republicans hold veto-proof majorities in the legislature.

A divided N.C. Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of the grant program in 2015, with Republican justices backing the majority opinion. It will be difficult to upset a landmark decision even though a Democratic majority began on the court this month.

I feel very confident that Opportunity Scholarships are secure, said former state Rep. Paul Stam, R-Wake, a champion of school-choice initiatives designed to help children living near poor-performing traditional public schools have options. In every other sphere of life, competition means improvement, and its true in education as well.

The program offers scholarships of up to $4,200 to children entering kindergarten or first grade or who have been in a public school during the previous school year. Scholarships are limited to children in families making essentially up to one-third above federal poverty levels.

The current budget included a provision that  if left alone in future years  directs a $10 million annual program increase through 2027, when it reaches $145 million and covers 36,000 students.

Were locked in here for the next decade, said Darrell Allison, the executive director for Parents for Educational Freedom in North Carolina, which pushed for the scholarship program. Two thousand students were on a waiting list last spring for the scholarships.

Its unclear if Coopers budget proposal would try to do away with the program, halt scheduled funding increases or simply ignore it. Cooper spokesman Ford Porter didnt provide further details, except to say hed propose a realistic budget that invests in public education. Democrats have said North Carolina must improve per-pupil spending that lags behind other states.

We have to stop spending public money to private-school vouchers and make sure we channel that money to give students the resources that they need, Cooper said at a debate with McCrory last June.

Sides over the issue dont fall along party lines. Theres some support among Democrats for school choice initiatives as a way to get children out of failing schools. Allison said hes hopeful Cooper will meet with parents of children who are benefiting from the program to shape his perspective.

For critics of the already-planned expansion, such as Keith Poston with the nonpartisan Public School Forum of North Carolina, program reforms may be a more reachable goal given the General Assemblys political composition.

The more than 300 nonpublic schools with students receiving the taxpayer-funded scholarships dont have to meet minimum curriculum requirements to participate. They also arent required to use standardize testing similar to whats used in public schools that could help parents decide whether their child is benefiting academically, Poston said.

There are members of the General Assembly in both parties who are uncomfortable with the lack of accountability and transparency in the current voucher program, Poston wrote in an email.
RALEIGH  Roy Cooper spent his last few weeks as governor-elect of North Carolina attacking the state legislature for encroaching on the separation of powers, weakening the rule of law, subverting the will of the voters and hurrying new policies through too quickly, without adequate discussion or consultation.

Roy Cooper then spent his initial few days as governor of North Carolina doing precisely what hed accused the legislature of doing  and giving himself an unnecessary black eye.

Coopers first big mistake involves the same issue that severely damaged Barack Obama and his administration: the Affordable Care Act. The president came into office determined to expand government control of health care. He spurned contrary views and pushed through what he wanted. The public didnt like it. Obamacare is the single-biggest reason why the Democratic Party is at its weakest point since the 1920s.

But progressives remain convinced that policy success and public approval are just around the corner, and that Republicans wont repeal and replace the ACAs core policies of Medicaid expansion and government-run insurance exchanges. I dont know if Cooper agrees with them or believes he has no choice but to indulge the fantasies of his political base. I do know the decision he announced on Jan. 4  to seek Medicaid expansion in North Carolina through executive action  is a colossal blunder.

Republican legislators have passed multiple laws to forbid Medicaid expansion without their approval. They get to do that. Medicaid expansion requires a state appropriation to match federal dollars, regardless of how that appropriation is funded (through general revenues or taxes on hospital bills). It is also a policy matter about which the legislative branch has constitutional authority, as House Speaker Tim Moore and Senate leader Phil Berger have already informed the outgoing Obama administration.

I dont see any way for the ensuing legal dispute to end well for the governor and Democrats. Either the North Carolina Supreme Court will confirm the obvious and deny Cooper the arbitrary power he claims to have to change state policy and appropriate state funds. Or, having just shifted from a 4-3 Republican majority to a 4-3 Democratic one, it will issue a dishonest opinion that will seem far more partisan than anything the GOP-majority court ever did  while still not giving Cooper an actual win on Medicaid expansion.

How come? Because by the time such a decision is rendered, there wont be an Obama administration to play with. The Trump administration is hardly likely to approve a Democratic governors scheme to circumvent the will of a Republican legislature. Moreover, the Republican Congress will likely reform Medicaid in ways that will make the dispute moot, either by forestalling expansion altogether or by rewriting the rules in such a way that state Republicans may decide to accept somewhat-broader eligibility rules in exchange for spending caps, flexibility and private options.

By claiming unilateral authority to expand Medicaid, Gov. Cooper destroyed the political narrative he and his progressive enablers in the media had created after the 2016 election. Whatever you think of the Republican legislatures decisions to reduce the number of political jobs Cooper can fill, strengthen the role of the state superintendent of public instruction, or combine the states ethics and elections boards, they dont constitute a large-scale change in public policy. They dont seek to obligate the state to spend billions of dollars without legislative approval.

The governors Medicaid gambit encroaches on the separation of powers, weakens the rule of law, and subverts the will of the voters who have elected a Republican president and Congress to take health care policy in a different direction. It also represents a major policy change hatched without adequate discussion or consultation, thus alienating even longtime advocates of Medicaid expansion such as the state hospital association who want bipartisan action.

I criticized Republicans in the legislature for acting too hastily during the December special session. Will the Left criticize Cooper for acting too hastily on his first week on the job? I wont hold my breath.
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By Rut Diamint | (The Conversation) |  

Should Latin Americans be concerned that Donald Trump has picked General John Kelly to lead the United States Department of Homeland Security? Kelly oversaw the US militarys Southern Command  which oversees US military operations in Latin America and the Caribbean.

In truth, US citizens should also be scared. Designating a general to protect the nation from threats to life and liberty portends militarisation, not security. Soldiers trained for combat discern enemies in every expression of dissent.

Perhaps that seems exaggerated. Some will recall that president Obama also tapped a man associated with the defence sector as secretary of Homeland Security. Yes, in December 2013, Jeh Johnson, previously General Counsel of the Air Force under president Bill Clinton, assumed that role. But Johnson is a lawyer, not a military man.

At the helm of Southcom, Kelly will have acquired the habits of the US strategy for addressing Central America and the Caribbeans security concerns: deploying Americas armed forces to train other countries armed forces to combat drug trafficking and organised crime.

The US did this in Latin America throughout the 1990s and 2000s; yet in the US, such activities are assigned to the police, not the defence sector.

If only for that reason, Latin Americans and Caribbeans should be worried. Kelly will be a strategic part of president-elect Donald Trumps announced policy of dealing with immigration as a national security problem, not a humanitarian issue. Although at Southcom the retired general may have had a broader focus on Latin Americas problems, at homeland security Kelly wont be able to stray far from his bosss orders.

Nor does he seem inclined to. A few months ago, Kelly said, Unless confronted by an immediate, visible or uncomfortable crisis, our nations tendency is to take the security of the Western Hemisphere for granted. I believe this is a mistake.

Kellys distrust of Latin America could result in a strengthening of the regional military relationships of a prior era, from military indoctrination at the School of the Americas and quiet support for military coups to expressed distrust of civil political authorities.

This isnt so different from how his Republican colleagues view their neighbours to the south. In March 2015, Arizona senator John McCain, Chairman of the Committee on Armed Services, stated: We are all particularly concerned about Central America, which is mired by feeble governance and weak security institutions, high rates of corruption, and is home to several of the most violent countries in the world.

In the same hearing, Kelly sustained that Southcom is the only government organisation that is 100% dedicated to looking at the issues of Latin America and the Caribbean.

Woe be to Latin America if its relationship with the US government actually depends on Southcom.

Militarising human rights

American citizens probably wouldnt be pleased if the promotion and defence of their human rights was handed over to the military.

James G. Stavridis, a former Southcom director and dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University, wrote in 2014:

The divisive struggle in the 1990s over the US Army School of the Americas is an example of how difficult it can be to reach common ground, as well as how counterproductive an adversarial relationship between the US military and the human rights community can be.

Yet, thanks to Americas Human Rights Initiative of 1997, Southcom has been in charge  surely at the cost of more sensible missions  of promoting a human rights model program for military forces. Given the history of civilian repression under Latin Americas armed forces, this should be a priority for the region  but civilian specialists in human rights should do the job, not US troops.

In Latin America we have learned from experience to be genuinely concerned when our armies begin to take on domestic security functions. The US has federal law and a strong tradition of civilian law enforcement; the military cannot take on police duties except in catastrophic cases, like natural disaster recovery. Will Kelly start a new tradition once hes directing domestic security?

Militarising everything else

Indicators of the militarisation to come are bolstered by the designation of General James Mattis as Defence Secretary. If he receives a waiver for the federally required seven-year gap between military and government service, he will become only the second general ever to lead the Pentagon.

This is worrying some government officials. While I deeply respect General Mattiss service, I will oppose a waiver, New York senator Kirsten Gillibrand said in December 2016. Civilian control of our military is a fundamental principle of American democracy.

Rounding out his cabinet of generals, Trump has also named Lieutenant General Michael T Flynn as national security adviser; Admiral Michael S Rogers as the director of national intelligence; and Mike Pompeo, graduate of the West Point military academy, as CIA Director.

As US Senator Jack Reed once observed, often what starts as Southcoms problem soon becomes Northcoms problem  that is, an American concern.

Even if the wall on the US-Mexico border is never built, the military-focused incoming cabinet of Donald Trump seems likely to share a predominantly negative view of Latin America.

So today, in Latin America, we find ourselves reversing Reeds notion: what starts out Northcoms problem may soon become Southcoms problem.

Rut Diamint, Profesora, Torcuato di Tella University

This article was originally published on The Conversation. Read the original article.



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Senator Maggie Hassan:

Senator Hassan Questions General John Kelly During Homeland Security Confirmation Hearing
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TeleSur |  

On Saturday Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas will meet Pope Francis to inaugurate Palestines first embassy to the Holy See ahead of Paris peace talks.

On Saturday Palestine will open its first embassy in the Vatican, a diplomatically significant development in the midst of ongoing threats by President-elect Donald Trump to illegally move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and an international peace conference on Israel and Palestine which begins on Sunday in Paris.

Palestines ambassador to the Vatican, Issa Kassissieh, said the embassy was a significant achievement for the Palestinian people, adding that Argentine-born Pope Francis had made an important moral, legal and political stand through recognizing the state of Palestine along the pre-1967 borders.

Palestine has formal diplomatic missions to over 90 countries and has had official diplomatic relations with the Vatican since 2000.

Palestinian Authority President Abbas will also press the Pope about his concerns regarding U.S. threats to move their embassy from Tel Aviv to occupied Jerusalem, a move which would not only break international law but threaten to entirely scuttle Palestinian Authority hopes for a two-state settlement.

Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs Riyad al-Maliki said Abbas is hoping that the Pope will participate in sending a strong message to Trump about the dangers of the proposed move.

Trumps pick for U.S. ambassador to Israel David Friedman- a Zionist extremist who has said Jewish supporters of Palestine are worse than Nazi concentration camp guards- has publicly said that the U.S. embassy will move to Jerusalem.

Saturdays inauguration comes as over 70 countries gather in Paris on Sunday for the opening of the first major international peace talks on Israel-Palestine since 2014, when U.S. sponsored negotiations ended in the face of the Israeli governments continued construction of illegal settlements.

Abbas told a French paper earlier this week that the Paris talks may be the last chance for implementing the two-state solution mapped out in 1967 U.N. Security Council Resolution 242 and the 1993 Olso accords.

The Paris talks begin just weeks after a historic U.N. Security Council vote which unanimously condemned Israels flagrant violation of international law in ongoing settlement construction on Palestinian territory.

Despite official hopes that the talks might revive the two-state solution- which would see a contiguous Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital alongside Israels 1967 borders- many Palestinians have declared it long dead, given Israels continual refusal to abide by international law and multiple previous peace deals.

Via TeleSur



Related video added by Juan Cole:

Euronews:  New Palestinian embassy opened in the Vatican
The US House of Representatives [official website] on Friday voted to begin the process of repealing the Affordable Health Care Act (ACA) [text]. The decision to dismantle [Reuters Report] the ACA, commonly referred to as Obamacare, by a vote of 227-198 followed the US Senate vote on the same measure [JURIST article] on Thursday. The resolution was widely supported by Republicans, with only 9 Republican senators voting against it. House Speaker Paul Ryan expressed his belief that immediate action to repeal Obamacare was necessary saying, [w]e have to step in before things get worse. This is nothing short of a rescue mission. Despite heavy support from Republicans in the House, the measure was extremely disfavored by Democrats  no Democrat voted for the initiative. Republicans hope to simultaneously create and enact an alternative to Obamacare.

It seems that the ACA, which has sustained challenges since its inception, is destined to be removed from law. On Tuesday the American Civil Liberties Union [advocacy website] filed a motion [JURIST report] to stay a federal court order preventing the federal government from transgender people and women from discrimination in health care, as protected under the ACA. On the same day the Secretary of Health and Human Services [official website] warned [JURIST report] that a repeal of the ACA without an immediate replacement would create a dangerous situation for American healthcare. In May a federal judge ruled in favor [JURIST report] of House Republicans finding that the government had been illegally spending money to fund subsidies under the ACA.
Japanese company Takata Corp. on Friday agreed [DOJ report] to plead guilty to criminal wrongdoing charges and pay $1 billion as a result of a US Department of Justice (DOJ) [official website] investigation into airbag defects which caused the death of at least 16 people. The $1 billion is made up of a $25 million fine, $125 million to compensate victims  current and future and $850 million to compensate automakers for recall costs associated with the airbag defects. The plea agreement, which must still be approved by the Michigan District Attorney, was announced just after three Takata executives were indicted on charges of conspiracy and wire fraud for falsifying test results to conceal the airbag defect in 2000. Takata and Japanese investors were pleased [Reuters report] with the potential agreement and hoped that the agreement would secure investment in Takata in the future.

Auto manufacturers have continued to face punishment for issues with their vehicles and parts in the US. In July the NHTSA determined [JURIST report] that Fiat Chrysler failed to provide a remedy and notices for 23 recalls related to malfunctions of their automobiles. In 2014, the US DOJ announced [JURIST report] a $1.2 billion settlement agreement with Toyota for misleading customers and US regulators. In November 2012 Toyota settled [JURIST report] a class action lawsuit for $35.5 million brought by its shareholders for failing to disclose vehicle quality issues. In 2010 Toyota agreed [JURIST report] to pay $32.4 million in fines following investigations by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. JURIST Guest Columnist Bruce Aronson in 2011 argued [JURIST op-ed] that the recent corporate scandals in Japan, including the Toyota recalls, highlight the need for reform of that countrys corporate governance structure.
Exclusive: Interview with Jeremy Howard on Deep Learning, Kaggle, Data Science, and more

My exclusive interview with rock star Data Scientist Jeremy Howard, on his latest Deep Learning course, what is needed for success in Kaggle, how Enlitic is transforming medical diagnostics, and what Data Scientists should do to create value for their organization.
LINCOLN  Conservative state lawmakers carved a potentially easier path for a controversial gun rights bill Friday during their first showdown of the year with Sen. Ernie Chambers of Omaha.

Senators voted against a motion by Chambers to send the bill to the Judiciary Committee, of which he is a member. Instead, the bill will be heard by the Government, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee, where it would stand a better chance of advancing given that six of the committees eight members are Republicans.

Fridays debate provided a glimpse into the sorts of partisan fights that could lie ahead as the session unfolds. Tension has been high since last week, when conservatives elected Republicans to chair all but two of the officially nonpartisan Legislatures 14 standing committees, a move that unseated two committee leaders who were Democrats.

Also at stake is a bill that would put an end to local gun regulations, including an Omaha ordinance that prohibits those under 21 from possessing a handgun.

Four members of the Omaha City Council and the Omaha Police Officers Association opposed a similar gun pre-emption bill last year. Mayor Jean Stothert supported the bill, saying she questions whether the local regulations help reduce gun violence.

A filibuster narrowly killed the measure last year. This years version, Legislative Bill 68, is sponsored by Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln.

Chambers, who has served in the Legislature for more than 40 years, has always fought legislation that eases gun regulations.

He argued Friday that bills related to firearms have always been assigned to the Judiciary Committee. The vote by the Legislatures Executive Board to send it to the Government Committee amounted to political maneuvering, he said.

What Im concerned about is the integrity of the Legislature as an institution, he said.

Sen. John Murante of Gretna, chairman of the Government Committee, said the bill was properly referenced to his committee because it deals with the authority of local governments to enforce ordinances. He pointed out that both he and Sen. Laura Ebke of Crete, chairwoman of the Judiciary Committee, agreed to how the bill was assigned.

Chambers, with the help of others who opposed the committee assignment, spent about three hours debating the issue. Chambers promised his colleagues more long days ahead.

Lawmakers voted 17-24 for Chambers motion. Three Republicans voted for the motion, while no Democrats voted against it.

Sen. Rick Kolowski of Omaha said he believed the measure needed to be heard by the Judiciary Committee. He pointed to the progress Omaha law enforcement officials have made in reducing homicides from a record high of 50 in 2015 to 29 last year.

I would not in any way, shape or form want to derail progress thats been made in Omaha, he said.

The Legislature adjourned Friday before taking up another committee reassignment motion by Chambers. He opposes a decision to assign LB 59, an abortion-related measure by Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion, to the Health and Human Services Committee instead of Judiciary.
LINCOLN  A committee of state senators voted Friday against advancing proposals to change filibuster rules and require open votes for leadership positions in the Nebraska Legislature.

The Legislatures Rules Committee voted 2-3 on motions to advance the proposals for debate by all 49 senators.

The votes do not preclude supporters of the proposals from offering them as amendments during floor debate next week. But the two senators who submitted the proposals said they will not bring them up on the floor.

Meanwhile, a similar proposal submitted by Sen. Bill Kintner of Papillion to end the use of secret ballots for leadership posts died for lack of a second.

Sen. Mike Hilgers of Lincoln, chairman of the Rules Committee, proposed a rule that would require 17 votes to defeat a cloture motion. Cloture motions are filed when a supporter of a bill wants to end a filibuster, which is a delay tactic used by senators who want to kill a piece of legislation.

Under the Legislatures current rules, those who want to end a filibuster must obtain 33 votes, which equates to a 2/3 majority of the 49 senators.

Hilgers said he proposed the change in an effort to reduce the number of filibusters, which hit a record high of 24 in 2016.

He insisted it was not his intent to make it easier for the majority to impose its will, but to require senators to go on the record with their votes when they oppose a bill. He argued his rule would compel opponents of a bill to cast a vote rather than abstaining.

During his seven years in the Legislature, Sen. Paul Schumacher of Columbus said his respect has grown for the 33-vote standard, which has been in place since 1992.

I think it should be difficult to pass a law, said Sen. Burke Harr of Omaha, who also supports the existing filibuster rule.

Sen. John Kuehn of Heartwell proposed ending the Legislatures tradition of electing leadership positions by secret ballot. Instead, they would have been elected by a voice vote, with the results reported in the Legislatures official record at the request of each senator.

He argued the Nebraska Constitution prohibits members of the Legislature from voting in secret and the practice otherwise conflicts with the states tradition of governmental transparency.

Supporters of secret ballots argued they help insulate the Legislature from outside partisan influence by allowing members to vote for the best candidates for leadership roles, regardless of political party affiliation. Republican Party officials have long called on the Legislature to end the practice.

Sens. Kuehn and Hilgers voted to advance each measure. Voting against both proposals were Schumacher, Harr and Sen. Bob Krist of Omaha.

Members of the committee did vote to advance rules that would require the Legislative Fiscal Office to complete fiscal notes 72 hours before a bill comes up for a public hearing. The current rule requires the notes to be done 24 hours before hearings, which several senators said doesnt leave them enough time to prepare.
Train hostesses stand in a train carriage decorated with iconic religious figures as it departs from Belgrade to Mitrovica, Kosovo at Belgrade's railway station, Serbia, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. Serbia has launched a railway link to Serb-dominated northern Kosovo despite protests from authorities in Pristina who described the move as a provocation and an aggressive violation of Kosovo's sovereignty. (AP Photo/Darko Vojinovic)
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My first week on call, I got called in for a code blue. This patient happened to be the sickest patient on our unit. He had a tumor on his brain stem that was affecting his vision, hearing, swallowing, and breathing, so he had received a tracheostomy and gastrostomy tube as most palliative patients in his situation do. After a series of neurosurgeries, he was undergoing chemotherapy and radiation treatments. This had all happened within the past six months, and he was determined to live. He isnt even 40 years old, after all.

Glioblastomas are a sad diagnosis, because, despite all we can offer, neither medicine nor surgery holds a definitive cure for what surely is a fast and fatal condition. Nevertheless, this relatively young man was resolute in his decision to be full code.

So, I returned to the hospital in the middle of the night, and watched this patient endure 40 minutes of CPR. Meanwhile, as the minutes ticked away, I called his parents, who were on vacation in San Francisco because now that he was admitted to rehab, they felt they could finally relax and get away for a little bit. I called his sister, who is an surgeon in another state, who also happened to be working. I delivered the news that he was coding to her in what I hoped was a calm, collected, matter-of-fact manner, and she sounded just as scared and unsure as I felt. Miraculously, after 40 minutes of CPR, my patient stabilized, and I transferred him up to the ICU, not believing his limp body could ever be truly alive again.

And now, one month later, he has been readmitted to this unit, and I get to enjoy his Christmas decorations, his cheeky demands for only strawberry-flavored Ensures, and his analogies of straight catheterizations being too similar to unskilled billiard shots. He is the same person he was before he stopped breathing and his heart stopped working for 40 minutes, though his chest hurts a little bit from all those compressions. He is very involved with his therapy and is able to dictate his care and make his wishes known during rehab planning meetings. He is doing amazingly well for his diagnosis. And his oncologist is in full support of his optimistic prognosis.

But I worry that all of his progress may be halted at any moment by a mucous plug that results in another code blue.

When I think of all the major ethical dilemmas Ive encountered as a resident, it usually comes down to disagreements between co-workers, co-physicians, family members, and patients. Managing different opinions among caregivers is a big part of being a physician. While physicians may have the most medical knowledge and offer understanding about treatment options and prognosis, other caregivers and the patients themselves provide insight that physicians may overlook, underestimate, or simply dont agree with. Most of the rehabilitation team seemed uncomfortable with our patients full code status given the precarious location of his tumor. Perhaps some of the older physicians and nurses have seen too many patients in similar situations endure prolonged suffering and unfulfilling end-of-life care in an ICU because they would not accept the alternative of a sooner yet possibly more peaceful passing.

Still, this particular patient has reinforced a simple but important lesson. All parties involved are invested in this patients life. His life is their work, fueled by his continued determination to stay alive. In the scheme of the whole world, there are not that many people who care about any one individual right up until the end of their life. Though we may disagree on certain details of his care, we all commit part of our days working towards making his day as valuable and prolific as possible. There is no one right way to help a person live a full life. All we can do as care providers is offer every option and every comfort we can while maintaining respect for each others different opinions and ultimately respect for the patient.

Stephanie Van is a physiatry resident.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
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The concept of sickness insurance began in Germany in 1883. Chancellor Otto Von Bismarck initiated insurance for the poor. A decision about how these services were to be delivered is critical to understanding the contentious debates around health care. Could Bismarck have given vouchers for care as needed? Alternatively, should the government control the needed health care facilities?

Perhaps thinking the poor did not have the capability to manage their own health, he chose government rather than patient-directed care. Lloyd George in Great Britain created a similar program in 1911. Again, a federal bureaucracy and facilities were provided to deliver this care.

Although individuals were the recipients of the care, they were uninvolved in cost or the menu of coverages available. Perhaps if Chancellor Bismarck could have foreseen our information age, he would have realized that patients could, with a trusted physician, make appropriate decisions for themselves. In 1912, Theodore Roosevelt  running for president under the Bull Moose Party  proposed a similar federalized form of national health insurance.

In 1913, the American Medical Association (AMA) Council on Health & Public Instruction suggested sending a representative to Europe to study the issue of care for the poor. The board of directors squashed the idea, and with the advent of the World War, interest waned.

Subsequently, several state medical societies tried unsuccessfully to deal with expanding coverage, but in 1920, a resolution passed by the AMA House of Delegates put an abrupt end to all discussion of the issue.

The AMA, which at that time was at the peak of its influence, could not resolve the issue of having government support health care for the needy while maintaining the independence of the patient-physician relationship. In essence, they were stuck thinking only about a federal Bismarck model, not proposing a solution (i.e., direct payment) to this quandary has plagued our country ever since.

World War II and beyond

During World War II and its accompanying wage controls, companies needed to lure more domestic workers to increase weapons production and thus introduced health insurance as a pre-tax benefit. Over time, this benefit became more expansive, morphing into all-inclusive pre-paid health care and not true insurance. Thus, covered individuals were precluded from concern about cost, even for minor issues. Unlike other countries, employee coverage insured most American families.

What about coverage for retirees or the unemployed? This became an increasing political issue after World War II. President Truman defeated Dewey in 1948 in part because of health care, but another war (Korea) delayed any serious action. President Eisenhower signed the Kerr-Mills Act that provided federal state support for means-tested health care to the elderly poor. Unfortunately, only four states provided full services.

Upon his election, John F. Kennedy wanted federal care for all those over age 65. He tried mightily, but was defeated by two main adversaries. One was the AMA that fought intensively against any federal funding for health care, while not proposing any creative alternative. This was rather odd as physicians were now benefitting from federally funded medical research that was increasing medical options, and had the opportunity to increase incomes.

The second obstacle was Wilbur Mills (D-AR), chair of House Ways & Means. His concerns were rather profound. Unlike Social Security, the proposed plans for the elderly and poor were open-ended. Costs per person had no limits. Another concern was that suddenly increasing demand with no increase in supply would cause prices to explode.

He was also aware that after World War II there was a baby boom, which meant in the future there would be a decrease in the worker-to-retiree ratio, causing a greater burden on the younger generation. What he could not have anticipated was the increase in life expectancy and the ever-increasing availability of more expensive medical therapies. Today, the typical Medicare recipient receives approximately three-fold the cost of care relative to their contributions. Unfortunately for us, these still valid concerns are not being addressed, hence the chaos.

The election of 1964, a landslide for Lyndon Johnson and a super Democratic majority in Congress, meant that a federal program for the elderly and the poor would pass. Mills, knowing Johnson had the votes, crafted what is now Medicare/Medicaid addressing none of his previous concerns. Another problem Mills did not anticipate was cost shifting by hospitals negotiating higher prices for private insurances to cover losses because of Medicare / Medicaid inadequate reimbursements. This increases private insurance premiums, in large part causing stagnant employee wages.

Failed solutions

Perpetuating the chaos, Congress, rather than addressing fundamental cost issues, is stuck in the late 19th century, attempting a slew of government-directed top down, price controlled, heavily bureaucratic fixes.

These futile attempts include:

1. Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) in 1983. A price fixed system, eliminating hospital market forces such as real prices, outcomes, efficiency, and lack of price transparency.

2. Ever more complicated Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes in 1992. A price fixed system that disregards extensive training, skill levels, and outcomes, adopted by all third party payers.

3. The Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) in 1997. A law to decrease doctor payments if Medicare costs were greater than increases in GDP, a complete failure as Congress put off enforcement yearly.

4. The HITECH Act of 2009, based on a retracted Rand study that computerized medical records would save Medicare billions per year, but paradoxically has increased costs by adding facility fees, takes significant face time from patients, cronyism at its worst by favoring a few computer companies that still cannot share test data.

5. Obamacare in 2010, that instead of promised savings for families, has caused huge deductibles with increased family spending on coverage. Most insurance expansion is via Medicaid, which has proven not to improve outcomes and paradoxically causes increased emergency room visits.

6. The Medicare and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA) in 2015 to end the failed SGR debacle, trying to assure quality not volume by computer algorithms on 40 trillion transactions per year using imprecise data, an obvious absurdity.

These actions have led to runaway costs along with deep patient and physician malcontent, yearning for more personal relationships.

The solution

Fix the fundamentals!

Put individuals, not the government in charge of their care by depositing yearly an actuarially adjusted amount into their health account that could fund routine needs, an insurance plan, and direct care. Monies left over could be carried over the following year with the yearly deposit somewhat less, so the government could share some of the savings.

At a young age, Americans could choose to have their Medicare payroll deductions paid directly into a special account paying for care when elderly. These monies could be invested in a conservative allocation of  stocks,  bonds.

There is a way out of this chaos. Give Medicare patients the option of directing their own care.

Kenneth Fisher is a physician who blogs at People for Progress in Health Care. This article originally appeared in Physician On FIRE.

Image credit: Shutterstock.com
Bangladesh economy to grow 7.5 pct in year to June - planning minister



DHAKA, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Bangladesh's economy will grow 7.50 percent in the 2016/17 financial year that ends in June, the planning minister Mustafa Kamal said on Sunday, rejecting the World's Bank projection of 6.8 percent. Growth in the South Asian nation sped up to 7.11 percent in the 2015/16 financial year, from 6.5 percent the previous year when political unrest crippled the economy. Garment exports and remittances from Bangladeshis working overseas are the key drivers of the nation's more than $200 billion economy.

(Reporting by Ruma Paul; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

kitco news
Egypt says foreign investment in treasuries set to reach $10-11 bln in one year



CAIRO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Egyptian Finance Minister Amr El Garhy said on Sunday he expected foreign investment in Egyptian treasury instruments to reach about $10-$11 billion in one year. Egypt used to attract significant inflows into government bonds and bills before the 2011 uprising drove off foreign investors. Egypt's decision to float its pound currency in November has helped revive foreign inflows into the debt market.

(Reporting by Asma Alsharif,; Writing by Lin Noueihed,; Editing Eric Knecht)

Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication.

kitco news
Egyptian T-bills yields rise at weekly auction

CAIRO, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Yields on Egypt's three-month and nine-month treasury bills rose at an auction on Sunday, central bank data showed. Yields on the 91-day bill increased to an average of 19.017 percent from 18.889 percent at the previous auction. Yields on the 266-day bill rose to 20.191 percent from 19.858 percent at a similar auction.

(Reporting by Eric Knecht; Editing by Catherine Evans) Disclaimer: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and may not reflect those of Kitco Metals Inc. The author has made every effort to ensure accuracy of information provided; however, neither Kitco Metals Inc. nor the author can guarantee such accuracy. This article is strictly for informational purposes only. It is not a solicitation to make any exchange in precious metal products, commodities, securities or other financial instruments. Kitco Metals Inc. and the author of this article do not accept culpability for losses and/ or damages arising from the use of this publication. kitco news
DUBAI, Jan 15 (Reuters) - Iran exported 11 million barrels of condensate to South Korea in December, partly delivered from tankers located outside the Gulf, the Iranian oil ministry's news website SHANA said on Sunday.

"Three South Korean companies bought a total of 11 million barrels of gas condensates from Iran in December, so the Asian country remains the biggest receiver of condensate from Iran," SHANA said.

The report was published as a denial of a Reuters story that quoted a source with knowledge of Iran's preliminary tanker schedule as saying Iranian condensate exports were set to fall 17 percent to a five-month low in January, as main buyer South Korea cut purchases by nearly half and takes more barrels from Qatar. "It appears that Reuters' report is based on monitoring of vessels passing through the Strait of Hormuz (at the mouth of the Gulf), while Iran had several supertankers full of condensate located since earlier in open seas and near China that covered some of theses sales," SHANA said.

Although Reuters' report referred to January sales, SHANA did not give condensate export figures for January.

Iran, a member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, does not publish monthly data on its condensate and crude exports.

Iran scored a victory when it was exempted from an OPEC deal agreed in November to reduce production by 1.2 million bpd, and traders have expected it to raise output slightly and boost exports to reclaim market share.

Tehran has also been aggressively marketing oil from its offshore storage. It has sold more than 13 million barrels of oil that it had long held on tankers at sea. (Reporting by Dubai newsroom; Editing by Susan Fenton)
(Updates with company announcement)

By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Australian energy firm DUET Group on Monday said its board would recommend a takeover offer from Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) after the price was increased slightly to value the company at A$7.37 billion ($5.51 billion).

DUET shareholders will receive A$3.03 a share , up A$0.03 from the offer CKI made in December, the takeover target said in a statement. The deal remains subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. CKI's bid to acquire state-owned energy firm Ausgrid was rejected by Australia in August on the grounds of national interest.

DUET shares had last traded at A$2.78 on Friday, below the then-A$3.00 a share offer price, amid concerns over whether CKI would receive foreign investment approvals. ($1 = 1.3382 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Greg Mahlich)
(Adds additional context from CKI announcement)

By Jamie Freed

SYDNEY, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Australian energy firm DUET Group on Monday said its board would recommend a takeover offer from a consortium led by Hong Kong's Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings (CKI) after the price was increased slightly to value the company at A$7.37 billion ($5.51 billion).

DUET shareholders will receive A$3.03 a share, up A$0.03 from the offer CKI made in December, the takeover target said in a statement, recommending the proposal in the absence of a higher offer. CKI on Monday said in a statement the purchase would be done through a consortium that also included related companies Cheung Kong Property Holdings , CK Hutchison Holdings and Power Asset Holdings .

The deal remains subject to approval from the Foreign Investment Review Board. CKI's bid to acquire state-owned energy firm Ausgrid was rejected by Australia in August on the grounds of national interest.

CKI already controls power grids in the Australian states of South Australia and Victoria, where DUET has other assets, and a nationwide gas distributor. The Hong Kong-based giant was also cleared by the foreign investment regulator to buy another state-owned electricity grid, TransGrid, in 2015, although that asset went to a different buyer.

DUET shares had last traded at A$2.78 on Friday, below the then-A$3.00 a share offer price, amid concerns over whether CKI would receive foreign investment approvals.

DUET chairman Doug Halley said the company believed the A$3.03 a share offer fully recognised the value and future growth platform the management team had created as well as the operating and financing cost savings available to the CKI-led consortium.

In a report issued on Dec. 5, Morningstar analyst Jennifer Song said the value accretion available to CKI from its bid was poised to come primarily from lower debt costs. ($1 = 1.3382 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Jamie Freed; Editing by Greg Mahlich and Phil Berlowitz)
Stuff reports:

Hastings mayor Lawrence Yule turning his attention to national politics.

On Friday he announced he was planning to seek the National Partys nomination for the Tukituki electorate, after 15 years as mayor or Hastings.

He is also the president of Local Government New Zealand.

Craig Foss, who currently holds the seat for National, announced in December he would be retiring from politics.

A large number of locals, along with members of the National Party had encouraged him to run, he said.

I did not expect Craig Foss to resign, now I have to deal with that opportunity. I have been pretty humbled by the number of people who have approached me to stand. I think I can make a difference in Wellington, for the people of Tukituki, and for the National Party, he said.

Yule will not make a decision on whether he will stand down as mayor until the National Party decide who the candidate is in February.

If the National Party and its members want and choose me as their candidate then subsequent decisions will be required and I intend to involve fellow councillors in these.

Until that point I will be saying very little more while the selection process is underway.

In 2016, Yule led the district through the gastro outbreak which saw 5000 locals struck down with campylobacter after drinking water became contaminated.

Despite the crisis, he was re-elected mayor in last years local body elections with a lead of more than 3000 votes over his closet rival Guy Wellwood.
It was in 2015 that her essay on the C word was penned. One year later this book was born.

In all of her well-articulated and sometimes satirical essays, the one thing that comes out most often is her patriotism and heart for her country  Papua New Guinea.

Rashmii Amoah Bell, a well read and articulate essayist, is the esteemed editor of this new body of work. Copies of the essays she has written can be seen on the PNG Attitude blog.

Much collaboration has now culminated in this anthology  a first for all the women of Papua New Guinea.

THE author of Let the C word Run Free: Desperately Seeking Collaboration has now made the C word come to life.

This anthology, entitled My Walk to Equality, is a book inspired by Goal 10 of the United Nations sustainable development goals. World leaders got together in the year 2000 to make the Millennium Declaration. At the same time there was commitment to promote an equal and just world.

Goal 10 is about ending inequalities around the globe. The world has seen success on some fronts, but progress is slow on others. In PNG, one of the most observed inequalities is the status of women in the community.

At this time when the developed nations of the world are increasingly pushing for gender neutrality, the women of Papua New Guinea are emerging from under a masculine society  a system born from a harsh environment where women can only find safety with their male relatives.

The women in PNG are starting to find their voice and slowly extending their domains in their society.

This anthology captures candid realities facing the women of PNG; their struggles, their fears, their dilemmas and their questions with regard to their emerging sense of self. This book is a compilation of such stories on this walk toward greater integration in society.

The book is important because it is a work by Papua New Guinea women writers who are not afraid to put their experiences down as a reference for the future. Women from all walks of life are given the space to share their life stories.

In the reading of this book, both women and men are invited to participate in the experiences with the hope that this insight will help society bring back the balance the way nature intended men and women to be.

The contributors to the anthology are doubly special. The women of this generation (which is also my generation) are indeed the last keepers of the ways of their fathers. Most of us were born just before independence or shortly thereafter and therefore lack the oppressive memories of colonialism.

This group of women is not yet too immersed in the glamour of the west to shun our roots. We have inherited our culture from our parents at a time when change is happening very fast. Our daughters and children will not have an understanding of their culture like we do. And the generations thereafter will eventually lose that knowledge. They will become citizens of the world. It is our duty to document some of our life story for posterity.

The challenge for the Papua New Guinean woman today is in effectively telling her story. This is where it is a bonus for Papua New Guinea to have women like Rashmii, who has a keen feel for words and can articulate them so they can be understood by those who need to hear the story.

Through her pen and her words, Rashmii has become a spokeswoman for the sisterhood in Papua New Guinea.

Rashmii has articulated sentiments which indigenous Papua New Guinean women have had a hard time expressing, and she is understood because she speaks in the language of Keith Jackson, Phil Fitzpatrick. Ed Brumby, Barbara Short, Paul Oates and all those people whose physical body may be elsewhere but their hearts are in Papua New Guinea.

Rashmii contributes the womens voice to the already notable work of other Papua New Guineans like Michael Dom, Martyn Namorong, Daniel Kumbon, Mathias Kin, Francis Nii and Gary Juffa, to name a few.

There are also women writers, both established and emerging. Take time to read the anthology and get to know them. These women must be supported as active contributors and influencers in the process of social change.

Though I have never met Rashmii in person, through our passion for writing and social justice I feel that we are kindred spirits, like so many other people the PNG Attitude blog has brought together - virtually.

PNG Attitude has served as a forum for validating concerns raised by Papua New Guineans, whose voices may otherwise float into oblivion without being examined.

I am honoured to write this foreword to the anthology because I believe in the message it has for Papua New Guinea and the world.

Womens issues are close to my heart, after all I am a Papua New Guinean woman living through the challenges. I am a culmination of all the women who have existed before me. And I have sisters and nieces and girl children who will walk through this same environment.

Like Rashmii, I am just a spokesperson for my country. Through my writing on my blog and elsewhere, I hope to make some sense of the challenges faced in Papua New Guinea.

In conclusion, I wish for the C word to be embraced more by both men and women; only then will we see progress in our programs, projects and initiatives because many eyes and many minds and many ideas will result in comprehensive outputs.

Collaboration, therefore, is the answer to finding solutions to our problems including womens issues. Let the spirit of collaboration run free among us.

A respected writer and commentator, Tanya Zeriga-Alone was born in Kainantu in the Eastern Highlands Province and is the lead researcher with the Port Moresby-based Menggeyao Morobe Consultancy. Tanya graduated from the Australian National University in environmental science and has worked extensively in that field as an academic and researcher
Shenandoah, IA (51601)

Today

Cloudy with periods of rain. Thunder possible. High 42F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%..

Tonight

Cloudy with periods of rain. Snow may mix in late. Low 31F. Winds N at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 100%. Rainfall possibly over one inch.
Internet celebrities from China, or "Wang Hong" in Chinese, broadcast through their smartphones at a kidult toy store Toys & Hobby in I'Park Mall in Seoul, last Wednesday. / Courtesy of HDC Shilla



By Park Jae-hyuk

Duty free shops in Korea have begun to invite internet celebrities from China, better known as "Wang Hong" there, to attract Chinese tourists during the upcoming holiday season.

The shops are seeking to break through Beijing's economic retaliation against Seoul's decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here.

Last Wednesday, HDC Shilla invited four Chinese internet celebrities to HDC I'Park Mall and Shilla I'PARK Duty Free in Yongsan, central Seoul.

The online stars, who have millions of followers on social media such as Weibo, broadcast their shopping for two hours to China through their smartphones.

At toy store Toys & Hobby in I'Park Mall, the four introduced "kidult culture" in Korea, which has yet to be seen in China. They introduced Korea's fashion and beauty brands as well at The Handsome and 3 Concept Eyes outlets in Shilla I'PARK Duty Free.

"The promotional video broadcast by the four celebrities will likely get more than 5 million views within a week," an HDC Shilla official said.

The Shilla Duty Free also invited 15 Chinese internet celebrities to Korea to offer them a trip for five days and four nights from this Monday to Friday. The affiliate of Hotel Shilla plans to give them various experiences beyond shopping.

Traveling from Seoul to Jeju, the 15 will visit hidden local restaurants and a tangerine farm on the island. They will also enjoy make-up sessions, a tea ceremony and pop arts, according to The Shilla Duty Free.

An official said, "We expect more Chinese tourists, who are interested in beauty, food and experiences, to come to Korea."

The duty free shops want the celebrities to attract more Chinese tourists to Korea during the Lunar New Year festival from Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, which is regarded as one of the most lucrative times of the year in the industry.

Last year, Lotte Duty Free and The Shilla Duty Free posted 10 percent more in sales during the festival.

However, duty free shops this year are facing a gloomy outlook due to Beijing's order to regulate group tours to Korea.

According to the Korea Duty Free Association, the number of foreign shoppers last November declined 17.8 percent from a year earlier. The total sales of duty free shops also fell 8 percent year-on-year, as sales to foreigners decreased 9.6 percent.

Observers said the recent invitations of Chinese celebrities are targeting non-group tourists, who visit Korea individually without travel agencies and who can replace the group tours.

"The non-group tourists are not regulated by the Chinese authorities," another HDC Shilla official said. "So, we want those tourists to visit Korea more, after watching promotional videos filmed by Chinese celebrities."

The Shilla Duty Free also said the itinerary of celebrities was arranged to help non-group tourists who are considering visiting Korea.
Animal & Plant Quarantine Agency officials check imported eggs from the U.S. at Incheon International Airport, Saturday. / Yonhap



By Park Jae-hyuk

White shelled eggs from the United States, which have been imported to alleviate Korea's egg shortage due to the nationwide avian influenza outbreak, will be on sale this weekend, according to agricultural officials Sunday.

The Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs said about 1.6 million eggs  an estimated 100 tons  arrived at Incheon International Airport Saturday via a Korean Air flight from Los Angeles. An Asiana Air flight carrying 100 tons of eggs also arrived in Korea the same day.

The country's first imported eggs will probably be available this weekend at 118 nationwide Lotte Mart outlets at 8,990 won ($7.6) for 30 eggs, after they undergo the one-week quarantine. The government said the eggs will expire at the end of this month.

"Those eggs were imported from a farm in Iowa, a state in the Midwest of the United States," a Lotte Mart official was quoted as saying. "We plan to sell the imported eggs for about 500 won less than we sell domestic eggs per 30-unit box."

The discount chain said it decided to offer the imported eggs to stabilize soaring egg prices ahead of the Lunar New Year's holiday season. It also said the decision was made to help egg retailers, who have suffered from the prolonged egg shortage and have been under threat of bankruptcy.

However, E-mart and Home plus, the two biggest rivals of Lotte Mart, are not considering selling the U.S.-imported eggs at their stores, saying they have yet to suffer from shortages of domestic eggs. The two said they have no reason to sell expensive imported eggs, because they are selling domestic eggs at about 7,000 won.

Some observers said Lotte Mart made its decision because it alone suffered from the diminished egg supply due to different transaction and supply structures.

The government, however, is expecting the imported eggs to stabilize the price of eggs. Last Friday, the average price of a tray of eggs was 9,491 won, a 0.5 percent fall from a day earlier and the first price decline since Dec. 7, according to the Korea Agro-Fisheries Trade Corporation (aT).

The government said additional eggs will be imported this week to prepare for the increasing demand of eggs ahead of the holiday season. Two Korean Air flights will each carry 100 tons of eggs and will arrive in Korea on Monday and Thursday.

Since the bird flu outbreak in mid-November, Korea's quarantine authorities have culled more than 30 million birds, including 25.8 million chickens. This has resulted in about a 30 percent reduction of the country's daily egg output.


By Kim Bo-eun

A big fire at a fish market in the southern coastal city of Yeosu, South Jeolla Province, early Sunday burnt more than 100 stores, causing over 500 million won in damage. There were no casualties.

The fire broke out at 2:29 a.m. and was put out by 4:24 a.m.

A total of 116 of the market's 125 shops were damaged. Authorities estimate infrastructure damage at 520 million won, but the figure is expected to rise when fish stored at the market is included.

The merchants will experience more losses because the market will not be able to open for the traditional Lunar New Year holiday.

Police and fire authorities presume an electrical short circuit caused the fire but their investigations are continuing.

According to shop owners and fire authorities, the sprinklers were functioning but the alarm did not go off when the blaze erupted.

However, the fire protection system had reportedly been operating without any problems when fire authorities and the Yeosu city government conducted inspections last month. The inspections came after a huge fire broke out at a traditional market in Daegu in November.

The Yeosu city government and merchants are discussing rebuilding measures and financial aid, but restoration is expected to take some time.

The traditional market, near the ferry terminal, attracts 2,000 to 3,000 tourists a day.
Koreans in Denmark hold a protest in front of the detention center in Aalberg, Denmark, Saturday, to call for the extradition of Chung Yoo-ra, a key suspect in the corruption scandal involving President Park Geun-hye and her friend Choi Soon-sil, Chung's mother. / Yonhap



By Kim Rahn

Koreans in Denmark have called for the immediate extradition of Chung Yoo-ra, the daughter of scandal-ridden President Park Geun-hye's confidant Choi Soon-sil, in candlelit protests there.

Fourteen Korean residents in Denmark and Sweden, accompanied by three Danish citizens, gathered in front of the detention center in Aalberg at 4 p.m., Friday, where Chung is being held. They reported their protest plan earlier to the Aalberg police.

Chung has been detained there since Jan. 1 on charges of staying in the country illegally, and faces the Danish authorities' review of whether to extradite her following the Korean authorities' request. She is one of the key figures in the influence-peddling scandal.

The participants held picket signs that read: "Bring her to justice," "Immediate extradition of Chung Yoo-ra" and "Chung Yoo-ra should be punished under Korean law." They also marched near the detention center before finishing the one-hour protest.

"It is important for Chung to be sent to Korea and face investigation," Lim Ji-ae, a participant, said. "We may hold another protest if she is not."

On Saturday afternoon, 24 people also held a protest there.

In the meantime, Danish police will question Chung from today through Wednesday to decide whether to accept the Korean prosecution's request for her extradition. After the police questioning, the Danish prosecution will make a final decision on extradition before Jan. 30.
By Jun Ji-hye





The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Sunday it will convene a meeting of key ambassadors this week to discuss diplomatic and security challenges facing the nation.



The participants of the rare meeting will be Ambassador to the United States Ahn Ho-young and Ambassador to China Kim Jang-soo as well as mission chiefs to Japan, Russia and the United Nations.



Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se also told a parliamentary session, Friday, that a small meeting will be held soon regarding the harsh challenges facing Northeast Asia.



Ministry officials said issues to be discussed at the meeting include North Korea's latest threat to test-fire an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) and the deepening diplomatic rows with China as well as Japan.



The ambassadors will also discuss the policy direction in preparation for the incoming Donald Trump administration that will take office this week as Trump becoming the U.S. president is likely to spur considerable changes on the diplomatic and trade fronts.



In his New Year's message, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un claimed Pyongyang was in the final stages of preparations for a test launch of an 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.



In protest against Seoul's decision made in July last year to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile defense system on its soil, China has taken various retaliatory actions including banning K-pop and K-drama stars, and reducing bilateral exchanges and cooperation.



Beijing believes that the X-band radar of the battery could be used to spy on its military capabilities despite Seoul and Washington's consistent assurances that the system is designed to defend against North Korean threats only.



Seoul and Tokyo have also been at odds over the erecting of a second girl statue outside Japan's Consulate General office in the port city of Busan. The statue represents victims of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women before and during World War II.



As part of its retaliatory steps, Tokyo ordered its ambassador to Korea as well as its consul-general in Busan to come home earlier this month. The neighboring country also announced a halt to the ongoing negotiations to resume a Japan-Korea currency swap deal and the postponement of bilateral high-level economic discussions.



Diplomatic sources said that the summons of key ambassadors is a first in the history of the foreign ministry and totally different from the annual meeting of the heads of overseas diplomatic missions around March.



"The planned meeting reflects how seriously Seoul perceives the current diplomatic and security situations," a source said.



Minister Yun already said in his New Year's message that challenges facing the country are the gravest since the end of the Cold War, signaling that Seoul is gearing up for difficult times ahead.




Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se



By Jun Ji-hye





Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se is facing pressure to step down after his "lenient" response to Japan's calls for the removal of the "comfort woman" statue in front of the Japanese consulate in Busan.

On Friday, Yun told lawmakers it was "undesirable" to install certain facilities or sculptures in front of diplomatic and consulate offices, drawing criticism from opposition parties and civic groups.

"Foreign Minister Yun has been disqualified as the nation's top diplomat after forgetting the basics of a government official who should prioritize the national interest," said Rep. Ki Dong-min, a spokesman of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK), Sunday.

"He should resign from the post rather than further enraging the people while remaining in office."

The second largest opposition People's Party spokesman Jang Jin-young also urged Yun to quit.

Angered by the statue symbolizing Korean victims of Japan's wartime sexual slavery, Tokyo has taken several retaliatory steps, including recalling its ambassador to Korea and its consul-general in Busan earlier this month.

The Japanese government demands that the statue be removed, citing the "final and irreversible" agreement between the two nations reached in December 2015 to resolve their feud over the issue of Japan's sexual enslavement of Korean women before and during World War II.

Tokyo also cited the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, which dictates that host countries must protect the premises of diplomatic missions and prevent any impairment of their peace and dignity.

However, the opposition lawmakers noted that there has been no clear interpretation of whether the statue threatens the peace and dignity of the Japanese consulate in Busan.

The lawmakers also cited worsening public sentiment toward the nation's former colonial ruler  in a Realmeter survey, released at the end of last month, 59 percent of those surveyed said they wanted the cancellation of the December 2015 agreement. Surviving victims also have been criticizing the government for its failure to include Japan's sincere apology and acknowledgement of legal responsibility in the deal.

For its part, the Japanese media appeared to attempt to stretch the meaning of Yun's comment. Kyodo News said the Korean government showed its understanding of Japan's demand for the removal of the statue.

The media outlet also said that the Japanese Ambassador to Korea Yasumasa Nagamine, who returned home on Jan. 9, may go back to Korea soon.

But opposition parties renewed their demand to nullify the deal, saying that it was a verbal agreement between the two countries' foreign ministers, not a treaty.

Yun was also embroiled in controversy in March 2015 for giving an overly optimistic analysis of thorny issues involving the China-led AIIB (Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank) and the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) missile system amid a hegemonic struggle between Beijing and Washington.

"Receiving love calls from the U.S. and China proves our strategic value can never be a headache or dilemma," Yun said in his opening speech at the annual meeting in Seoul of the country's envoys to diplomatic missions. "It could be, so to speak, a blessing."

At the time, critics said the minister lacked a sense of urgency over public concerns.
Ko Young-tae



By Lee Kyung-min



The Constitutional Court reviewing President Park Geun-hye's impeachment may hit a roadblock as key witnesses have remained out of contact in an apparent move to avoid taking the witness stand in the hearings.

Suspicions are even rising that some of the witnesses may feel their safety threatened from supporters of Park and her confidant Choi Soon-sil as they are expected to give testimony unfavorable to Park and Choi.

According to the court, Sunday, it failed to deliver subpoenas to Choi's two former associates, Ko Young-tae and Ryoo Sang-young, who the court planned to call in, Tuesday.

Ko and Ryoo are the former head and senior manager, respectively, of The Blue K, a paper company set up by Choi.

The court asked the police to find Ko and Ryoo, but they have yet to locate the two. Their cell phones are turned off.

It was rumored that Ko has been feeling threats to his safety from unknown people.

A local media outlet said Saturday that Ko left for Thailand, where his friend is staying, fearing for his life after he gave damaging testimony against Choi during National Assembly hearing in December.

The online media outlet cited a close friend of Ko who said that Ko's last words were "I cannot live like this. I am so afraid. Please save me." Ko then hung up the phone and has not been answering his phone since, it added.

But Rep. Sohn Hye-won of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea said that Ko is staying in Seoul.

"Ko wanted his privacy and didn't want to make public appearances concerning the scandal anymore," she said on her social networking account.

Ko and Ryoo were expected to testify about who owned the tablet PC, the key evidence that contained multiple state secrets and presidential speeches. Investigators believe the tablet belonged to Choi, who denies it.

Ryoo, who is believed to be loyal to Choi, is suspected of conspiring with Rep. Lee Man-hee of the ruling Saenuri Party to commit perjury during the Assembly hearing.

Ryoo, who is also loyal to the President, allegedly met with Lee before the hearing to coordinate his testimony by agreeing to say that Ko was the owner of the tablet, not Choi, and that the device was later stolen by local broadcaster JTBC.

Alongside the two, the court is likely to fail, again, to call in two former presidential secretaries  An Bong-geun and Lee Jae-man  who earlier dodged subpoenas in deliberate moves to avoid testifying on Jan. 5. The court has yet to locate them.

Meanwhile, Choi and former presidential secretary An Chong-bum said that they would appear for today's hearing. They had refused to attend the previous hearing last week.
Moon Jae-in, a former leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea, poses for a selfie with a citizen at a candlelit rally in central Seoul, Saturday, where people gathered to call for the immediate resignation of President Park Geun-hye. / Yonhap



Two in rivalry over regime change vs. political reform



By Kim Hyo-jin



Ex-leader of the main opposition Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) Moon Jae-in and former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon are squaring off ahead of the presidential election possibly slated for early this year.



The frontrunner and the second-most-popular in opinion polls have clashed in a battle of buzzwords between "regime change" and "political reform."



Moon is emphasizing the end of a decade of conservative government. His remarks, buoyed by the candlelit rallies, have increased upon the arrival of Ban, who is believed to be aligned with the ruling conservative bloc.



"I will do my utmost to carry out the public wish for regime change," the former opposition leader said during an inaugural meeting of his supporters' group, Saturday.



"With candlelit rallies, the public opinion is clearly saying we should root out evils of the old system and launch the new era."



It came after Ban stressed the need to carry out thorough political reforms, dismissing the significance of who takes power during his first press conference in Seoul, Thursday.



In a speech which hinted at his presidential ambitions, Ban said, "What is so important about who takes power? It's a disaster to let political wrangling further divide the nation. Now is the time to seek political reforms, not regime change."



Moon later criticized Ban, saying the impeached President, Park Geun-hye, had voiced the same sentiment in the previous presidential campaign.



Park, then presidential candidate of the ruling Saenuri Party, took over from the conservative Lee Myung-bak administration. She was also vocal of political reform, a move viewed to have been adopted for downplaying the opposition's push for regime change.



In response, Ban reiterated political reform, raising an offensive to Moon.

"It's highly possible that wrongdoings will be repeated even if the government is changed as long as the existing political system remains intact," he told reporters, Sunday.





Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon looks around the wreckage of the naval frigate Cheonan that was sunk by a North Korean torpedo in March 2010, at the Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, Sunday.

/ Yonhap



Constitutional revision



Ban further stretched his argument, noting a constitutional amendment as an example of possible measures. "We need to mend decision-making processes and practices in politics by revising the electoral system through constitutional reform," he said.



Ban's rhetoric indicated he was positioning himself as an alternative candidate to Moon, according to analysts.



Moon has been reluctant on constitutional reform before the presidential ballot while the talk on the issue by his political rivals has been centered on changing the power structure  a single-term, five-year presidency.



Ban also showed support for a controversial government decision to deploy a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery here, increasing rivalry with Moon, a vocal opponent to the anti-missile system.



"It is natural of the government to take such a measure considering the Korean Peninsula is in a quasi-state of war," the ex-U.N. chief said. "The government agreed to install it as North Korea continues to develop nuclear weapons and accumulate technologies for ballistic missiles."



"Issues concerning neighboring countries can be dealt with diplomatically," he added, referring to the ongoing backlash from China.



China, which believes THAAD here threatens its security interests, has taken various retaliatory actions against its deployment since the decision was made last July.



Opposition parties and potential presidential runners have called for the withdrawal of the THAAD deployment, skeptical of the efficacy of the battery and concerned about worsening relations with Beijing.



Ban, a newcomer on the domestic political scene, is seeking to expand his supporters while spanning the ideological spectrum.



He visited the Navy's 2nd Fleet Command in Pyeongtaek, where the wreckage of the frigate Cheonan is on display, Sunday  a move seen as an appeal to conservative voters sensitive to security issues.



A spokesman said Ban plans to visit the hometown of former President Roh Moo-hyun in Bongha Village in South Gyeongsang Province and the National Cemetery in Gwangju commemorating those killed by the government in the May 18 Gwangju Uprising  signature places for the liberal bloc.



Ban noted that he is willing to attend a candlelit rally where protesters call for the immediate resignation of President Park, and at the same time, said he plans to call Park soon.
The High Court ruled that the policy on teaching English to intellectually disabled students is discriminatory.



Their comments follow a High Court ruling that denial of such English teaching for 5,000 disabled students is discriminatory and unconstitutional



By Peace Chiu





Having the opportunity to be taught English by native speakers can benefit Hong Kong students with intellectual disabilities and help them with future job applications, according to educators and parents.

The High Court ruled on Friday that a policy denying more than 5,000 disabled students an opportunity to study English with native speakers to be "direct discrimination" that was unconstitutional and prohibited under the law.

In 2011, the Education Bureau rejected a school's application to allow intellectually disabled students to join the Native-speaking English Teacher (NET) scheme primarily because it did not cover such schools in view of their special curriculum, different educational needs and not being included as schools offering English as part of the basic education curriculum framework.

The bureau explained that there would be only low-level English teaching in such schools, making the provision of a full time NET teacher unjustifiable economically.

The NET scheme is open to schools for students with physical disabilities, but not intellectual disabilities.

Maria Wong Yuen-ping, the former principal of special school Hong Kong Red Cross John F. Kennedy Centre, recalled that intellectually disabled students from her former school were very lively with NET teachers.

"In my former school, we had both students with physical and intellectual disabilities, so we had access to NET teachers," she said.

"When [the intellectually disabled pupils] were with foreigners, they were motivated to learn. In fact, they were even less shy than mainstream students and would sing along and talk [to the NET teachers].

Anita Yeung Yuk-mui, a mother with an intellectually disabled child, pointed out that special needs students might find a job that required them to speak English, such as being a waiter.

Her son, Lee Sai-ho, 25, is now an artist with the Arts with the Disabled Association and enjoys performing songs including English ones.

She recalled how her son was not given an opportunity to learn English properly back in school.

It was a chance encounter that prompted him to take up English. Yeung enrolled him in a singing class, which ended up teaching mainly English songs.

"Learning English exposed him to more songs, his interest, making him more confident," she said.

"While my son did not get to learn English from a NET teacher, I hope future intellectually disabled students can benefit from such a scheme. At least it gives them more opportunities to learn," she said.

Holly Yu Hoi-yee, an English teacher at HHCKLA Buddhist Po Kwong School in Fanling, which provides special education to pupils with mild intellectual disabilities and was the school involved in the judicial review, was proud when her student, Tung Garland, 13, came third in a poetry recitation competition this year by reading an English poem.

Yu explained that while her school did not have NET teachers, they tried their best to help students learn English, such as by hiring a foreign English teacher once a week to conduct special classes.

"Having NET teachers can help local English teachers design curriculums," she said.

"Local and native English teachers also teach in a different way. It would be good for students to experience something different, how it is like to communicate with a native English speaker."

The Education Bureau has not indicated whether it will appeal against the court ruling, saying it would "study the judgment, seek legal advice ... and consider the way forward".

Lawmaker-elect Fernando Cheung Chiu-hung said he would press for legislation to provide equal opportunities for the intellectually disabled in the new Legislative Council session.

He noted that a draft law he and fellow legislator-elect Dennis Kwok Wing-hang submitted in the last Legislative Council session was not passed.

Cheung quoted the government as saying the policy would incur additional annual expenditure of HK$2.5 billion and would require changes to government operations.
By Tong Kim

North Korea no longer needs to do something provocative to get attention. It is constantly being watched because of its nuclear and missile development programs, which are discussed in capitals in Asia, the United States, and Europe. Rex Tillerson, nominee for secretary of state, expressed the conventional hardline view of the DPRK at his Senate confirmation hearing last Tuesday.

Pointing to North Korea as "a grave threat to the world because of its refusal to conform to international norms," and denounced China's "empty promises" to comply with U.N. sanctions. Tillerson said, "If China is not going to comply with sanctions, it is appropriate for us to pressure them to comply."

The nominee's approach to ending the North Korean nuclear issue will be "a long term plan" by "closing gaps" in sanction implementation and "visiting other areas and ways of closing off access of North Korea to materials that enable them to develop the capability and the delivery system." Tillerson also said he would consider secondary sanctions on Chinese companies trading with the North if found violating existing sanctions.

The next would-be secretary of state did not specify how and what new pressure he would impose on China to control Pyongyang's weapons programs. At the first press conference since his election in November, Donald Trump did not discuss the DPRK at all. The transition team does not seem to have any policy specifics.

At this point, it is still not clear what kind of an overall North Korea policy would be in place for the new administration to be sworn in on Friday. It is likely that Trump' security team, once settled at the White House, and the relevant departments including state, defense, and treasury, would take an overall review of North Korea policy, while maintaining or even tightening the existing sanction regime. George W. Bush's initial team took 6 months to complete this process in 2001.

The Trump administration would have to choose one of the three options: (1) application of pressure through sanctions and deterrence by enhancing and deploying more capable war assets, including a THAAD battery, in and around South Korea, (2) taking military action _ either preventive or preemptive _ which is considered too dangerous in view of the likelihood of starting war and incurring unbearable damage to lives and properties, and (3) engagement and negotiation _ which does not guarantee success given its past failures.

The hardliners in Washington and Seoul do not support the option of engagement. They prefer to see continuation of increasing pressure on the North Korean regime to a point of capitulation and denuclearization, if not collapse. Sanctions and military pressure have not succeeded to change the North. There is no dispute that sanctions would take time to be effective.

Relying on China has not worked so far and it will not work even with new pressure from the United States, unless China compromises on its own core interests in Korea and in the South China Sea. If Rex Tillerson's position on China, as expressed at his Senate hearing, were to be fully carried out, it would signal a collision course between China and the United States. Under strained Sino-U.S. relations, it would be more difficult to expect China's cooperation on the North Korean issue.

A recent exchange of statements between Pyongyang and Washington was not constructive. It started with DPRK leader Kim Jong-un's new year's message, in which he said that his country was in the final phase of preparations for an ICBM test, to which the president-elect tweeted, "It won't happen." A spokesman of the DPRK's foreign ministry responded, "An ICBM will be test-fired at a time and a place designated at the order of our supreme leader."

Trump never said how he would make sure "it won't happen". Nuclear weapons and their delivery systems are believed by the North Korean leadership to be two pillars of survival and protection of their sovereignty. However, they have to remember that they have already developed enough nuclear bombs and missiles to protect themselves or to threaten their neighbors. More than enough for negotiating leverage as well. They do not need to increase or sharpen their nuclear weapons arsenal.

Perhaps, Pyongyang should and can send a positive signal to the U.S. and its allies in South Korea and Japan, by proposing talks with Washington first. The North has proposed the discussion of a peace agreement and the exchange of a moratorium on its nuclear and missile programs in return for suspension of joint allied military exercises with South Korea.

Pyongyang should understand that in the U.S., most experts on North Korea and most Americans in general have a negative attitude to them. The regime is viewed as an authoritarian system that suppresses freedom and abuses human rights, failing to take care of the minimum standard of living, while using scarce resources for the WMD programs. Pyongyang needs to reform, enhance the people's livelihood, and improve its image.

Most of the known key members to join Trump's security team seem to hold hardline views on the North, not much different from those who served in the previous administrations. Increased application of sanctions will no doubt make it more difficult for the DPRK leadership to revive the economy and to feed and clothe the people. They should not forget that the purpose of sanctions is to bring the DPRK back to the table. Gradual easing of the sanctions is quite possible if talks make progress.

This column recommends, as it has long supported the peaceful resolution of the security issue on the Korean peninsula, that the leadership of the DPRK take a new initiative for peace talks with the Trump administration. He has nothing to lose by extending an olive branch before the inauguration. It is better for Pyongyang to act now than to wait for the Trump team to come up with a policy decision.

Nobody can expect Pyongyang to dismantle all of their nukes and missiles overnight. It will be a long process. But it is a good time to start. What's your take?

Tong Kim is a Washington correspondent and columnist for The Korea Times. He is also a fellow at the Institute of Korean-American Studies. He can be contacted at tong.kim8@yahoo.com.
By Leonid Bershidsky



America's intelligence-gathering bodies all agree that Russia interfered with last year's U.S. election by various means. But the public account of what happened is strikingly defective.



The danger is that erroneous policy responses could result. As talk of retaliation escalates, getting the story right is crucial _ both for the incoming Trump administration and also since Europe is now on high alert that Moscow may meddle in this year's key elections.



It's hard for someone who follows Russia and cybersecurity issues closely not to conclude from the declassified report that the intelligence services were under pressure in producing it. The narrative in the unclassified report is full of holes. One can only hope that the classified version has a good deal more chapter and verse.



The Federal Bureau of Investigation did not examine the allegedly hacked servers of the Democratic National Committee until it was too late. All the forensic evidence we know of apparently came from CrowdStrike, a private cybersecurity firm that portrays itself up as the premier expert on Russian government cyberattacks.



Its claims on the DNC hack are based on the use of certain malware that security researchers have linked to the Russian government. But even if the link exists as described, using the same malware doesn't automatically mean the same hacker was involved. And CrowdStrike has shown a propensity to overhype its stories in the past.



The incoming U.S. president needs to understand how intelligence information is gathered and how robust it is; the declassified explanation doesn't exactly inspire confidence. Ahead of the report's publication, anonymous officials leaked to the press that the classified version of the document traces the publication of leading Democrats' emails to specific Russians, who allegedly passed the stolen data to Wikileaks through intermediaries.



Such pre-preemptive revelations could undermine the ability of law-enforcement officials, and intelligence services, to help prosecute a crime (the theft of data by a foreign intelligence service and its intermediaries) as those cases take time to put together. From a law enforcement point of view, it made little sense to make that information public. Were the agencies forced to tip their hand too early?



In general, there is a rushed quality to the U.S. intelligence reports on the hacking, perhaps unsurprisingly given fears that a Trump administration would have little interest in the probe. For example, the unclassified intelligence report brands Guccifer 2.0, an early leaker of DNC documents, a Russian actor. It cites "press reporting" of his "multiple contradictory statements and false claims" as evidence, raising the question of whether intelligence services conducted any original research into the Guccifer 2.0 persona.



It wasn't impossible to dig a little there: In July the cyberthreat intelligence company ThreatConnect tracked Guccifer 2.0's communications to Russian-based Elite VPN service. It would have been better for the intel services to conduct similar research to ThreatConnect (though not itself a smoking gun) than cite press stories.In support of its claim that the Russian government tried to help get Trump elected, the report cites, among other things, the sympathetic coverage of Trump on the weekly news magazine show run by Dmitri Kiselyov on Russian state TV. That, of course, is hardly evidence of Russian election interference. The state may have been preparing to denounce Hillary Clinton's victory as an unfair outcome.



There's an indirect confirmation of the latter in the intelligence report: "Pro-Kremlin bloggers had prepared a Twitter campaign, #DemocracyRIP, on election night in anticipation of Secretary Clinton's victory." Is that it?



More evidence that the Kremlin backed Trump purportedly came from remarks by Vladimir Zhirinovsky, a nationalist member of the Russian parliament, who said Russia would "drink champagne" if Trump won. Zhirinovsky is not a Kremlin insider, and he is known for uncontrollable logorrhea and compulsive clowning. Though some actual Putin allies celebrated Trump's victory (as did the U.K. Independence Party's Nigel Farage), Putin himself has been cautious on Trump, clearly realizing his unpredictability and the lack of unity inside the Republican Party on mending fences with Russia.



The unclassified report contains a lengthy annex on RT, the Russian government-owned international, multilingual TV station. The report accepts on faith RT's claims of success with Western audiences; though in fact it has a tiny audience share and only attracts traffic to its YouTube channel with footage of disasters and other clickbait. RT did develop a following among U.S. ultraconservatives, who reposted RT's stories on social networks. But plenty of similar fare is produced in the U.S.



The annex says RT's editorial policy is "likely aimed at undermining viewers' trust in U.S. democratic procedures" _ and goes on to give specific examples: sympathetic coverage of Occupy Wall Street, reports that "allege widespread infringements of civil liberties, police brutality, and drone use," "anti-fracking programming, highlighting environmental issues and the impacts on public health."



Don't independent U.S. publications often carry similar perspectives and reporting? Are their journalists also in danger of being treated as Russian agents? RT is openly and proudly funded by the Kremlin, so there are no doubts concerning its non-journalistic goals. But the intelligence services' hostile description of the subject matter of its broadcasts raises the specter of McCarthyism.



RT, however, may shed crocodile tears at the insult. Alexei Kovalev, the Russian journalist known as RT's most consistent critic, noted in a tweet: "Dear U.S. Intelligence Community. Thanks to your valiant efforts, RT is getting a massive budget increase."



The unclassified report expressed with "high confidence" that Wikileaks served as a tool of the Russian state. Two bits of circumstantial evidence are given: that Putin said in early September it was important that the material had been exposed on Wikileaks and that RT cooperated with Wikileaks. There could be more convincing proof in the classified report, but the assertions could also be motivated by the long-standing dislike of Wikileaks and its founder, Julian Assange, in the intelligence community.



If not thoroughly substantiated, the accusations against WikiLeaks are dangerous for whistleblowers as a class. They have few outlets, and here we have a convenient blanket description of them as Russian spies.The Russian interference story deserves to be known in much greater detail. Was it raw opportunism, a phishing expedition that proved unexpectedly productive? Or was it a well-executed, state-directed cyberwar strategy?



We don't know, but the answer matters. A vicious circle of attack and retaliation could plunge U.S. politics into even worse chaos.



The report could also result in the erroneous attribution of cyberattacks by profit-seeking groups as Russian government meddling, and even in government action against journalists suspected of pushing the Russian line or spreading information stolen by Russian spies. Being in the ballpark here isn't good enough.



The intelligence services need time, and less pressure, to run a proper investigation. There's no rush; the 2016 election result will not be annulled. The post post-Cold War order may depend on getting it right. And, by presenting more complete findings, there is a chance that the U.S. intelligence community can even redeem itself.



Leonid Bershidsky is a Bloomberg View columnist. Readers may email him at lbershidsky@bloomberg.net. This column was distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.




Ex-sex slave's birthday highlights justice undone



One of the last 40 surviving ex-comfort women, sex slaves who were forced to serve Japanese imperial soldiers, had her 100th birthday at a seniors' home in the southern port city of Tongyeong, Saturday.



Kim Bok-duk was so frail that she was moved around on a stretcher, except when she went on stage. She gave a barely audible thanks to well-wishers. She cried when watching a video about how she and others suffered. She was 18 when she was taken by the Japanese army and forced to work in military brothels in China, Taiwan and other areas. When she returned, she felt ashamed and couldn't live a normal life, just like tens of thousands of others.



Kim's life and those of her friends are represented by statues of a little girl set in front of the Japanese Embassy in Seoul and its consulate in Busan.



It is these lives that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe claims his country has bought for 10 billion won, is cleared of any more responsibility for and "irrevocably" gets exempted from apologies. Abe recently ordered the Japanese ambassador home in protest of the erection of the Busan statue and demanded it be dismantled.



Tokyo cited the Dec. 28, 2015, Korea-Japan agreement in which, in return for the monetary compensation, Korea relinquishes the pursuit of bringing legal accountability to Japan.



Kim, the centenarian comfort woman, didn't sign on and is devoting her last days to undoing the government-to-government agreement that was made without the consent of the victims. If the government's hands are tied, it is the responsibility of the rest of the nation to take up Kim's cause, pressuring Japan to own up to its misdeeds and reminding the world of Japan's wartime atrocities.



Her cause is not just about getting justice for the comfort women but to affirm basic universal human rights so that there won't be other victims like her. Letting Japan get away with it will set a wrong precedent and encourage other countries to follow.



Then, the true reconciliation of the two neighbors can't come until the settlement of the comfort women issue and other historical injustices done by Japan through its repentance for them and implementation of other follow-up steps.



Japan under Abe is resorting to the cunning tactic of stalling, believing that the memory of its acts of barbarism will go away when Kim and the other remaining ex-comfort women pass away. Standing guard against it is our job and protecting the statues as an unforgettable reminder is one way.




By Yoon Sung-won



LG Electronics' new flagship smartphone, the G6, will be safer and handle internal heat more effectively, the company said Sunday.



The nation's second-largest smartphone maker plans to unveil the G6 at the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2017 in Barcelona next month. The announcement can be seen as a move to highlight the handset's safety after the fiasco of Samsung Electronics' Galaxy Note 7, which was pulled from global markets last year due to a critical fire problem.



"As more consumers prefer safer smartphones, we will raise the level of safety and quality standards for our next strategic smartphone," said Lee Suk-jong, head of LG Electronics' mobile communications global operations group.



LG Electronics said it is improving efficiency of the smartphone's heat emission to prevent battery heating from causing safety problems. To this end, it has adopted copper heat pipes that have high thermal conductivity. The pipes are widely used to cool laptops and desktop computers and will be able to reduce the heat given off by the mobile application processor of smartphones by up to 10 percent. LG Electronics also said it has redesigned the new smartphone to give more space between components to disperse heat.



The company said it has applied 15 percent higher standards in battery heat exposure tests compared with those of the IEE1725 standard in the United States and the IEC62.133 in Europe. Anti-puncture and anti-shock tests also will be conducted, it said.



For use in even tougher environments, the company will introduce a test to see if a handset's application processor, display, camera and fingerprint sensor can survive extreme temperatures, humidity, shock and external damage.



The company said the V20, which was released after the G5 last year, also acquired the MIL-STD 810G product durability certificate from the U.S. Department of Defense.




One of Korea's longest running variety shows, 'Infinite Challenge' will be temporarily taking a break from airing for 2 months!

The MBC variety show was confirmed by their production team to be off the air for 7 weeks starting on January 28th. The producers intend to go on a "normalization period" and will be airing a pilot program and special editions of the show with clips from previous episodes.

Main producer, Kim Tae Ho has informed local media that the production team will use this time to organize and revamp the program. Kim PD stated that, "We intend on continuing to hold meetings and shooting new episodes, so it would be wrong to call this period a 'break' or a vacation.Rather, we are dedicating this time to go through a normalization period. We aren't doing this to produce something grand either, but rather to rediscover our show's true original colors." The producers will take this time to work together to bring new ideas to the program. Kim then concluded by stating, "It usually takes two weeks to prepare for a project, but we have to air the show each week. ... I just wish to take enough time to provide fun and worthwhile experiences (for the viewers)."

The show first aired in 2005, and has continued strong for the past 10 years. Let's hope that with this time given to regroup and organize, the team comes back stronger than ever in the new year!
Question: Our management company unilaterally chose and assigned one of their employees to manage our homeowner associations property. As president, my worst fears were realized when I discovered that the manager was hiring his friends as vendors and contractors without the boards approval. Those vendors charged exorbitant prices and performed unnecessary work, or they re-did or replaced work on items that were recently completed by approved licensed vendors.

In order to pay his friends, the manager stopped paying our associations routine invoices, such as utility and phone bills, security, trash pickup, plumbing and laundry. Our phone and fax lines were shut off for nonpayment and several association accounts were sent to collection agencies.

How can our association be reimbursed from the manager we since terminated, or from the management company who hired him and placed him on our account?

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Answer: Your worst fears were realized because you handed over too much control to a manager without questioning his actions and demanding accountability. The boards supervision of association vendors, including management, is a hands-on job. Hiring a third party to perform services never relieves the board of its duty of oversight, even when dealing with reliable vendors and contractors.

There are three primary ways that the association can seek reimbursement: have the titleholders make a demand on the board for restitution; tender the matter to the associations insurer; or make a demand on the management company.

Because the board had a duty to oversee the managers actions, owners might look first to the board to recover the associations losses. Each director owes a duty of care to the association, and a breach of that duty  such as allowing a third party to damage the association  may give rise to a claim against the board. Such a demand could be covered by the board members directors and officers liability policy, which typically covers costs associated with negligent acts by the board.

An alternative would be for the association to file a claim with the underwriter of the associations umbrella policy. If there is no insurance coverage for these types of losses, then you and the rest of the directors should consider pursuing the management company.

If your association has a written contractual agreement with the company, then it is time to have an attorney review that agreement. Two of the most important provisions to look for are the specific duties required of your manager with regard to paying bills and hiring vendors, and any wording that deals with disputes.

For example, some management contracts specifically require a manager to obtain board approval before hiring any vendors. Some contracts also require that any disputes between a manager and the association be submitted to mediation, or that disputes be resolved in binding arbitration rather than in civil litigation. The next thing you or an attorney may want to delve into further, is if the management company was negligent in their own hiring practices of this manager.

Depending on the wording of your management contract, the association may have claims for breach of contract allowing you to recover damages or even rescind the entire agreement. In addition to assessing your possible claims, an attorney can educate the board on the types of recovery available and the likelihood of success in the pursuit of reimbursement. Some contracts even provide for the recovery of attorneys fees for the prevailing party in the event of litigation.

Because situations like this can have an alarming effect on owners, once a decision is made, it should be shared with the owners so they understand that the board made a thorough cost-benefit analysis of the available options.

Without excuse, every board has an active duty to supervise its vendors and employees  and that doesnt just mean directors popping their heads in the door and saying hello, asking if everything is OK and leaving.

Just because the management company chose this employee to manage your association does not mean the board should have blindly trusted that employee, or even agree with the companys selection of manager.

Zachary Levine, a partner at Wolk & Levine, a business and intellectual property law firm, co-wrote this column. Vanitzian is an arbitrator and mediator. Send questions to Donie Vanitzian, JD, P.O. Box 10490, Marina del Rey, CA 90295 or noexit@mindspring.com.
For the second time in a few weeks, an aerospace giant emerged from a meeting with President-elect Donald Trump with news that the cost of a big-ticket program could be cut. It was the latest sign that defense contractors may have to play a new game when it comes to contract negotiations.

On Friday, Lockheed Martin Chief Executive Marillyn Hewson told reporters the Bethesda-based defense giant is close to a new contract deal that would cut the cost of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program and also create jobs.

The fifth-generation fighter jet has frequently been targeted by Trump, most recently in a new conference Wednesday, when the president-elect slammed the program for being way, way behind schedule and many billions of dollars over budget.

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We had the opportunity to talk to [president-elect Trump] about the F-35 program and I certainly share his views that we need to get the best capability to our men and women in uniform and we have to get it at the lowest possible price, Hewson said.

Her meeting followed a similar one with Boeing CEO Dennis Muilenburg in December, after which he told reporters that the company would build the next generation of Air Force One jets for less than $4 billion  a price tag Trump had slammed in a tweet earlier that month.

Such meetings between executives and the president-elect could set a new precedent, said Richard Aboulafia, vice president of analysis at the Teal Group.

Its clearly his style, he said.

Hewson also said Lockheed Martin would create 1,800 new jobs related to the program in Fort Worth as part of the new contract deal. Lockheed Martin estimates the program accounts for 38,900 jobs in Texas, and the planes supply chain touches 45 states. Lockheed shares climbed nearly 1% Friday on the news.

In recent months, the president-elect has not been shy about taking to social media to criticize or heap praise on individual companies and military programs.

A Dec. 6 tweet bashed Chicago-based Boeing for what he referred to as the out of control cost of the Air Force One presidential airplane. Weeks later he turned in Boeings favor at the expense of Lockheed, tweeting that he had asked the company to price out a comparable F-18 Super Hornet because of the F-35s high costs.

He also briefly brought up the F-35 in a Wednesday press conference intended to clarify his business conflicts, saying he would do some big things with the program and find a way to both trim costs and improve the plane itself.

Voices on both sides of the political aisle have criticized the F-35 programs cost long before Trump took up the issue. The 15-year-old program has been beset by various delays and has never flown in combat.

Each plane costs more than $100 million, though Lockheed and analysts expect the price will fall as the program matures and as more planes are built.

Regardless of how many you buy of any weapons program, the development costs are going to be about the same, said Mark Gunzinger, senior fellow at the Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments. So you could spread it out over many, or you could spread it out over a few.

Still, Trumps pick for Defense secretary, James Mattis, told lawmakers the president-elect remains a supporter of program.

Many of our allies have bet their air superiority on the F-35 program, and it bonds us tightly together with them, he said during a hearing on his nomination last week. The president-elect has talked about the cost of [the F-35] but he has in no way shown a lack of support for the program. He just wants the best bang for the buck.

Masunaga is a Times staff writer. Gregg writes for the Washington Post.

Gregg writes for the Washington Post.

samantha.masunaga@latimes.com

@smasunaga
Hello! Im Mark Olsen, and welcome to your weekly field guide to a world of Only Good Movies.

Are we still saying Happy New Year, because I dont know about you, but 2017 already has me exhausted. So. Much. Is. Happening.

The Golden Globes last weekend, alongside the recent nominations from the Producers Guild and the Directors Guild, mean that the awards season is coming into final focus ahead of the upcoming Academy Award nominations

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And before the official end of the pre-nominations period, when the number of movies we are allowed to discuss as part of awards talk is greatly diminished, there are two final roundtables in which some of the years most exciting performers discuss their on-screen work and off-screen lives. Its always fascinating to see the dynamics of these groups shape up over the course of the few hours they are together for the photos and roundtable, falling into a life-raft camaraderie of being in it together. (Or not.)

Our lead actress conversation included Amy Adams for Arrival and Nocturnal Animals, Annette Bening for 20th Century Women, Ruth Negga for Loving, Natalie Portman for Jackie and Emma Stone for La La Land. Our supporting actor talk featured Mahershala Ali for Moonlight, Jeff Bridges for Hell or High Water, Aaron Eckhart for Sully and Bleed for This, David Oyelowo for Queen of Katwe, Dev Patel for Lion and Michael Shannon for Nocturnal Animals.

Team LAT has been doing our annual altitude training in preparation for the upcoming Sundance Film Festival. We are going with a big squad this year, so keep an eye out for at least one special edition of this newsletter packed with all thats happening in Park City, Utah.

And keep an eye out for more events soon here: events.latimes.com.

Meryl Streep accepts the Cecil B. DeMille Lifetime Achievement Award at the 74th Golden Globe Awards ceremony on Jan. 8. (HFPA / EPA )

Are Hollywoods values Americas values?

In a rather astonishing piece of timing, Meryl Streep made headlines at the Globes with her speech that pleaded for empathy and attacked President-elect Trump without ever saying his name. That very day, The Times published a package of essays on the notion of Hollywood values, what they are and whether they are in sync with those of the America that voted for such a person to be leader of this country.

Kenneth Turan explored how movies like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Network and Sausage Party all set the stage for the current moment, positing that I dont think its too much to say that the movies were key in creating the cultural forces that made voting for Donald Trump seem like a fine idea.

Mary McNamara looked at Hollywoods long-running anxiety over class, putting forward that there is no notion more thoroughly absurd than that of Hollywoods liberal agenda. She added, That is the real elitism of film and television  we mostly like to watch people who seem richer than they should be.

Justin Chang used a number of recent films  Toni Erdmann, Hidden Figures, Elle Miss Sloane, Arrival, Christine and more  to talk about the treatment of women in movies and TV. Rather than simplistic tales of empowerment and aspiration, these movies acknowledge the ambivalence that even advanced societies can feel toward the women in power, largely resist the temptation to turn their characters into easy figures of sympathy or identification.

Jeffrey Fleischman looked at movies such as Manchester by the Sea, Hell or High Water and Paterson to get a sense of how Hollywood portrays the working class.

Lorraine Ali looked at portrayals of Muslims in film and TV with a historical view, a strong sense of the here-and-now and an eye toward what is likely to come in the future.

Trevell Anderson looked at portrayals of the LGBT community and how creators are attempting to see themselves reflected more fully on screen.

Theres lots more to the package of stories  Marc Bernardin on This Is Us and Randall Roberts on Run the Jewels, for example  so its worth digging into.

Live by Night

The latest film from Ben Affleck, as star, director, producer and screenwriter, came out in limited release last month and is now opening around the country. Live by Night is not entirely unworthy. It is a handsomely mounted period gangster tale full of good-looking people wearing good-looking clothes, and it has terrific moments, but it, nevertheless, feels like less than it could be. As I said in my review, the film finds Affleck pulled in so many conflicting directions that what he ends up with is neither elegantly concise nor an epic sprawl but, rather, something just awkwardly misshapen.

At the Chicago Tribune, Michael Phillips called the film a stubborn mixture of cheap thrills and pretension As adapted by Affleck, its more sedating than seductive.

For MTV News, Amy Nicholson celebrated the fun side of the movie, noting, I enjoyed the Bananas Moments when the film finds its weird flourishes.

The Times Josh Rottenberg interviewed Affleck for a thoughtful, provocative profile that captures the sense of unease that Affleck has with being a conventional star in films like Batman v Superman and The Accountant and wanting to make his own movies for himself.

The language of movies has changed since the 30s and 40s, Affleck said. Obviously things are different now, and theyre even different from other films that I drew inspiration from, like Reds or Doctor Zhivago. That was what a crowd-pleasing Hollywood movie was then. Now it really means wearing a cape. Obviously I have nothing against capes, but I wanted to see if I could make this work. Well see.

For The Envelope, Margy Rochlin spoke to actor Chris Messina, who has a nice turn in the movie as the main lieutenant to Afflecks gangster boss. Of his numerous scenes driving genuine vintage cars while talking to Affleck, he said that they added to the volcanic anxiety: Youd be driving and all these cars would be coming toward you, the director-star is sitting next to you, its really hot out, you have a big monologue, and if you can find the right gear, youre very lucky.

Live by Night has a terrific cast that also includes Elle Fanning, Siena Miller, Zoe Saldana, Brendan Gleeson and Chris Cooper. At Vulture, Kevin Lincoln posits that Affleck has become a fine director of other actors  three have landed Oscar nominations  if not necessarily himself. As he writes,  Live by Night, solidifies a theme thats been developing throughout Afflecks filmography to date: As a director, hes an excellent facilitator of the loaded ensemble casts he employs  a wingman, if you will, for the supporting actors of the world.

Email me if you have questions, comments or suggestions, and follow me on Twitter @IndieFocus.
The question at hand is whether Bernie Madoff, architect of this countrys largest private Ponzi scheme, is a sociopath.

Robert De Niro hedged.

Theres a disconnect somehow in him, De Niro said during the panel for the upcoming HBO film The Wizard of Lies at the Television Critics Assn. press tour in Pasadena. Id still like to understand, but I dont.

The author of Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, Diana B. Henriques, felt differently.

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Yes, Henriques said matter-of-factly of Madoffs sociopathic nature. But it doesnt explain anything to say hes a sociopath. What you need to understand is how plausible con men like this are, how utterly they can seize your trust and your imagination and make you believe.

De Niro, who stars and also serves as an executive producer on the project, was joined with Henriques on the panel by executive producers Jane Rosenthal and Barry Levinson, who also directed the film.

The film, which features Michelle Pfeiffer as Ruth Madoff, is not Hollywoods first effort to examine the fraud and the fallout that followed  that would be ABCs miniseries Madoff, which aired in February 2016 with Richard Dreyfuss in the lead role. But as seen in the new trailer, the style of the film is quite different, with what appear to be dream sequences and a more frenetic tone.

Henriques also suggested that HBOs adaptation contains an important element not found in previous accounts.

I think youll be very impressed to see how the plight of the victims is represented here, said Henriques, whose book on Madoff was born out of her New York Times coverage of the scandal.

The key to Henriques is in the empathy and compassion the film shows to those victimized by Madoff, something that was a struggle to portray in her day-to-day coverage.

For De Niro, Wizard, which debuts in May on HBO, is a departure from a recent filmography littered with stakeless films, including Dirty Grandpa and The Intern.

Asked why he returned to drama via HBO, the actor quipped, I thought this was a comedy!

To Henriques, De Niros ability to think as Madoff was unnerving, recalling an exercise the pair undertook where she asked him questions and he delivered off-the-cuff answers in character.

I made the vow, she joked, right then and there never to take investment advice from Bob De Niro, just in case.

See the most-read stories in Entertainment this hour 

libby.hill@latimes.com

@midwestspitfire

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A conference aimed at kick-starting peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians concluded Sunday with more than 70 countries and international organizations pledging their support for a two-state solution as the only way to achieve lasting peace in the region.

However, neither Israel nor the Palestinians were represented at the conference in Paris, raising questions about its ultimate value. Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas had welcomed the event, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu branded it futile.



For the record: This article states that a declaration called on Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders, as required by United Nations resolutions. However, the declaration did not explicitly mention the borders, although it called for adherence to U.N. Resolution 242, which states that peace in the Middle East should be based, in part, on Israels withdrawal from territories occupied in the 1967 war.

The final statement at the conference called on Israel to withdraw to its 1967 borders, as required by United Nations resolutions, and for both parties to abstain from unilateral actions that could jeopardize future negotiations.

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The lines referred to date to before the Six Day War, when Israel captured the Gaza Strip from Egypt and the West Bank and East Jerusalem from Jordan, expanding its borders beyond those drawn up in the 1949 armistice between Israel and its Arab neighbors, lines that Israel rejects.

French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault addresses delegates at the opening of the Mideast peace conference in Paris on Jan. 15, 2017. (Thomas Samson / AFP/Getty Images )

Summing up the talks, French foreign minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said those present spoke with a single voice to express the urgency of preserving two states, which is the only solution possible and which is threatened today.

If we dont do anything, we risk letting the situation descend into a conflict; a conflict written in advance, Ayrault said.

Hopes for a two-state solution, which envisions the countries of Israel and Palestine living side-by-side in peace, have faded as neither side has engaged in serious negotiations since 2014 and Israel has pushed ahead with settlement expansion into territory claimed by the Palestinians. Diplomats warn, however, that in a single state over the entire region in question, Israeli Jews would eventually be outnumbered by Palestinians, creating a violent, apartheid-style system.

The two-state solution is threatened and there is a need to preserve it.  Now is not the moment to stop.  French President Francois Hollande

Ayrault said the conference was extending a hand to the Israelis and Palestinians and that those at the conference had met for constructive reasons and in good faith to find a solution to a peace process that is at a dead end.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry attended the meeting in what will almost certainly be his last diplomatic effort abroad. He had long hoped he could revive the stalled peace talks and coax the two sides closer to solving their intractable problems. But he was never able to engage either side, and in fact saw relations between Washington and its longtime ally, the Israeli government, deteriorate. A low point came last month when the U.S. declined to veto a United Nations resolution condemning Israels settlement expansion.

U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry speaks with European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, center right, as they take part with other foreign ministers and representatives in a family picture during a Mideast peace conference in Paris on Jan. 15, 2017. (Bertrand Guay / AP)

Kerry said Sunday the Paris conference moved the ball forward, adding he had spoken to Netanyahu to reassure him that Israel would be treated fairly.

It underscores this is not just one administrations point of view, this is shared by the international community broadly, he said. Ahead of the meeting, Kerrys aides had acknowledged to reporters that expectations for any real progress were low.

French President Francois Hollande also addressed the gathering, which included 36 foreign ministers, as well as Ahmed Aboul-Gheit, the secretary-general of the Arab League, and the European Unions foreign affairs representative, Federica Mogherini. German foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, as well as the Irish, Italian, Dutch, Polish, Portuguese, Turkish and Swedish foreign ministers were also present.

Our common aim, which is a noble aim, is that of a fair and lasting peace between the two countries. I am conscious of the reservations and doubts about this conference  but it is urgent to act, Hollande said.

The two-state solution is threatened and there is a need to preserve it.  Now is not the moment to stop. The solution of two states is the only way forward and the only solution that will answer both sides aspirations and legitimate rights.

As the conference opened, an angry Netanyahu dismissed it as a last gasp from the past and said it was unhelpful to the peace process. Israel is furious after the United Nations passed a resolution last month criticizing Israels expansion of settlements in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem. The settlements, where around 600,000 Israelis live, are considered illegal under international law, which Israel disputes.

The conference taking place in Paris today is an idle conference. It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians. Its purpose is to enforce on Israel conditions that are not in line with our national needs. Of course it creates a bigger gap regarding peace because it hardens the Palestinians stance as well as putting us further away from direct negotiations without any preconditions, Netanyahu said.

Netanyahu also appeared to be hailing the imminent arrival of Donald Trumps administration, which takes office on Friday. I must say this conference is one of the last gasps for breath from yesterdays world. Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very near, the prime minister said.

Trumps choice as the next U.S. ambassador to Israel is David Friedman, who has said he opposes the two-state solution and has supported settlement expansion.

There was no mention at the Paris conference of Trumps stated intention to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a city both sides want as their capital. Kerry said its inclusion would not be appropriate, because the issue is still under debate in the U.S.

Earlier, Ayrault had called on Trump to contribute to creating conditions for peace in the Middle East, adding that any embassy move would be a provocation that would have extremely heavy consequences.

Willsher is a special correspondent. Times staff writer Tracy Wilkinson in Washington contributed to this report.

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A high school teacher with the Montebello Unified School District was arrested Friday on suspicion of having a sexual relationship at his home with a 17-year-old female student who attended Vail High School where he worked, authorities said.

Brian Lee Ward, 46, of Whittier, was arrested on suspicion of statutory rape and is in custody on $100,000 bail, according to the Whittier Police Department.

Montebello school officials notified law enforcement in December after learning about Wards activity with the student who no longer attends Vail High School.

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Montebello police investigators determined the alleged crime occurred at Wards home in the 7200 block of Comstock Avenue in Whittier. The investigation was then turned over to the Whittier Police Department.

Ward had developed a sexual relationship with the student over a period of several months last year, police said. Though she was not his student, she did attend Vail, where Ward is a teacher.

The Montebello school district superintendents office could not immediately be reached for comment.

ben.poston@latimes.com

Follow @bposton on Twitter.

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Rowdy protests at UC Davis on Friday night forced the cancellation of speeches by conservative firebrand Milo Yiannopoulos and former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli.

After consulting with university police, Davis College Republicans decided it was unsafe to continue the event after a large number of protesters blocked access to the venue, according to a release from the school.



For the record: A headline on a previous version of this article said that UC Davis officials had cancelled the talks. The campus group Davis College Republicans made the decision.

UC Davis Interim Chancellor Ralph Hexter said he was deeply disappointed by the protests and the cancellation.

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Our community is founded on principles of respect for all views, even those that we personally find repellent, Hexter said in statement after the cancellation. As I have stated repeatedly, a university is at its best when it listens to and critically engages opposing views, especially ones that many of us find upsetting or even offensive.

Yiannopoulos, who writes for Breitbart, is a provocateur whose language dovetails with the so-called alt-right movement, although he disputes that classification.

Shkreli stepped down as the head of Turing Pharmaceuticals last year after he was charged with securities fraud. He was heavily criticized in 2015 for raising the price of a lifesaving malaria medication.

ben.poston@latimes.com

Follow @bposton on Twitter.

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It seemed like a typical Saturday evening at the Westfield shopping mall in Culver City, until chaos erupted.

False reports began to spread about a gunman in the mall on Jan. 7, prompting shoppers to flee and bringing a huge response from local police. There was no shooter, but officers who arrived at the scene found about 200 teenagers outside the shopping center, many fighting with each other.

It took hours for police to sort it all out, with some shoppers spending the entire time on lockdown inside stores. In the end, authorities concluded that the teens had gathered at the mall, intending to cause a scene, after coordinating via social media.

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Culver City is the latest flashpoint in what has become a consuming problem for malls across the country.

For generations, shopping malls have served as second homes for teenagers, and merchants were happy to have them.

But at some shopping centers, the teens have worn out their welcome.

Following a series of high-profile incidents in recent years, more than 100 shopping centers have instituted curfews or bans on unaccompanied minors, according to a trade group. The restrictions often are on Friday and Saturday nights.

In California, Sacramentos Arden Fair mall banned unaccompanied minors on the day after Christmas as 60,000 shoppers headed to its stores. The mall said it has not ruled out enacting such a ban again.

That action could end up sparking a legal showdown because civil liberties advocates say California law prohibits retailers from banning groups wholesale.

Malls should not be banning anyone based on blanket generalizations or stereotypes of how teens will behave, said Michael T. Risher, a senior staff attorney for the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California.

Arden Fair is the only California mall to take such action. But elsewhere, the teen bans are gaining a foothold.

Several malls nationwide saw brawls break out during the holidays, and retail intelligence suggested some of the incidents were planned through social media. Philadelphia authorities arrested at least three teenagers after a fight in the food court involving 30 to 40 kids. In Aurora, Ill., eight teens were charged after a large mall disturbance.

Restrictions on teens in malls arent new. The Mall of America in Minnesota instituted such an approach in the 1990s. Minors cannot wander Americas largest mall unaccompanied on Friday and Saturday nights.

Versions of such an approach have sprung up across the country, said Stephanie Cegielski, vice president of public relations for the International Council of Shopping Centers. The trade organization is aware of at least 105 of the 1,222 shopping malls in the U.S. having some policy limiting access by minors.

Owners have to be mindful of the needs of their community, which means they have to consider whether or not curfews and/or parental accompaniment rules are necessary, Cegielski said. There is no denying that online shopping is growing and owners do not want to give their consumers a reason to turn to online versus in-store shopping.

Risher said Californias decades-old law, the Unruh Civil Rights Act, prohibits businesses  including shopping centers  from engaging in arbitrary or wholesale discrimination against a specific group, and that includes children. In a letter to the Arden Fair mall, Risher warned that a business must treat people based on their conduct and not because they are part of a category  in this case, minors.

The fact that some minors may have in the past engaged in illegal conduct does not justify restricting the rights of all minors, he said.

A Fresno mall tried to institute a similar ban on unaccompanied minors in 2007 but backed down after being rebuked by the ACLU and the Fresno city attorney. The mall then reverted to enforcing the citys 10 p.m. curfew for minors.

But Arden Fair owners insist they have the right to restrict entry. They argue that teenagers are not a protected class and that they, as owners, have a right to create rules governing the use of their property.

Arden Fair pointed out a series of incidents in which mall managers said teens caused problems. Four years ago, the mall had to be evacuated when teenagers who were fighting knocked down a sign and some shoppers thought it was a gunshot. Mall officials said they took the Dec. 26 action amid concerns that teens were planning more trouble.

On that day, 30 mall security guards and 50 Sacramento police officers were at the shopping center enforcing the ban.

Sgt. Bryce Heinlein, a Sacramento Police Department spokesman, said no teens were involved in any incidents that day, but there were two fights involving adults.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg asked the city attorney to review the legality of the Arden Fair ban.

Steinbergs call came after residents told the City Council they believed minorities in particular were being singled out.

I dont want them to go to the mall and feel they will be racial profiled, Pearl Barton, an African American woman, said of her granddaughters. Why do they need parental guidance?

The Los Angeles regions largest mall operators dont have policies directed specifically at teens. Westfield, which owns the Culver City mall and a dozen other shopping centers across California, requires civility of all its customers and reserves the right to remove anyone for unruly behavior.

Westfield and other large mall operators have a significant security operation, including social media intelligence-gathering. In Los Angeles, the firm employs not only a platoon of mall officers, but it also uses off-duty police officers to bolster safety.

Security matters are of primary importance, always. While the company does not publicly discuss levels or methods, significant resources are devoted to security arrangements, said Catharine C. Dickey, Westfields executive vice president.

It remains unclear exactly why so many teens converged at the Culver City mall on Jan. 7. But it appears some were drawn by a social media call-out for people to meet there.

It was on Instagram that it was an event, an Instagram event, one teen at the mall told KABC-TV. Everybody just came, and people who saw their enemies fought each other.

richard.winton@latimes.com

@LAcrimes

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She was there the night Dylann Roof gunned down her son and eight other parishioners who welcomed him to their church. She was there when Roofs trial opened  the first to testify about the horror of that night.

And she was there last week when a judge sentenced him to death.

Through it all, Felicia Sanders has been a dignified presence who also has embodied the roiling and sometimes conflicting emotions unleashed by the massacre Roof carried out at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. She has called the young white supremacist the embodiment of evil  There is no place on Earth for him, except the pit of hell  but also has asked God to have mercy on him and in court treated him with a grace observers found astonishing.

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When Sanders stood to speak before a judge pronounced sentence, she addressed him by his full name: Dylann Storm Roof.

You deserve respect, the 59-year-old African American hairstylist informed the 22-year-old high-school dropout, softly and matter-of-factly, even if he had shown no respect for her loved ones.

Roof did not lift his head to look at her.

Dylann Roof attends a hearing at the Judicial Center in Charleston. (Pool / Getty Images )

One of three survivors of the June 17, 2015, mass shooting, Sanders attended every day of the historic hate-crimes trial.

You took my loved ones away from me and since June 17, Ive gotten to know you, she said at his sentencing. Yes, I know you.

You are in my head, all day, she told him, explaining how unsettled she is now. I cant hear balloons pop. I cant see the fireworks. I cant hear something as small as an acorn drop from out of a tree. And most importantly, I cannot shut my eye to pray. Even when I try, I cannot, because I have to keep my eye on everyone around me.

Day after day, throughout the monthlong trial, she and her husband, Tyrone, sat on a wooden bench on the front row of the courtroom as prosecutors presented evidence  gruesome crime scene photographs of their loved ones splayed on the fellowship halls floor, video of Roof firing guns in his backyard, his interview with FBI agents.

I had to do it, Roof told FBI investigators after his arrest. Black people are killing white people every day on the streets, and they rape white women. What I did is so minuscule compared to what theyre doing to white people every day.

Sanders said she and the 11 others gathered for Bible study were Roofs friends.

I just love people ... even this guy himself, she told reporters after the jury found Roof guilty in December of all 33 federal charges. If only he had waited right after we said the prayer, we would have all gathered around him and found out his needs or his wants, and invite him to come back.

Felicia Sanders watched her son, Tywanza Sanders, die at the hands of Dylann Roof. (Matt Walsh / Associated Press )

A lifelong member of Emanuel, the oldest AME church in the South, Sanders attended Bible study every Wednesday.

She had strong ties with everyone who assembled in the church basement that fateful night. One of them was her son, Tywanza Sanders, a 26-year-old poet who worked two jobs at a barbershop and Steak n Shake and left her enough poems to read for the rest of her life. Susie Jackson, her 87-year-old aunt, who supported her through breast cancer, was her best friend and the sweetest person I know.

Others were connected by faith. Every Sunday, she sat next to the Rev. Dan Simmons, 74, a retired pastor and backbone of the church. She grew up with Myra Thompson, 59, an English teacher and guidance counselor who was overjoyed to lead Bible study that night for the first time.

When a young white man walked into the church basement, she assumed he had come in search of the Lord.

Her beloved pastor, the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a 41-year-old state senator, welcomed the stranger, pulling out the seat next to him and handing him a Bible and worksheet on the book of Marks parable of the sower  about faith growing like a seed planted in good soil.

Roof sat passively with his head down during the 40-minute class. It wasnt until the group stood up, closing their eyes for a final prayer, that Sanders heard a boom. At first, she assumed the electrical transformer had blown and then it dawned on her: Roof had shot the Rev. Pinckney.

As bullets flew around the room, Sanders grabbed her 11-year-old granddaughter, ducked under a table and covered her face so tightly she worried the girl might suffocate.

Granny, Im so scared, her granddaughter said.

Be quiet, she hushed. Just play dead.

The tactic saved both their lives. Lying on the linoleum floor  Tywanza on one side and Aunt Susie on the other  Sanders dragged her leg through the blood of her loved ones so Roof would think he had shot her.

A third worshiper, Polly Sheppard, a retired nurse, also survived. As she prayed out loud under a table, Roof asked her if he had shot her. He told her he would let her live so she could tell the story.

Tywanza was not so fortunate. As Roof approached Sheppard, Tywanza stood up in an attempt to distract him.

Why are you doing this? he asked.

Yall are raping our women and yall are taking over the world, Roof replied.

You dont have to do this, Tywanza pleaded. We dont mean you no harm.

Thats when he put five bullets in my son, Sanders testified. I couldnt move. I was just waiting on my turn.

Before he died, Tywanza screamed for Aunt Susie, reaching over to her and grabbing a handful of her hair.

We watched him take his last breath, Sanders said. I watched my son come into this world and watched my son leave this world.

Tyrone and Felicia Sanders comfort each other at the graveside of their son Tywanza Sanders at Emanuel AME Cemetery in Charleston, S.C., in 2015. (Grace Beahm / Associated Press )

Less than 48 hours later, at Roofs bond hearing, she peered into Roofs impassive face, projected on a courtroom TV screen.

You have killed some of the beautifulest people that I know, she told Roof, her strong voice trembling. Every fiber in my body hurts and Ill never be the same.  Tywanza was my hero. But as we say in the Bible study: we enjoyed you, but may God have mercy on you.

Still, Sanders struggles to understand Roof.

I feel sad for you, she told him before the judge sentenced him to death. When I look at you, I just see somebody is cold, who is lost, who the devil has come back to reclaim.

Yes, I forgive you. That was the easiest thing I had to do. But you cant help someone who dont want to help themselves and that is you.

She no longer attends Sunday service at the historic church that served as a nucleus for so many generations of her family and friends. Yet she still clings to her faith, saying God is the only thing she has to lean on. She now attends Bible study at a different church near Emanuel, with a predominantly white congregation.

On the last day of the trial, she clutched her tattered, bloodstained Bible as she walked up to a lectern to address Roof.

Even though its all torn up, shot up, she told him, she still cherished her book. It reminds me of the blood Jesus shed for me and you, Dylann Roof.  It will never lose its power.

Jarvie is a special correspondent.

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Jury condemns Dylann Roof to death for Charleston, S.C., church shooting that killed 9

Dylann Roof hears from his victims relatives: Youre Satan himself, and instead of a heart, you have a cold, dark space
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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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As Hollywood gathered at the SAG Awards, some entertainers joined LAX protest Facebook

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Protests begin again at LAX on Sunday morning By Genaro Molina Facebook

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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
Donald Trumps foreign policy nominees launched a Reassurance Offensive last week, promising Congress  and the rest of us  that the next president wont be as scary as he sounds.

They almost succeeded.

In their Senate confirmation hearings, Trumps prospective cabinet members smoothed the rough edges off their new boss with an audacious strategy: They flat-out disagreed with him.

And not on a handful of minor issues; the nominees walked away from the president-elect on some of his most alarming foreign policy positions. Examples:

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Trump has talked up the prospects for a strategic partnership with Vladimir Putins Russia, mainly to fight terrorism in the Middle East. But his nominees for secretary of State and Defense said thats not likely to succeed.

Compared with Trumps freewheeling campaign persona, his nominees were soothing and sensible.

Were not likely to ever be friends, former Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, the nominee for State, said. We do not hold the same values. He called Russia an unfriendly adversary.

In his campaign, Trump derided the North Atlantic Treaty Organization as obsolete and said he might not defend its members if they dont increase military spending.

Tillerson and retired Marine Gen. James N. Mattis, the pick for Defense, disagreed. If we did not have NATO today, we would need to create it, Mattis said.

Trump promised to tear up President Obamas nuclear arms deal with Iran; Mattis said the deal was imperfect, but should be left in place.

Trump called global warming a Chinese hoax and said hed withdraw from last years Paris climate agreement; Tillerson dissented from both propositions.

Trump said he would allow  indeed, encourage  U.S. interrogators to use torture on suspected terrorists; his nominee as CIA director, Rep. Mike Pompeo, said he would refuse to carry out any such order.

There was more, but you get the point.

Compared with Trumps freewheeling campaign persona, his nominees were soothing and sensible. They wouldnt have been Hillary Clintons choices, but they could have been Mitt Romneys.

Even some Democrats were pleased.

Im puzzled because many of them sound reasonable, said Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, the Senates second-ranking Democrat. Far more reasonable than their president.

Democratic firebrand Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts found herself praising Mattis, a hawkish Marine who was dubbed Mad Dog for his ferocity in battle.

Were counting on you, she said.

Trump pronounced himself delighted.

All of my Cabinet nominee are looking good and doing a great job, he tweeted on Friday. I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!

Thats an unusual management doctrine for any chief executive. Previous presidents often said they encouraged robust debate inside the White House  but in front of Congress and the public, they wanted their cabinet secretaries to toe a single, clearly chalked official line.

In Trumps case, though, there is no such line, which is one reason his nominees were allowed to give their thoughts free rein, a person involved in the process told me.

In 2001, George W. Bushs transition team produced a 450-page binder of policy positions to guide his nominees. The Trump team has no comparable manifesto. And Trumps campaign positions arent always a reliable index to his thinking; hes changed course on several issues already.

In effect, Trumps nominees are behaving as if the presidents views on foreign policy are still unformed and up for grabs  as if an appointment to Trumps cabinet is an invitation to join a battle for his ear.

As in any administration, that there will be rival factions. Judging from the confirmation hearings, Tillerson and Mattis may strike an alliance to try to curb their boss impetuous side.

We havent heard as much from Trumps closest  and more radical  foreign policy advisers, Michael T. Flynn and Stephen K. Bannon; they dont require confirmation by the Senate. But theyve both been more skeptical about NATO and more enthusiastic about Russia.

The result is likely to be a noisy first year as the new team hashes out exactly what President Trump wants to do.

And thats the problem with the Reassurance Offensive: Its only a set of opening bids. It doesnt tell us where Trump will land. Cabinet officers often get overruled; just ask John Kerry.

At the end of the day, each one of them is going to pursue a Trump agenda and a Trump vision, Trump spokesman Sean Spicer said last week.

Still, its good to know that when Trump makes big foreign policy decisions, he will have at least a few cautious advisors in the room. Assuming he lets them into the room, that is. And boy, will their memoirs be worth reading.

doyle.mcmanus@latimes.com

Twitter: @doylemcmanus

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion or Facebook
Barack Obama s face started showing up on the walls of schools and tire shops, bars and carnicerias right after his election in 2008. Ive been photographing inner city murals for four decades, and in Los Angeles, Chicago, New York and Detroit, Obama is the only U.S. president  aside from, occasionally, JFK  who is in serious rotation in the wall-painters pantheon.

Obama is often portrayed with symbols of American power  the flag, an eagle  or in a lineup of African American greats from neighborhood VIPs to Martin Luther King Jr. and the first lady. In a South L.A. mural by Chuy Vasquez, a beaming Obama replaced a flag-draped MLK in 2013. The new image, which is still in place, puts Obama above and behind white, black and brown children pledging allegiance, the Statue of Liberty, a farmer at work and a giant parrot in the colors of the Mexican flag. (Two smaller images arent in the frame: a Central American pyramid and Christ atop a globe.

FOR THE RECORD

In Camilo Jose Vergaras Op Ed photo essay, a bird in a Los Angeles mural was identified as a parrot. It is a quetzal.

Faith in Christ Ministries, West 46th Street near South Western Avenue, Los Angeles, 2010

Obama es el presidente, Vasquez told me, describing his work. Obama es para todos. Something for everyone  one muralists version of the Obama legacy.

Documentary photographer Camilo Jose Vergara is a National Humanities Medal awardee. His latest book is Detroit Is No Dry Bones. Camilojosevergara.com

Mugshot Bar & Grill, 17305 Harper Ave. and Guilford, Detroit, 2010

A. and J. Tires, 9154 Livernois Ave., Detroit, 2014 (above) and 2015 (right)

Fair Party Liquor Store, 6541 Gratiot Ave., Detroit, 2013

Cheers Soul Food, 7414 S. Main Street, LA, 2010

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
To the editor: Welcome to the new regime.

Trump is officially vilifying the free press, calling it fake news for reporting a story that was not fawning to him. Tyrants do that, presidents dont.

We are in for four very long years unless Republicans in Congress finally say enough and impeach and prosecute him for nepotism, treason ( and a myriad of other offenses that Im sure hell commit). That is, if he doesnt reduce the entire planet to radioactive slag in a temper tantrum.

( Trump says spy agencies leaked false document, Jan. 12, and At war with all sides, and no plan to change course, Analysis, Jan. 12)

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Americans have definitely gotten what they deserved.

Thank god we prevented someone who had an email server from being elected.

Scott W. Hughes, Westlake Village

::

To the editor: This is so far beyond irony that we will have to invent another word to describe it.

For Trump to complain about Nazi tactics  the process of telling outright lies repeatedly until they become accepted as truth  is the single best example of his total and complete hypocrisy.

The man who quite literally originated the concept of fake news  who built a campaign on a total fabrication about a real president not having been born in the U.S. despite any evidence to prove the assertion  is now complaining about being the focus of potentially inaccurate reporting.

Where is the outrage at his behavior?

Why is the press not clearly reporting every one of his made-up assertions as what they are: lies.

This incompetent egomaniac has to be confronted every time he tries to deceive us or his lies will slowly become normalized, and we will all go down the river to hell.

Jim B. Parsons, Canyon Lake

::

To the editor: At his press conference, Trump asked Do you honestly believe Hillary would be tougher on Putin than me?

Yes, Mr. Trump, she would.

President Vladimir Putin prefers Trump because Hillary Clinton insisted on pressing Putin about human rights.

Its abundantly clear that President-elect Trump has no such concerns.

Its amazing how well you can get along with a tyrant when youre willing to sell out his victims.

Richard Murphy, Whittier

::

To the editor: I am not a reporter.

I am just a worker-bee private citizen.

I would respectfully like to see the president-elects tax returns.

Stacey Cole, Lancaster

::

To the editor: If you have a sense of humor, you had to enjoy the pilot for Trumps new reality show, AKA press conference.

The star of the new You-Are-Picking-On-Me narcissistic paranoid drama made it clear that others are rude, very rude, dishonest, very dishonest but not him. The press is very very dishonest, they ask questions. That is not honest!

At the end of the day, the only thing any normal American viewer can be sure about is that for such a big man he sure has small hands, but he waves them in a big way.

Panfilo Fuentes, Bakersfield

::

To the editor: Pity the poor Times: it has been two months since Trump won the presidency and your paper is still mired in liberal self-pity.

I for one am sick and tired of your biased one-sided reporting and fake news stories, which appear daily on your front page. Have you forgotten that personal opinions and biases belong on the editorial page?

Since the election, I think The Times is as credible as the National Enquirer.

Bill White, Arleta

::

To the editor: In this time of crisis, it is vital that journalists unite. You shouldnt allow Trump to shut any reporter down.

At the press conference, every other news organizations representatives should have stood up and corrected Trump on his statement that CNN was fake news. Then, the other journalists should have asked the same question that the CNN reporter was going to ask until Trump understood the strength of a free press.

Why are you being so polite at this direct attack on this nations democracy?

Marina Parker, Glendale, Ariz.

::

To the editor: In the press conference, Trump was asked a very direct question about Obamacare, and his answers showed him blissfully unaware, as always, that the cost of private health insurance is dictated by private insurance companies. Trash talk, fantastic stories and magic tricks.

Welcome to the circus, folks.

Bob Loza, Burbank

::

To the editor: Everyone who is anyone seems to be standing around wringing their hands as Trump continues on this dangerous and unprecedented path to discredit the media, U.S. intelligence agencies and anybody else who dare to disagree with him.

Hes a bully who projects his character traits and sinister tendencies onto those he views as his adversaries.

The only person Trump has not criticized is, of course, Putin. I find that fact highly suspicious.

We dont need a crystal ball to see the catastrophe that awaits us. Our cherished democracy is truly in peril.

Ramona Saenz, Alhambra

::

To the editor: Trump knows so well the best defense is a good offense.

But, doth he protest too much? He attacks anybody making any negative comments about him as being over-rated, a liar, dishonest, phony, irrelevant, incompetent, etc.

His appeal to so many has shielded him from accountability, but even his most ardent supporters may soon become concerned about his character, honesty and capability.

I really like many aspects of Trumps approach to deal from strength and command a level of respect that has been absent from the countrys present leadership. I am concerned he may overplay his hand and cause crisis for our country.

Sid Pelston, Beverly Hills

::

To the editor: At least twice, Trump has said that if the information we, the voters, got from the Russian hacking was something we needed to know, then maybe it is a good thing.

Do you think maybe they have his tax returns?

Mark Temple, Huntington Beach

Follow the Opinion section on Twitter @latimesopinion and Facebook
Theres a lot Rep. Jared Huffman would rather do than go to Donald Trumps inauguration on Friday. So hes going to stay home.

Ill spend that day, and actually several days, in my district doing service events and community events to try to send a positive message with my time rather than sitting passively and applauding while something that I think is very dark and dangerous for our country begins, said Huffman, a Democrat from San Rafael.

Among other things, Huffman plans to spend the weekend helping with a river cleanup, participating in a naturalization ceremony for new citizens and joining a local womens march against the Republican president-elect.

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Im going to be far busier in my district and in my community doing positive things than I ever would have been coming to Washington for that ceremony, Huffman said.

As of Wednesday, 37 of Californias 55-member delegation said they planned to attend the inauguration, where members of Congress have some of the best seats to view the peaceful transfer of power. That includes all 14 of the delegations Republicans. Rep. Tom McClintock (R-Elk Grove) said: I attended both of Obamas. You better believe Ill be attending Trumps!

But at least 16 California House Democrats are skipping the inauguration. Rep. Xavier Becerra (D-Los Angeles), who is under consideration to be Californias next attorney general, and Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), who recently had a pacemaker installed, have not decided.

Some told The Times last week they are they being motivated to stay home by outcry from constituents in a state that overwhelmingly picked Democrat Hillary Clinton for president. Others said Trumps comments and the moves hes made since building his Cabinet drove them to take a pass.

Most of the members who arent going made up their minds not to attend even before Trump criticized civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), who announced on Friday he wouldnt be going and said he believed Trump wouldnt be a legitimate president.

Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Oakland) said last week that her conscience wont permit her to attend.

An inauguration for me is a celebratory event, and while I appreciate and honor the peaceful transition of power, for me to celebrate someone who wants to build a wall, who wants to establish a Muslim registry, who wants to repeal the Affordable Care Act and who has appointed a person as attorney general such as Jeff Sessions ... I cant celebrate that, Lee said.

I acknowledge the fact that he is the incoming president, but Im not in the mood to celebrate that fact, said Rep. Zoe Lofgren (D-San Jose).

Rep. Mark Takano (D-Riverside) said he struggled with the decision and sought advice from colleagues and constituents before ultimately deciding not to go.

Hes shown such disrespect for some of the people I represent and its a hard thing for me to get over, and hes not really dialed it back or tried to show that hes going to be different, Takano said. I want to be respectful of the office, but at the same time I also want to represent my constituents.

Rep. Ted Lieu (D-Torrance) is using his week free of House votes to do his Air Force Reserve duty on Tuesday and Wednesday. Hell be done before Fridays ceremony, but said he doesnt see the point of coming back for it.

Lieu and Trump will find topics to agree on, but that doesnt mean I need to be at his inauguration, he said. Ill watch it on television, but do I want to ... spend taxpayer money to fly me here to watch it?

Multiple members who had been wavering made up their minds on Tuesday not to go.

Rep. Tony Cardenas (D-Los Angeles), who isnt going, said last week he was struggling to give Trump the deference he would normally extend a president regardless of party.

I think about all the people that he has offended, over and over, past and present, and its painful to think that I would bring myself to actually go out there and sit there and subject myself to him just 50 feet away, Cardenas said.

Rep. Karen Bass (D-Los Angeles), who had wanted to say goodbye to President Obama, ultimately chose to stay home. Her constituents voted overwhelmingly for Clinton, and she asked them to weigh in on a Twitter poll over the weekend. The majority of the nearly 13,000 responses told her not to go.

Rep. Juan Vargas (D-San Diego), a former Jesuit missionary, on Tuesday said hell spend the time praying for the country and for Trump.

I have a great deal of respect for the office of the president, but after the things that the president-elect has said  I dont want to be a hypocrite and pretend like I have respect for him, Vargas said last week. I studied to be a priest for a long time and we all make mistakes, but the things that he has said, the mocking of disabled people in particular, the things hes said about Mexicans, it would be very hard for me to be in a place like that celebrating.

Several Democrats who have decided to go said their choice was made easier because theyll also attend the Womens March on Washington, a protest expected to draw many thousands to the National Mall the day after the inauguration. Many members who are not attending the inauguration said they will participate in associated womens marches in California.

Freshman Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Santa Barbara) said he struggled with whether to go before deciding it was more important to make a statement by attending than to make a statement by staying home.

I was trying to reconcile everything that happened during the election. Clearly, with President-elect Trump its not just a difference on policy. His behavior, the hateful things he said about many people, including myself  somebody who is Mexican  veterans, the disabled, really touched me in a very profound way, he said. Carbajal was born in Mexico and immigrated to the U.S. as a child.

He says joining some constituents for the womens march afterward is a way to be present, to symbolize that I will be at least one member of Congress among many that he will have to deal with as he implements his agenda.

Rep. Pete Aguilar (D-Redlands) said attending the march after going to the inauguration is a chance to exercise his rights as a citizen.

To respect the office of the presidency and yet be able to turn around the next day and to say that not everything that hes said represents the values of San Bernardino County or this country  thats America, he said.

House Republicans

YES Rep. Ken Calvert (Corona)

YES Rep. Paul Cook (Yucca Valley)

YES Rep. Jeff Denham (Turlock)

YES Rep. Duncan Hunter (Alpine)

YES Rep. Darrell Issa (Vista)

YES Rep. Steve Knight (Palmdale)

YES Rep. Doug LaMalfa (Richvale)

YES Rep. Kevin McCarthy (Bakersfield)

YES Rep. Tom McClintock (Elk Grove)

YES Rep. Devin Nunes (Tulare)

YES Rep. Dana Rohrabacher (Costa Mesa)

YES Rep. Ed Royce (Fullerton)

YES Rep. David Valadao (Hanford)

YES Rep. Mimi Walters (Irvine)

House Democrats

YES Rep. Pete Aguilar (Redlands)

YES Rep. Nanette Barragan (San Pedro)

NO Rep. Karen Bass (Los Angeles)

NOT SURE Rep. Xavier Becerra (Los Angeles)

YES Rep. Ami Bera (Elk Grove)

YES Rep. Julia Brownley (Westlake Village)

YES Rep. Salud Carbajal (Santa Barbara)

NO Rep. Tony Cardenas (Los Angeles)

NO Rep. Judy Chu (Monterey Park)

YES Rep. Lou Correa (Santa Ana)

YES Rep. Jim Costa (Fresno)

YES Rep. Susan A. Davis (San Diego)

NO Rep. Mark DeSaulnier (Concord)

YES Rep. Anna G. Eshoo (Menlo Park)

YES Rep. John Garamendi (Walnut Grove)

NO Rep. Jared Huffman (San Rafael)

YES Rep. Ro Khanna (Fremont)

NO Rep. Barbara Lee (Oakland)

NO Rep. Ted Lieu (Torrance)

NO Rep. Zoe Lofgren (San Jose)

NO Rep. Alan Lowenthal (Long Beach)

YES Rep. Doris Matsui (Sacramento)

NO Rep. Jerry McNerney (Stockton)

NO Rep. Grace F. Napolitano (Norwalk)

YES Rep. Jimmy Panetta (Carmel)

YES Rep. Nancy Pelosi (San Francisco)

YES Rep. Scott Peters (San Diego)

NO Rep. Lucille Roybal-Allard (Downey)

NO Rep. Raul Ruiz (Palm Desert)

YES Rep. Linda T. Sanchez (Whittier)

YES Rep. Adam B. Schiff (Burbank)

YES Rep. Brad Sherman (Sherman Oaks)

YES Rep. Jackie Speier (Hillsborough)

YES Rep. Eric Swalwell (Dublin)

NO Rep. Mark Takano (Riverside)

YES Rep. Mike Thompson (St. Helena)

YES Rep. Norma J. Torres (Pomona)

NO Rep. Juan Vargas (San Diego)

NO Rep. Maxine Waters (Los Angeles)

Senate Democrats

NOT SURE Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.)

YES Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.)

sarah.wire@latimes.com

Follow @sarahdwire on Twitter

Read more about the 55 members of Californias delegation at latimes.com/politics

ALSO:

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Updates on California politics

UPDATES:

Jan. 18, 1 p.m.: This article was updated with Rep. Lowenthals decision.

Jan. 17, 9:50 a.m.: This article was updated with more members of Congress who have decided not to attend the inauguration.

This article was originally posted Jan. 15 at 3 a.m.
Krista Suh plans to attend the womens march in Washington, D.C., this week to protest Donald Trumps presidency, and she wanted to make a statement. But she also had a more primal goal: staying warm.

I wanted to do something more than just show up, said the 29-year-old screenwriter who lives in downtown Los Angeles, recalling how her professors at the all-female Barnard College in New York City urged her to think about problems. How can I visually show someone whats going on? And I realized as a California girl, I would be really cold in D.C.  its not tank-top weather year-round. So I thought maybe I could knit myself a hat.

And so the pussyhat project was born. Knitters  mostly women  started crafting handmade pink caps with cat ears, a reference to Trumps vulgar statements about grabbing womens genitals, which were revealed in a leaked video shortly before the election.

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What started as a project among Suh, Jayna Zweiman and other friends at the Little Knittery in Atwater Village has turned into a global movement. Knitting groups at yarn stores, cafes and coffee shops from Seattle to Marthas Vineyard have been churning out hats, and craft stores have reported a run on pink yarn. As word spread on social media, thousands of hats  knit with skeins of thick magenta or fuchsia yarn  have been made around the world, including in Australia and Austria. Theyre all being sent to collections spots around the country and a basement in Virginia ahead of the Saturday march.

Anja Liseth, 41, who lives in Bergen, Norway, learned about the project from fellow knitters pictures on Instagram and promptly spent five evenings stitching five hats. Made with Norwegian wool, she said proudly.

I feel that my contribution is important, and that since Ive knitted these hats, part of me is there at the demonstration.  Anja Liseth, a Norwegian who knit several pink hats

I feel that my contribution is important, and that since Ive knitted these hats, part of me is there at the demonstration, Liseth said, adding that she was bewildered by Trumps win and attributes it to misogyny. It feels really important, its such a big issue for me, that I also can be there in a sense to demonstrate, because in Norway, we have gender equality in a lot of areas.

Liseth was among many knitters who said an essential part of the project was that it allowed women who cannot attend the national march to contribute.

We want to see a sea of pink on the National Mall, said Kat Coyle, the owner of the Little Knittery and Suhs knitting instructor.

Coyle, 54, who lives in Silver Lake, is the one who came up with the design and decided to keep it simple in order to maximize participation. The pattern, which is available for free online, is effectively a rectangle. It is folded and sewn together, and once the wearer puts it on, the corners poke out like cat ears. Some knitters have embellished their caps with beads and sparkly thread.

Kat Coyle, left, owner of the Little Knittery in Atwater Village, shares a laugh with Megan Hollingshead, while teaching her how to knit a pussyhat like the ones they are wearing. (Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times )

Megan Hollingshead, who also lives in Silver Lake, had never knit before but found solace in the project. The mother of two allowed her children to stay up on the night of the election, excited by the prospect of Democrat Hillary Clinton being elected the first female president. After it became clear that Clinton had lost, she was devastated.

As soon as the election happened, I was looking for a way to get involved. I work, I have two kids, Im really busy but when this came up, I was like That I can do, said Hollingshead, 48, as she joined more than a dozen women who gathered at the Little Knittery to make caps.

The voice actress has made one cap for a friend who is marching in Washington, D.C., and is working on hats for herself and her husband for a simultaneous march in Los Angeles. She calls the hats a visual representation of unhappiness with the Trump presidency.

Veteran knitters also took to the project. Marina MontRos, who lives in downtown Los Angeles, is working on her 24th cap.

Having something homemade is always special, said the 46-year-old MontRos. To have something thats made by another woman, or someone whose supportive of you, that you can wear thats going to keep you warm, so its practical, but its also a symbol of somebody supporting you with something theyve taken the time and effort to make you.

The women who are knitting the hats said they are a physical manifestation of their anger toward the president-elects statements about women, minorities and the disabled. Suh has a younger sibling who is disabled and traveled to Ohio to campaign for Clinton.

Ive been channeling my grief through this project and my anger, she said. If I can make a hat, maybe people everywhere could make these hats and send them in. So it had that dual function  people there could have it to make a unified statement and people at home who couldnt go could be part of it and represent themselves there.

seema.mehta@latimes.com

For the latest on national and California politics, follow @LATSeema on Twitter.

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If this sentence leaves you confused, youre not alone: Education spending rises under Gov. Jerry Browns proposed state budget, but some California schools are bracing for cuts.

That both statements are true is a reflection of the byzantine rules that govern the flow of dollars to K-12 schools and community colleges. Sacramento policy wonks used to joke that only two people understood the rules approved under the landmark Proposition 98  the man who wrote the law and a veteran legislative staffer. The staffer retired last year, while the laws author died in 2015.

And yet, the voter-approved amendment to the state Constitution lives on.

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The shorthand to Proposition 98 is that it sets a minimum level for school funding  one that generally grows with the economy  by using a series of complex formulas for earmarking state and local tax dollars.

That usually results in a mandate that hovers around 40% of the states general fund, though any honest state budget-watcher will admit the final number  just like the annual prediction of tax revenues  is sometimes subject to political negotiation.

For education groups, some of which helped draft the 1988 ballot measure, the funding guarantee is a blessing and a curse. Proposition 98 is a bulwark for public school funding in times of deep recession, but it also leaves many politicians with the impression that helping some six million students is as simple as using a mathematical formula.

Gov. Jerry Brown projects a potential $1.6-billion budget deficit 

It just squashes any real consideration of whether those resources are adequate to teach kids, said Kevin Gordon, a longtime education lobbyist. We spend a good deal of time reminding our friends at the Capitol that Proposition 98 is a minimum guarantee, not a maximum.

Consider Browns new budget, which boasts of raising school funding by $2.1 billion next year. That number, though, is based on a downward revision of current-year spending by more than $500 million. Revamping tax estimates helps Brown, like other governors before him, restrain growth in the Proposition 98 mandate.

It just squashes any real consideration of whether those resources are adequate to teach kids.  Kevin Gordon, an education lobbyist, on how lawmakers sometimes focus too much on the details of Californias school funding mandate

One particularly clever maneuver: The governor is proposing to delay an $859-million payment from late June to early July. That shift of just a few days means the payment wont count in the current budget year but would become part of the base for future school spending.

Education groups also point out that mandatory pension payments for teachers, custodians and clerks will grow larger next year. That comes out of the same pot of cash. And then theres the impact of a sweeping state education plan designed to focus on students who are English learners or from low-income families. Those rules now govern about 90% of education dollars, but they havent worked out well for some suburban districts.

Put all of this together, Gordon said, and hundreds of districts across California are preparing to cut their budgets. How many will win and how many will lose under the governors budget, if approved by the Legislature, isnt yet clear.

That may shock voters, given Proposition 55 promised last fall to stave off education cuts. It might, but it doesnt kick in until 2019. Regardless, it wont ease the brain freeze that results from trying to make sense of the states education-funding rules. Designed to give schools some room to grow, they can also leave educators feeling a little claustrophobic.

john.myers@latimes.com

Follow @johnmyers on Twitter, sign up for our daily Essential Politics newsletter and listen to the weekly California Politics Podcast

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The Newport Beach City Council hosted a special meeting Saturday that addressed goals for the coming year that include traffic flow improvements and election reform.

But city officials and council members attending the wide-ranging session, held in the Marina Park community center, expressed caution stemming from the widespread concern over Newports unfunded pension liabilities that could put a damper on capital improvement budget spending in the future.

City staff noted that while the 2015-16 fiscal year posted some strong gains  namely a $3.9-million sales tax boost, or 12%, and another year of rising property values contributing to more property tax revenue  the estimated pension debt, estimated to be around $275 million as of 2015, looms large over the future.

The debt was described as Newports Achilles heel in an otherwise vibrant and healthy economy. Annual pension spending was about 12% of the general fund budget about five years ago, according to city staff, and now that figure has inched up to 16%, or $40 million.

Still, Councilwoman Diane Dixon said in the spirit of calming the public on the pressing issue, Were not yelling fire in a crowded building.

On improving traffic flow  a priority stated by Mayor Kevin Muldoon on his first meeting as mayor  city officials didnt offer many details on achieving that goal, other than installing sensors and other technology that will make the signals more adaptive to live traffic conditions.

Councilman Scott Peotter suggested having a dedicated traffic management person, who he said could be Newports transportation improvement advocate.

Councilman Jeff Herdman said he was interested in achieving election reform by giving the city attorney authority to enforce election law.

That is something that will be a priority of mine, he added. He did not mention any specific election-related problems.

City officials also noted the status of several ongoing and future projects, including:

 Renovating the plaza at Central Avenue and constructing an 80-foot public pier there.

 Possibly replacing Lido Fire Station 2, 475 32nd St., or relocating it. City officials said the station is among Newports busiest.

 Beginning discussions to somehow revamp Marine Avenue, Balboa Islands main thoroughfare.

 Constructing a boat bilge pump-out dock, possibly at 15th Street, to reduce the use of city sewers and improve harbor water quality.

 Continuing with the plan to revitalize Mariners Mile. A workshop on the topic is scheduled for Jan. 26.

 Construction of Lido House, a 130-room hotel at the former City Hall site in Lido Marina Village, is ongoing. The hotel could open by January 2018.

 Vue Newport, a 27-unit housing development with retail space at 2230 Newport Blvd., is scheduled to be completed by the middle of this year.

 The Newport Harbor Yacht Club was issued a demolition permit this month to replace its 97-year-old clubhouse with a new 23,163-square-foot facility. Construction is expected to last 18 months, during which time members will gather on a nearby charter vessel.

 City officials have received a proposal to replace Kitayama, a Japanese restaurant at 101 Bayview Place, with an assistant-living facility containing 121 beds. The project is being reviewed by the planning department.

 Models at Ebb Tide, an 81-unit development on Placentia Avenue that replaced a mobile home park there, are scheduled to be open for viewing this summer.
By the way, they like you to dress fancy (and leave children home, unless youre headed to a weekend brunch). Coat and tie are required for men.

In theory, to attend you must be invited or accompanied by a member of the Academy of Magical Arts. In practice, there are at least two pretty easy ways in. Its not so hard (though the admission charge and dinner and drinks usually add up to a pricey night). If you spend a night at the adjacent Magic Castle Hotel & Suites , youre entitled to go to the club. Or you can email one of the magicians soon to appear and ask for an invite. (More ideas here .)

What: The castle, clubhouse of the Academy of Magical Arts, was built as a private home in 1908. But by the time it opened as a magic haven in 1963, it had undergone a thorough transformation to make it fit for tricks and performances. Since then, it has survived waxing and waning popularity, not to mention a fire in 2011. (The flames flare on the night of Halloween.) Roam room to room and you encounter all manner of deceptions and marvels. Card tricks. Seances. Sleight of hand. Secret passages. And a fancy dinner.

Why: The Magic Castle is the worst kept secret in Hollywood -- a private club in a tricked-out house thats devoted to magic. And if you really want to get in, its not that hard.

See the light at James Turrells Skyspace in Claremont By Elisa Parhad Why: This awe-inspiring public art installation brings new beauty to the light of dawn and dusk. What: Dividing the Light (2007), one of several dozen Skyspaces worldwide by artist James Turrell, is an elevated metal frame perched above an outdoor courtyard. A mesmerizing light show begins at dawn and dusk when the frame is illuminated with colored light, enhancing the skys own changing hues. The Skyspace is a part of the Pomona College Museum of Art. For Turrell, an L.A. native and alumnus of Pomona College (65) and Claremont Graduate University (73), this campus installation is a homecoming of sorts, and the only public Skyspace in Southern California. Turrell is an avid pilot and considers the sky his studio, material and canvas, and his Pomona College training in perceptual psychology informs his play of light, space, and human perception. Skyspace programs begin one hour before sunrise and 10 minutes before sunset. The evening program lasts about 40 minutes. Check a listing of current exhibitions and Art After Hours days that may make a Skyspace and museum twofer possible. Where: The Draper Courtyard (between the Lincoln and Edmunds buildings) at 600 N. College Way on the Pomona College campus in Claremont, 34 miles northeast of downtown L.A. How much: Free Info: James Turrell Skyspace Facebook

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Pedal L.A.'s Echo Park Lake, munch a fancy snack and daydream of Sister Aimee and the spiritualists By Christopher Reynolds The swan boats of Echo Park Lake. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: The hotter it gets, the more sense these pedal vessels make. What: The artificial lake in Echo Park goes back to at least 1870. The boathouse and pedal boat operation go back decades. And the place has been dramatically upgraded in the last few years, beginning with a draining and cleaning in 2011-2013. The paddle boats operated by Wheel Fun Rentals are now shaped like swans and the larger ones hold up to five people or 1,400 pounds. (These boats look a lot like the historic swan boats in Boston Common, which also go back to the 1870s.) Head out for an hour of pedaling and drifting, not necessarily in that order, and imagine the early 20th century days when Aimee Semple McPherson was preaching in the Angelus Temple next door and these hills were crawling with communists, socialists and spiritualists. The boat rentals are open daily all year from 9 a.m. until sunset. On the hottest days, try edging right up to the edge of the fountain in the middle of the lake  youll be coated with mist or (if theres a breeze) pelted by diagonal rain. The last rentals go out an hour before sunset. (One night in July, a young man broke in and took a paddle boat for a forbidden ride. It did not end well.) The eatery, Beacon, opened in January 2017 with a menu thats longer, more intriguing and a little pricier than the average public park snack shack. The communists dont live here anymore. Bonus option: Fishing is allowed, with a license. Where: 751 Echo Park Ave., 2 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: The swan boats rent for hourly rates of $11 per adult, $6 per minor. Everybody gets a life jacket. A sampling from the Beacon menu: kale and avocado burritos ($7), a crab and gouda sandwich ($13), salmon toast ($10), Beacon Burger ($15), lemonade ($3). Beacon is open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Info: Wheel Fun Rentals, Beacon A pedalers view of Echo Park Lake. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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See the Giants, glimpse the bay and duck the gulls at San Franciscos AT&T Park By Christopher Reynolds The Giants have played in AT&T Park since 2000. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Whether youre for the Giants or against them, you can root for a home run into the bay here  something you wont see at any other major league baseball stadium. In fact, you can see bits of San Francisco Bay  distant wharves, cargo ships, maybe a few kayaks in McCovey Cove  from many of the 41,915 seats in AT&T Park. And in a city thats not always easy for families, this park is full of kid-friendly features. What: The Giants have been based in San Francisco since 1958, but they only started winning championships here after this ballpark opened in 2000. (Beyond center field youll see banners celebrating the teams World Series victories in 2010, 2012 and 2014, and a few more from the earlier New York years.) Builders worked hard to reduce the winds that made the old Candlestick Park a nightmare for anyone fielding a fly ball  and largely succeeded. In fact, experts often rank this park first or second among the most pleasant in the major leagues. But theres no banishing the gulls. At the end of every game, thousands of the scavenging creatures come swooping in to feast on leavings in the bleachers. Ushers try to fend them off, but the situation is basically Field of Dreams meets Alfred Hitchcock. Hang around for a few minutes to catch the spectacle. Gulls after a day game, AT&T Park, San Francisco. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Where: 24 Willie Mays Plaza, San Francisco, 382 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: Most tickets $9-$282. Single-game tickets here. Info: San Francisco Giants, San Francisco Travel Facebook

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Fly, roll, float and romp in a Disneys ever-evolving California Adventure By Christopher Reynolds Hollywood Land, Disney California Adventure (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: If somebody asked you to compress the best of California into 72 acres, make it abundantly kid-friendly and persuade thousands of people to spend long hours and big money there, you might crack under the pressure. (Admit it, youre already uncomfortable.) That was Disneys mission with this park. And Disney failed  at first. But since that awkward debut in 2001, when attendance fell far short of expectations, the park people have been steadily changing and fixing this place. Even if youre skeptical about all things Disney (as some people are), youll probably get a kick out of this cartoon version of our state. What: Most of the parks rides, restaurants and photo ops are all about idealizing California, including Hollywood Land (whos ever seen such clean streets and tidy storefronts in the real Hollywood?); Pacific Wharf (a mix of Cannery Row in Monterey and Fishermans Wharf in San Francisco); and Grizzly Peak (a nod to Yosemite and the tall trees of Northern California). But other features these days reach far beyond state lines. When I dropped in a few days ago, the parks marching bands and mariachis were joined by drummers, dancers and musicians from around Asia, gathered to celebrate Lunar New Year. Rides in A Bugs Land and Car Land were full of grinning guests, as was the Soarin Around the World ride  which replaced Soaring (over California) in 2016  and the Guardians of the Galaxy-Mission: Breakout! ride  which replaced the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror in 2017. This summer, Paradise Pier is scheduled to become Pixar Pier. Meanwhile, California Screamin, Mickeys Fun Wheel and Grizzly River Run were closed for refurbishment. Check before visiting to see whats open and whats not. Where: Right next to Disneyland and Downtown Disney, California Adventure, 1313 Disneyland Drive in Anaheim, is 26 miles southeast of downtown L.A. How much: Passes start at $97 (ages 10 and above; before taxes) for a one-day Value Ticket. Standard parking $20. Info: Disney California Adventure Disney California Adventure (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Drive the narrow, winding, spectacular back-door route to Big Sur: Nacimiento-Fergusson Road By Christopher Reynolds On the western slopes (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Itll quicken your pulse, drop your jaw and demand your full attention. Theres no more dramatic passage from Central Californias blond hills to the Big Sur coast than this 24-mile route. What: Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, a winding, two-lane highway, begins in the Salinas Valley countryside north of Paso Robles, next to the often-overlooked Mission San Antonio de Padua and the Armys Ft. Hunter-Liggett. From there it creeps through forest and chaparral to the crest of the Santa Lucia Mountains, about 2,800 feet above sea level. Then for 7 miles, via dozens of switchback turns, it wends its way down the western slopes to Big Sur. It meets Highway 1 at Kirk Creek, about 4 miles south of Lucia. Mission San Antonio de Padua (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Motorcyclists have loved Nacimiento-Fergusson Road for years. When a mudslide and reconstruction closed Highway 1 at Mud Creek for more than a year in 2017-2018, many more cars found their way to this alternative, as well. In normal times, with Highway 1 open, you can usually count on thin traffic on Nacimiento-Fergusson. The roads westernmost 7 miles, descending via multiple sharp turns to the coast road, are as spectacular as can be  and might start a three-alarm panic attack if youre afraid of heights. (When a route is featured on www.dangerousroads.org, you know its special.) Given the absence of lights or guard rails or cellphone reception, Id never try it after dark. On my midday drive in December, I took care to ignore the views until Id safely pulled into one of the many turnouts along the way. (For a tamer ride with similar scenery, take Highway 46 west from Paso Robles to Cambria.) Where: To reach the eastern end of Nacimiento-Fergusson Road, exit Highway 101 at Jolon Road, about 23 miles north of Paso Robles. Follow Jolon Road west, then turn left onto Mission Road, continue 4 miles, then turn left onto Nacimiento-Fergusson Road. Because the road passes through the Army base, drivers may need to show license, registration and proof of insurance. Give the drive at least two hours from the 101 to the 1. You dont want to be in a hurry here. How much: Free. Info: www.dangerousroads.org Facebook

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Recline, rebel or revel in Grand Park, where downtown L.A. celebrates By Christopher Reynolds Grand Park, Dec. 31, 2015. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Why: Every real downtown has a park to serve as urban backyard, and Grand Park is more proof that L.A.'s downtown is getting realer by the day. What: The 12-acre park connects the Music Center at the top of Bunker Hill with City Hall at the bottom. (Yes, you can go to City Halls 27th floor observation deck and its free). The park isnt really new -- theres been open space for decades on these blocks between government buildings. But a dramatic redesign in 2012 put a far better spin on the area, and it doesnt hurt that neighboring Cathedral of our Lady of the Angels arrived in 2002, Disney Hall in 2003 and the Broad Museum in 2015. Besides its welcome green expanses and flanking playground and dog-run areas, Grand Park includes a fountain (with splash pad for kids), an adjacent Starbucks, plenty of places to sit and a busy schedule of holiday events and live shows. Picnicking is encouraged. Protesting is permitted. Food trucks come for lunch most Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. Theres midday yoga on many Wednesdays and Fridays. In October and November, the park hosts Dia de los Muertos altars and art; in November and December, holiday lights. And on New Years Eve -- well, the 2016-17 party (free and alcohol-free) included three stages, DJs, live music, dancing, inflatable art, and light projections. Expect more of the same this time. Where: between 200 N. Grand Ave. and 227 N. Spring St., at the core of downtown L.A. How much: Free. Its easiest to arrive via Metro. But theres parking nearby in Lot 10 (entrances on Broadway and Hill Street between 1st and Temple streets), priced at $3.50 per 15 minutes up to a $20 maximum per weekday, $10 per day on weekends, evenings and special events. Info: Grand Park Womens March, Grand Park, January 2017. (Irfan Khan / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Gawk as the waters of McWay Falls plunge from Big Sur to the sea By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: McWay Falls, the splashiest attraction in Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, roars down 80 feet from granite and redwoods to a creamy Big Sur beach and implausibly turquoise cove. Its the cascade that other waterfalls want to be. Its also a perfectly impossible California destination, because you cant stand under these falls. Theres no safe way to the beach. What: The hike is more of a stroll, really. Its about half a mile, mostly flat. (And the rest of the park remains mostly closed because of mudslides and other damage done by the Soberanes Fire of 2016.) Once youve passed through a short tunnel under Highway 1 and made a right turn, youll soon be standing on a rocky perch where a house once stood, looking south to the beach and falls. This is an invitation to chill. For one thing, the trail has ended. Also, like Yosemite Falls  which led off our California Bucket List project on Jan. 1  McWay Falls is a sort of perpetuity made plain. The water keeps coming, even if its in short supply elsewhere. And the cell reception is so rotten that youll probably never get an Instagram photo posted from here. So have a seat. Notice that theres a great view to the north also. Think about all the writers and composers (beginning with James Joyce, Richard Wagner, Al Green and Teeny Hodges) who have chosen to start and end their works with running water. Or think about nothing. Where: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park, mile marker 35.8 in Big Sur, 37 miles south of Carmel, 286 miles northwest of downtown L.A. Highway 1 is expected to remained closed at Mud Creek (27 miles south of McWay Falls) through September 2018. That means travelers from the south have two options. One is to detour from Highway 101 north of Paso Robles via Jolon Road and the 24-mile, narrow, winding Nacimiento-Fergusson Road (a star on dangerousroads.org). The other choice is driving up to Salinas on the 101, cutting over to Carmel, then coming back south on Highway 1. How much: $10. Info: Julia Pfeiffer Burns State Park Looking north from the McWay Falls Trail. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Marvel over this San Francisco church inspired by the ideals of the Scandinavian Da Vinci By Catharine Hamm (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Simplicity and complexity meet in the Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco, and the marriage is a harmonious celebration of architecture and intellect. What: The 1895 Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco, a national historic landmark in Pacific Heights, is an Arts and Crafts building designed by several architects, including Bernard Maybeck, who created the Palace of Fine Arts at the Panama-Pacific International Exposition in 1915 in San Francisco. Inside the walls are rustic redwood, found often in Arts and Crafts buildings and consistent with the Swedenborgian appreciation of natural objects, according to the 1969 book Here Today: San Franciscos Architectural Heritage. The chairs are maple, made by hand, without the use of nails, and their seats were woven of tule rushes from the Sacramento River Delta, the book says. In the fireplace in the back, the andirons become small crosses, and the crackling fire (and recently installed radiant heat) make the church a warm and welcoming spot for quiet contemplation, especially on chilly San Francisco days (which is most of them). (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) Its also a reminder of the man whose desire to understand Scripture caught fire when he was in his 50s. Emanuel Swedenborg was born Jesper Svedborg in 1688 in Stockholm. In Swedenborg: An Introduction to His Life and Ideas, author Gary Lachman describes Swedenborg as the Scandinavian Da Vinci. He was a scientist, poet, writer, mystic, statesman, inventor and biblical scholar. After Swedenborgs death in 1772 in London, societies took root that were devoted to contemplating his thoughts and works; the Bible is the center of these. These organizations made their way across the pond by the late 1780s, and the New Church (sometimes called New Jerusalem) began to spread in the United States. (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) Notable Swedenborgian churches include the Wayfarers Chapel in Palos Verdes, designed by Lloyd Wright, son of Frank Lloyd Wright. The younger Wright was said to have taken his architectural inspiration for the chapel, dedicated in 1951, from Northern Californias redwoods. Where: The Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco, 2107 Lyon St , is about 385 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. Cost: Free. Services are at 11 a.m. Sundays. Office hours are 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Mondays-Fridays; knock to gain entry to the church. Info: Swedenborgian Church of San Francisco Facebook

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Soak away your stress and join Club Mud at a Corona hot springs that embraces everyone By Catharine Hamm Why: If youre intimidated by the word spa, Glen Ivy is the place for you. It feels accessible, not exclusive, meaning you can sit back and relax. What: Which is what you want to do. There are 19 pools to try, including the mineral pools, the star attraction in the early days of the late 1800s when you could soak in them for 25 cents. Today, you start by getting a locker for your street clothes and putting on your swim suit in a well-appointed area that includes changing rooms, showers and big, lighted mirrors where youll find hairdryers youll want later in the day. Glen Ivys 12 acres include a float pool and a large pool if you want to exercise. But my new favorite features are the hot and cold plunge pools. (Try switching three times between them and stay in each pool for a minimum of 30 seconds. It doesnt sound like long until youre in the cold pool.) The former Cafe Sole has been replaced by the new Ivy Kitchen, offering light but satisfying meals. (No starvation tactics here.) And, of course, you can find the usual spa treatments (extra charge but no pressure; appointments advisable) including the underground Grotto, where skin hydration is the goal ($25 upcharge). Save Club Mud for last. You paint yourself (and your hair) with mud, which is California red clay, then go bake in the sun. Before you turn into tandoori chicken, you brush it off and rinse or wash it off in the outdoor showers if youve used a tad too much. One note: Beware of bees, which are attracted to the mud. Make sure you youre wearing your sandals. The landscaping makes it all very pretty and it feels all very real, which is refreshing if youre weary of L.A. artifice. Where: 25000 Glen Ivy Road, Corona; (888) 453-6489, about 60 miles southeast of downtown L.A. (Set aside at least 90 minutes to get there.) How much: Go on a weekday when its less expensive ($49 for the day Mondays-Fridays, averaging 300 guests). Saturdays, Sundays and holidays its $68 and about 700 people will be there. Through Feb. 28, hours are 9 a.m.-5 p.m. Its open an hour later from March through May. Check on summer hours. Info: Glen Ivy Hot Springs Facebook

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See the small world within this Carlsbad museum of miniature engineering By Irene Lechowitzky Why: The Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum in Carlsbad is novel and quirky  and proof that good things come in small packages. What: The collection includes painstakingly crafted, remarkable miniatures, many with moving parts. There are cars, planes, engines of all sorts, ships, thumb-sized guns and knives, and much more. These are not the plastic model car kits from your childhood; for example, theres an eye-popping version of a 1932 Duesenberg SJ that has more than 6,000 custom-made parts and is said to have taken more than 10 years to finish. The folks who built these tiny wonders spent decades perfecting their craft. There are hundreds of works from around the world on display, and docents to describe the intricacies and makers of each. Try to time your visit to coincide with a tour of the machine shop/engine room for a little extra oomph. Although its not geared for the toddler crowd, the museum, a few miles east of Legoland, can be an inspiring second stop for families with kids who like to build things. And while youre in the neighborhood, you could make it a triple play with a bonus stop at the nearby Museum of Making Music, where visitors have the chance to play musical instruments. Where: Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum, 3190 Lionshead Ave., Carlsbad; 95 miles south of downtown L.A. How much: Free. Open 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tuesdays-Saturdays. Machine shop/engine room demos are at 10 a.m., noon and 2 p.m. Info: Miniature Engineering Craftsmanship Museum Facebook

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Start the New Year right with a visit to Pasadenas Rose Parade By Chris Erskine Why: Like the Grand Canyon or the northern lights, the majestic Rose Parade needs to be seen in person to be really appreciated. On a bright SoCal morning, the colors, detail and craftsmanship come alive. And throughout December, there are some intriguing pre-parade opportunities for volunteers. What: One of L.A.s finest freebies, the Rose Parade steps off at 8 a.m. every New Years morning (unless the holiday falls on a Sunday, in which case it is bumped to Monday). We wont even bother describing it, since like the Wizard of Oz or a Super Bowl, everyone has probably seen it on TV. In person, though, the parades splendor, precision and pageantry make an early wake-up call worth it. Its almost a rite of passage for Southern Californians, some of whom spend the night along the parade route. The parade has more rules than the Vatican. Do not pass the blue Honor Line painted on the street.

No tents, sofas or boxes.

Unoccupied chairs are not allowed.

No roping off public areas. And thats pretty much just the main stuff. Heres a full list. But dont let them ruin your fun. The parade, after all, is one the best family-friendly events in the area, and theyre just protecting that. To be a part of it all, join in on the float building in the days and weeks before the parade, when the flowers are being supplied and volunteer help is needed. On parade day, get there before sunup to be sure of a place along the route. Tickets in the grandstands are another option. Be sure to dress in layers, because the temperatures will range from frosty to blistering as the day progresses. Heres a little insiders trick that you wont believe until you see it. If you wait till the 8 a.m. start time, the crowd will be in place on the route and there is virtually no traffic. Pay the $20 parking fee at a random gas station along Walnut and join the fun. You wont be in the first row, or maybe even the first 10. But the floats are so high, youll be able to see them well. About an hour into the two-hour parade, the crowds will begin to relax and spots open up for even better viewing. Its a wonderful experience, hassle-free, and a great way to kick off a New Year. Where: Pasadena, about 12 miles from downtown Los Angeles. How much: Free Info: Rose Parade Facebook

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Meander among 5 million lights at Riversides Mission Inn By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: The Mission Inn, which dates to the 1870s, stands in the middle of Riverside the way Bruce Springsteen stands in the middle of the E Street band. It fills a city block. And since the early 1990s, the hotel has been putting together an ever-more-lavish Festival of Lights. At last count, about 5 million lights. What: For six weeks at Christmastime, the landmark hotel switches on all those lights and invites visitors to stroll through the property, including a tunnel where faux snow falls. (This years festival runs Nov. 24 through Jan. 6.) The line to walk the property can get very long  and the traffic and parking situation in the blocks around the hotel can seem downright devilish. But most folks are in a good mood, and the festival includes live music, horse-drawn carriages, funnel cakes, Santa Claus photo ops and more. To see more lights and skip the line, book a dinner reservation at the Mission Inn Restaurant (one of several on the property) and you may land at a courtyard table, surrounded by Spanish Revival architecture thats more ornate (and with more Tuscan influence) than youll see at any of Californias 21 actual missions. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) And yes, theres a reason the decorations seem to be in motion: Besides lights, the halls and walls have also been festooned with about 200 angels, gnomes, polar bears, many of which move, in the same halting, semi-spooky way that Honest Abe moves in Disneylands Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln. Its a scene. And speaking of presidents, be sure to peek at the hotels Presidential Lounge and its portrait of Richard Nixon, who was a 27-year-old attorney when he married Pat Ryan at the hotel in 1940. (Theres also a tower, a rotunda, spa, all sorts of artworks and artifacts and a museum next door that traces the inns history through expansion, bankruptcy, renovations and resurgence.) Where: 3649 Mission Ave., Riverside, 55 miles east of downtown L.A. How much: Its free to walk the hotel property during the Festival of Lights. Dinner main dishes at the Mission Inn Restaurant run $15-$42. (I can recommend the Italian sausage pasta and the pan-seared salmon.) Rooms for two start as low as $199 in slow months (like January), $329 or more in December. Info: Mission Inn The inns Presidential Lounge. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Theres a gingerbread hotel in the inns lobby. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Peer into a writers head and a valleys soul in Salinas By Catharine Hamm Why: John Steinbeck was born in Salinas, Calif., a farming community that lacks the cachet of neighboring Carmel and Monterey. But, then, neither of those towns produced a man who went on to win a Pulitzer, a Nobel and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. To be in in Steinbecks hometown is to be reminded that, as fellow author F. Scott Fitzgerald said, genius is the ability to put into effect what is in your mind. What: Steinbecks birthplace home and the National Steinbeck Center tell the tale of the man whose Grapes of Wrath is often thought to be the Great American Novel. The community of his youth  he was born here in 1902  was this rich, rural farming area in the Salinas Valley, and his labors alongside migrant workers in the sugar beet fields of nearby Spreckels informed many of his works, including Of Mice and Men. He attended Stanford but never graduated, and he struggled to establish himself, but in 1935, his book Tortilla Flat finally put him in the public eye. His subsequent books included Cannery Row, Sea of Cortez and East of Eden and, of course, Grapes of Wrath, about which he wrote, It isnt the great book I hoped it would be. The story of the Joads, fleeing the Dust Bowl of Oklahoma and arriving in not-quite-as-billed California, won the Pulitzer in 1940. You can have lunch at the Steinbeck House, the Queen Anne style home where he grew up, then stroll the two blocks to the National Steinbeck Center, which somehow captures and conveys the challenges of his writing life. One of the central pieces of the center is Rocinante, the 1960 GMC camper pickup he drove on a 10,000-mile road trip as he scoured the country seeking its essence. The resulting book, Travels With Charley (Charley was his poodle), chronicles what Steinbeck saw as a country in sometimes uncomfortable motion. The center, which turns 20 in 2018, also does not shy away from the controversy that arose from the authors portrayal of farm workers lot in life in Grapes of Wrath. His books infuriated growers  some places banned them  and he turned his back on his hometown. But as if to prove you can go home again, Steinbeck, who died in 1968 in New York City at age 66, is buried in Salinas. Where: The Steinbeck House is at 132 Central Ave.; lunch is served 11:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays; reservations at (831) 757-5806. The National Steinbeck Center is at 1 Main St., about 305 miles northwest of downtown Los Angeles. The center is open 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, except Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day. How much: $12.95 for adults; $9.95 for seniors, students, military, teachers and Monterey County residents; $6.95 for children 6-17; children 5 and younger admitted free. Info: National Steinbeck Center Facebook

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Treat yourself to Spago in Beverly Hills, and a possible tableside visit from the boss By Chris Erskine Why: Because Wolfgang Puck, who likes to work the dining room, might stop by and personally sprinkle lemon juice on your perfectly grilled fish. There, better? he asks. Of course it is. What: A meal at Spago is as L.A. as the Hollywood sign  and a tad tastier. The landmark restaurant is where Puck made great food fun again. Originally on Sunset and now in Beverly Hills, Spago is synonymous with creative, attentive and amazing dining. (Mariah Tauger / For The Times) (Mariah Tauger / For The Times) At the original Spago on the Sunset Strip, [Puck] created what later became known as casual fine dining, a movement that 35 years later still dominates the restaurant world, wrote Times restaurant reviewer Jonathan Gold. And thus, a nationwide food craze was born. For food lovers, the menu itself is an adventure. Portions are generous, and the service is perfectly timed. And though the dining room is packed and buzzy, you can have a conversation here, unlike so many restaurants these days. At lunch, the go-to standard is the house-cured smoked salmon pizza topped with dollops of caviar. Also pay attention to the veal wienerschnitzel, so tender you could cut it with your thumb. Grilled fish comes off the grill in that 10-second window when it is neither too swimmy nor too dry. Just dont forget the lemon. Where: 176 N. Canon Drive, Beverly Hills, about 13 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. How much: How much you got? For most of us, this is a special occasion restaurant. Lunches for two start at around $100 and quickly reach $200. Dinners for two will run $150 and up, before wine or cocktails. Info: Spago (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Frolic amid mai tais, Spam and tiki culture at the Bali Hai on San Diego Bay By Irene Lechowitzky Why: Because two Bali Hais are better than one. Brush up on your Rodgers and Hammerstein (Bali Hai may call you / Any night, any day), then come away to this San Diego tiki icon, the Bali Hai restaurant. What: Tiki bars have been a Southern California phenomenon for generations, and San Diego  with its sunny days, palm trees, ocean views and strong Navy heritage  is a perfect fit for the kitschy fad, tiny umbrellas and all. Starting in the 1930s, faux-Polynesian themed bars and restaurants sprang up in the cross-border region from Tijuana to San Diego. The tiki scene started to dwindle in the 1960s, and despite a resurgence of sorts, most of the old cheeky palaces have faded away. But not Bali Hai. At age 63, its still proudly shaking its hula skirt, aided by a waterfront location, fun ambiance and, yes, seriously powerful mai tais. Ambiance first: As you approach the restaurant/bar, the first thing youll notice is The Goof on the roof, a playful tiki that stands guard over the domain below. At the front door, Mr. Bali Hai, a large wood sculpture, greets guests. Inside, there are about a hundred Polynesian artifacts on display, including masks, weapons and tools. The large bar and dining room have dark wood columns, a wood-beam ceiling and large windows with great bay and city views. The Pacific Rim-inspired menu features such items as Hawaiian tuna poke, chicken adobo steam buns, Spam carbonara, pork belly katsu and Chinese garlic noodles, and holdovers such as Huli Huli chicken and coconut shrimp. But for my money, the experience isnt complete without a rum-based cocktail. There are plenty to choose from, but my favorite is the World Famous Bali Hai Mai Tai, a potent drink that proudly has No Juice Added and mixes aged light and dark rums, Trader Vics orgeat syrup, a dash of Triple Sec and a splash of sweet and sour. Where: 2230 Shelter Island Dr., on Shelter Island, about 5 miles west of downtown San Diego, 120 miles southeast of downtown L.A. How much: Dinner main dishes from $19 to $30; Sunday brunch, $40. Classic cocktails are under $10. Info: Bali Hai restaurant San Diego Bay, from Shelter Island (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Celebrate at Lawrys in Beverly Hills, where thick slabs of prime rib are sliced right at your table By Jenn Harris (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Why: Since 1938, Lawrys the Prime Rib has been the place for indulgence and celebration. Its where people spend their birthdays, anniversaries, congrats-on-your-promotion dinners and holiday parties. And where football players competing in the Rose Bowl go for the Beef Bowl. What: Walking through the heavy gold doors is like walking into a time machine. Through the other side is a magical place where people still dress up, spotless glasses sparkle on crisp white tablecloths and the plush booths make you feel like the most important person in the world. The idea was to create a version of the English restaurant Simpsons in the Strand, where cuts of meat fit for a giant are served from trolleys. But Lawrys founders Lawrence Frank and brother-in-law Walter Van de Kamp (of the Van de Kamp bakery empire and Tam OShanter Inn) had grander plans for their restaurant, starting with the meat carts. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Lawrence designed the stainless steel carving carts the restaurant is known for  the ones that glide through the dining room carrying Flintstones-sized cuts of meat  to be, well, impressive. And they are. As are the meat carvers, who don medals showing they are part of the Royal Order of Carvers (a title that requires six months of training). Each prime rib dinner comes with its own show of sorts: Servers wear the same style of brown gown uniforms they wore when the restaurant opened, and they pour dressing from up high into spinning metal bowls of salad tableside. When you order your prime rib, you do it directly from one of the shiny carts, and its sliced to order. There are smaller cuts of meat, but treat yourself to the Diamond Jim Brady (16 ounces), named for millionaire Jim Brady, who was known for eating massive amounts of food. All of the prime rib dinners come with the spinning salad, a scoop of mashed potatoes, a ladleful of gravy and a wedge of Yorkshire pudding. If you dont finish it all  you probably wont finish it all  ask for a doggie bag. The restaurant claims to have initiated the idea, along with valet parking. There are Lawrys the Prime Rib locations in Las Vegas, Chicago and Asia. The original in Beverly Hills is home to a comfortable lounge and excellent bar snacks. This is where you can order a martini kissed with prime rib-stuffed olives and find complimentary snacks that could easily replace your dinner appetizers. Arrive a little early for your reservation, grab a seat in one of the cushy lounge chairs, order a martini, then take turns filling your plate with cocktail meatballs and salty potato chips the size of drink coasters. Go for it. Indulging to your hearts content is encouraged. Where: 100 La Cienega Blvd., Beverly Hills, located on Restaurant Row, about half a mile south of the Beverly Center, about 10 miles west of downtown L.A. How much: Prime rib dinners start at $41, and you can add a lobster tail for $15. Dessert and starters are extra. Drinks in the bar/lounge area are $13 to $17. The restaurant is busier on the weekends, and reservations are recommended. Info: Lawrys Facebook

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Read forbidden words and savor daring artists in Big Surs Henry Miller Library By Thomas Curwen (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times) Why: If Big Sur is a temple to the beauty of the California coast, then the Henry Miller Memorial Library is one of its most endearing altars, a respite from the rigors of navigating the twists and turns of Highway 1 and rubber-necking the vertiginous coastline. Beneath stately redwoods is a quiet repository of wisdom, irreverence and charm. Its proprietors say that it is the place where nothing happens, and yet it is where everything seems to converge. What: Henry Valentine Miller came to Big Sur in the 1940s after nearly a decade in Paris. He was, by then, author of Tropic of Cancer and Tropic of Capricorn, which were banned as obscene in America until 1961. Naturally they sold well, and Miller soon became a hero of renegade literature, a model for William S. Burroughs, Jack Kerouac and Allen Ginsberg. After Millers death in Pacific Palisades in 1980, a friend, Emil White, opened a memorial library that bore Millers name. With the help of the Big Sur Land Trust, the library has become a nonprofit cultural space, art gallery, performance space, bookshop and destination for artists, writers, musicians and students. Bust of Henry Miller. (Thomas Curwen/Los Angeles Times) The Henry Miller Memorial Library is a reminder of the pleasures afforded by a curated bookstore. It is a place to celebrate the macho and feminist, the consensual and the iconoclastic through the pages of its eclectic collection of books. Psychedelic cumbias from Peru or the twanging guitar of the Del Tones might be your accompaniment as you browse the tables set with Edward Abbey, Joseph Heller, William Faulkner, John Fante, David Foster Wallace, Jon Stewart, Robert Pirsig and William Least Heat Moon. Strings of paper money from around the world  offerings from international visitors  dangle from the ceiling. Posters celebrate the notable musical performances that have taken place outdoors, including Philip Glass and Patti Smith, the Red Hot Chili Peppers and Arcade Fire. Outside, an upright piano falls to ruin off the path from the highway. A typewriter gathers rust on a tree stump, and an effigy made of extension cords is crucified on a cross of computer monitors. In other words, where nothing is sacred, everything is sacred. (Thomas Curwen / Los Angeles Times) Where: 48603 Highway 1 in Big Sur, which is 10 minutes south of Nepenthe, 10 minutes north of Deetjens Big Sur Inn. Also 290 miles northwest of downtown L.A., 152 miles south of downtown San Francisco. Open 10 a.m.-5 p.m. Wednesdays through Mondays, closed Tuesdays. How much: Its free to browse. Donations eagerly accepted. Books for sale. Tickets prices vary for performances and programs. Info: Henry Miller Memorial Library Facebook

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Roam the San Luis Obispo canyon full of architectural daydreams and wandering horses By Christopher Reynolds Poly Canyon, San Luis Obispo. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Architects usually keep their daydreams to themselves. But among these hills on the back side of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo, some students have allowed their boldest notions to romp free. And horses romp with them. What: Cal Poly is routinely ranked among the nations top schools of architecture, and its students and professors started testing ideas in this canyon as early as the 1960s. Lately, theres a spring Design Village event (April 20-22 in 2018) that brings students out to test temporary structures and sometimes sleep in them. Luckily for the rest of us, those nine acres and the rest of the canyon are generally open to the public, including dogs and mountain bikes (on the dirt road). Its a hike of about 2.5 miles from campus to the farthest structure, but your mileage (and elevation gain) will depend on how tempted your are to probe the structures and stalk the horses. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) I wandered around on a December day when the hills were the color of straw, and at first I wasnt so happy about all the horse turds. But once the horses themselves showed up, that changed everything. They sidled up to a water tower, then struck heroic poses on the ridge line while I prowled around assorted unconventional houses and bridges, including a geodesic dome. Yes, there was some graffiti and vandalism, but many structures have been reconditioned in more recent years. (The university calls it an experimental construction laboratory.) Id call it a great spot for photo experimentation as well. There are about 20 projects, and plenty of tree shade in the lowlands along Brizzolara Creek. After a rain, Ill bet those grassy slopes light up neon green. Where: The Cal Poly campus is 195 miles northwest of downtown L.A. Enter the campus via Grand Avenue (and beware of dorm construction near the entrance). Follow the campus map to the corner of Village Drive and Poly Canyon Road, then walk northeast on Poly Canyon Road, which is a gate dirt rout that follows Brizzolara Creek. After about 3/4 of a mile, youll see a stone arch. Step through and the canyon will open before you. How much: On weekends, parking is free at lot H4 at Village Drive and Perimeter Road. On weekdays, its $5 for a parking pass at the checkpoint at the campus entrance. (I showed up on a weekday and parked at lot K-1.) Info: Cal Poly College of Architecture & Design, Hikespeaks trail description. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Step into the vast, strange spectacle of Kenny Irwins Robolights in Palm Springs By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Youll never see another holiday display quite like it. And it sits on 4 acres in the middle of an upscale Palm Springs neighborhood. What: The Coachella Valley, with its 80-degree December days, is a quirky place to celebrate winter holidays to begin with. And the quirks multiply once you enter Palm Springs Movie Colony neighborhood and approach the Irwin house, about two blocks from the old Frank Sinatra Estate. Since at least 32 years ago, when he was 12, Kenny Irwin has been driven to create epic displays from cast-off items  dreamscapes that suggest robots, space aliens and more obscure spectacles that defy description. With his fathers support (and a corps of seasonal workers to handle logistics and crowd control), Irwins compulsion has grown into Robolights, a seasonal landmark that combines Santa Clauses, reindeer, sleighs and gingerbread houses with little green men, skulls, dolls, hybrid creatures, reclaimed consumer electronics, half-melted toys and at least one coffin. At Robolights there are no clear lines between Halloween, Christmas and science fiction. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) From Nov. 22 through Jan. 8, the scene is lighted by thousands of bulbs and visitors are ushered along a path that leads from the front yard through a forest of fantasy in the back, then out again. A thousand visitors in a night is not uncommon. On my visit in early December, Irwin was out and about, a soft-spoken man with a skullcap, caftan, long beard and gentle smile. (Did I mention that the artist converted to Islam many years ago?) Ill bet the hardware store totally loves him, I heard one visitor say. This is insane, said another. Many families pose for pictures amid the luminous chaos. Where: 1077 E. Granvia Valmonte, Palm Springs, 107 miles east of downtown L.A. But while the Robolights are lighted, the city bans nonresident parking on many streets nearby, so youll need to park a few blocks away. Try Ruth Hardy Park. And be careful as you walk  there isnt a lot of streetlight illumination in the neighborhood. How much: Free. But theres a receptacle for donations at the entrance. From 4 to 9:30 p.m. daily. Info: Robolights The Robolights yard includes a pond. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Worker Alex Sanchez checks bulbs at Robolights. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Get down, dawg, with a $15 beach yoga class in Santa Monica By Chris Erskine Why: Beach yoga is good for the bod, and the spirit, in ways that no cramped, sweaty studio can match. What: All sorts of beach yoga classes are held up and down the California coast, but few are as affordable and easy as Beach Yoga With Brad and Friends in Santa Monica. No reservations required. Just drop in with $15 and a beach towel (or a yoga mat if you prefer). Instructor/owner Brad Keimach is a Juilliard-trained classical music conductor who moonlights  or sunlights  with these yoga classes every Saturday and Sunday from 10:30 till noon. He also holds Wednesday sunset classes starting at 3:45 p.m. and lasting an hour. When the days are longer and the clocks change, he adds more weekday sunset classes. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) For almost 10 years, his beach-based classes have appealed to first-timers as well as advanced yoga buffs. They are held on the water side of Guard Tower 29, roughly on the border between Venice and Santa Monica. Paid parking is plentiful at the public lots at the end of Ocean Park or on Main Street. Like many yoga instructors, Keimach emphasizes breathing as well as the moves and poses. He also incorporates the setting, sending students to get their toes wet at one point for a bit of spiritual spritzing. The classes pass quickly, without pain, and without Keimach putting his hands all over the students (a too-common yoga studio experience). Looking out over the sparkly Pacific, his classes combine ocean breezes, a relaxing pace and Keimachs soothing instructions, at a venue where space is never an issue. Where: Lifeguard Tower 29, Santa Monica, 16 miles west of downtown Los Angeles. How much: $15 Info: Beach Yoga With Brad and Friends Facebook

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Shop with Victorians on San Franciscos Union Street By Christopher Reynolds Boulangerie de San Francisco, 1909 Union St. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Sometimes you just want to shop in a strange city. Not in the middle of a grand scene like Union Square or the Ferry Building, but along a street that feels like a neighborhood just a bit beyond your means. With Victorian mansions here and there. Hello, Union Street. What: Union Street has had its great-shopping reputation since the 1950s. The eight-block stretch between Van Ness Avenue and Steiner Street, surrounded by the Marina and Cow Hollow residential neighborhoods, is the prime retail portion. Many of the shops (which tilt toward apparel and beauty products) and restaurants are housed in Victorian mansions that survived the quake of 1906. One even older mansion, the pale blue Octagon House at Gough and Union, went up in 1861 and has been preserved in its residential state by the National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (so it would be wrong to knock on the door and ask if this is the weed dispensary youve heard so much about). The society opens the house a few days a month for tours. Among the restaurants, I can vouch for the Belgian food and beer at Belga (on Union near Buchanon Street). But there are more than two dozen. And theres plenty to peruse at Chronicle Books (on Union between Octavia and Laguna streets). Where: The corner of Van Ness and Union is a good place to start. Its 1.5 miles northwest of Union Square, 383 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: Free to browse, of course. Oysters at Belga, $3 each. Median home price in Cow Hollow and the Marina: about $1.8 million. Info: Union Street Facebook

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Find yourself in a yogis seaside Encinitas gardens By Irene Lechowitzky Why: Where else can you spend an hour and feel like youve been on a soul-replenishing spiritual retreat? At the Self-Realization Fellowship Meditation Gardens in Encinitas, you can be fully present in the moment and get in touch with your inner yogi  and do it surrounded by gorgeous gardens on a bluff overlooking the ocean. What: The goal of the Meditation Gardens, part of a large complex at the southern end of downtown Encinitas dedicated to the teachings of Paramahansa Yogananda, is to inspire you to a greater realization of the Divine Presence that lies within. Walking up the stone steps into the lush, eclectic gardens imparts an instant feeling of serenity. There are koi ponds and many quiet nooks with benches where you can sit. At the top of the ocean bluff is a plaque that marks the location of the Golden Lotus Temple. The temple, built in 1937 to take advantage of the incredible views, only stood for five years before the ground gave way and it had to be dismantled. Wander past the old, empty swimming pool up the tree-shrouded path to the dry area featuring native plants and succulents overlooking the famed surf spot Swamis. (The beachs name was a nod to Yogananda.) Some visitors pray, others meditate. I like to watch the surfers below and imagine them praying for good waves. And dont miss the Hermitage at the opposite end of the gardens, where Yogananda spent many years writing and teaching. The Hermitage, preserved as a shrine, draws followers from around the world; it is open on the first and third Sundays of the month. It was moving to see the study where he wrote his most famous work, Autobiography of a Yogi, which has been translated into dozens of languages. Where: 215 W. K St., Encinitas, 100 miles southeast of downtown L.A. (Look for the three large golden lotus towers as you come down South Coast Highway 101.) How much: Free. Info: Self-Realization Fellowship Facebook

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Hoot and holler in UCLAs Pauley Pavilion, the hoop heaven that honors John Wooden By Chris Erskine (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Why: John Wooden was the Elvis of college basketball, a mythic, once-in-three-lifetimes figure. Pauley Pavilion was his Graceland. Along with Lambeau Field and Fenway Park, it belongs on any sports fans must-see list. What: Updated and comfortable, Pauley sits on the sweeping and shady UCLA campus in Westwood. It is one of the easiest L.A. sports venues to park near ($12) and navigate. Reopened in 2012 after a two-year renovation, the stadium now offers modern concessions, more room to roam and 1,000 more seats. Most significantly, it added a concourse, improving comfort and flow. Be ready for a lot of blue. After Dodger Stadium, this is L.A.s second blue heaven. (Photos by Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) But youre here for the lore, in a place that has produced 38 All-Americans. Wooden started it all, taking over as head basketball coach at UCLA in 1948 and leading the Bruins to a record 10 national championships. Renowned for his disciplined, values-driven approach, he created a basketball dynasty that won seven straight championships in the late 60s and early 70s, including 98 successive victories at Pauley. Wooden, who died in 2010, is the first person to be inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame both as a player and a coach. Though he resembled a gentleman banker more than a rock star, Woodens legacy lives on in the stadium he made famous. The corridors are lined with photos, timelines and a version of Woodens Pyramid of Success, a set of principles formed to help students and teams reach their potential. Where: Pauley Pavilion, on the UCLA campus, 15 miles west of downtown L.A. How much: Prices vary. Seats generally start at $8 for less-attractive games and $25 for popular ones. Info: UCLA Facebook

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Drive through In-N-Out Burgers flagship restaurant in Baldwin Park for a double-double, animal-style By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: For certain carnivorous Californians, a visit to this burger chain is like church, but with more calories. At the flagship In-N-Out location just south of the 10 Freeway in the eastern L.A. County suburb of Baldwin Park, of course you can drive through, as most customers do. But you could eat inside, then browse a company store, then (on the north side of the freeway) admire a non-functioning replica of chains first burger shack. What: Harry and Esther Snyder founded the first In-N-Out burger shack in 1948, which puts them among the first to try a drive-through restaurant. Now their granddaughter runs the company. To taste what the fuss is all about, order a double-double, animal-style  two beef patties cooked with mustard, two slices of cheese and a choice of hand-leafed lettuce and tomato, plus pickles, extra spread and grilled onions. Its the appeal of these burgers and fries (no heat lamps, freezers or microwaves) that has fueled the companys growth to more than 300 outlets. (But unlike its Southern California cousins McDonalds, Jack in the Box, Taco Bell and Wienerschnitzel, In-N-Out has never expanded beyond the American West.) (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Though the companys first home at San Francisquito and Garvey avenues has been leveled, the current restaurant is joined by not only a store (open 10 a.m.-5 p.m., Mondays through Saturdays) but a regional distribution center, the two-story campus of In-N-Out University and the replica shack, which went up in 2014. (The online store does have wider inventory than the brick-and-mortar one, including socks and surfboards.) Where: 13850 Francisquito Ave., Baldwin Park. The company store is at 13800 Francisquito. The replica shack (free and open for selfies Thursdays through Sundays from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m.) is at 13752 Francisquito. The restaurant is 16 miles east of downtown L.A. How much: Double-double, animal-style, $4.27. Info: In-N-Out (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Light up your life at the Museum of Neon Art in Glendale By Catharine Hamm The Museum of Neon Art in Glendale showcases the once wildly popular light form. (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) Why: Decorative and delightful, the works that light up our lives at Glendales Museum of Neon Art are part art and part science and all fascinating. What: In 2015, the museum moved from downtown Los Angeles, where it had lived since 1981, to Glendale and has been lighting up lives ever since. Pep Boys grace the entry. (Catharine Hamm / Los Angeles Times) For this you can credit the founder of the feast, Georges Claude, a Parisian who invented the neon light in about 1910. L.A. became a hotbed of neon-ness, thanks to its desire to be the capital of the next big thing and its desire to look the part, beginning in the Roaring 20s. The neon at this museum, where exhibits change often enough to encourage repeat visits, is more amusing than unsavory. And as a reminder that nothing lasts forever, Manny, Moe & Jack (the Pep Boys) are not on permanent display, although the museum doesnt have any plans to move the fellows. Eve de Haans pink neon Love Dont Pay the Bills is part of the She Bends exhibit, featuring works by women neon artists. (Catharine Hamm/Los Angeles Times) Through Feb. 11, an exhibit called She Bends: Women in Neon, takes you inside a creative funhouse of the art form, some works based on words (Eve de Haans pink neon Love Dont Pay the Bills), some on objects (Michie Hongos faces on skateboard remnants). Where: 216 S. Brand Ave, Glendale, about eight miles north of downtown L.A. How much: Museum entrance is $10 for adults ($5 if you live in Glendale), $8 for those 65 and older, and free for those 12 and younger if accompanied by an adult. Info: Museum of Neon Art Facebook

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Forage with top chefs at the Santa Monica Farmers Market By Christopher Reynolds Wednesday morning, pluots and persimmons. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Some of the states most accomplished farmers rise before dawn on Wednesday mornings and drive as much as 200 miles, just so they can set up and sell at this market. One reason: The Santa Monica Farmers Market draws some of Southern Californias most decorated (and discriminating) chefs. And the market venue happens to be a tomato toss away from the beach, a cucumber roll from the scores of shops and restaurants along the Third Street Promenade. What: About 75 farmers set up stalls along a few blocks of Arizona Avenue, which is closed to vehicles on market mornings. If youre coming by car, youll have to cope with nasty traffic and parking, even at 8:30 a.m., but once youre afoot, life is good. In late fall, youll likely find dates from Mecca, apples from Cuyama, persimmons from Fallbrook, pluots from Kingsbug, oranges from Ojai, mushrooms from La Habra Heights. Consider this a reminder that for all its glitz, California remains an agricultural powerhouse. And even if youre not going to bite into that persimmon, youll feel the sea breeze and hear the banjo player at Arizona and 2nd, or maybe the guitarist a block to the east. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) The market was born in 1981, and the stampede of kitchen professionals began soon after. Noting that close relationship between growers and chefs, Saveur magazine in 2016 labeled this L.A.s best farmers market. Still, its good to remember that other markets operate on Santa Monicas Main Street (Sundays) and in the citys Virginia Avenue Park (Saturdays). If youre farther east, or youd like more street musicians and more nonproduce merchants, theres the Hollywood Farmers Market on Sundays from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Ivar and Selma avenues. Where: The market happens on Wednesdays along Arizona Avenue, Santa Monica, between Ocean Avenue and 4th Street from 8:30 am to 1:30 pm. On Saturdays, a smaller version occupies Arizona Avenue between between 2nd and 4th streets from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. The corner of Arizona Avenue and 4th Street is 17 miles west of downtown L.A. -- which could take an hour to drive, depending on the hour and day. How much: In late November, organic pitted Medjool dates from Mecca were $9.50 per pound. Granny Smith apples from Cuyama were $3 a pound. Fuyu persimmons from Fallbrook were $3.50 per pound. Valencia oranges from Ojai were $1 per pound. Info: Santa Monica Farmers Markets ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Drift in a balloon over northern San Diego County By Christopher Reynolds Aloft near Fairbanks Ranch. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Heres your chance to climb into a wicker basket and rise 3,000 feet above Fairbanks Ranch, to stand just below a fire-belching burner (which makes your balloon rise), to see sunset from high up, and maybe even to throw shade onto one of Bill Gatess houses. What: A balloon ride is a 19th century sort of thrill, and as Californias open spaces get filled in, ballooning options are decreasing. The Napa and Temecula vineyard areas still feature plenty of balloons (which usually launch in early morning, when winds are calmer and temperatures are lower). The Palm Springs and Santa Barbara wine country areas have some too. But balloons are a rare sight along the California coast, so I grabbed a chance to soar above northern San Diego County. Though balloon pilots strive to keep their aircraft above land, the views from on high include miles of ocean and the red tile roofs of countless Mediterranean-style mansions. Rides typically last 45 to 60 minutes (depending on which way the wind blows), pilots are permitted by the Federal Aviation Administration, and its traditional to celebrate afterward with a glass of Champagne. In northern San Diego, its often a sunset operation flown by a team that started their day with a flight in Temecula. My ride in late November, operated by Compass Balloons, featured seven passengers and a pilot. (Minimum age: 5.) We launched near the Vegetable Shop at Chino Farm, (which sells produce to some of the regions most admired restaurants). We inflated, climbed aboard, drifted over the Morgan Run golf course, and gazed down on Fairbanks Ranch, Rancho Santa Fe, Black Mountain and Carmel Valley. As our round shadow crept across fields, hills and exclusive neighborhoods, pilot Matt Downing pointed out one of Bill Gates houses and another that once belonged to philanthropist Joan Kroc. We touched down smoothly about 3 1/2 miles east of where we took off. Im glad I did it when I did. Compass Balloons owner Evan Munnelly warns that flights in this area may cease within a year because take-off and landing spaces in the area are vanishing so rapidly. Where: Though several companies, including Compass, Skys the Limit and California Dreamin, mention Del Mar in promoting their balloon flights, the vessels usually take off and land farther inland. For my Compass Balloons flight, we met in an Encinitas park-and-ride lot (1969 Villa Cardiff Drive, Encinitas), then the crew drove us to the launch spot. Our meeting spot was 97 miles southeast of downtown L.A., 24 miles north of downtown San Diego. How much: A shared ride (with other passengers in a basket that typically holds eight to 10 people) typically costs $150 to $300 per person. Info: Besides the San Diego companies above, many balloon companies operate in Napa Valley, Temecula and around Palm Springs. . Facebook

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Drink dessert over an ocean view at La Jollas La Valencia Hotel By Christopher Reynolds Terrace, the Med, La Valencia. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: Life can be seriously sweet at this hotel, which was built in 1926 with a big La Jolla Cove view and anchors a neighborhood of ultra-spendy shops and glitzy galleries. Since the days when Gregory Peck hosted other La Jolla Playhouse luminaries in the hotels Whaling Bar, La V (as many locals know the place) has offered a frothy concoction known as a Whaler. Picture a milkshake, enlivened by Kahlua, brandy, coffee, whipped cream and various mystery ingredients. What: The 114-room hotel has long been known for its pink paint job and Spanish Mediterranean style. In the course of ownership changes, expansions and renovations, the Whaling Bar has slipped away. But its frothy legacy remains. Grab one of the 15 or so tables on the terrace of the hotels signature restaurant, The Med, order a Whaler for dessert, and dont plan on operating any heavy machinery for some hours. (If you think you see a Kardashian, it may not be a hallucination; members of the family have been dropping by for years.) Where: 1132 Prospect St., La Jolla, 112 miles southeast of downtown L.A., 14 miles northwest of downtown San Diego. How much: A Whaler costs $14. Main dishes in The Med are priced at $15 to $24. (I can vouch for the snapper ceviche.) Rooms for two typically rent for $289 and up. Info: La Valencia Hotel The Whaler (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Find deep-fried pleasure at a roadside farm stand near Palmdale By Jenn Harris (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Why: Maybe youve finished a hike through the Devils Punchbowl and youre hungry. Or youre looking for unexpected holiday gifts. Or youve been hit by a craving for deep-fried fair food and its not fair season. For all these reasons and more, seekers like you end up at Charlie Brown Farms near Palmdale, where all your snack/drunk food fantasies, and your dreams of owning life-size replicas of the Blues Brothers, collide and come true. What: What started as a fruit stand in 1929 is now a six-acre hodgepodge of stores, a restaurant and a snack shop. The main building is a hokey cabin with advertisements for the various tchotchkes and snacks inside. From the road, its impossible to miss with signs that scream collectibles, funnel cake, smoothies, jerky, Dole whip. And just off the side of the building, an enclosed area with dinosaur statues. You may get whiplash trying to take it all in. (Jenn Harris / Los Angeles Times) Once through the front door you experience sensory overload. Directly in front of you is a rack of jerky (the store boasts more than 60 kinds, including elk and ostrich). To the right is a counter where you can order milkshakes, fried candy bars, Texas-style barbecue, funnel cakes, ice cream and a host of other foods any decent doctor would advise you stay away from. To the left, packaged nuts, candy, a room where you can fill your own honey jar, a room devoted to pickles, a room devoted to soda, a fudge counter, and all that food is mixed in with things like raccoon figurines and coffee mugs. This is also where you can find raw frog legs for that stew recipe youve been dying to try. And alligator meat too. But past the fudge counter is where things really start to get weird. There are rooms completely lined with dolls from all over the world. A little creepy, but if youre in need of a doll (seriously, any doll), this is the place to find it. The life-size Blues Brothers statues I mentioned earlier? Theyre on the way to the doll rooms. Out back is a patio with tables and chairs, where you can break open that package of elk jerky or come down from that sugar rush of deep-fried Oreos. You could wander around this place for hours and not see everything. But its sure fun to try. Where: 8317 Pearblossom Highway, Littlerock, a 17-minute drive from downtown Palmdale and about 65 miles northeast of downtown L.A. How much: Depends on what youre in the mood for. Barbecue plates start around $11.50, the deep fried Oreos and Snickers are around $4 for each order, the jerky is around $8 a bag depending on the size, and the knick-knacks will range in price. If youre not a fan of lots of people in tight spaces, plan accordingly. Info: Charlie Brown Farms Facebook

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Soak in the view of Californias Grand Canyon in Anza-Borrego Desert State Park By Elisa Parhad Why: Perched at the end of the rising desert floor, Fonts Point gives

onlookers a majestic view of Californias badlands, several hundred

feet below. Though far flung, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park is an expansive feast of nature well worth the time it takes to get there. What: Fonts Point is part of a remote and sculptural landscape that was millions of years in the making. The vistas ridge yields to a maze of sinuous channels, razorback ridges and sandy, sun-baked hills. Bring a chair, a picnic and perhaps some friends. The scene is best at sunrise and sunset when the rock formations glow with honey-dipped hues. Even better is a visit during a full moon. The accumulation of photographers at these times is a testament to the spectacle. The brackish waters of the Colorado River and the Gulf of California

converged here long ago, making the area a dumping ground for

sediment. Today, the windswept and eroded rock is flush with the

fossils of animals and marine life that inhabited this once verdant

terrain. Four miles of soft dirt road leads up to Fonts Point, so check the

road conditions before your departure. Depending on the roads status,

a high clearance or 4WD vehicle may be necessary. Closer to the park visitor center, the Borrego Palm Canyon Trail is a popular 3-mile round trip that begins with a trailhead at the end of the main campground road. Where: In the heart of the Borrego Badlands, outside of Borrego

Springs, 168 miles southeast of downtown L.A. How much: Free until recently. On Nov. 3, the state parks system started collecting a day-use fee of $10 per vehicle on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and holidays at the Anza-Borrego visitor center. Info: Anza-Borrego Desert State Park Facebook

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Rent a Duffy for a glittery tour of Newport Harbor By Chris Erskine (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Why: Newport Bay seems made of glitter. Rental boats are plentiful and the harbor is easy to navigate and full of nautical eye candy. Board an electric boat and take a breezy tour. What: Newport Beach is the Beverly Hills of Orange County. The setting for multiple TV shows, it represents much of the California dream  giant homes and sensational yachts. The harbor, home to 9,000 vessels, is a recreational wonderland. The Duffy, a popular brand of rental boats, is an excellent way to see it all. Available at a half dozen rental places around the harbor, the slow-moving vessels are as easy to operate as a golf cart. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) A popular route is around Lido Island, the thumb-shaped isle on the western side of the harbor, where the bridge leaves plenty of space. Note that many of the bridges surrounding neighboring Balboa Island are too low to accommodate the surrey-topped electric boats. A lap around Lido takes about an hour, a typical rental period. Or, head east past the Fun Zone on Balboa Peninsula, past Balboa Island and toward the mouth of the harbor. Youll be warned not to go near the outlet, since the electric boats arent built to handle bigger waves. Pontoons, kayaks, paddle boards and powerboats are also available at rental locations around the harbor. Boat Rentals of America, on the peninsula near the Fun Zone, offers walk-up rentals, but recommends reservations for weekends, no matter the time of year. Where: Newport Beach is in Orange County, 46 miles, or 90 minutes, from downtown L.A. How much: Duffy electric boats that accommodate up to eight passengers rent for about $85 an hour. Info: Boat Rentals of America or Newport Beach Boat Rentals Facebook

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Connect with artisans (and beer) at Crafted, a makers market in a San Pedro port warehouse By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Its a vintage warehouse down by the port, full of artists, designers and makers, neighbored by a craft brewery. And youre not done with your holiday shopping yet. What: Crafted was born five years ago, as the maker movement began to bloom nationwide. Its open Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and the first Thursday night of every month in the L.A. Ports Warehouse 10, built in the 1940s. When I stopped by in mid-September, there were about 50 vendors in place, hawking iPhone photo prints, snacks, sculptures, succulents, textiles, vintage reconditioned furniture, soap, you name it. Outside, the San Pedro Festival of the Artists was in full swing-- one of many special events that use picnic tables and patio space between the old warehouses. Pop Kustom Shoppe, Crafted. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Since 2016, the artisans have been joined by Brouwerij West, a craft beer operation and tasting room that fills about half of Warehouse 9. On weekends, theres usually a food truck (or two or three) on hand, and often live music. Coming eventually: a food hall in the other half of Warehouse 9. Where: Warehouse No.10, 112 E. 22nd St., San Pedro, 26 miles south of downtown L.A. How much: Parking and admission are free. Info: Crafted Brouwerij West. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Salute General Grant (the tree) in Kings Canyon National Park By Mary Forgione Why: Any way you look at it, General Grant stands tall. First of all, its a massive sequoia, one of the largest living things in California. Moreover, the White House has named this the nations Christmas tree. What: General Grant is 268 feet high, the base of its trunk is 107 feet around. In 1925, Central Valley resident Charles E. Lee (an officer of the Sanger Chamber of Commerce) asked President Coolidge to have this giant sequoia in the Grant Grove area of Kings Canyon designated the national Christmas tree. In 1926 the president complied. Ever since, the Sanger Chamber has staged an annual Trek to the Tree, drawing hundreds of people each year for a winter program that typically includes songs and prayers. No tinsel, no lights. Just the tree as it has stood for about 2,000 years, and a wreath contributed by park rangers. This years event will be Sunday, Dec. 10, at the base of the tree. and its a free admission day in the park. For reservations or information on shuttle buses to the site, contact the Sanger Chamber of Commerce by phone at (559) 875-4575 or by e-mail at sangerchamber@gmail.com. Whether you reach General Grant in holiday season or not, you can impress the other tree-lovers by pointing out that in 1956, Congress gave General Grant another distinction, naming it the nations only living national shrine in honor of the men and women of the Armed Forces. And if you really love the idea of big trees with high ranks, make a bonus stop at the General Sherman Tree in Sequoia National Park. Its bigger, about 275 feet high. In fact, it might be the worlds largest living thing, depending on how you quantify coral reefs, fungus networks and redwoods. Where: General Grant stands along a 0.8-mile paved loop trail from the General Grant Grove parking lot in Kings Canyon National Park. The grove is 245 miles north of downtown L.A. And its more than 6,000 feet above sea level, so snow is common in winter. Be sure to check weather and road conditions before driving into the area. How much: Admission to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks (which operator jointly, as if they were single unit) is $30 per car for up to seven days. Info: Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks Facebook

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Ski in the morning in the San Bernardino Mountains, surf in the evening, using these slopes as your launch point By Chris Erskine Snow Summit (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) Why: SoCal offers the chance to ski and surf on the same day. This would be the snowy part of such a mountains-to-the-beaches day. What: Bear Mountain and Snow Summit are two slices of the same cake. Two miles apart, the sister resorts are the crown jewels of the town of Big Bear, a couple of hours from the bustle of the big city. Big Bear is three hours away from downtown Los Angeles, and a world apart from the strip malls and gas stations that muck up much of Southern California. Spring, summer or fall, this alpine lake resort town offers plenty of activities, including boating, hiking and zip-lining. (Gina Ferazzi / Los Angeles Times) But in winter, its twin ski resorts really come alive. If you think of Southern California as all palm trees and bikinis, visit Big Bear after a winter storm, when the place is buried in several feet of snow and looks like a Christmas card. In what they offer, the two resorts are very similar, though Summit has the better terrain park. Lift tickets are good for both resorts, and buses run between the two resorts all day. Combined, the resorts offer 27 lifts and four high-speed chairs serving almost 60 runs. The resorts are just a few minutes from the village, where restaurants, shops and a movie theater await visitors. The resorts have begun making snow and opened Dec. 8. As with all mountain visits, note that conditions can change quickly, and chains are usually required on the twisty roads during any significant snow fall. Where: Big Bear Lake is in the San Bernardino Mountains, in San Bernardino County. It is 97 miles east of Los Angeles. How much: Advance purchase lift tickets start around $75. Info: Big Bear Mountain Resorts Facebook

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See the Klamath River flow into the Pacific from this dramatic overlook in Redwood National Park By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Rugged coast. Big sand spit. Half-forgotten road. Blufftop perch. Despite all these assets, this dramatic corner of Northern California doesnt get that many visitors. So youll probably have it to yourself. What: Your gateway to the Klamath River Overlook is Requa, a hamlet -- the memory of a town, really -- along the Highway 101 south of Crescent City in Del Norte County. Its main landmark is the Historic Requa Inn, a rustic riverside lodging and restaurant that dates to 1914. If you can work out a way to eat dinner and spend a night there, do it. But dont stop there. Continue west 1.5 miles (no RVs!) on ramshackle Requa Road (which becomes Patrick J. Murphy Memorial Road on some maps) until theres no more road, and no more land. That will put you at the Klamath River Overlook. Drink it in. And if its May or June, scan the ocean for gray whales. Rangers say they often linger to feed in the waters spilling from river to sea This bluff is part of Redwood National and State Parks and it includes a modest picnic area. Theres a steep Lower Overlook Trail that will take you about a quarter-mile down the slope, exposing further views. Theres also a Coastal Trail to the north -- follow it for 2.7 miles and youll reach Hidden Beach. But the wide view from the picnic tables may well be plenty for you. Theres something mesmerizing about it -- maybe its the moving water. Theres also a good chance of a stiff, cold breeze or fog, just about any time. Bring layers. Where: Klamath River Overlook, 61 miles north of Arcata, 339 miles north of San Francisco, 713 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: No entry fee. Info: Redwood National and State Parks (Mark Boster / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Pile the kids in the car, head to Riverside and catch a drive-in movie while you still can By Chris Erskine The entrance at the Van Buren Drive-In. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) Why: What could be more of a California experience than a Hollywood double-feature viewed from the comfort of your car? What: In the 1950s, drive-in movies were a staple of American pop culture. These days, they are a novelty. One of the last remaining hot spots lives on at the Van Buren Drive-In in Riverside. Put the kids in their PJs and pack up the lawn chairs for a fine family getaway at the Van Buren. Opened in 1964 on the site of former orange groves, the three-screen drive-in remains a vibrant local hangout at half the price of your local multiplex. You can even bring your own food. On weekends, arrive 45 minutes before show time to ensure a decent spot, especially if youre going to sit outside in your lawn chairs. By showtime, the three lots serving the three screens resemble tailgate parties, with families wrapped in blankets and settled in for a double feature. (Chris Erskine / Los Angeles Times) SUVs or pickups often pull in with the tail hatch facing the screen, so kids with blankets or sleeping bags can turn the experience into a slumber party. Theres the traditional snack bar, and prices are fair, at least by movie theater standards. But waits can be 20 to 30 minutes on weekends. Check here for express pickup. Keep in mind that youre experiencing a rare phenomenon these days. Once numbering 4,000 across the country, drive-ins are now down to 400 or so. Catch one while you can  not just for the sense of nostalgia, but for a memorable evening at a very fair price. Where: 3035 Van Buren Blvd., Riverside, 55 miles southeast of downtown L.A. Plan on a drive of 90 minutes to two hours in evening traffic. How much: Admission is $9 per person; children ages 5 to 9, $1. Major credit cards and debit cards accepted. Open seven days a week. No pets. Info: Van Buren Drive-In Theatre Facebook

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Taste-test the Thomas Keller restaurant empire in Yountville, Napa Valley By Christopher Reynolds Chocolate tart, Ad Hoc, Yountville (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Yountville is a sleepy, genteel little town in the heart of Napa Valley, population about 3,000. And Thomas Keller, one of this nations most admired chefs, has three restaurants in Yountville, on the same street. Or four. Or five, depending on how you count. What: Keller, raised and trained in Florida and New York and renowned for his high standards, has also cooked in acclaimed kitchens in France and Los Angeles, and he has operations in New York and Las Vegas as well. (His Bouchon in Beverly Hills is scheduled to close Dec. 31.) But since he opened the French Laundry in 1994, Yountville has been the seat of his California empire. With three Michelin stars and a nine-course chefs menu, The French Laundry may be the most celebrated restaurant in the state, and its surely one of the priciest. Ad Hoc, Yountville (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) But the chef has give us options. Bouchon opened in 1998, offering French bistro fare. The Bouchon Bakery followed in 2003. In 2006 came Ad Hoc, devoted to American comfort food in a casual setting. (Its humble-brag slogan: for temporary relief from hunger.) Ad Hocs menu changes daily to take advantage of fresh ingredients, but its all built around the chefs choice for a four-course family-style meal, which includes favorites like pot roast and barbecue. I came before 6 p.m. on buttermilk fried chicken night (a Monday), and found myself in a happily clamorous dining room, surrounded by families, confronting more food than I could eat. (I enjoyed the casual feeling, and I liked the chicken well enough. But I actually enjoyed the salad and cheese courses more  livelier flavors.) Bouchon Bakery, Yountville ( Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Either before or after eating in Yountville, stroll Washington Street. At 6640 youll find the French Laundry, fronted by an unassuming, two-story, stone-walled building with minimalist kitchen addition and its gardens across the street. You can even peek through the kitchen window, a long slit that reveals the team laboring fiercely over that evenings dishes. Next, at 6534 Washington, you pause by Bouchon (French bistro fare) and the yellow awning of Bouchon Bakery (6528 Washington), whose snacks are the most affordable way to sample Kellers empire. A few blocks farther south at 6476 Washington, you reach Ad Hoc, which has nine seats at the bar in addition to its many tables (open Thursday through Monday). And behind Ad Hoc, neighbored by picnic tables, is Addendum, an auxiliary space that serves box lunches to go on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. Where: Ad Hoc, 6476 Washington St., Yountville, Ca., 55 miles north of San Franciscos Ferry Building, 411 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: The nine-course dinner at the French Laundry: $310-$325 each. The four-course dinner at Ad Hoc: $55.A box lunch from Ad Hoc Addendum: $16.50. Info: Thomas Keller Restaurant Group, Yountville Chamber of Commerce The French Laundrys kitchen window ( Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Storm a Tuscan castle in Napa Valley By Christopher Reynolds ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Napa Valley has close to 500 wineries. Castello di Amorosa is the only one housed in a 107-room castle that was built in accordance with 13th century Tuscan aspirations. What: Owner/designer Dario Sattui completed this spectacle, a 15-year project, in 2007. Besides its five towers and the barrel-vaulted retail and tasting area (which never seems to end), its got a great hall and chapel, each with evocative murals. Theres said to be a torture chamber below. Depending on your mood, you might expect a Da Vinci Code villain to round a corner at any moment, or Orson Welles in mid-soliloquy. Or one of the Monty Python guys, clopping coconuts together. Not surprisingly -- given the Tuscan blueprint of the place -- the Castello di Amorosa wines are made in the Italian style. The winery suffered no damage in the wine country fires of October. Where: 4045 St. Helena Hwy., Calistoga, Calif., 70 miles north of San Franciscos Ferry Buidling, 425 miles northwest of L.A. City Hall. How much: Adult admission (which includes wine-tasting) begins at $25. For children the rate is $15-$20 (and theres grape juice to taste). Tours (which include rooms you cant reach just wandering around) cost $40-$95. Info: Castello di Amorosa ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Soak in Calistoga spring water By Christopher Reynolds Fountain, Indian Springs, Calistoga (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Why: Calistoga is the answer to the question of what to do in the Napa Valley when youve had enough wine. Its a little, old resort town full of hot springs, so between wine-tasting excursions (and maybe the occasional bike ride) you can float listlessly in a steaming pool, untroubled by the faint scent of sulfur because you can feel the stress evaporating from your body. What: Samuel Brannan, a brash, controversial figure who became one of Californias first millionaires in the Gold Rush, founded Calistoga in the 1860s, counting on the areas springs to draw tourists from San Fancisco. (In fact, he built a rail route from Vallejo to Calistoga, and the current Napa Valley Wine Train rolls on the Napa-St. Helena portion of that old route.) It was a clever impulse. The town (population: about 5,300) lives on as a resort escape, with hideaways like Calistoga Ranch, Dr. Wilkinsons and Indian Springs (perhaps the oldest continuously operating pool and spa facility in the state) all relying heavily on their hot springs. Though the Napa/Sonoma wildfires of October drew near, they never reached the town of Calistoga, and it remains handsome as ever. In early November, I spent a night and stepped from the chilly morning air into the Olympic-sized, 102-degree, steam-cloaked pool at the 17-acre Indian Springs resort. It was pleasant. In 2015, the resort added a restaurant (Sams Social Club, which has fascinating, colorful mural over the counter) and grew from about 40 rooms to 115. Many of the interiors still have that just-upgraded, ready-for-the-magazine-photographer look. Where: Indian Springs, 1712 Lincoln Ave., Calistoga, 73 miles north of San Franciscos Ferry Building, 427 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: In winter, Indian Springs rooms for two usually start at about $239 per night. Info: Visit Calistoga, Indian Springs The main pool, Indian Springs, Calistoga (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Board the Napa Valley Wine Train, recall discord and disaster, then roll in splendor past miles of vineyards By Christopher Reynolds (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: If youre going to fully appreciate this valley and its globally admired vineyards, its better that youre not driving. And on the Napa Valley Wine Train, you have the chance to dine in style while the miles and wineries roll past. What: The train covers about 18 miles, running north alongside Highway 29 from the city of Napa through Yountville and Oakville to St. Helena. Along the way, depending on what you sign up for, you may stop to taste at one to three wineries, eat a three-course meal on board, and be back where you started in three to six hours. Its expensive but so very comfortable. And its got complicated history. The rail route, first laid in the 1860s, had fallen idle by the 1980s. To get the new wine train rolling in 1989, its owners had to outmaneuver many Napa locals who feared a tourist invasion would ruin the affluent communitys character. Skip forward now to 2015, when the trains management drew a storm of criticism for ejecting a group of guests, mostly African American, who were accused of being too loud. The view from the train, near Yountville, in early November. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) In late 2015, new owners took over the train. Then wildfires flared in October. They missed the train track, Highway 29 and the wineries along the route, but killed at least 41 people and destroyed thousands of homes and scores of businesses in Napa and Sonoma counties. By the time I showed up in early November, almost none of the damage was visible from the train. Napa was still in the early stages of recovery and the train was about half-full  unusual for the time of year. As for my journey, it was a sunny day, the countryside was gorgeous, the meal pleasant. The distant, fire-blackened hills to the east were barely discernible beyond the green and red vineyard rows, the shade trees and the nearby slopes. Where: McKinstry Street Station, 1275 McKinstry St., Napa, 46 miles north of San Francisco, 402 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: Most day trips run $206-$329 per person, which includes lunch and wine-tasting. Info: Napa Valley Wine Train (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times) Facebook

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Taste China (Live) in San Francisco By Christopher Reynolds Dim sum counter, Market Restaurant, China Live. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times) Why: Nobody likes to say so, but a lot of San Franciscos Chinatown looks tired these days. And many of the areas best Chinese restaurants are scattered among the outer suburbs where so many affluent Chinese American families live. So its a happy surprise to see China Live bring new energy and higher style to the neighborhood with a combination of design-intensive eating and shopping options. Its mission: to demystify Chinese ingredients and recipes while educating guests on the rich history and influence. What: China Live opened in March 2017, near the frontier between Chinatown and North Beach. The main downstairs space, the Market Restaurant and Bar, is full of long wood tables under a semi-raw concrete ceiling. Picture an Apple Store with steaming, edible merchandise, neighbored by open cooking areas, beckoning counters, a bar and adjacent retail rooms stocked with artisan teas, kitchen tools, condiments, shapely candles, jewelry and such. The restaurants menu is mostly based on sharing small dishes, so you might wind up with a medley dinner of fire-roasted sweet white corn, Dungenes crab spring rolls and Sheng Jian Bao (SJB) pan-fried pork dumplings. Market Restaurant, China Live. (Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Near the entrance is the casual Oolong Cafe. Upstairs waits a more exclusive restaurant offering private, pricey dining in elegant rooms befitting a royal in hiding. Its called Eight Tables by George Chen (dinner only; tasting menu: $225). There are also a pair of bars upstairs, including the Gold Mountain Lounge and one called Cold Drinks -- one of those hip hideaways that seeks to be popular by maintaining quasi-secrecy. Where: 644 Broadway, San Francisco, 380 miles northwest of downtown L.A.. How much: Together, the three dishes above cost about $40. Most cocktails $13-$15. Info: China Live ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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See, sniff and taste Napa Valleys bounty at the Oxbow Public Market By Christopher Reynolds A 1,033-pound pumpkin on display at Oxbow Public Market in Napa. (Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Why: This market and food hall, set above a fetching bend in the Napa River, is a short stroll from downtown Napa, a block from the headquarters of the popular Napa Valley Wine Train, a block from the COPIA center for wine and food education. Much smaller than San Franciscos food-centric Ferry Building but placed near the starting point of many popular Napa adventures, this foodie acre (about two-thirds the size of a football field) is a point of convergence for locals and tourists and a one-stop reminder that this wine country does more than make wine. What: The Oxbow Public Market opened in 2007, just in time to suffer from a national recession, the closure of COPIA (since rethought and reopened by the Culinary Institute of America) and construction-related disruptions of local traffic. Now those troubles are in the rear-view mirror, and a stroll around the marketplace introduces you to plenty of wine products but also duck tacos (at C Casa); American comfort food (Gotts Roadside); local seafood (Hog Island Oyster Co.); and assorted local fruits and vegetables (Hudson Greens & Goods). On my early November visit, Hudson was showing off a 1,033-pound pumpkin. There were also plenty of signs thanking the first-responders for their work fighting that regions wildfires in October. (Though many homes and about two dozen wineries were lost or damaged in those fires, the vast majority of the areas 500 wineries had reopened by Nov. 8.) Besides browsing at the market, you can also rent a bike at the automatic Spinway stand just outside and pedal seven miles along the Napa River to Kennedy Park and back; or just toodle down 1st Street in downtown Napa, where the new, 183-room Archer Hotel is expected to open in December. Where: 610-644 1st St., Napa, 46 miles north of the San Francisco Ferry building, 401 miles northwest of downtown L.A. How much: C Casa tacos run $4.75-$9. Spinway bike rentals start at $9 per hour. Info: Oxbow Public Market Oxbow Public Market, Napa. ( Christopher Reynolds / Los Angeles Times ) Facebook

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Read the walls on Angel Island, the West Coast Ellis Island where Asian immigrants waited and waited from 1910 to 1940 By Christopher Reynolds State parks interpreter Casey Dexter-Lee in the Immigration Station museum on Angel Island. ( Christopher Reynolds/Los Angeles Times ) Why: Its a handsome, green island in San Francisco Bay, popular with sailors, cyclists and hikers, just south of high-toned Tiburon. And from 1910 through 1940, it was something like a western Ellis Island, processing about half a million immigrants, including most of the 175,000 Chinese immigrants who arrived during those years. But those were not happy years. 
CAMPING

Workshop

Experts offer tips on how to plan, stay warm and select appropriate gear for winter camping.

When, where: 7 p.m. Tuesday at REI stores in Huntington Beach, 7777 Edinger Ave., and Northridge, 18605 Devonshire St.

Admission, info: Free. (714) 379-1938 for Huntington Beach; (818) 831-5555 for Northridge.

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ANZA-BORREGO

Presentation

Learn about Anza-Borrego Desert State Park in eastern San Diego County and the basics of desert hiking, biking and camping.

When, where: 6:30 p.m. Thursday at the Adventure 16 store, 11161 W. Pico Blvd., Los Angeles

Admission, info: Free. (310) 473-4574.

JOSHUA TREE

Symposium

Learn about challenges to Californias desert national parks and monuments in a panel discussion featuring park staff from Joshua Tree, Death Valley and Mojave National Preserve.

When, where: 7-8:30 p.m. Friday at the Bell Center, Copper Mountain College, 6162 Rotary Way, Joshua Tree.

Admission, info: Free. (760) 367-5535.

AFRICA

Presentation

James Michael Dorsey will discuss little-known tribes of Mali and Ethiopia.

When, where: Noon Jan. 22 at Bollywood Masala Restaurant, 618 E. Colorado Blvd., Pasadena.

Admission, info: $21 for lunch and program. Hosted by the Network for Travel Club. RSVP to Odette Ricasa at (323) 578-3601.

Please email announcements at least three weeks before the event to travel@latimes.com.
Dont have a cool cousin to tell you where to go on your next vacation? Dont worry  now you have dozens.

Name: Cool Cousin  Travel Through People app

What it does: Get travel recommendations and trip advice from cousins whose interests are similar to yours. Choose a metro city (12, with seven more coming soon), look for guy or girl cousins (or both) and filter for recommendations in which youre interested: Food, Coffee, Night, Shop, Arts & Culture, Outdoors, Activities and Culture. View the cousins, read more about them, and click on Get His/Her Map to view his or her suggestions.

Available: In the App Store, requires iOS 8.0 or later. Compatible with iPhone, iPad and iPod touch. Android version coming soon.

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Cost: Free

Whats hot: Its mantra  a recommendation is only as good as the person behind it  is followed through on every page. Once you choose a cousin you can read a Q&A about him or her to get to know them better. You also can see their social media handles on Instagram and Twitter with links to their profiles. All map pins have their own category icon so they are easy to distinguish. If you are already in a location while using the app, click on the name of the attraction and get help by clicking Book Table for restaurants, Request Pickup to get a ride from Uber, Directions and more. Got a question? You can use the app to message your cousin; you have your own inbox to field your correspondence. I found a barge on the Seine River in Paris that hosts concerts and parties, a cafe that serves the real strong Acai in Rio de Janeiro and a rooftop terrace bar with city views atop the Trafalgar Hotel in London.

Whats not: This app is so good Im surprised its free. I think the cousins and the developers should be paid for their quality and helpfulness. There may be behind-the-scene arrangements, but I didnt see any compensation offers when I clicked on Become a Cousin.

 Jen Leo

travel@latimes.com
Foreign ministers and top international envoys from 70 countries are jetting into Paris for a Middle East peace conference Sunday.

Sounds positive  except the Israelis and the Palestinians wont be there. Neither will the incoming U.S. administration. And French President Francois Hollande, who has been leading a last-ditch effort to revive talks aimed at easing the long-stalemated conflict, will be out of office in four months.

The aim of the conference, Hollande said in a speech to Frances diplomatic corps Thursday, is to reaffirm the international communitys support for a two-state solution that would see the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

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It has been branded a failure even before the doors have opened.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaking in Jerusalem on Thursday, said the conference was rigged against Israel and declined to meet with Hollande to discuss the results.

This pushes peace backwards, he said. Its not going to obligate us. Its a relic of the past.

Netanyahu is angry about a United Nations Security Council resolution passed in December that condemns Israeli settlement-building on land in East Jerusalem and the West Bank claimed by Palestinians. He is even more furious that President Obamas administration did not use its veto power to block the measure.

Secretary of State John F. Kerry, who is making one of his last official appearances at Sundays conference, portrayed the U.S. failure to quash the resolution as an expression of American support for a two-state solution.

But French diplomats are worried that President-elect Donald Trump could upend decades of U.S. policy in the Mideast by giving Israel a freer hand to expand settlements and by relocating the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which both sides claim as their capital.

David Friedman, Trumps longtime real estate lawyer who has been named the next U.S. ambassador to Israel, wrote in October that Trump will not attempt to impose a two-state solution, or any other solution, against the wishes of the democratically elected Israeli government.

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had been expected in Paris on Sunday but postponed the visit. French officials suggested that he would come for bilateral talks in the coming weeks.

In an interview with Le Figaro newspaper on Friday, Abbas was supportive of the French initiative.

We hope this conference will give rise to an international effort along with a calendar to drive negotiations and put in place the agreement that results, with the aim of ending the occupation, including that of East Jerusalem, he said.

However, Abbas cautioned that a decision to move the U.S. Embassy would not be good for peace. Palestinians might consider withdrawing their recognition of Israel, he said, a key part of the 1993 Oslo Accords.

The Vatican stepped into the fray Saturday, emphasizing the sacred character of Jerusalem.

In a statement issued after Abbas met with Pope Francis, the Vatican did not refer directly to the contested city, but said that during the talks emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the holy places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions.

The Vatican recognized Palestinian statehood in June 2015  a decision that angered Israel  and Abbas opened a Palestinian Embassy to the Holy See during his visit.

Israelis and Palestinians havent participated in negotiations since the collapse of a U.S.-led peace effort in 2014. Although violence between them has diminished since the end of the last major Palestinian uprising more than a decade ago, a series of attacks by Palestinians has raised tensions, as has Israeli settlement-building.

Experts agree there is little chance that Sundays conference will achieve much.

Aaron David Miller, a former U.S. peace negotiator and an advisor to both Republican and Democratic administrations, told the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington that like rock n roll, the peace process will never die, but under these circumstances, its not going to succeed.

Even Hollande has played down the prospects of a breakthrough.

I am realistic about what this conference can achieve, he said Thursday. Peace will only be achieved by the Israelis and Palestinians and nobody else. Only bilateral negotiations can succeed.

Willsher is a special correspondent.
Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimanis Algeria side get their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign underway against Zimbabwe in Gabon on Sunday afternoon.

- Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimani could feature for Algeria in their opening Africa Cup of Nations clash with Zimbabwe on Sunday

- The Desert Foxes then take on Tunisia and Senegal in Group B

- Daniel Amartey will hope to be in action for Ghana, who face Uganda on Tuesday

- Further Group D fixtures follow for the Black Stars against Mali and Egypt

- Keep up-to-date with the City trios AFCON progress on LCFC.com

Riyad Mahrez and Islam Slimanis Algeria side get their 2017 Africa Cup of Nations campaign underway against Zimbabwe in Gabon on Sunday afternoon.

Their first Group B game, the Desert Foxes finished their qualification campaign for the finals of the competition unbeaten having won five of their six fixtures, scoring 25 goals in the process.

Algerias potential route to the quarter-finals begins on Sunday against Zimbabwe (4pm kick-off GMT), who too finished top of their qualification group, before clashes with Tunisia on Thursday 19 January and Senegal on Monday 23 January.

Hoping to help Ghana get their finals campaign underway with a win will be Leicester City midfielder Daniel Amartey, who was part of the Black Stars side that were beaten on penalties in the final of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations by the Ivory Coast.

Amarteys nation are first in action on Tuesday 17 January (4pm kick-off GMT) against Uganda in Group D, while fixtures against Mali on Saturday 21 January and Egypt on Wednesday 25 January follow.

First, Africa Cup of Nations hosts Gabon get the 2017 tournament underway on Saturday against Guinea Bissau.

For all the latest on the progress of Mahrez, Slimani and Amartey, make sure you check back into LCFC.com over the next few days.
Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez scored a brace as Algeria came back from behind to draw 2-2 with Zimbabwe in their opening Group B fixture at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.

- Riyad Mahrez scored twice as Algeria pick up a 2-2 draw with Zimbabwe in the Africa Cup of Nations

- Leicester City team-mate Islam Slimani played a full 90 minutes in the Group B opener on Sunday

- Mahrez gave the Desert Foxes the lead in the 12th minute before equalising with eight minutes to go

- The duo will likely feature for Algeria again in clashes against Tunisia and Senegal later this month





Leicester City winger Riyad Mahrez scored a brace as Algeria came back from behind to draw 2-2 with Zimbabwe in their opening Group B fixture at the Africa Cup of Nations on Sunday.

The 25-year-old, joined in the starting line-upby Club team-mate Islam Slimani, put the Desert Foxes into an early lead at the with a speculative effort off the post in the 12th minute.

Algeria, among the favourites to win the competition, found themselves behind at the interval, however, with goals from Kudakwashe Mahachi and Nyasha Mushekwi putting Zimbabwe into a surprise lead.

They eventually broke the stubborn Zimbabwe rearguard down with just eight minutes to spare, though, when Mahrez burst into space and unleashed a fine 25-yard effort to level the scores.

Following this result, Algeria next face an encounter with Tunisia on Thursday 19 January before taking on Senegal four days later on Monday 23 January.
We were in a conference room near the Waterfront in Cape Town. I just lost a crown from one of my teeth. my husband Tom declared just be...
It was 1959 and Julie and I lived in Balimo, a remote government post about 500 kilometres west of Port Moresby.

There. Will that do? I wasnt surprised that she found a needle, living on an outstation, Julie had just about everything associated with sewing.

While Julie rummaged in her sewing kit, I quickly told her the story.

I think so, Ill look. Why do you want it?

JULIE, have you got a curved needle and some strong thread? I asked.

Yes, that looks okay, I replied. Youd better come with me right now, we need to hurry.

I drove the 10 minutes to the airstrip on our only mechanised transport, the Ferguson tractor.

Julie, clutching the curved needle and a reel of strong linen thread, struggled to keep her seat on the floor of the bouncing trailer behind me. On the way, we stopped briefly at the hospital and borrowed a reel of four-inch wide sticking plaster.

Earlier in the day, just after the DC3 aircraft landed on its weekly visit, the station tractor was driven under a wing and pulled up beside the door to unload mail, freezer and other cargo.

But the driver hadnt allowed for a tall stick, which was pointing upright in a slot in the trailers tailgate. A labourer had used on an earlier trip to steady himself as the trailer bounced its way from Balimo station to the airstrip.

That stick was just a bit too long. As the trailer passed under the wing, it caught the fabric of the aileron (the wings only non-metal surface), leaving a very neat ten-inch, t-shaped rip in the material.

The aircraft couldnt be flown with a tear like that as the rushing air may have stripped all the fabric from the control surface. The DC3 crew gloomily considered the prospect of being stranded in Balimo until a technician could be flown from Port Moresby  a two-and-a-half hour flight. Someone said jokingly, Cant we just sew it up?

I took the cue.

When Julie and I arrived with the DC3 repair kit, the crews mood changed from gloom to optimism.

Between us, we managed a multi-stitched and knotted repair that would have drawn admiration from a surgeon.

Several strips of sticking plaster locked it together and would help smooth the airflow. Both pilots were satisfied.

They had the plane emptied of all cargo, taxied to the runway and took off for a test flight. A slow low-level fly-over enabled us to see that everything was OK so far.

A bit more altitude and some severe zig-zagging, and again the aileron looked OK.

They seemed to use the test as an excuse to throw that DC3 around as if it were a Tiger Moth. We had our own private air show, and very entertaining it was too.

By now a crowd of about 20 people had gathered as the test culminated in a low, full throttle, wheels-up pass straight at us, with a steep pull up over our heads.

The DC3 landed and we could see the repair hadnt moved at all. The crew were happy, the plane was reloaded and took off for Port Moresby.

I sometimes wonder how much the Department of Civil Aviation was told of that incident.
Christopher Columbus was an Italian explorer, navigator, and colonizer who has historically been credited with the discovery(*) of the New World of the Americas on an expedition sponsored by King Ferdinand of Spain in 1492. After making four voyages across the Atlantic Ocean his efforts initiated European colonization of the New World. The U.S. established a Federal Holiday recognizing Columbus in 1934, despite the fact he wasnt the first European on the American Continent.

Columbus was born in 1451 in the Republic of Genoa, Italy. As a child, he evidently had little or no education as he didnt learn to read and write until he was an adult. He first went to sea as a teenager participating in several trading voyages in the Mediterranean and Aegean seas. In 1476, he nearly lost his life when his ship was attacked by French privateers off the coast of Portugal. When his ship was burned, he was forced to swim to the Portuguese shore. Afterward, he made his way to Lisbon, Portugal, where he eventually settled and married Felipa Perestrello, with whom he would have one son, Diego, in 1480. Soon afterward his wife died and Columbus moved to Spain. There, he would sire a second son with Beatriz Enriquez de Arana. named Fernando, who was born out of wedlock in 1488.

Columbus then participated in several expeditions to Africa where he gained knowledge of the Atlantic currents flowing east and west from the Canary Islands. Travel to India and China at the time was not only long and arduous but also dangerous due to the Muslim domination of the trade routes through the Middle East. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by sailing south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope. But, Columbus had a different idea, believing that sailing west to reach the East would be quicker and safer.

In search of a sponsor for the voyage, he took his idea to Portuguese King John II in 1484, then to Genoa and Venice, Italy, but was rejected all three times. He then approached the Spanish monarchy in 1486, who showed some interest but rejected the idea because they were in a war with the Muslims. For the next several years, Columbus continued to lobby several countries for their patronage but was not successful until the Spanish army captured the last Muslim stronghold in Granada in January 1492.

Shortly afterward, the Spanish monarchs agreed to finance his expedition with Columbus contract stating he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found, would receive a noble title and would be awarded the governorship of any lands he should encounter.

On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. After 36 days of sailing, Columbus and several crewmen set foot on an island in the present-day Bahamas on October 12 and claimed it for Spain. There, he encountered a friendly group of natives who were open to trade with the sailors and was intrigued by the bits of gold worn by the natives for adornment.

For months, Columbus and his men continued their journey, visiting the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola (now Haiti and the Dominican Republic) meeting with the leaders of the native population and looking for pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, and spices. During this time, the Santa Maria was wrecked on a reef off the coast of Hispaniola. With the help of some islanders, Columbus men salvaged what they could and built the settlement of Villa de la Navidad (Christmas Town) with lumber from the ship. Thirty-nine men stayed behind to occupy the makeshift settlement and Columbus, convinced his exploration had reached Asia, set sail for Spain with the two remaining ships.

Returning to Spain in 1493, Columbus gave a glowing report as to how he had reached the islands just off the coast of Asia. Presenting the royal court with artifacts, Indians and a small amount of gold, he was warmly received.

About six months later, on September 25, 1493, Columbus took to the seas on his second expedition, this time with 17 ships and almost 1,500 men. They made landfall on November 3, 1493, near Dominica among the Lesser Antilles. They then explored more islands in the Caribbean Ocean before making their way to back Hispaniola.

There, Columbus and his crew discovered the Navidad settlement had been destroyed and the sailors had been killed. Spurning the wishes of the queen, who found slavery offensive, Columbus established a forced labor policy over the native population to rebuild the settlement and explore for gold. His efforts produced small amounts of the mineral while spawning great hatred among the native population. Columbus left his brothers, Bartholomew and Diego, to govern the settlement, along with part of his ships crew. He headed west with the rest of his crew and a number of native slaves in a fruitless search for gold and other valuable goods.

Though he found little of value, Columbus further convinced himself that he had discovered the outer islands of China. In the meantime, in lieu of the material riches he had promised the Spanish monarchs, he sent some 500 slaves to Queen Isabella. However, the queen, who didnt believe in slavery was horrified and promptly and sternly returned the gift.

Columbus returned to Spain in 1496 where he was coolly received at court. He had not found the rich Asian mainland, his efforts to get gold from the Indians had been only moderately successful, and the crown had begun to receive complaints about Columbus from the sailors and settlers.

Despite his cool reception two years earlier, the crown financed a third expedition. On May 30, 1498, Columbus left with six ships from Sanlucar, Spain, once again headed for the Americas. Three of the ships headed directly for Hispaniola with much-needed supplies, while Columbus took the other three in an exploration of what might lie to the south of the Caribbean islands he had already visited.

It was during this voyage that he actually reached the mainland in present-day Venezuela. He then returned to the Hispaniola settlement, which had deteriorated to the point of near-mutiny with the settlers claiming they had been misled by Columbus claims of riches and complaining about the poor management of his brothers. Columbus was eventually forced to make peace with the rebellious colonists.

In the meantime, a number of returning settlers and sailors lobbied against Columbus at the Spanish court, accusing him and his brothers of gross mismanagement. In 1500, the Crown had him removed as governor, he and his brothers were arrested, and transported in chains to Spain They lingered in jail for six weeks before King Ferdinand ordered their release. They were eventually restored of their freedom and wealth, but Columbus titles and authority were stripped.

Columbus made a fourth voyage in search of the Strait of Malacca to the Indian Ocean. Accompanied by his brother Bartolomeo and his 13-year-old son Fernando, he left Cadiz, Spain on May 11, 1502, with his flagship Santa Maria and the vessels Gallega, Vizcaina, and Santiago de Palos. This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama  just miles from the Pacific Ocean  where he had to abandon two of his four ships in the face of an attack from hostile natives.

In June 1503, his remaining ships were caught in a damaging storm off the coast of Cuba and were beached in Jamaica in June 1503. There, they remained until a Spaniard named Diego Mendez along with several natives paddled a canoe to Hispaniola. However, the governor, Nicolas de Ovando y Caceres, detested Columbus and obstructed all efforts to rescue him and his men. Help finally did arrive in June 1504 and Columbus and his men returned to Spain.

In the two remaining years of his life, Columbus struggled to recover his lost titles but was unsuccessful. He died in Valladolid on May 20, 1506, still believing he had discovered a shorter route to Asia.

Though Columbus is credited with opening up the Americas to European colonization, he failed to find that what he set out for  a new route to Asia and the riches it promised.

* He also did not discover the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the New World, as Viking explorers had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century. Some experts believe there is also evidence of Viking landings on the continental United States.

Celebrations of Columbus can be found as early as 1792, however, it was 1892 when President Benjamin Harrison called upon citizens of the U.S. to celebrate the explorer as part of a one-time 400th-anniversary event. In addition, many Italian Americans observed October 12 as a celebration of their heritage dating back to 1866. The day was first established as a Federal holiday in 1934. Since 1971 the holiday has been moved to the second Monday in October.

The holiday has its controversies, and despite push back from Italian Americans, there have been strong efforts to rebrand Columbus Day as Indigenous Peoples day instead. For Native Americans, the day brings up colonial oppression and in 1989, South Dakota became the first state to switch the holiday to Native Americans Day, celebrating it for the first time in 1990. Berkeley California was the first U.S. city to switch to Indigenous Peoples Day shortly after. Today, according to the Pew Research Center, Columbus Day is the most inconsistently observed national holiday in the United States.

Compiled and edited by Kathy Weiser/Legends of America, updated October 2020.

Also See:

Explorers & Frontiersman List

Historic Americans Photo Gallery

The Spanish Explore America

Whos Who in American History

Sources:

Biography.com

History.com

Scholastic.com

Wikipedia
IFA President Joe Healy this week welcomed the news from Agriculture Minister Michael Creed on the reopening of beef exports to Egypt.

He said this is a positive development for the beef sector and another market opened as part of the IFA campaign on market access over the last two years.

Joe Healy called for a strong beef price increase from the meat factories, saying there was a full clear out of retail beef sales over the holiday period and factories are very anxious for cattle again in the New Year.

He said a significant price increase is well justified based on strong demand and improved market and exchange rate returns.

The IFA President said winter finishers need a strong price lift as selling cattle out of sheds involves very high costs and at current prices these farmers are encountering serious losses.

Joe Healy said paid prices at the factories had moved a little over the Christmas New Year period and 3.80/kg base for steers and 3.90/kg base for heifers was freely available and more being paid in places to secure numbers.

However, he said prices in our main export market in Britain closed the year in a strong position with R3 steers making 3.62/kg and at the current exchange rate of 85p/, this is equivalent to a price return of 4.49/kg including vat at the new higher rate of 5.4% applicable from January 1st.

Joe Healy said as well as the strong price returns in the UK, the positive change in the Sterling exchange rate from 89p in October/November back to 85p/ currently is worth an additional 21c/kg in returns and leaves the factories in a strong position to increase prices to farmers.

Joe Healy said the factories have fallen well behind on price with the Irish price now below the EU average and a very wide gap opening up with prices in our main export market in Britain.

Live Exports

On live exports, Joe Healy called for a major diplomatic initiative to be led by the Minister for Agriculture Michael Creed to maximise every single market opportunity on live exports in 2017.

It is clear there are real opportunities for Ireland in the live export markets such as Turkey, North Africa (Egypt, Libya, Algeria and Morocco) and Continental Europe and all of these must be actively pursued in 2017.

Against a background of increased cattle supplies of 100,000 head forecast for 2017 and a continuing increase in calf supplies, Joe Healy said we need to get the capacity of the live trade back up to 300,000 to 400,000 head to drive competition and get a balance back into the beef trade capable of delivering viable prices from the market.

Joe Healy said IFA had worked hard in opening up the live export trade to Turkey in 2016 and this had proved critical to the weanling trade throughout last autumn.

He said it is essential that the trade to Turkey is vibrant again in 2017.

The IFA President also called for the restrictions on labelling being used to inhibit and block the vitally important live trade to Northern Ireland and Britain must be resolved.

He said it is totally unacceptable that processors and retailers are allowed to stymie a trade by unfairly using EU labelling legislation.

In conclusion, the IFA President said it is vitally important that Agriculture Minister Michael Creed and his Department ensures that a strong live export trade to Turkey and other Middle East and North African destinations continues into 2017.
Top Irish stand-up Neil Delamere brings his brand new tour Handstand to The Portlaoise Heritage Hotel on Friday, January 20.

Audiences can expect the usual banter and quick-witted, well-observed comedy at Handstand as they have come to expect from Delamere, who has been described by critics as a master (The Scotsman) and a wryly brilliant live performer (Sunday Times).

The star of RTEs The Panel, 2nd Republic, BBCs The Blame Game, Fighting Talk and Michael McIntyre's Comedy Roadshow is renowned for delivering powerhouse, sell-out performances, whether its at Dublins Vicar Street, or further afield at high-profile international festivals such as the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, Edinburgh Fringe Festival and the Montreal Just For Laughs Festival.

An accomplished broadcaster as well as comic, Neil is the host of his own hugely-popular two-hour weekend show on Today FM, Neil Delameres Sunday Best.

Neil also made a welcome return to TV screens last autumn in the ever-popular panel show The Blame Game on BBC, which celebrates a decade on TV screens.

Handstand kicked off in The Moate Theatre, Naas on December 27 and concludes in Dundalk on April 29.

For ticket and tour info for Handstand visit the website www.neildelamere.com/gigs.

Follow Neil on www.neildelamere.com, Facebook Neil Delamere.
The amazing Cherish the Ladies will travel to Gurteen, Co Sligo to play the Coleman Music Centre on January 21 at 9pm.



Under the leadership of the dynamic and irrepressible flute and whistle champion Joanie Madden, these ladies create an evening that includes a spectacular blend of virtuoso instrumental talents, beautiful vocals, captivating arrangements, and stunning step dancing.

Their continued success as one of the top Celtic groups in the world is due to the ensembles ability to take the best of Irish traditional music and dance and put it forth in an immensely entertaining package.



They've won recognition as the BBC's Best Musical Group of the Year and named the Top North American Celtic Group by both the Irish Music Awards and NPR's Thistle and Shamrock - not to mention having a street named after them on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx; Joanie Madden and Cherish the Ladies!



Over the course of 30 years, the ladies have performed thousands of concerts and have collaborated with such notable musicians as The Boston Pops, The Clancy Brothers, The Chieftains, Vince Gill, Nanci Griffith, Pete Seeger, Don Henley, Arlo Guthrie and Maura O'Connell as well as being the featured soloist with over 300 performances with symphony orchestras.

For bookings or more details call the Coleman Centre on ( 071)9182599.

A great show promised.
If it werent for the Scottish Liberal Democrats, the SNP Government would have nobody asking them awkward questions on civil liberties and forcing them to change policy.

And so it continues in 2017. In todays Scotland on Sunday, Liam McArthur, our Justice Spokesperson continues the work by the much-missed Alison McInnes in demanding action on the Police retaining photos of people they arrest but who are never charged. From The Scotsman:

In the report published in January last year, HMICS warned that there was no statutory framework or legislation in Scotland regulating how the police use or retain photographic images. While fingerprint and DNA samples are destroyed if criminal proceedings are dropped, mugshots are kept on the polices custody software under a practice which predates the formation of Police Scotland. Most images are kept for at least six years, but those accused of more serious offences have their mugshot retained for up to 12 years. Scottish Liberal Democrat justice spokesman Liam McArthur said: A year ago the HMICS report vindicated the Liberal Democrat investigation and campaign calling for controls governing how the police handle our most personal information, including the use of facial recognition technology. It is therefore frustrating that we are no closer to knowing which of its independent expert recommendations will be implemented and when. The Scottish Government must immediately set out when we can expect the new safeguards, including a code of practice and independent commissioner, to be in place. The Scottish Liberal Democrats wont allow ministers to cherry pick or kick such important protections into the long grass.

This comes as another of Alison McInnes\ big issues comes closer to being sorted. She tenaciously tackled the Government and Police over their indiscriminate use of stop and search powers. Finally, this week, a new code was published which stops the practice of so-called consensual stop and search which led to hundreds of children being searched for no good reason.

Liam said:

Thanks to the code won by the Scottish Liberal Democrats, for the first time ever, the stop and search procedure, polices responsibilities and peoples rights will be clearly defined in law. So-called consensual searches will be abolished in May. Following the revelation that the number of intrusive and unjustified searches being conducted by Police Scotland has fallen by 99% since we first drew attention to this gross overreach, Scotland will at last have a code in place preventing the return of industrial scale stop and search. MSPs will now look at the fine detail of the code to ensure the right protections are in place, the right information will be recorded and no more abuses can occur. This is welcome news for the officers who were under pressure to conduct searches they didnt believe in and for everyone who agrees with Liberal Democrats that any police search must be justified and proportionate.

* Caron Lindsay is Editor of Liberal Democrat Voice and blogs at Caron's Musings
I have just moved house, leaving London, settling in Chesterfield. London has been amazing, but it was time for change. In between that decision and the reality came the Sleaford and North Hykeham By-election: one of the campaigns that I shall forever be proudest of running. But Sleaford was a turning point for me, a junction when I decided to re-engage with front line electoral politics and take to the streets again.

So last night travelling back to Stoke-on-Trent at short notice to scout the territory was a further development for me. Let me explain. I stood down from Stoke-on-Trent city council in 2002 after four of the best electoral years of my life, but had left due to a mix of work, ambition and life changes. I havent really been back there since and so today when Tristram Hunt, Labour MP for Stoke-on-Trent Central, announced his resignation I realised I was ready to return.

Now Stoke-on-Trent was very much my personal test ground for the lessons and skills I had listened to, learnt and appreciated from Peter Lee, Becky Bryan, Tim Clement Jones, Des Wilson, Tony Greaves, Maggie Clay and others. In trying those lessons out a few landmarks stand out: the night in 1996 when the city went Unitary, the Tories were wiped out and Labour were elected 60 nil. How I cheered those Tory losses (for I knew we were not ready)



But then there was the conversation in 1997 outside the pie shop on College Road with my dear friend Ian Openshaw. It went something like: dont worry, we havent won for years, we never do in Stoke, just stand and make sure its contested. 17 leaflets later Ian was elected and the council went 59-1, a few weeks later we gained that ward of Shelton again and I picked up Stoke West and it went 57-3.In the subsequent years much has happened, but for me Stoke has vivid memories. We hosted the Lib Dem Youth and Student Conference to bolster the 1998 by-election campaign then and my dear friend the late Neil Trafford was at the forefront of the street activity, encouraging the campaign, the fun and the farce. In those years a number of students became impressive LD campaigners: Chris Coleman and Anders Hanson to name two and in that period of time I met my first ever and last boyfriend, my now husband, Russell Eagling.

Just after Sleaford last year my follow up work was crudely interrupted in December by the death in a car accident of my close friend Andy Lindup  not a party political friend at all  but another graduate of Stoke-on-Trent. Indeed a photo I hadnt clocked before has recently emerged of Neil and Andy together from that time and Im welling up thinking of it.

So looking back, Stoke-on-Trent features strong and significant in my life story to date.

Yesterday I walked past the Civic Centre, past Peter ad Vincula Church and made fleeting but significant visits to Hanley, Stoke-upon-Trent, Trent Vale, Bentilee, Hartshill, Penkhill and Etruria to remind myself and reappraise myself of the territory. As I walked I wondered why I had left  if I had stayed and fought and made a life commitment I might have been able to have done much more for a city that I cared deeply about and whose residents have been so neglected. And then I remembered: the late David Rendel MP had offered me a role to help with his campaign when standing for Party Leader and that had triggered me to look elsewhere and follow a golden path and trail of where the Lib Dems were already successful. David was generous to a fault and constantly encouraged me in my commitment to community politics, to change and inclusive and diversity. I learnt so much from him.

These elements all crowded in on me tonight as I returned  home, yes I think I can say that  returned home to Stoke-on-Trent. As a city it gave me the honour of being elected a councillor, I met my life partner and husband, and I have a string of fond, indeed special memories.

And so as I walked, made notes, took photos and bought the local paper again I smiled deep inside myself remembering my friends, the late Cllr Neil Trafford, the late David Rendel, former MP for Newbury, and the late Andy Lindup, passionate, lively and truly a light when all else was dark and I wept tears of joy.

The resignation of Tristram Hunt MP could not be a better illustration of the extent to which Labour have taken this community for granted and of how privileged individuals such as him put themselves first. And yet, he is creating this by-election, and so will give a community ignored for too long the chance to be heard.

I dont know about you, but Im clearing my diary, Im off to Stoke-on-Trent and Im in no mood for excuses. Im in this for the win and will do what I can to honour my friends. To thank the city that truly set me off, and place the Lib Dem Fightback centre stage of the UK, physically, politically and literally. See you there Im sure.. its gonna be fun.

* Ed Fordham is a councillor on Chesterfield Borough Council and runs Brockwell Books of Chesterfield, selling many thanks, not least ephemera he bought from Liber Books over the last 25 years.
A BRANCH of Starbucks in Limerick city has opened without proper planning permission.

Enforcement proceedings have been issued against the company which operates a branch of the coffee shop chain at the Thomas Street centre, which opened 12 months ago.

Limerick City and County Council wrote to Dublin firm Tornup Ltd expressing concern the development is unauthorised and is in breach of planning regulations.

It is understood council planners are of the view the company does not have adequate planning permission in place.

Since the letter was issued, the firm has applied for retention planning permission for the use of the coffee shop and signage at the corner of Catherine Street and Thomas Street.

Council planners, it is understood, wrote to company management informing them if matters are not rectified, court proceedings may be instigated.

In its application for retention, Tornup Ltd pointed out that permission for a coffee shop in the same area was sought and granted previously, with the application lodged in 2002.

It also pointed out that the restaurant and local shop uses are permitted under the local zoning.

It is therefore respectfully submitted that [these] use classes are comparable to such a use and therefore establish that a coffee shop use such as that proposed to be retained under the current application is acceptable, the application states.

The use of a coffee shop is compliant with the zoning designation as it adds to the vibrancy of the area and complements the mixed-use city centre environment, helping to provide for a more integrated shopping and leisure experience for visitors.

Fianna Fail councillor Jerry ODea, who sits on the economic committee said he is very disappointed this has happened.

There are many businesses around the city which have gone to great lengths to ensure they comply with all the planning laws. The same rules should apply to everybody, he said, The whole idea a coffee shop can open without proper planning permission is ludicrous.

The HSE has also expressed concern over the number of toilets available to both staff and customers in the glass-plated building.

In a submission, its environmental health service directorate says it is not satisfied with the application for retention permission.

They say this is because there is no staff toilet provided for food workers and the one disabled toilet shown on the plan does not adequately service the number of customers which may be present in the coffee shop at any one time.

One toilet is recommended for every 25 customers using a cafe.

Neither the council or Starbucks wished to comment when contacted by the Limerick Leader.
OVER 3,200 new residential units are needed in Limerick based on job projection figures for the region under the 2030 Economic and Spatial Plan for Limerick.

This estimation was provided in the draft development contribution scheme 2017-2021 from Limerick City and County Council, which has yet to be approved.

Currently, however, there are plans for just 300 new homes in the city, Mungret and Annacotty before the local authority for approval, with local auctioneers predicting a new property price bubble if the lack of supply is not addressed.

With 954 new jobs created in Limerick in 2016, this has added to pressure on the housing market, and Minister for Finance Michael Noonan has expressed confidence that in the region of 1,000 new jobs could be created again in 2017.

Meanwhile, house prices in Limerick are expected to rise by a further 10% this year given the continued lack of supply to meet demand.

First-time buyers, encouraged by the easing of the Central Banks restrictions on mortgage deposit lending, will drive a continued rise of 10% in house prices in Limerick city throughout 2017, according to a survey carried out by the Real Estate Alliance Group.

In the county, they anticipate a further rise by 6% on average in 2017.

The REA Average House Price Survey has revealed that prices in Limerick had increased by 12.7% over the past year  with the average three-bed semi now costing 177,000.

In the county, the average three-bed semi now costs 134,000, a rise of 11.7% in a year.

Demand is strong in Limerick and we believe that builders will come back on site in the city where the prices have come to a level where they can make a profit, said Michael OConnor of REA OConnor Murphy.

The survey found that agents expect prices nationally to rise by 6.1% over the next year  with Dublin predicted to grow by 6.8% over the next 12 months.

Agents in the three main cities outside Dublin are optimistic about 2017, with rises of 10% predicted in Limerick and Galway, with Cork looking at a more modest 5% increase.

The latest data filed with the Property Price Register shows that 1,681 houses sold in Limerick in 2016, down from 2,016 in 2015. Daft.ie has 1,300 houses for sale in Limerick presently.
LIMERICK councillors have this Monday sanctioned proposals which could see car giant General Motors double the number of people it employs in Limerick to 200.

The Detroit-based car manufacturer, which owns brands like Opel, Cadillac, Buick and Chevrolet, currently rents office space at the local authority buildings near the Crescent Shopping Centre in Dooradoyle.

Since it set up in Limerick in 2013, it has ramped up its workforce to around 100 people working in logistics and technical support.

Metropolitan district councillors have unanimously backed a proposal to further increase the firms footprint at County Hall, in a move which sources indicate may bring a further 100 jobs.

Metropolitan mayor Cllr Michael Hourigan, who chaired the meeting, said: It is a very positive note because Limerick, by these large companies, is perceived as a good place to come, perceived as a place where workers will have a good quality of life, and where workers can get reasonable accommodation at a reasonable price.

It was proposed to lease the third floor in the councils buildings to General Motors Ireland for a term of five years, with the firm having the option to extend for a further five years.

One of the worlds biggest companies, General Motors, which is in the middle of a recruitment drive in Limerick, will pay 145,242 per year in respect of rent, insurance and service charges.

Speaking at this mornings council meeting  held in the Limerick City Gallery of Art  Cllr Daniel Butler added: I would like to welcome this. It means more jobs, and it has to be welcomed. And it's a double-whammy because it means that we are getting revenue from General Motors."

Anti-Austerity Alliance councillor Cian Prendiville, however, raised concerns about parking availability for any new staff.

Labour councillor Joe Leddin said we should do everything we can to facilitate them," adding he did not consider parking to be a "big issue".

Kieran Lehane, council manager in Limericks metropolitan district said the move will encourage staff to spend more in the locality, adding that its a "terrific vote of confidence".

General Motors has more than 216,000 staff in 396 sites globally on its books.
Jan 15, 2017, 3 AM

A new procedure for addressing first-day cover requests includes the option of directing the request for a particular type of cancellation, such as the digital color postmark shown on this mock-up.

By Lloyd de Vries

Hard on the heels of news of the consolidation of United States first-day cover servicing at the U.S. Postal Services Cancellation Services division in Kansas City, Mo., (which was explained in this Linns.com column) comes a change in the address format that collectors should use when submitting their own covers.

Dealers/servicers registered with Cancellation Services should use this address:

USPS SFS Cancellation Services  Dealer Processing

8300 NE Underground Dr., Pillar 210

Kansas City, MO 64144-9998

It is practically the same as one of the addresses used by dealers in the past; the former post office box address has been put out to pasture, at least for FDC servicing.

Note the addition of Dealer Processing in the top line.

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Requests for cancellations sent to the above address must include the multipart work-order form provided by Cancellation Services.

Collectors, dealers/servicers not registered with Cancellation Services, and anyone else without a work order, should use this address:

FDOI  [insert stamp issue name]

USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services

8300 NE Underground Dr., Ste. 300

Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

Note that while the street number and name are the same as those in the dealer-processing address, the unit in this address is Suite 300 rather than Pillar 210, and the ZIP code extension is different.

For example, the address for servicing covers of the second new issue of 2017 would look like this:

FDOI  Love Skywriting

USPS Stamp Fulfillment Services

8300 NE Underground Dr., Ste. 300

Kansas City, MO 64144-9900

If a particular type of cancellation is desired, that could be specified in the top line of the address; for example, FDOI  Love Skywriting DCP would indicate that the servicer wants the digital color postmark on all the enclosed covers, as depicted on the FDC mock-up shown here. (Request for digital color postmarks require a minimum order of 10, and a fee is charged.)

As mentioned in the October column, Cancellation Services has been handling almost all mail-in servicing requests for years.

However, the change last fall makes it possible for collectors to send their unserviced covers directly to Kansas City, without running the gantlet of possibly uninformed local clerks in the first-day locations.

Noncommercial FDC servicers had been asking for years to be able to send their covers directly to Cancellation Services.

Postal Service officials argument against it was that sorting incoming packages of FDCs and assigning the proper cancellation devices would take up too much time.

The assumption was that when a box of small-quantity requests came in from (for example) the Las Vegas, Nev., post office in early fall last year, the sorting clerk at Cancellation Services would know right away that everything in the box was for the Pets forever stamps, which were issued in that city on Aug. 2.

The new address format appears to be an attempt to identify the issues for which servicing is requested before the outer wrappings are opened. Chances are good that this new system will be tweaked further as the year progresses.

The new address format was first included in the USPS Postal Bulletin listing for the third new issue of 2017 with a first-day ceremony: the U.S. Flag stamp to be released Jan. 27 at Southeastern Stamp Expo.

The old format was cited in the Postal Bulletin for servicing of Year of the Rooster and Love Skywriting covers, but actually the new one should be used for those issues as well.

The new format has an advantage for collector-servicers, too. Rather than having to look up the address of the putative servicing city for each new stamp, collectors now will be using a mail-in address that is nearly identical for each issue, the only change being the name of the issue.

A servicer with access to a computer and printer could print out mailing labels in advance for Cancellation Services, with a space to write in the appropriate issue name.
Jan 14, 2017, 12 PM

Vatican City issued this stamp Nov. 17, 2016, to commemorate the 80th birthday of Pope Francis.

Artist Raul Berzosa Fernandez presented to Pope Francis the painting he created that appears on the stamp celebrating the popes 80th birthday.

By Denise McCarty

A photographer captured the philatelic moment at the Paul VI Audience Hall in the Vatican as 37-year-old Spanish artist Raul Berzosa Fernandez presented to Pope Francis his painting used as the design for a stamp commemorating the popes 80th birthday.

As reported on Linns.com Nov. 20, the 1 stamp was issued Nov. 17 in a pane of four. The popes birthday was Dec. 17.

Berzosas paintings cover a wide range of themes; however, he has a distinct fondness for biblical scenes.

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His painting for the stamp depicts with great realism the pope giving a blessing. The painting also has a sacred and symbolic dimension, including a detail of the Bernini baldachin over the main alter in St. Peters Basilica; Our Lady of Lujan, patroness of Argentina; and a light, symbolizing the Holy Spirit, illuminating the face of the pope and the entire painting.

The painting is on display at the philatelic museum of the Vatican Museums.

The artist was introduced to Pope Francis by the Vaticans philatelic bureau manager, Mauro Olivieri (pictured at right).

Olivieri revealed that Berzosa has also painted a portrait of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI, who will celebrate his 90th birthday on April 16. Vatican City plans to issue a commemorative stamp for the occasion.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates (AP)  Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked intense protests by opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in several predominantly Shiite communities to protest the executions.

The rallies at times turned violent as youth hurled projectiles and petrol bombs while police responded with birdshot and tear gas, witnesses said. The sound of gunfire could be heard into the night. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Bahrain's public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad. Photos shared by activists purporting to show the bodies of the men showed a tight grouping of multiple gunshot wounds to the heart.

The executions were the first in the U.S.-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men.

Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 2015 of killing two Bahraini policemen and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the country's security forces in a bomb attack the previous year. A court upheld their death sentences last Monday.

Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the U.S. Navy's 5th Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to nearby Shiite powerhouse Iran.

Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face low-level unrest led by a majority Shiite population that feels marginalized by the Sunni monarchy.

Story continues

Bahrain also maintains close ties to Britain, which is building a naval base of its own in the country. Over the past two and a half months, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have all paid visits to the island.

Johnson made a point of underscoring Britain's opposition to the death penalty hours after the sentences were carried out.

"The Bahraini authorities are fully aware of our position and I have raised the issue with the Bahraini government," he said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumors spread that their executions were imminent.

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust as he urged the kingdom's allies to "publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings." Amnesty International deputy director Samah Hadid called the executions "a deeply regressive step."

Protests and clashes continued Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shiite areas. Witnesses said shops were shuttered in Daih, where the 2014 bombing happened. Garbage bins were seen overturned and set alight in the streets.

One police officer was wounded when several people shot at a police patrol in Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, the Interior Ministry said. It gave no further details.

The Ashtar Brigade, a Shiite militant group that claimed the 2014 police attack and a number of other bombings in Bahrain, took responsibility for the attack on the police officer on social media. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the post, though it came in a forum often used by the group.

Iran, which supported the 2011 uprising but denies any role in the violence, condemned the executions.

"The lack of transparency in the unfair trial of the three Bahraini citizens was confirmed by the international community, human rights and all popular bodies all around the world," Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in remarks carried by state-run media.

Lebanon's Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah also condemned the execution of the three men, calling it "a crime" and "extrajudicial killing" that would undermine any chance for a political solution in Bahrain.

The militant group, which has been critical of the Bahraini government's crackdown on the Shiite uprising, said international silence toward what takes place in Bahrain must be met with the "largest solidarity campaign."

Al-Samea and Mushaima alleged they were subjected to electric shocks, beatings, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation and sexual assault while in custody, Amnesty International reported in 2015. Al-Singace's mother says her son was also tortured, according to British rights group Reprieve.

"It is nothing short of an outrage  and a disgraceful breach of international law  that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said. "The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on 'confessions' extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham."

Government officials did not respond to a request for comment Sunday on the torture allegations. Bahraini officials have previously said the government is opposed to any kind of mistreatment and has safeguards in place to prevent it.

Bahrain's last execution was of a Bangladeshi man in 2010. A number of death sentences have been issued since then.

The three put to death Sunday were the first who had held Bahraini citizenship executed since 1996, according to Reprieve, though they were technically stateless at the time of their deaths after being stripped of their citizenship when convicted.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai, Sarah El Deeb in Beirut and Amir Vahdat in Tehran, Iran contributed to this report.

___

Follow Adam Schreck on Twitter at www.twitter.com/adamschreck
HAVANA (AP)  Two days before Christmas, Luis Gonzalez received a little Chinese modem from Cuba's state-owned telecommunications company.

The 55-year-old theater producer connected the device to his phone and his laptop computer, which instantly lit up with a service unimaginable in the Cuba of just a few years ago  relatively fast home internet.

"It's really easy to sit and find whatever you need," Gonzalez said as he sat in his living room updating his Facebook account, listening to Uruguayan radio online and checking an arriving tourist's landing time for a neighbor who rents rooms in their building in historic Old Havana. "Most Cubans aren't used to this convenience."

Home internet came to Cuba last month in a limited pilot program that's part of the most dramatic change in daily life here since the declaration of detente with the United States on Dec. 17, 2014.

While Cuba remains one of the world's least internet-connected societies, ordinary citizens' access to the internet has exploded over the last two years. Since the summer of 2015, the Cuban government has opened 240 public Wi-Fi spots in parks and on street corners across the country. Cubans were previously restricted to decrepit state internet clubs and hotels that charged $6-$8 for an hour of slow internet.

In a country with an average monthly salary of around $25, the price of an hour online has dropped to $1.50, still steep but now well within the range of many Cubans with private income or financial help from relatives abroad.

The government estimates that 100,000 Cubans connect to the internet daily. A new feature of urban life in Cuba is the sight of people sitting at all hours on street corners or park benches, their faces illuminated by the screen of smartphones connected by applications such as Facebook Messenger to relatives in Miami, Ecuador or other outposts of the Cuban diaspora. Connections are made mostly through access cards sold by the state monopoly and often resold on street corners for higher prices.

Story continues

The spread of connectivity has remotely reunited families separated for years, even decades. It's fueled the spread of Airbnb and other booking services that have funneled millions in business to private bed-and-breakfasts owners. And it's exposed Cubans to a faster flow of news and cultural developments from the outside world  supplementing the widespread availability of media spread on memory drivers.

Cuban ingenuity has spread internet far beyond those public places: thousands of people grab the public signals through commercially available repeaters, imported illegally into Cuba and often sold for about $100  double the original price. Mounted on rooftops, the repeaters grab the public signals and create a form of home internet increasingly available in private rentals for tourists and cafes and restaurants for Cubans and visitors alike.

On the official front, Google and Cuba's state-run telecoms monopoly Etecsa struck a deal last month to store Google content like YouTube video on servers inside Cuba, giving people on the island faster, smoother access.

While the explosion of internet in Cuba has taken place alongside the process of normalization started by Obama in 2014, it's unclear how much better relations have speeded up Cuba's move online.

Obama said in announcing detente that he welcomed "Cuba's decision to provide more access to the Internet for its citizens," but neither Obama's team nor Cuban officials have detailed whether that decision was directly linked to negotiations to restore diplomatic ties and began negotiations.

What is clear is that Cuba began to dramatically increase access about six months later when the government began opening Wi-Fi spots around the country. For many Cubans, the start of home internet in December is potentially even more significant, breaking a longstanding barrier against private internet access in a country whose communist government remains deeply wary about information technology undermining its near-total control of media, political life and most of the economy.

The pace of change in Cuba often depends on the state of relations with its giant neighbor to the north: both tensions with the United States and leaps forward like Obama's visit to Havana last year have prompted crackdowns by hardliners worried about the government losing control. While President-elect Donald Trump's administration has promised to take a harder line on Cuba, both opponents of President Raul Castro's government and those advocating closer relations favor more access to information for ordinary Cubans.

The home internet test program selected some 2,000 residents of Old Havana to receive free connections for two months before a planned expansion and the start of billing for the service. Gonzalez said he would be able to receive 30 hours of his 128 kilobyte-per-second connection for $15, with the price increasing for faster connections, with 30 hours of a 2 megabyte-per-second connection available for $115.

That's far slower and wildly more expensive than internet in most of the rest of the world. In the Dominican Republic, for example, a full month of relatively slow 2 megabyte-per-second internet, a speed most people would consider reasonable for applications such as streaming video, costs a little more than $20.

Cuba depended on slow, expensive satellite internet until 2013, when it opened a fiber-optic cable to Venezuela that connected the island to the global online infrastructure.

Cuba says that its still-high internet prices are a result of costs imposed by the U.S. trade embargo on the island. Independent observers blame the costs on political decisions to limit access, and on the cash-strapped socialist government's widespread use of its monopoly power to extract as much money as possible for goods and services considered luxuries. Many young people hope that the spread of access in recent years is the start of Cuba seeing internet more as a necessity and a right, like the free education and health care guaranteed by Cuba's socialist system.

"In my dreams, I'd like for the internet to be seen like arts and culture, and, as such, to be free for the whole population, just like access to education has been for the last 50 years," said David Vasquez, the 27-year-old director of the online magazine Cachivache Media. "It's very hard to know what the future will bring."

___

Correspondent Michael Weissenstein contributed to this report.

___

Andrea Rodriguez on Twitter: https://twitter.com/ARodriguezAP ; Michael Weissenstein on Twitter: https://twitter.com/mweissenstein .
Detailing all of the pop-up restaurants, pop-up bars, pop-up shops, pop-up galleries, and pop-up gigs in London, complete with maps. Please send any tips to dan.calladine@londonpopups.com or via twitter - I'm @LondonPopups
Mastic Woman Arrested for DWAI Drugs After Crashing Vehicle into Woman Pumping Gas, Victim Pronounced Dead at Hospital Day Later

Crime, Press Releases

By Long Island News & PR Published: January 15 2017

Suffolk County Police have arrested a Mastic woman for DWAI by drugs after she was involved in a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured woman pumping gas in Shirley.

Renee McKinney, 53, of Mastic was arrested for DWAI by drugs. Victim was pronounced dead a day after the incident in the hospital.

Update - January 15, 2017 - Rosalie Koenig, the pedestrian who was seriously injured in the crash in Shirley yesterday, was pronounced dead today at Stony Brook University Hospital.

The original press release is below.

Shirley, NY - January 14, 2017 - Suffolk County Police have arrested a Mastic woman for driving while ability impaired by drugs after she was involved in a motor vehicle crash that seriously injured a pedestrian who was pumping gas in Shirley this morning.

Renee McKinney was operating a 2002 Nissan Altima northbound on William Floyd Parkway near Moriches Middle Island Road at approximately 11:25 a.m. when she attempted to make a right turn into the Mobil gas station, missed the turn and struck a gas pump, knocking it over. Rosalie Koenig, who was pumping gas on the other side of the pump, became wedged between the pump and her vehicle, a 2014 Nissan Frontier.

Koenig, 62, of Mastic, was extricated by Emergency Services Section officers and was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center in East Patchogue by Ridge Ambulance Service for treatment of serious injuries. She was later transferred to Stony Brook University Hospital. McKinney, 53, of Mastic, was taken to Brookhaven Memorial Hospital Medical Center by Ridge Ambulance Service as a precaution. McKinneys passenger Iesha Lemay, 33, also of Mastic, was uninjured.

McKinney was arrested and charged with Driving While Ability Impaired by Drugs and is scheduled to be arraigned in First District Court tomorrow.

A criminal charge is an accusation. A defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
Packs of Marlboro cigarettes are displayed for sale at a convenience store in Somerville, Massachusetts July 17, 201 REUTERS/Brian Snyder

By Aditya Kalra

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Philip Morris International (PM.N) is fighting to keep a toehold in India's $11 billion tobacco market, as the government considers further tightening foreign investment rules in the sector, according to documents seen by Reuters.

In previously unreported letters from Philip Morris to the trade minister and an influential government think-tank, the U.S.-based company said the "discriminatory" and "protectionist" proposals would represent a blow to its plans to launch new products and make further investments in India.

The two letters dated May and October last year followed local media reports of a possible change in government policy. While the warnings may be part of the firm's negotiations, they show the level of concern the proposals are causing.

"The proposed ban will impact our future investments in India and also force a review of our overall operations, including tobacco crop purchases," Martin G. King, Philip Morris' Asia president, wrote on Oct. 13 to NITI Aayog, India's most influential government think-tank that has a say in federal policies, including those related to foreign investments.

India banned foreign investment in cigarette manufacturing in 2010, but it still allowed tobacco companies to invest through technology collaboration and licensing agreements. Investments could also be made by forming a trading company.

Over the past year, the government has been considering whether to stop these, in a bid to safeguard public health interests, according to the documents and a senior government official.

The new proposal was being discussed by the health and trade ministries at least as early as April last year, according to a government memorandum dated June 3. Neither ministry responded to requests for comment.

A Philip Morris spokesman said the company had "nothing further to add" when asked about the company's view on foreign investment.

The final decision on the rules, based on recommendations from various ministries, will be taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi's cabinet.

Story continues

BLOW TO PLANS

Philip Morris entered India in the late 1960s by acquiring a majority stake in the London-based parent of Godfrey Phillips India Ltd (GDFR.NS). It gradually reduced its stake in Godfrey over the years, in part due to regulatory changes.

Ahead of the 2010 ban on investments into cigarette manufacturing, Philip Morris formed a new wholesale trading company with Godfrey and an investment firm.

Under the current arrangement, Godfrey manufactures Marlboros while Philip Morris' trading firm helps promote them.

That part of its operations would not necessarily be impacted by the foreign investment changes being considered, as such changes usually do not apply to previous arrangements.

However, if the new rules were implemented, Philip Morris' future investment plans in India would be in jeopardy, as any form of new investment or collaboration would be outlawed.

Those plans, the company says, include the possible launch of its heat-not-burn electronic cigarette called iQOS, an alternative product which Philip Morris sees as a key step towards a smokeless future that could also bring health benefits to India.

Godfrey did not respond to a request for comment.

India is a key market for Philip Morris.

Even before the company contemplates introducing alternative products there, demand is strong for conventional cigarettes that still account for most of the company's $74 billion in global annual revenues.

The number of male cigarette smokers, aged between 15 and 69 years, almost trebled in India to 40 million between 1998 and 2015, according to BMJ Global Health estimates. Another 48 million smoke traditional hand-rolled cigarettes, called beedis.

Marlboro faces stiff competition from premium brands of India's largest cigarette maker, ITC Ltd (ITC.NS), which is part-owned by British American Tobacco (BAT) (BATS.L) as well as several state-run firms.

Still, its market share has doubled between 2012 and 2015 to 1 percent, data from Euromonitor International show.

LOBBYING DRIVE

Outlining the firm's importance to India's economy, Philip Morris said in its letters that it spent $460 million on tobacco leaf over the previous five years and more than $200,000 on corporate charities each year.

It says it has employed more than 90 people in its India unit.

The company does not give country-by-country figures for revenues or market share.

Philip Morris' King wrote to the trade minister in May, saying the reported proposals would "dent India's credibility as a reliable investment destination." He also said the move would unfairly favour the domestic industry.

"It is discriminatory in its application since it will provide undue leverage to the domestic industry at the expense of international products," King wrote.

ITC, which has a market share of almost 80 percent, did not comment on the proposed new policy.

King's letter was redirected by the trade ministry to the federal health ministry for further comment.

The health ministry rejected the company's arguments, citing India's obligations under an international tobacco control treaty and domestic laws.

The health ministry said allowing foreign tobacco money was against public health interests and would only lead to expansion and promotion of the sector.

"There should be a comprehensive ban on foreign collaboration in any form," the health ministry wrote on July 27, adding wholesale trading in tobacco should be banned as well.

Philip Morris wrote again in October to argue its case, this time to NITI Aayog, the think-tank.

It said an investment ban could "raise significant concerns" about India's compliance with its obligations under international trade and investment treaties.

(Additional reporting by Manoj Kumar; Editing by Mike Collett-White and Paritosh Bansal)
Culture / Art Republik

Organised by the NUT CCA Ideas Fest, the 10-day programme aims to bring the community together through art

Jan 15, 2017 | By Vimi Haridasan

Cities For People is the pilot edition of NTU CCA Ideas Fest, an annual platform to catalyse critical exchange of ideas and encourage thinking out of the box. It is a bottom-up approach linking the artistic and academic communities with grassroots initiatives. This pilot edition expands artistic interventions and engages contemporary issues such as air, water, food, environment, and social interaction, in connection to artistic and cultural fields, academic research, and design applications.

The 10-day programme, from January 13 to 22, coinciding with Singapore Art Week 2017 and Art After Dark at Gillman Barracks, comprises a conglomerate of performances, public installations, participatory projects and social experiments, urban farming initiatives, public dialogues, and a variety of workshops. It cumulates in a three-day Public Summit that brings together a prominent group of architects, theorists, researchers, curators, and community groups from around the world to discuss and exchange ideas about urbanism, environment, modes of exchange, critical spatial practices, and to envision a future city. Cities For People offers a platform to contemplate the possibilities for our shared space, reformulate our demands accordingly and project solutions and desires for the future.

This article was first published in Art Republik Issue 13.
trump

An unverified dossier provided to US intelligence officials alleges that President-elect Donald Trump "agreed to sideline" the issue of Russian intervention in Ukraine during his campaign after Russia promised to feed the emails it stole from prominent Democrats' inboxes to WikiLeaks.

The dossier was part of an opposition-research project conducted by a former British spy, Christopher Steele, at the behest of anti-Trump Republicans and, later, Democrats. Steele was the former head of the Russia desk in Moscow for Britain's Secret Intelligence Service, also known as MI6. The memos he wrote made their way to US intelligence officials sometime last year.

A summary of his findings, collected from the network of Russian intelligence sources he had cultivated, was presented to Trump, President Barack Obama, Vice President Joe Biden, and the country's top lawmakers on intelligence matters earlier this month as part of a classified briefing about Russia's intervention in the US presidential election.

The dossier's claim about a Ukraine-WikiLeaks quid pro quo alleges that Trump would refrain from speaking forcefully, if at all, during the 2016 presidential campaign about Russia's 2014 incursion into eastern Ukraine. In return, Russia would provide WikiLeaks the documents it stole from the Democratic National Committee.

Throughout the campaign, Trump broke from traditional GOP orthodoxy and established himself as the most sympathetic Republican candidate toward Russia, stressing a need to work with the country on various geopolitical issues.

Trump has not commented on the dossier's specific claims, but he did cite a conservative-leaning news outlet in a tweet Saturday to call the dossier itself a "complete fraud."

From 'lethal weapons' to 'appropriate assistance'

The Washington Post's Josh Rogin reported last year that "the Trump campaign orchestrated a set of events" just before the July 18 start of the Republican National Convention to change the language of an amendment to the GOP's draft policy on Ukraine that denounced Russia's "ongoing military aggression" in Ukraine.

Story continues

The amendment, proposed by GOP delegate Diana Denman at a meeting of the party's national-security subcommittee in Cleveland, called for maintaining and increasing sanctions on Russia in light of the country's annexation of Crimea and incursion into eastern Ukraine in 2014.

It also proposed "providing lethal defensive weapons" to the Ukrainian military to fend off separatist fighters backed by the Kremlin.

After Denman read her amendment aloud at the meeting, two Trump campaign representatives approached the chairman of the committee and asked that the proposal be tabled, Denman told The Daily Beast at the time.

"When I read my amendment, they got up and walked over and talked to the co-chairmen and they read it," she said. "That's when I was told that it was going to be tabled."

JD Gordon

Because campaign representatives are not permitted to publicly debate the merits of an amendment at a subcommittee platform meeting, Denman said, the Trump staffers approached her privately and asked her to change the language that called for sending arms to Ukraine.

One of the staffers, J.D. Gordon  then the Trump campaign's national-security policy representative for the RNC  told Business Insider last week that "Ms. Denman's memory of events is inaccurate."

Gordon did not comment on Denman's claim that he had approached her about the amendment privately. But he said he "never left" his "assigned side table, nor spoke publicly at the meeting of delegates during the platform meeting."

The national security subcommittee cochair Steve Yates told The Daily Beast, however, that he was "reasonably sure that the [Trump] campaign staff were in the room and that they gave an opinion" on Ukraine.

"I just can't say for sure what that opinion was," he said.

'This change came from Trump staffers'

After some debate, the platform passed with a provision to "provide appropriate assistance" to the Ukrainian army rather than provide it with "lethal defense weapons."

The debate over the language change was limited, however, because the committee had essentially run out of time to deliberate on the Ukraine platform after it was tabled by Trump's staffers, said a member of the committee present at the meeting who requested anonymity to discuss the deliberations.

The logic of the language change among those who supported it, the member said, was that adding language about arming Ukrainian soldiers would be akin to being open to waging war against Russia.

Gordon, the Trump representative, said that even after the language was altered the platform "still was much tougher on Russia than the Democrat Party Platform." Indeed, the final platform retained much of its tough language on Russia, including its calls to maintain or, if warranted, increase sanctions "until Ukraine's sovereignty and territorial integrity are fully restored."

ukraine army missiles otr 21 tochka mobile launch system

Including the call to send arms to Ukraine would not have been extreme or out of step with GOP orthodoxy on the issue, however.

"The language of the original amendment didn't seem strong," the committee member said. "Denman sent out an email before the meeting saying she was going to propose the amendment at the meeting, and no one replied  or, at least 'replied all'  saying they objected to it. I wrote back quickly saying I fully supported it, actually."

The amendment, the official said, "was controversial if you hold Donald Trump's express views on Russia, but it wasn't controversial with regard to GOP orthodoxy on the issue. So this change on Ukraine definitely came from Trump staffers  not from RNC staffers."

It was particularly surprising, the member added, given the Trump campaign representatives' "relatively hands-off approach" to other parts of the GOP's national-security platform.

That approach seems to have extended to the six other subcommittees tasked with crafting different parts of the GOP platform before the convention. Boyd Matheson, a Utah delegate on the Constitution Subcommittee, told The Daily Beast that the Trump campaign was "nowhere to be seen" during their deliberations.

Gordon, Trump's representative for the national security committee, said that every subcommittee "featured Trump campaign representatives at side tables to monitor the process and facilitate any questions from delegates."

Trump's campaign manager at the time of the convention, Paul Manafort, told MSNBC at the time that the change in the GOP's Ukraine policy "absolutely did not come from the Trump campaign."

Paul Manafort, Yanukovych , and WikiLeaks

Before the GOP's national security committee meeting last July, Trump had said multiple times that he thought the West should respond more forcefully to Russian aggression.

He gave a speech in Ukraine in September 2015, at the Yalta European Strategy Annual Meeting, where he said "our president is not strong and he is not doing what he should be doing for the Ukraine." He mentioned that he thought Europe should be "leading some of the charge" against Russia's aggression, too.

But his tone on Ukraine and Crimea appeared to shift after he hired Manafort to manage his campaign in April 2016, as Politico's Michael Crowley has reported.

At the end of July, for instance, Trump told ABC that "the people of Crimea, from what I've heard, would rather be with Russia than where they were. And you have to look at that, also." Days earlier, he had told reporters that he "would be looking at" the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia for its annexation of Crimea.

putin yanukovych

Manafort served as a top adviser to a pro-Russian political party in Ukraine from 2004 to 2012, and he helped the Russia-friendly strongman Viktor Yanukovych win the Ukrainian presidency in 2010.

Yanukovych was ousted on corruption charges in 2014 and fled to Russia under the protection of the Kremlin.

Secret ledgers uncovered by an anticorruption center in Kiev and obtained by The New York Times revealed that Yanukovych's political party, the pro-Russia Party of Regions, earmarked $12.7 million in undisclosed cash payments to Manafort for his work from 2007 to 2012.

Manafort has denied ever having collected the earmarked payments. But the unverified dossier on which top US leaders have been briefed alleges that Yanukovych "confided directly to Putin that he authorized kickback payments to Manafort," who "had been commercially active in Ukraine right up to the time (in March 2016) when he joined campaign team."

manafort

The dossier also alleges that Manafort, who resigned as Trump's campaign manager on August 19, served as a liaison between Trump's campaign team and Russian government officials:

"Speaking in confidence to a compatriot in late July 2016, Source E, an ethnic Russian and close associate of Republican US presidential candidate Donald TRUMP, admitted that there was a well-developed conspiracy of co-operation between them and the Russian leadership. This was managed on the TRUMP side by the Republican candidate's campaign manager, Paul MANAFORT, who was using foreign policy advisor, Carter PAGE, and others as intermediaries. The two sides had a mutual interest in defeating Democratic presidential candidate Hillary CLINTON, whom President PUTIN apparently both hated and feared."

That claim has not been independently verified. The FBI looked into both Page and Manafort last year for their respective ties to Russian officials and business interests.

The same source, "source E," told the author of the dossier that Russia had hacked the DNC and leaked the stolen documents to WikiLeaks "with the full knowledge and support of Trump and senior members of his campaign team."

manafort

Trump invoked WikiLeaks dozens of times on the campaign trail, often reading portions of the stolen and leaked emails from the Democratic National Committee and from Hillary Clinton campaign chair John Podesta.

"I love WikiLeaks,"he told listeners during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania in October. "It's amazing how nothing is secret today when you talk about the internet."

The dossier states that in return for Russia's feeding the documents to WikiLeaks, "the Trump team had agreed to sideline Russian intervention in Ukraine as a campaign issue and to raise defense commitments in the Baltics and Eastern Europe to deflect attention away from Ukraine, a priority for Putin who needed to cauterise the subject."

Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, has denied that the Russian government was the source of the hacked documents. As Business Insider's Paul Szoldra has written, however, WikiLeaks'own website seems to disprove his assertion.

"The site's anonymous drop box keeps no record of who submits documents, does not offer or require any identifying information, and there is no single WikiLeaks employee with the power to unmask an anonymous source," Szoldra wrote. "At least, that's what WikiLeaks claims."

NOW WATCH: Here's how much the presidency ages you





More From Business Insider


MARTINSVILLESome current and former local political leaders and the president of the local NAACP offered their opinions of what will be President Barack Obamas legacy.

Wanda Green, president of the Piedmont Democratic Womens Club, said she thinks President Obamas biggest accomplishment was the Affordable Care Act (commonly known as Obamacare). She added that some people do not want to give him credit for that accomplishment, pointing out the Republican majority in Congress is trying to undo it.

Obama did a lot of good things, Green said. He really cares about people, not politics in general.

Obama accomplished what he could in face of no, no, no from the Republican opposition, according to Green.

She also pointed out that hell go down in history as the first African-American president, which is an accomplishment in itself, Green said.

In his farewell address Jan. 10, President Obama said that during his administration the right to health insurance has been secured for another 20 million citizens, according to the White House website. There have, however, been multiple issues with the program since its rollout. People have complained about being forced to either buy health insurance or pay a penalty. Others have seen rising health insurance premiums.

Valeria Edwards, former secretary of the Martinsville-Henry County Democratic Committee, described Obama as caring, compassionate, and I really think he considered all people, no matter race, color, creed. He  did so much for all the people. Its a shame it wont come to fruition until hes out of office. Even with all the disrespect he got, he carried himself in a respectful manner. Were going to miss him.

Edwards said specific accomplishments of Obamas include the Affordable Care Act, helping people who could not afford and lacked access to health insurance. Thats a very important thing he did, Edwards said.

Edwards also mentioned how he (Obama) quietly, in his own professional way, took care of bin Laden. Thats one of the prime examples of how he worked. He wasnt always telling what his moves were going to be. He knew what people to talk to where it didnt compromise the work he did. Thats evident throughout his administration.

According to the White House website, Obama addressed the nation May 2, 2011, to announce that the United States has conducted an operation that killed Osama bin Laden, the leader of al Qaeda, and a terrorist whos responsible for the murder of thousands of innocent men, women and children. The killing of bin Laden in Pakistan came nearly 10 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in the United States, in which nearly 3,000 people died. The 9/11 attacks were carried out by al Qaeda, an organization headed by bin Laden.

Edwards also liked how selective Obama was in picking his cabinet and officers. Obama selected people to serve based on ability and they served well, Edwards believes.

She also feels that, Once elected, he (Obama) wasnt a Democratic president. He was a president for all people.

Another Democratic leader, Tony Millner, said he thinks Obama has done a great job. Millner cited Obamas accomplishments in the areas of race, understanding and health.

He really tried to help people, Millner said.

W.C. Fowlkes, a former chairman of the Henry County Republican Committee, said he thinks Obamas legacy will have good and bad aspects.

On the negative side, Fowlkes believes Democrats in Congress got off-track early by being very closed door during passage of the Affordable Care Act, and no Republicans voted for it. If it had been handled a little bit better, it could have been an outstanding legacy, because there was a need, Fowlkes said. It turned out that a significant percentage of the gross national product goes into funding the Affordable Care Act, he added.

Fowlkes also said Obama leaned a little bit left, more of a socialistic viewpoint, rather than a capitalistic viewpoint.

Also, in Fowlkes view, Obama promoted global more than country, but that the United States should have come first. And Fowlkes believes Obama has pushed the global warming issue without adequate substantiation for what he wants to do.

Fowlkes believes Obama did not adequately promote family unity.

On the positive side, Fowlkes said Obama was a two-term president, a gifted orator and good at selling programs.

Jim Enniss, chairman of the Martinsville Republican Party Committee, said Obama will be best known for a number of reasons, including being the first black U.S. president and amassing a huge federal deficit that will shackle the next two generations with this financial burden.

Enniss also believes Obama increased the racial divide by sowing discord between racial minorities and demonizing law enforcement as the enemy of the peoples; and that he diminished the United States as a leader in international affairs which used to promote freedom and opportunities between allied nations.

Enniss believes Obama assisted the rise to power of ISIS in the Middle East and the spread of radical jihadism worldwide; and that he advanced Obamacare with the aim of eventually bringing in socialized health care to be managed and controlled by federal agencies.

Also, in Enniss view, Obama will be remembered for championing the transgender movement both in the military and in the public sector where men can identify as women and frequent ladies restrooms to violate privacy and threaten their security.

Naomi Hodge Muse, president of the Martinsville-Henry County NAACP, said of Obamas legacy: He was the first elected black president. He has led a scandal-free presidential term. He normalized our relationship to the world after the U.S. invaded Iraq on a lie of weapons of mass destruction.

She also said Obama bailed out Wall Street, bailed out the banks, which in turn saved everybody's pensions which were tied to Wall Street.

She said he bailed out the auto industry, and took banks out of the student loan business.

Young people can stay on their parents insurance until age 26 as part of the Affordable Care Act, she said.

She added that Obama ended the Dont Ask, Dont Tell policy (which banned openly gay, lesbian or bisexual people from military service).

Obama won the Nobel Prize as the world embraced a new direction for the U.S. in world affairs, she said. Obama told President Hoshni Mubarak to to step down in Egypt.

She added: The list is long. On the downside his election fueled  latent racism (in America).
ARARAT Youll see the building as you head down Marigold Lane. Its right off the side of the road in Ararat. Thats where youll find the Hollow History Center and an interesting tale about Patrick Countys past.

I know of no other story like this one, Shelby Inscore Puckett said.

Pucketts great-great-great aunt Orelena lived not too far from the center, with her husband John in a little cabin on Groundhog Mountain. Just take a trip down the Blue Ridge Parkway and there it is, right off the road at Milepost 189.9. During the first 50 years of her life, Orelena gave birth to 24 children, losing them all in infancy. Over the final 52, she served as a midwife, helping more than 1,000 children come into this world.

Historians believe that Puckett was born around 1837 in North Carolina, although the exact date appears lost to time. Patrick County records show that she married John Puckett when she turned 16. After that, the couple settled at Groundhog Mountain in that cabin. In 1889, Orelena found her calling. A pregnant neighbor was going into labor, but nobody could find a doctor or anyone to help out, so she stepped in to serve as the midwife, according to documents at the Library of Virginia. After that, she went a bit farther to help another family friend. By 1890, her career was in full swing. Local documents state that she went as far as 20 miles at times.

From then until her death at 102, Orelena Puckett or Aunt Orelena as some called her, never lost a child as a midwife, helping in more than 1,000 recorded births. She also never took one cent for her services, according to the Library of Virginias Women in History project.

The word that I use, and I know its kind of an overused word, but I think shes a remarkable woman, Shelby said.

While none of her own children survived, Orelenas story lives on through the dedication Shelby and husband Raleigh Puckett show to revealing her legacy.

When Shelby first heard Orelenas story in grade school, the tale captivated her. However, it wouldnt be until several years later  after she wed Raleigh Puckett  that she would discover a familial connection to the woman.

Orelena Puckett married John Puckett and John was a brother to Hosea, who is Raleighs great grandfather, Shelby said. John was also related to my great-great grandmother, Jane Puckett, which made me and Raleigh related, but we did not know that when we got married.

Both interested in history in general, Shelby and Raleigh decided to do what they could to honor Orelenas memory and her dedicated service to the families of Patrick and nearby Carroll counties.

When you consider a woman would give birth and lose 24 children and then take up a career of being a midwife after she can no longer give birth and help other mothers bring very healthy babies into the world, it just seems to me that that took a courage, a spirit of an amazing attitude to do that, Shelby said.

While it would have been easy to turn a cold shoulder to those in need due to her own harrowing experiences, Orelena instead leant a helping hand.

I think about that. I think she could have become a very bitter woman, Shelby said. If you lose all those children and she has no idea why shes losing those children, you would think, how could she see other people bring healthy babies into the world and never have one of hers?

Relatives who personally knew Orelena and told stories to Shelby said that being down and out simply wasnt her style.

Im told by people who knew her that she had a good sense of humor and loved, absolutely loved, children, Shelby said.

Family life

Life in the Puckett cabin wasnt always rainbows and sunshine, however, friends and neighbors told Shelby.

There were stories about her relationship with her husband, John, Shelby said. Some people said John was abusive to her. Some people said that wasnt true.

While Shelby said shed likely never know the real story, she couldnt help but wonder if Orelenas relationship with John affected her prenatal health. Each baby was either stillborn or passed away only a few days after birth.

What I would really like to know is, what was her true relationship with John? Shelby pondered. I have read so many stories and have read so many different accounts. I even read, and I hesitate to say this, but I have read some ladies said the reason she lost her babies was because he would beat her.

Shelby once spoke with an OB/GYN about the troubling question that plagued her mind.

He said in order for a woman to be beaten to the point where she would have lost a baby, she would have had to have been in really bad shape, Shelby said. He did not believe that story at all.

While Raleigh and Shelby have read some accounts that say John and Orelena didnt have a tumultuous relationship, they simply seek the truth.

Finding the truth behind Orelenas story can be harder because of the puzzle involved. Documents are filed under multiple spellings. Census takers wrote down all of their notes, so those documents are based on how they heard a given word. In her case, a look at the records shows it listed as Olinah in 1850, Orlena in 1880, Orlenna in 1910, Orlean in 1920 and Orlene in 1930. The Bulletin looked at her 1913 pension request, stored at the Library of Virginia, which was filed based on her husbands service in the Confederate army and her name is spelled Orleana.

We do know for certain that Orelena and John left Patrick County in 1875, moving over to a two-story house he built in Carroll County. They would remain in that home until Johns death, listed in the pension request as consumption, in March of 1912. Orelena would stay in that house even further, up until 1939. At that point, the Blue Ridge Parkway was being created and the land was needed to help build the road. She was forced to sell her land and move, at the age of 102. Later that year, she would pass on. There are however very few quotes or documents that shed light on the rest of her personal life and so for that, Shelby has to rely on finding people who knew her or their family members.

Theres usually a kernel of truth in things if you start hearing that many stories being told, Shelby said. So I would just love to know. I truly would love to know what her relationship was with him and how his relationship was with her.

Honoring history

Several years ago, Shelby, Raleigh and neighbors took it upon themselves to clean the cemetery where 20 of Orelena and Johns babies rest. The other four are in unmarked graves, likely buried near their parents farther up Groundhog Mountain.

The couple and their neighbors built a fence around the cemetery using exactly 100 split locust rails. Shelby and Raleigh mow and maintain the cemetery to this day.

Generally, history is important to us, Shelby said. A part of any history is the gravesites where people are buried.

However, Orelenas legacy isnt the only story Raleigh and Shelby enjoy sharing.

We both have a very deep interest in family history, Shelby said. We have spent a tremendous amount of our free time and lifetime working on history: local history, family history. Its kind of like our avocation. Its a passion that we have.

Thats partly why the couple created The Hollow History Center at 36 Marigold Lane, a location with six log structures on the site. The log village began in 1998 when the couple attained the log cabin that belonged to Raleighs other great grandfather, Riley Puckett, and moved the home onto their property.

Now, Raleigh and Shelby host tours at The Hollow History Center.

We do tours. We have school children who come. We show them how people lived in the time period when you would have had a log cabin, Shelby said. We have a kitchen cabin that attaches to Grandfather Pucketts cabin. We also have an old tobacco barn that we have turned into a research center.

In addition, theres a collection of old farm tools, family and community scrapbooks and a plethora of other items and artifacts at the center. Raleigh also hosts demonstrations where he grinds corn and sells cornmeal.

One of our log structures is a little apple drying kiln and we dry apples every year and invite friends and neighbors to come and do that, Shelby said.

Only two miles south of Orelenas childrens graves, Shelby invites those interested in the midwifes story and other local tales to visit The Hollow History Center in Ararat, or to drive up the mountain to see Orelenas cabin.

Its an interesting place, I think, Shelby said. Im proud of it. Im proud of the work weve put into it and what were maintaining there.

To arrange a tour, email Shelby at sipuckett@ls.net or call (336) 268-1316.
Dick Gautier.jpg

Dick Gautier, center, in a publicity photo for "Get Smart" with Don Adams and Barbara Feldon.

Dick Gautier, who starred in the original Broadway production of "Bye, Bye Birdie" and later played Hymie the Robot on the TV's "Get Smart," has died. He was 85.

Gautier died Friday night at an assisted living facility in Arcadia, Calif., after a long illness, his daughter Denise told The Hollywood Reporter.

Gautier received a Tony nomination for playing Conrad Birdie, the character based on Elvis Presley, in the 1960 stage production of "Bye, Bye Birdie" starring Dick Van Dyke.

He appeared as Hymie the Robot in the 1960s spy spoof "Get Smart," which was created by Mel Brooks and Buck Henry.

Brooks tapped Gautier to star as Robin Hood in the short-lived 1975 TV series "When Things Were Rotten."

His other TV credits include "Mr. Terrific," "Love American Style" and "Fantasy Island." In his later years, he was a popular voice actor working on "G.I. Joe, "The Transformers" and "Batman: The Animated Series."

A U.S. Navy veteran, Gautier is survived by three children, four grandchildren and five great grandhildren.
MASHANTUCKET, CT - "Empress of Soul" Gladys Knight took the stage last night in the Grand Theater at Foxwoods Resort Casino for a stunning performance.

It's hard to believe that the queen of R&B is already in her early 70's, delivering just under a two hour set without missing a beat.

Knight brought the audience back to the days when music was humble, folks were "dancing in the streets" and Marvin had people asking "What's Going On." She reminisces about performing in local clubs, and her first time meeting mentor Ella Fitzgerald; "I was up on stage, and I looked out into the audience and couldn't believe it Ella Fitzgerald was there to see ME! I nearly fell off the stage!" moving into a performance of "Someone To Watch Over Me" on a 50's style ribbon microphone.

Her Fitzgerald cover was not the only of the night. In fact, she took many moments throughout the evening to tip her hat to some of the newer Soul-inspired vocalists in the industry today including Sam Smith with her cover of "Stay With Me" and a few mash-ups of new and old, Lionel Richie's "Hello" with Adele's "Hello" and a duet with a male vocalist that included Bruno Mars' "When I Was Your Man" and Alicia Keys' "If I Was Your Woman."

Knight is still able to hit her highs and lows with pitch-perfect accuracy and put on a rather energetic performance, interacting with fans and dancing across the stage at times. The sound in the auditorium was top notch, sounding more like a recording than that of a live performance.

The night was opened up by R&B hall-of-famers The Whispers, who celebrate their 53rd anniversary this year, and came out with the same fire and flare that they would have had when they first started. Missing two of the original members, the three remaining members had the crowd on their feet and clapping and bobbing along with hits like "Rock Steady" and "The Beat Goes On."

Knight continues her tour on Jan. 15 in New Jersey and closes out her tour on Feb. 11 in Minnesota.

Check out photos from the show above, and for more information about Gladys Knight and The Whispers, visit their official websites.
Plans for the Boston Police Department to purchase technology created to comb social media for possible criminal activity have been scrapped.

Boston Police Commission William Evans said in a statement that the department received responses to request for proposals for social media analytic technology, but the department decided to forgo contracting with any of the vendors. The department had plans to spend $1.4 million on the technology.

Evans is having his department re-draft the request for proposals "to ensure that the Department acquires the appropriate level of technology, while also protecting the privacy of the public."

"After reviewing the submitted proposals I felt that the technology that was presented exceeds the needs of the department," Evans said. "I met with Mayor (Marty) Walsh and with his support we have decided not to enter into a contract at this time. Our plan from the beginning was to use this process to learn and examine the capabilities of the technology and use that information to make informed decisions."

The department plans on soliciting feedback from the public on how technology can be used to protect the public.

Several groups, including the American Civil Liberties Union of Massachusetts and the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, sent a letter to Walsh and Evans last month urging the city and police to cancel the search for the social media scanning technology.

"This proposal raises numerous red flags," the ACLU wrote. "Among the concerns, the program would chill speech protected by the First Amendment, track people's associations, and target communities already subjected to extra scrutiny, including Muslims and people of color."
Passenger planes of Cathay Pacific Airways park at the Hong Kong Airport terminal in Hong Kong, China March 7, 2016. REUTERS/Bobby Yip/File Photo (Reuters)

By Jamie Freed and Brenda Goh

SYDNEY/SHANGHAI (Reuters) - Cathay Pacific Airways <0293.HK> is expected to announce job cuts, cost reductions and to shift flights to its short-haul arm when it unveils the results of a key review this week, as it grapples with growing competition from Chinese carriers.

The 71-year-old Hong Kong airline is under pressure to combat aggressive state-supported mainland carriers, and to position itself against an "open skies" deal signed last month between China and Australia.

Cathay scrapped its second-half profit forecast in October and announced a review of its business. The December edition of Cathay's staff magazine, seen by Reuters, reported Chief Executive Ivan Chu would unveil the results on Jan. 18.

Cathay declined to comment on the details of its review.

"The new management direction has to look past market share gains," said Will Horton, a Hong Kong-based analyst for aviation consultancy CAPA. "That hasn't been profitable and will become more competitive. It is well past time to get serious on costs."

Cathay's share price has tumbled to its lowest level since the depths of the global financial crisis in 2009, and none of the 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters have a "buy" recommendation on the stock.

Some analysts say the carrier will for 2017 report its first full-year loss since 2010.

The rapid growth of Chinese rivals such as China Eastern Airlines <600115.SS> <0670.HK> and China Southern Airlines <600029.SS> <1055.HK> has put pressure on ticket prices at a time when Cathay's costs have risen because of the strength of the Hong Kong dollar against the Chinese yuan.

Lower cost hometown rival Hong Kong Airlines is also expanding rapidly to destinations served by Cathay.

ENTER THE DRAGON

James Pearson, who heads Basair Aviation College in Brisbane, said Cathay may need to slash its 33,700 workforce, reduce frequencies on underperforming routes and cut costs at short-haul arm Cathay Dragon, where it could shift more flights.

Story continues

"[It could also] focus more greatly on ancillary products to drive incremental revenue, a focus on the back-end of the plane which hasn't traditionally been Cathay's forte," Pearson said.

Cathay does not have a low-cost arm, and costs at its short-haul carrier Cathay Dragon are nearly as high as those at the parent, said one source with knowledge of the situation who was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

Cathay is also caught on the wrong side of China's "one country, two systems" arrangement toward Hong Kong, as the regional hub is excluded from the air transport deals China is cutting.

The latest was an open skies agreement signed in October between China and Australia, a key market for Cathay for both direct flights and connections throughout Asia and to Europe.

Flights to the South West Pacific and South Africa - the bulk of them to Australia - represented 13.6 percent of Cathay's capacity in the first half of 2016.

The open skies deal allows mainland carriers unlimited capacity on routes to Australia, at a time when Cathay is not allowed to add any more flights to Australia's biggest airports and can only increase capacity by using larger aircraft.

Capacity between Australia and mainland China grew by 61.6 percent in the five years ended 2016, according to data from Flightglobal. Over the same period, capacity between Australia and Hong Kong grew by just 2.6 percent.

In an emailed statement to Reuters, the Hong Kong government said it had not held major talks with Australia about expanding air access since 2015, when no deal was reached.

Chinese hubs such as Guangzhou, Shanghai and Beijing have seized market share as a result.

"Almost three years ago, the three Chinese hubs shared less than a third of Hong Kong's connections. Now it's catching up," said Singapore-based UOB Kay Hian analyst K. Ajith, who has a "sell" rating on Cathay.

"One must rise while the other one must fall."

(Reporting by Jamie Freed and Brenda Goh; Editing by Alex Richardson)
A 20-year-old man was stabbed several times during a party inside the Stoughton home owned by University of Massachusetts Boston Chancellor J. Keith Motley.

Police were called to 22 Palisades Circle around 2:45 a.m. Sunday for a report of a stabbing at the home. The male victim was taken to a Boston hospital.

Assessor records show Motley, who said in a statement that he was not home at the time of the stabbing, owns the home.

"I have learned about an incident that occurred at my residence last night and am very concerned about it as well as the health of the young man who was injured," Motley said in a statement. "I was traveling and not home at the time, but I am returning as quickly as possible so that I can fully understand what happened and respond accordingly. I will have more to say at that time."

The victim's friends flagged down an ambulance after first trying to drive him to the hospital, according to WCVB News. The television station reports the victim was stabbed four times. Police did not release an update on the victim's condition.

Investigators are asking any who attended the house party or if anyone has information to call detectives at (781) 344-2575.
STERLING, Conn. - Police have charged a 19-year-old with the murder of a man who disappeared while riding his dirt bike the day after Christmas and was found dead 18 days later.

Kevin Weismore, of 61 Laiho Road, Sterling is being held on $1 million bail and is scheduled to appear in Superior Court in Danielson on Tuesday. He was arrested Friday on charges of murder and tampering with evidence, Connecticut State Police said.

Weismore is being accused of killing Todd Allen, 18, who disappeared on Dec. 26 from his home on 42 Dixon Road, Sterling, state police said.

Allen, who was better known as TJ, had told people he was planning to ride trails, which he knew well, but did not return home after dark. At about 3 p.m., about two hours after he left, people he knew received texts which said he had crashed and injured his leg, police said

His last cellphone activity came at approximately 2:30 p.m. in the general area of Margaret Henry Road in Killingly, police said.

Multiple searches had been conducted by a variety of people including Connecticut State Troopers and State Police K9 Teams, Search and Rescue K9 Teams, the Department of Energy and Environmental Protection, Sterling Fire Department, South Killingly Fire Department, Plainfield Police Department, Rhode Island police departments and the Connecticut State Police Aviation Unit,

Allen's body was found on Friday. "The deceased appeared to have sustained multiple stab wounds," police said.

The Connecticut Office of the Chief Medical Examiner will conduct an autopsy and investigation to determine cause, manner and time of death, police said.

State Police announced on Friday when Allen was found they had identified a "person of interest" in his death. Weismore was arrested several hours after.
NORTH ADAMS  A man from Connecticut is now facing three years in prison after leading police on a car chase in Adams in 2013, according to The Berkshire Eagle.

29-year-old Luis Minaya led authorities on a chase that ended when he crashed his car into a guardrail on December 13, 2013.

Police had initially attempted to pull Minaya over after an alert was issued by North Adams authorities listing him as a suspect in a recent shoplifting incident at a local Walmart.

Minaya pleaded guilty to charges related to the incident in Northern Berkshire District Court on Wednesday and was sentenced to three years in prison. Minaya's charges included negligent operation of a motor vehicle and failure to stop for police.

In 2016, Minaya was sentenced to five years in Connecticut State Prison for second-degree sexual assault. He is currently serving that sentence and will be eligible for parole in 2017.
DB Cooper FBI

This undated artist sketch shows the man known as D.B. Cooper from recollections of the passengers and crew of a Northwest Airlines jet he hijacked between Portland and Seattle on Thanksgiving eve in 1971.

(AP file photo)

A group of scientists selected by federal officials in Seattle have come across new evidence that could help identify the mysterious hijacker known as D.B. Cooper.

Citizen Sleuths has been analyzing particles found on the clip-on-tie that Cooper left behind after he hijacked a Northwest Orient airplane in 1971. He parachuted away with $200,000 ransom on a rainy night over the Pacific Northwest and has never been found.

The group announced their findings on Travel Channel's "Expedition Unknown."

Tom Kaye, lead researcher for the group, told KING-TV, Channel 5, in Seattle that a powerful microscope used in their investigation found more than 100,000 particles on the JCPenny tie. Those particles included Stronium, Cerium, Sulfide and Titanium.

Those elements were used at the Boeing Co. during the development of its supersonic transport plane in the 1960s and 1970s. The evidence could point to Cooper being a contractor or employee at Boeing, where he would have had to worn a tie and been exposed to those particles, Kaye said.

Last summer, the FBI announced it was no longer actively investigating the case, saying that it had "exhaustively reviewed all credible leads" during its 45-year investigation and has redirected those resources to other priorities.

On Nov. 24, 1971, a man who gave his name as Dan Cooper claimed shortly after takeoff in Portland, Ore., that he had a bomb, leading the flight crew of the Northwest Orient plane to land in Seattle. Passengers were exchanged for parachutes and ransom money.

The flight then took off for Mexico with the suspect and flight crew on board. The hijacker parachuted from the plane after dark as it flew south, apparently over a rugged, wooded region.
Police lights

(Associated Press)

WEST SPRINGFIELD - Massachusetts State Police are currently on the scene of a two-car crash near exit 13 southbound on Interstate-91.

At least one travel lane is closed while public safety officials deal with the crash that happened shortly afte 4 p.m. Police did not have immediate information about any injuries the accident caused.

A truck for W.B. Mason office supply and another vehicle were involved in the crash.

Police are recommending people avoid the area if possible.

This is a breaking story. Masslive will update as soon as more information is available.
dustin holst-grubbe.jpg

Dustin Holst-Grubbe

(Connecticut State Police)

BRIDGEWATER, Conn. - A New York man is being held on more than $1 million bail after being charged in a five-month old home invasion and shooting of a 65-year-old man.

Dustin Holst-Grubbe, 21, of Millerton, New York, was officially charged with home invasion, assault of an elderly person, assault in the first degree with a deadly weapon, stealing a firearm, first degree burglary, two counts of 3rd degree burglary, two counts of 2nd degree larceny, two counts of third degree larceny, criminal mischief, criminal trespass and credit card theft related to the Aug. 4 home invasion, Connecticut State Police said.

Holst-Grubbe is being accused of shooting and injuring Victor P. Compe, 65, during the home invasion and multiple other crimes in New York and Connecticut. police said.

Immediately after the crime, Connecticut State Police troopers assigned to the Southbury headquarters and those from the Western District Major Crime initially searched the wooded area after learning a suspect fled from the home. While they did not find the suspect, state troopers found a car which was traced as being stolen from New York and a shotgun believed to have been used in the shooting, police said.

At the same time a neighbor reported his car had been stolen from his driveway. Police in Connecticut and New York continued to investigate, following leads on a trail of cars believed to have been stolen by the suspect, police said.

"It was determined that the suspect, identified as Dustin Holst-Grubbe, was involved in multiple crimes throughout the district," Connecticut Police said.

Holst-Grubbe turned himself into New York State Police on Aug. 7 after police sought warrants for his arrest for burglary charges and other crimes in the state, police said.

The Connecticut State Police and Western District Major Crimes unit has held an active arrest warrant for Holst-Grubbe, stemming from the shooting, home invasion and other crimes since August. On Friday he was extricated to Connecticut and arraigned in Litchfield Superior Court, police said.

A judge set his bond at $1,025,000, police said.
princeza.jpg

Princeza Aponte, 25, of Springfield

(Springfield Police Department)

These were the top stories out of Springfield District Court last week, plus two from the week before. If you missed any, click on the links below to read them now.

Exotic dancer Princeza Aponte denies kicking Springfield police officer

Police: Springfield man captured on video stealing video security camera

Suspect in Springfield double shooting held on $250,000 bail

Woman charged with bomb threat at state building allegedly mad about not getting ride to work

Reputed Springfield gang member denies robbing ex-girlfriend; bail set at $100,000



Springfield's most arrested? Man with 54 shoplifting charges jailed after picking up 55th



Springfield man with 12 restraining orders arrested in new abuse case

'Overwhelming' marijuana smell leads Springfield police to drug, gun arrests



Springfield man denies assaulting mother of his unborn child

Police: Tuesday was bad day for 'Black Friday' heroin dealer in Springfield
Imagine a time, maybe not too long from now, when most city folk dont own a car. Its so normal that many teens dont even bother getting a drivers license.

By Mike Rogoway | The Oregonian/OregonLive

Full Story: http://www.oregonlive.com/silicon-forest/index.ssf/2017/01/daimler_betting_on_urban_trans.html
PARIS (AP)  The Latest on a Paris conference on Mideast peace (all times local):

8:35 p.m.

The chief Palestinian representative to France says moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv would violate international law and adds that he does not think Donald Trump's new administration will make such a decision.

Salman Elherfi told The Associated Press that a Mideast peace conference Sunday in Paris sent a "very clear" message calling on everyone not to make any changes that would affect a final solution for the region, especially regarding the status of Jerusalem.

He says "I do not believe that the United States will violate international law because transferring the embassy of the United States into an occupied territory would mean admitting the annexation of this territory by Israel."

He also warned the incoming Trump administration not to "underestimate" the message of peace sent by the conference or the UN resolution last month condemning Israel's construction of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Elherfi insisted "the option of two states is not the dream of a single country, but it has become the concern of the whole world to protect it."

 This item corrects the spelling of the envoy's name to Elherfi.

___

7:50 p.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is defending an international call for renewed efforts at Mideast peace.

Kerry, speaking to reporters after taking part in a peace conference Sunday in Paris, rejected Israeli criticism of the meeting, saying the concept of a two-state solution to the conflict is "threatened" and must be reinforced if it is ever to happen. The conference's final communique, he said, endorses a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians without imposing a resolution.

Kerry said it was significant that the statement recognizes both the need to end Palestinian incitement and violence as well as Israel's security needs.

Story continues

Kerry expressed concern about the incoming Trump administration's intention to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, something the Palestinians and the Arab world have strongly warned against.

He says "this is not the right time ... they don't have peace, there are issues of sovereignty that are enormously important to be resolved by the parties."

___

6:45 p.m.

The Palestinians have welcomed the closing statement from the Mideast peace conference in Paris calling on both Israel and the Palestinians to restate their commitment to a peace settlement and to refrain from unilateral actions.

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said Sunday's statement issued by more than 70 countries amounted to a rejection of Israel's occupation and settlement construction in captured territories. He says it sends a message that Israel "cannot achieve peace and stability" without ending its occupation.

Erekat urged U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to support the statement and last month's U.N. Security Council resolution that declared Israeli settlements illegal.

Trump has rejected the U.N. Security Council's resolution and signaled he will be more tolerant of Israeli settlement construction.

___

6:15 p.m.

France's foreign minister says moving the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem from its current place in Tel Aviv would be a "provocation" and a threat to efforts for a two-state solution to the protracted Mideast conflict.

Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault closed a Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday insisting that much of the world wants revived negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

He cautioned U.S. President-elect Donald Trump against moving the U.S. embassy before new peace negotiations can be held. The move could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct talks.

Ayrault said France would work to maintain good relations with the Trump administration but stressed French fears that an embassy move will unleash new Mideast violence.

___

6 p.m.

More than 70 countries have called on Israel and the Palestinians to restate their commitment to a peace settlement and to refrain from unilateral actions.

The closing statement at a Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday was meant to send a powerful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians.

Trump's campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence  the solution favored by the international community.

The statement urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also called for them not to take one-side actions that could prejudge talks.

While the Palestinians welcomed the conference, Israel called it "rigged."

___

2:30 p.m.

Sending a forceful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration, more than 70 world diplomats gathered in Paris on Sunday to say they want peace in the Mideast  and that establishing a Palestinian state is the only way to achieve it.

French President Francois Hollande said he was sounding an "alert" that peace talks should be revived for "the security of Israel, security of all the region" before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution.

While the Palestinians welcomed Sunday's conference, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called it "rigged" and cooked up behind Israel's back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's administration did not take part, and even the conference organizers weren't expecting any breakthroughs.

___

11:30 a.m.

French diplomats fear President-elect Donald Trump will unleash new tensions in the Mideast by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem.

The French president warned Trump against any "improvised" or destabilizing actions after he takes office Friday.

"It is not a question of dictating to the parties," Francois Hollande insisted, acknowledging Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu's hostility toward the conference. "Only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can lead to peace. No one will do it in their place."

"The world cannot, should not, resign itself to the status quo," he told diplomats Sunday in Paris who came from across Europe, the Mideast and other regions.

Hollande urged them to support peace efforts by offering economic incentives to Israelis and Palestinians.

___

10:30 a.m.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly outspoken about Mideast tensions, was in Paris defending American interests at the conference in his last major diplomatic foray before he leaves office.

The conference marked the end of eight years of failed U.S. efforts at Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy.

Israel President Benjamin Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marked the "last flutters of yesterday's world."

"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

Palestinian officials hope the conference can lay out terms for eventual negotiations, notably on how to share Jerusalem and the need to stop Israeli settlements.

___

8 a.m.

According to a draft statement obtained by The Associated Press, the Paris Mideast peace conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution."

It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognize" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

A draft circulating Sunday did not include direct reference to moving the U.S. embassy, a move that could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct negotiations.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.

"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known famous French Nazi hunter, said.

___

Aron Heller in Jerusalem, and Philippe Sotto and Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.
Exitstage left!

Thats what a lot of business owners are saying  and doing. In fact, sales of small businesses reached record levels in 2016. A total of 7,842 closed transactions were reported this past year, the highest annual total of small business sales since online business for sale market place BizBuySell first started tracking data in 2007, according to the companys quarterly Insight Report published this week. Sixty-three percent of respondents to the survey also said they experienced more deals in 2016 than in 2015.

By Gene Marks

Full Story: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/on-small-business/wp/2017/01/13/a-record-number-of-small-business-owners-are-selling-their-companies/?utm_term=.e7c75e488f3a
A longtime friendship between two doctors  in Florida and Butte  has resulted in free access for Montanans to a new healthcare professionals website.

http://www/StatPearls.com comes from some of the same folks behind WebMD. Its designed to help doctors, nurses, and other professionals study for medical exams important in their respective fields.

Annie Pentilla [email protected]

Full Story: http://helenair.com/news/state-and-regional/webmd-co-creator-partners-with-butte-physician-for-new-web/article_6bdce871-13e1-5645-821e-bf22b71b51ea.html
For the first time in two decades, the US dollar and the Euro hit parity in July 2022. The currency, shared by 19 European countries, has slumped more than 11 per cent since the beginning of this year.

But the weakened Euro holds great economic significance for businesses as well as individuals, especially those earning and spending in US dollars, or in currencies pegged to the dollar. In terms of real estate too, while certain property values have gone up, the cost in plenty of areas has come down from what it was two years ago.

June 2022 alone recorded the highest figures with over 78 million investments in the Portugal Golden Visa program, a first since 2020.

Rise in numbers:

More than 78 million investments in Portugal Golden Visa in June.

Real estate in Lisbon growing at a rate of 2.5% annually since 2016.

Santa Maria da Feira experienced an annual growth of 12%.

Demand for properties has grown by 20% in Porto and Sintra.

83% of investors in Portugal foresee a rise in demand from tenants for sustainable properties.

This certainly also makes it the best time to invest in a long-term residence permit in Europe. June 2022 alone recorded the highest figures with over 78 million investments in the Portugal Golden Visa program, a first since 2020.

Jeremy Savory, founder and CEO of Savory & Partners  a leading global residency and citizenship by investment (RCBI) company headquartered in Dubai, says, If I can talk about the impact in the context of the RCBI industry, its an excellent opportunity for those earning in dollar-pegged currencies. Right now, many investors see everything turning red in terms of stock, crypto, and real estate. Now is the time for people to invest in something that is already discounted, diversifies their currency, and with interest rates that dont directly affect their investment.

Real estate boom

Savory points out that the Portuguese Golden Visa program is one of the best ways for investors to access this market. Adding, however, that time is of essence here. Cyprus has closed down its citizenship program and the Montenegro citizenship program is expected to close by the end of the year, Turkey has increased its investment threshold and Greece is expected to follow suit.

I think we have some months before it comes into effect. Portugal only changed their legislation nine months ago, so I cant see them changing it again so soon. Increased threshold does not mean higher fees. It means you just end up buying more real estate and theres nothing wrong with buying more property.

Best places to invest in real estate in Portugal

As a long-term resident of Portugal himself, Savory says Portugals golden visa gives the investor the opportunity to be part of one of the most progressive real estate destinations in the world.

Three popular neighbourhoods across Portugal that according to him are the best for families to choose to buy a home in are Melides, the Municipality of Oeiras and Belem. Melides, right next to Comporta, is fast becoming one of the most expensive price per sqm attracting ultra HNW Europeans and Americans, he says, adding that you can invest in an office space in Oeiras, get a Golden Visa, and you would get very high-quality tenants too.

A personal favourite of Savory, Belem, with its beautiful parks, beach-front restaurants and cultural landmarks is a preferred real estate investment.

Jeremy alongside his wife, Helena Savory, expanded the family business with the RCBI company, and with just the two of them in the beginning, Savory and Partners has now grown to become a global corporation with over 60 industry experts worldwide.

Helena Savory, Managing Director of the company and a mother of two young boys says access to exceptional education, high quality healthcare, low cost of living, safety and its amazing climate made Portugal a preferred option for her to gain residency in as a family and businesswoman.

As an example, a coffee and the much-loved pastry, Pastel de Nata, would cost you not more than 1 (equivalent to $0.96 cents), which shows you the unbelievably low cost of living in Portugal.  Helena Savory

Helena adds that Portugals education sector is impressively expansive. Its higher education system is ranked as the 35th best in the world. Public education is free and compulsory until the age of 18. She notes that the country occupies the sixth position in the ranking of countries with the highest percentage of women entrepreneurs, ahead of countries such as Spain, Italy or Ireland. Women are making their way to the top of the business ladder, and investment migration can help them take their success to a global stage.

Portugal is witnessing an increased interest in investors looking for property and recently, the Green Visa scheme was introduced through which investors can obtain the Portuguese passport with an investment in environmental projects.

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In the week ended January 13, 2017, the number of rigs drilling for oil in the United States totaled 522, down by seven compared with the prior week and up seven compared with a total of 515 a year ago. Including 136 other rigs drilling for natural gas and one rig listed as "miscellaneous," there are a total of 659 working rigs in the country, down by six week over week and up by nine from a year ago. The data come from the latest Baker Hughes North American Rotary Rig Count released on Friday.

After nearly four months of consecutive weekly gains, the number of rigs fell last week, partly the result of freezing weather across much of the country, including Texas.

ALSO READ: America's 25 Dying Industries

West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil for February delivery traded down about 1.3% on Friday to settle at $52.37. Crude prices decreased by about 3% week over week. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported last Wednesday that crude supplies had increased by 4.1 million barrels in the week ended January 6, and that gasoline supplies had jumped by 5 million barrels.

Last Monday, the U.S. Department of Energy issued a notice of sale for 8 million barrels of crude oil currently held in the nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve (SPR). Bids are due on January 17 and deliveries will commence on March 1.

The sale is being held to help pay for maintenance to the salt caverns that are used to store the SPR. As of January 6, the SPR held 695.1 million barrels of crude, equal to 149 days of import supplies. As a member of the OECD, the United States has committed to maintaining a strategic reserve equal to 90 days of import quantities. The average price paid per SPR barrel is $29.70.

ALSO READ: America's Most Hated Companies

The sale notice specifically requires that the buyer use a Jones Act vessel to transport the crude if any is purchased to be shipped to a U.S. destination. The 1920 law requires that shipping between U.S. coastal cities be done on vessels built in the United States and carrying a U.S. flag, unless the purchaser is granted a waiver of the requirement.

Story continues

The minimum size of a purchase that will be transported a Jones Act vessel is 290,000 barrels. When the Energy Department held a similar sale in 2011, the minimum purchase was 500,000 barrels. Only a handful of Jones Act tankers have such a capacity, so a virtual blanket waiver was issued.

No such blanket waiver is included this time around, but individual waiver requests based on non-availability of a Jones Act vessel will be considered.

Whether the sale will put any downward pressure on crude prices remains to be seen, but a one-off sale of a relatively small amount is unlikely to move prices much or more than temporarily.

ALSO READ: $60 to $70 Oil Could Mean Huge Upside for Top Oilfield Services Stocks

The natural gas rig count increased by one to a total of 136. The count for natural gas rigs is now up by one year over year. Natural gas for February delivery closed the week at $3.42 per million BTUs, up 16 cents on the near-month contract compared with the prior week.

Hedge funds  under the Managed Money heading in the Commodity Futures Trading Commission's (CFTC's) weekly Commitments of Traders report  dropped 5,006 short futures and options contracts for WTI crude oil last week and also dropped 3,566 long contracts. The movement reflects changes as of the January 10 settlement date. Managed money now holds 357,251 long positions compared with 51,342 short positions. Open interest totaled 2,868,908. There were 47 hedge funds with large short positions last week, up one from the prior week.

At the end of December, hedge funds had built a massive long position in crude oil contracts. There are few shorts remaining to be squeezed out, and if a correction comes, it is likely to be to the downside.

ALSO READ: 7 MLP Giants That Keep Raising Distributions, Even Through Recent Hard Times

Among the producers themselves, short positions outnumber longs 675,968 to 419,173. The number of short positions rose by 23,958 contracts last week, and longs added 25,026 contracts. Positions among swaps dealers show 381,465 short contracts versus 119,276 long positions. Swaps dealers dropped 4,556 contracts from their short positions last week and added 2,483 contracts to their long positions.

U.S. refineries ran at 93.6% of capacity, a week-over-week increase of about 418,000 barrels a day. Imports rose by about 1.9 million barrels a day, to about 9.1 million barrels a day in the week.

Among the states, Wyoming added two rigs last week and Louisiana added one rig. Texas and Oklahoma each lost two rigs and four states  Colorado, North Dakota, Ohio, Pennsylvania  each lost one rig.

In the Permian Basin of west Texas and southeastern New Mexico, the rig count now stands at 268, up one compared with the previous week's count. The Eagle Ford Basin in south Texas has 47 rigs in operation, unchanged week over week, and the Williston Basin (Bakken) in North Dakota and Montana now has 32 working rigs, down one for the week.

ALSO READ: Merrill Lynchs 5 Top Large Cap Oil and Gas Stocks for 2017

Enterprise Products Partners lists a January 14 posted price of $48.82 per barrel for WTI and $50.27 a barrel for Eagle Ford crude. The price for WTI and Eagle Ford crudes fell by $1.62 a barrel in the week.

The pump price of regular gasoline fell by two cents a gallon week over week. Saturday morning's average price in the United States was $2.347 a gallon, compared with $2.367 a week ago. The year-ago price was $1.937 a gallon.

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reince priebus

President-elect Donald Trump's incoming chief of staff warned the head of a top government watchdog organization on Sunday to be careful of its public criticism of Trump.

Reince Priebus blasted Office of Government Ethics Director Walter Shaub on "This Week" after he dubbed Trump's attempts to separate himself from his business interests this week "wholly inadequate."

"The head of the government ethics ought to be careful, because that person is becoming extremely political," Priebus said.

The incoming chief of staff incorrectly alleged that Shaub supported Hillary Clinton in the 2016 presidential election  Republicans accused Shaub of partisanship for refusing to criticize Clinton's public speaking fees. Priebus also praised Rep. Jason Chaffetz for last week summoning Shaub to Capitol Hill to address his public criticism of Trump's actions.

"I'm not so sure what this person at Government Ethics, what sort of standing he has anymore in giving these opinions. I think Jason Chaffetz was correct to call for an investigation into the Government Ethics Department in the government for the positions that they've taken in this campaign," Priebus said.

Trump attempted during a press conference last week to address concerns about potential conflicts, announcing he would hand over control of his businesses to his sons Eric and Donald Trump Jr, and promised that his businesses would not pursue any foreign deals while Trump is in office.

But top ethics officials have argued that the president-elect's continued ownership of businesses abroad is a potential violation of the US constitution, as it could allow foreign entities to curry favor with the president-elect by pumping money or favors into his businesses.

Shaub, whose organization is the primary independent government watchdog that monitors the executive branch for potential conflicts of interest, has drawn criticism from Republicans over his outspoken skepticism that Trump has done enough to disentangle himself from conflicts of interest.

Story continues

"The plan that the president-elect has announced doesn't meet the standards that the best of his nominees are meeting and that every president in the past four decades has met," Shaub said last week at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC.

He continued: "Stepping back from running his business is meaningless from a conflicts-of-interest perspective. The presidency is a full-time job, and he would've had to step back anyway. The idea of setting up a trust to hold his operating businesses adds nothing to the equation. This is not a blind trust  it's not even close."

NOW WATCH: The president's close friend of 40 years explains Trump's sense of humor





More From Business Insider


For older adults, a lack of exercise may put their risk of developing dementia on par with that of adults who are genetically predisposed to the disease. This is the conclusion of a new study published in the Journal of Alzheimers Disease. Share on Pinterest Researchers suggest that sedentary behavior puts older adults at just as much risk of developing dementia as those who are genetically predisposed to the disease. Worldwide, there are around 47.5 million people living with dementia. By 2030, this number is expected to rise to approximately 75.6 million. Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, accounting for about 60-80 percent of all cases. In the United States alone, an estimated 5.4 million people have Alzheimers. One of the biggest risk factors for Alzheimers disease is the apolipoprotein E (APOE) e4 gene. According to the Alzheimers Association, adults who possess one copy of the APOE e4 gene are three times more likely to develop the disease than those without the gene, while those with two copies are 8-12 times more likely to develop Alzheimers. However, the researchers of the new study  including Jennifer Heisz, an assistant professor in the Department of Kinesiology at McMaster University in Canada  suggest that the risk of dementia may be just as high for older adults exhibiting sedentary behavior.

Inactivity may negate the protective effects of healthy genes The Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans state that older adults should engage in around 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic activity, or 75 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, every week. However, a 2015 review published in the Journal of Aging and Physical Activity found that adults aged 60 and older spend approximately 9.4 hours a day sedentary, which is equivalent to about 65-80 percent of their waking day. For their study, Heisz and colleagues set out to investigate the association between physical activity and dementia risk among older adults with and without the APOE e4 gene. The researchers came to their findings by analyzing the physical activity and dementia development of 1,646 older adults who were part of the Canadian Study of Health and Aging. All participants were free of dementia at study baseline and followed up for around 5 years. Among adults who did not carry the APOE e4 gene, the researchers found that those who did not exercise were more likely to develop dementia than those who exercised. For APOE e4 gene carriers, however, there was no significant difference in dementia risk between those who exercised and those who did not. According to the researchers, these findings indicate that a lack of exercise may be just as risky for dementia development than carrying the APOE e4 gene. The important message here is that being inactive may completely negate the protective effects of a healthy set of genes. Jennifer Heisz
Osteoarthritis is a chronic, long-term disease that affects millions of elderly adults. There is currently no known cure for it and treatment options are limited. New research, however, suggests that chair yoga is effective in relieving osteoarthritis pain.

Share on Pinterest The first new randomized control study suggests that chair yoga may be effective in relieving osteoarthritis pain.

Image credit: Florida Atlantic University



According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), osteoarthritis is the most common form of arthritis, affecting more than 26 million adults aged 25 and above.

The condition is more prevalent among the elderly, affecting over 33 percent of seniors who are 65 years and older.

Also known as degenerative joint disease, the condition affects the hyaline cartilage in the joints, causing pain, stiffness, and swelling.

Although there is no cure for osteoarthritis, research has shown that exercise, such as swimming or walking, is one of the best therapies available.

However, seniors may find it increasingly difficult to stay physically active. With age, many adults lose the ability to exercise while standing, as the muscle strength and balance decline. When affected by osteoarthritis, the pain makes it even more difficult to participate in full-body physical activity.

This is why a team of researchers from Florida Atlantic University set out to examine the benefits of a less exerting type of yoga practice for seniors with osteoarthritis.


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You may use this for your own reference or forward it to your friends.

Please use the information prudently. If you are not a medical doctor please remember to consult your healthcare provider as this information is not a substitute for professional advice.
Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump

The Russian embassy in London has denied that Russian president Vladimir Putin will meet President-elect Donald Trump in Iceland following his inauguration on January 20.

The Sunday Times newspaper wrote that Trump's team have told British officials that the new US leader plans to meet Putin within weeks of becoming president.

But the Russian embassy in London has downplayed the report.

A spokesman for the embassy told Business Insider on Sunday that the report is "rubbish" and suggested that we look at the embassy's Twitter feed, where the embassy has been referring to the report as #fakenews.

Two aides to Trump also denied The Sunday Times story, according to Reuters. "The story is a fantasy," one Trump aide told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another said the report was not true.

Trump recently said he would be interested in meeting Putin, stating: "I understand that they [the Russians] would like to meet, and that's absolutely fine with me."

He told the Wall Street Journal on Friday that he would "at least for a period of time" maintain sanctions against Russia put in place by President Barack Obama for cyber hacking.

But Trump suggested to the newspaper that he might lift the sanctions if Russia proved helpful in the fight against Islamic State militants and on other US objectives.

Two of Trump's cabinet picks, Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson and Defense Secretary nominee James Mattis, have signaled a far harsher tone toward Moscow in their Senate confirmation hearings.

Story continues

US intelligence agencies blame Russia for cyber hacking that interfered with the US presidential election. Trump has said he accepted the intelligence agencies' conclusion.

The @RussianEmbassy in London on reports about Trump-Putin meeting plans: "This is rubbish, an attempt to undermine Donald Trump presidency"  Alberto Nardelli (@AlbertoNardelli) January 15, 2017

NOW WATCH: Here are some incredible things you didnt know about Putin's life





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Vehicles pass in front of a Snapchat Spectacles by Snap Inc. pop-up store in New York, U.S., on Monday, Dec. 5, 2016 (Source: Bloomberg)

Snap Inc. has had a busy 2017 thus far as it prepares to go public. It added a much needed search bar to its app (making it much more intuitive), went on a hiring spree, and made London its European headquarters, just to name a few recent developments.

CEO Evan Spiegel values having a splashy physical footprint, even though his companys core product is an app on your phone. Snap has been strategic in choosing office locations that are exposed to tons of pedestrians not only to garner attention but also to get their feedback.

Spiegel originally decided to anchor Snapchat in Venice, Los Angeless beachfront neighborhood (after hatching the company in his Stanford dorm room, of course). That move set it apart from tech behemoths like Google (GOOG, GOOGL), Facebook (FB) and Apple (AAPL), which have their campuses in northern Californias Silicon Valley.

Spiegel said his search for a laid back vibe landed him in LA. While Silicon Valley is known to be a community teeming with tech professionals, southern California is often seen as the breeding ground for creatives.

Before Snapchat outgrew its original headquarters right on Venice Beach (which could have easily been mistaken for a surf shop or a frat house), Spiegel said, in an interview with USA Today in 2013, Venice has an incredibly rich cultural and creative history. And theres lots of people. 15 million people walk by Snapchat HQ every single year. That means we can get great product feedback and we can come out and talk to Snapchatters all day long about their experience with the product.

People take pictures in front of the Snapchat Inc. headquarters on the strand at Venice Beach in Los Angeles, California, U.S., on Wednesday, Aug. 14, 2013. (Source: Bloomberg)

In the same interview, Spiegel emphasized that Venice offers a kind of diversity that might not exist in the Valley.

Venice is a pretty unique location. Not going to make any comments on Silicon Valley; Silicon Valleys a special place but we think LA has a lot to offer. I grew up here initially but really its culturally diverse, there are a lot of people taking on a lot of creative initiatives and activities  thats really fun, when were in a coffee shop hearing about music and movies  thats enjoyable, he said.

Story continues

Snap is often credited for the skyrocketing interest in entrepreneurs deciding to build or expand their businesses into Silicon Beach.

Snap currently occupies about 95,000 square feet across Venice, according to real estate data provider CoStar Group. But with its explosive growth, the company has burst into Santa Monica, finding office space in the most unlikely of places, like hangars  yes, the units that typically hold aircrafts.

Last May, Snapchat signed a $3 million-a-year lease swooped into two office buildings and eight hangars, totaling nearly 80,000 square feet.

Similarly, its New York City office (disclosure: its located in the same building as Yahoos NYC office) is in Times Square where there is no shortage of foot traffic: over 460,000 pedestrians pass through the tourist hot spot on a busy day. This was a deliberate decision over setting up NY shop the Flatiron District, a.k.a. Silicon Alley, which has become the hub of tech and startup culture.

Within New York City, Snap made a splash with its buzzy pop-up store, plastered with its logo, a giant Minion-like eye, on 59th street, right around the corner from 5th avenue and directly next to the flagship Apple store. Talk about optimal product placement  even people who have no interest whatsoever in the company would be curious to take a peek.

Snapchat has taken a 10-year lease in a 12,570 sq. ft building, arranged over four floors and has been comprehensively refurbished, on 7-11 Lexington Street in Londons trendy Soho neighborhood. (Source: Edward Charles)

Yahoo Finance reached out to Snap Inc. for comment regarding its decision to office location but a spokesperson could not provide any additional statements.

As one of the most highly anticipated public offerings in the last few years, Snap has seriously upped the ante on its public exposure  likely trying to convince investors its here to stay.

Melody Hahm is a writer at Yahoo Finance, covering entrepreneurship, technology and real estate. Follow her on Twitter @melodyhahm.

Read more from Melody:

One way Snapchat can evolve to beat back Instagram

2017 predictions from 4 top tech investors

This software exec ditched huge all-hands meetings for Snapchat

Investor says advertisers lack common sense if they ignore Snapchat
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Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias today had a working luncheon with the French Secretary of State for European Affairs, Harlem Desir, at the Greek Embassy in Paris.



Mr. Kotzias briefed Mr. Desir on the proceedings of the Geneva Conference on Cyprus and thanked him for France's support in the efforts to resolve the Cyprus issue.



The two officials also discussed the latest developments in the Western Balkans and Greece's relations with its neighbouring countries, and it was agreed to continue their consultations and cooperation on regional issues.



Finally, Mr. Desir thanked Mr. Kotzias for his participation in tomorrow's International Conference on the Middle East, which is hosted by France within the framework of an initiative it has taken to promote the peace process.
Thank you, Harlem, thank you France for doing such a great job on the Middle-East.

I would like to mention three points:

First, we are supporting the two-state solution and I think it is very important to discuss with Israel the fact that this solution is in line with its own interest. Nobody can guess what can happen after 10-20 years in the region and what will be the influence -even in the West Bank- exerted by Daesh and other extremists. So I believe that if Israel is thinking rationally, it will accept that we are right here talking about the two-state solution.

Secondly, we have to use very wisely the instruments available in the Middle-East in order to put our proposals into practice. First, to support law and justice in the Middle-East; second, to promote human rights and the respect of human life; third, we have to create hope; fourth, we have to build trust; last, but not least, everybody has to understand and learn the culture of compromise.

Third and last point, Greece believes that peace in the Middle-East will be supported if we create a peaceful framework in the Eastern Mediterranean. We are working together with Egypt, Palestine, Lebanon, Jordan and Israel and we have created five trilateral schemes of cooperation with these countries. We have fought for peaceful coexistence between religions and cultural communities and have organized many important conferences on the matter, among which the Conference on religious and cultural pluralism in the Middle East that took place in Athens, on 20 October 2015.

We think that we have to create a positive agenda for the Eastern Mediterranean by putting to good use what our Arab friends call the Spirit of Rhodes, the spirit that marked the Conference for Security and Stability that was held, a few months ago, in Rhodes. A positive agenda for us is to find ways for synergies between the European and the Arab countries, to organize our friendship and develop our cooperation in the sectors of education, cultural exchanges and economy. We also need to create networks of cooperation in various fields, ranging from transport and universities to research centers.

I think we need to realize two projects: the one is to bring peace to Palestine and the Middle-East and to achieve a two-state solution. The second is to set a positive agenda for the Eastern Mediterranean.

Thank you once again France.




JOURNALIST: Minister, you participated today in this major Conference on peace in the Middle East, the effectiveness of which has been questioned. At the end of the day, what exactly do you believe regarding its usefulness?



N. KOTZIAS: Every meeting and discussion is useful. Especially regarding regions where there is a major crisis, like the Middle East. I underscored the need for us to be courageous in developing hope and trust in the region. The need for us to bear in mind the major interests of the Palestinians and the Israelis in the creation of two states in the region, where today there is a crisis in the Middle East, and I also underscored the need for broad support of stability and security in the region. I mentioned a number of initiatives the Greek government has taken, which are trilateral cooperation configurations with five countries, the Rhodes Conference, which will be repeated in a few months, and our initiative for the protection of the Christian and other religious and cultural communities in the Middle East.



JOURNALIST: Do you believe that Greece's initiatives in the Eastern Mediterranean region can contribute to this peace process?



N. KOTZIAS: I would say there is something special about our agenda, because we are setting a positive agenda. Our initiatives are aimed at promoting positive actions and goals that develop networks and, by extension, stability in the region -- initiatives in all sectors, from education and research to economy and, in particular, tourism and trade.



JOURNALIST: In your speech today, you supported, among other things, the need to cultivate a culture of consensus, compromise, and not conflict.



N. KOTZIAS: Yes, and I also say this with regard to the Balkans. When one doesn't have a culture of consensus and compromise on international issues, one doesn't have it domestically either. We see that countries that are authoritarian cannot come to understandings with their neighbours.



JOURNALIST: Do you believe that the 72 countries here in Paris today sent an indirect message to the Trump administration ...



N. KOTZIAS: I don't think that we gathered here to send a message to the governments of third countries. We came together to send a positive message regarding the peace prospects that can be developed in the Middle East.



JOURNALIST: Can you tell us -- I think you took the opportunity of your visit to Paris to meet with Harlem Desir.



N. KOTZIAS: Yes, I met yesterday with the Secretary of State for European Affairs, Harlem Desir, to brief him on issues pertaining to Greek-French relations and our stance in the European Union on issues like the Brexit, and especially regarding the Cyprus issue, since I came directly from Geneva.



JOURNALIST: Do articles that came out today, mainly in "Politico," question your positive influence regarding the results?



N. KOTZIAS: Those who speak for their master -- Turkey, that is -- can be expected to believe that it would be a success in Geneva if we gave into the Turks, legitimised their rights of intervention and their ability/potential to occupy a portion of Cyprus. We have a different outlook: European and international law must be implemented, sovereignty must be granted to Cyprus, the greatest possible rights must be granted to the Turkish Cypriots, and the greatest possible sense of security must be given to the Greek Cypriots.



There have been a number of distortions of the facts. For example, they are saying that, since the technical teams are starting their meetings next week, we interrupted the process. That isn't true. The UN Secretary-General, President Anastasiades and myself proposed the day before yesterday, Friday, that the Geneva Conference continue on a political level. As it was scheduled to do. And why -- and this is very important -- should it have continued on a political level? To give instructions as to how the technical teams will work. Because the Turks, who left the negotiations -- who got up and left early Friday morning -- said they didn't have time for political consultations and to let the technical teams meet. But the technical teams can't meet without political instructions. We had scheduled political consultations and the continuation of the Geneva Conference on a political level for Thursday and Friday, and they cancelled it. And it is shocking that there are European, Greek and other news media taking the side of those who cancelled the agreed process in Geneva. There are some people who think they can do whatever they want and then, on top of that, shift the blame onto those who insist on what was agreed.



JOURNALIST: Did you have any other bilateral meetings here in Paris?



N. KOTZIAS: We always have bilateral meetings. We had a number of bilateral meetings and we had a discussion with the Foreign Ministers of Kuwait and Bahrain. They invited me to visit their countries and this will be added to our schedule.



JOURNALIST: And tomorrow you are going to Brussels?



N. KOTZIAS: I'm going to Brussels this evening. We have a meeting this evening -- the four European member states of Southeast Europe with whom we have developed joint cooperation -- and tomorrow we have the regular meeting of the Council of Foreign Ministers, with the main topics being, again, the Middle East, but also Syria, and there will be a briefing on the Cyprus issue, and late on Monday night I will be returning to Athens.
VIENNA (Reuters) - Swiss police detained 32 Tibetans and Swiss nationals protesting against a visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping on Sunday, a spokesman said. Swiss authorities had limited the duration of the protest in the centre of Bern to two hours before noon (1100 GMT) to avoid the kind of confrontation that marked the last visit by a Chinese president 18 years ago. Several people near a security zone set up for the state visit failed to comply with police instructions, Bern cantonal police said in a statement. "Thirty-two people were detained to secure safety," a spokesman said. At noon, police prevented a man from setting himself on fire, according to the statement. The man was taken care of by doctors. Fourteen activists were detained near the Swiss parliament building in the afternoon as they continued to protest past the time restriction, waving posters saying "Free Tibet" and "Don't Deal With Killers", the association of Tibetan Youth in Europe said. "The situation inside Tibet is getting worse day by day. Our people are being oppressed, our people are being imprisoned," the association's spokeswoman Migmar Dhakyel said. "We are really concerned (about) how our government, our own government treats us, doesn't permit us to demonstrate." Between 700 and 800 Tibetans and Swiss had gathered in the city centre and protested peacefully against the Tibet policies of China, Tenzin Nyingbu, President of the Tibetan Community in Switzerland & Liechtenstein, told Reuters. Most of them left before noon as agreed with Bern municipal security, Nyingbu said. The Chinese leader arrived in the Swiss capital for a gala dinner on Sunday afternoon. After holding talks with Swiss officials on Monday, he will attend the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Tuesday, a first for a Chinese president. In 1999, demonstrators took to roofs overlooking the Swiss parliament with banners demanding "Free Tibet" during a visit by China's then-president Jiang Zemin. Police intervened when people tried to throw eggs at the Chinese delegation. Jiang questioned Swiss leaders' control over their country and remarked that they risked "losing a good friend". China and Switzerland forged a free trade agreement in 2014 and Swiss companies count China among their most important markets. (Corrects name of spokeswoman of the association of Tibetan Youth in Europe to Migmar Dhakyel, not Mimpara Dhakyel, in paragraph 7) (Reporting by Kirsti Knolle and Marina Depetris; Editing by Clelia Oziel)
LONDON, Jan 15 (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said Brexit will turn out to be a "great thing" and that he wants a stocks of nuclear weapons should be reduced very substantially as part of any deal with Russia, The Times newspaper reported.

"Brexit is going to end up being a great thing," Trump told The Times of London in an interview, according to extracts sent by the newspaper ahead of publication.

Trump said he would work very hard to get a trade deal with the United Kingdom "done quickly and done properly".

When asked about the prospect of a nuclear arms reduction deal with Russia, Trump told the newspaper in an interview: "For one thing, I think nuclear weapons should be way down and reduced very substantially, that's part of it." (Reporting by William James; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
President-elect Donald Trump has made it known that he wants to invest at least $1 trillion to bolster the nation's infrastructure  bridges, roads and more.

Why is that important for the Interstate 81 project in Syracuse? Because it could mean that the price tag would matter less.

Last week, Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced that the state Department of Transportation would work an independent firm to study a handful of options for the I-81 project. Alternatives have been studied before. In fact, the state DOT released a report in October announcing that two options  a community grid and rebuilding the viaduct  would be given further consideration. Others were dismissed.

Cuomo wants the state DOT to give another look at a tunnel option, a depressed highway, the community grid, a combination of the community grid and tunnel and a combined community grid-depressed highway option. A timeline for a final decision on the project remains the same. The state DOT is scheduled to reveal its choice by the end of this year.

In earlier reports, the state DOT dismissed tunnel alternatives, in part, because of the cost. While the community grid and viaduct rebuild would cost $1.3 billion and $1.7 billion, respectively, the tunnel options would cost no less than $2.5 billion. One of the proposals would exceed $3 billion.

Cost is always a factor in projects of this magnitude, but with Trump's infrastructure plan, it could become less of one. The I-81 project, after all, would be mostly funded by the federal government.

When talking about the I-81 project, you hear more and more elected officials saying that while the money matters, getting it right is more important.

There are concerns about the community grid, or boulevard, option. Elected officials from Owasco, Skaneateles and other communities outside of Syracuse have said that the boulevard would push truck traffic onto local roads.

Initially, the community grid option appeared to be the favorite. The price tag was the lowest and it had backing from Syracuse officials. Now? Other options, perhaps even a tunnel, could be in serious contention.

Owasco Supervisor Ed Wagner said this week that he supports the combination of a community grid and tunnel. With the community grid, he said, you help Syracuse officials who want more space for economic development. And the tunnel would allow an interstate to pass through the city in some form.

The state's review will determine which option it will proceed with. No matter which alternative is selected, it will cost more than $1 billion, perhaps $2 or $3 billion. And it could be funded, at least in part, by the major infrastructure investment Trump is proposing.
Some of President-elect Donald Trump's picks for high-level positions in his administration this week split with him on key issues like trade, torture, and the US relationship with Iran and Russia.

Trump has taken some controversial stances on many issues throughout his campaign and after the election. But it seems that some of the people he's nominated for jobs aren't afraid to push back where they disagree.

And for his part, Trump has encouraged his nominees to be honest with their opinions.

"Be yourselves and say what you want to say, don't worry about me," he said in the lobby of Trump Tower on Friday, addressing his cabinet picks.

Here's an overview of who has disagreed with Trump on his strategies.

James Mattis

James Mattis on Russia and Iran

Gen. James Mattis, Trump's nominee for secretary of defense, said this week during his Senate confirmation hearing that he sees Russia as a "strategic competitor" and that he supports the Iran nuclear deal, which puts his positions on these issues in conflict with Trump's.

Trump was complimentary toward Russian President Vladimir Putin during the election cycle and has suggested that the US might strengthen its ties with the country. But many US officials and politicians have expressed concerns about Russia's expanding influence in the world and its posture toward the US.

Mattis appears to be in that camp.

"I think right now, the most important thing is that we recognize the reality of what we deal with with Mr. Putin," he said. "And we recognize that he's trying to break the North Atlantic alliance, and we take the steps ... in working with our allies to defend ourselves where we must."

Putin is no fan of the NATO alliance, and Trump has seemed to fall somewhat on his side on this issue. During his campaign, Trump called NATO "obsolete" and suggested that the US might not defend its NATO allies if they didn't meet certain conditions.

Story continues

Mattis also broke with Trump on the agreement the US brokered with Iran to try to prevent the country from obtaining a nuclear weapon.

Trump has been highly critical of the agreement, at one point calling it "the worst deal ever negotiated." But Mattis defended the deal during his hearing.

"It is an imperfect arms control agreement  it's not a friendship treaty," Mattis said. "But when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies."

Rex Tillerson

Rex Tillerson on the Trans-Pacific Partnership and NATO

Trump's pick for secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, voiced his support for the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade deal and the NATO alliance at his confirmation hearing this week.

"I do not oppose TPP," Tillerson said.

But he did admit that he's concerned about some aspects of the deal.

"I share some of [Trump's] views regarding whether the agreement that was negotiated serves all of America's interests the best," he said.

Trump has been highly critical of TPP, which would lower tariffs for 12 countries around the Pacific, not including China. President Barack Obama was hoping to get the deal through Congress during the lame-duck period before he leaves office, but that now seems unlikely.

Tillerson also insisted that the US would honor its commitments to its NATO allies, which runs counter to Trump's statements suggesting the US might not defend those countries that don't "fulfill their obligations" to America.

Sen. Rob Portman questioned Tillerson on this issue at his hearing.

"Just to be clear, because I know there was a discussion about NATO earlier, particularly about Article 5, which talks about 'an armed attack against one or more members shall be considered an attack against them all,'" Portman said. "Can you just clarify that you believe Article 5 creates a binding obligation to assist any member of the alliance who is a victim of aggression regardless of their size or geographic location?"

Tillerson responded, "Yes, sir, I do."

Trump has also discussed the need for US allies to contribute more to their own defense.

Portman then asked Tillerson if he would, as secretary of state, "ever threaten to break the US commitment to Article 5 as a means of pressuring allies to spend more on defense."

Tillerson said he would "not recommend that."

Mike Pompeo

Mike Pompeo on torture

The congressman Trump nominated for CIA director broke from the president-elect on the use of "enhanced interrogation techniques" against terrorism suspects.

Rep. Mike Pompeo said at his hearing that he would refuse torture orders from a Trump administration.

"I will always comply with the law," he said.

When asked whether he would obey an order from the president to restart the CIA's use of enhanced interrogation techniques, which Congress banned in 2005, he responded, "Absolutely not."

During the campaign, Trump expressed a desire to reinstate torture as an interrogation method against suspected terrorists. He specifically backed waterboarding, despite experts saying it does not work.

NOW WATCH: Here's how Jesus Christ is depicted in Islam





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Global Payments Inc. provides payment technology and software solutions for card, electronic, check, and digital-based payments in the Americas, Europe, and the Asia-Pacific. It operates through three segments: Merchant Solutions, Issuer Solutions, and Business and Consumer Solutions. The Merchant Solutions segment offers authorization services, settlement and funding services, customer support and help-desk functions, chargeback resolution, terminal rental, sales and deployment, payment security services, consolidated billing and statements, and on-line reporting services. This segment also provides an array of enterprise software solutions that streamline business operations of its customers in various vertical markets; and value-added services, such as point-of-sale solutions, and analytic and engagement tools, as well as payroll and human capital management services. The Issuer Solutions segment offers solutions that enable financial institutions and retailers to manage their card portfolios through a platform; and commercial payments and ePayables solutions for businesses and governments. The Business and Consumer Solutions segment provides general-purpose reloadable prepaid debit and payroll cards, demand deposit accounts, and other financial service solutions to the underbanked and other consumers, and businesses under the Netspend brand. It markets its products and services through direct sales force, trade associations, agent and enterprise software providers, referral arrangements with value-added resellers, and independent sales organizations. The company was founded in 1967 and is headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia.
PARIS (AP)  Sending a forceful message to Israel's prime minister and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries called Sunday on Israel and the Palestinians to revive work toward long-elusive peace  including an independent Palestinian state.

The closing declaration at a Mideast peace conference in Paris urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also warned them against taking one-sided actions that could hurt talks, an apparent reference to Israeli settlement building.

While the Palestinians welcomed Sunday's declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference "rigged" and cooked up behind Israel's back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

The French organizers argued the conference was necessary to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians  the solution favored by the international community for the past two decades.

Many members of Netanyahu's coalition want to abandon the two-state solution and expand settlements, and some have even called for annexing parts of the West Bank. Trump's campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence.

In a nod to Israel, the final declaration of Sunday's conference included criticism of incitement and "terror," a reference to Palestinian attacks. And some of the pro-Palestinian language in an earlier draft was removed after diplomats huddled in Paris.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu, represented the U.S. at the talks and defended the effort.

He rejected Israeli criticism of the conference, saying the concept of a two-state solution to the conflict is "threatened" and must be reinforced if it is ever to happen. The communique, he said, endorses that without imposing a resolution.

Story continues

"Given where things are going and what is happening, that is particularly important," he said.

He also warned that it's too early to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem, as proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. "This is not the right time," he said. "We think it's ill-advised."

Trump's administration did not take part in the meeting and didn't immediately comment on its final statement.

While Netanyahu has voiced support for a two-state solution, his critics, including Kerry, have said that continued settlement construction on occupied territories raises questions about his commitment to pursuing a peace deal.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon dismissed Sunday's conference, tweeting that it was "flat as a failed souffle."

"A big show is no replacement for direct negotiations between the parties," he said.

French President Francois Hollande agreed on the need for direct talks. "It is not a question of dictating to the parties ... Only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can lead to peace. No one will do it in their place," he said.

"The world cannot, should not resign itself to the status quo," Hollande told the gathered diplomats from across Europe, the Mideast and other regions, as well as from the United Nations, the Arab League and other international organizations.

Hollande said he was sounding an "alert" that peace talks should be revived before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution. Hollande urged the diplomats to support peace efforts by offering economic incentives to Israelis and Palestinians.

The chief Palestinian representative to France warned the Trump administration not to "underestimate" the message of peace sent by the conference, or the U.N. resolution last month condemning Israel's construction of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Salman Elherfi, speaking to The Associated Press, insisted "the option of two states is not the dream of a single country, but it has become the concern of the whole world to protect it."

Palestinian officials hope the conference can lay out terms for eventual negotiations, notably on how to share Jerusalem and the need to stop Israeli settlements.

France and others expressed concern that the Trump administration could unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and moving the U.S. Embassy. The embassy issue wasn't mentioned, however, in the final declaration.

Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marked the "last flutters of yesterday's world."

"Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close," he said in apparent reference to Trump's incoming administration.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israel's embassy in Paris.

"The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace," said Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known French Nazi hunter. "If it existed and if the Arab world recognized the existence of Israel, we would find the means to solve all the problems very quickly."

___

Associated Press writers Josef Federman, Aron Heller and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, and Philippe Sotto and Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.
Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. engages in the design, construction, and sale of single-family attached and detached homes in the United States. The company operates through a portfolio of six brands comprising Maracay in Arizona; Pardee Homes in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes in Washington; Trendmaker Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes in California, Colorado, and the Carolinas; and Winchester Homes in Maryland, Virginia, and the District of Columbia. As of December 31, 2021, its operations consisted of 112 active selling communities and 41,675 owned or controlled lots. The company sells its homes through own sales representatives and independent real estate brokers. It also provides financial services, such as mortgage financing, title and escrow, and property and casualty insurance agency services. The company was formerly known as TRI Pointe Group, Inc. and changed its name to Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. in January 2021. Tri Pointe Homes, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
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...
Training aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center 29 Palms in California turned tragic Friday when a Marine was killed and another injured during a live fire exercise.

The combat center announced the death and injury Saturday evening, a day after the accident took place, but provided few details about the incident.

A Combat Center spokeswoman, 1st. Lt. Karen Holliday, said the accident took place at 5:05 p.m. Friday.

The two Marines were participating in small arms live-fire training ahead of the start of an Integrated Training Exercise, Holliday said. The exercise, typically known as ITX, is a standard pre-deployment workup that infantry units and some support units complete.

The injured Marine was taken to Desert Regional Medical Center in Palm Springs, California, she said.

Officials at the Combat Center said the incident remains under investigation, and the identity of the Marine killed in the accident is not being released until 24 hours after next of kin is notified.

In a statement, the commander of 29 Palms, Brig. Gen. William Mullen, offered his sympathies to those closest to the Marines involved.

-- Hope Hodge Seck can be reached at hope.seck@military.com. Follow her on Twitter at @HopeSeck.
Interest remains strong in White Sox left-hander Jose Quintana, writes CBS Chicagos Bruce Levine, who reports that teams have sweetened their trade proposals for the 27-year-old over the past week. While the Astros, Pirates and Yankees have been connected to Quintana more than anyone else this offseason, there are also other clubs in the mix, sources told Levine, who adds that the White Sox could strike a deal to move him soon. Chicago isnt in any hurry to give up Quintana, but Levine expects it to happen prior to spring training.

Elsewhere around the majors
ANN ARBOR, MI - What makes a restaurant iconic?

That's the question authors Jon Milan and Gail Offen set out to answer in "Iconic Restaurants of Ann Arbor," published in September 2016 by Arcadia Publishing. The 96-page book features historic timelines of some of the most recognizable and celebrated eateries around town.

Milan and Offen are speaking at numerous events during Ann Arbor's Restaurant Week taking place Sunday, Jan. 15 through Friday, Jan. 20, featuring 56 restaurants with special lunch and dinner meals and deals and a perfect time to talk the nostalgia of food.

The first book event is 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 15 at the Ann Arbor District Library's Malletts Creek Branch, 3090 E. Eisenhower Parkway, in the Program Room. It is cosponsored by The Culinary Historians of Ann Arbor.

Literati Bookstore is hosting Milan and Offen at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18 at its store located at 124 E. Washington. The book is available for purchase for $22.99 at the Literati event.

Milan and Offen collaborated on the 2014 book, "Grand River Avenue: From Detroit to Lake Michigan," and joined forces once more on Iconic Restaurants.

Offen said she was inspired to take on the subject matter after being reminded of Drake's Sandwich Shop but was unable to find much information on the business that closed in 1993.

During the course of their research, Milan and Offen gathered information from local residents who had collected menus over the years and from historical societies and libraries.

Some of the iconic places included in the book are Drake's, the Brown Jug, Pizza Bobs and The Pretzel Bell, which Offen said is affectionately remembered by many alumni as the go-to place to celebrate 21st birthdays.

"People who went to school (in Ann Arbor) have great memories of meeting friends or their spouses," Offen said. "People love to talk about the times they've spent in these places."

They have heard, been emailed or called with stories about restaurants like Maude's on Fourth, where Zingerman's co-founders Ari Weinzweig and Paul Saginaw worked alongside future partners Frank Carollo and Maggie Bayless.

"They were waiters and dishwashers, and liked each other so much, they went on and started their own restaurants," Offen said.

Now, Zingerman's is possibly the most iconic business of Ann Arbor and recognized across the country, she added. Offen confessed to "literally jumping up and down" when Weinzweig agreed to write the introduction.

"When you say Ann Arbor, that's what people know. That is really the quintessential Ann Arbor restaurant," Offen said. "It's never expanded anywhere else. Zingerman's is Ann Arbor, and vice versa."

Some of Offen's favorite stories are the celebrity connections: Madonna, one of University of Michigan's most arguably famous students, used to serve pizza at Dooley's, now Scorekeepers on Maynard Street. A University of Michigan professor was served inspiration in a beer glass at the (former, not current) Pretzel Bell that later earned him a Nobel Prize for physics.

Besides the color pictures, Offen said the book Iconic Restaurants is different as it is "really hitting people emotionally much more than our previous books."

"It reminds people of some of the great times in their lives," Offen said. "We think it also makes people want to come back to Ann Arbor and take their kids the place they used to go. It's a little bit of a travel book."

Ann Arbor has changed over the years since Blimpy Burger was known as Crazy Jim's, and Offen said she is grateful there are some restaurants left like the Gandy Dancer.

She pointed out the restaurants sparking interest and Instagram photos in Ann Arbor today could be the icons of tomorrow.

"People are so much more interested in what's on their plate," Offen said. "People in general are more interested in food, where it comes from, different types of food. It's much more diverse than it used to be."

Have a story to share? Offen and Milan can be reached at iconicannarbor@gmail.com and are also encouraging people to contact them on Facebook on either the Ann Arbor Restaurants page or the Iconic Ann Arbor Restaurants page.
Bay County Law Enforcement Center.jpg

The Bay County Law Enforcement Center

( )

BAY CITY, MI -- Throughout 2016, Bay City police officers used force 53 times against 55 individuals.

Those figures come from a statistical chart released by the Bay City Department of Public Safety on its Facebook page. The chart separated the subjects into seven age brackets and three races -- African American, Hispanic and white.

Of the 55 civilians officers used force upon, 44 (or 80 percent) were white, 10 (18.2 percent) were African American, and one (1.8 percent) was Hispanic. Whites between the ages of 18-25 had the most incidents at 19, or 43.2 percent.

In 2015, the department used force 51 times against 51 people -- 44 white people, six African Americans, and one Hispanic person.

The department has been releasing its use of force statistics every month since July. Department Director Michael J. Cecchini said at that time he was inspired to regularly release the data in light of recommendations from The President's Task Force on 21st Century Policing.

In May 2015, the task force published its final report. The following year, the U.S. Department of Justice's Community Oriented Policing Services launched the Advancing 21st Century Policing Initiative, "which will provide hands-on assessments and technical assistance to a cohort of law enforcement agencies that have already made strides in advancing task force recommendation implementation."

In 2016, Cecchini visited Washington, D.C. for a meeting at the White House to discuss the task force's recommendations. The meeting involved breakout sessions focusing on police data initiative, officer safety and wellness, implicit bias training and social media storytelling.

"Part of that is transparency of data, and I agree with that," Cecchini said in July. "We're looking at things we can put out in the community, and one is people want to know the department's use of force. There is a belief at times that minorities are treated differently than Caucasians. I know in Bay City that's just not the case."

Cecchini has said age rather than race is a more common denominator when it comes to use of force numbers, with younger citizens more likely to be involved in criminal behavior and have run-ins with police.

According to the United States Census Bureau, Bay City is estimated to have a population of 33,917 as of July 1, 2015, down from 34,932 in 2010. While the agency does not have estimated racial breakdowns for the 2015 projection, in 2010 whites composed 84.5 percent of the city's populace. The population was made up of 3.5 percent African Americans and 8.5 percent Hispanics.

Use of force can involve anything from an officer implementing a control technique up to deadly force.
Marijuana

(Mark Bugnaski / Kalamazoo Gazette)

(Mark Bugnaski)

Dennis Magyari

A Royal Oak attorney and his client, a thrice-convicted drunk driver, want the courts to pay medical marijuana laws more respect.

An upcoming state Court of Appeals ruling could make it legal for convicts and the criminally charged to smoke or otherwise possess and consume marijuana while on parole, bond or probation, so long as they're registered medical marijuana patients.

Currently, it's at judges' discretion whether defendants or convicts are allowed to use medical marijuana on probation or bond.

Royal Oak-based attorney David A. Rudoi believes judges who prohibit medical cannabis use as a condition of probation are in violation of the 2008 Michigan Marijuana Act, which says, "anyone who has been issued and possesses a registry identification card" is allowed to possess and consume marijuana.

While the law outlines certain prohibitions, such as possessing or consuming marijuana in a school zone or public space, "what it expressly doesn't list is you can't use marijuana on probation," Rudoi said. "A judge does not have the authority to usurp the Michigan Medical Marijuana Act."

The appellate court will decide whether that's true.

The issue before the court stems from a third-offense drunk driving case out of Oakland County.

Rudoi's client, Dennis R. Magyari, was convicted of third-offense operating while intoxicated in 2014 and sentenced to 60 days in jail followed by 36 months of probation.

A condition of the probation prohibited Magyari from smoking marijuana, despite being a registered patient with type II diabetes, insomnia, high blood pressure, vertigo, fibromyalgia, thyroid issues and neck fusion, according to court sentencing records.

Rudoi, who took the case pro bono, said he filed a motion to remove the marijuana prohibition, but it was denied by Oakland County Circuit Court Martha D. Anderson.

Rudoi appealed.

The Oakland County Prosecutor's Office said Magyari violated probation three times after his conviction. Magyari was found guilty of violating probation and is currently in prison serving an 18-month to 5-year sentence.

Rudoi claims the probation violations weren't related to marijuana, but his client's failure to complete community service, unpaid fees and fines and failing an alcohol test.

Because the appellant is now in prison, where use of medical marijuana is prohibited, the probation argument was "rendered moot" and "not right for a legal decision," Oakland County Chief Assistant Prosecutor Paul Walton said.

Additionally, "probation is not a right, it's a privilege," he said. "And if you violate the privilege of probation, then you face the consequences of the court."

Walton argues that there are numerous restrictions placed on probationers by the courts that would otherwise be legal, such as forbidding use of alcohol.

The distinction, Rudoi counters, is that marijuana can be legally considered medicine.

Court records indicate 63-year-old Magyari admitted to drinking between four and eight beers and smoking about two bowls of marijuana each day since he was 18, up until his most recent conviction.

Oakland County Assistant Prosecutor Danielle Walton is arguing on behalf of Oakland County.

"Defendant never showed that 'serious harm' would result if he could not use marijuana," the prosecution's response to the appeal says. "He also failed to show that by barring use of marijuana to defendant who had a long history of illegal substance abuse, who manifested current signs of addiction, and who could be treated if necessary with prescription drugs, the judge was acting in reckless disregard of a substantial risk of serious harm ... "

Without marijuana, Rudoi said, Magyari is forced to take highly addictive and deadly opiate painkillers to treat his ailments.

This isn't the first time Rudoi has fought probation limitations on marijuana. The attorney said he's fought similar restrictions in about 50 cases, and has been successful about 75 percent of the time.

Rudoi believes about 25 percent of judges agree with him that prohibition of medical marijuana violates state law, 50 percent feel it's at their discretion and the final 25 percent have a strict no-marijuana probation policy.

It changes from judge to judge and county to county, he said.

While Magyari is not necessarily the ideal face for the cause, Rudoi said he felt the time was right for an appellate court to set a precedent on the topic.

His confidence was bolstered after Arizona, a state with medical marijuana laws similar to Michigan, ruled it is illegal for judge's to prohibit medical marijuana use there.

Arizona ruling

Oakland County prosecutors and Rudoi made oral arguments in the Michigan case last week and are awaiting the appellate court ruling.
WARREN -- Democratic leaders from Michigan and around the country led a fiery "Save Our Healthcare" rally on Sunday, Jan. 15 at Macomb Community College.

U.S. Senators Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, Gary Peters and Debbie Stabenow, and U.S. Reps. John Conyers, Dan Kildee, Debbie Dingell, Brenda Lawrence, and Sandy Levin led the rally against repealing the Affordable Care Act.

"Republicans, you're not going to destroy the Affordable Care Act," said Sanders, D-Vermont. "This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world, and it's time to get our national priorities right. We are the only major country on Earth not to guarantee healthcare as a right.

"This is the beginning of the fight, and not the end. If you want to improve the ACA, then let's work together. But, if you think you can throw millions of health care coverage away, then you've got another thing coming."

Sanders went on to quote Dr. Martin Luther King, saying "of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

President-elect Donald Trump has said he wants Obamacare repealed and replaced, with Republicans in Congress taking the first step in this process in the last week.

The Associated Press reports that a timetable to repeal and replace is uncertain, but Republicans want to move as "quickly as possible."

This Michigan rally was one of 70 taking place Sunday from Maine to California, according to the U.S. Senator from Vermont.

Members of the large crowd at the Warren rally waved signs, chanted "Bernie" and cried "save our healthcare."

Some of the signs read "Fake Tan, Has No Plan," "My doctor won't accept tweets as payment," "Killing Obamacare kills people like me," and "One question: Can I keep my plan?"

Democratic leaders said they were willing to work across the aisle, but that if Republicans try to repeal the ACA, they have "another thing coming."

"Michigan is ground zero for healthcare," Schumer said. "Before the Affordable Care Act, our system was a mess. We're always looking at making it better, but we sure as hell are not going to repeal it ... especially without a plan to replace it."

Schumer, D-New York and Senate Minority Leader, said that what the Republicans are trying to do is the equivalent to "blowing up an apartment complex and putting nothing in its place."

Planned Parenthood President Cecile Richards, who also took part in the rally, called attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act attacks on women, "plain and simple."

She noted that after Trump won the presidency, calls for IUD birth control devices "to last the entire Trump presidency" went up 900 percent.

Mark Heller, a civil rights, immigration and labor attorney, told the Associated Press that he drove from Toledo for the gathering, but said stopping Republicans from repealing the Obamacare may take more than attending rallies.

"I think that it's going to take civil disobedience to turn this around, because they have the votes in both the Senate and the House, and the president," he said.

Dingell, D-Dearborn, said the fight isn't about words, but about "real people and their lives."

Kildee compared the move to repeal the ACA to the political missteps that poisoned Flint's water supply.

"This right here is what this fight is all about," he said. "Not red or blue, Republican or Democrat, but about life our death.

"We can afford to provide healthcare for everyone, but we cannot afford to be the ones that don't."
SUMPTER TWP., MI - Police in southwestern Wayne County are exploring the sighting of a "large feline," possibly a cougar, videotaped by a resident.

A property owner contacted the Sumpter Township police and reported seeing the cat three times since Nov. 1 in the area of Sumpter and Kozma roads, according to a Saturday alert posted by the police department through the public notification service Nixle.

The alert warns of a moderate threat to life and property.

Last week, the resident had a relatively close contact with the feline, according to police.

Officers went to the property and confirmed the layout of the land matches the November video footage and measured the grass behind where the cat appeared to be standing at 7 to 8 feet.

An exotic animal expert viewed the video and determined the animal is "definitely not a house cat" and is possibly a cougar. The expert believes it is an escaped captive animal privately and illegally owned, the police department reported.

The unnamed expert estimates it is about 2.5 to 3 feet tall at the shoulder.

Cougars could possibly be a threat, especially to other animals, the expert warned.

Native to Michigan, the cats were long ago extirpated; the the last known wild cougar was taken in 1906, according to the Michigan Department of Natural Resources, but there there are periodic reports of cougar sightings throughout the state.

Since 2008, the DNR has confirmed more than 30 cougar reports in the Upper Peninsula, but had not confirmed any in lower Michigan. DNR authorities have said there is no conclusive evidence of a breeding population.

Cougars observed in Michigan could be released pets, or transient or dispersing cougars from the nearest known breeding populations in North and South Dakota, the DNR says.

Police and the resident have been in contact with the DNR, according to the alert. The property owner reached out to police after he was unsatisfied with the DNR response.

A DNR spokesman, reached on Sunday afternoon, had no knowledge of the situation and no immediate information to share. He promised to look into it.

The township has no other reported sightings of the cat or any unexplained attacks on domestic or wild animals.
flintpolice.jpg

(MLive.com File Photo)

FLINT, MI -- Police in Flint are advising residents they can use the department's headquarters for completing online sales after several armed robberies took place during meetings set up through online "for sale" groups.

The department's Crime Area Target Team, or CATT, recently made "a series of arrests" following the robberies during which "the unsuspecting victim though they were getting a good deal on a used product, but instead found themselves the victim of a violent crime," according to a Flint police Facebook post.

If residents do set up a meeting to buy or sell something using the groups, Flint police have provided the following advice:

-Meet in a safe, well-lit public location in the daytime

-Do not go alone

-Do not go to someone else's home

-Do not have someone else come to your home

-Tell another person where you're going and have a cell phone with you in case of an emergency

-If a deal is too good to be true, it probably is

Anyone interested in making an exchange in a secure place may use the lobby at the Flint Police Department, 210 E. Fifth St.
timtimmerman.JPG

Tim Timmerman (MLive photo by Neil Blake)

CEDAR SPRINGS, MI - After his daughter was killed and his granddaughter disappeared, Tim Timmerman's home turned silent.

The change was too much to bear in a place that once was so full of life.

Rachel Timmerman, 19, and her daughter, Shannon Verhage, 11 months, had lived with Timmerman and his wife, Lyn. Shannon took her first steps in their living room.

But Marvin Gabrion, now a death-row inmate suspected in five killings, broke apart their family in June 1997, when he killed Rachel Timmerman to prevent her from testifying against him for rape, and presumably killed her infant daughter.

He bound and gagged the young woman, who was still alive when he threw her into Oxford Lake in a remote area of Newaygo County. Because the lake is on federal property, it allowed prosecution under federal law - and the death penalty.

State law in Michigan does not allow the death penalty.

Tim Timmerman said he and his wife decided that Gabrion wouldn't take any more lives. Despite their grief, they became foster parents a year after the tragedy.

It changed everything.

They cared for newborns and young children, among the dozen to share their home over the years. They loved to hear the sounds of kids playing.

At one point, they took in three siblings, ages 4, 5, and 8. The couple felt overwhelmed at times, but it helped them as much as it did the children.

Later, when the oldest of those siblings, a boy, turned 16, he showed up in their driveway. He had just gotten his driver's license. He wanted to say thanks.

"It was pretty cool," Tim Timmerman told The Grand Rapids Press and MLive, in an interview at the Cedar Springs home he and his wife have shared for 25 years.

He credits his wife with spending the most time with the foster children.

"They liked us, I don't know why. It was the coolest time," he said.

Rachel Timmerman and her daughter, Shannon, in a family photo.

Timmerman, whose 19-year-old son with special needs died in 2006, said he has learned to accept loss. He's had no choice, really.

"There's nothing worse than losing a child, much less a grandchild," he said.

It took him a long time to find his equilibrium after his daughter's murder. He would be troubled when other parents got mad and yelled at their kids. "Stop it," he would think. Children are precious.

"The best way I can explain it is, it was very painful and very traumatic. I loved her. She would want us to be happy.

"I mean, it's sad. We all like to see our kids reach their full potential. It could've been anybody's kid. Acceptance is, by far, the most helpful thing."

To that end, he's gone to the lake where his daughter died. It's not easy to find. But once you get there, it's a peaceful place.

"I do not associate it with my daughter's last moments on earth. It's gorgeous, in the middle of nowhere."
you are here:
It was a sad week for the fledgling Indian startup ecosystem. A day after Flipkarts Co-Founder and CEO was replaced by an investor nominee, Housing.com (a startup founded by 12 IIT-Bombay batchmates in 2012) was merged with PropTiger.

Both announcements have a common thread. Foreign investors which hold majority stakes in both companies have exercised control and replaced the founders from the helm, hiring instead their own nominees.

However, what happened with Housing.com post the ouster of its Co-Founders could very well happen with the poster boy of Indian startups  Flipkart.

Its no surprise that nothing in the world can replace founders passion of building a dream. Money, processes, profits and revenues are by-products.

Often Co-Founders bleed their own money for years and years to build a product they are passionate about. Building a company from scratch also needs sacrifices. This may mean no holidays for years, no weekends, and lessened family time.

Entrepreneurs get joy from building a product and a great customer experience is their reward. Often founders also take zero salaries for years even before profits start trickling in the company. They survive on their own savings.

This would mean downgrading their lifestyle and discretionary household budgets. Ive come across co-founders who had to provide their family with healthcare in government hospitals (which is not so good in India), shift to cramped apartments and even forego holidays, even as their peers enjoyed comfortable lifestyles.

For some, the risk gives way to big monetary rewards after years. For several, it does not. Expecting the same level of commitment and passion from non-founders (employees) in a startup cannot be guaranteed or even should be expected.

Early employees, however, are attuned to the sacrifices made by founders in building a dream. They may think differently. And a CEO chosen from that lot may thing differently.



As the organisation becomes bigger, employees hired later even on top positions get attuned to delivering a task than building a dream. Their roles get limited and voices often dont reach the top.

Hiring a professional CEO by a companys board can be attuned to delivering such a task as a turnaround, stabilising operations, getting an exit for an investor, an IPO, et al.

Such CEOs do have the capability to take hard decisions and turnaround or often make the companys financials look better on paper.





They often limit themselves to the task entailed by the board rather than build something entirely new. They get paid handsome packages (often better than what founder CEOs took home).

However, building a world class product and a dream requires another level of passion which sadly only founders can infuse.

Rocket Internet is an apt example of what happens to startups when CEOs are treated as employees than founders who have complete control over teams and decision making in their company.

Investor founded companies often have a goal of an exit within 7-10 years and the whole business often aligns to that target.





Forced mergers by global investors in India in the areas of taxi aggregation, online classifieds, and e-commerce are a big example. One set of founders leave the team in such mergers and the dream collapses entirely.

Why Flipkart and Housing have come full circle

I was at a packed hall at IIT-Bombay in February, last year. On the dais were Sachin Bansal (Flipkarts Co-Founder and Chairman) and Rahul Yadav, the ousted co-founder of Housing. Both talked about the role of investors and how to succeed in building a startup.

An investor should make sure to give absolute voting rights on the board to founders. They need to be in charge whether they are making mistakes or not, said Sachin Bansal.

Rahul Yadav retorted. Maybe I talked to all the wrong investors. A lot of investors say that this is my playbook  if you like it so be it  else I can find someone else. However, if you get the bad guys in, they can shut your venture, he told the audience. He was ousted by the company board in 2015.

Post Yadavs ouster, other co-founders also left subsequently and Housing.com became just another company rather than a passionate startup where the company buzzword was Macha Denge - we will create disruption in India.

Perhaps, both Flipkart and Housing have come full circle in their journeys when investors start to take the lead decisions than founders.

Of course, when founders willingly take a back seat to take a bigger view on company and market strategy is a different case. Bill Gates, Larry Page, Reid Hoffman all appointed CEOs when founders had already spent a considerable time building the companies at the helm.

A forced replacement or ouster of founders from executive operations in the heydays of a startup may not do any good. Its a plea to the investors not to kill the passion of founders in the early years of their startup.

(This is an opinion piece)





Follow @HarsimranJulka


Ex-choir director in Bucks County pleads no contest to molesting two students, secretly filming another
Maintaining independence and editorial freedom is essential to our mission of empowering investor success. We provide a platform for our authors to report on investments fairly, accurately, and from the investors point of view. We also respect individual opinionsthey represent the unvarnished thinking of our people and exacting analysis of our research processes. Our authors can publish views that we may or may not agree with, but they show their work, distinguish facts from opinions, and make sure their analysis is clear and in no way misleading or deceptive.

To further protect the integrity of our editorial content, we keep a strict separation between our sales teams and authors to remove any pressure or influence on our analyses and research.

Read our editorial policy to learn more about our process.
Don Mason / Houston Chronicle

Noble Energy has purchased rights to drill in 7,200 acres in West Texas Delaware Basin for $300 million, the company announced this week. The new land fills holes in Nobles existing acreage, allowing the company to drill longer horizontal wells.

Noble, based in Houston, said the properties include current production of about 2,400 barrels of oil and gas per day, expanding the companys total Delaware position by about 20 percent to 47,200 net acres and 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The 85th Legislature is underway in Austin, and lots of people are lobbying for their piece of the funding pie. The Railroad Commission, however, is a bit different than other agencies.

The commission regulates the states oil and gas, mining and pipeline activities and is in a financial crunch. Its funded mostly by oil and gas activity, not the state, though lawmakers set the amount the RRC is allowed to spend.

In speaking with the Reporter-Telegram after her presentation at Wednesdays monthly Midland County Republican Women meeting, RRC Chairman Christi Craddick said her one wish to the Legislature this session is to fully fund the agency.

Craddick, who was elected to the commission in 2012, said the agency has a budget of $80 million but that revenues have fallen dramatically. Its causing problems in the personnel department.

Being down 100 people is a real challenge for us, and as (the oil and gas industry) begins to tick up, they want their permits out on time, and we need to continue doing our inspections and protecting the environment, she said. Additional dollars are important to us.

Craddick said more money could come from diverting a natural gas utility tax, which the agency collects, to the agency rather than putting it into the general revenue fund. That account has about $25 million.

Thats a lot of money when youre down 21 percent, she said.

Personnel problems at the RRC dont end with being shorthanded today.

My agency has 150 people that could retire tomorrow, she told a packed crowd at Midland Country Club.

She said the agency currently has 690 employees, down from the more than 1,500 in the much slower 1990s. Losing the experience of 150 soon-to-be retires will be detrimental if the commission cant get new employees soon.

Craddick said experience and education are challenges in the oil and gas industry as a whole.

Having an educated workforce and keeping them in the industry, particularly when were in a downturn, (is a challenge), she said. If you dont have a good workforce, then you dont have a good industry. As we see this upturn coming, and I think its coming faster than were all prepared for, we cant get there without people, and thats going to be a real challenge for us.

The RRC still pushes on. We posted 14 jobs this week across the board, Craddick said. Were looking for inspectors across the state because if we dont have the boots on the ground, were not as effective, so inspectors are really important for us.

Other highlights

IT pause: Craddick said the lack of funding has prompted the RRC to slow down or pause new information technology projects. New online permit tools have been implemented, but the rest will have to wait for now. (IT improvements) cost money, but the Legislature doesnt like to talk about that, she said.

Tensions in Balmorhea: Protesters have begun gathering on property near Balmorhea State Park in Toyahvale. The park is noted for its springs that are popular with swimmers and divers. Apache Corp. made news last year after it announced discovering 3 billion recoverable barrels of oil in the so-called Alpine High formation near the springs.

Community members and environmentalists are concerned drilling in the area will pollute the springs. Craddick said the RRC is aware of the issue.

We pay attention to the whole state, she said. I was at our field office today, and we were talking about Balmorhea, and we need to make sure we have people out there regularly. At this point, we have rules in place, and we expect Apache to follow those rules. Well work with the communities to educate them about what Apache is doing.

Regulations drawdown: Craddick said during her presentation that the RRC is looking at 141 federal regulations that could affect the industries the state agency looks over. She hopes President-elect Donald Trump and Republican majorities in the House and Senate will analyze and erase certain regulations.

We have the opportunity in this country to roll back non-common sense regulations  and get rid of the garbage we have been living under over the past eight years, she said. If we dont, this industry isnt going to survive. The energy industry out of the Great Recession is the only industry that created jobs in the past five years. Were down 200,000, and were still the only group that created jobs.

Shaking up injection wells: Many eyes are on wastewater injection wells as the culprits for uncanny earthquakes in Texas and Oklahoma. The RRC has addressed the issue in the Lone Star State.

Weve had one earthquake in the state since October, Craddick said. I think weve done a good job with our rules, and companies have been more thoughtful. Weve turned down about a third of injection-well permit applications, though they have the opportunity to ask for a hearing. I think people are more aware and paying a lot more attention.

Statistic shootout: Craddick came armed with statistics that made many in the room utter quiet and polite hmms of delight, surprise and concern. A quick rundown:

 The nation is producing 8.8 million barrels of oil a day. Thats down from 9.6 million barrels a day a year ago.

 Texas is producing 2.6 million barrels of oil a day, down from 2.8 million barrels a day the year ago. The state is producing 21 billion cubic feet of natural gas per day.

 The Permian Basin is producing 1.2 million barrels of oil a day.

 Oil and gas taxes are down 52 percent over the past two years in Texas.

 Oil and gas is still 30 percent of the states economy.

 Coal provides about 30 percent of electricity in Texas.

Love for the ladies in red: As a Midland native, Craddick is no stranger to the efforts of the Midland County Republican Women. This club taught me what Republican women ought to do, she said.

Like Trevor on Facebook and follow him on Twitter at @HowdyHawes.








Midlander Juandelle Lacy Roberts has no shortage of memories from presidential inaugurations. Shes traveled to Washington, D.C.. for the swearing-in ceremonies of every Republican since Richard Nixon.

And just before her 89th birthday, she will be an onlooker when Donald Trump takes the oath of office on Friday.

At this age, Im thrilled to be here, Lacy Roberts said. Im not going to stop running around doing these things until Im in the grave.

Family tradition

Lacy Roberts, who serves on the board for the Texas Federation of Republican Women, estimates shes been active in politics for about 60 years.

The political arena is like bug bites, Lacy Roberts said. You cant get out of it.

After years of paying attention to local, state and national political races, Lacy Roberts anticipates a new face in the Oval Office. But first, shes preparing for the weather on inauguration day.

Its outside, and it could be cold or snowing, Lacy Roberts said. Ive sat through both. If its cold, its not as exciting to be wrapped up. You cant really move.

Roberts remembers a time when she didnt have to bear the weather. She watched Ronald Reagans second inauguration speech from her hotel after subzero temperatures forced officials to move the ceremony inside the Capitol building.

The hotel put up huge TVs, Lacy Roberts said. All of us who were supposed to be there saw it. It was still fun, but it was so cold.

This year, Lacy Roberts will travel to Washington with another inauguration veteran  her daughter, Rhonda Lacy.

After attending several ceremonies, Lacy thinks this presidential swearing-in will be significant.

The inauguration, I hope, will be a form of unity, a form of hope for many of us, Lacy said. Im expecting to see a lot of people who have never been.

Though the Lacy family originally supported Ted Cruz, they embraced the GOP nominee. Locally, they spread enthusiasm about the party as members of Midland County Republican Women.

Lacy, who serves on the State Republican Executive Committee for Senate District 31 and the board of the Texas Federation of Republican Women, thinks the national election outcome is positive for the party.

People see what we can do together, Lacy said. Weve lost a lot of races. Weve never seen the way the other side was divided. We want a good heath care system and to make Supreme Court nominations.

For 16 months before the election, Lacy coordinated efforts for the Texas Strike Force. In that role, she traveled across the country to help elect Republican candidates. She said the inauguration serves as culmination of her work.

When you work this hard, you want to be a part of the celebration of it, Lacy said. We run into people we know. We know people from all over the country.

Even when Lacy is celebrating Trumps presidency, she already will be thinking about the next election cycle. Shes scheduled to meet with the Republican National Committee in the nations capital to start planning.

Lacy Roberts appreciates the efforts of her daughter and others who helped elect Republicans to state and national positions in 2016.

The government has given us one more chance, Lacy Roberts said. We were knocking on doors, raising money and telephoning. Without that, I dont believe God would have heard us. He would have let them win.

New memories

When the Lacys come to the nations capital, they wont be the only Midlanders visiting the area. Some West Texans plan to journey eastward to hear Trumps inaugural address and attend related events.

Kim Henderson, who supported Trump during his candidacy, plans to drive to the inauguration with two sons.

Its exciting for all of us, Henderson said. My sons are in the military, so were patriotic in the first place. The experience is once in a lifetime. To be able to go is exciting, but to be able to go as a family is even more exciting. Its such a landmark time in our country.

Though Henderson has never attended an inauguration, her sons were in the spirit when George W. Bush visited West Texas.

When Bush came through before his inauguration, both my sons were able to go meet [him], Henderson said. Its the second time they will be able to see an event like this.

Also representing Midland in Washington, D.C., on Friday will be Nelson Spear and his wife, Nancy. They are looking forward to their first inauguration.

Timing was everything, said Nelson Spear, who served as a delegate to the Republican National Convention in 2016. It was the first time we had time from a business point of view and a personal point of view to go.

But it can be difficult to obtain inauguration tickets. Some Midland families received them after they entered a lottery through U.S. Rep. Mike Conaways office.

Briggs and Susannah Donaldson were surprised when their names were selected. They already had wanted to attend Black Tie and Boots  an inaugural ball hosted by the Texas State Society of Washington, D.C.  so they added the presidential ceremonies to their itinerary.

We thought it would be better to go if were going to go, Briggs Donaldson said. You never know when a Republican is going to win again. I hope they do. We wanted to go to Bushs second one, but it didnt work out.

But some Midlanders traveling to Washington, D.C. this week wont attend the ceremonies. Gayle Ellis will instead participate in a post-inauguration demonstration march.

Initially, I was going to go to the inauguration for Hillary Clinton, said Ellis, precinct 205 chair for the Midland County Democratic Party. I made arrangements for that some time ago. When she didnt win the election, the march appeared on the horizon. I made a shift in my flight plans and lodging plans.

Ellis plans to attend the Womens March on Washington, a demonstration scheduled for the day after the inauguration. The march aims to show solidarity among diverse communities, according to its website. Ellis, who hasnt participated in a march of this magnitude, said the events mission is appealing.

To me, its standing up for what I fear is going to happen to marginalized people in this country, Ellis said. Its standing up for women, Muslims, LGBTQ rights, small businesses, Latinos  anyone struggling already to find a footing in our world.

Marianne Woods, attending the march with Ellis, said she wants to walk with others to show her dissatisfaction with the next president.

Ill be in a group of like-minded people to show our support for democratic government, Woods said.






New members inducted into Institute of ...
With snow and ice on the brain, harmful algal blooms seem a distant problem for a warmer time.

Not so, for a Buffalo lab. Teresa Misiti, an environmental engineer and scientist with GHD Consulting Services, Inc. has spent the beginning of her winter months working with microcystin, the kind of toxin that can be released from dying blue-green algae blooms.

Using both raw and treated water samples from the city of Auburn's plant, Misiti and others have been testing different treatment methods in a lab setting to see what may be best at destroying the toxins. While GHD has toured the town of Owasco's treatment plant and had some initial discussions, Misiti said no official testing agreement has been signed with them. Misiti said she expects GHD will have a report and meeting with the city of Auburn's water plant at the end of January or early February to go over the results.

"It's a problem all over the country, even the world," Misiti said about harmful algal blooms. "It's becoming worse and worse. It's well-studied so there are a lot of treatment methods that are proven effective, but you have to choose what's best for your facility. What works for someone else may not work for Auburn. We're hoping to compare different technologies to see what's best for them."

After a preliminary exploration of a list of treatment options, Seth Jensen, director of Auburn's Municipal Utilities, said the city had narrowed those down to utilizing powder activated carbon and/or ozone, a kind of disinfectant. The city is also considering extending the plant's intake pipe, but Misiti has been focusing her testing on the two other options. She's looking to see which may be more effective to treat blue-green algae toxins using Auburn's specific water footprint.

To do that, the lab purchases microcystin at its most toxic form. While it's not the exact replica of the kind produced by blue-green algae blooms in Owasco Lake, Misiti said it's close. Last summer, Auburn and Owasco's treated drinking water had levels of the toxin between non-detectable levels to as high as 0.22 micrograms per liter. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's health advisory guideline levels for pre-school age children and younger is 0.3 micrograms per liter.

To be on the safe side, Misiti said she uses a slightly higher level of microcystin than the levels discovered last summer. In beakers, she mixes raw water samples in a stir plate. She spikes the water with the microcystin toxin and mixes it. Using that concoction, she said she tests different kinds of powder activated carbon at different concentrations and different contact times.

There are three kinds of powder activated carbon the lab is exploring including wood-source, coal-source and coconut shell. So far, she said, coconut shell-based powder activated carbon has shown ineffective, so testing is focusing on the wood and coal-based kinds. Jensen said when the plant first had detectable levels of toxins in the treated drinking water, the city began adding wood-based powder activated carbon to the treatment process.

Because the powder has to be removed after it's finished absorbing the toxins and other compounds that could be floating around in the water, it's a method that would be used on the raw water flowing into the plant.

"If you add it after the treatment process, it would just stay in the water, so it has to be removed," Misiti said. "It would absorb other compounds in the raw water as well. That's OK, it would just improve the treatment process in general."

The second method GHD is testing is the disinfectant called ozone. Combining air with an electrical current, three oxygen atoms form ozone, a reactive and unstable compound that attacks bonds and bacterial cells, Misiti said. While chlorine can be used to do the same thing, Misiti said the concentrations required would be higher. Ozone also dissipates quickly, and there's not as much residual, she added.

Misiti said ozone could be used to treat both the raw and finished water, but more of it would likely be needed at the raw water stage. That's because if intact blue-green algae were to enter the plant, ozone could kill the algae, which may release the microcystin.

"That's not that big of a deal if you add enough ozone," Misiti said.

But, for cost-savings purposes, Misiti said it may make more sense to have ozone as a final treatment step, since other measures the plants are taking do a good job of removing the blue-green algae itself.

Misiti said the New York State Department of Health's lab in Albany does not have the capacity to take on these kinds of sampling tests so GHD overnights the treated samples in an ice-packed cooler to Ohio. Blue-green algae toxins in Lake Erie caused tens of thousands of Toledo, Ohio residents to stop drinking their water in 2014. The Ohio National Guard carted in thousands of gallons of water to ration out, and since then, Misiti said the number of labs in Ohio that test for microcystin now has jumped.

Once the results are in, and the city and GHD meet to discuss them, the next step will be to meet with plant manufacturers and decide what could be implemented, where it could be installed and how much it would cost. Jensen said he'd like to look at the existing space first, but there is the potential to need a new building. Powder activated carbon would need to be stored somewhere, for example, and the creation of ozone may require the storage of pure oxygen.

"It's tough to speculate," Jensen said. "I think it would probably be the best to utilize an existing space if it happens to be the right location for optimal treatment. It's a little too early to tell."

Meanwhile Jensen is keeping county and state officials in the loop and inviting them to the various progress meetings with GHD. While state officials have not come to any of those meetings, Jensen said there's an interest level from the Department of Environmental Conservation and the Department of Health.

"Collaboratively we can work together as we go through this planning process so when we get to the design report for the final recommendation, there's some full-level dynamic consensus not only locally with the city of Auburn, but with the state DEC and DOH to help streamline any opportunities," Jensen said.
File

Expect non-stop action in Scott McEwen's new book, "Ghost Sniper," the next installment in the Sniper Elite series.

In this thriller, the U.S. ambassador to Mexico is assassinated in a parade. The sniper is a former Army Ranger named Rhett Hancock. He uses a 50 caliber sniper rifle to kill the ambassador and several members of DSS (Diplomatic Security Service).
Spring ISD graduates are returning to their former high school campuses, and they are bringing a lot of advice to current students. The district's annual alumni day on Jan. 6 allowed high school students to interact with graduates who were home on winter break from their colleges and universities.

The graduates started a day early at Carl Wunsche Sr. High School. Students from last year's graduating class spoke to ninth-graders at Wunsche's Commitment to Graduate ceremony Thursday evening, Jan. 5. Each year, the Wunsche ninth-grade students make a pledge to graduate with their classmates, to keep up with their studies, and to participate in community service activities.

Gia Dao was a Wunsche student who graduated last year. He attends college at Brown University, but returned to encourage current students to work hard for their success.

"The reason people are successful is because they stake a claim to it," Dao told the students. "Refuse to quit. Put in the work and make the sacrifices necessary in order to achieve your goals because your future depends on it."

Over 120 Wunsche alumni registered for panel discussions and other interactive sessions scheduled for the next morning.

Spring Early College Academy alumni participated in an array of meetings with students, parents and school faculty during the school's alumni day activities. While topics ranged from scholarships to fields of study, the juniors and seniors really wanted to know about campus life and moving away from home.

Angela Garza graduated from the academy in 2015, but returned from her college in Missouri to assure the students that they will be alright if they find themselves alone in a new environment.

"Campus life may put you out of your comfort zone, but making new friends and joining campus organizations will help. I have really enjoyed my life at college because I'm so involved in the community," Garza told the group.

At Westfield High School, graduates answered questions in classrooms, and then gathered at a long row of tables near the cafeteria to speak to students during lunch. Westfield graduate Alexandria Watson is studying anthropology at the University of Texas, and said the Westfield students had a lot of questions about campus life.

"We talked about time management, so you don't get stuck in stressful all-night study sessions. You have to take care of your mind and body," said Watson.

Campus administrators across the district were thrilled with the large turnouts by their former students for this annual event.

Spring Early College Academy graduate Angela Garza speaks about campus life to seniors at her former school.
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The John Cooper School gathered a multitude of donations for this year's 12th annual Empty Bowls Project, where Pre-K through 12th-grade students, faculty, staff and parents make handmade bowls to raise funds for a local food pantry. Two societies, the John Cooper School National Art Honor Society and Cooper Art Society, are teaming up to sponsor the event.

Empty Bowls is an international fundraiser, and the John Cooper School has hosted its own event since 2005. In the past 11 years, Empty Bowls has raised over $75,000, benefiting Interfaith Food Pantry to provide hunger relief in the community.

Senior and President of NAHS and CAS Andrea Perez Florez was a participant of the Empty Bowls Project as a freshman. He said it's been a "privilege" to be able to create something that will benefit someone less fortunate.

"Most people at John Cooper are pretty privileged," Florez said, "so it's good to show that the stuff we take for granted, for a lot of people, it's not as easy as we've had it all our lives."

Senior and Vice President of NAHS and CAS Madison Scott worked alongside Florez, helping to organize this year's fundraiser. Scott said compared to previous years, there have been more contributions to the fundraiser.

This may be in part due to the inclusivity the event adopted last year. Instead of just creating ceramic bowls, teachers and students are now encouraged to create bowls with various mediums, like acrylic paint, watercolor, photographs, knitting and more.

Faculty sponsor of Empty Bowls for two years Jamila Musa-Carr has been showing her students how to make digital, 3-D animated bowls in her classroom. She said there were separate bowl-making days for staff and students in December, but some pieces featured at the event have been worked on all year.

"It's a tradition for some people," Musa-Carr said. "Different teachers and people in the community have a shelf dedicated to this event and collect a bowl each year to add it to their shelves."

This year's event will be open to the public at Cooper's Student Center from 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. Feb. 25. Lunch attendees are asked to donate $10 online to reserve a spot to get a homemade bowl, browse the silent auction and enjoy a bowl of soup and bread. T-shirt's will be on sale for $15 at the fundraiser, as well as online at the John Cooper website, with all proceeds benefiting Interfaith Food Pantry.
Are small business owners too busy to think about retirement? Thats one take from a startling new report from BMO Wealth Management. It found only a fraction of the nations 28 million small business owners are prepared for retirement. For instance, 75 percent have saved less than $100,000 in retirement funds.

Small businesses, defined as companies with fewer than 500 employees, represent 99.7 percent of all employer firms -- employing almost half of all U.S. workers, according to the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). So how is it that owners of these little engines that drive our economy are neglecting their own retirement?

To answer that question, we need to understand a bit about these business owners. Most established, successful business owners and professionals tend to fit in one of two camps:

Related: The Retirement Plan Strategy Small Business Owners Need to Know About

Business owner type 1.

Your business is your primary savings and retirement plan. You reinvest most of your profits into your business. You have confidence in your business, so you keep rolling the dice in the hopes of building your company and increasing your revenues.

Many business owners are banking on selling their businesses to retire, but that is a very risky proposition. There's no guarantee you'll be able to sell your business for anything even close to what you think it's worth -- and you might not even be able to sell it at all.

Industries and markets get disrupted -- sometimes overnight. The statistics about selling a business are sobering -- only 20 percent of businesses listed for sale ever sell, and if you're one of the lucky ones who gets it done, the IRS will take up to 45 percent of the sales price in taxes.

Business owner type 2.

These individuals are more diversified outside of their business. Some may hold conventional retirement accounts such as a 401(k), IRA or profit sharing, college savings, real estate investments or cash stashed in a savings or money market account for fast access to capital.

Both types of business owners face risks associated with conventional investments and the risks of not being able to sell their business for what they expected.

Related: 10 Flaws of Conventional Retirement Plans

The reality is that you're doubling down on your risk by gambling with your money both inside and outside of your business. Regardless of which type best describes you, the critical question you should ask yourself is this -- What's my 'Plan B' for my business? How can you create a Plan B that will help you retire safely and securely? Start by asking what your retirement account be worth on the day you plan to tap into it? Most business owners cannot answer this question.

The problem with conventional financial and retirement planning is that it's based on things you can't predict or control, like how much money you'll really have when you retire or how long it needs to last. If you dont know the value of your retirement savings when youre ready to tap into them, youre gambling, pure and simple.

In his book, Predictably Irrational, behavioral economist Dan Ariely explains how we human investors typically forget about our losses and mentally exaggerate our successes. (Youve gotta love the name of Ariely's institute -- The Center for Advanced Hindsights.)

So, let's pause for a stock market reality check.

Most people saw their investment accounts plunge by 50 percent or more when the dot-com bubble burst. Many investors had moved their money into NASDAQ technology stocks, which plunged 78 percent between March 2000 and October 2002.

Investors who diversified beyond tech stocks didn't fare much better. The S&P 500 lost 49 percent in that same period.

After the S&P 500 peaked in October 2007, it proceeded to lose 57 percent by March 2009.

That's two heart-stopping losses weve experienced -- just since the year 2000. But it's even worse than that for most of us. Since 1994, DALBAR, Inc., the leading independent, unbiased investment performance rating firm, has studied the actual long-term results investors get in the market. The DALBAR 2016 Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior includes some truly shocking findings. Consider that over the last 30 years:

Investors in equity mutual funds have averaged 3.66 percent per year -- beating inflation by only 1 percent! (Was that worth the sleepless nights?)

Asset allocation fund investors earned only 1.65 percent per year -- which didn't even come close to beating inflation.

Pity those who invested in fixed-income funds -- they averaged only 0.59 percent per year.

Related: Here's How Much a Millennial Needs to Save Each Month to Retire With $5 Million

Clearly most investors, including millions of small business owners, have been digging themselves into a hole they may never be able to climb out of.

Despite the big lie Wall Street tries to sell us, you dont have to risk your money to grow a sizeable nest egg. There are safe, predictable savings methods used by hundreds of thousands of Americans that can help small business owners take control of their financial futures and act as their own sources of financing.

Related:

Business Owners Need a 'Plan B' for Retirement

The Retirement Plan Strategy Small-Business Owners Need to Know About

3 Gut-Wrenching Questions to Ask Your Spouse About Your Business



Copyright 2017 Entrepreneur.com Inc., All rights reserved
Over the past three years, the Midland County Board of Commissioners has fielded numerous requests for increased adjustments in starting salaries for various positions. The requests have prompted commissioners to contract for a classification and wage analysis with Municipal Consulting Services in June 2016.

A new study is recommended once every 10 years and the last one was completed in 2003, making it vital that the County spend $69,450 to develop a rational compensation system for the employment positions, for up to 130 positions.

Municipal reviewed 124 county positions and conducted a market analysis of other similar positions and then determined an appropriate salary for each position. The agreement did not include any law enforcement positions.

Midland County employs 199 represented employees (including law enforcement) and 105 non-represented employees.

Following analysis and evaluation of the existing positions, Municipal conducted a market analysis of 13 other Michigan governmental units before providing recommended pay grades and ranges including a minimum, midpoint and maximum range for each position. The market analysis compared counties with employees that have similar responsibilities. Allegan, Bay, Calhoun, Clinton, Eaton, Grand Traverse, Isabella, Lenawee, Monroe, Saginaw and Van Buren counties along with the City of Midland were studied in the analysis.

The Midland County wage scale to be implemented in 2017, has been factored by 1.10 (raised by 10 percent) above market and includes 17 grades and seven steps within each one of those grades.

Midland Countys employees (considered in aggregate) are paid, (as an estimate), 111 percent of what their counterparts in comparable counties earn, or roughly 11 percent above the estimated market midpoint, according to the report.

In a letter to the board, County Administrator/Controller Bridgette Gransden stated, In the last wage study, completed in 2003, the county also positioned itself at 10 percent above market due to the unique labor environment of the geographic region....(The 2016 study) will provide consistency across various employee groups and keep us well positioned within our local market as an employer. This scale also raises the low end of the pay ranges which position us competitively in recruiting and retaining quality employees.

Following a closed session on Dec. 20, the board unanimously approved agreements with four bargaining groups: USW Local Union No. 12075-01, probate court; 75th District Court Employees Association; Teamsters Local Union 214; and USW Local Union No. 12075-03.

The four contracts were extended through 2018 and included implementing the new job classification and compensation system in 2017.

Not all analyzed positions fell within the suggested wage range. Those above the maximum, of which there were 35, were designated as red circled.

Following implementation of the new wage scale, each employee will receive at least $500 in 2017. Any employee, including red circled employees, receiving less than a $500 increase would be given the difference in a lump sum.

Non-represented employees would also be entered into the wage scale, beginning in 2017, and would receive at least $500 in 2017.

Gransden stated in an email, At this point, the board has addressed red circled employees inside the collective bargaining agreements and for non-represented employees through 2018 and that is the $500 lump sum bonus for anyone red circled in either 2017 or 2018.

The collective bargaining groups also negotiated a base wage increase of 2 percent for 2018. Commissioners also approved a 2 percent increase for non-represented employees in 2018. Those employees who remain red circled in 2018 would just receive a $500 lump sum payment.

This way the wage scales are consistent. This not only provides consistency among the various employee groups, it positions us well in the local labor market and puts us on one path moving forward. As always, the county was very cognizant of the financial impact of these negotiations and worked to remain within the amounts available in the recently approved 2017 Budget, Gransden said.

On the other end of the wage scale, the county had 46 positions that would have been green circled, or those that are below the minimum step in the wage scale.

Anyone who was green circled was placed at the minimum amount in each grade. All other employees were placed in the new system at the recommended grade and the step at which they would not see a decrease in pay. Thus after implementing the new compensation system there are no more green circles just employees in the system and red circled employees whose wage remains above the maximum in their pay grade, Gransden stated.

The total cost to implement the new wage scale will be $317,219.74. Anticipating the implementation of the new system, the county had budgeted $350,000 for 2017.

Six county-wide elected officials, county clerk, drain commissioner, prosecuting attorney, register of deeds, sheriff and treasurer will also receive a $500 lump sum payment. Commissioners voted to not give themselves a raise or a lump sum payment.
A Montgomery County grand jury indicted a Huntsville man Tuesday on two charges, including one related to a Montgomery-area bank robbery.

Marvin Bowden, 30, faces two charges, one for second-degree felony robbery and another for first-degree felony possession of controlled substance. The robbery charge stems from a Dec. 6, 2016, holdup, in which police claim Bowden entered the BBVA Compass Bank in the 19300 block of Texas 105 West "simulating" a gun inside a duffle bag.

Bowden allegedly jumped across the counter and demanded money from the cashiers, much like another incident in October.

Bowden allegedly took an undisclosed amount of cash from the bank, got in a vehicle and fled east on Texas 105 West to a home off McCaleb Road near the intersection with Texas 105, which is about 5 miles from the bank. Several people initially were detained at the home, although Bowden is the only one charged at this time.

Bowden suffered a small hand wound and was taken to a local hospital before being booked into the Montgomery County Jail.

The drug possession charge came when Bowden allegedly hopped over a pharmacy counter at the Walgreen's in the 3000 block of College Park Drive and stole prescription drugs, according to MCSO Lt. Brady Fitzgerald. Bowden was never arrested, and a warrant never was issued in that case.

When detectives arrested Bowden on the day of the Montgomery robbery, they filed felony burglary and possession of a controlled substance charges against him. But a judge ruled there was not enough evidence to support the burglary charge during a probable cause hearing the next day, Fitzgerald said.

"Mr. Bowden is innocent until proven guilty," said Bowden's defense attorney Kate Shipman Bihm, "and I hope that the public will withhold judgment on this case until all of the evidence is proven in court."

A burglary charge had not been filed against Bowden as of Friday, court records show. He is being held in the Montgomery County Jail on $80,000 worth of bonds.

He is due back in Judge Kathleen Hamilton's 359th state District Court for an information hearing Feb. 21.

Montgomery County grand jury indictments for Jan. 10:

Dylan Philburn, theft

Isaias Flores Jr., assault family strangulation

James Parsons II, possession with intent to deliver/manufacture controlled substance and unauthorized use of motor vehicle

Vanessa Fegan, theft

Jason Black, possession of controlled substance

Travis Dougan, DWI  third or more

Robin Harrison, theft

Jeremy Ryan, DWI  third or more

Dalton Williams, indecency with a child

Lonnie Jones, burglary of habitation

Dusten Delamar, sexual assault of a child

Christopher Posada, intoxication assault (x3)

Paul York, possession of controlled substance

Austin Nelson, possession of controlled substance

Zane Bradley, possession of controlled substance

Emenuel Maldonado, assault public servant

Felipe Maldonado, DWI  with a child

Michael Sellers, unauthorized use of motor vehicle

Bryan Johnson, assault family strangulation

Terence Hidalgo, possession of controlled substance

Kalani Nunes-Lopez, assault family strangulation

Mary Chaykoski, DWI  third or more

Fredrich Braxton, indecency with a child

Joshua Johnson, online solicitation of a minor

Brittney Madison, abandoning a child

Brandon Beasley, fraudulent possession of identifying items
Did you catch that footnote in the early budget numbers for the state of Texas?

In the midst of all the weeks gloomy state budget news, this stuck out like a gold nugget in a cow patty: Rising property values in the states school districts translate into higher local tax revenue and a reduced need for state money for education.

Thats another way of saying the state will spend $3.2 billion less in the next budget than it would have  in large measure because property values are up and local taxpayers are unwittingly subsidizing the state.

That frees state officials to spend their time talking about things like limiting local school districts ability to collect more taxes.

Feel like everyone is giving you the straight scoop on this? Its not that everybody in state government is lying, its that its hard to change one thing in school finance without wrecking something else.

Public schools in Texas will get 51.5 percent of their money from local property taxes in 2017, according to the Legislative Budget Board. Theyll get 38.4 percent from the state and the rest from the federal government. The local/state part of that equation works like a waterbed: When one side goes up, the other side goes down.

When property values rise, local tax revenue tends to rise with it. That eases the need for more money from the state for public education. When the state budget is tight  its tight now thats one big-ticket item the Legislatures budget writers can cross off their lists.

Education remains, alongside health and human services, the biggest item in the state budget. But this keeps the lid on increases  its $3.2 billion that lawmakers wont have to spend on education in the next budget.

That couldnt come at a better time for the states budget writers. Comptroller Glenn Hegar told lawmakers this week that theyll have less money to spend in the next budget than they had for the current one.

The states economic growth last year, expected to be 3.0 percent, turned out to be just 0.2 percent. Hegar has downgraded his original forecast of 4.1 percent growth for this fiscal year to 2.5 percent.

Texas lawmakers are starting their session with $1.5 billion left in their accounts, but they expect to need at least that much and probably more just to cover some unanticipated costs in the current budget cycle that ends in August.

Theyll be looking for places to save money, for programs and services that can be cut without too much harm and for sources of money  from the states $11.9 billion rainy day fund to accounting tricks to favorable changes in federal spending  to make up what some say is a $5 billion to $6 billion shortfall.

Further squeezing budget writers options: Lawmakers, with the agreement of voters, dedicated up to $5 billion in sales taxes to transportation in 2015, taking a big bite out of what would have been available for general spending.

Had property values around the state remained flat, your property tax bill might be the same next year  but the state would be on the hook for $3.2 billion more for public schools or to cut education spending.

Instead, local property taxpayers will cover that part of the shortfall, or about a third of what might have been without a continuing rise in real estate values.

Your own legislators probably agree that youre getting thumped on local property taxes  especially school taxes. The Tax Foundation, a nonprofit that keeps track of such things, says Texas has the sixth-highest property taxes in the United States (and 39th in combined state and local taxes paid per capita).

They probably agree that your tax bill has been climbing too quickly  the subject of legislative hearings and reports during the time between this session and the last one.

They might be less willing to admit that rising property values are making a tight budget year a little easier to handle. They might not even be aware of it.

Surely, theyd thank you for the help if they knew.






Saying we live in an era of staggering civic illiteracy, Texas Supreme Court Justice Don Willett told a conservative think tank Thursday that schools must provide a far richer education on the rights and duties of U.S. citizens.

Speeches by members of a relatively obscure court typically dont get much media attention, but Willetts profile has risen significantly since his name appeared on President-elect Donald Trump's list of 21 potential nominees to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Trump recently said he plans to make his pick within about two weeks of his Jan. 20 inauguration, and The New York Times has reported that the list has been cut to a half-dozen names for additional scrutiny.

Willett, a Republican on the Texas high court since 2005, said he has had no contact or conversations with Trump or his transition team.

Im just trying to keep my head down and focus on the job, he told the American-Statesman, adding that he feels blessed to be part of the nine-member Texas court.

Growing up a doublewide-trailer kid raised by a widowed waitress mom who never finished high school, I never imagined serving on any court, much less the U.S. Supreme Court, Willett said.

In his lunchtime speech to the Texas Public Policy Foundation gathering in Austin, Willett didnt discuss the U.S. Supreme Court, focusing instead on what he called an acute crisis of American ignorance in the workings of the Constitution and government.

Saying people who dont understand government dont participate in it, Willett cited an August survey showing that only 26 percent of adults could name the three branches of government, while 31 percent couldnt name a single branch.

The U.S. system of government requires fierce champions, not feeble spectators, yet voter turnout in Texas is the worst in the nation, he said.

When voters dont actually vote, then politicians have every incentive to ignore them, Willett said. Our government is only going to be as great, as responsive as we demand it to be.

Schools will have to do better, he said.

We have got to get back into the education game, he said. Civics is no less a core competency than other subject.

Willetts name appeared on the first list of prospective nominees that Trump released in May -- a surprising turn, Willett said at the time, because the Trump campaign hadnt contacted him beforehand.

Ten names were added in September, and Trump promised that his first nominee would come from the combined list that includes nine federal appellate judges and nine state Supreme Court judges.

The exposure dramatically raised the profile of Willett, who had been better known for his active and humorous Twitter feed. Newspaper features followed, and his Twitter followers jumped to 74,000. The Wall Street Journal recently featured A Week in the Life of Justice Don Willett, a first-person account from the tweetingest judge in America.

The last state Supreme Court justice appointed to the federal high court, however, was William Brennan Jr. in 1956 -- 10 years before Willett was born.

Distributed by Tribune Content Agency






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Four Freedom Riders who stood up to segregation in the Deep South in 1961 took a bus trip on Saturday, one far different from the journeys that earned them a place in history books.

This time, the four were on a sleek Greyhound bus that escorted them from Selma to other parts of Northeast Bexar County before arriving at their final destination in Kirby, where they were honored in the citys Martin Luther King Jr. parade.

Along the way, the four shared with other passengers accounts of being arrested and jailed nearly 56 years ago for for using facilities that were labeled whites only in Jackson, Mississippi.

More than 400 men and women, black and white, were arrested in Jackson for testing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling the previous year that overturned a lower courts conviction of a black law student for being in a restaurant in a whites-only bus terminal. A ruling by the Interstate Commerce Commission later that year ended discrimination in interstate transportation.

Saturdays Get on the Bus with the Original Mississippi Freedom Riders was organized by Barbara Bowie, founder and executive director of the Dr. J.R. Bowie III Scholarship Foundation.

Fred Anderson, 69, of Montreal was only 15 when he decided to sneak away from home and board a bus in Albany, Georgia, to join other Freedom Riders in Jackson. He remembered the trip getting off to an inauspicious start.

I refused to sit in the back of the bus, Anderson said, adding he was kicked off for it. He eventually caught another bus.

Once I got into Jackson, I was hauled off the bus by a group of whites and I was punched, kicked, spat upon, he recalled. He was arrested, charged with breach of the peace and sent to the penitentiary in Parchman, where he was incarcerated on death row until his release after 39 days.

Anderson admitted he was afraid.

But what courage is is the ability to be afraid but to say to yourself Im going to do this in spite of the fact that Im afraid, he said. Thats the important message were trying to convey.

San Antonio resident Patricia Dilworth, 74, said she traveled from her hometown of Tucson, Arizona, to Jackson at the age of 18 after seeing disturbing images on her familys black-and-white television.

I couldnt understand why people were being treated like they were being treated just for the color of their skin, she said. That made no sense to me. I had to go see for myself.

Dilworth recalled being served stale bread with some green stuff and bologna during her time in prison. I dont eat bologna at all now, she said.

Kredelle Petway, 75, recalled her father  a Methodist pastor and civil rights activist in Montgomery, Alabama  insisted that she and her younger brother join him in flying to Jackson in 1961. Before departing for Jackson, she said, the Montgomery Regional Airport refused to serve them.

They were arrested at the Jackson airport after her father drank from a water fountain labeled whites only. They spent three days in jail.

The social injustice still sticks in Petways mind.

I thought it was very unfair, especially since there were laws on the books where we supposed to be in a desegregated environment, said Petway, who now lives in Apollo Beach, Florida. But they were just on the books, and that was it. That was the main catalyst for the movement.

MacArthur Cotton, 74, said he helped organize the Freedom Rides while attending Tougaloo College. He said he was raised to help others and advance good causes.

Freedom is a constant struggle, said Cotton, who lives in Kosciusko, Mississippi. Its not something we could do in the 60s and forget about it and hope that things will be all right. Its something we have to do maintenance on, just like everything else.

Bowie, the events organizer, said its important youngsters learn what Freedom Riders endured to call attention to desegregation.

If they want to make a difference, we need them to understand that  you dont have to wait until youre grown, she said. We were all teenagers when we got involved with the (civil rights) movement. If you dont know your history, though, then youre out there without any type of direction.

pdanner@express-news.net

Twitter: @AlamoPD
The early morning worship program at the Martin Luther King Academy will be a must-stop for many of the multitude who gather before the start of the annual MLK March on Monday.

It is a time when marchers can be lifted by word and song before making the nearly 3-mile walk in the name of peace from the MLK Academy, 3501 Martin Luther King Dr., to Pittman-Sullivan Park, 1101 Iowa St.

Rosa L. Wilson, bishop of the Greater Faith Institutional Church, remembers when people would stand by, idly waiting for the march to begin. In 1996, Wilson, her late husband Glen D. Wilson, T. C. Calvert and the late Pastor Willie Henderson lobbied the San Antonio Martin Luther King Jr Commission to add a morning prayer service, which it did the following year.

Now, crowds arrive early, filling the chairs facing the outdoor stage set up in the parking lot of the East Side school. Wilson chairs the two-hour program that starts at 8 a.m., feeding the souls of the thousands that gather to remember and honor King.

We wanted to do something long-lasting, she said. We have Republicans, we have Democrats, we have everybody on the stage, Ive never told anybody no who wanted to participate.

The worship service, sponsored by the commission, features spoken word performances, contemporary and traditional musical artists and inspirational dances.

More Information Good to know Free VIA bus service Rides to the march are available 8 a.m.-10 a.m. from two stops: Lot 1, Freeman Coliseum, 3201 E. Houston St.; and Lot 22, at Montana and Mittman streets Return rides depart from Pittman-Sullivan Park, 1101 Iowa St., noon-3 p.m. For more information, go to www.VIAinfo.net or call 210-362-2020 Other activities Several are planned at Pittman-Sullivan Park, all 8:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Donate blood at the Bloodmobile, sponsored by Psi Alpha Chapter of Omega Psi Psi Fraternity and South Texas Blood and Tissue Center Visit the mobile classroom stocked with educational resources, presented by the San Antonio Library Foundation Register to vote and/or pick up voting information, provided by The Neighborhoods First Alliance. Compiled by staff See More Collapse

This years scheduled speakers include Mayor Ivy Taylor, state Sen. Jose Menendez, D-San Antonio; U.S. Rep. Lloyd Doggett, D-Austin; Bexar County Democratic Party Chairman Manuel Medina; and state Rep. Barbara Gervin-Hawkins, D-San Antonio; and District 2 Councilman Alan Warrick. The keynote speaker is Pastor Earl Fulmer of Clarion Call Christian Center.

The program hasnt changed much in its nearly 20-year history. It starts with the pledge of allegiance, usually led by three youngsters from Wilsons church. A teenager will sing the national anthem before Wilson introduces the principal and staff of MLK Academy and thanks the volunteers.

Crowds spill over the curb to Wilsons church, which was once the Ebony nightclub. The church is one of the most photographed sites along the march route. Marchers line up along the wall facing the street, for photos with a mural of King waving to the masses at the Lincoln Memorial after his I have a Dream, speech in 1963.

Wilson said Kings message of nonviolence extends beyond the day of the march.

Last summer Wilson sponsored a non-violence rally at her church with other religious leaders and San Antonio Police Chief William McManus to call for peaceful interactions between residents and police. She tells people that violence is not the answer but the solution lies in proverbs 22:6 that says, Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old he will not depart from it.

Wilson, president of the Wheatley Heights Action Group, goes door to door to welcome new residents to the neighborhood where fulfilling Kings dream is a priority. She said her congregation helps the homeless, sponsors youth and visits seniors to let them know theyre not forgotten, actions all tied to the annual procession.

It is not just a march, it is a sea of people that walk on the shoulders of Martin Luther King, she said. Were like a melting pot, theres such diversity, they bring something to the program that edifies our whole city. Were many, but one voice, speaking out in the vein of Dr. King.

Twenty years later, we look at the fruit of the labor and there are so many blessed by the early morning worship.
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A group of political activists marched on downtown San Antonio to send a message to the Democratic National Committee about who should be selected as the partys next chairperson.

Progressive organizer Sean Omar Rivera, 20, coordinated The March for A Better Democratic Party in hopes of spreading support for U.S. Rep. Keith Ellison, the current DNC chair frontrunner.

Around 30 people rallied at the Alamo around 3 p.m. for the march. Rivera believes that the group had a better chance of getting its message to the DNC if the participants delivered it in a package of livestreams, recordings and photographs from the march.

Attendees were given a flier with Democratic Party Twitter handles and were urged to use social media during the march to tag them, aiming to fill their feeds with support for Ellison.

The congressman from Minnesota has gained the support of young people in Texas such as Houston resident Steven Garza, 16, who serves as vice chairman for Texas High School Democrats.

My involvement in activism and fighting for what I believe in brought Garza to Saturdays march, he said. No matter if there is 10 people or 1000.

The group marched from the Alamo, catching the attention of many passers-by on the way to Travis Park, where speakers took the spotlight before returning to the Alamo.

San Antonio Police Department officers on patrol bicycles monitored the demonstration, though the march was peaceful and there were no arrests.

The next DNC chair will be elected in late February.
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For more than 30 years, Rick Perry has served as a dedicated public servant in the great state of Texas. In my former positions as Texas secretary of state, Texas railroad commissioner  overseeing the states energy sector  and as the U.S. ambassador to Mexico under President George W. Bush, I have worked closely with Gov. Perry on developing Texas energy sector and a variety of other issues.

I could not be more confident in his exceptional leadership and his qualifications for the position of U.S. secretary of energy.

As governor of Texas, Rick Perrys successful tenure stemmed from his dogged focus on job creation. Following the 2008-09 financial crisis, Texas created more jobs than any other state, due in part to Rick Perrys decision to back the development of all energy sources in Texas, from shale gas to wind power. In particular, his support of Texas shale production helped set the foundation that pumped investment into the state and spurred the recent job boom. The positive effects of this energy portfolio diversification also spilled over to consumers, ensuring that they paid less at the pump and on their electricity bills.

The size of Texas energy sector  which Rick Perrys leadership helped develop further  cannot be overstated. In 2014, Texas contributed more than 30 percent of the United States total oil production and roughly 24 percent of its natural gas. Texas leads all 50 states and nearly every single sovereign nation in producing wind power. Texas also has been on the forefront of global energy shifts  leading todays charge to reverse liquefied natural gas terminals and send Texas natural gas abroad. Thanks to Gov. Perrys leadership, Texas led the American energy revolution and has helped to reduce our dependence on less stable foreign oil.

As secretary of energy, Rick Perry will be an advocate for the all of the above energy approach, which aims to unleash the full potential of Americas energy development. Gov. Perry has been at the forefront of deploying Texas energy potential and market ingenuity to boost the states economic position in North America. I have no doubt that he will do the same for the United States. The best way to jump-start our economy is to develop U.S. energy sources, and Rick Perry is already embracing this sentiment to get Americans back to work.

Given his record in Texas, Rick Perry has also shown that developing our energy sources can be achieved while simultaneously protecting the United States air, soil and water. From 2000 to 2011, Texas reduced its carbon dioxide emissions by 65 million metric tons. And from 2000 to 2013, it slashed its nitrogen oxide levels by 62.5 percent. This all took place as Texas population increased by 6 million and the state led the country in job creation. Gov. Perry also signed a first-of-its-kind energy transparency law, which required the public disclosure of all fluids used in fracking.

During his time as governor, Gov. Perry has ensured Texas central role as a North American energy hub, strengthening the United States economy and national security. He understands that U.S. energy production, along with our integrated energy systems with Canada and Mexico, have served us well and provide a buffer from dependence on more volatile and less friendly countries.

It is this understanding and commitment to using U.S. energy resources for furthering our interests that will help make Rick Perry a successful and effective U.S. secretary of energy.

Antonio Garza was U.S. ambassador to Mexico between 2002-2009, and was presented the Aguila Azteca, Mexicos highest award bestowed on a foreign national. He now serves as counsel at White & Case in Mexico City. Garza is a National Association of Corporate Directors Governance and Board Leadership Fellow and director at the Council of Americas/Americas Society.
Words matter.

It has become one of the catchphrases of our era.

That is a shame because those two words transcend slogans. Words do matter. They can be as harsh as a bludgeon or as subtle as a sleep mark on your cheek.

And some words never fade. They become part of our history, our legacy. As the years pass, they continue to echo in our consciousness, pounding away with an almost percussive fury.

It has been more than 53 years since Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. delivered what has come to be known as the I Have a Dream speech during the momentous March on Washington.

It was, perhaps, the most famous speech since the Gettysburg Address, delivered almost 100 years earlier. And, like the Gettysburg Address, it focused on the humanity that binds us  and that should keep us from tearing each other apart.

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day. We honor him for the most noble of reasons. He showed us how good we can be, how loving and caring, and if we have not reached the noble heights to which he aspired, we are much closer than we would have been without him.

It is impossible to imagine the Civil Rights Act without him. The two are inextricably linked.

President Lyndon Johnson signed the legislation in 1964, one year after the March on Washington, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex or national origin

In an era of ugly racial divisions, an era in which differences were settled by fists, guns and Molotov cocktails, King stood apart, motivated by compassion and understanding. He overcame huge challenges, including a jail sentence. His persistence paid off.

The legislation provided minorities with the freedom that should have been theirs by birthright.

King died on April 4, 1968, cut down by an assassin in Memphis. The world mourned. And it should continue to mourn, not only because of his death but because we have stumbled on our path to become the country he wanted us to be.

Despite the landmark legislation of 1964, the struggle continues.

We see income inequality, and we see constant assaults on voting rights, in states that include Texas. Voter ID, redistricting, restrictions on early voting and third-party registration drives, and failure to install same-day registration and to look at other innovations to make voting easier combine to make voting more cumbersome than it should be. And more onerous for minorities in particular.

Voting rights are civil rights  as is equal access to safe neighborhoods and quality education, from kindergarten to masters degrees and Ph.D.s.

The position of all working Americans, regardless of color, has eroded, making the dream Dr. King described even more elusive, President Barack Obama said in 2013 on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the stop where King urged Americans to judge people by the content of their character. Inequality has steadily risen over the decades.

We also see the kind of strife that repelled him all those decades ago. We see rioting on the streets, black versus white, ugly reminders that violence is not the answer. King, guided by Jesus and Tolstoy, knew that, and we must continue to heed his message of peace and unity.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a great man. We know he was great because his words, like his deeds, continue to resonate all these decades later.

We could use him today, and that is why we honor him.
Re: Archbishop Emeritus Patrick Flores 1929-2017; A shepherd for Latino Catholics; 1st Mexican-American bishop devoted to poor, front page, Tuesday:

I thank Elaine Ayala and J. Michael Parker and the Express-News for such a thoughtful article on Archbishop Flores life and death. I want to share a favorite memory of my association with this beautiful soul.

I had the privilege of working for Archbishop Emeritus Flores. He was a kind, loving and gentle man. I met my new employer 25 years ago, while sharing an elevator at the Pastoral Center. My hands were clasped around a box of materials for the office, and he was with his right-hand man, Jules Cappelli, who was carrying a pan of brisket the archbishop had made for a luncheon. I mentioned that it smelled wonderful, and he offered me a taste. I declined because my hands were full.

No problem, he said, and with that, he picked up a big chunk of brisket and, telling me to open my mouth, popped in the most delicious mouthful of brisket I have ever tasted. The door opened on my floor, and he made sure to welcome me to my new job and wished me a good day. I fell in love with him right then and there. I will miss him very much.

Angels of heaven, receive his soul and present him to God the Most High.

Cherryl Sagan

Hold the whining

Why always all the doom and gloom prophecy about Donald Trump? He is NOT all bad. He has some good ideas.

I voted for Barack Obama the first time and wound up being severely disappointed in the man. No real jobs for the middle class and no actual affordable health care. I didnt vote for him the second time, and when he won, I didnt go out and riot and set fires to my neighbors cars and stores.

Give the guy a chance. Wait a year and then you can start complaining about him.

Peter Stern, Driftwood

Crying wolf

Donald Trump says he will bring back jobs. Im not sure how that is going to happen. Macys is cutting 10,000 jobs and closing stores. They are doing this because they are losing money, not because they are shipping jobs off to Mexico.

Trump cant do a thing about these lost jobs. The only people he can threaten and bully are companies with government contracts. The stock market will get tired of reacting to his tweets, as with the little boy who cried wolf too often.

All jobs are not lost from companies moving production overseas; they are lost because of revenue decisions or improvements in technology. Companies dont want to operate at a loss, so they file bankruptcy, as Trump did.

Sharon Foss

Mess explained

Re: Signs your aging parents need help managing their finances, Business, Jan. 9:

I am amused that the Weekend Money Guide warns us that financial decision-making peaks around age 53, and by age 60 our ability to process new information starts to slow.

Since most of our lawmakers and governing officials are in this age group, I guess its no wonder we are in such a mess!

Im just thankful that 70-year old President-elect Donald Trump has some young people around to help him balance his checkbook.

Bill Simons
NORWALK  Following the shooting and carjacking of a deliveryman for a Chinese restaurant Saturday night, Norwalk Police are asking all restaurants that make deliveries to change the way they handle these orders.

"Ask for a home phone number," said Det. Sgt. Lee Young Sunday morning. "And call the number first, before making a delivery."

"Verify the address and ask the resident to turn on his porch light," Young continued. "And no deliveries to vehicles."

"And if you feel unsure (about a delivery)," he said, "call the police for assistance."

Young is head of the detective squad investigating the robbery, which occurred shortly before 7:13 p.m. near the intersection of Kent and Derby roads in West Norwalk.

Young said the deliveryman, who was shot in the hand and leg, is expected to be released Sunday from Norwalk Hospital.

Initial reports were that he may have been hit by a bullet that ricocheted off the ground, so Young was asked if the robbers intentionally shot him or were just trying to scare him.

"Oh no, they pointed the gun at him. They intended to shoot him," Young replied.

The order to China Town Express on North Main Street was to a non-existent address on Kent Road.

After being unable to located the address, the delivery driver, Young said, called the number the order was received from, and the person who answered said, "We're here in the red car."

The driver then apparently exited his car, at which point three people, described as black males wearing ski masks, exited a nearby red, four-door car  possibly a hatchback  brandishing handguns.

They shot the driver, then one of the perpetrators entered his car and drove off. The others took cash and the food from him, then fled.

The deliveryman's car  a black 2011 Toyota Camry with New York plates FBK2207  was still missing as of noon Sunday.

The car had a sign on the roof advertising China Town Express.

Young said Saturday's hold-up matches a robbery of a deliveryman that occurred the evening of Jan. 9 on Rolling Lane in East Norwalk.

In that case, a real address was provided, but the residents of that address had not requested a delivery.

Young said the perpetrators of that robbery were described as two males, perhaps black, wearing dark clothing.

The 39-year-old deliveryman gave up $400 cash, his cell phone and the food, but was unharmed.

Young said that if a member of the public spots the deliveryman's stolen car, or thinks they have seen the robbery suspects or their vehicle, the witness should call the police immediately.

Norwalk detectives can be contacted at (203) 854-3011. Anonymous internet tips can be emailed to www.norwalkpd.com, or be submitted by text by typing NPD into the text field, followed by the message, and sending to CRIMES (274637).

As a general warning, Young said, "If a request for a delivery doesn't feel right, don't make it."
Even though the U.S. Army Corp and the Obama Administration denied a key easementneeded to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) last month, the struggle against the controversial pipeline is far from over.

North Dakotas new Republican Gov. Doug Burgum has reaffirmed his favor of the project, telling Reuters that he is confident that the pipeline will be approved by Donald Trumpwhen he comes into the White House.

I expect the worlds going to change dramatically on that day relative to finding resolution on this issue, Burgum said. I would expect that (Energy Transfer Partners, DAPLs parent company) will get its easement and it will go through.

The president-elect formally announced his support for the completion of the DAPL last month. His transition team noted that his support for the pipeline had nothing to do with his personal investments and everything to do with promoting policies that benefit all Americans.

Burgum has requested that the demonstrators clean up the protest camps near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation before spring floods from rain and melting snow create a potential ecological disaster.

According to Reuters, more than 300 vehicles, along with dozens of temporary dwellings and other detritus, have been abandoned at the encampment, with at least one campsite sitting on a flood plain.

Water Protectors camping near the Dakota Access Pipeline construction site. Dark Sevier/Flickr

The amount of cleanup that needs to take place is enormous, Burgum said. Weve got a potential ecological disaster if this land floods and all the debris flows downstream into tribal lands.

About 700 to 1,000 pipeline protesters remain at the Oceti Sakowin camp even though Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault IIs has requested them to leave due to the harsh winter conditions. The chairman said the pipeline fight will continue in court.

Burgum, a former tech executive who won the governors race with nearly 77 percent of the vote, took office last month as tensions mounted between DAPL protesters and law enforcement officials surrounding the $3.8 billion oil project. In November, police used items such as tear gas and water cannons to disperse protesters in freezing temperatures.

The protests have been ongoing since last spring. The Standing Rock Sioux and their supporters say the 1,100-mile pipeline, which crosses the Missouri River and sacred sites, threatens their access to clean water and violates Native American treaty rights.

Proponents of the DAPL, which is expected to transport 470,000 barrels of Bakken crude oil per day, say the pipeline is the safest and most environmentally friendly way to transport the fuel.

The Army Corps announced on Dec. 4 that it will not provide the necessary easement and recommended an environmental impact statement (EIS) considering the Tribes treaty rights and route alternatives to the Lake Oahe crossing.

But in a video message released just 24 hours after taking office, Burgum criticized the Obama Administration for politically [stalling] a legally permitted project that had already been through an exhaustive review process and has twice been upheld by the federal courts.

I support the legal completion of this pipeline. Make no mistake, this infrastructure is good for our economy. And its the safest way to transport North Dakota products. Failure to finish it would send a chilling signal to those in any industry who wish invest in our state and play by the rules.

Dakota Access is adamant about completing the pipeline. The company has filed a lawsuit against the Army Corps claiming it had all the permits and permissions it required in order to complete a critical crossing at Lake Oahe.

In response, both the Army Corps and the Standing Rock Sioux filed a motion with the U.S. District Court in Washington, DC, on Friday asking the judge to throw out the companys lawsuit.

The Army Corps states in its brief to the court that the companys claim should be dismissed, the Bismarck Tribune reported.

There is no signed document conveying to Dakota Access an easement to construct a pipeline under Corps-managed land. The army is still considering (the) easement application, the Army Corps told Federal Judge James Boasberg.

The tribes attorney, Jan Hasselman of Earthjustice, said that Dakota Access created its own mess.

Its own choicesincluding building a significant portion of the pipeline before it had any permits and refusing to voluntarily cease construction in the disputed area around Lake Oahe, as the government repeatedly requestedare responsible for its current predicament, Hasselman said.

A press release from the Standing Rock Sioux also states that the Army Corps has not, and could not have, issued the easement yet. It further adds that the Army Corps decision to provide a full EIS on route alternatives for the pipeline was legally required and appropriate in light of the history of the Sioux.

DAPLs lawsuit is a desperate attempt to bully the government into getting the easement and violating Standing Rocks rights, Archambault said. It will not succeed. We look forward to working with the Corps on an EIS that fully takes into account our history and our rights, and are confident that the easement at Lake Oahe will ultimately be denied.
Jerri-Lynn here: The incoming Trump administration is dominated by climate change skeptics, such as Scott Pruitt, the nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency. While serving in his former role as attorney general for the state of Oklahoma, Pruitt filed lawsuits to block various EPA policies such as the Clean Power Plan.

This Real News Network interview with Kathy Mulvey, the accountability campaign manager and advocate for the Climate and Energy Team at the Union of Concerned Scientists, discusses the significance of recent developments in investigations launched by state attorneys general in California, Massachusetts, and New York into ExxonMobils efforts to deceive the public about its research on climate change.

The interview also covers Rex Tillersons successful dodge of a question during hearings to consider his nomination as Secretary of State about who at ExxonMobil knew what when concerning the companys history of promoting and funding climate science denial, despite its internal awareness of the reality of climate change. Watch the clip below.

\

KIM BROWN: Welcome to The Real News Network. Im Kim Brown in Baltimore.

The legal investigation into what Exxon knew about climate change and when they knew it took a turn on Wednesday when a Massachusetts judge ruled that ExxonMobil must turn over 40 years worth of internal documents related to its research on climate change to State Attorney General Maura Healey.

Now, Healey, along with New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, began their probes last year after several investigative stories published last year revealed the Exxon knew about climate change for decades, and they intentionally worked to mislead investors and the public about the risks  and all the while the confirmation hearings for the appointment of now former CEO of ExxonMobil Rex Tillerson for Secretary of State were also taking place on Wednesday.

With us to discuss the Exxon case and what the ruling yesterday may mean is Kathy Mulvey. Kathy is the accountability campaign manager and advocate for the Climate and Energy Team at the Union of Concerned Scientists. She is the lead author on the recently released in-depth analysis titled The Climate Accountability Scorecard: Ranking Major Fossil Fuel Companies on Climate Deception, Disclosure and Action. Kathy, welcome back to The Real News.

KATHY MULVEY: Hi, Kim. Thanks a lot for having me.

KIM BROWN: Kathy, what do we know about what Exxon knew about their activities and the effects on climate change based on the investigative reports released by the Union of Concerned Scientists, Inside Climate Change and the Los Angeles Times?

KATHY MULVEY: We know that, actually, Exxon was conducting cutting-edge climate science decades ago and was aware of the risks of climate change, potentially catastrophic risks of climate change, and yet instead of revamping its business model to affect that threat and that reality, the company chose instead to embark of a decades-long campaign of disinformation about climate science.

KIM BROWN: Kathy, lets take a look at this clip of Rex Tillerson, former CEO of ExxonMobil, now the nominee to be Secretary of State under President-elect Donald Trump, as this is what he was seeming to be dodging questions from Virginia Senator Tim Kaine on the Exxon climate change allegations. Lets take a look.

(video clip)

TIM KAINE: Are these conclusions about ExxonMobils history of promoting and funding climate science denial, despite its internal awareness of the reality of climate change, during your tenure with the company true or false?

REX TILLERSON: Senator, since Im no longer with ExxonMobil, Im in no position to speak on their behalf. The question would have to be put to them.

TIM KAINE: Im not asking you to speak on ExxonMobils behalf. Im asking you whether those allegations about ExxonMobils knowledge of climate science and decision to fund and promote a view contrary to its awareness of the science, whether those allegations are true of false.

REX TILLERSON: The question would have to be put to ExxonMobil.

TIM KAINE: And let me ask you, do you lack the knowledge to answer my question or are you refusing to answer my question?

REX TILLERSON: A little of both.

AUDIENCE: (laughter)

(end video clip)

KIM BROWN: Kathy, thats a little bit of funny and unfunny all at the same time. So what do you make of Tillersons answers to the Senate Committee today?

KATHY MULVEY: Shock. I was in the room for that. That was absolutely shocking. I mean, if hes heres a guy who wants to be our next Secretary of State. If hes refusing to answer questions from the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, thats outrageous. And if hes claiming that he lacks knowledge of the strategy of the company that he left just a week ago on climate change, well, that is also shocking. And if hes claiming that he doesnt know about how this company chose to attempt to really secure business as usual for its fossil fuel products against evidence of their potential risks to our climate and their impacts on our climate, then you really gotta wonder how did he keep his job as CEO for 10 years?

KIM BROWN: Kathy, tell us about the ruling yesterday by a Massachusetts judge. I mean, what does this mean for the case against ExxonMobil, and what do you think 40 years worth of internal documents might reveal?

KATHY MULVEY: Yeah. So, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey has been investigating whether ExxonMobil violated any laws by deceiving its consumers and shareholders and the public about climate change. And its her duty to do that. Its her duty to uphold consumer protection and other shareholder protection laws of the State of Massachusetts. And this ruling really affirms her right and her duty to do that, and it means that ExxonMobil, which is going forward under new CEO Darren Woods, will have to be accountable for the companys ongoing actions to spread disinformation on climate change.

KIM BROWN: ExxonMobil has cited a political conspiracy when it tried to quash a subpoena from New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman on whether the oil giant mislead investors on climate risk, and Exxon also has cases now pending against Maura Healey and against Eric Schneiderman, so is there a conspiracy against ExxonMobil on the part of these Attorneys General?

KATHY MULVEY: No. These Attorneys General are doing their job and, in fact, fraud is not a protected activity by companies, and its not it runs counter to Rex Tillerson yesterday was talking about accountability, and the importance of accountability. What we see here is a company that is attempting to thwart means to hold it accountable to the public, that is refusing to disclose really important and vital information that the public has a right to know and that our officials who are charged with enforcing our laws have a right to know.

KIM BROWN: Congressman Lamar Smith, who is the Chairman of the House Science Committee, subpoenaed the two States Attorneys General that I mentioned earlier, Healey and Schneiderman, to obtain records of their investigations. And Smith also subpoenaed eight environmental organizations and legal groups  including yours, Kathy, the Union of Concerned Scientists. So, as much as youre able to talk about that, how is that going?

KATHY MULVEY: Sure. I mean, we see Congressman Smiths attack as an abuse of power and really an attempt to bully and intimidate the State Public Prosecutors and groups like the Union of Concerned Scientists that are carrying out our public interest mission. Were not going to be intimidated. Were going to continue to ensure that officials like Maura Healey in Massachusetts and Eric Schneiderman in New York have access to the best available science on which to really make determinations about the conduct of companies like ExxonMobil.

KIM BROWN: In terms of the future of possible censorship of climate science under the Trump administration, what can we do to guard against that?

KATHY MULVEY: Well, its really important to continue to stand up for science and to push back against efforts to intimidate and to potentially weve seen concerning efforts like questionnaires out to the Department of Energy and other departments, and so its going to be really critically important in, for example, the State Department, if Rex Tillerson is confirmed as our Secretary of State, that the public continues to hold our officials to account and that the leadership role that the U.S. has played on climate change is bolstered, and that we dont backtrack.

KIM BROWN: All right. Weve been speaking with Kathy Mulvey. She is the Accountability Campaign Manager and an advocate for the Climate and Energy Team at the Union of Concerned Scientists. A Massachusetts judge ruled on Wednesday that Exxon, in fact, does have to turn over 40 years worth of internal documents to Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey as a result of her investigation into what the company knew and when they knew it about the effects of their product, oil and gas, on climate change and global warming. Kathy, as always we appreciate having you on. Thank you.

KATHY MULVEY: Thanks a lot, Kim.

KIM BROWN: And thanks for watching The Real News Network.
Tipperary primary and post-primary schools are set to benefit from 30million investment in ICT infrastructure grants.

The investment marks the start of the implementation of the governments 210 Million Digital Strategy for Schools.

Announcing the Digital Strategy ICT Infrastructure Grant for 2016/2017, Minister for Education and Skills, Richard Bruton T.D, said he is pleased to confirm that the grant is worth approximately 4,000 for a 100 pupil school and approximately 11,000 for a 500 pupil school at primary level. At post-primary level, the Minister said that the grant is worth circa 15,000 for a 500 student school, and over 27,000 for a 1,000 student school.

The funding will support the development and implementation of an eLearning Plan for each school to embed ICT in teaching and learning.

Some examples of the infrastructure that schools can purchase with this funding are teaching computers/ shared student computers; projectors including short throw or ultra-short throw, long throw, interactive, or interactive flat screens (IFS); cloud based tools and applications to support learning; and learning platforms to support the teaching and learning process.

The investment of 1,199,326 in Tipperary schools is of course welcomed, commented local TD Mattie McGrath.

However, Deputy McGrath underlined broader challenges that still remain with respect to school building infrastructure or the urgent need to re-designate certain schools as DEIS schools.

He continued: Many schools in rural areas will be feeling the effect of low speed broadband and other connectivity issues, so those issues must also be addressed if we are talking about increasing ICT capacity.

He added: [The investment] will go some way toward addressing the needs that exist, but we should not let it blind us to the massive problems that many schools are still facing in terms of staffing and resource hours for Special Needs Assistants.

Those are the kind of issues that are of far more concern to parents and that must be prioritised without delay.
(Natural News) Natelie Portman, Chris Pine, Matthew McConaughey and other pathetic snowflake liberals have just released yet another cringe-worthy video featuring stupid celebrities belting out a nauseating rendition of a song to try to attack Donald Trump. (RELATED: See more hilarious celebrity fails at CelebrityReputation.com)

This is all on the heels of Meryl Streeps widely criticized attempted verbal assault on Trump, which earned her a massive backlash against fans who have said they will no longer watch her movies.

As this I Will Survive song demonstrates (see video below), Hollywood celebrities have lost their pathetic minds theyve curled into whimpering little balls and are cowering under the covers, shivering with self-induced delusional paranoia combined with the kind of bubble-minded psychosis that can only be found in Hollywood.

I think I speak for pretty much the entire world when I say to these celebrities: Please #STFU and go back to making movies. You look incredibly stupid when you try to act like a real person. Youre really only interesting to watch when pretending to be someone else.

Advice to famous Hollywood snowflakes: Never let the public see who you really are they will be sorely disappointed.

With some notable exceptions, most celebrities are not smart, not informed and not important

Expecting an actor to know anything about geopolitics, the structure of government, the history of liberty vs. tyranny or the giant scam of the fiat currency debt-based money supply is like hiring your local pool cleaner to perform brain surgery on your skull. Famous actors are usually not informed people. With some notable exceptions, they live in bubbles of sheer delusion that are laughably disconnected from the real lives of real people.

Some of the exceptions, by the way, include Suzanne Somers who is incredibly well informed on the scam of the cancer industry, and Rob Schneider who is similarly well informed about the dangers of injecting children with mercury via toxic vaccines. There are others as well, but for the most part, famous Hollywood people are truly among the most misinformed, disconnected and delusional people on the planet. (RELATED: Find more news about truly stupid people at Stupid.news)

Listen to them murder the song I Will Survive in the most pathetic, cringe-worthy rendition youve ever heard (and then stop renting, buying or seeing the movies starring these delusional, pathetic whiners).
(Natural News) The free press is supposed to protect the people from the political class, but these days it seems they operate in a manner meant to protect the political class from public scrutiny. The mainstream media betrays their purpose while undermining democracy. Power for the elite and corrupt is gained through the mainstream media, by eliminating skepticism and not holding politicians accountable for their lies. (RELATED: Read more news about propaganda schemes at Propaganda.news)

The mainstream media is an enemy to America, complicit in undermining our republic. The free press should serve as a check and balance against political corruption at the highest levels of government; they should be asking tough questions that will make politicians uncomfortable. The mainstream media essentially takes on the role of public relations rather than real journalism. They have been in cahoots with the Obama administration by excusing his agenda and refusing to hold him accountable. Obamacare promises were merely calculated lies used to impose a tax on the American people.

There are still reporters who do real investigations and ask tough questions, but not in the mainstream media. You will not see the mainstream media exposing the truth about corruption in Washington; only the independent media serves that function these days. Take WikiLeaks for example: they expose information that the government doesnt want released. The independent media are the only real sources of free press who are willing to take risks and challenge the status quo.

The mainstream media is all out theatrics at its best, acting as the regimes network of puppets. They are engaged in systematically dismantling America one issue at a time. The mainstream media attacks opposition to government corruption, the independent media, honest candidates and history. The ideas of unbiased journalism and objective reporting have long since been abandoned by the mainstream media, who feed us a constant stream of disinformation that ignores what we need to know, and only highlights what they want us to believe. Its not news  its a tool used to serve corporate and government interests. (See coverage of fake news hoaxes at Hoax.news)

There are plenty of personalities in the independent media who express their diverse beliefs, but they are subject to censorship from internet gatekeepers like Google, Facebook and Twitter. The censorship shuts down opposing views to the state controlled medias false narratives, allowing them to manipulate the minds of Americans. Journalists and reporters working for the mainstream all report what they are told, according to the memo or teleprompter, sometimes even word for word across each outlet.

The independent media is still a valid tool for information where journalists still ask questions and provide a different perspective on things. You should never believe any of the scripts from the sold-out mainstream  they have been ordered to forget their role as journalists.

Be sure to find real news at the popular headline aggregation website Censored.news.

Sources:

YouTube.com

NaturalNews.com
Cindy Chafian planned to renew her wedding vows for her 20th anniversary at the historic Obici House in Suffolk, Virginia.



Instead, she'll be at a hospital recovering from kidney transplant surgery. Her husband is her donor.



"Instead of celebrating by having a big party, we're going to celebrate by being in different hospital rooms," Cindy, 45, said. "He is literally giving me the gift of life. Grateful, humbled, thankful and a little excited."



Scott's humble.

"I'm the one who's lucky here," Scott, 47, said. "She's been so sick for several years now. She'll say, I'm giving her life back, but I'm getting my wife back."



Cindy suffers from polycystic kidney disease that eventually shuts down the kidneys and leaves patients on dialysis for the rest of their lives or on waiting lists for a kidney.



"Unfortunately both my children inherited it," said Cindy's mother, Ann Walters, 61.



Cindy, raised in Southern California, has been living with her husband, a Navy veteran, in Virginia for nearly 20 years. She, her husband, and their five children in tow, will go to the hospital on Jan. 24 for the transplant surgery. Cindy's mom is flying out. The surgery will take up to 10 hours for both Cindy and Scott.



Scott will recover at the hospital for up to four days. Cindy will be in the hospital for five days.



This is familiar territory for Cindy. Her uncle got a transplant from his wife 17 years ago.



"It's comforting," she said. "You know what to expect. It's not uncharted territory."



The decision wasn't easy. But she was in so much pain -- her kidneys were failing, her body shutting down, that her kids hardly saw their mom.



She was fatigued. She had no energy. She lost muscle mass. Walking up stairs was taxing.



She had been on dialysis for two years. It was no way to live.



The couple learned Scott was a match and she gave her blessing to have him be her donor in October. Everything was a go before Christmas.



If they hadn't decided on surgery, they would be planning their 20th wedding anniversary. They had picked a place, The Obici House, whose namesake, Amedeo Obici, founded Planters Nut and Chocolate Company.



The romantic location is an Italian Renaissance-style house that overlooks the Nansemond River.



They had a date -- July 17. They told the family to save the date.



Instead they'll have time to reflect on their love, the obstacles they overcame and how much they care about each other while recovering at home.



It'll be a full year before she can get back to a more active lifestyle.



"Maybe when we get home, we'll do a little something ... it'll be us and the kids," Scott said. "And that'll be totally OK."
A Seal Beach woman who allegedly set up a bogus dog rescue organization and sold sick puppies to unsuspecting buyers posted bail Friday and was released from the Orange County Jail.

Megan Ann Hoechstetter was arrested Wednesday on allegations of selling an ailing puppy  that died a week later  to an Irvine family, according to Kim Mohr of the Irvine Police Department.

She had 19 puppies in her possession at the time of her arrest, Mohr said.

Hoechstetter, 42, allegedly established a "fake" rescue organization online to sell dogs she may have gotten from Mexico and that did not receive proper care, Mohr said. One of the business names she operated under was "Pawlosophy," Mohr said.

When police went to arrest the suspect at a hotel in Cypress, they found 13 puppies, which were taken to the city's animal care center for "much needed care," Mohr said.

The puppies are too sickly and young to be adopted at this time, she said.
Protesters on Saturday took to the streets of San Jose to fight for immigrant and refugee rights as the inauguration of Donald Trump looms.

Hundreds of people flashed "Resist Trump's Hate" and "We are Here to Stay" signs as they journeyed to various downtown locations, including San Jose City Hall and the Robert F. Peckham Federal Building.

"We're here to send a strong message that immigrants, whether they're documented or undocumented, are here to stay," Richard Konda from the Asian Law Alliance said. "They're families, they're people who contribute to the community."

Protester Mariacela Gutierrez offered a similar sentiment before taking direct aim at the president-elect.

"We're here to take a stand on the anti-immigrant and anti-refugee rhetoric that's been said loud and clear by the incoming president," she said.

Unlike an anti-Trump rally in the South Bay city last summer that turned violent, Saturday's protest remained peaceful.

A slew of other protests are expected to take place across the United States over the next several days as the country gears up for inauguration day on Jan. 20.
Someone in Berkeley on Saturday opened fire in the area of Russell and Acton Streets, hitting a few vehicles in the process.

Officers with the Berkeley Police Department responded to the scene shortly after 1:30 a.m. to find damaged property, but no injured people.

Resident Peter Chatham, who says the neighborhood is usually a "peaceful, quiet" place, was sleeping when he was jarred awake by the loud bangs. He's thankful that no one was hit.

"We were pretty fortunate that nothing happened, that nobody got hurt or anything like that," he said.

Police stayed at the scene for several hours and investigated the shootings.

Further information was unavailable.
Far-right figure Milo Yiannopoulos, who was scheduled to speak Friday night at UC Davis before protests broke out, is slated to speak in the Bay Area next month.

Another round of protesters are expected to turn out in full force on Feb. 1  the date of Yiannopoulos' sold-out Bay Area visit  to offer their strong opinions about the editor of right-wing Breitbart News.

Yiannopoulos is banned from Twitter after piloting a harassment campaign against actress Leslie Jones. He has also been criticized for slander and defamation.

"You could say it's free speech, but, at the same time, it's very hateful speech," UC Berkeley student Gino Gresh said of Yiannopoulos. "It does incite a lot of violence most of the time. He knows what he's doing. He knows what he's talking about. He knows how to get a rise out of people. He knows how to aggravate what he sees as the far left."

The Berkeley College Republicans student group is the collective responsible for hosting Yiannopoulos in roughly two weeks. Jose Diaz, the head of that group, believes the conservative speaker's words could be inspiring.

"It's going to allow us, once he departs, to hopefully pick that up and run with it a little bit to create some momentum so we can help effect some sort of change in creating a campus environment where free speech is tolerated," Diaz said.

The Daily Californian reports that 12 university professors sent a letter to

Chancellor Nicholas Dirks and asked that the university cancel Yiannopoulos' appearance.
The San Francisco Police Department is asking for the public's help in identifying a man involved in a machete slashing last week at the Civic Center BART station.

On Jan. 6 at 8:39 pm., an unidentified man with a large machete attacked a passenger at the station, police said.

Officers responded to the scene and learned the suspect attacked a 29-year-old man from Valencia. The victim suffered serious lacerations to his head and hand.

Police described the suspect as a light complexioned black man, 30 to 40 years old, 5 feet 11 inches tall and about 200 pounds.

Anyone with information on the suspect is asked to call the SFPD 24-hour tip line at (415) 575-4444.
Sunglasses will certainly be needed for Sunday and Monday for any of your outdoor plans. Mostly sunny skies today will give way to mostly clear skies overnight, which will allow temperatures to dip into the mid to upper teens into the Merrimack Valley and central Massachusetts.

Downtown Boston and coastal areas, temperatures will dip into the lower 20s. After a chilly start to Martin Luther King Day, temperatures will rebound back into to near 40 by the afternoon under mostly sunny skies.

As everyone gets back to work on Tuesday, it will be dry to start, but the system that has impacted the Plain states this past weekend, will shift into the Midwest and eventually knocking on our doorstep as early as Tuesday afternoon and evening.

The latest model update brings rain into the western half of Massachusetts by Tuesday afternoon with the rain/snow line remaining along the northern Massachusetts state line and a wintry mix into southern New Hampshire by the evening commute.

As the system moves in from west to east, expect some heavy rain for the evening commute for Boston with a wintry mix into southern New Hampshire with the heaviest pockets of rain into Worcester and Framingham.

Tuesday night shifts the rain/snow line slightly northward with Manchester, New Hampshire changing over to rain. Parts of western Massachusetts, southern Vermont, and southern New Hampshire, could see some periods of freezing rain Tuesday into Wednesday, and as always stay with NBC Boston for continued updates.

The rest of the 10-day forecast has chances for precipitation through the weekend and into the start of the following work week, but the biggest weather maker is the Tuesday night into Wednesday morning system.
A Chicago police officer has been charged with criminal sexual assault of a minor, according to police.

Officer Eugene Ciardullo, 51, was taken into custody after being identified by an 18-year-old woman as the offender with whom she "had a sexual relationship" when she was underage, Chicago police said in a statement.

At the time, Ciardullo was working as a part-time security guard at the victim's school, authorities said.

"A part-time security officer at the Chicago High School for Agricultural Sciences was removed from his position in December in response to serious allegations, and the individual is no longer an employee of Chicago Public Schools," CPS spokesperson Michael Passman said in a statement.

"The school responded promptly and followed proper protocols after it became aware of the allegations, and CPS is cooperating with law enforcement as it investigates the matter," Passman added.

Ciardullo was arrested at his home in the 8300 block of South Keeler in the city's Scottsdale neighborhood at around 1 p.m. on Friday, according to police.

He was charged with one felony count of criminal sexual assault of a victim between 13 and 17 years of age and was expected to appear in bond court on Sunday afternoon.

Ciardullo has been with the Chicago Police Department for 21 years, officials said, and is currently assigned to the 9th District on the city's Southwest Side.

It was not immediately clear if Ciardullo was removed from duty, or if the department had taken any disciplinary action.

"The Chicago Police Department is currently also investigating this incident internally and administratively," CPD spokesperson Anthony Guglielmi said in a statement.

"We remain committed to the highest levels of accountability for our officers and members and will not tolerate any activity or actions that undermine the integrity of the hard working men and women of our Department," Guglielmi added.
Thirty-two people have been shot across the city over the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend, leaving eight dead, according to Chicago Police.

About 1:10 a.m. Monday, a 36-year-old was standing outside in the 2200 block of West Chicago in the Ukrainian Village neighborhood when someone in a black SUV opened fire, striking him in the abdomen, face and left leg. The man was taken to Stroger Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, police said. The Cook County medical examiners office did not immediately provide information on the fatality.

About 5:30 a.m. Sunday on the Near West Side, officers responded to a call of a person down and found a man unresponsive on the sidewalk in the 2600 block of West Van Buren. The man, believed to be in his 30s or 40s, suffered a gunshot wound to his head and was pronounced dead at the scene at 5:50 a.m., according to police and the medical examiners office.

Earlier Sunday, a 34-year-old man was gunned down in the Lawndale neighborhood on the West Side. The man was arguing with someone who fired shots at 1:13 a.m. in the 4700 block of West Polk. He was shot in his chest and taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said. His name has not been released.

About 6:55 p.m. Saturday, a 26-year-old man was killed in an Austin neighborhood drive-by shooting on the West Side. He was outside in the 5500 block of West Rice when a vehicle drove by and someone inside fired shots. The man, who has not been identified, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and taken to Mount Sinai, where he was pronounced dead, authorities said.

Two men, ages 27 and 39, were standing in the street at 8:05 a.m. Saturday in the 1100 block of South Francisco in the Lawndale neighborhood when someone got out of a black car and fired multiple shots, police said. The shooter then got back into the vehicle and drove north on Francisco. The 27-year-old was shot in the head and chest and was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital, where he was pronounced dead at 8:34 a.m, authorities said. The medical examiners office has not released his name. The older man suffered a gunshot wound to the back and was also taken to Mount Sinai, where he was listed in good condition.

Another man was killed and a woman was wounded about 3:30 a.m. Saturday in the South Side Englewood neighborhood, where at least five people went into a house in the 6000 block of South Carpenter and shot two people repeatedly, authorities said. Tyrone Blake, 25, of the 6100 block of South Indiana, was pronounced dead at the scene at 3:48 a.m. The 26-year-old woman was taken in critical condition to Stroger Hospital.

A 20-year-old man was slain shortly before 10 p.m. Friday in the Marquette Park neighborhood on the Southwest Side. Devonta Spraggins was driving east on 72nd Street when a white Ford Explorer pulled up to him near Washtenaw Avenue and someone inside the vehicle shot him in the chest, authorities said. Spraggins, who lived a block away in the 7200 block of South Talman, was taken to Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, where he was pronounced dead at 10:22 p.m.

The weekends first fatal shooting happened about 4 p.m. Friday in Austin, where a 21-year-old man got into an argument with someone who opened fire in the 600 block of North Central Avenue. The man suffered multiple gunshot wounds and was taken to West Suburban Medical Center in Oak Park, where he was pronounced dead at 4:18 p.m., authorities said. His identity has not been released.

The weekends most recent nonfatal shooting happened early Monday in the West Chatham neighborhood on the South Side. A 28-year-old man was sitting in the passenger seat of a vehicle about 1:45 a.m. parked in the 7500 block of South Wentworth when two males walked up and fired shots, police said. The man was shot in the right hip and later showed up at St. Bernard Hospital, where his condition was stabilized.

Shortly after midnight Sunday in the East Garfield Park neighborhood on the West Side, Chicago Police officers chased and fatally shot 34-year-old Herbert Johnson, who was armed and suspected of being involved in another shooting nearby, authorities said. A 51-year-old woman was found with a gunshot wound to the chest, a 30-year-old man was shot in the buttocks and a 21-year-old woman suffered a graze wound to the left leg. The Independent Police Review Authority is investigating the officers use of force.

At least 18 other people have been shot in Chicago between 4 p.m. Friday and 1:30 a.m. Monday.

Nine people were shot in Chicago last weekend.
Chicago police fatally shot a man they suspect was involved in another shooting nearby on the city's West Side early Sunday, authorities said.

Around 12:23 a.m., officers were on routine patrol in the 3400 block of W. Madison St. in the citys East Garfield Park neighborhood when they heard shots fired, Chicago police said in a statement.

When they arrived at the scene, authorities said the officers saw a suspect fleeing and engaged in pursuit on foot. The offender ran into an alley and confronted them with a weapon, according to police.

One of the officers opened fire, police said, striking the man multiple times in the torso.

The 34-year-old suspect was taken to an area hospital where he was pronounced dead around 7 a.m., according to police. The Cook County Medical Examiner could not immediately confirm the fatality and his identity has not been released.

No officers were injured in the incident and a weapon was recovered from the scene, according to police. [[410768855, C]]

During the investigation, police discovered three people with gunshot wounds at the scene. A 51-year-old woman was shot in the chest, a 30-year-old man was shot in the buttocks, and a 21-year-old woman sustained a graze wound to the left leg, officials said. All three victims were taken to area hospitals and their conditions were stabilized, according to police.

The Independent Police Review Authority is conducting an investigation into the incident, including the officers use of force, authorities said. The officer involved will be placed on routine administrative duties for 30 days in accordance with protocol for all police-involved shootings.

"One officer shot, was the one that shot, so of course, administratively, and pending the IPRA investigation, theyll be placed on desk duty," Chicago Police Sgt. Michael Malinowski said at the scene.

Sundays shooting came just days after the U.S. Department of Justice released a report following a 13-month investigation that found the Chicago Police Department violated constitutional rights by engaging in a "pattern or practice of use of excessive force."
Dozens of people in Sterling came together for a vigil to remember the teen who went missing the day after Christmas and was found stabbed to death this week.

Its good to see everybody here. It just goes to show you how many people he touched, Megan Malbaurn, of Sterling, said about Todd TJ Allen.

Long-time friends donned Allens favorite kind of t-shirt: tie dye.

He was just a really fun-loving human being. Just the image of the classic, happy-go-lucky hippie kid that got along with everybody and never had a bad word to say about anybody, Malbaurn said.

Friday police revealed one of Allens friends stabbed him to death during a drug deal in the woods.

The revelation ended weeks of speculation since Allen disappeared on Dec. 26 and concerns he had been seriously hurt while riding a dirt bike.

Hundreds, including some at the Saturday night vigil, had tirelessly searched for the teenager.

Everybody had a glimmer of hope, Malbaurn said.

On Friday, police found the teenagers body in woods near the home of 19-year-old Kevin Weismore.

Weismore told detectives he planned on selling Allen marijuana and he only grabbed a knife after Allen pulled out a gun.

Police say they never found a gun and Allens mother believes he never owned one.

It's a case still with unanswered questions and that has rattled many in this close-knit community who knew both teenagers.

It really hit close to home, Melissa Malbaurn, said.

As for the suspected killer, Kevin Weismore is locked up on a million dollar bond. Hes due in court on Tuesday.
The Architect of the Capitol, a federal agency that oversees maintenance of the US Capitol Complex, is responsible for the port-a-potty cover-up just ahead of President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration.

"The AOC is in the process of covering or removing signage on the portable toilets to bring them into compliance with Capitol Grounds restrictions on advertising," Justin Kieffer, spokesman for the Architect of the Capitol, told NBC News. "Our staff determined that the Gene's Johns signs can be easily peeled off. The Don's Johns signs cannot and are being covered with tape."

Thousands of port-a-potties are being installed on the National Mall for Inauguration Day and word spread Friday that blue tape was being placed over "Don's Johns" on the toilets, the name of one of the port-a-john suppliers.

Don's Johns Sanitation Services, of Virginia, has has long supplied portable restrooms for major outdoor events.

Under the blue tape, the company's name is clearly visible upon close inspection, but would be blocked for a wide-angle view by a camera.
Rep. Jeff Leach proposed it as a one-word change to internal Texas House rules. But what followed could foreshadow a larger school voucher fight coming soon.

Leach, a tea party Republican from Plano, tried to remove "public" from the name of the House Public Education Committee. The Senate's version is already called simply the Education Committee, Leach argued, and many Texas students attend private schools or are educated at home.

Democrats objected, and Leach eventually withdrew his proposal, which he conceded was largely symbolic.

Still, the small exchange could eventually loom large. As they did last session, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and top conservatives are expected to push through the Senate a voucher bill giving public money to families sending their children to private or religious schools.

The issue has for years remained a non-starter in the House, however, where Democrats have traditionally teamed with rural Republicans -- who are afraid of harming schools that are the lifeblood of the small communities they represent -- to keep public funding in public classrooms.

Approval in the Senate eventually thwarted by House resistance could well doom any new voucher plan again this session. And if Leach's attempted tweak to House rules is any indication, emotions will run high, fast -- but the end result may actually be no change.

Here are some other issues likely to make news in Texas politics this week, all of which may preview larger legal, policy or ideological clashes down the road.

------

PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN FEDERAL COURT

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks begins hearing arguments in Austin on Tuesday about whether Texas can boot Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program.

Planned Parenthood had received more than $3 million to provide family planning and other women's medical services -- but not abortions -- to nearly 11,000 low-income women statewide. But Texas, like a host of other Republican-controlled states, moved to sever all funding to the organization following the 2015 release of secretly recorded and heavily edited videos by an anti-abortion group.

Federal judges already have stopped Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi from similarly excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements in wake of the videos. Texas could cut off Planned Parenthood by Jan. 21, unless Sparks grants an injunction after hearing arguments in the case.

------

SENATE DRAFT BUDGET

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson could unveil a draft of the upper chamber's 2017-2018 state budget as early as this week. Patrick and other top Republicans promise to extend roughly $4 billion in tax cuts for homeowners and businesses approved last session. The prolonged oil price slump has sapped state revenue, though, leaving lawmakers with a potential shortfall of $5-plus billion just to fund basic services at current levels.

The lieutenant governor has said he'd like to make up the deficit by cutting the budget's two biggest-ticket items, schools and public health -- but funding reductions to both, even if it's to cover a new round of popular tax cuts, could prove a tough sell.

------

INAUGURATION PROTEST

Donald Trump is being inaugurated on Friday and organizations opposing the president-elect are organizing protests around the country.

In Austin, nearly 50 minority activist groups, environmental organizations and assorted community organizing nonprofits are sponsoring a "One Resistance" rally where demonstrators will march to the steps of the state Capitol late Friday. Of course, lawmakers won't be in session by the time they get there -- and some top Republicans, notably Patrick, will be in Washington attending Trump's inauguration.

AP-WF-01-15-17 1537GMT

Here are some issues likely to make news in Texas politics this week, all of which may preview larger legal, policy or ideological clashes down the road.

PLANNED PARENTHOOD IN FEDERAL COURT

U.S. District Judge Sam Sparks begins hearing arguments in Austin on Tuesday about whether Texas can boot Planned Parenthood from its Medicaid program.

Planned Parenthood had received more than $3 million to provide family planning and other women's medical services -- but not abortions -- to nearly 11,000 low-income women statewide.

But Texas, like a host of other Republican-controlled states, moved to sever all funding to the organization following the 2015 release of secretly recorded and heavily edited videos by an anti-abortion group.

Federal judges already have stopped Arkansas, Alabama, Kansas and Mississippi from similarly excluding Planned Parenthood from Medicaid reimbursements in wake of the videos. Texas could cut off Planned Parenthood by Jan. 21, unless Sparks grants an injunction after hearing arguments in the case.

SENATE DRAFT BUDGET

Senate Finance Committee Chairwoman Jane Nelson could unveil a draft of the upper chamber's 2017-2018 state budget as early as this week.

Patrick and other top Republicans promise to extend roughly $4 billion in tax cuts for homeowners and businesses approved last session.

The prolonged oil price slump has sapped state revenue, though, leaving lawmakers with a potential shortfall of $5-plus billion just to fund basic services at current levels.

The lieutenant governor has said he'd like to make up the deficit by cutting the budget's two biggest-ticket items, schools and public health -- but funding reductions to both, even if it's to cover a new round of popular tax cuts, could prove a tough sell.

INAUGURATION PROTEST

Donald Trump is being inaugurated on Friday and organizations opposing the president-elect are organizing protests around the country.

In Austin, nearly 50 minority activist groups, environmental organizations and assorted community organizing nonprofits are sponsoring a "One Resistance" rally where demonstrators will march to the steps of the state Capitol late Friday.

Of course, lawmakers won't be in session by the time they get there -- and some top Republicans, notably Patrick, will be in Washington attending Trump's inauguration.
A body found floating in a pond on Saturday morning has been identified as a 24-year-old Dallas man who had been missing since late last month. [[410756105,R]]

People visiting Addison's Winnwood Park, located at 5590 Belt Line Road, discovered the body of Jacobi McGee, according to a Town of Addison news release.

McGee's mother had reported him missing on Dec. 27, 2016.

Addison police are investigating the death. It's unclear whether foul play was a factor, police said.

McGee lived about a mile from the pond where he was discovered, police said.
Dallas police say a woman has confessed to fatally running over a man with her vehicle after a domestic altercation.

Police said Sunday that 39-year-old Lakinta Cosby has been arrested on a murder charge. Thirty-six-year-old Sherron Berry pronounced dead at a hospital after being struck on Saturday.

Dallas police say a woman has confessed to fatally running over a man with her vehicle after a domestic altercation.

Police said Sunday that 39-year-old Lakinta Cosby has been arrested on a murder charge. 36-year-old Sherron Berry was pronounced dead at a hospital after being struck on Saturday.

A surveillance video released by police showed a sport utility vehicle making a U-turn on a city street and going up onto the sidewalk as a man starts running. The view is then blocked by a building.

Police say that after getting a tip, detectives recovered the suspect vehicle at a home. Then Cosby arrived there and surrendered to officers.

Cosby was in Dallas County jail on Sunday. Bond has been set at $100,000. Jail records did not list an attorney for her. [[410779975,C]]
Feral hogs can be a big problem for property owners in north Texas.



On Saturday, a unique group of hunters helped keep the wild pig population at bay.



Texas Game Wardens organized a feral hog hunt for eight wounded warriors, including Air Force Veteran Chris Wolff.



The hunt is adventure Wolff said he never imagined he would be on.

"Exhilarating, that's the one word Im going to go with. Its exhilarating to be out," Wolff said.

Wolff is in a wheelchair, paralyzed for medical reasons after returning home from Afghanistan.

"So for 2.5 years, I laid in a hospital bed not knowing who I was going to be besides this vegetable that was turned every two hours, and monitored by ventilation and monitored by medical devices, Wolff said.

Eight years later, the 31-year-old is finally back to a favorite hobby--hunting.

"Its not about the hunt, its about the people," he said.



Innovations in the weapons industry are giving wounded warriors, like Wolff, the chance to get back outdoors. Several guns used in Saturdays hunt were specially designed to give injured and paralyzed veterans a full range of motion, so they dont get fatigued while they wait for their target.

"They've had something taken from them. They've given to the United States parts of their bodies, whether its an arm or a leg, and we want to be able to give them the opportunity to do stuff that they did before," said Tim Scott, owner of II Guys-n-Guns.

For Wolff, the hunt is about more than the weapons or the thrill of the kill.

Its about returning to life as he knew it and getting back the freedom he deserves.

"I don't let this define me," Wolff said.
The battle over a large iconic cross in the South Bay has come to an end.

After standing in Santa Clara for more than six decades, the 14-foot cross was taken down -- by a lawsuit.

A Santa Clara man and Wisconsin-based Freedom from Religion Foundation sued the city last April, claiming the cross violated the separation of church and state because it stood in a public park.

"We are happy that the city divested itself of this religious symbol, and that the constitution is now being complied with," said Rebecca Markert, attorney for Freedom From Religion Foundation.

The granite cross was donated by the Santa Clara Lion's Club in 1953 to mark the site of the second Spanish Catholic mission established in the city in 1777.

City councilmembers settled with the man who filed the suit, and said a compromise was necessary.

"Some people feel like we've caved in or succumbed to the arguments of a relatively small number of people, but as I said, they do have a number of legal precedents on their side," councilmember Teresa O'Neill said.

As part of the settlement, the city donated the cross to Santa Clara University, where it will be placed on campus in the future.
A Montebello teacher was arrested on suspicion of statutory rape of a 17-year-old girl, the Whittier Police Department said Saturday.

Brian Lee Ward, 46, was arrested Friday in Whittier. Ward is a high school teacher at Vail High School in the Montebello Unified School District.

"Ward had developed a sexual relationship with the student over the course of several months in 2016," a police statement read.

School officials notified law enforcement immediately after hearing of Ward's relationship with the student, who no longer attends Vail High School.

Montebello police began the investigation in December 2016 and officers quickly determined Ward and the girl allegedly had sexual contact at the teacher's home in the 7200 block of Comstock Avenue.

Montebello police turned the investigation over to Whittier police who discovered that though the victim was not in Ward's class, the girl attended the high school at the time when Ward was teaching.

Ward was arrested and held on $100,000 bail.

Whittier police asked anyone who may know another possible victim of Ward to call detectives at 562-567-9255.
Two days before Christmas, Luis Gonzalez received a little Chinese modem from Cuba's state-owned telecommunications company.

The 55-year-old theater producer connected the device to his phone and his laptop computer, which instantly lit up with a service unimaginable in the Cuba of just a few years ago relatively fast home internet.

``It's really easy to sit and find whatever you need,'' Gonzalez said as he sat in his living room updating his Facebook account, listening to Uruguayan radio online and checking an arriving tourist's landing time for a neighbor who rents rooms in their building in historic Old Havana. ``Most Cubans aren't used to this convenience.''

Home internet came to Cuba last month in a limited pilot program that's part of the most dramatic change in daily life here since the declaration of detente with the United States on Dec. 17, 2014.

While Cuba remains one of the world's least internet-connected societies, ordinary citizens' access to the internet has exploded over the last two years. Since the summer of 2015, the Cuban government has opened 240 public Wi-Fi spots in parks and on street corners across the country. Cubans were previously restricted to decrepit state internet clubs and hotels that charged $6-$8 for an hour of slow internet.

In a country with an average monthly salary of around $25, the price of an hour online has dropped to $1.50, still steep but now well within the range of many Cubans with private income or financial help from relatives abroad.

The government estimates that 100,000 Cubans connect to the internet daily. A new feature of urban life in Cuba is the sight of people sitting at all hours on street corners or park benches, their faces illuminated by the screen of smartphones connected by applications such as Facebook Messenger to relatives in Miami, Ecuador or other outposts of the Cuban diaspora. Connections are made mostly through access cards sold by the state monopoly and often resold on street corners for higher prices.

The spread of connectivity has remotely reunited families separated for years, even decades. It's fueled the spread of Airbnb and other booking services that have funneled millions in business to private bed-and-breakfasts owners. And it's exposed Cubans to a faster flow of news and cultural developments from the outside world supplementing the widespread availability of media spread on memory drivers.

Cuban ingenuity has spread internet far beyond those public places: thousands of people grab the public signals through commercially available repeaters, imported illegally into Cuba and often sold for about $100 double the original price. Mounted on rooftops, the repeaters grab the public signals and create a form of home internet increasingly available in private rentals for tourists and cafes and restaurants for Cubans and visitors alike.

On the official front, Google and Cuba's state-run telecoms monopoly Etecsa struck a deal last month to store Google content like YouTube video on servers inside Cuba, giving people on the island faster, smoother access.

While the explosion of internet in Cuba has taken place alongside the process of normalization started by Obama in 2014, it's unclear how much better relations have speeded up Cuba's move online.

Obama said in announcing detente that he welcomed ``Cuba's decision to provide more access to the Internet for its citizens,'' but neither Obama's team nor Cuban officials have detailed whether that decision was directly linked to negotiations to restore diplomatic ties and began negotiations.

What is clear is that Cuba began to dramatically increase access about six months later when the government began opening Wi-Fi spots around the country. For many Cubans, the start of home internet in December is potentially even more significant, breaking a longstanding barrier against private internet access in a country whose communist government remains deeply wary about information technology undermining its near-total control of media, political life and most of the economy.

The pace of change in Cuba often depends on the state of relations with its giant neighbor to the north: both tensions with the United States and leaps forward like Obama's visit to Havana last year have prompted crackdowns by hardliners worried about the government losing control. While President-elect Donald Trump's administration has promised to take a harder line on Cuba, both opponents of President Raul Castro's government and those advocating closer relations favor more access to information for ordinary Cubans.

The home internet test program selected some 2,000 residents of Old Havana to receive free connections for two months before a planned expansion and the start of billing for the service. Gonzalez said he would be able to receive 30 hours of his 128 kilobyte-per-second connection for $15, with the price increasing for faster connections, with 30 hours of a 2 megabyte-per-second connection available for $115.

That's far slower and wildly more expensive than internet in most of the rest of the world. In the Dominican Republic, for example, a full month of relatively slow 2 megabyte-per-second internet, a speed most people would consider reasonable for applications such as streaming video, costs a little more than $20.

Cuba depended on slow, expensive satellite internet until 2013, when it opened a fiber-optic cable to Venezuela that connected the island to the global online infrastructure.

Cuba says that its still-high internet prices are a result of costs imposed by the U.S. trade embargo on the island. Independent observers blame the costs on political decisions to limit access, and on the cash-strapped socialist government's widespread use of its monopoly power to extract as much money as possible for goods and services considered luxuries. Many young people hope that the spread of access in recent years is the start of Cuba seeing internet more as a necessity and a right, like the free education and health care guaranteed by Cuba's socialist system.

``In my dreams, I'd like for the internet to be seen like arts and culture, and, as such, to be free for the whole population, just like access to education has been for the last 50 years,'' said David Vasquez, the 27-year-old director of the online magazine Cachivache Media. ``It's very hard to know what the future will bring.''
Live wires fell on a fire truck while firefighters battled a blaze at a house on Long Island, police said. Two firefighters were hurt.

The firefighters were working to put out flames at a house on Arnold Avenue in West Babylon, the Suffolk County Police Department said. That's when the live wires fell on their truck.

One of the firefighters went to the hospital for an injured knee. The second was hurt but not hospitalized.

The family whose home burned got out without injury, police say.

Arnold Avenue was closed between Elwood and Arlington roads, police said.
When the New York state's property tax cap law was established in 2011, there was considerable push-back from local government leaders who spoke about the tremendous burden that state mandated costs placed on their budgets.

At the time, according to an analysis by the New York State Association of Counties, state mandates accounted for 88 percent of the statewide combined county government tax levy.

But when the tax cap bill was passed and signed into law, legislators and the governor's office vowed that meaningful mandate relief would be a top priority going forward. A few measures have been adopted, mainly items that slowed the growth of some mandates rather than actually cut them back.

The overall results, though, are woefully inadequate. NYSCAC reports that the nine biggest unfunded state mandates have grown 7 percent since 2011, and now that the state has capped local property tax levies, these mandates account for 99 percent of the total county property tax burden.

It's a big problem for county governments, and there's no reasonable way for a state official to argue otherwise.

But that seems to be exactly what Gov. Andrew Cuomo is doing.

Among the more than 35 official proposals the governor outlined in his State of the State speech tour last week, none addressed state unfunded mandate relief in any meaningful way.

In fact, the only measure that directly addressed local property taxes in a meaningful way would actually create a new, albeit relatively small, unfunded mandate from the state. Cuomo is proposing a plan that would require county governments to draft local government consolidation plans and force public votes on implementing them in the general election. Such plans would involve considerable outreach and coordination with town and city-level governments, not to mention public hearings and efforts to educate the public about what's going on. In other words, it would cost money, taxpayer money, all thanks to New York state.

This proposal comes just a couple of weeks after the governor's New Year's Eve veto of a major mandate relief bill involving indigent defense costs shouldered by counties.

But there's a solution to the governor's lack of interest in addressing this major contributor to property taxes. It's called the Legislature.

It's vital that in 2017, state legislators stand up for counties, school districts, towns, village and cities. They can start by rejecting this gimmick being pushed by the governor. And they can finish by finally delivering meaningful mandate relief.
Nicole Kidman says her comments that Americans should support President-elect Donald Trump were merely a statement of her belief in democracy, not an endorsement of the incoming president.

The Oscar-winning actress's earlier remarks sparked both criticism and praise online after they were aired by the BBC earlier this week.

Kidman tells Access Hollywood that her comments were misconstrued. She says, "I was trying to stress that I believe in democracy and the American Constitution, and it was that simple."

When an interviewer pressed her for more details, Kidman threw up her hands and said she was done commenting on the topic.

Kidman was born in Hawaii to Australian parents and holds dual citizenship in Australia and the U.S.

Kidman won an Oscar for 2002's "The Hours" and currently stars in "Lion."
Despite rain and cold weather, marchers filled several blocks in Washington on Saturday as they rallied in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march that was at times also a rally against President-elect Donald Trump.

Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton had organized Saturday's "We Shall Not Be Moved" march and rally ahead of Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. But Trump, whose inauguration will take place in less than a week, was also on marchers' minds.

Holding umbrellas and bundled against temperatures in the mid-30s the crowd chanted "No justice, no peace" and "We will not be moved" but also "We will not be Trumped" and "Love Trumps hate." They cheered when one speaker referenced the comments of Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who has said he will not attend Trump's inauguration and, an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" set to air Sunday, that he doesn't consider Trump a "legitimate president."

"We come not to appeal to Donald Trump, because he's made it clear what his policies are and what his nominations are. We come to say to the Democrats in the Senate and in the House and to the moderate Republicans to `Get some backbone. Get some guts.' We didn't send you down here to be weak-kneed," Sharpton told marchers at a rally after they walked from the Washington Monument to a park near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Sharpton called on marchers to oppose Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, and asked the crowd if they were willing to visit their senators' offices to oppose the nomination. He told them: "We need to make some house calls. We need to stay a little while.'' He later told The Associated Press those visits, involving a number of groups, would begin within the next 10 days.

Joining Sharpton were family members of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Walter Scott, black men whose names have become rallying cries following their deaths.

"When we leave here we have work to do," said Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 on Staten Island, New York, after a white officer placed him in a chokehold.

Carr and Sharpton talked about voting rights, criminal justice reform, health care and "a living wage" as issues marchers should care about.

Sybrina Fulton, whose son Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012, asked marchers to "stand up and make a difference in your community."

Marchers themselves expressed a range of emotions about Trump. Debra Conyers of East Orange, New Jersey, said she was a toddler in 1963 when Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. She said Obama "helped Wall Street" and "helped Main Street." As for Trump: "I'm waiting to see how it unfolds," she said.

Alicia James, a 48-year-old marketing consultant from New York City, said eight years ago she stood with her then 12-year-old son on the National Mall for Obama's first inauguration. She said she doesn't want to see Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act or undo other parts of Obama's legacy, but, she said, if it happens: "You can't erase the impact he has had on this country."
A Delaware woman who pleaded guilty to raping her daughter's 13-year-old boyfriend has been sentenced to probation.

A judge on Thursday sentenced 46-year-old Elaine B. Goodman of Dover to two years of probation.

Goodman, who pleaded guilty to fourth-degree rape, also was ordered to complete sexual disorders counseling and register as a sex offender.

The attorney general's office declined to comment on the sentence.

Goodman was arrested after Smyrna police received a report in March 2015 alleging an inappropriate relationship between Goodman and the boy. Detectives determined Goodman texted her daughter's boyfriend and had sex with the boy on the night of March 15, 2015.

Delaware Online reports Goodman texted her friend, "He is so cute with a nice a-- body. I asked him what in the world are u doing with a body like that at 13."

Goodman was charged with third-degree rape, fourth-degree rape, unlawful sexual contact, and sexual solicitation of a child.
Philadelphia mob boss Nicodemo Little Nicky Scarfo died in prison at the age of 87, according to his attorney.

Scarfos attorney told NBC10 his client passed away Friday at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, North Carolina. He was serving a 55-year prison sentence at the center. His attorney believes he died from cancer.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, Scarfo was an amateur boxer before joining the Bruno crime family in Philly in the 1950s. He spent years as a soldier in the family and also helped run operations in Atlantic City.

Scarfo became the head of the Philadelphia crime family in the 1980s following the deaths of crime bosses Angelo Bruno and Philip Testa.

Scarfo was arrested in 1987 and later convicted on extortion and conspiracy charges and sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 1988, while serving the extortion sentence, he and 16 associates were tried on federal RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) charges. Scarfo was found guilty on 32 counts that included eight murders. He received a 55 year prison sentence and was serving that sentence at the Federal Medical Center in Butner at the time of his death. Scarfo's attorney David Bahuriak told NBC10 he was trying to get his client released on parole before he died.

"Mr. Scarfo was definitely an infamous character. No doubt about that," Bahuriak said. "You know when we first met he said to me, 'Dave, it's a pleasure to meet you. I've heard a lot of nice things about you.' And I said, 'Mr. Scarfo, it's a pleasure to meet you too. I wish I could say the same.'"

Scarfo had three children, including Nicky Scarfo Jr., who was sentenced to 30 years in jail on racketeering charges.




A Philadelphia-based startup nearly four years in the making just scored several major clients  including Comcast  for its sustainability focused app.

Morgan Berman, the founder of MilkCrate, announced Thursday that Comcast will introduce its app to a pilot group of employees this spring, followed by a larger roll-out later this year.

"Comcast wants employees to learn how to be more sustainable at work and at home," Berman told the Philadelphia Business Journal. She describes the MilkCrate app as "a Fitbit for doing good."

When Berman first debuted MilkCrate several years ago, the app tried to offer consumers a way to easily locate environmentally friendly businesses in the city. Filters allowed users to search by neighborhood and type of business  including salons and restaurants.

But the app wasn't seeing the amount of success its creator had envisioned. Turning to a roomful of tech entrepreneurs during her announcement, Berman asked: "How many of you realized your idea was working in your head but not in the real world?"

To read the full article, click here.

For more business news, visit Philadelphia Business Journal.
A Philadelphia taxi cab driver is in critical condition after being shot 13 times overnight and police are still searching for the shooter.

According to Philadelphia Taxi Cab, the 56-year-old cab driver was dispatched to pick up a man at 42nd and Brooklyn Street Saturday night. Dispatch says the driver then called to cancel the job.

About 10 to 15 minutes later, the cab company received a phone call about the driver being shot, only blocks from the original pickup location in the 800 block of Brooklyn Street. When police arrived on the scene, they found the cab running with the door open and the victim laying on the ground.

He was transported to Penn Presbyterian Hospital where doctors say he is still in critical condition. According to Philadelphia Taxi Cab, the driver has been with them for about 15 years and has always worked the overnight shift.

Police are still searching for the gunman and are hoping surveillance video from a nearby camera in the area will help uncover some additional information.
The American Friends Service Committee is celebrating 100 years of activism with an exhibit called "Waging Peace'' at Philadelphia's African American Museum.

The nonprofit Quaker organization was created during World War I to promote nonviolence. Since then, committee members supported Cesar Chavez in his fight for worker rights, resisted the internment of Japanese-Americans during World War II and marched with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

More recently, the organization has been involved in equal justice and immigration issues.

Friends Service Committee leaders say they hope the project honors the good work of those that came before them while encouraging people to get involved when they see injustice. The exhibit runs through April 30.
An attorney for a man convicted of taking part in sniper shootings that left 10 people dead in the Washington area is asking a judge to toss his life sentence, because he was convicted as a juvenile.

In a motion filed Friday in a Maryland county court, public defender James Johnston argued Lee Boyd Malvo's mandatory life sentence is illegal, because the U.S. Supreme Court determined such sentences are unconstitutional for juveniles.

Malvo was convicted in Maryland and Virginia when he was 17 for his role in the 2002 sniper shootings that killed 10 people and wounded three in Virginia, Maryland and the District of Columbia. He also later admitted to shootings in other states. He's serving a life term at the Red Onion State Prison in southwest Virginia.

In the new filing, Johnston argued Malvo should be resentenced taking into account a 2016 Supreme Court decision making retroactive a previous order deeming mandatory life sentences for juveniles convicted of murder unconstitutional.

Malvo was first put on trial in Chesapeake, Virginia, in 2003, in a trial that was moved from Fairfax County. He was convicted of capital murder. The jury only had the option of a death penalty or life in prison without parole, and opted for a life sentence.

Subsequently, Malvo struck plea bargains in Maryland and Spotsylvania County, Virginia, in which he agreed to accept a life sentence.

Muhammad, his partner in the shootings, was executed in 2009.

Malvo's lawyers in Virginia have made similar arguments in federal court in Virginia, where Malvo received life sentences for slayings in Fairfax and Spotsylvania counties, respectively. The life sentence in Spotsylvania County was the result of a negotiated plea agreement.

Lawyers for the state have said the Supreme Court ruling should not apply to Malvo.

"Nothing in these cases suggests that the Supreme Court intended for its holdings to apply to a serial murderer like Malvo," wrote Donald Jeffrey, senior assistant attorney general in Virginia, in court papers filed on Sept. 1.

Jeffrey also argued Malvo should pursue his claims in state court in Virginia before seeking federal relief.

On Jan. 4, U.S. District Judge Raymond Jackson in Norfolk ordered both sides to provide additional briefs on the issue.

Maryland requires imposing a life sentence for murder convictions. The motion filed Friday argues that because any parole order for lifers requires a sign-off from the governor, it doesn't afford prisoners a meaningful chance at early release.

The Maryland branch of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a federal case on the issue in April, arguing that juveniles sentenced to life in Maryland virtually never receive the second chance they're constitutionally entitled to.
UPDATE - Jan 17: This story has been updated to include an interview with San Diego Fire-Rescue Departments Fire Chief Brian Fennessy regarding ambulance response times.



Ambulances responding to emergency calls in the City of San Diego have shown progress but continued to miss response time standards in recent months, according to a memo addressed to the San Diego City Council and Mayors office.

The memo was sent Friday by the San Diego Fire-Rescue Departments Fire Chief Brian Fennessy. It detailed the current state of relations between the city and Rural/Metro, the private company contracted by the city to provide ambulance services.

In the memo, released to NBC 7 Investigates, Fennessy states Rural/Metro failed to respond to serious medical emergencies in 12 minutes or less, 90% of the time in one out of the eight medical response zones the city of San Diego is divided into. The data is for the months of October, November and December last year. In the other seven zones, Rural/Metro met or exceeded the 90% requirement, according to the memo.

To see a map of the medical response zones, click here.

That said, it should be noted that progress has been made in [sic] over the past two months with AMR fully meeting response time compliance, Fennessy states in the memo.

In an interview with NBC 7 Investigates, Fennessy said the city still has concerns.

We lost confidence, we're gaining it back but we want to see those things. We want to be sure, again, that our public is getting, our community is getting the service that they deserve and expect, Fennessy told NBC 7 Investigates.

In 2015, Rural/Metro was acquired by AMR, which took over all Rural/Metro operations.

The memo, along with other documents, were released to NBC 7 Investigates through a California Public Records Act request.

To read the memo, click here.

NBC 7 Investigates first reported Rural/Metros non-compliance with mandated response times in October 2016, when the city fined Rural/Metro $291,000 in penalties. According to the companys contract with the city, it is required to meet a response time of 12 minutes or less, 90% of the time.

To read that story, click here.

While meeting response time standards 90% of the time in seven out of the eight zones, Rural/Metro was penalized by the city of San Diego in the months of October through December for a total of $60,500. These penalties, according to the memo, stem from multiple contract measures that can result in penalty even though the overall zone is in compliance.

No further details were provided as to what the penalties were for.

We believe our citizens deserve a high level of care and we are working through the issues and we will be holding them [AMR] accountable, Fennessy told NBC 7 Investigates.

AMR has declined NBC 7 Investigates requests for an on-camera interview but in a statement sent by email, a spokesperson for the company, Jason Sorrick, said, While AMR has exceeded the citywide response time requirement every quarter since assuming the Rural/Metro contract a year ago, we have been challenged in recent months to meet response time standards in some zones due in part to a paramedic shortage as well as lengthy wait times at emergency rooms, which prevent paramedics from returning to the field promptly.

Ambulance staffing levels were addressed by the city last month when San Diegos Chief Operating Officer sent a letter to AMRs West Coast Management, laying out a strict list of requirements, a Plan-to-Cure, the company must abide to in order to avoid what the city called a material breach of the terms of the EMS agreement.

To read more about the list of requirements, click here.

In the memo, Fennessy tells city officials that AMRs response to the citys strict list of requirements was generally acceptable.

We still have concerns, there's still quite a demand for paramedics, not only locally here in the region but statewide. Really again it comes down to you've got to be able to staff the ambulances to put the ambulances out on the street, Fennessy said.

Fennessy told NBC 7 Investigates that in a four-month period last year, Rural/Metro ambulances were late to 3,981 calls, according to city data. (Note: Fennessy originally said the number of calls Rural/Metro ambulances was late to was 44,000 calls, but corrected that number to the figure above.)

NBC 7 Investigates has requested AMRs response to the citys request for a detailed Plan-to-Cure through the California Public Records Act but has yet to receive the records.

In the companys emailed statement, Sorrick said, despite these challenges we are pleased to report that we have been in full compliance during the last two months, in both November and December. We are making solid progress, however we remain concerned that the system is not sustainable. We will continue to work with the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department to build upon our progress to achieve response time equity in all zones throughout the City of San Diego.

In the memo, Fennessy confirms Rural/Metro has shown compliant progress in the months of November and December but said the city remains concerned and has requested a detailed plan from AMR that will provide consistent customer service every month, in all zones.

The city will not accept periods of non-compliance and then a limited surge to cross a measurement period goal line, the memo ends with.

While AMR addressed all areas of the Chief Operating Officers letter sent in December, the city told AMR some parts of the companys Plan-to-Cure require further analysis and/or additional explanation, according to a letter sent to AMR from the city.

To read the letter, click here.
One person has died after their car hit a curb and went airborne, flying 80 to 100 feet before rolling and landing upside down, Oceanside Police said.

The crash happened at approximately 10:55 p.m. Saturday near State Route 76 and Canyon Drive, Oceanside police Sgt. Richard Schickel said.

Police first rushed to the scene to respond to 911 reports of a collision in the area. When they arrived, they found a single car off the roadway north of the intersection, Schickel said.

The 2008 Honda Civic was heading north on Canyon Drive and went through the intersection, Schickel said. The car hit a curb and then a retaining wall, Schickel said. The impact sent the car airborne.

The Honda flew 80 to 100 feet into the air before landing on the bike path and rolling over and landing upside down, Schickel said.

The driver, who has not been identified, was found dead inside the car.

The cause of the crash and other factors involved are not known.

An investigation is ongoing. Anyone with information regarding this collision is asked to call Accident Investigator David Paul at (760) 435-4431.
For the second weekend in a row protests in Mexico are affecting traffic at the San Ysidro port of entry, California Highway Patrol confirmed.

Traffic is at a standstill as of 5:30 p.m. Saturday going southbound at the border crossing. The port of entry has not been closed, however.

Traffic is also backed up from the Otay Mesa port of entry to the 905 at La Media Road.

Protesters are objecting to a sudden hike in gas prices in Mexico after they went up 20 percent in one day.

Last weekend the San Ysidro port of entry closed briefly in the southbound direction due to protesters blocking the lanes.
District of Columbia police said they've arrested a man suspected of groping three women in well-to-do areas of northwest Washington.

Police said Michael Hilliard, 57, was arrested Friday night. He's been charged with three counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse.

The alleged assaults occurred on Wednesday and Thursday.

Hilliard's court-appointed attorney did not immediately return a message on Saturday.
Two cousins are missing, and the Metropolitan Police Department want the publics help to bring them home safely.

Police said Mieasha Emonice Callaway, 16, and Timyea Vaneasha Callaway, 10, both from northwest Washington, were last seen Saturday, Jan. 14 around 10:30 p.m. in the 500 block of Madison Street, Northwest. They said the girls are cousins and have listed them as critically missing.

Mieasha Callaway is described as a black girl, 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighing 125 pounds, with a medium complexion and red and black hair in braids. She was last seen wearing Mickey Mouse pajamas and a grey coat.

Timyea is described as a black girl, 4 feet tall and weighing 98 pounds, with a medium complexion and black hair in dreadlocks. She was last seen wearing a black shirt, pink pants with the word love on them and black shoes.

Anyone who spots the cousins should call 202.576.6768 or 202.727.9099.
A Vermont man is facing charges after state police said he drove his vehicle through the ice on Lake Champlain early Sunday morning, then showed up intoxicated at the Highgate Port of Entry.

State Police were called to the port, near the U.S.-Canada border at 3:55 a.m. where they met with the driver, Leonel Moreno, 29, of Swanton.

Police said Moreno admitted to driving in the area but said he did not know how he ended up on the lake.

After providing a breath sample, Moreno was taken into custody and charged with driving under the influence.

Moreno was later released on a citation to appear in Vermont Superior Court on Jan. 30 to answer to the charge. At that time, police said he is expected to face a second charge of driving under the influence of alcohol.
Rhode Island Gov. Gina Raimondo is unveiling a plan to provide two years of free tuition to the state's residents at any of its public colleges.

The Providence Journal reports that Raimondo discussed the plan in an interview and will present it to state lawmakers this week as part of her fiscal 2018 budget.

Raimondo's plan is being called the Rhode Island Promise Scholarship. It would offer residents in good academic standing two years of free tuition at the Community College of Rhode Island, Rhode Island College and the University of Rhode Island. The program is estimated to cost $30 million a year.

Raimondo told The Journal that it's time to give middle-class families a break and that she wants to give the people of Rhode Island a chance.
3-year-old far from run-of-the-mill(y)

A DOG who is far from the run-of-the-mill(y) is seeking a new home

Milly, a sweet three-year-old crossbreed is an affectionate dog who was handed in to the care of Dogs Trust Newbury.

Nicki Barrow, rehoming centre manager at Dogs Trust Newbury, said:

Milly adores her home comforts and her favourite pastime is snuggling up on the sofa in her foster home. When Milly isnt cozied up indoors, she loves being out and about exploring on her walks  she loves investigating in the woods.

Milly is looking for a calm, peaceful home where she can continue to blossom into a beautiful, happy girl. Milly needs owners who will be around for most of the day as she adores human company, so any time left will need to be built up slowly. Milly could live with children aged 14 and over, and she is currently in foster care with a cat. Milly could potentially live with another calm dog, after a few successful mixes here at the rehoming centre.

Do you think you could be Millys special someone? Please call the staff at Dogs Trust Newbury to arrange a visit on 0300 303 0292. As Milly is currently with a foster family until she finds her new family, please contact the centre before coming to visit her.

Dogs Trust Newbury is located at Plumbs Farm, Hamstead Marshall, Newbury, Berks, RG20 0HR.

Dogs Trust is the UKs largest dog welfare charity and cares for nearly 17,000 stray and abandoned dogs each year through its network of 20 Rehoming Centres across the UK and one in Ireland.

For more information about the charitys work please visit www.dogstrust.org.uk.
BT proposing to remove 60 public payphones - unless community 'adopts' them

SIXTY of West Berkshires public payphones  including iconic red telephone boxes in rural villages  are set to be removed, unless communities step in to adopt them.

BT says that overall use of payphones has declined by more than 90 per cent in the last decade and, as a result, is proposing to get rid of the vast majority of them.

Figures show that 15 of the 60 phone boxes in West Berkshire that are set to be removed have not been used at all in the past year, while others have only been used a handful of times.

The most used telephone box in Newbury over the past 12 months has been the one by St Johns Post Office  with 387 calls in one year  an average of just over one call per day.

However, there is still a chance to stop them from becoming extinct.

Since BT launched its Adopt a Kiosk scheme, more than 3,500 communities across the UK have seized the opportunity to convert their underused phone boxes into all manner of things.

In 2012, Bucklebury Parish Council adopted a phone box for 1 and transformed it into a book exchange.

The phone box outside the Bladebone Inn, Chapel Row, has become somewhere that people can swap novels.

In Ashampstead, residents have converted their underused telephone box into a mini library.

Further afield, in Cheltenham, 10 red phone boxes have been transformed into miniature art galleries showcasing the work of local artists.

And in Brighton, Eddie Ottewell and Steve Beeken launched Red Box Coffee  which sells hot drinks and ice cream from the two red telephone boxes they have adopted.

The Community Heartbeat Trust has installed defibrillators in disused phone boxes across the country.

In a letter to West Berkshire Council, BT said: The need to provide payphones for use in emergency situations is diminishing all the time, with at least 98 per cent of the UK having either 3G or 4G coverage.

This is important because as long as there is network coverage, its now possible to call the emergency services, even when there is no credit or no coverage from your own mobile provider.

Newbury Town Council discussed what it wanted to do with the nine public payphones in the parish at a meeting last week.

The town council has three options to the proposals  it can object, not object or adopt a phone box for 1 for community use.

At a meeting last week, chief executive Hugh Peacocke said: I am not sure any of them are extensively used.

Apparently the one at St Johns Post Office is being used for purposes well, lets just say the post office are happy it is being removed.

Elizabeth OKeffe (Lib Dem, Victoria) told other councillors: It is not really up to us is it? It is up to the community to decide.

It only costs 1 to adopt a phone box. To start the process email payphones@bt.com

Time is running out to have your say on the proposals  a 90-day public consultation will end on Monday, January 23.
Pramod Thomas By

Express News Service

KOCHI: Rajesh Chandran, an NRI residing in Qatar, plans to come to India in March this year. He has banned currency notes worth Rs 20,000. He says he had expected the government and the RBI would let him exchange these notes overseas. But no, he points out. Now, he has to go to Chennai to exchange these notes. Though there are two RBI offices in Kerala, none of them are allowed to accept banned notes.

For NRIs, many of whom are from South India, this is a serious problem. South India is the place of origin for 67 lakh NRIs  Kerala (25 lakh), Tamil Nadu (22 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (20 lakh) states. Together, they send 50-60 per cent of total foreign exchange remittances to the country. These three states together account for 24.9 per cent of the total NRI population in the country.

But while the Reserve Bank, in its latest notification, has opened an old notes exchange facility at RBI offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur, there are no other authorised facilities. The office that are allowed to exchange notes will remain open for residents (who were abroad) from January 2 to March 31, 2017 and for NRIs from January 2 to June 30, 2017.

Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, a UAE based expatriate organisation, has already written a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on allowing the RBI office in Kochi to receive banned notes. The claim has grounds, as the state represents about 10 per cent of the 2.69 crore NRI population. Besides, Kerala receives 40 per cent of remittances that come to India. The recent arrangement is confusing.

There is only one facility in the entire South (in Chennai) to exchange old notes, which is quite insufficient. An NRI in Kerala now needs to travel to Chennai to get his or her invalid currency exchanged. The ideal situation should be that the government opens currency exchange centres at airports. This will help to achieve a smooth transition, said S Irudaya Rajan, Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs.

According to RBI, there is no exchange limit for eligible Resident Indians. The limit for NRIs will be as per the relevant FEMA Regulations. They can avail this facility in their individual capacity once during the period on submission of ID documents such as Aadhaar number, Permanent Account Number etc, They also have to submit documentary evidence showing they were abroad during the period and that they have not availed the exchange facility earlier.

The majority of these people are from the lower and middle income segment. It will be very difficult to go all the way to offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. The RBI office in Kochi needs to be designated an official place of exchange, asserted K V Shamsudheen, Chairman, Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust.

KOCHI: Rajesh Chandran, an NRI residing in Qatar, plans to come to India in March this year. He has banned currency notes worth Rs 20,000. He says he had expected the government and the RBI would let him exchange these notes overseas. But no, he points out. Now, he has to go to Chennai to exchange these notes. Though there are two RBI offices in Kerala, none of them are allowed to accept banned notes. For NRIs, many of whom are from South India, this is a serious problem. South India is the place of origin for 67 lakh NRIs  Kerala (25 lakh), Tamil Nadu (22 lakh) and Andhra Pradesh (20 lakh) states. Together, they send 50-60 per cent of total foreign exchange remittances to the country. These three states together account for 24.9 per cent of the total NRI population in the country. But while the Reserve Bank, in its latest notification, has opened an old notes exchange facility at RBI offices in Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur, there are no other authorised facilities. The office that are allowed to exchange notes will remain open for residents (who were abroad) from January 2 to March 31, 2017 and for NRIs from January 2 to June 30, 2017. Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust, a UAE based expatriate organisation, has already written a letter to Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on allowing the RBI office in Kochi to receive banned notes. The claim has grounds, as the state represents about 10 per cent of the 2.69 crore NRI population. Besides, Kerala receives 40 per cent of remittances that come to India. The recent arrangement is confusing. There is only one facility in the entire South (in Chennai) to exchange old notes, which is quite insufficient. An NRI in Kerala now needs to travel to Chennai to get his or her invalid currency exchanged. The ideal situation should be that the government opens currency exchange centres at airports. This will help to achieve a smooth transition, said S Irudaya Rajan, Chair Professor, Ministry of Overseas Indian Affairs. According to RBI, there is no exchange limit for eligible Resident Indians. The limit for NRIs will be as per the relevant FEMA Regulations. They can avail this facility in their individual capacity once during the period on submission of ID documents such as Aadhaar number, Permanent Account Number etc, They also have to submit documentary evidence showing they were abroad during the period and that they have not availed the exchange facility earlier. The majority of these people are from the lower and middle income segment. It will be very difficult to go all the way to offices at Mumbai, New Delhi, Chennai, Kolkata, and Nagpur. The RBI office in Kochi needs to be designated an official place of exchange, asserted K V Shamsudheen, Chairman, Pravasi Bandhu Welfare Trust.
J Deepthi Nandan Reddy By

Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Agriculture insurance has a long way to go in helping farmers manage risks in farming. A lot of awareness and simplification of norms are the need of the hour, say stake holders from the sector.

In a country, where agriculture is largely influenced by climatic conditions and remunerative prices for farm produce are a distant dream, crop insurance can be of great help. But, surprisingly, instead of being a sought-after avenue for risk management, crop insurance schemes failed the farmers when they needed it the most.

Banks are deducting premium amount from the loan amount issued to us. But, farmers do not get any help from insurance company or the government in case of crop loss, due to complex rules and conditions. With no hope of reimbursement from any one, in case of crop loss, we feel even the amount deducted from banks towards premium as unnecessary burden, rued P Komulaiah, a farmer from Wanaparthy in Telangana.

Meanwhile, when farmers are taking loans from banks, they are mandatorily charged insurance premium amounts, pushing them to opt for insurance in some states. When it comes to taking credit out of banking system, most do not even have an idea of insurance.

Insurance is a tool for risk management, which is very essential for Indian farmers. While farmers are ignorant of agri-insurance, even a lack of will among governments and insurance companies to popularise agriculture insurance is adding to the problem. Awareness needs to be created about the benefits of insurance among farmers and agriculture insurance policies should be simplified to cover the actual losses, said Vijay Sardana, noted agriculture and rural economist.

After the introduction of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in February, 2016, the amount to be paid by the farmers towards premium has considerably decreased. Farmers need to pay only two per cent and 1.5 percent for regular crops in Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively, and five per cent for commercial crops. The remaining amount of premium is paid by the state and the central government.

Besides Agriculture Insurance Company of India, private insurance companies such as Bajaj Allianz, Cholamandalam MS, Royal Sundaram, Iffco-Tokio, HDFC Ergo have also been operating in agriculture insurance sector.

With the entry of private companies, awareness on agriculture insurance is also likely to increase which would further help the area of crop insured to grow. As farmers lack awareness and drive to get insured right now, we have ordered field-level agriculture officers to convince farmers to take farm insurance and accustom them to the culture of agriculture insurance, said a senior official, who looks after agri-insurance in Telangana agriculture department.

From the last kharif season, the government has adopted villages as units for calculating compensation in case of crop loss instead of mandal, thus improving the prospects of farmers getting compensation in case of crop loss due to natural calamity. But farmers feel this as just a small step. Complexities in claims are another hindrance that needs to be addressed to win the trust of farmers in agri-insurance.

The conditions of crop insurance change from crop to crop and from district to district, thus creating confusion among farmers. Will any farmer find an insurance agent in their village or nearby town, like they find vehicle insurers and life insurers? Unless the farmer is taken as unit or the extent of farm area decreased for compensating, agri-insurance will not serve the purpose, says Yerneni Nagendranath, Chairman, Federation of Farmers.

HYDERABAD: Agriculture insurance has a long way to go in helping farmers manage risks in farming. A lot of awareness and simplification of norms are the need of the hour, say stake holders from the sector. In a country, where agriculture is largely influenced by climatic conditions and remunerative prices for farm produce are a distant dream, crop insurance can be of great help. But, surprisingly, instead of being a sought-after avenue for risk management, crop insurance schemes failed the farmers when they needed it the most. Banks are deducting premium amount from the loan amount issued to us. But, farmers do not get any help from insurance company or the government in case of crop loss, due to complex rules and conditions. With no hope of reimbursement from any one, in case of crop loss, we feel even the amount deducted from banks towards premium as unnecessary burden, rued P Komulaiah, a farmer from Wanaparthy in Telangana. Meanwhile, when farmers are taking loans from banks, they are mandatorily charged insurance premium amounts, pushing them to opt for insurance in some states. When it comes to taking credit out of banking system, most do not even have an idea of insurance. Insurance is a tool for risk management, which is very essential for Indian farmers. While farmers are ignorant of agri-insurance, even a lack of will among governments and insurance companies to popularise agriculture insurance is adding to the problem. Awareness needs to be created about the benefits of insurance among farmers and agriculture insurance policies should be simplified to cover the actual losses, said Vijay Sardana, noted agriculture and rural economist. After the introduction of Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana in February, 2016, the amount to be paid by the farmers towards premium has considerably decreased. Farmers need to pay only two per cent and 1.5 percent for regular crops in Kharif and Rabi seasons, respectively, and five per cent for commercial crops. The remaining amount of premium is paid by the state and the central government. Besides Agriculture Insurance Company of India, private insurance companies such as Bajaj Allianz, Cholamandalam MS, Royal Sundaram, Iffco-Tokio, HDFC Ergo have also been operating in agriculture insurance sector. With the entry of private companies, awareness on agriculture insurance is also likely to increase which would further help the area of crop insured to grow. As farmers lack awareness and drive to get insured right now, we have ordered field-level agriculture officers to convince farmers to take farm insurance and accustom them to the culture of agriculture insurance, said a senior official, who looks after agri-insurance in Telangana agriculture department. From the last kharif season, the government has adopted villages as units for calculating compensation in case of crop loss instead of mandal, thus improving the prospects of farmers getting compensation in case of crop loss due to natural calamity. But farmers feel this as just a small step. Complexities in claims are another hindrance that needs to be addressed to win the trust of farmers in agri-insurance. The conditions of crop insurance change from crop to crop and from district to district, thus creating confusion among farmers. Will any farmer find an insurance agent in their village or nearby town, like they find vehicle insurers and life insurers? Unless the farmer is taken as unit or the extent of farm area decreased for compensating, agri-insurance will not serve the purpose, says Yerneni Nagendranath, Chairman, Federation of Farmers.
Pramod Thomas By

Express News Service

Sakshi Vij, Founder and CEO, Myles

For the founder of one of Indias most vibrant start-ups, the art of building an idea is something so valuable that there is no duration too long to spend on it. Pramod Thomas writes about her advice to young entrepreneurs and how she and her start-up are changing the way India travels...

Take as much time building the idea; there is no such thing as too much preparation. Prepare to be surprised/shocked; there is no such thing as fully prepared, This is how Sakshi Vij, founder and CEO of Delhi-based car rental firm Myles, responded to an interview question on her advice to budding women entrepreneurs. The mature, confident words come from her own experience of growing her start-up from a modest 14 cars in 2013 to 1,200 now.

How did she do it? We are challenging the car ownership model and enabling the aspirational youth to choose their drives as per the occasion... The fact that the car owner can utilize a car up to 65-70 per cent of the time ensures that they can monetise this asset significantly more than a personal car ensures that the system is extremely convenient for the consumer.

Hers is also Indias first self-drive service that allows women to take charge of the wheel and hit the road without owning a car. Sakshi grew up in Delhi and completed her MBA from S P Jain Centre of Management, specialising in services marketing management. She, then, studied luxury brands through a global management programme at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, and ESSEC Business School, Paris. Sakshi started her professional journey with FiNoble Advisors, working actively in the field of new business opportunities. She harnessed these insights when she joined Myles parent company, CIPL, in 2007 as a part of the marketing team.

So, how did she hit upon the idea of Myles? For me, the huge gap between the growth of self driving/car sharing in major cities across the globe and the lack of awareness around car sharing in India was the main reason to start. While we were talking a lot about cabs and car pools, the increasing fleet on the streets was the main cause of this congestion on Indian roads. This could only get tackled by a smarter way to share cars and reduce the burden on city infrastructure, she says.

How does she find her entrepreneurial journey? She says she finds it fulfilling as an entrepreneur to see the product changing the way people travel and being a part of their jovial memories be it a guy who drove a car from Delhi to Kanyakumari, or the housewife who rented a car every day.

And, her next target? We hope to achieve our ultimate goal of having a Myles car every 400 meters of each other soon.

Sakshi Vij, Founder and CEO, Myles For the founder of one of Indias most vibrant start-ups, the art of building an idea is something so valuable that there is no duration too long to spend on it. Pramod Thomas writes about her advice to young entrepreneurs and how she and her start-up are changing the way India travels... Take as much time building the idea; there is no such thing as too much preparation. Prepare to be surprised/shocked; there is no such thing as fully prepared, This is how Sakshi Vij, founder and CEO of Delhi-based car rental firm Myles, responded to an interview question on her advice to budding women entrepreneurs. The mature, confident words come from her own experience of growing her start-up from a modest 14 cars in 2013 to 1,200 now. How did she do it? We are challenging the car ownership model and enabling the aspirational youth to choose their drives as per the occasion... The fact that the car owner can utilize a car up to 65-70 per cent of the time ensures that they can monetise this asset significantly more than a personal car ensures that the system is extremely convenient for the consumer. Hers is also Indias first self-drive service that allows women to take charge of the wheel and hit the road without owning a car. Sakshi grew up in Delhi and completed her MBA from S P Jain Centre of Management, specialising in services marketing management. She, then, studied luxury brands through a global management programme at the Indian Institute of Management-Ahmedabad, and ESSEC Business School, Paris. Sakshi started her professional journey with FiNoble Advisors, working actively in the field of new business opportunities. She harnessed these insights when she joined Myles parent company, CIPL, in 2007 as a part of the marketing team. So, how did she hit upon the idea of Myles? For me, the huge gap between the growth of self driving/car sharing in major cities across the globe and the lack of awareness around car sharing in India was the main reason to start. While we were talking a lot about cabs and car pools, the increasing fleet on the streets was the main cause of this congestion on Indian roads. This could only get tackled by a smarter way to share cars and reduce the burden on city infrastructure, she says. How does she find her entrepreneurial journey? She says she finds it fulfilling as an entrepreneur to see the product changing the way people travel and being a part of their jovial memories be it a guy who drove a car from Delhi to Kanyakumari, or the housewife who rented a car every day. And, her next target? We hope to achieve our ultimate goal of having a Myles car every 400 meters of each other soon.
Express News Service

CHENNAI/HYDERABAD: A sharp drop in consumption brought on by demonetisation of old high denomination notes and drought ripping through the hinterlands of southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu, have resulted in harvest festivals in the state and its neighbours -- Andhra Pradesh and Telengana -- lose their sheen for traders.

For Tamil Nadu, this Pongal is seeing sugarcane vendors in particular take a hit. According to traders in Koyambedu, the vegetable and fruits market in Chennai, sugarcane sales have been the lowest in several years. This is despite the fact that they are trading at half the price. The demand has been low ever since the note ban in November, but we expected things to pick up by now. It has not, people are not buying as much they used to, said R Baranidharan, a farmer in the city to deliver his stock. A bundle with 20 canes is selling at just around `300. Last year, the rate was `500. But arriving stock are also at record lows across the state -- with only around 450 trucks making it to the market in the city.

With the monsoon deserting the agricultural heartlands once again, yields have fallen drastically. With both demand and yield falling, Pongal income for farmers has been bad. Procurement rates are just around `150 per bundle with ten canes. Last year, it was more than `200, said B Raja, an agricultural landlord in Theni district of the state. Yields are also at record lows, he added. Other sectors are also taking a beating. Especially those that revolve around festival buying. For small garment traders, this Pongal has been one with little to cheer for. According to a top retailer in Chennai, average ticket size of sales have fallen nearly half.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradeshs Sankranti is bringing as little cheer. While drought isnt that big a problem, the cash crunch brought about by demonetisation is. Sankranti is celebrated mainly celebrating for the agriculture harvest. But due to demonetisation, farmers didnt get good prices for their produce. Some farmers have not even been able to sell any of their goods, even for a lower price. Farmers incomes have plummeted affecting other sector sales too, said Vakkalagadda Bhaskara Rao Andhra Pradesh federation of commerce and industry.

Traders say that business has been affected by as much as 40 per cent depending on the business.

It is a tradition to wear new clothes and many families present new clothes to sons-in-law during Sankranti. Textiles shops are seeing good business, but when compared to Sankranti sales every year, this years sales are low, said Srinivasa Rao, owner of Challapalli and Sons in Vijayawada.

CHENNAI/HYDERABAD: A sharp drop in consumption brought on by demonetisation of old high denomination notes and drought ripping through the hinterlands of southern states, particularly Tamil Nadu, have resulted in harvest festivals in the state and its neighbours -- Andhra Pradesh and Telengana -- lose their sheen for traders. For Tamil Nadu, this Pongal is seeing sugarcane vendors in particular take a hit. According to traders in Koyambedu, the vegetable and fruits market in Chennai, sugarcane sales have been the lowest in several years. This is despite the fact that they are trading at half the price. The demand has been low ever since the note ban in November, but we expected things to pick up by now. It has not, people are not buying as much they used to, said R Baranidharan, a farmer in the city to deliver his stock. A bundle with 20 canes is selling at just around `300. Last year, the rate was `500. But arriving stock are also at record lows across the state -- with only around 450 trucks making it to the market in the city. With the monsoon deserting the agricultural heartlands once again, yields have fallen drastically. With both demand and yield falling, Pongal income for farmers has been bad. Procurement rates are just around `150 per bundle with ten canes. Last year, it was more than `200, said B Raja, an agricultural landlord in Theni district of the state. Yields are also at record lows, he added. Other sectors are also taking a beating. Especially those that revolve around festival buying. For small garment traders, this Pongal has been one with little to cheer for. According to a top retailer in Chennai, average ticket size of sales have fallen nearly half. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradeshs Sankranti is bringing as little cheer. While drought isnt that big a problem, the cash crunch brought about by demonetisation is. Sankranti is celebrated mainly celebrating for the agriculture harvest. But due to demonetisation, farmers didnt get good prices for their produce. Some farmers have not even been able to sell any of their goods, even for a lower price. Farmers incomes have plummeted affecting other sector sales too, said Vakkalagadda Bhaskara Rao Andhra Pradesh federation of commerce and industry. Traders say that business has been affected by as much as 40 per cent depending on the business. It is a tradition to wear new clothes and many families present new clothes to sons-in-law during Sankranti. Textiles shops are seeing good business, but when compared to Sankranti sales every year, this years sales are low, said Srinivasa Rao, owner of Challapalli and Sons in Vijayawada.
By AFP

PARIS: A French newspaper Sunday published Kim Kardashian's testimony to police of how a robber threatened her at gunpoint when she refused to hand over a ring worth millions of dollars.

In the account of the Paris robbery she described how she was bound and gagged and said one of the gang was wearing a jacket emblazoned with police insignia.

The Journal du Dimanche said it had exclusive access to the handwritten report based on Kardashian's account, in which she said that the robbers seemed "inexperienced".

The newspaper also said it had a transcript of a brief interview given to police after the masked men burst into Kardashian's luxury residence in October, taking jewellery worth nine million euros ($9.5 million).

Police last week made arrests in Paris and the south of France and 10 suspects have been charged, including the alleged ringleaders.

'Old Omar and Blue Eyes'

Investigators say the gang's key members were Aomar Ait Khedache and Didier Dubreucq, men in their 60s with long criminal pasts nicknamed "Old Omar" and "Blue Eyes".

In the Journal du Dimanche report, for which the newspaper did not provide English quotes, Kardashian, 36, said she heard noises at the door after returning from dinner after midnight.

Her bodyguard was absent, guarding her sister Kourtney at a nightclub.

"I saw through the sliding door two people coming," Kardashian said in comments translated from the newspaper's French account, adding that one of the men was wearing "a jacket with 'police' written on it".

"He asked me with a strong French accent where my ring was. It was on the bedside table. (But) I replied that I didn't know and then he pulled out a gun and I showed him the ring," she told police, adding it was worth four million dollars.

Kardashian told police the men tied her up with plastic cables and adhesive tape "and they carried me to my bathroom" where they placed her in the bathtub.

The gang also took a box containing jewellery including two Cartier diamond bracelets, a diamond-studded necklace, a yellow gold Rolex watch and a diamond-encrusted cross.

The wife of Kanye West said after the gang had put her in the bathroom that she heard the men talking to each other in French and had the impression they were saying they should leave.

Once they had fled, Kardashian managed to free herself -- she told police she could tell the men were "kind of inexperienced in the way they tied me up".

'Completely amateurish'

The alleged mastermind, 60-year-old Khedache has been charged, along with nine others.

Investigators have told AFP that he had gone on the run six years ago while on trial for drug trafficking offences.

In September last year, an acquaintance gave him "a tipoff worth its weight in gold", according to one investigator -- that Kardashian and her entourage would be staying at a discreet apartment-hotel complex in Paris's chic Madeleine district to attend catwalk shows during fashion week.

He recruited Dubreucq, 61, who had previous convictions for robbery and drugs.

Khedache's lawyer Jean-Yves Lienard said the gang were "completely amateurish".

His own client left traces of his DNA on the plastic cable and the tape they used to tie up Kardashian.

Khedache "has admitted taking part in the robbery but has refused to speak about any accomplices and denies he was the mastermind", Lienard said.

He told Lienard that the jewellery was passed to another party. Khedache was seen in the Belgian city of Antwerp, one of the world centres of the diamond industry, with another suspect, 64-year-old Marceau Baum-Gartner, a few days after the robbery.

French police had placed other members of the gang under surveillance and spotted four of them meeting up at a Paris bar in December.

Investigators believe they were discussing how to divide up the spoils of the robbery. Around 250,000 euros was found in the police raids last week.

PARIS: A French newspaper Sunday published Kim Kardashian's testimony to police of how a robber threatened her at gunpoint when she refused to hand over a ring worth millions of dollars. In the account of the Paris robbery she described how she was bound and gagged and said one of the gang was wearing a jacket emblazoned with police insignia. The Journal du Dimanche said it had exclusive access to the handwritten report based on Kardashian's account, in which she said that the robbers seemed "inexperienced". The newspaper also said it had a transcript of a brief interview given to police after the masked men burst into Kardashian's luxury residence in October, taking jewellery worth nine million euros ($9.5 million). Police last week made arrests in Paris and the south of France and 10 suspects have been charged, including the alleged ringleaders. 'Old Omar and Blue Eyes' Investigators say the gang's key members were Aomar Ait Khedache and Didier Dubreucq, men in their 60s with long criminal pasts nicknamed "Old Omar" and "Blue Eyes". In the Journal du Dimanche report, for which the newspaper did not provide English quotes, Kardashian, 36, said she heard noises at the door after returning from dinner after midnight. Her bodyguard was absent, guarding her sister Kourtney at a nightclub. "I saw through the sliding door two people coming," Kardashian said in comments translated from the newspaper's French account, adding that one of the men was wearing "a jacket with 'police' written on it". "He asked me with a strong French accent where my ring was. It was on the bedside table. (But) I replied that I didn't know and then he pulled out a gun and I showed him the ring," she told police, adding it was worth four million dollars. Kardashian told police the men tied her up with plastic cables and adhesive tape "and they carried me to my bathroom" where they placed her in the bathtub. The gang also took a box containing jewellery including two Cartier diamond bracelets, a diamond-studded necklace, a yellow gold Rolex watch and a diamond-encrusted cross. The wife of Kanye West said after the gang had put her in the bathroom that she heard the men talking to each other in French and had the impression they were saying they should leave. Once they had fled, Kardashian managed to free herself -- she told police she could tell the men were "kind of inexperienced in the way they tied me up". 'Completely amateurish' The alleged mastermind, 60-year-old Khedache has been charged, along with nine others. Investigators have told AFP that he had gone on the run six years ago while on trial for drug trafficking offences. In September last year, an acquaintance gave him "a tipoff worth its weight in gold", according to one investigator -- that Kardashian and her entourage would be staying at a discreet apartment-hotel complex in Paris's chic Madeleine district to attend catwalk shows during fashion week. He recruited Dubreucq, 61, who had previous convictions for robbery and drugs. Khedache's lawyer Jean-Yves Lienard said the gang were "completely amateurish". His own client left traces of his DNA on the plastic cable and the tape they used to tie up Kardashian. Khedache "has admitted taking part in the robbery but has refused to speak about any accomplices and denies he was the mastermind", Lienard said. He told Lienard that the jewellery was passed to another party. Khedache was seen in the Belgian city of Antwerp, one of the world centres of the diamond industry, with another suspect, 64-year-old Marceau Baum-Gartner, a few days after the robbery. French police had placed other members of the gang under surveillance and spotted four of them meeting up at a Paris bar in December. Investigators believe they were discussing how to divide up the spoils of the robbery. Around 250,000 euros was found in the police raids last week.
By PTI

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high level meeting to review the boat tragedy that claimed 24 lives. Kumar took detailed information from Tourism department officials about the kite festival held at Sabbalpur diara (riverine area) here yesterday, according to an official release.

The passengers of the boat were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara across the river after watching the kite festival arranged by the tourism department on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'. The Chief Minister also took stock of the situation from Disaster Management Department's Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit and asked him to give a detailed report, the release said.

Kumar ordered a high level probe into the incident. Altogether, 24 bodies were fished out and identified, and none was missing in the incident. During the meeting, Kumar directed the officials to ensure that boats ply following guidelines.

PATNA: Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar held a high level meeting to review the boat tragedy that claimed 24 lives. Kumar took detailed information from Tourism department officials about the kite festival held at Sabbalpur diara (riverine area) here yesterday, according to an official release. The passengers of the boat were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara across the river after watching the kite festival arranged by the tourism department on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'. The Chief Minister also took stock of the situation from Disaster Management Department's Principal Secretary Pratyaya Amrit and asked him to give a detailed report, the release said. Kumar ordered a high level probe into the incident. Altogether, 24 bodies were fished out and identified, and none was missing in the incident. During the meeting, Kumar directed the officials to ensure that boats ply following guidelines.
By PTI

PATNA: With the recovery of four more bodies, the toll in boat tragedy in river Ganga here climbed to 24 today while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a high-level inquiry and directed strict action against those responsible for any lapses.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh and Rs four lakh respectively to the kin of those killed in the incident. The boat was ferrying people who were returning from a four-day kite festival organised by the state tourism department on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti' when it capsized near NIT ghat last evening apparently due to "overloading".

Asked if there could be more bodies in the river, Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit told PTI that it was unlikely but the rescue work by the SDRF and NDRF teams was on. "No more family has come forward to claim about missing kin in the boat tragedy," he said.

The boat had about 40 people on board who were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area) across the river after watching the kite festival.

The boat had been retrieved from the Ganga, the senior official said adding it was intact. "We are saddened by this terrible tragedy and are with the families in this hour of grief. The Chief Minister has announced ex-gratia.... "He has ordered a high level probe into the incident and directed that strict action should be taken against those responsible for any lapses," state Tourism Minister Anita Devi said.

The Minister, however, rejected suggestions that adequate arrangements had not been made by the department for the event. "We had made all arrangements and informed local authorities in writing. But there were some private boat operators," she said.

The Prime Minister today sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed from the PM National Relief Fund. Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.

The Chief Minister also directed the officials to provide ex-gratia assistance of Rs four lakh each to the next of kin of the victims at the earliest. Kumar directed the Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit, Central Range DIG Shalin and Patna's District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal to carry out rescue operations on war footing and make proper arrangement for treatment of the rescued people at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH).

The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of other engagements including 'dahi-chura' feast that JD(U) unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh was scheduled to host today.

Expressing grief over the incident, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad said, "It is tragic that children have lost their lives on a day when we celebrate a festival. Steps should be taken to avoid such mishaps. I am hopeful that action will be taken against those responsible for lapses."

The four-day kite festival which started yesterday will not continue in the wake of the tragedy

PATNA: With the recovery of four more bodies, the toll in boat tragedy in river Ganga here climbed to 24 today while Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a high-level inquiry and directed strict action against those responsible for any lapses. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Chief Minister announced an ex-gratia of Rs two lakh and Rs four lakh respectively to the kin of those killed in the incident. The boat was ferrying people who were returning from a four-day kite festival organised by the state tourism department on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti' when it capsized near NIT ghat last evening apparently due to "overloading". Asked if there could be more bodies in the river, Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit told PTI that it was unlikely but the rescue work by the SDRF and NDRF teams was on. "No more family has come forward to claim about missing kin in the boat tragedy," he said. The boat had about 40 people on board who were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine area) across the river after watching the kite festival. The boat had been retrieved from the Ganga, the senior official said adding it was intact. "We are saddened by this terrible tragedy and are with the families in this hour of grief. The Chief Minister has announced ex-gratia.... "He has ordered a high level probe into the incident and directed that strict action should be taken against those responsible for any lapses," state Tourism Minister Anita Devi said. The Minister, however, rejected suggestions that adequate arrangements had not been made by the department for the event. "We had made all arrangements and informed local authorities in writing. But there were some private boat operators," she said. The Prime Minister today sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed from the PM National Relief Fund. Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said. In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said. The Chief Minister also directed the officials to provide ex-gratia assistance of Rs four lakh each to the next of kin of the victims at the earliest. Kumar directed the Principal Secretary (Disaster Management) Pratyaya Amrit, Central Range DIG Shalin and Patna's District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Agrawal to carry out rescue operations on war footing and make proper arrangement for treatment of the rescued people at Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH). The boat tragedy has also led to cancellation of other engagements including 'dahi-chura' feast that JD(U) unit president Bashistha Narayan Singh was scheduled to host today. Expressing grief over the incident, BJP leader and Union Minister Ravishankar Prasad said, "It is tragic that children have lost their lives on a day when we celebrate a festival. Steps should be taken to avoid such mishaps. I am hopeful that action will be taken against those responsible for lapses." The four-day kite festival which started yesterday will not continue in the wake of the tragedy
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans (Army men) who take to social media to express their grievances could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers.



Rawat said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, "we want to restore peace on the Line of Control". "But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," the General asserted.

The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations here, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

"If any jawan has any grievances, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," General Rawat said.

"Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that)," he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.

"It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border," he said. On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.

"Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts," the General pointed out.

NEW DELHI: Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans (Army men) who take to social media to express their grievances could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers. Rawat said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, "we want to restore peace on the Line of Control". "But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," the General asserted. The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations here, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty. "If any jawan has any grievances, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," General Rawat said. "Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that)," he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances. "It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border," he said. On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile. "Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts," the General pointed out.
Anand ST Das By

Express News Service

PATNA: A day after the Patna boat mishap that claimed 24 lives, the Bihar governments failure to ensure enough safeguards to protect the lives of thousands of people taking part in a Makar Sankranti programme was o Sunday flayed by the states Opposition BJP.

Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi accused the Nitish Kumar-led three-party coalition government of harbouring a particularly insensitive attitude towards festivals of the Hindus. Modi, who met several families that had lost their kin in Saturdays mishap in the Ganga in Patna, pointed out a number of instances that he said reflected the governments lack of interest in ensuring safety at Hindu festival sites.

The state government spent a whooping Rs 200 crore for Prakashotsav earlier this month, but did not spend a reasonable sum for this Maker Sankranti kite-flying festival. Why is this government not making the best arrangements for festivals of Hindus? asked Modi.

He (CM Nitish Kumar) organised lavish arrangements for Prakashotsav and Kalchakra ceremonies. The CM takes credit for the success of both these festivals, but refuses to take the blame for the 24 deaths during the Makar Sankranti festival. The district administration is being made scapegoat, he told a press conference in Patna.

The state government had organised the weeklong Prakashotsav to mark the 350th birth anniversary of the tenth Sikh spiritual leader Guru Nanak, who was born in Patna. Nearly four lakh Sikhs drawn from across the country and abroad attended the festivities. The Kalchakra ceremonies organised in Bodh Gaya in Bihar are considered an important festival of Buddhists. The Dalai Lama and Hollywood actor Richard Gere participated in the ceremonies that were attended by thousands of Buddists from around the country and the world.

Modi said the 24 people who died in the boat mishap belonged to very poor families. This also shows how the state government has been careless towards the poor, he added.

The BJP leader also said top officials of the Patna district administration and police were busy with the political feast organised at RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs residence where the CM and his entire cabinet were present. The government did not bother to find out if the officials were monitoring arrangements made for the kite-flying festival where close to one lakh people had gathered, he added.

Modi urged the state government to postpone the proposed statewide human chain scheduled to be organised on January 21 to reflect support of the states people for total prohibition that Kumars government implemented nine months ago.

Since there are so many rivers in Bihar and close to 1,000 people die by drowning every year, the government should make a solid plan to curb such losses, said Modi. Wearing lifeboats provided by the government should be made mandatory across the state for people travelling by boat. It will also cost the government much less than the compensation it doles out for loss of lives, he added.

PATNA: A day after the Patna boat mishap that claimed 24 lives, the Bihar governments failure to ensure enough safeguards to protect the lives of thousands of people taking part in a Makar Sankranti programme was o Sunday flayed by the states Opposition BJP. Senior BJP leader and former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi accused the Nitish Kumar-led three-party coalition government of harbouring a particularly insensitive attitude towards festivals of the Hindus. Modi, who met several families that had lost their kin in Saturdays mishap in the Ganga in Patna, pointed out a number of instances that he said reflected the governments lack of interest in ensuring safety at Hindu festival sites. The state government spent a whooping Rs 200 crore for Prakashotsav earlier this month, but did not spend a reasonable sum for this Maker Sankranti kite-flying festival. Why is this government not making the best arrangements for festivals of Hindus? asked Modi. He (CM Nitish Kumar) organised lavish arrangements for Prakashotsav and Kalchakra ceremonies. The CM takes credit for the success of both these festivals, but refuses to take the blame for the 24 deaths during the Makar Sankranti festival. The district administration is being made scapegoat, he told a press conference in Patna. The state government had organised the weeklong Prakashotsav to mark the 350th birth anniversary of the tenth Sikh spiritual leader Guru Nanak, who was born in Patna. Nearly four lakh Sikhs drawn from across the country and abroad attended the festivities. The Kalchakra ceremonies organised in Bodh Gaya in Bihar are considered an important festival of Buddhists. The Dalai Lama and Hollywood actor Richard Gere participated in the ceremonies that were attended by thousands of Buddists from around the country and the world. Modi said the 24 people who died in the boat mishap belonged to very poor families. This also shows how the state government has been careless towards the poor, he added. The BJP leader also said top officials of the Patna district administration and police were busy with the political feast organised at RJD chief Lalu Prasad Yadavs residence where the CM and his entire cabinet were present. The government did not bother to find out if the officials were monitoring arrangements made for the kite-flying festival where close to one lakh people had gathered, he added. Modi urged the state government to postpone the proposed statewide human chain scheduled to be organised on January 21 to reflect support of the states people for total prohibition that Kumars government implemented nine months ago. Since there are so many rivers in Bihar and close to 1,000 people die by drowning every year, the government should make a solid plan to curb such losses, said Modi. Wearing lifeboats provided by the government should be made mandatory across the state for people travelling by boat. It will also cost the government much less than the compensation it doles out for loss of lives, he added.
By PTI

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight expressed sadness over the loss of lives in West Bengal stampede and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured. "Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal.

My thoughts are with the families of the deceased," the Prime Minister tweeted. "My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly," he added.

He approved ex-gratia from PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede. The stampede occurred at 6 pm during Ganga Sagar festival at Kochuberia in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, resulting in the death of at least five people, including a woman. District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman, in the hospital.

The stampede occured when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said.

NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi tonight expressed sadness over the loss of lives in West Bengal stampede and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured. "Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased," the Prime Minister tweeted. "My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly," he added. He approved ex-gratia from PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede. The stampede occurred at 6 pm during Ganga Sagar festival at Kochuberia in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, resulting in the death of at least five people, including a woman. District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman, in the hospital. The stampede occured when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said.
By Express News Service

NEW DELHI: BJP veteran LK Advani feels that India appears incomplete without Sindh in its territory. He also lamented that Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province, where he was born in a Sindhi family was not a part of India anymore.

The BJP patriarch on Sunday also suggested that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should include more women in its ranks. Heaping praise on the organisation of 'Prajapita Brahma Kumaris' for placing women in lead positions in its hierarchy, Advani said that he wants people and also the RSS, with which he has been associated with for long, to emulate it.

"I have not seen any other organisation like this which is mainly led by women. It is really amazing. I have been associated with one organisation for years and respect it. I humbly tell anyone who meets me to learn from them, said the senior BJP leader.

"It is quite difficult and not very easy. The organisation I was referring to is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh where mainly boys join during their childhood. Females also have a small representation," the 89-year-old leader said.

He was speaking at the 48th ascension anniversary of spiritual leader Pitashri Brahma, the founder of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya.

In his address, he also lamented that Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province, where he was born in a Sindhi family was not a part of India anymore and went on to add that India appears "incomplete" without Sindh in its territory.

"At times I feel sad that Karachi and Sindh are not parts of India anymore. I was very active in RSS during my childhood days in Sindh. It is a matter of dismay. I believe that India appears incomplete without Sindh," he said.

NEW DELHI: BJP veteran LK Advani feels that India appears incomplete without Sindh in its territory. He also lamented that Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province, where he was born in a Sindhi family was not a part of India anymore. The BJP patriarch on Sunday also suggested that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should include more women in its ranks. Heaping praise on the organisation of 'Prajapita Brahma Kumaris' for placing women in lead positions in its hierarchy, Advani said that he wants people and also the RSS, with which he has been associated with for long, to emulate it. "I have not seen any other organisation like this which is mainly led by women. It is really amazing. I have been associated with one organisation for years and respect it. I humbly tell anyone who meets me to learn from them, said the senior BJP leader. "It is quite difficult and not very easy. The organisation I was referring to is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh where mainly boys join during their childhood. Females also have a small representation," the 89-year-old leader said. He was speaking at the 48th ascension anniversary of spiritual leader Pitashri Brahma, the founder of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya. In his address, he also lamented that Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province, where he was born in a Sindhi family was not a part of India anymore and went on to add that India appears "incomplete" without Sindh in its territory. "At times I feel sad that Karachi and Sindh are not parts of India anymore. I was very active in RSS during my childhood days in Sindh. It is a matter of dismay. I believe that India appears incomplete without Sindh," he said.
By Express News Service

KOLKATA: At least six pilgrims died while returning from the Ganga Sagar fair in Kachuberia district of West Bengal on Sunday. While the officials initially said it was a stampede, the State government later claimed it was not. District officials initially said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including a woman at the hospital. The incident occurred on Sunday evening when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said, adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

Later however, Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira claimed that six elderly women died after falling ill during the rush to board a vessel at a jetty in South 24 Parganas district while returning from the fair. The incident occurred when there was a mad rush of pilgrims to board vessels at jetty number 5 to reach Kolkata, he said.

A few people fell unconscious while several took ill during the incident, he said, adding they were taken to a nearby temporary healthcare centre where six people, all elderly women, died.

These women were very old. Most of them were above 75 years of age and were very weak. They died natural death. Doctors said that they died of heart attack, Pakhira said.

The rush was because there would be no vessel for about eight hours due to low tide, he said. State ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Arup Biswas also denied that it was a stampede. After the initial reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had even tweeted: Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. The PMO also tweeted: PM approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede.

KOLKATA: At least six pilgrims died while returning from the Ganga Sagar fair in Kachuberia district of West Bengal on Sunday. While the officials initially said it was a stampede, the State government later claimed it was not. District officials initially said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including a woman at the hospital. The incident occurred on Sunday evening when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said, adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified. Later however, Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira claimed that six elderly women died after falling ill during the rush to board a vessel at a jetty in South 24 Parganas district while returning from the fair. The incident occurred when there was a mad rush of pilgrims to board vessels at jetty number 5 to reach Kolkata, he said. A few people fell unconscious while several took ill during the incident, he said, adding they were taken to a nearby temporary healthcare centre where six people, all elderly women, died. These women were very old. Most of them were above 75 years of age and were very weak. They died natural death. Doctors said that they died of heart attack, Pakhira said. The rush was because there would be no vessel for about eight hours due to low tide, he said. State ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Arup Biswas also denied that it was a stampede. After the initial reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had even tweeted: Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased. The PMO also tweeted: PM approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede.
Tom Arms By

And so it begins. Or at least it will on Friday when Donald Trump stands on the steps of the US Capitol building, places his hand on The Bible and swears to protect and preserve the American constitution. The US presidential inauguration is a celebration of American democracy and the peaceful transition from one administration to the next.

There are parades, marching bands, waving flags, an inaugural ball and a bevy of Hollywood stars. Not this time. Oh yes, all the above will occur as usual. But in addition a million-plus protesters are expected to descend on Washington DC to disown the elected President of the United States. Not our President, they will shout. And all indications are that the forthcoming inaugural weekend is a mere curtain-raiser for the global thrills and spills to come. If you enjoy life on the edge, than you are living on the right planet at the right time. Lets look first at the well headAmerica and President Trump. Trump enters the White House with an approval rating of 37 per cent.

The man he is replacing has an approval rating of 57 per cent. No American president in modern history has assumed office under a virulent barrage of vitriol such as the one Trump is currently enduring. There is a veritable forest of question marks hanging over his character, abilities, even his right to govern. Is he a sexual predator? Did he cavort with Russian prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room? Why wont he release his tax returns? What is the role of his son-in-law? Has he properly divested himself of his business interests? Is he a threat to freedom of the press? Did his campaign staff work with Russians? Is he being blackmailed by Putin? Is he Putins poodle? What are the threats to NATO? Can American intelligence agencies work with Trump after his attacks, and vice versa? Will Trump reverse Obamas Cuba policy? What will happen to Americas immigrant community, Taiwan, China, Jerusalem, North Korea, NATO, Ukraine, the Baltic States, NAFTA, Medicare, Obamacare and free trade? And finally, should a person who lost the popular vote by 2.5 million take the oath of office? The answer to the last question is yes.

That is how American electoral law works and the law must be respected. As for all the others? Well, a lot of journalists will have a lot of fun seeking answers to those questions. And their search will seriously hinder Trumps ability to govern the US and provide the global security upon which the rest of the world has come to rely. The repercussions of Trumps victory are already evident beyond American shores. For a start, mass anti- Trump protests next weekend will not be confined to the US. As this article is being written, demonstrations are scheduled in 36 cities on five continents.

The demonstrators could not vote for the most powerful person in the world. So they are taking to the streets to make their views known. It is often said: When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. The demonstrators are concerned that America is about to catch a bad cold. Trumps policies on abortion, womens rights, immigration and racism will be at the forefront on the minds of many demonstrators. Then there are the security concerns.

Earlier this week, a Chinese aircraft carrier led a flotilla through the Taiwan Strait. This deliberately provocative act caused the Taiwanese government to scramble a squadron of fighter aircraft. Thanks to Trump, the One China policy is back on the table, re-introducing another flashpoint at a time when the threat of American tariffs and the issue of the South China Sea are creating more than enough headaches. This Sunday there is a longplanned major Middle East conference in Paris. Seventy nations will be represented. US Secretary of State John Kerry will be there.

Conspicuous by his absence will be Benjamin Netanyahu. Why should the Israeli premier make concessions for peace when Trump plans to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and is sending an envoy to Israel who unreservedly supports West Bank settlements? There is another inauguration next weekend. Major General Rumen Radev will be sworn in as president of Bulgaria on Sunday. He was elected on a pro-Russian platform. So was Igor Dodon, president of neighbouring Moldova. Both these victors are examples of the electorates finely tuned instincts for political survival. Small countries need big countries as friends. Europe and America are waning. Russia is waxingbig time.

And Russia is flexing its muscles again in Eastern Europe. Last year it beefed up its tactical nuclear arsenal in its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad. In response, Obama this week dispatched 3,000 US troops and 800 tanks to Poland. The Kremlin denounced the move as a threat to Russian security. Is Putin serving notice of fresh East European moves in response to a new and already weakened US president? Finally, among the honoured guests at the US inauguration will be Nigel Farage, former leader of the far-right anti-EU, anti-immigration UK Independence Partythe man Trump would love to see appointed British envoy to the US. Last week, Marine Le Pen, leader of Frances far-right National Front Party was in New York.

The day after the inauguration, the leaders of Europes far-right anti-immigration parties will hold their first-ever meeting. For years, these parties were dismissed as inconsequential. The election of Trump has enabled, emboldened and encouraged them. There is a bright spark on the horizon. Also, on the day after the inauguration, it is World Hug Day. The world needs a hug.

Tom Arms

Broadcaster, columnist and editor of the foreign affairs newsletter LookAheadnews.com

Email: tom.arms@lookaheadtv.com

And so it begins. Or at least it will on Friday when Donald Trump stands on the steps of the US Capitol building, places his hand on The Bible and swears to protect and preserve the American constitution. The US presidential inauguration is a celebration of American democracy and the peaceful transition from one administration to the next. There are parades, marching bands, waving flags, an inaugural ball and a bevy of Hollywood stars. Not this time. Oh yes, all the above will occur as usual. But in addition a million-plus protesters are expected to descend on Washington DC to disown the elected President of the United States. Not our President, they will shout. And all indications are that the forthcoming inaugural weekend is a mere curtain-raiser for the global thrills and spills to come. If you enjoy life on the edge, than you are living on the right planet at the right time. Lets look first at the well headAmerica and President Trump. Trump enters the White House with an approval rating of 37 per cent. The man he is replacing has an approval rating of 57 per cent. No American president in modern history has assumed office under a virulent barrage of vitriol such as the one Trump is currently enduring. There is a veritable forest of question marks hanging over his character, abilities, even his right to govern. Is he a sexual predator? Did he cavort with Russian prostitutes in a Moscow hotel room? Why wont he release his tax returns? What is the role of his son-in-law? Has he properly divested himself of his business interests? Is he a threat to freedom of the press? Did his campaign staff work with Russians? Is he being blackmailed by Putin? Is he Putins poodle? What are the threats to NATO? Can American intelligence agencies work with Trump after his attacks, and vice versa? Will Trump reverse Obamas Cuba policy? What will happen to Americas immigrant community, Taiwan, China, Jerusalem, North Korea, NATO, Ukraine, the Baltic States, NAFTA, Medicare, Obamacare and free trade? And finally, should a person who lost the popular vote by 2.5 million take the oath of office? The answer to the last question is yes. That is how American electoral law works and the law must be respected. As for all the others? Well, a lot of journalists will have a lot of fun seeking answers to those questions. And their search will seriously hinder Trumps ability to govern the US and provide the global security upon which the rest of the world has come to rely. The repercussions of Trumps victory are already evident beyond American shores. For a start, mass anti- Trump protests next weekend will not be confined to the US. As this article is being written, demonstrations are scheduled in 36 cities on five continents. The demonstrators could not vote for the most powerful person in the world. So they are taking to the streets to make their views known. It is often said: When America sneezes, the rest of the world catches a cold. The demonstrators are concerned that America is about to catch a bad cold. Trumps policies on abortion, womens rights, immigration and racism will be at the forefront on the minds of many demonstrators. Then there are the security concerns. Earlier this week, a Chinese aircraft carrier led a flotilla through the Taiwan Strait. This deliberately provocative act caused the Taiwanese government to scramble a squadron of fighter aircraft. Thanks to Trump, the One China policy is back on the table, re-introducing another flashpoint at a time when the threat of American tariffs and the issue of the South China Sea are creating more than enough headaches. This Sunday there is a longplanned major Middle East conference in Paris. Seventy nations will be represented. US Secretary of State John Kerry will be there. Conspicuous by his absence will be Benjamin Netanyahu. Why should the Israeli premier make concessions for peace when Trump plans to move the US embassy to Jerusalem and is sending an envoy to Israel who unreservedly supports West Bank settlements? There is another inauguration next weekend. Major General Rumen Radev will be sworn in as president of Bulgaria on Sunday. He was elected on a pro-Russian platform. So was Igor Dodon, president of neighbouring Moldova. Both these victors are examples of the electorates finely tuned instincts for political survival. Small countries need big countries as friends. Europe and America are waning. Russia is waxingbig time. And Russia is flexing its muscles again in Eastern Europe. Last year it beefed up its tactical nuclear arsenal in its Baltic enclave of Kaliningrad. In response, Obama this week dispatched 3,000 US troops and 800 tanks to Poland. The Kremlin denounced the move as a threat to Russian security. Is Putin serving notice of fresh East European moves in response to a new and already weakened US president? Finally, among the honoured guests at the US inauguration will be Nigel Farage, former leader of the far-right anti-EU, anti-immigration UK Independence Partythe man Trump would love to see appointed British envoy to the US. Last week, Marine Le Pen, leader of Frances far-right National Front Party was in New York. The day after the inauguration, the leaders of Europes far-right anti-immigration parties will hold their first-ever meeting. For years, these parties were dismissed as inconsequential. The election of Trump has enabled, emboldened and encouraged them. There is a bright spark on the horizon. Also, on the day after the inauguration, it is World Hug Day. The world needs a hug. Tom Arms Broadcaster, columnist and editor of the foreign affairs newsletter LookAheadnews.com Email: tom.arms@lookaheadtv.com
Nearly 5,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel last year. This continues a trend that has seen tens of thousands quit the country after a recent series of attacks targeting the community, AFP reported

This time its Islam

Hatred for Jews was rife in France earlier. Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, witnessed one such event in the 1890sthe Dreyfus affair in which a French Jew was falsely convictedand began planning a separate Jewish homeland. But whos responsible for the exodus this time?

The current incendiary wave of anti-Semitism coincides with the rise of Islam. Calling it the third wave of anti- Semitism in modern France, journalist Marie Brenner writes in Vanity Fair that it has been propelled by the recent rise of ISIS and has become homegrown and home-schooled among a vulnerable population of young Muslims

40,000 French Jews have emigrated to Israel since 2006. A total of 808 anti- Semitic incidents were recorded in France in 2015a 5 per cent decrease over 2014but still double the total compared to 2011, Haaretz reported

Daniel Benhaim, who heads the Jewish Agency of Israel, said insecurity had been a catalyst for many Jews who were thinking of leaving. The aliyah of French Jews has been significant over the last decade, he told AFP

A tall man in a black shirt and a kaffiyeh leapt to the ledge of Mariannes pedestal and scrawled a black swastika ... thousands of angry demonstrators were swarming the square with fake rockets, Palestinian and Hamas flags, even the black-andwhite banners of ISIS. Here, barely a mile and a half from the heart of bourgeois Paris, the chants: Mort aux Juifs! (Death to the Jews) ... A pro-Palestinian demonstration turned into a day of terror

Nearly 5,000 French Jews emigrated to Israel last year. This continues a trend that has seen tens of thousands quit the country after a recent series of attacks targeting the community, AFP reported This time its Islam Hatred for Jews was rife in France earlier. Theodor Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, witnessed one such event in the 1890sthe Dreyfus affair in which a French Jew was falsely convictedand began planning a separate Jewish homeland. But whos responsible for the exodus this time? The current incendiary wave of anti-Semitism coincides with the rise of Islam. Calling it the third wave of anti- Semitism in modern France, journalist Marie Brenner writes in Vanity Fair that it has been propelled by the recent rise of ISIS and has become homegrown and home-schooled among a vulnerable population of young Muslims 40,000 French Jews have emigrated to Israel since 2006. A total of 808 anti- Semitic incidents were recorded in France in 2015a 5 per cent decrease over 2014but still double the total compared to 2011, Haaretz reported Daniel Benhaim, who heads the Jewish Agency of Israel, said insecurity had been a catalyst for many Jews who were thinking of leaving. The aliyah of French Jews has been significant over the last decade, he told AFP A tall man in a black shirt and a kaffiyeh leapt to the ledge of Mariannes pedestal and scrawled a black swastika ... thousands of angry demonstrators were swarming the square with fake rockets, Palestinian and Hamas flags, even the black-andwhite banners of ISIS. Here, barely a mile and a half from the heart of bourgeois Paris, the chants: Mort aux Juifs! (Death to the Jews) ... A pro-Palestinian demonstration turned into a day of terror
Prabhu Chawla By

A revolution devours its children. When children politically devour their elders, it causes a revolution. Rebellion precedes revolution, like one that pre-election Uttar Pradesh witnessed when Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav revolted against the fraternal designs of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, the 78-year-old founder of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP). Mulayam chose to back his brother Shivpal, who represented the old guard, against his son. Akhileshs insubordination was a departure from established practice. From Kashmir to Kerala, political dynasts habitually pass the baton to mostly male inheritors as if they were feudal lords. When Mulayam abandoned this cardinal practice, it was left to his son to save the Yadav empire from slipping into the hands of a disloyal faction.

Thus the first ever division of a political fiefdom in India happened last week. For the first time, a political scion wrangled over 80 per cent of his partys base without the prior approval or consent of his father. Akhilesh, who was anointed the chief minister by Mulayam in 2012 when he was just 38, has emerged as the saviour of the party created by his father. In 2017, he has become its redeemer, saving it from its founder. Never in the history of the party has less than 10 per cent of its MLAs, MPs and office-bearers responded to the call given by Mulayam, their mentor. Was it simply a palace coup or a genuine revolt against the fading charisma of a leader who is unwilling to walk into the sunset?



Elders are known to handover control to GenNext when their outfits are either facing collapse or are on the verge of a great leap forward.

From all indications, family feuds and the dominance of anti-social elements had plunged the SP into a downward spiral. Had Mulayam voluntarily retired from active politics and made Akhilesh the sole arbiter of the party, he would have gone down in history as a wise leader with a vision for a dynamic future. Many of his contemporaries have done so. For example, former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal gave son Om Prakash Chautala full powers over the Indian National Lok Dal when he was still active. Last week, the 92-year-old DMK President M Karunanidhi appointed son M K Stalin working president of the party.

From now on, Stalin will not only run the organisation on a day-to-day basis, but is also its next chief ministerial candidate. Stalin was chosen over his brother and sister because his father was convinced that he alone can carry the nonagenarians mission and vision forward and keep the party together. Last year in Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister, gave up his claim for the top job in favour of his only son Omar, almost having retired from politics. In Karnataka, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has taken political sanyas, leaving elder son H D Kumaraswamyalso a former chief ministeras the de facto chief of the waning Janata Dal (Secular). In Punjab, 90-year-old CM Prakash Singh Badal has granted total control of both the government and the ruling Akali Dal to his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. In the west of India, not only did the evergreen Sharad Pawar surrender his Lok Sabha seat Baramati to daughter Supriya Sule, but is now refraining from taking day-to-day party decisions, leaving her to mould the NCP and reshape it according to the needs of the times. Sule is more visible at the forefront of affairs as her father makes his formidable presence felt at all forums to ensure that she consolidates her position unchallenged. In Bihar, Lalu Yadav succeeded in installing second son Tejashwi as Bihars deputy Chief Minister and eldest one Tej Pratap as Health Minister, just after they won their first assembly seats. In New Delhi, a dynastic drama has been unspooling according to predictable lines. Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi has chosen a back seat and allowed Rahul Gandhi to prepare 132-year-old party for the next national poll battle against Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Sonia, Pawar, Farooq, Karunanidhi and Deve Gowda have displayed political foresight by pushing their offspring to assume authority with responsibility. Barring Sule, who is yet to take full charge, the other inheritors have failed to expand their family ventures. Some have even shrunk them. Rahul, Omar and Kumaraswamy havent been able to preserve their partys original bases and retain power in their bastions. The Chautalas have almost become irrelevant in Haryana. Other smaller dynasties are gasping for breath and are expected to die a natural death. None of the political progeny have ever revolted against their parents.



Akhileshs rebellion gained credibility because he has been able to carve out a niche for himself, which has little in common with what traditional Samajwadi politics or Mulayam represent. The SP is seen a party of Muslims and Yadavs, and enjoys marginal support of other backward classes. When Akhilesh was made chief minister by Mulayam, he enjoyed the full support of his party and family since he was seen as a child who would not disturb caste and family equations that formed the partys superstructure. Mulayam chose his sons cabinet and key officials in the administration who reported to him instead of the CM. Despite this humiliation, Akhilesh concentrated on his work and launched many new pro-poor and development schemes.

From boosting infrastructure to promoting the environment, he has notched up many records. For example, UP became the first state in the world to plant 50 million saplings in a single day. Another record was created when Akhileshs government completed the 300-odd kilometer long Lucknow-Agra expressway in less than three years. The muscle power of caste and criminal overlords, who owe allegiance to the older generation in SP, prevented Yadav Jr. from improving law and order and control corruption during his regime. However, he has managed to emerge as a the poster boy of politically Swachh UP by purging his party of rowdy elements and giving his state a better image. Akhilesh is today the only heir who has broken away from a ruling dynasty to create his own political identity. If he reclaims Lucknow in 2017, his journey to Raisina Hill in New Delhi promises to be the trip of a lifetime.

Prabhu Chawla

prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com

Follow him on Twitter@PrabhuChawla

A revolution devours its children. When children politically devour their elders, it causes a revolution. Rebellion precedes revolution, like one that pre-election Uttar Pradesh witnessed when Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav revolted against the fraternal designs of his father Mulayam Singh Yadav, the 78-year-old founder of the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP). Mulayam chose to back his brother Shivpal, who represented the old guard, against his son. Akhileshs insubordination was a departure from established practice. From Kashmir to Kerala, political dynasts habitually pass the baton to mostly male inheritors as if they were feudal lords. When Mulayam abandoned this cardinal practice, it was left to his son to save the Yadav empire from slipping into the hands of a disloyal faction. Thus the first ever division of a political fiefdom in India happened last week. For the first time, a political scion wrangled over 80 per cent of his partys base without the prior approval or consent of his father. Akhilesh, who was anointed the chief minister by Mulayam in 2012 when he was just 38, has emerged as the saviour of the party created by his father. In 2017, he has become its redeemer, saving it from its founder. Never in the history of the party has less than 10 per cent of its MLAs, MPs and office-bearers responded to the call given by Mulayam, their mentor. Was it simply a palace coup or a genuine revolt against the fading charisma of a leader who is unwilling to walk into the sunset? Elders are known to handover control to GenNext when their outfits are either facing collapse or are on the verge of a great leap forward. From all indications, family feuds and the dominance of anti-social elements had plunged the SP into a downward spiral. Had Mulayam voluntarily retired from active politics and made Akhilesh the sole arbiter of the party, he would have gone down in history as a wise leader with a vision for a dynamic future. Many of his contemporaries have done so. For example, former Deputy Prime Minister Devi Lal gave son Om Prakash Chautala full powers over the Indian National Lok Dal when he was still active. Last week, the 92-year-old DMK President M Karunanidhi appointed son M K Stalin working president of the party. From now on, Stalin will not only run the organisation on a day-to-day basis, but is also its next chief ministerial candidate. Stalin was chosen over his brother and sister because his father was convinced that he alone can carry the nonagenarians mission and vision forward and keep the party together. Last year in Kashmir, Farooq Abdullah, former Chief Minister, gave up his claim for the top job in favour of his only son Omar, almost having retired from politics. In Karnataka, former Prime Minister H D Deve Gowda has taken political sanyas, leaving elder son H D Kumaraswamyalso a former chief ministeras the de facto chief of the waning Janata Dal (Secular). In Punjab, 90-year-old CM Prakash Singh Badal has granted total control of both the government and the ruling Akali Dal to his son and Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal. In the west of India, not only did the evergreen Sharad Pawar surrender his Lok Sabha seat Baramati to daughter Supriya Sule, but is now refraining from taking day-to-day party decisions, leaving her to mould the NCP and reshape it according to the needs of the times. Sule is more visible at the forefront of affairs as her father makes his formidable presence felt at all forums to ensure that she consolidates her position unchallenged. In Bihar, Lalu Yadav succeeded in installing second son Tejashwi as Bihars deputy Chief Minister and eldest one Tej Pratap as Health Minister, just after they won their first assembly seats. In New Delhi, a dynastic drama has been unspooling according to predictable lines. Congress Chief Sonia Gandhi has chosen a back seat and allowed Rahul Gandhi to prepare 132-year-old party for the next national poll battle against Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sonia, Pawar, Farooq, Karunanidhi and Deve Gowda have displayed political foresight by pushing their offspring to assume authority with responsibility. Barring Sule, who is yet to take full charge, the other inheritors have failed to expand their family ventures. Some have even shrunk them. Rahul, Omar and Kumaraswamy havent been able to preserve their partys original bases and retain power in their bastions. The Chautalas have almost become irrelevant in Haryana. Other smaller dynasties are gasping for breath and are expected to die a natural death. None of the political progeny have ever revolted against their parents. Akhileshs rebellion gained credibility because he has been able to carve out a niche for himself, which has little in common with what traditional Samajwadi politics or Mulayam represent. The SP is seen a party of Muslims and Yadavs, and enjoys marginal support of other backward classes. When Akhilesh was made chief minister by Mulayam, he enjoyed the full support of his party and family since he was seen as a child who would not disturb caste and family equations that formed the partys superstructure. Mulayam chose his sons cabinet and key officials in the administration who reported to him instead of the CM. Despite this humiliation, Akhilesh concentrated on his work and launched many new pro-poor and development schemes. From boosting infrastructure to promoting the environment, he has notched up many records. For example, UP became the first state in the world to plant 50 million saplings in a single day. Another record was created when Akhileshs government completed the 300-odd kilometer long Lucknow-Agra expressway in less than three years. The muscle power of caste and criminal overlords, who owe allegiance to the older generation in SP, prevented Yadav Jr. from improving law and order and control corruption during his regime. However, he has managed to emerge as a the poster boy of politically Swachh UP by purging his party of rowdy elements and giving his state a better image. Akhilesh is today the only heir who has broken away from a ruling dynasty to create his own political identity. If he reclaims Lucknow in 2017, his journey to Raisina Hill in New Delhi promises to be the trip of a lifetime. Prabhu Chawla prabhuchawla@ newindianexpress.com Follow him on Twitter@PrabhuChawla
By Express News Service

TUMAKURU: AN assistant police sub-inspector (ASI) attached to the Tumakuru Rural police station is alleged of raping a mentally unstable woman in the wee hours of Sunday.

The accused officer, identified as Umesh (57), has been taken into police custody and placed under suspension. The vehicle was also seized.

Central Range IGP Seemanth Kumar Singh visited the scene of crime and took stock of the situation. The incident is demoralising for the police force, he told mediapersons later.

The victim remained in the womens police station till late in the night. District Women and Child Welfare Deputy Director Nanje Gowda was also waiting at the station to check whether she would be handed over to the departments reception centre or shifted to a special ward in the district hospital.

According to the victims family, she had separated from her husband was mentally ill. At times, she would roam around at night and return home. Some time back, she was found wandering in Bengaluru and had been rescued. But nothing like this happened in the past, rued her mother.

TUMAKURU: AN assistant police sub-inspector (ASI) attached to the Tumakuru Rural police station is alleged of raping a mentally unstable woman in the wee hours of Sunday. The accused officer, identified as Umesh (57), has been taken into police custody and placed under suspension. The vehicle was also seized. Central Range IGP Seemanth Kumar Singh visited the scene of crime and took stock of the situation. The incident is demoralising for the police force, he told mediapersons later. The victim remained in the womens police station till late in the night. District Women and Child Welfare Deputy Director Nanje Gowda was also waiting at the station to check whether she would be handed over to the departments reception centre or shifted to a special ward in the district hospital. According to the victims family, she had separated from her husband was mentally ill. At times, she would roam around at night and return home. Some time back, she was found wandering in Bengaluru and had been rescued. But nothing like this happened in the past, rued her mother.
By Express News Service

PALAKKAD: As the birth centenary of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran- devotedly known as MGR- is set to be celebrated across the borders of Palakkad on January 17, the small tiled house from where the matinee idol began his stride to stardom will always be etched in the memory of the locals here.

MGR, sporting his vintage white fur cap and dark glasses, left his Midas Touch on celluloid as an actor, director and producer and became an enigma by winning the chief minister race from his hospital bed with much elan.

But now, the only remnants of the prolific history is the ramshackle Maruthur tharavad (MGRs ancestral house) in Vadavannur, which functions as an anganwadi. On the peeled-off compound wall of the well, the wordings Sathya Vilasam is etched in Malayalam. Though pale, the name, which was given after MGRs mother Sathyabhama, is visible even today. The relatives of MGR, who used to live there, later shifted to Palakkad, 12 kms away and rented it out to the local panchayat. Except for occasional visits by AIADMK functionaries, the building lies in the throes of neglect.

N Mayil Swamy, a local AIADMK leader, recalled, MGR was born on January 17,1917 to Melekath Gopala Menon and Vadavannur Marathur Sathyabhama in Kandy in Sri Lanka. Gopala Menon who hailed from the nearby Nalleppilly village moved to Vadavannur after he retired from government service in Kandy and stayed in this house for some time. After his fathers death, Sathyabhama took MGR and his brother M G Chakrapani to his paternal uncles house at Kumbakonam. Both the brothers began their tryst with films while living in Kumbakonam.

Arun Narayanan of the Palakkad team of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said, We plan to kick off a year- long village heritage celebrations in memory of MGR. The aim is to give a glimpse of his life and achievements to the next generation. We also plan to set up a museum/cultural centre in the village and to host an annual festival. It could be on the lines of the Central Government scheme Hriday, which promotes heritage-based development of villages as is done in European countries.

As part of the programme, INTACH plans to conduct a function on Tuesday at the Achutha Menon Upper Primary School, Vadavannur, which will be attended by writers, officials of the district administration and the general public. A massive MGR mural has also been developed by local artists as part of the programme. Mani Ratnams magnum opus Iruvar, a fictionalised account of MGRs life and times, will also be screened.

Vadavannur panchayat president Sairindri Mohandas said if there is a proposal from any organisation to conserve the ancestral property of MGR, they can approach the panchayat board, which will take a final call.

PALAKKAD: As the birth centenary of the late Tamil Nadu Chief Minister and AIADMK founder M G Ramachandran- devotedly known as MGR- is set to be celebrated across the borders of Palakkad on January 17, the small tiled house from where the matinee idol began his stride to stardom will always be etched in the memory of the locals here. MGR, sporting his vintage white fur cap and dark glasses, left his Midas Touch on celluloid as an actor, director and producer and became an enigma by winning the chief minister race from his hospital bed with much elan. But now, the only remnants of the prolific history is the ramshackle Maruthur tharavad (MGRs ancestral house) in Vadavannur, which functions as an anganwadi. On the peeled-off compound wall of the well, the wordings Sathya Vilasam is etched in Malayalam. Though pale, the name, which was given after MGRs mother Sathyabhama, is visible even today. The relatives of MGR, who used to live there, later shifted to Palakkad, 12 kms away and rented it out to the local panchayat. Except for occasional visits by AIADMK functionaries, the building lies in the throes of neglect. N Mayil Swamy, a local AIADMK leader, recalled, MGR was born on January 17,1917 to Melekath Gopala Menon and Vadavannur Marathur Sathyabhama in Kandy in Sri Lanka. Gopala Menon who hailed from the nearby Nalleppilly village moved to Vadavannur after he retired from government service in Kandy and stayed in this house for some time. After his fathers death, Sathyabhama took MGR and his brother M G Chakrapani to his paternal uncles house at Kumbakonam. Both the brothers began their tryst with films while living in Kumbakonam. Arun Narayanan of the Palakkad team of Indian National Trust for Art and Cultural Heritage (INTACH) said, We plan to kick off a year- long village heritage celebrations in memory of MGR. The aim is to give a glimpse of his life and achievements to the next generation. We also plan to set up a museum/cultural centre in the village and to host an annual festival. It could be on the lines of the Central Government scheme Hriday, which promotes heritage-based development of villages as is done in European countries. As part of the programme, INTACH plans to conduct a function on Tuesday at the Achutha Menon Upper Primary School, Vadavannur, which will be attended by writers, officials of the district administration and the general public. A massive MGR mural has also been developed by local artists as part of the programme. Mani Ratnams magnum opus Iruvar, a fictionalised account of MGRs life and times, will also be screened. Vadavannur panchayat president Sairindri Mohandas said if there is a proposal from any organisation to conserve the ancestral property of MGR, they can approach the panchayat board, which will take a final call.
By Express News Service

HYDERABAD: Against the backdrop of Centre proposal to remove Haj subsidy, state deputy chief minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali on Sunday urged the Centre not to take such step. Moreover, he requested Union government to increase budgetary allocation for providing subsidy to Muslims who go on Haj pilgrimage to Mecca and Madina in Saudi Arabia every year.

Mahmood Ali wanted the Centre to enhance the Haj subsidy from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore in the Union budget for the coming fiscal year. He wrote a letter to Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in this regard.

While opposing the Centres proposed move to drop Haj subsidy scheme, the deputy chief minister said removal of subsidy would do injustice to poor Muslims.

He further said that if the subsidy amount was increased from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore, more number of poor Muslims could utilise this facility and undertake the pilgrimage.

The Centre on Thursday set up a six-member panel to examine the proposal to do away with providing subsidy to poor Muslims to go on Haj pilgrimage. The panel will look into the issue of whether pilgrims can travel to the Muslim holy shrines in Saudi Arabia by paying less in case subsidy is withdrawn.

HYDERABAD: Against the backdrop of Centre proposal to remove Haj subsidy, state deputy chief minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali on Sunday urged the Centre not to take such step. Moreover, he requested Union government to increase budgetary allocation for providing subsidy to Muslims who go on Haj pilgrimage to Mecca and Madina in Saudi Arabia every year. Mahmood Ali wanted the Centre to enhance the Haj subsidy from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore in the Union budget for the coming fiscal year. He wrote a letter to Union minister for minority affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in this regard. While opposing the Centres proposed move to drop Haj subsidy scheme, the deputy chief minister said removal of subsidy would do injustice to poor Muslims. He further said that if the subsidy amount was increased from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore, more number of poor Muslims could utilise this facility and undertake the pilgrimage. The Centre on Thursday set up a six-member panel to examine the proposal to do away with providing subsidy to poor Muslims to go on Haj pilgrimage. The panel will look into the issue of whether pilgrims can travel to the Muslim holy shrines in Saudi Arabia by paying less in case subsidy is withdrawn.
Ritu Sharma By

NEW DELHI: The projectors of Indian soft power are burning the midnight oil to execute the Director General Archeological Survey of Indias proposal to trace the spread of Buddhism from India to China by travelling from Kashi to Kashgar (in China).

Ministry of Culture, Archeological Survey of India, Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and MEA have come together to make the expedition a reality. The contestation for the Buddhist legacy has many hitches as the route will pass through many sensitive areas in China and would make it uncomfortable behaving as a Buddhist Superpower. I met the Foreign Secretary to discuss the proposal. But there has not been any forward movement so far, Scholar of Buddhist Studies and President of ICCR Dr Lokesh Chandra said. The expedition will trace the spread of Buddhism from India to China, Myanmar and others.

In China the expedition is proposed to move through the Xinjiang Uighur Region, the centre of Islamic unrest in the country and thus Chinas discomfort. The appropriation of the Buddhist legacy has been on for quite some time with China investing in a University of Buddhist Studies in Nepals Lumbini and projecting itself as inheritor of Buddhist heritage. We know that other countries are trying to get the entire credit of Buddhism, saying that Buddha was born in so and so country (referring to Nepal) or that entire teachings of Buddha were absorbed by such and such country (China), Secretary of Ministry of Culture Narinder Kumar Sinha said. Sinha admitted that there is some kind of competition. We do want to ensure that proper credit of whatever has happened in Buddhism in India is coming to us.

Dr Chandra is, however, hopeful that the Chinese can be turned around as they have the largest collection of about 1,000 Buddhist manuscript in Sanskrit and they would require the help of Indian scholars in deciphering them.

NEW DELHI: The projectors of Indian soft power are burning the midnight oil to execute the Director General Archeological Survey of Indias proposal to trace the spread of Buddhism from India to China by travelling from Kashi to Kashgar (in China). Ministry of Culture, Archeological Survey of India, Indian Council of Cultural Relations (ICCR) and MEA have come together to make the expedition a reality. The contestation for the Buddhist legacy has many hitches as the route will pass through many sensitive areas in China and would make it uncomfortable behaving as a Buddhist Superpower. I met the Foreign Secretary to discuss the proposal. But there has not been any forward movement so far, Scholar of Buddhist Studies and President of ICCR Dr Lokesh Chandra said. The expedition will trace the spread of Buddhism from India to China, Myanmar and others. In China the expedition is proposed to move through the Xinjiang Uighur Region, the centre of Islamic unrest in the country and thus Chinas discomfort. The appropriation of the Buddhist legacy has been on for quite some time with China investing in a University of Buddhist Studies in Nepals Lumbini and projecting itself as inheritor of Buddhist heritage. We know that other countries are trying to get the entire credit of Buddhism, saying that Buddha was born in so and so country (referring to Nepal) or that entire teachings of Buddha were absorbed by such and such country (China), Secretary of Ministry of Culture Narinder Kumar Sinha said. Sinha admitted that there is some kind of competition. We do want to ensure that proper credit of whatever has happened in Buddhism in India is coming to us. Dr Chandra is, however, hopeful that the Chinese can be turned around as they have the largest collection of about 1,000 Buddhist manuscript in Sanskrit and they would require the help of Indian scholars in deciphering them.
Ankur Sharma By

NEW DELHI: A major disaster was averted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport recently when two Boeing aircraft almost collided. While one had around 360 passengers, the other was empty and parked. The incident took place on December 2, 2016.

Officials said an Emirates Airlines plane, which had just landed, was asked to park on a bay already occupied by a Turkish Airlines aircraft. As the airplane moved towards the assigned bay amid dense fog, the pilot suddenly saw an aircraft parked 15 metres away. He brought his plane to a halt with just a few metres to spare. Airport technology had wrongly shown that Turkish Airlines had vacated its stand at B15, and that its aircraft has already moved from its position at 6:57am.

The probe finds that Universal Flight Information System (UFIS), traffic and resource planning and management system, showed that stand B15 was vacated by the Turkish aircraft at 6.57am at the airport.



Although Delhi airport has state-of-the-art technology, it has limitations during low visibility. If the flight was moving at the prescribed speed of 12 nautical miles on the ground, it could have led to a disaster. Luckily, it was going much slower, a senior official claimed.

Turkish Airlines didnt vacate the stand and Emirates aircraft was not informed about it since the UFIS had told that Turkish aircraft had taken off, a report said.

NEW DELHI: A major disaster was averted at the Indira Gandhi International Airport recently when two Boeing aircraft almost collided. While one had around 360 passengers, the other was empty and parked. The incident took place on December 2, 2016. Officials said an Emirates Airlines plane, which had just landed, was asked to park on a bay already occupied by a Turkish Airlines aircraft. As the airplane moved towards the assigned bay amid dense fog, the pilot suddenly saw an aircraft parked 15 metres away. He brought his plane to a halt with just a few metres to spare. Airport technology had wrongly shown that Turkish Airlines had vacated its stand at B15, and that its aircraft has already moved from its position at 6:57am. The probe finds that Universal Flight Information System (UFIS), traffic and resource planning and management system, showed that stand B15 was vacated by the Turkish aircraft at 6.57am at the airport. Although Delhi airport has state-of-the-art technology, it has limitations during low visibility. If the flight was moving at the prescribed speed of 12 nautical miles on the ground, it could have led to a disaster. Luckily, it was going much slower, a senior official claimed. Turkish Airlines didnt vacate the stand and Emirates aircraft was not informed about it since the UFIS had told that Turkish aircraft had taken off, a report said.
Ritu Sharma By

NEW DELHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has pulled up the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for weak internal audit systems in their missions abroad to keep a tab on inordinate delays in acquisitions of property and financial mismanagement.

PAC also sought punitive action against the officials responsible for the delays/ negligence causing avoidable losses. In a detailed examination the Committee had found certain shortcomings on the part of the MEA like not maintaining even basic records of the properties, delays in construction on acquired properties ranging between 14 and 51 years, significant delays in identifying properties and finalising deals. The delays in acquisition of properties have cost the exchequers `280 crore per year spent on rentals.

The Indian Missions in Vancouver, Houston, Eol Panama City and Eol Chile also spent money more in maintenance and repair of GoI properties. The Ministry has not responded to the recommendation regarding strengthening of the internal audit system to ensure that accounts and records are properly maintained, the panel headed by KV Thomas said. The committee has also asked the Ministry to get in touch with professional agencies for expediting the identification, acquisition, development and maintenance of properties in a more scientific, professional and structured manner.



The Ministry has gone ahead to acquire a French Government property for setting up India Cultural Centre at Paris even though architects and consultants questioned its suitability as the building neither had two exits nor enough provision for assembly of at least 100 people as required by French regulations. The property purchased for Rs 30.03 crore in March 2011 has been lying unutilised since then.

NEW DELHI: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has pulled up the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) for weak internal audit systems in their missions abroad to keep a tab on inordinate delays in acquisitions of property and financial mismanagement. PAC also sought punitive action against the officials responsible for the delays/ negligence causing avoidable losses. In a detailed examination the Committee had found certain shortcomings on the part of the MEA like not maintaining even basic records of the properties, delays in construction on acquired properties ranging between 14 and 51 years, significant delays in identifying properties and finalising deals. The delays in acquisition of properties have cost the exchequers `280 crore per year spent on rentals. The Indian Missions in Vancouver, Houston, Eol Panama City and Eol Chile also spent money more in maintenance and repair of GoI properties. The Ministry has not responded to the recommendation regarding strengthening of the internal audit system to ensure that accounts and records are properly maintained, the panel headed by KV Thomas said. The committee has also asked the Ministry to get in touch with professional agencies for expediting the identification, acquisition, development and maintenance of properties in a more scientific, professional and structured manner. The Ministry has gone ahead to acquire a French Government property for setting up India Cultural Centre at Paris even though architects and consultants questioned its suitability as the building neither had two exits nor enough provision for assembly of at least 100 people as required by French regulations. The property purchased for Rs 30.03 crore in March 2011 has been lying unutilised since then.
Yatish Yadav By

NEW DELHI: The national debate that dominated the last years of the Congress-led UPA regime was whether Sonia Gandhi trusted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The answer seems to be no. The Sunday Standard last week had exposed documents showing that the National Advisory Council (NAC) chairperson was acting as a Super PM. Now, fresh files have surfaced showing her displeasure over Manmohans inability to push the Congress partys agenda in government. The NAC gave instructions, criticised the Planning Commission, sought explanation on the execution of its recommendations and rode roughshod over bureaucrats. The new files reveal that UPA-II remained just as NAC-centric as it was during UPA-I

Recharging the Government

A letter dated December 26, 2005 (No. 1527/CP/NAC/05), exclusively accessed by The Sunday Standard, reveals that the NAC chairperson did not trust Manmohans economic reforms to deliver to the poor.



Since development is essentially a product of efficient institutions rather than the other way around, the focus has to shift from maximising the quantum of development funding to maximising the development outcomes and the effectiveness of public service delivery.

There are over 179.6 million people in India who live below the poverty line

Difficult challenges are more and more visible on the horizon. Concerted policy action is needed to ameliorate the living conditions of the poor who are increasingly concentrated in the least affluent states. The NAC feels that this requires not only additional resources but more importantly sound policies and efficient delivery mechanism, then NAC Chairperson wrote in her letter to PM Singh.

Information, Sonia Style

Was NAC, credited to have authored transparency law, withholding information from the public? Sonia had claimed in a speech, UPA brought the RTI (Right to Information Act) because we genuinely want to fight corruption. Here, we see the beginning of a stark contrast.

Exclusive documents reveal that the National Advisory Council (NAC) resisted transparency in its functioning and allowed only filtered and tailored information to be made public. On Friday, September 30 2005, Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting where it was decided that only NAC members could view the records; and that too on demand.

The NAC secretariat would continue to keep detailed records of discussions of the NAC meetings which could be viewed by members or made available to them on demand. Such records would not be placed on the website, said the minutes of meeting.



File no. A-11034/33/2012-13-NAC, file no. A-11034/35/2012-13-NAC and file no. A-11034/37/2012-13-NAC of the UPA-II regime reveal the discomfiture among bureaucrats working in the council. Responses to RTI applications were selective, involving back and forth file movements between the NAC and the Prime Ministers Office (PMO).

The Real Boss

Following The Sunday Standard expose of NAC documents last week, the Congress had claimed that it was Manmohan Singh who was the real captain of the UPA ship and the published files belonged to a period when Sonia Gandhi was not at the helm of affairs at the NAC from March 2006 to June 2010 when it was reconstituted. However, records reveal that NAC was formulating and influencing UPA policies between 2004-2006 and 2010-2014 when Sonia was the chairperson. On December 9, 2013, the NAC decided to review the outcomes of the education cess levied during the UPA regime. Dr Rita Sharma, Secretary NAC, wrote a letter to Rajarshri Bhattacharya, then Secretary Department of School Education and Literacy, (File No. (50011/7/2013-NAC) to depute a senior officer of the ministry who was well versed with the subject to brief the NAC secretariat on December 12, 2013, at 11:30 am.

As you are aware, the government of India had levied 2 per cent cess on major taxes in the year 2004 to give a boost to education in the country. It was enhanced to 3 per cent with effect from the year 2007-08. The members of the NAC have desired to have an update about outcomes of the imposition of the education cess by the government during the last decade, Rita Sharma wrote in her letter.

NAC also recommended an additional health cess. A 2 per cent additional health cess on all direct taxes would yield `17,500 crore and a 3 per cent additional health cess on all direct taxes would yield`26,000 crore, a file reads. Minutes of the meeting show GG Pai, Director, Department of Revenue, and Nagesh Singh, Economic Advisor, attended the briefing at 2 Motilal Nehru Place. The NAC was informed about education cess collected for last three years; the total collection was `27,194 crore in 2011-12; `31,001 crore in 2012-13 and `36,644 crore in 2013-14 (BE).



NAC Targeted Government

The NAC was critical of the governments implementation and capability of certain important policies, energy being one of them. On November 5, 2005, Sonia dispatched a letter (N. 1380/CP/NAC/0520) to Manmohan, along with a presentation that highlighted action points for the government to follow for action on the energy sector. It also flagged institutional overload and fatigue in the Planning Commission. The slides noted:

1. Energy Coordination Committee under PM (Manmohan Singh) already set up in July 2005. But its focus appears to be energy security.

2. Second option could be to entrust responsibility to Planning Commission with a clear mandate. But Planning Commission may be suffering from institutional overload and fatigue.

3. Third option is to set up full-time energy policy board that would catalyze, actions on integrated energy policy across sectors, including technology,

The NAC questioned public sector monopoly in the coal sector, highlighting the fact that though India has 10 per cent of the worlds coal resourcesthe fourth after USA, Russia and Chinait imports coal.



Coal expansion needs massive investment and technology. But coal still public sector monopoly, perhaps only remaining one. Future?



Coal expansion will have environmental impact. Kyoto II? Hence, efficiency in utilisation crucial. Potential for coal based methane, the presentation sent to the PM said.

Making Government Agent of Congress Policy

The NACs role in using the government to implement the Congress partys vote bank policies is apparent from the files. A note dated March 24, 2014, from RK Pandey, Deputy Secretary, NAC, admits that the Ministry of Labour & Employment showed significant progress in the implementation of the advisory bodys recommendations. He also clarified that the NAC chairperson approved the agenda for the meeting, which was to be briefed by Secretary, Labour Ministry.

The note in File No-11012-003-2014 further said, Request has been received from NAC members seeking update on the progress made in the implementation of NAC recommendations on social security for unorganised sector workers. These recommendations were communicated to the government in April 2012.

Ministry of Labour & Employment has also indicated that significant progress has been made with respect to the implementation of the recommendations of NAC. Therefore, it is proposed request (sic) Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, to brief the council in this regard in place of welfare of plantation labour in India, the NAC note added.



PMO Under Scrutiny

A note by under secretary-level officer (11018/1/2012-NAC) dated May 13, 2013, reveals the extraordinary power NAC exercised over the PMO to get its recommendations cleared. The note mentioned that the PMO formed a committee of secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary on January 8, 2013, to handle social security for unorganised workers.

An inter-ministerial monitoring group in the Planning Commission was asked to give a report on certain issues. The report of the IMMG has since been submitted to the cabinet secretariat, it said.

The PMs policies were under NACs scrutiny. On improving sex ratio at birth, the NAC note highlighted PMOs remarks, Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary is monitoring this subject. On development of minorities, PMO said, Principal Secretary to PM has written to the Cabinet Secretary on April 1, 2013, requesting him to monitor the progress of PMs new 15-point programme through a committee of secretaries at least once in six months and to request the ministries to take quarterly meetings being chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs seriously.



Force Majeure: Babus Ignored

NAC documents clearly reveal that the body rode roughshod over bureaucrats to dictate processes. In the first part of the NAC files published in this newspaper last week, documents had revealed that despite objections raised by government officers, the UPA went ahead with NACs recommendations on the Pre-legislative Consultative Process. Minutes of the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries held on January 10, 2014, exposed their discomfort. Secretary, Legislative Department, PK Malhotra said, Pre-legislative consultative policy might not be feasible in all cases and certain cases of urgency including promulgation of ordinances will need to be exempted from the proposed process. The-then Home Secretary, Anil Goswami, suggested that pre-legislative consultation was required before enacting a law. He argued that urgent legislation, including ordinances, should be exempted from consultation. Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, argued that keeping in view the subject matter of the rules being framed, the ministries/departments could be given the discretion to decide on pre-legislative consultation. Their concerns, as apparent from the minutes, were overruled by the then Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, who observed adoption of pre-legislative consultation would be desirable, as it would make the process of law making and policy-making more participative.

Ajit Seths assertion may have found strength from a letter dated May 28, 2013, from Sonia Gandhi to Manmohan Singh asking him to consider NACs recommendation. The letter (N 18014/4/2011-NAC-8301) informed the PM that the NAC, in its meeting on April 26, 2013, deliberated on issues relating to Pre-Legislative Processes and has proposed a framework to create institutionalised spaces for the participation of citizens in the pre-legislative process by way of proactive disclosure of proposed laws or rules, consultations and feedback systems.



The recommendations have been prepared after extensive deliberations with concerned ministries, legal experts and public feedback. I am enclosing the NAC recommendations for your consideration, Sonias letter said.

Subsequently on February 5, 2014, Secretary Legislative Department, PK Malhotra, who was resisting such idea, had to inform all the ministries to adopt the process as suggested by NAC (Letter No. 11/35/2013-L.I).

Taking into consideration the recommendations of the NAC, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution and the practice followed in other countries, the Committee of Secretaries has formulated a policy on pre-legislative consultation which should invariably be followed by every Ministry/Department of the Central government before any legislative proposal is submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration and approval, Malhotra wrote.



Proxy Rule Went On

Although Sonia Gandhi had resigned from the post of NAC Chairperson in March 2006 over an Office-of-Profit issue, only to return in 2010, the powerful councils dominance over Manmohan Singhs government continued in her absence. A presentation made by the Shipping Ministry on June 20, 2007, at the organisations office at 2 Motilal Nehru Place on the future action plan and problems of the shipping sector says it all.

Slide No.17 in File No. 2 highlights Future Plan of Action -2011-12. It shows the government was mulling developing five new ports and creating a corpus fund for equipment modernization with the enhancement of dredging capacity in the country.

Slide No. 19 informed NAC members about the problems the ministry was facing due to slow decision making and inadequate global investment. The presentation also noted connectivity, bringing maritime states on board and security clearance as other major hurdles. NAC members noted that given the steady GDP growth and expansion of the manufacturing sector, the demand for port infrastructure is increasing substantially, since around 75 per cent of the export of manufactured goods happens through ports.

With a higher demand for electric power, the increased requirement of coal to meet concomitant port infrastructure has to be put in place. In this context, the importance of a well-planned strategy for the western sector keeping in view the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project was underlined as also the need for timely acquisition of land for port and hinterland facilities and to block suitable areas for the future development of ports, the minutes said.



MGNREGA Aims Spelt Out

The highlighted portion in a letter dated March 30, 2011, from NAC Secretary Rita Sharma on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) explained the thinking behind the vote catcher scheme. MGNREGA in the long run is not for creating a permanent army of unskilled workersit is successful when it is not needed, it read. Objective should be to move from mere wage employment to sustainable rural livelihoods, the note stated.

Just a few days earlier, Sharma had written to Rural Development Secretary BK Sinha on March 4, 2011, (Letter -N26011/1/2011-NAC-1469) informing him that NAC in its meeting dated 26.2.2011 approved constitution of a working group on natural resources management (NRM) in convergence with MGNREGS, specially with focus on rainfed areas.

She further asked Sinha to send a detailed report covering four points: (a) guidelines issued on natural resources management in convergence with MGNREGS (MGNREGA) (b) the progress made by the states in response to Ministry of Rural Developments guidelines on convergence for improving natural resources, (c) best practices, if any, being promoted by the states and (d) constraints, if any, coming in the way of making best use of MGNREGS funds for investing on natural resources management for livelihood security.

The report may please be sent within two weeks for enabling the working group to identify critical areas for deliberations on the subject in the NAC, the letter to Rural Development Secretary said.

NEW DELHI: The national debate that dominated the last years of the Congress-led UPA regime was whether Sonia Gandhi trusted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The answer seems to be no. The Sunday Standard last week had exposed documents showing that the National Advisory Council (NAC) chairperson was acting as a Super PM. Now, fresh files have surfaced showing her displeasure over Manmohans inability to push the Congress partys agenda in government. The NAC gave instructions, criticised the Planning Commission, sought explanation on the execution of its recommendations and rode roughshod over bureaucrats. The new files reveal that UPA-II remained just as NAC-centric as it was during UPA-I Recharging the Government A letter dated December 26, 2005 (No. 1527/CP/NAC/05), exclusively accessed by The Sunday Standard, reveals that the NAC chairperson did not trust Manmohans economic reforms to deliver to the poor. Since development is essentially a product of efficient institutions rather than the other way around, the focus has to shift from maximising the quantum of development funding to maximising the development outcomes and the effectiveness of public service delivery. There are over 179.6 million people in India who live below the poverty line Difficult challenges are more and more visible on the horizon. Concerted policy action is needed to ameliorate the living conditions of the poor who are increasingly concentrated in the least affluent states. The NAC feels that this requires not only additional resources but more importantly sound policies and efficient delivery mechanism, then NAC Chairperson wrote in her letter to PM Singh. Information, Sonia Style Was NAC, credited to have authored transparency law, withholding information from the public? Sonia had claimed in a speech, UPA brought the RTI (Right to Information Act) because we genuinely want to fight corruption. Here, we see the beginning of a stark contrast. Exclusive documents reveal that the National Advisory Council (NAC) resisted transparency in its functioning and allowed only filtered and tailored information to be made public. On Friday, September 30 2005, Sonia Gandhi chaired a meeting where it was decided that only NAC members could view the records; and that too on demand. The NAC secretariat would continue to keep detailed records of discussions of the NAC meetings which could be viewed by members or made available to them on demand. Such records would not be placed on the website, said the minutes of meeting. File no. A-11034/33/2012-13-NAC, file no. A-11034/35/2012-13-NAC and file no. A-11034/37/2012-13-NAC of the UPA-II regime reveal the discomfiture among bureaucrats working in the council. Responses to RTI applications were selective, involving back and forth file movements between the NAC and the Prime Ministers Office (PMO). The Real Boss Following The Sunday Standard expose of NAC documents last week, the Congress had claimed that it was Manmohan Singh who was the real captain of the UPA ship and the published files belonged to a period when Sonia Gandhi was not at the helm of affairs at the NAC from March 2006 to June 2010 when it was reconstituted. However, records reveal that NAC was formulating and influencing UPA policies between 2004-2006 and 2010-2014 when Sonia was the chairperson. On December 9, 2013, the NAC decided to review the outcomes of the education cess levied during the UPA regime. Dr Rita Sharma, Secretary NAC, wrote a letter to Rajarshri Bhattacharya, then Secretary Department of School Education and Literacy, (File No. (50011/7/2013-NAC) to depute a senior officer of the ministry who was well versed with the subject to brief the NAC secretariat on December 12, 2013, at 11:30 am. As you are aware, the government of India had levied 2 per cent cess on major taxes in the year 2004 to give a boost to education in the country. It was enhanced to 3 per cent with effect from the year 2007-08. The members of the NAC have desired to have an update about outcomes of the imposition of the education cess by the government during the last decade, Rita Sharma wrote in her letter. NAC also recommended an additional health cess. A 2 per cent additional health cess on all direct taxes would yield `17,500 crore and a 3 per cent additional health cess on all direct taxes would yield`26,000 crore, a file reads. Minutes of the meeting show GG Pai, Director, Department of Revenue, and Nagesh Singh, Economic Advisor, attended the briefing at 2 Motilal Nehru Place. The NAC was informed about education cess collected for last three years; the total collection was `27,194 crore in 2011-12; `31,001 crore in 2012-13 and `36,644 crore in 2013-14 (BE).NAC Targeted Government The NAC was critical of the governments implementation and capability of certain important policies, energy being one of them. On November 5, 2005, Sonia dispatched a letter (N. 1380/CP/NAC/0520) to Manmohan, along with a presentation that highlighted action points for the government to follow for action on the energy sector. It also flagged institutional overload and fatigue in the Planning Commission. The slides noted: 1. Energy Coordination Committee under PM (Manmohan Singh) already set up in July 2005. But its focus appears to be energy security. 2. Second option could be to entrust responsibility to Planning Commission with a clear mandate. But Planning Commission may be suffering from institutional overload and fatigue. 3. Third option is to set up full-time energy policy board that would catalyze, actions on integrated energy policy across sectors, including technology, The NAC questioned public sector monopoly in the coal sector, highlighting the fact that though India has 10 per cent of the worlds coal resourcesthe fourth after USA, Russia and Chinait imports coal. Coal expansion needs massive investment and technology. But coal still public sector monopoly, perhaps only remaining one. Future? Coal expansion will have environmental impact. Kyoto II? Hence, efficiency in utilisation crucial. Potential for coal based methane, the presentation sent to the PM said. Making Government Agent of Congress Policy The NACs role in using the government to implement the Congress partys vote bank policies is apparent from the files. A note dated March 24, 2014, from RK Pandey, Deputy Secretary, NAC, admits that the Ministry of Labour & Employment showed significant progress in the implementation of the advisory bodys recommendations. He also clarified that the NAC chairperson approved the agenda for the meeting, which was to be briefed by Secretary, Labour Ministry. The note in File No-11012-003-2014 further said, Request has been received from NAC members seeking update on the progress made in the implementation of NAC recommendations on social security for unorganised sector workers. These recommendations were communicated to the government in April 2012. Ministry of Labour & Employment has also indicated that significant progress has been made with respect to the implementation of the recommendations of NAC. Therefore, it is proposed request (sic) Secretary, Ministry of Labour and Employment, to brief the council in this regard in place of welfare of plantation labour in India, the NAC note added. PMO Under Scrutiny A note by under secretary-level officer (11018/1/2012-NAC) dated May 13, 2013, reveals the extraordinary power NAC exercised over the PMO to get its recommendations cleared. The note mentioned that the PMO formed a committee of secretaries under the Cabinet Secretary on January 8, 2013, to handle social security for unorganised workers. An inter-ministerial monitoring group in the Planning Commission was asked to give a report on certain issues. The report of the IMMG has since been submitted to the cabinet secretariat, it said. The PMs policies were under NACs scrutiny. On improving sex ratio at birth, the NAC note highlighted PMOs remarks, Inter-Ministerial Coordination Committee headed by the Cabinet Secretary is monitoring this subject. On development of minorities, PMO said, Principal Secretary to PM has written to the Cabinet Secretary on April 1, 2013, requesting him to monitor the progress of PMs new 15-point programme through a committee of secretaries at least once in six months and to request the ministries to take quarterly meetings being chaired by Secretary, Ministry of Minority Affairs seriously. Force Majeure: Babus Ignored NAC documents clearly reveal that the body rode roughshod over bureaucrats to dictate processes. In the first part of the NAC files published in this newspaper last week, documents had revealed that despite objections raised by government officers, the UPA went ahead with NACs recommendations on the Pre-legislative Consultative Process. Minutes of the meeting of the Committee of Secretaries held on January 10, 2014, exposed their discomfort. Secretary, Legislative Department, PK Malhotra said, Pre-legislative consultative policy might not be feasible in all cases and certain cases of urgency including promulgation of ordinances will need to be exempted from the proposed process. The-then Home Secretary, Anil Goswami, suggested that pre-legislative consultation was required before enacting a law. He argued that urgent legislation, including ordinances, should be exempted from consultation. Secretary, Ministry of Corporate Affairs, argued that keeping in view the subject matter of the rules being framed, the ministries/departments could be given the discretion to decide on pre-legislative consultation. Their concerns, as apparent from the minutes, were overruled by the then Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth, who observed adoption of pre-legislative consultation would be desirable, as it would make the process of law making and policy-making more participative. Ajit Seths assertion may have found strength from a letter dated May 28, 2013, from Sonia Gandhi to Manmohan Singh asking him to consider NACs recommendation. The letter (N 18014/4/2011-NAC-8301) informed the PM that the NAC, in its meeting on April 26, 2013, deliberated on issues relating to Pre-Legislative Processes and has proposed a framework to create institutionalised spaces for the participation of citizens in the pre-legislative process by way of proactive disclosure of proposed laws or rules, consultations and feedback systems. The recommendations have been prepared after extensive deliberations with concerned ministries, legal experts and public feedback. I am enclosing the NAC recommendations for your consideration, Sonias letter said. Subsequently on February 5, 2014, Secretary Legislative Department, PK Malhotra, who was resisting such idea, had to inform all the ministries to adopt the process as suggested by NAC (Letter No. 11/35/2013-L.I). Taking into consideration the recommendations of the NAC, the National Commission to Review the Working of the Constitution and the practice followed in other countries, the Committee of Secretaries has formulated a policy on pre-legislative consultation which should invariably be followed by every Ministry/Department of the Central government before any legislative proposal is submitted to the Cabinet for its consideration and approval, Malhotra wrote. Proxy Rule Went On Although Sonia Gandhi had resigned from the post of NAC Chairperson in March 2006 over an Office-of-Profit issue, only to return in 2010, the powerful councils dominance over Manmohan Singhs government continued in her absence. A presentation made by the Shipping Ministry on June 20, 2007, at the organisations office at 2 Motilal Nehru Place on the future action plan and problems of the shipping sector says it all. Slide No.17 in File No. 2 highlights Future Plan of Action -2011-12. It shows the government was mulling developing five new ports and creating a corpus fund for equipment modernization with the enhancement of dredging capacity in the country. Slide No. 19 informed NAC members about the problems the ministry was facing due to slow decision making and inadequate global investment. The presentation also noted connectivity, bringing maritime states on board and security clearance as other major hurdles. NAC members noted that given the steady GDP growth and expansion of the manufacturing sector, the demand for port infrastructure is increasing substantially, since around 75 per cent of the export of manufactured goods happens through ports. With a higher demand for electric power, the increased requirement of coal to meet concomitant port infrastructure has to be put in place. In this context, the importance of a well-planned strategy for the western sector keeping in view the Delhi-Mumbai industrial corridor project was underlined as also the need for timely acquisition of land for port and hinterland facilities and to block suitable areas for the future development of ports, the minutes said.MGNREGA Aims Spelt Out The highlighted portion in a letter dated March 30, 2011, from NAC Secretary Rita Sharma on the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) explained the thinking behind the vote catcher scheme. MGNREGA in the long run is not for creating a permanent army of unskilled workersit is successful when it is not needed, it read. Objective should be to move from mere wage employment to sustainable rural livelihoods, the note stated. Just a few days earlier, Sharma had written to Rural Development Secretary BK Sinha on March 4, 2011, (Letter -N26011/1/2011-NAC-1469) informing him that NAC in its meeting dated 26.2.2011 approved constitution of a working group on natural resources management (NRM) in convergence with MGNREGS, specially with focus on rainfed areas. She further asked Sinha to send a detailed report covering four points: (a) guidelines issued on natural resources management in convergence with MGNREGS (MGNREGA) (b) the progress made by the states in response to Ministry of Rural Developments guidelines on convergence for improving natural resources, (c) best practices, if any, being promoted by the states and (d) constraints, if any, coming in the way of making best use of MGNREGS funds for investing on natural resources management for livelihood security. The report may please be sent within two weeks for enabling the working group to identify critical areas for deliberations on the subject in the NAC, the letter to Rural Development Secretary said.
Abhijit Mulye By

MUMBAI: The unity in the citys Congress unit is fading. Insiders say it won just 30 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. In the last elections, it had bagged 52. In October, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi kicked off the partys campaign in the city by addressing a youth gathering and a rally at Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia.

Rahul was hoping to woo the partys traditional voters. The two-day programme was followed by city unit president Sanjay Nirupam holding a series of rallies and meetings across Mumbai. But within three months, the party seems to have lost its steam.

Although Rahul had signalled that the partys leadership was backing Nirupam, the ground report revealed that factionalism was getting stronger.



As a strategy primarily aimed against the BJP, Nirupam targeted north Indian voters, which led to differences in the party. Congress is an all encompassing party. Banking on only a specific voter group would break that fabric, Nirupams opponents argued.

The partys survey identified 92 of the 228 seats where it can win. At least 45 of those are marked as category A, which means chances of winning are high. But many of the seats are dominated by north Indian voters and the BJP stands a better chance to bag them if it allies with the Shiv Sena. If they strike an alliance, the Congress will win just 30 seats, a north Indian leader of the party said.

Congress leaders are also critical of Nirupams decision to sever ties with the NCP. Though the NCP doesnt have much presence in the city, putting up a united face against the BJP is necessary, they said.

MUMBAI: The unity in the citys Congress unit is fading. Insiders say it won just 30 seats in the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) polls. In the last elections, it had bagged 52. In October, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi kicked off the partys campaign in the city by addressing a youth gathering and a rally at Dharavi, the largest slum in Asia. Rahul was hoping to woo the partys traditional voters. The two-day programme was followed by city unit president Sanjay Nirupam holding a series of rallies and meetings across Mumbai. But within three months, the party seems to have lost its steam. Although Rahul had signalled that the partys leadership was backing Nirupam, the ground report revealed that factionalism was getting stronger. As a strategy primarily aimed against the BJP, Nirupam targeted north Indian voters, which led to differences in the party. Congress is an all encompassing party. Banking on only a specific voter group would break that fabric, Nirupams opponents argued. The partys survey identified 92 of the 228 seats where it can win. At least 45 of those are marked as category A, which means chances of winning are high. But many of the seats are dominated by north Indian voters and the BJP stands a better chance to bag them if it allies with the Shiv Sena. If they strike an alliance, the Congress will win just 30 seats, a north Indian leader of the party said. Congress leaders are also critical of Nirupams decision to sever ties with the NCP. Though the NCP doesnt have much presence in the city, putting up a united face against the BJP is necessary, they said.
Rakesh K Singh By

NEW DELHI: Post-demonetisation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department and intelligence agencies have found abnormal and suspicious amounts deposited in 547 bank branches in Jammu and Kashmir, besides in the Northeast and bordering areas in these two insurgency-hit theatres.



The agencies suspect such dubious money has been deposited in Jammu and Kashmir at the behest of separatist groups and outfits sympathising with them. In the Northeast, the money could have been deposited at the instance of insurgent groups. Preliminary estimates by the agencies suggest the end beneficiary could be separatist or insurgent outfits even as a multi-agency probe is underway to unravel the entire nexus behind the misuse of banking channels for laundering demonetised cash.



The ED has visited 50 branches of 10 banks in these areas to ascertain the exact value and the identities of those behind such transactions. The Know Your Customer (KYC) documents are being verified and matched with Income Tax returns to pinpoint possible bungling.

An official said prima facie it appears that local traders and businessmen could have laundered scrapped currency for separatist groups through banks in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast.



Sources said the probe is at an initial stage and cooperation from sister agencies, including the IT Department and Intelligence Bureau, is being sought.

The National Investigation Agency has registered two cases relating to alleged terror funding by traders and businessmen by exploiting border trade points in Jammu and Kashmir.



Meanwhile, after scrutiny of the deposits at the pan-India level after demonetisation, the IT Department has found Rs 2.13 lakh crore deposited in about 51,000 accounts. It also found that the transactions were over Rs 1 crore in each account between November 8 and 25 last year, IT department sources said.

The sources said between November 10 and December 17, Rs 80 lakh and above was deposited in 1.14 lakh accounts and the total value of the deposits was Rs 3.93 lakh crore. At least Rs 15, 398 crore was deposited in 1.23 lakh dormant accounts, which were inactive for the past 24 months.

Following completion of scrutiny by the IT department, the ED will look into the issue of money laundering, the sources added.

NEW DELHI: Post-demonetisation, the Enforcement Directorate (ED), Income Tax Department and intelligence agencies have found abnormal and suspicious amounts deposited in 547 bank branches in Jammu and Kashmir, besides in the Northeast and bordering areas in these two insurgency-hit theatres. The agencies suspect such dubious money has been deposited in Jammu and Kashmir at the behest of separatist groups and outfits sympathising with them. In the Northeast, the money could have been deposited at the instance of insurgent groups. Preliminary estimates by the agencies suggest the end beneficiary could be separatist or insurgent outfits even as a multi-agency probe is underway to unravel the entire nexus behind the misuse of banking channels for laundering demonetised cash. The ED has visited 50 branches of 10 banks in these areas to ascertain the exact value and the identities of those behind such transactions. The Know Your Customer (KYC) documents are being verified and matched with Income Tax returns to pinpoint possible bungling. An official said prima facie it appears that local traders and businessmen could have laundered scrapped currency for separatist groups through banks in Jammu and Kashmir and in the Northeast. Sources said the probe is at an initial stage and cooperation from sister agencies, including the IT Department and Intelligence Bureau, is being sought. The National Investigation Agency has registered two cases relating to alleged terror funding by traders and businessmen by exploiting border trade points in Jammu and Kashmir. Meanwhile, after scrutiny of the deposits at the pan-India level after demonetisation, the IT Department has found Rs 2.13 lakh crore deposited in about 51,000 accounts. It also found that the transactions were over Rs 1 crore in each account between November 8 and 25 last year, IT department sources said. The sources said between November 10 and December 17, Rs 80 lakh and above was deposited in 1.14 lakh accounts and the total value of the deposits was Rs 3.93 lakh crore. At least Rs 15, 398 crore was deposited in 1.23 lakh dormant accounts, which were inactive for the past 24 months. Following completion of scrutiny by the IT department, the ED will look into the issue of money laundering, the sources added.
By PTI

KARACHI: China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.

China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.

The Gwadar port in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.

A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.

"The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.

He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPEC's land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army's new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.

China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.

The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU.

KARACHI: China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India. China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported. The Gwadar port in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe. The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini. Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea. A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts. Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion. "The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships. He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC. The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan. China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPEC's land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port. Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army's new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif. In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India. China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea. The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU.
By Associated Press

KUWAIT CITY: A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City.

KUNA quoted Mansour al-Hashemi, a spokesman for Kuwait's civil aviation authority, as saying "initial investigations confirmed the plane was explosives-free."

Eurowings said there were 287 passengers and 10 crew members on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa. It began offering direct flights from Cologne to Salalah in October.

Tal Muscal, a spokesman for Lufthansa, confirmed the flight was diverted and that no explosives were found on the plane.

"I do know there is nothing on board," he said.



KUWAIT CITY: A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said. The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203. The state-run KUNA news agency of Kuwait said 299 passengers on board were evacuated over the incident. It said the plane's captain had requested an emergency landing in Kuwait City. KUNA quoted Mansour al-Hashemi, a spokesman for Kuwait's civil aviation authority, as saying "initial investigations confirmed the plane was explosives-free." Eurowings said there were 287 passengers and 10 crew members on board the flight, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf. The discrepancy in passenger numbers could not be immediately resolved. Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI. The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating. Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa. It began offering direct flights from Cologne to Salalah in October. Tal Muscal, a spokesman for Lufthansa, confirmed the flight was diverted and that no explosives were found on the plane. "I do know there is nothing on board," he said.
By Associated Press

BEIRUT: Pro-Syrian government troops shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus on Sunday, killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others who were taking shelter in a banquet hall.

The violence in the water-rich Barada Valley, which has raged since Dec. 22, has tested the country's fragile cease-fire and restricted the flow of water to the capital. Despite an agreement to allow maintenance workers in to fix the water facility in the rebel-controlled valley, the violence continued, also trapping an estimated 100,000 residents.

On Sunday, shells fell on al-Reem banquet hall in Deir Qanoun village in the valley that houses hundreds of civilians who had escaped the intensified fighting. The activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Center said 12 were killed and more than 20 were injured. The group posted pictures of the bloodied floors of the hall, some of them showing bodies with severed limbs.

Fuad Abu Hattab, an exiled resident of Barada Valley and an activist with the group, said medical teams have been unable to move around the valley because of the fighting and it is not clear if the dozens of injured are getting any immediate care.

Abu Hattab said the center has served as a shelter for many displaced civilians who escaped the ongoing violence in the valley and other parts of rural Damascus. The hall has an area for weddings, as well as a restaurant and a number of rooms. It had largely been spared the intense fighting, Abu Hattab said.

The Syrian Civil Defense, a team of volunteer first responders in the rebel-held parts of Syria, also put the death toll at 12, saying the shelling hit a displaced people's center.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at seven but said it was likely to rise because some of the injured are in critical condition.

Fighting has raged in the valley that provides the Syrian capital with most of its water supply. In recent days, government and allied troops have been advancing in the valley despite talks to stem the violence.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has fighters on the side of the Syrian government, said pro-government troops seized a hill overlooking the water source in the valley Sunday.

BEIRUT: Pro-Syrian government troops shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus on Sunday, killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others who were taking shelter in a banquet hall. The violence in the water-rich Barada Valley, which has raged since Dec. 22, has tested the country's fragile cease-fire and restricted the flow of water to the capital. Despite an agreement to allow maintenance workers in to fix the water facility in the rebel-controlled valley, the violence continued, also trapping an estimated 100,000 residents. On Sunday, shells fell on al-Reem banquet hall in Deir Qanoun village in the valley that houses hundreds of civilians who had escaped the intensified fighting. The activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Center said 12 were killed and more than 20 were injured. The group posted pictures of the bloodied floors of the hall, some of them showing bodies with severed limbs. Fuad Abu Hattab, an exiled resident of Barada Valley and an activist with the group, said medical teams have been unable to move around the valley because of the fighting and it is not clear if the dozens of injured are getting any immediate care. Abu Hattab said the center has served as a shelter for many displaced civilians who escaped the ongoing violence in the valley and other parts of rural Damascus. The hall has an area for weddings, as well as a restaurant and a number of rooms. It had largely been spared the intense fighting, Abu Hattab said. The Syrian Civil Defense, a team of volunteer first responders in the rebel-held parts of Syria, also put the death toll at 12, saying the shelling hit a displaced people's center. The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at seven but said it was likely to rise because some of the injured are in critical condition. Fighting has raged in the valley that provides the Syrian capital with most of its water supply. In recent days, government and allied troops have been advancing in the valley despite talks to stem the violence. The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has fighters on the side of the Syrian government, said pro-government troops seized a hill overlooking the water source in the valley Sunday.
By AFP

DUBAI: Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers.

The three Shiites faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor's office said.

Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has a majority Shiite population which has long complained of marginalisation.

It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since March 2011 when security forces brutally crushed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising.

The executions triggered protests in Shiite villages.

Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.

Pictures shared online by activists showed relatives of those executed weeping.

Bahrain authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out following rumours they were going to be put to death.

The death sentences are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve.

"It is nothing short of an outrage -- and a disgraceful breach of international law -- that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said.

Reprieve said the executions went ahead "despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture".

'Black day'

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: "This is a black day in Bahrain's history."

Scores of men and women took to the streets on Saturday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

"No, no to execution," the protesters chanted.

Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

Authorities have said that the trio and fellow defendants belonged to the same clandestine group which has claimed several bomb attacks in Bahrain.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.

The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Abbas al-Samea, 27.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help put down a month of Shiite-led protests.

Bahrain is a strategic ally of the United States and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday criticised the Bahraini authorities for what it called an "inconsiderate action".

Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, backed by Iran, slammed the executions of the "innocent" men as a "crime committed by the regime against the Bahraini people".

"It is clear that this execution will destroy every chance for a political exit out of Bahrain's crisis, and leads the country into an unknown future, threatening stability in Bahrain and the whole region," it said.

Brian Dooley, director of Human Rights Defenders at the Washington-based Human Rights First, urged the United States to use its influence.

"Washington should warn its Gulf ally that this would be a reckless, frightening level of repression to pursue, likely to spark rage and further violence in an already volatile region," he said on Saturday.

And Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Manama had been made "fully aware" of his country's opposition to the death penalty.

Since the 2011 uprising, Bahrain has arrested and put on trial hundreds of Shiites and cracked down hard on the opposition, despite repeated appeals by international rights groups.

DUBAI: Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers. The three Shiites faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor's office said. Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has a majority Shiite population which has long complained of marginalisation. It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since March 2011 when security forces brutally crushed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising. The executions triggered protests in Shiite villages. Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media. Pictures shared online by activists showed relatives of those executed weeping. Bahrain authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently. The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out following rumours they were going to be put to death. The death sentences are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve. "It is nothing short of an outrage -- and a disgraceful breach of international law -- that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said. Reprieve said the executions went ahead "despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture". 'Black day' Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: "This is a black day in Bahrain's history." Scores of men and women took to the streets on Saturday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said. "No, no to execution," the protesters chanted. Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry. Authorities have said that the trio and fellow defendants belonged to the same clandestine group which has claimed several bomb attacks in Bahrain. The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates. The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Abbas al-Samea, 27. Seven other defendants received life terms. The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help put down a month of Shiite-led protests. Bahrain is a strategic ally of the United States and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet. Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday criticised the Bahraini authorities for what it called an "inconsiderate action". Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, backed by Iran, slammed the executions of the "innocent" men as a "crime committed by the regime against the Bahraini people". "It is clear that this execution will destroy every chance for a political exit out of Bahrain's crisis, and leads the country into an unknown future, threatening stability in Bahrain and the whole region," it said. Brian Dooley, director of Human Rights Defenders at the Washington-based Human Rights First, urged the United States to use its influence. "Washington should warn its Gulf ally that this would be a reckless, frightening level of repression to pursue, likely to spark rage and further violence in an already volatile region," he said on Saturday. And Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Manama had been made "fully aware" of his country's opposition to the death penalty. Since the 2011 uprising, Bahrain has arrested and put on trial hundreds of Shiites and cracked down hard on the opposition, despite repeated appeals by international rights groups.
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UN rights chief urges executives gathering in Davos to stand up for rights

New York, Jan 13 : The top United Nations human rights official on Friday called on business leaders gathering at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in the Swiss town of Davos next week to use their considerable influence to stand up for human rights and prevent rights violations in countries where they operate.





(Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591050 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php  (Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591050 173O212O198O32)

The hard-won laws and principles of the Universal Declaration for Human Rights are increasingly imperiled, and the business leaders gathering in Davos next week have a key role to play to stem this terrible tide and to insist upon respect for human rights in the States where they operate, said UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Raad Al Hussein in a news release issued by his Office (OHCHR).The UN rights office launched in December 2016 a global campaign called Stand Up for Someones Rights On Friday. The campaign is an effort to galvanize everyone private sector, governments, individuals, civil society to play an active role in standing up to defend the human rights of all, at a time when these hard-won rights and freedoms are facing increasing pressures across the world.Responsible business relies on stability sound institutions, the smooth functioning of justice, sustainable development and public confidence in their personal safety, Zeid said, stressing that human rights lie at the core of such long-term stability.He also underscored the need for companies to take a clear, unequivocal stance that they will not tolerate links to human rights abuses anywhere in their operations and supply chains and to have systems in place to ensure such abuses are actively prevented and promptly addressed. For instance, some banks have withdrawn funding for projects where human rights violations have occurred.Many companies have already begun taking steps to prevent and mitigate human rights abuses in their operations in line with the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, including by setting up ways for people to safely lodge complaints, Zeid said.Zeid commended the steps taken by some leading companies to take a stand against media outlets peddling hate speech and xenophobic content and called on others to show similar leadership and to join in the fight for the global values that are currently under threat.Zeid also welcomed the increasing participation by large multinational corporations in the annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights and the growing implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.UN Photo/Jean-Marc FerrSource: www.justearthnews.com
More must be done to assist, protect freezing refugees and migrants in Europe - UN agency

New York, Jan 13 : The United Nations refugee agency is urging European authorities to step up support and security for refugees migrants facing harsh winter conditions, particularly amid reports that people have frozen trying to enter or move across Europe.





(Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591051 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/world-news.php  (Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591051 173O212O198O32)

Saving lives must be a priority and we urge States authorities across Europe to do more to assist and protect refugees and migrants, said Ccile Pouilly, the spokesperson for the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), at on Fridays Palais des Nations press briefing in Geneva.The UN agency and partners have scaled up their own efforts in Greece, Serbia and other countries in the region. In Greece, for example, workers transferred hundreds of people to better accommodations, and passed out close to 360,000 high thermal blankets, winter boots and other warm items.Grave concerns remain, however, for families living on the Greek island of Samos, where newcomers have been in limbo for months.Speaking about the situation there, Pouilly said that UNHCR is deeply worried at the situation of some 1,000 people, including families with young children, who continue to live under unheated tents and dormitories.She reiterated the UN agencys call to further accelerate procedures on Samos and other islands which would allow faster transfers to the mainland, where better accommodation is available.The freezing temperatures has killed a number of refugees and migrants, reportedly including two Iraqi men and a Somali woman in southeastern Belgrade, and an Afghan man at the Greece-Turkey border.The spokesperson reiterated UNHCRs call to increase safe pathways for the admission of people in need of protection, including through options such as resettlement and family reunification so as to cut the reliance on human smugglers.Photo: UNICEF/Tomislav GeorgievSource: www.justearthnews.com
Gujarat teen drone designer appeals to parents to let children follow their dreams

Ahmadabad (Gujarat) , Jan. 14 : Astonishing the nation with his skills and invention at the age of 14, Harshvardhan Zala, a student from Gujarat who recently came under spotlight for signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of Rs. five crores for designing drones at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit, appealed to all the parents to let their children follow their dreams.





(Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591053 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/gujarat-news.php  (Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591053 173O212O198O32)

"Parents should let their children decide what they want to pursue in their lives, what is their area of interest," he said in a press meet here.Sharing his own experience Zala said that he has always received support of his parents and teachers in the entire process, which made him more determined towards his goal.Discussing about his phenomenal invention which created a buzz, Zala said that the project is to support Prime Minister Narendra Modi's 'Make in India' initiative."Keeping Prime Minister Narendra Modi's vision of Make in India in mind, I have signed this MoU. I want to set up our own aerospace and defence industry here. So, that we don't have to export any defence components from outside," he said.Earlier, Zala, signed a Rs. five crore-worth Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the state government, for the production of drones designed by him.The deal is signed with the Department of Science and Technology for manufacturing drones that would be able to detect and defuse land mines on a war field.The drone sends out waves up to eight square meters from two feet above ground level. These waves are able to detect land mines and send their location to the authorities.Till now Zala has made three prototypes of drone, out of which two costing worth Rs. Two lakh was financed by his parents and the third one costing Rs. Three lakh was sponsored from the state.
Oppn, BJP lock horns over KVIC row

New Delhi , Jan. 14 : The controversy surrounding Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo on Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) calendar turned murkier on Saturday after the opposition launched a scathing attack on the 'megalomaniac' Prime Minister, saying that the government's decision to replace Mahatma Gandhi's photo with that of the former was an assault on the legacy of Father of the Nation.





(Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591054 173O212O198O32) https://www.newkerala.com/more-news.php  (Posted on 14 January 2017, 1667591054 173O212O198O32)

"This is abhorable. These people are full blown fascist for our country. Apart from the pain it has caused to all section of people of this vast country, this reflex very poorly on the government choices and priorities. Infact, this constitutes an assault on the legacy of Gandhiji and I think this would reflect in a most negative way for the government," Congress leader Om Prakash Mishra told ANI.Prakash further questioned Prime Minister Modi as how can he symbolise charkha and replace Mahatma Gandhi, while adding that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has got its priorities wrong and is attempting to rewrite history.Resonating similar views, Communist Party of India (Marxist) leader Manab Mukherjee labelled the Prime Minister and the BJP government as 'megalomaniac'."It is not only that the Prime Minister himself was a megalomaniac but the whole government and the whole system is run by the megalomaniacs. How can Narendra Modi replace Gandhi Ji? I feel pity for him...very bad days are waiting for him," Mukherjee added.However, defending the government's move, BJP leader Rahul Sinha slammed the opposition saying that those who are igniting the controversy over it are the one, disrespecting Mahatma Gandhi."Gandhi Ji's picture has been replaced many times. We all respect Gandhi Ji and there is no question of disrespecting him. Modi ji is trying to promote Khadi products worldwide therefore picture featured on it. We should not associate it with Gandhi ji and the people who are trying to do this are disrespecting Gandhi ji," Sinha told ANI.In a big development, Mahatma Gandhi's picture weaving khadi on a simple charkha, wearing his trademark cloth has been replaced by Prime Minister Modi's picture in the same classic pose as that of the former in the KVIC diary and calendar.However, it took a new turn yesterday as sources said the calendar never featured the picture of Father of the Nation.
It is responsibility of Pak govt. to give freedom of expression to all: Netherlands envoy

Islamabad [Pakistan], Jan. 15 : Expressing concern over disappearance of Pakistani bloggers, Netherlands Ambassador to Pakistan Jeannette Seppen has said it is the responsibility of the federal government to ptovide freedom of expression to every journalist and blogger.





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She made the remarks after inaugurating a Dutch residence and art show "At Home" featuring artworks by Pakistani artists, reports the Daily Times.Responding to a question, Seppen said that her country believes in human rights, women's rights and freedom of expression. It is responsibility of the Pakistani government to give freedom of expression to every journalist and blogger.She added that Netherlands is against human rights violations anywhere in the world.The envoy said that her country is against the death penalty and research and studies also proved that death penalty is not a deterrence to stop crime."Our stand on death penalty is based on principle not only for Pakistan but also internationally," she said.Earlier this week, four bloggers and social media activists went missing from Islamabad, Lahore and Nankana Sahib in Pakistan.Following the developments, Human Rights Watch asked Pakistan to urgently investigate the apparent abductions of activists who campaigned for human rights and religious freedom, saying their near simultaneous disappearances raised concerns of government involvement.
South China Sea: China, Vietnam agree to manage maritime differences

Beijing [China], Jan. 15 : China and Vietnam have agreed to manage maritime differences and safeguard the peace and stability of the disputed South China Sea.





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A joint communique issued on Saturday said that both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, reports Xinhua.The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, according to the communique.It said that both sides agreed to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including talks with President Xi Jinping, and separate meetings with Premier Li Keqiang, top legislator Zhang Dejiang, top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and top graft-buster Wang Qishan.Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas, the communique said.
Congress questions Nitish party's move to invite BJP for Sankranti feast

Patna, Jan 14 (TheBIharPost/IBNS): The Congress has questioned the move of the JD-U to invite BJP people at its feast to be hosted on Sunday to mark Makar Sankranti.





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Congress is an alliance partner of JD-U which heads the ruling Grand Alliance headed by chief minister Nitish Kumar. RJD is also a partner in the alliance.The JD-U people can better answer why they have invited the BJP at its feast this time, wondered state Congress president Ashok Chaudhary.Chaudhary who is an education minister in the government said he didnt understand as to why the BJP people had been invited this time when they were kept ignored in the past two years.Is saal aisi kya baat ho gayi ki unhe nyota mila? asked Chaudhary, hinting he would not be attending the JD-U feast.The BJP, however, announced it would indeed attend the feast.We have been invited with respect and we will be attending then until it is canceled at their level, announced senior BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.On the other hand, the BJP people skipped the feast thrown by the RJD chief Lalu Prasad on Saturday.However, scores of leaders turned up at the Patna residence of Prasad to enjoy feast on the occasion of Makar Sankratimarking the transition of the sun into the zodiacal sign of Makra (Capricorn) on its celestial path.On this occasion, the guests were served flattened rice with curd. Prasad and his wife Rabri Devi themselves serves food to some of the guests.Prominent ones who reached there included chief minister Nitish Kumar, Assembly Speaker Vijay Kumar Chaudhary, council chairman Awadhesh Narayan Singh, education minister Ashok Chaudhary and JD-U state president Vashishtha Narayan Singh.The RJD chief had arranged chura from Betia, curd from Vaisahli and Chapra and Tilkut from Gaya to serve the guests.Todays feast was only for the Hindu. Prasad will be throwing another such feast especially for the Muslims tomorrow.(thebiharpost.com)
PM Modi pays tribute to Cho Ramaswamy

New Delhi, Jan 14 : Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday paid tributes to Thuglak magazine Cho Ramaswamy and said his satire made his criticism loveable even to those he criticized,





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His satire made his criticism loveable even to those he criticized. That is a not a cultivated or cultivable virtue. That was a gift from the divine to him, which he used only to promote public interest. It was his gift also to communicate ideas in one cartoon or in one sentence which a book or volumes of books could not, Modi said via video conference as he addressed the 47th Thuglak Anniversary A Tribute to Shri Cho Ramaswamy.He said: Chos greatest achievement is that he made Thuglak a weapon against all divisive forces.Modi said if someone has to write the political history of India, he cannot write it without including Cho Ramaswamy and his political commentary.For 47 years Thuglak magazine played a stellar role in the cause of safeguarding democratic values and national interest, Modi said.Full Text of Prime Ministers speech is given below:Dear Dr. Padma Subrahmanyam ji,Shri N. Ravi,Shri G. Viswanathan,Shri S. Rajnikanth,Shri Gurumurthy,Readers of ThuglakAdmirers of late Shri. Cho RamaswamyAnd the people of Tamil Nadu.Vanakkam. Iniya Pongal nalvazhthukkalWe have gathered at a very auspicious time.Yesterday my Telugu sisters and brothers celebrated the festival of Bhogi.Friends in the northern part of India, especially Punjab marked Lohri.Today is Makar Sankranti.In Gujarat, the sky is fully of kites on this day, which is also known as Uttarayan.The people of Assam are celebrating Magh Bihu.And in Tamil Nadu, where you are, it is Pongal.Pongal is the festival of thankfulness - thanking the sun god, thanking the animals that help in agriculture and thanking nature for providing the natural resources that sustain us.Harmony with nature is the strength of our culture, our traditions.From north to south, east to west, we can see how there is a festive spirit across the nation.Festivals are celebrations of life.With festivals comes a spirit of togetherness.They weave a beautiful thread of unity.My greetings to people across India on all these festivals.Makar Sankranti marks the transition of the Sun into the zodiac sign of Makara Rashi on its celestialpath. For most people, Makar Sankranti means a break from the harrowing winter and warmer, brighter days.Some of the festivals we celebrate today are harvest festivals.We pray that these festivals bring prosperity and joy in the lives of our farmers, who work hard to keep our nation fed.Friends.I wish I could be present with you in person but the exigencies of work did not so permit. I pay my tribute to my dear friend Sri Cho Ramaswamy on the 47th anniversary of Thuglak.In the passing away of Cho, we all have lost a friend who offered his invaluable wisdom to whoever came his way.I knew him personally for over four decades. It is a personal loss for me.He was one of the most multi-faceted personalities I have ever come across. He was an actor, a director, a journalist, an editor, a writer, a playwright, a politician, a political commentator, a cultural critic, a highly talented writer, a religious and social critic, a lawyer and so much more.Of all his roles, his role as the editor of the Thuglak magazine was the jewel in the crown. For 47 years the Thuglak magazine played a stellar role in the cause of safeguarding democratic values and national interest.Thuglak and Cho it is difficult to imagine one without the other. For nearly five decades, he was in charge of Thuglak. If someone has to write the political history of India, he cannot write it without including Cho Ramaswamy and his political commentary.It is easy to admire Cho, but it is not very easy to understand Cho. To understand him, one needs to understand his courage, conviction, his sense of nationalism which went beyond parochial, regional, linguistic and other divisions.His greatest achievement is that he made Thuglak a weapon against all divisive forces. He was fighting for a clean and non-corrupt political system. In that struggle, he never spared anyone.He was critical of those people with whom he had acted for decades, critical of those people who were friends with him for decades, critical of those people who considered him as his mentor. No one was spared. He did not look at the personalities but looked at the issues.The Nation was his central message. This is reflected in his writings, in the movies, plays and television serials he directed, in the movies for which he wrote the screenplay.His satire made his criticism loveable even to those he criticized. That is a not a cultivated or cultivable virtue. That was a gift from the divine to him, which he used only to promote public interest. It was his gift also to communicate ideas in one cartoon or in one sentence which a book or volumes of books could not.This reminds me of a cartoon by Cho wherein people are targeting me with their guns and the common people are standing in front of me; Cho asks who is the real target? Me or the common people? How apt is the cartoon in todays context!I am reminded of one incident related to Cho. Once some people annoyed with Cho started pelting eggs. On this Cho said Aiyya, why throw raw eggs at me when you can make me an omelette. The pelters started laughing. He had this incredible ability to mould conditions in his favour.Thuglak was a platform for all. Cho would carry views contrary, even hostile to him, and even abusive of him in his own magazine. This made no one excluded in Thuglak. Even those he criticized would find their views carried with the same prominence as Chos in Thuglak. This is the truest democratic spirit in media and in public life.In my opinion, his thought and contributions were not merely limited to Tamil milieu and Tamil people. He inspired many generations of aspiring journalists and politicians spanning many societies in India.And all of us know that Thuglak magazine was not a mere political commentary. It was the ears and eyes of millions of Tamil people. Cho, through Thuglak, was the connecting bridge between masses and rulers.I am glad that Thuglak will continue its journey in objective journalism as envisaged by Cho. Those who have inherited the legacy of Thuglak have great responsibility on their shoulders. To be guided by Chos vision and commitment will be a big challenge. Adherence to this vision will be a great service to the people of Tamil Nadu.I wish Mr. Gurumurthy and his team all the very best in this endeavour. Knowing Gurumurthy ji, I am confident that he will be successful.That Cho had mastered the art of satire, humour and irony need not be overstated.I think we need more satire and humour. Humour brings happiness in our lives. Humour is the best healer.The power of a smile or the power of laughter is more than the power of abuse or any other weapon. Humour builds bridges instead of breaking them.And this is exactly what we require today- building bridges. Bridges between people.Bridges between communities. Bridges between societies.Humour brings out human creativity. We are living in an age where one speech or one event can create multiple memes, forwards.FriendsI have participated in Thuglaks annual readers meet before, in person in Chennai.Since you have a tradition at this event to play verses from the Shrimad Bhagwad Gita in Mr. Chos voice, let me end with a Shlok in Mr. Chos honour:aaaaaaa aaaaaaaa aaa aaaaa aaaaa aaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaa aaaaa aaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaa aaaaa aaaaa(The eternal does not move from place to place, but moves from one abode to another.)Let us, together thank him for his contribution to the multiple fields he touched. Above all let us thank him for being the great Cho Ramaswamy - the one and only Cho.
Canada keen to boost ties with India, participates in Vibrant Gujarat

Toronto/Gandhinagar, Jan 14 : Canada is eager to strengthen its business ties with India, said Canada's minister of infrastructure and communities Amarjeet Sohi.





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Speaking at the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit (VGGS) 2017 held at Mahatma Mandir, Gandhinagar in India, Amarjeet Sohi recently said that Gujarat, the home to Indias Prime Minister Narendra Modi, was the manufacturing base of Canadas Bombardier Inc. and was a big biennial investor, according to a report in the Globe Mail.Modi said that Gujarat, the land of Mahatama Gandhi and Sardar Patel, both of whom fought for Indias freedom, also represented the business spirit of India.Sohi in a Facebook post said, There is an emphasis on signing a trade agreement with India,.The process was begun in 2014 and we are putting great emphasis on moving the discussions forward.The delegation from Canada consisted of Indo-Canada Chamber of Commerce, Canadian High Commissioner Nadir Patel; Canadas Minister of Infrastructure and Communities Amarjeet Sohi and Jordan Reeves, Consul General of Canada to Mumbai.They met with Indian ministers like Venkaiah Naidu and Gujarat Chief Minister Vijay Rupani.
Gandhi, khadi or charkha not soul proprietary of any political party: BJP

New Delhi , Jan. 15 : The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Sunday hit back at the Congress over the recent controversy over Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photos replacing Mahatma Gandhi on the calendar of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC) and said that Father of the Nation, khadi or charkha is not a soul proprietary of any political party.





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"We don't subscribe to anybody's personal opinion. But the part is very clear that whether it is Gandhi ji, khadi or the charkha, it is not a soul proprietary of any political party, organisation or ideology. We must understand that khadi needs to be promoted and that is the intent of the Khadi and Village Industries Commission (KVIC)," BJP leader Shania NC told ANI.Meanwhile, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's son-in-law Robert Vadra earlier in the day attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) over the recent Khai icon row, saying the nation would not tolerate such disrespect to the Father of the Nation.Taking to Facebook, Vadra said in a post that Mahatma Gandhi and his title is above every political party and deserves to be protected.Earlier on Saturday, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi took a jibe at Haryana Minister Anil Vij for his controversial statement that Prime Minister Modi was a much bigger brand that Mahatma Gandhi, saying dictators Hitler and Mussolini were also very "powerful brands."Posting the link of an ANI video on his Twitter account where Vij made the remark, Rahul wrote saying "Hitler and Mussolini were also very powerful brands".In a major development, Mahatma Gandhi's picture weaving khadi on a simple charkha, wearing his trademark cloth has been replaced by Prime Minister Modi's picture in the same classic pose as that of the former in the KVIC diary and calendar.
Policybazaar.com launches a new campaign for term insurance awareness

New Delhi , Jan. 15 (ANI-BusinessWireIndia): Policybazaar.com has launched a new television campaign, with the tagline 'Policybazaar.com par term insurance lena bhool kar bhi mat bhoolna'. The campaign aims to highlight the importance of having a term insurance plan.





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The new TV commercial will see actress Achint Kaur as a Seance medium.With this campaign, Policybazaar.com intends to give a push to the consumers' buying decisions, by focusing on the challenges that the family would have to face in their absence, including inability to sustain the current lifestyle. A month long campaign is designed by the in-house team of Policybazaar.com and executed by K Silent Productions. The TV campaign will go on air on January 15, 2017.Speaking on the new campaign, Naveen Kukreja, Group CMO, Policybazaar.com and CEO, PaisaBazaar.com said, "Term insurance with sufficient life cover is a must have product for a person with dependents. The main objective of a term insurance plan is to provide replacement of your income in your absence. But usually habitually procrastinating consumers defer their decision of purchasing a term plan. Our motto is to empower customers so that they can take right decisions at a right time to protect their loved ones. The new TVC is reinforcing our brand philosophy."Sai Narayan, Head of Marketing, Policybazaar.com added, "Through the campaign, we aim to re-emphasise the importance of financial protection and change consumers' mindset which tend to believe that they are invincible and won't die young. In our country, insurance has always been sold with a push factor and considered to be a tough and tedious task. The TV commercial also accentuates the ease of comparing and buying insurance policy. Though the commercial has entertaining and humorous quotient attached to it but surely leaves behind the strong message of securing financial future of the family."The TV commercial starts in a fancy background; a woman who has lost her husband meets a psychic in order to communicate with his spirit. As she laments about his loss, she asks the psychic to make her talk to husband once. The psychic touches the husband's photograph and becomes a medium to communicate with the dead husband's spirit. The widow asks for the term insurance's papers which the husband's spirit denies to have had at first place as he forgot to get buy the policy. To this the husband spirit squeakily replies that he didn't know that he will die. Now, the drama unfolds when the woman starts scolding her deceased husband for not remembering to buy a term insurance. She further reminds him about the term plan of Rs one crore they had decided to purchase on Policybazaar.com for a minimum premium of Rs 490 per month.The commercial consciously takes a humorous route to convey the message, which has been the tone of the brand, in an otherwise serious insurance category. (ANI-BusinessWireIndia)
Xiaomi not to disclose its annual sales figures

New Delhi , Jan. 15 : Xiaomi, headquartered in Beijing, China, has decided to stop revealing its annual sales figures. The company has also decided not to disclose its 2016 sales numbers.





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Lei Jung, CEO and Co-founder, Xiaomi, admitted in a letter to the employees a few days back that the company had moved too quickly. "In the first few years, we pushed ahead too fast. We created a miracle, but also drew on some long-term growth," he said.Xiaomi had revealed that it sold over 70 million devices in 2015, but fell short of the company's public target of 80 million, which earlier was an even greater 100 million."We have to slow down, further improve in some areas, and ensure sustainable growth for a long-term future," Lei added in the letter.Lei revealed that the smartphone maker reached $1 billion in annual revenue in India for the first time. He also said that he wants to push on and see Xiaomi developing its offline retail arm."Xiaomi has to aim wider because its current distribution model is limited, but you could certainly add 'stiffer competition' as another factor. Xiaomi has great ambitions, and we are not satisfied with just being an e-commerce smartphone brand, so we have to upgrade our retail model, and incorporate offline retail for a new retail strategy," he said.
'Sherlock' producers urge fans not to share leaked episode

London [UK], Jan. 15 : After the final episode of 'Sherlock' season four was recently leaked online 24 hours before it airs on TV, the show's producers have urged fans to keep away from the big spoiler.





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Bosses behind the hit show starring Benedict Cumberbatch, have warned viewers not to watch the illegal copy or share it on the web, the Sun reports.Producers are furious about the security breach and have taken to 'Sherlock's official Twitter handle to ask them not to share spoilers and ruin the fun for other fans."We are aware that #Sherlock episode 3 has been uploaded illegally online. If you come across it, please do not share it. #KeepMeSpoilerFree," the account tweeted.
Champaign, IL (61820)

Today

Windy with a mix of clouds and sun. High 76F. Winds S at 20 to 30 mph. Higher wind gusts possible..

Tonight

Windy with periods of thunderstorms late. Low 59F. Winds SSE at 25 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 90%. Higher wind gusts possible.
nice and quiet like so as not to admit they were found out.Theoriginal report set off a wave of stories across the world, causing raised eyebrows over Trumps extremely unusual decision to fire a general in the middle of the presidential oath of office ceremony, especially during these dangerous times.The paper reported that Major General Errol R. Schwartz, who has commanded the D.C. National Guard since his appointment to the position by George W. Bush, was told to vacate his office the moment Trump says his I dos to the oath of office. The decision was presented to readers as unfathomable, if not dangerous, by a president who doesnt know what he is doing.In an interview, General Schwartz told the paper that his firing was strange. The timing is extremely unusual, the general said.My troops will be on the street, Schwartz continued. Ill see them off, but I wont be able to welcome them back to the armory. The general added he would never plan to leave a mission in the middle of a battle.The paper went on to quote Democrat D.C. Council Chairman Phil Mendelson as saying, It doesnt make sense to can the general in the middle of an active deployment.The paper concluded its speculation, saying, Schwartz said that he has not been told why he was asked to step down. Im a soldier, he said, noting that he was following orders and has no regrets. Im a presidential appointee, therefore the president has the power to remove me.'An earlier version of the story can still be seen atThe fact is, of course, that the commander of the D.C. National Guard serves at the pleasure of the president and is not put in place by the Pentagon or any of the federal branches of the military.In essence, while the incoming Trump White House did accept General Schwartz resignation, it did not fire him in the midst of the presidential ceremony, as thereported on Friday.Meanwhile, on the day after its initial publication, themade material edits to its story. And as of press time, the paper had not added any notice that it had made the alterations.The current version of the story now on the papers website added two important paragraphs that change the flavor of its earlier story.Among other changes, one of the paragraphs added makes it clear that it is customary for such generals to submit their resignation, and in this case Trump accepted it. The paragraph also tries to cover for the papers poor reporting by insisting that the Trump team provided contradictory versions of the generals situation  another fact not in the original story.Despite its changes, thestory did not contain the statement  aired by Fox News on Saturday  that the transition had asked the general to stay until inauguration day was over, but it was the general who decided to quit. According to the Fox News report, It appears the general would rather argue his case in the press.Schwartz, who started his Army career in 1976 but has never seen a deployment to a theater of war, was appointed to head the D.C. Guard by George W. Bush in 2008. According to his bio page , he was first commissioned in 1979 and has served his entire career in the D.C. Guard. Schwartz has a Bachelor of Science in Electrical Engineering and a Master of Science in Business Management.This is far from the first time the paper made a big splash with a story only to quietly rewrite it the next day when it found its assertions in question. Therecently courted charges of fake news when it published the shocking story that the Russians hacked and infiltrated the computer systems of a Vermont power plant . By the next day, the paper completely rewrote its story, disavowing that any hack took place.
New Delhi: Senior BJP leader LK Advani on Sunday suggested that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should include more women in its ranks.



Heaping praise on the organisation of 'Prajapita Brahma Kumaris' for placing women in lead positions in its hierarchy, Advani said that he wants people and also the RSS, with which he has been associated with for long, to emulate it.



"I have not seen any other organisation like this which is mainly led by women. It is really amazing. I have been associated with one organisation for years and respect it. I humbly tell anyone who meets me to learn from them.



"It is quite difficult and not very easy. The organisation I was referring to is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh where mainly boys join during their childhood. Females also have a small representation," the 89-year-old leader said.



He was speaking at the 48th ascension anniversary of spiritual leader Pitashri Brahma, the founder of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya.



In his address, he also lamented that Karachi, the capital of the Pakistani province, where he was born in a Sindhi family was not a part of India anymore and went on to add that India appears "incomplete" without Sindh in its territory.



"At times I feel sad that Karachi and Sindh are not parts of India anymore. I was very active in RSS during my childhood days in Sindh. It is matter of dismay. I believe that India appears incomplete without Sindh," he said.
New Delhi: Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security and will continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power in the coming years, President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday said in the capital.



On the occasion of Army Day, he greeted all officers, soldiers, veterans, civilians, ex-servicemen and their families.



"The Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security of India, whilst defending our borders across some of the most perilous terrain in the world.



"It provides stability during internal security challenges and is often called upon to provide assistance during natural calamities," the President said in his message.



Mukherjee, who is the supreme commander of the armed forces, noted that Indian Army is known for its

professionalism, selfless commitment and the unparalleled bravery.



"Today, we remember our bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The nation is indebted to them and their families. I wish to place on record our deepest appreciation for the dedication and devotion of our soldiers in their service to the nation," he said.



Mukherjee also exuded confidence that the Army will "continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power" in the coming years.



On this day in 1949, Lieutenant General K M Cariappa had taken over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Army from General Sir Francis Butcher.


Jammu: In the backdrop of videos posted by a BSF jawan on social media claiming poor quality food being served to soldiers, Union minister Jitendra Singh on Sunday said the government is committed to providing every comfort and convenience to military and paramilitary personnel.



"The government always takes due cognisance of the reports and inputs it receives and it is already very clear about providing every kind of comfort and convenience, depending on situations in which the deployment of military and paramilitary forces are made," he said on the sidelines of a function in

Samba.



Asserting that the nation is indebted to the services of the armed forces, Singh said the government and the country as a whole accord highest priority and respect to the Army and the paramilitary forces personnel.



"It is Army Day today and I think there is no second opinion that we have one of the finest army in the world. We are proud of our military and paramilitary forces and it is because of them, that when we sleep they remain awake and when we eat they stay hungry and that is how the country is well guarded and protected," the MoS in the PMO said.



While refusing to comment on the Facebook post of BSF constable Tej Bahadur Yadar Singh, the Minister said the government takes care of the comfort of the soldiers.



"I won't be able to comment on specific instances but as I said as a matter of policy and principles, the government, the ministries of Defense and Home are very clear about taking due care of the soldiers," Singh told reporters.



On the issue of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's picture on KVIC calendar and diary, he said the Opposition's allegation that Mahatma Gandhi has been "replaced" by Modi has no logic.



"I think that accusation or allegation or observation that is being made is quite out of context and is devoid of any logic or rationale," Singh said.



Meanwhile, Union Minister Jitendra Singh today said the new generation is no longer to be swayed by the arguments of the separatists.



"As I have always maintained in the past also, even at the risk of sounding unorthodox, separatists in Kashmir are not separatists by conviction but separatists by convenience and therefore, they could carry on this bluff for a few years but the new generation is no longer taken in by this kind of bluff," Singh told a TV channel.



Referring to the separatists, Singh said many of them had been in mainstream politics till yesterday and when they could not make it over there, they drifted into this kind of separatist policy.



"So in other words separatism for them is not an ideology or a belief, it is politics by other means at the cost of innocent masses," he said.



The Minister of State in the PMO said the new generation of Kashmiri boys and girls are awakened enough and they have an exposure which is almost global and therefore "they can no longer be taken in by this kind of rhetoric".



He added that the new generation can also not be taken in by mainstream politicians who had over the years have the habit of speaking one language in Srinagar, another in Jammu and a third one in Delhi.
The focus of the discussion will include "how journalists and media companies at large can play a bigger role in making sure that fact prevails over fiction in the coming months and years," according to Slate.



Slates editor in chief Julia Turner and Slate Group chairman Jacob Weisberg  who hosts Trumpcast, a podcast dedicated to covering the president-elect  will participate in the panel.



Joining them will be Borja Echevarria, Univision Digitals vice president and editor in chief; Huffington Post editor in chief Lydia Polgreen and New Yorker editor David Remnick.



Most of the panelists were staunchly critical of Trump during the campaign and since Election Day.



Committee to Protect Journalists.

After the president-elect's first press conference since the election this week, As The Hill reports, so-called journalists from the Huffington Post, Slate, CNN, and Univision will gather days before Donald Trumps inaugurationAfter this happened...CNNs Brian Stelter will moderate the panel at New York University. As The Hill details This is the
21 bodies have been recovered so far, search and rescue ops underway. 3 NDRF teams are at the spot: RK Pachnanda, DG NDRF #BiharBoatTragedy pic.twitter.com/oRyMSToUoQ  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

#BiharBoatTragedy: Search and rescue operations by NDRF teams underway; 21 bodies recovered so far. pic.twitter.com/KEfje1GtMv  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

#BiharBoatTragedy: Visuals of NDRF teams conducting search and rescue operations; Death toll rises to 24. pic.twitter.com/DX7zkHwLpx  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

PM has approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of those deceased in the unfortunate boat tragedy in Bihar.  PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 15, 2017

PM has approved Rs. 50,000 for those seriously injured in the boat tragedy in Bihar.  PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 15, 2017

The rescue operation in the Patna boat tragedy  which killed at least 24 people and left many missing - resumed on Sunday.Around 50 people were said to be onboard the ill fated boat."FIR lodged against boat operator in Sonpur Police Station. The operation was halted last night due to poor visibility but it was resumed in the morning. The death toll might increase," DIG Shaleen told CNN-News 18."It is a very sad incident and we are working effectively to bring the situation under control," he added.DG NDRF, RK Pachnanda, said, "More than 21 bodies have been recovered so far, search and rescue operations underway. Three NDRF teams are at the spot."The incident took place around 6pm, when the boat was returning from a kite flying festival that was organised in an island in the middle of the river (near Sambalpur diara) as part of Makar Sankranti celebration.Multiple rescue teams of NDRF, SDRF, and police officials cordoned off the area and the divers have been pressed in to action to fish out more bodies. Preliminary inquiry revealed that the boat appeared was over crowded.Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar expressed grief and asked the officials to fasten the rescue operations. He has announced compensation of Rs 4 lakh to the family of each person who have lost their live in the incident.The incident happened due to poor management by the state government, said Union Minister Radha Mohan Singh on Bihar Boat Tragedy.Meanwhile, PM Modi has announced ex-gratia from PMNRF of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased and Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured in the boat tragedy.
Kanpur: In wake of the recent train accidents, the railways has instructed its officials, especially those posted in places that experience intense cold conditions, to inspect the tracks at 3 in the morning.



The drive is being conducted from January 5 to February 5 to inspect tracks for fractures and other anomalies that become the root cause of train accidents, said AK Mittal, Chairman Railway Board.



Railway officers and workers are able to detect 95 per cent of rail fractures but the rest 5 percent that remains undetected trigger such accidents, he said.



Maximum fractures take place between 3 and 4 in the morning when the temperature is the lowest, he said, adding, rail officials in NCR and all over the country have been asked to carry out the inspection of tracks.



Holding increasing rail traffic responsible for frequent train accidents in the recent past, Mittal said that the traffic near North Central Railway's Kanpur region and on Delhi-Howrah route is 150 per cent more than its capacity.



The surge in rail traffic is expected to come under control only after 2019 when the Dedicated Freight Corridor will be ready, he said.



Mittal, who was in Kanpur today, reviewed the accident spot in Pukhrayan where Indore-Patna Express derailed on November 20, which claimed more than 150 lives and left many injured.



While talking to media persons after inspection, he said that only a detailed investigation will explain the reason behind three major train accidents in last two months near Kanpur.



He was referring to December 28 Sealdah-Ajmer Express derailment near Rura Railway Station and January 12 goods train derailment near Unnao in UP, besides the Pukhrayan case.



"Now railway cannot cut down on a number of trains but cautious steps can be taken in the direction of avoiding such mishaps. Railway board is planning to purchase modern equipment including 'Mobile Ultrasonic Vans' to check any anomaly on the tracks," he said.


New Delhi: Rajeev Singh, Member (Finance) in Prasar Bharati Board, will take charge as interim CEO of the public broadcaster after S C Panda retires in February.



The previous CEO Jawhar Sircar had quit in October last year, a few months before his tenure was due to end, following which Panda, who is Member (Personnel), was made the acting CEO. However, Panda is also due to retire in February.



The issue of vacancies arising due to Panda's retirement was discussed in a meeting headed by Prasar Bharati chairman A Surya Prakash in Hyderabad yesterday, sources said.



"In a key decision, the public broadcaster decided that its Member Finance Rajeev Singh will take over as interim CEO, after the present incumbent S C Panda retires in February," a source told PTI.



The sources said that a need for felt for expeditious appointment of the two top posts of the CEO and well as Member (Personnel).



It is learnt that the I&B ministry had issued an advertisement for the post of Member Personnel and received several names.



The process of finding a CEO for the board which oversees the country's public broadcasters All India Radio and Doordarshan is also underway, it is learnt.



The sources also said that the Prasar Bharati Board meeting being held in Hyderabad was also unique as these meetings are generally held in Delhi itself.



"There have been no instances, at least in the recent past, of a Prasar Bharati meetings being held away from Delhi. However since the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) Dance Festival, which is a mega event, is being held in Hyderabad, the city was chosen for the meeting of the board," a source said.








New Delhi: India remains committed to open trade barriers Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das has said but warned e-commerce giant Amazon against being "flippant" on national symbols and icons.



"Remain committed to economic reforms, ease of doing business & open trade. Sometimes get touchy when our icons are involved," Das tweeted on Sunday hours after he hit out against the company for selling flip-flops with the image of Mahatma Gandhi.



Last week, after a strong protest by India over Amazon selling doormats depicting Indian flag, the e-retail giant removed the offensive article from its Canadian website.



The e-commerce company reportedly has yet again put up another product which is objectionable and hurts Indian sentiments.



Earlier in the day, Das in his personal capacity tweeted as Indian citizen that Amazon should desist from being flippant about Indian symbols and icons.



"Amazon, better behave. Desist from being flippant about? Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril," he tweeted.



"Comment on Amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it," Das said in another tweet.



(With PTI inputs)
New Delhi: Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans who take to social media to express their complaints could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.



He also said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, "we want to restore peace on the Line of Control".



"But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," he asserted.



The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.



"If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," Gen Rawat said.



"Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that)," he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.



"It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border," he said.



On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.



"Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts," he said.
My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly: PM @narendramodi  PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 15, 2017

: At least six pilgrims, all women, have reportedly died and several injured in a stampede at Gangasagar Fair in West Bengal, a minister said."Six aged women died at Kachuberia temporary hospital due to heart attack. They had fallen senseless due to suffocation," Manturam Pakhira, state Sundarbans development minister, told IANS over phone.The pilgrims were said to be on their way back and waiting for a ferry. The ferry operations were on a halt due to high tide for a couple of hours. As a result of this delay, the crowd at Kachuberia jetty number 5 (South24 Parganas) increased and the excessive pressure by the crowd led to a stampede."The mishap occurred as the pilgrims got imapatient due to the long queue at jetty number five in Kachuberi and tried to outdo others in boarding the vessel," the minister added.The stampede occured at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said, adding, all of them were middle aged.A search has been launched by naval divers to find out anybody who might have fallen into Buriganga river during the stampede, they added.Those injured were quickly taken to the nearby hospital.The Gangasagar Mela is the annual gathering of Hindu pilgrims to take a holy dip in the Ganga before the river merges into the Bay of Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Sagar Island or Sagardwip in West Bengal.At least 16 lakh had pilgrims gathered to take the holy dip at Gangasagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti on Saturday and offered puja at the Kapil Muni temple, West Bengal Panchayat and Rural Development Minister Subrata Mukherjee had said on Saturday.Expressing grief on the tragic death of 6 women in West Bengal, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday took to Twitter and said, "Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased...My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly."PM Modi also approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede in West Bengal.(With Agency Inputs)
At 0700 hours, December 5, 1971, men of the Desert Scorpions (10 Para Commandos) come under intense medium machine gun (MMG) fire from gun positions on top of sand dunes at Kita about 70 km into enemy territory. The Jeep/Jonga-borne commandos take defence positions in the shadow of the night. As they look for options, one Jeep rushes towards the enemy without a care for personal safety, firing at the enemy position. Naik Nihal Singh has opened up his light machine gun (LMG) mounted on his Jeep. The darkness acts as cover, the enemy only has the machine gun burst to aim at. This audacious charge gives the other teams time to start firing  18 LMGs open up and in a few hours, the enemy positions are overrun, the survivors abandon the posts and escape.This was the start to one of the most audacious commando missions in the world undertaken by the Indian Armys Para Commandos. Inspired by the British SAS raid behind enemy lines at a German airfield in Fuka, Lybia during the Second World War, this successful operation established the Indian Armys dominance in the desert during the 1971 war.This operation was led by Lt Col Bhawani Singh. For four days, the battalion infiltrated deep inside enemy territory and carried out raids on enemy positions at Chachro and Virwah. Lt Col Singh was awarded the Mahavir Chakra for his leadership and courage.Two teams  Alpha and Charlie  were trained for five months in desert warfare. A young commando battalion was entrusted with the crucial mission just five years after its formation in 1967. The objectives were to strike enemy positions 80 km inside their territory, hit their supply lines and create confusion. To complete their mission, the teams travelled over 500 km inside enemy territory, hitting various enemy positions despite having little knowledge of the terrain and the challenges that lay ahead.Ginger up the enemy was the theme used by Lt Col Singh, who rose to be a brigadier and one of the most decorated officers in the Indian Army. He was the first to be called after retirement to boost the morale of his unit in Sri Lanka.The team moved slowly through inhospitable terrain only by night. Brigadier Abraham Chacko was a Second Lieutenant then assigned to the Alpha team, the strike team that hit the Wing headquarters of the Pakistani Rangers in Chachro. Their mission  to create chaos and take vital ascents 80 km into enemy territory.The route was so bad that all silencers of our Jeeps/Jongas made us sound like a full-tank battalion moving into Pakistan, remembers Brigadier Chacko. The racket not a positive for commando raid, which relies on stealth and silence. This, however, came out as an advantage for this group as the enemy abandoned positions at several locations thinking that this was indeed a tank column moving.After the Kita firefight, a small patrol was tasked with route clearance till the wing headquarters at Chachro. This team moved in the night and gave a clearance to attack at 0400 hours on December 7. Alpha team took positions around town blocking every exit point, ready to provide cover fire. Charlie team moved in for the offensive at dawn. The operation was a risky one as the town had many civilians. The fear of collateral damage kept the teams on their toes. They could not risk hostile civilians so deep into enemy territory. The teams moved in swiftly and by first light the town had been taken.The commandos moved on, their mission was only half complete. The town was handed over to 20 Rajput which counted 17 Pakistani casualties and took 12 prisoners. Such was the planning that the raiding team suffered no casualties. After the Chachro operation, Charlie team exfiltrated while the Alpha team moved towards its second target.For the first raid on Chachro, the team moved only at night to stay undetected, but during the Virawah raid, they moved by day because of paucity of time. This was done at high risk. The team started its assault on Virawah at 0200 hours on December 8. The first contact with the enemy was at an observation post at 0130 hours. I signalled the Jongas to stop when we noticed movement in the bushes about 25 yards away. A small patrol led by me was formed. Closer to the observation post, I lobbed the grenade and charged. We got into hand to hand combat with the enemy, remembers Col MPS Choudhary, who led one group of commandos in the attack. As they approached the Rangers camp, the latter fired in panic but in the opposite direction. The commandos opened up the camp with motor fire followed by 12 light machine guns. The assault did not last long. The Rangers fled their positions. Virawah was taken.The commandos then moved into Nagarparkar and the tehsil headquarter was taken over without much difficulty by the first light of December 8. The teams were back to their bases after this operation.Alpha group did not get much time to rest. They were reassigned immediately to another mission. This was an attack on a suspected ammunition dump in Islamkot. The group entered Pakistan again and reached Sundegaon by 1900 hours on December 16. The village was empty. In the shadow of the night, they moved towards Islamkot and waited just 2 km east of the enemy camp. At 0530 hours, they launched their assault but found the camp empty.On their way back from the mission is when they faced the enemy again. On our way back after handing over Islamkot, leading Jeep with Captain Das saw dust raised by moving vehicles. We immediately fanned out and went into ambush. Other teams joined in and we opened fire. I think 18-20 enemy soldiers were killed on the spot and rest were taken prisoners of war, remembers Col MPS Chaudhary.A look at enemy casualty and prisoners of war taken:Killed - 17Prisoners of War - 12Killed - 19Prisoners of War - 10.30 MMG with tripod - 01.303 Rifles - 26.303 LMG - 01Sten machine carbine - 01Pistols - 02.303 ammunition - 10,000 roundsRifle and LMG magazines - 44Bayonets - 20Double-barrel gun - 01Medium-sized truck - 01Hand grenades - 03The commandos trained from June to November for the assaultJongas and Jeeps were modified to hold guns and all provisions for the missionThe unit had Khoja Rajputs in the ranks who knew the terrain wellThe team lead by Brigadier Swai Bhawani Singh, who was the Maharaja of Jaipur and knew the area, was lovingly called Tiger by his men for his leadership skillsThe commandos were trained in repairing Jeeps and Jongas
Talwandi Sabo: Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh on Sunday said the Badals "will not be spared" for registering "false cases" against people during their 10-year tenure and that he would "teach them a lesson" for allegedly looting the state.



"The Badal family, and their cronies such as local Akali MLA Jeet Mohinder Singh Sidhu, involved in registration of false cases against innocent people, will not be spared," he said.



Amarinder claimed that all the "5 lakh false cases" registered by the Badal family against its political opponents would be investigated again by his government on assuming power and he would ensure that the local MLA, who had left Congress for "personal gains", suffers for his "misdeeds".



Exhorting people to vote for Khushbaj Singh Jatana, the Congress candidate from the assembly segment, he assured them that his party is committed to "setting right all the wrongs done by the Badal family".



Referring to SAD president Sukhbir Singh Badal's 'Sukhvilas', a hotel-cum-resort which reportedly charges around Rs 5 lakh per night, as an example of "loot", Amarinder alleged, "The Badals are only interested in promoting their family interests and are not concerned about the welfare of Punjab."



"I will punish the Akalis for what they have done to the state. I will make sure that every one of them, including the Badals, is punished for destroying the youth of Punjab with drugs and for exploiting the state's financial and other resources through other mafias such as sand, land, cable TV," the state Congress chief said.



Asking people not to get carried away by the "false promises" of AAP national convener Arvind Kejriwal, Amarinder claimed, "The Delhi Chief Minister wants to capture power in Punjab by hook or by crook."



"AAP has no concern for the people of Punjab. They have been bringing supporters from other states to take forward their political and electoral agenda," he alleged.



"Punjab belongs to Punjabis, with no place for outsiders who are here only to loot the state and its people," Amarinder said.
Patna: BJP leader Sushil Modi on Sunday alleged that "negligence" of Bihar government led to the boat capsize that claimed 24 lives and said Chief Minister Nitish Kumar should take responsibility for the tragedy.



He also demanded that the state government postpone the proposed human chain on January 21 in support of prohibition in the wake of the boat disaster.



"The Chief Minister should take responsibility for the negligence that led to yesterday's tragic incident... If the CM can take credit for the arrangements for Prakashotsav (in Patna) and Kalchakra (in Bodhgaya), then he should also take the responsibility of the death of 24 people," Sushil Modi said here.



"It cannot be that Kumar would get credit for good administrative arrangements for 'Prakashotsav' and 'Kalchakra' while the administrative officers are held responsible for failures," he said.



Questioning the arrangements for the kite festival by the tourism department on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Sabbalpur diara, the BJP leader said, it was neither reviewed by the Chief Minister nor by Deputy Chief Minister Tejashwi Prasad Yadav who is the district's in-charge minister.



On the other hand, the government had spent Rs 200 crore on 'Prakashotsav' which was reviewed by the Chief Minister himself and top officials regularly, Sushil Modi said.



Around one lakh people had gathered at the kite flying site on the state government's promise to ferry them free of charge to the spot, he said, adding, "The people had to pay with their lives for the government's poor and inadequate arrangements on their return journey."



Asked whether he would seek the Chief Minister's resignation, the BJP leader said, "It is up to him (Kumar) to decide. We have pointed out the failures and negligence of the state government."



Alleging that the government was responsible for similar incidents in the past, he said, "The government did not learn any lesson from the two major incidents of Chhath and Dussehra when 22 and 33 people died respectively... The government does not know crowd control techniques."



"It has become a norm that the administration wakes up from deep slumber after every major incident," Sushil Modi claimed.



Questioning why all district administration officials were at RJD chief Lalu Prasad's residence, he said, "Probably they were there to receive the Chief Minister."



Now the government is trying to divert people's attention from the actual reason of the incident by saying people came in large numbers to see a 'Disneyland' fair, which is yet to start, the BJP leader said.
Technology has revamped the way elections are held in India, and Akhilesh Yadav is all set to tap into this advancement to monitor the moves of his party men.With the 'Samajwadi Akhilesh' app, which party workers were told to install a few months ago, the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister can track the location of the user, helping him keep a watch on their activities.The app was developed to popularise the Samajwadi Partys development and welfare schemes but never got a formal launch. The 3.2MB app is available on Android and iOS platforms.The app requires a set of permissions to install and the users GPS location is one of them. In simple terms, the app administrator or developer can track the user at any time.Speaking to ETV, software engineer Anoop Mishra says, "When you install the app, you will be asked for certain permissions, which include permission for GPS access. It means the developer or the admin can track the user of the app, without his or her knowledge.Chaudhary Farzan Usmani, a youth leader of the Samajwadi Party from Barabanki, says, A few months ago, we were asked to install the 'Samajwadi Akhilesh' app on our phones. We were told that this app would update us with the latest news on Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav and the Samajwadi Party."
captain morgan said: Dogs are better people than Democrats... And they don't whine and moan when they lose something Click to expand...

Danbones said: well, the russians can bomb the us with all the uranium hildebeast approved to be sold to them as secretary of state Click to expand...

Mine watches me when I sweep the floor so I don't throw out anything of hers. She picks it up herself shout there be something in there. I take that to mean she would miss it at some point. Democon the other hand are quite without a real soul.Was that just to make a buck? I thought Russia has access to lots of that material. Russia isn't interested in bombing or even trading with us. What they want is the US (and Canada) to quit interfering in the business dealings they will have with other nations. The US has a habit of punishing nations that don't let the US call the shots., that only works for a short time.Say Trump didn't get the auto industry back and the US was put under sanctions that included a ban on vehicles. What would 'we' do then?? The answer is found by looking a Cuba after the sanctions came in. Manual labor was not a goal of Castro, it became a way of life because no spare parts were coming in to keep the machines running. Machines purchased from the US originally so if that is their way of doing business why would another producer not be chosen so spare parts would never be used as a threat.
Beijing: Beijing on Saturday warned the US that the One China policy was non-negotiable, after Donald Trump suggested he could abandon the decades-old diplomatic principle and boost ties with Taiwan.



"It is not up for negotiation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.



"There is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable region of China, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China."



Trump has threatened to get tough with what he sees as unfair Chinese trade practices, and suggested that the One China policy could become a bargaining chip.



"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.



Trump has already irked China by accepting a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen after he won the presidential election, upending decades of diplomatic precedent in which the White House has foregone direct communication with the leader of Taiwan.



Beijing considers the island to be a breakaway province to be brought back within its fold, by force if necessary.



"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the extreme sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and to respect commitments made by previous American governments (and) avoid undermining the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations," Lu Kang added.



Beijing first warned the US president elect on the issue in December, after the billionaire businessman said he did not see why Washington must "be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade".



The Asian giant said it could back "forces hostile to the US" if Trump followed through with his threats.



Trump also defended his controversial call with President Tsai in his interview with the Journal.



"We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we're not allowed to accept a phone call" he said.
London: British Prime Minister Theresa May will target a clean divorce from the EU when she sets out her Brexit plans in a major speech this week, newspapers reported Sunday.



In Tuesday's address, she will call for Britain to unite and get behind Brexit, pleading for an end to the "insults" and rancour between Leavers and Remainers, her Downing Street office said.



But newspapers said she would be laying out the path towards a "hard Brexit" -- a strategy likely to infuriate embittered Remain voters even more.



May will spark two years of Brexit negotiations when she triggers the Article 50 departure process by the end of March.



She has been under pressure to reveal her strategy for the talks that will set out the future relationship between Britain and the European Union.



Downing Street would not be drawn on matching reports in several newspapers that she was targeting a "hard Brexit" -- pulling of the single market, the European customs union and the European Court of Justice, in order to regain control of EU immigration.



- 'Triple Brexit blast' -

The Sunday Times said May would announce that Britain is seeking a "clean and hard Brexit", citing the above points.



"May's triple Brexit blast" was how The Sun put it, saying May will "show she means business by announcing a triple whammy departure from the EU".



The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying: "She's gone for the full works. People will know when she said 'Brexit means Brexit', she really meant it."



Downing Street would only say the speech would call on Britain to "set aside old divisions, and unite to make a success of Brexit".



While the June referendum on Britain's EU membership split the country -- the Leave campaign won with a 52 percent majority -- most Britons share a vision of a future Britain that is "secure, prosperous, outward-looking and tolerant", said Downing Street.



"Setting out the government's plan for the Brexit negotiations, the PM will highlight the importance of building on common goals -- such as protecting and enhancing workers' rights -- and focusing on a positive vision of Britain outside the EU."



May has revealed little so far on her negotiating position, but has been clear she wants control over immigration from EU countries -- a major issue in the referendum.



- Stop the 'insults' plea -

May -- who gave lukewarm backing to the Remain campaign -- was to call on all sides to respect the referendum outcome.



However people voted, the public and parliament want the government to "get on with it", while business was planning to make the best of Brexit, she was to say, according to Downing Street.



"Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it -- Leaver and Remainer and all the accompanying insults -- and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly global Britain," May was to say.



The speech will take place at Lancaster House, a central London mansion used by the Foreign Office for glitzy diplomatic occasions.



The audience will be comprised of foreign ambassadors, Britain's Brexit negotiating team and other senior officials involved in the EU departure process.



Meanwhile Brexit Secretary David Davis indicated that Britain would consider a transitional arrangement in the divorce talks.



"If it proves necessary, we have said we will consider time for implementation of new arrangements," he wrote in The Sunday Times.



"We don't want the EU to fail, we want it to prosper politically and economically, and we need to persuade our allies that a strong new partnership with the UK will help the EU to do that," he added.



The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned Saturday the bloc must be aware of the risk to financial stability during what are expected to be very tough talks with Britain.
Karachi: China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.



China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.



The Gwadar port in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.



The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.



Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.



A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.



Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.



"The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.



He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.



The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.



China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPEC's land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.



Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army's new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.



In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.



China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.



The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU.








Paris: France warned of "serious consequences" on Sunday if Donald Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital as representatives from 70 countries met in Paris to try to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.



Neither Israel nor the Palestinians are attending the conference, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed as "futile".



France called the gathering to reaffirm global support for a two-state solution to the seven-decade-old conflict, seen as increasingly reclusive.



The Palestinians have warned that Trump's campaign pledge to move the US embassy to the contested city of Jerusalem could torpedo their chances of obtaining an independent state. French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned such a move would have "extremely serious consequences" and predicted the incoming US leader would find it impossible to implement.



"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," he told France 3 TV.



The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.



The status of the city is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.



President Francois Hollande told the gathering that the prospect of two independent states coexisting side-by-side was "not the dream of Saturday's system".



"It remains the goal of the entire international community for the future," Hollande said. Netanyahu, who insists only direct talks with the Palestinians can bring peace, has dismissed the Paris meeting as "a last gasp of the past".



Today, he called it a "futile" exercise aimed at "imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs".



Both Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas have been invited to meet with Hollande to discuss the conclusions of the Paris talks.



Abbas is expected to travel to Paris in the coming weeks but Netanyahu has rejected the offer, French diplomats said. The conference is mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as US president.



Trump has said "there's nobody more pro-Israeli than I am" and his choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a hardliner who says he looks forward to working from "Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem".


Panama City: Most EU visitor visas will no longer be accepted for entry into Panama under a new decree highlighting a general tightening of migration restrictions in Central America.



The sudden change in policy, reported in Panamanian media Saturday, comes a month after a similar step in neighboring Costa Rica.



Both countries will continue to accept visitor visas issued by the United States, as well as those issued by Britain, which is outside the EU's visa-free internal Schengen zone and which is due to soon leave the European Union entirely.



The moves however do not affect most European citizens, who are able to enter both Central American countries without visas for short stays. Americans can also visit visa-free.



Under the decree signed in Panama by President Juan Carlos Varela on December 28, a previous measure which allowed visitors with a multiple-entry EU visa to also use it to enter Panama was scrapped. EU residency was also insufficient to enter.



- Panama, a flight hub -



The new decree says tourists requiring a visa to Panama must have a Panamanian visa, or residency or a multiple-entry visa valid for more than a year from Australia, Britain, Canada or the United States.



Panama said the change was made to better focus resources and to boost checks on nationalities that have "the biggest incidence on the security index" in the country.



It was not clear if the policy change had been communicated in advance to EU embassies in Panama, a Latin American flight hub where many planes from Europe land.



In Costa Rica, the French embassy said neither it nor the EU diplomatic mission in the country had been notified ahead of a December 13 change of policy in that country getting rid of entry for holders of EU Schengen visas.



The tightening visa restrictions in both countries coincides with moves by the United States to tamp down on the flow of migrants through Central America and Mexico to its territory.



On Thursday, US President Barack Obama scrapped a decades-old policy that gave all Cuban migrants near-automatic entry.



The United States has also allocated $750 million in aid to violence-wracked northern Central American countries to improve security and conditions and thus reduce the flow of US-bound migrants.



On Friday, Obama will be succeeded by Donald Trump, whose campaigning included promises of curbing immigration into the United States.
Every year, Lynchburg Animal Control reports two to three cases of dangerous dog-on-dog attacks where one dog is left seriously injured or dead.

This became the sudden and grief-stricken reality for Gail Morrison and her husband, Frank, on Dec. 23 when their 16-year-old bichon frise, Maggie, was attacked and killed by a loose dog in their Greenway Court neighborhood in Lynchburg.

Around 6:15 a.m., Maggies dog walker took her out for a quick stroll around the neighborhood. A medium-sized brown dog  unleashed and unsupervised  came up and bit Maggie on the neck, according to Morrison.

She [the walker] was heroic, that is the word that keeps coming to mind, she said.

Since it was still dark outside, the walker could not determine whether the dog wore a collar.

The walker immediately picked Maggie up and ran back to the house, about a half block away, and rushed the dog to Animal Emergency & Critical Care of Lynchburg.

Maggies neck was broken in two places, and she was declared dead.

Morrison has notified most of her neighbors of the incident, and Animal Control has interviewed a few of those who have dogs. None of the dogs matched the description of the one that attacked Maggie.

As of Friday, the attacking dog has yet to be found, and Morrison said she knows it probably never will be.

Morrison did not identify the walker, who said she has been traumatized by the incident.

Maggie was a part of the family, and Morrison is finding it hard to break her routine. Shes used to greeting Maggie when she gets home, taking her out to go to the bathroom and giving her food and treats.

As you can imagine, dogs are like spirits and people in the house, and as we came home, she would greet us, Morrison said last week. And shes not there. Its just this endless dread. Life after Maggie  how are we going to deal with it?

She said grieving is a process that needs to continue further down the road before the couple decides whether to adopt another dog.

Its really removed, not only the schedule, but also the caring, nurturing relationship we had established, Morrison said. There was no progression of her leaving. I call it a family tragedy.

Now Morrison wants to raise awareness in the community about the citys leash law.

The law states owners are prohibited from allowing dogs to run at large within the city even if the dog is lawfully licensed and vaccinated. The police, or Animal Control, are responsible for seizing and impounding any dog found running at large.

If the dog is not on a leash, it must respond to voice control, meaning it will obey if called, said Danny Marks, Lynchburgs deputy animal control warden.

He said the department gets at least one or two calls per day regarding dogs running loose.

We get calls all day long, he said. A lot of times, when we get there, the dog is gone, and we cant find it.

In 2016, there were 698 calls for dogs running without a leash or owner. There were 740 in 2015.

But those numbers only are the number of reports made  not necessarily the number of animals that Animal Control dealt with.

Unleashed dog calls are one of the most common calls the department receives, Marks said.

The fine for not having a dog on its leash is about $35 with a $60 court cost, Marks said.

Marks said the leash law has been in effect since at least 1984 when he joined the Lynchburg Police Department, where he served as an officer until joining Animal Control three years ago.

I would imagine it was put into place because of peoples dogs running loose, he said. The city is more congested than the county, and Im sure there were complaints to City Council.

If a dog attacks another dog, animal control will try and locate the attacking dog. If it is found, the case goes before a judge, who determines if the dog is dangerous or not.

If it is deemed dangerous, the owner has the option of keeping the dog but must have the dog microchipped, spayed or neutered and confined at all times, and when on a leash, the dog must be muzzled. The dog also must be registered with the city and up to date on rabies vaccinations. The owner must have at least a $100,000 insurance policy in case the dog bites again and must post a dangerous dog sign on their property.

If the owner doesnt want to keep the dog, it will be euthanized.

All dogs have different personalities, Marks said. Some have friendly personalities; some are animal-aggressive, where people can pet it all day, and you walk a dog in front of it and it wants to attack it.

Some dogs are people-aggressive.

I dont know what this girl [the walker] could have done differently, he said. She was abiding by the law and did everything she could. Its just a shame that something like that happened. I feel for Mrs. Morrison; a family pet like that is such a loss.

Stevie Dovel, a local dog sitter, worries about disasters like this.

Im not afraid, but Im careful and always aware of my surroundings, she said. I dont know of anyone who could be prepared for a tragedy such as little Maggies.

Campbell County has had at least two reports of dog-on-dog attacks this month.

Benny David, an animal control in Campbell County, said as of Tuesday the animal control department had one dangerous dog situation Jan. 6 and another Jan. 9. The dogs attacked in both situations were killed by the dangerous dogs.

He said the department sees about two cases per month of dog-on-dog attacks and at least one per month of a person being bitten by a dog.

The county doesnt have a leash law except in parts of the town of Altavista and in the Timberlake area.

We are kind of unique. We have a trespass ordinance, so while there isnt a leash law in Campbell County, if a homeowner tells the owner of an animal they dont want it on their property, and it trespasses, the animal owner can go to court, David said.

He said for most people in Campbell, the hardest part of having a dangerous dog is the $100,000 insurance policy.

Once the insurance company finds out, they send the owner a cancellation notice. They have to find a new insurance policy or get rid of the dog, he said.

If the dog bites or attacks again, the owner is at risk of serving jail time, David said.

A lot of citizens like to have their dogs run around, and if they arent doing anything wrong, theres no problem with it, he said.

Morrison said she thinks people are too blase about the law, and it must be taken more seriously.

Everyone thinks their dog would never run off, but people need to realize how serious it is, and the repercussions can be disastrous, but the benefits are so great, she said.

The law helps to protect families and children, she said.

It protects the dog, other wildlife, dog owners and the dog. Its the kindest thing you can do for your pet, she said.

She said dog owners bear the responsibility for being good citizens and doing the right thing.

Many people have lost pets, and our grief is no different from others, she said. The way [Maggie] died was horrific, and if theres any good use that her situation can serve, its to remind us all of the leash law, being vigilant of watching for stray dogs or dogs off leash or dogs that dont have an owner with them  if it can make the community more vigilant and responsible.

Judy Lee, a neighbor of the Morrisons who lives a street away on Greenway Place, said she had a similar experience while living in Canada.

She also owned a bichon frise, named Preston, who was attacked by a golden retriever. Fortunately, when the dog attacked, the dog walker was able to rescue Preston before any serious damage was done.

She was convinced the dog would have killed Preston, Lee said. The dog had a death grip on his throat.

She now has two other bichon frises named Lily and Sophie and said after hearing about Maggie, she and her husband, Doug, both have vowed only to walk their dogs in the daylight after dawn and before dusk.

We are 100 percent supportive of the leash law, she said. We really support responsible pet ownership across the board. If you cant afford a pet, dont get one. There are a lot of responsibilities that go along with pet ownership, and one of those is keeping your dog on a leash. All life is sacred, and we have to treat all animals with respect and care.
Citing a rise in hate crimes, Attorney General Mark R. Herring joined with religious leaders and several Democratic lawmakers Friday to call for new laws and announce the website NoHateVA.com.

FBI statistics show 155 hate crimes in Virginia in 2015, a 21 percent increase from the year before, Herring said at a news conference at his office.

No one in Virginia should be singled out for abuse, harassment, discrimination or violence. And we will not tolerate racial or religious discrimination, he said.

The Democrat, elected in 2013 and running for re-election this year, said he is concerned about whether we will still be able to count on Washington to protect us under the Trump administration.

There are a lot of people out there who are more than concerned. Theyre scared. They fear for the safety of their families. They wonder whether they still have a place in this country, and who they can count on to stand up for them and protect them.

On numerous occasions, Herring has expressed concerns about anti-Muslim rhetoric during and after last years presidential race. Hes joined events at the All Dulles Area Muslim Society near his home in Loudoun County to promote tolerance.

Imad Damaj, president of the Virginia Muslim Coalition for Public Affairs, said anxieties for many in minority communities have turned to reality. Public statements and media interviews are not enough to address this issue. Thats why we must act more forcefully and make combating this crime and discrimination a much higher priority, he said.

The website includes data on hate crimes and resources for the public.

The legislation includes a proposal to give the attorney generals office power to prosecute hate crimes through multijurisdictional grand juries.

Herring also said he will support legislation to update Virginias definition of a hate crime to include disability, gender, gender identity and sexual orientation. Virginia State Police already keep track of such hate crimes, but a bill by Del. Richard C. Rip Sullivan Jr., D-Fairfax, would add sexual orientation and gender identification to state law.

Chris West, a spokesman for House Republicans, said by email they believe that all criminals should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law, no matter who the crime is committed against. The proposed ideas will get a full hearing where the merits of the legislation will be debated and discussed.
You won't notice it but next Friday, right in the middle of the presidential inauguration of Donald J. Trump, the general officer who commands the D.C. National Guard troops that will be guarding the festivities will be stepping down.Major General Errol Schwartz is a political appointee and as such had submitted his resignation. Traditionally most such resignations are not acted on immediately. But the Trump transition team is making a point of "cleaning house" in this manner. That's why the man who has been the volunteer voice of inaugurations for decades was replaced by a Trump supporter. It is why all of this nation's ambassadors will be gone from their embassies on Inauguration Day.Meanwhile, the people Trump is putting into positions of power are exactly the type he promised to drain from the "swamp" of Washington, D.C. General Schwartz received his commission as an Army Guard officer over 30 years ago.* * *The city of Biloxi, Mississippi is under attack because it sent out a tweet from its official account regarding the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. holiday that read as follows:Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans Day,Non-emergency municipal offices in Biloxi will be closed on Monday in observance of Great Americans DayBiloxi is a city with an economy that depends on its tourism business as the home of a number of hotel/casinos on the Gulf Coast. The tweet's title for the official holiday dates back to 1985 when the City Council issued a proclamation giving the holiday that label.Not smart.* * *Martin Shkreli is best known for his decision to raise the price of a drug astronomically after he purchased Turing Pharmaceuticals. Currently he is out on bail while awaiting trial on federal securities fraud charges.He was slated to be a special guest at UC Davis as part of a tour by alt-right darling Milo Yiannopoulos. The appearance was met with a large protest and had to be canceled but Shkreli decided to hang out. That's what he was pelted in the face with what some say was dog poop.That's news in and of itself. But what really caught my eye was the TMZ.com version of the story, where they got his name right but blamed him for the dramatic increase in the cost of the Epi-Pen. Just in case they catch their error and fix it, here's the text:has taken a lot of crap for raising the price of EpiPen ... and now that's happened literally."* * ** * *Caitlyn Jenner is going to attend the Trump inauguration. She used social media to send out a photo of her recent 24 karat gold facial.She's being criticized for going to the inauguration in light of the view of the President-Elect and his supporters on LGBTQ rights. Jennifer Holliday recently canceled her appearance there for precisely this reason. Marie Osmond and R. Kelly are also not going to be performing there.* * *
Beverly E. Bates, Mary Baldwin Class of 1964, recalled how her classmates "got all in a twit" when her alma mater launched a coed adult degree program in the 1970s.

But that was the kind of innovation she has been proud to see, said Bates, who followed her mother and grandmother to the then strictly female school in Staunton.

"I think we have to continue to evolve," she said. "I think we cannot stand still. If we do, we will disappear."

Bates was among about 40 people who turned out Wednesday night for Mary Baldwin University President Pamela Fox's "listening tour" - called as the result of the uproar over the latest planned innovation.

At the session at the Richmond Omni, Fox heard impassioned pleas that the decision to allow men to live on campus would destroy the very thing that made Mary Baldwin so special to them.

The alumnae said they were blindsided by the university's announcement in November that it will open a coeducational residence hall in the fall as part of new "living-learning" programs offering three-year degrees.

The new programs will help support the College for Women, whose enrollment is not sustainable, Fox told the group. The college has 100 fewer students than its fall 2013 enrollment of 753, which was determined to be the baseline minimum for the program.

Amy Dancy, a 2016 graduate, asked for more time to explore options to broaden the pool of admitted women "instead of allowing men in" to reach "that vital statistic."

"Now that all of us as alum have this information and knowledge and can support you," she said, "we can finally all work as a team."

Dancy attended the session with a group formed since the announcement called Boldly Baldwin, which is proposing to raise funds in much the same way alumnae banded together to keep Sweet Briar College from closing.

But Fox, who was joined by Jane Harding Miller, chair of the board of trustees, defended the decision if not the way the announcement was handled.

"We want to move forward together," Fox said.

The listening tour is part of that effort and will culminate Feb. 4 in a campus summit, where she said alumnae will get more details about the school's finances.

Mary Baldwin, which became a university this year at its 175th anniversary, is tuition and enrollment dependent, she said.

Total enrollment, including for the existing coed nonresidential programs, is 1,761, short of the necessary target of between 2,250 and 2,500 students, she said. In addition to adult degree and graduate programs, MBU also is home to the Virginia Women's Institute for Leadership, an all-female corps of cadets.

"We must adjust now and we must do it quickly or Mary Baldwin faces an existential threat," Fox said.

Miller said that 11 years ago within 125 miles of Staunton, 3,700 women were enrolled in single-sex programs. Today, about 1,600 are enrolled in Virginia's three women's colleges, which have the capacity for 2,400 students, she said.

In 2007, Randolph-Macon Womans College changed its name to Randolph College and began admitting men.

Mary Baldwin's board "considered full Randolph-Macon style coed," Miller said, "and the board did not want to do that."

Of 38 remaining women's colleges in the U.S., she said, three are in Virginia, including Sweet Briar and Hollins University.

Wendy McEntee, who graduated in 1997, said she felt "disenfranchised" by all the new programs that were supplanting the original residential college. She also raised concerns about the lack of professionalism she has noticed in mailings.

"I feel like in a lot of ways we're unraveling," she said.

Others at the session also criticized fundraising and recruitment initiatives, with several saying they had to contact Mary Baldwin in order to give.

But for Caroline Smyth, it was the opposite.

"I'm constantly asked for money," Smyth, a 1989 graduate, said. "I was never told that you needed students."

She suggested the administration give alumnae the tools they could use to take into their communities to help with recruiting efforts.

Hearing about all the changes since she graduated, Smyth said, "I don't know Mary Baldwin anymore."
Virginia saw an unprecedented increase in babies born with exposure to dangerous drugs in 2016, state health officials told a panel of lawmakers Thursday morning.

The number of children exposed to drugs in utero increased 21 percent to 1,334 in fiscal year 2016, said Carl Ayers, director of the Division of Family Services in the Department of Social Services.

These are the innocent bystanders, Ayers told the Joint House Committee on Health, Welfare and Institutions and Senate Committee on Education and Health.

Of the ones who were born with drug exposure, seven later died because of a lack of care in their homes, Ayers said. Eighty of the babies were placed in foster care in the first six months of the year.

The growing number of babies born with exposure to drugs is just one of many indicators that the opioid epidemic is spreading in Virginia. More people died of overdoses from opioids  a drug type that includes prescription painkillers as well as heroin  in the first nine months of 2016 than in all of 2015, according to Virginia Department of Health data.

Ayers was among nine officials representing myriad agencies who outlined the epidemic and whats being done about it during Thursdays joint committee meeting.

Trying to address this problem is really a multi-faceted approach, and all hands are on deck, Bill Hazel, secretary of health and human resources, told the panel.

Hazel, Ayers and others gave the panel an overview of bills that will be filed to address the problem in the 2017 session of the General Assembly, which started Wednesday.

One bill, for example, would make it easier for the Department of Social Services to identify and support mothers who are abusing drugs.

The number of overdose deaths linked to opioids has been increasing steadily since 2012, when 572 people died.

Through September 2016, there were 822 opioid overdose deaths in Virginia  up from 811 in all of 2015.

More than half of the fatal opioid overdoses in the first nine months of 2016 were caused by fentanyl, a powerful painkiller that now is being manufactured and sold illicitly as a potent alternative to heroin.

Of the 822 people who died in the first nine months of last year, 433 overdosed on fentanyl  a 160.8 percent increase in the number of fatal fentanyl overdoses compared with the same time period in 2015, according to department of health data.

Since the state began tracking opioid deaths in 2007, more than 6,300 people have died. Opioid deaths are the leading cause of accidental death in Virginia and across the nation, killing more people than car crashes.

We are losing a generation of people, Dr. Marissa J. Levine, the state health commissioner, said during the meeting. We are losing them literally by the deaths that youre seeing, and were losing them in many other ways.

The opioid epidemic could create a ripple effect of other public health issues, Levine told the panel. The increased rates of injection drug use in the state could lead to a tsunami of hepatitis C and HIV, she said.

Cases of hepatitis C already have increased, Levine said, largely in the southwestern parts of Virginia. In 2010, the state had 2,800 cases of the virus. In 2015, that number shot up to 8,000.

And many more go unreported, she said. This is a looming issue.

HIV rates have not yet increased to the same degree as hepatitis C, but that likely is because of the two blood-borne pathogens that spread through injections, hepatitis C travels faster.

Levine has spoken in the past in favor of syringe-services programs, which would make clean injection equipment such as needles readily available to counties where the opioid epidemic is strongest. The Virginia Department of Health has put forward legislation that would legalize the program in Virginia.

Other state agencies have taken an interest in preventing Virginia providers from writing opioid prescriptions in the first place.

The Department of Medical Assistance Services  which runs the states Medicaid program  implemented new regulations in 2016 to lower the amount of opioid prescriptions its providers were writing, such as making it easier for them to prescribe drugs other than opioids.

In the three months after those regulations took effect, Medicaid saw a 50 percent drop in the amount of opioid prescriptions physicians were writing, but only a 12 percent decrease in the number of members receiving prescriptions, said Dr. Kate Neuhausen, DMAS chief medical officer.

So this means that prescribers are decreasing the number of pills they prescribe to a member, which lowers the risk of a fatal overdose, not cutting patients off opioids, which could potentially lead to increased use of heroin, Neuhausen said.

David E. Brown, the director of the Department of Health Professions, expanded on numerous bills proposed this session that would address the opioid crisis.

The bills include requiring that all opioid prescriptions be electronic to prevent fraud, placing 3-day limits on opioid prescriptions that originate in emergency rooms and creating peer providers that will allow trained people who have experienced addiction to help recovering addicts.
THE WALL OF SHAME

"The only thing [Trump's] mouth is good for is being Vladimir Putin's c--k holster."

--STEPHEN COLBERT

"[Ivanka Trump] Your father is a racist birther. Steve Bannon an anti-Semitic opportunist. You and your husband are enabling hatred. F--- your shoes."

--BRADLEY WHITFORD

"Melania [Trump] is a hooker."

--JACOB BERNSTEIN

"And my job is to shut other white people down when they want to interrupt."

"We have to, at the DNC, provide training. We have to teach them how to communicate, how to be sensitive, and how to shut their mouths if they're white."

--SALLY BOYNTON BROWN

"And to our detractors that insist that this march will never add up to anything: F--- you! F---you!

"Yes, I have thought an awful lot about blowing up the White House."

--MADONNA

"Barron Trump looks like a very handsome date-rapist-to-be."

--STEPHEN SPINOLA

"Barron [Trump] will be this country's first homeschool shooter."

--KATIE RICH

"Hollywood is crawling with outsiders and foreigners, and if we kick 'em all out, you'll have nothing to watch but football and mixed martial arts, which are not the arts."

--MERYL STREEP

"There's a billion to one chance we're living in base reality."

[That means we're almost positively living in a simulation, like a video game.]

--ELON MUSK

"When I would deny that there was a significant racist component in some of the politics on our side, it was because the people I hung out with were certainly not. When suddenly, this rock is turned over, there is this'Oh shit, did I not see that?'"

----------------------------

"In any other scenario, Hillary Clinton's lying about her emails, and her pay-for-play relationship with the Clinton Foundation would be disqualifying issues. The only reason they're not disqualifying is because Donald Trump is a fundamentally more repellent, dishonest figure."

--CHARLIE SYKES

"I made a mistake in recalling the events of twelve years ago... I said I was traveling in an aircraft that was hit by RPG fire. I was instead in a following aircraft."

--BRIAN WILLIAMS

"I'm here to tell you if you elect me governor of this state, I will end the civil war."

--TOM BARRETT

"I would not look to the U.S. Constitution, if I were drafting a constitution in the year 2012. I might look at the constitution of South Africa. That was a deliberate attempt to have a fundamental instrument of government that embraced basic human rights, had an independent judiciary. It really is, I think, a great piece of work that was done."

--RUTH BADER GINSBURG

"Callista Gingrich. Karen Santorum. Ann Romney. Now, do you really think our country is ready for a white first lady?"

--ROBERT DE NIRO

"The death of Andrew Breitbart disproves the adage that only the good die young."

--JULIAN BOND

"The National Institute of Health has said that it is a danger to women's health and safety of their families that for 30 years to be exposed to the prospects of pregnancy."

--GWEN MOORE

"[Tea Party Republicans] have acted like terrorists."

--JOE BIDEN

"Why did- Couldn't the President have said at that moment, way back in December of last year, 'no game playing. No hostage-taking. No terrorizing this country with the debt ceiling. I'm not going to negotiate with you guys. You can't play it that way.' Could he have done that?"

--CHRIS MATTHEWS

"[T]he tea-party Hobbits could return to Middle Earth having defeated Mordor."

--WALL STREET JOURNAL EDITORIAL

"I remember distinctly an image of--we were sitting on his couches, and I was looking at [Obama's] pant leg and his perfectly creased pant, and I'm thinking, a) he's going to be president and b) he'll be a very good president."

--DAVID BROOKS

"I feel like calling her back and smackin' her around."

--FRED CLARK, DEMOCRAT

"The picture was of me, and I sent it."

--ANTHONY WEINER

"[I]f you go back to the year 2000, when we had an obvious disaster and - and saw that our voting process needed refinement, and we did that in the America Votes Act and made sure that we could iron out those kinks, now you have the Republicans, who want to literally drag us all the way back to Jim Crow laws and literally - and very transparently - block access to the polls to voters who are more likely to vote Democratic candidates than Republican candidates. And it's nothing short of that blatant."

--DEBBIE WASSERMAN SCHULTZ

"This is probably one of the worst times we've seen because the numbers of people elected to Congress. I went through this as co-chair of the arts caucus. In '94 people were elected simply to come here to kill the National Endowment for the Arts. Now theyre here to kill women."

--LOUISE SLAUGHTER

"The protesters have proven today that theyre not going away. It was a pretty rough night last night. You can imagine if people said, well, we just cant fight the power. Instead, this morning, they came by tens, by hundreds, by thousands. By midday today, it was easily more than 10,000, perhaps as many as 15,000 people on the square here in Madison. Not organized by anyone, just grassroots citizens who came out just like the Minutemen in 1776."

--JOHN NICHOLS

"They're sitting on the money, they're using it for their own -- they're putting it someplace else with no interest in helping you with your life, with that money. We've allowed them to take that. That's not theirs, that's a national resource, that's ours. We all have this -- we all benefit from this or we all suffer as a result of not having it. I think we need to go back to taxing these people at the proper rates."

--MICHAEL MOORE

"Why don't we just raise the taxes and let these folks have their collective bargaining, have their union representation and go back to their jobs? Raise the taxes on the wealthy."

--DAVID LETTERMAN

"In 1933, [Hitler] abolished unions and that's what our Governor [Scott Walker] is doing today."

--LENA TAYLOR, Democrat State Senator

"So I would urge my Republican colleagues, no matter how strongly they feel -- you know, we have three branches of government. We have a House. We have a Senate. We have a president. And all three of us are going to have to come together and give some, but it is playing with fire to risk the shutting down of the government."

--CHUCK SCHUMER

"Well, when you start off with the Preamble of the Constitution, you talk about the pursuit of happiness."

--JOHN LEWIS

"I'm Rebecca Kleefisch. I performed fellatio on all the talk show hosts in Milwaukee. And they endorsed me and that's how I became lieutenant governor."

--SLY SYLVESTER

"Do you think this Constitution-loving is getting out of hand? I mean, is it a nod to the Tea Party?"

--JOY BEHAR

"We cant just leave it up to the parents."

"[Military leaders] tell us that childhood obesity isnt just a public health issue; they tell us that it is not just an economic threat -- it is a national security threat as well."

--MICHELLE OBAMA

"Actually, I did not take part in [the assassination of Sarah Palin]. I led it."

--KATHLEEN PARKER

"[The repeal of ObamaCare is] a kind of creeping genocide."

--JESSE JACKSON

"[Obama] has to realize that Mitch McConnell has virtually said so that politically he wants to cut out his heart and throw his liver to the dogs."

--DAN RATHER

"And the instructions are not to improvise a comedy sketch, but to elect a group of unqualified, unstable individuals who will do what they are told, in exchange for money and power, and march this nation as far backward as they can get, backward to Jim Crow, or backward to the breadlines of the '30s, or backward to hanging union organizers, or backward to the trusts and the robber barons.

"Result: the Tea Party. Vote backward, vote Tea Party. And if you are somehow indifferent to what is planned for next Tuesday, it is nothing short of an attempted use of democracy to end this democracy."

--KEITH "Reagan's dead and he was a lousy President" OLBERMANN

"I gotta wonder when people are gonna start wearing uniforms. I mean they've got an army out there in Alaska of militia people. You've got these guys going around acting like street thugs. I mean it isn't far from what we saw in the thirties, where all of a sudden, political parties started showing up in uniform."

--CHRIS MATTHEWS

"[Sharron Angle] is a moron on top of being evil... I'd like to see her do this ad in the South Bronx. Come here, bitch. Come to New York and do it. I'm not praying for her. She's going to hell. She's going to hell, this bitch."

--JOY BEHAR

"So people have been hurting and I understand that. And it doesn't give them comfort or solace for me to tell them, you know, but for me, we'd be in a worldwide depression."

--HARRY REID

"And to play Dick Cheney, all I had to do was find my Dick Cheney. And you can find all the villainy in the world in your own heart, and that's what an actor's job is. I always say to kids, inside you is Hitler and Jesus. And you got to find the appropriate person and bring them out."

--RICHARD DREYFUSS

"Because I live in the District of Columbia which is so predominantly Democratic, I am a registered Democrat. But I am an avowed neutral. And to put that into practice, I take my young daughter into the voting booth and she votes for me. She's now 14. We've been doing this since she was about age 4. She's now quite informed."

--BOB WOODWARD

"Sarah Palin's an idiot. Come on. This is a remarkably, stunningly, jaw-droppingly incompetent and mean woman."

"The Democrats may have moved into the center, but the Republicans have moved into a mental institution."

--AARON SORKIN

"Perhaps the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution and the systematic attack against the inalienable rights of the citizens of this nation, rights that are guaranteed by our Constitution. At the vanguard of this insidious attack is the Tea Party. This band of misguided citizens is moving perilously close to achieving villainous ends."

--HARRY BELAFONTE

"[Christine O'Donnell is] a witch who doesn't masturbate."

--JOY BEHAR

"Ah, the Tea Party, the nativist bed-wetters who somehow control our national dialogue. Yes, I call them the Pee Party, Jay, because they're always peeing in their pants about something. They're just, they're afraid of a mosque being built in New York. They're afraid of guns. You know, they think Obama, who like every other pussy Democrat has never said a single word about gun control, but they are very sure that he and his Negro army are coming after their guns. You know what? If you think that he's coming after your guns, you need to get out of your chat room and have your house tested for lead. He's not coming after your guns or your Bible or your fishing pole or your chewing tobacco."

--BILL MAHER

"That's a trade-off society is making because of very, very high medical costs, and a lack of willingness to say, you know, is spending a million dollars on that last three months of life for that patient, would it be better not to lay off those ten teachers and to make that trade-off in medical costs. But that;s called the 'Death Panel' and you're not supposed to have that discussion."

--BILL GATES

"NOT the 'whiteman's bitch'"

--IESHUH GRIFFIN

"[If Rush Limbaugh suffered a heart attack in my presence, I would] laugh loudly like a maniac and watch his eyes bug out. I never knew I had this much hate in me. But he deserves it."

--SARAH SPITZ

"You want freedom, you going to have to kill some crackers. You going to have to kill some of their babies."

--KING SAMIR SHABAZZ

"If this was Texas, which is the state that, that is directly on the border with Mexico, and they were calling for a measure like this, saying that they had a major issue with, you know, with undocumented people flooding their borders, I would say I would have to look twice at this. "But this is a state that is a ways removed from the border. And, um, it just, it doesn't make sense to me that when you google this subject, if you put in 'Arizona S.B. 1070,' that you see a picture of the governor of Arizona meeting with President Obama in May of 2010. If you have direct linkage to the president, there are already National Guard troops on the border in Arizona."

--PEGGY WEST

"Tell [the Jews] to get the hell out of Palestine. Remember, these people are occupied and it's their land. It's not German. It's not Poland. [The Jews] can go home. Poland. Germany."

--HELEN THOMAS

"After the last eight years, it's good to have a president that knows what a library is."

--PAUL McCARTNEY

"By the way, I just want to point out I'm wearing my splash shield because I was told I was going to be in the splash zone (during Harry Smith's colonoscopy on live TV)."

--KATIE COURIC

"And that Word is, we have to give voice to what that means in terms of public policy that would be in keeping with the values of the Word."

----------------------------

"Think of an economy where people could be an artist or a photographer or a writer without worrying about keeping their day job in order to have health insurance or that people could start a business and be entrepreneurial and take risk, but not job loss because of a child with asthma or someone in the family is bipolaryou name it, any condition  is job-locking."

--NANCY PELOSI

"Back in World War II, we viewed the Japanese as 'yellow, slant-eyed dogs' that believed in different gods. They were out to kill us because our way of living was different. We, in turn, wanted to annihilate them because they were different. Does that sound familiar, by any chance, to what's going on today?"

--TOM HANKS

"The 'White Right' is trying to set Barack up to be assassinated.... Here are Christians praying for God to kill Barack Obama."

--LOUIS FARRAKHAN

"I refuse to accept the notion that the United States of America is not going to lead the world economically throughout the 20th Century."

--JOE BIDEN

"Obama's critics keep blasting him for Chicago-style politics. So, fine. Channel your inner Al Capone and go gangsta against your foes. Let 'em know that if they aren't with you, they are against you, and will pay the price."

--ROLAND MARTIN

"Martha Coakley is running to fill the rest of Ted Kennedy's term, and her opponent is a far-right tea-bagger Republican."

--CHUCK SCHUMER

"I tell you what, if I lived in Massachusetts, I'd try to vote ten times. I don't know if they'd let me or not, but I'd try to. Yeah, that's right, I'd cheat to keep these bastards out. I would. 'Cause that's exactly what they are."

--ED SCHULTZ

"We also see how revved up the tea baggers are at the thought of hijacking health care reform and every chance we have at making progress in Washington."

--JOHN KERRY

"A few years ago, this guy (Obama) would have been getting us coffee."

--BILL CLINTON

"I didn't realize I had written a column defending Roman Polanski and minimized his crime - are you sure it was me? I mean, I? There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old."

--TOM SHALES

"Joe Wilson yelled 'You lie!' at a president who didn't. But, fair or not, what I heard was an unspoken word in the air: You lie, boy!"

--MAUREEN DOWD

"One awkward moment for Sarah Palin at the Yankee game... During the 7th inning, her daughter was knocked up by Alex Rodriguez."

--DAVID LETTERMAN

"I would hope that a wise Latina woman with the richness of her experiences would more often than not reach a better conclusion than a white male who hasnt lived that life."

--SONIA SOTOMAYOR

"We all considered sexual abuse of minors as a moral evil, but had no understanding of its criminal nature."

--REMBERT WEAKLAND, Archbishop of Milwaukee 1977- 2002

"You know, you might want to look into this, [President Obama], because I think maybe Rush Limbaugh was the 20th hijacker, but he was so strung out on Oxycontin he missed his flight."

"Rush Limbaugh -- 'I hope the country fails.' I hope his kidneys fail."

----------------------------

"[Obama] told me I did a great job. The first lady said the same thing. I got a 'well done' from the president, I'm on cloud nine."

--WANDA SYKES

"Americans are looking for more government in their life, not less."

--COLIN POWELL

"[Tea Party goers are] just a bunch of wimpy, whiny, weasels who don't love their country."

--PAUL BEGALA

"I wouldn't want [gay marriage] to go to the United States Supreme Court now because that homophobe Antonin Scalia has too many votes on this current court."

--BARNEY FRANK

"Going forward, my mind will be open to every solution -- except one. We should not -- we must not -- and I will not -- raise taxes."

--JIM DOYLE, Liar

"He's a terrorist. Rush Limbaugh is a terrorist."

--JOY BEHAR

"You know, I just want to say to her (Sarah Palin), just very quickly...F--- you."

--JON STEWART

"Should I be worried about being a slave and being returned to slavery?"

--WHOOPI GOLDBERG

"I also believe that America is the greatest sin against God."

--FR. MICHAEL PFLEGER

"Those who think they can revive the stinking corpse of the usurping and fake Israeli regime by throwing a birthday party are seriously mistaken. Today the reason for the Zionist regime's existence is questioned, and this regime is on its way to annihilation."

--MAHMOUD AHMADINEJAD

"We'll be eight degrees hotter in ten, not ten but 30 or 40 years and basically none of the crops will grow. Most of the people will have died and the rest of us will be cannibals."

--TED TURNER

"Look, [Mitt] Romney comes from a religion founded by a criminal who was anti-American, pro-slavery, and a rapist. And he comes from that lineage and says, 'I respect this religion fully.'"

--LAWRENCE O'DONNELL

"Mexico does not end at its borders... Where there is a Mexican, there is Mexico."

--FELIPE CALDERON

"The planet has a fever. If your baby has a fever, you go to the doctor. If the doctor says you need to intervene here, you don't say, 'Well, I read a science fiction novel that told me it's not a problem.' If the crib's on fire, you don't speculate that the baby is flame retardant."

--AL GORE

"Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."

--ROSIE O'DONNELL

"Is America ready for a black president? Well, I say we just had a retarded one. When did being black become a bigger deterrent than being retarded?"

--CHRIS ROCK

"Shut the f--- up! Shut up if you can't take a joke [about President Bush]!"

--BARBRA STREISAND

"Right, oh, yeah, Happy 9/11! Celebrate the day, right?"

--JAMES BROLIN, Mr. Barbra Streisand

"I think President Bush very well may have signed an authorization for the 9/11 attacks."

--KEVIN BARRETT, UW-MADISON Lecturer

"I said what I said. I am not guilty."

--SADDAM HUSSEIN

"Terri will not be starved to death. Her nutrition and hydration will be taken away."

--MICHAEL SCHIAVO

"On the eve of the election last month my wife Judith and I were driving home late in the afternoon and turned on the radio for the traffic and weather. What we instantly got was a freak show of political pornography: lies, distortions, and half-truths -- half-truths being perhaps the blackest of all lies. "

--BILL MOYERS

"I hate the Republicans and everything they stand for."

--HOWARD DEAN

"The Iraqis who have risen up against the occupation are not 'insurgents' or 'terrorists' or 'The Enemy.' They are the REVOLUTION, the Minutemen, and their numbers will grow -- and they will win."

--MICHAEL MOORE

"And there is no reason, Bob, that young American soldiers need to be going into the homes of Iraqis in the dead of night, terrorizing kids and children, you know, women, breaking sort of the customs of the--of--the historical customs, religious customs."

--JOHN KERRY

"F---ing retarded."

"[Republicans] can go f--- themselves!"

--RAHM EMANUEL

"I'm not going to have some reporters pawing through our papers. We are the president."

--HILLARY CLINTON

"It depends on what the meaning of the word 'is' is."

--BILL CLINTON

"And let me tell you something -- for the first time in my adult lifetime, I am really proud of my country. And not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change. And I have been desperate to see our country moving in that direction and just not feeling so alone in my frustration and disappointment."

--MICHELLE OBAMA

"If asking a billionaire to pay the same tax rate as a Jew, uh, as a janitor, makes me a warrior for the working class, I wear that with a badge of honor."

----------------------------

"If you love me, you got to help me pass this bill."

----------------------------

"[F]or most of my lifetime, the United States was such a dominant economic power, we were such a large market, our industry, our technology, our manufacturing was so significant that we always met the rest of the world economically on our terms. And now, because of the incredible rise of India and China and Brazil and other countries, the United States remains the largest economic and the largest market but theres real competition out there. And that's potentially healthy. It makes -- Michelle was saying earlier I like tough questions because it keeps me on my toes. Well, this will keep America on its toes."

----------------------------

"If Latinos sit out the election instead of saying, 'We're gonna PUNISH OUR ENEMIES and we're gonna reward our friends who stand with us on issues that are important to us,' if they don't see that kind of upsurge in voting in this election, then I think it's gonna be harder and that's why I think it's so important that people focus on voting on November 2."

----------------------------

"We don't mind the Republicans joining us. They can come for the ride, but THEY GOTTA SIT IN BACK."

----------------------------

"We can absorb a terrorist attack. We'll do everything we can to prevent it, but even a 9/11, even the biggest attack ever... we absorbed it and we are stronger."

----------------------------

"We're buying shrimp, guys."

----------------------------

"We are the ones we've been waiting for."

----------------------------

"We talk to these folks because they potentially have the best answers so I know whose ass to kick."

----------------------------

"We're not trying to push financial reform because we begrudge success that's fairly earned. I mean, I do think at a certain point you've made enough money. But, you know, part of the American way is, you know, you can just keep on making it if youre providing a good product or you're providing good service. We don't want people to stop fulfilling the core responsibilities of the financial system to help grow the economy."

----------------------------

"If you've got a business, you didn't build that. Somebody else made that happen."

----------------------------

"It is a vital national security interest of the United States to reduce these conflicts because whether we like it or not, we remain a dominant military superpower, and when conflicts break out, one way or another we get pulled into them. And that ends up costing us significantly in terms of both blood and treasure."

----------------------------

"But I -- I think that the most important thing for the public to understand is, we're not handling any of these cases any different than the Bush administration handled them all through 9/11."

----------------------------

"One such translator was an American of Haitian descent, representative of the extraordinary work that our men and women in uniform do all around the world -- Navy CORPSE-MAN Christian [sic] Brossard. And lying on a gurney aboard the USNS Comfort, a woman asked Christopher: 'Where do you come from? What country? After my operation,' she said, 'I will pray for that country.' And in Creole, CORPSE-MAN Brossard responded, 'Etazini.' The United States of America."

----------------------------

"I hear that Dr. Joe Medicine Crow was around, and so I want to give a shout-out to that Congressional Medal of Honor winner. It's good to see you."

----------------------------

"We are God's partners in matters of life and death."

----------------------------

"[T]he Cambridge police acted stupidly."

----------------------------

"I am going to teach [my daughters] first about values and morals, but if they make a mistake, I don't want them punished with a baby."

----------------------------

"The reforms we seek would bring greater competition, choice, savings, and INEFFICIENCIES to our health care system."

----------------------------

"Over the last 15 months, weve traveled to every corner of the United States. Ive now been in 57 states? I think one left to go. Alaska and Hawaii, I was not allowed to go to even though I really wanted to visit, but my staff would not justify it."

--BARACK OBAMA
Raise marriage age to 18

HWO president Brenda Gopeesingh also noted the organization had not rescinded its position as had been claimed by a temporary Senator during the Senate debate on January 11. We have not rescinded our position, Gopeesingh stated and noted that its final statement on the Marriage Acts of Trinidad and Tobago was submitted to the Attorney Generals Office on July 20.

2016 and took the form of a position paper with the heading Interrogating marriage for 14 year-olds. Our position, articulated since 2012 in the resolution coming out of the Marriage Act Public Discussions held by the organisation that year, is that the Marriage Acts should be updated to reflect the age of consent for sexual relations, the HWO stated, adding a resolution had been presented to the Minister of Legal Affairs in 2013.

with its petition to amend the Marriage Acts. The organization noted that in 2015, the age of consent for sexual relations was changed to 18 years through the Childrens Act which also included a Romeo clause and the HWO was compelled to submit a revised resolution to update its position regarding girls between 16 and 18 to be married. This included several factors including: [a] consent from the girl as well as the consent of her parent(s) or guardian (s); [b] that female parents have equal rights of consent; [c] After parties wishing to be married have received pre-marital counselling by qualified professional counsellors. After an application is made to a judge in Chambers or a specially appointed committee by the President of the Republic in order to determine the circumstances of each case; [e] Only after it is determined that the person to whom the 16- 18 year old girl is to be married is not undertaking the marriage for purposes of exploitation and [f] In cases where the person to whom the 16-18 year old girl is to be married is no older than three (3) years her senior at the time of marriage. UNC chairman David Lee yesterday said its two temporary senators.

Dr Waffie Mohammed and Pundit Maharaj, had expressed the views of their respective organizations and not that of the Opposition party. They werent representing the views of the UNC, Lee said, adding.

what we wanted to do is.

we felt that when we did our research.

we didnt feel that there was enough consultation held by the Attorney General prior to laying the Marriage Bill so we decided to give a voice to these organizations that we felt had not been heard and that is why we brought them in as temporary senators.
Im sorry

Jacob, 24, published the latest song titled Announcement ( IM SORRY ) 2017 on Friday last on his You Tube channel ISLANDBOY RICKJ HD on Friday. The channel stated that Jacob wrote and recorded the three-minutesand- 42 seconds song.

Members of the public, in particular the Hindu community, had criticised Jacob for filming a music video at the Sri Dattatreya Yoga Centre in Carapichaima.

In that video, Jacob was seen cavorting around the temple and its murtis (Hindu gods). On Thursday, president of the Sri Dattatreya Yoga Centre, attorney Ramesh Persad-Maharaj, had described the video as being an offensive Chutney video. Many people on social media also condemned and criticised the video, which was subsequently removed from You Tube.

In his latest song, Jacob made no reference to the centre by name. However he repeatedly apologised for his actions. Jacob insisted that he never meant to cause pain to anyone and that he put himself to shame.

 I did not mean to cause no pain, I put myself on display. I put myself in shame. I am a dreamer and I am just chasing my dreams.

I wanna be somebody...I never kill no body, never rob nobody, never steal no money. I am very sorry. What more them want from me? Jacob sang in his song.

Saying that he was ashamed for causing distress, Jacob added that he tried to clean up the mess yet there is one set ah commess on facebook, the papers, the whole entire Internet (sic) .  But I only meant good, I was misunderstood. If I could, then I would lace up my shoes and run away for good. Im sorry again for the pressure and pain but the hurtful words them stuck in my brain. Sometimes you lose and sometimes you win like I am losing again. I keep my head in ths sky and my pencil and paper, no time for no hater (sic), Jacob said in his song. Jacob also noted that since the controversy, his life is in danger from persons who want to shoot and stab him. Jacob apologised adding that no man can judge him but God.
Trump: 'I'll Very, Very, Very

Probably Do It Again'
There's a reason people cleaning up former meth labs only enter in head-to-toe protection: the environments are extremely toxic, and drug residues can linger on porous and non-porous surfaces alike for months and even years. That's according to a case study published in a Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that discusses one family in Australia that didn't learn they'd moved into a former meth house until all family members began to suffer. Symptoms ranged from persistent coughing and watery eyes to weight loss, memory problems, high energy, and difficulty sleeping.

After months of testing in 2014 revealed high levels of meth residue, as Live Science reports, the family vacated their $500,000 dream home, which ultimately may have to be demolished. Australian officials call the meth problem there so pervasive it's become an epidemic. Last year alone, police broke up hundreds of clandestine meth labs, where chemicals that include drain cleaner and acetone make for an especially toxic mix. "Theres no way Id buy a house or rent a house in Australia without testing for meth first," the owner of a company that cleans up former meth labs tells Australia Women's Weekly. He says his business is booming, and that he's already decontaminated more than 80 former meth labs. (Police happened upon an active meth lab in a sewer below Wal-mart.)
Could legendary hijacker DB Cooper have been a Boeing employee? A group of amateur scientists says it has found information that could link Cooper with the aerospace industry in Washington state in the early 1970s, KING-5 reports. The man who became known as DB Cooper famously hijacked a Northwest Orient passenger jet on Thanksgiving eve in 1971 only to vanish forever, presumably having parachuted off the plane with $200,000 given to him by the FBI when the plane briefly touched down in Seattle. Cooper left behind a clip-on tie, and the group, Citizen Sleuths, which was put together by the Seattle FBI, has been analyzing particles found on that tie.

Among those particles: rare earth elements, which, the lead researcher says, are "used in very narrow fields, for very specific things." In 1971, one of the few places they were being used was Boeing, as part of the Super Sonic Transport plane it was developing at the time. That has led researchers to wonder whether Cooper was a Boeing employee or contractor, possibly "an engineer or a manager in one of the plants" who would have worn a tie to work. The team is now asking for help from members of the public, like people who may have worked in the aerospace industry around that time. Researchers are publishing a running list of particles found on the tie, and are asking anyone with knowledge to weigh in on what the materials could have been used for. (Read more DB Cooper stories.)
The city of Biloxi sparked a debate about the holiday honoring the late civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. after announcing on social media that city offices would be closed Monday for "Great Americans Day," the AP reports. Monday is federally recognized as Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The Sun Herald reports Great Americans Day doesn't exist as a holiday and is not even recognized by the Mississippi Secretary of State's Office. However, Biloxi City Council passed an ordinance in 1985 declaring the holiday "Great Americans Day."

After the Mississippi city defended the holiday reference on Twitter and Facebook, dozens of comments were posted that criticized the move. Mayor Andrew "FoFo" Gilich called for the city to repeal its ordinance and recognize the holiday with the King name. The backlash appears to have worked: On Saturday, the city's Twitter account posted, "On Monday, before the city's annual MLK parade, Biloxi will change a decades-old ordinance: It's MLK Day." The city's website says the ordinance will be officially changed at a special meeting of the city council Monday. (Read more Martin Luther King Jr. stories.)
Ending a two-decade run of clothing made in California, American Apparel will shut its remaining 110 stores, reports the Los Angeles Times. The long-troubled company, which declared bankruptcy in 2015, has sold to Canadian clothing company Gildan Activewear for $88 million, a transaction that "was always about buying assets out of bankruptcy," per a Gildan rep. "The reality is this wasn't a purchase of an ongoing concern." Along with the shuttered stores, almost 3,500 employees will lose their jobs, notes Cosmopolitan. "[Gildan does] have a plan, and that plan doesnt involve US manufacturing and certainly not Los Angeles manufacturing," says an investment banker not involved in the deal. Ousted founder Dov Charney made a hail-Mary bid to buy his former enterprise, but couldn't swing the financing. "This is not a business that should have gone out of business," he tells the Times. (Read more American Apparel stories.)
Could reporters covering White House goings-on soon be relegated to standing in front of the fence, much like the New York Times describes reporters in the 1890s? A report published Saturday night by Esquire suggested a move of some sort, with three senior transition team officials telling the magazine discussions have been had to move the press corps out of the 49-seat West Wing press room and to one of two other nearby locations: the White House Conference Center, which was used as a temporary press center during a previous press-room revamp, or the Executive Office Building just west of the White House. The announcement surprised those in the journalism arena, fresh off a contentious press conference the president-elect held earlier in the week. Trump's incoming press secretary Sean Spicer told Esquire the topic had been broached but not decided on.

"There's been so much interest in covering a President Donald Trump," he said, attributing a possible move to, among other things, not enough seats to accommodate a growing number of reporters. Another senior official offered a different take, calling the press "the opposition party" and noting, "I want 'em out of the building. We are taking back the press room." Reince Priebus, Trump's incoming chief of staff, tried to assuage jittery feelings Sunday on This Week With George Stephanopoulos, noting a move to the EOB"which, by the way, is the White House"had been discussed, and that such a move would offer more access, per ABC News. White House Correspondents' Association President Jeff Mason said in a statement that the WHCA "[objects] strenuously to any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps." (Read more White House press corps stories.)
Birds took the blame for bringing down the jetliner that "Sully" Sullenberger landed on the Hudson River eight years ago this weekend. They have been paying for it with their lives ever since. An AP analysis of bird-killing programs at the New York City area's three major airports found that nearly 70,000 gulls, starling, geese, and other birds have been slaughtered, mostly by shooting and trapping, since the 2009 accident, and it is not clear whether those killings have made the skies safer. Federal data show that in the years after LaGuardia and Newark airports ramped up bird-killing programs, recorded bird strikes actually went up. Combined, the two airports went from an average 158 strikes per year in the five years before the accident to 299 per year in the six years after, though that could be due to more diligent reporting.

At the seaside Kennedy Airport, which is on a major migration route and had a robust slaughter program before the Flight 1549 crash, the number of strikes has ticked up. Bird advocates say officials should find other, more effective ways to protect aircraft. "There has to be a long-term solution that doesn't rely so extensively on killing birds and also keeps us safe in the sky," says a rep of GooseWatch NYC, suggesting better radar systems to detect problematic flocks. Officials say they believe bird-killing programs have made flying safer, with their strongest argument being that there hasn't been a major crash involving a bird in the area since the "Miracle on the Hudson." "We do our best to reduce the risk as much as possible," says the chief wildlife biologist at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey. "There's still a lot of random chance involved." She notes that officials trap and relocate some birds, use pyrotechnics and lasers to disperse others, and even change the habitat surrounding airports to discourage nesting. (Read more Miracle on the Hudson stories.)
Luke and Hillary Gardner never have a problem remembering each other's birthday, reports the AP, as the husband and wife were born the same day. And so was their son, 27 years later this past December. The odds of that happening are about one in 133,000, statisticians say. And that's a lot less likely than getting hit by lightning sometime in your lifetime, which some put at roughly one in 12,000. They weren't aiming at a joint birthday when their son Cade Lee Gardner was conceived, said Luke Gardner, an assistant pastor at a Baptist church in northeast Mississippi and a student at a nearby campus of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. "I really didn't even put it together until we got pregnant," he said. "Then we realized, 'Oh, wow!'" Using a smartphone app, he said, his wife calculated a due date of Dec. 15, three days before their joint birthday.

Her obstetrician called it for Dec. 19. So the couple from Baldwyn, Miss., got in some exercise to try to hurry the baby up. The night of Dec. 17, Gardner said, "we went walking." Whether or not that sped things up, Cade was born at 10:01am on Dec. 18exactly 27 years after his parents. "Hillary is exactly six hours older than me," Luke Gardner said. She was born at 8:10am on Dec. 18, 1989. The chance of meeting someone born the same day as you is one in 365, explained Tumulesh Solanky, math chair at the University of New Orleans. The Gardners' feat is about 1/365 times 1/365. "That comes out to .0000000751seven zeros and then 751," or about 7.5 in a million, he said, which comes to about one in 133,000. Jokes Luke Gardner: "If we have any more kids, if we don't get pregnant in March, we'll have to wait till the next year." (Read more birthday stories.)
Researchers excavating the remains of one of the most notorious Nazi death camps have uncovered a pendant that appears identical to one belonging to Anne Frank, Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial said Sunday. Yad Vashem says it has ascertained the pendant belonged to Karoline Cohna Jewish girl who perished at Sobibor and may have been connected to the famous diarist. Both were born in Frankfurt in 1929, and historians have found no other pendants like theirs. The triangular piece found has the words "Mazal Tov" written in Hebrew on one side along with Karoline's date of birth. The other side has the Hebrew letter "heh," an initial for God, as well as three Stars of David. Researchers are trying to reach out to remaining relatives of the two to confirm whether they were related, reports the AP.

Since 2007, the Israel Antiquities Authority, together with Yad Vashem, has been conducting excavations at the former camp in Poland in a novel approach to Holocaust research. The pendant was found along with numerous other personal effects in the area of the destroyed camp where victims were forced to undress before being sent along the "road to Heaven," the Times of Israel reports, or the path to the gas chambers. It's believed the pendant fell through the floorboards. Anne died at the Bergen-Belsen camp, in northern Germany, in 1945. "This pendant demonstrates once again the importance of archaeological research of former Nazi death camp sites," an Israel Antiquities Authority archaeologist tells the Times. "The moving story of Karoline Cohn is symbolic of the shared fate of the Jews murdered in the camp. It is important to tell the story, so that we never forget." (Read more Anne Frank stories.)
Vice President-elect Mike Pence says it is "deeply disappointing" that civil rights icon John Lewis would question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's White House victory. In an interview with CBS' Face the Nation on Sunday, Pence said he respects "the sacrifice" the Georgia congressman made, but said that he is one of many people making "baseless assertions" that the president-elect's victory was illegitimate. "Donald Trump has every right to defend himself," said Pence after Trump tore into Lewis on Saturday. Pence says the nation faces "deep challenges" and he hopes Lewis will reconsider his decision to boycott. Pence said the incoming administration believes there is "no evidence of impact on voting machines," adding that "Donald Trump won the election fair and square." Elsewhere on the Sunday dial, via the AP:

Reince Priebus says Walter Shaub Jr., the director of the Office of Government Ethics who has criticized Trump, "ought to be careful because that person is becoming extremely political."

Pence calls the timing of a conversation between Trump's national security adviser, retired Gen. Michael Flynn, and the Russian ambassador to the US "strictly coincidental."

CIA Director John Brennan says Trump's "talking and tweeting" is not in the nation's interest and that the president-elect lacks a full understanding of the threat Russia poses to the US.

Priebus says of Lewis that Obama should "step up" and "call it what it isit's wrong what is happening, it's wrong how some of these Democrats are treating President-elect Trump."

(Read more Sunday morning talk shows 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:

The aTicket to Finalea task had viewersa eyes on it through many days. And Manveer Gurjar won the task.

Salman Khan congratulates Manveer for winning the aTicket to Finalea. Salman also asks Manveer and Manu Punjabi about their experience of interacting with the audience. And yes well, the contestants have now gained popularity.

And the time arrives to choose the Khalnayak of the week. Well it is much obvious as to who has been selected for the Khalnayak kursi. Lopaas actions in the past week were somehow approved by the housemates and so they choose her for the khalnayak kursi.

But Lopa feels that she is being targeted as she had not reacted to bani Jas words.

Well Salman Khan helps both Lopa and Bani J resolve their differences. He tells that Bani misunderstood Lopa. He tries to make Bani understand that Lopa was not commenting on latteras mother.

Although Lopa has been honoured with the khalnayak kursi but then Salman feels Manu Punjabi is the one that backbites the most in the house.

Seems Salman khan is trying to solve all the problems in the house. He also advises bani to control her frustration.

But alas! Salman gets angry trying resolve all the differences. He tells both Bani and Lopa to keep in mind their family and friends and then react, to which Lopa gets emotional and breaks down.

After Lopa breaks down, Bani offers to take her place as khalnayak. But the argument between the two further starts as they both defend themselves. Salman tells Lopa that strict action would have been taken against Bani J if she had not reciprocated.

Well, both Lopa and Banias spat might have been disturbing for both during the week, but the end results of the week are that they both are safe from elimination. Rohan is also safe.

Prince of India @rohan4747 is also announced safe from elimination! #BB10WeekendKaVaar a Bigg Boss (@BiggBoss) January 14, 2017

Nitibha is eliminated from the house. But the housemates feel that she deserved to be in the house.

And another fight in Bigg Boss house. Manveer, Manu Punjabi and Monalisa fight after Manveer is upset with Monalisaas reactions.

Bigg Boss praises the commoners for winning the hearts of millions of fans.

Bigg Boss announces the live task according to which one participant will be given the chance to talk with the audience live.

Bigg Boss also announces that audience feel that Manu Punjabi will be one of the two finalists.A
New Delhi:

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday discouraged the use social media for complaints within Indian Army. Addressing the media on the Army Day, Rawat said, soldiers can reach out to him directly if they werenat satisfied with the action taken.

aA few colleagues are using social media to share their problems. It affects the morale of the jawans and thereby the army,a he said.

Rawat even added that such acts could even incite punishment.A

Army chief also wished all soldiers, veterans and their family members on the occasion of 69th Army Day.A

Reviewing the parade at the Army Parade Ground in Delhi Cantonment, General Bipin Rawat said, "Salute martyrs who sacrificed their lives, our valour is because of them; indebted to them and their families".

Salute martyrs who sacrificed their lives,our valour is because of them; indebted to them and their families: #BipinRawat #ArmyDay pic.twitter.com/d9YrKOzYHv

a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) January 15, 2017



Army Chief General Bipin Rawat honoured wife of Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa with Sena Medal.



Here are some of the key points General Rawat made during his address on the occasion -A

# The situation along the line of control was pretty sensitive but the Army has been able to restore stability in the region.A

# Despite the proxy war in J&K, the army believes in maintaining peace along the border. However, the army is ready to give a befitting reply to any military action from across the border.

# We want to develop a mechanism whereby we can have good relations with China on the military and diplomatic front

# We are always ready to extend a hand of friendship to those nations who seek peace. However, we are ready to counter any sort of aggression and safeguard our frontiers.

# There are some insurgent groups who are in the process of disrupting peace in the North East. The army shall continue combating such group to restore calm in the region.

# Left extremism has also been a major factor in disrupting force in some states.The army is co-ordinating action against such groups.

Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said the army had put proper channels in placeA for jawans to put across their grievances and discouraged them from using social media to raise them as it would affect the overall morale of the army.A

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

A 51-year-old constable, posted at Secretariat Security Force in Ministry of Home Affairs, was allegedly assaulted by two Ministry of Defence (MoD) employees in an ATM queue, police said on Saturday.

The incident took place on January 12 when Raj Kumar,constable with Secretariat Security Force, Ministry of Home Affairs had gone to an ATM in North Block to withdraw money, they said.

Also Read: Video | Patna boat capsize: Death toll rises to 24, rescue operations by NDRF teams underway; PM announces ex-gratia from PMNRF of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of deceased

When he tried to withdraw the ATM, the machine did not accept his card due to some technical glitch, police said. The two men allegedly lost temper while standing in the queue and despite Kumar telling them it was not his fault that the machine was not working properly, they abused him and hit him, breaking his two teeth, they said.

Seeing the commotion, the CISF guard closed the gates and the two men were held. When they showed their ID cards, it was found that they are employed with Ministry of Defence, police said. Further investigation is underway in the matter, police added.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Economic Affairs Secretary Shaktikanta Das on Sunday asked Amazon to desist from being flippant about Indian symbols and icons, cautioning it that indifference will be at your own peril.



Amazon, better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril, Das said in a tweet.



In another tweet, however, he added: Comment on Amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it.



Last week, after a strong protest by India over Amazon selling doormats depicting Indian flag, the e-retail giant removed the offensive article from its Canadian website.

Amazon,better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril.  Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

Comment on amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it.  Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

Remain committed to economic reforms,ease of doing business & open trade.Sometimes get touchy when our icons are involved.  Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

A spokesman for Amazon based at its headquarters in Seattle had told The Washington Post that the doormat was no longer for sale on its website.

After the Indian flag incident, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj had received several complaints of Amazon selling flip-flops with Mahatma Gandhis image.



Some Twitter users have tagged Swaraj in their tweets complaining that the beach sandals with Gandhis image were being sold on the Amazon US site.



When asked, Ministry of External Affairs Spokesperson Vikas Swarup did not specifically mention the issue, saying, As a follow-up to the matter regarding the sale of doormats with the Indian flag on Amazon, our Ambassador in Washington has been instructed to convey to Amazon that while providing a platform for third-party vendors, they should respect Indian sensitivities and sentiments.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
New Delhi:

Jammu and Kashmir Police on Sunday arrested LeT militant Fayaz Ahmad Ganaie, who is a known associate of slain Lashkar-e-Taiba commander Abu Bakr.



According to initial reports, Ganaie was apprehended by security forces in Sapore. The police also recovered a Chinese pistol along with some rounds.



Further investigation in on.



On December 14, Indian security forces had killed Lashkar-e-Toiba commander Abu Bakr after a six-hour long gun battle in Sapore. However, there have been conflicting reports on his death according to US intelligence.

Also read | J-K: Lashkar-e-Taiba militant Abu Bakr killed as six-hour-long Sopore encounter ends

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Patna:

The bodies of four more persons were recovered on Sunday from the river Ganga taking the toll in the boat tragedy here to 24.

The rescue operation in the boat tragedy which was halted for the night resumed on Sunday morning. At least 24 people were killed when an overcrowded boat capsized in Ganga river near Patna on Saturday.

aThe rescue operation has been stopped for the time being due to darkness. It will resume tomorrow morning,a Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Kumar Aggarwal told reporters.

He said the NDRF, SDRF and civil and police officials would guard the area throughout the night and the divers would start fresh search for victims on Sunday morning.

#PatnaBoatTragedy: Death toll rises to 21; rescue operation to resume todayhttps://t.co/pgf2UQADwA pic.twitter.com/rC8DkLRkkn a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) January 15, 2017

The DM said prima facie it appears that the boat capsized either due to overloading or collision with another country boat, mid-water.

Aggarwal said it has come to light that these people had gone for an unauthorised aDisneyland faira near Sambalpur diara area in Saran district and boarded the country boat to return to Patna side when mishap occurred mid-stream.

At least 20 people, including some minors, drowned when Makar Sankranti festivities ended in a tragedy after a boat capsized on the Ganga in Patna on Saturday.

#BiharBoatTragedy: Death toll rises to 24; search and rescue operations underwayhttps://t.co/pgf2UQADwA pic.twitter.com/vuVqhK3xrI a News Nation (@NewsNationTV) January 15, 2017

Around 40 people were said to be onboard the country boat.

Officials said some of the passengers have been taken to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) after receiving injuries in the boat tragedy.

The boat was coming to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara (riverine) on the other side of River Ganga after watching kite flying on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

Some persons swam to safety, while some families were complaining of missing members, police officials said adding, a search operation is on.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday night condoled the loss of lives in Patna boat tragedy after which his programme scheduled for tomorrow in the Bihar capital was postponed.

aPM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families,a the Prime Ministeras Office tweeted.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.

Arrangements should have been more robust, inquiry will expose loopholes & defaulters will be caught: Union Min RS Prasad #BiharBoatTragedy pic.twitter.com/bLL9HbGqFT a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

#BiharBoatTragedy: Visuals of NDRF teams conducting search and rescue operations; Death toll rises to 24. pic.twitter.com/DX7zkHwLpx a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Bihar boat tragedy: PM announces ex-gratia from PMNRF of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs.50,000 for those seriously injured a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

#BiharBoatTragedy: Search and rescue operations by NDRF teams underway; 21 bodies recovered so far. pic.twitter.com/KEfje1GtMv a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

21 bodies have been recovered so far, search and rescue ops underway. 3 NDRF teams are at the spot: RK Pachnanda, DG NDRF #BiharBoatTragedy pic.twitter.com/oRyMSToUoQ a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Bihar: List of missing persons put up on board at the Patna Medical College & Hospital, family members await info #BiharBoatTragedy pic.twitter.com/vB1WPP8edR a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

#BiharBoatTragedy Death toll in rises to 21; Search and rescue operations underway pic.twitter.com/M9mVAHt97k a ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

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New Delhi:

Mulayam Singh Yadav loyalist Amar Singh, who has been at the forefront of the raging feud between Samajwadi Party patriarch and his son Akhilesh, on Sunday said he is leaving for London for treatment.



Singh said he was in London when he was summoned back due to developments in the party.



I was undergoing treatment in London but was summoned due to the developments here, now going back to complete my treatment, he said in New Delhi.



Singh said he would shortly leave for treatment in London and later Singapore.



I would be back sometime in late March, he said.



He leaves at a time when the Election Commission is set to deliver order on the symbol dispute in the party.



Singh has signed on a few documents the Mulayam camp has submitted to the poll panel to stake its claim over the cycle symbol.



He was conspicuous by his absence in Election Commission on Friday when the Commission heard the two sides on the symbol issue.

Also read:

Yadav family feud: SP rival camps keep fingers crossed as EC set to decide on cycle on Monday

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New Delhi:

A stampede has killed at least six people at the Makar Sakranti fair at West Bengal's Gangasagar. Initial reports have confirmed that several other people have also been injured.

Agency inputs say that at least 10 of the injured have been admitted to a nearby hospital.

There were at leat a 1000 people present at the annual fair of Makar Sakranti, as people from across the nation gather at coast of Bay of Bengal to take a holy dip at the point where Ganges river meets sea.

More details are awaited.

Live updates:

#PM approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs. 50,000 for those injured in the stampede in WB

Latest visuals from the Gangasagar (West Bengal) fair stampede site, 6 dead and 10 hospitalised. pic.twitter.com/qCkVBED0uG  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017



#Death toll rises to six, several other injured.

#Gangasagar fair stampede: Stampede happened on jetty number 5 of Kachuberia area (South24 Parganas) while people were getting on the boat, officials said. (Agency input)

Also read | Makar Sankranti: 9 lakh take holy dip at Gangasagar to celebrate end of winter solicit

On Saturday, Over nine lakh pilgrims took a holy dip at the Gangasagar on the occasion of Makar Sankranti and offered prayers at Kapil Muni Ashram amidst tight security that is in place in view of the Gangasagar Mela.

For all the Latest India News, Download News Nation Android and iOS Mobile Apps.
Davos:

Worlds rich and powerful people, including over 100 from India, as well as government heads from the UK, China, Pakistan and Bangladesh will be in this Swiss ski resort for 5-day WEF Annual Meeting beginning on Monday to hold discussions on global economy and need for a responsive and responsible leadership.



Union Ministers Nitin Gadkari and Nirmala Sitharaman, Niti Aayogs Arvind Panagariya, DIPP Secretary Ramesh Abhishek and Andhra Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu are among the prominent attendees from India at the elite talkfest, where Modi governments demonetisation move, as also the fear of de-globalisation in the wake of Trump Presidency in the US, will be among key topics of discussion.



There will be a special session on India where the panelists will discuss the countrys anti-corruption and tax reform programmes and how inclusive the results can be.



Besides, more than 100 Indian CEOs and business leaders, including the next chief of Tata Group N Chandrasekaran, will be present at the event which will see overall more than 3,000 participants from more than 100 countries, including 1,200 CEOs, the biggest such gathering ever, who will huddle over important economic and geo-political issues before the world.



There will be an estimated 300 public figures, including more than 50 heads of state and government, and many participants from media, academia, and NGOs.



Over the next five days in snow-laden Davos, where the temperature could fall to as low as minus 20 degrees, the 47th Annual Meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) will be held amid a growing focus on fight against terror across the world, including Europe, and would incidentally end on the day when Donald Trump assumes office of the US President.



Top global leaders expected to be present include British Prime Minister Theressa May and Chinese President Xi Jinping, who will open the meet along with Swiss President Doris Leuthard, even as some others like German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and South African President Jacob Zuma will give this years annual jamboree of the rich and powerful a miss.



Jinping will be the first Chinese President to attend the 47-year-old summit, which will also see presence of Pakistan President Nawaz Sharif, Bangladesh PM Sheikh Hasina and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe from the region.



Former Pakistani Army Chief Raheel Sharif will also be there.



Ahead of the summit, the WEF said economic inequality, societal polarisation and growing environmental dangers are the top risks facing the world over the next 10 years while India alone can see this year a staggering 93 per cent holding jobs without social security benefits.



These would be among the key issues to be discussed by the world leaders at the meeting.



Trends such as rising income inequality and societal polarisation triggered political change in 2016 and could exacerbate global risks in 2017 if urgent action is not taken, the WEF said.



The annual study further noted that key drivers of these risks can be arrested or reversed through building more inclusive societies, for which international cooperation and long-term thinking will be vital.



The Summit will also see a host of bilateral meetings on the sidelines, including by Gadkari and Sitharaman, who would also meet Swiss Minister for Economic Affairs Johann N Schneider-Ammann on efforts to conclude the long-pending EFTA free trade agreements.



Switzerland will also host the traditional informal WTO ministerial meeting, with around 30 participants including from India, which will work towards concrete results at the upcoming ministerial conference in Buenos Aires in December.

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Lucknow:

Keeping their fingers crossed over ECs decision on cycle symbol, leaders of rival Samajwadi Party camps on Sunday discussed various options and possibilities even as ticket seekers thronged residences of party supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav and Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav.



The EC, which reserved its order on the dispute over cycle symbol, has kept both sides guessing with leaders of warring camps exploring various scenarios as little time is left for process of filing nominations to start for the first phase of the staggered polls in Uttar Pradesh.



The state will have a seven-phase polling beginning February 11 and filing of nomination papers starts as early as Tuesday.



While Mulayam and Akhilesh stayed put in their separate residences in Lucknow, a large number of ticket seekers accompanied by their supporters, gathered outside their bungalows in the VVIP security zone which has seen high voltage political drama ever since the family feud broke out in the Yadav clan six months back, splitting the ruling party ahead of the crucial elections.

Also read | UP polls 2017: Samajwadi Bahu Dimple Yadav comes out of family shadow; dominates poll posters



Akhileshji is our face and we will seek vote on it. New symbol, if given by EC, however, be a challenge but we are prepared for all situations. We are relying on the work done by the CM in past five years and people will support us, a highly confident SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan, considered close to Akhilesh, told PTI.



Interestingly, the Mulayam camp, which too has declared its candidates, are confident of retaining the symbol and waiting for the EC decision before deciding its next step.



Confusion still persists in both the SP camps as a number of candidates declared by both factions are common. We will work on it and decide our strategy once ECs decision is out, a senior SP leader said.

Also read | Samajwadi Party feud: 'Bicycle' war may end in truce as 'Margdarshak' Mulayam tones down stance, EC reserves order on symbol, expected to pass interim order before Jan 17



Shivpal Yadav, who returned to Lucknow after presenting his side before the EC in Delhi, when asked at the airport said, I hope EC will decide in favour of netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). The situation will be clear very soon.



SP state president Naresh Uttam, appointed by Akhilesh replacing his warring uncle Shivpal, has said, The entire party is behind our national president Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected unanimously...we are confident of retaining the cycle symbol.



Uttam, who paid a courtesy visit to Mulayam yesterday on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, has said, Father and son are very much together. We will fight under Akhilesh and netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will guide us. He is not only father but also our leader.

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Jerusalem:

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed as futile an international conference in Paris seeking to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

The conference convening on Sunday in Paris is a futile conference, he told ministers at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians with the aim of imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs, he said.

Netanyahus government has bitterly opposed the conference, saying only direct talks with the Palestinians can end the long-running conflict.

The Palestinians have welcomed the multilateral approach, saying years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation of the West Bank.

The conference is being held without either the Israelis or the Palestinians, but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet French President Francois Hollande in the coming weeks to be briefed on the outcome, French diplomats said.

Netanyahu declined a similar invitation, they said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault formally opened the assembly of foreign ministers and representatives from around 70 countries and international organisations.

We are here to reiterate strongly that the two-state solution is the only one possible, Ayrault said.

The conference comes just five days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel.

Israel fears measures discussed at the conference could be taken to the UN Security Council before Trump takes office.

In a break with previous administrations, Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israels capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Abbas warned yesterday that such a move could bury the hopes for a two-state solution.

The citys status is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict, which is why foreign embassies are currently based in Tel Aviv.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

Hard-line Israeli lawmakers, including some from Netanyahus Likud party, have said Trumps win represents an opportunity to quash the chance of Palestinians obtaining an independent state.

Netanyahu, who says he still supports a two-state solution, appeared in his comments today to be looking forward to the impending change in the White House.

This conference is among the last spasms of yesterdays world, he said. Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close.

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Karachi:

China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.



China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.



The Gwadar port in Pakistans restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.



The shipsnamed after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadarwere received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.



Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.



Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.



The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today, Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.



He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a historic moment and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.



The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.



China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPECs land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.



Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the armys new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.



In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.



China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control.



It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.



The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU.

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Kathmandu:

Three Chinese, including two women, and a Nepalese driver were arrested with huge amount of illegal foreign exchange in Nepal, police said on Sunday.

Acting on a tip-off, police had intercepted the Scorpio while they were trying to exit the Kathmandu Valley with the illegal cash on Saturday. The trio were carrying around USD 260,000, around 118,000 Euro and some amounts of Canadian dollars, Francs and Australian Dollars totaling Nepali Rs 47 million, police said.

"Three Chinese nationals, including two women, in possession of a huge cache of illegal foreign currencies were arrested from Nagdhunga on the outskirts of Kathmandu yesterday," police said.

They were arrested while they were exiting the Kathmandu Valley on a private vehicle. The trio are being interrogated with the help of interpreters, they said. The Nepalese man identified as Pemba Tamang (39), from Rasuwa district, was arrested for helping the trio, police said.

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UN welcomes US decision to ease sanctions on Sudan

Sudan,Diplomacy,Business/Economy, Sun, 15 Jan 2017 IANS

Khartoum, Jan 15 (IANS) The UN welcomed the United States' decision to lift some sanctions imposed on Sudan.

"This decision is recognition of steps taken by the government of Sudan during recent months in a number of important areas," said the UN Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator in Sudan Marta Ruedas, in a statement on Saturday.

She congratulated Sudan "on the implementation of these steps which have led to the improvement of relations between the Republic of Sudan and the US", Xinhua news agency reported.

The UN official further said that this decision would provide a solid platform for the sustainable development in Sudan.

On Friday, the US President Barack Obama issued a decision cancelling two executive orders imposing economic sanctions on Sudan while the Sudanese Foreign Ministry welcomed the American decision

The ministry regarded the US decision as "a fruit of a close cooperation between the two countries in international and regional issues of mutual concern."

The US has been imposing sanctions on Sudan since 1997 and putting it on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism since 1993.

Meanwhile, a Sudanese top diplomat said on Saturday that his country expected full normalization of relations between Sudan and the US after the step.

"The U.S. decision on lifting the economic sanctions on Sudan came as a result of a comprehensive dialogue that has continued for about two years," said Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour at a press conference here.

Ghandour stressed the importance of the U.S. decision to lift sanctions on Sudan, saying "these decisions will remove all the barriers which have been crippling the flow of investments to Sudan".

--IANS

vgu/
China, Vietnam agree to manage differences on South China Sea

China,Defence/Security,Diplomacy, Sun, 15 Jan 2017 IANS

Beijing, Jan 15 (IANS) China and Vietnam issued a joint communique, pledging to manage maritime differences and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

According to the communique issued on Saturday, China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, it said.

Both sides agreed to manage maritime differences and avoid any acts that may complicate the situation and escalate tensions so as to safeguard peace and stability of the South China Sea, said the communique.

The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.

During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

According to the communique, the two countries agreed that it was of great importance and strategic guidance to bilateral ties that the high-level officials of both countries and parties, especially the top leaders of the two countries, maintain frequent contact.

Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas.

Vietnam supports and will actively participate in a summit forum on the international cooperation along the Belt and Road to be hosted by China in 2017, said the communique.

--IANS

vgu/
Spacex has a successful return to flight. The mission was a success with successful deployment of all satellites and the first stage landed on the drone ship

Over the next 14 months, the company plans six additional Falcon 9 launches to deploy 60 more Iridium satellites that will completely replace the constellation.

In the short-term, the successful launch helps put SpaceX back on track. The explosion and subsequent four-month grounding created a backlog of launches, including cargo missions for NASA to the International Space Station. Septembers explosion was SpaceXs second failure in 15 months; a Falcon 9 rocket carrying NASA cargo disintegrated in flight in June 2015

SpaceX hopes to launch its larger Falcon Heavy this spring. The Heavy, years behind schedule, would become the worlds most powerful rocket since NASA retired the Saturn 5 more than 40 years ago.

SpaceX also plans to refly one of its recovered boosters this spring. By reusing instead of throwing away rocket boosters, SpaceX hopes to significantly reduce the cost of launches.

SpaceX has described plans to offer satellite internet services with more than 4,000 satellites. The forecasts described by The Wall Street Journal, which were produced in early 2016, show how much the company is depending on this new business.

SpaceX projected that current rocket launching business would quintuple in revenue, to $5 billion, in 2025. Satellite internet services, still in the early planning stages, were projected to bring in more than $30 billion in revenue and generate the bulk of more than $20 billion in profit for the company.

See more First stage has landed on Just Read the Instructions pic.twitter.com/W0EoLaO4YR  SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 14, 2017

See more Successful deployment of 10 @IridiumComm NEXT satellites has been confirmed.  SpaceX (@SpaceX) January 14, 2017
Still Standing: Four the Moments legacy honoured at Nova Scotia Music Week

When a quartet of Halifax women began singing together a cappella in the name of social justice in 1982, there was little in the way of a music industry at play in Atlantic Canada. And even if there had been, its likely that Four the Moment would ...
Three soldiers attached to the Nigerian Army troops of the 119 Battalion and 133 Special Forces Battalion in the Operation Lafiya Dole w...

Three soldiers attached to the Nigerian Army troops of the 119 Battalion and 133 Special Forces Battalion in the Operation Lafiya Dole were killed on Saturday in the Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State, after Boko Haram insurgents attacked the military base.NE learnt that troops also shot dead 10 Boko Haram members with the assistance of the Nigerian Air Force Intelligence and Reconnaissance planes around the shores of the Lake Chad.It was learnt that the Boko Haram members attacked the troops, but were repelled and in the process, the insurgents were killed and several others injured.The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig. Gen. Sani Usman, who confirmed the casualty figure, said the troops recovered one Pulemyot Kalashnkova Machine (PKM) Gun, with 67 rounds of ammunition, one AK-47 Riffle with 18 rounds of ammunition, two AK-Rifle top covers and three dane guns with one cartridge.He said, Other items recovered included a handheld Motorola radio, an antenna, a copy of the Holy Quran and Boko Haram terrorists flag. Unfortunately, three soldiers paid the supreme price in the course of the encounter, while 27 soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries. The bodies of the soldiers and those injured have since been evacuated for treatment.The troops have continued to trail the terrorists that escaped with gunshot wounds. They have also intensified vigilance and they are making concerted efforts to clear the remnants of the terrorists in various nooks and crannies.Meanwhile, the army said it had begun the court-martial process for soldiers found to be sympathisers and collaborators of Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.The court-martial process would usually lead to a dismissal.The army spokesman, Usman, stated this in an interview, adding that the civilians among the collaborators would be tried in a court of law.He said, The army is progressing in its responsibility to root out Boko Haram terrorists in the north-eastern region. On the arrest of a Borno State local government chairman and a vice-chairman, investigation is still ongoing.Before the arrest of these gentlemen, there had been previous arrests of Boko Haram suppliers and collaborators to the point that some of them, even military personnel, were nabbed for cattle rustling as a means of funding Boko Haram terrorists. Investigation is ongoing.Those that should be subjected to military laws are undergoing the process of eventual court-martial, while those who are civilians are being taken care of by other organs in the society responsible for such prosecution.We have a joint investigation centre comprising of the army and other security agencies. I cannot speak for the centre, but I can assure you that all the Boko Haram sympathisers are being investigated.
President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday in Abuja led government officials and service chiefs to lay wreath...

President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Sunday in Abuja led government officials and service chiefs to lay wreaths in honour of Nigerian soldiers who died in active service.The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that apart from the wreaths laying ceremony, the President used the opportunity to make video conference calls to Nigerian troops in the battle fields in Sambisa Forest, Yola in Adamawa and to those serving in UN Peace Mission in Liberia.The President, who first spoke to the Nigerian troops fighting the Boko Haram insurgents in Sambisa Forest in Borno, saluted their courage and urged them to continue to maintain discipline and efficiency they were known for.He said your success was received spontaneously by all Nigerians. I congratulate you and I thank you very much for the honour you have done to the country and to us, well done. I wish your families are all well and are getting in touch with you.Please maintain the standard of discipline and efficiency. Thank you very much indeed.Also addressing members of the Nigerian battalion serving with the UN Peacekeeping Mission in Liberia, President Buhari, who congratulated the soldiers, wished them a successful mission abroad.The President, who commended members of the armed forces serving with the UNacross the world, said the Federal Government was monitoring their performance.He prayed for their successful operations while in Liberia, and also wished them safe journey back to Nigeria in 2018.The News Agency of Nigeria reports that Nigerian troops in Liberia will be the last batch of UN Peacekeeping Mission in that country as UN peace mission in Liberia would end in 2018.President Buhari also spoke via the video conference gadgets with the Commander of the Air Force Base in Yola, Charles Owoh, who is also the Air Commander, Operation, Lafiya Dole.The president lauded the performance of the Air Force in the ongoing fight against insurgency in the North East.He said: I get regular briefing from your Chief of Air Staff. Your performance speaks for itself and you have raised the morale of your colleagues in the military, especially the army.With your hi-tech performance and platforms, we have been able to restore the sanity and the territorial integrity of Nigeria.I am very pleased with the initiative that you have taken in maintenance of equipment. It is very encouraging and a boost to our morale here. I congratulate you and please pass my message to your families that we are very cautious of their patience and anxiety whenever you are in the field. Thank you very much indeed.Other dignitaries who performed the wreaths laying ceremony at the event include Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara, acting Chief Judge of the Federation and Justice Walter Samuel Onoghen.Others are the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali, service chiefs, Chairman of the Nigerian Legion, Mikah Gaya, members of the diplomatic corps and other prominent citizens.Special prayers were also offered in honour of the fallen heroes.At the 2017 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration held at the Remembrance Arcade at Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos restated the state governments commitment to the welfare of members of the Nigerian Legion.Already, he said, N5 million had been provided by the administration to support the families of the fallen heroes and the Nigerian Legion.The Armed Forces Remembrance Day is an annual event held every January 15 in honour of fallen heroes who lost their lives during the Nigerian civil war and the first and second world wars.The 9 Brigrade commander, Sani Mohammed, while speaking with journalists, said the remembrance day was in remembrance of the fallen heroes  soldiers who lost their lives in serving the nation particularly in war time.Also speaking, the State Commandant of the Nigerian Legion, Samuel Akande, expressed satisfaction over the success of the remembrance day, adding that the governor had always contributed to the development of the legion.Ambode laying wreath Nigerian Legion is using this opportunity to thank Governor. Ambode for all the provisions and care for the legion.He gave us N5 million and also promised two vehicles one of which has been provided, he said.Mr. Akande prayed to God to continue to protect the soldiers still in the war front and in service, hoping that peace, stability and economic prosperity would be restored to the country.The highlight of the celebration was the laying of wreaths by Mr. Ambode, officers and others in honour of the fallen heroes.As usual, the occasion also witnessed gun salutes and release of pigeons and balloons to signify peace and freedom while prayers were also offered for the families of the fallen heroes, the Nigerian Armed Forces, Service Commanders and the country.Present at the occasion were top military brass, the State Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, among others.In Cross River State, retired soldiers appealed to the Federal Government to harmonise their pensions with salaries of serving army personnel.Timothy Ushie, the Chairman of Nigerian Legion in Cross River, made the appeal on Sunday during the 2017 Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration in Calabar.Mr. Ushie, a retired colonel, who also appealed for timely payment of the ex-soldiers pensions, said that harmonising the pension with salaries of serving officers would address some grievances of the retired soldiers.According to him, the Military Pension Board saddled with the responsibility of paying pensions of retired personnel has so far been transparent.He added that today, pensions are being paid promptly even though we still have some delays sometimes; but the system has been fair.I must commend the Board for doing a good job. But, we are appealing to the Federal Government to harmonise our pension with salaries of serving officers.Bulama Biu, the Commander of 13 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Calabar, said the day was significant because it was to remember fallen heroes who fought and died to sustain the unity of Nigeria.Mr. Biu said that the Armed Forces would continue to work in harmony with other security agencies with a view to maintaining the nations peace and unity.A retired army corporal, Thomas Okon, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the payment of pension to retired soldiers had improved from what it used to be.He said as a retired Nigerian soldier who fought in the civil war, my pension of N28,000 is not big; but I thank God that even with the delay, the money still comes.I am appealing to government to look into our plight and review our pension upwards because we fought for the unity of this country.Another retired soldier, Paul Abang, appealed to the Federal Government to place premium on the welfare of ex-soldiers, saying some of them depended solely on it for their feeding and other uses.Highlights of the event were the release of pigeons by the state`s deputy governor, Ivara Esu, the 21 gun salute and the laying of wreath by service chiefs and other dignitaries in the state.
A new militant group, the Niger Delta Warriors, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Secretary to the...

A new militant group, the Niger Delta Warriors, has issued a 14-day ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal.The militant group also called for the removal of the Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu.It warned that if the Federal Government failed to sack the duo within the 14 days, youths in the Niger Delta would embark on mass protests in major cities of the country, including Abuja.In a statement issued in Port Harcourt on Saturday, the spokesperson for the group, General Hart Bradford, said its position was in the light of the fight against corruption by the Federal Government.Bradford said, We are giving the President 14 days ultimatum to sack the SGF and the EFCC chairman, otherwise we shall have no option than to carry out mass protest in Abuja and other cities across the country until the SGF and EFCC chairman leave office.Bradford also warned the FG to stop denigrating the family of former President Goodluck Jonathan, noting that the probe of Mrs. Jonathan was a direct attack on the entire family.He cautioned the FG not to be selective in the ongoing fight against corruption, adding that several corrupt personalities were in the Presidents cabinet.He also called for the reinstatement of the sacked six policemen, who were aides to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.We are in support of the Presidents anti-corruption campaign, but the campaign should be carried out without sentiment or witch-hunt against a particular set of people or party,  he added.Meanwhile, family members of a suspected militant leader, Mr. Felix Miyenminiye, arrested by operatives of the Nigerian Navy have appealed to the Federal Government to release him, adding that he was unlawfully detained.Felix hails from Ogbudugbudu community, Egbema Kingdom of the Warri-South Local Government Area of Delta State.He was arrested by men of the Nigerian Navy on August 6, 2016 along Shell Road, Sapele area of the state, for attacks on oil facilities in the region.The Nigerian Navy also accused him of being a leader of one dreaded militant groups in the region: the Niger Delta Avengers.In a statement on Saturday by the head of the family, Mr. Morrison Miyenminiye, it explained that the suspect was an ex-Niger Delta agitator who accepted the Presidential Amnesty Programme in 2009 and had since been living a peaceful, private life.The statement read in part, The naval officers who arrested him conducted a search immediately in and around his house and found nothing relating to the said frivolous allegation.Upon arrest, Miyenminiye was initially taken to Naval Base, Warri, and later transferred to Abuja where he has since been in the custody of the Nigerian Navy. All efforts by the family to reach out to the authorities of the Nigerian Navy to release him has not, in any way, yielded positive result. We therefore appeal to the Delta State Government and the Nigerian Navy authorities to effect the release of Miyenminiye.
Leaders meeting at a Franco-African summit in the Malian capital Bamako on Saturday set Jan. 19 as a deadline to solve the Gambian polit...

Leaders meeting at a Franco-African summit in the Malian capital Bamako on Saturday set Jan. 19 as a deadline to solve the Gambian political crisis, Radio France Internationale quoted Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe as saying.January 19 is the date when president-elect Adama Barrow has vowed to take power, despite outgoing President Yahya Jammeh not accepting his defeat in the December 1 election.Barrow attended the summit bringing together French President Francois Hollande and more than 30 African leaders, while Jammeh was absent.The choice of Gambian voters in favour of Adama Barrow must be respected, Hollande said.Barrow arrived in Bamako with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, who had met both him and Jammeh in the Gambian capital Banjul on Friday.A statement from Barrows office said Jammehs meeting with Buhari and other mediators from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was unproductive.Barrows spokesman Halifa Sallah said ECOWAS would nevertheless continue its mediation efforts.Gambia has been in a political deadlock since Barrow, a real estate mogul who was little known before he announced his candidacy, defeated Jammeh in the election.Jammeh, who has ruled the small West African nation for 22 years with an iron fist, has filed a petition to challenge the election result at the Supreme Court.The talks with ECOWAS came several hours after Gambias ruling party filed a motion with the Supreme Court to prevent Barrow from being sworn into office on January 19.The African Union said Friday said it will cease to recognize Jammeh as president after that date.ECOWAS earlier pledged to send troops to ensure a peaceful transition of power in Gambia if Jammeh persists in his refusal to step down.NAN
The Indigenous People of Biafra on Sunday ordered what it called a West African rally of its members for the President-elect of the Un...

The Indigenous People of Biafra on Sunday ordered what it called a West African rally of its members for the President-elect of the United State of America, Mr Donald Trump.A press statement by IPOBs Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, said the rally would take place on 20th January, the day Trump would be inaugurated as President.The march which would take place at Igweocha in Port Harcourt Rivers state, the group said would be a convocation of its members in Biafra, Nigeria and other parts of West African countries.The exercise tagged IPOB-Trump Solidarity Rally, IPOB said would be used to pray for peaceful handover to Trump, as well as further press for the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu and others in prisons.The statement read in part  IPOB worldwide and its leadership are calling on all IPOB family members and Biafrans from all over West Africa, Nigeria and Biafraland to be at Igweocha for the long awaited peaceful IPOB-TRUMP SOLIDARITY RALLY on Friday 20th January 2017.We are going to ask the Sovereign Lord God Almighty for Trumps successful take over on that day and for the release of our leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and others detained illegally in the orders of Major General Muhammadu Buhari in all the DSS secret cells and prisons across Nigeria.This IPOB peaceful rally on 20th January 2017 will be for Biafrans, friends of Biafra and lovers of freedom all over the world to understand how resolute and committed we are towards the emancipation, realisation and proclamation of our God given right to live as free men and women in our ancestral land of Biafra.We Biafrans abhor slavery and subjugation of human beings in whatever form or guise.
The Nigerian Army on Sunday said soldiers killed 13 suspected Boko Haram members during clearance operations in Bomboshe and Sinbaya in D...

The Nigerian Army on Sunday said soldiers killed 13 suspected Boko Haram members during clearance operations in Bomboshe and Sinbaya in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno.Brig.-Gen. Sani Usman, the Director of Army Public Relations, said in a statement in Maiduguri that the operations were carried out on Thursday and Friday.According to him, the troops also discovered and destroyed the insurgents night market at Boboshe and neutralised five terrorists.The Army troop also rescued 58 persons comprising 35 women and 23 children held in captive by the terrorists.During the operations, the troops met stiff resistance from suspected terrorists, eight of whom were neutralised around Sinbaya.As part of the clearance operations of remnants and fleeing Boko Haram terrorists in the North East, troops have continually carried out raids, patrols and cordon operations.It is in that regards that troops of 112 Task Force Battalion, 22 Brigade, Nigerian Army on Operation Lafiya Dole, conducted joint operations with vigilantes and civilian JTF in suspected terrorists hide outs.In the last two days, the troops have carried out patrols and clearance operations in various villages and towns in Dikwa Local Government Area.On Thursday, Jan. 13, with the assistance of some local vigilantes and civilian JTF, the troops carried out fighting patrols and clearance operations in Awada and Sinbaya villages.They also carried out similar clearance operation at Anaduwa village where they removed Boko Haram terrorists flags and recovered four Isuzu vehicles and three motorcycles.Yesterday (Saturday), they also carried out a joint patrol to Agulari, Kirinari, Gubdori and Yale villages, including Talwari village, which served as harbour for the terrorists.Although the terrorists have abandoned the locations, the troops observed traces of their activities such as hoisted Boko Haram flags in the area.Troops also arrested the terrorists food store keeper and recovered two Isuzu vehicles, grinding machines and vehicles workshop tools.They recovered five Pump Action Guns, two pumping machines, eight vehicle tyres and one battery.The troops proceeded to Dagumba, Boboshe, Kajeri, Boskoro and Saleri and cleared the areas.The patrol recovered one Toyota truck at Kajeri and arrested one Boko Haram terrorist in Boskoro village.However, one soldier sustained injury during the operation and is receiving medical attention, the statement stated.Usman reminded members of the public to always pass information on suspicious persons in their environment to security agencies. (NAN)
As part of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration, the Nigerian Army on Sunday released 257 suspected Boko Haram members who were i...

As part of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day celebration, the Nigerian Army on Sunday released 257 suspected Boko Haram members who were in detention to the Borno State government.The detainees  comprised of men, women and children  were released to the Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Usman Durkwa, during a ceremony at the Ramat Square in Maiduguri.Handing over the detainees, the head of the militarys counter-insurgency operation in the North East (Operation Lafiya Dole) , Maj. Gen. Lucky Irabor, said the 257 Boko Haram detainees had been screened and found to be clean.He said, After screening them, we found them clean, but we will ensure that they are monitored even after the release. The Army Day celebration have afforded us opportunity to free them to mark the occasion.In his keynote address read by Deputy Governor, on behalf of Governor Kashim Shettima, paid tribute to the fallen heroes who he said paid the ultimate price for the unity of the nation.We must be committed to ensure that the labours of our heroes past are not in vain. I appeal to all to contribute in catering for the family they left behind. I commend the Nigerian Military and other security agencies for restoration of Peace to Borno and the North East, he said.He called on Nigerians to pray for troops fighting insurgency in Northeast for total defeat of remnants of Boko Haram for needed Peace and development.
The major non-academic unions in the nations university system have issued a notice to the Federal Government that they will embark on a...

The major non-academic unions in the nations university system have issued a notice to the Federal Government that they will embark on a five-day warning strike over the failure of the government to implement its 2009 agreements with the unions.The unions are the National Association of Academic Technologists, Non-Academic Staff Union and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities.The Joint Action Committee of the unions said in a statement on Saturday that the decision was taken to embark on the warning strike to prevail on the government to commence full implementation of the 2009 agreements.The JAC letter conveying the strike notice to the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, was signed by the President of SSANU, Mr. Samson Ugwoke, the President of NAAT, Sani Suleiman, and the President of NASU, Chris Ani.The union leaders also sent copies of the warning strike notice to the Minister of Labour and Employment, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission and President, Nigeria Labour Congress.They lamented that the poor funding of the universities had resulted in non-payment of salaries regularly and increased corruption in the system.The also criticised the government for the decay in infrastructure and abandoned projects in the university system.The University system is challenged by poor governance and administrative lapses which need to be addressed holistically. These are poor funding of our universities, shortfall in payment of staff salaries, increasing corruption in the university system.They also complained about the non-payment of earned allowances as agreed and the lack of adequate teaching and learning facilities which they said had affected productivity of members of staff of the universities among others.
A massive security hunt got underway yesterday at Isheri, Ogun State, for the eight people abducted by suspected kidnappers on Friday fr...

A massive security hunt got underway yesterday at Isheri, Ogun State, for the eight people abducted by suspected kidnappers on Friday from the Nigerian Tulip International College (NTIC) in the town.Taken away were three students, three female supervisors, one female cook and a female Turkish teacher.Two of the abducted students were said to be preparing for the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board exam.The school formerly known as Turkish International School is owned by a Turkish organization, First Surat Group.Senior officers from the army, navy, police and the Department of State Security Service (DSS) in the State yesterday moved to the town at the boundary with Lagos to coordinate the search and rescue mission.The search and rescue team began its task by combing the waterways around Arepo, an Ogun-Lagos border town.Lagos towns of Ikorodu and Iba have in recent times been used by suspected militants for kidnapping and oil bunkering.It was learnt that Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, ordered that the rescue mission be led by the elite IGP Intelligence Response Team (IRT).The IG team is being led by Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), Abba Kyari.A source said: We are combing the creeks around the school and are working on some intelligence reports, which cannot be disclosed so as not to jeopardise the operation. We hope that we will make a breakthrough soon.The Ogun State Police Commands Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told newsmen that the security chiefs were already tracking the abductors.He pledged that the victims would be rescued alive.Mr. Mehmet Basturk, the Group Managing Director of First Surat Group, was also expected at the school yesterday from his Abuja base.Spokesman for NTIC Colleges, Mr.Cemal Yirgit, threw light on how the kidnap took place, saying everything was being done to free the abducted people.Yirgit in a statement entitled, Kidnap of students and a Turkish teacher said: We wish to notify the general public of the unfortunate incident that occurred on January 13, 2017, at the premises of The Nigerian Turkish International Colleges (NTIC), Ogun State.At about 9.30 pm local time, a group of people armed with dangerous weapons gained entrance into the girls section through different means and held hostage three female supervisors, a female cook, a female teacher (Turkish) and three students.The school security noticed some movement on the CCTV camera at the girls section and promptly deployed security personnel and alerted the relevant security agencies in the area as customary.Upon hearing the security alarm activated and sighting our personnel, the armed invaders opened fire on the security staff and managed to escape through a very dangerous route, with the hostages.The security agencies are currently on their trail as the whole area has been cordoned off.We wish to assure parents and guardians that the students and teacher will return to safety as soon as everything possible has been deployed to ensure that our teachers and students return unhurt by Gods grace.It was gathered that the kidnappers gained entry into the compound by climbing the fence.They then dug a portion of the fence close to a swamp. They proceeded to the female hostels, where they seized the victims all of whom they threatened with gun before forcefully taking them away.The abductors were yet to contact the school management or parents of the abducted students at press time.Parents stormed the school yesterday to pick their wards ignoring pleas by the Ogun State Deputy Governor, Yetunde Onanuga, who visited the school.Addressing the agonising parents, Onanuga, spoke of governments commitment to the safe return of the students, saying state government had put security measure in place in that direction.The deputy governor appealed to parents and guardians of the pupils to remain calm and not engage in panic withdrawal of their children from the school.We are here to express our concern and sympathy. It is unfortunate that, this is happening barely few days on school resumption. When we heard about it, we quickly sprang into action, hence the urgent visit.Our government has put necessary security measure in place for the rescue of the abductees. Ogun State is already in action. Let me reassure you that we are going to rescue the victims soon.No doubt, it does happen once a while but its unfortunate, the state is aware and we are doing the work, we will do all that is possible for the safe return of the children. The FG is aware and they have also assured us that very soon, they would be rescued.Its not the time to start taking children out of the schools, the security operatives are all on ground to ensure safety of life and property of the school. We will do all that is possible to make sure the school is safe and the school authority is also doing what is possible to ensure that the state is safe.Mr. Ahmad Ajani, whose daughter  Hanatullah Aderinto Ajani (22), was one of the abducted pupils, said he got the information on Friday night.Ajani who described the incident as sad and unfortunate said his child was in the school to prepare for the forthcoming JAMB exams.Somebody called in the midnight that something happened here and my daughter was involved, I had to come down this morning (yesterday) and the Police Commissioner addressed us assuring that they would work on it and that everything would be alright very soon.I am very sad but prayerful that they are rescued on time. As I am standing, I am traumatized; you can imagine a girl of 22 preparing for University and somebody took her away, it is a big issue.Another parent, Mrs. Funmi Tijani, said: We (parents) are taking our children away. Weve agreed amongst ourselves to take our children away for a week.My daughter saw them (kidnappers), witnessed the whole scenario and shes traumatised. Psychologically, they (students) are not balanced; you dont expect me to leave her behind.Expressing concern over the development, a parent who requested anonymity urged security agencies to examine all possibilities of both domestic and international involvement in the incident.It is a fact that a group within the country preys on innocent school children to prosecute a warped war while some forces outside Nigeria who failed in the bid to cause the closure of Turkish schools in Nigeria have not relented, he said.The kidnap comes about three months after gunmen invaded Lagos Model College in Epe and kidnapped four students, a vice president and a teacher from the school.
President-elect Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at a prominent civil rights icon and lawmaker who said he is skipping next weeks inaug...

President-elect Donald Trump lashed out Saturday at a prominent civil rights icon and lawmaker who said he is skipping next weeks inauguration ceremony because he sees the New York businessmans election as illegitimate.Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results, Trump said in a tweet.All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad! he added.Lewis, who represents a district in the southern state of Georgia that includes Atlanta and surrounding areas, on Friday became the most high-profile Democratic lawmaker to boycott Trumps inauguration.At least eight House Democrats have publicly stated they will not be attending Trumps swearing-in at the US Capitol next Friday, with several indicating their absence will be an act of political protest.I dont see this president-elect as a legitimate president, Lewis told NBCs Meet the Press talk show in an interview that will air Sunday.I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, he said, adding that he will skip the presidential inauguration for the first time since becoming a member of Congress in 1987.You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong.US intelligence organizations have accused Russia of cyberattacks on the Democratic National Committee and distributing hacked emails from senior Clinton aides in an effort to influence the US election.Lewis, 76, is known for his decades of work in the civil rights movement, and marched with Martin Luther King at the August 1963 rally in Washington at which King gave his I Have a Dream speech.Lewis took part in so-called Freedom Rides  challenges to segregated facilities at bus terminals in the South.On March 7, 1965, he led a march in Selma, Alabama that ended in an attack by state troopers on the protesters that later became known as Bloody Sunday.AFP
The Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday said it does not want Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in the...

The Enugu State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress on Sunday said it does not want Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, in the party.Senator Kabiru Marafa, an APC senator from Zamfara State, had advised Ekweremadu, who represents Enugu West Senatorial Zone in the Senate, to defect to the APC if he must keep his seat as the Deputy Senate President.Restating the call, Marafa said, I am telling you that he (Ekweremadu) has the opportunity now. Let him just defect. The beauty of any political party is the people. If you can join us, join us. We want more people. Instead of moving against his seat, let him join us.But the APC in Enugu State did not welcome Marafas call on Ekweremadu.Speaking with journalists in Enugu, Publicity Secretary of the APC in Enugu State, Mrs Kate Offor, said the Deputy Senate President was not needed in the party.Offor said Ekweremadu should remain in the PDP, which she said he (Ekweremadu) contributed in destroying.The Deputy Senate President would be an unwelcome guest in Enugu State APC, should he decide to join the party, Offor stressed.Whatever is the position of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, we want him (Ekweremadu) to remain in PDP.We wish to make it very clear that Ekweremadu is an unwanted guest in Enugu State APC.Let him stay and salvage the inferno festering in the PDP, the Enugu State APC spokesperson said.We dont want one party state, she added.
Nicky_Scarfo.jpg

An FBI photograph of Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo, center, walking with associates.

(FBI file photo)

A former mafia kingpin, who served as a Philadelphia mob boss while sitting atop his perch in Atlantic City, died Friday in federal prison at the age of 87, a person close to the family said on Sunday.

Nicodemo "Little Nicky" Scarfo was serving out a 55-year sentence on racketeering and murder charges at the Federal Medical Center in Butner, N.C., when he died, Michael E. Riley, a Mt. Holly based attorney for Scarfo's son, Nicodemo S. "Nicky" Scarfo, told NJ Advance Media on Sunday afternoon.

"He had been ill for a while," Riley said by phone. "He had some health difficulties."

Riley stopped short of saying exactly what those difficulties were. An attorney representing the elder Scarfo, Norris E. Gelman, told Philly.com that he died of cancer. Riley could not confirm that report.

Born in Brooklyn and raised in South Philadelphia, Scarfo was introduced to organized crime by three of his uncles. Scarfo started as a bookmaker but climbed the ranks of the Philly mob to serve as a boss during the bloody 1980s. He took over after a mob war that followed the 1980 assassination of longtime boss Angelo Bruno.

Scarfo ran the Philadelphia-South Jersey mob from Atlantic City and benefitted greatly when voters approved casino gambling in the seaside destination in 1976. He had a lucrative stake in the real estate expansion there through construction companies he and his associates ran. Scarfo also seized control of the city's largest labor union of hotel and restaurant employees.

Scarfo's reign of terror in Philadelphia came to a screeching halt in 1987 when he was arrested at the Atlantic City airport. Scarfo was sentenced to life in prison in 1989.

Scarfo was sentenced to life in prison in 1989, though it was later overturned.

But Scarfo's name popped up in federal documents as recent as 2011 when he was among 13 people named in an indictment charging him in connection with the alleged extortionate takeover of a Texas-based financial group. Also named in the indictment was the younger Scarfo, who authorities say had been admitted into the Lucchese crime family as a favor to his father.

Though the tenor of alleged mob activities had changed by the 2000s, a statement from the FBI assured the community organized crime was still alive and well.

"The demise of Organized Crime has been greatly exaggerated," Michael B. Ward, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Newark Field Office, said in a November 2011 statement announcing the indictment. "Criminal activities have evolved from the back alleys to the board rooms, but the same use of physical threats and intimidation to gain leverage and loot lucrative businesses for personal gain continues to this day. In response, the charges being brought against Nicky Scarfo Jr., Sal Pelullo and others represent law enforcement's commitment to aggressively target the illegal activity of Organized Crime in any commercial business or venue."

The younger Scarfo was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2015.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Afghan officials say at least seven civilians, including a woman and three children, were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in eastern Afghanistan on January 15.

The villagers were traveling from Pacheer Agam district to a nearby village in Nangarhar Province, district Governor Hijratullah Rahmani told the AFP news agency.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast, which the Interior Ministry blamed on "enemies of peace and stability," a term Afghan officials use to refer to Taliban militants.

The Taliban has a strong presence in Nangarhar, a volatile province that borders Pakistan.

The Islamic State (IS) extremist group has also gained a foothold in eastern Afghanistan in recent years.

Earlier, Afghan officials said that IS fighters had been driven out of Pacheer Agam in an operation by security forces.

In a separate development in Nangarhar, officials said IS militants abducted 13 lecturers of the Haska Mina religious school on January 15.

Attaullah Khogyani, spokesman for the provincial governor, said "the teachers were taking exams from students in Shpoly area, when they were abducted."

Provincial government said in a statement that security forces have begun an operation to release the lecturers.

Based on reporting by AFP and pajhwok.com
The War on Drugs has a lot in common with the War on Terror:

The presidents who started them had no idea how to finish them.

Our governor is an enthusiastic proponent of both. But if he has any idea how to win either I've yet to hear it.

That expansive program to fight drug abuse that he announced in his State of the State speech Tuesday amounted to a call for a vast new bureaucracy that would attempt to treat the symptoms of the problem but not the problem itself.

"It looks like addiction treatment is the last refuge of the scoundrel," said Stanton Peele when I called him to comment on the crusade Christie announced Tuesday.

Peele, who has both a Ph.D. in psychology and a law degree, is perhaps the leading debunker of the recovery industry in America. Before moving to Brooklyn recently, the 71-year-old spent most of his career in Morris County.

That gave him a ringside seat to observe Christie's career, a career which is seemingly based on the idea that lawyers are the best people for any job that comes down the pike, from school construction to Hurricane Sandy relief.

In fact, Christie's administration bungled both of those. And Peele doesn't have high hopes for the latest lawyer-led effort to end drug dependency.

It sounds nice in theory to recommend, as the governor did during that 75-minute spiel last week, that drug users should be sent to treatment rather than to jail.

But Peele slices, dices and destroys that approach in a recent article titled "American Gulag: The Five Ways Hundreds of Thousands of People Are Coerced Into Rehab and AA."

"The myth is that 12-step programs and their associated treatment industry thrive simply because Americans love them," it begins. "In fact, both are substantially built on and maintained by force."

That force is applied by the legal system. The problem with that approach, said Peele, is that many of the rehab slots end up occupied by people who don't want to be there. That means a lot of people who really want treatment don't get it.

Another problem is that rehab doesn't always work as advertised. Christie admitted as much in his speech when he cited the examples of two drug users who died from overdoses despite being in and out of rehab.

Peele stands with the "harm reduction" wing of the therapy establishment. These counselors believe we need to deal with drugs for the simple reason that we'll never get rid of them.

Arthur D. Little agreed. Arthur D. Little is the name of a management consulting firm founded by a chemist of that name.

In 1967, the firm issued a report on the drug menace of the day, which consisted mainly of some weak Mexican marijuana as well as heroin. A legal crackdown would make the problem worse, not better, the report said.

"If United States law-enforcement policies become so efficient as to prevent altogether the smuggling of heroin, the black market can readily convert to narcotic concentrates that are a thousand or even ten thousand times more potent, milligram for milligram," the firm reported.

That happened right on schedule. Christie mentioned the synthetic opioid fentanyl in his speech. But he failed to mention that the War on Drugs ended up turning a relatively small problem with natural drugs like marijuana and heroin into a major problem with synthetic drugs like meth, ecstasy and fentanyl.

He also proposed that the attorney general, i.e. a lawyer, look over the shoulder of every doctor in the state who prescribes pain-killers. Christie wants the AG to enforce an order that no doctor can prescribe more than five days' of painkillers at a time.

The Medical Society of New Jersey denounced "such intrusions into the practice of medicine, especially if they do not take into account individual patient circumstances, like medication tolerance or access to insurance, transportation or alternative treatments."

Or in other words, some poor, sick person who's in pain will have to make five extra trips to the pharmacy because some other person abuses the drug in question.

Then there's the question of marijuana. Christie wants the lawyers to hound the pot-smokers into treatment centers as well. Who's going to pay for all this?

The rest of us, that's who. Christie proposes a mandate that every health insurance policy sold in New Jersey come with an entitlement to six months of drug treatment.

That puts him at odds with all the Republicans in Congress who are now busy dismantling Obamacare, said Michael Cannon, a health-policy expert at the free-market Cato Institute in Washington.

"Chris Christie doesn't think Barack Obama should be able to tell you which health benefits are essential," said Cannon. "He thinks Chris Christie should be able to tell you which health benefits are essential."

Exactly. He's a lawyer, after all, and lawyers know what's best for us.

Except when they don't.

BELOW: The world's most famous Rutgers grad, the late Milton Friedman, explains the economic forces that doomed the Drug War in terms even a lawyer should be able to understand.
WASHINGTON -- There was a speech before a group of Democratic state legislators, an appearance on a Sunday talk show, and then a break with tradition by testifying against U.S. Attorney General-designate Jeff Sessions.

After a presidential campaign where he often spoke for Hillary Clinton, U.S. Sen. Cory Booker is emerging as a leading voice of dissent in the Democratic Party as the Donald Trump era begins.

The New Jersey Democrat says he's concerned that hard-fought progress in several areas such as civil rights, environmental protection, education and criminal justice could be wiped out by the new administration.

"We have to let folks know we're going to fight the good fight here," Booker said in an interview in his Washington office. "This year could potentially be one of the most difficult and challenging years in modern American history."

It's a sudden turn of events for a lawmaker who arrived at the U.S. Capitol with a reputation for liking the spotlight but instead sought to hide from its glare, working quietly with members of both parties to advance legislation and using his celebrity status to help elect more Senate Democrats.

Booker said the entire Senate Democratic caucus plans to speak out, but he is in a different category than many of his colleagues. At age 47, he's much younger than the Democratic leaders in Congress or the party's last presidential nominee.

"There will be a passing of the torch," Democratic consultant Glenn Totten said. "Senator Booker is a very good choice."

Booker brings more than just the voice of a new generation. He has 2.1 million Twitter followers and another 148,000 on Instagram.

"He probably has more national name recognition than any junior senator in America," said Matthew Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University. "That alone makes him speaking out against Trump a big deal."

Some Democrats welcomed Booker to the fight.

"Cory's no longer the celebrity, he's a genuine future contender," said U.S. Rep. Bill Pascrell Jr. (D-9th Dist.). "He's ready for prime time. He's articulate, he knows what he's talking about and he does his homework."

While Booker said his focus was solely on 2017, others said his actions seemed aimed at the next presidential election.

"This is a calculated move on his part to be the new voice of the Democratic Party," Republican consultant Craig Stevens said.

Indeed, Booker's role now could fuel a future White House run, said Julian Zelizer, a professor of history and public affairs at Princeton University.

"If he emerges as a leader of the opposition, Booker will be in good shape to be a top name for 2020," Zelizer said. "The role won't be easy since Trump will come at his opponents with everything he has. But if Booker can withstand it, he might emerge as a popular candidate for the next election."

Booker already is being scrutinized by potential allies. Supporters of U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized him for voting against allowing imports of prescription drugs from foreign countries.

"This vote is a disgraceful betrayal of every patient and consumer in America," said RoseAnn DeMoro, executive director of National Nurses United, which ran a pro-Sanders super political action committee.

Several major drug companies, including Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co., call New Jersey home. In his 2013 special and 2014 general elections, Booker received $233,750 from employees of drug manufacturers, more than any other congressional candidate, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

The vote was one of several during debate on a budget resolution designed to make it easier to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Besides Booker, 12 other Democrats, including U.S. Sen. Robert Menendez (D-N.J.), opposed the amendment, even as they supported two other provisions related to prescription drugs. Booker said he supported the importation of prescription drugs but the proposal lacked "consumer protections that ensure foreign drugs meet American safety standards."

Republicans said Booker could be risking his reputation as a lawmaker willing to reach across the aisle.

Booker has worked with Republicans such as Tea Party favorites Sens. Rand Paul of Kentucky and Mike Lee of Utah on overhauling criminal justice. He dined with U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) during the presidential primary campaign.

He and Sessions co-sponsored legislation awarding the Congressional Gold Medal to the marchers who trekked from Selma to Montgomery and won approval of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. One of those marchers, U.S. Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), testified with Booker in opposition to Sessions, who has called the law a "piece of intrusive legislation."

Booker's decision to oppose Sessions didn't sit well with many Republicans.

"He was looking to jump start talking about 2020," GOP consultant Chris Russell said. "I thought this was a misstep. If he still wants to be this post-partisan guy, he's doing damage to the image he's trying to build."

And U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) wrote on Facebook: "Senator Booker is better than that, and he knows better."

Booker said he won't be quiet.

"People are going to criticize you no matter what you do, so do what's right," Booker said. "If people want to speculate or criticize or condemn, so be it. I'm taking steps I believe are the right things to do."

Jonathan D. Salant may be reached at jsalant@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @JDSalant. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook
Joseph Rullo

Joseph Rullo is running for the Republican nomination for governor this year.

(Courtesy of Joseph Rullo)

TUCKERTON -- Trivia question: Who was the first Republican candidate to jump into the 2017 New Jersey governor's race?

It wasn't Lt. Gov. Kim Guadagno, who filed paperwork this past week to seek the party's nomination, instantly heating up the GOP side of the battle to succeed her boss, Republican Gov. Chris Christie.

Nor was it state Assemblyman Jack Ciattarelli of Somerset County or Nutley township commissioner Steven Rogers, a pair of elected officials who are also vying for the GOP nod.

It was actually Joseph Rullo, a longshot candidate who entered the race more than a year ago -- in 2015 -- when few people were watching.

"I was carrying the torch," the 47-year-old Ocean County small business owner said.

Political experts say whoever wins the Republican primary will be the underdog in this year's general election. And in a race where none of the candidates on either side have significant name recognition, Rullo is one of the least known. He's never held elected office and similar outsider candidates in major New Jersey elections have fizzled in the past.

But in the age of President-elect Donald Trump, Rullo is hoping a resume lacking government ties may help him gain traction

"There's a movement going on," Rullo, a Trump supporter, said during a recent interview at a diner in Tuckerton. "On a micro level, Trump was the vehicle -- the vessel. But on a macro level, people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. It's come to a head."

"People are understanding that in Trenton, it's all about helping friends and family and contributors," he added. "I am prepping a massive overhaul of Trenton. I'm not in the establishment."

Rullo is echoing more than Trump's message. His campaign materials even use similar fonts and colors to the ones the former Atlantic City casino mogul used in his path to the presidency.

Matthew Hale, a political science professor at Seton Hall University, said he does think there's "room on the Republican side for an outsider, anti-Trenton candidate."

But, Hale said, the Trump connection might be a problem for Rullo, considering Trump lost New Jersey in the election to Democrat Hillary Clinton.

"He seems to think that by replacing 'Trump' with 'Rullo' on a Trump law sign and saying he wants to drain the swamp in Trenton instead of Washington will be enough to get New Jersey to support him," Hale said. "The problem is: Trump is and never has been popular in New Jersey, so I don't see how being a Trump clone will work for him."

Rullo was born in Belleville, moved to Nutley when he was young and then to Port Reading. But he went to high school in Beachwood and then attended Ocean County College and The College of New Jersey.

These days, Rulo owns a landscaping business and an energy business.

He's also an actor. A few years ago, Rullo recalls, he was sitting on a beach in Puerto Rico when two women approached him and asked if he wanted to play a small role in a movie. Rullo said yes.

The film was 2010's "King of the Avenue," starting Ving Rhames. Rullo played a detective.

Since then, he's scored a number of bit parts, including a spot on the HBO television series "Vinyl."

Rullo has unsuccessfully tried his hand at politics before. He considered but decided against a run at the U.S. House of Representatives and launched a bid for the U.S. Senate in 2012.

He finished fourth in the GOP primary that year, drawing about 17,000 votes, or 8 percent of the vote.

"I was naive," Rullo said.

Now, Rullo says, he has a grassroots campaign that he hopes will attract tea party voters and people fed up politics. His goal is to cut property taxes by reworking the state's troubled public-worker pension system and shedding hundreds of government jobs. He also wants to repeal the recent state gas tax hike and dissolve the state Transportation Trust Fund.

"New Jersey needs to run like a business," he said.

He also notes that despite being a Republican, he is not a fan of Christie, whose approval rating has tanked into the teens of late. Rullo said many people at the Shore are still upset over Christie's handling of the recovery form Hurricane Sandy.

"I am not a Christie Republican," Rullo said. "I am for the people."

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
TRENTON -- Gov. Chris Christie on Friday confirmed that he turned down "multiple" job offers to serve in President-elect Donald Trump's incoming administration.

His reasoning: None of them were "worth" skipping his final year as New Jersey's governor.

Citing anonymous sources, NJ Advance Media reported last month that Christie, a fellow Republican and longtime friend and adviser to Trump, was not offered the position of U.S. attorney general -- a job he reportedly coveted -- and turned down several other positions that Trump offered him.

Those jobs included Cabinet-level posts like Homeland Security secretary and Veterans Affairs secretary, as well as other posts, like a White House advisory role and U.S. ambassador to Italy.

On Friday, Christie called in to Mike Francesa's New York City-based sports-talk radio show and ended up giving a 20-minute interview.

One question Francesa asked the governor: "Did you turn down a job in the Trump administration?"

"Multiple jobs," Christie said, without revealing what the posts were. "They weren't jobs that I wanted."

"Was there one you had your heart set on?" Francesa responded.

"About one," Christie said, though he did not specify which.

"But there were some that I got offered that were not worth leaving the governorship for," he added.

"Listen: It's not like I was at the end of my term," said Christie, whose second and final term concludes on Jan. 18, 2018. "If you're at the end of your term, you might have thought differently. But when you've got another year left to go as governor of New Jersey, it's got to be a really great job you want to take."

Christie was one of the first big-name politicians to endorse Trump, a fellow Republican and former Atlantic City casino tycoon. But Christie was passed over for vice president. Then, shortly after his victory in November, Trump removed Christie as chairman of his transition team and demoted him to one of numerous vice-chairs.

On Friday, though, Christie dismissed the idea that he had a "falling out" with Trump."

"It's crazy," Christie said. "It's just crazy. He and I have been friends for 15 years. The fact is I was really honest with him. I said, 'If this is the job or jobs you're offering me, this isn't the right time for me to go. I'll still help you from where I am. I'll still be your friend, but I'm not looking for another title.'"

Christie noted that he and Trump spoke two days ago and that he is going to Washington D.C. for Trump's inauguration next Friday.

Some reports citing anonymous sources said part of the reason Christie was demoted and didn't land a high-profile position in Trump's administration was because of the fallout of the George Washington Bridge scandal and because the governor clashed with Jared Kushner, Trump's son-in-law and a New Jersey native.

When he was New Jersey's U.S. attorney in the mid-2000s, Christie prosecuted Kushner's father, developer and top Democratic donor Charles Kushner, on charges of for tax evasion, witness tampering, and illegal campaign donations. Charles Kushner was convicted and served two years in federal prison.

In an interview with Forbes in November, Jared Kushner denied pushing Christie out.

Politico published a story citing anonymous sources earlier Friday saying Christie is one of a few Republicans who are betting Trump may turn to for help in the future if his administration has trouble toward the beginning.

Christie was not asked about that report Friday.

But the governor did discuss a rumor that he is a contender to succeed Francesa when the iconic host leaves his show after 30 years in December. Christie sounded open to a career in broadcasting.

The governor also said he "can't imagine" ever running for elected office again.

Listen to the full interview below:

Brent Johnson may be reached at bjohnson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @johnsb01. Find NJ.com Politics on Facebook.
jail.jpg

K-9 units were outside the Somerset County Jail on Thursday morning. (Photo by Dave Hutchinson | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com)

SOMERVILLE - A mother said her son died Wednesday night in the Somerset County Jail and she is still seeking answers from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office and the sheriff's office, which runs the jail, according to a report on MyCentralJersey.

Patricia Belin said that her son, Jaquan Williams, 23, died in the jail and the sheriff's office has refused to give her details of what happened, the report said.

Capt. Jack Bennett, spokesman for the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office, and Somerset County Sheriff Frank J. Provenzano both refused to confirm the death when contacted by NJ Advance Media.

Each said that there's an ongoing investigation into the matter and information will be released when the investigation is complete.

"They said that he was found in his cell unresponsive," Belin told the website.

Williams' death is the second in less than five years at the jail.

In December 2012, Daniel J. Klein III, 33, hung himself while in custody at the jail and later died from his injuries. His family received a $699,000 settlement in the case.

Williams, who was booked into the county jail on Jan. 2, was found unconscious on Wednesday at 9:45 p.m., the report said.

The family has set up a GoFundMe page to raise money for Williams' funeral. He had one child and another on the way, according to the page.

In Morris County, an inmate died early Friday morning in the Morris County Correctional Facility. An investigation is ongoing.

Dave Hutchinson may be reached at dhutchinson@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DHutch_SL. Find NJ.com on Facebook.
Don Heidemann has been named chief financial officer at Stellar Industries in Garner.

He comes to Stellar from Winnebago Industries, where he had been employed since August 2007. His most recent role has been serving as the treasurer and director of finance. He will be provide financial leadership and oversee the IT department.

The hard work the team has put in is evident in the results in recent years; its exciting to be part of that team and to think about where this organization can be in the future, Heidemann says.

His addition to Stellar comes as part of the companys long-term succession plan. David Backus retired as chief financial officer effective Nov. 28 and will remain as assistant to the president. He will continue to be a key member of the management leadership team at Stellar as well as mentoring Heidemann.

Company President Dave Zrostlik praised Backus for his performance with the company and said he is looking forward to Heidemanns contributions.

We are really looking forward to Dons fresh perspective and professionalism as he comes on board with us at Stellar, Zrostlik said. We feel he will be able to continue guiding the company financially in the right direction as we continue to work toward our growth goals.

Heidemann is a graduate of Warburg College, has passed Series 7 & 63 Securities Licensing exams, and is an inactive Certified Treasury Professional. He lives in Forest City with his wife and two sons.

* * *

Gardiner Thomsen Certified Public Accountants has named Elizabeth Thyer a partner in the organization.

She will continue to work out of the Charles City office.

Thyer joined Gardiner Thomsen in 1999. She specializes in audits of municipalities and is licensed in Iowa. She is a member of ISCPA, AICPA and is on the ISCPA Governmental Auditing & Accounting Committee, which plans the ISCPA Governmental Roundtable each year, as well as selects the continuing professional education classes for governmental accounting and auditing.

Thyer received her bachelor of arts degree in accounting from the University of Northern Iowa. She and her husband, Calvin, have two children.

* * *

Michael King has been named a senior associate in consulting services in the Mason City office of RSM US LLP.

RSM US LLP is the nations fifth-largest provider of assurance, tax and consulting services. It focuses on the middle market and has 9,000 people in 86 offices nationwide.

* * *

Douglas Foreshoe, AIA, of Mason City, has been elected to the board of directors of theAmerican Institute of Architects, Iowa Chapter (AIA Iowa).

Foreshoe is a principal with Bergland + Cram in Mason City, IA. He has managed or assisted on a majority of the firms large projects since joining the company in 2001. His client experience throughout Iowa and beyond ranges from health care and wellness to civic and education.

In addition to design and project management, Foreshoe wears several hats including providing information technology support and professional-quality photography for the firms finished body of work.

He is the 2016 North East Section president and serves on the Iowa Architectural Foundation board.

For more information, go to www.aiaiowa.org or call 515-244-7502.

* * *

Jordan Frederick has joined Farmers State Bank as the loan officer out of the Grafton location.

His hometown is Platteville, Wisconsin, and he lives in St. Ansgar . He attended the University of Wisconsin-Plateville for agricultural education.

* * *

Send your business news to news@globegazette.com, attention Business Page, or to Box 271, Mason City, IA 50402-0271. For more information call Tom Thoma at 641-421-0566.
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.
DES MOINES  State troopers, teachers, workers at correctional and mental health facilities and other public employees across Iowa have various health insurance programs with their respective employers.

For teachers, for example, the programs vary from school district to school district.

Gov. Terry Branstad wants to do away with that system and establish one health insurance program for all public employees.

Its commonly called a master contract, and its one of the changes Republicans, with their newfound control of the states lawmaking process, are proposing to make in how the states public employees bargain for their wages and benefits.

But representatives of some of those public employee groups say such a one-size-fits-all approach would have an adverse effect on employees and employers alike.

Branstad signaled his desire for a master health insurance contract shortly after the Nov. 8 election that resulted in Republican control of the Iowa House and Senate. Not long after the votes were counted, his administration withheld health insurance proposals during collective bargaining sessions with the states public employee unions.

Administration officials said state lawmakers may change the collective bargaining process this year, altering how health insurance plans are negotiated.

Branstad said he thinks a streamlined master contract would provide savings for the states taxpayers and also help smaller public employers, such as school districts, better withstand health care costs.

Branstad regularly cites the example of a small employer experiencing cost increases because of high health care costs for one employee with significant health care needs and compares a master contract to the states public employees retirement fund, which is standard for all.

We can save a lot of money and provide quality insurance coverage for all the employees and do it in a way that both protects the health insurance and the coverage, but at the same time reduces the cost dramatically at a time when we have some significant budget issues, Branstad said. If you can have one big master contract spread that risk ... that can be substantial savings (for smaller employers).

But leaders of two organizations that represent tens of thousands of Iowa public employees say a master contract would have the opposite effect. They say removing the ability for employers to customize their health insurance contracts to their particular needs would be counter-productive.

We bargain the total package, and then we sit down with our school board and then try to best figure out where we can divide that money up, said Tammy Wawro, president of the Iowa State Education Association, which negotiates more than 300 contracts statewide for teachers.

Some districts have chosen to put that money in a good insurance plan, others have said, Were going to put that in salaries, she said. Its very different across the state.

For example, Wawro said, Cedar Rapids schools have insurance plans with high premium costs, but the district attempts to make up for that by offering more in salary. The much smaller school district in Ogden has a health insurance package with extensive coverage but sacrifices in salary.

If you know youre going to have a good family (insurance) plan, thats something that brings people to a small community or a rural community, Wawro said. Thats important to people.

Danny Homan said the union over which he presides, which represents 40,000 Iowa public employees in law enforcement, corrections, mental health care and other fields, negotiates roughly 160 contracts. He said each contract is tailored to the health care coverage desired by the employees in that area and that customization would be eliminated by a statewide master contract, which he said would be devastating.

Each and every one of those contracts has unique health insurance provisions that have been mutually agreed to by the employer and the union over a number of years of bargaining. There could be little quirks in there that are unique to that employer and that group of employees, Homan said. So now youre going to have to come up with a plan that addresses or just flat out ignores all those unique circumstances.

Homan and Wawro said a statewide master contract also could harm local businesses because current contracts often stipulate the insurance be purchased through local companies.

Homan also expressed concern that a master contract could include the state requiring public employees to contribute more to their health insurance plans, which Branstad has proposed in past collective bargaining negotiations but was rejected by an independent arbitrator.

Homan said public employees often negotiate for lower out-of-pocket premiums instead of greater salary increases, and increasing premiums without a corresponding increase in salary would take money out of the employees pockets and thus the local economies.

He also noted a statewide premium increase would disproportionately affect various public employees. For example, he said, a $200-per-month premium increase would be felt more by a legal clerk than a county attorney because it would represent a much larger proportion of the clerks pay.

Iowa Rep. Mark Smith, D-Marshalltown, said Democrats in the Iowa House plan to oppose Republicans efforts to change the states collective bargaining laws. But with their majorities in the House and Senate, Republicans do not need any Democrats approval to pass legislation, assuming at least 51 of 59 House Republicans and 26 of 29 Senate Republicans support any given proposal.

The current collective bargaining system, we tried to expand it when we were in charge (from 2007 to 2010), and a number of Republican legislators said at that time that the current law was working well, Smith said. The current law is working well. And I want us to keep the current law.
MASON CITY  The morning two police officers carried a fatally injured woman from a Mason City apartment building, they say one of the residents, Larry Whaley, was talking to himself.

He was speaking so softly while in police custody, Mason City Police Officer Cameron Theilen wrote in a report, that at times the officer wasn't able to understand what he was saying.

Then, according to Theilen's report, Whaley said what sounded similar to, "They were trying to break in."

Video: Mason City man formally charged with murder for woman's death MASON CITY | A Mason City man accused of shooting a woman Friday morning was formally charge

The report, part of a search warrant application filed the night of the shooting, sheds new light on what police say officers saw and heard the morning they found Samantha Teeter, 19, fatally wounded at 116 17th St. S.E.

Created the day of the Dec. 2 shooting, the search warrant application didn't become public until it was filed with the Clerk of Court's office later that month.

The documents do not say how police think Teeter was shot or who Whaley was referring to when he allegedly said he thought "they" were trying to break in, but detail what officers reported seeing, hearing and finding while responding to the shooting.

When police arrived, Teeter was still inside the apartment building, which is across from Lincoln Intermediate School at the corner of 17th Street Southeast and South Pennsylvania Avenue.

Mason City shooting victim remembered for loving, caring nature MASON CITY  Samantha Teeter was a loving person whose life was cut short before she could b

Two officers, Sgt. Mike Lillquist and Stratton Steffy, carried her from the building.

Teeter died two days after the shooting. Whaley was charged with first-degree murder.

He has pleaded not guilty.

According to the search warrant application, after Whaley came out of his apartment and surrendered to police, officers found what they thought looked like bullet hole across the hallway landing from Whaley's door.

An officer also reported finding a hole after looking behind the entry door to the apartment.

A .44-caliber Ruger revolver containing three spent rounds and two live rounds was found under the couch in Whaley's apartment, according to the search warrant return.

In the return, which is an itemized listing of seized property, investigators also reported taking meth pipes, baggies of marijuana, cell phones, bloody clothing and other evidence.

Police Chief Jeff Brinkley would not comment on the documents or say what police believe happened that night.

A criminal complaint filed seeking Whaley's arrest doesn't fill in the blanks either, stating simply, "Whaley used a firearm to kill the victim."

His attorney, Public Defender Susan Flander, could not be reached Friday morning for comment on the allegations in the search warrant documents. A staffer who answered the phone at her Mason City office said she was not in the office and was unreachable.

Assistant Public Defender Parker Thirnbeck, who is assisting in the case, also did not return a call seeking comment.

Whaley was originally charged with attempted murder, but prosecutors re-filed with a charge of first-degree murder after Teeter's death.

He was informed during a Dec. 5 court hearing of the nature of the new charge, which alleges that he killed Teeter willfully, intentionally and with premeditation.

When Whaley was asked by Magistrate Judge Ron Wagenaar if he understood what the judge had told him in the matter, he said, "Not really, because it wasn't intentional, sir."

The judge cut Whaley off before he could elaborate.

"As I said, don't make any statements about your case, OK?," Wagenaar told Whaley, who didn't have an attorney yet. "I'm just saying, do you have any questions about the charge or the..."

"... I was just wondering why it was first degree," Whaley began.

Again, Wagenaar cut him off.

The hearing, an initial court appearance, is to inform the defendant of the charges, set bond and advise him or her of the right to an attorney. It is not an attempt to determine someone's guilt or innocence.

Whaley has since pleaded not guilty.

His trial is set for March 7, but his attorney, Flander, asked the court for more time to investigate and prepare for trial, as well as to avoid scheduling conflicts with the assistant attorney general, who is prosecuting the case.

She anticipated the trial would take five days, possibly a week, according to the court motion.

Whaley remains held on $500,000 cash bond at the Cerro Gordo County Jail in Mason City.
OSAGE  Lois Elizabeth Weipert, 65, of Osage, died Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017, at Mitchell County Regional Health Center in Osage.

Memorial services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Sacred Heart Catholic Church in Osage with Father Raymond Burkle officiating. Inurnment will be at the Sacred Heart Cemetery in Osage.

Following the Inurnment there will be a time for fellowship and lunch at the Columbus Club of Osage.

Arrangements are with Champion-Bucheit Funeral Home in Osage.
Indianas overall population has been growing slowly and the growth has been mainly confined to select places like the south Lake County suburbs, Porter County and the Indianapolis metro, according to the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey.

The data also shows more communities across the state are losing population than are gaining it, according to an analysis by Indiana University Professor Emeritus Morton Marcus.

U.S. Census Bureau estimates showed 297 cities and towns across Indiana lost residents between 2000 and 2015, while only 263 grew over the same period. In Northwest Indiana, Gary, Hammond, East Chicago, Michigan City, Lake Station, Highland, Griffith, Whiting and Beverly Shores all shrank over that 15-year period.

Most dramatically, Gary lost 25,590 residents since the turn of the century  roughly the number of people who live in Highland. Hammonds population fell by more than 5,400 residents, while East Chicago shrunk by more than 3,700.

All in all, the 297 Indiana cities and towns lost 103,750 people over the last 15 years, Marcus said. While many were small towns that shed only a few people, 111 communities across the state lost more than 100 residents apiece.

Indiana is still growing overall, adding 20,285 more residents total in 2015, according to the most recent U.S. Census data. The states population grew 0.3 percent year-over-year in keeping with a long-term trend of slow growth.

In Northwest Indiana, growing communities include Dyer, Schererville, St. John, Valparaiso, Winfield, Crown Point, Portage, Westville and Merrillville.

Much of the state's growth has been taking place in Indianapolis and surrounding suburbs, Indiana University Northwest Assistant Professor of Economics Micah Pollak said. Indiana on the whole has been growing at a much slower rate than it did in the 1990s and 2000s.

"The population growth rate nationwide is slowing and since 2010 has been about half was it was in the previous decade," Pollak said.

Between 2000 and 2010, the U.S. population grew about 1.2 percent per year, Pollak said. But between 2010 and 2016, the nation's population grew only 0.7 percent per year.

Pollak said slower population growth nationwide partly explains slower population growth in Indiana, but the state still lags behind the rest of the nation.

Indiana is not attracting enough new residents or keeping existing residents. Between 2000 and 2016 Indiana ranked 32nd out of U.S. states in population growth rate, Pollak said. The majority of other U.S. states grew their population faster than Indiana. As our population grows older, it becomes harder to maintain a strong population growth without a more significant inflow of younger population.

Nationally, theres been a shift from rural areas to cities and the surrounding metropolitan areas, which has been ongoing since the beginning of the 1900s. Cities with at least 20,000 people have been growing by 1.52 percent over the last 15 years, while towns with fewer than 20,000 have grown by only an anemic 0.19 percent over the same period.

That pattern has held true in Indiana, Pollak said.

Just six cities in Indiana  Fort Wayne, Carmel, Fishers, Indianapolis, Noblesville and Westfield  are responsible for more than 50 percent of all the population growth in Indiana between 2000 and 2015, he said. Some of these cities are growing at staggering rates, for example Westfields population has grown on average almost 10 percent per year since 2000.
Ricardo Rosenkranz is enlightening audiences with his own brand of magic and illusion on stage in Chicago.

Rosenkranz is currently starring in "The Rosenkranz Mysteries," which continues through Feb. 12 at The Royal George Theatre's Cabaret space in Chicago. The show has been extended twice due to popular demand.

Illusionist Rosenkranz, who is a physician, is a professor at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine. He developed an interest in magic as a child and now regularly showcases the correlation between magic and the medical field in his classes and shows.

"I love magic and want to share it with people," Ronsenkranz said.

In his classes, Rosenkranz said he incorporates illusions as a way of teaching about how magic and medicine have various similarities and to "get the humanities back into medicine."

Rosenkranz said Northwestern has a wonderful humanities department and he was asked by school personnel if he wanted to teach "the elements of magic and medicine" seven years ago.

"I dabbled in magic as a kid and left it. I didn't come back to it until 15 years ago," Ronsenkranz said, adding he was already a practicing physician when he started to take another look at magic.

Rosenkranz said magicians/illusionists and doctors both have to be "excellent" with techniques.

"They have to have the knowledge and formal techniques. ... Both start with science," he explained.

In addition, they both have to exhibit the ability to engage patients or audience members.

"So much hinges on that," he said. (With patients), "you're not able to explain (anything) to patients if you don't connect."

Ronsenkranz definitely sees the practice of medicine as an art.

"I look at medicine as a performance art," he said. "Magic and medicine share DNA."

With both magic and medicine, he said, there has to be a "belief" system in place.

"You have to make sure patients are committed to it," he said, adding that audience members also have to be committed to taking a journey, in a sense.

When patients are committed to what a doctor is prescribing, then the outcomes are more successful.

Rosenkranz said the art of magic brings joy to people.

"I love things that bring joy," he said.

Rosenkranz said among the things he'd like people to take away from the show is embracing a sense of wonder.

"What mystery does is give us wonder. Wonder is very healing and therapeutic," he believes. Rosenkranz said with wonder, you also have hope.

In "The Rosenkranz Mysteries," Rosenkranz stars as the "Doctor Magician" in a 90-minute show of mesmerizing illusions designed to uplift audience members.

FYI: "The Rosenkranz Mysteries" continues through Feb. 12 at the Royal George Theatre's Cabaret space, 1641 N. Halsted St., Chicago. Tickets are $50 (with a senior citizen and student discount available). Tables in the cabaret space seat four guests at a cost of $75 per person. For more information, call (312) 988-9000 or ticketmaster.com.
In HBO's absorbing new drama "The Young Pope,"Jude Law plays the title character, American-born Lenny Belardo, who, through divine intervention or woeful human error (this will be hotly debated), is made Supreme Pontiff of the Catholic Church at the tender age of 47.

A disruptive, puzzling presence who describes himself as "intransigent, irritable and vindictive," Pope Pius XIII from the start of his papacy is at cross-purposes with the Vatican's appalled establishment. Swiftly, efforts by the College of Cardinals to bring him down catch fire.

The 10-episode series also stars Diane Keaton and James Cromwell among its international roster.

"The Young Pope" was created, directed and written by Italian filmmaker Paolo Sorrentino (whose 2013 film, "The Great Beauty," won the Oscar for best foreign language film). This week, he and Law, whose credits include "The Talented Mr. Ripley," ''Cold Mountain" and Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" films, sat down in New York to talk about their bold collaboration, which premieres at 8 p.m. Sunday.

Here are highlights from that conversation (with assistance from Sorrentino's translator):

SORRENTINO: The idea for 'The Young Pope' really stems from my high school years with Catholic priests as teachers. I was able to observe the solitude of those priests, and how much their lives were structured. And also how their universe marginalized the feminine aspect in the service of the masculine. I was able to draw on memories of those five years.

But although the film is incidentally about the Catholic Church, it's also about a wider circle, which is the issue of faith  the question of believing or non-believing  which sooner or later affects us all.

LAW: At the core of our series is its humanity. We penetrate the layers of curiosity and intrigue surrounding the very human institution of the Catholic Church, and explore how people interact within it.

Preparing for my role, I initially felt it was necessary to look at papal history and the history of the Vatican. But answers really lay more in the character I was playing, which I think says an awful lot about where the heart of this show lies. I had to understand the backstory of the orphaned Lenny  who he was, what got him to the position of pope, and what motivated him as a human being, not as a religious strategist.

SORRENTINO: The most challenging part of making a film is the writing. I started writing this when I was finishing my previous film, 'Youth' (2015). But it's hard for me to quantify how long it took, because I wrote whenever I had time on my hands  even in between going to the bathroom and getting dressed.

With a fully realized script in hand, Sorrentino and his actors could tackle "The Young Pope" as a single 10-hour movie more than as 10 separate episodes. But that didn't make the project's magnitude any less daunting.

LAW: I underestimated how hard-wired I was to playing a part for a two-hour period. Keeping the arc of your character's journey as subtle and measured as possible, and also sustaining the necessary level of intensity, was quite a challenge over 10 hours.

SORRENTINO: When you make a movie, often you have the feeling that the result is due to luck or enthusiasm. But in this case, you needed a lot more than enthusiasm  you needed dedication. To be able to keep that level of attention and concentration for a seven-month (production) period  that is an accomplishment in and of itself. I presume I succeeded in it, which I think is connected to this fact: I finally learned the job. For the first time, I had the awareness that I've learned to be a filmmaker!

Asked how he chose Law as his pope, Sorrentino replied there were many reasons. Then he shared one.

SORRENTINO: I'm always very interested in an actor's way of walking. This is one of my parameters for whether I like an actor or not. In 'Road to Perdition' (a 2002 crime drama also starring Tom Hanks and Paul Newman), Jude did something that I thought was genius: He came off as BORED while he was walking to kill somebody. He wasn't excited, he didn't have guilt about what he was going to do. I really liked that. It was a lot of fun to watch. After that, I thought it would be a great idea to work with Jude.

LAW: It was a very rewarding and happy time. I felt safe with Paolo. Maybe it was partly me maturing as an actor, but it seemed wonderful to be able to come to (the) set and just think about what I had to do, rather than: 'Are we getting this?' In the hands of Paolo, I knew that he wasn't just going to GET it, he was going to elevate anything we did.

And, odds are, they aren't finished with their happy partnership.

LAW: When we went into this, the idea was: 'This is it, in its entirety.' But then the ideas grew.

SORRENTINO: I would love to do a second season. I am writing it now!
Mary Freeman was such a voracious reader she used to give away her used books.

Then she got the idea to sell them instead. She says her store, Cat's Tale at 1114 W. U.S. 30, Schererville, now has 20,000 titles for the intrepid bibliophile.

Freeman and a handful of others keep local independent bookshops alive in market where national chains, Amazon and e-books are in cutthroat competition.

"I think my customers like me and love to talk about books. They have become like a family for me," Freeman said.

The 1998 film "You've Got Mail" featured a romance between bookshop owners Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. Hanks' mega bookshop puts Meg Ryan's cute indie store out of business. But in real life 2011, Borders megastores in Northwest Indiana and elsewhere closed under bankruptcy.

Barnes and Noble still retains a presence at 150 Silhavy Road in Valparaiso. Books-a-Million, also known as BAM, has an outlet in Hobart's Southlake Mall and plans to open a 2nd and Charles bookshop in Highland later this year.

Jim Roumbos, owner of Miles Books, 2819 Jewett St., Highland, has been in business since 1984 and seen other former giants in the market fold: Waldenbooks, Crown Books, B. Dalton and Chicago's once treasured Krochs & Brentanos.

Roumbos said, "The book business changed due to the internet and now it is changing again for the good, at least for used bookstores."

Dan Cullen, senior strategy officer for the American Booksellers Association, said independent bookshops are experiencing are experiencing a modest revival in sales nationwide.

ABA bookshop membership has grown to more than 2,300 locations and book sales have been on the rise since 2012.

"The indie channel ended 2016 on a high note, with overall sales for the last seven weeks of the year, encompassing Thanksgiving and Small Business Saturday through New Years Day, up 5 percent over the same period in 2015. For all of 2016, sales at independent bookshops were up just under 5 percent over 2015," Cullen said.

"In addition, nationally, new stores are opening, established stores are finding new owners, and a new generation is coming into the business as both owner/managers and front line booksellers. All of this is a result of the fact that indie booksellers remain a resilient and entrepreneurial group," Cullen added.

Doug Wilson, owner of O'Gara and Wilson Ltd. Antiquarian Booksellers, 223 Broadway, in Chesterton, has been at it since 1972.

"I was adrift as a 22-year-old. I had trained to be an art teacher, but was working in retail credit because there were no teaching jobs. For recreation, I would make the rounds of Chicago's bookstores and spending way too much of my limited resources on them."

Wilson said economic necessity steered him to Salvation Army and Goodwill bookshops where he found 50-cent titles.

This led him to a revelation.

"Somebody told me that if I found a really good book, I could buy it cheap there and take it to one of these bookstores and they might give you $2 to $3 for it. Before I knew it, I was paying for all the books I wanted to keep.

"That caught the attention by Joseph O'Gara in Hyde Park near the University of Chicago. He was in need of an apprentice because the physical part of the business was becoming burdensome at his age.

"On my third or fourth visit to his shop, he offered me an apprentice. I would be paid less than the clerks, but he would spend time instructing me, and if I worked out, I would become his partner and successor. That is what happened after five years," Wilson said.

He said the changing nature of Hyde Park led him to move the store to Chesterton three years ago.

"We have been embraced by the community, so we have a viable business. Our stock is growing and adjusting more to the needs of the community. I think we are a good fit here," Wilson said.

His said his store attracts "people looking for old or unusual books or people looking for a bargain."

"We had a young English woman come in and confess she was intimidated by the word 'antiquarian' because she thought it would be too posh for her pocketbook. But, we have books down to 50 cents. We also have books from the 1500s and 1600s, which are more pricey," Wilson said.

Roumbos, of Miles Books, said, "We are not a best-seller store. There are some really old books in here. Sometimes people have the time to spend as long as they like and we welcome them to do that. We enjoy meeting and talking with people and finding out what they are looking for."

As he was speaking, a woman walked into the store looking for a book for her brother that had a yellow cover, cost $10 and had the title "Manners." Roumbos couldn't find an exact match and asked the woman to have her brother call him for further help.

Roumbos has more books than shelves and stacks a number of them on the floor, which he said is good for business since customers enjoy searching through them.

Kolas Christian Bookstore, 2635 Highway Ave., Highland, has been in the religious title business since Roy Kolas, a World War II veteran, began selling Bibles from his front porch and opened his first store in 1950 in Hammond.

It has been in Highland for the past decade, said Sherry Vandersteen, the current owner.

She said the store sponsors a Bible study group on Wednesday mornings as well as family events throughout the month.

"That is how we stay connected to the community. That is what I think it takes to keep an independent book store going.

"They know they can punch a button and get something at Amazon, but they come here to support us and other local business," Vandersteen said.
The Theatre at the Center offers Theatre for Young Audiences the musical, Four Score and Seven Years Ago, which tells the story of the Civil War, bravery and loyalty. Performances are at 9:30 and 11:15 a.m. Tuesday and Wednesday, and 11:15 a.m. and 1 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Visit www.theatreatthecenter.com for details and ticket prices.

Motown vs. Chi-Town: The Indiana Connection

The Motown vs. Chi-Town exhibit offers rare photographs of homegrown Chicago musicians as well as music, movie footage, artifacts and memorabilia of Chicagos music scene. The exhibit is on display until Jan. 29 at the Center for Visual and Performing Arts in Munster. Learn more about this and upcoming art exhibits at www.southshoreartsonline.org.

Martin Luther King Candlelight March

This years Candlelight March will start with a lineup at 6:30 a.m. Monday at Hammond City Hall, 5925 Calumet Ave. The Dream with a Purpose march will conclude at the Hammond Civic Center but the festivities will continue at the Civic Center. Call 219-853-6358 for details.

'Salute to the '60s'

Listen to hits by Peter Noone & Hermans Hermits, the Grass Roots and The Buckinghams at the "Salute to the '60s" on Saturday at the Star Plaza Theatre in Merrillville. Tickets are available on www.ticketmaster.com.

Calling all restaurants

The third annual Savor the South Shore Restaurant Weeks will be from Feb. 20 to March 5 in Northwest Indiana. South Shore restaurants are encouraged to submit specially priced menus for another successful Savor Restaurant Weeks. Visit online and submit menus at www.alongthesouthshore.com/savor.

Scout months at Fair Oaks Farms

From now until March, Scouts are invited to schedule adventures at Fair Oaks Farms for a special patch and admission discounts. Scout groups can enjoy more than 60 interactive, educational exhibits; a real working farm, the Dairy Farm and Pig Adventure. Learn more at www.fofarms.com or call to book your group at 877-536-1194, ext 322.
While an Indiana statewide committee didn't recommend a new assessment to replace ISTEP-Plus, even after seven months of meetings, some local educators know what they'd like to see as the state's replacement test  NWEA.

NWEA, which stands for Northwest Evaluation Association, is an assessment already used by hundreds of school districts throughout the state and across the world.

NWEA, created by educators, is a package of assessments for students in grades kindergarten through eighth grade, which allows teachers to use the data to create an individualized learning plan for each student.

ISTEP-Plus is the state-mandated test for students in grades three through eight in Indiana.

High school students also take end of course assessments. The purpose of the end of course assessments is to measure student achievement in English/language arts and mathematics. The end of course assessments are developed specifically for students completing instruction in Algebra I and English 10.

Educators say the problem with ISTEP is that students are tested in the spring and the results are not back until the following school year, too late to revise instruction because students are already in the next grade. Other problems include that the testing time period is too long and there have been numerous computer glitches during test-taking.

Local educators like the NWEA test because it can be given several times a year and they immediately get the data to revise instruction and help students.

But State Rep. Robert Behning, R-Indianapolis, the chairman of the House Education Committee, said though educators on the committee originally advocated for NWEA, the test doesn't work as an accountability measure and was designed as a benchmark assessment for teachers, telling them if a particular concept was missed and how close a student is to being on target.

He said for NWEA to meet state requirements, every school in the state would have to be on the same subjects and teaching them at the same time, which rarely happens. Also, because some school corporations give it three times a year, it could be disruptive, which is the same complaint educators have about ISTEP.

Process started in May

Larry Veracco, Lake Central School Corp. superintendent, said reports from superintendents on the state committee indicate the formation, schedule for analyzing the problem and investigating test alternatives were not approached aggressively enough from the first meeting of the committee.

He said that since committee members included chairpersons of both the House and Senate education committees, the committee should have arrived at a solution.

"If the process was not moving along quickly enough, those statewide leaders should have demanded more frequent meetings, or the replacement of any committee member not offering meaningful input to the process," Veracco said.

Munster schools Superintendent Jeffrey Hendrix said it is plausible the committee did not have enough time to thoroughly vet other tests for reliability and validity in terms of how any of these tests met current state standards.

The educator-led legislative committee met eight times beginning in May to study student assessments and recommend a new test, but it did not identify a statewide exam for the 2017 General Assembly to consider adopting. However, it did agree on 23 general suggestions about what a new test should contain, how it should operate and when it should be given.

By law, Indiana's test must be based on state standards, which are supposed to be the "highest standards in the United States."

Last year, state lawmakers said the ISTEP exam would be eliminated July 1, but Behning said given the panel's broad recommendations and the difficulty of quickly getting a new test in place for the 2017-18 school year, the ISTEP exam isn't going away for a while.

Committee goal was not to choose test, vendor

Nicole Fama, chairwoman of the states ISTEP replacement study committee and a principal at an Indianapolis school, said when she reread the charge from the governor, the committee was never given the ability to choose a vendor, "so we couldn't have come up with a new test."

She said the group was to recommend what changes educators wanted in a test to benefit student outcomes  which is what the committee did, she said.

"To have named a vendor would have required a legal process. The committee did talk about NWEA, and there are problems with it. We had five national experts, and they didn't like NWEA as an accountability tool.

"NWEA also uses a lot of technology and for schools like mine, which don't have the technology, there is no paper-and-pencil version of NWEA," Fama said Thursday.

Strong concerns with ISTEP

Munster's Hendrix said he is "truly concerned" about the purpose of ISTEP. He said the state-mandated test is focused on a short window of time to measure a student's achievement level.

"I do like the NWEA assessment," he said.

"We can give that assessment three or four times a year. It can be used as a pre-assessment, a mid-term check and a final assessment."

East Chicago schools Superintendent Paige McNulty agreed ISTEP is problematic, because students have gone on to a different grade level and teacher by the time ISTEP results are in.

"With NWEA, teachers can quickly give an assessment of their students and can immediately make adjustments to student learning groups or re-teach information that a student may need more instruction in," she said.

NWEA, other tests favored locally

Lake Central's Veracco said there would be reduced costs of testing if the state adopted NWEA or the SAT-suite as these tests already have been vetted. "Legislators would make everyone happy by reducing testing costs and pushing those dollars into improving instruction," he said.

The College Board redesigned the SAT Suite of Assessments as an integrated system made up of SAT, PSAT/NMSQT, PSAT 10 and PSAT 8/9 tests.

These tests measure the same skills and knowledge for different grade levels, so its easier for students, parents and educators to monitor student progress.

Hebron Middle School Principal Jeff Brooks said adjustments to the new state standards were stressful enough. He said many states are beginning to "roll back" the amount of testing time for students. "This is very important so teachers can maximize the time spent on instruction in their classrooms," he said.

Gary schools Superintendent Cheryl Pruitt said it would be more accurate if students were measured on individual growth and district growth.

"Accountability is necessary, but I'm hopeful we will begin to seek the measurements of achievement and progress," she said.

Duneland schools Superintendent David Pruis and Assistant Superintendent James Goetz said using a one-time test like ISTEP does not, and cannot, accurately reflect the achievement and growth of students, the performance of teachers and the quality of the corporation's students.

Valparaiso High School Principal Reid Amones said NWEA is mainly a grade three-through-eight assessment that shows progress over time.

He believes the purpose of testing at that level is to monitor student progress to see if students are performing "at grade level."

Amones said the GQE, or graduation qualifying exam, given to high school students, was to ensure that any students graduating in the state of Indiana met certain math and English minimum competencies in those areas.

"It seems to me that the purpose of testing has shifted from checking to see if a candidate for high school graduation has met those basic skills, to checking college- and career-readiness," he said.

"Testing systems like SAT and ACT have grade-level assessments so schools, students and families can monitor student progress towards attainment of skills needed to be college- and career-ready, and many schools use those today. The Valparaiso school corporation has begun using the SAT suite of tests, and all students in grades eight through eleven take the PSAT and all 11th-grade students also take the SAT," Amones said.

Discovery Charter School Assistant Principal Pamela Moore said administrators there like NWEA and give students the exam in the fall, winter and spring to monitor progress.

"The NWEA test allows us to see not just if the student meets grade-level requirements, but also if they have exceeded them. The questions on the ISTEP exam don't really represent a wide range of what is being taught. A teacher may spend a year focusing on different areas, but the test doesn't cover that," she said. "NWEA is more thorough."
VALPARAISO  Valparaiso University announced Wednesday Karen Allen was named dean of the College of Nursing and Health Professions.

She will begin July 3.

Most recently, Allen worked as a professor of nursing at Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan.

Allen served as chair of the nursing department at Andrews University for 17 years. During that time, the department established a doctor of nursing practice program with an emphasis in family nurse practitioner.

At VU, she will be responsible for strategic leadership, coordination and guidance of the College of Nursing and Health Professions, according to a written statement from the university.

Allen holds a Ph.D. in nursing sciences from the University of Illinois at Chicago, as well as a masters in nursing administration and a bachelors in nursing from Andrews University. She has also been inducted as a fellow of the American Academy of Nursing.

All of us at Valpo are so pleased that Dr. Allen will be joining us in her new role as dean of the College of Nursing and Health professions, said Mark Biermann, VU provost and executive vice president for academic affairs. We are excited by the strengths that she brings with her and her clear commitment to nursing and health professions education.
MASON CITY  Viola Mae Gaines, 90, of Mason City, IA, died Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, at Mercy Medical Center-North Iowa.

Funeral services will be held at 10:30 a.m. Saturday, Jan. 21, at First Baptist Church, 125 E. State St., Mason City, with the Rev. Ron Stein officiating. Interment will take place in Memorial Park Cemetery.

Visitation will be 5 to 7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 20, at Major Erickson Funeral Home in Mason City.

Memorials may be directed to the Viola Gaines memorial fund in care of the family.

Arrangements are with Major Erickson Funeral Home of Mason City.
INDIANAPOLIS  A Northwest Indiana lawmaker believes a rarely used economic development tool could be the key to encouraging transit-oriented development along the existing and future route of the South Shore commuter rail line.

House Bill 1144, sponsored by state Rep. Hal Slager, R-Schererville, would create a Sales Tax Increment Financing, or STIF, district within a half-mile of the tracks of the current South Shore, running from Hammond to South Bend, as well as the planned West Lake extension from Hammond to Dyer.

The STIF would capture the growth in sales tax revenues from rail-adjacent businesses over the 2015 total and provide half the increment to the Northwest Indiana Regional Development Authority, with the remainder going to the state.

Under the plan, the RDA would use that money to award matching grants for transit-oriented development projects to Northwest Indiana cities and towns that are spending local tax money or contributing a portion of their county income tax revenues to support South Shore improvements.

"The idea is to use the money for economic development within the corridor, or to service the corridor," Slager said.

The nonpartisan Legislative Services Agency does not have a definitive estimate of how much money might be raised and redistributed to Region communities.

Slager explained that at first there wouldn't be any money, but as the rail corridor develops over time, and businesses locate near stations and new residences, much more would be generated. The STIF would be in effect through 2046.

"By doing it this way, the state should make more money by (the corridor) developing sooner, and creating more sales taxes and income taxes from it," Slager said. "Then the communities benefit by increased local option income tax and property tax."

He also hopes his plan will encourage holdout localities, such as Griffith, St. John and Cedar Lake, to share a portion of their county income tax revenue with the RDA to help fund the local component needed to obtain federal dollars for the West Lake expansion.

"All of these communities could participate with some creative development," Slager said. "If you were to create in your downtown a parking facility with some stores where maybe a shuttle could pick people up and take them to the train  that qualifies as servicing the line."

Uncertain fate

Slager filed similar legislation in 2015 that did not advance out of the House Ways and Means Committee.

He's more optimistic this year, since new Republican Gov. Eric Holcomb has wholeheartedly endorsed South Shore double-tracking between Gary and Michigan City, and included $10 million in his proposed budget to help get that project started.

At the same time, Slager acknowledged that state leaders generally have been wary of authorizing STIFs because they divert to local needs a significant share of sales tax revenue that otherwise would go entirely to the state.

In 2006, Republican Gov. Mitch Daniels scuttled a plan to use a $40 million STIF to lure Cabela's outdoor store to Hammond.

Instead, the state kicked in $10 million for Little Calumet River flood control and highway improvements near the store site at Interstate 80-94 and Indianapolis Boulevard.

Former state Rep. Chet Dobis, D-Merrillville, in 2008 proposed using a STIF, instead of a county income tax, to fund the local share of a $1 billion South Shore expansion to Lowell and Valparaiso.

That plan fell apart when Republican lawmakers insisted Lake join every other Indiana county by imposing an income tax.

Lake County eventually enacted a 1.5 percent income tax in 2013.

Another option

State Rep. Tim Brown, R-Crawfordsville, chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, said he's wary of Slager's idea to deploy a STIF, but nevertheless wants to find a way to encourage transit-oriented development along the old and new South Shore Line.

Slager said that's not surprising: "The chairman is interested in doing something. I would anticipate, if it gets a hearing, that it would see some level of amendment. I just don't know what, yet."

Brown said he's been thinking about a transit improvement district, similar to the motorsports improvement district around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, that would capture both sales and income tax growth at South Shore-adjacent properties and make it possible to borrow against anticipated revenues for immediate transit-oriented development projects.

But Brown cautioned that he hasn't yet figured out whether an existing agency could oversee such a district  since the South Shore spans four counties and the RDA only operates in Lake and Porter counties  or whether a new state board would need to be established.

Slager and Brown have roughly until late February to figure that out and win approval for their compromise plan by the Republican-controlled House.

Ultimately, any South Shore STIF or other transit-oriented development incentive strategy likely will be merged into House Bill 1001, the two-year state budget.
LOWELL The Town Council made history last week with the election of Councilwoman LeAnn Angerman, R-2nd, as council president.

Angerman is the first woman to serve in the top spot and is only the third woman to have served on the council. The others were Karen Brooker and Polly Roberts.

Angerman thanked outgoing president Chris Salatas, R-4, for his two years of leadership during which, she said, much was accomplished.

Councilman Edgar Corns, R-5th, was unanimously selected vice president.

As her first act, Angerman made the presidential appointments to various positions.

Jim Konradi was appointed to four-year terms on the Lowell Plan Commission and Board of Zoning Appeals. Matt Lake, David Shilling and Tom Cartwright were appointed to two-year terms on the Lowell Storm Drainage Board, while Angerman made herself and Councilman Mike Gruszka, D-1st, the Fire Department liaisons.

Dennis Rosengard, Eric Barnhill, Police Chief Eric Matson, Konradi and Christopher Mannino were named to one-year terms on the Lowell Traffic Commission, and Councilman Will Farrellbegg, D-3rd, and Corns were named to the Ambulance Board.

Farrellbegg also was named to the Northwestern Indiana Regional Planning Commission, the Northwest Indiana Cities and Towns and the P3 Bike Committee along with Town Manager Jeff Sheridan. He and Corns were appointed to be the Lowell representatives to the Joint Management and Oversight Board with Cedar Lake.

Angerman said she will continue on the Freedom Park Committee along with a designated member of the Lowell Park Advisory Committee yet to be named.

Angerman appointed Corns to the Lake County Solid Wast District Board. It was discussed that the town should now have two representives on that board because there is now a landfill within the town's borders.

Angerman said the town will be advertising for applicants interested in serving as the town's representative to the Lake County Economic Opportunity Council, serving on the Lowell Economic Development Commission and the Lowell Park Advisory Board.
CEDAR LAKE  Two new members of the Hanover Community School Corp. board were welcomed recently. Scott Burdan and Kelly York attended their first board meeting and accepted appointments to serve on the St. John Ethics Commission and the St. John Town Council and the St. John Redevelopment Commission.

Burdan is a native of Cedar Lake and a graduate of Andrean High School in Merrillville. He earned his bachelors degree at Purdue University and a mortuary science degree from Ivy Tech. He is a member of the family owned Burdan Funeral Home, Inc. in Cedar Lake. Burdans wife, Gretchen, has been a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Cedar Lake for the past nine years.

I loved growing up in the tight-knit community of Cedar Lake. It was a wonderful experience and I want to carry over that experience to my duties on the School Board, he said. This is Burdans first publicly elected office and he brings a strong sense of family values to his new position and the Hanover community.

Kelly York is originally from Glenwood, Illinois, and moved to Cedar Lake in 1995. She is a graduate of Homewood-Flossmoor Highl and Ball State University. York is currently employed as a member of the IT risk management team at McDonalds Corp. Prior to her entry into the business world she served as a teacher for 20 years, the final 15 of them in Hanover schools. Her husband, Chris York, is currently a teacher at Hanover Central Middle School. York is most excited about having an opportunity to lead the direction of the school corporation as a whole.

I am a very positive person and I hope to bring that to the board and the corporation, she said.
CROWN POINT  Sometime this year, a firetruck from Crown Point will make its way to Guatemala to help firefighters save lives.

It won't be the first truck or piece of equipment from the Hub City to firefighters in a Central American nation in need.

Those in Guatemala can thank Keith Anderson and his visit to St. Mary Church for Vegas Night eight years ago. It was there the Crown Point volunteer firefighter and his wife, Jeannie, were asked by a priest if they'd like to visit and help out an orphanage in Guatemala to which the church donates.

The orphanage is in a town called Parramos. Anderson made the trip and while there, he stopped by the volunteer fire station.

"I got to see the things they do and have to work without," he said.

Keith Anderson said there are more than 130 volunteer fire stations in the country along with municipal stations.The government helps fund the municipal operations; the volunteers have to raise their own money.

"I saw a need," Keith Anderson said.

Since then, the Andersons have been to Guatemala about 20 times. Each visit has meant something to the country's firefighters.

One of the items donated by the Crown Point Fire & Rescue Department was an old hydraulic rescue tool, known as the Jaws of Life. Within a few days after it arrived it was used to extricate a child who had been trapped in an accident.

Bunker equipment has been donated as well as medical supplies courtesy of Dr. Mary Eileen McCormack of Franciscan St. Anthony Health in Crown Point.

Two firetrucks also have been donated. One was originally from the Portage Fire Department that had been used at the Indiana District 1 Training Center.

The last truck to arrive there was a specially equipped fire truck from Crown Point. It went to a mountainous region in Guatemala because they needed the four-wheel drive and the special winches left on the truck.

"It was like brand new but not working for us because it was just outdated," Keith Anderson said. "A lot of stuff in our country you can't use after 10 years. It has an expiration date on it."

The next truck going down is a 1979 Mack Fire Engine that was retired six years ago and has been on loan to the Indiana District 1 Training Center. Fire Chief Greg DeLor said the engine is still fully functional but because of its open cab, no longer meets OSHA standards. He said it will provide much-needed use for firefighters in Guatemala, where standards are different and they need equipment.

"They don't have a lot of money to buy fire engines," Keith Anderson said. "That's one of the reasons we do this."

He said when a fire truck goes to Guatemala, the decals from the donor municipality remain on the truck.

"They want to know where it came from as a way to thank those departments," Keith Anderson said.

In addition to Parramos, donated equipment is scattered throughout the country, thanks to Keith Anderson meeting the country's fire commandant, who determines where the need is.

"It's become a labor of love," Keith Anderson said. "You're helping out a whole country not just helping out individuals. And I think that's the biggest thing. It's nice the city can be on board with it and help me out. Everybody gets together because they see the purpose of it."

Jeannie Anderson said in the eight years they've been going to Guatemala, they've seen a huge change in the country and how it's become a better place for its people.

"People there who don't have anything will give the shirt off their backs to help you," she said. "It's just very heartwarming."

Keith Anderson said it's all about paying it forward.

"We should do more of that," he said. "I think if we all did more of that it would be a better world."
EAST CHICAGO  Prior to leaving office, Gov. Mike Pence rejected the mayors request for an emergency declaration over lead contamination, saying, in part, the state of Indiana has provided adequate assistance to the financially strapped city since news first broke last summer that Calumet and West Calumet residents were living on highly contaminated soil.

Residents pushed the mayor late last year to request a declaration for the USS Lead Superfund site, saying it would bring additional dollars to East Chicago to deal with the ongoing lead and arsenic crisis and pave a path for additional federal resources, including Medicare for life for residents exposed to environmental toxins.

Given the level of coordination among federal, state and local agencies, the state resources provided to date, and the resources available under the federal Superfund program, the issues described within your letter are being addressed without the need for a disaster emergency declaration, the letter states.

City Attorney Carla Morgan on Wednesday released a copy of the letter following a records request from The Times. The letter from Pence is dated Dec. 14, but residents were not informed by the city of Pences decision until a meeting last Friday.

Morgan said Wednesday that Copeland is drafting a similar request to Gov. Eric Holcomb. Holcombs office did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday afternoon.

East Chicago residents say they hope Holcomb considers the declaration, saying added resources could help, in part, with purchasing water filters.

Were going to keep pushing, said Sara Jimenez, a Superfund site homeowner.

Recent EPA results showed elevated lead levels in drinking water in 18 of 43 properties where soil was excavated within the USS Lead Superfund site, likely due to aging lead service lines. Those aging service lines are throughout the city, though the city maintains it provides clean drinking water.

In the letter, Pences general counsel Mark Ahearn outlines how Indiana released $200,000 to the citys housing authority and health department to aid with the relocation efforts and free lead testing of children and families.

The letter alleges the city, as of Dec. 14, had yet to hire or contract with a public health nurse and health educator using the $100,000 in state grant dollars.

Morgan did not immediately respond to questions about the allegation Wednesday afternoon.

The states health department has worked closely with the local health department to offer free lead testing to residents through mobile clinics and one-stop shops, Ahearn wrote, and the Indiana Housing and Community Development Authority worked with HUD to provide relocation services.

The East Chicago Housing Authority on Dec. 13 told the state those IHCDA services were no longer needed, according to Pences office.

Copeland in his Dec. 1 letter told Pence the East Chicago Housing Authority has depleted $1.1 million of its $1.6 million capital fund to assist residents with moving expenses and the East Chicago School District is facing cash shortfalls due to the closure of Carrie Gosch Elementary and declining enrollment.

Copeland in the Dec. 1 letter told Pence the local government response has "strained our local resources to the point of breaking."

Pence also told the city the West Calumet complex does not qualify for the federal Hardest Hit Blight Elimination program, meaning the city must pursue alternate funding to demolish the 346-unit neighborhood once the remaining families living there relocate. Copeland late last year requested up to $8 million in emergency demolition dollars to secure and demolish the complex.

Sheilah Garland, a member of a strategy group, said last week the city should do more to elevate the crisis as more than 1,000 individuals, including nearly 700 children, are being forced to relocate from the West Calumet Housing Complex and several of the more than 1,000 private properties are being cleaned by the EPA in the Calumet neighborhood.

Its important that (Copeland) make this a public fight, Garland said.
Ivy Tech Community College honors student leaders

GARY  Thirteen students from Ivy Tech Community Colleges Northwest region were among those honored through the Ivy Tech Student Leadership Academy.

The academy is a leadership development program designed specifically for Ivy Tech students. SLA provides students with an opportunity to further develop their leadership and professional development skills, while learning more about the history and traditions of the college.

Area students honored at the event were Nibal Abdelsalam, Haley Brooks, Julie Burton, Mitchell Chmielewski, Kelly Davidson, Tamara Golden, Crystal Grasso, Christine Madrigal, Miguel Molina, Kyle Sanchez, Christina Sears, Jacob Williams and Annastesia Workman.

Olchawa receives national honor

Nicholas Olchawa, 17, will be inducted into the National Society of High School Scholars. He is a senior at Crown Point High and will be attending Indiana University on a pre-med track majoring in biochemistry. He is the son of Russell and Maria Olchawa. The NSHSS recognizes top scholars who have demonstrated outstanding leadership, scholarship and community commitment.
Leadership and service were recognized Saturday night as three local residents were honored by the Greater Valparaiso Chamber of Commerce.

Valparaiso parks director John Seibert earned the chamber's 2016 Distinguished Community Leader award.

Seibert is a native of Texas and moved to Valparaiso after meeting his wife, Rin, at graduate school at Indiana University. Seibert worked at the Valparaiso YMCA and Porter Memorial Hospital before being hired as director of the Valparaiso Parks Department under Mayor David Butterfield. He served as city administrator for two years under Mayor Jon Costas, then worked for Opportunity Enterprises and Housing Opportunities before returning to the parks department.

I think John Seibert is absolutely a foundational member of Valparaiso society, said Valparaiso Community Schools Superintendent E. Ric Frataccia. Hes been instrumental in so many initiatives and efforts that moved Valpo forward.

Frataccia, who serves on the Valparaiso Park Board, has known Seibert for about 30 years.

Im delighted to know him as a friend and a colleague, he said.

Frataccia, and his wife, Kaye, introduced him at the awards ceremony.

"I'm honored and humbled to be included with amazing people who have won in the past," Seibert said.

Seibert said getting the award was a great platform for thanking others he has worked with in the community.

He said Valparaiso is home to many remarkable people who have created a culture of service.

"It's not a perfect place, but it's an extraordinary place," Seibert said. "To be part of that is a privilege in my life."

He said service is based on integrity, selflessness and excellence and the Valparaiso community fosters those ideals and leaders encourage others to do their best.

Ivan and Pat Bodensteiner were named as the 2016 Legacy of Service Award winners.

The Bodensteiners are Iowa natives and met when Ivan Bodensteiner attended Loras College.

Ivan Bodensteiner is an attorney and retired recently from the Valparaiso University Law School, where he started in 1972. Pat Bodensteiner is a social worker and has worked for the Visiting Nurse Association of Porter County, where she was instrumental in establishing its hospice program. Both have served in many volunteer roles in the community. Ivan Bodensteiner is on the board for Indiana Legal Service, HealthLinc and Project Neighbors in Valparaiso. He also served on the Valparaiso Human Relations Council from 2008 to 2015. Pat Bodensteiner has been involved with Housing Opportunities, Pines Village, The Caring Place, Planned Parenthood and the YMCA.

Longtime VU law professor Bruce Berner introduced the Bodensteiners on Saturday.

He said Ivan Bodensteiner has given back to the community in many ways, including pro bono work for many organizations and individuals.

"They're very nice people," Berner said. "And Ivan is probably the most even-tempered person I've ever met in my life."

He described the Bodensteiners as devout in their faith, which is just one of the factors that motivates their service.

"I just think it comes from who they both are," Berner said about their service. "They care about other people and want to see everyone treated equally whenever possible."

Pat Bodensteiner said she is honored to be chosen for the award.

So many people in the community do so much, I am just honored that they chose to recognize us, she said.

Ivan Bodensteiner said he believes service to the community is an obligation to anyone in a position to do so.

"We are honored to be selected, especially when you see other people you know who could have been selected. Its not the reason you do things, but everyone I think appreciates the recognition."
One would be hard-pressed to recall an Indiana governor who didnt get off to a good start. Governors are elected on a virtual personal basis with voters.

Frank OBannon was grandfatherly, Evan Bayh the boy next door, Doc Bowen the family physician, Bob Orr the friendly giant, Mike Pence the sunny favorite son come back home and Mitch Daniels the comeback kid.

Gov. Eric Holcomb is, perhaps, the least known new governor of the modern era, elevated to lieutenant governor last March and then into the gubernatorial nomination July 26. In the final November WTHR/Howey Politics Indiana Poll, Holcomb had 80 percent name ID, compared to 98 percent for Pence, while 23 percent had no opinion of him.

These middle weeks of January give Holcomb new exposure and a forum to burnish his era of first impressions. The emerging image is of Tall Hickory Holcomb, his own man.

He is constantly compared to Gov. Daniels, who brought him to the Statehouse 12 years ago, and Gov. Pence. But House Speaker Brian Bosma, echoing the new governors own campaign trail rhetoric, said as Holcombs agenda was unveiled, Hes not Mitch Daniels, hes not Mike Pence. He is going to be Eric Holcomb.

The first conspicuous step was Holcombs inaugural address Monday, when he conjured images of Indianas pioneer past and connected them to business titans Eli Lilly, Madam C.J. Walker and astronaut Gus Grissom.

Next Tuesday, Holcomb will give his first State of the State address to a statewide TV audience. He observes that he is Indianas first governor of its third century, and he issued his challenges:

Despite our standing, despite our ongoing momentum, we cant afford to get complacent or take our eyes off the ball. Too many Hoosiers and their families feel theyve been left out or are in danger of being left behind. Too many are not participating in todays economy or getting a quality education, or are struggling with the strangling grip of drugs. Too many Hoosier grads explore opportunities outside our state line.

And then he touched on an issue that could very well settle Indiana as a 21st century stanchion of progress and employment.

In the next 10 years, well need to find one million new skilled workers to replace the 700,000 Baby Boomers who will retire, plus the 300,000 new jobs we will need to create, Holcomb said. Rather than ease up, we must hammer down and maintain that pioneer spirit.

Holcombs first hours in office found him issuing an executive order creating a drug czar position.

Since 1999, Indiana has seen a 500-percent increase in drug overdose deaths. This is an epidemic tragically affecting Hoosiers from every walk of life in every part of our state."

Almost immediately, Holcomb moved to allow local officials to make needle exchange decisions, a departure from Pence, characterizing it as a prudent step. Some 25 counties have sought needle exchange programs to combat heroin-induced HIV and HepC, needing time-consuming approval from the state. Only three have active programs.

This is terrific news, said Beth Meyerson, co-director of the Rural Center for AIDS/STD Prevention at Indiana University. Now its a different day and a different administration.

While Pence was averse to any phrase that included the words tax increase, fearing it would hamper his presidential aspirations, Holcomb is embracing recommendations for a 10-cent gasoline tax hike to pay for a long-term road and infrastructure program.

It is important we keep our funding options open, Holcomb explained, adding that talks will continue.

Statehouse Democrats have proclaimed this session to be the most tax-heavy ever. But Holcomb counters: You get what you pay for, and we want to get the most out of it. This is something that needs to be done, so we are looking at every option. The only option we arent looking at is doing nothing at all.

Holcomb embraced the notion that voters should elect policymakers, not bureaucratic functionaries, when he proposed eliminating the superintendent of public instruction position and replacing it with a governor-appointed secretary of education.

Pence wouldnt touch the issue, which was in both party platforms in 2012, particularly after he repeatedly sparred with Democrat Superintendent Glenda Ritz. With Jennifer McCormicks victory over Ritz last November, the notion of a partisan power grab recedes. So Holcomb is signaling a willingness to revisit the long-time contours of state government and bring change.

The difference between Holcomb and his two immediate predecessors is that this governor, at least at this time, doesnt have presidential aspirations.

He is showing independence in putting money where his mouth is, four years ahead of the time when voters will make a second judgment.
The last time I talked with Dan Coats, we laughed about the camel that ran away from the circus in Hammond.

The reason they couldnt find it is because it was wearing camelflage, I joked. Now Coats is set to become the head camel poking the nations nose under foreign tents.

Coats still has to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, from which he just came a week ago, to be the Trump administrations director of intelligence.

Coats is a good choice. Hes got plenty of government experience, both in Congress and as ambassador to Germany. Just as important, Coats wont be a yes man for President-elect Donald Trump.

We talked at length, in a one-on-one conversation last October, about U.S. relations with Russia, one of the top issues that will face the Trump administration.

As Coats sees it, the Obama administrations failure to show strength when challenged  when the red line drawn in Syria was crossed without consequence, for example  has opened the door for Russia to regain strength.

Everybody underestimated, and they shouldnt have, Vladimir Putin, Coats said.

Hes been two or three moves ahead of us on everything. It is stunning that we have allowed Russia to be the dominating outside power controlling events in the Middle East.

If you see Russian President Putin as a strongman muscling in wherever he can, its easy to see Coats point. Russias actions in Georgia, Crimea and the Ukraine should not go unnoticed or forgotten. But NATO, which relies on U.S. leadership, hasnt seemed to take notice.

NATO needs to act to contain Russian threats on border states, Coats said.

In 2014, Putin banned Coats from ever traveling to Russia because Coats has been such a harsh critic.

When we talked, Coats said the nation didnt have a satisfactory answer on how to deal with Russia or ISIS. I expect hes been thinking about those questions lately. As director of national intelligence, those issues will be among his immediate challenges.

Another will be how to make the intelligence apparatus work more effectively and efficiently.

Coats made a name for himself in the Senate by highlighting wasteful government spending on a regular basis.

My favorite Waste of the Week speech was on the National Institutes of Health grant for massages given to New Zealand rabbits after strenuous exercise. The rabbits felt better after getting the massages.

As Coats digs into the intelligence programs, he will keep an eye out for ways to reduce federal spending on programs that dont seem to be worth the cost.

Sept. 11, 2001, stands as a defining moment in our nations history. We must never forget the value of having the nations spies gathering the information we need about our enemies, and the importance of agencies cooperating with each other to analyze and deliver it.

Coats sat on the Senate Intelligence Committee, giving him a window to the U.S. intelligence community. Now that he is being sent in the door, he will need to learn quickly and act decisively to give Trump the advice he needs, whether Trump wants it or not.
It's difficult to glean positives from the life-and-death struggles of children, much less identify anything to smile about.

In about two months  and for a second-annual occurrence  I again intend to give you something to smile or perhaps laugh hysterically about in the important fight against childhood cancer.

Accompanying this column today is a website link where I'm asking you to donate to a St. Baldrick's account in my name.

Those familiar with the organization know that it recruits folks every year to seek donations for childhood cancer research and serve as "shavees." The payoff for donors  aside from helping in this important battle  is to see the shavee to whom they donate research funds publicly sheared in one of hundreds of St. Baldrick's shaving events throughout the country.

So get ready to take aim, Northwest Indiana. If you're a fan or a critic of my regular commentary in The Times, here's your chance to show how much you really care  or to exact revenge.

My hair and beard, which I'll be growing wild from now until March 12, will be reduced to a barren wasteland if you help me reach my fundraising goal.

Last year, I participated in the St. Baldrick's event on St. Patrick's Day at the Crown Point Fire Department's annual head-shearing event.

This year, I'll perch in a barber's chair for the St. Baldrick's shaving event sponsored by the Nick Foundation March 12 in Merrillville.

The Nick Foundation is one of my favorite local nonprofits, providing moral and financial support for children and families waging war against cancer's many horrific childhood forms.

Within the next few weeks through my upcoming columns, you'll begin to meet some of those Region children and families who are battling or have lost the fight to childhood cancer.

They all need your help. You all want to see me bald  or at least may take some sinister satisfaction in leaving my scalp bare in the cold-weather season.

Please help by clicking or signing on to my St. Baldrick's donation page at:

My hair is going. That's already a promise.

But if I exceed my fundraising goal of $1,800, the beard goes, too. It all helps fund childhood cancer research.

This year, I also want to recognize other fearless bare-domed crusaders who part with their locks for the St. Baldrick's charity.

During the next few months, if you're participating as a Baldrick's shavee, please send me your event information and follow up with "before and after" photos of your shaving experience.

If I receive enough of them, I'll publish them in a Times Sunday Forum section in late March or April and through an online gallery at nwi.com.

Many of you will remember that last year, I shaved both head and face in honor of Griffith boy Adler Shelbourne and Valparaiso girl Miranda Jackson.

Both children died of cancer before making it to their preschool years, leaving behind the decimated hearts of grieving parents and unrealized lives and dreams.

Adler's mom, Stephanie Shelbourne, continues to keep her little boy's memory alive each year by celebrating his birthday party in a local fundraiser. This year, Adler's party is scheduled for Jan. 22  next Sunday  at Tyler's Tender, a kid-friendly restaurant with a railroad theme at 350 U.S. 30 in Schererville. Adler loved trains, so the location is appropriate.

Throughout the day, proceeds from meals purchased at the restaurant will help children and families struggling with cancer. Birthday cake, face painting and other games will be available for children. Please consider stopping by.

I'm shaving in honor of Adler and Miranda again this year, but also will be adding the names of other children to my list of honorees in the coming weeks as I profile their fights against this scourge.

Please be sure to read their stories in upcoming editions and visit my Baldrick's page to donate and make that struggle a little less daunting for so many brave little people.
MASON CITY | Tonight's drive home in Mason City is looking to be just as wet as the rest of the day has been.

Forecasters say freezing rain, and possibly some sleet, is expected to continue throughout the evening on Monday.

The chance of precipitation is one hundred percent.

The National Weather Service expects total daytime ice accumulation to range from a tenth to three-tenths of an inch.

Although the roads in Mason City weren't bad, untreated sidewalks and parking lots were coated in a smooth, extremely slippery glaze of ice.

Forecasters say overnight rain and sleet could add another tenth to two-tenths of an inch of ice to that.

There's also a chance of up to a half-inch of snow tonight.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: North Iowa roads improving, but some stretches still 100% ice-covered

10 a.m. Monday update

MASON CITY | Motorists in Cerro Gordo County navigated the icy roads early Monday morning without any major incidents, officials say.

That is in spite of the fact that roads were extremely icy before daybreak due to freezing rain overnight.

Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals believed that was because people altered their driving to match the road conditions.

"I think people were going slower," he said.

He said conditions have improved since the road crews salted, sanded and plowed the roads.

"Now theyre ice and slush covered so most people are traveling about 40-45 (mph) right now," Pals said.

The Iowa Department of Transportation's 511ia.org website listed roads across North Iowa as at least partially covered in snow and ice.

As of 10:05 a.m., two sections of North Iowa roadway were listed as completely covered in snow or ice:

*Highway 65 from Sheffield to Highway 57.

* Highway 3 from Rowan (Highway 69) to Dumont (County Road T16).

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: Many teachers also get day off due to North Iowa ice storm

8:30 a.m. Update

MASON CITY | Several agencies and some schools canceled or delayed business hours due to bad road conditions on Monday.

Although some schoolchildren already had Monday off in observance of Martin Luther King, Jr., Day, others got to sleep in thanks to Mother Nature.

In many cases, teachers also got to stay home because staff development days set for Monday were also canceled.

School-related announcements include:

* Clear Lake Community Schools: Professional development day set for today has been canceled. Tonight's basketball games are postponed until Jan. 23.

* Mason City Community Schools: The professional development day scheduled for teachers on Monday has been postponed. It will now be held Tuesday, Feb. 21.

* Northwood-Kensett Community School: School and all activities canceled due to weather.

* Rudd-Rockford-Marble Rock Community Schools: Staff in-service is canceled.

Other closings/delays:

* The march in Charles City celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr., set for Monday night has been postponed.

* The Wright County Courthouse will open at 10 a.m.

* Garbage and recycling pickup in Clear Lake and Ventura will be delayed one day for the duration of this week.

* The Hawkeye Harvest Food Bank in Mason City will be closed due to the icy weather.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: Ice causing dangerous travel conditions in Mason City

7:30 a.m. Monday Update

MASON CITY | Freezing rain continues to fall over North Iowa making for slick roads and sidewalks.

Many schools and businesses have closed for the day.

According to the National Weather Service in Des Moines freezing rain and sleet will continue throughout the day.

Total daytime ice accumulation of 0.1 to 0.3 of an inch is possible in our area.

Expect more freezing rain and sleet tonight, possibly mixed with snow until around 4 a.m. Tuesday.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: Timing keeps changing, but storm's still coming to Mason City

Sunday update

MASON CITY | Don't let the blue skies and sun on Sunday fool you: a storm packing snow, freezing rain and sleet is still headed for Mason City.

A winter weather advisory is in effect for much of North Iowa from midnight Monday to midnight Tuesday.

Forecasters from the National Weather Service expect the storm to arrive in Mason City around 1 a.m. Monday in the form of snow.

It's expected to change into a combination of snow, freezing rain and sleet later Monday morning. There's a chance or more sleet and freezing rain Monday afternoon, but forecasters say the heaviest ice accumulations -- up to a quarter inch -- will be in southern and central areas of the state.

Those areas extend as far north as northern Hamilton and Harden counties, as well as south of Fort Dodge in Webster County, according to the National Weather Service's forecast maps.

North Iowa is expected to receive more snow than freezing rain.

The heaviest snowfall in North Iowa is expected to be in Winnebago County and northern portions of Worth and Hancock counties.

Forecasters say those areas could get 1-2 inches of snow.

Other area counties, including Cerro Gordo County, are expected to get an inch of snow or less.

However, even though forecasters don't expect North Iowa to get as much ice as the rest of the state, they say there will still be enough to make roadways and sidewalks slippery.

There's also a 30 percent chance of freezing rain or drizzle before noon Tuesday in Mason City.

However, the temperatures are expected to climb into the 40s later in the week.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Update: Storm expected to arrive in Mason City Sunday night

2:45 p.m. Saturday update

MASON CITY | A storm expected to bring snow and ice is now expected to hit Mason City on Sunday evening.

The National Weather Service's winter storm watch is now in effect from 9 p.m. Sunday to 6 p.m. Monday.

The storm system is expected to hit southern Iowa Sunday afternoon and move into North Iowa several hours later.

Forecasters say northern parts of the state will see more sleet and snow, while central and southern Iowa will receive more freezing rain and rain and thus have heavier icing.

Sleet, snow and freezing rain is expected to fall in North Iowa through Monday night.

The heaviest icing is expected to happen late Sunday night and early Monday morning.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.

Weather: Expect 'significant ice' in weekend storm in Mason City

Friday Update

MASON CITY  A winter storm capable of producing "significant ice accumulations" is expected to roll into Mason City on Sunday.

The National Weather Service has issued a winter storm watch in effect from noon Sunday until noon Monday.

According to the bulletin, communities along the Iowa-Minnesota border may receive up to 2-3 inches of sleet and snow, and one-tenth to one-quarter inch of ice.

The northern-most areas of the state will likely receive more sleet and snow, while communities further south will likely experience more ice, National Weather Service meteorologist Kurt Kotenberg said during a web briefing.

"Northern Iowa will likely see more of that snow-sleet combination where central to southern Iowa will likely see more freezing rain and ice than snow, he said.

North Iowa should begin feeling the impact Sunday with a chance of snow before midnight, transitioning to freezing rain and sleet early Monday morning and continuing through the morning commute.

The mix of snow, freezing rain, sleet and rain will continue throughout Monday.

There's also a 40 percent chance of snow Tuesday morning.

People should expect slick roads, sidewalks and parking lots.

Forecasters say tree damage and power outages also are possible from ice accumulating on limbs and lines.

Check back at globegazette.com for updates on this developing story.
The DNC lays claim that Russia influenced the presidential election, allowing Donald Trump to become our next president. They claim emails were hacked but offer no definitive evidence of how we electors were persuaded not to vote for Hillary Clinton.

The mainstream liberal media filled the electors' minds with information that was less than truthful in full support of Clinton, persuading electors to vote for her.

Numerous high-level government agencies were hacked throughout the Obama presidency, jeopardizing our national security, but when you hack Jay Podestas emails and Hillary Clintons illegal private server, the DNC and liberal media are in pandemonium.

I wouldnt trust these people to deliver my paper, let alone run this constitutional republic.

John Tomczak Jr., Hammond
Washington is getting ready for this weeks presidential inauguration.

Crews have been working around the clock since the election to put final touches on the stage and viewing stands in front of the U.S. Capitol building for Donald Trumps swearing-in.

Organizers will hold a dress rehearsal today with stand-ins for the President-elect and the Vice President elect.

This comes as civil rights groups are calling on Trump to apologize to Georgia Congressman John Lewis after slamming him on Twitter.

"The president-elect referred to an icon of the Civil Right Movement who became precariously close to becoming a martyr of the Civil Rights movement by the name of John Lewis," said NAACP President Cornell Williams Brooks. "The President-elect says he was all no and no action. Disrespected."

Trump was responded to Lewis comments made on Friday questioning the legitimacy of Trumps presidency by saying that Russia helped him get elected.

In a series of tweets, Trump said the congressman was "all talk" and "no action" and that he should spend time on fixing his district thats "in horrible shape and falling apart."
Protesters are crowding the streets this afternoon, demanding a meeting with the President-elect  all of this, just days before the nation celebrates the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. NY1's Erin Clarke joins us live from outside Trump Tower with more on the demonstration.

In coordinated marches from all five boroughs, Black Lives Matter protesters began a trek in honor of Doctor Martin Luther King, Jr.

"This march is really about solidarity on Martin Luther King's birthday and also on the eve of Trump's inauguration and it's really about getting awareness up about our cause," said protester Antoinette Briguglio.

Their destination was Trump Tower, where protestors called on the President-elect to meet them face-to-face.

"The reason we're marching from all five boroughs today is to honor the dream of Martin Luther King and to demand that Donald Trump be accountable for the promises he made in our community," said Hawk Newsome, president of Black Lives Matter New York.

Among the participants  young people  high school and college students who stand beside parents, teachers and other adults supporting a movement they say hits home.

"It affects me because as a black young male, I have to look after myself each day as I'm getting older I might get targeted in the future so I just need by doing this march I feel hope that other people can get the message out there," said 14-year-old Savion Foreshaw.

Hawk Newsome, the president of Black Lives Matter New York, says it is important that young people take a stand and realize their power to make change.

His group is organizing the Black Lives Caucus, a movement they say to restore the black vote.

"All major revolutions have been led by youth," Newsome said. "It's very important that these young people learn how to fight now while they're in high school. Some of these kids might be Black Lives Caucus representatives in the future. They might be people that will run for office."

Even if these protesters meet with the President-elect, their mission is far from complete.

They say their focus is to effect change in government from the bottom up.

"Voting does matter," said Mario Banabe, a math teacher at South Bronx Community High School. "Some folks believe that on a federal level it doesn't, but on a local level it does. City Council and local politics determine the resources that we need for our community."

And the Black Lives Matter New York group says it has its eyes set on at least five City Council races, some in which its members may run for seats. The president of the group also says he believes Black Lives Matter New York can have a significant impact on the upcoming mayoral election.
Some people mix their biscuits in a wooden bowl handed down from Grandmother. Some drop biscuits onto a cooking sheet, rather than cutting them out. Some people use lard as the fat, others butter. For some, a biscuit must be huge. Others say small. There are people who beat their biscuits or add salt to them and others who press sugar cubes into the dough. Liquids added to biscuit flour may include buttermilk, heavy cream, flat beer, sour cream or cola. Cream of tartar can make an appearance in a biscuit recipe, as can baking soda.

For Yankees, the principal biscuit issue is flour. Proper Southern biscuits (as proper Southerners will tell you) are made with soft red winter wheat flour, low in protein and gluten  traditionally White Lily brand or Southern Biscuit brand. These are only sporadically and expensively available in the North and West of the country, where the more traditional all-purpose flour is made from sterner spring wheat, with more protein and gluten in it, better for making yeast breads than tender, flaky biscuits.

Some Southerners believe that it is not possible to make a good biscuit north of the Mason-Dixon line. Nathalie Dupree, a biscuit doyenne out of Charleston, S.C., whose Southern Biscuits cookbook provides enough biscuit recipes to fill a lifetime, disagrees. Any biscuit is possible for a Yankee, she wrote in an e-mail.

Image Credit... Sarah C. Rutherford

Extensive testing in Brooklyn bears her statement out. Cake flour, a low-protein flour that is available in supermarkets from Boston to Chicago, north to Seattle and down to Los Angeles, makes a fine biscuit. Standard Northern all-purpose flour does as well, especially if you allow the dough to rest for 30 minutes or so before cutting it out and baking.

What follows are two simple recipes for biscuits, one made with cake flour and lard; the other with all-purpose flour and butter. The first results in a biscuit with a delicate, silken texture that does well with syrups and runny fried eggs. The second provides a crumbier result, with a density appropriate to the flour, that is marvelous with thick, creamy sausage gravy, heavy on the sage and black pepper.

Neither takes long to put together. Christopher Kimball, the professorial leader of Cooks Illustrated, Cooks Country and televisions Americas Test Kitchen, said in an interview that this feature is crucial to biscuit excellence. The secret of biscuits is that they are dead simple, and you should be able to make them in your sleep or even in the midst of a blind-drunk hangover, he said. To hell with the gourmet stuff.
When Scott Tornquist left his at-large seat on the City Council in 2015, he said that one of his goals as a councilman had been to show there was a different way, a right way of doing business other than the one the city had grown accustomed to.

That has changed for the better over recent years, and a big factor has been the leadership of Mayor Eric Bookmeyer. Like him or not  and he has his fair share of critics, including us at times  there is no question the city has become a much more functional unit under his leadership in tune with the council and city staff.

Previous councils were dysfunctional, indeed. Some residents called council meetings the most entertaining show in town, and that wasn't a compliment. They were too often combative, too often going off on wild tangents that had little to do with the business at hand.

Thats what Bookmeyer sought to change, and the reversal into a can-do city government took root early in his time in office and has grown since then.

We believe the city will miss Bookmeyers leadership when he steps aside at the end of this year, the end of his second term. His successor will have a good example to follow.

Its hard to imagine the number and variety of issues the city handled over his years in office.

Bookmeyer won't seek re-election as Mason City mayor MASON CITY  Mayor Eric Bookmeyer told the City Council Tuesday night he will not run for re

Still fresh in most peoples minds is the failed Prestage Foods issue. What looked like a sure thing failed to pass the City Council despite Bookmeyers best efforts to guide it to fruition. During public hearings and in social media, he was taken to task, often in disrespectful ways no city official  or anyone else  deserves. It had to hurt, but he carried on.

He addressed some of those issues in his state of the city address, when he almost casually inferred he would not run again  a fact he later confirmed.

John Skipper, reporting on the speech, said Bookmeyer related how seven years ago the council was discussing downtown strip clubs for economic development and prohibiting City Administrator Brent Trout from attending a conference on the pretense of government efficiency.

Now, he said, the city has approximately $280 million in projects before the Iowa Economic Development Board. The showpiece still could be the River City Renaissance, which would result in a new hotel and ice arena/multipurpose center downtown. It suffered a setback when the hotel developer failed to live up to his end of the bargain. If the city had a fault there, it probably was giving him too much time instead of aggressively pursuing other options.

Now, the city will seek new proposals and theres a chance the Renaissance will come to pass. Its not a sure thing, but few things are when it comes to economic development.

We do know that the city has achieved much in the past seven years. A hotel that critics said couldnt be saved is the centerpiece of a downtown with a vibrancy that continues to grow.

The city has a strong partnership with other governments in Cerro Gordo County in a whats good for one is good for all agreement. Retail continues to thrive. Some storefronts have been renovated and there have been rebates to residents who improved their homes.

Bookmeyer noted how unemployment has gone from 8 percent in 2010 to 3.2 percent now, due largely to the recovering national economy, certainly, but also due to the fact that the city continues to set the stage for existing business and industry to grow  with a keen eye out for prospects looking for a good place to build.

At the time of the 2015 election, for example, 17 development agreements had been executed in four years. There were just 13 in the previous 15 years.

In the meantime, the city has looked toward the health and well-being of its community by fostering projects in the Blue Zones spirit such as sharrows on roadways and new trails connecting the community.

All this does not happen without a strong team and a strong leader. We believe Bookmeyer has provided that effective leadership and will be missed.

But hes not done yet. Along with the Renaissance project, Bookmeyer said the city will begin a reassessment project in February. Key factors are the growing senior population and attracting young people to fill available jobs, to continue to seek new job opportunities while maintaining a high quality of life with offerings to entice people to move and live here.

Also important will be continuing that strong partnership with Clear Lake and Cerro Gordo County, working with the expertise of the North Iowa Corridor Economic Development Corp.

This is what the city under Bookmeyers leadership has accomplished, and what will be up to his successor to continue.

Strong teamwork locked into a strong vision for our community  thats the kind of leadership Bookmeyer provided when the city needed it most, and what will continue to be needed in the future.
Under President Obama, the unemployment rate ...

Show me how I did.  reached its lowest level since 2007. The current rate is a stunning decline from the 9.3 percent in 2009, the year Mr. Obama took office.

Under Mr. Obama, the number of immigrants convicted of crimes who were deported ...

Show me how I did.  was double the number who were deported during the Bush administration. In fiscal year 2016, 58 percent of the 240,255 immigrants deported by Immigration and Customs Enforcement were convicted criminals.

Under Mr. Obama, national spending on health care, as a percent of the gross domestic product, ...

Show me how I did.  continued to rise, as more people signed up for health insurance under the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare.

Under Mr. Obama, the national debt as a percentage of the gross domestic product ...

Show me how I did.  nearly doubled. In fiscal year 2016, the Congressional Budget Office projected the debt to be nearly 77 percent of the gross domestic product.

Under Mr. Obama, the number of Mexicans living in the United States illegally ...

Show me how I did. ... declined, and it is now a million below its peak during the Bush administration.

Under Mr. Obama, the number of violent crimes per 100,000 people ...

Show me how I did.  continued to decline, contrary to President-elect Donald J. Trumps statement that decades of progress are now being reversed. A number of cities saw recent upticks, but over all, crime is still lower than in the 1990s.

Under Mr. Obama, the number of troops in Afghanistan and Iraq ...
Generation X, the group between the boomers and the millennials, has been largely cast aside in the media and marketing world, victims of their generations small size and lack of identity. In contrast to the much-discussed boomers and millennials, few have recognized the critical importance of this group to the future of politics, economics, technology and business.

Gen Xers  defined as aged between 35 and 49 in 2015  matter because they will be the generation that will run our companies and governments as the boomers, albeit slowly, fade from their long-standing dominance. As millennials struggle to launch, the Xers are the group that will be critical to local housing markets, tech development and, perhaps most important, the creation of the next generation of children.

Far more entrepreneurial than their millennial successors, they also will have the money to shape the economy. An analysis by the Deloitte Center for Financial Services finds that they hold 14 percent of the nations wealth, compared to just 4 percent for millennials and 50 percent for the boomers. But by 2030, as the boomers finally start to fade from the picture, Xers increasingly will vie with boomers, accounting for 31 percent of the nations wealth, twice the percentage for the millennials.

Southern Californias Xer challenge

Southern California needs to focus more on Xers. Unlike the millennials, whose share has been dropping below national norms, our region still retains a higher percentage of Xers than the rest of the country. Yet, their population is being eroded by factors such as high housing prices and weak high-end job creation.

As housing prices move to ever more unsustainable levels, the Xers now are leaving California at a rate faster than any generation, according to the most recent Internal Revenue Service numbers. After all, with households having children and buying houses later, many Xers may be going to more kid-friendly areas with yards like they grew up in. Losing Xers, at least in the short run, may be more dangerous to the state and regional trajectory than millennial migration.

In their preferences, Xers nationally tend to be somewhat like their boomer forebears. An analysis of Xer residences in major metropolitan areas showed that more than 85 percent live in suburban and exurban areas, no doubt driven by such concerns as prices, house size, yards for the kids and recreation, safety and schools. This aspiration does not match with ultrahigh housing prices.

Indeed, in a recent analysis we did for Forbes.com, using U.S. Census Bureau age data of 35-49 as our measurement, Xer shares grew most dramatically in more affordable Sun Belt cities like Austin, Texas; Raleigh, N.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Las Vegas; Phoenix; Houston and Dallas-Fort Worth, which have enjoyed the widest growth in Xer share in the country. Since 2010, emerging tech hubs, notably Denver and Portland, Ore., also did well. In contrast, the Bay Area, despite its torrid economy, has seen its Xer share stagnate, while Los Angeles share actually dropped.

Gov. Browns war on Xer expectations

Over the past decade, California regulators  citing climate change concerns  have waged a war on the states sprawl, including recent moves to all but eliminate greenfield development. This policy hits Xers the hardest since they are demonstrably less attracted to living in dense, inner-core neighborhoods and far more likely to prefer suburban locations.

Here in Southern California, Los Angeles, Orange and Ventura counties all suffered losses in their Xer population share, while the more suburban  and affordable  Inland Empire expanded its proportion significantly, with Riverside up by over 30 percent and San Bernardino up by over 10 percent. Communities that have become more Xer-oriented since 2000 include places like Perris, Indio, Murrieta, Hemet, Victorville, Temecula, Corona and Moreno Valley. The only coastal community to rank among the top 10 for Xer growth was Irvine, with Lake Forest ranked 11th.

In contrast, most coastal cities  from Ventura down to Santa Monica to Newport Beach and San Clemente  did poorly. Similarly, many of the more affluent, high-cost cities in the region also saw large drops in their Xer shares, including Yorba Linda, Alhambra, Mission Viejo and Thousand Oaks.

Californias increasingly rigid approach to peripheral development seems destined to not only reduce the Xer footprint in the region, but also to contribute to an already rapid decrease in the number of children. For example, since 2010, Los Angeles has suffered one of the largest declines in the percentage of people aged 5 to 14  ranking 45th out of 52 major metropolitan areas, ahead of only five Rust Belt cities, Chicago and Hartford, Conn.

What is happening with Xers could soon also occur among millennials as they enter their 30s. As the growth among twentysomethings slows precipitously, and then starts to decline by 2020, the market for the high-density urban lifestyle so beloved by our planning overloads, already a smallish minority among millennials, seems destined to decline.

Rather than shut off the prospects of young people, sparking continued outmigration and a diminution of our middle-class workforce, California needs to reconsider its current housing and land-use policies. The green-speculator-regulator triad may celebrate the end of sprawl, but in doing so they are creating a California that, from a societal perspective, will be fundamentally unsustainable.

Joel Kotkin is the R.C. Hobbs Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University in Orange and executive director of the Houston-based Center for Opportunity Urbanism (www.opportunityurbanism.org). Wendell Cox is principal of Demographia, a St. Louis-based public policy firm, and was appointed to three terms on the Los Angeles County Transportation Commission.
If Donald Trump were elected, Jerry Brown quipped before it actually happened, wed have to build a wall around California to defend ourselves from the rest of the country.

That was a joke, the governor quickly added. Such a wall would be 1,000 miles long, cost billions, and be showy even by Golden State standards.

But the sentiment behind it was no joke at all.

With Trump set to take office, California is hastily constructing a legal, philosophical and cultural rampart to protect its progressive agenda from expected attacks by a newly conservative federal government  the bureaucratic equivalent of Sacramento flipping the bird to Washington, D.C.

It might be an expensive gesture. While California pays more in federal taxes than any state, and gets less back from D.C. than it puts in, Trump has threatened to withhold federal dollars from communities that defy him on issues like immigration.

Its unclear how the conflict will play out  for one thing, no president can direct every dollar spent by the federal government  but the stakes are high.

California relies on tens of billions of federal dollars to pay for health care, education, social services, law enforcement, infrastructure and other programs. Less money in any of those areas could leave some of the states most vulnerable residents reeling.

This isnt just Trump versus California, said Scott Graves, research director for the independent California Budget & Policy Center in Sacramento.

Theyre attempting to implement an ideology that would have devastating effects on white working-class voters, seniors and lower-income children in all 50 states. Its an effort to unravel the social safety net that has been constructed over the past 50 years.

Change No. 1: Obamacare

In 2015, nearly one-third of Californias $275.3 billion budget  $86.2 billion  came from the federal government, according to the states most recent audited financial statements. This fiscal year, federal dollars play an even greater role, fueling 36 percent of state spending.

And thats just a fraction of the federal dollars pouring into California.

Defunding Obamacare  something federal legislators started to do last week  would blow a $16 billion hole in Californias budget. Brown, who unveiled a new state budget earlier last week, said its a hole the state cant easily backfill.

Folks are waiting, wondering and worrying.

Theres a part of me that cant believe, in my heart of hearts, that the people in power who actually understand how things work are going to totally destabilize our health care system in this way, said Kim Rueben, an expert on state and local public finance at the Urban-Brookings Tax Policy Center at the Urban Institute.

Theres always some uncertainty when you switch administrations, but its amplified because its not clear what Trumps views will translate to, she added. Trump has said contradictory things.

Whatever the next move, California is ready to rumble. As Texas was to Barack Obama  Texas sued the federal government over overtime pay rules, immigration policy and transgender bathroom directives  California may be to Trump.

A strong defense 

The California Legislature has hired former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder and his firm for $25,000 a month.

Holder will be an important resource as we work with the Governor and the Attorney General to protect California from the reckless overreach we expect from Donald Trump and the Republican members of Congress who have so cravenly enabled him, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, said in a statement.

The Assembly voted to confirm Rep. Xavier Becerra, a congressman since 1992, to replace Kamala Harris as Californias top lawyer on Friday. Becerra says hell mount Texas-style opposition to Trump policies, from stop-and-frisk policing to crackdowns on undocumented immigrants to any potential creation of a Muslim registry.

Disturbing statements uttered during the recent presidential campaign have given rise to legitimate fears that the new federal administration might seek to adopt policies that would discriminate against people based on factors such as religious belief, Becerra said in a nine-page letter to state Assembly members considering his nomination.

Any such policies would be antithetical to the deepest constitutional values and traditions of this nation  a nation founded in part by men and women fleeing religious persecution.

Immigration, abortion, climate change, gun control, voting rights  Becerra stands ready to defend the states stance on them all, he said. He will use the weight of the office to protect Californias most vulnerable people.

The general wisdom is not to pick on someone bigger than you, and it has some Republican lawmakers worried.

If the majority party continues to poke President-elect Trump with a short stick, then they better be prepared with a Plan B, said state Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, in a statement.

And, as far as I can tell, there is no alternative plan should these combative moves not be received well by the incoming Trump Administration.

We cannot, and must not, jeopardize federal funding to our state, counties and cities, Moorlach added. They cannot afford it, especially with increasing pensions costs at the door.

Who gets what?

If this is a David vs. Goliath battle, California may be particularly well-placed to torment the giant, if not quite slay him.

California has one of the largest economies on planet Earth, state Sen. Kevin de Leon has boasted. Its one of 50 states, but it provides the federal government with an oversized 12 percent of its tax revenue, according to IRS statistics.

And while there are many ways to slice the numbers, California sends more treasure to Washington than it gets in return, according to our analysis and the analyses of many others.

Heres a breakdown of the fiscal flow:

Money in: The federal government pours more than a quarter-trillion dollars into Californias governments, residents and businesses each year. The total was $283.6 billion in fiscal 2016  not counting the salaries of federal employees who work here.

 About half of that  $143 billion  went to residents as direct payments (such as Medicare and food stamps), insurance payments (unemployment, flood insurance) and other types of assistance (such as reimbursements for prescriptions for veterans), according to the U.S. Treasury Department.

 About one-third of it  $93.3 billion  came as grants, mostly to state and local governments, to carry out a public project or service. This pot is considered most at-risk in the current showdown. The biggest chunk of money  $60 billion  went to the state Department of Health Care Services, with transportation, education and social services getting most of the rest.

 Most of the remainder  $47.2 billion  is awarded to California businesses that contract with the federal government. Lockheed Martin and Health Net had the biggest contracts, at $3 billion each.

All told, Los Angeles County residents, governments and businesses got $22.6 billion from the federal government last year. Orange County got $7.7 billion; Riverside, $6.1 billion; and San Bernardino, $4.9 billion.

The city of Los Angeles stands to lose a half-billion dollars in direct grants from the federal government over its vow to protect undocumented immigrants. Santa Ana, another self-declared sanctuary city, has $123 million on the line.

Money out: Californians paid $362 billion to the federal government in fiscal year 2015  about $100 billion more than they got back, according to the most recent IRS statistics.

That $362 billion includes income taxes paid by individuals and businesses, as well as payroll taxes (Social Security and Medicare), federal gas taxes and estate taxes on very large inheritances. It captures nearly all federal revenue  about 90 percent  and is a solid measure to use, according to researchers at the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

Similar comparisons by WalletHub and the Tax Foundation found that California is one of the least federally dependent states in the union  which is another way of saying its a giver, rather than a taker.

A 20-year snapshot by The Economist found the same to be true over the long haul as well. Between 1990 and 2009 California sent $4.25 trillion to Washington and got $3.91 trillion back.

More than taxes

Still, for all the fear and loathing, Trumps federal government may turn out to be good for many people in California, if not for their governments, said Rueben, the public finance expert at the Urban Institute.

If Trump follows through on tax reforms that lower the rates on capital gains, dividends and corporate taxes, it would be a big win for Californias tech economy, she said. Promises of big infrastructure spending could create jobs and stimulate the economy as well.

Individuals might be better off under a new administration, Rueben said. Its just not knowing what it means for everything else.

In the meantime, California should quit the posturing in whats essentially a dangerous game of chicken, Moorlach said, and focus instead on reaching across the aisle.

I can just imagine Trump calling up Jerry Brown: Hey, you know that $3.3 billion you wanted for high speed rail? Never mind, Moorlach said.

Contact the writer: tsforza@scng.com
The first version of Gov. Jerry Browns spending proposals for the next fiscal year appear to increase the probability that California State University trustees will raise tuition in the coming months.

The governors initial budget plan may also create challenges for CSUs ambitious new strategy for increasing graduation rates, as well as the prospect of increasing enrollment within the systems 23 campuses.

Such may be the case despite Browns proposal to increase CSUs funding level by nearly $158million, compared with current year funding, according to the universitys presentation of the numbers. CSU administrators say those additional dollars would be enough to pay for planned compensation increases and other costs, but would leave university leaders looking for some other method of financing other objectives.

It doesnt include student success, enrollment, infrastructure or any open employee contracts that we have, CSU spokeswoman Toni Molle said.

The prospect of a tuition increase for CSU students  as well as those attending University of California campuses  coincides with a proposal to phase out Californias Middle Class Scholarship Program.

California Community Colleges, the states third higher education system, does not get a fee increase in the governors proposal. Brown wants to give a $150million boost to community colleges to improve students ability to navigate to a four-year school or employment.

Proposal to increase spending on July 1

Across all programs, Browns proposal calls for spending $31.9billion on higher education during the fiscal year that begins July 1. Thats about $244million more than current allocations.

Brown said in a letter to lawmakers that he wants to hold back on previously planned spending hikes because hes worried about a possible $2billion deficit for state government.

The states nonpartisan legislative analyst has projected a surplus.

Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer, however, said in an interview Friday that the administration predicts a $1.6billion shortfall, along with uncertainties that include the possibilities of weak stock market performance, a downturn in Californias business cycle and whatever may happen if Congress and the incoming Trump administration enact changes to federal fiscal policy.

We are in a period where weve got a lot of fiscal uncertainty over a lot of things, Palmer said.

Beyond higher education policy, the governor has proposed cuts to programs related to affordable housing, child care providers and state buildings.

The tuition question

CSU students have technically been spared tuition increases for about five years. That said, administrators have imposed fee increases on a campus-by-campus basis  a practice that aroused so much protest from students that trustees acted about two years ago to require students to vote on future increases.

Tuition, however, is strictly within trustees purview, and CSU leaders have already broached the prospect of raising tuition for the first time since the 2011-12 school year. California resident undergraduates are charged $5,472 in basic tuition, and a possible increase could be as much as $270 a year for those students.

Logan Vournas, student body vice president at Cal State Long Beach, said an added $270 could be equivalent to what an undergraduate who also holds a job may earn in a week and a half. Framed another way, that amount could be worth half to all of what a student may spend on monthly rent, or for two to three months worth of food.

Cal State Long Beachs student government established a food pantry at the opening of the school year for students who cannot afford groceries.

Any amount of money could push that student over the edge, Vournas said.

CSU trustees voted in November to ask Sacramento for a $344million funding increase, which if appropriated, would bring the university systems support budget to about $5.8billion.

Increasing graduation rates

Browns proposal would increase CSU funding by about $157million, an amount thats in line with previous budget advice from his administration to university leaders.

The governors proposal leaves a gap of nearly $187million. That amount includes $75million in anticipated costs associated with CSUs new attempt to accelerate graduation rates, as well as $55million worth of projected pay increases and nearly $39million for desired enrollment increases.

The administrations spending proposal admonishes that a CSU tuition hike, absent reforms to improve graduation rates, would only burden families with the cost of an inefficient system. The document proposes such reforms as using high school grades, as opposed to testing, for placing new CSU students into classes.

That kind of approach, which California Community Colleges Chancellor Eloy Ortiz Oakley favored during his tenure as leader of Long Beach City College, may reveal that students can handle more rigorous classes than they would otherwise be assigned to.

CSU leaders, however, have said they will need new funding to accomplish their mission of increasing graduation rates. The task will require hiring new faculty and offering greater numbers of courses, Cal State Long Beach President Jane Close Conoley said.

Thats the thing that I now worry about falling by the wayside, she said.

Whats next

Conoley also voiced her concerns related to the governors proposal to cancel the Middle Class Scholarship. The program would have a short life if Browns proposal is enacted. It was created in 2013 for UC and CSU students with family incomes of up to $156,000.

Wealthy families can afford a CSU education and low-income households can draw upon need-based financial aid sources, Conoley said. But it can be a different story for families in the middle of those financial situations.

You can really be squeezed if you end up with two kids in college, she said.

The administration proposed ending the scholarship program in order to preserve Cal Grants for needier students, given the possibility of a new deficit. The proposal would continue scholarships for the some 37,000 students already relying upon them, but no additional students would receive awards under the program, which could lead to savings of nearly $116million by 2020-21.

CSU trustees are to talk about the tuition issue during meetings Jan. 31 and Feb. 1 in Long Beach. The earliest that trustees might vote to approve a tuition change is in March.

The governors revised budget proposal is set for release in May, which clears the way for the Legislature to finalize Sacramentos spending plan.

Theres already disagreement within state leadership. Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Paramount, said in a statement that he opposes tuition increases or erasing the Middle Class Scholarship. Doing the latter, Rendon said, could raise the cost of a four-year education at a CSU campus by up to $9,000. That amount could be as great as $20,000 for a UC student.

Assembly Higher Education Committee Chairman Jose Medina, D-Riverside, said in an emailed statement that the new proposal is the initial framework for budget talks and that he was pleased to see proposed funding increases for colleges and universities when the Brown administration expects a deficit.

Assemblyman Marc Steinorth, R-Rancho Cucamonga, emailed a statement in response to a request for comment from the Assembly Republican Caucus saying that he also objects to ending the Middle Class Scholarship.

While the Legislature remains focused on priorities that assist the growing proportion of Californians living below the poverty level, we need to preserve opportunities for our shrinking middle class to obtain a pathway to success, Steinorth said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Contact the writer: aedwards@scng.com
ANAHEIM  Theres hope in Linda Lehnkerings voice.

In 10 years fighting for social justice as chair of the economic justice ministry at the Unitarian Universalist Church and to end homelessness as a member of the Anaheim Poverty Task Force, shes usually in a room with leaders and volunteers from faith and service groups.

But for the first time, at a meeting earlier this week at the Unitarian Universalist Church in Anaheim, she joined a group of about 25 residents to discuss ways to solve the citys homeless issue.

Its gratifying to see this, Lehnkering said. Most folks who want to help are aligned to a faith organization or a service group, but these are just concerned residents and members of the community. Its difficult to motivate people and get them involved, so to see ordinary folks here shows that this is a growing problem. This is an emergency situation and its only going to get worse.

Fed up with what they see as the city and the countys lack of immediacy in solving the areas growing homeless situation, residents are taking a proactive grassroots approach and demanding the City Council to do something about it.

Mike and Jeanine Robbins, longtime residents, organized the meeting, unsure how many people it would draw but driven to help.

The homeless issue has exploded in the last couple of years, said Jeanine Robbins, who has lived in Anaheim since 1991. We drive by the river bed almost every day. Its heartbreaking to see people who are so in the bottom that they are considering living in the river bed.  Its our duty as human beings to help others and to me, it seems the city and county are caught up in red tape.

No one wants to take responsibility and step up and do the job, Mike Robbins said. We need a 600-bed shelter on Harbor and the 91 freeway, safe zones and remove the ordinance that allows them to confiscate homeless peoples property. They should also leave bathrooms (in the park) open at night.

One by one residents expressed their concern and frustration on the homeless situation in a nearly two hour public comment period at Tuesdays City Council meeting. The council plans to hold a special session addressing the homeless situation possibly at the next council meeting.

Theres no city in Orange County that has done more, Mayor Tom Tait said, elaborating on some of the citys initiatives to provide for the homeless. Youre saying we havent done anything, but weve done more than nothing and we still have a long way to go.

Its hard not to see the homeless around Anaheim. There are tent encampments, shopping carts and large trash bags near a railroad track on Knott Avenue and Ball Road in the westside. Many homeless congregate and sleep around the local parks. And though not considered city property, rows of tents line the Santa Ana river bed across the street from Angel Stadium.

Anaheim Police Department officials estimate there are about 800 homeless people living in and around Anaheim, including those who have settled along the Santa Ana river bed and flood control channels. The police receive about 15,000 calls in 2015 relating to possible criminal activities by homeless, about 10 percent of all calls the police receive for service.

Spokesman Mike Lyster said the city has several initiatives to address the homeless situation and is following the countys 10-year-plan. City workers and police spend hours each week on outreach; theyve partnered with churches and nonprofits, and the city is providing more low income and affordable housing.

Last year, the city gave $500,000 toward the countys first year-round homeless shelter slated to open later this year at 1000 N. Kramer Place. In November, the city opened its latest affordable housing project, Rockwood Apartments, for homeless families and for those living with disabilities and mental illness.

At La Palma Park and the Anaheim Community Church, there are check-in centers where homeless people can store their stuff free.

In a couple weeks or so, the city will finalize a contract with a nonprofit to begin Drug Free Anaheim, a program that will allow people dealing with drug abuse who is not wanted for any crimes or under the influence at the time to seek help at an Anaheim Police Department station or contact a police officer.

Lyster said since 2014 city programs and services have helped 621 homeless people reunite with family or be placed in housing.

Still, city and police officials said they can only do so much. There are, as Assistant City Manager Kristine Ridge said, homeless people who are service resistant or those who just dont want to leave the streets.

Its a complex societal problem and unfortunately in California we have the highest homeless population in the nation, Ridge said, adding Orange County has about 4,000 people considered homeless. County officials are planning a point-in-time count and survey of O.C.s homeless population on Jan. 28.

Sgt. Mike Lozeau, a member of the Anaheim Police Departments homeless outreach team and psychiatric emergency response team, said outreach and pushing resources and services sometimes is not enough. Police through the city attorneys recommendation use discretion in enforcing the citys anti-camping ordinance and start with offering resources, but will arrest people if they are breaking the law. Most crimes by the homeless are misdemeanors such as shopping cart theft, illegal drug use and drug possession, and trespassing on residential and business properties.

Were not criminalizing them. We cant arrest our way out of this problem, Lozeau said. What weve found is constant outreach and enforcement works. We always push resources first. If we purely provide outreach and services with no enforcement, theyll just remain where they are. If we do enforcement, it might nudge them to accept the resources. Thats why weve been successful.

Lehnkering, a member of the citys task force, said the resident group meeting is a step in the right direction. They want to meet weekly and plan to keep addressing the City Council with their demands. She said she knows there is no one answer to solve homelessness. But people need to try.

Its the moral and humane thing to do, she said. I think the whole idea of this group is to keep meeting and pressuring this City Council and then go to other cities and the county. We can end homelessness in Orange County. We can do this. We could end this problem.

Contact the writer: 714-796-2443 or jpimentel@ocregister.com or follow on Twitter @OCDisney
MAJORITY RELIGION BY COUNTRY

Data for maps compiled by the Pew Research Centers Forum on Religion and Public Life in December 2012.

Darker colors indicate higher percentages of population.

Religious groups percentage of the global population

GROWTH PROJECTIONS

The percentage of people in the world who consider themselves religious is about 63 percent. The percentage who consider themselves atheists (mostly in China) is about 11 percent.

Notable trends

The percentage of Muslims in the world will rise from 23.2 percent in 2010 to 29.7 percent in 2050 and the percentage of Christians will stay the same at 31.5 percent.

In the United States, Christians will decline from more than three-quarters of the population in 2010 to two-thirds in 2050, and Judaism will no longer be the largest non-Christian religion. Muslims will be more numerous in the U.S. than people who identify as Jews on the basis of religion.

India will retain a Hindu majority but also will have the largest Muslim population of any country in the world, surpassing Indonesia.

RELIGION IN DECLINE According to Gallup these 10 countries experienced the most notable decline in religiosity from 2005 to 2012. Country 2005 2012 Percent change

Vietnam 53% 30% -23%

Switzerland 71% 50% -21%

France 58% 37% -21%

South Africa 83% 64% -19%

Iceland 74% 57% -17%

Ecuador 85% 70% -15%

United States 73% 60% -13%

Canada 58% 46% -12%

Austria 52% 42% -10%

Germany 60% 51% -9% Global avg. 77% 68% -9%

MOST RELIGIOUS COUNTRIES

Top 10 countries that have the highest percentage of people who say they are religious:

Ghana 96%

Nigeria 93%

Armenia 92%

Fiji 92%

Macedonia 90%

Romania 89%

Iraq 88%

Kenya 88%

Peru 86%

Brazil 85%

Sources: The Future of World Religions; Population Growth Projections, 2010-2050; International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis, Pew Research Center
MOSUL, Iraq  Iraqi forces have won a string of swift territorial gains in Mosul in the fight against the Islamic State group after months of slow progress, with a senior officer on Saturday laying claim to a cluster of buildings inside Mosul University and another edge of a bridge.

Iraqi forces now control the eastern sides of three of the citys five bridges that span the Tigris River connecting Mosuls east to west. Warplanes from the U.S.-led coalition bombed the citys bridges late last year in an effort to isolate Islamic State fighters in the citys east by disrupting resupply routes.

At Mosul University, senior commanders said Iraqi forces had secured more than half of the campus Saturday amid stiff resistance, but clashes were ongoing into the afternoon. Iraqi forces entered the university from the southeast Friday morning and by nightfall had secured a handful of buildings, Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil and Lt. Gen. Abdul-Wahab al-Saadi said on a tour of the university Saturday.

We watched all the IS fighters gather in that building, so we blew it up, said special forces Sgt. Maj. Haytham Ghani pointing to one of the blackened technical college buildings where charred desks could be seen inside. You can still see some of their corpses.

Thick clouds of black smoke rose from the middle of the sprawling complex Saturday morning. By afternoon, clashes had intensified with volleys of sniper and mortar fire targeting the advancing Iraqi forces. Convoys of Iraqi Humvees snaked through the campus, pausing for artillery and airstrikes to clear snipers perched within classrooms, dormitories and behind the trees that line the campus streets.

Islamic State fighters overran Mosul in the summer of 2014, announcing from there their self-styled caliphate after taking a large swath of Iraq and Syria in a lightning surge. Access to the citys central bank, a large taxable civilian population and nearby oilfields quickly made Islamic State the worlds wealthiest terrorist group.

Yet even as a punishing campaign of U.S.-led coalition airstrikes has pushed the militants underground, Islamic State leaders continued to use Mosul as a key logistical hub for planning meetings. If recaptured by the Iraqi forces, Islamic State territory in Iraq that once stretched across a third of the country would be reduced to small pockets in the north and west that troops will likely be able to mop up relatively quickly.

The massive operation to retake Mosul from Islamic State was launched in October. Since then Iraqi forces have slowly clawed back more than a third of the city. Islamic State maintains has tight control of the citys western half where Iraqi forces will likely encounter another wave of heavy Islamic State resistance. The west of the city is home to some of Mosuls densest neighborhoods and an estimated 700,000 civilians.

As Iraqi forces have closed in on the Tigris that roughly divides Mosul into eastern and western halves, their pace has quickened. Islamic State defenses in the citys east appear to be thinning and unlike in the surrounding neighborhoods, Iraqi officers said they believe Mosul University and recently retaken government buildings are largely empty of civilians  allowing them to use air cover more liberally.

Iraqi soldiers at Mosul University said while they were still coming under heavy small arms fire, Islamic State resistance was significantly less than they faced during the first weeks of the Mosul operation.

We were targeted with only four car bombs where before (Islamic State) would send 20 in one day, special forces Lt. Zain al-Abadeen said. And they arent armored like before, theyre just using civilian cars.

Medics operating a small field hospital in eastern Mosul said civilian casualties have dropped significantly over the past three days.
SACRAMENTO  There isnt anything fundamentally significant about 1990, from an ecological standpoint. Nonetheless, California officials long ago set that year as the benchmark against which greenhouse-gas-emissions reductions are judged in efforts to deal with climate change.

Assembly Bill 32, passed in 2006, requires the state to reduce such gaseous emissions to 1990 levels by 2020. Last year, the governor signed Senate Bill 32, which requires the California Air Resources Board to develop rules to roll back greenhouse gases to 40 percent below those 90 levels by 2030.

AB32 and SB32 are those rare, significant pieces of legislation widely known just by their bill numbers. For the states Democrats, they signify Californias trend-setting efforts to battle global warming. For Republicans, they usually mean the implementation of some of the nations most cumbersome and costly business regulations.

But now state Sen. John Moorlach, R-Costa Mesa, is having a little fun at the other partys expense. He introduced a bill that also is named SB32 (hey, its a new legislative session). It also is based on a similar backward-looking approach. The legislation deals with his pet issue of unfunded public-employee pension liabilities, which continue to consume local government budgets and rack up a worrisome amount of public debt.

Moorlach wants to bring such debts back even further, to 1980 levels, modeling his pension-reform approach on the states greenhouse-gas-reduction approach. Its clever, provided anyone in the Capitol appreciates the parallels. Unfortunately, the majority party is more interested in being on the cutting edge when it comes to spending public dollars and regulating private businesses than when it comes to getting the governments own house in order.

At this early stage in the legislative session, the bill includes nothing more than intent language. The bill refers to the Public Employees Pension Reform Act of 2013 (PEPRA), which was a modest effort by the governor and Legislature to rein in pension costs. SB32 then announces its intention to resume the public employee pension reform that started with that 2013 law. There are no specifics, but Moorlachs fact sheet goes into detail.

Some of the bills ideas were originally floated by Gov. Jerry Brown when he proposed pension reforms in 2012. The governor never fought for the tough items on his agenda, however. Critics argue the 2013 PEPRA law was more about politics than reform. Brown was asking voters to approve an initiative to raise sales and income taxes. But soaring pension debts were front-page news and public trust in the states governance was flagging. The leadership offered this as proof it was reform-minded and could be trusted with more cash.

Taxpayers were played for fools. As soon as the tax hike passed, legislative interest in pension reform evaporated. But the problem hasnt gone away. When I talked to Moorlach last week, he mused at how the two of us have been having the same conversation about exploding pension debt for nearly a decade now. Instead of fixing itself, the liabilities are rising and the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) now is only 68 percent funded. The problem is getting worse, and the bill is designed to highlight the growing problem.

SB32 will include a variety of sensible approaches. It would freeze cost-of-living adjustments until CalPERS and the California State Teachers Retirement System (CalSTRS) are at 100 percent funding levels. It would force pension boards to reduce retiree-medical costs. It would create a citizens oversight committee to highlight pension liabilities. It would force CalPERS to reduce the number of special compensation categories, which is a fancy term for the way some employees spike their pensions in their final years.

There are other good ideas. The bill would offer as an option a hybrid plan that combines traditional pension elements with 401(k)-style benefits. It would limit the number of highly pensioned public safety jobs, thus assuring that only those who truly are in harms way receive the benefits, rather than, say, billboard inspectors and myriad other low-risk employees, as is the case today.

The kicker is found in this fact-sheet bullet point: Require CalPERS to reduce its unfunded liabilities to 1980 levels; to be achieved by 2030. This is the same model as supporters of the greenhouse-gas-reduction law used. In 1980, the CalPERS unfunded liability was closer to zero. Now it is $169 billion. The debt keeps getting worse.

Moorlach knows the bill has maybe a one-in-1,000 chance of passing in a Legislature dominated by Democrats closely allied with the states public employee unions. But it might provide some needed attention to the states pension crisis.

If California officials can try to take on the climate of the entire planet, why cant they tackle their own pension mess? Backers of these climate-change laws have the right idea. Maybe the best way to move ahead is to start looking backward.

Steven Greenhut is Western region director for the R Street Institute. He was a Register editorial writer from 1998 to 2009. Write to him at sgreenhut@rstreet.org.
BELGRADE, Serbia  An elaborately decorated Serbian nationalist train took off Saturday from Belgrade aiming for northern Kosovo but halted at the border in a stunt that triggered a dramatic escalation of tensions between the former wartime foes.

Kosovo officials had protested earlier that the train was a violation of their countrys sovereignty and promised not to let it in.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic ordered the train stopped at the Serbian town of Raska as it approached the border with Serbias former province, claiming that Kosovos ethnic Albanians had tried to mine the railway.

The Russian-made train was painted with Serb flags, religious Christian Orthodox scenes, monasteries and medieval towns and inscribed with Kosovo is Serbian in 20 world languages. Hostesses on it wore the colors of the Serbian national flag.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia does not recognize the split and has sought to maintain influence in Kosovos north, where most of the countrys Serb minority is located.

At an urgently called news conference in Belgrade on Saturday, Vucic accused the Kosovo government in Pristina of plans to arrest the trains driver and passengers.

This was an ambition to provoke a conflict, to start a wider conflict in this territory that we consider as ours, Vucic said. It was my decision to stop the train in Raska to preserve the freedom and lives of our people, to prevent a wider conflict and show that we want peace.

He warned ethnic Albanians in Kosovo not to attack Kosovos Serb minority because Serbia will not allow those attacks.

We sent a train, not a tank, Vucic said, adding that he has informed the European Union and will speak to Russia and the U.S. about the incident.

NATO-led troops are controlling Kosovos borders following an intervention in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.

Saturdays promotional ride was the first from Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica since the 1998-99 war. The train later turned back toward Belgrade.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said Saturday on his Facebook page that Kosovo respects the freedom of movement of people and goods but a train covered in nationalist banners that violate Kosovos constitution and laws is completely unacceptable.

He also noted the train had some passengers and Serb officials who did not have permission to enter Kosovo.

Anything that is illegal and threatens Kosovos state sovereignty, must be prevented. This train is the latest provocation and authorities in Kosovo must use all legal means to stop this train immediately, he wrote.

Earlier, as the train left Belgrade, Marko Djuric, who heads Serbian governments office for Kosovo, described the rail link as important for northern Kosovo.

This is like a mobile exhibition presenting our cultural heritage, he said. I dont see why something that is part of world heritage would present a provocation.

The clash of viewpoints came amid already heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo following the recent detention in France of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, on an arrest warrant from Serbia.

Kosovo has called the warrant not legitimate and urged France to ignore it.
Donald Trump criticized African-American civil-rights leader John Lewis, who suffered a cracked skull while fighting for voting rights in the 1960s, as all talk, a day after the Georgia congressman said he doesnt consider him a legitimate president.

In an interview with NBCs Meet the Press With Chuck Todd that will air in full on Sunday, Lewis said he doesnt plan to attend Trumps inauguration on Jan. 20, the first such swearing-in hell miss since being elected to Congress in 1986. About a dozen Democratic lawmakers have said theyll skip the event.

Trump said in a pair of Twitter posts early Saturday that Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad!

The sharp exchange came two days before Mondays Martin Luther King holiday in the U.S., honoring the slain civil-rights leader with whom Lewis worked closely in the 1960s. Lewis, 76, was the son of sharecroppers and attended segregated schools in Alabama, according to a biography on his website.

Trump returned Saturday evening with a more conciliatory message: Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!

Lewis represents Georgias 5th Congressional district, which includes much of Atlanta and parts of neighboring suburbs. The districts population is about 60 percent black and 32 percent white. Although the poverty rate of 17 percent is higher than that in some adjacent seats, according to U.S. Census figures, the district also includes the affluent Buckhead neighborhood, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), several major colleges and universities, and Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, the worlds busiest in terms of total passengers.

Selma Protest

While in his 20s Lewis led one of the pivotal events of the civil-rights era  the march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama. On March 7, 1965, black protesters seeking voting rights were attacked by state troopers in Selma; Lewiss skull was fractured in the melee, according to the National Park Service website. Photos and news footage of the event helped lead to the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Lewis told NBC that Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, adding, I dont see this president-elect as a legitimate president. Trump has repeatedly rejected suggestions that hacking by Russia or other actors helped him win the presidential election.

Supporters jumped to Lewiss defense after Trumps comments, and the hashtag #standwithjohnlewis trended on Twitter.

Ahead of #MLKday 2017, let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed, House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi said in a tweet.

Deserves Better

Senator Kamala Harris, Democrat of California, said on Twitter that Lewis is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality. He deserves better than this. Senator Ben Sasse of Nebraska, a Republican whos been critical of Trump, said John Lewis and his talk have changed the world.

Lewiss congressional office didnt respond to a request for additional comment.

Other Democrats who have said theyll skip Trumps inauguration include Representative Luis Gutierrez of Illinois and Representative Katherine Clark of Massachusetts. Joining them on Saturday was Representative Ted Lieu of California. While I do not dispute that Trump won the Electoral College, I cannot normalize his behavior or the disparaging and un-American statements he has made, Lieu said in a statement.

Museum Visit

The president-elect is expected to visit the new National Museum of African American History and Culture on Monday in observance of Martin Luther King Day, ABC News reported, citing people within Trumps transition team. Lewis wrote the enabling legislation to create the museum on Washingtons National Mall, which opened in September.

Trump has a pattern of responding to criticism with posts on Twitter, where his followers now number almost 20 million.

On Jan. 9 the president-elect called Meryl Streep one of the most over-rated actresses in Hollywood and a Hillary flunky after comments she made about Trump at the Golden Globes award ceremony. In December he said a union boss in Indiana has done a terrible job representing workers after United Steelworkers Chuck Jones accused Trump of lying about how many jobs were saved from outsourcing at a Carrier air conditioning plant.
SANTA ANA  Four men were injured in three unrelated shootings in the city Saturday night, police said.

Officials received reports of shots fired around 6:57 p.m. in an alley in the 900 block of South Townsend Street with a possible victim down, said Santa Ana Police Sgt. David Lima.

When officers arrived, they found a man who was shot in the upper torso. The man, whose age was not immediately available, was taken to a local hospital and remains in critical condition, Lima said.

Lima said a few minutes later, another man who was shot  possibly in the vicinity of the other shooting  showed up at a local hospital with a gunshot wound considered not life-threatening.

Lima said police believe the shootings are linked, but a motive for the attacks is not yet known.

The second incident was at 7:55 p.m., when two police officers driving north on Durant Street near 15th Street heard numerous shots fired, Lima said. At the intersection, they saw a man running with a handgun, he said.

The officers gave chase and the man dropped the handgun and hid for a few minutes, Lima said. But he was eventually captured and officers saw that he had a gunshot wound to his upper torso.

The man was taken to a local hospital and is expected to survive.

Officers recovered the weapon and are still trying to determine if the mans wound was self-inflicted or if he was shot at by others.

A third unrelated shooting took place at 8:47 p.m. in the 1100 block of South Standard Avenue, where officers responded to shots fired. Lima said officers found one man at the scene with a gunshot wound to his lower extremities. He was taken to a local hospital with what is considered a non-life-threatening wound.

Officers determined that he was a bystander who was caught in the crossfire of another shooting. Lima said numerous casings were found at the scene.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7909 or dbharath@scng.com
FRANKFORT, Ill., Jan. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Chiropractic can significantly improve immune system response for those suffering from the common cold and the flu. Chiropractic as part of a treatment program that uses nutrition and lifestyle advice can reduce periods of protracted illness and help individuals build healthier immune systems. A chiropractic adjustment boosts white blood cell counts, the type of cells necessary to combat the cold and flu. Spinal imbalances and neurological dysfunction can reduce the bodys ability to function normally and make individuals more susceptible to contracting a cold or the flu virus. Chiropractic treatments from Advanced Chiropractic Wellness have a role in helping patients to improve their health and fight off the common colds and flu.



It is that time of year when colds and the flu appear in households across America. Chiropractic care is a non-invasive and holistic approach to wellness that supports the needs of an individuals immune system, as well as the muscular, skeletal, and nervous systems of the body. Chiropractors, or doctors of the nervous system, specialize in alleviating pain and addressing misalignments with manual therapies. As part of their expertise, chiropractors also educate patients on ways to heal the body naturally and improve their overall health. Ensuring a proper nights sleep and eating nutrient-dense meals help support the multi-faceted needs of the body for healing and proper function.

A misaligned spinal column can impact exposed nerves, impeding proper signaling, and causing distress and inflammation. When the spine is aligned, the nerves are allowed to function normally and effectively send signals throughout the body. A study published in the journal, Chiropractic and Manual Therapies, showed the positive impact on the immune system after a single chiropractic adjustment. After only one adjustment, study participants appeared to have an increase in the production and count of white blood cells. The job of these cells is to ward off and fight viruses and other foreign substances that enter the body. The findings may support the connection between regular chiropractic treatments and improved immune system response.

Chiropractic care can improve the ability of the body to defend itself against colds and the flu, said Dr. Scott Stratton. As an experienced chiropractor, I can say that research supports my experience of being able to improve immune system function in patients with regular spinal manipulations and complementing services. Patients can address the flu and colds with approaches that improve overall health at Advanced Chiropractic Wellness.

Dr. Scott Stratton, chiropractor at Advanced Chiropractic Wellness, serves residents of Frankfort, Tinley Park, Mokena, and New Lenox. The team offers natural and effective treatments to help patients enjoy an optimal quality life. Services include chiropractic care, functional medicine, and nutritional assessment.

Call (815) 464-6772 to schedule chiropractic treatments for colds and the flu or visit http://www.drscottstratton.com/ for more information on their services, hours, and location.
It was a big week in politics. President Obama went to his adopted hometown of Chicago to officially say adieu, while President-elect Trump stayed in his native city to say hi, howdy. Both performances made me nostalgic for the Gipper.

Donald Trump is 70 years old and Barack Obama has been president for eight years, so it seems neither man will ever learn a thing from Ronald Reagans example, which is too bad.

Lets begin with Trumps Wednesday press conference at  where else?  Trump Tower. Here is some of the invective the incoming president aimed at his interlocutors in the Fourth Estate: BuzzFeed, which is a failing pile of garbage. To a CNN reporter: Your organization is terrible.  No, Im not going to give you a question. You are fake news. About the media in general: very, very dishonest people.

In fairness to the man, he was provoked. CNN and BuzzFeed disseminated details of a salacious report on Trumps supposed activities in Russia. No source for the information is identified, and it was apparently funded by Democrats. As far as anyone can tell, this wasnt an intelligence dossier, as advertised; it was a political smear. But does that excuse Trumps demeanor?

After winning the presidency in 1980, Ronald Reagan held a press conference, too. Not two months later, but on Nov. 6, three days after the election. True, Reagan wasnt questioned about a sleazy report claiming hes a pervert and a Manchurian candidate, but Reagan was asked a series of questions revealing an ideological slant in contravention to his own.

Reagan was asked if he was even going to bother appointing secretaries of education and labor, since hed vowed to abolish those departments. (He hadnt quite said that.) He was asked if he was going to let Vice President George H.W. Bush do anything other than attend funerals; if hed put a Democrat in his Cabinet; how hed reassure European allies alarmed by his election; if the Moral Majority had veto power over his Cabinet appointments; whether hed pledge right then and there to be a one-term president on account of his advanced age; and how he could reassure Americans who felt disenfranchised by his victory.

So, not friendly questions, even if they were politely phrased. Guess how many times Reagan bristled, used the phrase fake news, called his opponents sick people? You guess it: none. This pattern held for eight years. Liberals with TDS (Trump Derangement Syndrome) may get all misty-eyed when they think of the 40th president today, but they had RDS (Reagan Derangement Syndrome) back then. For eight years, Democrats brayed about Reagan the warmonger, Reagan the cowboy, Reagan the racist, Reagan the idiot, Reagan the senile, Reagan the gay-hater. But heres the point: Reagan didnt respond in kind. He kept it classy right up through his Jan. 11, 1989 farewell address as president.

Exactly 28 years before Trumps press conference, Reagan spoke to the nation from the Oval Office for the last time. And that brings us to Barack Obamas soiree in Chicago on Tuesday night. Trump salted the audience with his flunkies at the news conference; Obama went him one better. No Oval Office address for him. Like a comedian who doesnt trust his material without a laugh track, Obama held a straight-out political rally before thousands of cheering Obamacons. But what is Obama running for? Maybe the question is, whats he running from? His record as a leader of his party, perhaps?

In 1980, Ronald Reagans coattails gave Republicans control of the Senate for the first time since 1952. The GOP picked up a net of approximately 300 seats in state legislatures, too, a feat repeated when Reagan won re-election in 1984. By the time he left office, the percentage of Americans self-identifying as Republican went from 33 percent to 42 percent. And these gains in the grassroots and in the states helped create the environment for the GOP takeover of the House in 1994.

Obamas record is a sharp contrast. In his eight years in office, Democrats lost 69 seats in the House, 13 in the Senate, and 12 governorships. In the state legislatures, the net loss is about 900 seats.

So whose fault is that? If you listened to his speech Tuesday night, you know it wasnt Obamas. Not any of it. Why hasnt his political agenda fared better? He blamed the media, Congress, gerrymandering, political money, tribalism, and the cynicism for government that all those factors engender.

He mentioned hope and change, of course, without pausing over the troubling perception among many voters that his kind of change invariably entails more government spending and more government intrusion into our daily lives. And though Obama doesnt personally vilify journalists the way Trump does, the Obama administration tries to put them in prison. In his tenure, there were nine criminal cases against whistle-blowers and leakers who went to journalists, compared to three by all previous administrations combined. This administration routinely used the Espionage Act  a musty statute left over from World War I and used to imprison Socialist leader Eugene Debs  against government officials who talk to journalists. It was a New York Times headline, and not a Fox News report, that warned: If Donald Trump Targets Journalists, Thank Obama.

Ill end on an upbeat note, though, even if I must go back 28 years to do it. First, heres one for Obama, courtesy of the Gipper:

And in all of that time I won a nickname, The Great Communicator. But I never thought it was my style or the words I used that made a difference: It was the content. I wasnt a great communicator, but I communicated great things, and they didnt spring full bloom from my brow, they came from the heart of a great nation  from our experience, our wisdom, and our belief in the principles that have guided us for two centuries.

And this one is for Trump:

Ive spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I dont know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it. But in my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity. And if there had to be city walls, the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. Thats how I saw it, and see it still.

Carl M. Cannon is executive editor and Washington Bureau chief of RealClearPolitics.
SANTA ANA  Police are investigating two separate shootings late Saturday in Santa Ana  in addition to three shootings that happened earlier in the night.

In all, six people were shot.

Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said Sunday he couldnt remember hearing about that many shootings in one night.

He said a 17-year-old boy arrived at UC Irvine Medical Center just before 9 p.m. with a gunshot wound in his upper torso.

The victim said he was walking home on the 600 block of South Raitt Street when he heard gunshots and realized he had been struck. He only told officers he heard a vehicle fleeing westbound toward Bristol Street, Bertagna said, and was uncooperative when officers questioned him on how the shooting occurred.

In a separate incident, several officers heard numerous shots fired at the 900 block of South Main Street at about 10:45 p.m. and upon arrival, found a man with a gunshot wound in the lower torso, Bertagna said.

The victim was walking on the west side of South Main Street when he was confronted by a suspect on the east side of the street. Several rounds of shots were fired and one struck the victim, Bertagna said. He was taken to a nearby hospital. The suspect is described as a male with curly hair wearing a hooded sweatshirt.

Earlier, at just before 7 p.m., a man was shot in the upper torso in an alley in the 900 block of South Townsend Street  nearby the South Raitt Street incident  and was taken to a local hospital in critical condition, according to Santa Ana police. A few minutes later, another man shot possibly in the vicinity of that shooting went to a local hospital with a not life-threatening gunshot wound.

The second incident occurred at 7:55 p.m., when two police officers driving north on Durant Street by 15th Street heard gunshots and saw a man running with a handgun. The man dropped the gun and hid, and officers captured him and found he had a gunshot wound in his upper torso, police said. He is expected to survive.

In a third shooting, officers responded to shots fired in the 1100 block of South Standard Avenue at 8:47 p.m. and found a man caught in the crossfire of another shooting had sustained a gunshot wound to his lower extremities. He was treated at a local hospital for the non-life-threatening wound.

Suspects in all the shootings remain at large.

Contact the writer: 714-796-7762 or jkwong@ocregister.com or on Twitter: @JessicaGKwong
When hundreds of thousands of spectators fill the National Mall on Friday, theyll witness the inauguration of a president like no other.

For supporters, real estate mogul Donald Trump has spurred big hopes  hopes that the first U.S. president with no political or military background will dispense with politics as usual and bring a fresh wave of prosperity to the country.

Its historic, said Irvines Dean Stoecker, whos headed to the event. When you have a businessperson who doesnt have government experience, hes breaking a glass ceiling as much as Hillary Clinton would have. Hes going to get rid of regulations that are killing businesses, redo trade agreements and create jobs.

For evidence, Stoecker pointed to Fords recent decision to scrap plans for a Mexican plant and create 700 new jobs in the United States instead, a decision the companys CEO attributed in part to policy changes expected under Trump.

Millions of others are skeptical. Trump lost the popular vote by nearly 3 million votes  five times as many as any other president. A January poll by Quinnipiac University shows his favorable rating at 37 percent, meaning he may be the least popular president ever to take office.

Hell be the oldest to assume the presidency and is the first to be twice-divorced. Melania Trump will be only the second foreign-born first lady.

More substantially, hes shown a disdain for traditional diplomacy and protocol, he posts acrimonious tweets in the middle of the night, he has real estate interests ranging from a U.S. government building to international hotels, and the CIA and FBI say Russian President Vladimir Putin tried to help get him elected.

Hes attracted a following of white supremacists and he can insult virtually anyone at the drop of a hat, even calling critical comments by Pope Francis disgraceful.

But supporters packing for the inauguration are undeterred, brushing aside criticisms and eagerly expressing faith in the new president.

Were going to see a lot of improvements in a short period of time, said Johnnie Morgan, an environmental consultant living in the Baldwin Hills/Crenshaw area. The stock market is doing well; companies are already showing confidence in him. And it will increase once hes in office.

Hes not a politician. The folks who have second thoughts are used to politicians. He has a get-things-done attitude.

Morgan, who is African American, dismissed accusations that Trump is racist, and that his racism has attracted and emboldened racists.

People gravitate toward who they like, he said. Trump has never expressed anything like that or accepted that. Individuals need to be judged by their actions.

Persistent worries

Fullertons Aaruni Thakur also bought airline tickets to Washington for the inauguration, and booked an Airbnb rental for his wife and two young sons.

But the historic event he was anticipating for his family was Clintons swearing-in. History aside, he wanted to see President Barack Obamas policies continue.

Im very sad to see Obama go, said the 37-year-old attorney, who, with his wife, Pamela, attended both Obama inaugurations. It was a very good period. Not as good as people would have liked, but we were moving in the right direction.

Thakur worries that momentum could grind to a halt under Trump. He finds some of the Cabinet and staff picks troublesome. Hes wary of environmental regulations being rolled back, of conservative Supreme Court picks, of the repeal of Obamacare and of possible conflicts with the Trump familys business interests.

Thakur said Trumps win motivated him and his wife to run for  they both won  seats on the state Democratic Partys governing Central Committee, a move that foreshadowed Obamas comments Tuesday that those frustrated with politics should do something beside complain.

Thakur said he and his wife, who canceled their Washington trip, want to do what they can to influence the countrys political direction. At the same time, hes listening to pro-Trump people he knows, and hoping for the best.

Friends and family are excited by the job environment that will be created by (Trumps proposed) tax breaks, Thakur said. They tell me to wait and give him a chance.

He recalled his own strong anti-George W. Bush sentiment and pointed to those who had similar animosity toward Obama.

I just had to let it go, he said. Its not good for you. You cant just sit around and criticize the president.

I have two little kids, he added. If I dont wake up hopeful every morning, what am I giving them?

Twitter presidency

Trump, the nations first CEO to become president, has distinguished himself in his campaign and the transition by the content and method of his messaging. Hes a Twitter hound with little regard for convention and tradition.

Trump will set a whole new standard for how the president communicates, said Lori Cox Han, a Chapman University political scientist specializing in the U.S. presidency. The potential for gaffes are so big, it could really be a challenge for his communications team.

But it worked OK during the campaign. Nobody but Trump could have survived that.

Han noted that daily press briefings, established by Richard Nixon and continued by every president since, could become a thing of the past. The campaign and transition practice of staffers apparently freelancing interpretations of Trumps often-ambiguous statements without consulting Trump could continue into the presidency, she said.

Both Han and Jack Pitney, a political scientist at Claremont McKenna College, noted Trumps unusual lack of interest in specifics of policy. Pitney also pointed to potential perils of Trumps shoot-from-the-hip style.

Trump may end up regretting his lack of regard for tradition, because people might stop showing deference, said Pitney, who was a GOP staffer on Capitol Hill during Ronald Reagans presidency. As his popularity goes down, he may wish hed built bridges.

I think hell keep tweeting until one of his tweets triggers a crisis and then hell back off. I think a crisis like that is very likely. Not necessarily World War III, but another country could put their military on alert  something like that. He may think hes just blowing off steam, but other countries may take it seriously.

He may see that diplomacy developed over hundreds of years for a reason.

Destroyer or savior?

Many of Trumps unprecedented behaviors raise eyebrows and questions among experts, but are embraced by the Trump faithful

It may be a Twitter presidency, but thats the world we live in, said Stoecker, CEO of a software company. Hell make mistakes along the way, but hell learn. I think youll see significant things done that havent been done before.

While Trumps wealth, and the wealth of his appointees, has attracted attention from critics, backers point to the accompanying independence.

Hes picking wealthy people who dont need anything, said San Clementes Ron Knapp, a onetime Mikhail Gorbachev impersonator who can be seen in a 1989 video on YouTube apparently fooling Trump in New York. Knapp and his wife will be at the inauguration.

Just because hes rich doesnt mean hes not going to work for everyone, he said.

Presidential scholar Han acknowledged that passions run high when it comes to Trump: Some see him as the countrys savior while others fear he could destroy the republic.

I think the answer is somewhere in between, she said.

Contact the writer: mwisckol@scng.com
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. , Jan. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Brad Fraum and staff are honored to have been awarded the Hilton Head Monthlys Readers Choice Awards for 2016. The event honoring Fraum Chiropractic Life Center for the 9th consecutive year was held at the Sonesta Resort Hilton Head Island on December 1st. This highly anticipated annual event drew a large crowd and was an exciting evening for all participants involved. Nominations for the 2016 Readers Choice award are provided from readers and offer their favorite community businesses. Dr. Brad Fraum and his team continue their dedication to serving the chiropractic needs of those in and around the Hilton Head area.



The event was celebrated with food and drinks, music, giveaways, live music, gifts, and the honoring of the Readers Choice winner. Ticket purchases for the event also went to support local charities. Guests and all involved enjoyed a great Hilton Head Island celebration as they honored the winner of the Monthly Readers Choice Award. Award recipients continue to get attention from prospective patients as patients realize that readers have recognized these deserving practices for their quality of care and level of dedication to patients and their needs.

I hurt my back while on vacation and chose Dr. Fraum because he was voted best on the island for several years, said Gary J., a returning patient. So although I was just an emergency patient, he was still thorough and understanding, He made time in his schedule for the next few days and helped my back and rescued my vacation. Now when I come back to the island, I make sure to visit him and get a treatment.

We continue to strive to meet the health and wellness needs of our chiropractic patients, said Dr. Brad Fraum. I am grateful to know that our patients and readers continue, for nine years, to vote for the Fraum Chiropractic Life Center as we receive the Readers Choice Award for 2016. We appreciate this honor from our community.

Brad Fraum, DC of Fraum Chiropractic Life Center has served the chiropractic needs of South Carolina Lowcountry, Hilton Head Island area, Bluffton, and Beaufort since 1991. Fraum Chiropractic Life Center has been voted the Hilton Head Monthlys Readers Choice for nine years running. The team looks to help patients improve overall health and address specific conditions using chiropractic care and supporting services. Services from Fraum Chiropractic Life Center include chiropractic care, corrective exercises, lifestyle advice, nutritional counseling and weight loss, and spinal and postural screenings.

Call (843) 681-7777 to speak with a knowledgeable associate about the Hilton Head Monthly Readers Choice Awards or to schedule an appointment. Visit http://www.fraumchiropracticofhiltonhead.com/ for details on their chiropractic and wellness services.
The former train station thats home to the Durham Museum has long been recognized as an important local landmark, and now its prominence has been established nationally.

Union Station, which opened in 1931 on 10th Street south of downtown Omaha, has been designated a National Historic Landmark.

The federal designation recognizes historic properties of exceptional value to the nation. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced the designation.

The stations art deco architecture and its former role as a Midwest transportation hub landed it on the elite list.

The National Park Service, which oversees the landmarks program, identified Union Station as one of the most distinctive and complete examples of art deco architecture in the country.

In a written statement, Christi Janssen, the Durhams executive director, congratulated the community for the incredible work that has gone into preserving this piece of our citys rich history. She also thanked the park service and all of the museums supporters.

For years the station has been on the National Register of Historic Places.

The new designation is more significant, said Don Stevens, chief of the history and national register programs for the park services Midwest region, which nominated the station for landmark status.

Its a higher level of recognition, he said.

For example, nationally there are more than 90,000 properties listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while there are about 2,500 National Historic Landmarks.

About 1,150 properties in Nebraska are listed on the National Register of Historic Places, while just 21 are designated National Historic Landmarks, including Boys Town in Douglas County and Fort Atkinson in Washington County.

The park services Midwest region office started work on the nomination, led by Mark Chavez and Dena Sanford, more than a decade ago.

Chavez, a historical architect, said art deco is primarily a decorative style of art and architecture of the 1920s and 1930s, featuring geometric shapes and other bold patterns, along with a mix of accent materials such as terra cotta and glass.

Union Stations examples of the style include its distinctive entrance pylon on its west side, and its sunbursts, zigzags, spirals and other accents.

The station was designed by Los Angeles architect Gilbert Stanley Underwood, then the Union Pacific Railroads corporate architect, and renowned designer of a number of U.P. rustic-style lodges in western national parks, including Yellowstone, Zion and Yosemite.

The ultra-modern appearance was a major departure from previous railroad station designs by U.P., and nearly all other rail companies, which favored the romanticism of revival architecture, Chavez said.

Chavez said the station is a visual representation of the railroads desired image of progress, power, speed and efficiency.

When it opened as a train station, the depot offered just about anything passengers needed: a telegraph office, 24-hour restaurant, newsstand and barbershop.

Thousands of military personnel rolled through Omaha by train, and volunteers at the depot served them coffee and food as they rested before heading out for the rest of their journey.

In the years after World War II, steam engines were transporting as many as 10,000 passengers daily through the depot.

In 1971 the building ended its run as a train station, as air and Interstate travel continued to grow in popularity. Union Pacific donated the building to the City of Omaha in 1973, and two years later it opened as a museum.

Community leaders and donors, led by Margre and Charles Durham, helped restore the building in the 1990s. The museum is named in honor of the Durhams.

Gov. Pete Ricketts in a statement gave sincere thanks to all who have worked to preserve the structure and get the national designation.

Omahas Union Station is a gem and a symbol of our states magnificent history, he said. Its been home to many reunions and farewells over the years, and now houses pieces of our states history and hosts celebrations, including Susanne and my wedding reception years ago.

The National Park Service and the Durham Museum will later announce plans for a community celebration this spring.

Nebraskas other National Historic Landmarks

 Willa Cather House, Red Cloud  home of the famous author

 Signal Butte, near Scottsbluff  a 120-foot-tall butte

 Nebraska State Capitol, Lincoln  internationally acclaimed building featuring a 400-foot tower

 Walker Gilmore Site, near Murray  home to one of the most important prehistoric cultures in the eastern Great Plains

 Dr. Susan Picotte Hospital, Walthill  built and operated by the nations first female American Indian physician

 Robidoux Pass, near Gering  a route through the Wildcat Hills that carried thousands of immigrants and gave them their first glimpse of the Rocky Mountains

 George Norris House, McCook  home of the U.S. senator

 USS Hazard, Omaha  a Navy minesweeper that is one of the best-preserved World War II ships in the nation

 Capt. Meriwether Lewis Dredge, Brownville  the sidewheel steam dredge was used to make the river compatible with barge traffic

 William Jennings Bryan House, Lincoln  home of a three-time presidential candidate, orator and editor

 Fort Robinson and Red Cloud Agency, near Crawford  the fort was started in 1874 to protect the nearby agency and now is a state park

 Boys Town at Omaha  an internationally known organization with a mission to give at-risk children and families the love, support and education they need to succeed

 Leary Site, near Rulo  a key site of prehistoric American Indian tribes

 Fort Atkinson, Fort Calhoun  the nations first fort west of the Missouri River

 Ash Hollow Cave, near Lewellen  a base camp occupied by four distinct cultures over 1,500 years

 Palmer Site, near Palmer  location of a Pawnee village

 Coufal Site, near Cotesfield  a prehistoric American Indian village

 Pike - Pawnee Village, near Guide Rock  Republican Pawnee Tribe lived there

 Schultz Site, near North Loup  location of a prehistoric Native American tribe

 Arbor Lodge, Nebraska City  mansion of J. Sterling Morton, the founder of Arbor Day
THOUSAND OAKS, Calif., Jan. 15, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- In past winters, there have been outbreaks of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis in dogs in the Los Angeles area. Pet owners need to be aware of the severity of the condition that may require intensive care and hospitalization. Signs of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis (HGE) include appetite loss, vomiting, and diarrhea. HGE is a serious condition that requires immediate attention. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health encourages dog owners to have their veterinarian of their local animal clinic report cases to the Director of Veterinary Public Health, Karen Ehnert, DVM, MPVM, DACVPM.



Dog owners in the areas of Thousand Oaks, Lake Sherwood, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, and Westlake Village should have trusted veterinarians report cases of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis. Reports allow for an assessment of the issue within a geographic area. The recent alert has gone out from the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health because of a notice of a potential outbreak of the condition in the area. Anza Animal Clinic has not seen a case in 2016, but there have been outbreaks in previous winters.

A veterinary hospital in San Fernando Valley reported a cluster of bloody diarrhea seen in dogs at their hospital over approximately two weeks on December 19, 2016. Veterinary Public Health has taken the steps to contact 29 veterinary hospitals in the area, the East Valley Animal Shelter, and veterinary hospitals in Agoura Hills and Westlake Village. Twelve of the 29 San Fernando Valley hospitals reported abnormally elevated caseloads of gastrointestinal diseases in canines. Bloody diarrhea with or without vomiting were reported in four of the 12 hospitals. Most cases have been treated using anti-nausea medications and antibiotics. A small percentage of cases required hospitalization and more intensive treatment.

Area dog owners should be aware of the signs of hemorrhagic gastroenteritis, said Dr. Stephen Watase, DVM. Our purpose is to provide necessary information to pet owners and residents about the possibility of a significant outbreak based on previous years and the recent cases seen in December. Immediate intervention can reduce a pets potential of experiencing severe symptoms that may require hospitalization. Learn the signs, get treatment, and have your vet report any cases.

Dr. Stephen Watase, DVM and owner, and Dr. Melanie Spadaro, DVM, of Anza Animal Clinic serve pets and their owners in Westlake Village, Thousand Islands, Lake Sherwood, Newbury Park, Agoura Hills, Oak Park, and Westlake. Pet owners can expect the team to provide the quality of veterinary care that pets deserve. Services include pet wellness exams, pet vaccinations, and laboratory services.

Call (805) 495-1059 to learn more about the hemorrhagic gastroenteritis alert for dogs and health and wellness services for pets. Visit http://anzaanimalclinic.com/ for details on their hours, services, and location.
Becoming Warren Buffett, the documentary to be shown on HBO on Jan. 30, features Buffett talking with about a dozen students in an Omaha Central High School classroom, answering questions and giving them ideas on work, life and money.

He gives some of his standard advice for young people: What if you could get any car you wanted, for free? Sounds good, but what if that were the only car you would ever get in your entire life?

Youre going to take care of it like you cannot believe, he said. Likewise, you only get one mind and one body, and they have to last your entire life.

He holds up a can of Coca-Cola and explains the advantages of scale: Coke sells 2 billion beverage servings a day, so an extra penny per serving means $20 million a day.

He explains how a business gains a durable competitive advantage, known as a moat in Buffetts vocabulary: If your sweetheart gives you a kiss when you give her a box of Sees chocolates, youre going to buy Sees forever rather than a lower-priced brand.

The classroom scenes are a key part of the film, made by Kunhardt Productions of Pleasantville, New York, with Buffetts cooperation and that of his friends and associates.

Central Principal Ed Bennett said the filmmakers wanted to show Buffett as a teacher, so he invited students from Centrals senior leadership team and others for an informal session last summer.

Bennett sat behind the cameras for the session. It really was an authentic teaching experience, he said. I love listening to Warren talk. Theres a kind of innocence about him that really appeals to kids. He never talks down to them.

Discussing his wedding at Omahas Dundee Presbyterian Church, Buffett says he was so nervous that he took off his glasses so he wouldnt see the people in the pews.

As he started his investment career  ending up as chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway Inc.  he would throw up at the thought of speaking in public. He took a Dale Carnegie public speaking course and passed. If I hadnt done that, my whole life would have been different.

He was taking the course when he proposed to Susan Thompson Buffett, his future wife. Each week the Carnegie instructor would give a pencil to a class member who had progressed the most.

That week I won the pencil, and I also got engaged, Buffett says. It was an incredible week.

The film has scenes from Omaha and the surrounding countryside, including farm fields, the Old Market, and Buffetts house and office.

One of the Central students asks, You could live anywhere in the world. Why do you choose Omaha, Nebraska?

I love it, Buffett says. You know, I was born about a mile from here. And Ive never had a bad experience in Omaha. Omaha and Nebraska are home to me. Everything about it seems like home.

Its a pace. Its relationships. Theres a lot of continuity, theres a lot of community, theres a lot of friendship. Its a very solid place and friendly place to grow up in and in which to conduct a business.

Despite his donations to charity, Munger is still a billionaire

Charlie Munger still has work to do on his financial goals  namely, not being a billionaire anymore.

Just before Christmas, Munger, who is Buffetts right-hand man and vice chairman of Berkshire, donated $5.2 million worth of Berkshire stock to the Harvard-Westlake School, a Los Angeles college prep school he supports.

Three and a half years ago, Mungers donations had whittled down his Berkshire holdings to $980 million.

Im deliberately taking my net worth down, he told me at that time. My thinking is, Im not immortal, and I wont need it where Im going.

Since then, however, Berkshires stock price has gone up faster than Munger has given away shares. Despite his donations, Mungers remaining Berkshire stock is now worth about $1.2 billion.

Since 2000, Munger, 93, has donated more than two-thirds of his Berkshire shares to nonprofit groups, mostly schools and libraries. If he had kept all of the shares he had back then, they would be worth $3.9 billion today.

Change in leadership at Bershire-owned MiTek Industries

Executive Succession Plan Replaces Berkshire CEO.

Not in Omaha but in Chesterfield, Missouri, the headquarters of MiTek Industries Inc., designer and maker of building trusses and other construction-related products. Berkshire purchased MiTek in 2001.

Mark Thom is the new CEO. His predecessor, Tom Manenti, will serve as executive chairman until he retires in January 2018. Thom previously worked at Tyco Healthcare for 16 years, rising from a sales job to group president.

MiTek said it has doubled its size since 2011 through acquisitions, diversification and internal growth and plans to do it again within five years.

Buffett says it's tough to be in retail

Department stores are a difficult business model, as shown by recent store closing announcements by Sears and Macys.

Buffett hasnt commented on the subject lately, but in 2005 he told a group of University of Kansas students that competing with Walmart and Costco was a struggle, even before Amazon and other online retailers gained such strength.

(The investment firm of Redfield, Blonsky & Co. of Cranford, New Jersey, posted a transcript of the talk.)

The students asked about the potential success of the then-recent merger of Sears and Kmart, headed by Sears Holdings CEO Edward Lampert.

Eddie is a very smart guy, but putting Kmart and Sears together is a tough hand, Buffett told the students. Every day retailers are constantly thinking about ways to get ahead of what they were doing the previous day.

Berkshire bought the Hochschild Kohn department store in Baltimore in 1966 but quickly found out it wasnt going to be a long-term winner, Buffett said.

We had an antiquated distribution system, he said. We did everything else right. We put in escalators. We gave people more credit. We had a great guy running it, and we still couldnt win. So we sold it around 1970. That store isnt there anymore. It isnt good enough that there were smart people running it. ...

How many retailers have really sunk, and then come back? Not many. I cant think of any.

Richline Group acquires another jeweler

Berkshires Richline Group has acquired another jewelry manufacturer and wholesaler, this time the Aaron Group of New York City.

From a one-man shop in 1950, Aaron is now an international jewelry maker and marketer, offering Richlines retail customers a dramatic new range of options and increased value, Richline President Dave Meleski said in a press release.

Led by Robert Kempler, a third-generation member of the founding family, Aaron has operations, factories, partnerships and hundreds of employees in New York, London, Mumbai, Hong Kong and Guangzhou. Richline said Aaron is a leader in bridal, three-stone and fashion diamond and gemstone fine jewelry.

Berkshire Hathaway Inc. owns The Omaha World-Herald
A funeral service will be held Wednesday for a Council Bluffs man killed in the mass shooting at a Florida airport.

Michael J. Oehme, 57, will be buried at Ridgewood Cemetery in Council Bluffs after an 11 a.m. service at the Bayliss Park Chapel, 545 Willow Ave. A luncheon will follow at St. Johns United Church of Christ, 400 Cloverdale Drive.

Oehme was one of five people killed Jan. 6 in the baggage claim area of the Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport when a gunman opened fire.

His wife, Kari Oehme, was among six others wounded, and is now recovering at home, according to her mother, Lucille Slosser of Council Bluffs.

Shes doing about as well as can be expected, Slosser said.

The couple were supposed to be cruising to the Caribbean a day after their arrival at the Fort Lauderdale airport, a hub for vacationers headed to ships at Port Everglades, Florida.

Mike Oehme graduated from Lewis Central High School in 1977. He married Kari Slosser on Jan. 31, 1986, in Council Bluffs, and they had one daughter, Andrea Oehme, of Hastings, Nebraska.

Oehme was a licensed surveyor and co-owner and president of Boundaryline Surveys in Omaha. He was a member of the Professional Surveyors Association of Nebraska, National Society of Professional Surveys and Southeast Nebraska Land Surveyors.

In addition to his wife, daughter and mother-in-law, Oehme is survived by a sister, Elizabeth Miller of Council Bluffs. Memorials are suggested to the Pottawattamie County Animal Shelter.
The Omaha Public Schools board failed 125 times to choose its next board president, causing Mondays meeting to run well past midnight. The absurd number of 4-4 and 4-3-1 leadership votes show how divided the OPS board remains. Members even deadlocked on whether to stop voting.

Disagreements like this are not an indication of a healthy board, as board member Marque Snow says. To any capable superintendent who might consider applying at OPS, they flash like a neon sign saying, Do Not Apply.

Governing boards must strike a balance. Members should avoid rubber-stamping the agenda of management, as the OPS board did under former Superintendent John Mackiel. Likewise, they should resist moving too far in the opposite direction, toward an inappropriate level of activism.

Snow, one of two candidates so far for board president, wants the board to assert itself more into management issues. On Monday, he suggested that the board take over direct oversight of the OPS attorney and board secretary. He also said, We should encourage board members to meet with vendors.

His chief competition for the board presidency, two-time, current board president Lou Ann Goding, understands the boards proper role. She knows that a board of directors in any organization sets broad policies, hires an executive to carry out those policies, provides that person with the tools to succeed and holds the leadership accountable. She says the OPS board should do all of this without meddling in the districts day-to-day operations.

That understanding is a key reason Goding enjoys the support of experienced board members. She serves on the search committee for the next superintendent and helped steer the district through the complicated process of strategic planning. She is diligent in her committee work and rarely misses meetings.

Goding also has shown an understanding of the big picture for Omaha and OPS: that our communitys future hinges on raising students academic achievement, not on politics.

The boards leadership impasse comes at a key moment: OPS is in the process of hiring its next superintendent to oversee the districts half-billion-dollar budget, manage 7,368 full-time employees and guide the success of nearly 52,000 students. The district is also midway through carrying out the states largest-ever bond issue to make needed building improvements and is considering a followup bond issue for additional construction.

The board should be doing all it can to emphasize Omahas strengths  including unrivaled public and donor support. Instead, the OPS board is showing its weakness, reverting to the political and personal divisions that helped push successful Superintendent Mark Evans toward an early retirement this spring.

OPS, under Evans, has rightly refocused on academics, helping OPS students and teachers boost graduation rates and state test scores. The district is hiring teachers sooner, training teachers and principals better and improving use of technology in the classroom.

The district continues to close the academic achievement gap. The Nebraska Department of Education now cites the districts work at struggling schools as a statewide model. Aside from this years busing fiasco, the board should be celebrating success, not changing course.

The school board would be best served by choosing an experienced hand to lead during this time of transition. It would do well to re-elect Goding, to make sure the board continues its focus on student learning and doesnt drift toward feel-good activism.

Everyone in the metropolitan area, whether or not they have children or homes in OPS, has a stake in seeing the district succeed. Goding would give the board its best chance to project a steady image of its leadership so it attracts the best superintendent Omaha can hire.
OFFICIAL EXPLANATION

Project SC Butler: Sentence Correction (SC1)

THE PROMPT

Quote:

The nurses went on strike to protest their being overworked .

to protest,

in order to protest,

to protest

the fact that they are being overworked by their bosses.

THE OPTIONS

Quote:

A) The nurses went on strike to protest their being overworked.

being overworked

their

Quote:

B) The nurses went on strike to protest themselves being overworked.

themselves

Quote:

C) The nurses went on strike to protest themselves as overworked.

themselves

Quote:

D) The nurses went on strike to protest their overworking .

Their overworking

their being overworked

of being overworked

by someone else

Quote:

E) The nurses went on strike to protest overworking themselves .

on strike to protest

The best answer is A.

Notes

SPOILER ALERT (if you click the link)

active voice

Not,

a little bit

COMMENTS

subtract
Akalis accept challenge from Amarinder Singh

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Chandigarh, Jan 14: Punjab Congress president Amarinder Singh's raise the stakes in the forthcoming polls by seeking his high command's permission to fight next month's assembly elections against Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal in the latter's traditional seat Lambi has been welcomed by the ruling party.

Amarinder, whose name has already been announced by the Congress for his traditional assembly seat of Patiala Urban, told media in Amritsar on Saturday that he wanted to contest against Chief Minister Badal from Lambi to defeat the Akali Dal patron whom he blamed for the "ruin of Punjab".

"I want to fight the Chief Minister on his home turf of Lambi as I want to defeat all the top Akali leaders responsible for destroying the state through their drugs, mafia and goonda raj, and who are guilty of ruining its trade, industry and agriculture," he said.

Amarinder said he had requested the Congress high command to allow him to fight the assembly polls from Lambi so that he could "free Punjab from the vicious and destructive rule of the Badals".

Akali Dal president Sukhbir Singh Badal asked Amarinder "to take quick permission" to contest from Lambi "before the nomination filing process comes to an end".

Describing the development as "pathetic and last-ditch attempt by a failed king to stem the rot in his sinking ship", Sukhbir Badal, who is also Deputy Chief Minister, said: "Amarinder had been resorting to cheap theatrics since the last few months, including false promises of a farm loan waiver which had not been reflected in the party's manifesto, and the development that he had asked for permission to contest against Parkash Singh Badal was another ploy to gain cheap publicity."

He said that Amarinder was doing such things to keep himself in the fray as Chief Ministerial candidate of the Congress. "Amarinder probably wants to go down like a martyr," he claimed.

Parkash Singh Badal meanwhile said that he was "amused by the smart ploy of (Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi to get rid of Amarinder Singh by pushing him into Lambi as everyone knows Rahul doesn't like him".

The Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which is posing a serious challenge to the Akali Dal-BJP alliance and the Congress for the February 4 assembly polls on 117 seats, has already announced Delhi lawmaker Jarnail Singh to contest against Badal from Lambi.

Amarinder said he would fight the election both in Lambi and Patiala, if permitted by the Congress high command. "The entire state is in shambles. Badal and his family and associates have brought Punjab to such a shameful pass.

"My government would open a probe into all Akali scams and punish every person found guilty of any criminal deed, especially drugs trade," said the former Chief Minister. The Akali Dal-BJP alliance has been in power in Punjab since 2007.

IANS
Explained: 8 things you should know about Lt. Gen. Pande, Indias next Army Chief

All about the nation: Next Army Chiefs son serves in the Air Force

Next Army Chief Lt. Gen. Pande is first engineer to hold the post

Pakistan govt likely to take decision on next Army chief's appointment by mid-September

Army chief warns jawans against taking to social media to express greivances

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 15: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans who take to social media to express their complaints could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.

He also said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, "we want to restore peace on the Line of Control. But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," he asserted.

The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

"If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," Gen Rawat said.

"Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that)," he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.

"It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border," he said.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.

"Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LOC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts," he said.

PTI
Great tolerance, the CBI is sitting idle in Goa says its SP

Atmosphere in Goa against ruling BJP: Congress

India

oi-PTI

Shirdi, Jan 14: Former Goa chief minister and Congress leader Digambar Kamat today claimed that the "atmosphere in Goa is against ruling BJP".

"The atmosphere in Goa is against the ruling BJP," Kamat told reporters here after visiting the shrine of Saibaba.

Kamat has recently filed his nomination papers as a Congress candidate from Margao constituency for the Goa Assembly polls scheduled on February 4. He also took a jibe at the BJP government in Goa over the issue of casinos.

"Ahead of the last Assembly polls in 2012, BJP had assured to submerge casinos in river Mandvi. But now, the number of casinos have increased," Kamat claimed.

"Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party was associated with BJP in Goa, but now it has joined hands with 'Goa Suraksha Manch' and this situation is beneficial for Congress," he said.

He also claimed that the "Centre's decision to demonetise high-value currency notes affected common people in Goa, especially farmers and traders, and this will benefit the Congress". The leader further said "people in Goa think that Aam Aadmi Party is a Delhi-based party and hence there is no impact in the coastal state".

PTI
Explained: 8 things you should know about Lt. Gen. Pande, Indias next Army Chief

All about the nation: Next Army Chiefs son serves in the Air Force

Next Army Chief Lt. Gen. Pande is first engineer to hold the post

Pakistan govt likely to take decision on next Army chief's appointment by mid-September

General Bipin Rawat warns Pakistan

India

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New Delhi, Jan 15: Warning Pakistan but without naming it, Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Sunday that India desired peace but will give a befitting reply if peace was disrupted.

Speaking at the Army Day function in the national capital, he also warned soldiers against using social media for airing their grievances, adding it could result in punishment.The celebration, marked with customary parade and military display, also saw a "surgical strike" -- like the one the Indian Army carried out on terrorist bases in Pakistani territory in September last year.

The Army Chief gave away 15 gallantry awards, including five posthumous ones. Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, who died in an avalanche at Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, was among the award winners.

Speaking at Delhi Cantonment, the Army chief said without naming Pakistan that India wanted peace despite the support given to the proxy war being waged against New Delhi.

"Despite the support given to the proxy war, we want peace on the Line of Control (LoC). However, any ceasefire violation will get a befitting reply."

The LoC divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan. The General said Indian military power would be on display if peace on the border was disrupted.

"We want peace on the border. But any attempt to disrupt the peace will not be tolerated. Our attempts to establish peace at the border should not be seen as a weakness. We want to extend a hand of friendship, but are also warning those who disrupt peace that we will display our power as well," he said.

Gen Rawat asked the Army, Air Force and Navy to work together to face the upcoming challenges.

"It is important that all three forces work together. This will be the key to success. I want to assure the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and other forces that they will always get support from the Army," he said.

The Army chief also warned soldiers against using social media to air their grievances and asked them to approach him directly if their problems were not resolved.

"A few colleagues are using social media to share their problems. It affects the morale of the jawans and thereby the army," he added.

He asked soldiers to use the established channels, and said: "If you are not happy with the action, you can contact me directly."

But he warned those using the social media: "You can be held guilty for this and invite punishment."

The General went on: "We have the capacity to tackle cyber attacks, yet, we have to be careful against the enemy elements on social media, and also ask our families to be alert about it."

The comments come after a Lance Naik alleged in a video that "jawans are being exploited in the army by officers".

The Army chief inspected a parade, which showcased marching contingents and mechanised columns. On display were Brahmos missiles. This was followed by a display by an army motorcycle team and a combat drill that brought alive the "surgical strike". The operation showed soldiers slithering down a helicopter and destroying an enemy brigade headquarters while Pinaka rockets and Bofors guns provided cover support.

The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 to commemorate the day when Lt Gen K.M. Cariappa took over as the Commander-in-Chief of India in 1949 from General Sir Francis Butcher.

IANS

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Story first published: Sunday, January 15, 2017, 16:56 [IST]
Why is the DMK continuing to oppose the imposition of Hindi? - 50 years of struggle and the truth!

Jallikattu in Tamil Nadu: Defiance, protests and police crackdown

India

oi-Anusha

Chennai, Jan 15: 'Sad pongal' marked the second day of pongal festivities in Thiruchi. Citizens shut shops and establishments as a mark of their protest against the ban on Jallikattu. In Thanjavur, a political party, Naam Tamizhar Katchi organised Jallikattu with 24 bulls despite the Supreme Court ban and even gave away prizes.

In Palamedu people observed 'black pongal' with black flags hanging outside every house as a mark of there protest over Jallikattu not being allowed. People were seen rallying with black flags. The situation turned tense when bulls were taken through the 'Vadivasal', the gateway through which the bulls are released in Jallikattu.

The animals, as trained, started running helter-skelter leading to utter chaos with people trying to stop the animals, forcing the police to resort to lathi charge. "This is our village, our tradition and our sport. Why do we need a state and central government that doesn't respond to our requests? Why should I be stopped from upholding my traditions? We will reject elections if this continues," said a villager in Palamedu.

Posters in support of Jallikattu and against the supreme court and the Center government were displayed at venues that were initially marked for Jallikattu event.

Apart from Jallikattu event, people in Coimbatore organised 'Reckla', a bullock cart race that is also banned. People were seen protesting by tearing up posters of actress Trisha who had supported the ban on Jallikattu.

"The ban on Jallikattu is an attempt to take away the right of a community to practice their tradition. It is unconstitutional," said another supporter of the sport. Meanwhile, many are still hopeful of the centre passing an ordinance that would allow Jallikattu.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, January 15, 2017, 11:48 [IST]
Mayawati appeals to workers to celebrate her birthday with simplicity

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Lucknow, Jan 15: BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday addressing her party workers said that BJP and SP have all tried different tactics to win over people in the state. "Congress did not fulfil promises that were made during khat sabhas whereas BJP failed to deliver in over 2 years of being in power," she said.

Hitting out at Modi government over demonetisation move, she said: "It's been over 50 days post demonetisation and yet PM has not said how much black money has been recovered since then. When they failed to win over people, BJP launched the currency ban in the garb of protecting national interests."

"90% poor, farmers and laborers are still reeling under the impact of currency ban," she added. Talking about the upcoming elections, the BSP chief said that her party will be contesting Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Punjab elections alone. Hitting out at BJP she said: "BJP has lost the moral ground to question political rivals. It is unnerved by BSP's popularity in Uttar Pradesh. Despite BJP's abominable attempts to discredit the BSP, our party has emerged stronger than ever before,"

BJP's claims of there being no protests anywhere against demonetisation will prove hollow during UP polls, she said. "Once I come to power all schemes and policies of my government between 2007 to 2012 would be reintroduced," she said.

On the occasion of her birthday, Mayawati appealed to her party workers to celebrate her birthday with simplicity by doing welfare of the needy and underprivileged. "Unlike SP, BSP does not splurge on birthday celebrations," she said.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, January 15, 2017, 12:52 [IST]
Narendra Modi greets soldiers on Army Day

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

New Delhi, Jan 15: Prime minister Narendra Modi on Sunday greeted all the soldiers, veterans and families of those in the Indian army on Army Day. Modi took to Twitter and said: "Greetings to all soldiers, veterans and their families on Army Day. We salute the courage and invaluable service of the Indian Army.

Praising the Army, Modi said: "Indian Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of our nation or helping citizens during natural disasters."

The PM also acknowledged the sacrifies made by the army soldiers. Modi said: "We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully."

Greetings to all soldiers, veterans & their families on Army Day. We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2017

Indian Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of our nation or helping citizens during natural disasters.  Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) January 15, 2017

Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year in recognition of Lieutenant General KM Cariappa taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army.

OneIndia News
UK PM Liz Truss resigns after 45 days in office, successor to be elected next week

Iraq gets a new government after a year of deadlock

PM express grief over WB stampede, announces Rs 2 lakh ex-gratia

India

oi-PTI

New Delhi, Jan 15: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday evening expressed sadness over the loss of lives in West Bengal stampede and sanctioned Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased: PM @narendramodi  PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 15, 2017

My prayers with those injured in the stampede in West Bengal. May they recover quickly: PM @narendramodi  PMO India (@PMOIndia) January 15, 2017

He approved ex-gratia from PM National Relief Fund (PMNRF) of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of the deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured in the stampede.

The stampede occurred at 6 pm during Ganga Sagar festival at Kochuberia in West Bengal's South 24 Parganas district, resulting in the death of at least five people, including a woman.

District officials said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman, in the hospital. The stampede occured when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said.

PTI
Tamil Nadu: Attempts to conduct Jallikattu foiled

India

oi-PTI

Madurai, Jan 15: Police on Sunday foiled attempts to conduct Jallikattu in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, detaining several people even as 'Mattu Pongal', third day of the harvest festivities, was celebrated with fervour in the state.

Amid protests against the ban on the bull-taming sport, police warned of action against those violating the Supreme Court order on the sport, associated with Pongal festivities. Madurai Superintendent of Police, Vijayendar S Bidari, denied reports that Jallikattu was conducted in the district.

"Around 2,000 police personnel are keeping a vigil across the district. We have taken steps to provide security in the area," he said. Sufficient police force has been deployed in the district to prevent any untoward incidents, he said. Every one should follow the (SC) order. Everybody should be aware that we will take action as per the law. People should cooperate," he said when it was pointed out that the sport is usually held on 'Kanum Pongal', the fourth and final day of Pongal festivities, at Alanganallur.

Some locals claimed that at Singampunari in Sivaganga district hundreds of people gathered for "Manjuvirattu" (an event in which bulls are used) which, they said, was held for a brief period. Police said they chased away a crowd which tried to organise Jallikattu at Alangudi in Pudukottai district, and also foiled a bid to conduct it at the Sri Thadikonda Swamy temple.

Meanwhile, people offered prayers to bulls and cows on the occasion of "Mattu Pongal", third day of Pongal festivities where people offer prayers to these and other farm animals. Cows and bulls were washed by their owners. Some of them had their horns painted and decorated with shining caps besides coloured beads and tinkling bells while others had sheaves of corn and flower garlands tied around their necks.

In Madurai district's Palamedu village, a place famous for Jallikattu events, people performed special poojas to some temple bulls. Jallikattu supporters were seen offering pongal (sweet rice made of jaggery with rice and milk, in a traditional mud pot) to the local deity before giving it to the bulls.

Local youths said 'symbolic' Jallikattu was held in some places but police denied it. At Palamedu, people hoisted black flags for not allowing them to hold Jallikattu. Shops at several localities remained closed. Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.

PTI
UP elections: With SP-Cong inching closer, BJP looks to BSP

India

oi-Vicky

By Vicky

New Delhi, Jan 15: With posters of Dimple Yadav and Priyanka Gandhi surfacing in poll bound Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has decided to tone down the rhetoric against the BSP and focus on countering the SP-Congress together.

Although the alliance of the Samajwadi Party and the Congress has not been formalised as yet, the writing on the wall is clear that the two parties will fight the elections together.

BJP strategists tell OneIndia that the SP-Congress combine cannot be taken lightly. "We need to do everything to counter them as it appears to be a formidable force. There is also a likelihood of back channel talks with the BSP," the BJP leader also informed.

A Congress leader informed that they are still in talks with the SP. There is also every chance of a Congress-SP and Lok Dal combine. The SP is ready to give both the Lok Dal and the Congress 135 seats.

The Congress leader, however, says that they are not worried about the Akhilesh faction losing the party symbol. The ECI is expected to deliver its verdict before January 17.

OneIndia News

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Story first published: Sunday, January 15, 2017, 11:26 [IST]
West Bengal: Six dead, several injured in Gangasagar fair stampede

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Six persons died and several others were injured in a stampede at Kachuberia during Gangasagar fair in West Bengal on Sunday, said reports.

The stampede occurred around 5pm at jetty number 5 of Kachuberia ghats in South24 Parganas district. The stampede is said to occurred at jetty number 5 while people were trying to get on a boat.

(Gangasagar) West Bengal: Stampede in Gangasagar fair, 1 dead. More details awaited pic.twitter.com/wp1fCKsPUf  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

According to reports, NDRF teams and the local police have reached the spot for relief and rescue operations. Some 16 lakh pilgrims had gathered on Makar Sankranti to take a holy dip in the Ganges on Saturday.

The pilgrims were trying to get on to a Kolkata-bound vessel from Gangasagar ghat on Sunday afternoon when the incident happened.

OneIndia News
For beneficiaries of EWS flat a gift from PM Modi like none other

Will give befitting reply to ceasefire violations: General Bipin Rawat

India

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia

New Delhi, Jan 15: Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday saluted the martyrs sacrificed their lives for the country. "Salute martyrs who sacrificed their lives, our valour is because of them; indebted to them and their families," he said.

[Alsor read: Narendra Modi greets soldiers on Army Day]

Speaking at the event, Rawat said,''Peace across LoC is priority but will not shy away from giving befitting reply to ceasefire violations''. Rawat also added that confidence building measures were undertaken with China at Northern borders so tensions can be done away with.

He further said that proper channels are in place for jawans to put across their grievances, if they aren't satisfied with action taken, they can contact him directly.

Earlier in the day, Prime Minister Narendra Modi saluted the courage and invaluable service of the soldiers and officers, including the veterans on the occasion of Army day.

OneIndia News

For Breaking News and Instant Updates Allow Notifications

Story first published: Sunday, January 15, 2017, 12:22 [IST]
Are you awake?: EAM Jaishankar recalls when he got a call from PM Modi at midnight

Several Afghans on Germany's evacuation list have died

13th batch of medical assistance to Afghanistan delivered by India

Afghanistan: IS abducts 14 teachers

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

Kabul, Jan 15: The Afghan Eduction Ministry on Sunday said the Islamic State terror group has kidnapped 14 teachers from Nangarhar province.

The ministry said the incident took place on Sunday when students were busy with exams at the Mesher Mullah Sahib Madrassa in Kot district.

"A group of IS fighters entered the madrassa and left, taking 14 people with them," the ministry said.

The ministry called on security forces and tribal elders to do "everything possible" to secure the release of the abductees.

IANS
Here is why a newborn baby must have skin contact with dads and non-birthing parents

Baby girl abducted 18 years ago found alive in US

International

oi-IANS

By Ians English

New York, Jan 15: A girl who was abducted 18 years ago from a Florida hospital in the US has been found alive and safe in the state of South Carolina, media reports said. Kamiyah Mobley was taken from a hospital in Jacksonville, Florida, hours after she was born in 1998. The Jacksonville Sheriff's office said on Friday that Mobley lived in Walterboro, South Carolina, Xinhua news agency reported.

The woman who has been taking care of Mobley, and claimed to be her mother during the past 18 years, was arrested Friday morning and charged with kidnapping and interference, according to the sheriff's office.

South Carolina found the 18-year-old woman with the the same date of birth but a different name, and officials believed fraudulent documents had been used to establish her identity.

Earlier this week, she submitted DNA that was tested and investigators received confirmation that she was in fact Kamiyah Mobley. Authorities said that Mobley appeared in good health. Mobley will be extradited back to Jacksonville, but it is up to her to decide if she wants to reunite with her family as she is now 18.

IANS
Demonetisation shows 'boldness' of Modi: France

International

oi-PTI

Paris, Jan 15: France has appreciated demonetisation in India, terming it as a "bold" decision which "shows how determined" Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to combat tax evasion, corruption and black money.

French Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault also hailed the "significant reforms" undertaken by Modi to attract foreign investments, saying "they are in the right direction". Appreciating the 'Make in India' initiative, he told in an interview that France "wishes to be a major partner, thanks to its experience, expertise and recognised technologies".

At the same time, he said "joint efforts" should be made between the European Union and India to reduce trade barriers and pitched for reforms in India with regard to easing the import-export regime and improving the predictability and stability of regulations. "I am impressed by the boldness of this decision. It shows how determined Prime Minister Modi is to combat tax evasion, corruption and black money. It's also a measure aimed at modernizing the economy by accelerating the transition to a digital economy," Ayrault, who was here on a four-day visit, said when his views were sought on demonetisation. "We are following these developments with keen interest," he added.

He said "The Indian economy is full of promise for entrepreneurs and we trust the government's resolve to support the country's economic development." The French Minister, who was here primarily to attend Vibrant Gujarat, said the bilateral economic ties "are being ceaselessly strengthened".

Pointing out that French companies have a very strong presence in India, he said they "invest, innovate and make in India". About 1000 French entities are spread all over the Indian territory, employing almost 3,50,000 skilled workers, and the general feeling is that this is a land "full of opportunities", he said. However, bilateral trade remains at a "more modest level", which is also due to French companies fully adopting the 'Make in India' policy. "But we must continue our joint efforts, between the European Union and India, to reduce trade barriers," he said.

PTI
Donald Trump unleashes Twitter attack against activist John Lewis

International

oi-PTI

New York, Jan 15: Donald Trump tore into civil rights legend John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire's White House victory, intensifying a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Trump tweeted that Lewis, D-Ga, "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results." The incoming president added: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, suffered a skull fracture during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than a half-century ago and has devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans. The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-American view Trump's inauguration compared with Barack Obama's eight years ago.

Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017

It also demonstrated that no one is untouchable for scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism. Trump has found political success even while attacking widely lauded figures before and after the campaign -- a prisoner of war, parents of a slain US soldier, a beauty queen and now a civil rights icon.

Lewis, a 16-term congressman said on Friday that he would not attend Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol this coming Friday. It will mark the first time he skipped an inauguration since joining Congress three decades ago. "You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president," Lewis said in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" set to air Sunday.

"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," Lewis said. Lewis' spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Trump and said the lawmaker's "opinion speaks for itself." "We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election," she said.

PTI
Fact Check: Is this video of a Russian soldier being run over by a tank a recent one?

Man suspected of filming gang rape of 11-year-old girl arrested in Brazil

International

oi-PTI

Rio De Janeiro, Jan 14: A major news website says police have arrested a man suspected of overseeing and recording a videotape of the gang rape of an 11-year-old girl in Brazil.

G1 website says the 20-year-old was arrested after the Tuesday attack, but his detention was not publicised until today. Four minors ranging from 13-17 years were also arrested in the attack in Recanto de Emas, an administrative region of the federal district near Brasilia.

The man allegedly videotaped the violence and is also suspected of raping the girl after she was lured to a home to share a hookah pipe. Last year, videotape of the gang rape of a 16-year-old girl in a Rio de Janeiro slum in the months before the Summer Olympics sparked dramatic protests.

PTI
Central team roped in as dengue cases in Bihar rise to over 5000

Patna boat tragedy: Death toll rises to 24, rescue ops resume

Patna

oi-Oneindia

By Oneindia Staff Writer

Patna, Jan 15: 24 people died after a boat carrying 40 people capsized here on Saturday. Rescue operations began soon after the incident took place but had to be halted at night. 21 bodies were pulled out on Saturday and three bodies were pulled out on Sunday taking the death toll to 24.

The rescue ops resumed on Sunday morning by NDRF teams. Meanwhile, prime minister Narendra Modi announced ex-gratia from the Prime Minister's National Relief Fund of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased and Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured.

RK Pachnanda, DG NDRF said on Sunday: "21 bodies have been recovered so far, search and rescue ops are underway. The NDRF teams are at the spot."

#BiharBoatTragedy: Search and rescue operations by NDRF teams underway; 21 bodies recovered so far. pic.twitter.com/KEfje1GtMv  ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Around 40 people were said to be onboard the country boat when it capsized near NIT ghat on Saturday evening. The passengers were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur diara across the river after watching a kite festival on the occasion of 'Makar Sankranti'.

OneIndia News
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War Party

(Image by blackagendareport.com) Details DMCA



"The Left's job is to oppose the warmongers, not band with them."

As is ordained by law, at the end of the week much of President Obama's legacy will become Donald Trump's powers, including the power to detain Americans indefinitely (forever) without trial or charge, an authority the First Black President secured from Congress in 2011. Obama's wars become Trump's wars, which, if Trump follows Obama's example -- and if he succumbs to the furious pressures of leading Democrats, old line Republicans and an openly aggressive and "politicized" national security establishment -- will be expanded and multiplied. The most imminent threats to human survival under a Trump presidency flow, not from the billionaire's own belligerent instincts and unpredictability, but from the momentum of Obama's policies of ever-escalating confrontation with Russia and China -- his deliberate "pivots" towards brinksmanship on all the geopolitical fronts of Empire.

"U.S. policy is to militarily intimidate the world into submission -- a gangster's game."

It is the Democrats that have whipped up war hysteria and a new McCarthyism, attacking Trump from the Right to force him to keep Obama's imperial "surge" moving forward. With western economic power fading fast, U.S. policy is to militarily intimidate the world into submission -- a gangster's game. For the Lords of Capital and their national security servants, Obama's greatest achievement was to put the U.S. back on the offensive after George Bush's defeat and humiliation in Iraq. From their perspective, Obama has already "Made America Great Again" with his "humanitarian" military intervention doctrine, trampling every principle of international law, including the sovereignty of nations, in Libya and Syria. Trump's talk of "deal-making" with Russia and China threatens to slow the imperial offensive.

The ruling class realignment that congealed in the Clinton campaign's Big Tent sees any relaxation of U.S. military pressures against Beijing and Moscow as a prelude to imperial collapse. For them, de-escalation is an existential threat. They don't give a damn about the damage Donald Trump intends to inflict on what remains of the U.S. social safety net -- and neither did Obama, who came into office scheming to forge a Grand Austerity Bargain with the Republicans. And, if his preventive detention bill were not enough, Obama's support for creation of a "Ministry of Truth" -- officially, a joint governmental commission to police the media for "foreign disinformation and manipulation" -- screams out to high heaven that protection of civil liberties is not part of their agenda, either. Internet publications like Black Agenda Report, cited by the Washington Post as "fake news" and "minions" of Russia, will be punished for deviance from imperial "exceptionalism" and aggressive war policies.

"Trump's talk of 'deal-making' with Russia and China threatens to slow the imperial offensive."

This is all about war. The Democrats, massed corporate media and the fully mobilized legions of spooks and disinformation specialists are cynically seeking to harness people's well-founded fears of Trump's domestic policies in order to sabotage the possibility of a relaxation of international tensions. Leftists that think they can exploit the split between the Trump troglodytes (fascists) and the Obama/Clinton/Old Line GOP War Party (fascists) will ultimately wind up caught in a pincer between the two.

The ruling class is, indeed, in an acute political crisis, to match its larger, systemic crisis. The duopoly system that has served the rich so well for most of the history of the Republic has come undone, split at the seams, endangering the corporate-imposed national "consensus" on empire and war. The War Party, deploying every disinformation trick in the book, foments anti-Russian hysteria to create a mass base for its imperial agenda. They point fingers at phantom "minions" of Moscow in order to make leftists into political foot soldiers of the Pentagon, Langley and the military industrial complex. MoveOn.org moves to their beat, as does the entire Congressional Black Caucus, including Barbara Lee (D-CA), the nation's most left-leaning congressperson. Fine; they are duty-bound to go down with the Bad Ship Hillary. But the social movement activists that allow themselves to be swept up in the Democrats' offensive-from-the-Right against Trump are the biggest dupes of all.

"They point fingers at phantom 'minions' of Moscow in order to make leftists into political foot soldiers of the Pentagon, Langley and the military industrial complex."

The Democrats are incapable of agitating for anything more than defense of Barack Obama's "legacy" -- chiefly, his doomed Affordable Care Act, which was already disintegrating from its own contradictions and whose final demise will create an acute crisis that cries out for single payer health insurance, the outcome Obamacare was designed to forestall. The Left should be making that demand right now, rather than helping Democrats join with Republicans to patch together an even worse private-based system, down the road.

The precariat economy that is emerging from Obama's post-Meltdown restructuring, in which 94 percent of the new "jobs" are so contingent, inadequate and insecure they can hardly be called jobs at all, demands a National Minimum Income -- a potentially transformative leap that the Left should be loudly championing, right now.

Five years after Occupy Wall Street, the Left should finally call for the nationalization -- not fragmentation -- of the big banks, and creation of a public development bank to rebuild the national infrastructure without going into debt to private capital. Anybody that doubts masses of people will join in this demand doesn't know their fellow Americans and their deep hatred for Wall Street banks.

"The social movement activists that allow themselves to be swept up in the Democrats' offensive-from-the-Right against Trump are the biggest dupes of all."

Ferguson set the new Black movement on a course of confrontation with the Mass Black Incarceration State, in all its manifestations. Obama's legacy -- and that of the Black misleadership class that has collaborated with mass Black incarceration for two generations -- is to intensify intelligence gathering in Black communities, while dispersing Black population concentrations through gentrification. Trump or no Trump, there is no avoiding the logic of the movement's central grassroots demand: Black community control of the police. Non-Blacks on the Left must support that demand.

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From Paul Craig Roberts Website

On January 13, Udo Ulfkotte died, reportedly of a heart attack.

Ulfkotte had been an editor at the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitzung. He published a courageous book in which he said that the CIA had a hand on every significant journalist in Europe, which gave Washington control over European opinion and reduced knowledge of and opposition to Washington's control over European heads of state. Essentially, there are no European governments independent of Washington.

Courage, once plentiful in Europe, is today hard to find. Charles de Gaulle was the last head of a major European state that maintained independence from Washington. Today we find independence in Marine Le Pen and perhaps in the president of Hungary. But for the most part West and East European heads of state are Washington's vassals committed to Washington's wars.

This, of course, includes the Chancellor of Germany, the President of France, and the British Prime Minister. These once powerful countries of Europe, whose dominance comprises most of Western history from the fall of Rome to the Second World War, are today American puppet states.

Under Yeltsin, Russia herself succumbed to American over-lordship, but under Vladimir Putin Russia regained her independence and is today able to constrain Washington's unilateralism in some areas of the world, such as Syria and Crimea.

In the Far East Washington's Japanese vassal is now checked by the rise of China, a country like Russia that has first class leadership that cannot be found anywhere in the West.

The Western world has proven itself incapable of producing real political leadership. This failure results from the centuries of Western dominance that has so corrupted Western political processes that the entirety of the West is subservient to an oligarchy that has succeeded in concentrating all income and wealth gains in a few hands. These few have enormous power, as we see in the CIA's open and blatant assault on the president-elect.

The danger that life on earth faces is that Washington assumes, based on the historical rule of the West, that it is normal for this rule over the world to continue. However, Russia and China do not agree. Either country is sufficient to stand up to Washington, and together they over-match Washington's military capability.

Due to the arrogance that resides in Washington, the would-be overlords of the world are not aware that Russia and China are not Iraq and Libya.

If the moronic idiots that rule in Washington bring us into war with these powers, the United States will disappear from history along with the rest of the world.
From Paul Craig Roberts Website

It did not take long before we knew there was no hope of change from President Obama. But at least he went into his inauguration with an unprecedented number of Americans on the Mall showing their support for the President of Change. Hope was abundant.

But with Trump, we are already losing faith, if not yet with him, at least with his choice of those who comprise his government even before Trump is inaugurated.

Trump's choice for Secretary of State not only sounds like the neoconservatives in declaring Russia to be a threat to the United States and all of Europe, but also sounds like Hillary Clinton in declaring the South China Sea to be an area of US dominance. One would think that the chairman of Exxon was not an idiot, but I am no longer sure. In his confirmation hearing, Rex Tillerson said that China's access to its own South China Sea is "not going to be allowed."

Here is Tillerson's statement: "We're going to have to send China a clear signal that first, the island-building stops, and second, your access to those islands also not going to be allowed."

I mean, really, what is Tillerson going to do about it except get the world blown up. China's response was as pointed as a response can be:

Tillerson "should not be misled into thinking that Beijing will be fearful of threats. If Trump's diplomatic team shapes future Sino-US ties as it is doing now, the two sides had better prepare for a military clash. Tillerson had better bone up on nuclear power strategies if he wants to force a big nuclear power to withdraw from its own territories."

So Trump is not even inaugurated and his idiot nominee for Secretary of State has already created an animosity relationship with two nuclear powers capable of completely destroying all of the West for eternity. And this makes the US Senate comfortable with Tillerson. The imbeciles should be scared out of their wits, assuming they have any.

One of the reasons that Russia rescued Syria from Washington's overthrow is that Russia understood that Washington's next target would be Iran and from a destroyed Iran terrorism would be exported into the Russian Federation. There is an axis of countries threatened by US supported terrorism -- Syria, Iran, Russia, China.

Trump says he wants to normalize relations with Russia and to open up business opportunities in the place of conflict. But to normalize relations with Russia requires also normalizing relations with Iran and China.

Judging from their public statements, Trump's announced government has targeted Iran for destabilization. Trump's appointees as National Security Adviser, Secretary of Defense, and Director of the CIA all regard Iran incorrectly as a terrorist state that must be overthrown.

But Russia cannot allow Washington to overthrow the stable government in Iran and will not allow it. China's investments in Iranian oil imply that China also will not permit Washington's overthrow of Iran. China has already suffered from its lost investments in Libyan oil as the result of the Obama regime's overthrow of the Libyan government.

Realistically speaking, it looks like the Trump Presidency is already defeated by his own appointees independently of the ridiculous and completely unbelievable propaganda put out by the CIA and broadcast by the presstitute media in the US, UK, and Europe. The New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, and BBC have lowered themselves below the National Enquirer.

Possibly, as I wrote earlier today, these statements from Trump's appointees are nothing but what is required to be confirmed and are not operational in any sense. However, it is possible to stand up to the bastards in confirmation hearings. I stood up in my confirming hearing, and the embarrassed Democrats requested that the entire hearing be deleted from the record.

If the Chairman of Exxon and a Lt. General are not capable of standing up to the imbecilic Congress, they are unfit for office. That they did not stand up is an indication that they lack the strength that Trump needs if he is to bring change from the top.

If Trump is unable to change US foreign policy, thermo-nuclear war and the destruction of Earth are inevitable.
From The Guardian

At Donald Trump's now-notorious press conference on Tuesday, lost amidst his threats to news organizations and denunciations of his enemies, the president-elect claimed he would soon assemble "some of the greatest computer minds anywhere in the world" to tackle the US government's cybersecurity problem. On Thursday, he went the opposite route instead and hired Rudy Giuliani.

Giuliani, Trump election surrogate and the disgraced former mayor of New York, is apparently going to head up Trump's efforts to coordinate "cybersecurity" issues between the federal government and the private sector, the transition team announced Tuesday. But what does Giuliani, last seen on the campaign trail claiming the president can break whatever law he likes in a time of war, know about cybersecurity? From the look and sound of it, not much.

Giuliani does head a consulting firm in New York called Giuliani Partners that supposedly focuses on cybersecurity, but Vice's Motherboard reported yesterday, it's tough to tell what they actually do, and it's even tougher to tell what Giuliani does for them, besides being the face of the operation while saying outrageous things on television.

As Motherboard's Jason Koebler and Lorenzo Franceschi-Bicchierai wrote, "Unlike many other cybersecurity firms, Giuliani Partners does not publish white papers about malware and large-scale hacks, or push for increased adoption of encryption, which would enhance cybersecurity across the board. In fact, it doesn't talk much about cybersecurity at all, instead choosing to focus on its more traditional anti-crime consulting work."

Just after the Trump team's announcement, security experts took a look at Giuliani Partner's website and started mercilessly mocking it on Twitter for glaring vulnerabilities and its own lax cybersecurity practices that makes it looks more like a website built in the mid 1990s than a supposedly respected cybersecurity firm would present the public today.

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p

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Sorry folks, nicer and better i can not make.



While the winter, outside, descends in all its severity, thoughts go to all those people who now have to face the cold, under miserable conditions. Thoughts go to war refugees who are left to their fate, the Greek islands, the Balkans and other places, where political Europe does not want to burn their hands and would rather look away. Politics Europe with money from the public, bought there self free and avoid as much as possible this inhumane situation, like the media, which hardly will pay attention to. Fortunately, there are good organizations such as Doctors Without Borders, which do much to provide people with a warm shelter. Tribute to such organizations which stand up for the needy, the sick and the disadvantaged in our society.



Thoughts go to the countless young people who deprive themselves of their young lives, by bullying, by (failing) to meet the ideal image of a consumer society. A growing mass of people from all walks of life commit suicide from despair, loneliness, debt, hopelessness.





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[Thomas Riggins Blog]

As President Obama takes his last lap around the governing field before turning it over to Donald Trump many liberals and some deluded "leftists" have taken to thanking him for his eight years of service to the 1%. The best can be said from a Marxist perspective is that there have been worse presidents (we are about to get one) and we had four years of hope followed by four years of resignation leaving behind a disillusioned electorate who rejected the establishment presidential candidate in such numbers that even an almost three million popular vote lead could not prevent the White House from falling into the hands of the ultra-right.

Part of the problem was that Obama failed to put forth a program to seriously challenge the power structure that sustains the Right, Racism and Sexism and the Democratic Party, of which he is the nominal leader, but instead put up a candidate agreeable to the 1%, when they had a popular leader in Sanders that might have beaten Trump.

Anybody who has understood Marx, understands that capitalism fosters the Right, Racism and Sexism and that the Democratic Party is controlled by the ruing capitalist class. We can thank Obama and Clinton for the loss of the industrial states whose electoral votes should have gone to the Democrats, for the destruction of Libya, for the prolongation of the war in Syria, for the coup in Honduras, the death of hundreds if not thousands of women and children throughout the Middle East due to drone warfare and the support of jihadist groups in Syria and the Saudi attacks on the civilian population of Yemen.

It wasn't that long ago when liberals who said "Thank You" to LBJ for his domestic policy -- the war on poverty and the civil rights laws -- had to be reminded by MLK that LBJ was also the president of the most violent and oppressive country in the world. Leftists used to vociferously protest the oppression of third world people by US imperialism: "Hey, Hey, LBJ how many kids have you killed today?". In today's "Thank You President Obama" blogs and tweets dead kids don't seem to bother many people who call themselves "progressives."

Obama's legacy has left the 1% as solidly entrenched as ever and resulted in an ultra-right take over of the government. He also leaves behind a scandalous misuse of the intelligence services of the US in an attempt to engineer a false narrative of Russian election hacking to justify an excuse to start up a new cold war. Whether history will treat him kindly and thank him will depend upon who will be around to write it -- the imperialist state he served or the masses of the third world it oppressed and exploited.

Obama is not totally responsible alone. He is after all a capitalist tool. The objective conditions are that the Democrats as well as the Republicans are organic parts of the monopoly capitalist system and contribute to its functioning and maintenance. The context of the political fight, from a class narrative, is that different factions of the ruling class are not agreed upon the best way to maintain dominance over the working people and to what degree concessions have to be given or to what degree they can be revoked. Both parties serve the interests of Wall Street and the Military Industrial Complex. Marxists understand this (at least some do), but the masses of working people do not, due to the information monopoly of the ruling class.

When we are politically active we are supposed to be engendering higher levels of class consciousness in working people and this is not done by deluding people about Obama and Clinton, for example, somehow being "progressive" and on the side of "democracy" when they are really just lesser evils from whom we hope to get more open space to organize and get concessions. Thanking Obama for trying his best to further the interests of US Imperialism (TPP, unproven Russian election hacking narratives, military escalations in Africa, Syria and Yemen) and making some reforms to strengthen the Democratic Party prospects domestically is actually a case of abstracting the entire fight against the ultra-right out of context and prevents people from properly understanding objective reality; this contributes to the victory of the very reactionary alt-right forces we want to defeat and censoring and removing critiques of our tactics, which sometimes happens even in leftist publications, rather that promoting more discussion and analysis and self criticism only weakens the struggle for democracy.
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Rob Kalls Bottom-Up: Tapping the Power of the Connection Revolution takes a very holistic view of bottom-up thinking and action, from changes in our psychology to our systems of work, living and governance. As someone who's been working to make bottom-up economics a reality for over 30 years, this book reinforces the need for and potential of redirecting our priorities-- and resources--from the few at the top to the many at the bottom."



Anthony Flaccavento, author of Building a Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Kall's well-researched book integrates knowledge from philosophy to economics and ecology. He shows us how, all over the world and across many fields of endeavor, we humans are organizing new and rewarding ways of acting for the common good. His book is both idealistic and realistic and gives us a vision of what we all most need -- hope for the future"



Mary Pipher, psychologist, and #1 New York Times best-selling author of Reviving Ophelia and Writing to Change the World
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Kall's Bottom-up explores refreshing yet timeless ways of seeing and ways of thinking about economics, knowledge and wisdom. He presents his message, that decentralized, local and small are both good and healthy in business and economics, in a model that makes sense and offers practical solutions."



Amar Bhide, professor of Economics, Tufts University, former editor, Capitalism and Society, author, The Venturesome Economy: How Innovation Sustains Prosperity in a More Connected World
Congress Switchboard: 202-224-3121

"Bringing Rob Kall in as a consultant on making my business and its website more bottom-up was incredibly valuable. Rob's out-of-the-box member registration system suggestions led to a multi-leveled engagement process designed to maximally connect clients with the company, which took the company and the website to the next level. Rob's coaching in bottom-up thinking played a strong role in enabling me to sell my company for over a million dollars."



Don Brown, Founder, the International Wireless Industry Consortium (IWPC)
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On January 9, Representative Mario Diaz Balart (R-FL), introduced a bill (H.R. 377) to ask the Secretary of State to designate the Muslim Brotherhood as a foreign terrorist organization. The following day Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) introduced an identical bill (S. 38) in the Senate titled The Muslim Brotherhood Terrorist Designation Act . The bill states that the group has met the criteria of a terrorist group, and thus should be designated as such.

The House bill was referred to the House Committee on the Judiciary and already has twenty cosponsors. The Senate bill was referred to the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations and has three original cosponsors.

Senator Cruz stated, "The U.S. has officially listed individual members, branches, and charities of the Muslim Brotherhood as terrorists, such as Hamas, al Qaeda, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, but has not designated the organization as a whole."

Both Senator Cruz and Rep. Diaz Balart introduced similar bills in the 114 th Session. The House version was passed by the Judiciary Committee but neither made it to a floor vote.

How an obscure U.S. policy effort could hurt American Muslims: Washington Post

Not surprisingly the Washington Post and the Huffington Post were quick to point out the real motives behind the bills related to the Muslim Brotherhood.

The Washington Post said it is also likely to have a far-reaching impact on American Muslims at a time when Muslim community leaders say the religious minority is facing the worst harassment it has seen since the aftermath of 9/11.

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The Left-Progressive Consensus: Neoliberals Are Public Enemy #1

There's a growing consensus among left-progressives--meaning all progressives who regard their principles as vastly more important than today's Democratic Party--that neoliberals are our worst enemy.



Rahm Emanuel - Neoliberal poster child

(Image by DonkeyHotey) Details DMCA



Indeed, it can plausibly be argued that neoliberals are humanity's worst enemy, for by their stranglehold on U.S. and much of global politics, they stymie enactment of the progressive climate-justice agenda essential to saving human civilization from climate catastrophe. The same agenda Naomi Klein forcefully sketched and defended in her watershed book This Changes Everything: Capitalism vs. the Climate.

Whether capitalism ultimately needs to be regulated or replaced is an open question, one Klein (rightly) doesn't answer, for it's hardly humanity's most pressing current issue. What is currently most pressing is how progressives can wrest power from neoliberals, who offer Rock-of-Gibraltar opposition to both options: mitigating capitalism by strong regulation and replacing it with a better system. Given Klein's acute grasp of neoliberals' political tyranny as the foremost barrier to urgent reform, it's hardly surprising she wrote the first article to draw the crucial anti-neoliberal lesson from Trump's expectation-defying victory.

In Klein's own words, "The Democratic Party needs to be either decisively wrested from pro-corporate neoliberals, or it needs to be abandoned." Ending neoliberals' political tyranny--based in today's Democratic Party--is the U.S. progressive left's highest priority.

Obviously, Klein alone doesn't constitute a consensus of progressive-left opinion. In the days since Trump's election, neoliberals--whom his victory should have discredited--have become, if anything, more dangerous. And a host of insightful leftists have been quick to perceive the danger. There's hardly sufficient space here for an honor roll of leftist writers who've analyzed the menace neoliberals, working mainly from the shadows, currently pose to both the U.S. and planetary common good. In particular, we should thank every writer who's shown extreme skepticism about government and media claims that Russians "hacked the presidential election" and who has exposed the likely political motivations underlying that dubious claim.

Among left-progressive "heavy hitters," it's crucial to cite Chris Hedges and Glenn Greenwald, who alone provide almost all the clues needed to decipher what neoliberals, with their dangerous Russia-blaming, are up to. While Hedges writes a balanced, comprehensive analysis of possible motives for the highly suspect "election hacking" claims, Greenwald's rather alarmist account--precisely because it's alarmist--is perhaps even more insightful. In tying Democratic Party neoliberals to the Deep State brilliantly analyzed by Mike Lofgren (also see Lofgren's book), Greenwald has exposed the most sinister juncture of interests now poisoning U.S. politics.

While Democrat neoliberals (as the political arm of global plutocratic and corporate interests) and the Deep State (as an entrenched "shadow government") have their own separate agendas, there's clearly enough overlap that Clinton-style neoliberals almost inevitably promote the interests of the Deep State. In addition to Hillary's warmongering and lackey support for Israeli injustice, her allegiance to the Deep State never betrayed itself more transparently than in her vendetta against heroic whistleblower Edward Snowden. Perhaps Greenwald's heroic role in publishing Snowden's eye-popping leaks on universal spying gives him special insight into the deeply sinister neoliberal-Deep State nexus.

I aim here not to establish an honor roll, but to confirm the reality of a left-progressive consensus that neoliberals are our foremost enemy. Consequently, I'll cite several representative left-progressive writers whose articles collaring "blame the Rooskies" neoliberals--as enemies we must fight under Trump--I found particularly insightful. In no special order, they are Paul Street, Dave Lindorff, Caitlyn Johnstone, Norman Solomon, David Swanson, and Yoav Litvin. Please realize that this list of left-progressive writers castigating neoliberal Democrats, who dodge deserved blame for losing to Trump by dangerously scapegoating nuclear-power Russia, is far from comprehensive. But it hints at an emerging leftist consensus that fighting neoliberals is our highest priority under Trump.

Scratch a Liberal, Find a Neoliberal

With due apologies to rank-and-file progressive Democrats who, defying current common usage, still proudly call themselves "liberals," we must make a crucial point about most current Democrat politicians who pass for liberals in mainstream media. Namely, that they're pro-corporate neoliberals hiding behind the identity-politics fig leaf of the name "liberal." It's quite significant in this regard that anti-corporate insurgent Bernie Sanders, upon questioning, identified himself as a progressive and not a liberal.

Appealing to working-class voters in a way that transcended the conventional Democrat-Republican divide (where Democrats misleadingly pass for liberals and Republicans for conservatives), Bernie proved why he was worth at least critical left-progressive support. As Andrew Levine asserted in an insightful piece penned during the Democratic primaries, Bernie (whatever his progressive shortcomings) at least provided a means for escaping the shallow trap of the Democrat-Republican, liberal-conservative divide. As a Democratic Party outsider, he offered an unprecedented (albeit overly tame) prospect of fighting the real problem of "Clintonism" (a.k.a neoliberalism) thwarting every progressive initiative in America's "jackass party." Since we inhabit a duopoly where only two parties have any hope of winning elections, and since Republicans are anti-progressive on principle, neoliberals' domination of the Democratic Party poses a grave problem for both left-progressives and the common good. A point Levine succinctly grasped in his subtitle: "Why Democrats, Not Republicans, Are the Problem."

Or rather, Republicans pose a special problem of their own, which can't possibly be solved by a Democratic Party that secretly shares so many neoliberal and Deep-State agendas with today's GOP. Resisting Trump--while castigating rather than empowering neoliberals in the process--is the central problem of organizing left-progressive opposition under Trump. It should be obvious that we need a political movement based on that premise. And such a movement would really be a movement of movements, for it would unite all progressive/populist movements (e.g., Fight for 15, Black Lives Matter, and the anti-war and anti-fracking movements) against their common enemy.

As neoliberals' deceptive self-portrayal as "liberals" and their sleazy attempts to pin their electoral loss on Putin make clear, that enemy can operate effectively only in the dark. The needed movement, by organizing explicitly against neoliberals, must drag left-progressives' enemies into the most glaring, harshest spotlight.

[NEXT IN PART TWO: How the needed progressive movement must be transpartisan, rejecting Democratic Party unity for the sake of pronouncing the stigmatizing and divisive neoliberal "N-word."]
From Robert Reich Blog

At his turbulent his news event last Wednesday (I won't dignify it by calling it a news conference), Trump reiterated that he will build a wall along the Mexican border. "It's not a fence. It's a wall," he said, and "Mexico will pay for the wall."

Here are six reasons why Trump's wall is an even dumber idea than most of his others.

1. The U.S.-Mexican border is already well defended, and a wall won't improve the defenses.The United States now spends $3.7 billion per year to keep some 21,000 Border Patrol agents on guard and another $3.2 billion on 23,000 inspectors at ports of entry along the border, a third of which is already walled or fenced off.

2. The cost of Trump's fence would be a whopping $25 billion on top of this. That's the best estimate I've seen by a Washington Post fact checker. (When Trump discussed the cost last February he put it at $8 billion, then a few weeks later upped the cost to $10 to 12 billion. )

3. There's no way Mexico will pay for it. On January 11, Mexican President Enrique Pena assured Mexicans they would not be footing the bill. "It is evident that we have some differences with the new government of the United States," he said, "like the topic of the wall, that Mexico of course will not pay."

4. There's no reason for the wall anyway because undocumented migration from Mexico has sharply declined. The Department of Homeland Security's estimates that the total undocumented population peaked at 12 million in 2008, and has fallen since then. According to the Pew Research Center, the overall flow of Mexican immigrants between the two countries is at its smallest since the 1990s. The number of apprehensions at the border is at its lowest since 1973.

5. The decline isn't because of rising border enforcement but because of Mexico is producing fewer young people and therefore less demographic pressure to migrate to the U.S. In 1965, Mexico's fertility rate was 7.2 children per woman; by 2000 it had fallen to 2.4; today, it's at 2.3 children per woman, just above replacement level.

6. There's little or no evidence undocumented immigrants take jobs away from native-born Americans, anyway. A new analysis of Census data finds that immigrants take very different jobs than Americans. In fact, the United States already allows a significant amount of legal immigration from Mexico under the "guest-worker" program --1.6 million entries by legal immigrants and 3.9 million by temporary workers from Mexico over the last 10 years -- because farmers can't find enough native-born Americans to pick crops.

Of course, Trump lives in a fact-free universe designed merely to enhance his power and fuel his demagoguery. But you don't have to, and nor does anyone else.
INTRODUCTION

Many people love the song Imagine by John Lennon. It takes you away to this place where, just for a moment, you think humanity has a chance. Then the song ends and you realize, oh, there still are countries, and there still are many things people are killing and dying for, and possessions, and greed, and the peaceful humanist paradise that is depicted in that three minute song pops like a soap bubble. Though Lennon can be criticized for wishful thinking, at least he was thinking big. The world he imagines is not impossible. Right now, it is very far away. The genius of Imagine is the notion that yes, Lennon's vision is improbable, but wouldn't it be great if it were true! Though the atheist message may alienate some, you have to be a sociopath to conclude that world peace is bad, or that sharing the world is bad. Imagine instills a tiny kernel of hope.

This essay is a direct appeal to the billionaire class. For simplicity, multi-millionaires are lumped in with the billionaires. Social improvement is the responsibility of every citizen, but the billionaires are widely believed to control the American political process, and must buy in to the necessity of a massive social overhaul project. As long as money is important in society, if you want to solve social problems, you have to engage moneyed interests. The billionaires have the most money, which grants them the most influence. If not them, than who?

Like Imagine , the ideas expressed in this essay don't seem very likely right now, even though numerous blueprints for social improvement have been around for a long time. Also, it is difficult to portray a complex world in a five-page essay. The various assertions can all be challenged, especially as oversimplifications. Identifying exceptions to every assertion is not important. What is important is that none of the ideas are impossible. You can only assume the essay envisions an impossible world if you believe humanity is evil. That war, poverty, exploitation, inequality, and social Darwinism are inevitable consequences of human evolution, and we should all just tolerate this. We have seen the formation of leftist and right wing military dictatorships in response to social unrest. Domination is evil.

However, it is incorrect to assume futility with regard to the problems that plague us. Humanity is both good and evil. There have been many victories for the social justice movement throughout history. Humans are effective problem-solvers. Our history need not define our future. Incremental change is the more realistic expectation, but it is a useful exercise to "imagine" sweeping change, without the abhorrent violence of revolution. Finally, this essay is written in the context of the money paradigm. Many would challenge whether the existing money supply is sufficient to fund solutions to complex social problems. That discussion is beyond the scope of this essay.

What follows is an adaptation of Imagine for USA 2016, but no effort at poetry.

THE BILLIONAIRES IMPROVE THE COUNTRY PROJECT

Imagine this realization spread rapidly throughout the American billionaire class: in a stunning act of randomness, fate has granted a miniscule fraction of the population the awesome power to direct the course of human history.

Imagine that every billionaire, regardless of political orientation, convened a summit to decide what to do with this power. They called it the Billionaires Improve the Country Project.

Imagine the billionaires are as sick of the evening news nightmare as the average citizen. They brainstormed a list of interrelated social problems that urgently need to be addressed: poverty, homelessness, violence, health care financing, food insecurity, employment insecurity, endless war and terrorism, criminal justice reform, skyrocketing education costs, and environmental degradation. Forgive the billionaires if they forgot something. They are open to other suggestions.

Imagine the billionaires reviewed the tools of oligarchy: owning politicians and governmental regulation agencies, employing lobbyists, paying lawyers, judges and fixers, financing elections, financing media propaganda machines, employing private security forces and finally, funding political front groups. They said to each other, "These things are expensive!" Funding their charitable organizations is expensive too, and the sporadic implementation of these programs has a minimal effect on social dysfunction as a whole. Charity is not enough.

Imagine the billionaires concluded that political gridlock is harmful. They concluded the funding of the wasteful, poisonous Red vs. Blue political divide must stop.

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From Our Future



Trump press conference

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"I'm also very much of a germaphobe, by the way, believe me."

Try not to think too much about the story that led to this comment from the President-Elect of the United States. It's not easy, I know. We're only human, after all, and that story is so ... so out there. It's hard to turn away.

It's also hard to turn away from Trump's abusive treatment of the press, or his poor grasp of national security, or those long periods when his rambling turns to near-incoherence. All of those qualities were on conspicuous display in Wednesday's press conference.

So was the brush-off he gave when concerns were raised about Putin's role in the election: "Well, if Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability."

About that unconfirmed hotel story, the salacious one that led to the "germaphobe" remark, the one for which no evidence has been presented: The very fact that people think it might be true tells us that we're in a new and different historical moment. It suggests sordid chaos at the highest levels. It feels like end-state, social decay, late-stage-empire stuff. It's Caligula-in-the-corner-office stuff.

But there's something more important going on, and you don't need unsourced reports to see it. It was hiding in plain sight when, in a bizarre intermezzo, Trump interrupted his own press conference for a legal presentation from the law firm of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius LLP.

People joked about attorney Sheri Dillon's flat affect and boring speaking style. But it was Dillon, not Trump, who provided the day's biggest shock. If her dullness of tone helped camouflage it, that may not have been an accident. It was Dillon who outlined Trump's plan for managing his businesses while he's in the Oval Office.

If that plan doesn't amount to premeditated corruption, it certainly paves the way for it.

Dillon made it clear that Trump won't be selling his assets to avoid conflicts of interest. Nor will he be establishing a blind trust, a form of distancing that's far from adequate (no less an authority than Mitt Romney once called blind trusts "an age-old ruse") but at least provides a minimal distance between an officeholder and his or her assets.

Instead, Trump intends to turn leadership of his organization to his two sons. "It would be impossible to find an institutional trustee that would be competent to run the Trump Organization," said Dillon. (Apparently, nobody in the entire universe of experienced business people has that special blend of insight and experience that is so self-evidently present in Eric Trump and Donald Trump Jr.)

Dillon insisted that Trump would not accept any revenue from foreign governments and would instead "voluntarily donate all profits from foreign government payments made to his hotel to the United States Treasury."

That from someone who reportedly hasn't paid any taxes to the United States Treasury for years.

Leaving aside the more obvious questions -- such as, who determines what is and isn't a "foreign government payment," and, who determines the amount of profit received? -- that leaves an even more fundamental conflict in place: What will Trump do if, as president, his national security team proposes a course of action that will affect travel to a country where he has extensive hotel holdings?

Remember, Trump will still know exactly what he owns, and where. Decisions of war and peace could be influenced by how they might affect his own bottom line.

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From Consortium News



Donald Trump speaking with supporters at a campaign rally at the Phoenix Convention Center in Phoenix, Arizona. October 29, 2016.

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Is a military coup in the works? Or are U.S. intelligence agencies laying the political groundwork for forcing Donald Trump from the presidency because they can't abide his rejection of a new cold war with Russia? Not long ago, even asking such questions would have marked one as the sort of paranoid nut who believes that lizard people run the government. But no longer.

Thanks to the now-notorious 35-page dossier concerning Donald Trump's alleged sexual improprieties in a Moscow luxury hotel, it's clear that strange maneuverings are underway in Washington and that no one is quite sure how they will end.

Director of National Intelligence James Clapper added to the mystery Wednesday evening by releasing a 200-word statement to the effect that he was shocked, shocked, that the dossier had found its way into the press. Such leaks, the statement said, "are extremely corrosive and damaging to our national security."

Clapper added: "that this document is not a US Intelligence Community product and that I do not believe the leaks came from within the IC. The IC has not made any judgment that the information in this document is reliable, and we did not rely upon it in any way for our conclusions. However, part of our obligation is to ensure that policymakers are provided with the fullest possible picture of any matters that might affect national security."

Rather than vouching for the dossier's contents, in other words, all Clapper says he did was inform Trump that it was making the rounds in Washington and that he should know what it said -- and that he thus couldn't have been more horrified than when Buzzfeed posted all 35 pages on its website.

But it doesn't make sense. As The New York Times noted, "putting the summary in a report that went to multiple people in Congress and the executive branch made it very likely that it would be leaked" (emphasis in the original). So even if the "intelligence community" didn't leak the dossier itself, it distributed it knowing that someone else would.

Then there is the Guardian, second to none in its loathing for Trump and Vladimir Putin and hence intent on giving the dossier the best possible spin. It printed a quasi-defense not of the memo itself but of the man who wrote it: Christopher Steele, an ex-MI6 officer who now heads his own private intelligence firm. "A sober, cautious and meticulous professional with a formidable record" is how the Guardian described him. Then it quoted an unnamed ex-Foreign Office official on the subject of Steele's credibility:

"The idea his work is fake or a cowboy operation is false, completely untrue. Chris is an experienced and highly regarded professional. He's not the sort of person who will simply pass on gossip. ... If he puts something in a report, he believes there's sufficient credibility in it for it to be worth considering. Chris is a very straight guy. He could not have survived in the job he was in if he had been prone to flights of fancy or doing things in an ill-considered way."

In other words, Steele is a straight-shooter, so it's worth paying attention to what he has to say. Or so the Guardian assures us. "That is the way the CIA and the FBI, not to mention the British government, regarded him, too," it adds, so presumably Clapper felt the same way.

What is Afoot?

So what does it all mean? Simply that U.S. intelligence agencies believed that the dossier came from a reliable source and that, as a consequence, there was a significant possibility that Trump was a "Siberian candidate," as Times columnist Paul Krugman once described him. They therefore sent out multiple copies of a two-page summary on the assumption that at least one would find its way to the press.

Even if Clapper & Co. took no position concerning the dossier's contents, they knew that preparing and distributing such a summary amounted to a tacit endorsement. They also knew, presumably, that it would provide editors with an excuse to go public. If the CIA, FBI, and National Security Agency feel that Steele's findings are worthy of attention, then why shouldn't the average reader have an opportunity to examine them as well?

How did Clapper expect Trump to respond when presented with allegations that he was vulnerable to Russian blackmail and potentially under the Kremlin's thumb? Did he expect him to hang his head in shame, break into great racking sobs, and admit that it was all true? If so, did Clapper then plan to place a comforting hand on Trump's shoulder and suggest, gently but firmly, that it was time to step aside and allow a trusted insider like Mike Pence to take the reins?

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From Smirking Chimp

The media are engaged in an orgy of navel-gazing about the Trump presidency, but they're totally, utterly, absolutely, no-way-in-hell willing to gaze at their own navel.

Did Russian hackers revealing that Debbie Wasserman Schultz and Donna Brazile had put their thumb on the scale over at the DNC against Bernie cause Trump to win? Did he win because working white men are "angry"? Did he win because Hillary failed to campaign in the critical Rustbelt swing states? Did he win because of the Russians' media operations? Is he going to be president because so many people are so upset with "gummint"?

These (among others) are the memes that you'll find virtually every hour on TV news. But have you ever, anywhere (other than Free Speech TV), seen a TV conversation about the role the media itself played in getting Trump elected, and why they did it?

The numbers are easy to find online Trump got between $2 and $3 billion in free media coverage, while Hillary struggled to break into the evening news, and Bernie was largely ignored until the final months of the Democratic primary.

And it's not a secret: Les Moonves, the Executive Chairman and CEO of CBS, said, as reported by the Hollywood Reporter about Trump's candidacy: "It may not be good for America, but it's damn good for CBS." He added: "Donald's place in this election is a good thing. ... Man, who would have expected the ride we're all having right now? ... The money's rolling in and this is fun... I've never seen anything like this, and this going to be a very good year for us. Sorry. It's a terrible thing to say. But, bring it on, Donald. Keep going."

The networks -- whose first priority since Reagan killed the Fairness Doctrine is profitability rather than informing the public -- are no doubt salivating about the next four years of daily eruptions from the White House. They're clearly betting The Donald Trump Reality Show -- POTUS Version will provide an ongoing revenue stream, whereas a Hillary presidency would merely have been competent and boring, and thus not as profitable for the media.

Which raises an important question in this post-Fairness Doctrine, post-consolidation media landscape in the United States.

The media is the only industry that's mentioned in our Constitution, because the Founders and Framers, as much as they may have hated the coverage they were getting from newspapers (see Jefferson), believed that a "free" and vibrant press would serve as a check on the three branches of government: a Fourth Estate, if you will.

In a letter about Shay's Rebellion, which some argued was incited by newspapers, Thomas Jefferson wrote:

"The people are the only censors of their governors; and even their errors will tend to keep them to the true principles of their institution. To punish these errors too severely would be to suppress the only safeguard of the public liberty. The way to prevent these irregular interpositions of the people is to give them full information of their affairs, through the channel of public papers, and to contrive that those papers should penetrate the whole mass of the people.

"The basis of our government being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right; and were it left to me to decide, whether we should have a government without newspapers, or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter."

Had TV existed in 1783, Jefferson would have probably expressed similar sentiments about it.

As Jefferson wrote in 1786 to his close friend Dr. James Currie, "Our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."

But ever since Ronald Reagan functionally stopped enforcing the Sherman Anti-Trust Act and killed off the FCC's Fairness Doctrine, leading to an explosion of acquisitions and mergers, and Bill Clinton signed the Telecommunications Act of 1996, leading to an even more startling concentration of media in a very few hands, freedom of the press in America has become as much an economic as a political issue.

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A political cartoon using the White House as a metaphor to describe the effect a President Trump will have on politics and government.

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Retired, reformed capitalist, recovering consumer, quasi-luddite, artist, self-published poet, spiritual growth activist, animal rights advocate and Reiki master - originally from New Jersey, now living near the great urban experiment called (more...)



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Miss Universe contestants from around the world are arriving in Manila, Philippines this week ahead of the January 30 pageant.

Miss USA Deshauna Barber arrived late Wednesday night to the Filippino capital and shared her safe arrival with an Instagram post captioned," "Mabuhay Philippines!!" which is a Filippino greeting.

AROUND THE WORLD: These are the best places to visit in 2017

Prior to her departure, Barber hung out and took pointers from the current Miss Universe Pia Wurzbach, who represented the Philippines last year. The most iconic moment from her competition was when host Steve Harvey announced the wrong winner and had to correct himself for reading the card wrong.

Harvey will be hosting the pageant again this year, but he will be facing a courtroom battle just ten days before the pageant kicks off. Harvey is headed to a Texas courtroom on allegations that he had a racist rant against white people over 20 years ago. In response to the claims, he is counter-suing the man who Harvey claims is continuously trying to defame his name.

HARVEY DRAMA: 'Family Feud' host heads to Texas court to clear his name

The other pageant contestants from around the world flocked to the Filippino capital throughout the week, with some arriving over three weeks before the actual competition. To see the other contestants and details about Miss USA Deshauna Barber, click through the gallery above.
In 2016 The Midland Noon Rotary Club with donation from Jeff DeHaven installed a Little Free Library in front of the Salvation Army at 330 Waldo Ave.

Little Free Libraries are small boxes placed outside that allow people, especially children, to take a book or leave a book. The hope is to promote literacy and access to books. According to Midland Noon Rotarian, Melissa Barnard, this is all part of encouraging kids to read and to have a lifelong love of books.
EDITORS NOTE  OWI means operating while intoxicated. DWLS means driving while license suspended. (MC) is for Judge Michael D. Carpenter. (L) is for Magistrate Gerald Ladwig. (SC) is for Circuit Judge Stephen P. Carras. Sentences may vary based on previous offenses committed by the defendant. Some sentencings include other fees imposed by the state.

Auburn

Austin Ellis Couture, 23, fail to stop and identify at the scene of a traffic accident on Oct. 23, $200 fines and costs (MC).

Bay City

Shawn Mary Castillo, 45, fail to stop and identify at the scene of a traffic accident on Oct. 22, $200 fines and costs (MC).

Jeffrey Edward McDonald, 54, no proof of insurance on Nov. 23, $210 fine (L).

Coleman

Donald Alan Iafrate, 50, DWLS on Oct. 6, $500 fines and costs (MC).

Freeland

Robert Thomas Drake, 29, DWLS on Nov. 15, 93 days in jail with credit for two days, $125 fines and costs (MC).

Midland

Devin James Dziedzic, 24, Wyllys Street, allowing DWLS and no proof of insurance on Sept. 20, $250 fines and costs (MC).

Jeffrey Allan Franklin 20, North Merritt Drive, improper plate on Nov. 25, $200 fines and costs (L).

Jessy Jo Frederickson, 24, East Ashman Street, DWLS on Sept. 19, 60 days in jail with credit for seven days, $125 fines and costs (MC).

Ashley Marie Griswold, 33, Dennis Court, third-degree retail fraud on Oct. 5, 93 days in jail with all but two weekends held in abeyance and credit for one day, $575 fines and costs, one year in jail, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars or Sallys Beauty Supply, take medications as prescribed, attend counseling as directed, may not use medial marijuana while on probation (MC).

Timothy Brian Herrick, 51, Buttles Street, two counts of assault and battery on Dec. 11, 30 days in jail with credit for time served, $175 fines and costs (MC).

Katelyn Jo Jarvis, 20, Cypress Street, assault and battery on Sept. 7, 93 days in jail with all but one weekend held in abeyance and credit for one day, $550 fines and costs, nine months probation, not to be involved in any assaultive, threatening, intimidating, violent, aggressive, disorderly or abusive behavior toward any person, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed (MC).

Heidi Irene Manley, 36, East Monroe Road, impaired driving on Oct. 8, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for one day, $775 fines and costs, three months probation, attend substance abuse program, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars except for employment purposes, attend counseling as directed, to be monitored by an alcohol tether for three months (MC).

Justin Lawrence Scheifflee, 25, North Homer Township, DWLS on Nov. 30, $450 fines and costs (MC).

Keith Daniel Shannon, 29, North Baker Road, attempted malicious destruction of a building less than $200 on Sept. 23, $225 fines and costs, $150 restitution (MC).

Scott Donald Sias, 53, South Homer Road, impaired driving on Oct. 8, 10 days in jail with credit for two days, $450 fines and costs (MC).

Sara Lynn Walker, 26, Bay City Road, impaired driving on Oct. 15, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for one day, $600 fines and costs, six months probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed, to be monitored by an alcohol tether (MC).

Mount Pleasant

Hong Wu, 38, violation of the basic speed law on Nov. 25, $135 fine (L).

Saginaw

Latoya Latrice Oliver, 34, attempted second-offense DWLS on Oct. 15, 30 days in jail with credit for one day, $125 fines and costs, may be monitored by a tether rather than serve jail time, may only go to and from work (MC).

Sanford

Christian Alex Johnson, 19, reckless driving on Aug. 26, five weekends in jail, $125 fines and costs, $8,071.72 restitution (MC).

Charles Ernest Schaub, 52, animals and large on May 22, $250 fines and costs (MC).

Shepherd

Richard Allen Ryckman, 33, OWI on July 16, five weekends in jail, $200 fines and costs, to b monitored by an alcohol tether (MC).

Standish

Jason Marvin Allen, 43, allowing DWLS on Dec. 2, $300 fines and costs (L).

Elsewhere

Daniel Robert Andrick, 22, Bentley, DWLS on Dec. 1, $350 fines and costs (L).

Daniel James Hages, 27, Carrollton, carrying concealed weapons while under the influence and impaired driving on July 10, 93 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for one day, $1,000 fines and costs, one year probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed, sentence delay granted, concealed weapon permit revoked, to be monitored by an alcohol tether for six months (MC).

Gregory John Leffew, 22, Riverview, illegal entry on Oct. 2, 90 days in jail held in abeyance with credit for one day, $650 fines and costs, $8,100 restitution, one year probation, may not use or possess drugs or alcohol, subject to random drug and alcohol screening, may not enter bars, attend counseling as directed, to be monitored by an alcohol tether for six months, write letter of apology (MC).

China Marie Williams, 20, Detroit, DWLS on Nov. 25, $250 fines and costs (L).
Michigan State Police troopers from the Mount Pleasant Post are seeking help from the public to identify a suspect in a string of thefts from vehicles.

The thefts were reports Friday, and suspect was seen on multiple convenience store cameras using a victims stolen credit cards.
BLOOMINGTON  For better or worse, economic incentive deals like the one bringing Portillo's to Normal are common in the Twin Cities, records show.

In the last six years alone, more than a dozen developments, including apartment buildings, hotels and retailers have received public funding, according to information from the city of Bloomington and town of Normal.

Both governments provided details of all incentive packages given to businesses since Jan. 1, 2011, in response to a Freedom of Information Act request from The Pantagraph.

Projects range from well-known, large-scale employers, including Kroger and Rivian Automotive, to smaller developments, such as a single parking lot covering 702 and 704 S. Main St. in Normal.

"The use of public assistance as an incentive for economic development is very common here, and it's pretty common most places," said Normal City Manager Mark Peterson. "We've entered into public-private partnerships for many years  long before my time here in Normal, and I've been here now 28 years."

Normal has promised $1.825 million in future sales tax revenue from Portillo's to the developer purchasing and clearing the site at 202 Landmark Drive, now a Motel 6 hotel. With interest, the total cost to the town could hit $2.5 million.

Critics have singled out that deal because it trades tax money for a restaurant, but  while that makes it unique among deals approved since 2010  Peterson said other developments receiving public funding have "cannibalized" sales tax revenue from local competitors.

"Some of that always happens whenever a new retailer comes into the market. When Hy-Vee came into the market, you don't think that impacted the other grocery stores? Sure it did," he said. "When Kroger builds their new (location), it will impact other grocery stores, I'm sure. There will be that ripple effect."

While Hy-Vee received no incentives from the city of Bloomington to open at 1403 N. Veterans Parkway, several other businesses with local competitors have gotten public money.

Kroger will receive up to $2.57 million  10 percent of its total investment  in local sales tax over 10 years to move from 1550 E. College Ave. in Normal to a new superstore at College Avenue and Hershey Road in Bloomington.

Bloomington also gave Ashley Furniture a five-year, 50 percent sales tax refund up to $150,000 to locate at what's now Empire Crossing, and Sam Leman Auto Group will receive a 10-year, 50 percent sales tax refund up to $700,000 to expand at Veterans Parkway and Morrissey Drive.

We do these on a case-by-case basis, but the broader themes are to what extent is it going to grow the local economy and benefit the community, said Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner of offering public incentives. Its pretty typical of what metropolitan cities across the United States do. Thats the nature of the market.

Similarly, Normal gave Extreme Motors half the sales tax generated by its Hyundai dealership at 600 Greenbriar Drive for four years beginning in 2012, up to $600,000. A mixed-use development at 701 N. Main St. in Normal, which now houses Chipotle and Meatheads, involved a six-year refund of all sales tax up to $275,000.

Peterson also reiterated that the hugely popular Portillo's will bring in restaurant customers who might not otherwise spend their money in Bloomington-Normal. The town has no estimate of how much of the location's business will be from outside the Twin Cities, however.

He added the town sometimes denies public funding to developments, but those occasions are seldom made public. One, he said, was for the Chick-Fil-A and Red Robin development at College and Veterans  like Portillo's, coordinated by Chicago-based developer Tartan Realty Group.
NORMAL  The spotlight was on forward-thinking youth at the annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. awards luncheon Saturday.

Four Twin City advocates of diversity were honored with awards at the event, held at the Bone Student Center at Illinois State University in Normal.

If these people care for the community so much at a young age, imagine what theyll be like when theyre older, said Monica Pearson, keynote speaker at the event. They are real, good, kind, fun-loving, young men and women.

Pearson joined WSB-TV news station in 1975 as the first woman and minority to anchor the 6 p.m. news in Atlanta, Ga. She encouraged the crowd of hundreds to connect more with others by inviting people to church or over for dinner.

Getting to know someone in a casual atmosphere allows you to loosen up, said Pearson. Entertain together, do things together. Once you peel back that veneer, youll understand we arent at all different.

Normal Community West High School student Anniah Watson and Normal Community High School student Sujith Molaka were named the youth award winners. Mary Aplington of Normal and Kevin Jones of Bloomington received the adult human relations awards.

Jones, who mentors and encourages students at Bloomingtons Regional Alternative School, grew up in housing projects in East St. Louis. He said he wouldnt be where he is today without the help of those who supported him as a child.

In the last year, while the upheaval of our country has been very challenging, it has been the youth who have lead and inspired and given hope for our future, said Aplington, a counselor in Bloomington schools who serves on the local Back to School Alliance, Promise Council and Not In Our Town/School programs.

Watson, who is involved in the Helping Youth Progress and Excel program and is an advocate for Not In Our School, said she loves the diversity of the Twin City community but would like to see more integration.

We tend to stick to what is comfortable, she said. We should be more willing to experience other cultures and embrace diversity.

Molaka, a National Honor Society student and member of the McLean County India Association, agreed.

The Indian population is growing and there are so many other cultures prospering here, he said. But we need to work on assimilating those cultures. We should be eager to learn more about people different from us.

Pearson said that desire to connect and love others was echoed by King in his fight for civil rights.

You may find that by socializing with people of other cultures, that you have a lot more in common than you think. But that means you have to step out on faith, not fear, said Pearson.

Dr. King said, Faith is taking the first step even when you dont see the whole staircase. Sometimes that first step must be taken by an individual.
SPRINGFIELD  The final report from a state commission on criminal justice reform recommends measures that could give judges more discretion in sentencing decisions and expand services for inmates before they return to the community.

The Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform completed its 2015 directive from Gov. Bruce Rauner last week to produce recommendations to reduce the state's prison population by 25 percent by 2025. An initial report with 14 recommendations was released in December 2015, followed by the final draft with an additional 13 proposals.

Elizabeth Robb, the former chief judge of the Eleventh Judicial Circuit that includes McLean, Livingston, Woodford and Logan counties, served on the 29-member panel that reviewed that state's current practices for sentencing, supervising defendants and using alternatives to incarceration.

The 94-page report represents a philosophical shift "as far as focusing more on rehabilitation, treatment and services for people in prison to better prepare them for release into the community," said Robb, who retired in 2014.

Recognizing that Illinois' prison population has grown from less than 10,000 to about 49,000 in four decades, the commission looked at all stages of the criminal justice process that impact whether a person goes to prison, how long they stay and what steps can be taken to keep them from joining the 50 percent who return to state custody within three years.

Recommendations that sentences for all felonies other than Class 4 be lowered and judges provided with more discretion in sentencing would safely reduce the prison population, according to the report.

Flexibility in the courtroom allows a judge who has access to a defendant's personal and criminal history to more accurately determine a sentence that includes needed services, said Robb.

Under a sentencing reform measure, judges would have the discretion to place a person on probation for residential burglary, a subsequent Class 2 or greater felony and Class X drug offenses  all charges that currently carry mandatory prison sentences.

A drug law that disproportionately affects black offenders accused of selling drugs within 1,000 feet of so-called protected areas should be changed to require prosecutors to establish a connection between the crime and the area before that offense can be increased by one felony class, according to the commission. The boundaries of protected areas that include schools, parks and churches would be reduced to 500 feet and public housing would be removed as a drug-free zone.

Robb supports a recommendation to expand credit for rehabilitative programming to all inmates, a move that would increase the number of prisoners eligible for credit on their sentences.

"If we are just warehousing people, their behavior won't change. There's a belief that if inmates know there are things they can do to reduce their sentences, they are more likely to be involved in those programs," said Robb.

Panel member David Olson, criminal justice professor and co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice at Loyola University, was in Bloomington last week for a meeting of the McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, part of a commission recommendation to encourage more counties to form similar local groups to monitor jail usage and the effectiveness of the justice system.

"The decisions on who goes to jail are made locally so there's a need to get people engaged in an educated, nonpartisan discussion of what's going on," said Olson.

With the commission's report on Rauner's desk, implementing many of the reform measures will depend upon new legislation being introduced to amend current laws. A new requirement that inmates leave prison with identification cards is one of the bipartisan panel's recommendations recently passed by lawmakers.
Presidential inaugurations can be greeted by the American people with trepidation or celebration, depending on the state of the nation or the strengths and weaknesses  real or imagined  of the president-elect.

On March 4, 1893, nearly 124 years ago, Grover Cleveland became the 24th president of the United States when he placed his right hand on a family Bible and pledged to defend the U.S. Constitution.

A promise of bipartisanship greeted this inauguration, the good feelings buoyed in part because there were few significant differences when it came to matters of policy and governing style between the outgoing president, Republican Benjamin Harrison, and the victorious Cleveland, a Democrat.

Grover Clevelands running mate was Adlai E. Stevenson I of Bloomington, and as vice president-elect he enjoyed his time in the national spotlight during the hectic days surrounding the inauguration.

Cleveland is the only U.S. president to serve non-consecutive terms (impress neighbors with that one at your next cocktail party!). During the first administration (1885-1889), the ever-loyal Stevenson served as assistant postmaster general, a humdrum-sounding title, though one that wielded considerable power by directly controlling tens of thousands of federal patronage jobs.

After coming up short in his re-election bid, Cleveland returned to the White House four years later, this time with Stevenson on the ticket. Shouts for Cleve and Steve were common in Democratic circles during the 1892 campaign.

In late February 1893, Stevenson, his wife, Letitia Green, and their four children, along with a retinue of several hundred friends, supporters and party officials, traveled by specially chartered train to Washington, D.C., for the inauguration. Some 2,000 people were at Bloomingtons west side depot to bid the vice president-elect Godspeed as the train headed north to Chicago and then east for the 36-hour rail journey to the nations capital.

Aboard the train were members of the First Time Voters Club, easily recognizable with their stylish blue blazers and white caps. They were led by 24-year-old Lewis Green Stevenson, the vice president-elects son (and eventually father of Adlai E. Stevenson II, the Illinois governor and two-time Democratic presidential candidate).

The proud Illinoisans arrived in Washington on Feb. 28, with the Stevensons occupying a cluster of rooms at the Ebbitt House, one of the citys finest hotels (they would eventually settle down in the newly opened Normandie Hotel six blocks from the White House). Befitting Midwesterners with a reputation for unpretentious living and manners (that is, compared to Washington high society), the Ebbitt House rooms were comfortable rather than ostentatiously showy.

Vice President Levi P. Morton and his wife, Anna Street Morton, held a reception for the Stevensons upon their arrival in the capital. It was an unprecedented thing for the outgoing vice president to bestow any recognition, official or social, upon his successor, noted one observer. Morton and Stevenson, though, had served together and got along swimmingly in the House of Representatives (albeit from opposite sides of the aisle) during the 46th Congress, 1879-1881.

Despite the exhausting rail journey, the apparently indefatigable Stevenson welcomed callers to his Ebbitt House suite until nearly midnight. The next morning, March 1, Stevenson began receiving callers not long after 6 a.m. Letitia stood or sat next to her husbands side, and the vice president-elect energetically introduced his wife to each and every caller.

Mrs. Stevenson has completely captivated Washington since her arrival last night, noted the Chicago Daily News. She is a charming hostess  being at once animated and dignified in her bearing  without the slightest touch of affectation or artifice.

On the morning of Friday, March 2, the 100-strong Stevenson Escort Club received a wholly unexpected invitation from the White House to meet President Harrison that afternoon. Apparently, it was the outgoing presidents wish, in a gesture of bipartisan comity, to meet Stevensons hometown boosters. The president shook hands with the callers and expressed his pleasure at meeting the friends of the vice president-elect, read one account of the meeting.

Meanwhile, Stevenson remained ensconced in his Ebbitt House quarters greeting a thousand and more visitors throughout the day. Mr. Stevenson is a good shaker, commented one reporter.

The genial Stevenson welcomed all comers, even the hard-bitten, ink-stained wretches of the fourth estate. My election to the vice presidency will make no difference with my relations to members of the press, Stevenson said on the eve of the inauguration. You boys will be just as welcome as in the old days. There will be no sentry standing in front of the vice presidents room.

On inauguration morning Stevenson met President Harrison and President-elect Cleveland at the White House, and they traveled together by carriage to the Capitol Building.

Everyone then packed into the Senate chamber for the convening of the 53rd Congress, the highlight of which was Stevenson taking the oath of office to become the nations 23rd vice president.

In his brief inaugural address, Stevenson acknowledged his own human frailty and faults when confronted, as he was now, with the awesome responsibility of helping guide the ship of state. He placed his faith not in himself but with the people.

I assume the duties of the great trust confided to me with no feeling of self-confidence, but rather with that of grave distrust of my ability satisfactorily to meet its requirements, declared Stevenson. I may be pardoned for saying that it shall be my earnest endeavor to discharge the important duties which lie before me with no less of impartiality and courtesy than of firmness and fidelity.

Such self-effacing language  admitting to ones limits and recognizing the complexities of leadership  would be wholly alien to the segment of our polity today that cheers on chauvinistic bluster, incessant boasting and ego-stroking proclamations.

At about noon the procession moved from the Senate to the outdoor platform on the Capitols East Portico, with Harrison and Cleveland walking arm-in-arm. Chief Justice Melville Fuller administered the oath of office to the new president. Snow the night before kept some folks away.

The inauguration ball, the first to feature electric lighting, was held in the cavernous inner courtyard of the Pension Building. The bewildering magnificence included myriad electric globes and sparkling fountains of tinted water. At either end of the courtyard were the names Cleveland and Stevenson glowing brightly in electric light.

In 1900, Stevenson once more found himself on the Democratic national ticket, serving this time as running mate to William Jennings Bryan, the free-silver populist firebrand. The Democrats, though, would lose badly to William McKinley and Theodore Roosevelt.

Stevenson passed away in 1914 at the age of 78. The family home still stands on the east side of Bloomington's Franklin Park, at the northeast corner of McLean and Chestnut streets.
Each year, the president declares Jan. 16 to be Religious Freedom Day and calls upon Americans to observe this day through appropriate events and activities in homes, schools and places of worship. The day is the anniversary of the passage, in 1786, of the Virginia Statute of Religious Freedom.

History affirms the earliest settlers came to this country for religious freedom; some came from lands where worship was determined by the rulers. This influenced the First Constitutional Amendment: Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.

So few words with vast meaning: We, the people, are protected from government imposing any one form of religious worship. Wouldnt it be wonderful if, on National Religious Freedom Day, each one would realize and self-search within to be the best they can be, and share with others and attend a church of their choice? Then, pray that there will always be a National Religious Freedom Day. The Womans Christian Temperance Union welcomes women and men to join us in this effort.

Loreta Jent, Bloomington

The writer is vice president, Illinois WCTU.
Last October, Kim Kardashian was robbed at gunpoint in her hotel room while attending Paris Fashion Week. French outlet Le Journal du Dimanche has released today what looks like the police report from the robbery.

The report was made at 4:30 AM, just hours after Kim was held up and managed to escape her restraints. She detailed the traumatic events:

"He takes out a weapon and I show him the ring," Kim said in the report. "He pointed the weapon toward me. He takes the ring, he wears gloves. He asked me where the jewels and the money are. They catch me and took me in the lobby. I was wearing a bathrobe, naked underneath. Then we went in the room again and they pushed me on the bed. And, at this time, they strapped me with plastic cables and tape on my hands, then they taped my mouth and my legs. They carried me in my bathroom, more specifically in my bathtub."

She also outlined what was stolen from her:

"In my jewelery box, there were two Cartier diamond bracelets, a Jacob necklace in gold set with diamonds, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings, and the other by Yanina," she told the police. "There were three Jacob gold necklaces, small bracelets, jewels, rings. A Lorraine Schwartz necklace in diamonds, another necklace with six small diamonds on it. One last necklace with the name of my son (Saint), in diamonds. I also had a diamond cross from the Jacob brand. A Rolex watch in yellow gold. There were two yellow gold rings. I think they stole $5 million."

Since the robbery, Kim has limited her public appearances and Kanye canceled a stop on his Saint Pablo tour. At last count, 16 people have been arrested in connection to the crime.

Header photo via Neil Rasmus/BFA.com
Kate Middleton expressed her understanding about the difficulties of child-rearing with fellow mothers as she paid a visit to the Anna Freud Center for Children and Families Wednesday. For the Duchess of Cambridge, raising kids is always challenging even though there are royal nannies and blue-blooded godparents who support them.

"Parenting is tough," Duchess Kate said, as reported by Telegraph. She was greeted by a chorus of moms who were shaking their heads while murmuring "preach."

The Duchess' husband, Prince William, would always boast about how fantastic Kate is as a mother and wife. He also shared that parenting is such a tough job but it can be a joy if both parents play the role wholeheartedly, the father-of-two said during his interview with E! News two months ago.

The 34-year-old Duchess, who is a mom-of-two, spoke with women enrolled in the center's early years parenting unit. These listeners have battled problems like depression or difficult upbringings in the past. The royal mom offered words of encouragement as she shared her experiences in doing the extraordinary tasks of being a parent.

"I find it extraordinary how you've managed actually, so really well done," Middleton told the parenting unit, as per USA Today. Even though Duchess Kate seemed to have the most expensive facilities and strategies to use as a parent, child-rearing is still not an easy job.

The speaking engagement is Kate Middleton's first sighting after she celebrated her 35th birthday earlier in the week. Prior to her visit, she had a church trip with Queen Elizabeth II, who was reportedly recovering from a severe cold, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Duchess Kate was an epitome of royal beauty when she wore a bright blue coat by British brand Eponine, the vintage-inspired line features '50s silhouettes and cuts. Kate's dress design has turned to be a new favorite among the royal ladies.

In her previous engagement, Duchess Kate wore a red skirt suit from the designer. Such brand was also modeled by Princess Eugenie at the Queen's 90th birthday celebration, where she wore a red dress with cut-out detail along the neckline.

Do you agree with Kate Middleton's statement, saying "parenting is tough?" Please share your thoughts below.
Educating students in the primary and secondary schools have always been on the top of the list of the United Nations. Recently, it has increased its efforts to increase and participation in the tertiary level. The education experts consider the United Nation's effort to improve higher education access among the poorest countries in the world a historic moment.

Even the United Nation's 2030 Sustainable Development Goals for 2030 is focused on reducing gender inequality. It aims to empower women by making quality and affordable education more accessible to them. The goal is to boost the attendance of women in different educational levels, including vocation and university education. But experts claim gender inequality is not just the problem.

Two educators from the University of Cambridge warned that the campaign to reduce gender inequality in education will only lead to other inequalities in education brought about by poverty. A study conducted by the University of Oxford found that the participation gap in education remained wide due to the disparity in income and not gender, according to Times Higher Education.

Education is not only an intrinsic right for girls but is also an important factor in achieving their development objectives, according to UNICEF. Proper education will help women break the poverty cycle. Women who are educated will most likely not be pushed into involuntary marriages. When women make intelligent decisions when it comes to marriage, there is a greater chance that their babies will be a lot healthier. They will also have more opportunities to go to school.

Many governments have removed some of the barriers to accessible education by abolishing fees and uniform requirements, as per One. But poor families are on the rise, and for them, it is more beneficial to keep the children at home or at work, instead of sending them to school. With the many challenges faced by the education sector including lack of classrooms, scarcity of teachers and even lack of school supplies, it is not enough that gender inequality is reduced but it is also important to check the levels of poverty.

What do you think is the best solution to eradicate gender inequality? Share your thoughts below.
The Honest Company has recalled its organic baby powder from the market due to health concerns. Those who have purchased the powders will be given a full refund upon immediate return of the product.

In the United States, the baby powder comes in four-ounce containers and distributed with the UPC number 817810014529. The company has posted a video on its website, telling customers that the voluntary recall involved only the baby powder and not their other products.

"During recent testing of our organic baby powder, possible contaminations with microorganisms was found, including some species associated with skin or eye infections," Christopher Gavin, company cofounder, said in an article published by Pop Sugar. "For that reason, we've decided to voluntarily recall this product out of an abundance of caution."

The California-based company conducted a routine testing of the product with the knowledge of the Food and Drug Administration, according to USA Today. They discovered that the products have been contaminated by infection-causing microorganisms.

The Honest Company has been previously accused by the Wall Street Journal of using irritants such as Sodium Lauryl Sulfate in its liquid detergent products. The company denied the accusations, saying they are using a gentler alternative called Sodium Coco-Sulfate.

The Honest Company has become popular partly because one of its founder, "Mechanic: Resurrection" actress Jessica Alba. The company chose the name because it reflected its intentions and beliefs, a stated on The Honest Company website.

Moreover, the company said its products were truthful, free from deception and fraud. The company said it was established, not merely for profit, but for social consciousness.

The company carries the Statement of Assurance by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). It also carries the cruelty-free logo of PETA. All products from The Honest Company comes with the Honestly Free Guarantee to show its commitment to the wellbeing of children.
A new patent troll lawsuit was filed against Apple in the patent troll friendly Texas Eastern district Court last week. The troll named Seatoun Media is using a patent originally assigned to Voice Express Corporation by the U.S. Patent Office in 2002. The lawsuit never mentions the original assignee. They claim that Apple iDevices using messaging software infringes their acquired patent. The application titled "Point to point voice message processor, method and recording/playback device" relates to and describes an ancient point of sale system. An excerpt of this patent is noted below:

"It is a purpose of the present invention to provide for a simple and flexible method and system that will permit voice message recording/playback devices to be ordered and recorded during one phone call without the need for expensive switching and voice processing hardware and similarly to provide a flexible system which permits voice message recording/playback devices to be recorded at a point of sale whether that point of sale is accessed by way of a phone call or a personal visit.

It is also a purpose of the present invention to provide a system and method that permits an agent at the point of sale to select independently the point of delivery, instruct personnel at the point of delivery directly and control the time to transfer the voice message from the point of sale to the point of delivery.

It is also a purpose of the present invention to permit the customer to select personally and the sales agent to request personally from the delivery site the maximum recording length of the voice message recording/playback device, the model, package design of the voice message recording/playback device, as well as to select any accessory which the customer wishes to have delivered with it."





Voice Express's original filing noted that patent "FIG. 6 is a perspective view, on an enlarged scale illustrating the presently preferred structure of a voice message recording/playback device and the presently preferred structure of a direct record input device in accordance with the present invention." The preferred structure of 2002 doesn't look like a mobile phone or cell phone. It was a customized device for a POS system. .



In the eyes of Seatoun Media, this somehow translates to Apple infringing a modern messaging system that has no connection whatsoever to a POS Point of Sales system. Abandoning the real purpose of this invention, the law firm will focus their case entirely on playing the legalese tango with patent claims to provide the invention with magical powers to apply to things never conceived by the original inventor. The law firm owns no "real product" in the market for sale. The patent was acquired solely for the purpose of suing tech companies with deep pockets.Of course the law firm will take the stance that they're job is to defend the IP of the world. .



The war over Patent Trolls continues in the courts. For interest sake, you could check out Patently Apple's December report titled "The Patent Case of the Decade Could End Most Patent Troll Litigation in Eastern Texas Courts against Apple & others."

The Full Formal Seatoun Media Complaint

"Apple makes, uses, or sells a variety of electronic devices, including smartphones and tablets.

Apple has directly infringed, and continues to directly infringe, at least one claim of the [6,356,626] '626 Patent under 35 U.S.C.  271, literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents. Discovery is ongoing, and the claims have not yet been construed, but at this preliminary stage, Apple infringes, and continues to infringe, claims 1through 19 of the '626 Patent, literally and/or under the doctrine of equivalents. Defendant's infringing acts include, but are not limited to: making, using, selling, and offering to sell its electronic devices and software.

These Apple products, among other infringing features, provide the capability to allow a user to record and/or play back voice messages through a communication link connection of an Apple phone, tablet, or pod using Messaging or iMessage software. A non-limiting list of these products, at this preliminary stage, include the iPhone 4 and its variants, the iPhone 5 and its variants, the iPhone 6 and its variants, the iPhone 7 and its variants, the iPod Touch and its variants, the iPad and its variants, the iPad 2 and its variants, the iPad 3 and its variants, the iPad4 and its variants, the iPad Air and its variants, the iPad Air 2 and its variants, the iPad Mini and its variants, and the Messaging and/or iMessage software.





As one example, Apple currently makes, uses, and sells the Apple iPhone 6 and iMessage. These products infringe at least one claim of the '626 Patent, at least by providing the capability to record and play voice messages through a communications link.

Apple has indirectly infringed at least one claim of the '626 Patent, through induced infringement under 35 U.S.C.  271. Apple was notified of its infringement of the '626 Patent as on October 16, 2016. Nevertheless, Apple continues its acts of indirect infringement by continuing to actively induce consumers to practice the invention claimed in the '626 Patent. Apple instructs consumers to use Apple iPhones with iMessage, within the scope of the '626 Patent. For example, consumers are induced to use their iPhone 6 with iMessage to record and play voice messages through a communications link.

With knowledge of the '626 Patent, Apple has indirectly infringed the '626 Patent by inducing the direct infringement by consumers, by enabling, instructing, and encouraging consumers to make and use the infringing apparatus described in at least one claim of the '626 Patent, while aware that their use is infringing.

Apple's use of the technology claimed in the '626 Patent is without license or authorization from Seatoun.

Seatoun has been damaged by Apple's infringement of the '626 Patent.

Apple was notified of its infringement of the '626 Patent as on October 16, 2016, and its ongoing infringement is willful."

The patent infringement case presented in today's report was filed in the Texas Eastern District Court. At present, no Judge has been assigned to the case.

Notice: Patently Apple presents only a brief summary of certain legal cases/ lawsuits which are part of the public record for journalistic news purposes. Readers are cautioned that Patently Apple does not offer an opinion on the merit of the case and strictly presents the allegations made in said legal cases / lawsuits. A lawyer should be consulted for any further details or analysis. About Making Comments on this Site: Patently Apple reserves the right to post, dismiss or edit comments. Those using abusive language or behavior will result in being blacklisted on Disqus.
On January 11 Patently Apple posted a report titled "Samsung Heir Identified as Suspect in Bribery Case." The de facto head of the Samsung Group was summoned to appear at 9:30 a.m. in Seoul on Thursday, special prosecution spokesman Lee Kyu-chul said in a briefing. While Lee, 48, was widely expected to be called in for questioning, the fact that he was identified as a suspect was a surprise. Today we're leaning that the special investigators have delayed a decision to seek an arrest warrant for Samsung's Vice Chairman Lee Jae-yong by a day because of politics.

Today's Korean report noted that "The special counsel team led by Park Young-soo has been facing mixed calls on Lee. Some liberal politicians urged investigators not to give favors to conglomerate owners, while others demanded they not be harsh on business leaders, pointing out Samsung's influence in South Korean economy.

Another official was quoted by Yonhap News Agency as saying "We have done the investigation fully. Only the final decision is left to be made, but we are gauging various factors." If the court approves investigators' request to arrest Lee, Samsung Group is feared to face a massive leadership vacuum. Not only its restructuring efforts, but also its merger and acquisition drive will all be tied down, putting Samsung's long-term plans at risk.

Is this insane that the law could be sidestepped because Samsung is too big to fail? Sounds like the very question that surfaced during the U.S. banking crisis. Did the big bank executives go to jail? Yes and no. Even though the news didn't get the headlines that it should have, 35 bankers did in fact go to jail to smash the myth that no bankers went to jail.

However, the really big bank executives at the top US banks got away with only paying massive fines in the billions. Yes, there are those that are too big to fail in the U.S. and elsewhere around the globe.

Something tells me that Samsung's Lee won't be seeing the inside of a jail cell because he's untouchable in South Korea. A huge fine will likely be handed down and Lee will make all kinds of humble statements and then life will go on. Sorry, but I truly believe this is going to be the outcome this week.

In Lee's testimony this week before the special counsel team he reportedly said that Samsung was forced by President Park Geun-hye to offer financial support to Choi Soon-sil, a key figure in the corruption scandal that has been rocking the nation.

The Samsung heir apparent made the confession during an interrogation session Thursday, in which he was questioned for about 22 hours.

His recent claim differs from what he said during a parliamentary hearing in December last year. Samsung's de facto leader said at the time he and President Park only discussed matters related to the conglomerate and its investment plans in a meeting.

"Those who lie at a parliamentary hearing can face a charge of perjury," the official added. But once again, it's like Hillary Clinton who lied in Congressional hearings and she's yet to face the music. Too big to fail? We all know it exists, it's just when it's in your face you can't believe that this elitist favoritism still exists. And you wonder why the public is jaded when it comes to politics, government and elections? Ha.

While I'm sure that Apple die-hard fans want to see Lee get the book thrown at him for a million reasons  it's likely not to happen. We're bound to hear a simple judgement handed down, a huge fine handed out, a little hand slapping and then we'll collectively shake our heads and the world will keep on turning so that South Korea's economy isn't rocked. End of story.

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.


One of those memories I treasure for the years I served at the First Unitarian Society in Newton, Massachusetts, was the pulpit. I was always careful when speaking of the church and various things about it to say our, after all it was our church. But, I always said, my pulpit. Even though I held it in trust, it had been presented to me within that trust and it was mine for eight years.

As an object it was a wonder to behold. Among the delights of the thing were the carved figures that circled the pulpit, which itself reached up and out. Once you were in there, there was no removing you until you were done. The figures were all Unitarian greats. Among them John Biddle. Although in subsequent years Ive come to suspect the image was imaginative, as there appears to be no authoritative contemporary image of him.

John Biddle, sometimes Bidle was born near Gloucestershire, in England, on this day in 1615. He attended Magdalen Hall in Oxford and earned an MA in 1641. As a headmaster of a school affiliated with the cathedral he turned his attention to the scriptures, and like many who read the document critically found insufficient and certainly no direct support for the doctrine of the trinity. (There are only two explicit references, one in Matthew, the other in John. The general consensus among scholars is that they do not exist in early versions of the texts, and are interpolations added long after their original composition)

That was, of course, his downfall. In 1645 he was imprisoned. Then again the following year. And then again the year after that. While imprisoned he wrote Twelve Arguments Drawn Out of Scripture, Wherein the Commonly Received Opinion Touching the Deity of the Holy Spirit, Is Clearly and Fully Refuted. And soon he was imprisoned once more and remained so until the amnesty of 1660.

He once again fell foul of the government who ordered his Twofold Catechism: The One simply called A Scripture Catechism, the Other, A brief Scripture-Catechism for Children confiscated and destroyed. The new government, well actually the dictator Oliver Cromwell had him imprisoned once more. Little is more dangerous than a really good idea. This time, his health broken, he died.

It is also possible that he translated the renowned Racovian Catechism, a critical link between English and continental Unitarians.

Now, orthodox Christians like to celebrate their saints and martyrs upon the date of their death. Makes a ton of sense, it is the moment they go to their glory. One can argue it is also the date that we can truly assess a persons life. But, me, I prefer birthdays, filled, as all our birthdays are, with possibility and hope.

And so today, the 14th of January, I feel called to recall and to celebrate the life of a true hero of the deep way, a martyr to relentless not knowing, to taking the path of honesty in heart and mind to wherever it may go.

I celebrate John Biddle.
Estimados amigos,

Les doy cordialmente la bienvenida a este Blog informativo con articulos, analisis y comentarios de publicaciones especializadas y especialmente seleccionadas, principalmente sobre temas economicos, financieros y politicos de actualidad, que esperamos y deseamos, sean de su maximo interes, utilidad y conveniencia.

Pensamos que solo comprendiendo cabalmente el presente, es que podemos proyectarnos acertadamente hacia el futuro.

Las convicciones son mas peligrosos enemigos de la verdad que las mentiras.

There are decades when nothing happens and there are weeks when decades happen.

You only find out who is swimming naked when the tide goes out.

No soy alguien que sabe, sino alguien que busca.

Only Gold is money. Everything else is debt.

Las grandes almas tienen voluntades; las debiles tan solo deseos.

Quien no lo ha dado todo no ha dado nada.

History repeats itself, first as tragedy, second as farce.

If you know the other and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles.

We are travelers on a cosmic journey, stardust, swirling and dancing in the eddies and whirlpools of infinity. Life is eternal. We have stopped for a moment to encounter each other, to meet, to love, to share.This is a precious moment. It is a little parenthesis in eternity.
Patna: Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Saturday, as expected, visited the official home of former Chief Ministers Rabri Devi and her husband and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad Yadav where he was given a warm welcome on the occasion of Makar Sankranti.

In a display of 'all-is-well' within the grand alliance in Bihar, the Chief Minister's arrival at the Lalu-Rabri household caused a flutter within the Yadav family as everyone from the RJD President to the security officials came out of the building to greet Kumar.

After having been seated next to Lalu Prasad Yadav, Rabri Devi, their daughter and MP Misa Bharti served Dahi, Chura, Tilkut and other items associated with Makar Sankranti that the two ate amidst small talks.

Using the religious festival to advance his political agenda, Yadav said that putting 'dahi tilak' on the forehead of Nitish Kumar, he had 'purified' everything and all was going to be well within the 'Mahagathbandhan', or the grand alliance, in Bihar.

"There is no crack in the Mahagathbandhan as suggested in the media. We are all together and with the 'tilak' on the Chief Minister's head, I have purified everything," the RJD chief said.

As reported, there had been rumors of growing discord within the grand alliance in Bihar after Kumar complemented Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his decision on demonetization while the PM congratulated the Chief Minister for imposing prohibition in Bihar during Modi's recent visit to Patna to take part in the Prakash Utsav.

The fact that Yadav was made to sit on the floor while Modi and Kumar sat on chairs at the main dais at the Gandhi Maidan only help add fuel to the fire as murmurs in the political circle began of a possible crack in the alliance.

Making sure that the media did not read too much into his recent hobnobbing with the Prime Minister, Kumar, without mentioning Modi's name, said that 'unlike some others', he was not one of those who would make the promise only to break them later on.

"We are not like those who made promises during the campaign only to forget about them later. We remember our promises and intend to keep them," the Chief Minister said.
Patna: A trip to diara to take part in the kite festival on the occasion of Makar Sankranti in Patna on Saturday turned into a tragedy as at least 21 people met their watery grave in the Ganges after an overcrowded boat carrying more than 70 people sank in the river.

{gallery}newsimages2017/jan/011417_1{/gallery}As reported, the boat, at the end of the kite festival, left Sabalpur Diara at around 5:45 pm for National Institute of Technology (NIT) ghat. However, it had barely moved about 70 to 80 feet when it's engine started to sputter and then stopped. This caused panic among the passengers who started to jump out of the boat. The boat then lost its balance and turned turtle throwing all of its occupants, including several children, into the water.

While 19 people were able to swim back to the diara bank, others drowned in the river and died.

Divers from National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) and State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) were searching for survivors and dead bodies as at least 20 others were said to be missing. Senior police officers including Patna District Magistrate (DM) Sanjay Agrawal and Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) of Manu Maharaj were camping at the site to monitor the situation.

Unconfirmed reports also said that the arrangement at the diara by the district administration was extremely poor and at one point, police had to resort to mild lathi charge following a clash among the kite flyers.

Following today's accident, the four-day kite flying event at the diara was cancelled, officials said.

Expressing his grief over the tragedy, Chief Minister Nitish Kumar ordered a high-level probe into the accident while also announcing an ex gratia payment of Rs. 4 lakh to the family members of the victims.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a press release, also expressed his sorrow over the tragedy.

Modi, who was to inaugurate the reconstruction work of the Mahatma Gandhi Setu between Patna and Hajipur via videoconferencing on Sunday, also canceled the event following today's disaster.
Iranian Women Arrested for Riding Motorcycle; Video Fuels Backlash

01/14/17

By Michael Lipin, VOA

Iranian police have arrested two women for riding a motorcycle in a western city - an incident that went viral when images appeared online and sparked a social-media backlash against the country's political and religious authorities.





Two Iranian women riding a motorcycle in Dezful.

(source: video posted on Iranian investigative journalist Masih Alinejad's Facebook)





State news agency IRNA said the two women were detained Sunday in Dezful, whose law enforcement chief, Ali Elhami, accused them of committing an "ugly" act that breaks the "religious norms" of the conservative Islamic-led nation.

IRNA quoted Elhami as saying he ordered the women's arrest after online images of the two women riding the motorcycle and being surrounded by male onlookers at a local park prompted complaints about the women's dress, appearance and interaction with the men. The women, who were not identified, were handed over to judicial authorities.

Women in Iran are barred from obtaining licenses to drive motorcycles in public.







Read article published by Iranian daily Shargh:

"Iranian law doesn't ban women from riding motorcycles"



Iranian investigative journalist Masih Alinejad, who hosts VOA Persian's TV program Tablet, shared images of the incident on her Facebook page and her Instagram account./p>

The 34-second video, apparently filmed by a witness with a mobile phone, shows two women riding a motorcycle on a street with a group of male motorcyclists riding behind them, while onlookers yell and whistle. After a few seconds, the video shows the women standing in the midst of a group of male motorcyclists who gesture at them and hold up their phones to take pictures. The women walk away from the men and the video stops.

WWhat happened next is not clear from the posted video.

On Alinejad's Facebook page, some users criticized the male onlookers for shameful and harassing behavior. Others criticized the arrest of the female motorcyclists as part of what they see as Iran's oppression of women.







PHOTOS: Iran opens doors to women motorcyclists

August 2016



Iran does not ban all women from motorcycle riding. Off-road motorcycle racer Behnaz Shafiei was among a group of women granted official permission to practice on off-road circuits in 2015. In March of that year, Iranian newspaper Jamejam published photos of her practicing. At the time, she also told The Guardian newspaper that she hoped to be allowed to compete in motocross competitions.





VOA's Persian service contributed to this report.



About the author: Michael Lipin covers international news for VOA on the web, radio and TV, specializing in the Middle East and East Asia Pacific. Follow him on Twitter @Michael_Lipin
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An Army soldier from Hemet who was deployed from Fort Bliss in Texas has died while serving in Kuwait, the U.S. Department of Defense announced Saturday.

Spc. John P. Rodriguez, 23, died Thursday, Jan. 12, in the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in a non-combat related incident, a news release states. The incident is under investigation.

Rodriguez was deployed to Kuwait for Operation Inherent Resolve, said spokesman Gil Telles. He was assigned to 2nd Engineer Battalion, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division, Fort Bliss, the news release states.

A post on the 2nd Engineer Battalions Facebook page said a memorial ceremony for the families at Fort Bliss would be scheduled in the near future.

A son, a husband, and a friend to everyone around him, Rod was an amazing person that we all loved, the post said. Our most heartfelt condolences go out to his family back home.

His awards and decorations include the Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terror Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Army Commendations Medal, according to an email from the Fort Bliss public affairs office.

City News Service contributed to this report.
A group of Riverside women sat down for dinner recently and talked about the shift in the presidency over warm bowls of chicken noodle soup.

They hadnt all voted for the same candidate, but there was no shouting or arguing.

Im not fearful. I think he will do a good job, said Nancy Hammer, who supports Republican president-elect Donald Trump.

I dont like the way, how he thinks about women  I pray that he will just do justice for all of us, said Ramona Ramirez, who supported Democrat Hillary Clinton.

The women are all Catholic parishioners who are fasting and praying as the Jan. 20 presidential inauguration approaches. Thursday nights soup was their first real meal of the day.

They were fasting as part of an 18-day directive from Bishop Gerald R. Barnes of the Diocese of San Bernardino in response to the divisive rhetoric that emerged from both presidential campaigns. The fast ends Thursday, Jan. 19, the day before Trump is inaugurated.

Its meant to encourage civility among the church when parishioners may find themselves discussing Trump, who has caused tensions among family members and friends who dont agree with his views on immigration, foreign policy, civil rights, and other issues.

Parishioners were asked to fast for one day. They could fast and pray on their own at home, or communally with members of their church. A calendar dictates which day groups of congregations should be fasting. As they fast, theyre encouraged to pray that Trump will promote human life and dignity.

The fast is similar to the days of fasting during Lent, in which one full meal is permitted with two smaller meals as needed to maintain strength.

This fast is specific to the Diocese of San Bernardino. Other congregations across Southern California are reaching out in different ways. Parishes throughout the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, for example, are observing Migration Week with special Masses and prayers focused on immigrant families.

John Andrews, spokesman for the Diocese of San Bernardino, which serves Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said this is the first time the Diocese has responded to a shift in presidency in this manner.

Its not meant to show favor for one side or another, he said. Its really trying to get everyone to agree that we should be praying for our country  for our principles.

Traditionally, Catholics fast during the Lenten season in preparation for the sacrificial death of Jesus on Good Friday, as a way to spiritually and psychologically prepare for that, said Lara Medina, a Cal State Northridge professor who specializes in religion and social change.

I would imagine that perhaps the thinking is calling people to be conscious of this change in the presidency and the seriousness of it because of the rhetoric and discourse thats been espoused by president-elect Trump, and how harmful it will be to so many working-class and unemployed people, Lara said.

Fasting isnt seen as punishment, its seen as a cleansing, of letting go, allowing oneself to take a step back and re-evaluate oneself, perhaps thats the connection there, she added.

At the dinner table, Thursday, Jan. 12, at St. Catherine of Alexandria Church in Riverside, Ramirez shared her worries about the incoming administration. She fears Trump will do away with mental health services, among other things, and she doesnt believe he views women respectfully.

On the other hand, Hammer said shes scared of ISIS. She said Trumps business experience will be good for the country.

Deacon John De Gano of St. Catherine of Alexandria said building bridges is what this is all about.

There was a lot of negative rhetoric (during the election). A lot of people pointing fingers at each other, he said.

What were asking is that the rhetoric die down, that people come to recognize were all human beings, he added.

De Gano led the prayer before dinner Thursday, urging an end to divisive language and a return to civility and peace.

We pray for all those who have a hand guiding our nation, De Gano said.

Were praying for people to have less fear because some people were not pleased with the outcome of the elections, he added. Some were overly pleased. Were trying to find balance in healing.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9462, amolina@scng.com, or on Twitter @alemolina
The election of Republican Donald Trump has instilled so much fear in some immigrants that a number of them reportedly started packing their bags to move back to their native countries.

But immigrant rights organizers are saying, Not so fast.

In the wake of Trumps election, dozens of Know your Rights forums are being held across Southern California to educate the immigrant community about their U.S. constitutional rights.

During his presidential campaign, Trump vowed to deport the 11 million immigrants who are in the U.S. without proper documentation. He also has pledged to build a wall between the United States and Mexico.

Related: How Inland residents view Trumps inauguration

Theres certain constitutional rights and even rights in current immigration law that people have that Trump cannot change, said immigration attorney Russell Jauregui.

But to those who favor immigration restrictions, the forums are bad news.

Theyre encouraging people to stay here in violation of the law, and I cant think of any justification for that or any good reason to be doing that, said Jessica Vaughan with the Center for Immigration Studies, a research group based in Washington, D.C.

The forums are being held at churches, college campuses, elementary schools and community centers in Orange, Los Angeles, Riverside and San Bernardino counties. The workshops are nothing new in immigrant communities, but they have taken an urgent tone in the days leading up to the presidential inauguration.

At these forums, organizers advise immigrants not to open their doors if Immigration and Customs Enforcement is knocking. They tell them not to run during an immigration raid, and not to sign documents they dont understand.

The community is scared, said Beatriz Loera, of San Bernardino, who is helping organize a forum at her church. You can see the fear at the market, at church. We need to calm those fears.

At a Wednesday, Jan. 11, forum at Cal State San Bernardino, the topics were heavy. The forum was held by university students and Inland Congregations United for Change, a group of Inland faith leaders.

A crowd of about 30 watched a know-your-rights training video that showed how to handle potential scenarios with immigration agents.

In one scene, a husband and wife are getting their morning coffee ready when immigration officials knock and demand they open the door. The couple embrace as the wife whispers to her husband that authorities must have an arrest warrant in order to be allowed in.

The immigration agents slip paperwork for him to sign, and his wife urges him not to because it may be an order for deportation.

In another scene, set in what appears to be a workplace raid, a woman is crying in front of an immigration agent, pleading not be deported because she has children.

Attorneys at the forums are stressing that immigrants have a right to remain silent in front of immigration agents who may ask where they were born or how they came to this country. In other words, theyre trying to prove theyre here illegally, Jauregui said.

The undocumented person has a right to say, I dont want to answer that question until I have access to an attorney, Jauregui said.

Jauregui stresses that immigrants have certain defenses in immigration court that could work in their favor, he said.

For example, if people without proper documentation have been in the U.S. for more than 10 years, and they can prove theyve paid taxes and or have children who are U.S. citizens, then their good character may qualify for defense against deportation, he said.

That advice is troubling to Vaughan.

In some cases, the best thing for them might actually be to concede that theyre deportable and go home and move on with their lives, Vaughan said. Rather than deliberately obstruct the process and perhaps making things worst for themselves and their family.

There may be people who do have a legitimate claim to be able to stay, but its not most of them, and I dont think its necessarily a good idea to encourage people to do this, she added.

But forum organizers say, that for now, this is the right strategy.

Lyzzeth Mendoza with Inland Congregations United for Change said keeping immigrants informed is an initial step to help protect them against potential deportations.

Next, she said, organizations are working to form rapid-response teams.

These teams will include residents, church leaders, attorneys, educators who sign up to take different roles if they see immigration agents in a community. One person, for example, can offer legal services. Or a church can offer sanctuary to house undocumented immigrants.

We have a lot to lose, so a lot more people are stepping into the breach, Mendoza said.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9462, amolina@scng.com, or on Twitter @alemolina
At least two dozen shooting enthusiasts waited patiently to check in at Raahauge Shooting Enterprises near Corona at mid-morning Sunday, Jan. 15, a day after the range was closed because of a fatal shooting.

The man was identified Sunday night by the Riverside County Coroners Office as Lionel Tan, 36, of Hawaiian Gardens.

The Riverside County Sheriffs Department, which is investigating the fatality, has deemed the shooting accidental.

We dont know exactly what happened, said Cindy Raahauge Shenberger, the range manager, who declined further comment on the incident.

It was the first such incident in more than three decades at the outdoor range, she said. Regarding safety: Our record speaks for itself.

The victim was taken to a local hospital just before noon and pronounced dead, Deputy Mike Vasquez said Saturday. On Sunday, Vasquez released no additional information about the circumstances of the death and said the investigation is ongoing.

Shenberger said customers get a safety briefing every time. Rotating range masters are present on site and in the shooting bays monitoring use.

Standing in line Sunday, Rose Chadwick of Corona, who has been to Raahauges several times before, said, I feel very safe at the range.

She estimated it would take about 20 minutes to check in. She said she knows that the range staff take time with each customer to make sure they understand all the rules. The staff members are out keeping an eye on users for any violations of rules, she also said.

Other customers, many of whom knew nothing about the fatal shooting Saturday, declined to comment.

The range is transitioning from paper to electronic waivers before patrons may use the facility, according to its website. A pop-up shelter had computer tablets set up near the office entrance to accommodate those who had not filled out a waiver in advance.

The Raahauge range, described by the owners as the largest shooting facility in California, offers shooting instruction, pheasant and duck hunting, dog training, a sporting clay range and more on a 1,200-acre site off River Road near Prado Regional Park, according to its website. The Raahauge family has operated a range at that site since 1971.

The popular range closed for several days in November after a fire burned several buildings and caused $2 million in damage. An electrical malfunction caused the fire, according to the Cal Fire/Riverside County Fire Department.
Right after getting back from the Republican National Convention in Cleveland last summer, Kathy Ponce booked a hotel room so she could attend the presidential inauguration.

I said (to the women I went to the convention with) You know were going to the inauguration, said Ponce, a Fontana tea party activist who was a convention delegate for Donald Trump.

I had some doubts but I thought: If nothing else, Ill just cancel. I was confident.

Ponces faith paid off. She will be in the nations capital Friday, Jan. 20, when Trump takes the oath of office and becomes Americas 45th president.

While Ponce is excited about Trumps presidency, others are not.

Related: How pro-immigrant groups say you should prepare for Trumps presidency

Some Inland residents are planning protests or moments of silence to mark Inauguration Day  if they mark it at all.

For me, (the inauguration) is a national day of mourning, said Sheila Kay Riley of Riverside, who volunteered for Democrat Hillary Clintons campaign.

The inauguration comes against a backdrop of bitter division among Trumps supporters and foes. The outspoken Republican reality TV star and real estate mogul won the White House with 306 electoral votes to Clintons 232.

Clinton, however, won the popular vote by a roughly 2.9-million vote margin.

Trumps backers believe hell make good on his campaign slogan  Make America Great Again  through enhanced border security, job creation, punishing corporations who send jobs overseas and a foreign policy that puts America first.

Critics fear he will repress minorities, attack dissenters and use the nations highest elected office for personal profit.

Clinton dominated Trump in California, winning 62 percent of the vote to Trumps 32 percent. She carried Riverside and San Bernardino counties by smaller margins.

Alex Biancardi founded the Facebook group, Inland Empire Against Trump, which is promoting an Inauguration Day protest scheduled for noon at the Cesar Chavez statue at Main Street and University Avenue in Riverside.

I felt it was important to make the opposition to Trump clear, especially here, Biancardi said.

There is this move toward ethnic nationalism in the U.S. which particularly targets Mexican people. And a lot of people in Riverside and the Inland Empire generally have Mexican heritage or at least know people who do.

Biancardi also is concerned about what the Trump administration means for Muslims. Trump has supported a temporary ban on Muslims entering the United States, a registry of Muslim immigrants and having immigrants undergo extreme vetting, although the exact details of these policies are unclear.

Biancardi said some Trump supporters have posted threatening online messages on the groups Facebook page, including one who wrote: If youre in the road, Ill run over you.

So theres a fear, on the one hand, if we dont do something, he said. But on the other hand, theres a fear of what happens if we do.

Corrine Parker, a Riverside city employee and Clinton supporter, said shes watched the inaugurations of presidents with whom she differed. But on Friday, she plans to ignore Trumps swearing-in and go about her day.

Trumps presidency has been de-legitimized by his encouragement of foreign interference in the U.S. election, she said.

To me, its not normal, Parker said. And I know for many others this is not normal and its the main reason not to watch (the inauguration).

Trump supporter Sabine Durden of Moreno Valley knows him personally.

She met him on the campaign trail, spoke at the GOP convention last summer and attended Octobers presidential debate in St. Louis as Trumps guest.

Durdens son, Dominic, a Riverside County Sheriffs Department dispatcher, was killed in a 2012 traffic collision caused by an unlicensed, undocumented immigrant with a criminal record.

Since then, Sabine Durden has become an advocate for cracking down on illegal immigration. She said Trump is the only one to give my son and other victims of illegal aliens a voice.

Durden received a personal invitation from Trumps representatives to the inauguration and related festivities. The inauguration, Durden said, is dessert at the end of a wonderful, nine-course meal. Its a cherry on top.

All the hard work, the tears of reliving (my sons death) every time I shared my story, its a reward to get to go now and celebrate our next president, she added.

Ponce said Trumps detractors should give him a chance.

Lets see where things go. Lets see where things pan out, she said. Lets understand that there is another side. There isnt just the liberal left that runs the country. There is a conservative right and our voices need to start being heard.

Contact the writer: 951-368-9547 or jhorseman@scng.com
Mali's president has become the latest leader to urge Yahya Jammeh to leave office in The Gambia and avert a bloodbath in the nation.



Speaking at the Africa-France summit in Bamako, Ibrahim Keita called for "proverbial African wisdom" to prevail.

Adama Barrow, who beat Mr Jammeh in last month's election, attended and was referred to as the president.

Regional bloc Ecowas wants the UN to approve military action if his inauguration on Thursday is blocked.

It has tried repeatedly to persuade the long-time leader to leave voluntarily amid growing fears that the uncertainty could cause a refugee exodus.

Thousands of Gambians, mostly women and children, have already crossed the border into neighbouring Senegal and further afield to Guinea-Bissau, where they do not require a visa, officials say.

"We laid down our fort. We have, by common accord, received President Barrow here, which is a de facto recognition, and on the 19th, I dare to hope that proverbial African wisdom will inspire our brother Yahya," said Mr Keita.

French President Francois Hollande, who met Mr Barrow at the summit, said the Gambian election result had to be respected.

"You have seen that the president-elect was welcomed at this summit and everything must be done so that on January 18, or on January 19, he is able to effectively take up his new role," he said.

Source: BBC









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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Free Speech and Fake News

PRINCETON  About a week before the United States presidential election last November, someone posted on Twitter that Hillary Clinton was at the center of a pedophilia ring. The rumor spread through social media, and a right-wing talk show host named Alex Jones repeatedly stated that she was involved in child abuse and that her campaign chairman, John Podesta, took part in satanic rituals. In a YouTube video (since removed), Jones referred to all the children Hillary Clinton has personally murdered and chopped up and raped. The video, posted four days before the election, was watched more than 400,000 times.

Emails released by WikiLeaks showed that Podesta sometimes dined at a Washington, DC, pizza restaurant called Comet Ping Pong. Apparently for that reason the child-sex-ring accusations focused on the pizza restaurant and used the hashtag #pizzagate. The allegations were frequently retweeted by bots  programs designed to spread certain types of messages  contributing to the impression that many people were taking Pizzagate seriously. The story, amazingly, was also retweeted by General Michael Flynn, who is soon to be President-elect Donald Trumps national security adviser.

Even after Trumps election  and despite debunking by the New York Times and the Washington Post  the story continued to spread. Comet Ping Pong was harassed by constant, abusive, and often threatening phone calls. When the manager approached the DC police, he was told the rumors were constitutionally protected speech.

Edgar Welch, a Christian who has Bible verses tattooed on his back, was one of Joness listeners. On December 4, he drove 350 miles from his home in North Carolina to Comet Ping Pong, armed with an assault rifle, a revolver, and a knife. He allowed guests and staff to leave while he searched for enslaved children supposedly hidden in tunnels. He fired his rifle at least once, to open a locked door. After finding no children, he surrendered to police.

Fake news  active misinformation that is packaged to look as if it comes from a serious news site  is a threat to democratic institutions. There have been less absurd examples, including a fake report of a nuclear threat by Israels defense minister that misled his Pakistani counterpart into retweeting the report and warning Israel that Pakistan, too, is a nuclear power.

President Barack Obama acknowledged the danger to democratic freedoms when speaking to the press in Germany shortly after the US election. Whether or not fake news cost Clinton the presidency, it plainly could cause a candidate to lose an election and upset international relations. It is also contrary to one of the fundamental premises on which democracy rests: that voters can make informed choices between contending candidates.

The First Amendment to the US Constitution states that. Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press By 1919, the Supreme Courts interpretation of those words had led to the doctrine that Congress could prohibit speech only if it posed a clear and present danger of serious harm.

That position was further refined in what is perhaps the greatest defense of freedom of speech by an American judge: Louis Brandeiss concurring opinion in the 1927 case of Whitney v. California. Brandeis described freedom of speech and assembly as functions essential to effective democracy.

He appealed to courageous, self-reliant men, with confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning applied through the processes of popular government. On that basis, for speech to pose a clear and present danger that could justify prohibiting it, the harm the speech would cause must be so imminent that it could preclude any opportunity to discuss fully what had been said. If, Brandeis insisted, there is time to expose through discussion the falsehood and fallacies, to avert the evil by the processes of education, the remedy to be applied is more speech, not enforced silence.

Today, it is difficult to have so much confidence in the power of free and fearless reasoning, especially if it is supposed to be applied through the processes of popular government  which presumably requires that it influence elections. Similarly, Brandeiss belief that more speech, not enforced silence is the remedy for falsehood and fallacies looks naive, especially if applied in an election campaign.

What, though, is the alternative? What Jones said about Clinton is surely defamation, and she could bring a civil suit against him; but that would be costly and time-consuming, most likely taking years to move through the courts. In any case, civil defamation lawsuits are effective only against those who have the assets to pay whatever damages are awarded.

What about criminal libel? In the United Kingdom, defamatory libel was for many centuries a criminal offense, but it fell into disuse and was abolished in 2010. In the US, criminal libel is not a federal offense. It continues to be a crime in some states, but few cases are brought.

A report in 2015 by A. Jay Wagner and Anthony L. Fargo for the International Press Institute describes many of the recent cases as petty and regards the civil libel law as a better recourse for personal grievances. The report concludes that criminal libel has become redundant and unnecessary.

Recent examples of fake news suggest that Wagner and Fargos conclusion was premature. To accuse, during an election campaign, a US presidential candidate of personally murdering children is not petty, and civil libel law provides no adequate remedy. In the Internet age, is it time for the legal pendulum to swing back toward the offense of criminal libel?
The Kwame Nkrumah Ideology Institute (KNII), has commended former Attorney-General, Mr Martin Amidu for his indefatigable stance and engagement against corrupt practices during the previous National Democratic Congress (NDC) Administration.



The Institute urged Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to encourage and support Mr Amidu in his endeavours.

Dr Benjamin Anyagre, Executive Director of KNII said in a statement issued in Accra and copied to the Ghana News Agency that Mr Amidu epitomised selfless, true and a dedicated patriotism who in his extraordinary energy and strength embarked on a crusade towards making corruption a socio-cultural dislike in the countrys body politics and the society as a whole.

It said the former Attorney General was an ideologue of a social democratic party and must be acknowledged by well-meaning Ghanaians and Members of the NDC, for standing up against his own Partys deviation from the tenets of the principles of probity and accountability.

His height of bravely is uncommon in this part of the world, which must be seen as a phenomenal socio-political landmark worth emulating by the youth of today.

Indeed, the future of this country relies on a dynamic and a committed leadership ready to put the self aside and work to ensure a prosperous and a fine nation for our current and future generation, the statement said.

Source: GNA









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The President of the Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has appealed to Ghanaians living in and out of the country to rally behind his administration, as he seeks to return the country onto the path of progress and prosperity.



Addressing a gathering of Ghanaians resident in Bamako, Mali, on Friday, January 13, 2017, after his arrival in that country for the Africa-France Summit, President Akufo-Addo is confident that his government can transform the fortunes of the country, and give citizens a dignified living.



Reiterating his belief that the wishes and aspirations of Ghanaians can be met during his time in office, President Akufo-Addo noted that what we need to understand and believe is that we can also make it in Ghana, and improve the standards of living of our people. We can do it.



He, therefore, urged Ghanaians in Mali, and those living in other parts of the world, to start considering and planning your return home, so you can also contribute your quota in helping move our country forward. Ghana needs your strength and intellect.



On the outcome of the December 7 election, President Akufo-Addo noted that Ghanas standing in the league of democratic nations has soared greatly, largely as a result of the peaceful outcome of the elections.



Our elections were conducted without any turmoil. The Ghanaian people exercised their democratic franchise peacefully.



The then sitting President, John Mahama, also conducted himself very well by accepting the verdict of the elections. Ghana is at peace, and I am confident that very soon there will be a lot of more positive news on the economic and developmental front for all of us, he added.





Source: Peacefmonline.com









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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The Women in Law and Development in Africa (WiLDAF), has expressed fear in the current trend of appointments made by the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.



It said the appointments did not reflect the promise made in the New Patriotic Partys (NPP) 2016 Manifesto.

It said if government was not able to achieve even the minimum of 30 per cent threshold of womens representation, then Ghana would be at a lost in the next 50 years.

Mrs Magdalene Kannae, a Board Member of WiLDAF speaking at a press conference in Accra said the nine women appointed out of the 36 ministerial nominations fell short of the International, Regional and National standards and that of the NPP.

Ghana has signed onto a number of conventions, treaties and protocols such as the Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW), Beijing Platform for Action, the Sustainable Development Goals and the Commonwealth Plan of Action on Gender Equality.

These set the minimum target of 30 per cent representation women in decision making positions, she stated.

She said the African Union Charter on Human and Peoples Right of Women in Africas provision on the gender equality also set a target of 50 per cent representation of men and women in public office.

Mrs Kannae urged the President to fulfil its social development agenda by ensuring that aside the ministerial positions, women were well represented and appointed as deputy ministers, ambassadors, heads of district assemblies including district chief executives, commissions, councils and government appointees to public boards.

She also asked the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection and the Attorney Generals Office to expedite the process of resubmitting to Parliament the Affirmative Action Bill for it consideration.

The NPP-led parliament must pass the Affirmative Action Law as soon as possible, she said.

Mr Frank Boagya, the Manager of Governance WiLDAF, said: One or two appointments do not cover the 30 per cent but it should be across board and at least every list should have 30 per cent.

If NPP and the NDC (National Democratic Congress), who have ruled the country for the past 25 years are not able to appoint enough women into positions then they are not national in character.

We will continue the struggle and advocate until we get there because we have been working across board with all the governments and we will always do this work until we achieve our target, he added.

The list of women appointees so far by the President, include Foreign Affairs  Ms Shirley Ayorkor Botchway, Attorney General Ms Gloria Akufo, Local Government Hajia Alima Mahama, Gender, Children and Social Protection  Ms Otiko Afisa Djaba.

The others are Ministry of Communication  Mrs Ursula Owusu, Special Development Initiative  Ms Mavis Hawa Koomson, Ministry of Fisheries Ms Elizabeth Afoley Quaye,

Ministry of Aviation  Mrs Cecelia Dapaah and Mrs Frema Osei-Opare, Chief of Staff.

Source: GNA









Disclaimer : Opinions expressed here are those of the writers and do not reflect those of Peacefmonline.com. Peacefmonline.com accepts no responsibility legal or otherwise for their accuracy of content. Please report any inappropriate content to us, and we will evaluate it as a matter of priority.

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More than 30 people have been killed during a riot at a Brazilian jail, including three inmates who were beheaded, in the latest gang-related massacre to afflict the countrys ailing prison system.

Officials say that members of two rival drug gangs clashed violently at the prison, which is located in the northeast of Rio Grande do Norte state. The facility, which is located near the state capital of Natal, is built for 620 inmates but currently houses 1083.

Police investigator Otacillo de Medeiros confirmed that over 30 people are believed dead, while a district security official said that the final number of victims would be confirmed once they took stock of the extent of the damage.

Fresh Brazil prison riot this afternoon in city of Natal. 12 dead, according to media reports. This video reportedly from inmates pic.twitter.com/GzvOBCbZdT  Johannes Myburgh (@johannesmyburgh) January 14, 2017

There are at least three inmates dead because we were able to see their heads, state prisons manager Zemilton Silva told local media.

Brazilian media believes that this particular riot was between drug gang First Capital Command, and a group allied to its main rival Red Command.

Police restored order at the prison on Sunday at dawn after 14 hours of violence.

This is the latest in a series of massacres in Brazilian prisons, which left over 100 people dead  many of whom are believed to be gang members.

Source: News.com.au.

Photo: TV Ponta Negra.
Theres nothing like a story about Hollywood elites poking around regional areas of Australia looking for potential real estate opportunities to drive the punters wild. Feels like every couple of months we hear about some celeb skulking around a Byron Bay real estate agent looking to buy some vast mansion to visit once every ten years.

Domain is reporting today that Ellen DeGeneres and Portia DeRossi are looking to buy in the Mornington Peninsula in Victoria. Real estate agent Greg OShea says hes been in contact with the couple about a particular bloody large property:

Womans Day published an article recently saying Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi are planning on moving to Australia. Now, I know that Portia is from that area (she was born in Horsham and grew up in Geelong) so I decided to get in touch with them. Their manager got back to me saying they are interested in the property, and that when they come to Australia, they want a private tour of it. Ive been told around February or March.

The couple currently live in Los Angeles.

Because I want to torture you with the gory details, the property sits on 20 acres, and features five bedrooms, three bathrooms, two powder rooms, three garages and a theatre room. Here it is:

The price range is about $5.8 million, in case you were planning to swoop in and pick it up before Ellen does. I assume all of our readers have nearly six million lying around. Check your piggy bank.

If DeRossi was a true patriot, she wouldnt just quietly buy some property down here. Shed invite us all round for a dip in that pool.

Source: Domain.

Photo: Getty Images / Anthony Harvey.
The first report that Kim Kardashian West made to police after the horrific robbery that occurred last year has now publicly emerged.

Five men  some dressed as policeman  tied Kardashian up and held her at gunpoint while they robbed her of millions of dollars worth of jewellery and personal belongings in October of 2016.

Kardashian made a report with police immediately after the incident at around 4:30am, after escaping her restraints and calling for help. That report has now been publicised by French newspaper Le Journal du Dimanche, and translated back to English by PEOPLE.

In the report, Kardashian explains that she had returned home, and was in her hotel room with her sister Kourtney Kardashian, assistant Stephanie Sheppard, and stylist Simone Harouche.





Kourtney and Stephanie were changing clothes and were going out  but Kardashian was staying in, and said she went upstairs to work on her computer.

I heard a noise at the door, like footsteps, and I shouted, asking, Whos there? No one answered. I called my bodyguard at 2:56 a.m. Through the door, I saw two people arrive, plus the night man who was tied up.

She explained that two of the men were dressed as policemen, while another was wearing ski goggles.

Its the one with the ski goggles who stayed with me. He demanded with a strong French accent, my ring. It was on the bedside table. Its worth 4 million dollars. [] I told him that I didnt know. He took out a gun and I showed him the ring.

She continues:

They grabbed me and took me into the hallway. I was wearing a bathrobe, naked underneath. Then we went in the room again and they pushed me on the bed. And, it was this time, they tied me up with plastic cables and taped my hands, then they put tape over my mouth and my legs. They took me to my bathroom, specifically in my bathtub.

Kardashian also detailed what had been stolen: [] Two Cartier diamond bracelets, a Jacob necklace in gold set with diamonds, Lorraine Schwartz diamond earrings, and the other by Yanina. There were three Jacob gold necklaces, small bracelets, jewels, rings. A Lorraine Schwartz necklace in diamonds, another necklace with six small diamonds on it. One last necklace with the name of my son (Saint), in diamonds. I also had a diamond cross from the Jacob brand. A Rolex watch in yellow gold. There were two yellow gold rings.

I think they robbed me of 5 million dollars, then they ran away.

Kardashian told police that she did not believe they were professional criminals, as she was able to remove the Scotch tape from her mouth and hands, and then the plastic ties: I felt they were a bit inexperienced because of the way they tied me up.

At the end of the report, she tells police that she wants to leave France immediately, and go to back to the United States to be with her children and husband Kanye West, who was on tour in New York City at the time.

Last week, 17 people were arrested in connection with the robbery, and now 10 of them have been formally charged.

One man, only known as Omar A or Omar the Old is allegedly thought to be the mastermind of the robbery, and reported to be the man Kardashian mentioned in the report as wearing ski goggles.

Source: PEOPLE.

Photo: Marc Piasecki / Getty.
Sea Shepherd has released images showing what it claims to be a Japanese whaling ship illegally holding a dead minke whale while inside Australias whale sanctuary zone.

The conservation group claims crew aboard the Nisshin Maru covered the whales corpse after spotting helicopters launched from Sea Shepherd ship MY Steve Irwin earlier today.

Its alleged crew aboard two other Japanese vessels traveling with the Nisshin Maru off the coast of Antarctica also covered their harpoons after spotting the Sea Shepherd aircraft.

Japans whaling program was ruled illegal by the International Court of Justice in 2014. Sea Shepherd claims these are the first images demonstrating a clear breach of that ruling.

In a statement, Sea Shepherd criticised the Turnbull government for not taking further action on the matter. Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met with Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney yesterday; ABC confirmed whaling was a topic of discussion.

Sea Shepherd Captain Wyanda Lublink said they know they are in contempt of the ruling of the International Court of Justice and the Australian Federal Court.

How can the Australian government ignore these actions when the majority of Australians condemn what they are doing?

Source: ABC / Sea Shepherd Global / news.com.au.

Photo: Sea Shepherd Global / Facebook.
Lucasfilm has denied rumours that it plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fisher for future films in the Star Wars series, after a rumour spread that it had approached the estate of the late actress to seek permission for this.

Fisher passed away last month, aged 60, after suffering a cardiac arrest on a flight to Los Angeles. She had finished filming her scenes for Episode VIII, and was expected to appear in Episode IX, which is currently being scripted.

Her death left a question mark over how Lucasfilm and Disney would handle the future of Princess Leia, and some were concerned that the beloved character would be digitally recreated in upcoming instalments of the series.

Last years Rogue One featured a CGI version of the young Princess Leia, and brought the late actor Peter Cushing back via digital effects, a move that caused considerable controversy among fans.

In a statement released overnight, Lucasfilm clarified its intentions, saying that it has no plans to digitally recreate Carrie Fishers performance, and that Episode VIII will be her last film in the series.

The company went on to say:

Carrie Fisher was, is, and always will be a part of the Lucasfilm family. She was our princess, our general, and more importantly, our friend. We are still hurting from her loss. We cherish her memory and legacy as Princess Leia, and will always strive to honour everything she gave to Star Wars.

Fishers mother Debbie Reynolds died the day after her daughter, and both were laid to rest in a private service.

Source: BBC News.

Photo: Sunset Boulevard / Getty Images.
Shannon Noll  yes, the Shannon Noll  has been charged with two counts of assault allegedly committed in Adelaides nightlife district early this morning.

The muso and latter-day social media cornerstone was taken into custody near Crazy Horse, one of the most prominent strip joints in the citys Hindley Street precinct.

via Nine News Australia.

Eyewitnesses claim Noll had been turfed out of the club, before asking security guards if they knew who he was.

After that, Noll allegedly threw a punch at a security guard, at which point he was restrained. Police removed him shortly after.

He was in town following a Friday performance in Mannum, east of the South Aussie capital city.

As it stands, Noll will face Adelaide Magistrates Court on February 24.

Well update this story as it develops.



Source: Yahoo! 7 News / Nine News Australia.

Photo: Ian Hitchcock / Getty.
A Lewisburg woman is facing charges after police say she used the personal information of three people - including that of her two children - to set up fake accounts.

Marenda L. Davi, 34, has been charged by the Pennsylvania State Police at Lykens Criminal Investigation Unit with theft of services, identity theft and criminal attempt to commit identity theft, all graded as third-degree felonies.

According to investigators, the charges came about like this:

From 2012 to 2015, Davi used the social security numbers, dates of birth and other identifying information for her children, who are 13 and 15, as well as the information of a 49-year-old victim, without their knowledge to create fraudulent accounts through financial institutions and utility companies, which were never paid.

The investigation was launched by the United States Postal Inspection Service, showing Davi was responsible for the theft of about $4,788 and the attempted theft of about $6,666.

The case was turned over to the state police in 2016.

Davi was arrested on Friday and released on $10,000 bail. She is set for a preliminary hearing Feb. 1.

Anyone with information about the case is asked to call the Pennsylvania State Police at Lykens 717-362-8700.
Dominic Barton, chairman of an advisory committee to federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau, responds to a question during an interview with The Canadian Press, in Montreal in a May 19, 2016, file photo.The head of the Trudeau government's influential council of economic advisers recommends Ottawa stay agile, just in case Donald Trump delivers on vows that could have severe implications for Canada. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Paul Chiasson
OPEC unlikely to deliver all promised oil cuts





Despite Saudi signals, "Compliance won't be 100 percent, it never is,"

said an OPEC source.

LONDON/ABU DHABI

Petroleumworld.com 01 16 2017

OPEC is unlikely to deliver fully on its target to cut production despite Saudi Arabia saying it had trimmed more than it had committed to, OPEC delegates say, but compliance of 80 percent would be good and as low as 50 percent acceptable.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries is planning to cut its output by 1.2 million barrels per day to 32.50 million bpd from Jan. 1. Russia and other non-members are planning to cut about half as much.

OPEC and the independent producers are cutting supplies to remove a global glut and prop up prices, which at $56 a barrel are half their level of mid-2014, hurting the revenue of exporting nations.

, who added that an overall rate of 50 to 60 percent would be good enough, based on past compliance levels.

Top exporter Saudi Arabia and Kuwait said on Thursday they had cut production by more than they committed to. Kuwait, the head of a committee to monitor compliance which meets on Jan. 22, said this was to "lead by example".

But OPEC as a whole has a patchy record of complying with its agreements, and previous non-OPEC pledges to curb output have proved largely token. Compliance is voluntary as OPEC has no mechanism to enforce its agreements.

Based on statements by producing nations so far, there has been over 60 percent compliance, Kuwait's oil minister said on Thursday.

OPEC Secretary-General Mohammed Barkindo said he was sure countries would follow through on the deal.

"I remain confident that ... this historic and landmark decision will be implemented fully," Barkindo told Reuters on Friday. He added that the Jan. 22 meeting would decide on what level of compliance would be acceptable or not.

Last time OPEC cut its output, in 2009, following agreements the year before, it initially made 60 percent of the reduction and compliance peaked at higher rates, according to estimates from the International Energy Agency and other analysts, some of whom see that as a reasonable target this time.

"We should see 60-70 percent compliance once again," Daniel Gerber of Petro-Logistics, a consultant which assesses OPEC supply by tanker tracking, told Reuters in December.

The cuts in 2009 were more than OPEC achieved in previous price collapses, such as during the late 1990s when countries initially did not follow through on pledges. OPEC's historical average compliance rate is 60 percent, according to the IEA.

"Normally for OPEC, good compliance is near 80 percent," said another OPEC delegate. "It won't be 100 percent."

COMPLIANCE CONCERNS

Compliance with the 2009 OPEC cuts peaked at about 80 percent, according to the IEA. This was enough to help support a rise in oil prices, which began 2009 at $46 and stood at $69 by the end of June that year.

Three months into that last OPEC cut, Saudi Arabia and its Gulf allies showed the highest level of adherence. Saudi Arabia made a larger cut than it had to then, based on the IEA numbers, so history looks set to repeat itself in 2017 if Saudi Arabia's comments on Thursday are borne out.

Next was Algeria, which implemented almost all of its commitment. Venezuelan compliance was 69 percent, more than that of Angola and Iran which both delivered less than half of their pledged reduction.

This time, while compliance in the Gulf OPEC members is expected by analysts to be high, industry and OPEC sources do not expect a similar level across the board.

"There is a concern about Venezuela and Iraq not being committed to the cuts," said an industry source involved in the global cut talks, who added Russia appeared to be complying with the deal.

Iraq, which initially resisted joining the cut, said this week it was reducing production. Cash-strapped Venezuela, which pushed hard to bring the global deal together, has also said it intends to.

Russia reduced production by 100,000 barrels a day in the first few days of January, industry sources told Reuters. That reduction, or at least part of it, is down to unusually cold temperatures in Siberia that have forced work at oil rigs to grind to a shivering halt.

Potential production growth in countries exempted from making a cut, Libya and Nigeria, could undermine reductions elsewhere. They both boosted production in December, even though OPEC supply overall fell.

"If things go well in those countries, it could be quite hard for OPEC to maintain a 32.50 million bpd production target," Gerber of Petro-Logistics said.






Mexico's Maya crude sold to U.S. West Coast for first time since 2008

Pemex has for years sought to diversify its crude export markets away from U.S. Gulf Coast refiners



MEXICO CITY

Petroleumworld.com 01 16 2017

Mexico's Pemex [PEMX.UL] has begun selling heavy Maya crude for the first time since 2008 to U.S. West Coast refiners, the head of the state oil company's international trading arm said on Thursday.

Pemex, short for Petroleos Mexicanos, will also market more light Isthmus crude this year to the U.S. West Coast, with most, if not all of it, destined for California, Isaac Volin, chief executive of PMI Comercio Internacional, said in an interview.

The company plans to ship an average of 30,000 barrels per day (bpd) of Maya crude and 50,000 bpd of Isthmus crude over the course of 2017, he said.

The company sold spot shipments late last year to a Royal Dutch Shell refinery in California. But Volin said he wants to eventually enter into longer-term contracts with West Coast clients later in the year. He declined to name specific buyers.

Separately, Pemex's top oil trader said it was too soon to speculate about any impact on energy trade flows between the United States and Mexico if the next U.S. administration imposed a new border tax.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is considering taxing imports to protect American jobs and wages. While his specific plans are unclear, his comments have worried refiners that depend on crude imports between the two neighbors.

Pemex has for years sought to diversify its crude export markets away from U.S. Gulf Coast refiners, shipping more oil to Asian markets in recent years.

Volin said Pemex will export the crude from a recently remodeled terminal adjacent to its Salina Cruz refinery on the Pacific coast, lessening dependence on its export hubs clustered in the Gulf of Mexico, especially when they are hit by bad weather.

While crude export revenue once contributed as much as 40 percent of government revenue, that figure has dropped by less than half as oil prices have slumped over the past couple years.

"One thing we noted during 2016 is that it has become more attractive to export our crude to the West Coast of the United States than send it to other markets, like Europe," said Volin, a former head of BlackRock Mexico.

Pemex's European markets are saturated with crudes from the Middle East and the price it is paid in the West Coast, after discounting freight costs, is higher, he added.

The new West Coast shipments began in late November with 23,000 barrels of crude, Volin said, noting that the buyer of a subsequent December spot shipment paid $1.45 more per barrel than European buyers would have.

Pemex sold both spot shipments to Royal Dutch Shell's Martinez refinery near San Francisco, California, according to data from Thomson Reuters Eikon.

Due to Pemex sending more crude to its domestic refineries for processing, total crude exports in 2017 are likely to average between 1 million and 1.1 million bpd, Volin said, down from just over 1.2 million bpd last year.

Mexico's imports of refined products from U.S. suppliers hit a record in 2016 as Mexico's six domestic refineries processed much less crude, which has prompted some analysts to forecast more growth in gasoline and diesel purchases in 2017.

Volin, however, said Pemex expected to import less fuel this year than in 2016.

Gasoline imports are expected to dip to around 400,000 bpd, down some 17 percent, while diesel imports will fall to about 130,000 bpd, down nearly 30 percent from 2016, according to Volin.

The executive said the drop in fuel imports will begin after March.

Mexico is undergoing a gradual gasoline price liberalization, part of a landmark 2014 energy overhaul, which caused fuel prices to spike by double-digits on Jan. 1.

The price spike, known locally as a "gasolinazo," has led to angry protests across the country over the past couple weeks, including highway blockades and looting of gas stations.

This year Pemex could also begin its first-ever imports of U.S. light crude, which was authorized by the U.S. government for up to 75,000 bpd in 2015, he added.

It was not clear how much light U.S. crude might be imported, and Pemex's Industrial Transformation unit, which runs its refineries, has yet to submit a formal request, Volin said.






The city of Flagstaff has asked to withdraw its paid membership from the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce.

City spokesperson Meg Roederer confirmed that City Manager Josh Copley sent the chamber a letter stating that the city would like discontinue its membership. She said Copley made the decision to discontinue, and that it was not a Flagstaff City Council decision.

In the letter, Copley states that the Chamber has engaged in some political activities, including the support of select candidates for city council and advocacy for certain positions with respect to voter initiated ballot questions.

After careful consideration, I have determined that the use of public funds to continue to pay for the citys membership in the Chamber is inappropriate at this time and possibly constitutes a violation of Arizona Revised Statutes 9-500.14, which prohibits the city from using its resources for the purpose of influencing the outcomes of elections.

Copley goes on to state that the city will continue to work with the Chamber on other items of public interest and that this discontinuation of our membership is only a reflection of our desire to assure that public monies are expended in strict accordance with the law.

The Flagstaff Chamber has its own political action committee, BizPac, that handles most of the Chambers political business, including endorsing candidates and ballot propositions.

Mayor Coral Evans, who is also a small business owner, said she supported the decision in an email to the Arizona Daily Sun.

As Mayor I support the city manager's administrative decision to end the city's membership in the Chamber of Commerce as it is paid for with taxpayer dollars and then used for political activities, she wrote. The Chamber and the City have worked in partnership for many years; this decision is not about our partnership, but the appropriate use of public dollars.

As a small business owner and director of a nonprofit I respect the work the Chamber does on behalf of local businesses, she said. In many towns and cities the local governments work with Chambers as non-dues paying members to advance business and economic development. I look forward to working with the Chamber of Commerce and all our business organizations to make Flagstaff the best town to work, live and play.

The Chamber did not comment on the matter. The Chamber is a 501(c)(6) organization under the Internal Revenue Service. According to IRS.gov, it may lobby on business matters. It may also engage in political campaigns on behalf or in opposition to candidates for public office, as long as those campaign activities are not the organizations primary activity.
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"Political language -- and with variations this is true of all political parties, from Conservatives to Anarchists -- is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind."

-- George Orwell, Politics and the English Language
Franck Paulin - Secret Spot

Olly Wilkins - Nine Knights

Nicolas Terrier - Lyon

Mehdi Gani - Lyon

Pierre-Edouard Ferry and Kyle Strait - Black Hills

Remi Thirion - La Palma

Szymon Godziek - FISE world Montpellier

Pierre-Edouard Ferry and Kyle Strait - Black Hills

Yoann Barelli - Pemberton

Remi Thirion - La Palma

I've been thinking of a "miniflip" photo project for several months and when I met Franck Paulin, the miniflip master, at the beginning of the year it was an evidence that we had to shoot together. We made many plans about locations and concepts to shoot this kind of action but one place really stood out which did not look like your everyday view over the bar. I spotted this place thanks to google earth and we went there with Franck and a (really sketchy) miniflip kicker last spring. As we were thinking, it was all but not a mountainbike trail but after some time walking around and looking for the right place to flip and shoot, we found this greenery window leading to a small path. Luckily, we only had to move few stones to clean the roll in and everything worked out perfectly.It was the first year I was invited to the Suzuki Nine Knights and what an experience it was. Building such a massive course in the middle of the mountains is a big deal and this year, the location changed and the madness moved from Livigno to Reschenpass, at the Italian border. The main thing that changed, for photographers, and riders by the way, is that the course which was sunset exposed the years before, became a sunrise spot. The only way to get a golden light was to be at the top of the track at 7AM. So near the end of the week and after a 5:20 AM wake up, a group of motivated riders went up the mountain with the chairlift by night. After some breakfast training, the sun rose and the race chasing the light started. The perfect one is only here for 5 minutes and you have to find the best angle to catch everything properly. Luckily some riders were keen to send this big hip in the morning light. Thanks Olly.This shot is a bit special as it was shot in a car park in Lyon, France. I saw many photos of this place before, but I never really looked at its location, and when I realized it was only few minutes walking from home, I knew I had to do something there. So I called Nicolas Terrier, a friend and really good slopestyle rider, who's always up to shoot something a bit different. We went there without asking anyone but luckily we had the authorization to use the shot afterward. This carpark is in fact a masterpiece itself, as it's composed of a huge rotating mirror at the bottom, and a big spiral road where the cars go up to the exit. The tricky part of getting this shot was the tiny spots to put the strobes on each side of the road ,but most of all the timing. A lot of cars were going up between our "test shots" and the window where Nico is jumping is actually kind of small. We also had to deal with the rotating mirror to have the perfect reflection along with the framed action.A "one jump trail" is not always easy to shoot as you're usually done with every angle after a day of shooting. But this private place near Lyon called "Bibi's Ranch" is an exception. I spent some days shooting there with the Lyon's slopestyle crew and never got bored of it. Everything looks pretty good there, the exposition from the sun, the backdrop, the foreground, and no matter the angle you choose.The jump is also well exposed to the golden hour during spring time and it's surrounded by the brooms as you can see in this shot. One more time here, having a good rider with you obviously makes the shot easier. Mehdi Gani is a really talented guy and when it comes to do a top trick for a shot at the very last light, I think he's the most efficient rider i know.Early morning missions always (often) lead to great results. One of their main drawback is that they require a high motivation, especially to send it down a mountain on a bicycle at a time where everyone is still sleeping. On the other side of the camera, we might say we have the easy, or at least the safest job in this kind of dawn/sunrise shooting. We didn't expect the moon this morning but that's what made this mission really worth it. We just went to the spot a hour before sunrise to be ready at the right time. As we were setting everything for the video and photo shooting, Kyle and PEF were going up to the start of the line almost by night, carrying their bikes on their back.Starting to work with COMMENCAL is for sure my biggest move this year. This trip to La Palma in the Canaria's Islands was my first assignment in this all new job. We had a few mishaps as a missed plane, but we finally made it on the Island 3 days later. This burnt forest was definitely the most incredible place we've been to on this island. We don't really know why but everything was burnt due to a wildfire back in august, and these orange needles seemed to be unharmed, creating a really weird visual effect. There was no trail in this area so the trickiest part was to find and focus on a cool place to ride and shoot, to avail the maximum potential of this forest. We found this little bottleneck that looked pretty much like a path and after a few arrangements with our feet it was game on. Moreover, Remi is a great guy to shoot with because he's not only fast, he has some style on every single part of each run he does.Events are one good way to get into mountain-bike photography because you have the world's best riders doing what they do best on a sick track. But in these situations, you rapidly figure out all the drawbacks of this kind of photography. It's often hard to have a "clean shot" in these condition, especially when the course takes place in a city center as here in Montpellier. I spotted this kind of angle of the big air jump the year before but I didn't manage to have the shot I wanted, but this year, I stood there for at least an hour at the end of the day, waiting for the light to fade and the wind to stop. Luckily everything went well and Szymon didn't disappoint with his super extended signature superman.I guess this picture takes part of the "Where's the rider" category but sometimes you just need to show the entire location as well as the action. This pic was taken at sunrise the same morning as the previous "moon" photo in what we call the "Black Hills" in the south of France. I think the trickiest part for me behind the lens was to choose my framing as I knew I only had one chance to catch the action with that light as it takes such a long time for the riders to get back up there. Once again, props to the riders because dropping in in the morning on what we can call the steepest line of the spot with the sun in the face is no joke.2016 was also my first year of real travel, and I was really stoked to go to whistler and even more to shoot with a good friend. Canadian's forests really have something special and when it comes to foggy moods and loamy ground, Pemberton trails are the perfect deal. Shooting in this area at the end of November might not have been the best idea according to the local people as it was supposed to rain almost all the week with freezing temperatures. Hopefully we got lucky and we escaped the rain and snow during all our trip, leaving the clouds and the fog on the mountains. After some days of scouting and shooting, we found this old section of trail in these misty woods, and it was finally some perfect conditions to shoot and to ride.Travelling always leads you to some beautiful places and La Palma's island is no exception. It was our first time there with the COMMENCAL media team and thanks to the local riders, we were able to discover some hidden places as this little fishermen's village. This place is kind of particular as it is surrounded by two lava flows directly diving into the ocean and luckily this village was on the west coast of the island, and therefore perfectly exposed to the evening golden light. What a perfect way to end few days of shooting with Remi Thirion!
Paris Cafes Richard Opens its Doors at SkyAvenue in Genting Highlands, Malaysia

This is a guest post by our celebrity friend, Mynn Lee. Mynn was a radio DJ from Red FM and Lite FM and now she blogs on her cool travel blog at www.shewalkstheworld.com. She recently visited most of the restaurants in SkyAvenue on Genting Highlands and she wanted to share her experiences with all of us. Her review of Paris Cafes Richard is as follows.

During my trip to Paris, what I loved most was sitting al-fresco along the citys sidewalks, enjoying a cup of traditionally roasted French coffee. Im no coffee connoisseur, but I do enjoy a good cuppa coffee. So I was delighted to hear that Frances No 1 coffee roaster, Cafes Richard, has chosen our very own Genting Highlands as the location for its first international retail cafe. No need to travel far for a little taste of France.

Cafes Richard is a French-style coffee roaster. They have been a family-run business since 1892, and have since expanded to a couple of outlets in Paris. Their outlet in Malaysia is located on Level 1 of Gentings spanking new mall, SkyAvenue. The cafe is divided into 4 zones  the cafe (which consists of the bar, the indoor seating area, and the al-fresco style area), which can seat 120 customers; and the pretty steel Frangipani flower area (in the center court) that can seat about 34. The setup is stylish but still exudes a chill-out vibe  other than the fact that the cafe is located inside a mall, it does provide a little French feel.

I love the descriptive menu on the coffee beans offered at Cafes Richard; informing customers of the characteristics and taste of the coffee. With choices from all over the world like the Ethiopian Moka Yrgacheffe and the Costa Rica Tarrazu (about RM21) to the high-end selections like the Jamaica Blue Mountain (RM62) youll be spoilt for choice!

After choosing your beans, time to select how you like it brewed. The first slow coffee method is the common French Press. You often see this around in many cafes  you let the coffee brew at your table, and it gives a rich, full-bodied cup of coffee.

If youre looking for something a little more unique  try the Chemex method. This brewing method was invented in 1941, and is served in an hourglass-shaped flask with a funnel-like neck. The coffee is filtered by bonded paper that removes coffee oil, so you get a pure aromatic coffee that is light with no bitterness. The coffee is then poured into a wine glass. So classy! I got my little finger up in the air as I sipped on my absolutely to-die-for cup of Costa Rica Tarrazu, brewed this way.

You can also try the Syphon or the Cold Drip brewing method that looks like some chemistry project  one uses fire, and the other uses ice. They are both brewed at the bar counter, so if youre curious, you can witness the process. The Syphon method produces a medium-bodied coffee that is rich in flavour; while the Cold Drip is smooth, and well, best drank with ice.

Of course, if youre looking for the common favourites like the espressos and the hot milk coffees  it is available too, costing about RM13-RM20. Cafes Richards top choice of coffee beans, the Perle Noir (black pearl) is used, and it is 100% Arabica brewed the Cafes Richard way. Frappes, coffee cocktails and mocktails, and tea selections are also available on the menu, along with delicious French food. Cocktails cost from RM35 onwards, and mocktails about RM20+. Genting members get a discount on all menu items, and its written on the menu.

We also had a taste of the Parisian High Tea  whats not to love of a small cabinet full of small savories like salmon, smoked duck, mushroom quiche; as well as desserts like eclairs, cheese cakes and macaroons? 13 treats for you to savor at RM143 for two, served from 2.30pm to 5.30pm.

I really enjoyed my French-style coffee experience at Cafes Richard. It was very educational and interesting learning about the many ways coffee beans are brewed. I loved my cup of Chemex brewed coffee, and would definitely be back to try the many other varieties available at the cafe. If you love your coffee, and a little taste of the French living; youll appreciate whats on offer at Cafes Richard.

Thank you Mynn Lee for the amazing review, cant wait to travel with you again. Remember to check out her cool travel blog at www.shewalkstheworld.com

Wilson Ng A Father and traveler who enjoys to eat, shop, travel and taking pictures with Samsung S22 Ultra and Sony ZV-1. Im a full time blogger, youtuber and father for two. I used to travel around 17 International trips per year but now staying at home. Remember to follow us at www.instagram.com/placesandfoods and www.youtube.com/placesandfoods. For advertisements or features, contact me at [email protected] See author's posts
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By Jonathan Landay and Arshad Mohammed

WASHINGTON (Reuters)  Michael Flynn, President-elect Donald Trumps choice for national security adviser, held five phone calls with Russias ambassador to Washington on the day the United States retaliated for Moscows interference in the U.S. presidential election, three sources familiar with the matter said.

The calls occurred between the time the Russian embassy was told about U.S. sanctions and the announcement by Russian President Vladimir Putin that he had decided against reprisals, said the sources. They spoke on condition of anonymity, citing internal U.S. government deliberations about the issue.

The calls raised fresh questions among some U.S. officials about contacts between Trumps advisers and Russian officials at a time when U.S. intelligence agencies contend that Moscow waged a multifaceted campaign of hacking and other actions to boost Republican Trumps election chances against Democrat Hillary Clinton.

On Dec. 29, U.S. President Barack Obama announced he had ordered the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats suspected of being spies and imposed sanctions on two Russian intelligence agencies over their involvement in hacking U.S. political groups.

The administration told Russian Ambassador to the United States, Sergei Kislyak, an hour before the decision was made public, one of the sources said.

The phone calls between Flynn and Kislyak were first reported by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius.

A Trump official confirmed one phone conversation between the two men on Dec. 29, and said their understanding was they did not discuss the sanctions.

The three sources stressed to Reuters that they did not know who initiated the five calls between Flynn, a former three-star Army general who headed the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency under Obama, and Kislyak. Nor did they know the contents of the conversations, and declined to say how they learned of them.

One source said there was nothing intrinsically odd or wrong about a Russian diplomat speaking to a member of Trumps team following the U.S. announcement. Moscow, the source added, probably would want to have some sense of what Trumps team thought about the measures.

That sentiment was echoed Friday by State Department spokesman Mark Toner. This building doesnt see anything necessarily inappropriate about contact between members of the incoming administration and foreign officials, Toner said.

TIMING

The other two sources, however, said the timing of the calls raised a question about whether Flynn had given Kislyak any assurances to soothe Russian anger over the U.S. moves.

If that were the case, it would have raised a possible entanglement with the Logan Act. The 1799 law bars unauthorized U.S. citizens from negotiating with foreign governments with which the United States has disputes. It is aimed at preventing the undermining of official U.S. government positions.

Alexey Mosin, a spokesman for the Russian embassy in Washington, said: The Embassy does not comment on multiple contacts, which are carried out on a daily basis with local interlocutors.

Flynn raised eyebrows among some U.S. foreign policy veterans when he was pictured sitting at the head table with Putin at a banquet in Moscow in late 2015 celebrating Russia Today, an international broadcasting network funded by the Russian government.

However, Flynn has also expressed skepticism about Moscows intentions  a view that does not seem to fit Trumps vision of closer ties with Moscow.

Classified documents that the heads of four U.S. intelligence agencies presented last week to Trump included unsubstantiated information compiled by a private security firm suggesting Moscow had compromising personal and financial details about Trump. Trump called a dossier that contains salacious claims about him in Russia fake news and phony stuff.

One of the sources said the U.S. actions took the Russians by surprise. Russian officials threatened to shutter the Anglo-American School of Moscow, the source said. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov proposed tit-for-tat expulsions.

But on Dec. 30, Putin announced that he would not retaliate. Trump praised Putin for the decision, writing in a Twitter post, Great move on delay (by V.Putin). I always knew he was very smart!

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer earlier Friday said Flynn and Kislyak had spoken on Dec. 28, the day before Washington announced the expulsions and sanctions.

But a Trump official acknowledged later in the day that they held one conversation on Dec. 29 about setting up a telephone call between Trump and Putin after Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, was aware of only one phone call between the two that day and did not know if they spoke again since.

After the Nov. 8 election, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told the state-run Interfax news agency that the Russian government was in touch with members of Trumps political team during the U.S. election campaign and knew most of his entourage.

At a news conference on Wednesday, Trump declined to answer whether anyone connected to him or the campaign had contact with Moscow during the campaign and said he had no loans or business deals with or in Russia.

White House spokesman Josh Earnest on Friday said it remained unclear whether such a call between Flynn and the Russian ambassador would be objectionable .

It depends on what they discussed, Earnest told reporters. He said he could not weigh in without knowing the content.

(Additional reporting by Warren Strobel, Emily Stephenson, Ayesha Rascoe and Susan Heavey; Editing by Yara Bayoumy and Grant McCool)
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(Reuters)  U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said in an interview with the Wall Street Journal that he would keep intact sanctions against Russia at least for a period of time, and that he wouldnt commit to the one China policy until he sees progress from Beijing in its currency and trade practices.

In excerpts from an hourlong interview published by the Journal on Friday, Trump said: If you get along and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebodys doing some really great things?

Trump suggested he might do away with the sanctions  imposed by the Obama administration in late December in response to Moscows alleged cyber attacks  if Moscow proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other goals important to Washington, the Journal reported.

Trump told the newspaper he is prepared to meet with Russian President Vladimir Putin some time after he is sworn in on Jan. 20.

I understand that they would like to meet, and thats absolutely fine with me, he said.

Asked if he supported the one China policy on Taiwan that has underpinned U.S. relations with Beijing for decades, Trump told the Journal: Everything is under negotiation including One China.

Trump angered the Chinese by taking a congratulatory phone call after his election win from Taiwans leader and questioning the one China policy.

The United States has acknowledged the Chinese position that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China.

Trump has said in the past he would label China a currency manipulator after he takes office. In the interview, he said he wouldnt take that step on his first day in the White House. I would talk to them first, he said.

Certainly they are manipulators, he added. But Im not looking to do that.

But he made plain his displeasure with Chinas currency practices. Instead of saying, Were devaluating our currency, they say, Oh, our currency is dropping. Its not dropping. Theyre doing it on purpose, he said, according to the Journal.

Our companies cant compete with them now because our currency is strong and its killing us, the Journal quoted Trump as saying.

Chinas Foreign Ministry responded on Saturday by saying the One China principle was non-negotiable and was the political basis for China-U.S. relations.

We urge the relevant parties in the United States to recognize the high degree of sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by successive U.S. administrations from both parties to pursue the One China policy  and properly handle the Taiwan issue so as not to affect the stable development of China-U.S. relations and cooperation between the two countries, spokesman Lu Kang said.

(Additional reporting by John Ruwitch in Shanghai; Writing by Eric Beech in Washington; Editing by Sandra Maler and Kevin Liffey)
Astronomers have discovered the closest known black hole to Earth, just 1,600 light-years away. Scientists reported Friday that this black hole is 10 times more massive than our sun. And it's three times closer than the previous record-holder. Read moreClosest known black hole to Earth spotted by astronomers
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
Nearly 13 percent of registered voters in South Carolina have already cast ballots for the 2022 general election after the state opened up no excuse early voting to all for the first time. More than 438,000 votes were in as of the end of Thursday, which was the 10th day of early voting, according to statistics from the South Carolina Election Commission. Read more13% in SC have already cast ballots with new early voting
This journal serves a community of small businesses worldwide. Here John Wiley Spiers addresses topics on business start-up and expansion and reports relevant daily headlines.John Wiley Spiers is a small business international trader, author of HOW SMALL BUSINESS TRADES WORLDWIDE , and lecturer at various colleges.



For those interested in becoming members of this community, contact John at john@johnspiers.com.
The Miss Universe pageant is coming around again; the finale will take place in Manila on January 29. Somewhat weirdly, they are calling it Miss Universe 2016, even though it is actually Miss Universe 2017. You may remember last years pageant, when the announcer mistakenly announced Miss Dominican Republic as the winner, only to have to retract after the crown had been placed on her head, and award the title to Miss Philippines.

This years contest has a number of story lines. Miss USA, Deshauna Barber, is the first woman actively serving in the US Army Reserve to represent the U.S. in the pageant:

Miss Barber says:

Considering all the events happening nationally and internationally, I feel most inclined to say God Bless America. I feel most inclined to say I Am A Proud American. Every Time I put on my uniform I thank God for allowing me another opportunity to represent the greatest nation in the world.

She has a shot, I think.

Puerto Rico is a traditional pageant hotbed. I was in Puerto Rico last March, and noticed that around a third of the billboards in San Juan advertise the services of plastic surgeons, specifically relating to bust enhancement. Maybe there is some connection there, I dont know. Brenda Jimenez, the runner-up in the Miss Puerto Rico competition, will represent the island in Manila. Why? The winner had a bad attitude:

Miss Puerto Rico 2016 Kristhielee Caride has been dethroned due to reports of her increasingly bad attitude. This also marks the first time in the history of the pageant wherein a contestant for the Miss Universe lineup hailing from Puerto Rico was evicted days before the big event. (Miss Puerto Rico 1994 Brenda Robles was not removed due to the same circumstance; she was pregnant and was in no condition to attend.)

Miss Jimenez may have been the runner-up, but she is a strong contestant:

It will be a while before the betting odds firm up, and I will feature the favorites in due course. I really prefer, however, to plug contestants who probably wont win but whom I like for one reason or another. Like Miss Belgium, Stephanie Geldhof. Pageantry is on the upswing in Europe and, contrary to what you might expect, Belgium has become an international power. Miss Geldhof:

I like Miss Israel, Yam Kaspers Anshel, too. She grew up living on board a boat, which I suppose accounts for the tattoo:

Colombia is a traditional beauty pageant contender. Most Americans probably dont realize how big pageantry is in Latin America. This video shows thousands of fans cheering Miss Colombia, Andrea Tovar, as she departs for Manila:

Miss Tovar may be among the favorites:

Finally, Miss Guam, Muneka Joy Cruz Taisipic. She wont be one of the favorites. Guam is not a perennial power, and Miss Taisipic raised money to go to Manila with a Go Fund Me page. Plus, at only 5 6 she is short for a pageant contestant. Still:

More to come, including the favorites once betting has stabilized.
Minnesota Senators Amy Klobuchar and Al Franken have announced their opposition to the confirmation of Senator Sessions as Attorney General of the United States. Whats happening here?

Klobuchar aspires to become a player of national importance in the Democratic Party. She has published the obligatory memoir to advance her case. She isnt about to offend the lunatic left in her party by supporting Sessions. In search of a rationale on which to base her opposition, Klobuchar framed her opposition to Sessions essentially as a matter of differing views. For example, Sessions is guilty of failing fully to discern the higher wisdom of the Violence Against Women Act as reauthorized: The 2013 reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act was supported by the vast majority of senators as well as every Democratic and Republican woman senatorSen. Sessions voted against it.

Frankens examination of Senator Sessions in the confirmation hearing showed him to be the unfunny clown whom we have long since come to know in Minnesota. He purported to base his opposition to Sessions onwell, on this: I do not think he is the best man for the job. And on the views stated in this poorly constructed run-on sentence: I cannot vote for an attorney general who is not fully committed to equal justice for the LGBT community, minorities, immigrants and women and Sen. Sessions answers failed to reassure me that he will be an attorney general for all Americans.

These statements are pathetic. To vary a thought from Tina Turner: Whats law got to do with it? Apparently nothing.

Senator Cruz took the first five minutes of his time at the confirmation hearing last week to review the lawlessness of the Obama administration. It is a lawlessness that Franken has encouraged and in which Klobuchar has been complicit. Sad! Senator Cruzs questioning (video below, about 12 minutes) has the added attraction of taking on Frankens clown act.

In 2013, incidentally, Senator Sessions explained his opposition to the VAWA reauthorization as follows: I favor the Violence Against Women Act and have supported it at various points over the years, but there are matters put on that bill that almost seem to invite opposition. He added: You think thats possible? You think they might have put things in there we couldnt support, [so that] maybe then they could accuse you of not being supportive of fighting violence against women? At his confirmation hearing Senator Sessions testified with respect to enforcement of the current law: I will defend the statute if its reasonably defensible.
Demonstrators protesting the nomination of Andy Puzder to be Secretary of Labor apparently didnt know who Puzder is. So reports Jason Howerton of Independent Journal Review.

In a YouTube video posted by American Rising Squared, an interviewer asks three people who appear to be protesting Puzders nomination at a rally in Boston: Do you guys know who Andy Puzder is?

One of the respondents shook her head no. Another responded, nah, I dont know who that is. The third protester said, Yes, but I can point you to someone who really knows.

A protester at an anti-Puzder rally in South Carolina was similarly lacking in knowledge.

Weve all heard of low-information voters. Meet low-information protesters. The Democrats reliance on them is telling.

Apparently, anti-Puzder (whoever he is) protests have been organized in various cities by the Fight for $15 movement which advocates a national minimum wage increase to that level for fast-food workers. Like Trump, Puzder opposes such a increases.

Thus, a good answer to the interviewers question would have been:

Andy Puzder? Hes the guy who wants to save jobs in the fast food industry.

Below is the American Rising Squared video, followed by a clip of Groucho Marx espousing the lefts approach to Donald Trumps nominees.


Names and faces

Dr. Eric Aune, a licensed psychologist specializing in pediatric and developmental neuropsychology, has joined Intermountain Community Service Clinic. Aune, a native of Dutton, attended graduate school at the University of Montana in the school psychology program where he simultaneously completed the neuropsychology track, obtaining his Ed.S. and National Certification and Ph.D. in school psychology. He went on to complete a two-year neuropsychology postdoctoral fellowship at Childrens Hospital of Illinois. Aune has training in the neuropsychological evaluation and intervention of neurodevelopmental conditions, including learning disabilities, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, autism, anxiety, depression, obsessive compulsive disorder, Tourette's/tic disorders, intellectual disabilities, giftedness and childhood-onset psychotic disorders.

He is accepting patients at Intermountains Community Service Clinic, 3240 Dredge Drive in Helena, and at Intermountains Community Clinic at 322 2nd Avenue West in Kalispell. Call 442-7920 to schedule an appointment at either location. For more information about Intermountain, visit www.intermountain.org.

***

John Barnes is the new director of development for the Roman Catholic Diocese of Helena.

Previously he served as director of communications for Attorney General Tim Fox and the Montana Department of Justice, where he was chief spokesman and part of the agencys executive management team. Prior to that he worked in public affairs and the nonprofit sector.

Barnes is a graduate of Hillsdale College in Michigan and holds a masters degree in history from Utah State University.

He can be reached at jbarnes@diocesehelena.org and 442-5820.

News and notes

Livestock reporting forms going out

The Montana Department of Revenue is mailing livestock reporting forms this week to Montanans who own livestock and need to meet upcoming reporting and payment deadlines.

About 18,500 livestock owners who reported last year will receive reporting forms. All livestock owners need to report by March 1 any livestock they owned as of Feb. 1. Livestock owners can file online at ReportYourLivestock.mt.gov or submit the hard copy form.

Livestock owners who have not reported in the past need to report online or fill out a reporting form available from revenue.mt.gov/property-forms or their local Department of Revenue office.

Livestock per capita fees are due May 31. Livestock owners who do not pay their per capita fees when they report will receive their bill in early May with payment due May 31.

For more information, visit ReportYourLivestock.mt.gov or call toll free 1-866-859-2254, in Helena 444-6900.

***

Veterans invited to UM training program

Veterans of all eras, service members and their family members are invited to learn the skills to become a small-business owner through the Boots to Business Reboot program, which will come to the University of Montana on Friday, Jan. 20.

The free entrepreneurship training program was designed to give veterans, active-duty service members and their families an overview of business ownership as a career, an outline and knowledge of business plan components, a practical exercise in opportunity recognition and an introduction to available public and private sector resources.

The programs launch event, which will be held from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. in University Center Room 333, requires advanced registration online at http://boots2business.org/rebootapply/. Lunch and beverages will be provided.

After program participants complete the Introduction to Entrepreneurship course on Jan. 20, they begin an eight-week online Foundations of Entrepreneurship course instructed by a consortium of professors and practitioners led by the Institute for Veterans and Military Families at Syracuse University.

To learn more about the Missoula event or to register as a participant, call Mike Waters, Region VIII Veterans Business Outreach Center project support specialist, at 406-869-8411 or email mike@bigskyeda.org.

Awards and honors

MCF earns national accreditation

The Montana Community Foundation (MCF) has earned accreditation from the National Standards Board for U.S. Community Foundations, the nation's highest standard for philanthropic excellence.

MCF is the first and only community foundation in Montana to earn this distinction. With MCF earning this accreditation, now every state in the U.S. has an accredited community foundation.

This accreditation is also conveyed to 23 local community foundations across Montana affiliated with MCF.

For more information, visit www.mtcf.org or call 443-8313.

Guidelines

The IR welcomes reports of hiring, promotions, awards, recognition, learning opportunities and other news from local companies and nonprofits. We accept press releases and photos (digital images at 300 dpi or more are preferred, but we can also use regular photos; we dont guarantee return of these).

There is no charge for items appearing in the Business Briefcase. Items are run on a space-available basis, and we reserve the right to edit and use information as we see fit.

The deadline is Tuesday at noon to be considered for publication the following Sunday.
The Nigerian Army on Sunday said soldiers killed 13 suspected Boko Haram members during clearance operations in Bomboshe and Sinbaya in Dikwa Local Government Area of Borno.

Sani Usman, the Director of Army Public Relations, said in a statement in Maiduguri that the operations were carried out on Thursday and Friday.

According to him, the troops also discovered and destroyed the insurgents night market at Boboshe and neutralised five terrorists.

The Army troop also rescued 58 persons comprising 35 women and 23 children held in captive by the terrorists, the brigadier general said.

During the operations, the troops met stiff resistance from suspected terrorists, eight of whom were neutralised around Sinbaya.

As part of the clearance operations of remnants and fleeing Boko Haram terrorists in the North East, troops have continually carried out raids, patrols and cordon operations.

It is in that regards that troops of 112 Task Force Battalion, 22 Brigade, Nigerian Army on Operation Lafiya Dole, conducted joint operations with vigilantes and civilian JTF in suspected terrorists hide outs.

The army spokesperson added that, In the last two days, the troops have carried out patrols and clearance operations in various villages and towns in Dikwa Local Government Area.

On Thursday, January 13, with the assistance of some local vigilantes and civilian JTF, the troops carried out fighting patrols and clearance operations in Awada and Sinbaya villages.

They also carried out similar clearance operation at Anaduwa village where they removed Boko Haram terrorists flags and recovered four Isuzu vehicles and three motorcycles.

Yesterday (Saturday), they also carried out a joint patrol to Agulari, Kirinari, Gubdori and Yale villages, including Talwari village, which served as harbour for the terrorists.

Although the terrorists have abandoned the locations, the troops observed traces of their activities such as hoisted Boko Haram flags in the area.

Troops also arrested the terrorists food store keeper and recovered two Isuzu vehicles, grinding machines and vehicles workshop tools.

They recovered five Pump Action Guns, two pumping machines, eight vehicle tyres and one battery.

The troops proceeded to Dagumba, Boboshe, Kajeri, Boskoro and Saleri and cleared the areas.

The patrol recovered one Toyota truck at Kajeri and arrested one Boko Haram terrorist in Boskoro village.

However, one soldier sustained injury during the operation and is receiving medical attention, the statement stated.

Mr. Usman reminded members of the public to always pass information on suspicious persons in their environment to security agencies.

(NAN)

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It is fair to say that most academics and persons with advanced degrees accept the general theories of evolution as proven science. The primary principals of evolution are natural selection and survival of the fittest, which state that all species arise and develop through the introduction of small variations which increase the individuals ability to compete and survive.

It is also fair to say that most academics attach weight to the importance of balanced and biodiverse ecosystems.

The laws of economics are as inherent and inseparable as the laws of nature. Why then do the academics at the Federal Reserve and other economic policy-making institutions feel as though they can manipulate market prices, give favorable status to certain industries, and redistribute and allocate resources based upon political preferences without disrupting the economic balance as a whole?

Were constantly reminded of how fragile our ecosystems are, and how easily the balance of nature can be disrupted.

On a recent visit to Yellowstone National Park I read how the Park Service was trying to eradicate non-native trout species in order to return balance to the watershed and ecosystem. I also learned how wolves were reintroduced into the greater Yellowstone ecosystem upon which the elk and moose population have kept under control, allowing willows and other brush to grow more abundantly along stream beds, which has brought back an abundance of nesting birds and generally increased the health of the ecosystem.

The economy is also a fragile system. If you remove all the wolves, the weak remain in an unproductive state ripe for the spread of disease.

If you dont allow natural selection and survival of the fittest, the economy does not evolve to a better state.

We are told that fire is a natural part of a healthy forest. It clears out the deadwood and diseased trees, preventing the buildup that leads to catastrophic events. Yet we try to put out even the smallest of economic fires.

When George W. Bush declared in December of 2008, Ive abandon free market principals to save the free market system, we entered an unprecedented period in our nations history of market and price manipulation.

Hundreds of billions of dollars have been spent on fiscal stimulus while the federal debt continues to grow. The U.S. Federal Reserve and other central banks around the world have conducted a grand monetary experiment with quantitative easing. These policies among others have distorted prices and incentives and misallocated resources in the global economic system.

As we move forward in 2017 I would say that our economy is fragile. It is vulnerable to exogenous shocks from other economies and global events.

Restoring the economys natural balance by allowing the processes of natural selection and survival of the fittest, which are known in economic terms as creative destruction, to take place should be a priority of the academics at the Federal Reserve and other policy-setting institutions.

***

Barry Nielsen has worked in capital markets for over 20 years with a focus on fixed income portfolio and risk management. He has an MBA from George Mason University and holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation. He currently works for Opportunity Bank of Montana.
The Federal Governments advocacy on the use of contraceptive among sexually active women in Nigeria for the prevention of unwanted pregnancy and abortion is beginning to yield positive results as more women are recorded to be embracing the method.

Compiled data from the 2015 report of the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, on health shows that contraceptive use among sexually active women of child bearing age increased by seven per cent compared to 2014.

In 2014, 23 per cent of sexually active Nigerian women used contraceptives, while 30 per cent used in 2015, the Bureaus latest data showed.

Contraceptive are methods, devices or drugs used among sexually active people to reduce or prevent unwanted pregnancy and unsafe abortion.

A cross section of women interviewed in Abuja on family planning methods showed that most women engaged in one form of contraceptive method, either modern or traditional, to prevent unwanted pregnancy.

Aisha Jamiu, a plantain trader, said what she used to do to prevent pregnancy was count the days of her safe period with her husband and abstain from sex when she is not safe.

This is one of the traditional forms of contraceptive method to prevent pregnancy. The NBS data also showed a 2 per cent increase in use of traditional contraceptive methods between 2014 and 2015.

However, Ms. Jamiu started taking contraceptive pills about six months ago as an alternate method.

I still count my safe period and I am on a family planning pill that I take every day. Why I decided to start taking pill was because my menstrual dates started fluctuating after my last child who is now 2 years old and this is making it difficult to count my date as it has become unreliable.

It was my friend that advised me that it is better to get an alternative method in other not to get pregnant and to be able to satisfy my husband because I cant be giving him excuses every time, she said.

The final health report for the NBS from the National Nutrition and Health Survey for 2015 showed that there is an increase in the use of modern health contraceptive method as compared to the traditional method of preventing unwanted pregnancy and abortions. Twice more Nigerian women used the modern methods like pills and injections than those who used the traditional methods such as withdrawal and menstrual date count.

Most women interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES had knowledge of family planning methods and control although some did not subscribe to its use.

Janet Asumu, a junior civil servant, said she and her husband had always relied on the traditional method of withdrawal, menstrual date counting and local herbs to prevent pregnancy because of the negative opinion of people on the use of modern contraceptive methods.

I started using modern contraceptive after I accidentally conceived my last child eight months ago. I now have five children. It was during the antenatal that the nurses clarified some of the negative thoughts I had.

Currently, I am on the three-month injection method. Its not that the traditional method is not good, but you may miscalculate and become pregnant when you least expect, she said

Contraceptive prevents loss of live

Researches placed the fertility rate in Nigeria at 5.7 children per woman, while sexual and reproductive behaviour of Nigerians show that majority of men and women practice sex before marriage. This has necessitated the government to encourage the use of contraceptives among all sexually active age groups.

According to the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey, 2013, about 23 per cent of teenage girls between the ages of 15 and 19 are either pregnant with their first child or are already mothers, while half of the women between the ages of 25 to 49 years married between 18 to 20 years; thus the need for birth control pills or contraceptive technique to reduce unintended pregnancies, and encourage child birth spacing.

Anu Rotimi, the Programme Coordinator of Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health, told the media that increased access to family planning can prevent about 1.6 million unintended pregnancies yearly in the country.

Ms. Rotimi said family planning can help save lives of women and children by reducing unplanned pregnancies and promoting healthy child spacing.

Evidence has shown that the high death rate is mostly due to high unintended pregnancies and low use of family planning services. Increase uptake of family planning can avert up to 33 per cent of maternal deaths and 23 per cent of child deaths, she said.

Failed contraceptive methods

However, some Nigerians complained that contraceptive usage does not necessarily prevent pregnancy.

Recounting her experience, Lara Nwosu, a mother of three, said she got pregnant of her third child during the period she was on family planning.

Mrs. Nwosu said there is five years gap between her second and last child. I didnt plan on having the third child. In fact my and husband was contented with our two sons. I was not on any modern form of contraceptive for four years because I was not sure which one to use or was safe for me because of all the stories of accidental pregnancy and hormonal imbalance, adding of weight and loss of sexual appetite after the use of some contraceptives.

I decided to choose an implant method after speaking with my gynaecologist on which would be best for me and it was while I was on this that I got pregnant and I cant give a reasonable explanation for that. My opinion is it may work for some and may not work for others, that does not mean people should not know when to stop having children, she said.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vgk6ryHzZcQ&w=560&h=315]

The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, had in a media chat reacted to complaints over the high rate of contraceptive failure.

He said contraceptive failures rarely occur if used properly. Very rarely will an unwanted pregnancy come from contraceptive-failure; it comes from improper use of the user, he had said.

There are different methods of using contraceptives: the use of hormone medications, intrauterine contraceptive devices, barrier contraception, periods of abstaining from sex, and sterilization. And let me also say clearly that there is one that is good for you. The truth of the matter is that, we need to examine you to make sure that your blood pressure is normal, he said.0

A pastor with Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) who asked not to be named said he always preached that people should give birth to only the number of children they have the financial capacity to take care of.

I believe in divine health so I cant tell people to use any form of medicine because I do not believe in it. I dont use drugs so I cannot preach it. However, we preach that you space children so that you will be able to properly take care of them, he said.

However, in a situation where the couple involved does not know what means to use for family planning, they may use contraceptives. But the church does not encourage promiscuity, he said.

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It was a packed hall in New York in 2002 when Alfred Ilenre addressed the First Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum For Indigenous Peoples. He spoke as the Secretary-General of the Ethnic Minority and Indigenous Rights Organisation of Africa, a Pan-African organisation dedicated to the prevention of discrimination and protection of the rights of ethnic minorities, indigenous and local communities all over Africa.

It has always been stated that one of the problems Africa faces is that of ethnic and indigenous community pluralism, Mr. Ilenre told the audience.

Africa nation states are creations of colonial intervention. Different ethnic groups and indigenous communities were brought together to meet colonial economic exigencies without any platform for the nationalities to dialogue on the basis of their common objectives.

13 years later, at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre in Lagos, it was time again for Mr. Ilenre to speak: he was to deliver the goodwill message at an event to commemorate the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

But when his name was announced, a lady came out to read his already prepared speech.

Mr. Ilenre had suddenly become unconscious.

As I stood up, my legs started wobbling and I just blacked out, he recalled days later.

A test examination the next day revealed a disorder in his left lung, a condition he said he sustained in a life-threatening accident in Ghana in 1998 during the NADECO crisis.

Mr. Ilenre spent most of his adult life advocating for equal rights and justice.

As secretary-general of EMIROAF, he pushed for gender equality.

The domination of women is the most nagging moral question confronting Africa today, Mr. Ilenre said in New York in 2002.

Women everywhere, even in the advanced countries are relegated to secondary status. Very often they are subjected to violence both at domestic and public places, offences which largely go unpunished.

The situation in Africa is beyond reason. Indigenous and local communities like the people of the Niger Delta of Nigeria are among the poorest of the poor in Africa. Even among the poorest populations, indigenous women suffer more deprivation than men. There is a higher rate of female mortality among indigenous communities, which is more fatal among, illiterate women.

As chairman of the June 12 Coalition of Democratic Formations, he campaigned for the immortalisation and posthumous recognition of M.K.O Abiola as Nigerias president.

This criminal annulment of the election was an assault on the collective sensibilities of millions of Nigerians who freely gave their mandate to late Chief M.K.O Abiola via the ballot box, he said during an event to mark the 23 years anniversary of the annulled presidential election.

Thus, the failure of successive governments since the advent of democratic rule in 1999 to address the issue of June 12 on the side of justice has resulted in sundry crisis bedevilling the Nigerian state such as Boko Haram, Indigenous People of Biafra, corruption, militancy in the Niger Delta, Fulani herdsmen menace, kidnappings and others.

Often referred to as Ken Saro Wiwa look-alike, Mr. Ilenre also served as director of mobilisation for the Pro-National Conference Organisation, a group advocating for a truly representative sovereign national conference to decide the future of Nigeria.

He campaigned actively for true federalism, resource control, and minority rights alongside Mr. Saro Wiwa (who was executed by the military junta led by late dictator Sani Abacha), Anthony Enahoro and Beko Ransome-Kuti.

Following his collapse at the 2015 June 12 event, Mr. Ilenre was taken to a Chinese Hospital In Ghana.

They gave me prolonged treatment. I spent six weeks there, he said during an interview in November of that year.

Now I feel better than what I used to be. If it was in those days, I would not be able to speak for more than ten minutes. I may not be as eloquent as I used to be when I was in my 30s and 40s, I will be 76 by January next year and that means a lot.

A native of Edo State, Mr. Ilenre passed away on January 12 at his residence in Ikorodu, Lagos.

He was aged 78.
The Chairman, Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Plateau chapter, Jibrin Banchir, on Sunday said Plateau Government owed N12 billion as retired workers gratuities.

Mr. Banchir told journalists in Jos that the amount covered 15 years of arrears.

He, however, commended Governor Simon Lalong for clearing the backlog of workers salaries.

The labour leader appealed to the governor to also pay gratuities of retirees, who had served the state since their youthful days.

We recently met with the governor and we told him that Plateau Government is owing over N12 billion gratuity for a period of 15 years.

We, therefore, appealed to the state government to explore all possible ways to pay it.

We are monitoring the Paris Club refund, this is the first tranche, the second, third and fourth tranche will come.

The Federal Government clearly said that 50 per cent of the Paris Club refund must be used in servicing workers benefits; salaries, pensions and gratuities.

We are done with the payment of salaries and pensions, and if we get another tranche, we should use it to pay the gratuities, Mr. Banchir said.

On leave and transport grants owed workers before consolidation in 2013, the labour leader said that the union was negotiating with the state government through the office of Head of Service.

He expressed optimism that the negotiating team would address the issue for the benefits of workers.

The chairman said that although workers and pensioners were still awaiting payment of other entitlements, they are happy salaries and pension arrears have been paid.

If we look back at the turbulent times we have had, we have no reason not to appreciate the government.

It is the first time, in more than 15 years, that we have receive December salary in December and we must commend the governor for that, he said.

He recalled that government workers were owed seven month salaries arrears; local government owed three months; state pensioners, nine months and local government pensioners, seven months.

He also appreciated the governor for promoting workers for the first time in nine years.

According to him, some workers even got double promotions because of the governors gesture.

On behalf of the Plateau workers, we appreciate the governor in a very special way and we will reciprocate by putting in our very best in discharging our duties, he said.

(NAN)

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Jerry and Barbara Hamlin celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary Jan. 14, 2017. They were married at the Methodist church in Boulder, Montana, in 1967 and celebrated their reception at the Diamond S Ranch Hotel.

Jerry and Barb have been blessed with two sons, Bret and Kirk, and seven grandchildren. Their son Bret and wife, Elizabeth, along with their seven children, Wyatt, Jaycee, Peta, Millie, Rae Lynn, Milla and Abel, reside in Helena and their son Kirk lives in San Francisco. They are also blessed with a special "adopted" daughter and son-in-law, Nathan and Michele Elliott, and two granddaughters, Rachel and LaVinia of Libby.

Barbara said she fell in love with Jerry in the fourth grade. They were high school sweethearts, best friends and have remained so for these 50 years.

Both Jerry and Barb graduated from Carroll College. Barb graduated in dental hygiene and worked in the dental field for 12 years before joining Jerry in the building and real estate business. Jerry graduated in accounting and has worked, and is still running, the construction, real estate and development businesses. They have operated Hamlin Construction & Dev. Co, Inc for over 40 years while building over 900 homes in the Helena area.

The Hamlin's received Christ as their personal Lord and Savior at Helena First Assembly of God in 1973 and have been active members of the church since then. They consider the church to be part of their extended family and thank God for His many blessings on their business and personal lives over the years and especially for His blessing on their marriage. "Our lives together get better with each passing year and we look forward to every day together until the Lord takes us home", says Barbara.

We are excited to see what God has in store for us in the years to come as we spend our remaining years together.
Tina Phillips-Turner walked a residential Linwood street, holding a piece of equipment called a flame ionization unit. It is designed to detect gas leaks.

She carefully followed the connection from the South Jersey Gas main to each homes gas meter, then walked the perimeter of each foundation with the detector held just off the ground.

The Pittsgrove resident works for United States Infrastructure Contracting, which monitors all South Jersey Gas mains and service lines on a regular basis, according to the gas companys manager of records and quality assurance, Dave Newman.

Every service in the company gets surveyed every three years, said Newman, of Northfield. Linwood is getting checked now.

On average, surveyors find two leaks a day, said South Jersey Industries spokeswoman Barbara Del Duke.

The number of leaks found has gone down about 77 percent in the past six years, she said.

There were about 2,300 leaks found in 2010, compared with 526 last year, she said.

She chalks that improvement up to a three-pronged program that includes replacing old infrastructure such as cast-iron mains that tend to leak at their many seams, the survey program and a hotline for the public to report problems.

We anticipate that our results will continue to improve as our programs continue over the coming years, Del Duke said.

All of the companys 6,500 miles of gas mains in the street get surveyed annually using a mobile leak vehicle, he said.

The person who drives the vehicle rides down the road at 3 to 5 mph, Newman said. There is leak-detection equipment in the vehicle, and it makes an audible sound if a leak is detected.

When a leak is found, the surveyor takes an accurate reading on the location, makes a technical drawing and notifies the gas company, Newman said.

If its near a home or other structure, the company responds to get permission to open up the road or other area where the leak might be.

If its not near a structure and doesnt present a health or fire risk, the leak may be monitored for a time rather than repaired, he said. Monitoring is allowed under federal and state rules in those circumstances.

On average last year, 40 percent of leaks were found near structures, according to Newman.

Leaks that cannot enter enclosed spaces are not a danger, but the methane in them is considered a pollutant that contributes to global warming.

Newman said the company hopes to implement a find-and-fix program for all leaks in the next five years, as part of its involvement in the new EPA Star Methane Challenge program.

It will also continue its Accelerated Infrastructure Replacement Program as part of the methane challenge. Last Fall, South Jersey Gas got permission from the state Board of Public Utilities to continue it and to adjust rates for prior expenditures.

Despite the improvements, customer bills are, on average, at their lowest in 15 years, Del Duke said.

2017 rate impacts for AIRP would be set based on a regulatory filing in October, she said.

The company will spend as much as $302.5 million in the next five years to continue replacing aging bare-steel and cast-iron mains with more durable plastic pipe, according to South Jersey Gas.

Since the program started in 2009, the company has invested more than $360 million and replaced over 600 miles of the old mains, President Jeffrey DuBois said in a press release last fall.

DuBois said the company will finish replacing all of its bare-steel and cast-iron mains by 2021, accomplishing in 12 years what otherwise would have taken 50 years.

The survey program covers mains and service lines but not the transmission pipelines that bring natural gas into the area. Those larger structures are surveyed every year by a different contractors crew, Newman said.

Newman said the company uses contractors for surveys because the program is less expensive and easier to manage that way, and because the contractor is an expert in detecting leaks.

We can focus on what they find and be experts in that, Newman said of fixing the leaks.
Nicodemo D. Little Nicky Scarfo, who ran the Philadelphia mob from his base in Atlantic City during the 1980s, died Friday in a federal prison medical facility at age 87.

His death was confirmed Sunday by Atlantic City criminal defense attorney James Leonard Jr., who formerly represented one of Scarfos sons and maintains contact with some family members.

Scarfo was convicted in 1988 on racketeering and murder charges and was serving a 55-year sentence.

American Mafia expert and author George Anastasia said he had confirmed the death in a federal prison medical facility in Butner, North Carolina, with different people close to the family.

No one from the Butner facility could be reached Sunday.(tncms-asset)145d55a4-dc20-11e6-b876-00163ec2aa77(/tncms-asset)

But according to the inmate locator for the Federal Bureau of Prisons, Scarfo is not in BOP custody. And someone had changed Scarfos Wikipedia entry to show his death date of Jan. 13, 2017.

Anastasia, who announced Scarfos death on the blog site BigTrial.net, covered organized crime for The Philadelphia Inquirer for years. He wrote The Last Gangster about the demise of the Philadelphia mob.

Scarfo had ruled Atlantic City for the Philadelphia mob since the 1960s, and was in place to benefit when casino gaming arrived in 1978.

Through subtle extortion, Scarfos company, Scarf Inc., poured cement for the foundations of several casinos as operators rushed to cash in on gambling, Anastasia said in an earlier interview.

The mobs heyday in Atlantic City followed legalized gambling, and Scarfo took over the Philadelphia mob after his mentor, mob boss Philip Chicken Man Testa, was killed by a bomb in 1981.

Testa was boss only a short time, having taken over when longtime boss Angelo Bruno was shot to death in his car in 1980.

Anastasia has said Scarfo was avenging Testas death, and it was the start of a bloody, violent time.

Serial violence was part of his tenure.

On Feb. 15, 1978, mob associate Nicholas Virgilio executed Municipal Court Judge Edwin Helfant inside the cocktail lounge of the Flamingo Motel in Atlantic City, shooting him five times.

On Aug. 10, 1982, Joseph Salerno Sr. was shot in the neck in the lobby of his Wildwood Crest motel, El Reno, and survived. Salernos son was a protected government witness who had testified at trial in the 1979 murder of Margate cement contractor Vincent Falcone.

Anastasia said Scarfo died in Butner, but he could not reach prison officials this weekend to confirm the report.

I think its because he died on a Friday, and this is a holiday weekend, Anastasia said of the silence on the matter from federal officials.

Anastasia said his sources told him Scarfo had been an inmate at the medical facility for more than a year, and had many medical problems.

Scarfos three sons grew up in Atlantic City and attended Holy Spirit High School. The eldest, Chris, has changed his name to distance himself from the family. Middle son Nicodemo is serving 30 years in prison for mob-related gambling and fraud. And youngest son Mark died two years ago after a failed suicide attempt in 1988 left him in a coma for almost 25 years.

The elder Scarfos nephew, Philip Crazy Phil Leonetti, who also grew up in Atlantic City, testified against him and is now in the federal Witness Protection Program.

Leonetti wrote a book about Scarfo and the family, Mafia Prince: Inside Americas Most Violent Crime Family and the Bloody Fall of La Cosa Nostra.

Anastasia said the Philadelphia mob was largely broken by Scarfos leadership.

His management style decimated the organization. It never recovered from the violence of the 1980s period, Anastasia said. Anybody who crossed him got shot.

He had not interviewed Scarfo, but has talked to many people who knew him well and said he has heard conflicting reports on whether Scarfo had changed in prison.

It depends on who you talk to. A guy this morning said in the last two years he mellowed, Anastasia said. But he was kind of a psychopath.

During his son Nicodemos trial a couple of years ago, letters from Scarfo to his son were read into evidence, and they showed no sign of change in the old man, Anastasia said.

They were paranoid and violent, he said.

The younger Nicodemo Scarfo survived an assassination attempt at a South Philadelphia Italian restaurant on Halloween in 1989, at age 24.

He was sentenced to 30 years in prison in 2016 for participating in a racketeering conspiracy and related offenses at Irving, Texas-based mortgage company FirstPlus Financial Group.

Before his sentencing, he had lived in Galloway Township.
The Pinelands Commission has added a half-day guided van tour of the Mullica River watershed and new classes on the environment and local history to its 28th annual Pinelands Short Course.

Atlantic County history and the Leeds family will play a big part in this years event, held March 11 at Stockton University in Galloway Township, said commission spokesman Paul Leakan.

Norman Goos will tell the story of 1st Lt. Jeremiah Leeds, a key figure from a colonial family that owned almost all of what is known today as Atlantic City. Goos is President of the Col. Richard Somers Chapter of the Sons of the American Revolution.

Brian Regal, a Kean University assistant professor of the history of science and medicine, will discuss the origins of the story of the Jersey Devil, and how that story evolved from the politics of early colonial Atlantic County, said Leakan. Legend has it the monster was born to the same Leeds family.

Three on-campus outdoor field courses include one on identifying bird species, a tour of Stocktons campus forests, and a look at biodiversity hotspots on the schools campus, a university spokesperson said.

The Mullica River tour will be 2 hours, and will include stops at various watershed habitats.

The Pinelands Short Course provides a venue for the commission to educate the public, which is part of its mission. More than 1,400 people have attended the course in the last three years alone, said commission Executive Director Nancy Wittenberg.

Registration is now open for the daylong event.

There will be 38 presentations to choose from, covering a wide variety of ecological and cultural topics, according to the commission.

President Harvey Kesselman said the university is pleased Stockton faculty will share their knowledge at the Short Course. They include forest expert George Zimmermann, entomologist Jamie Cromartie, river expert Claude Epstein, professor emeritus, and birding expert John Rokita.

New courses include: Coyotes in New Jersey; the Fungi Kingdom and its Importance to the Pinelands; Raptors and Reptiles in the Pinelands (with live animals); The Life Story of 1st Lt. Jeremiah Leeds, a Piney who once owned almost all of what is now Atlantic City.

Other new topics include an overview of insects roles in the Pinelands; the geologic and land use history of Pinelands rivers; a virtual field trip of the rivers and streams in the Barnegat Bay watershed; the Lenape and their use of the regions environment; and honey bee rescue.

Returning popular presentations from the past include threatened and endangered snakes in the Pinelands, the Jersey Devil and origins of New Jersey; the secret world of plants and pollinators; and Pinelands frogs and toads and wilderness survival skills.

Pinelands-themed food, coffee and other refreshments will be available for purchase at Stocktons Campus Center, and there will be Pinelands music.

The Pinelands Short Course is registered with the New Jersey Department of Education, and professional development credits are available to New Jersey teachers who attend, the commissions said.

Senior citizens and students get discounted registration fees.

To request a hard copy of the brochure and registration form, call 609-894-7300, ext. 125. The form is also available online at nj.gov/pinelands/.

To register online, go to: http://intraweb.stockton.edu/eyos/page.cfm?siteID=107&pageID=470/.
Cape May County and its residents had a good idea in 1989  voting 2 to 1 to put a tiny tax on properties and use it to preserve farmland and open space. The few million dollars a year raised has been used to buy development rights to farms, ensuring they remain farms.

Then in 2013, county and municipal officials had another good idea  expand the possible uses for the Open Space Trust Fund to include projects related to historic preservation and parks and recreation.

Geography and demographics make that a fairer use of funds provided by all property owners in the county. The farmland is on the mainland (and unevenly distributed there) and most of the property value (and therefore tax source of the fund) is on the barrier islands.

The benefits of open space are needed by everyone. The forms of open space and its use can be as varied as people. Small city parks and recreational paths often are heavily used and improve the public space for many residents and visitors. Examples of expanded fund use have included a skate park in Ocean City and land for an outdoor event area in Wildwood. The event area also supports the local economy.

Farmland preservation is great and deserves substantial support. The countys Open Space Trust Fund still provides that and, happily, so does a much larger state program.

In its three decades of operation, the N.J. Farmland Preservation Program has preserved 2,400 farms encompassing 223,000 acres.

A couple of years ago, a constitutional amendment passed with the support of two-thirds of voters that dedicated 4 percent of the corporate business tax (rising to 6 percent after 2019) to open space, farmland and historic preservation. (Last year, the Legislature overrode Gov. Christies conditional veto to ensure such funds werent diverted to other purposes, freeing up $100 million.)

The state, too, has seen the advantages of a broader interpretation of farmland preservation policies. For example, a law enacted a couple of years ago enabled wineries benefiting from farmland preservation programs to extend their businesses into hosting weddings, dinners and meetings  crucial additional sources of revenue.

And innovative ways of using the farmland program are being found. Last month a 118-acre farmland/woodlands property in Salem County was preserved through a first-ever joint use of the farmland program with a privately funded wildlife program, said a report in the South Jersey Times. While state farmlands funds preserved the farm, the habitat acquisition by the N.J. Conservation Foundation was funded by the William Penn Foundations Bayshore Highlands Grant Fund.

Farmlands preservation is working. In agricultural Salem County alone, 39,000 acres among 300 farms have been preserved.

And open-space programs are working and can provide much more public benefit. Cape May Countys approach has been effective and shows how to make a good program better.
County erred taking zoo dispute to court

Those who love the Cape May County Zoo can be assured the dispute between county government and the private, nonprofit Zoological Society is detrimental neither to the existence nor excellence of our admired regional treasure. The damage is to the reputation of the society, its trustees and its ability to raise money. This matter should never have been taken to the courts by the county, a point made by the judge presiding at the initial hearing. Unfortunately, the county seems intent on destroying an organization it somehow sees as a threat.

Since 2007, there have always been  at a minimum  two county employees on the Board of Trustees of the society who have had complete access to financial information. Society financial records have been reviewed by county and society accountants; all records were made available to fiscal agent Alan Gould. No accountant has indicated mishandling of society funds, yet the county and society have agreed to a formal audit. Costs to taxpayers and the society have been mounting daily.

Yearly, hundreds of thousands of folks visit the zoo free of charge thanks to the taxpayers of the county. The society has raised over $2 million from private donors to create new exhibits like the Snow Leopard Habitat, acquire animals and support conservation programs when requested.

This dispute can and should be resolved by the parties without further costs to taxpayers, donors and the people who work for the good of the zoo.

William MacQueen

Cape May Court House

Executive director, Cape May County Zoological Society

Motorist fines improve town finances, not safety

New Jersey legislators should stop what I call policing for profit. The state has hundreds of motor vehicles laws that are being used by communities and the state to fleece millions of dollars from motorists each year. Officials are not worried about safety, they want money.

Municipals courts in Monmouth and Ocean counties collected tens of millions in 2015, much more than five years prior. The revenues from these fines end up in the county/city treasuries.

Towns have the power to pass new ordinances or increase fines in old ones, enforce the fines through their police forces and then send defendants to local courts headed by judges appointed by the town leaders.

The state of New Jersey is responsible for the injustice in municipal courts because legislators and the governor have forced municipalities to find other ways to raise money because Trenton has cut aid to towns in recent years.

Towns and cities are abusing the laws and making a mockery of the criminal justice system.

These fines are often excessive and not appreciate to match the alleged crime.

The next governor and legislators need to implement a wholesale reform of the criminal justice system at all levels that includes re-examining and replacing the reliance on municipal fines.

Paul Frasnelli

Vineland

Lights for Epiphany

Jan. 6 was the Twelfth Day, or the Epiphany, or the Feast of Three Kings celebrating the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem to recognize the birth of Jesus.

Following an old tradition, my outdoor Christmas lights were on, even though they were the only ones still lit in my neighborhood. Merry Christmas till next year.

Charles Coyle

Absecon
JACKSON, Wyo.  Gap Pucci works with his bare hands when he's feeding and watering, no matter the temperature.

He takes a pair of leather gloves along but drops them on a hay bale or tosses them in the snow while he does tasks that demand dexterity: unlatching pens, scooping grain, scattering feed, reaching in his left pocket for a horse treat or his right pocket for a dog biscuit.

Visitors to Pucci's snug compound usually find the 81-year-old retired outfitter and author outside, using a shovel to clear his walkway and routes to various sheds, pens and corrals. He spends four to five hours a day out in the elements, even in winter, seven days a week. He spends much of the rest of his time writing his third and final memoir.

"I'm just playing in the snow," he said Dec. 15 as he stuck his shovel into a snowbank. "Trying to get things opened up a little bit."

A massive German shepherd, Nina, "little girl" in Italian, bounded up to greet people.

There's a lot of work to do providing for the dog, a goat named Valentino, six Morgan horses, 25 peacocks, some chickens, a rooster named Freddie and whatever other critters wander by in search of a meal.

"I'm gonna have to get on those roofs pretty soon," Pucci said.

He still climbs a ladder every other day to toss hay bales down off a 15-foot stack.

"My routine doesn't change much," Pucci said, opening up the shack that holds grain for the fowl and half-filling two gallon coffee cans. The building served as a washhouse back in the 1930s for Howard Ballew, the homesteader who originally lived in this little draw up Hoback Canyon. Pucci hand-hammered the horseshoes that decorate the front wall.

Pucci opened the peacock enclosure, brought in the coffee cans and latched the door behind him. As soon as he spread the grain and let himself out, a flock of birds waiting in a nearby tree beat their wings.

"See that?" Pucci said. "Those birds come in and eat with the peacocks. I feed everything. Anything that needs to eat, I feed it."

These days Pucci is a friend to the animals. He seems a lot like St. Francis of Assisi, but for nearly 40 years Pucci was known as a man who could help you kill something. Clients flocked to him from around the U.S.

The outfitter and guide spent six to eight months a year in the Gros Ventre Wilderness, taking clients on pack trips, adventures and hunts. He retired in 2008.

"I used to ride 800 to 1,000 miles a year," Pucci said, watching his horses sprint by the fence. "I don't need to do that anymore. But I miss it."

He invites his visitors inside the log homestead, past wooden skis given to him by Dr. Don MacLeod.

Inside the cabin there are 10,000 or more things to discuss, including the fact that Freddie gets to live inside each winter after nearly freezing to death a couple years ago. The rooster serves as a live alarm clock that won't snooze until he gets a handful of lettuce.

The first thing Pucci wants to talk about is his saddle. He doesn't like to even go in the tack shed anymore, he said: "It's like seeing a ghost."

Back in November, though, Pucci decided to bring his weathered saddle down to the house for some reminiscing. He reckons he put 30,000 to 40,000 miles on that saddle, wearing out the sheepskin until he had to have it relined.

He rummaged through a saddlebag, announcing each item and its purpose.

"Got some rawhide in here, need to fix a bridle or something you'll need that. A little water cup. You always want to carry fire: a little Sterno. I don't smoke. But I never travel without a lighter. Fire will keep you alive. Toilet paper."

At last he found what he was searching for, the mystery item. Eight years ago it was a fist-size navel orange that he shoved in the saddlebag on one of his last rides. He showed off the science experiment with wonder and delight. It had turned greenish-black and shriveled to the size of a clementine.

"I never carried a water bottle," Pucci said. "I knew where all the springs were. But I always had an orange or two."

Near the saddle is a trophy case that holds a photo of a bulky 19-year-old Pucci holding a bodybuilding pose. He was getting ready for the Mr. Pennsylvania contest, where in 1959 he said he won the "tall man's class" at 5-foot-10.

"Either you went to the gym or you got in trouble," Pucci said. "Mom used to say I'd spend more time in the gym than at the dinner table. And I like to eat. I'd crawl in the window to work out. Crazy. Addicted."

***

Storytelling is an important art form for a cowboy. It's what keeps guests enthralled around the campfire, what keeps them coming back for more adventures with a man they know they can trust with their life.

But what happens when the cowboy has hung up his spurs? Where do the stories go then?

Restless after retirement, one day Pucci got out a legal pad and started writing his tales down.

He published "We Married Adventure," his first book of memoirs, in 2011.

The next book, "We Do the Damndest Things: Jackson Hole Ranch and Outfitter Stories," came out in 2015. Earlier this year the Wyoming State Historical Society honored it "in recognition of outstanding accomplishments and contributions to Wyoming's legacy." The book won a first-place award in the biography or autobiography category.

"When I got this letter I had to sit down, it was such a shock," Pucci said. "I don't know how they got ahold of this."

There was a ceremony held in September in Buffalo, but attending would have meant driving more than 1,000 miles. He would have had to find someone to feed his animals. And it would have meant time away from writing his next book.

The third  and final  memoir is almost finished. Pucci has been scribbling away for years on the book with the working title "Goliath, the Horse That Disappeared: Jackson's Hole Horse and Family Adventures."

***

The magic happens in Pucci's dining room, on a Persian carpet near the crystal chandelier and dozens of taxidermy mounts.

A hardback wooden captain's chair with just a sheepskin for cushioning faces the picture window where one Christmas Day years ago some bighorn sheep came and gathered around his outdoor nativity scene to see Baby Jesus.

"If you notice things, there's miracles every day in our lives," Pucci said.

Dozens of yellow legal pads cover the floor, organized in a way only the author understands. Two fistfuls of green Bank of Jackson Hole pens lie in wait alongside a paperback dictionary whose crumbled binding is held together with a rubber band.

His friend Jake Nichols comes regularly to collect legal pads, decipher them, type them in and print out a double-spaced copy for Pucci to line edit.

Pucci entertains his guests by reading them a page: how he added electricity and plumbing to the property, his two girls liked to play in the outhouse, elk sometimes ate through the telephone cable and open-range cattle would rub on the electric poles and knock out the power.

"At least it was the beginning of civilization for us," Pucci read, "our own little ranch and the start of Crystal Creek Outfitters . It's a life now forgotten by most. Who would have ever believed that way of living could ever come to end for me and my family? That's why I write these books, to let people know how it was, and how it can never be the same again. Those wild days are gone, sad to say."

His voice wavered a little.

"It brings back memories," Pucci said. "It's good."

Pucci could talk for hours about his days as a bodybuilder and in the Army, about his family members  cousin Lou Bondi invented a version of the Philly cheesesteak, Pucci's dad and uncle hung around with Joe DiMaggio  and, of course, about hunting in the wilderness.

In his living room Pucci is surrounded by tangible memories of the hunting lifestyle. A coyote with a snowshoe hare in its mouth stands in front of the hearth. There are stuffed moose, mule deer, elk, bear, sheep, pine marten, ducks and ermine.

"What you're looking at in this room is a life's work," Pucci said.

Respect for God's creatures was always the way Pucci approached a hunt, he said, and how he advertised the whole backcountry experience to potential clients.

"An adventure wilderness, not a kill," Pucci said. "It's that 24-inch Englemann spruce, it's the sunset. I studied all these animals. When a hunter missed a shot, then I cheered for the animal. You made it through hunting season."

Pucci gestured around his living room with one of his fingertips askew. It was broken back in the wilderness decades ago and never set straight.

"You took care of yourself up there, you didn't run to the clinic," he said. "I took more supplies for the horses than for the people."

***

Now retired for nearly a decade, Pucci's memories still keep him entertained, and he writes his stories so others can experience the bygone era.

"One of the best compliments I've gotten on my books is, 'I feel like I was right there with you,'" Pucci said.

He read from the last page of the book:

"The last time I saw Goliath, that beautiful big powerful horse and family member, was 21 years ago on the sandy banks of Crystal Creek. . For those of you who believe, no further explanation is necessary. For those who don't believe, no further explanation is possible."

In December, Pucci was finishing the final story for his book. By spring the manuscript will be edited and polished.

Pucci reads from the text that will grace the back cover:

"Dear folks, this is the third and final book in a series of three, each a sequel to the other. The final journey and roundup of an American Sicilian cowboy's last ride. Staking out a living in the Gros Ventre Mountains . You are now watching the old cowboy ride away. I have run the race, I have fought the good fight, I have kept the faith."

Pucci's in good health, he says, although he doesn't have much cartilage left.

"My joints hurt from all those years of physical work," he said, "being bumped off and knocked down."

But he lives alone and climbs 20-foot ladders in below-zero weather without a cellphone, so he doesn't miss an opportunity to make his last wishes known.

"If something happens to me, get this damn book published," Pucci said. "It's all here."
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.




Capital High School achieved the second highest 2016 graduation rate among Montana AA high schools, 88.68 percent, in the latest Office of Public Instruction report released last week.

Helena High School was ranked 11th out of 14 with a rate of 83.6 percent. However, HHSs rate climbed 1.87 percent from 2015, while CHSs dipped 1.02.

The states graduation rate of 85.6 percent was a slight drop from its all-time high last year of 86.04 percent.

In general, the graduation rates for both the high schools and the state have been trending up, said Jilyn Chandler, the districts data and assessment administrator. They're also above the national average of 83.2 percent for the 2014-15 year.

But if one looks beyond the numbers and the data charts, its the students' success that matters.

And for some -- 68 of them -- the Project for Alternative Learning is helping them stay in school so many of them can walk across the stage this spring and get their diploma.

Jarun Jungers, 17, and Gunner Richey, 18, two PAL seniors, say they wouldnt be graduating if it werent for PAL.

I started caring about learning in general, said Jungers. I actually like coming to school.

I was really behind on my credits (at Helena High School), he said. So it was either this or drop out and go to Job Corps.

At HHS, Jungers would skip school, but at PAL, if he skips, hes kicked out of the program, he said. Hes now hoping to be an apprentice plumber after graduation.

Thanks to PAL, Im graduating this year, said his longtime friend Richey. Being at PAL makes me want to come to school. The teachers are really great.  Theres more one-on-one teaching.

Both of the students and PAL principal Wynn Randall are quick to point out that PAL doesnt fit every student, and theres a waiting list to get in.

But the school districts taken other steps to boost graduation rates, as well. (See accompanying sidebar with a list of some of the programs offered to boost student success.)

This is a balancing act, said Chandler of graduation rates. As you look at the whole child and the district as a whole, graduation rates are just part of the equation.

A key question is -- are students learning?

Helenas steady climb in ACT scores since 2011 indicates students are learning more and more of them are staying in school to graduate, she said.

Helena students scored above the state average in all six ACT test areas in 2016, which wasnt true in 2013. (See Jan. 8 IR story Helena ACT Scores Trending Upward.)

Both Capital and Helena High have made good gains in graduation rates, said Chandler.

Since 2011, CHSs graduation rate has climbed 7.3 percent and Helena Highs 4.3 percent, said Chandler, while the states rate increased 2.8 percent.

Across the state, more kids are staying in school and more are graduating, which is amazing.

And at both high schools, more kids are ... college- and career-ready.

I like to talk about five-year trends, Chandler said, which she finds to be more meaningful than a one year statistic.

For instance, the states graduation rate dip of 0.4 percent in the past year is not statistically significant, she said.

For example a five-year trend shows that, while one (AA) school districts graduation rate dropped 2.2 percent since 2011, anothers climbed 13 percent.

If comparing rates between school districts, its important to keep in mind that some high schools are Title 1 schools, she said, which indicates 40 percent or more of the students are low income.

There are a lot of changes school districts have made to boost their graduation rates, which was particularly championed by outgoing OPI superintendent Denise Juneau through the Graduation Matters program.

Helena School District has been focused on raising both its ACT scores and graduation rates, say Chandler and assistant superintendent Greg Upham.

In 2008, Chandler took a closer look at the data to see why kids dropped out of Helenas high schools.

We ... saw 70 percent of our dropouts had some sort of mobility in their educational preparation, said Upham, moving between elementary schools, or from out of town or out of state.

We immediately looked to stabilize students as best we could in pre-K-12, said Upham.

We really try to keep them in the same school and help support them with transportation assistance, he said. The population were talking about is fairly mobile.

Some other factors they found that affect success rates are problems with substance abuse and juvenile probation, academic struggles, trauma-based behaviors and attendance issues.

Although graduation rates and dropout rates are high school statistics, Upham said, theyre really a district and community issue.

In 2008, staff found that 28 percent of the students entering high school couldnt do grade-level math, said Upham. Weve cut that to 11 percent this year, thats a 17 percent reduction.

School district changes include: investments in new curriculum, instituting benchmark assessments in all grades to better track a students academic progress, and implementing Professional Learning Communities for teachers to meet once a week to share ideas about what works best in the classroom.

The district also saw that if it wants to boost academic success and graduation rates, it needs to start in kindergarten, said Upham, which is why we increased the number of speech pathologists to help kindergartners with language acquisition.

Theres a huge difference in academic success if a kindergartner has a 250-word vocabulary vs. a 1,200 word vocabulary, he said.

The district is also looking into offering an academic summer program modeled after a successful one used by East Helena Public Schools, said Upham, which would counter some students losing ground over summer vacation.
APAC Threat Landscape:

Australia , China and Hong Kong are listed among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a report by Project Sonar.

, and are listed among the most vulnerable to cyberattacks, according to a report by Project Sonar. IoT-compromising malware research by Level 3 Threat Research Labs reveals many connected devices are being compromised and enabling attacks reaching in excess of 600 Gbps.

Key Facts:

Level 3 opened the additional scrubbing centers to provide customers with infrastructure in the region to quickly mitigate attacks with less disruption to business operations.

Level 3's DDoS ingest capacity, 4.5 terabits per second, provides a high capacity to ingest massive attacks so customers can get back to business as usual.

The service is carrier agnostic and pulls all customer traffic into Level 3's globally located scrubbing centers for cleansing before forwarding legitimate traffic through a private connection or the public internet.

Level 3 now has 11 scrubbing centers on four continents. Other locations include Sao Paulo, Frankfurt , London , Chicago , Dallas , Los Angeles , New York and Washington, D.C.

, , , , , and 24/7 Security Operations Centers detect anomalies in global NetFlow sessions, perform impact analyses, notify customers of threatening conditions and then help them mitigate the issue.

Level 3's customers benefit from its global threat research, intelligence and mitigation actions, helping to create a safer internet ecosystem.

Level 3 in APAC

Level 3 began operating in Asia Pacific in 2004.

in 2004. Level 3 has 14 on-net markets throughout Asia Pacific with service reach to more than 50 markets in the region.

with service reach to more than 50 markets in the region. Level 3 offers its customers in the region Virtual Private Networks (VPN), Direct Internet Access, Ethernet Virtual Private Line, managed services, unified communications, content delivery networks (CDN) and security solutions.

Key Quotes:

Anthony Christie, Chief Marketing Officer, Level 3

"Our customers need an adaptive approach to tackling today's threat environment. The disciplined approach we've taken to monitoring the threat landscape to protect our network has put us in a unique position to work with our customers in Asia Pacific to identify and mitigate cybersecurity threats. Our expansive view of threats coupled with our full suite of enterprise networking services supports companies of all sizes located anywhere on the globe."

Additional Resources:

About Level 3 Communications

Level 3 Communications, Inc. (NYSE: LVLT) is a Fortune 500 company that provides local, national and global communications services to enterprise, government and carrier customers. Level 3's comprehensive portfolio of secure, managed solutions includes fiber and infrastructure solutions; IP-based voice and data communications; wide-area Ethernet services; video and content distribution; data center and cloud-based solutions. Level 3 serves customers in more than 500 markets in over 60 countries across a global services platform anchored by owned fiber networks on three continents and connected by extensive undersea facilities. For more information, please visit www.level3.com or get to know us on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

 Level 3 Communications, LLC. All Rights Reserved. Level 3, Level 3 Communications, Level (3) and the Level 3 Logo are either registered service marks or service marks of Level 3 Communications, LLC and/or one of its Affiliates in the United States and elsewhere. Any other service names, product names, company names or logos included herein are the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Level 3 services are provided by subsidiaries of Level 3 Communications, Inc.

Forward-Looking Statement

Some statements made in this press release are forward-looking in nature and are based on management's current expectations or beliefs. These forward-looking statements are not a guarantee of performance and are subject to a number of uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside Level 3's control, which could cause actual events to differ materially from those expressed or implied by the statements. Important factors that could prevent Level 3 from achieving its stated goals include, but are not limited to, the company's ability to: increase revenue from its services to realize its targets for financial and operating performance; develop and maintain effective business support systems; manage system and network failures or disruptions; avert the breach of its network and computer system security measures; develop new services that meet customer demands and generate acceptable margins; manage the future expansion or adaptation of its network to remain competitive; defend intellectual property and proprietary rights; manage risks associated with continued uncertainty in the global economy; manage continued or accelerated decreases in market pricing for communications services; obtain capacity for its network from other providers and interconnect its network with other networks on favorable terms; successfully integrate future acquisitions; effectively manage political, legal, regulatory, foreign currency and other risks it is exposed to due to its substantial international operations; mitigate its exposure to contingent liabilities; and meet all of the terms and conditions of its debt obligations. Additional information concerning these and other important factors can be found within Level 3's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Statements in this press release should be evaluated in light of these important factors. Level 3 is under no obligation to, and expressly disclaims any such obligation to, update or alter its forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

Contact Information

Media: Investors: Ashley Stewart Mark Stoutenberg +1 720-888-5950 +1 720-888-2518 ashley.stewart@level3.com mark.stoutenberg@level3.com

Photo - http://mma.prnewswire.com/media/455639/Level_3_Asia_Pacific_Landscape.jpg

Logo - http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20140908/144115

SOURCE Level 3 Communications, Inc.
DUBAI, UAE, January 15, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

The Hankook 24H Dubai concluded on Saturday with victory for the Herberth Motorsport team. The race tyres supplied by exclusive partner and title sponsor Hankook performed perfectly, provided all drivers with a consistently high level of grip throughout the entire race.

92 cars started the Hankook 24H Dubai at 14:00 local time on Friday. Herberth Motorsport initially lost ground, but then battled its way back into the top three. Nine hours before the finish, drivers Daniel Allemann (Switzerland), Brendon Hartley (New Zealand), Ralf Bohn, and Robert and Alfred Renauer (Germany) moved into the lead in their Porsche 991 GT3 R.

The team of Manthey Racing were embroiled in a great battle for the lead with their fellow Porsche team, but had to settle for second place. Third placed team Black Falcon also featured among the front-runners throughout the entire race with their Mercedes AMG GT3.

You can find all the results at http://www.24hseries.com/2017/24h-dubai-2017/results.

Manfred Sandbichler, Hankook Motorsport Director Europe: "The Hankook 24H Dubai produced motorsport from the very top drawer. There were a lot of tough battles and many Code 60 phases, because the large field meant it was very tight out there. The Hankook race tyre worked perfectly on the very sandy asphalt, and we received nothing but positive comments from all the teams. The Hankook 3x3H, which we held together with Creventic for the first time here, and which formed the opening leg of the 24H Proto Series, was a huge success. We saw spectacular races with super-fast cars, supported perfectly by the Hankook race tyre."

Photos: http://www.hankooktire-mediacenter.com/index.php?id=251&L=2&flt=1

Contact:



Hankook Tire Europe GmbH | Corporate Communications Europe/CIS | Siemensstr. 5a, 63263 Neu-Isenburg | Germany



Anna Magdalena Pasternak

PR Manager

Tel.: +49(0)-6102-8149-173

a.pasternak@hankookreifen.de



SOURCE Hankook Tire Europe GmbH
"So many communication systems in retail rely on outdated technology, and they're ready for digital disruption," said Marc Janssens, head of the Retail business at Fujitsu America, Inc. "We're confident that our wearable alerts platform and collaboration with Samsung are going to transform corporate communications from the front-end to the warehouse. We're already seeing significant interest from retailers who want to be the first to offer exceptional customer experiences through automation and hyper-connected staff."

"We have long seen retail as one of the top industries that can benefit from wearables integration into its workflow. For many retail operations, wearables create the perfect link from back-office efficiencyoperations oversight, workforce management and business intelligenceto front-office productivity and customer satisfaction, including easy access to actionable data and hands-free technology," said Eric McCarty, vice president, product marketing, Mobile B2B, Samsung Electronics America.

Boosts Staff Responsiveness

The innovative software allows retail staff  from cashiers to managers to stock clerks or other employees  to handle their core duties, while also having hands-free access to important alerts and messages that ensure the entire store is operating smoothly. The software pushes alerts, either automatically or manually, from SCO and POS units to Samsung Gear Smartwatches for a variety of scenarios such as when a price check or override is needed; when sensitive items  propane to power tools  are purchased and need to be retrieved from a locked case; or to verify age for purchasing alcohol or tobacco products.

The alerts sent to the Samsung Gear generate a haptic, hard-to-ignore notification with action-oriented details, which are prioritized to ensure the staff member addresses the most pressing issues first. Actions that require physical input today, such as manager overrides or age verification needs, can now be remedied directly on the wearable. In addition, if personal customer assistance is needed, the staff member can send a notification to the customer or cashier letting them know that help is on the way. To further streamline communication, these notifications can be sent based on role, whether that is just to a manager, a stock clerk or back office personnel.

Digitizing Communication

The new software also eliminates the need for antiquated intercom systems, which are notoriously unsecure. Leveraging Fujitsu's wearable alerts systems, staff members can be discreetly notified to handle sensitive tasks, like replenishing a register with cash or restocking items that are kept in locked environments. In addition, the software utilizes QR barcodes, which allows employees to access secured management functions within an application like the Fujitsu Fresco or U-Scan application.

All two-way communication and the Samsung Gear Smartwatches are secured2 by Samsung Knox, a leading mobile security solution that provides a secure environment for corporate data and apps for Samsung Galaxy devices.

Notes to editors

1Compatible with select devices using Android 4.4 and later with at least 1.5GB RAM. Supported devices may vary by carrier and device. Some features may be limited on some non-Samsung Android devices. For a list of compatible smartphones, please visit: samsung.com/gearS2.

2Two-way communication: Samsung Gear connected to Fujitsu systems via in-store encrypted Wi-Fi. Data on Gear secured by Samsung Knox Tizen Wearables. (Samsung Knox Tizen Wearables secures work data by offering real-time kernel protection, HW Root of Trust, Trusted Boot, and SE for Tizen).

Online resources

More information about Fujitsu Retail Solutions: http://www.fujitsu.com/us/solutions/industry/retail/

Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.ts.fujitsu.com

Follow Fujitsu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FujitsuAmerica

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-america

Find Fujitsu on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fujitsu/

Fujitsu pictures and media server: http://mediaportal.ts.fujitsu.com/pages/portal.php

For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: http://ts.fujitsu.com/ps2/nr/index.aspx

More information about Samsung Business solutions for Retail: http://www.samsung.com/us/business/by-industry/retail/

Read more in-depth Samsung Business coverage at https://insights.samsung.com/industries/retail/

Media contacts

Fujitsu America, Inc.

Bryan Hollar

408-746-6412

[email protected]

Finn Partners

Andrew Corcione

415-249-6775

[email protected]

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 156,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu Americas

Fujitsu America, Inc. is the parent and/or management company of a group of Fujitsu-owned companies operating in North, Central and South America dedicated to delivering the full range of Fujitsu products, solutions and services in ICT to our customers in the Western Hemisphere. These companies are collectively referred to as Fujitsu Americas. Fujitsu enables clients to meet their business objectives through integrated offerings and solutions, including consulting, systems integration, managed services, outsourcing and cloud services for infrastructure, platforms and applications; data center and field services; and server, storage, software and mobile/tablet technologies. For more information, please visit: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/ and http://twitter.com/fujitsuamerica

Fujitsu and the Fujitsu logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. U-Scan is a trademark or registered trademark of Fujitsu Frontech North America Inc. in the United States and other countries. Fujitsu Fresco is a trademark or registered trademark of Fujitsu America, Inc. in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

SOURCE Fujitsu America, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.fujitsu.com/us


Workers as a Service

Organizations assign digital workers to automate back-office processes. The service can be scaled to match the expected demands of the automated workload.

Workforce as a Service

Cloud-based and instantly responsive to changes in demand, this service auto-scales to increase workers, accommodating increased demand over time or activity spikes and troughs as needed.

Work as a Service

A true utility solution, with the Digital Workforce managing workload on a per-transaction commercial model, allowing users to link the service cost directly to the output delivered.

Currently, a Digital Workforce trial is underway for a Fujitsu client in the retail industry, while digital workers have been deployed internally at Fujitsu where they are performing real-world tasks for clients across a number of verticals. Key metrics from Phase I of the internal deployment, which automated 10% of all alerts, include: 196% return on investment (ROI) with a projected net benefit of more than US$3.3 million over four years; five times better transaction times when compared to a human worker performing the same activity in high-volume situations; 60% improved effectiveness during low-volume activity such as during off hours; 10% increased capacity of current staff to focus on high-value activity; 90,000 monitoring alerts processed per month, reducing the workload of Level 1 support staff, who are tasked with testing for false-positives, by 48% as well as higher-cost engineering support teams that are incorrectly passed those false-positives. Subsequent phases will increase automation with higher returns expected.

Pricing and Availability

Fujitsu Digital Workforce is expected to be available in fiscal 2017 in North America. Pricing varies according to model, configuration and country.

Online resources

More information about RPA (Robotic Process Automation) and other cloud modernization solutions: http://www.fujitsu.com/global/services/application-services/application-development-integration/legacy-modernization/cloud/

Read the Fujitsu blog: http://blog.ts.fujitsu.com

Follow Fujitsu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/FujitsuAmerica

Follow us on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/fujitsu-america

Find Fujitsu on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/fujitsu/

Fujitsu pictures and media server: http://mediaportal.ts.fujitsu.com/pages/portal.php

For regular news updates, bookmark the Fujitsu newsroom: http://ts.fujitsu.com/ps2/nr/index.aspx

Media contacts

Fujitsu America, Inc.

Bryan Hollar

408-746-6412

[email protected]

Finn Partners

Andrew Corcione

415-249-6775

[email protected]

About Fujitsu

Fujitsu is the leading Japanese information and communication technology (ICT) company, offering a full range of technology products, solutions, and services. Approximately 156,000 Fujitsu people support customers in more than 100 countries. We use our experience and the power of ICT to shape the future of society with our customers. Fujitsu Limited (TSE: 6702) reported consolidated revenues of 4.7 trillion yen (US$41 billion) for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2016. For more information, please see http://www.fujitsu.com.

About Fujitsu Americas

Fujitsu America, Inc. is the parent and/or management company of a group of Fujitsu-owned companies operating in North, Central and South America dedicated to delivering the full range of Fujitsu products, solutions and services in ICT to our customers in the Western Hemisphere. These companies are collectively referred to as Fujitsu Americas. Fujitsu enables clients to meet their business objectives through integrated offerings and solutions, including consulting, systems integration, managed services, outsourcing and cloud services for infrastructure, platforms and applications; data center and field services; and server, storage, software and mobile/tablet technologies. For more information, please visit: http://solutions.us.fujitsu.com/ and http://twitter.com/fujitsuamerica

Fujitsu and the Fujitsu logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of Fujitsu Limited in the United States and other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners. Information provided in this press release is accurate at time of publication and is subject to change without advance notice.

SOURCE Fujitsu America, Inc.

Related Links

http://www.fujitsu.com


If you were looking for the Charlestown Democratic Town Committee website and ended up here, try this





Got news tips, gossip, suggestions, complaints?E-mail us: progressivecharlestown@gmail.com We strive to avoid errors in our articles. Our correction policy can be found here
Mumbai, Jan 10 : The new Chinese Ambassador to India Luo Zhaohui on Tuesday suggested a bilateral Friendship and Cooperation treaty besides a Free Trade Agreement to improve ties between the two countries.

Terming these as ambitious proposals, he nevertheless felt that the time was ripe for the Asian giants to reap some "early harvest" benefits in resolving their vexed border issues.

Luo also urged the need for India and China to join hands in the latter's One Belt One Road (OBOR) strategy to build super-modern economic and infrastructural connectivities in South Asia.

"India's Act East policy would benefit if India joined the One Belt One Road' initiative of China," he remarked.

India has been non-committal to joining China's ambitious OBOR project.

In fact, New Delhi is opposed to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor -- a crucial part of OBOR which passes through Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, which India claims as its own.

The Sino-India ties took a hit when Beijing blocked New Delhi's entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group and rejected its plea at the UN to have Pakistani militant Masood Azhar declared as terrorist.

The South China Sea issue was also an irritant between the two who fought a brief war in 1962.

Luo was speaking at a function organised by the policy think-tank, Observer Research Foundation at the newly-established Ji Xianlin Centre for India-China Studies in University of Mumbai.

He added that beyond connectivity projects, the two nations should also cooperate to promote cultural exchanges, cooperation in education and people-to-people contacts under the OBOR framework.

Luo described the existing differences between India and China as "within a family", but expressed optimism over improving the relations in future.

ORF Chairman Sudheendra Kulkarni, a media aide to former Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, said relations between India and China should be guided by their profound civilisational wisdom.

"India, China and Pakistan should forge a friendly relationship and resolve differences peacefully, which is critical for changing the destiny of South Asia, which could change the destiny of Asia and the world in the 21st century," Kulkarni urged.

Professor Ji Xianlin (1911-2009) was a renowned Sanskrit scholar and Chinese Indologist who translated the epic Ramayana into Mandarin.

University of Mumbai Vice-Chancellor Sanjay Deshmukh announced that the new centre would be upgraded as Ji Xianlin School for India-China Studies from the next academic year.

Luo handed over to Solapur Mayor Sushila Abute a carefully restored version of a rare calligraphic homage hand-written by China's founder Mao Zedong to Dwarakanath Kotnis.

Kotnis (1910-1942), an Indian medico from Solapur who studied at University of Mumbai, was sent by the Indian National Congress as part of a medical mission to help the Chinese and soldiers during the Japanese war.

He died in China while serving there and Luo described him as "a hero of India and a friend of China" and both countries would never forget his humanitarian services and sacrifices.

On his first official visit to Mumbai, Luo met Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, among other engagements.
Wellington, Jan 11 : Bangladesh wicketkeeper-batsman Mushfiqur Rahim has said he almost cried in the dressing room after being injured in the opening One-Day International (ODI) against New Zealand.

The Bangladesh Test captain sustained a hamstring injury in the first ODI in Christchurch last month and missed the rest of the limited-overs series against New Zealand.

The 28-year-old batsman was clearly in pain after struggling to reach for the non-striker's end when he was on 42.

After limping around for a while, the middle-order lynchpin trudged back crestfallen.

Returning to the team for the Tests after recovery, Mushfiqur spoke his mind.

"After seeing the wickets I had a feeling that I missed something. I was almost in tears after returning to the dressing room," Mushfiqur said on Wednesday.

"Whoever comes and plays well in these countries are evaluated differently. I had prepared myself in that way to play well here this time. But unfortunately that did not happen."

With the Bangladesh batting repeatedly collapsing, Mushfiqur was badly missed in the middle-order.

No other batsman were able to match his resolve as Bangladesh were whitewashed 0-3 in both the ODI series and the Twenty20 series.

The Test skipper, however, hoped the batsmen would learn from their mistakes.

"On these wickets, had the batsmen shown a bit more commitment... Tamim [Iqbal], Shakib (Al Hasan), Mahmudullah, Imrul (Kayes), Soumya (Sarkar) -- no matter who you speak - it was a big opportunity for them all. Now our goal has to be to take the chancesA," he added.

Bangladesh batsmen have to put up a much better show to make a fight out of it when the first Test of the two-match series begins on Thursday.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP)  Officials have recommended that a small Nebraska town whose four beer stores sold the equivalent of 3.5 million cans in 2015 be allowed to maintain liquor sales despite ongoing concerns over widespread alcoholism on a bordering Native American reservation.

County officials voted 3-0 this week to recommend that the state renew the liquor licenses of the stores in Whiteclay, a town with a dozen full-time residents that abuts the dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota. Some members of the Oglala Sioux Tribe blame Whiteclay for problems on the reservation, which is plagued with high rates of fetal alcohol syndrome and poverty.

It's a setback for activists who for decades have targeted the stores in hopes stopping the sales, considering the Nebraska Liquor Control Commission ordered the Whiteclay stores to reapply for their liquor licenses in November amid public pressure to reduce panhandling, public drunkenness and violence.

"For them to renew the licenses in the face of all the evidence we heard (at a recent hearing) is unconscionable but not unexpected," said activist Frank LaMere, a member of the Winnebago Tribe of Nebraska. "That is how the 'good old boys' work, I guess."

The state board that regulates alcohol can decide not to renew only if the area fails to meet certain standards, such as having adequate law enforcement  something that Sheridan County Commissioner Jack Andersen said doesn't seem to be the case.

On a typical day in Whiteclay, visitors can see Native Americans passed out on garbage-strewn sidewalks or begging for change. Some loiter on the streets or in abandoned houses littered with dirty blankets, empty beer cans and human waste. Fistfights are common. People wander along the side of the main highway through town which leads into the reservation, past 1970s-era federal housing, decrepit mobile homes and abandoned cars.

Last week, Andersen said he didn't believe closing the stores would keep reservation residents from drinking or traveling farther south into Sheridan County. And commissioner Loren Paul said the board didn't believe they could legally stop them from selling alcohol, but refused to elaborate.

Critics say the state has a financial incentive to maintain the stores, which generated nearly $103,000 in state excise taxes last year, according to the state liquor commission. Sheridan County does not impose a sales or excise taxes on the stores.

Oglala Lakota County, where the reservation is, has the nation's lowest per-capita income of about $8,800 per year, according to U.S. census estimates. Nearly half of the county's residents live below the federal poverty line. Sheridan County has a per-capita income of nearly $15,000.
After voting 6-1 to hold a $63 million bond election May 2 to build three new K-5 schools, the Helena Public Schools Board of Trustees is proceeding with a demolition permit for Central School.

The school district submitted its demolition permit application to the City of Helena on Tuesday, the same day the board approved the bond election.

Both the Heritage Tourism Council and the Helena City Commission need to set public hearing dates on a very tight timeline, said Pam Attardo, Helena/Lewis & Clark County Heritage Preservation Officer.

The Tourism Council needs to make its recommendation to approve or deny the request by Feb. 13, she said.

The city commissions hearing needs to be no later than Feb. 27, and it will have to take action by March 12.

The school district is also on a tight schedule, needing to finalize its bond language 70 days before its May 2 election.

The bond calls for new K-5 schools at Central, Bryant and Jim Darcy and also for technology and safety improvements at all K-8 schools.

The board is following interim superintendent Jack Copps recommendation, although he admits the decision of whether to build a new Central or renovate is a divisive one.

I have to be honest with myself, he told the board. What I suggest is what I believe in.

A new school for 350-375 students at Central would be a better long-term investment for the district than a renovated Central, he said.

He likened the districts school facilities problems to an elephant we have to take bites out of.

He recommends that a new Jim Darcy School have a 500-student capacity, and that Bryant be built for 350.

Copps has no interest in closing neighborhood schools and consolidating, he said. Century 21 education guidelines support smaller schools because local schools increase the sense of belonging. They also make it easier for families in lower socio-economic settings to be active in the school.

Trustees have argued in favor of the bond proposal for a variety of reasons.

Trustee Terry Beaver said the board is elected to do what is best for education.

The previous Central School was discarded after 40 years, so the board could put in indoor plumbing and get rid of the outhouse behind the school.

Were in the 21st century and things have changed radically. I have respect for Central School, but its for the teachers and not the building, Beaver said. Memories are in people, not bricks.

We are charged to represent kids. I think we can do it best with a new building.

He favors a modern school design, with a central hub of common spaces such as the library and counseling offices. He likes wings radiating from the center for different classroom groupings, and also classrooms of 1,000 square feet with breakout space.

You cant do this with old construction. You can only do it with new construction, Beaver said.

The recommendation for the bond honors the Mosaic Report, said trustee Sarah Sullivan, adding that it cost $250,000 to do the report. It is an enormous commitment of time.

The last bond proposal moved away from that report, and I believe that was an error.

Displacement from Central School created an emergency that needs to be dealt with, Sullivan said. Jim Darcy School, which has a capacity for 270 students, now has 402, requiring the use of numerous modular classrooms.

Bryant School has the highest need, she said. The bond proposal addresses three foundational schools as well as safety and technology.

This is about more than Central School, Sullivan said. All kids in the district are affected."

While she appreciates Montana Preservation Alliances presentation Monday on renovations of McKinley and Broadwater schools, she does not believe they meet the needs of modern teaching.

We need practical, functional space. We need break-out private areas.

Although she is hearing a renovated Central would be safe, a new building could be safer, Sullivan said. If she decided to renovate Central and anyone was injured there in the future because of the building, I would never get over that.

Trustee Tyler Emmert said a new Bryant School is a great place to start.

He also favored schools with new gyms, libraries and technology areas. He particularly favors a creative design to make the schools energy efficient to reduce power bills.

While Emmerts heard opposition to a new school at Jim Darcy because it could promote growth there, he said, those people are already there. ... Its just meeting current needs.

He favors building two new schools, he said, but I think the costs of a remodel or a new Central are very close. I would like to have a remodeled school. I do think if we do a new school, we will regret it in 30 years.

Although Emmert favored a Central remodel, he voted in support of building three new schools.

Trustee Sanjay Talwani, who cast the sole opposing vote to the motion, favored renovation of Central.

I thought costs would be an issue, but theyre close, he said.

Historic preservation architects said the design could fit current needs. It becomes a judgment call. We want whats best for our kids and we have an obligation to the community.

I think its a radical step to demolish an old building, Talwani said. The case has to be really clear cut. When there is doubt, I would go with preservation.

The recent survey by Strategies 360 didnt ask respondents if they would favor a historic preservation with renovation, Talwani said. I think it would have strong community support.

If we proceed (with demolition) its a wild card, because the board doesnt know if the city will approve a permit.

We need a bond that will pass, he said. I would support a bond either way. I hope historic preservation advocates can support the bond.

Even if people are unhappy with this Central decision, he urged them to still vote for it.

Trustee Libby Goldes spoke of the over-crowded situation at Jim Darcy, which has no common areas large enough to handle the schools student population.

She recommended a new school on the same property but at a different location further from the road.

She also supports a new Bryant School, she said. Most of the students are on free and reduced lunches.

It makes me very sad that the bond could fail depending on what happens with Central, she said.

While some of the Central architectural scenarios dealt with the school and gym, others didnt. The current historic Seventh Avenue Gym doesnt have restrooms.

What is our purpose here? she said. To address historic preservation or to provide an educationally sound environment. Central has the highest homeless population.

Goldes attended most of the 147 meetings over the past few years about facilities, she said. We have to make a rational decision. We have to make the best use of taxpayer dollars. The rational decision would be a new building on that site.

Student representative Aine Lawlor of Helena High School said, our duty is to students. This is not a decision about community values. We want to do ... what is the best option for our students. For me, a new school would offer better opportunities.

Capital High School representative Jamie Seney also favored a new Central School, citing a presentation by structural engineers at the board meeting.

A renovated building will be safe, she said, but a new school could be safer. A new building would also be more adequate.

Trustee Cherche Prezeau said she was moved by comments by the school boards student representatives favoring new schools.

Whats best for our students is to pass the bond, Prezeau said, so they can go to safe schools with access to technology. "I agree with Sarah (Sullivan), this is the first time we adhered to the spirit of the Mosaic report.

Jim Darcy is an obvious choice because it has been over-filling for years, she said, while Bryant has always been close to (her) heart. It has the lowest socioeconomic group of students, and they are in the worst school. Prezeau also supports keeping Bryant in the Sixth Ward.

After hearing MPAs presentation on Monday, I felt better about building a new school. In the 1800s, the city built a beautiful flagship Central School on the hill above town, she said.

Prezeau wants to build schools the community can be proud of. Im embarrassed -- mortified -- by the quality of our buildings.

Board president Aidan Myhre said she loves the downtown area where Central School and the Cathedral St. Helena are located.

I think the entire area is marvelous, adding that new buildings have complemented that neighborhood.

She questioned what the true cost of a Central renovation would run and also its flexibility. I think cost and flexibility are important.

This is a high-risk, high-stakes decision were making. Im absolutely convinced a new building is the right decision at Central, she said. I think the right decision is to build three new schools.
Chicago, Jan 11 : Outgoing US President Barack Obama bid farewell to Americans in an emotional speech here on Tuesday night with the same message of hope and optimism that brought him into the White House eight years ago.

From his adopted hometown of Chicago, the city where he found purpose in public life, the 44th President of the US called on the country to be "anxious, jealous guardians of democracy", CNN reported.

While asking Americans to stay committed to democratic values and persist in their optimism for change, Obama also expressed warning for the years to come.

"Tonight it's my turn to say thanks ... Everyday I learned from you. You made me a better president, and you made me a better man," the President told a crowd of about 20,000 people in an hour-long address.

"After eight years as your President, I still believe that."

"And it's not just my belief. It's the beating heart of our American idea -- our bold experiment in self-government," the President told the American people in a large convention hall a few blocks from Grant Park, where he spoke to supporters on the night of his historic election in 2008.

He implored his backers to be vigilant in protecting basic American values that he warned could come under siege.

"Democracy can buckle when we give in to fear," he said. "So just as we, as citizens, must remain vigilant against external aggression, we must guard against a weakening of the values that make us who we are."

And he warned against turning inward, telling Democrats that only by involving themselves in a real political discourse could they hope to renew the hopeful vision he brought to the White House eight years ago.

He warned that "laws alone won't be enough" in resolving persistent differences between Americans.

"Hearts must change," he said.

The speech also reflected the unique situation Obama will confront as he leaves the Oval Office. At just 55, he is preparing for an active post-presidency in which he will champion many of the same core issues he worked on in the White House, including minority rights and opportunities for young people, the Los Angeles Times reported.

In 4,300 words, Obama also listed major feats his administration had accomplished during his tenure, including reversing recession, opening up a new chapter with Cuba, inking the Iranian nuclear deal, taking out Osama bin Laden, promoting gay marriage and increasing medical insurance coverage.

His successor, President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to undo some of his signature policies. He would be sworn into office on January 20.

The President also stressed solidarity despite a presidency sometimes at odds with the Congress.

"Democracy does not require uniformity," Obama said. "Our founders quarrelled and compromised, and expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity -- the idea that for all our outward differences, we are all in this together; that we rise or fall as one."

He said he has not abandoned his vision of progressive change but warned that it now comes with a new set of caveats.

Senior advisors said Obama knows that many progressive, religious and ethnic minorities and immigrants were feeling apprehensive with the approach of the handover to Trump, the Los Angeles Times reported.

Obama's successor was elected after promising to crack down on immigration, scrutinise Muslims in the US and challenge what he termed "political correctness".

He paid an emotional tribute to First Lady Michelle Obama, addressed his children, and thanked Vice President Joe Biden, who were all in attendance except younger daughter Sasha.

The President's younger daughter is in Washington to prepare for an exam on Wednesday morning.

His voice quaked when describing Michelle's contribution. "You took on a role you didn't ask for and made it your own with grace and grit and style and good humour."

"You made the White House a place that belongs to everybody," Obama said to his wife.

The First Lady received a standing ovation, and a visibly overwhelmed President was seen wiping away tears when he addressed his wife as a "girl of the south side".

Turning to his children, the "proud dad" said: "Malia and Sasha, under the strangest of circumstances, you have become two amazing young women.

"You are smart and beautiful, but more importantly, you are kind and you are thoughtful, and you are full of passion.

"Of all that I have done in my life, I am most proud to be your dad."

The President then thanked Biden for serving alongside him in the White House, saying: "He is like a brother and family."

As he spoke before a rousing crowd of supporters, Obama was interrupted often with screams of "I Love you Obama."

A protester held aloft a "Pardon All of Us" sign, and chants of "Four more years" drowned out the shouts.

"I can't do that," Obama said when the crowd begged him to run again, which is not allowed by the Constitution.

Obama's goodbye was a dramatic reinterpretation of a presidential farewell address, ending his speech with his signature "Yes, we can" concept that propelled him into the Oval Office.
Beijing, Jan 11 : China on Wednesday asked small and medium-sized states of the Asia-Pacific region not take sides among big countries, and urged the major countries to shun what it called "Cold War mentality".

"Small and medium-sized countries need not and should not take sides among big countries," it said in a white paper and added that the major countries should reject the Cold War mentality.

Addressing the regional concerns in a white paper, "China's Policies on Asia-Pacific Security Cooperation", it said it is prepared to take on greater responsibilities for regional and global security and strives to achieve peace and stability in the Asia-Pacific region and the world at large.

Issued by the State Council Information Office on China's policies related to Asia-Pacific security cooperation, the white paper called for respecting others' legitimate interests and concerns, and positive interactions, Xinhua news agency reported.

China said it supports the creation of a set of international and regional rules through discussion with all countries concerned rather than being dictated by any particular country.

In an oblique reference to the US, it said rules of individual countries should not automatically become "international rules", and countries should not be allowed to violate the lawful rights and interests of others under the pretext of rule of law.

"China has contributed to the generally stable relations among major countries in the region by maintaining positive interactions with the US, Russia, India and improving ties with Japan," Vice Foreign Minister Liu Zhenmin said at a press briefing.

He also said that China will work with the new US administration on Asia-Pacific affairs to preserve peace, stability and prosperity in the region.

Beijing also vowed to increase military exchanges and cooperation in the Asia-Pacific region.

It said China and the Asean grouping continue to maintain communication and dialogue on the South China Sea issue, strengthening pragmatic maritime cooperation and steadily advancing consultations on the Code of Conduct in the South China Sea.

However, China may "make the necessary response" to provocative action that infringes on its territorial sovereignty, maritime rights and interests in the South China Sea, the white paper said.

It called for "discretion" by the US and South Korea in the deployment of the Thaad missile system, which it said is detrimental to strategic stability, mutual trust and the strategic security interests of China and other countries.
New Delhi, Jan 11 : It's not just about Delhi. None of the 168 Indian cities monitored comply with the World Health Organisation (WHO) standards, Greenpeace said on Wednesday.

The study -- Airpocalypse -- is based on the data sought through different sources and the Right to Information (RTI) Act for 24 states and union territories.

"The major reason of unbreathable air is fossil fuel," study says.

Greenpeace added that while no cities meet the WHO standards, only a few cites in southern India, like Warangal in Telangana, meet the National Ambient Air Quality (NAAQ) standards.

"We have been talking only about Delhi being polluted. But what about other cities which are equally polluted," Sunil Dahiya from Greenpeace said.

Delhi, as per the study, tops the list of 20 most polluted cities, with PM10 (particulate matter less than 10 mm in the air) levels between 168 and 268 units, for the year 2015. This was 4.5 times of the NAAQ standards and 13 times the WHO standards.

According to Greenpeace, air pollution leads to loss of three per cent of country's GDP and causes 1.2 million deaths anually.

"There was lot of ambiguity in the data of different agencies and it was not shared with the researchers. We had to obtain data for 48 cities through RTI," Dahiya said.

Delhi is followed closely by Ghaziabad, Allahabad and Bareily in Uttar Pradesh; Faridabad in Haryana; Jharia in Jharkhand; Alwar in Rajasthan; Ranchi, Kusunda and Bastacola in Jharkhand; Kanpur in Uttar Pradesh; and Patna in Bihar, with PM10 levels ranging from 258 to 200 units.

As per WHO's prescribed standards, PM10 and PM2.5 (particles with diameter less than 2.5 mm) should be 50 and 25 units annually, while as per NAAQ, it should be 60 and 40 units, respectively.

"In 2016, severe air pollution disrupted everyday life, especially during the winter. In 2015 air pollution (PM2.5) levels of India overtook even China," study says.

It adds that even though pollution levels are increasing across the country, the emphasis so far has been on Delhi, while the pollution levels in other states like Karnataka, Tamil Nadu and Maharashtra are also increasing.

Calling for a comprehensive policy to tacle air pollution by shifting to clean technologies at a war-footing level, the study says that the country is yet to come to the understanding that air pollution is a national problem.
Imphal, Jan 11 : Assam-based organisations of Manipuri people on Wednesday warned of retaliation if the Naga-imposed indefinite economic blockade of Manipur is not withdrawn soon.

"All forms of blockade and counter-blockade should end, failing which there will be retaliation," the World Manipuri Organisation based in Cahar district of Assam said in a statement.

Other Manipuri civil society organisations based in Assam also warned of drastic steps like counter-blockade if the present blockade is not withdrawn soon.

Meanwhile, 811 empty trucks and oil tankers left Manipur capital city Imphal on Wednesday to fetch fuel and essential commodities from Assam, two days after 519 trucks and oil tankers brought the badly needed fuel and consumer items to the state.

On the other hand, the proposed tripartite talks between the central and state governments and the United Naga Council, which has imposed the state's economic blockade for the past several months, failed to take off.

The UNC has been demanding that the government should release its President Gaidon Kamei and Publicity Secretary Stephen Lamkang first and that the venue for all talks should be Senapati district of Manipur where its head office is located.

However, the Manipur government has refused to accept the demands, saying the UNC should call off the blockade and give an assurance never to repeat the blockade in Manipur.

The venue for talks should be Imphal or Delhi. If Senapati is chosen, other groups will start making similar demands, the state government said.

The Manipur government also said, "Though a demand for 60 companies of paramilitary personnel was made, the Centre had rushed just 29 companies."

On November 1, the UNC imposed an indefinite economic blockade on the Imphal-Dimapur (NH 2) and Imphal-Jiribam (NH 37) highways to protest the Manipur government's move to upgrade Sadar Hills and Jiribam to full-fledged districts by bifurcating the Naga-inhabited areas.
Washington, Jan 14 : The American SpaceX rocket company faces a crucial test on Saturday with its latest rocket launch - the first since a rocket exploded in a ball of flames last September on a Florida launch pad.

The SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket is scheduled to blast off from the Vandenberg Air Force Base near Lompoc, California at 9.54 a.m. It is loaded with satellites to deploy in space, CBS News reported.

On September 1 during a pre-launch test at Cape Canaveral, Florida, a SpaceX Falcon 9 exploded on the launch pad, destroying the $62 million rocket and a nearly $200 million satellite.

Company founder Elon Musk called it the most difficult failure in SpaceX's history.

Gwynne Shotwell, president and chief operating officer of SpaceX, said a lot is at stake as the company rolls its new rocket to the launch pad in California.

"This will be a tough flight for us coming back after our event on September 1," Shotwell told CBS News.

SpaceX said it has fixed the problem with the rocket's helium tank that caused last year's explosion.
Washington, Jan 15 : US President Barack Obama urged his countrymen to protect and safeguard democracy in his final weekly address to the nation before handing over power to President-elect Donald Trum.

Obama reiterated the message he expressed in a farewell speech on Tuesday in Chicago, calling on Americans to remain involved in the work of citizenship and be "guardians" of democracy, Efe news reports.

"Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better president and you made me a better man," the President said in the address, which went live on Saturday morning.

"Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the goodness, the resilience, and the hope of the American people," Obama said.

"I've seen neighbours looking out for each other as we rescued our economy from the worst crisis of our lifetimes. I've hugged cancer survivors who finally know the security of affordable health care. I've seen communities ... rebuild from disaster and cities like Boston show the world that no terrorist will ever break the American spirit," he said.

Obama said it had been the honour of his lifetime to serve as US president and that he would work as a citizen for the American people for the rest of his days.

Obama's second term in office will conclude on January 20, when Trump is inaugurated as the United States' 45th President.
Ankara, Jan 15 : The United States would be invited to Syrian peace talks due to be held on January 23 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said.

Officials from Turkey, Russia, and Iran met in Moscow on Friday in preparation for the summit, and decided to invite the US to the negotiations, Xinhua Agency reported.

"We have agreed to invite the US to the talks. The US will be in Astana. We do not deny the contribution and role of the US," Cavusoglu said on Saturday.

The Foreign Minister also stressed that Turkey opposed to the inclusion of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the peace talks.

"If you invite a terrorist group (YPG), then you should also invite Al-Nusra, the Islamic State. This is nonsense," he said, adding that Washington must end its cooperation with terrorist groups.

"We clearly say that all weapons supplied by the US to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) ended up in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hands," the minister added.

Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, yet Washington does not list the YPG as a terrorist group.

Cavusoglu's comments came in the wake of US States Department spokesman Mark Toner's statements to the press on Tuesday. Toner said the PYD should be party to any Syrian peace talks, and sooner or later have a place at the negotiating table.

Toner claimed the US supports any effort aimed at getting political negotiations back on track and solidifying the ceasefire in Syria.

The Assad regime and the moderate opposition will be expected to meet for talks for the first time in nearly a year in Astana.
Beijing, Jan 15 : China and Vietnam issued a joint communique, pledging to manage maritime differences and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea.

According to the communique issued on Saturday, China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, Xinhua news agency reported.

Both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, it said.

Both sides agreed to manage maritime differences and avoid any acts that may complicate the situation and escalate tensions so as to safeguard peace and stability of the South China Sea, said the communique.

The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.

During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee.

According to the communique, the two countries agreed that it was of great importance and strategic guidance to bilateral ties that the high-level officials of both countries and parties, especially the top leaders of the two countries, maintain frequent contact.

Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas.

Vietnam supports and will actively participate in a summit forum on the international cooperation along the Belt and Road to be hosted by China in 2017, said the communique.
Shimla, Jan 15 : More than 30 houses were gutted in a fire in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh early on Sunday, officials said.

No casualties were reported as the blaze destroyed the wooden houses in Tangnu village, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohan Thakur told IANS.

More than 50 people have been rendered homeless and cattle also perished in the fire.

"The affected families have been shifted to temporary shelters in nearby areas," Thakur said.

According to him, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
A film adaptation of the \"The Devil and Daniel Webster\" with Edwin Arnold (left) as the American statesman and John Huston as Mr Scratch (the Devil) Image Source: IANS News

New Delhi : Among the outstanding American statesmen (and one stateswoman) to never become President, Daniel Webster never let ambition, pride or popularity deflect him from his inalienable political principle: his country's preservation, even by tactical compromises over policies that might be personally detestable, and negotiations over force. But he is chiefly remembered as a polished, powerful and persuasive orator who once even bested the Devil.

And while Webster (1782-1852), whose 235th birth anniversary falls on January 18, was a prominent lawyer and twice Secretary of State, this particular achievement only came in an iconic story.

Stephen Vincent Benet's "The Devil and Daniel Webster" (first published in a newspaper in 1936, and as a book in 1937) is a typical American adaptation of the "Bargain with the Devil" genre popular across all forms of Western art since "Faust". However, some motifs about the making of the US, nationalism, rights and justice keep it from being another "tall tale".

Partly inspired by Washington Irving's "The Devil and Tom Walker" (1824), it tells about New Hampshire farmer Jabez Stone, who unwisely makes a deal with the Devil (in the form of the suave Mr Scratch) for a prosperous period in return for his soul. However, when time is running out, he seeks the help of Webster, now a prominent politician, who began life as a lawyer and was keen to help anyone from his New Hampshire.

And Dan'l Webster, as rendered, was no ordinary man for when he "stood up to speak, stars and stripes came right out in the sky, and once he spoke against a river and made it sink into the ground. They said, when he walked the woods with his fishing rod, Killall, the trout would jump out of the streams right into his pockets, for they knew it was no use putting up a fight against him; and, when he argued a case, he could turn on the harps of the blessed and the shaking of the earth underground".

But even he is hard-pressed and all legal stratagems fail though "he was a great lawyer, Dan'l Webster, but we know who's the King of Lawyers...".

Even his trump card, that Stone is an American citizen who may not "be forced into the service of a foreign prince", is countered, as Scratch says he has been an American earlier -- ever since "the first wrong was done to the first Indian", and "the first slaver put out for the Congo".

Ultimately, Webster plays his last card, insisting on a trial, and when Scratch points out it is not a case for any ordinary court, offers "let it be any court you choose, so it is an American judge and an American jury".

Scratch complies, summoning a "jury of the damned" (including Americans who fought for Britain in the Independence War, a Native American chief, colonial governors, a pirate), all evil, but all Americans. Presiding is a judge of the Salem Witch Trials who had never repented his role, like the others.

It still goes hard for Webster, and he is ready to go down fighting before suddenly realising that it is he who is the actual target, and will be in their power if he succumbs to rage. He instead switches to making a gentle but powerful speech about man and his faults, and even how they play their part in the making of a glorious country.

And the jury require no time to decide, finding for the plaintiff, with their foreman observing: "Perhaps 'tis not strictly in accordance with the evidence, but even the damned may salute the eloquence of Mr Webster."

Nothing else Benet (1898-1943) wrote in his short career equalled this story, which won the O. Henry Prize, the most prestigious award for short stories, in 1937, inspired an Academy Award-winning Hollywood movie in 1941 and another modernised version (starring Anthony Hopkins, Alec Baldwin and Jennifer Love Hewitt) in 2003, serials, radio shows, plays (including one by Benet) and countless reference in other works from a "Star Trek: The Next Generation" episode to a Superman novel.

What of Webster himself? His future is foretold by Mr Scratch, whom he forces to sign a promise not to molest Stone or anyone other New Hampshire man. He is told that he will come close to becoming President but will not make it, have both his sons die in war, and his last great speech will make many of his followers turn against him, questioning his loyalties and calling him names. But Webster is unfazed and kicks the Devil off.

All that came to be pass. Webster declined to accept Vice Presidency under two Presidents who died soon into their terms, his speech for the Compromise of 1850, which averted the Civil War (in which both his sons died) by a decade, earned him both bouquets and brickbats and scuppered his Presidential candidacy in 1852.

But he is ranked an orator to be emulated, one of the five greatest Senators ever and future President John F. Kennedy featured him in his Pulitzer-winning "Profiles in Courage".

(Vikas Datta is an Associate Editor at IANS. The views expressed are personal. He can be contacted atvikas.d@ians.in)
Mumbai, Jan 15 : Actor Shahid Kapoor was ecstatic after winning Best Actor (Male) at Filmfare for his performance in "Udta Punjab", and says more than any film, the trophy honours cinema with strong content.

Shahid shared the award with Manoj Bajpayee for "Aligarh". The 62nd Jio Filmfare Awards was held here on Saturday night.

He tweeted: "Thank you Abhishek Chaubey and Sudip Sharma for conceiving Tommy Singh. The Filmfare trophy belongs to you first. Congratulations to Alia Bhatt and Diljit Dosanjh for the much deserved awards. Here's to cinema with content. Say no to drugs."

Alia Bhatt won the Filmfare Best Actor Award (Female) for her performance as a Bihari immigrant in "Udta Punjab".

"Udta Punjab", which also stars Alia, Kareena Kapoor Khan and Diljit, is a story that revolves around drug abuse in north of Punjab and how the youths there have succumbed to it. Shahid essayed the character of a high-on-drugs, long-haired rockstar Tommy Singh, who sings with glee and abuses with impunity.

Shahid also shared an image of the trophy and his wife Mira, with a caption that read: "Came with one stunning lady and heading home with two. Thank you Filmfare."
New Delhi, Jan 15 : President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday greeted soldiers on the Army Day and remembered those who made the "supreme sacrifice" in the line of duty.

"Greetings and felicitations to all officers, soldiers, veterans, civilians, ex-servicemen and their families on the occasion of Army Day," he said.

"Today, we remember our bravehearts who have made the supreme sacrifice in the line of duty. The nation is indebted to them and their families," the President said.

"I wish to place on record our deepest appreciation for the dedication and devotion of our soldiers in their service to the nation," Mukherjee said in a statement.

"The Indian Army plays a pivotal role in ensuring the national security of India whilst defending our borders across some of the most perilous terrain in the world."

"It provides stability during internal security challenges and is often called upon to provide assistance during natural calamities."

The President also said the Indian Army is known for its "professionalism, selfless commitment and the unparalleled bravery of its rank and file".

"I am confident the Indian Army will continue to acquit itself as a robust and vital instrument of national power in the coming years."

The Army Day is celebrated on Jan 15.
Mumbai, Jan 15 : Amitabh Bachchan made his debut in Hollywood with 2003 film "The Great Gatsby", but he is not heading to the West anytime soon. The megastar says he has no offers from the foreign shores at the moment.

Many Indian actors like Priyanka Chopra, Deepika Padukone, Irrfan Khan and Nimrat Kaur are crossing borders, and making a mark in Hollywood.

Ask Big B about this, and he says he has no plans to venture out to the foreign shores.

"There are no projects that have come my way, so the answer is no," Amitabh told IANS over an email from Mumbai.

"The Great Gatsby", directed by Baz Luhrmann, also featured Leonardo DiCaprio, Carey Mulligan and Tobey Maguire. Amitabh plays the brief role of Meyer Wolfsheim.

Last year, Amitabh got critical acclaim with "Pink", a movie about issues that women face. The actor says he believes "that the reward for me in my film 'Pink' is really a reward for the issue that 'Pink' so impressively depicted."
Beijing : Beijing , Jan 15 (IANS) Zhou Youguang, who simplified Chinese language by introducing Pinyin, died here on Saturday. He was 112.

Pinyin is the romanised form of Mandarin characters -- one of the most complicated languages of the world -- which makes it much easier to learn the ancient language, especially for foreigners.

Chinese is the world's most spoken language, thanks to China's booming population and its diaspora.

Mao Zedong is the Pinyin version of Mao Tse-tung.

Zhou and his colleagues began working on Pinyin in 1955 and took three years to develop it.

The most striking thing about Zhou's involvement was that he was neither a linguist nor a lexicographer but an economist, who returned home to China from Wall Street, according to the New York Times.

But because of a fortuitous meeting in 1955, and a lifetime love of language, he was conscripted by the Chinese government to develop an accessible alphabetic writing system, the newspaper recalled.

Zhou's father was an official of China's last imperial dynasty, the Qing, which endured continuously from the 17th century until 1912.

Zhou was born in Changzhou, in eastern China, on January 13, 1906.

In 1927, after studying at St. John's University in Shanghai, he graduated from Guanghua University there with a degree in economics.
Srinagar, Jan 15 : A gun battle erupted between security forces and militants on Sunday in Jammu and Kashmir's Anantnag district.

Police said that as soon as the security forces cordoned off Awoora near Pahalgam town following information about the presence of the militants, they were fired at, triggering the fighting.

The security forces rushed reinforcements to the area to ensure that the militants didn't escape.
Kolkata, Jan 15 : Terming replacement of Mahatma Gandhi's picture from the 2017 calendar and diary of the Khadi Village Industries Commission (KVIC) with that of Prime Minister Narendra Modi's photo a "marketing exercise", Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Sunday said it was part of the all-out efforts to promote "Brand Modi".

"My perception is that they (the Modi government) have tried to reduce everything to a marketing exercise. This is about promoting Brand Modi and putting the brand on everything the government has control of, overlooking the fact of not just popular imagination but a historical fact," Tharoor told IANS on the sidelines of Apeejay Kolkata Literary Festival here.

He said the move was "inappropriate" and showed the government in poor light.

"Gandhiji's relationship with the handloom industry and khadi is so organic and so fundamental with the image of him and his charkha that it is deeply embedded in the public consciousness. You cannot just change the image so easily. To put it mildly, it was inappropriate.

"We should not give it too much importance because to my mind it suggests trivialisation of national iconography that does not stand to the credit of those who thought of it," he added.

A political storm rages over Modi's picture spinning the charkha appearing on the cover pages of the KVIC calendar and diary, instead of the iconic picture of Gandhi weaving Khadi on a simple charkha wearing his trademark loin cloth.
Manama, Jan 15 : Bahrain on Sunday executed three Shia men despite widespread protests in the capital.

The three were convicted for the killing of three police officers in a bomb attack in March 2014, the BBC reported.

The executions came less than a week after the country's highest court confirmed the punishment against Abbas al-Samea, 27, Sami Mushaima, 42, and Ali al-Singace, 21.

The execution by a firing squad was the first in the Arab country since a 2011 uprising, led by the Shia majority, calling for greater political rights.

The three were found guilty, along with seven other inmates, of belonging to a terror cell that took part in the March 2014 bombing of the village of Sanabis in which three policemen died.

The Sunni-ruled kingdom has escalated a crackdown on its Shia critics over the past year, including revoking the citizenship of the country's most prominent Shia Muslim cleric, Ayatollah Isa Qassim.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets of Manama on Saturday after reports emerged on social media about the preparations being made for the execution.

Executions are rare in Bahrain, which borders Saudi Arabia and Iran.
New Delhi, Jan 15 : Kangana Ranaut is known for her film projects as well as her fashion sense. The actress says it was not a "conscious leap" to come forward as a style icon.

The actress also said she has been experimental with her looks since her growing up days.

"I started as a small town girl and it was not a conscious leap where I decided that 'Okay fine, I have to emerge as this style icon'. While growing up, I was quite experimental with my looks. It was not like that I didn't stand out back home in my little village where I grew up," Kangana told IANS.

"In fact, my fashion sense was quite outrageous. I remember wearing torn shorts and straw hat and going to market, which sort of scandalised everyone," she added.

The 29-year-old is known for films like "Gangster - A Love Story", "Fashion", "Queen", "Tanu Weds Manu" and "Tanu Weds Manu Returns". She is now being lauded for her look in her forthcoming film "Rangoon" -- Vishal Bhardwaj's period drama set in the 1940s amidst the turmoil of India's Independence struggle.

The actress said her father was not happy with her style while growing back.

"I remember my father being extremely upset with what I wore and how I carried myself. He didn't approve of it. But I just thought that it was none of his business and I did what I liked anyway."

"I think that was the phase where a child tries something and everybody sort of doesn't give the right reaction," said the National Award winning actress.

After "Rangoon", she will be seen in "Rani Lakshmi Bai" and "Simran".
Kolkata, Jan 15 : A court here on Sunday sent to three days police custody BJP's West Bengal unit Vice President Jayprakash Majumdar, arrested for allegedly taking money from School Service Commission candidates on the pretext of getting them jobs.

The judge at Bidhannagar court also rejected a bail plea moved by the defence counsel.

Majumdar was arrested on Saturday after seven hours of intense grilling at the Bidhannagar North police station following a complaint by Arup Ratan Roy that he has taken Rs 7.20 lakh in two tranches promising to get jobs for SSC candidates by moving the Supreme Court.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party leader lashed out at Roy in the court premises, saying he was not a candidate at the TET examination.

"Complainant himself is not an examinee of TET. This complaint is based on lies. The entire thing is a conspiracy," Majumdar told reporters The prosecution, however, pleaded that Majumdar has admitted during interrogation that he did take the money.

The government counsel pleaded for a seven day police remand, arguing his custody was needed to find out where Majumdar has deposited the money as it was a serious offence.

Regarding Majumdar's allegation about the complainant, the government pleader argued that the complainant had even knocked on the doors of the state BJP president Dilip Ghosh with the allegations and was forced to move the court as a last resort. As such there was no intention on the part of the complainant to implicate the accused person in the case, the pleader said.

Moving bail, the defence lawyer contended though the tenor of the FIR was that no case had been filed in the Supreme Court, a case was moved on the matter in the apex judiciary. The defence also termed the arrest as "arbitrary" without following the due process of law.

After hearing both sides, the court dismissed the bail prayer and sent Majumdar to three-day police custody.

Majumdar has been booked under section 420 (cheating), section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and section 506 (threat to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.

According to the complainant, Majumdar met them during a hunger strike by the SSC candidates under the platform of the Chhatra Aikya Sangram Mancha for jobs and allegedly promised to get them jobs by filing a case in the Supreme Court in return for money.

"Jayprakash Majumdar met us during a hunger strike we had organised near the School Service Commission office demanding jobs. He said give me around Rs 8-10 lakh and I will help you to get the job by filing a case in the Supreme Court. Later, we handed over Rs 7.20 lakh to him in two tranches.

"But when we met him after three months, he completely denied taking any money from us. When we asked him to return our money, he threatened us by brandishing a revolver and forced us to leave his office," he added.

Roy conceded that his name was not on the merit list, but two of his relatives made the cut.

Majumdar, a one-time senior leader of the Congress, quit the party and joined the BJP in September 2014.
Tehran, Jan 15 : Iran's nuclear industry is capable of functioning at the same level as it did prior to the country's signing of an international treaty reducing its uranium enrichment, the Atomic Energy Organisation of Iran (AEOI) said on Sunday.

AEOI deputy Ali Asghar Zarean said Iran could revert to its pre-agreement nuclear capabilities if any of the treaty's signatories did not uphold its commitments, Efe news agency reported.

"We're capable of obtaining any desired level of enrichment," Zarean said.

He explained that this was possible due to the ties between Iran's nuclear industry and the Asian nation's top universities.

Zarean added that Iran could again produce highly enriched uranium (HEU) with a concentration of 20 per cent, which it was already doing before the treaty signed with the P5+1 (the US, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany) entered into force on January 16, 2016.

The nuclear deal established that Iran would accept limitations to and a higher international supervision of its civil nuclear programme.

This includes reducing Iran's enriched uranium reserves to less than 300 kilograms and keeping enrichment levels at four per cent, a much lower figure than the 90 per cent needed to fuel a nuclear weapon.

In exchange, the P5+1 agreed to lift diplomatic and trade sanctions that were asphyxiating the Iranian economy.

Zarean's comments came after Rex Tillerson -- US nominee for Secretary of State -- recently said that a review of the deal was needed.

Iranian authorities said they would not allow changes to the deal, pointing out that as the treaty had been signed with five other states, the US cannot unilaterally decide to change it.

Tehran has also frequently accused Washington of violating the accord, especially with the recent vote to extend sanctions on Iran for another 10 years.
WASHINGTON -- After my aunt died recently, a cousin found in her papers the "Petition for Naturalization" that our great-grandfather signed in 1913, 13 years after emigrating from Russia.

The wording on the yellowed page required my ancestor to affirm that he was neither anarchist nor polygamist. The oath continued: "It is my intention to become a citizen of the United States and to renounce absolutely and forever all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state or sovereignty, and particularly to Nicholas II, Emperor of all the Russias."

The oath differs from the one President-elect Donald Trump will take at his inauguration. But if it was important enough for our nation to require a Brooklyn tailor a century ago to renounce the czar, is it too much to ask that our new president promise the same?

I'm not questioning Trump's citizenship or patriotism. But it would be reassuring to see him renounce fidelity to another repressive leader of Russia -- to demonstrate that he is "no puppet" of Vladimir Putin.

The renewed attention to Trump's Russia ties is welcome, but the unverified "dossier" published last week is a distraction. Hotel liaisons don't threaten American security. The danger is that Putin and his allies might control a chunk of Trump's debt and therefore hold hostage his financial stability.

Trump arguably owes his election to Putin. (In an election as close as this one, any number of minor factors could have been decisive, including the Russians' leaks of Democrats' hacked emails.) And he refuses to do the things that would remove fears that Putin has sway over Trump's finances: release his tax returns, divest of his businesses or put them into a blind trust. You don't have to be a conspiracy theorist to wonder if the incoming president is beholden to one of the nation's most wily adversaries.

Here's what we know:

Trump, once the self-described "king of debt," now claims he isn't highly leveraged, but there's no way to verify this without tax returns. A New York Times examination last year found at least $650 million in debt, twice the amount that could be found in Trump's financial disclosure.

Though Trump has insisted he has no financial dealings with Russia, his son Donald Trump Jr. declared in 2008: "Russians make up a pretty disproportionate cross-section of a lot of our assets. ... We see a lot of money pouring in from Russia."

As The Washington Post's Michael Kranish recapped last week, Trump has attempted several deals in Russia over decades. He received $95 million from an oligarch for a Palm Beach mansion in 2008 and untold more from Russian investors buying his condos.

Britain's Guardian newspaper reported last week that the FBI unsuccessfully applied for a warrant during the summer to monitor four members of Trump's team suspected of "irregular contacts with Russian officials."

Russia's deputy foreign minister told the Interfax state news agency that the government had "contacts" with Trump's campaign and knows "most of the people from his entourage." Trump's campaign denied this.

Trump declined again last week to release his tax returns. Instead of selling his businesses or creating a blind trust, he announced that he gave control to his adult sons with his (unenforceable) assurance that "they're not going to discuss it with me."

While having all these known or potential entanglements with Russia, Trump has questioned the value of NATO, said he would consider removing sanctions against Russia and recognizing Russia's annexation of Crimea, spoken favorably of Putin's leadership and resisted blaming Putin for cyberattacks and human-rights abuses. Trump hired as his national security adviser Michael Flynn, who has appeared on Russia's state-owned RT network and sat with Putin at a dinner celebrating the network.

Trump also tapped to be secretary of state Rex Tillerson, the former Exxon Mobil chief who received the Order of Friendship award from Putin's government. At his confirmation hearing, Tillerson declined to say Putin had committed war crimes or approved the killing of opponents and journalists. He left open the possibility of lifting sanctions against Russia.

Happily, Trump's picks to run the Pentagon and CIA were more skeptical of Russia in testimony, but that potentially puts them at odds with their commander in chief.

Asked last week whether he agreed that Putin tried to help him win the election and whether he would rescind Obama's actions punishing Russia, Trump replied: "If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability."

Clearly. And Putin, just as clearly, considers Trump an asset. The question is whether Trump is Putin's asset because the Russian president controls the American president's liabilities.

Dana Milbank is a columnist for The Washington Post.
Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 : Former Kerala Chief Minister A.K. Antony on Sunday asked Congress leaders to end their infighting, saying it was eating into their support base.

"What many fail to realise is that the support base of not just the party but its leaders is slipping because of this infighting," Antony told the media.

"The need of the hour is for the leaders to come out of the comfort zone of their coteries. They should not fear criticism," he said.

The statement comes at a time when former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy, who has not entered the Congress headquarters for over a month, has been called to Delhi to meet party Vice President Rahul Gandhi on Monday.

Ever since its rout in assembly polls last year, the Congress has been divided, with Chandy, state party President V.M. Sudheeran and opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala heading their own factions.

In December, Chandy's aides were left out when 14 district committees of the party were reconstituted by the party high command.

Chandy expressed his anguish by not taking part in two crucial party meetings in Delhi, including the Political Affairs Committee meeting on Saturday.
Imphal, Jan 15 : Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday demanded resignation of Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh for his failure to end the ongoing economic blockade which has affected availability of essential commodities in the region.

Javadekar was interacting with the media at the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office during his visit here to hold discussions for short-listing candidates for the ensuing assembly elections.

Manipur will elect a new 60-member state assembly in two-phased polls on March 4 and 8.

The BJP leader said: "The Constitution clearly says that the central government can't do anything about law and order, since it is a state subject. Still we are extending help to him by despatching 40 companies of paramilitary forces.

"Instead of using them in maintaining law and order along the highways, the security personnel have been kept in the barracks. Since he has failed to defuse the crisis, he should resign. In any case, he will be ousted this time, but people see no reason to wait until the elections."

Javadekar further said: "In the larger interest of the suffering people, the central government had arranged tripartite talks between the Centre, the state government and the United Naga Council, which has imposed the blockade since November 1."

"But the meeting could not be held as no representative from the state government was sent for the talks," he charged.

Ibobi had told IANS that there was no formal invitation. Also, "since Manipur is at the extreme border, officials cannot be rushed to Delhi at a moment's notice", he added.

People continue to suffer due to shortage of essential items. Fuel is rationed, though there is no dearth in the black market. Cooking gas cylinders are being sold for Rs 2,000 each in the black market.

The Manipur High Court had directed the government to provide adequate security to the vehicles plying on the highways.

The state government has complained that while it sought 60 companies of central paramilitary forces, so far only 29 companies have been sent.

More than 500 loaded trucks and oil tankers bring various items to Manipur every second day from Assam. But owing to the lack of mechanism to check hoarding, a large proportion of the items do not reach the open market.

During the blockade, there have been instances of drivers and police personnel having been ambushed to disrupt supplies to the strife-torn state.

Javadekar held closed-door consultations with the state BJP and other national leaders in charge of the Northeast. The short-listed names of BJP nominees will be submitted to the central committee and the final list of candidates is expected to be announced next week.

The party will be fielding candidates in all the 60 constituencies of the Manipur assembly.

There are more than six BJP aspirants in each constituency and all of them have started their respective election campaign. This is causing confusion among the voters.

At the directive of the party, however, the aspirants in some constituencies recently publicly pledged to support the ones who get the ticket.
Kabul, Jan 15 : The Afghan Eduction Ministry on Sunday said the Islamic State terror group has kidnapped 14 teachers from Nangarhar province.

The ministry said the incident took place on Sunday when students were busy with exams at the Mesher Mullah Sahib Madrassa in Kot district. "A group of IS fighters entered the madrassa and left, taking 14 people with them," the ministry said.

The ministry called on security forces and tribal elders to do "everything possible" to secure the release of the abductees.
Ottawa, Jan 15 : In a heart-warming gesture, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has wished Tamils in Canada and around the world 'Happy Pongal'.

"Tamils in Canada and around the world will gather to celebrate Thai Pongal. This festival marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the new year," he said in a message on Saturday night.

"Friends and families will come together to give thanks for a prosperous harvest and a season of good fortune. It is a time for joy, celebration, and community," Trudeau said.

Pongal is a four-day festival celebrated by Tamils.

On October 8, the Canadian Parliament passed a bill declaring January to be a Tamil Heritage Month.

Trudeau pointed out that the move was aimed at recognizing the contribution made by Tamils living in Canada to the Canadian society.

Canada is home to a large number of Sri Lankan Tamils. Toronto city is often described as a mini Jaffna.

It is not the first time Trudeau has extended such a gesture towards minorities from the Indian sub-continent.

Two years ago, he danced with Indians in Ottawa on the occasion of India's Independence Day.
Beijing, Jan 15 : Beijing, one of the most polluted cities of the world, will spend $2.6 billion to curb deadly air pollution.

The city of about nearly 22 million has been grappling with suffocating smog for years thanks to unbridled industrialisation in and around the capital city.

Beijing will spend 18.2 billion yuan ($2.6 billion) to fight air pollution in 2017, officials were quoted by Xinhua news agency.

This year, Beijing will replace coal with clean energy for 700 villages and phase out 300,000 high-polluting old vehicles.

It will close or upgrade 2,570 polluting factories, said acting mayor Cai Qi Cai said Beijing will take tougher measures to improve the city's air quality in 2017.

Acts of excessively or secretly discharging pollutants will be severely punished, Cai added.

Beijing will also set up environment police thie year.

The environment police squad can detain suspects in serious environment-related cases, the official told municipal lawmakers.

The environment police will work with the city's environmental protection authorities to crack down on violations in environmental protection, Fang Li, head of the Beijing Environmental Protection Bureau.
Panaji, Jan 15 : The Congress party on Sunday released its second list of seven candidates for the upcoming Goa assembly polls, taking the number of candidates finalised so far to 34 of the 40 assembly seats.

The move could virtually rule out an alliance with the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) in the state, as the NCP was keen to contest the Vasco and Benaulim seats, from where the Congress has fielded Saifulla Khan and Edwin Barretto, respectively.

Names of the other five candidates finalised by the All India Congress Committee on Sunday are Vijay Bhike (Mapusa), Joseph Sequeira (Calangute), Tony Fernandes (St. Cruz), Fialho Xavier (Cumbarjua) and Santosh Sawanth (Maem).

On January 12, the Congress had released a list of 27 candidates.

The state goes to polls on February 4.

The party, which was reduced to an unprecedented nine seats in the 2012 state assembly elections, is still in talks with another regional party, Goa Forward, for an alliance, party sources said.

"The final list of candidates will depend on the outcome of the alliance talks... The Congress will announce its position on the alliance on January 17," All India Congress Committee General Secretary Girish Chodankar told IANS.
New Delhi, Jan 15 : A pre-poll alliance in Uttar Pradesh may take shape on the lines of the grand alliance in Bihar, with UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, Congress and the RLD as its constituents, sources in the Congress said on Sunday.

"Talks are going on to have a Bihar-style grand alliance in Uttar Pradesh. The Congress and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) combine may get at least 120-125 seats, while the rest of the seats will go to the Akhilesh-led Samajawadi Party (SP)," a Congress source told IANS.

Another Congress leader confirmed that talks were taking place to have a tripartite alliance in Uttar Pradesh which will elect a new 403-member state assembly in seven-phased elections between February 11 and March 8.

The Congress had on Friday said that it does not rule out the possibility of a pre-poll alliance with the Akhilesh-led faction of Samajwadi Party (SP) in Uttar Pradesh ahead of the state assembly elections.

"We are not ruling out anything. We are neither saying yes nor saying no," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi had said.

"As far as alliances and adjustments are concerned, we understand and know that this is a highly evolving, rapidly transforming minute-to-minute situation. Therefore, in these circumstances, I am neither agreeing nor disagreeing with any of the speculations," he had elaborated.

The Election Commission had on Friday reserved its order on the demand for 'cycle' symbol by the two warring factions of the Samajwadi Party -- led by Akhilesh and his father Mulayam Singh, respectively -- and is expected to announce its decision on Monday.

It is believed that the announcement of alliance will take place only after the EC verdict on Monday.

According to sources in the Congress, the alliance talks are "happening" but have temporarily stalled due to the internal conflict in the Samajwadi Party.

Mulayam Singh Yadav has not been supportive of the idea of an alliance with any party.

Former Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit had earlier said that she favours a pre-poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party led by Akhilesh Yadav, and that she is ready to step aside as the Congress chief ministerial candidate for Uttar Pradesh.

Congress poll strategist Prashant Kishor has also met both Akhilesh Yadav and Mulayam Singh Yadav, adding to speculations about the alliance.

Akhilesh had said that an alliance with the Congress in UP could fetch them together more than 300 of the state's 403 seats.

Uttar Pradesh -- the country's most populous and politically significant state -- will elect a new 403-seat 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).
Islamabad, Jan 15 : Pakistan Army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday telephoned Afghan President Ashraf Ghani to condole the loss of life in recent terror attacks in Afghanistan and urged him to restrict cross-border incursions, an official here said.

Inter-Services Public Relations chief Maj. Gen. Asif Ghafoor tweeted the statement, according to which the army chief "pressed upon Afghanistan to cooperate in stopping the to-and-fro movement of terrorists from across the border".

The army chief suggested installing a "robust border management mechanism and intelligence cooperation" to restrict the movement of terrorists.

"Elements inimical to peace in the region are strengthened by blame game," the statement read.

"All safe havens of terrorists have been eliminated from Pakistan," the army chief was quoted as saying.

Gen Bajwa expressed concern about the "tragic series of events" that "people of both the brotherly countries" have faced over the last few years.

Ghani thanked Gen Bajwa for his sentiment and echoed his resolve to improve peace and stability in the region.

Earlier this week, scores of protestors gathered outside the Pakistan embassy in Kabul to demonstrate against Pakistan's alleged support for insurgents in Afghanistan.

The demonstrators raised slogans against Pakistan Army's intelligence arm, Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

The protestors accused the Pakistan embassy of being a "nest of spies in Afghanistan" and said the "ISI supports insurgents and has a hand in recent terrorist attacks in the country".
New Delhi, Jan 15 : The Election Commission is expected to announce on Monday its decision on the demand for 'cycle' symbol by the two warring factions of the Samajwadi Party.

The EC, after hearing both the sides on Friday, had reserved its verdict on the issue.

Samajwadi Party founder Mulayam Singh Yadav and his son and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav have been asserting their respective claims over the party's election symbol 'cycle'.

Mulayam Singh has been insisting on his right to the symbol being the party founder and also its "present President". Meanwhile, Akhilesh was appointed the "President" of the party at an "emergency national convention" called on January 1 in Lucknow.

The meeting was convened by Akhilesh's confidant and Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav.

The Akhilesh-led faction has been claiming ownership to the symbol, saying that it enjoyed the support of the majority of the party's members of Parliament and the legislators.
Los Angeles, Jan 16 : Oscar winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese says working with Japanese actors in his forthcoming film "Silence" was a revelation.

"The Japanese actors are remarkable. Meeting them, working with them is a revelation. Their range, the depth of their talents is astonishing," Scorsese said in a statement.

The film including Japanese actors like Tadanobu Asano, Issey Ogata, Shinya Tsukamoto, Yoshi Oida Yosuke Kubozuka, Ryo Kase, and Nana Komatsu.

Scorsese and his casting director Ellen Lewis travelled to Japan to look for talent in 2007.

A historical drama, "Silence" narrates the story of two Christian missionaries (Andrew Garfield and Adam Driver) who face the ultimate test of faith when they travel to Japan in search of their missing mentor (Liam Neeson) at a time when Christianity was outlawed and their presence forbidden.

It will hit the screens in India on February 16.
When the news came out that Congressman Zinke would be accepting a nomination as our next Secretary of Interior I was excited. My mind raced, who should be our next Congressman. I thought Greg Gianforte from New Jersey, no, he has proven he cant beat candidates that have flaws such as our governor. Then another name came up, Matt Rosendale from Maryland and I remember the dirty games he played against Zinke, as well as that shooting of a drone commercial.

Finally a name and a candidate that made sense announced. Edward Buttrey, a guy that understands Montana politics, from Montana, served in the Army, and can continue with the same leadership as Zinke. Ed Buttrey can work with people, seeking the best solution, isnt afraid to rattle the feathers of the establishment, and understands that voting political lines is not what Montanans value. We value hard work and people that can get the job done. Ed has proven that with his work in the State Senate. His family holds deep roots in Montana and he isnt a transplant.

Demand your Central Committees nominate the best candidate, and then join me in voting for Ed Buttrey in the special election!

Nick Cross

Helena
Michael T. van der Veen, Esq.

The Law Offices of Michael T. van der Veen is pleased to announce that its founder, Michael T. van der Veen, was named to the National Trial Lawyers List of the Top 25 Motor Vehicle Attorneys. Membership in the Vehicle Trial Lawyers Association  Top 25 is limited to the Top 25 lawyers in each state. The criteria for membership includes the lawyers reputation among peers, the judiciary and the public and achievements as a practitioner in the area of Motor Vehicle law.

The founder of the Law Offices of Michael T. van der Veen, Michael T. van der Veen represents the rights of people in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and its surrounding towns and counties. He focuses his practice on personal injury, plaintiff and criminal defense, and handles cases involving car and truck accidents and vehicular homicide.

He is currently serving a one-year term on the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia Trial Lawyers Association. Active in the community, Mr. van der Veen has served as the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Philadelphia chapter of the American Diabetes Association. He was active on the local YMCA Board and served on the Board of Trustees of the Montgomery School. He currently serves as a member of the Board of the Washington Square West Civic Association. A 1985 graduate from Ohio Wesleyan University, Mr. van der Veen attended Quinnipiac University School of Law and received his Juris Doctor in 1988. He continued his study of the law, first at the National Criminal Defense College and second, at Temple University Beasley School of Law, where he earned a Master of Laws in 1995 with highest honors.

The Law Offices of Michael T. van der Veen is considered one of the premier personal injury and criminal defense law firms serving individuals and families across Pennsylvania and New Jersey. With decades of experience fighting for clients, and a history of outstanding litigation success, the firm is pleased to have earned a much-deserved reputation as one of Pennsylvanias toughest, hardest-working law firms.

For more information, visit the firms website: http://www.mtvlaw.com.
Were serious about patient health, safety, and medication management, so were proud to show that diligence with the highly regarded ACHC accreditation for our specialty care services. - Mark Panzer, SVP, Albertsons Companies

Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC) is pleased to announce that Albertsons Companies has achieved accreditation for its specialty care services. Albertsons Companies is the largest national food and drug chain with this accreditation and its own in-house specialty care service for pharmacy patients.

Accreditation by ACHC reflects Albertsons Companies dedication and commitment to meeting national standards to facilitate a higher level of performance and patient care. This accreditation also gives Albertsons Companies more industry adaptability, which translates to increased patient affordability and accessibility to these specialty care services.

Our patients are our first priority. By offering specialty care services with an in-house team of clinical experts, our patients can continue to go to their local pharmacy and work with the same health professionals they know and trust to get these specialty medications, states Mark Panzer, SVP, Albertsons Companies Pharmacy Health and Wellness, Were serious about patient health, safety, and medication management, so were proud to show that diligence with the highly regarded ACHC accreditation for our specialty care services.

Albertsons Specialty Care services provides patients prescribed specialty medications used to treat complex conditions such as cancer, hepatitis C, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, cystic fibrosis, mental health, addiction recovery, human growth hormone deficiencies, and hemophilia. Through these services, patients are provided with comprehensive, personalized care to expedite their access to medications and help them achieve optimal clinical and economic outcomes.

Albertsons Specialty Care manages this area of pharmacy with an internal team of technicians and pharmacists that work with patients, physicians, payers and the patients local pharmacies to coordinate care, provide clinical services, overcome affordability issues and support adherence to these highly needed, yet often costly medications.

For an organization to provide specialty care services, they need to know and adhere to a comprehensive list of unique pharmacy requirements. Albertsons Companies meets all of these, in addition to the national standards, so they can manage these intensive medications and the obligatory special handling for their patients, which is what our organization looks for when awarding an accreditation, states Tim Safley, Director DME, Pharmacy, and Sleep.

Since the introduction of its Pharmacy Accreditation program in 1996 (and as the first accrediting body to offer accreditation in Specialty Pharmacy), ACHC has grown to become a leading national accreditation organization with more than 900 pharmacies accredited in the U.S. With a broad array of pharmacy compliance solutions, including accreditation programs for specialty, infusion, long term care, and non-sterile and sterile compounding services, ACHC is positioned to be the solution of choice for all organizations. ACHC is also committed to providing educational resources that facilitate continuous compliance.

###

Albertsons Companies is one of the largest food and drug retailers in the United States, with both a strong local presence and national scale. We operate stores across 35 states and the District of Columbia under 19 well-known banners including Albertsons, Safeway, Vons, Jewel-Osco, Shaw's, Acme, Tom Thumb, Randalls, United Supermarkets, Pavilions, Star Market, Haggen and Carrs. Albertsons Companies is dedicated to helping people across the country live better lives. In 2015 alone, along with the Albertsons Companies Foundation, the company gave more than $270 million in food and financial support to the more than 2,200 communities it serves, improving the lives of millions of people in the areas of hunger relief, education, cancer research and treatment, programs for people with disabilities, and veterans outreach. Albertsons Companies is committed to making a meaningful difference, neighborhood by neighborhood.

ACHC is a non-profit accreditation organization that has stood as a symbol of quality and excellence since 1986. The organization has CMS Deeming Authority for Home Health, Hospice, and DMEPOS and a Quality Management System that is certified to ISO 9001:2008. ACHC is the providers choice for accreditation because of its personal Accreditation Advisors, relevant and realistic standards, competitive pricing, and a friendly, consultative approach to accreditation. Accreditation by ACHC reflects an organizations dedication and commitment to meeting standards that facilitate a higher level of performance and patient care.

For more information on ACHC Accreditation programs, or to download ACHC Accreditation Standards, please visit http://www.achc.org or contact customerservice(at)achc(dot)org or (855) 937-2242.
JPR Group We look forward to working with Jeanine Genauer, principal and founder of The JPR Group, stated John Fromhold, CEO of HackensackUMC Mountainside. Jeanine has well-established relationships with our stakeholders and the media."

The JPR Group, a public relations and marketing communications firm located in Montclair, NJ is pleased to announce that it will be assisting HackensackUMC Mountainside with its public relations efforts, effective January 2017. The hospital is located in Montclair and Glen Ridge townships, servicing all surrounding towns. The firm will be working closely with HackensackUMC Mountainsides internal marketing operations.

We look forward to working with Jeanine Genauer, principal and founder of The JPR Group, stated John Fromhold, CEO of HackensackUMC Mountainside. Jeanine has been embedded in the Montclair community and Essex County for more than two decades, and has very well-established relationships with many of our stakeholders and the media.

The JPR Groups New Jersey based client list includes Juniper Communities, Bloomfield, a Top 40 national owner-operator of senior living communities and MSM Financial Services, New Providence. The Reutlinger Community, a continuum care retirement community, is also a beneficiary of JPRs public relations and marketing acumen. Other Allied health service clients that have been served by The JPR Group include Holy Name Medical Center and CQ Fluency, a translational service provider for healthcare and life sciences. Genauer also previously handled public relations for the West Orange and Montclair Public School Districts.

In November 2016, Genauer was named one of New Jerseys Leading Women Brand Builders by the Leading Women Entrepreneurs organization. In addition, she received a Great Oak Award from New Jersey Monthly Magazine for The JPR Groups pro bono services to, among others, Protect the Palisades, Dance NYC, and a medical mission to Armenia. For more information on The JPR Group, visit http://www.jprgroup.com or call (973) 980-0100.

About The JPR Group, LLC

The JPR Group is a woman-owned business offering strategic, responsive and personalized marketing and public relations solutions for today's rapidly evolving media environment. Jeanine Genauer, Founder and Principal, was recently recognized as a Leading Brand Builder by Leading Women Entrepreneurs and is a recipient of New Jersey Monthly Magazine's Great Oak Award for charitable and nonprofit work. Visit http://www.jprgroup.com

About HackensackUMC Mountainside

HackensackUMC Mountainside has been serving Montclair and its surrounding New Jersey communities since 1891. The hospital, part of the Hackensack Meridian Health Network, provides patients immediate access to innovative and effective treatment alternatives at specialized centers within the hospital that focus on imaging, womens health, cancer care, surgery, obesity, stroke and chronic kidney disease. HackensackUMC Mountainside is designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the NJ State Department of Health and Senior Services and is one of only a few community hospitals licensed by the State to perform emergency cardiac angioplasty. To learn more about HackensackUMC Mountainside visit http://www.mountainsidehosp.com.
Susan C. Logan, M.D. FACOG We are honored to have Dr. Logan among our providers and her patients are lucky to have someone so knowledgeable to deliver such quality caring support for their healthcare needs.

San Francisco Magazine recently queried area doctors to nominate their choice of best physicians in eight Bay Area counties for 2017. Almost 1,000 nominations were submitted and a little over 500 physicians were selected by the healthcare research company managing the award process. Results were announced the magazines January 2017 issue.

Under the category of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Womens OB/GYN Medical Groups physician Dr. Susan Logan has been selected for this honor by San Francisco Magazine for two years consecutively .

Dr. Lela Emad of the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group says, Dr. Susan C. Logan is a respected, caring OB/GYN certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology. She has been a part of our group since the early 90s, and has played an integral role in building the practice. We are honored to have her among our providers and her patients are lucky to have someone so knowledgeable to deliver such quality caring support for their healthcare needs.

Dr. Logan also serves as Antepartum Testing Medical Director at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital, as well as the Medical Director of the Sweet Success Program.

About the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group

With a team made up of compassionate, expert doctors, midwives, nurses and medical assistants aimed at providing unmatched care to patients, the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group offers a full range of obstetrics and gynecology services to women in the North Bay region. Services offered include;



general gynecological health screenings

state-of-the-art diagnostics

comprehensive pregnancy and postpartum care

full mid-wifery services

minimally invasive laparoscopic surgery

uro-gynecological procedures

incontinence care

menopause care

laser hair reduction, skin care and Botox Cosmetic

Womens OB/GYN Medical Groups staff of physicians include; Lela Emad, MD, Shazah Khawaja, MD, Amita Kachru, MD, and Susan Logan, MD. Together, these doctors share a unique whole-body approach to medicine as they strive to find the underlying causes of a womans health problems, rather than simply treating the symptoms.

The team of health professionals at Womens OB/GYN is committed to both alleviating short-term ailments and maximizing long-term health. The practice partnered with Northern California Medical Associates (NCMA) in 2014 to strengthen its network of experienced healthcare providers, directly benefitting patient access to healthcare specialists in the area.

The Women's OB/GYN Medical Group strives to better the lives of all women with a holistic approach to womens health. To learn more about these fine physicians and the many services provided by the Womens OB/GYN Medical Group visit the website. Call for an appointment at (707) 579-1102.
People think their old currency is worthless, but then it turns out it's worth over 100 pounds.

'The travel drawer,' that is how it's commonly referred to in many British households. It contains old travel documents, holiday brochures, family pictures and ... cash. Those foreign coins and banknotes left over from our holiday many years ago. Research by the London-based FX firm Leftover Currency Ltd finds that each British household, on average, has 65 pounds worth of unused travel money in its drawers. The 27.1 million UK households together own 1.8 billion pounds worth of leftover foreign coins and notes.

Based on a sample of 3,000 customers, the Leftover Currency research shows which currencies Brits are most likely to find in their drawers. Top of the list are the currencies one would expect: Euros and US dollars. Swiss francs complete the top-3. But then the list becomes more unexpected. Not fewer than five pre-Euro currencies are in the top-10 of currencies most held in British drawers: Deutschmarks, Spanish pesetas, French francs, Italian lire and Irish pounds.

Contrary to what most people think, these old pre-Euro currencies are not worthless. In many cases they can still be redeemed for Euros at the central bank in the country of origin. For some of the pre-Euro currencies the exchange deadline has expired. This is the case for the French franc, the Greek drachma, the Italian lira and the Finnish Mark. However all of the pre-Euro currencies, including the expired ones, can still be exchanged at https://www.leftovercurrency.com/.

The owner of Leftover Currency, Mario Van Poppel explains: "Many people don't realise what the old currency in their drawers is worth. At Leftover Currency we exchange both coins and notes, including the pre-Euro currencies and withdrawn banknotes from outside the Eurozone. It's very common that people think their old currency is worthless, but then it turns out it's worth more than 100 pounds. I would advise anyone with a travel drawer to explore what treasures might be hidden inside."

Anyone with leftover foreign coins and old travel money can look up the value of each individual banknote and coin on Leftover Currency's website, where they can also be exchanged: https://www.leftovercurrency.com/
MISSOULA  International refugee resettlement is at a crossroads in the United States and in Montana, at a time when the latter is just entering the movement.

President-elect Donald Trump said in the days before the November election that his administration wont admit any refugees without the support of local communities in which theyre placed, and his cabinet nominees and chief advisers come from a decidedly different world than his predecessors did.

A year ago there was a concerted attempt in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Helena and Missoula to work with the Office of Refugee Resettlement in Denver to open local resettlement offices in Montana. As the election year heated up, only Missoula succeeded, with the support of elected city and county officials and a vigorous volunteer effort by Soft Landing Missoula.

Missoula has welcomed 50 refugees since August, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Eritrea, Ethiopia and -- in early January -- the first four Syrians. A family of three Ethiopians quickly left to join other relatives out of state.

Otherwise, despite a particularly cold and snowy winter, its been a successful and peaceful transition.

There has been no impact at the Missoula Police Department, from a criminal justice standpoint, Sgt. Travis Welsh said in an email. Though we are aware of news reports/stories about the topic, we have had no investigative concerns, to date.

Confidential immunization and communicable disease records have reliably arrived at the Missoula City-County Health department ahead of the refugee families, director Ellen Leahy said.

Comparing it to the old days, when you may or may not get them, and you may or may not get them in English, thats a big improvement, said Leahy, who was at the health department in the 1980s during the resettlement of Laotian Hmong.

Refugees who are tested for disease in their countries of departure are checked out and their immunizations updated by local health-care providers within a few days of arrival.

Whats going on is just what we expected, and its working well, Leahy said.

I expect that Missoula is going to be a warm and welcoming place for them, just as it has been to all the other families that have come from the different countries, said Patrick Duffy, a board member of Soft Landing Missoula and part of the mentor team assigned to help the Syrian family.

Still, opposition to refugee resettlement in general and to Syrians in particular is widespread as a Republican-heavy Legislature gets rolling.

One of the charges leveled during the gubernatorial campaign in 2016 by Republican challenger Greg Gianforte was that Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock supports bringing Syrian refugees into Montana. The mailer sent out in August promised Gianforte would stand up to dangerous refugee programs and refuse entry to unvetted refugees.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, the Montana Association of Christians and Soft Landing Missoula are among those keeping an eye on legislation seeking to quell an onslaught of refugees in the state.

The Montana Human Rights Network says it has roughly 20 bills on its radar that could affect refugee and immigration.

Some of them won't be new, according to SK Rossi, director of advocacy and policy for the state ACLU.

Thereve been attempts to pass some general anti-immigration legislation in the past," Rossi said. "This will be the legislative session where theres been kind of concentrated effort to tinker with or bar refugee resettlement.

The titles of six requested bills refer specifically to revising laws related to refugee resettlement. Four are by Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, and one apiece by Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, and Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings.

Keenan, reached Friday on his way home from Helena, said he proposed his bill, which would lend support for local governments to deny resettlement offices, at the urging of constituents.

Its been on hold since the day it went in, he said. It wont be drafted. It wont be introduced.

At the end of the week, the texts of Ballances bills, all with the same titles, remained blank. Attempts to reach the Hamilton legislator for details were unsuccessful. That leaves those gearing up to fight them and other proposals guessing what theyll propose.

One possibility would require resettlement agencies to carry insurance that would defray the cost of prosecuting refugees who commit violent crimes. Another might provide Montana municipalities an avenue to request a moratorium on resettlements in their communities.

I anticipate theres going to be something like denying state services, which would make the refugees lives a lot harder the first three months, said Eamon Ormseth, organizer for the educational group SALAM (Standing Alongside America's Muslims) Missoula. Its a strategy that some other states have adopted. The federal government still has pretty broad authority to resettle refugees, but what states can do is not give them any state welfare.

At least one refugee-related bill is already in the pipeline. Senate Bill 97, sponsored by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, would ban the application of foreign law when it violates a constitutional right. Dubbed an Islamaophobia bill by the Montana Human Rights Network, its a revival of a bill that died in committee in the 2015 session.

The 2017 version was introduced Monday and is due to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 24.

I cant tell you that were supporting or opposing any of them until we see them, said Jana Staton, who chairs the legislative committee of the Montana Association of Christians (formerly the Montana Association of Churches).

MAC, which has had a presence at the state Legislature for around 50 years, is organizing buses from five corners of the state to travel to Helena on Jan. 23, the day before Regier's bill is heard in committee, and talk with legislators on key issues, grounded in our shared values as people of faith, Staton said.

Humane immigration and refugee legislation is one of those issues, along with abolition of the death penalty; housing policies and support for those returning from incarceration; and childrens mental health, especially suicide prevention.

At least 10 members of Soft Landing Missoula are going to hop on the bus that day.

I think we can offer experience and information on the refugee topic, Soft Landing executive director Mary Poole said. Its pretty remarkable to have such a strong voice that is already a part of the legislative process acting on the behalf of refugees and immigrants. Were just really, really fortunate that MAC exists and that we can partner with them.

They have the right voice, the right tone. Its about social justices, but its a very passionate and kind voice. To me Soft Landing just fits right in with that.
MISSOULA  This was a big week for Biniam Adhanom and his family.

On Tuesday, the kids  Samrawit Gebrehawariat, age 9, and her brother Ermias, 7  started school in America. They climbed on the yellow bus that stops just outside their apartment on the Northside and rode out to Mount Jumbo School in East Missoula, the home of Lowell School this year.

On Wednesday, Helen Reda, Adhanoms wife, started English classes at the Lifelong Learning Center.

And on Thursday, Biniam took the written part of his drivers test at the Department of Motor Vehicles office. He passed with flying colors.

Up next: the road test, a driver's license and a job  maybe not in that order.

Im ready, Adhanom said with a beaming smile. I cannot determine what, but Im ready to work. And when I find myself working, Im sure I will grow.

All this was happening with a backdrop of the strange stuff we call "snow" that keeps stacking up outside. Theres no word for it in Tigrinya, the primary language of their native Eritrea.

We are dressing like what the winter season demands, Adhanom said. We have been given full orientation, how we have to dress during the winter season, and we are up to that.

One of the first things Samrawit and Ermias learned at school, he said, was what snowball fight means. Theyre anxious to try it out when the snow gets right.

Sunday marks one month to the day since Biniam, Helen and the kids touched down in Missoula, refugees who spent the past eight years in Ethiopia, Eritreas next-door enemy.

They were the last four of a dozen nationals from the obscure, oppressed country on the Horn of Africa to arrive under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee.

Few if any of the other 49 Congolese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees whove landed in Missoula since August are better equipped for the new life than Adhanom.

He chatted affably Thursday afternoon in mostly understandable English, sitting on a couch in a sparse but comfortable living room. It was an early out day from school for the kids. Helen, who understands English but isn't sure about speaking it yet, played with the children in a back room while her husband and IRC case worker Jen Barile, visited with a reporter.

Polite and what their father called very disciplined, Samrawit and Ermias showed off their recorder skills to their mother between frequent outbursts of giggles. They were happy to don winter gear and go outside for a snow photo.

The 36-year-old Adhanom said his command of English is what he's most frequently asked about.

The explanation: He's earned degrees at two colleges  in education administration at the University of Asmara, in the capital of Eritrea, and in community development, with a minor in social work, at the Ethiopian Adventist College in Shashemene, 150 miles south of the capital of Addis Ababa. For the last 2 years he taught at the latter college.

Ermias was not yet born when the family fled Eritrea, where Adhanom said a dictatorial government mandates military service of an indeterminate length and personal freedom is a foreign concept.

You cannot express your feelings. If you dissent, youll be caught, youll be jailed, he said. Life is so hard there. Lots of things that are very, very hard to explain. Everyone is coming into Ethiopia.

A bloody border war broke out in 1998, matching two of the worlds poorest nations. It remains unresolved today.

Samrawit was 1 when her parents risked their lives and hers to flee the country on foot. They did it in daylight.

Most of the time people do it in the night time but if you have kids, thats very dangerous, Adhanom said. Youre coming through a forest at the border and you have hyenas, tigers, lions on the way. When the hyenas are barking, your kids may cry and youll be caught because, you see, troops are all over.

Al Jazeera English, the now-defunct news service, said last March that Ethiopia has the highest number of refugees in Africa  more than 700,000. At least 100,000 are from Eritrea. Most are confined to one of eight dry, barren camps where only the basics of food of food and water are available.

Its out of a town, so you have no electricity, Adhanom said. Your house you build yourself with bricks.

The family spent a year in one such camp, but Adhanom was one of the few lucky ones. He was offered a college scholarship by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees. That paid for his four years in Shashemene. The family spent a year back in Addis Ababa, where Adhanom did volunteer work with orphans.

If you work as a volunteer you can more easily get a job, he explained.

Adhanom taught back at the college in Shashemene, where the scholarship provided them living accommodations in a house in town. They applied and qualified for admission into the UN refugee program, destination America.

"That's a privilege, the United States," Adhanom said.

They were placed under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, one of nine resettlement agencies contracted by the U.S. State Department and the one that opened an office in Missoula last summer.

***

You can find it on a couple of Facebook pages and now on the Missoulian website with this story.

Its a video in which the new Missoula families from Eritrea sing a Christmas song in their native language at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.

A State Department report in 2011 said Eritrea is almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. Most of those in the high plateau region, including the capital of Asmara where Adhanom and Reda are from, are the former.

All those whove landed in Missoula so far practice the Orthodox Tewahedo faith. Theyve been welcomed here by the Annunciation church and have enjoyed two Christmases in the last few weeks  on Dec. 25 and on Jan. 7, their traditional celebration of the birth of Christ.

Those events have allowed the four Eritrean families to come together and become friends, Adhanom said.

They gathered last Saturday at the home of one of the other families on Missoulas southside, along with some of the mentor volunteers from Soft Landing Missoula theyve come to know and rely upon.

You have food, you have something to drink, you talk, you chat, Adhanom said. You feel like as if you are with your own family back there in your home country.

After just three days of school, Samrawit and Ermias are excited.

A lot of things they have seen are different, their dad said. They like that. Of course, they have a barrier with the language, but hopefully they will improve. Samrawit is now getting good. She's trying to speak it. She has a very, very kind and helping friend.

The winter weather has been frustrating, Adhanom said, but his family has lived in much worse conditions. Helen is anxious to learn to cook American-style, which features much more meat than the Eritrean culture is used to.

Five years from now theyll be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship, but before that comes one of Montana's best features: summer.

I expect I will see myself in a different way that is better than this, Adhanom said. I see myself walking outside, getting money, becoming a little bit Missoula.

Hes seen pictures on the internet of Missoula in its summer glory.

A very pretty town, he said.

Adhanom knows Missoula is not the most diverse town. He and his family have friends from Africa who in the last five years have settled in California, Texas and Las Vegas, where a dark face isnt so out of place.

The Orthodox church has been the main source of contact with the rest of Missoula for Biniam and Helen, and he said the people there have been very, very kind.

We (hope) the whole community can be like this, Adhanom said. The community needs to know who we are.

The IRC stakes new refugees with expense money for the first 90 days. It seems inevitable that someday Adhanom will return to his chosen profession as a teacher. Until then hes anxious to get started in whatever job is out there.

I dont have a priority, he said. I only need to work and help my family. In the meantime you may find what is fitting to you, but thats up to you. The door must be opened, but then its up to you.
A Rock Island man arrested on drug charges during an April seizure of 64 pit bulls in connection with an alleged dog-fighting ring in the Quad-Cities pleaded guilty on Friday.

Ryan M. Hickman, 42, pleaded guilty in Rock Island County Circuit Court to one count of possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance, a Class 1 felony, according to court records.

Mr. Hickman was sentenced to four years in prison with two years of mandatory supervised release after his imprisonment. Prosecutors dismissed an additional controlled substance charge in exchange for his guilty plea.

On April 14, 2016, the FBI executed a search warrant at Mr. Hickman's residence and 11 other Quad- Cities residences to investigate an alleged dog-fighting ring, according to court documents.

Mr. Hickman was found in possession of less than a gram of cocaine and less than a gram of hydrocodone.

No animal cruelty or other related charges have been filed against Mr. Hickman or the 16 others said to be involved in dog fighting. A civil asset forfeiture case for custody of approximately 64 dogs is in process in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois.

Mr. Hickman was granted two weeks' furlough from Jan. 13 to Jan. 27.
ROCK ISLAND - For 37 years, he's been involved in one way or another in the building trades and labor movement, from working on job sites to inspecting them to speaking before crowds large and small in support of the local workforce.

Rory Washburn, Tri-City Building and Construction Trades Council executive director, is retiring at the end of February. He has held the position since 2002.

"Rory has been a fighter for working men and women and their families for decades," said U.S. Rep. Cheri Bustos, D-Moline. "He is a mentor to me. I have nothing but respect and admiration for him.

"His leadership in our community will be missed terribly."

Mr. Washburn's office is located at the Plumber and Pipefitters Local 25 in Rock Island. He spoke about his retirement as he walked the facility, where apprenticeship programs were taking place, students working with copper and PVC pipe, another area dedicated to welding.

Overall, Tri-City Building and Construction Trades Council represents 8,600 workers covering nine counties in both Illinois and Iowa.

Mr. Washburn seems at home here, a familiar face among workers.

He started his career with the International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 81 in Cedar Rapids back in 1980.

He worked with mechanical contractors, primarily at commercial industrial sites, insulating pipes to maintain proper temperatures.

In 1996, he went from construction sites to business manager.

"All construction work is hard work," said Mr. Washburn, who will turn 55 in February. "I've been pretty fortunate."

He's had both knees replaced recently, and he's doing well. Married for 27 years to his wife, Ann, they have two children, son Ryan and daughter Reagan. His daughter just graduated from Iowa State University.

He speaks of his family with pride, the son working at Deere & Co., the daughter beginning her career in Baltimore, Md., and a wife that stood by him.

"My wife has been very, very patient with me," Mr. Washburn said.

Life was not always easy. The early challenges may have contributed to Mr. Washburn's success.

"Washburn isn't one to pat himself on the back, but there's a lot of people that will despite his modesty," said Marshall Douglas, treasurer of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 150, Rock Island.

"Rory Washburn is a guy who was raised by a hard-working single mother. Early on, people recognized his talents, work ethic, and, thankfully, directed him to a career in the trades.

"As a husband and a father, he ensured his family didn't have to struggle as he did growing up."

Mr. Washburn acknowledges life wasn't easy growing up in Davenport and Buffalo, but he doesn't say it with bitterness. His mother, Carole, raised him and his two older brothers working as a waitress.

"Unfortunately, she's in a memory care unit now," Mr. Washburn said. "She worked at about every major nightclub in the Quad-Cities. There was a period of time when we were on food stamps and state aid.

"You know, we weren't deprived by any stretch of the imagination. We weren't as fortunate as some. She did a good job raising three boys on her own."

Attending Davenport West High School, Mr. Washburn found his calling in the various shop classes offered.

"We had a whole wing of industrial arts classes," he said. "That's basically where I lived."

Woodworking, welding, plastics, you name it and Mr. Washburn signed up for the class. He had no interest in pursuing higher education, but he was hungry for the opportunities in the building trades.

His first job out of high school was moving appliances -- refrigerators, washers, dryers. He found a job opportunity at a work site in Buffalo, which started his career in the building trades.

Others found Mr. Washburn not only could work with his hands, but also could communicate effectively.

"He is a great negotiator and fantastic communicator," said Tom McCune, business manager for Local 25. "Rory can take any podium by storm and relate to the group he is speaking to."

Eric Meirhaeghe, business manager of Sheet Metal Workers Local 91, Rock Island, said there is no one more passionate in the labor movement than Mr. Washburn.

But, speaking before city councils locally and other government functions across the country was not something he prepared for initially. It was more baptism by fire, and others say his genuineness is what made him successful.

"He's very personable," said Steve Flogel, Carpenter's Local 4 representative out of Davenport. "He's led by example. That's what it takes to be a building trades leader. He's out there on the front line. If you want the troops to follow you into a fight, you want a guy like Rory.

"He's visited job sites where people were living like it was 100 years ago. He's been quick to point out that these guys were being taken advantage of."

Mr. Washburn said there are not many job sites he hasn't visited in the Quad-Cities. On some, he has met frosty receptions, but those encounters have not deterred him.

He recalled one site a few years ago in Davenport where workers were living with a portable toilet outside along with a plastic tarp and makeshift shower.

"You still see this sometimes," he said. "If I see a job site, I'll walk in. It's tough for me to represent people in the industry if I don't know what's going on.

"And, you can't learn that behind a desk. I've got the worst pair of shoes in a business meeting they'll ever find.

"I might come out of a mud field and into a board room, but that's what you have to do. You can't understand challenges facing the industry if you don't go out and get in it."

Mr. Washburn said while the fight continues in the labor movement, the Quad-Cities has done well, for the most part, in bringing together labor and business. When economic development projects are announced, sometimes he has challenged cities to maintain a local workforce.

"It is very difficult," he said. "Nobody wants to stand in front of a project and say, 'no.'

"I stand in front of groups and say, 'yes, however, who's all included in this?' When you use local workers throughout the process, there's no question about it, our local economy is much better off."

But, Mr. Washburn said he never forgets where he came from.

"My mom knew many people and so many good friends that helped her out over the years, and ultimately, helped us out as a family," Mr. Washburn said. "Way too often, good people just need a hand up, not a hand out.

"Sometimes, we get characterized by others as not trying as hard, and I can tell you from personal experience, that's just not the case.

"The reality of life is, it can be difficult. You pick yourself up and you move on. But, you don't do that without help from others as well."
WASHINGTON (AP)  President-elect Donald Trump's meetings with CEOs seeking federal approval for major mergers are raising red flags for ethics lawyers concerned about the possible erosion of a firewall between the incoming White House and regulators reviewing those billion-dollar deals.

Trump met this past week with the heads of German chemical company Bayer and seed and herbicide giant Monsanto, who made their case for their $57 billion merger. The deal would likely need to be approved by Trump's choices to lead antitrust enforcement at the Justice Department. On Thursday, Trump sat down to discuss jobs with the chief executive of AT&T, which is trying to acquire Time Warner.

Presidents typically keep their distance from such reviews, so as not to appear to be exerting political influence on a regulatory process intended to evaluate the impact a merger could have on competition and consumers. Trump's private sessions suggest he may be less worried with appearing to be close to pending deals that require government approval.

"While it's true the Department of Justice is under the executive branch, it's not appropriate for the president to make that regulatory decision  and certainly not for political considerations," said Bruce Green, a law school professor at Fordham University who specializes in ethics.

Green equated the meetings to a 2016 campaign controversy: Bill Clinton's conversation with Attorney General Loretta Lynch on the Phoenix airport tarmac at a time when the Justice Department was looking into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server.

"If the conversation is private, it will raise questions and suspicions," Green said.

Part of the challenge is not knowing what was precisely said at the meetings.

"We don't know really what they were discussing, what Trump's response was to that and to what extent that will influence the antitrust review," said Maurice Stucke, a former attorney in the Justice Department's antitrust division who teaches at the University of Tennessee College of Law.

On Wednesday, Werner Baumann, Bayer CEO, and Hugh Grant, Monsanto CEO, talked about their merger as in the broader conversation on innovation, Monsanto said in a statement.

AT&T specifically denied talking about its proposed $85.4 billion merger when CEO Randall Stephenson met Thursday with Trump. The company said its conversation focused on how it could increase its U.S. investments, create jobs and make American companies more competitive.

Trump's choice for attorney general told senators this week that incoming administration would be transparent.

"The antitrust policies of the United States have to be consistent and as clear as possible," Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions said at his confirmation hearings.

"I have no hesitation, if the finding justifies it, to say that certain mergers should not occur and there will not be political influence in that process," he said.

During the campaign, Trump opposed the combination of the telecom AT&T and Time Warner, the media conglomerate that owns HBO and CNN. "It's too much concentration of power in the hands of too few," Trump said at the time.

The meetings are part of Trump's aggressive and unorthodox strategy for job creation, in which he openly cheers on, and sometimes jeers, individual companies. He's shown himself willing to intervene in even relatively small corporate matters.

On Thursday, Trump tweeted that people should shop at Maine retailer L.L. Bean, after The Associated Press reported that heiress Linda Bean had contributed to a pro-Trump political action committee and the company was facing calls for a boycott.

Trump has praised the Japanese tech mogul Masayoshi Son, who controls the wireless carrier Sprint, for a commitment to create jobs. He has pushed Ford to scrap plans to build an auto plant in Mexico, which the company did this month in large part due to lower gasoline prices reducing demand for smaller cars.

While Trump has celebrated his approach as using his negotiation skills to save American jobs, others worry the president is inappropriately intervening.

"You're having companies ingratiating themselves with him  and then decisions being made that affect those companies," said Bruce Freed, president of the Center for Political Accountability. "That poses serious conflict problems."

Multiple lawyers told The Associated Press that the meetings with companies under antitrust review by the president-elect were unusual, though not necessarily unethical since these meetings could be considered a form of lobbying. Past presidents have waded into antitrust issues, notably Theodore Roosevelt, who sought in 1902 to break up a railroad monopoly.

Trump's meeting with Bayer and Monsanto generated concerns from the National Farmers Union, which opposes the merger on the grounds that it could harm competition and increase the price of seeds.

"Our members were baffled by that meeting  that there would be time made out for it before a secretary of agriculture nominee is even presented," said Rob Larew, senior vice president of public policy at the farmers' trade group.
The administration will change this Friday but the country will remain the same: quarrelsome, yet placid; holding steady even as it evolves; still trying to work out whether or not we mean what we say in our foundational documents.

Tuesday night, President Obama gave his final address to the nation from Chicago. It was graceful, wise, and generous: very much like the man himself. This Friday, we will hear an inaugural speech from President Trump, and I think it fair to say we are all curious -- even anxious -- to hear what he will tell us.

His press conference on Wednesday was still on campaign mode: belligerent, petulant, and short on specifics. He has a lot of maturing to do in the next five days.

It is hard to envision a greater contrast between two leaders than we are witnessing in this transition. Despite the roiling emotions rumbling beneath the surface, this change in leadership should take place peacefully. Its a tribute to our well-established institutions that this is even possible.

The campaign leading up to it was predictably tough (Politics aint bean-bag) but it was uncommonly angry and violent. We have never before heard a crowd shouting to lock up an opposing candidate, threatening death, or engaging in almost casual incidents of individual aggression.

There is some concern as to whether or not this particular genie has been effectively re-bottled. You still hear of residual actions and confrontations that are, well, un-American. The incoming president can lead the way in restoring calm, if he chooses.

Since we have no clearer idea about what is to come than Congress does, its best just to watch how things sort out. Ill admit that what weve seen of recent congressional behavior isnt encouraging, but you have to remember that the Party of No! hasnt yet learned how to say yes.

Meanwhile, lets take a moment to reflect on Barack Obamas eight years in office. To begin with, the symbolism of his initial victory was stunning; a black family moving into a White House built by slaves. It was the feel-good moment of this early century.

To some it was a sign that we had actually moved into a post-racial society. Unhappily, it lit a flare of rising racial resentments and anger. The number of hate groups in this country doubled in Obamas first year in office and anger, throughout the South in particular, kept growing, stoked by alt-right radio hosts and opportunistic politicians. His reelection just made things worse.

Obama himself, devoted to the American ideal of compromise, found no one to negotiate with. Every advance was rejected. Even when he abandoned the Democratic goal of national health care and revived a Republican health insurance bill, it became Obamacare and a rallying cry for his opposition.

A lesser soul either would have been crushed or consumed in attempted revenge, but he simply kept trying, finally resorting to the executive order path well-trodden by his predecessors. His calm demeanor, his insistence on thinking carefully before acting or speaking, were characterized by the right-wing chorus as weakness, yet he did not yield to the temptation to strike back in fury.

Given the legislative stone wall he faced, his accomplishments were not merely solid, but nearly miraculous. We have risen steadily, if unevenly, from the wreckage of the Bush years and he leaves Trump with every economic indicator (with the happy exception of unemployment and debt) on the rise.

He was, in sum, the kind of president we idealize in the abstract, but seldom accept in the flesh. He was not my initial choice (since 2008, I have been convinced that Hillary Clinton was the only person capable of tackling the post-Gingrich Republican Congress head-on), but I came to admire Obama for his intelligence, scope of knowledge, prudence, and grace under fire. He deserved a better Congress to work with.

Future historians will be kind to him.
Illinois 100th General Assembly began with a whimper.

That was the sound of House Democrats casting their votes for the most hated politician in the state, Mike Madigan, on the floor of the Sangamon Auditorium on Jan. 11.

Despite cries across Illinois to change course, House Democrats elected to defend the Cook County property tax lawyer at the expense of their own constituents. They gifted Madigan the House speakership for the 17th time on a straight party line vote. House Republicans voted for state Rep. Jim Durkin, R-Burr Ridge.

In a hopeful wrinkle, Highwood Democrat Scott Drury cast a present vote. This is the first time a Democrat has voted present for the speaker in 30 years.

On one hand, sadly, this result is not at all surprising. Madigan has held the speakership for 32 of the past 34 years. Come the end of his term in 2019, he will be the longest-serving House speaker of any state in modern U.S. history.

No American will have led a state legislative body for longer.

To put that in context, three Chicago Democrats who voted for Madigan on Wednesday  state Reps. Will Guzzardi, Christian Mitchell and Marcus C. Evans  were not alive when Madigan first became speaker in 1983.

But, on the other hand, Illinoisans should be flabbergasted.

"You'll see a man who works seven days a week to get the job done without putting the focus on himself," state Rep. Dan Beiser, D-Alton, said after seconding the nomination for Madigan as speaker.

When nearly two-thirds of voters disapprove of the speaker, according to polling from the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute, how could so many lawmakers give the man ultimate power over the House? These representatives arent supposed to work for the speaker. Theyre supposed to work for the rest of us.

And it is ultimate power. An Illinois Policy Institute report surveying all 50 states revealed that Illinois grants more control to its House speaker than anywhere else in the country.

Madigan decides which bills receive a public hearing. Madigan decides who chairs committees and receives the $10,000 stipends that go with them. Madigan decides who votes in committees. And Madigan decides when bills are called before the full House.

Thats not democracy. Thats a dictatorship.

One-man rule of the General Assembly has crippled Illinois. Madigans has not been a long and prosperous reign for Illinoisans.

Under his watchful eye, the Land of Lincoln has slid further into financial decay and slowly become a desert of economic opportunity. It is now the former home of millions who have fled for other states, seeking better lives.

Yet, every two years, about 22,000 voters from his small Chicago district send Madigan to the Statehouse. And then House Democrats make him king.

Because of enormous public pressure, lawmakers in the run-up to the vote faced unprecedented questioning about their vote for speaker. Many dodged criticism by framing the vote as one between a Democrat and a Republican, Durkin.

That argument falls flat. If Democrats really wanted leadership change, it would have required only one brave lawmaker to accept a nomination and another to second it. Just a lone Democrat out of the 66 not named Mike Madigan.

State Rep. Kelly Cassidy, D-Chicago, offered a slightly different justification for her vote. But its just as concerning.

I have a good working relationship with Leader Durkin, she wrote in an email to constituents defending her vote for the speaker, but to put him in charge of the House would effectively put Governor Rauner in the drivers seat.

Cassidy points to the problem of the speakership under Madigan: If one Republican could turn a Democrat-majority House into the governors lapdog, the speakers role has become far too powerful.

A vote for Madigan has nothing to do with ideals. It has everything to do with power. And the speaker still holds all the cards.
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Many of our day trips are based on a recommendation or some knowledge of what well find.

The last one my husband and I took was spontaneous and grew out another impulse: Go to Morrisonville, where our older daughter teaches sixth grade, and have lunch with her at the 6th Street Market, a popular hangout in town where you can get groceries after grabbing a sandwich.

Accomplishing that, Andy and I struck out for Pana so we could hit up County Markets 48-hour sale without needing to go through Decatur on our way home. Because we enjoy the change of seasons, we savored the countryside, especially the way the snow made some of the barns look like greeting cards.

We drove around exploring after that, and when we finally headed out of town, we found plenty to entertain us through early evening.

First was Favorite Finds, which has added quality consignments to the nice selection of antiques and used furniture I encountered when I stopped by years ago.

Stepping inside still feels like stepping into someones cute little house, only every surface is covered with an attractive arrangement of items appropriate to each room. The bathroom, for example, is where you find the barely touched bottles of Bath & Body Works products. A few categories, such as jewelry, happily spill over into multiple rooms.

Next came three places wed never been, beginning with the Dutch Hill Flea Market and Karlas Kollectibles, located side-by-side along Illinois 16 East.

Its interesting that the flea market was my favorite, when our only purchase was a long-sleeved T-shirt for Andy, and the antique mall was my husbands, when all we bought was a couple of costume rings for me. I enjoyed the wide variety of items and prices at the former, while Andy admired the tools at the latter without feeling compelled to own them.

We like do more browsing and less buying the older we get. Another plus for the faster shopper: Both places have comfy benches to sit and wait near the cash register.

Finally, Andy spied Arpeggio Winery near the spot where U.S. 51 becomes a four-lane highway between Pana and Assumption.

Appropriate to its musical theme, the winery was the perfect note upon which to end our excursion.

Its beautifully restored barn, still lit up with Christmas lights, was fairly quiet because of the single-digit temperatures outside.

So co-owner Karen Swiney had plenty of time to give us a complimentary tasting, which led to us taking some cheese and crackers upstairs with two glasses of blackberry sangria to sit by the fireplace.

We also took with us bottles of Dolce, a popular sweet white, and Melody, the sweet red, to enjoy on some other cold night.
The recent conclusion of Dylann Roof's trial is the latest reminder that homegrown terrorism has become part of the fabric of life in America. This problem shows no signs of fading, yet reveals a threat that is both rarer and more complex than simple explanations suggest. Solving it requires understanding the true nature of the problemviolent extremismso that effective steps can be taken to protect the nation from it.

Explaining the problem is in some ways straightforward. Individuals inspired by an ideological narrative kill innocent victims for seemingly inexplicable reasons. The challenge is to understand why attackers choose a path of violence so other individuals can be dissuaded from repeating this choice.

Much attention has been focused on Islamic extremism and Islamic State group recruiting online as an inspiration for violent radicalization. Yet it is legitimate to ask whether homegrown terrorists are being radicalized by jihadi narratives, or attracted to these narratives after radicalizing and merely using jihadism as the cloak they place over their grievances.

In fact, neither answer is complete. Equating violent extremism exclusively with Islamist terrorism misses opportunities to solve the problem.

Dylann Roof's attack in a South Carolina church, violence perpetrated against law enforcement officers and white supremacist actions also demonstrate violence connected to disconcerting radical ideologies perpetrated against specific groups. The true reasons attackers adopt a path of violent extremism are complex, variable and are often left to mystery when the attackers are killed in action.

So what are the facts and how can the narrative be changed?

Since 2001, almost 40 percent of the nearly 150 terrorism fatalities in the United States were related to domestic motivations, not jihadi narratives.

Since 2001, almost 40 percent of the nearly 150 terrorism fatalities in the United States were related to domestic motivations, not jihadi narratives. Focusing attention on one specific form of ideology misses a large share of the threat terrorism poses to Americans and isolates the vast majority of American Muslims who reject violent radical ideology. But addressing the 40 percent will require America to confront issues not only about religion and faith, but also about patriotism and race.

For attacks related to jihadi narratives, counting the cases reveals that radicalization is not widespread in America's Muslim communities. In the 15 years since 2001, nearly 400 individuals have been charged with domestic terrorism involving the United States. For the roughly 3 million Muslims living in the United States, this represents an annual incidence rate of 0.16 per 100,000 people. Of note, these rates are an order-of-magnitude lower than homicide and two orders of magnitude lower than suicide in U.S. communities. Given these low rates of violent-extremism within communities, it may be better conceived of as an individual-level disorder.

Even as an individual-level disorder, violent extremism is not well understood. It would be convenient if domestic terrorism cases were explained by a simple story of individuals being recruited, radicalized and directed to action. However, the reasons for extremism are highly individualistic and may include some combination of beliefs, individual isolation, under achievement, disappointment and disillusionment.

In Roof's case, it appears that the first time this attacker's behavior warranted intense investigation or law enforcement action was the day he attacked. Even when alarm bells are set off, as in the case of the Orlando nightclub shooter, results of preliminary investigations may not warrant continued limitations on personal privacy and liberties or justify the resources required to support a larger number of investigations under current laws and policies.

Individual-level problems often necessitate individual-level solutions. Determining how individuals' experiences translate to action must be understood. There is, therefore, a need for deeper understanding of the full breadth of approaches to prevent violent extremism and taking three key steps can enable this path.

First, more clarity is required in labeling and identifying solutions. Countering violent extremism has been used to cover a variety of activities ranging from publishing content that counters extremist narratives, to offering peer support, to attacking terrorist networks and safe havens. However, few of these efforts have been subjected to evaluation to determine their effectiveness, and when evaluations are done they rarely employ rigorous methodologies. A solid first step would be to define the toolkit of programs used to counter violent extremism and begin evaluating programs to learn what works.

Second, counter-extremism experts should seek insights from countering other types of violence. Like suicide, domestic radicalization is relatively rare, stigmatized and a behavior that often seems to be associated with people struggling with other challenges. In these cases, lessons from longstanding research on what works to prevent suicide could provide perspectives for reducing violent extremism. Similarly, experiences countering gang and gun violence could also yield useful lessons.

Third, all elements of government should be engaged in efforts to counter violent extremism. The Department of Homeland Security, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice serve as focal points for countering violent extremism. Yet, in the case of homegrown radicalization other federal departments and state and local agencies have programs to address the root causes of individuals being inspired towards violent action. Mental health programs supported by the Department of Health and Human Services, Department of Education training and school programs and Department of Labor training and retraining programs may offer tools to dissuade struggling, vulnerable people away from violent extremism narratives. How these various programs might help solve the domestic radicalization problem would be informed by the results of the first step.

To be sure, Americans should work together to prevent terrorism of all types, but should not act blindly. Working toward a better understanding of the problem and building prevention strategies would be a good start. Armed with such knowledge, authorities and communities will be better positioned to develop strategies to prevent the next tragic terrorist killing.

Henry H. Willis is a senior policy researcher at the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation a professor of Policy Analysis at the Pardee RAND Graduate School.

This commentary originally appeared on U.S. News & World Report on January 11, 2017. Commentary gives RAND researchers a platform to convey insights based on their professional expertise and often on their peer-reviewed research and analysis.
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.

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Here's another opportunity for someone looking for land in Northern California, and this is one of the lots a little closer to the highway and lake, and only 90 minutes from the San Francisco Bay Area and adjacent to the Napa Valley and beautiful wine country. You will be bidding on this large residential lot that has a beautiful LAKE VIEW, approximately 6,500 square feet in size, and located about a quarter of a mile from Clear Lake, the largest natural lake entirely in the state. The property ...

Price: $ 1,375 Seller State of Residence: California Property Address: 3668 Garford Road State/Province: California City: Lucerne Type: Homesite, Lot Zoning: Residential Zip/Postal Code: 95458 Location: 928**, Orange, California

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For sale is a parcel with a Private Roadway of 2.1 Acre, the roadway is named Dry Hill Lake Road. See Google Satelite view Here.Two-thirds of the parcel is paved, and the rest is wooded with water frontage. Here is A rare opportunity to own your very own piece of land. Designate it for your driving school training site, or bring your family to ride your bikes. Place a tent on the wooded area, while enjoying a BBQ picnic near the pond in your woodland. NOTE: Access to the road may not be blocked,...

Price: $ 3,070 Seller State of Residence: New York Property Address: Dry Hill Lake Road State/Province: NY City: Mnoroe Type: Recreational, Acreage Zoning: Roadway Zip/Postal Code: 10950 Location: 109**, Monroe, New York

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Property details:

Here's another well positioned residential lot near some others we have sold over the last few years or so, that is centrally located between Crestline, Lake Gregory and Silverwood Lake that you might want to look into. You will be bidding on this residential property, that sits in our local Southern California Mountains and the desirable community of Crestline in the Strawberry Lodge Tract. The property is located just off of Mojave View Drive close to where it meets up with Burnt Mill Canyon R...

Price: $ 600 City: Crestline State/Province: California Seller State of Residence: California Type: Homesite, Lot Property Address: Mojave View Drive Zip/Postal Code: 92322 Zoning: Residential Location: 928**, Orange, California

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The tactical market is full of companies trying to convince the consumer of their combat pedigree. Some focus on their love of America, others of just their overall awesomeness. Many of these companies just regurgitate other ideas, outsource to China and ride off to the bank with money made from someone else's idea.

Then there are a few exceptions, however, and one of those is Georgia based Armageddon Gear.

Armageddon Gear was built by a retired veteran with a proven reputation and an infinite love of country  Tom Fuller. He and his company manufacture every product here in the United States.

Tom Fuller, Armageddon Gear's owner and CEO, set out to build a company he could be proud of, that employed good people, and didn't take itself too seriously.

He has achieved that goal.

Small Business Saturday  Armageddon It With Armageddon Gear

an editorial by Joe Dawson

Tom Fuller retired from the 75th Ranger Regiment as a Sgt. Major after 21 years of service. Shortly after his retirement he ended up as the military sales manager for Bushnell Optics. This job allowed him to maintain directly his connections with the military. During that time, he was constantly asked about BERRY compliant, high quality sewn goods. Many companies were being bought out and moved production overseas.

If you're not familiar with the Berry Amendment, it's a statutory requirement that mandates American-made products for certain DoD purchases. Most military contracts either require or highly recommend that all products meet specific manufacturing requirements as well by made in the United States. Seeing the possibility to work for himself and meet a need in the industry, Tom began slowly developing product ideas and gaining traction among the units he'd formerly served with. He says his dream was to,

create something to be a part of, employees could feel a part of and proud of. [To] Create a collective business where everyone succeeds and fails together Tom Fuller.

Both his company and product line grew quickly. Armageddon Gear now consists of over 20 employees in its own building in Buena Vista, GA. Being primarily a web and distributor based business allows Tom to employ what he describes as good, hard working, small town people instead of having to move the business to a higher traffic big city.

This also allows Tom to live a lifestyle that allows him to put his own products to use. It's a latitude that gives him a unique opportunity to directly test and evaluate his own designs, ensuring they can withstand abuse.

Armageddon Gear's first product was the carbine sling. The idea was based on a sling they used to make in Ranger Battalion. After sewing a few and receiving feedback from both military and LE personnel and 3-Gun competitors, he put it into production. That was the first SKU in a product line now contains over 100 products, and it's still growing. New Armageddon Gear is developed as service members return from downrange, or when the hunters, outdoorsmen and competitive shooters using it bring him ideas and feedback.

Armageddon Gear in its infancy won the XM2010 soft goods contract and PSR soft goods contract. Every sniper in the Marine Corps and Army was issued Armageddon Gear products. Their customers range from SIG Sauer (who includes an Armageddon Gear sling with every MPX), Barrett Rifles (who uses AG cases for the REC7), Remington, H&K and several other major firearms companies wanting to accessorize with high quality products.

Separating themselves from many of their competitors, Armageddon Gear works directly with military and law enforcement units (and government agencies), to develop solutions to equipment shortfalls. Tom works diligently to ensure his company is a good resource for people headed into harms way

I was recently privileged to attend the annual Armageddon Gear Pig Roast. Fuller said it would be a opportunity to really see what his company is all about and meet the people that make the company what it is. If there was ever a company to truly live the Americana experience, being 100 percent true to their public image, that really would be Armageddon Gear.

I flew in to Atlanta on a Thursday and drove two hours to the small town of Buena Vista, Georgia. I was surrounded by amazing people the moment I arrived. It was more of a family reunion than a public professional event. Armageddon Gear has a close working relationship with numerous companies in the shooting industry, many of which were well represented over the course of the weekend. People from GA Precision, US Optics, Daniel Defense, Bushnell, and veterans from just about every special operations unit in SOCOM were represented. As you can imagine, it made for conversation as compelling as the people were ineresting.

The next day was spent hunting hogs and gators, shooting, and fishing. We wrapped it up with a BBQ, though we'd actually yet to get to the official BBQ!

More people began to arrive on Saturday. These were locals with a personal connection to the company, including the ladies who sew every item AG makes, local veterans and ranch owners, and many others from all walks of life. Also on site was the AG Meat Wagon, 1967 Kaiser Jeep ambulance M725. The Meat Wagon has to be one of the coolest company vehicles in existence. Tom makes an effort to bring the rig to shooting competitions and events across the country. It can usually be found stocked full of Armageddon Gear products for anything that you may have forgotten, and free beer for after the powder has been burned.

I was able to talk to the women who work for Armageddon Gear, and hear the true dedication and their heartfelt commitment to making a good product for the people using it in dangerous places. The southern hospitality was just as abundant in the incredible food spread, with a roasted pig, chickens and every conceivable southern side dish available. After everyone had a chance to grab some food, Tom took the microphone and said a few words to thank everyone for coming and supporting his company. The party continued through the night with good food, good alcohol, and good people.

The following day as I was flying home, I couldn't help but feel like I'd departed a vacation with family. The reception, attitude, and camaraderie of everyone at the event was incredible. There was no fake image, no ego, no attitude. It was a unique experience, talking to AG's people, seeing them in their natural habitat, and truly getting a sense of their ethos.

Armageddon gear is a refreshingly genuine and honest company led by a true patriot hell bent on proving a company can be successful manufacturing in the United States. If you'd like to learn more about them but don't have the opportunity to attend their Pig Roast, check them out online at http://www.armageddongear.com.
That's a Mega MATEN 260 Rem rifle you see above. It's a large framed AR rifle (think AR-10 style) chambered in .260 Remington, using PROOF's new CAMGAS system, and we want you to have one.

RECOILweb.com has teamed up with PROOF Research to give one away (which you already knew if you've been reading our most recent issue). Read on to find out how.

SHOT Show 2017: CAMGAS  PROOF It Yourself

CAMGAS (Caliber Matched Gas System) has been the source of much conversation in the gun world lately, not least at RECOIL HQ. We've been talking to PROOF about CAMGAS for a while now, and have been cautiously optimistic about it since it was first explained. It's the solution to those problems traditionally experienced by .260 and 6.5mm buns built on .308/7.62 platforms, they told us, particularly overpressure.

Intrigued since the beginning, RECOIL HMFIC Iain Harrison finally decided to check the veracity of that claim. So, we worked with PROOF to build a .260 AR-10; Harrison then took it out to the desert to compare it to a more traditional AR-10 type weapon. The .260 is considered by many to be more accurate and ballistically superior to the much more common .308, but historically it hasn't delivered the best performance from a larger framed AR-like foundation.

The verdict is now in  and you're welcome to read it in the latest issue of RECOIL Magazine. In the meantime (and this might be a bit of a hint about our opinion on CAMGAS) we're gonna help you get a CAMGAS MATEN of your own. It isn't the actual Mega MATEN 260 Rem the Boss shot for his article, but it is identically built.

Enter the giveaway by visiting them at SHOT Show, Booth #16129. If you're not in Vegas, hit their Facebook page right here. One damned lucky RECOILweb.com reader will be randomly selected to win the rifle (valued at $3138) this Friday.

No, it's okay. You're welcome. We're happy to do it.

Here are some of the MATEN 260's features and components.

RIFLE FEATURES

 PROOF Research CAMGAS Plus 2 Carbon Fiber Barrel

 Mega Arms MATEN Receiver Set and Hand Guard

 Lantac USA EBCG-H and Dragon Brake

 JP Enterprises High Pressure Bolt

 Superlative Arms Gas Block

 Magpul Industries Corp. PRS Gen 3 Stock

 Geissele Automatics, LLC DMR Trigger

 Optic not included

Now, if your'e wondering how CAMGAS works, we'll turn you over to Greg Hamilton. He's one of PROOF's big-brain R&D guys, as well as a competitive PRS and 3-Gun shooter. He's been running the proto CAMGAS barrels he helped develop for about a year now.

Here's what he says.

By moving the gas port, the pressure in the bore is given time to reduce to that comparable of a .308 Winchester with a rifle-length gas system, which is what the 308AR/AR-10 system was designed around. The recoil impulse is noticeably smoother, which helps keep you on target while taking advantage of a more efficient projectile. Case extraction is also easier, with less case-head smearing, so the brass is in much better condition for reloading.

PROOF Research is currently offering CAMGAS barrels chambered for 6.5mm Creedmoor and .260 Remington in three separate lengths: 20, 22, and 24 inches. Every CAMGAS barrel comes standard with an easy to install custom-length gas tube. You can learn more about it here.
Editor's note: You can start your own investigation into Decatur's history with our archives at herald-review.newspapers.com.

DECATUR  In the July 4, 1889 Decatur Herald, the unnamed writer of a story about the murder of 20-year-old grocery store employee Matthew McKinley ended the piece with the line: "It promises to be a mysterious affair."

They had no idea.

The murder itself was shocking, happening downtown within earshot of dozens of witnesses, with the victim collapsing and dying just as a doctor arrived on the scene  before he could reveal the killer.

Ephraim Jack Faunce was convicted of the murder and spent nine years in the Joliet penitentiary before he was pardoned largely thanks to the efforts of Decatur Daily Review reporter Harry Wheeler.

When Faunce died in 1938, it had been nearly 50 years since the murder. Wheeler, who had since retired, came back to write the story recounting the murder and Faunces subsequent conviction and exoneration.

But a closer look at the archives show Wheeler took major liberties in his retelling of the story. There was a man who was later charged with the murder  former Macon County Sheriffs John Mauzys son Joe  but was found not guilty. Wheeler claimed the jury acquitted him because another man had already been convicted, but thats not true. Decatur Herald coverage of the case clearly showed the prosecutions case fell apart under defense scrutiny. A juror was quoted in the April 2, 1898 Decatur Herald: There was no case.

So, if Faunce didnt commit the murder, and Joe Mauzy didnt do it, who did? It was likely one of them, but without DNA or ballistic evidence, there was no way to know the truth.

In the late 19th century, the most effective evidence was eyewitness testimony, which in modern times has been proven shaky at best  especially the more time passes between the crime and the trial. This case showed just how ineffective eyewitnesses could be, with nearly every witness either unsure, proven unreliable, having inconsistent stories or  in the case of the mysterious woman in the red dress  believed then later lost and ignored.

And, throw in a potential cover-up involving the murder weapon  this story has more twists and turns than most Hollywood whodunits.

The murder occurred at just after 9 p.m. on July 3, 1889. Rebecca Smith and Mary Griffith were walking south on the west side of Franklin Street, halfway between Main and Wood. A man approached them and insisted he was going to walk with them, using what Griffith said was profane and vulgar language.

Griffith spotted McKinley, whom she knew from Meyer & Plumers grocery store, and called him over for help. McKinley ran over to confront the man, and a struggle began. McKinley was hit in the head with the butt of a revolver, then begged the man not to shoot him to no avail. McKinley was shot in the chest.

The details after McKinley was shot vary depending on the witness, but the most agreed upon story is that the murderer threw down the gun in a pile of manure and ran off while McKinley staggered toward a nearby barn and collapsed. He was still breathing when discovered moments later, but died just as Dr H.D. Heil arrived at the scene.

A few hours later, Faunce was arrested for the murder, and he seemed like a solid suspect. Despite Wheelers later assertions that Faunce had never harmed anyone, he had served time in prison and within the previous two years had been involved in several fights, including assaulting a police officer with a knife, and multiple robberies. On June 28, 1888, it was reported he tried to force the daughter of Chris Robinson to walk with him, and Robinson handed him a deserved beating.

Smith and Griffith picked Faunce out of a lineup, but neither said they were positive he was the killer. Another man, D.J. Williams, claimed he saw Faunce approach the two women and the beginning of the confrontation with McKinley, but didnt see the actual shooting.

But by the time of Faunces trial, the prosecution had found a witness  first known as the lady in the red dress because she wanted to keep her identity hidden. At the trial her named was revealed as Alice Oliphant. Not only did Oliphant testify that shed witnessed Faunce commit the murder, she said when she went to the jail to identify him, he told her if she testified he would fix me as he fixed Matt McKinley.

J.R. Burres, Faunces lawyer, attacked Oliphants reputation, calling her the fiend in feminine flesh who wore a red dress, and said she was a far more dangerous character in the community than Faunce, even if Faunce was guilty of the crime as charged.

But Burres wasnt able to disprove Oliphants testimony and Faunce was convicted. Eleven jurors wanted him to hang, but one juror held out and Faunce was sent to life in prison.

Faunces brother, Cash, fought tirelessly the next several years to clear his brothers name, even visiting a woman on her deathbed because there was a rumor she knew who the real killer was.

Speculation grew that it may have been Mauzy and not Faunce who shot McKinley. There were rumors about both men having previous beefs with McKinley regarding competition for womens attention.

But it was the 13 affidavits that Wheeler collected, printed in the Daily Review and presented as evidence to a grand jury that finally put Mauzy on trial.

Faunces trial had been a major affair, but paled in comparison to the Mauzy trial  436 people were drawn for jury selection, costing $1,087. It took the entire first day to pick one juror.

There was plenty of new testimony. Police officer Ed Leech claimed he didnt think the gun presented as evidence was the same one found at the scene. Wheeler later presented it as fact that the gun used in the shooting had been owned by John Mauzy and Joe claimed to have loaned it to Faunce. But that wasnt presented as evidence in either trial, and Leech had testified at the first trial that the gun was the same one hed found at the scene.

There were also new eyewitnesses. Two said theyd seen Mauzy leaving the scene of the murder, but hadnt witnessed the shooting and had no good explanation why they hadnt come forward at the Faunce trial.

Wheeler would later point to the testimony of Anna Showers as proof Faunce didnt commit the murder. Showers was 13 at the time of the murder and said she saw Mauzy fire the fatal shot. Her sister corroborated her story, but neither agreed on where they saw it happen, and the two other women Showers claimed were with her at the time of the shooting denied her statement. One said she was at home and the other said she wasnt in the city at the time of the shooting.

None of the testimony held up under scrutiny and  even with the defense unable to find Oliphant and her testimony from the previous trial disallowed  Mauzy was acquitted. Still, public sentiment  thanks in large part to the reporting of Wheeler  was that Faunce hadnt committed the crime. And through Wheelers efforts, Faunces case was brought in front of the state pardoning board.

The states attorney who helped prosecute both cases, I.R. Mills, wrote a letter to the state pardoning board recommending Faunce be set free. In his letter he wrote that while he felt like the case against Faunce was strong, he was in favor of a pardon because he had reasonable doubt and public sentiment was in favor of Faunce.

Mills letter helped tip the scales and the pardoning board recommended Faunces release. Days later, Illinois Governor John Tanner granted Faunces pardon.

Wheeler escorted Faunce back to Decatur, where he was hired as a salesman at one of Walter Hutchins shoe stores  a more lucrative job than Faunce had ever held previously.

As time went on, the case was forgotten and Wheelers account became the official record, with him claiming Faunce was a victim of the greatest miscarriage of justice known in Illinois criminal annals.

Mauzy died in 1922 of tuberculosis. Faunce, who moved to Nebraska and later Kansas City before Wheeler found him and brought him back to Decatur in his final years to convalesce, died in 1938 at age 80.

Who killed McKinley remains a mystery.
DECATUR  The fight toward racial equality across the country needs new energy, even as efforts are under way in places such as Decatur to move toward that goal.

Author and nationally syndicated columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. delivered the keynote address Saturday during the 31st annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. celebration luncheon. During his remarks at the Decatur Conference Center & Hotel, he emphasized the urgency of the need to educate, advocate and participate in the movement toward improving race relations.

Enough with the pity party, Pitts said. It is time to move forward. We should all feel the urgency.

Everyone attending the event should take the message with them, said Billy Tyus, Decatur assistant city manager. Often, people of different races don't seek to unite unless an issue arises, Tyus said.

Now is the time to come together and work on the same struggles, Tyus said. We're all struggling to fight some of the same things.

Tyus enjoyed hearing Pitts speak partially because he connects with us in his writing, some of which appears in columns published in the Herald & Review.

Pitts said educating children about the facts of history remains important in a society focused less and less on factual information.

It's a looming tragedy for all of us Americans in the new facts-optional American society, Pitts said. Our history is being stolen right out from under us.

Pitts hit the nail on the head with his message, said Rich Hansen, a history teacher at Mount Zion High School.

It all starts with education, said Hansen, who has been teaching an African-American Studies class for five years. We didn't shy away from black history. It's something more teachers need to start to address.

Every year, Hansen's students participate in a project to create an exhibit for the African-American Cultural & Genealogical Society of Illinois. It's part of an effort to have the students take a more active role in the issues, he said.

My only regret is I didn't start the class sooner, Hansen said.

More work needs to be done because participation through protests does matter, Pitts said.

There is power in people coming together for a rightful cause, Pitts said.

Decatur Mayor Julie Moore Wolfe said efforts are under way to make a better community by remaining focused on the common good. She said the city is doing things such as encouraging minority participation in public works projects, which is the subject of a forum Wednesday at the Decatur Club, 158 W. Prairie Ave.

We've exceeded our goals to ensure work opportunities for minorities, Moore Wolfe said. It's a small step, but hopefully others will follow to make the playing field equal for everyone.

King's legacy remains an example for moving the country forward, Moore Wolfe said. She said he did as much as any person in history to move the country forward.

It's a legacy Decatur students were asked to reflect on through the annual youth essay contest. The theme this year is Drum major for justice  What is your legacy beating to?

He never gave up on what he believed in, said Jordon Lowery of Garfield Montessori School. I'm like him because I never give up. I want to be that drum leader.

Aubree Brown is growing up with two points of view as part of a biracial family. She believes in King's view of equality.

I'm glad to help keep his dream alive, said Brown, who attends Johns Hill Magnet School.

The choices of others in the past have created opportunities for Cyshauna Manney, a student at Eisenhower High School.

I have opportunities given to me by those who knew the future needed a positive change, Manney said. I have an opportunity to do so much more than my social standing based on hard work and determination.

In turn, Manney wants to make a better future for others.

Pitts said it's time to move beyond the common view to the meaning of King's I have a dream message. Pitts said the fight for racial equality did not end with the Civil Rights Movement.

The struggle is continuing as more work can be done as the quest for human rights is not over, just because some such as President Barack Obama, Oprah Winfrey, Michael Jordan and Michael Jackson have been successful, Pitts said.

Pitts said blacks don't measure how far the fight for racial equality has come. Rather, he said it's about how far it has yet to go.

Derrick Thaxton hoped what Pitts said would be effective with the sold-out audience at the event.

Educate, advocate and participate has always been a work in progress, said Thaxton, chairman of the Decatur Human Relations Commission, which organized the event. After today, we should take it to the next level. We need to keep working together for things to get better.

Another event to honor King's legacy takes place Monday in Decatur. The Annual Freedom March will start at noon in front of the Decatur Civic Center with the group proceeding north along Martin Luther King Jr. Drive for a program at the Church of the Living God Temple 1, 1915 N. Martin Luther King Jr. Drive.
On April 9, downtown Athens donned a new look for the University of Georgias 18th International Street Festival  strings of flags from countries all around the world hung and tents filled with students eager to share their cultures lined the streets.
'If your paper writes something you don't agree with, will you criticise it?' Nitin Gadkari asks Aditi Phadnis when quizzed about demonetisation.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

Nitin Gadkari, Union minister for road transport, highways and shipping, conjures up images of Santa Claus.

He exudes rotund well-being and 'jollification.' All that is missing is a bell, a sleigh and chortles of 'ho, ho, ho.' The same spirit was evident at a press conference he addressed before we went to lunch.

When reporters referred to Urban Development Minister M Venkaiah Naidu's suggestion that building permissions should be contingent on provisions for parking so that cars did not crowd roads and public thoroughfares, Gadkari said he had the same problem.

"Look at the road outside my office. It is crammed with cars because there is no place to park. I am considering a plan under which anybody can report a car parked illegally by taking a picture on their mobile and sending it to me."

"Not only will the owner be fined Rs 1,000, the person taking the picture will be rewarded with Rs 200. Imagine! In addition to the salary you earn, you can earn Rs 600 every day just by taking pictures of illegally parked cars! An additional revenue stream for you all!"

He looked around the room and beamed.

The conference also revealed a side to him that is steely.

A reporter whined that journalists in pursuit of their duties were required to go in and out of Delhi several times during the day and each time had to pay a toll fee.

The unsaid implication was that journalists should be exempt from this.

While the others in the room squirmed in embarrassment and humiliation, Gadkari said, his tone brooking no argument: "Sorry sir, I cannot help you. You will have to pay."

Lunch is in his room in Transport Bhavan, a 1960s style building that Indira Gandhi inaugurated in 1965.

Next to his desk is a quote by JFK: 'American roads are good not because America is rich. But America is rich because American roads are good.'

We enter the office of a politician who seems to celebrate the spirit of capitalism -- he is, after all, the chairman of the Purti group that owns sugar factories, supermarkets and a host of other businesses, and is no stranger to the entrepreneurial world.

The room is full of people engaged in chaotic negotiations in various corners. Gadkari plunges into the chaos, addressing the problems of several groups at once.

"Court <en bank toh picture mein hi nahin hai. Aap mujhe doolha la deejiye -- aapka road ban jayega (leave the court aside. And banks are not even in the picture. Just bring me the groom -- and the road will be built for you)," he suggests to a small group from Madhya Pradesh that wants to go into arbitration because a road they need has not been built as the contractor has decamped.

Gadkari is suggesting that the errant contractor be released from his boilerplate contract if another one can be found (the doolha), rather than getting embroiled in litigation.

A set of bureaucrats wants him to look at some papers now. He waves us into an antechamber.

Gadkari may be a servant of the people but he is conscious of his creature comforts and those of his guests.

He has a pantry in his office, which turns out gourmet food -- none of that IRCTC rubbish here. The chef is his personal employee. Ludhiana Chinese is the menu today. So soup arrives, bursting with golden kernels of corn, batons of carrots and slivers of finely sliced beans.

We sip our soup and wait, remembering to peek through the door frequently because Gadkari has so many things going on, he is likely to forget he has asked guests to wait.

An aide says a senior and venerable Bharatiya Janata Party leader came to the house to invite Gadkari for his daughter's wedding. Gadkari assured him he was just coming to meet him, asked his staff to serve snacks and tea and forgot.

Two hours later, the guest was still ensconced on the sofa and when he enquired after his host, he was told Gadkari had left home more than an hour ago.

Twenty years ago, as public works department minister in Maharashtra, Gadkari proposed a 95 km road between Mumbai and Pune.

A global tender was floated, which was won by the Reliance Group under Dhirubhai Ambani. But Gadkari thought the expressway could be made at a lower cost.

He started the Maharashtra State Road Development Corporation with a grant of Rs 10 crore (Rs 100 million) from the state government.

He raised another Rs 4,000 crore (Rs 40 billion) from the market through bonds and used the money to build the expressway for Rs 1,600 crore (Rs 16 billion).

The money was also used to build 55 flyovers across Mumbai in less than 18 months.

A total work of more than Rs 8,000 crore (Rs 80 billion) was given by him to different contractors in his tenure as PWD minister.

It was on the strength of his record that he was appointed road transport minister when Narendra Modi came to power and is now considered one of the best-performing ministers in the government.

But some of his claims -- like building 40 km of roads every day -- seem exaggerated.

He walks into the room as the second course is served, which seems to be fried momos smothered in a heavily seasoned sauce laden with garlic. I ask him about the road bit.

He says his ministry has built 22 km of roads every day so far and contracts amounting to Rs 40,000 crore (Rs 400 billion) have been awarded so the average over the next two-and-a-half years is a target of 40 km a day.

This week is Road Safety Week. There are fast cars, good roads and no enforcement of speed limits, standards for drivers or adequate facilities for training.

200,000 people died in road accidents in 2015.

Gadkari says soberly that most accidents occur because of faulty road design and that he would rather not have a road than have a faulty one.

He is working to get more corporate houses to invest in road safety as corporate social responsibility.

The conversation inevitably turns to demonetisation.

As if by rote, Gadkari recites the rationale: "Black money will surface and become part of the formal economy, digitisation will lead to less cash," etc. He doesn't sound convincing.

I provoke him further. An argument ensues. "If you're trying to make me criticise my own government, you will not succeed," he says.

"Just trying to get you to tell the truth," I say.

"If your paper writes something you don't agree with, will you criticise it?" he asks. I pause.

I ask him how he managed his daughter Ketaki's wedding, which fell some days after the government outlawed high denomination currency. All of Nagpur celebrated that marriage and attended it.

He admits that buying vegetables, milk, paneer and other groceries was a challenge because it had to be paid for in cash.

Cash also had to paid to tent houses and to labourers, who had come from West Bengal. But all other payments were by cheque.

Gadkari has some grand and, frankly, outlandish plans for roads, shipping and bridges and some are more than just promises.

The Zuari bridge in Goa, he says, will be built soon and will have two galleries on its towers, with capsule lifts and restaurants on top.

Work has begun on the structure that promises to be more than just a bridge.

He is fascinated by lighthouses, though their utility, in a world of advanced technology and GPS spread, could be questioned.

Inland rivers as a source of tourism sets his imagination on fire, though industry, devout pilgrims and encroachers have already staked their claim on waterways as a dumping ground before the government.

The final course arrives: American chopsuey, which is basically fried noodles with sauteed vegetables, the whole thing looking violently orange.

Gadkari initially looks upon the dish with disfavour, but eventually succumbs to temptation.

He suddenly remembers something -- presumably, a guest he's forgotten about. He gets up quickly and waves goodbye.

I add the "ho, ho, ho" silently.
'The feeling of being part of one family, which is an essential part of the armed forces ethos, is weakening.'

'And when there is a feeling of distrust, then even a small spark can lead to an explosion.'



On Thursday, a Central Industrial Security Force jawan gunned down four of his seniors in Bihar, apparently for being denied leave. Reports now suggest that the jawan was 'mentally ill'.

In the past too, incidents of fratricide have been reported in the defence and paramilitary forces.

Prakash Singh, former director general of the Border Security Force, Uttar Pradesh police and Assam Police, speaks to Veenu Sandhu about the reasons for such incidents and the pressures soldiers face.

What are the possible triggers for such cases?

The CISF is today the most coveted of the Central Armed Police Forces (colloquially referred to as paramilitary forces).

Most young boys today want to join the CISF because the work conditions are reasonably good, unlike in the BSF and the Indo Tibetan Border Police where they are very tough.

Such an incident happening in the CISF is rather strange.

I don't understand why this man's problem could not be diagnosed early and why they couldn't see that his impatience and anger was reaching a boiling point.

It should have been possible for the local commanders to see that.

Do soldiers today face more stress than they did in the past?

A battalion normally has six companies. Of these, one company is supposed to be always kept on training, which includes rest and recuperation.

But these days, there is heavy demand for Central Armed Police Forces from the states, which have virtually abdicated their responsibility in maintaining law and order.

The states put a lot of pressure on the central government for these forces and the Centre invariably relents.

As a result, all the companies are deployed on duty and there is no strength left in the reserve for rest, recuperation and training.

The battalion commanders now have a problem because they are required to maintain a certain minimum level of manpower strength.

So, there is a genuine administrative problem in letting people go on leave when the commitment is heavy and deployment is full.

Normally this should not happen.

A battalion has a minimum strength of 90 people and the minimum operational strength required is 75.

So, it becomes a very serious problem sometimes when men are on leave and others want to go on leave, but you cannot reduce the strength beyond 75.

Can the Centre not put its foot down and ask the states to deal with the problem if it is possible?

Yes. It has today become nothing short of a scandal.

Some time back, Uttar Pradesh asked for a thousand companies. Thats an absurd request. I can say that as the states former director general of police.

What is your own force doing then? What is your mobilisation?

Much of these demands can be described as peshbandi -- where you inflate your demand to an extent that the other party is not able to meet it.

So then, if something goes wrong, you can turn around and say, 'Look, I had asked for this much force, but my demand wasn't met, that's why things went wrong.'

In Haryana, during the riots, there was such a lot of army deployment that they could have fought a war with Pakistan.

This happens because the district authorities simply abdicate their responsibility.

Someone should ask the district magistrate and the district superintendent of police, 'What the hell are you doing with the force that is already there?'

We used to take pride in managing things with our own resources and depending the least on outside help.

So yes, there is mounting stress and strain because of the heavy deployment of the forces arising out of the excessive and unreasonable demands of the states.

What could be the other reasons? Lack of bonding in the forces?

The one thing that has been happening in all the forces is that the camaraderie and rapport between seniors and juniors, which was there earlier, is now weakening.

Between the officers and men, particularly, there is a sharp gap now.

Officers often complain that the men do not support them and desert them in the event of a crisis.

And the men complain that the officers relax, while they push the soldiers into tough jobs.

Both these versions arise out of the gulf between the officers and the men.

The feeling of being part of one family, which is an essential part of the armed forces ethos, is weakening.

In the past, if you could not send a man on leave, he understood your compulsions and compromised for your sake.

We would also sometimes take risks for the sake of the jawans.

So, there is something lacking somewhere in leadership.

And when there is a feeling of distrust, then even a small spark can lead to an explosion.

That is what keeps happening here and there in the forces.

External aids like psychologists and yoga classes bust stress, but would not be required if there were strong feeling of brotherhood between the officers and their men.

IMAGE: The site where a CISF constable opened fire and killed four of his colleagues in Aurangabad district, Bihar, January 12, 2017. Photograph: PTI Photo
The extreme weather conditions last year led to the deaths of 1,600 people.

More than 1,600 people died due to extreme weather conditions across the country last year, with severe heat wave claiming the largest chunk of the total deaths at 40 per cent, followed by flooding and lightning.

The Indian Meteorological Department said 2016 was the warmest year ever recorded, globally as well as in India. Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded 51 degree Celsius, highest ever recorded in the country.

January and February were the warmest winter months ever, according to IMD, which records weather patterns since 1901.

Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra topped the casualty list with the states contributing 35 per cent of the total. They together recorded 552 deaths due to extreme weather patterns.

According to a report by the IMD, 40 per cent of the total deaths were due to severe heat wave, which claimed more than 700 lives in the country, with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together recording the maximum deaths ie more than 400.

Gujarat and Maharashtra registered 87 and 43 deaths due to heat waves respectively.

Cold wave claimed 53 lives in the country.

Lightning claimed more than 415 lives and the worst hit were the eastern states of Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh.

Odisha alone recorded more than 132 deaths due to lightning while 43 deaths occurred in Maharashtra.

IMD last year started issuing summer and winter forecasts with heat wave and cold wave warnings.

After two consecutive droughts, India last year had a normal monsoon, but several parts of the country witnessed heavy to very heavy rainfall, causing flooding in many areas.

More than 475 lives were lost in floods and thunderstorms. Bihar alone saw nearly 146 deaths due to flooding between July 25 to September 3.

The year 2016 saw four cyclonic storms in Bay of Bengal, the major being severe cyclonic storm Vardah, which killed 18 people in Tamil Nadu.

We have tried to minimise the loss of lives, especially in large scale events like cyclones and heavy rains. For example, accurate predictions helped minimise loss of lives during Vardah and prediction of heavy rains. But when it comes to events like lightning, it becomes difficult as at several instances it takes places in villages and hamlets.

In such a scenario, mobile companies can play a pro-active role in helping disseminate information in a particular district or hamlet by sending alerts, IMD Director General K J Ramesh said.

Image: A man holds an umbrella as he walks next to his buffalo on the banks of the river Ganga on a hot summer day in Allahabad. Photograph: Jitendra Prakash/Reuters
Embattled Samajwadi Party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday received an option B with Lok Dal offering its symbol and national president post to him in case the SP symbol cycle was frozen by the Election Commission.

Lok Dal national president Sunil Singh told reporters that his party in ECs records was a registered, unrecognised party that was formed by veteran socialist leader Charan Singh way back in 1980 and netaji (Mualayam) is its founder member.

I offer Lok Dals symbol and national president post to netaji and am ready to contest the polls with him, Singh said.

Lok Dal, which has the old election symbol of a farmer ploughing a field (khet jotta kissan), on which Charan Singh had become the chief minister of UP, wants to contest Uttar Pradesh assembly polls and has already shortlisted names of 100 candidates.

I want Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav to understand that his uncle Ram Gopal Yadav is working under pressure of the Central Bureau of Investigation to save his son and daughter in Yadav Singh case. Bureaucrats backing him will no longer be there after polls. He should understand that netaji is his father and his real well wisher, he said.

I want them (Mulayam-Akhilesh) to resolve the dispute and if it does not happen and cycle symbol goes to Akhilesh or EC freezes it, Lok Dal is with Mulayam, he said.

I have met Mulayam Singh and offered him to contest the elections on our symbol, he said.

In 2012 elections, Lok Dal had contested 76 seats and but all their candidates lost in the polls.

Lok Dals offer came amid hectic discussions by leaders of rival camps on various options and ramifications once the poll panel gives its order.

The EC, which reserved its order on the dispute over cycle symbol, has kept both sides guessing with leaders of warring camps exploring various scenarios as little time is left for process of filing nominations to start for the first phase of the staggered polls in Uttar Prdesh.

The state will have a seven-phase polling beginning February 11 and filing of nomination papers starts as early as Tuesday.

The confusion notwithstanding, a large number of ticket seekers thronged residences of Mulayam and his defiant son Akhilesh.

Throughout the day, Mulayam and Akhilesh stayed put in their bungalows in the VVIP security zone which has seen high voltage political drama ever since the family feud broke out in the Yadav clan six months back, splitting the ruling party ahead of the crucial elections.

Akhileshji is our face and we will seek vote on it. New symbol, if given by EC, however, will be a challenge but we are prepared for all situations. We are relying on the work done by the CM in past five years and people will support us, a highly confident SP MLC Sunil Singh Sajan, considered close to Akhilesh, said.

Interestingly, the Mulayam camp, which too has declared its candidates, are confident of retaining the symbol and waiting for the EC decision before deciding its next step.

Confusion still persists in both the SP camps as a number of candidates declared by both factions are common. We will work on it and decide our strategy once ECs decision is out, a senior SP leader said.

Shivpal Yadav, who returned to Lucknow after presenting his side before the EC in Delhi, when asked at the airport said, I hope EC will decide in favour of netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav). The situation will be clear very soon.

SP state president Naresh Uttam, appointed by Akhilesh replacing his warring uncle Shivpal, has said, The entire party is behind our national president Akhilesh Yadav, who was elected unanimously... we are confident of retaining cycle symbol.

Uttam, who paid a courtesy visit to Mulayam on Saturday on the occasion of Makar Sankranti, has said, Father and son are very much together. We will fight under Akhilesh and netaji (Mulayam Singh Yadav) will guide us. He is not only father but also our leader.

His remarks came against the backdrop of Mulayam surprisingly softening his stand towards his son, saying Akhilesh will be the next chief minister, though his statement failed to iron out the differences between the father-son duo on contentious issues like party presidents post which Akhilesh does not want to give up.

Unfazed by ongoing power tussle in the ruling party, Akhilesh is busy fine-tuning the poll strategy with his close aides.

Party insiders said he was preparing a new list of candidates, dropping tainted nominees and giving ticket to deserving ones.

Taking full control of the ruling party after being crowned as its head at a disputed national convention on January 1, Akhilesh has been going whole hog consolidating his grip over the organisation.

He has already made new appointments of district chiefs who were dumped by Shivpal and also released list of candidates for the Legislative Council polls in his capacity as the SP chief.

Meanwhile, all eyes are on the EC, which has told both the sides that a judgement will be delivered at the earliest.

Citing precedents, Election Symbol Order of 1968 and provisions of the Representation of the People Act, including Section 29A, the Akhilesh camp argued that since the numbers are stacked in favour of the CM, the symbol should go to him.

The Mulayam camp, on the other hand, said since there is no vertical split in the party such as SP (Mulayam) and SP (Akhilesh), the Commission lacks jurisdiction to allocate symbol to one of the groups.

The Mulayam camp also argued that since no resolution was passed at the convention called by Akhilesh loyalist Ram Gopal Yadav on January 1 removing Mulayam as the party president and that the party is one, para 15 of the The Election Symbols (Reservation and Allotment) Order, 1968 does not apply in the case.

But, the claim was countered by the Akhilesh camp which said in one of the letters addressed to the Commission, Mulayam loyalist Amar Singh has used the term splinter group and that both sides are before the Commission staking claim over symbol which indicates a dispute.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday saluted the courage and invaluable service of the soldiers and officers, including the veterans on the Army Day. PM Modi said the army and its brave soldiers have made the nation proud by their sacrifices.



General Bipin Rawat, who recently took over as army chief, also extended his best wishes on the occasion.

Large number of serving, veteran and civil dignitaries paid homage to martyrs at the Vijay Smarak or victory memorial at Fort William, headquarters of the Army's Eastern Command in Kolkata.

The Indian Army celebrates Army Day on January 15 to mark the anniversary of Lieutenant General K M Cariappa taking over as the first Indian Commander-in-Chief of Army from General Sir Francis Butcher in 1949.

Admiral S Lanba, Army Chief General B Rawat and Air Force Chief BS Dhanoa pay homage to soldiers on the occasion of Army Day. Photograph: @SpokespersonMOD/Twitter

Naval chief Lanba at the Amar Jawan Jyoti memorial. Photograph: @adgpi/Twitter

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat honours wife of Siachen braveheart Lance Naik Hanamanthappa with Gallantry award on Army Day. Photograph: ANI/Twitter

Veterans pay tribute at Fort William, headquarters of the Army's Eastern Command in Kolkata. Photograph: @adgpi/Twitter
Shiv Sena is likely to go it alone in the upcoming city civic body polls, party sources said on Sunday, even as it formally begins talks on alliance with Bharatiya Janata Party on Monday.

Leaders in both Sena and BJP feel that the parties will fare better if they contest on their own, and, if needed, they could go for a post-poll tie-up for the Asias biggest civic body -- the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

Sources in BJP also said that their party should be ready to go alone instead of yielding to the demands of Sena, which shares power with it at the Centre and in Maharashtra though the ties have been frosty since the 2014 assembly polls.

The polls to 10 municipal corporations, including the cash-rich Mumbai civic body, will be held on February 21.

An internal survey by our party shows that we will win around 85-90 seats in case we were to contest allying with the BJP. But that number will shoot up to 110-115 seats if we go solo. In such a scenario, it would not be advisable for us to take the BJP onboard for the polls, a source close to Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray said.

The survey also revealed that BJP will win around 35-40 seats if it contests in alliance with Sena but the number will go up to 60-65, if it goes solo, he said.

It is in our best of interest to contest the polls separately. Thus, it is most likely that we will both contest as separate entities. Yet, BJP remains a natural ally of Sena. Even if we contest separately, we can always engage in a post-poll alliance, the source said.

He said Sena and BJP will formally begin seat-sharing talks from on Monday and three leaders from each party have been entrusted the task of carrying out the negotiations.

Sena leaders Anil Desai, Anil Parab, Subhash Desai will carry out the talks with BJP leaders Ashish Shelar, Vinod Tawde and Prakash Mehta, he said.

At the outset, the BJP has demanded 115 seats, while Sena is not ready to give it more than 75 seats. The alliance is impossible if BJP remains adamant on its demand, he said.

Another source in the Sena said the party chief, in a recent meeting with Sena ministers, has given them full autonomy to suggest names of probable candidates.

However, there is a caveat here. Uddhavji has even said that if the candidate fails to win the seat suggested by the minister, he would have to resign from the government. This has become a do or die battle for us, he said.

The election is crucial for Sena as BMC has remained its stronghold even when the Congress-Nationalist Congress Party ruled the state for 15 years and could help the party redeem its position after it slipped to the status of a junior partner of BJP following the assembly polls.

Meanwhile, a source in the BJP claimed their internal survey has predicted that the party would get anywhere between 90 to 103 seats if it contests on its own.

The diatribe launched by Sena against BJP and its leadership in Saamana (Senas mouthpiece) is an indication that they are apprehensive about the BMC slipping from its political grip, he said.

Earlier, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had argued in favour of a pre-poll alliance with the Sena, and had said that if there will a tie-up, it would based on transparent

administration in the BMC.
Army Chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday said jawans who take to social media to express their complaints could be punished as their act lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.

He also said that despite Pakistans continuous engagement in proxy war against India, we want to restore peace on the Line of Control.

But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation, he asserted.

The Army Chief was addressing the Army Day celebrations, where he awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with the proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly, Gen Rawat said.

Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that), he said, referring to instances of jawans taking to social media to air their grievances.

It (airing of grievances on social media) has (negative) impact on the brave jawans who are serving the country along the border, he said.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.

Be it Line of Actual Control or Line of Control, we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job at all fronts, he said.
DECATUR  Freezing rain that fell early Saturday had minimal effect on the Decatur area.

However, concerns about the potential for dangerous winter weather aren't expected to end until today as areas to the south were hit harder by icy conditions.

Much of Central Illinois remains under a freezing rain advisory until noon, including Macon, Christian, Shelby, Moultrie, DeWitt and Piatt counties.

A mix of freezing rain and sleet is expected to spread into south-central Illinois this morning, mainly along and south of Interstate 72, according to the National Weather Service at Lincoln. Temperatures will climb a degree or two by afternoon melt any accumulated ice.

The weather service is expecting a mid-January thaw starting Monday with above temperatures throughout most of the week, so ice likely won't stick around. It said rain is possible Monday.

Road crews were out starting early Saturday treating what would have otherwise been slick streets.

We're in good shape, said Dan Mendenall, Decatur interim municipal services director.

He said refreezing of treated but still wet areas was a concern as temperatures dropped overnight.

Macon County Highway Engineer Bruce Bird said the more rural roads were most slippery, as is typically the case. He said crews will treat roads as necessary today.

A heavy dose of salt was applied to roads in an attempt to have it last as long as possible, Bird said.

Once we go through, they're in decent shape, Bird said.

The Macon County Sheriff's Office said most road conditions had improved through Saturday afternoon, but less traveled rural roads and some streets were still slick. It continued to urge caution when traveling and be careful on ice covered sidewalks and driveways.

No parking requests for streets in Mount Zion and Forsyth remain in effect until noon Sunday.

The weather continued to grip areas to the south, with wintry weather causing travel headaches in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Interstate 40 was closed in two places in western portions of the state because of wrecks, including the jackknifing of several tractor-trailers in icy conditions in Caddo County. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Ice buildups of one-quarter to slightly less than a half-inch were expected late Saturday and Sunday morning from southeastern Kansas to central Missouri. Lesser ice accumulations were forecast for Saturday around St. Louis.

State troopers in Missouri and other affected states were pressing motorists to limit travel to only necessary outings, allowing road crews the space to treat the slippery mess.

Many appeared to heed that advice, drawing kudos from the Missouri Department of Transportation, which scrambled around-the-clock to mitigate the glazed roads.
In a shocking incident, a four-year-old girl was allegedly raped, brutally killed and buried in a nullah by the accused in Bhayander area on the outskirts of Mumbai, police said.

Three persons have been arrested in this regard. They were on Sunday remanded in police custody by a local court.

On January 9, her parents had filed a complaint with Navghar police that the child was kidnapped by some unknown person from near their house while she was playing, SP (rural) Mahesh Patil told reporters.

On January 12 evening, the body of the missing girl was found buried in a nullah near Azad Nagar slum area in Bhayander township of Thane district. The police got to know that one of the persons acquainted with the family had committed the crime, he said.

The 24-year-old prime accused, who was known to the victims family, during interrogation admitted that he had raped and killed the girl, police said.

The accused allegedly took the victim to Azad Nagar, raped her and then gagged her to death. As per the post-mortem report, wound marks were found on the child's head, police had earlier said.

A cat had nibbled the body and the childs arm was spotted at the pit in the nullah by some locals who informed police. The body was exhumed on January 12.

Police on Sunday said that after committing the offence and burying the childs body in the pit dug by them in the nullah, the accused had dinner at a hotel in the locality.

Three of the accused were arrested on Friday and produced before a local court which remanded them to police custody till January 24, Navghars Senior Police Inspector

Srikant Padule said.

According to police, the victims family and the accused had no dispute.

Padule also said the main accused developed closeness with the childs family in the last few months to gain their confidence.

Police are in the process of recording the statements of the accused and witnesses, he said.

A manhunt has been launched to nab the fourth accused, who is suspected to have fled Maharashtra, police said.

Initially, the case was registered under IPC section 363 (kidnapping), but now the accused have been booked under IPC sections 302 (murder) and 376(D) (gang rape) and also under sections 4 and 6 of the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, they said.
As Rose Valley resurfaces, Sudip Bandyopadhyay and Tapas Pal's arrests marks the end of the bonhomie between the TMC and BJP.

Namrata Acharya reports from Kolkata.

Illustration: Uttam Ghosh/Rediff.com

In April 2013, when the Saradha scam unfolded, many said it was the end of the road for the feisty chief minister of West Bengal, Mamata Banerjee.

However, the 2016 elections to the state assembly proved the naysayers wrong and the Trinamool Congress rode back to power with impressive numbers: The party won 211 out of the 294 seats, bettering its tally of 184 in 2011.

It seemed the ghost of Saradha had been buried for good.

The entire TMC leadership came out unscathed from the Saradha scam.

In September 2016, even Madan Mitra, former state transport minister, got bail after spending nearly 21 months in prison.

Mitra was the only TMC leader, barring Kunal Ghosh who has been long shunned by the party, to go to jail in connection with Saradha.

Mukul Roy, a close aide of Banerjee, had untangled himself from the scam, even though he was grilled for hours by the Central Bureau of Investigation. After a hiatus, Roy is now back as a party loyalist.

That it had won the elections in spite of the relentless Saradha campaign in the media made the TMC confident that the allegations did not resonate with the public.

In September 2016, when the Supreme Court ordered the return of disputed land to farmers in Singur, it boosted the party's morale further.

Things are different now.

During the short spell of winter, West Bengal turns to festivities. It is believed that Banerjee, who also holds the information and cultural affairs departments, takes keen interest in organising large-scale rural carnivals like Maati and Jatra Utsav, thus promoting folk art.

This year, just before the festivities kicked off, Narendra Modi launched his demonetisation drive on November 8, which poured cold water on the celebrations in West Bengal.

A livid Banerjee declared war against Modi.

'Today, I am taking a pledge, whether I die or live, I will remove Modi from Indian politics...Bazaar, cinema, jatra (theatre) everything got affected, but he didn't care about common people,' she said.

Of all Modi detractors, Banerjee was the most vocal.

Then, on December 30, the CBI arrested TMC MP Tapas Pal for his involvement in the Rose Valley scam.

A few days later, on January 3, it arrested another TMC MP, Sudip Bandyopadhyay, for his involvement in the scam.

"The investigation was ordered by the Supreme Court in 2013. The TMC was utilising its connections in Delhi to stop, sabotage or slow down the investigation. In 2015, when the investigations reached Trinamool Bhavan, Banerjee came to Delhi and maybe bought some time," says CPI-M leader Mohammad Salim.

According to Salim, Banerjee had managed to get some exemption from New Delhi from March 2015.

"Now, it seems, the exemption was granted with a time limit. New Delhi thought it was renewable, and she thought it was permanent," he adds.

In fact, this view held by the Opposition is echoed by many, especially those affected by the unravelling of the ponzi scheme.

"It is just that the TMC and BJP bonhomie has ended now that these arrests have taken place," according to a member of Amanatkari and Agent Suraksha Mancha, a forum of depositors affected by the scam.

TMC Leaders could not be reached for comments.

In October, Kunal Ghosh, a TMC member of the Rajya Sabha, who was has been long portrayed as a key accused in the Saradha scam, got bail. Ghosh has been vocal against the TMC right from the time of his arrest about three years back.

Recently, Ghosh was nominated as a member of the BSNL Telephone Advisory Committee in Kolkata by the Centre.

In a letter dated January 9 to the Department of Telecommunication, the BSNL Employees Union demanded withdrawal of Ghosh's nomination on account of his involvement in Saradha.

It may be mentioned that membership of the Telephone Advisory Committee is a political appointment; in other words, Ghosh has been nominated by the government and not BSNL.

"In the old days, when the Department of Telecommunication was the only telephone service provider, the Telephone Advisory Committee was created. It is a legacy which is being continued in BSNL, wherein MPs are appointed as members of the committee," says P Abhimanyu, general secretary, BSNL Employees Union.

"It is a waste of expenses," he added, "and we have long demanded the abolition of the committee, but government has not accepted our recommendations.

Nevertheless, Ghosh's nomination did send out a strong message in the political echelons.

With Ghosh being mercilessly dumped by the TMC soon after his arrest, he emerged as one of Banerjee's most vehement critics.

On several occasions, Ghosh demanded an independent inquiry against the chief minister for her involvement in the ,strong>Saradha scam.

Observers believe this has paid off well for Ghosh and earned him a favour from the Centre.

Three years ago, when Saradha broke out, the Rose Valley scam had taken a backseat.

However, Rose Valley, by all counts, is the biggest ponzi scheme ever in West Bengal.

Officially, Saradha involved embezzlement of close to Rs 3,000 crore (Rs 30 billion) while Rose Valley involved close to Rs 17,000 crore (Rs 170 billion).

However, according to estimates from Amanatkari and Agent Suraksha Mancha, the size of Rose Valley, which operated in 19 states, could be close to Rs 30,000 crore (Rs 300 billion), while Saradha could be around Rs 12,000 crore (Rs 120 billion).

Gautam Kundu, chairman of Rose Valley, once known for his flamboyance, has always been known to have strong political connections.

Rose Valley's business gained traction once the Left Front government in West Bengal started to slip into decline, and its media ventures became the mouthpiece of certain political parties.

Alongside, Kundu invested substantially in Bengali films, thus nurturing a strong connection between politics, films and business.

The crackdown on chit funds at large has crimped the film industry in Kolkata.

Today, in total, around 171 cases around ponzi companies, mostly in West Bengal, are pending with several courts.

Meanwhile, the depositors accuse the state government of taking no action against the tainted companies.

"It was the state government's responsibility to register first information reports against the tainted companies like Saradha and Rose Valley. It should have investigated the matter based on allegations of depositors," says a member of Amanatkari and Agent Suraksha Mancha.

Soon after the Saradha scam, the state government had constituted the Shayamal Sen Commission to look into the scam.

The state government had also declared setting up a fund of Rs 500 crore (Rs 5 billion) from higher revenues from cigarette sales to facilitate the return of money to depositors.

However, the commission wrapped up hastily in 2014.

The state government was under legal pressure, as the commission had no mandate to return money to the afflicted depositors, and it was set up with an intention of only probing the issue.

Moreover, the state realised that it had no mandate to return money related to private transactions between a fraudulent company and individuals from state coffers.

According to Ashim Chatterjee of the Chit Fund Sufferers Unity Forum, while Rs 167 crore (Rs 1.67 billion) was allocated to the commission, it disbursed only about Rs 130 crore (Rs 1.3 billion).

However, of the Rs 130 crore, cheques worth Rs 103 crore (Rs 1.03 billion) came back to the commission due to wrong addresses.

However, according to the commission's Web site, it has made payments worth Rs 166.26 crore so far (Rs 1.6626 billion).

The courts have provided hope to the duped depositors.

After several FIRs and PILs filed by depositors, the Calcutta high court has constituted a bench which opens Monday to Friday, from 3 pm to 4.30 pm, to hear cases related to the scam.

Out of the total 171 cases, close to 60 are being investigated by the CBI, while the rest are being heard by the Calcutta high court.

It has also formed a one-man committee of Justice (retd) S P Talukdar for returning money to depositors in the chit fund company, MPS Group.

"To come to a definite solution, judicial activism is needed, which is now happening at the Calcutta high court. Every day, eight to ten cases are being heard," according to a member of Amanatkari and Agent Suraksha Mancha.

While ponzi schemes once again dominate the political discourse in West Bengal, newer forms of money-multiplication scheme have resurfaced in the state.

Recently, the Reserve Bank of India threw light on the issue by cautioning media outlets from carrying advertisements of illegal companies providing loans, mostly to people with poor credit records.

Meanwhile, festivities go on in West Bengal.

Interestingly, this year's theme for the Jatra Utsav in the state is Banglar Jibone Jatra (life in Bengal).

Surely, the festival will have newer scenes to depict this season.
To the editor:

Fake news is a real issue. There is an excellent example in a letter to the editor Sunday. It claims that the price of beer at a local establishment has doubled. The establishment is not named.

I dont believe any business can survive when they double their price except perhaps a pharmaceutical company with a federally enforced monopoly. I am very concerned that businesses cannot survive a 50 percent increase in payroll costs even if they raise their prices to cover that cost.

Fake news is not a new invention of the Russians to oppose Clintons candidacy. They have been spreading propaganda for all of the 40 plus years that I have been paying attention to world events. The founding fathers response to fake news was to provide us with the first amendment that guarantees free speech. They did not trust anyone including the government they were forming to determine the truth. They were right then and they are still right today.

The solution is not to censor the news for citizens but rather to have an educated citizenry ready, able and willing to question everything. Nothing else will lead to the truth.

The political cartoon shows a portrait of King George going into the Oval Office. What is returning to the Oval Office from the hall outside the Treaty Room is a bust of Winston Churchill. Perhaps it is humor by exaggeration which is legitimate but I think it is more fake news.

DAVID M MONIHAN JR

Flagstaff
World Report 2017 - Malaysia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Malaysia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b583313.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.

Malaysia's human rights situation continued to deteriorate in 2016, with human rights defenders, activists, political opposition figures, and journalists facing harassment and politically motivated prosecution. Those criticizing the administration of Prime Minister Najib Razak or commenting on the government's handling of the 1 Malaysia Development Berhad (1MDB) corruption scandal have been particular targets.

Freedom of Expression

The Sedition Act and the Communications and Multimedia Act (CMA) continue to be the laws most frequently used against critical speech. In August 2016, vice president of the Parti Amanah Negara (PAN) Youth, Mohd Fakhrulrazi Mohd Mokhtar, was sentenced to eight months in prison for sedition for calling for the release of jailed opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim at a rally in February 2015. In April, a court sent activist Haris Ibrahim to prison for eight months on a sedition charge for a speech he gave in May 2013 challenging the results of the 2013 general election.

Section 233(1) of the CMA provides criminal penalties of up to one year in prison for a communication that "is obscene, indecent, false, menacing or offensive in character with intent to annoy, abuse, threaten or harass another person." The broadly worded law has been repeatedly used against those who allegedly insulted Najib or Malaysia's royalty on social media, and against individuals calling for Najib to resign.

Graphic artist Fahmi Reza is facing two counts under section 233 for posting an online image of Najib in clown make-up. Social media posts allegedly insulting to the royal family of Johor led to at least a dozen criminal prosecutions in 2016. In June 2016, a court sentenced 19-year-old Mohammed Amirul Azwan Mohammad Shakri to a year in prison after he pled guilty to 14 counts of insulting the sultan of Johor on Facebook. Prosecutors charged activist Khalid Ismath with 11 counts of violating section 233 of the CMA and three counts of sedition for posts on a solidarity page for Kamal Hisham Jaafar, a former legal adviser to the Johor royal family who was detained on allegations of corruption.

On November 14, vice president of the opposition Parti Keadlian Rakyat, Rafizi Ramli, was convicted of violating the Malaysian's Official Secrets Act for disclosing a page of the auditor-general's report on the 1MDB scandal, which remains classified as an official secret despite having been submitted to parliament in April. He was sentenced to 18 months in jail, which disqualifies him from serving in parliament for five years after his sentence finishes.

Although successive prime ministers have pledged not to censor the internet, authorities have repeatedly used the CMA to block websites, including those reporting on allegations of corruption. Censors blocked the UK-based website Sarawak Report in June 2015, and the website Medium, which was printing Sarawak Report's articles, in January 2016. Also blocked were the Malaysia Chronicle, regional news website Asia Sentinel, and at least four local blog sites commenting on political matters.

On February 25, 2016, the government blocked the online news portal the Malaysian Insider under section 233 of the CMA for publishing "unverified information." While the Malaysian Multimedia and Communications Commission (MCMC) did not specify what articles led to the blockage, the Malaysian Insider had recently published an article citing a source in the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission stating that the commission had "credible evidence" to charge Najib with corruption. On March 14, still blocked by authorities, the Malaysian Insider shut down, citing commercial reasons. The portal's editor, Jahabar Sadiq, told the BBC that the site had been losing money since it was blocked, with advertisers holding off buying ads until the block was lifted.

Freedom of Assembly and Association

The government continues to prosecute individuals for participation in peaceful assembly, in violation of international human rights law. Those holding a demonstration without giving notice or participating in "street protests" are routinely arrested or called in for questioning, and many charged with criminal offenses. In August 2016, after the US Department of Justice issued a civil forfeiture complaint seeking to seize assets purchased with funds allegedly looted from 1MDB, a group of students organized a rally calling for the individual referred to as "Malaysian Official No. 1" in the complaint and widely believed to be Prime Minister Najib, to be identified and arrested. Although police did not interfere with the rally, they called in the organizers and several political figures who spoke at the event for questioning for sedition, "activity detrimental to parliamentary democracy," and violation of the overly restrictive Peaceful Assembly Law.

The Societies Act restricts the right to freedom of association by requiring that organizations with seven or more members register with the registrar of societies. The law gives the minister of home affairs "absolute discretion" to declare an organization illegal, and also provides the government supervisory authority over political parties. According to the Registry of Societies' website, as of September the registrar had rejected more than 36 percent of applications to form organizations submitted in 2016.

Police Abuse and Impunity

Police torture of suspects in custody, in some cases resulting in deaths, and excessive use of force in apprehending suspects remained serious problems in 2016, as did a lack of accountability for such offenses. In January 2016, Malaysian human rights NGO Suara Rakyat Malaysia (SUARAM) released letters from six individuals detained without trial under the Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act detailing the torture and ill-treatment they had suffered while in custody, including beatings and sexual humiliation.

To date, no one has been held accountable for the mistreatment. In April 2016, the Enforcement Agencies Integrity Commission (EAIC) found that N. Dharmendran, who died in police custody in 2013, was beaten to death and recommended that the officers responsible be held to account. In June 2016, however, a court acquitted all four officers of all charges, continuing the longstanding impunity for such offenses.

Criminal Justice System

On August 1, the controversial National Security Council Act came into force. The law gives sweeping powers to a council headed by Prime Minister Najib to declare regions, including the entire country, as security areas to protect "any interest of Malaysia." Once a region is declared a security area, the law suspends many restraints on police powers there, allowing the authorities to conduct arrests, searches, and seizures without warrants.

Malaysia continues to detain individuals without trial under restrictive laws. Both the 1959 Prevention of Crime Act and the 2015 Prevention of Terrorism Act give government-appointed boards the authority to impose detention without trial for up to two years, renewable indefinitely, to order electronic monitoring, and to impose other significant restrictions on freedom of movement and association, with no possibility of judicial review. The similarly restrictive Security Offenses (Special Measures) Act allows for preventive detention of up to 28 days with no judicial review.

Malaysia retains the death penalty for various crimes, with the sentence mandatory for 12 offenses, including drug trafficking. Nearly 1,000 people are estimated to be on death row. The government is not transparent about when and how decisions are made to carry out executions, and in March executed three men after giving only two days' notice to their families. The government has said it is considering amending the law to change the mandatory death penalty provisions, but has yet to take steps to do so.

Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Trafficking Victims

Malaysia is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention, and refugees and asylum seekers have no legal rights in the country. Over 150,000 refugees and asylum seekers, the vast majority of whom come from Burma, have registered with UNCHR in Malaysia but are unable to work, travel, or enrol in government schools. The lack of status leaves them highly vulnerable to abuses. Many of those who seeking refuge are treated as "illegal migrants" and locked up in overcrowded and unsanitary immigration detention centers. Female refugees are particularly vulnerable to abuse, and there is evidence of large numbers of coerced and forced marriages of ethnic Rohingya women and girls from Burma.

No progress has been made in identifying and investigating suspects involved in the deaths of over 100 suspected victims of trafficking whose bodies were found in mass graves on the Thai-Malaysian border in 2015. The Malaysian government has failed to effectively implement the amendments passed in 2014 to Malaysia's 2007 anti-trafficking law, in particular by taking the necessary administrative steps to provide assistance and work authorization to all trafficking victims who desire it, while ensuring their freedom of movement.

Despite these failures, Malaysia inexplicably remained on the Tier 2 "watch list" in the annual Trafficking in Persons Report prepared by the United States Department of State as a country viewed as making a "significant effort" to meet the standards of the Trafficking Victims Protection Act.

Judicial Freedom

The government has said it intends to introduce amendments to the Legal Profession Act that would allow the government to interfere with and obstruct the bar's actions. The proposed amendments would empower the minister in charge of legal affairs to appoint two members of the Bar Council, and to issue rules and regulations governing bar association elections.

In addition, they would increase the quorum needed for a general meeting from 500 to 4,000 members, or 25 percent of the bar's 17,000 membership, making it virtually impossible for the bar to take action at its general meetings. The bill to amend the Legal Profession Act is likely be introduced when parliament next sits in March 2017.

Discrimination Based on Gender, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity

Discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people is pervasive in Malaysia. Article 377A of the penal code criminalizes same-sex activity between men with punishments of up to 20 years in prison and whipping. Numerous Sharia-based laws and regulations prohibiting a "man posing as a woman," sexual relations between women, and sexual relations between men effectively criminalize LGBT people.

Child marriage is permitted under Malaysian law, and the government's failure to collect data on age of marriage of women and girls presents an obstacle to even discussing the problem. An effort in 2016 by activists to raise the age of marriage to 18 was blocked in the lower house of parliament.

Key International Actors

Malaysia positions itself in the United Nations and the international community as a moderate Muslim state prepared to stand up to Islamist extremism, and this year established a Regional Digital Counter-Messaging Communications Centre to counter Islamic State propaganda, earning support from the US and its allies. Nevertheless, both the US Department of State and the European Parliament have expressed concern about the country's deteriorating human rights situation.

In December 2015, the European Parliament passed a resolution deploring "the deteriorating human rights situation in Malaysia and in particular the crackdown on civil society activists, academics, media and political activists" and expressing concern about the number of people facing charges or arrest under the Sedition Act."

In March 2016, the US State Department issued a statement expressing its concern about "actions to restrict access to domestic and international reporting on Malaysian current affairs" and calling on the Malaysian government to ensure that its laws fully respect the right to freedom of expression.

In 2016, Malaysia served as a non-permanent representative to the UN Security Council, where it acted as the chair of the Working Group on Children and Armed Conflict. Malaysia continued its close engagement with China, its largest trading partner. In November, Malaysia agreed to buy four Chinese naval vessels and pledged with Beijing to handle disputes in the South China Sea bilaterally.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Libya

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Libya, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58343b.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 United Nations-backed, internationally recognized Government of National Accord (GNA) struggled in 2016 to assert itself in the capital Tripoli, as two authorities  one also based in Tripoli and another in eastern Libya  continued to compete for legitimacy and control over resources and infrastructure.

Forces aligned with all governments and dozens of militias continued to clash, exacerbating a humanitarian crisis with close to half-a-million internally displaced people. The civilian population struggled to gain access to basic services such as healthcare, fuel, and electricity.

Militias and armed forces affiliated with the two governments engaged in arbitrary detentions, torture, unlawful killings, indiscriminate attacks, abductions, and forcible disappearances. Criminal gangs and militias abducted politicians, journalists, and civilians  including children  for political and monetary gain. The domestic criminal justice system remained dysfunctional, offering no prospects for accountability, while the International Criminal Court (ICC), despite having jurisdiction over Libya provided by the UN Security Council, failed to open any new investigation into ongoing crimes.

The United States, United Kingdom, France, and the United Arab Emirates reportedly expanded their military activities in Libya to support forces in fighting extremists in Sirte and Benghazi.

The Islamic State (also known as ISIS) lost control over large parts of its self-proclaimed capital in Sirte, where it had been based since June 2015, and remained embroiled in fighting with Libyan and foreign forces. ISIS groups summarily executed people for alleged witchcraft and "treason" and imposed a severe and restrictive interpretation of Sharia law in areas under their control.

Tens of thousands of migrants, asylum seekers, and refugees from Africa and the Middle East transited through Libya on their way to Europe, with at least 4,518 drowning or going missing while crossing the Mediterranean in unsafe vessels. While in Libya, armed groups and guards at migrant detention facilities subjected many to forced labor, torture, sexual abuse, and extortion.

Political Transition and Constitution

The Presidential Council (PC), the highest body of the GNA, arrived in March in Tripoli to take control of ministries and government facilities that had previously been under the control of the self-proclaimed National Salvation Government, which stepped down in April to make way for the GNA .

In October, the former prime minister of the National Salvation Government announced a comeback together with the rump General National Congress, the former legislature, and took over the Tripoli premises of the State Council, the advisory body attached to the GNA.

The Interim Government, meanwhile, refused to recognize the cabinet proposed by the Presidency Council and continued to operate as a rival authority from al-Bayda and Tobruk in eastern Libya. Despite enjoying international recognition, the GNA struggled to win support domestically and gain authority and control over territory and institutions.

The so-called Libyan National Army (LNA), under the command of General Khalifa Hiftar and allied with the Interim Government, gained control of substantial territory in 2016, including in the oil crescent, where they took over major terminals. Libya's legislative body, the House of Representatives, remained allied with the Interim Government. Throughout the year, deputies opposing the UN-backed GNA obstructed voting for a proposed cabinet.

In June, the president of the House of Representatives, Agilah Saleh, declared martial law, a de facto state of emergency, in the eastern region and appointed the LNA chief of staff, Abdulrazeq al-Nadhouri, as military governor for that region. Since then, al-Nadhouri has replaced several elected civilian heads of municipal councils with military governors.

In September, Abdurrahman Swehli, head of the High Council of State, declared that, in light of the inability of the House of Representatives to confirm a cabinet, the High Council of State would exercise all powers, including legislative ones.

Libya's Constitution Drafting Assembly failed to finalize a preliminary draft constitution and remained embroiled in internal disagreements.

Security and Armed Militias

In the absence of a state authority exercising control over the national territory, dozens of rival militia groups and military forces, with varying agendas and allegiances, continued to flout international law with impunity. They indiscriminately shelled civilians, abducted and forcibly disappeared people, tortured, arbitrarily detained, and unlawfully killed people and destroyed civilian property.

In the first half of 2016, fighters loyal to ISIS controlled the central coastal town of Sirte and subjected residents to a rigid interpretation of Sharia law that included public floggings, amputation of limbs, and public lynchings, often leaving the victims' corpses on display.

Armed Conflict and War Crimes

Warring factions continued to indiscriminately shell civilian areas, mostly in Benghazi and Derna in the east and in Sirte. From March until August, 141 civilian were killed in the violence, including 30 children, and 146 injured, including 28 children, according to the UN Support Mission In Libya (UNSMIL).

In the east, the LNA and allied forces made substantial advances against the Benghazi Revolutionaries Shura Council, an alliance of groups including Islamist militias such as Ansar al-Sharia. As of November 2016, fighting remained concentrated in the Ganfouda neighborhood of Benghazi, where several hundred civilians, including Libyans and foreign nationals, remained trapped by a standoff between LNA and militants since 2014. Civilians, including children, struggled with limited access to medical care, electricity, and food.

In February, two Serbian civilians held by ISIS died in US air strikes on targets in the western coastal town of Sabratha, which also killed dozens of fighters. The same month, unidentified aircraft attacked a hospital compound in the city of Derna, killing at least two civilians and causing extensive damage.

In May, armed groups allied with the GNA, backed by US airstrikes, launched a military offensive against ISIS fighters in Sirte. Hostilities continued at time of writing.

In Derna, the LNA continued to fight against the Derna Revolutionaries Shura Council, an alliance of militias that participated in the ousting of ISIS from the city in 2015.

In July, 14 unidentified bodies were found close to a dumpster in Benghazi with gunshot wounds, and in October, 10 unidentified bodies with gunshot wounds and torture marks were found in a nearby neighborhood of Benghazi. Both incidents took place in areas under LNA control. To date, authorities have not publicly announced any conclusion to their investigations. In October, shelling by unidentified forces killed one woman and injured six others in a camp for internally displaced people from Tawergha, in Tripoli.

Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Deaths in Custody

Prison authorities and militias continued to hold thousands of detainees, including some women and children, in long-term arbitrary detention without charges or due process. While conditions varied, most prisons lacked a functioning medical facility and hygienic sanitary installations. Guards and militia members mistreated and tortured detainees with impunity.

In June, unidentified armed groups killed 12 detainees upon their conditional release from al-Baraka prison in Tripoli. All 12 were members of the former Gaddafi government and had been accused of taking part in the violence against anti-government protesters in 2011. According to the families, the bodies were found in various locations around Tripoli. At time of writing, no investigation had been conducted into these crimes.

Judicial System

Ongoing insecurity led to the collapse of the criminal justice system in Libya. Courts in the east remained mostly shut, while elsewhere they operated at a reduced level. The Supreme Court failed to issue judgments on all cases that were heard before it due to political divisions. In Sirte and environs, ISIS groups implemented their own interpretation of Sharia law in areas under their control including punishing people for smoking, wearing "immodest" dress, and adultery.

International Criminal Court

The ICC has the mandate to investigate war crimes and crimes against humanity in Libya pursuant to UN Security Council Resolution 1970 passed on February 27, 2011. The ICC prosecutor has failed to open any new investigations into the grave and ongoing crimes in Libya, citing resource limitations.

Libyan authorities failed to surrender Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, son of former leader Muammar Gaddafi, to the ICC where he is wanted for committing crimes against humanity during the 2011 uprising. Gaddafi was held by a militia in Zintan since his arrest in 2011, and was last seen by UN monitors in Zintan in June 2014.

In her November 9 update to the Security Council, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced her office would expand the Libya investigations in 2017 to include recent and ongoing serious crimes.

Death Penalty

The penal code contains more than 30 articles that provide for the death penalty. Since Gaddafi's overthrow in 2011, civil and military courts around the country have imposed death sentences, including against eight former officials in the Gaddafi government in a flawed trial in 2015. No death sentences are known to have been carried out since 2010.

Internally Displaced People

The UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) estimated at 435,000 Libya's population of internally displaced people. UNHCR was unable to conduct vital activities such as child protection services at detention centers due to inadequate funding for its humanitarian programs.

In what amounts to a crime against humanity, militias and authorities in Misrata continued to prevent 40,000 residents of Tawergha, Tomina, and Karareem from returning to their homes in relation for alleged crimes during the 2011 revolution attributed to people from those cities against anti-Gaddafi activists and fighters.

In August, representatives of Misrata and Tawergha signed a reconciliation agreement that aims to ensure return home of the displaced from Tawergha as well as compensation for both sides and reconstruction of damaged structures. The deal also foresees accountability for serious crimes. It has yet to come into force.

Freedom of Speech and Expression

In June, an ISIS fighter allegedly shot dead freelance reporter Khaled Al Zantani in Benghazi. In Sirte, an ISIS fighter allegedly shot and killed photojournalist Abdelkader Fassouk in July, and in September, an ISIS fighter allegedly shot and killed Dutch photojournalist Jeroen Oerlemans.

The fate of Sofiane Chourabi and Nadhir Ktari, two Tunisian journalists who went missing in September 2014 while on assignment in Libya, remained unknown.

Armed groups kidnapped and disappeared other journalists. According to RSF, in January, a unit allied with the LNA in Benghazi arrested and tortured a local correspondent for a TV station, Libya HD, Badr Al Rabhi, for three days.

Women's Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity

The penal code permits a reduced sentence for a man who kills or injures his wife or another female relative because he suspects her of extramarital sexual relations. Libyan law inadequately prohibits domestic violence and its personal status laws continue to discriminate against women, particularly with respect to marriage, divorce, and inheritance.

Same-sex relations are prohibited and punished with up to five years in jail.

Abductions and Enforced Disappearances

Militias continued to abduct and disappear civilians, including politicians and journalists, with impunity. Criminal groups abducted residents, including children, demanding large ransoms from their families and often killing their victims if relatives failed to come up with the money.

Those still missing include Tripoli civil society activist Abdelmoez Banoon and Benghazi prosecutor Abdel-Nasser Al-Jeroushi, both abducted by unidentified groups in 2014. Saif al-Islam Gaddafi, wanted by the ICC for crimes against humanity and sentenced to death in absentia by a Tripoli court for crimes committed during the 2011 revolution, was last seen in June 2014, in Zintan. Gaddafi was held by the Abu Baker al-Siddiq Brigade in Zintan following his arrest in 2011.

Migrants, Refugees, and Asylum Seekers

Refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants, continued to flock to Europe via Libya. As of November, UNHCR recorded over 342,774 arrivals to Italy by sea from North Africa since January mostly from Libya. According to UNHCR, at least 4,518 died or went missing while crossing the Mediterranean from Libya to Europe. The International Organization for Migration estimated that 771,146 migrants and asylum seekers were in Libya as of November.

Members of the Libyan Coast Guards or Navy intercepted boats and returned the migrants and refugees back to land and into detention centers, often subjecting the migrants they intercepted to physical and verbal abuse. While the Department for Combating Illegal Migration (DCIM), which is part of the Ministry of Interior, managed the majority of migrant detention centers, militias and smugglers controlled other unofficial detention facilities.

Conditions at migrant detention facilities remained abysmal. Officials and militias held migrants and refugees in prolonged detention without judicial review and subjected them to poor conditions, including overcrowding and insufficient food. Guards and militia members subjected migrants and refugees to beatings, forced labor, and sexual violence.

Key International Actors

The United States, European Union, and regional states all played significant roles in the armed conflicts occurring in Libya. The US, France, and United Kingdom reportedly participated in military activities in support of Libyan forces against militant groups, most notably ISIS in Sirte and Benghazi.

Efforts to reach a political settlement between warring factions, led by the UN envoy to Libya Martin Kobler, and backed by members of the international community most notably the US, UK, France, and Italy, failed to achieve the desired results as parties remained engaged in hostilities, competing for legitimacy.

On March 8, the UN Panel of Experts on Libya, established pursuant to UN Security Council resolution 1973 (2011), issued its final report which said that several countries, individuals, and companies were responsible for violations of the arms embargo against Libya. According to the report, the UAE, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Ukraine and Sudan have all violated the arms embargo against Libya since 2011, by transferring weapons, ammunitions, aircraft or armored vehicles to the conflict parties.

Also in March, a leaked document revealed that British special forces had been actively fighting extremist groups in Libya since January. In July, France announced that three of its soldiers were killed in Libya after a helicopter crashed during an intelligence-gathering operation. In August, the US expanded its air campaign in Libya, at the request of the GNA, to include targets in the ISIS stronghold of Sirte.

The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) released a report in February documenting widespread violations and abuses committed in Libya since 2014 that included unlawful killings; indiscriminate attacks; torture and ill treatment; arbitrary detention; abductions and disappearances; and violations against women, journalists, human rights defenders, migrants, and children.

Despite a recommendation by the High Commissioner that the Human Rights Council consider establishing an independent expert mandate on Libya to report on the human rights situation and progress towards accountability, the council's resolution only requested a further report from the high commissioner in March 2017. In a September update, the high commissioner's office reported to the council that the situation has not improved and that impunity prevails, and reiterated the recommendation that the council create an independent expert mandate.

The UN Security Council extended for another 12 months in March an arms embargo on Libya. In June, the council unanimously authorized the inspection of vessels off Libyan high seas in an effort to crackdown on illicit weapons smuggling. The council also passed a resolution in July that authorized moving Libya's category 2 chemical weapons out of the country and destroying them. In October, the council renewed its authorization for the interdiction of vessels used for smuggling migrants on the high seas off the coast of Libya.

The Rule of Law and Human Rights division at UNSMIL, which operates from Tunis and visits Libya only rarely due to security concerns, scaled down its public reporting on human rights violations. However, in March, it started producing a monthly bulletin on civilian casualties in Libya.

In June, the EU extended its anti-smuggling naval operation in the central Mediterranean, Operation Sophia, to include training for the Libyan Coast Guard and Navy. In July, NATO committed to supporting Operation Sophia by providing intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance, as well as capacity-building for the Libyan coastguard and navy.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Lebanon

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Lebanon, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b5835f.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.

Lebanon elected a president on October 31, 2016, ending a 29-month presidential vacuum during which political institutions remained paralyzed. A draft law to improve treatment of migrant domestic workers stalled in parliament. The government failed to take steps to end discrimination against women under Lebanese personal status laws.

The government's failure to provide basic services, including garbage removal, continued to spark protests, with some protesters being prosecuted before military tribunals. Others who spoke out against the government were subject to criminal defamation laws. Detainees continued to suffer from ill-treatment and torture, but in one welcome development, parliament in October established a National Human Rights Institute and national preventative mechanism against torture.

As the Syrian refugee crisis continued, new residency policies introduced in January 2015 caused an estimated 70 percent of Syrians to lose legal status, restricting their movement and their ability to work, access healthcare, and send their children to school. With limited international support, the government struggled to meet refugees' needs.

Lengthy Pretrial Detention, Ill-Treatment, and Torture

Amid protracted security threats, suspects suffered from lengthy pretrial detention and reported ill-treatment and torture. Following the death of a man detained in Roumieh prison on May 25, prisoners launched a protest amid allegations of negligent care.

In October, Parliament passed legislation creating a national preventative mechanism to monitor and investigate the use of torture, as required under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture, which Lebanon ratified in 2008.

Hannibal Gaddafi, son of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, has remained in "precautionary" pretrial detention since December 2015. He is facing charges of withholding information, allegedly in relation to the disappearance of Imam Musa Sadr in 1978. Gaddafi's lawyer has expressed concern about his possible extradition to Libya, where he faces a risk of imprisonment and torture.

Freedom of Assembly, Freedom of Expression, and Use of Military Courts

While freedom of expression is generally respected in Lebanon, defaming or criticizing the Lebanese president or army is a criminal offense. On August 22, 2016, a woman was sentenced by a military court to a month in prison for "offending the military institution," after alleging that military intelligence members raped and tortured her in detention in 2013. Such retaliation may further deter other survivors from reporting abuse.

The Lebanese penal code also criminalizes libel and defamation of public officials, authorizing imprisonment of up to one year. Lebanese authorities arrested a lawyer and human rights activist, Nabil al-Halabi, on May 30, 2016, over Facebook posts criticizing government officials. He was detained for three days and released after signing a "document of submission."

Fourteen protesters, arrested for demonstrating against the government's failure to resolve a trash crisis, as well as corruption, in 2015, have been referred to military courts for rioting, violence against police, and destruction of property. Their trials are set to take place in January 2017. If found guilty, they face up to three years in prison. Military courts typically do not meet international fair trial standards and should not be used to prosecute civilians for criminal offenses.

Migrant Workers

An estimated 250,000 migrant domestic workers, primarily from Sri Lanka, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Nepal, and Bangladesh are excluded from labor law protections. The kafala (sponsorship) system subjects them to restrictive immigration rules and places them at risk of exploitation and abuse.

The most common complaints documented by the embassies of labor-sending countries and civil society groups include non-payment or delayed payment of wages, forced confinement, refusal to provide time off, and verbal and physical abuse. Migrant domestic workers suing their employers for abuse face legal obstacles and risk imprisonment and deportation due to the restrictive visa system. Several migrant domestic workers in Lebanon committed suicide or attempted to commit suicide in 2016.

Women's Rights

Despite women's active participation in all aspects of Lebanese society, discriminatory provisions remain in personal status laws, nationality laws, and the criminal code.

A lack of coordination in the government's response to sex trafficking continues to put women and girls at risk. Syrian women appear to be at particular risk of trafficking into forced prostitution and sexual exploitation. In March 2016, security officers freed as many as 75 Syrian women from two brothels. Although the country's 2011 anti-trafficking law directs the Ministry of Social Affairs to establish a trust fund for victims, the ministry has yet to establish such a fund.

A 2014 Law on the Protection of Women and Family from Domestic Violence established important protection measures and introduced policing and court reforms. But it failed to criminalize all forms of domestic violence, including marital rape. The law called for family violence units within the police and a fund to assist victims of domestic violence. But these have not yet been established. Some women continued to face obstacles in pursuing criminal complaints of domestic violence, mostly due to lengthy delays. In 2016, a man convicted for beating his wife to death was sentenced to just three years and nine months in prison. The case was under appeal at time of writing.

Women also continue to suffer discrimination under 15 Lebanese personal status laws, dependent on each individual's religious affiliation, including unequal access to divorce, residence of children after divorce, and property rights. Unlike Lebanese men, Lebanese women cannot pass on their nationality to foreign husbands and children and are subject to discriminatory inheritance laws.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Sexual relations outside of marriage  adultery and fornication  are criminalized under Lebanon's penal code. Furthermore, article 534 of the penal code punishes "any sexual intercourse contrary to the order of nature" with up to one year in prison. In recent years, authorities conducted raids to arrest persons allegedly involved in same-sex conduct, some of whom were subjected to torture including forced anal examinations.

In February, a Syrian refugee, arrested by Lebanese Military Intelligence officers apparently on suspicion he was gay, was allegedly tortured while detained at Military Intelligence, Ministry of Defense, Military Police, and Jounieh police centers.

Refugees

There are more than 1 million Syrian refugees registered with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Lebanon. The government estimates the true number to be 1.5 million.

Lebanon's residency policy makes it difficult for Syrians to maintain legal status, heightening risks of exploitation and abuse and restricting refugees' access to work, education, and healthcare. An estimated 70 percent of Syrians in Lebanon now lack legal residency. Lebanon is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Refugee Convention, and refugees lacking legal status risk detention for illegal presence in the country.

Approximately 250,000 school-age Syrian children were out of school during the 2015-2016 school year, largely due to parents' inability to pay for transport, child labor, school directors imposing arbitrary enrollment requirements, and lack of language support. Secondary-school age children and children with disabilities faced particular barriers  only 5 percent of Syrians aged 15-18 were in enrolled in secondary schools last year.

Individual municipalities have imposed curfews on Syrian refugees and security services have arrested hundreds of Syrians for lack of residency documents. Several reports of attacks against Syrians by state and non-state actors emerged following a spate of eight suicide bombings in Al-Qaa on June 27, and July 2016 photos appeared to show municipal police in Amchit humiliating Syrian refugees. Five officers were questioned, but all were released and the head of the Amchit municipality reportedly stated "they didn't carry out any violations."

Human Rights Watch has also documented isolated forcible deportations of Syrians and Palestinians back to Syria, putting them at risk of arbitrary detention, torture, or other persecution. In January 2016, Lebanese authorities, in violation of their international obligations, sent hundreds of Syrians traveling through the Beirut airport back to Syria without first assessing their risk of harm upon return.

In 2016, Lebanon continued to impose entry regulations for Syrians that effectively barred many asylum seekers from entering Lebanon.

Approximately 45,000 Palestinians from Syria live in Lebanon, joining the estimated 260-280,000 Palestinian refugees already in the country, where they face restrictions including their right to work.

Legacy of Past Conflicts and Wars

In October 2012, Justice Minister Shakib Qortbawi put forward a draft decree to the cabinet to establish a national commission to investigate the fate of those "disappeared," during the country's 1975-1990 civil war and its aftermath but no further action was taken. In September 2014, the government finally provided the families of the disappeared with the files of the Official Commission of Inquiry appointed in 2000 to investigate the fate of the kidnapped. These showed that the government had not conducted any serious investigation.

Key International Actors

Syria, Iran, and Saudi Arabia maintain a strong influence on Lebanese politics through local allies and proxies, and increasingly so as the conflict in neighboring Syria drags on.

Many countries, including the United States, United Kingdom, members of the European Union, Canada, and various Gulf countries, have given Lebanon extensive, albeit insufficient, support to help it cope with the Syrian refugee crisis and to bolster security amid spillover violence.

Lebanese armed forces and police also receive assistance from a range of international donors, including the US, EU, UK, France, and Saudi Arabia. Some of these actors have tried to ensure the forces adhere to international human rights law, but compliance remains weak.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Kyrgyzstan

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Kyrgyzstan, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b5836c.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.

There were few meaningful improvements in Kyrgyzstan's human rights record in 2016. Authorities failed to implement a March 2016 decision by the United Nations Human Rights Committee calling for imprisoned human rights defender Azimjon Askarov's immediate release. As in recent years, the government did not take any steps to provide justice for the victims of interethnic violence in 2010. Impunity for ill-treatment and torture remains the norm. Violence and discrimination against women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people continues.

Although parliament rejected a draft law on "foreign agents," another bill discriminating against LGBT people is pending. In December 2015, Kyrgyzstan's national security service banned a Human Rights Watch researcher from the country without reason.

Kyrgyzstan became a member of the UN Human Rights Council in January 2016.

Constitutional Reforms

A constitutional referendum was held in Kyrgyzstan on December 11, 2016. Amendments to the Constitution were supported by an overwhelming majority of voters, about 80 %, despite the y widespread criticism from civil society and opposition politicians.

In its joint opinion, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) and the Venice Commission found in August that the proposed constitutional amendments "would negatively impact the balance of powers by strengthening the powers of the executive, while weakening both the parliament and, to a greater extent, the judiciary."

Access to Justice

Authorities continue to deny justice to victims of the June 2010 interethnic violence in southern Kyrgyzstan and took no steps to review torture-tainted convictions handed down in the aftermath of the violence. Ethnic Uzbeks were disproportionately killed, and victims of arbitrary detention, ill-treatment, and torture, and house destruction during that violence.

Following a November 2015 visit to Kyrgyzstan, the OSCE high commissioner on national minorities, Astrid Thors, in May 2016 noted that "ethnic Uzbeks  the biggest minority in the country  remain severely under-represented in the Parliament." The commissioner "encourage[d] the authorities to step up activities aimed at increasing the participation and representation of national minorities as well as ensuring full access to justice."

Torture

Although the government acknowledges the problem of torture, impunity remains the norm. Criminal investigations into ill-treatment and torture allegations are rare, delayed, and ineffective, as are trials. After a five-year trial, a Bishkek appeals court in July upheld the acquittal verdict of four policemen charged in connection with the death in August 2011 of Usmanjon Kholmirzaev, an ethnic Uzbek who died of injuries sustained in police custody. At time of writing, no one had been held accountable for the torture leading to his death.

In its annual report issued in May, the National Center for the Prevention of Torture (NPM), an independent anti-torture body, concluded that "the Kyrgyz Republic does not fully ensure either in law or practice freedom from torture," and noted some interference in its work. Authorities in 2015 registered 199 claims of torture, but initiated criminal investigations in only 34 cases, the NPM reported. Parliament in March rejected in its second reading a draft law that would have curbed the NPM's independence.

Civil Society

In its March decision, the UN Human Rights Committee found that Askarov was arbitrarily detained, held in inhumane conditions, tortured, and otherwise mistreated without redress and not given a fair trial. The committee called on Kyrgyzstan to quash his conviction and release him immediately. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and human rights groups, including Human Rights Watch, echoed calls for Askarov's immediate release. Kyrgyzstan's Supreme Court in July considered the UN's decision as new evidence in the case, and ordered a retrial, but did not order Askarov's release. The retrial was underway at time of writing. Authorities in May ordered that Askarov's house be confiscated, but his lawyer contested the order, which the state later withdrew.

After sustained efforts by Kyrgyzstan's civil society and others against the adoption of a "foreign agents" bill, which would have required organizations that receive foreign funding and engage in broadly defined political activities to register as "foreign agents," parliament voted in May to reject the bill.

Rights lawyer Nurbek Toktogulov in January sued President Almazbek Atambaev after the president publicly claimed that civil society had acted to destabilize the nation and upend 2015 parliamentary elections, but the court declined to consider his complaint. In June, rights defenders Aziza Abdurasulova and Tolekan Ismailova similarly sued the president for publicly smearing them in a May speech. A Bishkek court ruled in Atambaev's favor, declining to award damages. In September, the decision was upheld on appeal.

In a February 2016 report, UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst expressed "his deep concern at the increase of verbal attacks, intimidation and harassment against civil society groups" and urged the government to "ensure that human rights defenders are able to carry out their legitimate work in a safe and enabling environment without fear of threats or reprisals of any sort."

In December 2015, Kyrgyzstan denied entry to a Human Rights Watch Central Asia researcher based in Bishkek, informing her at the airport that she had been banned from the country. No written explanation was given for the ban to date, nor has the researcher been allowed to return. In late December 2015, UN special rapporteurs on the rights to freedom of peaceful assembly and of association and the situation of human rights defenders sent a joint letter to the government expressing "serious concern."

Violence against Women

Domestic violence against women and girls continues to be a serious problem. Limited services and police hostility obstruct survivors' access to protection and justice. Pressure to keep families together, stigma, economic dependence, and fear of reprisals by abusers hinder some women from seeking assistance. Few domestic violence complaints reach the courts and police do not systematically enforce protection orders.

A new domestic violence bill, which aims to strengthen protections for domestic abuse survivors, was adopted in its first reading on June 30, after a parliamentary hearing in mid-June. The bill was put on the parliament's agenda for November 2016, but had not been considered at time of writing.

On November 18, Kyrgyzstan's president signed into law a bill that would introduce criminal sanctions of three to five years' imprisonment for parents found responsible for allowing their underage children to marry, religious leaders for carrying out religious ceremonies for minors, and adults for marrying minors.

Freedom of Expression

Parliament approved in its first reading on June 22 contentious amendments to Kyrgyzstan's media law that ban foreigners from setting up media outlets in Kyrgyzstan and limit foreign funding of local media. Journalists and rights groups spoke out against the law. A second reading in parliament remained pending at time of writing.

In mid-December 2015, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic called on Kyrgyz authorities to refrain from imposing disproportionate, excessive fines for civil defamation after a court upheld the ruling that Dayirbek Orunbekov, a journalist, pay 2 million som (US$27,750) in damages to the president. The journalist had written about the June 2010 events. In August 2016, the Prosecutor's Office opened a criminal case against Orunbekov for failing to pay damages. In November 2016, the case was sent to court for consideration.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

LGBT people in Kyrgyzstan experience ill-treatment, extortion, and discrimination by both state and non-state actors. There is widespread impunity for these abuses. On May 24, the law, order and fighting crime parliamentary committee returned Kyrgyzstan's anti-LGBT bill, which would ban "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relations," for a repeat second reading, where it then stalled. The bill appears aimed at silencing anyone seeking to openly share information about same-sex relations in Kyrgyzstan.

Following a live debate on LGBT rights on national television, Kyrgyzstan's State Committee on National Security on June 14 summoned the editor-in-chief of Kloop.kg, an online media portal, for questioning about its coverage of the show. The television's supervisory board also formally reprimanded its general director for airing the content. Also in June, Kyrgyzstan voted against a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council establishing the mandate of an independent expert to address violence and discrimination against LGBT people.

Key International Actors

In late October 2015, US Secretary of State John Kerry visited Kyrgyzstan in part to try and improve relations with Kyrgyzstan after the Kyrgyz government revoked a 1993 cooperation agreement in response to the US State Department granting Askarov its Human Rights Defender award in July 2015. Kyrgyzstan and the US have not signed a new cooperation agreement.

During a March 31 visit to Kyrgyzstan in his capacity as OSCE chairperson-in-office, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier downplayed human rights concerns and focused on cooperation and counterterrorism. Steinmeier noted Kyrgyzstan's "dynamic parliamentary democracy" enables it to play a "crucial role in bringing about stability."

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on July 14 visited Kyrgyzstan to discuss bilateral relations with President Atambaev. Her visit came three days after the Supreme Court review of Askarov's case. In her public comments, Chancellor Merkel did not comment on Askarov's continued wrongful imprisonment, but said she hoped Kyrgyzstan would give Askarov a fair trial.

The European Union in January 2016 granted Kyrgyzstan GSP+ status, an instrument of the EU's trade policy that grants tariff reductions for improved human and labor rights and environmental protections. The EU continued to use its annual human rights dialogue as the near-exclusive forum to raise human rights concerns, but issued a rare stand-alone rights statement on Askarov in April. The EU iterated that it "expects the Kyrgyz Republic to fully implement the recommendations of the Human Rights Committee."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Kuwait

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Kuwait, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58377.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.

Kuwait took further steps to improve migrant worker rights in 2016, including enacting a minimum wage for domestic workers, easing employer transfer rules, and passing implementing regulations for a 2015 law that gave domestic workers enforceable rights for the first time.

Unlike many of its Gulf neighbors, Kuwait continued to allow Human Rights Watch access to the country and engaged in constructive dialogue with the organization on a range of human rights issues.

Provisions in Kuwait's constitution, the national security law and other legislation continue to restrict free speech, and were again used in 2016 to prosecute dissidents and stifle political dissent.

The emir also ordered authorities to amend a 2015 law, the first of its kind, that requires all individuals in Kuwait to provide DNA samples in violation of their right to privacy.

Kuwait continued to exclude thousands of stateless people, known as Bidun, from full citizenship despite their longstanding roots in Kuwaiti territory.

Migrant Workers

Two-thirds of Kuwait's population is comprised of migrant workers. Kuwait continues to reform aspects of the kafala or sponsorship system, which ties a migrant worker's legal residence and valid immigration status to an employer.

Kuwait issued a new standard contract for migrant workers in 2015 and an administrative decision that allows some migrant workers to transfer their sponsorship to a new employer without their current employer's consent after three years of work in 2016. Previously, migrant workers required their contract to end and their employer's consent to change employers. These reforms do not extend to migrant domestic workers.

In 2015, the National Assembly passed a law that gave domestic workers the right to a weekly day off, 30 days of annual paid leave, a 12-hour working day with rest, and an end-of-service benefit of one month a year at the end of the contract, among other rights. In July, the Interior Ministry passed implementing regulations for the law, including clarifying that employers must pay overtime compensation. The same month, the ministry issued a decree that established a minimum wage for domestic workers of KD60 (US$200).

Protections in the domestic workers law are still weaker than those in the labor law, which provides for an eight-hour work day with one hour of rest after every five hours of work and detailed provisions for sick leave. The domestic worker law also falls short by failing to set out enforcement mechanisms, such as labor inspections of working conditions in households, which can be done with due regard to privacy.

Migrant workers remain vulnerable to abuse, forced labor, and deportation for minor infractions including traffic violations and "absconding" from an employer. Authorities deported 14,400 migrants in the first four months of 2016, according to local media.

During a September visit to Kuwait, the UN special rapporteur on trafficking welcomed Kuwait's establishment of a shelter for domestic workers, but urged the government to continue its reforms and abolish the kafala system.

Freedom of Expression

Kuwaiti authorities have invoked several provisions in the constitution, penal code, Printing and Publication Law, Misuse of Telephone Communications and Bugging Devices Law, Public Gatherings Law, and National Unity Law to prosecute journalists, politicians and activists over the last few years for criticizing the emir, the government, religion, and rulers of neighboring countries in blogs or on Twitter, Facebook, or other social media.

Dozens of prosecutions for protected speech are ongoing in Kuwaiti courts. Kuwaiti officials and activists reported that many, if not most, initial complaints in these cases are filed by individuals, underscoring the need to further amend broadly written or overly vague Kuwaiti laws to ensure adequate protections for speech and expression. Kuwaiti courts continued to issue deportation orders in some of these cases, including against members of the Bidun population, although Kuwaiti officials reported these orders would not be implemented.

In June 2016, Kuwait amended the election law to bar from running or voting in elections all those convicted for "insulting" God, the prophets, or the emir. The law is likely to bar some opposition members of parliament from contesting or voting in future election rounds.

The Cybercrime Law, which includes far-reaching restrictions on internet-based speech, such as prison sentences and fines for insulting religion, religious figures and the emir, went into effect in 2016.

Treatment of Minorities

At least 105,702 Bidun residents of Kuwait remain stateless.

After an initial registration period for citizenship ended in 1960, authorities shifted Bidun citizenship claims to administrative committees that for decades have avoided resolving the claims. Authorities claim that many Bidun are "illegal residents" who deliberately destroyed evidence of another nationality in order to receive benefits that Kuwait gives its citizens.

Members of the Bidun community have taken to the streets to protest the government's failure to address their citizenship claims, despite government warnings that Bidun should not gather in public. Article 12 of the 1979 Public Gatherings Law bars non-Kuwaitis from participating in public gatherings.

In 2016, a Comoros Island official told Gulf News that the Comoros Island was open to Kuwaiti officials' suggestions that Kuwait may pay the Comoros Islands to grant the Bidun a form of economic citizenship, thus regularizing Bidun as foreign nationals and rendering them liable to legal deportation from Kuwait  possibly violating their right to family life.

Terrorism

The 2015 DNA law, requiring all citizens, visitors and residents to provide DNA samples to the authorities, was introduced after the June 2015 suicide bombing of the Imam Sadiq Mosque, which killed 27 people and wounded 227. Authorities reported to local media that anyone failing to comply with the law would be subject to sanctions, including cancelling their passports and a possible travel ban. In July, the United Nations Human Rights Committee found the law imposed "unnecessary and disproportionate restrictions on the right to privacy." In 2016, the emir directed the authorities to amend the law in line with constitutional standards.

Women's Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity

Kuwaiti personal status law, which applies to Sunni Muslims, the majority of Kuwaitis, discriminates against women. For instance, some women require a male guardian to conclude her marriage contract; women must apply to the courts for a divorce on limited grounds unlike men who can unilaterally divorce their wives; and women can lose custody of their children if they remarry someone outside the family. The rules that apply to Shia Muslims also discriminate against women.

Kuwait has no laws prohibiting domestic violence or marital rape. A 2015 law establishing family courts set up a center to deal with domestic violence cases, but requires the center to prioritize reconciliation over protection for domestic violence survivors. Article 153 of the Kuwaiti penal code stipulates that a man who finds his mother, wife, sister or daughter in the act of adultery and kills them is punished by either a small fine or no more than three years in prison.

Kuwaiti women married to non-Kuwaitis, unlike Kuwaiti men, cannot pass citizenship to their children or spouses.

Adultery and extramarital intercourse are criminalized, and same-sex relations between men are punishable by up to seven years in prison. Transgender people can be arrested under a 2007 penal code provision that prohibits "imitating the opposite sex in any way."

Death Penalty

Kuwait maintains the death penalty for non-violent offenses, including drug-related charges, and carried out five executions in 2013, the first time the country had applied the death penalty since 2007. In 2015 and 2016, courts sentenced at least nine people to death.

Key International Actors

Kuwait joined the Saudi-led coalition that began attacking Houthi and allied forces in Yemen on March 26, 2015. Human Rights Watch documented 58 unlawful coalition airstrikes in Yemen, some of which may amount to war crimes, that killed nearly 800 civilians and repeatedly hit markets, schools and hospitals. Kuwait-hosted peace talks between Yemeni parties to the conflict broke down in August.

In 2016, the United States classified Kuwait as a Tier 2 country in its annual Trafficking in Persons Report. After classifying Kuwait as a Tier 3 country for nine consecutive years, the report credits the improvement to the passing of the 2015 domestic workers law and an unprecedented number of convictions of traffickers under the 2013 anti-trafficking law. The report found that Kuwait continued to have a rampant forced labor problem and that victims of trafficking were still being arrested, detained, and deported.

In August 2016, the United Nations Committee against Torture expressed its concern at reports of prolonged arrest and torture by Kuwaiti police and security forces of protesters, members of minorities, and persons suspected of terrorist activities. The committee also urged Kuwait to reinstate its de facto moratorium on applying the death penalty.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Kenya

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Kenya, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58383.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.

Respect for human rights in Kenya remained precarious in 2016, with authorities failing to adequately investigate a range of abuses across the country and undermining basic rights to free expression and association. Human rights activists and journalists working on a range of issues face increasing obstacles and harassment. Human rights organizations continue to implicate Kenyan police and military in disappearances and killings of individuals allegedly linked to Al-Shabab.

With elections scheduled for August 2017, questions remain over the credibility and competence of the judiciary to arbitrate electoral disputes fairly. The ability of Kenya police to respond effectively and lawfully should violence occur before, during, or after the 2017 elections remains a concern.

In a positive step, four police officers were charged with murder in late June 2016 of an International Justice Mission lawyer, his client and their cabdriver. The case illustrates the risks human rights defenders and others face when pushing for police accountability.

Industrial developments in neighboring Ethiopia have led to a drop in the water levels of lake Turkana. These, combined with climate change, have negatively impacted the livelihoods of about 300,000 indigenous people in Turkana county, but the Kenyan government has failed to raise this issue with Ethiopia. The Climate Change Law passed in May, if rigorously implemented, is expected to improve coordination and governance of national and local policies related to climate change.

Conduct of Security Forces

Kenyan and international human rights organizations documented military and police units, including the Directorate of Military Intelligence, carrying out enforced disappearances, torture and beating of individuals suspected of links with Al-Shabab.

Kenyan authorities have not acknowledged, publicly condemned or investigated at least 32 cases of enforced disappearances and 11 unexplained deaths of people last seen in state custody in Nairobi and northeastern Kenya. Witnesses observed police and military drive with detainees into military bases and camps in Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera for detention and interrogation. Two of the 34 missing people were in late July located in state custody, with one now facing terrorism related charges. Kenya National Commission on Human Rights, a statutory human rights body, documented at least 100 cases of extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances of those allegedly linked with Al-Shabab and continue to press for investigations.

The Commission on Administrative Justice received at least 25,000 reports of killings by police across the country since 2013. Kenyan authorities have very rarely investigated the killings or held anyone to account. In September, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Kenya National Commission on Human Rights separately announced intentions to initiate inquests in killings by police in Kisumu in 2013 and security forces abuses at the coast, respectively.

Accountability

The collapse of the last International Criminal Court (ICC) case directly related to the 2007-2008 post-election violence devastated victims' hopes for justice. National authorities made no progress to address these crimes.

The ICC vacated charges against Deputy President William Ruto and Joshua arap Sang, a former radio journalist, in April 2016 for lack of evidence. For one judge, the combination of witness interference and political obstruction warranted a mistrial. The case's collapse followed that of cases against four others, including President Uhuru Kenyatta.

Three men wanted by the ICC since 2013 and 2015 for witness interference have yet to be surrendered. Although the ICC has issued arrest warrants, Kenyan authorities are currently challenging, in Kenyan courts, the arrest warrant of one individual. There have been no publicly available results of national investigations into the apparent murder in late 2014 of Meshack Yebei, named by the Ruto ICC defense team as its witness.

In September, an ICC trial chamber referred Kenya's lack of cooperation in the Kenyatta case to the ICC's Assembly of States Parties.

The government continues its campaign to press the AU to consider calling on its member countries who also belong to the ICC to leave the court, but several countries blocked consensus at a July 2016 summit. A bill related to Kenya's withdrawal from the ICC remains pending in parliament.

The government continues to ignore the plight of thousands of women and men who were raped during the post-election violence in 2007-08. It has failed to provide livelihood support, as well as medical and psychosocial care to them, including for children who were born from rape and face violence and discrimination. The government has not established a restorative justice fund that was promised to survivors of historical injustices, including post-election violence.

Hearings continued over the course of 2016 in the Kenyan high court on a petition brought by survivors of election-related sexual violence seeking to compel the government to investigate. A second case, related to shootings by police during the violence, is also pending.

Threats to Civil Society and Media

Nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) working on a range of issues face hostile rhetoric from public officials, including draconian administrative measures and attempts at introducing repressive amendments to the NGO law. In October 2015, the NGO regulatory body announced plans to deregister more than 900 NGOs over, among other reasons, alleged failure to comply with regulatory requirements and links to terrorism. The cabinet secretary later suspended the plan.

On September 9, the cabinet secretary for devolution announced plans to implement the Public Benefits Organizations (PBO) Act, first signed into law by President Kibaki in January 2013. The announcement came just weeks after parliament voted to compel the executive to implement the law without proposed repressive amendments, such as capping NGO funding from foreign sources at 15 percent.

The government continues to enforce laws that undermine media freedom. The Kenya Information and Communication Act (KICA), the Media Act of 2013, and the Security Laws Amendment Act of 2014 contain repressive provisions, which introduce new harsh offences and penalties, that should be repealed. In 2016, at least eight journalists and bloggers were arrested and charged under vaguely worded provisions in the new laws, including "misuse of a communications gadget," "annoying a public official" or "undermining the authority of a public officer." In May 2016, a High Court judge declared section 29 of KICA, which creates an offense of misusing a communications gadget, unconstitutional.

Coerced Return of Refugees

In April, authorities announced that Kenya would no longer grant Somali refugees prima facie refugees status and in May, disbanded the Department of Refugee Affairs (DRA), a statutory government body responsible for registration of asylum seekers, issuing of travel permits and movement passes. At the same time, Kenyan officials announced plans to close Dadaab refugee camp. The government justified the closure of the camp on the grounds that terrorist attacks were mounted from Dadaab, without providing evidence.

At time of writing, Kenya's repatriation program does not meet international standards for voluntary refugee return. Refugees in Dadaab camp told Human Rights Watch of intimidation by Kenyan officials, silence over alternative options that would allow them to remain in Kenya, cuts in rations and inadequate and misleading information on conditions in Somalia. In November, Kenyan authorities postponed the closure of Dadaab camp by six months.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Kenya's penal code prohibits "carnal knowledge against the order of nature," generally understood as consensual sex between men, and "indecent practices between males." Civil society organizations and activists filed two landmark constitutional petitions against these sections in April and June 2016, arguing that the laws violate constitutional rights, including the rights to equality and non-discrimination, human dignity, freedom and security of the person, privacy, and health.

Kenya continued the prosecution of two men on charges of "carnal knowledge" after police arbitrarily arrested them in Kwale County in February 2015. The case remained open but was suspended pending the ruling of a constitutional petition filed by the two men, asserting that state officials had violated their rights by subjecting them to a forced anal examination. The High Court rejected the petition on the grounds that the men consented to the examination, ignoring that the men were in police custody and not able to provide free and informed consent. The men have appealed the ruling.

The government appealed a 2015 High Court decision ordering the Non-Governmental Organizations Board to register the National Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission (NGLHRC), a civil society group. Parties were awaiting a hearing date at time of writing.

The Kenya Film Classification Board overstepped its jurisdiction in asking YouTube to remove a locally produced video addressing same-sex relationships, prohibiting a lesbian speed-dating event, and attempting to ban a podcast with alleged lesbian content.

Key International Actors

Kenya plays a prominent regional role particularly regarding counterterrorism efforts in East Africa. Kenyan forces remain in Somalia as part of the African Union mission. President Kenyatta also participated in various attempts at peace negotiations in South Sudan and Burundi.

Kenya's criticism of its Western partners has become less vociferous following the end of its ICC cases, but there remain serious concerns about the human rights situation in the country. Both US Secretary of State John Kerry and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe held talks with President Kenyatta in Nairobi. Kerry raised human rights concerns.

International partners, including China, the UK, Turkey, Israel, Italy, and the US pledged support for Kenya's counterterrorism efforts and economic development. The US consistently raised concerns  publicly and privately  about abuses related to Kenya's counterterrorism efforts and took steps to restrict assistance to certain units. There was little indication that other international partners expressed similar concerns.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Kazakhstan

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Kazakhstan, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b5839a.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.

Against the backdrop of an economic downturn, Kazakh authorities in 2016 jailed peaceful protesters, targeted outspoken activists on vague and overbroad criminal charges, and prosecuted independent journalists. Parliament adopted laws placing unjustified burdens and restrictions on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov was released on parole in August, but two activists faced politically motivated charges in connection with peaceful land reform protests. Impunity for torture persists. Authorities continued to restrict workers' rights. Kazakhstan took a rotating seat on the United Nations Security Council and signed a strategic partnership agreement with the European Union, despite lack of progress on human rights.

Parliamentary Elections

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) monitoring mission found that March parliamentary elections "were efficiently organized, with some progress," but identified "serious procedural errors and irregularities ... during voting, counting and tabulation," and concluded Kazakhstan's "legal framework restricts fundamental civil and political rights."

Freedom of Assembly

The government took no steps to amend a restrictive public assembly law which authorities regularly used to deny permits for peaceful protests, and to fine and jail peaceful demonstrators.

In advance of countrywide protests planned for May 21 against proposed land code reforms, authorities jailed over two dozen people, including activists Maks Bokaev and Talgat Ayan, each sentenced to 15 days' detention for administrative offences.

Authorities brought criminal charges against Bokaev and Ayan while serving those sentences. At time of writing they were on trial on charges of violating the public assembly law, inciting national discord, and disseminating false information. The men deny the charges, calling them retaliation for their activism.

On May 21, police aggressively broke up attempted peaceful gatherings against land reforms in multiple cities, detaining hundreds of people, sometimes using force, and sanctioned 51 of them on administrative charges.

On May 26, the EU called on authorities to "release without delay all remaining arrested peaceful activists, and to drop all criminal charges or penalties." Four UN special rapporteurs urged Kazakhstan to "halt the clampdown on land reform protesters."

Civil Society

In January 2016, an Almaty court found civil society activists Ermek Narymbaev and Serikzhan Mambetalin guilty of "inciting national discord" for material posted on Facebook that some felt insulted the Kazakh people, and sentenced them to three and two years' imprisonment, respectively. In March, an appeals court conditionally released them, with restrictions on their movement.

Also in January 2016, an Astana court found civil society activist Bolatbek Blyalov guilty of "inciting social discord" for online videos of him discussing Kazakh nationalism and other topics, and restricted his freedom of movement and association for three years.

On August 20, opposition leader Vladimir Kozlov was released on parole. He served four-and-a-half years of a seven-and-a-half-year prison sentence after an unfair trial in 2012. He remained subject to restrictions on his movement and freedom of association, and was required to report to police monthly.

In May, a court ordered government critic Natalya Ulasik undergo psychiatric observation after her ex-partner accused her of defamation. Authorities detained her in August. In October, a court found her mentally incompetent and placed her in forced psychiatric detention.

Civil society activist Vadim Kuramshin continued to serve a 12-year prison sentence, despite fair trial violations and concerns that his December 2012 conviction was retribution for government criticism.

On December 9, 2016, France's Council of State cancelled an extradition order against Mukhtar Ablyazov, Kazakh government critic and former banker. The court concluded that the Russian request for the extradition was politically motivated.

In December 2015, President Nursultan Nazarbaev signed into law amendments to nongovernmental organization-related legislation, imposing burdensome reporting obligations and state regulation of funding through a government-appointed body. A February EU statement expressed concern that the "newly created government controlled body could have a negative impact on NGO activities." International Legal Initiative (ILI), a rights group in Kazakhstan, unsuccessfully contested the law's legality in an Astana court.

In July, parliament adopted amendments introducing new financial reporting obligations for individuals and legal entities, such as NGOs, on foreign funds receipt and expenditure.

Media Restrictions and Freedom of Expression

Independent journalists and media outlets face harassment and interference, including criminal prosecution on dubious or excessive charges. Media watchdog group Adilsoz reported an increase in defamation lawsuits in the first half of 2016. Libel remains a criminal offense. In January, OSCE Representative on Freedom of the Media Dunja Mijatovic called the situation for free expression and media freedom in Kazakhstan "deeply worrying."

Authorities detained over 50 journalists reporting on the May land protests, and blocked access to some websites, including Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty's Kazakh branch. In May, a court found journalist Guzyal Baidalinova criminally liable for "disseminating false information" for information she published about a Kazakh bank, imprisoning her for 18 months. In July, she was released on parole.

On October 3, an Astana court sentenced Seitkazy Mataev, head of the National Press Club, a platform for critical voices, to six years' imprisonment on embezzlement and tax evasion charges, and his son, Aset, also a journalist, to five years in prison for embezzlement. They said the investigation  which media watchdogs criticized for its lack of integrity  was retaliation their critical views of the government.

Kazakh authorities sued Respublika, a critical website, in United States and Australian courts, over leaked government documents seeking to capitalize on those countries' anti-hacking laws.

Torture

Kazakhstan's prosecutor general acknowledged in August that torture remains a problem, despite some efforts to tackle it. In September a court convicted one prison official of rape and sentenced him to nine years in prison after a female inmate alleged he was one of four prison officials who raped her. Following its September visit, the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture noted that despite improvements in conditions, the prison system overemphasizes restrictions and punishment, rather than reintegration and rehabilitation.

Despite a 2014 UN Human Rights Committee decision finding that officials tortured Rasim Bayramov, detained in 2008 on suspicion of robbery and beaten in custody, authorities have repeatedly declined to investigate citing "lack of evidence of a crime," most recently in July.

Authorities have not credibly investigated torture allegations by people detained in Zhanaozen in December 2011, following an extended labor strike that ended in violent clashes. In its August concluding observations, the UN Human Rights Committee called on the government to ensure "an independent, impartial and effective investigation ... into all allegations of torture and ill-treatment" related to the Zhanaozen events.

Freedom of Religion

Authorities continue to fine and convict people for violating a restrictive 2011 religion law. Since December 2014, 40 people have faced criminal charges for membership in the banned Tabligh Jamaat movement, according to Forum18, an international religious freedom watchdog.

On March 25, police executed search warrants at five New Life church buildings in Almaty and at several church leaders' homes under a criminal investigation into fraud charges, which church leaders deny. An appeals' court ordered Seventh-day Adventist Yklas Kabduakasov, convicted in November 2015 for "inciting religious discord" and initially given a seven-year suspended sentence, to serve two years' imprisonment in a labor camp.

Counterterrorism

President Nazarbaev called for harsher counterterrorism measures after 19 people were killed in an armed attack in Aktobe in June, and other gunman killed four people in Almaty in July. In September, the government proposed amendments to 24 laws relating to counterterrorism and extremism.

The UN Human Rights Committee criticized the overly-broad definitions of "extremism," "inciting social or class hatred," and "religious hatred or enmity," and use of extremism legislation "to unduly restrict freedoms of religion, expression, assembly and association."

Labor Rights

The trade union law and collective bargaining regulations restrict workers' rights, including the right to strike. After repeated registration denials, the Confederation of Independent Trade Unions of Kazakhstan registered under a new name in February, but was unable to confirm its status, the second step in a burdensome two-step registration process.

The International Labour Organization again criticized Kazakhstan at its June conference for limiting freedom of association and for failing to amend its restrictive labor union law.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Surveys of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people reveal that many hide their sexual orientation or gender identity  including to healthcare providers  out of fear of reprisals or discrimination. When LGBT people report abuse, they often face indifference and hostility from authorities.

Transgender people must undergo humiliating and invasive procedures  including coerced sterilization  to change gender on official documents. Without identity documents, transgender people struggle to access employment, healthcare, and education. The UN Human Rights Committee called on the government to end discrimination and violence against LGBT people and review gender-reassignment surgery procedures.

Key International Actors

A December 2015 Enhanced Partnership and Cooperation Agreement gives Kazakhstan upgraded trade and economic relations with the EU, despite the lack of meaningful rights improvements in Kazakhstan. When negotiations began, the EU had linked successful negotiations to reforms.

In March, EU Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker met with President Nazarbaev and downplayed human rights concerns, calling reforms in Kazakhstan "promising."

In a March resolution on Freedom of Expression in Kazakhstan, the European Parliament noted "the serious deterioration of the climate for media and free speech" and called on Kazakhstan to review legislation and stop harassing journalists.

Following Kazakhstan's second periodic report, the UN Human Rights Committee called on the government to redouble efforts to prevent violence against women, eradicate torture, guarantee liberty and security of person, and safeguard independent judiciary.

The United States Department of State's top counterterrorism official, Sarah Sewall, visited Kazakhstan in August to discuss strengthening counterterrorism cooperation. In October, the US Embassy in Kazakhstan issued a rare statement on media freedom, expressing concern about the convictions and prison sentences handed down to journalists Seitkazy and Aset Mataev.

In June 2016, Kazakhstan became an elected member of the UN Security Council for the 2017-2018 term.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Jordan

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Jordan, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b583aa.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.

King Abdullah II dissolved Jordan's lower house of parliament on May 29, 2016, after the resignation of Prime Minister Abdullah Ensour, who had been in office since October 2012. Elections for Jordan's 130-seat House of Representatives took place on September 20 under a new list-based electoral system, resulting in the election of 20 women, including five who won competitively outside the women's quota.

In March 2016, under instruction by King Abdullah, Jordanian authorities launched the Comprehensive National Plan for Human Rights, a 10-year initiative that calls for changes to numerous laws, policies, and practices. Positive changes included a commitment to allow suspects the right to a lawyer at the time of arrest and to move jurisdiction over crimes of torture and ill-treatment from the police court to regular courts. Bassel Tararwneh, Jordan's governmental human rights coordinator, facilitated government interaction with local and international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and held open consultation sessions on human rights issues.

In March 2016, Jordanian authorities proposed sweeping amendments to the country's association law that, if implemented, will hamper the ability of NGOs to form and operate.

Freedom of Expression and Belief

Jordanian law criminalizes speech deemed critical of the king, foreign countries, government officials and institutions, as well as Islam and speech considered to defame others.

On June 14, Jordanian authorities detained university professor and popular Islamic preacher Amjad Qourshah in connection with an October 2014 video posted to his Facebook page in which he criticized Jordan's participation in the US-led coalition bombing of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS. Authorities released him on bail in early September, but at time of writing he remained on trial before the State Security Court charged with exposing Jordan to the danger of hostile acts, a counterterrorism law provision. Authorities defended Qourshah's arrest as a measure to combat hate speech and extremist thought.

On August 14, authorities detained writer Nahed Hattar after he posted a cartoon on his Facebook page critical of ISIS. The cartoon depicted an ISIS fighter in bed with two women ordering God to bring him wine. Authorities charged him with insulting religion under article 278 of the penal code. Authorities stated that Hattar's arrest was intended to prevent defamation of religion. Hattar was later murdered on September 25 while entering an Amman court to attend a trial session.

Jordanian authorities increasingly relied on press gag orders in 2016 to prevent public reporting on sensitive issues. In 2016, authorities imposed gag orders on news stories such as: a complaint by orphans against the Ministry of Social Development; a street assault on an Egyptian worker in Jordan; a security operation in the northern town of Irbid in March in which seven militants and one policeman were killed; an attack on a General Intelligence Directorate (GID) office north of Amman that led to four deaths; and the cases of Amjad Qourshah and Nahed Hattar.

On August 29, Jordan's media commission prohibited local press outlets from publishing any news about the king or the royal family other than information circulated by the royal court.

A legislative overhaul of the penal code was put to parliament in 2015 proposing to amend at least 180 articles of the 1960 code. At time of writing, lawmakers had still to pass the reforms. For the first time, the draft amendments provided alternatives to imprisonment, such as community service.

Freedom of Association and Assembly

In March, Jordan's Ministry of Social Development issued a group of amendments to Jordan's 2008 Law on Associations. If enacted, the changes would severely hamper the ability of NGOs to form and operate. The amendments place onerous restrictions on the establishment of civil society groups and grant the government legal authority to dissolve groups on vague grounds or deny their ability to obtain foreign funding without justification. By November, the amendments were still under consultation and had not been submitted to parliament.

Since the amended Public Gatherings Law took effect in March 2011, Jordanians no longer require government permission to hold public meetings or demonstrations. However, Amman hotels and other venues continued to seek permission to host public meetings and events. In April, authorities cancelled a concert by the popular Lebanese music group Mashrou' Leila, reportedly over the claim that their songs "contain lyrics that do not comply with the nature of the Jordanian society." Authorities reversed the decision the day before the concert was to be held, but organizers said they did not have time to stage it.

Refugees and Migrants

Between 2011 and 2016, over 656,000 persons from Syria had sought refuge in Jordan, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Of these, approximately 79,000 were housed at the Zaatari Refugee Camp in northern Jordan; 54,000 were registered in Azraq Camp, 100 kilometers east of Amman; and 7,300 were at the Emirates Jordan Camp in Zarqa Governorate. The rest were living outside refugee camps.

Jordanian officials stated that the country did not receive enough international financial assistance in 2016 to cope with the effects of the refugee crises on its public infrastructure, especially in the areas of public education and health. The UNHCR Jordan office, which coordinates the refugee response, said that by November it had raised only 57 percent of its US$1.1 billion budget goal for 2016.

In February, authorities announced the Jordan Compact at the "Supporting Syria and the Region" conference in London, which aims to promote economic growth in Jordan and improve the livelihoods of Syrian refugees by granting new legal work opportunities. By November, at least 28,000 work permits for Syrians had been issued by labor authorities.

Between January and June 21, Jordanian authorities severely restricted the Rukban and Hadalat informal border crossings with Syria in the eastern part of the country. These restrictions stranded tens of thousands of Syrian asylum seekers at an earthen berm just inside Jordan's border for days and weeks in harsh desert conditions with limited access to food, water, and medical assistance. Between March 9 and June 21, authorities transported over 20,000 Syrians from the berm to a fenced area of Azraq Camp for additional security processing.

On June 21, a suicide car bomb attack on a Jordanian military base near Rukban killed seven Jordanian soldiers and security officers, prompting authorities to classify the Jordan-Syria border as a closed military zone and halt humanitarian assistance to nearly 70,000 Syrians at the berm, other than water. Authorities allowed the resumption of humanitarian assistance in late November at a new distribution point seven kilometers northwest of the Rukban camp.

In 2016, around 80,000 Syrian children in Jordan were not in formal education. Jordan's Ministry of Education took steps to address obstacles to access to education such as relaxing documentation requirements, doubling the number of schools operating "double shifts" to create spaces for up to 50,000 more Syrian students, and establishing a "catch-up" program to reach another 25,000 children ages 8 to 12, who have been out of school for three or more years.

Jordan hosted around 80,000 migrant domestic workers in 2016, mostly from the Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. NGOs repeatedly referred domestic workers who had suffered multiple abuses to labor ministry investigators. Abuses included non-payment of salaries, unsafe working conditions, long hours, document confiscation, and sometimes physical, verbal and sexual abuse.

Women's and Girls' Rights

Jordan's personal status code remains discriminatory, despite a 2010 amendment that included widening women's access to divorce and child custody. Marriages between Muslim women and non-Muslim men, for instance, are not recognized.

Article 9 of Jordan's nationality law does not allow Jordanian women married to non-Jordanian spouses to pass on their nationality to their spouse and children. By September 2016, Jordanian authorities distributed at least 56,000 special ID cards to non-citizen children of Jordanian women, but affected persons reported officials' lack of follow-through on other "privileges" for these children announced in 2014, especially acquisition of work permits and drivers' licenses.

Penal code articles 98 and 340, which allow reduced sentences for perpetrators of "honor crimes," remained in force. According to the Sisterhood is Global Institute/Jordan, news reports indicated that at least 26 women and girls were killed between January and November, some of which perpetrators claimed were "honor crimes".

Criminal Justice System and Police Accountability

Jordanian authorities did not carry out any executions between January and November 2016, down from 2 in 2015 and 11 in late 2014, when it ended an eight-year de facto moratorium.

In January, police court prosecutors filed torture charges under penal code article 208 against five policemen in connection with the September 2015 death in detention of 49-year-old Omar al-Nasr. It is only the second known instance in which torture charges have been filed against police, and the trial was ongoing as of September. In July, following a three-year trial, the Police Court cleared seven drug squad officers accused of involvement in the March 2013 death in detention of 33-year old Sultan al-Khatatba.

Local governors continued to use provisions of the Crime Prevention Law of 1954 to place individuals in administrative detention for up to one year in circumvention of the Criminal Procedure Law. The National Center for Human Rights reported that 19,860 persons were administratively detained in 2015, some for longer than one year.

In September, Jordan's council of ministers approved amendments to the Crime Prevention Law that institutionalize informal tribal practices including the jilwa, which involves banishing family members of the alleged perpetrator of a murder from their area of residence as part of a settlement between tribes.

Authorities justified the change on the pretext that it would limit the jilwa to direct family members rather than extended family members, but the move nevertheless gives officials the authority to punish individuals for a crime they did not commit. The draft amendments had not been submitted to parliament for approval at time of writing.

Key International Actors

Jordan received approximately US$1.4 billion in economic and military assistance from the United States in 2016 according to the Congressional Research Service. The assistance is part of a three-year memorandum of understanding in which the US pledged to provide $1 billion in aid to Jordan annually, up from $660 million in recent years. The US did not publicly criticize human rights violations in Jordan in 2015, except in annual reports.

In February, the EU pledged 1 billion ($1.2 billion) in assistance to Jordan for 2016 and 2017, of which nearly 700 million ($873 million) was allocated by July.

In April, Jordan and Saudi Arabia announced the formation of a joint investment council to oversee investments in Jordan by the Saudi Public Investment Fund, which are expected to total billions of dollars. The two countries are also reportedly working on agreements over nuclear power cooperation and uranium extraction.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
Editor's note: Watch herald-review.com for more updated weather coverage as conditions develop. All carriers are attempting delivery as safely and quickly as possible this morning, but home delivery may be delayed in some areas due to the road conditions. Join the conversation on Twitter with the hashtag #CentralILWeather.

6 p.m. update: DECATUR  The latest National Weather Service forecast shows the possibility of freezing rain and ice lingering overnight and into Sunday evening as the storm system spreads northward.

By Monday, temperatures should be noticeably warmer although rain has been in the forecast.

Refreezing of treated areas remains a threat this evening, so officials are urging caution when traveling.

3:15 p.m. update: DECATUR  A light freezing mist is persisting Saturday afternoon in the Decatur area, although heavier rain appears to be over for now.

The Macon County Sheriff's Office said most road conditions have improved, but less traveled rural roads and some streets may still be slick. It continued to urge caution when traveling and be careful on ice covered sidewalks and driveways.

Road crews are turning their attention toward what will happen overnight. Refreezing of wet areas could be a concern, said Dan Mendenall, Decatur interim municipal services director.

If freezing rain does fall again, Macon County Highway Engineer Bruce Bird said crews will be mindful of residents trying to get to Sunday morning church services. He said crews will work as quickly and efficiently as possible, depending on the timing, which could be similar to Saturday morning.

Bird said crews started treating roads at 4 a.m. Saturday.

No parking requests for streets in Mount Zion and Forsyth remain in effect until noon Sunday.

The weather didn't get in the way of events such as the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. luncheon at the Decatur Conference Center and Hotel, where syndicated newspaper columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. delivered a keynote address.

No widespread power outages in the area have been reported.

The weather continues to grip areas to the south, with wintry weather causing travel headaches in Missouri, Kansas and Oklahoma.

The Oklahoma Highway Patrol said Interstate 40 was closed in two places in western portions of the state because of wrecks, including the jackknifing of several tractor-trailers in icy conditions in Caddo County. There were no immediate reports of injuries.

Ice buildups of one-quarter to slightly less than a half inch were expected late Saturday and Sunday morning from southeastern Kansas to central Missouri. Lesser ice accumulations were forecast for Saturday around St. Louis.

State troopers in Missouri and other affected states were pressing motorists to limit travel to only necessary outings, allowing road crews the space to treat the slippery mess. Many appeared to heed that advice, drawing kudos from the Missouri Department of Transportation, which scrambled around-the-clock to mitigate the glazed roads.

10:15 a.m. update: DECATUR  Freezing rain moved into the Decatur area overnight and continued to fall Saturday morning.

A freezing rain advisory remained in effect with the rain expected to diminish to patchy freezing drizzle this afternoon. Additional ice accumulation is now expected to be less than a tenth of an inch.

Patches of snow and ice remained on some area roads, with parking lots and sidewalks remaining the most slippery.

The city of Decatur had 14 trucks out earlier with 6 trucks scheduled to run trouble spots starting at about 11 a.m., said Dan Mendenall, interim municipal services director.

We're in good shape, Mendenall said.

Mendenall is expecting to be able to treat neighborhood streets, although he said when those get treated, only areas on hills, at stop signs and curves get treated.

A freeze back is possible depending on temperatures, so Mendenall said wet areas could still freeze.

Macon County Highway Engineer Bruce Bird said crews have been out since 4 a.m. and have applied a heavy dose of salt to its roads in an attempt to have it last as long as possible.

Once we go through, they're in decent shape, Bird said.

The more rural roads are the most slippery, as Bird said is typically the case. Once everything is treated and if the rain lets up as anticipated, Bird said they're planning to pull back to wait and see what the next round of weather will be like.

Another round of freezing rain is possible overnight with similar timing to this morning, Bird said. If that's the case, he said their plan will be similar to what it was in getting the roads treated.

As a result of the weather, some businesses and other places around the area were deciding to close or change operating hours. But other places, including the Children's Museum of Illinois, are planning to remain open.

Events such as the United Cerebral Palsy Miller Lite Barstool Open are proceeding as planned.

No widespread power outages have been reported.

7 a.m. update: DECATUR  Freezing rain that fell overnight is expected to taper off this afternoon, according to the National Weather Service.

Shortly before 7 a.m., the temperature in Decatur was 30 degrees, with an expected high of 33 today. The weather service predicted occasional freezing rain would continue, mostly before 11 a.m.

A freezing rain advisory remains in effect until noon Sunday for a swath of area counties that include Macon, Christian, Shelby, DeWitt and Moultrie.

Drivers could still face hazardous conditions, especially on bridges and overpasses. Use caution, drive slowly and leave plenty of space between yourself and the next car.

Through the weekend, between one- and two-tenths of an inch of ice is expected to accumulate along and south of Interstate 72, while areas further north are expected to receive one-tenth of an inch.

Other parts of the Midwest are not expected to fare so well. The highest ice accumulations are expected from the St. Louis area west into Kansas, the weather service said.
World Report 2017 - Israel/Palestine

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Israel/Palestine, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b583c3.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.

Israel continued in 2016 to enforce severe and discriminatory restrictions on Palestinians' human rights, to facilitate the transfer of Israeli civilians to the occupied West Bank, and to severely restrict the movement of people and goods into and out of the Gaza Strip.

In 2016, a new escalation of violence that began in October 2015 continued, characterized by demonstrations, some violent, in the West Bank and at the Gaza border with Israel that Israeli forces have suppressed, often using live fire. There was a wave of stabbings and attempted stabbings by Palestinians against Israeli passersby and security forces, both in the West Bank and Israel, mostly by people acting without the sponsorship of any armed group.

Israeli security forces used lethal force against suspected attackers in more than 150 cases, including in circumstances that suggest excessive force and at times extrajudicial executions. Overall, between January 1 and October 31, 2016, Palestinians killed at least 11 Israelis, including 2 security officers, and injured 131 Israelis, including 46 security officers, in the West Bank and Israel. Israeli security forces killed at least 94 Palestinians and injured at least 3,203 Palestinians in the West Bank, Gaza, and Israel as of October 31, including suspected assailants, protesters, and bystanders, according to the United Nations.

Palestinian authorities in the West Bank and Gaza restricted freedom of expression, tortured and ill-treated detainees, and in Gaza executed at least four people, including one person accused of same-sex relations.

In the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, Israeli settlers attacked and injured 26 Palestinians and damaged their property in 66 incidents as of October 31, the UN reported.

In January 2016, an Israeli man and teenage boy, in custody since their arrest in December 2015, were indicted for their role in an arson attack that killed a Palestinian couple and their toddler son in 2015. In May 2016, an Israeli man was sentenced to life imprisonment for the burning to death of a Palestinian child in July 2014.

Also in the West Bank, Israeli authorities destroyed homes and other property under discriminatory practices that severely restrict Palestinians' access to construction permits and forcibly displaced, as of October 17, 1,283 Palestinian residents in West Bank areas under direct Israeli administrative control.

Israel maintained severe restrictions on the movement of people and goods into and out of Gaza, exacerbated by Egypt's closure of its own border with Gaza most of the time, and by Israel's refusal to allow Gaza to operate an airport or seaport.

Palestinian armed groups launched 20 rockets indiscriminately into Israel from Hamas-controlled Gaza in 2016 as of October 31, in violation of the laws of war. Hamas authorities have failed to prosecute anyone for alleged serious crimes committed during Israel's 2014 military campaign in Gaza. Israel has received more than 500 complaints stemming from the military campaign but has prosecuted only three soldiers, for theft.

The Palestinian Authority (PA) and Hamas arrested activists who criticized their leaders, security forces or policies, some of whom alleged torture in detention. The Independent Commission for Human Rights in Palestine, a statutory commission charged with monitoring human rights compliance by the Palestinian authorities, received 150 complaints of torture and ill-treatment by PA security forces and 204 such complaints against Hamas security forces as of October 31.

Gaza Strip

Israel

In the same period, Israeli forces killed 8 people in Gaza during demonstrations at the border fence, and injured at least 188. The Israeli authorities have declared an area inside Gaza but near the border with Israel to be a "no-go" zone, and Israeli soldiers fire at people who enter it. They also continued to shoot at Palestinian civilians in the "no-go" zone that Israel imposes just inside Gaza's northern and eastern borders and at fishermen who venture beyond six nautical miles from the shore  the area to which Israel restricts Gaza fishing boats. In April, Israel expanded the fishing zone to nine miles but reinstated the six-mile limit in June. Israel says it restricts access to the sea to prevent weapons smuggling and restricts access to the no-go zone to prevent cross-border attacks.

Israel's military advocate general has received over 500 complaints from individuals and human rights groups with regard to 300 incidents that occurred during the 2014 Israel-Gaza fighting, and he launched criminal investigations into 37 incidents. So far, however, criminal charges have been filed against only three soldiers, for theft. According to the UN, 1,462 Palestinian civilians, including 551 children, and 6 civilians in Israel, including a child, were killed during the fighting.

Closure

Israel's closure of the Gaza Strip, particularly restrictions on movement of people and on outgoing goods, continued to have severe consequences for the civilian population, separating families, restricting access to medical care and educational and economic opportunities, and perpetuating unemployment and poverty. Approximately 70 percent of Gaza's 1.9 million people rely on humanitarian assistance.

Travel through the Erez Crossing, Gaza's passenger crossing to Israel, the West Bank, and the outside world, is limited to what the Israeli military calls "exceptional humanitarian cases," meaning mostly medical patients, their companions, and prominent businesspersons. In the first half of 2016, an average of about 500 Palestinians crossed through Erez each day, compared to the average of more than 24,000 Palestinians who crossed each day in September 2000, just before the second "Intifida" or Palestinian uprising began. Outgoing goods in the first 10 months of 2016 averaged 158 truckloads per month, mostly produce to be sold in the West Bank and Israel, just 15 percent of the 1,064 truckloads per month prior to the June 2007 tightening of the closure.

Israeli restrictions on the delivery of construction materials to Gaza and a lack of funding have impeded reconstruction of the 17,800 housing units severely damaged or destroyed during Israel's 2014 military operation in Gaza. About 65,000 people who lost their homes remain displaced. Israel says construction materials can be used for military purposes, including fortifying tunnels, and it allows only limited quantities to enter under the supervision of international organizations.

Egypt also blocked all regular movement of goods at the crossing with Gaza that it controls and imposed increased restrictions on the movement of people. In 2016, the crossing was mostly closed, with narrow exceptions mostly for medical patients, those holding foreign passports, residencies or visas, including students, and pilgrims to Mecca. In the first 10 months of 2016, a monthly average of about 3,196 people crossed through Rafah in both directions, compared with an average of 40,000 per month in the first half of 2013, prior to the overthrow of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsy.

Hamas and Palestinian Armed Groups

In 2016 Palestinian armed groups launched 20 rockets into Israel from Gaza as of October 31, causing no casualties but generating fear and disruption in affected cities and towns. These rockets cannot be accurately aimed at military objectives and amount to indiscriminate or deliberate attacks on civilians when directed at Israeli population centers, as was the case in many instances. A UN Commission of Inquiry last year found that such attacks are serious violations of the laws of war. Hamas, which has internal control over Gaza, is responsible for policing the border and the territory it controls and acting to ensure that unlawful attacks do not take place.

The Hamas internal security agency and police allegedly tortured or ill-treated 204 people in their custody as of October 31, according to complaints received by the Independent Commission for Human Rights (ICHR), the statutory Palestinian rights body.

In Gaza, whose laws differ somewhat from the laws in the West Bank, having "unnatural intercourse" of a sexual nature, understood to include same-sex relationships, is a crime punishable by up to 10 years in prison. In February 2016, Hamas's armed wing executed one of its fighters ostensibly for "behavioral and moral violations," which Hamas officials acknowledged meant same-sex relations.

In addition, Gaza's civilian authorities executed three men convicted of murder in May, amid concerns of due process violations.

West Bank

Israel

In the West Bank, as of October 31, Israeli security forces and settlers fatally shot at least 83 Palestinians and wounded at least 3,015, including passersby, demonstrators and those suspected of attacking Israelis, according to UN monitoring. In some cases, video footage and witness accounts strongly suggest that excessive force was used.

In March, an Israeli soldier fatally shot Abdel Fattah al-Sharif, who along with another Palestinian had stabbed a soldier at a checkpoint in Hebron. Soldiers fatally shot one of the assailants and wounded al-Sharif. A few minutes after the incident, as al-Sharif lay unmoving on the ground, a video shows the soldier shooting him in the head. A military court is trying the soldier.

As of October 31, the UN reported 26 attacks in which Israeli settlers injured Palestinians and 66 attacks in which they damaged Palestinian property. Israeli authorities are required to protect Palestinians in the West Bank, but they often fail to apprehend or prosecute Israeli settlers who attack Palestinians and destroy or damage Palestinian mosques, homes, schools, olive trees, cars, and other property. According to the Israeli human rights group Yesh Din, between 2005 and 2014, police closed 92 percent of cases of reported settler violence without prosecuting anyone.

In 2015, an arson attack against two houses in the Palestinian village of Duma killed a toddler, Ali Dawabshe, and both his parents. In January 2016, a man, 21, and a teenage boy, 17, both in police custody, were charged with three counts of murder for that incident.

Settlements, Discriminatory Policies, Home Demolitions

Israel continued to provide security, administrative services, housing, education, and medical care for about 560,000 settlers residing in unlawful settlements in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. International humanitarian law bars an occupying power's transfer of its civilians to occupied territory.

Israel also increased its settlement activity, authorizing construction work to begin on more than 1,000 new housing units in settlements in the West Bank, excluding East Jerusalem, in the first half of 2016, an increase of 17 percent over the same period in 2015, according to Israel's Central Bureau of Statistics.

Building permits are difficult, if not impossible, for Palestinians to obtain in East Jerusalem or in the 60 percent of the West Bank under exclusive Israeli control (Area C). This has driven Palestinians to construct housing and business structures that are at constant risk of demolition or confiscation by Israel on the grounds of being unauthorized. Palestinians in these areas have access to water, electricity, schools, and other state services that are either far more limited or costlier than the same services that the state makes available to Jewish settlers there.

As of October 31, Israeli authorities demolished 925 Palestinian homes and other buildings in the West Bank (including East Jerusalem), mostly for failure to have a building permit. Israel also destroyed the homes of family members of alleged attackers in reprisal for attacks on Israelis, a violation of the international humanitarian law prohibition on collective punishment. In total, the demolitions displaced 1,347 people.

Freedom of Movement

Israel maintained onerous restrictions on the movement of Palestinians in the West Bank, including checkpoints and the separation barrier, a combination of wall and fence that Israel said it built for security reasons but often placed well within the West Bank rather than on the Green Line separating the West Bank from Israel. Israeli-imposed restrictions designed to keep Palestinians far from settlements forced them to take time-consuming detours and restricted their access to agricultural land.

Israel continued construction of the separation barrier around East Jerusalem. Some 85 percent of the barrier falls within the West Bank, isolating 11,000 Palestinians on the western side of the barrier who are not allowed to travel to Israel and must cross the barrier to access their own property as well as services in the West Bank.

Arbitrary Detention and Detention of Children

Israeli military authorities detained Palestinian protesters, including those who advocated nonviolent protest against Israeli settlements and the route of the separation barrier.

Israeli security forces continued to arrest children suspected of criminal offenses, usually stone-throwing; question them without a family member or a lawyer present; and coerce them to sign confessions in Hebrew, which they did not understand. The Israeli military detained Palestinian children separately from adults during remand hearings and military court trials, but often detained children with adults immediately after arrest.

As of April 2016, Israel held 692 Palestinian administrative detainees (including 2 women and 13 children) without charge or trial, based on secret evidence. Israel jails Palestinian detainees inside Israel, violating international law requiring that they be held within the occupied territory and thus leading to restrictions on the ability of family members to visit them, due to Israel's requirement that visiting family members clear security screenings and receive permits to enter Israel. A number of Palestinian prisoners have gone on hunger strikes to protest their detention without trial.

Palestinian Authority

Complaints of torture and ill-treatment by West Bank Palestinian Authority security services persisted. The ICHR reported 150 complaints in 2016 as of October 31.

PA security services arrested activists for political criticism, and some of those arrested alleged mistreatment in detention. In arresting, abusing, and prosecuting Palestinian journalists and activists engaging in peaceful speech under long-standing laws whose penalties include incarceration, the PA violated its obligations under international treaties, ratified in 2014, respecting free expression and detainee rights.

Israel

As part of an escalation of violence that began in 2015, in 2016 Palestinians killed 11 Israelis, including two security officers, and injured 131 people in Israel and the West Bank as of October 31, including 46 security officers, according to the United Nations.

Within Israel, as of October 31, Israeli security forces or bystanders killed 3 Palestinians, including those suspected of attacking Israelis.

A law passed in July imposes onerous reporting requirements on nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) receiving most of their funding from foreign governmental entities. By exempting from these requirements NGOs that receive private foreign money, the law effectively targets human rights groups, groups run by or for Arab citizens of Israel, and anti-occupation political groups.

Bedouin citizens of Israel who live in "unrecognized" villages suffered discriminatory home demolitions on the basis that their homes were built illegally, even though most of those villages existed before the State of Israel was established, and others were created in the 1950s on land to which Israel transferred Bedouin citizens. Israeli authorities refused to prepare plans for the communities or approve construction permits, and rejected plans submitted by the communities themselves that would allow them to build lawfully. Many Bedouin communities were uprooted by the establishment of Jewish towns and cities, and a succession of Israeli governments has moved them from place to place, failing to provide adequate housing.

In al-Araqib, an unrecognized village that has been embroiled in a years-long legal battle with the state, authorities demolished all the residents' shacks 10 times between January 1 and August 18, according to the Negev Coexistence Forum for Civil Inequality. Israeli authorities demolished 28 Bedouin structures in the Negev, excluding al-Araqib, and destroyed the crops of unrecognized Bedouin villages 14 times, between January 1 and August 18.

Israel continued its openly stated policy of applying coercive measures designed to render miserable the lives of the roughly 40,000 Eritrean and Sudanese asylum seekers present in the country. These measures include prolonged detention; restrictions on freedom of movement; ambiguous policies on permission to work; and restricting access to health care. Israel does not deport Eritrean and Sudanese nationals, but it has granted asylum to only four Eritreans to date. In June, for the first time, Israel granted asylum to a Sudanese national.

Key International Actors

Under commitments stemming from the 1978 Camp David accords, the United States allocated US$3.1 billion in military aid to Israel in 2016. It also allocated $400 million in assistance to Palestinian security forces and economic support to the PA. In September, the United States and Israel signed a 10-year, $38 billion military aid deal, mostly to be spent on US-made military supplies. In January, the US Customs Authority issued a reminder of its requirement, originating in 1995, to label imports from Israeli settlements as produced in the West Bank, not in Israel.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor is conducting a preliminary examination into the situation in Palestine to determine whether the criteria have been met to merit pursuing a formal investigation into crimes committed in and from Palestine. In October, a delegation from the ICC prosecutor's office visited Israel and the West Bank and held meetings with Israeli and Palestinian officials.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Iraq

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Iraq, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b583c66.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.

Clashes with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) intensified in 2016, including operations to retake Ramadi in February and Fallujah in June, and the beginning of operations in October to retake Mosul, where fighting displaced over 45,000 Iraqis as of November 11. Credible allegations emerged of summary executions, beatings of men in custody, enforced disappearances, and mutilation of corpses by government forces during the operation in Fallujah.

ISIS executed hundreds in and around Mosul, and used civilians there as human shields.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Iraq (UNAMI), since January 2016 airstrikes, explosions, gunfire, or suicide attacks killed at least 9,153 Iraqis. A 2016 International Federation of Journalists report deemed Iraq the deadliest country in the world for journalists and a UNICEF report deemed it one of the deadliest for children.

ISIS Abuses

A joint UNAMI and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) report from January said that ISIS had kidnapped between 800 and 900 children in Mosul for religious and military training.

ISIS carried out over a dozen suicide and car bombings throughout 2016. In its deadliest attack on July 3 a car bombing in Baghdad killed over 200 people and injuring hundreds more. On July 7, ISIS carried out a triple suicide attack on a Shia shrine in Balad, 100 km north of Baghdad, killing at least 35 and wounding over 60.

In September and October, ISIS launched at least three chemical attacks on the Iraqi town of Qayyarah, south of Mosul. The use of toxic chemicals as a means of warfare is a serious threat to civilians and combatants and is a war crime.

As the operation to retake Mosul began, ISIS started forcibly evacuating civilians under their control with its fighters apparently using them as human shields.

There were regular, but for the most part unconfirmed, media reports during the year of executions carried out by ISIS. In November, in Hammam al-Alil, 30 kilometers southeast of Mosul, authorities discovered an ISIS mass grave containing the remains of between 50 and 100 bodies. As the battle for Mosul intensified, Human Rights Watch received reports of ISIS carrying out hundreds of executions of former Iraqi Security Forces in territory still under their control.

ISIS's Diwan al-Hisba (Moral Policing Administration) and online media apparatuses have publicly announced 27 executions of allegedly gay men, at least nine of them in Iraq. The main method ISIS used to execute these men has been to throw them off the roofs of high-rise buildings.

Women and girls reported severe restrictions on their clothing and freedom of movement in ISIS-controlled areas. They told Human Rights Watch that they were only allowed to leave their houses dressed in full face veil (niqab) and accompanied by a close male relative. These rules, enforced by beating or fines on male family members or both, isolated women from family, friends, and public life.

They also reported restricted access to health care or education because of discriminatory ISIS policies, including rules limiting male doctors from touching, seeing, or being alone with female patients. In more rural areas ISIS has banned girls from attending school. ISIS fighters and female ISIS "morality police" hit, bit, or poked women with metal prongs to keep them in line, making them afraid to try to get services they needed.

ISIS also continues to torture, rape, murder, and sexually enslave Yezidi women and children, many of whom were captured in Iraq and taken to Syria. According to a June United Nations commission of inquiry report, ISIS still holds about 3,200 Yezidi women and children, most of whom are in Syria. Such abuses are war crimes and may amount to crimes against humanity, and possibly genocide.

Abuses by Government Forces

On May 24 Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi stated that the government would take measures to protect civilians during the operation to retake Fallujah from ISIS. Nevertheless, the next day an airstrike on Fallujah General Hospital damaged the emergency room. Over the next two weeks of fighting Human Rights Watch documented summary executions, beatings of men in custody, enforced disappearances, and mutilation of corpses by government forces.

As of mid-November, according to local officials, there were still at least 643 men and boys missing, and possibly as many as 800. They said they believed that at least 49 others had been summarily executed or tortured to death while in the custody of Hezbollah Brigade, a prominent group within the government-affiliated Popular Mobilization Forces (PMF).

On June 4, 2016, Prime Minister al-Abadi announced that he had ordered an investigation into allegations of abuse in the Fallujah operations and three days later announced an unspecified number of arrests. Government officials, however, at time of writing had not responded to requests for further information about the status of the investigation, who is conducting it, or steps taken so far.

In August, authorities implemented al-Abadi's Office Order 91 from February, making the PMF an "independent military formation" within Iraq's security forces.

Despite government assurances that only the Iraqi Security Forces would screen the thousands of civilians fleeing Mosul for possible ISIS affiliation, on at least one occasion a Shabak militia, part of the PMF, arbitrarily detained men after screening hundreds of families. The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) and Iraqi authorities have in some cases detained men and boys for weeks arbitrarily as part of the screening process. In many cases, families of detainees did not know where they were being held, for how long, or why.

During the Mosul operation, tribal militias unlawfully detained and mistreated residents of areas retaken from ISIS.

Displacement and Movement Restrictions

Since 2014 and over the course of 2016, Human Rights Watch has documented a pattern of unlawful destruction of Arab homes and sometimes of entire Arab villages, in tandem with the deportation of residents, in areas of Kirkuk and Nineveh governorates where there was no imperative military necessity for such measures. The destruction of homes in many cases amounted to a war crime. Authorities have not allowed internally displaced people to freely move in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and the disputed territories, requiring internally displaced people to stay in camps with severe restrictions on their movement.

Freedom of Media

A 2016 International Federation of Journalists report deemed Iraq the deadliest country in the world for journalists  with more than 300 journalists killed between 1990 and 2015. In August, journalist Wedad Hussein Ali, who was allegedly affiliated with the armed Turkey-based Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), was abducted and killed in Dohuk. KRG Asayish forces had repeatedly interrogated him over the previous 12 months about his writings critical of Kurdish authorities.

In addition to these killings, authorities continue to limit press freedom. In March, Iraq's specialized Media and Publishing Court summoned al-Alam al-Jadeed's website editor, Mountadar Nasser, for questioning over a story published a month earlier which accused a regulatory telecommunication committee of corruption. Ultimately the court acquitted Nasser and dropped the defamation charges brought against him.

Also in March, the Iraqi Communications and Media Commission shut down the Cairo-based, privately owned al-Baghdadia TV. A month later, the commission withdrew Qatar-based Al Jazeera's operating license for 2016, because of "media rhetoric that incites sectarianism and violence."

Women's Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity

Many of the Yezidi women and girls who escaped ISIS and are displaced in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq lack adequate access to mental health and psychosocial services. Although some services have been provided for women who became pregnant during their captivity, safe and legal abortion services are not available. Iraqi law allows abortion only in cases of medical necessity such as a risk to a mother's life but not in cases of rape.

Women have few legal provisions and protection mechanisms to shield them from domestic violence. Iraq's penal code includes provisions on physical assault, but it lacks any explicit mention of domestic violence. While sexual assault is criminalized, article 398 provides that such charges will be dropped if the assailant marries the victim. A 2010 United Nations factsheet stated that one in five Iraqi women were subject to domestic violence, and a 2012 Ministry of Planning study found that at least 36 percent of married women have experienced some form of abuse at the hands of their husbands.

In 2015, Iraqi officials published a draft law on protection against domestic violence that parliament has yet to pass. The law has serious flaws, among others that it prioritizes reconciliation over justice for abuse victims and does not stipulate crimes of domestic violence nor adequate penalties. The law does not set out duties for police and prosecutors to respond to domestic violence, and does not provide for long-term protection for the victims.

Iraq's penal code does not prohibit same-sex intimacy, although article 394 makes it illegal to engage in extra-marital sexual relations. Due to the fact that the law does not expressly allow same-sex marriage, it effectively prohibits all same-sex relations. In July Moqtada al-Sadr, the prominent Shia opposition cleric, stated that although same-sex relationships are not acceptable, individuals who do not conform to gender norms suffer from "psychological problems," and should not be attacked.

Children in War Zones

In a June report UNICEF warned that Iraq was "one of the most dangerous places in the world for children," with 3.6 million children at risk of death, injury, sexual violence, and exploitation.

In March, when Fallujah was still under the control of ISIS, a medical source at Fallujah General Hospital said that starving children were gathering at the local hospital, as there were no more food sources available and families were left eating flat bread made from ground seeds and soup made from grass.

UNICEF estimated that the number of Iraqi children working had doubled since 1990, to more than 575,000.

In 2016, Iraqi government-backed tribal militias, known as Hashad al-Asha'ri, recruited at least 10 children from the Debaga IDP camp in Erbil governorate to fight against ISIS.

Death Penalty

Iraqi courts continued to impose the death penalty. In 2016, there were at least 63 confirmed executions. In late August 2016, Iraqi authorities executed 36 men convicted in a sham group trial for participating in the 2014 ISIS execution of between 560 and 770 Shia army recruits stationed at Camp Speicher, outside Tikrit.

Key International Actors

A US-led coalition of states including Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom carried out over 9,000 airstrikes on ISIS targets since late 2014.

The United States was the largest provider of equipment to the Iraqi military, and Germany the largest provider to the KRG's Peshmerga forces.

In September, the US deployed an additional 615 US troops, bringing the total number of US troops stationed there to at least 5,180, in order to assist in the operation to retake Mosul.

Lebanon's Hezbollah group and Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps  Al-Quds Force sent forces into combat in Iraq against ISIS.

Since 2015, the Turkish air force has carried out airstrikes on PKK positions in northern Iraq. In 2016, Turkish groundtroops entered northern Iraq and attacked ISIS positions near Mosul.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Indonesia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Indonesia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b583e13.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.

President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo's rhetorical support for human rights has yet to translate into meaningful policy initiatives to address the country's serious rights problems. In 2016, Jokowi notably failed to speak out against or otherwise address discriminatory statements and policies issued by senior government and military officials that have fueled violations of the rights of religious minorities and the country's lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) population.

Religious minorities in Indonesia continue to face discriminatory regulations and violent attacks by Islamist militant groups. Impunity for the security forces in the provinces of Papua and West Papua also remains a serious problem and dozens of Papuans remain imprisoned for nonviolent expression of their political views.

In April 2016, the government broke a decades-long taboo on open discussion of the state-backed massacres of up to 1 million alleged Communists and others in 1965-1966, hosting a symposium for survivors and victim's families to challenge the official narrative that the killings were a heroic defense of the nation against a Communist plot to overthrow the government.

However, the government has provided no details of an officially mooted accountability process for the massacres, including when it might begin operations. Jokowi's decision in July 2016 to appoint former General Wiranto as security minister, who was indicted by a UN-supported tribunal for crimes against humanity, has heightened concerns about his administration's commitment to human rights and accountability.

Jokowi continues to be outspoken in his support for the death penalty, making execution of convicted drug traffickers a symbol of his resolve as a leader. Indonesia executed four convicted drug traffickers in July 2016, but ordered a last-minute delay in the executions of 10 other death row prisoners pending a "comprehensive review" of their cases. The government has indicated that executions will continue in 2017.

Freedom of Religion

In January, Indonesian officials and security forces were complicit in the violent forced eviction of more than 7,000 members of the Gerakan Fajar Nusantara religious community, known as Gafatar, from their homes in East and West Kalimantan.

Human Rights Watch research found that security forces failed to protect members of Gafatar, standing by while mobs from the ethnic Malay and Dayak communities looted and destroyed properties owned by group members, many of whom originally came from Java. Government officials transferred Gafatar members to unofficial detention centers and then to their home towns, not as a short-term safety measure, but apparently to end their presence on the island and dissolve the religious group.

In March 2016, the Jokowi administration issued a decree banning Gafatar activities; punishments for violations include a maximum five-year prison term. The government also arrested three Gafatar leaders who face possible prison terms of life imprisonment on charges of blasphemy and treason.

In January 2016, local government authorities banned the activities of the Ahmadiyah religious community in Subang, West Java. Neither Jokowi nor other national officials spoke out or intervened to lift the ban. That same month, local government officials on Bangka Island, located off the east coast of Sumatra, instructed the island's Ahmadiyah community to convert to Sunni Islam or face forcible expulsion from the area. Neither Jokowi nor other central government officials spoke out in defense of the beleaguered Ahmadiyah communities.

In July 2016, a mob in the city of Tanjung Balai in northern Sumatra attacked and inflicted serious damage on three Buddhist temples associated with the city's ethnic Chinese community. Police deny that the attack was sectarian and arrested seven suspects in the attack.

Women's and Girls' Rights

In June 2016, Indonesia's Minister of Home Affairs Tjahjo Kumolo backtracked on his commitment to abolish rights-violating local and regional Sharia (Islamic law) regulations. Although his office annulled 3,143 other "problematic regional regulations" for violating the country's credo of "unity in diversity" and although Indonesian law stipulates that regulation of religion is for national, not regional or local authorities, the ministry left in place all existing Sharia provisions, many of them discriminatory.

Indonesia's official Commission on Violence against Women reported that, as of August 2016, the number of discriminatory national and local regulations targeting women had risen to 422, from 389 at the end of 2015. They include local laws compelling women and girls to don the hijab, or headscarf, in schools, government offices, and public spaces. While many of these laws require traditional Sunni Muslim garb both for women and men, research by Human Rights Watch indicates they disproportionately target women.

A local bylaw implemented in August in Sumedang, West Java, forbids anyone with an "eye-catching appearance" from going out alone at night. The municipal government justified the regulation on the basis that it would help discourage sexual activity.

Papua

The Jokowi administration has repeatedly said it intends to take a new approach to Indonesia's easternmost provinces, Papua and West Papua ("Papua"), home to a low-level insurgency and a peaceful pro-independence movement, including by addressing human rights concerns. The reality has not matched the rhetoric.

In April 2016, the government announced that it would seek accountability for 11 high-priority past human rights cases in Papua. They include the Biak massacre in July 1998, when security forces opened fire on participants at a peaceful flag-raising ceremony on the island, the military crackdown on Papuans in Wasior in 2001 and Wamena in 2003 that left dozens killed and thousands displaced, and the forced break-up of the Papuan People's Congress in October 2011 that left three people dead and hundreds injured. However, the government has not provided any details as to when, where, and how the cases would be addressed.

Indonesian authorities continue to restrict access by foreign journalists and rights monitors to the region. In January 2016, the Indonesian Embassy in Bangkok informed Bangkok-based France 24 correspondent Cyril Payen that it had denied his application for a journalist's visa for a reporting trip to Papua.

Indonesian government officials justified the visa rejection on the basis that Payen's previous reporting, which focused on pro-independence sentiment in the region, was "biased and unbalanced." Rather than engaging with Payen and France 24 to publicly challenge any inaccuracies in the previous reporting, authorities threatened to deny visas to Payen and any other France 24 journalists seeking to report from the country. Payen's case highlights the gap between Jokowi's announced "opening" of Papua to foreign media and the reality facing journalists still blocked from reporting there.

On May 2, Indonesian police detained more than 1,500 supporters of Papuan independence for "lacking a permit to hold a rally." Police released the detainees after several hours without charge, but their detention underlines the official lack of tolerance for peaceful expression of political aspirations in Papua. At the end of August 2016, 37 Papuan activists remained imprisoned after being convicted of rebellion or treason ("makar"), many for nonviolent "crimes" such as public display of the pro-independence Morning Star flag.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Starting in January 2016, high-ranking Indonesian officials made a series of vitriolic anti-LGBT statements and policy pronouncements, fueling increased threats and at times violent attacks on LGBT activists and individuals, primarily by Islamist militants. In some cases, the threats and violence occurred in the presence, and with the tacit support, of government officials or security forces.

State institutions, including the National Broadcasting Commission and the National Child Protection Commission, issued censorship directives banning information and broadcasts that portrayed the lives of LGBT people as "normal" as well as so-called propaganda about LGBT lives. Ministries proposed discriminatory and regressive anti-LGBT laws.

In July and August, the Constitutional Court heard a petition that proposed amending the criminal code to criminalize sex outside of marriage and same-sex sexual relations. During the initial hearings, the petitioners  led by a group called the Family Love Alliance  put forward ill-informed and bigoted testimony similar to the anti-LGBT rhetoric espoused by Indonesian officials and politicians earlier in the year. The government, the respondent in the case, said criminalizing sex out of wedlock would make "the sinner a criminal, and the government authoritarian," a view echoed in testimony by the National Commission on Violence Against Women and other groups opposed to the petition. At time of writing the court had not yet ruled on the petition.

Military Reform and Impunity

Indonesia's Attorney General Muhammad Prasetyo announced in May 2015 that the government would form a "Reconciliation Commission" to seek a "permanent solution for all unresolved human rights abuses" of the past half century. Prasetyo said the cases would include the state-sanctioned massacres of 1965-1966, in which the military and military-backed vigilantes killed up to 1 million people.

The government provided no further details of when the "Reconciliation Commission" might begin operations or how the process of accountability would proceed. Paramilitary and nationalist groups that oppose accountability have criticized calls for redress for past rights abuses as an attempt "to revive communism."

Jokowi's July 2016 decision to appoint Wiranto, indicted as a crimes against humanity suspect by a UN-backed tribunal, as security minister heightened concerns about the Jokowi administration's commitment to human rights and accountability.

Children's Rights

Thousands of children in Indonesia, some just 8 years old, are working in hazardous conditions on tobacco farms. Child tobacco workers are exposed to nicotine, handle toxic chemicals, use sharp tools, lift heavy loads, and work in extreme heat. The work can have lasting consequences for their health and development. Indonesian and multinational tobacco companies buy tobacco grown in Indonesia, but none do enough to ensure that children are not doing hazardous work on farms in their supply chains. Human Rights Watch has called on the Indonesian government and tobacco companies to prohibit children from work that involves direct contact with tobacco, inspect farms to ensure children are not in danger, and carry out an extensive public education and training program to raise awareness of the health risks to children of work in tobacco farming.

Disability Rights

Despite a 1977 government ban on the practice, more than 18,000 people with psychosocial disabilities (mental health conditions) in Indonesia are currently subjected to pasung  being shackled or locked up in small confined spaces  sometimes for months or years at a time.

Due to prevalent stigma and the absence of adequate community-based support services or mental health care, people with psychosocial disabilities often end up locked-up in overcrowded and unsanitary institutions without their consent, where they face abuse ranging from physical and sexual violence to involuntary treatment including shackling, electroshock therapy, isolation, and forced contraception.

The Rights of Persons with Disabilities Bill was passed by the Indonesian parliament in March 2016. While the bill represents a major advancement, it does not fully comply with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Indonesia ratified in 2011.

During a meeting with Human Rights Watch in April 2016, Indonesia's minister of health, Nila Moeloek, orally committed to providing mental health medication in all 9,500 community health centers (puskesmas) across the country. Government implementation of this commitment could help turn the tide against shackling.

Refugees and Asylum Seekers

In June, the government acceded to international pressure and allowed a boatload of 44 Sri Lankans stranded on a beach in northern Aceh province to come ashore and receive assistance from UN and International Organization for Migration personnel. The decision followed a 10-day standoff in which Indonesian authorities refused to allow the group to disembark and instead insisted that the boat leave Indonesian waters after being resupplied and refueled.

According to UN refugee agency data, as of February 2016 there were 13,829 refugees and asylum seekers in Indonesia, all living in legal limbo because Indonesia is not a party to the Refugee Convention and lacks an asylum law. This number included 4,723 people detained in immigration centers, including unaccompanied children.

Key International Actors

Jokowi's support for the use of the death penalty against convicted drug traffickers has strained ties over the past year with close bilateral allies, including Australia. The likelihood of more executions in 2017 will continue to make that issue a sore point in Indonesia's foreign relations.

A July 2016 decision by a UN-backed tribunal in The Hague against China's claims in the South China Sea will bolster and ensure the continuance of joint military exercises and intelligence sharing with the United States in 2017. Indonesia's own claims of an exclusive economic zone in that area may fuel more disputes between Indonesian navy patrols and Chinese fishing boats in the coming year. However, the Indonesian government's passive and active complicity in hateful anti-LGBT rhetoric and moves toward discriminatory legislation over the past year will likely continue to be an irritant in US ties.

In August, the US government called on Indonesia to "respect and uphold international rights and standards" after Jokowi's spokesman Johan Budi declared that there was "no room" for the LGBT community in Indonesia.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - India

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - India, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b583f13.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.

Limits on free speech and attacks on religious minorities, often led by vigilante groups that claim to be supporters of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), are an increasing concern in India. In 2016, students were accused of sedition for expressing their views; people who raised concerns over challenges to civil liberties were deemed anti-Indian; Dalits and Muslims were attacked on suspicion they had killed, stolen, or sold cows for beef; and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) came under pressure due to India's restrictive foreign funding regulations.

A crackdown on violent protests in Jammu and Kashmir beginning in July killed over 90 people and injured hundreds, fueling further discontent against government forces. Impunity for police and security forces largely continued amid new allegations of torture and extrajudicial killings, including reports of sexual assault and other abuses by security forces in the central Indian state of Chhattisgarh.

There were also some positive developments in 2016. The Narendra Modi government took steps toward ensuring greater access to financial services such as banking, insurance, and pensions for economically marginalized Indians and launched a campaign to make modern sanitation available to more households. In July, the Supreme Court of India took a strong stand against impunity for security forces, ruling that the Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act (AFSPA) does not protect soldiers from prosecution for abuses committed while deployed in internal armed conflicts. The court also gave new life to a challenge to a discriminatory colonial-era law criminalizing homosexuality.

Security Forces Abuses and Lack of Accountability

Indian law makes it difficult, if not impossible, to prosecute public officials. Section 197 of the Criminal Procedure Code bars courts from recognizing any offenses (except sexual offenses) alleged to have been committed by public servants in the discharge of their official duties unless the central or a state government permits prosecution. In August, a special court discharged Gujarat police officer Rajkumar Pandian from a 2005 extrajudicial killing case under this provision. Pandian was the 12th defendant to be discharged in the case.

In rare cases in 2016, police were held accountable for abuses. In January, four policemen in Mumbai were sentenced to seven years in prison for their role in the death of a 20-year-old man in police custody. In April, 47 policemen were sentenced to life in prison for involvement in the killing of 11 Sikhs in 1991 in the Pilibhit district of Uttar Pradesh state.

Despite calls for repeal of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, soldiers continue to have immunity from prosecution when deployed in areas of internal conflict. In July 2016, however, the Supreme Court of India, in a decision ordering an investigation into 1,528 cases of alleged extrajudicial killings in Manipur state, ruled that the AFSPA does not provide immunity to security force personnel who use excessive or retaliatory force, and that every alleged extrajudicial killing should be investigated. The confession of a Manipuri policeman in January that he had acted on orders to kill more than 100 suspected militants between 2002 and 2009 exposed how police had adopted illegal practices long associated with the army and paramilitary forces.

In October, authorities resisted calls for investigation into the killing of eight prisoners who escaped a high security prison in Madhya Pradesh state, fueling concerns that any wrongdoing by police would go unpunished.

Violent protests erupted in July after the killing of Burhan Wani and two other Hizb-ul-Mujahedin militants in an armed exchange with government forces in Jammu and Kashmir. In all, over 90 protesters and two police officers were killed, and hundreds of others were injured. The Central Reserve Police Force, a paramilitary unit, defended the use of shotguns that fired pellets and resulted in hundreds of eye injuries, even as they told the Jammu and Kashmir High Court that "it was difficult to follow the standard operating procedure given the nature of the protests."

Security forces operating against Maoist insurgents continue to be accused of serious human rights violations, including sexual assault. Numerous tribal villagers have been arbitrarily arrested as Maoist sympathizers. In July, security forces in Odisha killed five tribal villagers, including a 2-year-old child, claiming they were killed in crossfire during anti-Maoist operations, an assertion disputed by the National Commission of Scheduled Tribes.

In June, after 21-year-old tribal woman Madkam Hidke was killed in an alleged gunfight with armed Maoists in Chhattisgarh's Sukma district, family members and rights activists alleged that security personnel had forcibly picked her up from her home, gang raped her, and then killed her. In August, security forces killed a 19-year-old in Bastar region in Chhattisgarh in what activists alleged was an extrajudicial killing.

Treatment of Dalits, Tribal Groups, and Religious Minorities

Hindu vigilante groups attacked Muslims and Dalits over suspicions that they had killed, stolen, or sold cows for beef. The violence took place amid an aggressive push by several BJP leaders and militant Hindu groups to protect cows and ban beef consumption.

In March 2016, a Muslim cattle trader, Mohammed Mazlum Ansari, 35, and a 12-year-old boy, Mohammed Imteyaz Khan, were found hanging from a tree in Jharkhand state, their hands tied behind their backs and their bodies bruised. In August, a man was killed in Karnataka state by members of a nationalist Hindu group while transporting cows.

In July, four men in Gujarat were stripped, tied to a car, and publicly beaten with sticks and belts over suspicions of cow slaughter.

The government's continuing failure to rein in militant groups, combined with inflammatory remarks made by some BJP leaders, has contributed to the impression that leaders are indifferent to growing intolerance.

A 2016 report on caste-based discrimination by the UN special rapporteur on minority issues noted that caste-affected groups continue to suffer exclusion and dehumanization. In January, the suicide of Rohith Vemula, a 25-year-old Dalit student, drew renewed attention to entrenched caste-based discrimination in Indian society, and sparked nationwide protests by students and activists calling for reforms in higher education.

In June, a special court in Gujarat convicted 24 people for their involvement in the mass killing of 69 people by a Hindu mob in Gulberg Society, a Muslim neighborhood in Ahmedabad, during the 2002 Gujarat riots. While pronouncing the verdict, the court called the killings the "darkest day in the history of civil society." But some victims' families, lawyers, and rights activists criticized the acquittals of senior BJP leaders and a police official.

Freedom of Speech

Authorities continue to use sedition and criminal defamation laws to prosecute citizens who criticize government officials or oppose state policies. In a blow to free speech, the government in 2016 argued before the Supreme Court in favor of retaining criminal penalties for defamation. The court upheld the law.

In February, authorities arrested three students at the Jawaharlal Nehru University in Delhi under the sedition law for alleged anti-national speech, acting on complaints by members of the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the ruling BJP. These arrests led to widespread protests over the arbitrary use of the sedition law.

In August, police in southern Karnataka state filed a sedition case against Amnesty International India based on a complaint by ABVP, alleging that anti-Indian slogans were raised at a meeting organized by Amnesty on abuses in Kashmir. Police later claimed, however, that they did not have sufficient evidence to proceed with charges. The same month, an actor-turned-politician in the state also faced sedition charges after she praised the friendship and courtesy she received in Pakistan.

In August, the Karnataka High Court called the state government "clearly paranoid" for pressing sedition charges against three people, including two former policemen, for organizing a protest seeking better police wages and working conditions.

In Chhattisgarh, journalists, lawyers, and civil society activists faced harassment and arrest. In March, the Editors Guild of India reported that media in Chhattisgarh state were "working under tremendous pressure" from authorities, Maoist rebels, and vigilante groups.

Civil Society and Freedom of Association

The Modi government continues to use the Foreign Contribution Regulation Act (FCRA), which regulates foreign funding for civil society organizations, to cut off funds and stymie the activities of organizations that question or criticize the government or its policies. In April 2016, Maina Kiai, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association, analyzed the FCRA and said that restrictions imposed by the law and its rules "are not in conformity with international law, principles and standards."

In May, the government temporarily suspended the FCRA status of the Lawyers Collective, an organization founded by Indira Jaising, a former additional solicitor general, and her husband, Anand Grover, a former UN special rapporteur on the right to health. The Lawyers Collective accused the government of attempting to disempower and weaken the organization because of its work assisting people in cases challenging Modi government policies. In June, three UN special rapporteurs released a statement raising concerns over the suspension and calling on the government to repeal FCRA. In November, the government refused to renew FCRA for 25 NGOs, including several prominent human rights groups.

Even as authorities were using FCRA to tighten restrictions on NGOs, the government amended the law in March to retroactively legalize funding by foreign entities to political parties.

Women's Rights

Despite some high-profile rape and sexual assault prosecutions, new reports of gang rapes, domestic violence, acid attacks, and murders of women in 2016 continued to spotlight the need for concerted government action to improve women's safety and ensure prompt police investigation of such crimes. Women and girls with disabilities in particular continue to face barriers to accessing justice for violence against them.

In March, the Bombay High Court directed the Maharashtra state government to ensure that women are not denied entry to any place of worship that allows men access. Following the decision, two temples in the state opened their inner sanctum to women. In August, the High Court further ordered that women be allowed to enter the Mumbai-based Muslim shrine, Haji Ali. A case pending before the Supreme Court at time of writing will determine whether women of menstrual age are allowed to enter the Kerala-based Sabarimala Ayyappa Hindu temple. Sabarimala is one of the few Hindu temples to restrict entry of women aged 10 to 50, saying menstruating women are impure. In April, the Supreme Court had observed that "[g]ender discrimination in such a matter is unacceptable."

In October, the government told the Supreme Court that the practice of triple talaq (giving Muslim men the right to unilaterally divorce their wives by uttering the phrase "I divorce you" three times), a part of Muslim personal law, violates fundamental constitutional rights and inhibits gender equality. The government's statement was made in response to petitions filed by the organization Muslim Women's Quest for Equality and others seeking to have triple talaq deemed unconstitutional.

Children's Rights

In January 2016, the new Juvenile Justice Act came into force, permitting prosecution of 16- and 17-year-olds in adult court when charged with serious crimes such as rape and murder. The law was enacted despite strong opposition from children's rights activists and the National Commission for Protection of Child Rights.

In July, the parliament approved a new law against child labor that bans all forms of employment of children below age 14, with an exception for children of all ages who work in family enterprises where such work does not interfere with their schooling. Indian activists opposed the law saying it left children from poor and marginalized communities open to exploitation in the absence of effective implementation of the right to education law, emphasizing that most child labor occurs invisibly within families.

Violent protests in Kashmir that began in July 2016 led to disruption in children's education as schools were forced to close for months; at least 32 schools were burned down and several were taken over by paramilitary forces who set up temporary camps inside.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In February 2016, the Supreme Court of India allowed a challenge to section 377 of the penal code to proceed, referring the case to a five-judge bench. The colonial-era provision, which the court had upheld in 2013, criminalizes same-sex relations between adults. In June, several well-known LGBT professionals filed a petition in Supreme Court arguing that section 377 violates the right to life and personal liberty.

In August, the government introduced a new bill in parliament on the rights of transgender persons. The bill was flawed, however, by provisions that were inconsistent with the 2014 Supreme Court ruling that recognized transgender individuals as a third gender and found them eligible for quotas in jobs and education.

Rights of People with Disabilities

Women and girls with psychosocial or intellectual disabilities in India continue to be locked up in overcrowded and unsanitary state mental hospitals and residential institutions, without their consent, due to stigma and the absence of adequate community-based support and mental health services. After a Human Rights Watch report revealed the range of abuses such women face in institutions, the National Commission for Women took up its first-ever study of the issue.

India's Upper House of Parliament passed a new mental health bill in August 2016. The law fails, however, to comply fully with the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, including its provision that people with disabilities should enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life, with appropriate measures to provide support they may require in exercising their legal capacity.

Death Penalty

There were no executions in 2016, but some 385 prisoners remained on death row. Most of the prisoners belong to marginalized communities or religious minorities. Indian courts have recognized that the death penalty has been imposed disproportionately and in a discriminatory manner against disadvantaged groups in India.

Foreign Policy

Relations between India and Pakistan deteriorated in 2016. Following the outbreak of renewed violence in Jammu and Kashmir in July, the government of Pakistan called on the UN secretary-general for an independent inquiry and plebiscite under UN supervision.

The Indian government rejected Pakistan's allegations and request, accusing Pakistan of stirring up trouble in the region and of using terrorism as an instrument of state policy. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called attention to what he called "atrocities" committed by Pakistan in Balochistan and Pakistan-administered Kashmir in his speeches, including on India's Independence Day. Tensions further escalated in September after the Indian government claimed its security forces had attacked militant sites inside Pakistan in response to an attack on an Indian army base in Jammu and Kashmir that killed 19 soldiers.

India's voting record on rights issues at the UN was disappointing. In May, the government abstained from voting on a bid by the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom group, for UN accreditation. In July, the government abstained on a resolution that created a UN expert post to address discrimination against LGBT persons and voted in favor of amendments to weaken the mandate, saying India's Supreme Court was still to decide on the issue of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights.

India pushed Nepal to adopt an inclusive constitution that accommodated the aspirations of minority groups in the southern plains adjoining the Indian border. India continued to press Sri Lanka to address the demands of minority Tamils.

India and US strengthened security collaboration. In July, Modi addressed a joint session of the US Congress, noting a shared commitment to combating climate change and terrorism.

In October, India hosted the BRICS (Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa) summit. While the prime minister spoke of partnering to address security challenges and economic uncertainties, there was no mention of working to uphold international human rights principles.

In October, India ratified the Paris agreement on climate change, which 195 countries adopted in December 2015.

Key International Actors

A US Congressional Commission held a hearing in July 2016 on the human rights situation in India, coinciding with Modi's visit to Washington. The hearing spotlighted issues of violence against marginalized communities and religious minorities such as Muslims and Christians.

A 2016 report by the US Commission on International Religious Freedom said religious tolerance had "deteriorated" and "religious freedom violations" had increased in India. During his visit to India in June, US Senator Ben Cardin, a ranking member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, expressed concerns over religious intolerance, anti-conversion laws, and extrajudicial killings in the country. In August, during his India visit, US Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized the need to protect the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful protest.

In a joint statement following the India-European Union summit in March attended by Modi and the heads of the European Council and European Commission, the leaders "highlighted the need for efforts to ensure gender equality and respect for women and girls' human rights."

In August, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein expressed regret at the failure of Indian and Pakistani authorities to grant his office access to Jammu and Kashmir for a fact-finding visit. "Without access, we can only fear the worst," he said.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Honduras

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Honduras, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584013.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.

Rampant crime and impunity for human rights abuses remain the norm in Honduras. Despite a downward trend in recent years, the murder rate is among the highest in the world. Journalists, peasant activists, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) individuals are among those most vulnerable to violence. Berta Caceres, a prominent environmental and indigenous-rights activist, was killed in March 2016; police had failed to investigate threats on her life.

Efforts to reform the institutions responsible for providing public security have made little progress. Marred by corruption and abuse, the judiciary and police remain largely ineffective.

In April, members of a commission created by an agreement between the Organization of American States (OAS) and the government  the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH)  began operating in Honduras. The commission's mandate includes selecting and overseeing a group of judges, prosecutors, police officers, and forensic scientists to pursue corruption cases.

Police Abuse and Corruption

The use of lethal force by the national police is a chronic problem. Investigations into police abuses are hindered by inefficiency and corruption; little information about them is made public, and impunity is the rule. Efforts to address endemic corruption have made little progress.

In April, police files surfaced showing that high-level commanders, acting under orders from Winter Blanco, a cartel leader from the Caribbean coast, had ordered the 2009 assassination of the chief of the Anti-Drug Directorate, Julian Aristides Gonzalez Irias, and, two years later, of his adviser, Alfredo Landaverde. A police-reform commission appointed in response to the revelations announced the removal from active duty of 27 police commanders, including two former chiefs of the national police. Foreign Minister Arturo Corrales, a former security minister, resigned.

President Juan Orlando Hernandez has expanded the military's role in combating violent crime. The National Human Rights Commission (CONADEH), in a December 2015 report, listed complaints it has received against the Military Police and Army personnel, alleging abuses that include killings, abductions, torture, rapes, and robberies.

Judicial Independence

Judges face politically motivated intimidation and interference. In December 2012, Congress voted to remove four of the five justices in the Supreme Court's Constitutional Chamber after the justices ruled that a law aimed at addressing police corruption was unconstitutional.

The replacement of the four justices was part of a broader pattern of interference. By December 2014, the Council of Judiciary, established in 2011 with authority to appoint and dismiss judges, had fired 29 and suspended another 28, according to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), although the basis for disciplinary action and the applicable penalties had yet to be defined by law.

Attacks on Journalists, Lawyers, Human Rights Defenders, Environmental Activists

The IACHR described Honduras in August as "one of the most hostile and dangerous countries for human rights defenders." Journalists, lawyers, and human rights defenders suffer threats, attacks, and killings. Twenty-one journalists were murdered from 2014 through May 2016, according to the National Human Rights Commission (CONADEH). Almost all killings of journalists go unpunished.

In 2015, the government enacted a law that created a 14-member National Council for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders (NCPHRD), as well as a "protection system" headed by the Secretariat of Justice, Human Rights, Governance, and Decentralization. The Committee against Torture (CAT) noted that the NCPHRD is moving slowly on 38 petitions for protection received through May 2016.

In March, Berta Caceres, an indigenous land rights and environmental defender, was shot dead in her home. Although she had reported to police 33 threats on her life, none were investigated. Caceres, a member of Honduras' largest indigenous group, the Lenca, had waged a campaign to stop the building of the Agua Zarca Dam, which the activists condemn as a threat to the Gualcarque River. Five men, including an army major and the manager for social and environmental matters for Desarrollos Energeticos (DESA), the firm contracted to build the dam, were arrested in early May for alleged participation in Caceres's murder, which prosecutors said was part of a conspiracy with DESA. A sixth suspect was arrested in September.

Criminal Defamation

In July, Honduran television journalist Ariel Armando D'Vicente was convicted of defamation, sentenced to three years in prison, and banned for three years from working as a journalist. The charges arose from a series of reports in 2014, in which D'Vicente linked the police commander of Choluteca Department to cattle smuggling gangs. D'Vicente remains free pending appeal of his conviction.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Homophobic violence is a major problem in Honduras. In June, several United Nations agencies working in Honduras urged the government to investigate killings of LGBTI activists and noted that sexual violence against LGBTI individuals forces them into "internal displacement" or to flee the country in search of international protection.

Violence against Children

Fear of gang violence drives hundreds of children every year to leave the country and head north, often unaccompanied. According to a report by UNICEF and the National Violence Observatory of the Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Honduras (UNAH), the number of child homicides rose from 434 in 2014 to 570 in 2015.

Prison Conditions

Inhumane conditions, including overcrowding, inadequate nutrition, and poor sanitation, are endemic to Honduran prisons. Designed to hold up to 8,600 inmates, the country's lockups held more than 16,000 in December 2015. Prison guards in many facilities have effectively relinquished control and discipline to the inmates.

Key International Actors

In January, the OAS signed an agreement with the Honduran government creating the Mission to Support the Fight against Corruption and Impunity in Honduras (MACCIH). President Hernandez had proposed the collaboration in July 2015, after protests demanding a commission similar to Guatemala's International Commission Against Impunity (CICIG). MACCIH began operating in April.

In November 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found that Honduras violated the rights of four judges who were dismissed for opposing the 2009 military coup against former President Zelaya. The ruling obligated Honduras to reinstate three of the judges  one had already been reinstated  or, if the government could show reinstatement was not possible, compensate them for lost pay. In response to the ruling, the government claimed that lack of vacant posts prevented reinstatement of the judges, and opted to pay reparations.

The US Congress allotted US$98.3 million in bilateral aid for fiscal year 2016, of which 75 percent was contingent on certification of the government's progress on issues including the protection of human rights, the combatting of corruption, and the strengthening of public institutions.

On September 30, 2016, the Department of State certified to the US Congress that Honduras has taken effective steps to meet the criteria specified in the Fiscal Year 2016 appropriation legislation.

In June, Honduras signed an agreement with the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) for the opening of a UNHCR office to aid in the protection of people internally displaced by violence, as well as refugees who are returned by the US and Mexico.

In May, in response to Caceres' killing and the filing of charges against an employee of DESA, the Dutch development bank, FMO, and the Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation, Finnfund, announced they would withdraw their financing for the Agua Zarca Dam.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Haiti

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Haiti, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584113.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 continuing political crisis in Haiti, spurred by contested presidential elections in 2015, led to a power vacuum at the head of state. President Michel Martelly's term of office expired in February 2016, and the 120-day term of provisional President Jocelerme Privert expired in June, though he remained in office at time of writing. A new parliament took office in January 2016, after effectively shutting down in 2015, but continued protracted stalemates over presidential and remaining parliamentary elections hampered legislators' ability to tackle pending priorities.

The crisis hindered the Haitian government's ability to meet the basic needs of its people, resolve longstanding human rights problems, or address continuing humanitarian crises, even as a new crisis emerged. In October 2016, Hurricane Matthew, a devastating storm, hit Haiti's southwest. President Privert estimated the losses surpassed the entire national budget and warned of an impending serious food crisis, driven by the loss of crops from the storm.

As of August, authorities had failed to assist many of the 61,000 individuals still living in displacement camps since the 2010 earthquake to resettle or return to their places of origin, and many continued to face environmental risks and the threat of forced evictions. An ongoing drought affecting much of the country pushed the number of people living with food insecurity to one-third of the population.

Haiti's cholera epidemic has claimed more than 9,300 lives and infected more than 780,000 people in five years. There were more than 21,000 suspected cases and, as of July, 200 deaths in 2016. Cholera cases surged in October in the communities most impacted by Hurricane Matthew. In November, an ambitious campaign aimed to vaccinate more than 800,000 people in seven days.

Electoral Crisis

Presidential and run-off parliamentary elections in October 2015 were contested, and second-round elections were deferred multiple times. To thwart a constitutional crisis when President Martelly's term ended on February 7 without an elected successor, Martelly signed an agreement with the president of the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies that established a short-term solution. Prime Minister Evans Paul served in the presidency until the National Assembly selected a provisional president, Jocelerme Privert, to serve for a 120-day term, during which new presidential elections were scheduled. But the April elections were postponed, and Privert's term expired before a successor was elected. At time of writing, Privert was still acting as president.

In June, a special commission confirmed fraud and irregularities in the 2015 presidential and run-off parliamentary elections and scheduled a new first-round presidential election to be held in October. Presidential campaigning began in September. Due to Hurricane Matthew, the elections were further postponed and finally took place November 20. They proceeded without major reported incidents. At time of writing, the outcome of the November elections was not known. If none of the 27 candidates received more than 50 percent of the vote, a run-off election was scheduled for January 29, 2017.

Criminal Justice System

Haiti's prison system remained severely overcrowded, with many inmates living in inhumane conditions. According to United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, nearly all of the almost 11,000 inmates in Haiti's national prison system have access to less than one square meter of space and most face 23 hours of confinement a day. Overcrowding is attributed to high numbers of arbitrary arrests and overuse of pretrial detention. According to Ban, more than 70 percent of suspects are held pending trial. Although the UN and international donors have supported several initiatives to reduce the percentage, it barely budged in 2016.

Illiteracy and Barriers to Education

Approximately one in two Haitians age 15 and older is illiterate. The UN independent expert on Haiti said in 2015 that action to eradicate illiteracy is one of the top human rights priorities in Haiti.

More than 200,000 children remain out of primary school in the country. The quality of education is generally low, and 90 percent of schools are run by private entities that charge school fees that can be prohibitively expensive for low-income families. In March, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Haiti to establish a comprehensive regulatory framework for  and to monitor regularly  private education providers, to ensure that, among other recommendations, they comply with quality standards and regularly report to relevant authorities on their financial operations, including on school fees and salaries.

Accountability for Past Abuses

The Human Rights Committee and the UN independent expert on Haiti have both called on Haiti to continue investigations into financial and human rights crimes allegedly committed during former President Jean-Claude Duvalier's tenure as president from 1971 to 1986. They have called on Haiti to bring to justice all those responsible for serious human rights violations committed during Duvalier's tenure. Allegations of violations include arbitrary detentions, torture, disappearances, summary executions, and forced exile.

Duvalier died in 2014, six months after the Port-of-Prince Court of Appeal ruled that the statute of limitations could not be applied to crimes against humanity and ordered that investigations against him should continue. At time of writing, a reopened investigation into crimes committed by Duvalier's collaborators remained pending.

Violence against Women

Gender-based violence is a widespread problem. Haiti does not have specific legislation domestic violence, sexual harassment, or other forms of violence targeted at women. Rape is only criminalized according to a 2005 ministerial decree. In March, the UN Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women called on Haiti to expedite the adoption of a draft law on violence against women. The political crisis prevented progress towards consideration of the bill or a similarly pending criminal code reform that would address gaps in protection.

Children's Domestic Labor

Widespread use of child domestic workers  known as restavek  continues. Restaveks, most of whom are girls, are sent from low-income households to live with wealthier families in the hope that they will be schooled and cared for in exchange for performing light chores. Though difficult to calculate, some estimates suggest that between 225,000 and 300,000 children work as restaveks. These children are often unpaid, denied education, and physically or sexually abused. Haiti's labor code does not set a minimum age for work in domestic services, though the minimum age for work in industrial, agricultural, and commercial enterprises is 15. In March, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child called on Haiti to criminalize the practice of placing children in domestic service.

Deportation and Statelessness for Dominicans of Haitian Descent

At least 135,000 Dominicans of Haitian descent and Haitian migrants working in the Dominican Republic reentered Haiti between July 2015 and August 2016, after Dominican officials deported more than 27,000 people and another 24,254 were deported without official documentation, others fled under pressure or threat. This occurred in accordance with a controversial 2015 regularization plan for foreigners in the Dominican Republic. Many deportations did not meet international standards and many people have been swept up in arbitrary, summary deportations without any sort of hearing.

Some of the poorest arrivals live in unofficial camps in the Anse a Pitres area, in harsh conditions with little or no access to basic services. Humanitarians relocated 580 families from these camps into housing in April and May 2016.

Key International Actors

The UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH) has been operating since 2004 and has contributed to efforts to improve public security, protect vulnerable groups, and strengthen the country's democratic institutions. The UN Security Council has extended MINUSTAH's mandate through April 15, 2017.

In August, prompted by a report of the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, a spokesperson for the UN secretary-general said that MINUSTAH needed "to do more regarding its own involvement in the initial outbreak and the suffering of those affected by cholera."

In October, the special rapporteur formally issued his report, criticizing the UN's Office of Legal Affairs and alleging that the office came up "with patently artificial and wholly unfounded legal pretense for insisting that the [UN] must not take responsibility for what it has done." The same month, the UN deputy secretary general announced the UN's new approach to cholera in Haiti, which included both an intensification to treat and eliminate cholera, and plans to develop a framework for material assistance to those most affected by cholera.

In a special session of the UN General Assembly in December, the UN secretary-general apologized on behalf of the UN. "We simply did not do enough with regard to the cholera outbreak and its spread in Haiti. We are profoundly sorry for our role," he said. He called the provision of material assistance a "concrete expression" of the UN's "regret" for the suffering of many Haitians. Initial responses from victims were positive, although they highlighted that consultations for implementing the UN plans needed to be robust.

In August, an appeal filed in 2013 by the Institute for Justice and Democracy in Haiti and the Bureau des Avocats Internationaux on behalf of 5,000 victims of the epidemic was dismissed in United States federal court. At time of writing, no petition to the US Supreme Court had been filed. To date, there has been no independent adjudication of the facts surrounding the introduction of cholera and the question of the UN's involvement.

According to figures from the UN Office of Internal Oversight Services, at least 102 allegations of sexual abuse or exploitation have been made against MINUSTAH personnel since 2007.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Guinea

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Guinea, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584213.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.

During 2016, the government of President Alpha Conde, who won a second term as president in flawed elections in late 2015, made some gains in consolidating the rule of law and addressing security force violations. A national dialogue between the ruling and opposition parties reduced ethnic and communal tensions and led to a roadmap for long-delayed local elections to be held in early 2017.

However, continued deficiencies within the police and judiciary, along with several risk factors  notably high unemployment, organized crime, and regional insecurity  highlighted the fragility of these gains.

Reports of human rights violations by security forces declined, and authorities demonstrated increased willingness to investigate and sanction those implicated in violations, notably those which had been widely reported in the local media.

Though the government allowed several opposition demonstrations to take place, thereby improving its respect for the right to freedom of assembly, little progress was made on improving access to key economic rights, including health care and primary education. Violence against girls and women remained high.

The judiciary made progress in the investigation into the 2009 stadium massacre of unarmed demonstrators by security forces, but largely failed to investigate other past episodes of state-sponsored violence. The justice ministry embarked on a major reorganization of the judiciary to improve the dispensation of justice, but concerns over prison overcrowding, unprofessional conduct by judicial personnel, and lack of judicial independence remain.

International actors  notably the European Union, United Nations, France, and the United States  focused on ensuring political dialogue between the ruling party and the opposition, though they infrequently pushed for progress on accountability. Donors supported programs to strengthen the rule of law, address unemployment, and improve discipline within the security sector.

Security Force Abuses

Discipline within and civilian control over the security forces appeared to improve as those mandated to respond to civil unrest  the police and gendarmerie  did so with increasing proportionality. However, in several cases, members of the security forces mistreated and at times tortured detainees as they responded to protests and criminality. There were also numerous allegations of unprofessional conduct, including theft and extortion.

In March, a widely circulated cell phone video of a criminal suspect being tortured by members of an elite anti-crime unit in Conkary was condemned by the public and government. In May, several officers from the police and the gendarmerie were questioned by investigating judges for physical violence against demonstrators in April. In June, an army colonel was removed from his post after he and several subordinates severely beat and shot residents who they accused of stalling their convoy. In August, a police captain was detained and, at time of writing, was under investigation for excessive use of lethal force that killed a bystander and injured several protestors during a demonstration.

In sharp contrast to the lack of government response following similar incidents in previous years, these cases in 2016 elicited administrative sanctions, investigations, and commitments to deliver justice. However, at time of writing, none of the alleged perpetrators in these cases had yet been held to account.

Justice for the 2009 Stadium Massacre

More than seven years on, Guinea has yet to deliver justice for the grave crimes committed in September 2009, when security forces massacred some 150 opposition supporters and raped over 100 women. The crimes were committed during the military rule of then-Cpt. Moussa Dadis Camara.

The panel of judges appointed in 2010 to investigate the massacre has made important strides despite political, financial, and logistical obstacles. They have interviewed more than 400 victims and charged some 15 suspects, including several high-level members of the security forces and the former junta leader, Camara.

While the investigation appeared to enjoy increased political and financial support from the government, the failure to suspend high-level suspects from their government posts, the March appointment of accused Gen. Mathurin Bangoura to the position of governor of Conakry, and the failure to close the investigation, raised concern.

At time of writing several investigative aspects remained outstanding, including the questioning of key witnesses and locating mass graves believed to contain the bodies of some 100 victims who remained unaccounted for.

Accountability for Election-Related Crimes

During 2016, there was little progress in investigating or holding to account members of the security forces or mobs allegedly involved in numerous episodes of political and electoral violence, perpetrated both before and after President Conde took office in 2010.

These include the alleged killing by the security forces of some 130 unarmed demonstrators in 2007, some 60 opposition supporters protesting the delay in holding parliamentary elections in 2013-2014, and at least 10 people in the run-up to the 2015 presidential poll.

There was similarly no accountability for other 2015 election-related abuses including the beating to death of two men and rape of one woman by mobs linked to the opposition, or the extensive looting and destruction of property in markets by mobs associated with the ruling party, at times allegedly in complicity with the security forces.

However, in October, the government agreed to pay reparations to victims of the 2013 political violence, including to the wounded, the families of those killed, and victims of looting and pillage.

Truth-Telling Mechanism and National Human Rights Commission

In August, the Provisional Commission on National Reconciliation (CPRN) submitted its final report to President Conde. The CPRN was established by presidential decree in 2011 to explore the roots of decades of political and communal violence and present a roadmap for addressing them. The report made 22 recommendations, including the creation of an independent truth-telling commission, justice for key perpetrators, and reparations for victims of political and communal violence.

The National Human Rights Commission (INIDH), established in 2015 and mandated by Guinea's 2010 constitution, largely failed to fulfil its mandate and suffered from a lack of credibility as a few commissioners quit amid concerns over lack of fiscal transparency.

Judiciary and Detention Conditions

The year saw the beginning of a major reorganization of the justice system aimed at strengthening its independence, impartiality, and efficiency. The changes are part of a multi-year justice sector reform project and were mandated by a 2015 law which reorganized the judiciary. However, there were concerns that the low budgetary allocation for the judiciary  around 0.5 percent of the national budget  would slow down the implementation of the plan, which mandates the construction and staffing of several new courthouses.

Guinean prisons and detention centers operate far below international standards, with severe overcrowding due to the systematic use of provisional detention, weak case management, and the failure of the courts to meet regularly. Overcrowding and conditions in Guinea's largest detention facility in the capital Conakry, designed for 300 detainees, worsened in 2016 as it regularly accommodated more than 1500. The construction of a new prison to address overcrowding stalled. An estimated 60 percent of prisoners in Guinea are held in prolonged pretrial detention. Unprofessional conduct in the judicial sector, including absenteeism and corruption, contribute to persistent detention-related abuses.

The Superior Council of Judges (Conseil Superieur de la Magistrature), established in 2015, continued to fulfill its mandate to investigate and discipline judges. During 2016, some 20 cases were investigated by the CSM, and several judges sanctioned for corruption and unprofessional conduct.

Women's and Children's Rights

In September, the Guinean government and local organizations launched a campaign to combat female genital mutilation (FGM). An estimated 97 percent of women and girls aged 15 to 49 years have undergone FGM, despite laws banning and criminalizing the practice. In a rare case in January 2016, three women were tried and convicted in a court in Kankan for performing FGM.

In May, UNICEF, OHCHR, and UNFPA reported that since 2015 more than 50 children have been raped, the majority less than 5 years old.

Legislative and Institutional Framework for Human Rights Protection

In April, Guinea acceded to the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the Rights of the Child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. In July, Guinea's National Assembly passed a new criminal code that abolished the death penalty and, for the first time, criminalized torture.

However, the new code failed to codify several abuses as torture, including electric shocks, stress positions, mock executions, and simulated drowning, defining them instead as "inhumane and cruel" treatment. The new code also retained laws criminalizing and carrying penalties of up to five years for defamation and "insults" directed at public figures, as well as laws criminalizing "unnatural acts," carrying terms of 6 months to 3 years in prison.

Key International Actors

The EU, Guinea's biggest donor, continued to fund programs to strengthen judicial reform and fight impunity, including by supporting victims of the September 2009 crimes. The country office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights regularly documented abuses, monitored detention conditions, and supported the human rights and interim reconciliation commissions, but rarely publicly denounced human rights concerns. The UN Peacebuilding Commission funded programs supporting security sector reform, reconciliation, and employment.

UN Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict Zainab Bangura  whose office continued to support accountability for rapes and crimes committed during the 2009 stadium massacre  visited Guinea twice: in April, jointly with US Under Secretary of State for Civilian Security, Democracy, and Human Rights Sarah Sewall, and in August to encourage progress on investigation.

The International Criminal Court (ICC), which in October 2009 confirmed that the situation in Guinea was under preliminary examination, continued to engage the national authorities on progress in the investigation.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Guatemala

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Guatemala, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584313.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.

Guatemala continued to make progress in prosecuting human rights and corruption cases, due in significant part to the collaboration of the Attorney General's Office with the United Nations-backed International Commission against Impunity in Guatemala (CICIG), which was established in 2007 to investigate organized crime and reinforce local efforts to strengthen the rule of law.

In September 2015, after being implicated by CICIG in a million-dollar tax-fraud scandal, Guatemalan President Otto Perez Molina resigned and was arrested on charges of customs fraud, racketeering, and bribery.

President Jimmy Morales took office in January, and in April, asked the UN to extend CICIG's mandate  which had been set to expire in 2017  until September 2019.

Accountability for Past Human Rights Violations

In February, a court convicted two former military officers on charges of crimes against humanity in the form of sexual violence and domestic and sexual slavery. It was the first time that a Guatemalan court had prosecuted a case of sexual violence related to the country's 36-year internal armed conflict. The victims were 15 Maya Q'eqchi' women.

In addition to the sexual violence convictions, the court found Lt. Col. Esteelmer Reyes Giron, former commander of Sepur Zarco military base, guilty in the homicides of three females, and Heriberto Valdez Asig, former military commissioner, guilty in the enforced disappearance of the husbands of seven of the female victims. They were sentenced to 120 years and 240 years in prison respectively.

Former Guatemalan head of state Efrain Rios Montt was found guilty in May 2013 of genocide and crimes against humanity. He was sentenced to 80 years in prison, but several days later the Constitutional Court overturned the verdict on procedural grounds. The retired general had led a military government from 1982 to 1983, when the military carried out hundreds of massacres of unarmed civilians.

In August 2015, a trial court declared Rios Montt mentally unfit for retrial, ruling instead that he should be represented by his lawyers in a special closed-door proceeding. In October 2015, an appellate court rejected a two-year-old petition by Rios Montt's attorneys to apply a 1986 amnesty decree that would put an end to his prosecution. The court ruled that the decree, applicable to "all political and related common crimes" committed between March 1982 and January 1986, does not apply to genocide and crimes against humanity. A retrial of Rios Montt began in March 2016, behind closed doors.

In May, the First Court of Appeals issued a provisional ruling that the former dictator should be separated from his co-defendant, Jose Mauricio Rodriguez Sanchez, the former intelligence director. A new trial for each defendant had yet to be scheduled at time of writing.

In recent years, the Attorney General's Office has obtained convictions in several other cases involving human rights crimes committed during the war. In 2011, four army Special Forces soldiers received lengthy sentences for their role in the 1982 Dos Erres massacre of more than 250 people. In 2013, former National Police Chief Hector Bol de la Cruz received a 40-year sentence for ordering the disappearance of a student activist in 1984. In January 2015, former Police Chief Pedro Garcia Arredondo was sentenced to 90 years in prison for a raid on the Spanish embassy in 1980, in which 37 people burned to death.

In July 2014, Fermin Felipe Solano Barillas became the first ex-guerrilla to be convicted in connection with atrocities. Found guilty of ordering the massacre of 22 residents of the town of El Aguacate in 1988, he was sentenced to 90 years in prison.

Public Security, Corruption, and Criminal Justice

Violence and extortion by powerful criminal organizations remain serious problems in Guatemala. Corruption within the justice system, combined with intimidation against judges and prosecutors, contributes to high levels of impunity. Gang-related violence is an important factor prompting people, including unaccompanied youth, to leave the country.

Despite these problems, prosecutors in recent years have made progress in cases of violent crime, as well as some cases of extrajudicial killings and corruption.

In April 2015, a CICIG investigation uncovered a US$130 million tax fraud scandal involving more than 50 high-ranking members of the government. This led to charges against then-President Otto Perez Molina, Vice President Roxana Baldetti, and 35 others.

In April 2016, prosecutors brought additional charges against Perez Molina in connection with a $30 million commission on a Spanish company's contract to operate a new, Pacific-coast container terminal in Puerto Quetzal.

In June, the CICIG announced arrests in connection with a clandestine structure that operated behind the facade of the Partido Patriota (PP), ex-President Perez Molina's political party. The PP allegedly designed a financial scheme whose main objective was the illicit enrichment of its members through state contracts worth more than $35 million. At time of writing, more than 57 members of the Guatemalan business elite, from bankers to Congressmen, had been arrested.

Key International Actors

The UN-backed CICIG, established in 2007, plays a key role in assisting Guatemala's justice system in prosecuting violent crime. The CICIG works with the Attorney General's Office, the police, and other government agencies to investigate, prosecute, and dismantle criminal organizations operating in the country. It is empowered to participate in criminal proceedings as a complementary prosecutor, to provide technical assistance, and to promote legislative reforms.

The US Congress approved $750 million in assistance for 2016 for the Plan of the Alliance for Prosperity in the Northern Triangle, a five-year initiative announced in 2014 that intends to reduce incentives to migrate from Guatemala, El Salvador, and Honduras. The Obama administration requested the same amount for the plan for 2017. At time of writing, Congress had not yet approved the final budget.

The aid aims to reduce violence, strengthen governance, and increase economic opportunity. Fifty percent of it is conditioned on the US Department of State annually certifying progress by the beneficiary countries in strengthening institutions, fighting corruption and impunity, and protecting human rights. In 2016, Guatemala received certification for continued full funding under the plan. The assistance for 2016 included $7 million for CICIG in Guatemala, and funding for similar commissions, if established, in El Salvador and Honduras. The US Department of State announced in June that, since 2008, the US had invested $36 million in the CICIG's work.

The Guatemalan government is implementing a reparations plan, required for certification to receive US aid, to address human rights violations suffered by communities displaced by construction of the Chixoy Hydroelectric Dam in 1975. Distribution of $2.8 million in reparations started in March 2015. Reparations are expected to total $156 million by 2029, the dam's planned completion.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights has maintained an office in Guatemala since 2005. The office monitors the human rights situation in the country and provides policy support to the government and civil society.

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World Report 2017 - Georgia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Georgia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584413.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.

Georgia's ruling party swept to an overwhelming victory in October 2016 parliamentary elections. The state security service's unfettered access to telecom operators' networks compromised the right to privacy. Lack of accountability persisted for abuses committed by law enforcement. Other areas of concern included media freedoms and the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) ordered an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed during the August 2008 war in Georgia.

Parliamentary Elections

The ruling Georgian Dream (GD) party won an overwhelming victory in the October 8 parliamentary elections, giving it full control over the formation of a new government. International observers, led by the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE), concluded that the elections were "competitive, well-administered and fundamental freedoms were generally respected."

However, they also noted procedural violations during the vote count in almost one-third of all polling stations and violent altercations in four. Local monitoring groups highlighted some cases of vote-buying, alleged political intimidation, and campaigning by unauthorized persons, but found these had no effect on the overall outcome.

Three violent incidents during the week before the vote marred an otherwise peaceful pre-election process. On October 4, an explosion hit the car of a prominent member of parliament from the opposition United National Movement (UNM) party, injuring five. An October 2 shooting during an outdoor campaign meeting for an independent candidate wounded two people. On October 1, three GD activists were assaulted while campaigning. Investigations into all three incidents were pending at time of writing.

Right to Privacy

In April, the Constitutional Court ruled unconstitutional legislation that allows state security services to have direct, unrestricted access to telecom operators' networks to monitor communications and ordered the authorities to reform surveillance regulations by March 2017. Legislation adopted in 2014 had imposed restrictions on surveillance operations by law enforcement but left in place the security agencies' operation of "black box" surveillance devices in telecommunications service providers' networks. The court found this system allows mass collection of personal information in real time without effective oversight.

The online publication of several illegally recorded personal phone conversations of opposition party members and their supporters in the run-up to the election seemed aimed at influencing the vote. Among the recordings were private conversations between former President Mikheil Saakashvili and fellow UNM party members, and a call between a pro-opposition television director and an opposition party leader. The State Security Service denied involvement, and the Interior Ministry opened an investigation.

In March, unknown persons threatened to release sex tapes implicating two cabinet members, an opposition figure, and a television journalist if they did not quit their jobs by March 31. The threats were made through YouTube videos of secretly recorded videos purportedly showing their private lives, with blurred out faces, which were quickly removed. Authorities launched an investigation.

Torture and Ill-Treatment, Police Abuse

Georgia does not have an independent effective mechanism for investigating crimes committed by law enforcement officials.

In July, the Georgian Young Lawyers' Association (GYLA), a leading human rights group, published a report analyzing 22 cases they litigated in the past two years concerning alleged torture and ill-treatment by law enforcement officials. GYLA concluded that in most cases the investigations were ineffective. In several cases, officials retaliated against the victims who had filed complaints by pressing administrative and criminal proceedings against them.

GYLA received at least 62 allegations of torture and ill-treatment in 12 months since November 2015; 45 of them concerned abuse by police, and 17 by prison staff. According to GYLA, authorities failed to effectively investigate those allegations.

In August, Demur Sturua, 22, committed suicide, leaving behind a note stating that a local policeman was coercing him to inform on local cannabis growers. The autopsy showed that Sturua had bodily injuries, which the prosecutor said were inflicted by the policeman prior to Sturua's death. The Prosecutor's Office filed criminal charges against the policeman, and the investigation was pending at time of writing. Georgia' s public defender said the case exemplified the consequences of Georgia's "repressive drug policies."

Concerns about Politicized Justice

Several criminal cases against former officials raised questions about selective justice and politically motivated prosecution. In May, a court found five former Defense Ministry and general staff officials guilty of misspending GEL 4.1 million (roughly US$1.8 million) arising from a closed 2013 tender for the laying of fiber-optic cable, and sentenced them to seven years in prison.

For several months following the defendants' arrest in 2014, authorities denied defense lawyers full access to evidence, claiming it consisted of classified documents. The court did not establish any mercenary motives behind the misspending charges. The public defender filed an amicus brief in support of the defendants' Constitutional Court claim that the definition of misspending in the criminal code is vague and allows for arbitrary interpretation. The men were arrested in 2014, which led to sacking of then-Defense Minister Irakli Alasania.

In June, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) issued a ruling in the case of ex-minister of interior and the UNM leader Vano Merabishvili, saying that while his initial pretrial detention in May 2013 was lawful, the remand renewal four months later lacked reasonable grounds. The court said Merabishvili's continued detention "was ... treated by prosecuting authorities as an additional opportunity to obtain leverage" over investigations into unrelated cases, including one against ex-president Saakashvili. In October, the ECHR Grand Chamber agreed to hear the Georgian government's appeal of the ruling.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In August, President Giorgi Margvelashvili blocked a referendum bid on defining marriage as a union of a man and a woman, saying that the issue is already covered in the civil code. Prime Minister Giorgi Kvirikashvili vowed to pursue a constitutional definition of marriage after the October elections, arguing that this would help counter alleged Western efforts to spread same-sex marriage "propaganda" in Georgia. Local rights groups feared this effort would further marginalize the LGBT community and intensify anti-LGBT prejudice.

Authorities declined a request by LGBT activists to hold an event to mark International Day Against Homophobia and Transphobia (IDAHO) on Tbilisi's main thoroughfare, stating it was already booked for a procession by Orthodox groups to mark Family Day, an annual event established by the Orthodox Church in 2014. Activists refused to celebrate IDAHO in the alternative venue offered.

The Women's Initiatives Supporting Group (WISG), a local LGBTI rights group, said it documented almost 20 cases of attacks against transgender people in 2016. In October, a transgender woman was beaten and stabbed in what rights groups suspected was a hate crime. Police arrested a suspect on attempted murder charges, and the public defender urged authorities to examine a possible hate motive.

Freedom of Media

The ownership dispute over Georgia's most-watched television broadcaster, Rustavi 2, continued in 2016 and raised concerns about ongoing government interference with media. In June, the Tbilisi Court of Appeals upheld a lower court ruling in favor of Kibar Khalvashi, who owned Rustavi 2 from 2004 to 2006 and sought to reclaim his shares. Khalvashi alleged that in 2006, then-UNM government leaders forced him to sell the shares. Rustavi 2's current owners appealed the appeals court decision, alleging Khalvashi's lawsuit is a government-orchestrated move to take over the opposition-minded station. In September, the Supreme Court found the appeal admissible. A decision was pending at time of writing.

Key International Actors

The Association Agreement between the European Union and Georgia went into force on July 1, strengthening political and economic ties between the two. The agreement requires Georgia to fulfill extensive commitments in the areas of democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. The EU pledged 100 million ($107.8 million) per year to support Georgia's reform agenda, including in areas relating to human rights and the rule of law.

Following her February visit, the United Nations special rapporteur on violence against women issued a report highlighting widespread violence against women both in private and public spheres, caused by "entrenched patriarchal attitudes and gender stereotypes."

She noted ongoing and disquieting levels of domestic violence, including femicide/killings of women, and police failure to provide adequate protection in reported cases as well as the persistent belief that such violence is a private matter. She also raised concerns about the high number of child and forced marriages resulting from lax enforcement of laws prohibiting such marriages and social attitudes and practices that foster the practice. Georgia has signed but not yet ratified the Council of Europe Convention on Violence against Women and Domestic Violence (Istanbul Convention).

The US-Georgia bilateral working group on democracy and governance under the strategic partnership charter met in June in Tbilisi. The US delegation underlined the importance of a peaceful pre-election environment and reiterated concerns over the Rustavi 2 ownership dispute. The April US Department of State's annual human rights report noted among other things "significant shortcomings in the administration of justice, including pressure on judiciary in selected cases."

In January, the ICC authorized its prosecutor to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity allegedly committed in the lead up to, during, and after the August 2008 war between Russia and Georgia over South Ossetia.

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World Report 2017 - Gambia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Gambia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58453d.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 December 2016 presidential election, won by opposition coalition leader Adama Barrow, brought hope for improved respect for human rights and the rule of law. Barrow defeated incumbent Yayah Jammeh who had held power since a 1994 coup and whose government had a long track record of using enforced disappearances, torture, intimidation, and arbitrary arrests to silence opposition voices.

While the two-week election campaign was peaceful, with security forces largely respecting opposition parties' rights to freedom of expression and assembly, the lead up to the campaign was characterized by the intimidation of political opponents and the government's use of state media and resources to promote Jammeh's candidacy.

In April, prominent opposition leader Solo Sandeng was beaten to death in state custody, ushering in an often-violent government crackdown on Gambia's largest opposition party, the United Democratic Party (UDP). More than 90 opposition activists were detained for participating in peaceful protests and 30 incarcerated for three-year terms, including the leadership of the UDP.

Gambian security forces, particularly the National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Police Intervention Unit (PIU), also arrested and detained civil society activists who criticized the government, including religious leaders, trade unionists, and journalists.

During Jammeh's three decades in power, no members of state security or paramilitary groups are known to have been convicted or otherwise held to account for torture, enforced disappearances, or other serious violations.

Gambia's key international interlocutors, including the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the United Nations, the European Union, and the United States, were at times robust critics of the government's abuses against political opponents. But in 2016 they failed to take meaningful steps to sanction the government for its persistent abuses.

Gambia notified the UN secretary-general of its withdrawal from the International Criminal Court on November 10, to take effect on November 10, 2017. However, in December, President-elect Barrow promised to reverse it.

Crackdown on Political Opposition

The April death in custody of the UDP national organizing secretary, Solo Sandeng, presaged a wider crackdown against political opposition and the UDP in particular. Sandeng and some 25 others were arrested by Gambian police on April 14 during a rare public demonstration in favor of electoral reform. Sandeng was taken to the headquarters of Gambia's National Intelligence Agency and brutally beaten to death.

On April 16, Ousainou Darboe, the UDP leader, was among more than 20 people beaten and arrested by police during a protest against Sandeng's treatment. Forty-five protesters were subsequently arrested by the police during a May 9 rally.

In the aftermath of these protests, Jammeh repeatedly threatened opposition groups, which he called "evil vermin," warning them: "If you want to destabilize this country, I will bury you nine-feet deep."

Darboe and 18 others, including several other high-ranking UDP members, were sentenced on July 20 to three years' imprisonment for their role in the April 16 protest. On July 21, 11 protesters arrested with Sandeng were also sentenced to three years in prison. At time of writing, 14 other protesters arrested during a May 9 protest were on trial in the Banjul High Court.

Arbitrary Arrest, Detention, and Enforced Disappearances

As well as targeting political opponents, the security services, especially the NIA, continued to arbitrarily arrest, detain, and intimidate religious leaders, trade unionists, journalists and former civil servants, seemingly targeting those critical of the government and particularly President Jammeh. Barrow promised during his election campaign to release political prisoners.

The government has forcibly disappeared three imams arrested in October and November 2015. Alhagi Ousman Sawaneh, the imam of Kanifeng South, was arrested on October 18, 2015, reportedly because he petitioned the Gambian government to free a farming cooperative leader detained by the NIA. Sawaneh was initially taken to the NIA headquarters, and then reportedly transferred to Janjanbureh prison, where, at time of writing, he remained in incommunicado detention.

The High Court on March 21 ordered that the government produce Sawaneh in court, but it had failed to do so at time of writing. Two other imams, Sheikh Omar Colley and Imam Gassama, reportedly arrested in relation to the same incident, are also believed to being held incommunicado at Janjanbureh prison.

Ousman Jammeh, a former deputy minister of agriculture, has been held without charge in incommunicado detention since being removed from his post on October 15, 2015. Gambia's former ambassador to the African Union, Sarjo Jallow, was arrested and held without charge by the NIA on September 2, 2016. Although a Gambian court on October 17 granted him bail, he remained in state custody at time of writing.

Torture, Ill-treatment, and Neglect in Detention

Gambian security forces continued to subject detainees to serious mistreatment, including torture. Several protesters arrested in April and May were subjected to serious physical abuse while in detention. UDP activist Solo Krummah, who had been arrested on May 9, died in state custody in a Banjul hospital on August 20. His family have been given no information regarding the cause of death or the medical treatment he received.

Sheriff Dibba, the leader of Gambian National Transport Control Association, died in police custody on February 21 after being arrested following a trade union demand that the government lower fuel prices. After Dibba fell ill in police custody, the government failed to provide him with prompt and adequate medical attention.

Prisons continued to operate far below international standards. Prisoners lack appropriate housing, sanitation, food, and inadequate medical care. Detainees in the security wing of Mile 2 Central Prison, including the UDP leadership, were frequently subjected to prolonged solitary confinement.

Freedom of Expression

Since 1994, dozens of journalists have fled Gambia after being arbitrarily detained and often tortured. At least two journalists have been murdered or forcibly disappeared since 2004.

While there were fewer reports of abuses against journalists in 2016 than in previous years, the culture of impunity that has permitted abuses against journalists to go unpunished under Jammeh's government remained intact and caused many journalists to self-censor reporting.

The managing director of independent radio station Teranga FM, Alhagie Ceesay, who was arrested in July 2015, held without charge at the NIA headquarters, and tortured, remained in government custody until April 2016, when he escaped while receiving treatment at a Banjul hospital. He was convicted of sedition in absentia on November 9 and sentenced to four years' imprisonment.

In December 2015, the Federation of African Journalists and three exiled Gambian reporters filed a legal claim before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice challenging a series of Gambian laws that curtail freedom of expression, including criminal laws on sedition, defamation and the publication of "false news." Gambia is yet to implement judgments in the favor of the plaintiffs in three other ECOWAS Court of Justice cases related to journalists: the enforced disappearance of Ebrima Manneh in 2006; the torture of Musa Saidykhan in 2006; and the unlawful killing of the president of the Gambia Press Union, Deyda Hydara, in 2004.

During the two-week campaign period for the December 1 election, the Independent Election Commission granted all political parties the right to equal air time daily on state media for election broadcasts. However, the near complete domination of state media by Jammeh and the ruling party prior to the campaign period denied opposition parties a level-playing field to contest the election.

Online diaspora media organizations remain a vital source of news for Gambians with internet connectivity. The government accuses diaspora media of fabricating stories to discredit President Jammeh and, in past years, several people have been arrested for providing information to diaspora journalists.

Women's and Girls' Rights

Gambia has very high rates of female genital mutilation (FGM). President Jammeh announced in November 2015 that Gambia would ban FGM, and the Gambian parliament enacted legislation on December 28, 2015, criminalizing the practice. Jammeh announced on July 6 that child marriage was also to be criminalized and the Gambian parliament on July 21 imposed severe penalties on parents responsible for children marrying before age 18. Women's rights advocates underscored that, as a complement to punitive measures, intensive community education campaigns would be necessary to address the centuries-old customs that underpin these practices.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

The government continued to resist calls to repeal laws that criminalize homosexuality, including an October 2014 law that introduced a series of new "aggravated homosexuality" offenses that impose sentences of up to life in prison. The criminalization of same-sex conduct leaves lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) Gambians at risk of arbitrary arrest and detention, although fewer arrests and physical abuse of LGBT Gambians were reported in 2016.

Key International Actors

The government's crackdown on the opposition in advance of the election led to condemnation by the African Commission on Human and People's Rights, the United Nations secretary-general, the United States, the European Union, and the United Kingdom.

The UN high commissioner for human rights expressed alarm at Gambia's human rights situation several times during 2016, including at the UN Human Rights Council in September. Gambia has drafted legislation, with UN assistance, for the creation of a national human rights commission, although the draft bill at time of writing had yet to be presented to the National Assembly.

President Jammeh was largely dismissive of critical statements regarding his human rights record, saying in May that human rights groups and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon could "go to hell."

In February 2016, the EU deployed a resident ambassador to Gambia for the first time in its history. The US also upgraded their head of mission from a charge d'affaires to an ambassador. The EU, which had frozen development assistance in December 2014 due to concerns over human rights abuses, now channels all aid through nongovernmental organizations.

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In October 1995, the city of Chicago was the wettest and coldest place I'd visited yet.

I was out for a long weekend to visit an old college friend who lived in the city's Lakeview neighborhood. Her apartment was hard against Lake Michigan and mid-fall winds howled in across Lakeshore Drive. An unforgiving rain, soaking through my barn jacket and a borrowed heavy sweater, clung to my bones.

But we were blocks from Wrigley Field. We were a few El stops from the trendy Wicker Park neighborhood, the Swedish restaurants in Andersonville and the Green Mill bar on Broadway.

They were places I'd read about, the city brought to life by Mike Royko, but had never seen.

Chicago has a downtown, the Magnificent Mile. But it's really a city of neighborhoods. And that's where its true soul resides.

When I got home, I vowed to return as soon as I could. And by the winter of 1996, I had. My all-too-brief time in the Windy City and its environs is still one of the fondest memories of my young adulthood.

Because that's Chicago.

If you spend any time there, and you let it, the city has a way of just working itself into your bones, of becoming part of you. It's a big city with midwestern bluntness and open arms. It's as different from the urban canyons and eastern gruffness of New York City as you can possibly get.

I've been back since.

But I don't recognize the Chicago I'm reading about now  the city that's logged its worst violence in 20 years, with a horrifying 762 people killed by gun violence in 2016.

All told, a staggering 4,000 people were shot in Chicago last year. And my heart breaks for that amazing city, now little more than a crude shorthand for out of control gun violence.

As The Chicago Tribune's John Kass has noted, were it not for the miracles of modern medicine, the city's death toll would have been well north of 1,000 souls.

City police have their theories on what's given rise to the worst violence since the 1990s.

Speaking to The Tribune, Police Superintendent Eddie Johnson and First Deputy Superintendent Kevin Navarro blamed "a perceived willingness by criminals to settle disputes with guns, and what they say is a failure on the part of the justice system to hold them accountable."

And it's a problem that has defied solution. Things have gotten so bad, Kass wrote recently, that street stops by city cops have decreased by 82 percent over the year before.

So when President-elect Donald Trump advanced a very non-conservative solution to the problem  a direct federal intervention  it didn't seem entirely out of the blue.

"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!" he tweeted.

For the purposes of clarity, 762 homicides isn't record-setting, the numbers were higher in the 1990s, Kass reported, but it is undeniably awful. And Windy City Mayor Rahm Emanuel, a Democrat, has seemed entirely powerless in the face of the violence.

Cops have found their jobs harder to do thanks, at least in part, the 2014 fatal shooting of teenager Laquan MacDonald by a city police officer. Coupled with other incidents, the shootings undermined trust between police and the community.

City police acknowledged that the department's own strained relations with Chicago's minority communities also didn't help, and may have, in part, fueled the violence by emboldening criminals.

So what's the solution? What can be done to stem the tide of violence?

No one seems to have a single good answer. The state's Republican governor, Bruce Rauner, said last September that more jobs, not the National Guard, was the answer.

"The violence is terrible," Rauner said in a video posted by the Tribune. "The long-term answer is more economic opportunity in Chicago. There are not enough jobs.

"And [there should be] more education quality in Chicago," he continued. "The schools, especially in low-income neighborhoods in the South Side [and] West Side, have not been invested in properly, have not been supported, and that has not given the educational opportunity to the young people to see a career for themselves. And as a result, they get drawn into gang violence."

That's a nice sentiment, coming from a guy who's presided over a demolition derby of a state budget. But first, the streets have to be safe enough for people to get to and from those jobs without threat of being shot.

And until that happens, Chicago will keep bleeding.
World Report 2017 - Ethiopia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Ethiopia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b5847c.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.

Large-scale and unprecedented protests swept through Ethiopia's largest region of Oromia beginning in November 2015, and in the Amhara region from July 2016. Ethiopian security forces cracked-down on these largely peaceful demonstrations, killing more than 500 people.

Scores of people fleeing security force gunfire and teargas during the annual Irreecha festival died in a stampede on October 2 in Bishoftu, Oromia region. On October 9, following the destruction of some government buildings and private property by youths, the government announced a draconian and far-reaching six-month countrywide state of emergency, which prescribes sweeping and vaguely worded restrictions on a broad range of actions and undermines free expression, association, and peaceful assembly. The directive also effectively codified many of the security forces' abusive tactics, such as arbitrary detention.

The protests occurred against a background of nearly non-existent political space: in parliament, the ruling coalition has 100 percent of seats, there are restrictions on civil society and independent media, and those who do not actively support the government often face harassment and arbitrary detention.

Ethiopia deploys troops inside Somalia as part of the African Union mission (AMISOM). In 2016, there were reports that abusive "Liyu police," a paramilitary force, were also deployed alongside the Ethiopian Defense Forces in Somalia. In July, Ethiopian forces operating outside the AMISOM mandate indiscriminately killed 14 civilians during an operation against Al-Shabab in Somalia's Bay region. (See Somalia chapter.)

Freedom of Assembly

Concerns about the government's proposed expansion of the municipal boundary of the capital, Addis Ababa, triggered widespread protests across Oromia and a heavy-handed response by security forces in 2016. Protesters feared that the Addis Ababa Integrated Development Master Plan would displace Oromo farmers, as has increasingly occurred over the past decade. There were broad doubts about the sincerity of the government's announced cancellation of the Master Plan in January 2016, due largely to past broken promises. Protesters expressed concerns over decades of historical grievances and the wrongful use of lethal force by the security forces. There were some reports of violence by protesters, but protests were largely peaceful. Similar protests and a resultant crack-down occurred in Oromia in April and May 2014.

During the protests, security forces arrested tens of thousands of students, teachers, opposition politicians, health workers, and those who sheltered or assisted fleeing protesters. While many detainees have been released, an unknown number remain in detention without charge or access to legal counsel or family. Most of the leadership of the legally registered opposition party, Oromo Federalist Congress, have been charged under the anti-terrorism law, including Deputy-Chairman Bekele Gerba, a staunch advocate of non-violence.

In July, protests spread to the Amhara region, triggered by the arrest of Welkait Identity Committee members, a group seeking to resolve long-standing concerns over administrative boundaries. Protesters in Amhara region are primarily concerned with the unequal distribution of power and economic benefits in favor of those aligned to the government. On August 6 and 7, security forces killed over 100 people in Amhara and Oromia, including over 30 people killed in Bahir Dar alone. The town witnessed one of the largest protests. There were reports of large-scale arrests throughout Amhara.

In September, dozens of ethnic Konso were killed by security forces in the Southern Nations, Nationalities, and Peoples' Region (SNNPR) following protests over administrative boundaries in the Konso area.

The government has not shown a willingness to address the expressed grievances of the protesters in Amhara, Oromia, or Konso, blaming much of the unrest on lack of good governance and youth unemployment, exacerbated by "outside forces."

The Ethiopian government failed to meaningfully investigate the killings of protesters in Oromia, Amhara, or Konso. In a report to parliament in June, the Ethiopia Human Rights Commission, a government body, concluded that the level of force used by security forces in Oromia was proportionate to the risk they faced from protesters, contrary to available evidence.

The October state of emergency directive banned all protests without government permission and permits arrest without court order in "a place assigned by the command post until the end of the state of emergency."

The Liyu police, a Somali Regional State (SRS) paramilitary police force, continued to commit serious human rights abuses in their ongoing conflict with the Ogaden National Liberation Front (ONLF). There have been reports of extrajudicial killings, arbitrary detention, and violence against civilians accused of supporting or being sympathetic to the ONLF. Following a June 12 protest in Melbourne, Australia, against the visit of SRS President Abdi Iley, dozens of family members of protesters were arrested in Ethiopia.

Freedom of Expression and Association

Media continues to be under government stranglehold, exacerbated by the state of emergency at the end of 2016, with many journalists forced to choose between self-censorship, harassment and arrest, or exile. At least 75 journalists have fled into exile since 2010. In addition to threats against journalists, tactics used to restrict independent media include targeting publishers, printing presses, and distributors.

Scores of journalists  including Eskinder Nega and Woubshet Taye  protesters, and political opponents remain jailed under the anti-terrorism law. Journalist Getachew Shiferaw was convicted in November of criminal defamation and sentenced to one year in prison. On May 10, blogger Zelalem Workagegneu was sentenced to five years and two months under the anti-terrorism law after being detained for over 700 days. Journalist Yusuf Getachew, who was convicted in August 2015 also under the anti-terrorism law, was pardoned and released on September 10, after over four years in detention.

The government regularly restricts access to social media apps and some websites with content that challenges the government's narrative on key issues. During particularly sensitive times, including after the Irreecha festival stampede, the government blocked access to the internet.

The government also jammed the signals of international radio stations like Deutsche Welle and Voice of America in August and September. Social media and diaspora television stations played key roles in the dissemination of information and mobilization during protests. Under the state of emergency, people are banned from watching diaspora television, sharing information on social media, and closing businesses as a gesture of protest, as well as curtailing opposition parties' ability to communicate with media.

The 2009 Charities and Societies Proclamation (CSO law) continues to severely curtail the ability of independent nongovernmental organizations. The law bars work on human rights, governance, conflict resolution, and advocacy on the rights of women, children and people with disabilities if organizations receive more than 10 percent of their funds from foreign sources.

Questioning the government's development policies is deemed particularly sensitive and activists face charges for doing so. For example, the trial of Pastor Omot Agwa, who had worked as the facilitator and interpreter for the World Bank's Inspection Panel as it investigated abuses linked to a bank investment, continued in 2016. Two other individuals charged with Omot were acquitted in November. They were arrested in March 2015 at Addis Ababa airport on their way to a food security workshop in Nairobi, Kenya, and charged on September 7, 2015.

Torture and Arbitrary Detention

Ethiopian security personnel, including plainclothes security and intelligence officials, federal police, special police, and military, frequently tortured and otherwise ill-treated political detainees held in official and secret detention centers, to give confessions or provide information. Many of those arrested during recent protests said they were tortured in detention, including in military camps. Several women alleged that they were raped or sexually assaulted. There is little indication that security personnel are being investigated or punished for these abuses.

Allegations of forced displacement have arisen from commercial and industrial projects associated with Addis Ababa's expansion and the continued development of state-owned sugar plantations in the Lower Omo Valley, home to about 200,000 indigenous people. Communities in Omo have seen grazing land cleared and access to the Omo River restricted. The reservoir behind the Omo River's Gibe III dam began filling in January 2015, and there was no artificial flood in 2015 and a limited flood in 2016 contrary to government assurances. The flood is important in replenishing water levels in Kenya's Lake Turkana and the agricultural lands along the banks of the Omo River.

Key International Actors

Ethiopia continues to enjoy strong support from foreign donors and most of its regional neighbors, due to its role as host of the African Union (AU) and as a strategic regional player, contribution to UN peacekeeping, regional counterterrorism, aid, and migration partnerships with Western countries, and its stated progress on development indicators. Ethiopia is also a country of origin, transit, and host for large numbers of migrants and refugees.

The brutal crackdown against protesters and the state of emergency announcement resulted in stronger than usual public statements from many of Ethiopia's traditional allies. The AU and the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights both issued statements expressing concern, while the European parliament released a strong resolution, and resolutions were introduced in the US Senate and House of Representatives. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights publicly stressed the need for an international investigation into the killings in July. Other donors, including the World Bank, have continued business as usual without publicly raising concerns.

In June, Ethiopia was elected to the UN Security Council. It is also vice president of the UN Human Rights Council despite a history of non-cooperation with UN special mechanisms. Despite these roles, Ethiopia has refused entry to all UN special rapporteurs, other than the UN special rapporteur on Eritrea, since 2006.

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World Report 2017 - Eritrea

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Eritrea, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b5848a.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.

After 25 years of rule by unelected President Isaias Afwerki, Eritrea's citizens remain subjects of one of the world's most oppressive governments.

In May 2016, a United Nations Commission of Inquiry (CoI) established by the Human Rights Council in its final report said it found reasonable grounds to believe the government has committed numerous crimes against humanity. The government's "totalitarian practices" and disrespect for the rule of law manifested "wholesale disregard for the liberty" of Eritrea's citizens, the CoI concluded.

In turn, the council by resolution "condemn[ed] in the strongest terms" Eritrea's "systematic, widespread and gross human rights violations" and asked the General Assembly to submit the commission reports to all "relevant organs of the UN." The General Assembly took no public action on that recommendation at its October 2016 session.

Indefinite Military Service and Forced Labor

By law, each Eritrean is compelled to serve 18 months in national service starting at 18 but in practice conscripts serve indefinitely, many for over a decade. Endless conscription remains a principal driver of migration. The CoI concluded that conditions of national service rise to the crime of enslavement.

Conscripts are often assigned to arduous non-military construction and agriculture projects though some serve in the civil service, education, and other service jobs. Conscripts are used not only in government-related projects, they are used in projects personally benefitting military commanders and other officials.

Treatment of conscripts is often harsh, depending on the whim of the commander. Physical abuse, including torture, occurs frequently; so does forced domestic servitude and sexual violence by commanders against female conscripts. There is no redress mechanism for conscripts facing sexual and other abuses.

Attempts to flee are sternly punished. On April 3, new conscripts trying to escape from a convoy in Asmara were shot at by guards, killing several.

Conscript pay is insufficient to support the conscript, let alone a family. An Eritrean refugee told Human Rights Watch he fled in 2015 after 18 years of service because there was no end in sight. Another said he fled after 10 years because "my family couldn't survive." A third said he fled after serving for 12 years because "I couldn't see any future for my children."

When Eritrea was discussing a large grant from the European Union in 2015, senior Eritrean officials told diplomats and foreign visitors that the 18-month limit would be applied to new conscripts, though not to those already serving far longer. In February, the government abandoned that proposal.

Instead, President Isaias announced that conscript pay would be raised. His finance minister said pay for conscripts working in the civil service would almost triple; he made no mention of increases for others. At time of writing, there is no evidence that pay had increased for most conscripts.

Repression of Speech, Expression, and Association

President Isaias rules without institutional restraint. No national elections have been held since self-rule in 1991. Eritrea has had no legislature since 2002. The judiciary is subject to executive control and interference. A constitution adopted in 1997 remains unimplemented. Public space to question government policy does not exist. No domestic nongovernmental organizations are permitted.

The government owns all media. In September 2001, the government closed all independent newspapers and arrested its leading journalists. None were brought to trial. They remain in solitary detention, with no access to family members. Former guards have reported about half have died in detention. Eleven former high-level officials who criticized Isaias's rule were also arrested and detained since 2001. Eritrean authorities have ignored calls, including by the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights and the UN special rapporteur for Eritrea, for their release or at least a judicial hearing.

Less prominent citizens are also subject to arbitrary imprisonment. Very few are given a reason for their arrest. Few, if any, receive trials; some disappear. The length of imprisonment is often indefinite and conditions are harsh.

Although the government issued a new criminal procedure code in 2015, requiring warrants for arrest, access to defense counsel, and other procedural safeguards, including the right to petition for habeas corpus, there is no evidence that any of these protections has been implemented.

Interference with Religious Practices

The government persecutes citizens who practice religions other than the four it recognizes  Sunni Islam and the Eritrean Orthodox, Roman Catholic, and Evangelical (Lutheran) churches. The government interferes in the practices of the four religions it recognizes. Authorities deposed the patriarch of the Eritrean Orthodox Church in 2006, appointing a successor one year later. The deposed patriarch remains under house arrest over 10 years later.

Security personnel raid private homes where adherents of unrecognized religions meet for prayers, arresting and detaining them. Those arrested are only released after repudiating their religious affiliations.

Jehovah's Witnesses are especially persecuted. Three arrested 22 years ago, in 1994, for refusing military service remain imprisoned. Fifty-four Witnesses, arrested in 2014 for "unlawful assembly," admitted guilt in March 2016 and were released with a fine of 500 nakfa (US$35); a lone holdout was sentenced to six months and fined 7,000 nakfa ($470).

Currency Confiscation

In late 2015, the government ordered all paper currency held by citizens be turned in to government banks within six weeks. In February 2016, the government decreed that payments exceeding 3,000 nakfa ($200) could only be made by check

Although the new restrictions limit black market conversions they also create new tools closely to monitor citizens' individual expenditures and income.

Refugees

The United Nations refugee agency, UNHCR, reported 474, 296 Eritreans globally to be refugees and asylum seekers at the end of 2015, about 12 percent of Eritrea's official 3.6 million population estimate.

European countries continue to attempt to stem the flow of asylum seekers and migrants from Eritrea. A Swiss immigration fact-finding mission to Asmara, Eritrea's capital, in March, however, concluded "proof of improved human rights conditions is still missing" and that involuntary returnees could count on imprisonment and perhaps torture. In October, an appellate tribunal in the United Kingdom held that Eritreans of draft age who left the country illegally and are involuntary returned to Eritrea "face a real risk of persecution, serious harm or ill-treatment"; these abuses, the decision said, violate the European Convention on Human Rights. The UK Home Office amended its immigration policy to conform to the tribunal's holding.

In May, Sudan expelled over 400 Eritrean refugees and asylum seekers to Eritrea. Most were promptly incarcerated according to CoI witnesses.

Israel for years has refused to allow Eritreans to apply for asylum. In September, an appeals court held that Eritreans must be given individualized hearings, overruling an Interior Ministry policy that from national service evasion or desertion can never be justification for asylum.

Key International Actors

Eritrea's relations with neighboring Ethiopia and Djibouti remain severely strained. After a bloody border war in 1998-2000, Ethiopia occupies slivers of territory identified by an international boundary commission as Eritrean, including the town of Badme where the war began. President Isaias uses the pretext of "no-war, no-peace" for his repressive domestic policies.

Eritrea and Ethiopia both host each other's armed opposition groups. On June 12-13, border clashes, including artillery fire, erupted near Tsorona, a village just inside Eritrea. President Isaias blamed Ethiopia for the attack but there are conflicting reports of the cause, including that fighting began when armed Eritrean troops chased fleeing conscripts into Ethiopian territory and that Ethiopia responded to an attack by an Eritrea-based rebel group.

Also in March, Eritrea released four Djibouti prisoners-of-war captured in a border conflict in 2008. Eritrea had never before acknowledged holding POWs even after two escaped in 2013. Djibouti claims Eritrea still holds a dozen more.

Eritrea strengthened its relations with Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2016, agreeing in December 2015 to support Saudi Arabia's military role in Yemen, as part of what Eritrea called "broad strategic cooperation to combat terrorism." Eritrea has reportedly allowed the UAE to deploy military jets and train Yemeni forces at Assab on the Red Sea coast, where the UAE is building a new port to support its military activities in Yemen.

The UN Security Council continued an arms embargo on Eritrea for another year after its Monitoring Group on Somalia and Eritrea reported Eritrea has not cooperated with the group. The group said Eritrea may have violated the embargo by arming and training anti-Ethiopia and anti-Djibouti militias, using mining income and UAE payments for military purposes, and attempting to buy military equipment in Europe.

Eritrea receives substantial foreign exchange income from foreign-owned gold, copper, zinc, and nickel mining projects in which the government holds 40 percent ownership. China's SFECO Group's Zara Mining Share Company began gold production in January. Chinese state-owned Sichuan Road & Bridge Mining Investment planned to start operations in late 2016. Canadian Nevsun's Bisha mine is in its sixth year.

Based on Nevsun's experience, it is likely that the Chinese companies use Eritrean government-owned construction firms for infrastructure development, and by so doing indirectly use national service conscript labor.

After the European Union gave Eritrea a five-year 200 million (approximately $220 million) aid package in 2015, to try to stem migration, the European Parliament in March expressed its opposition and "great concern [over] the continuing deplorable human rights situation and the complete absence of rule of law and media freedom ...."

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World Report 2017 - Equatorial Guinea

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Equatorial Guinea, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58494.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.

Corruption, poverty, and repression continue to plague Equatorial Guinea under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo, who has been in power since 1979, making him the world's longest serving non-royal head of state. Obiang won another term in April 2016 elections, which most opposition groups boycotted, citing intimidation and procedural irregularities.

Vast oil revenues fund lavish lifestyles for the small elite surrounding the president, while a large proportion of the population remains in poverty. Mismanagement of public funds, credible allegations of high-level corruption and other serious abuses, including torture, arbitrary detention, enforced disappearances, repression of civil society groups and opposition politicians, and unfair trials persist.

In March, the minister of interior suspended the Center for Development Studies and Initiatives (CEID), the country's leading civic group and a member of the national steering group of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), which effectively paralyzed progress toward the country's reapplication for EITI membership.

In September, a French judged ordered Obiang's eldest son, Teodorin, to stand trial on money-laundering charges. In an apparent attempt to shield him from accountability, Obiang appointed Teodorin vice president shortly after French prosecutors concluded their investigation, and filed a complaint against France in the International Court of Justice claiming breach of immunity.

Economic and Social Rights

Equatorial Guinea is among the top five oil producers in sub-Saharan Africa and has a population of approximately 1 million people. According to the United Nations 2015 Human Development Report, the country had a per capita gross national income of $21,056 in 2014, the highest in Africa. Yet it ranks 138 out of 188 countries in the Human Development Index that measures social and economic development, by far the world's largest gap between per capita wealth and human development score.

Despite the country's abundant natural resource wealth, available data, including from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, reveal that Equatorial Guinea has failed to provide crucial basic services. About half of the population lacks access to clean water, according to a 2011 joint household survey by government and ICF International, a US firm specializing in health surveys.

Childhood malnutrition, as seen in the percentage of children whose growth is stunted, stood at 26 percent in 2011. Equatorial Guinea has among the world's lowest vaccination rates; 25 percent of children received no vaccinations at all, according to the 2011 survey. In 2016, 42 percent of children were not registered in primary schools, the seventh highest proportion in the world, according to UNICEF. Only half of children who begin primary school complete it.

In August 2014, Equatorial Guinea reaffirmed its commitment to rejoin EITI, an initiative from which it was expelled in 2010, for its failure to guarantee an "enabling environment" for civil society to fully participate in EITI's implementation. EITI promotes a standard by which information on the oil, gas, and mining industry is published, requiring countries and companies to disclose information on the key steps in the governance of oil, gas, and mining.

Freedom of Expression and Association

Only a few private media outlets exist in the country, and they are largely owned by persons close to Obiang. Freedom of association and assembly are severely curtailed, and the government imposes restrictive conditions on the registration and operation of non governmental organizations. The few local activists who seek to address human rights-related issues often face intimidation, harassment, and reprisals.

The minister of interior, who also headed the National Electoral Commission, suspended leading civil society group CEID on March 2, one week before the government called for elections. He alleged that comments made during a youth forum organized by CEID two months earlier constituted "messages aimed at inciting violence and civil disobedience among the Equatoguinean youth." Authorities had earlier cancelled the forum on January 29, 2016, after its first day. CEID accused the government of heavy handedness for suspending the organization because of the comments of some forum participants.

A health ministry official similarly accused a theater group working in collaboration with UNICEF of "inciting the youth" in July and ordered it to stop performing its play on HIV awareness. This was after the official attended a performance session where a member of the audience raised questions as to whether the government was committing sufficient resources to preventing and treating the disease. Last year, the government shut down a cultural center after a minister objected to lyrics of a hip-hop performance as "going against the ideals of the ruling party and unconstitutional," according to EG Justice, an independent rights group.

Elections and Political Opposition

The ruling Democratic Party (PDGE) maintains a monopoly over political life. The two-chamber parliament with a total of 170 seats has only one opposition representative in each chamber.

Elections were held on April 24, 2016, after being announced only six weeks in advance. Most opposition parties boycotted the elections citing harassment, procedural irregularities, absence of an independent electoral body, and lack of media access. Obiang's term was set to end in December 2016, but the government called elections in April, in apparent violation of a constitutional provision that says elections should be held no earlier than 45 days before the end of the president's term. Obiang ran in the elections after declaring that a 2011 constitutional amendment limiting presidents to two consecutive seven-year terms is not retroactive. He declared victory with 93.7 percent of the vote.

Nine days before the elections, police reportedly arrested the campaign manager of an opposition party that had not boycotted the elections "for disturbing the peace" while he was campaigning with a megaphone, and allegedly beat him at a military base, according to EG Justice. An opposition party also reported that its headquarters was surrounded by army personnel on April 21. The United States embassy in the capital, Malabo, criticized the restrictive atmosphere prior to elections and noted that its election day observers witnessed voter intimidation, violation of voting secrecy, and other irregularities.

Political repression was not limited to election season. In January, police reportedly arrested two members of an opposition party while advertising an authorized party meeting, and held them for nine days without charge, according to EG Justice. A month later, police arrested the son and nephew of the leader of a political opposition party living in exile. He was detained at time of writing. Their lawyer said they were accused of revealing state secrets on a social media post by divulging a government list of "blacklisted political exiles" barred from entering the country. On May 13, police arrested the leader of yet another opposition party and allegedly beat him for several hours while questioning him about his political activities and a critical article he published.

International Corruption Investigations

On September 7, a French judge ordered that Obiang's eldest son, Teodorin, stand trial on charges of corruption, money-laundering, and embezzlement. During the investigation, French authorities seized valuables belonging to Teodorin, including a mansion reportedly worth 180 million (approximately US$196 million), 18 luxury cars, and a 22 million (approximately $24 million) art collection. At the time the purchases were made, Teodorin was minister of agriculture, for which he earned less than $100,000 annually.

French prosecutors formally requested Teodorin be brought to trial in May. Obiang responded by appointing his son vice president and suing France in the International Court of Justice for violating his immunity. The impending French trial comes on the heels of the US Department of Justice's investigation into Teodorin's alleged money laundering in the US, where he purchased a $30 million Malibu mansion and a $38.5 million private jet. That case was settled when Teodorin agreed to forfeit $30 million to US authorities that would be repatriated for the benefit of Equatoguineans. The US is expected to determine which charities will receive the funds by the end of 2016.

A Spanish corruption case against several senior government officials, including the president, remains pending. The complaint alleges that the officials purchased homes in Spain through a private company that a US senate investigation revealed had received $26.5 million in government funds at around the same time of the purchases. In September 2015, police arrested a Russian couple and their son who were accused of facilitating the transactions.

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World Report 2017 - Egypt

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Egypt, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584ac.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.

Public criticism of the government remained effectively banned in Egypt in 2016. Police arrested scores of people in connection with protests, many preemptively. Authorities ordered travel bans and asset freezes against prominent human rights organizations and their directors and brought criminal charges against the head of the Press Syndicate and the country's top anti-corruption official. Parliament proposed a new law regulating nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) that would effectively end independent human rights work in the country.

Members of the security forces, particularly the Interior Ministry's National Security Agency, continued to routinely torture detainees and forcibly disappeared hundreds of people with little or no accountability for violations of the law. The disappearance, torture, and death of Italian doctoral researcher Giulio Regeni, probably at the hands of security services, highlighted these abuses and caused a diplomatic rift between Egypt and Italy.

Investigations by National Security officers, often without any hard evidence, formed the basis of many of the 7,400 or more military trials of civilians brought since President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi issued a decree widening the scope of military jurisdiction in 2014.

Conditions in detention remained harsh. The quasi-official National Council for Human Rights continued to report that prisons and other detention facilities were severely overcrowded. Conditions were particularly harsh in Cairo's Scorpion Prison, where inmates, most of them political prisoners, suffered abuses at the hands of Interior Ministry officers, including beatings, force feedings, deprivation of contact with relatives and lawyers, and interference in medical care that may have contributed to at least six deaths in 2015.

Security Force Abuses

Officers of the National Security Agency routinely tortured and forcibly disappeared suspects with few consequences. Many of the detainees who suffered these abuses were accused of sympathy with or membership in the Muslim Brotherhood, which the government named a terrorist group in 2013 but has remained the country's largest opposition movement.

Between August 2015 and August 2016, the Egyptian Commission for Rights and Freedoms, an independent group, documented 912 victims of enforced disappearance, 52 of whom had not reappeared by the time the group issued its report.

National Security officers routinely tortured suspects during these enforced disappearances. Between January and October 2016, 433 detainees claimed that police or prison officers mistreated or tortured them while they were in custody, according to a count by the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture based on media reports, lawyers' statements, criminal complaints, and other sources. In one case documented by Human Rights Watch, National Security officers in Alexandria forcibly disappeared and tortured 20 people, including eight children, in connection with a protest and an alleged arson attack on a garage and a traffic police vehicle.

Incidents of abuse by police officers, including fatal incidents of torture and illegal killings at protests, rarely resulted in accountability. Of the hundreds of such cases recorded in media reports and by activist groups since July 2013, when the military ousted Former President Mohamed Morsy, only 10 had gone through trial as of October 2016, resulting in six guilty verdicts against police officers.

Many convicted officers have appealed initial verdicts and won acquittals or shorter sentences. In February, Egypt's highest appeals court ordered a retrial for an officer originally sentenced to 15 years for shooting and killing political activist Shaimaa al-Sabbagh at a peaceful protest in January 2015, an incident that was photographed and videotaped. In October, the same court ordered a retrial for two officers who received five-year sentences for torturing lawyer Karim Hamdy to death in a police station in 2015.

Freedom of Assembly

A 2013 decree that effectively banned all anti-government protests remained in place, though it was subject to an ongoing legal challenge before the Supreme Constitutional Court.

Police made large, pre-emptive raids and arrests on two occasions when they anticipated protests.

Beginning in December 2015, police arrested dozens of people in a number of governorates whom they accused of planning protests timed for the January anniversary of the 2011 uprising. In the days ahead of the anniversary, police raided numerous downtown Cairo apartments, searched them without warrants, and arrested some activists, including Taher Mokhtar, a doctor who had advocated for better detention conditions. A court in August ordered Mokhtar released on bail pending investigation.

One official at the National Security Agency told Reuters on January 21: "We have taken several measures to ensure activists don't have breathing space and are unable to gather, and several cafes and other meeting places have been closed, while some have been arrested in order to scare the rest."

After a rare mass demonstration on April 15 against President al-Sisi's decision to cede two Red Sea islands to Saudi Arabia, activists planned a follow-up protest for April 25. Police arrested at least 382 people in the days leading up to and during the dispersal of the second protest, many from their homes or downtown Cairo cafes. Police stopped people riding public transportation or walking in the street, inspected mobile phones without warrants, and arrested phone owners if they found anti-government images.

Prominent human rights lawyer Malek Adly, arrested in May after filing a legal challenge against al-Sisi's decision to cede the islands, was released without bail in late August but still faced charges of spreading false rumors, inciting protests, and attempting to overthrow the government.

Freedom of Association

Parliament and authorities took unprecedented steps to restrict independent human rights work by nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), threatening their very existence.

In September, a Cairo criminal court approved a request from a panel of investigative judges to freeze the assets of three organizations and the personal assets of five people who founded or led prominent human rights groups. The investigative judges had previously banned at least 12 NGO directors, founders, and staff members from travelling outside Egypt. Activists said the travel bans were probably a prelude to the filing of criminal charges against them for illegally receiving foreign funding.

Under penal code article 78, amended by decree by President al-Sisi in 2014, NGO workers can receive a 25-year sentence under such charges if a judge determines that they received foreign funding for "pursuing acts harmful to national interests" or other broad reasons.

In November, parliament swiftly approved a new law regulating NGOs after no public debate or input from civil society. The law would effectively eliminate independent human rights work, placing all NGOs under the effective veto power of a council dominated by representatives of the General Intelligence Service and Interior and Defense Ministries and allowing the council to dissolve NGOs based on broadly worded infractions. It would punish anyone violating the law with a prison term of one to five years and a fine of 50,000 to 100,000 Egyptian pounds (US$3,160-$6,300). In late November, the law still awaited legal advice of the State Council and approval from President al-Sisi.

In February, local government authorities and security officers ordered the closure of the Nadeem Center for the Rehabilitation of Victims of Violence and Torture for allegedly violating the terms of its license, but the center remained open pending negotiations with the Health Ministry. In June, an investigative judge interrogated human rights lawyer Negad al-Borai, who had been involved in drafting an anti-torture law, on charges that he received illegal funding, established an unlicensed entity, and spread false information. Al-Borai has been interrogated on these charges six times.

Freedom of Expression

On May 29, prosecutors summoned the head of the Press Syndicate and two senior board members for questioning. The following day, they charged the men with "harboring suspects against whom an arrest warrant has been issued" and "publishing false news, which threatens public peace." The charges were related to an unprecedented police raid on the Press Syndicate headquarters on May 1, during which police arrested two journalists whom they accused of belonging to the April 6 Youth Movement.

On July 28, a Cairo court for minor offenses convicted Hisham Geneina, the country's former top corruption watchdog, for disseminating false information and gave him a suspended one-year sentence. Geneina appealed the verdict but had to pay a fine of 20,000 Egyptian pounds ($2,252) and 10,000 ($1,126) for bail. President al-Sisi removed Geneina in March after Geneina claimed to have uncovered tens of billions of dollars-worth of government corruption.

In May, police arrested four members of the Street Children satire troupe who had posted videos on YouTube mocking al-Sisi and government policies. Though a court ordered the four released in September, they still faced charges of using social media sites to undermine the country's stability by inciting citizens to protest.

In February, writer and novelist Ahmed Nagi received a two-year sentence for what the prosecution described as "sexually explicit" content in his novel, Using Life, parts of which appeared in a newspaper.

Freedom of Religion

In August, parliament passed a long-awaited law on church building that maintained restrictions over the construction and renovation of churches and discriminated against the country's Christian minority.

The new law allows governors to deny church-building permits with no stated way to appeal, requires that churches be built "commensurate with" the number of Christians in the area, despite the lack of official census statistics, and contains provisions that allow authorities to deny construction permits if granting them would undermine public safety, potentially subjecting decisions on church construction to the whims of violent mobs that have attacked churches in the past.

Between May and July, anti-Christian violence, prompted or preceded by suspicion among some local Muslims about actual or alleged church construction, left one person dead, several injured, and numerous Christian properties destroyed. Authorities continued to fail to protect Christian minorities from sometimes fatal attacks and imposed "reconciliation sessions" that allow Muslim perpetrators to escape prosecution and foster impunity.

In February, a juvenile minor offenses court sentenced four Christian children to five years in prison for posting a video online mocking the Islamic State (also known as ISIS). The boys fled Egypt in April. In March, an appeals court upheld a three-year sentence for contempt of religion against the writer Fatma Naout for criticizing the Muslim tradition of slaughtering livestock as a sacrifice on Eid al-Adha.

Egyptian human rights groups documented unlawful harassment of other religious minorities, including Shia Muslims and atheists, such as arbitrary travel bans and summonses for interrogations.

Violence and Discrimination against Women

In August, parliament passed an amendment to a law prohibiting female genital mutilation (FGM), increasing the penalties. The new law provided for prison terms of five to seven years for those who carry out FGM and up to 15 years if the procedure results in permanent disability or death. Anyone who escorts girls to undergo female genital mutilation will also face one to three years in prison. FGM is still widely practiced, and prosecutors have only obtained one conviction since the law was passed in 2008.

In September, a group of eight women's rights organizations released a statement commending the government for initiating its "National Strategy to Combat Violence Against Women" in 2015 but recommended creating a follow-up committee to ensure that government ministries were actually carrying out the strategy.

Sexual harassment and violence against women remained endemic. The Interior Ministry appointed Brig. Gen. Nahed Salah, a woman, to a new position in charge of combating violence against women. Salah publicly urged women to avoid talking or laughing loudly in public and to be cautious about how they dress to avoid street harassment.

Women continued to face discrimination under Egypt's personal status law on equal access to divorce, child custody, and inheritance.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Sexual relations outside marriage are criminalized. Since 2013, authorities have pursued a campaign to intimidate, track, and arrest lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people, including entrapment using social media applications. Police regularly used forced anal examinations in prosecutions of those suspected of homosexual sex.

Solidarity With Egypt LGBTQ+, an advocacy group, said it had recorded 114 criminal investigations involving 274 LGBT individuals launched between the end of 2013 and November 2016, 66 of which involved the authorities' use of social media.

Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Migrants

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), there were 212,500 registered refugees and 38,171 asylum seekers in Egypt in 2016. Since January 2015, Egyptian authorities arrested more than 2,300 people for attempting to enter or leave the country in an irregular manner, according to the UNHCR. A report by the independent website Mada Masr stated that the UNHCR recorded 3,742 migration-related detentions on the north coast of Egypt by August.

In November, President al-Sisi signed a new law on irregular migration, stiffening penalties for smugglers and shielding asylum seekers and smuggled migrants from criminal responsibility but failing to enshrine key rights. The law provides for harsher prison terms for those who smuggle women and children and life sentences for those involved in organized crime or who smuggle a migrant who dies. But it does not guarantee non-refoulement  the principle that countries will not send migrants back to places where they risk persecution, torture, or a threat to life.

Key International Actors

In April 2016, during a visit to Cairo by President Francois Hollande, France signed deals to build a military telecommunications satellite, extend the Cairo metro, and finance a wind farm and solar power plant. In June, France delivered the first of two Mistral class helicopter carriers to Egypt, part of a spree of Egyptian arms purchases from France that have also included a FREMM-class frigate, four Gowind-class corvettes, and 24 Rafale fighter jets. Hollande said in a press conference that he raised issues of human rights, specifically the case of Eric Lang, a French teacher murdered in a Cairo jail cell in 2013.

In March, United States Secretary of State John Kerry criticized the reopening of the investigation into the funding of local Egyptian NGOs, saying he was "deeply concerned by the deterioration in the human rights situation in Egypt in recent weeks and months."

During two visits to Egypt in April and May, Kerry's public remarks stressed cooperation against the Islamic State extremist group and made no comment on human rights concerns. In April, a US Government Accountability Office report documented the US government's failure to fully implement required end-use monitoring and human rights vetting for US military equipment purchased by Egypt under the US' annual $1.3-billion Foreign Military Financing program. The White House issued a statement in September calling on Egypt to release US-Egyptian citizen Aya Hegazy, who ran a center for homeless children before her arrest in May 2014.

During a meeting with President al-Sisi during the United Nations General Assembly in September, two months before being elected president, Donald Trump expressed "strong support for Egypt's war on terrorism" and pledged that his administration "will be a loyal friend, not simply an ally."

The disappearance, torture and murder of Italian doctoral researcher Giulio Regeni, who was in Egypt to research labor unions, caused a diplomatic rift with Italy after media reports quoted unnamed members of the security services who said that they had arrested Regeni before his death. Italy recalled its ambassador and expressed anger at apparent Egyptian efforts to stall the investigation, which remained ongoing as of October 2016.

In April, the United Arab Emirates pledged $4 billion of aid to Egypt, adding to the $20 billion already granted or loaned by other members of the Gulf Cooperation Council since former President Morsy's 2013 ouster. In October, Ali Mamlouk, head of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad's intelligence services, visited Cairo for the second time in a year, reportedly to discuss security cooperation. Mamlouk's visit, together with Egypt's support for Russia on Syria at the United Nations Security Council, raised diplomatic tensions with Saudi Arabia, which supports armed groups fighting al-Assad's forces.

In September, the International Monetary Fund reached a staff-level agreement with Egypt on a $12 billion loan program aimed at raising revenue and cutting spending. The agreement would require Egypt to cut subsidies, impose a new value-added tax, and float the Egyptian pound.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Ecuador

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Ecuador, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584ba.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 administration of President Rafael Correa has expanded state control over media and civil society and continues to harass, intimidate, and punish critics. Other persistent concerns include limited judicial independence, poor prison conditions, and far-reaching restrictions on women's and girls' access to reproductive health care.

An earthquake on April 16 left approximately 670 people dead and thousands injured and displaced. At time of writing, 2,348 victims continued to live in official shelters. Vulnerable populations, including women and children, remained at particular risk in shelters without adequate security. Some children living in the shelters have not been able to access adequate education.

Disproportionate Criminal Charges against Protesters

Hundreds of Ecuadorians took to the streets in December 2015 to protest the National Assembly's approval of constitutional amendments granting the armed forces powers to assist police in security operations, allowing the president and other elected officials to run for office indefinitely after 2017, and declaring communications a public service  thus granting the government broad powers to regulate media. The day after the protests, a court sentenced 21 people to 15 days in prison for "issuing expressions of discredit and dishonor against policemen."

In May 2016, a court in Loja province convicted Luisa Lozano and Amable Angamarca, of the Saraguro indigenous community, of interrupting public services by closing roads during protests that called for increased protection of indigenous rights. They were sentenced to four years in prison. In October, after an appeal by the Interior Ministry, three others were sentenced to four years in prison in connection with the same incidents.

Freedom of Expression

A 2013 communications law gives the government broad powers to limit free speech. The law requires all information disseminated by media to be "verified" and "precise," opening the door to retaliation against media critical of the government as officials decide what meets these vague criteria. It also prohibits "media lynching," defined as "repeatedly disseminating information with the purpose of discrediting or harming the reputation of a person or entity." In addition, it prohibits what it terms "censorship," which, under the law's definition, includes the failure of private media outlets to cover issues that the government considers to be of "public interest."

The Superintendency of Information and Communication (SUPERCOM), a government regulatory body created by the 2013 communications law and separate from the Communications Ministry (SECOM), has in dozens of cases ordered media outlets and journalists to "correct" or retract reports, including opinion pieces and cartoons, or to apologize publicly for their content. SUPERCOM has also accused outlets of engaging in "censorship" by not publishing information officials deem important.

In August, SUPERCOM issued a written warning to journalist Janet Hinostroza and the TV channel Teleamazonas, where her daily news show airs, and ordered her to apologize publicly for repeatedly denouncing irregularities in government purchase of medicines. The sanction came eight days after the president, during his Saturday weekly broadcast, accused Hinostroza and Teleamazonas of "media lynching."

The Correa administration repeatedly used the communications law to order media outlets to publish information favorable to the government and to transmit official broadcasts responding to unfavorable news coverage. In July, SECOM ordered the TV channel Ecuavisa to transmit a 30-minute official broadcast at a time when it was scheduled to air an investigative program criticizing government funding of audiovisual propaganda. Ecuavisa aired part of the investigative program in the time that was left but viewers had to view the rest online.

In July, the brother of Vice President Jorge Glas asked a court to ban a book on their father's rape conviction. In August, the judge ordered the author to suspend circulation of the book in any form, arguing it undermined the honor of the Glas family.

Criminal defamation remains a concern, despite a 2014 legal reform narrowing the crime's definition. In June, President Correa brought a defamation complaint against Eduardo del Pozo, the vice mayor of Quito, for saying in a radio interview that Correa had manipulated the justice system to send money abroad without paying taxes. In September, del Pozo was sentenced to 15 days in prison. A higher court ratified the conviction in October.

The president, his political party and its members, state media outlets, and state agencies have repeatedly sought to exploit US copyright law in efforts to have critical images and documents removed from the internet. Users sometimes manage to restore content, after a legal process that can take weeks.

In September, after digital newspaper 4Pelagatos published an article criticizing an opinion piece by President Correa's daughter in the official newspaper El Telegrafo, 4Pelagatos journalist Martin Pallares received threats from various Twitter accounts, including one from a high-level SECOM official threatening a beating. The photographs, phone numbers, addresses, and geo-location of the homes of Pallares and two other journalists at the newspaper, Roberto Aguilar and Jose Hernandez, were posted on social networks. Maria Dolores Mino, a law professor who published an opinion piece referring to Correa's daughter's article, also received online threats.

Freedom of Association

In 2015, President Correa issued a decree confirming broad government powers to intervene in the operations of nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), including the power to dissolve groups on the grounds that they have "compromise[d] public peace" or have engaged in activities different from those they identified when registering with the government.

In August, the education minister dissolved the largest and oldest teachers' union for allegedly violating a legal obligation to register board members. The dissolution came after the union's president met with the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the United Nations Human Rights Committee to report on alleged violations of educators' rights. In September, UN human rights experts noted that the decision seemed "arbitrary, political and lacked any logical connection to a legitimate State interest."

Judicial Independence

Corruption, inefficiency, and political interference have plagued Ecuador's judiciary for years. President Correa received a popular mandate in a 2011 referendum on whether to overhaul the justice system to fix the problems. As part of his sweeping judicial reforms, however, the Council of the Judiciary, which in practice lacks independence from the executive, appointed and removed hundreds of judges, including all magistrates of the National Court of Justice, through highly questionable mechanisms that have undermined judicial independence.

Prison Conditions

Prison overcrowding and poor prison conditions are long-standing problems in Ecuador. Since 2012, the government has spent millions of dollars to construct new detention centers, but their remote locations and strict and limited visitation rules impede prisoners' contact with family members.

In August, after the Public Defender's Office filed a habeas corpus request on behalf of detainees at the Turi detention center in Azuay Province, a series of videos were leaked to the public showing prison guards beating inmates, some of them naked, and subjecting them to electric shocks. In September, a judge approved the habeas corpus request and ordered reparation measures for the inmates.

Migrants and Refugees

In July, approximately 150 Cubans were detained during a raid in a park where they were sleeping in tents to protest their inability to obtain a special humanitarian visa from Mexico that would allow them to travel to the US border, and from there, seek asylum in the United States. Judges conducted deportation hearings that did not comply with basic due process guarantees, and ordered the deportation of most of the detainees, including some who had sought asylum in Ecuador. The Cubans were deported before they had an opportunity to appeal the orders and, in some cases, despite judicial orders in their favor.

Accountability for Past Abuses

A truth commission set up by the Correa administration to investigate government abuses from 1984 to 2008 (from the beginning of the repressive presidency of Leon Febres Cordero until Correa took office) documented 136 cases involving 456 victims, including 68 victims of extrajudicial execution and 17 of enforced disappearance. Progress by a special prosecutorial unit created in 2010 to investigate the cases has been slow. According to government statistics from December 2015, judicial procedures have been initiated in only eight cases.

Reproductive Rights

The right to seek an abortion is limited to instances in which a woman's health or life is at risk, or when a pregnancy results from the rape of a "woman with a mental disability." Fear of prosecution drives some women and girls to have illegal and unsafe abortions and impedes health care and services for victims of sexual violence. Fear of prosecution also hinders detection and prevention of sexual and gender-based violence. Government statistics released in 2010, the latest available, indicate that one in four women and girls over 15 years old in Ecuador has been a victim of sexual violence.

Key International Actors

In March 2016, the government refused to participate in a hearing on freedom of association before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and said it would not comply with the commission's recommendations.

In its periodic review of Ecuador in July, the UN Human Rights Committee raised concerns including violence against women, violence in detention centers, the criminalization of abortion, and threats to judicial independence and freedom of expression and association. It also called on Ecuador to carry out timely investigations of cases documented by Ecuador's truth commission, and bring those responsible to justice.

In 2015 the UN General Assembly elected Ecuador to the Human Rights Council for the 2016-2018 term.

In October, during extraordinary sessions of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR) in Ecuador, the court's president, Roberto Caldas, enthusiastically praised Ecuador's judicial reform, which led to strong public criticism regarding the lack of judicial independence in the country.

In 2016, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled against Ecuador in two cases  one determining that it is discriminatory to punish officers who allegedly have homosexual sex on military installations, and another sanctioning Ecuador for the arbitrary detention and torture of four foreigners in 1994.

In November, OAS and UN special rapporteurs on freedom of expression sent a joint letter to the Ecuadorian government stating that the Communications Law undermined free speech. The government rejected the experts' analyses.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Democratic Republic of Congo

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Democratic Republic of Congo, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584c4.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.

Political violence and government repression intensified in 2016 as President Joseph Kabila clung to power beyond his constitutionally mandated two-term limit, which ended on December 19, 2016, despite widespread opposition and international condemnation. As authorities deliberately stalled plans to organize elections, government officials and security forces systematically sought to silence, repress, and intimidate the growing coalition of voices calling for credible, timely elections.

After weeks of intense negotiations, participants at talks mediated by the Catholic Church concluded an agreement on New Year's Eve. The deal, signed by representatives of Kabila's ruling coalition, the political opposition, and civil society, includes a clear commitment that presidential elections will be held before the end of 2017, that Kabila will not seek a third term, and that there will be no referendum nor changes to the constitution. However, the signatories had not agreed on a detailed calendar or plan for implementing the deal, Kabila himself had not signed the agreement, and it was not clear whether measures would be taken to end the climate of repression.

In eastern Congo, the security situation remained volatile as numerous armed groups, and in some cases government security forces, viciously attacked civilians.

Freedom of Expression and Peaceful Assembly

Government officials and security forces repeatedly banned opposition demonstrations, fired teargas and live bullets at peaceful protesters, shut media outlets, and prevented opposition leaders from moving freely.

More than 100 activists and opposition leaders or supporters were arbitrarily arrested between January and December 2016, and held for at least 48 hours. Some were held incommunicado for weeks or months and badly mistreated, while others were put on trial on trumped-up charges. At time of writing, at least 35 activists and political prisoners remained in detention.

Nine youth activists and at least 30 political opposition supporters were arrested in Kinshasa and Goma on or around February 16 in connection with a "ville morte," or general strike, to protest delays in organizing presidential elections.

On May 4, Congo's justice minister opened an investigation into one of the country's leading opposition figures, Moise Katumbi, for alleged recruitment of mercenaries. After police fired teargas and threw rocks at demonstrators who had gathered to support Katumbi when he was called in for questioning at the prosecutor's office in the southeastern city of Lubumbashi, the national prosecutor authorized Katumbi to leave the country for health reasons.

In an unrelated case, he was later convicted in absentia for forgery regarding a real estate deal many years earlier and sentenced to three years in prison and fined US$1 million. One of the judges later described how she had been threatened by the director of the National Intelligence Agency (Agence Nationale de Renseignements, ANR), Kalev Mutondo, and forced to hand down the conviction  a blatant example of the agency's interference in judicial independence.

On May 26, security forces fired teargas and live bullets as they sought to prevent demonstrations from going forward in Goma, killing at least one person and injuring at least 11 others, including four children. Opposition leaders had called for nationwide demonstrations to protest the Constitutional Court's ruling that the president could remain in office "until the installation of the new elected president."

The government also shut down media outlets close to the opposition, at least seven of which remained blocked at time of writing. In November, Communications Minister Lambert Mende issued a decree, making it increasingly difficult for foreign radio and TV stations to operate in Congo. The move came a week after authorities cut the signal of Radio France Internationale in Kinshasa altogether, and temporarily jammed the United Nations-supported Radio Okapi station.

In August 2016, the Congolese government blocked a Human Rights Watch senior researcher from continuing to work in Congo.

Congolese took to the streets again the week of September 19 to protest the electoral commission's failure to announce presidential elections, three months before the end of Kabila's term. Security forces responded with excessive force, killing at least 66 people and setting at least three opposition party headquarters on fire. Some protesters also turned violent, beating or burning to death several police officers. At least eight journalists were detained in an apparent attempt to block independent reporting of the situation.

As Kabila's mandate came to an end, security forces deployed heavily throughout major cities on December 19 and 20 to try to prevent protests. At least 40 people were killed and hundreds more were arrested  many of whom had gone to the streets blowing whistles and banging on pots and pans to tell Kabila "his time was up."

Opposition leader Franck Diongo was arrested on December 19, and convicted and sentenced to five years in prison on December 28, following a hasty trial that he attended in a wheelchair and on an intravenous drip from mistreatment he endured during arrest. The provincial parliament of Haut-Katanga voted on December 27 to lift the parliamentary immunity for opposition leader Gabriel Kyungu, accused of insulting Kabila.

Attacks on Civilians by Armed Groups

Dozens of armed groups remained active in eastern Congo. Many of their commanders have been implicated in war crimes, including ethnic massacres, killing of civilians, rape, forced recruitment of children, and pillage.

In Beni territory, North Kivu, unidentified fighters continued to commit large-scale attacks on civilians, killing more than 150 people in 2016 according to Human Rights Watch research and credible reports from Congolese activists and the UN. At least 680 people have been killed since the beginning of the series of massacres in October 2014. There are credible reports that elements of the Congolese army were involved in the planning and execution of some of these killings.

Intercommunal violence increased as fighters from the armed groups Nduma Defense of Congo-Renove (NDC-R), the Union of Patriots for the Defense of the Innocent (UPDI), and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) carried out ethnically based attacks on civilians, killing at least 170 people and burning at least 2,200 homes.

Kidnappings of Congolese civilians and humanitarian aid workers continued to affect parts of Rutshuru, Lubero, and Masisi territories in eastern Congo. At least 175 people were kidnapped for ransom during 2015. In 2016, kidnappings continued, with more than 20 aid workers among the victims, further shrinking humanitarian space.

In 2015, the Congolese army unlawfully detained at least 29 children in dire conditions in the Angenga military prison in northwestern Congo. The authorities alleged that the boys were members of a rebel armed group. Most of them were released in April following pressure from Human Rights Watch and the UN. The others remain detained in Angenga.

During the week of December 19, heavy fighting broke out in various parts of the country, including in Lisala, Kananga, and Manono, in which scores of people were wounded and killed. It is unclear whether these clashes were related to the broader political crisis.

Justice and Accountability

On December 19, 2015, two Congolese rebel leaders convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC), Germain Katanga and Thomas Lubanga, returned to Congo to serve the remainder of their sentences in Kinshasa. While Katanga finished his sentence from the ICC ruling in January, he remains in detention and faces national war crimes charges in Congo that were filed against him before he was transferred to the ICC.

On March 21, the ICC found the Congolese politician and former rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba guilty of rape, murder, and pillage in neighboring Central African Republic. On October 19, the ICC found Bemba and his defense team guilty of bribing witnesses to lie in his favor at his trial.

On March 23, the ICC confirmed 70 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity for Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) leader Dominic Ongwen, a former child soldier who became a senior LRA commander. The trial began in December 2016.

In October, warlord Gedeon Kyungu Mutanga surrendered. Instead of arresting him, local officials in Lubumbashi gave Gedeon, as he is commonly known, a celebratory welcome. At time of writing it remained unclear whether he would serve the remainder of his 2009 sentence.

No progress was made in bringing to justice those responsible for the summary executions of at least 51 young men and boys and the enforced disappearance of 33 others during a police campaign in Kinshasa, known as Operation Likofi, from November 2013 to February 2014, or for the summary executions during the January 2015 demonstrations.

Regional and International Developments

In response to the increased political repression, the United States imposed targeted sanctions against Kinshasa's police commissioner, Gen. Celestin Kanyama, in June, and later against Gen. Gabriel Amisi Kumba and former police inspector John Numbi in September. In December, the US sanctioned then-Interior Minister Evariste Boshab and intelligence chief Kalev Mutondo. That month, the European Union sanctioned seven senior security officials who had played a role in the repression in 2015 and 2016.

In late September, following government repression of the protests in Kinshasa, the ICC prosecutor issued a strong warning that the court was closely monitoring the escalating situation.

In early November, a team of UN human rights experts called on authorities to lift a ban on public political meetings in several cities in Congo.

The online version of the World Report's Democratic Republic of Congo chapter is an update of the printed edition.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Cuba

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Cuba, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584d4.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 Cuban government continues to repress dissent and punish public criticism. It now relies less than in past years on long-term prison sentences to punish its critics, but short-term arbitrary arrests of human rights defenders, independent journalists, and others have increased dramatically in recent years. Other repressive tactics employed by the government include beatings, public shaming, and termination of employment.

On November 25, Fidel Castro, who ruled Cuba from 1959 until handing off the presidency to his brother, Raul, in 2006, died in Havana.

In March, US President Barack Obama visited Cuba, where he met with President Raul Castro, as well as with representatives of Cuban civil society. President Obama gave a nationally televised address and held a joint press conference with President Castro in which he urged the Cuban government to lift restrictions on political freedoms and reiterated his call for the US Congress to end the economic embargo of the island.

Arbitrary Detention and Short-Term Imprisonment

The government continues to rely on arbitrary detention to harass and intimidate critics, independent activists, political opponents, and others. The Cuban Commission for Human Rights and National Reconciliation, an independent human rights group that lacks official authorization and is therefore considered illegal by the government, received more than 7,900 reports of arbitrary detentions from January through August 2016. This represents the highest monthly average of detentions in the past six years.

Security officers rarely present arrest orders to justify the detention of critics. In some cases, detainees are released after receiving official warnings, which prosecutors can use in subsequent criminal trials to show a pattern of "delinquent" behavior.

Detention is often used preemptively to prevent people from participating in peaceful marches or meetings to discuss politics. Detainees are often beaten, threatened, and held incommunicado for hours or days. The Ladies in White (Damas de Blanco)  a group founded by the wives, mothers, and daughters of political prisoners also, like the Cuban Commission on Human Rights, lacks official authorization and is therefore considered illegal by the government. Its members are routinely harassed, roughed up, and detained by either police or state security agents before or after they attend Sunday mass.

Prior to President Obama's visit in March, police arrested more than 300 dissidents as part of a crackdown on opposition leaders.

Freedom of Expression

The government controls virtually all media outlets in Cuba and restricts access to outside information.

A small number of journalists and bloggers who are independent of government media manage to write articles for websites or blogs, or publish tweets. However, the government routinely blocks access within Cuba to these websites. Moreover, only a fraction of Cubans can read independent websites and blogs because of the high cost of, and limited access to, the internet.

Independent journalists who publish information considered critical of the government are subject to smear campaigns and arbitrary arrests, as are artists and academics who demand greater freedoms.

Lazaro Yuri Valle Roca, a blogger and videographer who often covers the Sunday demonstrations of the Ladies in White, was jailed for five days after trying to cover a protest on March 20, the day of President Obama's arrival in Cuba. Police officers apprehended Valle Roca, beat him, and took him to a nearby police station, according to Aliuska Gomez Garcia, a member of the Ladies in White who witnessed the beating and arrest and spoke afterwards to the Committee to Protect Journalists. Valle Roca was later accused of attacking an official. While he did not face charges on this occasion, officers warned him that he might if arrested in the future.

In May, police detained journalist Daniel Dominguez Lopez in his office at the Cuban Institute for Freedom of Speech and Press (ICLEP) after he wrote an article about a deprivation-of-property case involving a member of the National Revolutionary Police Force. Police ultimately took him to a "criminal instruction unit," where he said that they threatened to imprison or kill him and his family. Officers reportedly warned him against further distribution of his bulletin and told him that they were determined to destroy ICLEP.

Police in October detained Maykel Gonzalez Vivero, a reporter of the news site Diario de Cuba, while he was reporting on the damage caused by Hurricane Matthew. Three days later, police arrested Elaine Diaz, director of the independent news site Periodismo del Barrio and four of her colleagues when they traveled to Baracoa, eastern Cuba, to report on the storm's effects. She and her team were released a few hours later, as was Gonzalez, but authorities reportedly confiscated their laptop computers, cameras, and other equipment.

The government harasses artists as well. Police detained Danilo Maldonado, a graffiti artist known as "El Sexto," during a march led by the Ladies in White movement shortly before President Obama's visit in March 2016, but released him the following day. The day after Fidel Castro's death in November, police arrested Maldonado again after he posted an online video mocking Castro's death and spray painting "se fue" (he's gone) on a wall in downtown Havana. Police held him incommunicado for 72 hours, inflicting a beating that triggered an asthma attack. After his mother brought an inhaler, his detention continued. He was still detained at time of writing in early December. Two years earlier, Maldonado had been charged with "contempt for authority" for attempting to stage a satirical performance with two pigs daubed with "Raul" and "Fidel." He served 10 months in prison.

Political Prisoners

Despite the release of the 53 political prisoners in conjunction with the agreement to normalize relations with the US, dozens more remain in Cuban prisons, according to local human rights groups. The government denies access to its prisons by independent human rights groups, which believe that additional political prisoners, whose cases they cannot document, remain locked up.

Cubans who criticize the government continue to face the threat of criminal prosecution. They do not benefit from due process guarantees, such as the right to fair and public hearings by a competent and impartial tribunal. In practice, courts are subordinated to the executive and legislative branches, denying meaningful judicial independence.

Travel Restrictions

Reforms to travel regulations that went into effect in January 2013 eliminated the need for an exit visa to leave the island. Exit visas had previously been used to deny the right to travel to people critical of the government  and to their families. Since then, many people who had previously been denied permission to travel have been able to do so, including human rights defenders and independent bloggers.

Nonetheless, the reforms gave the government broad discretionary powers to restrict the right to travel on the grounds of "defense and national security" or "other reasons of public interest." Such measures have allowed authorities to deny exit to people who express dissent.

The government restricts the movement of citizens within Cuba through a 1997 law known as Decree 217, which is designed to limit migration to Havana. The decree has been used to harass dissidents and prevent those from elsewhere in Cuba from traveling to Havana to attend meetings.

Prison Conditions

Prisons are overcrowded. Prisoners are forced to work 12-hour days and punished if they do not meet production quotas, according to former political prisoners. Inmates have no effective complaint mechanism to seek redress for abuses. Those who criticize the government or engage in hunger strikes and other forms of protest are often subjected to extended solitary confinement, beatings, restrictions on family visits, and denied medical care.

While the government allowed select members of the foreign press to conduct controlled visits to a handful of prisons in April 2013, it continues to deny international human rights groups and independent Cuban organizations access to its prisons.

Labor Rights

Despite updating its Labor Code in 2014, Cuba continues to violate conventions of the International Labour Organization that it has ratified, specifically regarding freedom of association, collective bargaining, protection of wages, and prohibitions on forced labor. While the formation of independent unions is technically allowed by law, in practice Cuba only permits one confederation of state-controlled unions, the Workers' Central Union of Cuba.

Human Rights Defenders

The Cuban government still refuses to recognize human rights monitoring as a legitimate activity and denies legal status to local human rights groups. Government authorities harass, assault, and imprison human rights defenders who attempt to document abuses.

In September, police raided Cubalex, a six-year-old organization that investigates human rights violations and provides free legal services to free-expression activists, migrants, and human-rights defenders. Officers confiscated files, strip-searched four men and a woman, and arrested two attorneys, one of whom was still in detention at time of writing.

Key International Actors

In December 2014, President Obama announced that the United States would ease decades-old restrictions on travel and commerce, and normalize diplomatic relations with Cuba. In return, the Cuban government released 53 political prisoners and committed to allowing visits by international human rights monitors. The two governments restored diplomatic relations in July 2015, but at time of writing, no international human rights monitors had visited Cuba.

In January 2015, President Obama called on the US Congress to lift the economic embargo on the island that had been imposed more than four decades earlier. In October 2016, he used executive orders to end a few trade restrictions, including the longstanding $100 import limit on two of Cuba's signature products: cigars and rum.

In September 2016, the European Union approved an agreement with Cuba that would strengthen economic and political ties and bring an end to the EU's 1996 "Common Position on Cuba," which conditions full European Union economic cooperation with Cuba on the country's transition to a pluralist democracy and respect for human rights. In October, the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution  for the 25th consecutive year  calling on the US to end the embargo. Only the US and Israel did not vote in favor, but for the first time, they abstained instead of voting against.

As a member of the UN Human Rights Council from 2006 to 2012 and from 2014 to the present, Cuba has regularly voted to prevent scrutiny of serious human rights abuses around the world  opposing resolutions spotlighting abuses in North Korea, Syria, Iran, and Ukraine. However, Cuba supported a resolution adopted by the council in June 2016, establishing the post of an independent expert to combat violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

In October, Cuba was re-elected to the Human Rights Council for the 2017-2019 term.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Cote d'Ivoire

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Cote d'Ivoire, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584d4b.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.

Cote d'Ivoire's continued political stability and strong macroeconomic growth provided a platform in 2016 for gradual improvement in the rule of law and the fulfillment of economic and social rights. A new constitution removed a divisive nationality clause  requiring a presidential candidate's father and mother to be Ivorian  that had contributed to over a decade of political turmoil. However, little progress was made in addressing key human rights issues at the root of political violence, such as combating impunity and delivering justice for the victims of over a decade of political violence, including the 3,000 victims of the 2010-11 post-election crisis.

The campaign in advance of an October 30 referendum on the new constitution was characterized by some violations of the rights of freedom of assembly and expression. The new constitution contains provisions that the opposition contend significantly strengthen the power of the presidency. Cote d'Ivoire was slated to hold legislative elections on December 18.

A terrorist attack on a beach resort in Grand-Bassam on March 13 killed 22 people, including three assailants. The attack, claimed by al-Mourabitoun, an offshoot of Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, underscored the risk that Cote d'Ivoire faces from regional extremist groups.

Freedom of Assembly and Expression

Ahead of the constitutional referendum, the ability of opposition parties to explain their opposition to the draft constitution was undermined by a brief seven-day campaign period, lack of access to state media, and the suspension of two opposition-leaning newspapers.

The opposition argued that the addition of a vice president and a senate, one third of which is appointed by the president, as well as a clause stating that the constitution can be amended by a two-thirds vote of the national assembly and the senate, gave undue power to the executive.

In the weeks leading up to the vote, Ivorian security forces on at least two occasions dispersed demonstrators opposed to the constitution and briefly detained several opposition leaders. Several other opposition rallies occurred without incident. Many opposition parties boycotted the vote, which was marred by modest turnout and the vandalism of dozens of polling stations in opposition strongholds.

Accountability for Past Abuses

Progress in delivering impartial justice for victims of past political violence was slow. In January 2016, the International Criminal Court (ICC) trial began of former President Laurent Gbagbo and the former youth minister and militia leader, Charles Ble Goude, for crimes against humanity committed during the 2010-11 crisis.

An Ivorian court tried former First Lady Simone Gbagbo for crimes against humanity and war crimes during the crisis. The ICC and national judges are investigating high-level perpetrators from pro-Ouattara forces but had yet to bring them to trial at time of writing.

The Special Investigative and Examination Cell, established in 2011, continued its investigations into human rights crimes committed during the 2010-2011 post-election crisis. The cell has charged high-level perpetrators from both sides, including several pro-Ouattara commanders now in senior positions in the Ivorian army.

The only national civilian trial for human rights crimes so far, however, is that of Simone Gbagbo, whose trial in Cote d'Ivoire's highest criminal court (cour d'assises) for crimes against humanity and war crimes began on May 31, 2016. Human rights groups acting on behalf of victims decided not to participate in the trial, citing violations of victims' due process rights. In May, the Ivorian Supreme Court denied Simone Gbagbo's appeal of her March 2015 conviction and 20-year sentence for offenses against the state during the post-election crisis.

The ICC has also indicted Simone Gbagbo, but the Ivorian government has refused to transfer her to The Hague. The ICC's long-delayed investigations into crimes committed by pro-Ouattara forces continued during 2016, although President Ouattara has said that all further cases related to the post-election crisis will be tried in national courts.

A military court on February 18 convicted 13 military personnel, including Gen. Dogbo Ble, the former leader of Gbagbo's Republican Guard, and Commander Anselme Seka Yapo, former head of protection detail of Simone Gbagbo, for the 2002 assassination of former coup leader and Ivorian president, Gen. Robert Guei and his family. Neither the special cell nor the ICC are investigating crimes committed during election-related violence in 2000 or the 2002-2003 armed conflict.

Cote d'Ivoire's reparations body had, when it submitted its report in April 2016, compiled a list of more than 316,000 victims potentially eligible for reparations, although the vast majority of victims have yet to receive assistance. The government on October 25 published the report of the Dialogue, Truth and Reconciliation Commission, which completed its work December 2014, although the report does little to identify those responsible for crimes committed during the 2002-2003 conflict or 2010-11 crisis.

Judicial System

Sessions of the cour d'assises were held in Abidjan and several regional courts, an essential step to clear the backlog of serious criminal cases. However, approximately 40 percent of the prison population remains in pretrial detention, often for several years. Despite the conditional release since December 2015 of some 100 pro-Gbagbo defendants arrested for their alleged role in the post-election crisis or subsequent attacks against the state, more than 200 remained in extended pretrial detention.

Most prisons are overcrowded and detainees lack adequate nutrition, sanitation, and medical care. On February 20, 2016, an uprising in Abidjan's central prison (Maison d'Arret et de Correction), led to the death of a prison guard and 10 inmates, including a gang leader responsible for systematic racketeering inside the facility.

Fear of violent crime committed by street gangs, including by children, fueled several public lynchings of suspected criminals. Although the government has taken steps to eliminate its use of the word "germ" ("microbe") to describe children in criminal gangs, it has yet to develop a comprehensive strategy to address the social, psychological, and economic drivers of violent crime by children.

Conduct of Security Forces

The prevalence of arbitrary arrests, mistreatment of detainees, and unlawful killings by the security forces lessened in 2016. Investigations and prosecutions of those who do commit abuses increased slightly, but were still rare. The military justice system remains severely under-resourced, and needs reform to strengthen its independence from the executive.

The security forces continued to engage in extortion, parallel tax systems and other criminal conduct to obtain revenue from the illicit exploitation of cocoa, diamonds, and other natural resources. Commanders allegedly responsible for severe human rights violations remain in positions of authority within the armed forces and several have allegedly illicitly accumulated private wealth and personal armories.

Extortion by security forces at illegal checkpoints remains an acute problem on secondary roads in rural areas. The United Nations reported that in March, in Assuefry northeastern Cote d'Ivoire, the Ivorian army fired on protesters angry at soldiers' continued extortion, resulting in the death of three persons.

Communal Violence and Land Rights

In March, violent intercommunal clashes between pastoralists and farmers in Bouna, in the northeast, left at least 27 people dead and thousands more displaced. Armed traditional hunters, known as Dozo, intervened in the conflict and were responsible for at least 15 of the killings. The government subsequently charged the Dozo chief from Bouna with murder, and some 70 Dozos were among more than 115 people arrested for their role in the violence. More than 75 people at time of writing remained in detention awaiting trial.

Land conflicts between migrant and indigenous communities underscored episodic violence in southwestern Cote d'Ivoire, including a December 2, 2015 attack by Ivorian and Liberian militiamen in Olodio that killed seven Ivorian soldiers. The December 2015 resumption of the repatriation of refugees from Liberia, on hold during the Ebola crisis, increased competition for land in western Cote d'Ivoire.

In an effort to restore Cote d'Ivoire's dwindling forests, the government in July evicted more than 15,000 cocoa farmers from Mont Peko National Park, leaving many families without access to sufficient food, shelter, or sanitation. Smaller-scale evictions from protected forests were frequently conducted without adequate notice, and farmers were beaten and extorted during eviction operations.

Violence against Women and Girls

Gender-based violence remains widespread, particularly against girls. A July UN report found that of 1,129 rapes reported between 2012 and 2015, more than two-thirds of victims were children. Because the cour d'assises mandated to try rape cases rarely functions, Ivorian judges frequently reclassify rape cases to lesser offenses, although cour d'assises did hear at least 15 rape cases in 2016, resulting in more than a dozen convictions.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

No law prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sexual orientation, gender identity, or intersex status. Cote d'Ivoire does not criminalize same-sex conduct, but the criminal code establishes higher penalties for same-sex couples convicted of public acts of indecency. Two men were in November convicted of public indecency and sentenced to three-month prison terms after being accused of same-sex sexual acts. Two gay men were assaulted in June after a photo was published of them signing a book of condolences to the victims of a shooting at a gay nightclub in Florida, US.

Human Rights Defenders

Although in June 2014 the government passed a law that strengthened protections for human rights defenders, it has so far failed to adopt a decree to facilitate the law's implementation. International and national human rights groups generally operate without government restrictions.

Key International Actors

On April 28, 2016, the UN Security Council extended the mandate of the UN peacekeeping mission, the UN Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), for a final time, to June 30, 2017. The UN Security Council also terminated the arms embargo and individual sanctions first imposed in 2004. UNOCI progressively reduced its military and civilian components throughout 2016, leaving France, the European Union, and the United States as the government's principal partners on justice and security sector reform.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Colombia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Colombia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b584fa.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 government and the country's largest guerrilla group, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), reached an agreement in 2016 to end their 52-year armed conflict. The agreement provides a historic opportunity to curb human rights abuses. Much will depend on how its justice provisions are passed into legislation, reviewed by the Constitutional Court, and then interpreted by a new "Special Jurisdiction for Peace." On October 2, an initial version of the peace deal with flawed justice provisions was rejected by a slim margin in a national plebiscite, but the parties reached a new agreement on November 12.

Violence associated with the conflict has forcibly displaced more than 6.8 million Colombians, generating the world's second largest population of internally displaced persons (IDPs), after Syria. Civilians continue to suffer serious abuses by the country's second largest guerrilla group, the National Liberation Army (ELN), and by paramilitary successor groups that emerged after a demobilization process a decade ago. Human rights defenders, trade unionists, journalists, indigenous and Afro-Colombian leaders, and other community activists face death threats and violence, including from guerrillas and successor groups. Perpetrators of violence against civilians are rarely held accountable.

Since the FARC announced a unilateral ceasefire in July 2015, abuses attributed to them have declined steeply. The Colombian government and the ELN announced in March 2016 that, after almost two years of exploratory negotiations, they would start formal peace talks. These had not started at time of writing, largely owing to the ELN's unwillingness to free captives and end kidnappings.

In September, the Council of the State  one of Colombia's high courts  annulled the 2012 re-election of Alejandro Ordonez as the country's inspector general and dismissed him from office. Under Colombian law, the inspector general is charged with protecting human rights, but during his seven years in office, Ordonez repeatedly sought to undermine the rights of women and lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people.

Guerrillas

Since its formation in the mid-1960s, the FARC has committed systematic atrocities against civilians, including child recruitment, abductions, and widespread crimes of sexual violence. In August, President Juan Manuel Santos and the FARC leadership declared a "definitive ceasefire" which was followed by the peace agreement approved later in the year.

The ELN continues to commit serious abuses against civilians. In the province of Choco, for example, it has been responsible for kidnappings, killings, forced displacement, and child recruitment. In May 2016, ELN guerrillas kidnapped three journalists in the northeastern province of Norte de Santander.

The ELN continued in 2016 to use antipersonnel landmines. The government reported that landmines and unexploded ordnances killed 3 civilians and injured 19 between January and October 2016.

Paramilitaries and their Successors

Between 2003 and 2006, right-wing paramilitary organizations with close ties to security forces and politicians underwent a deeply flawed government demobilization process in which many members remained active and reorganized into new groups. These successor groups continue to commit such widespread abuses as killings, disappearances, and sexual violence. They have at times benefited from the tolerance and even collusion of state agents.

Buenaventura, a largely Afro-Colombian port on the Pacific coast where successor groups continue to commit such abuses, has one of the highest rate of forced displacement in Colombia, with 12,956 residents fleeing their homes in 2015, and 1,955 fleeing from January through October 2016.

The conflict between the AGC and the ELN in the province of Choco has severely limited the ability of many indigenous and Afro-Colombian people to leave their towns.

Implementation of the Justice and Peace Law of 2005, which offers dramatically reduced sentences to demobilized paramilitary members who confess their crimes, has been slow, despite significant progress since 2014. As of July 2016, 182 of the more than 30,000 paramilitary troops who officially demobilized had been sentenced under the law. The convictions cover a small portion of the more than 4,000 defendants seeking the law's benefits.

In October, the Attorney General's Office indicted Santiago Uribe, the brother of former President Alvaro Uribe, on charges of murder and association to commit crimes for his alleged role in the paramilitary group "The 12 Apostols" in the 1990s.

"Parapolitics" investigations of current and former members of Congress accused of conspiring with paramilitaries continued in 2016. From 2006 through August 2015, 63 legislators were convicted of crimes related to "parapolitics."

Abuses by Public Security Forces

From 2002 through 2008, army brigades across Colombia routinely executed civilians. Under pressure from superiors to show "positive" results and boost body counts in their war against guerrillas, soldiers and officers abducted victims or lured them to remote locations under false pretenses  such as promises of work  and killed them, placed weapons on their bodies, and reported them as enemy combatants killed in action. There has been a dramatic reduction in cases of alleged unlawful killings attributed to security forces since 2009, though credible reports of some new cases continue to emerge.

As of June 2016, the Attorney General's Office was investigating more than 3,600 alleged unlawful killings from 2002 through 2008, and had convicted more than 800 state agents in 210 rulings.

The vast majority of those convicted are low-level soldiers. Authorities have failed to prosecute senior army officers involved in the killings and instead have promoted many of them through the military ranks.

At time of writing, the Attorney General's Office had summoned a total of 11 active or retired generals for questioning on their alleged role in false-positive cases. In August, retired Gen. Henry William Torres Escalante, was indicted; but no meaningful progress has been achieved in other cases against generals allegedly responsible for "false positive" killings. In March 2016, prosecutors summoned the former head of the army, retired Gen. Mario Montoya Uribe, for a hearing in which he was to be charged. The hearing had yet to take place as of November.

Gen. Rodriguez Barragan continued, at time of writing, to command the armed forces, despite strong evidence implicating him in false-positive killings.

Peace Negotiations and Accountability

The peace agreement creates a Special Jurisdiction for Peace to try those responsible for gross human rights violations committed during the conflict. Individuals responsible for crimes against humanity and serious war crimes who fully cooperate with the new jurisdiction and confess their crimes will be subjected to up to eight years of "effective restraints of rights and liberties."

The November 12 agreement, while not fully addressing the flaws of the original, contains language that could make it much easier to fix at least two of the most important ones: an overly narrow conception of when superior officers can be held responsible for the crimes of their subordinates, and modest and vaguely defined definitions of the "restrictions on liberty" to be imposed on individuals who fully and promptly confess their war crimes.

Members of the armed forces would also benefit under the agreement, probably including many soldiers responsible for false-positive killings.

Internal Displacement and Land Restitution

More than 6.8 million Colombians have been internally displaced since 1985, government figures reveal. Some 35,000 people were displaced in 2016, a significant drop from the more than 140,000 displaced in 2015.

The government's implementation of land restitution under the Victims' Law continues to move slowly. The law was enacted in 2011 to restore millions of hectares of abandoned land and land stolen by armed groups and civilians to internally displaced Colombians. As of September 2016, the courts had issued rulings in just 4,100 of more than 93,000 claims received.

Gender-Based Violence

Gender-based violence (GBV) is widespread in Colombia. Lack of training and poor implementation of treatment protocols impede timely access to medical services and create obstacles for women and girls seeking post-violence care. Perpetrators of GBV crimes are rarely brought to justice.

In July 2015, "femicide"  defined, in part, as the murder of a woman because of her gender  became a crime. The law established comprehensive measures to prevent and prosecute GBV, including recognizing a victim's right to specialized legal assistance.

Human Rights Defenders, Journalists, and Trade Unionists

Rights advocates and journalists continue to be targeted with threats and attacks. Despite an Interior Ministry program that assigns protection to human rights defenders, trade unionists, and journalists, the United Nations high commissioner for human rights in Colombia documented the killings of 28 leading rights advocates and community activists from January through September 2016. During 2015, the Attorney General's Office successfully prosecuted seven individuals for killing community activists and rights advocates.

The Foundation for a Free Press, a respected Colombian nongovernmental organization (NGO) that monitors press freedoms, reported threats against 91 journalists from January through October 2016.

The National Labor School, Colombia's leading labor-rights NGO, reported 18 killings of trade unionists from January 2015 through February 2016  and the government has reported more than 120 since 2011. As of February 2015, the Attorney General's Office had obtained convictions in only six of such killings committed since 2011.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In recent years, authorities in Colombia have taken several steps to recognize the rights of LGBT people. In June 2015, the Justice Ministry issued a decree allowing people to revise the gender noted on their identification documents without prior judicial approval. In November 2015, the Constitutional Court ruled that sexual orientation could not be used to prohibit someone from adopting a child, although a legislative proposal to hold a referendum on this issue remained pending at time of writing. In April 2016, the Constitutional Court upheld the right of same-sex couples to marry.

In October 2016, FARC leaders met with conservative politicians and agreed to promote a definition of the family as formed by a man and a women. The FARC backtracked after meeting with LGBT representatives days later. Conservative politicians and evangelist leaders had attacked the peace agreement claiming that it would "destroy families."

Between January and June 2016, the Ombudsman's Office received 89 reports of cases of violence against LGBTI people.

Indigenous Rights

Indigenous peoples in Colombia suffer disproportionate limitations on their enjoyment of social and economic rights. From January through August 2016, at least 51 children  the vast majority of them belonging to Wayuu indigenous communities  died in the province of La Guajira of causes associated with malnutrition. Many of these deaths are caused by limited access to water. The Inter-American Commission of Human Rights had asked the government in December 2015 to take measures to curb these deaths.

Key International Actors

The United States remains the most influential foreign actor in Colombia. In February, US President Barack Obama announced "Peace Colombia"  a new framework for bilateral collaboration to support peace efforts  and pledged US$450 million for the 2017 fiscal year.

A portion of US military aid is subject to human rights conditions, which the US Department of State has not enforced; in September, it again certified that Colombia was meeting the conditions. Through a special envoy to the FARC peace talks, Bernard Aronson, the US has strongly supported the peace agreements reached in September and November.

Cuba has also provided key support to the peace process by hosting the talks and acting as "guarantor" of the process.

In September, before the peace agreement was rejected in the national plebiscite, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon participated in the ceremonial signing of the agreement, saying it "creates the conditions for lasting peace."

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) continues to monitor Colombian investigations of crimes that may fall within the ICC's jurisdiction. In September, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda welcomed the announcement of the peace deal with the FARC but highlighted the importance of "genuine accountability" and "effective punishment" for those responsible for atrocities.

In January 2016, the UN Security Council, at the government's request, established a political mission under a tripartite mechanism  the UN, the government, and FARC  to monitor and verify the peace agreement's definitive bilateral ceasefire and cessation of hostilities, and the laying down of arms.

The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights continues to play a key role in defending and promoting human rights in Colombia. On October 31, the day the office's mandate would have expired, the Colombian government agreed to extend it until 2019.

In October, President Santos was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to bring the Colombian armed conflict to an end.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Chile

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Chile, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58513.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.

Courts continue to prosecute people for abuses committed during military rule in Chile, but the Supreme Court has used its discretionary powers in many cases to reduce sentences against human rights violators, resulting in punishments incommensurate with the gravity of the crimes. Poor prison conditions and reports of excessive use of force by police also continue to be significant human rights concerns in Chile.

The National Service for Minors became the center of a scandal in 2016 when information was released indicating that more than 850 children and 448 adults had died in state custody since 2005. Reported causes of death varied, but included infants and young children drowning in their own gastric or respiratory fluids, suicides, and delayed medical attention to injuries.

Chile's parliament has debated reform of a counterterrorism law and decriminalization of abortion in limited circumstances, as promised by President Michelle Bachelet, but neither had passed at time of writing. In November, a bill was introduced to end the jurisdiction of military courts over alleged human rights abuses by Carabineros, Chilean police officers responsible for public order and crime prevention.

Confronting Past Abuses

According to data released by the Ministry of the Interior's human rights program in December 2015, justice authorities are investigating a total of 1,048 cases involving human rights violations committed during military rule (1973-1990). As of December 2015, 344 individuals had been sentenced for human rights crimes, including killings and enforced disappearances; 117 of them were serving prison sentences. While courts continue to prosecute abuses committed during military rule, the Supreme Court has used its discretionary powers in many cases to reduce the sentences imposed on perpetrators, sometimes even to a non-custodial sentence.

In July 2016, Juan Emilio Cheyre, former army commander-in-chief, was placed under judicial investigation for his alleged role as accomplice in the 1973 murders of 15 opponents of the Pinochet dictatorship. At the time, he was a lieutenant in the La Serena regiment, and the homicides were part of what became known as the "Caravan of Death," a military death squad that tortured, extrajudicially killed, and disappeared suspected dissidents throughout Northern Chile. Gen. Sergio Victor Arellano Stark, who led the Caravan of Death, died in March 2016 without serving prison time, though the Supreme Court convicted and sentenced him to six years.

In October, the Supreme Court overturned the 1974-1975 convictions for sedition and treason of 12 ex-members of the Chilean air force who refused to join the 1973 military coup.

Counterterrorism Law

A bill presented by the government in November 2014 to replace Chile's counterterrorism law remained under discussion in the legislature at time of writing. The current law lacks sufficient due process protections, and its definition of terrorism is overly broad. The bill would update and narrow the definition of terrorism, excluding crimes against private property, which have formed the basis for terrorism prosecutions of Mapuche indigenous activists. It would also strengthen due process guarantees, giving defense attorneys the right to learn the identity of protected witnesses, question them about their evidence, and probe their credibility.

Military Jurisdiction

Military courts continue to exercise jurisdiction over abuses committed by Chile's uniformed police, the Carabineros. Criminal proceedings in military courts lack the independence and due process guarantees of ordinary criminal cases. Investigations are secret, the proceedings are conducted mainly in writing, and lawyers have limited opportunities to cross-examine witnesses. Many legitimate complaints of human rights abuses filed in military courts are dismissed. Sentences are often inappropriately reduced by the military appeals court. Both the Constitutional Court and the Supreme Court have opposed military jurisdiction in such cases.

In May 2014, the minister of defense promised to present draft legislation before the end of June 2015 that would end military jurisdiction over crimes committed against civilians by the armed forces (including Carabineros). In November 2016, the government introduced such a bill.

Freedom of Expression

In May 2016, President Bachelet filed criminal defamation charges against four journalists from the magazine Que Pasa, after it printed the transcript of a telephone wiretap of a suspect in the Chilean Public Ministry's investigation into a business with links to one of Bachelet's relatives. In September, the ethical council of the Federation of Media of Chile (FMCS), a professional association, adopted a resolution sanctioning the magazine for breach of journalistic ethics. Bachelet subsequently withdrew her case, saying she was "satisfied" with the FMCS sanction and had never intended to "affect journalists or win money."

Police Abuses

Carabineros continue to use excessive force, according to media reports, particularly against protesters, students, and indigenous communities. Some officers have allegedly sexually harassed women and girls at protests.

A controversial law that allows what many are calling "preventive identity control" entered into force in July 2016. Article 12 of Law 20931 permits law enforcement to ask for identification from anyone who is older than 18 years of age without any suspicion of connection to a crime, which was the standard previously required to check identification. This is particularly concerning in the case of protests, as identification checks at protests in Chile have been reported as disproportionately affecting marginalized groups.

Torture

In November, President Bachelet signed into law a bill that will modify Chile's criminal code to comply with international and regional standards on torture and cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment including by increasing penalties for torture and prohibiting amnesty.

According to the Public Ministry, complaints of torture, genocide, ill-treatment, and crimes against humanity increased 193 percent in the first nine months of 2016, compared with the same period in 2015. Most cases allegedly involve public functionaries, such as Carabineros.

Prison Conditions

Despite measures adopted in 2010-2013 to reduce the prison population, many of Chile's prisons remain grossly overcrowded. Prisons in Chile house nearly 49,000 detainees and prisoners, though their maximum capacity is less than 42,000. Conditions remain poor, and violent abuses by prison guards are common.

Children's Rights

The National Service for Minors (Sename), the government agency tasked with caring for children and adolescents whose families are unable to do so, became the center of a scandal in July when an information request through Chile's Transparency Law revealed that 185 children died in the care of state institutions from 2005 to May 2016; in October, Sename confirmed that the figure was even higher: 865 children and 448 adults (such as persons with disabilities or those in residences or outpatient programs)  a total of 1,313 deaths of people in its custody. As noted above, reported causes of death included infants and young children drowning in their own gastric or respiratory fluids, suicides, and delayed medical attention to injuries. The Chamber of Deputies questioned Minister of Justice Javiera Blanco in August, and a judicial investigation was ongoing at time of writing.

Reproductive Rights

In March, Chile's Chamber of Deputies approved a bill to decriminalize abortion in cases of rape, fetal inviability, and when a woman or girl's life is at risk. The Senate Health Commission held public hearings in August. The bill, in particular the provision that decriminalizes abortion in rape cases, has been met with near-unanimous opposition from center-right and right-wing parties in Congress, as well as from the Catholic and Evangelical Churches. At time of writing, the bill was still pending in the Constitutional Commission of the Senate.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

A "civil union" bill presented by former President Sebastian Pinera in 2011 that provides legal recognition and protection for same-sex couples became law in April 2015 and went into effect in October 2015.

In September 2016, the Senate Human Rights Commission approved a bill to recognize the gender identity of transgender people, with a Senate vote expected in December.

In June 2016 Chile, on behalf of four Latin American states and 42 co-sponsors, presented a resolution at the United Nations Human Rights Council creating the first UN expert post addressing violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

Human Rights Defenders

On May 13, uniformed personnel of the National Human Rights Institute (INDH)  a government agency that promotes, monitors, and reports on human rights in Chile  reported being arbitrarily detained, beaten, and verbally assaulted by Carabineros when they tried to visit detained protestors at a police station in Antofagasta. Their professional association cited the incident as part of broader police attempts to undermine their function. In 2015, the Chamber of Deputies defeated, in a two-to-one vote, a motion to dismiss Lorena Fries, then director of INDH, for alleged negligence, after the INDH distributed educational materials critical of the Carabineros. The dismissal request and chamber vote showed the agency's vulnerability to political reprisals.

Key International Actors

The special rapporteur for freedom of expression of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in preliminary observations from a 2016 visit to Chile, expressed concern that President Bachelet's criminal charges against Que Pasa, along with various bills under consideration in Congress, risked restricting the media, particularly from reporting on issues of public interest that involve political figures.

In June, the UN special rapporteur on freedom of assembly and association called Chile's military jurisdiction system and the impunity it engenders "the most visible parts of the legacy of dictatorship," criticized excessive use of force by police at protests, particularly against Mapuche demonstrators, and expressed opposition to the use of preventive identity controls at protests.

In April 2016, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged the government to prohibit practices amounting to cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of people with disabilities in state and private institutions  such as psychosurgery, electroconvulsive therapy without consent, physical restraints, and isolation in cells  and to investigate reports of security forces mistreating people with disabilities.

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SPRINGFIELD  The final report from a state commission on criminal justice reform recommends measures that could give judges more discretion in sentencing decisions and expand services for inmates before they return to the community.

The Illinois State Commission on Criminal Justice and Sentencing Reform completed its 2015 directive from Gov. Bruce Rauner recently to produce recommendations to reduce the state's prison population by 25 percent by 2025. An initial report with 14 recommendation was released in December 2015, followed by the final draft with an additional 13 proposals.

Elizabeth Robb, the former chief judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit that includes McLean, Livingston, Woodford and Logan counties, served on the 29-member panel that reviewed that state's current practices for sentencing, supervising defendants and using alternatives to incarceration.

The 94-page report represents a philosophical shift "as far as focusing more on rehabilitation, treatment and services for people in prison to better prepare them for release into the community," said Robb, who retired in 2014.

Recognizing that Illinois' prison population has grown from less than 10,000 to about 49,000 in four decades, the commission looked at all stages of the criminal justice process that impact whether a person goes to prison, how long they stay and what steps can be taken to keep them from joining the 50 percent who return to state custody within three years.

Recommendations that sentences for all felonies other than Class 4 be lowered and judges provided with more discretion in sentencing would safely reduce the prison population, according to the report.

Flexibility in the courtroom allows a judge who has access to a defendant's personal and criminal history to more accurately determine a sentence that includes needed services, said Robb.

Under a sentencing reform measure, judges would have the discretion to place a person on probation for residential burglary, a subsequent Class 2 or greater felony and Class X drug offenses  all charges that currently carry mandatory prison sentences.

A drug law that disproportionately affects black offenders accused of selling drugs within 1,000 feet of so-called protected areas should be changed to require prosecutors to establish a connection between the crime and the area before that offense can be increased by one felony class, according to the commission. The boundaries of protected areas that include schools, parks and churches would be reduced to 500 feet and public housing would be removed as a drug-free zone.

Robb supports a recommendation to expand credit for rehabilitative programming to all inmates, a move that would increase the number of prisoners eligible for credit on their sentences.

"If we are just warehousing people, their behavior won't change. There's a belief that if inmates know there are things they can do to reduce their sentences, they are more likely to be involved in those programs," said Robb.

Panel member David Olson, criminal justice professor and co-director of the Center for Criminal Justice Research, Policy and Practice at Loyola University, was in Bloomington last week for a meeting of the McLean County Criminal Justice Coordinating Council, part of a commission recommendation to encourage more counties to form similar local groups to monitor jail usage and the effectiveness of the justice system.

"The decisions on who goes to jail are made locally so there's a need to get people engaged in an educated, nonpartisan discussion of what's going on," said Olson.

With the commission's report on Rauner's desk, implementing many of the reform measures will depend upon new legislation being introduced to amend current laws. A new requirement that inmates leave prison with identification cards is one of the bipartisan panel's recommendations recently passed by lawmakers.
World Report 2017 - Canada

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Canada, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585213.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.

In October 2015, Canada's Liberal Party, led by Justin Trudeau, won power in national elections and signaled a change in Canadian politics. However, the new government faces important human rights challenges, including violence against indigenous women and girls, the rights of indigenous peoples, the impact of Canada's extractive and garment industries abroad, and children in detention.

Violence against Indigenous Women and Girls

In August 2016, the Canadian government launched a national public inquiry into the murders and disappearances of indigenous women and girls across Canada. With five commissioners and a budget of $53.86 million (US $41.13 million) over two years, the inquiry is tasked with examining the root causes and institutional responses to the high levels of violence. Although they represent just 4.3 percent of Canada's female population, 16 percent of female homicide victims are indigenous.

The inquiry comes after a change in government and stern criticism from international human rights authorities. In 2015, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women concluded that Canada had committed a "grave violation" of the rights of indigenous women by failing to promptly and thoroughly investigate the high levels of violence they suffer.

The extent to which the inquiry will scrutinize policing practices remains to be seen. Government ministers have assured the public that the broadly worded terms of reference will provide for a critical review of policing, even though it is not referenced explicitly. Advocates have long fought for an investigation into allegations that police forces have neglected the murders and disappearances, and that some officers have committed abuses against indigenous women and girls.

Rights of Indigenous Peoples

The government has yet to pay adequate attention to severe poverty, housing, water, sanitation, healthcare, and education problems in indigenous communities, particularly those in remote and rural areas. Inadequate access to clean, safe drinking water continues to pose a major public health concern in a number of indigenous communities.

As of July, there were 132 drinking water advisories  indicating unsafe water  in effect in 92 First Nations communities across Canada, excluding British Colombia. Contaminants found in the water have been linked to negative health consequences, from serious gastrointestinal disorders to increased risk of cancer.

The UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights voiced concern in March about the inadequate access to safe drinking water and to sanitation faced by First Nations, as well as the lack of water regulations for First Nations people living on reserves.

A June Human Rights Watch report, Make It Safe, found that this restricted access impacts the health and hygiene of families on reserve. Caregivers shoulder extra burdens to ensure that children, elders, and others avoid exposure to unsafe water.

Children in Immigration Detention

A 2016 report by the University of Toronto's International Human Rights Program found that children in Canadian immigration detention are held in facilities that resemble medium-security prisons, where they receive inadequate access to education and have insufficient recreational opportunities. Primary medical care is available, but children receive no mental health support. Outside Ontario and Quebec, children are held in even less suitable facilities, in some instances in correctional facilities for young offenders.

Canadian law and policy do not prohibit immigration detention of children and do not set a limit on how long children can be held in immigration detention. An average of 242 children were held in Canadian immigration detention each year between 2010 and 2014, according to government statistics released to University of Toronto researchers.

That figure does not include all children, including Canadian citizens, who are not themselves subject to formal detention orders but stay in detention with their parents in order to avoid separating from them. The exact number of these de facto detained children is not publicly known: Canada's immigration agency considers them "guests" of the detention facilities.

They are not legally obligated to be in detention, but if their parents are held, the only alternative may be placement with a child protection agency. In 2014-15, such children spent, on average, three times as long in detention than children who are held under formal detention orders, the Canada Border Services Agency told University of Toronto researchers.

Canada's federal government and the Canada Border Services Agency have shown willingness to reform the immigration detention system but had not announced concrete steps to do so at time of writing.

Human Rights Watch and other groups called on Canadian authorities to ensure that children and families with children are not detained solely because of their immigration status; develop strong policies and guidelines about how the various alternatives to detention should be used; and review their practices to ensure that they are reflecting the best interests of the child in all decisions that affect them.

Mining Industry Abuses

Because Canada is the mining industry's most important global hub, the collective human rights impact of Canadian mining firms is enormous. In past years, our research has uncovered widespread patterns of gang rape by employees of Barrick Gold in Papua New Guinea, and the apparent use of forced labor at Nevsun Resources' Bisha mine in Eritrea. Many human rights problems linked to Canadian mining firms go underreported and unremedied because the government makes no proactive effort to monitor, let alone regulate, the human rights conduct of Canadian companies operating abroad.

Consistent with its predecessor, the Trudeau government has expressed the view to Human Rights Watch that no new oversight or regulation in this space is warranted, pointing in part to the existence of the government's Corporate Social Responsibility Counselor. This institution, however, cannot and indeed does not even purport to do what is most urgently needed  carry out any extraterritorial oversight or independent monitoring of Canadian firms.

In November 2016, the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability proposed draft legislation that would create an ombudsman's office to hear and investigate human rights complaints against Canadian extractives firms operating in countries around the world.

Palliative Care

In June 2016, Canada enacted legislation to allow people with "grievous and irremediable medical conditions" that cause enduring and intolerable suffering to seek assistance from a physician or nurse practitioner to end their lives, acting on a February 2015 Supreme Court ruling.

While the government has discussed a number of possible measures to address the significant gaps in the availability of hospice palliative care in the country it has yet to make a clear commitment to do so, or to take the urgent steps necessary to ensure that Canadians who will die of natural causes  likely the vast majority  can live the final stretches of their lives with dignity.

Foreign Policy

The administration of former Conservative Prime Minister Stephen Harper began brokering an arms manufacturing and supply deal between Canada and Saudi Arabia in 2012. The finalized arrangement with General Dynamics Land Systems Canada resulted in a $15 billion, 15-year contract to manufacture an unspecified number of Light Armored Vehicles (LAVs), representing the largest manufacturing-export contract in Canadian history. On April 8, 2016, Foreign Affairs Minister Stephane Dion approved six export permits covering more than 70 percent of the transaction.

Canadian law puts limits on the export of military technology to countries with a record of human rights violations against their citizens. Canadian arms export law demands indication that "there is no reasonable risk" that the arms will be used against civilians. However, the Saudis have used such vehicles to violently suppress peaceful protests in eastern Saudi Arabia in 2011 and 2012.

In addition, since a Saudi Arabia-led coalition began its military campaign against Houthi forces in Yemen on March 26, 2015, at least 3,799 civilians have been killed and 6,711 wounded, according to the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). In addition, Saudi Arabia is arming Yemeni forces led by a controversial military commander accused of using child soldiers, in the fight to retake the north from the Houthis and forces loyal to former President Ali Abdullah Saleh, including with vehicles.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Cambodia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Cambodia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585313.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.

During 2016, Prime Minister Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party (CPP) significantly escalated persecution on political grounds, targeting Cambodia's political opposition, human rights workers, social activists, and public intellectuals on the basis of their real or perceived political opposition to the government and its leader. These abuses appeared aimed to prevent victory or create conditions for overturning victory by the opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party (CNRP) in local and national elections scheduled for 2017 and 2018 respectively. The government also filed baseless charges against Rong Chhun, a member of the National Election Committee (NEC) appointed as a neutral member of the NEC as part of a political deal with the opposition.

On July 10, popular political commentator Kem Ley, who had voiced many criticisms of the government, was shot to death in Phnom Penh in broad daylight. Members of the public chased the gunman, who police took into custody. Authorities soon announced he had confessed to the crime. Media reports identified him as a former soldier from outside the capital. No genuine effort was made to identify those who ordered the killing.

Authorities systematically denied Cambodians their right to peaceful assembly by suppressing protests and issuing a series of ad hoc bans on non-violent gatherings and processions. Senior military officials backed this up with a flurry of pronouncements, including threats to deploy armed forces to prevent or suppress demonstrations by taking "absolute" action against them. These followed a memorial march on July 24, 2016, in memory of Kem Ley. Tens of thousands of people attended, despite government efforts to restrict participation.

Corruption remains a huge problem. Rather than targeting high-level official corruption, Cambodia's official anti-corruption unit has launched politically motivated investigations against the CNRP and the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC), one of the country's oldest and most respected nongovernmental organizations (NGOs).

Attacks on the Political Opposition

CNRP president Sam Rainsy remained outside Cambodia in 2016, having decided not to return to the country in 2015 after the government announced it was going to enforce a two-year prison sentence against him on trumped-up charges. During 2016 four new prosecutions were brought against Rainsy, including one for being an accomplice to CNRP Senator Hong Sok Hour, convicted on politically motivated charges in August 2015 despite having parliamentary immunity and in violation of his right to freedom of opinion and expression. Two assistants to Rainsy fled abroad to avoid arrest on charges that carried up to 17 years in prison. The three other cases against Rainsy were for alleged criminal defamation of Hun Sen, CPP honorary chairperson Heng Sarmin, and a minister of state attached to Hun Sen.

On September 9, a Phnom Penh court convicted CNRP acting leader Kem Sokha of disregarding a court summons to appear as a witness against two fellow CNRP National Assembly members in another trumped-up case. In pursuing the case against Sokha, the courts violated his parliamentary immunity and sentenced him to five months in prison. Following a failed government attempt to arrest him in May, he moved to CNRP headquarters where he remained at time of writing, protected by party supporters but enduring a form of de facto house arrest.

On June 13, a Phnom Penh Court convicted without basis three CNRP activists for "insurrection." Arrested in August 2015, they joined 11 other CNRP activists found guilty on the same trumped-up charge in July 2015, in serving long prison terms for their involvement in a 2014 demonstration in Phnom Penh during which security forces attacked protesters.

CNRP parliamentarian Um Sam-an was arrested on April 11 for criticizing the government's handling of border disputes with Vietnam. He was falsely charged with incitement and discrimination and faces up to five years' imprisonment.

Attacks on Land Activists

Government promises to end decades-old land-grabbing practices had no overall positive effect. According to statistics compiled by NGOs working on the subject statistics, land disputes in 2016 continued at the same level as in 2014-2015, affecting approximately 10,000 families per year.

The government targeted veteran land activists for prosecution. On August 15, Phnom Penh authorities ordered the arrest of two for holding a peaceful protest vigil. In a summary trial seven days later, they were sentenced to six days' imprisonment for "insulting" government officials. On August 19, two long-dormant politically motivated prosecutions against one of the two, Tep Vanny, were suddenly revived. She was kept in detention after the other activist was released. At least three other land activists were charged in these two revived cases, both related to land rights protests. On September 19, Tep Vanny and three others were convicted and sentenced to six months in prison in one of the cases, despite no evidence connecting them to any recognizable criminal offense.

Attacks on Labor Activists

While labor unions succeeded in gaining government agreement for an increase in the minimum wage for garment workers, labor activists were under siege. In addition to NEC member and labor activist Rong Chhun, whose case is mentioned above, at least 12 other prominent trade union figures faced prosecution on baseless or frivolous charges. Although none of the 13 were in detention, all faced the prospect of jail. Trade union activists believed the prosecutions were in significant part intended to intimidate the movement's leadership during negotiations with the government that began in September 2016 over the minimum wage for garment workers.

Election-monitoring experts were concerned that prosecution of Rong Chhun aimed at pressuring him to refrain from pressing for free and fair elections. They also pointed out that convicting him would remove him from the NEC and allow the CPP to shift the balance of power there decisively in its favor.

Attacks on Human Rights Organizations

On April 28, 2016, the government's Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) took into custody four senior staff of the Cambodian Human Rights and Development Association (ADHOC) and one former staffer, Ny Chariya, a deputy secretary-general of the NEC. They were accused of "bribing a witness" in connection with legal advice and other assistance ADHOC had been providing to a witness in the case against Kem Sokha. All five remained in detention on charges punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Authorities warned that further arrests of ADHOC staff could follow. On September 22, Ny Chariya was sentenced to six months in prison upon conviction in another case for having raised critical questions about the conduct of a provincial court dealing with a land dispute.

Attacks on Public Intellectuals

The CPP sued political commentator Ou Virak in April in a defamation lawsuit for raising questions about the CPP's legal actions in the Kem Sokha case. Although defamation itself does not carry a custodial sentence, the damages requested were exorbitant and failure to pay could result in imprisonment.

On July 22, 2016, the Appeals Court upheld the conviction earlier in the year of student Kong Raya for advocating a "color revolution" in Cambodia, maintaining his one-and-a-half-year prison sentence.

Impunity

The May 2016 trial of three officers of Hun Sen's personal Bodyguard Headquarters for a brutal October 2015 assault against two opposition National Assembly members resulted in partly suspended prison sentences. Two of the attackers will each serve just one year. The cases appeared to be brought to pin the blame on lower-ranking individuals and avoid following up on evidence that higher-ups were involved in the crime, which had all the hallmarks of being government-orchestrated.

Similarly, according to sources with direct knowledge of the investigation into the killing of Kem Ley, the charging and detention of the alleged shooter was accompanied by an attempt by officials to falsely implicate the CNRP national leadership as having orchestrated the assassination while avoiding following up on leads that might produce evidence of CPP involvement.

The UN-supported Khmer Rouge Tribunal has been crippled since its inception in 2006 by Hun Sen-led government non-cooperation with its investigations into international crimes committed in the 1970s by Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge. In 2016, the court did not complete a second trial of two prominent ex-Khmer Rouge leaders, Nuon Chea and Khieu Samphan, and did not conclude investigations into four other, mid-level, Khmer Rouge leaders.

Arbitrary Arrest and Detention

Despite promises by Hun Sen to reform or close the Prey Speu detention center for Phnom Penh's "undesirable people," it remained operational. Security forces arbitrarily arrested hundreds of alleged homeless people, people who use drugs, sex workers, street children, and persons assumed to have a mental disability, and sent them to Prey Speu or one of the seven other so-called drug treatment centers around the country, where they are held for indefinite periods without a judicial process. At least two detainees died in Prey Speu under suspicious circumstances. The centers, many of them operated by security forces, often subject detainees to torture and other forms of ill-treatment.

Transgender women report high rates of police harassment, arbitrary arrest, and detention.

Key International Actors

China, Vietnam, and South Korea were key investors in 2016. China, Japan, and the European Union were the leading providers of development-related assistance.

In a joint statement first made before the UN Human Rights Council on September 14, 39 countries declared they were deeply concerned about escalating threats to "legitimate activities by opposition parties and human rights NGOs" in Cambodia and called on the government to ensure future free and fair elections and thus "the legitimacy of the next government." The European Parliament issued a strong resolution condemning abuses and repression. Nevertheless, foreign governments took no concrete steps to address Cambodia's deteriorating human rights situation.

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World Report 2017 - Burundi

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Burundi, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585413.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 political and human rights crisis that gripped Burundi the previous year deepened in 2016, as government forces targeted perceived opponents with increased brutality. Security forces and intelligence services  often in collaboration with members of the ruling party's youth league, known as Imbonerakure  were responsible for numerous killings, disappearances, abductions, torture, rape, and arbitrary arrests. Armed opposition groups also carried out attacks and killed ruling party members.

Dozens of dead bodies, some mutilated, were found across the country. The identity of the perpetrators was often unknown.

In December 2015, in the deadliest attack since the crisis began, police and military shot dead a large number of residents in the capital, Bujumbura, following attacks on four military installations, attributed to the opposition.

The justice system is manipulated by ruling party and intelligence officials and judicial procedures are routinely flouted. The prosecutor general created several commissions of inquiry into allegations of serious human rights abuses. Their reports were biased and misleading, largely exonerating security forces and failing to hold those responsible to account.

More than 325,000 Burundians have fled the country since 2015, most to Tanzania, Rwanda, Uganda, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Killings by Security Forces and Ruling Party Youth

On December 11, opposition members, with support from some members of the military, attacked three military positions and a military training center in Bujumbura.

Police, military, and armed Imbonerakure pursued the attackers into Nyakabiga and

Musaga, two neighborhoods where residents had demonstrated in large numbers against President Pierre Nkurunziza's third term in 2015. In Nyakabiga, armed opponents engaged the security forces in a sustained gun battle. It is unclear how many were killed on each side.

Police, military and Imbonerakure then forced their way into houses and ordered residents to show them where young men or combatants were hiding, some shouting ethnic slurs at Tutsi residents. They killed scores of people in Nyakabiga and Musaga and carried out large-scale arbitrary arrests.

The following day, some victims were found lying side by side, face down; they appeared to have been shot in the back or the head.

On December 12, 2015, police and Imbonerakure, accompanied by local government officials and public health workers, picked up some of the dead bodies from Musaga and took them away in local government vehicles to bury them in mass graves in and around Bujumbura.

Several witnesses said that Imbonerakure, wearing surgical masks and gloves, dug three or four graves in a cemetery in the Kanyosha neighborhood and buried bodies there.

Then-Prosecutor General Valentin Bagorikunda set up a commission of inquiry into the December 11 events. Summarizing its main conclusions on March 10, he did not mention killings of Bujumbura residents by the security forces. He claimed that those killed on December 11 were armed "combatants" wearing police or military uniforms.

Torture and Disappearances

There was a sharp increase in torture by the intelligence services and the police, particularly of alleged opposition sympathizers. Intelligence agents beat detainees with hammers and steel construction bars, drove sharpened steel rods into their legs, dripped melting plastic on them, tied cords around men's genitals, and used electric shocks. Many tortured or injured detainees were denied medical attention.

Disappearances and covert abductions increased in late 2015 and early 2016. In December 2015, Marie-Claudette Kwizera, of the human rights group Ligue Iteka, was driven away in a vehicle thought to belong to the intelligence services. She has not been seen again.

In late July, Jean Bigirimana, a journalist with the independent newspaper Iwacu, disappeared after leaving his home in Bujumbura for Bugarama, in Muramvya province. Unconfirmed reports indicate he was arrested by the intelligence services. In early August, two decomposed bodies were found in the Mubarazi River in Muramvya, one of which was decapitated and the other weighed down by stones. There was speculation that one of them could have been Bigirimana's but local authorities buried the bodies before determining their identities.

Rape and Other Abuses by Ruling Party Youth

Members of the Imbonerakure and police, sometimes armed with guns, sticks or knives, raped women whose male family members were perceived government opponents. In some cases, Imbonerakure threatened or attacked the male relative before raping the woman. Women often continued to receive threats after being raped.

Imbonerakure and police raped women who attempted to cross into Tanzania, apparently to deter them from leaving Burundi.

Imbonerakure set up roadblocks and check points in some provinces. They extorted money, harassed passersby, and, despite having no powers of arrest, arrested people they suspected of having links to the opposition. They also went door to door, extorting money from residents.

Mass Arrests

Scores of opposition party members have been arrested, ill-treated, and illegally detained, and other detainees taken to unknown destinations. Police almost never produced warrants at the time of arrest.

Ruling party officials, police, and Imbonerakure arrested at least 16 members of the opposition party National Liberation Forces (FNL) at a bar in Kirundo province in March. The police claimed they were conducting a political meeting without authorization. Many more FNL members were arrested in later months.

Large-scale arrests, many of them arbitrary, continued throughout the year. In May, police arrested more than 200 young men and students in Bujumbura's Musaga neighborhood. Local residents said the police ordered them to produce identity cards and "household notebooks," an obligatory register of all people living in each house. Police beat some detainees with belts and truncheons.

After a grenade attack in Bujumbura's Bwiza neighborhood in May, the police detained several hundred people. Police spokesperson Pierre Nkurikiye told a local media outlet it was "normal" to arrest people near the site of a grenade explosion and "among those arrested, there may be perpetrators of the attack." Police officials said all those arrested were later released.

Abuses by Armed Opposition Groups

Local journalists and human rights activists reported several grenade attacks and killings believed to have been committed by armed opposition groups. Other armed opposition attacks appeared to be more targeted and covert.

Unidentified people attacked several bars in Bujumbura and elsewhere with grenades. Burundian media reported that in May, an attack on a drinks depot and bar in Mwaro province killed a judicial policeman and injured several customers. During the same attack, a guard at the ruling party offices in Ndava, in Mwaro, was also killed as the attackers attempted to burn down the building. Three men were arrested in connection with the attacks.

In Bururi province, unidentified gunmen shot dead several ruling party members in April and May, including Jean Claude Bikorimana, on April 9. Three ruling party members were among four people shot dead at a bar on April 15; another attack on the same night killed a ruling party member, Japhet Karibwami, at his home.

Civil Society and Media

Most leading civil society activists and many independent journalists remain in exile, after repeated government threats in 2015 and arrest warrants against several of them. In October, the Interior Minister banned or suspended 10 civil society organizations that had spoken out against government abuses.

In February, the Burundian National Communications Council signed an agreement with Radio Isanganiro and Radio Rema FM allowing them to resume their broadcasts. Following an attempted coup d'etat in May 2015, the government had closed these stations, along with Radio Publique Africaine, Radio Bonesha, and Radio-Television Renaissance, which remain off the air at the time of writing.

In August, men armed with a machete attacked a Burundian human rights activist in Nakivale refugee camp in Uganda. The activist survived.

Key International Actors

There was little progress in regional and international efforts to broker a dialogue between Burundian political actors, co-facilitated by former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa.

The Burundian government reacted with hostility to statements and initiatives by the United Nations, the African Union (AU), the European Union (EU) and other governments and international institutions. Ruling party officials accused donors, foreign journalists and human rights organizations of siding with the opposition. Government officials repeatedly rebuffed diplomats' concerns about human rights.

Most major donors have suspended direct budgetary support to the Burundian government, but some maintained humanitarian assistance. The US and EU have imposed targeted sanctions on several senior Burundian officials and opposition leaders.

The Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) announced in April that it was opening a preliminary examination into the situation in Burundi. In early October, Burundi's parliament voted overwhelmingly to withdraw from the ICC and the government officially notified the UN Secretary-General of its decision to withdraw on October 27.

At a special session in December 2015, the UN Human Rights Council (HRC) tasked a team of three independent experts to investigate human rights violations in Burundi. The team's report, presented in September, found that gross and systematic human rights violations had taken place, some possibly amounting to crimes against humanity. It suggested the HRC review Burundi's membership status. The HRC adopted a resolution presented by the EU calling for a commission of inquiry into human rights violations in Burundi since April 2015, including on whether they may constitute international crimes. The inquiry would also identify alleged perpetrators with a view to ensuring accountability.

In October, the Burundian government, angered by the UN report, stated it had suspended all cooperation with the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Burundi and declared the three UN independent experts persona non grata.

The UN chose in June not to replace Burundian police in its peacekeeping mission to the Central African Republic because of concerns about human rights abuses in Burundi.

In July, the UN Committee Against Torture held a special session on Burundi and raised serious concerns about torture and other violations. The Burundian delegation failed to show up on the second day to answer the committee's questions, instead sending a statement requesting more time to respond. The committee rejected this request and released its concluding observations in August.

In August, the UN Security Council passed a resolution calling for the deployment of 228 unarmed police officers to Burundi to support UN human rights monitors. Burundian authorities rejected the deployment and pro-government demonstrators protested it.

The AU authorized the deployment of 100 human rights observers and 100 military observers, but only a small number have been deployed because of disagreements between the Burundian government and the AU. The AU authorized in December 2015 the deployment of a 5,000-person African Prevention and Protection Mission in Burundi, which the Burundian government rejected, saying it would consider it an invading and occupying force. The AU did not pursue the proposal.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Burma

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Burma, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b58553d.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.

Burma's new government led by the National League for Democracy (NLD) took office in March 2016 after sweeping the November 2015 elections. Headed by State Counsellor Aung San Suu Kyi and President Htin Kyaw, the NLD controls a majority of both upper and lower house parliamentary seats in the country's first democratically elected, civilian-led government since 1962. However, the new government inherited deep-rooted challenges, including constitutional empowerment of the military, repressive legislation, weak rule of law, and a corrupt judiciary.

The political transition began promisingly, with the April release of over 200 political prisoners and detainees. Nonetheless, the NLD-led government has thus far not capitalized on its initial momentum in guiding the country toward substantive reform or the creation of democratic institutions.

Fighting between the Burmese armed forces and ethnic armed groups intensified or flared up in several regions during the year, resulting in abuses against civilians and massive displacement. Violent attacks by unknown insurgents against border guard posts on October 9 in Maungdaw, northern Rakhine State, resulted in the deaths of nine officials and sparked the most serious humanitarian and human rights crisis in Rakhine State since the October 2012 "ethnic cleansing" campaign against the Rohingya.

Under the deeply flawed 2008 constitution, the military retains autonomy from civilian oversight and extensive power over the government and national security, with control of the Defense, Home Affairs, and Border Affairs Ministries. It is guaranteed 25 percent of parliamentary seats, which constitutes an effective veto over any constitutional amendments, and is authorized to assume power in a national state of emergency.

Ethnic Conflict and Armed Forces Abuses

Fighting between the Tatmadaw (Burmese armed forces) and ethnic armed groups worsened over the year in Kachin, Rakhine, Karen, and Northern Shan States, displacing thousands of civilians. Government forces have been responsible for serious abuses, including extrajudicial killings, torture, sexual violence, and destruction of property. Government shelling and airstrikes have been conducted against ethnic areas, in violation of the laws of war. Both government and non-state groups have been implicated in the use of anti-personnel landmines and forced recruitment, including of children.

The legacy of the Burmese military's "divide and rule" approach persists, as the conflict's spillover and ensuing abuses compound tensions among ethnic groups.

The Nationwide Ceasefire Agreement (NCA) orchestrated under the previous Thein Sein government was signed in October 2015 by eight non-state armed groups, fewer than half of the country's total. Since its adoption, military operations and clashes between signatory and non-signatory armed groups have continued.

From August 31 to September 3, Aung San Suu Kyi presided over the 21st Century Panglong Conference, billed as a forum for re-engaging armed groups and other national stakeholders in the country's peace process. Intensified fighting on the ground has continued unabated since the conference.

In Northern Shan State, fighting between the Ta'ang National Liberation Army and the Restoration Council of Shan State/Shan State Army-South, at times with the support of the Tatmadaw, flared throughout the year.

Fighting between the military and the Kachin Independence Army (KIA) in Kachin State increased steadily since mid-August. In September, fighting between ethnic armed groups and government forces in Karen State displaced about 5,900 civilians.

Violence over the past five years has left 220,000 people displaced nationwide  120,000 in Rakhine State and 100,000 in Shan and Kachin States.

Security threats, weak infrastructure, and restrictions imposed by government and non-state authorities regularly impeded access by humanitarian agencies to civilians displaced in conflict-affected areas. Restrictions on access to Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in Kachin and Shan States increased in late 2016.

Abuses against Rohingya

Muslim minorities in Burma, in particular the 1.2 million ethnic Rohingya, continue to face rampant and systemic human rights violations.

Outbreaks of violence in Maungdaw district in northern Rakhine State escalated following an October 9 attack on three border outposts that left nine police officers dead. Asserting that both the initial and subsequent attacks were carried out by armed Rohingya militants, the government initiated "clearance operations" to locate the alleged attackers while locking down the area, denying access to humanitarian aid groups, independent media, and rights monitors.

The security operations led to numerous reports of serious abuses by government security forces against Rohingya villagers, including summary killings, rape and other sexual violence, torture and ill-treatment, arbitrary arrests, and arson. The military employed helicopter gunships during a series of clashes beginning on November 11. At time of writing, the government said it had arrested over 300 alleged suspects. Local groups reported the use of torture and a number of deaths in custody.

Satellite imagery in November revealed widespread fire-related destruction in Rohingya villages, with a total of 430 destroyed buildings in three villages of Maungdaw district.

Government travel restrictions placed on humanitarian agencies have led to critical food insecurity and malnutrition, and an estimated 30,000 Muslim villagers remain displaced.

The government has continually failed to adequately or effectively investigate abuses against the Rohingya, and did not act on recommendations to seek UN assistance for an investigation into the violence.

The ongoing crisis in Maungdaw represents the most serious and widespread violence against the Rohingya since the ethnic cleansing campaign carried out in June and October 2012. Four years after the 2012 violence, about 120,000 Rohingya remain displaced in camps in Rakhine State. Humanitarian conditions for both remaining IDPs and newly resettled persons remain dire due to restrictions on movement and lack of access to livelihoods and basic services.

The effective denial of citizenship for the Rohingya  who are not recognized on the official list of 135 ethnic groups eligible for full citizenship under the 1982 Citizenship Law  has facilitated enduring rights abuses, including restrictions on movement; limitations on access to health care, livelihood, shelter, and education; arbitrary arrests and detention; and forced labor. Travel is severely constrained by authorization requirements, security checkpoints, curfews, and strict control of IDP camp access. Such barriers compound the health crisis caused by poor living conditions, severe overcrowding, and limited health facilities.

The government refuses to use the term Rohingya, which the group self-identifies as but is rejected by nationalist Buddhists in favor of the term "Bengali," which implies illegal migrant status in Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi refers to the group as the "Muslim Community in Rakhine State," and has requested that international stakeholders, including the United States, European Union, and United Nations, follow suit.

The new Burmese government established two bodies to address sectarian tensions in Rakhine State  a government committee and a nine-member national/international advisory commission led by former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan, which initiated its year-long research mandate in September.

Freedom of Expression and Assembly

Restrictions on the rights to freedom of expression and assembly persist, amid the government's failure to contend with the range of rights-abusing laws that have been long used to criminalize free speech and prosecute dissidents.

In its final months of rule, Thein Sein's government continued arresting activists using politically motivated charges, failing to fulfill the former president's 2013 pledge to release all political prisoners by the end of his term. In April, the new NLD-led government released 235 political prisoners and detainees in a series of amnesties.

However, the nod toward a new era of openness was contradicted by the government's continued use of problematic legislation to restrict free speech. In April, two Muslim interfaith activists were convicted on charges under section 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act and sentenced to an additional two years in prison with hard labor. Numerous activists were arrested under section 66(d) of the Telecommunications Act for "defaming" Aung San Suu Kyi, President Htin Kyaw, or the military in social media posts. These include Maung Saungkha, who was sentenced to six months in prison in May for a poem he posted on Facebook, and Aung Win Hlaing, sentenced to nine months in prison in September for calling the president an "idiot" and "crazy" on Facebook.

Parliament put forward a new Peaceful Assembly and Peaceful Procession Law in May, yet despite slight improvements the proposed revisions maintain regulations that allow for at-will crackdowns on peaceful protests, blanket prohibitions on certain protest speech, and criminal penalties for any violation of its restrictions.

Arrests and prosecutions for participation in peaceful assemblies have continued under the new administration. Police arrested 90 political activists in May, including student leaders of an interfaith peace walk in Rangoon; demonstrators against the Letpadaung mine in Sagaing Division; and 76 labor rights activists marching to the capital, Naypyidaw, to protest treatment by local factory owners. Fifty-one of the labor activists were charged with unlawful assembly, rioting, and disturbing public tranquility under the Burmese penal code; 15 were convicted in October and sentenced to between four and six months in prison.

Throughout the year, as many as 60 Arakanese men were arrested under section 17(1) of the Unlawful Association Act for alleged ties to the Arakan Army. From March to July, 28 were found guilty and sentenced to two to five years in prison with hard labor.

The criminalization of expression perceived as a threat to the armed forces also continued. In late June, the Ta'ang Women's Organization was forced to cancel a press conference in Rangoon to launch a report documenting military abuses against ethnic Palaung in Northern Shan State. In August, Khine Myo Htun, an environmental activist and member of the Arakan Liberation Party, was charged with violating sections 505(b) and 505(c) of the penal code for accusing the armed forces of committing crimes against humanity. In October, veteran activist Htin Kyaw was arrested and charged with violating section 505(a) for accusing the military of committing human rights abuses.

While the relaxation of press censorship has been a key hallmark of the democratic transition, various forms of government control remain inscribed in the legal framework and employed to restrict media freedom. In June, the Ministry of Information banned the film "Twilight Over Burma" from a human rights film festival for its depiction of a relationship it claimed would threaten ethnic and military relations.

As part of the military's "clearance operations" in northern Rakhine State, the authorities denied independent journalists access to the region since early October. The Myanmar Times fired a journalist who had reported on allegations of rape by security forces in Maungdaw, reportedly under pressure from the Ministry of Information.

Burma's national penal code criminalizes consensual same-sex behavior between adult men. In recent years police have arrested gay men and transgender women assembling in public places, and politicians have called for the "education" of gay people.

Women's and Girls' Rights

Justice for women and girls in Burma remains elusive, particularly with regard to violence related to armed conflict. Sexual violence by the military, and to some extent ethnic armed groups, has been frequent, and the renewed violent clashes in Kachin and Northern Shan States has exacerbated the problem. Such crimes are facilitated by a near total lack of accountability, and no institutionalized complaint mechanism. Few prosecutions have been publicly reported, despite allegations of more than 115 cases of sexual violence perpetrated by the Burmese army since fighting renewed.

In October and November, media and local groups reported numerous incidents of rape and other sexual assault of Rohingya women and girls committed by security forces during the "clearing operations" in Maungdaw district. The government denied all reports of sexual violence, and the military lockdown has prevented independent investigations into the abuses. This suppression is emblematic of the military's long-standing refusal to seriously investigate cases of sexual violence.

In May, the Tatmadaw announced that an investigation into the January 2015 rape and murder of two Kachin schoolteachers by suspected army soldiers had taken place, but no public information about charges or a trial was released. Women in conflict zones and displaced or stateless women are especially vulnerable to abductions, enforced disappearances, sexual violence, and exploitation.

Despite their central role in human rights and democracy activism in Burma, women have been marginalized in the government's various peace process initiatives, and their concerns have been noticeably absent from the negotiations. Women made up less than 10 percent of participants in the peace process, and women's rights groups were sidelined at the 21st Century Panglong Conference.

Women hold only 13 percent of seats in the new parliament; only one woman sits on the 18-person cabinet, and only 0.25 percent of village-level administrators are women.

Key International Actors

Burma's political transition has triggered an enthusiastic response from international stakeholders. Since the new administration took office, there have been only limited attempts by foreign governments to press for genuine legal and policy reforms.

In May, the United States government relaxed a range of sanctions to ease US business investments and financial transactions in Burma. Following a visit by Aung San Suu Kyi in September, the US announced plans to lift most remaining sanctions, which was carried out by executive order on October 7.

The US also resumed the General System of Preferences (GSP) trade status with Burma, despite serious concerns that Burma's labor practices do not meet GSP conditions on labor rights. In a contradictory move, the US State Department downgraded Burma in its annual Trafficking in Persons report to Tier 3, the lowest tier, in recognition of ongoing abuses related to human trafficking, child soldier recruitment, and forced labor.

The UN Human Rights Council in March once again adopted its resolution on Burma and extended the special rapporteur's mandate, requesting that she identify benchmarks for reform. However, the EU decided not to introduce a resolution at the UN General Assembly in November, underscoring the international community's softening approach.

As Burma's immediate neighbor with significant business and military ties within the country, China continued efforts to strengthen its geopolitical engagement with the Burmese government and advance the large-scale development projects that offer access to the country's natural resources and strategic regional borders, often to the detriment of local populations.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Brazil

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Brazil, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585613.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.

Brazil suffered both economic and political crises in 2016. In August, its Congress impeached President Dilma Rousseff; Vice President Michel Temer replaced her.

Chronic human rights problems plague Brazil's criminal justice system, including unlawful police killings, prison overcrowding, and torture and ill-treatment of detainees. Some recent reform efforts aim to address these problems, but other proposed moves would exacerbate them. In 2016, the judiciary broadened a program to ensure that detainees are promptly brought before judges after their arrest, as required by international law. Congress approved a counterterrorism bill with overbroad and vague language that could be used to undermine freedom of association.

Public Security and Police Conduct

Widespread violence, often perpetrated by criminal gangs, plagues many Brazilian cities. Abuses by police, including extrajudicial executions, contribute to a cycle of violence in high-crime neighborhoods, undermining public security and endangering the lives of the police officers who patrol them. In 2015, 393 police officers were killed in Brazil, according to the latest data available at time of writing.

Police officers, including off-duty officers, killed 3,345 people in 2015, according to official data compiled by the nongovernmental organization (NGO) Brazilian Forum on Public Security. This represents a 6 percent increase over 2014, and a 52 percent increase over 2013. While some police killings result from legitimate use of force, others are extrajudicial executions, as documented by Human Rights Watch and other groups, and as acknowledged by Brazilian criminal justice officials.

After doubling in 2014, killings by on-duty police officers in Sao Paulo  the state with the largest population in Brazil  decreased by 17 percent in 2015 and fell by another 19 percent from January to September of 2016. But killings by on-duty police officers in Rio de Janeiro  the state with the highest rate of police killings  increased 11 percent in 2015 and an additional 23 percent in the first 9 months of 2016.

In September, an appeals court voided the convictions of 74 police officers for their participation in the 1992 killing of 111 detainees in the Carandiru prison in Sao Paulo. One of the members of the three-judge panel claimed "there was no massacre" and that all killings were in self-defense, despite overwhelming evidence that police executed the detainees.

Prison Conditions, Torture, and Ill-Treatment of Detainees

Many Brazilian prisons and jails are severely overcrowded and violent. The number of adults behind bars jumped 85 percent from 2004 to 2014 and exceeds 622,000 people, 67 percent more than the prisons were built to hold, according to latest Ministry of Justice figures.

A key contributor to the dramatic increase in Brazil's prison population has been a 2006 drug law that increased sentences for traffickers. While the law also replaced prison sentences for drug users with penalties such as community service, a measure that might have reduced the prison population, the law was worded vaguely, leaving open the possibility of users being prosecuted as traffickers. In 2005, 9 percent of those in prison had been detained on drug charges  in 2014 it was 28 percent, and among women, 64 percent, according to the latest data available.

In 2014, judges started seeing detainees promptly after arrest, as required by international law. Such "custody hearings"  currently carried out in state capitals and some other jurisdictions  help judges determine who should be in preventive detention and who should be set free pending trial. In the absence of custody hearings, detainees often wait many months to see a judge for the first time. In Brazil, 40 percent of people in prison are pretrial detainees. At time of writing, Brazil's Congress was examining a bill to make such hearings mandatory throughout the country.

Custody hearings have the potential to be a powerful weapon against police abuse of detainees because they allow judges to detect and hear about mistreatment soon after arrest. However, an analysis by the Institute for the Defense of the Right of Defense (IDDD), an NGO, of more than 700 custody hearings carried out in Sao Paulo in 2015 showed that judges asked detainees about their treatment in custody in only about 40 percent of cases, and took no action in a third of the 141 cases of alleged abuse they heard. Judges sent the rest to the police internal affairs divisions. The IDDD had no information about the results of any inquiries into the cases by those divisions by the time it published its report in May 2016.

A team from the government's National Mechanism for the Prevention and Combatting of Torture visited six states between April 2015 and March 2016, documenting cases of torture and cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment in "most, if not all" of the 17 jails and prisons it inspected. In Sorocaba jail in Sao Paulo state, they found 50 detainees in cells designed to hold 9 people.

Children's Rights

Brazil's Senate is examining a Constitutional amendment  a version of which was approved by the Chamber of Deputies in 2015  that would allow 16 and 17-year-olds accused of serious crimes to be tried and punished as adults. If enacted, the law would violate international norms enshrined in human rights treaties that Brazil has ratified, which state that people under 18 should not be prosecuted as adults.

The Chamber of Deputies is considering a separate bill, which the Senate has already approved, to raise the maximum time of internment for children from 3 to 10 years. If enacted, the bill would aggravate overcrowding in the juvenile detention system, which was built to hold about 18,000 juveniles but held close to 22,000 in 2014, according to the latest data published by the National Council of the Prosecutor's Office.

The National Mechanism for the Prevention and Combatting of Torture found that the physical infrastructure of the nine juvenile centers it visited in three states between April 2015 and March 2016 did not comply with the Federal Government's regulations: instead of promoting rehabilitation and education, the centers served as places of isolation and punishment. In most units, children spent more than 20 hours a day  and in one unit 24 hours a day  locked in their rooms. Conditions were especially dire in the state of Ceara, where the number of children held as of January 2016 was more than double capacity in some facilities, according to CEDECA Ceara, an NGO. Some children reported that juvenile detention officers beat them and that they were kept in units infested with rats and cockroaches, and which lacked adequate sanitation, ventilation, mattresses, and basic hygiene products.

Counterterrorism

In February, the Rousseff administration won Congressional approval for a counterterrorism bill that contains vague language that endangers such basic human rights as freedom of association. The law includes an overbroad definition of "terrorism" and of "actions in preparation" of a terrorist act that could be used against peaceful advocacy groups.

Internet Freedom, Privacy, and Freedom of Expression

Brazil was at the vanguard of digital rights in 2014 with the enactment of a Digital Bill of Rights, intended to protect privacy and free expression rights online. It also co-led an initiative at the United Nation Human Rights Council in 2015 to create a new UN special rapporteur on the right to privacy. One of Dilma Rousseff's last acts as president was signing a decree in May 2016 that implemented the law.

But other developments risk setting back the right to privacy in Brazil. From February 2015 to July 2016, four judges ordered the temporary blocking of WhatsApp, the Facebook-owned messaging service, across the country, and in March 2016 federal police arrested a Facebook executive because the company refused to turn over user information to authorities.

Between March and June 2016, judicial officials filed more than 40 lawsuits against five employees of the newspaper Gazeta do Povo (People's Gazette) in the state of Parana for a series of stories, based on information publicly available from government websites, revealing that judges and prosecutors were receiving more in wages and benefits than is allowed by the Constitution. In July, Brazil's Supreme Court suspended the lawsuits pending its review of the cases.

In August, a judge authorized police to wiretap a reporter's phone after he refused to reveal his sources for a story that published a list of Brazilians whom authorities suspect have Swiss bank accounts.

According to Artigo 19, a Brazilian NGO, five journalists were killed in Brazil in 2016 through October, including at least two who were attacked or threatened prior to their deaths. Since 2011, at least 21 journalists have died violently in Brazil in direct relation to their work, according to the Committee to Protect Journalists, an international press freedom group.

Women's Rights

Abortion is legal in Brazil only in cases of rape, when necessary to save a woman's life, or when the fetus suffers from anencephaly, a fatal congenital brain disorder. In 2016, conservative members of Congress promoted several bills that would eliminate those exceptions and that would make it a crime even to provide information to women about abortion.

Women and girls who abort pregnancies illegally risk not only injury and death, but face sentences of up to three years in prison, while people who perform abortions face up to four years, if convicted.

Brazilian women and girls of child-bearing age faced new health challenges from an outbreak of the Zika virus starting in 2015. The virus can cause a series of congenital conditions during fetal development, including microcephaly, or the underdevelopment of the brain. In August, the National Association of Public Defenders, with support from the NGO Anis, filed a petition before the Supreme Court to allow women infected with Zika to have abortions.

Disability Rights

In January, a disability rights law came into effect, requiring public agencies to give priority to people with disabilities when providing services related to health, education, work, housing, culture, and sport. The law also instructs cities to adapt sidewalks and public spaces for people with disabilities. In June, Brazil's Supreme Court upheld a provision in that law that requires private schools to incorporate children with disabilities in regular classrooms at no extra cost to their families.

However, a bill under discussion in Congress could set back Brazil's efforts to meet its obligation under the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities to ensure that persons with disabilities "enjoy legal capacity on an equal basis with others in all aspects of life." The bill would revert to a system under which some people with disabilities can be placed in guardianship arrangements that are not consistent with Brazil's human rights obligations.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Brazil's Supreme Court approved same-sex marriage in 2011 and it upheld the right of same-sex couples to adopt children in 2015. But the Chamber of Deputies was, at time of writing, debating a bill that would define a family as a union between a man and a woman.

The national Human Rights Ombudsman's Office received 1,983 complaints of violence, discrimination, and other abuses experienced by lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in 2015. In the first half of 2016 the ombudsman received 879 such complaints.

Labor Rights

Since 1995, the Ministry of Labor has documented almost 50,000 cases of workers being subjected to abusive working conditions that under Brazilian law rise to the level of "slave-like," such as forced labor and degrading working conditions. More than 1,000 such cases were documented in 2015. From April 2014 to April 2016, the Ministry of Labor imposed penalties on 349 companies for employing 4,119 people in "slave-like" conditions.

Rural Violence

Rural activists and indigenous leaders involved in conflicts over land continue to face threats and violence in Brazil. According to the Pastoral Land Commission of the Catholic Church, 39 people involved in land conflicts died violently from January to August 2016.

In 2015, five indigenous people died as a result of land conflicts, according to the Indigenous Missionary Council of the Catholic Church (Cimi). Of particular concern, the council said, is the situation of the Guarani-Kaiowa people, who continue to suffer violent attacks by militias linked to landowners as they struggle to regain their rights over ancestral lands.

After a visit to Brazil in March 2016, the UN special rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples said that in the last eight years there was a "disturbing" lack of progress in areas of key concern to indigenous peoples, such as the demarcation of their territories. She urged Brazil's government to address violence and discrimination against indigenous people.

Confronting Military-Era Abuses

The perpetrators of human rights abuses during military rule from 1964 to 1985 continue to be shielded from justice by a 1979 amnesty law that was upheld by the Supreme Court in 2010, a decision that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights quickly ruled was a violation of Brazil's obligations under international law. In 2014, the National Truth Commission identified 377 such perpetrators, but owing to the amnesty law, their crimes remain unpunished.

Federal courts did allow the prosecution of at least two former military officers for killings during military rule, but the Supreme Court temporarily halted those prosecutions in 2014 and 2015, pending its re-examination of the validity of the amnesty law.

Key International Actors

In a May report to the UN Human Rights Council, the UN working group on business and human rights found that mining company Samarco had failed to alert residents after the November 2015 rupture of a tailings dam, which caused one of the worst environmental disasters in Brazilian history and the death of 19 people. Prior warning might have prevented these deaths, the working group said. In November, four UN rapporteurs said in a joint statement that the measures taken so far by the government and the company are "insufficient" to deal with the "massive" environmental and human impact of the disaster.

Foreign Policy

Brazil was elected to the Human Rights Council for the 2017-2019 term. In June, the council adopted a resolution, presented by a core group of Latin American countries, including Brazil, that established the position of UN independent expert on protection against violence and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity.

The total number of people with refugee status in Brazil more than doubled from 2011, when President Rousseff took office, to more than 8,800 in April 2016, according to the Ministry of Justice. About a quarter of those with refugee status are Syrian. The Temer administration has said that in 2017 it intends to receive at least 3,000 Syrians from Jordan, Turkey, and Lebanon, as well as an undetermined number of Central American refugees who are in Mexico.

The new government made a clear shift in its position toward Venezuela. In August, Foreign Minister Jose Serra called the Venezuelan government "authoritarian and repressive" and highlighted the plight of political prisoners there. The Rousseff administration had avoided criticizing Venezuela's persecution of political opponents and crackdown on protesters.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Bosnia and Herzegovina

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Bosnia and Herzegovina, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585713.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.

Bosnia and Herzegovina formally applied for European Union membership in February 2016, but progress on human rights remains largely stalled. Authorities failed to end political discrimination against Jews, Roma, and other minorities. There was slow progress towards accountability for war crimes in domestic courts. Journalists remain vulnerable to intimidation and threats. Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people face hate speech and threats.

Ethnic and Religious Discrimination

The government and assembly made no progress towards amending the constitution to eliminate ethnic and religious discrimination in candidacy for the national tripartite presidency and the House of Peoples. Currently, the constitution requires candidates for these institutions to come from one of the three main ethnic groups  Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats, thereby excluding Jews, Roma, and other minorities from political office.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2016 that the arrangements violate the European Convention on Human Rights  the third time it has done so. Implementation of prior rulings lost momentum after the EU dropped implementation of the original 2009 European Court ruling as a condition for the entry into force of the Stabilisation and Association Agreement.

Local elections were held in Bosnia and Herzegovina on October 2, 2016, for all municipalities except for the city of Mostar. Mostar has been excluded over failure by local authorities to give effect to a BiH Constitutional Court decision that its election rules are discriminatory. Residents of the city have been unable to vote in local elections since 2008.

The results of the 2013 census of BiH were finally published on June 30, 2016, showing a changed demographic picture in which the country lost almost one-fifth of its pre-war population.

Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons

According to the Ministry for Human Rights and Refugees, the official number of internally displaced persons at the end of 2015 was 98,324. The government published a revised strategy on the return of refugees and internally displaced persons in December 2015.

But a lack of reliable public information either from the Bosnia authorities or UNHCR about returns of displaced persons and refugees to their pre-war homes makes it difficult to assess what progress if any has been made under the previous 2010 strategy, and what impact the new strategy will have.

Accountability for War Crimes

There was slow progress in prosecuting war crimes in domestic courts. The goal to finish the most complex cases in the War Crimes Chamber of the State Court by the end of 2015 has not been reached. At time of writing, the Special Department for War Crimes of BiH Prosecutor's Office was still working on 346 of the most complex war crimes cases in relation to 3,383 individuals.

Bosnia and Herzegovina's national war crimes strategy was critically assessed in two separate studies published in 2016, one by the Supervisory Body for Overseeing the Implementation of the National War Crimes Strategy and the other commissioned by the Organization for Security and Co-Operation (OSCE) in Europe and International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Both found that authorities had failed to meet the targets in the strategy and identified a lack of strategic planning, understaffing, and poor training as contributing factors.

Between January and August 2016, the State Court War Crimes Chamber reached 13 verdicts (3 acquittals, 10 convictions) at the first instance in relation to 25 defendants, and 19 verdicts (11 upheld, 7 modified, and 1 revoked) at the second instance in relation to 26 defendants, increasing the total number of completed cases at the first instance to 169 and at the second instance to 158 since the court became fully operational in 2005.

Between January and October 2016, the cantonal courts reached 20 verdicts (5 acquittals, 15 convictions) in relation to 27 defendants. The district courts reached 5 verdicts (3 acquittals, 2 conviction) in relation to 5 persons in the same period.

In August 2016, research conducted by Balkan Investigative Reporting Network showed that cantonal courts and the Basic Court in Brcko have allowed five war crime convicts who were sentenced to up to one year in prison to pay fines to avoid going to jail.

The trial in the State Court against Naser Oric, a former Bosnia army general, and Sabahudin Muhic, a former Bosnian army soldier, started on January 26, 2016. The trial started after the Mechanism for International Tribunals rejected a request by Oric's lawyers to order the State Court to stop the case against him because he has already been acquitted of the same charges at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The prosecution alleges that Oric and Muhic killed three Serb prisoners in the villages of Zalazje, Lolici, and Kunjerac in 1992.

At the ICTY in March, Bosnian Serb wartime President Radovan Karadzic was convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity, and violations of the laws or customs of war and sentenced to 40 years' imprisonment. Karadzic was convicted of genocide in the area of Srebrenica in 1995, of persecution, extermination, murder, deportation, inhumane acts (forcible transfer), terror, unlawful attacks on civilians and hostage-taking. He was acquitted of the charge of genocide in other municipalities in BiH in 1992.

At time of writing, the defense case in the trial of Ratko Mladic, the former commander of the Republika Srpska Army, was in progress at the ICTY. Mladic's case experienced a substantial slowdown due to delays in evidence presentation by the defense. Mladic is on trial for genocide in Srebrenica and seven other municipalities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the persecution of Bosniaks and Croats throughout the country, terrorizing the civilian population of Sarajevo and taking UN peacekeepers hostage. The trial judgment was expected in November 2017.

National Security

Imad Al-Husin (also known as Abu Hamza), a naturalized Bosnian from Syria detained in 2008, was released in February 2016 from the immigration center in Sarajevo where he was held for over seven years on national security grounds without ever being indicted. The Ministry of Security announced in a press release in February 2016 that the decision to expel Imad Al-Husin still stands; until then his movement remains limited to the Canton of Sarajevo.

Zeyad Khalaf Al Gertani, an Iraqi citizen, detained without charge on national security grounds from 2009 until 2014, remains under a supervision order confining him to the Bosnian town of Banovici, apart from his family.

Human Rights Defenders and Civil Society

By October 2016, Civil Rights Defenders had registered 12 incidents targeting groups and individuals working to defend human rights, including six physical attacks against journalists and three incidents against one human rights organization in Prijedor municipality.

Freedom of Media

Journalists continue to face threats and intimidation. In the first nine months of 2016, the national journalists' association registered 40 cases of violations of media freedom and expression, including 5 physical attacks, 2 death threats, 6 cases of pressure, 3 cases of defamation, and 3 cases of verbal threats.

Borka Rudic, general secretary of the Association of Journalists of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Journalists' Association itself were accused in July by Salmir Kaplan, a member of parliament and adviser to the security minister, of supporting the Gulen movement in Turkey and Rudic was called a "Chetnik" (right-wing nationalist Serb), after Rudic spoke out against curbs on media freedom in Turkey.

In May, a Croatian television journalist Petar Panjkota was struck on the head after reporting from a demonstration in Banja Luka. Two crew from Bosnian TV station BN TV covering the same demonstration were verbally abused and a third received threats on social media.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Sarajevo Open Centre, the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender rights organization, documented 23 cases of hate speech and incitement of violence and hate and two crimes and incidents motivated by prejudice on the basis of sexual orientation and/or gender identity in the first three months of 2016. The reaction of authorities to these incidents is generally inadequate. There was no progress in police investigations into the 2014 attack on a film festival that Sarajevo Open Centre organized.

Key International Actors

In April, Dunja Mijatovic, the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's representative on freedom of the media, urged authorities to address attacks against journalists who are experiencing a growing number of online threats. The problem is particularly severe when it comes to female journalists.

A July 2016 report prepared by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT) noted allegations of widespread physical ill-treatment of detainees by law enforcement officials and inmates by prison staff, and was critical of the failure by prosecutors and judges to investigate such allegations.

The United States State Department annual report on human rights in Bosnia and Herzegovina, published in April 2016, underlined the issue of severe mistreatment of detainees in prisons, remand detention centers, and the harsh and sometimes life-threatening conditions in the country's prisons. Furthermore, the report highlighted the widespread violence against women, including sexual assault and domestic violence, exacerbated by ineffective, underfunded social services and an inadequate police response.

In its annual progress on Bosnia and Herzegovina published in November, the European Commission highlighted the failure of authorities to amend the constitution, in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights and to implement rulings by the Constitutional Court. The report also identified inadequate legal protection for LGBTI persons and the failure of authorities to protect adequately the rights of minorities and to ensure media freedom.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Bolivia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Bolivia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585813.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.

Impunity for violent crime and human rights violations remains a serious problem in Bolivia. The administration of President Evo Morales has created a hostile environment for human rights defenders that undermines their ability to work independently.

Despite recent legal reforms, extensive and arbitrary use of pretrial detention  combined with trial delays  undermine defendants' rights and contribute to prison overcrowding. Threats to judicial independence, violence against women, and child labor are other major concerns.

In February, voters rejected a national referendum that would have reformed the constitution to allow President Morales  who has served as president since 2005  to run for a fourth term in 2019.

Impunity for Abuses and Violent Crime

Bolivia has prosecuted only a few of the officials responsible for human rights violations committed under authoritarian governments from 1964 through 1982, in part because the armed forces have at times refused to provide information to judicial authorities on the fate of people killed or forcibly disappeared. Despite repeated commitments to do so, the Bolivian government has yet to create a truth commission to carry out independent investigations of abuses during that period.

Those responsible for the 2008 killing of at least 19 people during protest-related clashes between supporters and opponents of President Morales have largely gone unpunished. As of September, a La Paz court had yet to rule in a case against Leopoldo Fernandez, former prefect of Pando Department, and three other local officials, for their alleged roles in the deaths of 13 people.

Authorities have also failed fully to investigate alleged 2011 police abuses against protesters opposing a proposed highway in the Isiboro Secure National Park and Indigenous Territory (known as "TIPNIS") and the 2009 police killing of two Hungarians (one of Bolivian birth) and an Irishman whom the government alleged were mercenaries involved in a separatist plot.

Impunity has led to mob attacks, or lynchings, of alleged criminals. Five people died in lynchings in 2015, according to the Ombudsman's Office. In March 2016, media reported that a mob in El Alto killed a man with mental disabilities whom they suspected to be a criminal and burned parts of his body. Many lynchings go unpunished.

Military Abuses and Jurisdiction

Human rights violations against soldiers remain a problem. In January, the Ombudsman's Office reported that a soldier had been killed in a military headquarters that month and that another had died in December 2015 after being subject to an "inhumane" military exercise. Most such deaths of soldiers go unpunished, according to the Ombudsman's Office.

The Constitutional Court ruled in 2012 that a civilian court should have jurisdiction of the case of a conscript who died in 2011 following a combat training exercise during which instructors allegedly beat him on the head and chest. The high court urged lawmakers to reform Bolivia's military justice code to ensure that cases of military human rights violations are heard in civilian courts. At time of writing the code had not been reformed.

Judicial Independence

The Bolivian justice system has been plagued by corruption, delays, and political interference for years.

In June, members of the three branches of government, as well as civil society groups and other stakeholders, discussed proposals to reform the Bolivian justice system during a "National Justice Summit." The summit's recommendations included requiring that the Plurinational Assembly reform the selection process for high-court judges, creating a new body to supervise judges, and assessing the work of current judges and prosecutors. The scope of the proposed reforms and thus their impact on judicial independence remained unclear at time of writing.

Due Process and Prison Conditions

As of June, 69 percent of inmates in Bolivian prisons had not been convicted of a crime. Extended pretrial detention and trial delays have led to prison overcrowding and poor conditions. As of March, 13,940 inmates packed prisons built to hold a maximum of around 5,000.

A 2014 law decreased the maximum periods of pretrial detention in most cases. Presidential decrees adopted between 2012 and 2015 allowed the president to reduce the sentences of those convicted of minor crimes and pardon those held in pretrial detention for minor crimes. As of January 2016, more than 4,500 people had benefited from these decrees, according to official figures.

In June, the National Justice Summit recommended that pretrial detention be used "exceptionally" and that legal reforms should broaden alternatives to pre-trial imprisonment. At time of writing, no legislation had been introduced to implement those recommendations.

In May, lawyer Eduardo Leon was detained and prosecuted for "human trafficking" after he represented Gabriela Zapata Montano, a former lover of President Morales who claimed she had a son with him. Bolivian authorities said that Zapata and Leon had paid a boy to say he was Morales' son. According to the Ombudsman's Office, judges violated Leon's due process rights, detaining him without charge beyond the maximum period allowed by Bolivian law. Later that month, government authorities summarily withdrew Leon's license to practice law, alleging he had falsified his military service certificate in 1999 (presenting such a certificate was required to get a university degree at the time).

In October, the Attorney General's Office used a 2010 law to charge businessman and opposition leader Samuel Doria Medina with "anti-economic conduct" for mismanagement he allegedly committed in 1992 when he was minister of planning. International human rights law prohibits such retroactive application of the criminal law, unless doing so is beneficial to the defendant.

Police Response to Protests

In May 2016, several protesters and policemen were wounded in La Paz during clashes at a demonstration by people with disabilities demanding a raise in their disability allowances. In August, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged the Bolivian government to investigate allegations by civil society groups that police used excessive force during the protest.

Human Rights Defenders

Human rights defenders continue to face harassment, including from government officials, undermining their ability to work independently.

In 2013, President Morales signed a law and adopted a decree granting the government broad powers to dissolve civil society organizations. Under the decree, any government office may request that the Ministry of Autonomy revoke the permit of a nongovernmental organization (NGO) if it performs activities other than those listed in its bylaws, or if the organization's legal representative is criminally sanctioned for carrying out activities that "undermine security or public order."

The decree also allows the Plurinational Assembly to request the revocation of an NGO permit in cases of "necessity or public interest." These measures give the government inappropriately wide latitude to interfere with the operation of independent civil society groups. In December 2015, the Bolivian Constitutional Court ruled the law and decree constitutional.

In March 2016, President Morales said that "some NGOs" were "conspiring" against his government but did not specify which ones. In September, the minister of the Presidency said that "some NGOs" sought to carry out a coup and "subdue the Bolivian People," but he neither named the NGOs nor presented evidence to support his claim.

Freedom of Expression

While public debate is robust, the Morales administration periodically lashes out against journalists, accusing them, often without presenting evidence, of publishing what it calls lies and politically motivated distortions. The government has repeatedly accused media outlets of participating in an international conspiracy against Bolivia and President Morales.

Bolivia lacks transparent criteria for using government funds to purchase media advertisements  an important source of media revenue  and some media outlets have accused the government of discriminating against those who criticize government officials by withholding advertising from them.

When the OAS special rapporteur for freedom of expression told the Bolivian media in August that under international law governments should not discriminate against media companies viewed as critical when purchasing media advertisements, President Morales accused him of being part of a "cartel of liars."

Indigenous Rights

The 2009 Bolivian Constitution includes comprehensive guarantees for indigenous groups' rights to collective land titling, intercultural education, prior consultation on development projects, and protection of indigenous justice systems.

Indigenous peoples' right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) regarding legislative or administrative measures that may affect them is not fully embodied in Bolivian legislation. A current mining law limits FPIC to the exploitation phase of land concessions, but international standards call for FPIC through all stages of projects that impact on indigenous peoples' rights over land and natural resources.

Gender-Based Violence and Reproductive Rights

Women and girls in Bolivia remain at high risk of gender-based violence, despite a 2013 law that sets forth comprehensive measures to prevent and prosecute violence against women. The law created the crime of "femicide" (the killing of a woman in certain contexts, including of domestic violence) and called for the establishment of shelters for women, as well as special prosecutors and courts for gender-based crimes.

In July, the Attorney General's Office reported that that 147 "femicides" had occurred in Bolivia from January 2015 through June 2016, and that prosecutors had obtained convictions in four of these cases.

Women and girls face numerous obstacles to accessing reproductive health products, contraceptives, and services.

Under Bolivian law, abortion is not a crime when the pregnancy is the result of rape or if the procedure is necessary to protect the life or health of a pregnant women. In 2014, the Constitutional Court ruled that prior judicial authorization and prosecution of the alleged rapist were not prerequisites for post-rape abortion. In November 2015, the health ministry issued a resolution stipulating that abortion should be permitted when the mental health of the mother  not just her physical health  is at risk.

Child Labor

In 2014, the Plurinational Assembly adopted legislation allowing children as young as 10 to work, in contravention of international standards and making Bolivia the first country in the world to legalize employment at such a young age. In February 2015, the Ombudsman's Office said that 850,000 children were working in Bolivia, most of them younger than 14.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In May 2016, the Plurinational Assembly passed a bill that allows people to revise the gender noted on their identification documents without prior judicial approval.

Same-sex couples in Bolivia are not allowed to marry or engage in civil unions. The 2009 constitution defines marriage as the union of a man and a woman.

Key International Actors

In September, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights urged Bolivia to carry out an independent and impartial investigation into the killing of 5 people, including the then-vice minister of interior, during a protest by miners in the municipality of Panduro.

In August, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities urged Bolivia to abolish legislation that limits the legal capacity of people with disabilities to form a family, vote, and enter into contracts, among other things. The committee also recommended that Bolivia end the practice of sterilization without consent and take measures to deinstitutionalize children with disabilities.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Bangladesh

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Bangladesh, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585a11.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.

Bangladesh witnessed a spate of violent attacks against secular bloggers, academics, gay rights activists, foreigners, and members of religious minorities in 2016.

On July 1, armed gunmen attacked the Holey Artisan Bakery, a cafe in Dhaka, killing 21 people, including foreigners, while holding Bangladeshi staff and guests hostage until security forces stormed the cafe the next morning. On July 8, three people were killed at a checkpoint when gunmen carrying bombs tried to attack a gathering to mark the Muslim Eid holiday.

Although Islamist extremist groups, including the Islamic State or ISIS, claimed responsibility for most of these killings, the government blamed domestic groups, and said some had links to the main opposition political parties. Thousands of people were arrested, and dozens of alleged members or supporters of extremist groups are said to have been killed in armed encounters.

Fire and safety factory inspections continued in the garment industry following agreements between big brands and the Bangladeshi government arising out of the 2013 Rana Plaza disaster. However, a September fire in a packaging factory killed at least 24 people, highlighting the need for further efforts to ensure worker rights and safety.

Security Force Abuse and Impunity

Bangladesh security forces have a long history of arbitrary arrest, enforced disappearance, and extrajudicial killing, raising concerns about recent arrests and deaths. The Detective Branch of the police, the Bangladesh Border Guards (BGB), the Directorate General Forces Inspectorate (DGFI), and the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) have all been accused of serious violations.

In June 2016, security forces arrested nearly 15,000 people, mostly young men, in connection with a series of attacks targeting writers, minority religious leaders, and activists.

Following the July attack on the Holey Artisan Cafe, security forces reportedly arbitrarily detained and in many cases killed suspected militants. Two of the hostages in the attack were secretly arrested and detained for over a month until international and national pressure forced the government to admit to holding them in detention. A kitchen assistant, initially suspected to be one of the attackers, was allegedly tortured to death. The government announced several raids in various parts of the country but, due to lack of transparency about security force abuses and the ongoing government clampdown on media, details of those killed or arrested remain unclear.

Attacks on Civil Society

Human rights groups in Bangladesh face constant obstacles, including escalating harassment and surveillance by police. A new law placed strong restrictions on receiving foreign funds without approval by the NGO Affairs Bureau within the Prime Minister's Office.

Journalists are also a common target. The editor of the English-language Daily Star, Mahfuz Anam, faces a total of 54 criminal defamation cases and 15 sedition cases. Fifty-five cases have been filed against editor Matiur Rahman and some journalists associated with the country's highest circulation daily, Prothom Alo, for criminal defamation and "hurting religious sentiment."

Freedom of Expression

Several laws were proposed in 2016 to increase restrictions on freedom of expression. The Distortion of the History of Bangladesh Liberation War Crimes Act provides for imprisonment and fines if details of the 1971 war of independence are debated or disputed. The Foreign Donation (Voluntary Activities) Regulation Act, passed in October, to control nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) will hinder freedoms of expression and association. Proposed Press Council Act amendments include provisions for closing newspapers.

The government continues to use the overly broad and vague Information and Communication Technology Act against people critical of decisions and activities of senior government officials or their families.

Bloggers expressing secular views and editors and writers supporting sexual minority rights were attacked in 2016, many of them hacked to death in public spaces. While authorities condemned the attacks, some recommended that individuals holding unpopular views censor themselves, implying that the responsibility for avoiding such attacks lay with the victims.

Minorities

Several religious leaders were killed or injured in targeted attacks, allegedly by the same extremist Muslim groups that targeted secular writers. In April, the advocacy group Hindu-Buddha-Christian Oikya Parishad said there had been three times more incidents of violence against minority communities in the first three months of 2016 than in all of 2015. Hindu shrines, temples and homes were attacked over the October 2016 Diwali festival. The government responded by arresting several hundred suspects, but some sporadic attacks against the Hindu community continued.

Thousands of indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts and other areas are at risk of forced displacement.

Environment

Workers in the tanneries of Hazaribagh, a residential area in Dhaka, continue to suffer from highly toxic and dangerous working conditions, while residents of nearby slums complain of illnesses caused by the tanneries' extreme pollution of air, water, and soil. The government continues its de facto policy of not enforcing labor and environmental laws with respect to the tanneries and has failed to insist on the relocation of the tanneries to a dedicated industrial zone in Savar, ignoring a High Court decision from 2001.

Some 20 years after the problem of arsenic in Bangladesh's drinking water first came to the world's attention, 20 million people in Bangladesh are still drinking water contaminated with arsenic above the national standard. Deeper wells drilled down approximately 150 meters into the ground can often supply higher-quality water without arsenic, but some politicians are diverting funds for such wells to political supporters and allies, a practice facilitated by a government policy permitting national parliamentarians to influence the siting of 50 percent of all new government water points.

Labor Rights

Bangladeshi authorities again failed to implement their commitments under the Sustainability Compact in 2016. These include amending the Labour Act and laws governing Export Processing Zones to bring them in line with international standards. Largely, factory officials were not held accountable for attacks, threats, and retaliation against workers involved with unions.

In August, a Bangladeshi court charged 18 people with murder for the 2013 collapse of the Rana Plaza textile factory, which killed 1,135 people and injured hundreds.

In September, another factory fire and building collapse in a packaging factory killed 31 workers and injured another 50.

Women's and Girls' Rights

Bangladesh government data indicates that the percentage of girls marrying before age 18 declined from 65 percent in 2014 to 52 percent in 2016, and that 18 percent of girls still marry before the age of 15, the highest rate in Asia and among the highest in the world. In 2014, the government pledged to end marriage of children younger than 15 by 2021, and marriage younger than 18 by 2041.

In 2016, the government undermined progress toward these goals by continuing to push for weakening of the law governing the minimum age of marriage. At present, the minimum age of marriage for women is 18 with no exceptions, but the government proposed to allow 16- and 17-year-old girls to marry with parental consent, a change that would constitute a de facto lowering of the age of marriage, as most marriages are arranged by parents. A national plan on ending child marriage, promised by end-2014, had still not been finalized at time of writing.

Stalking, sexual harassment, and violent retaliation against and even murder of women and girls who protest such harassment continued in 2016. Prompt investigation and prosecution in such cases continues to be rare.

Indigenous women and girls face multiple forms of discrimination due to their gender, indigenous identity, and socio-economic status; they are especially vulnerable to sexual and gender-based violence.

Overseas Workers

Millions of Bangladeshis work abroad, sending home remittances worth billions of US dollars. In 2016 alone, almost 100,000 women migrated overseas, mostly to Gulf countries, for domestic work. The government has sought to increase the recruitment of such workers without putting in place adequate mechanisms to protect them against workplace abuses. Bangladeshi workers in the Gulf continue to report being deprived of food and forced to endure psychological, physical, and sexual abuse. In some cases, such abuses amount to forced labor or trafficking. Some Bangladeshi domestic workers pay high recruitment fees and take out loans in order to migrate.

Bangladesh has set a minimum salary for domestic workers in the Gulf equivalent to roughly US$200, the lowest minimum salary of all sending countries  and its embassies in the region do not provide adequate protection and assistance to many Bangladeshi nationals there.

Refugees

Bangladesh began its first census of undocumented Rohingya refugees in June, setting off fears that it might lead to a mass relocation or forcible repatriation to Burma. About 32,000 Rohingya are sheltered in camps administered by the United Nations, but hundreds of thousands who have never been allowed to register as refugees or to lodge asylum claims live undocumented in squalid, makeshift camps, or in private dwellings scattered around southeast Bangladesh, vulnerable to human traffickers and exploited as cheap labor.

War Crimes Trials

The International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), set up to address laws of war violations committed during Bangladesh's 1971 independence movement, continued its operations in 2015 without addressing serious procedural and substantive defects. In September, the government executed Mir Qasem Ali, a senior member of the executive committee of the opposition Jamaat-e-Islaami party, for crimes he alleged committed in 1971, even as the country's chief justice criticized the attorney general, the prosecution, and investigators for producing insufficient evidence in the case. The government secretly detained Ali's son, a key member of his defense team, denied him access to his father before execution, and forbade him from participating in the funeral.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Prominent gay activists Xulhaz Mannan, the founder of Roopbaan, Bangladesh's first lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LGBTI) magazine, and Mahbub Rabby Tonoy, the general secretary of the group, were hacked to death in April. Al-Qaeda in the Indian Subcontinent (AQIS) claimed responsibility for the killings. Fearing for their lives, many LGBT activists sought temporary refuge outside the country.

"Carnal intercourse against the order of nature" carries a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison. The government has twice rejected recommendations to repeal the colonial-era law during its Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council.

The Bangladesh cabinet in 2014 declared legal recognition of a third gender category for hijras  a traditional cultural identity for transgender people who, assigned male at birth, do not identify as men  but the absence of a definition of the term or procedure for gaining recognition of third gender status led to abuses in implementation of the legal change. In June and July 2015, a group of hijras were subjected to harassment and invasive and abusive physical examinations at a government hospital as a requirement to join a government employment program.

Key International Actors

India, the United Kingdom, and the United States, countries with significant influence over the Bangladesh government, remained largely silent on the country's human rights record in their public statements in 2016. The UK said nothing publicly at all.

The US Department of Justice funded and trained an internal investigations program within the RAB, but the program produced no human rights prosecutions or convictions in 2016, and US authorities said little publicly to signal the importance of holding RAB officers accountable for human rights crimes. In July, Secretary of State John Kerry offered US assistance to Bangladeshi authorities investigating the militant attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery that killed 21 people in Dhaka.

The United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights raised concerns about the lack of fairness in the war crimes trials and about arbitrary and illegal arrests, but the Bangladeshi government ignored the statements.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Bahrain

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Bahrain, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585bc.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.

There was a marked deterioration in the human rights situation in Bahrain in mid-2016, when authorities dissolved the main political opposition group, al-Wifaq, jailed the country's leading human rights activist, and harassed and prosecuted Shia clerics who peacefully protested the arbitrary revocation of the citizenship of al-Wifaq's spiritual leader, Sheikh Isa Qasim. This orchestrated crackdown on the rights to free expression, assembly and association undermined prospects for a political solution to Bahrain's domestic unrest.

Authorities made little progress in holding officials accountable for the mistreatment and torture of detainees, continued to arbitrarily strip citizenship from Bahrainis who have been critical of the government, and subjected civil society actors to arbitrary travel bans.

Freedoms of Expression, Assembly, and Association

Human rights activists Zainab al-Khawaja spent three months in jail after her detention in March 2016 based on four convictions that violated her right to free expression, one of which resulted from an unfair trial. Al-Khawaja left Bahrain for Denmark, where she also has citizenship, after authorities released her in June. She said Bahraini authorities were preparing to press further charges against her that could have resulted in a lengthy prison sentence.

In May, Bahrain's High Court of Appeal more than doubled the prison sentence of al-Wifaq's secretary-general, Sheikh Ali Salman, from four years to nine years. The appeal court overturned a trial court's decision to acquit him of advocating the overthrow of the government by force. It increased the sentence despite strong evidence his initial trial was unfair and the fact that two of the charges on which he had been convicted clearly violated his right to freedom of expression.

In June, authorities detained prominent human rights activist Nabeel Rajab solely on charges that violate his right to free expression. He is facing 15 years in prison on charges that include criticism of Bahrain's participation in Saudi Arabia-led military operations in Yemen, and "offending national institutions." The latter charge is based on comments about alleged torture of inmates in Jaw Prison in March 2015. On September 5, authorities charged Rajab with "undermining the prestige of the state," one day after the New York Times published an open letter he wrote from prison.

Also in June, the Ministry of Justice and Islamic Affairs requested that the judiciary dissolve al-Wifaq. The court issued an "expedited" ruling on June 14 ordering the group to close its headquarters and suspend activities, and confiscated its funds based on government allegations that the party was a cover for "acts associated with extremism and terrorism." Authorities produced no evidence to support their allegations.

After authorities arbitrarily stripped al-Wifaq's spiritual leader Sheikh Isa Qasim of his citizenship in June for allegedly inciting sectarianism, hundreds of people, including many Shia clerics, gathered in peaceful protest outside his home in the town of Diraz. Authorities responded with a campaign of harassment against Shia clerics, in violation of their right to free expression and peaceful assembly.

In August, a Bahraini court convicted Sheikh Ali Humaidan of "illegal gathering" and sentenced him to one year in prison for his involvement in the Diraz protests. One of the most high-profile Shia clerics charged with illegal gathering, Sheikh Maytham al-Salman, said that police insisted that he remove his clerical turban and robes, refused his request to shower and change his clothes, and kept him in interview rooms for 26 hours without sleep. He said he believed the insistence that he remove his religious attire was intended to "insult and intimidate a Shia cleric." Credible Bahraini sources told Human Rights Watch that authorities questioned or brought charges against more than 50 Shia clerics in the aftermath of the Diraz protests.

In July, a prosecutor charged Nazeeha Saeed, a Bahraini correspondent for the French news agency Agence France Presse, with violating the country's licensing law for journalists. Bahrain's Information Affairs Authority sent a letter to one of Saeed's employers citing "the unsatisfactory evaluation of her performance by our specialists" as the reason for not renewing the license.

Mistreatment of Detainees

The third annual report from the Office of the Ombudsman, released in June 2016, provided further evidence that authorities have made little progress in holding police and security forces accountable for the torture and mistreatment of detainees.

Since it was created in 2012, the Office of the Ombudsman has, according to its annual reports, referred 138 cases to the Special Investigations Unit, the body responsible for investigating and prosecuting security or other government officials allegedly involved in the torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment of detainees. Of these, the Special Investigations Unit has successfully prosecuted only one torture case, which the ombudsman's second annual report characterized as "a vicious assault" on a detainee "in an attempt to force him to confess to drug dealing."

The ombudsman's 2016 report contained no information on the status of 15 complaints relating to the alleged torture of inmates by prison officials after unrest in Jaw Prison in March 2015. In May, M. Cherif Bassiouni, the lead author of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Inquiry report into the anti-government protests of 2011 and the disproportionate response of the security forces, urged "the pursuit of investigations of those responsible for the killing of five persons under torture and the ascertainment of their superiors' responsibility."

Revocation of Nationality

As a result of a 2014 amendment to Bahrain's citizenship law, the Interior Ministry can, with cabinet approval, revoke the citizenship of any person who, according to authorities, "aids or is involved in the service of a hostile state" or who "causes harm to the interests of the Kingdom or acts in a way that contravenes his duty of loyalty to it."

In 2016, information from media reports and credible local sources indicates that the Bahraini authorities stripped 133 individuals of their citizenship, bringing the total to 341 since the beginning of 2015. They can be classified into three broad categories: human rights defenders, political activists, and journalists; Bahrainis known to be fighting alongside the Islamic State (also known as ISIS); and individuals convicted of domestic terrorism offenses.

In June 2016, the Interior Ministry said it was revoking the citizenship of Sheikh Isa Qasim, considered the spiritual leader of the main opposition group, al-Wifaq. It accused him of "creating an extremist sectarian environment" and saying he had "encouraged sectarianism and violence."

Bahraini authorities deported seven stateless Bahrainis whom they had previously stripped of their citizenship, including Shia cleric Mohamed Khojasta in February, academic Masaud Jahromi in March, and human rights lawyer Taimoor Karimi in June.

Right to Leave the Country

Authorities have placed arbitrary travel bans on tens of individuals who have been critical of the authorities' human rights abuses. In September, an arbitrary travel ban prevented human rights activist Nedal al-Salman from attending a United Nations Human Rights Council meeting in Geneva, after earlier subjecting two of al-Salman's colleagues from the Bahrain Centre for Human Rights to similar bans.

Other Bahrainis subjected to travel bans included Mohamed al-Tajer, a human rights lawyer; Abdulnabi al-Ekry, a rights activist; Jalila al-Salman, the former vice-president of the dissolved Bahrain Teacher's Society; Rula al-Saffar, a nurse and human rights activist; Mohamed Sharaf, the president of the Bahraini chapter of Transparency International; and journalist Nazeeha Saeed.

Women's Rights, Sexual Orientation, and Gender Identity

Law no. 19 of 2009 on the Promulgation of the Law of Family Rulings regulates matters of personal status in Bahrain's Sunni courts. The law does not apply in the country's Shia courts, with the result that Shia women, who comprise the majority in Bahrain, are not covered by a codified personal status law. Both Sunni and Shia women are discriminated against. For instance, men have a unilateral right divorce their wives; Sunni men can do so orally, and Shia men must do so in writing. Women must apply to the courts for a divorce.

Adultery is criminalized, as are sexual relations outside marriage, which is prosecuted under an article that criminalizes "an act of indecency with a female." However, there is no law that prohibits discrimination on the grounds of sex, gender, sexual orientation, or gender identity.

Key International Actors

Bahrain remained a member of the Saudi Arabia-led coalition that launched air strikes in Yemen throughout 2016, causing hundreds of civilian deaths, according to the UN.

The United States, which has a permanent naval base in Bahrain, criticized the dissolution of al-Wifaq and called on the government to drop charges and free Nabel Rajab. The United Kingdom, for whom the Bahrainis are building a permanent naval base, failed to call for the release of any imprisoned activists, or to criticize the dissolution of al-Wifaq.

In September, US government officials announced that the approval of the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Bahrain would be dependent on unspecified improvements in the human rights situation in the country.

In August, five UN human rights experts issued a joint statement criticizing authorities' "systematic harassment of the Shia population."

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Azerbaijan

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Azerbaijan, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585ca.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 government continued its thorough crackdown on dissenting voices in 2016, leaving a wide gap in Azerbaijan's once vibrant independent civil society. Authorities released 17 human rights defenders, journalists, and political activists imprisoned on politically motivated charges. But at least 25 government critics remained wrongfully imprisoned, including political activists and bloggers arrested in 2016. Restrictive laws continue to prevent nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) from operating independently.

Reports of torture and other ill-treatment persisted throughout the year.

The September 2016 constitutional referendum abolished minimum age requirements for presidential and parliamentary candidates, extended from five to seven years the presidential term of office, and expanded the power of the presidency.

The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) declined to restore Azerbaijan's full membership in the organization and gave the government four months to reform its laws limiting space for civil society or face suspension.

Prosecuting Government Critics

In March, President Ilham Aliyev pardoned 13 journalists, human rights defenders, activists, and bloggers who had been prosecuted on politically motivated charges in previous years. Their convictions have not been quashed, and some former detainees continued to face travel and work restrictions and risk detention if they resume their work. Some led NGOs, and these groups remained closed.

Also in March, courts converted the prison sentences of journalist Rauf Mirgadirov and human rights lawyer Intigam Aliyev to suspended terms and released both. In May, the Supreme Court similarly converted investigative journalist Khadija Ismayilova's prison term and released her. All three retain a criminal record and two faced foreign travel restrictions.

Ilgar Mammadov, leader of the pro-democracy opposition movement Republican Alternative (REAL), remained in prison despite the 2014 European Court of Human Rights decision on his case and repeated demands by the Council of Europe to release him. Others who remain behind bars include youth activist Ilkin Rustamzadeh, opposition Azerbaijan Popular Front Party (APFP) activist Murad Adilov, journalist Seymur Hazi, and blogger Abdul Adilov.

New Arrests and Convictions

In August, in the lead-up to the constitutional referendum, the government arrested eight activists on a range of false, politically motivated charges, including drug possession, hooliganism, incitement, and illegal business activity. The authorities also accused some activists of possessing banned or potentially illegally imported materials related to Fethullah Gulen, the US-based imam who Turkey accuses of organizing the failed July 2016 coup attempt there.

Among those arrested were Fuad Ahmadli, a well-known social media activist and senior APFP member and Faig Amirov, financial director for the leading opposition newspaper Azadlig. During searches following their arrests, police claimed to have found prohibited religious books and compact discs related to Gulen, but also pressed other criminal charges against them. Both were in custody at time of writing.

Police also arrested three REAL members: Natig Jafarli, the party's executive secretary, who had publicly criticized the constitutional referendum, and two other REAL activists campaigning against the referendum. A court jailed the latter two for a week for refusing to abide by a police order not to distribute campaign leaflets. In September, Jafarli was released pending trial.

Authorities continued to target leading and rank-and-file APFP activists, at least 12 of whom were either on trial or serving prison terms in 2016. Among those facing trial is Fuad Gahramanli, deputy APFP chairman, arrested in December 2015 on trumped-up charges of calling for the government's overthrow. The charges are part of the criminal conspiracy and terrorism case against religious activists in Nardaran, a Baku suburb known for its Shi'ia conservatism. Gahramanli was in pretrial custody at time of writing. In March, a court convicted Mammad Ibrahim, advisor to APFP chairman Ali Kerimli, on spurious hooliganism charges and sentenced him to three years in prison. Elvin Abdullayev, a youth activist and APFP member remained in prison since his January 2015 arrest on dubious drug possession charges. In June 2016, the Supreme Court reduced his prison sentence from six to two-and-half years.

Freedom of Media

Independent outlets faced harassment and closure, and critical journalists faced threats and intimidation aimed at silencing them.

In April, authorities launched a criminal investigation into alleged tax evasion and related economic infractions supposedly involving 15 journalists who cooperate with Meydan TV, a Berlin-based online independent Azeri-language media outlet that provides critical reporting on human rights, corruption, and similar issues. They were at liberty pending the investigation; at least seven of them face travel bans while under investigation. In December 2015 and April 2016, courts convicted three family members of Meydan TV's exiled journalists on trumped-up drug charges and paroled them in April 2016 after they had served less than a year.

In September, the state-run printing house refused to publish Azadlig due to the newspaper's failure to make a debt payment to the company following the detention of Faig Amirli. As a result, Azadlig had to indefinitely suspend its print edition.

In July, authorities first suspended and then revoked the broadcasting license of a privately owned, staunchly pro-government ANS television, following its announcement to broadcast an interview with Fethullah Gulen. The TV channels remained closed at time of writing.

Freedom of Association

Highly restrictive and punitive regulations on NGOs adopted in 2014 and 2015 make it almost impossible for independent groups to fund and carry out their work. In February 2016, new regulations went into force giving the Justice Ministry broad powers to conduct intrusive inspections of NGOs on a wide range of grounds.

In April, the Prosecutor's Office suspended the sweeping criminal investigation opened in 2014 against dozens of foreign donors and their grantees. Several organizations and their leaders that are members of Azerbaijan's coalition for the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI) saw restrictions linked to the investigation lifted. The authorities unfroze their bank accounts, lifted travel bans against them, and stopped intrusive screenings at the Azerbaijani borders.

Despite the unfrozen bank accounts, several groups in the EITI coalition cannot access funding because authorities refuse to register their grant agreements. Azerbaijani regulations require NGOs to provide banks with proof of grant registration in order to access grant funds.

The bank accounts of at least a dozen NGOs that worked on human rights and government accountability remain blocked; the groups suspended their work or operate in exile.

Torture and Ill-Treatment

Torture and other ill-treatment continued with impunity. In August, police arrested Elgiz Gahraman, member of an opposition youth movement, and held him incommunicado for six days. Gahraman told his lawyer police beat and threatened him with sexual humiliation to force him to confess to false drug possession charges. Authorities failed to effectively investigate. Gahraman remained in custody at time of writing.

In May, police arrested youth activists Giyas Ibrahimov and Bayram Mammadov for spraying graffiti on a monument to former President Heydar Aliyev and demanded that they apologize on camera. When they refused, policemen beat and threatened to rape them with truncheons to force them to confess to drug possession. Authorities failed to conduct an effective investigation into the ill-treatment allegations. In October, Ibrahimov was sentenced to 10 years' imprisonment; Mammadov's trial was ongoing at time of writing.

In July, 18 of the 68 defendants in a high-profile trial counterterrorism case told a court that police had beaten them repeatedly to elicit confessions and testimony. The case concerns state allegations that Taleh Bagirzade, a religious activist who had previously been jailed on politically motivated charges, conspired with others to overthrow the government.

A November 2015 police raid to arrest Bagirzade in Nardaran, a Baku suburb, turned violent during unclear and disputed circumstances, with shootings leaving two police and seven civilians dead. Bagirzade stated at trial that state agents beat him to induce testimony against two political opposition leaders. Authorities denied the allegations and did not thoroughly investigate.

Key International Actors

The United States, European Union, and Azerbaijan's other bilateral and international partners welcomed the release of government critics but failed to effectively leverage the potential of their relationships with the government to press for meaningful rights improvements.

In October, EITI, a prominent international coalition that promotes good governance in oil, gas, and other extractive industries, declined to restore Azerbaijan's full membership status in the organization, and gave the government four months to reform its restrictive NGO laws or face suspension.

Following its May 2016 visit, the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention noted receiving "a large number of testimonies [...] about torture and ill treatment" in custody. It also observed "dire conditions of living and high level of negligence in the institution for women," and expressed dismay "about the application of chemical restraints accompanied in the case of children with 'light' electroshocks" in one institution.

Following his September visit, the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, Michel Forst, urged the government to stop criminalization of human rights defenders for peaceful and legitimate activities, release all detained defenders, and rescind criminal and administrative sanctions against them and their families.

In its October concluding observations, the UN Human Rights Committee urged Azerbaijani authorities to end "the crackdown on public associations ... ensuring that they can operate freely and without fear of retribution for their legitimate activities."

In late 2015, Council of Europe Secretary General Thorbjrn Jagland launched an inquiry into Azerbaijan's failure to carry out the European Court of Human Rights' rulings. Jagland's special representative could not visit Azerbaijan throughout 2016, apparently due to the lack of government cooperation to facilitate the initiative.

In December 2015, bipartisan legislation was introduced in the US House of Representatives, calling on the Azerbaijani government to free all "political prisoners." The bill called for, among other things, visa bans on unnamed senior Azerbaijani officials responsible for the crackdown.

During her March visit to Baku, European Union High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Federica Mogherini announced the EU's intention to speed up negotiations on a new partnership agreement with Azerbaijan, making little public mention of Baku's atrocious human rights record.

International financial institutions have continued or increased funding to the Azerbaijani government, including in the extractives industries, despite the worsening human rights situation.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
SPARTA -- The American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Council 31 received a letter from Illinois Department of Central Management Services, dated Jan. 11, stating that union workers will receive layoff notices in the near future at the World Shooting Recreational Complex.

The letter, addressed to Roberta Lynch, AFSCMEs executive director, states, "Due to the recent court decision, we are now implementing the Sept. 2015 layoff. The proposed effective date of the layoff is at the close of business on Jan. 31, 2017."

The layoffs will affect the Illinois Department of Natural Resources, Department of Transportation, Illinois Emergency Management Agency and Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity.

"While these positions at the World Shooting Recreational Complex (WRSC) are being eliminated, employees are transitioning to other positions in the agency," said Ed Cross, director of communications for DNR.

"The shooting complex will continue to operate under a new management plan, and these changes will ensure it runs more efficiently, saves taxpayer dollars, and remains open as a world class facility to shooters from across the world," he added.

The shooting complex was closed after the 2015 Grand American. The closure resulted in the loss of the Scholastic Clay Target Programs college competition. The Amateur Trapshooting Association explored the possibility of moving The Grand American, the largest trapshooting competition in the world, but reached an agreement with DNR.
World Report 2017 - Australia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Australia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585d4.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.

Australia is a vibrant multicultural democracy with a strong record of protecting civil and political rights, but serious human rights issues remain. In 2016, the government continued its draconian policy of offshore transfers of asylum seekers to Manus Island in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and Nauru. There were growing calls to address abusive offshore detention conditions and resettle those found to be refugees in Australia.

Indigenous Australians remain disproportionately subject to the criminal justice system. In 2016, the government of Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull announced a royal commission into the mistreatment of children in detention facilities in the Northern Territory.

Australia does not recognize the right of same-sex couples to marry. The Australian government announced a plebiscite on the right of same-sex couples to marry, but political opponents blocked it, arguing a plebiscite is expensive and wasteful and that the issue should be determined by a parliamentary free vote.

In November, controversy over the Racial Discrimination Act  including attacks on the Australian Human Rights Commission for its handling of discrimination complaints  led the government to set up a parliamentary inquiry to examine whether the act imposes unreasonable limits on free speech. Other human rights concerns include overly broad counterterrorism laws and limits to the rights of people with disabilities.

Asylum Seekers and Refugees

Since June 2013, anyone intercepted arriving by boat and seeking refuge in Australia has been sent to Manus Island or Nauru. At time of writing, more than 900 asylum seekers and refugees lived on Manus Island and about 1,200 on Nauru.

In February 2016, the Australian High Court rejected a constitutional challenge to the offshore detention regime in Nauru. The court ruled that Australia's role in securing, funding, and participating in the detention of asylum seekers and refugees on Nauru was authorized by law. However, in April, the PNG Supreme Court ruled that the detention of asylum seekers on Manus Island was unconstitutional. In August, the Australian and PNG governments agreed to close the center, although they set no timetable.

On Nauru, refugees and asylum seekers regularly endure violence, threats, and harassment from Nauruans, with little protection from local authorities. They face unnecessary delays in, and at times denial of, medical care, even for life-threatening conditions. Many have dire mental health problems and suffer from depression. Self-harm and suicide attempts are frequent. In May 2016, two refugees self-immolated in separate incidents; one died and the other was badly burned.

At time of writing, only 25 of the 675 refugees on Manus had been allowed to move to mainland PNG, working in Lae or Port Moresby. Of this number, several returned to Manus citing threats to personal safety and poor working and living conditions. Of six refugees who resettled from Nauru to Cambodia under an A$55 million (US$43 million) deal struck between the countries in 2015, two remain. The others returned to their country of origin.

The Australian government's offshore operations are highly secretive. Service providers working for the Australian government face criminal charges and civil penalties if they disclose information about conditions for asylum seekers and refugees. In August and September 2016, the Guardian newspaper published more than 2,000 leaked documents that exposed endemic and systematic abuse, predominantly of children, at the Nauru detention center.

In 2016, the Australian navy turned back boats carrying migrants, sending them to Vietnamese and Sri Lankan waters. Both countries have poor records concerning returned migrants.

Asylum seekers or refugees perceived to be lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or intersex (LGBTI) face harassment and abuse despite the recent decriminalization of same-sex conduct in Nauru; in Papua New Guinea, such conduct remains criminalized.

In November, the Turnbull Government introduced legislation that would prohibit adult asylum seekers and refugees who have attempted to arrive in Australia by boat since July 19, 2013, from ever obtaining an Australian visa of any kind. In November, the government also announced a one-off arrangement to resettle some refugees from Manus and Nauru in the United States, saying that women, children, and families would be prioritized. At time of writing, no one had been removed for resettlement to the US.

Indigenous Rights

2016 marked the 25th anniversary of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The commission recommended that imprisonment of indigenous people convicted of crimes be a sanction of last resort. However, since 1991, the rate of indigenous imprisonment has doubled.

Indigenous Australians are significantly overrepresented in the criminal justice system. Indigenous adults are 13 times more likely to be imprisoned than their non-indigenous counterparts. Aboriginal women are the fastest growing prisoner demographic in Australia. In the state of Western Australia, some 50 percent of the female adult prison population is of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin even though such individuals make up only 3 percent of the state's population. Indigenous offenders are disproportionately detained or imprisoned for minor and poverty-related offenses, particularly public order and unpaid fines offenses.

The juvenile detention rate for indigenous youth is about 24 times the rate of non-indigenous youth. Indigenous children are often held in pre-trial detention, despite the international legal requirement that detention of children be a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time.

In October, the Turnbull Government instructed the Australian Law Reform Commission to report on the overrepresentation of indigenous Australians in prisons; Federal Attorney-General George Brandis called it a "national tragedy."

Children's Rights

In July 2016, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation aired disturbing CCTV footage showing the teargassing, hooding, shackling, and stripping of children at a youth detention facility in August 2014. The incident had been a subject of a 2015 report by the Northern Territory's children's commissioner that revealed serious shortcomings in juvenile detention practices in the territory. Despite the report, territory officials failed to act. Within 12 hours of the footage airing, Prime Minister Turnbull announced a royal commission into child protection and youth detention in the territory.

In August, the Queensland attorney general announced an independent review into the practices, operation, and oversight of Queensland's youth detention facilities after the emergence of allegations of mistreatment akin to those in the Northern Territory.

Counterterrorism Laws

Since 2014, the Australian government has introduced a range of counterterrorism laws in response to the threat of "home-grown terrorism."

In September, the government introduced two further legislative measures to deter terrorist attacks. The first bill proposes legislation that would allow a judge to authorize detention for terrorist offenders who have served their sentences but who pose an "unacceptable risk" of committing a serious offense if released. Such post-sentence detention for periods of up to three years could be renewed, raising concerns about arbitrary and indefinite detention using a low standard of proof and secret evidence. The second bill, passed in November, extends control orders to 14 year olds.

Disability Rights

In November 2015, a senate committee inquiry found that violence, abuse, and neglect of people with disabilities is both "widespread and takes many forms." The committee's report detailed long-term systematic abuse of persons with disabilities in residential and institutional settings.

Women and girls with disabilities in Australia are particularly at risk of sexual violence. Studies have shown that women with disabilities face much higher rates of sexual abuse than the general population of women. Some face coerced sterilization and forced psychiatric interventions.

People with disabilities are overrepresented in prisons and are more likely to be investigated, charged, remanded to custody, or serve longer prison terms than people without disabilities. In some cases, people with disabilities have been languishing in prison for years without having been convicted of a crime, simply because the government has not provided alternatives to incarceration.

In July 2016, the government rolled out the new National Disability Insurance Scheme (NDIS). While the NDIS represents a major advancement on many fronts, in some states it harms services for people with disabilities most at risk, such as those in contact with the justice system.

Foreign Policy

Australia raises human rights concerns in other countries, but does so very selectively. It seldom raises human rights concerns publicly about countries it works closely with in interdicting asylum seekers and refugees or with which it has significant trade relations.

However, Australia supported a US-led joint statement at the United Nations Human Rights Council in March condemning China's detention of activists and enforced disappearances of citizens and foreigners. In August, Australia and Vietnam held their 13th Annual Human Rights Dialogue in Hanoi. Australia reiterated its "serious concerns about the harassment, arrest and detention of peaceful human rights activists."

In February, the government announced that Philip Ruddock would be Australia's first special envoy for human rights and would drive Australia's campaign for a seat on the UN Human Rights Council in 2018. As Australia's immigration minister from 1996 to 2003, Ruddock implemented the "Pacific Solution," Australia's abusive policy of offshore detention and processing of refugees and asylum seekers.

In May, a parliamentary committee report into Australia's advocacy for the abolition of the death penalty called on the Foreign Affairs Department to coordinate "a whole-of-government strategy for the abolition of the death penalty which has as its focus, countries of the Indo-Pacific and the United States of America."

Key International Actors

In February, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child expressed "great concern" over the Australian High Court's finding that detaining asylum seekers offshore is legal. In May, the UN refugee agency stated that Australia's "current policy of offshore processing and prolonged detention is immensely harmful" and that the arrangements with Nauru and PNG had "proved completely untenable."

In August 2016, in response to the leaked files published in the Guardian, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights again urged Nauru and Australian authorities to "put an end to the model of processing and keeping migrants offshore."

In October, UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Defenders Michael Forst visited Australia and expressed concern about restrictions facing civil society, freedom of expression, freedom of assembly, and access to justice. In November, UN Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights of Migrants Francois Crepeau visited Australia and Nauru and found that some of Australia's migration policies "have increasingly eroded the rights of migrants, in contravention of its international human rights and humanitarian obligations." Crepeau expressed deep concern about the impact of such policies on the mental health of many migrants.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Armenia

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Armenia, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585d5d.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.

Armenia's human rights record remained uneven in 2016. Authorities used excessive and disproportionate force against peaceful protesters, assaulted journalists, and pressed unjustified criminal charges against protest leaders and participants. Ill-treatment in custody remained a persistent problem, and investigations have been ineffective.

Other concerns include domestic violence, often perpetrated with impunity, violence, and discrimination based on sexual orientation and gender identity, and unnecessary restrictions on access to pain medications for people with life-limiting illnesses.

Excessive Use of Police Force

In July, Armenian authorities used excessive force against peaceful protesters demonstrating support for a radical group opposed to the government, and assaulted journalists reporting on the demonstrations. Authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of protest leaders and participants, pressing unjustified criminal charges against them and denying some of them basic rights of detainees.

Protests erupted after armed men from the radical opposition group, "Founding Parliament," seized a police station in the capital Yerevan on July 17, killing one policeman and taking several hostages. Before the gunmen surrendered on July 31, public support for them and disaffection with the government grew into a protest movement. The protests were largely peaceful, with isolated incidents of violence from participants.

On July 29, police fired stun grenades into peaceful crowds in the neighborhood of the seized police station, causing demonstrators to sustain first and second degree burns and fragmentation wounds. Police did not attempt less violent crowd control means, and did not make any meaningful effort to warn crowds to disperse or about their plans to use force.

Police and unidentified people in civilian clothes acting with them, then charged towards the protesters, punching, kicking, and using wooden clubs and iron bars to beat some protesters, before detaining many of them.

Police warned several journalists to move away from the main crowd before using force. While most journalists complied, police fired several stun grenades in their direction, injuring at least eight. Police and unidentified men also beat some journalists and damaged and seized their equipment.

Authorities opened an investigation into police actions on July 29, sacked the Yerevan police chief, suspended four officers pending the investigation, and reprimanded 13. At time of writing, the investigation was ongoing.

Arbitrary Detentions and Ill-Treatment

In July and August, authorities arbitrarily detained dozens of people linked to the protests, beating many of them, and pressing unjustified criminal charges against some.

Police held some detainees for up to 12 hours without documenting the detention, and on at least two occasions arbitrarily held groups of people in a gymnasium on an interior troop base. Authorities primarily relied on police testimony to press criminal charges against at least 40 people for allegedly "organizing mass disorder," which carries a penalty of up to 10 years' imprisonment. Courts relied on general and abstract reasons to send many of the detainees to pretrial detention. On appeal, courts released some protest leaders from detention on their own recognizance.

Authorities denied many detainees their basic rights, including prompt access to a lawyer of their choosing and the opportunity to inform a relative of their detention and whereabouts. Police also beat many detainees, in some cases severely, and did not allow some to get prompt medical care for their injuries. At time of writing, an investigation was pending into illegal detentions and beatings by police.

In a separate case, on January 1, police arrested opposition activist Gevorg Safaryan for allegedly assaulting a police officer, amid a scuffle during a public event organized by "Founding Parliament" members. Sarafyan denies he attacked the officer. A court approved Safaryan's pretrial detention despite no evidence that he posed a flight risk or risk to the investigation. Local human rights groups consider his prosecution politically motivated. Safaryan's trial was continuing at time of writing.

In June, authorities arrested "Founding Parliament" leader Jirair Sefilyan and six other members on charges of planning an armed coup. Sefilyan denied the accusations as politically motivated.

The gunmen involved in the July armed takeover of the Yerevan police compound demanded Sefilyan's release and the president's resignation, initially in exchange for release of hostages. After the men surrendered, authorities charged them with seizure of state buildings, hostage taking, and illegal arms possession. Authorities also arrested several other "Founding Parliament" members, including on suspicion of aiding and abetting the gunmen. Among them is a US citizen of Armenian descent, Garo Yegnukyan, who participated in peaceful protests following the seizure of the police station, and considers the charges politically motivated. Yegnukyan remained in pretrial detention at time of writing.

Women's Rights

Despite evidence that violence against women remains common and sustained pressure from women's rights groups and activists, Armenia has no law criminalizing domestic violence and has not ratified the Council of Europe's Convention on Prevention and Combating Violence against Women and Domestic Violence. The Coalition to Stop Violence Against Women published a report documenting 30 cases of women killed by intimate partners and family members between 2010 and 2015. The report notes that domestic violence is grossly underreported and largely perpetrated with impunity. Coalition members receive more than 2,000 calls about domestic violence each year.

Palliative Care

Authorities continue to discuss reforming complicated and time-consuming prescription and procurement procedures that create unnecessary obstacles in accessing essential opioid medications. Current regulations obstruct delivery of adequate palliative care, condemning most patients with life-limiting illnesses to unnecessary suffering. Lack of oral opioids, tight police controls on injectable opioids, and restrictive policies on procurement, prescription, and disbursement are inconsistent with many World Health Organization palliative care recommendations.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Activists reported that lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and intersex (LBGTI) people face discrimination, harassment, and violence. The government has not addressed hate speech or discrimination against LGBTI people. Gender identity and sexual orientation are not included as protected grounds in anti-discrimination or hate speech laws, limiting legal recourse for many crimes against LGBTI people.

Following the October 2015 Rainbow forum, organized by Armenian LGBTI-friendly groups to discuss protection and promotion of minority rights, anonymous people targeted some participants with intimidation and threats, mostly on social media, including to burn and kill them. Authorities refused to launch a criminal investigation into the threats, citing lack of evidence.

In June, the LGBTI rights group, PINK Armenia, published a survey revealing that 90 percent of the population is hostile to LGBTI people and support limits on their rights. In July, PINK Armenia released a report documenting 46 cases of violence and discrimination against LGBTI people in 2015. The government has not taken meaningful steps to combat stereotypes and discrimination against LGBTI people.

Key International Actors

The observation mission of the Council of Europe's Parliamentary Assembly (PACE) called the December 2015 referendum to transform the government from a presidential to a parliamentary system "driven by political interests instead of the needs of the Armenian public." PACE criticized inaccurate voter lists, allegations of vote buying, abuse of administrative resources, an imbalanced media field, and the effective exclusion of people with disabilities in the absence of mobile voting.

The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe's representative on freedom of the media, Dunja Mijatovic, called for an investigation into verbal and physical attacks on journalists at referendum polling stations.

In response to the July demonstrations, the European Union delegation, together with heads of mission of EU Member States in Armenia, called on the authorities to avoid using unnecessary force and for effective investigations into police actions, and urged demonstrators to protest peacefully. The United Nations in Armenia called for swift investigations and respect for peaceful assembly and free expression rights and criticized the use of force against journalists.

In a September Human Rights Council speech, United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein criticized the authorities' denial of full access for his staff, preventing full engagement with the government and civil society.

In a report to the Human Rights Council in March, Maud de Boer-Buquicchio, UN special rapporteur on the sale of children, child prostitution, and child pornography, acknowledged Armenia's progress in combatting trafficking in persons, reducing placement of children in residential care, and limiting intercountry adoptions. However, she stated that the extent of child trafficking is unclear in the absence of relevant legislation and child-friendly complaint mechanisms, and insufficient awareness-raising among parents, professionals, and society. She urged authorities to pass domestic violence and other relevant legislation and ensure the child protection system consistently acts in the best interests of the child.

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World Report 2017 - Argentina

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Argentina, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585e13.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.

Argentina faces long-standing human rights problems that include police abuse, poor prison conditions, endemic violence against women, difficulty accessing reproductive services, and obstacles keeping indigenous people from enjoying the rights afforded to them by Argentine and international law.

Impunity for the 1994 AMIA bombing, vaguely defined criminal provisions that undermine free speech, and delays in appointing permanent judges are serious concerns.

In 2016, Argentina adopted federal regulations to ensure access to official information and to prevent favoritism in government purchase of media advertisements, an important source of media revenue. Argentina continues to make significant progress protecting lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) rights and prosecuting officials for abuses committed during the country's "Dirty War" (1976-1983), although trials have been delayed.

Confronting Past Abuses

As of September 2016, 2,541 people had been charged, 723 convicted, and 76 acquitted of crimes allegedly committed by Argentina's military junta during the country's "Dirty War," according to the Attorney General's Office. Prosecutions were made possible by a series of actions taken in the early 2000s by Congress, the Supreme Court, and federal judges annulling amnesty laws and striking down pardons of former officials implicated in the crimes. As of November 2016, 121 children illegally taken from their parents during the dictatorship had been located.

In May, a federal court convicted 14 former military and intelligence chiefs from Argentina and one from Uruguay of crimes against humanity committed as part of the Condor Plan, a joint initiative targeting political opponents by the dictatorships in Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Paraguay, and Uruguay. In August, a federal court sentenced 28 people to life without parole for crimes that included torture, homicide, and the illegal abduction of babies in 1974  the first conviction for abuses committed before the 1976 coup.

Given the large number of victims, suspects, and cases, prosecutors and judges face challenges bringing those responsible to justice while respecting their due process rights. In September, the Attorney General's Office reported that 489 pretrial detainees and convicted prisoners were under house arrest, a right provided for by Argentine law to people over 70 years old. In August, the government said it would not appeal judicial rulings granting house arrest to these detainees and convicted prisoners.

The fate of Jorge Julio Lopez, a torture victim who disappeared in 2006  a day before he was due to attend the trial of one of his torturers  remains unknown.

Freedom of Expression

In January 2016, police detained Milagro Sala, a prominent social leader in Jujuy province, for participating in peaceful street protests. Sala and other demonstrators had gathered in the provincial capital to protest a decree issued by the governor that purported to regulate organizations like Sala's, which implement government-funded housing and other welfare programs.

Sala was charged with instigating protesters to commit crimes and also with sedition, an offense that Argentine law broadly defines as "publicly mobilizing to prevent implementation of national or provincial laws or resolutions of national or public officials." As of November, Sala was in prison awaiting trial on several charges, including sedition.

Upon taking office, President Mauricio Macri adopted a temporary set of decrees to regulate media, and created a new agency that reports to the Communications Ministry to implement the new rules. In July, the government said it was drafting a communications law that it claimed would respect free speech. As of November, the law was still being drafted but the new, supposedly temporary agency that lacks structural independence from the executive had already issued rulings regulating media.

In August, the Macri administration issued a resolution setting forth transparent criteria for government purchase of media advertisements, and in September, Congress passed a national law ensuring public access to information held by government bodies. Some provinces and municipalities still lack such laws, however, undermining free speech.

Police Abuse and Prison Conditions

Overcrowding, ill-treatment by guards, inadequate facilities, and inmate violence continue to be serious issues in Argentina's prisons. The National Penitentiary Office, created by Congress in 2003 to supervise federal prisons and protect the rights of detainees, reported eight violent deaths in federal prisons between January and September 2016. The office also documented 775 cases of torture or ill-treatment in federal prisons in 2015, and 446 cases between January and September 2016.

A report published in September by the Provincial Commission for Memory  an autonomous public body created by the legislature of Buenos Aires province  found that in 2015, an average of three detainees died per week in Buenos Aires province prisons, most of them due to preventable illnesses. The report highlights that more than half of detainees in prisons and police stations in the province were being held in pretrial detention.

Police abuse remains a serious problem. Security forces occasionally employ excessive force against protesters, despite a 2011 commitment by authorities in at least 19 of Argentina's 23 provinces to ensure that force is used proportionately.

In May, under a justice reform package called "Justice 2020," the Macri administration said it would create a national mechanism to prevent torture, in an effort to fulfill its obligations under the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.

Judicial Independence

The delayed appointment of permanent judges by the Council of the Judiciary has led to temporary appointments of judges who lack security of tenure, which, the Supreme Court ruled in 2015, undermines judicial independence. As of November 2016, 254 of 979 lower-court judgeships remained vacant.

In December 2015, President Macri issued an executive decree to appoint two Supreme Court justices, without following the process established in a 2003 presidential decree that includes civil-society participation in nominating judges and Senate approval. After strong criticism by the opposition, lawyers, and nongovernment organizations (NGOs), the government implemented the process. In June 2016, after taking into consideration inputs from the public, NGOs, and academic and bar associations, the Senate approved President Macri's nominations and the justices took office in August.

Impunity for the AMIA Bombing

Twenty-two years after the 1994 bombing of the Argentine Israelite Mutual Association (AMIA) in Buenos Aires that killed 85 people and injured more than 300, no one has been convicted of the crime.

The investigation stalled when Iran, suspected by the Argentine judiciary of ordering the attack, refused to allow Argentine investigators to interview Iranian suspects in Argentina. In 2013, Argentina and Iran signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) that allowed an international commission of jurists to review evidence and question Iranian suspects  but only in Tehran, which would likely have rendered the interviews inadmissible in an Argentine court. A federal court declared the MOU unconstitutional, a ruling that the Macri administration said it would not appeal. The government said further that it would ask Interpol to re-issue red notices  a form of international arrest warrant  to detain several Iranians implicated in the attack, and that it would present draft legislation to try the Iranians in absentia.

In January 2015  days after he filed a criminal complaint accusing then-President Cristina Fernandez and her foreign affairs minister of conspiring with Iran to undermine the investigation  Alberto Nisman, the prosecutor in charge of investigating the bombing, was found dead in his home with a single gunshot wound to the head and a pistol beside him. In 2015, a federal court dismissed Nisman's complaint but an appeal by a federal prosecutor to reopen the investigation was pending at time of writing. As of November 2016, the courts had not determined if Nisman was a victim of suicide or murder.

In 2015, a court began the trial of several officials  including former President Carlos Menem, his head of intelligence, and a judge  for their alleged interference with the initial investigation into the bombing. The trial continued at time of writing.

Indigenous Rights

Indigenous people in Argentina face obstacles in accessing justice, land, education, health care, and basic services. Argentina has failed to effectively implement existing laws to protect indigenous peoples' right to free, prior, and informed consent when the government adopts decisions that may affect their rights  a right provided for in international law.

In May, President Macri created by decree the Advisory and Participatory Council of Indigenous People of Argentina to protect and promote indigenous rights. One of the council's tasks is to ensure that a survey of indigenous lands, required by a 2006 law, is carried out. The survey is being conducted, but slowly.

Women's Rights

Abortion is illegal in Argentina, except in cases of rape or when the life of the woman is at risk. But even in such cases, women and girls are sometimes subject to criminal prosecution for seeking abortions, and have trouble accessing such reproductive services as contraception and voluntary sterilization.

In April, a 27-year-old woman from Tucuman province was sentenced to eight years in prison for aggravated homicide after suffering a miscarriage. In August, the Supreme Court of Tucuman ordered her release, but at time of writing it had yet to adopt a final decision regarding her conviction.

Despite a 2009 law setting forth comprehensive measures to prevent and punish violence against women, the unpunished killing of women remains a serious concern. The National Registry of Femicides, administered by the Supreme Court, reported 235 femicides, but only seven convictions, in 2015.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

In 2010, Argentina became the first Latin American country to legalize same-sex marriage. The Civil Marriage Law allows same-sex couples to enter into civil marriages and affords them the legal protections of marriage enjoyed by opposite-sex couples, including adoption rights and pension benefits. Since 2010, nearly 15,000 same-sex couples have married nationwide.

In 2012, the landmark Gender Identity Law established the right of individuals over the age of 18 to choose their gender identity, undergo gender reassignment, and revise official documents without any prior judicial or medical approval.

Key International Actors and Foreign Policy

In July, the United Nations Human Rights Committee called on Argentina to decriminalize abortion and ensure that the new Communications Law does not generate media concentration. It also urged Argentina to appoint an ombudsman to monitor human rights  a position that has been vacant since 2009.

In October, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention (UNWAD) ruled that Milagro Sala's detention was arbitrary and urged the Argentine government to immediately release her. In November, the Argentine government invited the UNWAD and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to visit the country to assess Sala's case.

In August, the US government declassified over 1,000 documents  including some from the FBI and Pentagon  containing information about Argentina's Dirty War, an important contribution to the country's efforts to bring those responsible for abuses to justice.

At a December 2015 meeting of the regional trade bloc Mercosur, and several times afterwards, President Macri openly criticized Venezuela's poor human rights record and called for the release of its political prisoners  a much clearer stance than was taken by Foreign Minister Susanna Malcorra before the Organization of American States in May 2015.

In 2016, Argentina announced that it would host a conference on the global Safe Schools Declaration in March 2017.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Angola

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Angola, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b585f13.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.

Human rights in Angola suffered during 2016 due to continued government repression and the country's worst economic crisis since the civil war ended in 2002.

Sparked by the global drop in oil prices, the economic crisis slowed a decade of growth and exposed unresolved problems caused by years of corruption, mismanaged public funds, and political control of institutions. Calls to diversify the economy to create new revenue sources led to massive land acquisition by the government and private businesses, often with forced evictions and other violations, including in the capital, Luanda.

President Jose Eduardo dos Santos, in power since 1979, has announced that he will step down in 2018. Security forces continued to crack down on pro-democracy activists and those protesting on behalf of human rights.

Freedom of Media

Coverage in state-run media remained highly biased in favor of the government and the ruling party, the Popular Movement for the Liberation of Angola (MPLA). The government continued to restrict freedom of expression with censorship in state-run media and some private media controlled by ruling party officials, which remained the only outlets with countrywide coverage.

In 2016, state television channel TPA at times invited opposition and civil society groups to debates but those discussions mostly maintained a pro-government slant. Social media, blogs, and privately owned news websites continued to operate without interference as the main channels for independent news and debates.

In November, without public consultation, the parliament passed a new media law that gives regulatory control of all media to a new body that is controlled by the state and ruling party. The Angolan union of journalists called the law "a political tool to intimidate the press," and vowed to take the matter to the constitutional court.

Freedom of Assembly

Article 47 of Angola's Constitution permits citizens to protest without pre-authorization, provided they inform authorities in advance. However, the government consistently blocked peaceful anti-government protests with intimidation and detention, and when peaceful protests did take place, they frequently encountered excessive force and arbitrary arrests.

In March 2016, after a lengthy trial, a Luanda court sentenced 17 members of a book club to between two and eight years in prison for discussing peaceful protest and democracy at a meeting in June 2015, inspired by Gene Sharp's book, From Dictatorship to Democracy.

In June, in an unprecedented move, the governor of Benguela province gave permission for a group of anti-government activists called the Revolutionary Movement to protest against the arrests. Later that month, after international condemnation, the Supreme Court provisionally released the 17 people pending a final decision on their appeal. In September, they were pardoned following the approval of an amnesty law.

In May, the Supreme Court overturned the conviction of human rights defender Marcos Mavungo, who had been sentenced to six years in prison in September 2015 in relation to a planned peaceful demonstration on corruption, human rights abuses, and poor governance in oil-rich Cabinda province.

Treatment of Detainees

Prison conditions remained poor, with local activists and media highlighting corruption, overcrowding, and violence. In April, the Angolan government announced that it would open four new jails by the end of the year to help accommodate the estimated 24,000 inmates distributed among 40 prisons across the country. In July, parliament approved a new amnesty law that granted freedom to thousands of inmates with prison sentences of up to 12 years for nonviolent crimes.

Abuses by Security Forces

Security forces continued to use excessive force with impunity as the government failed to investigate and prosecute officers who committed serious human rights violations.

Authorities refused requests from local human rights groups, opposition members of parliament and the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to establish an independent commission to investigate the events of April 2015, when a police operation against a religious sect left at least 22 people dead in Huambo.

In April 2016, Julino Kalupeteka, the leader of the sect, and nine of his followers were sentenced to up to 28 years in prison for the killing of nine police officers during the raid on their makeshift camp. However, to date, no security force members have been arrested or prosecuted for the killing of the sect members.

In April, police gunfire wounded at least three people during a student demonstration against an increase in school fees in Caluquembe, Huila province. Police initially denied firing live ammunition but later admitted that one officer had opened fire and said he would be punished. It is not known what steps were taken to punish him, or others.

On August 6, soldiers fired live ammunition during a peaceful protest against forced evictions in Luanda, killing a teenage boy (see below). The government announced an investigation into the case but had not published any findings at time of writing.

Right to Health

Angola's healthcare system, already under stress due to falling oil prices, struggled to respond to parallel outbreaks of malaria and yellow fever.

Angola has one of the highest child mortality rates in the world. According to the Children's Rights and Emergency Relief Organization (UNICEF), one in five children in Angola does not survive to age 5. Almost 3,000 people died from malaria, predominantly children, in the first quarter of the year  a much higher number than in previous years  because among other reasons, the healthcare system ran out of basic malaria medicines.

The healthcare system also ran out of yellow fever vaccines, essential for protecting children against this potentially deadly disease. Both basic malaria medicines and yellow fever vaccines are on the World Health Organization (WHO) Model List of Essential Medicines. Governments are therefore required to ensure their adequate availability even in times of economic crisis. Shortages of other essential medicines and medical supplies were also reported, including syringes and gloves, due to health budget cuts.

Housing Rights and Forced Evictions

Forced evictions persisted during the year with a host of associated human rights violations. In Luanda, a special force tasked with protecting government infrastructure and land forcibly evicted over 1,000 people in Zango area on the outskirts of the city, destroying their homes and property.

In July, armed soldiers with bulldozers and trucks arrived without warning or a court order and demolished homes. In August, security forces responded to a residents' protest by shooting in the air and at their feet, killing a 14-year-old boy. After growing complaints of abuses by soldiers against Zango residents, authorities ordered the operation to be stopped in late September. However, at time of writing, the forcibly evicted residents had not been relocated or compensated.

In June, 18 nongovernmental organizations signed a petition that denounced land grabbing and forced evictions in Curoca, Cunene province. The groups accused security forces of abusing their powers, using excessive force, and arbitrarily detaining activists from the local communities.

Key International Actors

Angola continued to play an important role in the region, most notably in conflicts in Africa's Great Lakes region. As president of the International Conference on the Region of the Great Lakes (ICGLR), Angola organized in October an international conference to discuss the situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Following an invitation by the government, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights of migrants visited Angola in May. The UN official urged Angola to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and to establish a National Preventive Mechanism to undertake regular unannounced visits to all places of detention, including migrant detention centers. He also renewed calls for Angola to establish an independent national human rights institution.

In October, a delegation of the African Commission on Human and Peoples' Rights, led by the chairperson and special rapporteur on freedom of expression and access to information, visited Angola at the invitation of the government.

Angola's mandate as non-permanent member of the UN Security Council ended in 2016. Despite the economic crisis, Angola has thus far remained donor independent thanks to years of strong trade links with China. The health crisis has, however, forced the government to request help from the United States, with which it already had strong bilateral relations. Throughout 2016, the US provided assistance to prevent major infectious diseases and strengthen Angola's health system. The European Union also provided funding and support to develop higher education, agriculture, and sanitation.

In June, Angola endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration, thereby committing to implement and use the Guidelines for Protecting Schools and Universities from Military Use during Armed Conflict.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Algeria

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Algeria, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b586013.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.

Algerian authorities increasingly resorted to criminal prosecutions in 2016 against bloggers, journalists, and media figures for peaceful speech, using articles in the penal code criminalizing "offending the president," "insulting state officials" or "denigrating Islam." They have also prosecuted labor activists who organized or called for peaceful demonstrations on charges such as "unauthorized gathering."

Parliament adopted amendments to the constitution in February 2016 that include recognition of academic freedom and press freedom without prior censorship and without prison as a punishment for press offenses. However, the constitution conditions the exercise of these and other rights to national laws that restrict them significantly.

Freedom of Assembly

Algeria's 2016 constitution states that "the right to peaceful assembly is guaranteed within the framework of the law, which sets forth how it is to be exercised" (article 49).

In practice, relying on a range of laws, Algerian authorities routinely violate the right to freedom of assembly. The penal code punishes organizing or participating in an unauthorized demonstration in a public place with up to one year in prison (article 98). Authorities in Algiers, the capital, banned public demonstrations indefinitely in 2001, when the country was under a state of emergency. Authorities did not rescind the ban when they lifted the state of emergency in 2011.

The ban on demonstrations in Algiers is strictly enforced by authorities, who mobilize large numbers of police to thwart demonstrations and detain participants, usually holding them for a few hours before releasing them. Police arrested 20 members of the National Coordination of Contractual Teachers who called for a demonstration in Algiers on March 21 and 22, and held them in detention in police stations for several hours, then released them without charge.

Police arrested relatives of the forcibly disappeared during the violence of the 90s and several human rights activists as they demonstrated on August 30, the International Day of the Disappeared, in front of the National Consultative Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in Algiers. They held them for several hours before releasing them without charge.

Authorities have also restricted the right to assemble even in private spaces indoors. On February 6, 2016, the National Union of Public Administration Staff (SNAPAP), an independent labor union, organized a symposium on the socio-economic situation in Algeria at the House of the Unions, a private space rented by the SNAPAP. Police encircled the place, prevented people from accessing it, and arrested six union leaders for several hours, then released them without charge.

Freedom of Association and Unions

In 2012, the government enacted Law 12-06, which requires all associations  including those that had already successfully registered  to re-file registration applications and obtain a registration receipt from the Interior Ministry before they can operate legally, in a cumbersome procedure akin to a new registration.

To date, major human rights organization such as the Algerian League for Human Rights (Ligue Algerienne des Droits de l'Homme, LADDH) and Youth Action Rally (Rassemblement Action Jeunesse, RAJ,) and the Algerian division of Amnesty International, which submitted compliance applications in January 2014 as provided for by Law 12-06, have still not obtained a receipt certifying their legal existence. The absence of a receipt weakens them by making it impossible to open a bank account or rent an office in their own name, or hire a public hall for a meeting. Moreover, members of an association that is "non-accredited, suspended, or dissolved" risk prison sentences of up to six months for conducting activities in its name.

Until the 1990s, Algeria had only one lawful workers' union, the General Union of Algerian Workers (Union Generale des travailleurs algeriens, UGTA). On June 2, 1990, Algeria adopted Law 90-14, allowing for the establishment of independent unions. Several autonomous unions were created in the public sector.

In practice, authorities have curtailed the work of independent unions in various ways. They withheld legal status from independent unions that applied for it, hindering their ability to collect the membership fees they would need to rent an office and organize events. Without legal status, they cannot open a bank account or file cases in court. Several union activists faced retaliation for organizing or participating in strikes. They were suspended from their positions without compensation and never rehired. In 2016, the International Labor Organization recommended that Algerian authorities end the practice of preventing the registration of autonomous unions and reinstate all workers suspended or dismissed because of their trade union activities.

Freedom of Speech

Since the 1990s, Algeria has seen a proliferation of privately owned newspapers that enjoy a certain margin of freedom to criticize public figures and state policies. The 2014 Law on audio-visual activities ended the formal state monopoly on audiovisual media. However, repressive press laws, dependence on revenues from public-sector advertising, and other factors limit press freedom. The "information code" adopted in 2012, contains several articles that constrain freedom of expression. Article 2 states that news journalism is to be "a freely practiced activity," as long as it respects "national identity, the cultural values of society, national sovereignty and national unity, as well as the requirements of national security, national defense, public order, and the country's economic interests, among others."

In 2016, authorities prosecuted a number of Algerians for critical speech. On September 6, an appeals court gave Slimane Bouhafs, a converted Christian, a three-year prison sentence for Facebook posts "offending the prophet" and "denigrating the dogma or precepts of Islam," under article 144bis of the penal code.

On August 9, an Algiers appeals court upheld a two-year prison sentence for Mohamed Tamalt, a freelance journalist with dual Algerian and British nationality, for a video he posted on Facebook featuring a poem deemed offensive to Algeria's president.

On May 25, the Laghouat first instance court sentenced Belkacem Khencha, a labor rights defender, to six months in prison for posting a video on Facebook criticizing the judiciary for sentences imposed on other rights activists. He remained free pending an appeal scheduled for September 29.

On June 24, authorities placed in pretrial detention two executives from the privately owned television channel KBC that aired the satirical political talk show "Ki Hna Ki Ness" (Just Like Everybody Else), five days after security forces shut down operations at the studio producing the show and confiscated production materials. "Ki Hna Ki Ness" had begun broadcasting on June 6.

The two executives were accused of making false statements under article 223 of the penal code and complicity in the abuse of office under articles 33 and 42 of a 2001 anti-corruption law. They spent three weeks in prison before being sentenced, on July 18, to a suspended prison term of six months, and a fine of 50,000 dinars (US$457). At time of writing, the show had not resumed and production materials remained confiscated.

Women's Rights

Algeria's Constitution enshrines the principle of non-discrimination based on sex and requires the state to take positive action to ensure equality of rights and duties of all citizens, men and women. In February 2016, parliament introduced an article proclaiming that the "state works to attain parity between women and men in the job market," and "encourages the promotion of women to positions of responsibility in public institutions and in businesses."

On December 10, 2015, parliament adopted amendments to the penal code specifically criminalizing some forms of domestic violence. Assault against one's spouse or former spouse can be punished by up to 20 years in prison, depending on the victim's injuries, and the perpetrator can face a life sentence for attacks resulting in death. The amendments also criminalize sexual harassment in public places.

Despite adoption of the law, Algeria has yet to adopt the more comprehensive legal measures, such as protection orders to protect women from violence and concrete duties on law enforcement to respond to domestic violence, needed to prevent domestic violence, assist survivors, and prosecute offenders. The law, moreover, makes women vulnerable to threats from the offender or relatives, by including a provision that a pardon by the victim puts an end to prosecution.

Algeria's Family Code continues to discriminate against women despite some amendments in 2005 that improved women's access to divorce and child custody. An adult woman still requires a male guardian to conclude her marriage contract, a requirement not imposed on men. A man can divorce unilaterally, while a woman must apply to the courts. If a woman wishes to divorce without her husband's consent and without justification, she needs to pay back her dowry, or an equivalent amount of money, to her husband in return for the divorce. This is particularly problematic as the code does not recognize marital property, provisions that values women's non-monetary contributions to the marriage at the time of termination.

Accountability for Past Crimes

Perpetrators of human rights crimes and abuses during the internal armed conflict of the 1990s continued to enjoy impunity under the Charter on Peace and National Reconciliation. The charter criminalizes comments deemed to denigrate the security forces or state institutions for their conduct during the armed conflict, when both state forces and extremist Islamist groups committed torture, enforced disappearances, unlawful killings, and other serious abuses.

Associations representing the families of the disappeared continued to face denial for legal registration. Families of the disappeared alleged being subject to pressures because they refused to accept compensation from the state in exchange for accepting a death certificate for their still-missing relatives.

Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity

Algeria's penal code criminalizes same sex relations with a prison sentence of two months to two years. In 2015, several people were arrested for same-sex relations but none were prosecuted.

Sahrawi Refugee Camps

Algeria allows the Polisario Front, the liberation movement for the Western Sahara, to administer refugee camps housing some 100,000 Sahrawi refugees in the southern desert near the border with Western Sahara. During his first visit to the refugee camps as UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon in March called it an "unacceptable situation" and angered Moroccan authorities by referring to the Western Sahara as "occupied" by Morocco.

In at least three cases during 2016, Sahrawi families prevented their adult daughters from exercising their right to freedom of movement by departing for Spain, where they had lived and established legal residency. The Polisario was unwilling or incapable of ending these situations of illegal confinement of women, a form of domestic violence. Algeria, despite its ultimate responsibility for protecting the human rights of all persons present on its territory, did not intervene to end their confinement.

Key International Actors

Algeria continued to deny international human rights organizations entry to conduct research missions. It also did not reply to requests, pending since 1997 and 2011, respectively, for visits by the UN special rapporteurs on torture and on freedom of peaceful assembly and of association.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
World Report 2017 - Afghanistan

Publisher Human Rights Watch Publication Date 12 January 2017 Cite as Human Rights Watch, World Report 2017 - Afghanistan, 12 January 2017, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/587b586111.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.

As fighting continued between Taliban and government forces in Afghanistan in 2016, thousands of civilians were killed and injured in insurgent suicide and IED attacks. The Taliban claimed responsibility for many of these, but groups affiliating themselves with the Islamic State (also known as ISIS) claimed several particularly deadly attacks in Kabul.

The Afghan government continued to expand its use of illegal militias, some of which were responsible for killings and assaults on civilians. Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) were also responsible for civilian casualties from indiscriminate aerial and mortar attacks. Both the Taliban and ANSF increasingly used schools for military purposes; such abuses, along with insecurity throughout the country, deprived many children, particularly girls, of access to education. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans became newly internally displaced, including many returned refugees and migrants.

Throughout the year, political infighting stalled progress on the National Unity Government's reform agenda, threatening a political crisis over the government's failure to hold district council and parliamentary elections on time, and meet the deadline for convening a constitutional Loya Jirga (grand assembly). The government made some progress in releasing women jailed for so-called morality crimes, but failed to end prosecutions of women for "running away." The year saw no progress in the government's vows to implement a national action plan to curb torture, or to hold accountable government officials responsible for attacks on journalists.

Armed Conflict

The United Nations documented 8,397 civilian casualties as of September 30, approximately the same as the record number set in the first nine months of 2015. The Taliban and other insurgents were responsible for 61 percent, most from IEDs and suicide attacks. Government forces, including unofficial militias, caused 23 percent of civilian casualties.

Kabul saw an increase in particularly deadly attacks, including an April 16 suicide truck bomb that detonated in a parking lot adjacent to the VIP Protection Force Directorate. The Taliban clamed responsibility for the blast, which killed 56 civilians and injured more than 300. On July 23, multiple suicide bombings at a large protest march made up primarily of ethnic Hazaras killed at least 80 and injured more than 250; groups affiliated with ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack. On August 24, insurgents attacked the American University of Afghanistan in Kabul, killing 14 students and lecturers.

Throughout 2016 both ANSF and insurgent forces raided and attacked medical clinics and hospitals. Early on February 18, Afghan police special forces raided a clinic run by the humanitarian organization Swedish Committee for Afghanistan, assaulted medical staff, and shot dead two patients, including a 16-year-old, and a 15-year-old caregiver. Witnesses reported that international military forces accompanied the Afghan forces, although they did not enter the clinic. Wardak provincial authorities justified the raid on the grounds the clinic was treating Taliban. On September 12, Taliban fighters dressed as doctors attacked the Mirwais Hospital in Kandahar city, apparently targeting the deputy governor who was visiting the facility. In the ensuing gun battle, one patient was killed.

Civilian casualties from ANSF operations during ground offensives also increased compared to 2015; most were due to indiscriminate mortar and rocket fire in civilian-populated areas. Aerial strikes  most from attack helicopters  resulted in a 72 percent increase in civilian casualties  the highest since 2011. Most victims were women and children.

The number of people internally displaced due to the conflict surged as fighting intensified in mid-year. More than 300,000 new internally displaced persons (IDPs) in 2016 brought the nationwide total to at least 1.3 million people. Humanitarian organizations reported that many IDPs were living in informal settlements where they lacked access to safe water, sanitation, health care, and education. Many returning refugees and migrants, most from Pakistan, joined the ranks of the IDPs.

In late 2015 through at least early 2016, the Taliban stepped up their recruitment of child soldiers, particularly in northeastern Afghanistan. While the government criminalized the recruitment of Afghans under 18 years of age, the practice continued, most notably among the Afghan Local Police (ALP), a militia force. Government forces, including the Afghan National Army (ANA), Afghan National Police (ANP), and ALP increasingly occupied or used schools for military purposes in contested areas. The practice was particularly acute in Baghlan and Helmand provinces. The United Nations also reported a significant increase in attacks against schools by both Taliban and groups affiliating themselves with ISIS.

As fighting intensified in northern provinces, Afghan officials reactivated pro-government militias to bolster security. In Faryab, Kunduz, and other provinces, these militia forces were accused of killing and assaulting civilians.

These recent attacks on civilians added to decades of armed conflict and insecurity, which have taken their toll on the population's mental health. Health experts have voiced concern about the high prevalence of mental health conditions among Afghans, and the lack of community-based mental health services for those with psychosocial disabilities.

Women's Rights

Members of parliament opposed to the landmark 2009 Elimination of Violence Against Women (EVAW) law, notably the parliamentary Judicial Commission headed by Nazir Ahmad Hanafi, continued their efforts to amend the law to remove provisions regulating the minimum age of marriage, prescribing punishments for domestic assault; and providing for women's shelters. As of November 2016, the draft amendments were being considered by the parliamentary Commission on Women, Civil Society and Human Rights.

Although in December 2015 the Supreme Court issued a judicial ruling banning the imprisonment of women for running away from their families, the ban was limited to cases in which the women went to a medical provider, the police, or the house of a close male relative (mahram). As this was the practice before the ruling, the court's action represented no real change. In many cases, women running away from home are fleeing domestic violence and forced marriages. The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission reported that in the first eight months of 2016, it documented 2,621 cases of domestic violence, about the same as 2015, although the number is likely much higher due to underreporting.

On March 8, the Supreme Court granted significant sentence reductions to 13 men convicted of the murder of Farkhunda, a woman who was beaten to death by a mob of men in Kabul in March 2015 in a case that sparked widespread criticism of the police and judiciary. The court also reduced the sentences of nine other defendants who had been convicted of assault. Many of the men involved in the attack were never arrested.

In December 2015, the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission issued a report documenting the widespread use of so-called virginity examinations on female detainees. Afghan police and prosecutors routinely order such tests on women in their custody, and use the results to charge women with "morality crimes." President Ashraf Ghani reportedly ordered a review of the practice, but as of November 2016, no results had been announced.

The Afghan government reportedly finalized its implementation plan for the National Action Plan for Women Peace and Security, under UN Security Council Resolution 1325. However, as of November 2016, the government had not finalized a budget for the implementation plan.

In December 2015, Sima Joyenda, one of Afghanistan's only two female governors, was removed from her post in the western Ghor province after she received a number of death threats. Joyenda was reappointed as deputy governor of Kabul province, but the case illustrates the continuing threats that female public officials face in Afghanistan.

Arbitrary Detention, Torture, and Discriminatory Practices

Although President Ghani launched a national action plan to eliminate torture in early 2015, these was no progress on implementation through 2016, and the government did not make public information on investigations into cases of torture. In March, a smartphone video showing police in Kandahar beating a suspect and dragging him behind a truck was widely circulated on social media, prompting government officials to state that the incident had been investigated and those responsible punished. However, no details were forthcoming.

Afghan law criminalizes consensual same-sex sexual conduct, and there were reports of harassment, violence, and detentions by police. Advocates for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community function largely underground out of fear of persecution.

Freedom of Expression

The year was the bloodiest on record since 2001 for Afghan journalists, with 12 killed in the first nine months of the year. Government or pro-government elements were responsible for most of the violence against journalists, followed by the Taliban. A January 20, 2016 suicide attack on a minibus in Kabul killed seven journalists affiliated with Tolo, one of the largest national media outlets. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack, which it described in a statement as "revenge" for "false allegations" made against the insurgent group.

On January 30, President Ghani issued a decree for the protection of journalists, ordering the Attorney General's Office to "urgently" investigate all deaths of journalists since 2002 and publicize the results. As of November 2016, no results of any investigations had been made public.

Following an incident on August 29, in which Ghani's security detail beat nine journalists during a visit to Bamiyan city, the National Security Council approved the Procedure for Immunity and Security of Journalists and the Press, aimed at protecting journalists from violence.

The implementation of the Access to Information Law, which came into effect in 2014, remained limited. In his January 2016 media decree, President Ghani urged officials to provide information to journalists in a timely manner. But in September 2016, the Oversight Commission on Access to Information reported that the government was failing to share information with journalists.

The Media Violations Investigations Commission, which the government had dissolved in 2015 in response to demands by media watchdogs, was reinstated. The minister of information and culture oversees the commission. Powerful individuals, mostly government officials, have used the commission as a tool to intimidate and silence journalists.

Key International Actors

The US military in May 2016 released a report on the October 2015 airstrike on a Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders) hospital in Kunduz that killed 42 and wounded dozens more. The report concluded that US personnel had committed violations of international humanitarian law during the operation, yet because there was no showing that the personnel acted deliberately, did not recommend that any criminal charges be brought.

At the NATO Summit in Warsaw on July 8-9, member states pledged to sustain the Resolute Support mission in Afghanistan beyond 2016 and continue the mission's training and financial assistance to Afghan security forces through 2020. At the summit, NATO members endorsed a new policy for protecting civilians that included measures to monitor its own actions in conflict areas and respond to those of partner states.

The US government did not clarify the overarching military objectives of US or NATO military forces supporting Afghan security forces. As of June 15, the US authorized its forces to "more proactively support" ANSF through providing "close air support" and "accompanying and advising Afghan conventional forces."

The US continued to carry out counterinsurgency operations in Afghanistan, often partnering with Afghan Special Forces units in ground operations. The US carried out airstrikes on a level not seen since 2011 in battles in Helmand, Kunduz, and Uruzgan when Taliban forces threated to take over provincial capitals, and against Taliban and groups affiliating themselves with ISIS, particularly in Nangarhar. More than 100 civilians were reportedly killed by US airstrikes in the first half of 2016.

Noting Taliban gains and continuing insecurity in Afghanistan, on July 6, US President Barack Obama announced a revised withdrawal timetable to leave 8,400 troops in Afghanistan by the end of December 2016. Germany, Turkey, and Italy agreed to keep their deployments in Afghanistan at current levels of 850, 760, and 500 troops, respectively, after 2016. The UK increased its troop commitment, adding 100 additional forces in July 2016.

India committed to defense and counterterror cooperation and promised assistance in education, health, agriculture, empowerment of women, infrastructure and strengthening of democratic institutions, but did not call for human right protections.

The International Criminal Court continued its preliminary examination of allegations of serious international crimes in Afghanistan, which it began in 2007.

At the Brussels Conference on Afghanistan in October 2016, donors committed US$15.2 billion to the Afghan government, but specified no concrete human rights benchmarks for that assistance.

Triggered by a surge in the return of refugees and migrants from Pakistan, in September the UN high commissioner for refugees launched an emergency appeal for Afghanistan to provide humanitarian assistance to an unprecedented number of returnees, along with hundreds of thousands of those newly displaced by the expanding conflict.

Copyright notice:  Copyright, Human Rights Watch
New Braunfels, TX (78130)

Today

Cloudy and windy. A stray shower or thunderstorm is possible. High near 85F. Winds SSW at 20 to 30 mph..

Tonight

Some passing clouds. A stray severe thunderstorm is possible. Low 52F. NNW winds at 15 to 25 mph, decreasing to 5 to 10 mph.
Narek Aleksanyan

Before hitting the road for a few days of winter travel, you understand that wherever you go it will be colder than you are now. You prepare yourself. But, lo and behold, just when the city disappears behind a mountain or two, the sun magically appears and you dont even feel like wearing sunglasses. You just want to soak up its warming rays.

Ive done my share of hitchhiking, with friends, and for work. This time, I left on my own.

My first winter trip. I planned to travel around 500 kilometers, to Georgia and back via Gyumri.

It took me 26 cars to reach my destination. It was a place I had only seen in the photos taken by friends last summer.

The same gloomy winter awaited me on my return to Yerevan. It even felt colder. I felt the icy chill even before entering the city. Near Ashtarak, a sign said that Yerevan was 25 kilometers away; Tehran, 1,171 kilometers. My desire to take a hot shower at home overcame the attraction to visit the warm towns of Iran.

This is still in central Yerevan. I would have to reach the major roadway leaving the city to start hitchhiking.

This holiday-decorated minivan would take me to Yerevans 16th district.

Urban scenes from my window.

The start of the road leading to the north and northwest  Gyumri, Aparan and Vanadzor.

My first car ride, taking me a bit outside Yerevan.

First stop  USSR (its for sale).

Fork in the road. Aparan and Vanadzor to the right. I went straight, towards Gyumri.

In the summer, these stalls near Ashtarak resemble a wine, fruits and berry festival. This time of year, homemade vodka is on the menu.

A few more villages down the road, youll meet the sun escaping Yerevan.

Things take on a golden hue from this side of tinted windows.

Turns out its the same from the other side as well.

Ararat is where it should be. Theres a joke making the rounds of Facebook that the mountain wont be there once the fog lifts in Yerevan.

The cars that stop only take me a short distance. I have time to admire the scenery.

The sign inviting travelers to the village of Ashnak. But my sights are on Gyumri.

This Zhiguli took me to Talin.

Its slowly getting dark.

The next car took me to Mastara.

Met Artak on the outskirts of the village while I was trying to flag down a car. He remembered me from the time Hetq took photos of the school a few weeks ago.

I waited quite a while for a car. Artak stood guard until one stopped. He then telephoned and wished me a safe journey.

That car took me to Gyumri.

Gyumri, Armenias second largest city.

I had called ahead to spend the night here. There was no one at Robs Home. They brought the key, lit the heater, and left.

Found a potato to roast.

Decorated bedroom.

Had to take public transportation to the road leaving town.

A passing car took me to the next village.

I got lucky. A driver stopped, and took me all the way to Ninotsminda, Georgia.

Bavra  Last stop before the Georgian border.

Georgia

The village of Gorelovka. Doukhobors (Spirit-wrestlers), a group of Russian religious dissidents, founded it in the mid-19th century. Only a few families remain.

Cleaning the road.

Ninotsminda, or Bogdanovka, as the locals call it.

Street art

Pink Ninotsminda

Mimino - a 1977 Soviet comedy film starring Vakhtang Kikabidze and Mher Frunzik Mkrtchyan.

Sun, cheese and the Georgian pooree bread. Behind me is the police building, with glass walls. I forgot to take a picture.

Akhalkalak  I hope that Djivan didnt win the election.

Looks like the guy who fashioned the roof drew inspiration from the mountain in the distance

Made a reservation to spend the night here. Thanks Mourad

Ararat never tires from playing.

Leaving Akhalkalak, I make my way to the cave monastery at Vardzia, 42 kilometers distant.

I hope to get there and return before it gets dark.

Counted at least 100 bales of hay

Paravani River. Still waiting for a ride.

Finally, a car took me half the way.

The Georgian driver was surprised I wasnt carrying a bottle of Armenian cognac. He offered me some homemade chacha (Georgian grappa), and I gifted him a pack of Ararat cigarettes.

To be continued
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
Over the past five years, Iranian officials and state media have touted the "indigenous" ingenuity in the Islamic republic's mass-produced Mohajer-6 combat drone, which Russia has deployed in its war against Ukraine.

But a new investigation by Schemes, the investigative unit of RFE/RL's Ukrainian Service, has found that electronic components underpinning Tehran's production of the Mohajer-6 are far from homegrown.



The Mohajer-6 drones contain components produced by companies from the United States and the European Union, both of which have sanctions restricting the export to Iran of such technology that can be used for both civilian and military purposes  dual-use technology.

The presence of these components in the Mohajer-6 does not mean their producers are in violation of U.S. or EU sanctions, and RFE/RL does not have evidence that this is the case.

The investigation also found Mohajer-6 components produced in China, including a real-time mini-camera made by a Hong Kong firm that said it was "very sorry" that its products were being used in war.

At least one major foreign-produced component of the Mohajer-6 has previously been identified by reporters in a Mohajer-6 recovered from the battlefield by the Ukrainian military: an engine made by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, a subsidiary of the Canadian company Bombardier Recreational Products.

But Ukrainian intelligence assesses that the Iranian combat drone contains components from nearly three dozen different technology companies based in North America, the EU, Japan, and Taiwan, the Schemes investigation has found. A majority of these companies are based in the United States.



A Schemes reporter who personally inspected the foreign-made drone parts identified components produced by at least 15 of these manufacturers.

These include parts made by the U.S. technology firm Texas Instruments, which said in a statement that it does not sell into Russia or Iran and complies with applicable laws and regulations.

To identify these components, Schemes reporters examined parts of the Mohajer-6 drone that the Ukrainian military shot down over the Black Sea near the Mykolayiv region coastal town of Ochakiv. They also reviewed Ukrainian intelligence records on the sources of these components.

The drone also contains a microchip bearing the logo of a California technology company and a thermal-imaging camera that Ukrainian intelligence says may have been produced by a firm based in Oregon or China.

Both Western officials and experts on illicit technology transfers say Iran has built a broad, global procurement network using front companies and other proxies in third countries to obtain dual-use technology from the United States and the EU.

"Exporters will look at the request coming from the [United Arab Emirates] or another third country, and they'll think that they're selling to an end user based there, when really the end user is in Iran," Daniel Salisbury, a senior research fellow with the Department of War Studies at King's College London, told RFE/RL.

In September, the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions specifically targeting Iranian companies that Washington links to the production and transfer of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to Russia for deployment in its war on Ukraine. Fighting rages with no sign of an end more than eight months after Russian President Vladimir Putin launched an unprovoked invasion on February 24.

"Non-Iranian, non-Russian entities should also exercise great caution to avoid supporting either the development of Iranian UAVs or their transfer, or sale of any military equipment to Russia for use against Ukraine," U.S. Undersecretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian Nelson said in a statement announcing the sanctions.

Chinese Cameras, California Chips

Development of the Mohajer-6, the latest model in a series of drones Tehran has used since the 1980s Iran-Iraq War, began in 2017, while mass production began the following year. During a ceremony commemorating the Islamic Revolution, then-Iranian Defense Minister Amir Hatami said that the new tactical drone could perform surveillance, reconnaissance, as well as help destroy targets.

Hatami extolled what he described as the drones domestic design, a portrayal echoed in later reports by Iranian media.

"The homegrown drone was made through cooperation among the army, Defense Ministry, and Quds Aviation Industries," the English-language Tehran Times quoted an Iranian military official as saying in July 2019.

The dismantling of the Mohajer-6 drone recovered by the Ukrainian military shows that the UAV is packed with foreign components.

One of these parts is a bright-orange real-time mini-camera produced by the Hong Kong-based company RunCam Technology. Documents seen by Schemes show that Ukrainian intelligence has also identified RunCam as the producer of the camera, which likely assists in remote guidance of the drone.

Founded in 2013, RunCam is involved in the development and production of so-called "first-person-view" real-time cameras. "Our users are our friends," the company's website states. The site says that RunCam has two authorized Iranian dealers.

Reached by Schemes for comment about the use of its camera in the Iranian drone deployed by Russia in its war on Ukraine, RunCam said in an e-mailed response: "We are very sorry to know that RunCam's products were used in warfare. RunCam is specialized in producing products for model aircraft hobby. We never contact any customer related to military."

The provenance of the Mohajer-6 drone-s thermal-imaging camera is more difficult to determine. A Ukrainian intelligence assessment reviewed by Schemes indicates it could be the Ventus Hot model produced by Sierra-Olympic Technologies, based in the U.S. state of Oregon, but that it also resembles a cheaper analog available for sale by the Chinese company Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology.

Qingdao Thundsea Marine Technology said in an e-mailed statement that the company did not "have any business with Iran," because "it will affect our business." The company said it specializes in marine services and is not involved in manufacturing. It also said that it did not have a single successful order for its online advertisement of the thermal-imaging camera resembling the one recovered from the Iranian drone.

Sierra-Olympic Technologies did not respond to a request for comment on the possible use of its thermal-imaging cameras in Iranian combat drones in time for publication.

Microchips recovered from the drone also featured the logos of the California-based company Linear Technology Corporation and its parent company, the Massachusetts-based semiconductor company Analog Devices, Inc. (ADI). ADI did not respond to an e-mailed request for comment on the possible use of its technology in the Iranian combat drone.

Schemes reporters also observed among the components of the Iranian drone a voltage step-down converter produced by Texas Instruments. The company said in an e-mailed statement that it "does not sell into Russia, Belarus, or Iran."

"TI complies with applicable laws and regulations in the countries where we operate, and does not support or condone the use of our products in applications they weren't designed for," Texas Instruments said.

Schemes reporters also saw several components produced by the California-based technology manufacturer Xilinx, whose parent company is the multinational semiconductor company Advanced Micro Devices (AMD), also based in California.

According to Ukrainian intelligence, one of these Xilinx components was integrated into a video data-link module located in the wing of the Mohajer-6 that helped carry out attack missions.

"This module transmits information from the board to the missile head. That is, guidance for the missile. With the help of this module, it was possible to guide the missile to the target," a Ukrainian military intelligence representative told Schemes.

AMD did not respond to a request for comment in time for publication.

'No Authorization'

Previous media reports about the components of the Mohajer-6 drone, including by CNN, have shown evidence that its engine was produced by the Austrian manufacturer BRP-Rotax GmbH & Co KG, whose parent company is the Quebec-based Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP).

The Canadian company responded to the reports on October 21, saying in a statement that it "has not authorized and has not given any authorization to its distributors to supply military UAV manufacturers in Iran or Russia."

"As soon as we were made aware of this situation, we started an investigation to determine the source of the engines," BRP said. .

But Schemes reporters found that the authorized Rotax distributor listed on the Austrian manufacturer's website advertised itself as a Rotax aircraft engines distributor for Iran as recently as December 2020.

The distributor, the Italian company Luciano Sorlini S.p.a., has posted multiple magazine advertisements on its websites in which it describes itself as a Rotax distributor for numerous countries. Prior to January 2021, Iran was listed among these countries.

The Rotax website also lists a Tehran-based company -- MahtaWing -- as an official service center for its engines. The company, known in Persian as Mahtabal, conducts repairs of Rotax engines, including the Rotax 912 iS, the engine that was found in the Mohajer-6 combat drone recovered in Ukraine.

BRP said in an e-mailed statement on November 4 that while Luciano Sorlini S.p.a. is the appointed distributor of Rotax aircraft engines in Iran, "since 2019, no Rotax engines have been sold in Iran, and we will not sell any engines to Iran moving forward."

The Canadian company said it had "internal controls" that "significantly" restrict the sale of its products for military purposes.

"For example, the sale of any BRP product to operators with any military activity in Iran, Turkey, and Russia is strictly prohibited," BRP said. "We conduct our business in compliance with all EU, Canadian, and U.S. applicable regulations."

BRP described the Iranian company MahtaWing as a "local service center" that "offers maintenance services for previously sold aircraft engines."

Shahriar Siami of RFE/RL's Radio Farda contributed to this report.
Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbaev began a two-day visit to the United Arab Emirates on January 15.

Nazarbaev is scheduled to meet the crown prince of Abu Dhabi, Muhammad bin Zayed bin Sultan al-Nahyan, and other state officials during his visit.

Kazakh Ambassador to the U.A.E. Kairat Lama Sharif told the daily Kazakhstanskaya Pravda on January 14 that Nazarbaev and U.A.E. officials will sign cooperation agreements on tourism, financial, economic, and energy issues.

"The U.A.E. has become a reliable and effective partner in the Arab and Muslim world for Kazakhstan," said Lama Sharif.

He added that from January to October 2016, trade turnover between the two countries was some $285 million, which is 3.4 times more than in the same period the previous year.

Lama Sharif said the increase was largely due to an increase in the exporting of Kazakh agricultural products.

Nazarbaev is also due to attend the World Future Energy summit in Abu Dhabi on January 16.

The official visit to the U.A.E. will be Nazarbaev's first trip abroad in 2017.

Based on reporting by TASS, tengrinews.kz, and Kazakhstanskaya Pravda
A commercial matchmaker has come under fire in Kazakhstan over efforts to recruit bachelorettes for wealthy Chinese customers willing to plonk down hard cash for a mate.

Word of the arrival of a "group of grooms" from Beijing drew just a handful of vocal critics to a protest in Astana early this month, but it sparked questions about Kazakh identity and kindled fears that "foreigners" who land local girls could also eventually snatch up valuable farmland.

Kazakhstan, a relatively prosperous former Soviet republic with major fossil-fuel and uranium deposits, is also one of the ex-U.S.S.R.'s most ethnically diverse countries.

But a historical Kazakh wariness when it comes to the neighboring Chinese continues despite extensive trade, transport, and political ties, particularly with respect to marriage and control of natural resources, including cultivable land.

So holiday cheer gave way to grumblings in the media recently when matchmaking agency Gimeney posted an online advertisement -- which has since been taken down -- offering its services to introduce women in Kazakhstan to Chinese citizens for marriage.

The agency also said that "a group of grooms is coming from Beijing to Astana to get married," local media reported.

"We are planning several [matchmaking] events," Gimeney boasted, according to the main Kazakh news aggregator nur.kz. "They are well-off, Europe-educated, Russian- and English-speaking young men."

A group of around 15 people gathered at the Gimeney offices in the capital, Astana, on January 11 to call for measures to prevent marriages between Kazakh women and foreigners, saying such unions pose a threat to the countrys identity.

"[Chinese clients] marry Kazakh girls and then take [Kazakh] citizenship, and then their children also become citizens," protester Aydin Egeubaev, a member of the ruling Nur Otan party, told RFE/RLs Kazakh Service. "So what will happen to us?"

Egeubaev and his fellow demonstrators held signs urging that Kazakh women who marry foreigners "must be stripped of their citizenship."

Gimeney's director, Tatyana Logvinenko, responded by inviting the protesters into her office to discuss the matter. She stressed that her company was operating within the law.

She said a Chinese "singles club" had referred people to her company "to find brides in Kazakhstan."

"Fifteen Chinese citizens expressed interest and filled out special forms and sent them to us," Logvinenko said. She said 20 Kazakh women had responded with interest, adding, "The Chinese applicants were aged 25 to 46. The ages of the Kazakh ladies were between 18 and 40."

Police did not intervene to prevent the unauthorized protest, although authorities under longtime President Nursultan Nazarbaev's regime frequently intervene to disperse even minor demonstrations.

Azamat Qanatbekov, an employee of the local prosecutors office, told the protesters that authorities would look into the matter.

Egeubaev and eight other individuals who described themselves as "public activists" posted an open letter to the Internet on January 12 that they said was also addressed to top Kazakh officials, including the chairman of the National Security Committee, the justice minister, and the head of the presidential administration.

The signatories urged authorities to check whether dating agencies were operating within Kazakhstans marriage and family laws.

They also reiterated calls for Kazakh laws to be amended to prevent "our girls" who marry foreigners from keeping their nationality and the foreigners involved from being granted Kazakh citizenship.



"Some foreigners might marry Kazakh citizens in order to take Kazakh land into ownership," reads the letter, which was republished on a popular, nationalist-leaning website.

The warnings recall mass protests that took place across Kazakhstan last year against a bill on land privatization and the leasing of land to foreigners.

Thousands of people took to the streets for almost two weeks in April and May 2016 amid rumors that farmland available for lease would be snatched up by the Chinese.



The protests were seen as an expression of widespread discontent toward government policies at a time when low oil prices and economic recession in neighboring Russia hit Kazakhstans economy hard, as well as of public fears of growing Chinese influence in the country.



Such concerns have also been expressed in other Central Asian republics, particularly Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, which also share borders with China.

Kazakh media frequently cite a perceived China threat, fueled by the latter's growing economic might and reports of Han Chinese migration to the country.

In September, the opposition newspaper Zhasalash raised alarm over the "frightening" number of Chinese labor migrants moving to Kazakhstan, a country of 18 million people. The paper quoted the Health and Social Development Ministry as putting the number at 48 such migrants a day.



The nationalist website qamshy.kz warned in October that China was "seeking the weakest sector of the Kazakh economy and getting in," referring to plans to build 51 Kazakh-Chinese factories in Kazakhstan over the next five years.

Written by Antoine Blua and Merhat Sharipzhan, based on reporting by RFE/RLs Kazakh Service
Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic has accused Kosovo of seeking to provoke "war" after a Serbian train, painted with the slogan "Kosovo Is Serbia," was halted before it entered Kosovo.

Nikolic said on January 15, "Yesterday, we were on the verge of clashes."

Nikolic warned that Serbia will defend "every inch of its territory."

On January 14, Serbia decided to stop the train from traveling from Belgrade to Serb-dominated northern Kosovo amid reports of a planned attack by ethnic Albanians.

The train, which Serbia bought from Russia, is painted in the colors of the Serbian flag and features pictures of churches, monasteries, and medieval towns, as well as the words "Kosovo Is Serbia" in 21 languages.

The trip would have been the first from the Serbian capital to the town of Mitrovica in Kosovo since the 1998-99 war between Yugoslav forces and ethnic Albanian separatists.

EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini said in a statement that she and her team have been "closely" following the developments in relations between Belgrade and Pristina over the past days.



"The EU calls on both sides to show the necessary restraint and reason," the statement said, while stressing that issues of mutual concern should be resolved through dialogue.



"The dialogue so far has delivered very tangible, concrete, and positive results for the people on the ground and progress in the normalization of relations between the two sides -- and this should not be lost," the statement added.

Serbia and Kosovo, which declared independence from Belgrade in 2008 and is recognized by more than 100 countries, have been involved in EU-facilitated talks since 2011 to normalize ties.

With reporting by AP
Top aides to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump have denied a published report he plans to hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Iceland as his first foreign trip in office.

Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said in a tweet late on January 14 that a Sunday Times of London report that Trump told British officials he is planning a meeting with Putin is "not true -- [the] report is 100% false."

The summit, the Times report said, would be held in Iceland's capital, Reykjavik. Other media outlets, including Bloomberg, also wrote stories about a Trump-Putin meeting in Iceland based on the Times report.

"The story is a fantasy," one Trump aide told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity. Another unnamed Trump official also said the report is untrue, Reuters reported.

Trump -- who will be inaugurated as the 45th U.S. president on January 20 -- has spoken of wanting to improve relations with Russia and has praised Putin's leadership qualities.

He told The Wall Street Journal on January 13 that he will "at least for a period of time" maintain the sanctions against Russia announced this week by President Barack Obama for alleged Russian hacking that U.S. intelligence agencies say interfered in the November 8 presidential election.

If you get along [with each other] and if Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebodys doing some really great things? asked Trump.

Trump has said that because he wants to improve relations with Moscow, he would review the sanctions, although several of his proposed cabinet members said this week that they support continuing the restrictive measures against Russia.

In a move appeared to make it harder for Trump to roll back the sanctions after President Barack Obama leaves office, Obamna extended on January 13 all U.S. sanctions on Russia over its annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula in March 2014 and its backing of separatists in the eastern part of the country.

Obama said the Russian government and other people and organizations targeted by the sanctions have "undermined democratic processes and institutions in Ukraine" by their "use of force" and thereby "threaten its peace, security, stability, sovereignty, and territorial integrity."

Meanwhile, an announced boycott of Trump's inauguration by members of the U.S. Congress is growing, with at least 18 lawmakers saying they won't attend due to the president-elect's comments about John Lewis (Democrat-Georgia), a veteran member of the House of Representatives and noted civil rights activist.

Lewis began the boycott by saying on January 13 he would skip the inauguration because he doesn't view Trump "as a legitimate president."

"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected," he added. "And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

Trump responded with a tweet saying Lewis, who represents a district that includes the city of Atlanta, "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart," instead of "complaining about the [presidential] election results."

He added that Lewis's district is "crime infested" and that Lewis is "all talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad!"

With reporting by Reuters and thehill.com
Qishloq Ovozi is a blog by RFE/RL Central Asia specialist Bruce Pannier that aims to look at the events that are shaping Central Asia and its respective countries, connect the dots to shed light on why those processes are occurring, and identify the agents of change.

The name means "Village Voice" in Uzbek. But don't be fooled, Qishloq Ovozi is about all of Central Asia.
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.
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Henrico County police were investigating after gunfire was reported late Saturday in a Short Pump Town Center parking lot.

Officers responded about 11:40 p.m. to the 11800 block of West Broad Street, near Maggiano's Little Italy restaurant, for a report of shots fired, police said.

No one was hurt and officers were looking for suspects, police said.
PULASKI  When Ronnie Landreth got a call from his son late Tuesday saying the church hed been a part of his whole life was on fire, there was only one thing he could do: pray.

Landreth was one of several members of the Pulaski Church of God who gathered Wednesday in the parking lot of a funeral home across the street from where their beloved sanctuary used to stand. It was destroyed in the fire, along with offices and classrooms.

Though Landreth called the loss of their place of worship heartbreaking, he remained optimistic.

Thats just a building, he said. The church is still alive.

Firefighters from 12 departments worked from about 11 p.m. to 10 a.m., battling intense flames and 15 to 20 mph winds, said town Fire Chief Robbie Kiser.

The church is a total loss, except for the family life center, which includes a dining hall and gym, that firefighters were able to save. Neither Kiser nor the churchs pastor, Travis Gore, could give a financial estimate of the damage yet.

The cause of the fire is still under investigation. The federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives was on site Wednesday morning. Kiser said its common practice for the agency to get involved with incidents at churches.

Sarah Taylor, the churchs secretary and a lifelong member, said that if the fire had to happen, shes thankful it happened when it did, late at night when no one was inside.

It was strange to drive down Bob White Boulevard on Wednesday morning and not see the churchs steeple in the distance, Taylor said.

The news of the fire was devastating and shocking, Taylor said as tears welled in her eyes. But, she said, God works in mysterious ways.

He wasnt surprised by any of this, and he does have a plan, she said.

When she heard about the fire, Kelly Blankenship and her parents came out to the scene.

The flames engulfed the sanctuary she had seen built as a child. She still remembers walking across the beams when the building was under construction.

That really stood out in my mind as I watched it go down, she said. I watched it go up.

On Wednesday, she took in the damage at a distance. Though there was little she could do to help, Blankenship said she felt she needed to be there. This church is her family.

It felt like a death, almost, she said.

Gore, who has been with the church for two years, said he received a Facebook message around 11 p.m. Tuesday about a possible fire at the church. He jumped in the car and drove to the church, which he found consumed in flames.

Gore said he felt numb but not defeated. He said he had confidence that Gods grace was going to see us through.

Pulaski Church of God has been around for nearly 100 years  it will mark the anniversary in 2019  and its congregation is resilient, Gore said.

Thankfully, the pastor said, the family life center was not damaged. The plan is to convert its gym into a makeshift worship area. Gore hoped that by 10:30 a.m. today, the congregation would be ready to worship.

Were just going to have to rise up and do the best we can, he said.

Twila White, another lifelong member, said shes confident the church will rise from the ashes. When she heard the sweet voice of a friend in her head singing The Anchor Holds, she knew that the church too would weather this storm.

White said she believes Gore became the pastor of Pulaski Church of God so he could help guide its congregants through a difficult time such as this.
RICHMOND  A Northern Virginia legislator has carried Roanokes fight against the open carry of loaded long guns to the General Assembly.

Del. Marcus Simon, D-Fairfax, introduced legislation to add Roanoke to a list of 13 cities and counties, mostly in Northern Virginia, that already restrict the open carrying in public places of loaded semiautomatic rifles or pistols with magazines that hold more than 20 rounds or high-capacity shotguns.

HB 1683 tightens the open-carry rules in the specified localities and prohibits the open carry of all loaded shotguns and rifles, regardless of how many shells or rounds they hold.

Current law limits the carrying rifles or pistols loaded with magazines of more than 20 rounds and shotguns with the capacity to fire more than seven rounds.

If passed, Roanoke would be the only city from the western half of the state to have such a restriction. Other localities that already have similar restrictions include Alexandria, Fairfax, Richmond, Norfolk and the counties of Arlington, Henrico and Prince William.

Simons goal with his bill was to further limit the types of firearms citizens can carry openly  an issue that concerned his constituents following a sniper attack on police officers in Dallas this summer.

As Dallas police hunted the shooter, several dozen citizens carrying rifles in the area created additional confusion by simply carrying their guns in public.

Roanoke council asks General Assembly's help on gun control measures The Roanoke City Council unanimously approved its slate of requests for state lawmakers Mond

Roanoke wasnt added to the legislation until gun violence prevention advocates approached Simon and asked him to add Roanoke to the list of cities with partial gun bans.

From a Roanoke perspective, the big thing the bill does is add Roanoke, Simon said. From a Fairfax perspective, it adds all of these different kinds of guns you cant carry openly and, by the way, includes Roanoke.

Speakers at Roanoke City Council meeting oppose move on gun restrictions Several Second Amendment advocates, some of them armed, came to both meetings of the Roanoke

Sen. David Suetterlein, R-Roanoke County, criticized the legislation by calling it a brochure bill  a term used for bills that legislators do not intend to get passed, but rather something to serve as a point on a re-election campaign brochure.

Last year, he told Roanoke City Council members the gun issue is a waste of time.

Sen. John Edwards, D-Roanoke, and Del. Sam Rasoul, D-Roanoke, exercised good judgment in not introducing such a bill after the Roanoke City Council asked them to, Suetterlein said.

Time spent trying to advance ideologically driven liberal legislation that seeks to limit the constitutional rights of Virginians and is highly unlikely to make it out of committee is time not spent advocating for policies that can improve public education, economic opportunity or the individual liberties of Roanokers, Suetterlein said.

Neither Rasoul nor Edwards was aware of Simons bill until it was filed this week, they said. But the two legislators were working together to introduce similar firearms legislation at the citys request. Rasoul has since co-sponsored Simons bill.

Because of Simons addition of stricter open-carry laws, the bill is not exactly what the council requested when they asked the General Assembly to add Roanoke to the list of localities with partial gun bans.

Councilman Ray Ferris said as far as he knows, Simon and his staff did not consult with city representatives about the bill.

Based on council members previous conversations about gun control in Roanoke, Ferris, chairman of the citys legislative committee, said he thinks the majority of the council will support the bill.

As a council member, Ferris railed against the proposed partial gun ban, but considers himself ethically bound to support the citys legislative agenda.

Local government officials often convey their requests to their local legislators, but city council members have little control when a bill makes it to Richmond, Ferris said.

You have to be careful what you ask for because you cant control it once it gets to the General Assembly, he said.

The bill fulfills one of the more contentious requests on the Roanoke City Councils legislative agenda called for by the Blue Ridge Coalition Against Gun Violence. It followed several monthly open carry gun rallies in the city this year.

Addressing another request from the council, Edwards filed his own narrowly tailored gun bill this week.

Edwards SB 1112 allows localities to adopt an ordinance prohibiting citizens from carrying firearms or ammunition into local government meetings such as gatherings of a board of supervisors or city or town council, provided the group posts some sort of no guns allowed sign.

Council members requested the legislation after several speakers arrived at a Roanoke City Council meeting last fall wearing sidearms.

Its intimidating to people there, and its intimidating to city councilors, Edwards said.
RICHMOND  The Republican Governors Association just wrote a $5 million check  the largest single political donation in Virginias history  with the goal of putting a Republican in the governors mansion.

The whopping contribution suggests Republicans like their odds in the commonwealth, one of just two states to hold governors races this year. But the structure of the donation would allow thuntie RGA to take the money back if that outlook changes.

We could end up spending none of it, RGA spokesman Jon Thompson said.

Virginia has a popular Democratic governor, but Gov. Terry McAuliffe is banned by the states constitution from serving back-to-back terms. Four Republicans and two Democrats are running to succeed him.

We see the Virginia governors race as a race thats very vulnerable for party flip, Thompson said. We see it as a race thats winnable. So weve started taking steps to do what we can.

The contribution went to a political action committee the RGA controls, A Stronger Virginia, not to the state party or to any of the four Republicans seeking the nomination. So the RGA could pull the money out of Virginia if it later decides it is better spent elsewhere.

A Stronger Virginia is a PAC we set up in order to possibly engage or spend in the Virginia governors race, Thompson said in an email describing the PAC to the Virginia Public Access Project, a nonpartisan tracker of money in politics.

A spokesman for the Democratic Governors Association suggested the donation was meant to grab attention but not a firm bet on the race, given the RGAs ability to take the money back.

This is nothing more than a press release about paper shuffling between bank accounts, said DGA spokesman Jared Leopold. But the RGA does have good reason to be afraid about a field of out-of-touch candidates trying to force Donald Trumps agenda on Virginia.

The Virginia Public Access Project disclosed the record donation Friday. It is twice the size of the previous record: the $2.5 million the RGA gave to the Virginia Common Sense PAC in 2009. The next largest was a tie: $2 million that now-Sen. Mark Warner gave his 2001 governors campaign; and the $2 million the DGA donated to McAuliffes 2013 race.

While the RGAs $5 million broke the record for the largest single contribution, the RGA and other donors have cumulatively made bigger contributions in particular races. Over the course of the 2013 governors contest, for instance, the RGA gave $8 million to then-Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli II.

The Republicans running for governor are: Ed Gillespie, a former Republican National Committee chairman and counselor to then-President George W. Bush; Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William Board of County Supervisors; state Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach; and Denver Riggleman, the owner of a craft distillery.

The two Democrats running for governor are Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam and former congressman Tom Perriello.

The PAC will remain neutral in the Republican primary, Thompson said. But before both parties pick their nominees on June 13, Thompson said, the PAC might spend some of that money on ads against one or both Democrats.
About 75 people attended a Roanoke rally Saturday for Ed Gillespie, one of four candidates for the Republican nomination for Virginia governor.

The gathering at the Hotel Roanoke was one of five held for Gillespie across the commonwealth on Saturday, and it brought out some of the partys local heavy hitters, including former state Sen. Ralph Smith and Roanoke attorney John Rocovich. U.S Reps. Morgan Griffith, R-Salem, and Bob Goodlatte, R-Roanoke County, spoke at the event.

We will put an end to the failed policies of the [Gov. Terry] McAuliffe-[Lt. Gov. Ralph]Northam administration and to their anemic economic growth, Gillespie said. We should be, when it comes to economic growth, first in the nation. And we can be, with conservative policies based on our constitutional principles of limited, effective government.

Gillespie bemoaned the economic decline of the Old Dominion over the past decade, including the loss of manufacturing and coal jobs, on which he blamed the states $1.2 billion revenue shortfall.

But, he said, working with an incoming Donald Trump administration and a Republican congress, his conservative policies could turn that around by diversifying the economy, and boosting traditional industries, too.

Gillespie promised cuts to taxes and state government. He criticized high state college tuition, saying he would appoint boards of visitors who will focus more on the needs of students and less on the needs of faculty and administrators.

And he swiped at state and national Democrats.

Poor Terry McAuliffe, just two months ago, he had his bags all packed, Gillespie said. They were sitting at the foot of his bed, and he was ready to leave Richmond and move to Washington to be part of the Clinton administration. He was going to be the secretary of something or the ambassador to somewhere, and now hes stuck with us. And were stuck with him. But not for much longer.

A former Republican National Committee chairman, Gillespie will be running as a party insider following a presidential campaign and election in which establishment candidates found themselves at a disadvantage. He was a senior adviser to Mitt Romneys 2012 presidential campaign, was an architect of Newt Gingrichs 1994 Contract With America and served as George W. Bushs counselor to the president.

Kathy Hayden, a longtime Virginia Republican party stalwart said the establishment label is just a word that some have tried to place on Gillespie.

Just because you have experience doesnt mean you cant appeal to people outside the partys traditional mainstream, she said.

Hayden said shes known Gillespie for years. She will vote for him because of his integrity and because he will surround himself with competent people who can help him govern effectively.

Other hopefuls for GOP gubernatorial nomination include Corey Stewart, chairman of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors and a former Trump campaign Virginia chairman; state Sen. Frank Wagner, R-Virginia Beach; and Silverback Distillery owner Denver Riggleman.

Northam and former U.S. Rep. Tom Perriello are seeking the Democratic nomination.

Gillespie has been one to take bold political chances in the past, and at least come close to seeing them pay off. Ignoring conventional wisdom that U.S. Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, was unbeatable, Gillespie nonetheless ran against, and came close to beating, the popular former Virginia governor in 2014.

As yet, there are no campaign finance reports on file for Gillespies gubernatorial bid, according to the nonpartisan Virginia Public Access Project, which tracks campaign spending in the state.

According to VPAP, a Republican political action committee with ties to Gillespie, Lets Grow, Virginia!, reported having $1.2 million on hand as of Sept. 30 last year.
Q: Why am I not seeing the state lottery or gaming credits on my

tax bill?

A: For lottery and gaming credits to appear on a homeowners property tax bill, the homeowner must first apply for the credit.

During the months of December and January, each local municipality is collecting taxes for the current tax year, Dane County treasurer Adam Gallagher said. During this period, if a taxpayer is eligible for the lottery credit, but the 2016 property tax bill does not show the credit, then the 2016 lottery credit can be claimed by applying with the municipal treasurer where the property is located before January 31, 2017.

The state lottery tax credit is available to Wisconsin residents as a form of tax relief on their primary residence, according to the state Department of Revenue. With the credit, Wisconsin taxpayers would see a reduction on their property tax.

Gallagher said for residents of Dane County, the credit could range from around $120 to $175 for the residents primary address depending on the school district where the property is located.

Madison treasurer Dave Gawenda said a taxpayer only needs to file for the credit once, and the credit will appear on each subsequent tax bill.

If someone eligible for the tax credit misses the Jan. 31 deadline, Gallagher said he or she can complete and submit a separate form with a copy of the 2016 tax bill by Oct. 1. Gallagher notes that this extended form would only apply to the 2016 tax year and the original form would need to be submitted for the tax credit to appear on future tax bills.

A full list of forms related to the tax credit can be found at go.madison.com/lottery. Form LC-100 can be used to apply for the credit, and LC-300 will be available in February for people who miss the Jan. 31 deadline.

 Shelley K. Mesch
Members of minority communities in Madison are living with both fear and hope as President-elect Donald Trump prepares to take office this week, said Masood Akhtar, a prominent member of the areas Muslim community.

The fear is over the uncertainty of what lies ahead given statements Trump has made on immigration, the possibility a Muslim registry and other topics, Akhtar said. The hope is the U.S. Constitution will protect minorities, he said.

With that backdrop, a cross-section of political, religious and civil rights leaders say they will come together for United We Stand, a public event at Monona Terrace on Sunday, Jan. 29. It is billed by organizers as a community gathering in support of our neighbors subject to deportation or discrimination.

The focus will be on providing practical information on the legal rights of immigrants and the civil rights of all, said Akhtar, a member of the events organizing committee.

This is not a protest rally, he said. Its an information exchange and an opportunity to bring people together to help each other out.

The Rev. Everett Mitchell, a Dane County circuit judge and pastor of Christ the Solid Rock Church in Madison, is scheduled to moderate the event.

Representatives from a variety of groups are expected to participate, including the American Civil Liberties Union, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Voces de la Frontera and the Council on American Islamic Relations. Madison Mayor Paul Soglin is scheduled to give opening remarks, and many other elected and law enforcement officials have been invited to speak, Akhtar said.

Soglin, in a statement, said many Madison residents have contacted him who are not personally endangered by the threats of deportation or registration, but they know that their neighbors, friends and colleagues may be targeted, and they want to know how they can help.

The three-hour event will include a discussion of how allies can support individuals in vulnerable communities, Akhtar said. Attendees also will learn how communities are responding to increased threats of discrimination and deportation, and how communities can become more inclusive, he said.

An uncertain situation

Samba Baldeh, a member of the Madison City Council who emigrated from Gambia 18 years ago and is Muslim, said even though he is an American citizen, he feels his safety and that of his family and the immigrant community is in jeopardy.

He called the event a response to unprecedented attacks and threats by the president-elect against millions of Americans.

On the campaign trail, Trump took extraordinary positions on immigration and Muslims, at least initially. He originally vowed to deport the nations estimated 11 million undocumented immigrants and to temporarily ban all Muslims from entering the U.S.

Those stands have shifted and softened somewhat. His campaign has since said there would not be a blanket ban on all Muslims, but that there could be one on Muslims from countries compromised by terrorism. On the issue of mass deportations, Trump said in a 60 Minutes interview after the election that he would focus first on deporting undocumented immigrants who have criminal records, then decide on the rest later.

On CNN Thursday, U.S. House Speaker Paul Ryan, a Republican from Janesville, said thats not happening when asked about the possibility of a deportation force that would round up undocumented workers.

Trumps position on a possible registry of all Muslims in the country is not clear to many who have closely followed his remarks.

In mid-December, his campaign put out a statement intended to put the matter to rest. It said Trump has never advocated for any registry or system that tracks individuals based on their religion, and to imply otherwise is completely false.

However, others say his remarks have suggested that hes at least open to the idea of a database of some sort to vet people. Akhtar said the lack of clarity on many of these issues underscores the need for the community forum.

Its an uncertain situation, he said. (Trump) changes things from one day to another.

The event, which is free and open to the public, starts at 2 p.m. and is expected to end around 5.

Karen Menendez Coller, executive director of Centro Hispano in Madison, said the effort sets a good tone. Shes eager and hopeful about the next steps.

Its a good starter, then we have to differentiate action steps to make sure all of our residents and neighbors are safe, she said.
U.S. Rep. Mark Pocan, D-Black Earth, will skip the Inauguration Day ceremony when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn into the post on Friday.

In a statement sent Sunday, Pocan listed several reasons for skipping, such as the handling of (Trumps) conflicts of interests, briefings on alleged Russian hacking during the election season and Trumps recent tweets about Georgia Democrat and civil rights leader Rep. John Lewis.

At minimum, its time for Donald Trump to start acting like President Trump, not an immature, undignified reality star with questionable friends and a Twitter addiction. I hope for better, but will not hold my breath, the Madison-area Democrat said in the statement.

Other U.S. House Democrats have said they will not attend the inauguration after Trump took to Twitter Saturday saying that Lewis is all talk and no action or results.

The comments from the soon-to-be president came after Lewis said in an interview on Meet the Press that he thinks Trumps election is illegitimate.

In the statement, Pocan said he planned on going to the Washington, D.C., ceremony on Friday, while traveling back to Wisconsin on Saturday to attend the Womens March on Madison.

The statement doesnt say if Pocan will still attend Saturdays march. The Madison march has been organized on the same day the Womens March on Washington is planned, while other similar rallies across the country are planned that day.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday wished the soldiers on the Army Day and commended the Indian Army's service to the nation.

"Greetings to all soldiers, veterans and their families on the Army Day. We salute the courage and invaluable service of the Indian Army," Modi tweeted.



The Prime Minister said the army always leads from the front in "protecting the sovereignty of our nation and helping citizens during natural disasters".



"We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully."





Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar also greeted the soldiers.



"Greetings and best wishes on the Army Day to all ranks of the Indian Army and their families," Parrikar tweeted.



The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 every year.
President Pranab Mukherjee on Sunday condoled the death of former Punjab Chief Minister Surjit Singh Barnala.

"The nation has lost a patriot and a public figure who made important contribution to the maintaining of the unity and integrity of our country as well as its comprehensive development," Mukherjee said in statement.



"Barnala was a distinguished statesman, parliamentarian and able administrator who served the nation with great distinction in various capacities such as Chief Minister of Punjab and Governor of several statesm," the statement said.

In his message to Barnala's wife, Mukherjee said: "I am sad to learn about the passing away of your husband, Surjit Singh Barnala, a colleague and friend for long years."



Barnala, who was the Chief MInister of Punjab from 1985 to 1987, was admitted to the Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) in Chandhigarh recently. He passed away on Saturday.
Army chief General Bipin Rawat on Sunday told soldiers ' title=' soldiers '>soldiers not to air their grievances through social media.

Addressing the Army Day function, he said: "A few colleagues are using social media to share their problems. It affects the morale of the jawans and thereby the army.



"A few of our friends have taken to social media to speak about their complaints. This affects the soldiers ' title=' soldiers '>soldiers deployed at the borders...



"You can be held guilty of doing a crime for what you have done and invite punishment," he warned.



The General went on: "We have the capacity to tackle cyber attacks, yet, we have to be careful against the enemy elements on social media, and also ask our families to be alert about it."



On Friday, the Army chief announced a new grievance redressal system under which complaints would reach him directly while the identity of the complainant would be kept a secret.



The comments come after a Lance Naik alleged in a video that "jawans are being exploited in the Army by officers".



A trooper each from the Border Security Force and a Central Reserve Police Force had also taken to social media to air grievances related to their service conditions.
Yuva Sena leader Aditya Thackeray escaped unhurt when his vehicle was hit on Sunday afternoon by a speeding car which had jumped a traffic signal here, an aide said.

According to his aide, Thackeray, 26, was driving down in his BMW in Kalanagar area of Bandra East when a Maruti Alto suddenly jumped a signal and rammed into his car from the front side.



A shaken Aditya got off unhurt from the vehicle which sustained considerable damage in the crash.



Eyewitnesses and police officials said that the driver of the Maruti Alto took responsibility for his rash driving and a complaint was lodged with Kherwadi police station.





Later, Thackeray tweeted news of the incident: "Thank you for your concern and calls. I met with an accident after being hit by a speeding car that jumped a signal at Kalangar junction."



"Everyone is safe and sound. The car that jumped the signal is fine too. Thank you for the prayers and good wishes that keep us safe."



It was not clear whether Thackeray -- son of Shiv Sena President Uddhav Thackeray and grandson of the late Bal Thackeray -- was travelling alone or there were others too in the car.
The death toll in the boat tragedy here rose to 25 on Sunday as rescuers recovered four more bodies, officials said.

"With four more bodies found, including that of a 12-year-old girl, the number of dead has gone up to 25," Patna District Magistrate Sanjay Agrawal told the media.



Pritay Amrit, the Principal Secretary in the Disaster Management wing, said the rescue and search operation would continue on Sunday.



According to witnesses, the overcrowded boat was returning from a kite flying festival, organised as part of Makar Sankranti by the Bihar Tourism Department, when the incident took place around 6 p.m. on Saturday.



According to officials, 25 victims have been identified, including five children and women each and 15 men.



The capsized and broken boat was taken out of the Ganga river by a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Sunday.





Assisting the SDRF are personnel from the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF).



A case has been lodged against the boatman and manager of an amusement park.



The rescue and search operations were halted on Saturday night in view of darkness and cold weather and resumed on Sunday.



Nearly 20 people have been rescued so far. Most are being treated at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.



Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the tragedy.



The government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each victim.



Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United cancelled its feast on Sunday to mark Makar Sankranti festival in view of the tragedy.
BJP's West Bengal unit Vice President Jayprakash Majumdar was on Saturday arrested for allegedly taking money from School Service Commission candidates on the pretext of getting them jobs, police said.

Majumdar, however, said the arrest was "political" and based on "lies".



The arrest came after seven hours of intense grilling at the Bidhannagar North police station following a complaint by a candidate Arup Ratan Roy.



"He has been arrested because he took money from some of the SSC candidates and promised them help in getting jobs. He will be produced in court tomorrow (Sunday)," the Deputy Commissioner, Detective Department of Bidhannagar Commissionerate, Santosh Pandey told IANS.



Majumdar, also the spokesperson of the state unit of the BJP, has been booked under section 420 (cheating), section 406 (criminal breach of trust) and section 506 (threat to cause death or grievous hurt) of the Indian Penal Code.



According to the complainant, Majumdar met them during a protest demonstration by the SSC candidates and promised to help them in getting jobs by filing a case in the Supreme Court in return for money.



"Jayprakash Majumdar met us during a hunger strike we had organised near the School Service Commission office demanding jobs. He said give me around Rs 8-10 lakh and I will help you to get the job by filing a case in the Supreme Court. Later, we handed over Rs 7.20 lakh to him in two tranches.



"But when we met him after three months he completely denied taking any money from us," Roy said.



"When we asked him to return our money, he threatened us by brandishing a revolver and forced us to leave his office," he said.





Majumdar, a one-time senior leader of the Congress, quit the party and joined the BJP in September, 2014.



""It's all lies. There can be no reason other than political," Majumdar told media after his arrest.



His daughter said the arrest was a result of political vendetta.



"Respecting the law, my father came to the police station to reply to the allegations, but he was kept waiting for eight hours, then questioned for an hour, and finally arrested. This is political vendetta, nothing else. Somebody in the higher echelon is involved," she said.



Reacting to the arrest, state BJP chief Dilip Ghosh said even if Majumdar was involved in the case, it happened before he joined the BJP.



"Our party is in no way responsible for this," BJP's West Bengal unit President Dilip Ghosh said.



However, he called the development a ploy to malign the BJP.



"Jayprakash Majumdar is neither a lawyer nor does he run a law firm. Then why would the person give money to him for fighting a court case? This is a ploy to defame the BJP," he said.
More than 30 houses were gutted in a fire in Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh early on Sunday, officials said.

No casualties were reported as the blaze destroyed the wooden houses in Tangnu village, Deputy Commissioner of Police Rohan Thakur told IANS.



More than 50 people have been rendered homeless and cattle also perished in the fire.





"The affected families have been shifted to temporary shelters in nearby areas," Thakur said.



According to him, the cause of the fire is yet to be ascertained.
A court here on Sunday sent to, three days police custody, BJP's West Bengal unit Vice President Jayprakash Majumdar, arrested for allegedly taking money from School Service Commission candidates on the pretext of getting them jobs.

The judge at Bidhannagar court also rejected a bail plea moved by the defence counsel.



Majumdar was arrested on Saturday after seven hours of intense grilling at the Bidhannagar North police station following a complaint by Arup Ratan Roy.





However, the BJP leader lashed out at the Roy in the court premises, saying he was not a candidate at the TET examination.



"Complainant himself is not a n examinee of TT. This complaint is based on lies. The entire thing is a conspiracy," he said.
US President-elect Donald Trump harshly responded to civil rights icon John Lewis, calling him "all talk -- no action" after Lewis said Trump was not a "legitimate" President, CNN reported.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad," Trump tweeted on Saturday.



Trump made the remarks after Lewis told NBC in an interview that the Republican would take office as an illegitimate President, citing the US intelligence community's allegations that Russia interfered in the election to harm his Democratic Party rival, Hillary Clinton.



The 76-year-old Lewis -- who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech -- said he would not attend the presidential inauguration for the first time in his 30 years in Congress.



Cornell William Brooks, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), said Trump's remarks were disrespectful and called on him to apologise.



"By disrespecting @repjohnlewis, @realDonaldTrump dishonoured Lewis' sacrifice & demeaned Americans & the rights, he nearly died 4. Apologize," Brooks tweeted, including an image of a bloodied Lewis taken during the Civil Rights Era.



Donna Brazile, the interim head of the Democratic National Committee, denounced Trump's remarks and said at a DNC gathering in Phoenix that Lewis "took action".





"He took action from marching from Selma to Montgomery. He took action in marching toward men wielding clubs across the Pettus Bridge. They fractured his skull because of the colour of his skin. But John Lewis never stopped marching for justice and equality," she said.



Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress, highlighting Lewis' contributions to the civil rights movement, swiftly condemned Trump.



"Ahead of #MLKday2017, let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed," tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi.



California Senator Kamala Harris said Lewis doesn't deserve to be attacked by Trump.



"John Lewis is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality. He deserves better than this," she tweeted.



Later, Lewis responded to Trump's comments by saying, "Today, Donald Trump attacked me on Twitter. He said that I'm 'all talk' and 'no action',".



"I've been beaten bloody, tear-gassed, fighting for what's right for America... Sometimes that's what it takes to move our country in the right direction."



He continued: "Some leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past, when the power of law was used to deny the freedoms protected by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and its Amendments."



"It took massive, well-organised, non-violent dissent and criticism of this great nation and its laws to move towards a greater sense of equality in America."



Lewis is one of an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers who are boycotting Trump's inauguration after learning more about Russia's role in the 2016 election.
Warning Pakistan but without naming it, Army chief General Bipin Rawat said on Sunday that India desired peace but will give a befitting reply if peace was disrupted.

Speaking at the Army Day function here, he also warned soldiers against using social media for airing their grievances, adding it could result in punishment.



The celebration, marked with customary parade and military display, also saw a "surgical strike" -- like the one the Indian Army carried out on terrorist bases in Pakistani territory in September last year.



The Army Chief gave away 15 gallantry awards, including five posthumous ones.



Lance Naik Hanumanthappa Koppad, who died in an avalanche at Siachen, the world's highest battlefield, was among the award winners.



Speaking at Delhi Cantonment, the Army chief said without naming Pakistan that India wanted peace despite the support given to the proxy war being waged against New Delhi.



"Despite the support given to the proxy war, we want peace on the Line of Control (LoC). However, any ceasefire violation will get a befitting reply."



The LoC divides Jammu and Kashmir between India and Pakistan.



The General said Indian military power would be on display if peace on the border was disrupted.



"We want peace on the border. But any attempt to disrupt the peace will not be tolerated. Our attempts to establish peace at the border should not be seen as a weakness.



"We want to extend a hand of friendship, but are also warning those who disrupt peace that we will display our power as well," he said.





Gen Rawat asked the Army, Air Force and Navy to work together to face the upcoming challenges.



"It is important that all three forces work together. This will be the key to success.



"I want to assure the Navy, Air Force, Coast Guard and other forces that they will always get support from the Army."



The Army chief also warned soldiers against using social media to air their grievances and asked them to approach him directly if their problems were not resolved.



"A few colleagues are using social media to share their problems. It affects the morale of the jawans and thereby the army."



He asked soldiers to use the established channels, and said: "If you are not happy with the action, you can contact me directly."



But he warned those using the social media: "You can be held guilty for this and invite punishment."



The General went on: "We have the capacity to tackle cyber attacks, yet, we have to be careful against the enemy elements on social media, and also ask our families to be alert about it."



The comments come after a Lance Naik alleged in a video that "jawans are being exploited in the Army by officers".



The Army chief inspected a parade, which showcased marching contingents and mechanised columns. On display were Brahmos missiles.



This was followed by a display by an army motorcycle team and a combat drill that brought alive the "surgical strike".



The operation showed soldiers slithering down a helicopter and destroying an enemy brigade headquarters while Pinaka rockets and Bofors guns provided cover support.



The Army Day is celebrated on January 15 to commemorate the day when Lt Gen K.M. Cariappa took over as the Commander-in-Chief of India in 1949 from General Sir Francis Butcher.
Keizer Mother in Custody After Death of Teen Son

Names are being withheld until next of kin are notified.



Salem-News.com (FILE)



(KEIZER, Ore.) - Keizer Police officers and personnel from the Keizer Fire District were called to an apartment at 175 Garland Way North at 12:42 p.m., on a report of a teenage male who was unresponsive.

Prior to police officers arriving on scene they were notified by members of the Keizer Fire District the teenage boy was found deceased inside the apartment.

Keizer Police officers arrived on scene shortly thereafter and confirmed the teenage boy had died and is the victim of an apparent homicide.

The victims mother was also on scene and was taken to the Keizer Police Department where she is in custody and is cooperating with the investigation.

The name of the teenage victim and his mother are not being released at this time as investigators have not notified next of kin. Efforts to make those notifications are ongoing.

The homicide investigation is continuing.

At this time, the Keizer Police Department believes the community is not at risk. There are no outstanding suspects who are being sought at this time.

The Keizer Police Department is being assisted by members of the Marion County C.R.A.S.H. Team, the Marion County District Attorneys Office, the Marion County Medical Examiners Office and the Salem Police Department.

An autopsy will be scheduled to be performed at the Oregon State Medical Examiners Office in Clackamas, Oregon.

Source: Keizer Police Dept.

_________________________________________
Bill Self, Kurtis Townsend won't be on sidelines for KU's first four games

Hawk Zone
I have learned the hard way not to put my personal life on the Internet. But suffice it to say that, God willing, things should be pretty much back to norm...

3 weeks ago
Well there you go. Hes done it again.

Today Prime Minister, Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, is back to his best brutal self. With eyes wide opened and that smug smile, hes come out swinging at those defenseless media idiots.

Their crime?

Well for merely doing their job.

In light of two disturbing videos showing young street vendors misbehaving on the streets of Apia, Tuilaepa turned up the heat on the media, blasting those irresponsible journalists.

He said they are so good at fabricating stories. Go on, turn to the front page of the newspaper you are reading and have a look.

Be entertained for this is Prime Minister Tuilaepa at his best.

Now since he doesnt name any particular media group, we offer ourselves as the sacrificial lambs. We do this knowing the Samoa Observer brought those stories to the fore at the beginning of the year to remind us about the reality of Samoa today. It looks beautiful from afar but its ugly at the core.

And yet according to almighty P.M. Tuilaepa, the media is scratching for news.

You see, its easy to bring back something you filmed many years ago, especially at this time when they are looking for some stories to fill the paper, he said. He added that it is in the nature of the media, especially newspapers to make up stories.

See we have lot of people here trying to look for some gossip, he said referring to journalists present at his weekly media briefing. So what happens is that when you search and cannot find a story, then you fabricate such stories.

You go and bring back the footage thats been stale in your files for months and then you re-run it like its something that happened yesterday.

Well what a classic response from the leader of this nation.

But then we would have been foolish to expect anything different, wouldnt we?

Is he not the leader who once said these street vendors will one day grow up to make mighty fine businessmen and businesswomen?

Was it not Tuilaepa who said these kids are learning fine skills about business on the streets?

The reality is quite different though. Judging from what weve seen lately, these kids are quickly becoming some of the most aggressive criminals in Samoa. They are beating up innocent people on the streets. They are stealing from the shops whenever they have a chance. Which means that if the Police do their job, the only place these children are heading for is Tafaigata.

This is happening today. Right here in Apia. You cannot deny it. And yet Prime Minister Tuilaepa does not think this is news. He instead accuses the media of making up stories. Is he serious?

Come to think of it, its not the first time hes done it.

Hes been at it for years. Perhaps he gets the biggest kick from calling people kids, idiots and what have you. Which reminds us that no so long ago, this is what he had to say about this newspaper: Dont be moved by the thoughts of kids who write for the (Samoa) Observer. Theyre just kids. If you look at them, theyre so young and yet you are moved by it

Now, let me tell you something ladies and gentlemen; we dont mind being called kids. And we certainly dont mind being accused of fabricating stories to sell newspapers. Its nothing new.

The truth is out there for all to see. You know it and I know it.

Whats sad is that while hes been so busy calling people all sorts of names, the fact remains he hasnt found his voice on corrupt practises and widespread abuse within his government thats costing people of this country dearly. The abuse and the corruption that has led to these kids being on the streets.

These practises were highlighted in the Chief Auditors report and subsequently confirmed by the Officers of Parliament Committee.

So call us whatever you like Mr. Prime Minister. But when is your government going to act on that Chief Auditors report?

What about the Officers of Parliament Committee report?

What are you going to do about corruption, mismanagement and collussion highlighted in these reports?

No amount of name-calling will make this go away.

The people of this country are not stupid.

They know whats going on.

They can see from a mile away what the government is trying to do.

You see folks; quite often politics in Samoa is never about addressing the real issues.

Its about discrediting, belittling and mocking whoever has the guts to question this government.

Its about playing the man, never the ball so that at the end of the day, we all get sucked in by the name-calling and forget about the glaring problems we see  including those street vendors.

Have another look Samoa at the issue of street vendors and tell us what you think.

Your eyes are not deceiving you. That is the truth and it is happening today.

Whether P.M. Tuilaepa and his government want to believe it or not, it doesnt matter. They know it deep down inside that they are responsible for this mess.

And unless they stop playing these silly games - including lashing out at the media - it will only get worse. And who knows, one day someone might even be killed by these vendors?

Thats what we think anyway.

What about you? Dont be afraid, share your thoughts with the rest of us.

In the meantime, have a peaceful Sunday, God bless!
Dear Editor,

Thank you Ropeti Ale for your insights and profound diagnosis of what is happening to our tagata Samoa in the wake of becoming overwhelmed and marginalized to the wayside as our government ruling party becomes overly consumed with political power, influence, and wealth.

I find it very disheartening and shameful that our leaders in both government and parochial institutions (Christianity) seem to have lost touch with their constituents strife in making ends meet.

It appears that our Prime Minister and his H.R.R.P cronies believe in capitalism as the only way to attain economic development in Samoa.

But in hindsight, such an accelerated pace of development is fueled by collusion with foreign investors, like China e.g. especially.

Now, China appears to have a foothold in Samoa. Who knows what self-enrichment dealings the government has done with China that may result in residual irreversible consequences that our future generations will suffer? The truth may reveal itself after Tuilaepa and this government has long gone from this life.

The sad truth is that members of the H.R.R.P are convinced Tuilaepas economic strategies and political wield might be the only alternative. Once one gets used to power and control it becomes a compulsive obsession behavior.

The relics of colonialism still remain evident in the peoples social character and behavior. The cast system tends to the line between the haves and the have nots, rich and the poor, and the elites and the indigenous.

I believe such premise sets the stage for the demise and unwelcome infiltration of uncontrollable capitalism in our way of life. The love of money has trump the love for people. The respect and dignity that once afforded to those who earn it, is now determined by ones ownership of material things and riches.

It is my hope that what happened in Hawaii during its early experience with imperialism wont happen in Samoa.

When the wheels of capitalism started turning, civil governments focus turned to economic development and the interest of the indigenous people became irrelevant.

The rich investors from the US started buying most of the lands and controlled the industrial development. The Hawaiians lost their lands and became homeless in the own islands.

In the early 1950s the increase of various foreigners; Japanese, Chinese, Filipinos, Samoans got caught in middle of the capitalistic chaos.

Some of these groups saw that the only chance they could level the playing field or to claim a share of wealth, was to organise themselves into an organized closed group to infiltrated and intimidate the status quo.

Thus, the birth of the Samoan style mafia, and similar ethnic counterparts. In case some of you have short memory, the late member of Parliament, Vitale Leafa of Malie was an associate of the group in Hawaii (Samoan mafia) before he returned to Samoa. You know the rest of the story.

Last thing I would wish is to see an underworld secret revolt from our indigenous Samoan people as the last resort to clean up government when political intervention and reforms fail.

This would easily happen when those living abroad become sympathetic with blight of our people and are willing to take necessary action, especially, when other dominant ethnic groups become a threat.

Ole tagi ale Pu mate. Manuia lau faasausauga Samoa.

Joe Faamuli
Dear Editor,

Just some issues concerning the importation of new vehicles into Samoa.

Our roads are in appalling conditions. They will be the quick death knell of newer model cars, because of electronic control components.

With the problem on unrepairable cars littering Samoa, it is caused by the lack of qualified mechanics, technicians, electricians, engineers, the list goes on of the different level of expertise, that is now required to service post year 2000 vehicles.

Older model cars are easy to repair, and contrary to the Ministers statement, spare parts are still available in abundant, for any year make and model if you do your search online.

I know so, because I am still driving a sixteen-year-old car fitted with spare parts bought from various on line car parts suppliers, and so far have no problem with the car.

Lastly, what effect will importing new cars have on the G.D.P bottom line; more high value goods coming in and less locally made goods going out to offset the imbalance.

Utumap P.
A Cabinet appointed Tribunal to investigate the suspended Director of the National Prosecution Office, Mauga Precious Chang, and her associate, Muriel Lui, is scheduled to start on 20 January 2017.

This was confirmed by Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi during his weekly media meeting.

Contrary to reports that the Tribunal had been delayed, Prime Minister Tuilaepa said this was not the case.

No it wasnt delayed, he said. It was just finding the time when they are available.

Ordered by Cabinet last year, members of the Tribunal include Justice Grant Hammond, Tuiloma Neroni Slade and a representative of the Samoa Law Society.

The Tribunal is answerable to Prime Minister Tuilaepa.

Mauga was suspended by Cabinet last August following a Police investigation and review by an independent prosecutor of charges filed against her.

Her suspension was for an initial period of three months while her case underwent standard judicial process. The charges against her have since been dismissed but the decision is being appealed.

In her absence, Acting Director, Muriel Lui assumed the responsibilities and duties of the Director of the National Prosecution Office.

However, in October last year, Ms. Lui was also suspended by Cabinet. The suspension of the Acting Director was in pursuant to sections 11(4), 11 (7) and 11(8) of the NPO Act 2015. At the time, the N.P.O. is brought back under the Attorney General, Lemalu Hermann Retzlaff, where it remains today.

Cabinet has noted the continued refusal of the suspended Acting Director of N.P.O and suspended Director of N.P.O to properly perform powers and duties to uphold the rule of law and objectivity of the criminal justice system, a statement from Cabinet said.

Cabinet acknowledges that the actions of Ms. Lui and Ms. Chang have created unnecessary conflicts between government departments while diminishing public confidence in law enforcement processes and the justice system in Samoa."

Furthermore, the validity of the establishment of the National Prosecution Office will also be reviewed to ensure the Statutory responsibilities and powers are treated with greater transparency, accountability and respect."

The Tribunal will be appointed on the grounds that Ms. Chang and Ms. Lui have not used the Statutory powers given to them in an appropriate manner and they have breached Civil Service Values and Code of Conduct under the Public Service Act 2004, as applied to them under section 15 of the N.P.O Act 2015.

Last week, the Chief Executive Officer of the Ministry of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Agafili Shem Leo, told the Samoa Observer the relevant preparations are underway for the Tribunal.

Apropos the commencement date for C.O.I into Precious Changs suspension, the date is not yet confirmed but relevant preparations have started, Agafili said. These include the composition, venue and other logistical arrangements.
Incurable. Inoperable. Untreatable.

These are words no parent wants hear in regards to the health of their child.

Yet this is the reality for Samoan couple, Ropeti and Folole Lutu, who discovered soon after conception their firstborn son, Gabriel, has hydrocephalus.

Hydrocephalus is a medical condition which causes the enlargement of the head due to blockage in the flow of the fluid that surrounds the brain and spinal cord and there is no known cure for it yet.

The past two years have been critical for the Lutus but they have come too far to quit now.

The pair have been together for almost 30 years and have overcome countless obstacles including several miscarriages and one case of stillborn.

The Lutus only desire was to have a child to call their own but was unable to conceive resulting in years of false hopes and dreams crushed.

After decades of trying, in 2014 Folole discovered she was with child.

Excitement swiftly filled the air, finally, a child to call their own.

Good news quickly turned sour as early scans detected an abnormality in the growing baby.

On GoFundMe page set up by Gabriels Aunt, Lauagaia Lutu, the family details the story.

After reading the report of his obstetric scans early in his pregnancy, the doctors advised the parents to abort the child because, after birth, he was not expected to live past three hours after birth, that he would not make a sound, that he would be tube-fed through the nose, that he would not move as no muscles would develop, that his brain would not function - to sense, feel and hear. The parents were advised that Gabriel would have no functional organs.

The now aging couple were faced with a tough decision to make: to follow the medical experts advice and give up the remaining hope of completing their family or put their faith and trust in God and see the pregnancy to full term. .

The Lutus chose the latter. Two years later, the boy who was once predicted to not see his first birthday is now defeating the odds.

According to his Aunt: Gabriel responds to his name. He can hear every sound - loud or soft, he cries like any other child, he eats so much, he moves music, he knows his parents' voices and he can also tell there is a stranger around him. He uses his bowels like any other child. He cries when he is hungry or needs something. His head is extremely heavy. The only thing Gabriel cant do is lift his head or sit up and so cannot learn how to walk.

Gabriel has fought fiercely for life. But his family knows his days are numbered as he cannot continue to live with his condition.

This is why the Lutus are now pleading for help before Gabriels conditions takes his life. They have set up a GoFundMe page, a website designed to raise funds online, to help fund the cost of medical treatment, accommodations, feeding and other medical expenses.

Gabriel has outlived the doctors' prediction. As a mother, aunty and nurse, I cannot give up on hope. The world is blessed with so much gifted people, knowledge, wisdom and skills that I am encouraged to believe that there is a neurosurgeon or two out there who can save Gabriel, she said.

If you can help towards Gabriel's treatment, my family and I would be eternally grateful. His parents pleaded with me to help seek help from anywhere as they are in desperate need of someone to take a chance on their only child.

To donate visit their GoFundMe page
Businesswoman Fiti Leung Wai is not losing hope when it comes to dealing with the growing problem of young children selling goods on the streets in Samoa.

Contrary to reports highlighting their bad behaviour, the owner of Samoa Stationery and Books (SSAB), strongly believes everyone has a role to play to turn things around.

For her, its about promoting the values of education among the community as a means for young children to work towards a brighter future. One that will see them get excited about educational achievements and opportunities rather than being brought up to accept mediocrity.

Speaking to the Sunday Samoan, Mrs. Leung Wai, who is the Chief Executive Officer of SSAB, said she understands the frustrations many members of the public have about the vendors.

One day me and my kids went to McDonalds Drive-thru and some of these kids came up to me asking for money, she recalls. I usually give them money but on that day, I was very tired and they came and asked me for money. I gave one of them $5 and then another came and asked for money and I said to them theres no more money but they insisted."

So one of my sons wound down the window and told them to go away but they swore at him and this made me really angry."

I was so angry at the kids and I tried to get them but they ran away.

Mrs. Leung Wai said such behaviour has become very typical with many vendors. But its not the first time she has been a victim.

For example right from the beginning when I used to have my shop at Lotemau, some of the kids stole stuff from the shop and went and resold them, she said.

Asked what she believes is the key to addressing the issue, Mrs. Leung Wai was adamant that its education.

Education is the key and it is a human right. Every child is entitled to a good education, she said.

I am really for a law that should stop street vendors after a certain period of time of the day but Im also mindful that there are some people who need the help in terms of money.

Mrs. Leung Wai said its not the children who should be selling this stuff, its the parents.

The parents are responsible for making sure the kids gets a good education, she sad.

And good education means they should have enough rest, their minds are refreshed to continue absorbing information and also studying for the following day of school.

The mother of four went on to say that if she were to have a choice there wouldnt be any street vendors.

But I think there is a need in some families financially so its really hard, she said. I think our Prime Minister used to sell things to make it through life so I cant really say no, no, no not knowing the inside of the true struggles of other families financially."

So sometimes there is a need for kids to sell but if I were to be given a choice it would be good to actually stop all that and just let them have rest and continue studying.

Because education is the key and it can open opportunities for them and it can also break the cycle of poverty.

She believes this is where the S.S.A.B Ambassadors programme comes in.

One of the Ambassadors is Quenjule Slaven who runs a programme to help street vendors read and write.

I admire her effort to help the street vendors but Im also happy to help in the sense that we now have a library and welcome her to use our S.S.A.B library to provide that nice environment for kids to learn, she said.

We can provide the venue for the kids to come and read and then I can see how I can help these kids too. Because for S.S.A.B, our banner that we carry is an education banner. We like to support reading programmes for a lot of the kids in Samoa and maybe that would be another way I can help.

Lastly Mrs. Leung Wai reinforced the need for parents to take care of their children.

The parents should be responsible and I think the community too can assist and contribute in any ways they can, said Mrs. Leung Wai

For instance S.S.A.B through making available its library for Quenjule to use and I can also pull in some of the ambassadors to assist but its in line with S.S.A.Bs spirit of assisting the education sector in improving education for the kids in Samoa.

What about charging parents whose children are found on the streets late at night?

I dont think that would be a good idea because that would be very hard to enforce, she told the Sunday Samoan.

We also have to have practical laws but I believe every member of the public that comes across these street vendors should try and educate and help them."

I believe its every parents responsibility to look after their kids and every member of the public should try and encourage the kids to go home and also to prioritise education.
The Minister of Communications and Information Technology, Afamasaga Rico Tupai sat down with the Sunday Samoan to highlight some of the plans for 2017. He told the Samoa Observer that this year is a big year for the Ministry, especially with their vision to improve telecommunications throughout the country. He spoke with Deidre Fanene about some of the plans:





Question: Tell us about the Tui Samoa Cable?

Answer: This year we have the Tui Samoa happening and we hope to land it. We are also talking with other cables because we cant just rely on Tui Samoa. We cant just rely on the route coming from Fiji because the question is what happens if something cuts off from that cable? What happens when all of a sudden something accidentally drops on the cable and then cuts the connectivity?

We need a restoration cable. So we are talking with Tahiti, Cook Islands and the government of New Zealand because they play a part in that Pacific Cable Project (PCP). Samoa wants to be a part of that too. This weekend we are going to Hawaii for the Pacific Telecommunication Meeting. We will talk to the Tahitians and all the stakeholders of this cable so we can be part of it because we need a plan in terms of connectivity and communication. We will still be having the satellite but as our last option because at the moment its very expensive in terms of connectivity and communication because of the cost of satellites.

Question: We also hear plans about digital television in Samoa. Can you elaborate?

Answer: Digital Television is the other big thing this year. We are planning and moving towards the launching of Digital Television for Samoa where we will migrate from the old system that we have now.

We are on the analogue system and we need to migrate to the digital system. It will be much more beneficial for us in terms of education and we will get a lot more. This will not wait until Tui Samoa but it will be around the same time because theres a lot work that needs to be done to develop it.

Its also something new around the Pacific as well and at the moment only parts of Fiji is testing this new development. We hope to cover the whole of Samoa when we start off at the end of 2017. So there will be a lot more available to us in terms of information availability when we finally have digital television. It will be will be very helpful and essential in terms of education and health.

Question: Can you comment about the progress of Broadband highway?

Answer: At the moment as we await the arrival of Tui Samoa Cable we want to put in place adequately our National Infrastructure of for the Broadband Highway. This will cover Samoa but we are trying to make sure that it will work to its full potential for ease of connectivity.

So the tender went out last year and we are waiting for the review and to finalize the award of the tender for the objective to manage, operate and grow.

The growth of our broadband will help bridge the digital divide in our country.

I mean theres a lot of connectivity within town accessibility in terms of businesses and everyone that is connected around town but when we go out in the rural areas, its very limited. For businesses outside of Apia and Savaii especially in terms of tourism theres very little connectivity so we need to improve that connectivity right now before Tui Samoa Cable comes in.

Question: How are you going with setting up the Digital government system?

Answer: Part of the next five year plan is to se tup Digital Government System to connect all government ministries and all corporations.

It will make things much easier for everyone. Not only for government to assist with its development plans, its economy planning and everything else especially the very high demand utilities of the government like the S.W.A, E.P.C, Agriculture and all these big ones such as M.E.S.C. They all need to be connected to share the information so that when they are planning their own work within their own ministries they can just tap into the system and find out what the other guys are doing. For example, if its the E.P.C doing their plan, they can see the plan of S.W.A and what has already been laid out.

So its easy for E.P.C to plan knowing what S.W.A is also planning. It will happen when the infrastructure becomes available to them.

Question: What about the issue of using technology, especially the internet to improve the delivery of health and educational services?

Answer: Our goal is to try and use technology to solve the problem of shortage of teachers, doctors and that project is ongoing. We are also at the moment talking to several agencies in terms of developing innovation in this country. Were looking at setting up innovation incubators and training programmes that will foster and empower our people to start developing things, to start creating apps that will be applicable to this country.

For example; like the development of farms, to develop an app that will keep people in touch with their cattle, simple stuff like that.

The idea is that they will know where the cows have gone to. If you are a coconut farmer, it will help you know how many coconuts you will have. So its simple stuff like that which will help in the development plan of our villages and country.

So we want to have some innovation centers that will develop and foster our people because we are smart people and all these will enhance the governments development plan. We also want to use the availability of technology to increase the employment of our people. We are trying to bring in more businesses in terms of call centers, submarine business and its time for us to start developing this side.
When God is first, everything else will fall into place.

With this thought in mind, the Health Sector came together in prayer on Friday to commit their work to God at the beginning of 2017.

The service held at the E.F.A.S. (Ekalesia Faapotopotoga a le Atua) Apia brought together different branches of the sector including the Ministry of Health, National Health Services, National Kidney Foundation and other stakeholders.

This is the annual programme for the ministry and its partners, said the Director General of the Ministry of Health, Leausa Dr. Take Naseri.

To us, its always good to start with God for we know there are challenges along the way but with Him all things are possible.

The fact is we cant do anything on our own strength. Without Him, we would be unable to do anything.

So at the beginning of the year we want to commit all our plans and everything to him.

Looking at 2017, Leausa said the goal of the health sector is to improve the services they provide.

The Director General acknowledged the support of the government all the people of Samoa.

We want to thank the government, our partners and the people of Samoa for their continuous support in so many ways. We just cant go on without your help and prayers.

The service on Friday was conducted by Reverend Fiti Aloalii.
Everyone has dreams.

For Mika Faafetai, he is not interested in becoming a lawyer, doctor or one of the more popular professions.

Rather he wants to become a journalist.

The 14-year-old from Sataoa, Safata, is indeed a rarity these days.

Mika is ready to embark on his new academic journey this year at Faleata College. He will be in Year 9.

He told the Village Voice that he understands that in order for him to achieve his dream, he will work hard and rely on God to give him the wisdom, understanding and knowledge.

My dream is to be a journalist when I grow up, said Mika.

I love reading the newspaper everyday and I learn a lot of things by reading the newspaper. 

The newspaper helps me understand about what the issues in Samoa and I know that if I work there, I will learn a lot of things.

Mika said he is interested in working for the Samoa Observer newspaper.

I know Tuilaepa talks about the stories published in the Samoa Observer a lot. And I know a lot of people love reading the Samoa Observer.

I know I am still young and I still need to do a lot of work in order for me to achieve my dream, but I will keep trying.

Moreover, Mika said one good thing about the newspaper is reading about the journeys of different people and also children to success.

This motivates me to work hard, he said.

I know we all have different stories, but we can learn from the stories of these people published in the paper like, lawyers, doctors, writers, and teachers graduating with their degrees.

I also love reading about the journey of all the rugby players and how they started their careers because it can inspire young people like myself.

We also use a lot of stories from the Samoa Observer newspaper as examples in school, to elaborate on an issue discussed.

Lastly, Mika said he will do his best to improve his writing skills so he can achieve his dream.

I still have a long way to go, but I will do my best.

I will keep reading the newspaper and improve my writing skills so that I can reach my goal one day in the future.
Suicide is one of the most common issues in the world and Samoa has amongst the highest rates..

Government and different organisations have been trying to find a solution to this issue over the years.

However, the rate keeps increasing each year.

The question is, what can we do to stop this issue?

Ask Tolusenetenari Siaitolo Taulagi of Vaitele-Fou and she will be happy to tell you.

She told the Village Voice that the increasing number of deaths as a result of suicide is saddening for her.

Its very sad to hear that a lot of young people have turned to suicide thinking that it can solve whatever problem they faced.

And its frustrated to see that the numbers keep going up every year.

The thing is, a person can go and commit suicide over a simple matter. Then he or she will leave this earth leaving the families heartbroken and with a scar forever.

This is my own opinion on this issue, I dont know about others but this is what I think.

There is nothing more painful than parents losing their child. It is one of the most painful feeling ever.

And its worse if the death is caused by an act of suicide.

This issue has been around for so many years, yet we still dont have a proper way to eliminate it. But for me, I truly believe that it is time we should do something about it.

Said Tolusenetenari, the problem may be big, but the solution is very simple.

And this is my own opinion, she said.

You know everything starts and begins at home. Home is where we build up the lives of our children.

The bible says, Train up a child the way he should go, and when he is old, he will never depart from it.

This means that it is our duty to show our children the right way to live their lives. Show and teach them the right thing to do and with the word of God.

Start teaching them young so that they can grow up following those teachings.

Moreover, Tolusenetenari believes that parents should also devote their time talking to their children and give them the opportunity to share their problems with them.

A lot of kids in Samoa are afraid to talk to their parents about their problems. But if we can break and change this mentality, we can help eliminate all the issues from happening.

Dont hesitate to talk to them about the effects of suicide. Talk to them also about all the other options and what they should do whenever they have a problem.

The fact of the matter is that most kids these days think of suicide when the parents scold them or give them a hiding.

And is just sad and it has to stop.

Nevertheless, Tolusenetenari believes that to address this issue, everyone needs to work together to alleviate the issue.

It takes a whole village to raise a child. Start teaching them when they are young so that when they grow up to be good leaders for the future.

And this is not only something the parents should do. Everyone is responsible. Our parents, village councils, pastors, teachers, government leaders, and others.
Health is a top priority for many nations of the world and Samoa is no different.

The leader of the country, Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, said this area remains one of the governments main concerns for 2017.

And in a new strategy, Tuilaepa has called on church leaders and pastors in Samoa to step up and help get the message across to the people of Samoa.

As to why Members of Parliament and Cabinet Ministers shouldnt be the ones to step up in addressing this issue, he said, There is a good reason why I say church ministers should take the lead.

The main reason is because they (church ministers) preach the word of God. They can preach and send this message to the people as a threat. But if we ask the M.Ps to do that, no one is scared of the M.Ps.

Tuilaepa made this call during his weekly press conference on the 2AP Radio last week.

It is time for church leaders to stand up and help out the government to have a healthier Samoa. I believe that non-communicable diseases such as diabetes and obesity are real problems in Samoa, and it is time to address them.

In Samoa, we have so many people who are left with just one arm or leg because their other limb has been amputated.

And this is a result of them eating a lot of food and having no control over what they consume.

This is something we should really consider. The Ministry of Health has been trying to address this issue but I think once the churches turn around and support the ministry, I know our people will never get sick anymore.

He went on to say that church ministers should start by preaching to people about their health.

You should remember that there is always a way to solve these issues, he added.

And the way to do that is to follow what the church ministers are telling us. That is, that our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit.

Therefore, if you hold on to a cigarette, the Holy Spirit will tell you to say no. If you want to drink beer, the Holy Spirit will stop you from doing that.

Two denominations were singled out for praise by the Prime |Minister.

These are the teachings and principles some denominations are following. Especially the Mormon and Seventh Day Adventist followers.

And if you look at the people in these two churches, they have really nice bodies. Ive also asked some of them about why they are well-built and have nice bodies, and they said to me, it is because they take care of their bodies as they are the temple of God.

Tuilaepa believes all other churches should follow these principles and teachings.

I believe that if the philosophy of Reverend Kasiano Leaupepe and other church leaders who are fat, can cover this and follow these principles, it will be the best solution to this problem.

There will be no more diabetes in Samoa. We will no longer have to send people to New Zealand for treatment and we will have no more obesity in Samoa.
The Minister of Communication, Information and Technology Afamasaga Rico Tupai said the government plans to launch a Cyber Security Policy on the 1st of next month.

He said as part of the plan for the new Tui Cable, the biggest concern is the connectivity and he believes that as soon as the cable is connected, there will be a lot of activity.

The cable is being built at the moment and a survey is being carried out, he said.

At the moment the Alcatel Company is working on doing the marine survey of where the cable will be laid and a lot has been said about this once it comes in.

A big issue that is of concern to us is the security of the government and the people of Samoa and so what we are preparing for is the connectivity.

There will be a lot more activities when the cable comes in than what we have at the moment.

He said that the cyber security policy is an important development particularly for telecom operators who need to know the protocols.

We are working on the cyber security policy to protect the government and Samoa in terms of what protocols the government need to put in place to protect us when there is an attack, he said.

Right now we havent been attacked but we are expecting that once these activities come in, then we will be getting a lot of cyber attacks and also within the systems.

The government, with the telecom operators has put in place a plan for filters to filter out pornographic images and many other things to protect our children.

There was a decision made last year for each operator to have their own filters within their system to filter all of these things out before it comes out to the public.

The launching of our cyber security policy will be on the 1st of February and from then onwards, it will be a matter of following the strategy that is in place to protect the country, he said.

The national security of the government is very important in terms so we can control anybody that wants to access our system.

Afamasaga is adamant that the Tui Samoa Cable project will be completed by September.

There is already a grant from the World Bank and the Asia Development Bank of USD$49 million for this project.

We hope to officially open the cable during the Pacific Island Leaders Forum meeting, he said.
Oceansides new City Treasurer Rafe Edward Trickey Jr. is a man of many talents and more than a few jobs, according to his online resume and social media sites.

Oceanside race for treasurer between Nadine Scott and Gary Ernst, who died in September.

Trickey  who is married to Oceanside Assistant City Attorney Barbara Hamilton  was unanimously appointed by the Oceanside City Council last week to fill the treasurers post, left vacant when former City Treasurer Gary Ernst died in September and was nonetheless re-elected six weeks later.

I am honored and humbled, Trickey said Thursday about his new gig in city government. Im looking forward to serving in this fiduciary capacity.

Since 2009, Trickey has held a series of administrative posts at colleges stretching from California to Oklahoma to South Dakota to the Marshall Islands in the South Pacific, says his profile on LinkedIn.com. He speaks five languages  Cherokee, Spanish, Marshallese, Mandarin Chinese and his native English  according his resume posted on Chroniclevitae.com.

His application for the treasurer post says hes the semi-retired principal of the Greater Pacific Planning and Effectiveness Group, a consulting organization he started in 1988. Since 2010 hes also been president emeritus and a board member of the Foundation for College Access Services, another small consulting business he founded that helps the underprivileged pursue their higher education goals.

Trickey, 59, said the one thing thats been a constant over his career is that he has helped run educational institutions. Hes worked for more than a dozen  mostly in one- or two-year stints  since 1988, according to his resume.

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Hes extremely experienced and very knowledgeable, said Councilman Jerry Kern. He came across as level-headed and understanding what we do.

Ernst had been treasurer since 2010 and had been ill in recent months when he was found dead of natural causes last summer in the midst of his re-election bid. His name remained on the November ballot because the printing deadline had already passed.

Trickey said Ernst was a fine man. (His death) was a big shock to all of us.

Kern led a campaign to re-elect him anyway, arguing that the only other candidate  local attorney and activist Nadine Scott  wasnt qualified for the post. Ultimately, Ernst received 52 percent of the vote compared to Scotts 48 percent. That gave the City Council the option of holding a special election or appointing a new treasurer to serve until the next general election.

An investigation has since been launched to determine whether Ernst was a legal resident of Oceanside, as required for the office. His body was found in a Carlsbad home that appears to have been his primary residence. The outcome of that probe wont affect Trickeys appointment, said City Clerk Zack Beck.

Scott, who was among the applicants interviewed by the council for the job last week, said Thursday she was the only qualified candidate in the election and deserved to get the position. She called the appointment a complete and utter miscarriage of justice.

Kern said he understands that Scott might feel bad about losing the election, but that there were better candidates and the city did the right thing by making the appointment.

There were people who probably would have filed, but they didnt want to run against Gary, Kern said.

Trickey is expected to be sworn in at the councils meeting Wednesday and will serve a two-year term. He said he wont seek election after that.

He and Hamilton have been married 30 years and have three children. Theyve lived in Oceanside for about 12 years.

The treasurer position is considered part-time, and pays about $24,000 annually. Ernst was appointed to a two-year term in 2010, and then elected to a four-year term in 2012.

The previous city treasurer, Rosemary Jones, died in office in 2009 at age 88 after serving many years.
When Virginia Loh-Hagan was in the second grade, she read a book that changed her life. Now shes trying to do the same for other young readers.

An education professor at San Diego State University, Loh-Hagan also writes childrens books, including the newly released PoPos Lucky Chinese New Year, illustrated by Renne Benoit. In it, a Chinese-American girl learns from her grandmother about the annual celebration, which falls this year on Jan. 28.

She will be at the North University Community Library on Saturday at 10:30 a.m.; the Encinitas Library on Jan. 22 at 2 p.m.; the 4S Ranch library on Jan 26 at 10:30 a.m.; the Barnes & Noble in Mira Mesa on Jan. 28 at 11 a.m.; and at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum on Feb. 12 at 2 p.m.

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Q: Why did you want to do a book about Chinese New Year?

A: I used to teach in elementary school, the fourth grade. One of the standards for California history is to teach about immigrants. I wanted to do Chinese-Americans, and while there are some books about the Coolies and the transcontinental railroad, there wasnt much else. That was kind of my inspiration for writing my book Paper Son. I wanted something for my students.

My first book, Jade Dragon, was semi-autobiographical, and when I did author visits at school sites, they would often be around this time of year. I tend to be very popular around Chinese New Year. So I would talk about my book, and I also had a PowerPoint with the Dos and Donts of Chinese New Year. It always went really well and I thought, This could be a book. But I knew it had to be more than the Dos and Donts. I needed a story.

Q: Was the New Year celebration part of your own upbringing?

A: I was born and raised in Fairfax County, Va., the first person in my family to be born in the United States. Thats why my name is Virginia. My parents were working, they were immigrants, so we didnt really have an authentic Chinese New Year. We would go into D.C. for the parade and the dragon dances. I remember the red envelopes (handed out with money in them from relatives). But I didnt know about the lucky foods and other things until I started researching it.

Q: What is it like for an academic to do childrens books?

A: I feel a lot of people think because youre writing a childrens book it must be easy. Or that youre dumbing down content. I also write for adults. I write a lot about literacy education, academic books for teachers, but I will say that writing for children is probably the hardest type of writing I do.

With adults, you can write anything. You dont have to worry about word counts. There are less restrictions. With children, especially picture books, its really hard because you have to get plot detail and character, along with a unique twist, in under 1,000 words.

The last academic book I wrote, it was something like 300 pages and it took me maybe three months to write. PoPos Lucky Chinese New Year took me three years.

Q: What do you find rewarding about childrens books?

A: My dissertation was on Asian-American childrens literature. I had to read a lot of books when I was working on it, and I loved reading them. I felt this commitment to producing high-quality, diverse literature for future generations. I wanted to create the books that I would want to read myself.

I like doing the book events, seeing how kids react. I like the comments I get from parents and children who say that theyre excited to see someone like them in books. They feel like their culture is being represented. To me, thats really powerful.

In second grade, my teacher read aloud In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson, by Bette Bao Lord, and I remember thinking, Oh, my God, theres actually a story about a little girl, a Chinese immigrant, who looks like me and has my experiences. Other kids thought I was cool and were asking me about Chinese culture. I probably made up a lot of stuff. It was really life-changing for me. I actually dedicated my dissertation to the book.

I remember how that felt for me, and I want to be able to create that for other students.

Q: Tell me a little bit about your dissertation. As I understand it, you were looking at the cultural authenticity of Asian-American kids books. What did you find?

A: You know this is dangerous, to ask an academic about her studies. Do you have five hours? (She laughed.) My hypothesis was there would be a need for more quantity in the literature. What I discovered is the issue isnt so much about quantity. There were a lot of high quality books out there. The problem is that teachers and parents werent using them so they werent getting into the recommendation cycle of awards and reviews. The issue wasnt supply; it was demand.

I tried to come up with a tool to determine cultural authenticity and the problem was you need to have an insider perspective. How can an outsider determine the cultural authenticity? Its difficult. I have an insider perspective on Asian-American culture, so I can read a book and figure out whether it feels right, but for someone who does not have an insider perspective, teachers who are not part of the culture, how do they do that?

One of the things that breaks my heart is when you ask teachers why they dont use multi-cultural literature and their response is, I dont want to offend anyone. So then you have this problem of invisibility. Is invisibility worse than offending? To me, its worse to choose not to read about another culture because you are afraid of offending.

Q: What are your thoughts about the future of picture books when it seems as if young people in particular are spending more time reading in front of screens?

A: I think picture books are safe in a way. Young children are getting exposed earlier to smart phones and other devices, but theres nothing like a picture book. The young readers are part of the process, interpreting the visuals, and I think theres something about turning the page. Its something thats interesting and essential for them. I just dont think you get that with the screens. You can swipe, but its not the same experience.

PoPos Lucky Chinese New Year, written by Virginia Loh-Hagan, illustrated by Renne Benoit, Sleeping Bear Press, 32 pages

john.wilkens@sduniontribune.com; (619) 293-2236
Unwilling to let criticism pass, Donald Trump on Saturday pilloried as all talk  no action national icon John Lewis, who was repeatedly beaten by police and nearly lost his life during protests in the long struggle for civil rights.

Trumps Twitter comments about the Georgia congressman came in response to Lewis assertion in an interview Friday that he did not see Trump as a legitimate president because of Russian involvement in the defeat of his opponent, Hillary Clinton.

The president-elects comments were rife with irony. At the start of a weekend dedicated to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., Trump was using his potent social media platform to hurl insults at a civil rights leader. And the trigger for the outburst was doubt being raised about Trumps legitimacy, even after Trump himself led a more than five-year effort to delegitimize President Obama by falsely claiming that he was foreign born.

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Trump also used racially freighted language when he said that Lewis Atlanta district was crime infested and falling apart. The district, which is mostly African American, includes many of the Atlanta areas most prominent neighborhoods.

The furor, along with continued investigations into the Russian activities, threatened to mar a period during which an incoming president would traditionally want to unify the nation. Trump will be inaugurated on Friday.

The back-and-forth began with the release of part of an interview for NBCs Meet the Press in which anchor Chuck Todd asked Lewis if he would try to work with Trump despite their political differences.

I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. Its going to be hard, Lewis said. I dont see the president-elect as a legitimate president.

The veteran Democrat said he believed the Russians participated in Trumps election and added: They helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton. As a result, he said, he would not attend Trumps inauguration.

I dont see the president-elect as a legitimate president.  John Lewis, civil rights leader

Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., testifies on Capitol Hill in Washington at the second day of a confirmation hearing for Attorney General-designate, Sen. Jeff Sessions, R-Ala. (Cliff Owen / Associated Press)

Lewis is among a handful of congressional lawmakers to announce they will not attend the inauguration, but the first to be called out by Trump. Lewis had already emerged as a high-profile Trump opponent on Capitol Hill; on Wednesday he appeared before a Senate committee to urge that it turn aside Trumps designation of Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) as his attorney general.

Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad! Trump tweeted Saturday.

Trumps assessment does not match Lewis district. It is home to Atlantas airport and upscale neighborhoods; it houses corporate headquarters like those of Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines.

Most of the areas many colleges and universities are situated in the 5th District, where the average annual household income is $73,000. The area is at the national average for college degrees, if somewhat higher on measures of poverty and unemployment.

Trumps transition team did not immediately elaborate on the basis for Trumps statement.

About 12 hours after his initial communication, Trump added another tweet: Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!

Trumps assessment also does not reflect the views of Lewis, a nearly universally admired figure of moral authority in a Capitol usually divided by partisanship. Even among those who disagreed with Lewis criticism of Trump, there was shock at the president-elects decision to hit back at someone of his stature.

Lewis was the youngest speaker at the 1963 March on Washington, by then already a central figure in the efforts of African Americans to secure civil rights. For years, he was repeatedly arrested and beaten at Southern protests.

In 1965, during the celebrated Bloody Sunday march at the Edmund Pettus bridge in Selma, Ala., Lewis was clubbed so severely that he suffered a skull fracture. He recovered and led other protests, and 30 years ago he was elected to Congress.

In 2011, President Obama awarded Lewis the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nations highest civilian honor.

Generations from now, when parents teach their children what is meant by courage, the story of John Lewis will come to mind  an American who knew that change could not wait for some other person or some other time; whose life is a lesson in the fierce urgency of now, Obama said as he presented the award.

In 2015, Obama joined Lewis and other civil rights veterans for a 50th anniversary walk over the bridge where Lewis was wounded.

Trumps remarks were reminiscent of his summer attack on a Gold Star family who spoke against him at the Democratic convention. In that case, as seemed to occur Saturday, Trump made assumptions based on the people he was criticizing.

After Khizr Khan criticized Trump from the convention stage, his wife standing silently by his side, Trump suggested that she had not been allowed to speak. She and her husband later said that she was too distraught to speak as the convention displayed a picture of her son, Army Capt. Humayun Khan, who died in a 2004 car bombing in Iraq while trying to save his fellow soldiers.

Democrats on Saturday swiftly defended Lewis.

John Lewis is an icon of the civil rights movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality, tweeted Sen. Kamala Harris, the California Democrat. He deserves better than this.

New Yorks Charles E. Schumer, the Democratic leader in the U.S. Senate, declared that As we honor MLK, Ill always stand by my friend, American hero @repjohnlewis. Well lock arms & resist any effort to roll back civil rights.

Sen. Ben Sasse, a Republican from Nebraska who has long disagreed with the president-elect, tweeted a reproach to Trump: John Lewis and his talk have changed the world. Earlier, Sasse had implored Lewis to attend the inauguration to celebrate the peaceful transfer of power.

Other Republican elected officials were largely silent Saturday, although well-known party activists criticized Trumps decision to take on Lewis.

Its telling, Im afraid, that Donald Trump treats Vladimir Putin with more respect than he does John Lewis, tweeted Bill Kristol, the founder and editor-at-large of the Weekly Standard and a former aide to Republican Vice President Dan Quayle.

Added John Feehery, a veteran aide to Republican members of Congress: Picking a fight with John Lewis is stupid. If you dont like what he says, ignore him.

cathleen.decker@latimes.com

Twitter: @cathleendecker

ALSO:

Trumps approach might seem new, but Arnold Schwarzenegger tried it first. It was a disaster

Pro-Trump Californians hope his victory can fuel a GOP revival in the Golden State

Updates on California politics

Live coverage of the Trump transition

UPDATES:

5:25 p.m.: This article was updated to report a tweet Donald Trump sent about 12 hours after his initial comment on John Lewis.

This article was originally published at 1:05 p.m.
San Diego State University has learned that it will receive nearly $750,000 in state grants to fast-track the education of prospective teachers to reduce a shortage of educators in California.

The three grants will allow SDSU to create a program that will allow students to earn both their undergraduate degrees and teaching credentials within four years. The process usually takes five years.

While the grants wont provide immediate relief for the existing teacher shortage, they likely will once students begin graduating from the condensed program.

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In the meantime, Ramona Unified School District has taken steps to alleviate the hardship students and other teachers experience when not enough credentialed teachers are available. Trustees in December approved a contract with the Ramona teachers union that includes a $7,500 signing bonus for credentialed teachers in high-demand subjects. The district also plans to again offer a financial incentive to teachers who let the district know early of their plans to retire or resign at the end of the school year.

This year Ramona Unified experienced a shortage of qualified teaching candidates to fill positions at the start of the year, Superintendent Anne Staffieri, Ed.D., said in an email. This shortage was exacerbated by the unexpected late resignations and retirements of a few teachers  some resigning within two weeks of the start of the new year. These key positions (were) in music and mathematics and special education.

In October, one Ramona High School math teacher told trustees that she and other math teachers were each teaching an extra class because the district had not yet found a qualified math teacher. Taking the additional class was their choice, because they didnt want a substitute teaching the estimated 200 students affected, but they are exhausted, she said, asking trustees for their help in hiring and retaining high-quality teachers.

Trustees in November approved hiring a new math teacher at the high school, but the person was unable to start until this month.

With the help of the grants from the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing, we will pursue the goal of providing better preparation in a shorter period of time, said Joe Johnson, dean of San Diego States College of Education. These grants will allow SDSU to play a substantial role in reducing teacher shortages, while also helping us maintain a leadership role in teacher education in California.

Education officials believe that the extra year to earn a credential leads some students to pursue another career, partially causing a shortage that is nationwide in scope but worse in California.

In a fall survey conducted by the Learning Policy Institute, 75 percent of school districts in California reported having difficulty in hiring enough qualified teachers, and the figure rises for districts in low-income areas.

The California Teachers Association estimates that more than 100,000 teachers will need to be replaced over the next decade.

SDSU faculty will develop integrated teacher education programs for special education, math, science, and bilingual education programs. Those areas have seen the highest demand for new teachers in recent years, according to the school.

Lessons no longer required by the Commission on Teacher Credentialing will be eliminated.

We are proud that our nationally recognized education researchers received these significant grants from the state of California, said SDSU President Elliot Hirshman. These resources will help our faculty and staff develop innovative four-year teaching credential programs  programs that will, ultimately, support the recruitment of teachers and the excellence of our K-12 schools.

The college plans to offer the four-year program for the first time in the fall 2018 semester. The traditional five-year track will be maintained to provide flexibility for students.

City News Service contributed to this report.
A fire heavily damaged a Linda Vista townhome Saturday night, displacing three tenants.

No injuries were reported as flames roared out of the two-story unit on Caminito Luisito in a sprawling complex near Via las Cumbres.

The blaze was reported about 5:20 p.m. Firefighters reported seeing heavy smoke and flames coming from the residence, situated over a garage.

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It took them nearly half an hour to knock down the fire, San Diego Fire-Rescue Department Capt. Joe Amador said. He said fire and smoke damage to the home was extensive, but he had no indication that adjoining units were damaged.

The Red Cross was called to assist three adults who lost their home.

Investigators were trying to determine what started the fire.
I am Kerry Burgess. This is what I think.
Hundreds of people gathered at Balboa Park Saturday for the Junior League of San Diegos fourth annual rally and march calling attention to human trafficking  a problem that speakers said is all around us.

Prostitution is the most widely known form of human trafficking. But its victims also are men, women and children working in factories, picking produce in fields, or serving clients in nail salons and massage parlors on suburban street corners, the rallys speakers said.

This was our biggest and best yet, said Junior League of San Diego President Rachel Scatizzi of the rally. It shows were building awareness of the issue.

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Between 200 and 300 people of all ages listened to almost a dozen speakers, including state Rep. Susan Davis, D-San Diego; state Sen. Toni Atkins, D-San Diego; and San Diego Councilman Chris Ward.

Sex trafficking has as many as 20 million victims worldwide, including from 8,000 to 11,000 girls and young women each year in San Diego, Davis said.

She and Atkins both said new legislation is needed to help identify the victims, who often start as runaways or homeless children, and to find them the shelter, counseling and other services they need to return to society.

Recent efforts to prevent children from being charged with the crime of prostitution are a step in the right direction, Atkins told the crowd.

We need to see these young people as the victims they are, she said. They need a safe place to live, and Juvenile Hall is not the right place for them.

Human trafficking is a problem in every major city, including San Diego, she said.

We also know that hotels are ground zero for sex trafficking everywhere, Atkins said.

Sex trafficking is the second largest underground economy after illegal drugs and accounts for millions of dollars a year in San Diego, said Councilman Ward.

We need to turn this around, and help the victims that are out there, he said.

Law enforcement no longer treats victims and perpetrators of sex trafficking the same way, said Chief Deputy District Attorney Summer Stephan.

The law used to lump them together, she said. For the first time, in 2017, that statute is now split. One is the exploiter, and one is the exploited.

Education is another way to address trafficking and help more people to see the victims around them, several speakers said. Also important are mandatory reporting laws for teachers, counselors, nurses and physicians who see signs of abuse.

And eliminating the demand is also key.

No buyers, no trafficking, said Marisa Ugarte of the Bilateral Safety Coalition, an alliance of government and nonprofit agencies that fights slavery and human trafficking in the U.S.-Mexico border region.

Gangs and organized crime often recruit desperate young people for prostitution or abusive labor, she said.

What we try to do is bring them from victims to survivors to thrivers, Ugarte said.

Barbara Payne, a San Diego grandmother picking up a sign to carry in the march, said it was her first human-trafficking rally.

She recently watched The Whistleblower, about a United Nations worker trying to expose a sex-trafficking ring in post-war Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the movie made her more aware of the crime, she said.

It made me so angry, Payne said. I have seven grandchildren, and I worry so much about the things they are exposed to.

The Junior League also held a human trafficking forum and question-and-answer session at the UC San Diego faculty club in November.

philip.diehl@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @phildiehl
Herbert Stein, who chaired the Council of Economic Advisers under Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald Ford, is admired by social scientists for his pithy observation that, If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. This, fortunately, means that bad things dont happen in perpetuity because people can only put up with bad things for so long. This is what seems to have dawned on California judges when it comes to government pensions  and it appears they have not just common sense but the law on their side.

Even though no Legislature ever approved the idea of permanent, inviolate, untouchable pensions for government workers, the California rule which arose out of various court cases provides just such protections. The rule holds that pension benefits and how they accrue cannot be changed by government agencies unless workers get a similar increase in other compensation  even for years of service not yet worked. This interpretation and generous benefits have hammered local governments, which are starting to spend 20 percent or more of their revenue on pensions, leading to reductions in law enforcement, community programs and library hours.

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This isnt how government is supposed to work. In 2011, law professor Amy Monahan published a 56-page analysis that looked at nearly 90 years of court cases through which the California rule came to pass and found no evidence of any legislative intent to create such a hard and fast rule. Courts which interpret laws in ways that create new obligations are required to demonstrate such intent.

This matters, according to two panels of state appellate court judges in Northern California. On Dec. 30, three judges unanimously rejected a fire unions challenge to a 2012 state pension reform law that reversed a 2003 state law that allowed employees to buy up to five years of credit for years employed in the calculation of their pensions. Justice Martin Jenkins, the lead author, said there was no evidence that the 2003 legislation had the intention of creating a permanent pension benefit.

Jenkins cited the other unanimous appellate court ruling from last August in which lead author Justice James Richman found no evidence of any legislative intent to give public employees an immutable entitlement to the most optimal formula of calculating the pension. The case involved a legal challenge by some Marin County public employes to provisions of the 2012 reform law barring late-career pension spiking. The opinion held that pension terms could be changed for years not worked.

The California Supreme Court has already agreed to hear an appeal of the Marin County case and may well consolidate it with the fire union case. This prospect is welcome because the people of California need clarity on what is legal and what is not.

Instead of relying on dubious precedents, Californians would be best served if the state high court relies on its 1977 ruling in the Miller v. California case, which held pension rights are not immutable, that local governments may make reasonable modifications and changes and that the employee does not have a right to any fixed or definite benefits but only to a substantial or reasonable pension.

If something cannot go on forever, it will stop. Inflexible pension obligations that incapacitate local governments should not go on forever.

Twitter: @sdutIdeas

Facebook: UTOpinion
In a story that kept heating up last week, Union-Tribune reporter Gary Warth wrote about Rep. Duncan Hunter taking down from a congressional wall a painting he found offensive.

The painting was part of a congressional student art competition, in which members of Congress sponsor a competition in their states. The 2016 winning painting was created by David Pulphus, at the time a high school senior in Missouri. The sponsor of that competition was Rep. William Lacy Clay, D-Missouri.

Is the officer second from left depicted as a boar or a pig? (Zach Gibson / AP )

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The painting depicted police officers in Ferguson, Mo., as animals pointing guns at black people.

In his first paragraph of his first story Jan. 7 on the controversy, Warth used the word animals in the description. Later in the piece, he described the painting in more detail:

Named Untitled #1, the painting depicts a clash between police and protesters on the street. One gun-wielding officer has a head that resembles a boar, while other officers heads appears to be a horse and a dog. One protester appears to be a panther or wolf, and people on the street hold signs that read History, Justice Now and Racism Kills.

Warth received a few emails criticizing him and questioning his motives for not using the word pig in the description.

I was surprised that several people believed I had used the word boar rather than pig in describing the painting because I wanted to soften the truth, Warth said.When I looked at the painting and tried to figure it out, I noticed the most prominent figure was a crudely drawn character with a long gray head and tusks. My guess was that it was supposed to be a boar, so thats what I said. If it had been pink with a flat snout, I would have said it was a pig. Thats really all there was to it, Warth said.

I was surprised at what people read into it.

In a follow-up story that ran Tuesday in print, Warth added that a San Diego County sheriffs union official called it a warthog. Warth also quoted a letter to Clay from a peace officers association in which the group criticized the painting as showing officers as gun-toting pigs.

I agree with Warth in being precise in his description and then presenting others interpretation.

It would be nice to hear from the artist, but Warths attempts to contact him have been futile.

Dossier on Trump not in U-T

The news website BuzzFeed published on Tuesday a 35-page dossier that makes shocking allegations against President-elect Donald Trump. It reports of contact between Trump and Russian agents and of lurid sex acts.

The collection of memos had been to known U.S. government officials and journalists for weeks, but on Tuesday CNN reported that officials gave a two-page summary of the memos to President Obama and Trump.

Soon after that, BuzzFeed posted the dossier for all to see. But heres the rub: Its unsubstantiated. The website broke all standard rules of journalism.

A British intelligence agent reportedly compiled the memos for political foes of Trump. (Red flags flying.)

Ben Smith, BuzzFeed editor in chief, wrote a note to employees on why the site published the unsubstantiated allegations.

Americans can make up their own minds about allegations about the president-elect that have circulated at the highest levels of the U.S. government, he wrote. As noted in our story, there is serious reason to doubt the allegations.

Publishing this dossier reflects how see the job of reporters in 2017.

The U-T ran a New York Times story on Wednesdays A1 on the officials briefing Obama and Trump, and on the dossier in general and Trumps reaction. The U-T did not publish the documents.

In keeping with our journalistic and ethical standards, U-T Managing Editor Lora Cicalo said, we did not publish the information contained in the dossier because none of the news services we utilize  and trust  for national and international reporting had been able to independently verify the allegations. I vehemently disagree with the view expressed by BuzzFeeds editor  the job of reporters in 2017 remains to discover and report facts.

adrian.vore@sduniontribune.com
Artist vs. Songs: Building An Identity In The Streaming Era

As 2016 drew to a close, much of the industry animosity targeted at streaming seems to have been replaced with a largely favorable outlook. Here Nick Susi examines the state streaming today and what its long-term impact might be.

___________________________

Guest Post by Nick Susi, creative strategist in music & media on Rethink Music

Entering 2017, a popular topic of conversation has been focused on streamings impact on the music industry. It wasnt long ago that the industry and media coverage of streaming had a widely negative connotation wrapped around it. 2014 ended in Taylor Swifts stand against Spotifys royalty payments. 2015 ended in David Lowerys $150 million class action lawsuit against Spotify. Here we are only a year or so later and the conversation surrounding streaming has shifted to a largely positive outlook. Streaming has now driven a favorable increase in global recorded revenues, with Spotify and Apple combined driving $7 billion with over 60 million subscribers.

Although attitudes toward streaming have been increasingly positive, the era of streaming is still largely nascent. The long-term impact is entirely unknown.

How Engaged Are Streamers Anyway?

There are a number of factors that make it difficult to estimate per-stream rates. Varied rates by country, paid subscriber rates vs unpaid subscriber rates, and so on. There are reports that have been released in 2016 providing esti

mates, with Spotifys worldwide average being roughly $0.006-0.0084 (~$6,000-8,400 per million streams) and Apple Musics being roughly $0.005643 (~$5,643 per million streams).

I have been asking myself though, what is the actual long-term value to the artist for garnering these millions of streams on an individual song? What is the likelihood of replicating the streaming success of one artists song into their next release? I began tracking and monitoring a few releases over the course of 2016 through Spotifys Fan Insights. I started to notice that in many cases, the number of streams that an artist was receiving in a given month, that that number was nearly the same number of streams that the artist was receiving within playlists in the same month. Meaning, the user experience of listening to that artist was almost always within a streaming platforms major playlist, where that artist was only 1 of 20 to 100+ other artists.

This user interaction with the artist is a passive impression, wherein the user has chosen to engage with a playlists purpose and context, like New Music Friday or Release Radar for discovery, or Cardio for the gym, more so than the direct intent to engage with a particular artist. And that the conversion rate of a user taking a further step towards a meaningful engagement with that artist, such as venturing outside that playlist to see who the artist is and listening to the rest of their catalogue, was incredibly low.

This is all to say that when the users primary interaction with a given artist is only within a playlist, even if that user has chosen to save or add that artist to their own playlist, there is no identity building for that artist. Who they are, what they look like, what their story is, and so on. Will Bloomfield, manager of One Direction, recently supported this notion stating, Our greatest challenge is breaking artists [] Youre not even in the artists eco-systems anymore. Youre in Fresh Hits or Spotify Dance for example or whatever other playlist youre listening to. We have to think about how we convert a song in a playlist into the next arena or stadium act.

If the streaming ecosystem is showing trends in user behavior towards the discovery of songs within the purpose and context of a playlist, over strengthening the identity of individual artists, what might the long-term impact be? Is there a disparity growing between the success of an artist versus the success of a song? And how can artists and streaming services better work together to build stronger identity into the streaming ecosystem, interface and user experience?

Well, What Do The Kids Want?

I began to take a more granular look at this trend, conducting a few one-on-one interviews with middle school to high school age students. I asked them about their weekly listening habits. How they discover music, what their relationship is with streaming, and so on. Trends began to emerge in their responses. The sheer amount of music they consumed on a day-to-day basis was impressive. The limitless, always-on access that streaming gave them to listen to any music at any time made them excited to discover songs that they may not have listened to otherwise. Indie, jazz, soul, hip-hop, electronic  they listened to virtually every style and genre of music. They were discovery-obsessed, looking at music as a talking point among their friends, almost as if it were a competition to see who would be the first and the fastest to come upon a new song before the rest of their peers. More often than not, the music served as a background soundtrack for a specific mood or moment while another activity took place, like working or reading or playing video games. And the vast majority of this listening occurred within playlists filled with single songs, versus listening to entire albums.

I thought, surely though, there must be at least one artist that each of these students actively seek out and consider themselves that artists super fan. I asked each of them, despite largely listening to single songs in playlists, who is their favorite artist that resonates with them and why? The most common responses were Chance The Rapper and Kendrick Lamar. Interestingly, much of their feedback had less to do with the artists actual music, or even their celebrity. Instead, they were drawn what these artists stood for in relation to politics, race, independence in the music industry at large, and how those viewpoints aligned with their own belief systems and aspirations.

But the most interesting and peculiar answer came from a student who named not a single artist. Instead, he rattled off a few very specific sub-genres and subcultures of music that he was obsessed with at the moment. He cited a collective of minimal electronic artists he recently found on Soundcloud, as well as a community of basement noise punk bands from close to his hometown in New Jersey that were starting to receive considerable critical acclaim.

While this particular response was an extreme example within a relatively small sample size of students, all of the students feedback did point strongly towards the same trends. Their behavior favored the importance of the purpose and context of listening, with an added layer of cultural and communal significance and how the collection of songs, more so than any one specific artist, were a reflection of the listeners own life story, choices, interests, aspirations and ideologies. If the streaming ecosystem and user experience is largely playlist-based for often passive listening, is it offering artists, especially at an emerging to mid level, the necessary tools to build identity in this way that is resonating with the user beyond what the music sounds like?

How Powerful Is Curation?

Coming up on their sixth anniversary, Soulection has been leveraging this notion of cultivating a community and culture through curation. Functioning as a hybrid between a record label, creative collective, events promoter and radio show, they have been fostering a very specific sub-culture and community in Los Angeles. The name Soulection has come to stand for something palpable. They sit at the convergence of underground west coast off-kilter hip hop and electronic beats, cut from a similar cloth of Stones Throw Records. This movement is not necessarily something they have started from scratch on their own. Rather, they tapped into a community that already existed and through the medium of music, empowered the culture and its voice to grow and scale exponentially through the platforms they provide. They curate an Apple Beats 1 radio show, collaborate with lifestyle brands like Stussy, curate events with brands like Red Bull, and curate a constant output of new White Label Series EPs, singles and playlists. Their work to empower this community in many ways transcends the specific individual artists they represent. Just take a look at the size of Soulections aggregate digital-social following in comparison to the artists they represent.

This idea of cultural curation as a business model should not be underestimated. It feeds into this idea of a discovery-obsessed user. Soulection is not the only one finding benefit in this. On a smaller scale, Noon Pacific falls somewhere between the lines of a singles label and a blog. They act as a subscription service that releases a playlist of new song discoveries every week, directly into the users inbox.

On a larger level, major labels are beginning to grab up successful singles within their roster that are not dedicated to a specific artists album, and creating compilation-esque playlist albums around these songs. The major labels are essentially leveraging single songs streaming successes to propel these playlists into album-based charts. For example, this past summer, Epic Records took some of their top performing singles, including DJ Khaleds For Free feat. Drake and French Montanas Lockjaw feat. Kodak Black, and packaged them up into a playlist titled Epic AF. The success of the playlist, by virtue of each singles streaming success, caused the playlist to spend four weeks in the Top 10 of the Billboard 200, based off streams alone and no sales at all.

These models are likely to become even more ubiquitous  tapping into specific subcultures through the music that embodies them, and packaging these songs into playlists with clear context and purpose for discovering and supporting these communities. This method is clearly leading to budding businesses and charting success for curators, but what does this mean for creators? Curation has always served an important purpose throughout the history of commercial music, and streaming and playlisting culture has significantly raised the importance and impact of curation. But has the curation of a collective gained equal or more importance than the creation by an individual?

(We will continue exploring the future impact of streaming next week in Part II.)

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When I set out on my trip to Guatemala almost two weeks ago, I had no clue what the food would be likebut after living in Belize for 10 years, I could make an educated guess. Beans and rice, for sure. Chicken and chilies. A mix of Mayan and Latin/Spanish influences.

And lots and lots of delicious coffee. OH THE COFFEE.

But that I must save for the next post. There was SO much of it.

I wasnt that far offthe food was delicious. The wider selection of fruits and vegetables, since Guatemalan ranges from sea level to 13,000 feet, is a very nice bonus. Who doesnt love year round avocados and mangoes, blackberries and strawberries and some of the best coffee in the world?

Antigua was the perfect place to eat Guatemalan AND internationally. The town has quite the food scene from Italian and French to Indian and Thai to bubble tea.

And even some things thatoy. At the Museo Chocolate.

It also has the most low-key fast food places Ive ever seen. The only way youd recognize Dominos Pizza is by the single brass domino on the exterior.

Heres another example  the only sign.

Antigua was also a great place to see how coffee is actually grown and processed. Id been to a coffee finca in Colombia  this one was equally beautiful and impressive.

And for a relatively touristy place, it has some incredibly good eats for some incredibly low prices.

Heres where I ate:

Ill start with my favorite  both in price, the quality of the food (best potatoes Ive EVER eaten in my life, SERIOUSLY) and the fact that you feel like you found the locals choice.

Rincon Tipica Out front one of the staff is making the handpressed corn tortillas. So thick and tasty.

Inside I had three choices, pork, sausage or chicken or all three. It came with potatoes roasted in the meat drippings, salad, tortillas and a juice for Q30 or $4US. The place was PACKED.

El Porton

For Q25 ($3.33US), they have 4 or 5 specials. I chose pollo pepian, a traditional Guatemalan dish  in fact, I think it may be the national dish. Yummy tender chicken in a thick spiced gravy with vegetables. Served with rice, salad, fresh homemade corn tortillas and a cup of horchata, this stuff is delicious.

My most expensive lunch but well worth it was the very popular Hectors Bistro. They have about 7 tables and I was there at 3pm. There was a small line at the door

I had delicious grilled portobello mushrooms with orange and olive oil.

This open faced steak sandwich which was delicious. But the sweet potato fries with the home-made ketchup (a touch of all spice or cloves?) was so freaking goodI asked for a bucket of ketchup to go.

The waiter thought I was joking.

So so tasty, amazingly unexpectedly goodbut (SO UNLIKE ME) I decided that the money spent, Q200 with tip ($27US), would be best spent on the gorgeous gorgeous fabrics and crafts of Guatemala. Food over stuff? YES! It is THAT beautiful.

Im not going to lieI ate a few meals at this tasty bagel spot though I did NOT try coffee cream cheese.

The Bagel Barn

The bagels are finebut the sandwiches are great.

And I did have to stop in for one or two desserts at this French dessert shop called GANACHE. Great coffeeand while a bit on the pricey sidedesserts for $4 to $5 USit was a perfect place to relax a bit in the town center.

Plus, I very much enjoy this ratio of lemon cream cheese icing to carrot cake.

Here are some of the beautiful items I brought back with me  the ones that made it hard for me to spend TOO much on food. Each piece of cloth made on a hand or foot loom. Absolutely insane. And a tiny pair of pink jade earrings.

One more thingI apologize for being off line for the last 4 or 5 daysTORTURE! But not only did my phone die in Antigua  crazy but an IPhone 5 does not like getting dropped on cobble stone streets!  but my COMPUTER STOPPED FUNCTIONING!

The fan stopped working and was at the shop as soon as I set foot on Ambergris Caye. Good grief I was worried.

Diagnosis? Animal hair. I wonder how that happens


DARLINGTON, S.C.  When D & L Inc. launched a Pee Dee operation in 2012, it did so with four people.

Based in Blytheville, Arkansas, the HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) and sheet metal business now has two locations in Darlington and 15 employees.

This is just one of many locations, said Steven Hayes, sheet metal supervisor and manager. Weve grown so much the last couple of years.

A member of the Mechanical Contractor Association of South Carolina, the business recently joined the Greater Florence Chamber of Commerce and hosted a Thursday morning ribbon cutting.

We do mostly sheet metal fabrication, HVAC installs in the commercial and industrial areas and customized sheet metal parts, he said. Whatever somebody needs out of a piece of metal, we can make.

The parent company has eight locations throughout the Southeast, including its home office. The Pee Dee office has customers such as Nucor, Georgia Pacific in Clarendon County and International Paper in Georgetown. On Friday, Hayes was working on a bid for a building in Charleston; the Darlington office has completed jobs in northern North Carolina and all around South Carolina and is working now on sending ducts to a health-care facility along the coast.

We move around pretty good, he said.

Hayes, a native of Johnsonville, came on board with D & L Inc. in June 2013. He called it a great company to work for, especially as it identifies more opportunities on the horizon.

Were smaller on the commercial side but doing some more work there  we were only industrial for a while but now were doing some residential work as well, he said. We dont exclude anybody.

Projects are found by word of mouth and customer referrals, and through local plan rooms and builders exchanges, said Larry Schneiders, an estimator and project manager.

We also get invitations to bid from general contractors, Schneiders said.

Using computer numerical control, a piece of sheet metal can be cut and formed into a duct in about 15 minutes.

We can put it out by the ton pretty quick, Hayes said.

For more information about D & L Inc., call 843-393-6523.
FLORENCE, S.C.  Over 80 firearms and knife vendors are showcasing their products this weekend at the Florence Civic Center, hosted by MKshows.

Two hundred seventy vendors tables spread across the civic center arena, displaying guns and knives, ammunition, scopes, hunting gear, accessories, clothing, collectibles and more.

Joe Lajeunesse, of Joyner Sales in Patrick, was among the throng of vendors on the sales floor. The store brought between 400 and 500 guns available for purchase, including handguns and shotguns. Lajeunesse says the key is to bring a wide variety to shows, since its hard to predict what customers will be looking for.

We always joke if we can forecast whats gonna sell because theres really no certain gun that sells every show, every single time, said Lajeunesse. Sometimes it depends on where you go, the atmosphere, whats going on in the market.

Lajeunesse also points out that politics are a factor in gun sales. He predicts that sales after President-elect Donald Trump takes office will differ from what happened during the Obama administration.

Hes very pro gun and I feel that instead of selling a thousand guns a quarter or a month, we have the longevity now with Trump, said Lajeunesse. Were going to continually sell steadily along; youre not going to have the peaks and valleys that we did with Obama.

Lajeunesse points out that whenever President Obama spoke of gun reform, sales peaked.

Obama being a Democrat was probably the best gun sales weve had in years, he said. We sold a lot of guns  If someone says you cant buy an AR series, everybody wants to have one.

Matt Durham, of Sure Shot Firearms inf Seneca, says hell have to wait and see whether Trump follows through with promises made during his campaign in regard to the Second Amendment.

Its hard to say what hes actually gonna do, said Durham. Maybe hell say, I hate guns now.' He may just have said that to get in office; I have no idea. Until that happens you really just have no idea.

One thing Durham is excited about, though, is the possibility of national concealed carry reciprocity. The policy would mean those with concealed-handgun permits in one state would have their permits honored in others.

Im a huge advocate for reciprocity, said Durham, It makes life so much easier for us as a carrier. Right now the way it sits, if I have my gun on my hip and I go into a state thats not in agreeance with the way that South Carolina does their business I can get in serious trouble.

Bonnie Austin and Laura Rose, from Sumter, are also keeping their eyes on that legislation.

That would be wonderful, said Rose, We like to travel and were always trying to figure out, All right, can we carry here or not?

The two say not being able to have a concealed carry accepted in another state doesnt keep them from traveling, but is more of a nuisance.

We have a list, said Austin, We keep track where we have to leave it and where we can carry.

The gun and knife show continues today, with doors open from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $8 each, and children 12 years and under are admitted free. For more information visit www.florenceciviccenter.com.
FLORENCE, S.C.  As lawmakers in Washington, D.C., prepare to vote on South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley to become the next U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, state officials are prepping to work with a new governor.

Henry McMaster, the current lieutenant governor, is poised to move into the governors spot to finish the final two years of Haleys term.

Though McMaster hasnt publicly stated his stances on many of the key issues facing the state  roads, pension, education and tax reform  lawmakers from the Pee Dee say a new governor could be good for progress on these issues.

Florence Republican Rep. Phillip Lowe said one of the largest changes in state legislation this year will be McMasters takeover as governor.

I think well see less vetoes and more willingness to work with us on these issues, he said. I think McMaster will be a little easier to please. Hell be looking to build some consensus in both chambers and solve some problems that we havent been able to the past few years, like roads. Were hoping for more communication and understanding, and hopefully hell be willing to compromise and work with us to get some good bills passed.

Its been widely speculated that McMaster will run for the states top spot in the 2018 gubernatorial election.

Rep. Jay Jordan, a Florence Republican, said the next two years will give McMaster a chance to prove to the people of this state that he can be an effective governor.

I think this will be his audition for the people of South Carolina, Jordan said. Hell have a couple years to prove that he can work with the legislature and get things done for our state. I hope at the top of his priority list are two of the most critical issues and thats infrastructure and education. Well have to wait and see.

Sen. Ronnie Sabb, a Democrat from the Williamsburg area, is somewhat leery of McMasters right-leaning track record but is optimistic about the change of pace.

I have a lot of respect for Lt. Gov. McMaster, but you can tell hes all conservative, Sabb said. I would hope that in his ascension to the governors mansion he stays in the middle on the issues. I do think he has the ability to discern whats best for the state as a whole, not just one side.

Rep. Terry Alexander, a Florence-area Democrat, said theres a largely unknown factor about a McMaster governorship, but the climate in Columbia points toward excitement.

Well see what he becomes. Its a different role than what he knows, Alexander said. Hes not just presiding over a chamber; hes presiding over the entire state. Either way, were excited about what hell bring to the position. We dont know where he stands on some of the issues, and we see that as an opportunity.
It was quite a blow to someone whose recollections of Florence shopping go back before World War II to learn that the Sears store here is to close.

Sears came here at an important time when the Great Depression had much of retail America on its knees. It moved into a big-for-Florence store on the 100 block of North Irby at a time when local retail badly needed a boost. The building it moved into had been the location of a Montgomery Ward store that had just closed.

This was a big deal for Florence. The other department stores  Belk, Efirds, J.C. Penney and the locally owned McCown-Smith  all fronted on the east and west 100 blocks of Evans Street. Sears had a wider range of offerings than the others, including, among other things, software, jewelry, appliances, furniture and auto parts.

Fronting on Irby, Sears south side faced the rear of the Federal Building and Post Office at the corner of Evans and Irby. I dont remember Montgomery Wards presence, but I have seen pictures of the 100 block of North Irby with the Montgomery Ward name painted on the side of the building. When construction of the Florence County Judicial Center is complete, it with the County Complex and their large parking areas will fill the 100 North Irby block except for Evans-fronting buildings at the Evans-Irby corner. (This reminds me of my continuing question: Why cant Florence just have a courthouse and city hall like other county seats instead of a Judicial Center and City Center?)

The store quickly became very busy, and it also proved to be a boost for downtown, as well as the Morning News, occupying advertising space in the paper. Shortly after World War II, plans were discussed for an expansion of the Sears store. Its first announcement included a large increase in square footage, new departments and even plans for a set of escalators. However, some brain in Chicago or wherever such decisions were made had those plans scaled back, since he considered the Florence market too small for that class of store.

Apparently, Sears had classes of store organizations that offered certain services. So Florences Sears expansion was scaled back to a level considered more appropriate by that particular brain.

Then A.E. "Slim" Creamer, then general manager of the local Sears, took great pleasure for years afterward pointing out how much more business his store was doing than most in the class above it. Sears came to town about when the WPA was busy with an expansion and renovation of the old Florence County Courthouse, and the Federal Building underwent an addition, changing the appearance of the block. At that time all of the 100 block of North Irby was filled with storefronts except for the courthouse grounds and the old Federal Building and Post Office at the corner of Evans and Irby.

Creamer was a true believer in downtown and is said to have pledged that his store would never leave downtown as others such as Belk and Penneys retreated to the suburbs. This might sound like an empty promise in the 21st century, but unless my memory is incorrect, when Sears finally went to Magnolia Mall, it was after Creamer had retired, so his store never left the downtown.

This reminds me, too, that after WWII the Belk chain bought out the Efirds chain, and for a time, Belk had its old Evans Street site, the old Efirds site that had moved to North Dargan and one at Florence Mall. That briefly meant three Belk stores in Florence.

J.C. Penney also moved to Florence Mall and later to Magnolia Mall, to be joined a little later by Sears. Im sure newcomers must be a little puzzled by some of these locations, but there have been lots of changes over the years, and Ill bet Im going to have debates at the gym this week about my descriptions of these locations.

There are downtown changes to come even after the Judicial Center (courthouse) completion. On the 2017 ticket are the Carolina Bank location at Evans and Irby streets and a Hyatt Place hotel at Evans and Dargan streets. With much residential space opening downtown, Florence is jumping. Lets hope it continues for a long time.

Thom Anderson is a former editor of the Morning News. Email him at thidbit@aol.com.
Barrow has spent 11 years in his current role role as chief executive as Maritime London, but will leave in March, it has been confirmed.

It has been an honour to work with the many companies and organisations that make up Maritime London and the world's leading maritime business centre, Barrow commented.

I am proud to have played my part in helping UK maritime firms to continue to thrive and attract new business to the cluster which is pan UK, not just London."

The search to find Barrows replacement has already begun, with shipping recruitment firm Spinnaker Maritime leading the process.

Maritime Londons chairman, Lord Mountevans, said he was sad to see Barrow leave, but stated that the organisation would be working closely with him in the future to help grow the UK Ship Register.

Reflecting on Barrows more than decade with the organisation, he added: In his 11 years with Maritime London, Doug has worked tirelessly to raise the profile of the UK maritime services sector.

He has grown the organisation, succeeded in raising the status of this important sector both with UK policy makers and across the international maritime industry.

Copyright  2022. All rights reserved. Seatrade, a trading name of Informa Markets (UK) Limited.
If you live in Bavaria, you get 13 public holidays per year. But if you live in any other German city, you only get nine. That's because Bavaria recognizes Catholic traditions, whereas Germany as a whole adheres to Protestantism.

This is far from the only difference between the two. From food to architecture to dialect, life in Germany's largest and southern-most state is distinctly unique from the country as a whole-not unlike the cultural divide between the northern and southern United States. In fact, similar to Texas, Bavaria has a reputation of isolation and conservatism, one that has divided the German population for more than a century.

To find out more about Bavaria's unique culture, watch today's Seeker Daily video.

Learn More:

Huffington Post: Why Bavaria Rivals Texas in State Pride

The New York Times: Political Shifts in Bavaria, Land of Tradition, Could Have Wide Repercussions

The Telegraph: Why Bavaria is Germany's Scotland
Press Release

January 15, 2017 PRESS STATEMENT OF SEN. KIKO PANGILINAN

ON PLANNED WITHDRAWAL OF TRO PETITION RE P75-BILLION COCO LEVY FUNDS The passage of a coco levy law is supported by the administration; it is the second item in the Department of Agriculture's priority legislative agenda. The bill being deliberated in the Senate -- a product of years of consultation with farmers and government -- is the most durable and legally feasible solution. The next schedule of interpellation on the bill is on January 18, Wednesday. We invite coco farmers and other interested stakeholders to join us at the Senate for this. On the planned withdrawal of the TRO petitioner, the issue of lifting the TRO or not is still with the Supreme Court. The TRO issued by the Supreme Court specifically states that the TRO is continuing until further orders from the Supreme Court. In the absence of a Supreme Court order, Confed's unilateral withdrawal of its petition will not automatically lift the TRO. More importantly, the Supreme Court has repeatedly ruled that the disposition of the coco levy funds itself requires legislation. This insistence on a law is contained all throughout the high court's January 2012 decision, which itself is a result of decades of litigation. In that decision, the Supreme Court said that the Presidential Decrees that gave the Philippine Coconut Authority the power to distribute the funds is unconstitutional, as they were "clearly an undue delegation of legislative powers." This same decision on the disposition of the coco levy fund in a case between the Philippine government and Cocofed etal, the Supreme Court concluded that the 1. "the sequestered assets are ill-gotten wealth"; 2. "the transfer of the shares to the more than one million of supposed coconut farmers was tainted with illegality"; and 3. Philippine Coconut Authority's disposing of the bank shares "totally disregard(ed) the national policy for which the funds were created. This is clearly an undue delegation of legislative powers." This was also the premise for the TRO petition, which contended that Executive Orders 179 and 180 violate the Constitution thus, "President acted in excess of his constitutionally mandated powers. The creation and treatment of special funds is conferred by the Constitution not upon the President, but exclusively upon CONGRESS, as provided under Sec. 29, par (1) and (3), Art. VI of the 1987 Constitution which states: 'No money shall be paid out of the Treasury except in pursuance of an appropriation made by law.'"
The Ashby BART station in Berkeley was closed briefly Saturday because of what transit officials described as a major medical emergency.

At 4:40 p.m., a passenger reported seeing an adult man on the tracks, said BART spokesman Jim Allison. Emergency responders removed him from the track and transported him to Highland Hospital. The mans condition has not been released.
The tightrope that Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf is walking in the aftermath of the Ghost Ship warehouse fire became clear when Alameda County sheriffs deputies raided an abandoned East Oakland storefront where 28 people were living illegally  including a 5-year-old child who was being housed in a closet.

They had a makeshift bed built for the child on a shelf, next to exposed wiring and debris, said Sheriffs Office spokesman Sgt. Ray Kelly. They had all sorts of nooks and crannies where people were sleeping. Electricity had been rigged up from the outside, and there was open sewage and all sorts of blight.

It was a recipe for disaster, Kelly said.

As with the Ghost Ship  where 36 people died Dec. 2 when fire broke out during a non-permitted concert  the storefront on the 6600 block of Bancroft Avenue appears to have gone undetected by Oakland fire and building inspectors, despite being on a busy street.

A disaster like the Ghost Ship blaze would have prompted a crackdown on illegal housing in most cities, but Oakland isnt like most cities. Schaafs celebration of the art-warehouse culture was well-known before the fire, and shes been careful since Dec. 2 to reassure artists and musicians that they wont be chased out of town.

Courtesy Alameda County Sheriff's Department/Alameda County Sheriff's Department

Unlike an artists warehouse, no one is going to raise a cry over a raid and evictions at a vacant East Oakland storefront. Most people living there when deputies arrived last week were parolees with suspected ties to the Nortenos street gang. They were arrested on suspicion of gun and drug crimes and prostitution, and quickly found new homes in the Santa Rita jail. Building inspectors red-tagged the building.

But the raid does underscore the question of how  or whether  Oakland is looking for possible firetraps.

The Alameda County civil grand jury learned of one glaring issue when looking into the citys fire inspections in 2014: The database the Fire Department used to identify buildings that needed checking was based on active business licenses  not the county tax assessors property reports that list all taxable real estate, and describe the property as being residential, commercial or industrial.

Its uncertain if using the assessor records would have made a difference in the case of the Bancroft Avenue building, but it does mean that thousands of structures werent on the Fire Departments to-do list.

They made a major blunder, and put a system in place that will pretty much ensure missing people who want to fly under the radar, said one source who was involved with the grand jury report, but who wasnt authorized to speak for the record.

Schaafs executive order last week laying out conditions for turning illegal residential spaces into legal ones was notably silent on the question of who would be looking for buildings that lack permits.

You might think the Bancroft Avenue raid would have sounded alarms at City Hall that all was not well, more than a month after Ghost Ship. But despite the extensive media coverage the raid received, Schaaf told us Friday that she hadnt heard about it until we called.

We are going to continue the proactive inspection program that I started a year ago and continue to respond to the increased number of complaints that we have received in the wake of the Ghost Ship tragedy, Schaaf said.

Her spokeswoman, Erica Terry Derryck, later said, The situation on Bancroft Avenue where alleged gang members were reportedly using a vacant building to shield criminal activity is not at all the same as the circumstances surrounding the (Ghost Ship) fire ... and no one should be led to believe that they are.

Dee-fense: Tough week off the court for the Golden State Warriors  starting with the social media shredding of the teams hiring of former San Francisco Police Chief Greg Suhr as a security consultant.

Hard to say which was worse for the team: the uproar from police critics who blame Suhr for a rash of fatal SFPD shootings or the backlash from Suhr fans angered when the Warriors quickly pulled the plug on his contract.

And judging by the closed-door discussions that went on Friday over at the Oakland Alameda County Coliseum Authority, things may get a bit bumpier for the San Francisco-bound Warriors.

Were told the authority  joined by its newest member, former Oakland City Councilman Ignacio De La Fuente  was busy drawing up a new two-year lease extension for the team aimed at making it pay a price for its planned move.

According to sources in the know, the proposed contract calls for the team to be hit with a significant bump in rent, pay the Coliseum Authority a bigger slice of the Oracle Arena naming rights, and continue to pay down the buildings debt, to the tune of $7.5 million a year.

But the most important clause may be the one covering what to do about the $51 million in building debt once the Warriors head across the bay. As it stands, each side contends the other is responsible for paying it  but the proposed contract calls for the dispute to be settled through binding arbitration.

Warriors spokesman P.J. Johnston declined to discuss terms of the contract, but said given the teams successes, it undoubtedly will be a good two years for the authority.

San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call (415) 777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross
At Apple, Brian Latimer was in charge of protecting some of the companys deepest secrets.

After an engineer accidentally left a test version of the iPhone 4 at a bar in 2010, Latimer set up a system to track, recover and destroy prototypes of coming products. Later, he taught overseas suppliers how to shield production lines and compartmentalize information to avoid leaks.

Under Apples need to know philosophy, he did not even have access to much of the information he helped to secure. And like all Apple employees, he was discouraged from talking about his job with co-workers.

His current employer, Pearl Automation, could not be more different.

Founded in 2014 by three former senior managers from Apples iPod and iPhone groups, Pearl has tried to replicate what its leaders view as the best parts of Apples culture, like its fanatical dedication to quality and beautiful design. But the founders also consciously rejected some of the less appealing aspects of life at Apple, like its legendary secrecy and top-down management style.

The startup, which makes high-tech accessories for cars, holds weekly meetings with its entire staff. Managers brief them on coming products, company finances, technical problems and even the presentations made to the board.

Its very liberating to know whats going on, said Latimer, who left Apple in May to join Pearl. Everyone is contributing here, so everyone has a need to know.

Best of all, he is working with many of his old Apple colleagues.

Pearl, which is led by Bryson Gardner, has recruited heavily from Apple. More than 50 of Pearls 80 or so employees worked for the Cupertino tech giant at some point.

Although Apple pays very well, many of the Apple recruits had gotten bored cranking out incremental improvements to the iPhone and the Mac, said Brian Sander, Pearls co-founder and chief operating officer. They were vibrating. It was time for them to do something different, he said.

Pearls pitch was appealing: Make the roads safer by giving tens of millions of older autos the same high-tech safety features that the newest models have.

We want to help people to modernize their cars without having to buy a new one, Sander said.

The companys first product, a backup camera called RearVision, costs $500 and began shipping in September. Sales are off to a slow start. Although the camera has received rave reviews, it is much more expensive than competing models. The online retailers Amazon.com and Crutchfield temporarily cut the price to $400 in December.

Gardner declined to disclose specific sales figures but said Pearl had released the product too late to make it into physical retailers before the holidays. The company plans to expand distribution this year.

Like Apple, though, Pearl is playing the long game. Engineers are testing self-parking technology and other driver-assistance features for future products. The company has raised $50 million from prominent venture capital firms, including Accel, Shasta Ventures and Venrock, but Gardner said it needs to raise more money in 2017.

Pearls headquarters  in an office complex between vast redwood groves and Santa Cruzs beaches  are a world away from Apple headquarters in the busy technopolis of Silicon Valley.

The larger companys influence, however, is clear.

Apple, which has about 110,000 employees, breaks big projects down into smaller tasks. Those are assigned to small teams, and each sub-task is given to a specific employee, who must get it done  what Apple calls the directly responsible individual.

Pearl has copied this system. In leading small teams, thats very effective, Gardner said.

Pearl has also imported Apples disciplined approach to engineering. Deadlines are regularly set, and flaws are relentlessly investigated. Why did this fail? Gardner said. You really understand the full bounds of the problem.

Another Apple hallmark  elegant design  is also a core value. Were building something that has an Apple-quality fit and finish, Sander said.

Unlike competing models, the RearVision has two high-definition cameras to provide a better view, and one is tuned for night vision. The cameras peek out of a license-plate frame and are powered by a hidden solar panel. They transmit data wirelessly to an adapter that plugs into the cars diagnostic port near the steering wheel. The images are displayed on an app on the drivers smartphone. The setup allows the company to frequently update the software to fix bugs and add new features.

Chrissy Meyer, Pearls director of hardware product development and another Apple alumna, said that her team tried 19 variations of the license-plate frame, including testing various shades of black, with and without aluminum flakes in the paint. (They look really different in the sunlight, she said.)

Like Apple, Pearl dealt with dozens of suppliers, mostly in Asia, to obtain the 400 components in RearVision.

We were used to doing this with the iPhone and iPad, said Joseph Fisher, Pearls co-founder and head of engineering. Indeed, the Pearl team tapped many of the same suppliers they worked with at Apple.

But Pearls leaders also consciously rejected Apples view that only the top executives should have a view of the whole company.

Air Quality Tracker Check levels down to the neighborhood Ratings for the Bay Area and California, updated every 10 minutes

Apples longtime CEO, Steve Jobs, exercised control over the smallest details about products. When he stepped down in 2011, his power was distributed among more of the companys executives, but decisions remained highly centralized.

At Apple, there are a few people in the company that decide what needs to be done, and everyone else is executing, said Rishabh Bhargava, Pearls director of hardware, who formerly worked on the iPod and iPhone.

At Pearl, he said, the engineering team has a voice in coming products and features, as well as the product design.

Apple, for all of its success creating phones and computers, has spawned very few startups like Pearl in recent years, especially compared with peers like Google and Facebook.

Eswar Priyadarshan, who sold his mobile advertising company, Quattro Wireless, to Apple in 2010 and stayed for four years, said he learned about design and aesthetics during his time there. But he noted that Apples high compensation, focused product mission and top-down decision-making tended to dampen the risk-taking necessary to start a company.

Priyadarshan, who is chief executive of BotCentral, a six-person startup, compared Apple to a community of warrior monks. Warrior monks dont talk and do whatever is asked, he said.

Nest Labs, the most successful company to have been founded by Apple veterans in the last few years, was born in part because its founders, Tony Fadell and Matt Rogers, were told that Apple had no interest in their smart thermostat.

It was a great place to work: super-high growth, great product, lots of innovation, said Rogers, who remained at Nest after its sale to Alphabet for $3.2 billion in 2014. But Apple is very much, How do we ship our next iPhone for Christmas?

Nest has had its share of problems since the sale to Google, including management infighting, product delays and disappointing revenue growth before Fadells departure in June.

But Rogers, who worked with some of Pearls founders at Apple and serves on its board, said that the startup absorbed many of the positive lessons of Nest: Recruit top Apple people, control your hardware and software, establish a culture of openness and empowerment, and constantly upgrade the product.

Apple appears to hold no hard feelings toward Pearl, despite the startups steady recruitment of its workers.

Pearl Auto is a great example of the creativity and innovation driving the iPhone ecosystem, said Josh Rosenstock, an Apple spokesman. We wish them great success with their new product.
Barack Obama and Jerry Brown may be the two most popular Democratic politicians of the modern era. Both were elected twice by convincing margins and both maintain exceptionally solid public approval ratings. But it would be difficult to overstate the tremendous differences between the two men in terms of demeanor, personality, and their approaches to leadership, a contrast laid bare during their respective high-profile public appearances last week.

On Tuesday night, of course, Obama bid farewell to the nation he had led for eight years, employing the soaring rhetoric and grand aspirational language that has been the hallmark of his career on the national stage since addressing the Democratic National Convention in 2004.

Seven hours earlier, Brown met with California reporters to outline his budget proposal for the upcoming fiscal year. As his been the case throughout his decades of public office, Brown was circumspect, terse and somewhat morose.

America is a better, stronger place than it was when we started, Obama said.

The trajectory of revenue growth is declining, Brown said.

Yes we can, Obama said. Yes we did.

Its going to be a rough ride, Brown said.

To be fair, the two men had vastly different goals to achieve that day. Obama was offering a valedictory on his historic eight years in office. Brown had the much more prosaic task of explaining how he intended to balance revenues and expenditures. And voters tend to look to their presidents for inspiration, while they regard their governors as mechanics who are supposed to focus on the nuts-and-bolts of the public sector.

But the remarks that Obama and Brown offered were still accurate reflections of the way that they have approached their roles as public communicators over the course of their careers. Obama sees the glass as half full; Brown warns that it is half empty. Obama sees the doughnut; Brown sees the hole. Obama promises change you can believe in; Brown tells you get off my lawn.

Ever since returning to the governors office in 2011, Brown has clearly enjoyed playing the role of curmudgeon in chief. He sees a significant part of his job to rein in the natural exuberance of the Democrats in the Legislature, nowhere more noticeably than in his efforts to keep the states budget in balance by resisting their ongoing demands for increasing spending for a range of government programs. His budget proposal last week was no exception to this approach, slowing growth in public education spending and cutting programs for health care, social services and college tuition subsidies.

There were exceptions to Browns parsimony, as he continues to prioritize funding for high-speed rail, for the twin tunnels water conveyance system and climate-change programs. But for the most part, legislative Democrats reacted with the same impatient combination of deference and exasperation that teenagers display toward their parents when facing an early curfew. They know that they are largely dependent on Brown, but they want to spend more.

They may soon get their chance.

Next year, California voters will select Browns replacement. While the contrast between this governor and the next one will not be nearly as extreme as that between Obama and Donald Trump, it appears that the candidates jockeying to take Browns place are unlikely to be as tightfisted in their approach to budgeting and much more willing to accede to the spending demands of their partys base.

Some of those candidates  Gavin Newsom, John Chiang and Antonio Villaraigosa  can all point to examples of fiscal prudence and caution in their own political histories. But none of them comes to the table with Browns decades of trademark stinginess, and they will all be squeezed by Democratic constituencies throughout the campaign to commit to much more generous support for each groups budgetary priorities.

These pressures will be even more intense in the wake of last years election, when the populist uprising from the partys progressive base brought a septuagenarian socialist to within a hairs-breadth of the Democratic presidential nomination. At last weekends local party caucuses, supporters of Bernie Sanders and other like-minded activists won large majorities of the delegate elections for hundreds of seats on the state Democratic Central Committee. While voters, not delegates, will select Californias next governor, last weekends decisive progressive victories make it clear that fiscal rectitude might not be the ideal message for a candidate seeking the support of party volunteers, donors and organizers.

In the meantime, though, Brown remains in Sacramento for two last budget cycles, facing declining tax revenue, growing deficits and looming Trumpian reductions in federal assistance. This budget presentation was the first scene of Jerry Browns last act, in which he stands athwart history yelling stop at a time when no one else is inclined to do so.

Dan Schnur, who has worked on four presidential and three gubernatorial campaigns, teaches political communications at the University of Southern California and UC Berkeley. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters.
Its not easy being George Gascon. The powerful San Francisco Police Officers Association routinely attacks the city district attorney for undercutting the Police Department with his criminal justice reform policies. Meanwhile, community activists charge that the D.A.s political ambition has made him overly cautious when it comes to filing charges in highly charged police shooting cases and City Hall scandals.

Gascon has occupied the prosecutors office at the Hall of Justice for the past six years, an often unpleasant job made all the more so by the excrement that sometimes drizzles from the county jail bathrooms above. But nothing compares to the you-know-what-storm prompted by Gascon initiatives like the blue-ribbon panel on transparency, accountability and fairness that he created in 2015 to impose more oversight on the Police Department, after the uproar over San Francisco cops racist and homophobic text messages. Or the D.A.s leading role in last years losing Proposition 34 campaign, the anti-death-penalty measure that pitted Gascon against every police organization in the state.

If Gascon, who grew up in a poor Cuban immigrant family in Los Angeles County, was viewed as an outsider when he was hired as San Francisco police chief in 2009, he has become the Police Officers Associations public enemy No. 1 as D.A. Thats why he finds it ludicrous when progressives accuse him of bending to police pressure by not moving more swiftly on the controversial shooting cases. Listen to me for a minute, he told me heatedly as he sat in his office last week. Who has the POA targeted in every issue of their magazine? Actually I call it a rag, not a magazine. When I was running for a second term, every single person in my office got a letter from the POA, saying basically you should figure out a way to throw this guy out of office. They go out and make some bull video about me making some racial remarks. Does it appear that Ive been intimidated by the POA? Give me a break.

And yet, outside the Hall of Justice each Friday, a group of grieving mothers and their supporters demands a day of reckoning for the San Francisco police officers who took the lives of their children. Public Defender Jeff Adachi joined the protest on Jan. 5, telling the news media that Gascon has taken far too long to decide whether to bring charges against the cops involved in the fatal shootings of Amilcar Perez-Lopez, Mario Woods, Luis Gongora, Jessica Williams and others.

Its been almost two years since Perez-Lopez was killed, and over a year since Woods was shot  and yet these investigations just drag on and on, Adachi told me. If you and I had been filmed shooting Mario Woods the way the police did, we wouldve been prosecuted in a hot second. Theres a double standard at work here. D.A.s have to work closely with the police, so in general they dont want to charge officers because it undermines their relationship with the force.

At the beginning, I told the families of Amilcar and Mario that I was hopeful there would be charges, because the evidence was strong. But now it seems clear the district attorney is not going to charge these officers  so why string these families along?

Its easy for defense attorneys to criticize a prosecutors slow and deliberate pace, Gascon responded, but he has to meet a higher burden of proof when assembling a case. As a prosecutor youre building something brick by brick by brick. And that requires time and engineering. As a defender, you just take a sledgehammer and try to break everything up.

Gascon said that he lacked the staff to conduct proper investigations of police shooting cases until he received additional funding from the mayor last year. Previously, the prosecutors office was dependent on the Police Department itself to take the lead on these cases. But his new 14-member unit, which he is still assembling, now gives him the expertise to conduct independent investigations, the D.A. said.

Gascon is finally able to reveal when he will make a decision on the four most controversial deadly force cases. In the case of Perez-Lopez, he said, the decision will come sometime before the end of February  and I think (the decision about) Mario Woods will come shortly after that. Im about 90 percent sure that Woods, Williams and Lopez-Perez will all be completed before the summer. Gongora will be a little longer because we only have so much bandwidth.

Gascon said he knows that no matter what decision I make, I will have 50 percent of the people against me. Like I said, its not easy being George Gascon.

But its even harder being a mother like Gwen Woods. Gascon recently agreed to sit down and speak with the mother of Mario Woods, the 26-year-old man who was shot more than 20 times as he was walking away from the half-dozen cops who surrounded him. Every person whos gone through what I have has the right to look the man in the authority in the eye, she told me. I asked him, Did you watch the video? Do you think it was right what they did to my son? And he said, No, it was wrong.

Gascon confirmed her account. I told her no, I dont think it was right. I think the shooting should not have occurred. But what I also told the mom is that theres a difference between whether I think something should have occurred or not and whether its a legally prosecutable case.

And so Gascon will soon be taking positions on cases so politically and emotionally charged that his decisions could tear apart the city. He knows it confers a terrible responsibility on him. If he were as politically calculating as his critics allege he is, said the D.A., hes an idiot for taking on this job.

But Gascons woes are not Gwen Woods concern. She thinks only of finding some measure of justice for her late son. It was just Mario and me. He was my baby, the reason I got up in the morning to go to work. They took that all away when they said his life wasnt worth living.

One day Mario asked me, What do you think of this guy Stalin. He asked those kind of questions all the time; he was a funny kid. He told me, I read where Stalin said if a man wasnt contributing to society then he deserved to die. And I said, Oh, Mario, I dont believe that. Nobody has the right to tell you that. God has a plan for everyone. He looked at me and said, I agree, Mom.

I keep thinking of that conversation. It was so easy for the police to decide that he should die that day.

San Francisco has become such a cold and callous city, she said  particularly for young African Americans like her son and for Latinos, even if they were born here. If you cant keep up, get out of the way. Mario wasnt perfect, she said, but he deserved his day in court. You shouldnt be judged and executed on a street corner.

San Francisco Chronicle columnist David Talbot appears Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. Email: dtalbot@sfchronicle.com
There is a lot of uncertainty about the future of Obamacare, with pledges by the president-elect and congressional Republicans to repeal it immediately. At this point, we dont know what the outcome will be but we do know that our San Francisco values have not changed.

The benefits of expanding health care insurance touch our entire community. Thousands more San Franciscans now have a primary care doctor, access to preventive care and to San Franciscos high-quality providers and hospitals. Data show improvements since passage of the Affordable Care Act:

Fewer San Franciscans are delaying needed care.

More San Franciscans assess their own health as good or better.

Health care reform is an investment in our friends, neighbors and families that is consistent with San Franciscos history and commitment to everyone who lives here.

The expansion of Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act created a pathway for an additional 4 million of Californias lowest income residents to access health insurance through Californias Medicaid program, known as Medi-Cal. San Franciscos Human Services Agency enrolled an additional 95,000 residents, bringing our Medi-Cal membership to 200,000, which means that about a quarter of San Franciscans are now covered by Medi-Cal. We are a healthier city as a result.

Statewide, another 1.4 million Californians have purchased insurance through our Covered California health exchange marketplace, including 40,000 San Franciscans. The vast majority who enroll through the exchange qualify for federal financial help to pay their health insurance premiums and receive subsidies to reduce deductibles.

San Francisco is also helping more people afford Covered California, when the federal individual subsidies are not enough.

Today, the federal cost of insuring low-income Californians translates to a monthly amount of $330 per person. It is difficult to comprehend how anyone could look at this number and conclude that it represents out-of-control costs, as some have characterized the Affordable Care Act. To the contrary, these costs seem quite reasonable compared with expenses local and state government bore without the Affordable Care Act for medical interventions and treatment required when people go without regular checkups and chronic disease management. Not to mention the human suffering that would result if the new health coverage were withdrawn.

No congressional proposals to replace Obamacare will improve our health care system if they threaten to have our most vulnerable citizens revert to going without insurance, and doing without routine care in order to pay for food, housing and other basic needs.

People have come to depend on these programs for affordable health services, including primary and emergency care, mental health treatment and dental care. Our Department of Public Healths hospitals and community clinics have been bolstered by the Affordable Care Acts funding to the tune of $125 million per year to increase capacity and improve quality.

The good news is: Health reform worked in California. The Affordable Care Act has made our city healthier and strengthened our social safety net. We are dedicated to maintaining those gains.

Barbara Garcia is the director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health. Trent Rhorer is the executive director of the San Francisco Human Services Agency. To comment, submit your letter to the editor at http://bit.ly/SFChronicleletters.

What you can do

Participate: If you are eligible for Medi-Cal, enroll. If you are a Covered California customer, enrollment for 2017 is open until Jan. 31.

Take care of yourself: Make a primary care appointment.
What youll see: One of the great winter excursions can be crowned with your choice of more than a dozen parks along the way. You start at the southern end of San Francisco Bay and in a span of 38 miles cross through the Peninsula foothills to Skyline Boulevard and then west through redwoods to the coast at Pescadero State Beach.

The route: Much of the route is slow, narrow, curvy and popular with cyclists. Plan to drive slowly, take in the sights and give cyclists plenty of space.

Recreational options

Baylands through foothills to Skyline: Palo Alto Baylands Nature Preserve features trails through the largest remaining bay wetlands. Foothills Park is for Palo Alto residents only with a great trail to Los Trancos Creek. Ahead on the right, Los Trancos Preserve is split by the San Andreas Fault. Just across the road on the left, Monte Bello is a huge preserve that spans from the wooded headwaters of Stevens Creek up to Black Mountain with its spectacular views.

Skyline west through redwoods: From the parking lot at Skyline Ridge Open Space Preserve, walk through the tunnel to Alpine Pond. Ahead on the right, the new parking area for the trail to Mindego Hill leads to the most remote areas of Russian Ridge Open Space Preserve. A signed left turn is the spur road to Portola Redwoods State Park. Heritage Grove and its short loop trail through old-growth redwoods are on the left. A left turn on Pescadero Creek Road leads you past entrances to Sam McDonald, Pescadero Creek and Memorial county parks.

Coast: On your right, access to Pescadero Marsh features a gorgeous trail to the lower estuary and lagoons along Pescadero Creek. Then just across the highway, you arrive at Pescadero Beach and its rock outcrops, sandy coves and often-gorgeous sunsets.

Cost: Admission is free at Baylands and Midpeninsula Open Space preserves; $6 at San Mateo County parks; $8 at Pescadero State Beach; $10 at Portola Redwoods.

Contacts, east to west: Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center, (650) 329-2506, www.cityofpaloalto.org; Midpeninsula Open Space District, (650) 691-1200, www.openspace.org; San Mateo County Department of Parks, (650) 363-4020, http://parks.smcgov.org; Portola Redwoods State Park, (650) 948-9098, www.parks.ca.gov; Pescadero State Beach, c/o Half Moon Bay, (650) 726-8819, www.parks.ca.gov.

How to get there

To starting point: Take Highway 101 to Palo Alto and the exit for Embarcadero Road/Oregon Expressway. Take that exit to Embarcadero Road east/airport and drive 1.2 miles to a stop sign (Palo Alto Airport on the left). Turn left and drive 0.5 of a mile to Lucy Evans Baylands Nature Interpretive Center; parking is on the right, nature trails on the left.

South Bay to Breakers: From the Baylands Nature Center, take Embarcadero Road west for 0.5 of a mile to a stop sign. Turn right and go 1 mile, across the overpass to a ramp on the right for Oregon Expressway/Highway 101 south. Take that ramp, curve to the right for 0.2 of a mile to the fork and bear right for Oregon Expressway. Merge onto Oregon Expressway and drive west through Palo Alto for 14.2 miles to Skyline Boulevard. Continue straight onto Alpine Road and go 8.4 miles (narrow, twisty) to Redwood Triangle and Pescadero Creek Road. Turn left on Pescadero Creek Road and drive 18 miles (narrow, twisty through Loma Mar) to Highway 1. Continue across the highway to Pescadero State Beach.

Distance: The South Bay to Breakers drive is 38 miles.

 Tom Stienstra
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On the heels of the landmark re-opening of SFMOMA and the inauguration of the Minnesota Street Project, the robust photography community in the Bay Area has long lamented the lack of a festival to match their fervor. PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco hopes to change that.

PHOTOFAIRS, presented by the World Photography Organisation, will take place January 27-29 at the Fort Mason Festival Pavilion. The fair will present over 300 pieces of work, with a focus on some of the foremost international galleries M97 Gallery in Shanghai, Photo12 Galeries in Paris/LA, Danziger Gallery in New York  and the essential photographic talent of the West Coast.

San Francisco is a major photo capital, but ironically, a lot of people dont realize this, said PHOTOFAIRS Artistic Director Alexander Montague-Sparey.

As to why the city currently lacks a fair devoted solely to photography  we already have the renowned Art Market, also held at Fort Mason, and the SF Art Book Fair  Montague-Sparey explains that international curators have been hesitant to touch down on the West Coast.

After the failure of Paris Photo LA, I think a lot of people in the business were scared to come here, he said, But no fair with solely a local focus will stand the test of time.

Bay Area artists are more in need of community and financial support than ever; therefore, some may be quick to critique PHOTOFAIRS international emphasis. Nonetheless, London-based Montague-Sparey is quick to emphasize that the fair will be firmly grounded within its own time and place.

San Francisco is the most entrepreneurial city in the world, so photography  as a medium so linked to modernity  is truly a perfect fit for the community, he said.

The fairs curation will also focus on living artists, on giving those who really need the exposure a platform for their work to be seen, said Sarah Shepard, Fair Manager. She stresses that many of the featured artists are younger than 40-years-old and have never exhibited in San Francisco. Their works will be displayed alongside the likes of Irving Penn, Danny Lyon, Edward Weston, and Herbert List.

While the periphery of the fair provides a platform for traditional formats of photography, the center section features a curated exhibition of works that stray from traditional chromogenic and silver formats. Instead, Insights will highlight refreshing approaches and contemporary practices.

Montague-Sparey hopes to see collectors use this section as a platform to acquire works they would not usually have access to on their domestic soil.

Art markets in San Francisco can sometimes feel like see-and-be-seen events, with trendy folk in designer glasses waxing poetic about this sculpture or that installation. Shepard believes that PHOTOFAIRS will feel more accessible to the unversed and curious.

When people see art, they want to understand it and they want to be educated about it, she said. Photography is often more accessible than other art forms. The price points of are often equally accessible for novice collectors.

A bevy of educational events will punctuate the three-day fair, including Conversations, which will feature discussions on everything from photobooks to the American social landscape and creative process. The festival venue is only a slice of the action, as events will take place throughout the city at partner spaces, like the de Young, SFMOMA, Minnesota Street Project, and the Asian Art Museum.

For more seasoned photography aficionados or those looking for an intensive crash course in the medium, the VIP program features exclusive access to Pier 24; behind-the-scenes views of the Ed Ruscha Archive and Danny Lyon exhibition at the De Young; and artist studio visits with Sean McFarland, Erica Deeman, and Klea McKenna at Minnesota Street Project.

And for those of whose tastes lie less on the art spectrum and more on the culinary, Four Barrel is taking care of the coffee, while Stones Throw will be serving its California-inspired cuisine.

While locals and critics are unsure what the inaugural PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco will have in store for them, the event promises to be a spectacle and educational opportunity for both seasoned collectors and the photographically curious. According to Shepard, this is the overarching goal: to foster a safe meeting place for the exchange of art and ideas on the stunning San Franciscan waterfront.

Fort Mason reminds you where you are, makes you consider the history of art in this city, said Shepard. Its also a great place to take photos for yourself.

PHOTOFAIRS | San Francisco takes place January 27-29 at the Fort Mason Center for Arts & Culture. Tickets are $12-15 and available for purchase here.





Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.


WASHINGTON  Protesters gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S., denouncing President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.

A standing-room-only crowd packed into a historic African American church in downtown Washington for one of dozens of rallies around the nation.

We are not going to allow Donald Trump to bury the Statue of Liberty, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told participants. We are a nation for all people, regardless of religion, regardless of background, regardless of who you love.

In Chicago, more than 1,000 people poured into a teachers union hall to support immigrant rights and implore each other to fight for those rights against what they fear will be a hostile Trump administration.

Ron Taylor, executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, told the audience there, Regardless of what happens in the coming days we know that good will conquer evil and we want to say to each and every one of you, you are not alone.

The protests mark the latest chapter in a movement that has evolved since 2006, when more than a million people took to the streets to protest a Republican-backed immigration bill that would have made it a crime to be in the country illegally.

The crowds this weekend at rallies or cultural events in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose and elsewhere were expected to be nowhere near as big as then. Yet the line to enter Metropolitan AME Church in Washington stretched nearly a city block. People attending included immigrants who lack permission to be in the country and their relatives and supporters. Also present were elected officials and clergy.

Participants carried signs with messages including Resist Trumps Hate and Tu, Yo, Todos Somos America, which translates to You, me, we all are America.

I stand here because I have nothing to apologize for, said Max Kim, 19, who was brought to the U.S. from South Korea when he was 6 and lacks legal permission to stay in the country.

Saturdays events took place as thousands were expected at a We Shall Not Be Moved rally in Washington ahead of Mondays Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Ben Nuckols is an Associated Press writer.
1 Police funeral: An Orlando police sergeant who was gunned down allegedly by a wanted fugitive was remembered Saturday at her funeral service for mentoring youth and her dedication to the community she grew up in. Hundreds of law officers and central Florida residents gathered to honor Master Sgt. Debra Clayton, who authorities say was fatally shot Monday by Markeith Loyd, a fugitive who is wanted for the killing of his pregnant ex-girlfriend. Hundreds of officers have been searching for him, and a $100,000 reward is being offered for information that leads to his arrest.

2 Moodys settlement: Moodys Corp. of New York City has agreed to pay almost $864 million to settle federal and state claims that it gave inflated ratings to risky mortgage investments in the years leading up to the financial crisis. The deal announced Friday was struck among the rating agency, the Justice Department and the attorneys general for 21 states, including California, and the District of Columbia. It calls for $437.5 million to go to the Justice Department and $426.3 million to be divided among the states.
LOS ANGELES  A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Saturday and placed a constellation of satellites in orbit, marking the companys first launch since a fireball engulfed a similar rocket on a Florida launch pad more than four months ago.

The two-stage rocket lifted off from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:54 a.m. carrying a payload for Iridium Communications Inc., which is replacing its entire global network with 70 next-generation satellites. The satellites were deployed about an hour after launch.

About nine minutes after the rocket blasted off, to cheers from the control room, its jettisoned first stage landed upright on a droneship in the Pacific Ocean south of Vandenberg  part of Spacexs effort to make boosters reusable. The company has succeeded six times previously with landings on a barge or ashore.

The return to flight is an important step for SpaceX, billionaire Elon Musks Hawthorne (Los Angeles County) company that has about 70 launches in line, worth more than $10 billion. In addition to commercial launches, SpaceX ferries supplies to the International Space Station and is developing a capsule capable of carrying astronauts to the station.

SpaceX officials say they identified all possible causes of the Sept. 1 accident during prelaunch testing at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida and took corrective action.

The accident destroyed the rocket and its payload  a satellite that Facebook wanted to use to spread internet access in Africa  and grounded the Falcon 9 program as an investigation took place.

SpaceX announced this month that investigators concluded the accident involved a failure of one of three helium tanks inside the rockets second-stage liquid oxygen tank. The investigation involved the Air Force, NASA, the National Transportation Safety Board and the Federal Aviation Administration, which issued a license for the launch.

The September accident was the second time a Falcon 9 was destroyed. In June 2015, a Falcon loaded with space station supplies disintegrated shortly after liftoff. SpaceX determined that a support strut broke.

John Antczak is an Associated Press writer.
NEW YORK  Donald Trump tore into civil rights legend John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaires White House victory, intensifying a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and as the first African American president prepares to leave office.

Trump tweeted Saturday that Rep. Lewis, D-Ga., should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.

The incoming president added: All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad!

Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, suffered a skull fracture during the march in Selma, Ala., more than a half century ago and has devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African Americans view Trumps inauguration compared with Barack Obamas eight years ago.

It also demonstrated that no one is untouchable for scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism. Trump has found political success even while attacking widely lauded figures before and after the campaign  a prisoner of war, parents of a slain U.S. soldier, a beauty queen and now a civil rights icon.

Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said Friday that he will not attend Trumps swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on Friday. It will mark the first time he skipped an inauguration since joining Congress three decades ago.

You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. Its going to be very difficult. I dont see this president-elect as a legitimate president, Lewis said in an interview with NBCs Meet the Press set to air Sunday. I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton.

Lewis spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Trump and said the lawmakers opinion speaks for itself.

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Trump win. After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats. But he also emphasized that there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election.

Lewis Democratic colleagues quickly came to his defense Saturday.

Let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed, tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-San Francisco.

Steve Peoples is an Associated Press writer.
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Mayor Ed Lee has officially condemned Trump's proposed Muslim registry.

Following in the footsteps of NYC's mayor, Lee vowed that San Francisco would never partake of such a registry.

"I am totally, 100 percent opposed to any registry that identifies anyone because of their religion or race," Lee said during a press conference held at the Islamic Society of San Francisco on Friday night. He went on to compare the idea to Japanese internment camps and the Chinese Exclusion Act.

During the same conference, Lee also announced a "multi-pronged effort for the continued support of immigration legal services."

Lee had previously dedicated $3.8 million to support the needs of San Francisco's robust immigrant community, and allocated an additional $1.5 million to expand immigrant legal and social services following the election of Donald Trump.

The mayor has also pledged to donate close to $14 million to immigrant-related causes in the next two years, and will increase that number if needed.

The mayor was joined by Supervisor Malia Cohen who has been outspoken in her disgust with Trump's registry proposal.

"Our country made a horrendous mistake with the internment of Japanese Americans during World War II and we have no interest in participating in systems that would repeat that history," she said.

Lee's statements come just days after Rex Tillerson's confirmation hearing. When asked what he thought of the Muslim registry idea, Trump's pick for Secretary of State said, "I would need to have a lot more information over how such an approach would be constructed."

Tillerson said he does not support Trump's proposed ban on Muslims entering the country.

Read Michelle Robertsons latest stories and send her news tips at mrobertson@sfchronicle.com.
Two men were rescued early Saturday morning from the cliff below Cliff House. One man was in the water, while his friend was a few feet above clutching to the rock face.

The catch? Both men were naked.
A sixth grade science and math teacher from Richmond was convicted Thursday of molesting over a dozen victims for several years, according to the Contra Costa County District Attorney's Office.

Prosecutors said Ronald Guinto, 32, faces life in prison with the possibility of parole when he is sentenced on March 24 in Martinez.

He was found guilty on 87 of the 90 counts he was charged with, including forcible child molestation, witness dissuasion and kidnapping, according to prosecutors.

Richmond Police Department/Courtesy

In 2002, Guinto lured his first victim, a then 12-year-old boy, through an AOL chat room to sneak out of his home. Prosecutors said Guinto proceeded to molest the boy on multiple occasions in Santa Clara and Solano counties.

The defendant was convicted of 29 counts of child molestation and kidnapping for acts committed with this victim alone, prosecutors said.

Between 2008 and 2009, Guinto participated as a camp counselor for summer camps in San Jose, where he molested multiple victims. Additionally, prosecutors said Guinto kidnapped and molested another 12-year-old boy from a church.

More for you Richmond teacher was hired during molest probe

Prosecutors said in 2009, as part of a project with his Master's Program at Tuoro University, Guinto opened "Camp Epic" - a camp for kids to attend amusement parks, camp outdoors and go on other overnight trips.

Upon graduation from Tuoro in 2012 he began teaching at Making Waves Academy.

According to prosecutors, parents allowed their children to join "Camp Epic," and go with Guinto on the overnight trips alone.

Prosecutors said while on the trips, Guinto would show the children pornography, encourage sexual conversations amongst campers and molest the children in their tents.

During his brief employment with Making Waves Academy from 2012 to 2013, he molested several children in multiple counties in Northern California, in addition to his own home.

In a statement, Deputy District Attorney Alison Chandler praised the jury for their guilty verdict, and called the perseverance and courage by the victims inspiring.

Chandler said she was proud of the victims, and that justice had been served.
The Lower East Side, to paraphrase the old cliche, was a nice place to visit, but you wouldnt want to stay there.

Sure, you came down to touch base with New York Citys roots at the Tenement Museum. Maybe you stopped into Katzs (scene of Ill have what shes having) for a pastrami sandwich and an egg cream. But then you hightailed it back to your uptown hotel  or if you were a bit more edgy, over to Soho. Because unless it was a weekend and you were a twentysomething looking to get as drunk as possible, there was no reason to linger on the Lower East Side.

Until now, possibly. The Lower East Side has sprouted a slew of new hotels  both posh and hipster-y  as well as a whole crop of fabulous restaurants youd be more than happy to eat in sober. Even the bars have gone upscale. Add to the mix the always innovative New Museum and the newly relocated International Center for Photography catercorner from it on Bowery.

It is enough? Is there enough justification to hang below Houston and east of Bowery  even if its Tuesday and youre old enough to have seen When Harry Met Sally in a movie theater? Is it possible that suddenly the neighborhood where Meg Ryan demonstrated faking an orgasm has become an exciting, real destination in itself?

An appealing trait of the Lower East Side is that its still a neighborhood. Stop by Orchard early in the day, and you might catch one of the remaining tailors sweeping his steps, morning sun shining on his yarmulke. Walk Canal at dusk, and youll be sideswiped by housewives swinging pink plastic shopping bags dripping crab water.

Its also an old neighborhood, which makes visiting the Lower East Sides bars and restaurants feel like a form of time travel to some misty Prohibition year. Take Sel Rrose, a glamorously decayed bar/restaurant with distressed concrete walls and gunmetal stools. At Sel Rrose, its all about the oysters  which you order yourself on a pad with a small pencil  and the mixology.

Sel Rroses white marble bar is jammed with mason jars filled with sage leaves and blackberries, candied ginger and red peppercorns  destined for the fabulously decorative (and potent) cocktails shaken up by its lush-bearded bartenders.

If its a more cozy atmosphere youre after, try Hill & Dale. The name refers to the hill-and-dale process  the term for cutting vertical grooves into a phonograph record or wax cylinder  one of the earliest methods of audio recording. This below-the-sidewalk bar has a 1920s speakeasy feel to it.

Its dim and wainscoted, decorated with old gramophones and wax cylinders. Hill & Dales signature drink  which is hot pink and served with a flower floating in it  is called the Floozy, and it takes zero imagination to picture a Jazz Age flapper downing it in the brick-walled back room.

If beer is more your thing, your best best is Top Hops  especially if you care about freshness and youre kind of a clean freak. At Top Hops, the enormous blackboard behind the bar is chalked with each beers name, the brewer, its origin, style, date tapped, alcohol by volume, and the date the draft line was cleaned. Kind of makes you never want to drink beer anywhere else. Top Hops also keeps pieces of soft Brooklyn-made pretzels on the bar for noshing, which definitely makes me not want to drink beer anywhere else.

The restaurant Louie and Chan, with one foot in Chinatown and one on the Lower East Side, is so straight out of the early 1900s with its thin-planked wood floors, porcelain light fixtures, and dark brown walls, the three young Millennial women I once saw texting at the bar looked as if theyd been dropped from another planet, not just another era.

Louie and Chan doesnt try to do anything inventive with their food. They serve old-school Italian classics  cacio e pepe, burrata e prosciutto. But they do it so reliably, who needs invention?

If somebody spirited your favorite northern Italian restaurant into a space that could best be described as Haute Tenement, youd have Bacaro. Their main dining room is in the (slightly musty-smelling) basement, beneath exposed water pipes and a tin ceiling.

But I prefer the smaller upstairs bar, with big windows that in warm weather are opened to the street. Bacaros menu includes green-bean-and-anchovy salad, pasta in squid ink, and the most perfect chicken Milanese outside of Milan. And you have to love a restaurant that gives you your own bottle of olive oil for dipping your bread.

Fried chicken and Champagne are two things I am 100 percent behind  which makes Birds and Bubbles my new favorite restaurant on the Lower East Side. This narrow, slightly subterranean space is a bit like eating in a wine cellar. But who cares when theyre pouring you Champagne (of every price range) and serving you teeth-crackingly crisp fried chicken. If you must eat something else, the menu does feature other Southern favorites like tomato pie (highly recommended).

Ivan Ramen is the Lower East Side outpost of the self-described Jewish kid from Long Island who went to Tokyo and became a Japanese god of noodles. While they take the ramen seriously at Ivan Ramen, thats about all they take seriously  which seems appropriate when youre slurping your food. The mural of soup slurpers above the counter includes a kid in a Batman mask, a Japanese man in an Indiana Jones hat and the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

In NYC, even the ice cream joints get their 15 minutes of fame  and Morgensterns deserves at least that much. Last time I visited this bright-blue storefront, a photographer was angling his camera over their New God Flow sundae as if it were Gisele Bundchen. I judge an ice cream shop by its vanilla  because you cant tart up vanilla. Morgensterns has six versions. I would vouch for every one.

Janis Cooke Newman/Special to The Chronicle

If you want a sense of Bluestockings Books, lets just say it has an uncommon number of volumes by Noam Chomsky. Also, there are three shelves devoted to anarchism. And the fiction section is divided into post-Colonial fiction, feminist fiction and general fiction  with the latter possessing the smallest number of books. It is a terrifically interesting place to hang out.

Edith Machinist is one of the best vintage clothing stores I have ever shopped in. No mildewy smell. Stylish vintage from the 1930s to the 1980s. Dressing rooms big enough to turn around in.

Moo Shoes is out to prove it is possible to be vegan and not look as if you stepped off the Berkeley campus circa 1973. Its animal-friendly collection of bags and shoes for men and women is fashionable enough for even the most stylish leather-lover. And for those who prefer to wear their convictions on their chests, theres a full array of Its Not You, Its Meat outerwear.

If youre Airbnb-ing it on the Lower East Side, youll want to visit the Essex Street Market. This indoor mall of Chino-Latino-accented food stalls has been around for decades, but recently, a few gourmet vendors  such as Saxelby Cheesemongers  have joined the ranks. If youre feeling particularly adventurous, stop into Kenny Shopsins idiosyncratic diner, located in the market. Shopsin is legendarily cranky, although Ive never had any trouble from him.

Just behave yourself and dont be a prima donna. Good advice no matter what neighborhood youre staying in.

Janis Cooke Newman is a San Francisco freelance writer and author. Email: travel@sfchronicle.com

If you go

Where to stay

Sixty Lower East Side: 190 Allen St., (212) 460-5300; www.sixtyhotels.com/lower-east-side/. This stylish hotel has floor-to-ceiling windows in its loft-like rooms  and a pool. Plus theres an on-site spa for when the whole NYC vibe becomes a bit too much. Rooms begin at $214.

The Ludlow: 180 Ludlow St., (212) 432-1818, www.ludlowhotel.com. This small, boutique-y hotel with its beamed ceilings and brick walls is hipster heaven. Rooms begin at $175.

Where to eat

Louie and Chan: 303 Broome St. (212) 837-2816, www.louieandchan.com

Bacaro: 136 Division St., (212) 941-5060, www.bacaronyc.com

Birds and Bubbles: 100B Forsyth St., (646) 368-9240, www.birdsandbubbles.com

Ivan Ramen: 25 Clinton St., (646) 678-3859, www.ivanramen.com/en/ivan-ramen-new-york

Shopsins: 120 Essex St., (917) 907-4506, www.shopsins.com

Morgensterns: 2 Rivington St., (212) 209-7684, www.morgensternsnyc.com

Where to drink

Sel Rrose: 1 Delancey St., (212) 226-2510, www.selrrose.com

Hill & Dale: 115 Allen St., (212) 420-1115, www.hillanddalenyc.com

Top Hops: 94 Orchard St., 212-254-4677, www.tophops.com

Where to shop

Bluestockings Books: 172 Allen St., (212) 777-6028, www.bluestockings.com

Edith Machinist: 104 Rivington St., (212) 979-9992, www.edithmachinist.com

Moo Shoes: 78 Orchard St., (212) 254-6512, www.mooshoes.com

Essex Street Market: 120 Essex St., (212) 312-3603, www.essexstreetmarket.com

What to do

New Museum: 235 Bowery, (212) 219-1222, www.newmuseum.org

International Center for Photography: 250 Bowery, (212) 857-0000, www.icp.org

More information

NYC Go: www.nycgo.com/boroughs-neighborhoods/manhattan/lower-east-side
When the Vikings raided the Celtic-Christian settlements of Ireland in the eighth and ninth centuries, they came the way of all invaders: by sea. These days, most of us fly in with a birds-eye view, but we can absorb the past and see the city from a new perspective if we take to the water. And lucky for us, there are some easy ways to do that. On a brief visit, the best option is to rent a kayak near the mouth of the River Liffey and paddle through the heart of Dublin. Follow that up with a canal walk, then finish your day with, what else, a drink in a pub and some traditional Irish music.

 Larry Habegger, travel@sfchronicle.com

Exploring

the city

MORNING

Start the day with breakfast at KC Peaches on Nassau Street near Trinity College. The first whole foods cafe in Dublin (no additives, preservatives, artificial flavors or colors), they serve every sort or morning eats, including a full Irish breakfast if youre up for it. Then take a 20-minute walk or hop a taxi to City Kayaking on the Liffeys north bank at Commons Street on North Wall Quay. The Liffey cuts through the heart of Dublin and marks the Viking origins of the city. City Kayaking will guide you on a two-hour paddle upstream and back, under many of Dublins famous bridges, passing such landmarks as the Custom House, Four Courts and St. Pauls Church.

MIDDAY

City Kayakings pier sits right next to the Jeanie Johnston tall ship, so if youre not ravenous after your kayaking, take a quick tour before heading for lunch just a short walk past the Samuel Beckett Bridge (the Irish Harp Bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava). Chow down at the Boat Bar & Bistro Kitchen on the Cill Airne, a restored tender that once served passenger liners when they stopped in Cork on the run between New York and England. Since youre on the water, have some seafood chowder or fillet of sea trout.

AFTERNOON

From the Cill Airne, its a short walk across the Beckett Bridge to the Grand Canal Basin and Ringsend, where the Grand Canal begins its 81-mile course to the River Shannon in Irelands west. Take a walk along this leafy waterway, passing locks that spill feathery waterfalls into pools and soften the sounds of the busy city around you. Take a moment to share a bench with Patrick Kavenagh (1904-67), Irish poet, who will be waiting for you in repose as a bronze sculpture. If you listen carefully, you might hear him whispering some verse. Then continue walking until the bridge at Leeson Street and look to your left for the Joe Byrne Bets Here building, and wonder why its important to know where Joe Byrne bets. If youre in a good rhythm, continue for a few more locks before returning to Leeson Street and heading back toward the Liffey, through St. Stephens Green, Dublins signature city-center park. Drop into the historic Shelbourne hotel for a well-deserved pint at the No. 27 Bar & Lounge or afternoon tea in Lord Mayors Lounge.

NIGHT

For dinner, make your way just a few blocks from the Shelbourne to Farm Restaurant on Dawson Street near Trinity College. Farm is family-owned and operated and serves locally sourced, mostly organic produce in its simple European dishes. Have some comfort food (cottage pie or fish pie) or roast pork or steaks. They have veggie and vegan dishes as well. After dinner, if youve been moving fast, catch a play at the Gate, Abbey or Gaiety theaters, but be sure to save time and energy for a stop at ODonoghues Pub on Merrion Row. Its just a few blocks from Farm, a classic local pub where youre almost certain to find a music session under way after 9 p.m., sometimes two of them in separate rooms. Youre not on the water here, but the music will make you feel like youre floating, and they do mix water with grain to create the best way to close out your night: downing a pint of Guinness.

If you go

City Kayaking: Dublin City Moorings, 1 North Wall Quay, (85) 866-7787, www.citykayaking.com. Rentals: $31

KC Peaches: 27-29 Nassau St., (01) 633-6872, www.kcpeaches.com/nassau-st-cafe.html. Moderate prices. Full Irish breakfast $10.

Cill Airne Boat Bar & Bistro Kitchen: Quay 16, North Wall Quay, (01) 817-8760, www.mvcillairne.com. Entrees $12-$27.

Farm Restaurant: 3 Dawson St., (01) 671-8654, www.thefarmfood.ie. Set menu $40, a la carte entrees $20-25. Early-bird menu saves you 25 percent.

ODonoghues Pub: 15 Merrion Row, (01) 660-7194, www.odonoghues.ie.

Shelbourne Dublin: 27 St. Stephens Green, (01) 663-4500, www.marriott.com/hotels/travel/dubbr-the-shelbourne-dublin-a-renaissance-hotel.

Abbey Hostel: OConnell Bridge, 29 Bachelors Walk, (01) 878-0700, www.abbey-court.com.

Visit Dublin: www.visitdublin.com
PARIS  It sounds far-fetched at best: holding a Mideast peace conference without Israelis, Palestinians or the incoming U.S. government.

But French organizers say thats the whole point. They want Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to see that most of the world wants a two-state solution and is fed up with decades of conflict.

With chances for a Mideast peace deal lower than in years  perhaps a generation  French President Francois Hollande figures theres nothing to lose.

French diplomats fear Trump will unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and potentially moving the U.S. Embassy to contested Jerusalem.

More than 70 foreign ministers and other top envoys are gathering Sunday in Paris to urge the establishment of a Palestinian state.

Netanyahu says the conference is rigged against Israel and declined an invitation to a special meeting afterward. Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris has been postponed.

Even organizers know its symbolic. Its aimed at presenting Trump with a collective international push for peace once he takes office Friday.

For Obamas outgoing government, Sundays meeting marks the bitter, disappointing end of eight years of failed Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy. Days before leaving office, Secretary of State John Kerry will headline the Paris event  yet hes participating only to ensure that Americas interest in a two-state solution is preserved.

According to a draft statement obtained by the Associated Press, the conference will urge Israel and the Palestinians to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution. It also will affirm that the international community will not recognize changes to Israels pre-1967 lines without agreement by both sides.

Hollandes government has been trying for years to revive peace-making, pointing to diplomatic successes like the 2015 Paris climate agreement, its improved relations with Israel over the past decade and hard line against Israeli rivals Iran and Syria.

But with Netanyahu snubbing the conference and Trumps administration reserved about it, according to a French diplomat, Sundays gathering looks increasingly like an effort to isolate Israel, not entice it to the negotiating table.

Angela Charlton is an Associated Press writer.
BEIRUT  Islamic State militants began their biggest assault in a year on government-held areas of the contested city of Deir el-Zour on Saturday, attacking from several fronts and triggering intense fighting in the eastern region bordering Iraq, the Syrian government and opposition activists said.

Syrian state TV said three people were killed and nine were wounded in Islamic State rocket attacks on several neighborhoods of the city.

Fighting broke out between Syrian troops and the extremist group both inside the city and around the vicinity of a nearby military airport controlled by government forces. The militants had launched their multi-pronged attack starting from the area of Baghaliyeh near the northwestern tip of the city.

Deir el-Zour carries strategic significance for Islamic State as it links the groups Iraq territory to its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

Loud explosions that shook the city were reported. Activists said Syrian warplanes were taking part in the battles.

The Deir Ezzor 24 news network reported ongoing clashes near Deir el-Zour military airport and other fronts in the city and said Syrian warplanes targeted Baghaliyeh and Ayash areas and the vicinity of an army base known as Brigade 137 west of the city.

The extremist group, which controls most of Deir el-Zour province, has kept the provincial capital under siege since 2014. Government forces have withstood the encirclement thanks to air-dropped humanitarian assistance and weapons and ammunition flown into the airport. Remaining residents have reported malnourishment and starvation amid severe shortages.

A cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey went into effect on Dec. 30, but it excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group.

Zeina Karam is an Associated Press writer.
SYDNEY  The leaders of Australia and Japan agreed Saturday to boost cooperation between their militaries, as Japan tries to shore up security ties throughout the Asia-Pacific region amid concern over Chinas growing military might.

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull said they had signed an upgraded defense agreement after talks in Sydney on trade and regional security issues. The leaders said the pact would allow their militaries to provide each other with logistical support during exercises, and are working toward an agreement that would make it easier to participate in joint military exercises.
1 U.S. deployment: Polish leaders welcomed American troops to their country Saturday, with the defense minister expressing gratitude for their arrival and calling it the fulfillment of a dream Poles have had for decades. The ceremony in the western town of Zagan came 23 years after the last Soviet troops left Poland. It marks the first time Western forces are being deployed on a continuous basis to NATOs eastern flank. The move has infuriated Moscow. The deployment includes an armored brigade of 3,500 troops from Fort Carson, Colo. It comes in reaction to Russias annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014 and its backing of separatist insurgents in Ukraines east.

2 Deadly crash: At least 19 people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a passenger bus collided with an off-duty school bus along a highway in Ecuador. The collision occurred late Friday near the Pacific coast. It was raining heavily at the time. Guayas state Gov. Luis Monge visited the crash site and expressed solidarity with the families of those killed and injured.
Woman's Day publisher Bauer Media spent as much space warning rival publishers from overstepping copyright bounds as it did hustling free publicity for its exclusive coverage of former All Black captain Richie McCaw's wedding with Black Stick Gemma Flynn over the weekend.

Bauer's 343-word media release carried a 340-word copyright notice, which it demanded be kept confidential, outlining the steps New Zealand's biggest magazine publisher would take to protect its "exclusive story about the wedding of Richie McCaw and Gemma Flynn".

While rival media are allowed to use an attached photo of the weekly magazine cover, Bauer warned the image wasn't to be "edited or cropped in any way and the masthead is not removed, obscured or otherwise rendered indistinct". The NZ publication hit North Island shelves today and will be available in the South Island tomorrow.

The approved Woman's Day image of McCaw and Flynn under the magazine's masthead is featuring prominently on the home pages of news organisations TVNZ, New Zealand Herald, and Newshub websites.

Bauer said it "will be vigilant in monitoring any republication of excerpts of this story and the accompanying photographs" and that if it believed those rights were had been infringed, "it may take any steps necessary to protect those rights, including issuing legal proceedings without further notice".

New Zealand Woman's Day had paid circulation of about 69,000 as at Sept. 30, 2016, the second most popular weekly magazine behind Fairfax Media's TV Guide, according to New Zealand Audit Bureau of Circulations figures.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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Downer EDI's New Zealand boss Cos Broyn will leave the Australian infrastructure and mining firm to take over the reins at privately held construction firm Fulton Hogan.

Broyn will immediately give up management duties at Downer and face a nine-month restraint period before he joins Fulton Hogan as group chief executive, Downer said in a statement. Steve Killeen, who is Downer's group executive manager of strategy and development, will act as chief executive.

Downer's revenue from the New Zealand and Pacific Island businesses edged up 2.6 percent to $1.3 billion in the year ended June 30, 2016, accounting for 19 percent of the group's sales.

Fulton Hogan head Nick Miller is scheduled to leave the civil construction company at the end of March, while the New Zealand firm's chairman Mike Holloway departed at the end of 2016 due to health issues.

Last September, Fulton Hogan reported an 11 percent increase in annual profit to $168.7 million for the June 2016 year as acquisitions including quarries in Auckland, Waikato and Wairarapa and a joint venture in Melbourne operating an asphalt plant, combined with the introduction of new systems and technology to widen the firm's margins.

While Downer has a listing on the NZX, most trading is in Australia where they closed at A$6.25 on Friday. Downer also has $200 million of perpetual preference shares issued by Works Finance listed on NZX's debt market. The securities pay a 6.29 percent coupon and last traded at $102.50 per $100 face value.

BusinessDesk.co.nz

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The Turnbull government has slapped down Tony Abbott's call for it to ditch its renewable energy target for 2020, declaring there are "no plans" to change the policy that was settled when Mr Abbott was prime minister.

Environment and Energy Minister, Josh Frydenberg, told Fairfax Media the government's intention was to stick with its policy and contrast it with Labor's commitment to a more ambitious target for 2030 that would be a "reckless hit on family and business electricity bills".

In a direct repudiation of Mr Abbott's assertion that the existing policy would increase prices, reduce reliability and threaten heavy industries, Mr Frydenberg said: "The government has no plans to change the 2020 RET which was settled just 18 months ago providing investor certainty."

Mr Abbott delivered a scathing critique of the government on Saturday, just as Mr Turnbull began discussions with senior colleagues on who would fill the key health portfolio after Sussan Ley's forced resignation over her travel claims.
The CSO Prom Picnic Concert. Canberra Symphony Orchestra. Lawns of Government House Saturday, February 18, at 6pm. Gates open at 4.45pm. Early bird tickets $20-$30, Family $70 through CSO Direct on 6262 6772 or cso.org.au/tickets. Tickets at the gate: $20-$35, family $80.

When Guitar Trek plays at the Canberra Symphony Orchestra's Prom Picnic concert on Saturday, February 18, it will be a celebration of 30 years of music by the group. Canberra's Timothy Kain established the group in 1987 as a tribute to master guitarist Andres Segovia and with the aim of generating new music, of enthusing young audiences and of letting listeners hear the range of music that can be produced from Guitar Trek's collection of Australian guitars. "These guitars all produce a very full, rich, colourful sound," Kain says. "Three were made by Australian luthier Greg Smallman, who revolutionised the construction of contemporary classical guitars worldwide, and one by very fine Perth maker, Greg Sheridan."

Guitar Trek: Bradley Kunda (left), Tim Kain, Matt Withers and Minh Le Hoang. Credit:Sarah Walker Photography

The three other current members of Guitar Trek, Minh Le Hoang, Bradley Kunda and Matt Withers, all studied with Kain at the ANU School of Music and were selected by him to join the ensemble but all four guitarists have also flourished as soloists in Australia and overseas. Withers and Kunda also perform together as the Brew Guitar Duo.

Withers says: "The Prom will be a great birthday celebration on home turf and it's also Tim's own birthday this January."
ING Direct has poached rising Westpac banker Melanie Evans to spearhead the Dutch lender's plan to carve out a bigger share in the lucrative Australian retail banking market.

Ms Evans, who has worked at a range of positions across Westpac, including a stint as chief of staff to now chief executive Brian Hartzer, has been hired to fill the newly-created position as head of retail banking in Australia, a signal ING is prioritising this area.

Melanie Evans, who will join ING Direct as head of retail banking.

After 16 years working across different parts of Westpac and its funds management arm BT, most recently as director of sales and marketing for business banking, Ms Evans will manage all of ING Direct's consumer businesses.

That includes responsibility for deposits mortgages, wealth management, and consumer and business lending - areas where ING has vowed to target under chief executive Uday Sareen.
The board of troubled infant milk formula group Bellamy's Australia is expected to pursue legal action in a bid to unmask the identity of the mysterious owner of a key block of capital in the company as it seeks to pushback against efforts to take control of the board.

An offshore registered entity, Black Prince Private Foundation, holds a 14.4 per cent shareholding in the company. Registered in Singapore, its roots are traced back to the Caribbean.

This stake forms a central part of the block of Bellamy's capital which is aligned with a foundation shareholder of the company, Jan Cameron, best known as a co-founder of the Kathmandu retail chain, who wants to replace the four independent directors of Bellamy's with her own slate which would give her and other dissident shareholders board control.

Ms Cameron says she speaks for shareholders who command an estimated 35 per cent of the capital of the troubled company.
Neither expenses controversies managed to end the news silly season. Among this year's pointless entries were an insufferable saga about one TV talking head telling another to get changed, and an astonishing revelation that an accountant in Sydney is getting divorced.

If only Peter Dutton had been the one to buy yet another investment property for his portfolio on a work trip. Instead, he merely committed the politically survivable indulgence of charging taxpayers $3929 for an extravagant meal in Washington, DC.

Yes, with Ley gone, the Turnbull ministry is considerably diminished, as is her pay. A capable minister was removed from a government in dire need of capable ministers, gone despite others being far more deserving of relegation to the backbench.

How reassuring was the Sussan Ley expenses fracas, an underwhelming tizz over a minor infraction. It was as if there are still rules to be obeyed in a world seemingly determined to break all of them.

Caught in an expenses scandal, Sussan Ley was forced to stand down. Credit:Mark Jesser

But as vapid as those stories were, the reassurance of the Ley departure was real. She was forced to quit for breaking a basic rule of Australian politics, that politicians shouldn't take liberties with public money. Her resignation demonstrates that those fundamental rules still apply, at least in Australia, and that even in the absence of a federal anti-corruption body, any hint of unjustified use of public funds for personal benefit, even modest and seemingly within the rules, is still considered intolerable.

Sadly, this silly season also reminded us, if any reminder were needed, that Australians continue to tolerate the imposition of indefinite detention on those fleeing persecution who have committed no crime. And it established that the government will tolerate  praise, even  Centrelink firstly wrongly demanding repayment from thousands of the most vulnerable Australians, then freezing its response when people rightly complained. But the fact that a cabinet minister did some personal investing on a work-funded trip and had to resign because of it shows that there remain in Australia rules that politicians cannot both break and hope to stay in the job.

You can't say the same thing in the US, where on Friday power is handed to an embarrassing buffoon determined to be entirely unembarrassed about ignoring sensible political conventions, established diplomatic norms, or the law.

The uncertainty of the world in the Era of Big Orange is almost overwhelming in its scale: just how bad will be the looming catastrophe of the Trump presidency? Will it merely inflict four years of humiliation on the US, strip vulnerable people of basic health care, and flood the place with guns making it too dangerous to visit, or will he take the rest of the world down with his compatriots, of whom far more voted for the other candidate?


Eagle-eyed Simpsons' viewers may have noticed that a list of students at Bart`s school included a Cosine Tangent, writes Peter Riley of Penrith. "But the average teacher these days wouldn`t even bat an eyelid ... Cosine Tangent sounds pretty normal."

"I saw an employee dusting the pumpkins at Coles. What next?" asks Dinah Holden of Lindfield. "Buffing the bananas, brushing the broccoli, shining the shallots, mopping the mange tout, and polishing the parsnips perhaps?"



"I don't know about proactive (C8). For me the word 'cameo' is the most over-used by the Big Bash commentators," writes Philip Cooney of Wentworth Falls.



Back to that cover-up issue (C8), Pam Valentine of Liverpool's pet packaging peeve is threefold at the pharmacy. "Eye drops and tablets already packed in a bottle or foil wrap and a cardboard package are then sold to us in a plastic bag. Two wrappers is more than enough.

On matters definitive, Ian Grant of Mount Victoria points out: "Regarding 'the', the Dutch name for 'The' Netherlands is simply Nederland, no 'De'. Holland only applies to the western provinces." And Christopher Jobson observes: "Calling The Netherlands Holland is like calling Australia Victoria."
Are mobile phones the new cigarettes? Will we discover that the telecommunication industry, like the tobacco industry, has dismissed evidence that their product can kill us? Most Australians own a mobile phone. As we increasingly use our mobiles, evidence is trickling in about their potential for negative physical, psychological and financial consequences. These studies rarely make a blip on the radar.

Ten years ago, when seven people working at RMIT were diagnosed with brain tumours, a Telstra spokesperson was quick to reassure us that there was "no evidence" of a link between mobile phones and cancer. On the contrary. Although research was in its infancy, there was evidence of a possible relationship between mobile phone use and brain cancers, particularly gliomas, acoustic neuromas and parotid gland tumours. These earlier studies showed an increased risk for malignant brain tumours among the heavier mobile phone users, particularly when it was used mostly on one side of the head.

The court heard Pfeiffer texted to the vendor, "Lawyers will get you nowhere. All you will do is achieve my demise." Credit:Glenn Hunt

In 2016, the World Health Organisation's International Agency for Research on Cancer described mobile phones as a potential carcinogen. Yet the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association adamantly rejects any claim that low-energy radiation from mobile phones has any detrimental health effects.

Most studies compare the mobile phone use of people who have cancer with those who don't. These studies rely on people remembering how often and for how long they used their mobile phone in the past. The largest case-control study to date is the Interphone study. It included more than 5000 people with head and neck cancer from 13 countries, including Australia. Like research funded by the tobacco industry, the Interphone study claimed complete scientific independence despite receiving partial funding from the telecommunication industry.
Don't stress if you didn't get around to making any New Year's resolutions. Or if you didn't keep them for more than five minutes. New Year's resolutions are so last millennium. Instead, it's time to embrace the post-holiday resolution.

The calendar ticking over from one year to the next seems like a good prompt to review what's come before and throw out some wild wishes for the year to come. How often is it though that the resolutions made are forgotten before the celebration clean-up has finished?

This is unsurprising, as one minute to midnight on New Year's Eve is hardly the ideal time for clear thinking. Everyone is too tired from Christmas, then the combination of alcohol and the lateness of the hour means that no one can remember their heart-felt declarations 24 hours later, let alone when review time comes a whole year down the track. December 31 doesn't allow for an essential ingredient for proper resolution; calm reflection and insight.

Instead, try post-holiday resolutions. These have a more natural timing. They tend to come unbidden and are therefore more likely to be meaningful and relevant than those plucked out of the air to fit an occasion.
We all know that positive thinking has power. If we believe it's possible to achieve a goal or perform particularly well, we're more likely to overcome obstacles and persevere until we achieve our goal.

But what if someone else believes in us  can that make a difference, even if they don't tell us so directly?

McKean Gate at Harvard Yard, Harvard University. Credit:

It seems that it can. This is best illustrated by the "Pygmalion Effect Study". In 1966, Harvard professor Robert Rosenthal and Lenore Jacobson, a primary school principal in California, contacted teachers in a primary school and asked if they could administer an IQ test to all students.

Afterwards, although they didn't share the test scores with teachers, they mentioned that some students appeared to be "intellectual bloomers" who might start to outperform classmates. The teachers were given the names of these supposedly promising students, who had been selected at random.
There is considerable anger about the tax affairs of multinationals, so it is a good time to consider some of the wins in the fight against avoidance. Governments that once helped tax cheats, including Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, Gibraltar, Jersey, Luxembourg and Switzerland, have now agreed to automatically tell the Australian Taxation Office if Australian individuals or businesses shift money into their country. The OECD reports there are now more than 1300 such agreements. Australia provides information to 41 governments and receives information from 49. Our government is also sharing tax information with developing countries in our region. We need to keep up the pressure on the government to tackle multinational tax avoidance. The Tax Office has also revealed it is pursuing seven multinationals for $2 billion in unpaid taxes. A new tax initiative, Tax Inspectors Without Borders, is a joint project between the OECD and the UN Development Program set up in 2015. It recruits serving or retired highly skilled tax officials and places them in the tax authorities in developing countries. TIWB also provides on-the-job training to tax officials. In late November the group reported that its projects have netted an extra $360 million in revenue. Under plans for a diverted profits tax, multinationals will be hit with a 40 per cent tax rate it they try to artificially divert overseas profits that were earned in Australia. As the normal corporate tax rate is 30 per cent, it is expected more tax will be paid to avoid the potential penalty. Unfortunately, corporations continue to lobby aggressively for a lower company tax rate. However, with widespread public opposition to this, the government will have difficulty getting it through the Senate.

The government is also considering legislation forcing tax advisers to tell the Tax Office if they are promoting aggressive tax schemes. Such rules are in place in the US, Canada, South Africa, Britain, Portugal, Israel and Korea. The OECD reported that in Britain, this law had led to the disclosure and subsequent disallowing of 925 avoidance schemes up to 2013. A 2009 assessment estimated that between $400 million and $1 billion extra a year had thus been collected. There are also plans for whistleblower protection and rewards for people who expose corporate tax avoidance and evasion. The US tax authority runs an office to support whistleblower cases involving more than $2.5 million of cheated tax revenue. Between 2007 and 2015, the US office had collected about $4 billion in extra revenue and paid out $526 million to whistleblowers. The government is also to review the petroleum resource rent tax. The inquiry was announced after the Tax Justice Network Australia and the International Transport Federation revealed that Qatar will get more than $26 billion from its natural gas in 2020, while Australia will get less than $1 billion. Yet Australia will soon overtake Qatar as the largest producer of natural gas. Multinationals are still able to dodge paying taxes here by making artificial loans to themselves from places like Switzerland, Luxembourg or Bermuda. The interest repayments can be claimed as deductions. Labor has proposed a sensible curb on this dodge, although we could follow Hong Kong and get rid of it altogether. Finally, transfer pricing desperately needs to be tackled. A corporation can overcharge itself for goods or services from a lower tax country to move profit out of Australia and avoid paying appropriate tax here. Global rules consider a multinational a collection of independent businesses trading with each other, thus allowing profits to be shifted around within the corporation based on artificial legal structures. The solution is to treat the multinational as a single business and ensure tax is paid in the place the corporation does business.
A film of patient, illuminative strength, Steve McQueen's Hunger is set in Northern Ireland's Maze prison in 1981, when members of the outlawed Irish Republican Army (IRA) went on fatal hunger strikes in their opposition to the British government. It is an intensely powerful movie that never tries to overwhelm you  it doesn't try to force an ideology upon or demand sympathy from the audience. McQueen's interest in organisations is how they bend individuals to the group's will, seen here not just in the prisoners who stop eating, but a guard virtually struck dumb by the institutional violence that he's a part of (administering even a haircut requires a pitched battle). What begins in the cells, where excrement and rotten food line every surface, ends in a hospital bed where Bobby Sands (Michael Fassbender) lies under a frame, his body too weak to support even a sheet. CM

Sunday, Discovery, 7.30pm

This terrific series takes wonders of the ancient world  tonight the Parthenon in Athens  and uses CGI to explode them in striking fashion, revealing the secrets of their design. But it's more than just eye candy: this episode has historians, scientists and engineers working on the Parthenon's ongoing restoration project providing fascinating insights into the building's construction. How did the ancients get 10-tonne blocks of fragile marble to the top of a rocky hill high above the city? Nifty animated drawings show how an ingenious pulley system used carts full of rubble as counterweights to pull ones carrying the blocks up a ramp. How has the structure survived countless earthquakes down the millennia? H-shaped iron pins inserted between column blocks enabled them to rattle around without toppling. The program even enlists an artist to show how to make the beeswax-based paint that the ancients used. Marvellous. BN

Grand Designs Specials: Living in Suburbia

ABC1, 7.40pm

Is there any word more calculated to stir the blood and thrill the mind than "suburbia"? Perhaps, but if the suburbs are popularly seen as the last place you'd find interesting architecture, that's kind of the whole point of this show. Kevin McCloud, a man who I am reliably informed has found a way to make himself attractive to a certain kind of person, is visiting the fringes of the city to find hidden treasures. Assuming that "treasures" is a word that you feel comfortable applying to houses. McCloud is out to reveal the secret beauty of the suburbs. Most people who live in suburbs already know what this beauty is: it's keeping the neighbours at a safe distance and convenient drive-through dinners; but Kev is going for something more aesthetic. The program traces the history of suburbia, from a pleasant place to balance city convenience with rural connection to nature, to soulless clone estates. Then we meet the new breed of self-builders seeking to create suburban dwellings that complement and adorn the landscape rather than blot it. A noble endeavour indeed, and all the more admirable for how difficult it is to imagine why anyone would ever be bothered. I mean the houses are gorgeous, but building a house takes so much work. Better them than me. BP
Just as Malcolm Turnbull smiled and shook hands with Japan's Shinzo Abe in Sydney at the weekend, Japanese whalers were caught carrying out a bloody slaughter in the icy waters off Antarctica.

A dramatic high-seas chase has captured the first images of Japan killing whales since Tokyo defied an international 2014 court ruling that declared its Southern Ocean hunt to be illegal.

The photos  taken by anti-whaling activists Sea Shepherd  show a minke whale hauled onto the deck of the giant abattoir ship Nisshin Maru after being speared by a harpoon.

Japan claims its whale hunting is for science, a claim most of the international community dismiss as bogus.
Meghan Markle has met Catherine, the Duchess of Cambridge for the first time.

The Suits actress, who is currently in a relationship with Prince Harry, met her partner's sister-in-law at Kensington Palace last Tuesday, the Sun reports.

The Duchess' youngest child, 20-month-old Princess Charlotte, was also believed to be present.

According to a "pal" quoted by the tabloid, the meeting, which occurred one day after the Duchess celebrated her 35th birthday at home in Norfolk, went "really well".
Fiji has delivered a stinging rebuke to the Rudd government over its plans to resettle asylum seekers in Papua New Guinea.

Fiji's Foreign Minister Ratu Inoke Kubuabola said Australia's policy was ''high-handed'' and ''arrogant'' and threatened to destabilise Melanesian societies.

In an address at the Australia-Fiji Business Forum in Brisbane on Monday, Mr Kubuabola said Australia's PNG plan had been made without proper consideration of the consequences.

Mr Kubuabola said Fiji was ''decidedly less than happy'' with the PNG deal, saying Australian politics was affecting Fijian affairs and demanded that Australia consult with the region.
The euthanasia debate is mired in misinformation on all sides, experts warn. Credit:Kate Geraghty "However, this does not look at the underlying values issue; the belief that they are not valued in society, or they feel they have become burden," she said. The Victorian Parliament's End of Life Choices inquiry found "no evidence of institutional corrosion or the often cited 'slippery slope'," when it handed down its report last year. There had been an increase in the incidence of people undergoing euthanasia in jurisdictions where it had been introduced, though the proportions were small. In the US state of Oregon, roughly 0.5 per cent of all deaths were due to euthanasia almost a decade after it was introduced. In Belgium the proportion was less than 2 per cent, and in The Netherlands roughly 4 per cent.

"We're talking about small numbers, but there has been a gradual increase," Dr Sheahan said. Opponents also argued that once voluntary euthanasia laws are enacted  no matter how restrictive  they can be watered down or expanded to include people who were initially ineligible. Belgium's euthanasia laws have bolstered this argument for opponents, where national legislation now allows access to euthanasia for people with mental suffering alone and minors, with no life expectancy time specified, Dr Sheahan said. "But supporters in Belgian would argue that the law was created this way and what you are seeing is the application of our law changing over time," Dr Sheahan said. Opponents also argue legalising euthanasia would foster a cultural shift towards devaluing human life and would implicitly condone life-ending acts that could lead to doctors or anyone feeling justified ending life without explicit consent.

"Again the data is reassuring on that point," Dr Sheahan said, citing international research that found no increase in the incidence of life-ending acts outside of euthanasia laws, though she had some reservations about the studies' methodology. "As for a fundamental cultural shift, it's impossible to measure at this time. We don't know what that will look like in 100 years," Dr Sheahan said. "If as a society we decide it is legally permissible to end life that is a very significant communal value shift and I don't think we should underestimate how significant that is," she said. "These are deep and difficult questions. It's a big decision, a community decision. It can't be reduced to individual journeys." Physician and conjoint professor of palliative care at the University of Sydney, Roderick MacLeod, said palliative care was capable of addressing the vast majority of suffering at the end of life, but services needed to be improved.

"Australia needs to have palliative care coverage for everybody for every aspect of end of life care, not just cancer but dementia and the very frail in aged care homes. It hasn't been diligent enough," he said. The sector internationally has acknowledged that palliative care was inadequate to alleviate the suffering of a small proportion of patients (between 2 and 4 per cent). Go Gentle Australia, spearheaded by Andrew Denton, advocates for the terminally ill to have the right to choose euthanasia as part of a palliative care framework and is supported by public polling, which has found overwhelming support for assisted dying at end of life. "This debate should not be about supporting one or the other [palliative care or euthanasia]," said Coral Levett, president of the NSW Nurses and Midwives' Association (NSWNMA) and Go Gentle advocate. She said the sentiments expressed at the union's meetings suggested NSW nurses overwhelmingly supported voluntary euthanasia laws.

"Nurses know what it's like to watch someone die a terrible death. It's one of the worst things you'll ever see or experience. You never forget it," Ms Levett said. "It's very hard to ignore that and not be supportive of euthanasia. I do respect people's decision not to support a law change. If you're opposed to euthanasia, don't use it, but don't deny others that option." Legalising euthanasia would also regulate a practice that is already being undertaken by clinicians in small numbers, Ms Levett said. "It would create a more humane, safer environment for the patient, their family and everybody concerned," she said. Euthanasia in Australia

The Northern Territory became the first jurisdiction in the world to legalise euthanasia in 1995. The legislation was overturned by the federal parliament in 1997. South Australian lawmakers' 15th attempt to push through a euthanasia bill was narrowly defeated when it was put to parliamentary vote in November 2016. Victoria is set to consider a voluntary euthanasia bill in 2017 after the landmark End of Life Choices parliamentary inquiry. International euthanasia laws
Trish Thompson will tell you she's a very lucky woman.

A pain in her side sent her to Liverpool Hospital one night in June. Doctors diagnosed her with pancreatic cancer. They caught it early, and they could cut it out.

Pancreatic cancer is dwarfed by the awareness campaigns of other cancers with high incidence rates, but the oft-forgotten condition has the poorest survival rate of them all, with less than seven per cent of patients still alive five years after diagnosis.

The low number of cases and the large proportion of inoperable tumours mean many NSW hospitals have little experience performing pancreatectomies.
Jason Maiolo was due to start a new job in Melbourne on Monday.

Instead, the regional manager of a motor vehicle manufacturer is stuck in Bali with his family, waiting for Tigerair's next available flight to Australia.

Holidaymakers' plans have been thrown into disarray after Tigerair was forced to cancel all flights to and from Bali on Thursday. It has now temporarily suspended sales of flights to Bali after the Indonesian government unexpectedly cancelled an agreement with the airline.

And while the airline is providing accommodation for stranded passengers in Bali, it will not reimburse the cost of accommodation for future cancelled flights.
Car share vehicles should be let off paying a $2350 annual tax on car parks in Sydney's busiest areas such as the central business district, it has been argued in submissions to a review into the levy.

The levy has also been a bone of contention for small businesses after it was expanded to include commercial and office car parks in areas such as the inner-city suburb of Pyrmont seven years ago. It has also hit some apartment owners who own spots in nearby commercial car park buildings.

First introduced almost 25 years ago, the levy on a car park in Sydney's CBD and North Sydney now amounts to $2350 a year. So-called category-two areas Bondi Junction, Chatswood, Parramatta and St Leonards have a lower annual rate of $850 per space.

The NSW government has a review under way into the levy on off-street commercial and office parking spaces, the aim of which has been to help fund public transport and reduce road congestion by encouraging people to ditch their cars.
One of the Skytrain's large concrete spans buckled in September. "These concerns include public safety and the viaduct's structural integrity, as well as a lack of independent certification, and non-compliance with conditions," Mr Mitchell's briefing says. The briefing says RMS's manager on the project believed Sydney Metro, the government body overseeing construction of the viaduct and the rest of the 66-kilometre rail project, had not given "adequate assurance that the project meets [works authorisation deed] requirements". "The independent certifier has raised similar concerns," the briefing says. Two weeks after that warning in September, the viaduct suffered its most serious failure yet. A large concrete span buckled due to a combination of failings in the construction process, forcing work on the viaduct to be halted immediately.

These concerns include public safety and the viaduct's structural integrity. Roads and Maritime Services acting chief operating officer "The scale of the incident is very substantial with an entire viaduct span at risk," a RMS manager warned in an email a day after the buckling. The viaduct section  including a 270-metre cable bridge over Windsor Road  of the Sydney Metro project has been touted as a landmark element of Australia's biggest public transport project. An Italian consortium, Salini Impregilo, won the $340 million bid to build the viaduct. In 2014 the then prime minister of Italy, Matteo Renzi, even appeared at a ceremony in Kellyville to inspect early works. But the documents obtained by the Herald show that, less than a year later, RMS started to seek assurances from Transport for NSW that cracking in the overhead spans would not place motorists at risk.

In November 2015 RMS's manager on the project, Anthony McMahon, warned in an email that "the critical path for the entire project is at risk" if a squabble between the Italian contractors and Transport for NSW was not resolved. The Herald then revealed in January last year that two of the viaduct's spans had suffered cracking. By May 2016, concrete slurry had started to fall from a section of the viaduct over Memorial Drive in Rouse Hill. The slurry fell onto four cars after one span suffered cracking. "Each person was subsequently contacted by [the Italian contractors], and offers to wash and detail their cars were accepted," the project team said in an email to RMS. At the same time, the independent certifier was also detailing a long list of concerns about the project, including that Transport for NSW had failed to prepare a required inspection and test plan. An independent certifier provides crucial oversight for a project by ensuring it complies with construction and design standards.

Sydney Metro's deputy project director, Khalil Mansour, later refuted the independent certifier's claims in an email to RMS. The RMS was so troubled by the potential risks that its manager on the project told Sydney Metro in an email on May 27 that the agency could not approve construction until Transport for NSW "demonstrated that the current viaduct structural integrity issues and recent safety incidents will not expose any RMS asset or asset user to risk". In another email to Sydney Metro 11 days later, Mr McMahon said the roads authority was "concerned that the current quality management plan and management procedures do not sufficiently demonstrate" that standards were being met. A day after that email, Transport Minister Andrew Constance told a press conference there was no danger of the Skytrain project failing to meet its deadline for completion of the first half of 2017. "This project is on time, and it's on budget," he said at the time.

Yet six days later, Mr McMahon emailed his colleagues at RMS to tell them that Transport for NSW had initially attempted to gain approval for construction without any assurance that "their contractors' mitigation proposals were adequate" or that risks to roads were considered "despite lessons learned from the previous incident". In an apparent sign of the pressure on RMS to approve construction over White Hart Drive, the briefing from the agency's acting chief operating officer in early September reveals that Sydney Metro had "indicated that they will escalate the matter if approval is not forthcoming given key project delivery risks they face". Mr Mitchell's briefing also shows that Transport for NSW, which has repeatedly said that "safety is our number-one priority on Sydney Metro", gave assurances that it had "matters in hand and that the safety of road users and assets was protected", only for subsequent cracking to raise "fresh concerns". "In addition, there has been no progress certification from an independent certifier for any of the works completed within the past two years and many records exist that identify issues with [works authorisation deed] quality compliance," it says.

Just before Christmas, Transport for NSW released a report it commissioned into the buckling of a span in September, which found a combination of failings in the construction process. Following the report, Sydney Metro project director Rodd Staples said the incident was "very disappointing" and it had made that position clear to the contractor. "But our focus has been to learn the lessons from it and to put actions in place to make sure that it doesn't occur again," he said last month. A Sydney Metro spokesman said all of the work on the Skytrain over public roads had been with RMS's authorisation to "ensure that safety and compliance measures are in place". "The Sydney Metro Delivery Office has always acted consistently with its obligations and proactively addressed any issues which have arisen in its dealings with all relevant parties, including Roads and Maritime, Skytrain builder Salini Impregilo and Skytrain independent certifier Arcadis," he said in a statement on Friday.
A crash between a motorcyclist and bus on the Warringah Freeway just north of the Sydney Harbour Bridge closed two of the freeway's city-bound lanes on Monday morning.

Police and paramedics were called to the freeway, near the intersection with Mount Street at North Sydney, just before 8.20am to reports that a male motorcyclist had slid under a bus.

Paramedics treat the injured motorcyclist on the freeway. Credit:Nick Moir

A NSW Ambulance spokesman said paramedics treated the motorcyclist, thought to be aged in his 30s, at the scene before taking him to Royal North Shore Hospital in a stable condition.

Two of four city-bound lanes of the Warringah Freeway were initially blocked at North Sydney while paramedics treated the man, the Transport Management Centre (TMC) said.
A woman remains under police guard in hospital after 10 police officers were treatment for smoke inhalation following a unit fire in Belmore in Sydney's west on Sunday.

Emergency services were called to a unit on Hugh Street in Belmore at 7pm following reports of a domestic incident.

Police officers arrived to find a 48-year-old woman had barricaded herself in the property after allegedly assaulting a male ex-partner.

The woman refused to open the door and subsequently allegedly set the unit on fire.

Police forced entry and arrested the woman.
Child recovery experts have helped reunite New Zealand girl Que Langdon with her mother at Ulladulla.

The six-year-old is at the centre of an ugly custody battle after she and her father, Alan Langdon, disappeared after leaving Kawhia Harbour in Waikato, on New Zealand's north island, on December 17.

The pair became the object of an international man hunt until they were discovered in the New South Wales south coastal town of Ulladulla last Wednesday.

Just after 8am on Sunday, Que Langdon and her mother Ariane Wyler were reunited with the assistance of Col Chapman from Child Recovery Australia.
A seven-year-old boy has died after the quad bike he was riding fell on him near Griffith on Sunday.

The young boy was riding with a nine-year-old pillion passenger on a property at Barellan about 12.30pm, when they fell while turning the bike.

The bike then fell onto the younger boy.

The boy was taken to Griffith Base Hospital with head injuries, before being airlifted to Canberra Hospital in a critical condition.

Police established a crime scene and seized the bike for forensic examination and a report will be prepared for the coroner.
Nationals MP Trevor Khan watched his father die a slow, painful death. Credit:Dallas Kilponen "While this hasn't changed my mind, it has given me a clear understanding that there are two sides of this issue, and that all views deserve respect." Mr Foley said he would also vote against an assisted dying bill brought before the Legislative Assembly. Shadow sports minister Lynda Voltz is a member of the working group. Credit:Kate Geraghty "I worry about the message it sends to a society where some old and frail people feel that they are too much of a burden on their loved ones, that they have to end it all," Mr Foley said.

But in a statement the working group said: "Law reform on the issue of assisted dying is necessary. "The prolonging of pain, suffering, and distress, for both the terminally ill and their families, is not necessary; the fundamental principle behind the call for legislating to allow for assisted dying is to provide dignity to people who wish to pass peacefully and on their own terms." Finer details of the bill are being kept under wraps, but Fairfax Media has confirmed it will not apply to those under 18 years old and only to the terminally ill. Two doctors would have to agree and the person would need to be of sound mind and capable of giving consent. The working group is comprised of Nationals MLC Trevor Khan, Greens MLC Mehreen Faruqi, Labor MLC Lynda Voltz, Liberal MP Lee Evans and independent MP Alex Greenwich.

Ms Voltz confirmed a draft bill was with parliamentary counsel and the intention was to release it for public discussion as early as next month. "That will allow us to address any issues raised before the bill is introduced into Parliament sometime later this year," she said. Mr Khan's late father was incapacitated by a stroke and while he was still capable of speech asked his son to help him die. During a speech to Parliament last September, Mr Khan asked: "What is the difference between allowing a terminally ill person to die naturally by abstaining from treatment; and allowing them to die through means of voluntary assisted dying? "Both are aimed at reducing suffering; both are aimed at providing dignity in the final days of one's life; both have the same reasoning, intention and outcome. Both should be legally permitted."

Mr Evans, the member for Heathcote, said he became involved in the group because his mother suffered from dementia for nine years. He said those who provided her with palliative care were "fantastic". But he said: "At the end it was not pretty; she never wanted to end up like she did but there was no option." Mr Evans said the group expected criticism about "knocking people off" but that he and his colleagues wanted to foster open and informed debate. The proposal comes just months after a voluntary euthanasia bill was narrowly defeated in the South Australian Parliament and as the Victorian Parliament prepares to consider its own legislation in the second half of 2017.

Significantly, Victoria's Labor Premier Daniel Andrews is backing the legislation. Mr Andrews changed his mind on the issue after the death of his father in early 2016. The Australian Medical Association opposes legalising voluntary euthanasia. But in a policy statement released in November, the association stipulated: "If governments decide that laws should be changed to allow for the practice of euthanasia and/or physician-assisted suicide, the medical profession must be involved in the development of relevant legislation, regulations and guidelines." AMA NSW branch president Brad Frankum supported the policy statement. "The primary aim of doctors should not be to hasten death but improve quality of life," Dr Frankum said. "We feel that in the vast majority of cases adequate and timely palliative care is an appropriate way to treat people with terminal illnesses, accepting that it is not always perfect," he said.

A recent survey of AMA members found 38 per cent were in favour of doctors being involved in physician-assisted suicide, and 12 per cent were undecided. But the majority of respondents said if voluntary euthanasia was legalised doctors should be involved in assisting terminally ill patients end their lives rather than boycott the measure. Victoria's draft bill proposes access to voluntary euthanasia for adults of sound mind in the final weeks or months of life who were suffering from a serious, incurable condition. The request would have to come from the patients themselves, and be repeated three times, including a formal written request and approved by two doctors who would be legally protected. Doctors would prescribe a lethal drug that would be taken by a patient.
This Australia Day, my sister and I will have been in this most wonderful country 68 years.

We were "Ten Pound Poms". I was 17 and Lilian just 10. My parents were in their early 40s.

Workmen watch a passenger liner moving into berth at Station Pier, Melbourne, in 1949. Credit:Argus collection

My dad was not long out of the British Army and had spent three years mainly in East Africa, Madagascar, Durban, Cape Town and Tanganyika, now Tanzania.

The winter of 1947 was the coldest on record and my dad just could not cope, added to this England was bleak, war-torn, bombed-out and still had very strict rationing.
"Bro, he's trying to hit you! Get off the road!"

The young man shouted his warning as an unknown motorist sped closer to the group of friends in Melbourne's south-east.

They had been heading home from a late-night party. Now, they were leaping out of the way of a speeding hatchback.

Mobile phone footage of the incident, obtained by Seven and Nine News, shows how the group was almost run down by the maniac driver.
Perth's equine community is criticising the City of Joondalup for failing to provide an adequate and safe alternative following the impending closure of the Hillarys Horse Beach.

The concerns were raised after an 11-year-old Mariginiup girl was attacked by a dog - thought to be a pit bull terrier - while riding her horse on the beach on Tuesday.

The dog can be seen swimming in the surf moments before the attack. Credit:Jill Armstrong

The girl's mother told the Joondalup Times her daughter was riding with her friend when the dog bit her left foot.

"He didn't just bite, he hung on like a tug-of-war rope," she said.
The owner of Peel Zoo has continued his defence of the small business in a lengthy Facebook rant, after his comments to a disgruntled customer went viral.

When Perth woman Dana Harrison privatemessaged the zoo on Facebook and said her two children and their au pair were disappointed with their visit, she was shocked to receive the sharp response from owner David Cobbold.

Sorry, not sorry: David Cobbold. Credit:Nathan Lacy

"I whole-heartedly dismiss your conclusions and the ludicrous feedback from your mathematically challenged triumvirate ... so preposterously unfounded they cross in to the realm of fantasy," he said.

Ms Harrison said her German au pair had said a number of the animals were not available for viewing, and the excursion had only taken an hour to complete.
A few weeks after the election of Donald Trump, pundits with their eyes glued to Twitter believed they'd finally deciphered the master plan behind the president-elect's tweeting. Every time he detonated a culture-war bomb on Twitter, they suspected, it was a sly bid to divert the public eye from more serious news about his impending administration.

So when Trump reignited the dormant debate over flag burning one morning - tweeting that those who set fire to the flag should suffer "loss of citizenship or year in jail!"- New York magazine's Jonathan Chait quickly produced a column decoding the message. He called it a "strange fight" and a "classic right-wing nationalist distraction" that proves Trump's "dangerous and authoritarian politics is calculated, and not merely crazy."

But soon a competing theory emerged: Minutes before Trump's tweet, Fox & Friends, one of the president-elect's favourite shows, ran a segment referencing a US flag burned on a college campus to protest his victory. He wasn't carrying out some strategy. He was live-tweeting his TV.

Twitter is an impulsive medium. Log in and you're greeted immediately with a text box asking "What's happening?"- as in, right this second. Trump, who is set to become the nation's 45th president Friday, is a master of Twitter, but also in its thrall. Theories of some grand Trump Twitter plot forget that impetuous and aggressive tweeting has been a habit of Trump's for years. He famously avoids alcohol; Twitter is his vice. And after eight years of straight-as-an-arrow posts from @BarackObama, equally Twitter-obsessed journalists are transfixed by Trump's timeline, too.
Washington: It was the moment that summed up the whirlwind of confused emotions that must have filled 18-year-old Kamiyah Mobley.

Less than 24 hours after discovering that she had been abducted at birth from a Florida hospital, Kamiyah found herself in a South Carolina courtroom staring across at the woman who - until very recently - she had no reason to doubt was her biological mother.

'My mother raised me with everything I needed': Kamiyah Mobley, now 18, left, with the woman she grew up calling "Momma", Gloria Williams. Credit:Facebook

That woman, 51-year-old Gloria Williams, was now sitting behind a protective screen facing charges of kidnapping Kamiyah when she was just eight hours old. Overnight she had gone from a mother to a kidnapper.

But Kamiyah showed no trace of anger towards the woman who had brought her up, at one point walking over to Williams and touching her hands through the screen. "I love you," she was heard to say to the woman she still called "Momma".
Controversial Philippines President Rodrigo Duterte has ordered his security forces to bomb kidnap-for-ransom groups operating in the country's southern islands, even if hostages are killed.

"Even if they are kidnappers and they are trying to escape, blow them up," Mr Duterte told businessmen in his home city of Davao.

Referring to hostages, he said "sorry, collateral damage".

Mr Duterte said his hardline policy would make kidnap gangs such as the brutal Islamist group Abu Sayyaf think twice about taking hostages.
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PHILIPSBURG:--- A suspect has been extradited today, January 15th 2017 from the United States in the investigation called

Hector. This is the investigation being conducted after the death of a student on Saba in April 2015.

On Sunday, January 15th, 2017 the 31-year old S.C. from Bosnia was transferred by US authorities in Atlanta (USA) to the police force KPCN, after he arrived on Bonaire by air. S.C. is suspected to have killed 24-year-old student Kavya Guda on April 15th, 2015. He is suspected of rape, threats, and possession of child pornography. S.C. was extradited by The US at the request of the Public Prosecutor BES. The petition was made on August 17, 2016. The extradition was considered permissible by the American court on November 22, 2016.

S.C. will be brought on Bonaire before the Judge of Instruction. If the pre-trial detention will be continued S.C., then he will be heard by the police team in charge of the investigation Hector. The research team consists of investigators from KPCN, the National Police and the Royal Military Police (Koninklijke Marechaussee).
PHILIPSBURG:--- Minister of Justice Rafael Boasman returned to the island on Wednesday, January 11th, from Aruba where he participated in Justitiele Vierpartij Overleg (JVO) Judicial Four-Party Consultations.

The Minister deemed the meeting to be very positive. Prior to the meeting, Minister Boasman used the opportunity to meet the ministers of Justice of Aruba and Curacao separately to discuss some of the agenda points and matters of mutual interest.

The minister said that he indicated to them that, in his opinion, the most important issue is that we stop fighting and accusing each other of all kinds of wrong doings. He indicated that the feeling exists that the Dutch treat St. Maarten as if we are all crooks, and that has to stop.

A sentiment that he conveyed to the Dutch Minister of Security and Justice Ard van der Steur who indicated that he was of the impression that St. Maarten was not taking the issues serious enough. Minister Boasman assured the minister that the current government has placed law enforcement as its highest priority and will be taking this very serious.

Minister Boasman had some very fruitful and positive discussions with Chief Public Prosecutor Ton Maan and the Solicitor General (PG) regarding the crime situation on the island in general and specifically the situation at the prison. The assurance was given by the minister that the issues at the prison will be given the highest priority. We agreed to move forward with mutual respect for each other, the Minister said.

The minister praised the members of his delegation for the preparations made prior to the meeting in Aruba. He commended the chair for accepting his request for the postponement for one month on the discussion of the evaluation of the consensus (Kingdom) law as he did not have the opportunity to discuss this with the Council of Ministers of St. Maarten.

The next meeting of the Judicial Four-Party Consultations will be held in June on Curacao, while St. Maarten has to prepare top host the meeting in January of 2018.
Mex Express Grill blends authenticity, value and speed

Mex Express Grill recently opened in the spot that was occupied by a long-time neighborhood tavern in South Bend.
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Get the latest court and crime news from WalesOnline

A husband and wife who made more than 1million from peddling cocaine have been ordered to repay just 14,000.

Swansea Crown Court heard Carl and Donna Honey-Jones had spent all of the money they made on a lavish lifestyle.

The pair splashed 40,000 on their wedding and funded a lavish lifestyle of holidays to Dubai, Maldives, Florida and Mexico and luxury cars with personalised plates.

The court was told that Carl Honey-Jones had benefited from his cocaine dealing to the tune of almost 1.1million - but he only as 9,680 now in available funds.

His wife was said to have benefited to the tune of 39,000 - she now 3,958 to her name.

Incredibly, the pair continued to claim benefits while raking in hundreds of thousands of pounds .

Along with the rest of the gang they were sentenced in 2015, but they were brought back in court to face proceedings under the Proceeds of Crime Act

Court orders were made to confiscate the available cash from the couple.

Carl Honey-Jones of Penlan Road, Treboeth, Swansea, was the head of the gang which trafficked large quantities of cocaine from Liverpool for sale in his home city - he is currently serving a nine-year sentence for conspiracy to supply drugs and money laundering.

Donna Honey-Jones was given 21 months suspended for two years and was ordered to do 300 hours of unpaid work after pleading guilty to money laundering.

Carl Honey-Jones' family drug network was dismantled after officers executed search warrants at 11 addresses across Swansea in November 2014.

Cocaine with a potential street value of up to 750,000, and almost 60,000 in cash, was seized in the operation, along with expensive jewellery, cars and quad bikes.

Donna Honey-Jones' father, Brian Harding of St Clears Place, Penlan, Swansea, was involved in storing the cocaine and mixing it ready for its onward supply  he was sentenced to five years.

Carl Honey-Jones' cousin, Matthew Jones of Heol Gwyrosydd, Penlan, Swansea, was the "right hand man" to the boss  his role was to take cocaine and distribute it to street dealers and users around Swansea, and then to collect payment for it. He was sentenced to eight years.

Brian Harding's children - Laura Harding, of Heol Penar, Penlan, Swansea, and David Owens, of Lon Mawr, Caemawr, Ammanford - were given suspended sentences for conspiring to pervert the course of justice. They got involved after the arrest of the other family member when drug dealers from Liverpool began making threatening phone calls demanding their cocaine back.

Christian Fielding was the Merseyside link in the operation - he was sentenced to 11-years for conspiracy to supply.

Ian Wright, who prosecuted in the original cases, said at the time that the Honey-Joneses had been "living the high-life" on the profits from the cocaine trade, with an expensively decorated house, foreign holidays, cars with personalised plates - H009 NEY - and other evidence of "luxury living".

Video: Recovering addicts tell their stories
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Tokyo, 11 January 2017 (SPS) - Sahara Japan Journalist Association (SJJA) started the lecture tour in Japan about the Last Colony in Africa, to explain the 41 years hard situation of the Western Sahara people for the university students, the scholars and the ordinary Japanese people, even for the children.



The first lecture was launched at Meijigakuin University in Yokohama-city, from 15:00~17:00 on the 10 January, 2017 for more than 100 students, some professors, a chief editor, and a corpora auditor. Meijigakuin University is the first Japanese Christian school founded in Yokohama-city.



The theme of the lecture was What we, Japanese people, can do for the Western Sahara people? SJJA showed the documentary film of the 14th Congress to the audiences and reported the sequence of the Referendum for the Saharawi Self-determination in 2016. And SJJA blamed Morocco on its obstruction against the United Nations and the International Society.



Finally SJJA presented to the audiences the speech by the Coordinator with MINURSO, Mr. EmhamedKhaddad, in an interview with the national TV that the African Union was determined as it demonstrated in Malabo that the first of which are the borders inherited from colonialism, and if Morocco wants to join the Union it must respect its internationally recognized boundaries. His speech confirmed that significant gains were achieved during the year 2016, at the internal, diplomatic and military levels, such as the decision of the European Court and European cessation of dealings with Morocco in the looting of the Saharawi people's wealth as well as the advocating against all governments and companies involved in the plunder of Sahrawi natural resources.



Definitely all participants of the lecture support the referendum of the Saharawi self-determination. SJJA will continue to demand for the Japanese Government to support and to help the Western Sahara people. (SPS)

062/090




Tantan (southern Morocco), January 15, 2017 (SPS)  A Moroccan Court has issued unfair sentence in absentia against human rights activist and former Sahrawi political prisoner Hammadi Nassiri for six months and a fine of 500 dirhams, according the Ministry of the Occupied Territories and Community Abroad.

The Sahrawi human rights activist had been subjected to verbal abuse, provocations and harassment during his return from Agadir by police checkpoint in the northern town of Tantan.

The source added that the former Saharawi political prisoner had been tranformed from the occupied city of Smara to undergo surgery on his nose in Agadir, after he was violently attacked by the Moroccan forces, following his participation in a peaceful demonstration demanding the right of self-determination for the Saharawi people in the occupied city of Smara on April 17, 2015. (SPS)

062/090/TRA




B lack and ethnic minority students at SOAS have complained they don't feel comfortable being taught by old white professors.

A student union report for the London university aimed to see why black and minority ethnic (BME) undergraduates underperformed compared to white classmates.

The Degrees of Racism report claimed students thought the curriculum was too white and that white people were "overrepresented" among students and staff.

The report stated ethnic minority students sometimes felt they were being "shut down" or "belittled" by their white peers.

And students claimed some professors showed unconscious racism by allowing white students to dominate discussions or having lower expectations of BME candidates based on "racist stereotypes".

One student told researchers: "Both of my tutors are white men. How can I have a rapport and feel comfortable talking to a 60-year-old white man?

Our experiences of life are so different and youre coming from completely different places.

The report stated: 'Non-white students were comparatively less likely than their peers to be able to access the advantages of cultural familiarity with their tutor.

"Some felt it unrealistic to expect their white tutors to be able to empathise with their problems, especially those who had experienced racial abuse in comparable settings in the past.

"For non-white students from working-class backgrounds, the gap in life experience was sometimes compounded."

Sir Anthony Seldon, vice-chancellor of Buckingham University, told the Sunday Times: White people cant teach BME students? Really?

"I think this claim is unfair and untrue and disrespectful to universities and members of staff. We are human beings, first, second, third, fourth, fifth.

Among the report's recommendations were "mandatory unconscious bias workshops" for all assessors and staff on recruitment or promotion panels.

A spokesman for SOAS said: "The report provides insight into the views of a range of SOAS students and has contributed to the ongoing discussions about how to make our curriculum more academically robust and relevant.

"While the recommendations and conclusions do not necessarily reflect the view of the whole SOAS community they have helped to spark productive debate. We value the contributions of all our staff and students to these conversations.

"As part of our commitment to ensuring that students from all backgrounds have the best possible experience and opportunity at SOAS questions of diversity and inclusion are integrated across our work as a higher education institution.

"The School has also commissioned a report, with the University of East London, looking in more detail at the attainment gap. We want to make sure that the higher education experience is a positive one for students from all backgrounds.
A three-year battle over plans to build a huge multi-faith cemetery in Surrey has been reignited after the developer launched a fresh appeal.

The first two planning applications for the 10.4 hectare site on green belt land in Banstead were withdrawn after hundreds of residents objected.

Cemetery Development Services argued a new cemetery was needed and said that many objections were based on false fears they were planning a Muslim burial site or mosque.

A third application for over 4,000 burial plots, a 55-space car park and two buildings was officially rejected by Reigate and Banstead Borough Councils planning committee in August 2016. Officers agreed it was an inappropriate development within the green belt.

Councillor Keith Foreman said that almost 600 residents had personally contacted him to object to the proposal, reported the Epsom Guardian.

Application: The latest plan is for 4,000 burial plots for people of any faith / Banstead and Reigate Council

However, the applicant has now appealed the councils decision and will attempt to push the plans through for a fourth time this spring.

The application, initially submitted in March 2014, states: There is a clear need for the development (of the multi-faith cemetery) Burial space in the UK is becoming scarce at an ever increasing rate.

The cemetery and chapel would cater for burials of all faiths, offering formal and natural burials. The proposal is similar to the Merton and Sutton Joint Cemetery in Morden, which caters for all burials including Church of England, Roman Catholic, Muslim, African Caribbean, Jewish and non-conformist.

Michael Sawyer, of the Banstead Village Residents Association, told the Standard: It is not Nimby-ism, just simply inappropriate development  to the outrage of hundreds of residents.

He added: The appellants claim that there is a desire for more cemetery space in our borough, but we agree with the council that this location is inappropriate and that other, suitable, locations could be found when, eventually, desire becomes actual need.

The cemetery proposals are for a privately run facility to include buildings, loss of long established banked hedgerow, a new road junction, access roads, formal layout and paving/parking areas etc that are alien to the rural appearance of this green belt location.

A Banstead and Reigate council spokesman said: The application was refused by the planning committee because it is inappropriate development within the Green Belt and no very special circumstances were considered to exist to outweigh the harm caused.

The appeal is set for April and it will now be down to the Inspector to decide.
T his is the shocking moment a brawl broke out between an Uber driver and a passenger in the road in south west London.

Footage showed two men take violent swings at each other in the middle of a busy road in Battersea as cars rushed past.

One of the men appeared to attempt to hit the other with a weapon, described by onlookers as like a wrench or spanner.

The video, filmed by a London taxi driver known as Mick from inside his car, also showed a woman desperately trying to break up the row close to Queenstown Road.

He told The Sun Online: I was just driving along and saw the fight, it looked like (one of the men) had a weapon in his hand.

Violent blows: The two men threw punches at each other / Twitter/Mickalars

It looked like a wrench or a spanner, something quite long and tall.

He went on to describe the incident as shocking behaviour.

A Metropolitan Police spokesman said the driver of the Uber, aged in his 40s, had reported being assaulted by a male passenger shortly before midnight on Friday.

Street fight: A woman was filmed trying to break up the row / Twitter/Mickalars

He added: Police were called at approximately 11.45pm on Friday, January 13 to reports of a fight in Wandsworth Road.

A female was also present.

No injuries were reported.

No one has been arrested with enquiries continuing.

An Uber spokesman said: While incidents like this are exceptionally rare we take them very seriously. Both riders and partner-drivers can be barred from using the app following a serious incident.

Were currently investing this and will take the appropriate action when we have spoken to the authorities and those involved.

Anyone with information is asked to contact police on 101 or via Twitter @MetCC.
A former foreign minister has claimed Russia is gathering compromising details on leading UK politicians such as foreign secretary Boris Johnson in order to discredit them.

Chris Bryant, who was Europe minister in the last Labour government, said he had been the victim of such tactics himself and was "absolutely certain" the Kremlin would be gathering information on prominent government figures.

As well as Mr Johnson, he said other ministers likely to be in the Russians' sights would include Sir Alan Duncan, who has the Russia brief at the Foreign Office, International Trade Secretary Liam Fox and Brexit Secretary David Davis.

His claims follow the leak of report by former MI6 officer Christopher Steele that the Russians had compiled a file of compromising material on Donald Trump - allegations which were angrily dismissed as "fake news" by the US president-elect.

Chris Bryant: the Europe minister in the last Labour government / REUTERS/Olivia Harris

Mr Bryant told The Observer: "Any minister who goes into the Foreign Office and has responsibility for Russia, they (Moscow) will be, in any shape or form, trying to put together information about them.

"I am absolutely certain that Boris Johnson, Liam Fox, Alan Duncan, who has the Russia brief, and David Davis will have been absolutely looked at.

"All of these people the Russians will be following very, very closely. They will have created a file and they'll be attempting to watch everything they do."

He said technological advances made it far easier for intelligence agencies to gather personal information.

Kremlin: Chris Bryant claimed the Russians would be closely monitering Boris Johnson / Shutterstock

"You can do a lot of the work by long distance now, you don't physically have to be close to somebody to be able to track them, using their mobile phones and so on," he said.

Mr Bryant, a long-standing critic of Russian president Vladimir Putin's record on human rights, said had been the victim of a homophobic campaign orchestrated by the embassy in London after he became the chairman of the all-party parliamentary group on Russia.

"When I was chair of the all-party Russia group the embassy helped organise to have me removed," he said.

"I heard back from various other Conservative MPs who are friends of mine, saying that the problem is that Putin hates you and they want rid of you."
D onald Trump has sparked fury after tearing into a renowned civil rights leader during the Martin Luther King national holiday weekend.

John Lewis, who walked alongside Mr King during the historic 1965 Alabama march, questioned the legitimacy of the Republican billionaire's presidential victory.

Mr Trump's responded with a Twitter outburst slamming the black congressman just days before the national holiday honouring Martin Luther King.

Trump tweeted that Georgia Democrat Mr Lewis "should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results".

Thousands to march on Trump's inauguration day

The incoming president added: "All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!"

John Lewis walked alongside Martin Luther King during the historic 1965 Alabama march / REUTERS

Mr Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, had his skull fractured during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than 50 years ago and has since devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-Americans view Mr Trump's inauguration compared with Barack Obama's eight years ago.

Donald Trump's five most explosive tweets

It also demonstrated that no one is immune from scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism.

Mr Trump has found political success even while attacking widely-lauded figures before and after the campaign - a prisoner of war, parents of a dead US soldier, a beauty queen - and now a civil rights icon.

Mr Lewis, a 16-term congressman, said on Friday that he would not attend Mr Trump's swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol on January 20 - the first time he had skipped an inauguration since joining the US Congress 30 years ago.

"You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard," he told NBC's Meet The Press in an interview to be shown on Sunday.

"It's going to be very difficult. I don't see this president-elect as a legitimate president."

Mr Lewis added: "I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton."

His spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Mr Trump and said the Mr Lewis' "opinion speaks for itself".

"We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election," she said.
T he half-brother of Prince Harrys girlfriend, Meghan Markle, has been arrested over claims he held a gun to his girlfriends head during a drunken row.

Thomas Markle Jr, 50, was arrested on Thursday at his home in Grants Pass, Oregon, the Mail on Sunday reported.

He was later charged with menacing, pointing a firearm at another person and unlawful use of a weapon.

Deputy Jill Elardi, of Josephine County Sheriffs Office, told the paper: He was arrested at 11pm on January 12 and released on Friday at 10am.

He will be going to court for it.

The window fitters father Thomas Markle Snr, is also the parent of Meghan Markle, 35.

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

The news could prove a shock to Prince Harry, who is said to be in a serious relationship with Miss Markle, an actress in hit US show Suits.

Their relationship, which started in the summer, was confirmed last year when Harry launched a stinging attack on the wave of abuse and harassment she had received.

Thomas Markle Jrs ex-wife Tracy Dooley told the Mail: 'He wants whats best for her.

They used to be very close but there has been some separation over the years. The last thing he would want to do is to hurt her.

Speaking earlier this year about his half-sisters relationship with the Prince, Thomas Markle Jr said the pair were very much in love.

He said: Theyre extremely happy together, they look great together and shes done good.
A London vigil is to be held for a British-Iranian mother imprisoned in Tehran.

The vigil for Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe will take place outside the Iranian Embassy in London on Monday January 16, said organisers Amnesty International UK.

The charity worker was jailed for five years last September for allegedly plotting to topple the government in Tehran.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe, from Hampstead, was arrested at Tehran Airport in April while she was with her daughter Gabriella, and later jailed.

Monday's vigil, to be held between 4pm and 6pm, is timed to mark one year since the Washington Post journalist Jason Rezaian and other US-Iranian dual-nationals were released from prison in Iran.

Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe's husband, Richard Ratcliffe, will attend the vigil and deliver a letter to the Iranian Embassy renewing his call for her release.

The 38-year-old appealed against her prison sentence earlier in January, but no decision has been communicated by the Iranian authorities, said Amnesty.

Amnesty said the mother has suffered a serious decline in her physical and mental health.

In a phone conversation, she told her husband that Revolutionary Guard officials said she must choose between having her two-year-old daughter stay with her in prison for up to three days a week, or sign a document saying she does not want the "right to be with her young daughter".

Amnesty spokeswoman Kathy Voss said: "With other dual-nationals getting released in Iran, it's ever more worrying that Nazanin and other UK-Iranians are still languishing behind bars.

"This vigil is about keeping Nazanin's case in the minds of the authorities back in Tehran. We urgently need to see Nazanin freed and allowed to return to Britain with her young daughter."
Governor Pete Ricketts visited Scottsbluff on Friday, just 24 hours after giving his annual State of the State address. Our governor said all the right things. He was well rehearsed, giving a near word-for-word pared-down version of his earlier speech.

Ricketts said we (Nebraskans) had grit. And we do. Looking at my thermometer a few weeks ago, seeing minus nineteen degrees, knowing cattle and other livestock needed fed, watered, while ice and snow was being chiseled from city streets and driveways proves we have always had grit. Nebraska is a great place to live and raise a family, but it will test you and in most cases find a way to pull out the best in people. Governor, we know we have grit.

The governor also said everywhere he goes, Nebraskans tell him we are taxed too much. Of course, we tell him that. We are taxed too much, but before the governor simply lays a blanket statement like increasing taxes is a non-starter over the entire state revenue streams, we owe it to the taxpayers of Nebraska to take a much more indepth look at the taxes we do pay, which in many cases are too much and in some cases too little.

I like what the governor is doing to make our state agencies and departments more accountable and pushing to deliver state services more efficiently. That is common sense and there is always room for improvement. Consolidating the Department of Roads and Department of Aeronautics into one Department of Transportation makes sense as does combining Nebraskas veterans homes with Veterans Affairs.

We all know where most of Nebraskas dollars come from  fields and pastures. It may look like a calf or seedling to some, but wait a few months and they turn into billions of dollars that echo around our state, helping pay all of our salaries, help us buy food, housing and clothing. Sure, we have industry, manufacturing, retail, and tourism dollars too, but lets not fool ourselves into thinking we are something we are not. We are an ag state and dang proud of it, right down to the name of our beloved Cornhuskers.

And folks, agriculture has a huge problem. No, its not low commodity prices which have hurt farmers and ranchers along with the states own revenue shortfalls. Farmers and ranchers accept that risk of rising and declining prices. It comes with the territory. They know it. Lets just call it grit. But the elephant in the room for over thirty years is property taxes.

Ricketts is looking at changing the way we assess agricultural property, moving from a market-based assessment to an income potential based assessment. I applaud him for the initiative. But the way he explained it on Friday, it would not even come close to solving the problem. It wouldnt dramatically lower property taxes; at best it would slow the rate of growth from what he said has been double digit increases every year for the last ten years. So, as intriguing as this idea is, it is not the long-term answer as he claims it to be. It is yet another Band-Aid on a wound that needs complete reconstructive surgery.

The problem we have with property taxes is, and has been for decades, the way Nebraska chooses to fund our schools. In 2014 the Omaha World Herald reported that we rank 49th out of the fifty states in the proportion of school funding that comes from state coffers, according to a report by the Open Sky Policy Institute.

We rely far too much on property taxes to fund schools. Studies done since the 1980s continually show us, and the State Legislature, and the Governor this is the problem. Simply shifting tax revenues around year after year, and changing the school funding formulas which we have done at least 16 times over the last 24 years, while placing a few million more in property tax relief bills over the same time period, has not solved the problem nearly to the extent it needs to be.

Now, this is where new sources of revenue needs to be discussed, and this is where statements like Ricketts saying any idea to increase taxes is a non-starter just plays into this serious and ongoing issue of Nebraskas inequitable property tax crisis. As much as I agree with many who say our taxes are high enough, I do believe there is an untapped pot of gold in Nebraska. It is sales tax exemptions. A state senator recently told me we actually exempt more sales than we currently tax and if all sales were taxed it could generate $4 billion dollars in new revenue.

Folks, that is far more than we need and it would include sales tax on groceries and medicine, which is not a good idea, but somewhere in the middle there lies the answer. Removing certain tax exemptions, or creating a lower sales tax rate for some that remain completely exempt, would more than solve our property tax problems once and for all if all that additional revenue was earmarked for education, thus taking a huge burden off property taxes, including agricultural, residential and commercial.

But, we continue to ignore the problem, which has been pointed out to us so many times over the last 30 years. We choose instead to continue our Whack-A-Mole system of taxation, smacking down one mole only to see another pop its head up, then whacking it again. It is the classic doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

So now, I ask you, do you think removing a lot of sales tax exemptions to lower property taxes is a good idea or not? Share your thoughts, greg.awtry@starherald.com
With one hand holding a bottle of champagne and the other an oversized certificate declaring him the winner of $1 million from Publishers Clearing House, Bruce Saunders stood on the front porch of his western Davie County Monday and rattled off a list of things he plans spend his spend money on  medical bills, fixing his lawnmower and helping family members.
You are excused if you missed a small article on page 6A of the R&L of Saturday, Dec. 10. It concerned one of out-going Gov. Pat McCrory's last official duties: Finalizing the boundary line between our state and South Carolina. This was also one of Gov. Nikki Haleys final duties as South Carolinas chief executive.
Ongoing sewer problems in Love Valley are threatening to turn the Cowboy Capital of North Carolina into a ghost town.

After years of discharging wastewater into a local pond, the town received its first notice of violation on July 21, 2015, with orders to bring the sewer system into compliance by Oct. 23 of that year.

Now, more than a year after that deadline, residents are saying a solution is in sight. Health officials, however, are saying enough is enough.

FIX IT OR FACE CONSEQUENCES

After issuing the Town of Love Valley multiple notices of violations, the Iredell County Health Department sent notices to 13 residents and business owners connected to the sewer system on Dec. 27.

The most recent notice states residents are in violation of owning or controlling a residence, place of business, or place of public assembly which is not provided with an approved wastewater system.

According to the certified letter, residents must eliminate the wastewater discharge within 30 days or be subject to legal ramifications, such as an injunctive relief, suspension of permits, criminal penalties or administrative penalties for each day the violation continues.

Bill Powers, owner of the Silver Spur Saloon, said putting the burden on the residents will lead to the demise of the town.

First they said they would fine the town, but now theyre going after the citizens and the businesses, he said. If we dont do what they ask, which we cant do because its too expensive and impossible to get done in three weeks time, well have to close our doors. People will be forced to move. You cant live without running water.

A lack of progress on the issue by the town resulted in the county changing its tactics, officials said.

Multiple notices of violations have been sent to the Town of Love Valley, said Megan Redford, Iredell County Health Department public information officer. The decision was made to send to the individual participants because the town has not moved forward with the resolution to eliminate the illegal discharge in a timely manner.

WAITING ON THE STATE

People in the town say the reprimands are unfair since plans are underway to solve the problem.

In June 2016, the town was awarded a $400,000 USDA grant to develop a pump-and-haul system.

The money is approved. Its just not in our account yet, said Mayor Anthony Kennedy. The funds wont be released until March or April. Weve been working on this for more than eight years. We cant fix the issue without that funding.

The pump-and-haul system will require the installation of a new septic tank into the ground, which will be adequately connected to the 13 taps.

The Town of Harmony would pump the sewage from the tank and haul it off to be disposed at the rate of 12 cents per gallon.

The pump-and-haul system would appease state and county officials and could work indefinitely, but it would only be an interim solution since it is an ongoing cost, the mayor said.

The average income in Love Valley is only $13,000 a year, he said. It will be hard to afford considering the number of gallons of water we use on a daily basis. Eventually we will put in a new sewer system.

A MEETING, A MISUNDERSTANDING

Residents said the letter came as a surprise.

We met with people from the state in early December and they led us to believe that as long as we were on the right track everything would be OK, Kennedy said. This is disheartening. Weve been working hard to fix the problem.

While residents may have felt reassured during the December meeting, it wasnt the Onsite Water Protection Branch  the agency overseeing the situation  giving them the information.

As long as you have a plan, youre good  thats what the state said, Powers said. We were told as long as we had a plan and a date and if we met that date we were OK.

State Rep. Rena Turner, two members of the State Treasury office and an engineer attended the meeting, which Turner said was a progress report.

It was just a status report to touch base with the engineer to see if things were moving along as best we could hope, Turner said. The situation is dire. Im sorry if they (Love Valley residents) felt comfortable because it is something that must be addressed. I was of the impression that they understood that better.

WORKING TOWARD A SOLUTION

Town residents say council has been working to resolve the issue for at least eight years, and the demand to fix it in 30 days is arbitrary.

If the government hasnt been able to fix it in eight years, how can we fix it in three weeks? Powers said.

Since concerns were first noted, residents reached out to other government agencies for help and held fundraisers.

In October 2015, resident Charles Saunders approached the Iredell County Board of Commissioners for a $50,000 loan to fund a study to find an appropriate system, but that request was ultimately denied.

In May 2016, residents held a concert in an attempt to raise $150,000. Despite strong attendance, the show fell short of its goal. Plans to hold another fundraising concert this May are currently on hold.

The town has also contracted with an engineer from Municipal Engineering Services, which it secured through a grant called the Special Evaluation Assistance for Rural Communities and Households (SEARCH).

They have been so good to us, Kennedy said. The engineers told us more in 45 minutes than any government has in two years.

Despite what residents regard as tangible progress, the countys 30-day deadline looms, carrying with it the weight of the unknown for Love Valley and its townspeople.

The only thing we want is help, Powers said. Its not that were not willing or not capable. We just need help because apparently no matter what we do, it isnt enough.
As new details emerge in the case against the man charged with killing a Cool Springs woman over Christmas weekend, attorneys are preparing for a hearing to discuss the possibility he could face the death penalty.

The hearing in Gary Loves case is expected to be held Tuesday in Iredell County Superior Court, according to Loves attorney, Ken Darty of Statesville.

Love, who is accused of killing Robin Denman in her Cool Springs Road home Dec. 24, will be brought from Raleigh to Iredell for the hearing.

At the hearing, district attorneys office representatives will present evidence that the state will seek the death penalty. Superior Court Judge Julia Gullett is scheduled to preside.

Denman, 46, a veteran and mother of three, was found beaten to death after deputies responded to her home on Dec. 26. A teenage family member living with Denman texted a friend for help earlier that morning, and later reported she was held captive and sexually assaulted by Love over the same weekend.

A search warrant application investigators filed seeking a saliva swab from Love describes details about what deputies found at the home that day.

When the two deputies came to the home about 7:30 a.m., Love opened the door and told deputies Denman and the juvenile were at a funeral, the document said. Deputies asked for a phone number to contact Denman, and noticed that Loves hands were shaking.

Love then said he had to let his puppies outside, ran out the back door and jumped over a chain link fence, according to the warrant. He was taken into custody shortly after.

One of the deputies saw the juvenile running down the street away and onto a neighbors porch, trying to get inside. When she noticed the deputys uniform, she approached and explained that she thought Love hurt the deputies, stole the patrol car and was chasing her.

She then stated was raped and last saw Denman tied up on a bed two days earlier, the warrant application stated.

Denmans body was found inside the homes master bathroom, in the tub, hidden under a pile of clothes.

The warrant states the juvenile was held in a closet over the weekend and only let out to be raped.

Iredell Sheriff Darren Campbell said the juvenile managed to get a hold of her phone without Love noticing at the time. After texting for help, she deleted the message, a move Campbell said was clever.

Love was charged with murder, 10 counts of statutory sex offense with a child, sexual servitude of a child, indecent liberties with a child, first degree kidnapping and assault on a female.

Amanda Driver, a family friend Denman, said the girl is now living with family in Greensboro and is attempting to adjust to her new life.

Shes a trooper, Driver said. Shes trying to push through and see the bright side of things.

Love lived with Denman for around three months after moving to the area from Ohio, investigators said. He previously lived in New York, where he originally met Denman.
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Fred Palmer is an unlikely dissident.

As a senior vice president of Peabody Energy, he worked the corridors of power on behalf of the worlds largest coal company.

Now his former employer is in bankruptcy and Palmer feels betrayed  not by the legal system or any of the bureaucrats he used to lobby, but by Peabodys own management.

Palmer retired in 2014 after running Peabodys government relations for 13 years. The stock he accumulated during those years would be worthless under a reorganization plan that Peabody submitted last month. He also benefits from a supplemental pension plan that Peabody wants to cancel, making him an unsecured creditor.

Palmer has continued to follow the fortunes of the coal industry in general and Peabody in particular, and he is convinced that the pain being imposed on him  and other shareholders and creditors  is unnecessary.

In a letter to the U.S. bankruptcy court, Palmer argues that Peabody should resolve its Chapter 11 case by simply reinstating all of its existing debt. Coal prices have improved so much in the past nine months that, according to his analysis, Peabody can earn more than enough to pay everything it owes.

Peabody maintains otherwise. Its plan calls for canceling $6.6 billion in debts as a necessary step for the companys financial health. It also would wipe out existing shares.

When Palmer reads the court documents, he keeps coming back to one question: Why does Peabody assume far lower coal prices than the ones prevailing today? The business plan was filed in July 2016 and they have not changed it, he told me. The business plan is a fundamentally flawed document intended to mislead and confuse.

Hes not the only one making that allegation. The plan was based on information thats completely outdated, says Mark Gottlieb, a New Jersey investor who owns Peabody convertible bonds. Coal assets have come back big time, and other coal stocks have gone through the roof.

Albert Kello, a shareholder in Adelaide, Australia, charges that Peabody executives allied themselves with a group of hedge funds, including Elliott Management and Aurelius Capital Management, that own large amounts of Peabody bonds.

Under the reorganization plan, the hedge funds would end up with significant stakes in a recapitalized Peabody, including the right to buy more shares at a discount. Ten percent of the new shares would be reserved for a management incentive plan, with 2.5 percent able to be issued as soon as Peabody emerges from bankruptcy.

Peabody estimates that the new shares will be worth $3.1 billion, or less than half as much as the $6.6 billion in debt it wants to cancel. Kello thinks theyre worth far more.

Its phenomenal what 10 percent of Peabody could be worth, and thats what motivates the senior management team, Kello said. They are undervaluing the company deliberately and with malice.

Palmer, the old Peabody powerbroker, is also angry. He now lives in Washington, D.C., but hes returning to St. Louis on Thursday for a bankruptcy hearing. Judge Barry Schermer will consider a request to appoint an official equity committee, a step that many shareholders believe could save them from being wiped out.

Palmer hopes to make his case that the company is now valuable enough to make everyone whole. To do that, hell have to attack his former colleagues and the plan they prepared.

I think its offensive, I think its illegal and Im going to get my day in court, Palmer said.
"The Young Pope," 8 p.m. Sunday on HBO, with a second episode Monday

When star Jude Law and director Paolo Sorrentino met with TV critics in Los Angeles to talk about "The Young Pope," Sorrentino, who is Italian, brought along a translator.

What's we could really use, though, is a translator for "The Young Pope," with Law as Lenny Belardo, a 47-year-old American priest who becomes Pope Pius XIII.

Lenny rocks the Vatican with his eccentric demands (Cherry Coke Zero for breakfast) and brusque disregard for everyone and everything sacred. He clashes with cardinals. He brings in the nun (Diane Keaton) who took him from an orphanage and raised him to serve as a top adviser.

Don't mistake "The Young Pope" for being a straightforward drama, though. It's anything and everything: a weird hallucination, a political statement, a fever dream, a slapstick comedy, an exercise in mind-blowing surrealism. There's a kangaroo.

Shot in Italy, "The Young Pope" is always beautiful and often fascinating. It offends as often as it intrigues, and then it turns poignant.

Based on two episodes previewed, I'm not prepared to award stars to "The Young Pope." The 10-episode limited series will air twice a week, on Sundays and Mondays, for five weeks. If you sample it, I'll be eagerly awaiting your reaction.
EAST ST. LOUIS  An enormous white stone and redbrick church became a cauldron of flames here Saturday night, destroying a house of worship that had served generations.

Built in 1894 at North 25th Street and Ridge Avenue, it was St. Elizabeths Catholic Church before Christ Redeemed Missionary Baptist Church took over in 1978.

This was a centerpiece for Gods work in the neighborhood, said the Rev. Dewitt Rhodes, 90, standing beside the smoldering remains Sunday afternoon, dressed in a suit and tie.

At its prime, he said, the flock was 250. One week ago, there were 40 or 50 people in attendance.

East St. Louis Fire Chief Jason Blackmon said the first call went out about 7 p.m. Saturday. He said the fire started in the back of the building and eventually engulfed the whole structure. The cause was unknown.

It was almost like a big warehouse fire, Blackmon said. It was an old church that had been around for years.

He said it took about five hours to get control of the blaze, with the help of fire departments from St. Louis, Washington Park and Fairmont City. One firefighter was treated on the scene for smoke inhalation. Other than that, Blackmon said, there were no injuries.

Debris and ash rained down on the neighborhood, concerning people such as James Pirtle, whose uncle opened an ice cream parlor across from the church in 1963.

Its very unfortunate, said Pirtle, scooping ice cream on Sunday as a steady stream of onlookers parked nearby to take photographs of the smoking ruins.

Kenya Rainey, 42, had tears going down her cheeks. As a child, her family would go to church and get ice cream afterward.

We were raised in the church, she said. These are childhood memories. My entire family went to that church.

The memories will remain. But gone are the instruments, tall stained-glass windows, altar and steeple with a cross on top that crashed in flames.

There are churches here that are boarded up, said Will Adams, 59, who runs a car lot in East St. Louis. This church here is one of the remaining historical churches that was still functioning.

There is a network of more than 100 African-American churches in East St. Louis, arguably the only institutions that havent failed the city.

Still, Rhodes stood next to Christ Redeemed on Sunday, with his signature smile.

I am looking forward to the future, he said.

The Navy veteran said surviving storms and battle during World War II still helps put his life and work in perspective.

I am blessed, he said, adding that his children became preachers and evangelists.

Vincent Rhodes, 34, wasnt surprised by his grandfathers attitude. Hes seen a lot. Hes a man of great faith. To still be standing at 90 is a blessing, not to mention preaching.

The congregation hopes to rebuild, perhaps at the opposite corner.
Even before Donald Trump is inaugurated, resistance movements are organizing protests and efforts to ensure the new presidents failure. We understand the sentiment; after all, its what many Republicans did to Barack Obama.

This newspaper opposed Trump from the beginning. We have yet to see anything to change our belief that he is misguided. But far more abhorrent is the notion that he doesnt even deserve a chance to succeed. Americans, regardless of ideology, must enter the Trump era with minds open to the possibility that he could actually foment positive change.

Opponents should not decide in knee-jerk fashion that anything with the Trump stamp is automatically wrong. Measure the new administration by its results, not just its abrasive words.

Locally, a battle is brewing over whether a celebrated painting by Missouri artist George Caleb Bingham, The Verdict of the People, should be on loan from the St. Louis Art Museum for the Trump inauguration lunch with congressional leaders.

Sen. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., chairs the Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies. He is the first Missourian in that position since Congress assumed responsibility for inaugurations in 1901. His prominence in Fridays ceremonies is giving Missouri a moment to shine on the national stage.

Blunt helped choose the Bingham work, painted in the mid-1850s, as the centerpiece at the lunch. The painting is part of a trilogy on American politics and elections, and depicts a tumultuous era of great political and social strife.

Its place at a key event celebrating the peaceful, democratic transition of American leadership should be seen as a point of pride for all Missourians. But St. Louis-area art historian Ivy Cooper and artist Ilene Berman initiated a petition on Change.org asking the museum to cancel the loan. The petition objects to the use of the painting and an implicit endorsement of Trumps presidency and his expressed values of hatred, misogyny, racism and xenophobia.

Museum director Brent Benjamin said the museum is honored to participate in the inauguration and noted that the loan does not reflect a political position. A presidential inauguration honors the office and does not endorse or pay tribute to any particular occupant.

Similarly, the Talladega College Marching Tornadoes band is moving forward with plans to participate in Trumps inaugural parade despite pressure from alumni and supporters to cancel. It will be the only historically black college to participate.

School President Billy Hawkins explained the decision, saying, We feel the inauguration of a new president is not a political event but a civil ceremony celebrating the transfer of power.

Patriots are those who love their country and can celebrate the Constitution, liberty and democracy without endorsing or attacking an officeholder. Symbolic opposition is valuable, but critics should save their firepower for times when the new presidents actions truly merit organized protest.
I took my children into the voting booth with me and later my grandchildren so they could learn the procedure and why it is so important.
For 35 years, Robert Hahn, a professor of philosophy at Southern Illinois University Carbondale, has led Ancient Legacies programs to Greece, Turkey, Egypt and Italy. The programs are team-taught projects that bring together faculty from many disciplines along with students and the community  parents, grandparents, senior citizens  and also can be taken for credit.

These trips are about more than just sightseeing; they are about learning. In Greece, re-create the trial of Socrates in an ancient council chamber, make sundials on the beach, perform an ancient play in an ancient theater with costumes and masks. In Egypt, test theories of pyramid construction by building a model pyramid out of sugar cubes, carve your own limestone tablets to learn how they made tomb paintings and re-create a mummification ritual.

The Egypt trip is May 16-27 and includes Cairo, Giza, Luxor, Answan and a Nile river cruise. The cost is $3,880 for enrolled students, $4,480 for adults (and anyone not enrolled for tuition credit), and includes airfare from New York to Cairo, accommodations, two meals a day, all entrance tickets to museums and archaeological sites, all transfers, two jet plane flights in Egypt, plus four-night luxury Nile cruise, all program materials and instructions.

The Greece trip is May 28 to June 10 and includes Athens, Delphi, Greek islands of Samos and Kos, and the west coast of Turkey. This trip costs $2,880 for enrolled students, $3,580 for adults (and anyone not enrolled for tuition credit), and includes 12 nights of accommodations, two meals a day, entrance tickets to museums and archaeological sites, all transfers, two jet plane flights in Greece, two boat trips and a full day on a private yacht, all program materials and instruction.

 For more information, go to a free presentation at 1 p.m. Jan. 28 or Feb. 4 at the St. Louis County Library, 1640 South Lindbergh Boulevard. Or go to ancientlegacies.org.
STRATFORD-UPON-AVON Methodist Churchs Churchs Green Group launched a toilet twinning project as a way of showing gratitude for the new toilet facilities provided in the recent church redevelopment.

Toilet twinning is administered by Tearfund to raise money to provide toilets in the underdeveloped world.

By donating 60 or 240 individuals or organisations can twin their loos with a latrine or a school latrine block in a part of the world where many people lack clean water and sanitation.

When the project was launched the Green Group set a target of 300 so the five toilet facilities in the church centre could each be twinned with a latrine in Africa.

After three months, the congregation raised 900 instead, which means that now the three toilet blocks can be twinned with three school blocks, and the disabled toilet with two other toilets, including the manse toilet, can be twinned with three individual latrines in Africa.

Certificates of the twinned latrines will be hung to show their location in different parts of Africa.

Dr Lim Ho, the convenor of eco-congregation in Stratford Methodist Church, said that the result has proved to be yet another demonstration of the church members overwhelming generosity and concern for neighbours in need.

Some 2.4billion people, a third of the world population, live without a toilet, and bad sanitation is one of the worlds biggest killers.

In Africa one of the reasons half of young girls drop out of school is because the school hasnt got separate toilets for boys and girls.

The Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015, include a target to ensure everyone everywhere has access to toilets by 2030.
Montclair, NJ (PRWEB) January 15, 2017

The JPR Group, a public relations and marketing communications firm located in Montclair, NJ is pleased to announce that it will be assisting HackensackUMC Mountainside with its public relations efforts, effective January 2017. The hospital is located in Montclair and Glen Ridge townships, servicing all surrounding towns. The firm will be working closely with HackensackUMC Mountainside's internal marketing operations.

"We look forward to working with Jeanine Genauer, principal and founder of The JPR Group," stated John Fromhold, CEO of HackensackUMC Mountainside. "Jeanine has been embedded in the Montclair community and Essex County for more than two decades, and has very well-established relationships with many of our stakeholders and the media."

The JPR Group's New Jersey based client list includes Juniper Communities, Bloomfield, a Top 40 national owner-operator of senior living communities and MSM Financial Services, New Providence. The Reutlinger Community, a continuum care retirement community, is also a beneficiary of JPR's public relations and marketing acumen. Other Allied health service clients that have been served by The JPR Group include Holy Name Medical Center and CQ Fluency, a translational service provider for healthcare and life sciences. Genauer also previously handled public relations for the West Orange and Montclair Public School Districts.

In November 2016, Genauer was named one of New Jersey's Leading Women Brand Builders by the Leading Women Entrepreneurs organization. In addition, she received a Great Oak Award from New Jersey Monthly Magazine for The JPR Group's pro bono services to, among others, Protect the Palisades, Dance NYC, and a medical mission to Armenia. For more information on The JPR Group, visit http://www.jprgroup.com or call (973) 980-0100.

About The JPR Group, LLC

The JPR Group is a woman-owned business offering strategic, responsive and personalized marketing and public relations solutions for today's rapidly evolving media environment. Jeanine Genauer, Founder and Principal, was recently recognized as a Leading Brand Builder by Leading Women Entrepreneurs and is a recipient of New Jersey Monthly Magazine's Great Oak Award for charitable and nonprofit work. Visit http://www.jprgroup.com

About HackensackUMC Mountainside

HackensackUMC Mountainside has been serving Montclair and its surrounding New Jersey communities since 1891. The hospital, part of the Hackensack Meridian Health Network, provides patients immediate access to innovative and effective treatment alternatives at specialized centers within the hospital that focus on imaging, women's health, cancer care, surgery, obesity, stroke and chronic kidney disease. HackensackUMC Mountainside is designated as a Primary Stroke Center by the NJ State Department of Health and Senior Services and is one of only a few community hospitals licensed by the State to perform emergency cardiac angioplasty. To learn more about HackensackUMC Mountainside visit http://www.mountainsidehosp.com.

Read the full story at http://www.prweb.com/releases/2017/01/prweb13983053.htm
FILE PHOTO - An aerial photo taken though a glass window of a Philippine military plane shows the alleged on-going land reclamation by China on mischief reef in the Spratly Islands in the South China Sea, west of Palawan, Philippines, May 11, 2015. REUT

SHANGHAI (Reuters) - China and Vietnam pledged on Saturday to manage their differences and safeguard peace in the South China Sea, in a joint communique issued during a visit to China by Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong.

After "candid" discussions, the two countries agreed to "manage well their maritime difference, avoid actions that complicate the situation and escalate tensions, and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea", said the communique published in full by China's state news agency Xinhua.

China claims almost all of the South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, in addition to Vietnam, also have claims in the sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

In public statements, Chinese and Vietnamese leaders regularly talk up their common interests as "traditional" friends and neighbours, but conflicting claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea have become a major source of tension in recent years.

In the joint communique on Saturday the two sides agreed to continue to "fully and effectively" implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.

In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Vietnam's visiting prime minister their common interests far outweighed their differences, and called for their dispute in the South China Sea to be resolved through talks.

Vietnam is in the midst of a quiet military build-up which analysts say is designed as a deterrent, to secure its 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, as China grows more assertive in staking its claims in the South China Sea.

(Reporting by John Ruwitch; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Belgian police officers stand guard at the scene of a security operation in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, Belgium, January 14, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Vidal

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgian police detained three people for questioning after carrying out house searches in Brussels that were related to an anti-terrorism investigation, prosecutors said on Saturday.

The house searches were carried out in the Brussels district of Molenbeek, which gained international attention when locals with links to Syria took part in the November 2015 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris.

"The searches were carried out as part of an investigation by Brussels prosecutors," a spokeswoman for Brussels prosecutors said. "While nothing was found, three people were taken in for questioning."

The area where the searches took place was closed off to traffic as special police forces with machine guns moved in, a Reuters journalist said.

(Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Clement Rossignol; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
By Stephanie Nebehay

GENEVA (Reuters) - Refugees and migrants are dying in Europe's cold snap and governments must do more to help them rather than pushing them back from borders and subjecting them to violence, the U.N. refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday.

"Children are particularly prone to respiratory illnesses at a time like this. It's about saving lives, not about red tape and keeping to bureaucratic arrangements," Sarah Crowe, a spokeswoman for the U.N. children's agency UNICEF told a U.N. briefing in Geneva. "The dire situation right now is Greece."

UNHCR spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly cited five deaths so far from cold and said about 1,000 people including children were in unheated tents and dormitories on the Greek island of Samos, calling for them to be transferred to shelter on the mainland.

Hundreds of others had been moved to better accommodation on the islands of Lesbos and Chios in the past few days.

In Serbia, about 80 percent of the 7,300 refugees, asylum seekers and migrants are staying in heated government shelters, but 1,200 men were sleeping rough in informal sites in Belgrade.

The bodies of two Iraqi men and a young Somali woman were found close to the Turkish border in Bulgaria and two Somali teenagers were hospitalized with frostbite after five days in a forest, Pouilly said. The body of a young Pakistani man was found along the same border in late December.

A 20-year-old Afghan man died after crossing the Evros River on the Greece-Turkey land border at night when temperatures were below -10 degrees Celsius. The body of a young Pakistani man was found on the Turkish side of the border with Bulgaria.

"Given the harsh winter conditions, we are particularly concerned by reports that authorities in all countries along the Western Balkans route continue to push back refugees and migrants from inside their territory to neighboring countries," Pouilly said.

Some refugees and migrants said police subjected them to violence and many said their phones were confiscated or destroyed, preventing them from calling for help, she said.

"Some even reported items of clothing being confiscated thus further exposing them to the harsh winter conditions," she said. "These practices are simply unacceptable and must be stopped."

Joel Millman, spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), said migrant movements across the Mediterranean had "started out in a big way" in 2017, and the death toll for the year was already 27.

The World Meteorological Organization said a movement of cold Siberian air into southeastern Europe had driven temperatures in Greece, Italy, Turkey and Romania 5-10 degrees Celsius lower than normal. Such cold outbreaks happen about once in 35 years on average, the WMO said.

(additional reporting by Tom Miles; Editing by Janet Lawrence)
Bahrain has executed three anti-regime activists over their alleged role in a 2014 bomb attack, amid widespread public anger against the death verdicts.

The regime in Manama carried out the death verdicts on Sunday, triggering angry demonstrations in the villages of Diraz, Bani Jamra and Sanabis.

Regime forces tried to disperse the protesters by firing pellets and teargas canisters and injuring a number of the demonstrators.

Manamas troops also prevented people from holding a funeral procession for those executed.

According to the Bahrain Mirror news website, the authorities have refused to return the bodies of the three activists to their families.

The rallies began on the eve of the executions and lasted into Sunday, when the outraged public marched across the capital Manama and the northeastern villages of Nuwaidrat and al-Dair after the morning prayers, the London-based Bahraini opposition television network Lualua reported.

On January 9, Bahrains Court of Cassation upheld the death penalties given to Sami Mushaima, Abbas Jamil Tahir al-Sami and Ali Abdulshahid al-Singace over allegations of killing a member of Emirati forces who had been assisting Manama in its suppression of Bahraini protesters in the northern village of al-Daih back in March 2014. Seven other convicts have also been sentenced to life in prison in the case.

The defendants had denied the charges.

The latest wave of anti-regime protests came after Bahraini religious scholars called on the nation to take to the streets in a bid to save the lives of the three innocent activists.

Your rage is the hope which will change all the equations, as well as the way that will save our youths, the statement said in an address to Bahraini people.

Manama has given a heavy-handed security response to peaceful popular protests, which first began in early 2011. The clampdown has cost scores of lives. Later during the popular uprising, the regime called in Saudi and Emirati reinforcements to help it muffle dissent.

During the overnight rallies, protesters shouted slogans against the ruling Al Khalifah dynasty and demanded the release of political prisoners.

Authorities have stepped up security measures in the capital, where they blocked al-Badee Street.

Regime forces also fanned out across the village of Sanabis in the citys suburbs. The protests were met with a repressive police response.

On Saturday, the Interior Ministry claimed a police patrol had come under gunfire in the northwestern village of Bani Jamra, which lies to the west of the capital, injuring an officer.

Following the report, regime forces deployed to the area and raided houses for eight straight hours.
Militants of the Takfiri Daesh terrorist group have raided a district in Afghanistans eastern province of Nangarhar, setting fire to some 60 houses there.

Attaullah Khogyani, the provincial governors spokesman, said people had fled their homes before the Daesh attack in Kot District on Friday, local media reported.

There have been no reports of possible casualties.

Local officials said that the raid came after Kot residents refused to pledge allegiance to the terror outfit.

Despite the presence of thousands of foreign boots on the ground, Afghanistan has been rocked by a surge in terrorist attacks, some of them carried out by Daesh.

The rise of Daesh in Afghanistan has raised concerns in the Asian country that has already been torn apart by decades of Taliban-led militancy and the 2001 invasion of the US and its allies.

Nangarhar, which borders Pakistan, has been the main area where Daesh has managed to carry out high-profile attacks.

The terrorist organization, which is mainly active in Syria and Iraq, has recently managed to take recruits from Afghan Taliban defectors. It has also enjoyed defections from al-Qaeda in Afghanistan.

On October 11, 2016, at least 18 people were killed in a Daesh attack at the Karte Sakhi Shrine in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

The assault targeted people commemorating Ashura, which marks the martyrdom anniversary of Imam Hussein (PBUH), the third Shia Imam.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says European governments must do more to help refugees dying in Europe's sudden cold snap instead of pushing them back from borders and exposing them to violence and confiscations.

"Given the harsh winter conditions, we are particularly concerned by reports that authorities in all countries along the Western Balkans route continue to push back refugees and migrants from inside their territory to neighboring countries," UNHCR spokeswoman Cecile Pouilly said on Friday.

She added that five refugees have so far lost their lives from cold and said some 1,000 people, including children, were in unheated tents and dormitories on the Greek island of Samos and need to be transferred to shelter on the mainland.

She said the bodies of two Iraqi men and a young Somali woman were found close to the Turkish border in Bulgaria and two Somali teenagers were hospitalized with frostbite after five days in a forest.

The body of a young Pakistani refugee was found along the same border in late December, she added.

Speaking at a UN briefing in Geneva, Sarah Crowe, a spokeswoman for the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), said, Children are particularly prone to respiratory illnesses at a time like this. It's about saving lives, not about red tape and keeping to bureaucratic arrangements. The dire situation right now is Greece, she added.

According to reports, hundreds of refugees had been transferred to better accommodation on the Greek islands of Lesbos and Chios in the past few days.

Greece, which is home to large numbers of refugees, said that it had sent a ship to the island of Lesbos to house some 500 asylum seekers. The move came after rights groups put Athens under fire for keeping the refugees in snow-covered tents and sub-zero temperatures at campsites.

About 80 percent of the 7,300 refugees and asylum seekers are staying in heated government shelters in Serbia; however, some 1,200 men were sleeping rough in informal sites in Belgrade.

An Afghan man, 20, died after crossing the Evros River on the Greece-Turkey land border at night when temperatures were below -10 degrees Celsius.

The UNHCR spokeswoman further quoted some refugees as saying that police have subjected them to violence and many others saying their phones were confiscated or destroyed, preventing them from calling for help.

Some even reported items of clothing being confiscated thus further exposing them to the harsh winter conditions," she said, adding, These practices are simply unacceptable and must be stopped.

Joel Millman, a spokesman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), also said refugee movements across the Mediterranean had started out in a big way in 2017.

He added that the death toll for the year was already 27.

Authorities in Europe have raised the death toll from the recent cold snap in the continent to at least 73 people, as heavy snow further blankets eastern European countries, where many refugees are living in already poor conditions.

The cold spell started last week and gripped large swaths of land in Europe, particularly in its eastern parts, reducing temperatures to the lowest some of them have experienced in decades.
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, Jan 15 (PTI) Just 20 minutes of exercise may help fight inflammation in the body, according to a new study that may have implications for diseases such as arthritis and obesity.

It is well known that regular physical activity has health benefits, including weight control, strengthening the heart, bones and muscles and reducing the risk of certain diseases.

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Now, researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine in the US have found just one session of moderate exercise can also act as an anti-inflammatory.

The findings have encouraging implications for chronic diseases like arthritis, fibromyalgia and for more pervasive conditions, such as obesity, researchers said.

The study found one 20-minute session of moderate exercise can stimulate the immune system, producing an anti-inflammatory cellular response.

"Each time we exercise, we are truly doing something good for our body on many levels, including at the immune cell level," said Suzi Hong from UC San Diego School of Medicine.

The brain and sympathetic nervous system - a pathway that serves to accelerate heart rate and raise blood pressure, among other things - are activated during exercise to enable the body to carry out work.

Hormones, such as epinephrine and norepinephrine, are released into the blood stream and trigger adrenergic receptors, which immune cells possess.

This activation process during exercise produces immunological responses, which include the production of many cytokines, or proteins, one of which is TNF - a key regulator of local and systemic inflammation that also helps boost immune responses.

"Our study found one session of about 20 minutes of moderate treadmill exercise resulted in a five per cent decrease in the number of stimulated immune cells producing TNF," said Hong.

"Knowing what sets regulatory mechanisms of inflammatory proteins in motion may contribute to developing new therapies for the overwhelming number of individuals with chronic inflammatory conditions, including nearly 25 million Americans who suffer from autoimmune diseases," Hong said.

The 47 study participants walked on a treadmill at an intensity level that was adjusted based on their fitness level. Blood was collected before and immediately after the 20 minute exercise challenge.

"Our study shows a workout session does not actually have to be intense to have anti-inflammatory effects. Twenty minutes to half-an-hour of moderate exercise, including fast walking, appears to be sufficient," said Hong.

"Feeling like a workout needs to be at a peak exertion level for a long duration can intimidate those who suffer from chronic inflammatory diseases and could greatly benefit from physical activity," Hong added.

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The study was published in the journal Brain, Behaviour and Immunity. PTI SAR MHN

--- ENDS ---
By Ashish Pandey: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandra Babu Naidu will be a Special Invitee at the World Economic Forum's Summit to be held at Davos in Switzerland from 17th to 20th of January 2017. This year's Summit theme is Responsive Leadership. Mr Naidu is leading a State delegation for the third time consecutively.

The State Government has taken up a unique initiative to project the might of the State as an investment destination. The government is going to brand a special bus highlighting that Andhra Pradesh No.1 Destination for Corporate Investment. The colorfully decorated bus, carrying various other achievements of the state, will ply during the Summit. The aim is to attract industrialists and investors from abroad to the new Andhra Pradesh after its bifurcation.

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The Chief Minister is scheduled to hold bilateral talks with representatives of about 50 organizations including General Electricals, Jetro, Zaika, Lockheed Martin Corporation, Medtranik, Wageningen University and Research, AECOM, Master Card, Teijin, New Development Bank, Global Health and Health Care, Global Funding etc. He will also be the Chief Guest in seven sessions of the Summit.

The Summit will be most useful for Andhra Pradesh as the state is in an advantageous position for fully utilizing Technologies. It is also doing concerted efforts to achieve the best results to touch the double-digit growth.

On 17th January, the Chief Minister will a talk on "Preparing for the City Century and also participate in Board Room discussions on "India and South Asia Regional Strategy Group". Prime Ministers and top leaders from several countries will participate in the discussions.

On 18th, Mr Naidu will speak on "India and Emerging Markets in the new phase of globalization" at Boston Consulting Group-CII breakfast session. In the afternoon session, he will join the interactive session --"New Vision for Agriculture-Building and Strengthening Multi-Holder Partnerships."

On 19th of January, Mr Naidu will join the inter-active discussion on "Structural Reforms for Inclusive and Sustainable Growth." The same day, Mr. Naidu will be the Chief Guest at the Conference of "Technology Pioneers."

On 20th, the Chief Minister will join a Work Shop on "Country-led Action to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals."

Mr Naidu will hold discussions with the investors with the focus on sectors like Global Funds, Financing, IT, Infrastructure and Manufacturing. He will also apprise them about the available opportunities, human resources etc for investing in Andhra Pradesh and the functioning of State Administration. He will also discuss with experts in the sustainable agriculture sector, mechanization and farmers-Producers-Organizations.

Mr. Naidu will also have inter-action with the heads of the International Universities like Stanford, Cambridge, California University (Berkeley Campus). A Memorandum of Understanding is likely to be reached with Cambridge University on the setting up of International Centre for Innovations and Research at Amarvati.

One day before the World Economic Forum starts, the Chief Minister will reach Zurich to hold one-to-one discussion with possible investors. He is also scheduled to meet the Non-Resident Telugus and suggest them to invest in their mother country. He appeals them to be a partners in making Smart Andhra Pradesh program.

--- ENDS ---

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Theyre about four months old, all fluffed up and cocksure and ready to confront the world head-on.

But with nature, if things can go wrong they probably will. Add youthful bravado, distractions and confusion to the mix and theyll certainly go wrong.

And in the case of 19 young grey-faced petrels trying to leave home it took the combined weight, resources and goodwill of a Government department, Bay Wildlife Trust, the Animal Rescue and Rehabilitation Centre and a security officer to get these youngsters back on track.

Unfortunately, the petrels are a bit stupid when theyre this young, says Julia Graham of the Wildlife Trust.

Stupid because while they have just fledged and ready to answer the call of the wild and put to sea, they also get waylaid and bewildered. Theyre attracted by bright lights and noise, says Julia. And on New Years Eve there was plenty of that with fireworks, loud music and partying.

Yes, they got distracted, says Julia. The petrels took off on their maiden flight from the sanctuary on Mauao but instead of heading out to sea, the magnetism of Mount Maunganui proved too much and they ended up scattered around town. A young German tourist picked up a petrel waddling down the main street at midnight on New Years Eve. Another was recovered from a pedestrian crossing in Marine Parade.

A security officer gave it sanctuary in the bushes on Leisure Island  hopefully for a relaunch, hopefully in the right direction.

The problem for the petrels is they want to take off  out to sea, out of town  but they cant take-off. Not easily on flat land. They cant just flap their wings and fly like normal birds.

Petrels normally launch from their nests on the cliffs and hillsides where there are decent winds and updraughts. Theyre literally sitting ducks if theyre grounded in town. Theyre very vulnerable, says Julia. Theyll just sit there or waddle about for hours because they need the altitude, the wind or a decent run-up to fly.

That was one of 19 errant grey-faced petrels the ARRC and the Western Bay Wildlife Trust had to deal with on just one day. Three or four in a day, not unusual, but 19 is crazy. The bulk of them, flying by night, were lured by the twinkling lights of a ship en route from Wellington to Auckland and crash-landed on the upper decks.

That behavior is a bit odd, says Julia. Its not unusual for them to hang around ships but for them to land en masse on a ship at sea is abnormal.

Julia says they might not have been locals. They could have been from Gisborne, Motiti or Mayor Island. Young impressionable birds that find themselves on a ship headed to Tauranga and wondering: What is this place?

The petrels were collected up in buckets and boxes and whatever crew could lay their hands on, says ARRCs Sue Mackie. And next day they were delivered to ARRC. They were all in good condition apart from one that had an open leg fracture. It had to be euthanised.

Once the grey-faced petrels were checked over by vets at ARRC they were handed back to Julia and the Western Bay Wildlife Trust, leg-banded and given another chance at a dignified and direct departure.

The trust was also recently entrusted with a wayward Cooks Petrel, which was found on a beach. It was probably from Little Barrier, one of just three breeding grounds. Its a classified as a vulnerable species, easily threatened and in decline because the limited breeding areas.
By Press Trust of India: Dhaka, Jan 14 (PTI) Another mastermind of Bangladeshs worst terror attack at a popular cafe here has been arrested, a week after a top Islamist militant accused in the deadly siege was killed during a raid by counter terrorism forces.

Islamic State-linked Neo-Jamaat-ul-Mujahideens leader Jahangir Alam alias Rajib alias Gandhi was arrested yesterday from Elenga, some 120 kilometres north of the capital, by Bangladeshi Polices Counter-Terrorism and Transnational Crime (CTTC) unit.

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He is one of the main masterminds of the Gulshans Holey Artisan Bakery (cafe) attack in Dhakas posh diplomatic area that killed 23 people, including 17 foreigners, CTTC chief Monirul Islam was quoted as saying by the Dhaka Tribune.

Police said Rajibs name surfaced during investigations when they found that he served Neo-JMB as the commander of the outfit for the Northern districts.

The arrest was made a week after Neo-JMBs most wanted leader Nurul Islam alias Marzan and another extremist were killed by counter-terrorism forces in Mohammadpur Beribadh area of the capital during a pre-dawn raid.

Police had claimed that Marzan coordinated the attack on the Holey Artisan Bakery.

Earlier, a Bangladeshi-Canadian Tamim Chowdhury, who was singled out by the police as the neo-JMB chief and the key player in the recent terror activities in Bangladesh, and two others were killed in a police operation in Narayanganj on August 27.

Last week, RAB arrested 10 people from different parts of Dhaka for their suspected involvement with the cafe attackers.

A dozen other top and second-tier leaders of the New JMB group are still absconding. PTI PMS AKJ PMS

--- ENDS ---
Traffic congestion on State Highway 2, near Katikati, has boosted the awareness of the need of a bypass.

Community board chair Jenny Hobbs has launched a petition following numerous traffic complaints this summer.

The townsfolk are a bit cynical about the promises coming out of the NZTA, says Jenny.

Theyre moving things along but the people in the town are cynical. They feel quite powerless and they have been there before, and thought that we had the job done, all to no avail.

And so no one is prepared really now to say that we think this is going to have a positive outcome, sadly."

NZ Transport Agency Bay of Plenty state highways manager Mark Haseley says Transport Minister Simon Bridges asked the agency to take a fresh look at the Katikati section of the Waihi to Tauranga programme.

Since July 2016, we have been looking at the transport issues and community aspirations in Katikati with our partners and local stakeholders, says Mark. By mid-2017 we expect the community will have clarity about the changes that will be made.

Jenny says theyve been there before.

Jenny Hobbs: Katikati was promised a bypass before.Supplied photo.

Roger Stiles was involved in the previous push for the bypass when it almost happened, and they bought the land and Mayor Graeme Wells went to wellington to sign off on the contract.

He thought it was a done deal, and when he got to Wellington the NZTA team was different and they sent him home empty handed," says Jenny.

Im not sure of the date 2008, 2009. That was when the land was purchased and that was when Katikati really thought that it was a goer. They had worked hard on it for two years.

Residents believe this is their last chance at getting a traffic bypass out of the New Zealand transport agency, says Jenny.

We really feel that this is the year. If it doesnt happen this year with the effort thats gone in and the intensity of the traffic on the Katikati community, and without the bypass we are doomed to be just that dirty industrial strip with the town quite dysfunctional.

We cant maintain quality retail, no quality social space, and its a nightmare really.

Summer traffic woes are so bad that a normal four to five minute journey into town, takes an hour.

For Katikati people the holiday has been a misery because of the bedlam. People stay home, they dont go to the beach or shopping, says Jenny.

Each time the pedestrian lights in town stops the high intensity holiday traffic it backs up, and over a period of time the queuing from both sides of town lengthens.

Through the holiday period the queue that was hardly moving, was all the way back to the Athenree turn off to Waihi Beach.

Just at a standstill. We live on Lindeman Road so we couldnt just think Oh, Ill pop down to town to get something  because you cant. It took me an hour to get into Katikati from my home on Lindeman road which is normally a four minute drive.

But if there was a bypass the traffic would be able to keep flowing through on the bypass without having to stop, so you wouldnt get that build up.

Recent accidents have resulted in more people signing the on line petition, started in August.

There are more than 930 signatures, in addition to another 1700 signatures collected on paper.

Jenny says the petition received a boost following the two hour road block caused by a recent accident, but the Katikati congestion is unrelated. When theres an accident there is one lane free. Normally both are gridlocked.

If there was a bypass the traffic backed up from the accident would build up along the bypass and the town centre itself would be unaffected by traffic at a stand-still, a line of traffic right through the centre of town in a two hour wait.

They hope to present the petitions to Simon Bridges before the next round of public consultation on the SH2 upgrades.

The Katikati grid lock. Photo: Supplied.
Andrew Cuomo

In this Thursday, Dec. 8, 2016 file photo, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo speaks during an economic development awards ceremony in Albany, N.Y.

(Mike Groll | The Associated Press)

ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) -- New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has a plan to help recent college graduates buy homes in Upstate NY.

The proposal announced Friday would offer subsidized low-interest loans and down payment assistance to recent graduates who want to settle upstate.

The Democratic governor says the $5 million program would help young workers invest in their futures and encourage more highly skilled graduates to settle upstate. The area has suffered from population declines in recent years.

Cuomo's office says the program could be expanded in future years if it proves to be successful.
By Press Trust of India: Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 15 (PTI) Amidst squabbling in the party over selection of DCC presidents, CWC member and former Chief Minister A K Antony today asked state Congress leaders to end infighting and work to strengthen the partys eroded mass base.

"The mass base of the party and also that of leaders has eroded. The leaders should end infighting and work to strengthen the party," he told reporters here.

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He pointed out if the leaders fight each other, they would not get the youth to join the party to strengthen it.

"Party workers should work more practically and study the issues before making comments," he said.

Antonys statement comes at a time when former Chief Minister Oommen Chandy is scheduled to meet Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on matters connected with organisational restructure in the state.

Chandy, who had kept away from the partys political affairs committee meeting yesterday, had said in a Facebook post that he would meet Rahul Gandhi in Delhi on January 17.

He had said that some media reports connected with his stand on the reorganisation issue were contrary to facts and some were even exaggerated and that he had not said anything on the selection of DCC presidents.

"But I have some clear views on the matter and that I will convey to the leadership," he had said.

Chandy had concluded the post by saying that people in Kerala wish to strengthen the party led United Democratic Front and also the part and "in that process I will be in the forefront". PTI JRK APR IKA

--- ENDS ---
If you're planning to shift careers, then the new year is always the best time to jump start big changes. Among the factors you'll have to consider, however, are salary, distance from home, the number of vacancies, chances of promotion, and satisfaction at your prospective job.

After all the hard day's work, who wouldn't want to come home knowing you're secure in your career?

A new jobs report by U.S. News listed the best paying jobs according to the factors stated above.

Notably, the top 10 best paying jobs come from the medical field. These are jobs that could not be replaced by robots, compared to technology and financial service industries which can alternatively use the help of artificial intelligence and computers.

Take a look at how much the average salary of these Top 10 jobs are:

1. Anesthesiologist - Average Pay: $258,100

Anesthesiologists are medical professionals that allow surgeons and other doctors to perform invasive procedures to patients by administering general or regional anesthesia that make for little to no pain at all during the operation.

Consider finding jobs as an Anesthesiologist in the metropolitan areas of San Jose, California, San Antonio, and Worcester, Massachusetts.

2. Surgeon - Average Pay: $247,520

Surgeons are professionals who operate on people suffering from injuries, diseases or deformities. It's always a risky procedure where one - both the medical team and family - must be prepared for.

Maria Siemionow, the surgeon who led a team of surgeons who performed the first face transplant procedure in the US, says, "Surgeons should prep for the possibility of failure by always having a plan B."

Surgeons working in the metropolitan areas of Fort Smith, Arkansas, Peabody, Massachusetts, and Boulder, Colorado took home the highest salaries.

3. Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeon - Average Pay: $233,900

Oral and maxillofacial surgeons are dentists with additional surgery training - allowing them to treat from facial traumas to cleft lip, and even diagnose cancers in the head, neck and mouth.

The oral and maxillofacial surgeons that have the highest average salaries are working in the metropolitan areas of Boston, New Jersey and New York.

4. Obstetrician and Gynecologist - Average Pay: $222,400

Obstetricians and gynecologists are a woman's best friend in healthcare. They look after the health and wellness of women's reproductive health.

Obstetricians and gynecologists are almost the same in the field except, the former performs surgeries in childbirth. This means one can be a gynecologist without specializing in childbirth. However, obstetrics must be equipped with the knowledge base of a gynecologist.

Consider working in the metropolitan areas of Portland, Maine, Gary, Indiana, and Silver Spring, Maryland to take home the highest average salary as an obstetrician and gynecologist.

5. Orthodontist - Average Pay: $221,390

Orthodontists are like dentists and orthodontists but specializing in remedying mouth and jaw problems.

Their programs include the aid of braces, retainers, splints and other instruments to fix bites and straighten teeth to make not only a beautiful smile but also a properly functional jaw.

Get the most out of being an orthodontist by working in the metropolitan areas of Tennessee, Atlanta, and Boston.

6. Physicians - Average Pay: $196,520

Physicians are the first line of doctors that one calls when he finds a little irregularity and abnormality in the body. They are who patients call when they cannot tell what medicines can cure for common colds and cough or there is an emergency that needs medical attention.

Physicians working in the metropolitan areas of Florence, Alabama, Grants Pass, Oregon, and Boulder, Colorado reveal to be the highest paid ones in the US.

7. Psychiatrist - Average Pay: $193,680

Psychiatrists are physicians that deal with disorders relating to the mind and mental health; they diagnose and the connection of ailments in the mind to the body.

Psychiatrists work well and earn best in the metropolitan areas of Los Angeles, Tucson, Arizona, and Trenton, New Jersey.

8. Pediatrician - Average Pay: $183,180

Love kids? Then you will love being a pediatrician too!

They specialize in the physical, emotional and social well-being of children from infancy to young adulthood. It's a job you'll love not only for the kids whose health you look after to, but also the good health of the salary you get from it.

While self-employed pediatricians tend to earn higher salaries than office-based practitioners, you may consider working in the metropolitan areas of Jacksonville, Florida, Chattanooga, Tennessee, and Cape Coral, Florida for a higher payout.

9. Dentist - Average Pay: $172,350

Dentists are professionals who identify and treat in the mouth, gums and teeth.

Dentistry stands out among professionals in the field as their schedules can vary widely - most often they can personalize and schedule their practice allowing them to perform their duties as dentists and at the same time earn a profit.

The dentists working in the metropolitan areas of Grand Rapids, Michigan, Charlotte, North Carolina, and Denver achieve the highest salaries.

10. Prosthodontist - Average Pay: $161,020

Do you dream of having a smile that could win you beauty pageants or score you a modelling contract?

Prosthodontists could help you make your dreams come true. They are the ones who work on restoring and replacing teeth to achieve that beautiful smile on their patients' faces.

Prosthodontists have the highest payouts in the metropolitan areas of New Orleans, Newark, New Jersey, and Baltimore.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
It was a good two-term run for the Obamas in the White House but their last days in office have finally come. In her final television appearance as the First Lady of the country, Michelle Obama joined forces with the crew of NBC's The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon to surprise unsuspecting everyday Americans.

The show's crew invited regular Americans to record a video sending their messages of goodbye to the outgoing First Lady. What they did not know was that Michelle Obama was watching them as they relayed their heartfelt messages in front of her portrait and she was also hiding behind the curtain along with the show's host to surprise them.

Heartwarming, Amusing Thank You Messages For Michelle Obama

The people who participated in the video expressed their utmost gratitude to the First Lady for her many endeavors during her run such as women empowerment, education and a healthy lifestyle. The messages varied from heartwarming to amusing, as one father even thanked the First Lady because through her initiative, his daughter learned eat her vegetables. Emotions rushed when the First Lady reveals herself from behind the curtain, especially for one woman who had apparently gone to college with Michelle Obama.

Deviating from their usual two guest format, The Tonight Show spent the whole hour with the first lady as they talked about feeling emotional about leaving the White House after eight years and played catchphrase with special guests Dave Chappelle and Jerry Seinfeld.

The FLOTUS even tried her hand at the show's segment "Thank You Notes" where she penned comical notes to President Barack Obama and referenced some of her initiatives. It is in this segment that The Tonight Show host teased the outgoing First Lady to run for president in the 2020 elections. The show ended with a special performance by Stevie Wonder in honor of the first lady.

Michelle Obama's Continuing Initiatives

Even as they leave the White House, Michelle Obama stressed that she will still continue the initiatives that she began as the first lady. Her four main initiatives are Let's Move!, Joining Forces, Reach Higher and Let Girls Learn. Through these initiatives, she reached out to people worldwide and encouraged many to aspire for higher education, lead healthy lifestyles and break barriers regardless of race or gender. She is also a lawyer, a writer and the first African-American First Lady of The United States of America.

"I will continue to stay involved in these issues as long as I live," Michelle Obama says in the interview.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
A gruesome tapeworm that was once believed to infect only fish in Asia has been found in salmon netted in Alaska.

Eating Raw Or Undercooked Fish

A new study, which was published in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's journal Emerging Infectious Diseases, hint of the growing dangers of eating sashimi and sushi.

Americans who love to eat raw or undercooked fish may now have higher risk of getting an infection from parasites as researchers discovered Japanese broad tapeworm in wild pink salmon caught in Alaska.

Japanese Broad Tapeworm

The Japanese broad tapeworm, Diphyllobothrium nihonkaiense, was first recognized as a human parasite in 1986.

It has been reported in 2,000 illnesses in Japan and other parts of Asia and is known to affect humans who eat infected fish in eastern Russia and Japan. Now, the tapeworm was found in salmon caught in the North American waters off the coast of Alaska.

In 2013, Jayde Ferguson, from Department of Fish and Game, and colleagues, examined 64 wild Alaskan salmon.

By observing the musculature and the internal organs of the fish under a magnifying glass, the researchers discovered larvae measuring up to 15 millimeters long.

Carriers Of The Japanese Tapeworm

Gene sequencing later revealed that these were Japanese tapeworms. Based on the findings, four species of Pacific salmon are now known to be carriers of the Japanese tapeworm infection namely the chum salmon, pink salmon, masu salmon, and sockeye salmon.

"We report finding Japanese broad tapeworm plerocercoids in North America," Ferguson and colleagues reported. "Our main intent is to alert parasitologists and medical doctors about the potential danger of human infection with this long tapeworm resulting from consumption of infected salmon imported (on ice) from the Pacific coast of North America and elsewhere."

Infection May Go Unnoticed

The health effects of Japanese tapeworm infection are not generally serious. Most infections, in fact, go unnoticed because the parasites tend to cause few symptoms.

Some of those infected may only experience nausea or slight abdominal discomfort but there are instances when the infection can become a serious medical problem.

More Serious Health Effects Of Japanese Tapeworm Infection

In 2012, a Japanese man who enjoyed eating chilled salmon suffered from gastrointestinal distress. A meter-long "tape-shaped object" later emerged from his anus which turned out to be the parasitic Japanese broad tapeworm.

"The infections can have a substantial emotional impact on patients and their families," said study author Roman Kuchta, from the Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic. "More severe cases may require specialized consultations and complementary analyses, which are costly."

Global Importation And Popularity Of Eating Raw Fish

Scientists also warned that the problem may spread if nothing is done about it. Global importation and the increasing popularity of eating raw fish help spread the parasite.

Salmon is often packed and transported in ice but not frozen. The tapeworm's larvae can possibly survive the trip and infect consumers in different countries worldwide which include New Zealand, China, and some parts of the United States.

 2022 TECHTIMES.com All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
Andy Rubin planning to make a comeback with a new consumer hardware company and a new high-end smartphone

Andy Rubin, creator of the most popular mobile operating system, Android, who left Google two years ago is now preparing to take on the smartphone industry he helped create. Apparently, Rubin is looking to announce a new company called Essential and serve as its Chief Executive Officer, according to people known to the matter.

Essential is a consumer hardware company that aims to tie multiple devices together. The main project at the company will be a high-end smartphone with edge-to-edge display that lacks a surrounding bezel, according to a report in Bloomberg. Rubin is targeting to release an AI-based high-end premium device meant to compete with the iPhone and top-tier Android handsets like the Google Pixel. The idea is that the devices will be able get new hardware updates to keep them from getting old.

In November 2015, Rubin registered Essential Products Inc. with California regulators. Further, in late 2016, the company registered Essential with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, listing smartphones, tablets, accessories and computer operating software for mobile phones among its goods and services. However, it is not clear if the devices will run on software based on Android.

Currently, Essential has about 40 people working for the company who are recruited from Apple Inc. and Google. It is reportedly also working on building a range of lot of different AI oriented shopper digital merchandise.

A platform company designed to tie multiple devices together, Essential is working on a suite of consumer hardware products, including ones for the mobile and smart home markets, one of the people said.

The centerpiece of the system is a high-end smartphone with a large edge-to-edge screen that lacks a surrounding bezel. At the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas in early January, Rubin discussed the smartphone with mobile carrier executives, including some from Sprint Corp., people familiar with the talks said.

One prototype of an Essential smartphone currently being worked upon boasts of a screen larger than the iPhone 7 Pluss (5.5-inches) but has a smaller overall footprint because of the lack of bezels. Rubin is currently trying to create a screen that can sense pressure, similar to Apples 3D touch technology and also working on a proprietary connector that would charge the battery and improve functionality. Hardware accessories like a 360-degree camera could be added that would allow users to create high-res 360-degree photographs right from the smartphone. It is expected to be manufactured with high-end materials, metal edges, and a ceramic back panel.

If all goes as planned, Rubin is looking to put the smartphone on sale as early as June of this year for a price close to that of an iPhone 7. Foxconn is already in discussions to manufacture it.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Issuing a warning, Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat today said the soldiers who take to social media to air their grievances could be punished as their act is "akin to crime" and lowers the morale of those guarding the frontiers of the country.

Gen Rawat, who took over as head of the force just 15 days back, told officers and jawans in an address on the occasion of Army Day that there are proper ways to air grievances and if anybody was not satisfied, they could contact him directly.

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"In the recent days, some our colleagues have been using social media to air their grievances in front of the media. It affects those brave soldiers who are, as per the glorious traditions of the Indian Army, serving the country and guarding the borders," he said in his address in Hindi at the Parade Ground here.

He said the Army must continue to raise their morale.

"Aapne jo karwai ki hai, aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (The act you have committed is akin to crime and can be liable to punishment)," he told those using the social media.

"If any jawan has any kind of problem, you have a system to air the grievances for redressal. If you are not satisfied with the action, then you can contact me directly," the Army Chief told the soldiers of the 12 lakh-strong force.

His remarks came amid a raging controversy after an army man posted a video on social media criticising the use of soldiers as sahayaks of the officers.

The army mans video came after similar acts by a jawan each of BSF and CRPF.

Only two days back, Gen Rawat had described social media as a "two-sided" weapon which can be used favourably but can also be detrimental.

He had asked his men to directly communicate to him through the "suggestion cum grievance" boxes that will be set up across the formations.

On the occasion of 69th Army Day celebrations here, the Army Chief inspected the parade at Field Marshal Cariappa Parade Ground here. Marching contingents from six different regiments and display of missile systems such as Brahmos and Akash were among the highlights of the event.

What stole the show was combat demonstration by different schools of infantry which fired medium-range guns, besides battle tanks rolling past the parade.

87 defence attaches from 35 countries including the US, Japan, Russia, China, Israel and African nations attended the event, said a senior army official.

The function came to an end with Indian armys Janbaaz motorcycle daredevils performing stunts and a team of paramotorists flew by with a tricolour and flags of the three defence forces. PTI ARK SMN SC AKK AKK

--- ENDS ---

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On the morning of January 8, as Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhbir Singh Badal's motorcade was leaving the venue of an election meeting in his assembly constituency of Jalalabad, a 25-strong group of angry villagers emerged out of nowhere and began pelting it with stones. Though deputy CM Badal was unharmed, the incident sent ripples across poll-bound Punjab.

Former Punjab chief minister Captain Amarinder Singh (2002-2007), who is spearheading a resurgent Congress campaign in the state, promptly called the attack a sign of mounting public anger. "It's the simmering rage of a population incensed by ten years of misrule by the SAD-BJP," Singh said on January 9. Interestingly, just two days before the incident in Jalalabad, Sangrur MP Bhagwant Mann, the Aam Admi Party's (AAP's) best known Punjabi face, who has been pitted against Sukhbir in the southern Punjab constituency, had unadvisedly suggested that people would greet Akali leaders with "dalle (baked clay pellets)".

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Some 250 km away from where Sukhbir Badal and Bhagwant Mann are battling each other is Bassi Pathana, a rural constituency in Fatehgarh Sahib district. It has been key to the overall voteshare of the Akali Dal, which has won from here 11 times. But that seems set to change now. Out in Bassi Pathana's main bazaar, a small group of young men spell it out: "Ten years," Maninder Singh, 26, says, "is much too long to bear the same old faces in government when there is no change in our own lives." Pawandeep Singh, 32, who runs a minor auto accessories kiosk after he failed to find a job, agrees. "Berozgari (unemployment)," he says, "is the biggest problem facing people." It is easy to see why this is a big issue in this election. A whopping 52 per cent of the 19.7 million registered voters in Punjab are young people, aged 18-39. That is why unemployment and drug abuse, another issue that predominantly impacts young people, are bigger issues in Punjab than demonetisation.

Further down the bazaar road, a shopkeeper, Shamlal, 60, and a truck driver, Mandeep Singh, are engrossed in a card game in the sun. They say that, in a sense, they too are 'jobless'. "There are hardly any customers," says Shamlal, blaming the situation on the policies of the state government rather than demonetisation. Mandeep Singh agrees, saying that demonetisation is, in fact, "an honest move by the PM to drive black money out into the open", and is only a minor hiccup in an "already bad situation".

Voters across Fatehgarh Sahib district have been struck by the closing down of the once-thriving steel mills and arc furnaces in neighbouring Mandi Gobindgarh, which till less than a decade ago, was counted among the biggest rolled steel markets and production centres in the country. With thousands of jobs lost, the collapse of Mandi Gobindgarh also shattered the local economy, affecting the livelihoods of scores of petty traders and small shopkeepers. Sukhbir Badal's explanation that "the Gobindgarh factories shut down because of a global slowdown in the steel sector and the fact that mill owners failed to upgrade or modernise their units to stay competitive," cuts no ice with those affected. The deputy CM still has a lot to show though, particularly from the last five years of the SAD-BJP coalition. Besides existing subsidies like free power for irrigation tubewells, which now costs the state up to Rs 5,000 crore annually, Sukhbir talks of making Punjab power surplus, and of building an unparalleled network of six- and eight-lane highways; but most of all, he likes talking of the "grand new international airport in Mohali".

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Up in the Doaba region's Bala-chaur constituency in Nawanshahar district, Kamaljit Singh, 63, a former policeman-turned-farmer, is not impressed. "What difference can a new international airport make in a poor man's life?" he asks, insisting that "the lot of the poor and middle class has only worsened over the past 10 years". He says that the digging of sewer lines was the lone developmental work ever taken up in the constituency, which elected Nandlal, an Akali candidate, four successive times. And even that's been halted now.

It is in places like Balachaur that the portents of a change of guard in Chandigarh are most evident. The Gujjar-dominated assembly segment, which has always elected a Gujjar candidate, has a choice of three in the coming polls. The SAD, Congress and the AAP have all nominated Gujjar candidates, but the latter's Vijay Kumar, a retired brigadier, seems ahead, at least in kerbside conversations. "The Akalis only talk of doles, the brigadier is speaking of creating rozgar. Also, he meets everyone," says Jowanpreet Singh, 25, an IT graduate.

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The disappointment with the incumbent, it appears, has also led to significant support for the Amarinder Singh-led Congress, no doubt helped by the targeted, single-issue campaigns crafted by master poll strategist Prashant Kishor and a team of some 250 IPAC (Indian Political Action Committee) volunteers. Working round-the-clock from a sprawling office floor in Mohali, IPAC director Rishi Raj Singh talks particularly of 'Har Ghar Captain', a campaign launched some months ago to connect with young people. IPAC claims that "3.4 million youth have already registered", no doubt lured by the campaign's promise of jobs, and an interim Rs 2,500 berozgari bhatta (unemployment allowance) in the first 100 days, should Amarinder become CM. Rishi Raj says that through a succession of campaigns launched since March 2016, "Captain Amarinder has been able to directly influence over 6 million voters." And this, he says, is not counting the crowds who come to listen to the Congress chief at election meetings and voter engagement rallies.

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On January 10, the AAP rolled out its own version of 'Har Ghar Captain', which also promises jobs for Punjab's youth through an identical registration process - using smartcards and smartphones - but with Kejriwal's face replacing Amarinder's. But the AAP appears to be struggling. In Sangrur's Lehra assembly segment, Congress stalwart and former CM Rajinder Kaur Bhattal, who had all but disappeared from public discourse thanks to the AAP's blistering rise in March last year, is once again the most visible face. "The AAP made some very problematic candidate choices," explains Kamaljit Dhindsa, who runs a school in Lehra Gaga. Besides the exodus of local Punjabi leaders and volunteers from the AAP in the wake of former state convener Sucha Singh Chhotepur's expulsion last September, Dhindsa tells India Today that "many supporters have since become even more disillusioned with Kejriwal approving tickets to highly dubious individuals".

In Chabbewal, voters like Satnam Singh, 60 and Teerth Singh, 50, say, "We voted for [AAP] in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, but this time he [Kejriwal] hasn't given us a half-decent choice." However, they don't explain why they won't vote for AAP nominee Ram Kumar. This is a story being repeated across the state. Ominously for the party, not one of the prospective voters India Today spoke to across four villages in Kharar-Jhanjeri, Rasanhedi, Wadala and Nawanshahr-could even remember the AAP candidate's name.

For the moment, it appears that a significant proportion of the SAD's core voters will remain loyal. On January 7, Sukhbir Badal told a large audience of opinion-makers in Chandigarh's Hyatt Hotel, "Elections are a tough game, but I love a fight." Many are well aware of the SAD president's uncanny ability to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat, and they say the saffron alliance is very much in the race. As Pramod Kumar, a senior political scientist based in Chandigarh, says, "The SAD-BJP could well end up beneficiaries of a division of anti-incumbency votes between the Congress and AAP."

Follow the writer on Twitter @Asitjolly

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Olaf Scholz is the first European leader to visit China after the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. | Read More
With only eight weeks to go for the assembly polls in Manipur, apart from a few face-offs between the Congress and the BJP, there is little happening on the ground in terms of grand political campaigns. A much talked about anti-incumbency factor affecting the prospects of the Congress and a possible 'BJP wave' prompted by the party's performance in neighbouring Assam and developments in Arunachal Pradesh did prompt some state Congress stalwarts to change course but recent developments have tilted the balance back in favour of the party.

The first act started on November 1 when the powerful United Naga Council (UNC) called for a shutdown in all Naga-dominated areas and imposed an economic blockade on the state's highways, following the announcement by Chief Minister O. Ibobi that Jiribam and Sadar Hills would be accorded district status.

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To people unfamiliar with the landscape of Manipur, the state is landlocked and all essential commodities are brought in by trucks via the state's highways, a majority of which pass through Naga-dominated areas. So a blockade of the highways means acute shortage of stocks of essential commodities in the state. Before the nation saw the spectacle of queues at ATMs and banks after the demonetisation announcement, the people of Manipur were keeping night vigils at petrol pumps even as schools shut down because their vehicles were running dry. And after the demonetisation effect came into play, rates for petrol went up to Rs 250 a litre while LPG cylinders touched Rs 2,000 on the black market.

A month after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced demonetisation, CM Ibobi conducted his own surgical strike by announcing seven new districts, effectively playing to the gallery of people living in far-flung areas who have for long been inconvenienced due to the distance from the district headquarters. Predictably, the UNC termed the move divisive (cutting into its 'Greater Nagaland' cause) but with mainstream civil society lauding the announcement, it meant advantage Ibobi and disadvantage BJP (the latter is widely seen as giving too much leeway to the UNC, which on its part kept insisting on talks with the Centre and not the state leadership).

State BJP spokesperson R.K. Shivchandra is quick to point out that highways are a state subject and have nothing to do with the Central leadership. "The Centre has sent in paramilitary forces who are giving security cover to truck convoys now bringing in some supplies to the state," he says. "Why is there an economic blockade every time assembly polls are round the corner? It is state-managed, to garner more votes."

On the ground, however, there is a growing public perception that the BJP central leadership remains blind to the impact of the demonetisation and the economic blockade. There is a 'too little, too late' tag attached to the BJP, which has its own headache of dealing with too many little-known contenders vying for tickets. The current talks on a framework agreement with the NSCN (IM)-which is yet to be placed in the public domain-makes the BJP vulnerable to questions about protecting the interests of the non-Naga electorate. The defection of BJP MLA Kh. Joykishan to the Congress in December 2016 does not bode well for the party, given that he was seen as an upcoming leader and even a potential CM candidate if the party came to power.

Almost irrespective of the situation on the ground, elections in Manipur pivot on public perceptions of candidates and less on party preferences. Given this scenario, the infighting within the BJP and the lack of any strong opposition might pave the way for a fourth term for the Congress.

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Follow the writer on Twitter @ChitraAhanthem

--- ENDS ---
Proto India was by not as isolated as we thought







Bonn, Germany (SPX) Jan 13, 2017





India gradually drifted away from Africa and Madagascar towards the north and collided with the Eurasian plate. Scientists assumed for a long time that the subcontinent was largely isolated during its long journey through the ocean and unique species of plants and animals were therefore able to develop on it. However, paleontologists at the University of Bonn are now showing using tiny midges encased in amber that there must have been a connection between the apparently cut off India and Europe an ... read more
For the BJP, the battle for Uttarakhand goes back to the slight it suffered at the Congress's hands last year, when chief minister Harish Rawat won the May 10 trust vote in the assembly, compelling the Centre to withdraw President's rule and reinstate his government. BJP president Amit Shah had then vowed to wrest the state from the Congress at any cost. Starting with rallies in 44 constituencies where it did not have MLAs to 'expose' alleged horsetrading by Rawat, the BJP worked to strengthen its organisational base, forming booth-level committees in all 70 constituencies.

What the BJP does not have, however, is a single face to project as chief ministerial candidate. It has four former CMs-B.C. Khanduri, Bhagat Singh Koshyari, Ramesh Pokhriyal Nishank and Vijay Bahuguna (who left the Congress to join the BJP last year)-as well as Ajay Bhatt, Maharani Laxmi Shah, Ajay Tamta and Satpal Maharaj vying for the job. All eight of them featured on the BJP's parivartan rath as it rolled across the state in November-December.

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The Congress, by contrast, has Rawat, although Pradesh Congress Committee chief Kishore Upadhyaya is giving him grief, and competition. The large-scale defection to the BJP side is also cause for worry. The BJP is in contact with Congress leader Yashpal Aarya; talks have been stuck because Aarya is adamant on his demand for two seats, Nainital for his son and his own Bajpur. Former CM and veteran Congress leader N.D. Tiwari too is on the BJP radar. He is willing to join if his son Rohit is given a ticket from Lalkuan or Haldwani.

The BJP is focusing on the 41 constituencies in the Garhwal region because most of the leaders who have defected hail from here. It's not all smooth sailing, though, as many of these leaders want tickets for their relatives, despite Narendra Modi's 'no ticket for kin' injunction. Kunwar Pranav Singh 'Champion' wants a seat for his wife; as does BJP spokesperson Munna Singh Chauhan. Former assembly speaker Harvansh Singh is hoping for a ticket for his son from Dehradun Cantt while former chief minister B.C. Khanduri wants to pit his daughter Ritu from either Karnprayag or Yamkeshwar.

In neighbouring Kumaon, which has 29 seats, Harish Rawat has the upper hand. But he is also thinking of contesting from Garhwal, especially Upadhyaya accused him of ignoring the Garhwal region.

The Congress has a firm social base in the state, with Rawat enjoying a clear edge over his rivals. A majority of the 50 per cent Rajputs in the state are in his favour. Muslims and Dalits, who make up 32-35 per cent of the vote, too, have traditionally thrown in their lot with the Congress.

The BJP is wooing the Brahmins, Vaishyas and Punjabis, who constitute 16 per cent of the vote. It is also hoping to attract Dalits, after the SC sammelans it has held in all 70 constituencies, besides actively promoting the Ambedkar legacy, including naming the UPI app-Bhim-after him. The women's conferences and yuva samvads could help rope in the women and youth vote.

Both sides have shifted into battle mode. The Congress has moved election strategist Prashant Kishor to Uttarakhand. The BJP, in turn, has made cabinet ministers J.P. Nadda and Dharmendra Pradhan election in-charge. However, for every challenge that the BJP throws his way, CM Rawat has only one answer: President's rule. It's the one thing the BJP might find difficult to live down.

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On December 28, when they gathered at the archbishop's palace in Panaji for the annual Christmas reception, Defence minister Manohar Parrikar and Goa chief minister Laxmikant Parsekar had no idea of what was to unfold. Goa archbishop Filipe Neri Ferrao, whom the duo considers their well-wisher, was at his caustic best. "What we see is extensive environmental and social damage to Goa, which has led to rampant corruption and weakened governance," Ferrao said in his address, leaving the BJP leaders red-faced. Annoyed, they left the venue soon after.

The archbishop's comments brought things full circle as far as ties between the Church and the BJP are concerned. Exactly five years ago, fed up with the widespread loot by the Digambar Kamat-led Congress government, the archbishop had appealed to the state's 27 per cent Roman Catholics to vote for change. Today, the Church says, "the people are sovereign, they will decide", but the message is clear once again.

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As the assembly polls near, the BJP is fighting a war on two fronts. It has to neutralise former ally, the Maharashtrawadi Gomantak Party (MGP), which has tied up with the rebel Sangh group, the Goa Suraksha Manch (GSM), on the issue of Konkani pride against the BJP's alleged Christian appeasement. The GSM is a new entrant, but its supporters are miffed ex-BJP voters, upset that the party has not kept its promise of scrapping grants to English medium schools (a majority of them are Church-run). Meanwhile, the party is also losing the support of the Christians.

That said, the BJP is still likely to emerge as the single largest party after the February 4 polls, though it may fall short of a simple majority. And it's thanks to a disintegrating Congress and the entry of the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), which might attract the affluent Christians in south Goa. Meanwhile, the GSM's joining hands with the MGP may work against it as Hindu voters see the latter as an opportunist party with little credibility. (That said, in north Goa, it could hurt the BJP's chances.)

The BJP's main plank to retain power is its many development projects, including the 14 new bridges, and the country's first garbage treatment plant in north Goa. Also, the opposition's inability to make any corruption charges stick works to its advantage. Parsekar is keen on getting the Christian vote to the BJP side. He even persuaded Parrikar to shift the venue of the (October 2016) BRICS summit from north Goa to south Goa so that the businesses in the south, mostly Christian-run, could benefit.

The Congress, meanwhile, is a broken house with half of its nine legislators in a rebellious mood. The only remaining influential Congressman is former CM Kamat, and he is facing corruption charges too. The initial AAP wave is also petering out. AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal has been blowing hot and cold on the casino ban issue as he knows a big number of the local youth are employed in the state's 15 casinos. It hasn't gone down well.

Follow the writer on Twitter @kirantare

--- ENDS ---
At his U.S. Senate confirmation hearing Thursday, Dr. Ben Carson, the soon-to-be head of the federal agency that will provide the most money for repairing flood-damaged homes, got an earful on foot-dragging and Louisiana politics.

Quoting off-the-record comments, newbie Republican U.S. Sen. John N. Kennedy told Carson that unnamed federal officials blamed the states Democratic administration for not getting nearly $1.7 billion into the hands of everyday Louisiana residents wanting to repair their disaster-damaged homes without enough resources to do so. Carson is President-elect Donald Trumps choice as secretary for the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development.

While true that many Louisiana homeowners are frustrated, Carson also received a dose of local politics by one of several Republicans who see Democratic Gov. John Bel Edwards as a blue anomaly in a red state.

For weeks, Edwards has answered those criticisms by blaming federal hurdles for the slowness of the cashs arrival. He did so again on Wednesday in a Baton Rouge interview.

Were not unnecessarily delaying anything, but there are certain things you have to do, Edwards said, adding that he is ahead of HUDs timeline for securing the federal recovery dollars.

Louisiana received approval for $437.8 million in September  money that will become available for spending in April or May  and another $1.2 billion in December, with spending rules to be published in the Federal Register, as is required, probably next week.

States have to prepare a plan following federal guidelines, vet those ideas with the public, and then submit a proposal for approval by HUD. That process takes time.

Carson told the Senate Banking, Housing & Urban Development Committee that he had been hearing similar reports from state and local officials around the country.

They appreciate the grant money, but they have to jump through too many hoops and there is too much red tape, said Carson, adding that improved technology should make things easier.

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Federal help for ordinary disaster victims is a relatively new phenomenon. From almost the beginning of the nation, federal help was seen as a power grab from local authorities and churches. It wasnt until 1974 that the federal government formalized what had been a hodgepodge of efforts to help disaster victims.

Every disaster since has been followed by angry accusations that some of the taxpayers dollars were wasted on the undeserving and stolen by the unscrupulous. New laws, rules and regulations, then, have been imposed by Congress.

Louisiana is not alone in trying to find the center of the maze. Other states in 2016 also were distressed by disaster.

North Carolina, for instance, was flooded by two tropical storms, whacked by a hurricane that killed 28, and ended the year fighting an outbreak of wildfires that burned the equivalent of the area between Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

The General Assembly in the Tar Heel state has more options than Louisiana does, however, to cover gaps while waiting for the federal dollars to arrive. North Carolina simply dipped into its $1.6 billion in savings reserves to supplement existing federal disaster relief programs and  help address unmet needs not covered under these existing federal programs, according to a University of North Carolina briefing paper. Much of the $200 million North Carolina legislators appropriated last month was directed toward providing short-term housing for victims without flood insurance, grants for rental assistance, construction of new rental units and repairs to damaged homes.

Louisianas handled disaster expenses basically with an order by Edwards for state agencies to spend what was necessary.

It winds up being an unbudgeted expense that the agencies must make during the throes of the crisis, said Commissioner of Administration Jay Dardenne, the governors top fiscal adviser and architect of the state budget.

And that seemed to work OK, he added.

Eventually, the federal government will reimburse the state for all but about $50 million, probably less, Dardenne said. Given our financial crisis this go-round, Im not sure how were going to deal with that.

Still, Dardenne insisted that Louisianas system of laws and procedures, which allow the governor and the Legislature to take the actions necessary in a time of crisis, works well enough that putting money aside specifically for a disaster would be unwise.

Edwards seems to agree. One of the structural problems for the states fiscal health  a reason why it seems state government needs to rebalance the budget every few months to match spending with available dollars  is because so much money is tied up in trust funds and escrow accounts.

Though, he allowed, it would be nice to have more money in the till.

Would I love to have more money here in Louisiana? Absolutely, for all sorts of reasons not just to respond to disasters, so we can absorb some of these budget problems that we have, Edwards said.
Woman on mission to help 'Wall of Faces' project put faces with names of soldiers killed, missing in Vietnam
How would you survive a weekend disconnected from power?

Campbell man Jim Croft got by with a little help from his friends.

Axel Godeck with his neighbour Jim Croft at home in Campbell. Croft hasn't had power since Friday when a tree damaged the power lines outside his home so Godeck ran a power lead from his home so that Croft could charge his phone. Credit:Rohan Thomson

A tree took out the power lines connecting his and his neighbour's electricity during a sudden windstorm Friday afternoon.

Theirs were two of 16,000 properties affected by outages after the weather event saw trees and power poles felled by gusts up to 69 kilometres per hour.
However, to take issue with a single date on the basis of historical variables is to reject colonial history in its entirety. As with anything in history, outright condemnation is too simple. When I consider this country's history, I am indeed sorry for the brutal rape, murder and needless separation of families. I am sorry for the hurt caused by the ignorance of generations past. But I am not sorry for the arrival of the British on January 26.

How could I be? If such an event did not occur, I or my family would not be here. We would not have the country that became home to millions of migrants over the course of more than 200 years. I don't doubt that recent arrivals also hold affection for the day they received their recognition of citizenship. To hold such sentiment is not to ignore or brush aside the victims of colonisation; rather, it is, somewhat selfishly, being thankful for our personal fortune.

The meaning given to a single date is culturally and socially relative. I doubt Australian republicans find much substance in our annual Queen's Birthday holiday, and certainly public holidays such as Christmas Day do not represent the entirety of the population. We have Harmony Day, but I doubt most Australians could even tell you the date it falls on. For the record, it's March 21. The fact is, no single date ever can or will encompass the myriad cultural and social variables enough to be dubbed a true "national" day.

This leads to the obvious question: should we even have a national day at all? That word, national, carries with it connotations of community, togetherness and harmony. The reality is that the annual Australia Day debate and the current campaign for a treaty proves we have never really united as one nation. Not with our Indigenous people at least.

Ultimately, it's not the date that matters, but the unresolved divisions within our population. January 26 will never be a true day of national celebration for all, but neither will any other date. Some say that January 1, the date of federation, would be ideal. But what of the constitution that failed to dignify our first inhabitants as people?
The death of a Sudanese refugee who alleged repeated negligence over six months by health providers on Manus Island is set to be investigated by a Senate committee.

Labor immigration spokesman Shayne Neumann has asked that Faysal Ishak Ahmed's death be examined by the legal and constitutional affairs references committee, which is already inquiring into allegations of abuse of asylum seekers on Manus Island and Nauru.

"Given media reports suggesting asylum seekers on Manus Island had requested better medical treatment for Mr Ahmed and the ongoing cases of alleged neglect, abuse and self-harm at the centre, I believe this matter falls within the committee's remit," Mr Neumann says in a letter obtained by Fairfax Media.

"This inquiry was established to investigate matters of this nature and the reporting timeframe of 30 March 2017 provides a suitable window that will allow for thorough investigation of Mr Ahmed's death."
With the precision of a craftsman painting a ceramic doll, Toman Sasaki blended foundation onto his fine-boned face, shaded the side of his nose with blush and shaped his lip colour with a small brush. After 40 minutes of primping in his tiny studio apartment in the Hatsudai neighborhood of Tokyo, he peered into a hand mirror and gave himself a nod of approval.

Along with his manicured nails, bobbed hair and high-heeled shoes, the makeup made Sasaki, 23, appear more typically feminine than male, a striking choice in a society where men and women tend to hew strictly to conventional gender dress codes.

Toman Sasaki, a model and pop band member who regards his look as genderless, during a performance with his group in Kawasaki, Japan, Nov. 3, 2016. Just as some American men have embraced makeup, young Japanese men are bending gender norms, a big step in a culture where genders hew strictly to convention. (Ko Sasaki/The New York Times) Credit:KO SASAKI

Sasaki, a model and pop band member who goes simply by Toman, does not regard his look as feminine so much as genderless. As one of a small but growing group of "genderless danshi," "danshi" means young men in Japanese, he is developing a public identity and a career out of a new androgynous style.

"At heart, I am a man," said the petite-framed Sasaki, whose wardrobe of slim-fit tank tops, baggy jackets and skinny jeans evokes the fashion of a preadolescent girl. The concept of gender, he said, "isn't really necessary."
It was ten years ago on Sunday that Angelika Elliott left Sydney for Switzerland with her terminally ill husband, John, so he could end his life on his own terms.

John Elliott, a medical doctor, was suffering multiple myeloma, or bone marrow cancer. The 79-year-old was in excruciating pain, his hands shook, he struggled to walk and swallow.

"My husband was terribly sick with bone cancer; he was allergic against morphine," she told Fairfax Media. "He'd scream in pain if you touched his back. He could not pour a glass of water."

The Rose Bay couple chose to go to Switzerland, where assisted suicide for altruistic reasons is legal. Dr Elliott successfully ended his life in a Zurich hotel room on January 25, 2007 with the support of assisted suicide group Dignitas.
It's a scourge of modern communications: a mobile phone which breaks just when it's most needed.

But what if you could confidently guess exactly when your phone was about to break and then prevent that from happening?

Professor Michael Biercuk in his laboratory. Credit:Nick Moir

A team of scientists from the University of Sydney have taken that idea and used big data to predict what will happen in the random quantum world and fix the problem.

Professor Michael Biercuk, chief investigator at the Australian Research Council's Centre for Engineered Quantum Systems, has described the findings published in Nature Communications as significant.
Goose Creek CISD Superintendent Randal OBrien says he has suspicions as to why the state is implementing a new, controversial accountability 
By Press Trust of India: Kejriwal

Ajnala (Pb), Jan 15 (PTI) AAP national convener and Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal today alleged that Punjab Congress chief Amarinder Singh and the Badals had "ruined border districts" of the state by not paying heed to their genuine woes.

"Agro-based industry is need of the hour, especially in Punjabs border districts to support peasantry and general employment for the youth. The AAP Government is committed to do so," he said while campaigning in border areas here.

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"Even the industrial units that shifted from Punjab due to apathy of the SAD-BJP government will be brought back with tax incentives and a pre-condition that 80 per cent of the jobs should be given to Punjabis," Kejriwal said.

If AAP forms government, special economic package will be announced for special development of border areas, the Delhi Chief Minister said.

He claimed that all "false cases" under NDPS Act filed by Badals against innocent youth, who opposed the drug mafia, will be cancelled.

AAP will create a special task force of senior doctors within six months for de-addiction of youths and create 25 lakh jobs to bring them back into main stream, Kejriwal assured, claiming there are about 40 lakh people addicted to drugs.

The Punjab Assembly polls is a fight between "hopeful and hopeless" parties, he said, alleging the SAD-BJP and Congress have colluded with each other to stop the hopeful (AAP).

On Punjabs financial condition, Kejriwal said, "There is no dearth of money but lack of political will. AAP will work with honesty and generate revenue by curbing drainage of crore of rupees into corruption during SAD-BJP regime."

"We will ensure loan waivers for farmers within one to two years and implement the Swaminathan Committees recommendations within three years if AAP forms government in Punjab," Kejriwal announced.

He said AAP has prepared a 150-point charter for Punjab and announced to fulfil ten key points immediately after forming government.

The time is ripe for Punjabis to bring political change in the state for future generations and to end the nexus between Badals and Amarinder, who have tacit understanding to contest the Punjab polls, Kejriwal alleged.

Reiterating he would not be Punjab chief minister as being propagated by SAD and Congress, he said, "Whosoever be the chief minister, I stand guarantee to fulfil promises made to the people by AAP."

Vowing that AAP government would nab the culprits behind incidents of sacrilege and ensure exemplary punishment for them, so that no one could dare to indulge in such acts, Kejriwal alleged connivance of Badals in the incidents.

He announced to increase old, handicapped and widow pensions from Rs 500 to Rs 2500 per month. PTI VJ ANB RG ANB

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Police are on the hunt for three men wanted over a violent robbery in Brisbane in December.

Luke Hanson appeared in the Brisbane Magistrates Court on Saturday charged with robbery, assault occasioning bodily harm and trespass.

Police are searching for three men over the school grounds assault. Credit:Rob Gunstone

The alleged incident happened after-hours at Craigslea State High School at Chermside.

Police prosecutor Mark Gorton said a group of four men took another to the back of the school, where he was repeatedly punched and kicked.
One Nation defector Steve Dickson has hit back at claims his staff downloaded internal Liberal National Party documents when he jumped ship to the minor party.

Mr Dickson appeared in his electorate of Buderim with One Nation leader Pauline Hanson on Friday to announce he was jumping ship to the minor party over the issue of medicinal cannbis.

The LNP alleges 52 documents were downloaded from its servers on Thursday, just after Ms Hanson's office called the media conference for the following day, from a login associated with Mr Dickson.

The Sunday Mail reports lawyers for the LNP have issued letters to Mr Dickson and his staff demanding they sign agreements not to release the information contained in the documents or show it to anyone outside the party.
A missing dinghy has been found on a remote Torres Strait island after sparking an air and sea search on Saturday evening when it failed to arrive at its destination.

The three people on board, two men and a 13-year-old boy, were found on Yam Island off the far north Queensland coast about 8am on Sunday morning.

Water police along with search and rescue aircraft scoured the Torres Strait for a missing dinghy on Saturday evening and Sunday morning. Credit:Queensland Police Service

Police were told late on Saturday night that the six-metre dinghy was overdue to Saibai Island after leaving Moa Island about 5pm.

A coordinated air and sea search involving water police as well as rescue aircraft had failed to locate the boat on Saturday evening, but their perseverance paid off the following morning
One of Melbourne's most wanted burglars doesn't scale heights or slip through sensors to slink away with high-end jewels and art.

He's an average sort of thief who uses just a crowbar and brute force, but the thing is, he's pretty darn good at it.

For the past year, this mystery man has cracked open safes in shops across the Melbourne CBD, stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Detective Sergeant Haydn Beale, from the Melbourne crime investigation unit, said police had linked the man to about 30 burglaries since last February.
For Aaron Coping, life is organised around two things.

The first is his beloved daughter, Pippa Conroy, 8, who spends a day a week during the summer holidays at his workplace, Poison City Records on Brunswick Street.

Aaron Coping and his eight-year-old daughter Pippa. Pippa goes to work with her father, as he balances a work and parenting life. Credit:Paul Jeffers

Books, colouring pens and her social nature make it a pleasure.

The second is the trundling Route 11 tram, which connects Aaron's workplace, the family home in Reservoir (shared with Pippa's mum, Ada Conroy, a social worker) and their daughter's school in Thornbury.
WA Police have called on the public for information after a 48-year-old man was found in a critical condition in Middle Swan on Sunday morning.

The man was found by police after they were called to Toodyay Road near Holding Street at around 1am.

The man was taken to Royal Perth Hospital for treatment.

The man was suffering severe injuries, some of which police say were consistent with stab wounds.
A man has died after jumping off cliffs at Blackwall Reach near Point Walter in Perth's southern suburbs on Sunday.

The man, believed to be in his 30s, leaped off the 10 metre high cliffs into the Swan River about 4pm and was unconscious when he surfaced.

He was dragged to the shore by other swimmers who tried to resuscitate him before being rushed to Fiona Stanley Hospital by ambulance.
Senior US intelligence chiefs such as National Intelligence director James Clapper have staked their reputations on the claims. Credit:Bloomberg The imagined crisis sparked by the also-imaginary Robin Hoodhacker appeared last week in a special intelligence assessment written by US spy agencies. The report, Global Trends: Paradox of Progress, is the latest in a major series published every four years, usually about the time the US president begins their term in office. CIA director John Brennan. Credit:Pete Marovich The goal is to illustrate possible dangers in the years ahead and the gloomy conclusions of this latest report won't exactly endear the intelligence agencies to the president-elect.

"Populism will increase on the right and the left, threatening liberalism," the report says. A part of the declassified version Intelligence Community Assessment on Russia's efforts to interfere with the US political process. Credit:AP But what is on rare public display in this whole sorry saga is the challenge to make confident judgments without the full picture. How to navigate the realm of knowns and unknowns, to borrow a phrase. "The risk of conflict will grow. Warring will be less and less confined to the battlefield, and more aimed at disrupting societies  using cyber weapons from afar or suicide terrorists from within. "The silent, chronic threats of air pollution, water shortage, and climate change will become more noticeable."

Vladimir Putin's hackers tried to influence the US election in favour of Donald Trump according to American intelligence. Illustration: Joe Benke Credit:Joe Benke There is no guarantee any of these threats will come to pass, but the conclusions are intended to represent the best judgment of the intelligence analysts from the fragmentary material available. Giving leaders an edge Intelligence agencies spend a great deal of time seeking to anticipate future threats that might emerge, and the Americans spend more on intelligence agencies than any country, about $70 billion each year. The classified briefings were presented to President-elect Donald Trump by the four most senior US intelligence chiefs, including FBI director James Comey. Credit:AP

For the latest Global Trends report, the authors travelled to about 35 countries, speaking to about 2500 people from all walks of life to produce the 235-page assessment. The aim of such reports  the essence of the secret intelligence business  is to give political leaders an edge and inform their decision-making. The other side of intelligence is the chance for the secret sabotage of perceived enemies. Coincidentally, the Global Trends report was publicly released only a few days after intelligence chiefs from the CIA, FBI and NSA also handed over the far-more-sensational intelligence assessment to Trump and Barack Obama, about a targeted campaign ordered by Vladimir Putin to influence the presidential election. The conclusions were stunning. "Russia's goals were to undermine public faith in the US democratic process, denigrate [Hillary] Clinton, and harm her electability and potential presidency," the spies alleged.

"We further assess Putin and the Russian government developed a clear preference for President-elect Trump." Emails, hacked from Democratic Party officials, were said to have been covertly laundered to Wikileaks and other websites in order to create plausible deniability. When you put the two reports together, with intelligence agencies dreaming up nightmare scenarios in one, while claiming an actual nightmare of foreign interference in a democratic election in another, it's perhaps not such a surprise there are doubts about the true extent of Russia's actions in the US elections. It's certainly a doubt Trump wants to exploit, now the very legitimacy of his presidency is under unprecedented assault. "These are the same people that said Saddam Hussein had weapons of mass destruction," Trump's campaign scornfully said as they dismissed the initial claims that Russia had secretly backed his quest for the White House.

And while Trump now concedes Russian operatives probably did hack the Democratic Party, he has continued to belittle the intelligence agencies, blaming them for the release last week of a sordid dossier of supposed blackmail material alleging he consorted with prostitutes in Moscow and agreed to become a stooge for the Kremlin. Lessons from Iraq So, who to believe? "Iraq was 14 years ago," Mark Lowenthal, a former assistant director at the CIA, tells Fairfax Media. "Time to move on. There must be a statute of limitations." "A lot was learned from that experience and it is reflected in the new report, especially the details on what we call analytic tradecraft. They try to give a very good sense of how they arrive at conclusions based on sometimes incomplete intelligence."

Intelligence assessments draw on all the strands of collected secrets  signals intercepts plucked from the skies, carefully cultivated agents inside foreign governments or rogue outfits, or information freely available in the public domain. But what is on rare public display in this whole sorry saga is the challenge to make confident judgments without the full picture. How to navigate the realm of knowns and unknowns, to borrow a phrase. Before the Russian hacking story, the most contentious intelligence assessments dated back to late in the Bush era, when US spy agencies judged Iran had abandoned efforts to build a nuclear bomb. Before that, it was the claim of WMD in Iraq and how those entrusted with the job of national security missed the September 11, 2001, attacks. The report is careful to explain two elements of reaching an intelligence judgment  "how likely it is that something has happened or will happen (using terms such as 'likely' or 'unlikely') and confidence levels in those judgments (low, moderate, and high)".

There is also a difference of agreement between the agencies on the judgment that Putin set out to discredit Clinton, with the CIA and FBI expressing high confidence, the NSA moderate support. "Not at all unusual," says Lowenthal about the contested assessment. "Depends largely on sources and how one reads them. But this is a nuance. They are agreeing on the basic finding." But in the Russian hacking report, the conclusions are presented to the public without evidence. "The release of such information would reveal sensitive sources or methods and imperil the ability to collect critical foreign in the future," the agencies said. As another CIA veteran Steven Hall wrote in The Washington Post: "Facts may help resolve the matter, but in revealing the facts, the government may also reveal how we got them. It is truly not an overstatement to say that technical capabilities we have spent years and millions to develop could be rendered useless in one news cycle if disclosure is not handled correctly. Worse  and I do not exaggerate  if it were human sources that provided the information, they could lose their lives."

Trust us, in other words. But trust is a big ask from agencies that often rely on deception. "One must not be seduced by spies and their agenda," wrote Bob Carr in his diary after a meeting with the CIA during his stint as Australian foreign minister. Filling in the blanks People don't generally like uncertainty. Absent a display of firm evidence, the result is all kinds of speculation, filling in the gaps with your personal experience or world view. If you're a Trump supporter, you might dismiss the Russian hacking story, believing the controversy to be merely sour grapes on the part of Clinton supporters.

Democrats, on the other hand, are seizing on the claims of Russian manipulation and the fact Clinton won the count in the popular vote to cry foul, yet conveniently ignoring the political weaknesses of her campaign. Russians, meanwhile, are scathing. "One may not only fool others, but oneself as well," commentator Vadim Poegli observed in the newspaper Moskovsky Komsomolets, also reflecting the common view of the Russian officialdom. Ironically, there is a strand of thought in Moscow that the CIA was secretly behind the collapse of the former Soviet Union. Perhaps the most compelling aspect of the intelligence assessment on Russia's activities is that the agencies have been so willing to associate themselves with the claims publicly, instead of hiding in the shadows. They make the point that every activity online leaves a trail. The classified briefings were presented to Trump by the four most senior US intelligence chiefs: National Intelligence director James Clapper, FBI director James Comey, CIA director John Brennan, and NSA director Admiral Mike Rogers. Their reputations are staked on these claims. While there have been selective leaks and racy reports about what was said, the essence on the conclusions were also released, appropriately enough in this social media age, on the official Tumblr blog of the intelligence community.

The absence of incontrovertible evidence, of course, encourages doubters. Plenty dismiss the report as biased attempt by partisan, Obama-appointed officials to discredit Trump, while Trump himself has seized on the fact the agencies made no effect to judge the impact Russian hacking had on the outcome of the election. Claims of the politicisation of intelligence assessments  crafting them to suit the ideological disposition of their authors  go back decades. In the 1970s, senior CIA officer John Huizenga was damning of the agency's influence on official policy in an interview with historians. "I think that intelligence has had relatively little impact on the policies that we've made over the years. Relatively none," Huizenga said. "By and large, the intelligence effort did not alter the premises with which political leadership came to office. They brought their baggage and they more or less carried it along." Loading
In Case You Missed It - Nutson's Weekly Automotive News Digest - Jan 9-15, 2017; NAIAS, VW, Takata, Kia Stinger Praised, Chrysler Diesel OOPS







AUTO CENTRAL CHICAGO, January 15, 2017; Every Sunday Larry Nutson, Senior Editor and Chicago Car Guy along with fellow senior editors Steve Purdy and Thom Cannell from The Auto Channel Michigan Bureau, give you TACH's "take" on this past week's automotive news in easy to digest mega-tweet sized nuggets.

If you are a car and driving fan like we all are here at The Auto Channel, you can easily "catch up" or put these stories in context by searching the past 25 year's 2,004,559 automotive pages of news, automotive stories, articles, reviews, archived news, video, audio, rants and raves accessible from The Auto Channel's Automotive News Archive.

Hey TV viewers, you can now enjoy The Auto Channel TV Network "Free and Clear" on WHDT Channel 3 in Boston and on many local cable systems. All South Florida auto fans can continue to watch The Auto Channel TV Network on WHDT-TV Channel 9 in West Palm Beach as well as cable channel's 17 and 438, channel 9 Miami. WHDN launched its full schedule (including The Auto Channel)of broadcasting in the Naples-Fort Myers market on digital PSIP channel 9.1 channel, look for us Hulu and on TUNAVISION.

Nutson's Nuggets: January 15, 2017

Learn More: 2017 NAIAS (Detroit Auto Show) Press Pass Coverage

* Media preview days at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit are over. Highlights include: Volkswagens I.D. Buzz, a small electric van based on the design of the classic Microbus; a concept large sedan from Nissan; Kias new rear-wheel drive sedan called Stinger; the beautiful Volvo V90 station wagon; a concept version of the Lincoln Navigator with gull-wing doors and three steps that fold into the rockers; Bob Lutz newest creation that looks like a Hummer; and GAC, the first Chinese company to have space on the main floor of the show. See all the details from the auto show here at The Auto Channel.

* Kicking off the Detroit NAIAS the 2017 NACTOY winners were announced. Chevrolet Bolt is North American Car of the Year, Chrysler Pacifica is North American Utility of the Year and Honda Ridgeline is North American Truck of the Year. Are you surprised?

* There were lots of tweets this week emanating from the NAIAS too. Many were about the new vehicles being shown but just as meany were from car makers touting how much they spend in the U.S. to build cars and employ people. In this time of Trump moments, following Ford's announcement to cancel a new plant in Mexico, FCA announced it would spend $1 billion on two new U.S. plants and Toyota said it would spend $10 billion on new U.S. investments. President-elect Trump tweeted his support. Oh, and VP Joe Biden, a true car guy who owns a '67 Corvette, toured the show.

* Kia Motors Americas all-new 2018 Stinger fastback sedan has been honored with an EyesOn Design award for Production Car Design Excellence at the North American International Auto Show (NAIAS). At an event typically dominated by introductions from American auto companies, Kias Stinger stole the spotlight.

* Ford Motor Company is bringing back two historic nameplates--the Ranger midsize pickup and Bronco SUV will return to North America later this decade. I hope gasoline prices stay low.

* AutoWeek showed a picture and fanned speculation that Toyota would bring out a new hot-hatch version of the tepid subcompact Yaris at the Geneva Motor Show in March. Toyota has not confirmed the car and we dont expect to get it here in the U.S. right away in any event, but the 210 hp version of this little car could be a real screamer with as much power as GTI and Civic Si. Word came from Toyotas Gazoo Racing but nothing has leaked about what it will be called or other details.

* More power to you. Dodges new ultimate performance halo, the 2018 Dodge Challenger SRT Demon, is set to be unveiled at the New York International Auto Show. Dodge will debut "Cage," the first in a series of pre-reveal teaser videos giving fans and followers insight into Demons engineering prowess. It is expected to have even more power than the explosive, 707-hp Hellcat, believe it or not. Check out www.ifyouknowyouknow.com website. The Demon name was first introduced to the Dodge lineup in 1971.

* The University of Michigan Transportation Research Institute's latest report from Michael Sivak and Brandon Schoettle says the average fuel economy (window-sticker value) of new vehicles sold in the U.S. in December was 24.9 mpgdown 0.1 mpg from the revised value for November. This change likely reflects the continuing increase in the proportion of light trucks sold. The value for December 2016 is up 4.8 mpg since October 2007 (the first month of their monitoring), but down 0.6 mpg from the peak of 25.5 mpg reached in August of 2014. The average fuel economy of new vehicles sold in 2016 was 25.2 mpg, down 0.1 mpg from 2015.

* President Barack Obamas administration is finalizing stringent gas mileage rules that require automakers to produce car and truck fleets that average fuel economy sticker values of about 36 miles per gallon by 2025. The new emission standards began to take effect with the 2017 model year. They call for ramping up from the current fleet-wide average of about 34 mpg for cars and trucks that were required in 2016 to an eventual goal of 54.5 mpg by 2025. The increase, which some automakers have said might be too ambitious, starts with a rise to an average of over 35 mpg for the 2017 models that already are being rolled out. The bottom line is, the technology exists to do this but it depends upon what consumers actually buy that make up the average of all vehicles sold. I expect a big marketing push including pricing actions to sell more high MPG vehicles.

* VW agreed to plead guilty on criminal charges and will pay $4.3 billion in criminal and civil fines wrapping up its diesel-gate mess. Final approval will include the appointment of an independent monitor to oversee the company's compliance for three years. This same week a second individual, Oliver Schmidt, a 47-year old German who worked in the U.S. for VW, was arrested in Miami by the FBI while on a visit and charged in the case. Five additional VW Execs, some retired and who live in Germany, have been indicted. Ironically, in spite of this, VW may pass Toyota for the global sales crown for 2016.

* The EPA is at it again now accusing Fiat Chrysler of installing secret software that allowed its diesel vehicles to emit toxins above legal levels. The 104,000 affected vehicles include the light-duty 2014, 2015 and 2016 Jeep Grand Cherokees and Dodge Ram 1500 trucks with 3-liter diesel engines sold in the United States. The issue is software installed in all modern diesel vehicles that calibrates an engines performance and controls emissions levels. Federal regulations allow diesel cars to shut off emissions controls in certain situations to protect the engine from damage. EPA says FCA didn't inform them of the software. It's just all about the paperwork.

* In the Takata exploding air bag fiasco, the company has agreed to plead guilty in a single criminal charge and pay $1 billion in fines and restitution. Three former Takata Japanese executives have been indicted with the DoJ working on extradition.

* There is stunning news in NASCAR that 13-year Cup series veteran Carl Edwards, age 37, is stepping away from Joe Gibbs Racing immediately. Edwards said he wants to spend more time on his outside interests, citing aviation, agriculture and a possible career in politics. Edwards lives in Missouri with his wife Katherine, a physician, and his two children.

* A Chicago federal judge ruled that Craig Breedlove can sue the Museum of Science and Industry for the $395,000 in damage to his historic Spirit of American jet car. The car went to the museum in 1965 after setting new land speed records and breaking the 500 mph barrier. The car was returned to him in 2015 with damage, missing parts, and graffiti.

* The Former Chrysler and Mitsubishi assembly plant in Normal, Il, west of Chicago, changed hands this week being bought by Rivian Automotive, formerly electric car maker Mainstream Motors. We dont know what they expect to make there but they are apparently serious in acquiring this 2.4-million-square-foot factory, announcing $175 million in updates and promising to employ up to 1,000 people in exchange for a $1 million tax break. No word yet on what they will be building there but the company in its early life was pursuing production of a low-cost electric car.
Delivering his final weekly address to American citizens, US President Barack Obama said that he has learned from the people, that they have made him a better president.

By Indo-Asian News Service: US President Barack Obama delivered his final weekly address to the nation, urging American citizens to protect and safeguard democracy.

Obama reiterated the message he expressed in a farewell speech on Tuesday, calling on Americans to remain involved in the work of citizenship and be "guardians" of democracy.

"Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better president and you made me a better man," the US president said in the address, which went live on Saturday morning.

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"Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the goodness, the resilience, and the hope of the American people," Obama said.

"I've seen neighbours looking out for each other as we rescued our economy from the worst crisis of our lifetimes. I've hugged cancer survivors who finally know the security of affordable health care. I've seen communities ... rebuild from disaster and cities like Boston show the world that no terrorist will ever break the American spirit," he added.

'WILL CONTINUE TO WORK FOR AMERICA'

Obama said it had been the honour of his lifetime to serve as US president and that he would work as a citizen for the American people for the rest of his days.

Obama's eight-year-long presidency will conclude on January 20, when President-elect Donald Trump is sworn in as the United States' commander-in-chief.

Also read: Barack Obama's last presidential speech: Highlights

Also watch: Barack Obama meets President-elect Donald Trump at White House

--- ENDS ---
It is time for the annual tradition of examining the price performance of the biggest movers on the ASX for the prior calendar year in hopes of finding worthy future investments. The Top Ten and Bottom Ten Lists provide fodder for most investors, regardless of investing philosophy. Value investors scour the Bottom Ten Lists looking for stocks that crashed for reasons that are likely to be altered in the future. Growth investors search the Top Ten Lists for stocks with favorable economic conditions continuing into the future.

In both cases investors consider past performance but may also rely on their own view of analyst predictions of future earnings. As all new investors eventually learn, analysts can be wrong. The best performing stock on the ASX for calendar year 2015 was Blackmores Limited (BKL) with share price gains for the year of an astounding 519%. One year ago consensus analyst forecasts for BKLs EPS (earnings per share) growth over two years was a positive 64.7%. One year later Blackmores moved from the Top Ten to the Bottom Ten List for calendar year 2016, with its share price dropping 53% for the year. The company manufactures healthy foods for humans and animals but the condition that sent the stock price soaring was the demand for infant formula in China, a market Blackmores was entering. Not many saw it coming, but those conditions changed as Chinese regulators stepped in with new restrictions on that market. This is a stock that could be plucked from the Bottom Ten List by value investors, as it appears analysts believe market conditions will turn favorable for Blackmores over the next two years, with an EPS growth forecast of +15.9%.

In this years Top Ten List from the ASX 200 we find five stocks meeting the rigid criteria of EPS growth forecasts exceeding 50%. Here is the entire list with growth estimates, price performance, and three and five year total shareholder returns.



Note that with the exception of renewable energy provider Infigen Energy (IFN) and steel producer BlueScope Steel (BSL), the remaining Top Ten performers were all in the Materials Sector operating either as direct miners or mining services providers. 2016 saw rising commodity prices unanticipated by many analysts and industry experts. Oil rose 45% while iron ore went up 86%; but the biggest surprise of all may have been the spikes in both coking coal for steel-making  up 156%  and thermal coal for energy generation  up 87%.

However, looking at the two year growth estimates year by year reveals analysts see declines in FY 2018. In addition, seemingly huge growth percentages are often the result of a negative starting point. Lets look at the numbers for each of the five stocks with growth forecasts in excess of 50%.



 Another factor that should be taken into consideration when looking at analyst estimates is the number of analysts.

 Infigen has only two major analysts covering the stock, with Strong Buy and Buy ratings.

 Galaxy has five analysts, with two each at Strong Buy and Buy and one at Underperform.

 Whitehaven has 12 analysts on the stock with a wide range of opinions, from three each at Strong Buy, Buy, and Hold; two at Underperform; and one recommending investors Sell the stock.

 Mineral Resources has five analysts; one each at Strong Buy and Buy and three at Hold.

 South32 has the most analyst coverage with 17 analysts; two at Strong Buy; six each at Buy and Hold; two at Underperform; and one with a Sell recommendation.

Despite its relatively small market cap of 722 million and lack of analyst interest, Infigens stock price had been doing well in 2016 due to the sale of its US assets and subsequent balance sheet improvements as well as solid earnings growth and a strong growth forecast. Then one of the most unanticipated events in recent history occurred in the US. Donald John Trump, a man who once scoffed at the notion of climate change calling it a Chinese perpetrated hoax, was elected President of the United States. In another turnabout that should make history, the investing community that had feared Trumps election suddenly realized his policies could be good for global growth.

Renewable energy stocks along with gold stocks tanked while stocks to benefit from defense and infrastructure spending in the US and the spread of improved economic conditions across the world went up. The following price movement compares Infigen to diversified miner South32 (S32).



The other stock in the table that shows no drop in estimated growth between FY 2017 and FY 2018 is lithium miner Galaxy Resources (GXY). Demand for lithium is exploding as the world increasingly turns to lithium ion batteries and Galaxy boasts high grade lithium carbonate. The price of lithium carbonate has risen dramatically in response to the demand. Here is a price chart from the London based consulting firm Benchmark Mineral Intelligence (BMI):



Mineral Resources (MIN) deserves mentioning as analysts see only a minor drop in EPS between FY 2017 and FY 2018. The company operates as a miner as well as a major provider of mining services to the industry via three subsidiary companies. The range of services extends from crushing to processing to materials handling and logistical support; as well as pipeline and infrastructure development. Mineral Resources is a JV (Joint Venture) partner in the Mount Marion Lithium project in Western Australia along with Neometals and Jiangxi Ganfeng Lithium Co, Ltd. The company also has subsidiaries developing manganese and iron ore mines.

While the Bottom Ten List for 2016 does not have any stocks with growth estimates exceeding 50% there are some interesting opportunities. Here is the table for the worst performing ASX 200 stocks for the calendar year 2016.



For investors looking for solid historical track records, five of these stocks are newcomers to the ASX listing in roughly the last two years. Surprisingly there is only one stock  Estia Health (EHE) with negative earnings forecasts but only four of the ten have forecasts of 25% or more, far below the high estimates from the Top Ten List.

The stock with the best forecast  Bellamys Australia (BAL) at 30.9%  is risky enough that cautious investors might want to adopt a wait and see attitude. The shares have been in successive trading halts for about a month while company management renegotiates with suppliers, with one of them being Bega Cheese (BGA). Bega directly entered the infant formula business with a joint venture with Blackmores (BKL). The share price of all three of these stocks has gone up a bit in the New Year and analysts appear confident all will come out of the Chinese shakeup and continue to grow. Investors with appetite for risk can look back to the dramatic reversal of fortune of Cochlear Limited (COH) from a product recall analysts said could damage Cochlears brand reputation, and take the plunge by investing in one or more of these three former market darlings.

Sirtex Medical (SRX) provides treatments for patients with liver cancer and has rewarded long term shareholders with 16.8% total shareholder return over ten years along with improving returns to 26.8% over five years. Investor concerns over dosage sales of the companys flagship treatment have hampered the stock price and the companys trading update warning of slower sales growth sent the share price crashing. On 8 December of 2016 the share price was $ 25.49 which plummeted to $16 following the announcement. The slowdown appears to be centered largely in the Americas but company management believes three upcoming studies on the efficacy of the Sirtex treatment will reverse the slowing trend.

The stock to watch here may be iSentia Limited (ISD). The company provides its commercial and government clients across the Asia-Pacific region with media intelligence services. The company began back in 1982 with a collection of services that monitored the press for news stories about or affecting its clients. The digital age revolutionized media and in 2004 the company introduced its software as a service platform, Mediaportal. iSentia has made key acquisitions in the last decade and now offers monitoring of social media as well as digital content marketing services to its clients.

Despite its presence in a very dynamic business environment, the company issued a profit warning in November of last year, sending the stock price downward. The company went public in June of 2014 with 2016 turning into a rocky year for investors with the stock price whipsawed by concerns over the cost of acquisitions and less than anticipated growth. Here is iSentias price performance since it began on the ASX.



Company revenue rose 22% from FY 2015 to FY2016 with profit increasing 32%. Historically media monitoring involved cutting clippings from printed sources to allow client companies to learn what was being said about them. In the early days of the Internet, monitoring meant scouring traditional news and opinion sites. Blogs were arguably the first non-traditional sources and now Social Media has opened virtually limitless sources where people can say what they have to say about a company or a government agency. The holdouts that doubt the growing power of social media and the need for media monitoring might want to become a follower of arguably the most successful user of social media in history  US President-Elect Donald John Trump.

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A new childcare centre near my house has apparently been swamped by demand. Getting quality child-minding, at an affordable price, is becoming an even bigger issue  and positive trend for companies that provide such services or those who own the properties.

Business forecaster IBISWorld says the Australian childcare services industry grew a staggering annualised 14.3 per cent over 2012-17. IBISWorld predicts 5.8 per cent growth for 2017-22. Most industries would kill for that growth rate in a patchy economy.

A rising maternal workforce participation rate over the past five years has boosted demand for childcare and greater government assistance for families wanting formal care arrangements for their children has helped the industrys revenue.

Regulation changes that allowed childcare centres to register as kindergarten providers have helped them compete directly with Preschool education. Providing early-learning services, in addition to child care, has boosted margins at some centres.

The bad news is ongoing regulatory uncertainty and fears that the Federal Government will reduce long-term funding because of fiscal challenges. Pressure to increase childcare worker salaries (rightly so) is another industry threat. Irrational competitors entering the industry and paying too much for centres is a further risk.

Investors with longer memories will recall the disaster that was ABC Learning  the one-time star childcare operator that grew too quickly through acquisitions and crashed. ABCs demise was enough to put investors off listed childcare companies for good.

Newer operators have had more sustainable performance. The best known, G8 Education, has a five-year annualised total return (assuming dividend reinvestment) of 47 per cent. G8s 7 per cent total return over 12 months was affected by a sharp sell-off after a weak first-half result and market concerns that the companys golden run may be ending.

G8s recent guidance that 2016 Earnings Before Interest and Tax (EBIT) will be $158-162 million was in line with market expectations. Managements comment that centres acquired in 2016 were performing in line with company expectations was another positive.

Four of seven broking firms that cover G8 have a buy recommendation, two have a hold and one has a sell, consensus analyst forecasts show. A median share-price target of $3.75 suggests G8 is trading near fair value. Morningstar is more bullish. Its valuation for G8 of $4.50 a share suggests the company is significantly undervalued at the current $3.61.

G8s forecast Price Earnings (PE) multiple of 13.3 for FY17, based on consensus estimates, is not excessive for a leading player that has can increase its market share through acquisitions in a fragmented, growing industry. But regulatory uncertainties and concerns that childcare price rises might lead to occupancy declines at G8 centres are risks.

Still, G8 deserves a spot on portfolio watchlists in anticipation of better value this year, and to wait for signs that the companys blip in first-half performance was temporary. The stock suits experienced, risk-tolerant investors given its higher debt levels.

Chartist will watch closely to see if G8 stays above the critical $3 support line on its chart.

G8 Education Source: The Bull

I prefer Australian Real Estate Investment Trusts (A-REITs) as a more conservative way to play the childcare theme. It is the old story of buying the companies that sell the picks and shovels rather than those doing the digging. Childcare property owners benefit from rising demand for formal care arrangement, without the risk of having to operate centres.

The Folkestone Education Trust A-REIT owns more than 390 externally managed childcare centres in Australia and in New Zealand.

Like many A-REITs, Folkestone rallied sharply in the FY16 as investors could not get enough of listed property trusts and their yield, and niche A-REITs were in demand. Folkestone soared from $2.20 in February 2016 to above $2.80, only to be sold off as capital rotated out of interest-rate-sensitive sectors and into growth stocks after Donald Trumps election win.

Folkestone fell to $2.40 in December and has since recovered to $2.54. That has created a long-term buying opportunity for an A-REIT that has reasonable gearing (below 30 per cent) and relatively secure earnings because of its lease structures. Tenant risk is the main concern because Goodstart Early Learning accounts for a big chunk of Folkestones total rental income. However, Goodstart looks in fine financial health.

Folkestone Education Trust Source: The Bull

The smaller Arena REIT is another good performer in childcare property. Arena listed in June 2013 after raising $75 million at $1.01 a unit through an IPO and now trades at $1.90, having hit a 52-week peak of $2.44.

Like Folkestone, Arena has fallen since September, amid the A-REIT sectors broader sell-off. Early learning centres make up 189 of Arenas 207 properties (it also invests in healthcare and development projects).

The well-run Arena continues to achieve solid increases in the value of its property portfolio  most recently an 8.8 per cent valuation uplift in the December half.

Like Folkestone, Arena looks a lot more attractive after recent share-price falls, particularly given its improving operational performance and trailing yield of about 6 per cent.

Arena REIT Source: The Bull

>> BACK TO THE NEWSLETTER: Click here to read other articles from this weeks newsletter

Tony Featherstone is a former managing editor of BRW and Shares magazines. The information in this article should not be considered personal advice. The article has been prepared without considering your objectives, financial situation or needs. Before acting on the information in this article you should consider its appropriateness, regarding your objectives, financial situation and needs. Do further research of your own or seek personal financial advice from a licensed adviser before making any financial or investment decisions based on this article. All prices and analysis at January 12, 2017.
We could all use a respite from the craziness in the air these days. So for a much-needed dose of spiritual nourishment and artistic inspiration, look no further than Personal Vision, the handsome new monograph of the photographer Adger Cowanss terrific body of work. Cowans, now 80, began taking pictures in college, then in the Navy, and later served as an apprentice to Gordon Parks. He broke into the world of photojournalism and fashion photography in the late 50s and early 60s, and was a mainstay as a still photographer on film sets for decades, working with some of the biggest names in the businessfrom Katharine Hepburn and Jane Fonda to Al Pacino and Spike Lee. He also shot street scenes and nudes and still lifes as well as a captivating series of pictures of light reflecting on water. Often such talent abides by rules set by others, Parks wrote, but Adgers individualism sets him apart, simply because he follows his own convictions. His photographs go as far as imagery can go without actually speaking. Cowans has acquired the freedom to master himself. Cowans sat down with Alex Belth earlier this week in New York to discuss a career that began when photography was not considered an art and spanned into our current Instagram generation.

What, if any, photographers were you looking at as a kid?

Adger Cowans: You have to understand that when I started taking pictures there were no books on photography, there were no monographs on photography. None. In college, I found one book on the history of photography by Beaumont Newhall, and there were a lot of photographers missing from that book, certainly no African-American photographers. No Roy DeCarava. I didnt think about black photographers or white photographers. I just looked at the pictures. But the first time I realized something different was going on was when I discovered DeCaravas book Sweet Flypaper of Life. He did it with the poet Langston Hughes.

Was that your introduction to photography?

No, I took a class on photography when I was in high school, 1953. And I wasnt really interested in photographyit was just easy to do. My mother and uncle were amateur photographers, so we always had cameras around the house.

How much dressing up and posing did your family do in these photographs or were they just casual shots?

My parents got dressed up and went to the photographers studio. But they also took pictures around the house. Everybody had a camera. Kodak made it cheap for everybody. And everybody in my family liked to pose. It was fun. It was just something everybody did. I didnt think about it as a career. It was during my junior year at college that I figured out photography was a serious endeavor. That you could make an image, show it to a person, and you could tell something about their personality by how they reacted to the photographat least I could: If they liked art, if they were interested in people, if they had a point of view, how many images of art had they seen to compare it to?

Was your ego bruised if someone didnt like a picture?

No, I always separated myself from the picture. I didnt take it. The Spirit took it. Something happened inside me that generated me to take that picture. So whatever people said about it was fine with me. If they liked it, fine, if they didnt like it, fine. I was already into who they werewhether they were racist, or looked at my work [as the work of] a black photographer or whether they looked at the work as photography at all.

I just had a desire to do something with my hands. Photography was, either you get the shot or you dont. But you also had to think about the wind, apertures. You have to learn the technique so the technique is out of the way, then you can go with the feeling that is going through you. Your eyes only see, they dont feel. The eyes only see. Its the heart that feels. If you can take the feeling of what you see into the photograph, now you are on to something.

How did you start taking pictures professionally?

My uncle told me, Why dont you find a Negro who does what youre doing. I asked my teacher about it, and he told me about a guy who works in New York for LIFE. So I wrote Gordon Parks a letter and he said, Look me up when you come to New York. Now even though we were in Ohio, we would go New York to listen to music. If Monk was at the Five Spot or Miles was at Carnegie Hall, wed drive in on the weekend, overnight, to get here. Monk, Miles, Trane. After I got out of school, I came to live in New York and knocked on everybodys door. Avedons door, Penns door. I showed my work and I listened to what they had to say about it. Avedon liked my stuff very much. Penn loved my work as a printerbecause I printed my own pictures. Lillian Bassman gave me some work as an assistant.

I knew what I was doing technically when I got out of college. People ask me what Gordon Parks taught me about photography and I tell them nothing. He taught me about life. How to be cool. How to take negative energy and turn it into work. He told me not to let it bother me when people called me names, not to let it distract me from the work. Concentrate on what you are trying to express. I gave everybody his book, A Choice of Weapons, because he is very clear in there and he grew up in a very racist timeit was pretty fucked up when I got there too but he bore the brunt of it.

I know photography wasnt really considered art yet, but were you guys like the Abstract Expressionist painters, rabid in your commitment to doing something serious?

To be a photographer was one thing. To say you were an artist was something else. There were big fights over the distinction. Were you an artist or a photographer? If you were a photographer you were a craftsperson. There are a lot of pictures. But a photograph is something else. Everybodys taking pictures but are they photographs? A photograph is something that will last down through the ages as something that evokes feeling and emotion. Sometimes the distinction between the two is very fine. Eugene Smith is a good example, a photojournalist who is also an artist. The guys back in the day werent concerned about being stars; they were concerned about being photographers.

It must have been so exciting to be in New York at a time with so much happening in the arts.

I felt that was where everything was going on. Thats where all the great fashion photography was. Thats what I wanted to do because it was good money and because you could interpret something instead of documenting what was there. It was the opening to creativity. But at that time there were no black people in that field. It was many years before I met any black fashion photographers and there are not that many to this day. I worked from how I felt instead of what looked beautiful. I was led by my feelings. They wouldnt know what they would get from me. Here I come: black person with a camera. All the doors were closing. I have been asked, Can you photograph white people?

How hard was it for you to do what Parks demonstrated by turning anger into your work?

It wasnt always easy. When I first got involved in the movie world, I had to deal with all kinds of stuff but I didnt let it faze me. Im here because of my work. Otherwise they wouldnt have hired me. Eventually, I got to be hired for my photographs and not my color. I got in to the union by one vote. I didnt find out until years later that I was the first black photographer in the union, either in Los Angeles or New York.

Taking pictures on a movie set is such a specialized kind of photography. How were you able to get crucial shots while staying out of everyones way?

When a shot is going down, the director is standing there, so you have to think of little games to get your picture. Because the director was always watching me to see where I was standing for a good vantage. And then hed stand in front of me and Id duck to the side, which is where I really wanted to shoot in the first place. Little games. Always positioning yourself. Dealing with the camera crew too, not bumping into them. You had to be stealth.

Did you approach the job by staying quiet or being more out-going?

Both. Depended. But it started with how you got along with the people on the set. The director, the camera people, the actors. You had to make friends. You had to put yourself out there in a way that people trusted you.

Which directors did you liked working with most?

Alan Pakula was a hell of a nice man and a very good director. But my models for great directors would be Francis Ford Coppola (The Cotton Club), Sidney Lumet (Night Falls on Manhattan), and Bill Duke (The Cemetery Club). Lumet was the master. He knew what he wanted and never went past three takes. He did two weeks of rehearsals and then shot quickly. Duke and Lumet were so humble with the actors. They never yelled at an actor in front of the crew. Theyd pull them aside and talk quietly but confidently to them. It was beautiful to watch.

Did you enjoy the work?

I enjoyed getting the shot that I wanted that would blow everybodys mind. It was fun. I made good money. I was interested in my job and I loved movies. I got up excited everyday. New movie, new people to meet. Watching it all going on around me. You work and then its over. I made some lasting friendships but mostly its a gypsys life.

And when you were finished with a movie, did you immediately start worrying about the next gig?

Nope. Id take the money I made and travelI lived in Morocco for a year, Ive lived in Paris, London, Switzerland. Id save up some money, pay the rent for six months, then take off. Come back and start talking to people again and get another job.

So ultimately, would you say you are devoted more to your arttaking photographsor freedom?

Ive had a terrific life, you know? Duke Ellington said, Music is my mistress. Ill say photography is my mistress, but  freedom is even more important. I want the freedom to do what I want to do, I want the freedom to live my life. I dont want to be restricted by my art or anything else.

Do you have any regrets?

Not at all. If you did it, you did it, its over. Why regret it? I have a terrific life. Im sitting here talking to you. Im 80 years old. I dont have a cane, Im not on crutches, Im not on meds. And I attribute all that to being connected to the inner voice in me. The inner spirit. Its intuitive. Its not anything that you can put your finger on, but when you feel it you know it. Ive had enough bangs upside the head to know when my first thought was right. Because I doubted myself in the beginning. It took me until I was 50 to feel really comfortable with my voice and trust myself.

How did your movie work inform your other photography?

Everything helps everything else. Whether youre shooting under pressure of a movie set or taking a picture of a stream of water its all about timing. You want to get it. If I miss it I miss it, then push on. Because while youre lamenting what you missed you might miss the next one, too.

Did you have an idea if youve nailed a shot before the picture was developed?

Mostly, if I hit it I knew I had it. Those pictures I shot of Mick Jagger sleeping in the hammock, when he turned around and looked at me in the plane, I knew that was going to be a smoker. You only have a second. I hope I got that. Felt like it. Did I? Oh, I did! And sometimes I didnt. You had to wait. Now you just look down and press delete.

Do you ever miss shooting on film?

I dont prefer film anymore except to shoot the negative and digitize it. But I still print. Still have a dark room. Because I love the process. When you are looking at a print and its right there before you its a different feeling than looking at it on a screen. The same thing with this book, you can hold it and flip through page by page, and you can feel or not feel whatever. Its a physical presence. A photograph is a physical presence.
You can't afford to miss tonight's episode.

Salman Khan and Govinda on the sets of Bigg Boss 10. Photo: Yogen Shah

By India Today Web Desk: Reality show Bigg Boss 10 will be super-interesting tonight thanks to superstars Govinda and Salman Khan.

The show will open with a bang as host Salman Khan will introduce his partner and close friend Govinda on the stage. Yes, we know, exciting!

Also read: Bigg Boss 10: Nitibha Kaul is the latest to get evicted

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The two Bollywood actors will indulge in fun and games with the housemates, and Govinda will even ask them to mimick his style!

The contestants will try and match pace with Govinda's wit and style.

The actors will later be joined by Govinda's nephew and actor Krushna Abhishek, who will make everyone laugh with his one-liners. The mama-bhanja duo will match steps, and provide the much needed comic relief to the contestants.

But the highlight of the special show will be when Govinda will ask Mona Lisa to mimick his unique style whilst crying.

We just can't wait for this one to air.

Watch the Weekend Ka Vaar episode tonight at 9 pm on Colors TV.

--- ENDS ---
LONDONPresident Barack Obama cut his political teeth in Chicago. Its fitting then that he chose that city to deliver his farewell speech as President, soon after its homicide rate hit a 20-year high under his watch. Chicago is a city traumatized by death. Obama is the man it raised up high in hope. An Amazing Journey for him it may well have been, but how amazing was it for everyone else remains a matter of debate.

The Presidents approval rating comes in at a record high of 60 percent. As with all Presidents it is only set to continue rising with time. Though it is to his lasting legacynot popularitythat we must turn, for these days even reality TV stars have proven popular. But legacy is the stuff of history.

From Blowflys 1988 satire First Black President to Nass 2008 track Black President, within my lifetime the idea of a black president has gone from laughable fantasy to serious reality. How important this is in historic terms to an integrated future cannot be understated. Clearly much remains to be done, although todays equivalent of me in 1988disenfranchised angry and radicalno longer has an iron wall segregating their imagination from the possible. The only visible role models I encountered back then were educated, articulate Islamist separatists. In this sense, President Obamas precedent is an unquantifiable positive in legacy terms.

Obamas evolution on equal marriage culminated in his 2012 affirmation that same sex couples had the right to be married. And though the decision was ultimately made by the Supreme Court, the Presidents vocal support was undoubtedly crucial. With this one decision, millions of lives have been emancipated, but better yet is the millions to come who will experience true liberation: never to know what it felt like to be so stigmatized for their sexual orientation.

The number of Americans who believed climate change to be a top priority plummeted under Obama from 38 percent in 2007 to 28 percent in 2013. Against these odds, and with Republicans controlling both Houses, Obama managed to commit the U.S. to the Paris Climate Deal. This obliges the worlds nations to ensure the global temperature rise remains less than two degrees compared to pre-industrial times. If implemented properly, the Paris accords have the potential to herald the end of the fossil fuel era. The effect that erratic weather, rising sea levels and dwindling fresh water flows have on food supplies, migration patterns, and war makes this a truly magnificent achievement for our planet.

Talking of precedents, Obamas term was a time for First Ladies to shine. Whatever your views on Hillary Clinton, it is hard to imagine any future First Lady being expected to serve as mere window dressing. And no First Lady has proven she has a right to be heard as well as Michelle Obama.

Granted, Michelles eloquence is not Obamas achievement, but her prominence says much about the mood for gender equality under his presidency.

That view also shows in Obamas only two appointments to the Supreme Court. Both were women. Elena Kagan and Sonia Sotomayorthe Courts first Latina judgetripled the number of female justices to three.

Yes, being female is no assurance of a good judge, just as being black is no guarantor for a good president. Glass ceilings should not be shattered for mere tokenism, but by people of merit. Talent should be accepted from wherever it hails. But with only one female supreme court judge, it was clear that talent was not coming from wherever. Rather, it was coming from a very specific somewhere.

To bring millions of people into healthcare was always going to be a difficult move. Obamacare is roundly unpopular, with voters. Even the majority of its supporters prefer it to be reformed. Its errors, and the backlash against it could be explained in part by its lack of cross party scrutiny and support.

From Civil Rights to the Patriot Act, most landmark pieces of legislation succeeded by appealing to both sides of the house. This ensures they were built to last. The Affordable Care Act should never have been a unilateral initiative. But even Republicans accept they cannot simply now cancel the act without presenting a reasonable alternative. The GOP anticipates a three year delay to guarantee that any replacement has longevity.

At least Obamacare has kickstarted a debate around more accessible healthcare. And even by Conservatives estimates it boosted health cover by 14 million people. That much at least is a good thing. Bank it.

Gun control would only ever have seemed achievable if tragedy struck. A series of incidents from Tucson, Arizona,, through Aurora Colorado, including the children at Sandy Hook, and culminating this month at Fort Lauderdale shook the nation. Sadly, even these multiple mass shootings were insufficient for Obama to be able to build the alliances needed to make this happen. His bill failed at Congress. So the President went as far as he could without Congressional approval, issuing an unprecedented 23 Executive Orders on gun control.

2016 was the year in which many icons breathed their last. Among those was the dictator Fidel Castro. By most accounts, Cubas human rights have gotten worse since Obamas overtures. Any economic gains from increased trade with America go mainly to Cubas military regime. But business and tourist ties are now too deep to reverse. Cuba is less free than many places, but it is no Iran. Having economic mechanisms already in place will be crucial to any next stage of major reforms, tied explicitly to the U.S. embargo. Cubas Gorbachev cannot arise unless the foundation already exists for him or her to exploit. Amid understandable grumblings from older Miami-based Cuban dissidents, Obama may have unwittingly chosen a wise year in which to soften ties. Castros passing is the perfect opportunity for reformersand the embargo is the perfect leverage to pressure for internal democratization.

That was the good. What remains is to consider the bad, and the ugly. So to adapt a line from that iconic movie, there are two types of men in this world: those who lead, and those who dont. And there is so much in Obamas legacy indicating his trouble with leadership.

The economic meltdown was perhaps Obamas first major test in leadership. Appallingly, no senior banking mogulthose who lost billions, not millionswas ever held responsible for the crash, and major systemic change never came. A gratuitous bank bonuses system remained intact, and the U.S. government appeared to side with big business, even finding itself owning a car company after bailing out General Motors.

Leftwing anger catalyzed in the form of Occupy Wall Street, later fuelling the discontented who would Feel the Bern. More significantly though, as bitterness over bailouts provided the Tea Party its long awaited time in the sun this eventually gave way to the alt-right, creating Trump voters from traditional blue collar Democrats angry over lost jobs. Too big to fail was the overwhelming aftertaste of Obamas timidity in the face of corporate America.

With white supremacist bloodshed and black nationalist killing, ironically, race relations plummeted under Americas first African-American president. As black on black crime soared in his home city of Chicago, and as community relations with police plummeted all over, the divisive politics of identity made an ugly comeback. And whether it was years of pent up aggression, latent racial tension or his mere presence emboldening hitherto pacified race-radicals, Obama cannot escape scrutiny.

Leadership was needed. Yes black lives matter, and so do blue. They are in fact codependent. The result of police feeling unable to do their jobs is more black deaths through street violence. Though not as a ratio, more in sheer numbers of American lives have been lost to street violence in Chicago than in Iraq and Afghanistan combined. This earned the city the moniker Chiraq, leading many to ask where is Obama?

In a sense, great leaders transcend the good and the bad. Every good thing they do affects millions, and every mistake can cost hundreds of thousands of lives. In this way, judging legacy is reduced to sifting consequential leaders from inconsequential ones. We try to determine whether those consequences were good or bad for us, in historic terms. But here is where it gets dark.

By ending World War II President Truman was among those who saved western democracy. To do so he ordered the atomic bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and killed over 130,000 people within four days. Likewise, no appraisal of Obama is complete without considering the near existential threat to world stability that the Syria crisis and its related rise of ISIS unleashed. And it is here that Obamas lead from behind legacy will suffer terribly.

Back in 2003 aboard the USS Abraham Lincoln, President George W. Bush infamously declared that Iraq was a mission accomplished. In May 2011 President Obama declared that the United States had killed Bin Laden. Time was to prove that this became Obamas very own mission accomplished moment.

Obamas State Department approached the problem of jihadist terrorism as one would organized crime. As with Al Capone, the idea was: take out the leader and the organization crumbles. Such a false analogy could only be promoted by an administration that refused to acknowledge it was dealing with an ideological problem, not a criminal one. Obamas administration worked diligently to ostracize reform Muslim voices warning of a global jihadist insurgency, and instead frustratingly restricted the problem to al-Qaeda inspired extremism.

In denial, they dogmatically refused to accept it was not al Qaeda that inspired extremism, but extremism that inspired al Qaeda. Stating on CNN at the time of Bin Ladens killing that we ignore the power of the Islamist ideological narrative to our peril, I warned that the real strategic threat would come from the wider al Qaeda franchise and those vying to replace bin Laden as symbolic leaders. It followed that killing Bin Laden was seen as a victory for the organized crime model. Naturally then, Obama was totally blindsided by al Qaedas successor, the so-called Islamic State.

From day one Obama decided to abandon any semblance of ideological confrontation with Islamist theocracy. He famously couldnt even bring himself to name the threat, instantly crippling any counter-propaganda effort. Enter the Voldemort Effect, where one is so petrified of evil that Must Not Be Named that the resulting policy comes to resemble ideological appeasement, except coupled with a presidential military power grab.

Of course, failing to name Islamist extremism from fear of stigmatizing Muslims, only further stigmatized Muslims. As I put it to Fareed Zakaria with Anderson Cooper, failing to name and distinguish this Islamist threat from Islam the faith would lead to the average American simply blaming all Muslims in frustration, while disempowering reform Muslims within the community by depriving them of a lexicon to isolate the Islamists from among them. Even former British Prime Minister David Cameron found himself openly correcting Obama on this weakness. Trumps rise aided by anti-Muslim elements within the alt-right, eventually realized this fear. Once the ideological element is discounted, this only leaves the options of law and war. Obama went to town with both options.

As for law, Obamas Justice Department invoked National Security to bully journalists in ways that would send shivers down your spine. Journalists working for the Associated Press were subpoenaed for their telephone records under the guise of National Security in order to track down a leak. Obamas administration also investigated a Fox News reporter as a probable co-conspirator in another national security case so they could get at his email and phone records. And more often than all previous administrations combined they used the Espionage Act against whistleblowers who shared secret information with reporters.

As for war, in refusing to recognize the ideological nature of this problem, the Obama administration assumed that we could kill our way out of it. And so it was that drone strikes, and targeted killing rose more under this president than under any other in history. Preferring antiseptic warfare to difficult ideological conversation with Muslim communities, Barack Obama even devised a Presidential kill list assassinating individuals from afarincluding American citizenswithout Congressional oversight.

Just imagine if a Republican had done all this.

Nothing exemplifies Obamas moral cowardice in challenging bad ideas, while preferring to try and kill them instead, than the rise of blasphemy attacks across the world.

This was brought home by the Presidents chilling statement at the United Nations that "the future must not belong to those who slander the prophet of Islam. In that speech, Obama conflated violence, misogyny, theft, racism (though race is not a choice, unlike religious ideas), hate speech (though targeting individuals for bullying is not the same as scrutinizing ideas), and discrimination (though singling out Muslims for exceptional treatment is not the same as satirizing the religious doctrine of Islam), with "blasphemy" (which must remain a prerequisite for liberal and scientific progress.) Even Galileo would have fallen foul of this test. And this is how by the time the Charlie Hebdo massacre occurred, freedom of speech had lost the moral custodianship of the worlds strongest democracy just as it needed it most, while illiberal authoritarianism was once again on the rise globally.

Naturally, as would happen in any insurgency, killing al Qaeda leaders while ignoring the ideological and social conditions that gave rise to them, only led to jihadism metastasizing. No wonder then that ISIS emerged to succeed al Qaeda and catch Obamas entire administration entirely off-guard. This President cannot hide the fact that the worst terrorist group we have ever known rose under eight years of his watch. The buck stops with him.

But it gets worse.

Not only did the President admit to having no strategy to defeat ISIS, he remained non-committal. His staff named it the Obama doctrine: leading from behind. And nothing demonstrates Obamas humiliation in Syria as much as Vladimir Putin and Hassan Rouhani calling his bluff over his red line.

The disastrous geo-strategic consequences of this lack of commitment will remain with us for decades to come. The Syrian refugee crisis, causing huge migration flows to Europe, is largely responsible for the rise of European populism and the potential break up of the European Union through Brexit. This all could have been avoided with early action in Syria, and early leadership. Instead the world looked on as America fell back into its great retreat.

All over the Middle East chaos, and Putin, moved in as America retreated. From Syria to Libya, Iraq, Yemen and the Sinai, states failed and jihadists multiplied. Yet as Bashar Assad dropped chemical weapons over his own people, Obama chose to strike deals with Assads main backer: the belligerent Iran, while effectively signaling to the world that Israel was the only problem that deserved special UN attention. In 2016, more UN resolutions were passed against Israel than Syria, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iran, and the potential genocide in South Sudan combined. Only liberal dogmatists could ever fail to see the sheer ludicrousness of such uneven treatment.

Obama did not expand his Presidency with a Trump in mind. Only a man who trusts himself more than he believes in the system, a man who always thinks hes the smartest guy in the room would be oblivious to the dangers of doing such a thing. And only liberals totally enamored by their own man in charge, before any desire to protect the system and the country, could ever tolerate such a thing.

Yet this is precisely what happened. Locally and nationally, Democrats suffered their worst defeat since the 1920s. Both houses and the Presidency are now controlled by Republicans. And even Republicans will accept that the President-Elect is not just any Republican.

Trump is his own brand of crazy.

Now all those executive orders, all that antiseptic sanitized drone warfare from afar, all that NSA data collection, and yes that Presidential kill list, all that unprecedented executive power built up by an Obama who was unable to lead via Congress, and so needed to go it alone, now belongs to Donald Trump. Who do you blame for that?

Trump has promised to kill Obamacare with an executive order on day one. He is a climate change denier who is in danger of reversing any progress Obama made at the Paris Accords. He has threatened to undo the Cuba deal. And will reverse Obamas progress on the Supreme Court in an instant, with an appointment of his choice.

Obamas aloofness, his inability to lead, gave rise to his unilateralism. His is best described as an Imperial Presidency. Reigning through an uncharacteristic level of executive orders and military decisions shrouded in secrecy, but without broad cross-party appeal. Obamas consolidation of presidential power created the perfect climate for an authoritarian figure to succeed him. The problem of course with any government that amasses power and asks you to trust them, is that the power remains even once the trust has waned. I even suspect that Trump will serve two terms.

Perhaps then, the most consequential legacy President Obama will leave us with is Donald Trump.
International treasure hunters face a number of practical challenges: unfriendly locals, hostile international trade agreements that frown on grave robbing, inclement weather, dangerous travel conditions in unfamiliar terrain, and, of course, the vengeful curses of ancient deities. I jest, but a pervasive theme in popular stories of archeological discovery and exploration is the idea of tomb raider curses: curses that afflict those who dare disturb the peace of the ancient dead. But what lies behind stories of the Mummys Revenge?

The best-known story of tomb raider curses is the curse of the pharaohs. The curse is so well-known that it inspired a horror movie, a video game, and an episode of The Twilight Zone. The alleged curse afflicts anyone who disturbs the final resting place of an ancient Egyptian, in particular an ancient Egyptian pharaoh.

The most famous example is the discovery of the final resting place of Tutankhamun in 1922. When Howard Carter and his team opened the undisturbed final resting place of the boy-pharaoh, they not only initiated a new era in archaeology, they also (allegedly) unleashed a millennia-old curse. Following the tombs discovery a slew of unexplained deaths plagued those associated with it. Some months after the discovery of the tomb, Lord Carnarvon, one of the financial backers of the exploration and one of the first to enter the tomb, died from blood poisoning caused by an infected mosquito bite. The unusual death prompted a flurry of media interest. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle speculated that Carnarvon had died from elementals left by ancient priests to protect the royal tomb.

Other deaths attributed to the curse of Tutankhamun include those of Carnarvons half-brother, the radiologist who x-rayed the boy-kings mummy, a member of the excavation tomb who died of arsenic poisoning, and even Prince Ali Kamel Fahmy Bey of Egypt, who was shot to death by his wife on July 10, 1923. For all the speculation, there was no curse on the lintel or walls of the tomb itself. And we should note that Howard Carter himself lived a full decade after the opening of the tomb.

But more than popular folklore and sensationalism forms the basis for the idea of funerary curses. While extremely rare, some Old Kingdom-era tombs do promise vengeance against those who disturb them. The tomb of the 10th-9th century BCE ruler Khentika Ikhekhi contains an inscription on the wall that reads, "As for all men who shall enter this my tomb... impure... there will be judgment... an end shall be made for him... I shall seize his neck like a bird... I shall cast the fear of myself into him."

In his book Valley of the Golden Mummies, archeaologist Zahi Hawass says that the tombs of the builders of the Great Pyramid of Giza included the warning All people who enter this tomb who will make evil against this tomb and destroy it may the crocodile be against them in water, and snakes against them on land. May the hippopotamus be against them in water, the scorpion against them on land." Hawass declined to disturb those remains, but later participated in the excavation of the mummified remains of two children in Bahariya Oasis, and reported being haunted by the children in his dreams.

Tomb raider curses are not exclusively associated with ancient Egyptian mythology and pyramids. A number of fourth- and fifth-century CE Coptic Christian martyrdom stories included appendices that warn against the destruction of those who seek to steal the remains of the martyr. These curses were directed against other Christians who, for religious reasons, wanted to acquire the holy relics of the saints for themselves.

Tomb raider curses persist all the way into the present day. Recently a team of archaeological explorers and documentary filmmakers, joined by author Douglas Preston, set off in pursuit of the City of the Monkey God, also known as the White City, an long-lost urban settlement buried deep in the Honduran side of the Mosquitia rainforest. The site lies on the border between Honduras and Nicaragua in the midst of a dense 20,000-square-mile rainforest inhabited by venomous snakes. The intrepid group hoped to rediscover the city, which had been abandoned since the sixteenth century.

Modern technology, including laser imaging and 3D models, allowed the group to discover the site, which would otherwise have been concealed by the dense wildlife. The foliage was so thick that it was impossible for them to uncover the foundations of the large pyramid that had once stood there. It was only when they ran across artifacts that they were sure that they had found the city. One of the first artifacts they discovered was the snarling head of a jaguar buried in the ground and peeking out of the undergrowth. It was so remarkable that the Honduran president, Juan Orlando Hernandez Avarado, himself insisted on removing it from the ground.

But the removal of the jaguar head was not without controversy. Some commentators remarked that the item and site were so sacred that they should be left intact. It seemed to them that the monkey god agreed, because it wasnt just knowledge that the explorers found in the forest. They also contracted a rare life-threatening disease.

The flesh-eating disease is caused by Leishmaniasis, a parasite spread by the sand fly. The parasite eats away at the mucous in the mouth and nose and causes them to fall off. Around half the group contracted the parasite and underwent some rather uncomfortable treatment to cure the condition. The experience, while undeniably horrendous, is currently serving as lurid marketing material for Prestons book City of the Monkey God. The story of the Western intruders suffering the revenge of the Monkey God makes for excellent copy.

In general, the reason for attaching curses to holy sites is a practical one: they form a last line of defense against grave robbers. Practically speaking the dead are helpless: they cannot defend themselves against determined treasure or relic hunters who want to exploit their remains or burial goods. If one cannot rely on a sense that graves are sacred, then the threat of supernatural vengeance, unlikely though it may be, is the last shot at warding off intruders.

The irony here is that in the vast majority of cases of grave robbing, it is not the ancient peoples or artifacts, but the explorers themselves that constitute the major threat. In the sixteenth century, occupants of the City of the Monkey God fled the site because they believed that it was cursed. In actual fact, historians believe that they were suffering from the effects of colonization, which brought the slave trade and new diseases to the region. Not only was the ancient city lost to the world because of the effects of European intruders, the colonizers themselves were the real plague.
In the early 1940s, with speaking commitments stretching years ahead, Norman Vincent Peale threw apparently limitless energy into mass counseling and conservative groups aimed at Christianizing America. He was rapidly making a name for himself in prominent circles, particularly among conservative Christians eager to make piety a sign of the countrys long-awaited recovery from the Depression and religion a shield against its antidemocratic enemies.

A surge in public religiosity, it was claimed, would rejuvenate the nation and herald its full return to preeminence. A mass return to God would also, Peale asserted, strengthen the population by inoculating it against communismwhich, because of communism in the USSR (Stalinism in particular), had been cited since the mid-1930s as a grave threat to the nations core beliefs. For Peale, the question Christ or Marx? summed up a perilous dilemma. With millions espousing [Marxs] ideals with fanatical zeal, he warned in October 1948, in a political sermon he titled Democracy Is the Child of Religion, freedom itself was threatened. Religious belief was, by contrast, the best way to preserve freedom and was, accordingly, the very principle on which America needed to crusade. The evangelical thrust was, for Peale, a consequence of standing united in steadfast opposition to forces such as collectivism. Thus you have the issue, he summed up: Christ or Communism, Christ or chaos, Christ or catastrophe, Christ or the police state.

As minister of one of the oldest churches in New York City, Peale was exceptionally well placed to air and promote such assertions, to make being unreligious seem unbalanced, fanatical, and wholly un-American. He took on the task with relish, using his pulpit to lob almost weekly tirades at Washington.

With the national press riveted by Peales every move, he became a lightning rod for national conservative concerns, from the sale of liquor to the perceived threat of labor unions, the godless, and the alien, un-American ideologies that, in his view, were behind the threat. Anticommunism was to Peale and his allies a pro-Christian stance, even if the religious component was not strictly necessary for the critique to hold. Aware of Freuds insights into the nature of religious enthusiasm (itself of vital importance to the experimental Religio-Psychiatric Clinic Peale set up with his collaborator, the Christian psychiatrist Smiley Blanton, and to their organization, the American Foundation of Psychiatry and Religion, Inc.), Peale knew that fervor could fire up Americans beyond the pulpit, especially when packaged as a promise of national renewal through personal and religious redemption. It is increasingly evident, he was quoted in the Herald Tribune as asserting, that the only solution to the present [national and international] crisis is a deeper, more spiritual, more social Christianity. Even more, he urgedin the kind of accusatory turn that made him popular among hardliners adopting the same refrain a decade later during the McCarthy hearings on un-American activitiesthe man who shows no interest in Christianity and fails to support it is the real enemy of our social institutions.

For those who know Peale from his most popular books, such as The Power of Positive Thinking, it can be disconcerting to realize how thoroughly politics imbued his early sermons, talks, and religious activities. Especially in the late 1930s and early 1940s, when Peale was burnishing his reputation as a minister and speaker not just in New York but nationwide, his crammed press folders report the activities and accusations of a man with an extraordinary appetite for political conflict.

Peales religious and psychological emphasis blended affirmative prayer with practical self-help, in what has been called a gospel of personal religion and, more crudely, God and gumption. In combining these elements, he signaled with Blanton a strong desire to fuse theology with psychiatry and positive psychology, especially in connection with the power of belief (faith in faith). Yet he differed from Blanton in both the scale of his political vision and his willingness to inveigh at others who failed to share it. While many newspaper headlines hinted at an emphasis that he and Blanton sharedDr. Peale Sees Faith as Source of Powerothers skewed to a darker worldview: Dr. Peale Sees Freedom and Faith Periled. The minister laced his message with drama to heighten a sense of urgency: Christianity Seen in Race with Chaos, the New York Times reported of one such sermon, given long before America became embroiled in the Second World War, and continued with: Final Destiny of Civilization in Our World Is the Prize, Dr. N. V. Peale Declares.

When the country struggled to shake off the Great Depression, including through public works projects financed by the New Deal, Peale was especially active in hardline lobbying groups whose self-appointed mission was to question the New Deals very existence, to undermine it even by smearing its White House advocate, Franklin D. Roosevelt. The president was targeted despite his notable religious rhetoric. Roosevelts first inaugural address was so laden with references to Scripture that it prompted the National Bible Press to release a chart highlighting the Corresponding Biblical Quotations; in his second inaugural address, in January 1937, he likened himself to a modern-day Moses leading his people out of the wilderness. Peale was unpersuaded. One newspaper article, after declaring, New Deal Assailed as Curb on Reform: Dr. Peale Charges Hasty Moves for Selfish Ends Impede Real Social Progress, captures the flavor of Peales blunt attack: Ill-Conceived Experimentation Makes Public Wary of Progress, He Warns.

In the New York Sun, Peales target shifted once again: Peale Assails Class Conflict: Criticizes Methods Used by Roosevelt. In this piece the New Deal was held virtually responsible for the mass inequality that Congress had hoped to reduce by passing a raft of crisis-stamped bills and reforms. The message was unmistakable, and the New York American spelled it out: Dr. Peale Asks America to Put Roosevelt Out. Country Must Change Him or Change Constitution, He Declares in Sermon.

It was in alluding repeatedly to the Presidents irregular church attendance, however, that Peale found the political vulnerability that suited him as a minister. Criticizes Roosevelts Indifference to Religion, the Herald Tribune notes. Dr. Peale Calls It Cause of Vital New Deal Errors. Peale was particularly aggrieved by the presidents Sabbath excursions and fishing trips, although the relationship of these jaunts to seeming mistakes in the New Deal remains far from clear. President Roosevelt was, Peale said of a conflict over Supreme Court appointees, a presumptuous seeker after improper power. In yet another political sermon, he warned ominously of the governments growing tendency to autocracy and the presidents tendency toward dictatorship: We can pull him down when we wish.

Peales cheery autobiography and well-known books on positive thinking are carefully shorn of this amply documented history. When it mentions Roosevelt, the autobiography admiringly invokes the Presidents famous dictum, The only thing we have to fear is fear itself, and otherwise celebrates the America of the time as simple and homey, yet already bursting with the excitement of an incredible future.

Yet as Peales clippings and correspondence reveal in impressive detail, his political activities dovetailed with his pitch for a national religious revival, with Peale serving as both its advocate and its partial figurehead. His repeated, enthusiastic politicization of his ministry lent shape and force to the revival, given his outsize role as its popularizer.

Though far from original, and rapidly adopted by other conservative revivalists, such as Billy Graham, Peales claims that faith in God, country, and self were broadly identical acquired importance by dint of their enormous popularity in postwar America. By 1955, The Power of Positive Thinking had sold almost a million copies and was outselling all other books except the Bible. As his biographer Carol V. R. George concluded, It was Peales message that gave definition to the religious revival of the early 1950s.

Peales conservative populism surfaced in his partisan activities over the years, George continues, and because the press gave generous coverage to his political views, he was constantly being sought out by individuals with political axes to grind. She claims that in his spirit of eager, voluntary participation, he often jumped on bandwagons whose real destinations he did not know.

Though much of that last claim remains doubtful, Peales association with such far-right organizations as the Committee for Constitutional Government, Spiritual Mobilization, the Christian Freedom Foundationand, briefly, H. L. Hunts Facts Forumsometimes generated enough controversy to be acutely embarrassing to him. When a book on hard-line conservatives appeared in 1943, noting accurately that Peale had shared a platform with Elizabeth Dilling and the Reverend Edward Lodge Curran, the damage to his reputation was considerable. Dilling, a person the federal government ranked among the worst hate-mongers was, notes George, a patriot who smeared liberals, Jews, African Americans, and other ethnic groups with the same broad brush. Curran, founder of the National Committee for the Preservation of Americanism, was the author of alarmist books such as Spain in Arms: With Notes on Communism and Facts about Communism.

Under Cover, which had been published by the Armenian-American journalist Arthur Derounian under the pseudonym John Roy Carlson, was supposedly an expose of the Nazi Underworld of America. In it Peale was cast as a patsy for the rightas a docile Protestant clergyman who chaired the rigid Committee for Constitutional Government while its executive secretary, Edward Rumely, was under Senate investigation for failing to disclose its murky sources of funding.

With the New York Times and other prominent newspapers calling Under Cover of sensational importance, Peale was quick to downplay broader involvement. Privately he wrote the author and his publisher, insisting that his reputation had been unfairly maligned. Behind the scenes, however, he tended to respond with alacrity to such challenges, adjusting his emphasis to suit audience and occasion. A brief from Rumely for a 1943 meeting of the New York Economic Club explains, Dr. Peale is supposed to touch upon the spiritual outlook ahead, which can mean the tracing of our institutions of freedom and free enterprise and constitutional government and their perpetuation in the post-war period. The memo continues: Dr. Peale asks for suggestions of material and viewpoint that it would be desirable for him to bring out from this platform under this title.

All told, the idea that America needed a pro-Christian nationalism to head off an attack of atheistic communism was central to Peales message, and he stuck to it zealously. One of the best ways to undercut Communism, he privately volunteered to conservative businessman and fellow anticommunist crusader Edward F. Hutton in July 1947, is to reach the masses of the people with some simple religious principles. These, he had bluntly advised the Syracuse Post-Standard two decades earlier, were designed in such a way as to generate the enthusiasm and vitality necessary for Christian world conquest.

Excerpted from Surge of Piety: Norman Vincent Peale and the Remaking of American Religious Life. Copyright  2016 by Yale University Press. Reprinted with permission from Yale University Press.
The new FX miniseries series Taboo is very much a full-circle moment for its co-creator/star, Tom Hardy.

As James Delaney, a man who returns to 1814 London from Africa with vengeance on his mind and tattoos cloaking his torso, Hardys feral gentility is intoxicating. This melange of brawn and Britishness has become the actors trademark, from Bronson to Bane. And this nine-years-in-the-making project not only teams Hardy with his father, the writer Edward Chips Hardy, but is produced by Ridley Scott, who helmed the actors film debut Black Hawk Down.

Hardy, at 39, has come a long wayand gained a whole lot of musclesince his entree into acting, portraying the oversexed Private John A. Janovec in the HBO miniseries Band of Brothers. He is now considered one of the finest actors of his generation, able to make even 84 minutes trapped in a car wildly compelling (see: Locke).

The Daily Beast spoke to Hardy about his myriad projects.

What was it like to create a television series with your father, and was this show your way of honoring your father?

In the literal sense, the story doesnt reflect me and my father, but working with my father is always something that I wanted to do. A period drama is a really brilliant medium of putting all those guys togetherSteve Knight and Chips togetherand work on a character that me and my father had discussed before. It was the most perfect vehicle as our first project.

Did you and your father ever butt heads during your hell-raising years? I remember when we discussed your upbringing around the time of Warrior, after youd just gotten your ass kicked by a 4-foot-tall Thai masseuse in Budapest, you said you grew up more of a mommys boy.

Well Im 40 years old now, so Ive been a grown man for a long time since I was butting heads with my Dad, which was probably around the ages of 14 to 17. It was a very short space of time. Since I was 25 and I finished university and started working in film, Chips and my mum have been massively supportive of each others work, and so it was a natural progression for us to want to work together at some pointit was just a matter of finding an opportunity where we could. But we have a really strong father-son dynamic. Were a small family, and really look out for each other, and have a short-handed rapport for getting things done as a family. Me and my father have a company together called Hardy Son & Baker, and hes Hardy, Im son, and Baker is Dean Baker, and its really lovely to have a family business now.

Its been just over 15 years since your first big acting gig on the miniseries Band of Brothers. That cast had so many talented young actors: Michael Fassbender, James McAvoy, Simon Pegg, yourself...

Oh, its huge. A lot of serendipity. And at Ealing Studios, where we shot Taboo, my granddad was the old fire marshal there. So theres a lot of connectivity throughout. And yeah, it seemed like everyone from the Band of Brothers camp was in Black Hawk Down as well! Band of Brothers was kind of this flipbook of a lot of the actors around now that are making a lot of noise.

Even Jimmy Fallon was on it.

I didnt know that! Really? Oh, wow. They needed so many men, obviously. It was a year long and they had so many episodes. I was drawn out of drama school early because I think they were running out of bodies to use! It was a huge case and a fantastic show as well. Great series.

And Fassbender, in particular, was this guy youd looked up to in acting school as an upperclassman at Drama Centre.

I was a teenager when I went to drama school with Michael Fassbender and he was two years above me, and for his year, he was the dude, you know what I mean? We all looked up to him. He was the shining light of the third-years, and the MVP in many ways. Im not sure how pleased to see me he was! Id still had a year left at drama school, so to see me arrive on his TV serieswell, it wasnt his, but you know what I meanwhen hed put in three whole years of university and me put in two, he was probably like, Well, hang on a minute! Ive been working much harder than you. What the fuck are you doing here? Like Id gotten one of those Willy Wonka golden tickets to the party. But Fassbender is awesome. I will always have massive respect for him and I love his work. Its just great to see people who are familiar coming up, doing well, and representing. Hes carving out a really special position in the industry.

You know, when I interviewed Christopher Nolan he discussed his life-long desire to direct a Bond film. What about Chris directing you in a Bond filmmaybe with your old drama school pal Michael Fassbender as the villain?

Oh, wow, Chris would be amazing! Wow, that would be cool. That would be so cool. Do you want to play Bond? I tend to see your name on a lot of these wish lists, although Im sure theyre just sort of dreaming up any and all talented Brit actors who look the part.

You know, theres a saying amongst us in the fraternity of acting, and in the fellowship of my peer group, that if you talk about it youre automatically out of the race. So I cant possibly comment on that one! If I mention it, its gone. But Chris Nolan, what a fantastic director for a Bond movie. Because Daniel [Craig] is so good, and what [Sam] Mendes and Barbara [Broccoli] have done has been so impressive, that it would be a very hard reimagination to follow after. I wonder what the next installment of that franchise would become, and I think when you mention someone like Christopher Nolan, thats a very powerful figure to bring into that world who could bring something new and create something profoundagain. I thought Mad Max: Fury Road was fucking brilliant. Whats the deal with the sequel? Are the wheels rolling on this one?

George Miller is a genius! The wheels were rolling from the beginning of Fury Road for three films, so I would assume its just crossing the ts and dotting the is. There are other Mad Max vehicles and Furiosa vehicles that are out thereas far as the characters mythologies and storiesso its a little bit Im waiting for the call to get back in the leathers and get cracking on that. I really loved doing it and cant wait for another outing. Im hungry to go back out and do some more.

Have you and Charlize [Theron] buried the hatchet? I know you guys are both very intense actors and there were stories of you two butting heads on set.

Yeah, I mean, there are these myths that are usually asininely circulated about things that go on on set that arent nearly as dramatic as theyre made out to be. There was no hatchet to bury, for me. Ive always thoughand I still do thinkthat Charlize is one of the best actresses in the world and a mega-talent. I think shes brilliant and I would love to work with her again. So theres really no hatchet for me to bury at all in any way, shape or form.

Is the Al Capone film Fonzo actually happening, with you playing Capone?

Yeah. Its not Cicero, the one Id initially signed on to do. This is a completely different piece that Im very excited by with Josh Trank set to direct. Hes written something thats quite out of left-field and like nothing Ive read before. Ive spent quite a lot of time with Josh and hes passionate and effusive about it, and Im excited to get on with that. Its not Al Capone as I expected him, which is what I really loved about it. When taking on an icon, youre always looking for something inventive and compelling and has a new angle, and I think Josh has found that.

Are you going to have to pack on the pounds and prosthetics?

Well, Al Capone was forty-something when he passed away, so he wasnt that far off my age anyway. And hed lost a lot of weight before he passed because he was suffering from Syphilis and deteriorating. Its not the classic Al Capone that you necessarily envision with the silhouette. I dont want to give too much away about it, but theres definitely a transformation with that role. I dont know if its as drastic as Bane. Ive probably damaged my body too much. Im only little! If I keep putting on weight Ill collapse like a house of cards under too much pressure. Did Warrior and playing Bane damage your body?

I think you pay the price with any drastic physical changes. It was alright when I was younger, to put myself under that kind of duress, but I think as you get into your 40s you have to be more mindful of the rapid training, packing on a lot of weight and getting physical, and then not having enough time to keep training because youre busy filming, so your body is swimming in two different directions at the same time. And then after the film Im tired, and you maybe have to change your shape again and go back to your normal size for the next film. To go from one extreme to another has a cost. I havent damaged my body, but Im certainly a bit achier than I used to be! I kind of miss it. Compared to Christian Bale Ive been by no means extreme in my body changes, but for what little Ive done, yeah, I certainly have joints that click that probably shouldnt click, you know what I mean? And I carrying my children is a little bit harder than it used to bebut dont tell them!
With Donald Trumps recent picks to head the Environmental Protection Agency (Scott Pruitt) and the Energy Department (Rick Perry), it appears that science denialism has now been institutionalized. Pruitt, Perry, and Trump deny the fact that increasing levels of carbon dioxide in the environment have trapped heat, causing an increase in the Earths surface temperature (the greenhouse effect), and consequent climate disruption. Although climate change is undeniable, the current administration has managed to deny it.

Climate change denialists couldnt take their anti-science stance without the support of certain scientists. Although the overwhelming consensus among environmental scientists is that global warming is a real and present threat, a few disagree. Sadly, throughout history, science-denying scientists havent been hard to find.

In 1985, Barbara Loe Fisher, a prominent anti-vaccine activist, wrote A Shot in the Dark. In one chapter, Fisher claimed that vaccines caused autism. No one noticed. But when Andrew Wakefield, a respected scientist in the United Kingdom, published a paper in 1998 claiming that the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine caused autism, everyone noticed. More than 1,500 articles trumpeting Wakefields theory appeared in newspapers and magazines across the globe. In the United Kingdom alone, thousands of parents stopped vaccinating their children with MMR; as a consequence, hundreds were hospitalized with measles and four children died from the disease.

During the past two decades, 17 studies have shown that Wakefields theory was incorrect. Nonetheless, the notion that vaccines might cause autism lingers. And measles, a disease that was eliminated from the United States by 2000, is back.

The tobacco industry also found scientists willing to deny that cigarette smoking caused lung cancer. In the early 1950s, two studies published in the Journal of the American Medical Association and the British Medical Journal showed that people who smoked cigarettes were at greater risk of lung cancer than those who didnt smokeand the more they smoked, the greater the risk. Enter Dr. Clarence Cook Little, a well-respected geneticist and cancer researcher. For the next two decades, Little, pointing to studies of mice exposed to cigarette smoke, denied the association. If smoke in the lungs were a sure-fire cause of cancer, he said, wed all have had it long ago. Although only 1 percent of people who smoke cigarettes get lung cancer, the cause-and-effect relationship is clear. In Clarence Cook Little, the tobacco industry had achieved its goalto create doubt where the science was settled.

Climate change denialism has followed a similar trajectory. Michael Mann, in his book The Madhouse Effect: How Climate Change Denial Is Threatening Our Planet, Destroying Our Politics, and Driving Us Crazy (Columbia University Press, 2016), describes some of the scientists who have supported an unsupportable position. For example, in the 1990s, climate change denialists trumpeted the work of two scientists from the University of Alabama at Birmingham: John Christy and Roy Spencer. Using satellite-based estimates of atmospheric temperatures, Christy and Spencer found that the Earths lower atmosphere wasnt getting warmer at all. For more than a decade, the fossil fuel industry and its politicians pointed to Christy and Spencers data to support their claims. One problem: A review of their work found that during their calculations they had made a sign error (meaning they had used a minus sign instead of a plus sign). In so doing, they had magically eliminated global warming.

Another approach used by scientists to deny climate change is, instead of looking at trends in the Earths temperature over centuries or millennia, they have examined much shorter intervals, like one immediately following the global warming caused by El Nino in 1998. By examining only the 10-year interval between 1998 and 2008, scientists minimized the problem. Its like arguing that spring isnt arriving this year because March 27 was warmer than April 9, writes Mann.

Why do these scientists do it? One possibility is that science-denying scientists arent very smart, that theyre at the bottom of the their science class (where people make sign errors). But thats not it. Several of the worlds most celebrated scientists have gone to the dark side. Luc Montagnier, who won the Nobel Prize for proving that Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) was the cause of AIDS, now believes that autism is a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics. Linus Pauling, the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes (for Chemistry and Peace), claimed that vitamins taken in quantities vastly greater than the Recommended Daily Allowance could decrease cancer, eliminate heart disease, and prolong life (when the opposite appears to be true). Even Peter Duesberg, a brilliant virologist, became an AIDS denialist, refusing to believe that HIV was the cause.

Another and more obvious explanation for why prominent scientists deny scientific truths is that they are paid to do it. The war on climate science, writes Mann, may well continue as long as there are fossil fuels to be mined and mercenaries to be hired. But the lure of money doesnt explain everything. Montagnier, Pauling, and Duesberg were scientific superstars, previously feted by the media for their rigor and hard work. Maybe the problem is that theres a fine line that separates genius from madness. Or maybe these scientists needed something else to rekindle past glory. Something sensational.

Scientists are contrarians by nature. They are rewarded with publications and grants when they find something newnot when they confirm what is already known. Add to this the fact that the media loves controversy and these science-denying scientists have a ready platform for their views. Journalists would much rather write that vaccines cause autism (at last, a cause for this debilitating disorder) than that vaccines are safe and effective (which is infinitely more boring). And the media, in the name of balance, often feel compelled to air both sides of an issue, even when only one side is supported by the science.

But its a dangerous game we play. And invariably its our children and their children who will suffer our ignorance.

Paul A. Offit, MD is a professor of pediatrics and director of the Vaccine Education Center at the Childrens Hospital of Philadelphia. He is the author of Pandoras Lab: Seven Stories of Science Gone Wrong (National Geographic Press, April 2017).
High on a hill, almost halfway between Homs, Syria, and the Mediterranean Sea, sits a grand and formidable castle. All imposing turrets and towers, winding parapets, and massive stretches of limestone walls, the Crac des Chevaliers is the stuff of Disney-worthy dreams.

One can only imagine the historical events that this castle has witnessed from that hilltop since the Crusaders began constructing it in 1142 as their latest and greatest fortress.

But it is in the most recent of these world-shaking crisesthe Syrian Civil Warthat the UNESCO World Heritage Site has suffered what may be irreparable damage.
As many as 25 people lost their lives as the overcrowded boat was returning from a kite flying festival, organised as part of Makar Sankranti by the Bihar Tourism Department, capsized around 6 pm yesterday.

By India Today Web Desk: 17 hours after a boat capsized in Ganga river in Patna yesterday, the rescue operations have finally been called off.

As many as 25 people lost their lives as the overcrowded boat was returning from a kite flying festival, organised as part of Makar Sankranti by the Bihar Tourism Department, capsized around 6 pm yesterday.

According to officials, 25 victims identified included five children and women each and 15 men.

The capsized and broken boat was taken out of the Ganga river by a team of the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) on Sunday.

Rescued people are being treated at the Patna Medical College and Hospital.

Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has ordered a probe into the tragedy and a case has been lodged against the boatman and manager of an amusement park.

The government has announced an ex-gratia of Rs 4 lakh to the next of kin of each victim.

Bihar's ruling Janata Dal-United cancelled its feast on Sunday to mark Makar Sankranti festival in view of the tragedy.

"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," the Prime Minister's office said in a tweet.

PM also announced compensation of Rs 2 lakh for kin of deceased and Rs 50,000 for those injured.

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(With inputs from IANS)

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2016 release of Bushmills 21 and 16 YO

Jose Cuervo-owned Bushmills Irish Whiskey has revealed the 2016 release of two small-batch, 16 and 21 year old single malts, which have been matured and finished in three different cask types.

Only a small select number of casks of Bushmills small-batch, triple-distilled malt whiskey are matured to this age for release in these annual limited editions.

Colum Egan, master distiller at Bushmills Irish Whiskey, says: To craft malts of this age and quality calls for all our expertise and knowledge. By carefully nurturing a small number of casks in our warehouses so that they age in the optimal conditions, we can draw layers of exquisite flavours from the wood, ensuring they are perfectly balanced with the unique distillery character of the unique Bushmills spirit made from 100% malted Irish barley.

The Bushmills 16 Year Old single malt has been aged for at least 16 years in a combination of bourbon casks and oloroso sherry butts, before being vatted and married for nine months in large old port pipes.

Even rarer is Bushmills 21 Year Old single malt. Matured in American oak bourbon and old oloroso sherry casks for at least 19 years, it spends two further years marrying in Madeira wine casks.

Colum Egan adds: With a heritage of more than 400 years of whiskey making in Bushmills, we know that only a combination of patience and great dedication to our craft makes such great whiskey possible.

There is strong demand for Irish single malts, so were delighted to release these rare expressions for the ultra-premium end of the Irish whiskey category. Bottled at 40% ABV, they are both limited editions and will be available only from specialist independent retailers and on-trade outlets.

15 January 2017 - Sam Coyne The Drinks Report, editorial assistant
Winston Groom, the best-selling author of Forrest Gump, sets his new historical novel in El Paso and Mexico and pits revolutionary general Pancho Villa against an American railroad baron.

El Paso (W.W. Norton, $27.99 hardcover) is a fast-moving 477-page epic that mixes in true-life historical figures, like future general George Patton and cowboy movie star Tom Mix, with fictional characters as Villa wages war on Americans and Mexicans alike in Northern Mexico in 1916.

The story revolves around the fictional Shaughnessy family. The flamboyant Col. John Shaughnessy has turned over most of his struggling railroad empire to even-tempered son Arthur, freeing up the colonel to host lavish parties on his yacht and tend to his vast ranching empire in Mexico.

But when the ranch comes under attack from Villa  and two children are abducted  the whole Shaughnessy family, including Arthur, becomes involved.

The colonel and Arthur lead a posse to track down Villa and rescue the children as the revolutionary army takes refuge in the mountains after a series of defeats by the Mexican federales.

Meanwhile, an aspiring matador whose wife was kidnapped has also joined the hunt and eventually will face a seemingly impossible live-or-die bullfight wickedly conceived by Villa.

A German spy figures into the story as well. War is raging in Europe in 1916, but the United States has stayed out of it so far. The German spys secret mission is to keep America preoccupied with the Mexican revolution so it wont get involved in the war across the ocean.

And theres much more: A vicious bear, rudely awakened from hibernation, attacks Arthur Shaughnessy. Arthurs longtime best friend betrays him. An American communist activist sympathetic to Villas cause comes to question his brutal tactics. A teen-age girl who is a kidnap victim narrowly escapes from a jaguar and teaches Villa how to play chess and to read. And what do Tom Mix and George Patton have to do with all of this?

Well, theres plenty of action in Grooms first novel in nearly 20 years. Groom also writes nonfiction, focusing primarily on American military history.

Texas horror: An anthology of Road Kill: Texas Horror by Texas Writers, edited by E. R. Bills and Bret McCormick (Eakin Press, $16.95 paperback), includes 17 short stories by Texas fiction writers.

The biggest name in the lineup is Joe R. Lansdale, a prolific master storyteller from Nacogdoches who contributed a tale about an elderly couple who have a rendezvous with death. She wants to go first, but so does he. Is it possible they might meet death together on a stormy night? Would death be that accommodating?

Plenty of chilling tales here for those dreary winter evenings.

Glenn Dromgoole writes about Texas books and authors. Contact him at g.dromgoole@suddenlink.net.
The first list is expected to have nearly 150 names of candidates from west Uttar Pradesh and Rohilkhand regions.

By India Today Web Desk: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will hold its Central Election Committee (CEC) meeting today. The party is expected to announce its candidates for Uttarakhand and Uttar Pradesh Assembly polls.

The meeting was earlier scheduled to take place on Saturday to finalise the candidates for the upcoming elections.

The party is likely to announce the first set of candidates after a meeting on Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. Two other lists will be released on January 17 and January 19.

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Polls will start along with the commencement of nominations for phase 1 of the seven phase elections.

Sources say that the first list after today's meet is expected to have nearly 150 names of candidates from west Uttar Pradesh and Rohilkhand regions that will go to polls in the first and second phase.

The party had released the first list of candidates for Punjab and Goa polls on January 11.

With inputs from ANI

Also read: PM should promise Ram temple if BJP wants seers' support in UP: Ayodhya priest

Also read: BJP releases list of 29 candidates for Goa Assembly polls

Also read: BJP releases list of 17 candidates for Punjab polls

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By Press Trust of India: London, Jan 14 (PTI) Parents, take note! Telling your children that they are overweight may make them gain weight as they grow up, new research has warned.

The findings indicate that children whose parents identified them as being overweight perceived their own body size more negatively and were more likely to attempt to lose weight, factors that partly accounted for their weight gain.

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"Although parents perception that their children are overweight has been presumed to be important to management of childhood obesity, recent studies have suggested the opposite; when a parent identifies a child as being overweight, that child is at increased risk of future weight gain," said Eric Robinson from University of Liverpool in the UK.

"We argue that the stigma attached to being an overweight child may explain why children whose parents view them as being overweight tend to have elevated weight gain during development," he said.

Drawing from the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children, Robinson and and Angelina Sutin, from Florida State University College of Medicine in the US, examined data for 2,823 Australian families.

They measured the childrens height and weight when they began the study as 4- or 5-year-olds.

At that time, the childrens parents reported whether they thought the children were best described as underweight, normal weight, overweight, or very overweight.

Later, when they were 12 or 13, the children used a series of images depicting bodies that increased in size to indicate which image most resembled their own body size.

Children also reported whether they had engaged in any behaviours in an attempt to lose weight in the previous 12 months.

Researchers took height and weight measurements again when the children were 14 or 15 years old.

The results indicated that parents perceptions were associated with childrens weight gain 10 years later: Children whose parents considered them to be overweight at age 4 or 5 tended to gain more weight by age 14 or 15.

This association could be accounted for, at least in part, by the childrens beliefs and behaviours.

Children whose parents thought they were overweight perceived their own body size more negatively and were more likely to report attempts to lose weight.

The results were the same for boys and girls, and they could not be explained by other possible factors, such as household income, presence of a medical condition and parents weight.

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The link between parents perceptions and childrens later weight gain did not depend on how much the child actually weighed when they began the study.

When researchers examined data from 5,886 Irish families participating in the Growing Up in Ireland study, they saw the same pattern of results.

The research was published in the journal Psychological Science. PTI SAR SAR

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By Press Trust of India: Toronto, Jan 15 (PTI) Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau today wished the Tamil diaspora in the country and around the world a happy Pongal, describing it a festival of a "peace and happiness."

In a video, posted on his social media, Trudeau started with a Tamil greeting "Vanakkam!" before adding that "over the next few days, Tamils in Canada and around the world will gather with loved ones to celebrate Thai Pongal. Each day of this festival has its own special meaning and traditions which are tied to abundance, peace and happiness."

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"On behalf of our family, Sophie and I wish everyone marking Thai Pongal a joyful harvest festival," he said.

Hailing Tamil-Canadians for their contribution, Trudeau, who is known to celebrate the many cultures, said the community had made Canada s "stronger and richer" nation.

"In 2016, the House of Commons voted unanimously to recognise every January as Tamil Heritage Month. I encourage everybody to reflect on the strong heritage of Canadas Tamil community. Our nation is stronger and richer because of Tamil-Canadians," Trudeau said.

"We should seize every opportunity to celebrate the many cultures, languages and beliefs that make our country such a wonderful place to live," he said. PTI MRJ MRJ

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Final 2022 election Iowa Poll to be released on Saturday

Iowa Poll to test Senate race with Chuck Grassley and Mike Franken, governor race with Kim Reynolds and Deidre DeJear, Congress and attorney general.
By Press Trust of India: Karachi, Jan 15 (PTI) China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the USD 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.

China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy yesterday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.

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The Gwadar port in Pakistans restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.

A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.

"The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.

He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPECs land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the armys new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.

China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.

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The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU. PTI SH ASK ASK

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For more than a few in southwestern Connecticut in early January, it was no small relief when the state of New York set the schedule for the shutdown of the Indian Point Energy Center nuclear power plant located just upwind in Westchester County.

As for the eventual replacement of the nuclear Millstone Power Station in eastern Connecticut that supplies half the states electricity? It is anyones guess which way the wind is blowing.

Steaming to full output in 1976 and 1986 respectively, Millstones twin nuclear reactors are generating electricity today on Nuclear Regulatory Commission license renewals that push out their operation to 2035 and 2045.

If Millstone still has 30 years left, the timeline to consider its replacement is tighter, depending on the options Connecticut ultimately approves to generate or import electricity. While gas turbine generator construction is comparatively quick  plants can be completed in three years  the process for bringing a new plant online, nuclear or otherwise, can take well over a decade from concept to flipping the switch.

At the same time, Connecticut has made commitments to cut air pollution, with nuclear plants largely worry-free on that front, even as they pose major headaches on safety and secure transport and storage of spent radioactive fuel. Katie Dykes, commissioner of the Connecticut Public Utilities Regulatory Authority, testified in March on the issue to a committee of the state General Assembly in her role at the time as deputy commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection.

To the extent that we see the possibility of the retirement of nuclear units, that could be a significant challenge to us in meeting our climate goals and ensuring resource adequacy, Dykes said. This is an issue of special concern and something that we have to watch very carefully and be prepared for here in Connecticut.

Excluding smaller, alternative sources of energy like wind farms and solar parks, Connecticuts Kleen Energy Systems natural gas plant is New Englands newest regional-scale electricity plant as tracked by the federal Energy Information Administration, with the Middletown facility completed in July 2011 after a construction delay the year before following a massive explosion that killed six workers.

Next up is CPV Towantic Center in Oxford, where natural gas-powered turbines will furnish 785 megawatts of electricity when it commences operation, expected for 2018, some two decades after a facility was first proposed for the town. At Bridgeport Station in 2019, PSEG Power is planning to offset the closure of the citys coal plant with a new natural gas generation facility with 485 megawatts of capacity at the same Bridgeport Harbor property. And further out, the Connecticut Siting Council is considering a proposal for a natural gas plant of roughly the same output in Killingly.

The state last studied the adequacy of Connecticuts energy resources in 2014, noting that New England will require at least 1,500 megawatts of new electricity resources within a decade  about the capacity of Connecticuts next two largest electric plants after Millstone in Killingly and Middletown. And that is the conservative estimate, with the tight outlook under any rapidly growing economy and accompanying consumption requiring a full 4,000 megawatts of new power sources.

In its own report in 2015, the Connecticut Siting Council listed Connecticuts dispatched generation requirements at about 8,000 megawatts of power, produced both in state at more than 100 power plants as well as imported.

Eversource Energy (NYSE: ES) plans to make a significant dent in New Englands future capacity needs via its Northern Pass plan to build transmission towers to funnel 1,200 megawatts of hydroelectric power into the region from dams in Quebec.

Northern Pass is only one step of the journey as Connecticut considers how to build up its electricity capacity to eventually replace Millstone. Many more are represented by ongoing petitions before the Connecticut Siting Council by commercial operators seeking permission to install relatively small generators powered by sources such as wind, sun and fuel cells that generate electricity through a chemical reaction. In the aggregate, it adds up  in 2016 alone, the Connecticut Siting Council approved 70 megawatts of capacity from such sources to power various commercial facilities, with more working through the approval process.

No single power resource can meet of all the states power generation needs, stated Derek Phelps, director of market and project development for Danbury-based FuelCell Energy, in testimony last September to the Connecticut Siting Council. The combination of near-zero pollutants, modest land-use needs and quiet operating characteristics of (fuel cell) power plants facilitates their siting in urban locations, especially at locations where reuse of industrial or brownfield property is an economic priority.

 Includes prior reporting by Keila Torres Ocasio.

Alex.Soule@scni.com; 203-354-1047; www.twitter.com/casoulman
Last week, I wondered if Connecticuts business climate is really that bad. A lot of smart people say so. As proof, they point to the states razor-thin margin of growth and to taxes on businesses.

Those are good points, I conceded, but there are other ways to measure business climate. Growth can be ginned up, as it has been in states like Texas. Compared to what businesses produce in Connecticut, taxes here are among the countrys lowest.

None of that it to say the conventional wisdom is wrong. Its to express firm skepticism of the conventional wisdom. Why? If unchecked, it can lead policy makers to make awful policy.

Tax cuts fuel growth! That was Gospel Truth to Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback and his fellow Republicans. In 2012, they cut taxes dramatically, expecting a shot of adrenaline. They got a sedative. Kansas economy is tepid, its budget a disaster.

Heres another bit of CW, as they say: To keep businesses from moving away, like General Electric did, states have to sweeten the deal with grants, loans, tax breaks and other kinds of aid.

For instance, the state is set to remit $35 million to AQR Capital Management, a Greenwich fund that handles tens of billions of dollars. In exchange, AQR pledged to create up to 600 new jobs and, implicitly, stop shopping for a better deal in another state.

The news caused a stir. Critics said it was corporate welfare. Supporters said Connecticut was getting something for its money (in the form of income and sales tax revenues).

More Information Is Connecticut a good place for business? Gee, I wonder. Our own organization, WSSIG, was all ready to roll out a book discussion group at UConn Stamford's MBA campus, bringing in national-level authors of business and finance books for events, free of charge, open to the public. And what did Governor Malloy do? (then mayor of Stamford), he torpedoed it. Very nice. What a horrible thing it would have been, to have a book discussion group at a university. ... And then, of course, President Obama "rewarded" him with three scoops of wasteful project finance. That's how they work. Good job, President Obama. Good job, Governor Malloy. Matt Lechner, on ctpost.com See More Collapse

But what kind of game are we playing?

The rent-seeking game.

Rent-seeking is what happens when a company grows so powerful it can extract rents from its host state without creating wealth. In AQRs case, it plans new hires whose incomes will be taxed. But otherwise, Connecticut wont get much more than it gave.

If revenue exceed expenses, all is well, right? Maybe. AQR doesnt make stuff normal people buy. It doesnt create wealth so much as accumulate it. Concentrated capital increasingly concentrates capital, thus increasing its power to extract rent. So in paying rent to AQR, we the people are encouraging all rent-seekers.

How about this? If we must continue comforting the comfortable, lets do it on one condition: that they compete. Truly compete. I know it sounds daft. These are the Masters of the Universe, you could say, because they compete like no other. Well, maybe.

Fact is, the industry is lousy with non-compete agreements. These legally binding contracts prevent former employees from launching startups and competing with previous employers. The terms of these contracts can require people to wait months, or years, before going it alone. Most dont wait. They find other careers.

The scope of the problem is magnified in light of extraordinary rates of turnover. Bridgewater, the worlds largest hedge fund in Westport, is notorious for its culture of radical transparency and crying jags in the bathroom. Even the best and brightest dont last long. All that talent, all that tax revenue, all of it, gone.

Instead of (or in addition to) demanding jobs in exchange for state subsidies, lawmakers could demand reforms to a firms non-compete agreements. We dont need to ban them. All we need to do, according to a July policy brief by the Kauffman Foundation, is limit their scope, duration, geography and eligibility.

As it stands, Connecticuts hedge funds are like principalities with spheres of influence that do not intersect. Thats bad for the economy and bad for democracy. A robust competition policy could decentralized that cash and curb its power to seek rents.

Greater competition might lead to lower prices, but thats a moot point for normal people. What matters is that more competition leads to more entrepreneurship, which sparks more innovation, more job growth and a greater sense of community.

As I said, the conventional wisdom about Connecticuts business climate might be right. It might be wrong. But one things for sure: Business and the rest of us would be better off if big business had to compete more.

John Stoehr is a lecturer in political science at Yale. He can be reached at johnastoehr@gmail.com.
The outgoing Barack Obama administration of USA has held China responsible for preventing India from becoming a member of the exclusive club, Nuclear Suppliers Group.

By Press Trust of India: The outgoing Obama administration has lashed out at China for blocking India from becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group by describing the Communist giant as an "outlier" in its effort to bring New Delhi on board the elite grouping.

"Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, told PTI in an interview.

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The US statement comes a week ahead of the Obama Administration passing on the baton to the Trump Administration.

HOW CHINA SPOILED INDIA'S CHANCES AT NSG: THINGS TO KNOW The US officials say it is because of the Chinese resistance that India could not become a member of NSG, where all decisions are taken on the basis of consensus. "The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for NSG and that the United States supports India's entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG," she said. "We worked very closely with India to support India's application into the NSG, but we also recognise that there continue to be some concerns, some reservations that some of the members of the NSG have expressed that need to be worked through," she said. "We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China. As we move through all the other elements of the NSG membership, I think, we're on a good path forward," Biswal said. So what remains is to be able to have a very clear understanding on what is the basis of China's reservations and to try to work through those. So that will be something that would move on to the next administration to carry forward, she said in response to a question. "But this is something that the President himself has personally engaged on, the Secretary (of State), (National Security Advisor), Ambassador (Susan) Rice and down the line this has been an area of intense effort by this administration," Biswal said. While India not becoming a NSG member is disappointing, Biswal said the Obama Administration is "very very gratified to see India's entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)". China is advocating a two-step "non-discriminatory" approach for admission of countries who have not signed nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the NSG. As per the new stand announced by Beijing in November, it first wants to find a solution that is applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions to admit specific non-NPT member. China's stand for non-discriminatory criteria is regarded significant as Pakistan, a close ally of Beijing too has applied for the NSG membership along with India.

--- ENDS ---
Analysis: The elusive truth behind incendiary political mailers in PA

Mailboxes around Bucks County will need a good delousing as a campaign season that plumbed new depths for negative advertising draws to a close.
In communication released by China's state news agency, China and Vietnam agreed to "safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea".

By Reuters: China and Vietnam pledged on Saturday to manage their differences and safeguard peace in the South China Sea, in a joint communique issued during a visit to China by Vietnamese Communist Party chief Nguyen Phu Trong.

After "candid" discussions, the two countries agreed to "manage well their maritime difference, avoid actions that complicate the situation and escalate tensions, and safeguard the peace and stability of the South China Sea", said the communique published in full by China's state news agency Xinhua.

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China claims almost all of the South China Sea, where about $5 trillion worth of sea-borne trade passes every year. Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines and Taiwan, in addition to Vietnam, also have claims in the sea, believed to have rich deposits of oil and gas.

In public statements, Chinese and Vietnamese leaders regularly talk up their common interests as "traditional" friends and neighbours, but conflicting claims of sovereignty in the South China Sea have become a major source of tension in recent years.

Also read: Chinese media hits back after Trump's Secretary of State Rex Tillerson's South China threat

In the joint communique on Saturday the two sides agreed to continue to "fully and effectively" implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.

In September, Chinese President Xi Jinping told Vietnam's visiting prime minister their common interests far outweighed their differences, and called for their dispute in the South China Sea to be resolved through talks.

Vietnam is in the midst of a quiet military build-up which analysts say is designed as a deterrent, to secure its 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone, as China grows more assertive in staking its claims in the South China Sea.

Also read: China's Navy seizes American underwater drone in South China Sea

Also read: Chinese carrier enters South China Sea amid renewed tension

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin (Associated Press) Los Angeles, United States  Sun, January 15, 2017

Nicole Kidman says her comments that Americans should support President-elect Donald Trump were merely a statement of her belief in democracy, not an endorsement of the incoming president.

The Oscar-winning actress's earlier remarks sparked both criticism and praise online after they were aired by the BBC earlier this week.

(Read also: Meryl Streep strikes at Donald Trump at the Golden Globes)

Kidman tells Access Hollywood that her comments were misconstrued. She says, "I was trying to stress that I believe in democracy and the American Constitution, and it was that simple."

When an interviewer pressed her for more details, Kidman threw up her hands and said she was done commenting on the topic.

Kidman was born in Hawaii to Australian parents and holds dual citizenship in Australia and the U.S.

Kidman won an Oscar for 2002's "The Hours" and currently stars in "Lion."
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Linkedin Good Indonesian Food (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 15, 2017 14:30 2119 9b519824cb3263083aedb70a0bb2f02f 3 Food nasi-uduk,Pasar-Baru,food,#food,Kebon-Kacang,restaurant,#restaurant,Nasi-Uduk-Kota-Intan Free

Kebon Kacang is without doubt the talk of the town when it comes to the best nasi uduk (steamed coconut rice) with side dishes in Jakarta. Many may unconsciously link the ideal nasi uduk with that offered in the area, which is understandable as Kebon Kacang has been renowned for the dish for decades.

Not long ago, my culinary adventures took me to Pasar Baru, which is home to one of the most popular nasi uduk places in town: Nasi Uduk Kota Intan. Although it has been around for quite a while, it is not a fancy restaurant; only a few tents welcomed me when I set foot in the warung on Jl. Samanhudi.

(Read also: The best nasi uduk in Kebon Kacang)

Located on the pavement right in front of GKI Samanhudi, it was 5:30 p.m. and the place was beginning to see a lot of devotees. Not all the tables were occupied, but the queue that had formed at the counter was quite long. The place offers a different concept compared to other purveyors in Kebon Kacang, which involves customers choosing their side dishes at the counter and waiting for them to be served with the nasi uduk.

The side dishes are displayed on a long wooden counter and are ready to be cooked according to customers preferences. Besides the usual chicken, tempeh and tofu, you can also have duck and fish, along with a few vegetable choices including water spinach and bean sprouts. I opted to order a couple of pieces of chicken along with freshly fried tofu. To lend a healthy touch to my meal, I also went for the water spinach. It may sound a bit odd to eat nasi uduk with sauteed water spinach, but hey, its never wrong to try something new, right?

My first spoonful took me straight to heaven. The delicacy and savouriness of the nasi uduk was a treat for my taste buds, so much so that I could have just eaten it with some peanut sauce and it would have been more than enough. The fried chicken was tender with a hint of sweetness. The combination of water spinach with nasi uduk, though, was not really to my liking.

If the location is a tad too far from where you live, then you could visit its branch in Kelapa Gading instead. Just one piece of advice: never ever try mixing nasi uduk with water spinach. (kes)

Jl. Samanhudi (in front of GKI Samanhudi), Pasar Baru, Central Jakarta

Open daily from 6 p.m. to 2 a.m.

Rp 40,000 (US$3) per person

Explore more Indonesian cuisine here.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not reflect the official stance of The Jakarta Post.
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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post)  Sat, January 14 2017

Lulu Lutfi Labibi, a rising fashion designer star, maintains an artistic showroom as part of his old house in Kotagede, Yogyakarta.

Recycled cow-barn frames support its roof, which provides shelter for his display of some of his fashion pieces. The showroom occupies a former warehouse and has partially collapsed walls. Several photos recording his works of art are also displayed.

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Linkedin Bambang Muryanto (The Jakarta Post)  Sat, January 14 2017

A crowd packed the studio at the Institut Francais Indonesia in Yogyakarta. The people were watching a contemporary Wayang Bocor shadow puppet show entitled Semelah, the latest work by Indonesias multitalented artist Eko Nugroho that will tour several cities in the United States this January.

Here, the word semelah  derived from the Javanese pronunciation of bismillah (in the name of God)  visualizes the assimilation of Islam by Javanese people.

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Linkedin Winda A. Charmila (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sat, January 14 2017

Motorists in Jakarta have welcomed a new app-based ticketing system used by the police to reduce illegal levies even though, initially, they have to pay bigger fines.

Bisto, 36, a Cempaka Putih resident, was among motorcyclists stopped by the police during a raid around the Jakarta Fair area of Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, on Friday.

Unfortunately, Bistos driving license had long expired. The police officer handed over a blue ticket and entered Bintos identity card number, ticket number and the traffic violation he had committed into a mobile app called e-tilang (e-ticket).

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Delhi High Court overrules family court judgement that refused to interfere with an American court's decision to take away custody of children from Indian-American mother, who is currently in India.

By Sneha Agrawal: In a case of cross-country battle between estranged parents seeking the custody of their minor children, the Delhi High Court came to the rescue of an Indian-American mother who sought custody of her two minor children which an American court had awarded to her husband.

Vandana Arora (name changed), a dentist, had moved the High Court through senior advocate Geeta Luthra and advocate Jayant Bhatt against the refusal of a family court to interfere with the judgment of the American court that granted custody to the father.

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The family court observed that it had no jurisdiction to proceed with the case as all the family members are US citizens.

The foreign court, while granting custody to the father had directed immediate return of the wife along with the children aged four and three months old to the State of Connecticut.

The HC, however, granted the interim relief to the mother citing an SC judgment in the Ruchi Majoo v/s Sanjeev Majoo case that dealt with a similar issue and had awarded the custody of the minor child to the mother.

Justice Pradeep Nandrajog and Justice Yogesh Khanna observed that the family court had not kept the above judgment in mind while pronouncing the order.

The Supreme Court in 2011 had laid down the principle of law on the jurisdiction of the Indian court to decide such child custody matters initiated by the mother, often accused by the NRI husband of abducting the child.

SC: OBJECTIVITY THE MANTRA IN SUCH CASES

The SC had ruled, Welfare of the minor in such cases being the paramount consideration; the court has to approach the issue regarding the validity and enforcement of a foreign decree or order carefully. Simply because a foreign court has taken a particular view on any aspect concerning the welfare of the minor is not enough for the courts in this country to shut out an independent consideration of the matter. Objectivity and not abject surrender is the mantra in such cases. That does not, however, mean that the order passed by a foreign court is not even a factor to be kept in view. But it is one thing to consider the foreign judgment to be conclusive and another to treat it as a factor or consideration that would go into the making of a final decision.??

It also granted the visitation rights to the father, saying if he wanted to meet the kids, the visit would be facilitated at the wifes residence.

Vandana came to India with her elder daughter in 2016 but did not go back as her second child was born in September. She alleged cruelty on part of her husband, saying the kids were too young to be left alone with him.

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We submitted before the court that both the children were of tender age and needed the love, care and affection which only a natural mother can provide. It has been laid down in a catena of judgments that there can be no substitute for a natural mother who can look after the minor children better than anyone else in the world,?? Advocate Jayant Bhatt told Mail Today.

Also read: Woman who lost custody battle in US, fights for her children in India

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Ni Komang Erviani and Farida Susanty (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar/Jakarta  Sat, January 14 2017

Australian Cyri Dureigne was about to check in on Wednesday at Ngurah Rai International Airport in Bali for a flight home when he was informed that his Tigerair Australia flight had been canceled due to administrative issues.

With no immediate clarification from the airline, Dureigne, who visited the resort island with his wife and son for the New Year holiday, decided to spend extra to stay another night in Bali before they flew back to Australia on an AirAsia flight the next day.

We had no communication with Tigerair. No email, nothing. Im very disappointed, he said on Thursday, adding that his travel insurance would not cover additional expenditures caused by such administrative hassles.

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Linkedin Nicole Winfield (Associated Press) Vatican City  Sun, January 15, 2017

The Vatican stressed the sacred nature of Jerusalem on Saturday as the Palestinian leader warned that prospects for peace could suffer if the incoming Trump administration goes ahead with plans to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The developments came as Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met with Pope Francis and inaugurated the Palestinian embassy to the Holy See.

Abbas said he had only heard through news reports of the proposal by US President-elect Donald Trump to move the embassy to Jerusalem.

The Palestinians strongly oppose the embassy move, saying it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the holy city.

"We hope that this news is not true, because it is not encouraging and will disrupt and hinder the peace process," he said. He urged Trump to open a dialogue with both Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump hasn't yet laid out a clear Mideast policy, but has signaled he will be more sympathetic to Israel's hard-line right than previous administrations.

In Paris on Sunday, the French government is hosting a Mideast peace conference attended by dozens of foreign ministers to show Trump's administration that most of the world wants a two-state solution for Israel and the Palestinians and is fed up with decades of conflict.

The Vatican has long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character. In its communique after the Abbas meeting, the Holy See didn't refer to Jerusalem by name but said during the talks "emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the holy places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions."

During the meeting, Abbas presented Francis with gifts recalling Christianity's birthplace in the Holy Land, including a stone from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and documentation about the ongoing restoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

After the papal meeting, Abbas formally inaugurated the new Palestinian embassy across the street from one of the main gates of Vatican City. He pulled back a curtain revealing a plaque and extended the Palestinian flag from a flagpole outside a window.

The embassy, located in the same building as the embassies of Peru, Ecuador and Burkina Faso, comes after recent accords in which the Vatican formally recognized the "State of Palestine."

"This embassy is a place of pride for us and we hope all of the countries of the world will recognize the state of Palestine, because this recognition will bring us closer to the peace process," he said.

Abbas had initially accepted an invitation to be in Paris on Sunday, but French officials say that visit has been postponed.

___

Follow Nicole Winfield at www.twitter.com/nwinfield (**)
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Linkedin Nethy Dharma Somba (The Jakarta Post) Jayapura, Papua  Sun, January 15, 2017

Three suspects in the rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl in Sorong, West Papua, may face the death penalty if found guilty of the crimes, a police chief has said.

Sorong Police chief Adj.Sr.Comr. Edfrie R.Maith said the three suspects would be charged under the 2016 Child Protection Law.

Article 81 (5) of the newly passed law carries a maximum sentence of the death penalty. It also carries sanctions of life imprisonment and a prison sentence ranging from 10 to 20 years.

In the 2016 Child Protection Law, there is an article that stipulates the death sentence [for perpetrators of crimes against children]. This law is new and has never been used. We will use it for this case, Edfrie told The Jakarta Post on Saturday.

Various societal elements in Sorong have staged rallies over the crimes, demanding authorities to punish the suspected child rapists with the death sentence, which they deemed most suitable for the alleged perpetrators.

Apart from death penalty, the law also carries additional sanctions for perpetrators of sex crimes against children, including the reveal of their identities as stated on Article 81 (6). It is stipulated in Article 81 (7) that the perpetrators may face chemical castration and the assembling of electronic detection tools in their bodies.

The rape and murder victim was found dead in a mud hole in a swamp on Jl.Basuki Rahmat near the runway of Domine Eduard Osok Airport in Klasabi subdistrict, Sorong Manoi district, on Tuesday. She had been reported missing.

The victims sibling reportedly saw the three alleged perpetrators take the victim toward a swamp near the tip of the airports runway. Based on the information, the police, the victims family and locals searched the area, where they finally found the dead body.

The alleged perpetrators are the victims neighbors. They kidnapped the victim while her parents werent home, said Edfrie.

The three suspects, Donald Wanggaimo, 20, Lewi Gogoba, 20, and Nando Kinombae, 19, are being detained at the Sorong Police.

Edfrie claimed the alleged perpetrators were under the influence of alcohol while committing the crimes. When they were arrested, they were still drunk, he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Anton Hermansyah (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 15, 2017

Indonesias second-largest Islamic organization, Muhammadiyah, has said extremism is becoming more common around the world.

Extremism neither belongs to one religion nor one nation. It is a problem in big societies, Muhammadiyah central executive board chairman Haedar Nashir told journalists at the State Palace in Jakarta on Friday.

He further said Muhammadiyah was ready to cooperate with other societal elements to eliminate all forms of extremism in Indonesia.

Haedar was speaking after he fulfilled President Joko Jokowi Widodos invitation for an afternoon meeting. Unlike his discussion with Nahdlatul Ulama (NU) leader Said Aqil Siradj on Wednesday, during which he highlighted his concerns over growing extremism in Indonesia, Jokowi focused his discussion with Haedar on community development-related matters.

We mainly discussed how we can reduce wealth disparities by optimizing land utilization for community development, Haedar said.

He further explained how many locals had fallen victim to development projects that denied peoples right to land. In Papua, indigenous people in several areas have lost their land.

Through its programs, Muhammadiyah has bought land for residents in several areas and given them livestock to breed. The programs worked well. The President was interested [in hearing about the programs], he said. (ebf)
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Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru, Riau  Sun, January 15, 2017

Pekanbaru residents complained that the administration failed to pick up household trash that was strewn on alleys and main streets, making the city in Riau province look dirty.

Residents burn trash because the trucks do not pick it up, but then there is more garbage the next day. The environment has become unhealthy, said Azis Ardian, one of the owners of a shop on Jl. HR Soebrantas, the main street.

Pekanbaru Sanitation and Environment Agency head Zulfikri admitted to the lack of budget and workforce to pick up the trash. He said another factor was that the residents were not disciplined enough to follow through with the trash pick up schedule, which is from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m.

The truck fleet has 123 trucks but only 64 in operation. The garbage volume reaches 1,100 metric tons per day, he said on Friday. The budget for sanitation is Rp 34 billion (US$2,600) per year.

There are 1,223 contract workers, which is not enough, he said.

A Pekanbaru councilor, Fathullah, called for all parties to stop the blame game. Pekanbaru administration has to pick up trash fast because it stinks and disturbs people, while people should stop piling up garbage on the streets. They should make a hole in their yard, burn or bury it, do not just blame the administration, he said.

Burning garbage outside the regulated requirements is prohibited under the 2008 law on trash management. (evi)
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Linkedin Erica Werner (Associated Press) Washington  Sun, January 15, 2017

House Democrats still seething over FBI Director James Comey's handling of the election-year inquiry of Hillary Clinton confronted the law enforcement officer over his refusal to say whether the FBI is investigating possible links between President-elect Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.

The contentious, closed-door session Friday reflected the frustration of Democrats who blame Comey's statements and actions in part for Clinton's loss to Trump. In July, Comey announced the findings of the FBI investigation that found Clinton's use of a private email server was "extremely careless" but not criminal. Then, days before the Nov. 8 election, he sent two letters to Congress, one announcing a review of newly found emails and then another saying there was no evidence of wrongdoing.

The Justice Department inspector general announced this week that he is investigating Comey and the department.

Democrats and Republicans who attended the all-member briefing on Friday with Comey and senior intelligence officials said several lawmakers pressed him in a tense session about his refusal to say whether there is an examination of alleged contacts between members of the Trump campaign and Russia.

Rep. Steve King, R-Iowa, said the meeting was contentious but said Comey handled himself well under difficult circumstances.

"Yesterday morning if you asked me if I thought Comey was at the end of his career ... I probably would have said 'I think so,'" King said. "Now I think he deserves to be reassessed, just by the way he handled himself. I was impressed."

Clearly frustrated with Comey was Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who was forced to resign as head of the Democratic National Committee after hacked emails surfaced that suggested the party operation favored Clinton over her primary rival, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt.

She confronted Comey, according to a Democrat who attended the briefing. Lawmakers and other congressional officials spoke on condition of anonymity to freely discuss the private meeting.

Rep. Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., repeatedly asked Comey if he had applied a "double standard" in disclosing investigations. Comey has previously said his standard was based on whether there is a need to reassure the public about a possible high-profile probe.

"Do you believe that standard has been met with reference to the possible investigation of the Trump campaign's possible connections to the Russian government? And if not, why not?" Nadler pressed. The congressman told Comey that he should clarify whether the FBI is investigating, as he did with Clinton's email probe.

According to Nadler, Comey responded no, he didn't think it was the same thing and said he couldn't comment further.

"That's what got many people in the room frustrated and upset," Nadler told The Associated Press on Saturday. "He was being very hypocritical."

A declassified intelligence report released last week said Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a hidden campaign to influence the election to favor Trump over Clinton, revelations that have roiled Washington.

Trump and his supporters have staunchly resisted the findings and Trump has leveled a series of broadsides at US intelligence agencies, even though he'll have to rely on their expertise to help him make major national security decisions once he takes over at the White House next week. He will be sworn in Jan. 20.

After the closed-door session, Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., told reporters: "The American people are owed the truth."

"There is a great deal of evidence to say that this is a high - an issue of high interest to the American people," Pelosi said. "The strength, the integrity of our own democracy. And that for that reason, the FBI should let us know whether they're making - doing that investigation or not. They're usually inscrutable, as you saw in the public testimony in the Senate."

In testimony to the Senate on Tuesday, Comey refused to say whether the FBI was investigating any possible ties between Russia and Trump's presidential campaign, citing policy not to comment on what the FBI might or might not be doing.

"I would never comment on investigations  whether we have one or not  in an open forum like this so I can't answer one way or another," Comey told the panel.

Late Friday, the Senate Intelligence Committee announced it would investigate possible contacts between Russia and the people associated with US political campaigns as part of a broader investigation into Moscow's meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

In a statement, Sens. Richard Burr, R-N.C., the committee's chairman, and Mark Warner, D-Va., the panel's top Democrat, said the panel "will follow the intelligence where it leads."

Burr and Warner said that as part of the investigation they will interview senior officials from the Obama administration and the incoming Trump administration. They said subpoenas would be issued "if necessary to compel testimony."

According to the committee's statement, the inquiry will include:

 A review of the intelligence that informed the declassified report about Russia's interference in the election.

 "Counterintelligence concerns" related to Russia and the election, "including any intelligence regarding links between Russia and individuals associated with political campaigns."

 Russian cyber activity and other "active measures" against the United States during the election and more broadly.

___

Associated Press writer Hope Yen contributed to this report. (**)
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 15, 2017

The government has high hopes that Japan will help to boost national development in various sectors, including infrastructure, maritime affairs and tourism.

"To maintain the country's stability, it is important for us to bring about equality. Hence, we want to boost infrastructure development in the eastern part of the country, which has been left behind compared to the western part," Coordinating Maritime Affairs Minister Luhut Pandjaitan said in his opening remarks at the Japan-Indonesia Business Dialogue event in Jakarta on Sunday.

The event was held on the sidelines of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abes visit to Indonesia, which will end on Monday.

"We look at Japan as an ideal model. Hence, we want to speed up Indonesia's infrastructure development and we hope there will be more Japanese businesspeople involved in such development," Luhut said.

He added that Indonesia was also seeking opportunities to team up with Japan in several other sectors, namely maritime affairs, fisheries and tourism.

"During this event, we have gathered and brought representatives of many Japanese companies to Indonesia. So, we see Indonesia as an important partner and we are really interested to develop our businesses in Indonesia," said Hiroto Izumi, special advisor to Abe.

Among the members of Japan's delegation are representatives of various companies, such as gas firm Tokyo Gas, trading giant Mitsubishi Corporation, glass manufacturer Asahi Glass and energy company Inpex. (tas)
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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Bogor, West Java  Sun, January 15, 2017

President Joko Jokowi Widodo expressed his intention to strengthen bilateral ties between Indonesia and Japan to Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe during the latters maiden visit to the country on Sunday.

In his opening remarks prior to a closed-door bilateral meeting between Indonesian and Japanese delegates at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java, President Jokowi highlighted the importance of strengthening relations between the two countries, particularly in the economic sector.

I have met with Prime Minister Abe six times in the past two years and this shows how important the relations between Indonesia and Japan are, he said, adding that the two would also discuss global economic developments during the closed-door meeting.

For Indonesia, Japan is a strategic partner, especially in the economic, trade and investment sector.

(Read also: Indonesia sees Japan as model for infrastructure development)

Japan is currently the second largest foreign investor in the country, with investment reaching US$4.5 billion during the first nine months of 2016. This is almost double the $2.87 billion recorded in the previous year.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Abe also expressed Japans interest in enhancing partnerships and exchanging views on various issues.

I would like to, with President Joko [Widodo], increase our cooperation in various sectors and exchange thoughts on various challenges. Furthermore, I would like to encourage more cooperation between both countries, he said. (hwa)
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Linkedin Jessica Gresko (Associated Press) Washington  Sun, January 15, 2017

Despite rain and cold weather, marchers filled several blocks in Washington on Saturday as they rallied in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march that was at times also a rally against President-elect Donald Trump.

Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton had organized Saturday's "We Shall Not Be Moved" march and rally ahead of Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. But Trump, whose inauguration will take place in less than a week, was also on marchers' minds.

Holding umbrellas and bundled against temperatures in the mid-30s the crowd chanted "No justice, no peace" and "We will not be moved" but also "We will not be Trumped" and "Love Trumps hate." They cheered when one speaker referenced the comments of Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who has said he will not attend Trump's inauguration and, an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" set to air Sunday, that he doesn't consider Trump a "legitimate president."

"We come not to appeal to Donald Trump, because he's made it clear what his policies are and what his nominations are. We come to say to the Democrats in the Senate and in the House and to the moderate Republicans to 'Get some backbone. Get some guts.' We didn't send you down here to be weak-kneed," Sharpton told marchers at a rally after they walked from the Washington Monument to a park near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Sharpton called on marchers to oppose Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, and asked the crowd if they were willing to visit their senators' offices to oppose the nomination. He told them: "We need to make some house calls. We need to stay a little while." He later told The Associated Press those visits, involving a number of groups, would begin within the next 10 days.

Protesters also gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the US, including in Washington, denouncing Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.

The Washington crowd urged Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress not to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, aimed at helping people who were brought to the country as children.

Joining Sharpton were family members of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Walter Scott, black men whose names have become rallying cries following their deaths.

"When we leave here we have work to do," said Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 on Staten Island, New York, after a white officer placed him in a chokehold.

Carr and Sharpton talked about voting rights, criminal justice reform, health care and "a living wage" as issues marchers should care about.

Sybrina Fulton, whose son Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012, asked marchers to "stand up and make a difference in your community."

Marchers themselves expressed a range of emotions about Trump. Debra Conyers of East Orange, New Jersey, said she was a toddler in 1963 when Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. She said Obama "helped Wall Street" and "helped Main Street." As for Trump: "I'm waiting to see how it unfolds," she said.

Alicia James, a 48-year-old marketing consultant from New York City, said eight years ago she stood with her then 12-year-old son on the National Mall for Obama's first inauguration. She said she doesn't want to see Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act or undo other parts of Obama's legacy, but, she said, if it happens: "You can't erase the impact he has had on this country."

___

Follow Jessica Gresko on Twitter at https://twitter.com/jessicagresko (**)
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Linkedin Indra Budiari (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 15, 2017

The Environment and Forestry Ministry has extended an administrative sanction it imposed on the developers of three man-made islets in the controversial Jakarta Bay reclamation project.

Minister Siti Nurbaya Bakar said on Friday that the administrative sanction on PT Kapuk Niaga Indah and PT Muara Wisesa Samudra as the developers of islets C, D and G had been extended for another 120 days in December, as both companies had failed to obtain the required permits for the reclamation project.

But we expect the developers to take care of everything in the next two or three weeks, Siti told reporters on Friday.

The sanction, first imposed for 120 days in May and extended for another 60 days in October, prohibits the companies from carrying out any reclamation activities before they revised their Environmental Impact Analysis (AMDAL) and strategic environment assessment (KLHS).

Acting Jakarta governor Sumarsono said after a meeting with the minister that he agreed the reclamation project must be able to support residents livelihood and not cause damage to the environment.

The city administration will supervise the developers to make sure they meet all the requirements before the 120-day period ends, he said.
Water Minister Kapil Mishra, through a series of tweets, shared information on the Central Link Canal (CLC) in Haryana shutting down for repair following leakage.

By Kumar Kunal: Delhiites may have to face water woes for a day as the supply to several parts in the National Capital will remain hit.

Water Minister Kapil Mishra, through a series of tweets, shared information on the Central Link Canal (CLC) in Haryana shutting down for repair following leakage.

"CLC is leaked in Haryana. We get raw water through CLC. Haryana (is) repairing it so we need to shut CLS," the minister tweeted.

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The minister further said that water "coming through the main river course" had dangerously high levels of ammonia, and therefore the production at two water treatment plants--Chandawal and Wazirabad--had to be stopped temporarily.

Supply to be affected for one day in areas covered by chandrawal and wazirabad plants. Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) January 15, 2017

While assuring people that there will no compromise on water quality, the minister said he was personally monitoring the situation and was in touch with authorities in Haryana.

In a later tweet, the minister said that the CLC will be repaired by tonight, and the water supply will be restored by Monday morning.

ALSO READ: 1 in 5 Delhiites drinks impure water, says survey

66 PER CENT OF DELHI TO BE HIT

Emergency tankers have been pressed into service as well, the minister said.

I am personally monitoring the situation and we are in constant touch with authorities in Haryana. Emergency tanker plan implemented. Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) January 15, 2017

The Chandawal and Wazirabad water treatment plants are one of the biggest in the Capital. With these two plants hit, supply will be affected in nearly 66 per cent of Delhi.

CLC is leaked in haryana. We get raw water through CLC. Haryana repairing it so we need to shut CLC1/3 Kapil Mishra (@KapilMishraAAP) January 15, 2017

Supply will be affected in north, northwest, west, east and old Delhi. Many parts of northeast and South Delhi too are likely to be affected. The water will be supplied at a low pressure to these areas. Delhiites have been advised to save water.

ALSO READ: Severe water crisis threatens to shrink Delhi's green cover

ALSO READ: Delhi all set to get the best and the biggest sewage treatment plant

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Callistasia Anggun Wijaya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 15, 2017

West Java Police spokesperson Sr. Comr. Yusri Yunus said the police would screen a case implicating Rizieq Shihab, the founder of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI), for alleged defamation of the Pancasila (state ideology) on Friday.

"We will hold a case screening to see whether there is a criminal element. If we find there is, we will proceed with an investigation into the case," Yusri told The Jakarta Post via telephone on Friday.

A case screening is a phase of a criminal investigation in which investigators decide whether evidence collected is solid enough for police to name someone a suspect in a case.

Yusri added that on Thursday the police had quizzed Rizieq as a witness who had been reported by politician Sukmawati Soekarnoputri for allegedly insulting the Pancasila.

Sukmawati reported Rizieq to the police for a two-minute video of him talking about the difference between Sukarnos version of Pancasila and the one written in the Jakarta Charter.

In Sukarnos Pancasila, faith in God is placed at the bottom, but in the Jakarta Charters Pancasila, faith in God is placed on the head. Which one is better? Sukarnos or the Jakarta Charter's? Rizieq said in the video.

Yusri added that the police's forensic laboratory center (Puslabfor) found that the footage of Rizieq commenting on the Pancasila was original, however, Rizieq claimed that his video had been edited.

The police had questioned 10 people, including criminal law, language and information technology experts before interrogating Rizieq, Yusri said. (dmr)
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Linkedin Rizal Harahap (The Jakarta Post) Pekanbaru, Riau  Sun, January 15, 2017

The Environment and Forestry Ministry is set to dispatch helicopters to Riau and Kalimantan to help maximize ongoing efforts to prevent and control land and forest fires.

Riau Environment and Forestry Agency head Yulwiriati Moesa said the Riau administrations request for the dispatch of helicopters to tackle land and forest fires had been fulfilled by the central government.

We are waiting for the arrival of the helicopters theyve promised us. Helicopters will also be sent to Kalimantan, she said during a coordination meeting at the Riau gubernatorial office on Friday.

Yulwiriati hopes the helicopters arrive soon to aid in efforts to prevent land and forest fires in 12 regencies and municipalities.

Forestry authorities have been handed over by regencies and cities to the provincial administration. Thats why we have more duties now. The helicopters will ease our agencys task to prevent and control land and forest fires in locations difficult to reach via land routes, she said.

I observed fire locations in the Bukit Betabuh protected forests in Kuantan Singingi regency several days ago. Firefighting teams faced difficulties in reaching fire spots in hilly areas. Thats why we need helicopters.

Yulwiriati said she planned to set up an integrated patrol team to anticipate fires in forest areas. The development of ditches and canals in peatland will also continue, for which the Riau administration has allocated Rp 984 million (US$73,873.89).

A media center for hot spot monitoring will be set up to make it easier for us to detect and coordinate land and forest fire prevention, she said, adding that the monitoring of the adherence of companies in managing the environment would also be heightened. (ebf)
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Linkedin Ben Nuckols (Associated Press) Washington  Sun, January 15, 2017

Protesters gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the US, denouncing President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the US-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.

"We are not going to allow Donald Trump to bury the Statue of Liberty," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told a standing-room-only crowd at historic African-American church in downtown Washington during one of dozens of rallies around the nation.

"We are a nation for all people, regardless of religion, regardless of background, regardless of who you love."

In Chicago, more than 1,000 people poured into a teachers' union hall to support immigrant rights and implore one another to fight for those rights against what they fear will be a hostile Trump administration.

Ron Taylor, pastor of a Chicago area Disciples for Christ Church and executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, told the audience there, "Regardless of what happens in the coming days we know that good will conquer evil and we want to say to each and every one of you, you are not alone."

The protests mark the latest chapter in a movement that has evolved since 2006, when more than a million people took to the streets to protest a Republican-backed immigration bill that would have made it a crime to be in the country illegally.

The crowds this weekend at rallies or cultural events in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, California, and elsewhere, are expected to be nowhere near as big as then. Saturday's events took place as thousands were expected at a "We Shall Not Be Moved" march and rally in Washington ahead of Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Yet the line to enter Metropolitan AME Church in Washington stretched nearly a city block. People attending included immigrants who lack permission to be in the country and their relatives and supporters. Also present were elected officials, clergy and representatives of labor and women's groups.

Participants carried signs with messages including "Resist Trump's Hate" and "Tu, Yo, Todos Somos America," which translates to "You, me, we all are America."

"I stand here because I have nothing to apologize for. I am not ashamed of my status because it is a constant reminder to myself that I have something to fight for," said Max Kim, 19, who was brought to the US from South Korea when he was 6 and lacks legal permission to stay in the country.

The Washington crowd urged Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress not to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, aimed at helping people like Kim who were brought to the country as children.

Michael Takada of the Japanese American Service Committee urged the Chicago audience to "disrupt the deportation machine" that he and others fear will ramp up when under the new president. He also urged them to keep a close eye on their local police departments and speak out if they see those departments help "ICE to deport our community members."

Dr. Bassam Osman, chair and co-founder of The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, elicited one of the loudest cheers from the crowd when he called out the president-elect by name in one of the opening prayers: "Lord, this land is your land, it is not Trump's land."

While there was plenty of cheering, there was also uneasiness and fear of what's to come after Trump is sworn in.

Rehab Alkadi, a 31-year-old mother of a young son who came to the United States four years ago from war-torn Syria, said she doesn't believe she can be deported because "there is a war in Syria, but who knows. It's so scary, what Trump says," she said. "He said a lot of things bad about the Muslim people."

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn attended the rally in a show of support for immigrants' rights.

"You see the fear in light of the rhetoric that Trump verbalized in the course of his campaign," he told a reporter. "The idea of a registry for Muslim people is wrong and people want to stand up for that."

President Barack Obama in 2012 launched an executive effort to protect some young immigrants from deportation, after multiple proposals failed in Congress.

The creation of the DACA program was heralded as a good first step by advocates who hoped it would be a prelude toward overhauling immigration laws. But that didn't happen, and Republican-led states pushed back against Obama's plans to expand the program.

Now the focus is on the next administration. As a candidate, Trump promised his supporters stepped-up deportations and a Mexican-funded border wall, but it is unclear which plans the celebrity businessman will act on first, and when. And many immigrants are fearful of the campaign rhetoric but less motivated to protest in the absence of specific actions.

Many participants Saturday said they would keep the pressure on Trump and said they planned to participate in next Saturday's Women's March on Washington.

"The threat of deportation is imminent for our communities," said Cristina Jimenez, executive director of United We Dream and one of the rally's organizers. "We will keep fighting. We're not going back into the shadows."

___

Associated Press writer Don Babwin in Chicago contributed to this story. (**)
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Linkedin News Desk (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Sun, January 15, 2017

Two out of seven victims of a fatal car accident at the 161-kilometer point of the Cipali toll road in Majalengka regency, West Java, on Sunday, were young children under 5 years of age. The police are still identifying them at Arjawinangun Hospital in Cirebon.

It is predicted the two male children were between four and five years old, the West Java Polices traffic director Sr. Comr. Tomex Kurniawan said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday. Three injured victims of the accident said they did not know who the two infants were.

The accident occurred when the Daihatsu Luxio, which carried 10 passengers, was traveling to Palimanan, Cirebon, from Cikopo, Tangerang, on its way to Kuningan regency, West Java.

One of the seven victims has been identified as Aan Sawaludin, a resident of RT 3/ RW 2, Sukaharja village, Cibingbin district, Kuningan. Aan was the driver.

(Read also: 7 killed in fatal accident on West Java toll road)

The crash happened after the Luxio overtook a vehicle in front of it from its left side. Travelling at a high speed, the Luxio overtook a truck in front of it from the left lane. Unfortunately, there was another truck in that lane. It crashed into the rear of that truck, said Tomex.

Citing results of an analysis commissioned by the Road Accident Rescuer and Traffic Accident Analysis (RAR-TAA) team, Tomex said the Luxio was exceeding the legal speed limit. The Luxio was going 100 kilometers per hour, he said. The speed limit for a car traveling on a toll road is between 60 and 80 km per hour. (ebf)
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Linkedin Liza Yosephine and Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, January 16, 2017

Jakarta gubernatorial candidate Anies Baswedan has taken further steps to reach out to conservative Muslims by speaking at a mass gathering organized by the National Movement to Safeguard the Indonesian Ulema Councils Fatwa (GNPF-MUI) on Sunday.

At the gathering, the organizations leader called on people to vote for a Muslim leader in the upcoming election.

The group, which was behind recent large-scale sectarian rallies in Jakarta, organized the event in collaboration with the Jakarta Islamic Siyasah TaLim Assembly.

Posters for the event also displayed the hashtag #spirit212, in reference to a rally on Dec. 2 that demanded the prosecution of rival candidate and incumbent Jakarta Governor Basuki Ahok Tjahaja Purnama for alleged blasphemy in Thousand Islands last September.

The other rival candidate, Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, was also slated to speak at the event at Al Azhar Grand Mosque on Jl. Sisingmangaraja in Kebayoran Baru, South Jakarta. However, the son of former president Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono did not attend due to the death of Hadi Utomo, a former chairman of Yudhoyonos Democratic Party.

Agus running mate Sylviana Murni was present but did not speak at the event.

GNPF-MUI chairman Bachtiar Nasir told the audience that choosing a Muslim leader aligned with Islamic teachings and that Indonesian democracy allowed voters to exercise their rights in such a way.

I am not in a position to choose between the two Muslim candidates. But what is emphasized is that selecting a Muslim [at the next election] does not contradict democracy because you can choose leaders candidate based on faith and belief, he said as quoted by tribunnews.com.

State Islamic University (UIN) political expert Adi Prayitno said Anies had lost momentum in appealing to Muslim voters who, according to him, had largely fallen for Agus. Adi noted that Anies was experiencing difficulty in finding a place between Ahok and Agus, explaining his zig zag politics.

The most likely thing for Anies to do to increase his popularity is to rip supporters from AHY [Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono] from Islamic circles. Therefore, on many occasions in Anies political performance, he appears to be visibly Islamic [conservative], both in statements and political moves, Adi told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

Several pollsters recently put the Anies-Sandiaga Uno ticket at the bottom of popularity surveys comparing the three pairs.

In December, the Indonesian Survey Circle issued a survey showing that Anies-Sandiagas electability was the lowest at only 15.70 percent. Agus-Sylviana Murni got 33.6 percent while the incumbents Ahok-Djarot Syaiful Hidayat garnered 23.6.

Also in December, an Indonesian Survey Institution (LSI) survey put Anies-Sandiaga at the bottom with 23.9 percent popularity. Topping the list was AhokDjarot with 31.8 percent followed by Agus-Sylviana (26.5 percent).

Anies is widely known as a moderate Islamic scholar. During a recent visit to the Posts office, Anies denied he had shifted from his moderate views. But he acknowledged he had to address sectarian issues because they matter to voters.

(Read also: Anies says he visited FPI to quash rumors about his religious identity)

In the first official candidate debate on Friday, Anies cited morality and moral values among Jakarta residents as of importance should he become governor.

Adi said Anies strategy was to strike a note as a moral guardian in the hope of gaining sympathy from Muslim voters.

Thats why Anies polishes himself to look sholeh [obedient], maintains morality and fights for Muslim aspirations. This effort is to evoke the emotions of Muslims who recently have been quite driven to defend Islam, Adi said.

Recently, Anies drew criticism after meeting with leaders of the Islam Defenders Front (FPI) at its headquarters in Petamburan, Central Jakarta. Anies said his visit aimed to straighten out rumors surrounding his religious identity that might disadvantage him in the election.
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Linkedin Ibnu Budiman and Hannah Barrowman (The Jakarta Post) Denpasar  Mon, January 16 2017

The combination of climate change mitigation and adaptation is essential for Indonesias 37 million smallholder farmers. However, does it consider farmers rights and development to achieve a farmer-centered approach?

Indonesia is the worlds fifth largest emitter of greenhouse gases and a large proportion of these emissions come from the conversion of forests and carbon-rich peatlands into productive agricultural land.

Much of this conversion is driven by the nations crop estates (e.g. oil palms, cocoa and coffee). Although smallholder farmers own only small plots of land (on average less than 1 hectare in Java and more than 5 outside Java), they farm at least 40 percent of Indonesias total land area planted with oil palms. Meanwhile, under the Nucleus Estates and Smallholders (NES) scheme, a company acquires 70 percent of the land under development. However, as land scarcity drives up the value of unconverted plots, farmers are keen to hold onto a greater share.

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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, January 16, 2017

The government has reiterated that local miners, particularly nickel, bauxite and copper miners, will be allowed to export their products should they express a commitment to build their own smelters and be able to supply domestic smelters with at least 30 percent of their input capacity.

President Joko Jokowi Widodos administration issued on Jan. 11 the fourth revision to Government Regulation No. 23/2010 on the management of mineral and coal businesses, which allows miners to continue exporting copper concentrates, certain amounts of low-grade nickel ore and washed bauxite under certain conditions.

Nickel and bauxite miners can export after supplying 30 percent of the input of existing domestic smelters. They also have to be committed to building their own smelters within five years, Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said Saturday in a press briefing.

We will monitor [the progress] every six months. If they fail to fulfill the commitment to build the smelters, there will be no export licenses for nickel and bauxite miners.

Jonan said there had been a misunderstanding over the newly-launched regulation, as many people interpreted that it was forcing local miners to funnel 30 percent of their nickel or bauxite production into local smelters, even though, he said, the correct calculation was based on the total capacity of all domestic smelters.

For instance, the total input capacity of nickel smelters in the country currently stands at 16 million tons per year. Meanwhile, the total production for low-grade nickel  with nickel content below 1.7 percent  stands at 10 million tons per year.

So that means the nickel miners must sell to domestic smelters for about 30 percent of the 16 million tons of smelter capacity, or equal to 4.8 million tons, not of the 10 million tons of production capacity, he said.

The government, Jonan continued, would serve as the traffic manager for the supply chain system in order to prevent unfair implementation of the regulation. For example, this is possible if there are only two or three companies supplying 4.8 million tons of nickel to local smelters through their own production.

According to the Processing and Smelting Companies Association (AP3I), 32 new smelters have been built in the country  24 of which are nickel smelters  within the past four years with a total investment value of around US$20 billion.

The ban was a boon to rival producers as their output filled the hole, Bloomberg reported.

The Philippines became the worlds biggest supplier of mined nickel and the largest shipper to China. Now, their shares are tumbling. Nickel Asia Corp., the countrys top producer, fell 14 percent on Friday along with Japans Sumitomo Metal Mining Co. and GMK Norilsk Nickel PJSC.

The change in regulations may also upset Chinese investors that pumped money into developing Indonesias domestic processing industry. Citigroup had forecast a 180 percent increase in capacity by 2020, to about 400,000 tons, according to Bloomberg.

The 2009 Mining Law stipulates a mineral ore export ban to encourage smelter development in the country and to strengthen the processing sector. It has been applied to nickel, bauxite, chromium, gold, silver and tin.

However, because none of the proposed smelters were completed, including the one committed to by gold and copper miner Freeport Indonesia, the government has been forced to issue a new regulation extending export permits for certain mineral ores.

One of the requirements for miners to get an export recommendation from the government is to convert their permit status from a contract of work (CoW) to a special mining license (IUPK).

The government stated that Freeport Indonesia, the subsidiary of US giant Freeport McMoRan, had submitted an official letter confirming its commitment to convert its CoW into an IUPK. They also mentioned their commitment to build the smelter within five years. If so, we will issue the export recommendation for them immediately, Jonan said.

Freeport Indonesia claims it has allocated $2.2 billion in capital expenditure for the new smelter development, even though only $212.9 million has been disbursed so far, including $115 million as collateral to the government and $50 million to work on the smelters environmental impact analysis (Amdal) document and basic engineering.

Freeport Indonesia has presented to the government its willingness to convert [its CoW] into an IUPK, that will happen if there is an agreement over investment stability and also fiscal and legal certainty, Freeport Indonesia spokesman Riza Pratama told

The Jakarta Post on Sunday. The company has also confirmed its commitment to continue its new smelter development soon after it receives certainty over its contract extension for its Grasberg mine in Papua, the worlds largest gold mine and third-largest copper mine.

Freeport Indonesias contract is due to expire in 2021. However, the earliest miners can renegotiate their contracts is five years before they expire under the latest regulation.
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Linkedin Agnes Anya (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, January 16 2017

The Jakarta administration recently agreed to revise several regulations during meetings held while visiting Yogyakarta.

Initiated by Jakartas acting governor Sumarsono, the administrations high-ranking officials conducted two meetings on an intercity train booked especially for them.

We have conducted meetings. We discussed a number of problems in the administration during the occasion, Sumarsono said as quoted by kompas.com on Sunday.

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Linkedin (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, January 16 2017

Former Democratic Party chairman Hadi Utomo, who served the party from 2005 to 2010, passed away at the age of 71 on Sunday morning.

He died at 3:47 a.m. at his residence in Condet, East Jakarta, kompas.com reported.

Dems figures such as current chairman Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono and his wife Ani Yudhoyono, Jakarta gubernational candidate Agus Harimurti Yudhoyono, along with secretary-general and lawyer Hinca Panjaitan visited Hadis home on Sunday morning before his body was taken to Klepu village, Ungaran, Central Java, for burial.

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Linkedin Fedina S. Sundaryani (The Jakarta Post) Bogor  Mon, January 16 2017

Amid a persistent decline in bilateral trade, Indonesia is seeking wider entry into Japans markets by requesting the latter to lower its trade barriers during a high-level meeting between the countries leaders.



In a joint press statement after a bilateral meeting with Japans Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, President Joko Jokowi Widodo emphasized Japans importance as a strategic partner, especially in the economic, trade and investment sectors, including hopes that those relations would strengthen in upcoming years.



He, however, explained that Indonesia had also requested Japan to lower tariff barriers for its agriculture and fisheries shipments, which currently stand at more than 10 percent.



Indonesia has asked Japan to open access for Indonesias agriculture and fisheries products, he said at the Bogor Presidential Palace in West Java on Sunday.



Indonesias overall exports  including agricultural and fisheries products  to Japan have been steadily falling since 2011, as shown by data from the International Trade Center (ITC).



Total exports stood at US$33.71 billion in 2011 but have since dropped by almost half to $18.01 billion in 2015.



Such a drastic drop has triggered the government, business players and economists to call for measures to revive trade between the two countries, especially with the Indonesia-Japan Economic Partnership Agreement (IJEPA) being underutilized despite having existed since 2008.



The two parties seemed to acknowledge the underutilization of IJEPA as President Jokowi said both countries had agreed to start a review of the partnership.



Since IJEPAs inception, Indonesia has failed to lower its import tariff on cars from Japan as stipulated in IJEPA. Indonesia had agreed to cut its 45 percent tariff on some 3,000 cc Japanese passenger cars to 20 percent by the start of 2015.



Jokowi also said Indonesia and Japan had agreed to review an agreement signed in 1982 by the two countries on the avoidance of double taxation and the prevention of fiscal evasion with respect to taxes on income.



The move to review both IJEPA and double taxation aims to promote higher investment flow between both countries amid uncertainty in the global economy.



Japanese companies have complained over the unclear tax regulations that have discouraged them from investing more.



Despite the global economic slowdown, Japan has remained the second highest foreign investor in Indonesia.



Japans investment in Indonesia reached $4.5 billion during the first nine months of 2016, almost double the amount of realized investments in the previous year.



The automotive sector has made up the bulk of Japans investments in Indonesia, followed closely by the industrial sector, metal sector, electronic sector and machinery sector.



Prime Minister Abe underlined Japans strength in infrastructure development, specifying a desire to continue to be involved in the train and electricity procurement sectors.



Japan will cooperate in the train and electricity sectors, among others, through the development of high-quality infrastructure that has continued to be Japans strength, he said.



Japan has set its sights on several high-profile infrastructure programs, including the Patimban deep-sea port in West Java and the medium-speed Jakarta-Surabaya railway.



Transportation Minister Budi Karya Sumadi said the Indonesian government had offered Japan a chance to submit early proposals for both the Patimban Port and the Jakarta-Surabaya railway projects.



Furthermore, the two countries have agreed to establish a joint venture agreement to operate the Patimban Port.



We have asked that the Patimban project start construction in the beginning of 2018 at the latest and start its operations in phases at the beginning of 2019, he said.



Meanwhile, the development of the gas-rich Masela block remains vague as Energy and Mineral Resources Minister Ignasius Jonan said the government would stick to its guns and only offer a seven-year contract amendment for Japanese energy company Inpex as compensation for the time lost following the Indonesian governments decision to change the project to onshore development from offshore development.



However, a six-month feasibility study will soon commence to determine whether or not it would be more economically feasible to develop one of the region's biggest gas resources.



Jokowi also said he had requested that Abe allow state airline Garuda Indonesia to serve a Jakarta-Los Angeles, United States, route, connecting through Tokyo.



Sunday's meeting was the sixth since Jokowi took office in October 2014.



Despite both countries enthusiasm for boosting stronger economic ties, Yasuhisa Kawamura, press secretary and director general for press and public diplomacy at Japans Ministry of Foreign Affairs, confirmed that no deals had been signed during the bilateral meeting.



Today [Sunday], we havent signed any documents. However, the projects we have mentioned have been ongoing, he said.

_________________________________

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French Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault demonetisation in India, terming it as a "bold" decision against corruption and black money

By Press Trust of India: France has appreciated demonetisation in India, terming it as a "bold" decision which "shows how determined" Prime Minister Narendra Modi is to combat tax evasion, corruption and black money.

French Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Development Jean-Marc Ayrault also hailed the "significant reforms" undertaken by Modi to attract foreign investments, saying "they are in the right direction".

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Appreciating the Make in India initiative, he said in an interview that France "wishes to be a major partner, thanks to its experience, expertise and recognised technologies".

HERE IS ALL THAT HE SAID

At the same time, he said "joint efforts" should be made between the European Union and India to reduce trade barriers and pitched for reforms in India with regard to easing the import-export regime and improving the predictability and stability of regulations.

"I am impressed by the boldness of this decision. It shows how determined Prime Minister Modi is to combat tax evasion, corruption and black money. Its also a measure aimed at modernizing the economy by accelerating the transition to a digital economy," Ayrault, who was here on a four-day visit, said when his views were sought on demonetisation.

"We are following these developments with keen interest," he added.

He said "The Indian economy is full of promise for entrepreneurs and we trust the governments resolve to support the countrys economic development."

The French Minister, who was here primarily to attend Vibrant Gujarat, said the bilateral economic ties "are being ceaselessly strengthened".

Pointing out that French companies have a very strong presence in India, he said they "invest, innovate and make in India".

About 1000 French entities are spread all over the Indian territory, employing almost 3,50,000 skilled workers, and the general feeling is that this is a land "full of opportunities", he said. However, bilateral trade remains at a "more modest level", which is also due to French companies fully adopting the Make in India policy.

"But we must continue our joint efforts, between the European Union and India, to reduce trade barriers," he said.

--- ENDS ---
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Linkedin Viriya P. Singgih and Nurul Fitri Ramadhani (The Jakarta Post) Jakarta  Mon, January 16 2017

The public has been told to be more careful when planning a visit to Saudi Arabia for the minor pilgrimage, or umrah, as the number of Indonesian pilgrims has constantly risen in recent years, expanding opportunities for various scams and frauds.

Indonesian Association of Haj and Umrah Private Operators (Himpuh) secretary-general Muharram Ahmad said these scams were mostly orchestrated by undetected illegal umrah travel agents in the country.

If a licensed travel agent does the scam, the Religious Affairs Ministry can easily revoke its permit. However, there are too many illegal travel agents that are difficult to detect. Hence, the police are the ones who need to take action against them, Muharram said.

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Admit it, we all have been guilty of slowing down in the afternoon while trying to battle the massive wave of fatigue that kicks in just after 2pm.

All of that energy you have during the morning suddenly vanishes and youre forcing yourself to stay awake and focused as the afternoon slump kicks in.

Ambius Kenneth Freeman, head of innovation at office landscaping firm, offers some helpful tips on how to beat the the 2.30 pm brain fog.

1. Get a plant

Believe it or not, plants actually have a soothing effect on us.

They can transform your workspace into a more peaceful and engaging place, says Freeman.

A series of experiments was undertaken by three universities  University of Exeter, Queensland Australia and Groningen Netherlands  looking at the short and long-term effects of plants in offices. Collectively, they found that plants can increase employee productivity by as much as 15% and improve workplace satisfaction by up to 40%.

2. Get some aroma therapy

Did you know that 75% of our emotions can be influenced by scent? says Freeman. Smell memory is actually the most powerful part of memory, with each of us on average able to recognise 10,000 different smells.

Freeman says there are some scents that are well recognised for their uplifting qualities.

Scientific studies have shown that pleasing aromas can raise productivity, morale, and even reduce stress amongst employees, he adds. Fresh and crisp citrus scents such as mandarin zest or pink grapefruit elicit energetic feelings, doing much to lift our moods right when the afternoon slump is about to hit.

3. Bring some natural light into your office

For this Freeman refers to the biophilia theory  which suggests that humans have an innate affiliation with the natural world.

Our offices often leave little to the imagination and have embraced a lean aesthetic  with little or no greenery in them, he says. Its important that we all try our best to bring the outside world in and make the most use out of natural light.

Enclosed environments can make us feel tired so Freeman suggests sitting next to a window, if possible.

Its best to sit near a window, and even better if youre able to see a park or lake outside, he says. Of course, were not always so lucky so try to structure the office so that natural light is able to reach as many desks and corners as possible  mirrors are an excellent way of bringing light (and even views of the outside) deeper into the office.

4. Take a break and head outdoors

Staying cooped up in your workspace all day can be energy sapping.

Its important that you enjoy a brief walk or stretch at lunch, as it doesnt do us any good hunching over our desks at our computer screens, says Freeman.

Taking a break from the office will get some fresh air into your lungs, and will help you come back after lunch feeling energetic and invigorated, bypassing the slump at 2.30pm.

However, we know that not all of us can escape the office. In that case, opt for large green installations  which has grown in popularity over the last few years.

5. Get rid of indoor pollution

Think all the pollution is outside? Think again.

Freeman says indoor air can be as polluted, and in some case even more polluted, than outdoor air.

The primary source of indoor CO2 is humans, he says. Typical outdoor concentrations are around 380ppm (parts per million) but this can increase to several thousand indoors within a day. Plants have been shown to absorb and degrade all types of urban air pollutants as well as replenish the levels of oxygen (O2) in the air through photosynthesis.

In fact, research conducted in Sydney by Margaret Burchett backs up this theory. It shows that, in air conditioned and non-air conditioned offices with plants, CO2 levels were reduced by 10% and by 25% respectively, compared to equivalent offices without plants.

6. Create an inspiring workspace

Theres nothing like a fresh dose of inspiration to boost your morale, especially when your body starts to slow down in the afternoon.

After a morning full of meetings and a bite to eat for lunch, tiredness can quickly kick in, says Freeman. We not only become less productive, but we get less creative.

In order to keep our imaginations ticking over we need to make sure that we are surrounding ourselves with a stimulating environment.

Liven your desk with bright coloured stationery and photos to help the creative juices to flow.

7. Find the perfect temperature

The temperature of the office can have a huge impact on productivity.

A working environment that is too hot can result in drowsiness and too cold can make employees feel uncomfortable, says Freeman.

Make sure the office air conditioner is set to an optimum temperature. But of course everyone is different and will have their own preferences which is why Freeman suggests using plants to help keep the workplace cool.

Plants help to regulate the air around them through the process of evapotranspiration, he says. This refers to the movement of water from the soil, through the plant and into the atmosphere. Plants help keep work places cool, with the correct humidity.

8. Add the right splash of colour

Colours directly impact our mood.

Recent research from Epson examined the impact of the winter months on office workers and found that they believed simple steps  such as better lighting, a more colourful workspace and more creative visuals and presentations could improve their moods.

Specific colours have been shown to influence particular emotions, Freeman says.

Blue for example, stimulates clear thought and efficiency, whilst yellow is seen as psychologically the strongest colour and lifts spirits and moods, says Freeman.

However if you want a boost of productive energy, red would be a good option as it provokes energy and drives enthusiasm.

9. Get some art

Art has the potential to inspire and unlock creative potential, says Freeman. It is no longer seen as a mere painting on the wall, but a tool to encourage creativity and boost productivity.

It can affect the atmosphere of the room as well as improve customer experience.

Installations such as live pictures (natural artwork made out of plants) and green walls combines the visual and health benefits of greenery and art.

It creates an eye-catching focus for any office environment but also provides all the benefits that interior planting can bring  improving air quality, reducing noise and enhancing employee wellbeing.
Duo at Delhi airport jumps the green channel, causing panic among the security men. CISF detained the the two, recovering 520 packs of imported cigarettes.

By Ajay Kumar: Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) has managed to apprehend two passengers accused of crossing green channels in terminal 3 of Indira Gandhi International airport on Friday afternoon.

Sensing the urgency, CISF personnel swung into action and intercepted the passengers at third lane at arrival in the alighting area.

One of the offenders has been identified as Manoj Kumar who arrived from Bankok by flight number TG331 at 2.20 pm.

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He along with another passenger roaming in international reclaim area near belt number 12 for long time actually bring them into the category of suspects.

"The CISF personnel present at the places have spotted his suspicious movement for a long time and hence informed the matter to custom officials," said a senior official of CISF.

"Before the custom official reached the spot, they jumped the green channel of T3 and reached the alighting area which led to panic among securitymen. We have apprehended them and handed them over to the customs officials," he said.

During inquiry, they revealed that they were carrying imported cigarettes in four registered baggage with approximate cost of Rs 6 lakh. They wanted to dodge the security personnel at the airport.

A total of 520 packets of Esse cigarettes have been recovered from their baggage.

--- ENDS ---
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By Press Trust of India: The French Foreign Minister, whose country has faced a

The French Foreign Minister, whose country has faced a number of terror attacks over the last few years, pitched for a "decisive action" against Pakistan-based terror groups like LeT, JeM and Hizbul Mujahideen which are "targeting" India.

"France has very firmly condemned the terrorist attacks against India, including the recent one in Uri, and reiterated its full solidarity with India in its combat against terrorism," he said.

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Clearly referring to Pakistan without naming it, he emphasised that all countries should fight effectively against terrorism "originating from their territory or territories under their control".

"We particularly want to see decisive action taken, in keeping with international law, against terrorist groups targeting India, particularly the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Jaish-e-Mohammad and the Hizb-ul-Mujahideen," he said.

The French Minister was asked about his views on the surgical strikes carried out by Indian Army in September last to target terror camps based across the LoC in Pakistan- occupied Kashmir.

"Nothing can justify terrorism, which must be fought everywhere with equal determination. When a country is faced with a terrorist threat of this nature, it has the right to defend itself," he replied.

Ayrault also spoke about the scope of cooperation between India and his country in combating terror, the footprint of which is expanding and intensity increasing.

"France and India are both victims of terrorism, and they are in full solidarity vis--vis this scourge," he said.

He said the fight against terrorism is one of the cornerstones of India-France strategic partnership.

In concrete terms, he said, France and India hold "constant and very operational exchanges" on the terrorist threat.

"We have a bilateral working group that brings together all the players concerned over counter-terrorism, and, among others, cooperation with regard to investigations and between our respective intervention units, the GIGN from the French side, and the National Security Guards from the Indian side. I welcome the development of all these cooperations," he said. PTI AKK RT

--- ENDS ---
French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day India visit, also sent out a veiled message to China without naming it, saying "the international community's determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat."

By Press Trust of India: Days after China blocked India's proposal in the UN, the world body's key member, France, has pitched for designating Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Masood Azhar as an international terrorist, saying there are "very strong arguments in favour" of such a move.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who was on a four-day India visit, also sent out a veiled message to China without naming it, saying "the international community's determination to combat terrorism must be the same everywhere, regardless of the threat."

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Pointing out that Azhar's outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad "is already included in the (Sanctions) Committees list of terrorist organisations", he told PTI in an interview, "therefore, there are very strong arguments in favour of listing its chief, as India has requested".

That's why, he said, France not only supported but also co-sponsored the Indian request at the UNSC.

Also read: China blocks India's UN proposal to declare Pathankot mastermind Masood Azhar a terrorist

India had submitted in February last year a proposal to the 15-member 1267 Sanctions Committee of the UN Security Council to list Azhar as an international terrorist for masterminding the attack on Pathankot Air base.

Since then, China had twice imposed "technical hold" on the Indian proposal and finally on December 30 last, it blocked it, becoming the only country to do so. "We regret that, despite our joint efforts and wide support from the Committee, unanimity could not be reached," said Ayrault, whose country is a permanent member of the UN Security Council.

He said France will now discuss with India what should be done. "India knows it can count on our support," he added.

Also read: China hints it will veto India's bid to sanction Masood Azhar

Azhar, a resident of Bahawalpur in Pakistan, was one of the three terrorists freed by India in exchange of 166 hostages of Indian Airlines plane IC-814 which was hijacked to Kandahar in December 1999.

Azhar, at that time, belonged to Harkat-ul Mujahideen, and soon after his release, he floated the new outfit Jaish-e-Mohammad in Pakistan which carried out several attacks in India, including on Parliament on December 13, 2001 and Pathankot Air base.

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Panaji, Jan 14 (PTI) Even as Congress is yet to decide on forming an alliance with like-minded parties in the coastal state, newly floated Goa Forward has staked claim on five seats for upcoming Assembly election.

"Non-BJP government in Goa is our goal. Give us five seats and we will ensure that we win all of them," Goa Forward President Prabhakar Timble said today.

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The newly formed party mentored by independent legislator Vijai Sardesai has staked claim on Velim, Fatorda, Siolim, Saligao and Mapusa seats.

"We guarantee five MLAs to the alliance (led by Congress) to form the next non-BJP government," he said.

The Congress leaders are currently holding meetings in Delhi to decide whether or not to have an alliance with like minded parties like Goa Forward, NCP and United Goans Party during the upcoming Goa polls.

Timble said Goa Forward can also wrestle Navelim seat but since the local unit president of Congress Luizinho Faleiro wants it, etiquette demands that we should not ask for it.

Congress has already announced 27 candidates in Goa which includes Faleiro who would be contesting from Navelim.

Senior Congress leader Girish Chodankar said the party will announce its decision related to alliance either today evening or by tomorrow.

The process to file nominations for February 4 polls has already began in the State.

Congress candidate Digambar Kamat was the first one to file nomination from Margao seat. PTI RPS RMT

--- ENDS ---
How many people have already voted absentee in South Dakota ahead of Election Day?

Nearly 13% of South Dakotans have had their absentee ballot received by their county auditor's office, according to the Secretary of State.
Post demonetisation, the Central Industrial Security Force, which mans the country's civil airports, has seized 351.62kg of gold, 50 kg of silver and Rs 71.48 crore in cash.

By Ajay Kumar: There's an embarrassment of riches at India's airports following Prime Minister Narendra Modi's demonetisation move. Authorities have seized huge amounts of cash, gold and jewellery between November 9 and December 31, 2016, with smuggling looking to take off.

According to a top Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) official, the force managed to confiscate 351.62kg gold (biscuits and jewellery), 50 kg silver and Rs 71.48 crore in cash from 59 airports across the country during 50 days of demonetisation. Mumbai has the highest contribution on all three counts with 256.74 kg gold, seven kg silver and Rs 32.14 crore in cash recovered by the CISF.

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Delhi's Indira Gandhi International Airport is second on the list with 42.77 kg gold, 6.15 kg silver and Rs 9 crore in cash.

Kolkata and Raipur have secured the third and fourth positions respectively with 16.198 kg and 12.2 kg of gold.

The CISF personnel have also recovered 10.86 kg silver and Rs 6 crore in cash from Kolkata.

'PANIC AMONG BLACK MARKETEERS'

"We have been expecting rise in smuggling of gold and cash during the demonetisation period. These are huge figures and also indicate panic being created among black marketeers in the country," said a CISF official.

"A majority of the seizures were done during the first half of the demonetisation period. We have completed the details of the seizures and handed over the cases to the concerned income tax and customs departments. The chances of seizure at airports are always on the higher side due to the tight security. Despite that, black marketeers have chosen the aerial route for smuggling, which is quite amazing," the official added.

Also read: Black money crackdown: Rs 60 crore cash, 245 kg gold seized from 10 airports since demonetisation CONTRABAND SEIZED

Apart from that, the CISF cracked 13 cases, including five at IGI Airport in which passengers were involved in smuggling contraband such as heroin, cocaine, ketamine, marijuana, etc. The highest seizure was done at Bengaluru International Airport when CISF officials have recovered 22 kg of ketamine worth Rs 4.5 crore from a flyer.

Besides that, 18 kg methaqualone on June 20 and 35 kg and 10 kg pseudoephedrine on March 19 and June 27 were recovered by CISF personnel at Delhi Airport.

The force also detected 208 ammunition and 12 firearms from passengers' belongings last year. The contribution of IGI Airport is 41. Four cases in smuggling of wildlife - animals or articles - were also registered at Chennai, Delhi and Kolkata.

Also read: Bengaluru: In India's biggest seizure since Nov 8, Rs 5.7 crore found - all in new Rs 2000 notes

Since the security at all 59 civilian airports in the country under the CISF is tight, a large number of passengers do not come forward to claim their belongings once they are seized.

The CISF has recovered unattended properties worth Rs 38.44 crore in 2016 and Rs 28.18 crore was handed over to airport operators after completing the formalities. The CISF personnel are the ones involved in manual and computerised checking and they come first during detection of smuggled items. The accused have cooked up different modus operandi to smuggle gold and cash. They have also used the cargo service for it.

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"As smugglers are coming up with new techniques, the challenges are on the rise to provide security as well as keeping close watch on illegal transportations through air. We are working in tandem with customs and local police of respective cities to minimise crimes," said the official.

The aviation industry is also vulnerable to forged tickets, visas and passports. A large number of touts active across the country pose as travel agents. The CISF has apprehended 475 touts and 425 of them have been handed over to police for criminal proceedings. The remaining 50 were also handed over to concerned airport operators for their involvement in other offences.

The security agency has also nabbed 74 people for entering into terminal premises on cancelled or edited tickets.

Also read: RBI figures indicate return of banned notes worth Rs 15 lakh crore

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Also watch: 'RBI's image has been dented beyond repair,' employees claim in letter to the Governor

--- ENDS ---
The 62nd Filmfare Awards conducted by Filmfare magazine honoured the best films of 2016. The ceremony took place in Mumbai late Saturday.

After being the highest grosser of Hindi cinema, Dangal bagged three of the four major awards at the award ceremony. The film swept Best Actor, Best Film and Best Director while Alia Bhatt took home the Best Actress award for Udta Punjab.

Hosted by two biggest names of the industry- Shah Rukh Khan and Karan Johar, the ceremony was graced by many actors of the Bollywood film fraternity.

Aamir Khan, who never attends any award shows, gave Filmfare awards a miss but his director Nitesh Tiwari, who won the Best Director, expressed his joy after winning the award. This award is the reassurance of how much people loved our film (Dangal). So I would like to take the opportunity to thank everyone in India and abroad who loved and supported our film. It means everything. the director said.

Alia Bhatt, who looked absolutely stunning in her gown, was accompanied by her mother Soni Razdan and sister Shaheen Bhatt. After receiving the Best Actor award from veteran actor Sree Devi, she said, Udta Punjab is very close to my heart. Thank you, Shahid, for sending the script to me. Today is a very special day for me. Sridevi ji receiving it from you is an honour. Another reason is my sister is here. Got her out of home."

She also shared her father Mahesh Bhatts message, the actor said, "My dad said 'I feel you are going to win. You should do what you feel. If you feel like crying, cry.' This is a dream come true for me. Finally Thanks Karan for giving her the first break."

Her co-actor from Udta Punjab Shahid Kapoor , who was present at the event with his stunning wife Mira Rajput, shared the Critics' Award For Best Actor with Manoj Bajpayee for Udta Punjab and Aligarh respectively. In the female category, Sonam Kapoor bagged the award for her outstanding performance in Neerja. While Sonam became emotional, Shahid gave a happy acceptance speech, the actor said, I am very excited to get it and I want to thank Filmfare for this. It's a good day!

In the Best Actor in Supporting Role (Male), Rishi Kapoor became the first choice because of his utterly adorable portrayal of Dadu Kapoor in Shakun Batras Kapoor and Sons while in the female category, Shabana Azmi bagged the award for playing the perfect mother in Ram Madhvanis Neerja.

The Debut awards for Best Actor Male and Female were bagged by Diljit Dosanjh for Udta Punjab and Ritika Singh for Saala Khadoos.

Other than Dangal and Udta Punjab, Karan Johars Ae Dil Hai Mushkil was also amongst the most celebrated films of the evening with four important awards.

In the musical category, Ae Dil Hai Mushkil emerged as the complete winner with Arijit Singh winning the Best Playback (Male) for the title song of "Ae Dil Hai Mushkil" and Pritam Chakraborty for the Best Music Director and the Best Music Album. Amitabh Bhattacharya won the award for Best Lyrics for the song "Channa Mereya" from the same film.

On winning the award, Pritam said, "My first thanks to KJo. Without him, it wouldn't have been possible. I want to take this award home for my children."

To grace the star-studded event, Actor Salman Khan danced to some of his hit songs, such as 'O o jaane jaana', 'Munni badnam hui' and 'Sultan' while Actor Tiger Shroff also grooved to hits like 'The Pappi Song', 'Aa raha hoon main' and 'Dhoom Again'.
A court here on Sunday sent to, three days police custody, BJP's West Bengal unit vice president Jayprakash Majumdar, arrested for allegedly taking money from School Service Commission candidates on the pretext of getting them jobs.

The judge at Bidhannagar court also rejected a bail plea moved by the defence counsel.

Majumdar was arrested on Saturday after seven hours of intense grilling at the Bidhannagar North police station following a complaint by Arup Ratan Roy.

However, the BJP leader lashed out at the Roy in the court premises, saying he was not a candidate at the TET examination.

"Complainant himself is not a n examinee of TT. This complaint is based on lies. The entire thing is a conspiracy," he said.
The Chief Electoral Office has asked political parties in Uttarakhand to furnish details about their social media accounts. The BJP had made a regular complaint about Uttarakhand Chief Minister Harish Rawat violating the model code of conduct by using the CM's official facebook account maintained by the state information and PR department.

Political parties will not be permitted to use any video and animation as an advertisement on their social media accounts, without obtaining prior approval from a dedicated committee.

Chief Electoral Officer Radha Raturi said, All the political parties will have to submit details about their social media accounts to the Media Certification and Content Monitoring Committee (MCMC). They will have to mention about the payment made to the creative team. Plus expenses made for content and internet use.

The political parties will also have to seek pre-approval from MCMC for using any animation, video and graphic as an advertisement to be used on their social media accounts. Posting a live video on Facebook and twitter is permitted but the content should not violate the model code of conduct.
People in several parts of the state were also seen waving black flags in protest of the Supreme Court order.

By India Today Web Desk: With Tamil Nadu on the edge over protests on Jallikattu ban, shops and commercial establishments remained close amid heavy police deployment.

Strict security arrangements have put in place to avoid any law and order situation even as the state has been witnessing massive protests for the last few days in support of jallikattu, the bull-taming sport organised during Pongal.

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People in several parts of the state were also seen waving black flags in protest of the Supreme Court order.

"Have deployed forces at all arenas where jallikattu takes place, we are sensitising people about SC's order," said Vijayendra Vidari SP Madurai.

Madurai (TN): Police deployment in Palamedu and other villages in Madurai for effective implementation of SC's order banning #jallikattu pic.twitter.com/JXnS2qavlF ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

Despite the ban on jallikattu, the sport was organised for two consecutive days in Madurai.

Regardless of the order by the apex court, locals have been holding the sport clandestinely every year.

Earlier, senior BJP leader Subramanian Swamy said, "While I support Jallikattu, but I don't like anti-national elements in Tamil Nadu trying to go against the Constitution of India".

In a blow to the Tamil Nadu government in November last year, the Supreme Court had dismissed the state's plea seeking recall of its 2014 verdict banning the bull fights, holding that the practice amounted to cruelty to the animals.

The Supreme Court on January 12 ruled out an interim order on the bull-taming sport before Pongal.

Also read:

Defying Supreme Court ban, Madurai village organises jallikattu on Pongal

Jallikattu ban: Supreme Court refuses to pass interim order before Pongal

Jallikattu: Angry over delay in Supreme Court order, Tamil Nadu men defy ban in Cuddalore, 4 arrested

Kamal Haasan at India Today Conclave: If you want to ban jallikattu, ban biryani too

WATCH VIDEO | On the day of Maatu Pongal, a viral video explains in detail how old is the tradition

--- ENDS ---
Union Human Resource Development Minister Prakash Javadekar on Sunday demanded the resignation of Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi Singh for his failure to end the ongoing economic blockade which has affected the availability of essential commodities in the region.

Javadekar was interacting with the media at the local Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) office during his visit here to hold discussions for short-listing candidates for the ensuing assembly elections.

Manipur will elect a new 60-member state assembly in two-phased polls on March 4 and 8.

The BJP leader said: "The Constitution clearly says that the central government can't do anything about law and order since it is a state subject. Still, we are extending help to him by dispatching 40 companies of paramilitary forces.

"Instead of using them in maintaining law and order along the highways, the security personnel have been kept in the barracks. Since he has failed to defuse the crisis, he should resign. In any case, he will be ousted this time, but people see no reason to wait until the elections."

Javadekar further said: "In the larger interest of the suffering people, the central government had arranged tripartite talks between the Centre, the state government and the United Naga Council, which has imposed the blockade since November 1."

"But the meeting could not be held as no representative from the state government was sent for the talks," he charged.

Ibobi had told IANS that there was no formal invitation. Also, "since Manipur is at the extreme border, officials cannot be rushed to Delhi at a moment's notice", he added.

People continue to suffer due to shortage of essential items. Fuel is rationed, though there is no dearth in the black market. Cooking gas cylinders are being sold for Rs 2,000 each in the black market.

The Manipur High Court had directed the government to provide adequate security to the vehicles plying on the highways.

The state government has complained that while it sought 60 companies of central paramilitary forces, so far only 29 companies have been sent.

More than 500 loaded trucks and oil tankers bring various items to Manipur every second day from Assam. But owing to the lack of mechanism to check hoarding, a large proportion of the items do not reach the open market.

During the blockade, there have been instances of drivers and police personnel having been ambushed to disrupt supplies to the strife-torn state.

Javadekar held closed-door consultations with the state BJP and other national leaders in charge of the Northeast. The short-listed names of BJP nominees will be submitted to the central committee and the final list of candidates is expected to be announced next week.

The party will be fielding candidates in all the 60 constituencies of the Manipur assembly.

There are more than six BJP aspirants in each constituency and all of them have started their respective election campaign. This is causing confusion among the voters.

At the directive of the party, however, the aspirants in some constituencies recently publicly pledged to support the ones who get the ticket.
In her short tenure of one-and-half years till date, Delhi Commission for Women chief Swati Maliwal has had her fair share of controversies right from her appointment to a long-drawn battle with the previous Lt Governor Najeeb Jung over various issues. However, on the back of positive talks held recently with the new LG, Anil Baijal, the young engineer is looking forward to rebuilding the commission.

In an exclusive interview to thestatesman.com, Maliwal said, with a new LG at the helm, she wants to forget past controversies and start afresh.

I have held positive talks with the new LG mainly for womens safety in Delhi which is the main concern. And have sought Baijal jis help on ending previous controversies for the smooth functioning of the commission, Maliwal said.

And, the process to rebuild the commission begins with taking bold decisions to secure the citys women who at present are very vulnerable, feels Maliwal, who has worked with many NGOs advocating womens rights.

Every day we get cases of violence against women and everyday six-seven Nirbhayas (Dec 16 gangrape victim) are born in Delhi. We need a high-level committee which needs to look into the safety of women in Delhi, Maliwal said.

Highlighting that the highest number of crimes registered against women in Delhi are domestic violence, rape and stalking, Maliwal said Delhi was supposed to get one-stop centres for women where victims could lodge a complaint without worrying about social stigma but that has not happened so far.

A meeting was held between the Delhi CM and Union Minister of Women and Child Development Maneka Gandhi for the centres and it was decided that DCW will be given 11 one-stop centres across Delhi, said the DCW chairperson.

It has been two to three months now but there has been no development, she added.

Asserting the need to set up a high level committee for women, she said that the DCW has given a recommendation on digitisation of police records to the new LG.

The system should have digitised software to be able to track the areas where highest crimes against women are reported. The information received should be well tracked and updated every day, she said.

She further said that Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh, LG Anil Baijal, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal along with the DCW should meet at least twice every month and hold serious discussions on the issues facing the women of the national capital.

Unless the stakeholders and the decision makers sit down with us (DCW) and analyze the problems and take serious steps to ensure womens safety, nothing is going to change, Maliwal said.
The need for greater sensitivity is emphasised in any discussion on improving the functioning of the police, but the cops tend to remain as boorish as ever. The top brass of the Central Industrial Security Force has obviously failed in imparting the requisite training to its personnel deployed on duties that call for more than wielding the big stick. Students from the Central Agricultural University in Imphal will return to the North-east with enhanced feelings of the alienation that is so widely evident in that neglected part of the nation. They had a difficult time entering the Taj Mahal because the CISF personnel there contended that they were foreigners attempting to enter the monument on the lower charges levied on Indian nationals: production of their institutional identity cards did not convince the CISF. A complaint to the Archaeological Survey of India, followed up by a report to the local police became necessary for them to visit the tourist attraction. The incident cannot be written off as an aberration, it points to an ingrained bias of most policemen against people who look different from those hailing from the so-called mainland. The students are likely to perceive their nationality being questioned as confirmation of the discrimination and ill-treatment of students in Delhi hailing from the North-east, their women being shamelessly targeted by predatory goons, and their being exploited by unscrupulous landlords who have caused them to live in virtual ghettos in a desperate bid at self-preservation. The recruitment of some personnel from the region to the police has had only token impact. The most insulting reality being that their fellow students refer to them as Chinky. The CISF is now entrusted with more than the physical protection of public sector undertakings ~ its original mandate. Airport security and similar duties on the Delhi Metro are part of the operations conducted by the force. Alas, the one size fits all theory has not worked. There is need for specialised training: the staff manning airports has need to conduct themselves differently from those protecting industrial units, so too the cops at the Taj Mahal, etc., have to help tourists rather than police them. Even the CISFs policing philosophy raises queries. It has recently permitted women using the Delhi Metro to carry small knives for self-protection ~ does it recommend those knives being wielded against pick-pockets (the majority of whom have been found to be women), eve-teasers, etc? Has the probability of retaliatory violence been ignored? Yet all those inadequacies pale into insignificance in comparison with what took place at the Taj, for the outcome could have grave implications. A young mind troubled by perceived discrimination can stray into dangerous territory. The CISF leadership must understand that.
Information gathered through an RTI application and from the seven-page note submitted by the Reserve Bank of India to the Parliamentary Standing Committee of Finance headed by M Veerappa Moily of the Congress makes it clear that the decision to demonetise Rs 500 and Rs 1000 was taken by Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the oligarchs surrounding him, and not by the RBI or the Union Cabinet. The exercise was presented as a decisive action necessary to contain the menace of counterfeit notes and black money in order to usher in long-term economic gain even if it resulted in short-term pain to the public. The RBI told the parliamentary panel that demonetisation of currency notes was an advice given by the government with less than 24 hours to implement. The Central Board of the RBI met on 8 November. The board noted that a summary measure in the form of withdrawal of legal tender charter of these notes is proposed by the government. A day after the RBI disclosed its actual role, two former RBI Governors, Bimal Jalan and YV Reddy, expressed concern over the eroding autonomy of the central bank. Former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who was also formerly a Governor of the RBI, described demonetisation as a disaster and said that things were going from bad to worse. He cautioned the people the worst was yet to come. Empirical experience of the past two months fully supports the prognosis of Manmohan Singh. In extenuation of Modis dramatic announcement, the RBI said that it had on 27 May 2016, recommended to the government introduction of a new series of bank notes.

It seems to have occurred to the government that the introduction of the new series of notes could provide a rare opportunity to tackle the three problems of counterfeiting, terrorist financing and black money by demonetising the bank notes in high denomination of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 or by withdrawing the legal tender status of bank notes. Though no firm decision was taken initially on whether to demonetise or not, preparations went on for introduction of new notes as it was needed in any case. Amidst these developments, Americas USAID announced on 14 October the establishment of Catalyst: Inclusive Cashless Payment Partnership, with a view to effecting a quantum leap in cashless payment in India. A close analysis of Modis 8 November bombshell withdrawing more that 85 per cent of the currency notes in circulation and forcing the ill-prepared public to adopt cashless payment methods, would throw light on the hidden agenda. Reading the official statements with hindsight makes it clear the partnership between Catalyst and the Finance Ministry of India is a huge assault on all Indians using cash for payments. Even the name Catalyst sounds ominous once we realise what happened on 9 November 2016. We saw global business leaders extolling Modi at the eighth edition of the Vibrant Gujarat Global Summit that began in Gandhinagar on 10 January. International card providers in the USA like Master and Visa are laughing all the way to their banks.
The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) presented the first ever Global Parliamentary Report (GPR) in 2012 and the next report  scheduled for 2016  is expected any time soon. While GPR 2012 examined the changing nature of parliamentary representation, the soon-to-be-released GPR will reportedly look at how effective parliament is in carrying out its constitutional role to hold government to account. Its highly unlikely that the forthcoming report will have any reflections on what had happened in the recently-concluded winter session of the Indian Parliament.

In any case, the record of legislative business of winter session is not worth mentioning; making it one of the least productive sessions in the last 15 years. On the demonetisation issue in the month-long session, according to PRS Legislative Research, less than 1 per cent of the 330 questions listed for Question Hour in the Rajya Sabha were answered orally. And, it was somehow better in Lok Sabha where 11 per cen of the questions could be answered orally. However, none of the 19 Bills listed at the beginning of the session for consideration and passage could be passed.

GPR 2012 with extensive inputs from 73 parliaments across the world and 663 randomly selected parliamentarians highlighted the ways in which parliaments around the world are responding to public expectations. The report noted Parliaments in most parts of the world appear to appreciate the need to find ways of improving public perceptions of the institution and are implementing a range of initiatives designed to enhance the relationship between parliaments and voters. These tend to be characterized by a desire to make the institution open, transparent and inclusive of public opinion while simultaneously increasing popular understanding and appreciation of parliaments role.

Against this background, questions about our takeaways from the report emerge. Also how significant is India's unflinching commitment to democracy. While India with its enormous cultural diversity is recognized as the largest democracy of the world, the country fares poorly when it comes to accountability and responsiveness to public concerns and service and delivery to meet citizens needs. How then can our Parliament encourage those 190 countries that have some form of functioning parliamentary institution, accounting for over 46,000 representatives.

The question also arises as to whether power of democracy is only limited to holding elections without caring for legislative output and efficiency? These questions not only seem pertinent but also seek attention of a wider audience.

Chakshu Roy, heading the outreach team at PRS Legislative Research that tracks the functioning of the Indian parliament, displays profound understanding of legislative process as he writes, Both houses of Parliament have a committee each to scrutinise rules made by the government under different laws. These general purpose committees neither have the bandwidth nor the technical expertise to examine different rules and regulations Political parties will have to introspect about their roles in our parliamentary system. The institution of Parliament will have to rethink its legislative processes. In the absence of these, Parliament will become a mere rubber stamp for government laws.

Lets come back to currency demonetisation that dominated public discussion as also captured huge media space and prime time coverage. The particular issue came into focus at a time when the NDA government is half way through its tenure. While many hailed cancellation of high-denomination notes as a revolutionary step, scores of eminent economists, consultants and commentators denounced the sudden move as India erupted in cash chaos.

The severe criticism of demonitisation encompasses a whole range of issues that primarily centered on the approaches adopted by the government. These include the social and economic impact a majority of the countrys population; particularly those associated with agriculture, small industries and the informal sectors.

As of now, its Prime Minister Narendra Modi vs. the entire opposition barring a few. Interestingly, a few steadfast opponents of Modis policies praised the intent of the reform measure but faulted it for poor execution. Be that as it may, its too early to assume the step would lead to economic catastrophe, as it's made out to be by some.

Prior to the US presidential election, New York Times columnist Paul Krugman unequivocally insisted that a Trump victory would lead to a stock market collapse and investors who relied on his insights lost large amounts of money. People might well agree or disagree with the political standpoint on any given issue, but tend to agree that real changes take time and any change worth fighting for is worth a long-term commitment. Gone are the days when political leadership used to make the people live in a make-believe world. Now its the same people who prefer an informed debate on unsavoury truths over parliamentary disruption. Its the same people who are painfully aware of the problems and acknowledge the difficulty arising out of bold reform measures. In today's time, as social networks and 24 x7 media have become a key part of the political landscape, people can easily identify those who are but deeply wedded to the idea of mere rhetorical bluster and political grandstanding.

As the fate of demonetisation drive is poised between failure and success, the opposition could have made full use of the parliamentary session with the focus on accelerating the pace of transparency.. It could have helped the united opposition of national and regional parties sway public opinion to their side over time, especially because while Indians know that major opposition parties are accused of corruption, the BJP also is not without its share of blemishes.

As the Modi government failed to walk the talk on multiple fronts to recover black money both from India and abroad, the opposition could have taken the government to task on several anti-corruption related issues like  delay in appointing Lokpal, operationalising a robust Whistleblowers Protection Act, generation of black money as also the deeper issue of tax evasion, and a stronger Prevention of Corruption Act (Amendment) Bill 2013. Transparency in political funding and minimising poll expenditure is also a major issue that the Election Commission had broached.

The opposition could also have punctured governments heightened focus on boosting digital transactions when the country figures poorly in the global cyber stakes (96th in terms of download speed and 105th in terms of average bandwidth availability). The country is also vulnerable to cyber-attacks.

Instead, sadly, it was all about disrupting functioning of both the Houses. It was all about shying away from articulating national interests unambiguously and evolving appropriate strategies. Demonetisation may or may not be the effective mode of spreading the anti-corruption message, but what is important is building a narrative of success in anti-corruption reforms that enjoys cross-party support.

Our inability lies here. As the winter session ended in chaos, we lost yet another opportunity to send a strong message through parliamentary intervention against corruption. We failed to rediscover the virtues that underpin democracy. The only exception was perhaps an MP from Biju Janata Dal (BJD) who returned part of his salary and daily allowance proportional to the time lost in the Lok Sabha due to disruptions.

As the country continues to face enormous challenges it cant afford to lose scheduled hours for parliamentary business. Its time our MLAs and MPs turned the searchlight inwards and examined their acts. If they do so, the country can expect Global Parliamentary Report 2020 to mention something good about the political culture and parliamentary standards of the worlds largest democracy.

(The writer is former General Manager, International Centre, Goa and Deputy General Manager, India International Centre, New Delhi.)
Delegates from over 70 nations gathered in Paris on Sunday for major international conference in a bid to kick-start the stalled peace talks between Israel and the Palestine.

Palestinians have welcomed the French initiative but Israel -which is not attending -says the conference is loaded against it, reported BBC on Sunday.

Reports say a draft statement for the meeting calls on Israel and the Palestinians "to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and avoid taking "unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations".

It also will affirm that the international community "will not recognise" changes to Israel's pre-1967 lines without an agreement by both sides.

Israel rejected international involvement in the peace process, saying a settlement can only come through direct talks and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the Paris meeting "a rigged conference" which Israel would not be bound by.

"[It's] rigged by the Palestinians with French auspices to adopt additional anti-Israel stances," he said. "This pushes peace backwards."

Days before leaving office, US Secretary of State John Kerry would be at the meeting to ensure "whatever happens in this conference is constructive and balanced".

Spokesman Mark Toner said the US did not "want to see anything that attempts to impose a solution on Israel".

With Netanyahu snubbing the conference and Trump's administration "reserved" about it, according to a French diplomat, Sunday's gathering could be seen as an effort to isolate Israel.

Pro-Israel demonstrators planned a protest on Sunday in Paris.


Pope Francis exchanges gifts with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas during a private audience at the Vatican, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2017. (Giuseppe Lami/ANSA pool via AP)
He was Googling for a cheap ticket to Germany when the call came. It was the afternoon of October 10, 2014. "Kailashji Nobel," his friend sounded incoherent on the phone. Intrigued, he put the phone down and Googled 'Nobel'. After a few seconds, it started blinking: his name.

Two years later, what does winning the Nobel mean to him. Clad in a crisp white kurta-pyjama, Kailash Satyarthi, 62, sits behind a huge desk, blending with the autumnal austerity around him: a room with bare white walls, furniture in every shade of brown, and lots of light. Through the huge windows, you see the blue sky beyond and the tops of trees that skirt Friends Colony in New Delhi. You can also see the easy smile across his grey-bearded face: "For me, it's just a comma, not a full-stop."

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THEREBY HANGS A TALE

For many, a Nobel is often the crowning recognition of a lifetime's work. For Satyarthi, India's fifth Nobel and second Nobel peace prize winner, it has been, expectedly, a life-changing event-catapulting the relatively little-known child rights activist, and his organisation, the Bachpan Bachao Andolan, to international recognition, putting him in great demand for lectures, talks and seminars at prestigious global fora. "Suddenly, you become a VIP, wanted everywhere," Satyarthi says. But it has also been two years of relentless, back-breaking work, he says, of knocking on a million doors, closed to most-in search of a new dream.

"It has been the biggest recognition for the rights of the most marginalised and deprived children," he says. "Never before has there been a Nobel for this cause. It gave a deeper sense of commitment to what I do." And that has led him to launch a new platform, Laureates and Leaders, and a new movement, '100 Million for 100 Million', or calling upon 100 million young people to learn about their own rights and the lives of children living in unimaginable situations. On December 10 and 11, sharing the dais at Rashtrapati Bhavan with Tibetan spiritual leader Dalai Lama and a host of Nobel laureates and world leaders, President Pranab Mukherjee flagged it off with the message: "This global endeavour for mobilising 100 million youth and children is the beginning of a change that was long overdue. It is only appropriate that the campaign begins from India, which has the largest population of youth in the world."

WORK IS WORSHIP

Satyarthi has never followed formulaic compulsions: of career, livelihood, the next big project or opportunity. An electrical engineer by training, he stumbled into a territory-the world of child labour-that excited him enough for it to become his calling: be it the magazine he started, Sangharsh Jaari Rahega (The Struggle will Continue), in the 1970s to document the lives of vulnerable people, or the nonprofit he founded, Bachpan Bachao Andolan (Save Childhood Movement) in 1980 or his first unsuccessful raid on a brick-making plant to rescue children working as bonded labour in 1990. There has also been his campaign with the United Nations since 2000, to include freedom from child labour as a sustainable development goal in the Millennial Charter. "I have been saying for the past 15 years that a child needs to be free to enjoy the fruits of development," he says.

The Nobel suddenly made his dream real. "I got into intense activity from October 2014," he recalls. "I went around the world, using the power of the Nobel, and all doors opened." He presented his case to the UN, the World Bank, the International Labour Organisation, met presidents and prime ministers, from Barack Obama to Francois Hollande. "It took me a year," he says. "In September 2015, for the first time there were two Indians addressing the audience at the UN General Assembly. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and me." Today, the UN has incorporated all his concerns-eradication of child labour, slavery, trafficking and forced labour, protection from violence, inclusive, equitable and quality education for all children-as a sustainable development millennial goal.

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LEAGUE OF LAUREATES

Then came act two. A different league, a different commitment, a different stepping stone. Every time he was invited to various platforms with other Nobel laureates from various fields, it allowed him to push his agenda. "Many of these scientists live in a different world of knowledge, emerging from their labs after 8-10 years, so to say. And they were hardly aware of the various ways the world exploits children as slave labour, the plight of refugee children, victims of violence, conflicts and natural disaster," he explains. "I tried to connect with them." As he narrated his stories, he found them in tears, with many asking, 'Mr Satyarthi, how can we help?'.

On one such poignant evening in Stockholm, Sweden, Satyarthi remembers picking up a candle lying in a corner, asking his hosts for a matchstick and lighting it. "I recited the ancient Vedic shloka, Asato ma sadgamaya. From ignorance, lead me to truth from the darkness of suffering, lead us to the light of compassion." It was a 'pledge' of some sort by the laureates, to build a dynamic platform of global leadership that would fight for the freedom of children.

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THE TIME IS NOW

There is a lesson in everything. And the crucial lesson Satyarthi learnt in his nearly four decades of work with children is that "today they face things earlier generations never faced before", be it trafficking or terror. "As the world takes giant leaps, in wealth or technology, children suffer the most in times of transition," he points out. "I believe that is because there is a serious moral deficit all around us, from business to governments to NGOs to temples and mosques." Who will speak for the children, he asks.

What else? Even 20 years ago, he points out, welfare was the state's singular responsibility. Corporates functioned mostly with profit in mind. And NGOs were primarily in charity. But with changing times, three strong stakeholders have emerged-the state, corporates and civil society-all questioning structural issues, all trying to find solutions. "They must all come together, build mutual trust and work towards righting the glaring wrongs suffered by the most vulnerable in society-children."

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An unassuming man pursuing audacious dreams? But he has faced all the highs and lows of a charmed life: threats, assaults, a broken spine and limbs and has lost friends and colleagues in the course of his work. "But I've also met, hugged, shared meals and stories with millions of children across 140 countries. How many can say that?" True. Believe in your dreams. That's Satyarthi, always.

Follow the writer on Twitter @DattaDamayanti

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Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Patna boat tragedy from the PM National Relief Fund.

Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

According to media reports, 24 people, including some minors, drowned when a boat capsized on the Ganga in Patna, suspectedly because of overloading.

Last night, while condoling loss of lives, the PM has postponed his programme scheduled for today in Patna.

"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," the Prime Minister's Office tweeted.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, during a function in Lucknow, bared his heart and said,  If the SP and the Congress join hands, our tally will touch 300. This number is far above the 202 mark needed to secure a majority in the state assembly.

Against the backdrop the bitter feud in Samajwadi Party, there has been a few developments which gave hints of this possible alliance in the upcoming assembly elections. Both Akhilesh and Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi are keen on the alliance and a formal announcement in this regard may happen anytime, sources from both camps admitted.

Congress' poll strategist Prashant Kishor had met SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav a few months ago and in November, he had twice met with Akhilesh.

Besides, there have been posters of Priyanka Gandhi and Dimple Yadav (wife of Akhilesh) put up at various places by local leaders, suggesting that an alliance would soon be formed. According to Congress leader Dwijendra Tripathi, posters of Priyanka had first appeared in Allahabad and a few other places.

Although no leader has openly admitted that there will be such an alliance, privately they all conform it. All modalities have been decided in this connection; only the alliance needs to be announced formally, which will be done once SPs election symbol dispute is settled by the EC, a senior Sp leader told THE WEEK.

According to Congress sources, the party vice president has given the green signal in this regard to UP poll in-charge Ghulam Nabi Azad.

After Akhileshs successful coup against his father on January 1, the work on this alliance has been accelerated by both the camps. The chief minister's camp is aware that if they are to outplay Mulayams camp and score over other political rivals in the polls, they need support from other political outfits, and the Congress, as of now, is their best bet.

If the alliance is formed, the Akhilesh camp is willing to give the Congress 80 to 90 seats in assembly constituencies where the party was first or second runner up in the 2012 assembly polls. The Congress, however, has been demanding around 125 seats.

Akhilesh camp believes that though Congress future is not very bright in the UP assembly elections, an alliance with the national party would be politically beneficial to the SP in the grand scheme of things.

The Congress too knows that an alliance would benefit the party. If the SP falls short of 50-60 legislators to form the government in UP, an alliance would ensure that the party retains power and for the Congress, a tie would would possibly revive its political fortunes in a state in which the party has been facing political exile since 1989.

Although the idea of a grand alliance in UP was initially proposed by Mulayam, it didn't take off due to the feud in the party. Now that Akhilesh is in control of the party, other political players are only too eager to form an alliance with the aim of preventing the BJP coming to power in the state.

Besides the Congress, Akhilesh camp has been considering to join hands with other small parties like Rashtriya Lok Dal of Ajit Singh which has a considerable influence in Jat Land (some areas of western UP, adjoining Delhi and Haryana), Apna Dal (Krishna Patel faction) which has limited influence in Allahabad and surrounding areas. A surprise inclusion can be the TMC which has one member in the state assembly. Recently, TMC chief and West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee was in UP to take part in a public rally.

Interestingly, despite the many reports on the CongressSP poll pact, the second rung leaders are not confirming anything on record. The UP Congress head Raj Babbar said, There is no information about alliance. Of course talks are in air in this regard. The state unit has sent names of contestants to central leadership. Hope soon the names will be announced.

Another Congress leader P.L Punia said, We have no information about the alliance. We are busy with poll preparations. Let us see what the central leadership decides about the names of candidates.
Major powers will send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts.

Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as "futile" and "rigged". Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented.

But, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the future American leader.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital despite international objections.

"It would be a unilateral decision that could escalate tensions on the ground," a senior French diplomat said.

"Five days before he becomes president, it's not negligible that 70 countries recall (the need for) a two-state solution when his administration could implement controversial measures that may aggravate things."

France has said the meeting does not intend to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that, ultimately, only direct negotiations between the two can resolve the conflict.

A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it, and asks the protagonists to "refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations".

Low point

Diplomats said there could also be an allusion to Trump's plans.

Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement programme threatened Middle East peace, and that the two-state was in "serious jeopardy".

Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had written to Trump warning that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the United States of its role as honest brokerand could lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel.

Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.

But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely.

Arab states have their own concerns about how Trump's relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line.

"All this is premature. We need to give the new US administration time to assess what they want to do," said a Middle Eastern diplomat based in Paris.
By India Today Web Desk: Throughout her pregnancy, Kareena Kapoor Khan has never shied away from flaunting her baby bump on ramps, red carpets and magazine covers. After proving that it was "no big deal" to work through pregnancy, Bebo is all set to make a professional comeback post the birth of her son Taimur.

ALSO READ: Kareena wants Taimur to be a cricketer like Tiger Pataudi, says Randhir Kapoor

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SEE PIC: This sketch of Saif's son Taimur will melt your heart

Less than a month after becoming a mother, Kareena has already agreed to walk the ramp for designer Anita Dongre, if a report in DNA is to be believed. The report quotes a source as saying, "The final dates of the show are still being worked out. Kareena has given her nod to Anita Dongre (fashion designer) already."

Meanwhile, Anita told DNA, "For my couture label, the year begins with a perfect collaboration with a popular fashion week's grand finale. The brand Kareena is the ambassador is launching a new range, titled Liquid Gold... Kareena has been a wonderful muse, and we're already preparing for our next shoot with her in a couple of months. It's like she was never on a break. Her sheer commitment to work is exemplary. She, for me, embodies the invincible spirit of every woman, who so skilfully balances all the roles she has to play, and with immense grace."

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[COMMUNICATED CONTENT]

Rav Mordechai Avromovsky has never missed a levaya in Zichron Yaakov since becoming the citys Chief Rabbi decades ago. When an elderly, barely-frum member of his shul passed away a few years ago, as usual Rav Avromovsky attended the levaya and then was menachem the aveilim at the familys home. Rabbi Avromovsky led the minyan there and even showed the niftars son, a secular man, how to put on tefillin and say Kaddish. At the end of the shiva, the secular son asked if he could come to shul the next day and continue saying Kaddish for his father there, and Rav Avromovsky said, Of course! Yes! The secular man joined the minyan for several days, and then one morning asked another member of the minyan if it would be okay if he davened from the amud. The secular man wanted to lead the minyan for the zechus of his deceased father. The member of the minyan pointed towards the shtender at the front of the shul, and the secular man led Shacharis for the first time in his life. Immediately after the last Kaddish, a visibly upset member of the shul approached the secular man and began rebuking him: How can you be the shaliyach tzibur when you are mechallel Shabbos publicly! Do you think you can be motzei us in your brachos?! The secular man stood aghast, feeling all eyes in the minyan were watching the public rebuke. He looked around, and he saw Rav Mordechai Avromovsky, his Rav, his friend, also watching. The secular man interrupted the shul member and said, Lets ask the Rav. The shul member turned, saw Rav Avromovsky watching, and said, Gladly! And the two men approached the Rav. The shul member made his case, and Rav Avromovsky responded powerfully, Of course he can daven from the amud! Of course he can be the shaliyach tzibur! He must be the shaliyach tzibur! The shul member was completely confused. Unable to understand the reason for the Ravs psak, but clear that the Rav permits this secular man to lead davening, the shul member just walked away. The secular man also shifted to depart, but Rav Avromovsky called him back and whispered, Do you know why I poskined you can daven from the amud? The secular man, who now realized that a mechallel Shabbos really cant lead a minyan, responded, No, Rav, I dont understand. Rav Avromovsky explained, When that man rebuked you and told you that you couldnt lead the minyan for the zechus of your father because you are a mechallel Shabbos, I saw your face change. I saw the regret you felt. I understood that for your father, you will never be mechallel Shabbos again. Since I knew that now you are a Shomer Shabbos, I poskined that you can and should lead our minyan.

As he concluded recounting this story to the avreichim of the Center for Kehillah Development, Rav Avromovsky added: He was never mechallel Shabbos again, and for years he has been a frum member of our kehillah. That hanhaga is found only in the fifth chelek of Shulchan Aruch.

The CKD trip to Zichron Yaakov in December was part of the programs shimush component, a component that brings the CKD avreichim into close, personal contact on a regular basis with some of the most influential rabbonim in Klal Yisroel.

Rav Avromovsky, who also serves as the acting Chief Rabbi of Haifa and is in charge of Rabbanut Kashrus, then took the avreichim on a daylong tour of Tishbi Winery, the Beit El industrial food manufacturing facility, and Eden Hotel  all of which are under his hashgacha and meet Bdatz standards. The avreichim learned first- hand the subtle but significant differences between ordinary Rabbanut hashgacha, Rabbanut Mehadrin hashgacha, and the various Bdatz hashgachos.

Everyone knows from hearsay that their standards are different, said Rav Leib Kelemen, Dean of the CKD, but very few rabbonim really understand what those differences are and what the implications are for someone who is makpid on eating only mehadrin. Rav Kelemen explained that kashrus is not a game, and genuine psak cant be based on hearsay or politics. Youve got to know the facts on the ground, he stressed, and the only way to know those facts is real shimush, seeing what is actually happening in the field.

After the tour, Rav Avromovsky sat with the avreichim for an hour, telling stories from his many years in rabbanus. He concluded with a story about one of the first drashos he ever gave on the Yamim Noraim: It was erev Yom Kippur, and the shul was packed. Secular Jews I had never seen before even filed in and filled up the back rows. I gave a mussar shmuess full of fire to try to wake them up from their slumber. When I was leaving the shul that night, a secular woman approached me. She was so upset. Rabbi, she said, We came. We are the ones who came. Why did you yell at us? I realized she was right. The next day I welcomed them all and tried to show them the beauty of teshuva. Everyone could hear that. I learned then that even with good intention, I make mistakes. Rabbis make mistakes.

Rabbi Avromovsky looked out at the faces of the CKD avreichim, all of whom will soon be rabbinic leaders, and he concluded, Dont forget that even with the best of intentions, you can be wrong. Dont be afraid to admit when you are wrong.

The Center for Kehillah Development is a five-year, post-kollel program for English speaking avreichim between ages 25-30 who are committed to serving Klal Yisroel. They are now taking applications for a limited number of spots for this coming Elul. To find out more about the program, visit www.c4kd.org, or apply by emailing [email protected].
Police fatally shot a man who threatened his mother with a screwdriver and wouldnt drop it as he struggled with officers in a New York City home, a police official said Saturday.

Officers arrived to the sounds of screaming at a Queens house around 3:30 a.m. and found the man holding his mother and threatening her with the tool in a stairwell to a basement apartment, Chief of Patrol Terence Monahan said. A 911 caller had told authorities she was yelling, Hes going to kill me!

Monahan said preliminary information gathered in the hours after the shooting indicates the uniformed officers struggled with the man and freed his mother after he refused orders to drop the screwdriver. Monahan said that as the scuffle continued, officers shot the man after a stun gun missed and he continued to wield the tool.

Its a dangerous weapon, Monahan said. A screwdriver, you can be stabbed with, the same as you can be stabbed with a knife.

Monahan said two officers fired, each hitting the man once. He was pronounced dead at a hospital. His mother was uninjured.

The identities of all involved havent been released. A possible phone number for the home wasnt working later Saturday morning.

There have been other police shootings in New York City during the first two weeks of the new year.

Police said they shot and killed a man who fired a gun into a lounge and turned it on officers in Brooklyn on Jan. 4, hours after fatally shooting another man officers said came at them with a large knife and shrugged off a stun gun blast in a Brooklyn home the night before.

On Jan. 6, police said officers shot and wounded a man who drew a gun on them in Staten Island.

(AP)
Republicans have won a gateway victory in Congress in their seven-year trek toward scuttling President Barack Obamas health care law. Now with Donald Trump a week from taking the presidential oath, achieving that goal is possible, but the pressure is on for them to deliver a final product.

With a near party-line 227-198 House vote, Congress gave final approval Friday to a budget that will ease passage of a still-unwritten bill replacing Obamas overhaul with a GOP edition. The budget  the Senate approved it Thursday  bars Democratic senators from blocking that future legislation with a filibuster.

The budgets approval, with just nine Republicans in the House and one in the Senate voting no, signaled that the party is ready to charge into a defining battle that will be risky. While GOP candidates  including Trump  have run for years pledging to dismantle Obamas 2010 statute, internal divisions abound over how to do it and many Republicans are leery of stripping coverage from the 20 million Americans who gained it under that law.

The budget gives us the tools we need for a step-by-step approach to fix these problems and put Americans back in control of their health care, House Speaker Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said after the vote.

Fridays roll call sets the stage for what likely will be weeks or months  at least  of GOP efforts to write legislation and push it through Congress. While that will be challenging, the alternative seems potentially devastating  gaining control of the White House and Congress but failing to deliver on a promise to repeal and replace Obamas law, which GOP voters despise.

I think the leaders will keep a very close watch on where the members stand before they roll the dice on a vote on later legislation erasing that law, said Rep. Lou Barletta, R-Pa.

Much of Fridays debate underscored the sharp-elbowed politics of the issue.

People in Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Ohio, screwed, said Rep. Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., citing places where he said voters would suffer from the health laws repeal  which also were normally reliably Democratic states that Trump won on Election Day. Continuing the theme of highlighting Trump voters, Jeffries added, People in Appalachia and rural America, screwed.

Democrats praised the law for extending coverage to tens of millions of Americans and helping many millions more afford policies and buy prescriptions. Rep. John Yarmuth, D-Ky., said rather than repeal and replace, Republicans should name their effort repeal and repent because of the harm they were about to cause to voters.

No. 3 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana aimed his rhetoric at Democrats defending one of Obamas proudest legislative achievements, a law that Republicans say missed its goals of cutting consumers medical costs and increasing access to doctors.

This should not be about preserving somebodys legacy, Scalise said. It should be about fulfilling those promises to the American people that were broken.

Approval of the budget means Senate Democrats wont be allowed to filibuster the future repeal-and-replace bill  a pivotal advantage for Republicans. They control the Senate 52-48, but it takes 60 votes to end filibusters, which are endless procedural delays that can scuttle legislation.

Congressional Republicans have made annulling Obamas law and replacing it a top goal for the past seven years. GOP rifts and an Obama veto prevented them from achieving anything other than holding scores of votes that served as political messaging.

Trump also made targeting Obamas statute a primary target during his campaign. At his news conference Wednesday, Trump  whos supplied few details of what he wants  said his emerging plan will be far less expensive and far better than the statute.

Despite their conceptual unity, plenty of Republicans have shown skittishness about the political repercussions of plunging into a battle that, with Trump in the White House, puts enacting new laws within reach.

Many congressional Republicans expressed opposition to leaders initial emphasis on first passing a repeal bill and then focusing on a replacement  a process that could produce a gap of months or longer. Trump has also pushed Congress to act fast.

Many Republicans have insisted on learning how their party will re-craft the nations $3 trillion-a-year health care system before voting to void existing programs.

There are internal GOP chasms over Republican leaders plans to use their bill to halt federal payments to Planned Parenthood and pare Medicaid coverage. There are also disagreements over how to pay for the GOP replacement, with many Republicans leery of Ryans proposal to tax part of the value of some health insurance provided by employers.

(AP)
President-elect Donald Trumps national security adviser and Russias ambassador to the U.S. have been in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on the day the Obama administration hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for election-related hacking, a senior U.S. official said Friday.

After initially denying that Michael Flynn and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak spoke Dec. 29, a Trump official said late Friday that the transition team was aware of one call on the day President Barack Obama imposed sanctions.

Its not unusual for incoming administrations to have discussions with foreign governments before taking office. But repeated contacts just as Obama imposed sanctions would raise questions about whether Trumps team discussed  or even helped shape  Russias response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin unexpectedly did not retaliate against the U.S. for the move, a decision Trump quickly praised.

More broadly, Flynns contact with the Russian ambassador suggests the incoming administration has already begun to lay the groundwork for its promised closer relationship with Moscow. That effort appears to be moving ahead, even as many in Washington, including Republicans, have expressed outrage over intelligence officials assessment that Putin launched a hacking operation aimed at meddling in the U.S. election to benefit Trump.

In an interview published Friday evening by The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he might do away with Obamas sanctions if Russia works with the U.S. on battling terrorists and achieving other goals.

If Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions? he asked.

During a news conference Wednesday, Trump highlighted his warmer rapport with the Russian leader.

If Putin likes Donald Trump, I consider that an asset, not a liability, because we have a horrible relationship with Russia, he said.

The sanctions targeted the GRU and FSB, leading Russian intelligence agencies that the U.S. said were involved in the hacking of the Democratic National Committee and other groups. The U.S. also kicked out 35 Russian diplomats who it said were actually intelligence operatives.

Trump has been willing to insert himself into major foreign policy issues during the transition, at times contradicting the current administration and diplomatic protocol.

He accepted a call from Taiwans president, ignoring the longstanding One China policy that does not recognize the islands sovereignty. Asked about that Friday by the Journal, he responded, Everything is under negotiation.

He also publicly urged the U.S. to veto a United Nations Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements, then slammed the Obama administration for abstaining and allowing the measure to pass.

Questions about Trumps friendly posture toward Russia have deepened since the election, as he has dismissed U.S. intelligence agencies assertions about Russias role in the hacking of Democratic groups. In briefing Trump on their findings, intelligence officials also presented the president-elect with unsubstantiated claims that Russia had amassed compromising personal and financial allegations about him, according to a separate U.S. official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the official was not allowed to publicly discuss the matter.

The Senate Intelligence Committee announced late Friday that it would investigate possible contacts between Russia and people associated with U.S. political campaigns as part of a broader investigation into Moscows meddling in the 2016 presidential election.

Trump acknowledged for the first time this week that he accepts that Russia was behind the hacking. But he questioned whether officials were leaking information about their meetings with him, warning that would be a tremendous blot on their record.

Flynns own ties with Russia have worried some Republicans who are more skeptical of the Kremlin than Trump appears to be. After leaving his position as director of the Defense Intelligence Agency in 2014, Flynn made appearances on RT, a state-run Russian television network. In 2015, he was paid to attend an RT gala in Moscow, where he sat next to Putin.

As national security adviser, Flynn will work in the West Wing close to the Oval Office and will have frequent access to Trump. Unlike Trumps nominees to lead the Pentagon, State Department and other national security agencies, Flynns post does not require Senate confirmation.

Flynns contacts with the Russian ambassador were first reported by Washington Post columnist David Ignatius. The U.S. official who spoke to The Associated Press was not authorized to confirm the contacts publicly and insisted on anonymity.

The Trump teams account of Flynns contacts with the Russian envoy changed throughout the day Friday.

Trump spokesman Sean Spicer initially said there was one phone call between Flynn and Kislyak on Dec. 28, as well as a Christmas greeting via text messages over the holidays. He said sanctions were not part of the discussions.

Later Friday, a transition official said Flynn and Kislyak had spoken by phone on Dec. 29, following a text message from the ambassador the day before. During the call, the Russian ambassador invited U.S. officials to a conference on Syria later this month that is being held in Kazakhstan, according to the transition official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter and insisted on anonymity.

The official also confirmed a phone call between the men earlier in December.

The U.S. official who spoke to the AP Friday described the contacts between Flynn and Kislyak as very frequent.

Its unclear how U.S. officials became aware of the contacts between Flynn and Kislyak, who has served as Russias envoy to the U.S. since 2008. U.S. monitoring of Russian officials communication within the United States is known to be common.

Flynn has spoken with other foreign officials since Trump won the November election, as have incoming White House senior advisers Steve Bannon and Jared Kushner, Trumps son-in-law. State Department spokesman Mark Toner said he saw nothing inappropriate in Trumps transition team contacting Russian or any other foreign officials.

(AP)
The Obama administrations eight years of unsuccessful Israeli-Palestinian diplomacy will come to a crashing end this weekend, with chances for a Mideast peace deal at perhaps their lowest ebb in a generation. A Paris peace conference attended by Secretary of State John Kerry isnt expected to produce any tangible progress.

At a time when President-elect Donald Trumps administration is promising a fundamental shift toward Israel, the State Department said Kerry was only participating in the French-hosted event to ensure Americas interest in a two-state solution to the conflict is preserved. The blunt statement reinforced the dwindling hopes for a diplomatic breakthrough.

Kerry feels obliged to be there because we have an interest in advancing a two-state solution, and we also have an interest in ensuring that whatever happens in this conference is constructive and balanced, department spokesman Mark Toner said.

No one expects a plan to emerge that could lead to new Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. While more than 70 countries are attending, though neither Israel nor the Palestinians, the U.S. is primarily focused on shielding the Jewish state from unfair criticism and ensuring concerns about Palestinian incitement to violence arent ignored.

But the administration may find its voice ignored. While the U.S. received credit from close allies in Europe and elsewhere for abstaining from a December U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Israeli settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem, Americas partners have grown tired with its leadership on the peace process. Obamas efforts in 2009-2010 and 2013-2014 both failed.

But Kerry and other administration officials fear an even worse scenario emerging: the incoming Trump administration moving the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, and ending Washingtons longstanding opposition to Israeli settlements.

The embassy relocation would be the symbolic gesture. Trump and his choice to be ambassador to Israel have telegraphed the commitment, which would ostensibly recognize Jerusalem as Israels capital after decades of insisting that the citys status must be determined by direct negotiations between the Israelis and Palestinians.

A shift on settlements could prove more dramatic, making a Palestinian state all but impossible to cobble together.

Kerrys biggest decision in Paris may be a political one: Whether to sign the concluding document if it includes a specific warning to Trump against moving the embassy. The Palestinians, Arab nations and others are pushing the issue, fearing the U.S. move could spark a new conflagration in an already inflamed region. French officials say the warning could be in the document.

Kerrys signature would be a shot across the bow of Trumps foreign policy and further undercut President Barack Obamas promises for a smooth transition of power. Republicans and even many Democratic lawmakers reacted angrily to the administrations U.N. vote in December and a subsequent speech by Kerry on the Israeli-Palestinian impasse. The House of Representatives even condemned the Security Council resolution.

Israel is bracing for a new U.S. policy. On Friday, the West Bank settlers council said it will send a delegation to Trumps presidential inauguration next week after receiving an invitation.

In his Senate confirmation hearing this week, Trumps choice to succeed Kerry as secretary of state, former Exxon Mobil CEO Rex Tillerson, voiced support for a two-state solution. But he said it may be unrealistic. The sides havent even negotiated indirectly since the process Kerry led collapsed in 2014.

Given the stalemate and the U.S. changes that may be coming, even preserving the concept of two states  Israel and Palestine  living side-by-side and in peace could prove difficult.

Nevertheless, the Paris conference aims to make that a priority.

In a clear message to Israel and the Trump administration, the dozens of countries attending are expected to reiterate their opposition to Israelis settlements and call for Palestines establishment as the only way to ensure peace in the region.

A draft of the final communique statement obtained by The Associated Press urges Israel and the Palestinians to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution. It tells Israel that no changes to its pre-1967 borders will be recognized if the Palestinians arent in agreement.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ruled out a return to Israels 1967 lines, and many members of his coalition oppose Palestinian independence. He also has derided the Paris get-together, claiming it is rigged against his country.

(AP)
A New Jersey man was arrested Thursday while trying to board a plane to Aruba at Newark Liberty International Airport.

Police say 34-year-old, Lester Morales, of Little Ferry, has been charged with theft of services for racking up more than a million dollars in unpaid tolls and fees through E-ZPass.

An investigation found Morales trucking company, EAB Transport LLC/Do it Right Trucking, was using a delinquent E-ZPass account for over a year.

Police say Morales had trucks driving through tolls more than a hundred times per day using the delinquent account.

Morales is being held without bail at the Middlesex County Jail.

(Source: WABC)
Acting on specific intelligence input, security forces launched a search operation in Awoora village of Pahalgam when terrorists started firing.

By India Today Web Desk: An encounter broke out between holed up terrorists and security forces in Pahalgam area of Anantnag district in south Kashmir today.

Security forces cordoned off Awoora village in Pahalgam on specific input about presence of militants. As security forces were laying cordon terrorists hiding in village fired on security forces, which led to the gunfight.

Acting on specific intelligence input, security forces had launched a search operation in the area, a police official said.

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As the forces were conducting the search operation, the hiding terrorists fired at them, he said.

The security forces retaliated, ensuing in an encounter, the official said.

J&K: Encounter underway between security forces & terrorists in Anantnag's Awoora village (visuals deferred by unspecified time) pic.twitter.com/tpnzolBARX ANI (@ANI_news) January 15, 2017

The cross-firing was going on when last reports came in. More details awaited.

(With inputs from agencies)

--- ENDS ---
At a sprawling desert base, a Marine recharged his radios batteries simply by walking, while nearby fellow troops examined a rocket artillery system and a drone  both powered by the sun.

Navy and Marine Corps brass, accompanied by green energy executives, showcased the energy-harnessing knee braces and other innovations at a renewable energy demonstration at Twentynine Palms Marine Corps base, one of many such events that have taken place at military bases across the country as part of the Defense Departments unprecedented shift away from fossil fuels under the Obama administration. The Pentagon has invested millions over the past decade into everything from hybrid electric ships to wind turbines.

While a growing number of military leaders have declared global warming a national security threat, the strategy clashes with President-elect Donald Trumps vow to end policies that undermine fossil fuel producers. Trump has a chosen a Cabinet with climate change skeptics, though his pick for defense secretary, retired Marine Gen. James Mattis, has advocated green technology to curtail risky fuel-supply runs for troops in conflict zones.

Its not known if Mattis would support buying alternative fuels for ships and aircraft, among the militarys biggest petroleum users. He didnt respond to requests seeking comment.

Republican lawmakers have lashed out at many of the green initiatives for the Defense Department  one of the worlds largest energy consumers  especially the Navys Great Green Fleet that deployed ships run partly on biofuel amid falling oil prices.

Military leaders say alternative energy makes warriors more agile and effective on todays battlefields.

At the recent demonstrations, a Marine wore knee braces with tiny generators that transformed the energy he produced from walking to recharge batteries. The technology allows troops to generate their own power for as long as three days. The event also featured a M777 howitzer and a drone that use solar power.

To do something other than continue these programs would be a mistake, said Joe Bryan, the Navys deputy assistant secretary for energy. My expectation is that will be recognized no matter where people are on the political spectrum.

Rising sea levels threaten Navy bases worldwide, and it would be shortsighted for the military not to address climate change, Bryan said.

Trumps transition team did not respond to questions about whether it would end the strategy.

Republican lawmakers have said the Pentagon has propped up the alternative energy industry, investing in programs that are not sustainable. The Defense Department has been working toward generating 25 percent of its power from renewable sources by 2025. The Navy and Marine Corps set a goal to draw half of its power from renewable energy sources by 2020.

GOP legislators have criticized the Obama administration for spending roughly $120 billion on climate change initiatives while putting in motion $1 trillion in defense cuts.

I hope the new administration allows the U.S. military to focus on the most important defense issues like fighting ISIS, defending from Iranian and North Korean belligerence, and guarding against aggression from China and Russia, Colorado Republican Rep. Ken Buck said in a statement to The Associated Press. Our military should use the most cost-efficient fuel sources, rather than burning money on green energy experiments.

The most contentious initiative has been the purchase of biofuel for ships. Critics say while ships may leave port with a biofuel mix, they still must rely on foreign oil in many places near battlefields and the plant-based fuel has become more expensive than traditional fuel.

According to a 2015 report from the Government Accountability Office, Congress research arm, the Pentagon paid $58.6 million for 2 million gallons of alternative fuel from 2007 to 2014, or about $29 per gallon. At the same time, it spent $107.2 billion for 32 billion gallons of petroleum, paying about $3 per gallon.

Legislators passed a law in 2012 prohibiting the Pentagon from buying biofuels in bulk unless the price is competitive with that of petroleum.

As a result, the Great Green Fleets carrier strike group set sail in early 2016 using a mix of 90 percent petroleum and only 10 percent biofuels made from beef fat. The Navy originally aimed for the ratio to be 50-50.

The Obama administration found a way to make a market for biofuels within the DOD and they did that by saying it was critical to national defense, even though petroleum is not in short supply by any means, said Rachel Zissimos, a research assistant at the conservative Heritage Foundation. The climate change agenda within the DOD was a way to impose these renewable energy mandates on the DOD. I think the climate change issues can be dropped very quickly.

Green energy supporters are banking on Mattis, Trumps defense secretary choice, who helped usher in the Pentagons shift toward renewable energy by challenging the Defense Department to unleash us from the tether of fuel during the Iraq war.

Zissimos said Mattis made the challenge when problems with maintaining fuel levels hindered the advance of U.S. forces and troops were going on supply runs through enemy territory, causing casualties.

She expects Trumps administration will support initiatives that help the military but not necessarily the planet  in contrast to Obama who was driven by combatting climate change.

Repealing some of these programs means a part of Obamas legacy will go away, she said. For Trump, thats not a factor, so there are fewer reasons for him to hold on to failing initiatives.

(AP)
Police are looking for two men they say tried to lure a young boy and girl into a van in Brooklyn on Tuesday.

The incidents happened just blocks apart in Williamsburg, according to police.

The first took place at the corner of Hewes St. and Williamsburg East around 6:15 pm.

Sources said the two men promised the boy candy in Yiddish, speaking in a Russian accent.

Police said the 12-year-old boy kept on walking.

A few hours later, the two men attempted the same ploy on a 10-year-old girl on Williamsburg East and Lee Ave., according to police, less than a quarter-mile from the first incident. She also kept walking.

Police describe the men as clean-shaven, wearing flat caps, and driving a light-colored minivan.

Anyone with information on the case should contact the Crime Stoppers hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS, or text CRIMES and then enter TIP577, or visit www.nypdcrimestoppers.com

(Source: NY1)
Donald Trump tore into civil rights legend John Lewis for questioning the legitimacy of the Republican billionaires White House victory, intensifying a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr. and as the first African-American president prepares to leave office.

Trump tweeted on Saturday that Lewis, D-Ga., should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.

The incoming president added: All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad!

Lewis, among the most revered leaders of the civil rights movement, suffered a skull fracture during the march in Selma, Alabama, more than a half-century ago and has devoted his life to promoting equal rights for African-Americans.

The weekend clash highlighted the sharp contrast between how many African-American view Trumps inauguration compared with Barack Obamas eight years ago.

It also demonstrated that no one is untouchable for scorn from a president-elect with little tolerance for public criticism. Trump has found political success even while attacking widely lauded figures before and after the campaign  a prisoner of war, parents of a slain U.S. soldier, a beauty queen and now a civil rights icon.

Lewis, a 16-term congressman said Friday that he would not attend Trumps swearing-in ceremony at the Capitol this coming Friday. It will mark the first time he skipped an inauguration since joining Congress three decades ago.

You know, I believe in forgiveness. I believe in trying to work with people. It will be hard. Its going to be very difficult. I dont see this president-elect as a legitimate president, Lewis said in an interview with NBCs Meet the Press set to air Sunday.

I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected. And they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton, Lewis said.

Lewis spokeswoman, Brenda Jones, declined to respond to Trump and said the lawmakers opinion speaks for itself.

We as a nation do need to know whether a foreign government influenced our election, she said.

U.S. intelligence agencies have said that Russia, in a campaign ordered by President Vladimir Putin, meddled in the election to help Trump win. After spending weeks challenging that assessment, Trump finally accepted that the Russians were behind the election-year hacking of Democrats. But he also emphasized that there was absolutely no effect on the outcome of the election including the fact that there was no tampering whatsoever with voting machines.

Democrat Clinton received 2.9 million more votes than Trump but lost the Electoral College vote.

Lewis Democratic colleagues quickly came to his defense Saturday.

Let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed, tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.

The Democratic Party of Georgia called on Trump to apologize to Lewis and the people of his district.

It is disheartening that Trump would rather sing the praises of Vladimir Putin than Georgias own living social justice legend and civil rights icon, state party spokesman Michael Smith said.

Trumps assertion that Lewis district is falling apart and crime infested is hard to prove.

Georgias 5th Congressional District includes the Atlanta metro region, which has a large African-American population. The district is considered one of the nations fastest growing areas, but its crime and poverty rates are higher than the national average.

The district has an 8.2 percent unemployment rate and the median household income is about $48,000, according to the Census Bureau.

The area also covers part of the upscale Atlanta neighborhood of Buckhead, along with the headquarters for Fortune 500 companies such Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines, Emory University, Georgia Tech, several historically black colleges and universities and the Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport, one of the worlds busiest.

(AP)
The recent fatal vehicular ramming terrorist attack in the Armon HaNatziv area of Yerushalayim which claimed four lives, has led to the introduction of a bill seeking to permit ousting the family of a terrorist responsible for an attack. The two-part bill address cancelation of a familys residency permit including residents of Yerushalayim as well as families of terrorists residing in Yehuda and Shomron.

The bill is the initiative of Minister of Transportation (Likud) Yisrael Katz, and the bill is on the agenda of the Knesset Law Committee for Sunday, 17 Teves. Katz feels this would increase Israels deterrence power to prevent such attack in the future, calling for sending the families of terrorists to Gaza or Syria. The minister called on coalition chair MK (Likud) David Bitan to push forward a similar bill from a few months ago, which enjoys the support of both coalition and opposition MKs. Among the MKs backing it are those from Yesh Atid, Kulanu, Yisrael Beitenu and Yahadut Hatorah.

(YWN  Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
As per top army sources, three local Hizbul Mujahideen militants including district commander of Hizbul are trapped inside a residential house in Awoora village.

By Ashraf Wani: At least three local Hizbul Mujahideen militants are trapped inside a residential house in Awoora village of Pahalgam, said top Army sources hours after a fierce encounter broke out between government forces and militants on Sunday evening. District commander of Hizbul is one among those trapped.

Security forces had cordoned off Awoora village in Pahalgam on specific input about presence of militants. As security forces were laying cordon terrorists hiding in the village fired at security forces, which led to the gunfight.

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CLASHES ERUPT IN BIJBEHARA

A police officer told India Today that acting on a specific information regarding the presence of three militants, Army's 3 Rashtriya Rifles (RR) and Special Operations Group of police cordoned off Gujerbasti area of Awoora in Pahalgam- a famous health resort at around 4.30PM and started combing operation to track down the suspected militants.

"As the forces were conducting the search operation, the hiding terrorists fired at them which was retaliated, triggering off an encounter," he said.

Soon after the encounter broke out in the area, the additional reinforcement of para-commandos were rushed to prevent the militants from escape.

When reports last came in, heavy exchange of firing was going on and one militant had been killed.

Meanwhile, a number of youth had resorted to stone pelting at the security forces in Bijbehara following rumours that one of the trapped militants belong to the area.

ALSO READ | Kashmir: Encounter breaks out in Pahalgam; terrorists hiding in village

--- ENDS ---
Tata Steels offer to pay hundreds of millions of pounds into its pension scheme in return for the release of the funds claim over the firms key Dutch plant is unlikely to clear the way for the company to hive off the scheme, experts warn.

The Tata Group is looking at merging its European steel operations, including Tata Steel UK, with German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp.

But Tata says it needs to separate the 130,000-member British Steel Pension Scheme from the business for the plan to go ahead.

The Tata Group is looking at merging its European steel operations, including Tata Steel UK, with German steelmaker ThyssenKrupp

Failure to do so, claims Tata, would force its British steel-making operations into insolvency.

The company insists it is very unlikely that a merger partner or buyer would be interested in acquiring any or all of Tata Steel UK with the liabilities of the pension scheme still attached.

The scheme is relatively well-funded but only 14,000 members are still contributing to it.

Far larger than Tata Steel, the British Steel Pension Scheme has 13.3 billion of assets and 14 billion of liabilities. Tata  with the support of the Government and trade unions  wants to shut the final salary pension scheme to new members and cut back on future pension increases.

Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Natarajan Chandrasekaran speaks during a news conference in Mumbai on January 12

It would use the 2.5 billion savings to allow the scheme to run on a standalone basis, without an employer sponsor.

A sponsoring employer contributes to the scheme and is responsible for ensuring the fund has enough money to pay out to members.

In return, Tata has committed to continuing production at its giant Port Talbot steelworks in South Wales, with guarantees that the blast furnaces would remain open for five years with 1 billion of investment.

Unions are balloting their members at the end of this month on the proposals.

But independent pensions expert John Ralfe was critical of the plan to hive off the pension scheme and of the proposed change to the guarantee on the Ijmuiden plant in the Netherlands. He said: The British Steel Pension Scheme Trustees are going round in circles wasting lots of time and money.

There are strict legal criteria for a company abandoning its pension scheme which Tata UK doesnt meet. And there is no legal mechanism for a so-called zombie scheme with no employer standing behind it.

He added: As for the Ijmuiden guarantee, which gives very important security, I would have expected the details to be disclosed in the actuarial valuation and the Scheme annual report but it is entirely absent.

Tata put its UK business up for sale last March when it said it was losing 1 million a day and it claimed to have lost 2 billion over the last five years.

However, it is now understood to be making a small profit after the price of steel rose and the firm sold parts of its business.

The British Steel Pension Scheme declined to comment. Tata said the negotiations were ongoing.
British firms were each subjected to an average of almost 230,000 cyber attacks in 2016, according to analysis from business internet service provider Beaming.

The average volume of attacks hitting individual company firewalls passed the 1,000 per day mark for the first time in November.

Meanwhile, the Payment Card Industry Security Standards Council suggested that UK firms could face up to 122 billion in fines for cybersecurity breaches in 2018.

Of that, 52 billion will be levied on small to medium size enterprises, it said.

British firms were each subjected to an average of almost 230,000 cyber attacks in 2016, according to analysis from business internet service provider Beaming

The Federation of Small Businesses welcomed the launch of the Governments National Cyber Security Strategy, announced in November.

But chairman Mike Cherry has warned the scale of threat to small businesses must not be underestimated.

Small businesses are the victims of more than seven million cyber crimes a year, costing the sector 5.26 billion.

A survey of small businesses by accountancy giant KPMG last year found more than 60 per cent had experienced a cyber breach in 2016.

Insurer RSA, which was last week hit with a 150,000 fine over stolen customer files, has warned that the people who work for the company are the weakest links in any business.

Growing trend: Executive search firm Cartwright James recently paid a ransom of four bitcoins to cyber attackers

Helen Carpenter, its cyber and liability product lead, said: A recent scam involved identifying firms that were or had recently been advertising a job, and then sending them an email purporting to apply for that job.

Instead, when the employee opened the attachment labelled CV, it contained malware that encrypted the computer and demanded payment in order to unlock the data.

The most common risk to affect a small business is ransomware. This is commonly used by fraudsters to disable the businesss systems and extort cash from owners in exchange for allowing them to access their systems.

She added: Many smaller firms believe that only large businesses are affected by cyber crimes, but this is not the case.

Larger firms often have sophisticated defences that make them harder to penetrate. Increasingly, it can be as profitable to initiate an attack that aims to catch many smaller businesses in a wider net.

Executive search firm Cartwright James said it is often attacked. Ben Hornsey, director of Cartwright James, said: Cyber attacks come in a variety of formats, from fake invoices to excel documents and attachments.

Most are clearly spam, however, we were caught out when somebody new to the business opened an attachment which installed a virus. The files became inaccessible, only unlockable via a ten-digit code. We were unable to access these files until we paid a ransom or found a solution. The ransom was four bitcoins, about 3,000.

Meanwhile, fitness firm PayAsUGym emailed customers last month after their details were compromised by a hack attack.

Carpenter said the cost of a breach could be between 75,000 and 311,000 for SMEs. RSAs research found 28 per cent would go out of business if faced with an unexpected cost of 50,000.

According to RSA, despite an onset of high-profile cyber attacks recently, including Yahoo, Tesco Bank, TalkTalk and Camelot, businesses are not protecting themselves sufficiently.

Its research indicated that many firms were more likely to take out cover when the threat became real to them.

Cyber Essentials is a Government-backed, industry-supported scheme to help organisations protect themselves against common cyber attacks. Visit gov.uk.
By Press Trust of India: Los Angeles, Jan 15 (PTI) Actress Nicole Kidman has clarified her comments on US President-elect Donald Trump, saying she believes in democracy and the American constitution.

The 49-year-old actress has faced flak when she had discussed the 2016 presidential election results with BBC 2s Victoria Derbyshire in an interview, in which she had said that now that Trumps elected, "we as a country need to support whoevers the president because thats what the countrys based on."

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The Hawaiian-born Australian actress came under fire on social media for her pro-Trump comments.

Now, in a recent interview, Kidman has clarified her previous statement, reported People magazine.

"I was trying to stress that I believe in democracy, and the American constitution. Its that simple," she said during the Access Hollywood interview.

The actress continued that she tends to stay away from discussing politics.

"Im issue based. Im very, very committed to womens issues." PTI RDS JCH

--- ENDS ---
MANKAYANE  The three pupils who got First Class passes at trouble-torn Ngcoseni Central High School, where 167 learners failed last years Junior Certificate examination, say no sexy teachers distracted them.



In fact, the three stars said the majority of their schoolmates did not take their schoolwork seriously.

Ngcoseni Central High, formerly Cana High, is situated in Tsawela, about 15 kilometres from Mankayane.

In 2015, at least 66 pupils failed the JC examination.



In 2016, a total of 166 learners were unsuccessful.

The issue of teachers coming to school wearing revealing clothes was taken up by the Welfare Department under the Deputy Prime Minister (DPM), which convened a meeting on Thursday to address the matter.

Teachers, at the meeting, argued that they always dressed decently.



Meanwhile, the three pupils who got the First Class passes came to their defence.

They said they would have passed with Merits if they were taught in a different environment, where all of them focused on nothing else but books.

They disclosed that many of the pupils who failed (not all) did not take their schoolwork seriously.



Simphiwe Mayile (15), who obtained a First Class pass, pointed out that he did not see any teacher who wore see-through dresses, miniskirts or dresses that revealed cleavages.

The 15-year-old boy said four of his teachers were females and never at anytime exposed their thighs or sensitive parts of the body while executing their duties.
MBABANE  A Jehovahs Witnesses senior member says there is no such thing as life after death.



Thousands of mourners who attended the prayer service of the late Thobile Phindile Fakudze were made to believe that when one dies, it all ends there. This means there is nothing like a soul which continues to live or make its way to heaven, as most Christians believe. This was said by Abednego Dlamini, who is one of the senior members of the Jehovahs Witness Church.



The late Swaziland Electricity Company (SEC) general managers personal assistant was buried yesterday at the Sidwashini Cemetery, after a short prayer that was held at St Marks High School at 6am.

There was no vigil.



The short prayer service was conducted by Dlamini, who is said to be one of the senior members of the Jehovahs Witnesses Church. Jehovahs Witnesses do not give each other titles like pastor, bishop or any other.

They are all members, depending on seniority.



The St Marks High School Hall was so packed that at the back, some of those who had come to pay their last respects to the deceased had to stand on their feet for the duration of the service.



Luckily, since the service was run by Bofakazi Bajehova (Jehovas Witnesses) as they are affectionately known, there was only one speaker who shared the word of God for about 30 minutes before ending the sermon, which marked proceedings to the cemetery.



According to the English Dictionary for Advanced Learners by Macmillan, a soul is the spiritual part of a person that most religions believe continues to exist after their body dies.
MBABANE  Swaziland will not be severing diplomatic ties with the Republic of China on Taiwan.



Percy Simelane, Government Press Secretary, says the Swazi government will remain friends with the island nation.

This follows the termination of diplomatic relations between Taiwan and African country, Sao Tome and Principe in December 2016.

Last week, Nigeria also decided to cut ties with Taiwan, which now has diplomatic ties with only two countries in Africa: Swaziland and Burkina Faso.



All in all, 21 countries and governments still maintain official ties with Taiwan.

Several countries, especially in Africa, terminated ties with Taiwan, in favour of having a relationship with mainland China.

Mainland China regards Taiwan as a renegade province ineligible for state-to-state relations.

In an interview, Simelane said Swaziland valued its friendship with Taiwan.



Our relationship is based on mutual friendship, which is founded on national interest that has existed since independence, he said.

Even though he did not specify details of the national interest, he said relations between the two countries were stronger.

He said Swaziland had a long history with Taiwan.



They were the first nation the kingdom established diplomatic relations with after independence in 1968. They actually had an embassy in the country together with Israel, the United Kingdom and United States of America, he said.

Last week the Federal Government of Nigeria severed diplomatic ties with Taiwan and ordered the latter country to move its trade mission from the capital, Abuja to Lagos.
One of the Cabinet ministers BMW X5 SUVs parked.

MBABANE  The Times SUNDAY can now reveal that Cabinet ministers will not pay a cent for their E800 000 BMW X5 Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) when they leave office in about 16 months.



The 22 posh Sport Utility Vehicles (SUVs) cost E800 000 each.

Former ministers in Senator Sibusiso Shongwe and Gideon Dlamini have driven these German machines before but will not get the chance to take these cars home after 2018.



The matter of Magobetane Mamba, former Minister of Public Service, is still being discussed. He was relieved of his duties on medical grounds, not because of misconduct, as alleged in the cases of the other ministers.

More than E20 million was spent on the vehicles when they were bought in 2013. What should be noted is that according to South Africas Car Magazine, the present book value of the BMWs is about E450 000 which means they could be valued at about E400 000 next year, when the politicians vacate office.



The politicians will take these vehicles home, courtesy of the ever-controversial Finance Circular No.2 of 2013.

Even though the circular provides that the politicians take the cars home at the end of their term of office, it says they should be sold to them at a discount, taking into account issues of depreciation. However, government has decided that they buy them at zero cost. This follows a price discounting method that has been adopted to facilitate the sale of the vehicles.



According to the method, the vehicles value depreciates at 20 per cent per annum. This means that each year, the car becomes 20 per cent less in value. In five years, this will translate to 100 per cent, meaning they will be worth E0.00.

Makhosini Mndawe, Principal Secretary (PS) in the Ministry of Public Works and Transport confirmed this.
But for a specific input, the cops wouldn't have stopped the two Tata Sumos. Nothing about the two vehicles seemed to arouse suspicion. They were headed towards the Kathikund block of Jharkhand's Dumka district on the West Bengal border, 305 km northeast of the state capital Ranchi. But the joint team of the Sashastra Seema Bal (a paramilitary force which guards the Indo-Nepal and Indo-Bhutan international borders, besides being involved in counter-insurgency operations) and the Jharkhand police were quite certain about the tip-off.

There were seven people in all, but the police were most interested in the passenger in the back of one of the vehicles. Wearing a muffler, jacket and blue jeans, he was trying to pass himself off as a Bengali. The man in their custody was self-styled Maoist zone commander Jagdish Mandal, with a Rs 10 lakh bounty on his head. A cavity search of the Sumo yielded two country-made kattas, a dozen live cartridges, seven mobile phones and several ATM cards. But under the front seat of the Sumo and the spare wheel lay the real catch-Rs 31.53 lakh in old Rs 500 and 1,000 currency notes. The November 28 seizure was the largest from the Maoists since Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the scrapping of large denomination notes on November 8.

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Official estimates say Jharkhand's Maoists (with a cadre of over 2,000 spread out among 17 splinter groups) used to run an extortion empire worth Rs 200 crore annually. The cash essentially allowed them to run their jungle fiefdoms. It bought arms and ammunition, medicines, funded the legal cases of jailed comrades and helped their urban operations besides, of course, paying salaries.

The demonetisation move has, for now, paralysed this underground economy. The panic was evident as the insurgents even started travelling out of their jungle hideouts in a bid to try and get their currency caches converted into legal tender before they were rendered useless.

The desperation has yielded a harvest of tip-offs. With Mandal's men scouting around for bank account holders to deposit the cash, police informants got cracking. Mandal, the self-styled zonal commander of the East Bihar-Santhal Parganas region, was intercepted as he was moving his stash to be distributed among the two dozen 'volunteers' identified by gang members. "We also launched a sustained campaign in areas of their influence, asking villagers not to deposit Maoist money in their accounts," says Jharkhand IG (Operations) Manvinder Singh Bhatia, who heads the anti-Maoist operations. A senior income tax officer in Ranchi also confirmed reports of Naxalites forcing ordinary citizens to deposit extorted money in their accounts. "Either way, the money is back in the system. We are procuring details, and readying to ask questions," he says.

EASY PICKINGS

The Communist Party of India- Maoist was formed in September 2004 with the merger of two ultra-left groups, the Andhra Pradesh-based People's War Group and the Jharkhand-based Maoist Communist Centre. But before long, ideological and other differences cropped up and today Jharkhand itself has over a dozen splinter groups with their own cadre and areas of influence. Over the years, ideology also seems to have taken a backseat to the more pressing lure of lucre. Maoist-related violence has resulted in over 2,000 deaths since the state was carved out of Bihar in November 2000. Those who have fallen to Naxal bullets include then MP Sunil Mahato (in March 2007) and two MLAs, Ramesh Singh Munda and Mahendra Singh.

The Maoist threat outwardly appears to be on the wane. There have been no attacks on police stations in the past two years, a dipstick used to assess the level of violence. In reality, however, their activity has lapsed into a languid extortion economy which the Maoists call "levy and tax". No one is exempt in their fiefs, from government contractors, businessmen and industrialists to even government servants.

The rate is usually 20 per cent of whatever a contract is worth. 'Levy' is a lucrative business in a new state like Jharkhand where infrastructure building is a constant process. Every Maoist 'area commander' is expected to raise about Rs 8-10 crore every year. A Maoist collection receipt shows different heads like support, penalty and tax under which the rebels classify the levies they extort.

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Jharkhand's Rs 63,502 crore annual budget for 2016-17 included an allocation of Rs 37,065.35 crore for developmental and welfare activities. In this, the Maoists mostly target the Rs 7,201 crore worth of contracts for building panchayat secretariats, roads and other projects in rural areas. Intelligence Bureau estimates peg the annual levy at between Rs 60 and 80 crore, but top police sources in Jharkhand believe it to be as high as Rs 200 crore.

The lure of easy extortion money is so strong that a former state minister is today accused of floating a private army for extortion. Congress leader Yogendra Sao, who joined as a minister in the previous Hemant Soren government in August 2013, is accused of forming an extortion unit called the Jharkhand Tigers which extorted up to Rs 50 lakh a month. (Sao, currently jailed in another case, was forced to resign in September 2014.)

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Just before demonetisation, the Lohardaga police on November 4 recovered Rs 25 lakh and arrested one Rohit Yadav, the brother of CPI-Maoist commander Nakul Yadav, as he was taking delivery of 'levy' money from two bauxite transporters. "As we probed the links, we found four more bank accounts for Rohit Yadav, with more than Rs 61 lakh in deposits. The accounts have since been frozen," says Kartik S., Lohardaga superintendent of police.

The state's unique location-23 of the 24 districts share borders with other states-help the Maoists "shoot and scoot" and also park funds outside their area of operations.

Police say the splinter groups siphon off substantial portions of the extortion proceeds into their own pocket. Some of them even have family members running legitimate businesses like vehicle and construction equipment rentals.

"While CPI-Maoist commanders siphon off at least half the extortion proceeds, their splinters like People's Liberation Front of India (PLFI) and Tritiya Prastuti Committee (TPC) are nothing but criminals posing as Naxalites," says Bhatia. "They are in it only for the money." Of late, this has also fuelled internecine wars among prominent groups like the PLFI, TPC, Jharkhand Prastuti Committee (JPC) and their erstwhile parent, the CPI-Maoist. It made up 74, or nearly half the 155 fatalities in Left-wing extremist-linked violence, in 2014-15. The worst fratricides have pitted the Maoists against the TPC and PLFI.

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AFTER THE NOTE BAN

The post-demonetisation currency seizures have, for the first time, given police officials a deeper understanding of the Maoists' extortion network and how it has fed off an insurgency that predates the 16-year-old state. Police had an early indication of the cash chaos among the Maoists just a day after demonetisation was announced. The rebels started using petrol pumps and bank accounts to clean up their cash, money laundering routes which have now become commonplace across the country.

On November 9, Ranchi police recovered Rs 25.38 lakh, all in bundles of Rs 1,000 currency notes, from a petrol pump owner and his three associates, as he was about to deposit the money in various bank accounts of the State Bank of India's Bero branch. The money was traced to PLFI chief Dinesh Gope, 35, an army deserter who formed the outfit in 2007, attracting other cadre of the CPI-Maoist.

The money was the first instalment of a Rs 1 crore stash that Gope (said to be hiding somewhere on the Jharkhand-Odisha border) wanted Chandrashekhar to deposit in various bank accounts. "The Naxalite leader obviously thought a cash deposit by the owner of a petrol pump would not raise eyebrows," says Ranchi SSP Kuldeep Dwivedi.

This is not the first time Maoists have used legitimate channels to launder their loot. In April 2015, police froze eight bank accounts belonging to Parmeshwar Ganjhu, commander of the TPC, another splinter group. Ganjhu and his wife Yashoda Devi had opened these accounts and police discovered cash transactions of over Rs 1 crore within four months in Bank of India's Tandwa branch. Maoists began shying away from banks after this incident, but now they seem to have run out of options.

Post-demonetisation, I-T sleuths and police have also unearthed Rs 11 crore parked in five bank accounts of Bank of India's GB Road branch in Gaya district of Bihar, which borders the Naxal-infested Jharkhand districts of Hazaribagh and Chatra. The amount, said to be black money deposited in old notes post-demonetisation, may have a link to the rebels.

The sleuths are also investigating another 50 accounts and expect the tainted amount to cross the Rs 100 crore mark by the time probes conclude. A cotton mill owner in Gaya is believed to have opened these accounts in which scrapped Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes have been deposited. He is suspected of depositing Maoist money that was routed from Jharkhand.

The demonetisation has come as a major setback for the Maoists. Many of their fronts and bank accounts have been exposed, and the cops have seized over Rs 1 crore in cash alone. A detailed assessment of the various suspect deposits is sure to reveal more details on where the rest of the ill-gotten money has been parked. That said, for the Maoists, this is most likely only a temporary setback. Indeed, latest reports suggest they have already started extorting in new currency notes. On December 19, the Chatra district police arrested a stone crusher unit employee at a highway motel, as he was waiting for a Maoist agent to come and collect Rs 7.4 lakh in new currency. Having realised the drop point had been exposed, the latter did not turn up to collect the money.

Follow the writer on Twitter @amitabh1975

--- ENDS ---
The Maratha Kranti Morcha, which had created a silent but steady stir in Maharashtra in August and September 2016, seems to be disintegrating. Over the past few months, the agitation - which was launched with the aim of getting 16 per cent of seats in educational institutions and government jobs reserved for the Maratha community, as well as a dilution of the Atrocities Act - has seen a rift open up among its leadership. One section appears to have developed political ambitions. Riding on the popularity of the agitation, the Sambhaji Brigade, the youth wing of the Maratha Seva Sangh, had registered itself as a political party on November 30, with the stated aim of contesting the 35 zila parishad and 15 municipal corporation elections in February 2017. On the other hand, some prominent community leaders, such as former Supreme Court justice, P.B. Sawant, have found themselves at odds with events on the ground, and have taken pains to distance themselves from the agitation.

The first signs of cracks became visible in early December, when Justice Sawant stepped down from the post of chairman of a committee formed by the morcha. This had followed a representation circulated by the morcha's leaders to MLAs, MPs and other political heavyweights, claiming that the Justice Sawant committee had suggested a repeal of the Atrocities Act, as well as pressing for 16 per cent reservation for Marathas. Justice Sawant, who was at the forefront of designing a strategy to deal with the issues faced by the community, looks pained when any reference to the committee crops up. Saying that he had not even attended any of the committee's meetings, he asks how the morcha's leaders could have named him as the architect of this point of view. "The representation purported to suggest that [the demand to repeal the Atrocities Act and the 16 per cent reservation] was the decision of the committee. I, therefore, found myself in a quandary. These views-which were not mine-were being presented as mine, since I was 'chairman' of the committee. I felt that the situation would lead to untoward consequences, apart from the misrepresentation of my views. Therefore, I took the step of freeing myself from the responsibilities," he says.

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Justice Sawant insists that the committee was formed without his knowledge, when active leaders of the morcha met in Aurangabad in September. "They included my name as chairman of the committee. I was not consulted. I understand some of the other members of the committee were also not consulted. I learnt about it through the press. However, in order to avoid misunderstandings and to honour the sentiments of the people, I did not protest against my inclusion."

According to him, the Atrocities Act needs only an amendment to Section 9, which gives police officers the authority to immediately arrest a person against whom an FIR has been filed under this act. A method of fixing this, he says, is to amend the act so that police officers are required to take permission from a local magistrate before making an arrest. He also believes that getting reservations for Marathas in educational institutes and government jobs will first require several legal formalities to be taken care of (see interview: 'Marathas aren't socially backward').

On November 27, Justice Sawant had held a rally in Pune, aimed at persuading the youth to look beyond the idea of reservations. "Even if [the Marathas] get their reservations, only a very, very small proportion of the community will benefit. The vast majority will remain deprived."

That the common man has begun to maintain a certain distance from the agitation is evident in the poor response to a silent march held in Nagpur on December 14. In stark contrast to other marches in the state, which have witnessed mammoth participation-between five and seven lakh in almost every district-the march in Nagpur, held against the backdrop of a state legislative session in the city, was attended by only about two lakh people. Interestingly, this is second time that Nagpur failed the morcha's leaders in terms of participation; another district-level march in Nagpur in October was also poorly attended, with less than one lakh people taking part.

Jaysingrao Pawar, a Kolhapur-based researcher of Maratha history, claims that the poor attendance numbers at the Nagpur march do not indicate failure. "It was not possible for people [living far away] to spare four days to go to Nagpur and participate. Still, the march has had lasting impact," he says. Pawar points to the formation of a committee, announced by Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, to tackle the issues concerning the Maratha community as an indication of some success. The proposed committee, comprising retired judges, bureaucrats and prominent members of the community, is expected to recommend ways to meet the community's demands. The Maharashtra government too has filed an affidavit in the Mumbai High Court elaborating on how the Marathas are socially and educationally backward, thus making the case that they need reservations in education and government jobs.

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The Maratha reservation issue, which had remained apolitical until recently, took a predictable turn when the Sambhaji Brigade, the youth wing of the Maratha Seva Sangh, registered itself as a political party. Sambhaji Brigade president Manoj Akhare argues that nothing can be achieved without political power. His party, he says, is looking for a political role as "people need an alternative". He has promised that Sambhaji Brigade will work for the common people and will be inclusive-to a point. Brahmins will not be welcome. The Sambhaji Brigade has an old enmity with the Brahmin community, believing that Brahmin historians projected Chhatrapati Shivaji as anti-Muslim when this was not the case.

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Impervious to the political developments, Namdeo Kadam, a rickshaw driver in Thane, feels depressed. He had hoped his son Suraj, a class 10 student, would get admission in a good junior college in the next academic year if the Marathas got reservations in education. "The morcha had given me some hope but it seems everybody is interested in his own political gain," he says. However, Pawar says the common man has better hopes now than before. "The morcha cleared doubts about whether the Maratha community could ever come together. It definitely created a pressure group. I believe the community will get over the suppression in the field of education in coming days." Nonetheless, he is sceptical about whether the Sambhaji Brigade will achieve political gain. "They will benefit to a certain extent, no more. Earlier, the Maratha Seva Sangh had floated the Shiv Rajya Paksha. It did not get much response. This is their second experiment. I am doubtful about their success," he says.

The Mumbai High Court is scheduled to hear daily petitions on reservations for Marathas from January 31. The voting for the second phase of elections to local bodies will begin in around a fortnight after the hearing begins. It will be interesting to see whom the defeated Maratha backs at that time.

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Follow the writer on Twitter @kirantare

'Marathas aren't socially backward' Justice Sawant says there are legal hurdles in the way of Marathas getting the reservations they are demanding. Excerpts... Why is it difficult for Marathas to get reservations?As far as reservations in education and government jobs are concerned, the Marathas are not considered a socially backward community. This is because of their presence in a number of elected bodies. They constitute the majority in the state-the largest majority in any state of the country. However, in a democracy, the majority community will always have greater representation. That does not mean the community is not economically or educationally backward. A good illustration of this is that both the minister and his peon belong to the same class. Therefore to consider them 'socially forward' is an injustice to a majority of the population. What is the provision for quotas in the Constitution? The Constitution is against specific quotas for any caste or community. Reservations for SCs, STs and OBCs are not to particular castes or communities. Article 15(3) says there shall be reservations in education for SCs, STs and socially and educationally backward groups, which are today called OBCs. Marathas won't get reservations in education unless they are considered both educationally and socially backward. For many reasons, they are not considered socially backward. Hence, you have to create a new backward class-namely, economically backward- and include it in Article 15 (4) by amending the Constitution. Otherwise, they can't get reservations. If, however, they are considered 'socially backward', they will be included in the OBCs and they will get a share in the quota meant for the OBCs. Article 16(4), which talks about reservations in jobs, says that 'any backward class' which does not have adequate representation in jobs can get reservations. However, there is no definition of 'backward class' given in the Constitution. This class may include groups that are only educationally, economically or socially backward, as well as SCs, STs and OBCs. Hence, under this clause, even the state government, by notification, can include castes and communities like the Marathas on the grounds that they are economically, educationally, or socially backward. Can the percentage of quotas then be extended beyond 50 per cent? The Supreme Court has ruled that the percentage of reservations in education and government jobs should not exceed 50 per cent. At present, it is 52 per cent in Maharashtra. A challenge to the excess reservation is pending in the SC. My view is that the SC has laid down this limit on the ground that reservations are exception to the general rule. On the same grounds, there is scope for extending the limit of reservation to backwards, since in our country, not less than 85 per cent are backward and 15 per cent are forward. Therefore, in our country, backwardness is the rule and forwardness, the exception. Hence, the limit can be extended beyond 50 per cent.

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By Mark Hallum

Elected officials from western Queens led a toy giveaway for students in Corona at St. Leos School last Saturday.

Christmas may be over for most of us, but Three Kings Day  also known as the Feast of the Epiphany  is still celebrated by many Christians 12 days after the big holiday to commemorate the biblical story in which three wise men arrived to pay homage to Jesus after his birth.

The annual toy giveaway at St. Leos was sponsored by U.S. Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-Jackson Heights), state Assemblyman Francisco Moya (D-Jackson Heights) and state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst).

Three Kings Day is celebrated widely by Hispanic communities in Queens, according to Moya.

For many families, the holiday season isnt considered over until Three Kings Day has come and gone. Moya said. The holidays always feel warmer when the community comes together to celebrate and, far from being holiday-ed out, the kids were especially thrilled to have one more day of gift giving. I hope everyone observing Three Kings Day had a wonderful time with their family. Feliz dia de reyes!

Moya mentioned that he, like the children patiently waiting to receive a second batch of gifts, is a product of St. Leos School.

The toys, donated by the three elected officials, were divided up by age ranges. Groups of students trotted eagerly to the tables as their age groups were called where Moya and Peralta handed them out.

In our culture, Three Kings Day is as traditional as Santa Claus, Peralta said. As it happens on Christmas Day, during el Dia de Reyes kids also receive presents, if they behave well throughout the year. I am glad children in our local communities can participate in celebrations like this one and keep tradition alive. It is always positive and inspiring to see a smile in a childs face.

Peralta, a Corona-born Dominican, stressed the fact that Three Kings Day is not just an extension of Christmas, but its own beloved Latin American tradition which should be honored and continued.

Crowley was attending to business in Washington, D.C., according to a spokesman for Moya, and could not be at the giveaway which has been a long-standing tradition for the congressman.

Three Kings Day is a cherished and time-honored tradition that is dear to the hearts of so many within our Hispanic communities here in Queens, Crowley said in a statement.

About 40 people attended the event ,with a student musical ensemble opening the festivities with a recorder rendition of Jingle Bells.

The Three Kings Day celebration at St. Leos has been a hallmark of the community, hosted until this year by Councilwoman Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (D-East Elmhurst), who led her own celebration on Sunday, an email newsletter showed.
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.
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COLONIE  Firefighters battled a blaze Saturday evening at a Loudon Road home, causing the road, Route 9, to be blocked to traffic.

The fire started by a chimney in an attached garage at the large Loudonville home, damaging that building and a shed but not the living area, said Colonie Deputy Fire Coordinator Michael Romano.

"A neighbor called and said the house was on fire," he said.

Three people were inside the home at 450 Loudon Road when the fire was reported at 7:30 p.m., but they were unaware of the blaze.

"The initial crews got the people out of the house," Romano said.

Crews from the Shaker Road Loudonville, Schuyler Heights, Latham, West Albany and Fuller Road departments helped extinguish the blaze, which Romano said was out in about an hour.

No one was hurt. The family will be able to stay in the house as the living area was undamaged, he said.

"Other than the cold, everything went well," Romano said.
By India Today Web Desk: In a horrific incident, a four-year-old girl was gangraped and brutally murdered in Bhayander of Mumbai. While the police have arrested three accused, another is absconding. The shocking incident came to light after the minor's body was found half buried near a sewer in Bhayander area. Sources said that the victim was a resident of Azad Nagar, Golden Nest of Bhayander east.

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The girl reportedly went missing on Monday after she left to play outside her chawl. After the girl did not return, her family filed a missing persons complaint. The sexual abuse was confirmed after an autopsy.

Sources from the police said that one of the main accused took the victim to an isolated spot. The men gagged her and raped her.

The accused reportedly used a sharp-edged weapon to attack the minor in order to suppress her cries. After committing the crime the accused reportedly dumped the body and went to dine at a local hotel.

Also read:

Delhi: American woman allegedly gang raped by 5, including tourist guide, in a hotel

15-year-old student blackmailed, gang-raped for 6 months in southeast Delhi

Exactly 4 years after Nirbhaya incident, Delhi girl raped in car bearing Home Ministry sticker

American rape survivor to India Today: Not satisfied with Delhi Police probe

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Hoosick Falls

The ongoing effort to find an alternate water supply for the village of Hoosick Falls is focusing on a farm along the Hoosic River about a mile south of the village's water treatment plant.

The site is on farmland owned by Hoosick town Councilman Jeffrey Wysocki off Route 22, across from the Hoosick Falls Central School District campus. The state Department of Environmental Conservation recently finished drilling a test well there and results indicated the underground water supply in that area is free of the toxic chemical, perfluorooctanoic acid, or PFOA, discovered in the village's water supply three years ago, according to government officials briefed on the research.

In two weeks, the state will begin installing a larger, 10-inch well line to test the strength of the underground aquifer and confirm whether it would be able to supply the village's 500,000-gallon-per-day water usage. The state will also re-test the water for any chemical contamination when the larger well is pumping water at a higher capacity, officials said.

Wysocki, a lifelong farmer who drives a bus for the local school district, could not be reached for comment.

The search for an alternate water supply in Hoosick Falls began last February under the direction of the DEC. The state's action came about 16 months after a village resident, Michael Hickey, alerted local government officials that PFOA had contaminated the public water supply. PFOA is used to make non-stick and heat-resistant coatings. It was used at a McCaffrey Street plant that has been owned by a number of companies since the 1950s. Hickey began doing private research on the water system when he suspected there was a high rate of cancer in the small community.

Under an agreement reached last June between the state and two companies, Saint-Gobain Performance Plastics and Honeywell International, the DEC has spearheaded the initial efforts to find an uncontaminated alternate water supply. That work has involved a range of options, including examining a series of underground wells in the area and also analyzing whether water could be pulled from the Hoosic River that flows past the village's treatment plant.

"This has been a top priority and we have been moving quickly," said Sean C. Mahar, a DEC spokesman. "Our investigation has been thorough and accomplished a lot in a relatively short period of time. ... We have a very promising location."

The DEC analyzed four groundwater locations in its search for a new supply, including Wysocki's property, but was denied access at a fifth site when the property owner objected. State officials declined to identify the sites that have been explored.

Saint-Gobain has owned the McCaffrey Street plant since 1999. Honeywell's predecessor corporation, Allied Signal, operated the facility from 1986 to 1996, one of five companies that owned and operated the site since 1956.

One of the next steps will be for the companies  Saint-Gobain and Honeywell  to conduct feasibility studies that would rank and provide cost estimates for all of the alternate water supply options outlined by the state. The proposals would be subject to community hearings and input from the public.

Saint-Gobain operates manufacturing plants on Liberty and McCaffrey streets in Hoosick Falls. The McCaffrey Street site is a few hundred yards from the village's water treatment plant and has been a focus of the contamination. The state declared that property was a Superfund site last year, which set in motion the work of identifying the source and breadth of the pollution, and the search for an alternate supply.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has recommended the McCaffrey Street site become a federal Superfund site.

U.S. Rep. John Faso, R-Kinderhook, who was sworn into Congress earlier this month, said he supports the EPA's recommendation to list the Hoosick Falls site on the national priorities list of hazardous waste sites. The agency could make that determination as early as March.

"I certainly have this on my agenda to reach out to the new incoming people at EPA to make sure that we get a designation in the spring," Faso said in a recent telephone interview.

Hoosick Falls Mayor David Borge said a filtering system installed at the village's treatment plant last year has been effective in fully removing the PFOA discovered in the water supply in October 2014. PFOA is a manufacturing chemical that was used for decades at the plants now owned by Saint-Gobain. It's considered a hazardous substance and has been linked to various forms of cancer and other diseases.

Borge acknowledged that even with filters removing the dangerous chemical from the drinking water there is still a need to find a new, uncontaminated supply.

"I get that," the mayor said. "We all wish that we could have that."

Borge said the massive carbon filters at the treatment plant will remain in use whether or not the village switches to a new well field. He said three existing wells, including two that are primary supplies for village residents, would continue to be used as backup supplies in case of an emergency.

Hoosick Falls school Superintendent Kenneth Facin said he is pressing to have the village's municipal water system extended along Route 22 so that the school could abandon its use of an underground well.

Facin said the district has done extensive research on the hydrology in that area and he is concerned that PFOA could someday find its way into the school's well field, which has so far not shown any sign of the contaminant.

"There is potential for PFOA to end up in our school water supply," Facin said.

The chemical was also found in private wells in and around the village, as well as in the groundwater under Saint-Gobain's McCaffrey Street plant.

Dina Silver Pokedoff, a spokeswoman for Saint-Gobain, said the company is "fully complying with the consent order."

The DEC has identified 11 current and former manufacturing sites in Hoosick Falls where it said PFOA chemicals may have been used in processing.

blyons@timesunion.com  518-454-5547  @brendan_lyonstu
Washington

Protesters gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S., denouncing President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.

A standing-room-only crowd packed into a historic African-American church in downtown Washington for one of dozens of rallies around the nation.

"We are not going to allow Donald Trump to bury the Statue of Liberty," Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told participants in Washington. "We are a nation for all people, regardless of religion, regardless of background, regardless of who you love."

In Chicago, more than 1,000 people poured into a teachers' union hall to support immigrant rights and implore each other to fight for those rights against what they fear will be a hostile Trump administration.

Ron Taylor, a pastor of a Chicago area Disciples for Christ Church and executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, told the audience there, "Regardless of what happens in the coming days we know that good will conquer evil and we want to say to each and every one of you, you are not alone."

The protests mark the latest chapter in a movement that has evolved since 2006, when more than a million people took to the streets to protest a Republican-backed immigration bill that would have made it a crime to be in the country illegally.

The crowds this weekend at rallies or cultural events in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, California, and elsewhere, are expected to be nowhere near as big as then. Yet the line to enter Metropolitan AME Church in Washington stretched nearly a city block. People attending included immigrants who lack permission to be in the country and their relatives and supporters. Also present were elected officials, clergy and representatives of labor and women's groups.

Participants carried signs with messages including "Resist Trump's Hate" and "Tu, Yo, Todos Somos America," which translates to "You, me, we all are America."

"I stand here because I have nothing to apologize for. I am not ashamed of my status because it is a constant reminder to myself that I have something to fight for," said Max Kim, 19, who was brought to the U.S. from South Korea when he was 6 and lacks legal permission to stay in the country.
Washington

Despite rain and cold weather, marchers filled several blocks in Washington on Saturday as they rallied in a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march that was at times also a rally against President-elect Donald Trump.

Civil rights leader Rev. Al Sharpton had organized Saturday's "We Shall Not Be Moved" march and rally ahead of Monday's Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday. But Trump, whose inauguration will take place in less than a week, was also on marchers' minds.

Holding umbrellas and bundled against temperatures in the mid-30s, the crowd chanted "No justice, no peace" and "We will not be moved" but also "We will not be Trumped" and "Love Trumps hate." They cheered when one speaker referenced the comments of Georgia Rep. John Lewis, who has said he will not attend Trump's inauguration and, in an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press" set to air Sunday, that he doesn't consider Trump a "legitimate president."

"We come not to appeal to Donald Trump, because he's made it clear what his policies are and what his nominations are. We come to say to the Democrats in the Senate and in the House and to the moderate Republicans to 'Get some backbone. Get some guts.' We didn't send you down here to be weak-kneed," Sharpton told marchers at a rally after they walked from the Washington Monument to a park near the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial.

Sharpton called on marchers to oppose Trump's nominee for Attorney General, Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, and asked the crowd if they were willing to visit their senators' offices to oppose the nomination. He told them: "We need to make some house calls. We need to stay a little while." He later told The Associated Press those visits, involving a number of groups, would begin within the next 10 days.

Protesters also gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S., including in Washington, denouncing Trump's anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.

The Washington crowd urged Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress not to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, aimed at helping people who were brought to the country as children.

Joining Sharpton were family members of Eric Garner, Trayvon Martin and Walter Scott, black men whose names have become rallying cries following their deaths.

"When we leave here we have work to do," said Gwen Carr, the mother of Eric Garner, who died in 2014 on Staten Island, New York, after a white officer placed him in a chokehold.

Carr and Sharpton talked about voting rights, criminal justice reform, health care and "a living wage" as issues marchers should care about.

Sybrina Fulton, whose son Trayvon Martin was fatally shot by neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman in Florida in 2012, asked marchers to "stand up and make a difference in your community."

Marchers themselves expressed a range of emotions about Trump. Debra Conyers of East Orange, N.J., said she was a toddler in 1963 when Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech. She said Obama "helped Wall Street" and "helped Main Street." As for Trump: "I'm waiting to see how it unfolds," she said.

Alicia James, a 48-year-old marketing consultant from New York City, said eight years ago she stood with her then 12-year-old son on the National Mall for Obama's first inauguration.

She said she doesn't want to see Republicans repeal the Affordable Care Act or undo other parts of Obama's legacy, but, she said, if it happens: "You can't erase the impact he has had on this country."
Albany

Her husband gave Susan McNeil, Fulton County GOP chair, a 60th birthday present she called one of her favorite gifts ever: A $2,250 ticket to an inauguration gala celebrating President-elect Donald J. Trump's swearing-in as the 45th president of the United States on Jan. 20, plus other parties sponsored by the state GOP.

Her hotel room is an extra charge.

"This is history, the chance of a lifetime," said McNeil, whose husband was not deterred by the high cost.

Richard Stack, meanwhile, chair of the Albany County Conservative Party, is taking a no-frills approach. He booked rooms in a budget hotel an hour away in Maryland and bought commuter train passes for himself, his wife and three daughters. They'll all pile into the family SUV for a 16-hour round-trip drive.

"We're the silent majority, compassionate conservatives, and we're all in for Trump," said Stack, of Colonie, a retired railroad executive who grew up in an Albany Democratic machine household and served as a longtime Democratic committeeman before switching parties.

"I'm not even political, but I met Mr. Trump and he's a very nice man. Our daughters got excited about his message at the Albany rally," said Stack's wife, Patty. The couple will attend Trump's swearing-in and inaugural parade with their daughters Elizabeth, 19, a student at Hudson Valley Community College; Brittany, 23, a student at The College of Saint Rose; and Cheri, 43, who uses a wheelchair due to a traumatic brain injury that left her disabled.

Local Trump supporters traveling to the inaugural by van and car pools are dwarfed in number compared to the deluge of several thousand demonstrators who will board dozens of charter buses in the predawn hours in Albany and across the Capital Region to participate in the Women's March on Washington on Jan. 21. An anticipated 200,000 attendees will gather to assert women's rights and protest Trump's past comments about women, immigrants and minorities and denounce his promises to repeal progressive policies from the Obama administration.

Although their numbers appear to be small, Trump backers from the Capital Region are no less passionate about their support of the president-elect and their excitement about attending the inaugural activities is palpable.

The dueling events on Jan. 20 and 21 underscore the wide chasm that remains among a bitterly divided electorate, with acrimony spewed by both sides on social media.

"Why can't these women just give it up? This is crazy. We didn't march on Washington when Bill Clinton made a mockery of the presidency with Monica Lewinsky," said Christine Benedict, chair of the Albany County Republican Party who is firming up her inaugural travel plans. "I see their posts on Facebook and it's outrageous. They need to get over it. I went to school with these women."

Benedict, a retired retail business owner and former Colonie town board member, considers herself a women's advocate and likes to say: "Anything a man can do, a woman can do better." She excused Trump's crude talk of sexually assaulting women and grabbing their genitals as "locker room talk that men do when they're with other guys." She acknowledged Trump's comments upset her "but he apologized and that ended it for me."

She added, "I was an early Trump supporter because I come from a business family and I like what he's saying."

"It's great to be part of the Trump movement. We need a business person in Washington to fix the economy and make American great again," said Tyler Bell, 18, of Canajoharie, who cast his first vote in a presidential election for Trump after his top choice, John Kasich, the Republican governor of Ohio, dropped out of the race.

The freshman business management and marketing major at LeMoyne College in Syracuse will travel to the swearing-in ceremony aboard a bus chartered by the college. "It'll be a really cool experience," said Bell, who will be joined by buddies who live on an all-male floor in his dorm, which he described as 90 percent Trump supporters. The day after the election, Bell and about 100 Trump backers confronted some 500 Hillary Clinton supporters during their silent protest over the election's outcome. Angry words were exchanged.

"It got pretty testy, but a professor everyone respects stepped in and reminded us we're all part of the LeMoyne family," Bell said. "It's a very liberal school and I'm careful not to wear my Trump shirt on campus. It's still a tense atmosphere on campus when the two groups collide."

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On a brighter musical note, 1993 Bethlehem High School graduate Suzanne Rice Tiedeman will lead the U.S. Navy Band and play the French horn at Trump inaugural balls and other inaugural events. Her husband, Christopher Tiedeman, will play tuba at inaugural balls and events with the U.S. Marine Band, known as "the president's own."

"We don't feel left out because we're going down to babysit our grandsons and nothing's better than that," said Tiedeman's mother, Ruth Rice, of Delmar, a school music teacher. She and husband, Frank, a biomedical researcher and president of Integrated Tissue Dynamics, will care for grandsons Ryan, 6, and Andrew, 4. "They understand that mommy's job is playing the French horn and daddy's job is playing the tuba."

The Rice family members, all musicians, avoid political arguments and focus on harmonious topics like music. "Some of my family is very liberal, some are very conservative and I didn't like either candidate. We leave it alone," the mother said.

Meanwhile, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik, a Republican from Willsboro, Essex County, plans to attend Trump's inauguration swearing-in and ball and she also distributed 150 inaugural tickets for her North Country constituents. "She looks forward to taking part in this historic occasion and she's honored to host her constituents," said Stefanik's spokesman, Tom Flanagin. The constituents are on their own to secure transportation and lodging.

A total of 600 people statewide have paid in advance for the $2,250 inaugural package, which does not include lodging, according to Jessica Proud, a spokeswoman for the New York Republican State Committee. "We wanted to make sure it was affordable as possible for people."

That's far too expensive for Tim Lighthall, a self-employed contractor from Fort Plain, who got free standing-only section inaugural tickets through an online lottery. "We'll drive through the night and sleep in the bed of my pickup," said Lighthall, who will bring his 18-year-old son, Triston. "I can't afford to pay for a hotel room, but we'll do whatever we have to do to be part of it, even if we're a long way from the stage."

John Sweeney, 61, of Clifton Park, a lawyer and former Congressman who is also a member of Trump's transition team, will attend inaugural activities with his wife, Erin, and daughter, Mary, 26, who is applying to nursing programs. Sweeney, who attended George W. Bush's 2001 inauguration, even secured two inaugural tickets for his former wife, Elizabeth Sweeney, a state employee, who is attending with a friend of hers. He said he remains on cordial terms with his ex-spouse.

pgrondahl@timesunion.com  518-454-5623  @PaulGrondahl
The BJP central election committee is holding a meeting in New Delhi to finalise the first list of candidates for the Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakahand assembly polls.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi arrives for BJP CEC meet at party headquarters in New Delhi. (Photo: @ANI_news)

By Kamaljit Kaur Sandhu: The much awaited meeting of the central election committee of the BJP has begun at party headquarters in New Delhi.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, BJP president Amit Shah, union ministers including Arun Jaitley, Rajnath Singh and Nitin Gadkari are present in the meeting.

BJP CEC: THINGS TO KNOW The BJP will announce its first list of candidates for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls. Several senior BJP leaders from Uttar Pradesh are in New Delhi to give their inputs before the top leadership finalises the names of the candidates for Uttar Pradesh and Uttarakhand assembly polls. UP BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya, election-incharge for UP Om Mathur and party UP general secretary (organization) Sunil Bansal have already held meetings with Amit Shah. Others attending the meeting are Murli Manohar Joshi, Ananth Kumar and Vijay Rathkar. The poll process will formally start in UP with the commencement of nomination for the first phase on January 17. The BJP has already released the first list of candidates for Punjab and Goa assembly polls. The BJP is likely to announce two more lists on January 17 and 19.

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Another great evening in store on Thursday 19th January when one of Roscreas Premier events will be staged.

Sponsored by Bernies SuperValu with associate sponsorship from Roscrea Credit Union, Michael Fogarty of Rocktop Consulting and Roscrea Heritage Society, the 30th Roscrea People of the Year Awards 2016 will be presented on Thursday, January 19th 2016, in Racket Hall Hotel, commencing at 7.30.

The 2016 Award Winners are:

*Anthony Bourke, Derrymore, for his total dedication to the care of others in the face of adversity.

*Margaret Moloney, long-time director of Roscrea Folk Group, itself celebrating forty years of service.

*Ashbury Residents Association for their innovative neighbourliness. The award will be presented to their champion and tireless community worker, Mary McNamara, whose first book was published this year.

*U13 Mixed All-Ireland champion relay team of Cally Dooley, Oisin Moloney, Nicole Brooks, Kyle Dooley and Hannah OBrien.

*U19 All-Ireland champion badminton team from Colaiste Phobal: Cian Cordial, William Cummins, Andrew Cullen, Evan Hassett, Jack Finnegan

*National Award to Jason OBrien, Whitepark, Roscrea for his award-winning journalism on international topics.

Citations

*Sean Hogan, Cnoc Mhuire, for a lifetime of community commitment and service.

*Paul Spencer, RMS, for winning the AIMS national award for best actor.

*Comhaltas Ceoltoiri All-Ireland Champions:

*Williams Holmes, mouth organ champion, 12-15

*Four-hand Ladies Ceili Dancers 15-18: Rebekah Collins, Nicole Cooper, Rachel OSullivan, Elizabeth Harding.

*Eight-hand ladies ceili dancers, 15-18: Elizabeth Harding, Aoife Gilligan, Rebekah Collins, Aoife KInahan, Nicole Cooper, Danielle Bowe, Maggie Mulrooney, Rachel OSullivan.

*Eabha Nic Dhomhnaill: cead ait ins na foinn malle (slow airs) faoi 12

The evening kicks off with a short concert of music, song and dance from CCE Ros Cre. This will be followed by George Cunninghams illustrated quiz of fifty images of Roscrea and District to test your knowledge of the areagreat fun.

Book Presentations follow. This is a significant year for Roscrea People as by April 2017 over 60,000 books will have been presented since 1987. Presentations will be made to St Cronans Centre Grange (the recipient every year since 1987 of annual donations, first of computer equipment and then of books), local estates and a special presentation from the Butler family to the Dr Aisling Butler Memorial Library at SH Primary. Both the SH and Colaiste Phobal will be the recipients later in the year of donations to honour RPs thirty year of book donations. It promises to be a night to remember, worthy of thirty years of endeavour.

The formal awards and citations then follow, finishing with some finger food. Admission is by voluntary donation towards Roscrea People book projects.
Schoolchildren to 'Rally in the Rotunda' for School Choice

More than 250 charter school students, parents, and staff will perform, share their stories, and promote charter schools at a rally in the rotunda from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 2 at the Capitol in Jefferson City.

Speaking at the event will be Missouri state lawmakers, charter school parents, Dr. Douglas Thaman of the Missouri Charter Public School Association, and Peter Franzen of the Children's Educational Alliance of Missouri.

This event is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2017, which will feature more than 21,000 school choice events across all 50 states.

"Missouri's charter schools have proven that when parents have a choice and students attend the public school best for them they do succeed," said Douglas Thaman, executive director of the Missouri Charter Public School Association. "Parents and students who ave benefitted from public school choice are eager to rally in the Capitol and send a message to Missouri's legislators that it's time in Missouri to expand public school choice beyond Kansas City and St. Louis."







Missouri Charter Public School Association and the Children's Alliance of Missouri are co-hosting the event.

For more information, contact Douglas Thaman at [email protected] or (314) 261-3657.

As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country.

For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com, or visit www.facebook.com/schoolchoiceweek.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170115005024/en/
Major Study on Education Spending to be Unveiled at Leadership Breakfast

How much do Georgia taxpayers spend on public schools? How many people work at those schools?

The truth may surprise you. Join the Georgia Public Policy Foundation for a leadership breakfast marking National School Choice Week, at which Dr. Ben Scafidi, director of the Education Economics Center in the Coles College of Business at Kennesaw State University, will unveil the results of his new study titled 'Balancing the Books in Education'.

The breakfast will be 8 a.m. Thursday, January 26 at Cobb County's Georgian Club. About 50 policymakers, policy groups, legislators, educators, and interested individuals are expected to attend.

This event is planned to coincide with the history-making celebration of National School Choice Week 2017, which will feature more than 21,000 school choice events across all 50 states.

"Without knowing how much is already spent, too many Georgians believe the answer to the state's education challenges lies in more funding," said Foundation President Kelly McCutchen. "Yet several states are spending less per-pupil with beter results. Dr. Ben Scafidi's eye-opening study will unveil just how much is being spent -- and where -- and why wiser spending and competition through choice will improve Georgia education."







Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/national-school-choice-week-tickets-30084030144

For more information or to RSVP, contact Benita Dodd, VP of the Georgia Public Policy Foundation, at [email protected] or (404) 256-4050.

As a nonpartisan, nonpolitical public awareness effort, National School Choice Week shines a positive spotlight on effective education options for students, families, and communities around the country.

For more information, visit www.schoolchoiceweek.com, or visit www.facebook.com/schoolchoiceweek.

View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170115005052/en/
A look back on all of our reporting of the Delphi murders since 2017
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Countrys premier disaster response and rescue force NDRF is likely to raise four new battalions with around 4,000 personnel as the Home Ministry is finalising a plan to this effect.

The four new battalions of the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) will be stationed in Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh.

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The Home Ministry is finalising the plan for raising the new battalions and a proposal is expected to be sent to the Union Cabinet for its approval soon, a Home Ministry official said.

The NDRF will start the process of hiring around 4,000 personnel (1,000 personnel in each battalion).

The disaster response force currently has 12 battalions stationed in different parts of the country for easy deployment during natural disasters and other emergencies.

The force is specially trained to deal with calamities like earthquakes, floods, cyclones and man-made disasters.

The NDRF had earned laurels for its services during floods in Uttarakhand, Jammu and Kashmir, Assam, Tamil Nadu; cyclone in Odisha and Andhra Pradesh and earthquake in Nepal.

A team of NDRF was even sent to Japan to help authorities there in handling the Tsunami a few years ago. PTI ACB TIR

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Washington, Jan 15 (PTI) The newer e-cigarettes or vape pens may stimulate the urge to smoke in young adults, even in those who have never smoked before, a new study has found.

Researchers at the University of Chicago Medical Centre in the US found that young adult smokers exposed to the use of traditional cigarettes, first-generation e-cigarettes or second generation vape pens experienced an immediate, significant and lasting increase in the desire to smoke.

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This extended even to subjects who had never used the newer devices.

"The new e-cigarettes, known as vape pens, are now larger and more powerful devices," said Andrea King, professor at the University of Chicago.

"They have low resemblance to cigarettes, so some people were hoping they might not produce the same urge to smoke," said King.

"But we found that they do stimulate the urge. Vape pens look different but they share too many salient features of the act of smoking - including inhalation, exhalation and hand-to-mouth behaviours," she said.

"This makes them a potent trigger, encouraging people to smoke. Their impact is roughly equal to watching someone light up a cigarette. They made the young adults in our study want to smoke," she added.

According to the survey, e-cigarette use is "strongly associated with the use of other tobacco products among youth and young adults, including combustible tobacco products."

Researchers designed an experiment to test the vape pens effects on the urge to smoke in young adults, men and women aged 18 to 35, a highly susceptible group.

The 108 subjects of the study were ranged from very light to pack-a-day smokers. On average, they smoked 8.7 cigarettes a day on six to seven days each week. More than 80 per cent had used e-cigarettes and almost 30 per cent had used one in the past month.

Over an hour-long session the volunteers conversed with a member of the research team who pretended to be a fellow volunteer "randomly assigned" to consume different products as study tasks.

During these interactions, the pretending volunteer smoked either a combustible cigarette or a vape pen. Both cues increased desire among research subjects for a cigarette or an e-cigarette.

The level and duration of desire to smoke among volunteers was the same whether they observed their "colleague" smoking a cigarette or using a vape pen.

The study was published in the journal Nicotine and Tobacco Research. PTI NKS MHN MHN

--- ENDS ---

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Clay Chastain calls out Mayor Sly James' hypocrisy, wrong doing and the Star's role in providing him cover and trying to turn the people against me

And EPIC Sunday screed by the author of the onlyright now. Take a peek:Mayor Sly James was quoted yesterday (by KCUR public radio) as saying this about the city's $800 million infrastructure bond issue slated for the April 4 ballot..." I will not change, and will not support anything that is unbalanced and does not provide benefit to the entire city."Is that so mayor. Then...Why Mayor Sly James do you support the city's streetcar expansion plan (seeks to use a RESTRICTED ELECTION to build a limited Frou Frou line to the Plaza /UMKC), over my streetcar initiative (promotes a CITYWIDE election to build a rapid CITYWIDE streetcar system) that would obviously "provide (more) benefit to the entire city"?And Mayor Sly James, what is your political position on the sales tax increase for the eastside you just voted to place on the April ballot? Does using a citywide sales tax for targeted improvements in just one part of the city, "provide benefit to the entire city"?And Mayor Sly James, are you going to support placing that eastside petition initiative on the April ballot (along with, of course, the city's $800 million bond issue) but not support placing the following other two valid initiatives on the same April 4 ballot...(1) the streetcar petition initiative that seeks to transform the city's downtown streetcar system into a more rapid, useful and citywide rail system to "provide benefit to the entire city;" and(2) the petition initiative requiring the city to place any streetcar expansion plan before CITYWIDE voters and not lock citywide voters out of participating in such an issue of importance to the entire city?And Mayor Sly James (I almost forgot)...Do you think your deliberate legislative action to delay a 2011 light rail initiative election and then sabotage the ballot language of that light rail initiative (when it was finally ordered on the ballot by the Missouri Supreme Court three years later), upheld the public trust and provided "benefit to the entire city"?And Mayor Sly James, did you direct former City Attorney Bill Geary to pronounce to the Kansas City community and voters (without offering one iota of proof) that the 2016 light rail initiative was "likely illegal" and thus could be repealed if approved by voters? And do you think that lie provided "benefit to the entire community"?And where is Kansas City's news media, who should be asking these questions? Forget the Star, it is no longer "a paper for the people," rather a paper that seeks to control the people, push a liberal-oriented agenda and treat the people like mushrooms... keep them in the dark and feed them manure.And speaking of the Star, here are two recent examples of the Star's on-going role in trying to turn the people against me by making me look crazy and unstable...(1) Star reporter Tony Rizzo recently wrote a story about my lawsuit against Anne Hodgdon for her Facebook claim I sexually assaulted her 20-years ago. Mr. Rizzo (who never contacted me before he wrote his article) said I withdrew my lawsuit. True. But Mr. Rizzo deliberately failed to report to readers that I did so ON LY AFTER accepting an out of court settlement with Anne Hodgdon! The story made it appear the whole thing was just a slight misunderstanding between two people, we kissed and made up and I merely went overboard in filing the suit.(2) Star reporter Lynn Horsley recently wrote a so-called news story about my new streetcar initiative in which she mocked me for breaking my word not to bring another "light rail scheme" before voters. The article begins..." Clay Chastain promised this fall that if his November ballot issue failed with KC voters, he was done with his light rail schemes. He also said prior to the light rail election that streetcars were a poor substitute for light rail.'Does the Kansas City Star and reporter Horsley not understand that a streetcar initiative is not the same as a light rail initiative?Star reporter Horsley also failed to inform her readers that my new transit initiative is designed to transform the city's traditional streetcar system into a more rapid rail system (streetcars would now be running in exclusive transit greenways separated from traffic) and thus no longer a "poor substitute for light rail."If Kansas City had another reputable daily newspaper in this town, it would be lonesome.Clay Chastain...leader of the people's streetcar initiative.###############You decide . . .
Greece and Cyprus are not divergent in their opinions, nor does Greece have an inflexible position on the Cyprus, an announcement from the Greek Prime Ministers office said on Sunday

Greece and Cyprus are not divergent in their opinions, nor does Greece have an inflexible position on the Cyprus, an announcement from the Greek Prime Ministers office said on Sunday, after media reports abounded that Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias was at fault for the decisions made in the Geneva talks last week.

The statement added that the Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is in constant contact and support the attempts being made by the President of the Republic of Cyprus Nicos Anastasiades, to find a just and viable solution the Cyprus problem, based on the UN resolutions, without guarantees and occupation troops, and to the benefit of all Cypriot people.

Referring to the Greek Foreign Minister, the statement added: The Foreign Minister is working satisfactorily, in negotiations, and on the strategy that the Greek government has decided.

In recent days, media reports have blamed Kotzias for the derailment of talks in Geneva, with Politico magazine citing sources.

The article further states that at the next meeting on a political level Greece will be represented by PM Alexis Tsipras, due to Kotzias stance.

Turkish propaganda

In a post on Twitter in Greek, Kotzias said that media reports on this issue were Turkish propaganda, which have done nothing more than to support Turkish nationalism.

In an interview to ANA-MPA, commenting on the reports Kotzias said: It is reasonable for the Turkeys supporters to consider that a success in Geneva would have been for us to surrender to the Turkish positions, legitimise their intervention rights, and their ability to own part of Cyprus. WE have a different opinion: We must apply European and international law, give Cyprus its sovereignty, and the maximum rights be afforded to the Turkish Cypriots, along with the maximum feeling of safety to the Greek Cypriots.

There have been a number of distortions surrounding the facts, eg they say that because technical teams begin meeting next week, we interrupted the process. It is not true. Both the UN Secretary General, President Anastasiades, and I had proposed to continue the conference on Friday at a political level, as it was planned. Why should have it been continued at a political level? So the technical teams could receive instructions for their work.

He added that it was the Turkish side that abandoned the negotiations, saying they did not have time for political consultations.

Meanwhile, Turkey has also not shown a change in its position on the security and guarantees issue discussed on Thursday, with officials in Ankara continuing to support the continuation of guarantees.

In statements on Friday, Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan commented that guarantees need to continue for the safety of the Turkish Cypriot people, following similar comment by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, who was present at Thursdays conference on Cyprus.

Likewise, Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci has made similar comments on Sunday, during a memorial service for the first Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus, Fazil Kucuk.

Read more here.

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The conference on Cyprus is set to continue in Mont Pelerin from January 18 to 20

The conference on Cyprus is set to continue in Mont Pelerin from January 18 to 20, with the team of specialists set to discuss the security and guarantees issue, government spokesperson Nikos Christodoulides said on Sunday.

In a post on Twitter in Greek, Christodoulides also announced that President Nicos Anastasiades was speaking on the phone with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, and that the two exchanged opinions on the continuation of the Conference on Cyprus.

President Anastasiades also spoke with Tsipras on Saturday regarding the end of the first conference on Cyprus.

Greek Cypriot negotiator Andreas Mavroyiannis and his Turkish Cypriot counterpart Ozdil Nami are heading the specialist teams of their respective sides set to discuss the security and guarantees issue.

The three Guarantor Powers will be represented by the following individuals:

Greece: Secretary General of the Foreign Ministry Dimitris Paraskevopoulos

Turkey: Deputy Foreign Minister Ahmet Muhtar Gun

UK: Director General of the Foreign Office Jonathan Allen

The EU, which is an observer and interested party to the talks, will be represented by the union's permanent representative to the UN in Geneva Peter Sorensen.

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
Nine colonels of the Turkish forces in the occupied areas of Cyprus were arrested on Sunday

Nine colonels of the Turkish forces in the occupied areas of Cyprus were arrested on Sunday and are being sent to Ankara for suspected involvement with the so called FETO organisation.

According to Turkish Cypriot newspaper Kibris Postasi, the arrests were made in raids conducted against cleric Fetullah Gulens organisation.

Investigations were also conducted on the homes of the individuals.

Fetullah Gulen is the suspected plotter of a failed military coup in Turkey on July 15, 2016.

Since the coup, journalists, military officials, and politicians in Turkey have been detained under suspicions of involvement with Gulens FETO group.

The Republic of Cyprus' Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the information to SigmaLive.

SigmaLive has also learnt from Defence Ministry sources that other similar arrests were conducted in the occupied areas, some of which were made public and other that were kept under wraps.

The same sources from the Ministry said that the timing is important for the ongoing negotiations on the Cyprus problem, as Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan has surprised Turkish Cypriot leader Mustafa Akinci with the raids on Turkish forces in the occupied areas.

Erdogan is attempting to monitor the Turkish army inside and outside of Turkey, SigmaLive has learnt.

Bruxelles2 learnt on Sunday that a purge is being conducted against Turkish officers serving abroad in NATO missions.

Citing a number of soldiers, who remained anonymous, Bruxelles2 learnt that approximately 232 of 400 soldiers serving abroad are being cleared out.

Bruxelles2 has also learnt that approximately 165 soldiers serving in diplomatic missions abroad have also charged with treason and terrorism, and were asked to return to Turkey.

The result of these actions by the Turkish government has led many of the soldiers to request asylum in the countries where they are stationed.

Bruxelles2 learnt that one of the main reasons the officials are seeking asylum is due to the fact that many of the soldiers that returned on Ankaras requests, were jailed, questioned, and in some cases subjected to torture.

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
Turkey should continue to be the guarantor of the Turkish Cypriot side after solution to the Cyprus problem, according to community leader Mustafa Akinci

Turkey should continue to be the guarantor of the Turkish Cypriot side after solution to the Cyprus problem, according to community leader Mustafa Akinci, Anadolu Agency reported on Sunday.

In a formula that will be foundwe want an island where the effective assurance of Turkey will continue, [and we will] live in equality, freedom, and security, Akinci said at a memorial ceremony commemorating Dr Fazil Kucuk, the first Vice-President of the Republic of Cyprus.

Last week, President Nicos Anastasiades and Akinci met in Geneva for negotiations on the Cyprus problem. On Thursday a historic conference was held in Geneva with the participation of the three guarantor powers (Greece, Turkey, and the UK).

After the conference on Cyprus, Akinci said that a rotating presidency must be included in a potential Cyprus solution.

Earlier this week, Turkish and Greek Cypriot leaders as well as the foreign ministers of the islands guarantor countries  Turkey, Greece, and the United Kingdom  joined an international conference on Cyprus possible reunification.

On Friday, Akinci said the map submitted by Greek Cypriots to the UN was unacceptable and the Turkish Cypriots will not sign any deal that fails to include a rotating presidency.

Akinci added that the Turkish Cypriots want to see the continuation of the security and guarantees provided by Turkey.

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
Dubai Electricity and Water Authority (Dewa) has partnered with Enel, a global leader in electricity and natural gas, aiming to enhance sharing of information and knowledge in the fields of smart grids and network digitalisation.



The Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which remains in force for a renewable term of three years, was signed by Saeed Mohammed Al Tayer, MD & CEO of Dewa, and Livio Gallo, Enels head of Global Infrastructure and Networks, during a special ceremony.



Dewa aims to maintain a robust partnership with Enel, to facilitate common strategic objectives outlined by the MoU, including development of effective means of communication to share information, experiences, and research of both parties. The MoU also outlines analysing the results of key performance indicators in the management of smart grids and the digitising of networks, at an operational level.



As per the agreement, Dewa and Enel will allocate experts in their respective fields, to conduct research for the benefit of the clean and renewable energy sector. Both parties will jointly organise seminars, workshops, and meetings, to highlight the most important issues and identify solutions in the energy sector.



Dewa and Enel will focus their attention on the advanced technical developments within global energy companies, in addition to reviewing Enels experience in automating the distribution processes, the integration of renewable energy and smart meters. The parties will also review their efforts towards supporting the Smart Cities initiative of Milan Expo 2015. They will also focus their attention on Dewas efforts in the field of smart grids.



We are pleased to sign this MoU with Enel, for a new partnership that will witness growth, development, and leadership in the field of clean and renewable energy. This supports international efforts to ensure environmental sustainability, the UAE Vision 2021 to ensure a sustainable environment, and Dubai Plan 2021 to make Dubai a smart and sustainable city. Through this MoU, we look forward to sharing experiences, information, and studies based on the highest standards of transparency, reliability, and confidentiality, to achieve the happiness of all stakeholders, said Al Tayer.



We are very satisfied with the launch of this new collaborative initiative in tandem with a partner who shares our desire to promote smart technologies and network digitisation which are crucial for the future of the energy sector, said Gallo.



Enel is a market leader with domain expertise in production, distribution and trading of electricity and natural gas. Enel operates in more than 30 countries with 1.9 million kilometres of grid network across four continents. The Enel Group has a net installed capacity of more than 84 GW. With over 61 million users worldwide, Enel has the largest customer base among European competitors.  TradeArabia News Service
The UAE Energy Strategy 2050 represents a future roadmap and reflects the strategic vision and strong commitment to the renewable energy sector, a senior UAE official has said.



In a statement on the sidelines of the seventh session of the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena) Assembly in Abu Dhabi, Ali Shaafar, permanent representative of the UAE to Irena, said the UAE will continue its strong support to the organisation.



"The UAE's role in the renewable energy sector is not only limited to hosting the headquarters of Irena, but also extends to adopting the sustainable development policies at both government and domestic levels, as well as providing foreign aid to the developing countries in the field of clean energy," he said in the statment to Wam news agency.



Al Shaafar stressed that there were programmes to provide support to countries in the field of renewable energy, most notably, the joint initiative of the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) and the Irena to finance renewable energy projects in developing countries with soft loans.



Through the Irena/ADFD Project Facility, ADFD provides concessional loans ranging from $5 million to $15 million per project. Finance is offered at 1 to 2 per cent lending rates with a 20-year loan period, including a five-year grace period. Loans for each project cover up to half of the estimated project cost, leveraging additional funding from other sources, the statement said.



The UAE is committed to supporting renewable energy projects, he said, noting that the state has provided more than $900 million to ensure the continued growth of the sector and achieve sustainable development in developing countries.
The 10th World Future Energy Summit (WFES) opens tomorrow at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec), with the 2017 edition expected to be the biggest ever.



Hosted by Masdar as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW), WFES drives the business case for sustainability, and is now firmly established as a leading global platform for turning renewable energy goals into business opportunities.



Held under the theme of Sustaining the Clean Energy Consensus; Empowering New Players, WFES 2017 will bring together the worlds leading technology providers, government delegations, innovators, and thought leaders in Abu Dhabi. Organisers expect around 880 companies from 40 countries and 38,000 attendees from 175 countries. That is a substantial increase on 2016, with around 600 companies and 32,000 attendees.



WFES will be at the Abu Dhabi National Exhibition Centre (Adnec) from January 16 to 19.



As WFES reaches its 10-year milestone, visitor numbers are around three times the figure for the first event in 2008.



Over the last decade Masdar has been a catalyst for the adoption of renewable energy in the Middle East and North Africa, said Mohamed Al Ramahi, chief executive officer of Masdar, Abu Dhabis renewable energy company. Through the World Future Energy Summit, Masdar has helped to build an internationally respected platform that is sharing the knowledge, experience and investment necessary to make renewable energy and clean-tech adoption a commercial reality in the region today and in markets beyond.



Countries across North Africa, the Middle East and South Asia are emerging as international leaders in implementing renewable energy plans, and in 2017 WFES will showcase an unprecedented range of bankable opportunities in a market experiencing exponential growth.



Last week, His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid al-Maktoum, Prime Minister of the UAE and Ruler of Dubai, announced plans for the UAE to invest $163 billion in renewable energy projects by 2050 as part of its Energy Plan 2050, with a target of generating 50 per cent of the countrys power needs from clean energy.



Among the major regional markets, Saudi Arabia will be an official country partner for WFES, having announced a target of 9.5 gigawatts of renewable energy by 2023 as part of its Saudi Vision 2030 national development strategy. The Saudi pavilion will be the biggest at the event, hosting key government and business entities. A high-level delegation will travel to Abu Dhabi from Morocco, where one of the Mena regions most successful renewable energy programmes is on track to supply more than half the nations electricity needs by 2030, while Indian officials will be seeking partners for ambitious plans to add 175 gigawatts of renewables to the energy mix by 2022.



Other markets, such as Egypt and Jordan, also have advanced plans for renewable energy, part of a commercial environment that is attracting the worlds biggest technology providers to the region, as well as driving the emergence of innovative small-to-medium businesses focused on specific aspects of sustainability.



They are part of an industry supporting a potential $1 trillion in additional GDP growth by 2030. If the world more than doubles its renewable energy share to over 50 percent by 2030, then global GDP would increase by $1.3 trillion and 24 million jobs would be created, according to the International Renewable Energy Agency (Irena). The projected growth of the sector is consistently being revised upwards as achievements accelerate ahead of expectations.



The global offshore wind sector is growing at around 30 percent per year, while the PV sector is experiencing 25 percent per annum growth, said Al Ramahi. The continued success of the World Future Energy Summit, driven by the access it provides to decision makers, experts and business opportunities, is helping to ensure that industry players keep pace with the overall growth of the market.



This years event comes at a critical moment, with innovation and economies of scale making cost-competitive renewable energy a reality. This was demonstrated last June when Dubai Water and Electricity Authority selected a Masdar-led consortium to develop Phase 3 of the Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Solar Park. This set a price of less than 3 US cents per kilowatt hour for solar power generation for the first time, anywhere in the world.



WFES has played an essential role in reaching this point, supporting the renewables industry through its early years



The success of WFES is built on strong foundations as a commercial event, said Ara Fernezian, group managing director - Middle East, at Reed Exhibitions, the event organizer for WFES. We have grown with the renewable energy sector and today we are part of a thriving industry. There are new innovations every year, large financial investments are being made, and people come here to do business. WFES is about positive action.



Within the event, WFES Energy Efficiency Expo will debut, showcasing solutions in energy efficiency and smart building solutions for the residential, commercial, and industrial sectors.

The expo will be hosted by Masdar, in partnership with the Urban Planning Council of Abu Dhabi, Emirates Green Building Council, and the Clean Energy Business Council. WFES Solar Expo will highlight the latest solutions in solar photovoltaic applications and components, solar thermal, and energy storage, and will host networking at the Solar Village. The Sustainable Transport Zone will feature the latest in environmentally-friendly transportation.



ADSW 2017 will also see the return of important co-located events alongside WFES to promote a complete cycle of sustainability, including the 5th International Water Summit, supported by Abu Dhabi Water and Electricity Authority (ADWEA), and the 4th EcoWASTE exhibition and conference, held in partnership with Tadweer, The Center of Waste Management in Abu Dhabi (CWM).



Tailored to the networking needs of business leaders, the Business Connect programme will pre-arrange thousands of meetings bringing together buyers and sellers. The programme at WFES 2016 hosted a record 1,735 executive buyers from 1,322 companies and 75 countries.  TradeArabia News Service


By Press Trust of India: From K J M Varma

Beijing, Jan 15 (PTI) China today made it clear that the One China policy is "non-negotiable" and "no one can change it", in a strong rebuttal to President-elect Donald Trumps plan to use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the One China policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is non-negotiable", following Trumps statement that the policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

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"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, questioning the decades-old-policy followed by Washington in its relations with Beijing.

It must be pointed out that there is but One China in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement.

The government of the Peoples Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognised fact and no one can change it," Lu said.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous US governments to the One China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said without directly referring to Trump.

Lu urged the US side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Since his election, Trump has riled China by holding telephone talks with Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing-wen, who herself is toeing a hardline against Beijing.

China on the other handis pressuring over 20 countries mainly in Latin America and Africa to not have diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Recently China prevailed over tiny African island Sao Tome and Principe to break off diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which in turn accused Beijing of offering big loans to entice the small countries to move away from Taipei.

Nigeria also broke off all diplomatic relations with Taiwan after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi few days ago.

Besides a showdown on One China policy after Trump takes over, Beijing also apprehends a trade war as the US Presidential-elect wants to bring about a parity of bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of China.

Chinas exports to the US total to about USD 500 billion against USD 100 billion of American exports to the Chinese mainland.

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Trump accuses China of devaluing its currency to gain more out of its exports.

Trump has also questioned Chinas island building in the disputed South China Sea and his Secretary of State nominee RexTillerson said last week that China should be stopped from accessing the islands. PTI KJV ASK ASK

--- ENDS ---
Fathima Group, a UAE-based retail major, opened its largest hypermarket in Dubai, UAE in line with its wider growth plan in the GCC retail sector.



The new hypermarket, spanning over a massive area of 35,000 sq ft, is located on Khalid Bin Walid Street in Bur Dubai.



Fathima Group of Companies is one of the oldest companies in the UAE with operations in 22 business verticals and a number of own brands to its portfolio. The Group operates a chain of hypermarkets, supermarkets and department stores that enjoy a strong brand recognition and reputation among shoppers across the GCC and India.



Brigadier Dr Matar Hameed Al Shamsi from Ajman Police General Headquarters inaugurated the new hypermarket in the presence of Fathima Group chairman E P Moosa Haji, managing director E P Sulaiman Haji, CEO Sameer Sulaiman and other senior dignitaries.



Moosa Haji said: We are proud to open our flagship hypermarket in the heart of Dubai aimed at serving residents in the busy Bur Dubai area. We continue to grow our hypermarket chain in the UAE and beyond with the addition of four more outlets that would address the current demand for convenient stores in the region and India.



We are extremely grateful to the visionary Rulers and people of this country, the foundation of our business that started out in 1968 in Abu Dhabi and grew together being encouraged in all our expansion strategies and efforts. We have seen a steady growth in our retail business and hope to keep the momentum. Over the years, we have achieved great success with over 3,000 employees and tens of thousands of loyal shoppers, he added.



Sameer Sulaiman said: We are opening here in one of the most populated areas of Dubai with dedicated service to ensure our shoppers a comfortable and complete shopping experience. We are committed to ensuring great service and convenience to all our shoppers. Consistent growth in our business has bought in remarkable changes over the years. Quality, consistency and sustainability are the hallmark of our value system that has been cascaded across the organization at all times. We have streamlined our operations to create a high level of efficiency that delivers the best quality products to our shoppers at competitive price.



We hope this is the right time for us to open more outlets to provide value to the shoppers. Fathima Group also wants to be present in locations that would be beneficial to our shoppers. The four new hypermarkets to be rolled out by Fathima Group in the near future are planned in Sharfiya, Jeddah in Saudi Arabia, Sobha City - Thrissur in India; Ras Al Khaimah, and Sharjah in the UAE. These outlets would focus on grocery, fresh fruit and vegetables, electronics, household appliances, fashion garments, luggage and other daily need products with a product range that are tailored to the large multinational population in these regions, he elaborated.



The new hypermarket, laid out with the best facilities for the convenience of shoppers and product variety in mind, offers a range of world-class products and brands at the fairest price. The outlet is spread in two levels showcasing everything from grocery, foodstuff including fresh fruits and vegetables, bakery, fish, meat and poultry, roastery to household items and health & beauty products on the Ground level.



The Second level displays fashion garments and footwear for men, women and children, in addition to consumer electronics, mobile, fashion jewellery and accessories, among other things. The Ground Floor also houses Al Ghurair Money Exchange, Smart Travels, Life Pharmacy, Hot Food from Bombay Chowpatty.  TradeArabia News Service
Dubai-based Al Tayer Group, a diversified regional business, will open its flagship store The Fragrance Kitchen at Doha Festival City in Qatar.



The Kuwait-based fragrance house will debut its first store in the country after it launched the brand at Qatar Duty Free, Hamad International Airport (DoH) earlier this year.



Founded in 2005 by Sheikh Majed Al-Sabah, a member of the Kuwaiti Royal family, TFK is one of the most highly anticipated stores opening at the QR6.5 billion ($1.78 billion) mixed-use Doha Festival City.



Sheikh Majed said, "We have waited a long time to open our first store outside of Kuwait and Doha Festival City is the perfect location for this, with its carefully selected mix of retailers and international brands. We are excited to present our delectable fragrance recipes derived from rare ingredients, indigenous to the Gulf, and to showcase a fragrance experience never seen before in Qatar.



Trevor Hill, general manager, Doha Festival City Mall added: Within the retail offering of the mall we have a very carefully selected range of iconic international and local brands, and believe TFK, one of the regions most innovative and distinctly Middle Eastern labels, will prove to be one of the most popular destinations for our shoppers.



Inspired by his East meets West philosophy, Sheikh Majed has conceived TFKs scent collections by uniting traditional aspects of Middle Eastern perfumery with the unrivalled expertise of a laboratory in Grasse, France the worlds perfume capital, where his three unisex perfume collections are analysed, executed and bottled.



Preston Antonini, senior vice-president of Beauty at Al Tayer Group, the largest luxury retailer in the Middle East with more than 200 stores, said: We are delighted to bring Sheikh Majeds personal touch to a full store environment. As the definitive leisure and retail experience in the country, Doha Festival City was our first choice to host the store. After launching TFK all over the globe, Qatar is turning out to be one of the most productive markets for the brand.



Doha Festival City is home to a comprehensive mix of leisure, retail and hospitality options to explore and enjoy. The Mall is bringing a number of well-loved international brands to Qatar for the first time including LEGO Store, Kiehls, JCrew, and Muji. These outlets will complement the numerous well-known and loved brands including international department store Harvey Nichols, that are set to deliver an exceptional level of service for a world-class experience.  TradeArabia News Service
A Eurowings flight bound to Germany from Oman made an emergency landing in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat, said a report.



The carrier was flying 299 passengers from Salalah to Cologne, when the plane captain's request for an emergency landing in Kuwait, reported state-run news agency Kuna.



The plane was diverted 'for security reasons and in accordance with required safety regulations.'



All passengers on board were evacuated following the incident and a thorough investigation was conducted.



No explosives were found on the plane, confirming it clear and safe, said Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) spokesman Mansour Al-Hashemi.
From the first illumination of the Nagara falls in Canada in 1980 which was done using 200 flares, there is has been a major advancement in the lighting system. The recent development has been the replacement of the xenon lights that have lasted for about 20 years with 12600 LED lights arranged in 1400 three by three squares having the same colors. The LED lights consume 60% less energy and illuminate 14 times brighter than the xenon lights that were previously used.

According to BBC, right now the Niagara falls that were invisible as the night fell, are glittering and amazing to view even at midnight. With the LED lighting system, even with rainfall, the view is even better and appealing. The continuous changing of the lights to yellow, green or white along the mist and the flowing of water together with the lights is just fantastic.

The lights are scheduled to light each day of the year but at different times ranging from 5 PM to 2 AM in the midnight. The management of the falls has a chance to illuminate for charity non-profitable organizations on specific colors, for instance for the cervical cancer awareness month a date January 6th is picked to represent the month and teal color is used for illumination at 10 PM and blue color illuminates on the World TTTS awareness day and law enforcement appreciation day.

As reported by Niagara Parks, the LED lights project had an investment cost shared by both US and Canada. The completion of the whole project involved multiple trials and errors as according to the designers. Moreover, the interesting part about the LED light project is not as expensive as other lighting systems and lasts to about 25 years said Mackinnon the lighting designer of the project.

Following the efficient results of this lighting project, many places have begun wanting to the renovation of their lighting systems. Las Vegas standing as the example wants to change its lighting system too.

See Now: The U.S. had the highest number of Most Wanted properties, dominating the Hotels.com Loved By Guests Awards 2018
[IMAGECAPTION]PHOTO: The top travel agents were honored by the Jamaica Tourist Board, including Director of Tourism Paul Pennicook on the right and Chairman of the Board John Lynch on the left. (Courtesy Jamaica Tourist Board)[/IMAGECAPTION]
The IMD said 2016 was the warmest year ever recorded, globally as well as in India. Phalodi in Rajasthan recorded 51 degrees Celsius, highest ever recorded in the country.

January and February were the warmest winter months ever, according to IMD, which records weather patterns since 1901. Bihar, Gujarat and Maharashtra topped the casualty list with the states contributing 35 per cent of the total. They together recorded 552 deaths due to extreme weather patterns.

According to a report by India Meteorological Department (IMD), 40 per cent of the total deaths were due to severe heat wave, which claimed more than 700 lives in the country, with Telangana and Andhra Pradesh together recording the maximum deaths i.e more than 400. Gujarat and Maharashtra registered 87 and 43 deaths due to heat waves respectively.

Cold wave claimed 53 lives in the country.

Lightning claimed more than 415 lives and the worst hit were the eastern states of Bihar, Odisha, Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh. Odisha alone recorded more than 132 deaths due to lightning while 43 deaths occurred in Maharashtra.

IMD last year started issuing summer and winter forecasts with heat wave and cold wave warnings.

After two consecutive droughts, India last year had a normal monsoon, but several parts of the country witnessed heavy to very heavy rainfall, causing flooding in many areas.

More than 475 lives were lost in floods and thunderstorms. Bihar alone saw nearly 146 deaths due to flooding between July 25 to September 3.

2016 saw four cyclonic storms in Bay of Bengal, the major being severe cyclonic storm Vardah, which killed 18 people in Tamil Nadu.

"We have tried to minimise the loss of lives, especially in large scale events like cyclones and heavy rains. For example, accurate predictions helped minimise loss of lives during Vardah and prediction of heavy rains. But when it comes to events like lightning, it becomes difficult as at several instances it takes places in villages and hamlets.
By Press Trust of India: New Delhi, Jan 15 (PTI) Prime Minister Narendra Modi today sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in Patna boat tragedy from the PM National Relief Fund.

Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

Last night, while condoling loss of lives, the PM has postponed his programme scheduled for today in Patna.

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"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," the Prime Ministers Office tweeted last night.

In the wake of the tragedy, a programme to mark the start of redevelopment work of Mahatma Gandhi Setu in Patna which he was to address today via video conferencing was also postponed, the PMO said.

At least 20 people, including some minors, drowned when a boat capsized on the Ganga in Patna, suspectedly because of overloading. PTI AKK RCJ

--- ENDS ---
Manmeet Singh Gill and Gurbaxpuri

Tribune News Service

Tarn Taran/Amritsar, January 15

Delhi Chief Minister and AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal today promised a special package for border areas.

Addressing a gathering at Naushera Dhala in support of Tarn Taran candidate Kartar Singh Pehalwan, he said border area residents suffered the most in case of tension between the two neighbouring countries.

People of the area are still being wooed with promises of paved streets. Leaders of the Congress and the SAD never talk about setting up universities and colleges in the border belt, he said.

He said a special package would be announced for the development of border areas, if AAP was voted to power.

He also promised to set up agro-based industries in the area.

Industrialists will be encouraged to set up units and they will be bound to employ at least 80 per cent of the workforce from local areas, he said.

He promised for the implementation of the Swaminathan report within three years of the formation of the government in state.

Naushera Dhalla village is the native village of in-laws of SAD leader and Finance Minister Parminder Singh Dhindsa. As expected, not many from the village attended the public meeting but they seen discussing politics while standing near the meeting venue. Most of those who attended the meeting belonged to areas near the village. Many NRIs from Dubai and Canada too were roaming around the venue.

A shopkeeper on route to the rally venue was overheard saying, This is for the first time that any party other than SAD has organised a political meeting in the village.

Others in the village too were seen discussing the role the party would play in the elections.

On his way to the Khalra and Patti, Kejriwals cavalcade was greeted by crowds standing in various villages. In an attack on Bikram Singh Majithia, he accused him of patronising the drug trade and said, Majithia and his men would be sent to jail and punished.

They would be forced to cough up the money they have made from the illegal trade.

He said Badals and Capt PPCC chief Amarinder Singh were playing a friendly game.
Satpal Singh

Article 309 of Indian Constitution discusses the recruitment of all India services and conditions of the services of persons serving the union and the state - subject to provisions of the Constitution. Acts of the appropriate legislature may regulate the recruitment and conditions of the services and posts in connection with affairs of the union or any state. Provided that it should be competent for the President or such person as he may direct in the case of services post in connection with the affairs of the Union; and Governor of a state or such person as he may direct in the case of services and post in connection with the affairs of the state, to make the rules regulating the recruitment; and the any rules so made shall have effect subject to provision of any such act; but the time has come to make a considerable improvement in this Act to keep the interlopers at arms length.

With regard to the provision for all India Judicial Services (AIJS), it is felt that this is necessary in the interest of efficiency of the subordinate judiciary. This proposal was considered in the Law Ministry conference held in 1960; where a strong opinion was expressed for and against the said proposal. The proposal was accordingly shelved. It appears that the Chief Justice Conferences held in 1961, 1963 & 1965 forwarded these recommendations; but when the views of the state Government and High Courts were sought, there was a difference of opinion. In this context, more than half of the states and High Courts opposed the proposal. This matter was again considered by the Law Commission in its 116th report (Submitted in November 1986), which still has ample scope for due re-consideration for this report; the mentioned pit-falls are amendable in accordance with changing scenario.

Though a proposal to introduce an all India Judicial service was put forward several times; there were three objections: (a) Inadequate knowledge of regional language would corrode judicial efficiency in pronouncing judgments due to inadequate understanding of people and evidence; (b) the promotional avenues of the members of the state judiciaries would be severely curtailed causing heart burning to those who have already entered the services and manning of the state judiciary services would be adversely affected; and (c) erosion of control of the High Courts over the subordinate judiciary would be impair the independence of the judiciary. In order to chalk out these problematic areas, a special Brain-storming session is required to find out a judicious solution for these problematic areas.

With regarding to an All India Education Service, it has been observed that there are a sizeable number of UGC recognised private universities which are selling their degrees. Whenever these fake degree holders compete with the genuine candidates; they are sometimes short listed and the genuine candidates are often eliminated by the State Public Service Commission. As far as the quality of education is concerned; there are many instances where appointments of college and university teachers are based on merely political vested interests rather than any consideration of merit. It has been noticed that students who have averaged 36 per cent in their academic life have been appointed university teachers and subsequently become even the vice chancellor of the university.

In this context, it has also been observed that university teachers are not in a position to clear even the basic concepts of their respective subjects in most of states. In this context, there is another instance which indicates the height of despotism when a university teacher was merely appointed with vested political interest. He was completely blank in his teaching subject; as a result of this, he has never taken a class during his 20 years of service. When he faced severe criticism from different pressure groups; he took voluntary retirement from his service. How can such teachers build the future of the country?

The All India Management System is also very essential to ameliorating the functioning of the public sector which has been developed during different successive planning periods of India. In this context, various reports say, except few, most of the public sector undertakings have failed to achieve their desired results. It is because of a considerable numbers of pitfalls in the prevailing management systems in the changing scenario. Till now, there has been a monopoly of the IAS people; as chief of the public sector enterprises, who come on deputation for three years. During these three years, most of the IAS officials are not in a position to make out the functioning and its implications in accordance with changing scenario. They should be replaced by the management professional recruited through an all India competitive examination.

Hence, it becomes imperative to introduce three all India services; including All India Judicial Services; All India Education Services and All India Management Services, so that all these services may conform with the changing scenario of India.

(The writer is a free-lance columnist and Executive Director of Rohtak-based NGO Vikas Path)
Till a BJP minister in Haryana waded in with comments belittling the Mahatma, it appeared that the Opposition was making a mountain out of a molehill in the matter of a calendar and a diary, issued by the Khadi and Village Industries Commission. The Opposition voices accused the Commission of replacing the Mahatma with Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The Commission had rightly pointed out it was neither mandatory nor conventional that the Mahatmas photograph should appear; in fact, the Mahatma did not make it to the cover in 1996, 2002, 2005, 2011, 2013, and 2016. And, it can be argued that the Mahatmas permanent and respectful place in Indian history and Indias collective conscience does not get dislodged just because a government-controlled Commission omits his photograph from its calendar and diary.

The Opposition, again, was over-pitching in criticising the Commission for using Narendra Modis photograph, rather than that of the Mahatma. Nobody becomes a mahatma by simply getting himself photographed with a charkha. After all, the charkha denotes a set of values and carries with it a suggestion of austerity and self-denial. No one in our public life has managed to come anywhere near the persona associated with that iconic image of the Mahatma at work on the charkha. It would be comforting to know that if anyone has to take objections, it has to be the Prime Minister himself, because surely he too knows that any comparison with the Mahatma would only invite ridicule and derision. As someone well-versed in the art of marketing, the Prime Minister can be expected to know the danger of an over-sell drive. He had earlier discouraged  and, rightly so  his followers from setting up a temple in his name.

Technicalities apart, the larger issue is of the creeping culture of sycophancy. It was not long ago that the Prime Minister had landed himself in massive embarrassment when he demonstratively put on an expensive, self-monogrammed suit. The Prime Minister has a well-advertised and well-photographed fondness for expensive clothes. Still, no one can find fault with him for this weakness. But, then, only a professional durbari can think of the Prime Minister as a mascot for khadi.
With Trump's inauguration on January 20, many are left wondering if his family will have a pet residing with them at the White House.

By Press Trust of India: Donald Trump might be the first US President in 150 years to not have a pet in the White House after a plan to have him adopt a goldendoodle dog fell through.

With Trump's inauguration on January 20, many are left wondering if his family will have a pet residing with them at the White House. If not, he could be the first president in 150 years without a pet.

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The Trump family does not have a history of keeping animals around the house and there is not any indication, at least, not yet.

"This is a very significant time in presidential pet history. First families with pets make people feel like they're just like us," said Claire McLean, founder of the Presidential Pet Museum, a donation-based institution not affiliated with the White House or the federal government.

The museum displayed statues, books, vintage pictures, and artifacts such as a bell that was said to belong to former William Taft's milk cow.

"You can teach children and adults about the presidents of the US through the pets easier than you can through anything else," McLean was quoted as saying by CBS news.

Also read: Trump suggests he may do away with Russia sanctions if Moscow proves helpful

A White House without a four-legged friend would be a rarity, says Dave Baker, the co-owner of the museum.

Throughout history, America's first families often had pets in their families.

President Barack Obama's fluffy family dogs Bo and Sunny have stolen American's hearts. But as the Obama family prepares to leave the White House at the end of January, so will the fluffy tenants.

George W Bush had a Scottish terrier named Barney Bush, the Clintons had a Labrador retriever named Buddy and a cat named Socks, while America's 27th president, William Howard Taft, had a milk cow.

Also read: Will repeal, replace Obamacare simultaneously, says US President Donald Trump

--- ENDS ---
Ravinder Saini

Tribune News Service

Rewari, January 15

Over 2,500 extension lecturers (guest faculty) working at various government colleges across the state are up in arms against the government for not fulfilling its promise of fixing their remuneration at Rs 25,000 per month.

Under the aegis of the All Haryana Extension Lecturers Association, the lecturers today decided to go on mass leave on January 30 to register their protest against the state government. The association office-bearers at every district quarters in the state will also submit a memorandum in this connection to their respective district chiefs.

Acute resentment prevails among extension lectures against Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar and Education Minister Rambilas Sharma as both leaders have failed to keep their promise of fixing our salary at Rs 25,000 per month even after four months, said Ishwar Singh, chief of the association, adding that the court had also issued directives to the state government for the same but in vain.

He maintained at present, extension lecturers were paid Rs 250 per lecture with a maximum of Rs 18,000 per month while their working hours were on a par with those of regular lecturers, who got salary many times higher than the former.

We do not demand as much salary as given to the regular faculty but the government should fulfil its promise of paying us Rs 25,000 per month. The association office-bearers have run from pillar to post to get the promise executed, but to no avail, said Jogender Ahlawat, a leader.

Ahlawat maintained extension lectures would gather at their colleges concerned on January 30 before proceeding to the DC office for submitting a memorandum.

Notably, the extension lectures are engaged as resource person to cope with the shortage of lecturers in government colleges. Earlier, they were relieved in mid November every year for over a month-and-a-half and were called again in January up to April. However, the Education Department did not relieve them this academic session; hence, they are working in the colleges as usual.
Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15

Efforts of the Haryana Government to implement direct benefit transfer (DBT) scheme have saved it Rs 440.80 crore since the financial year 2014-15 as authorities have detected 23 lakh ghost beneficiaries.

Under the DBT scheme, subsidy and other monetary benefits are transferred directly to the bank accounts of eligible beneficiaries.

During 2014-15, the authorities detected a total of 4,969 fake beneficiaries after interlinking Aadhaar numbers and the bank accounts of beneficiaries. This helped in saving Rs 10.41 crore.

Similarly, a total of 22,60,727 ghost beneficiaries of various government social welfare schemes like old age pensions, subsidies to poor, and scholarships to school and college students were detected during 2015-16. During this fiscal, the government saved Rs 349.69 crore.

When we started paying only through bank, we detected a huge number of cases where beneficiaries had died but their family members were still taking their old age pension. When they were asked to open bank accounts, everything became clear, said a senior official of the Finance Department, Haryana.

During 2015-16, the maximum saving of Rs 201.33 crore was made by the Social Justice and Empowerment Department with the detection of 1,45,542 ghost beneficiaries, followed by Food and Supplies Department (Rs 54.55 crore) with 16,21,413 fake beneficiaries, elementary education (Rs 45.85 crore) with 3,60,184 bogus beneficiaries, secondary education (Rs 29.87 crore) with 1,24,976 fake beneficiaries and technical education (Rs 17.88 crore) with 8,538 ghost beneficiaries.

Haryana Finance Minister Capt Abhimanyu said their government had been taking all required steps to motivate residents to adopt online mode of payment and receive government monetary benefits only through their bank accounts.

Our officers concerned are taking all steps required to eradicate ghost beneficiaries in the state so that benefit should reach genuine people without any problem, said the FM.

During the current financial year, around Rs 80.70 crore have been saved so far.
Ambala, January 15

Senior Congress leader and former Speaker Kuldeep Sharma today lashed out at Health Minister Anil Vij for his controversial remarks about Mahatma Gandhi.

Talking to mediapersons, Kuldeep said, Vij has hurt the sentiments of every Indian. He gives such statements intentionally to be in the limelight. It is an insult to the Constitution if he is in the Cabinet. He must be dismissed, booked for sedition and sent to the same jail where Gandhi was lodged during British rule.

He requested the Governor to not allow Vij to unfurl the National Flag on the Republic Day. Vij was scheduled to unfurl the National Flag in Karnal.

It is a calculated plan of the BJP to divert attention from various issues. The statement given by Vij that Gandhis picture will be removed from currency is backed by the RSS. It wants to remove Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Subhas Chandra Bose and Indira Gandhi from the pages of history and rewrite it with focus on BJP and RSS leaders, he alleged.

I will be not be surprised if they construct a temple in memory of Nathuram Godse and start worshipping him. The RSS ideology is responsible for killing Gandhi. All RSS activists, no matter what post they hold, have no right to use any article which is related to the Mahatma, whether it is his photograph or glasses, he claimed.  TNS
Lalit Mohan

Tribune News Service

Dharamsala, January 15

Minister for Transport, Food and Civil Supplies and Technical Education had been staying away from the winter sojourn of Chief Minister Virbhadra Singh.

The week-long sojourn started from January 11 and will now continue till January 18. Bali is reportedly sore after he was denied entry on the stage during the rally of Rahul Gandhi at Dharamsala on December 24.

After the rally episode Bali has openly expressed his displeasure and demanded that the Chief Minister should inquire the incident.

The Chief Minister had been maintaining such incident had not happened and Bali was unnecessarily making an issue.

The incident also had its political repercussions for the party as Bali raised the issue of giving unemployment allowance to youth as was promised by Congress in its manifesto in the state. With Bali raising the issue, it gave ammunition to the opposition to target the Congress government. It also split the leaders in the party.

While the HPCC president Sukhwinder Sukhu said that the party would fulfil the promise made in its manifesto, the Chief Minister ruled out unemployment allowance.

The sources here said that many Congress leaders had been trying to broker peace among the Chief Minister and Bali. It was also being speculated that Bali was demanding transfer of some officers who were allegedly responsible for denying him entry on stage during Rahul Gandhis rally.

Bali, when contacted, said that he had not demanded transfer of any officer and had never discussed the issue with the Chief Minister.

About his absence from winter sojourn, Bali said that he was busy with his own engagements.

He denied any differences with the Chief Minister and said that whenever there would be any program related to his departments or the Chief Minister would demand his presence he would definitely attend.
Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Kullu, January 15

Kullu district, followed by Mandi and Solan, is among the top 50 districts which has most TB patients, raising alarm for the health authority to take effective steps to curb it. The high number of patients has taken the district to number two slot in the country.

The health authority will launch a campaign to detect the cases in Kullu, Mandi and Solan from January 16 to January 30. Sources said it was found that there was a drastic surge in TB patients in Kullu every year despite awareness drives.

District Health Officer, Kullu, Sushil Chander told The Tribune here today that the focus would be to detect the TB patients in remote areas. Special teams of paramedical staff and doctors had been constituted to work over it, who would visit the areas.

District Health Officer, Mandi, Joginder Thakur said the motive behind the campaign would be to eradicate social stigma and encourage people to visit nearby government hospital for treatment, whenever they would found the symptoms of the disease.

During campaign, sputum samples of patients will be collected to detect the disease, he added.

This programme was launched by the Centre to provide assistance to states for search in those pockets from where patients were not visiting health centres, which aggravated the situation.

Health Minister Kaul Singh Thakur said the state government would launch daily drug treatment for TB patients in the coming days to deal with the menace.

There are many patients under private care who are not regular in their treatment. Skipping drugs or leaving the treatment midway can lead to multi-drug resistant TB or in the worst case even death, he added.
Pratibha Chauhan

Tribune News Service

Shimla, January 15

As part of its multi-pronged strategy to combat monkey menace, Himachal will tie up with other simian-affected states like Uttarakhand and Delhi to develop equipment which will help scare away monkeys into the forests and also enable their mapping and study behaviour pattern.

Uttarakhand has shared with Himachal the technology developed by it to scare away and undertake mapping of monkeys with the help of ultrasonic sounds which has succeeded to a great extent. Similarly, Delhi has shared its experience where the monkeys have been pushed into the forests and they havebecome used to living there.

We have asked Uttarakhand to develop equipment which meet our needs so that we too can use it to tackle the monkey menace, revealed Tarun Kapoor, Principal Secretary, Forest and Environment. He said if these equipment and gadgets succeed in combating the problem, these would be used extensively in all endemic areas.

The Forest Department has also assigned projects to the CSIR and the State Council for Science, Technology and Environment for developing technology which can be used to scare monkeys. The endeavour is to scare away monkeys from fields and orchards to save crops and fruits from simians. Almost all 3,256 panchayats are affected by the monkey menace and the districts of Shimla, Solan, Sirmaur, Hamirpur, Mandi and Bilaspur are the worst affected.

Kapoor visited the forests developed on the outskirts of Delhi to sustain about 20,000 monkeys which had become a nuisance in the Capital. The experiment of pushing the monkeys to the forests has succeeded. They are fed bananas, vegetables and soaked black gram and also feed on the natural vegetation that has been planted keeping in mind their food requirement, he said.

He said Himachal had already moved a proposal before the Central Zoo Authority for the setting up a similar park near Tara Devi or on the outskirts of Shimla. The Forets Department was planning to have three of these monkey areas near towns where monkey menace was the worst. Monkeys had already been declared vermin by the Union Ministry of Environemnt and Forest within Shimla area and 39 tehsils of the state.

The Forest Department has also sent a proposal to the Centre, seeking declaring monkeys as vermin in 53 tehsils of the state based on their density in these select areas identified as hot spots, for one year.
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 14

The city police today arrested a person from the Gur Mandi area and confiscated around 50 bags of Chinese string (dragon dore) from his godown.

The accused Davinder Kumar, a resident of Shekhan Bazaar, used to do the business under wraps by selling toys in his shop.

On a tip-off, the police raided the complex and arrested the person.

The deadly string has, meanwhile, injured many people in the past few days in the area. Ketan Sharma, a resident of Phagwara, recently got 55 stitches after getting injured by the Chinese string.

3 mobiles recovered

The city police today arrested a person and recovered three mobile phones, huge amount of intoxicating powder and two motorcycles from him.

The accused was identified as Naman Sehgal, a resident of Kot Kishen Chand.

The police have registered a case and begun investigation into the matter.
Ishfaq Tantry

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 15

The family of slain teenager Tufail Mattoo has rejected the report of the Justice Koul Commission of Inquiry, which had recommended a CBI investigation into the youths death that had led to unrest in the Valley in 2010, in which over 120 civilians were killed.

Terming the inquiry just a cover-up, Tufails father Mohammad Ashraf Mattoo claimed that the points raised by him in his letter before the commission while deposing had not been raised and the real perpetrators had been let off.

Justice ML Koul (retd), who was appointed by then Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to probe the civilian killings of the 2010 unrest, submitted its report to Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti on December 30, 2016, in which apart from suggesting revocation of the Armed Forces Special Powers Act, the retired judge has also recommended a CBI inquiry into the killing of the youth.

I had appeared before the commission with a hope that the points raised by me in my letter to it would be considered. One of the main points was that it should also summon and examine the perpetrators responsible for my sons killing and also question those who were at the helm of affairs in 2010, including the Chief Minister, Ashraf Mattoo said.

But, what appears, as is evident from the news reports about the commissions final report, the perpetrators have been let off and it now appears to me that the judicial commission was just a cover-up, he added.

On June 11, 2010, Tufail was returning home from tuition when policemen fired a teargas shell near Gani Memorial College in old Srinagar city that hit him, killing him on the spot.

Asked why at the first place he deposed before the commission, which even has now recommended a CBI probe into his sons killing, Mattoo said,  Had I not appeared before the Commission of Inquiry, the authorities would have then said they were about to deliver justice but the victims families did not cooperate with the investigation. Otherwise also, I feel let down by the outcome of this judicial probe.

He added, Inquiries like these are just a waste of time of the victims families and the exchequers money.

I have no faith in these inquiries and probes. What would now the CBI probe achieve or reveal, when the SIT has already covered up my sons killing, Ashraf said, adding that despite repeated requests he has not been provided the commission report.

As a victims father am I not entailed to have access to the contents of the report to know exactly how the commission has dealt with my sons case and the points raised by me in the letter before it, he said.
Tribune News Service

Jammu, January 15

The Legislative Assembly has admitted a resolution of CPM MLA Muhammad Yousuf Tarigami regarding constituting an inquiry commission headed by a retired Supreme Court judge on civilian killings in Kashmir, initiating dialogue process with all stakeholders and banning use of pellet guns in maintaining law and order situation.

These were the major demands of united opposition, National Conference, Congress, CPM and JKPDF but so far the PDP-BJP coalition government has preferred to keep mum on these issues.

Since the start of the Budget session on January 2, the Legislative Assembly has witnessed uproar over civilian killings in Kashmir during the five-month-long unrest and use of pellet guns.

Discussion was held on the topic with the Opposition as well as members of treasury benches speaking on it and Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti responding. But since the beginning, the Opposition has been demanding a probe into the killing of over 100 civilians during the unrest and use of pellet guns due to which hundreds of youth were injured.

However, there was no response from the state government to the Oppositions demands.

Now, abruptly the Assembly has admitted the resolution moved by Tarigami on the three issues. Constituting of Commission of Inquiry, headed by a retired Supreme Court judge to probe the recent civilian killings in the Valley, initiating a process of structured dialogue with all stakeholders to find out solution to the Kashmir issue and use of pellet guns by security forces to meet any law and order situation be banned, demands the resolution.

There will be discussion on these issues in the Assembly and the final word lies with the state government. But, it has surely brought back the focus on the unrest in the Valley that was triggered on July 8, 2016, after the killing of militant commander Burhan Wani.
Arun Joshi

The Kashmir unrest is over! It is both an assertion and assumption because there is no concrete evidence to suggest that the state has reached any starting point to move ahead from where Kashmir stands today. Optimism and pessimism are standing face-to-face to each other.

Kashmir stands at crossroads where it is undecided: to sustain the seven-decade-old grievances against the system which covered itself with broken promises, exploitation of the people on the religious and regional lines, or to change the course after having seen so much of death and destruction all through.

A bitter truth is that Kashmir has emerged psychologically as a separate nation, which is caught in its own war between its physical existence and anti-status quo psychological mindset. That perpetuates unrest. This can neither be controlled by any number of forces personnel nor by allurements. These are uncomfortable realities. The July to December, 2016, violent unrest bears a testimony to the fearful eruption of volcano of blood, bullets and stones.

For example, the government announced ex gratia relief of Rs 5 lakh for the next of kin of those killed in the violent clashes with the security forces in the past five months of 2016. This could mean two things. One, that the government wanted to reach out to the families with a humanitarian approach. Of course, this element cannot be missed. Whatever the local BJP leadership may say, the fact is that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Rajnath Singh said it repeatedly that the youth on streets and security forces were our people. So if the ex gratia has been sanctioned it is just an extension.

Second, it amounts to the admission to the charge that excess force was used against them to quell the unrest. It substantiates the allegation of separatists and other groups that disproportionate force was used against the protesters. Not to be forgotten is the fact that they have been profiled as rioters who raised a banner of revolt against the Indian nation and rewarding their families with the ex gratia relief amounts to hurting the Indian nationalistic sentiment. If they were to be rewarded like this, why were the security forces deployed to silence their protests.

A follow-up question is, whether all this has brought the unrest to an end forever. Perhaps, there are no easy answers, and there would never be any because Kashmir is complex and unpredictable. That is the sustenance of many people within the state, country and abroad, particularly Pakistan.

Kashmiris of all age groups feel that they are politically disempowered by the extension of the Central laws to the state and the threat of the Article 370, which grants special status to the state, getting consumed by the rise of the Hindutva forces. This stirs their mind to unrest and makes them introspect whether they can retain their unique identity against the rising tide of the Hindu nationalism often couched as Indian nationalism. They have been schooled like that. Now they believe that the route to the empowerment lies through recurrent street protests and shutdowns. That is tempting because it gains them international attention and talk of the intervention by the UN.

The acts of terror are eulogised as those executed by martyrs, and then this martyrdom is related to community and Islamic extremism. The liberal space is squeezed to promote Islamic exclusiveness. The repeated talk of the Muslim majority character of the state being under threat is a ploy to keep others out of the state.

Economic and political distress is graver than it is being made out to be. This is an accumulation of a host of factors over the decades where the narrative for peace was hailed but it was never given a push. If the role of the separatists and Pakistan is always in focus, the mainstream parties like Congress, National Conference, PDP have also generated the thinking of deepening conflict in their pursuit of the competitive politics.

The unrest should be redefined and it should be addressed accordingly, without wasting time as to which formula should be adopted. Neither Northern Ireland formula would work nor the UN resolutions or any other mantra listed in the international relations. Kashmir is a unique problem.

The fact of the matter is that even the Vajpayee formula will not work. Insaniyat doesnt work in violence and the torching of schools and raising communal passions. Pervez Musharrafs four-point formula -- irrelevant borders, demilitarisation from both sides of the Line of Control, self-governance and joint mechanism to administer the two sides of the Kashmir divided between India and Pakistan  too, has its critics and opponents. Kashmir will have to pick up new formulas.

Here some of the events of the history would have to be reversed  all the Kashmiri Pandit and Muslim migrants should be restored to their homes with a full sense of security guaranteed by the majority community, not by the number of soldiers.

The way out is to build internal trust. Kashmir leaders talk of international attention and intervention, but how much attention have they sought from other communities and regions? And unless the extremist Islamism is agreed as a problem, the unrest cannot be laid to rest anytime soon. It is more important than recognising Kashmir as a dispute.
By Shalini Lobo: In a major breakthrough, Delhi police today arrested a serial rapist from New Ashok Nagar in East Delhi.

The accused, Sunil Rastogi (38) is a native of Uttarakhand settled in Delhi. According to police he has raped and assaulted over a dozen minors.

The accused targets minor girls between the ages of 7-10, lures them under the pretence of taking them to their family, blindfold them and rapes them.

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He is a suspect in over a dozen cases, with three cases registered within the last one month.HOW DID POLICE FIND HIM

It was while probing a rape case of a 7-year-old girl in New Ashok Nagar that the Delhi Police spotted him in the CCTV footage. The visuals showed him talk to her, take her into his confidence and walk away with her. During the interrogation, the accused said he does not know how many minors he has targeted.

"He was arrested yesterday and we found out he is a paedophile. In order to satisfy his lust, he roamed on the streets and targeted school girls," said Om Veer Singh, DCP, East Delhi.

The accused in the case lived in East Delhi but used to work as a tailor in Ghaziabad.

"He used to steal a lot when he was working here and so we kicked him out. Later he came back asking for work but we refused. We have nothing to do with him," said Devender Singh, the owner of the tailoring store Rastogi worked in.

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Jammu, January 9

Special Investigation Teams (SITs) will be set up for time-bound probe into deaths that took place during the unrest in Kashmir Valley last summer, Chief Minister Mehbooba Mufti announced on Monday.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

The state government will also resume the process of reviewing the cases of those held under the Public Safety Act (PSA), she told the Legislative Assembly here.

"I want to tell you, we will constitute Special Investigation Teams (SIT) at district-level which will have to give time-bound reports. And if there is a need for anything further, we will go ahead," Mehbooba said while responding to opposition demand for a judicial probe into the deaths during mob control by security personnel during the 5-month unrest.

She was replying to a discussion on the Kashmir situation under Adjournment Motion moved by the opposition members.

The state government had earlier told the Assembly that 76 civilians, besides two policemen, were killed during the unrest that erupted after Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani was killed in an encounter with security forces on July 8 last year.

2,690 cases had been registered in connection with stone pelting incidents, 16 cases in weapon looting and snatching in Kashmir and 463 people had been detained under the PSA, the government had said.

The Chief Minister said six people had lost vision in their both eyes whereas 20 others were left with a damaged eye during the unrest. Over 100 people had an eye injury.

"Over 4,500 personnel of police and security forces were also injured while safeguarding the life and property of the people," Mehbooba said.

With regard to demand for rehabilitation of families of those who lost their lives, she said, "They are our own children and we have to ensure their rehabilitation. We have kept an amount of Rs 5 lakh ex-gratia as compensation for the next of the kin in case of deaths.

"In any such extreme case, the government is committed to provide jobs to the next of the kin to these families and the children who have lost eyesight, our government is ready to provide jobs to their family members." Those having permanent disability will get Rs 75,000.

Mehbooba said, "I was told in New Delhi, including by Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, that the government will ensure free education to them (who lost support system) in top schools on the pattern of Doon school so that they can stand on their feet and need not depend on anybody."

She appealed to the Opposition to help her "heal" the wounds of the people.  PTI
Srinagar, January 15

Days after protesters burnt the pictures of Iranian and Shia militant leaders over their role in Syrian war, separatist leader Syed Ali Geelani today said some elements and agencies are hell-bent on tarnishing the fabric of harmony among various sects in the state.

In a statement, Geelani, who heads a faction of separatist amalgam Hurriyat Conference, expressed strong resentment over some incidents in Srinagar, a reference to the recent protest in the city.

Geelanis remarks come a day after another separatist faction, headed by Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, issued a similar statement. The protesters during a demonstration on Friday last week had burnt pictures of Iranian President Hassan Rouhani, Lebanese Shia militia leader Hassan Nasrallah and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. The protesters, who assembled outside Jamia Masjid, had shouted slogans in favour of militants battling Assads rule in Syria, who is allied with Iran and Lebanese Shia militia Hezbollah.

Geelani in his statement said some elements and agencies are hell-bent on tarnishing the fabric of unity and harmony among various sects in state. A few agencies are trying their hard to flare tensions between various communities and sects. We need to keep close vigil over these agencies, Geelani said.

Geelani said his group would take every measure and possible step to make their sinister designs a failure. Yesterday, separatist faction led by Mirwaiz had asked the people in Kashmir not to fall to the provocative trap of elements trying to stoke sectarian and communal tensions in the Valley.  TNS
Majid Jahangir

Tribune News Service

Srinagar, January 15

While the death of Hizbul Mujahideen Burhan Wani has given a fillip to militancy, the home-grown cadre is now dominating the militant landscape in the Valley.

Of the nearly 225 listed militants in Kashmir, over 130 are locals, the highest in recent years.

Despite 100 militants from Pakistan and Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) infiltrating into Kashmir last year, security agencies call the domination by local militants a worrying trend.

While the number of militants operating in Kashmir is pegged around 250 by the security and intelligence agencies, the J&K Police have listed and categorised nearly 225 militants, top sources said.

Of the listed militants, over 130 are locals and around 90 are foreigners  all of them from Pakistan and PoK.

Nearly 90 recruits from various parts of the Valley, especially from areas in south, joined militant ranks last year, helping the local militants to dominate.

The forces were, however, able to neutralise many local militants, who had joined militancy last year.

The domination of local militants has increased the worries of the security agencies which fear a spate in the violence this year.

Last year was the worst year for security forces as they recorded the highest number of casualties after 2007. As many as 88 security personnel lost their lives in the state in 2016.

The number of local militants has been rising since the last two or three year. The foreign militants were in a majority for over a decade before they were outnumbered by the locals in 2014. Though the foreign militants have been at the forefront and involved in many deadly attacks on forces, the local element is a concern for the forces. They know the topography and also have a large overground network which helps them in their respective areas, a police officer said.

The local militants gain sympathy if they are killed or arrested and we have been seeing large funerals of the local militants, he added.

Worried over the local recruitment, Director General of Police SP Vaid has extended an olive branch to the youth who joined militancy.

We request the parents and relatives to bring back their children who have been misled to join militancy. You cannot achieve anything from violence. I appeal to parents to bring back their misguided children into the mainstream, Vaid told reporters in south Kashmir on Saturday.

At least 59 locals joined militancy after the Burhan Wanis killing in July last year that sparked a five-month-long unrest in the region.

The police figures show that the Lashkar-e-Toiba continues to be a dormant group in the region with half of the militant cadre, which also includes local militants, belonging to them. The indigenous militant group Hizbul Mujahideen, which does not have any non-local militant in its ranks, has a strength of 90.

There are other groups like the Jaish-e-Mohammed and Al-Badr which also have a small cadre in Kashmir, the figures say.
Mona

Talk is what our Pammi Aunty does the best, and sure can talk on issues right from demonetisation to homosexuality . However, when Ssumier S Pasricha took the stage along with other prestigious speakers at TEDx Chandigarh, he talked about being a black sheep of the family!

Yes, this man who can juggle acting and writing; camera and Kuchipudi with that brilliant rap on the knuckles of North Indian sensibilities still considers self a black sheep in the family.

The man with face pack on, bright shades to keep company, chitchatting with Sarla bhenji does evoke laughter repeatedly, mind you, this did not come easy.

"I believe in following what you love - something that doesn't come easy in our Indian cultural milieu," shares Ssumier who enjoyed talk by fellow presenters and felt deeply for issues put forward like farmers deserving respect in country as much as the soldiers; health issues staring India in the face and was touched by another's tale of survival post brain injury.

Jack of all trades? "I aim at entertaining people with whatever little talent I have," says he. Any genre closer to his heart than another? "I strive to do the best in everything and vying to do more. After all its one life and shouldn't we all explore more and more?"

Happy to have halted however briefly for the event, Ssumier misses Shimla on this outing that he generally clubs with his travel to Chandigarh, "I love the organised vibrant vibe of the city, and am here each time I get the opportunity."

As for Pammi Aunty, she continues her tirade against the ills of society while also addressing what captures nation's attentiom. Feeling bad for Randeep Hooda, for all his almost killing regimen to play Sarbjit remains unlauded, Pammi Aunty, believes that he is a real talent and a hit or a miss cannot take away his shine; the cycle fiasco , "Cycle chalni chahiye desh chale ya nahi, remarks the otherwise politics shy Aunty!

For one thing, this comic is certain 2017 is gotta to be better than 2016, Hor ki!
Jasmine Singh

Doesn't Ravinder Singh look like a the Santa, someone in the crowd, gathered to hear him talk at the TEDx Chandigarh event on Sunday, seems to have found poignant comparisons between the kids most favourite man from the North Pole, and this good Samaritan from UK!

Flowing grey beard, a genuinely warm smile, and a huge heart, flowing with love for humanity, Ravinder Singh is a real Santa for many, just that, this one is available around the year, stopping by at disturbed places, distributing food and basic necessities, helping kids with the gifts much needed to them.

Though one somehow expects Ravinder to talk nineteen-to-dozen about Sikh religion (given that the name of his organisation is Khalsa Aid), the only aspect he is interested is in seva. Our religion teaches seva, this is what as a true Sikhs we should all be doing. Why spend so much money on the beautification of Gurdwaras when there close by kids could be starving, says Ravinder who founded Khalsa Aid in 1999 when attending a Nagar Kirtan abroad, he was saddened to see the wastage of food. `I called up a friend and told him that I wanted to do something, and this is how Khalsa Aid came into being.

Conversing in chaste Punjabi, remembering his childhood days spent in his village Mundiyan Jatan, Hoshiarpur, running across the khoo (well), dipping his hands in the achaar made by him mom, Ravinder Singh brings the conversation to the most disturbing things that he has been seeing world over. Even though the members of Khalsa Aid are found at all disaster hit places, helping the locals, providing relief, it is Ravinder Singhs humanitarian work with the Yezidi refugee families in Northern Iraq which has been greatly appreciated across the world. Stationed at the Iraq Syria border for two- and- a- half years now, Ravinder is helping women, children were abducted by the ISIS. These women wish for death every day, you have to see their faces, frozen, blank, pain and misery written all over. We lambast ISIS, but arent we also suppose to do something about the people who have borne the brunt of their evil deeds, says the man who fights many challenges, almost every day, one posed by ISIS especially!

Sikhs mean a lot to them there, if we get scared, imagine what they would think. There is no room for fear, there is ample for love though, he places his hand on his heart, closes his eyes, for a moment....Spend on people who need us, isnt this a religion too.  jasmine@tribunemail.com
Jupinderjit Singh

Tribune News Service

Chandigarh, January 15

Away from the din of ensuing Punjab Assembly election and rhetoric on nationalism over surgical strikes, work is on war-footing near the Wagah Border to hoist the tallest national flag in the country.

At more than 350 feet high, the flag would be around 100 feet taller than the Qutub Minar. The work is expected to be over by January 26. Local Bodies Minister Anil Joshi said the flag would be an additional attraction to the large number of tourists visiting the border. The cost of the project is Rs4.5 crore. The Improvement Trust, Amritsar, is funding it, he said.

The work to lay the foundation, around 20 feet underground, for the giant pillar to hoist the flag is underway. The site is 200 metre short of the India-Pakistan border. Twenty-four extra flags will be given to the BSF so that there is no delay in replacing it if damaged, Joshi said.

Earlier, a site closer to the border was shortlisted for the purpose but due to some restrictions on erecting high installations near the International Border, it was decided to install the flag at a distance.

The project was first delayed as the initially chosen land belonged to the Defence for which the permission of the Ministry of Home Affairs was required. To save time, a piece of land of the State Tourism Department was selected and approved, Joshi said.

He said earlier his ministry had funded erection of the 170-foot high national flag on the Wagah border. We thought it was the tallest but it was not. So, we decided to install a flag taller than the Qutub Minar, he added.
Lucknow, January 15

BSP chief Mayawati on Sunday cautioned voters that neither an SP-Congress alliance nor a united SP can check BJP and that only her party would render a crushing blow to Modi government by defeating the saffron party in UP so that it does not take immature steps like the note ban.

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The coming elections will be very important in many respects ... if BSP comes to power with full majority in UP then it will check the BJP and the central government to some extent from taking decisions like note ban and SPs goonda and jungle raj will be wiped out from the state, Mayawati told newspersons on her 61st birthday.

BSP is the only party which can stop the march of the BJP in the state ... its government in the state will render a big blow to the BJP and it will not return to power at the Centre easily ... it will not dare take anti-people decisions, she said.

Amid talks of a possible tie up between the SP and the Congress, the BSP president made it clear that her party will go it alone in the polls.

We will fight the elections on our own, there will be no alliances, she said.

UP electorate will have to be vigilant from the antics and allurements in manifestos of the political rivals and tacit understanding of opponents, she cautioned.

The BSP chief who celebrated her birthday this time without usual fanfare in view of the model code of conduct being in force in the state, also lashed out at the alleged goondaraj under the Akhilesh Yadav government.

SP is widely known as a party of one family, region and a particular caste ... since the beginning jungle raj has been prevailing here but it has to be seen that SP and Congress are now seeking votes in the name of such a tainted face, that is, Akhilesh Yadav of SP government, she said.

The people of the state have to decide whether they have to make such a tainted face as the chief minister of the state under whom Muzaffarnagar, Dadri, Mathura and Bulandshahr incidents took place ... or they will vote the clean face of BSP on whose coming to power all communal and goonda elements either flee from the state or run for cover, she asserted.

She said neither SP-Congress alliance nor a united SP will be able to check BJP and voting for them will directly benefit BJP.

Commenting on Mayawatis remarks, BJP General Secretary Vijay Bahadur Pathak said her comments full of desperation and hopelessness make it clear that she has acknowledged BJP is coming to power. PTI
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 15

The selection panel, comprising Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Chief Justice of India JS Khehar and leader of the largest party (Congress) in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, will meet on Monday to decide on the name of the next Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

The panel, chaired by the Prime Minister, is likely to deliberate on the pool of IPS officers drawn from 1979 to 1982 batches, as the Supreme Court has directed the government to decide on the name from among the officers of the first four senior-most batches.

Currently, Rakesh Asthana, a Gujarat-cadre IPS officer of 1984-batch, is holding the additional charge of the director CBI. Asthanas nomination as the interim chief of the CBI has been challenged in the Supreme Court as after the enactment of the Lokpal Act, the director of the agency has to be appointed by the panel.

The government has already prepared a list of senior IPS officers (all from 1979 to 1982 batches) for the coveted post, sources said. Among the prominent names doing the rounds are Sashastra Seema Bal Director-General Archana Ramasundram (1980-batch Tamil Nadu cadre officer), Bureau of Police Research and Development Director-General MC Borwankar (1981-batch Maharashtra cadre officer), Delhi Police Commissioner Alok Verma (1979-batch Arunachal, Goa, Mizoram and UT cadre officer), ITBP Director-General Krishna Chaudhary (1979-batch Bihar cadre officer), Home Ministrys Special Secretary RK Dutta (1981-batch Karnataka cadre officer) and Maharashtra Director General of Police Satish Mathur (1981-batch officer).
Karachi, January 15

China has handed over two ships to the Pakistan Navy to safeguard the strategic Gwadar port and trade routes under the US$ 46 billion China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, a move likely to raise alarm in India.

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China handed over the two ships to the Pakistan Navy on Saturday for joint security along the sea route of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Dawn News reported.

The Gwadar port in Pakistan's restive Balochistan province has been developed under CPEC linking western China through Pakistan with the Middle East, Africa and Europe.

The ships -- named after two rivers Hingol and Basol near Gwadar -- were received by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

Recently built in China and equipped with state-of-the-art guns, the ships will be part of Pakistan Navy and also used to protect the sea-lanes in the Arabian Sea.

A ceremony was held in Gwadar where Chinese officials, who reached Gwadar aboard the ships, handed them over to their Pakistani counterparts.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were present on the occasion.

"The Chinese ships have become part of the Pakistan Navy from today," Vice Admiral Hussaini said, adding that the navy would become stronger with the induction of the ships.

He termed the induction of the Chinese ships into the Pakistan Navy as a "historic moment" and said the ships would be deployed for the security of the Gwadar port and the sea route of the CPEC.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships to Pakistan Navy which have been named Dasht and Zhob after two districts in Balochistan.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the CPEC's land and sea routes. Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army's new division raised during the tenure of former army chief Gen Raheel Sharif.

In the past, China has shied away from saying that it plans to deploy its naval ships in Gwadar, a move which could raise alarm in the US and India.

China has not only rebuilt the Gwadar port but also has its operational control. It is also building a network of roads and railways to link up its remote western region to Gwadar for easier access to the Arabian Sea.

The revamped Gwadar port became operational in November last year after two cargo ships laden with containers set off for Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the UAE and EU. PTI
Washington, January 15

The outgoing Obama Administration has lashed out at China for blocking India from becoming a member of the Nuclear Suppliers Group by describing the Communist giant as an "outlier" in its effort to bring New Delhi on board the elite grouping.

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"Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China," Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asia, told PTI in an interview.

The US statement comes a week ahead of the Obama Administration passing on the baton to the Trump Administration. Officials say it is because of the Chinese resistance that India could not become a member of NSG, where all decisions are taken on the basis of consensus.

"The (US) President (Barack Obama) has been very clear and unequivocal that he believes that India has met the criteria for NSG and that the United States supports India's entry that India is ready and India should be brought into the NSG," she said.

"We worked very closely with India to support India's application into the NSG, but we also recognise that there continue to be some concerns, some reservations that some of the members of the NSG have expressed that need to be worked through," she said.

"We believe we have made substantial progress on that and as we hand the baton over to the next administration the path forward will be found for that. Clearly there is one outlier that needs to be addressed and that is China. As we move through all the other elements of the NSG membership, I think, we're on a good path forward," Biswal said.

So what remains is to be able to have a very clear understanding on what is the basis of China's reservations and to try to work through those. So that will be something that would move on to the next administration to carry forward, she said in response to a question.

"But this is something that the President himself has personally engaged on, the Secretary (of State), (National Security Advisor), Ambassador (Susan) Rice and down the line this has been an area of intense effort by this administration," Biswal said.

While India not becoming a NSG member is disappointing, Biswal said the Obama Administration is "very very gratified to see India's entry into the Missile Technology Control Regime (MTCR)".

China is advocating a two-step "non-discriminatory" approach for admission of countries who have not signed nuclear-Non Proliferation Treaty (NPT) in the NSG.

As per the new stand announced by Beijing in November, it first wants to find a solution that is applicable to the admission of all non-NPT members followed by discussions to admit specific non-NPT member.

China's stand for a non-discriminatory criteria is regarded significant as Pakistan, a close ally of Beijing too has applied for the NSG membership along with India. PTI
Police asked people to follow the Supreme Court order on the bull-taming sport and warned of action against those defying it.

By Press Trust of India: Police today foiled attempts to conduct Jallikattu in southern districts of Tamil Nadu, detaining several people even as Mattu Pongal, third day of the harvest festivities, was celebrated with fervour in the state.

Amid protests against the ban on the bull-taming sport, police today warned of action against those violating the Supreme Court order on the sport, associated with Pongal festivities.

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Madurai Superintendent of Police, Vijayendar S Bidari, denied reports that Jallikattu was conducted in the district.

KEEPING VIGIL

"Around 2,000 police personnel are keeping a vigil across the district. We have taken steps to provide security in the area," he said.

Sufficient police force has been deployed in the district to prevent any untoward incidents, he said.

ALSO READ: Jallikattu held in Andhra Pradesh CM Naidu's home district Chittoor

"Every one should follow the (SC) order. Everybody should be aware that we will take action as per the law. People should cooperate," he said when it was pointed out that the sport is usually held on Kanum Pongal, the fourth and final day of Pongal festivities, at Alanganallur.

Some locals claimed that at Singampunari in Sivaganga district hundreds of people gathered for "Manjuvirattu" (an event in which bulls are used) which, they said, was held for a brief period.

Police said they chased away a crowd which tried to organise Jallikattu at Alangudi in Pudukottai district, and also foiled a bid to conduct it at the Sri Thadikonda Swamy temple.

ALSO READ: Defying SC ban, Madurai village organises jallikattu on Pongal

PRAYING TO BULL

Meanwhile, people offered prayers to bulls and cows on the occasion of "Mattu Pongal", third day of Pongal festivities where people offer prayers to these and other farm animals.

Cows and bulls were washed by their owners. Some of them had their horns painted and decorated with shining caps besides coloured beads and tinkling bells while others had sheaves of corn and flower garlands tied around their necks.

In Madurai district's Palamedu village, a place famous for Jallikattu events, people performed special poojas to some temple bulls.

Jallikattu supporters were seen offering pongal (sweet rice made of jaggery with rice and milk, in a traditional mud pot) to the local deity before giving it to the bulls.

ALSO READ: Jallikattu ban: Supreme Court refuses to pass interim order before Pongal

PROTESTS CONTINUE

Local youths said symbolic Jallikattu was held in some places but police denied it.

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At Palamedu, people hoisted black flags for not allowing them to hold Jallikattu. Shops at several localities remained closed.

Police said youths were detained at Mudakathan, Alanganallur, Palamedu and Vilangudi in Madurai district, at Nallampatti in Dindigul district and Pottuchavadi in Thanjavur district of Tamil Nadu for trying to hold the sport defying the apex court ban.

ALSO READ:

900 pro-Jallikattu supporters assemble before Tamil actor Simbu's house for peaceful protest

Kamal Haasan at India Today Conclave: If you want to ban jallikattu, ban biryani too

ALSO WATCH

--- ENDS ---
Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 15

Army Chief Gen Bipin Rawat today warned jawans against using social media platforms to air complaints saying such personnel shall be liable for punishment.

Addressing troops on Army Day, Gen Rawat said the Army had well-established norms to address complaints and using social media to express grievances was lowering the morale of security personnel.

The Army's social media policy allows jawans and officers to use social media platforms like Facebook strictly for their family and private lives. Revealing ones regiment, location, rank or military identity is barred. Hence, no pictures or videos of self in uniform are allowed and no opinion on military issues can be presented on social media.

Referring to the use of social media, Gen Rawat said: "Aapne jo karwai ki hai aap iske liye apradhjanak hain, aur saza ke haqdaar ho sakte hain (You are violating rules by your act and you could be punished for that).

If any jawan has any grievance, he has been provided with a proper forum to resolve his issue and maintain a balance. If you are not satisfied with the action, you can contact me directly," he said.

Gen Rawat also said that despite Pakistan's continuous engagement in proxy war against India, we want to restore peace on the Line of Control". "But we will not hesitate from giving a fitting reply in case of any ceasefire violation," he asserted.

The Army Chief awarded gallantry medals to soldiers who showed extraordinary courage while performing duty.

On the terror menace, he said that in the last few months of 2016, the security situation in Jammu and Kashmir turned very volatile.

"Be it LAC (Line of Actual Control) or LoC (Line of Control), we will take the appropriate action and our soldiers are doing a commendable job on all fronts," he said.

Later in the evening at the 'at home' function at the Army Chief's residence, Defence Minister Manohar Parrikar said a new mechanism was being put in place to ensure the system of having a Sahayak was streamlined. The Army has proposed that the regular Army Sahayak should not be given in a peace station.

Every year, Indian Army celebrates 15th January as Army Day to commemorate the day when General (later Field Marshal) KM Carriappa took over the command of Army from General Sir FRR Bucher, the last British Commander-in-Chief in 1949 and became the first Commander-in-Chief of Indian Army post-Independence.
Mukesh Ranjan

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 15

Suspense over presentation of the Union Budget on February 1 for financial year 2017-18 continues in view of the upcoming Assembly elections in five states, even as President Pranab Mukherjee will convene the session of Parliament from January 31 and the government is in its penultimate leg finalising contours of it.

Experts are of the view that though no law bars the government from presenting the Budget days before key Assembly elections, past Supreme Court judgments do arm the Election Commission (EC) with discretionary powers to ensure the purity of the election process.

According to them, the onus is on the EC to take a call on the matter as a group of opposition parties have already petitioned it to ensure that the government defers the presentation of Budget. Following the representation by the opposition parties, the EC wrote to Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha seeking the governments response on the subject.

Sources in the EC said, Last week only, the EC received the response from the Cabinet Secretary. In due course, we will apply our mind and take a final call.

In their petition, the opposition parties had urged the EC to nudge the government to postpone the Budget till the polling ends on March 8. They claimed that never before has the Union Budget been presented so close to such a large electoral exercise, with past governments choosing the vote-on-account option whenever the dates clashed.

Arguing in favour of postponement, Congress leader and Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha, Ghulam Nabi Azad told mediapersons that the UPA-II government had postponed the Budget from February 28 to March 16 in 2012 due to the Assembly elections in these five states, after opposition parties objected.

Placing before the governments point of view on the subject, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley is learnt to have contended that the Budget date was decided in advance of the poll schedule announcement and dismissed allegations that it was done with an eye on state elections. The idea is to pass the Finance Bill by March 31, so that next years expenses could start from April 1. he said.
Ravi S Singh

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, January 15

The upcoming Union Budget is likely to pitch for higher allocation of funds for rural India, considered a priority for Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

More funds and a slew of new projects are expected in the Budget for an integrated development of the rural sector, said Union Rural Development Minister Narendra Singh Tomar.

He said the BJP-led NDA government had comparatively spent more money under MGNREGA  the flagship rural job guarantee scheme. In the last Budget, a provision for Rs38,500 crore was provided for the scheme. Later, an additional sum through supplementary grant was allocated to the ministry on account of which Rs47,500 crore was spent during 2016-17  the highest ever in the annals of the scheme.

The Prime Minister and the BJP lay great store by integrated and faster progress of farmers and the rural sector, Tomar added.

Tomar, who is also the Minister for Drinking Water and Sanitation, said the government would soon launch a project worth Rs20,000 crore to fight the menace of arsenic and fluoride contents in underground water across the country. The funds will be spent over a period of three to four years.

With regard to Swachh Bharat campaign, he said since its launch in October 2014, 77 districts, 818 revenue blocs, 63, 617 village panchayats and 1,82,580 villages have become open-defecation free. The campaign is still a work in rapid progress as more and more people are becoming its votaries, he added.
Jitendra K Shrivastava

Tribune News Service

Patna, January 15

The toll in the Patna boat mishaps rose to 25 as NDRF and SDRF recovered four more bodies from the Ganga on Sunday.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi sanctioned Rs 2 lakh each to the next of kin of those killed in the tragedy from the PM National Relief Fund.

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Those seriously injured will be given Rs 50,000 each, the PMO said.

A compensation of Rs 4 lakh was announced by Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar yesterday.

The bodies of the deceased were sent to Patna Medical College and Hospital (PMCH) where their postmortems are being performed. After autopsy, the body would be handed over to the bereaved families.

At least 11 of the injured, who were rescued yesterday, are being treated at PMCH. Their relatives alleged that the hospital administration were negligent in their duties.

Principal Secretary at state disaster management department, Pratyay Amrit said: The compensation of Rs 4 lakh is being distributed to each bereaved family. The probe is on and all aspects of the tragic incident are being investigated.

Two boats ferrying about 40 people capsized in the Ganga near NIT Ghat on Saturday.

The country vessels were reportedly overcrowded and capsized not very far from the shore. The victims were returning to Ranighat in Patna from Sabalpur Diara on the other side of the Ganga after watching kite-flying on Makar Sankranti.

Saran district administration has lodged a case in connection with the twin boat mishaps. Cases have been lodged against the boatmen and fair organiser and manhunts are on to nab them.
Kochuberia (WB), January 15

At least six pilgrims died while returning from Ganga Sagar fair here today, which the officials initially said was a stampede but the state government later claimed it was not.

District officials initially said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including a woman, in hospital. The stampede occurred at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said, adding all of them were middle aged and were yet to be identified.

Later, Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira, however, said that six elderly women died after falling ill during a rush to board a vessel at a jetty in South 24 Parganas district while returning from the Ganga Sagar fair.  PTI
Varinder Singh

Tribune News Service

Mehraj/Talwandi Sabo, Jan 15

PPCC chief Capt Amarinder Singh today maintained that he would be fighting against both General JJ Singh from Patiala and Parkash Singh Badal from Lambi.

He will be filing his nomination papers from Patiala on January 17 and from Lambi on January 18, the last day for filing nominations.

Amarinder has planned to leave nothing to chance to stage his victory from Lambi. He had despatched his son Raninder Singh Tiku to Lambi to take charge of his campaign early this morning.

Raninder today held an interaction with Congress workers and leaders, while Amarinder kicked off his campaign from his ancestral village Mehraj, near Rampura Phul. Amarinder claimed he would be defeating both SAD candidates from Patiala as well as Lambi.

Holding the Badals responsible for bringing state to its knees with their misgovernance, Amarinder said: I want to free Punjab the clutches of the Akalis who have been looting the state for the past 10 years.

He also challenged Kejriwal to contest from Lambi if he was so confident of winning the Punjab polls. Punjabis will never tolerate cowards like Kejriwal and neither will they allow Akalis to govern them anymore, he said.

AAP is a party of outsiders. Their campaign is managed by outsiders as they have no faith in Punjabis, he alleged. On SAD-BJPs charge that he believed in merry-making all the times, he said: I will be working 24 hours a day for seven days a week to bring Punjab back on the path of prosperity.
Muktsar: Khuda Baksh (21), a resident of Badal village, is making his presence felt on the small screen in Indian Idol 9. This college dropouts mother, Asha Begum, used to work as domestic help at the residence of the ruling Badals. Khuda Baksh has been selected among the top 14 contestants. He was just five when his father, Seera Khan Badal, succumbed to alcoholism. Seera had released an album of Punjabi songs, titled Kar layi hor pasand. Khuda Baksh, who has five sisters, could not receive training in singing due to financial constraints. Talking to The Tribune over the phone, he said, I want to fulfil the dreams of my mother, who has struggled hard for us.

Sukhbir takes it easy in Lambi ROs office

Malout: Deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal was in a jovial mood while Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal was filing papers from the Lambi seat before the Returning Officer at the Malout Institute for Management and Information Technology on Thursday. Sukhbir even read out an oath that is meant only for the candidates. The CM asked him to file his nomination from Jalalabad, but Sukhbir didnt seem keen to leave the office, saying that he still had time.

Warrings qualification is anybodys guess

Gidderbaha: Ask Indian Youth Congress (IYC) chief and Gidderbaha MLA Amrinder Singh Raja Warring about his educational qualification and he says he is BA-II from Chandigarh (which means that he didnt complete the three-year graduation course). But the affidavit submitted by him while filing his nomination from Gidderbaha on Thursday mentioned that he was only a matriculate. During the 2012 elections, too, he had declared in the affidavit that he had done matriculation. However, when a controversy had erupted over his qualification on his elevation to the post of IYC chief, he started claiming that he had done BA-II from Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Chandigarh. When contacted, he said, I only have my Class-X certificate. I will try to get a duplicate copy of my Class-XII detailed marks certificate.

Digital repository of Sikh history

Chandigarh: In an effort to build a digital repository of early sources of Sikh history, the Global Institute for Sikh Studies (GISS) was set up in New York recently. It has been conceptualised by Gurinder Singh Mann, the brains behind Sikh studies at Columbia University (1988-99) and the University of California (1999-2015). Mann has created a list of leading scholars from a range of disciplines and institutes around the world. The GISS will focus on texts related to the history of the Panth.

Making girls mothers feel special

Abohar: Dozens of mothers who gave birth to the girl child in recent weeks were the special guests at functions organised by NGOs here on Friday and Saturday as part of Lohri and Makar Sankranti celebrations. Also present were the mothers of girls who had excelled in academics or extracurricular activities this academic session. The functions were held under the Beti Bachao: Beti Padhao campaign. The NGOs included Ram Sharnam, Punjabi Sabhyachar Manch, Bombay Institute and Yuva Arorvansh Mahasabha.

Shahkot the new Chandigarh?

Jalandhar: During campaigning in Shahkot constituency, septuagenarian Akali MLA Ajit Singh Kohar has been presenting a rose picture of the area, which most say is in stark contrast to the ground reality. During a public meeting at Mehatpur village recently, he compared the town with Chandigarh. Later, many people who attended the meeting pointed towards sewer ponds in the town and said, Kohar seemed more like our gappi Deputy CM Sukhbir Badal today.
Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana January 14

Amit Sharma, 35, district president of Shri Hindu Takht, was tonight shot dead outside Durga Mata Temple. He was an exporter of machine tools for the hosiery industry. After meeting his friend Chander, who runs a flower vend outside the temple, as Amit walked towards his car, he was confronted by two bike-borne youths who opened fire and fled.

Bleeding profusely, Amit was rushed to the local Civil Hospital where he was declared brought dead. Rohit Sahni, Punjab Pracharak of Shri Hindu Takht, claimed Amit had been threatened on the phone by Khalistani militants. He had met the DGP to seek security and had been told to approach the Ludhiana Police Commissioner.
Bharat Khanna

Tribune News Service

Mansa, January 15

Drugs and drug suppliers could be controlled in a week if the government has the will and the police tighten the noose on drug suppliers, maintains Sukhjit Singh (name changed), a 17-year-old juvenile who allegedly shot his mother dead on June 27 last year. He was booked under Section 302 (murder) and 25, 30, 54, 59 of the Arms Act.

Sukhjit became a drug addict and had been consuming smack for more than a week before he shot his mother. She had refused to give him money for drugs.

An under-trial in the murder case of his mother, Sukhjit has been out on bail since the last week of November 2016. Sukhjit had entered into a scuffle with his mother who  out of mercy  had unchained him.

Regretting that days act, he said, Had there been no drug supply, I would not have become an addict and my mother would have been alive.

My father had chained me in the house after he came to know about me. In the tussle for money that I wanted for drugs, a bullet from the rifle of my father got shot. I dont know or recall how it happened as I remember nothing. I was just furious due to the call of my body for drugs, he said.

In a Ludhiana-based jail, doctors treated me for de-addiction. Now, I can stand without consuming drugs.

The situation of my friends is worse as they are highly addicted to drugs that are being supplied in the open market and there is no one to keep check. Synthetic and chemical drugs are openly available, said Sukhjit who was a baptised Sikh.
Surjit Singh Barnala, who almost became Prime Minister in the mid-1990s but for his party ditching him, was a moderate Akali politician and played a role in the Rajiv-Longowal Accord that catapulted him to the Chief Ministers seat in Punjab during its worst period of militancy.

Painter, politician and author, 91-year-old Barnala was among the few who held various posts, including that of Chief Minister, Governor and Union Minister.

Barnala was a candidate of the BJP and its allies in the election of the Vice-President of India in 1997. But in the previous year, he almost emerged as a consensus candidate for prime ministership when a motley combine of parties formed the United Front after the defeat of the Congress.

His party Akali Dal, however, chose to go with the BJP, which had just lost power after 13 days in government.

When Punjab was rocked by militancy in the 1980s, Barnala stood by another moderate Akali leader Sant Harchand Singh Longowal, who signed the Punjab Peace Accord in 1985 with Rajiv Gandhi, months after he had become Prime Minister.

Barnala was elected from the Barnala constituency during the 1985 Assembly polls held after the signing of the Accord. He was unanimously elected leader of the Shiromani Akali Dal legislature party on September 27, 1985. He remained Chief Minister till May 11, 1987 during the peak period of militancy.

He was elected acting president of SAD on August 25, 1985 following the assassination of Longowal by terrorists.

Barnala was appointed Governor of Tamil Nadu, a post he held from May 1990 to February 1991. He was TN Governor for a second time from 2004 to 2011. In his first term, he had famously refused to recommend dismissal of the DMK government in 1991 when the late Chandrashekhar was PM for a short time. When he was transferred to Bihar following his refusal, he chose to resign as Governor.

Born on October 21, 1925, in Ateli village in Gurgaon district of joint Punjab, Barnala did his schooling from Nabha and graduation from Lucknow. He was involved in the Quit India Movement of 1942 after which he practised law for some years.

He was a five-time member of Punjab Assembly  1967, 1969, 1972, 1980 and 1985  and twice a member of the Lok Sabha in 1977 and 1998. He entered politics in 1952 and unsuccessfully contested from Dhanaula, losing by just three votes. Barnala was Education Minister in the Gurnam Singh government and was instrumental in setting up of Guru Nanak Dev University at Amritsar.

He served as Union Agriculture Minister in the Morarji Desai-led Janata Party government from 1977 to 1980.

He was also Union Minister for Consumer Affairs, Power, Chemical and Fertilisers and Rural Development and signed the historic Ganga Waters Agreement (Farakka Agreement) with Bangladesh.

In 1998, Barnala was again elected to Parliament and became the Minister for Chemical and Fertilisers and Food and Consumer Affairs in the Atal Behari Vajpayee Cabinet.

Following the rift with Parkash Singh Badal and bifurcation of the SAD, he resigned from the post of party president but was later on again made president.

He was also a former Governor of Uttarakhand and Andhra Pradesh, besides being Lieutenant Governor of Andaman and Nicobar Islands. After his differences with Badal, he became patron of a four-party alliance and formed the Sanjha Morch in Punjab, but it failed to make any impact.

Barnala authored Story of an Escape, which was translated from English to Punjabi, Hindi and Urdu. His second book My Other Two Daughters was also transliterated in braille by Kunwar Singh Negi.

Barnala had faced tragedies on the personal front. His youngest son Neelinder died in a road accident in 1996 and his daughter Amrit Kaur died of cancer in 2012. He is survived by his wife Surjit Kaur and two sons Jasjit and Gaganjit.  PTI
By Press Trust of India: London, Jan 15 (PTI) Britains Prince Charles has co-authored a book for adults, written in the style of a well-known childrens Ladybird books in the UK, on the challenges and possible solutions to climate change.

Climate Change: A Ladybird Expert Book has been written with an aim to clearly explain complicated subjects.

The guide has also been co-authored by former Friends of the Earth director Tony Juniper and climate scientist Emily Shuckburgh.

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The heir to Britains throne first approached Penguin, which publishes the Ladybird series, with the idea last year.

"It was a coincidence, where we were thinking about a new series for adults after the huge success of the spoof books, but this time wanted some factual books by experts on science, history and arts subjects. So the call and the idea from Clarence House [Prince Charles office] was the catalyst for the new series," Rowland White, a publishing director at Penguin, was quoted as saying by The Sunday Times.

The book, which like all others will be 48 pages long, has illustrations by Ruth Palmer in the old-fashioned style of the original Ladybird titles.

Ladybird produced a series of books for children in the 1960s and 1970s and has recently found renewed success with a range of humorous books for adults.

Titles include the Ladybird Book of the Mid-Life Crisis and the Ladybird Book of the Hangover.

The latest series involves experts explaining complex subjects in simple form. The new Climate Change book will be released on January 26. PTI AKKJ ZH KJ

--- ENDS ---
Nikhil Bhardwaj

Tribune News Service

Ludhiana, January 15

Hindu leaders led by Hindu Suraksha Samiti chief Swami Panchanand Giri have alleged that the killing of Shri Hindu Takhat leader Amit Sharma outside a temple yesterday was a handiwork of Khalistani militants.

The Ludhiana police have, however, neither confirmed nor ruled out the possibility of Khalistani extremists being behind the killing. Panchanand is quite vocal against Khalistan and he frequently posts videos on the Internet speaking against Khalistan.

Within hours of Amits killing, the Facebook page meant for propagating the demand of Khalistan had a photograph of the deceased posted on it with status: Khalistan Zindabad. The said page has over 60,000 likes.

Soon after the said post, the page received dozens of comments from the people who termed the killing right and wrote: It is just a beginning. Many Facebook users hailed the role of two bike-borne persons who killed Amit.

One of the posts states: These people (Hindu activists) speak against the Sikhs and if they do not stop, such consequences are natural. Several posts welcomed bike-borne youths act and encouraged them to continue with their deeds.

Shri Hindu Takhat spokesperson Rohit Sahni said, It is surely the handiwork of Khalistani militants. They had been threatening our leaders from long and even the police were informed about it. The Ludhiana police, however, kept denying security on one pretext or another. Now, Khalistan supporters are openly putting posts on Facebook welcoming the killing of our leader and are threatening to repeat the action.

Varun Mehta, Punjab president of the Hindu Takhat, said Khalistani militants had earlier killed leader Jagdish Gagneja and Shiv Sena leader Durga Dass Gupta at Khanna. While the Punjab Police were still groping in the dark in both cases, another Hindu leader had been killed, he said.

Meanwhile, Amit was cremated at Dholewal cremation ground where leaders from various political parties reached to console the bereaved family.

Police Commissioner Jatinder Singh Aulakh said no involvement of any Khalistani outfit had come to the fore in the probe so far. The police were, however, working on various theories to trace the culprits. Some CCTV footages are being scanned to gather clues about the assailants, Aulakh added.
Tribune News Service

Jalandhar, January 14

AAP national convener and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal was today served notices for alleged violations of poll code during his roadshow in the town yesterday.

Confirming this, Jalandhar Deputy Commissioner-cum-Election Officer KK Yadav told The Tribune that a notice was issued to Kejriwal for his statement asking people to accept money from other parties but vote for AAP by the Returning Officer (RO) concerned.

KK Yadav said notices were served separately by each RO for violations caused in their respective constituency.
BD Kasniyal

Pithoragarh, January 15

The Congress, BJP, BSP and the UKD continued with the tradition of Kumaon freedom fighters giving political awareness at the Uttarayani festival today. They held political meetings on the banks of the Saryu river and appealed to people to vote for them.

I am like pahari mandua and have the tendency of becoming bright and edible after more thrashing, Chief Minister Harish Rawat said while addressing Congress workers gathered from across the region.

He alleged that the BJP-led government at the Centre did everything to dislodge his democratically elected government by engineering defections, imposing Presidents rule and throttling the state financially. But he had come out stronger defeating the diabolical designs of the BJP leaders at the national level.

The Chief Minister said while the Centre rendered lakhs of casual wage earners unemployed by demonetisation, Uttarakhand had to bear a loss of Rs 1,000 crore as tax revenue.

Im seeking votes not to become Chief Minister but to complete the projects which my government has started. These will be closed if the BJP comes to power in the state, he said.

On the other hand, Union Minister of State for Textiles Ajay Tamta said the Congress government in the state was highly corrupt and needs to be ousted.

The Central Government, led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is breaking all records of success in all spheres. It not only decided to allow One rank, one pension but also made corrupt bend on their knees by imposing demonetisation. Only people, who earned black money illegally in the past 60 years, are opposing demonetisation, Tamta said while addressing the BJP rally.

Pushpesh Tripathi, president of the UKD (Airy), said while addressing party workers at the festival that the future of the state would be safe only with the regional party in power. People were fed up with the loot of the states resources by successive governments of the BJP and the Congress in the past 16 years, he said.

The party inherits the expectations of the people to rule, which the mainstream parties have denied it. These parties have no concern for the welfare of hill villagers, Tripathi said.

BSP leaders also held a mass rally on the occasion of the Uttarayani festival. They said both BJP and Congress were anti-Dalit and the interests of Dalits were safe only in the hands of the BSP.

While the Narendra Modi government at the Centre is preparing to do away with the constitutional rights of Dalits, the Congress government in the state did not do anything to benefit Dalits in the state, said BR Dhauni, a senior BSP leader.
Beijing, January 15

China on Sunday made it clear that the 'One China' policy is "non-negotiable" and "no one can change it", in a strong rebuttal to President-elect Donald Trump's plan to use American policy on Taiwan as a bargaining chip.

(Follow The Tribune on Facebook; and Twitter @thetribunechd)

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said the 'One China' policy is the political foundation of bilateral ties and "is non-negotiable", following Trump's statement that the policy on Taiwan is up for negotiation and that he is not fully committed to it.

"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," Trump told the Wall Street Journal on Friday, questioning the decades-old-policy followed by Washington in its relations with Beijing.

It must be pointed out that there is but 'One China' in the world, and that Taiwan is an inalienable part of China, Lu said in a statement.

The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China, "which is an internationally recognised fact and no one can change it," Lu said.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the high sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and abide by commitments made by previous US governments to the One China policy and the principles of the three joint communiques," he said without directly referring to Trump.

Lu urged the US side to properly deal with the Taiwan issue so as to avoid undermining the healthy and steady development of bilateral ties and cooperation in major areas, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

Since his election, Trump has riled China by holding telephone talks with Taiwanese President Tsai-Ing-wen, who herself is toeing a hardline against Beijing.

China on the other hand is pressuring over 20 countries mainly in Latin America and Africa to not have diplomatic ties with Taipei.

Recently China prevailed over tiny African island Sao Tome and Principe to break off diplomatic ties with Taiwan, which in turn accused Beijing of offering big loans to entice the small countries to move away from Taipei.

Nigeria also broke off all diplomatic relations with Taiwan after the visit of Chinese Foreign Minster Wang Yi few days ago.

Besides a showdown on 'One China' policy after Trump takes over, Beijing also apprehends a trade war as the US Presidential-elect wants to bring about a parity of bilateral trade, which is heavily in favour of China.

China's exports to the US total to about US$ 500 billion against US$ 100 billion of American exports to the Chinese mainland.

Trump accuses China of devaluing its currency to gain more out of its exports.

Trump has also questioned China's island building in the disputed South China Sea and his Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson said last week that China should be stopped from accessing the islands. PTI
Paris, January 15

Some 70 countries on Sunday reaffirmed that only a two-state solution could resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and warned they would not recognise any unilateral steps by either side that could prejudge negotiations.

The final communique of a one-day international Middle East peace conference in Paris shied away from explicitly criticising plans by US president-elect Donald Trump to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, although diplomats said the wording sent a subliminal message.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and to move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israels capital, despite international objections.

Countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, were in Paris for the conference, that Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as futile. Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians were represented.

However, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the meeting was seen as a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the incoming American president that a two-state solution to the conflict could not be compromised on and that unilateral decisions could exacerbate tensions on the ground.

The participants call on each side ... to refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees and which they will not recognise, the final communique said.

A French diplomatic source said there had been tough negotiations on that paragraph. Its a tortuous and complicated paragraph to pass a subliminal message to the Trump administration, the diplomat said.

US Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters it would have been inappropriate to include the issue of moving the US embassy, it being publicly debated in the US.

Relations between the US and Israel have soured during President Barack Obamas administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto UN resolution 2334 demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Paris has said the meeting did not aim to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations could resolve the conflict.  Reuters
Vatican City, January 15

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas warned that moving the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would not help the peace process, as he opened a Palestinian embassy to the Vatican.

Abbas held a private meeting with Pope Francis before heading to inaugurate the diplomatic mission, located in a building facing the Vatican that also houses the embassies of Peru and Burkina Faso.

Speaking briefly to reporters, Abbas reiterated his opposition to the possible transfer of the US embassy to Jerusalem, pledged by the US President-elect Trump.

In an interview with French daily Le Figaro on Friday Abbas said the Palestinians may consider reversing recognition of Israel if Trump moves the US embassy to Jerusalem.

I wrote to president(-elect) Trump to ask him not to do it. Not only would this move deprive the United States of all legitimacy in playing a role in conflict resolution, it would also destroy the two-state solution, Abbas was quoted as saying.  AFP
Miami, January 15

A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off from California on Saturday, returning the company to flight for the first time since a fiery launchpad explosion in September.

The 230-foot rocket was launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base to deliver 10 satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc. Its a clean sweep - 10 for 10, SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker said after the satellites were released. SpaceX founder and entrepreneur Elon Musks ambitious flight plans had been grounded since the September 1 explosion during fueling ahead of a pre-flight test in Florida.

About 10 minutes after Saturdays launch, the first stage of the rocket, which had separated from the rest of craft, successfully touched down on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, a feat previously accomplished by four other returning Falcon rockets. SpaceX intends to reuse its rockets to cut costs.

Two other returning Falcon boosters landed on the ground. The mission tested changes implemented by Space Exploration Technologies Corp, known as SpaceX, since the launchpad explosion. Accident investigators determined that a canister of helium burst inside the rockets second-stage liquid oxygen tank, triggering the explosion. The canister is being redesigned, but until then SpaceX is addressing the issue by modifying its fueling procedures.  Reuters
By Press Trust of India: New York, Jan 15 (PTI) It will take at least eight million years to restore species recently lost to extinction, according to a new study.

In Caribbean alone, more than half of the mammal species went extinct after human colonisation, said researchers from the Stony Brook University in the US.

Researchers compiled data on the New World leaf-nosed bats and their close relatives. These bats form an ecologically diverse group that includes the fishing bat, many fig-eating bats and vampire bats.

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The group is ideal for studying the effects of recent extinction, as one-third of its species have become extinct in the Greater Antilles over the past 20,000 years, researchers said.

While there is a debate as to what caused these extinctions, the largest wave of species loss came after human arrival.

According to Liliana Davalos, professor at the Stony Brook University, it is hard to know whether or not these extinctions would have happened even without humans, as the number of species on islands results from the balance between species gained through colonisation and the formation of new species and losses from natural extinction.

Therefore, the team implemented models - known as island biogeography - including these three processes and based on the evolutionary histories of species both alive and extinct.

They found the number of species in the Greater Antilles had strong equilibrium tendencies over millions of years and recent extinctions had pulled the system away from this natural balance.

The tendency to equilibrium also enabled the team to use computer simulations to find out how long it would take for natural processes to restore the number of species found only 20 thousand years ago.

"Remarkably, it would take at least eight million years to regain the species lost," said Davalos.

"This incredibly long time required to restore diversity reveals the staggering consequences of extinctions, many caused by humans, on the long-term ecology of islands," Davalos added.

"Human-caused changes to Earths ecosystems are accelerating," said Leslie Rissler from the US National Science Foundations (NSF) Division of Environmental Biology.

"This study offers important information on how those changes will affect the loss and recovery of species in the future," said Rissler.

The study was published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution. PTI NKS MHN MHN

--- ENDS ---
TEN has confirmed 24: Legacy will premiere on the first day of 2017 ratings, Sunday February 12th.

The rebooted series stars Corey Hawkins as Sergeant Eric Carter replacing Kiefer Sutherlands Jack Bauer, plus Miranda Otto and Jimmy Smits.

It retains the same real-time format in a race against the clock to stop a devastating terrorist attack on US soil.

But die-hard fans will have to wait nearly a week after its US debut on February 6 (Australian time). Last year TEN held back the launch of the rebooted The X-Files by 6 days to considerable social media criticism.

Six months ago in Yemen, an elite squad of US Army Rangers led by Sergeant Carter killed terrorist leader Sheik Ibrahim Bin-Khalid. In the aftermath, Bin-Khalids followers declared they would seek revenge on Carter, his squad and their families, forcing them into federal witness protection. But a recent attempt on Carters life makes it clear to him that his identity has been exposed.

To thwart further attacks, Carter enlists Intelligence Officer Rebecca Ingram (Miranda Otto), who has stepped down from her post to support her husband, Senator John Donovan (Jimmy Smits), who is running for President. Together, Carter and Ingram uncover a sophisticated network that will force them to ask Who can we trust? as they battle the terrorists.

Sunday, 12 February at 8.30pm on TEN.
2003 Australian Idol runner-up Shannon Noll has been arrested and charged over the assault of an Adelaide strip club bouncer, according to reports.

News.com.au alleges Noll was involved in an altercation outside Hindley Sts Crazy Horse Revue on Sunday morning.

He was charged with two counts of assault and was bailed to appear in Adelaide Magistrates Court next month.

Police confirmed a 41-year-old man from New South Wales was arrested outside a licensed premises on Hindley St at about 2.30am on Sunday morning.

Nine News screened footage alleging Noll was kicked out of the venue and argued with security before being pinned to the ground and taken away in a police van.

Warner Music Australia declined to comment.
BJP leader LK Advani has suggested that the RSS, with which he has been associated for long, should emulate the example of 'Prajapita Brahma Kumaris' and give more space to women in leadership role.

By India Today Web Desk: Sidelined by the BJP in the official league of 'Margdarshak' (supreme guides), senior parliamentarian LK Advani today suggested to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to give more space to women in its ranks.

Advani was speaking at a function organised by spiritual group 'Prajapaita Brahma Kumaris' in New Delhi today.

WHAT ELSE DID ADVANI SAY: THINGS TO KNOW Advani heaped lavish praise on 'Prajapita Brahma Kumaris' for having women in lead positions in the organization. Advani suggested that the RSS, with which he has been associated for long, should emulate the example of 'Prajapita Brahma Kumaris' and give more space to women. Advani said, "I have been associated with one organisation for years and respect it. I humbly tell anyone who meets me to learn from them (Prajapita Brahma Kumaris)." Later, Advani clarified, "The organisation I was referring to is Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh where mainly boys join during their childhood. Females also have a small representation." During his speech Advani lamented that his birthplace Karachi was not a part of India anymore. "I was very active in RSS during my childhood days in Sindh. It is matter of dismay. I believe that India appears incomplete without Sindh," Advani said. LK Advani had been invited to the 48th ascension anniversary of spiritual leader Pitashri Brahma, the founder of Prajapita Brahma Kumaris Ishwariya Vishwa Vidyalaya.

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(With PTI inputs)

--- ENDS ---
UNHCR staff receive surviors at the dock of the Sicilian port of Messina, Sicily.  UNHCR/Marco Rotunno

UNHCR, the UN Refugee Agency, has praised the rescue of some 1,500 people by the Italian Coastguard in coordination with Frontex, the European Border and Coast Guard Agency, from boats struggling in rough weather on the Mediterranean over the past three days.

In the wake of at least one known shipwreck of an over-crowded and flimsy vessel off the coast of Libya, at least eight bodies were recovered by European authorities. According to the Italian Coast Guard, a French ship operating under the Frontex operation sighted and rescued four people in high seas on Saturday 3040 miles (4864 kilometres) from Libyan shores.

Early reports from survivors say at least 100 people were on board a dinghy that collapsed some 3040 miles from the Libyan coast, between Tripoli and Misurata. Last night (14 January), the Italian Coastguard rescued another 34 people close to oil platforms some 55 miles (88 kilometres) from the Libyan coast.

Italian authorities also report that three survivors from another rescue operation have since died from hypothermia, while another two had died on board a dinghy from suffocation.

Survivors and victims from rescue efforts in recent days have already been disembarked on Saturday in Lampedusa and on Sunday in the port city of Messina, on the north east coast of Sicily. UNHCR staff assisted during the operations and during the mourning of the victims.

In what is already a tragic start to 2017 on the Mediterranean Sea, I am really heartened to see the first priority of saving lives in action through the rescue efforts of the Italian Coastguard and Frontex who have braved such extreme weather to rescue so many people, said Vincent Cochetel.

The survivors  whether refugees or migrants  have gone through unimaginable physical and psychological suffering, said Cochetel, adding that UNHCR will work closely with authorities to refer them to health services.

Last year was the deadliest year on record on the Mediterranean Sea with more than 5,000 deaths recorded. This compares to the 3,771 recorded in 2015.

This deadly start to 2017 highlights the urgent need for States to increase pathways for admission of refugees, such as resettlement, private sponsorship and family reunification, so they do not have to resort to dangerous journeys and the use of people smugglers.

Media contacts:
Amazon doesn't seem to be out the Indian government's cross-hairs. Economic affairs secretary Shakitkanta Das has now warned the company to "behave" and "desist from being flippant about Indian symbols".

By India Today Web Desk: Amazon is not yet out of the cross-hairs of the Indian government, or so it seems. Close on the heels of the online retail giant's brush with External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, the company has now been issued a warning by Shaktikanta Das, the secretary of economic affairs. Taking to Twitter to comment as "a citizen of India", Das said, "Amazon,better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril."

Amazon,better behave. Desist from being flippant about Indian symbols & icons. Indifference will be at your own peril. Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

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TOUGH TIME FOR AMAZON IN INDIA

Das' comments come against the backdrop of the controversy that the US-based company was embroiled in after a Twitter user noticed a listing for a doormat that was designed like the Indian tricolour. A Twitter user named 'Atul Bhobe' posted a screenshot of the tricolour doormat, tagging Sushma Swaraj.

This led to an angry reaction from Swaraj who said that Amazon must tender an unconditional apology and must withdraw products that disrespect the Indian flag or else India would not issue visas to any Amazon official and would also rescind the visas already issued.

Amazon apologised for the flag fiasco, with Vikas Swarup, the official spokesperson, Ministry of External Affairs, saying that the company has written to Swaraj, expressing regret at hurting Indian sensibilities.

Also read: Tricolour on doormat row: Amazon regrets 'offending' Indian sentiments in letter to Sushma Swaraj

However, that was not the end of the story.

Adding fuel to the fire, it soon emerged that the retailer was also selling slippers imprinted with the face of Mahatma Gandhi - while it attracted attention on social media, there was no official comment from the Indian government directly about the slippers.

In his tweets sent today, Shaktikanta Das said that he commented as he "sometimes get[s] touchy when our icons are involved".

Comment on amazon was as a citizen of India as I felt strongly about it. Nothing more should be read into it. Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

Remain committed to economic reforms,ease of doing business & open trade.Sometimes get touchy when our icons are involved.

Shaktikanta Das (@DasShaktikanta) January 15, 2017

--- ENDS ---
Skywalker was coined by Star Wars-loving scientists to a newly-discovered gibbon species. This Skywalker hoolick gibbon that resides in southwest China's forests, delighted actor Mark Hamill, who acted as the character in Star Wars, according to CNN.

A tweet was posted by Hamili stating he was proud that the "Jungle Jedi" and "Simian Skywalker" was discovered in the Gaogligong mountain forests.

Research team

Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou Professor Fan Pengei led the research team. His team as well as the experts from the Zoological Society of London ZSL has been studying the primates since 2008.

These scientists are knowledgeable about the western and eastern hoolocks that lived in the mountain forests.

These researchers made a study regarding the gibbons coat patterns, genetic characteristics, and teeth. Their study regarding the animals in the wild and captivity made them recommend for the recognition of a third species. This recommendation was published in a paper in the American Journal of Primatology. This third species, called the Skywalker hoolock, is scientifically to be called as Hoolock tianxing.

Endangered species

These newly-named Skywalker gibbons are already an endangered species. These gibbons have only an hundred in China. Myanmar has an unknown number of gibbons. All of these are endangered from hunting and habitat loss, according to Radio Times.

The team is calling the attention of the International Union for Conservation of Nature to immediately label the gibbon with an endangered status as this faces that same risk as other small ape species.

Meaning of Tianxing

The Chinese term Tianxing is defined as "heaven's movement" or "skywalker." This implies the gibbons treetop home as well as the historical Chinese perception of these as mystical beings.

Samuel Turvey, a member of the research team, said that increased awareness of Gaoligong mountains ecosystem will ensure that the scientific community becomes acquainted with this exciting new species before it is too late.
The Android Nougat is one of the best updates for Google's Android smartphones, such as Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X. Unfortunately, after upgrading the phone system, there are some devices that experienced Wi-Fi issues.

After Google launched the update for the Android Nougat, there were a number of complaints from users. Among these problems, the Wi-Fi connection issue is deemed to be one of the major flaws. Although the American multinational tech company did not release an official Android Nougat update for Nexus 5 Android smartphones, but these handsets can be upgraded by using custom ROMs.

Nevertheless, Android Nougat has been troublesome, and smartphone users are complaining about the battery drain. There were also complaints about the Bluetooth connectivity in the handsets that are running the latest operating system. But, the biggest issue lies with the Wi-Fi connectivity, Gotta Be Mobile reported.

In spite of that, for Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X users who need to deal with a cumbersome Wi-Fi connection, resetting the network sometimes works. Smartphone users can make the necessary changes in the handset's Settings panel by performing Backup and Reset. This will remove the network settings and users need to load the details again, according to Gigjets.

Another way to deal with Wi-Fi connection issue is to keep the Wi-Fi on even when the handset is in sleep mode. This method can be done automatically by choosing Keep Wi-Fi During Sleep from the Settings menu's Wi-Fi option. However, users need to reboot the handset to see if the gadget can automatically establish a Wi-Fi connection.

That being the case, there is no denying that the Android Nougat update has major defects. Fortunately, software updates continue to improve the Android operating system for Google's Nexus 6P and Nexus 5X smartphones. The Android Nougat update is still being sought-after by tech fans due to its promising specs.

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Greg McDonald has considered a few options for his vacant historic former Wendy's building in downtown Billings, and hes found a plan that will preserve its past and boost the neighborhoods future.

McDonald has formed a partnership with Billings developer Bill Honaker and A&E Architects for a $4.65 million overhaul of the three-story structure at 124 N. 29th St., most recently the home of a Wendys restaurant and its Montana franchise headquarters.

After gutting the building and improving the exterior to retain its historic, 1907 look, A&E will move into the main space, and two floors with 12 loft-style apartments will be available for rent.

The biggest need for downtown is loft housing. Were excited to get it going, said McDonald, whose family has owned the building since 1978.

The partnership, called the 124 Group, is also seeking $700,000 in tax-increment financing, or TIF, from the city to help pay for some of the exterior work. This includes meeting newer building codes and bringing back the historic look of the building. The main entrance will be moved back to North 29th Street, the original front door for the YMCA, the buildings first tenant.

TIF money is a tool for economic development to improve blighted areas. The districts leverage the increase in property values from a set point (2008 in the case of downtown) for certain development costs that improve the overall neighborhood.

The downtown TIF board has already approved this project. The Billings City Council is scheduled to hear a presentation on the plan Monday.

The council is expected to vote Feb. 6 for final approval, according to Greg Krueger, development director for the Downtown Billings Alliance.

The 124 Group hopes to start construction following the City Council vote and finish by the end of 2017.

While popular among economic development professionals, TIF districts are under scrutiny. The Montana Legislature is considering up to 10 TIF reform bills, which could increase regulation on the districts or cut funding for development.

Krueger said those bills would not affect the McDonald building project, which he believes will inject life into downtown.

These buildings were built to last 100 years. And we want them to last 100 more, Krueger said.

The 7,934-square-foot main floor, which still has the Wendys kitchen intact, will become the headquarters for A&E, which has outgrown its current home at 608 N. 29th St.

The firm has 23 employees crammed into that building, principal Eric Simonsen said, and the Wendys space gives the firm space to add up to seven more workers.

This, by far, has been the most appealing and attractive, Simonsen said of the building project, which A&E is designing.

A&E has four partners: Simonsen, Rick Heldt, Chris Martison and Dusty Eaton. Billings-based Jones Construction is the main contractor.

The mezzanine, which housed additional seating and was once a running track for the YMCA, will house additional offices for A&E.

The second floor was last remodeled in 2002 and served for years as the corporate headquarters for Wendys of Montana. McDonald has continued using the space for his real-estate company.

The rarely visited third floor is already torn to the studs, a project McDonald said he launched a few years ago but never finished.

These upper two floors will each house six apartment spaces, including studios and one- and two-bedroom apartments. They will be roughly between 1,000 and 1,400 square feet each.

The building also has a basement that will be used mostly for tenant storage, including bike parking. McDonald also owns about 900 square feet of retail space next door, which will be renovated and available for rent.

The partners are working on securing tenant parking, which will likely include spaces inside the citys Park One structure or private lots.

The YMCA occupied the building until the 1940s when the organization moved into its current home at at 402 N. 32nd St. About a decade later, Bennetts Drugstore moved in and remodeled the building in its current layout.

McDonalds father, the late Sam McDonald, bought the building in 1978 when he opened the states first Wendys restaurant. The McDonald family sold their 17 Montana franchises in December 2014 to a Spokane, Wash. group, which closed the downtown location three months later.

Since then, McDonald said he turned down an offer to sell to the developers of One Big Sky Center, a $165 million proposed multi-use project that would be across the street.

Another deal for a bookstore fell through. This House of Books instead opened a few blocks away at 224 N. Broadway.

Honaker, the developer, has worked on multiple other projects in Billings, including the Home2 Suites by Hilton hotel next to Albertsons and the Western Security Bank building downtown.

He said the McDonald project is a unique chance to restore a piece of the citys frontier past.
By Press Trust of India: Patna, Jan 15 (PTI) BJP MP Shatrughan Sinha today expressed grief over the boat tragedy in river Ganga last evening in which 24 people lost their lives.

Sinha, in whose Patna Sahib Parliamentary constituency the mishap occurred, said he has asked the state government to thoroughly probe the "mismanagement" and fix responsibilities in the matter.

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"I condole the death of the victims of the boat tragedy in the Ganges on an auspicious occasion like Makar Sankranti," Sinha told PTI.

The victims, including some minors, drowned when their boat capsized near NIT ghat last evening, suspectedly because of overloading. Around 40 people were said to be on board the country boat when it capsized.

Speaking over phone from Pune, Sinha said, "I was happy after receiving an award yesterday, but after hearing about the boat tragedy I felt very sad."

"In this hour of grief I am with the families of the deceased," he added. PTI SNS DKB KIS LNS

--- ENDS ---
Scholarships help students get that much-desired college education either for free or for less. Great news for those who want scholarships but don't want to write or are weak in crafting the notorious essay - there are scholarships that make you leverage your creativity in different areas, and not just writing.

There are plenty of ways to earn money for college without the need for essays, reports U.S. News. Some of these make use of your talents, while some offer you the chance to randomly receive an amount simply by joining. Here are some ways to earn win scholarships without writing an essay.

Be a Filmmaker

Well, not a whole movie just yet. There are certain scholarships that can be won by making worthwhile videos. The Courageous Persuaders, for example, awards high school students with more than $26,000 in scholarships for creating a 30-second TV commercial about the dangers of underage drinking or texting while driving.

Be a Game Designer

While playing video games can drain your wallet with all the consoles, systems, games, and in-game purchases, designing your own video games can snag you enough some money to fund your education.

Microsoft's Imagine Cup, for example, awards teams of three eligible students with huge amounts of money for creating apps and games "that shape how we live, work, and play." First place takes home $100,000, second place receives $25,000, and third place gets $15,000.

Just Join In

Some scholarships can be won by simply joining in. The Harris Poll $1,000 Scholarship Sweepstakes Drawing, for example, only requires students to apply, and participate in online polls.

Another is Microsoft's Hello Cloud 2017. Students joining will only need to sign up for Azure through Microsoft Imagine and then complete one or more Hello Cloud activities. Each activity means one chance to win $1,000.
Los Angeles Valley College is yet another victim to a cyberattack late last month. This move disrupted computer systems, email, and voice mail at the Southern California's public community college. The incident resulted with a ransom note found by college officials.

The document informed the college the encryption of its electronic files. The files can only be decrypted with a 'private key.' The cyberattacker would only supply the key after obtaining payment in the form of bitcoins. Bitcoins are valuable digital currency that can be used anonymously without a centralized bank, according to a report in Washington Post.

The college's official statement stated that the funds for the ransom as well as technical assistance of cybersecurity experts from a cybersecurity insurance policy made in preparation for these occurrences, according to a report in Computer Weekly. The ransom was worth $28,000.

However, paying ransoms were not advised by security and law enforcement representatives because it encourages this cybercrime to be done. There is no assurance with the restoration of data as well.

Kansas Heart Hospital

A cyberattack was also launched against a Kansas hospital that demanded a ransom to be paid to release hostage files last May 2016. However, the cyber culprits refused in unlocking the files and even demanded more money, according to a post by MSP Mentor.

Kansas Heart Hospital, based in Wichita, was attacted with with some files of patients that were virtually locked by hackers.

Money was demanded by these cybercriminals with hospital administrators. These individuals also demanded the ransom to be paid through Bitcoin or other untraceable virtual currency.

Attackers promised the hospital with a decryption key if payment is confirmed. However, Dr. Gre Duick, the president of the hospital, said that the hackers did not perform as they promised.

Officials of the hospital refused to pay a second ransom.
Apple's wireless ear buds AirPods was finally released to the market last December, after being postponed for a few times. Although it missed a lot of holiday sales opportunities, it would still be difficult for fans to get their hands on one as buying one from the Apple Store would mean a six-week shipping timeframe. Despite its limited availability, Apple still released new ads for the AirPods featuring Lil Buck dancing in the streets of Mexico City.

AirPod Ads Despite Limited Supply

Apple waited for the holiday season to be over before airing its AirPod ads, probably due to its limited supply, The Verge reported. The advertisement has popular dancer Lil Buck dancing across the streets of Mexico City while listening music with the AirPods.

Apple clearly wants to showcase the freedom and the magic brought by the AirPods in the 60-second advertisement. Instant pairing and the charging case are probably the best features of Apple's new AirPods. However, these features can only be seen for about 2 seconds in the advertisement.

There is another clip, however, that shows a bit more of the instant pairing and charging features of the new Apple AirPods. Buck can be seen dancing all over the cars and walls of the streets, which showcases that the wireless ear buds doesn't fall off. The automatic pause after being removed is also seen in the ad.

Another short clip features Siri. The iPhone 7 is also mentioedn by the end of the clip, but the AirPods are compatible with all iPhones that run on iOS 10. This means fans can use them for their iPhone 5 and other newer devices with iOS 10.

Limited Supply

News about the AirPod first surfaced January last year. News about it became more concrete on July. It was expected for release on October and was finally released in December. However, fans who want to buy the wireless Bluetooth AirPods need to wait for six weeks for the shipping due to its limited supply, Phone Arena reported. Those who order the gadget for an in-store pick up will have to wait until March before they can get their AirPods.
The stampede occurred when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata. Officials initially said it was a stampede but the state government later claimed it was not.

By Press Trust of India: At least six pilgrims died while returning from Gangasagar fair in West Bengal today, which the officials initially said was a stampede but the state government later claimed it was not.

District officials initially said two pilgrims died on the spot and three, including the woman in the hospital.

The stampede occurred at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said, adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

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A search has been launched by naval divers to find out anybody who might have fallen into Buriganga river during the stampede, the officials said.

ALSO READ | Stampede at Gangasagar fair in West Bengal: 6 killed, 15 injured

Later however, Sundarbans Development Minister Manturam Pakhira told PTI that six elderly women died after falling ill during a rush to board a vessel at a jetty in South 24 Parganas district while returning from the Gangasagar fair.

The incident occurred when there was a mad rush of pilgrims to board vessels at jetty number 5 to reach Kolkata, he said.

A few people fell unconscious while several took ill during the incident, he said, adding they were taken to a nearby temporary healthcare centre where six people, all elderly women, died.

"These women were very old. Most of them were above 75 years of age and were very weak. They died natural death.

Doctors said that they died of heart attack," Pakhira said.

"The rush was because there would be no vessel for about eight hours due to low tide," he said.

ALSO READ | PM saddened over WB stampede deaths, sanctions Rs 2 lakh for

State ministers Subrata Mukherjee and Arup Biswas also denied that it was a stampede.

After the initial reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had even tweeted: "Saddened by the loss of lives caused by a stampede in West Bengal. My thoughts are with the families of the deceased."

The PMO also tweeted: "PM approved ex-gratia from PMNRF, of Rs 2 lakh for next of kin of those deceased & Rs. 50,000 for those injured in the stampede in WB."

South 24 Parganas' District Magistrate PB Salim said the state government would provide a compensation of Rs 5 lakh to the kin of each of the deceased.

ALSO READ | Kerala: 31 injured in stampede at Sabarimala temple He also denied that any stampede had taken place in Kachuberia as reported earlier.

A total 16 lakh pilgrims took the holy dip in two days on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Ganga Sagar.

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Salim said there were eight deaths at Ganga Sagar mela last year mainly because of cold weather condition which rose to nine this year - from January 12 till today.

ALSO READ | Varanasi stampede: Commission completes 1st round of inquiry

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Actor Eduard Osipov of the new Sci Fi Thriller Domicile is living the American dream. My goal is to honestly express myself through art, make movies, and help others achieve their dreams, he says. The biggest challenge Ive had on my way to becoming an actor was getting a visa to the United States.

Born in the U.S.S.R., he developed a passion for acting at an early age. He joined the theatre troupe at his school, and began performing as often as possible. I began studying Russian mixed martial arts at a fight club called Argument. I wanted to be prepared for a life as an actor, he says. But I applied three times for the US visa and was refused every single time.

Finally he obtained an American visa and got his approval on the fourth try. In 2006 he moved to the United States to begin nurturing a career as an actor/director, while developing his skill sets as a producer, stunt coordinator, and script supervisor on various projects. Now he stars in the upcoming Las Vegas indie film, Domicile, set to release at the end of February.

Domicile  Official Trailer

[fbvideo link=https://www.facebook.com/AlienDomicile/videos/1822887667984280/ width=588 height=700 onlyvideo=1]

The biggest lesson hes learned along the way? Persistence. Train hard, work hard, work smart, says Osipov.
The Omnipotent Owl  Why Are We Drawn to This Ancient Symbol of Wisdom?

Like a great sage, an owl sits stock-still, seeing everything, but saying nothing. When she takes action, it is swift and precise. These bold characteristics have earned the owl both respect and fear among humans; yet any great big eyes set into a fluffy body is sure to have broad
Music Time in Africa is VOAs longest running English language program. Since 1965, this award-winning program has featured pan African music that spans all genres and generations. Ethnomusicologist and Host Heather Maxwell keeps you up to date on whats happening in African music with exclusive interviews, cultural information, and of course, great music -- including rare recordings from the Leo Sarkisian Library of African Music.
The stampede occured at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

By Manogya Loiwal : A day after boat tragedy in Patna, a stampede has happened in Gangasagar in West Bengal.

Six persons have been killed and 15 others have been injured in the stampede that took place near Kochuberia in Sagar Islands.

Stampede took place on jetty number 5 while people were boarding the boat.

The stampede occured at around 6 pm when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels to reach Kolkata, the officials said adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified.

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A search has been launched by naval divers to find out anybody who might have fallen into Buriganga river during the stampede, they added.

West Bengal government has denied reports of any stampede at Gangasagar fair.

As per the WB government, all 6 pilgrims died of 'natural' reasons as they were old. However, the state government has announced compensation of Rs 5 lakh for the deceased.

Also read: Bihar boat tragedy: Meet the man who fished out bodies from Ganga

--- ENDS ---
Within hours after the Afghan government said it successfully completed a three-month-long cleanup operation against the Islamic State (IS) militant group in a remote eastern district of the country, IS conducted a series of attacks and kidnappings in other areas.



On Sunday, 12 teachers and two staff members from a religious school in the Haskamena district of Nangarhar, where IS has an active presence, were kidnapped from their school and taken to nearby mountains area.

"The teachers were giving a test at the madrassa [religious school] when IS kidnapped them," provincial government spokesman Attaullah Khogyani said.

Authorities say efforts are going on to secure their release.

The abductions came after IS fighters stormed the Kot district on Saturday, targeting local militia forces in the area. Local residents told VOA IS fighters were advancing toward the national police checkpoints in the area.

An untold number of villagers have been killed in the are since the fall, and hundreds of families have been displaced from their homes by the fighting, they added.

The weekend violence came after the Afghan government said Friday that one district is now free of IS.



"The IS group has been driven out of Pachiragam and the area is now free of IS fighters," Shirin Aqa Faqir, a spokesperson for the Afghan army in Nangarhar, told VOA's Afghan service.

Local force

In Pachiragam, provincial authorities said local villagers had been enlisted in a militia force to ensure IS will not return to the area. Hundreds of area residents have signed up to join the militia, they said.

"We have deployed 500 local uprising members in 12 security checkposts and two large military bases to help protect the area," Faqir said. "We have also created five national police checkposts on the Pachiragam-Chaparhar highway."

The majority of the recruits will be phased into local police and Afghan security forces, Nangarhar's police spokesperson, Hazrat Hussain Mashriqiwal, told VOA. The recruits have been put on the government payroll.

A military center has been established in the district, which would supply logistics and arms to the militia as needed, according to Faqir.

Counteroffensive

Afghan security forces began their counteroffensive against IS in October, shortly after the militant group attacked checkpoints manned by government-supported local militias in the Pachiragam district of eastern Nangarhar province, which borders Pakistan.

IS reportedly is holding at least 60 local militiamen who were taken hostage in October. The hostages have been taken from the district to neighboring areas where IS has a presence.

A delegation of tribal elders that attempted to secure the hostages' release was sent back with orders from IS, including the demand for locals to "renew their marriages and Islamic faith." According to IS, they had become infidels because they lived under and supported government forces.

The restive Kot district, which has about 160,000 residents, has been hit hard by IS militantcy. IS militants last summer launched a massive assault on various parts of Kot. Dozens of villagers were killed and hundreds displaced.

"They have ended the offensive against IS, but Taliban militants still exist in the area," Hejratullah Rahmani, the Pachiragam district governor, told VOA.

Zabihullah Ghazi contributed to this report from Nangarhar.
Bahraini authorities put to death three men found guilty of a deadly attack on police Sunday, the kingdoms first executions since an Arab Spring-inspired uprising rocked the country in 2011.



The public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad early in the day. The executions were the first in the U.S.-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men and clashes between activists and police the previous day.



Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Signace were found guilty in 2015 of killing two Bahraini and an Emirati policeman in a 2014 bomb attack. Their death sentences were upheld by a Bahraini court last week.

Uprising crushed in 2011

Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to nearby Iran.



Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face low-level unrest led by a majority Shiite population that feels marginalized by the Sunni monarchy.



Bahrains last execution was of a Bangladeshi man in 2010, though a number of death sentences have been issued since then.



Government opponents see Sundays executions as politically motivated, leading hundreds to take to the streets Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumors spread that their executions were imminent.

Police officer hurt in Sunday violence

Images shared on social media showed some activists blocking roads with burning debris and hurling petrol bombs in clashes with police.



One police officer was injured when several people shot at a police patrol in Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. It gave no further details.



The Ashtar Brigade, a Shiite militant group that analysts say has claimed about 20 bombings in Bahrain since 2013, claimed responsibility for the attack on the police officer on social media. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the post, though it came in a forum often used by the group.



We announce through this statement that all options are open and all targets are monitored, the group said.
Thailand faces more hardship from unseasonable floods that have killed 40 people in its south, with more rain expected in the major rubber-producing and tourist region in coming days, a top disaster agency official said Sunday.

Persistent heavy rain well into what should be the dry season has triggered floods across the south, cutting road and rail links, threatening crops and affecting about 1.6 million people, said Chatchai Promlert, head of the Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Department.

The worst isnt over. Were expecting more rain this week while clean-up efforts are underway in places where the waters have subsided, Chatchai told Reuters.

The Meteorological Department said on its website more rain was expected Monday.

Not the rainy season

The rainy season in Thailand normally takes place from June to November. The floods, which began January 1, have followed unseasonably heavy rain.

Thailand is one of the worlds most important producers of natural rubber and the national rubber authority said Thursday output in 2016-2017 would be about 10 percent lower because of the floods. Global rubber prices have spiked on concern about the impact.

Flooding occurs in Thailand regularly during the rainy season but January is traditionally sunny and clear, and a high season for the tourist industry, including in southern seaside resorts.

Floods of 2011

The country saw its worst flooding in half a century in 2011, when heavy rain beginning in July that year over northern regions led to six months of inundations, including in the central plains, where industrial estates have replaced rice fields in many places.

The floods submerged a third of the country, killed more than 900 people and crippled industry.

The army played a major role in relief efforts in 2011 while the then civilian government was criticized for what many saw as lackluster disaster efforts.

The army, which seized power in a 2014 coup, has again been playing a major role in helping with relief efforts.


With fears that President-elect Donald Trump may dramatically shift U.S. policy on the Middle East, representatives of more than 70 countries and international organizations on Sunday affirmed that a two-state solution is the only viable option for peace.,

Following a meeting in Paris that neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians attended, French President Francois Hollande dismissed naysayers and cynics who already had written it off as a failure, suggesting the symbolism and the message are equally important.

The naivete would be to think the rapprochement between Israel and its neighbors that is so necessary could be possible without moving forward on peace between the Israelis and the Palestinians, he said.

The peace conference is the second hosted by Paris in less than a year, and the final statement said another will be held by the end of 2017. It comes as the Obama administration wraps up eight years in office with no success in inching the years old peace process forward.

In a major departure from previous U.S. policy, Washington abstained last month from vetoing a U.N. resolution criticizing Israeli settlement building.

Some now fear Trumps apparently friendlier stance toward Israeli settlements and vow to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem could endanger the two-state option.

A final communique did not specifically criticize Trumps vow to move the U.S. embassy. Nor did Hollande.

Outgoing Secretary of State John Kerry, who attended the talks, said those plans do not belong within international fora at this moment.

But in an interview on France 3 TV, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned against the possible embassy move, suggesting it could be a provocation and threatens a two-state solution.

The peace talks have lost ground for other reasons. World attention has shifted to other Middle East hot spots, including Syria and Iraq. But Hollande said the two issues can not be separated.

The fallout of the weakening dialogue and Israeli settlement building is manifest in the distrust growing between the two parties which the extremists are exploiting along with terrorists, pointing to last weeks truck attack in Jerusalem as a case in point.

The French leader has invited both Israeli leader Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to discuss the outcome of the Paris meeting. Reports say only Abbas has accepted.

For his part, Netanyahu called the Paris talks useless, and Israeli supporters staged a small demonstration against them Sunday morning.

For Paris, the peace talks have a local impact; France hosts Western Europe's largest populations of Jews and Muslims. But most analysts doubt France or Europe could move the peace process forward alone.

The conference in itself was important, but beyond the form and protocol we see nobody wants to budge from their positions, Middle East specialist Jean-Paul Chagnollaud told France 24 TV, criticizing Hollands remarks as vague and cold.

It will be forgotten in a matter of days, he predicted.

But others commended the gathering simply for taking place.

It wont lead to peace in the coming months; it wont relaunch by miracle a promising Israeli-Palestinian dialogue, the daily Le Monde newspaper wrote in an editorial. It nonetheless makes complete sense..we cannot abandon a two-state solutioneven though it grows daily more improbable."
Gambian President-elect Adama Barrow met Saturday in Mali with world leaders trying to arrange a peaceful outcome of the West African country's leadership crisis.

Barrow was officially declared the winner of last month's election by a slim margin. Yahya Jammeh, who has been power in Gambia since a coup in 1994, originally accepted defeat but reversed himself and filed suit to challenge the results, citing voting irregularities.

The presidents of France and Mali, Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and Francois Hollande, both called on Jammeh to step down when his current five-year term of office ends during the coming week.

Jammeh, however, has said he intends to remain in office until Gambia's Supreme Court rules on his legal challenge to results of the December 1 vote. Informed observers in Banjul estimate it could take the court months to rule.

Barrow, attending the annual France-Africa summit in Bamako, said he was continuing to plan for his inauguration on Thursday.

West African regional bloc ECOWAS has placed its military force on standby to take action if Jammeh does not step down as scheduled.

Hollande said in Mali that Gambia's elections were credible and transparent, so the results "must be respected."

'De facto recognition'

Mali's Keita said the reception Barrow was given at the France-Africa summit was "de facto recognition" of his legitimacy as Gambia's head of state. "I dare to hope that proverbial African wisdom will inspire our brother Yahya" to step down Thursday, he added.

Under Jammeh, the Gambian government has been accused of numerous rights abuses, including arbitrary arrests, torture and forced disappearances.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari and other regional leaders traveled to Banjul on Friday to offer Jammeh asylum if he steps down peacefully, but no deal was reached.

Speaking about the ECOWAS high-level mission to the Gambian capital, the head of the U.N.'s office for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, told the Security Council on Friday that there should be "no doubt about the determination of ECOWAS to use all necessary means, including force, to have the will of the Gambian people upheld."
Before dawn Sunday, U.S. military personnel met at Joint-Base Andrews to then travel to the Pentagon and from there deploy to the Capitol in buses on a sunny day in Washington, DC.

Metro and Capitol police had shut down streets along what will be the inaugural parade route through downtown Washington and around the Capitol, so that a limited number of military representatives and marching bands could parade through the city as they will on inauguration day this Friday.



Members of the military stood in for President-elect Donald Trump, his vice president-elect Mike Pence, and members of their families to, as closely as possible, imitate the historic event  and prepare as much as possible for the real thing.

Between 800,000 and 900,000 people are expected to travel to DC for the inauguration  an estimate far smaller than President Barack Obamas first inauguration in 2009. But a significant portion of expected attendees this year are protesters, which may change the dynamic of inauguration festivities.



Although DC residents have only begun seeing barricades and construction in recent weeks, inauguration planning started before the election was even decided.



Since April, my administration has been working closely with local federal, regional and private sector partners to ensure the seamless oversight and integrated management of this national event, DC Mayor Muriel Bowser told a news conference earlier in January.



On the local level, DC, Capitol, and Park police are working with public transportation authorities, the National Parks Service, and DCs Homeland Security and Emergency Management Agency (HSEMA).



The city has a very large role in this  these are our streets, this is our town, Chris Geldart, DCs HSEMA director, told VOA.

The U.S. Secret Service is primarily responsible for the security of the president.



The Secret Service, in conjunction with our law enforcement, military and public safety partners, have been working on preparing for the inauguration since June of last year, Secret Service Washington Field Office Special Agent in Charge Brian Ebert told VOA.

Joint task force



The Joint Task Force Committee, National Capitol Region (JTF-NCR) Inaugural Committee includes members of the military and some DC National Guard members. Thousands of National Guard members will be deputized by the D.C. Police Department, giving them the power to make arrests. Although the deputization has been common practice in previous inaugurals, arrests are rarely made.





Thousands of members of the military were selected from across the U.S. to join the Task Force.



I specifically came from Texas, U.S. Army Major Beatrice Florez, the logistics officer for the 2017 inauguration, told VOA. On my team I have peoplefrom Hawaii. Some are local but some are really drawn from all over the U.S. and even some from overseas just to make up this task force.



All were selected specifically for this task, and all have been involved in trainings and exercises as early as a month in advance.



Weve been planning and coordinating, and weve conducted a number of joint training initiatives as well as tabletop and field exercises, rehearsal of concept (ROC) drills, and dress rehearsals to ensure that were all on the same page, and that we are ready and prepared for the inauguration and ready to respond immediately and in a well-coordinated fashion to effectively deal with any challenges that we face, Ebert said.

Protest worries

"Clearly, the biggest concern at this point is the number of potential protesters," said Major General Bradley Becker, commanding general of the Joint Force Headquarters-National Capital Region.



The ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) coalition is one of many groups seeking permits to protest on Inauguration Day. Nearly 20,000 people have RSVP'd on the group's website.



According to a Facebook event page, hundreds of thousands of people plan to participate in the Women's March on Washington the day after the inauguration.

The National Park Service is in charge of clearing permits for protests, because most of them occur on the National Mall and around monuments. It is also in charge of putting up barricades along the parade route, around the National Mall, and near the Capitol.





Agents across the many groups working to ensure the inauguration runs smoothly are confident that they are prepared for this challenge.



Folks come to DC to express their first amendment rights and we honor that here, Geldart said, preferring to refer to protests and demonstrations as First Amendment activities.



So from the beginning we ensure we have the appropriate amount of folks to make sure that as we have opposing groups with different First Amendment rights. We make sure that everybody can come here, say what they need to say, have the experience they want to have in Washington, DC, do so peacefully, lawfully, and everybody goes home at the end of the day safely.
Pakistans military chief told Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Sunday that his troops have eliminated "all safe havens of terrorists on Pakistani soil, and he emphasized the need for security cooperation between the two countries to deter cross-border terrorist infiltration.

General Qamar Javed Bajwa contacted Ghani by phone following Tuesdays almost simultaneous bombings in different Afghan cities, including the capital city Kabul.

The violence left more than 50 people and wounded scores of others. Five diplomats of the United Arab Emirates also were among the dead.

Bajwa spoke to the Afghan president to condole the loss of life in recent terrorist attacks, and he expressed sympathy with victim families, according to Pakistan army spokesman, Major-General Asif Ghafoor.

Afghan officials and politicians again pointed fingers at Pakistan militarys intelligence agency for helping Taliban insurgents plot the deadly bombings. Kabul alleges Taliban insurgents use sanctuaries on Pakistani soil to stage deadly attacks in Afghanistan, charges Islamabad denies.

Ghafoor quoted the Pakistan military chief as telling Ghani that elements inimical" to regional peace are strengthened by the blame game.

"He [General Bajwa] emphasized that Pakistan has come a long way in its fight against terrorism of all hue and color and has eliminated all safe havens in the process, the spokesman added.

Ghafoor also said General Bajwa reiterated Pakistans call for putting in place a robust" border management mechanism and intelligence cooperation to stop cross-border movement of terrorists on both sides of their nearly 2,600-kilometer largely porous border.
The president of the Philippines is threatening martial law for his country.

Speaking to members of the Chamber of Commerce in the southern city of Davao Saturday, Rodrigo Duterte said if the war on drugs descends into something really, very virulent, then he would declare martial law.

No one would be able to stop me, he said.

He said the aim of such a move would be to preserve the Filipino people and the youth of this land.

The controversial president has pledged to wipe out illegal drugs. In the first six months of his drug crackdown, nearly 6,000 people have been killed by police and vigilante squads, drawing criticism from human rights groups, the United Nations and U.S. President Barack Obama. Duterte has vowed to ignore the criticism and continue with the crackdown, and has dared his opponents to remove him from office.

The Philippines endured martial law during the dictatorship of Ferdinand Marcos.

Also Saturday, Duterte said he has ordered his military to blast extremists who flee with their kidnapped captives.

They say, What about the hostage? Sorry, collateral damage, the president said. His advice to potential victims? So, really, dont allow yourselves to be kidnapped.
Police in Brazil have entered two prisons in the country's northern state of Rio Grande do Norte where a riot left at least 10 inmates dead on Saturday, authorities said Sunday.



A statement released by the office in charge of state penitentiaries said the rebellion started Saturday afternoon in the Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho detention facilities, located next to each other outside the city of Natal.



Police entered the prisons on Sunday morning, according to the statement.



The riot erupted from fighting between rival gangs and was the latest in a series of massacres in the South America country's penitentiaries that have killed more than 100.



Authorities have said they expect the death toll from Saturday's rebellion to rise.



The Alcacuz facility should house 620 inmates but has 1,083.



The last rebellion in Alcacuz prison was in November 2015, when a tunnel was discovered in one pavilion. The facility should house 620 inmates but has 1,083.



The recent outbreak of prison violence in Brazil began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Authorities said the Family of the North gang targeted members of Brazil's most powerful criminal gang, First Command, in a clash over control of drug-trafficking routes in northern states. Many of the dead were beheaded and dismembered.



Then on Jan. 6, in the neighboring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.



Experts say First Command, known by the Portuguese acronym PCC, is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the Brazil's penitentiaries to expand its reach across the national prison system. The gang runs drug-trafficking operations both inside and outside prisons even though many of its leaders are in maximum security penitentiaries in Sao Paulo state.
Officials in Afghanistan say that at least seven civilians were killed and two wounded when their vehicle hit a roadside bomb in an eastern troubled border region. The violence happened just hours before Islamic State militants in the same region abducted 13 seminary teachers.

The Afghan Interior Ministry said Sunday the early morning blast took place in the Bargholi village of the Nangarhar province, which shares a border with Pakistan.

The ministry condemned the deadly violence as an unforgivable and shameful act of enemies of peace and stability in Afghanistan, and vowed to bring the perpetrators to justice.

No claim of responsibility

It was not immediately clear who planted the bomb in an Afghan region where the anti-government Taliban actively conducts insurgent activities.

Extremists linked to Islamic State, locally known as Daesh, have also established bases in several remote districts of Nangarhar and have regularly carried out atrocities against civilians, according to Afghan and American military officials.

They say many former members of the anti-state Pakistani Taliban militants filled IS ranks in Afghanistan after fleeing military operations in the neighboring country.

Seminary teachers abducted

Separately, a provincial official in Nangarhar confirmed to VOA that a group of Daesh militants raided a religious seminary in Deh Bala district early Sunday and seized 13 teachers and took them to an unknown destination.

The incident happened just two days after IS extremists set fire to around 70 civilian houses in a neighboring district in their bid to force the population from the area so they could retake former bases there, according to Afghan officials.

Peace negotiator dismissed

Meanwhile, the Afghan national unity government has dismissed one of its senior peace negotiators for making controversial remarks in favor of the Taliban, which sparked nationwide condemnation and calls for the officials immediate removal.

Abdul Haim Mujahid of the Afghan High Peace Council, which is tasked to promote peace and reconciliation with anti-government armed groups, in a recent statement referred to the Taliban as angels of peace.

An official announcement by the office of Afghan Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, while condemning the remarks and ordering Mujahids removal from the Council, vowed not to allow anyone to praise those who are killing innocent Afghan men, women and children, and destroying property.

Mujahid served as ambassador to the United Nations when the Taliban was in control of Afghanistan before the U.S.-led military invasion removed the Islamist group from power in late 2001. He later abandoned the Taliban and joined the Afghan mainstream politics.
The other day, we were having a cup of coffee. I told Justice Thakur that I had heard a rumour he's going to be the Vice-President of India. He laughed it off. But why Vice-President? Why not the President?" With his signature white moustache, it's hard to tell when Justice Jagdish Singh Khehar smiles. But on January 3, the man who is as quick to crack jokes on the bench as he is to smack down those who waste his time, was almost certainly smiling. The emerald lawns of the Supreme Court resounded with laughter, as the soon-to-be Chief Justice of India poked fun at the hottest rumour of the day. But the irony of the moment was not lost on many: starting January 4, he faced one of the most daunting terms in recent times.

The coming months will be a testing time for the undersized Khehar court-with just one sister and 22 brother judges, the smallest in the last eight years. The Supreme Court has been living in the fast lane since 2014 - constantly at odds with the Narendra Modi-led NDA government. The pace is about to pick up. A bitter battle for control of the Supreme Court, a Constitution-smashing crisis over the National Judicial Appointments Commission (NJAC) Act, deadlock over judicial appointments, alarming vacancies in courts, an avalanche of pending litigation and internal squabbles-that's the legacy the 44th Chief Justice has inherited for his eight-month-long tenure, until August 2017. Will he end his term with the smile in place?

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WHISPERS IN THE CORRIDORS

Inside the secret world of the Supreme Court, whispers swirl and rumours fly. After all, it is arguably the most remote, insulated and secretive institution in the country. The judges sit on high benches and decide the law of the land, far from the public gaze. No record of their discussion is allowed, no one intrudes on their proceedings. They talk when they want to and go into 'judicial lockjaw' when it suits them. They are the Supremos, the most powerful people in what some consider the most powerful branch of government.

"Has he, or has he not?" In other words, has the new CJI visited Prime Minister Narendra Modi in secret, which his predecessor Justice T.S. Thakur had refused to do, or not? That's the latest on the rumour mill, spinning furiously ever since the Supreme Court announced a change of guard. Rumours have always been a fact of life in the court circuit. But after a year marked by constant corrosive bickering and sharp clashes with the government, everyone is reassessing how they should react when the next rumour comes along.

It started in December, when CJI Thakur sent up his recommendation to the President of India, naming his successor: Justice Khehar, the seniormost judge, as per convention. But as silence stretched, speculation started bubbling, about Justice Khehar being superseded by another judge, closer to the government. The rumours did not materialise but, for the first time, the higher judiciary got caught up in a web of politics, with a body of lawyers filing civil writ petitions opposing Justice Khehar's elevation as CJI. Their claim? He's too arrogant to be CJI.

In fact, the sharp-witted and often sharp-tongued Justice Khehar, who led the five-judge Constitution bench that struck down the NJAC Act in 2015, is an outspoken advocate of a proactive judiciary. "The expectation from the judiciary, to safeguard the rights of the citizens of this country, can only be ensured by keeping it absolutely insulated and independent from the other organs of governance," he had said in his individual judgment on the NJAC case. On Constitution Day on November 26, 2016, he had famously sparred with Attorney General Mukul Rohatgi at an event, when the top government lawyer said India's Constitution placed a 'lakshmanrekha' on the judiciary. Khehar held that the most important line to defend was the one shielding citizens "against discrimination and abuse of state power".

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JUDGE WANTED

The CJI's term will be marked by a severe shortage of judges, including a shortfall of 25.81 per cent at the Supreme Court, up from 19 per cent under CJI Thakur in 2016. Two more apex court judges-Justices Pinaki Chandra Ghose and Prafulla Chandra Pant-are due to retire. If no judges are appointed to the top court by May, its strength will drop to an all-time low of 21. According to Supreme Court records on December 31, 2016, there are 62,537 pending cases. The court admits over 7,000 new cases and disposes of 4,895 cases a month-or over 60,000 a year, compared to about 55-80 in the US and 100-180 in the UK.

As the head of judiciary, the CJI also leads 650 judges in higher courts and 16,000 judges in subordinate courts-facing a shortfall of 44 per cent and 25 per cent respectively. In a country where judges can hardly devote more than 2.5 minutes to hear a case (DAKSH, 2016), thanks to a massive shortfall in their numbers, the whole business of justice runs the risk of coming to a grinding halt. "His biggest challenge is to first finalise the new rules for appointment of judges in the apex and high courts, and then fill the present seven vacancies in the apex court," says former CJI R.M. Lodha. It will also be his job to stamp out public bickering among apex judges and carry his colleagues with him in the collegium, or the five-judge group in the Supreme Court that decides appointments and transfers of higher judges. With Justice Jasti Chelameswar, the sole dissenting judge in the NJAC, going public with his grievances last September, the CJI will need to keep his house in order.

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Unfortunately, the central government is yet to recover from the stinging rejection in the NJAC case, explains legal scholar N.R. Madhava Menon. The quest for a revised 'Memorandum of Procedure', approved by both sides, will not be easy or quick. Consider the 87th draft report by a Parliamentary Standing Committee, 'Inordinate Delay in Filling up the Vacancies in the Supreme Court and High Courts', presented on December 6. "It seems something like a reiteration of the NJAC doctrine that was rejected by the Supreme Court," says Menon. It proposes to overrule the "veto power" of the CJI in the appointment of judges, making it a joint responsibility of both judiciary and executive, blames the CJI for the delay in appointments and in preparing the MoP." It also calls the judiciary's interpretation on appointment of judges a "constitutional distortion". "The report, currently under study, signals that there will be hiccups in the future as well," he says.

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HOT-BUTTON CASES

The CJI is taking over in the middle of a blockbuster court term, marked by a host of hot-button cases, of particular significance to the government and the political community. At the heart of it is demonetisation, PM Modi's flagship black money crusade from November 8, when Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 currency notes were banned. With a clutch of petitions filed in the Supreme Court, challenging the constitutional validity of demonetisation, the court has referred the matter to a five-judge Constitution bench, refusing to buy the government's argument that the decision was within the exclusive domain of the executive, and beyond judicial scrutiny.

All eyes are also on the case of public sector banks and big corporate defaulters. The Supreme Court has just directed the Centre to furnish in four weeks an "action plan" along with a list of corporates owing Rs 500 crore or more to banks-brushing aside the Reserve Bank of India's objections against making public the names of defaulters, already submitted in a sealed cover. The court has also asked liquor baron Vijay Mallya, who allegedly transferred $40 million to his children in violation of judicial orders, to file a response in the next three weeks.

With elections round the corner, the SC is set to decide half-a-dozen politically-charged cases: from disclosure of income sources by candidates to whether chargesheeted politicians should be kept out of the polls. Less dramatic, perhaps, but no less politically sensitive will be the triple talaq case, given the impending assembly elections in UP.

WORK IN PROGRESS

On January 4, the very day he was sworn in by President Pranab Mukherjee in the Ashoka Hall of Rashtrapati Bhavan, the CJI was seen striding purposefully into the court, just like he did every morning. And just like every other day, the job of swinging the gavel got going at 10.30 sharp. Professional and punctual as ever, he disposed of 30-odd cases in about an hour: hearing, adjourning or passing orders. Just another day. And for the Chief Justice and his 22 colleagues in black robes, time to get real work done.

Follow the writer on Twitter @DattaDamayanti

--- ENDS ---
Amid the political maelstrom surrounding the leaked, and wholly unverified, accusations of the Kremlin's possession of compromising information on U.S. President Elect Donald Trump, a new Russian word entered the global lexicon, "kompromat."



"The Kremlin has no kompromat on the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump," said Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov in denying the allegations as "pulp fiction."



"The Kremlin," insisted Peskov, "does not engage in the collection of compromising materials."



While the veracity of Peskov's rejection of the Trump-related allegations remains anyone's guess, his professed innocence of gathering damaging information immediately sent fact-check meters into the red.



"Peskov's lying, to put it mildly," said Gennady Gudkov, a former member of the Russian Duma and one-time officer in Russia's Federal Security Services in an interview with VOA.





"The Kremlin gathers all sorts of compromising material against its political enemies as a matter of government policy.There is regular surveillance, hacking of electronic emails, monitoring and wiretapping. And all of this material eventually finds its way to mass media for propaganda purposes," said Gudkov.



Kompromat's roots



To be sure all governments collect intelligence, including damaging information on rivals, real or imagined.



But "kompromat" is an entrenched Russian practice that flourished in the Soviet Union.



In the USSR, the KGB security/intelligence agency often used the technique as a means to blackmail foreign diplomats into providing information or spying. Sex, compromising photographs, and so-called "honey traps" with operatives were often used, they still are.



Yet in post-Soviet Russia, kompromat expanded domestically. It became the preferred tool to settle business scores and destroy political opponents. It also entered the vernacular.



"The first time I ever heard of kompromat was in the 1990s," said Russian humorist and journalist Viktor Shenderovich." The word appeared along with the free press and, of course, journalists who were for sale."





The idea of kompromat as mainstream enterprise in post-Soviet Russia stands at the heart of a fictional Shenderovich 2002 short story, "Black and Grey PR." In it, Shenderovich imagines a representative from a firm called Reputation that offers kompromat to clients a la carte.



"Full moral destruction of your opponent. Fabrication of a dark past complete with witnesses and documents," are among services Reputation provides.



"We can even make it so that it's the main news all day long," said the representative." Only it'll cost you double."



Shenderovich's rendering was funny. It also wasn't far from the truth.



Skuratov affair



In fact, just a few years earlier in 1999, Russians turned on their nightly news broadcast to see grainy surveillance footage of what appeared to be Prosecutor General Yuri Skuratov cavorting in a sauna with prostitutes.



True or not, the timing of the footage was suspect. Skuratov was at the time the driving force behind an investigation into corruption in the administration of then President Boris Yeltsin.





Skuratov, to this day, denies he was the man in the video. But then head of Russia's of Federal Security Services, Vladimir Putin, vouched publicly for the authenticity of the tape.



Skuratov soon was fired over the scandal and the investigation shelved.



Putin's efficient handling of the scandal was not lost on Yeltsin. Within a few months, Yeltsin promoted the former KGB officer to prime minister. Soon thereafter Yeltsin resigned and Putin assumed the presidency.



But Gudkov points to the Skuratov affair as a watershed moment, a sign kompromat adapted for the media age.



"Of course they collected compromising sexual material on people in the USSR, but it wasn't so blatant," he said." This was broadcast to 90 million people."



Kompromat now



One need only look at Russia's 2016 parliamentary elections to see the tactic remains alive and well in Putin's Russia.



With the Kremlin promising newly open and competitive elections to a restless electorate, kompromat once again was employed to great effect.



This time, it was the Kremlin-friendly NTV channel that summoned a unique exclusive: footage of Mikhail Kasyanov, Putin's one-time prime minister turned leader of the opposition PARNAS party, having an affair with a party loyalist.





A scandal of public interest? Perhaps, but the footage was taken from Kasyanov's own bedroom. Few doubt Russian secret services were responsible.



The sex scandal easily divided an already struggling opposition.With a compromised Kasyanov heading the ticket, PARNAS failed miserably as pro-Kremlin parties triumphed.



Violence lurking



Other Kremlin opponents have faced similar pitfalls.



Several opposition journalists, including Shenderovich, were implicated in honey trap operations videotaped with a Kremlin-hired prostitute. Opposition politicians regularly find their emails, phone calls, and surveillance video of private meetings leaked to state media.



Russian kompromat has clearly moved out of the bedroom into more dangerous terrain.



Shenderovich told VOA that he and other journalists were threatened repeatedly after state media launched smear campaigns against them over criticism of Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.



"I changed apartments regularly," said Shenderovich." I even tried not to walk my dog in the same place every day."



He also points to the 2015 assassination of opposition leader Boris Nemtsov on the streets of central Moscow as evidence of the violence lurking beneath state driven smear tactics. Proof that kompromat can kill.



Shenderovich argues that "Kompromat" has come to symbolize Putin's Russia, much like "Sputnik defined Soviet Space Age optimism and "Perestroika," Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev's democratic reforms in the USSR.



"And now what is our gift to the world? The word 'kompromat," said Shenderovich.
When U.S. Secretary of State nominee Rex Tillerson appeared before the U.S. Senate for his confirmation hearing last week, pundits and politicians in Moscow were watching closely for signals as to the new administrations stance on Russia.

Their reactions included upbeat pragmatism to an I-told-you-so warning that a Russia hawk could be entering President-elect Donald Trumps Cabinet. Overall, the comments painted a much more sober take on a Trump presidency than the jubilation displayed by many in Russia after his surprise victory in November.

Hawkish tone

On the Vesti FM state radio station, prominent pro-Kremlin journalist Vladimir Solovyov chided those Russians who expressed surprise at what many heard as a hawkish tone in Tillersons comments.

For our dear listeners I will for the 156th time, although it is fashionable to say 150th, repeat that Tillerson is not Major Vikhr [a Russian TV superhero], and Trump is not Colonel Isayev, Stierlitz [a fictional Soviet superspy akin to James Bond], Solovyov said.

They are both patriots of the U.S. One will, if confirmed, become the secretary of state. The second will, if a few days pass well, move from the status of president-elect to the status of president of the U.S. They in no way intend to carry out promises they never made to Russia. For them, the priority is the United States and their policies, he added.

A Crimea solution?

Leonid Slutsky, head of the Dumas International Affairs Committee, told the Interfax news agency that he thought Tillersons testimony suggested Washington might be amenable to reaching a deal with Moscow over Crimea, the Ukrainian peninsula seized by Russia in March 2014.

If we look deeper, he said, I was particularly interested by statements not only about sanctions, cyberattacks and so on  they are to be expected  but the ones on the question of Crimea. Tillerson, in particular, noted that the United States will only recognize the unification of Crimea with Russia in the event that the current situation around the peninsula can be regulated in a way that satisfies Ukraine, Slutsky was quoted as saying.

As we know Ukraine is a territory managed externally and the remote control is located in Washington. That is to say  could this be the beginning of the process of presenting conditions for recognition instead of the categorical give back Crimea?

Aleksei Venediktov, editor-in-chief of Ekho Moskvy radio, read Tillersons comments that, in 2014, following Russias annexation of Crimea, he would have supplied weapons and U.S. intelligence to Ukraine to defend against an incursion in the east of the country.

Who is this man?" Venediktov asked. This is a man who bears the [Russian] Order of Friendship received from Igor Ivanovich Sechin and Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin.

Some people say the Republicans are going to be pragmatists. But I would say their pragmatism is in their strictness. We have just heard that from Tillerson and we will hear that from Trump. That is to say, Guys, the rules are that we are a great power, we are a superpower and you are either with us or against us. Ever since this Trump story began I said this is what would happen. Thats how its ended up, he added.

On Thursday, President Vladimir Putins spokesman, Dmitry Peskov, said the Kremlin had noted Tillersons stance on Crimea, but rejected it.

We are not in agreement with that formulation and will explain our position, the presidents spokesman said in comments carried by Interfax.

Peskov declined to comment on Tillersons assertion that Russia invaded eastern Ukraine and that it was necessary to supply Kyiv with weapons.

I would leave this without a reaction. We will explain to Secretary of State Tillerson all the relevant questions when they arise, he said.

Tillerson vs Trump

The pro-Kremlin Vzgylad news and commentary website contrasted Tillersons hearings in the Senate with Trumps press conference the same day, the first since his election, noting the formers hawkish tone.

The speech by Tillerson, who was named the most pro-Russia of the possible candidates for secretary of state, sounded considerably harsher [than Trumps], Vzgylad said.

Vyacheslav Nikonov, head of the parliamentary committee on education, described the statements from Trump and Tillerson as moderate in comments to the TASS news agency.

In general, if we compare them to what could have been said, these statements look entirely moderate, Nikonov said. He added that Tillerson was careful throughout, meeting the primary goal of getting confirmed by the Senate as secretary of state.

Nonetheless, he said, Tillerson had taken the maximum pro-Russian stance on the questions.

However, Nikonov rejected Tillersons proposed condition for the recognition of Ukrainian Crimea as Russian territory.

Russia has absolutely no need for anyone to recognize Crimea. This is a part of Russia and no part of Russia requires recognition, Nikonov said.
Serbia's president says the country is ready to send troops to Kosovo to protect Serbian nationals, if necessary.

The comment Sunday followed a war of words that erupted between Kosovo and Serbia officials when a train painted with the words "Kosovo is Serbia" was stopped Saturday from entering Kosovo.

The United States ambassador in Pristina Greg Delawie said on Twitter that he was concerned about the train issue. Delawie called for restraint from all parties, adding Need normalization not confrontation between Serbia and Kosovo

Serbian President Tomislav Nikolic said the two countries were on the verge of a conflict while Kosovos prime minister told journalists the train sent a message of occupation.

I have asked them [police and interior minister] to stop imminently the train entering Kosovo at any price, Kosovo President Hashim Thaci told Gazeta Express, an online news outlet.

But Serbia's Nikolic said Kosovo had shown it wanted war after it deployed special forces to prevent the train painted with Serbia's national colors from entering its territory.

According to reports, Serbia officials accused Kosovo authorities of attempting to mine the railroad with bombs.

Kosovo officials strongly denounced these accusations adding they found no explosives on the railway.

Saturday's ride was the first from Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica since the 1998 war. Reports say the train later returned to Belgrade.

About 120,000 of Kosovo's 1.8 million inhabitants are ethnic Serbs.

Both countries are seeking E.U. membership to boost their struggling economies.

Kosovo declared independence in 2008, a decade after it split from Serbia. The country has been recognized by the United States and more than 110 countries, but not Serbia.

The split triggered a bloody year-long conflict between Serbian and Albanian forces.

Many of the 40,000 ethnic Serbs living in northern Kosovo have refused to recognize the ethnic Albanian majority's 2008 secession from Serbia.
Sudan said on Sunday it would extend a unilateral cease-fire in fighting with rebels in the country's warring regions to six months, state news agency SUNA reported.

The move comes after the United States said on Friday it would lift a 20-year-old trade embargo against Sudan, but would wait 180 days before doing so to see whether Sudan acts further to improve its human rights record and resolve political and military conflicts, including in warring regions such as Darfur.

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir asked the government at a special Cabinet meeting on Sunday to prepare procedures to "accommodate for the positive impact of the United States lifting sanctions," SUNA reported.

Al-Bashir on Jan. 1 had already extended the cease-fire, in place since October, by just one month.

The United States said on Friday it would also unfreeze Sudan's assets and remove financial sanctions as a response to Khartoum's cooperation in fighting Islamic State and other groups.

The latest outbreak of fighting between the army and rebels in Kordofan and Blue Nile broke out in 2011, when adjacent South Sudan declared independence. Conflict in Darfur began in 2003 when mainly non-Arab tribes took up arms against Sudan's Arab-led government.

Sudan previously announced short-term truces in these regions in June and October 2016, which were followed by a fall-off in fighting in the southern Blue Nile and Kordofan regions but continued clashes in Darfur.

Sudan's economic problems have been building since the south seceded in 2011, taking with it three-quarters of oil output, the main source of foreign currency and government income.
Syrian rebel negotiators announced Saturday their support of Russia-Turkey brokered talks aimed at finding a political solution to the nearly six-year-long conflict in Syria, but they say a planned meeting this month in Kazakhstan should be seen only as a first step toward the resumption of the long-stalled U.N.-backed Geneva peace process.

The Syrian opposition's High Negotiations Committee, which has been shut out of the Russian-Turkish talks process, said in a statement that it backed a military delegation, which will attend the meeting in the Kazakh capital of Astana.

"The committee stresses its readiness to support the military delegation to be formed by the opposition to attend the talks," the HNC said. It added that the Kazakh talks must shore up a cease-fire in Syria, also brokered by Moscow and Ankara.

But the HNC emphasized the Kazakh meeting was a "preliminary step for the next round of political negotiations" in Geneva. The statement was issued after a two-day meeting by the HNC in the Saudi capital of Riyadh.

U.S. involvement

Hours before the HNC's announcement, Turkey's foreign minister, Mevlut Cavusoglu, told reporters in Ankara that Turkey and Russia would invite U.S. officials to attend the talks in Kazakhstan.

Cavusoglu had previously expressed support for U.S. participation in the talks, though Russia has yet to acknowledge publicly its backing for the invitation to U.S. officials.

"First of all, as you know, we agreed with Russia on inviting the United States. I spoke with [Russian Foreign Minister Sergei] Lavrov, and we will invite the United States," he said. "We don't deny the role of United States."

Incoming White House press secretary Sean Spicer said Friday that Russia had invited the Trump administration to participate in the peace deal.

U.N. Syria mediator Staffan de Mistura is aiming to convene separate peace talks in Geneva on February 8. Russian officials say the Kazakh talks are meant to complement the intermittent Geneva process and not to compete with it. But fears about of Russia's intentions have mounted among rebels.

European diplomats say Russian officials have introduced the idea of securing some preliminary agreement at the Kazakh conference about the formation of a transitional cabinet that would include ministers from the regime of President Bashar al-Assad, the rebels and government-favored opposition groups that have remained in the Syrian capital of Damascus.

Western diplomats say such a move would be premature, fearing it would be used to deflect Geneva-based debate about the fate of Assad himself.

Opposition groups

The HNC announcement came after meetings in Turkey by opposition groups earlier in the week.

Some Syrian rebels expressed anger in the meetings about the exclusion of the HNC from the Kazakh peace conference and at the Russian insistence on a military delegation only being present to represent opposition factions.

Zakaria Malahafiji, a political officer with a rebel militia aligned with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, said last week: "About 100 leaders from several Syrian political and military groups agreed on the necessity to send a delegation to Astana that included members of the High Negotiations Committee."

The HNC's announcement Saturday would appear to indicate some members of the committee will be included in the military delegation to be sent to the Kazakh talks and that the Russians have so far not raised objections.

The nationwide cease-fire in Syria, which began two weeks ago, has largely held up, unlike two others agreed upon in the past 12 months. But the warring sides have accused each other of violations, and on Saturday there were reports of clashes between Islamist rebel factions and Syrian Shi'ites in the towns of Kafriya and Al-Fu'ah in the northeastern countryside of Idlib, the province to the west of Aleppo.

Leaflets carry warning

Regime helicopters dropped leaflets on Saturday on rebel positions in Idlib.

The leaflets included photographs of dead bodies and a written warning: "Reconsider your thoughts and think about the consequences  this is the inevitable fate for every terrorist who points weapon in the face of the army and people."

Regime warplanes carried out airstrikes on the town of Saraqeb and villages in the eastern countryside of Idlib, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group that gathers information from a network of activists inside Syria.

And regime warplanes carried out more airstrikes in eastern countryside of Hama province, too, on Saturday.

Syrian government officials insist the airstrikes targeted militants from the Islamic State terror group, which along with the al-Qaida-linked Jabhat Fateh al-Sham, formerly known as the al-Nusra Front, is excluded from the Russian-Turkish brokered cease-fire.
Five days before his inauguration, U.S. President-elect Donald Trump remained fixated Sunday on how he pulled off last November's stunning upset to win a four-year term in the White House.

In a pair of comments on his Twitter account, the Republican Trump said his Democratic opponents "are most angry that so many" of the party's faithful, working class voters who supported President Barack Obama in his two successful presidential campaigns, turned against Democrat Hillary Clinton and voted for Trump.

"With all of the jobs I am bringing back to our nation, that number will only get higher," Trump declared. He added, "Car companies and others, if they want to do business in our country, have to start making things here again. Win!"

During his 10-week transition to the presidency, Trump has attacked car manufacturers, including Toyota and General Motors, two of the world's largest, for announcing plans to expand their operations in Mexico rather than in the United States. He praised Ford and Fiat-Chrysler for their U.S. expansion plans.

Post-election polls showed Trump won the election by successfully wooing many blue collar workers in the country's industrial heartland. That gave him an edge in states that helped him win the election in the Electoral College, which determines the outcome of U.S. presidential contests, even as Clinton prevailed over Trump in the national popular vote by nearly three million votes.

In a later Twitter comment, he held out hope for a unified country as he assumes power.

"For many years our country has been divided, angry and untrusting," the president-elect said. "Many say it will never change, the hatred is too deep. IT WILL CHANGE!!!!"

Upcoming inauguration

Trump takes the oath of office as the 45th U.S. president on Friday at noon in Washington, as Obama leaves after eight years as the American leader.

"Inauguration Day is turning out to be even bigger than expected," Trump claimed in another tweet.

On Sunday, military units staged a rehearsal for the quadrennial event. Hundreds of thousands of people, some of them protesters against Trump's victory, are expected to crowd the capital city's National Mall to witness his swearing-in, his inaugural address and his afternoon parade down Pennsylvania Avenue from the Capitol to the White House, his new home.

One Army band member, vocalist Greg Lowery, played the role of Trump in the rehearsal, saying he wanted to "look the part as much as possible" of the incoming president, even buying a red tie for the occasion, just as Trump often wears.

As Trump assumes power, he faces a country still divided over his election. Already unpopular when he was elected, one poll showed Trump's approval rating on a variety of assessments has dropped even further since the November 8 balloting.

Controversies surrounding the election are still consuming political Washington.

Assorted controversies

Debates fill news shows about the U.S. intelligence community's conclusion that Russia meddled in the election through hacking of a key Democrat's computer to try to help Trump win, and a Justice Department watchdog's announcement last week that he would examine the role Federal Bureau of Investigation director James Comey played in his handling of an investigation of Clinton's use of an unsecured private email server while she was secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

At least 18 Democratic lawmakers are saying they will boycott Trump's inauguration.

Civil rights icon John Lewis said Trump is not a "legitimate president" because of the Russian hacking of thousands of emails of Clinton campaign chief John Podesta.

Trump assailed Lewis in a Twitter comment Saturday, saying he should spend more time working to improve life in his Atlanta, Georgia congressional district, "rather than falsely complaining about the election results."

Vice President-elect Mike Pence on Sunday called Lewis's comments questioning the legitimacy of Trump's election "deeply disappointing" and said he hopes Lewis will reconsider them.

On Fox News, outgoing Central Intelligence Agency director John Brennan criticized Trump's penchant for "talking and tweeting," saying it was not in U.S. interests.

Brennan, likely to soon be replaced by CIA director-designate Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo, said national security issues Trump will face are not "about him."

Brennan said Trump is "going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting."
Zimbabwe Warriors and Algeria drew 2-2 on Sunday in an Africa Cup of Nations Group B match played Sunday in Franceville, Gabon.

Algeria drew first blood in the 12th minute through marksman Riyad Mahrez before the Warriors' Kudakwashe Mahachi equalized in the 17th minute.

The Warriors's Nyasha Mushekwi slotted a penalty in the 29th minute and Algeria netted the equalizer eight minutes before the end of the tough encounter.

Mahrez found the net following Zimbabweans sloppy defence.

Most Zimbabweans on social media, including VOA Studio 7 Facebook page praised the Warriors for settling for a draw following serious challenges before the Gabon games.
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Dead City Radio Alive at Lord Nelson

Local 4-piece band, Dead City Radio, managed to bring the house down at what seems to be once again becoming a popular venue for local live acts. Casemates Squares long-standing resident pub, Lord Nelson, or otherwise affectionately known as Lordies, hosted local act DCR for the first time, together with supporting band Jacver, on Friday night.

Providing a platform for local talent to showcase their original material is a privilege that until recently was only afforded by The Rock on The Rock Club. Despite other venues booking our bands, there would exist, more often than not, an expectation, and sometimes, a condition, for these bands to mostly perform covers. RoTR have played an integral role in nurturing the local music scene, and the result has seen a growing number of musicians and artists being borne out of their rehearsal rooms. This has given rise to a demand for more venues, for more opportunities that would grant them the spotlight they crave and deserve, and it seems that a variety of establishments are waking up to this reality.

The local music scene is also experiencing a growing awareness amongst residents of the Rock and the neighbouring communities. Support is growing, people make a point of turning up to gigs, and the now popular hashtag #supportyourlocaltalent is being widely used by fans and artists themselves. Local news outlet Gibraltar Live Music Society has been influential in broadcasting the talent that exists here in Gib, and via its Social Media page has garnered support and, with it, a big following. Their motto says it all - Keeping Local Music Alive.

The annual Gibraltar Music Festival has also been instrumental in providing a stage for our local musicians to showcase themselves to the public, exposing them to wider audiences outside of their regular circle of fans. Performing alongside international artists has served to boost their morale, and to a degree, grow as artists themselves as they push boundaries, aspiring to impress.

Friday night was a tangible example of how the local music scene is growing, of how we can all turn up en masse and encourage our artists to continue, to never give up. We give them hope, and they give us a bloody good performance. This was the buzz at Lordies. Tables were all occupied, the bar area always busy, and the eager crowd lined themselves up in strategic positions, hoping for good unobstructed views.

Openers Jacver are an Indie/Rock band based in Seville, who have recently released their 2nd EP, titled II/II. They are young, and unassuming-looking, but this was not to be an indicator of their performance. Solid, confident and loud, they pleasantly exceeded expectations, with notable hints of familiar influences here and there, but their sound, was mostly their own. Despite having a nonstandard name, dont let this discourage you from checking them out - www.facebook.com/JacverMusic

Dead City Radio were raring to go. Taking their positions on the humble stage, the members looked onto the large expectant audience in wonderment, feeding off the buzz. Their classics, popular amongst their fanbase, had the audience singing along and they kept their word, unveiling new songs they had been working on and recording during the month of December.

A few covers popped up, the guaranteed MJ crowd pleaser, and following requests from the floor, they even pulled out the Led. But the bulk of the night was filled with original songs these artists had worked hard to produce.

Watch them perform their ever-popular 'Goddess' here:

https://youtu.be/szNfzxgoO60

It was clear they were relishing in the glory. In their minds, they were performing to a crowd of thousands, at a famous arena - and they could easily have been.

A likely reaction to that feeling of being supported by all who turned up.

The band have some upcoming gigs lined up - March 10th at the Ivy, March 31st at Lord Nelson.
Photo: James Devaney/GC Images/Getty Images

Le Journal du Dimanche has published Kim Kardashians police report from the night she was robbed in Paris. The French newspapers English translation of the report includes details about how the robbers tied her up, taped her mouth shut, and left her in the bathtub while they stole jewelry, the contents of her purse, and her iPhone. In the report, she estimates that they robbed her of goods worth millions of dollars, including a ring worth $4 million alone. Out of the 17 suspects French police arrested last week in connection with the heist, ten are facing charges. The six indicted on Friday were the more senior suspects, including a fellow nicknamed Omar the Old. A recent promo for Keeping Up With the Kardashians indicates the show will address the robbery and its aftermath.
By Press Trust of India: Pune, Jan 15 (PTI) While hailing the positive side of demonetisation, RSS-affiliated trade union, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh (BMS) has asked the Centre to take note of its immediate adverse side effects and turn it into an opportunity to help labour and less privileged segments.

During its 137th national executive committee meeting held in Pune recently, the BMS also cautioned the government against pressurising the people to go for digitisation.

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"We take serious note of the immediate adverse side effects like defects in implementation, cash shortage, slowdown in market, job losses, retrenchments, migrant labourers returning to their home towns.

"MSMEs, manufacturing and construction sectors are facing setbacks and these may have immediate impact on the overall economic situation, which needs to be realistically assessed," the resolution adopted by BMS said.

It said that as a result of the note ban, the government has earned huge revenue, which may lead to surplus revenue situation.

"This gives a great and rare opportunity for the government to radically contribute to the labour and other groups in social sector that need developmental priorities.

"Social sector includes labour, below poverty line (BPL) people, socially and economically backward people, villagers, tribals, lower middle class, agriculture sector, micro and small industries etc. They are immediately adversely affected by the so called demonetisation drive," stated the resolution.

It said the Centre has a "moral duty" to provide "colossal funds" for the development of labour and other social groups by planning "meticulously" and considering their total job security, wage levels and welfare.

"Thrust has to be given to provide minimum wages, social security, employment, health and education, especially in the rural parts of India. India needs smart villages more than smart cities.

"The so-called demonetisation is only one of the series of measures required for the complete change in the developmental economics. The government should persuade the people and not pressurise them to go for digitalisation," reads the resolution.

BMS, which has already welcomed the demonetisation move in its demands, asked the government to give sufficient budgetary assistance to labour and other social sector groups on a priority basis. (MORE) PTI SPK NM NP IKA

--- ENDS ---
Felicity Jones is best known for her film roles: blithely pointing at paintings alongside Tom Hanks in Inferno, dutifully holding the hand of physicist hubby Stephen Hawking in The Theory of Everything, and, most recently, kicking ass as non-Jedi hero Jyn Erso in Rogue One. In other words, she hasnt shown off her comic chops all that often, save for light romantic comedies like 2011s Chalet Girl, but at the very least, her first SNL hosting promises to have some good Yoda and lightsaber gags. Plus, the staff has had a few weeks off. With so much Donald Trump news to consider, theyll surely bring some fresh energy to 2017s first episode.

Donald Trump Press Conference Cold Open

The president-elect (Alec Baldwin) begins a press conference by announcing hell answer the question on everybodys mind: Yes, this is real life, he confirms. This is really happening. He adds, On January 20, I, Donald J. Trump, will become the 45th president of the United States  and then two months later, Mike Pence will become the 46th. There are a number of nice zingers in this open, involving everything from health care and nuclear war to Steve Harvey. The rest is a perfectly puerile consideration of Trumps supposed Russian pee party with prostitutes. Heres just a sample of the pun run: Im a major whiz at jobs. Its a golden opportunity for me to make a big splash. Youre in? Yourein? Urine? Make no mistake: The writers (and Baldwin) came to play tonight.

Felicity Jones Monologue

SNL packs all of its Star Wars jokes into Joness intro, as she considers the less-than-thrilling aspects of her Rogue One character. (I didnt get to use a lightsaber in the movie, but I did get to transfer a very large data file.) Also, Tina Fey shows up as Princess Leia to give Jones hosting advice: If Steven Seagal can do it, so can you. Then, she offers Jones a wise warning: If the writers bring on Leslie Jones at the end of a sketch to act horny and angry, theyre out of ideas. There are several cute jokes in here, including a moment in which Fey tries to assuage Joness fears about reviews. This show gets reviewed? Jones asks. Way too much, Fey replies. Touche, Ms. Fey.

Beard Hunk

In this Bachelor parody, a succession of young, vapid bachelorettes try to win the heart of the Beard Hunk (Beck Bennett) as they boast about being the worst girl of any room theyre in and how theyre ready to give handjobs on-demand. Trashy reality shows like The Bachelor are a pretty big target, but given that this is a rapid series of stupid-smart quips, there are several weird and unexpected ones that make it worthwhile. When Beard Hunk asks about the relationship history for Kate McKinnons bachelorette, she confesses, Well, I was married last year  to you. Theres not a lot of new ground covered here, but the cast is enjoying itself and the writing is enjoyable.

Shondra & Malik

In this short film, Leslie Jones and Kenan Thompson play the titular round-the-way frenemies with a long history of antagonism. When Malik arrives on the block in his busted vehicle, he threatens Shondra with a gun, and she responds in kind. After the big warning, his blustery exit is marred when his car fails to start; eventually, hes got to get the woman hes been threatening under the hood to help him out. Then Shondra has chest pains and Malik must come to the rescue. Its a well-played scenario, but theres not far to go with just these little switcheroos and seemingly no stakes at all, despite the weaponry.

Theater Donor

A 106-year-old arts patron named Albee Durberry (Mikey Day) goes out to the theater to see the premiere of a new play. As the plays characters (Bennett and McKinnon) get serious about their marriage, Durberry and his nurse (Jones) deal with his ailing health. He cant hear anything, splatters yogurt all over himself, and resists having his chair disinfected or his medical stockings removed. Gross-out gags are the focus here, and some are funny  most notably the final moment of Durberrys bed-chair clunking across the crowded stage  but Day and Jones dont really seem to be having all that much fun.

The Princess and the Curse

This filmed piece finds a wicked witch (McKinnon) placing an unspecified curse on a baby  and 18 years later, as Princess Viola (Jones) entertains a suitor (Bennett), that curse rears its ugly head. No, the princess doesnt turn into a toad or fall into a coma; she becomes 15 pounds heavier once night falls. When the prince finds out the weight doesnt just fall on her butt and boobs, hes disappointed. I have a thing, he says. A thing until the end of time. Then the witch returns to present the prince some options for breaking the spell. Theres only one idea here, and the sketch doesnt go that far in exploring it.

Susan B. Anthony

At the end of a tour of Susan B. Anthonys house, a group of young women actually reincarnate Anthony by holding hands and saying the feminist icons name three times. After an initial rush of excitement, the ladies are ready to grab a bite and head back to the city. The lonely and bewildered Susan B. continues sharing big ideas, but the ladies are over it; the more she asks about their phones and talks about her stove, the angrier and more distracted they become. The gist of it? Feminism has come a long way in 100 years, and this sketch illustrates how easily its foundations can be taken for granted.

Weekend Update

In Updates first half, the hosts talk not only about Trumps press conference, but the looming Obamacare repeal and the presidential-cabinet-confirmation hearings. When Jost addresses Trumps complaint about the unconfirmed dossier leak  Are we living in Nazi Germany?  Jost replies, Of course not. Nazi Germany at least had the guts to take on Russia. Then, Pete Davidson arrives to give some of his first impressions about the cabinet appointees. While its just a series of riffs about what these people look like, there are some good ones. Who knew potential secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross is the spitting image of a Jeff Dunham puppet? Also, theres a charming joke about Davidson being born in a Honda Civic (and subsequent apology to his mom).

After a dopey O.J. joke, Che earns enthusiastic cheers for his ruminations about the FBI reports on the Chicago police and the phrase black-on-black crime. Che says he doesnt blame people for checking out when they think something is a race issue. If I saw a headline that said, White woman cuts off white mans penis, Id think, Damn, white people are crazy. But if you took race out of it and the headline said instead, Fed up woman cuts off cheating mans penis, Id be like, Oh no, Colin, this affects all of us! Finally, Beck Bennett comes on as a budding pop star who creates brief, unremarkable songs. Its a tepid bit, in part because the songs dont seem bad in any specific way, just generally shrug-inducing.

Movie Interview

The cast and director of Hot Robot 3: Journey to Boob Mountain talk about how their film addresses the anxieties plaguing the world today. The films empty tropes become alleged triumphs: The hero makes a bong out of hamburger buns, and that somehow helps to reflect anger about the election. At one point, the director (Kyle Mooney) enthuses, If we all harness our boob energy, who knows what we could accomplish? Yes, there are lots of horny grandmas in this sketch, but it does hit on something notable: Surely, mediocre and self-important artists everywhere are currently working to make a connection between what they do and real-world anxiety about the incoming president.

Corporate Retreat

The facilitators of the Hartford Pharmaceuticals getaway (Mikey Day and Sasheer Zamata) introduce a night of jokeoke, which just involves company members telling their favorite jokes. A table of women in the front (Strong, Jones, and Melissa Villasenor) monopolize the mic, telling jokes theyve written and then explaining why theyre funny. Print wont do these gags justice, so just know theyre all about various human holes and how loose they are. They sound totally silly when coming from the mouths of Strong, Jones and Villasenor, who each play the same sort of coy, tittering, otherwise straight-laced Accounts Receivable type. The sketch is worth it just to see the fun theyre having.

As Tina Fey warned Felicity Jones during her opening monologue: If your first line in a sketch is, Hey guys, I hope you dont mind that I brought my friend Ray Ray, then youre not the funny one. This rule of thumb holds true for most of tonights show. Jones doesnt get in the way of anything, but she doesnt contribute all that much, either. Its nice to see her getting in the spirit of play, as she does in the Corporate Retreat sketch, but she gets lost for long stretches when shes playing against a big cast. A strong opening and a couple of intelligent sketches buoy the dull ones this week. Next Saturday, well see what Aziz Ansari can do.
By Press Trust of India: Hyderabad, Jan 15 (PTI) Telangana Deputy Chief Minister Mohammed Mahmood Ali has requested the Centre to increase the budget of subsidy provided to Muslims for their Haj pilgrimage, from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore.

In a letter addressed to Union Minister for Minority Affairs Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, Mahmood Ali said the pilgrims who avail this opportunity are very poor Muslims and it is felt necessary that the facility of extending subsidy for this noble cause should continue.

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"I request you to kindly look into the matter personally and see that all the measures are taken to continue the facility of providing subsidy and also to increase the subsidy budget from Rs 690 crore to Rs 1,000 crore so that, more number of Muslim minority poor people will be brought under the cover," he said in the letter, a copy of which was released to the media. PTI VVK GK GK JMF

--- ENDS ---
By Press Trust of India: Chennai, Jan 15 (PTI) Terming demonetisation as an "economic gamble" by the BJP-led Centre, media advisor to former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Sanjaya Baru today said the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab would be the "real test on the success" of the scheme.

"All the businessmen whom I know and who had celebrated Mr Modis victory in May 2014 are unhappy now. There is lot of unhappiness among the rich (due to demonetisation)," he said.

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"It is this unhappiness among the rich that will alienate some part of voters who voted for Modi in May 2014", he added.

Baru was speaking at a seminar here on "Demonetisation - A Gamble or a Game Changer" organised by the Triplicane Cultural Academy and Kasturi Srinivasan Library.

He said the real test on the success of demonetisation will be the outcome of the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab.

"If BJP does reasonably well even if they do not get any majority, Mr Modi can say I have succeeded. But if they do badly, then a new momentum will come into Indian politics", Baru, also the Director of Geo-Economics and Strategy International Institute for Strategic Studies, said.

"What we have seen in the last two months (soon after demonetisation was announced) is an economic gamble and we are yet to see the consequences of the gamble. Was it an economic game changer? That will be a big question," he said.

He said the reason he termed demonetisation as an economic gamble was because there was no precedent before it.

India never had any historic situation where demonetisation had been done in the past, unlike Germany or Zimbabwe where demonetisation was announced, he added.

"Desperate situations call for desperate measures. Demonetisation has been done in various countries like Germany and Zimbabwe. But these were situations where their economies were in chaos and crisis.

"When you are in crisis you take desperate measures. But when (Indian) economy was growing at seven per cent and when we have a normally functioning economy, this (demonetisation) has been done", Baru said.

He argued that all economists who had been talking of demonetisation did not have any historical basis to what they were saying. PTI VIJ APR ASV

--- ENDS ---
President-elect Donald Trump has pledged to build a wall on the Mexican border, unravel protections for the children of unauthorized immigrants and quickly deport several million people.

But as politicians and experts debate the practicality of those plans as his Friday inauguration nears, local immigrants are making plans of their own to protect their families.

For Alma, a Waco catering worker from Monterrey, Mexico, that means arranging for her mother to drive down from Dallas if she is detained by immigration agents. Her mother would take care of her three children, two of whom are American citizens.

My main concern is that if something like that happens, what am I going to do? said Alma, who asked to withhold her surname for this story. Theyve been living here their entire lives. They go to school here. They speak English better than Spanish. Taking them to Mexico is a big change for them that may not work for them. . . . I think most families are in the same situation of, what am going to do with my kids?

Immigration attorneys and advocates say nothing is certain about the next four years under Trump, but they advise people without solid legal status to take precautions.

Susan Nelson, an immigration attorney, said she has seen since the election a wave of people trying to get green cards, citizenship or some other protections from deportation.

Nelson doubts the already overwhelmed immigration legal system could handle a program of mass deportation. But she said the complicated lives of unauthorized immigrants are about to get more complicated.

Pretty bad

I expect it to be pretty bad, Nelson said.

For example, Trump has said he will immediately reverse Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals, the policy President Barack Obama established by executive order in 2012. DACA has allowed some 750,000 teenagers and young adults who arrived in the U.S. before their 16th birthday to work, travel and drive without fear of deportation.

These people have come out of the shadows. Theyre paying their taxes, and theyre a lot better able to support their families, Nelson said. I think one of the best things about DACA is that its taken fear out of their lives. Theres no longer the fear that going to college may be all for naught.

The concern is that President-elect Trump said DACA would be gone on the first day. We dont know if that means they have deferred action until 2018 or if they no longer have authorization to work.

Almas son, Edgar, is among those waiting to find that out.

Alma and her then-husband brought Edgar here as a 10-month-old when they came on a tourist visa. They stayed here and built a life, and Edgar grew up only vaguely aware his citizenship status is different from his siblings, now 12 and 14.

I was about 13 or 14 when I came to question it, Edgar said.

He is a high school senior who has DACA and is applying for college, including to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

I knew I was born in Mexico and my siblings were not, Edgar said. Because of the place I was born, I couldnt leave the country. I couldnt do certain social things. I couldnt get in trouble.

McLennan Community College President Johnette McKown said she hopes DACA students, also known as Dreamers, wont have go back into the shadows.

Were personally and professionally concerned, McKown said. Its important, because what else will they be doing if theyre not able to follow their career? I think an educated society is a better society than one that has no education and no opportunity.

A bipartisan group of U.S. senators proposed a new bill this month called the Bridge Act. It would allow young adults in Edgars situation the freedom to live and work in the U.S. for a three-year period.

In an interview last week, U.S. Rep. Bill Flores, R-Bryan, whose district includes McLennan County, called DACA unconstitutional as an executive action but said he would support similar aims if achieved through legislative means.

If we have an offspring of somebody who came here illegally, and these folks are otherwise minding their business . . . then I dont see a need to deport them if theyre not breaking the law, if theyre going to school or trying to get a job, Flores said.

Im fine with a path to some sort of legal status and ultimately to citizenship, because they never broke the law. . . . When I talk to the constituents of this district, theyre generally fine with a path to citizenship for the Dreamers.

Edgar said he doesnt spend a lot of time worrying about his immigration status. His mind is mostly occupied with academics and the robotics club at his school.

But he said DACA has been a big help to him.

Hopefully, that process will not be wasted in the coming term of the president-elect, Edgar said. If they cant keep DACA, make something better than DACA. Scrap the whole thing and make something better.

But even with protections for Dreamers, an immigration crackdown could make life difficult for families with mixed immigration status.

The biggest wave of illegal immigration was between the late 1980s and the early 2000s, and many of those immigrants settled down and had children who have birthright citizenship.

Alma, who was part of that wave, has two citizen children, but that doesnt give her any immediate path to permanent status herself.

Almas attorney, Anali Looper of the nonprofit group American Gateways, has advised her to drive as little as possible and make sure she doesnt give authorities any reason to detain her. Alma said she tries to be cautious but not anxious.

Im somewhat tranquil, she said in an interview at Loopers office last week at the Good Neighbor House on Colcord Avenue. My children are good students, and none of us have problems with the law.

I do think youre not bearing in mind how serious it is, Looper responded. But I do understand that, for your children and for your life, you have to continue without living in constant fear.

I cant live that way, Alma said.

Nelson, the immigration attorney, said a mass deportation effort would be logistically difficult, because the immigration courts are already backed up. Many of her clients facing immigration charges are out on bond and wont have a hearing until November 2019, she said.

Its just hard to see how thats going to work, Nelson said of Trumps plans to step up deportations. Right now, the courts are moving as fast as they can, but enforcement has far outpaced immigration courts.

Still, even a slight risk of being deported or placed in an immigrant detention center is a cause for anxiety when the stakes involve family separation.

Thats the nightmare Eloisa Haynes worries about.

She is married to an American citizen, Nick Haynes, and has a green card designating her as a legal permanent resident. Eloisa and her husband both work in higher education, and they have a 1-year-old son, Bellamy.

But having been denied full citizenship, she still feels vulnerable.

If you had asked me 18 months ago, no one would have thought Donald Trump could be president after everything hes said about women, immigrants and Muslims, she said. Now everything is possible. I dont want to live in denial and say, Surely, it wouldnt happen to me. 

A painful story

Eloisa, now 34, said it is painful to talk about her immigration story, but she considers it her duty.

She waded the Rio Grande with her family when she was 13 and has lived in Waco ever since.

My family and I had good lives in Mexico, she said. We enjoyed the community and the culture, and we never dreamed of immigration. But my dad lost his job, and it was a very difficult season.

She said her parents tried to get a visa to come here but found a waiting list of 20 years. Her father came to the U.S. by himself to work, and the family found that separation was too difficult.

My parents made the most difficult choice they could, Eloisa said. We were smuggled in. In my mind, all I knew is I wanted to see my dad. I hadnt seen him in a year. As a child, I did not understand the ramifications. We could have been trafficked, assaulted or killed.

She got to know Nick through Antioch Community Church and through Baylor University, where he was a student and she was a Starbucks barista.

A native of Muskogee, Oklahama, Nick wasnt particularly sympathetic to the plight of unauthorized immigrants as a young man. But as the couple made plans to marry, he found himself frustrated by the obstacles immigration officials put between them.

Im ashamed to say it took that direct impact on me to really get it, Nick said.

Eloisa had to go back to Mexico for three months and apply for a green card. Four years ago, her quest for citizenship ended because of a decision she made when she was 19.

Back then, she had checked a box on an I-9 employment form saying she was an American citizen, a move that, once discovered, caused her to be barred from citizenship for life.

Thats what many undocumented people do, never knowing the ramifications, Eloisa said. The only way for me ever to become a citizen is a change in the law.

My lawyer says, do not travel. My green card is valid. But just because an immigration official chose to exercise discretion and did not revoke the green card, it doesnt mean another office wont revoke my file. Permanent resident is the most misleading term. Theres nothing permanent about being a permanent legal resident.

The election of Donald Trump only darkens the picture for her and for the friends and family members who dont even have a green card. She said she cried all day Nov. 9.

Already, his rhetoric has changed the way people view immigrants, Eloisa said. He has stirred up a lot of anger and animosity from people who dont understand how broken the immigration system is. In their mind, its just, What part of illegal dont you understand? 

The Hayneses are part of the Waco Immigration Alliance, which seeks to advocate for immigrants through education and political activism. The group spoke to Waco City Council in December about policing issues and is hosting a public educational event Jan. 29.

The event, called Welcoming Communities, starts at 4 p.m. at the Mission Waco chapel, 1226 Washington Ave.

Meanwhile, Looper is raising money to expand her nonprofit groups immigration law services in Waco. She said she hopes to be part of educating immigrants on how to protect themselves while educating the community on the human potential of immigrants.

Those with legal status need to sit up and learn and hear the real facts about how this affects real people and how it affects our economy, Looper said. On Nov. 9, I had clients coming into my office with kids, elementary-aged children, who were terrified. Do we really want to have our children grow up afraid? Lets talk about immigration policy, but lets not make threats that cant be completed.
The Lake Waco triple murders sent shock waves across Central Texas almost 35 years ago. Terrified parents kept their children close and made Lake Waco off-limits for their teenagers.

After all these years, perhaps the final chapter of the controversial saga was closed Friday with the death of Anthony Melendez, the last of four men implicated in the grisly slayings of Jill Montgomery, Raylene Rice and Kenneth Franks, whose bodies were found in July 1982.

Melendez, 57, died Friday in a prison hospice at the Michael Unit in Tennessee Colony, near Palestine. Prison spokesman Jason Clark confirmed Saturday that Melendez died but said privacy guidelines preclude the prison from revealing a cause of death.

Melendez, who was serving two life prison terms, died as some, including the ex-wife of former McLennan County District Attorney Vic Feazell, worked to exonerate him, although those efforts stalled in the past few years.

Melendez, who pleaded guilty to two counts of murder in the case and testified against David Wayne Spence at his trial in Bryan, also petitioned the governor for a reprieve, commutation or pardon after he recanted his confession.

Other defendants

Spence, who was tried in Waco and Bryan, was executed in 1997. Melendezs brother, Gilbert, who also pleaded guilty and was sentenced to two life prison terms, died in prison in 1998 of HIV complications. The fourth defendant, Muneer Deeb, also was sentenced to death after a trial in Cleburne. But his conviction was set aside, and Deeb was acquitted at a 1993 retrial in Fort Worth. He died from cancer six years after being released.

Prosecutors said Deeb hired Spence to kill a teenager named Gayle Kelley so he could collect on a life insurance policy he had on her. She worked for Deeb at a convenience store he owned near the Methodist Childrens Home.

But Spence botched the job, mistaking Montgomery for Kelley, prosecutors said.

Montgomery, 17, was at Koehne Park at Lake Waco with her friends Rice, 17, and Franks, 18. They were killed because they were in the wrong place at the wrong time, authorities said.

The Melendez brothers helped Spence carry out the murders, as well as rape the girls, according to trial testimony. The bodies of the teens, who were stabbed a total of 47 times, were dumped at Lake Wacos Speegleville Park.

Former investigator

Truman Simons, who investigated the triple murder initially for the Waco police and later as a sheriffs deputy, said Saturday he was not concerned about efforts to clear the Lake Waco defendants names because he knows the right men were convicted.

He said Anthony Melendez initially denied his involvement in the murders but failed subsequent polygraph tests. After Melendez started cooperating with investigators and said he wanted to testify against Spence because he got him and his brother caught up in the tragedy, he passed polygraphs, Simons said.

Simons said Anthony Melendez also told him he wanted to testify against Spence because he never told his mother he and Gilbert were involved in the killings. By testifying, she would know, sparing him the pain of telling her directly, Simons said.

I didnt have any warm, fuzzy feelings for Tony, Simons said. He was a bad boy. He was a bad boy all his life. But when he was caught, he was the most forthcoming one of all, and he finally told the truth. I do feel sorry for his family, though. There are so many victims on both sides of this case.

Simons said before prosecutors agreed to let Anthony Melendez plead guilty and spare him a possible death sentence, they required him to take them to Koehne Park and show them what happened and where it happened. It was during Spences first trial and two years after the murders.

Melendez pointed to a tree where Montgomery was raped and killed. In a subsequent search of the area Melendez pointed out, former investigator Willie Tompkins found a bracelet buried under leaves that matched a custom-made necklace the girl was wearing, Simons said.

The unique necklace later was returned to Montgomerys mother, who identified it as her daughters, Simons said.

There are just so many facts in that case that you cant get around it, Simons said. There is no doubt that they did it.

Trying to clear name

Despite Simons feelings, others, including Waco attorney Walter M. Reaves Jr., were working to try to clear Melendezs name as recently as three years ago.

Reaves fought on several judicial levels to get DNA testing ordered on shoelaces used to tie up one of the victims.

Those helping Melendez hoped the DNA evidence would prove that someone else was responsible for the killings, but after the evidence was transferred to several labs around the country, nothing definitive has been reported from the testing. They hoped not only to set Melendez free and collect on a huge payday from the state when he was exonerated, but they also thought it might prove that Spence was not guilty when he was put to death by the state.

Reaves did not return phone messages Saturday.

Feazell, who prosecuted the Lake Waco cases and now has law offices in Waco and Austin, called questions about the defendants guilt BS when asked about the efforts three years ago.

Anyone whos read the trial transcripts . . . would know better and wouldnt give this story the time of day, Feazell said.
Waco native Joe Nesbitt can remember sitting in the cafeteria of Mountainview Elementary School during a meeting more than 10 years ago and looking over at a lunch card rack sitting near a wall. Some of the cards had little red dots in the corner, and he recalled being a first-grader at the same school wondering what those dots meant.

I never asked. I was just jealous I didnt have a red dot, Nesbitt said. The red dot means free and reduced lunch. So, Im standing there in my old school  and a ton of my friends in 1980, you know Im an old dude  it dawned on me my classmates were going home hungry. Thats what it was for me. I felt kind of dumb, and I felt really sad about it. I felt like there was nothing I could do in first, second, third or fourth grade.

Imagine being hungry in school. Imagine the way its going to make you feel about your classmate whos not hungry and the way its going to make you feel on the bus going home.

Inspired by that moment and others, Nesbitt has fostered one of Wacos most successful mentoring programs dedicated to building business and education partnerships to introduce local at-risk students to various business fields, with the overall goal of having those students graduate high school and change their futures.

The Leadership, Education and Development program, or LEAD, celebrates its 10th anniversary this year in Waco. LEAD has helped 196 students graduate and awarded more than $180,000 in scholarships since it started during the 2005-06 school year. The program has 176 students and 84 mentors, and the number of students and need for volunteers increase each year, Nesbitt said.

He serves as LEADs committee chair.

The programs 10th anniversary coincides with National Mentoring Month, with two days this week dedicated to honoring mentors. Tuesday marks International Mentoring Day, and Thursday has been designated #Thankyourmentorday.

LEAD, handled by the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce, pairs Waco Independent School District, Rapoport Academy, Harmony Science Academy, and La Vega and Midway high school students with business leaders throughout the area for three years, starting during their sophomore year.

Each mentor works with two to four students and is required to spend time with them at least twice a month. They typically set up a business tour once a month for students to get an inside look at a possible career path, said Rachel Martinez, LEADs mentor recruiter and the chambers leadership development director.

Many of their students are striving to be the first in their family to go to college, Martinez said.

When it comes time to filling out college applications or scholarship applications or FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid), theres not really anyone at home who can help them, she said. We really have a crucial role in that, which is really important to their future.

A student in the program a few years ago had wanted to go into education her whole life, then went on a hospital tour. She is now in nursing school at the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor, Martinez said.

That changed the trajectory for her life, and an hour to an hour-and-half tour made a huge difference, she said.

Seniors who have gone through the program are also eligible for scholarships, with the largest being the Bradley Ray Hulse Memorial Scholarship for $20,000.

Building bonds

Martinez and Nesbitt said the bonds built during the programs three years last long after seniors cross the graduation stage. Even young men, who are now 27 or 28 years old and have children of their own, still stay in touch with Nesbitt and their mentors, he said.

When the program first started with Nesbitt and five seniors at Waco High School, mentoring happened whenever volunteers had time.

Since then, the stories of LEADs impact on students have multiplied. The program also helps business leaders see beyond the academic ratings of the schools students come from, Nesbitt said.

These companies giving these tours, too, they get to see these young men and women now from all over the county at these schools, who need a little boost but are already really smart, really intelligent students with a loving parent or parents, Nesbitt said.

We get to help these students who didnt grow up in an environment where people went to college, or their parents didnt go to college. Maybe they did, maybe they didnt, but this community is getting to see there are wonderful students in all of these schools around this community, and thats been a tremendous impact. Its changing opinions, that I dont need to judge these students by what the TEA (Texas Education Agency) says. 

Gary Myles, a LEAD mentor for the past five years, has seen the impact firsthand. As he walked alongside two of his students Tuesday at an H-E-B store, he asked questions about the retail career path as the general manager gave a tour. His two students, Rapoport Academys Jonathan Daniel and Waco Highs Carnealus Manning, followed suit as they moved from station to station throughout the store.

In a word, its been informative, Manning said. Each week, whether we have a tour or not, theres always something to learn.

This is Mannings first year to be mentored by Myles. Because both young men are seniors, Myles has been pushing them to apply for every scholarship they can, and the discussions often focus on preparing for college, Daniel said. Both said they hope to keep in touch with Myles after graduation, and both said they will take the lessons learned with them.

Its not going to end, and its not a beginning, Daniel said. Im taking my basics at MCC (McLennan Community College). I only have to take two classes, and then Im going to get into the LEAD program at MCC. Then, Im going to come back to like Waco High and mentor them.

Myles, who is director of MCCs Emergency Services Education Center, learns just as much as his students and gets just as excited about the business tours as they do, he said. His participation gives him a sense of fulfillment, he said.

One of the things that drives me is I didnt have a mentor. This program wasnt available to me, and I see the value and understand the value of it, Myles said. Im thankful I have opportunities and time and I work in a space where my employer encourages this. I want to take advantages of that.

As he looks back on his time, Myles has seen how the program has expanded and hopes its expansion will continue. And as LEAD heads into another 10 years, accommodating the growth and finding the number of mentors needed for each interested student is exactly what Nesbitt has in mind, he said.

That, for me, is the drive. Its none of these kids fault. They are at the mercy of whatever their circumstances are, Nesbitt said. It doesnt mean they dont have loving parents at home. Its just a terrible cycle, and sometimes all it takes, literally, is one person.
Waco resident Robert Ross, 92, served 58 years with the government  28 in the military. The retired lieutenant colonel served as a fighter pilot and took tactical reconnaissance photographs during World War II. To put it mildly, his was anything but a dull military career.

Born and raised in Gowanda, New York, Ross left home at 18, joining the rush of would-be aviation cadets hoping to join the U.S. Army Air Force. I didnt think I would do too well with a rifle and a bayonet, he said. I was kind of a skinny little guy.

Two months after enlisting, he got his draft notice. Although he joined in the fall of 1942, he didnt put on a uniform until 1943, as there were few openings available. When he finally reported for basic training in Atlantic City, New Jersey, he stayed at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel.

We still had Army cots and Army food, he said. But, he got a real thrill once when he found out that Glenn Miller and his orchestra were playing inside an enormous auditorium-turned-mess hall.

Between basic training to the day he earned his wings at the end of January 1944, Ross received increasingly advanced training throughout the United States. After learning to become a pilot, he was schooled in formation flying, gunnery training, night checkout landing, dive and skip bombing and much more.

While still a cadet, he was one of only 10 pilots selected to fly the Curtiss P-40 Warhawk, the first American single-seat fighter plane to be manufactured on a mass-production basis.

On a wing and a prayer

Throughout his service time, Ross credits the good Lord and Providence for helping him through some rough moments, including once when his engine quit in the middle of target practice. It didnt occur to him to bail out; Instead, within sight of the airfield, he managed to glide in safely. The brand-new plane had thrown an engine rod.

Ross initially got orders for Europe, but was selected at the last moment for tactical reconnaissance training. A standard fighter plane was specially outfitted with a large K-17 camera, used to photograph bridges, trains, buildings, bodies of water and other strategic targets with the push of a button.

Around this time he was practicing dogfights on P-51s with a fellow pilot during less-than-ideal weather. It was a broken deck, which means at least 50 percent of the sky covered with clouds, Ross said. Remember, were young guys without much flying time and no instrument training  none.

When they finished, they dropped down to look for the airport and saw nothing but forest. They had lost their bearings. After much searching, the two pilots decided to go opposite directions.

Ross went east. By the time he found an airport, his fuel gauge read empty. If he wouldve had to go on, he wouldnt have made it. Stationed at Key Field in Mississippi, he wound up at Craig Field in Alabama. I was lost like you couldnt believe, he said. He called Key Field collect to get someone to come get him.

Headed for the South Pacific

After leaving Key Field, Ross got sealed orders with instructions not to open them until he was an hour out of San Francisco, over the Pacific. His destination turned out to be New Guinea. Upon arrival, he was sent to Biak Island, where a new depot was putting together P-51 Mustang fighters. He ended up flying with the 82nd Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron.

Ross was sent to a southern island of Mindoro, Philippines, where he went on his first mission the next day. His target was Clark Field, Luzon, and his instructions were to shoot anything that moved, he said. He was assigned as wingman to the leader. When he returned to the airport, he had to tell his armorer he was so caught up in being the perfect wing man, he forgot to fire his guns.

Dont tell anyone, he implored the armorer. They just laughed and laughed. I was such a tenderfoot.

He wouldnt remain that way long.

NEXT WEEK: Ross flies over the Philippines, followed by an assignment in Japan, where he photographed Nagasaki after the second atomic bomb was dropped. After the war, he joined the New York National Guard and flew over Niagara Falls. Reactivated in 1951 and flying a new F-86 jet, he was sent to Alaska while other airmen went to Korea. By then, he was married with children.

Voices of Valor, featuring stories about Central Texas veterans, publishes every Sunday in the Waco Trib. To suggest a story about a Central Texas veteran, email voicesofvalor@wacotrib.com. Voices of Valor is proudly sponsored by Johnson Roofing.
In a salvo launched in what appears to be a renewed war on the news media, my epistolary acquaintance and perennial news-media critic Sammy McLarty offers a seething variation on the old saw about liberals dominating the news media. Im going to surprise Sammy. Im not going to deny the possibility of it.

But its critical to digest a few other truths if were to accept this possibility as even a probability.

Foremost, its important to divorce a newspapers opinion pages and the views of its editorial board from the daily reporting of the news staff that fills most of the paper. Many on the news staff may not even agree with the editorial board. And the firewall between the two is a concept deeply rooted in American newspaper tradition that nonetheless still confounds some folks. Gruff editors as well as reporters professional codes stress the absolute importance of objectivity in reporting.

The Wall Street Journal only the other day broke a particularly damning story about Republican Congressman Tom Price, a Donald Trump Cabinet pick and architect of destroying the Affordable Care Act. The paper reported that Price had possibly violated federal laws by trading hundreds of thousands of dollars in health-related stocks while working on health care legislation. If true, its self-serving, a clear conflict of interest, even unlawful.

Drivel from the liberal media? Hardly. As anyone who reads it regularly can confirm, The Wall Street Journal has a solidly pro-Republican, strongly conservative, pro-business and vehemently anti-Obama, anti-Clinton editorial board. Youd be challenged to find anything positive that the Journal editorial board has said about our current president.

The Tom Price story is but further evidence that while a mainstream newspapers editorial page may lean right or left, rank-and-file reporters are generally honest brokers separate and apart from it. Theyre out to report news as it goes and turn over rocks to uncover impropriety when they suspect corruption. Their job includes highlighting wrongdoing by politicians (right and left), businessmen or anyone else.

Unfortunately, too many people find it easier to castigate the press as biased rather than accept the inconvenient possibility that, say, their political idol is crooked or incompetent or both, or that legislation they supported isnt working out as intended.

Much easier to blame the press as biased. Much better to deny those pesky facts.

This week marks my 40th year in this profession. All the editors for whom I worked regularly instructed reporters that, for instance, they are not to erect campaign signs in their yards or place political bumper stickers on their vehicles. And unlike newspaper columnists and TV political commentators who deal in opinion, reporters are to guard obsessively against allowing political preferences to infect their stories. Most reporters prefer it this way.

Stereotyping media

When I was summoned to then-Trib editor Carlos Sanchezs office in 2008 and asked to join John Young on the opinion page, I asked Carlos why he would even consider me. In my years of working for him as city editor, I had never revealed my political views. Carlos frankly admitted he had no idea whether I was a Democrat or Republican, liberal or conservative.

But he also said he couldnt imagine anyone in the Trib newsroom being as liberal as John Young. Texas Monthly a year earlier had proclaimed John the perfect nominee to replace the sadly departed Molly Ivins as the bee in the Texas establishments bonnet. So right off, I just naturally had to be a more conservative addition to the editorial board. (While John and I viewed some issues differently, he was a gracious professional who believed in all opinions and even oversaw the patient weekly editing of a column by Waco-based, right-wing iconoclast and rocker Ted Nugent.)

Its always dangerous to stereotype members of any profession, religion, race or discipline. Yes, the press was routinely vilified as wildly sympathetic to liberals by Republican political campaigns as far back as 1968 and 1972. And from what I could tell at the time, many of us who got into journalism in the wake of the remarkable Woodward-Bernstein Watergate coverage at The Washington Post were fairly liberal when we opened up privately amongst ourselves.

Yet, to raise more inconvenient facts  I voted for Richard Nixon for president, came from resolutely Republican lineage, grew up in a household where we werent so sure that Joe McCarthy was wrong, and I counted as a cherished friend rabid anti-communist and Texas Republican Jack Cox. (Texas Republicans who know their party history will recall Jack. He once told me that if he had beat John Connally for governor in 1962, John F. Kennedy would still be alive because Jack never would have invited JFK to Texas.)

This anti-commie bent in my genetic makeup explains why I have darker views on Russian meddling in our recent presidential election than some Johnny-come-lately Republicans who think its A-OK because Russian espionage so conveniently undermined Hillary Clinton. And if you want to know why a multitude of conservative opinion columnists balk at Donald Trump, consider carefully his positions such as vowing to undermine the First Amendment  clearly contrary to opinions of serious conservative thinkers such as the late U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia.

As an editor, reporter and columnist through the years, I have been fortunate to work with some excellent political reporters. All moved easily in Republican and Democratic circles. One even told me he refused to vote in elections because he feared it might somehow color his reporting. He said the smartest politician he ever covered was a Republican, though admittedly a maverick: U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham.

Even in the realm of the opinion page, which by definition is all about bias, we try to keep things fair. I interrupted my Christmas vacation to write a column vigorously defending Republican Congressman Bill Flores after he was maliciously and unfairly savaged by a white-supremacist news site  and four days later I parboiled the congressman for (in my view, clearly not his) seeking to undermine the Houses independent ethics office.

Open minds

Is the news media perfect in its daily reporting of events? Hardly. We make honest mistakes and miscalculations, sometimes demonstrate poor judgment  not unlike the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, county sheriffs, U.S. presidents (Republican and Democratic), network TV programmers, physicians, restaurant managers, battle-tested field generals, judges, traffic cops and Hollywood movie moguls. We also shake our heads mightily at charlatans who assume the title of journalist while demonstrating little of it in the way of principle or professionalism.

As newsrooms dwindle in size, resources and societal impact, the public may learn what its like to rely instead on partisan hacks and political shills instead of a discerning press, even a press bearing fact-based opinions. In an astonishing post-truth era when more and more Americans cavalierly dismiss facts that dont fit their preferred narratives, our badly divided nation will find it harder and harder to address complicated dilemmas. One way to solve some of this is by considering opinions that differ from our own and possibilities that we might not have previously entertained.

Bill Whitaker is opinion editor of the Tribune-Herald.
On Dec. 15, I joined a group of citizens in a meeting with Congressman Bill Flores to discuss specific concerns in anticipation of the presidency of Donald Trump. The agenda covered a variety of topics, including fears of mass deportations by many in our immigrant community; the elevated struggles of religious and racial minorities exacerbated by Trumps campaign; and dismissal of language describing sexual assault as banal locker room talk.

It was clear there was little overlap of political viewpoints between Flores and the rest of us in the room, but that was OK. We werent there to rehash old arguments about left and right, conservative and liberal, Democrat vs. Republican. (I, in fact, have voted Republican in most major elections since 1996.) We were there to tell the congressman that the recent presidential election was abnormal, that it heightened the tensions of the marginalized in our country in ways we havent seen in decades. We werent there as losers in a quadrennial game. We were there as concerned neighbors.

Of the 10 of us in the meeting, we could give at least 10 different perspectives of how it went. But in general, it was a positive experience. Though many of us disagree with the congressmans immigration policy, we were thankful he rejected the idea of deporting immigrants who have not committed a crime since entering our country. His assurance that he respects and works to represent the lives of all his constituents, including those of minorities, was received well, even if some of us thought he could be doing more.

In short, I felt we were heard and even at times that Flores was empathetic with our concerns. We also agreed as a group to defend him in the public square when extremist media outlets misrepresent his words and viewpoints. In the end, we were all thankful for the time he gave us during a busy week in the congressional district.

Six days later, Flores shared a video on Twitter with his commentary: This is funny!! Save the Snowflakes! The video mocked those who were grieving in the days after the election, dubbing them snowflakes, and suggested their strong emotions were a result of the idea that the country may be run by someone they didnt vote for and the unspeakable tragedy of not getting their way.

It was disappointing and an indication Flores believes that the inflammatory rhetoric that Trump both allowed and gave voice to in the campaign was simply typical election-year fodder. It signaled to those in our community who are marginalized and most vulnerable to degradation by Trumps words and deeds that Flores believes that such fears are unfounded or made up.

If you are or care about an immigrant  a category Trump painted in broad strokes as criminals and rapists  if you are fearful that a man who would say such things is about to be president, Flores thinks youre a fragile snowflake.

If you are a minority who witnessed the intimidation and violence against black men and Muslims at his rallies go unaddressed by Trump, and if you are anxious this may become the norm in other public places, your congressman thinks you need to get over it.

And if you are the victim of sexual assault and heard in the infamous Access Hollywood recording not just despicable words or locker room talk but rather a play-by-play description of the abuse you have endured, and if you shed a tear that someone who reminds you of your attacker will soon occupy the highest office in the land, confirming what you have long suspected  that powerful men always get away with violence  Flores believes your grief is more about Hillary Clinton not being president than it is about your traumatic experiences. He thinks you need to grow up. He thinks your pain is funny.

Flores needs to know there are numerous funny things in the world. Seinfeld and I Love Lucy are funny. A horse walks into a bar jokes are funny. Mocking and belittling the experience of those with legitimate fears of a Trump presidency is not funny.

Prior to our meeting, many who have had experience with Flores told me that he wouldnt listen to us, that he would be dismissive of our concerns. I chose to give him the benefit of the doubt, hoping he would prove them wrong. For a moment, I thought he had. In the coming months, he will have second, third and 30th chances to get it right. I hope he does.

Craig Nash works at Baylor University and has lived in Waco since 2000. Those who met with Congressman Bill Flores on Dec. 15 have allied themselves under the name Citizens of 17th, focused on safeguarding immigrant Dreamers, religious and racial minorities, and women.
Among the protesters' chief demands on Saturday was protection for the young undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" from being deported.

Associations that fight for the rights of the undocumented have united to defend their place.

By Indo-Asian News Service: Nearly 2,000 people marched through the streets of Washington to protest against the xenophobic rhetoric and immigration policies of US President-elect Donald Trump, as well as against candidates of the "extreme right" nominated for his cabinet.

As part of the demonstrations called in more than 50 cities around the country by immigrant-rights and civil-rights organisations, nearly 2,000 people protested on Saturday in the US capital, under the slogan "We're here to stay", Efe news reports.

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After a knock-down, drag-out electoral campaign, during which Trump threatened massive deportations, associations that fight for the rights of the undocumented have united to defend their place less than a week before the billionaire takes office.

PROTECTION FOR IMMIGRANTS

Among the protesters' chief demands on Saturday was protection for the young undocumented immigrants known as "dreamers" from being deported in case Trump revokes the executive orders President Barack Obama instituted to keep them from being sent back to their countries of origin.

Also read: Will repeal, replace Obamacare simultaneously, says US President Donald Trump

Also read: Donald Trump's first press meet after win: If Putin likes me, that's an asset

Monica Camacho, an undocumented young woman who came to the US from Mexico in 2002 when she was 7-years-old, and who joined the protest to make it clear that despite being afraid, she and others in her situation will keep fighting.

"This is our home. As immigrants we have a lot to give this country. Our parents brought us here when we were little, and it is also the country of our parents," she said.

"The community is worried, it's scared, but we're going to keep up the struggle anyway. There's always the fear of what can happen but we're sticking together," the young woman said.

Also read: H-1B visa curbs coming soon, says Trump's pick for US attorney general

--- ENDS ---
In May 2014, when Narendra Modi became prime minister in a landslide victory, several commentators compared him to free market icons such as Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan. With Modi's slogan of "minimum government, maximum governance", he was taken to be a messianic moderniser, a neo-liberal who would unleash unparalleled privatisation, free market liberalisation and deregulation.

Today, halfway through his first term as prime minister, he confounds both his conservative admirers and liberal detractors when they discover a radically different Modi-a prime minister who describes the demonetisation drive as redistributive justice, as a class war unleashed against the corrupt elite flaunting their black money. The enigmatic Modi echoes Indira Gandhi who, in her Garibi Hatao (eradicate poverty) avatar, used her executive power to nationalise 14 banks in one broad sweep. Indira Gandhi did it to silence and purge 'the Syndicate', her conservative critics within the Congress. Modi proletarianised himself with a revolutionary rhetoric to undercut an Opposition that charges him with running a suit boot ki sarkar (government of the rich).

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In Italian philosopher Antonio Gramsci's phrase, Modi is carrying out a "passive revolution", using state power to reshape a hegemonic role for the prime minister, by disrupting old ruling class coalitions and attempting to build an "organic coalition" with the masses. Will such new strategies disrupt the traditional caste and class allegiances and fetch votes in UP and other states?

DEMONETISATION IMPACT IS THE KEY

The answer to that question may lie in the timing of the demonetisation drive. It was three months before the five assembly elections in 2017, particularly the bellwether state of Uttar Pradesh. The humiliating defeat for the BJP in Bihar in 2015 meant that the stakes in neighbouring UP became very high. UP has also become symbolically important for Modi since he became an MP in 2014 from the key constituency of Varanasi. A defeat in this key state would mean the unravelling of the PM's mystique of being the prime vote-getter for the party, crimping his ability to carry out reforms in the remaining years of his tenure. Conversely, a victory in UP in 2017 would bring the 2019 Lok Sabha elections within the BJP's reach and build momentum for Modi's return as prime minister for a second term.

The demonetisation drive was, therefore, unleashed as a political strategy to expand the BJP's support base, mainly in the Hindi heartland, by creating a class divide to override the previous identity divide of religion and caste. In 2014, Modi used the economic development plan to come to power and win 71 out of 80 seats in UP. In 2017, Modi again projects himself in radical economic terms, but as the messiah of the poor fighting the venal elite. According to some political analysts, Modi's purpose has always been to replace ethnicity with class and vikaas (economic development). Caste divides have helped regional parties like the Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party win one election after another in UP ever since 2002. The BJP has been out of power in the state for the past 14 years. Modi likes to compare it to Ram, Sita and Lakshman's 14 years of vanvaas (exile).

Will the gamble of demonetisation work in UP? BJP state president Keshav Prasad Maurya seemed confident and told India Today: "The notebandi [demonetisation] campaign is directed at destroying the corrupt big traders and their fat wealth and helping the poor masses." Maurya believes that with the twin planks of demonetisation and surgical strikes on terror launch pads in PoK, the BJP is poised to get over 300 seats in UP.

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A long queue at an ATM in Amritsar, after the demonetisation drive. Photo: Prabhjot Gill

That's why BJP president Amit Shah, while addressing the party's national executive on January 6, stressed that "demonetisation was a pro-poor measure". And the BJP, well aware that the currency ban has led to short-term pain for the aam aadmi, has decided to gamble with declaring demonetisation and the surgical strikes as the party's main plank for the assembly elections in the five states, including UP. The two issues, BJP leaders believe, are a potent combination: while surgical strikes bolster patriotism and nationalism, demonetisation, despite being criticised as bad economics by most economists, may yet prove to be good politics.

Demonetisation, after all, shifts the BJP's agenda from a past obsession with Hindutva issues, such as gau raksha (cow protection) and mandir, to core economics and corruption-free development, thereby marginalising the fringe elements of the Sangh Parivar. Moreover, if Modi's bumper Parivartan rally on January 2 in Lucknow is anything to go by, he could use the forthcoming Union Budget as a force multiplier for the BJP in the state, with announcement of sops and subsidies for the poor.

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CLASSES VERSUS MASSES

The ground reports on Modi's demonetisation gambit are mixed. Meet Brajesh Kumar, the pradhan of Pandit Purwa village in Colonelganj tehsil, Gonda district. Kumar had been officially charged, after regular complaints by labourers that he withheld their MGNREGA wages for months. Once demonetisation was announced, Kumar paid all the labourers in advance up to Holi of 2017 in old Rs 500 and 1,000 notes. The happy labourers withdrew their complaint against Kumar. All the labourers of this economically backward region love demonetisation. As one of them put it: "A godsend from heaven right before Holi."

In the other neighbouring districts of eastern UP, such as Kushinagar, Ballia and Mau, the investigation department of the income tax unit of Lucknow has frozen over 500 Jan Dhan accounts where over Rs 10,000 was credited overnight. Labourers who got the money in their Jan Dhan accounts were thrilled when the prime minister announced at a rally that nothing should be returned to those who had deposited black money in Jan Dhan accounts.

Hari Singh from Aminabad in Lucknow runs a wholesale dealership in medicines. He would pay regular commissions in cash to six doctors, anywhere between Rs 30,000 and Rs 1 lakh a month, for prescribing medicines from his shop. Demonetisation, he claims, has destroyed him. Since he can no longer pay commissions to the doctors, they have ceased to generate business for him. Sales are down. "Modi's notebandi has ruined me. I have no food to eat these days," claims Singh.

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In Lucknow, this is the wedding season, but despite the cash crunch caused by demonetisation, lavish pandals decorated with chandeliers, lights and reams of flowers dot the city. Alcohol, gilauti and tunday kebabs and a gala dinner await hundreds of guests invited to such weddings. At one such wedding, an ardent BJP supporter confesses, "The party has lost the plot. With surgical strikes, the BJP had united the country and become the number one party in UP. With demonetisation wreaking havoc in the local economy and dividing the country, the BJP has lost its initial edge in the polls."

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav believes that demonetisation will prove a disaster for Modi and the BJP in the upcoming polls. He told India Today: "The entire informal sector industry in cities like Moradabad, which dealt in cash, has been destroyed. Agriculture has been badly affected all over the state." Asked if the SP had been affected politically, he joked: "We are thrilled since it has compelled us to return to our cycles [SP's poll symbol] since there is no cash to buy petrol or diesel."

Despite Akhilesh's confidence, the results of a major pre-election survey done by India Today-Axis may gladden BJP supporters. The poll suggests that the projection of demonetisation as a class war against the venal elite and the BJP's neo-Mandal politics may give it greater dividends in the forthcoming assembly polls. The survey, carried out in December in four states (UP, Punjab, Goa and Uttarakhand) of the five going to the polls in February-March, has predicted the BJP as the frontrunner in three of these states. The party is poised to form governments in three (UP, Uttarakhand and Goa) of the four states polled in the survey, with only Punjab projected to fall to the Congress party.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi with top BJP leaders at the January 2 rally in Lucknow. Photo: Maneesh Agnihotri

In UP, the survey predicts, the BJP is likely to get 206 to 216 seats out of 403, above the halfway mark of 202. The survey also asked voters to respond on key issues, such as demonetisation and development. Over three-quarters (76 per cent) of those surveyed in UP said demonetisation was good, although 58 per cent admitted they had faced problems because of the move. Demonetisation seems to be good politics, a vote-getter for the BJP, the survey shows.

BJP'S NEW SOCIAL ENGINEERING

The radical shift from neo-liberalism to redistributive populism by the prime minister has not come with the demonetisation drive alone. Modi has also restructured the BJP's political sociology by reconfiguring its caste arithmetic through large-scale social engineering. The stranglehold of Brahmins and Baniyas in the party hierarchy is now history.

Politics is a game of strategic interaction, whereby one's move on the chessboard is greatly influenced by that of the opponent's. So to combat the Mandal-inspired Third Front politics in the Hindi heartland, Modi has adopted the new Mandal avatar. During fierce political competition, the optimum strategy is to defeat your opponent by co-opting his best strategy. As a result, half of the BJP chief ministers and a majority of its newly elected presidents in the states are from the OBC community.

Modi's January 2 rally in Lucknow showcased key OBC leaders. Among them were Uma Bharti, cabinet minister and MP from Jhansi; former BSP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who defected to the BJP; Anupriya Patel, Apna Dal leader and the youngest minister in Modi's cabinet; and the BJP's UP president, Keshav Prasad Maurya. They are all part of the non-Yadav-OBC coalition that the BJP is attempting to forge, particularly in the economically backward eastern UP region.

However, the BJP still lacks a chief ministerial face in this crucial state, the same blunder it committed when it lost the 2015 assembly election in Bihar. As in Bihar, most political advisors handling UP for the party are from outside the state. A Bihari versus bahari (outsider) divide had doomed the BJP in 2015. Will the imposition of outsiders on the state's politics alienate the people of UP too? Aware of such a danger, the BJP has, of late, begun replacing leaders from outside with locals.

Modi, though, remains critical to the BJP's success in UP. He is neither afraid to use his bully pulpit role as prime minister to tame unregulated business through income-tax raids-again an Indira Gandhi throwback-nor is he shy of announcing a slew of populist measures, such as the Pradhan Mantri Ujjwala Yojana for free LPG cylinders, Pradhan Mantri Awaas Yojana, or financial inclusion for the poor via Jan Dhan bank accounts. The BJP is busy using sops and subsidies to bag votes, exactly as the Congress and the other regional parties did in the past.

A caste break-up of the vote share by the India Today-Axis survey for UP shows that while the BJP is likely to retain 61 per cent of upper caste voters (its traditional votebank), its popularity among the non-Yadav-OBCs (particularly the Kurmi, Maurya communities) is a high 53 per cent-better than all contending parties. The BJP's penetration among the OBC community in UP, minus the creamy layer of the Yadavs, is the singlemost important reason behind its soaring popularity in 2017.

It was the OBC communities that had brought the BJP to power for the first time in UP, between 1991 and 1992, and later between 1997 and 1999, under the charismatic OBC leader Kalyan Singh. Rajnath Singh, as UP chief minister between 2000 and 2002, had tried to implement the quota-within-quota formula of social engineering, which ensured affirmative action for these ati pichhra (extremely backward castes, EBCs), minus the creamy layer of Yadavs. However, in the last 14 years, especially between 2002 and 2014, the BJP had gradually lost the OBC votebank, leading to the party's decline in the state. It is precisely this 14-year power hiatus in UP that Modi hopes will end in 2017 with its samajik samrasta (social churning) as the new electoral mantra.

BSP, SP FORMIDABLE CHALLENGERS

Yet while the pre-election survey appears positive for the BJP in UP, the party faces a formidable challenge both from the BSP and the ruling SP. On January 2, when the Supreme Court declared that eliciting votes in the name of religion and caste would lead to an election being declared null and void, BSP leader Mayawati, a quintessential protester, summoned a press conference in Lucknow to declare her community-wise candidate list: her party had given 87 tickets to Dalits, 97 to Muslims, 106 to OBCs and the majority 113 to the upper castes. In contrast to the BJP's attempt to junk upper caste supporters in favour of OBCs, the BSP, a Dalit party, was ironically luring the upper castes by giving them the maximum tickets, followed by OBCs, Muslims and Dalits. When asked if the upper castes would abandon the BJP for the BSP, BSP spokesperson Sudhindra Bhadoria replied: "Is there space for the upper castes in a newly Mandalised BJP? What choice do the upper castes have other than allying with Behenji [Mayawati], who welcomes them with open arms?" Will Muslims abandon the SP? "What choice do Muslims have in western UP after the Muzaffarnagar riots?" retorted Bhadoria. Confident of its Dalit base, the BSP is busy stitching a new rainbow coalition of upper castes, Most Backward Castes (MBCs) and Muslims.

The India Today-Axis pre-election survey shows that 14 per cent of the Muslim voters and 15 per cent of the OBC voters, minus the Yadavs, support the BSP even before the distribution of tickets. If Mayawati, with her higher seat allocation to the MBCs and Muslims, is able to change the caste arithmetic and the algebra of alliances, can she beat the BJP and the SP, as she did in 2007? That remains to be seen.

Meanwhile, given the possibility of a pre-poll alliance between the Congress and the Akhilesh Yadav-led SP, the survey figures provide an alternative narrative. The SP's projected vote share of 26 per cent and the Congress's 6 per cent add up to 32 per cent-1 per cent below the BJP's projected vote share of 33 per cent. However, in a game of alliances, the product is more than the sum of its parts, as seats tend to grow exponentially vis-a-vis the vote share. A united SP in alliance with the Congress is a formidable combination that could well arrest the BJP's surge in the state. Akhilesh Yadav termed it as a "right combination for securing 300 seats".

Asked what would be the modality of the united SP-Congress coalition, Congress legislature party leader Pradeep Mathur said: "A very simple formula with no hiccups. In the first round, the Congress would get seats according to its sitting 28 MLAs. In the second round, according to the number of seats where Congress stood second in 2012. The third round would require some friendly negotiations; same formula for the SP's seat distribution."

After his success at defeating the BJP, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had said that only a Bihar-style mahagathbandhan (grand alliance) across the ideological spectrum can stop the BJP's surge in 2017. The BJP gains from any and all disunity in the secular camp, like from the division of votes between the SP, BSP and the Congress in UP.

In a multi-cornered contest, only a united Opposition can stall the BJP's expansion in UP. The survey predicts that a united SP, in alliance with the Congress and Ajit Singh's Rashtriya Lok Dal, can arrest the rising tide of the BJP. If the SP-Congress-RLD coalition fails to materialise, can the BSP arrest the BJP's surge? The BJP's inroads among the OBCs are not matched by its penetration among the Dalit voters. According to the survey, 68 per cent of the Dalit voters are loyal to the BSP. Only 15 per cent of Dalits, mainly from the Pasi and Khatik castes, support the BJP.

Since campaigns are still to unfold on the ground and major alliances yet to be worked out, such questions remain open. In the final analysis, the Opposition parties must realise the import of Nitish Kumar's warning: united we stand, divided we fall.

With Ashish M

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Bhavnaben Jagatsinh Parmar, 41, lost her husband in 2005. For 11 years, she had no clue she should have been getting a widow's pension from the Gujarat government. With two school-going children and a mother-in-law to take care of, the farm worker from Memadpur village in the state's Sabarkantha district had been surviving on the Rs 100 she earned daily and another Rs 1,500 she made every month selling milk from her buffaloes. Last month, Seva Setu, Chief Minister Vijay Rupani's flagship programme bringing the state's welfare services to the people's doorstep, recognised her eligibility for widow pension and changed her life.

Bhavnaben had attended a Seva Setu camp, catering to some 25,000 people from Memadpur and nine adjoining villages, on December 30. Beginning February 1, she will start drawing a monthly pension of Rs 1,000. Another camp held on December 31 in Ahmedabad district's Virochannagar village turned Laxman Halaji Parmar's fortunes around. The 45-year-old backward caste villager, who scraped a living tilling his less-than-an-acre farm, has been enrolled under the Mukhyamantri Amrutum Yojana, Gujarat's ambitious health scheme providing free treatment to the extremely poor for seven ailments, including heart and kidney diseases and cancer. Laxman had been eligible for the scheme for years, but remained out of its reach as he couldn't afford to travel with his family to Prantij, the taluka headquarters, for the mandatory registration and documentation process. "I had been trying to do the trip for the past three years, but there was always paucity of time and money," says Laxman. "I feel extremely gratified to have got the health card at my doorstep."

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The Seva Setu camp in Virochan-nagar also benefitted Kailashben Bhaljibhai Thakore, a 40-year-old from Khoraj village who was widowed two months ago. She was not only registered for pension but also got Rs 20,000 as grant under the Sankat Mochan Yojana for widows. Kailashben was also enrolled for the Mukhyamantri Amrutum Yojana, although she had qualified five years ago. "The camp has proved to be a boon for me," she says.

Seva Setu was launched on November 5 last year. Within two months, it has created a wave among Gujarat's poor-cause for much optimism for the ruling BJP, which had lost the panchayat elections to the Congress in November 2015. Already, many are seeing it as a bridge helping the BJP reconnect with the masses-according to one claim, in the panchayat elections held on December 27 last year, over 70 per cent of the posts of sarpanch have gone to BJP supporters. It is also being viewed as a new experiment in core governance at the micro level.

Rupani, who was made chief minister last year and got his first ministerial appointment only in 2014, is both the architect and beneficiary of Seva Setu. The programme has helped him blunt critics' charge that he is inexperienced in core administrative work. In 2015, as a member of the Anandiben Patel cabinet, he had experimented with Seva Setu in the urban areas of his Rajkot constituency, bringing revenue and municipal officials together at camps and delivering welfare services to the poor. As chief minister, Rupani thought of replicating the idea throughout the state. The experiences of two district collectors who had conducted similar experiments-Swaroop P. of Sabarkantha and P. Bharthi of Panchmahal-helped him fine-tune it. S. Aparna, principal secretary to the chief minister, and principal secretary (revenue) K. Srinivas were tasked with monitoring it at the micro level.

Seva Setu literally operates like a one-stop shop. The collector or deputy collector and taluka-level officials set up a camp covering 10 villages. The patwari of each village identifies beneficiaries. At the camp, seven counters work in tandem to complete the registration of applicants. By the end of it, the beneficiaries walk away with eligibility certificates or cards for various welfare schemes. Rupani explains his vision: "Seva Setu is part of our commitment to good governance at the micro level."

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Bureaucrats concur. Sabar-kantha deputy collector Ajay Chaudhary, who held the camp in Memadpur, says: "In my entire career, I have never seen such quick delivery of government services." Harshvardhan Singh Solanki, the Ahmedabad deputy collector behind the Virochannagar camp, adds: "The micro-level operation ensures there is no room for manipulation of figures."

Camps are held every Friday or Saturday or on both days. Most district collectors have, on their own, added services, such as vets for cattle, training villagers in digital payments. Swaroop says the USP is "delivery at the doorstep". "Services that would have taken the poor days, months, and even years, to access and pinched their pockets are being delivered at their doorstep in a matter of hours."

With assembly elections due in Gujarat this year, Rupani plans to hold four rounds of Seva Setu camps, cover the state well in time and reap the dividends. The going has been good so far. Till December 31, 1,136 camps were held in the rural areas, covering over 11,000 of the 18,000 villages and benefitting 0.805 million of the total 0.830 million applicants. In the urban areas, 159 camps were held, benefitting 0.275 million of the 0.287 million applicants. In all, 0.125 million got Aadhaar cards, more than 0.2 million were issued income and caste certificates and around 70,000 were covered under the health scheme.

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The exercise has, indirectly, highlighted the work done by Narendra Modi during his 13-year tenure in Gujarat. For example, the number of widows and old-age pensioners left to be covered under Seva Setu turned out to be low as most of them had already been enrolled. Among those left out was Wazir Khan Pathan, 63, from Kalana village in Ahmedabad district. He herds goats and largely subsists on village donations. Seva Setu has given him a monthly pension of Rs 400-and a reason to smile.

Follow the writer on Twitter @UdayMahurkar

--- ENDS ---
As debate rages over forcing banks to share more of the data they hold on customers, a growing number of lenders are already doing this with their small business clients through accounting platform Xero.

The trans-Tasman software company says such is the demand from small business customers to access feeds of their own transaction data that it could be a model for financial data sharing in the larger consumer market.

Eventually, that may mean consumers would be able to apply for bank loans without handing over extensive paperwork on their income, expenses, and debts, as is often required today. That is because if consumers wanted, they could choose to give their bank access to the information held in their personal accounting cloud.

While data sharing in consumer banking is still being debated, Ben Styles, Xero's head of strategic partnerships, financial services, said there had been strong growth in the number of banks providing "feeds" of their small business customers' transactions in recent years.
The report that led to the axing of Sirtex chief executive Gilman Wong late last week, is expected to be in the hands of the corporate watchdog within days.

External lawyers carried out an investigation into share trading by Mr Wong in October which led to him being axed by the board of directors last Friday.

Former CEO Gilman Wong was terminated in January after a probe into his share trading. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

Describing the contents of the report as "privileged and confidential" the board of the company dismissed Mr Wong with immediate effect with all invested performance rights to shares in Sirtex forfeited.

Under the Companies Act if the internal investigation confirmed any breach of the law, then the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) must be notified of the details as a matter of course.
Chief executive pay has become a powerful symbol of the widening gap between the winners and losers created by globalisation, and boards must put more focus on justifying the bonuses they pay executives amid a backlash against free-market policies.

That is the view of the chairman of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Elizabeth Proust, one of the Australian business leaders attending the powerful World Economic Forum's Davos summit in Switzerland this week.

The annual meeting of the global economic and political elite, in a town in the Swiss Alps, takes place against a backdrop of growing inequality in many countries, seen as a key driver for anti-establishment political shocks including Brexit and Donald Trump's win.

Ms Proust, one of several Australian business leaders to attend the meeting, said a key focal point for the meeting would probably be the backlash against globalisation, a theme that may have further to run in 2017.
Johnny Depp and Amber Heard's tumultuous divorce was finalised on Friday, ending the couple's marriage after months of highly publicised claims by Heard of domestic violence and counterclaims from Depp of financial blackmail.

Court papers filed in Los Angeles County Superior Court on Friday detailed a splitting of marital assets and an agreement by Depp, 53, to pay a previously announced sum of $US7 million ($9.3 million) to Heard, 30, that she said will be donated to charity.

Heard filed for divorce in May of last year after 15 months of marriage, and days later obtained a temporary restraining order against Depp.

She said in court filings that Depp was abusive to her throughout their marriage, culminating in an argument in May in which he hurled a cell phone into her face and shattered various objects in her apartment.
For many Australians, Monday will be the first day back at work. Come 9am or thereabouts tomorrow, the relaxing Christmas break will be but a distant memory, replaced by the daily grind of the workplace. More than half of Australians are dreading the thought of going back to the office, and the feeling is more intense the younger you are.

According to a Telstra survey, almost three in four 18 to 24-year-olds are dreading going back to work in the New Year. But that sentiment appears to decline with age  among working baby boomers, less than four in 10 will be dragging their feet come the first day back:

The employees who engaged in sex the previous evening reported more positive moods the next morning, which led to more sustained work engagement and job satisfaction. The effects appeared to last for a full 24 hours and were equally strong for men and women. Credit:iStock

Those over 65 are practically raring to get back into it, and returning to work was a source of dread for only one in five.
A man and his dog spent all of Saturday night floating on a jet-ski off the Queensland coast, before being found by search and rescue aircraft on Sunday morning.

The black and red Sea Doo carrying a 45-year-old Townsville man and his dog, a staffy named Stubby, equipped with a life jacket, left Bundaberg Port bound for Lady Elliott Island. They departed about 2pm on Saturday but failed to arrive at their destination.

Water police along with search and rescue aircraft found a missing jet ski on Sunday morning after the rider activated his emergency beacon.

Police were told late on Saturday night about the missing jet-ski and launched an air and sea search on Sunday morning.

Just after 6am emergency services detected the man's EPIRB activation and confirmed his location using search aircraft.
Eight men shuffled into a classroom to spend 90 minutes learning how to stop abusing women.

The men settled into metal chairs around a long table. The groups instructor, Brice Brogan, began by asking each man to describe what landed them in the court-ordered program. He warns them to be truthful.

I have the police reports, he said. If its not close, Im going to correct you.

The men begin. One described burning his girlfriend on the neck. Another threatened his girlfriend with a gun during a fight when she said she was calling police. Another kicked in a door.

One man held his pregnant girlfriend down by her neck in a fight about his drug use. He was clean at the time, he said. It was his third trip through the batterer intervention course.

Treatment for many domestic crimes was mandated by the Montana Legislature in 2001, although there is no standard for the programs and not all the programs are available throughout the state.

The treatments also are not always specific to the crime. Judges can replace domestic violence treatment with drug or alcohol treatment and anger management courses. Neither address the power and control issues of a violent partner.

During 2014, Todd Michael Johnson beat four different women to the point of hospitalization. That string of beatings came after Johnson had four times been ordered by courts to complete anger management treatment.

Prosecutors and legislators are unsure how successful 40 hours of treatment can be in reversing a lifetime of abusive behavior.

Evaluating effectiveness

Sen. Cynthia Wolken, D-Missoula, chairwoman of the bipartisan Commission on Sentencing, wants the programs to be better tracked. She introduced a bill this legislative session to direct the Montana Board of Crime Control to increase compliance monitoring, implement standards and evaluate the effectiveness of the courses.

Mandating treatment only works if its available to everyone and is evidence based, Wolken said.

In Billings, Alternatives Inc. is a company that contracts with the state to provide community-based correctional programs and runs year-round batterer intervention courses for both men and women. There may be anywhere from five to eight classes going at once, with a limit of 12 members per classroom. The classes meet once a week for 90 minutes.

Brogan, one of the course teachers, is a licensed counselor with Alternatives. He uses a power and control wheel to show the manipulation used in an abusive relationship. He tries to reverse some of the ingrained views men have about their partners.

When men start Brogans program, they tend to minimize their role in an assault. They want to share the blame with their partner. Brogan does not allow excuses.

I dont care what she does, you dont have to get another domestic violence charge, he said.

When a partner hits back, it's retaliation, not self-defense, Brogan said.

Treatment

This was the first time going through treatment for 55-year-old Rickey Hemming. Hemming had multiple partner violence convictions dating back to the late-90s.

His second partner assault came in 2003, when he was ordered to undergo chemical dependency treatment.

Hemming teared up when he considered the 25 years he spent in prison for various crimes. When he looks back at the first time he was arrested, he said he would have liked to have gone through a program.

By the time he was charged with his third felony partner or family member assault and a criminal possession of dangerous drugs, he had struggled with violence and addiction for nearly 40 years.

District Judge Mary Jane Knisely recommended he go through the intense, nine-month Nexus drug treatment program and the mandatory 40 hours of batterers intervention treatment.

Far as Im concerned, only judge ever did anything for me was Judge Knisely, Hemming said.

Hemming completed Nexus and was released to Alpha House, a halfway house run through Alternatives, in order to undergo batterers treatment.

He called the class a good refresher course."

As Brogan listened to Hemmings account of his past, he interjected from time to time, and corrected some of Hemmings statements to make him more accountable.

Hemming still has work to do, Brogan said. He had only taken about six weeks worth of classes.

Brogan believes the men in his class do change. Students sometimes must go through the class several times to understand all the principles. Anyone could benefit from them, he said.

There is no start or finish to a class, so the members are all at different stages of completion. Offenders can complete the course in 27 weeks and offenders not living at one of Alternatives' facilities pay $25 a class.

Yellowstone County Judge Ingrid Gustafson runs the Yellowstone County Drug Court, which treats drug addicts according to individual needs.

Learning the most effective rehabilitative responses to partner family member violence is somewhat still in its infancy, Gustafson said.

After more than 30 years of study into effective drug courts, Gustafson said data shows putting an offender who is at low-risk to reoffend with an offender at a high risk to reoffend can damage the effectiveness of treatment.

But, thats how domestic violence offenders are being treated in Montana.

Case prosecution

Yellowstone Chief Deputy County Attorney Juli Pierce is part of a team that is working on proposing legislation this year to make strangulation a stand-alone felony. This is a step toward identifying a severe case of abuse early on. Many of the victims Pierce interviews who report strangulation are willing to testify against their partners. Some recognize the extreme risk of being strangled.

In 2007, Judi Wang from the Missoula City Attorneys Office was the driving force behind changing the aggravated assault language to allow for strangulation to be prosecuted as a felony. Until then, strangulation during a domestic assault was prosecuted the same as punching a victim and could only be prosecuted as a misdemeanor.

During the same session, the Legislature removed the two-year mandatory minimum incarceration for aggravated assault.

Prior to the aggravated assault language changing, the Yellowstone County Attorneys office prosecuted 26 aggravated assault cases between 2003 and 2007. During the next five years, the offices aggravated assault cases increased to 158. Strangulation was present in about 56 percent of those cases.

Since 2013, the office has charged 161 aggravated assault cases, with about 66 percent related to a strangulation offense.

Pierce is not certain about whether those numbers are attributable to an increase in violence, but does believe the increase can partly be attributed to an increase of recognition by both police and prosecutors about the seriousness of choking assaults. While treatment is not mandated for aggravated assault, Pierce includes it in many of the plea deals or release conditions.

Pierce does not see as many of her strangulation offenders return to court.

However, because of the way the aggravated assault law was written, victims must make very specific statements to allow prosecutors to move forward with a felony case, Billings City Attorney Ben Halverson said. Many cases of strangulation teeter on the line between felony and misdemeanor, Halverson said.

"They have to say exactly what we need, but most of them dont know the language of our trade," Halverson said.

At the end of 2014, about 44 states and the District of Columbia had enacted some form of a strangulation statute. Montana was not one of them.

This will be the third time Pierce will go before the Legislature to advocate for laws to better address domestic violence. She was part of a team that proposed legislation in 2013 to make domestic violence convictions from other states count toward a persons total number of cases in Montana, making it easier to identify repeat offenders.

Pierce was also part of a team that was unsuccessful in making it an additional misdemeanor if the domestic violence is committed in front of children.

Evolving risk

Many states have adopted separate strangulation laws after a study showed repeat strangulation increased a victims chance of being killed, said Neil Websdale, a professor of criminal justice at Northern Arizona University. Websdale is director of the National Domestic Violence Fatality Review Initiative.

Strangulation cannot be the only factor in determining how risky a domestic violence situation is. Abuse occurring against a woman who is pregnant, using a weapon during abuse, and sexual assaults also increase the risk of death, Websdale said.

Montana law does not require treatment courses address sexual abuse in violent partner relationships, although the treatment model used by Brogan does include a section on the difference between rape and consensual sex.

The one-size-fits-all approach to punishment in domestic violence cases does not make sense, Websdale said.

There is a difference between hitting someone and battering someone, Websdale said. There are cases of situational couple violence where both parties are involved in a fight, but there is no attempt to control the behavior of the other, Websdale said.

Couples in these situations may benefit from counseling, but on the whole do not need to be involved in the criminal justice system, Websdale said.

The cases that should concern courts are ones involving what Websdale called intimate terrorists. This category can be broken into two profiles. A dependent batterer is the profile that makes up the majority of men who abuse partners.

These men often have low self-esteem and an intense fear of abandonment, Websdale said. They have a lot of pride in their masculinity and get angry when they feel they arent in charge of a situation. They do not exhibit these behaviors toward other men, Websdale said. But when they are with a woman, they feel they are entitled to take what they want. These men have a tendency to live isolated lives and have trouble establishing intimacy.

However, a minority of batterers do not follow this mold, Websdale said. Batterers with anti-social personality disorders make up less than 20 percent of the batterer population. These are men who are not as jealous and do not need to control a partner the same way a dependent batterer does. These abusers opt for manipulation of pretty much everyone, Websdale said.

Websdale is skeptical that dependent batterers can change their violent and controlling behavior without prolonged treatment. For the small percentage of anti-social batterers, Websdale said the only solution is prolonged incarceration.

Looking forward

Thomas Big Man, 32, just completed Brogans treatment class. Big Man has two previous felony PFMAs against an ex-girlfriend and against his mother. He watched his father abuse his mother for most of his life. When Big Man would try to protect his mother, he would turn into the target, he said.

Big Man had a drug and alcohol addiction. After his second felony conviction for PFMA, he was sentenced to five years in prison.

While he was in prison, his younger brother was convicted of PFMA. Big Man had committed his first misdemeanor PFMA when he was 18, against his brother.

He looked up to everything I did, Big Man said. I felt like it was my fault.

Big Man left prison after four years for a 60-day treatment course before going to Alpha House to complete his batterer intervention classes. When he leaves, he plans to move in with his new fiancee and her daughter.

Treatment can help people who keep an open mind, Big Man said.

Just before Christmas this year, Big Mans mother forgave him for his assault against her.

During treatment, Big Man heard from victims who described how being abused had changed them. When Big Man thinks about his family and his future, violence is no longer an option, he said.

If I ever hurt my fiancee or my daughter, it would destroy them, Big Man said.
By Press Trust of India: From Lalit K Jha

Washington, Jan 15 (PTI) The White House today tended to side with the Democratic lawmakers who have decided to boycott Donald Trumps inauguration over alleged Russian meddling in US presidential election and his rebuke of John Lewis, asking the president-elect to reach out to the civil rights legend.

Lewis, leading a pack of 18 lawmakers, has blasted Trump in an interview on CNN, saying he would boycott the ceremony for the first time since 1987 because he doesnt see Trump as a "legitimate" president in light of the Russian interference.

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White House Chief of Staff Denis McDonough later told the network that "these Democrats and others have pointed out that they have got significant concerns (over Russian meddling with the purpose of helping one candidate and hurting the other)."

"My hope would be that the president-elect will reach out to somebody as consequential - and as somebody who is such a leader - as John Lewis ... and hopefully not just reach out to him, but pursue some of the policies that Lewis has literally fought, bled and gone to jail for over the course of his remarkable life," McDonough said.

He said Trump reaching out to Lewis would send a message to Americans that "were prepared to work together, but would also send a message to the Russians, that we are united."

"Their efforts to divide Americans, to weaken the country, to advance their own interests, at the expense of America, is going to fail."

Trump - who will become the 45th President of the US after he takes over from Obama - has lashed out at Lewis on Twitter for the boycott of the January 20 inauguration ceremony.

"Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the US. I can use all the help I can get!" Trump said sarcastically in a tweet.

"Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to...mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk - no action or results. Sad!" he said in a series of tweets.

Lewis today was on a talk show. Appearing determined to stick to his decision, he went a step further and said he will not invite Trump to Selma, Alabama, the site of the historic civil rights marches.

"By going to Selma ? like President (George W) Bush, President (Bill) Clinton, President Obama ? maybe he would learn something," Lewis told NBCs Meet the Press.

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"Iwould not invite him to come," he said, but quickly added he would not do anything to stop Trump from coming.

McDonough also insisted the outgoing Obama administration believes Trump is the elected president of the country; and this has been articulated by Obama several times in the past.

"He will be inaugurated on Friday. And he will come into office hopefully strengthened by the kind of transition that we have tried to run in this White House," he said.

But Obama does not plan to jump into the debate of legitimate and illegitimate of the election of Trump.

"The president is not going to get in the middle of this right now," he said. PTI LKJ ABH

--- ENDS ---
When did you last use your landline telephone at home? For a growing number of Australians, that's a moot question: they just don't have one.

Data released by the Australian Communications and Media Authority on November 30 shows that 5.78 million Australians  about 31 per cent  have no fixed landline at home.

The trend to abandon the landline seems inexorable.

ACMA reports that in 2009 nine in 10 households had a fixed landline. Recent ACMA surveys show two-thirds of consumers now say there is a fixed-line phone at their home.
Underbelly actor Vince Colosimo is due to face court next month for alleged drug possession. The 50-year-old father-of-two is listed to appear in the Melbourne Magistrates Court in February over alleged possession of methampthetamine. Actor Vince Colosimo. The star is represented by elite city law firm, Tony Hargreaves and Partners. In late 2014, the actor's licence was suspended in the Melbourne Magistrates Court after he was caught twice driving with a suspended licence.

Vince Colosimo as Alphonse Gangitano in Underbelly. Despite starring in major films, including alongside Leonardo DiCaprio in Body of Lies and Australian cult hit Chopper, the court heard Colosimo needed four months to pay a $1000 fine and was working on building sites to supplement his income. Colosimo was nominated for a silver Logie for his portrayal of Melbourne gangland figure Alphonse Gangitano in Underbelly in 2008. He also starred as Gangitano in Fat Tony & Co, a spin off from the Underbelly series about the manhunt for convicted drug boss Tony Mokbel. He had been tipped to be part of the cast for Channel 10's I'm a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
WA Police have charged a 38-year-old Halls Head man with murder after an argument during the early hours of Saturday morning turned violent.

Police were called to an altercation at a residential unit block on Valley Road at around 2am on Saturday morning.

The man has been charged with murder.

A 40-year-old man died as a result of his injuries, and a 32-year-old woman remains in hospital.

Despite earlier reports, police said the offender was not known to the two victims.
An international gathering of diplomats warned Israel, Palestine against taking unilateral actions that could hurt peace talks.

By AP: Dozens of countries today called on Israel and the Palestinians to revive work toward long-elusive peace, including an independent Palestinian state.

The closing declaration at an international Middle East peace conference held in in Paris urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also warned them against taking one-sided actions that could hurt talks, an apparent reference to Israeli settlement building.

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While the Palestinians welcomed today's declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference "rigged" and cooked up behind Israel's back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

The French organisers argued the conference was necessary to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians, the solution favoured by the international community for the past two decades.

Also read: Manohar Parrikar clears Rs 900 crore Army deal with Israel

Many members of Netanyahu's coalition want to abandon the two-state solution and expand settlements, and some have even called for annexing parts of the West Bank. Trump's campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence.

In a nod to Israel, the final declaration of today's conference included criticism of incitement and "terror", a reference to Palestinian attacks. And some of the pro-Palestinian language in an earlier draft was removed after diplomats huddled in Paris today.

JOHN KERRY: MOVING US EMBASSY TO JERUSALEM ILL-ADVISED

John Kerry, who represented the US in his capacity as the country's secretary of state, warned that it's too early to move the US Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem, as has been proposed by US President-elect Donald Trump. "This is not the right time," Kerry said, adding, "We think it's ill-advised."

Also read: Trump says would recognise Jerusalem as Israeli capital

The incoming Trump administration did not take part in the meeting.

While Netanyahu has voiced support for a two-state solution, his critics, including Kerry, have said that continued settlement construction on occupied territories raises questions about his commitment to pursuing a peace deal.

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said today's statement amounted to a rejection of Israel's occupation and settlement construction in captured territories. He said it sent a message that Israel "cannot achieve peace and stability" without ending its occupation.

Also read: Trump, Pence true friend of Israel, says Israeli ambassador

--- ENDS ---
CoreLogic, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides property information, insight, analytics, and data-enabled solutions in North America, Western Europe, and the Asia Pacific. The company operates in two segments, Property Intelligence & Risk Management Solutions (PIRM) and Underwriting & Workflow Solutions (UWS). The PIRM segment combines property information, mortgage information, and consumer information to deliver housing market and property-level insights, predictive analytics, and risk management capabilities. It also offers proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with decision-making and compliance tools in the real estate and insurance industries. This segment primarily serves commercial banks, mortgage lenders and brokers, investment banks, fixed-income investors, real estate agents, MLS companies, property and casualty insurance companies, title insurance companies, government agencies, and government-sponsored enterprises. The UWS segment combines property, mortgage, and consumer information to provide comprehensive mortgage origination and monitoring solutions, including underwriting-related solutions, and data-enabled valuations and appraisals. This segment also provides proprietary technology and software platforms to access, automate, or track the information and assist its clients with vetting and onboarding prospects, and meeting compliance regulations, as well as understanding, evaluating, monitoring property values. It primarily serves mortgage lenders and servicers, mortgage brokers, credit unions, commercial banks, fixed-income investors, government agencies, and property and casualty insurance companies. The company was formerly known as The First American Corporation and changed its name to CoreLogic, Inc. in June 2010. CoreLogic, Inc. was incorporated in 1894 and is headquartered in Irvine, California.
The evacuations could not even run smoothly because of the foreign fighters supporting Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad. Even after he managed to get Aleppo, his fighters still killed innocent civilians and his government decided to ignore the terms of the ceasefire.

Assads supporters claimed publicly that it would ensure humanitarian aid would allow civilians to safely evacuate areas that are under government control. However, Iran had other ideas. The Iranian regime decided to act on its own in order to get more concessions from the Syrian rebels and the international community. It stopped around a thousand people from evacuating at one of its checkpoints. These thousand people had already got through the Russian checkpoint just outside Aleppo.

However, the actions of Iran is no great surprise. Iran has stood in prevention of peace ever since the civil war in Syria started in 2011.

All of this was foreseeable. Iran has been the greatest impediment to peace virtually since the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011. Its efforts to stand in the way of basic humanitarian work in Aleppo are perfectly in keeping with the Iranian leaderships behaviour both at home and within its foreign sphere of influence.

These developments are perhaps the clearest pieces of evidence yet for the conclusion that peace in Syria is impossible as long as Iran continues to play a leading role there. Surely this was obvious to the international community months or even years ago. Though the United Nations was too weak to do anything about it, the United States and Europe were, predictably, unwilling to take their own actions to constrain Iran. The unimaginable loss of life and property in Aleppo is the consequence of that inaction, and Irans current behaviour makes it clear that the consequences will continue to accrue for as long as the international community allows Tehran to dictate the course of events in Syria.

The sad fact is that Western powers did more than just refuse to stand in Irans way as it wielded more and more influence over the Assad government and its wartime activities. The West actually granted Iran a place at the negotiating table, despite the well-justified objections of some within Middle East and other long-standing opponents of the Iranian regime.

The main Iranian resistance group, the Peoples Mojahedin Organization of Iran (PMOI/MEK), has been trying for years to bring Western attention to the destructive role that Iran has been playing in Syria and throughout the region.

Now, in light of recent events, one might argue that the role changes slightly for this and other advocates of the Syrian opposition. Instead of simply highlighting the danger that Tehran poses to civilians throughout the Middle East, these groups must make it clear to global policy makers that their hands-off approach to the Islamic Republic of Iran has helped to create the conditions that allowed the vast amounts of destruction that we have witnessed in recent days.

Indeed, in a statement following the fall of Aleppo, Iranian Resistance leader Maryam Rajavi appealed to the international community, saying, The regime in Tehran is the source of crisis in the region and killings in Syria and peace and tranquillity can only be achieved by evicting this regime from the region.

Surely the Western world should not need to be told this. Our policy makers were there each time a ceasefire was negotiated, only to be violated by Iran-backed Shiite militants. They were there every time a prospective political solution failed because of the absolute intransigence of the Iranian theocracy. The aftermath of the Battle of Aleppo only serves to reiterate that Iran will never accept a negotiated political solution; that it will never accept anything less than the total destruction of the Syrian opposition irrespective of any humanitarian catastrophe that entails.

Beyond that, Western policy makers have been there or thereabouts to witness, virtually at first hand, Tehrans behaviour throughout the history of the Islamic Republic  with its double-dealing and broken promises; its use of torture and arbitrary violence; its hostage taking. Yet, shamelessly, our Governments still, vis-a-vis the 1988 Iranian massacre, quibble over the detail. Little wonder these awful tactics are able to be promoted in Syria by the Iranian regime, which is now effectively treating the civilians of Aleppo as hostages to be bartered for more conciliation and concessions from the international community.

One must ask whether the UK and the US have the leadership, moral and strategic, to take immediate steps to halt Irans destructive meddling. If what we see in Aleppo is bad be assured Iranian regimes role in Syria, can only get worse. And who except ourselves do we have to blame?
W.W. Norton & Company  1998  650 pages



Randall Holcombe is DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.

Economic historian David Landes explains in this book why some nations are rich and some poor by appealing to the historical record. The history is fascinating, and Landes does a good job of relating the facts.

His explanation of the wealth and poverty of nations is simple: rich nations are once-poor nations that developed market economies; poor nations are once- and still-poor nations that did not. Market economies require governments that do not interfere with peoples economic affairs except to protect property rights. Landes builds his case by recounting the history of world economic development.

Landes maintains that western European, and especially British, culture is superior to others at promoting peoples well-being. He makes the same case for the virtues of Protestantism. The Roman church found truths about nature in the scripture, so new ideas were potentially subversive. Protestant culture gave individuals more freedom to think for themselves, to innovate, and to keep the rewards of their successes. The notion that one culture is as good as another is wrong, Landes argues, at least if one judges a culture by its ability to enhance the well-being of its practitioners.

This is a big book, so as you might expect, his argument is far more involved than this. Landes notes that geographical factors played a large role in the patterns of development, and that some areas had advantages due to climate and natural resources that enabled them to develop sooner than others. But he also argues that geographical advantages, in the long run, can be disadvantages, because if wealth comes too easily, people do not have as much incentive to work hard and to use their wealth productively. When the Europeans began settling the Americas, for example, the Spanish and Portuguese gained easy wealth through territory rich in gold and silver, whereas the British territory required more work and investment. That investment, however, produced a much greater long-run payoff. Similarly, Landes argues that the oil-rich countries in the Middle East today are squandering their wealth because they came by it too easily.

The same argument applies to the industrialization of Britain, which had some natural advantages, such as coal deposits, but lacked others and in any event could capitalize on its advantages only by hard work and innovation. Before the Industrial Revolution, many areas of the world were at least as wealthy as Britain and had developed at least as much scientific and technical knowledge. China, in particular, was far ahead of Britain in many respects, but the British had one crucial advantage over the Chinesea culture that encouraged commerce, risk-taking, and innovation. The British culture produced the Industrial Revolution, and Landes argues that no place in the world was able to industrialize without British influence.

Landess argument is generally convincing, but not entirely so. For example, he notes that the Japanese culture once lacked the work ethic of western Europe and was hampered by an institutional rigidity and isolationism similar to Chinas. But Japanese culture changed, permitting industrialization, economic growth, and wealth. Thus, culture is not unchangeable. Moreover, religious aspects of culture are not tied to particular religions. The Japanese adopted the Protestant work ethic without adopting the religion. Landess view of culture appears tautological; the culture he champions really amounts to any one that leads to the adoption of market capitalism.

Europe was characterized by many governmental jurisdictions, creating an environment of intergovernmental competition, whereas China and Russia were vast regions without that competition. Landes notes this fact, but fails to see its importance. Is it not plausible that industrialization developed first in Europe because governments faced the prospect of losing people and capital to rival governments, thus tempering the rulers interference with freedom? Culture has some explanatory power, but it shouldnt be regarded as the only factor determining the extent to which the market is free to work.

Landess conclusion that the ultimate path to wealth is the adoption of a market economy is unassailable. Despite his questionable assertion that culture is the key determinant in the choice between the market and government domination, his book has much to offer in its recounting of the history of world economic development and its insights on the differences among nations and cultures.

Randall G. Holcombe is Research Fellow at The Independent Institute, DeVoe Moore Professor of Economics at Florida State University, past President of the Public Choice Society, and past President of the Society for the Development of Austrian Economics. His many books include Housing America (edited with Benjamin Powell) and Writing Off Ideas.

This article was originally published on FEE.org. Read the original article.
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By Kiana Herold on 6 January 2017 for the Intercontinental Cry-

Image above: Cofan Indigenous leader Emergildo Criollo looks over an oil contaminated river hear his home in northern Ecuador. Photo by Caroline Bennett / Rainforest Action Network. From original article.

We women and men, the sovereign people of Ecuador recognizing our age-old roots, wrought by women and men from various peoples, Celebrating nature, the Pacha Mama (Mother Earth), of which we are a part and which is vital to our existence. Hereby decide to build a new form of public coexistence, in diversity and in harmony with nature, to achieve the good way of living, the sumac kawsay.





The concept and the praxis





Bolivia follows



The New Zealand Take on Rights of Nature



Expanding Legal Horizons?

.

SUBHEAD: Indigenous philosophies are reframing the law as it applies to the rights of the natural environment.Indigenous battles to defend nature have taken to the streets, leading to powerful mobilizations like the gathering at Standing Rock. They have also taken to the courts, through the development of innovative legal ways of protecting nature.In Ecuador, Bolivia and New Zealand, indigenous activism has helped spur the creation of a novel legal phenomenon the idea that nature itself can have rights.The 2008 constitution of Ecuador was the first national constitution to establish rights of nature. In this legal paradigm shift, nature changed from being held as property to a rights-bearing entity. Rights are typically given to actors who can claim themhumansbut they have expanded especially in recent years to non-human entities such as corporations, animals and the natural environment.The notion that nature has rights is a huge conceptual advance in protecting the Earth. Prior to this framework, an environmental lawsuit could only be filed if a personal human injury was proven in connection to the environment . This can be quite difficult. Under Ecuadorian law, people can now sue on the ecosystems behalf, without it being connected to a direct human injury.The Kichwa notion of Sumak Kawsay or buen vivir  in Spanish translates roughly to good living in English. It expresses the idea of harmonious, balanced living among people and nature.The idea centers on living well rather than better and thus rejects the capitalist logic of increasing accumulation and material improvement. In that sense, this model provides an alternative to the model of development, by instead prioritizing living sustainably with Pachamama, the Andean goddess of mother earth.Nature is conceived as part of the social fabric of life , rather than a resource to be exploited or as a tool of production.The Preamble of the Ecuadorian Constitution reads:The traditional Quechua relation to the natural world is firmly rooted in the Constitution. The interchangeable use of nature and Pacha Mama testifies to the indigenous influence on the Constitution.In the 1970s, Christopher Stone, an American environmental legal scholar, articulated the legal notion of the rights of nature in his widely read essay Should Trees Have Standing? Stone envisioned a new way of conceptualizing nature through law that broke with the existing paradigm of the commodification of nature, often established through law.Property rights are a primary example of commodifying the natural world. When treated as property, nature incurs damages that often go unrecognized. Stone writes that an argument for personifying nature can best be considered from a welfare economics perspective.Under capitalist economic logic, many externalities that negatively impact the environment are not registered when calculating the cost of an action. Transforming nature legally from mere property to a rights-holding entity would force byproduct environmental effects of production to factor into cost calculations. Under this framework, nature would be better protected.Incorporating rights of nature into a national constitution is a powerful paradigm shift, but may seem hypocritical and idealistic given states continuing dependence on extractive industries. In Ecuador, 14.8 percent of the GDP comes from profits from natural resources as of 2014.Moreover, under Ecuadorian law, the rights of nature are subject to principles of so-called national development. Article 408 of the constitution stipulates that all natural resources are the property of the state, and that the state can decide to exploit them if deemed to be of national importance, as long as it consults the affected communities.However, there is no state obligation to abide to the result of the consultation to these communities a gaping hole in full protection of these environments and the people living within them.Nonetheless, Ecuadors Constitution was a significant step in changing the legal paradigm of rights to one that is inclusive of nature.Bolivia followed in Ecuadors footsteps. Evo Morales, the first indigenous head of state in Latin America, was elected in 2005 and called for a constitutional reform that ultimately established rights to nature in 2009.Again, indigenous philosophies were instrumental in the formulation of Bolivias new Constitution. The constitutions preamble states that Bolivia is founded anew with the strength of our Pachamama, placing the indigenous understanding of nature as central to the very creation of the revised political state. Like in Ecuador, the Bolivian Constitution allows anyone to legally defend environmental rights.Bolivias government soon instituted the Law of Mother Earth in 2010, later re-coining it as theThe law lays out a number of rights for nature , such as the right to life and to exist, to pure water, clean air, to be free from toxic and radioactive pollution, a ban on genetic modification, and freedom from interference by mega-infrastructure and development projects that disturb the balance of ecosystems and local communities.Part of the rationale behind the law is the hope of helping the environment through reducing causes of climate change, which is directly in Bolivias interests. Increasing temperatures in Bolivia pose problems to the nations farming sector and water supply.Again, however, this legal concept does not match economic realities. The rights of nature are directly at odds with extractive industries that are intimately tied to Bolivias model of economic development. Despite legal frameworks defending the rights of nature, Bolivias profits from natural resources comprise 12.6 percent of the GDP as of 2014.But there are alternatives to the Andean experience. Across the Pacific, New Zealand has also granted a legal status of personhood to specific rivers and forest, thus enabling the environment itself to have rights.Unlike Ecuador and Bolivia, New Zealands rights of nature are not embedded in its constitutional law, but rather protect specific natural entities. Native communities in New Zealand were instrumental in creating new legal frameworks that give legal personhood, and thus rights, to land and rivers.New Zealand has bestowed legal personhood on the 821-square mile Te Urewara Park, and the Whanganui River , the nations third-largest river. This was part of the governments reparation efforts for the historical injustice at the foundation of New Zealands state: colonial conquest of land from native peoples.The Tuhoe tribes ancestral homeland is currently the Te Urewara Park. With the imposition of colonial governance, most of their land was taken from them without consultation, resulting in great spiritual and socio-economic losses. The land was designated a national park in 1954.The Tuhoe tribe never signed the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi with the British Crown, which stripped the tribe of their sovereign right over their land. They have since contested the British assertion of sovereignty that undergirds the formation of the modern New Zealand state.Their centuries-long struggle finally yielded results. As part of New Zealands reparation process towards Indigenous Peoples, the national government negotiated with the Tuhoe tribe regarding their historic land.In 2012 the Tuhoe tribe accepted the Crowns offer of financial reparations, a historical account and apology and co-governance of Te Urewera lands. The national government renounced ownership of the land, giving the land its own personhood.Under this framework, the land is now a legal entity in itself, owned neither by the government nor the Tuhoe tribe. The land is no longer property. It is its own untamed natural presence in and of itself, with, as per native understanding, its own life force and identity.The land is now co-governed by the Tuhoe people and the New Zealand government.The 2014 Te Urewara Act declares the park a place of spiritual value. The Act acknowledges that it is the sacred home of the Tuhoe people, integral to their culture, language, customs and identity, while also being of intrinsic value to all New Zealanders.In a similar process of granting legal personhood, the local Maori tribe, the Iwi, helped the Whanganui River earn legal personhood status in 2014 after winning a long-fought court case.This was part of a centuries-long struggle that the Whanganui tribes undertook to protect the river. Since the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi, the river has been subject to gravel extraction, water diversion for hydro-electric plans, and river bed works to better navigability, under protest from local tribes.The Maori fought to protect the river through a series of court cases beginning in 1938, defending their claim to the management of the river as its rightful guardian.Throughout the court cases, negotiations were undergirded by the native saying Ko au te awa, ko te awa ko au, which translates to I am the river and the river is me. This reflects native philsophies of reciprocal and equal relations between people and nature.New Zealand's attorney general Chris Finlayson was quoted in the New York Times as acknowledging the Maori perspective as formative in the granting of rights to these natural entities, saying In their worldview, I am the river and the river is me, he said. Their geographic region is part and parcel of who they are.The legal concept of rights of nature signal the influence of Indigenous Peoples as political actors in state-making, fundamentally reimagining law and how the natural world is conceived.These ideas present a revolutionary rupture in the conventional anthropocentric understanding of sovereignty, and a realignment of how the natural world is valued.In fact, they could chart the path forward for a new understanding of mankinds relation to the natural world, even if they operate within the legal structures that are not conducive to indigenous philosophies.It is true that the rights of nature as they currently stand have deep limitations, particularly given the ongoing extraction of non-renewable natural resources in Ecuador and Bolivia.Problems of corruption, environmental inequality and economic dependence on extractive industries are major challenges to the full realization of the rights of nature.Yet small acts can lead to lasting change. This shift in the way we relate to and legally protect nature, however small and plagued by obstacles, could be an incremental step toward a more sustainable relation to the planet that could allow us to preserve the earth for future generations.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/01/2017 (2119 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A few weeks after my brother-in-law moved into a condominium on Queen Street, near Polo Park, I told him Id pop by with lunch as a housewarming gesture.

Before heading over, I asked if there were any spots in his new neck of the woods he was partial to. After a bit of hemming and hawing, he replied, How about the Burger Palace? Theyre always pretty good.

Since 2004, one of my responsibilities at the Free Press has been to cover what an ex-editor of mine once referred to as the burger beat, a duty that, through the years, has afforded me the opportunity to interview most of Winnipegs burger elite. Despite having visited practically every classic burger joint in town, from the Red Top Drive Inn in St. Boniface to the White Top Drive-In in the North End, and from the Dairi-Wip on Marion Street to the Dairy Delight on St. Annes Road, I had never encountered an establishment called the Burger Palace.

Its a little hole in the wall on Portage (Avenue), right across the street from St. James Collegiate, my brother-in-law explained, when I inquired further, asking him to pinpoint its location, precisely.

After picturing that stretch of road in my head, I smiled before correcting him, saying, Uh, I think you mean the Burger Place, not the Burger Palace.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Burger Place owner Andy Kostis shows off a poutine and a deluxe cheeseburger hot off the grill.

Thats not the first time Ive heard a story like that, about somebody who, for whatever reason, stuck an extra A in our name and thought we were called the Burger Palace, says Andy Kostis, owner of the Burger Place at 1909 Portage Ave., which celebrates its 30th anniversary in 2017.

I dont hear it too much anymore, but what I still get a lot of when I tell people I run the Burger Place is, Oh, which one? Im like, No, not a burger place  the Burger Place.

The way Kostis understands it, John Siates opened the Burger Place in 1987. Nine years later, Siates sold the business to Gus Vailos, later of Gus & Tonys at the Park, who turned around and sold it to Kostiss father, Costa Kostis, in 1998.

Neither Kostis nor his dad, a former proprietor of three Mr. Sub franchises, was familiar with the Burger Place when it hit the market for the second time in two years.

My first reaction was, its very small, Kostis says matter-of-factly, referring to his premises seating capacity, which tops out at a cosy 12  slightly less if everybody orders a chili burger and chocolate shake and has to loosen their belt at the same time.

But I quickly realized that was a good thing since we wouldnt have to spend much money hiring people to clean tables.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Located at 1909 Portage Ave., the Burger Place has become a St. James institution.

Kostis, 35, was attending high school when his dad bought the Burger Place. Because he had more experience cooking on a grill than his father  at the time, the younger Kostis had a part-time job flipping burgers at a greasy spoon near his childhood home in the Maples  he was immediately put in charge of the night shift.

After my dad retired last year, I switched to days, which was a bit of a shock to the system, Kostis says, pausing to say, You bet to a customer who asked if he would be at the bar later that night to watch a televised UFC match.

At night, its more laid-back, and you get to crack jokes with customers, whereas during the day, its mostly go, go, go. Im still getting used to it, 12 months later.

  

Kostis isnt great when it comes to names, but he rarely forgets a regular customers order, he says. That explains why, when hes in line at Tim Hortons or taking in a Jets game at the MTS Centre and a person yells, Hey, Andy! his comeback is often along the lines of, Hey, double cheeseburger, no mustard, no pickle, or, Hey hotdog, hold the onions.

Lots of times, Ill see a guy pull up out front (of the restaurant), and before hes even out of his car, Ill have (his order) started, says Kostis, who, bright and early every weekday morning, picks up his ground round from the same nearby Family Foods store hes been shopping at for nearly 20 years.

Sometimes theyll throw me off and say, Sorry, today I was feeling like a smokie, at which point I have to try and convince them to have that next time, cause their burger is already half-made.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Andy Kostis flips some burgers on the grill.

Kostis scratches his head and laughs when he recalls the most unique order hes filled to date. A few years ago, a former Winnipegger who lives in California dropped by the Burger Place with a cooler under one arm. Hed been in the city for a wedding and was headed to the airport to catch a flight home, he announced, and wanted a double deluxe burger to go. But because he wanted to wait until he got back to home to enjoy his meal, he asked Kostis if he could do him a favour.

He wanted me to package the entire thing separately in plastic wrap  the bun, the patties, the lettuce, tomato everything  so it wouldnt get all soggy, Kostis says.

Then he very carefully wrote down the order in which everything would go back on first the pickles, then the cheese and so on and so forth so that he could rebuild it later.

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A pair of double deluxe burgers being assembled.

Another time, an ex-Newfoundlander told Kostis he was in the mood for Newfie poutine. Kostis didnt have a clue what that was, but after the fellow described it as french fries topped with gravy, cheese curds and a pair of fully cooked, chopped-up burger patties, Kostis was more than happy to comply. No sooner had Kostis served it up than four other people in line announced, Ill have what hes having.

  

Last summer, Kostis spent two weeks in Toronto visiting his cousins. While he was there, he went on a burger mission, he says, which involved chowing down at a variety of Hogtown hotspots. When he returned to Winnipeg, he asked himself a question: should the Burger Place be trying to keep up with the times?

Thats the struggle I often have in my head. Dont get me wrong, were still as busy as ever, but when I see places like Nuburger and Market Burger and all these other trendy burger joints popping up, I sometimes wonder if thats what people want, Kostis says, seated beneath a tin sign that says Exercise? I thought you said extra fries. (About that, Kostis and his 10-person staff go through 90 kilograms of potatoes a day, and as many as 135 kg daily if its a busy week.)

I mean, weve been doing the same old Greek-style burgers for 30 years, and maybe its time to add stuff like fried eggs or avocado or mushrooms (to our burgers). But at the same time, I dont want to risk losing my old crowd to find a new one.

Kostis says there is one upgrade to his menu hes been considering, given his clientele is about 95 per cent guys.

Sometimes I wish this place had a salad bar just so I could talk to some ladies once in a while.

David Sanderson writes about Winnipeg-centric businesses and restaurants.

david.sanderson@freepress.mb.ca

PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS Poutine is prepared for customers.





PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS A sure sign that you're in the Burger Place on the restaurant's wall.
Hey there, time traveller!

This article was published 15/01/2017 (2119 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A sign on pickup truck telling those who cant read English to get out of the country and saying those who can speak English should thank a soldier has raised the hackles of St. Boniface city councillor Matt Allard, who shared a photo of it on his Facebook page timeline.

We see this type of (divisive) politics south of border and I dont want that to come here, Allard said Sunday. I am going to do anything I can to nip those things in the bud.

A concerned constituent saw the truck driving around Canadas largest french-speaking community outside of Quebec, took a photo and sent it as a private message to Allard on Facebook. The bilingual city councillor, who is the military and veterans affairs representative for the city, couldnt just let it go.

The photo of the truck was posted on Facebook last week, taken in the St. Boniface area. Supplied

To misappropriate the military in that way, its a slap in the face of those who serve and why they serve, Allard said. Theyre representative of the Canadian populationIve never encountered anything like what was written on that truck in his contact with Canadian Forces members, he said. People are very respectful and friendly and from diverse backgrounds.

Its not the first time the good name of Canadas military has been misappropriated by hate groups. Just before Remembrance Day, the Department of Nation Defence told administrators of a Facebook page called Ban Islam in Canada to take down its profile picture  soldiers in uniform holding the Canadian flag in front of the Kandahar airport.

This type of message goes against our values and everything our great institution stands for, Daniel Le Bouthillier, the head of media relations with Canadas Department of National Defence, said on Nov. 10. The Department of National Defence and Canadian Armed Forces do not, in any way, shape or form, condone hate speech or acts of intolerance such as depicted on this site. He said the DND contacted Facebook administrators to request this image be removed and theyd be sharing the information with the appropriate authorities for consideration. On Sunday, more than two months later, its still there.

In Winnipeg, Allard said hell call out acts of intolerance whenever he sees them.

I used to have this policy of not engaging  to not do anything that provides a platform for someone to share their bad behaviour and ideas. But social media gives everyone a megaphone and a stage to say anything, and that needs to be checked, Allard said. If I see something I dont agree with, Im getting into the habit of challenging it. If i dont say anything and nobody says anything, does it become OK to say anything? If he had a chance to talk to the trucks owner, hed try to have a discussion to find out what motivated them.

Often times, people will hide behind a computer or hide behind a truck and theres no way to have a conversation, he said.If theres an opportunity to have that conversation, I will have it, he said. Hes not sure if the trucks sign could be considered hate speech but its the kind of speech that needs to be countered, he said.

If youre going to use your right to free speech then expect those around you to use their right to free speech to tell you youre wrong.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca
The Minnesota Conservatory for the Arts will hold auditions for the public starting at noon Saturday, Jan. 21, at the Valencia Arts Center for the Dance Repertory Companys spring production, Deeply Rooted Dance: Celebrating Our Connections.

The final performances will be April 20-23 at Saint Marys Universitys Page Theatre.

The company is the conservatorys pre-professional dance troupe, composed of intermediate and advanced dancers ages 13 and older. There may also be one or two additional pieces that involve younger dancers, so check back or call at a later date for more information.

Those cast will be required to pay a $75 performance fee to cover costume costs. Additionally they must be enrolled in at least one dance or theatre class at the conservatory during the winter session. All area college students who are enrolled in any university dance class are exempt from the class requirement, and Saint Marys University students are also exempt from the performance fee.

Auditions are free and open to the public.
Is broken heart syndrome (BHS) a real medical event? The answer is yes, in a medical sense. This question was recently prompted by the deaths of first, Carrie Fisher and, within days, her mom, Debbie Reynolds, who was quoted as saying; I want to be with Carrie. There are a multitude of instances where one spouse dies, and the other follows very shortly, especially with older, very close couples.

The symptoms mimic a real heart attack with chest pain and shortness of breath. But, instead of arteries to heart muscle being plugged up, something happens to cause the left ventricle to malfunction. It is the main force pumping oxygenated blood out to your body. The top part contracts down appropriately, but the bottom portion balloons out and cant squeeze properly, reducing outflow, which is a type of heart failure.

The first scientific description of BHS was from Japan in 1991 by Sato. It was described in the 1980s in the U.S. as human stress cardiomyopathy. The word translates as heart muscle disease. The Japanese thought the shape of the left ventricle on echocardiogram simulated the shape of a kind of pot used to trap octopuses. Hence, they called the syndrome tako-tsubo after the pot. In 1997 it was finally described again in the U.S. in two patients as reversible left ventricle dysfunction precipitated by emotional stress.

Great emotional stress is present in at least 85 percent of cases. The main problem initially is to differentiate it from a real heart attack or myocardial infarction, which causes lack of oxygen to muscle and its death. In BHS the true cause isnt clear. The main theories postulate that the sudden giant emotions cause a huge surge of stress hormones, such as adrenaline, that are too much for the heart muscle to tolerate, effectively stunning it. Some of these make arterial muscles constrict. Perhaps there is a temporary lessening of oxygen to heart muscle that cant be detected.

Blood tests for heart muscle enzymes indicating damage to cells rise slightly in BHS, then drop back down. In a heart attack they rise more slowly and stay elevated a while. The electrocardiogram changes can be similar in both, adding to the confusion. The big test is an echo-cardiogram, an ultrasound that shows heart functioning. It demonstrated the ballooning shape of the lower ventricle. An x-ray may show the same. A key point is that in BHS there is no sign of coronary artery blockage if an angiogram is done.

For whatever reason, the people by far most susceptible appear to be older women. The kind of stress is not important, more the suddenness of the shock of grief, fear, extreme anger, surprise, etc., and many physical stresses as well, like blood loss, sudden asthma attack, and so on.

The victims experience the symptoms often minutes to hours after exposure to the stress. It looks as if they are severely ill. The good news is that for most, obviously not all, the symptoms pass fairly quickly. Even the most critically ill tend to make an uneventful, quick, and complete recovery. There are those, like Debbie Reynolds, who have more go wrong, even fatally. A few have some persistent left ventricle malfunction for a bit, and need medicine to boost muscle contractions for as long as a few months. Long-term prognosis is great. Recurrences are very infrequent. It really is not possible to pick out who might be susceptible.

Its good thing that this medical syndrome doesnt affect all the young adolescent male swains, who fall in love at least hormonally with their objects of affection (and hormones). Of course, most of us recall that special someone in our youthful days whose mere presence made us lose all vestiges of sanity, who then cast us aside like a chewed up piece of bubblegum. Maybe it seemed to happen almost every week. But our hearts survived being broken somehow to go on to be used for yet another fit of teenage insanity. However, some of us were lucky enough to retrieve that special someone, even after she/he broke our heart. The perfect treatment for that broken heart syndrome. Some of us get lucky that way.
Today

Eagle watching: All day, Ferry Bluff Eagle Council, Sauk Prairie Area Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, Bureau of Natural Heritage Conservation, and Tripp Heritage Museum will host the 2017 30th anniversary Bald Eagle Watching Days, Jan. 13-14. For more information and a complete list of events, visit http://ferrybluffeaglecouncil.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2017-BEWD-Brochure-FINAL-SinglePgs-12-7-16.pdf.

Supply exchange: 10 a.m., Sauk City Public Library, 515 Water St., Sauk City. Craft supplies exchange where patrons bring old supplies and exchange them for something different. For more information, email Katrina at katrina@saukcitylibrary.org or call 608-643-8346.

Full moon hike: 7-8:30 p.m., Devils Lake State Park. Guided two mile walk/snowshoe hike along trails by the light of the full moon. Wear proper footwear and clothing for winter weather. Meet at the Steinke Basin parking lot. For more information, call 608-356-8301.

Sunday, Jan. 15

Festival: 10:10 a.m., Free Congregation of Sauk City, 307 Polk St., Sauk City. Celebrating the life and work of Thomas Paine with the 165th annual Painefest. This free program will be followed by a potluck and is open to the public. Amos Moses and Doug Brown will present a musical banquet of Americana music.

Community celebration: 4-6:30 p.m., First Congregational Church of Christ, 131 Sixth St., Baraboo. Community celebration to honor Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Event will kick off with a walk from the church to Sauk County Courthouse Square with speakers and readings. A pizza and salad supper will take place at 5 p.m. with a documentary on Martin Luther King Jr. following. A donation for the supper would be appreciated and will go toward peace and nonviolence events.

Monday, Jan. 16

Sewing repairs: 9-10 a.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Senior sewing repairs and alterations will be offered by Teena Castle. Fees will vary depending on the project. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Dairy Queen fundraiser: 4-7 p.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, Dairy Queen, 701 Highway 12, Baraboo. Ten percent of the evenings profits will be donated to the senior center. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Pizza fund raiser: 4:30-8 p.m., Baraboo 21 Club, Baraboo Pizza Ranch, 916 Gateway Drive, Baraboo. Ten percent of evenings profits and all donations will benefit the memorial for the original Baraboo 21.

Talent show auditions: 6:30 p.m., CAB Theatre, Al. Ringling Theatre, 136 Fourth Ave., Baraboo. Auditions for Baraboos Got Talent. Performers must be 18. For information, call 608-434-1304.

Tuesday, Jan. 17

Travel discussion: 10-11 a.m., Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Travels on Tuesday will present Nijole Etzweiler and her discussion on Lithuania. She will present a slide show, demonstrate a craft project and have Lithuanian treats to sample. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Bingo: 10:30-11:30 a.m., Sauk Prairie Schools Community Education Center, 730 Monroe St., Sauk City. Bingo, with free admission and prizes awarded. Call 643-8386 to register.

Literary club: 2 p.m., Fortnightly Literary Club, Gilmore residence, 1602 Admunson Dr., Baraboo. Elsie Gilmore will present a program titled, Undressing Emily Dickinson and Other Clothed Poets. Guests are welcome. If attending, call 608-334-4765.

Speaker: 6 p.m., Lake Wisconsin Alliance, Merrimac Town Hall, S6911 Highway 113, Merrimac. Virgil Kasper of the Pink Lady Rail Transit Commission will discuss planned improvements to the Merrimac railroad trestle.

Womens meeting: 6:30 p.m., Lodi Area Womens Connection, Reach Out Lodi Community Center, 601 Clark St., Lodi. Cost is $12 for homemade soup dinner. For more information and to check availability, call Eileen at 592-3265 or Dianne at 293-2333 or email splreservation@yahoo.com.

Trivia: 7 p.m., Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 Water St., Prairie du Sac. Ultimate Trivia Quiz for teens. Bring a smartphone or other mobile device. Snacks provided and prizes awarded. This event is open to high school students only. Registration is appreciated. For more information, call Meagan at 643-8318.

Presentation: 7-8:30 p.m., Sauk County Conservation, River Arts Center Gallery, 105 Ninth St., Prairie du Sac. Coordinator Aaron Pape presents Food, Agriculture & Climate: Problems, Solutions & Consumer Choices. The event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be served. For more information, visit www.saukprairieschools.org/community/rac_events.cfm, www.facebook.com/groups/337223953056846, or call Pape at 608-355-4842.

Wednesday, Jan. 18

Senior coloring: 10 a.m. to noon, Adult Coloring Time, Baraboo Area Senior Center, 124 Second St., Room 24, Baraboo. Bring a coloring book and coloring tools or use those that are available. Free program. For more information, call Diane Pillsbury at 608-356-8464.

Thursday, Jan. 19

Fire discussion: 6:30 p.m., Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources and Sauk Prairie Conservation Alliance, Ruth Culver Community Library, 540 N. Water St., Prairie du Sac. Free program on the history of fire on the Sauk County landscape. For more information, visit www.saukprairievision.org or email info@saukprairievision.org.

Friday, Jan. 20

Concert: 7 p.m., River Arts Center, 105 Ninth St., Prairie du Sac. University of Wisconsin Madhatters will perform an a cappella concert. Tickets are $17 for adults, $15, seniors and $12, students; are available online www.riverartsinc.org, at River Arts on Water, 590 Water St., Prairie du Sac, by phone at 608-643-5215, or at the door.
New faces permeated the record crowds that visited Sauk Prairie for Bald Eagle Watching Days on Jan. 13 and 14.

Event co-chair John Keefe said about 2,000 people watched as Marge Gibson, from the Antigo-based group Raptor Education Group, released three rehabilitated bald eagles into the wild from VFW Park in Prairie du Sac on Jan. 14.

Keefe said its common for the eagle-watching festivities to draw newcomers, many of whom come from outside the Sauk Prairie area.

This year marked the events 30th anniversary. Bald Eagle Watching Days mixes traditional bird watching along the Wisconsin River with educational events and opportunities to see the raptors up close.

First-time visitor Corey Worthel and his wife, Barb, traveled more than 150 miles from Oswego, Illinois specifically to see Gibsons release.

It was really cool  very awesome, Corey Worthel said. Its a great thing for the birds and well worth the drive.

Keefe said free bus tours intended to give visitors the opportunity to see bald eagles in the wild without spooking the raptors were full and most of the educational demonstrations had more spectators than in past years.

Randall resident Dan Trieloff said he enjoyed his first time at the event.

I thought it was really neat to see, he said.

Randall resident Liz Barry said she was impressed by the Raptor Education Groups efforts.

I was crying a little bit when they let the first eagle go, she said. Its got to be hard to work with a bird for all that time and to let them go, knowing you will never see it again.

Eagle watchers also were able to see the raptors in the wild from the Ferry Bluff Eagle Council overlook in Prairie du Sac, where a steady stream of people continued to stop for a look.

Ferry Bluff Eagle Council member Jeff Barzen answered questions from visitors at the overlook, which offers a view of Eagle Island, a popular location for the birds to perch in the middle of the Wisconsin River.

In addition to hosting Bald Eagle Watching Days, the organization also works to promote education about the raptors and protect their habitat in and around Sauk Prairie.

Barzen said a steady stream of people to the overlook ensured there were 30-40 people scanning the skies from the viewpoint throughout the day.

Its a great legacy the cities can lay claim to, Barzen said of the event. People come to see the eagles  and without the eagles wed have no people. So its nice that the community has invested so much in them.
Axon Enterprise, Inc. develops, manufactures, and sells conducted energy devices (CEDs) under the TASER brand in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, TASER, and Software and Sensors. The company also offers hardware and cloud-based software solutions that enable law enforcement to capture, securely store, manage, share, and analyze video and other digital evidence. Its products include TASER 7, TASER X26P, TASER X2, TASER Consumer devices, and related cartridges; on-officer body cameras, Axon Fleet in-car systems, and other devices; Axon Evidence digital evidence management software; Axon Signal enabled devices, as well as hardware extended warranties; and Axon docks, cartridges, and batteries. It sells its products through its direct sales force, distribution partners, online store, and third-party resellers. Axon Enterprise, Inc. has a strategic partnership with Fusus, Inc. to expand the capabilities of Axon Respond and the Fusus Real Time Crime Center in the Cloud solution to provide agencies real-time operations situational awareness, including streamlined investigative workflows. The company was formerly known as TASER International, Inc. and changed its name to Axon Enterprise, Inc. in April 2017. Axon Enterprise, Inc. was incorporated in 1993 and is headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona.
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Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. engages in designing, building, overhauling, and repairing military ships in the United States. It operates through three segments: Ingalls Shipbuilding, Newport News Shipbuilding, and Technical Solutions. The company is involved in the design and construction of non-nuclear ships comprising amphibious assault ships; expeditionary warfare ships; surface combatants; and national security cutters for the U.S. Navy and U.S. Coast Guard. It also provides nuclear-powered ships, such as aircraft carriers and submarines, as well as refueling and overhaul, and inactivation services of ships. In addition, the company offers naval nuclear support services, including fleet services comprising design, construction, maintenance, and disposal activities for in-service the U.S. Navy nuclear ships; and maintenance services on nuclear reactor prototypes. Further, it provides life-cycle sustainment services to the U.S. Navy fleet and other maritime customers; high-end information technology and mission-based solutions for Department of Defense (DoD), intelligence, and federal civilian customers; nuclear management and operations and environmental management services for the Department of Energy, DoD, state and local governments, and private sector companies; defense and federal solutions; and unmanned systems. Huntington Ingalls Industries, Inc. was founded in 1886 and is headquartered in Newport News, Virginia.
Wipro Limited operates as information technology (IT), consulting, and business process services company worldwide. It operates through three segments: IT Services, IT Products, and India State Run Enterprise Services (ISRE). The IT Services segment offers IT and IT-enabled services, including digital strategy advisory, customer-centric design, technology and IT consulting, custom application design, development, re-engineering and maintenance, systems integration, package implementation, cloud and infrastructure, business process, cloud, mobility and analytics, research and development, and hardware and software design services to enterprises. It serves customers in various industry sectors, such as healthcare and medical devices, consumer goods and life sciences, retail, transportation and services, communications, media and information services, technology products and platforms, banking, financial services and insurance, manufacturing, hi-tech, energy, and utilities. The IT Products segment provides a range of third-party IT products comprising enterprise platforms, networking solutions, software and data storage products, contact center infrastructure, enterprise security, IT optimization technologies, video solutions, and end-user computing solutions. It serves enterprises in various industries primarily in the India market, which comprise the government, defense, IT and IT-enabled services, telecommunications, manufacturing, utilities, education, and financial services sectors. The ISRE segment offers IT services to entities and departments owned or controlled by the Government of India and/or various Indian State Governments. The company was incorporated in 1945 and is based in Bengaluru, India.




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MISSOULA  International refugee resettlement is at a crossroads in the United States and in Montana, at a time when the latter is just entering the movement.

President-elect Donald Trump said in the days before the November election that his administration wont admit any refugees without the support of local communities in which theyre placed, and his cabinet nominees and chief advisors come from a decidedly different world than his predecessors did.

A year ago there was a concerted attempt in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Helena and Missoula to work with the Office of Refugee Resettlement in Denver to open local resettlement offices in Montana. As the election year heated up, only Missoula succeeded, with the support of elected city and county officials and a vigorous volunteer effort by Soft Landing Missoula.

Missoula has welcomed 50 refugees since August, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Eritrea, Ethiopia and  in early January  the first four Syrians. A family of three Ethiopians quickly left to join other relatives out of state.

Otherwise, despite a particularly cold and snowy winter, its been a successful and peaceful transition.

There has been no impact at the Missoula Police Department, from a criminal justice standpoint, Sgt. Travis Welsh said in an email. Though we are aware of news reports/stories about the topic, we have had no investigative concerns, to date.

Confidential immunization and communicable disease records have reliably arrived at the Missoula City-County Health department ahead of the refugee families, director Ellen Leahy said.

Comparing it to the old days, when you may or may not get them, and you may or may not get them in English, thats a big improvement, said Leahy, who was at the health department in the 1980s during the resettlement of Laotian Hmong.

Refugees who are tested for disease in their countries of departure are checked out and their immunizations updated by local health-care providers within a few days of arrival.

Whats going on is just what we expected, and its working well, Leahy said.

Like the other newcomers, the Syrian family with two children that arrived Jan. 5 is coming to grips with the Montana winter.

I expect that Missoula is going to be a warm and welcoming place for them, just as it has been to all the other families that have come from the different countries, said Patrick Duffy, a board member of Soft Landing Missoula and part of the mentor team assigned to help the Syrian family.

Still, opposition to refugee resettlement in general and to Syrians in particular is widespread as a Republican-heavy Legislature gets rolling.

One of the charges leveled during the gubernatorial campaign in 2016 by Republican challenger Greg Gianforte was that Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock supports bringing Syrian refugees into Montana. The mailer sent out in August promised Gianforte would stand up to dangerous refugee programs and refuse entry to unvetted refugees.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, the Montana Association of Christians and Soft Landing Missoula are among those keeping an eye on legislation seeking to quell an onslaught of refugees in the state.

The Montana Human Rights Network says it has roughly 20 bills on its radar that could affect refugee and immigration.

Some of them won't be new, according to SK Rossi, director of advocacy and policy for the state ACLU.

Thereve been attempts to pass some general anti-immigration legislation in the past," Rossi said. "This will be the legislative session where theres been kind of concentrated effort to tinker with or bar refugee resettlement.

The titles of six requested bills refer specifically to revising laws related to refugee resettlement. Four are by Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, and one apiece by Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, and Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings.

Keenan, reached Friday on his way home from Helena, said he proposed his bill, which would lend support for local governments to deny resettlement offices, at the urging of constituents.

Its been on hold since the day it went in, he said. It wont be drafted. It wont be introduced.

At the end of the week, the texts of Ballances bills, all with the same titles, remained blank. Attempts to reach the Hamilton legislator for details were unsuccessful. That leaves those gearing up to fight them and other proposals guessing what theyll propose.

One possibility would require resettlement agencies to carry insurance that would defray the cost of prosecuting refugees who commit violent crimes. Another might provide Montana municipalities an avenue to request a moratorium on resettlements in their communities.

I anticipate theres going to be something like denying state services, which would make the refugees lives a lot harder the first three months, said Eamon Ormseth, organizer for the educational group SALAM (Standing Alongside America's Muslims) Missoula. Its a strategy that some other states have adopted. The federal government still has pretty broad authority to resettle refugees, but what states can do is not give them any state welfare.

At least one refugee-related bill is already in the pipeline. Senate Bill 97, sponsored by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, would ban the application of foreign law when it violates a constitutional right. Dubbed an Islamaophobia bill by the Montana Human Rights Network, its a revival of a bill that died in committee in the 2015 session.

The 2017 version was introduced Monday and is due to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 24.

I cant tell you that were supporting or opposing any of them until we see them, said Jana Staton, who chairs the legislative committee of the Montana Association of Christians (formerly the Montana Association of Churches).

MAC, which has had a presence at the state Legislature for around 50 years, is organizing buses from five corners of the state to travel to Helena on Jan. 23, the day before Regier's bill is heard in committee, and talk with legislators on key issues, grounded in our shared values as people of faith, Staton said.

Humane immigration and refugee legislation is one of those issues, along with abolition of the death penalty; housing policies and support for those returning from incarceration; and childrens mental health, especially suicide prevention.

At least 10 members of Soft Landing Missoula are going to hop on the bus that day.

I think we can offer experience and information on the refugee topic, Soft Landing executive director Mary Poole said. Its pretty remarkable to have such a strong voice that is already a part of the legislative process acting on the behalf of refugees and immigrants. Were just really, really fortunate that MAC exists and that we can partner with them.

They have the right voice, the right tone. Its about social justices, but its a very passionate and kind voice. To me Soft Landing just fits right in with that.
(Scroll down for video) A mother pleaded guilty to fourth-degree rape after having sex with her daughteras 13-year-old boyfriend.

Elaine B. Goodman of Dover, Delaware, was arrested after DNA evidence that was collected from her car and clothing, proved that she had sex with the boy.

Police also found sexually explicit text message between Goodman and the boy.

Police said that on one occasion, the boy sneaked out of his home while his parents were sleeping.

He then had sex with his girlfriendas 45-year-old mother in her car until 4:30 a.m., when Goodman took him home to get ready for work.

Deputy Attorney General Denise Weeks-Tappan said that the crime ahas affected the victim in many ways. He is hurt, embarrassed and it is affecting his schooling.a

Goodman faced 15 years in prison for the rape as she pleaded guilty in the Kent County Superior Court.

However, Honorable Robert B. Young sentenced Goodman to two years probation after taking into account that she showed remorse and that she is in charge of taking care of her elderly parents.

Goodman was also ordered to attend a sexual disorder counseling and to register as a sex offender.
(Scroll down for video) People in Mississippi, are angry after an employee of a fast food restaurant admitted to contaminating a customeras sandwich with menstrual blood.

The Mississippi State Department of Health said that they have launched an investigation after a social media post about the contamination went viral on the Internet.

A woman who works at Jacks, which sells burgers and other fast food, claimed that she put menstrual blood in a customers hamburger.

She posted the claim on Facebook, where it went viral.

Columbus police said that they are aware of the social media post, but they cannot act until someone files a complaint.

A spokesperson for Jackas said that the employee who made the claim on Facebook, has been fired.
The sign at Hooters

By: Tanya Malhotra WorldWideWeirdNews.com

While online dating became a part of our lives, many women have horror stories with their dates not being who they said they are.

Restaurants around the world are looking for ways to make women feel safe to bring their dates to their establishments.

One Hooters in South Africa, posted a note in the womenas bathroom with instructions on how to get away from their dates safely.

They posted a sign in the womenas bathroom, instructing them on how to get help from bar tenders without making a fuss.

The sign reads: aAre you on a date that isnat going well?

aIs your Tinder or Plenty of Fish date not who they said they were on their profile?

aDo you feel unsafe or even just a bit weird?

aWeare here to help: Just go to the bar and order an Angel Shot.

aAngel Shot Neat: Your bartender will escort you to your vehicle.

aAngel Shot With Ice: Your bartender will call and Uber or Lyft for you.

aAngel Shot With Lime: Your bartender will call the police.

aWeall handle things discreetly, and with no of fuss. (Weave been there and we want you to know that youare in good hands).a

Renaldo Gouws posted a photo of the sign to Facebook, where it has been shared many times.

People pointed out that this idea originated from the Iberian Rooster restaurant, which is located in St. Petersburg, Florida.

The sign was also posted in a restaurant in Lincolnshire, United Kingdom, by the local rape crises center.
(Scroll down for video) The parents of school children in Colorado, said that they were surprised by the decision to remove seat belts from buses due to safety concerns.

The Aspen School District decided to remove all seat belts from school buses because a study showed that lap belts are more damaging than no belts during an accident.

The district has a total of 22 school buses, and they were all equipped with large lap belts. Regular shoulder belts are safe to wear during an accident.

The cost to replace the lap belts with shoulder belts is $330,000. Since the district has no money to install shoulder belts, it decided that for now, the school buses will have no seat belts.

The district operates 14 minibuses, which are equipped with standard shoulder seat belts.

Parents criticized the decision, saying that their children are at risk while riding the school buses as they are not secured in the seats in case of an accident.
Antonieta Robles Saouda and Ibrain Jose Vargas Garcia

By: Tanya Malhotra WorldWideWeirdNews.com

A woman who tried to smuggle her lover out from prison, was caught after being unable to wheel a heavy suitcase from the facility, police in Venezuela said.

Anzoategui police said that they have arrested 25-year-old Antonieta Robles Saouda, after being caught smuggling her boyfriend out from prison.

According to the police investigation, the woman and her 6-year-old daughter came to visit Ibrain Jose Vargas Garcia.

Garcia was sentenced to serve 10 years in prison after being convicted of theft in connection with stealing a car. Saouda brought along a pink suitcase, containing childrenas toys.

On her way home, Garcia squeezed himself into the pink suitcase.

As Saouda wheeled the suitcase out of the prison facility, guards became suspicious as she had difficulty maneuvering the luggage.

The guards opened the suitcase and found Garcia inside.

Saouda was arrested and her 6-year-old daughter was handed over to the custody of the state.
Councillor Backs Proposals For Bus Shelters Outside Brymbo Enterprise Centre

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jan 15th, 2017

A local councillor has backed residents calls for bus shelters to be placed outside the Brymbo Enterprise Centre.

The Centre, which houses a cafe, childrens daycare nursery and Post Office has become increasingly busy  with many of its users accessing the site via public transport.

However residents have now started a petition calling for shelters to be installed at the bus stops outside the facility on Blast Road, with recent reductions to bus services meaning people often have to wait longer when returning back to the top of the village or into Wrexham.

Councillor Paul Rogers presented the petition to Brymbo Community Council on Tuesday 10 Januart and proposed the Council obtain quotes for siting bus shelters at this location.

Commenting on the issue Councillor Paul Rogers said: I was pleased to hand in the petition in support of siting bus shelters outside Brymbo Enterprise Centre to the Community Council

The Centre is becoming increasingly busy especially with a popular childrens nursery and growing Post Office.

I would like to thank the residents who took the time to sign this petition and following last nights meeting can confirm the Community Council will be working with Wrexham Council to obtain quotes for siting a shelter at this location.

*Picture  Google Maps
Missing 42-Year-Old Man From Wrexham Found

This article is old - Published: Sunday, Jan 15th, 2017

North Wales Police say the 42-year-old man reported missing in the early hours of this morning, has been found.

An appeal to trace the male, who was missing in the Wrexham area was issued just after 2am this morning.

The Hawarden based police helicopter was spotted over the Wrexham around the same time police made a missing person appeal on social media at 2am this morning, Sunday January 15.

Damian Jones has been located by local officers, thank you for your assistance  NWPControlroom (@NWPControlroom) January 15, 2017
TALLAHASSEE, FL (WTXL) -- Both the Florida Democratic Party and the Republican Party of Florida held elections Saturday for statewide officers.

Florida Democrats elected Stephen Bittel of Miami-Dade County to succeed Tallahassee's Allison Tant as chair. Tant announced shortly after the November election that she would not run for another term.

Tallahassee mayor Andrew Gillum and city commissioner Scott Maddox took to Twitter to congratulate Bittel.

Meanwhile, Florida Republicans reelected Blaise Ingoglia as chair. Evan Power, chair of the Leon County Republican Party, was elected as assistant treasurer.
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YAKIMA, Wash. -- Hundreds are expected to gather in Toppenish and Yakima on Monday for events commemorating Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
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Major powers will send a message to US President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward, and warn that his plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts.

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Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council, are due in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as "futile" and "rigged."

Jerusalem (Photo: AFP)

Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented.

However, just under a week before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the future American leader.

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the US Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, despite international objections.

"It would be a unilateral decision that could escalate tensions on the ground," a senior French diplomat said.

"Five days before he becomes president, it's not negligible that 70 countries recall (the need for) a two-state solution when his administration could implement controversial measures that may aggravate things."

Foreign Ministry cartoon released before the Paris conference

France has said the meeting does not intend to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that, ultimately, only direct negotiations between the two can resolve the conflict.

A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it, and asks the protagonists to "refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations".

Low Point

Diplomats said there could also be an allusion to Trump's plans.

Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a UN resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory.

Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement program threatened Middle East peace, and that the two-state was in "serious jeopardy".

Protests in New York against the Paris conference (Photo: AFP)

Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had written to Trump warning that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the United States of its role as honest broker - and could lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel.

Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next US administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester.

But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely.

Arab states have their own concerns about how Trump's relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line.

"All this is premature. We need to give the new US administration time to assess what they want to do," said a Middle Eastern diplomat based in Paris.
While Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has designated the Paris peace conference as the "last chance" for peace, officials in Jerusalem strongly condemned the conference, which began Sunday morning.

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"This is a redundant, futile conference and this is not how to make peace. International conferences and UN resolutions only distance us from peace because they encourage the Palestinians to continue to refuse direct negotiations with Israel. The only way for peace is bilateral negotiations between the two sides, as was done with Egypt and with Jordan.

Foreign Ministry cartoon released before the Paris conference

"If the countries that are meeting in Paris really want to promote peace, they need to push Mahmoud Abbas to accept the invitations of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for direct negotiations."

Referring to settlements and the international community, officials said, "Settlements are not an obstacle to negotiations, but rather an excuse for the Palestinian Authority to avoid negotiations. The international community has committed to the subject being discussed through direct negotiations on all core issues, and not separately.

"The PA continues to educate its citizens to hate and murder Israelis and the destruction of the State of Israel. The conflict has never been about a state for the Palestinian people, it has been about a state for the Jewish people which the Palestinians have refused to recognize in any borders."
Ilan Shmuel, 54, a former driver in the Prime Minister's Office, was convicted Sunday of rape and sexual assault of seven underage girls and sentenced to 27 years in prison. The Jerusalem District Court also fined Shmuel NIS 940,000 as restitution to his victims.

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'H,' the central witness in the case, said following the sentencing, "Justice has been served. The court has spoken and decided the most fair and correct course of action. I am very happy that he got 27 years and he will pay for his actions. Now the rest of the victims and I can heal and start over. We are like shattered glass. Every time anything was discussed, all the evidence and things I've had buried in me are smeared everywhere. All the secrets I've wanted to keep in order to protect mine and my family's dignity have been published everywhere. There are other girls who have experienced the same horrors. You can't make this stuff up. It will be with us until our last day."

Ilan Shmuel prior to sentencing (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

'D,' another one of the plaintiffs in the case, said, "I have no joy, because what was done to us cannot be taken back. I want every woman in Israel who has been sexually assaulted to know there is justice, you just need to step into the light and fight."

Anat Greenbaum, of the Jerusalem District Attorney's Office, said after the verdict, "The court sentenced Shmuel to 27 years in respect to the hundreds of sex crimes committed by the defendant against several girls who were all minors and their families. The punishment meted out by the court is appropriate to the severity of the crimes."

Shmuel was convicted of rape and sexual assault on all seven girls for a period of over 20 years.
BAGHDAD -- Iraqi special forces swept the campus of Mosul University on Sunday to clear it of any remaining Islamic State militants after taking full control of the area, a spokesman said.

Counter-terrorism service (CTS) troops drove the jihadists back inside the strategically located university complex and seized clusters of buildings including colleges on Saturday, an important gain towards retaking the entire eastern half of the city.

"The university is completely liberated and forces are sweeping the complex for any hiding militants," CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told Reuters by phone. "Most buildings are booby-trapped so we're being cautious."

"We're not stopping," he added, saying the CTS was working to push into areas next to the university.
The change in public transportation companies in Kiryat Arba has raised concern amongst several city council members because some of the new drivers are residents of east Jerusalem.

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During the weekend, five Kiryat Arba council members wrote a letter to city residents in which they claimed they did not want Arab-Israeli drivers from east Jerusalem operating bus lines.

A copy of the letter distributed by council members

"We were told that the new drivers of the city lines are residents of east Jerusalem and places like Jabel Mukaber, Shuafat, Silwan and others. We are afraid for our families. We unfortunately saw an example this week," they wrote referring to the terrorist attack in Jerusalem last week.

"We don't want terrorists working here," wrote Councilman Yisrael Bramson, one of the five signatories. "Our request is legitimate. When the driver is an Arab resident of east Jerusalem from a place like Jabel Mukaber or Isawiya, there are fears that he will 'accidentally' drive to Arab Hebron with our children and we don't want that to happen. After all, the terrorist who murdered the soldiers in the truck attack was carrying a blue identity card."

The letter also stated that residents of Kiryat Arba demand military service or national service as a condition to employing drivers in the city.

Head of the council Malachi Levinger takes issue with the letter and is attempting to solve the issue on behalf of residents with the Minister of Transportation.
IDF forces carrying out maintenance work on the border fence between Israel and Gaza came under fire from Palestinians Sunday morning, promoting an IDF tank to destroy a Hamas military post in the southern area of the strip.

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While no one was injured in the incident, damage was caused to an IDF vehicle.

Archive photo: (Photo: Roee Idan)

The IDF spokespersons Unit released a statement later on saying, The attack was carried out in response to the fire (opened) against IDF forces that were working near the fence in the southern part of the strip earlier today.

Agricultural workers in the area were asked to distance themselves from the the the farms and fields.

Last month, a similar incident took place when armed Palestinians fired at IDF forces working on the fence near the northern area of the strip. No one was injured in the skirmish.

Shortly after, the IDF responded once again with tank fire, obliterating a Hamas position.
A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off from California on Saturday, returning the company to flight for the first time since a fiery launchpad explosion in September. The 230-foot (70-meter) rocket launched from VandenbergAir Force Base at 9:54am PST (1754 GMT) to deliver 10satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc.

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"It's a clean sweep  10 for 10," SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker said after the satellites were released. SpaceX founder and entrepreneur Elon Musk's ambitious flight plans had been grounded since the September 1 explosion during fueling ahead of a pre-flight test in Florida.

Successful SpaceX rocket launch

X

About 10 minutes after Saturday's launch, the first stage of the rocket, which had separated from the rest of craft, successfully touched down on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, a feat previously accomplished by four other returning Falcon rockets. SpaceX intends to reuse its rockets to cut costs.

SapceX launch (Photo: SpaceX)

"Rocket is stable," Musk posted on Twitter. "Mission looks good."

Two other returning Falcon boosters landed on the ground.

The mission tested changes implemented by SpaceExploration Technologies Corp, known as SpaceX, since the launchpad explosion.

Accident investigators determined that a canister of helium burst inside the rocket's second-stage liquid oxygen tank, triggering the explosion. The canister is being redesigned, but until then SpaceX is addressing the issue by modifying its fueling procedures.

The explosion destroyed a $62 million SpaceX booster and a$200 million Israeli communications satellite that it was to put into orbit two days later.

The accident clouded the company's aggressive agenda, which includes beginning to ferry US astronauts into space next year, when it also plans to make its first voyage to Mars.

Saturday's flight begins to clear a logjam of more than 70 planned missions, worth more than $10 billion, involving SpaceX Falcon rockets, which last flew in August, SpaceX said.

The launch is the first in a seven-flight contract with Iridium worth $468.1 million, company spokeswoman Diane Hockenberry said.

SpaceX aims to launch 27 rockets in 2017, more than triple the eight flights the privately held firm managed in 2016,according to a report on Friday in the Wall Street Journal.

In addition to its dozens of commercial customers, SpaceX is one of two companies hired by NASA to fly cargo to the International Space Station.

The company's 2017 agenda includes the debut launch of a heavy-lift booster, flying its first reused rocket and repairing the Florida launchpad damaged in the explosion.
The French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault delivered harsh criticism Sunday against US President-elect Donald Trumps pledge to move the American embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

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The suggestion is a provocation with serious ramifications, Ayrault warned during the Paris Peace Summit which took place on Sunday and which was attended by representatives from 72 different countries.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault

Asked whether it was a provocation, Ayrault was unequivocal in his response. Obviously. He cant do it. There will be the most serious ramifications. It isnt the first time that this has been on the agenda of an American president but none of them actually implemented the decision, he answered. You cant make unilateral decisions. You have to create the conditions for peace.

Photo: AFP

Representatives from dozens of countries are using the summit, which was still underway by Sunday afternoon, to send a message to Trump that a two-state solution between Israelis and Palestinians is the only way forward.

Photo: AFP

Photo: AP

They also wanted to warn that his plan to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts.

Outside of the hall where the conference was being held, hundreds of Israeli supporters demonstrated, carrying Israeli flags and waving placards which sought to draw attention to the rampant killings taking place around the world, particularly in the Middle East, in an effort to highlight the worlds apparent ignoring of mass bloodshed.

Photo: AP

500,000 dead in Iraq, one conference in Paris?, one sign read. The illusion of peace by sacrificing Israel, was the general theme of the protest.

While Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas has designated the Paris peace conference as the "last chance" for peace, officials in Jerusalem strongly condemned the conference.

"This is a redundant, futile conference and this is not how to make peace. International conferences and UN resolutions only distance us from peace because they encourage the Palestinians to continue to refuse direct negotiations with Israel. The only way for peace is bilateral negotiations between the two sides, as was done with Egypt and with Jordan.
Last week, a number of European capitals were kind enough to screen the Israeli flag in a show of solidarity following the vehicular attack in Jerusalem. While we were very excited to see our flag being raised, the Europeans unfortunately proved once again that they can only be trusted to do too little too late. Their empathetic gesture stands in complete contradiction to the destructive policy they are leading against Israel.

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Only several weeks ago, the French and Brits raised their hands in favor of an anti-Israel resolution at the Security Council, and on Sunday they convened the worlds countries in Paris for another march of folly aimed at enforcing the resolutions content under the misleading title of a conference promoting peace. The Paris conference is conveying the wrong message at the wrong timing and in the wrong place.

Paris peace conference. The Palestinian leadership doesn't need an American-French prom, but someone who will know how to bring it back to the negotiating table (Photo: AFP)

The message:

The conference wont change anything on the ground. Just like nothing changed on the ground after the United Nations General Assembly resolution which recognized the Palestinians as a non-member observer state. All it will do is raise the expectations, which will only increase the frustration and violence. Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. When will the international community finally realize that granting the Palestinians unilateral achievements, time and again, is simply the wrong way?

Beyond the etiquette, the fireworks and the crispy croissants, this conference lacks any real content. International conferences are intended to serve as an envelope in which the sides work to reach an agreement while they hold direct negotiations. Thats the way it was in Madrid, Oslo and Camp David. The international communitys job is to provide incentives to both sides in order for them to sit down at the negotiating table and make it clear to them that without negotiations they both stand to lose, but it appears to be doing everything apart from that.

The conference is expected to reinforce the Security Councils outrageous resolution, which encourages a boycott of Israel and determines, among other things, that the Western Wall, the Gilo neighborhood and other places are occupied Palestinian territory. Of course the conference will not deal with the real obstacles to peace, like the Palestinian refusal to recognize Israel as a Jewish state, so its results are like a chronicle foretold. Instead of bringing the sides closer, it is expected to push them away from the negotiating table, deepen the stalemate it is in and encourage violence.

The timing: The Paris conference is taking place at a miserable timing  just days before the new American administration is sworn in and on the background of the upcoming elections in France. A cold and tasteless dessert brought to Israel courtesy of the Obama administration, accompanied by improvised hors d'oeuvres from the French kitchen, served a moment before the chef is replaced. The problem is that the chef prefers to continue to meddle in the affairs of others, completely ignoring the other pots  like the genocide in Syria, the internal European terror and the immigration problems  which are boiling over in light of the intensity of the fire below them.

The place: Yes to a conference in Cairo, no to a conference in Paris. There is no doubt that the peace process between Israel and the Palestinians has to be restarted, yet not in the form of a pointless international conference but through a regional conference in a 2+6 format  in the presence of Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Gulf states, Israel and the Palestinians, brokered by the United States and Russia, given the American transition of power and the new dynamics between the world powers. Such a conference would include regional key players and could create leverages that would allow the Palestinians to return to the negotiating table which they abandoned more than two years ago.

Restarting the peace process requires and understanding and real responsibility. Its time for the international community to realize that the Palestinian leadership does not need an American-French prom, but someone who will know how to shake it and bring it back to the negotiating table.

Amb. Ron Prosor, Israels former permanent representative to the United Nations, is the Abba Eban Chair of International Diplomacy at the Interdisciplinary Center Herzliya (IDC).
BEIRUT -- Syrian opposition activists say government shelling has struck a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus, killing at least seven civilians and injuring several others, in violence that has tested the country's fragile cease-fire.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says shelling Sunday in Deir Qanoun village in the water-rich Wadi Barada valley killed at least seven and injured more than 20, some in serious condition. Activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Center put the toll at 12.

Fighting has raged in the valley that provides the Syrian capital with most of its water supply, restricting the flow since Dec.22, despite talks to stem the violence.

Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has fighters on the side of the Syrian government, said pro-government troops seized a hill overlooking the water source in the valley.
Six decades after it was founded by former Nazis, Austria's Freedom Party (FPO) is courting Jewish voters, hoping that its anti-Muslim message will resonate with the tiny community and help it overcome lingering accusations of anti-Semitism.

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Jewish leaders are dismissive but the party, but like others on the European far right, it appears to have its image among the wider electorate in mind as it stages the charm offensive.

FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache (Photo: Reuters)

"Anti-Semitism, regardless in which form, is a crime against humanity," FPO leader Heinz-Christian Strache told a panel discussion on the issue which his party hosted in November.

"If Israel as a state is threatened and ceases to exist, that is the beginning of Europe's downfall," he said. At the event held in a grand Vienna hotel, Strache also denounced "a political Islam that seeks world domination."

The FPO's anti-immigration message is drawing support; it has surged in opinion polls and its candidate came close to winning the Austrian presidency last year.

Like France's National Front, the FPO has recently expelled members who have publicly expressed anti-Semitic views, including a member of parliament in 2015.

But the FPO has gone further and made overtures to the Jewish community, including visits by Strache to the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial in Jerusalem and the November event that featured Israeli politician Rafi Eitan, who led the 1960 operation to capture Nazi Adolf Eichmann.

Strache (Photo: AFP)

However, the party has failed to win over the Jewish Community of Vienna (IKG), the main body representing Austrian Jews.

"A couple of nice comments about Israel do not make this party kosher," said IKG president Oskar Deutsch. "The FPO's whole pastand in fact its presentare still xenophobic and its leaders are trying to set parts of the Austrian population against each other."

The FPO's Norbert Hofer lost a presidential runoff in May by less than a percentage point.

After a court ordered a re-run due to irregularities in the count, the IKG issued its first election endorsement in its history. It advised members to vote for Hofer's rival, independent Alexander Van der Bellen, who eventually won the re-run in December by a more comfortable margin.

Political Mainstream

The FPO is one of several far right parties trying to ride a populist wave sweeping Western countries in the hope of fully joining the political mainstream.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen, who is expected to perform strongly in this year's French presidential election, has followed a similar path. Last year she rebuked her father, who founded the party, for making remarks that revived long-standing allegations of anti-Semitism.

Hungary's once virulently anti-Semitic Jobbik party also tried to show a more tolerant face by sending greetings to local Jews for their Hanukkah holiday last month.

In Vienna, Deutsch and other Jewish leaders say the FPO has not addressed its Nazi past as thoroughly as Austria's more mainstream parties, or fully purged its ranks.

Norbert Hofer (Photo: AFP)

David Lasar, an FPO lawmaker and the only prominent Jewish member of the party, rejects this view. "I think the party history has been dealt with," said Lasar, who has led the overtures to the Jewish community, pointing to the members expelled under Strache.

Jewish votes are unlikely to swing the result of any Austrian electionthe community numbers little more than 10,000 in a country of 8.7 million.

Analysts say the overtures are aimed rather at winning favor among the general public. Opinion polls suggest it is already the most popular party, with support of more than 30 percent.

"It doesn't want to make an issue of it but is trying to rid itself of the image of a far-right party," political analyst Anton Pelinka said.

"Mistake"

FPO opponents point to recent cases that suggest lingering anti-Semitism by Strache and the party.

In 2012 Strache posted a cartoon on his Facebook page showing a fat banker with a hooked nose and six-point star buttons on his sleeve, gorging himself at the expense of a thin man representing "the people".

At Yad Vashem in 2010, Strache wore the cap of a student fraternity. The move drew criticism in Austria, where such groups are often steeped in nostalgia for the country's Nazi era, when the Jewish population collapsed from about 220,000.

"That might have been a mistake," Lasar said of the cap, but he rejected charges of anti-Semitism. "There simply is no place for anti-Semitism in this party. It doesn't exist anymore."

Alexander Van der Bellen (Photo: AFP)

There are no reliable estimates of how many Jews voted for Hofer in the presidential run-off.

Lasar put the figure at 40-50 percent of Jewish voters, but said supporters he knew wished to remain anonymous. Several others, including a former head of the IKG and a journalist who runs a local Jewish news site, Samuel Laster, put the figure at around 10 percent.

"Jewish people certainly did vote for the FPO ... out of fear of Muslims and because of the growing number of terror attacks," said Ariel Muzicant, who led the IKG from 1998 to 2012. Several others said Hofer voters were more likely to be new arrivals in Austria, less aware of the FPO's past.

The IKG estimates that there are 10,000-12,000 Jews in Austriafar fewer than the roughly 600,000 Muslims, some of whom arrived during Europe's migration crisissuggesting the FPO's overtures are not purely about Jewish votes.

"Fundamentally it is a strategic move," political analyst Thomas Hofer said. "It's clear that many in the Jewish community will see what the FPO is doing as chutzpah."
MK Yehuda Glick (Likud), who participated Saturday night in an event hosted by journalist Amelia Dweck, claimed that the publisher of the Israeli newspaper Haaretz, Amos Schocken, met with him in an attempt to influence him vis-a-vis legislation that would help to advertise in his paper.

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Half a year ago the publisher of Haaretz, Amos Schocken, met with me, along with their lobbyist, and he tried to convince me to support a number of bills that could assist him with advertising, Glick said.

MK Yehuda Glick (Photo: Gil Yohanan)

The publishers are business owners, and business owners have publicists and lobbyists who go around the Knesset.

Glick also touched on the relationship between MKs and media outlets. Everything is built for give and take. Usually, they meet every day with journalists who are willing to write about you for a story that you give them.

Speaking to Yedioth Ahronoth, Ynets sister publication, Glick added, Schocken himself called my office and requested a meeting. We sat with his lobbyist," who also also represents Yedioth Ahronoth. "At the beginning he was a little bit interested in my plans for the Knesset, but very quickly he started talking about a few bills which, according to him, were going to deliver a devastating blow to advertising in my paper.

Amos Schocken

He asked me to prevent this in the Finance Committee. We sat for three-and-a-quarter hours in his office, and the majority of the meeting was dedicated to an explanation about the damage that the bill would cause him.

Glick clarified on Saturday that Schocken did not however, offer any kind of carrot or stick if he voted either way, adding: I told him that I will examine the issue substantively. At the end of the day, I was not nominated to be a member of the Financial Committee so he didnt make any further connection again, but I heard that he met with almost every member of the committee.

For his part, Schocken denied ever having held talks with Glick strictly restricted to his newspaper. I never spoke to Glick about anything related solely to Haaretz but, rather, to all newspapers, and obviously Yedioth and Globes, he tweeted.
Israel said on Sunday that US Secretary of State John Kerry had sought to reassure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over the Middle East peace conference being held in Paris, which neither Israel nor the Palestinians are attending.

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Netanyahu's office issued a statement on Sunday saying that "Kerry called Netanyahu to tell him about the moves the US was taking at the conference to soften the wording of the Paris communique."

John Kerry at the conference (Photo: EPA)



It added that the Israeli leader had replied by saying that "Israel had already suffered damage after the US did not veto a Security Council resolution (last month), and it should not be compounded."

The statement said that Kerry committed to Netanyahu that there would be no resulting consequences to the conference, neither at the United Nations Security Council or at the conference itself and that "the US would oppose any proposal that may be put forward to the Security Council."

President Hollande addressing the conference.

French President Francois Hollande earlier opened the Paris Peace summit on Sunday by insisting that a two-state solution for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict was still valid but threatened by terrorism and settlements.

Addressing representatives from some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council,Hollande declared, "The two-state solution is not the dream of a system of yesterday. It still remains the objective of the international community."

The presidentwhose term ends this year and who will not be seeking re-electionadded, "It's not a matter of dictating to the parties the terms of a deal Only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can lead to peace; no one will do it in their place." His pronouncement was an indirect response to critics who oppose a multilateral approach to negotiations.

'Family picture' of attending representatives (Photo: AFP)

Hollande told the representatives that the two-state solution seemed to be in danger. He detailed that it was "physically (threatened) on the ground by the acceleration of settlements, politically by the weakening of the political peace camps, and morally due to the growing distrust between the parties and which is certainly being exploited by extremists. It is finally (threatened) by the terrorists themselves, who have always feared the perspective of an Israeli-Palestinian agreement.

"The terrorist attack that struck Jerusalem last January 8 is the most abject manifestation thereof, and it deserves to be condemned by everyone."

Israel's Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely severely criticized Hollande's list of threats that day, suggesting that he was drawing a parallel amongst all the factors.

"The parallel made between terrorism and the building of settlements is a moral distortion," argued Hotovely.

French FM with his counterpart from Saudi Arabia at the conference (Photo: AP)

"While Israel continues to promote life by building, Palestinian terrorists glorify death by murdering innocent people. When brutal terror hit the streets of Paris, did French leaders wonder if it was due to mistaken French policies? Those who do not condemn terrorism against Israel and compare it to the building of settlements pull the carpet out from under the international struggle against radical Islamic terrorism," she concluded.

Despite Hotovely's claims, Hollande did indeed condemn the January 8 terrorist attack the afternoon after it took place. The French president's statement termed it "odious" and emphasized France's "commitment to the security of Israel" and that his country would "relentlessly continue its fight against terrorism."

The Israeli government had made clear that it would not participate in the conference and argued that "internationalizing" the conflict would constitute an additional obstacle to peace instead of a perspective for progress.

Protestors outside the conference (Photo: AFP)

On the other hand, the Israeli non-governmental organization Peace Now, welcomed the Paris Peace Conference as "an importance step in preserving the two state solution and keeping it on the international agenda."

"Just like UNSC resolution 2334 and US Secretary of State John Kerry's speech , Peace Now views the Paris Conference as a way of supporting Israel while opposing the occupation and the settlements which lead to human rights violations and endanger the future of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state. Israelis must view the conference as supporting the long-term interests of Israel," stated the NGO.

The group further argued that Netanyahu's claims the conference is an "international fraud" are hypocritical due to his statements supporting the two-state solution while "doing everything in his power to prevent it on the ground."

Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amb. Danny Danon, publicly criticized the conference, tweeting, "The Paris Conference is so detached from reality that it has extended a hand towards Palestinian obstructionism instead of towards peace. Rather than advancing a joint effort to battle global terrorism, the conference focused obsessively on Israel. We'll work with the new US administration to undo the damage caused by the (Security Council) resolution & these other initiatives."

Tamar Shabak, Itamar Eichner, J. S. Herzog and Ilana Messika/TPS contributed to this report.
Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes was questioned on Sunday for the third time for about eight hours in the Lod office of the Israel Police's Lahav 433 Unit in relation to conversations that he had with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

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Netanyahu (L) and Mozes (Photos: Avi Moalem & Hillel Maeir/TPS)

Sunday evening, Channel 2 broadcast additional quotations of the meeting between the two. The new citations follow:

Arnon Mozes: Bibi, there are elections in another three and a half months. There'll be millions of elements on you. We handled this in 2009; maybe you forgot.

Benjamin Netanyahu: I didn't forget anything.

AM: This is an intelligent procedure. It's good that we were apparently in the same situation. We've already been down this road; we've done it. This is our fourth election cycle, not third, fourth: '96, '99, 2000 and now.

Presuming that we agree on things, you have to let somebody talk to Ron (YaronYedioth Ahronoth's editor-in-chief), anybody you want. You've not done this in months.

BN: Nir Hefetz could talk with him?

AM: No. Nir wanted to do two things: He wanted to work for you and be an editor at Yedioth. So I don't want that. Nir talks to him regularly, but he doesn't trust Nir. The thing is that at 10:30 at night, I happily go to sleep. There's always things. Your important points. He needs to be in contact with two people.

BN: It's not 10pm.

AM: He needs to talk with two people. With Ron and with Eran (Tiefenbrunna former Ynet editor).

BN: Nir can't talk with Eran? It's better that he doesn't?

AM: There's precipitation. There's a past. Nir was the editor of Seven Days and wants to be the editor of Yedioth. He's missed up. Ynet is less of a problem. It's during the day. It's easier. If there are important things, you can talk to me during the day. During the day, there's a connection with Ron. Look, Bibi, we need to do everything quickly because I need to move the ship. I'll talk to Ron on Sunday.

BN: Turn the ship around.

AM: I'll tell Ron on Sunday that he'll be contacted. It's a start. There were a few small things, one or two, that he asked for and it happened.

Guy Peleg also reported on "information that reached the police on Netanyahu's involvement and brokering with businessmen in an attempt to make them partners in Yedioth Ahronoth so that he would receive, as it appears according to the information, better coverage. And who stars in this list is James Packer, the hero or one of the stars of the 1000 affair, that same Australian billionaire.

"According to the information that reached the police, Arnon Milchan also, the hero of the 1000 affair, mediated between Packer and Mozes from Yedioth Ahronoth when the prime minister according to the information that was received, he was the one who prepared Packer for meetings with Mozes.

"According to information found and examined by the Police, Netanyahu mediated the sale of Yedioth Ahronoth also to the German company Axel Springer. The prime minister, again according to the information that reached the police, spoke with the chairman of the company's CEO, Dr. Matias Dopfner.

"According to testimonies that the police have, it was important that he buy the newspaper. Netanyahu also mediated between Larry Ellison, the owner of Oracle. Mozes also met with Ellison in an attempt to bring him to purchase Yedioth Ahronoth. As was stated, three businessmen who are involved according to the suspicion of mediating and operating so that they would take over Yedioth Ahronoth."

Mozes after questioning

X

Netanyahu said this morning at a meeting of Likud ministers, "Naturally, I can't get into the details of the matter. What I can tell you is that there's a campaign of tendentious leaks intended to mislead the public and distort the true picture as if there were crimes here that weren't."

The prime minister added, "These matters will become clear later on. Therefore, like I said and you already know: There won't be anything because there isn't anything. I saw the rallies of the left on Saturday night . I repeat to my friends in the opposition: Don't rush to celebrate. We'll be here and will continue to lead the country for many years to come."

Saturday night, Channel 2 broadcast additional quotations from the conversations between Netanyahu and Mozes, in which journalists from Yedioth Ahronoth and others are discussed. According to the report, Netanyahu said, inter alia, "We're talking about moderation, about reasonable media, lowering the hostility level towards me from 9.5 to 7.5," and Mozes replied, "It's clear to me. I got it. We need to make sure that you'll be prime minister."

Arnon Mozes is the publisher and owner of Yedioth Ahronoth Group, which includes Ynet.
Israeli settlers will have representation at US President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration on Friday, with Samaria Regional Council Head Yossi Dagan, Efrat Mayor Oded Revivi and Ma'ale Adumim Mayor Benny Kashriel set to attendand to bring gifts.

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Initially, there was some indecision amongst the settler leadership if they should attend, but in the end, they all decided they would take part in an event that will be watched around the world.

"We decided to bring Trump a gift from the agricultural produce of Samaria," Dagan said. "While the Paris Conference is trying to do things without us, it's important to us to emphasize the importance that Judea and Samaria has for the State of Israel."

Yossi Dagan and Becky Dunlop, a senior official in Trumps transition team

Dagan added, "We hope that the renewed selection in the US will bring with a new era of true friendship between Israel and the USA. We have no doubt that the prime minister of Israel will always be more Zionist than the president of the US; however, the US administration has today direct influence on the lives of the residents of Judea and Samaria, and we hope to see a change in this regard."

During his visit, Dagan will meet with senior officials in and connected to the incoming administration.

Recently, the Foreign Relations Unit of the Samaria Regional Council, founded by Dagan, hosted Becky Dunlop , a senior official in the president-elects transition team, who again visited Samaria three weeks ago.

Other visitors hosted by the council include Alan Clemmons, a Republican state representative from South Carolina who later write the Republican Party's current platform and removed the two-state solution from it, and Bruce Blakeman, a New York Republican who is considered close to Trump.
PARIS - US Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged the incoming Trump administration to accept an invitation from Russia to attend Syria peace talks next week.

Speaking to reporters after a Mideast peace conference in Paris, Kerry said he supports the meeting that Russia, Turkey and Iran are co-sponsoring in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23 and that it "would be good" for the US to be represented there.

"My hope is the next administration will decide to go," he said. "I think it would be good for them to go."
The Paris conference for peace in the Middle East held on Sunday approved a communique calling on Israel and the Palestinians to adopt a two-state solution based on the pre-1967 borders and UN Security Council resolutions and to refrain from unilateral actions, though Britain expressed reservations and refrained from signing.

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Some 75 countries and international organizations that were present welcomed Security Council resolution 2334 , "which clearly condemned settlement activity, incitement and all acts of violence and terror."

Countries including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council were in Paris for the conference, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu rejected as "futile". Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians were represented.

Paris has said the meeting did not aim to impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations could resolve the conflict.

LR: Russian Ambassador to France Alexander Orlov, US Secretary of State John Kerry, French President Francois Hollande, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, European Union Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini and French State Secretary for European Affairs Harlem Desir (Photo: Reuters)

The closing statement was meant to send a powerful message to Israel and the incoming Trump administration to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians. It urged both sides to "officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution" and disassociate from voices that reject this.

Embassy move

The final communique shied away from explicitly criticizing plans by US President-elect Donald Trump to move the US Embassy to Jerusalem, although diplomats said the wording sent a "subliminal" message.

Just five days before Trump is sworn in, the meeting was seen as a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the incoming American president that a two-state solution to the conflict could not be compromised on and that unilateral decisions could exacerbate tensions on the ground. Trump's campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence.

The participants "call on each sideto refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final-status issues, including, inter alia, on Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees and which they will not recognize," the final communique said.

A French diplomatic source said there had been tough negotiations on that paragraph.

"It's a tortuous and complicated paragraph to pass a subliminal message to the Trump administration," the diplomat said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said France would work to maintain good relations with the Trump administration but stressed French fears that an embassy move will unleash new Mideast violence.

President Hollande addressing the conference.

He cautioned Trump against moving the US embassy before new peace negotiations can be held. The move could be seen as recognizing Jerusalem as Israel's capital after decades of insisting that the city's status must be determined by direct talks.

In a statement, the conference called on them to avoid steps that "prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final status issues, including, inter alia on Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees".

Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and to move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital, despite international objections.

US Secretary of State John Kerry said on Sunday it would have been inappropriate to include in a communique from a meeting held in Paris on Israeli-Palestinian peace a mention of plans by the Trump administration to move the US embassy to Jerusalem.

"It is being debated publicly at home and does not belong within international fora at this moment in time. It's inappropriate," Kerry told reporters after a meeting of 70 countries on ending the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto UN resolution 2334 demanding an end to Israeli settlements.

The final draft did not go into any details other than reaffirming UN Security Council resolutions, including 2334. Diplomats said that had been a source of friction in talks.

John Kerry at the conference (Photo: EPA)

"When some are questioning this, it's vital for us to recall the framework of negotiations. That framework is the 1967 borders and the main resolutions of the United Nations," Ayrault, told reporters.

Kerry, who abandoned his efforts to broker peace talks in April 2014, told reporters that the meeting had "moved the ball forward."

"It underscores this is not just one administration's point of view, this is shared by the international community broadly," he said.

British reservations

Britain said on Sunday it had reservations about the outcome of the conference in Paris, saying it risked "hardening positions."

"We have particular reservations about an international conference intended to advance peace between the parties that does not involve themindeed which is taking place against the wishes of the Israelisand which is taking place just days before the transition to a new American President when the US will be the ultimate guarantor of any agreement," a Foreign Office statement said.

"There are risks therefore that this conference hardens positions at a time when we need to be encouraging the conditions for peace."

Britain had observer status at the conference. It did not back the final communique.

'Family picture' of attending representatives (Photo: AFP)

London last month scolded Kerry for describing the Israeli government as the most right-wing in Israeli history, a move that aligned Prime Minister Theresa May more closely with President-elect Donald Trump.

Israeli reaction

Sources in Jerusalem responded to the statement with relief. A fear of a further Security Council resolution condemning Israel this week seemed to have been alleviated. Further, problematic sections from the draft summary were removed, including comparisons of violence to settlements.

French FM with his counterpart from Saudi Arabia at the conference (Photo: AP)

Palestinian reaction

The Palestinians have welcomed the closing statement. Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who said on Saturday that moving the US embassy to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process, said the Paris meeting would help at stopping "settlement activities and destroying the two-state solution through dictations and the use of force."

Palestinian official Saeb Erekat said it amounted to a rejection of Israel's occupation and settlement construction in captured territories. He said it sends a message that Israel "cannot achieve peace and stability" without ending its occupation.

Text of communique

Second page of communique

Erekat urged Trump to support the statement and last month's UN Security Council resolution.

Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year and argued that it should not play second fiddle to the war in Syria and fight against ISIS militants.

Salman Elherfi, the chief Palestinian representative to France, told The Associated Press that the conference sent a "very clear" message calling on everyone not to make any changes that would affect a final solution for the region, especially regarding the status of Jerusalem.

He said, "I do not believe that the United States will violate international law because transferring the embassy of the United States into an occupied territory would mean admitting the annexation of this territory by Israel."

He also warned the incoming Trump administration not to "underestimate" the message of peace sent by the conference or the UN resolution last month.

Elherfi insisted "the option of two states is not the dream of a single country, but it has become the concern of the whole world to protect it."

The final statement of the communique said interested parties would meet again before year-end.

But Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday that "this conference is among the last twitches of the world of yesterdayTomorrow will look different, and that tomorrow is very close."

Itamar Eichner and Tamar Shabak contributed to this report.
Israel's Coordinator of Government Activity in the Territories (COGAT) signed an agreement with the Palestinian Authority's Minister of Civil Affairs on Sunday to renew the activity of the Joint Water Committee.

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The Israeli, Maj. Gen. Yoav Mordechai, and the Palestinian, Hussein al-Sheikh, brought to the signing the heads of their respective water authorities. The agreement seeks to establish a framework for the convening of the JWC under the 1995 Interim Agreement , part of the Oslo Accords. One of the goals is to improve and modernize the West Bank water infrastructure, which is essential to the fabric of normal life for those who live there.

Mordechai and al-Sheikh (Photo: COGAT Spokesperson)

According to the agreement, the JWC will reconvene after not having met regularly for six years. It will discuss the allocation of additional water to the West Bank and Gaza Strip, increasing water water sources with new drilling, environmental issues, water tariffs, agricultural water use and promoting hydrological matters. The agreement will allow the laying of new pipes for water, sewage and effluent quickly and efficiently.

Another result is that new projects should be able to advance quickly, including planning new water lines to increase the capacity existing ones which have reached their limit. The committee will work on coordinating joint water-reservoir usage in preparation for the coming summer months.

Meanwhile, Israel and the Palestinians are working to formulate a long-term strategic plan for up to 2040, planning for the expected population growth in the region. The JWC should streamline dozens of other new projects, which include laying water lines throughout the West Bank.

The COGAT said, "The signing of this water agreement proves that it's possible to reach understandings and agreements when we discuss issues substantively, bilaterally, clean of extraneous issues of natural resources and additional infrastructures that affect the entire population. Over the past year and half, we've signed four agreements: electricity, water, mail and 3G cellular infrastructure, which is intended to improve the quality of life for all the populations in the region."
Planning Minister Rob Stokes said proposed amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 will target delays in Development Application (DA) processing by councils. The proposed amendments also aim to enhance community confidence in the planning system.

The proposed changes include standardising the format of the councils development control plans, making them easier to understand and navigate.

The reforms, which are on public exhibition until 10 March 2017, aim to give developers incentives to resolve objections before lodging their DAs. They also aim to focus councillor attention on strategic planning with greater numbers of DA assessments being processed by staff or local planning panels.

Stokes said NSW was experiencing the longest housing construction boom in its history, with the latest figures for the 12 months to October showing 74,577 approvals, the second highest on record.

The NSW Government is determined to do everything it can, including making the planning system more efficient, to ensure housing supply gets to homebuyers fast, he said.

He noted that the planning reforms would help the NSW government deliver the 725,000 new homes that are forecasted to be required by 2036 to house an additional 1.7 million residents.

Related stories:

Only 53% Of Sydney Housing Approvals Convert To Completions

NSW Excerpt From The 2017 January Market Report
In a meek surrender to separatists, Omar Abdullah-led Jammu and Kashmir government succeeded in foiling BJPs effort to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk on Republic Day 2011. <br><br> It was for the second consecutive time in the last two decades, the Jammu and Kashmir government broke a convention trying to unfurl the national flag at Lal Chowk. <br><br> In 1991-92 then BJP president Murli Manohar Joshi took out the Rastriya Ekta Yatra from Kanyakumari to Srinagar. Breaking the separatist writ, he hoisted the Tricolour on January 26, 1992 for the first time ever at Lal Chowk amidst rocket attacks by militants. Remember, the flag hosting ceremony lasted precisely 13 minutes, surrounded by 80 <i>yatri </i>s and conducted under the chill gaze of an estimated 1000 security men. It was Narasimha Rao-led Congress government at the Centre that provided security for the historic flag hosting ceremony during the height of militancy in Jammu and Kashmir. Since then, the security forces had been hoisting the national flag on Republic Day and Independence Day at the clock tower till 2009. <br><br> Much has changed. Last year, the Congress-led UPA government at the Centre was a mute spectator to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Omar Abdullahs move to suspend the unfurling of Tricolour by security forces at Lal Chowk. This time the Congress-led Union government went a step ahead and threw its weight behind Omar Abdullah government in foiling BJPs proposed program to hoist the Tricolour at Lal Chowk. <br><br> BJPs march to unfurl the Tricolour at Lal Chowk was part of its Rashtriya Ekta Yatra launched by partys youth wing Bharatiya Janata Yuva Morcha (BJYM). It was a sequel of the same <i>yatra </i> undertaken by Murli Manohar Joshi in 1991-92. This time Anurag Thakur, the president of BJYM, was spearheading the second edition of the Ekta Yatra. <br><br> Kashmir belongs to India and the whole India belongs to Kashmiris. The pain of Kashmir is the pain of India. We need to feel it, Anurag said in an exclusive chat with this writer in New Delhi before he left for Kolkata to kick start the Ekta Yatra. <br><br> But what prompted the saffron party to replay the Ekta Yatra amidst opposition demand for JPC on 2G scam. Perhaps the present row over Kashmir is the best answer for this. The <i>yatra</i> was launched at a time when anti-national forces are openly endorsing the idea of disintegrating Kashmir from the rest of India. The likes of Arundhati Roy and Syed Ali Geelani continue to make seditious speeches on Kashmir and thoroughly use the right to freedom of expression against the country. And when the secessionists make merry, the Congress-led UPA government is napping. At that point in time BJYMs Rastriya Ekta Yatra and its proposed flag hoisting program at Lal Chowk was indeed a challenge to the separatist forces. <br><br> Rastriya Ekta Yatra-II was flagged off on National Youth Day in Kolkata, the birthplace of legendry Syama Prasad Mookerjee. The two-week long <i>yatra</i> covered 3037 kilometres and traversed through nine states. It was peaceful from the beginning to the end. The <i>yatra</i> was supposed to culminate at Mookherjees martyr place Srinagar where BJYM had plans to hoist Tricolour at Lal Chowk. But the <i>yatri</i>s were stopped on their way to Srinagar at Punjab-Jammu boarder of Lakhanpur and arrested under Section 144 of IPC by J&K Police for defying the prohibitory orders imposed by the state government. The result: Flag was not hoisted at Lal Chowk this year keeping with the writ of the separatists. <br><br> It would however be unfair not to see the context. J&K has been passing through a very tumultuous time recently. Looking at the present situation, the flip side of the argument is that would it be correct to rock the J&K boat? Those who believe in that line argue that BJPs programme could have an adverse impact on the peace of the Valley which has seen an upsurge in violence recently. <br><br> Having stated that, we must also remember that last year separatists had flown the Pakistani flag atop Lal Chowk. The Omar Abdullah government was a silent observer to those anti-national crescendos. The state government also preferred to remain mum when Tricolour was burnt in full public display on a number of occasions. <br><br> Rashtriya Ekta Yatra has brought the other side of the Kashmir story to the limelight. There is no denial that Kashmir problem is the result of historic blunder committed during the early days of post independence era. <br><br> Those in know of political history of Kashmir must be aware of the fact that Kashmir was never under direct British rule. It was a princely state which acceded to India by virtue of a constitutional document called Instrument of Accession under the Indian Independence Act, 1947. <br><br> Maharaja Hari Singh, then supreme ruler of Jammu and Kashmir signed the Instrument of Succession on October 26, 1947. Though the format of the Instrument of Accession applied to Jammu and Kashmir was the same as was executed for other princely states, then interim Indian government led by Jawaharlal Nehru agreed that final decision with regard to the accession would be taken by the Constituent Assembly of Jammu and Kashmir and in the intervening period a temporary provision was made in the Constitution of India. <br><br> BJP was possibly the first party to voice the national perspective on Kashmir. it. The party is a descendant of erstwhile Bharatiya Jana Sangh founded by Syama Prasad Mookerjee. It was Mookerjee who scripted an uprising with his famous slogan on Kashmir-- <i>Ek desh mein do Pradhan, do Vidhan, do Nishan nahi chalegi, nahi chalegi</i> (The country will never accept a system which allows two Prime Ministers, two Constitutions and two National flags). He went to Kashmir as an Indian citizen but was arrested and jailed in a dilapidated house. He died while in custody. <br><br> But when BJP was in power, did the party really remember the sacrifice of Mookerjee from whom it takes inspiration from? Do not forget, it was BJP which backtracked on its commitment to abolish the Article 370 with an excuse of compulsion of coalition politics. <br><br> Now, out of power the saffron party sees the need to pick up the issue of abrogation of Article 370.Perhaps of late, the saffron party has realised its mistake of not going with the majority sentiments of Jammu and Kashmir after reeling under two successive Lok Sabha poll defeats. But is BJP really committed to its demand on Article 370? <br><br> BJYMs Rashtriya Ekta Yatra has no doubt made it to the headlines. But will it be able to contribute in real terms to bringing peace, wiping out the tears of the hundreds of thousands voiceless of the Valley or promoting national integration?
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 ...
Pakistan has many varieties of minerals like Peridot, Aquamarine, Topaz in different colors of violet, pink, golden and champagne, Ruby, Emerald, rare-earth minerals Bastnaesite and Xenotime, Sphene, Tourmaline, Quartz. The vast gemstone ore reserves can make the country a major player in the mineral world market, Joinfo.com reports with reference to Dunya News.

The northern and northwestern parts of the country are shrouded by the three world-famous mountain ranges called Hindukush, Himalaya, and Karakorum, where nearly all the minerals Pakistan is currently offering to the world market have been found.

Official sources told the edition that seven out of 25 precious and semiprecious stones and mineral specimens were intermittently exploited and marketed all over the world.

These are Emerald of Swat, Rubies of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Hunza-Ishkoman, Gilgit, Pink-Topaz of Katlang-Mardan, Aquamarine and Tourmaline of Gilgit and Chitral, Peridot of Kohistan and Pargasite of Hunza, they said.

According to the edition, the Pakistani government should attract investors which will finance scientific mining, cutting and polishing of the stones, adding value to the gemstones from the known localities, and exploring new locations.

Highlighting specifications of the Ruby of Kashmir, Hunza and Gilgit, the sources informed that it was transparent to translucent and brownish pink to pinkish-red and deep red in color.

The Ruby of Hunza and Gilgit have a slight touch of pinkish hue. The main ruby deposits occur in a dolomitic marble belt spanning over 100 kilometers from Hunza valley to Ishkoman, close to the main Karakorum thrust.

See also: Hunza Valley called an oasis of youth as local people live for 110-120 years.

The best known deposits of Emerald are located at Mingora, Malakand Division, 160 kilometers northeast of Peshawar, the capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

They said gem quality tourmaline was found in the Kohistan magmatic arc Zone-6 at Haraosh near Gilgit, Stak Nala between Gilgit and Skardu, Bulecli and Shingus in Gilgit division and Garm Chashma in Chitral.

Tourmaline at Haraosh is discovered in pink, blue, and green varieties, whereas the Stak Nala is now famous for bicolour and tricolour tourmaline.

Gem quality tourmaline also occurs at Buleclhi and Shingus, Gilgit, they said adding that blue tourmaline was found in pegmatite of Garm Chashma (Chitral). Green tourmaline has also been found in pegmatites of Donga Nar in Azad Kashmir.

Thus, Pakistan can become a great hub of the gemstone industry provided it takes a few essential steps to enhance the exploration of resources and growth of gemstone business.

It should be recalled that Australian scientists created diamond thats harder than diamond.
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.
The second of up to a dozen bills designed to reform state law governing tax increment finance districts received a legislative hearing last week.

The Senate Taxation Committee recently heard testimony on SB 27, a bill introduced by Sen. Fred Thomas, R-Stevensville, by request of the Revenue and Transportation Interim Committee.

Thomas told the Taxation Committee the bill is in part a response to the way the Billings City Council approved a predevelopment agreement in 2016 with MontDevCo LLC regarding the One Big Sky Center, providing what he considered inadequate opportunity for public comment on what could be a $35 million TIF expenditure.

We want transparency with these TIF districts and the public to be able to weigh in, he said.

SB 27 requires a public hearing before TIF funds can be spent and an annual report be completed by the local government detailing the financial activities of TIF districts. The report also must describe the public purpose of TIF expenditures and how those expenditures will increase the districts tax base.

Most people are following the law, Thomas told the committee, on which he is a member. We are open to fixing language we dont need. I dont know if a hearing is required on every expenditure. Im happy to make any amendments our committee sees as wise to do.

Bob Story, president of the Montana Taxpayers Association, called SB 27 a sunshine bill, one that will help get more information to the public.

Calling the bill one that provides for simple, basic transparency, the Montana Policy Institutes executive director, Brent Mead, said TIF districts have impacts on taxpayers in and out of the district, and on school districts. Its important they have the same basic levels of transparency as other local governments do.

But a number of local officials took issue with portions of the bill.

Chris Naumann, executive director of the Downtown Bozeman Partnership, called the bills requirement to demonstrate how each expenditure grows the tax base difficult and onerous for what he called Montanas most effective local development and infrastructure tool.

As written, the bill adds cost and slows our rate of progress, said David Fine, an economic development specialist with the city of Bozeman. You could have two public hearings to approve something simple like an engineering contract, or to demolish a blighted building.

Fine also noted that not every expenditure increases a TIF districts taxable value.

Sometimes, setting the stage is important, he said. TIF districts create places to invest private capital, and some TIF expenditures are made to make the district attractive.
The allegory:

Not long ago, a man named Jim was in business with his brother Bob. Jim was the hardworking, money-making side of the firm; Bob was the always smiling, money-spending side.

And, sure, Jim knew the arrangement was lopsided, but he loved and trusted Bob, and Bob was Jims greatest admirer and biggest promoter.

The business did well for years until one day, by pure chance, Jim discovered Bob had been stealing money from the company. It wasnt much, about $21,500 out of the $21 million in revenue the company had earned over the past three years.

It was enough, however, to make Jim wonder how long Bob had been skimming company cream. Worse, the brothers had two out-of-state sisters as partners, and Jim knew both would have to be told the truth about Bob.

So Jim confronted Bob and Bob made a tearful confession of his mistake. He repaid the $21,500 and the brothers moved on.

But the sisters didnt. They asked Jim for a multi-year audit of the companys books to ensure that Bob had not stolen more than $21,500 and to make certain other mistakes had not occurred under Jims aging eyes.

Both brothers balked. An audit would be expensive, disrupt business for months, and  who knew?  might turn up some expenses the sisters would object to. Reluctantly, however, Jim agreed to the audit.

A year went by and the sisters heard nothing from Jim other than his constant complaint that the audit would kill the business. The sisters hired an attorney who, in court, pressed for the audits results. It was, he argued, the sisters legal right to know how their money had been spent.

Moreover, the attorney added, not disclosing the results because it might kill the business was the very reason the results must be disclosed. What were the brothers hiding? he asked.

How did the fight end?

The way fights like this usually end. The brothers continued their stonewalling of the facts and the sisters continued their legal pursuit of those same facts until, indeed, both the business and the family imploded.

The true story:

By Feb. 17, the National Cattlemens Beef Association will file with the U.S. Department of Agriculture reasons it might have to keep private 9,300 or so pages of financial documents related to how it used public money, beef checkoff dollars.

The filing is the next step in the ongoing legal battle between the Organization for Competitive Markets and USDAs Office of Inspector General over documents surrounding OIGs 2011 investigation into a government audit conducted by the Cattlemens Beef Board  known as the beef checkoff  and the Boards principal contractor, NCBA.

NCBA has questioned public disclosure of the documents because, it claims, going public with how it spent millions in beef checkoff dollars will give away proprietary information and, worse, might threaten the very existence of the beef checkoff.

Yes, the money is public; the U.S. Supreme Court ruled long ago that federally chartered, non-refundable commodity checkoffs are government speech. That should mean that government dollars collected and spent by federal checkoffs on public research, public promotion, public communications and public market-building programs is, in fact, open to public oversight.

But, no, NCBA will likely argue, we cant tell you, the public, how we spend your money as the checkoffs decades-long, hired hand because telling you might hurt us, it or both.

That, of course, is the best argument for full disclosure and the worst argument for a continued cover-up that anyone could make. What is so secret in NCBAs dark checkoff closet that it cant show you, the people whove bought and paid for that closet, because it will destroy the checkoff?

If its nothing, you should know. If its something, thats an even greater reason for you to know. NCBA knows. You dont. Why?

It is, after all, your USDA, your checkoff and your money. You should know.
This article originally ran in the December 2017 issue of AVN magazine. Click here for a link to the digital edition.

Attendees at the Internext Expo can learn more about this subject at a seminar titled Going Green: The Pot & Porn Connection. The seminar takes place today (January 15) at 1 p.m. in Festival Hall C at Hard Rock Hotel & Casino Las Vegas.



Many in the adult industry viewed the recent U.S. elections as a two-issue event. Who would win control of the White House, and how would California voters decide the Prop 60 condom regulation? To the relief of adult businesses interests Prop 60 was voted down by a narrow 54- to 46-percent margin, but another measure on the California ballot may have had even greater implications for many veterans of the adult industry who have been gaining traction in another adult-oriented industry as voters in Florida, North Dakota and Arkansas approved medical marijuana initiatives for the first time, while voters in Montana also rolled back restrictions on an existing medical marijuana law. Even more significantly, California, Massachusetts and Nevada approved recreational marijuana initiatives, joining Washington, Colorado, Alaska and Oregon as states that now allow adults over the age of 21 to purchase marijuana legally without any medical authorization.

Outside the United States, Canada is already onboard with national legalization and the Deloitte report titled Recreational Marijuana: Insights and Opportunities concludes that Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus legalization of cannabis next year will create a weed market requiring production of 600,000 kilograms of marijuana annually, which is far more than the existing 36 licensed producers grow for medicinal purposes currently. The explosive growth is reminding many of the dotcom revolution, and many of the same people who were quick to capitalize on the digital evolution of blue content are already hard at work developing ways to ride this new green wave as well.

Im always fascinated by people who suggest they are leaving adult to get into something else, when the reality is that so many companies and business owners now have a hand in many different businesses, said Stewart Tongue, president of EngineFood.com in adult and WeedStoreReviews.com in cannabis. So much of what I am doing in one industry feeds off the other or is accelerated by what past experience has taught me. Running a successful marijuana store review site is a hell of a lot simpler when you have already built and operated several successful review sites in adult. Its not as simple as porting over a few scripts, obviously, but it definitely saved me hundreds of hours and I often feel deja vu when solving a challenge in the green industry that has already come up in a slightly different way in the blue industry before.

Many agreed that the mindset of working in adult online is where most of the useful similarities and competitive advantages come into play. Shifting from adult to cannabis isnt as easy as some people think, said Jimmy James of HugeApeMedia, the parent company of many brands in cannabis, including HighOC.com. Yes, there are legal obstacles to overcome in both, but the specifics are very different and cannabis has a lot more state-to-state challenges to deal with than porn, which is typically regulated on a more federally level playing field currently. Still, the adapt-or-die mentality that is beaten into every successful adult pioneer is exceptionally valuable in any emerging market, and the get-it-done attitude that comes from years of working with forward-thinking people online who see a high barrier to entry as a way to secure their opportunities is definitely part of the reason we are succeeding where others who never spent a day in adult online have already failed.

In some cases cannabis is permitted in places where adult has still yet to break through. Jimmy makes a great point about the adapt or die axiom of adult, echoed Tongue. There is a misconception that just because weed and porn are both taboo they are much the same. Yes, there are similarities, as backyard growers turn into online weed brands the way many video rental businesses evolved into online porn stores back in the day. However, other aspects are very different. For example, WeedStoreReviews.com became one of the first major cannabis sites to have its mobile app available for download in the iTunes and Google Play app stores. Now anyone can download our app on their iPhone or Android device straight from the largest app stores in the worldwhich is something no adult video site has managed to be able to arrange effectively. Nothing specific that I did in adult enabled me to get into iTunes with Weed Store Reviews, but I can tell you we had our submission rejected 14 times for unexplained reasons before it was accepted. I am genuinely thankful the adult online industry instilled in me the successful approach of figuring out unexplained hurdles independently, being persistent, and working every possible angle until all your goals get reached.

When the adult industry came online it represented a major change in the way adult content would be produced, distributed and consumed for the entire blue industry. Peepshows and DVDs eventually became webcams, tubes and dating entities that capitalized on the advantages of presenting customers with a frictionless sales funnel, dynamic content downloads and a much faster pace of evolution than brick-and-mortar stores could contend with in many segments of the industry. Now as savvy veterans of adult transition into the green industry to pioneer the way cannabis is marketed and monetized, many are making use of all the lessons they have already learned.

A shoe store owner or real estate agent who wants to get into cannabis may have some skills that apply, but inevitably they need to solve digital problems like how to process payments online, where to host their sites, how to acquire targeted web traffic, where to find reliable developers who work well with products intended for mature consumers and so on, said Justin Rose of GrowThisFast.com and Monetize.xxx, companies that focus on acquiring properly targeted traffic for products and services in each industry.

When I discuss strategy with someone who has a background in adult, I dont need to start at square one. They already fully understand the language of landing pages, traffic targets, ad networks, tracking software and all the other tools needed to turn ad dollars into revenue. Its just a matter of helping them calibrate their existing tools and showing them new channels that work well. On the other hand, when I work with someone who was never in adult, it can take a dozen emails just to get the message across that buying clicks blindly from a friend of a friend of a friend is almost always a huge mistake.

The same sort of caveats are already becoming clear for social media efforts as well. We have had some pretty good success and some harsh outcomes bringing cannabis to social media outlets, and our experience in adult is priceless for our own ventures thus far, explained Lauren MacEwen of 7Veils.com. For starters, we were able to build a large presence on Facebook for marijuana clients of ours very rapidly, but then Facebook suddenly decided one day to close down hundreds of accounts in the sector without reason. Since then they seem to be allowing cannabis to regain a presence, but its Facebook and as anyone in adult already knows, their rules arent something you can rely on long term. Having multi-platform redundancies for brands we manage has been crucial to smoothing out the bumps in the road and building momentum in ways that no single platform can shut off by fiat. Adult has taught us the value of establishing brands beyond any one profile or platform, so our clients are able to leverage Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn, Reddit, unique domains, publicity, email, SEO outlets and many other venues simultaneouslywhile so many others in cannabis lose their entire audience the moment anyone who works for Facebook decides to shut them off.

Even among adult-friendly alternatives to mainstream platforms, an adult pedigree makes a big difference. Unlike Google, BoodiGo is a search engine that is completely agnostic to the kinds of legal content that it spiders for consumers, said BoodiGo President Colin Rowntree. Our BoodiAds backend allows business owners to buy the targeted traffic of many keywords that Adwords disallows, without the fear that we might change our minds or shut down mature content that is clearly desired by consenting adults. What I find interesting is that many new buyers from mainstream start out by asking us what is allowed, and then backtracking to see if they can make their business model fit. Conversely, adult businesses start by deciding what they want to accomplish and then backtrack to find a way to fit their goals into existing regulations. Its a difference in mindset that often distinguishes those who figure out a way to make something happen, from those who have great ideas but fail to follow through. Im happy to work with anyone in adult or mainstream on legal cannabis  though its fair to say I find working with people from adult to be much faster and simpler at the start.

Perhaps more than anything, adult has taught business owners that money is what matters most. Its fine to talk about traffic, followers, branding and esoteric political glory, but at the end of the day if you arent making money you are doing it all wrong. When adult first began there was no infrastructure for processing credit cards online. That changed, and over time a robust high-risk processing industry evolved around adult. Today, nearly every item can be found and paid for online with credit cards and several other alternative payment options available. Marijuana ought to be able to benefit from the billing infrastructure that already exists thanks to the porn pioneers of the past, and the technology is certainly applicable, but a federal prohibition on sales has caused most banks and processing companies to stand on the sidelines waiting for new laws to be enacted that legalize the banking and billing of the cannabis industry. Now that seems to be changing, and once again, its people who have experience in adult leading the charge.

We started handling the green space this year and the response has been overwhelming, said Mike Ackerman, president of ActuallyHelping.com. It hasnt been easy offering terminals, processing for VISA and MasterCard, as well as depositing for the legal cannabis industry, but after some hard work and a lot of legal consultation we have managed to navigate the road to a successful offering. Many are still operating on the assumption that marijuana can not be paid for with a credit card, but those from adult who know how to ask around are already building an important competitive advantage by working together with people who have earned their trust in the blue side of online business over the last two decades.

The biggest surprise to me was not how many adult businesspeople have gotten into the green industry, but how much more advanced they are in terms of company setups, marketing and the general business acumen they have. It isnt easy transitioning from one industry to another, but time and time again it seems the ones operating in this space with the most success are coming from a strong online marketing background and almost invariably they have some connection to adult already.

As nations become far more socially liberalrejecting condom laws and legalizing marijuanathe opportunity to capitalize on shifting sentiments by hustling online are obvious. Navigating new regulations, exploring new kinds of user experiences, and making sense of the uncertainty that naturally occurs in any nascent B2B network where nobody has a complete Rolodex already in place is something adult online pioneers are doing very well on the fly, while many others are still stuck in the digital starting gate waiting for the light to turn completely green.
Kim Kardashian West continued her visit to Dubai with a meet-and-greet with children in the United Arab Emirates.

There to support her makeup artist Mario Dedivanovic during his The Master Class in MusicHall Dubai, Kardashian West and her gaggle of friends also had fun exploring the city on Saturday. And on Sunday, the reality star, 36, met up with kids at what appeared to be a charity event to listen to their music.

In several photos and videos added to her Snapchat account, Kardashian West, 36, showed her moments with children who performed music for her while she clapped along. The mother-of-two appeared happy and entertained as she smiled during the performances.

Kardashian West was styled casually, wearing ripped light wash jeans and a graphic T-shirt. In one photo taken with men, women and children in traditional clothing, Kardashian West wore an elaborate headdress. At one point, two men also shared a plaque with Kim written on it for the star.

RELATED VIDEO: Kim Kardashian Reportedly Details Her Horrific Paris Robbery in Newly Released Police Report

In another photo from her day, young women wore white T-shirts with the stars face on them.

It appears Kardashian West was given an award, as she posed for a photo of herself holding up a trophy alongside fans wearing the Kim-inspired shirts.

And later, Kardashian West shared a clip of herself laughing and dancing with a few of her fans.

While Kardashian West is in Dubai, the investigation into her Paris robbery continues to make major headway. On Thursday, four men were indicted by French prosecutors on several charges in connection to the October incident, including conspiracy, robbery, kidnapping and forceable confinement.

French authorities reportedly indicted an additional six suspects on Friday. This weekend, a French news outlet published Kardashian Wests alleged initial police report detailing her harrowing experience just hours after it happened.




Popular Nigerian gay activist/pastor, Jide Rebirth Macaulay has asked popular comedian, Ogusbaba to stop promoting homophobic acts through his comedy videos.

Reverend, Jide Macualay urged comedian, Ogusbaba to stop producing homophobic skits

Macaulay made this known after a skit made by Ogusbaba went viral on social media. He said the video would only promote homophobic attacks in Nigeria.

READ COMMENT BELOW:

"This is absolutely despicable, outright foolish. My attention was drawn to a homophobic sketch by a popular comedian called Ogusbaba, @ogusbaba @laogusbaba."

The video portrayed a violent homophobic attack of a gay character in what is titled Lekki Gay.

"We all have a sense of humour, however this sketch does more than create laughter. It glorifies and glamorizes homophobic attacks faced daily in reality for many LGBT people in Nigeria."

"I am consulting with my colleagues both at home in Nigeria and anywhere else so we can take action."

"We would also seek to intercept any foreign plan programme, as I understand that Ogusbaba tours America and Europe frequently."

"Ogusbaba need to understand that this is not funny. Your comedy is giving licence to haters to attack gay people. If you dont like same s*x, then dont have s*x with someone of the same s*x."

"Unfortunately, Nigeria currently have laws against consenting same s*x between adults."

"We urge Ogusbaba to withdraw this sketch, apologise to the gay community and condemn any homophobic abuse as a result of this comedy."

The reverend was forced to flee Nigeria in 2008 after receiving death threats for setting up a safe space for LGBT Nigerians to worship.

WATCH VIDEO BELOW:

PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App

Meanwhile, ever since the skit titled 'The Lekki Gay' went viral on social media many LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender) communities have expressed their anger towards the comedian for making the skit which they now tag as an homophobic skit.

Sexual rights advocate, Bisi Alimi, also condemned the video and said Ogusbaba simply made the video to get a lot of views.

"He wanted it to go viral. He knew the average Nigerian would find it funny and share it, he knew it would create controversy and be talked."

Ogusbaba however, said he is surprised by how people reacted to the sketch but he believes everyone has their own opinion.

"I'm amazed by the response to the video. But I believe people are entitled to their opinions."

What are your thoughts?

Source: Legit.ng
A Nigerian US soldier has been kidnapped and killed after he came to his hometown in Imo state to see his family and celebrate Christmas.

Nigerian U.S Army kidnapped and killed Imo state

According to the Facebook user, Lilian Ndiukwu, who shared the tragic story, her elder brother who is a veteran US soldier came home to celebrate Christmas in Imo state but he was abducted and killed.

PAY ATTENTION: Get all the latest gossips on NAIJ Gossip App

She wrote:

"What a wicked world. who has done this to My BIG BRO? A USA veteran who just came back this Xmas after building his beautiful house(mansion)in the village not knowing that the enemies has an evil plan against him."

"They abducted and shot him dead yesterday night. I Cant believe this, can someone wake me up from this nightmare? Who did this to u Bro? "

Nigerian U.S Army kidnapped and killed after he came back to Imo state

"I could remember the last time we spoke on phone that whn u come bk, we will visit the LESS PRIVILEGE nd nt knowing dt this will be the last call we made. Cant stop crying for you BRO CHUKS . An iroko has fallen. Those that killed you will never know peace and their generation will never go unpunished. GOD WILL AVENGE FOR YOU R.I. P(LA NA UDO)"

May his soul rest in perfect peace!

Source: Legit.ng
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Historys track record with original programming has been noteworthy, from its series Vikings with its cult following to the Emmy-winning Hatfields & McCoys (2012) and impressive reboot of Roots (2016).

Not surprisingly, Six, the new military drama from the Weinstein Company, is another feather in its cap. Co-creators and writers are William Broyles, an Emmy-nominated Vietnam veteran, and his son, David, a military special operations veteran.

Six premieres on History (Spectrum channels 49 and 107) at 9 p.m. Wednesday. Inspired by real missions, the eight-episode first season follows the members of Navy SEAL Team Six in and out of combat.

After an operation in Afghanistan goes awry, the team returns to states to resume their normal lives. Their work and extended absences, however, have taken a toll on their family lives. So when the teams former commander -- Walton Goggins (Justified, Vice Principals) -- is captured in Nigeria, the team is itching to regroup and rescue him.

The team includes Barry Sloane (Revenge), Kyle Schmid (Copper) and Juan Pablo Raba (Narcos).

While action scenes from such military fare as The Last Ship come off as a bit hokey, thats not the case with Six. The combat looks and feels real. Thats a credit to the Broyles. With TV veterans Goggins and Sloane, the actings on par with action.

My only complaint: All of the principal SEAL members have trouble at home. I know it adds conflict for dramatic purposes, but couldnt one of them be well adjusted. Grade: B+

Other scripted fare beginning this week include:

The Young Pope, 8 p.m. Sunday, HBO. Jude Law is Lenny Belardo, aka Pius XIII, the first American Pope in history. Press materials describe the young pope as shrewd and naive, ironic and pedantic, primeval and cutting-edge, doubting and resolute, melancholy and ruthless. Thats a lot of adjectives. Supporting actors include Diane Keaton and James Cromwell. Series will air at 8 p.m. Sundays and Monday through Feb. 13.

Victoria, 8 p.m. Sunday, PBS. The Crown won Netflix a Golden Globe, so dont be surprised to see more royalty shows. This drama stars Jenna Coleman (Doctor Who) as the title character who becomes Queen in 1837 at age 18 through her relationship with her first prime minister, Lord Melbourne (Rufus Sewell) and her courtship with and marriage to Prince Albert (Tom Huges).

Frontier, releases Friday, Netflix. This adventure drama starring Jason Momoa (Game of Thrones) follows the chaotic and violent North American fur trade in the late 18th century. Netflix already has ordered a second season.

Shows returning with new seasons include: Homeland, 8 p.m. Sunday, Showtime; Teachers, 9 p.m. Tuesday, TV Land; Scandal, 8 p.m. Thursday, ABC; Baskets, 9 p.m. Thursday, FX and Real Time With Bill Maher, 9 p.m. Friday, HBO.

Also, the Beaches movie reboot, with Idina Menzel, will air at 7 p.m. Saturday on Lifetime. Get out the tissues.
Legislation that began on New Year's Day put an end to the seven-year run Wahoo police had with their body cameras.

The Wahoo City Council voted in December to stop using the cameras after LB1000 required the Nebraska Commission on Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice to approve a statewide body-worn camera policy.

Several Nebraska law enforcement agencies voiced their concerns about the policy during a three-hour public hearing in October. The Crime Commission ultimately passed the new policy on a 10-2 vote.

It covers when and how to use a body camera, as well as storage and destruction of video. Local law enforcement departments were given some leeway to modify their policies, as long as they met certain requirements, including:

* Each person who wears a camera or works with the footage should receive training at least once, with the possibility of additional periodic training.

* Authorities wearing cameras should tell contacts they are recording, when practical.

* Departments must store all video and audio recordings for a minimum of 90 days, unless they're needed for training or for use in prosecution.

After reviewing the finalized policy, Wahoo Police Chief Ken Jackson said he realized his small department couldnt afford requirements regarding training, and storing and destroying recordings.

The legislation, introduced by Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, allows individual law enforcement agencies to forgo using body cameras rather than meeting the requirements.

"The only way to not spend more money is to not use (cameras)," said Jackson. "If you have confidence in your officers, that they'll report accurately what happens, that's what you do. You stop."

Wahoo police had used cameras for seven years, he said, but didn't use them nearly as much as the new rules require.

"The more you use, the more video you have to manage and handle and that's where the cost went," Jackson said. "Everybody that uses a body camera and everybody that handles that video needs to be trained in how to run the camera and what is appropriate to release, what isn't. The real cost is in the manipulation of the downloading, the storing, the retractions if it is released, and the destruction."

During the October meeting, some departments expressed concerns that new storing rules would require them to buy upgraded or additional technology.

The cost for Wahoo could have hit more than $15,000, Jackson said.

Before the council voted, Jackson said it reviewed the city's insurance policy and discovered there would be no additional liability or concerns if Wahoo police discontinued using the cameras.

"The Legislature did what they thought they needed to do," he said. "It pretty well reflects the national mood of legislatures and political bodies."

He reassured Wahoo residents that his six full-time police officers will continue to strive to do good work.

"The cameras made even me kinda lazy," Jackson said. "I don't take as good as notes anymore or write as detailed reports, but the truth is, prosecutors and attorneys are not going to sit down and watch hours and hours of body-camera video, so we still need to do good-quality work and report writing."

Crete Police Chief Steve Hensel, who was originally worried about the new policy, said his officers have been retrained and started wearing body cams again Tuesday after a break to come in compliance with the new law.

"There will be added expenses managing the data; however, I believe the value of the recordings exceeds those costs," he said.

Beatrice Police Chief Bruce Lang said his officers have been using body cameras 24/7 for two years. While the new policy is costing the department a bit more, it hasn't affected the decision on implementation, he said.

In Lincoln, Police Chief Jeff Bliemeister said since the legislation, his department has made several changes to its body-worn camera policy. The department changed storage from a local PC to a server system similar to that used for in-car videos, and all staff responsible for using the cameras and the technology, or their supervisors, received additional training.

The training includes how to use the camera, how to tag data, how to upload and view data, and how to document a malfunction, among other procedures.

And with the help of multiple resident groups, Bliemeister issued a general policy that matches what the crime commission wants.

The department continues to use the four body-worn cameras it has, Bliemeister said.

In the end, Wahoo's Jackson said he appreciates the thought that went into the policy by the crime commission.

"But, still, we're a small city and money is limited," he said. "I've never missed an opportunity to remind my state senators that they're the ones that help generate money."
Cindy Lange-Kubick Columnist Cindy Lange-Kubick has loved writing columns about life in her hometown since 1994. She had hoped to become a people person by now, nonetheless she would love to hear your tales of fascinating neighbors and interesting places. Follow Cindy Lange-Kubick 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

David Haldeman pulls out the folders that fill his backpack and stacks them on a table.

This is 26 years of my dads life.

His dad was Robert Haldeman, a navigator in Vietnam, a smart and pragmatic Air Force colonel, a husband and father of four.

After he died in 2013, David and his sisters began sorting through documents stored for decades inside a dozen manila files.

They needed a particular form to validate their fathers burial in Arlington National Cemetery, says David, a 55-year-old father of three who works for the state Department of Environmental Quality.

But the Lincoln man had another goal: to retrace a childhood spent moving from military base to military base, eventually ending at the Strategic Air Command in Bellevue.

The road map consisted of computer printouts covered with military acronyms, commendations, correspondence and marching orders.

His father wasnt a sentimental man, so he didnt keep anything superfluous, David says.

And thats why one letter stood out.

He remembers finding it inside an envelope addressed to Maj. R.B. Haldeman at their home on the Air Force base outside Grand Forks, North Dakota.

To the Officers of the 321st Missile Wing, began the message from April of 1971. It has occurred to a group of us that our responsibility to SAC is not as great as our overall responsibility to ourselves and to the country  The only rational ending to SAC is through a cooperative disarmament with the other nuclear powers. All other alternatives threaten the survival of millions of people.

The one-page plea talked about the Cold War and the nuclear arms race and the heinous task assigned to the bases crew members.

It urged the officers to write their squadron commander and congressmen voicing their concern about nuclear proliferation and their desire to speed the dismantling of all nuclear weapons.

Even if nothing whatever comes of it, there is a certain amount of personal satisfaction in the gesture  the consequences of doing nothing, simply to avoid rocking the boat could be tragic.

The letter was signed: The Disarmament Coalition.

I saw that letter and I got distracted, David says. It brought it all back.

* * *

David Haldeman remembers moving from Wyoming to North Dakota in the winter of 1970, astounded by the bitter cold and the mountains of snow.

I thought it was cool because it was so hilly, he says. When spring came and everything melted, I realized it was the flattest place in the world.

David was an anxious child, a worrier with a hot temper.

Some of his fears were typical childhood anxieties. Like starting over at a new school and making new friends when his parents packed up and hauled him and his three sisters to yet another base as his fathers career unfolded.

And he had darker fears, too.

We all had this sense of gloom and doom all the time, he says. Knowing what my dad did, I thought seriously we were going to die in a nuclear war.

He remembers the constant roar of aircraft on the base. The duck-and-cover drills at school. The Cub Scout field trip where his dad explained the steps it would take for a Minuteman missile to be unleashed.

David took small comfort learning it would take two crew members turning keys in two separate locations for the warheads to be activated.

As an adult, David had attempted to get his father to open up about his military experiences, but it wasnt until a few years before he died that he began to share memories  mostly about his time in Vietnam navigating a C-47 while intelligence officers sought to pick up enemy communication on the ground.

It was fascinating to his son.

But hed never open up about the nuclear stuff.

* * *

By the early 1970s, concrete and steel-reinforced bunkers spread over the North Dakota landscape, stretching nearly to Canada.

Hundreds of silos dotted the American landscape from Wyoming to Nebraska as well, nuclear warheads aimed at the Soviet Union.

In the suburbs, families built homes with basement bomb shelters and stocked them with water and canned goods and battery-operated radios. Cities filled their own shelters and the government issued bulletins explaining what to do in case of a nuclear attack.

There were prolonged periods of time when both Soviet and U.S. missiles were on hair-trigger alert, says Tyler White, a political science assistant professor of practice at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. There were a number of close calls; its unsettling for people who dont know that history.

And so a letter of protest addressed to those charged with following launch orders in 1971 doesnt surprise him.

Those people literally went into a hole in the ground in the middle of nowhere and their job was to initiate the indiscriminate death of millions of people, he said. Thats pretty terrifying.

The political scientist was born in 1980. He can remember the collapse of the Soviet Union, the meltdown at Chernobyl and the stories his dad told of watching train cars loaded with tanks roll through western Nebraska, heading for Florida during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

The Soviet Union and the U.S. had that power over one another. You cant help but think if youre a person at SAC that this is crazy. But maybe were lucky because the leadership realized that, too.

Since the days of the Manhattan Project, scientists and civilians and wise politicians alike have realized the folly of a nuclear attack, he says.

The idea that these weapons were terrible originated with the development of the weapons in the first place.

* * *

Since his father died, David has donated dozens of letters and tape recordings to the Vietnam Center and Archive at Texas Tech.

He plans to eventually add this letter, too.

It seems significant to him, especially now as the president-elect talks of increasing the United States nuclear arsenal.

David wants Donald Trump to be a successful president.

I dont want him to fail.

But he doesnt want to see another arms race. Its scary. It feels like theres so much casual talk on social media about a very serious matter.

David doesnt know what became of the Disarmament Coalition. And he doesnt know if his father took action, or agreed with its philosophy. But it is telling, he says, that he saved the letter.

My dad never kept anything that wasnt an official record.

When David was a nervous boy in the shadow of the bomb in North Dakota, the U.S. possessed more than 30,000 nuclear weapons. The Cold War was upon us. America and the Soviets engaged in the practice of mutually assured destruction.

Today, the United States arsenal includes 4,018 warheads, according to the Federation of American Scientists.

The last Minuteman missile in the 321st Missile Wing was disarmed in 1997. A museum opened near Cooperstown, North Dakota, in 2009. According to the Ronald Reagan Minuteman Missile State Historic Site homepage, visitors can see first-hand the front lines of the United States strategy of nuclear deterrence and witness the equipment that could have been used by the missile crews to launch nuclear missiles.

David has never returned to Grand Forks. His family left North Dakota for Texas in 1972, and ended up at SAC the following year.

David stayed in Bellevue to graduate high school when his dad went to work at the Pentagon in 1978.

But hes talked to his sisters about that time in their lives  the joy of being a military family  and their shared fears. And what compelled a steely-eyed Air Force colonel to tuck an anonymous letter pleading for nuclear sanity away for posterity.

It makes us think the letter was of some significance  not just to him, but more broadly to everyone.
Kevin Dayhoff Contact info"Life has a value only when it has something valuable as its object".HEGEL, Introduction to Philosophy of History (1852)Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster.E-mail him at: kevindayhoff AT gmail.com Questions and feedback on the http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ are always welcome and greatly appreciated. Email is best.Please be sure to put the word Soundtrack in the subject line. I read all of my mail, but cannot always respond due to time constraints.Anonymous mail is forwarded to the Department of Homeland Security (please include your phone number).All mail is subject to print, including your name. However, if you don't want me to publish your e-mail, or if you would like to remain anonymous, just let me know.The statements made on this web site reflect the personal opinions of the author.All opinions and any and all mistakes that may appear in this blog are my fault and mine alone and are not in any way shape or form made in any official capacity or any past, present or future employers.This blog is written for human consumption; however, it has only been tested on anthropomorphic replicants and android sheep. The Food and Drug Administration wanted it to be tested on animals.However, the animal rights activists protested, forcing me to abandon testing and release the distressed critters. I released them in the lobby of the animal rights office. I figured those friendly folks could best take care of the mice and we all shared a common goal  that the mice be free.Therefore this material has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The long-term effects of reading this material remain uncertain.Please proceed at your own risk.Unless noted, content on http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/ is  Copyrighted to Kevin Dayhoff with all rights reserved.All information is peripatetically verified when possible, cited as appropriate and applied in the real world at your own risk (except for insights gathered at seances at Barbra Streisand's house).If you find a mistake, let me know and I will correct it.Remember, not all potatoes can swim; always keep plenty of ice cream available and do not run with sharp objects in your hands.2006 Kevin Dayhoff All rights reserved.All other trademarks and Registered trademarks are property of their respective owners.Kevin Dayhoff writes from Westminster Maryland USA. E-mail him at: kdayhoff@carr.org Westminster Eagle Opinion and Sunday Carroll Eagle http://explorecarroll.com/opinion-talk/ http://www.kevindayhoff.com/ has moved to http://kevindayhoff.blogspot.com/
I stood in Grant Park on election night 2008, along with more than 200,000 other people, and watched as a man Id known as a fellow member of a Chicago church, a man Id worked to help get elected, took to the stage. He would be the first black president of the United States of America. My joy at the surreal scene was transcendent. The jumbotron flashed the face of the civil rights stalwart the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson, with tears streaming down his cheeks, an image that evoked the profound elation of black America at the election of Barack Obama.

But his weeping visage summoned a darker prospect for me, one that cast a shadow over Mr. Obama the moment he announced he would make a run for the Oval Office: They might shoot him. Mr. Jackson had been present when the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. met his violent end on a balcony in Memphis. As I viewed Mr. Jacksons watery eyes, I couldnt help but associate him with Dr. King and the fear that our newly elected president might be assassinated.

Black America has held its collective breath during every second of Barack Obamas presidency. I remember stumping early for the Illinois senator, only to have black people I met on the campaign trail tell me that they couldnt possibly vote for my man. Not only was he not as well known, or beloved, as his opponent Hillary Clinton, but didnt I know that hed be harmed if he even got close to the White House? You know theyre going to shoot him.

Never far from the surface was the fear that some lunatic bigot might put an end to the life of this extraordinary man. Every time an intruder scaled the White House fence, we winced. Every report of a rogue police force cracking racist jokes about him raised concern. Now that his presidency is coming to an end, we can heave a sigh of relief on that point, even as we worry about the efforts of his successor to eviscerate his legacy.
Reading made Alex Filing so physically exhausted that he would yawn mid-sentence  not out of boredom, but fatigue.

He'd toil away on homework with his parents, sometimes as late as 10 p.m., to no avail.

"We just knew we weren't moving the needle very far, especially given the amount of work he was putting in," said his mother, Shannon Filing.

But it wasn't until Alex was in third grade  when he was still capitalizing his Bs and Ds to tell them apart  that his parents began to suspect dyslexia was the cause of their son's struggles.

Shannon Filing became "a mother on a quest."

She convinced his school to let Alex, now 13, use books on tape to achieve his assigned reading goals. Beginning in fifth grade, she and her husband started homeschooling Alex at their house in Panama, southeast of Lincoln. They also signed him up for reading intervention at Fix Lexia, a clinic in Omaha.

The Filings would like to see other children with dyslexia start intervention earlier, but doing so requires more awareness by parents and thorough screening in schools, advocates say.

Dyslexia is believed to be the most common learning disability. It affects as many as 16 percent of children and adults and is inherited genetically, meaning babies born to a dyslexic parent have a 50 percent chance of being dyslexic themselves, said Dr. Eileen Vautravers, a retired Lincoln pediatrician and dyslexia advocate.

Yet the disorder is largely misunderstood: People with dyslexia don't just read backward or flip letters; they struggle with phonemic awareness, or the ability to connect the sound of a spoken letter with text on a page.

Simply put, Vautravers said, "It's difficulty with reading words."

State Sen. Patty Pansing Brooks of Lincoln, whose family has a history of dyslexia and dyslexia advocacy, plans to sponsor a bill in the Legislature this year that would add a definition for dyslexia to Nebraska's lawbooks.

Her hope is to get the disorder "defined and on the map" statewide, then eventually add training for teachers to identify certain warning signs of dyslexia as early as kindergarten.

"I'm interested because of this historic family connection," Pansing Brooks said.

When her brother Tom was in third grade, teachers said he'd never graduate high school. He now works at a partner at an Omaha law firm.

Prompted by Tom's experience, their mother, Lu Pansing, became an advocate for a tutoring approach called Orton-Gillingham. She eventually secured a seat on the Lincoln Board of Education, in large part to promote dyslexia programming in public schools.

Dyslexia's most visible indicators often don't emerge until third or fourth grade, when students advance from reading words they know by sight memory and onto more complicated terms.

Yet if intervention  exercises to improve a child's ability to read  doesn't begin until third grade, studies show about 74 percent of students with dyslexia will continue to experience reading problems.

If intervention starts in first grade, fewer than 6 percent of those students will keep struggling.

"Early intervention is best because in those early years ... our kids are learning how to read. But third grade or later, they are reading to learn," said Rebecca Miller, managing director at Fix Lexia.

Most schools in Nebraska assess students' reading ability early in their education, Miller said.

However, those screenings typically leave out known risk factors for dyslexia  such as the inability to rapidly name letters, numbers and colors, or difficulty discriminating individual letter sounds within words.

With training, school staff could effectively screen students for warning signs beginning in the second half of kindergarten, Miller said. The screenings can be done individually or in groups and usually take about 15 minutes.

Children who exhibit dyslexia risk factors would then become candidates for intervention.

The Nebraska Department of Education has created a document to help guide schools and teachers regarding dyslexia, and Commissioner of Education Matthew Blomstedt said in an email that he supports additional efforts to address dyslexia in schools.

"By fourth grade, they're so far behind their peers that it is difficult for them to catch up," said Victoria Molfese, a professor in child, youth and family studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln College of Education and Human Sciences.

Molfese and her husband, Dennis, research dyslexia and other learning disabilities at UNL's Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior.

Brain imaging shows when people with dyslexia read, their neural activity lasts longer and is distributed across larger parts of the brain than in other people, Victoria Molfese said.

That means dyslexic readers literally take longer and use more brain capacity to process individual words, which impacts their comprehension of larger texts.

It's like hearing someone read a single word at a time in 10-second intervals, then trying to string those words together into a normal sentence  which could cause a headache for anyone.

Dennis Molfese recalled doing a study of 8- to 12-year-olds at a school district near Louisville, Kentucky: "When we gave the report at a teachers' meeting weeks later, one of the children spoke up and said, 'See Mom? I really am using my whole brain. I really am trying.'"

Virginia Johnson, Sen. Pansing Brooks' cousin, never had to convince her own mother.

When she was in seventh grade in the 1950s, a counselor at Irving Junior High suggested Johnson switch to special education courses because she was struggling to read.

Johnson's mother said no.

Instead, mother and daughter read Johnson's homework out loud to each other almost every school night for three years.

"I compensated for my dyslexia by working my tail off," Johnson said. "Many dyslexic students do that. They just compensate."

Despite struggling with the alphabet into high school, Johnson made the honor roll as a junior and senior, became a member of the Phi Beta Kappa honor society at UNL, earned a degree from the University of Nebraska College of Law and spent 20 years as a practicing attorney.

She wasn't formally diagnosed dyslexic as a child, and didn't have much awareness of the disorder until her oldest son was born with dyslexia. Lu Pansing, Johnson's aunt, trained her to tutor him using the Orton-Gillingham Approach.

Parents know when their children are intelligent, Johnson said.

"You see in their play, in their imagination, you overhear conversation with their friends. These are young children that just excel in so many different ways," she said.

"This is not a parent making an excuse for a child not succeeding. This is a scientifically based disability, and it should be treated that way."
I learned that a suicide attack and a martyrdom operation were the same thing, but from different points of view. And I was exposed to the richness of the Arabic lexicon in words like ashlaa, meaning body parts, as in those found scattered in the street after a bombing.

After a string of gruesome reports, I once asked our teacher if we could work on some culture stories. Surely some channel had covered a new theater production or a team of Egyptian firemen rescuing a pharaonic-looking cat from a tree.

We dont really have that here, she said.

Now, as a journalist, I dont just have to understand these barbed terms, but properly deploy them based on whom I am talking to.

There have been mishaps.

Once, after militants in Gaza fired a volley of rockets at Israel, I called a spokesman for the Islamic Jihad group to ask who was responsible for the attack.

The Zionist occupation and its crimes against the Palestinian people, he said, and hung up.

The polarization of the media has increased as violence has spread across the region, exacerbated by the rivalry between Saudi Arabia and Iran. But such a complicated web of conflicts can make it hard for any channel to stay consistent.

In the Syrian conflict, for example, channels aligned with Iran portray the legitimate government as at war with foreign-backed gunmen or terrorists seeking to topple the state. But when covering Yemen, those same channels cheer the gunmen who have taken over the capital, referring to them as popular committees.

The channels aligned with Saudi Arabia tell opposite stories in both places. For them, the Syrian conflict is a revolution in which the opposition is fighting a regime that has lost legitimacy. The rebels in Yemen, on the other hand, are militias fighting against the popular resistance, which seeks to restore the ousted government.
Important stuff you won't get from the liberal media! We do the surfing so you can be informed AND have a life!
Oil war is Biden's biggest mistake

Japan considers possible deployment of hypersonic missiles by 2030

Germany to install better air defense system over Defense Ministry buildings

Erdogan and Stoltenberg discuss war in Ukraine

Armenian MOD: Azerbaijani Armed Forces open fire in direction of Armenian positions

True cost of Europe's rejection of Russian gas

White House tries to explain Biden's statement about freeing Iran

Former Pakistani Prime Minister: Either we will have a peaceful revolution or a bloody one

Aramyan: Why are police officers' salaries increasing, while defense officers' are not?

Pentagon and U.S. weapons manufacturers to discuss Russia, human resources and supply chain

Ankara says U.S. may approve sale of F-16s to Turkey within few months

IMF: Turkey should tighten monetary policy and give the Central Bank more independence

Pope urges religious leaders to keep the world from brink of abyss

Putin awards Catholicos of All Armenians Karekin II with Order of Honor

U.S. says G7 countries realize need for coordinated response to China

Round-the-clock curfew is introduced in Kherson

Borrell says they can't put China and Russia on same level

Olaf Scholz calls on China to influence Russia

G7 foreign ministers express 'unwavering commitment' to protecting Ukraine, criticized PRC and IRI

Political technologist explains why Pashinyan was elected chairman of board of ruling party in Armenia

Erdogan signs up for TikTok

China's army is constantly preparing for war amid provocative U.S. actions

Kalin: Armenia is constructive about normalization of relations

Poland asks EU to suspend fines

Putin: Situation in Ukraine was deadly for Russia

Portugal to test a four-day workweek

US embassy in Armenia issues statement ahead of November 5 protests in Yerevan

Dollar, euro go up in Armenia

Baku authorities once again refuse to allow PFPA to hold protest rally

Iranians commemorate anniversary of US embassy seizure

Richard Kauzlarich: Azerbaijan, Armenia FMs meeting in Washington 'will send message to Putin'

Russia ratifies protocol on requirements for length of service of EEU bodies' employees for pensions

Armenia deputy defense minister in Russia, discusses military cooperation

Yerevan receives proposal to hold Russia-Armenia-Azerbaijan interparliamentary talks

Health minister: We will work with fallen Armenia detainees relatives one more time after which bodies will be buried

Putin allows mobilization of citizens with unexpunged criminal record for serious crimes

Arnika, NESEHNUTI NGOs of Czech Rep. issue joint statement on plan to expand gold mine in Armenias Karaberd

Putin urges to evacuate civilians living in Kherson from the war zone

Iran parliament speaker to visit Armenia

Ruling force MP: Canada is opening embassy in Armenia because we are one of worlds most democratic countries

Girl with Armenian roots ends up in Vladimir orphanage

Erdogan says he has agreed with Putin to supply grain to needy countries for free

Armenia President, UK envoy agree to continue cooperation, close contacts

Armenia FM receives EU Monitoring Capacity

Spanish MPs don't approve agreement with Baku as a sign of solidarity with Armenia

Japan says North Korea may go ahead with nuclear test

Armenia government to allocate about $5M to Karabakh refugees support program

Belarusian border service: Border guards intercepts Ukrainian training drone

President appoints Ruben Vardanyan as Karabakh Minister of State

US embassy expresses concern about human rights violation in Azerbaijan

Azerbaijan continues muscle play on Iran border

Ibrahim Kalin says Turkey will become an important gas center one way or another

Biden: We're gonna free Iran

Reuters: G7 countries and Australia agrees on fixed price for Russian oil

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

Armenia ruling party recounts congress voting results

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
Afghan Taliban Reiterates Innocence from Kandahar Bombing, Expresses Intent for Good Relations with UAE
Harvard Prof. Joanna Aizenberg. Credit: Harvard School of Engineering and Applied Sciences

A new company will commercialize sensing technology invented at Harvard University that can perform instant, in-field characterization of the chemical make-up and material properties of unknown liquids.

Validere, cofounded by Harvard scientists and engineers, has raised an initial round of seed capital and has entered into a worldwide exclusive licensing agreement with the university to pursue applications in quality assurance and liquid identification.

Validere aims to develop the licensed technology, called Watermark Ink (W-INK), into a pocket-sized device that could be used by first responders to quickly identify chemical spills, or by officials to verify the fuel grade of gasoline right at the pump. Unlike other techniques for identifying and authenticating liquids, Harvard's solution is inexpensive, instantaneous, and portable.

Developed in the laboratory of Joanna Aizenberg, the Amy Smith Berylson Professor of Materials Science at the Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS) and a Core Faculty member of Harvard's Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, the W-INK concept exploits the chemical and optical properties of precisely nanostructured materials to distinguish liquids by their surface tension. Marko Loncar, Tiantsai Lin Professor of Electrical Engineering at SEAS, also contributed to its development.

Akin to the litmus paper used in chemistry labs to detect the pH of a liquid, the detector changes color when it comes in contact with a liquid with a particular surface tension. The color-changing strip can be programmed to respond precisely to the unique surface tension exhibited by any liquid of interest.

"This idea advanced swiftly through Harvard thanks to an organic system that facilitates progress from discovery to application," said Aizenberg, who is also Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology and Director of the Kavli Institute for Bionano Science and Technology. "We first developed the technology from basic research in my lab at SEAS. The Harvard Office of Technology Development (OTD) guided and supported our commercialization strategy through its Physical Sciences and Engineering Accelerator. Out of this virtuous cycle of innovation Validere was spun off with a viable commercial product."

The W-INK technology, which received early support from the Air Force Office of Scientific Research and a proof-of-concept contract from the U.S. Department of Transportation, could have important applications in industry and government.

"Validere translates this technology to create inexpensive, one-time-use test kits that can be used anywhere in the field to visually identify unknown liquids, all without the need for a dedicated power source," said Ian Burgess, co-founder, CEO and CTO at Validere, who co-invented W-INK as a doctoral student at SEAS and technology development fellow at the Wyss Institute.

"Many people focus on making hardware smaller, but miniaturization often turns out to be the easy part," Burgess said. "What's difficult, and what our solution does, is to simplify the readouts to a level that you don't need a technician to interpret the results. Anyone in the field can immediately know, on the spot, how to respond to a sampled liquid."

Harvard's Physical Sciences and Engineering Accelerator provided seed funding that enabled Aizenberg's group to advance the technology from the lab to the pilot scale and attract further investment. The research group continues to refine W-INK to expand its range of applications.

Following a set of original publications describing W-INK technology in the Journal of the American Chemical Society, ACS Nano and Lab on a Chip, in January 2016, Aizenberg, Loncar and Burgess reported improvements that make possible a colorimetric test for determining the volatility of liquids. This capability, described in a paper published in Scientific Reports, is of particular interest to the Department of Transportation. The ability to rapidly profile the volatility of crude oil, which is commonly transported by railroad, means decisions about proper transport containers can be made at the point of extraction in the field, helping to prevent accidental explosions. DOT is also supporting development of test kits for analyzing hazardous spills.

Aizenberg's lab specializes in reverse-engineering nature. W-INK mimics two biological systems to achieve a tunable device with properties that allow it to change colors when it comes in contact with certain liquids. The wings of some species of butterfly owe their brilliant colors to structure rather than pigment; the surface of each wing contains networks of tiny pores, the size of which determines the perceived color. Meanwhile, brittle stars, relatives of starfish, can change color from black to white by modulating the position of pigmented cells inside lens-like, light-focusing structures arranged in an array across the star's back.

By combining both of these mechanisms so that they respond optically to liquid infiltration into chemically modified porous structures, Aizenberg's team developed a liquid decoder that is small enough to fit in the palm of the hand and can function without a power source. Engineered surface properties interact with liquids to change the interfacial chemistry of the test strip, which instantly causes corresponding color changes or markers to appear.

With support from the U.S. Federal Railroad Administration, Aizenberg is now leading research efforts to optimize the sensing capabilities, while Burgess is spearheading Validere's development of software and an interface device that will translate visual test results into recommended action for handling identified liquids. The device will pair with disposable strips to comprise customizable field test kits that can be tailored to identify virtually any liquid or liquid mixture.

"The goal is to remove the element of human error from the identification and categorization of unknown liquids," Burgess said.
NGC 1448, a galaxy with an active galactic nucleus hidden by gas and dust, is seen in this image. Credit: Carnegie-Irvine Galaxy Survey/NASA/JPL-Caltech

Monster black holes sometimes lurk behind gas and dust, hiding from the gaze of most telescopes. But they give themselves away when material they feed on emits high-energy X-rays that NASA's NuSTAR (Nuclear Spectroscopic Telescope Array) mission can detect. That's how NuSTAR recently identified two gas-enshrouded supermassive black holes, located at the centers of nearby galaxies.

"These black holes are relatively close to the Milky Way, but they have remained hidden from us until now," said Ady Annuar, a graduate student at Durham University in the United Kingdom, who presented the results at the American Astronomical Society meeting in Grapevine, Texas. "They're like monsters hiding under your bed."

Both of these black holes are the central engines of what astronomers call "active galactic nuclei," a class of extremely bright objects that includes quasars and blazars. Depending on how these galactic nuclei are oriented and what sort of material surrounds them, they appear very different when examined with telescopes.

Active galactic nuclei are so bright because particles in the regions around the black hole get very hot and emit radiation across the full electromagnetic spectrumfrom low-energy radio waves to high-energy X-rays. However, most active nuclei are believed to be surrounded by a doughnut-shaped region of thick gas and dust that obscures the central regions from certain lines of sight. Both of the active galactic nuclei that NuSTAR recently studied appear to be oriented such that astronomers view them edge-on. That means that instead of seeing the bright central regions, our telescopes primarily see the reflected X-rays from the doughnut-shaped obscuring material.

"Just as we can't see the sun on a cloudy day, we can't directly see how bright these active galactic nuclei really are because of all of the gas and dust surrounding the central engine," said Peter Boorman, a graduate student at the University of Southampton in the United Kingdom.

This galaxy, called IC 3639, also contains an example of an obscured supermassive black hole. Credit: ESO/NASA/JPL-Caltech/STScI

Boorman led the study of an active galaxy called IC 3639, which is 170 million light years away. Researchers analyzed NuSTAR data from this object and compared them with previous observations from NASA's Chandra X-Ray Observatory and the Japan-led Suzaku satellite. The findings from NuSTAR, which is more sensitive to higher energy X-rays than these observatories, confirm the nature of IC 3639 as an active galactic nucleus. NuSTAR also provided the first precise measurement of how much material is obscuring the central engine of IC 3639, allowing researchers to determine how luminous this hidden monster really is.

More surprising is the spiral galaxy that Annuar focused on: NGC 1448. The black hole in its center was only discovered in 2009, even though it is at the center of one of the nearest large galaxies to our Milky Way. By "near," astronomers mean NGC 1448 is only 38 million light years away (one light year is about 6 trillion miles).

Annuar's study discovered that this galaxy also has a thick column of gas hiding the central black hole, which could be part of a doughnut-shaped region. X-ray emission from NGC 1448, as seen by NuSTAR and Chandra, suggests for the first time that, as with IC 3639, there must be a thick layer of gas and dust hiding the active black hole in this galaxy from our line of sight.

Researchers also found that NGC 1448 has a large population of young (just 5 million year old) stars, suggesting that the galaxy produces new stars at the same time that its black hole feeds on gas and dust. Researchers used the European Southern Observatory New Technology Telescope to image NGC 1448 at optical wavelengths, and identified where exactly in the galaxy the black hole should be. A black hole's location can be hard to pinpoint because the centers of galaxies are crowded with stars. Large optical and radio telescopes can help detect light from around black holes so that astronomers can find their location and piece together the story of their growth.

"It is exciting to use the power of NuSTAR to get important, unique information on these beasts, even in our cosmic backyard where they can be studied in detail," said Daniel Stern, NuSTAR project scientist at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena, California.
Hyperloop One global field operations senior vice president Nick Earle (L) and co-founders Rob Lloyd (C) and Josh Giegel at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas

US startup Hyperloop One disclosed a list of locations around the world vying to put near-supersonic rail transit system to the test.

The startup company keen to revolutionize the way people and cargo travel said that 35 contenders remained from a field of 2,600 teams in a Hyperloop One Grand Challenge launched in May 2015.

Viable submissions had to be condoned by government agencies that would likely be involved in regulating and, ideally, funding the futuristic rail.

Projects in the running included hyperloop rail connecting Sydney and Melbourne; Shanghai and Hangzhou; Mumbai and Delhi, and London and Edinburgh.

There were also 11 US teams in contention.

"There has been a lot of talk about reviving the infrastructure in the United States," Hyperloop One co-founder and engineering president Josh Giegel told AFP at Consumer Electronics Show.

"If that is the plan, there is a good chance we would start working with them," he said, referring to the incoming administration of Donald Trump.

Hyperloop One wants to get three systems underway, according to chief executive Rob Lloyd.

"The end goal is to increase our pipeline of real projects," said Hyperloop One senior vice president of global field operations Nick Earle.

Dubai late last year agreed to a deal to evaluate construction of a hyperloop link that could slash travel times to Emirati capital Abu Dhabi to minutes.

The cash-flush city state, which has hosted other hi-tech transport pilots, said it would conduct a "feasibility study" with Hyperloop One to sound out the scheme.

Dubai Road Transport Authority's director general Mattar al-Tayer speaks to the press after the signing of a deal to evaluate construction of a hyperloop link

Broadband for cargo

The company executives said that a hyperloop test system is being constructed in the desert outside of Las Vegas.

Hyperloop One had originally promised a full-scale demonstration by the end of 2016, after a successful test of the propulsion system.

"We are not only proving it will work, which we will do in the next few months, but we want to focus on cutting down cost and manufacturing time," Lloyd said.

The startup's reasons for being at the Consumer Electronics show included collaborating with the self-driving car industry to make sure autonomous vehicles will inter-operate with the hyperloop system, loading themselves into pods to be whisked off to far-away destinations, according to Earle.

"A self-driving Uber would be able to go inside the hyperloop and come out the other side," Earle said.

"It's like broadband internet for transportation" with self-driving vehicles carrying cargo or people in a real-world spin on data packets being taken quickly from one point to another over the internet, he maintained.

Hyperloop One, which has so far raised more than $160 million (145 million euros), was set on an idea laid out by billionaire Elon Musk, the entrepreneur behind electric car company Tesla and private space exploration endeavor SpaceX.

Pods would rocket along rails through reduced-pressure tubes at speeds of 1,200 kilometers (750 miles) per hour.

Hyperloop One says the system offers better safety than passenger jets, lower build and maintenance costs than high-speed trains, and energy usage, per person, that is similar to a bicycle.

Port colossus DP World Group of Dubai last year invested in the concept, joining backers including French national rail company SNCF, US industrial conglomerate General Electric and Russian state fund RDIF.

Hyperloop One late last year settled a lawsuit filed by a co-founder who accused former colleagues of nepotism, threats and mismanagement.

 2017 AFP
Regional pollution over North China Plain. Credit: IAP

Beijing's latest smog alert has dragged on into the first week of 2017. The joint prevention and control policy for atmospheric pollution in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region was announced after the heavy haze event that occurred on 1 January 2013. But researchers are still uncertain about how to control and prevent smog.

The research group led by WANG Yuesi from the Institute of Atmospheric Physics (IAP) has monitored the evolution of regional atmospheric mixing layer height (MLH) and attenuated backscattering coefficient in the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region for years. Their study has included chemical component analysis and provided insight about the regional heavy haze formation mechanism. "Beijing is located to the north of the North China Plain. During the initial polluted period, it is affected by southerly transport at the latitude of 500 to 1000 m. Once the pollution is formed, the MLH will decrease quickly to 500m and increase the pollutant concentration rapidly via the compression mechanism. Meanwhile, the hygroscopic growth and heterogeneous chemical processes that are enhanced under high relative humidity will facilitate the explosive growth of secondary particulate matters."

The co-existence of those factors can further exacerbate pollution. At this time, although the impact of regional transport is less important, local emissions such as those from motor vehicles are unable to diffuse, thus resulting in a consistent increase of the pollutant concentrations in the MLH.

The heavy haze formation in Beijing is therefore depicted as "initiated by the regional transport, mainly from coal burning in surrounding areas, and intensified by the local secondary formation originated from motor vehicles." This conclusion is presented in papers written by TANG Guiqian, LIU Zirui, WANG Lili, HU Bo, XIN Jinyuan and ZHU Xiaowan and is confirmed consistently by some new experimental research.

According to these studies, pre-warning should be implemented two or three days ahead of the heavy haze onset, and the regional stationary emissions, especially the elevated sources, should be controlled and reduced in advance. Once the pollution forms, the local emissions should be controlled, thus enabling efficient restraint of the peak values of contaminant.

More information: Xiaowan Zhu et al, Regional pollution and its formation mechanism over North China Plain: A case study with ceilometer observations and model simulations, Journal of Geophysical Research: Atmospheres (2016). DOI: 10.1002/2016JD025730 Journal information: Journal of Geophysical Research - Atmospheres

Provided by Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Galina Balashova, the artist who designed the first space habitation module for Soviet cosmonauts, shows drawings of her work in the city of Korolyov outside Moscow

When Galina Balashova designed her first space habitation module for Soviet cosmonauts, she drew a landscape on its interior wall, something that could remind them of home.

An architect by training and an artist at heart, Balashova went on to spend three decades designing the interior of the Soyuz and other Soviet spaceships, making sure the crafts were not just metal carcasses stuffed with equipment, but also living spaces.

Beginning in 1963 over just one weekend, she sketched the interior of the Soyuz craft at home after Sergei Korolyov, the father of the Soviet space programme, asked that the ship be made habitable.

Engineers had fitted out the module with two giant boxes of instruments, but Korolyov had rejected the design and decided to get outside help.

"They didn't understand what a living space is, they don't use spatial thinking but think in terms of instruments," said Balashova, now in her 80s.

"Over the weekend, I thought of how to place the instruments, designing a sort of cupboard on one side and a sort of sofa on the other, where they could nap"a ubiquitous setup in Soviet households.

After Korolyov approved her sketch, which included the landscape drawing on the wall, she also had to provide the actual watercolour painting that would go up into space.

Since Korolyov had approved the design with a landscape drawing, the engineers "always asked for one" on subsequent modules. "Nine of (the paintings) went to space," laughed Balashova.

Despite that, Balashova says she was not allowed to put her name under her work, complaining that her bosses took the credit.

'Floor and ceiling' in space

Balashova still lives in her tiny apartment in Korolyov, a town outside Moscow that is home to Russia's space mission control and named after the space travel visionary.

Sitting in her living room, Balashova spreads out her watercolour space designs on the table, their airy pastels in odd contrast with the militaristic nature of the programme during the space race era.

"At first I wanted to create a space for microgravity that would not have a floor or ceiling," she said.

But the futuristic vision was discarded for practical reasons.

"Humans train on Earth and they are used to the concepts of top and bottom."

Cosmonaut Pyotr Klimuk, who travelled to space as part of the Soyuz and Salyut programmes, agreed that it was important for colours and other elements of the Soyuz interior to create a "cosy" atmosphere.

Galina Balashova went on to spend three decades designing the interior of the Soyuz and other Soviet spaceships, making sure the crafts were not just metal carcasses stuffed with equipment, but also living spaces

In the orbit module "certain elements were painted certain colours and special fabric was used", he said.

"Delicate colours are better" and no matter the microgravity, the human eye "still believes there is a floor and ceiling", like on Earth, he said.

Colours were especially important in Balashova's work on the 1975 US-Soviet Apollo-Soyuz project, which would be seen by millions around the world and needed to fit in additional photo and video equipment.

"My bosses wanted a red sofa but red showed up as black on film," she said.

She struggled through four versions of the craft before finding a solution "when suddenly things were human-scale and there was harmony", she said.

The resulting orbital module had a green sofa and velcro belts with which cosmonauts attached themselves, and even a folding table where they ate and signed the documents marking the symbolic joint flight.

When visiting the module, American astronaut Vance Brand praised its "very convenient setup".

Treated 'like a servant'

Balashova still sits in a chair upholstered with the same green fabric she used to cover the Soyuz sofa.

That too was a product of experimentation. Initial attempts to use velcro on the furniture led to cosmonauts "losing their jersey pants" on it, she giggled.

Her flat is filled with books and watercolour portraits of family, with almost no sign that she influenced the look of generations of Soviet spaceships.

She says her engineering bosses didn't value her work, looking down on her as an artist and a womanone of the few working in the Soviet space industry and the only female in a creative position in Korolyov's team.

"I was alone working with only men, and they treated me like a servant."

After she retired, her drawings spent over a decade gathering dust under her bed.

Balashova now lives on a pension of 18,000 rubles ($297, 287 euros) a month.

"I never wanted to go to space," she admitted. But as an architect, she found the work interesting, she said, and found her inspiration in constantly striving for harmony in her designs.

"When I got it, I felt goosebumps down my back," she said.

 2017 AFP
UPDATE: 10:45 a.m., Sunday

Officials believe icy conditions contributed to a fiery crash involving two semitrailer trucks on Interstate 80 in central Nebraska.

The Department of Roads closed 15 miles of I-80 after the trucks crashed shortly before 9 a.m. Sunday. The crash happened about nine miles west of Kearney.

Pictures of the crash show the trucks on fire along the road, but it wasn't immediately clear if anyone was injured. Authorities didn't immediately release crash details.

#HappeningNow crash near the Odessa exit in Buffalo County, on I-80. Picture taken by Scott Tustin. #BREAKING #Nebraska pic.twitter.com/FV3jt1DZbY  Ifesinachi Egbosimba (@IfesinachiE) January 15, 2017

Most roads south of Lincoln are ice covered, with reports of accumulating ice in Jefferson County.

In Lincoln, some events scheduled for Sunday have been postponed. Check with organizers before heading out.

The annual MLK Youth Rally and March scheduled for Monday morning was rescheduled for Saturday.

Public Works crews were to begin a material spreading operation of granular salt and anti-ice brine on emergency snow routes, arterials, bus and school routes at 10:30 a.m. on Sunday.

Many schools and some offices are closed Monday for the Martin Luther King holiday.

UPDATE: 9 a.m., Sunday

Lincoln is included in an ice storm warning through early morning Tuesday.

Today, forecasters say to expect waves of mostly light precipitation -- sleet or freezing rain -- moving through the area mixed along with periods of dry conditions. Main streets with heavier traffic should remain in relatively good shape, but driveways, sidewalks, parking lots and side streets could become slick.

Light freezing rain will spread north across the area today. Area roads are already becoming slick. #IceStorm pic.twitter.com/WucRwZjc5H  NWS Omaha (@NWSOmaha) January 15, 2017

The heaviest and steadiest freezing rain is likely to arrive in the Lincoln area Sunday night and continue through noon on Monday. With ice accumulation expected during that time, road conditions will quickly deteriorate and power outages will be possible.

UPDATE: Saturday evening

Light freezing precipitation that developed over Jefferson County on Saturday evening signaled the beginning of what could shape up as a debilitating ice storm, forecasters said.

Sleet and freezing rain are expected to expand north from the Kansas-Nebraska border Sunday morning. The wintry mix will give way to freezing rain in the Lincoln area by Sunday afternoon.

All Lincoln City Libraries branches will close at 5 p.m. Sunday and remain closed Monday.

Cathy Zapotocny, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Valley, expects the worst of the storm to hit the Lincoln area overnight Sunday into Monday morning. An ice storm warning covers nearly all of Nebraska east of a Sioux City, Iowa, to Grand Island line.

Other parts of the state are in winter weather advisories, with several inches of snow expected.

Ice storm warnings are also up for parts of Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Iowa and Illinois.

"We haven't had (an ice storm) that covers this large of area in several years," Zapotocny said Saturday. She cited a 2006 winter storm as the last time an ice storm of this strength has threatened the state.

A quarter- to half-inch of ice accumulation is expected, according to Zapotocny. That could damage power lines and bring down tree limbs. Road conditions will also deteriorate and won't improve until temperatures climb back above the freezing mark Monday afternoon.

"It's a lot harder to manage freezing rain as compared to snow," she said. "It has a lot more travel impacts."

The Nebraska State Patrol warned drivers to be wary of weather and road conditions Sunday into Monday.

Drivers should make sure to bring phone chargers, batteries, blankets, jumper cables, and other emergency items if they must commute, according to the State Patrol.

The State Patrol urges drivers who must travel to use well-traveled routes while also allowing extra time.

In the city, residential streets, sidewalks and parking lots will be the most treacherous.

The storm is projected to shift to rain Monday afternoon, then back to snow as temperatures rise  and fall  on the Martin Luther King holiday. Zapotocny said no significant snow accumulation is expected in Lincoln.
Inventor and CEO of Hoverboard Technologies, Robert Bigler unveils his GeoBlade transporter at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 6, 2017 in Las Vegas

Hoverboards are aiming for a comeback after a series of debacles and recalls for the quirky wheeled personal transport devices.

A handful of new self-balancing skateboard-like gadgets made their appearance at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas this week.

These personal transport gizmos made a splash at the show two years ago and were hot holiday items in 2015 before a series of battery fires and injuries prompted bans in the US and elsewhere.

Last year, US marshals seized several lots of hoverboards before the show over concerns about unsafe batteries which could explode.

But Hoverboard Technologies founder Robert Bigler, unfazed by the controversy, on Friday unveiled his single-wheeled GeoBlade, proclaiming it to be the future of personal urban mobility.

"It's so much like surfing on land," he said. "It's going to be like a bicycle."

He said the single-wheeled board is harder to master but offers advantages to those using two wheels, because it has a narrower stance and allows the rider to navigate more easily.

It will have a range of about 10 miles (16 kilometers) and a maximum speed of 16 miles (25 kilometers) per hour.

Bigler said the GeoBlade will go on sale in March for around $1,500more expensive than many of those sold during the 2015 craze, but with higher quality components.

"It's going to take some time to win back public trust," he acknowledged.

Off-road hoverboard

Other similar devices were also on display at CES, including a new "off-road" hoverboard from California-based Swagtron, formerly Swagway.

Swagtron vice president Robert Reeves said the T6 board is aimed at the adventure-minded.

"You can ride it on the sand, on the grass. It has air in the tires so you have more stability," he said.

Reeves said the Swagtrons never suffered from safety issues because of its sealed battery case, but agreed to a "voluntary recall" last year amid concerns over other brands of hoverboards.

A model demonstrates a Swagtron hoverboard at the Consumer Electronics Show on January 7, 2017 in Las Vegas

Still, he said the company is selling more than ever.

"The public image was tainted for about six months," he said, while citing genuine interest.

"It's gone from being a toy to a personal transportation mode."

The T6, which has a range of about 20 hours and a top speed of 12 miles (20 kilometers) per hour, will be sold for around $500 in the US market.

It joins a lineup of smaller hoverboards from Swagtron, which is also planning to release a single-wheeled board and another which looks like a skateboard and has two small wheels.

One-wheeled boards were unveiled by FutureMotion and Segway, the inventor of one of the first personal transporters and which is now owned by China's Ninebot, part of electronics group Xiaomi.

Segway also sells a two-wheeled board which has a steering column that allows users to direct it with their knees.

Segway's Gerry White said sales of these transporterswhich he says are not hoverboardshave remained strong despite the woes of other brands.

"This segment has gone crazy," he said, adding that the Segway devices "are far superior to hoverboards."

 2017 AFP
The entire Orion Nebula in a composite image of visible light and infrared. Credit: NASA, ESA, M. Robberto

Galaxies in the young universe were forming stars at 10- to 50-times higher rates than their modern-day counterparts, such as our Milky Way. A recent study has found that they were not merely scaled up versions of star-forming regions seen today. Instead, UCLA Professor Matthew Malkan and several collaborators have found that the earliest galaxies were "going green."

"The discovery that young galaxies are so unexpectedly brightif you look for this distinctive green lightwill dramatically change and improve the way that we study galaxy formation throughout the history of the universe," Malkan said.

The astronomers discovered a startling number of distant galaxies in which the strongest emission line is from doubly ionized oxygen. Its wavelength in the green region of the electromagnetic spectrum makes the striking color that is also seen in so-called "planetary" nebulae (misnamed because their greenish color resembles that of planets Uranus and Neptune, but for completely different reasons).

This was surprising because current star-forming regions, like the nearby Orion nebula, give a pinkish glow, which comes from atoms of hydrogenby far the most abundant element in the universe. Newly born stars are embedded in the gas clouds out of which they were recently born. Ultraviolet photons from those young stars irradiate the atoms in the gas, causing them to heat up and lose electronsa process called photo-ionization. This hot ionized gas then emits a distinctive pattern of colors of light. The strongest color is nearly always the pink light of heated hydrogen atoms.

But something unusual was going on in the early generations of star formation, only one or two billion years after the Big Bang. The oxygen atoms in their surrounding gas clouds have lost two electrons, rather than the usual one. Knocking off that second electron requires a lot of energy. This can be done by only extremely energetic photons (almost into the X-ray range). Few such high-energy photons are produced by the young stars seen today in Orion or anywhere else in the Milky Way or other modern galaxies.

They ARE produced by a few much hotter stars such as those found briefly in the centers of "planetary" nebula (right hand photograph above). But such extreme conditions are only seen galaxy-wide in less than one hundredth of one percent of galaxies today. Dubbed "green peas," these greenish dwarf starburst galaxies were discovered by the Galaxy Zoo project. The explanation for why the young universe was going greenbut then stoppedis still under intensive investigation. Malkan and colleagues suspect it is because young stars were hotter in the earlier phases of galaxy evolution. More of them effectively resembled the very hot (T > 50,000C) central stars in planetary nebulae (but with very different origins).

A recent analysis of many thousands of distant galaxies in the Subaru Deep Field with graduate student Daniel Cohen found that ALL small galaxies are surprisingly strong emitters of the green emission line of doubly ionized oxygen. By averaging data for such a large number of galaxies, they obtained the first accurate measurements of the dwarf galaxies which are extremely faint, but by far the most common in the young universe. The accompanying figure shows an average of 1,294 of these galaxies at a redshift of z = 3. These are observed 2 billion years after the Big Bang, when the universe was 70 times denser than today. "The O++ emission line (which falls between the two vertical dashed lines) is so strong that it even distorts the entire infrared portion of the galaxy spectrum, which is otherwise starlight," Malkan said.

The coming generation of space telescopes for cosmological surveys will soon be going for this green. In particular, the launch of NASA's James Webb Space Telescope in 2018, followed by their WFIRST in 2024 and the 2020 precursor from the European Space Agency, EUCLID, are all designed to survey galaxies in the young universe though this green O++ emission line.

At the high redshifts of interest, seen in the first 500 million years since the Big Bang, this "green" line is shifted even further into the infrared wavelength range, Malkan said. The cold, dark environments of these telescopes, and their new detectors, are highly optimized to provide unprecedented spectroscopic sensitivity to the strong O++ emission at these infrared wavelengths.

"This one line will be the single most powerful probe of galaxy formation, as soon as galaxies form their first stars and supernovae to produce oxygen atoms," Malkan said. "Detecting and studying the intense green glow from the youngest galaxies (shifted into the infrared) now looks like our best opportunity for learning how the first galaxies evolved."

Malkan is discussing this research today at the 229th meeting of the American Astronomical Society in Grapevine, Texas.
Researchers analyze factors contributing to rise in large-scale tornado outbreaks. Credit: NOAA / National Weather Service

The frequency of large-scale tornado outbreaks is increasing in the United States, particularly when it comes to the most extreme events, according to research recently published in Science.

The study by researchers including Joel E. Cohen, a visiting scholar at the University of Chicago, finds the increase in tornado outbreaks does not appear to be the result of a warming climate as earlier models suggested. Instead, their findings tie the growth in frequency to trends in the vertical wind shear found in certain supercellsa change not so far associated with a warmer climate.

"What's pushing this rise in extreme outbreaks, during which the vast majority of tornado-related fatalities occur, is far from obvious in the present state of climate science," said Cohen, the Abby Rockefeller Mauze Professor at Rockefeller University and Professor of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University, who conducted the research while a visiting scholar in UChicago's Department of Statistics.

Tornado outbreaks are large-scale weather events that last one to three days, featuring several thunderstorms and six or more tornadoes in close succession. In the study, published in the Dec. 16 issue of Science, the researchers used new statistical tools, including extreme value analysisa branch of statistics dealing with deviationsto analyze observation-based meteorological estimates associated with tornado outbreaks together with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration datasets.

The researchers estimated that the number of tornadoes in the most extreme outbreak in a five-year interval doubled over the last half-century. This means that in 1965 the worst outbreak expected over five years would have had about 40 tornadoes, while in 2015 the worst outbreak expected over five years would have had about 80 tornadoes.

"Viewing the data on thousands of tornadoes that have been reliably recorded in the United States over the past half-century as a population has permitted us to ask new questions and discover new, important changes in outbreaks of these tornadoes," Cohen said.

To understand the increased frequency in tornado outbreaks, the researchers looked at two factors: convective available potential energy, or CAPE, and storm relative helicity, which is a measure of vertical wind shear.

Earlier studies had projected a warming climate would increase CAPE, creating conditions favorable to a rise in severe thunderstormsand potentially tornado outbreaks. But Cohen and his colleagues found the increases in outbreaks were driven instead by storm relative helicity, which has not been projected to increase under a warming climate.

"Our study raises new questions about what climate change will do to severe thunderstorms and what is responsible for recent trends," said co-author Michael K. Tippett, an associate professor at Columbia University's Fu Foundation School of Engineering and Applied Science. "The fact that we didn't see the presently understood meteorological signature of global warming in changing outbreak statistics for tornadoes leaves two possibilities: Either the recent increases are not due to a warming climate, or a warming climate has implications for tornado activity that we don't understand."

More information: Michael K. Tippett et al, More tornadoes in the most extreme U.S. tornado outbreaks, Science (2016). DOI: 10.1126/science.aah7393 Journal information: Science
Credit: Astrowatch.net

The Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) broke the news almost one year ago about the first-ever direct observation of gravitational waves. Now, LIGO scientists hope that this year could yield even more breakthrough findings in astronomy.

On November 30, LIGO resumed its search for gravitational waves when it was switched from engineering test runs to science observations following a series of upgrades. One of LIGO's observatories, located in Livingston, Louisiana, now has about a 25 percent greater sensitivity for detecting gravitational waves from binary black holes than previously, which allows it to spot black hole mergers at greater distances than before.

"We began LIGO's second observing run (called O2) on November 30, 2016. O2 is planned to continue for approximately six months until the late spring or early summer of 2017. After it ends, we will enter another period of detector commissioning where we will work to improve the Hanford and Livingston detectors' sensitivities through the end of 2017. It's also possible that the Virgo interferometer (located near Pisa, Italy) will come online and join LIGO sometime in the next few months, which will bring an added capability to our ability to detect and locate gravitational wave sources," David Reitze of the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) told Astrowatch.net.

Reitze is the executive director of the LIGO Laboratory, which operates the LIGO Observatories. Caltech and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) conceived of, built, and operate the LIGO Observatories, with funding provided by the National Science Foundation (NSF).

LIGO scientists hope that with more detections of black hole mergers, our understanding of black hole pairs in the universe will significantly improve. This, together with possible new observations of neutron star mergers, could provide important insights on stellar evolution and death.

"It is likely, but not guaranteed, that we will detect more binary black hole mergers during the O2 run. Binary neutron star mergers or a neutron star merging with a black hole would be a new and thus more significant discovery. However, the rates for these events are much less certain, so we can not say with any confidence when we will first see them," Reitze said.

He added that the astronomical community is greatly interested in LIGO events, because a gravitational wave source may also emit electromagnetic radiationgamma rays, X-rays, optical, infrared, and even radio frequencies. This would be true for binary neutron star collisions, neutron star-black hole mergers, and supernovae.

"Astronomers have already searched for electromagnetic emissions from the first LIGO detections, and will continue in O2. We hope that LIGO will become increasingly important as time goes on and we make more discoveries of electromagnetically bright events," Reitze concluded.

Provided by Astrowatch.net
A photo released by activist group Sea Shepherd on January 15, 2017 purportedly shows a dead minke whale onboard Japanese ship the Nisshin Maru in Antarctic waters

A Japanese ship has been caught with a slaughtered whale in the Antarctic in defiance of an international court decision against Tokyo's hunts, activist group Sea Shepherd said Sunday.

The conservationist organisationwhose two vessels departed Australia last month for the Southern Ocean to disrupt the huntsaid it spotted the Nisshin Maru in the Australian whale sanctuary around the nation's Antarctic territory.

The Japanese fleet set sail on November 18 last year in defiance of a worldwide moratorium on commercial whaling and international opposition.

Sea Shepherd released photographs of a dead minke whale on the deck of the Nisshin Maru, a factory ship, adding that the vessel's crew covered the carcass with a tarp when its helicopter approached.

The dead whale is the first to be documented since the ruling by the International Court of Justice (ICJ), said Sea Shepherd. It has spent more than a decade harassing Japanese harpoon ships during the Southern Hemisphere summer.

"The fact that the Japanese crew went to cover up their harpoons and the dead minke whale on deck just shows that they know what they're doing is wrong," the captain of Sea Shepherd's MY Steve Irwin, Wyanda Lublink, said in a statement.

The news came a day after Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney, with their talks focusing on trade and defence.

A photo released by activist group Sea Shepherd on January 15, 2017 purportedly shows a covered dead minke whale onboard Japanese ship the Nisshin Maru in Antarctic waters

Japan is a signatory to the International Whaling Commission's moratorium on whaling in force since 1986. But it exploits a loophole allowing whales to be killed for the purposes of "scientific research".

Australia's Environment Minister Josh Frydenberg said in a statement his government was "deeply disappointed" Japan had returned to whaling in the Southern Ocean this summer.

"We will continue our efforts in the International Whaling Commission to strongly oppose commercial whaling and so-called 'scientific' whaling, uphold the moratorium on commercial whaling and promote whale conservation," he added.

In 2014 the United Nations' ICJ ordered Tokyo to end the Antarctic hunt, saying it found permits issued by Japan were "not for purposes of scientific research".

Japan cancelled its 2014-15 hunt after the ruling, but restarted it the following year under a new programme with a two-thirds cut in the target catch numbersaying the fresh plan was genuinely scientific.

Tokyo claims it is trying to prove the whale population is large enough to sustain a return to commercial hunting. But the meat from what it calls scientific research often ends up on dinner tables.

No one was available for comment at Japan's Fisheries Agency.

 2017 AFP
A woman wears a mask as she walks past a construction site as smog continues to choke Beijing on Friday, Jan. 6, 2017. The official Xinhua News Agency reported this week that the environmental ministry had given out punishments after finding that more than 500 construction sites and enterprises, including metallurgy, agricultural chemical and steel plants, and 10,000 vehicles had breached pollution response plans. (AP Photo/Ng Han Guan)

Officials in Beijing have announced a new environmental police squad to root out illegal burning in the city, the latest government response to the widespread public anger over China's persistent problems with smog.

Beijing's acting mayor, Cai Qi, said at a meeting Saturday that the force would target open-air barbecues, garbage incineration and the burning of wood and other biomass, according to China's official Xinhua News Agency.

Cai announced several other measures, including a target of cutting the use of coal by 30 percent in 2017, and shutting down 500 higher-polluting factories and upgrading 2,500 more. About 300,000 high-pollution vehicles will also be restricted from entering the capital starting next month, he said.

Beijing and dozens of cities in China spend many winter days under a thick, gray haze, with air pollution levels that routinely exceed World Health Organization guidelines. Last week, more than 20 cities were on "red alert," the highest warning level in China's four-tiered system, while Beijing was on the second-highest "orange alert."

Smog is an acutely felt issue in China's cities, where a red alert can lead to the closure of schools and businesses, flight cancellations, and shutdowns of highways to keep cars off the roads. During a red alert in Beijing last month, authorities banned construction crews from spray-painting and even seized the charcoal grills from some restaurants.

Chinese men wearing masks to filter the pollution walk on a bridge near building shrouded by fog and pollution in Beijing, Thursday, Jan. 5, 2017. China has long faced some of the worst air pollution in the world, blamed on its reliance of coal for energy and factory production, as well as a surplus of older, less efficient cars on its roads. Inadequate controls on industry and lax enforcement of standards have worsened the pollution problem. (AP Photo/Andy Wong)

But enforcement remains an issue. China's environmental ministry said during last week's red alert that its inspection teams found companies resuming production despite a government ban. Many factories remain under severe pressure to meet production targets regardless of air pollution.

Cai on Saturday blamed polluting activities like burning garbage or wood on "the result of lax supervision and weak law enforcement."

But China's pollution is caused chiefly by its thousands of coal-burning factories and a surplus of older, inefficient vehicles. While it tries to answer the loud public calls to tamp down on pollution, the Communist government is also grappling with an economic slowdown and the challenge of maintaining growth.

China is also the world's largest producer and consumer of coal, and measures like capping production days or shutting down older coal mines run the risk of driving up energy prices and further slowing the economy

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
In this Oct. 14, 2016, file photo, a technician works to prepare voting machines to be used in the presidential election, in Philadelphia. Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson has told state officials that he is moving toward designating U.S. election systems as critical infrastructure, a designation that will provide more federal help for states to keep election systems safe from tampering. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke, File)

Citing increasingly sophisticated cyber bad actors and an election infrastructure that's "vital to our national interests," Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson is designating U.S. election systems critical infrastructure, a move that provides more federal help for state and local governments to keep their election systems safe from tampering.

"Given the vital role elections play in this country, it is clear that certain systems and assets of election infrastructure meet the definition of critical infrastructure, in fact and in law," Johnson said in a statement Friday. He added: "Particularly in these times, this designation is simply the right and obvious thing to do."

The determination came after months of review and despite opposition from many states worried that the designation would lead to increased federal regulation or oversight on the many decentralized and locally run voting systems across the country. It was announced on the same day a declassified U.S. intelligence report said Russian President Vladimir Putin "ordered" an influence campaign in 2016 aimed at the U.S. presidential election.

The declassified report said that Russian intelligence services had "obtained and maintained access to elements of multiple U.S. state or local electoral boards." None of the systems targeted or compromised was involved in vote tallying, the report said.

A 2013 presidential directive identified 16 sectors as critical infrastructures, including energy, financial services, health care, transportation, food and agriculture and communications.

The designation announced Friday places responsibilities on the Homeland Security secretary to identify and prioritize those sectors, considering physical and cyber threats against them. The secretary is also required to conduct security checks and provide information about emerging and imminent threats.

Such a change does not require presidential action, and only requires the secretary to first consult with the assistant to the president for homeland security and counterterrorism.

Discussions about whether to designate elections systems as critical infrastructure surfaced after hackers targeted the voter registration systems of more than 20 states in the months prior to the November election.

While the designation puts responsibilities on the Department of Homeland Security, it does not require entities that are determined "critical infrastructure" to participate. Much of the nation's critical infrastructure is in the private sector.

Johnson said election infrastructure included storage facilities, polling places and vote tabulation locations, plus technology involved in the process, including voter registration databases, voting machines and other systems used to manage the election process and report and display results.

The designation allows for information to be withheld from the public when state, local and private partners meet to discuss election infrastructure securitypotentially injecting secrecy into an election process that's traditionally and expressly a transparent process. U.S. officials say such closed door conversations allow for frank discussion that would prevent bad actors from learning about vulnerabilities. DHS would also be able to grant security clearances when appropriate and provide more detailed threat information to states.

The Obama administration has proposed international cyber rules for peacetime that would expressly note that countries shouldn't conduct online activity targeting critical infrastructure, which will now also include election systems.

President Barack Obama used sanctions last week to retaliate against Russian efforts to interfere in the U.S. election process by expanding a prior executive order that allows for their use in the case of cyberattack on critical infrastructure to entities "interfering with or undermining election processes or institutions." With election infrastructure designated as critical, an attack that takes the system down would also qualify for a response of sanctions.

Rep. Bennie G. Thompson of Mississippi, who is the ranking Democrat on the House Homeland Security Committee, commended Johnson's action and said, "In the long term, this will put our electoral systems on a more secure footing and maintain public confidence in our elections."

Rep. Jim Langevin, a Rhode Island Democrat and co-chairman of the Congressional Cybersecurity Caucus, said in a statement that the decision "demonstrates the vital need to ensure votes can't be tampered with. We must also act as a nation to build our resilience against future information warfare attacks."

Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp, who is a member of the U.S. Election Infrastructure Cybersecurity Working Group run by DHS, is among those who have opposed the designation. Testifying in September to a House Oversight subcommittee, Kemp said more federal oversight could make systems more vulnerable and could make protected records more accessible.

When Johnson discussed the likelihood of the designation in a conference call with state officials on Thursday, Kemp called the action "a federal overreach into a sphere constitutionally reserved for the states." According to a copy of his comments released by his office, Kemp told Johnson on the phone that "this smacks of partisan politics" given the dwindling days left in the Obama administration.

Kemp has appealed to President-elect Donald Trump to investigate "failed cyberattacks" on the Georgia secretary of state's network that traced to the Department of Homeland Security, calling the department's technical explanations insufficient.

 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
- President Muhammadu Buhari must allow Wike to run Rivers state smoothly says Senator Lee Meaba

- Senator Meaba says crisis in Rivers stems from the fact that APC wants to take power from Wike by force

Senator Lee Meaba represented Rivers South-East in the 6th Senate has urged the All Progressives Congress (APC) must desist from trying to take over Rivers state by force.

In his interview with The Vanguard, Meaba attributed the crisis in Rivers to political fanatism and an attempt by the APC  led Federal Government to take the state by manipulating the masses.

If Buhari allows Rivers state to explode, Nigeria will be destroyed - Senator Meaba

He also said that there will be grave consequences if President Muhammadu Buhari continues keeping quiet while a component of the country that produces about half of its resources is in turmoil.

Regarding what the way out of the violence taking place in Rivers is, Senator lee said: "the way out is for the President, who is the Commander-in-Chief, to call the security agencies to order.

READ ALSO: Panic as top PDP politician faces alleged death threats for decamping to APC

All these things are happening because a former governor of the state, who is now an APC chieftain, wants to put a successor in Rivers and he couldnt in 2015; so he is looking for every way to do it in 2016. In fact, they wanted a state of emergency in Rivers.

At what point does a President watch one very important component of a nation going into crisis? And this was a crisis caused by human desperation, crisis caused by political fanatism. Three elections have been held and they lost all, so what else are they looking for?

What else is the President waiting for to say leave Rivers alone? So, what I am seeing is that when the governor of Rivers spends money to ensure that there is no pipeline vandalism in his state, when the man ensures that the national asset in Rivers is protected, what they pay him back with is to try to pull him down at all costs.

He is the Chief Security Officer of the state who does not know about the movement of security agents. Meanwhile, Amaechi knows about the movement of the police more than the sitting governor. I am very sure you know that about 70 percent of the police attached to the governor was withdrawn, what do you call that?

The CSO (Chief Security Officer) to the governor was withdrawn. The governor said they wanted to assassinate him. If you withdraw 70 percent of the police protecting the governor including his CSO of course it is right to say that you want to kill the governor. Or if you cannot kill the governor you create a sense of insecurity in him.

So, why is the press looking away from this, why is the President looking away from this? It will be so sad if the President sits down and watch Rivers degenerate into violence and disaster. Bonny terminal is the biggest oil terminal in the country. So, any government that means well for this country should try to protect Rivers state.

Call the APC gladiators and say, Look, Rivers is a PDP state, let Rivers rest, next election you can come and participate and stop forcing Rivers people against their will.

The way forward is that they are placing Rivers State now on a keg of gun powder, if Rivers explodes, Nigeria will suffer economically because there will be no oil to sponsor anything in this country.

READ ALSO: PDP ministers pay solidarity visit to Governor Wike (photos)

Imagine 12 APC governors lining up in the stadium of Port Harcourt and abusing the governor of Rivers State one by one, three days to the election. Some called him a rogue, all sorts of names, one even spoke in Hausa asking all the Hausa people in Rivers to organise jihad against the governor.

These are states that their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is not up to N50 million a month, but they need two point something billion obtained from the oil wealth of Rivers to run their states.

Which South-South governor can go to Kano and abuse the governor and go scot-free, no matter the number of police protecting him? Which South-South state governor can go to Kaduna to abuse El Rufai and go free?

And this is a state where governors from the North gathered to abuse the governor of Rivers State, putting a finger in our eyes and we did not revolt and you say we are violent.

Enough is enough because very soon, we shall define our stay if the President does not define the peace we want in Rivers."

Source: Legit.ng
The media is once again agog, following yet another daring assertion by Chief Femi Fani-Kayode,. former aviation minister and special aide to Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan.

Chief Fani-Kayode said on Sunday, January 15, that Major Kaduna Nzeogwu a junior army officer of mainly of Igbo extraction who led a coup in 1966 is a martyr and that his death he will not forget.

This claim sparked a lot of debate and is still generating so much heated argument.

Fani-Kayode said the death of Major Kaduna Nzeogwu and that of Major Gideon Orkar shall never be in vain.

In his message, FFK asserted that Major Patrick Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, was a Nigerian military officer who played in leading role in the January 15, 1966 military coup, an event which was said to have derailed Nigerias nascent democracy and introduced military rule to Nigeria

When will the yoke of internal colonialism and subjugation be finally broken in our country?

"Nzeogwu was born in the Northern Regions capital of Kaduna to Igbo immigrant parents from Okpanam near Asaba in Delta State.

what is happening in Nigeria today (injustice, wickedness and slavery) Nzeogu and Okar fought against. On April 22, 1990 Major Gideon Gwaza Orkar staged a violent coup against the government of General Ibrahim Babangida .

Orkar and his conspirators seized the FRCN radio station, various military posts around Lagos and the Dodan Barracks, Lagos, the military headquarters and presidential residence.

Babangida was present when the barracks were attacked but managed to escape by a back route. In his coup address, Orkar called for the cut off of five northern states.

However, the coup was crushed by the Babangida regime and Orkar was executed.

The Martyr Nzeogwu

Media on fire as FFK calls Nzeogwu martyr, Nigerians attack venomously

In the early hours of Jan 15 1966, 51 years ago today, the man in this picture, Major Kaduna Nzeogwu, led a coup of junior army officers of mainly of Igbo extraction.

Many were killed that night. The coup failed but the issues he, and later in 1991 Major Gideon Orkar raised in his own coup, are still pertinent. When will the yoke of internal colonialism and subjugation be finally broken in our country?

Judged from afar

I have always condemned Nzeogwu and, to a lesser degree Orkar, but given what is happening in Nigeria today I have to say that both of them were not just heroes but men that fought to ensure that we were freed from what is nothing less than injustice, wickedness and slavery.

They failed in their quest for power and they were both killed: one was shot at the stake by General Babangidas governmrnt and the other was shot on the war front by Federal troops whilst fighting for his beloved Biafra.

As far as I am concerned they are both martyrs and their deaths shall never be in vain. Continue to rest in peace O Christian soldiers and martyrs of the faith. In the new Nigeria we shall name streets, buildings and airports after you

Media goes berserk

Following his call to make martyrs of Major Nzeogwu and the likes, Nigerian have reacted, in very heated debates. Below are what Nigerians are saying about the Nzeogwu martyr issue.

Ezugwu Chigbo said: The Hausa's will never see them as hero's because they killed the corrupt brothers, corruption started from northerners and they now see it as part of them

Shehu Abubakar was of the opinion that that are "Martyrs in the eyes of thieves"

According to Abdulkarim Jibrin, "The son of a traitor is also called a traitor,Ojukwus bed sharer,thief.include your father in the matyredom as well fool..just imaging taging them #christian matyres just because they kill Northern muslims#"

Anioje Henry said: "Nzeogwu is my hero. He fears no face! I am proud of this lion from my Delta state. There are many Nzeogwus under incubation. The struggle continues.

Gideon Orkar believes in action than words. G Orkar geographical boundaries are ordained by God. Beneficiaries from Nigerian repressive government's are already trembling with the increasing demand for the implementation of the Orkar declaration."

Justine Osuagwu said: God bless ur boldness! You are truly an exceptional person, history can't just be forgotten , our present days with this wicked leader(buhari) tells it all, how can all the force in Nigeria their heads no one is south east or south south person 99% is the northern what kind of wicked and barbaric act . Apc will hear the voice of the youth soon! "

"Am studying oversea I can't even withdrew money here from my Nigeria account with my card! This is wicked ! Once again sir God bless u and keep u strong."

Kunle Matanmi Al-bashir said: "That single action was rewarded with massacre of over one million igbo during the civil war.then who is the looser. These people are listening to someone who share the same bed with ojukwu. What a shame."

Sugar B'sugar said: "Fani is an agent of violence.crisis.confusion.fani is never reliable.i pity igbos dat are dancin to his tune."

Majeed Suleiman was of the opinion that "An idle mind is the devil's workshop. FFK is broke and want to remain relevant. Keep on churning out the inciting write up. The more you churn out the more you belittle your self!"

Emeka Alaribeh stressed that: "Nzeogwu was destroyed by the imperialist capitalist west,with the hands of the puppets ignoramus that they've been using to undermined Africa, he was one of the shinning rocks of Africa that could had enlighten the rest of the black race, he dambled into the fundermental of corruption in this country and the pillar of it,which happens to be Ahmadu Bello, yeah a bloody puppet in the hands of the west,he naively cut of the shrub,while the roots are spread deep down,the imperialist used the much dirt that always cover the shinning gem,to bury it,never shall it glitter again.

This is similar in Africa e.g. Patrice Lumumba, Thomas sankara,etc They were all destroyed by those they tried to enlighten."

Saifullahi Yakubu said: "I'm tired to be part of a nation called" Nigeria". Nigeria h'v already expired, Nigeria has to be divided into Muslim and Christian country. This man needs to know that we noted his comments and he must be charged with treason bcos of his insighting "

Ibrahim Isiyaku said: "Surely they died for nothing & almighty god will grieve them. May their soul rest in hell fire. They brutally cut down our great men for just no cause, they're nothing but drunkard, filt people. Igbos wil never rule this country again."

Source: Legit.ng
The Philippines will be the fourth Asian countries with Mountain Partners presence after Indonesia, Thailand, and Malaysia

Global company builder Mountain Partners today announced the appointment of Jon Santillan as the Managing Partner at its new Philippines operations.

In his new role, Santillan will be responsible in leading company-building activities. He will facilitate roll out and transfer of successful business models of the corporates portfolio into the Philippines market.

Santillan is known as the founder of Dubai-based Searchfuse Technology. He had also spent six years as Digital Marketing SEO Manager at Etihad and two years as SEO Manager at Abu Dhabi Media Company, the governments official media organisation.

According to Mountain Partners Investment Director Marco Stutz in a press statement, Santillan has been a reliable partner for the company for years.

Also Read: Fatfish to ally with European VC and raise US$9.2M to take on SE Asia-based tech companies

He has a proven track record in developing and achieving business goals, and delivering revenues. We believe in his passion and expertise in the field. His depth and techno-preneurship skills present a brilliant start to our expansion goals in the Southeast Asia, he said.

After our successes in Indonesia and Thailand, as well as recently Malaysia, we are very happy to welcome him on board and launch first projects in the Philippines market, he added.

Mountain Partners is a Switzerland-based company builder. Prior to entering the Philippines, it has set presence in other Asian countries such as Indonesia, Thailand, and most recently Malaysia, through the acquisition of investment company Qeerad.

It claims to holds more than 80 investments in the sectors e-commerce & web services, digital payments & fintech and technology & security. Recently, in Indonesia, it announced a joint venture with Indosat Ooredoo to form Ideabox Ventures, which started off as an accelerator programme.

It has also reported to be in talks with ASX-listed Singapore-based VC Fatfish Internet Group to raise AU$12.3 million (US$9.2 million).

The post Mountain Partners appoint Managing Partner for its debut in the Philippines appeared first on e27.
Lancaster County Board Chairman Todd Wiltgen sees a budget crunch coming.

There is never going to be enough money to fund all the programs we want. So we will need to make some tough decisions, said Wiltgen, who Tuesday was chosen by his fellow commissioners to lead the board for the next year.

Commissioner Bill Avery was chosen as vice chairman.

Tax dollars that pay for county services such as law enforcement, roads and elections have grown incrementally in recent years thanks to increases in property values, while commissioners have kept the county tax levy relatively stable, although the funds have not been able to keep up with ongoing roads needs.

Eleven rural bridges in the county are closed, 93 miles of asphalt need overlay, 76 bridges are ready for replacement and about 32 miles of gravel roads have traffic counts high enough to warrant paving. County Engineer Pam Dingman says the level at which maintenance has been funded will only pay for only about 10 percent of those needs annually.

Money coming into county coffers from property taxes this fiscal year is 10 percent higher than it was three years ago despite the levy being 2 percent lower. County property tax income in fiscal year 2013-14 was $58.7 million, with a levy of .281 per $1,000 of valuation; this fiscal year, its $65 million, with a levy of .2753 per $1,000 of valuation.

Given the shape of the farm economy and softening ag land sales, Wiltgen said, the trend eventually will come to a painful end.

I want to get ahead of the problem, he said.

Thanks to multiple years of bin-busting harvests that have pushed down prices for row crops, American farmers have seen three consecutive years of declining farm revenue, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

With farmers tightening their belts, farmland values in the northern Plains states, including Nebraska and Kansas, fell 0.9 percent from June 2015 to 2016, according to the USDA.

In another potential twist, Gov. Pete Rickets on Wednesday proposed property tax relief for farmers in the form of changing the way agricultural land valuations are set. Instead of being based on sales, the land would be assessed on its potential earnings.

For Lancaster County, which this year got 56 percent of its budget from property taxes, that could mean having to chose between increasing the levy or cutting costs.

Commissioners have challenged county department heads and elected officials to begin trimming their budgets or face the prospect of across-the-board cuts as the County Board seeks to rein in costs.

"Were having to discuss across-the-board cuts as a last resort. That is why my focus is to get ahead of it and really send a message to the elected officials and agency heads, Wiltgen said.

Commissioners have talked about trying to impose a new budgeting system, such as zero-based, on department heads and county elected officials, but there is no consensus among board members on exactly what the new system should look like.

Wiltgen said the county also needs to keep a close eye on the Legislature as it seeks to close a $900 million budget gap while providing property tax relief. He worries senators will shift the burden of funding services such as adult corrections onto counties shoulders.

The state definition of property tax relief and our definition are two different things, he said.

Wiltgen called on legislators to eliminate unfunded mandates and lighten the financial load being carried by local governments.

I think we (at the local level) can do a better job of providing meaningful property tax relief directly through the levy, he said.
This Friday, Jan. 13, 2017, photo shows a sign on the door of a state treasurer's office in Little Rock, Ark., noting the joint holiday Jan. 16 observing the birthdays of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee. Gov. Asa Hutchinson is reviving an effort to remove Lee from the holiday. But he faces resistance from opponents who complain the move belittles the state's Confederate heritage and from black lawmakers worried about a plan to set aside another day to honor Lee. (AP Photo/Kelly Kissel)

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  Every third Monday in January, Arkansas state offices are closed in observance of an unlikely holiday: the shared birthdays of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Only three states commemorate both men on the same day, a practice that critics say hurts Arkansas' reputation. Now the Republican governor is reviving an effort to remove Lee from the holiday, but he faces resistance from opponents who complain the move belittles the state's Confederate heritage and from black lawmakers worried about a plan to set aside another day to honor Lee.

"I think this provides our state an opportunity to bridge divides," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has vowed since early last year to make the change, which is part of his agenda for the legislative session that began last week.

Arkansas has had a holiday in honor of Lee since 1947 and one for King since 1983. That year, agencies required state employees to choose which two holidays they wanted off: King's birthday on Jan. 15, Lee's birthday on Jan. 19 or the employee's birthday. In 1985, the Legislature voted to combine holidays.

Alabama and Mississippi also honor the men on the same day.

Hutchinson's idea is not new. Two years ago, a similar proposal repeatedly failed before a House committee.

The renewed debate comes amid a nationwide re-evaluation of monuments and symbols linked to the Civil War, the Confederacy and slavery.

After the 2015 fatal shooting of nine black church members by a white gunman who had posed with the Confederate flag in photos, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the flag's removal from the Statehouse. In Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley took down four Confederate flags on the Capitol grounds.

Arkansas Democrats last year announced they would remove Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson's names from the party's annual fundraising dinner, joining a growing number of states distancing themselves from the slave-owning presidents.

Story continues

As with the flag debate in other states, the King Day proposal has drawn the ire of groups that say removing Lee from the holiday is an affront to people whose ancestors served the Confederacy. In 2015, opponents regularly filled a House committee room to speak out against the idea.

"It's like telling our Hispanic neighbors that we're not going to do Cinco de Mayo. It's like telling the Irish we're not going to celebrate St. Patrick's Day," said Robert Edwards, commander of the Arkansas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "I think it's just a racist bill."

The idea also raised complaints from lawmakers who question why any change is needed.

"We're looking for a solution to a problem we don't have," Republican Rep. Josh Miller said. "I haven't noticed any humongous Robert E. Lee parades that are taking place in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day."

Supporters of ending the dual holiday include the city of Little Rock and Pulaski County, which passed resolutions last year endorsing the move. Proponents previously argued that the current holiday hurts the state's efforts to attract businesses, an argument Hutchinson has not adopted. The 2015 bill was fueled in part by photos widely circulated on social media of a sign noting the shared King and Lee holiday.

"I think if Robert E. Lee were here today, he would say, 'Move my birthday and Dr. King deserves recognition,'" Hutchinson said.

The governor faces resistance from past supporters by simultaneously calling for a day in October to remember Lee, although it would not be an official state holiday. Democratic Rep. Fred Love, who sponsored one of the two previous bills, said he's unlikely to support Hutchinson's proposal if it includes a day for Lee.

The former chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus said a Lee Day would also give her pause. She suggested Hutchinson pursue that in a bill separate from the proposal giving King the holiday to himself.

"I don't think my constituents would understand having a day that celebrates the head of the Confederate army that enslaved black folks," Democratic Sen. Linda Chesterfield said. "But I think they truly will understand that it's important for Dr. King's day to be a stand-alone day."

___

Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo .
Viet Cong veteran Vo Ban Tam remembers the first time he crossed paths with John Kerry on the banks on the Bay Hap river, a day that ended in bloodshed. Almost a half-century later, the now 70-year-old Mekong Delta shrimp farmer locked eyes with the US Secretary of State on Saturday and they warmly grasped hands in mutual respect. Kerry returned to the Vietnam waterway at the end of a visit to the Communist nation, less than a week before he was to leave office, searching for the spot where he won a Silver Star for bravery as a young US Navy lieutenant. On February 28, 1969, as the skipper of Swift Boat PCF-94, Kerry was patrolling when Vo Ban Tam's unit launched an ambush. The plan, the Vietnamese guerrilla told his former adversary on Saturday, was to use rifle and grenade fire to lure the heavily-armed American craft into range of a shoulder-held rocket launcher. This tactic had paid off for the Viet Cong in the past but on this day Kerry made a dramatic decision, deliberately beaching his boat then storming ashore to pursue the operator. Grabbing an M-16 rifle the then 26-year-old chased down the guerrilla and shot him dead, saving his crew from a counterattack. Vo Ban Tam remembered the dead man, 24-year-old Ba Thanh, as a respected member of the Viet Cong's main force in Ca Mau province, trained to use the prized launcher. "He was a good soldier," he recalled, speaking through an interpreter on the banks of same river, shortly after Kerry re-visited the scene of the ambush for the first time. Kerry had never before learned the name of the man he shot. During his unsuccessful 2004 White House campaign, opponents tarnished his war record by claiming he killed a teenager. But US officials preparing for Kerry's visit tracked down Vo Ban Tam and his account confirmed Kerry's memory that his slain adversary was an adult. Vo Ban Tam admitted that thanks to Kerry's action the Viet Cong had not been victorious that day. But he recalled proudly how his comrades often had the upper hand. "We were guerrillas, we were never there where you were shooting," he boasted, telling Kerry they could hear his boat coming that day a kilometre off. "Well, I'm glad we're both alive," Kerry said. - To die for a mistake? - Kerry returned from Vietnam later in 1969. Despite holding Silver and Bronze stars for valour and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action, he became a prominent anti-war activist. The tall, young, erudite Yale graduate stood out among veterans and his devastating testimony before a Senate committee in 1971 sealed his celebrity. He forecast that Washington's search-and-destroy missions and brutal pacification measures would fail to overcome the Vietnamese determination to resist foreign occupation. On behalf of his own American comrades in arms, he famously demanded: "How can you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?" Kerry went on to become a senator, a presidential candidate and finally secretary of state -- and he never forgot Vietnam, becoming a leader in the post-war reconciliation. Now, with just days to go before the start of Donald Trump's presidency marks the end of his tenure at the State Department, Kerry plans more visits. He wants to work on environmental problems with the Lower Mekong Initiative while he and fellow veterans are involved in plans to open a US-funded Fulbright University in Vietnam. Pollution and climate change are now the biggest threat to the Mekong Delta with encroaching salination a huge issue -- father of 10 Vo Ban Tam saw his entire shrimp stock wiped out last year by pollution. The United States is a huge market for Vietnamese shrimp, but measures to deepen trade ties are threatened by Trump's opposition to measures like the Trans-Pacific Partnership. - Sleepless night - Vietnam was the first stop on Kerry's last foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat, and he wanted to return there after meetings with senior officials. Two days before he had been having a sleepless night in Hanoi's French colonial-era Hotel Metropole, an aide told AFP. Could he find the site of the ambush? He started pouring over Google's online map, zooming in on the lazy curves of the Mekong Delta's waterways. He also called his former turret gunner from his boat to compare memories of the fateful day and prepare the expedition. On Saturday, sitting on the prow of a tourist boat with Dartmouth College historian and Vietnam War expert Ed Miller, Kerry spread a copy of a war-era map across his knees. Using the chart, Miller's studies and his own memories he guided the vessel up the muddy creek. Families came out of their homes to watch the small flotilla pass where decades before they might have fled for cover. "This right here, where we are right now, was a very heavily Viet Cong controlled area," he told reporters, noting that insurgent activity in Ca Mau went back to French rule. Leaders in Washington back then had not understood this, mistaking a fight against Vietnamese self-reliance and patriotism for a Cold War geopolitical struggle, he argued. The lessons of US failure in Vietnam have stayed with him as he studied more recent crises. "It impressed on me the notion that you really need to analyse and understand what lies underneath the slogans," Kerry told reporters on the boat. And in a dig at George W. Bush, the president who defeated Kerry in 2004, he cited an example from the US war in Iraq: "It helps to know the difference between Sunni and Shia." And how did he feel himself, back at the scene of his own day of battlefield success within a much greater American failure? "It's weird. It's a little surreal," he said.
FILE - In this Jan. 11, 2017 file photo, President-elect Donald Trump speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York. China's Foreign Ministry has rejected President-elect Donald Trump's suggestion that he might use support of Taiwan as a bargaining chip in future negotiations between the two sides. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

BEIJING (AP)  President-elect Donald Trump "speaks like a rookie," China's state-run media said Monday, describing his suggested use of America's position on Taiwan as a bargaining chip as "despicable."

The nationalist tabloid Global Times published an editorial blasting Trump's strategy and saying China would have a strong response to any reconsideration of the "one China" policy. Since recognizing Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory  a status quo that Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election.

"In the past, Trump infuriated us, but now we find him risible," said the newspaper, which is published by the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece. "With a skyrocketing ascent in his political life, he has been stunningly confident in his ostensible knowledge of the job, though he speaks like a rookie."

The English-language China Daily ran an editorial Monday accusing Trump of "playing with fire."

"If Trump is determined to use this gambit on taking office, a period of fierce, damaging interactions will be unavoidable, as Beijing will have no choice but to take off the gloves," the newspaper said.

Trump told The Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday that "everything is under negotiation, including 'one China.'" It was the latest sign that Trump could shake up the U.S.-China relationship, particularly on Taiwan, which China considers a core national interest.

China's Foreign Ministry responded with a statement Sunday saying the "one China" policy was "non-negotiable."

"The government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China," spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement. "That is the fact acknowledged by the international community and no one can change it."

Story continues

China was already angered by Trump's Dec. 2 phone call with Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, the first time an American president or president-elect has publicly spoken to Taiwan's leader in nearly four decades. Beijing considers any reference to a separate Taiwanese head of state to be a grave insult.

Trump then said in a television interview that he didn't feel "bound by a one-China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade."

On Sunday, Reince Priebus, Trump's incoming chief of staff, said that "there are no plans to change the one-China policy."

"But certainly that policy is on the table if China doesn't also come to the table and work with us on trade, work with us on the South China Sea and what's happening there," Priebus said on ABC's "This Week."

After attacking China repeatedly during his campaign, Trump has continued to disparage China on his Twitter account over its military buildup in disputed areas of the South China Sea, allegedly manipulating its currency to put American companies at a disadvantage, and not doing enough to curb North Korea's nuclear program. He has also announced that a new White House trade council will be led by economist Peter Navarro, a sharp critic of Chinese economic policy who wrote a book titled "Death By China."

Trump told the Journal that he would not label China a currency manipulator as soon as he takes office, though he repeated his contention that China is manipulating the yuan.

So far, Beijing has reiterated its refusal to negotiate on Taiwan and to push for positive cooperation between the two sides, though state-run media have run several strongly worded editorials attacking Trump.

Chinese political observers said Sunday that they expect Beijing's response to change once Trump is inaugurated next week.

"Trump has not taken office yet, so he is an ordinary person now," said Shen Dingli, a professor of international relations at Fudan University. "Therefore, there's no need for China to take his remarks seriously or further respond to what he said."

___

Associated Press researcher Henry Hou contributed to this report.
President Duterte has declined an offer by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to provide missiles to the Philippines, saying he does not want to see a Third World War.

Speaking at the 49th annual installation of trustees and officers of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao, Duterte revealed the offer last night following Abes visit to Davao City on Friday.

If we start a third world war, that would be the end (of the world), he said.

Actually, I told (Prime Minister) Abe, I dont need missiles, he said, noting that even leaders of the United States and Russia seem to be coming on good terms.

If you just see now, Putin is conciliatory and now Trump (is reaching out to the world),  Duterte said, referring to Russian President Vladimir Putin and incoming US President Donald Trump.

Japans offer came after Russia initiated an offer to provide the Philippines with submarines but Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said the country couldnt afford it.

With this, Duterte reiterated his intent to stop the country from having foreign military alliances with any country.

I want the country free of foreign soldiers. Ayoko sibat na kayo. (I dont like it.. they have to go). We are good now,  he said.

Duterte had earlier said he wanted the last American soldier to pack up and leave as a result of his anger against the US for allegedly meddling in the campaign against illegal drugs.

The President, however, has allowed the defense department to pursue exercises as long as the naval exercise will not be near or within the South China Sea.

Earlier, Japan Foreign Press Secretray Tasuhisa Kawamura said his country is keen on participating in the Balikatan exercises between the US and the Philippines.

On martial law

Meanwhile, Duterte blasted crafters of the 1987 Constitution for making it hard for the next president to declare martial law since the latter needs to report to Congress, and that any act can still be questioned before the Supreme Court.

Story continues

Such instances would lead to the clash between the three branches of government, he said.

He called as bull sh*t insinuations that he would declare martial rule in a bid to extend his stay in office.

He, however, said if he has to declare martial law, it would be to preserve the nation.

Narco mayors

During the event, Duterte also expressed how he hates drugs, criticizing anew Cebu, Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot whom he has called a narco-mayor.

He threatened to kill narco mayors if they would pursue their illegal drugs operations.

I really told them, pardon my language, son of a b***h, Duterte said as he showed the drug battle list to Davao-based businessmen.

Drop your guns if youre a terrorist. Drop shabu tonight and tomorrow it will be heaven, he said.

On the local front, Duterte said he is ready to talk to his Moro brothers for peace.
BEIRUT (AP)  Islamic State militants launched their biggest assault in a year on government-held areas of the contested city of Deir el-Zour Saturday, attacking from several fronts and triggering intense fighting in the eastern region bordering Iraq, the Syrian government and opposition activists said.

Syrian state TV said three people were killed and nine were wounded in IS rocket attacks on several neighborhoods of the city.

Intense fighting broke out between Syrian troops and the extremist group's fighters both inside the city and around the vicinity of a nearby military airport controlled by government forces. The militants had launched their multi-pronged attack starting from the area of Baghaliyeh near the northwestern tip of the city. Deir el-Zour carries strategic significance for IS as it links the group's Iraq territory to its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria.

Loud explosions that shook the city were reported. Activists said Syrian warplanes were taking part in the battles.

The Deir Ezzor 24 news network reported ongoing clashes since the morning near Deir el-Zour military airport and other fronts in the city and said Syrian warplanes targeted Baghaliyeh and Ayash areas and the vicinity of an army base known as Brigade 137 west of the city.

The extremist group, which controls most of Deir el-Zour province, has kept the provincial capital under siege since 2014. Government forces have withstood the encirclement thanks to air-dropped humanitarian assistance and weapons and ammunition flown into the airport. Remaining residents have reported malnourishment and starvation amid severe shortages of food, water and fuel.

IS has tried to capture the government-held neighborhoods of Deir el-Zour and the city's suburbs over the past months without much success.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said Saturday's offensive was the most intense since mid-January 2016, when the group killed dozens of people, most of them pro-government militiamen, in wide-scale attacks on the city that saw the group make significant advances. Most of those casualties took place in Baghaliyeh and the killings  many people were shot dead or beheaded  were some of the worst carried out by the extremist group.

Story continues

The Observatory said the group has recently brought in reinforcements, including large amounts of ammunition and fuel, in preparation for the battle. It said at least 32 people were killed in Saturday's fighting, including 12 soldiers and allied militiamen and 20 IS fighters.

The Islamic State group, which in 2014 seized large parts of Iraq and Syria and established a so-called Islamic "caliphate" straddling both sides of the border, is under intense pressure in both countries where it has lost significant territory in recent months.

Meanwhile in northern Syria, opposition activists reported a series of government airstrikes on Idlib province over the past 24 hours, including an attack that killed at least 11, mostly civilians, in Maaret Misrin.

In Damascus, the government maintained its offensive to uproot rebels in control of a nearby valley that provides the capital with the majority of its water supply, further threatening a fragile cease-fire that appeared to be fraying.

State-run news agency SANA reported later Saturday that "terrorists" had assassinated Ahmad al-Ghadban, who was appointed by the government to coordinate with rebels in the opposition-held Barada Valley to stop the fighting and allow maintenance workers to fix the water facility there.

For days negotiations have stalled and failed to restore the water flow to the capital  restricted since Dec. 22  and to end the government offensive to uproot the rebels in the valley. The U.N. says the capital has suffered a water shortage that has affected nearly 5.5 million residents. The fighting has trapped nearly 100,000 residents of the opposition-held valley.

The cease-fire brokered by Russia and Turkey, who support opposing sides in the Syrian civil war, went into effect on Dec. 30. It excludes extremist groups such as the Islamic State group.

___

Associated Press writer Albert Aji in Damascus contributed to this report.
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
FILE - In this Saturday, Oct. 31, 2015 file photo, an Egyptian soldier stands guard as emergency workers unload bodies of victims from the crash of a Russian aircraft over the Sinai peninsula from a police helicopter to ambulances at Kabrit military airport, some 20 miles north of Suez, Egypt. Egyptians in the restive northern Sinai city of al-Arish are threatening civil disobedience to protest against what they claim to be the extrajudicial killing of six youths by security forces. (AP Photo/Amr Nabil, File)

CAIRO (AP)  Egyptians in al-Arish, a city in the restive north of the Sinai Peninsula, are threatening civil disobedience to protest against what they claim to be the extrajudicial killing of six youths by security forces.

The Interior Ministry announced Friday that police killed 10 Islamic militants in a shootout in al-Arish. However, the residents said six of those killed had been in police custody since October.

Security officials denied the charge, saying the 10 had left their families to join militants, and were involved in a recent spate of attacks. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to brief the media.

The residents met Saturday night and issued a statement demanding the release of youths detained without charge and the trial of anyone who took part in the alleged killings. A video of the meeting that circulated online shows around 100 people gathered in the home of a prominent al-Arish family.

The statement also called on Sinai lawmakers to quit parliament in protest as well as the formation of a "popular committee" that would be tasked with organizing future protests.

Northern Sinai is home to an insurgency led by an Islamic State affiliate. Residents of the rugged and mountainous region often complain of what they say are heavy-handed tactics used by security forces, including collective punishment following particularly deadly attacks against government forces.

The insurgency grew more deadly and widespread after the military's 2013 ouster of the Islamist Mohammed Morsi, Egypt's first freely elected president, whose one year in office proved divisive.

A popular backlash against the security forces could significantly complicate their mission. The troops rely on local residents in gathering information about the militants, who have killed alleged informants as a warning to others.

President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, who led Morsi's ouster when he was his defense minister, said last week that 25,000 soldiers were deployed in northern Sinai to fight the militants, a previously undisclosed figure that underlined the magnitude of the challenge the military faces.

Over the weekend, Egypt tightened travel regulations for anyone visiting southern Sinai, home to a string of Red Sea resorts popular with divers and European sun lovers. Under the new regulations, tourism workers traveling overland to the region must show at checkpoints valid ID cards, a copy of their police record and proof of their employment. Visitors must show a hotel booking or an apartment lease.

The new measures appeared designed to reassure Russia and Britain, and to persuade them to resume flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, the region's primary resort, after a 15-month hiatus. Russia suspended all air links with Egypt after one of its airliners crashed shortly after it took off from Sharm el-Sheikh in October 2015. All 226 people on board were killed in what Moscow said was a terror attack. The IS group claimed responsibility. Britain has since suspended flights to Sharm el-Sheikh, but not to the rest of Egypt.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)  An elaborately decorated Serbian nationalist train took off Saturday from Belgrade aiming for northern Kosovo but halted at the border in a stunt that triggered a dramatic escalation of tensions between the former wartime foes.

Kosovo officials had protested earlier that the train was in violation of their country's sovereignty and promised not to let it in.

Serbian Prime Minister Aleksandar Vucic ordered the train stopped at the Serbian town of Raska as it approached the border with Serbia's former province, claiming that Kosovo's ethnic Albanians had tried to mine the railway.

Kosovo police strongly denounced such accusations but said they had had checked the railway and found no explosives.

Kosovo Prime Minister Isa Mustafa said he had contacted the United States and the European Union to express his country's concerns.

"I believe that turning back the train was the appropriate action and its entry into the independent and sovereign Republic of Kosovo would not be allowed," he said at a Saturday evening news conference.

The Russian-made train was painted with Serb flags, religious Christian Orthodox scenes, monasteries and medieval towns and inscribed with "Kosovo is Serbian" in 20 world languages. Hostesses on it wore the colors of the Serbian national flag.

Kosovo declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Serbia does not recognize the split and has sought to maintain influence in Kosovo's north, where most of the country's Serb minority is located.

At an urgently called news conference in Belgrade on Saturday, Vucic accused the Kosovo government in Pristina of plans to arrest the train's driver and passengers.

"This was an ambition to provoke a conflict, to start a wider conflict in this territory that we consider as ours," Vucic said. "It was my decision to stop the train in Raska to preserve the freedom and lives of our people, to prevent a wider conflict and show that we want peace."

Story continues

He warned ethnic Albanians in Kosovo not to attack Kosovo's Serb minority "because Serbia will not allow those attacks."

"We sent a train, not a tank," Vucic said.

NATO-led troops are controlling Kosovo's borders following an intervention in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.

Saturday's promotional ride was the first from Belgrade, the Serbian capital, to the northern Kosovo town of Mitrovica since the 1998-99 war. The train later turned back toward Belgrade.

Kosovo President Hashim Thaci said Saturday on his Facebook page that Kosovo respects the freedom of movement of people and goods but a train covered in nationalist banners that violate Kosovo's constitution and laws "is completely unacceptable."

He also noted the train had some passengers and Serb officials who did not have permission to enter Kosovo.

"Anything that is illegal and threatens Kosovo's state sovereignty, must be prevented. This train is the latest provocation and authorities in Kosovo must use all legal means to stop this train immediately," he wrote.

Earlier, as the train left Belgrade, Marko Djuric, who heads Serbian government's office for Kosovo, described the rail link as important for northern Kosovo.

"This is like a mobile exhibition presenting our cultural heritage," he said.

The clash of viewpoints came amid already heightened tensions between Serbia and Kosovo following the recent detention in France of Ramush Haradinaj, a former Kosovo prime minister, on an arrest warrant from Serbia.

Kosovo has called the warrant not legitimate and urged France to ignore it.

___

Associated Press writers Dusan Stojanovic and Llazar Semini contributed.
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
2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming Digest #2

Posted on 15 January 2017 by John Hartz

Story of the Week... Toon of the Week... Quote of the Week... Graphic of the Week... SkS in the News... SkS Spotlights... Video of the Week... Coming Soon on SkS... Poster of the Week... Climate Feedback Reviews... SkS Week in Review... 97 Hours of Consensus...

Story of the Week...

The rise of the machines isnt the biggest threat to humanity. Its climate change, extreme weather and other environmental factors.

The World Economic Forum surveyed 750 experts on what the most likely and impactful risks facing humanity are in 2017. In a report released Thursday, they ranked extreme weather as the most likely risk and the second-most impactful, trailing only the use of weapons of mass destruction. Climate change is responsible for driving an increase in the likelihood and intensity of extreme weather events, notably heat waves.

Failing to adapt to or mitigate climate change and a host of other climate-connected risks including water and food crises and involuntary migration also rank in the top 10.

A matrix outlining the most likely and most impactful risks facing the world in 2017. Credit: World Economic Forum

Climate Change Is the Worlds Biggest Risk, in 3 Charts by Brian Kahn, Climate Central, Jan 12, 2017

Toon of the Week...

Quote of the Week...

Mr. Pruitt, if confirmed, will take over the agency in an odd position: He has spent the last seven years suing it to block regulations that he would be expected to put into effect and enforce. Some legal scholars say he should recuse himself from major pending environmental matters, while groups like the Environmental Defense Fund are urging Congress to reject his confirmation.

The presidents choices deserve a lot of deference from Congress and even environmental groups, said Fred Krupp, president of the Environmental Defense Fund. But at some point when the nominee has spent his entire career attempting to dismantle environmental protections, it becomes unacceptable. Thats why Mr. Pruitt is the first E.P.A. nominee from either party that the Environmental Defense Fund has opposed in our 50-year history.

Scott Pruitt, Trumps E.P.A. Pick, Backed Industry Donors Over Regulators by Eric Lipton & Coral Davenport, New York Times, Jan 14, 2017

Graphic of the Week...

Winter Warming Trends in the U.S., Climate Central, Jan 4, 20117

SkS in the News...

I'm in the process of writing up a longer post on climate change, something we know to be true based on scientific data. Regardless of one's beliefs, the world's climate is warming and that warming is primarily caused by humans. The data is absolutely clear on this. Before digging deeper into this, however, I want to share with you an amazing website that helps clear up some of the misconceptions regarding climate change. The name of the site is Skeptical Science.

Climate Change - SkepticalScience.com, Cool Science Dad, Jan 9, 2017

SkS Spotlights...

The Center for Climate and Security (CCS), a non-partisan security and foreign policy institute with a distinguished Advisory Board of military, security and foreign policy experts, envisions a climate-resilient international security landscape. This is a world which recognizes that climate change threats to international security are significant and unprecedented, and acts to address those threats in a manner that is commensurate to their scale, consequence and probability. To further this goal, CCS facilitates policy development processes and dialogues, provides analysis, conducts research, and acts as a resource hub in the climate and security field.

Video of the Week...

CIA Director Designate Evasive on Climate Change, Climate Denial Crock of the Week, Jan 13, 2017

Coming Soon on SkS...

Fact check: Rex Tillerson on climate risks (Dana)

(Dana) Its time to wake up to the devastating impact flying has on the environment (Roger Tyers)

(Roger Tyers) Guest Post (John Abraham)

(John Abraham) So what did-in the dinosaurs? An update. (Howard Lee)

(Howard Lee) ClimateChats: Climate Pictures (Adam Levy)

(Adam Levy) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Warming News Roundup #3 (John Hartz)

(John Hartz) 2017 SkS Weekly Climate Change & Global Waming Digest #3 (John Hartz

Poster of the Week...

Climate Feedback Reviews...

Climate Feedback asked its network of scientists to review the article, Ocean acidification: yet another wobbly pillar of climate alarmism by James Delingpole, Spectator. April 20, 2016. Six scientists analyzed the article and estimated its overall scientific credibility to be 'very low'.

Click here to access the detailed review.

SkS Week in Review...

97 Hours of Consensus...

Ailie Gallant's bio page & Quote source

High resolution JPEG (1024 pixels wide)
"A little fill here and there may seem to be nothing to become excited about. But one fill, though comparatively inconsequential, may lead to another, and another, and before long a great body may be eaten away until it may no longer exist.

Our navigable waters are a precious natural heritage, once gone, they disappear forever," wrote the Wisconsin Supreme Court in its 1960 opinion resolving Hixon v. PSC and buttressing The Public Trust Doctrine, Article IX of the Wisconsin State Constitution.
is our best selling product in the shop. This perfectly proportioned blend of salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic is so well received it will become a family tradition in your household for pork roast, grilled chicken, venison, roasted potatoes, and even garlic bread. Mixed frequently in small batches, it's always a fresh blend for your kitchen. We have been making this blend for almost 40 years. Over the years, it has been mail ordered to all 50 states and 12 countries. Many of our customers can't live without Roastmary!

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SEOUL (Reuters) - Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is expected to run for president of South Korea, said on Sunday it is appropriate for the country to be the site of a U.S. anti-missile system that is due to be deployed later this year. "Since the reality is the Korean peninsula is in a quasi-war-like state, such action made by the government is appropriate," Ban was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency as saying. China objects strongly to the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system as it worries its powerful radar can penetrate its territory. Ban said he "understands THAAD deployment is made as a defensive measure, as ultimately North Korea is developing nuclear missiles and accumulating ballistic missile technology," he was quoted as telling reporters at the memorial for the 2010 sinking of a navy ship that South Korea blames on the North. "There is the issue of relations with neighbouring countries. This problem can be solved diplomatically," Ban said, according to Yonhap. Ban returned to South Korea on Thursday after his decade at the helm of the global body ended in December. He has yet to say whether or not he will run for president. (Reporting by Tony Munroe and Yun Hwan Chae; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Storyful

Researchers exploring the sea off southeast Alaska discovered a fish trap made of stone believed to be at least 11,100 years old, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) announced on Thursday, November 3.According to the NOAA, a team of scientists from Sealaska Heritage Institute and NOAA Ocean Exploration surveyed an underwater region of southern southeast Alaska in May and discovered what the NOAA said might be the oldest stone fish weir ever found in the world.The fish traps existence had been confirmed earlier this year by academics and a robotics company called Sunfish Inc, which specializes in undersea exploration and inspection, the NOAA said.Prior to this discovery, the oldest known weirs dated from 7,500 to 8,000 years ago, the NOAA said.Dr Kelly Monteleone (co-PI), an archaeologist at the University of Calgary who piloted the underwater craft on the exploration journey that found the weir, said, The entire vessel was bouncing with excitement when we realized it was indeed a weir. Personally, I felt relief after a decade of saying this was a weir. Finally confirming the location was satisfying and exhilarating. Credit: NOAA Research via Storyful
Bipartisan cooperation in Congress was called for recently by the President-elects tax advisor, Arthur Laffer. He said the exchange of ideas across party lines is as crucial to success now as it was in the years he advised President Reagan. "This is what Congress should be doing, trying to find common ground."

Laffers example of policy-inviting bipartisanship is a tax on carbon pollution. If it were revenue neutral, meaning spent in a way that doesnt enlarge government, such as reducing corporate taxes, it would be acceptable to him. Also in December, the R Street think tank which promotes free markets and limited government made a similar proposal, trading a carbon pollution tax for the Clean Power Plan and the corporate income tax. A carbon pollution tax has been advocated by scholars at the Brookings Institution, activists with Citizens Climate Lobby and others. Proposals for revenue neutrality include sending funds collected out in monthly checks to U.S. households.

Common ground does exist. In a post-election survey by the Yale Program on Climate Change, national polling showed that there are important things we agree on across party lines. Nearly eight out of 10 registered voters (78 percent) support taxing and/or regulating the pollution that causes global warming and half 49 percent support doing both. Only one in 10 support neither approach.

Congress seems to be much slower than private business to recognize popular support for and economic advantages of clean energy. The largest users of solar energy in the U.S., in descending order, are Target, Wal-Mart, Prologis, Apple, Costco, Kohls, IKEA and Macys. Renewables power 44 percent of Microsofts data centers now and they are going for 50 percent by 2018. IKEA uses solar at almost 90 percent of its 38 U.S. facilities, General Motors at 31 percent and Johnson & Johnson at 28 percent. Eighty-three U.S. and European large, influential businesses and banks have committed to reaching 100 percent renewable electricity. They include Bank of America, Coca-Cola, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson, Hewlett-Packard, Mars, Microsoft, Nestle, Nike, Philips, Starbucks, Wal-Mart and Wells Fargo.

Google, ever the trendsetter, has announced that it will be purchasing 100 percent renewable energy by the end of 2017. A Google spokesman explained, Having a long-term stable cost of renewable power provides protection against price swings in energy. Google first focused on reducing energy use at its data centers, which now deliver 3.5 times as much computing power as they did five years ago while using the same amount of electricity.

Companies moving to efficient and clean energy use are among the largest, most successful, most forward-facing of American businesses. Im willing to bet that most of their executives responsible for long-range energy planning are Republicans. Ill also bet every single decision was based on an excellent business case. The trend is clear. Nobodys trying to burn more fossil fuels.

In the local and state public sectors, it has generally been Democrats leading clean energy policies, especially in California and New York. Washington Gov. Jay Inslees new proposed budget includes a tax on carbon pollution. Its also worth noting the Republican governor of Massachusetts initiated new rules for power plants and vehicles to achieve a significant reduction in emissions. The Republican governor in Ohio recently vetoed a rollback of renewable energy mandates and was immediately supported by Whirlpool, Gap, Nestle and other businesses.

Theres one additional important constituency with a deep interest in accelerating the adoption of clean energy, and thats our military. They started worrying about climate change long before President Obama arrived in the White House and often are outspoken about our choices now. Here is retired U.S. Brig. Gen. Stephen Cheney, speaking a few weeks ago: climate change impacts, he said, are acting as an accelerant of instability ... [with] direct links to climate change in the Arab Spring, the war in Syria, and the Boko Haram terrorist insurgency in sub-Saharan Africa. He pointed to the large number of current migrants caused by food scarcity, water insecurity and extreme weather, and this is set to become the new normal. His conclusion: Countries are going to pay for climate change one way or another, and the best way is by tackling the root causes of climate change and cutting greenhouse gas emissions.

Given the direction of opinion of the public, major businesses, state and local leaders and the military, we may have enough unity to move forward. What we need now are members of the House and Senate who understand that finding common ground is not cowardice. It is essential to a functioning democracy.
Migrants reach out for floatation vests waiting to board the MV Aquarius, as 193 people and two corpses are recovered Friday Jan. 13, 2017, from international waters in the Mediterranean Sea about 22 miles (35 Km) north of Sabrata, Libya. The MV Aquarius search and rescue vessel operated by MSF and SOS Mediterranee picked up 183 male and 10 female migrants, thought to have originated from African countries including Nigeria, Gambia and Senegal. The migrants are expected to disembark in Italy. (AP Photo/Sima Diab) Migrants reach out for floatation vests waiting to board the MV Aquarius, as 193 people and two corpses are recovered Friday Jan. 13, 2017, from international waters in the Mediterranean Sea about 22 miles (35 Km) north of Sabrata, Libya. The MV Aquarius search and rescue vessel operated by MSF and SOS Mediterranee picked up 183 male and 10 female migrants, thought to have originated from African countries including Nigeria, Gambia and Senegal. The migrants are expected to disembark in Italy. (AP Photo/Sima Diab)

VALLETTA, Malta (AP)  The Latest on Europe's migrants crisis (all times local):

4:50 p.m.

Spain's maritime rescue service says the bodies of seven African migrants have been found dead along the Strait of Gibraltar since Friday.

The latest casualty was a woman who was found dead late Saturday aboard a drifting boat along the coast of Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta. Seven survivors were handed over to Spanish authorities.

The rescue service says the coast is currently being patrolled for survivors on another drifting boat that reportedly departed from neighboring Morocco. Six African migrants who drowned are thought to have been on the boat, which may have shipwrecked.

Local police told The Associated Press that two bodies were found on a beach near the southern Spanish city of Algeciras on Saturday morning. Spain's maritime rescue service says four others were found floating in the water.

___

3: 15 p.m.

Tens of thousands of people seeking better lives are expected to trek across deserts and board unseaworthy boats in war-torn Libya this year in a desperate effort to reach European shores by way of Italy.

More than 181,000 people, most so-called "economic migrants" with little chance of being allowed to stay in Europe, attempted to cross the central Mediterranean last year from Libya, Africa's nearest stretch of coast to Italy. About 4,500 died or disappeared.

Hundreds already have taken to the sea this month, braving the winter weather. In the latest reminder of the journey's perils, more than 100 people were missing off Libya's coast over the weekend after a migrant boat sunk.

Some European leaders are warning of a fresh migration crisis when sea waters warm again and more people choose to put their lives in the hands of smugglers.

___

3:10 p.m.

The 28-nation EU already has a controversial deal to stem the flow of migrants from Turkey, which has agreed to try to stop the number of migrants leaving the country and to take back thousands more in exchange for billions of euros to help Syrian refugees in Turkey, visa-free travel for its citizens and fast-track EU membership talks.

Story continues

Now, the EU wants to adapt this outsourcing pact to the African nations whose migrants are trying to reach Europe, despite criticism that the agreement sends asylum-seekers back to countries that could be unsafe for them.

The bottom line is that the Turkey deal works. The number of people arriving in the Greek islands, for instance, plunged over the last year despite political wrangling over whether Turkey's government was respecting the EU's conditions.

And EU nations have even fewer scruples about turning away migrants who take the central Mediterranean route to Italy since they mostly are job seekers who would be ineligible for asylum.

___

3 p.m.

Niger, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Mauritania, Mali and Chad are all on the European UnionU's radar to work with on the migrant issue, and dealing with them is proving expensive.

But the bloc's arrangement with Turkey has shown that the best way of stemming migrant flows is to stop people taking to the sea.

Libya and Egypt are the main migrant departure points to Europe, and pacts with them would probably have the biggest immediate impact.

Malta Prime Minister Joseph Muscat wants to build on a deal Italy is trying to reach with Libya by adding EU funds and other support. He also thinks the EU's anti-smuggler naval mission, Operation Sophia, should be extended into Libyan territorial waters to stop people in unsafe boats from reaching open waters.

But the EU has been unable to secure United Nations backing for such a move, and Libya has no central authority with the reach or stability to negotiate a long-term agreement with the Europeans.

___

12:45 p.m.

Pope Francis is demanding that "every possible measure" be taken to protect young refugees as he marks the church's World Day of Migrants a day after the latest Mediterranean migrant shipwreck.

Italy's coast guard says only four people survived the sinking of a migrant ship off Libya's coast on Saturday. An estimated 100 people were aboard and only eight bodies have been recovered.

Search and recovery efforts continued Sunday.

In his Sunday noon blessing, Francis recalled that the theme of this year's migrant day message concerned the vulnerability of young migrants  "our young brothers" whom often flee home alone and face "so many dangers."

He said: "We must adopt every possible measure to guarantee young migrants protection and defense, as well as integration."
By Zabihullah Noori LONDON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - Gul Bibi, an Afghan grandmother well into her eighties, never expected to become a fighter. But now she is one of more than a hundred women in Afghanistan's northern Jawzjan province who have taken up arms against Islamist militants. Nearly all of the women have lost a husband, son or brother to the Taliban or the newly active Islamic State in the province bordering Turkmenistan. "I lost nine members of my family. The Taliban and Daesh (Islamic State) killed my five sons and four nephews," Bibi said by phone from Jawzjan. "I have taken up arms to defeat the terrorists so other people's sons won't get killed." Determined to protect their families, the women approached a local police commander, Sher Ali, in December and asked him for guns and ammunition. "They came to me and said that if I didn't provide them with weapons they would kill themselves - before Daesh or the Taliban could," Ali told the Thomson Reuters Foundation, using the Arabic acronym for Islamic State. The women are not a properly structured group, he said; they have no uniform and have not received any military training other than how to point a gun at the enemy and shoot. The Taliban has carried out attacks in Jawzjan for the last decade, part of a country-wide insurgency to topple the Afghan government and drive out foreign troops. Islamic State became active in the province - a gateway to Central Asia - in early 2016, when a Taliban commander and 50 of his fighters declared allegiance to the ultra-hardline group, said Mohammad Reza Ghafoori, spokesman for Jawzjan governor. On Dec. 25, Islamic State fighters attacked Garmjar village and killed five civilians, burned down about 60 houses and forced 150 families to flee, he said by instant messenger. A woman in her twenties, who did not want to give her name, said her husband and many other family members had been killed by the Taliban. Now she is fighting back, she said. "I hit the Taliban with this PK (machine gun), and the Taliban fled. Most of the their men died. I will stand against Daesh and will hit them too," she said by phone from Jawzjan. 'FIGHT TO THE DEATH' The women fighters are not registered with the army or police and the government has not licensed their weapons, Abdul Hafiz Khashi, head of the security department of Jawzjan police, was reported as saying in the Afghan media last week. Although local police have cautiously welcomed the new defence force, he said, the rag-tag women's unit has raised concerns among higher authorities. "We do not support any armed group, unless they come under one of our forces," Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan Interior Ministry, said from Kabul. "We hope they join the Afghan security forces, so we can help them as part of our troops," he said. But the women accuse the Afghan army of failing to protect their families from the militants. "First they killed my brother, then they killed my cousin, my uncle and my brother-in-law," said Zarmina, another woman fighter. "Now that I have taken up arms, I am going to fight to the death." Thousands of civilians have been killed in Afghanistan in violence since the Taliban government was brought down in the U.S.-led campaign of 2001. Afghan armed forces control no more than two thirds of national territory, and have struggled to contain the Taliban insurgency since the bulk of NATO soldiers withdrew at the end of 2014. The United States has announced plans to send 300 Marines to the volatile southern province of Helmand, large parts of which are under Taliban control, as part of a regular rotation of troops helping train and advise Afghan forces. Russia, China and Pakistan warned month last that the influence of Islamic State was growing in Afghanistan and that the security situation there was deteriorating. Mariam lost three members of her family in the Islamic State attack on Garmjar village in December. She fled to Qush Tepa and joined the women fighters. "Daesh came, hit us, abused us, killed our people and burned about a hundred houses. They didn't leave anything for us. They killed three members of my family. They wanted to burn us, but we fled and came here," she said by phone. "When you have nothing left in your life, you will take up weapons and fight to the death." (Editing by Ros Russell @ros__russell; Please credit the Thomson Reuters Foundation, the charitable arm of Thomson Reuters, that covers humanitarian news, women's rights, trafficking, property rights, climate change and resilience. Visit news.trust.org)
By John Irish and Lesley Wroughton PARIS (Reuters) - Major powers will signal to U.S. President-elect Donald Trump on Sunday that a two-state solution for Israelis and Palestinians is the only solution, with France warning him that plans to move the U.S. Embassy to Jerusalem could derail peace efforts. Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, are in Paris for a meeting that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has rejected as "futile". Neither the Israelis nor the Palestinians will be represented. But, just five days before Trump is sworn in, the conference provides a platform for countries to send a strong signal to the incoming American president. Trump has pledged to pursue more pro-Israeli policies and move the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for 68 years, to Jerusalem, all but enshrining the city as Israel's capital despite international objections. Calling it a provocation, France's Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said the move would have serious consequences on the ground. "One cannot have such a clear-cut, unilateral position. You have to create the conditions for peace," he told France 3 television. Paris has said the meeting will not impose anything on Israel or the Palestinians and that only direct negotiations can resolve the conflict. A draft communique seen by Reuters reaffirms existing international resolutions, urges both sides to restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disavow officials who reject it. The communique asks the protagonists to "refrain from unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations". LOW POINT Diplomats said the communique could be toughened up with an allusion to Trump's plans for Jerusalem and whether to have a follow-up to the French initiative intensely debated. "This conference is among the last twitches of the world of yesterday," Netanyahu told a cabinet meeting on Sunday. "Tomorrow will look different and that tomorrow is very close." Relations between the United States and Israel have soured during President Barack Obama's administration, reaching a low point late last month when Washington declined to veto a U.N. resolution demanding an end to Israeli settlements in occupied territory. Obama's secretary of state, John Kerry, said the settlement programme threatened Middle East peace and the two-state solution. Palestinian President Authority Mahmoud Abbas said on Saturday that he had told Trump that a move to Jerusalem would kill off the peace process and strip the U.S. of its role as honest broker - and could lead to the Palestinians going back on their recognition of Israel. Home to Europe's largest Muslim and Jewish communities, France has tried to breathe new life into the peace process over the past year. It believes that, with the uncertainty surrounding how the next U.S. administration will handle the issue, it is important to push the sides back to talks rather than allowing a fragile status quo to fester. But with elections coming up this year in France and Germany, and Britain appearing to align itself more closely with the Trump administration on the issue, the prospects of the European Union, the largest economic partner for both Israel and the Palestinians, taking a lead on the matter appear unlikely. Arab states also have concerns about how Trump's relationship with them will turn out, and have taken a cautious line. (Additional reporting by Jeffrey Heller in Jerusalem; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Susan Fenton)
In this still image made from video provided by opposition operated Step News Agency, which is consistent with independent AP reporting, a man views scenes of destruction inside a banquet hall, in Deir Qanoun, Barada Valley, Syria, Sunday, Jan. 15, 2017 .Pro-Syrian government troops shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus on Sunday, killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others who were taking shelter in a banquet hall. (Step News Agency, UGC via AP)

BEIRUT (AP)  Syrian government forces shelled a village in a rebel-controlled area near Damascus on Sunday, killing at least 12 civilians and injuring several others who were taking shelter in a banquet hall.

The violence in the water-rich Barada Valley, which has raged since Dec. 22, has tested the country's fragile cease-fire and restricted the flow of water to the capital. Despite an agreement to allow maintenance workers in to fix the water facility in the rebel-controlled valley, the violence continued, also trapping an estimated 100,000 residents.

On Sunday, shells fell on al-Reem banquet hall in Deir Qanoun village in the valley that houses hundreds of civilians who had escaped the intensified fighting. The activist-operated Wadi Barada Media Center said 12 were killed and more than 20 were injured. The group posted pictures of the bloodied floors of the hall, some of them showing bodies with severed limbs.

In a video posted by the opposition Step News agency, a civilian in the hall said the shelling killed his wife, daughter and niece. The distressed man called for help as he tried to piece together the bodies of his killed family. "Their flesh was torn apart, so if there's someone to help us out," the man said as he walked away from the camera.

There were signs of massive destruction in the hall, with furniture broken, walls destroyed and blood stains on the tile floors.

Fuad Abu Hattab, an exiled resident of Barada Valley and an activist with the group, said medical teams have been unable to move around the valley because of the fighting and it is not clear if the dozens of injured are getting any immediate care.

Abu Hattab said the center has served as a shelter for many displaced civilians who escaped the ongoing violence in the valley and other parts of rural Damascus. The hall has an area for weddings, as well as a restaurant and a number of rooms. It had largely been spared the intense fighting, Abu Hattab said.

Story continues

The Syrian Civil Defense, a team of volunteer first responders in the rebel-held parts of Syria, also put the death toll at 12, saying the shelling hit a displaced people's center.

Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights put the death toll at seven but said it was likely to rise because some of the injured are in critical condition.

Fighting has raged in the valley that provides the Syrian capital with most of its water supply. In recent days, government and allied troops have been advancing in the valley despite talks to stem the violence.

The Lebanese Hezbollah group, which has fighters on the side of the Syrian government, said pro-government troops seized a hill overlooking the water source in the valley Sunday.

Meanwhile, in eastern Syria, Islamic State group militants kept up their offensive on government-held areas of the contested city of Deir el-Zour, attacking a military air base from several fronts. The group said in statements posted on social media it attacked the airport from the west Sunday, seizing a sentry base used by government soldiers there.

The Observatory said the group's militants also advanced on a hill overlooking the city. If it secures the hill, the Observatory said, IS militants would be able to sever the road between the air base and another army base nearby.

Deir el-Zour carries strategic significance for IS as it links the group's Iraq territory to its de facto capital of Raqqa in Syria. The group is under intense pressure in both countries and has lost significant territory in recent months.

The extremist group, which controls most of Deir el-Zour province, has kept the provincial capital under siege since 2014. The new multi-pronged assault that began Saturday is its most intense attack on government areas since January 2016.

Government forces have withstood the encirclement thanks to air-dropped humanitarian assistance and weapons and ammunition flown into the airport. Remaining residents have reported malnourishment and starvation amid severe shortages of food, water and fuel.
SALEM, Ore. (AP)  Leaders of an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon were driving to a public meeting a year ago when police shot and killed one of them at a roadblock.

Now, LaVoy Finicum's widow and their children are planning to hold that meeting later this month in the same town, John Day. Speakers are slated to talk about the Constitution, property rights and other issues.

"It is the anniversary of my husband's death. We want to continue with his mission," Jeanette Finicum told The Associated Press. "The people within counties and states should decide how to use those properties, not the federal government."

LaVoy Finicum was the spokesman for several dozen occupiers during the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and has become a martyr for the movement to transfer ownership of federal lands to local entities. The U.S. government owns nearly half of all land in the West, compared with 4 percent in other states, according to the Congressional Overview of Federal Land Ownership.

Finicum's cattle brand, an L connected to a V with a floating bar, adorns bumper stickers, black flags and T-shirts seen at conservative gatherings.

Jeanette Finicum has become something of a cause celebre in the year since her husband's death. She spoke at a rally on the steps of Utah's capitol. The Tri-State Livestock News, based in South Dakota, recently ran a story describing her dispute with the Bureau of Land Management over grazing fees. The agency administers 245 million acres of public lands and manages livestock grazing on 155 million acres of those lands.

"It's been a horrific year," Jeanette Finicum said in a phone interview from her Cane Beds, Arizona, home. "There's been so much going on that most people don't have to deal with when they lose a loved one, like we did."

She met LaVoy at a barn dance. He told her he was a bad dancer.

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"He was right. He had no rhythm," Jeanette Finicum said with a laugh. They got married 14 days later.

"There isn't anyone like him that I met in my lifetime, and I don't expect there will be anyone else who will measure up," she said, choking up with emotion.

She was a stay-at-home mom all 23 years they were married.

"With him gone, all of the responsibilities have fallen to me," she said. "I spent the year rounding up, branding and calving."

Oregon State Police shot LaVoy Finicum three times on Jan. 26, 2016, after he exited a vehicle at a police roadblock in the snowy Malheur National Forest, held up his hands and then reached toward his jacket.

Authorities concluded the officers were justified because they thought Finicum was going for his pistol. But at least one FBI Hostage Rescue Team operator fired two shots at Finicum's vehicle  shots that were not disclosed during the investigation.

In March, the inspector general of the U.S. Justice Department began investigating possible FBI misconduct and whether there was a cover-up. The inspector general's office declined to discuss the investigation last week. The U.S. attorney's office in Portland said it was ongoing.

Jeanette Finicum insists her husband was not a threat and that he was murdered. Her lawyer has said the family plans a wrongful-death lawsuit, and Finicum said she will release more details during the Jan. 28 meeting.

It's being held at the fairgrounds in Grant County, which neighbors the county containing the refuge.

Public lands make up 66 percent of Grant County's 4,529 square miles. Jeanette Finicum bristled when asked if those attending the meeting might be inspired to take over federal sites.

"That's a ridiculous question," she said. "We will peacefully demonstrate, peacefully teach and stand for liberty."

Fairgrounds manager Mindy Winegar said local logger Tad Haupt rented a pavilion for the meeting that seats up to 500 people. Haupt, a vocal opponent of U.S. Forest Service management practices, is the one who invited the occupation leaders to speak in John Day, a town of about 1,700, on Jan. 26, 2016.

The FBI expressed no concern about the upcoming meeting.

"Everyone has a constitutional right to assemble, and to free speech," spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said.

Grant County Judge Scott Myers granted permission for the fairgrounds, a county facility, to be used for the event, saying rejecting the request could have had more repercussions than allowing it to happen.

Myers said he doubts it will pose a threat but then added, "I have steadfastly tried to convince myself that over the past few months."

___

Follow Andrew Selsky on Twitter at https://twitter.com/andrewselsky .
Say Pablo Picasso and Edvard Munch, and most of us think of the great museums of New York, Paris and Barcelona.

In a rare pairing of original prints, a well-known Santa Fe gallery is showcasing these two modern masters in Genius on Paper, on view through Feb. 12.

The LewAllen Modern show features 20 works by Picasso and seven by Munch for sale. The two artists helped define modernism as we know it.

This is the type of show you cant see very often anywhere, said Louis Newman, the gallerys modernist curator. You just dont see many Munch prints on the market. And many of the Picassos in this exhibition are quite rare.

Several reveal the genesis of major works. All display a mastery of the techniques of etching, aquatint, drypoint, lithography and linoleum cuts.

They were both masters of light, Newman said, and they would use the white of the paper. The paper  the medium itself  would become part of the image.

Prices range from $12,000 to $345,000.

A pioneering symbolist and modernist, the Norwegian-born Munch (1863-1944) is most renowned for The Scream, one of the most recognizable images in art history and the one that catapulted the artist into a pop cultural icon. A pastel version of this iconic work sold for nearly $120 million in 2012, a then-record price.

Munch is known for his powerful expression of intense emotion, passion, anxiety, alienation and anguish. But beyond the initial shock of his imagery lie deeper themes.

At LewAllen, The Sick Child I (1896) shows the artists favorite sister, Johanne Sophie, as she was dying of tuberculosis when he was 14 years old. His mother died of the same disease when he was 5.

Johanne Sophie appears obviously weak and in pain. Some have suggested she may be peering into eternity or the next world.

Munch said he wanted to bring out what cannot be measured. He called this his soul painting.

On the surface is an image of his dying and beloved sister, Newman said. In addition to grief, its about love. You see his tenderness, his love, his concern. She seems to be in a realm beyond what we can see.

Like Picasso, Munch was a master of light. Much of the print is surrendered to white paper to radiate a sense of transcendence.

The artist delved even deeper in Inheritance (1916), his portrait of a woman holding a dying child. It was inspired by a hospital waiting room in Paris, where he saw a syphilitic, tear-stained mother cradling a sick baby in her lap. The image offers an unflinching look at the transference of the sins of the parents to the child.

Most likely, it was passed onto her by her husband, Newman said. More than 10 percent of the men carried syphilis. And there was no treatment.

The lithograph is a frank and disturbing depiction of the taboos of the time; of sex and sexually transmitted diseases, of infidelity and prostitution. The artist captures this human tragedy with empathy.

Theres the inherent horror of it, Newman acknowledged. But I prefer to see it as a tableaux similar to mother and child. She has not abandoned him, which did happen. Shes attending to the dying child. He didnt pick the subject to shock you. This was what life was like then.

Munch would go on to heavily influence the German expressionists. The artists of New Yorks Ashcan School also owed him a debt for his unflinching look at the life that was in front of him.

Picasso (1881-1973) dominated and led many of the movements in 20th century art, from cubism to collage, assemblage and ceramics.

Many of the his prints document his personal life. At his maturity, he rarely used professional models.

To know Picassos prints is to know Picassos love life, Newman said.

The artist produced Face of Marie-Therese (1928) in honor of his mistress Marie-Therese Walter.

Its a significant departure for Picasso in its intimacy and being such a close-cropped portrait that glows with tenderness, Newman said. He was obviously infatuated. You can almost feel Picasso brushing her cheek. When he did this work, he could not execute another image of her for another year.

The Egyptian is one of the artists most important prints. The bold black-and-white composition sums up this phase of his career with its abstracted geometric approach. Another road map to his inner life, it depicts Francois Gilot, Picassos lover from 1945 to 1953. At the time, their strained relationship was at the breaking point. He poured his anger into this explosive image.

I knew Francois, and she told me it was a very stormy relationship, Newman said. She was the only woman who walked out on him.

He chose a sphinx-like image, he continued. One associates a sphinx with power, with wisdom. It has multiple sides to the face. Im not sure if it was a coincidence, but its one of the most difficult techniques to portray one of the most difficult women.

The Egyptian also served as the predecessor to the 50-foot-tall Picasso sculpture in Chicagos Daley Plaza.

The artist again placed Marie-Therese in Women Among Themselves With Sculpted Voyeur. Wink at the Turkish Bath (1934).

Of course, Picasso is the voyeur.

The double images of Marie-Therese document the artists evolution during their love affair. His early portraits are naturalistic, like the figure on the left, while his later depictions feature a distinctive profile with a prominent, fused nose and forehead. The woman wearing the mask on the right reveals his lifelong interest in African art, exemplified by his famous, revolutionary 1907 painting Les Demoiselles d Avignon.

Look to his prints, Newman said. These are not stepchildren. They are all variations of him. He explored storytelling in his prints.

The prints boast pristine provenance. Nearly all hail from a prominent private collection gestating from the famous Paris art dealer Ambroise Vollard.

In 2015, Picassos Women of Algiers set the record for the highest price ever paid for a painting when it sold for $179.3 million at Christies.

If you go

WHAT: Genius on Paper: Important Prints of Picasso and Munch

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday; Sunday by appointment. Through Feb. 12

WHERE: LewAllen Modern, 1613 Paseo de Peralta, Santa Fe

CONTACT: lewallengalleries.com or call 505-988-3250.
The horse appears downcast, slightly bowed, a flock of owls staring above it.

The animals are regulars in Kiowa/Comanche printmaker John Hitchcocks arsenal of motifs, canaries in a coal mine of subjugation followed by triumph.

The prints are just two of more than 40 by 12 contemporary Native American printmakers showing at Institute of American Indian Arts Museum of Contemporary Native Art in Santa Fe. All use colonial history as a reference point as they layer the past with present to reveal the impact of 19th century policies on todays popular culture.

The images are exploring historic events, historic traditions and how those things still affect their lives as contemporary artists, said chief curator Manuela Well-Off-Man. They use these designs to experiment with contemporary printmaking techniques. Its a dialogue between the present and the past.

Organized by the International Print Center in New York, New Impressions  Experiments in Contemporary Native American Printmaking includes works by Lynne Allen (Hunkpapa Lakota), Rick Bartow (Mad River Band of Wiyot), Joe Feddersen (Confederated Tribes of the Colville Reservation), John Hitchcock (Comanche/Kiowa), Brad Kahlhamer and Jason Lujan (Chiricahua Apache/indigenous Mexican), Jaune Quick-to-See Smith (French-Cree/Shoshone/Salish), Jewel Shaw (Cree/Metis), Marie Scott (Seneca), Emmi Whitehorse (Navajo) and Melanie Yazzie (Navajo).

Hitchcocks haunted horse symbolizes the fate of about 1,200 ponies slaughtered by federal troops at the battle of Texas Palo Duro Canyon near Amarillo. His grandmother still remembered the stories.

My grandmother is Comanche, he said in a telephone interview from Wisconsin, where he is a university art professor.

The Comanche/Kiowa people were camped out in Palo Duro Canyon in Texas. They were still basically running the Plains and not doing what the U.S. government wanted.

In 1874, Gen. Ranald Mackenzie was ordered to remove the tribes.

He took all the horses to Tule Canyon and they massacred them all, Hitchcock said. My grandmother told a story that the horses were pushed off a canyon. She told stories of them hitting the ground and making noises.

The Ceremonial (in the print) is the survivor, he continued. Its the spirit of the people.

The staring owls are the specter of death.

In Kiowa culture, the owl references death or passing into another world, Hitchcock said. Its owl mountain. I grew up terrified of owls. Later I saw it a protector.

Joe Feddersens geometric monoprints reflect both his traditional Colville Confederated Tribes ancestry as well as the environment. Feddersen recently completed an IAIA residency.

Both Deer and Teepee lift images from petroglyphs, as well as pop culture. The artist traced and imbedded images from a glass piece into the print. The results reflect both ancient motifs and graffiti.

Feddersen said a professor once compared his own creative process to breathing. The doctor asks you to inhale, then exhale.

Then they ask you to breathe naturally, he said. I think of these as breathing naturally.

Marie Watts Witness was inspired by a 1913 photograph of Salish residents tossing blankets from a longhouse rooftop during a soon-to-be-banned potlatch.

The blankets are flying through space, the IAIA graduate said in an interview from her Portland, Ore. home.

It was an act of rebellion and protest as both the Canadian and U.S. governments banned the gift-giving feasts in 1913.

It was an act of civil disobedience, Watt said. Both governments didnt want the communities to organize. Potlatches were counterintuitive to capitalist ideas of wealth and how it is obtained. You dont give things away.

The ban remained in place until the 1950s, she added.

To me, what makes it contemporary now is were still going to advocate for issues that are important to our tribes and the natural environment around the globe, like the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Last month, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied a permit for the $3.7 billion pipeline after months of protests from members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

If you go

WHAT: New Impressions  Experiments in Contemporary Native American Printmaking

WHEN: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday and Wednesday through Saturday; noon to 5 p.m. Sunday. Opening reception 5-7 p.m. Friday, Jan. 17. Runs Friday, Jan. 20, through June 15

WHERE: IAIA Museum of Contemporary Native Arts, 108 Cathedral Place, Santa Fe

HOW MUCH: $10 adults; $5 seniors (62+), students with ID and New Mexico residents; free to members, Native people, veterans and their families, youths (16 and under) and state residents on Sunday. Call 505-922-4242.
When the workspace at home or the office resembles a disaster area instead of a place humans inhabit, it might be time to get organized.

The start of a new year presents the perfect moment to clean up the clutter.

Local professional organizer Hazel Thornton, who owns Organized For Life, said the first step in transforming a messy workspace is an assessment. She said whether the space is at home or in an office setting, the user must determine the purpose and function of the space and what they are trying to accomplish there on a daily basis. A cluttered, messy workspace, she said, can create stress, waste time, lead to late fees on bills, and result in missed opportunities.

Clearing out the work area comes next. She said using boxes with lids to sort out the stuff creates a clean workspace immediately and is the first step to organizing and purging. The boxes should be organized by purpose. For example, there can be a box for decorations, another for stuff that will go into another room, a box for stuff that needs to be filed and one for things that will be donated or thrown away.

She said the first step to putting the office back together is returning the most relevant items to the desk or worktable.

Within arms reach should only be things you need every day, she said. I call that prime real estate. The less you use something the further away it needs to be.

The hard work starts after this  sorting through the boxes, creating a system and finding a home for everything. She said to schedule a time to work on sorting and purging the contents of the boxes.

Whether the workspace is a room with a door that closes or it has another function, she said. You have to have a dedicated spot for everything.

Thornton said digital clutter is also something to consider when organizing a workspace. She said email boxes should be purged at least once a week. Once the organizing is complete, she said its important to stay on top of it.

You need a system in place to help you maintain the organization, she said. At the end of every day, put things away.

Thornton has written several blogs about organizing a work area and they can be found at org4life.com.

Thornton recently coordinated a project with the Professional Organizers of New Mexico to help de-clutter the New Mexico Kids Matter offices in Albuquerque. The project was part of the annual GO Month, designated as such every January by the National Association of Professional Organizers.

New Mexico Kids Matter is a nonprofit advocacy group that works within the court system. Its CASA (court appointed special advocates) program matches its adult volunteers with children going through the court system and in foster care. The volunteers job is to advocate for what they believe is best for the child.

I have a friend who works there, Thornton said. She told me things were cluttered and unorganized and could I help.

Thornton said there are some important things to consider when trying to control clutter in an entire office space.

You want to make sure everything has a home and the everyone knows about it, she said. You also want to think about what people will see when they come in. Presentation is important if the office is seen by the public.

It took Thornton and her team of volunteers several visits before the project was complete. They gathered all the supplies in the office, sorted them into bins and put them in one location. The front desk was cleared off with only essentials remaining out and the rest being stored away. They also reorganized a storage closet and the kitchen by getting rid of stuff and putting other things in bins.

Organizing tips

 Determine the function of the workspace. What are you trying to accomplish throughout your day?

 Purge and start from scratch: Empty your work area, put everything in boxes and only bring back what you really need.

 Keep the stuff you need daily close, such as pens. Remember the space within arms reach is prime real estate.

 Identify trouble spots.

 Invest in storage boxes and containers AFTER determining what you need. Provide some type of label and put away what you dont need every day. Storage containers can be color coded for added ease.

 Make sure everything has a home.

 Dont forget the digital clutter.

 Start fresh by cleaning off your desk/work area at the end of each day.

Source: org4life.com, lifehacker.com
LAS CRUCES  When it comes to educating students and promoting performing arts in Las Cruces, Megan McQueen is driven.

The New Mexico State University professor is involved in every aspect of performing arts, from acting and directing, to teaching, marketing and even selling tickets.

I love musicals, said McQueen, explaining why she is so immersed in performing arts.

She and El Pasoan Justin Lucero formed their own production company in 2013, Scaffolding Theatre Company, and in just three years it has taken off. Their productions have gotten notice in the theater magazine Playbill, and they are presenting their first locally traveling musical, Beauty and the Beast.

It started off this weekend in Las Cruces with performances at the ASNMSU Center for the Arts. From there, the troupe will take the show to the Macey Center at New Mexico Tech in Socorro on Jan. 28, and Feb. 11-12 to the Plaza Theatres Philanthrophy Theatre in El Paso.

Im excited, without a doubt, of bringing a show so suited for young people, said McQueen, of the companys version of Beauty and the Beast. The theater company is very exciting. One of the goals is to unite students with more seasoned actors.

The performance will not be a traditional version of the Walt Disney animated film. A small cast of 10 actors will perform multiple roles, taking the inspiration of objects from grandpas den to tell the classic fairy tale.

Megan, I think, is one of the biggest inspirations of my life, said Lucero, a freelance theater director. She is infectious in her passion of the theater, especially musical theater.

The work of the Scaffolding Theatre Company has also created some national attention. Playbill.com, a U.S. website for theatergoers, praised the company for its production of the musical Chicago, which it set in a modern-day womens prison, and where the inmates were depicted as putting on the musical.

Its exciting to get attention like that, especially for the students, McQueen said. Playbill singled out five universities, Stanford, Harvard, New Mexico State, Pace University and Yale, for their efforts. Its quite an achievement for NMSU to be included on that list. Hopefully, there will be some more consistency in getting that kind of positive attention.

McQueen has been at or near center stage in Las Cruces since she was an NMSU student, earning a bachelor of music degree in the late 1990s. She spent eight years teaching music and theater at Alma DArte Charter High School, and one year at Centennial High School before joining the NMSU department of theater arts in 2013.

She is absolutely fantastic, absolutely amazing. I love her to death, said Las Crucen Irene Oliver-Lewis, a founder of Alma dArte Charter High School. To me, her greatest attribute is her strong willingness to work with students. She knows all aspects, all the moving pieces of the theater, but its her unselfish work with students that has really impressed me and others. She has done a tremendous job of educating and promoting the performance arts in our community. Shes worthy of every bit of the praise and accolades.

But McQueen seems to shy away from the compliments she receives. She praised Las Crucens for their support and appreciation of the arts.

The community is very rich in art, McQueen said. I would hope that any successes I might have had are because of the students and other residents who work so hard, so tirelessly and enthusiastically to develop a sense of what the community likes. I like the challenge of what the Las Cruces community might enjoy.

Algernon DAmmassa, who was a visiting professor in NMSUs department of theater arts, is collaborating with McQueen in the production of Beauty and the Beast. He said McQueens influences as a teacher most impresses him.

Not long ago, I was with Megan when a young man approached her, DAmmassa said. He had been one of her students when she was teaching at Alma dArte or Centennial, I dont know which one for sure. It had been years since this young man had been her student, but to see and hear how much of an influence Megan had on him was something I couldnt forget. That speaks of Megans discipline, her beliefs in students and how special it continues to be for them.

McQueen said teaching wasnt something she actively focused on.

I didnt aspire to be a teacher, Id been an artist, she said. Initially, I did not think of myself as a teacher, but I came to love it. It turned out to be an incredible opportunity. The students here are amazing and my co-workers were incredible.

What has spurred McQueens drive to enhance appreciation of the performing arts is her passion for the theater.

I love being an evangelist of the theater, McQueen said.
A day after Congress moved one step closer to repealing the Affordable Care Act, U.S. Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., met with health care representatives in Billings to hear their thoughts about the impact that action might have.

Tester has been holding a series of health care roundtables around the state, including one in Roundup on Friday and three on Saturday in Billings, Bozeman and Butte. More than 30 health care providers, administrators and community members met with Tester Saturday morning at Billings Clinic, most telling him what the ACA has accomplished.

Uncertainty filled the air during the hour-long conversation, as participants wondered whether the repeal would be paired with a replacement piece. National news reports have said that Republican leaders intend to come up with a such a plan.

If there is a replacement, I have not seen it, Tester told the group. Ive asked, and quite frankly, I havent seen a replacement from anybody.

Tester told others around the table he wanted to hear the good, the bad, the ugly  everything about the ACA.

If we have a replacement, what should that replacement look like? he asked. Whats working with the ACA, whats not working?

Scot Gudger, vice president of St. Vincent Physicians, said with more people insured through the ACA, including those covered through the expanded Medicaid, they are able to seek less expensive primary care. Without it, patients are more likely to wait until their only option is the costly emergency room or intensive care unit.

The bill for charity care is compounded if we are forced back to a system where people dont have access to primary care, Gudger said.

Mike Foster, regional director of advocacy at St. Vincent Healthcare, said if what the ACA provides is taken away, especially for the poor and vulnerable, thats a very deep and high concern for us.

Were hoping whatever happens, theres a good bridge, where people do not lose their coverage, Foster said. Were talking about access here and also quality of life.

Dr. Tersh McCracken, who specializes in obstetrics and gynecology at Billings Clinic, met a couple of months ago with a ranch woman in her early 60s who didnt have health insurance and had put off seeking treatment. By the time he diagnosed her cancer, it was no longer treatable.

Another, even more personal example, McCracken said, involved his 13-year-old nephew who was diagnosed with leukemia this fall. Three months into treatment, his insurance company changed.

Penny Ronning of Billings said she was diagnosed with brain cancer two years ago.

"Without the Affordable Care Act i would not be walking," she said. "Because I had insurance for the first time, I am here today, able to walk, to do what I can."

Thank goodness for the pre-existing clause in the ACA so hes insurable, McCracken said. Otherwise he wouldnt have been.

Dr. Randall Gibb, interim CEO at Billings Clinic added that with Montanas aging population, in five years there will be more people than ever accessing health care. That is compounded by a shortage of medical professionals, the exorbitant cost of technology and increasing drug costs.

We have a really good opportunity as a community and a nation," Gibb said. "The ACA was certainly a good start, but we need to find ways to strengthen it to address all the concerns, Gibb said.

Dr. Jonathan Gilbert, chief medical officer for the Billings area office of Indian Health Service (IHS), said the loss of the ACA would be a devastating blow to the Indian tribes of Montana. Since Medicaid expansion in December 2015, more than 8,500 Native Americans in Montana have enrolled, a 21 percent increase.

Many other aspects of the ACA have benefited the tribes and their members, Gilbert said, including the permanence of Indian Health Care Improvement Act. With the repeal, Congress would once again have to annually approve the act, something it hadnt done for several years before the ACA's passage.

Jace Killsback, president of the Northern Cheyenne Tribe, added that certain waivers and exemptions have allowed tribal members to access quality healthcare, something not possible in the past with the chronic underfunding of the IHS.

Tester was challenged on his vote Wednesday on a budget resolution designed to cut medication prices by allowing cheaper, identical versions of prescription drugs to be imported from other countries, including Canada.

Tester, one of 13 Senate Democrats who voted no, which helped defeat the bill, said he was concerned with the safety of the imported drugs. Tester said he relied on the expertise of Secretary Sylvia Burwell, head of Health and Human Services, who said the drugs cant be tracked well enough to assure their purity.

"If you want to give me the authority to be able to determine if they can be re-imported, that's a different story," he said. "But that's not what the amendment did."

After the roundtable, Tester was asked what he sees as the big takeaways from all of the listening sessions. One, he said, is the success of the Medicaid expansion in boosting individual health and reducing hospital charity care and bad debt. The repeal would eliminate the expansion.

Tester has also gotten feedback on how mental health care would be impacted with the repeal, as well as preventative services.

Theres a lot of the preventive services the ACA affords and we get some $7 million in the state of Montana that has its impacts, he said.

Regarding impacts on rural communities, Tester said smaller medical centers in the midst of setting their budgets are living with uncertainty.

Theyre concerned the model is going to change and they may not be able to offer the same services that theyve been offering their communities, Tester said. And potentially they could close down.

Tester said, on the negative side of the ACA, hes heard a lot about high premiums and a lack of subsidies and higher deductibles that are hurting a lot of middle-class families.

And that it does need to be fixed, it needs to be addressed, theres no ifs, ands and buts about it, he said.
As president of the United States, Barack Obama was a class act.

He led the nation with dignity at a time when the vicious forces of political polarization and the not-so-hidden poison of racism might have diverted and enfeebled a lesser man.

Even today his political opponents refuse to give Obama credit for leading America out of the worst financial meltdown since the Great Depression.

When Obama took office in 2009 the unemployment rate was 7.6 percent, and climbing fast. Before the year was over the unemployment rate would reach double digits. More than 11 million Americans were out of work. The Dow was at 7,949.

Blame the deregulated financial system that allowed things like collateralized debt obligations (once derided by Warren Buffett as financial weapons of mass destruction) to spread the subprime mortgage mess through the entire financial system until it seized up like a car without oil.

When Obama leaves office the unemployment rate will be less than half what it was when he moved into the White House eight years ago. America has posted more than 70 consecutive months of job growth. The Dow is bumping 20,000.

Obamas signature accomplishment was the Affordable Care Act. His enemies called it Obamacare -- a label which the president accepted.

Regardless of what one thinks of the law, and admittedly, it was written sloppily, it did fix some glaring flaws in the health care system. For example, before its passage Americans could lose coverage through no fault of their own, possibly through a job loss, and then be unable to get insurance coverage because they had a pre-existing condition.

On the negative side of the ledger, the Obama presidency might be faulted most of all for underachieving in international matters. The previous administration was too aggressive. Obama was too restrained, exemplified by his failure to follow through when Syrian dictator Bashar al-Assad crossed the red line that Obama himself had drawn. Today the city of Aleppo is a graveyard for thousands of innocent people.

Americans had a last chance to appreciate Obamas grace and leadership when he made his farewell address last week.

There was a moment during his speech in Chicago when the crowd began to boo at the prospect of Obama handing over the presidency to his successor. No, no, no, no, no the president said, quieting the crowd, reminding them that a hallmark of our democracy is the peaceful transfer of power from one freely elected president to the next.

The nations first black president, Obama will leave office on a high note, with an approval rating of 56 percent, according to a Gallup poll earlier this month.

A passage from his farewell address is worthy of emphasis and cause for reflection:

Understand democracy does not require uniformity. Our founders argued, they quarreled, and eventually they compromised. They expected us to do the same. But they knew that democracy does require a basic sense of solidarity, the idea that, for all our outward differences, were all in this together, that we rise or fall as one.
Students, are you dealing with a tough AP courses in high school? I am sure many high school students are having trouble in AP classes, including myself, so dont feel like you are alone facing this problem.

New Mexico high school students rank below the national average on Advanced Placement tests, according to recent published reports. Overall, 12 percent of New Mexico students passed, compared to a national average of 20 percent.

Too many students are taking AP courses with a lack of preparation and a lack of teacher support in the classroom.

Many students are just not receiving enough help from their teachers. Students are not being given enough opportunities to prepare with AP materials.

So if most students are struggling to pass their AP classes, and most students do not pass the AP exams, how does this help them?

Advocates often argue that students benefit from being exposed to the high expectations of an AP class, even if they dont pass the test. How does this benefit them?

The main purpose of the AP classes is to give students college credit for these classes when they pass the AP exam.

According to the Politico website, many states now give schools bonus points for high AP participation in the formulas that determine a schools state rating.

Often in schools that want to be the best ranked high school students dont have a choice to take or not take AP classes. The schools provide the AP classes for the sake of the high rankings  to get an A for the schools.

So, are AP classes worth it? Are they being offered for wrong reasons? And should students be taking them?

Dual-credit classes in high school also offer college credit without the extra pressure on the students.

Dual-credit classes for high school students make more sense than AP classes, which are too difficult and too stressful for most high school students.

Ludella Awad is enrolled in AP high school classes and in dual-credit classes at Central New Mexico Community College.
Tax season is here. New Mexicans already are being barraged with ads from income tax preparation services enticing them to file and get that refund now.

But for many low-income taxpayers, common errors and traps for the unwary on federal tax returns can have severe consequences long after tax season is over.

Low-income taxpayers whose tax debts leave them unable to pay for basic food, shelter and medical care especially should get expert help.

Fortunately, two Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics, one at New Mexico Legal Aid, toll free 1-866-416-1922, and the other at the University of New Mexico School of Law, 505-277-5265, are available to deal with these problems.

For all taxpayers, your tax return is only as good as the information that goes into it. Before starting your return, gather copies of tax forms from all your employers, banks and retirement accounts. By law, all these should be delivered to you by Jan. 31.

Dont rush to file before you have all the necessary documents. Even low-income taxpayers risk an audit if they forget to include items such as income from a second job or an early distribution from an IRA.

The IRS audit rate for those with less than $25,000 of taxable income is even greater than for those with taxable income of up to $200,000.

Although the Low-Income Taxpayer Clinics can deal with audits and tax problems that occur after a return has been filed, we cannot prepare your tax return. For that, there is a free IRS tax preparation and filing portal at www.irs.gov.

Double-check everything before you file, even if you pay a tax return preparer to help you. Especially make sure your income information on the return matches your Forms 1099 and W-2.

If you dont have access to a computer, you can contact free services such as CNM Tax Help New Mexico, 505-224-4829, which prepares returns for those with household income of $54,000 or less or who are 65 years or older.

No matter what, the IRS will not begin processing 2016 returns until January 23. Also, thanks to a change in federal law, if you claim an earned income credit or child tax credit, the earliest you will receive your refund is Feb. 23.

Those who feel pressured to get their refund quick should resist the temptation to agree to high-interest, high-fee refund anticipation loans. If the refund is later delayed or reduced, interest and fees on such loans can be substantial.

Many Low-Income Taxpayer Clinic clients are breadwinners for non-traditional families  single parents or grandparents raising grandchildren  who dont fit easily into the labyrinth of IRS rules. For these low-income taxpayers, wrongly disallowed exemptions, deductions and credits can translate into a lost refund of as much as $7,000.

Some taxpayers qualify for innocent spouse relief. If there is physical, emotional or financial abuse, a spouse may be relieved of responsibility for the tax debt of an estranged husband or wife, especially if domestic violence was a factor. A more common scenario is a self-employed spouse who hides business records and runs up large tax bills that remain undiscovered until the IRS pursues the innocent spouse, even after a divorce.

Not all tax debts can be wiped away. Some taxpayers have simply failed to timely deal with tax liabilities  afraid to open their mail and facing ruinous credit scores. But even in these situations, our clinic programs can often negotiate with the IRS for an offer in compromise that will settle tax liability for minimal partial payment.

If you are a low-income New Mexican facing any of these problems with federal tax debts, we welcome your call.

Grace Allison is a Qualified Tax Expert at the UNM Low Income Taxpayer Clinic; Katie Withem is the Director of the Low Income Taxpayer Clinic.
Ever wait in a long line until you finally get to pay, only to notice that the person behind you is just a little too close?

It happened recently to Will Dorian, an Albuquerque sergeant with the police departments organized crime unit.

Heres what he told the lurking shopper, in no uncertain terms: You are invading my personal space.

It worked. The guy backed off, and Dorian thwarted a possible theft of his debit card PIN.

These kinds of overly friendly shoppers are known to police as shoulder surfers, Dorian says. What theyre after is information from your card, which they can get while closely watching as you make a transaction.

The best prevention is to be aware of your surroundings and make sure no one can see your information. That might mean being as blunt as Dorian, but you can also just put your hand over the keypad while typing in your number.

Dont be bashful, Dorian advises. Let them know. Theyre looking for someone whos not paying attention.

The same advice goes when youre punching in numbers at an ATM.

Another thing to be aware of when using cash machines: scammers can install devices that copy card numbers.

Take a look before you insert. In fact, take a little pull. If the machine doesnt seem sturdy or you see obvious tampering, walk away.

Some of the skimmers local police have seen are sophisticated and install devices that are hard to detect, but other efforts are remarkably crude. Dorian said. Albuquerque officers confiscated one device that was attached to an ATM with Duct tape. It should be have been obvious (to the bank customer), but it worked, he said.

n n n

The future of consumer security might lie in a credit card that blinks.

A French digital security company, Oberthur Technologies, has come up with a card that has a constantly changing three-digit code.

Thats the number, often on the back of a card, that online merchants use for card-not-present transactions. Entering the security code verifies that you physically have the card.

However, thieves can steal that number along with the full credit card number.

The new technology uses a lithium-ion, battery-powered mini-screen on the back of the card that refreshes every hour or so, blinking out a whole new security number, according to Oberthurs website.

That means if thieves steal someones credit card information, they would have to shop quickly and furiously because after an hour, the security code would expire.

The company says online merchants would not have to change their website or operations to accept the cards.

The technology is expected to come to the U.S. this year, according to the Los Angeles Times, but one industry analyst says hes not sure how quickly it will catch on.

Matt Schultz, senior analyst with creditcards.com, says he hears more talk about fighting fraud with biometrics, such as facial recognation or fingerprint identification.

However, credit card companies are always looking for any kind of technological advantage they can get to help them get a leg up on fraud, Schultz says.

Ellen Marks is assistant business editor at the Albuquerque Journal. Contact her at emarks@abqjournal.com or 505-823-3842 if you are aware of what sounds like a scam. To report a scam to law enforcement, contact the New Mexico Consumer Protection Division toll-free at 1-844-255-9210.
Hundreds of people marched from the campus of UNM to Civic Plaza during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march in Albuquerque Saturday. (Jim Thompson/Journal) Estela Daniels and her children, 3-year-old Jacoby and 5-year-old Olivia, at the march in which immigrant rights were a major focus. (Jim Thompson/Journal) Hundreds of people marched from the campus of UNM to Civic Plaza during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march in Albuquerque Saturday. (Jim Thompson/Journal) Supporters of immigrant rights were among the hundreds who made their way from UNM to Civic Plaza during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march in Albuquerque on Saturday. (Jim Thompson/Journal) Sara Bullock of Albuquerque stands at Civic Plaza during the annual Martin Luther King Jr. march and commemoration in Albuquerque on Saturday. (Jim Thompson/Journal) Prev 1 of 5 Next

Immigrants rights shared the stage with civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. as hundreds of marchers strolled down the boulevard bearing his name Saturday morning.

The march is an annual tradition in Albuquerque on the weekend of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday, which is celebrated Monday. A diverse crowd walked about a mile and a half from the University of New Mexico to Downtown Albuquerque, where a commemoration was held in Civic Plaza.

Saturdays crowd appeared slightly larger than it has been the past few years and many interviewed during the walk said they were first-time marchers, driven to their feet by what they interpreted as hostile rhetoric from President-elect Donald Trump. News reports of other demonstrations across the country relayed similar sentiments.

I was feeling under the weather, but I thought, You know what, Im going to get up and walk because Martin Luther King did great things for us,' said 50-year-old Rosalyn Powdrell, who has participated in the procession the past three years.

Sara Bullock, a 17-year-old student at Amy Beihl High School, snapped pictures along the way. The young woman said shes drawn to community-oriented events.

He was such an important character, she said of King. With all the political tension, its an especially important time to remember our history and American values.

While the Black Lives Matter movement and policing issues were in the spotlight during the MLK marches in Albuquerque over the past few years, Saturdays crowd embraced immigrant rights.

The president-elect made a border wall and a strict stance against undocumented immigrants a cornerstone of his campaign.

So, local immigrant advocacy agencies sent large contingents to the event.

Im here because I dont want more racism, said Jessica Rodriguez, who said she lives in the city with family members who are undocumented immigrants. I dont want to be afraid. I want my family together.

Felipe Rodriguez, 22, is an undocumented student at the University of New Mexico. He said he and his family fled Mexico six years ago amid cartel violence. He said many young people who are studying or working in this country, like him, are uncertain about the future and they wanted to make a statement by marching in honor of King.

We want to send the message that the struggle for black liberation and immigrants rights is part of the same fight, he said.

Daryl Smith, who marched for the first time, said King is one of his heroes and the march is one way to pay respect to the man.

Right now is very important because of the uncertainty our country is facing as of next Friday, he said, referring to Inauguration Day. I think its important to show strength in numbers.
Copyright  2017 Albuquerque Journal

In 2010, Albuquerque police fired their weapons about once every two weeks.

And the taxpayers paid some hefty amounts for some of those incidents.

Among the shootings that year were Christopher Torres, a schizophrenic man who was shot in the back in his parents backyard by plainclothes detectives trying to serve a warrant; Kenneth Ellis III, an Iraq war veteran shot by a detective outside a convenience store as he was pointing a gun at his own head; and Alan Gomez, who only had a spoon when shot by a tactical officer called to a domestic disturbance. Settlements in those three cases cost taxpayers nearly $15 million.

Compare that to last year.

Albuquerque police fired their weapons just seven times in the line of duty. It was the fewest by the department in a calendar year in at least seven years  and evidence, police officials say, that the hours of training officers have completed and policy changes called for in a settlement between the city and the U.S. Department of Justice are working.

Its good news, and its also a time not to sit back and relax, Mayor Richard Berry said.

Berry took office in December 2009. The next year, APD officers fired their weapons in the line of duty 25 times. That statistic includes shooting animals and accidental discharges, as well as shooting people or at them.

But despite the comparatively low number of police shootings last year, the department still has work to do, advocates for reform said.

Hopefully, there is some causal connection between the reforms and those lowering numbers, said Steven Robert Allen, a spokesman for APD Forward, a coalition of community groups that advocates for police reform. The numbers could spike up again or drop lower, but ultimately we need a system in place (so police) adequately respond to uses of force.

Even police officials said the number of times they open fire in a given year isnt the best mark for critiquing the department.

Officers always take the number of police shootings with a grain of salt because they know (the police) are only one part of the equation, said Maj. Jessica Tyler, who oversees Albuquerque polices training academy. We cant control an armed subject who decides to come out and point a gun at citizens or officers.

The shootings in 2016 included a shootout involving three APD officers, two Bernalillo County Sheriffs Office deputies and Ronald Delfino, a Westside Bloods gang member who had just shot and killed a 64-year-old grandfather and robbed a McDonalds.

Delfino was killed.

In another shooting last year, an Albuquerque police officer on a U.S. Marshals Task Force opened fire after his team got pinned down by gunfire while trying to arrest Mario Montoya, according to court documents.

Montoya died in the gunfight. The task force was rescued by Albuquerque polices SWAT team  which didnt fire a shot.

In all, a suspect was killed in four of the shootings police were involved in last year.

Policy dividend

Tyler credited the drop in shootings to policy changes and hours of additional training that were implemented as part of a court-enforceable settlement agreement between the DOJ and the city of Albuquerque.

Its knowing the difference between when (officers) can shoot and when they have to shoot, Tyler said. And thats a really thin line sometimes.

In April 2014, the Justice Department announced that its investigation of Albuquerque police had found a pattern of excessive force. The DOJ reviewed 20 shootings over a three-year period and found the majority of them were not justified because the suspect posed only a minimal threat to officers.

Those findings led to months of negotiations between the DOJ and the city of Albuquerque, which resulted in a settlement agreement that outlines a series of changes the police must adopt.

Since the settlement was reached, APD has implemented a new use-of-force policy, which emphasizes de-escalation and instructs officers to use the minimum amount of force necessary.

Officers also have undergone hours of crisis intervention training, which aims to improve communication skills so they can better calm suspects.

Major changes

The department has made several significant changes to they way officers operate.

For example, the DOJ said in its findings letter that APDs SWAT team acted recklessly and was poorly supervised.

In the past, supervisors in the field could call the team to action. Now, calling out the SWAT team must be approved by a lieutenant on the team. A psychologist also is deployed every time the SWAT team is activated, Tyler said.

APDs SWAT team hasnt fired a weapon in the line of duty since July 2014, according to shooting statistics.

Despite the decrease in the number of shootings last year, the work called for in the settlement agreement is far from over.

James Ginger, the independent monitor overseeing police reform, repeatedly has raised concerns in reports about the way supervisors respond to cases where officers use force against someone.

During a status conference before U.S. District Court Judge Robert Brack earlier this month, attorneys involved in the litigation said there are ongoing problems with the way the city and Ginger are working together, according to a transcript of the hearing.

Luis Salcedo, an attorney with the Civil Rights Division of the DOJ, said at the Jan. 5 hearing that much of the disagreement is over Gingers role in the process.

The city has tried to get Ginger to edit his reports on the polices progress prior to filing them in court to reflect what the city says are changes since the information in the reports is several months old. Brack has allowed Ginger to file them without additional edits.

Ginger, who has worked on reforms by police departments in other states, said hes never had this level of disagreement with a city going through the reform process.

I am as concerned today as Ive been at any point in the process, Brack said at the Jan. 5 hearing, according to a transcript.

Allen said APD Forward remains concerned about the polices response to the settlement agreement.

Its clear they dont have the systems in place to track and respond to uses of force, he said. Its alarming reading the monitor reports.
Ive received questions asking for recommendations to minimize the possibility of a court-supervised guardianship and conservatorship proceeding.

When an individual becomes incapacitated, the courts might become involved to name a guardian to make health care decisions and a conservator to make financial decisions. This can be expensive and result in an invasion of privacy.

A properly drafted and maintained estate plan can help minimize the likelihood that a proceeding will be necessary if a person were to become mentally incapacitated. Here are some general recommendations to discuss with your own estate planning attorney.

 Make sure your trust is funded.

Even though a trust is not necessary for everyone, trusts generally provide protection against the possibility of a court-supervised conservatorship proceeding down the road. The trust agreement should provide clear authorization for a trustee to make financial decisions and administer assets in the event of a grantors incapacity.

The trust agreement only pertains to assets that are titled in the name of the trust. If you have a trust, please make sure that it is properly funded. In other words, deeds should be recorded transferring real estate into the name of the trust, and nonqualified (meaning nonretirement) accounts should generally be transferred into the name of the trust.

 Update your statutory power of attorney every three years.

Even if you have a trust, and your assets are properly titled in the name of the trust, an updated statutory power of attorney is still essential. Qualified retirement accounts (such as IRAs) cannot be owned by your trust. Your designated financial agent would need to use a statutory power of attorney to make decisions pertaining to your qualified retirement account such as changing the investment strategy, authorizing a withdrawal, etc.

If you do not have a trust, it is essential that you update your statutory power of attorney every three years.

 Provide your statutory power of attorney to financial institutions and advisers.

Consider providing your statutory power of attorney to each financial institution that you work with, as well as to your other trusted advisers (CPA, financial adviser, etc.).

Verify that each institution accepts the form you provide, and notes it in their records. Some institutions have their own version of a power of attorney. Discuss with your attorney how to coordinate the institutions document with your estate plan.

 Carefully select your financial and health care agents.

Does the person you named as your health care or financial agent know your wishes? Does he have the skills and the time available to properly serve as your agent?

Do not name a child as an agent only because he is the oldest child. Verify the child has the appropriate characteristics to serve as agent.

 Trust your instincts; be clear about your concerns.

Do you have a sense that someone may cause a problem in the event of your incapacity (or death)? Even if you feel it is a remote possibility, please talk to your attorney about it. Your estate planning documents can be useful tools to speak for you, if the time comes when you cannot speak for yourself.

 Update your HIPAA release.

Update your HIPAA release to specifically list by name those individuals you give permission to, so that they can have access to your private medical information.

 Meet regularly with your advisers (attorney, CPA, financial adviser, etc.).

Keep your advisers updated about your situation. Do your advisers know your wishes and your concerns? Is a beneficiary a spendthrift or particularly litigious?

Have you reviewed your current assets (including titling and beneficiary designations) with your advisers? Have you discussed concerns regarding any disagreements or disputes in your family?

One of the most important steps you can take to prevent an unwanted guardianship and conservatorship is to keep your advisers informed.
PARIS  Sending a forceful message to Israels prime minister and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries called Sunday on Israel and the Palestinians to revive work toward long-elusive peace  including an independent Palestinian state.

The closing declaration at a Mideast peace conference in Paris urged both sides to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also warned them against taking one-sided actions that could hurt talks, an apparent reference to Israeli settlement building.

While the Palestinians welcomed Sundays declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference rigged and cooked up behind Israels back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

The French organizers argued the conference was necessary to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians  the solution favored by the international community for the past two decades.

Many members of Netanyahus coalition want to abandon the two-state solution and expand settlements, and some have even called for annexing parts of the West Bank. Trumps campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence.

In a nod to Israel, the final declaration of Sundays conference included criticism of incitement and terror, a reference to Palestinian attacks. And some of the pro-Palestinian language in an earlier draft was removed after diplomats huddled in Paris.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu, represented the U.S. at the talks and defended the effort.

He rejected Israeli criticism of the conference, saying the concept of a two-state solution to the conflict is threatened and must be reinforced if it is ever to happen. The communique, he said, endorses that without imposing a resolution.

Given where things are going and what is happening, that is particularly important, he said.

He also warned that its too early to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem, as proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. This is not the right time, he said. We think its ill-advised.

Trumps administration did not take part in the meeting and didnt immediately comment on its final statement.

While Netanyahu has voiced support for a two-state solution, his critics, including Kerry, have said that continued settlement construction on occupied territories raises questions about his commitment to pursuing a peace deal.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon dismissed Sundays conference, tweeting that it was flat as a failed souffle.

A big show is no replacement for direct negotiations between the parties, he said.

French President Francois Hollande agreed on the need for direct talks. It is not a question of dictating to the parties  Only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can lead to peace. No one will do it in their place, he said.

The world cannot, should not resign itself to the status quo, Hollande told the gathered diplomats from across Europe, the Mideast and other regions, as well as from the United Nations, the Arab League and other international organizations.

Hollande said he was sounding an alert that peace talks should be revived before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution. Hollande urged the diplomats to support peace efforts by offering economic incentives to Israelis and Palestinians.

The chief Palestinian representative to France warned the Trump administration not to underestimate the message of peace sent by the conference, or the U.N. resolution last month condemning Israels construction of settlements in the West Bank and east Jerusalem.

Salman Elherfi, speaking to The Associated Press, insisted the option of two states is not the dream of a single country, but it has become the concern of the whole world to protect it.

Palestinian officials hope the conference can lay out terms for eventual negotiations, notably on how to share Jerusalem and the need to stop Israeli settlements.

France and others expressed concern that the Trump administration could unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and moving the U.S. Embassy. The embassy issue wasnt mentioned, however, in the final declaration.

Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marked the last flutters of yesterdays world.

Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close, he said in apparent reference to Trumps incoming administration.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

While the conference was underway, a few hundred pro-Israel demonstrators, waving Israeli flags and placards denouncing the summit, gathered outside Israels embassy in Paris.

The Palestinians and a number of Arab states have not expressed a will for peace, said Serge Klarsfeld, a well-known French Nazi hunter. If it existed and if the Arab world recognized the existence of Israel, we would find the means to solve all the problems very quickly.

___

Associated Press writers Josef Federman, Aron Heller and Ian Deitch in Jerusalem, and Philippe Sotto and Alex Turnbull in Paris contributed to this report.
BIRMINGHAM, Ala.  Attorney General Loretta Lynch, in her final speech as head of the Justice Department, praised the work of the Obama administration to advance the dream of justice and said worries of difficult days ahead should be a call for action, not despair.

Speaking in Birmingham, Alabama, just days before leaving office with the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump, Lynch praised the work of President Barack Obama and acknowledged  without mentioning Trump by name some voters anxieties for the future.

I know that while our accomplishments should make us proud, they must not make us complacent. We cannot stop. We have to work. I know that in our pursuit of a brighter future, we still face headwinds. We still face oppositions. We see it. Waves of hatred, waves of intolerance and injustice that are still blowing in this country, and they seem to grow stronger the more that we achieve, Lynch said.

Lynch took the pulpit of Birminghams 16th Street Baptist Church for a celebration ahead of Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The church was the site of a 1963 Ku Klux Klan bombing that killed four girls just weeks after King delivered his I Have A Dream speech. The Obama administration this week named the church and other Birmingham civil rights landmarks as a national monument.

Lynch drew parallels between the church bombing that killed the four girls and the massacre of nine people at a Bible study at Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015.

Fifty years after that we still see our fellow Americans targeted simply because of who they are  not only for their race, but for their religion, sexual orientation and gender identity, as well, Lynch said.

She said 50 years after the victories of the civil rights movement there are new attempts to erect barriers to the voting booth.

Lynch praised the work of the Obama administration and the Justice Department fight voting restrictions and prosecute hate crimes and to urge community policing tactics.

Lynch said the justice department has when, deemed necessary, investigated law enforcement departments for unconstitutional practices and policies and worked for reforms because every American deserves to see law enforcement as a guardian, not a threat.

In an interview with The Associated Press Thursday, Lynch, who championed a repair of relations between police and communities, said the federal government must continue to hold police accountable.

Some in the predominantly African-American congregation and crowd said they were openly mourning the end of the Obama presidency.

I cried. I cried. I never thought in my lifetime I would live to see the day that there was an African-American president, Tara Banks said.

Banks brought her granddaughter Kimorah Thomas to the church on her eighth birthday to learn about Kings legacy and hear Lynch, the first female African-American to hold the post of U.S. attorney general.

Lynch said she recognized the anxiety that some have about what is ahead, referencing Trump without saying his name.

And I have seen the concerns that the voting booth will be moved out of reach, that our hearts will close along with our borders, that a prayer in a different tongue or posture will place one at deadly risk. I have seen the fear that, with the turn of the electoral wheel, so many of us will be seen as children of a lesser God, Lynch said.

But Lynch added she has also seen the determination of men and women dedicated to the future of the country.

Yes, these are challenging times and yes, we undoubtedly have more challenges to come. But many of our greatest strides, in equal rights, in human rights and civil rights have come after some of our most heartbreaking losses. . We are Americans and we have always pushed forward, Lynch said.
General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC

Bern, 15.01.2017 - Official address by President Doris Leuthard on 15 January 2017

(Check against delivery)

Dear Mr President

Mrs Peng

Ministers

Excellencies

Ladies and gentlemen

It is a great honour and a pleasure, Mr President, to welcome you here as our guest! Your visit is an acknowledgment of the many years of constructive relations between Switzerland and China. Today, at a challenging time for the international community, we place particular importance on these discussions with you. China is increasingly shouldering greater responsibility in the world  that is something we welcome and indeed thank you for:

As an open economy, it is important for Switzerland that China too advocates fair competition and free trade  not only bilaterally, but also regionally and globally. Particularly in view of protectionist tendencies worldwide, we are depending on China to play a pioneering role.

 not only bilaterally, but also regionally and globally. Particularly in view of protectionist tendencies worldwide, we are depending on China to play a pioneering role. The consequences of climate change can be seen and felt around the world. In Switzerland glaciers are melting, floods, as seen in China, are occurring more frequently. China played a significant part in the achievement of the Paris Climate Agreement and we hope that this commitment continues in the implementation of the Agreement and of further measures to reduce consumption of fossil fuels.

We also value Chinas active commitment to the UN, in particular its contributions to peacekeeping missions. Switzerland works concertedly on behalf of peace, stability and the rule of law, and we support greater cooperation in multilateral policy.

The world faces challenges which can only be overcome together through cooperation. Sino-Swiss relations are dynamic and have therefore served as a model for contacts between China and the whole of Europe on numerous occasions.

We have come a long way together since Switzerland was one of the first western countries to recognise the Peoples Republic in 1950. Our knowledge and understanding for one another have grown. Today our relations are closer than ever before.

We have more than 20 bilateral dialogues: on the economy, financial issues, human rights, migration, labour law and intellectual property. But health and the environment are also important areas of cooperation. I also recall our longstanding cooperation in the field of water management.

During my predecessors visit to Beijing last April we deepened the friendship between our countries and decided to place our relations under the heading of an innovative strategic partnership.

That means that China and Switzerland are striving to further increase cooperation. The signings in other areas of exchange planned for tomorrow and regular high-level contacts are examples of those efforts.

A partnership also involves respectful dialogue, even where differences of opinion exist. Close cooperation is necessary and possible in spite of differing systems and models of society: this is demonstrated by the good relations between Switzerland and China.

Openness, freedom of thought and the exchange of ideas help to make Switzerland one of the worlds most innovative countries. We are among the worlds leading nations in many rankings. We have worked long to achieve this and are continually trying to improve and to integrate new technologies and ideas, such as the digitalisation of the economy and society, into our system. It is this potential that we can bring to a partnership, which extends far beyond mutual economic interests.

During my visit last August we were able to discuss climate change, water (management), energy, transport and the green economy. I was impressed by Chinese efforts towards greater sustainability and innovation-driven growth. Chinas plans to introduce a national CO2 emissions trading scheme are also to be welcomed. It would be the largest market worldwide, just as China is already the world market leader for renewable energies. There are also other developments that are we are following with interest:

We are glad that we are able to discuss the role of our two states in relation to global issues as part of the newly launched bilateral strategic dialogue, and that we are also able to work more closely together in important international bodies.

We are following Chinas One Belt, One Road initiative with interest. Switzerland has just underlined the importance of infrastructure to Europes trade and its people by building the longest railway tunnel in the world, and we are eager to see the developments that are made in Asia.

The Year of Tourism underlines that people-to-people contacts are becoming ever more important. Switzerland is a safe country and is delighted to welcome the many visitors who come here from China. This strengthens the cultural exchange between our countries. After all, China, with its long and fascinating history, is among the worlds greatest cultures.

I would also like to congratulate China on being awarded the 2022 Winter Olympic Games. It is the first time that the same city will have hosted both the summer and winter games. We will be only too pleased to offer our expertise to the games in Beijing if desired.

This is the festive period between our New Year and the Chinese New Year. The 28th of January marks the start of the year of the rooster. The roster symbolises reliability, honesty and communication. In Switzerland, China has a reliable, honest partner that values dialogue  quite in line with the positive characteristics of the rooster.

Relations between our two countries are excellent. I for my part am delighted to speak about how we can further deepen these relations. On that note, I once again welcome you, Mr President, your wife and the entire delegation to Switzerland!

Address for enquiries

Communication DETEC, +41 58 462 55 11

Publisher

General Secretariat of the Federal Department of Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications; General Secretariat DETEC

https://www.uvek.admin.ch/uvek/en/home.html




YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. The OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (OSCE/ODIHR) published the Needs Assessment Mission Report ahead of Armenias upcoming parliamentary elections, Armenpress reports citing the OSCE official website.

The report identified certain positive changes and progress over the reforms of electoral processes.

In particular, the report says the electoral process reforms in Armenia were carried out as a result of wide public discussions and the existence of political consensus.

According to the report, many interlocutors of the OSCE/ODIHR needs assessment mission highly welcomed the legislative changes, considering the public discussions and the cooperation atmosphere between the political forces as a positive step aimed at forming an atmosphere of trust within the public ahead of the elections.

The report says Armenias new Electoral Code addressed many previous OSCE/ODIHR recommendations, including those related to voter lists and identification, womens representation as candidates, complaints and appeals, and rules on campaign and campaign finance.

The civil society carried out active work during the discussions of the new Electoral Code. It played an important role in the process of electoral reforms, however, not always agreed with the final reforms, the report says.
In his Dec. 2 "Fort Report," in which he shares his views about how the recent election has "unleashed the potential for a genuine re-imagining of policy," Congressman Jeff Fortenberry outlined four areas in which the new Republican president and Republican majority in Congress can make changes. One of them is making America's infrastructure strong again, "from airports to bridges to information technology." Our congressman also writes, "I add sustainable energy to that list."
YEREVAN, JANUARY 14, ARMENPRESS. Armenias Defense Minister Vigen Sargsyan on January 14 held a meeting with CEO of Simonian Educational Foundation Marie Lou Papazian and Foundations Board member Pegor Papazian, press service of the Ministry told Armenpress.

Welcoming the guests, the Defense Minister thanked the Foundation for the close cooperation with the Ministry, as well as for the initiative and readiness of a new joint project on education of soldiers.

Minister Sargsyan said the project will contribute to formation of more wide range of educational opportunities for soldiers. The years of military service must contribute to not only the physical strengthening, the development of military capabilities and professional skills, but also acquiring more general knowledge, the Minister said.

The Foundations representatives expressed confidence that the project will succeed, the work will be productive and continuous.

At the end of the meeting Vigen Sargsyan and Marie Lou Papazian signed a memorandum of cooperation.

Within the framework of this cooperation, the TUMO Center for Creative Technologies is ready to teach the soldiers the skills of the 21st century by the special option of the centers program.

The program covers the following fields: computer programming, robotics, computer graphics, digital music creation.

The education process will be organized in TUMO centers nearby the military units of the armed forces at a pre-defined schedule and 18 months period.

The lectures will be held at three levels: beginner, intermediate and advanced.
As a nonpartisan registered voter, I am attempting to understand the changes that will take place in my health care when our representatives vote to repeal the Affordable Care Act. I would hope our representatives in Congress -- Don Bacon, Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith, Deb Fischer and Ben Sasse -- would be so kind to answer the following questions.

How many millions of Americans will lose coverage? Will people over 55 pay higher health premiums for the same coverage? Will the new plan let insurers charge women higher premiums than men while offering them less coverage? What other services are likely to be cut? Will the new plan let insurers reinstate annual or lifetime limits on coverage? What will happen to the more than 130 million Americans with pre-existing conditions? How much more will those with costly illnesses or injuries have to pay in out-of-pocket costs?
OBrien Fine Foods have announced they are to buy Faughan Foods, the cooked meats division of Hogans Farm.

The Irish firm, which produces cooked meats and breakfast products including the Brady Family and Rudds brands, said it will allow them develop its offering in the white meat market in Ireland.
The following companies are subsidiares of Tenneco: A.E. Group Machines Limited, AE International Limited, Anand I-Power Limited, Anqing TP Goetze Liner Co. Ltd., Anqing TP Goetze Piston Ring Co. Ltd., Anqing TP Powder Metallurgy Co. Ltd., Armstrong Properties (Pty.) Ltd., Ateliers Juliette Adam SAS, Autopartes Walker S. de R.L. de C.V., Beck Arnley Holdings LLC, CATAI s.r.l., CEDS Inc., Carter Automotive Company LLC, Clevite Industries Inc., Componentes Venezolanos de Direccion S.A., Cooperatief Federal-Mogul Dutch Investments B.A., Coventry Assurance Ltd., DRiV Automotive Inc., DRiV IP LLC, DRiV Incorporated, Dongsuh Federal-Mogul Co. Ltd., F-M Holding Daros AB, F-M Holding Goteborg AB, F-M Holding Mexico S.A. de C.V., F-M Motorparts Limited, F-M Motorparts TSC LLC, F-M TSC Real Estate Holdings LLC, F-M Trademarks Limited, FDML Holdings Limited, FM International LLC, FM PBW Bearings Private Limited, FM Participacoes e Investimentos LTDA, Farloc Argentina S.A.I.C. y F., Federal Mogul (Thailand) Ltd., Federal Mogul Aftermarket Egypt Ltd., Federal Mogul Argentina S.A., Federal Mogul Dis Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Federal Mogul Hungary Kft., Federal Mogul Powertrain Otomotiv Anonim Sirketi, Federal Mogul SAS, Federal Mogul Services Sarl, Federal Mogul Systems Protection SAS, Federal-Mogul, Federal-Mogul (Anqing) Powder Metallurgy Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Changshu) Automotive Parts Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (China) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Chongqing) Friction Materials Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Dalian) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Langfang) Automotive Components Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Proprietary) Limited, Federal-Mogul (Shanghai) Automotive Parts Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (T&N) Hong Kong Limited, Federal-Mogul (Tianjin) Surface Treatment Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul (Vietnam) Ltd., Federal-Mogul Aftermarket Espana S.A., Federal-Mogul Aftermarket France SAS, Federal-Mogul Aftermarket GmbH, Federal-Mogul Aftermarket Southern Africa (Pty) Limited, Federal-Mogul Aftermarket UK Limited, Federal-Mogul Anand Bearings India Limited, Federal-Mogul Anand Sealings India Limited, Federal-Mogul Asia Investments Holding Korea Ltd., Federal-Mogul Asia Investments Limited, Federal-Mogul Automotive GmbH & Co. KG, Federal-Mogul Automotive Pty Ltd, Federal-Mogul Automotive Verwaltungs GmbH, Federal-Mogul Betriebsgrundstucke Burscheid GmbH, Federal-Mogul Bimet Spolka Akcyjna, Federal-Mogul Bradford Limited, Federal-Mogul Bremsbelag GmbH, Federal-Mogul Burscheid Beteiligungs GmbH, Federal-Mogul Burscheid GmbH, Federal-Mogul Canada Limited, Federal-Mogul Chassis LLC, Federal-Mogul Componentes de Motores Ltda., Federal-Mogul Controlled Power Limited, Federal-Mogul Coventry Limited, Federal-Mogul Deva (Qingdao) Automotive Parts Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Deva GmbH, Federal-Mogul Dimitrovgrad LLC, Federal-Mogul Distribucion de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Dong Feng (Shiyan) Engine Components Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul EMEA Distribution Services, Federal-Mogul Employee Trust Administration Limited, Federal-Mogul Engineering Limited, Federal-Mogul FIL-P43 S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul FIL-S43 S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Filtration LLC, Federal-Mogul Finance 1 LLC, Federal-Mogul Finance 2 LLC, Federal-Mogul Financial Services Poland Sp.z.o.o., Federal-Mogul Financial Services S.A.S., Federal-Mogul Financing Corporation, Federal-Mogul Friction Products Barcelona S.L., Federal-Mogul Friction Products Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Friction Products GmbH, Federal-Mogul Friction Products International GmbH, Federal-Mogul Friction Products Limited, Federal-Mogul Friction Products Ploiesti SRL, Federal-Mogul Friction Products S.A., Federal-Mogul Friction Products a.s., Federal-Mogul Friction Spain S.L., Federal-Mogul Friedberg GmbH, Federal-Mogul Garennes SAS, Federal-Mogul Germany Investments Holding GmbH, Federal-Mogul Global Aftermarket EMEA, Federal-Mogul Global Growth Limited, Federal-Mogul GmbH, Federal-Mogul Goetze (India) Limited, Federal-Mogul Gorzyce Sp. z o.o., Federal-Mogul Holding Deutschland GmbH, Federal-Mogul Holding Sweden AB, Federal-Mogul Holdings Ltd., Federal-Mogul Iberica S.L., Federal-Mogul Ignition GmbH, Federal-Mogul Ignition LLC, Federal-Mogul Ignition Products India Limited, Federal-Mogul Ignition Products SAS, Federal-Mogul Industria de Autopecas Ltda., Federal-Mogul Investment Ltd., Federal-Mogul Investments B.V., Federal-Mogul Italy S.r.l., Federal-Mogul Izmit Piston ve Pim Uretim Tesisleri A.S., Federal-Mogul Japan K.K., Federal-Mogul Juarez S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Lighting S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Limited, Federal-Mogul Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Federal-Mogul MP US LLC, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (India) Limited, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Netherlands) B.V., Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Pinghu) Trading Limited, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Qingdao) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Singapore) Pte. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Thailand) Limited, Federal-Mogul Motorparts (Zhejiang) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Colombia S.A.S., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Holding B.V., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Holding GmbH, Federal-Mogul Motorparts LLC, Federal-Mogul Motorparts Management (Shanghai) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Minority Holding B.V., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Philippines Inc., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Ploiesti SRL, Federal-Mogul Motorparts Poland Sp.z.o.o., Federal-Mogul Motorparts Pty Ltd, Federal-Mogul Motorparts Services SRL, Federal-Mogul Naberezhnye Chelny, Federal-Mogul Nurnberg GmbH, Federal-Mogul Operations France S.A.S., Federal-Mogul Piston Rings LLC, Federal-Mogul Plasticos Puntanos S.A., Federal-Mogul Powertrain (Netherlands) B.V., Federal-Mogul Powertrain Eastern Europe B.V., Federal-Mogul Powertrain IP LLC, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Italy S.R.L, Federal-Mogul Powertrain LLC, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Mexico Distribucion S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Powertrain Russia GmbH, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Solutions India Private Limited, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Systems S A (Proprietary) Limited, Federal-Mogul Powertrain Vostok OOO, Federal-Mogul Products US LLC, Federal-Mogul Pty Ltd, Federal-Mogul R&L Friedberg Casting GmbH & Co. KG, Federal-Mogul Risk Advisory Services LLC, Federal-Mogul S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul S.A., Federal-Mogul SP Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Sealing System (Nanchang) Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Sealing Systems GmbH, Federal-Mogul Sejong Co. Ltd, Federal-Mogul Sejong Tech Ltd, Federal-Mogul Serina Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Sevierville LLC, Federal-Mogul Shanghai Bearing Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Shanghai Compound Material Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Singapore Investments Pte. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Sistemas Automotivos Ltda., Federal-Mogul Sistemas de Limpadores de Para-Brisas Ltda, Federal-Mogul Sorocaba-Holding Ltda, Federal-Mogul Systems Protection Hungary Kft., Federal-Mogul Systems Protection Morocco SARL AU, Federal-Mogul TP Europe GmbH & Co KG, Federal-Mogul TP Liner Europe Otomotiv Ltd. Sti, Federal-Mogul TP Liners Inc., Federal-Mogul TP Piston Rings GmbH, Federal-Mogul TPR (India) Limited, Federal-Mogul Technology Limited, Federal-Mogul Transaction LLC, Federal-Mogul UK Investments Limited, Federal-Mogul UK Powertrain Limited, Federal-Mogul VCS Holding B.V., Federal-Mogul VCS LLC, Federal-Mogul Valve Train International LLC, Federal-Mogul Valve Train S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul Valvetrain GmbH, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain La Source SAS, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain Limited, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain Schirmeck SAS, Federal-Mogul Valvetrain s.r.o., Federal-Mogul Vermogensverwaltungs GmbH, Federal-Mogul Verwaltungs-und Beteiligungs-GmbH, Federal-Mogul Wiesbaden GmbH, Federal-Mogul World Trade (Asia) Limited, Federal-Mogul World Wide LLC, Federal-Mogul Yura (Qingdao) Ignition Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul Zhengsheng (Changsha) Piston Ring Co. Ltd., Federal-Mogul de Costa Rica S.A., Federal-Mogul de Guatemala Sociedad Anonima, Federal-Mogul de Matamoros S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Federal-Mogul de Venezuela C.A., Federal-Mogul of South Africa (Proprietary) Limited, Felt Products MFG. CO. LLC, Ferodo America LLC, Ferodo Limited, Fonciere de Liberation, Forjas y Maquinas S. de R.L. de C.V., Frenos Hidraulicos Automotrices S.A. de C.V., Fric-Rot S.A.I.C., Gabilan Manufacturing, Gasket Holdings LLC, Gillet Exhaust Manufacturing Limited, Gillet Pressings Cardiff Limited, Goetze Wohnungsbau GmbH, ISA Installations Steuerungs und Automatislerungs GmbH, J.W. Hartley (Motor Trade) Limited, Jurid do Brasil Sistemas Automotivos Ltda., KB Autosys (Zhangjiagang) Co. Ltd., KB Autosys Co. Ltd., KB Autosys India Private Ltd., Kinetic Pty. Ltd., Kontich, Leeds Piston Ring & Engineering Co. Limited, Maco Inversiones S.A., McCord Payen de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., McPherson Strut Company LLC, Monroe Amortisor Imalat Ve Ticaret Anonim Sirketi, Monroe Australia Pty. Limited, Monroe Czechia s.r.o., Monroe Holding S. de R.L. de C.V., Monroe Manufacturing (Proprietary) Ltd., Monroe Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Monroe Packaging BVBA, Monroe Ride Performance Sweden AB, Monroe Springs (Australia) Pty. Ltd., Montagewerk Abgastechnik Emden GmbH, Motocare India Private Limited, Muzzy-Lyon Auto Parts LLC, Parts Zone (Thailand) Co. Ltd., Payen International Limited, Piston Rings (UK) Limited, Precision Modular Assembly Corp., Productos de Frenos Automotrices de Calidad S.A. de C.V., Proveedora Walker S. de R.L. de C.V., Pullman, Pullman Standard Inc., Qingdao Tenneco FAWSN Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Raimsa S. de R.L. de C.V., Ride Performance Canada Inc., Ride Performance Japan Ltd., Ride Performance Korea Limited, Ride Performance Mexico Holding LLC, SAXID Limited, Sapav Marketing Ltd, Saxid, Saxid s.r.l., Servicio de Componentes Automotrices S. de R.L. de C.V., Servicios Administrativos Industriales S. de R.L. de C.V., Shanghai Tenneco Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Sibirica Energy Limited, Sintration Limited, Speyside Real Estate LLC, Subensambles Internacionales S. de R.L. de C.V., T&N Industries LLC, T&N de Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., TA (Australia) Group Pty. Ltd., TM S.r.l, TMC Texas Inc., TPR Federal-Mogul Tennessee Inc., Taiwan Federal-Mogul Motorparts Co. Limited, TecCom GmbH, Tenneco (Beijing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Beijing) Ride Control System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Changzhou) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco (China) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Dalian) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Guangzhou) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Jingzhou) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco (MSCan) Operations Inc., Tenneco (MUSA), Tenneco (Mauritius) Limited, Tenneco (Suzhou) Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Suzhou) Emission System Co. Ltd., Tenneco (Suzhou) Ride Control Co. Ltd., Tenneco (TM Asia) Ltd., Tenneco (TM Belgium) BVBA, Tenneco (Tianjin) Ride Performance Co. Ltd., Tenneco Asheville Inc., Tenneco Asia Inc., Tenneco Automotie Nederland B.V., Tenneco Automotive (Thailand) Limited, Tenneco Automotive Brasil Ltda., Tenneco Automotive Deutschland GmbH, Tenneco Automotive Eastern Europe Sp. z.o.o., Tenneco Automotive Europe BVBA, Tenneco Automotive Europe Coordination Center BVBA, Tenneco Automotive Foreign Sales Corporation Limited, Tenneco Automotive France S.A.S., Tenneco Automotive Holdings South Africa Pty. Limited, Tenneco Automotive Iberica S.A., Tenneco Automotive Inc. Nevada, Tenneco Automotive India Private Limited, Tenneco Automotive Italia S.r.l., Tenneco Automotive Operating Company Inc., Tenneco Automotive Polska Sp. z.o.o., Tenneco Automotive Port Elizabeth (Proprietary) Limited, Tenneco Automotive Portugal  Componentes Para Automovel Unipessoal LDA., Tenneco Automotive RSA Company, Tenneco Automotive Second RSA Company, Tenneco Automotive Services Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, Tenneco Automotive Servicios Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco Automotive Trading Company, Tenneco Automotive UK Limited, Tenneco Automotive Volga LLC, Tenneco Automotive Walker Inc., Tenneco Brake Inc., Tenneco CA Czech Republic s.r.o., Tenneco CA Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco CA Netherlands BV, Tenneco Canada Inc., Tenneco Clean Air Argentina S.A.I.C., Tenneco Clean Air India Private Limited, Tenneco Clean Air Spain S.L.U., Tenneco Clean Air US Inc., Tenneco Deutschland Holdinggesellschaft mbH, Tenneco Eastern European Holdings S.a.r.l., Tenneco Eberspaecher (Beijing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Emission Control (Pty) Ltd, Tenneco Etain Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, Tenneco Europe Limited, Tenneco FAWSN (Changchun) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco FAWSN (Foshan) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco FAWSN (Tianjin) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco Fusheng (Chengdu) Automobile Parts Co. Ltd., Tenneco Global Holdings Inc., Tenneco GmbH, Tenneco Holdings Danmark ApS, Tenneco Hong Kong Holdings Limited, Tenneco Hungary Korlatolt Felelossegu Tarsasag, Tenneco Industria de Autopecas Ltda., Tenneco Innovacion S.L., Tenneco International Holding Corp., Tenneco International Luxembourg S.a.r.l., Tenneco International Manufacturing S.a.r.l., Tenneco Japan Ltd., Tenneco Korea Limited, Tenneco Lingchuan (Chongqing) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Management (Europe) Limited, Tenneco Mauritius China Holdings Ltd., Tenneco Mauritius Holdings Limited, Tenneco Mexico S. de R.L. de C.V., Tenneco RP Germany GmbH, Tenneco Ride Control South Africa (Pty) Ltd., Tenneco Ride Performance US 4 LLC, Tenneco Ride Performance US 5 LLC, Tenneco Silesia spolka z ograniczona odpowiedzialnoscia, Tenneco SpinCo Incorporated, Tenneco Sverige AB, Tenneco Walker (Tianjin) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco Zwickau GmbH, Tenneco-Eberspaecher (Dalian) Exhaust System Co. Ltd., Tenneco-Walker (U.K.) Limited, The Pullman Company, The Tenneco Automotive (UK) Pension Scheme Trustee Limited, Thompson and Stammers (Dunmow) Number 6 Limited, Thompson and Stammers (Dunmow) Number 7 Limited, United Piston Ring Inc., VTD Vakuumtechnik Dresden GmbH, Walker Australia Pty. Limited, Walker Danmark ApS, Walker Electronic Silencing Inc., Walker Europe Inc., Walker Exhaust (Thailand) Company Limited, Walker Gillet (Europe) GmbH, Walker Limited, Walker Manufacturing Company, Walker UK Ltd, Wellworthy Limited, Wimetal Societe Par Actions Simplifiee, and Wuhan Tenneco Exhaust System Co. Ltd..

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By Nalin Kumar Mohapatra

The year 2016 ended with a sobering note as far as the Asian security situation is concerned. Growing crisis in the South China Sea, fragile political situation in Afghanistan, tenuous peace in Central Asia, Syrian conflict, and above all China-Russia strategic interactions defined

the strategic cord of Asian security structure.

The China-Russia bonhomie, which has taken the momentum now after 1994, is not confining itself to strategic partnership alone but in recent years these two powers are trying to use this solidarity to checkmate emergence of other Asian powers in the Asian continent. Membership in the Shanghai Cooperation Organisation (SCO) is a good example of this. Despite having a much better relationship with India, Russia toed the Chinese line in preventing Indias membership in the SCO. Similarly, it has covertly blocked Indias entry into the Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG). This signifies the overt and covert attempts being made by Chinese policy makers in thwarting Indias attempt to play a greater role in the Asian/Eurasian subcontinent.

Chinese objective of expanding the age-old strategic doctrine of Middle Kingdom Complex to the heart of Asian security discourses can have a deeper impact on security of Asia. What Russia, a Eurasian power, is doing is facilitating Chinas grand entry into both the Asian and Eurasian regions despite sharing an uneasy relationship in the past. What is worrisome for Asian security structure in general, and Eurasian security in particular, is that Pakistan, a failed State, has also been roped in by these two powers in creating the unholy alliance.

The strategic bonhomie between Russia and China is not confined merely to Central Asia, it is now extending to South and East Asia. The expanding presence of China in Asia is being facilitated by its Belt & Road initiatives, which the Chinese policy makers are giving a normative dimension by eulogising the ancient Silk Road. How far this kind of strategic doctrine under the grab of expanding infrastructural connectivity will shape the Asian security discourses? This may jeopardise the incipient stability in Asia in the long run.

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), inaugurated in November 2016, is a perfect example of this policy of China. There are murmurs that Russia is going to join the corridor. This in turn generated a lot of apprehensions in strategic circles that Russia is going to ally with Pakistan, a country the policy makers in Moscow used to call epicentre of radicalism. The official Russian media Pravda.Ru in a report dated September 30, 2016, highlighted the growing rapprochement between Russia and Pakistan. One may underline here that this is not for the first time Russia and Pakistan are involved in joint military exercises. Even in 2014 and 2015, both the countries conducted two maritime exercises in the Arabian Sea. Russias mischievous intention of aligning with Pakistan was highlighted by a Russian strategic expert on South Asia, Petr Topychkanov, an analyst from Carnegie Moscow. Topychkanov, in an interesting article titled, Deep military cooperation between Russia and Pakistan threatens Delhi which was published by Russia Direct, dated October 11, 2016, posed a direct question to the Russian policy makers, i.e, How can Moscow assure Delhi that the Armed Forces of Pakistan will not use the fruits of military cooperation with Russia against India? The question raised by the Russian scholar is quite pertinent if one looks at Pakistans aggressive strategic behaviour in recent years towards India. In addition to joint military exercises conducted jointly by Russia and Pakistan in the vicinity of Indian border, the Pakistani media is quite hyperbolic in recent months that Russia is keen to join the Chinese- sponsored CPEC project.

Russian Foreign Ministry officials consistently denied the news reports saying that Moscow is not going to have any kind of cooperation with Pakistan and is not mulling to join the Chinese initiated CPEC project. However, if one glances through some of the news reports coming from Pakistan it shows that Russia is keen to secure a space for itself in the much-hyped Gwadar port built with the Chinese assistance. Even Russian official newspaper Sputnik on November 26, 2016, acknowledged the fact that Russia seeks to use the Gwadar port and is showing its keenness to join the CPEC project.

If Russia joins the CPEC, it will not have any impact on India. However, if Moscow gives the logic that it is joining as a reaction of New Delhis growing rapprochement with Washington, it will really impact India. Despite deeper Russian-Chinese strategic cooperation, India has not voiced its concern ever. Similarly the growing cooperation between New Delhi and Washington is in no way directed against Moscow. Also, India and the USA have not conducted any military exercises in the bordering regions of Russia. India stood with Russia when it faced backlash in the international forums because of latters action in Crimea. On the other hand, Russia, despite being a civilisational as well as strategic partner of India, is deviating from its commitment to strategic partnership agreement. Russia is hobnobbing with Pakistan, despite the fact that it is facing the heat from radicalist forces. Both the policy makers and academics from Russia consistently raised their voice against the dubious role being played by Pakistan in fermenting troubles both in Central and South Asia, as well supporting Chechen radicals. To an utter surprise if news reports are true in recent years, Moscow is also mending fences with the Taliban forces in the name of bringing stability to war-torn Afghanistan. Similarly, China, despite its own problem in its North-West Frontier province of Xinjiang, is supporting well-known international terrorist like Masood Azhar. A few years back China accused Pakistan of abetting terrorism in Xinjiang by providing support to the radicals. However in recent years Beijing took a U-turn on the issue of terrorism and is supporting Pakistans evil design.

All these developments are going to have deeper repercussions on the fragile security structure of Asia. Russia being one of the founders of International North-South Transport Corridor (INSTC) project should take steps to revitalise the project. In this regard, India, along with Iran, can augment the infrastructural linkages in the Asian/Eurasian continent. The INSTC project has much better prospects than the CPEC.

What Russian foreign policy demonstrates over the years is that it is supporting Chinas imperial project in the Asian continent. CPEC and One Belt and One Road Initiative are part of this project. Similarly, Russias strategic interaction with Pakistan will give a wrong signal to fight against international terrorism. Russia should absolve itself from the ad hock foreign policy it is pursuing in recent years. Moreover, its engagement with Taliban, following in Chinas footsteps, is a dangerous trend in the Asian security.

Peace and stability in Asia can be possible if China gives up its expansionist policy and support international coalition against radicalism. Russia, being a responsible Eurasian power, should also understand fragile security environment of Central Asia, Afghanistan, etc. If Moscow pursues a policy of aligning with both Pakistan and non-State actor like Taliban along with Chinas policy of containing India to achieve some short-term goals, then it will have a deeper repercussion of Asian security. Analysts are of the opinion that by aligning with China, Russia is becoming a Middle Power in the global security structure.

Russia, despite being a Eurasian state, has a deeper interest in the Asian security structure because of its location. The way it is aligning with China, also in the South China Sea region, is generating dissonance from countries like Vietnam, with whom it shares a deeper relationship. Though it is mending fences with Japan, there is not so much warmth in the relationship between these two States.

It is in this context India, being an emerging power of Asia (both economically and strategically), can play a positive role in stabilising the security situation in Asia, with cooperation from Vietnam, Japan, Afghanistan, Central Asian States, and of course along with Russia. However, Russia has to change its foreign policy stand first.

(The writer is Assistant Professor, CRCAS, School of International Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi)

Source : Daily Pioneer
Pamela Price, a civil and human rights attorney in the East Bay is interviewed about the cover-ups by Contra Costa County District Attorney Mark Peterson. She also discusses the illegal use of political contributions for personal use by District Attorney. A coalition is calling for a trial "The Public v. Mark Peterson on January 18, 2017 at 12 noon at the DA's office 900 Ward St. Martinez, CA

Pamela Price, an attorney who practices in East Bay on January 14, 2017 talks about the obstruction of justice by Contra Costa County DA Mark Peterson. She discusses how the police were involved in a sexual ring with a minor in Northern California and how the DA's and politicians covered it up. She also discusses the personal corruption DA Mark Peterson as well as his refusal to prosecute white collar management city and government officials in Richmond and other government agencies. She talks about IFPTE Local 21 member Stacie Plummer who blew the whistle on corruption by the City of Richmond Human Resources Director Heather Knight and how instead of prosecuting Leslie Knight, Stacie Plummer was targeted, harassed and bullied by Knight and Richmond city manager Bill Lindsay.DA Mark Peterson according to Price focuses on prosecuting poor and working class people while the rich and powerful are left off the hook.She also talks about a upcoming trial of Mark Peterson The Public v. Mark Peterson that will be held on January 18, 2017 at the DA's office in Martinez, CaliforniaFor more informationProduction of Labor Video ProjectDistrict Attorney Mark Peterson: Resign!Coalition to Restore Public TrustContra Costa District Attorney Mark Peterson has admitted to embezzlement and perjury. He used more than $66,000 from his campaign donations as a personal slush fund and lied about the use of those monies. Peterson's actions have earned him a $45,000 fine from the California Fair Political Practices Commission. More importantly, Peterson has also repeatedly betrayed the public trust by failing to prosecute government corruption by "white collar elites" while aggressively prosecuting the less privileged members of our community, including particularly minorities and poor people. In the interest of transparency, ensuring justice, and restoring public trust, Peterson must resign, and his actions should be investigated and prosecuted by the California Attorney Generals office.In 2014, Peterson ran unopposed for a new term as District Attorney. The campaign contributions that he collected were not needed, so he illegally used the money to treat himself to dinners out, airplane tickets, movies, new clothes and other personal expenses unrelated to his campaign. As the District Attorney, Peterson knew that this was expressly prohibited by law. He still proceeded to violate the law time and time again by using campaign donations for personal expenses. A random state audit revealed that he embezzled $66,000 from his campaigns over a five-year period.The California Fair Political Practices Commission fined Peterson $45,000 for the violations, an indication of the egregiousness of his actions. In response, Peterson claimed that he was "embarrassed and humiliated" -- as if that is sufficient to make the issue go away and end the matter. Of course, the hundreds if not thousands of people he prosecutes as District Attorney would get no breaks from his office for being "embarrassed and humiliated" about their alleged crimes, even when involving a fraction of $66,000. This is truly a gross double standard.The East Bay Times published a powerful editorial demanding Peterson's resignation based on the hypocrisy of his actions:If the District Attorney had any integrity, his own illegal actions on campaign expenditures should be sufficient to resign. But District Attorney Peterson has also repeatedly demonstrated that he will protect corrupt "elites" in government or the rich and powerful, while targeting the little guy. The following are examples:In 2016, DA Peterson refused to bring any charges against 19 Richmond police officers, including police officers with a rank as high as a lieutenant, for sexual exploitation of a child, formerly known as Celeste Guap, sharing privileged information about sting operations, and/or providing confidential information to Celeste Guap. The Richmond Police Department sent Guap to a rehab facility in Florida to prevent her from testifying, an obvious obstruction of justice. Finally, there were rumors and allegations that Richmond Police Officers involved with Guap participated in cocaine parties with her. The Alameda County District Attorney even stated that her office found that crimes were committed in Contra Costa County, but that those crimes were outside of her jurisdiction to prosecute.The results? After the DA Peterson-led investigation, Contra Costa County issued one minor misdemeanor charge against a retired Oakland police officer. Peterson concluded that although the young victim who had been sexually commercially exploited by numerous police officers for years had engaged in sexual activity with numerous Contra Costa County law enforcement officers (both police and deputies), there was no unlawful sexual exploitation because none of the sexual activity was in exchange for money or anything else of value.See editorial: http://www.eastbayexpress.com/SevenDays/archives/2016/11/04/contra-costa-district-attorney-declines-to-charge-nineteen-cops-in-celeste-guap-sex-exploitation-scandal DA Petersons conclusion belies the fact that this young woman was a victim of child sex exploitation who was manipulated and taken advantage of by adult law enforcement officers. Petersons conclusion that these officers engaged in sexual activity with a self-proclaimed sex worker on multiple occasions but gave her nothing of value in exchange for having sex with her is both illogical and demeaning to women. If she is in fact working as a sex worker, how can one reasonably conclude that she regularly engages in sexual activity with police officers for free?In 2013, DA Peterson refused to bring any charges against Richmond's Assistant City Manager Leslie Knight. Ms. Knight, also a longtime County administrator, required city staff on city time to work on her private trinket business, embezzled money from the City, and retaliated against employees. The Citys own outside investigators found Ms. Knight guilty of misappropriation of City funds and using City offices, phones and workers for her private business. Ms. Knight's base salary in 2011 was $220,000, with total compensation (including benefits) of $281,507. Despite the public outcry by Richmond city workers and community members and their demand for an end to the corruption and bullying of city employees, DA Peterson took no action against Knight.DA Peterson and Knight worked closely together during the time that Knight served as the Countys Human Resources Director. Knight retired from the County to go work at the City of Richmond. DA Peterson also gave the Richmond City Manager, Bill Lindsay, a pass for his role in covering up Knights theft of public resources. The City of Richmond ultimately had to pay for retaliating against Stacie Plummer, a courageous Finance Manager who blew the whistle on Knights illegal activities. In 2015, Plummer received the prestigious James Madison Freedom Of Information Whistleblower Award from the Northern California Society of Professional Journalists.In 2014, DA Peterson refused to prosecute Richmond Police Officer Wally Jensen for the murder of Richard Pedie Perez, III. Perez was intoxicated and unarmed when he was attacked by Officer Jensen on the morning of September 14, 2014. Officer Jensen shot Pedie after he was attempting to arrest Pedie for either being drunk in public or resisting arrest. Video footage of the confrontation also allegedly shows that Jensen had backed away from Pedie up to five to six feet before he pulled his gun and shot Pedie. Jensen admits that he was standing away from Pedie when he shot him three times.Jensen also admits that he initiated the physical confrontation by repeatedly tackling an intoxicated and unsteady man.Eyewitnesses disputed the officers claim that Pedie was trying to take his gun and that the officer feared for his life.DA Petersons office conducted an investigation that was questioned by many as unfair and appeared designed to cover up Pedies murder. Pedies only crime appeared to be that he tried to walk away from the officer after he was detained. The City of Richmond settled with a payment of $850,000 to Pedies family in February 2016.DA Peterson refused to hold Richmond Housing Director Tim Jones and his staff accountable for the disappearance of thousands of dollars in appliances from housing facilities. Additionally, a HUD audit of Richmond's housing program showed that approximately $2 million was wrongly charged to the federal government that the City would have to repay. Combine these facts with the fact that low income-residents at the Richmond's public housing at HUD-supported Hacienda Apartments were living in slum conditions and had to be relocated at significant expense to other housing, leaving the City of Richmond as a slumlord.Peterson's office has refused to investigate fraud, waste, and abuse in a massive Contra Costa school construction program. The West Contra Costa Unified School District (WCCUSD) underwent a million dollar independent forensic audit regarding its $1.6 billion school construction program. The audit revealed numerous significant problems and suggested that law enforcement should be contacted over several potentially illegal matters. Despite concerned citizens urging that his office investigate the matter, Peterson demonstrated absolutely no interest in making any attempt to protect public funds.To the public's knowledge absolutely no action has been taken in an apparent effort to protect "the elite". Remarkably, state and federal law enforcement agencies have shown greater interest than the District Attorney's office, where this matter should be handled.See editorial:In 2015, DA Peterson rehired Deputy DA Michael Gressett, a sex crimes prosecutor charged with sodomy by use of force and falsely imprisoning a female District attorney at gunpoint. Gressett was unsuccessfully prosecuted by the California Attorney Generals office. His case was dismissed on technical grounds without a finding of guilt or innocence. The County settled the victims claim in a civil lawsuit. She testified before the grand jury that in a sexual encounter with Gressett, he wielded ice cubes, an ice pick, handcuffs and a gun in a brutal rape that stained the sheets with blood. A search of his home found 200 tablets of Viagra and some marijuana, along with an ice pick, a gun and handcuffs in his night stand drawer.Testimony and court records in the criminal case portrayed the Contra Costa DAs sex crimes unit as a freewheeling fraternity whose members engaged in crude sexual banter and boasted about belonging to a sex club. Sexual jargon, some of it obscure, all of it graphic, littered the court documents. After-work socializing among prosecutors included a coed "slumber party," according to court records. A party photograph of two prosecutors in a sexually suggestive pose later made the rounds of the prosecutors' office. Some prosecutors bragged that they belonged to an informal sex club that included men and women who discussed their sexual activities over lunch and drinks, according to grand jury testimony.In March 2015, federal judge Edward Chen dismissed Gressetts malicious prosecution lawsuit. In his ruling, Chen wrote that testimony in the criminal case showed Gressett may have been re-enacting a violent rape case he had been assigned to prosecute, along with other disturbing allegations.There is no evidence that DA Peterson has taken any steps to address a sexually-charged environment in his office. Michael Gressetts admitted sexually inappropriate conduct clearly violates the publics trust in the District Attorneys fair and ethical prosecution of crimes. Gressetts return to work under DA Peterson (and with Petersons apparent support) is a slap in the face to all female County employees, the sex crimes victims whom he previously represented and any future sex crime victims who look to the DAs office for help.According to Transparent California, District Attorney Mark Peterson received over $372,000 in total annual pay and benefits from Contra Costa County for the year 2015, the most recent data published.See: http://transparentcalifornia.com/salaries/search/?a=contra-costa-county&q=Mark+Peterson&y Yet, even with that kingly salary, he felt entitled to illegally supplement it with another $66,000 in campaign contributions. His office has a budget of more than $30 million dollars. How can we trust that he is not siphoning funds from public funds for his personal expenses?While Peterson earns an exorbitant salary and still illegally supplements it with his donors campaign contributions, he prosecutes single mothers with no criminal record who are struggling to make ends meet for their children. While he charges poor mothers with felonies for welfare fraud, he expects Contra Costa residents to give him a pass on his blatantly illegal activities involving much greater sums of money.See: http://www.eastbaytimes.com/2016/12/20/commentary-to-avoid-being-hypocrite-mark-peterson-must-resign/ Contra Costa County residents deserve a District Attorney who will uphold the law and use prosecutorial discretion for justice - not someone who willfully violates the law and betrays the public trust and not someone who uses his power as an elected official for his own personal purposes and political self-aggrandizement. DA Petersons actions demonstrate a morally bankrupt District Attorney, who is greedy, hypocritical and grossly overpaid. While going after the little guy is easy, he leaves the illegal and corrupt actions by the elite, powerful, and well-connected unchecked. He prosecutes poor and working people aggressively. When government or law enforcement officials violate the law, DA Peterson is MIA - missing in action. When he violates the law, he expects the people to be MIA. We intend to disappoint him.We also call upon the California Attorney General to investigate and to prosecute DA Peterson for violating campaign finance laws and other laws in the State of California. Furthermore, we the demand the appointment of a new DA who will discharge the DA's duties fairly and equitably, truly acting in the interest of the people.
Former deputy first minister Martin McGuinness yesterday condemned death threats to DUP leader Arlene Foster as shameful and totally unacceptable, writes Daniel McConnell of the Irish Examiner.

The outgoing first minister revealed that she has been threatened with having her head chopped off amid the Cash for Ash scandal which led to Mr McGuinnesss resignation.

With the North still reeling from the shock decision by Mr McGuinness to call time on his career effectively, the news of the death threats are a further complication in the already politically charged atmosphere.

Taking to Twitter, Mr McGuinness said: "The reported threats to DUP leader are shameful & totally unacceptable.I unreservedly condemn those responsible for the cowards they are."

The reported threats to @DUPleader are shameful & totally unacceptable.I unreservedly condemn those responsible for the cowards they are.  Martin McGuinness (@M_McGuinness_SF) January 13, 2017

The PSNI is investigating several sinister threats made against Ms Foster on social media, including one that wanted me beheaded, the DUP leader stated yesterday.

Such threats again political figures are not uncommon, but the visceral nature of the mention of beheading is a new departure.

Political figures are no strangers to death threats, but its thought to be the first time one has been menaced with beheading.

Northern Ireland Secretary of State James Brokenshire also condemned the threats.

The threats received by Arlene Foster are completely unacceptable and have no place in our democracy, he said.

The PSNI said in a statement: We do not discuss the security of individuals. However, if we receive information that a persons life may be at risk we will inform them accordingly.

We never ignore anything which may put an individual at risk. No inference should be drawn from this.

The outgoing first minister has also strongly rejected a claim that she had become damaged goods because of the fallout from the bungled Renewable Heat Incentive scheme.

I am not damaged goods, she said. One wonders what these people will all say when I am cleared after the independent inquiry.

Will I be listening to a long list of apologies and recriminations when I am completely cleared? Because I will be and of that I have no doubt, she said.

Ms Foster also forcibly denied that she was arrogant.

These are the sort of things that are fired at you when you are a strong leader, particularly when you are a strong female leader, she said.

If you have strong male leaders they are strong, they are hard, they are tough. If you have a strong female leader, they are arrogant, she said.

Meanwhile, Northern Irelands politicians appear to have found a way to allow up to 40,000 householders avoid paying a new bedroom tax, even if the Stormont administration collapses as expected on Monday.

Planned policy proposals in areas such as education, health and transport will all be postponed should elections be called.

However, it emerged yesterday that legislation to allow that exemption to the bedroom tax has not yet been processed and therefore homeowners could see its deferred.

This article first appeared in today's Read More: Irish Examiner.
An uncovered pendant appearing identical to one owned by Anne Frank belonged to another Jewish girl who may have known her, says Israel's Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial.

Yad Vashem said it has verified that the pendant belonged to Karoline Cohn who perished at Sobibor, one of the most notorious death camps, and may have known the famous diarist.
Analysts here warn that her speech on Tuesday could spark a further bout of selling for sterling against the euro, an outcome which would heap even more pressure on Irish firms selling across the Irish Sea because a weak sterling makes their exports of goods and services so much more expensive.

Conall Mac Coille, chief economist at Davy Stockbrokers, predicted that markets would likely be highly sceptical of the comments Ms May will make on Britains exit plans, saying that no matter what she says, sterling would likely face another sell-off.

Amid signs her government is taking a hard line, when and if formal talks with Brussels over its EU divorce terms, begin in the spring, sterling this week fell back to below 87p, a level last seen in early November.

Ms May has said she will trigger the start of formal talks under Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty by the end of March, but those plans may yet be delayed by political or legal considerations.

Noting that the UK currency was hit hard by the resignation of its ambassador to Brussels this month, sterling could fall back to its October low of below 90p as early as next week, if markets do not like what they hear from Ms May, warned Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Merrion Capital.

If she is not convincing, the currency will fall, Mr McQuaid said.

Head of policy and chief economist at the Irish Business Employers Confederation, Fergal OBrien, said many observers on this side of the Irish Sea were now braced for an adverse Brexit outcome for Ireland, as the UK government makes immigration its number one issue even if there is to be an economic cost for Britain.

The soundings from Europe suggested the EU powers were not going to relinquish the principle of free movement of people to meet the UKs demands.

A benign outcome for Ireland from some sort of soft Brexit has therefore been taken off the table, said Mr OBrien, adding that the British government needs to be made more aware of the importance for businesses here of an uninterrupted access to an-island economy.

Supply chains for businesses rely on a healthy all-island economy and at the end of the day there is no other economy as affected as this one, he said.

John Whelan, a leading consultant on Irish trade with the rest of the world, said that Ms May will probably say that the UK will seek to control immigration in the looming talks with Brussels, and that the UK will not strike a deal over free trade.

There were opportunities under a hard Brexit for Ireland to exploit, but our agri-food industry will be severely hit, said Mr Whelan.

There are signs that powerful UK industries, such as the City of London, which rely on free trade have also grasped that Ms Mays government would keep pressing for immigration controls.

The lobby group TheCityUK this week dropped its campaign to maintain full so-called passporting rights to sell financial services from the UK across the EU after Brexit.
The photo, taken in 2013, shows Korean and multicultural students at Incheon Yonghyeon Elementary School. Education Ministry said Thursday it will increase the number of kindergartens that provide multicultural education from 60 to 90 as the number of multicultural students elementary to high schools reached almost 100,000 last year. / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-cheol



By Lee Jin-a

The government is planning to build another 30 public kindergartens for multicultural children this year to meet a growing need.

The Education Ministry said Thursday it will increase the number of kindergartens that provide multicultural education from 60 to 90 as the number of multicultural students in elementary, middle and high schools reached almost 100,000 last year.

At the kindergartens, multicultural and Korean students will learn how to understand cultural diversities and respect each other.

There were 30 of the kindergartens in five regions in 2015, including Seoul. The number increased to 60 across 12 regions last year. The government's latest decision will extend the service to 90 kindergartens in 19 regions, including Daejeon, Ulsan, Sejong, North Chungcheong Province and Jeju Province.

According to the ministry's statistics, the number of multicultural students in elementary to high schools has increased about 10 percent from 2006. The largest nationality group of their parents was Vietnamese (24.2 percent), followed by Chinese (21.3 percent) and Japanese (13 percent). Ethnic Koreans from China and Filipinos were recorded at 12.4 percent and 12.6 percent, respectively.

The ministry expects the proportion of multicultural students in the total student population  1.68 percent last year  will increase as the number of multicultural children aged six or younger was 116,000 last year.

"As the number of multicultural children is increasing in the country, we have decided to develop educational programs for students at the kindergartens where the proportion of multicultural students is high," the ministry official said.

This year, the government has allocated about 19 billion won ($16 million) of its budget to multicultural education, 10 percent more than last year.
MADISON  A retired Racine County judge is among a group retired jurists asking the Wisconsin Supreme Court to adopt rules requiring judges and justices to recuse themselves from cases involving campaign donors.

Retired Racine County Circuit Judge Dennis J. Flynns signature joins those of 53 other former judges on the petition submitted to the states high court on Wednesday.

The petition asks for rules requiring municipal judges to step aside if they have received at least $500 from a litigant or attorney. The threshold for circuit judges would be $1,000, for appellate judges $2,500 and for justices $10,000, half of the $20,000 individual donor limit for a justice.

The limits also would apply if contributions are made separate from a judicial campaign but are clearly designed to influence the judges election. That portion of the proposal is designed to force judges to step down if so-called issue advocacy groups spend heavily on their behalf. Such groups arent subject to campaign finance restrictions because they dont tell people which candidate to vote for or defeat.

The Supreme Court ruled in 2015 that candidates can coordinate with issue advocacy groups.

Attempts to reach Flynn to ask his reasons for signing the petition were unsuccessful, but Maryann Sumi, a Racine native and retired Dane County Circuit Court judge, said the retired judges created the petition to push for fairness.

I feel we need to elevate the judiciary so ordinary people who have to go to court can feel they can get a fair shake, said Sumi, pointing to a study by the research and policy organization Center for Progress that ranked Wisconsin 47th in terms of addressing real and perceived conflicts created by campaign contributions to judges.

Local connections

The idea for a petition surfaced about a year ago at the states annual judicial conference, Sumi said.

Flynn appears to be the only retired Racine County Circuit Court judge who has signed the petition. But Sumi notes that at least two other retired judges who signed the petition have Racine roots: Retired Dane County Circuit Judge Diane Sorensen and retired Wisconsin Court of Appeals Judge Richard S. Brown.

Pretty much every retired judge would have been aware of the petition effort, Sumi said.

The retired judges didnt ask sitting judges to sign the petition because they didnt want to put them in the awkward position of criticizing of the Wisconsin Supreme Court, she noted.

Despite the passion among the retired judges pushing for the changes, its unlikely the proposal will gain any traction.

Conservative-leaning justices voted 4-3 in 2009 to adopt rules saying donations by groups and individuals and independent spending dont by themselves require judges to step aside in cases. The conservative majority on the court has grown to 5-2 since then.
Roger Lumbala, pictured in 2013, has returned to Kinshasa. By ISAAC KASAMANI (AFP/File)

15.01.2017 LISTEN

Kinshasa (AFP) - A DR Congo opposition leader accused of "high treason" returned to Kinshasa on Sunday two weeks after a key deal to end a political crisis in the vast African country.

Roger Lumbala, head of the small opposition Rally of Congolese Democrats and Nationalists (RCD-N), was one of a few accused figures whose freedom or return from exile was agreed as part of the New Year's Eve deal.

Lumbala, who allegedly backed the M23 rebellion in the country's east, arrived back in the DR Congo capital on board an Ethiopian Airlines flight, according to AFP journalists at the airport.

After mounting a failed presidential bid in 2006 elections, Lumbala had his lawmaker's mandate invalidated in January 2013 for repeated absence, as he was reported to have spent much time in Uganda and Rwanda.

Democratic Republic of Congo authorities accused him of "high treason" and complicity with M23 rebels, who were defeated in November 2013 after an offensive by government and UN forces.

As part of negotiations which led to the December 31 deal, a coalition centred on veteran opposition leader Etienne Tshisekedi demanded the release from prison or amnesty from prosecution for seven "symbolic" opposition figures.

All sides agreed to the "immediate" release from prison or return from exile of four of the seven, among them Lumbala, who thus became the first to benefit from legal action being abandoned.

On Friday, DR Congo's Roman Catholic church leaders, who mediated last month's deal, voiced concern at the "delay" in freeing political prisoners whose release had been agreed.

The New Year's Eve deal called for the appointments of a new prime minister and a transitional body to pave the way to elections in December 2017 that could bring an end to the rule of President Joseph Kabila.

The agreement was reached after months of violence and could set the stage for the first peaceful transfer of power in the DR Congo since its independence in 1960.
Nyanza (Rwanda) (AFP) - Hundreds of people turned out for the funeral of Rwanda's last king, Kigeli V, in the country's former royal capital Nyanza on Sunday.

Kigeli was buried in his homeland after his body was repatriated from Washington on Monday. He had been living in exile in the United States since 1992.

Kigeli actually died in October at the age of 80 but his funeral was delayed by a court battle between his relatives, arguing over where he should be buried -- in the US or his place of birth.

The religious ceremony took place outdoors in the grounds of the old King's Palace, now a modest museum, in Nyanza, around 100 kilometres (60 miles) from the capital Kigali, a local journalist told AFP.

The Rwandan king's crown was placed on Kigeli's grey coffin while his family wore traditional "umushanana" dress.

Dozens of local residents joined Kigeli's family and Rwanda's culture minister Julienne Uwacu to pay their respects.

"He was a man who fought for Rwanda's independence," said 69-year-old farmer Anastaze Musonera.

"Even in exile, he was a friend of Rwanda. He didn't criticise, he didn't tarnish Rwanda's image."

Jean de Dieu Tuyinsize said he had learnt about Kigeli at school.

"We're happy he's come home to be buried here in Rwanda," said the 27-year-old builder.

The former monarch was buried on a hill near the tomb of his half-brother and predecessor Mutara III, who died in 1959.

The monarchy was abolished in 1961, two years after Kigeli, born Jean-Baptiste Ndahindurwa, ascended to the throne.

But by then he had already left the country after clashing with colonial power Belgium in 1960, having approached the United Nations for help in obtaining independence.

He was exiled first to east Africa before eventually settling in the US.

Kigeli had tried to come back to his homeland while still alive but failed to reach agreement with the country's government.

He insisted on returning as king, whereas president Paul Kagame, in power since the end of the Rwandan genocide in 1994, would accept him only as a private citizen.
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H.E. Madam Sun Baohong, Ambassador of the People's Republic of China to Ghana

Dear Madam,

I was extremely pleased to read that you took the Chinese delegation to the inauguration of our new President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo (led by Mr Wang Zhengwei, Special Envoy of the Chinese Leader, Xi Jinping) to see President Akufo-Addo at the Flagstaff House in Accra on Monday, 9 January 2017  President Akufo-Addo's first day at work.

I do not, of course, know what sort of discussions took place between your delegation and the president behind closed doors during the visit. The public part of the discussions, however, was, as could be expected, full of warm sentiments reinforcing 'co-operation' between Ghana and China.

We would love very much to continue building the strong relationship that we have with China in so many different areas, particularly in economic development, the president said. He added that relations between both countries had grown better in the last 10 years and waxed stronger when he, the president, was the Foreign Minister in the government of Ex-President John Kufuor.

Mr Wang Zhengwei, on his part, lauded the co-operation between the two countries, particularly progress made in aviation and energy. He said China looked forward to more communications and bilateral relations in international and regional issues of common concern, especially those concerning people's livelihood.

I have drawn attention to Mr Wang's statement on developments that affect people's livelihood because, whether President Akufo-Addo mentioned the subject behind closed doors or not, the elephant in the room would have been galamsey  the process whereby Ghanaian criminals, in collaboration with Chinese investors, have laid waste to a large number of Ghana's water-bodies, in an operation that involves dredging rivers to seek gold nuggets buried in the riverbeds.

Our president, is of course, a consummate diplomat, and so whatever he said regarding the issue  if he said anything at all  may have been clothed in polite words and sugar-coated aphorisms. But not so the president's fellow-citizens, especially, those who live in the constituency which he represented in Parliament for many years. One of these, Nana Asiedu Boafo The Second, wrote the following article on 13 January 2017:

After a recent three-week visit to my home-town in the Atiwa District, I have spent sleepless nights agonising and grieving over the incalculable damage which the Chinese are inflicting on our country, particularly in the rural areas, through illegal mining and galamsey, and the consequent massive degradation of our land and pollution of almost all our river bodies. The iconic and totemic river of the Akyem ethnic group, the River Birem, has long since been degraded into a slow-moving muddy sludge, but now I noticed that all her tributaries, such as the Asuorkoor and Boanor, have also been heavily polluted and even more dangerously, poisoned with cyanide and mercury, converting the previously crystal clear colour into greenish brown waste water. Our forests have been quite irreversibly degraded and our cocoa farms, oil palm plantations, as well as other cash and food crop farms, are being totally destroyed by these rapacious swarms of Chinese gold diggers, fortune hunters and their Ghanaian surrogates, collaborators and connivers! And what are the local people and their chiefs doing about all these? Well, the Chinese legions and their local auxiliaries are armed with a wide range of modern weaponry, including the famous AK47s, SMGs, Israeli Uzi sub-machine guns that would put many African armies and police forces to shame! And they always entice the teeming unemployed youth of our towns and villages to their side with promises of instant lucrative jobs. So, woe betides any chief or opinion leader who is fingered by the Chinese and their assigns as seeking to put obstacles in their way! Such uncooperative chiefs and opinion leaders are invariably subjected to cruel physical and verbal molestation and often driven out of town. Rather sadly, Ghanaian chiefs don't own any modern weapons at all even for self-protection. ! Quite apart from this fact, the Constitution and the Minerals and Mining Act vest the ownership of all minerals in the country in the President who then delegates all licensing authority over minerals and mining to the Minister of Lands and Natural Resources, and further down to the Minerals Commission, who together are responsible for the issuance of prospecting and mining licences to would-be miners, including the Chinese and their Ghanaian front men. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is then supposed to have the final say by issuing out the Environmental Impact Clearance Certificates before the commencement of actual mining operations. In all these, the chiefs and their communities' influence are very minimal indeed. And yet there is a widespread belief and perception throughout Ghana that the chiefs are the worst culprits as a friend of mine recently put it, for the depredations of the Chinese gold diggers and galamseyers, a situation totally out of keeping with the facts on the ground.. Indeed, I have personally been shut up in my one-entrance- and-exit-only Ahenfie [palace] for a whole anxiety-packed day by an irate group of some 500 youth high on hard liquor and perhaps other substances baying for my blood for similar alleged sabotage offences! And so until we as a people come up with the unvarnished truth about the real culprits of the Chinese operated galamsey menace, we shall never be able to, and in the position to bring it under effective control. For instance, who is responsible for bringing all those continuous swarms of Chinese fortune hunters into the country? Is it the largely rural domiciled chiefs or is it the Immigration people or the police? .What are we doing? The situation is so dire that even the state-controlled forest reserves are being invaded and plundered by the Chinese and their Ghanaian henchmen with excavators and the full range of other mining equipment. And yet we have always had a government which controls the Ghana Armed Forces, the Police Service, the BNI, the Immigration Service, the National Security. Do we have a governing authority in the land guarding over our national interest and sovereignty at all? Would any Ghanaian or African be permitted to do in China even a tiny fraction of what the Chinese are doing here in Ghana? So I ask again, is anybody in charge of the entity called Ghana at all?

Madam Ambassador, the article above confirms what I told you earlier, that feelings are running very high against your country in Ghana at present. Please liaise with the Ghana Ministry of the Environment and invite a delegation from the Ministry to go to China and discuss with their Chinese counterparts, a programme for surveying the amount of damage done, and what steps can be taken, late though it is, to try and reverse the damage.

Meanwhile, for failing to get your government to act strongly against galamsey and thereby imperilling the friendly relations that exist between Ghana and China, I, hereby, award you The Order Of The Rotting Tilapia.

www.cameronduodu.com

By Cameron Duodu
The Kumasi Metropolis will be on a lock-down from 7 p.m. on Thursday, January 19, 2017 till 4 a.m. the next day.

Within the period, residents are expected to stay indoors as the body of the late Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, will be moved to the Bantama Mausoleum (Ban mu) and later to the Breman Mausoleum for burial.

Prior to that, all offices and shops are to be closed on January 19, 2017. No commercial activity whatsoever, especially within the Central Business District of Adum is to take place on the day.

These were contained in an elaborate program released in Kumasi last Friday by the Asanteman Council for the four-day lying-in-state and burial rites of the queen mother.

The program will begin on Monday, January 16, and end on Thursday, January 19, 2017.

All mourners and visitors to the Manhyia Palace during the four-day period would have to wear black, while females are barred from wearing headgear and jewelry.

At a media briefing in Kumasi, the Akyeamehene of the Asantehene, Nana Nsuase Poku Agyemang III, said on Monday, January 16, 2017 the body would lie in state after some rituals had been performed at dawn for the members of the Asanteman Council, elders and royals to file past the body and wait for the Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II to also do same.

From then, the Otumfuo will sit in state and receive dignitaries. Members of the public will also be allowed to pay their last respects to the late Asantehemaa.

On Tuesday, January 17, 2017, chiefs from other parts of the country including members of the National House of chiefs, various regional houses of chiefs and heads of corporate institutions will take their turn to file past the Asantehemaas body and express their condolences to the Otumfuo.

Wednesday has been set aside for dignitaries, including the President, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo; former Presidents, Members of Parliament (MPs) and heads of state from Nigeria, Cote dIvoire, South Africa, Uganda, Burkina Faso, Swaziland, Seychelles and members of the diplomatic corps.

Others will be majesties from other kingdoms.

Thursday is the final day for the Asantehemaa to lie in state.

According to Nana Agyemang, the Otumfuo will sit in state for an hour to receive dignitaries who might not have been able to file past the Asantehemaas body.

The body will be conveyed to the St Cyprians Anglican Church at Fante New Town for a burial service at 11 a.m. on Thursday. Attendance is strictly by invitation.

There will be large screens at the Kumasi Jubilee Park which is close to the church for those who cannot make it into the church to join in the service.

After the church service, the body of the Asantehemaa will be conveyed under full military escort to the Bantama Mausoleum for the final traditional rites and wreath laying.

The lock-down of the metropolis will then take place from 7 p.m. for the body to be moved from the Bantama Mausoleum to Breman for burial.

Nana Agyemang cautioned that people should stay indoors for their own safety.

He warned that the security agencies would not tolerate rabble-rousers and people who would want to foment trouble during the period.

They will not also entertain political party colours and hooting at political opponents because as he put it, the elections are over.

He added that donations would be accepted from Monday to Wednesday.

Highlights

The Asantehemaa, Nana Afia Kobi Serwaa Ampem II, will be laid in state from Monday, January 16, 2017 to Thursday January 19, 2017.

The Asantehene, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, will sit in state all the four days to receive those who will mourn with him.

No offices or shops will be opened on Thursday, January 19, 2016.

Residents should stay indoors from 7 p.m. on Thursday to 4 a.m. Friday.
The Trades Union Congress (TUC), has called on the Minister designate for Employment and Labour Relations to provide the platform for the views of the labour force when he assumes office.

Deputy Secretary General of TUC, Joshua Ansah, asked Ignatius Baffour Awuah, to prioritise the labour issues and take labour issues very serious.

In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on Friday, Mr Ansah declared the Unions support for the Minister designate.

He said the Union would not be quite when the minister was going out of place but would call him to order when the need be.

Mr Ansah described the Employment and Labour Ministry as a key ministry and therefore needed a very competent personality for its management.

It is a key ministry and if Ghana would actually develop, it depends on the contribution of workers towards the socio-economic development of the country and any serious government would ensure that whoever is put in that ministry is up to the task.

In terms of competence, Mr Ansah is optimistic the minister designate would be able to deliver due to his vast knowledge in labour issues.

He said the Minister designate had moved through the ranks from District Chief Executive through to Deputy Regional Minister and becoming the Brong- Ahafo Regional Minister during the Kufuor era.

If there would be peace industrially, it would depend on the relationship that the Minister would bring to bear between his office and our office, he noted.

Commenting on the increase in number of the ministries from twenty-four to thirty-six, Mr Ansah said it is good move saying that he believes that the President wants people to be in charge of all the issues raised during the campaign season.

He called on Ghanaians to focus more on the outcome of the work of the various ministries especially on the six additionally created ones.

Meanwhile, Mr Ansah has called on the President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to sternly deal with the issue of corruption because it did not bring any good to the society.

He suggested the need for sole sourcing to be abolished except in an exceptional case, which the 1992 Constitution permitted if the country would get value for money.

If proper measures are put in place, I dont see why we should go for sole-sourcing, Mr Ansah said.

He also called on the President to make the creation of job the hallmark of this government.

He said: We are waiting for a day where labour in Ghana would come out chest out that we are now having a living wage rather than a minimum wage.

Story by GNA| Myjoyonline.com
Kinshasa (AFP) - Armed Congolese rebels crossed back overnight into the country from their longtime refuge in Uganda, prompting fears that a guerilla conflict put to rest in 2013 could be rekindled.

At least 200 former members of M23, an ethnic Tutsi group defeated by the Congolese army three years ago, arrived from Uganda and took over a village in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP.

Mende said the Congolese army was fighting two battalions installed in Ishasha village "who were supposed to be in Uganda under the responsibility of that country's authorities".

"How could our Ugandan neighbours, with whom we are bound by very serious commitments, allow people who had been living in refugee camps to cross over -- armed -- into our territory?" he added.

Kinshasa said a former army general, Sultani Makenga, was leading one of the battalions.

The remains of a tank that had belonged to M23 rebel soldiers, seen in October 2013, a day after Congolese army troops captured the last rebel stronghold

No military spokesperson was available to confirm the clashes with M23. Omar Kavota, director of the Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said Sunday that sources in Ishasha had confirmed the M23 presence there but said "there hasn't been fighting or clashes yet".

An 'old trick'

Congo's resource-rich eastern provinces have suffered years of brutal conflict, with neighbouring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa's authority, and roaming armed militia triggering the mass flight of terrorised civilians.

After its November 2013 defeat at the hands of Congolese and UN forces, M23 agreed to a plan to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate its soldiers into DRC civilian life.

But the return of the former rebels has stalled, with fewer than 200 of the 1,900 sheltering in Uganda and only 13 out of hundreds left in Rwanda coming back.

During the civil war Congolese authorities denounced Rwanda and Uganda for allowing the rebel groups to use their territory as staging grounds for attacks. More recently, they have blamed the states for "bad faith" for allowing "criminals to circulate freely" instead of extraditing them to stand trial in DR Congo.

Uganda Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem, reached by AFP in Kampala, strongly denied backing the M23 move across the border.

"The fact that Uganda would arm or authorise M23 rebels to be based here (in Uganda) and destabilise the DRC is the fruit of their imagination. Why would Uganda arm the M23?" he said.

Congolese President Joseph Kabila during his inauguration ceremony on December 6, 2006

Kinshasa's central government would do well to "focus on the problems of governing its own country", the minister added.

Congo is in political limbo, as President Joseph Kabila has refused to step down after his second and final mandate ended in December.

A New Year's Eve deal calls for the appointment of a new prime minister and a transitional body to pave the way to elections in December 2017 -- but not all opposition groups have signed on.

A member of the country's political opposition coalition suggested the return of the M23 could be Kabila up to his "old tricks", fomenting unrest to detract from the political crisis in Kinshasa.

"Every time President Kabila loses ground on the political front, he reactivates armed groups with the goal of taking us back to the old situation" of instability, the opposition member told AFP, requesting anonymity.
RACINE COUNTY  Despite all the uncertainty surrounding the Affordable Care Acts future, local officials say they have seen an increase in people entering the federal marketplace, which reflects state and national trends.

Across the country, federal officials say 11.5 million people signed up for coverage through Dec. 24, an increase of 286,000 compared to the same time last year. In Wisconsin, enrollment is up about 16,000, according to the federal Department of Health and Human Services.

While no data specific to Racine County is available, officials involved in health care signups say they have seen the same increases locally, with no one factor behind it.

Many factors in increase

Alison Sergio, executive director of the Racine Health Care Network, 904 State St., often heard comments initially after the election from people who thought they didnt need to sign up, given Republicans promises to repeal the law.

But as the election faded, the organization saw an uptick in people entering the federal marketplace for insurance.

Sergio noted that penalties have increased to the point that for many, its now more costly to not have insurance than to have it  which hasnt always been the case.

The scales are sort of flipping the other way, she said. Depending on if you qualify for subsidies and what your income is and how many people are in your family, etc., people are really looking at the finances of it and seeing maybe it is better to have health care.

Others who previously opted to pay the penalty had some type of medical event and are now facing steep health care bills for the first time, Sergio said.

Theres a combination of many, many reasons, said Sergio, whose organization provides free or low-cost health care to uninsured residents with limited income and also assists in Affordable Care Act sign-ups.

Brenda Danculovich, a health care navigator with the Racine Kenosha Community Action agency, said signups have been steady since the enrollment period began Nov. 1. The enrollment period continues through Jan. 31.

Like Sergio, Danculovich also hasnt noticed a specific reason behind the increase.

Theyve changed jobs, or theyve lost their job, or their insurance has run out, or theyre losing Badger Care because they have higher income, she said.

Ryan, HHS officials differ

HHS officials argue the growing number of signups are proof the marketplace is poised for continued success. They dismissed a term used by House Speaker Paul Ryan and others who have referred to the Affordable Care Act as in a death spiral.

As a simple factual matter, we can now declare those claims false, said Aviva Aron-Dine, senior counselor to the secretary at HHS, during a conference call with reporters Tuesday. A death spiral is defined as a market that is rapidly shrinking ... in contrast, these data show that this market is not just stable, its currently on track for growth.

But Ryan, who represents Racine County, pointed to double-digit premium increases for some families, a lack of choice in insurance plans and the possibility of more insurance companies pulling out of the marketplace this year.

Obamacare is actually collapsing as we speak, Ryan said Wednesday in a interview with The Journal Times.

Ryan expects a replacement system to pass Congress in the first quarter of this year. He promised it will be a much, much better system, where patients have more choices, they have better prices and have more control over their health care future.

Yet details on how that system will work are still unknown as Republicans are not close to agreement, according to media reports.

More information

To learn more about the Affordable Care Act, including enrollment, Racine Kenosha Community Action has health care navigators available to answer questions. The agencys central office is at 2113 N. Wisconsin St. and can be reached at 262-637-8377 or rkcaa.org. More information is also available at healthcare.gov
By Kenneth Sackey

Accra, Jan. 15, GNA - President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has appealed to Ghanaians living in and out of the country to rally behind his administration, as he seeks to return the country onto the path of progress and prosperity.

Addressing a gathering of Ghanaians resident in Bamako, Mali, on Friday after his arrival in that country for the Africa-France Summit, President Akufo-Addo was confident that his government could transform the fortunes of the country, and give citizens a dignified living.

"What we need to understand and believe is that we can also make it in Ghana, and improve the standards of living of our people. We can do it,' President Akufo-Addo reiterated, adding that the wishes and aspirations of Ghanaians can be met during his time.

He, therefore, urged Ghanaians in Mali, and those living in other parts of the world, to 'start considering and planning your return home, so you can also contribute your quota in helping move our country forward. Ghana needs your strength and intellect.'

On the outcome of the December 7, 2016 elections, President Akufo-Addo noted that Ghana's standing in the league of democratic nations had soared greatly, largely as a result of the peaceful outcome of the polls.

'Our elections were conducted without any turmoil. The Ghanaian people exercised their democratic franchise peacefully. The then sitting President, John Mahama, also conducted himself very well by accepting the verdict of the elections. Ghana is at peace, and I am confident that very soon there will be a lot of more positive news on the economic and developmental front for all of us,' he added.

GNA
Accra, Jan.15, GNA - Sefy's Choice Ghana, a multi-tasking company, has launched a card dubbed: 'The Clean Card,' which would allow patrons of their cleaning services to enjoy up to a 50 per cent discount.

Customers could pick the scratch cards from fuel stations, restaurants shopping malls and other vantage locations and follow up to get their discounts.

The cleaning services that are available for customers in residential, office, community, events and industrial facilities is expected to make the city cleaner.

Speaking at the launch, Mr Victor Ativie, the Business Development Manager at Sefy's Choice Ghana, said in spite of Zoomlion's major efforts to clean the country, many parts of the country were still dealing with the management and disposal of waste, hence his company's offer.

He said the sanitation service industry was very competitive, therefore, the company needed to be innovative to attract customers.

Mr Ativie explained that the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) were the back bone of every thriving economy, therefore, they must be encouraged by the Government to do more to ensure customer satisfaction.

Mr Frank Afful, the General Manager of Sefy's Choice Ghana, said the clean card offices were located in Accra and Takoradi, therefore, making it easy for customers within and around those regions to have access.

'President Akufo-Addo has promised to create a conducive environment for businesses to thrive and SMEs are ready to realise those promises.

'The clean card is an innovation that has come to stay, with the hope of creating jobs, shaping and improving living standards of Ghanaians,' he said.

GNA

By Kwamina Tandoh, GNA
15.01.2017 LISTEN

Hohoe (V/R), Jan. 15, GNA - Mr Akinwumi Adesina, President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), has called for improved access to financing to accelerate the transformation of African economies.

He said this was likely to improve the quality of life of African populations.

Speaking before African leaders at the Africa-France Summit, which took place in Bamako on January 13- January 14, Mr Adesina said Africa could speed up its economic transformation through the Bank's five main priorities: 'The High 5;' 'Light up and power Africa;' 'Feed Africa,' 'Industrialise Africa,' and 'Integrate Africa.'

These five key priorities are aligned with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the African Union's Agenda 2063, as demonstrated by an independent evaluation conducted by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

Mr Adesina however noted, in a release copied to the Ghana News Agency that the resources needed for Africa's economic transformation were enormous and that was why the AfDB was poised to launch the Africa Investment Forum designed to create a space where supply and demand could meet.

Advocating agro-industrialisation and involvement of young people in the sector for the future, he said: "The solution to the migratory crisis is in Africa.'

This was why the Bank launched the "Enable Youth" programme, which would help create 1.5 million jobs in 30 countries, helping to retain young people in Africa.

Mr Adesina also highlighted the need to reduce areas of fragility.

'That is why the Bank launched recently the Forum on Resilience in Africa, which will enable us to achieve the Top Five in 10,000 communities in 1,000 days, with an immediate impact in fragile areas.

"Let's mobilise and make the High Five reality in order to unleash the potential of Africa," he said.

The President of the AfDB thanked donors for their commitment to support the African Renewable Energy Initiative, a joint initiative with the African Union that is now fully operational.

Its aim is to accelerate and increase the enormous potential of Africa in the field of renewable energies.

The European Union has already committed a 3 billion, plus a 6 million from France and a 2 million from Germany.

GNA
Khartoum (AFP) - Sudan on Sunday extended a ceasefire for six months in the war-torn regions of Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan, official media said.

"The cabinet headed by President Omar al-Bashir decided to extend the ceasefire by six months," Sudan's official news agency reported.

In June, Bashir declared a unilateral four-month truce in the three regions, where fighting between government forces and rebels has killed tens of thousands of people.

He extended it in October to the end of the year and again for a month on December 31.

The conflict in Darfur -- a region of the size of France -- erupted in 2003 when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against Bashir's Arab-dominated government, accusing it of marginalising the region.

Similar conflicts also erupted in Blue Nile and South Kordofan states after neighbouring South Sudan broke away in 2011.

At least 300,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced in Darfur since the conflict began, the UN says.
In his book titled Concerning the Government of Our Country and Neighboring Countries in the Sudan, Nigeria's first Mahdi, Sheik Usman Dan Fodio, who is the father of the Fulani Caliphate and leader of the 1804 jihad that overwhelmed and conquered what is now known as northern Nigeria wrote:

The government of a country is the government of its king without question. If the king is a Muslim, his land is Muslim; if he is an unbeliever, his land is a land of unbelievers. In these circumstances it is obligatory for anyone to leave it for another country.

Could this strange and primitive rationale be the reason for the creeping attempt to wipe out Christianity, destroy the Church, slaughter Christians, Islamise the faithful and enslave the people of the south and Middle Belt in our country today?

Could this be the ethos and philosophical bedrock and foundation of the imperative of Islamic domination and Fulani rule? Have we finally discovered the intellectual Holy Grail of Fulani raison d'etra?

This brings me to a number of other questions which many harbour but few dare to ask.

The southern region of Nigeria has not had a Chief Justice of the Federation in 30 years and now that one has been nominated by the National Judicial Council our core northern President Muhammadu Buhari has simply refused to confirm him. The question may be asked, what is the south's portion in Nigeria?

Such is the suspicion, bedlam and utter turmoil in our nation today that some are of the view that the solution to the problems of Nigeria is not just restructuring but a total break up of the country.

They believe that restructuring may be a good first step but the final destination has to be a total and complete break up and divorce.

They argue that this can he done peacefully and quietly or it will eventually be done violently and in a very messy way.

They say that the sooner we do it the easier it will be and that the longer we delay it the more messy it will be.

Whether one agrees or disagrees with them one thing is clear: we are sitting on a keg of gunpowder and we ALL know it.

It is just that we like to pretend. The bottom line is this: things cannot go on the way they are.

Some believe that we should let the four "liberal" zones (south-west, south-south, south- east and north-central) come together and form one nation and let the north-west and north- east zone either go and merge with Chad and Niger Republic or form their own country.

They argue that we should let the Christians, the Shiite Muslims and the core northern ethnic minority tribes that presently live in the north- east and north-west, if they wish, to relocate, move to the Middle Belt (north-central) and remain with us in Nigeria.

Interestingly this mass relocation and migration process was executed in India when she broke into two and Pakistan was formed just after she got her independence from the British.

Millions of Muslims who resided in India moved north to the other side of the country that was to be later called Pakistan whilst millions of Hindus who resided in the area that was to be later called Pakisan relocated from there and moved all the way south to the area that continued to be referred to as India.

Given the terrible carnage that took place between the Hindus and the Muslims in India before the break-up the whole thing worked rather well and saved millions of lives.

This was the case even though there were three border wars between the two countries not too long after the division and tensions exist between them until today.

Yet had it not been for the break-up the number of casualties would have been far higher and the victims of the fratricidal butchery which took place would have been primarily the civilian population, including women and children, rather than just the soldiers.

Some believe that we in Nigeria must take a cue from the Indian, and later Sudanese, examples. They believe that we must break Nigeria into two before we kill each other to the last man and woman.

They believe that it is either we negotiate this and let it be done in an equitable, reasonable, respectful and orderly manner or we will end up having a violent, brutal, bloody and long ethnic war in this country which will result in the final balkanisation and break up of Nigeria into no less than four or more pieces.

Whichever way we cannot be compelled to stay in a nation that is controlled by our collective oppressors and those that believe that killing others that do not share their faith or belong to their ethnic group or religious sect for much longer.

They have sucked the nations blood dry and killed the host body that they have fed fat on for the last 56 years.

They have killed the spirit of Nigeria and sacrificed her unity on the alter of greed, hate, religious intolerance, political domination and false notions of ethnic supremacy.

Their hegemony is an affront to the Living God and it stands against the natural order of things.

It is time for them to go or to be thrown out.

It is only after this happens that we can achieve our full potentials as a nation and that our people can be truly blessed.

Those that control the country and believe that they own it will NEVER allow restructuring because it defeats the object of their purpose.

Given that, it is very clear that we are heading for the rocks because the generation of southern and Middle Belt Nigerans that come after mine refuse to accept the notion that they are nothing but glorfied slaves and second class citizens.

My generation and those that came before it were far more ready to compromise with the evil, accept that bogus notion and just contiue to hope for the best.

The result is that we are still waiting and hoping whilst the grip of our internal colonial masters and their power is greater today than it has EVER been.

Meanwhile thousands of southerners, Shiite muslims, Middle Belters and northern Christians have been slaughtered at the altet and are being butchered by the sponsored ethnic militias that are known as the Fulani herdsmen. One must ask, how long are we going to continue watching this evil silently and just keep hoping for the best?

This sort of thing can only happen in Nigeria. If people had been subjected to such barbarity and wickedness in any other country in the world there would have been international outrage and violent reactions long ago. Yet in Nigeria we respond to it with nothing but indifference and silence in the name of political correctness. It is truly pathetic.

The truth is that this "political correctness" will kill us if we dont kill it first. We must be prepared to say the things that we say to one another behind closed doors publicly as well.

The country needs a dose of truth to heal its wounds and it also needs focused, strong, honest and decisive leadership. Those that believe that they were born to kill us at will and rule us in perpetuity must either accept that they are not our ethnic masters and stop all this barbarity or they must go.

The truth is that the whole country is ready to explode. We the older men are the ones that are just still talking. The younger ones stopped talking long ago and now they are preparing for war.

I have travelled to many parts of this country in the last few weeks and months and what I saw and heard scared me. And I dont scare easily. We must try to keep a lid on it and talk our way out of this mess before the bullets start flying and reason and rational thinking goes out of the window.

Those that believe that they own Nigeria are the greatest obstacle to national cohesion and no one else. The rest of us can work out our differences, keep our four zones, devolve power from the centre and establish a 21st century secular modern nation-state where we are all equal, where the rule of law prevails and where islamic fundamentalism and ethnic domination has no place.

We must also work out our differences in the south. It is the division amongst the southerners that feeds and fuels core northern hegemony. We must all make concessions and set our differences aside and come together as one againt our collective adversaries.

If we cannot do that and we allow historical differences and rivalries to abide and flourish then frankly we deserve to remain as the slaves that they have turned us into. Let us hope that good reason prevails and that we make the right choices.

Let us hope that we are guided by God and His Holy Spirit in all our endeavours. Let us hope that we can muster the courage to say "no more" to ethnic and religious cleansing, mass murder, bondage, servitude and tyranny.
Most Nigerians are not in a hurry to forget that by the time Nigeria had self rule in 1960, Lagos was both the commercial nerve centre and the federal capital territory of our country. Lagos had always been a commercially thriving coastal city which held massive attractions for traders and business men and women from many parts of the world.

Lagos swarmed with people. Being a coastal city, men and women arrived from all nooks and crannies of the world to add to the glamorous night life that made Lagos tick. And as a result, traders of all shades and business men and women of all persuasions trooped into Lagos in their droves from other parts of the country too, to make money. Lagos thrived like a beehive.

But with time, Lagos became congested. The city began to find it difficult to accommodate the teeming number of people who came in daily to live and do business in the land. The infrastructure became over-used and consequently became inadequate for the swarming population that thronged into the city. Expansion became a necessity. And so was the urge to separate the seat of government from the commercial nerve centre.

When the military government of General Yakubu Gowon was toppled in a military coup on 29 July 1975, the new military Head of State, General Murtala Mohammed, appointed a panel to evaluate the possibility of relocating the federal capital.

The panel approved a relocation of the federal capital and seat of government and recommended that while the seat of government should be moved to a new location, Lagos should remain as the commercial nerve centre of the nation.

Government officials immediately set out to study world capitals. They looked at Brasilia, the new capital of Brazil. They visited Islamabad, the capital of Pakistan. They went to Paris, the capital of France, and to Washington D.C., the capital of the United States of America. Nigeria was looking for a central place to build a new national capital where its entire citizens would be equally represented. The new territory was to have favourable climate conditions, vast acres of land and plenty of water.

In 1976, after Abuja was chosen as the land for the new national capital, General Murtala Mohammed spoke to the nation. He said: We believe that a new federal capital territory created on such virgin lands will be for all Nigerians a symbol of their oneness and unity. The Federal Capital Territory will belong to all Nigerians. The General predicted a new era of justice, peace and unity for all Nigerians. But seven days later, he was assassinated.

As a soldier, General Mohammed made the supreme sacrifice for what he believed in. Look at Abuja today, a modern city sprawling with high rises and a lush topography no one would have thought possible only a few years before.

*Abuja today

That is one lesson Imo people have to learn. That is one lesson they have to live with. That is one lesson they always have to remember. As government after government commits itself to the development of Imo State, Imo people must never say we cant do it: its so difficult. Imo people must never discourage the government they willingly voted into office because in many democratic countries, the role of government in state development is always designed to be in continuity.

A new state government which is elected into office continues from where the previous government stopped. It reviews the policies and policy-thrusts of the last government, makes amendments where necessary and continues with the work at hand before new measures or dimensions are introduced into the system as the hallmark or distinct identity of the incumbent government.

Unfortunately, this has not always been the case with Imo State. The tendency has always been for the new government to jettison the projects of its predecessor and initiate its own new projects, thereby stalling the continuous growth of the state.

Created in 1976, its first three governors were military officers who stayed in office for so short a while that whatever impact they claim to have made on the development of Imo State was scarcely visible to the good people of the state.

The first governor of Imo State, Ndubuisi Kanu, a naval officer, governed the state for barely one year, from March 1976 to 1977. Then Adekunle Lawal, another naval officer, took over. He governed for almost one year from 1977 to July 1978. A military officer, Col. Sunday Adenihun, who succeeded Lawal governed from July 1978 to the end of September 1979.

So, in barely three years, from 1976 when Imo State was created to 1979, the state already had three military governors. And come to think of it: what would anyone expect a military governor to practically achieve in the development of a state in just one year in office while still learning the ropes? That was the situation of things before the democratically elected government of Chief Samuel Onunaka Mbakwe came on board on 1st October 1979.

Chief Sam Mbakwe Chief Achike Udenwa Chief Ikedi Ohakim

It was the monumental stride Imo people made in those four years Dee Sam was governor, which included the building of Imo Airport and Concorde Hotel with the self-help effort of Imo people that laid the foundation for the development of their state. But seeing that the civilians were making progress, the military struck again and returned to the centre stage.

For the next 8 years, they took turns in Imo State Government House. First was General Ike Nwachukwu who governed for about 20 months, from January 1984 to August 1985. He was replaced by Rear Admiral Allison Madueke. Madueke governed for about one year, from August 1985 to 1986. Amadi Ikwechegh, another naval officer who replaced Madueke governed for four years from 1986 to 1990 with practically nothing to show for it. In 1990, Anthony Oguguo was appointed governor of Imo State. He governed for two years, from 1990 to 1992.

Chief Evans Enwerem, a civilian who was democratically elected under the banner of the National Republican Party (NRC) governed after that for nearly two years, from January 1992 to November 1993.

For the next six years, the army was at it again. James Aneke, a naval officer became governor for about three years, from 9 December 1993 to 22 August 1996. He handed over to Colonel Tanko Zubairu, a military officer who governed Imo for another three years, from 22 August 1996 to May 1999.

A close look at the way Imo State has been governed over these 40 years shows that there could have been a policy pattern in place among the military brass  a policy of assigning short periods of duty to the military governors who worked in Imo State, thereby making them unable to contribute meaningfully to the development of the state they were supposed to be governing.

In the 40 years of the existence of Imo State, nine military governors have ruled the state over a period of 17 years with practically nothing to show during or after their tenures as contribution towards the development of the state. How can this be explained? Was it, perhaps, a deliberate military policy aimed at stifling the growth of the newly created state or a way of gratifying the military governors who were posted to the state? Did other states in the federation suffer the same fate as a result of this skewed policy?

It was not until the advent of the Chief Achike Udenwa administration in 1999 that Imo people began to think and to talk of democracy, free trade and all that, like their counterparts in other parts of the world. There will be no need here and now to enumerate what Chief Udenwa achieved in his eight years as governor, from 29 May 1999 to 29 May 2007. All Imo people know how many blocks his administration put together in the development of their state.

After him came Chief Ikedi Ohakim. Ohakim governed Imo State for four years, from 29 May 2007 to 29 May 2011. The developments recorded by the Ohakim administration are visible and well known to Imo people. And now, we have the current Imo governor, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

* Many families were affected by Governor Okorochas demolition exercise.

To be fair to the governor and the good people of Imo State, we cannot talk about the achievements or failures of the Okorocha administration without looking back and taking stock of the achievements of those who were there before him, in comparison.

Compared with those who were there before him, therefore, it will be a travesty of justice to presume that the Okorocha administration can be easily written off as a failure, considering the fact that state development implies continuity from one government to another and each succeeding government starts from where its predecessor stopped.

In the case of the Okorocha administration, the governor has always said he has his vision of creating a viable Imo State that will be the envy of many other states in the federation. He has also assured Imo citizens living in the United Kingdom that he will complete every single project he started before the expiration of his tenure.

Somehow, unfortunately, Okorochas plans have disrupted the flow in some areas like prompt salary payments and the businesses of some Imo citizens who were affected by his governments demolition exercise. Also, the Okorocha administration has so far not made public its intention to pay any form of compensation to those whose livelihood was directly affected by his governments demolition exercises. Many, even among his fellow politicians, are bitter.

We do not need to flog the point that to achieve certain ends considered as priority, sacrifices have to be made in some other areas. Take the expansion and dualization of roads or the relocation of markets and mechanic villages in Owerri for example. These markets and workshops and indeed some of the buildings that are being demolished to pave way for the expansion of roads in and around Owerri have been in place over the years. People have got so used to them that relocating them would seem difficult for those affected. They agitate.

But then how can the good people of Imo State forget so soon that this was exactly the same experience they had when government decided to relocate the Building Materials Market from Wetheral Road to Naze? They had refused. They had protested. Yet, today, one only needs to go to Naze and see how that place has opened up. Who is complaining about the Building Materials Market now?

The point is obvious. Imo people truly want to build up their state. They are anxious to see their state take a place of pride among the other states in the federation.

* Wetheral Road, Owerri

They are naturally being challenged to do what other progressive states are doing. They know the truth and the importance of that challenge. The truth is that expansion for Imo people has become a necessity, just as it became a necessity for Lagos at some point in time. In the process of these expansions and developments, the government will inevitably step on toes, some of them raw. Okorocha knew that he would hurt some people in the process of implementing some of his decisions. And that was why he appealed to them to understand that his intention is to build a state of Imo peoples collective dreams and aspirations. He has told Imo people that his policy of Imo my Pride is dear to his heart and that he would do everything within his capability to ensure that it is realised in the overall interest of the state and its people.

It is important to appreciate that no one expects all of the problems of Imo people to be completely resolved during the tenure of one governor or indeed, one government. Democracy and state development involve time and consistency. So one governor may have his vision centred on improving the state capital. Another's vision could be to develop the rural areas. Another may decide to tackle the electricity problem and so on. The important thing is that at the end of the day they all add up because government must be in continuity. A new government must continue from where the last one stopped.

Today, Imo is the fastest growing state in the federation. There is a need to maintain the momentum. The government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha is expanding the roads created by its predecessors and creating a network of new roads in the state capital to ease congestion. His government is relocating the markets and the mechanic villages from the heart of the city to more spacious areas within the city's suburbs, with plans to modernise the stalls, the shopping plazas and the new mechanic villages and elevating them to international standards.

To complement these efforts and ensure that Imo people do not lose out, Reach-Out and Link-Up Limited is publishing a print and an online edition of the Imo State Business Link Magazine to facilitate demand and supply in the state and in effect make it easier for Imo people to have access to wider choices in their demand and supply needs.

* Developing Owerri

Just like Rome was not built in a day, developing a state like Imo to an international standard is not going to be a one-day affair. It will take vision. It will take time. It will take money. It will take the good will of the people. It will demand trust in the leadership on the part of the citizens. And if that trust is lacking, enemies of state progress whose only interest is their self-aggrandisement will seize the opportunity they always schemed to have, to capitalise on the situation and stall the growth of the state. That, Imo people must resist.

All said and done, if Imo people can give the current government of Owelle Rochas Okorocha the support it needs to clear the state capital, Owerri, of the rubbish that litters every of its streets and make Owerri clean once again, even if that means relocating the markets and the mechanic villages, we will surely reclaim that glory for which the state was once known  as the cleanest state in West Africa. The governor cannot carry the cross alone.

Even Jesus Christ was not allowed to carry His cross alone. At some point, Simon the Cyrene was pulled over to help Jesus Christ. The governor will, likewise, need the trust and support of Imo people and their understanding that his government means well for them. On their part, Imo people should anchor their trust in the fact that at some point in time, the achievements of all the governors who governed their state will be written down on the scoreboard of Imo history, for all its citizens to appreciate.

Will Governor Okorocha be the one they will congratulate most, above all others? Will he be the governor the people of Imo State will hold close to their hearts? Governor Okorocha knows the answer to this vital question.

The good people of Imo State must therefore learn to have faith and believe that at the end of a long day, it shall be well with our people. We simply need to look back on our 40-year history, mutually correct our mistakes and then consolidate the steps we plan to take as a people to stabilize the future of our children. Life, they say, begins at 40. This is why Governor Okorocha and Imo citizens must sheath their swords and learn to work in harmony.

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15.01.2017 LISTEN

A musician sang a song, in which he says " I wanna know my destiny."

I therefore, decided to reflect on this question:

Do human beings have a destiny?

Have you also asked yourself if that is a realistic issue?

We have all been made to believe that everyone has a destiny right?

Well, the question is, who sets that destiny, when and how?

Have you asked yourself ,whether or not, you have a role to play in the realization of that destiny?

I guess you answered yes.

If you think you have a role in bringing your destiny to pass, then what is the meaning of destiny?

Destiny, according to Google, is "the events that will necessarily happen to a particular person or thing in the future."

Take a critical read of the components of the definition. Let me ask you to lay emphasis on "NECESSARILY."

Furthermore, check its synonyms : automatically, as a matter of course, certainly, surely, definitely, incontrovertibly, undoubtedly,

unavoidably, of necessity, by force of circumstance, inevitably, and inescapably. ( accessed at same source referenced above. )

While you reflect on the words making the definition of destiny, and the accompanying synonymous words provided, let me ask you another question.

Having read the meaning of destiny, can you say, without your input destiny will not come to pass? If you answered yes, then you misunderstood the importance of the synonymous words provided above.

It is clear from the meaning of destiny that it is something that must come to pass, whether rain or shine.

Is it, therefore, realistic, that everyone's life has been pre- arranged?

And if yes, how do we know it?

Can we use the life we live here on earth, to deduce when one achieved his destiny? That is, a time we can emphatically state that this is a destiny fulfilled?

A basic assessment of the experiences in this life revealed some fundanmental realities:

No person, who starts life as a poor person automatically becomes rich by the end of his life transition. Some attain richness, others still die poor.

No person, born in riches, remains automatically rich, till he dies. Some end up being poor.

It takes several practical efforts, including hard work and determination to attain richness, or remain a rich man for life. That is when one is fortunate to be born with a silver spoon in the mouth.

There are those who also work hard and with determination, but could not realize what they wanted, as such, probably die poor.

There are others, who also die a miserable death; accidents, diseases, murder, hunger, and other mysterious deaths.

Can you say they were destined to suffer such fates?

Or you think they did not listen, or behaved well in life, or some devil interrupted their smooth destiny, hence ended up in such a way?

Well, if you accept the latter, then be reminded that, a destiny must automatically come to pass. Therefore, nothing can stop it.

The preceding matter leaves us with the question: Does a human being have to necessarily contribute to his destiny for it to come to pass?

If you answered yes, then read the definition of destiny again. It is independent of external influence.

So , do all human beings have an end of life, which is predetermined?

The facts will speak for themselves.

It cannot be said that in determining the end of life, of a human being, it was decided that he should die poor, as we have witnessed over the years, among the homeless and the downtrodden.

It cannot be said that in determining the end of life of a human being, it was decided that, that child should not live to celebrate his 20th birthday.

It cannot be said that, in deciding the destiny of a sitting member of Parliament, it was arrived at that he will be stabbed in the abdomen, by a young man.

The armed robber who succeeds in his robbery operation, cannot be said to have had his success predetermined for him by invisible forces.

The prostitute, who had clients coming her way, cannot be presumed to be destined to succeed in such a trade.

The slave cannot accept that the ill treatments he received was predetermined by some mysterious powers.

The oppressed cannot be happy knowing that such tyrannical practices unleashed on him, by the oppressor, was a pre- arrangement, before he was even born.

The African poor cannot accept that his poverty in the abundance of plenty natural resources, was a destiny fulfilled.

I can go on and on. Many of such unusual and painful incidences illicit several questions in your mind. But you choose to ignore it. You do so, because your thoughts must be limited to a preconceived truth that such things could be a destiny at play. That, it is meant to happen and that is why it happened.

Imagine what will be our faith, if the rice farmer decides to plant a seed and forget about it, because it will grow anyway.

Imagine if the cocoa farmer decides to dump the cocoa seeds on the ground, and go home to sleep, until it germinates.

Think about a police officer ,who decides to sleep on duty, because, what will happen will happen anyway.

Think about the student, who refuses to learn, because, he is destined to pass his examinations .

Think about the employment seeker, who submits his/her applications, but decides not to follow up on it, because, it has been revealed that the position is already set for him or her by unknown spirits.

Sad to say, thinking this way creates room for us to accept mediocrity. It helps us to rationale our inactions. It gives us the opportunity to conveniently blame our failures, as a people on things unseen. Failure to achieve an efficient system is by our own miscalculations and misjudgment.

Opportunities do not create themselves. It is a collection of proactive, conscious, consistent and targeted activities that bring them forth.

A great man, Ralph Waldo Emerso, once said: "The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be."

It is William Jennings Bryan, who also said, "Destiny is not a matter of chance; it is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved."

In a nut shell, you take your "destiny" into your own hands. You work towards it. It is not predetermined for you.

The cause of our shortcomings have to be investigated. Not that we use a preconceived sayings, or beliefs to explain the occurrence. We should avoid hasty generations in the affairs of this life. Every events of life is as a result of our actions or inactions. We must learn to do introspection.

If fatal accident happens, it is investigation that must be conducted to determine the cause. You cannot conclude on cause, without even conducting any preliminary accident investigation. The cause of death is determined by a post mortem. Accident is not a cause of death.

An armed robber who is arrested in the course of a robbery expedition, has himself to blame, for not being on top of his game.

Others have succeeded in robbing more than that.

The developed continents Africans go to with cups in hands, for a token aid worked for it. It was not their destiny to be rich, while Africans remains poor, and in the words of Tony Blair, "a scar in the conscience of humanity".

Africa must work to achieve the future that she wants, and Africa is the people living in her.

The people of Africa must create their own world, which will be the envy of many. We are not destined to be poor.

We are not destined to be beggars. We cannot continue to beg for aids, when the resources used to enrich the developed countries come from our continent.

There is no destiny to know. You cannot wait to see your destiny. You create it. You work at it. You achieve it, all by yourself.

The solution starts from our mindset. What we accept as absolute truths in Africa is amazing.

What we make a top priority in Africa, is ironically, at the bottom of the scale of preference, for the developed countries, yet we want to be like them.

We want to be counted as a developed country and continent, but we are not prepared to change our priorities. We are not prepared to do away with the old mindsets, that retard our collective efforts. We allow ourselves to be conditioned to think in a particular way. "What our slave master told us is the truth, the absolute truth, and nothing, but the whole truth". And we are very proud of it. Whoever finds faults with the system handed out to us by the imperialist is treated as a foe. A misfit. An infidel. A stubborn non conformist. A deviant. We must chase him. Bring him to order. He may be running mad. He is being controlled by something. If the slave masters left with us, an absolute truth, and good things that will make us great and strong, then why are we still the poorest people on earth? Dr. Kwame Nkrumah told his colleague African heads of state more than 50 years ago, that "Africa is rich, and not poor.It is Africans , who are poor", and that they are poor because of the "uncounted profit that has been made out of the exploitation of their labour and their lands".

Is the state of Africa a destiny fulfilled? Should we accept the way things are as predetermined? Do we take it that, we were originally meant to be at par with other continents, but the hands of the devil interrupted it up to now?
The Girls Girls For Nana Addo, a group of active ladies committed to the ruling New Patriotic Party has expressed gratitude the President, Nana Addo Dankwah Akufo Addo, for the nomination of Hon. Otiko Afisah Djaba, to the Women and Gender Ministry.

The group says it is delighted at the nomination of the party's National Women's Organizer, Hon. Otiko Djaba, for the position, describing her as the most perfect choice.

According to them, Hon. Otiko Djaba brings to the Ministry, great deal of experience having dealt with women and vulnerable groups in the country for several years now.

In a statement issued and signed by its Ashanti Regional Coordinator, Maame Yaa Dufie, the group, which actively campaigned for the party under the supervision of the National Women's Organizer, reiterated its commitment and support for the nominee upon her confirmation by Parliament.

The Girls Girls For Nana Addo therefore called on Ghanaians to rally behind the new NPP administration in order to achieve the objectives of transforming the country's economy and bringing prosperity to the people of the country.
15.01.2017 LISTEN

H. E. Nana Akuffo Addo upon the assumption of office as President has nominated for consideration by Parliament Ministers designates. It is expected of parliament to start vetting these nominees of the president by next week.

Eagle Eye International has reservations with the open vetting of the Defense, Interior and National Security Ministers

We have watched carefully the vetting of Ministers and their Deputies in the past and know how information is divulged during the process, in the quest of parliament to know the qualification, experience and strategies the nominees intend to adopt to make their ministries stronger and more effective.

The vetting of these Ministers is required by law but opening it to the public is what Eagle Eye International has a challenge with.

If National Security Ministers are responsible for protecting the countries borders from both external and internal attacks, why vet them in public and make their security and intelligence strategies known when details may be made public as the minister designate being vetted, answers questions to prove his/her competence and capacity on the field.

He/she may unconsciously let out some vital information to the public which may be injurious to our security as a country.

This is akin to giving ammunition to your opponents to launch an attack on you because you don't know who may be taking notes of the information been shared.

It is a major security threat, in our view to lay bare for instance, plans to make the strategy(s) of our nation better. We may compromise the security of our country if we deliberately or in deliberately divulge some sort of information to those we are protecting the country from.

We have instances in our country where unprofessionalism is demonstrated at vetting process. Some Minister designates callously put out information and it may be a breach of the security of our country if it happens with any of our security related ministries.

Now a little throwback the 37year-old nominee, the deputy minister designate for Defence, Kenneth Gilbert Adjei could not give any single rank in the army when he was asked by a member of the Committee to name all the ranks in the Ghana Army.

This was his response; Mr Chairman, as you know I am a civilian and now being appointed as Deputy Minister of defence, when I get there I will learn the tanks he said.

The Defence, Interior and National Security Ministries is a prestigious one and for that matter, vetting personnel's to such departments to take up positions needs to be given a different dimension rather than making it a public show which exposes its security machinery.

Matters of National Security and Intelligence should be restricted from the public unless otherwise very necessary.



Eagle Eye International

Ideas, Service to God and Country

Email:

[email protected] / [email protected]

Seth Adu - Adjei

+233 (0) 208617748 / +233 (0) 244702074

Director, Research Security and Intelligence

Eagle Eye International

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Operations, Eagle Eye International

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Eagle Eye International

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RIO DE JANEIRO  Brazils government is struggling to cope with overcrowded and violent prisons that have seen nearly 100 inmates killed within a week, with many beheaded and dismembered.

This is one of the most serious crises that Michel Temer, the president of Brazil, has faced since assuming power last year after the impeachment of Dilma Rousseff.

Critics have described the Temer administrations response as inadequate and called the refusal by all spheres of government to accept responsibility as absurd.

This is a challenge to civilization, said Jose Moises, a professor of political science at the University of Sao Paulo. It was not a good response.
SUNDAY PUZZLE  When I was in school, I was O.K. with grammar when we were talking about your basic nouns, verbs and adjectives. I was even O.K. with present tense, past tense and future tense. Once they started to rattle on about split indicative predicates with a triple axel and a shot of mocha, however, I decided it was time to stop listening and just write. It was incredibly freeing.

Im better about it now  education is so wasted on the young, isnt it?  but I still give serious side-eye to some of the more complicated rules of sentence structure. Its a relief to me that other columnists and editors, like the esteemed John McIntyre of The Baltimore Sun, do as well. Mr. McIntyre, who lends gravitas to just about any occasion, has made a wonderful series of videos about grammar usage on his You Dont Say language blog, and I highly recommend them, if not just to feel better about yourself. Its free grammar therapy.

I bring this up because todays puzzle by Joel Fagliano is all about grammar, and when I read the puzzle title, Grammar Lesson, I was afraid that I might not be able to solve his puzzle.

Pish tosh, as Mr. McIntyre might say, if he in fact was in the habit of saying pish tosh. It turns out that while the theme entries are mostly elements of sentence structure, the clues are not asking you to parse sentences. Theyre asking you to parse puns. And were all about the puns, arent we?
RIO DE JANEIRO  At least 10 prisoners have been killed in a prison riot in northeastern Brazil, the latest in a wave of fatal uprisings in the countrys overcrowded prisons that have killed nearly 100 this year  with many of the victims decapitated and mutilated.

The riot began around 5 p.m. Saturday at the State Penitentiary of Alcacuz, near Natal in the northeastern state of Rio Grande do Norte, said Juliska Azevedo, a spokeswoman for the state government.

In a statement, the authorities said that the riot was caused by a fight between prisoners from two wings and that at least 10 had been confirmed dead.

A group of prisoners managed to get out of their cells and invade another wing, said Caio Bezerra, the secretary of public security and social defense for Rio Grande do Norte. There were frictions, there were attacks. But police are already working to contain the situation so it does not reach other pavilions in the same prison.
If Donald J. Trumps first news conference as president-elect was a raucous, chaotic affair on Wednesday  and it was  the parody of it on Saturday Night Live was somehow calmer and more organized than the actual event.

Still, the S.N.L. sketch pulled few punches as it swung at the shows most powerful, persistent critic, mocking Mr. Trump on a range of subjects, including the perceived lack of star power at his coming inauguration; his opaque plan to divest himself from his businesses; and the possibility that Russia possessed unverified compromising information on him.

Saturday nights episode, the first new one of 2017, once again featured Alec Baldwin as Mr. Trump. He started off the faux news conference by vowing to answer what he said was the question thats on everyones mind.

Yes, this is real life, he said. This is really happening. On January 20, I, Donald J. Trump, will become the 45th president of the United States.
Tony Rosato, who was a cast member of the sketch shows Saturday Night Live and SCTV in the 1980s, but whose career ground to a halt when mental illness led to his incarceration in the 2000s, died on Tuesday at his home in Toronto. He was 62.

His death was confirmed by his agent Ryan Goldhar, who said the cause had not been confirmed but appeared to be a heart attack.

Mr. Rosato, an energetic actor and madcap impressionist, got his start with the Toronto company of the Second City improvisational troupe. In 1977 he became a performer and writer for SCTV (originally titled Second City Television), whose cast over the years would also feature Martin Short, John Candy, Catherine OHara and Rick Moranis.
Call it Vatican of Cards: The Young Pope is sometimes so bad its almost good, our critic says. Meanwhile, Victoria, for all its pleasures, isnt the least bit believable, as historical dramas go. And Homeland brings a note of comfort in troubling times.

Whats on TV

THE YOUNG POPE 9 p.m. on HBO. Jude Law radiates as Pius XIII, the first American pope, exalted by the church establishment in the expectation that hell be a telegenic media darling and a bridge between the conservatives and the liberals. But with an addiction to Cherry Coke Zero, a desire to cultivate a mystique like Banksys or Daft Punks, his installation of the nun who raised him (Diane Keaton) as consigliere, and his almost medieval beliefs, he may well be the Antichrist. When The Young Pope is bad, its epically so  laughable, with histrionics and mustache-twirling and bombastic set pieces, James Poniewozik wrote in The New York Times about this creation from the Italian director Paolo Sorrentino. When its good  well, its still often pretty bad, he added, but its also gorgeous and appealingly weird.

BARACK OBAMA: EIGHT YEARS IN THE WHITE HOUSE 7 p.m. on CBS. In this 60 Minutes special, Steve Kroft interviews President Obama about his historic election, the Affordable Care Act, the killing of Osama bin Laden and his legacy, as well as President-elect Donald J. Trump.
The highest office in the land has afforded Mr. Trump his most prominent celebrity perch. His account has risen from a few million followers to nearly 20 million in the past year. There was a time when some assumed that Mr. Trumps public persona would evolve as he rose in the political ranks. But theres just one Trump, and thats been key to his success. As Kim Kardashian once said, the secret to social media dominance is authenticity and consistency. Mr. Trumps projection of realness relies on him being reliably self-aggrandizing and wildly inappropriate. That may seem like a liability for the leader of the free world, but its an asset in the low-culture celebrity roles that have led him to this moment: reality TV boss, Howard Stern guest, pro-wrestling heel.

Eight years ago, Barack Obama was the social media wonder headed to the White House, and his tech savvy was heralded as a bright light for democracy. The tweets he posts to @POTUS never seem impulsive; they seem made for posterity. Even his jokes are calculated to be minimally offensive and maximally educational. When the NASA rover Curiosity carried Mr. Obamas signature to the surface of Mars, Mr. Obama responded in the form of a dad joke: That is out of this world.

If Mr. Obama came to power in a time of great optimism for Twitter, Mr. Trump lords over a waning platform. What was once a hopeful place for global connection and resistance has become a site for coordinating harassment campaigns, connecting with white supremacists and accelerating unverified and sometimes dangerous rumors. Its growth has slumped and its stock price has stagnated.

But the place suits Mr. Trumps purposes fine. For the guy whos all about appearances, Twitter provides the veneer of populist connection without the hassle of accountability. Sean Spicer, Mr. Trumps incoming press secretary, has suggested that Twitter town halls and Reddit forums may replace some typical presidential press interactions, where he can easily make himself available to anonymous fans instead of the scrutiny of the press. The social media platforms that were once heralded as democratic tools could also be used to undermine democratic norms.

All of this works because one group is as intoxicated by Twitter as Mr. Trump is: journalists. Its hard to explain to a normal person  one of the 79 percent of American adults who dont use Twitter  why the platform mesmerizes the news media. Its all-powerful search function means you can conjure material on any kind of news topic  or just spend your time searching for your own name. Reporters still crave the ego rush of a published byline, but that pales in comparison to the animated feedback loop that Twitter offers. The more time you spend, and the more tweets you send, the bigger your following becomes. But Twitter provides little actual reach  compared with Facebook or Google, it hardly drives any traffic to articles. Its like a video game for professional validation.

Mr. Trump expertly exploits journalists unwavering attention to their Twitter feeds, their competitive spirit and their ingrained journalistic conventions  chiefly, that what the president says is inherently newsworthy. As a developer and reality show star, he lobbied the news media for coverage. Now journalists feel obligated to pay attention to him. Mr. Trump overwhelms the media with boatloads of what was once a rare commodity: access. He creates impressions faster than journalists can check them. By the time they turn up the facts, the news cycle has moved on to his next missive, leaving less time (and reader attention) for the stories Mr. Trump does not highlight on his feed.

Mr. Trump may not follow a deliberate distraction strategy, but he doesnt need one. He distracts instinctively. All he needs is a phone, the press and whatever thought just entered his mind.
Do these two camps recognize each other as kindred spirits?

Theres a lot of space in between those two groups that hampers dialogue, but whats critical is that if you look at the sentiments that were expressed about trade in this past election season, there was an awful lot of convergence across the spectrum. This isnt a Trump thing. If you look at the U.S. economy, we are actually one of the least trade-dependent countries in the world. I think were ranked seventh from the bottom.

Because of the size of our domestic market?

Because of the size of the market, the diversity of the productive assets that we have. You have a country that has relatively low trade exposure, but if you look at the polling and opinion data, we are among the most negative about trade. You look at Europe for example, they have lost the same kinds of jobs as we have, theyre less protected. Yet, politically, they arent as opposed.

If Ive got people in Germany who have lost their low-end manufacturing jobs, then why are they more in favor than we are? I think it has to do with safety nets and institutions that eliminate some of the costs associated with churn. What you have in the United States is a quite rational response to the failure of policy to deal with these dislocations. If I have easily portable health insurance, if I have retraining, if I have mechanisms that facilitate search and relocation, if I have these things in place to ease these transitions, then Im not going to be so opposed.

Inflation F.A.Q. Card 1 of 5 What is inflation? Inflation is a loss of purchasing power over time, meaning your dollar will not go as far tomorrow as it did today. It is typically expressed as the annual change in prices for everyday goods and services such as food, furniture, apparel, transportation and toys. What causes inflation? It can be the result of rising consumer demand. But inflation can also rise and fall based on developments that have little to do with economic conditions, such as limited oil production and supply chain problems. Is inflation bad? It depends on the circumstances. Fast price increases spell trouble, but moderate price gains can lead to higher wages and job growth. How does inflation affect the poor? Inflation can be especially hard to shoulder for poor households because they spend a bigger chunk of their budgets on necessities like food, housing and gas. Can inflation affect the stock market? Rapid inflation typically spells trouble for stocks. Financial assets in general have historically fared badly during inflation booms, while tangible assets like houses have held their value better.









Im not sure they dont get it. They might get it just fine. Now that doesnt address the thing that many economists would say, which is that they are conflating the effects of automation and trade.

You were inspired to write your book by the Seattle protests against the Doha Round, which was to produce a global trade agreement that depended on the World Trade Organizations authority, and you know the Doha Round has been moribund ever since. Do you think that multilateral trade agreements are now a thing of the past?
Brett Sloane Amelkin and Joseph Craig Newman were married Jan. 14 at the Addison, an event space in Boca Raton, Fla. Ian Marcus Amelkin, the brides brother who became a Universal Life minister for the occasion, officiated at a ceremony incorporating Jewish traditions.

Mrs. Newman, 30, is a lawyer in the criminal defense practice of the Legal Aid Society in Brooklyn. She graduated from Princeton, and received a master's degree in teaching from Pace University, as well as a law degree from Cardozo School of Law.

She is a daughter of Donna S. Amelkin of Parkland, Fla., and the late Dean M. Amelkin. Her mother is the chairwoman of the English department at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland. Until 2016 she was a member of the Parkland Educational Advisory Board for the City of Parkland, appointed by the mayor. The brides father was the owner of Ormont Graphics, a printing company in Fort Lauderdale, Fla.

Mr. Newman, 32, is a civil engineer focusing on site plans at Maser Consulting, a civil engineering consulting firm in Chestnut Ridge, N.Y. He graduated with two degrees, one in statistics and marketing from N.Y.U. and another in civil engineering from Rutgers.
Derika Brooke Jaffe and Philip Jeffrey Rosenthal are to be married Jan. 15 at the Park Avenue Synagogue in Manhattan. Rabbi Daniel Sherman is to officiate.

The bride, 32, will be taking her husbands name. She works in Manhattan, overseeing business-renewal operations at Salesforce.com, a San Francisco-based software management services company. She graduated from the University at Buffalo.

She is the daughter of Sandra Jaffe of Allentown, Pa., and David Jaffe of Teaneck, N.J. The brides mother owns Sharpchef.com, a company in Allentown that manufactures artisan knives. Her father is a sales executive at Fodera & Sons, a bakery distribution company in Corona, Queens.

The groom, 50, is the co-founder and president of Fastcase, an online legal research company in Washington. He was the 2016 Republican candidate in New Yorks 10th Congressional District, which includes the West Side of Manhattan and much of Brooklyn.
This weekend, we will celebrate Martin Luther King Day, to honor and remember the person who is arguably the most important civil rights leader of the 20th century. Reflecting on King and his legacy in the past year has been tough. Issues on race many thought to have been long settled seem to be alive in our public life.

Just to name a few:

Policy makers now find it acceptable to make it harder to vote, particularly for voters of color. New restrictions set in place require additional paperwork to vote and restrict voting hours sound all too similar to the Jim Crow literacy tests and poll taxes of the past.

Members of the Latino community wonder in fear how many millions of immigrants will be deported. They agonize if it is their family that may be separated with the force of the federal government.

The alt right emerged as a new synonym for white supremacists. Steve Bannon, the man some describe as the leader of the alt right (white supremacists) at Brietbart, will be a senior adviser to the President-elect Trump.

A recurring news story last year was the level of support the Ku Klux Klan was giving to Donald Trump. I thought they were long gone; now, the KKK and the white supremacists within the alt right are an emerging political force in America.

Muslims in our community continue to wonder if they will be forced to register with the government or even be deported simply because of their faith.

Just how hostile to civil rights will the potential next Attorney General Jeff Sessions be? He continues to be hostile to voting rights when asked about photo identification laws. When he was nominated to be a federal judge in 1986, MLKs widow, Coretta Scott King, wrote that Sessions would irreparably damage the work of my husband. Saying further, Mr. Sessions has used the awesome powers of his office in a shabby attempt to intimidate and frighten elderly black voters.

The Black Lives Matter movement has been met with more resistance than I would have thought in response to the disproportionate number of incarcerated African Americans and questionable police killings in our country.

I think if King were alive today, he would oppose voter ID, be standing with our Muslim and Latino brothers and sisters and marching with Black Lives Matter.

Now more than ever, as we reflect on Kings legacy, we need to resist these trends in our civic life. When King famously wrote injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere, in his Letter From Birmingham Jail, he reminded us that these issues are important for all Americans. The events of the last year have reminded me that the issues of justice and civil rights are just as important today as they were 50 years ago. If we want to be true to Kings legacy, we have a responsibility to fight injustice in our own day.
Jennifer Grausman and Andy Schocken, both filmmakers, are to be married Jan. 15 by Rabbi Melissa Buyer-Witman at the Lotos Club in New York.

Ms. Grausman, 42, who is keeping her name, was a director and a producer of Art and Craft, a documentary about an art forger that had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival and was released theatrically in 2014, then aired on PBS in 2015. She was also a director and the producer of the 2008 documentary Pressure Cooker, about students in a Philadelphia culinary program. She graduated cum laude from Duke, and received a masters degree in film production from Columbia.

She is a daughter of Susan Pearl Grausman and Richard Grausman of New York. Her father is the founder and president of the Careers Through Culinary Arts Program (C-CAP) in New York, a nationwide program training disadvantaged high school students for culinary careers. Her father is the author of French Classics Made Easy. The brides mother is a founding board member of the culinary program, and is on the advisory council of the Boston University Tanglewood Institute of Lenox, Mass., and Boston, and the Mahaiwe Performing Arts Center in Great Barrington, Mass.

Mr. Schocken, also 42, is a cinematographer and documentary filmmaker. He is a producer and a director of Song of Lahore, a documentary about jazz musicians in Pakistan, which had its premiere at the Tribeca Film Festival in 2015 and was released by Broad Green Pictures last year. He was a co-producer and cinematographer for The Last Campaign of Gov. Booth Gardner, seen on HBO in 2009, about a former governor of Washington State who fought for legally assisted suicide. Mr. Schocken graduated from the University of Pennsylvania and received a masters degree in documentary filmmaking from Stanford.
She arrived at his apartment in Fordham Heights and met him and his girlfriend and their two young children. They fed Joannie, and Mr. Johnson, who was actually 27, soon laid down the rules.

He said, If you want to stay here, you have to prostitute, Joannie said. I was like, All right, Ill do it. I didnt want to go home. I didnt have any options.

This reasoning can be common in cases like this, said Lauren Di Chiara, an assistant district attorney in the Bronx who would prosecute Mr. Johnson.

They feel complicit in what ultimately occurs to them, she said. They dont see themselves as victims. Its unlike when someone says, I was robbed at knife point yesterday. They ran away.

Mr. Johnson bought Joannie lingerie and had her pose for pictures that he posted on Backpage, with a number to call for more information, Joannie said. The first ad went online on her second or third day in the apartment, and the calls began immediately.

The first guy, he was dark-skinned, Joannie said. The second one was Indian. He said, Why are you doing this? It was a question she heard repeatedly in the days and weeks that followed as men, answering an ad for a woman 20 or 22 years old, were met by a teenager who looked even younger.

They said: Oh, you look like a baby. You dont look like youre happy doing it. Why are you doing this? They would say it to Raymond, She looks mad, and he came back and said, You have to look happy. I had to greet them in a nice way. Do you want a quickie, a half-hour or an hour?
John McFadden no longer sticks his hand out for a yellow cab. He has plenty of other options at his fingertips.

With a couple of taps on his phone, he lines up rides with Via, a car-pooling service that shuttles him around Manhattan with strangers for a flat rate of $5. When he wants to ride alone, he taps again, this time summoning a car through Uber.

I used to go out and hail a cab, but this is more convenient, said Mr. McFadden, 47, a photographer. We all use our phones all day, every day.

The yellow cab may be as synonymous with New York as pizza, Broadway and the Empire State Building, but more and more it is no longer the ride of choice. This fixture of city life  a touchstone of popular culture in movies like Taxi Driver and the hit television series Taxi  was once the main alternative to subways and buses, hailed by rich and poor alike. Cabdrivers were the ambassadors of the streets, welcoming newcomers, passing along city lore and dispensing advice even when no one asked.
Pakistans insistence on trying and convicting its terrorists in secret is baffling. The war against the Taliban and other religious extremists is supposedly a war of ideas. But how are we to fight an idea when we dont know what it is?

Should I just be relieved that my friends killer will be hanged? Or should I also be asking: How should we kill our killers? I dont have the stomach for the death penalty, but if Aziz is to be executed, Id like to make sure he actually did murder Sabeen and I want to know why.

These trials provide not justice so much as revenge, and they uncover very little information. The Taliban were fond of killing our soldiers and making videos while doing it. We let our army take away suspected terrorists to try them and hang them, but we want to be spared the gory details.

And yet the gory details are what we need to know if we want to know our enemy. The reasons Aziz gave in his interview for killing Sabeen  she spoke out against the Taliban, she promoted secular values  echo views and values common among corporate workers, lawyers, journalists and other armchair jihadists. Thats why holding court hearings in the open matters: Because then they might reveal how a theological argument can lead to a massacre, how prejudice can lead to sectarian violence.

Our killers went to the same schools we did. They and their supporters read the same newspapers we do. We all attend the same wedding banquets. But many of us pretend they live in caves and are funded by our enemies. Well, maybe they are funded by our enemies, but some of them also have business degrees and run restaurants in Karachi.

Before these terrorism trials, the Pakistani army already had its own system of justice: It would abduct people it believed were a threat to national security. Only last week there were protests across the country after four activists went missing. They were all critical of the army and their families believe intelligence agencies abducted them. The army has been accused by local and international human rights organizations of killing and dumping the bodies of Baloch nationalists. Some of the people convicted of terrorism by the military courts had been declared missing and were already in the armys custody.

This kind of military justice confirms the notion that we are at war. But it doesnt tell us who we are at war with. Do we have a shape-shifting enemy, or are we fighting a war of convenience? The Pakistani army has twisted its narrative about the war too many times.
The spike in bookings makes Skedaddle one of the unlikely beneficiaries of the presidential inauguration. Across Washington, hotels and restaurants are set to be packed over the weekend, and other companies are also trumpeting what they expect to be a rise in their business. Airbnb, the online room rental service, said on Friday that it has more than 15,100 guests booked in Washington for inauguration weekend. And Uber said it has been working to ensure that its ride-hailing services work smoothly in the city during inauguration week.

Other bus start-ups are also tapping into the inauguration demand. Skedaddles main rival is Rally, which was started in 2010 to transport people to the Rally to Restore Sanity and/or Fear, a political gathering hosted by the comedians Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Rally, which provided bus transportation to specific events but now lets people make their own routes, said it is bringing 50,000 people to the Womens March, as well as buses of Trump supporters to the inauguration.

This is a once-in-a-generation event in terms of numbers, and no single organization can move them all, said Numaan Akram, a founder and the chief executive of Rally.

Unrecognized tech start-ups have been lifted by presidential inaugurations before. In 2009, for President Obamas first inauguration, Airbnb was largely unknown and the practice of paying to sleep in a strangers home was relatively uncommon. But most Washington hotels were sold out, and word of Airbnb spread quickly among people desperate for a place to stay. Airbnb now operates in more than 34,000 cities worldwide and is valued at $30 billion.

Skedaddle may see some similar inauguration benefits. The company was founded in 2015 by Mr. Nestler, his brother Craig, Brad Werntz and Louis Harwood, who had met through a combination of school and previous work at start-ups. None of the founders are over 29, and this is the first company any of them have started.
Three of the eight council members are Hispanic, but one of them, Councilman Cody Ray Wheeler, is a Latino with an Anglo surname, and the judge wrote that politicians in Pasadena thought Mr. Wheelers election was the result of his Anglo-sounding name and the Anglo votes that attracted.

In 2013, the council was split 4 to 4, with the mayor holding the tiebreaking vote: Four were aligned with the mayor and four were aligned with the Hispanic community. Many were convinced that in the next election cycle, the Latino-backed candidates would win four seats again, plus a fifth, meaning they would have a majority on the council for the first time in Pasadenas history and weaken Mr. Isbells influence.

Latino success in Pasadena elections has been slow, slight and disproportionately lower than Pasadenas Latino population, Judge Rosenthal wrote. But Latino success has increased in recent years. Indeed, the plaintiffs theory of this case, which the court finds credible and amply supported by reliable record evidence, is that Pasadena changed to the 6-2 map and plan precisely because Latinos were becoming more successful at winning City Council seats.

After the 2015 elections, the council remained divided 4 to 4 under the 6-to-2 map. Three seats were held by Hispanics and one of the new at-large seats was won by a white candidate who had the support of Hispanic voters, Councilwoman Pat Van Houte. The split was emphasized by the citys lawyers in defending the new system. Mr. Heath said city officials did not think the 6-to-2 map discriminated since Hispanics make up about 50 percent of the citys citizen voting-age population and the 6-to-2 system resulted in the election of Hispanic-preferred candidates to half the seats on the City Council.

An aide to the mayor referred questions about the case to Mr. Heath, the citys lawyer.

Mr. Isbell appeared to accidentally drop the gun that he brought to the March 2014 hearing. At a trial held in 2016 on the voting-rights allegations, he testified that it was a broken pellet gun, a claim the judge discounted, saying in her ruling that the credible evidence was that it was a 9-millimeter Beretta.

Judge Rosenthal, the city and the plaintiffs are still sorting out a lingering question: how long the city should be under federal oversight. The judge asked both sides to suggest a time period, writing that five years might be appropriate.

Richard L. Hasen, an election law expert and law professor at the University of California, Irvine, said the relevant section of the Voting Rights Act gave the judge wide discretion. You can guess that the plaintiffs will argue for a longer period and the city for shorter, he said. Without a very close look at the facts, Im not in a position to say what I think is the ideal number here. But I dont think choosing 10 years would be too long.
WASHINGTON

In March 2010, on the day before President Obama was to sign the Affordable Care Act into law, a group of senior Republican aides huddled in Senator Mitch McConnells Capitol suite to try to come up with a catchy slogan to use against it.

Many conservatives were simply advocating a vow to repeal the new law, but Republican strategists worried that pressing for repeal without an alternative could backfire. So they batted around a few ideas before Josh Holmes, then a top communications adviser to Mr. McConnell, tossed out the nicely alliterative phrase repeal and replace. That seemed to do the job, with its promise to get rid of the new law detested by Republicans while suggesting that something better would follow.

The phrase has shown real staying power: President-elect Donald J. Trump proudly invoked repeal and replace twice during his news conference on Wednesday.

The goal was to come up with something that had durability and could be a rallying cry for Republicans basically to campaign against Obamacare, said Mr. Holmes, now the president of Cavalry, a consulting and media firm. This obviously had sort of a catchy ring to it. And it was consistent with what we were trying to accomplish.
WASHINGTON  Just days before Donald J. Trump raises his hand to take the oath of office, police departments in Chicago and Baltimore have agreed to federal overhauls, Cubans no longer have an easy route to residency in the United States, and new civil rights monuments in Alabama and South Carolina are on the books.

Still in the works as the seconds tick by for President Obama: a negotiated release of American hostages in Afghanistan, another lengthy list of reduced prison sentences for nonviolent drug offenders, and a raft of appointments to obscure but important federal boards and commissions.

And in the face of Mr. Trumps repeated questioning about whether the United States was getting value for its security dollars in supporting NATO, American tanks began rolling into Poland on Thursday, making good on a promise by Mr. Obama to help Eastern European countries counter Russias president, Vladimir V. Putin.

Mr. Obamas last moments in the White House are being filled with one announcement after another, each intended to bring long-planned efforts to a conclusion before members of his administration unplug their computers, turn off the lights and leave their offices for the last time.
RIO DE JANEIRO  The death toll from a riot in a penitentiary in northeastern Brazil rose on Sunday to 26 prisoners, increasing the number of prison killings in the country this year to more than 120.

Decapitations and mutilations are common in Brazils violent, overcrowded prisons, in which 40 percent of inmates have yet to be sentenced, but the latest wave of brutality has appalled many here.

The riot began around 5 p.m. on Saturday at the State Penitentiary of Alcacuz, 13 miles from Natal, in the state of Rio Grande do Norte, and continued until around 7 a.m. on Sunday, when riot police officers took control of the prison.

The situation of the rebellion is controlled, said Maj. Eduardo Franco of the Rio Grande do Norte police.
BEIRUT, Lebanon  Bahrain executed by firing squad on Sunday three Shiite men convicted of killing three police officers in a bombing in 2014.

The executions were condemned by human rights groups, which said the men had been convicted in unfair trials based on evidence allegedly obtained through torture.

These executions were as inflammatory as they were unjust, said Nicholas McGeehan, senior Bahrain researcher for Human Rights Watch, which opposes the death penalty. These mens convictions were based on retracted confessions and mired in allegations of serious torture.

The island kingdom of Bahrain, off the eastern coast of Saudi Arabia in the Persian Gulf, is a longstanding ally of the United States and hosts the Navys Fifth Fleet.
For Mr. Magal, the threat of trade tariffs is forcing him to rethink the structure of his business. The company assembles thermostatic control units for car manufacturers, including Jaguar Land Rover in Britain and Daimler in Germany.

Tariffs could add anything up to 10 percent to the price of some of his products, an increase he can neither afford to absorb nor pass on. We dont make 10 percent profit  thats for sure, he said, adding, We wont be able to increase the price, because the customer will say, We will buy from the competition. 

The logic is to reduce the amount of products that are made in Britain for continental Europe, and vice versa. Mr. Magal said that European clients were asking him to consider moving production.

With all the new projects we are getting now from Europe, they are saying, Why cant you put it in your plant in Europe? Why do you need to do it in the U.K.?  he said.

If there is a hard Brexit, as seems increasingly likely, some production might be shifted to Britain from the Continent to serve the British market, but more would shift the other way, Mr. Magal said, adding that some parts could be made only in Germany.

It is unclear what the impact will be on the Reading factory and its 230 jobs, or on another British factory that employs about 100 people.
BELGRADE, Serbia  A Serbian train bearing signs reading Kosovo is Serbian has been halted at the border with Kosovo, fueling a crisis in the Balkans and escalating a potential contest between Russia and the West over dominance in the region.

Serbia accused Kosovos leaders on Sunday of wanting war and warned that it would defend every inch of its territory, a day after the train, decorated in Serbian Christian Orthodox symbols and flags, was prevented from entering the neighboring nation.

Kosovo, supported by much of the West, declared independence from Serbia in 2008. But Serbia and its Slavic Orthodox ally, Russia, do not recognize the split.

Serbia has sought to maintain influence in Kosovos north, where most of the countrys Serbian minority lives. Troops led by NATO have controlled Kosovos borders since a three-month air war in 1999 to stop a bloody Serbian crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists.
LONDON  If British plans for leaving the European Union have been a dance of the seven veils, the British government removed one of them on Sunday, letting slip to news media that Prime Minister Theresa May is likely to choose to exit Europes single market and its customs union  a so-called hard Brexit.

Mrs. May is scheduled to make a long-awaited speech on her plans on Tuesday, but the British weekend papers and Sunday news programs were briefed by Downing Street about the main lines of the policy, and some published selected quotations of what Mrs. May is scheduled to say.

Officially, a government spokesman on Sunday called the reports speculation and emphasized only the extracts of the speech that were leaked by Downing Street itself, with Mrs. May calling for British unity to make a success of Brexit and build a truly global Britain.

Those extracts were not explicit on the single market or the customs union, but the Sunday newspapers, which receive their own briefings from the government before publication, took much the same line: that Britain is headed for a sharp break with Europe after a transitional period.
However, with the Israelis dismissing the meeting as rigged and refusing to send representatives, and with the Palestinians absent as well, it seemed even shakier than before. Tzipi Hotovely, Israels deputy foreign minister, said last week that the conference was like a wedding with neither bride nor groom.

The Israelis were reluctant to participate because they want a negotiation that primarily involves only the two principal parties: Israel and the Palestinians. The Palestinians have lost faith in bilateral talks and now prefer that any negotiation go on in an international forum, where they can have more leverage.

The Palestinians welcomed the conferences final communique, and Dr. Saeb Erekat, the Palestine Liberation Organizations secretary general, said in an emailed statement, It is time to stop dealing with Israel as a country above the law and hold it accountable for its systematic violation of human rights and international law.

In another sense, the meeting was also a last shot by a group of world leaders and diplomats who have driven the current peace process, fruitless though it has been, to preserve it in the face of major changes in the American delegation at the heart of the effort.

With Mr. Trumps inauguration days away, his foreign policy is still mostly a matter of conjecture. But he has repeatedly signaled his displeasure with Mr. Obamas approach toward Israel and the peace process.

Israeli officials clearly expect that the pressure to reach an accommodation with the Palestinians will ease once Mr. Trump is in office. Some seem to be counting the hours: After Mr. Trumps election victory, Naftali Bennett, the leader of the pro-settlement Jewish Home party in Mr. Netanyahus coalition, exulted, The era of a Palestinian state is over!

While Mr. Trump has expressed a desire to make what he called the ultimate deal between Israel and the Palestinians, his staff has also reached out to the organization that represents the West Bank settlers, the Yesha Council. The council received multiple invitations to Mr. Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration, according to a spokesman for the umbrella organization. A delegation led by Oded Revivi, the chief foreign envoy of the council and mayor of a large settlement, will be attending.
A father and son team in the START-UP NY program have invented a liquid metal printing machine that could represent a significant transformation in manufacturing. A breakthrough idea five years ago by former University at Buffalo student Zack Vader, then 19, has created a machine that prints three-dimensional objects using liquid metal. Vader Systems is innovating and building the machines in a factory in the CrossPoint Business Park in Getzville. Zack's father Scott, a mechanical engineer, is the CEO. Zack is the chief technology officer. His mother, Pat Roche, is controller.

The machine is so novel it represents a quantum leap in the ability to print three-dimensional objects in metal. Other metal printers exist, but most use a process of laying down powered metal and melting it with a laser or electron beam. In that process, some particles of the powder do not get melted, creating weakened spots.

Manufacturers are very interested in the Vader machine, with one automotive parts maker expressing an interest in eventually buying at least 50 of them. A printer with multiple nozzles could cost more than $1 million. UB engineering faculty and students work closely with the company UB has been a source of intellectual assistance, grants and personnel for the startup as it transforms from a brilliant idea into an industry.

The Vaders were working on their invention in the basement of their home in Amherst when Scott decided to reach out to UB for help. "We were working alone in our basement and tackling some pretty deep technical problems," he said. "We knocked at the door of the university and they welcomed us in," he said. "They set up an impressive first meeting with faculty experts within UB, and they said, 'What are you trying to do? What are your problems and how can we help?'"

The Vaders now have three faculty advisors, are part of the START-UP NY tax-free entrepreneurial program and have won grants from UB's Center for Industrial Effectiveness (UB TCIE), UB's Center for Advanced Biomedical and Bioengineering Technology (UB CAT) grant and a National Grid grant through UB. In addition, and perhaps most importantly, Scott Vader said, access to university students for internships has helped the company grow. Vader Systems already has hired three mechanical engineering graduates.

"This is what makes really good young engineers, to go from the theory and being able to mix in an internship with a local industry," he said. "They realize that the lab they took is something a company really needs."

Inspiration spawned by disappointment Zack Vader, now 24, started focusing on metal printing when his plans to hire a company to 3-D print parts for a microturbine generator were stymied. No company could print the parts he needed, so he decided to make his own metal printer. His breakthrough came when he thought to expose molten metal in a confined chamber with an orifice to a pulsed magnetic field. The transient field induces a pressure with the metal that ejects a droplet. That was the key to making droplets of liquid metal eject from a nozzle.

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Professor Edward P. Furlani, PhD, in UB's Chemical and Biological Engineering and Electrical Engineering departments, said that Vader's process mimics drop-on-demand inkjet printing and is based on the principles of magnetohydrodynamics, i.e. the manipulation of conductive fluids using a magnetic field. In Vader's device, an electrically-pulsed magnetic field permeates liquid metal in an ejection chamber and creates circulating electrical currents that interact with the magnetic field to produce a pressure that squeezes a droplet out of the ejector nozzle.

"It's a transformative technology," Furlani said. "It's very exciting interdisciplinary engineering. I think its application base will continue to broaden and expand for the foreseeable future."

Ciprian N. Ionita, PhD, a research assistant professor in the Biomedical Engineering Department -- a joint effort of the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences and the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB -- foresees the Vader Systems printer ultimately printing out custom stents and other surgical devices right in the hospital.

"This is a game changer," he said. The metal powder used in the current metal printing processes is a contaminant that is difficult to clean up and can be toxic inside the body.

The Vader printer also will be valuable making custom knee and hip replacements, he said.

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Cheaper, faster, better The third UB professor advising the Vaders, Chi Zhou, an assistant professor in the Industrial Systems Engineering Department and a 3-D printing expert, said another advantage of the Vader system is that it is "much, much cheaper" than using powered metal.

"I can see at this stage that it can complement traditional metal printing, but later, maybe 10 years later, it can dominate the metal printing market because it can print better quality, cheaper and faster," Zhou said. Zhou has helped write original open-source software to control the printer. "If they want to add functionality, we can. We have the source code," he said. One of the most fascinating qualities of a 3-D printer is that a complex part is just as cheap to make as a simple part.

"Complexity does not add cost," Zack Vader said, which is the opposite of traditional manufacturing. That makes the machines very attractive to companies making many complex parts.

Steel printing on the horizon On a Vader machine, a strand of aluminum is fed into a heat element that melts it at 750 degrees Celsius (1,382 degrees Fahrenheit). The liquefied metal is then passed to a ceramic tube that forms an ejection chamber and has a submillimeter orifice. A magnetic coil surrounds the tube and receives a short-lived electrical pulse to create a pressure within the tube that ejects a droplet of liquid metal through the orifice. The ejected drop is projected downward onto a heated platform that maneuvers to create solid 3-D shapes based on layer-by-layer deposition and the coalescence of the droplets. Zack Vader said plans are to modify the device, adding nozzles to make it faster. Eventually the machines will be able to melt and print steel at 1,400 C (2,552 F).

As the machine evolves, the Vaders plan to expand their operation into an assembly line manufacturing facility. Applications for the device run the gamut. Scott Vader said the automotive industry may be interested in making parts that are now solid metal into hollow and honey-combed structures. The hollow parts would be lighter, stronger and much cheaper.

And as for the tiny generator that Zack Vader was hoping to print, it may emerge again someday, now that the technology to make it is advancing. "That's just been put on the shelf for a while," he said.
Worldwide the threat of pirate attack has become a less expensive problem since 2013 and from then until 2015 most of the danger moved to the coasts of Malaysia and Indonesia and areas near the Malacca Strait. But in 2016 there were only two attacks in that area, compared to 104 in 2014. That accounted for most of the 60 percent decline in pirate activity throughout Asia. At that point the hot spot for pirate activity moved to the waters between the southern Philippines and Malaysia (Sabah). A slightly larger version of this area, extended east to Indonesia, accounted for 40 percent of all pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013. During that time the Somali coast and nearby areas accounted for only 28 percent. The difference was that pirates were taking large ships off Somalia and holding them and their crews for millions in ransom. In the rest of the world the take per ship attacked was less than ten percent of what Somali pirates were getting. It took a rarely used international effort to shut down the Somali problems. Elsewhere local efforts handled the problem. A model for local cooperation against piracy could be found among the nations bordering the Malacca Strait. Since the 1960s these nations have regularly revived tight and effective regional cooperation to shut down increased pirate activity in the area, especially the Malacca Straits.

An example of how this regional cooperation works occurred after an upsurge of pirate activity in 2015. During the first eight months of 2015 some 80 percent of the pirate attacks on the planet occurred in the Malacca area. That was about ten attacks a month and nearly all of them are robberies of the crew and stealing of portable valuables. The crewmen are usually not hurt and based on victim reports it appears most of the pirates came from Malaysia and Indonesia and were largely amateurs.

There were some professionals in action in 2014 that were able to hijack ships long enough for cargo to be transferred at sea to someone who could resell it and this provided far more money for the pirates than the more common robbery incidents. But those professional pirates were soon gone, in part because theft that large left a trail that police and intelligence agencies could pick up and follow. Moreover as pirate activity increased Malaysia and Indonesia quickly organized a joint effort to run helicopter and warship patrols through areas where most of these less costly robbery attacks are taking place. This sort of quick reaction patrol can move in quickly enough to catch pirates before they and their loot could disappear into the one of the many coves or villages that dot the Malaysian and Indonesian coasts. Police also sought out the middlemen (fences) who bought the valuable (and portable) electronics these grab and go pirates preferred. Stealing expansive electronics from a ship is dangerous because that stuff has serial numbers and a growing number of unpublicized security features that make it difficult to resell if you are not the legal owner. When police find the fence they can often find his suppliers. In any event these small time pirates are more numerous and being amateurs they can quickly drop out and, as far as the police are concerned disappear. Some of these part time pirates are believed to have been in the business, on and off, for over a decade. The police know that if they make some arrests and well publicized prosecutions (and convictions) it will discourage many of these amateur pirates from returning to robbery, at least for a while.

This sort of thing is part of a pattern that evolved even before an international effort to suppress Somali piracy succeeded by 2012. While the Somali piracy was being suppressed there was a major increase in attacks in the Straits of Malacca and the South China Sea. Big as in a sevenfold increase from 2009 to 2013 (when there were 150 attacks). There was also a jump (to 50 attacks a year) off Nigeria. What made Somalia so special was the fact that it was the only place where ships and crews could be taken and held for ransom for long periods. Everywhere else the pirates were usually only interested in robbing the crew and stealing anything portable that they could get into their small boats. Off the Nigerian coast pirates more frequently took some ship officers with them to hold for ransom. Taking a ship proved too risky, even is some pirates occasionally pulled it off.

Pirates are often quite resourceful. Off Nigeria and the Malacca Strait some pirates developed more complex but much more lucrative tactics. This involves recruiting someone who knows how to find and turn off tracking devices as well as someone familiar with marine engines. Then the pirates use their own personnel or force the crew to move small tankers to remote locations where most of the cargo (of oil) can be transferred to another ship and later sold on the black market. While that sort of thing requires a lot of organization, nerve and luck there have been at several pirate gangs in Nigeria and from somewhere around the Malacca Strait (Singapore, Malaysia or Indonesia) that have figured out how to do this since 2012. Again turning large hauls into cash has proved to be an insurmountable problem for the pirates and these big scores so far always eventually backfire and result in arrests and prosecutions. For that reason most of the attacks off Nigeria and Malacca Strait are still armed robbery. Given the amount of portable electronics on a seagoing ship (both company and personal), a half dozen armed pirates can net several thousand dollars per ship hit. There are fences on shore who pay cash for this stuff and quickly move it out of the country. But stealing several thousand tons of fuel oil from a small tanker is worth a thousand times more if you can organize this sort of thing and survive the intense police investigation that will follow. A similar pattern hit the Islamic terrorist (Abu Sayyaf) pirates in the southern Philippines. In 2016 these fellows decided to go after crew members of ships and hold them for ransom in remote areas southwest Philippines (mainly Sulu and Basilan Islands). As often happened this backfired as the Philippines greatly increased the number of troops and police in that area and the neighboring countries entered into cooperative agreements that made it easier to catch pirates at sea.

While there are plenty of targets off Nigeria and the southern Philippines, there are even more near the Malacca Strait. Over 50,000 large ships moving through the Strait of Malacca each year and nearly as many of the smaller ships the pirates favor for cargo hijacking. Thats lots of targets. The 800 kilometer long strait is between Malaysia and Indonesia and is 65 kilometers wide at its narrowest and depth are generally 27-37 meters (90-120 feet). The shallow and tricky waters in the strait forces the big ships to go slow enough (under 30 kilometers an hour) for speed boats to catch them.

Theres no easy solution to the recurring piracy in the Strait of Malacca. Pirates usually function on the margins of society, trying to get a cut of the good life in situations where there aren't many options. This is usually in areas where state control is weakest or absent, in failing and "flailed" states. A flailing state is something like Nigeria, Indonesia, or the Philippines, where the government is managing to keep things together but is faced with serious problems with regions that are sometimes out of control. In a failed state there are areas where there isn't much government at all and pirates can do whatever they want most of the time. With the Strait of Malacca the problem is that there are a lot of poor (or not so poor but very ambitious) people in the area with access to boats and experience using them in the ocean. As more of these attacks succeed more people are tempted to try and more are doing that until there are several well-publicized arrests and prosecutions. The piracy dies down for a while but so far always returns.
I'm not interested in the group, only in the individual, Rachel Cusk has said. Shes made good on that claim in her work, a series of controversial (at least in England, where she lives) memoirs about motherhood and the dissolution of her marriage having laid the groundwork for two brilliant, original novels: Outline, which was shortlisted for a number of high-profile prizes, including the 2015 Scotiabank Giller Prize, and Transit, its new follow-up. In both books, the avatar-like main character, a recently divorced writer named Faye, has a series of encounters in which she listens mutely while her companion proceeds to plumb the depths of his or her personal experience. Oblivious, or narcissistic as that might seem, the speeches are far from dull.

A mirror of its predecessor in form and style, all that initially seems to have changed in Transit is the characters and locale. Outline takes place in Greece, where Faye has gone to teach a writing course. Here, having just moved to London, shes about to embark on a renovation of the rundown council flat shes purchased. Her two boys, sent to live with her ex for the duration, interrupt her constantly with weepy, pleading phone calls.

The individual encounters in each offer some kind of aphoristic takeaway. Maybe its only in our injuries that the future can take root, ponders a lover Faye unceremoniously left years ago and has now run into on the street. Another man suggests that her desire to dye her hair stems from a fear of being unwanted  a statement that would be less amusing if it didnt come from her hairdresser (thus causing us to wonder if these conversations arent actually imagined).

One memorable scene takes place at a writers festival, where Faye and two other authors go on stage after getting soaked in a sudden downpour. As the other writers take turns extemporizing to a rapt audience, Faye listens, rainwater pouring down her neck. When her own turn comes, she merely reads some prepared remarks. Even in the midst of teaching a fiction-writing class, she feels a profound, paradoxical disconnection: I heard the students speaking and wondered how they could believe in human reality sufficiently to construct fantasies about it. Coming to from this reverie, she realizes one of her students has taken control of the discussion.

Despite the novels first-person narration, we never really have access to Fayes opinions. She gives us, instead, dispassionate analysis and acute physical observation: Amanda had a youthful appearance on which the patina of age was clumsily applied, as if, rather than growing older, she had merely been carelessly handled, like a crumpled photograph of a child.

And yet a subtle shift has occurred from the last novel. Formerly an absence, an outline (I had found out more by listening . . . than I had ever thought possible), Faye eventually begins to assert herself. Out on a dinner date, she apologizes for being tired, but then launches into her own, philosophic soliloquy on  among other un-date-like subjects  the nature of good versus evil. If Outlines characters were a Greek chorus, Transits are more like a series of soloists who take their turn stepping into the spotlight. The other difference is Faye is now one of them.

There are intriguing, odd overlaps. Both Fayes real-estate agent and builder complain to her, separately, about being on the receiving end of their clients obsessions. A friend announces that she wants to adopt a child; another describes his own, miserable experience as an adoptee. Channelling Virginia Woolf, the two group scenes involve descriptions of rooms where outside darkness presses in. In one, windows showed us our own reflections etched in glare against an eerie backdrop of overblown, dirty yellow clouds.

The title comes from the opening pages  Faye gets an email from an astrologer (one she assumes is an algorithm) saying that a major transit was due to occur shortly in my sky. But of course it is Faye herself who is in transition. More literally, transit is invoked in Fayes several trips to the Underground, though like many aspects of the novel, this also has a slippery, mythic dimension, as do her downstairs neighbours  a demonic couple who bear an unexplained hatred toward her (her builder, meanwhile, says they treat him like a son). Later, Faye explains to her date that she sees them less as people and more of a force, a power of elemental negativity that seemed somehow related to the power to create.

Alienating yet intimate, dreamlike yet grounded, slim yet substantial, delicate but fierce, Cusks writing feels, exhilaratingly, unlike any other fiction being written these days.

Emily Donaldson is the editor of Canadian Notes & Queries

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FEZ, MOROCCOI think youll find this one to be really green and grassy, said Gail Leonard, co-owner of Plan-it Fez and our guide on this tasting tour of the city. She dipped a big metal spoon into a plastic barrel of honey, and then drizzled the honey onto the plastic spoons my daughters and I were holding.

Youll never guess where the honey bees grazed to make this one. Can you guess? OK, Ill tell youon thyme!

Then she added, with a characteristic burst of cheery gusto, And if you ever get a bad burn or rash, just smear some of this honey on and it will fix it. The Moroccans are brilliant at using foods for medicines, and honey is just packed with antibacterials!

And so, in the quiet back room of a store in the honey souk (market), began the honey-tasting section of our three-hour foodie tour. (It included 10 more types of wildly different honeys, from a creamy, sweet fig honey to a downright bitter honey derived from arbutus (which is in the strawberry family).

Wed been in the ancient city of Fez, with its 9,000-plus twisting streets (some no wider than shoulder width), for three days, but out with Leonard I finally felt like I was beginning to gain some insight into what made the city tick. And hearing the Moroccan take on health solutionseat local honey, and it will make you immune to the local pollens if you suffer from allergies, she instructedwas fascinating.

It also was a shopping opportunityso delicious were some of the honeys that my 10- and 14-year-old daughters insisted we buy three jugs for the road.

Of course, I would have expected them to eat honey. But when these often-picky kids tried a street vendors snail soup without hesitation, carefully picking the snails out of their shells to pop in their mouths, I knew that Leonard had a touch of magic to her. An inveterate wanderer, Leonard has lived in Japan and Germany as well as her native Britain, where she worked as a counselor for drug addicts.

Whether its that multicultural background, or simply a natural talent for spotting both the incongruities and universal truths in destinations, shes a spellbinding storyteller. And almost all her tales had to do with things we put into our mouths.

Like the fresh-out-of-the-oven bread we had in a 400-year-old, subterranean, stone-walled bakery. It was manned by a gruff baker with a 10-foot-long pole that he used to slide loaf after loaf into the oven. Working a 10-hour shift, two days on and two days off, Gail explained, he feeds the loaves of bread into the wood-fired oven, baking 2,000 in a day, up to 4,000 in wedding season.

But (luckily) he didnt also have to make the dough himself. The loaves are fashioned by local housewives (and restaurant owners). Each morning, they bring in the unbaked rounds and theyre delivered back by runners who are required to remember which dishcloth or tray belongs to which family. Make a mistake, and the loaf might be sent back.

The bakerys the center of gossip for the neighbourhood, Leonard laughed. They can tell by the dough if Mums a bit stressed!

We also visited crowded markets where we grazed from stall to stall, trying agriche (a pate of camels meat), dried beef preserved in fat, chebakaya (a fried cookie drenched in honey), orange-blossom water, crepes cooked over egg-shaped terracotta sculptures, and more.

We looked over but declined to try boiled sheeps head (the owner would have apparently removed the wool for us, but that wasnt enough incentive for my kids). Obviously, we couldnt finish everything we tried, but that was ok, explained Leonard: the store owner would give our leftovers to anyone in need who wandered by.

Could we have had a similar experience on our own? Possibly. In Fez, merchants group together by type (so all the honey vendors are in the honey souk, all the spice merchants tend to cluster side-by-side, etc.) so its easy to see which one is best by the crowds gathered in front of some stands, but not others.

But Leonards stories make the tour, as does her careful research into the sanitary conditions of each vendor: none of us got ill (a common problem in Morocco), even after an afternoon of trying all sorts of street foods.

Finally, it was time for the tour to end. Sorry to say goodbye to Leonard, we approached the doors to our Riyad (hotel). She then pulled from her purse what looked like a tiny broom.

Its the dried flower of the agave, she explained. You just break off the end and use it as a toothpick. Perfect to get that last bit of camel meat from between your teeth!

Note to the reader: Please be sure to confirm all rates and details directly with the companies in question before planning your trip. The information in this column was accurate when it was released, but prices are competitive, sometimes limited and can always change without notice.

Pauline Frommer is the creator of the award-winning Pauline Frommers Travel Guides series. Buy your copies of Frommer guides at starstore.ca.  2013 by Pauline Frommer. Distributed by King Features Syndicate

JUST THE FACTS

Plan-it Fez (www.plan-it-fez.com ) offers a wide range of tours. The Tasting Trail costs 800 dinhar per person (less for children, varying by age, and less if you pay cash). Book well in advance, as these tours do sell out.

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The first time I heard author Joseph Boyden speak was last June when he gave the keynote address at a health-care conference in a Richmond Hill hotel.

Boyden spoke for nearly an hour, played the harmonica and held the crowd captive as he spoke of his battle with depression and attempted suicide when he was a teen.

When he described himself, I felt an immediate kinship. Boyden was raised in Toronto and he described his background as mostly Celtic  his dad, Raymond, a Second World War hero, was Irish and his mom, Blanche, Scottish and Anishinaabe.

While Im not Irish, I was raised outside of Toronto, my father was Polish Canadian, and my maternal grandmother, Margaret Dyck, is indigenous. She carries an Indian status card and her community is Fort William First Nation. She never lived on the reserve but in the bush, in Graham and Raith, places so small you would be pressed to find them on a map.

I thought Boydens background gave authenticity to his writing because his voice came from his mixed-blood background.

Then, shortly before Christmas, I read APTN reporter Jorge Barreras story, Author Joseph Boydens Shape-Shifting Indigenous Identity, and I cringed. Barreras detailed investigative report challenged Boydens claim to indigenous blood.

Boyden has never publicly revealed exactly from which Earth his indigenous heritage grows. It has been an ever shifting, evolving thing. Over the years, Boyden has variously claimed his familys roots extended to the Metis, Mikmaq, Ojibway and Nipmuc peoples, Barrera wrote.

Those are roots from many trees.

The storm that followed on social media has been epic. Indigenous academics, writers and artists have weighed in. The debate has been thoughtful and informed and has evolved from bloodlines to one of belonging and nationhood. It is the nations that decide who belongs and who doesnt. A nation can claim you, embrace you. And you are also responsible to your nation. You help, you contribute and when you make a mistake, you own up, ask for forgiveness and then the nation decides.

On Wednesday, Boyden, who declined to be interviewed for this story, broke his self-imposed silence. He defended his ancestry, saying he has spent a lifetime exploring and leading an indigenous life and that he has not misled anyone in any way. He has chosen not to provide proof or specifics of indigenous heritage but he knows what he was told, feels it and that is all that matters.

Boyden, 50, has enjoyed a wildly successful career as a self-identified indigenous author. His novel Three Day Road burst onto the literary scene after author Isabel Allende promoted it. He won the Giller Prize for Through Black Spruce and The Orenda won CBCs Canada Reads and became a bestseller.

He has won awards specifically for being an indigenous author, including the McNally Robinson Aboriginal Book of the Year, and he is an Indspire fellow, one of the highest awards an indigenous Canadian can receive. He has spoken out on murdered and missing indigenous women and girls, was an honorary witness at the Truth and Reconciliation Commission, and wrote a ballet on Canadas residential school legacy.

Boyden has been an indigenous star in the mainstream media. But in the indigenous community, questions have been floated for some time about who his people are, or, conversely, who exactly claims him as a member of their community.

I kind of wonder what drove him to say such things? And why is he the voice of First Nations people? asks Mike Metatawabin, a Cree leader and former chief of Fort Albany First Nation on James Bay, where Boyden has frequently travelled and drawn upon to shape his novels.

Metatawabin thinks Boyden may have issues about his upbringing. But arent we all like that, especially (about) who we are and places we come from? asks Metatawabin, a survivor of the notorious St. Annes Indian Residential School in Fort Albany.

Metatawabin said he had some mixed feelings about Boyden's claim of indigenous ancestry but he does credit Boyden for living and working among the people of James Bay. Canada is at a crossroads concerning reconciliation with indigenous people. Mistakes will be made and we all must learn from them, he said. As for wanting to be one of us, we understand, we get it, and not too many people will be so open and honest about that.

In a statement posted in December to his Twitter account in response to APTN, Boyden states he is from a mixed-blood background of mostly Celtic heritage. He offers that he has Nipmuc roots from Dartmouth, Massachusetts, on my fathers side and Ojibwe roots from Nottawasaga Bay traced to the 1800s on my mothers side.

But he offers no names, no papers, no history beyond his familys stories. His statement on Wednesday is equally elusive.

My familys heritage is rooted in our stories, he said. Ive listened to them, both the European and the indigenous ones, all my life. My older sisters told me since childhood about my white-looking father helping his Indian-looking brother hide their blood in order to survive in the early 1900s, he said.

My mothers family history is certainly not laid out neatly in the official records or on ancestry.ca either, he wrote. From the age of 9 or 10, the woman I knew as my grandmother told me stories about my mother that, until recently, my mother preferred not to share with anyone. The details are private and painful, yet my mother has been forced to revisit aspects of her past she believed were closed away forever.

Indigenous history is an oral history. Stories are passed from generation to generation. Records were imposed on indigenous people by colonial settlers and governments. So was the Indian Act of 1876, legislation that pronounces exactly who can be called an Indian and who cant. This would not be decided by the indigenous nations but by the Government of Canada.

If records exist at all, they can sometimes be wrong. My great-grandmother Elizabeth Gauthiers death certificate spells her maiden name as Gautier. Her birth date changes, depending on the document, and in some cases so does her ethnicity. Some list her as Indian and others as not. Her mother, Annie Carpenter, born in 1871, is an Indian while her father, Joseph Gauthier, is French. Elizabeths husband, Russell Bowen (a.k.a. Alphonse Piskey), was also indigenous, part of Fort William.

In his comment to APTN, Boyden apologized to the Red River Metis. He said he had no ties to the Red River Metis and that he has sometimes used Metis to describe himself as a mixed-blood person. Metis translates to mixed in English.

Louise Goulding, a former executive with the Metis Nation of Ontario, is surprised Boyden did not know better. She has heard him speak in the Georgian Bay area where she lives.

I know he was at some Metis events. One was an education seminar and he came to the general assembly a few years ago. He always claimed to us he was Metis, said Goulding.

But if you have an Indian ancestor, you cant just say you are Metis, Goulding said. You have to have the community behind you.

The courts have ruled a Metis person has to have ties to an ancestor in a Metis community that existed before First Nations signed treaties with the Crown. The Metis Nation of Ontario has about 18,000 people registered.

Four years ago at an indigenous writers conference, Boyden told Rebeka Tabobondung, publisher of Muskrat magazine, that he was a member of Wasauksing First Nation on Georgian Bay. She was stunned. That is her nation.

I had the opportunity to meet him, casually, and I asked him, in a very common fashion, you know, What nation are you from? and, he said he was from Wasauksing. So I got very excited. I asked around the community and asked someone who is a community historian who knows all the family connections. She said she didnt know. That set off alarm bells for me, Tabobondung said.

The Wasauksing community understands this is a sensitive topic. We dont want to destroy somebody or pull them down. He had a lot of support, even though people didnt know where his heritage came from. That didnt seem to be an issue, so you are kind of silent with not wanting to be a negative person, she said.

At its heart, the debate over Boydens identity isnt about blood but about nations rights to decide who is a member or part of their community.

If you feel indigenous, no, that is not enough. There are indigenous protocols that we have that very much include verbalizing your kinship connections, your connections to the community and relationship to it. The danger is anyone can self-identify. We could have 1,000 Joseph Boydens and we already do, she said.

In response to Boydens statement that his fathers indigenous roots can be traced to Nipmuc people in Massachusetts, Nipmuc Chief Cheryll Toney Holley posted in a blog on Jan. 11: Whether the author is Nipmuc or not, I cannot really say since I only casually glanced at his genealogy. He has not to my knowledge made any attempt to engage my people. However, I hope this article has demonstrated that Dartmouth Indians are not the same people as Nipmuc so there is some confusion in his claim to be Nipmuc from Dartmouth, Mass.

Boyden has said that his fathers family, who were established furniture merchants in Ottawa in the 1870s, kept that Nipmuc ancestry hidden.

In the 1892 edition of Prominent Men of Canada, the authors great-great-grandfather, Joseph, is listed as a prominent furniture merchant and real estate holder. According to the small profile, Joseph Boyden was born in Almonte, Ont., in 1840 to Gilmour Boyden, a native of New York state, and Ann McLean, a native of Scotland.

He is a member of the Masonic fraternity, having joined Corinthian lodge, Ottawa, some 20 years ago. In religion, he is a supporter of the Presbyterian Church, the book states.

Joseph and his wife, Josephine Luddington of New York state, had one son, Grant Ellsworth, who is the authors grandfather.

Macleans magazine published a story in 1956 about Injun Joe, a much-beloved figure who lived outside of Algonquin Park, called himself Injun Joe, wore a headdress, lived in a teepee and sold souvenirs. This is the authors uncle.

Erl Boyden told the journalist he didnt think he had a drop of indigenous blood in him.

Erl Konig Boyden may look like an Indian, think like an Indian and spend most of his year among Indians, but so far as he knows he hasnt a drop of Indian blood. His father was a well-to-do Ottawa merchant (in household furniture) who traced his family to Thomas OBoyden of Yorkshire, the article said.

Easily traceable indigenous bloodline or not, Boyden has identified as being connected to an indigenous family from the James Bay region. Not by blood, but by love.

In his Wednesday statement he said he is part of the Tozer family from Moose Cree First Nation in northern Ontario.

For the last 22 years, Ive been a member of a Moose Cree First Nation family, active in their community and doing everything we can to get youth out onto the land at Camp Onakawana on the Abitibi River. This is my life, the statement read.

When the statement was released, three weeks after the controversy began, Boyden agreed to speak to Candy Palmater, a friend, on CBC Radios program Q.

On Wednesday, Boyden told Palmater on Q that he is traditionally tied to the Tozer family, who help him run the camp for youth.

We are the Tozer family, Pamela and William Tozer posted on Facebook Thursday night. We are Moose Cree and we have deep roots in the James Bay region called Mushkegowuk. The Cree side of our families (goes) back centuries on this land.

Joseph Boyden has been like family to us for over 20 years. It started when he came to the region as a teacher and has continued ever since. He and his family are as close to our family as one could ever hope. Our families are one family.

There are two approaches concerning belonging, says Damien Lee, who is finishing his doctorate at the University of Saskatchewan on Anishinaabe citizenship through adoption.

The first approach is self-identification, and the second is acceptance by a community.

The first approach has been the status quo forever, since the Indian Act. It put the bloodline approach front and centre. But we are in an era right now where that is being seen as tenuous. It boils down to, are you accountable to a community? he said.

Before Wednesday, Boyden had stuck to the first approach. But families have claimed people who are not their blood, forever.

Indigenous communities are saying they have the right to who belongs to us. The next step is how do you claim your people? It is going to be different for every nation, every community, Lee says.

Boyden makes no apologies for telling indigenous stories.

The stories that I tell . . . the voices come to me. The average person might not get this. But when I sit to write, I dont ask the voice that comes to me, are you indigenous or are you white? he told Palmater. As a writer to my core, I have to tell the stories I am compelled to tell.

When Palmater began her interview, she asked, Are you indigenous?

Boydens response: Absolutely. I am the person I have always shown myself to be both privately and publicly and my family says, Im a white kid from Willowdale with native roots.

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After fighting for years to keep it secret, the Ministry of the Attorney General has finally been forced to turn over a practical guide that has been distributed to Crown attorneys on how to prosecute HIV exposure and transmission cases.

The document, prepared by Hamilton Crown attorney Karen Shea, was obtained by Toronto lawyer Marcus McCann, who first asked for it through a freedom of information request in 2012, and finally got it after the ministry lost a battle in Divisional Court late last year to keep it under wraps.

Up until now, weve only seen the effects of this manual. We see the procedures that are described in this manual used in various cases, McCann told the Star.

The most chilling part (of the manual) for me is the clear implication that Crowns should rely on an accused persons statements to public health (agencies) in order to incriminate them.

This isnt new, and weve seen this evidence introduced at various trials, and HIV activists have been clear that this is a threat to public healths ability to do its job. As a consequence, it risks undermining the goals of public health, which are to maintain a healthy population in Ontario.

The 72-page document, dated October 2010, covers everything from the elements the Crown must prove to secure a conviction, to the kind of information that should be sought on an HIV-positive individual from public health officials, to potential responses that Crown attorneys can provide to arguments against the criminalization of HIV non-disclosure cases.

For example, as a response to the argument that criminalization will lead to chilling effects for HIV testing, Shea writes in the manual: No evidence that this has in fact occurred  stands to reason that individual who suspects that he or she has been infected with HIV will be tested for HIV for personal health reasons.

While it is not an official policy or guideline, a ministry spokesperson acknowledged to the Star that the document was prepared not only for Sheas use, but also to assist her colleagues in a difficult and complex area of the law.

Shea did not respond to a request for comment for this article.

Since the guide was written in 2010, the science around HIV and AIDS has advanced and the legal precedents have changed. It remains unclear if parts of the document are still being consulted by Ontario Crown attorneys, who remain without official guidelines on prosecuting HIV non-disclosure cases.

If the document is being used, advocates say, they remain deeply concerned with much of its content.

Weve been living with the effects of this document for some time. There seems to be a particular zeal for prosecution on this issue, said Ryan Peck, executive director of the HIV & AIDS Legal Clinic Ontario.

Prior to 2012, the duty of a person to disclose their HIV status to a sexual partner, under the law, existed if there was a significant risk of transmission, but Peck points out that the practical guide is silent on the big word significant.

It makes it seem as if theres a duty to disclose in circumstances even where its not significant, Peck said.

Following a 2012 Supreme Court ruling, there is no longer a duty to disclose if the individual practised safe sex and had an undetectable viral load. But Peck says the law does not take into account science that says that as long as a person has an undetectable viral load, risk of transmission is practically zero, even if the person did not use a condom.

McCanns legal victory last year came just before federal Justice Minister Jody Wilson-Rayboulds announcement on Dec. 1, World AIDS Day, that her department intends to work with provincial counterparts and the HIV/AIDS community to look at the criminal justice systems response to prosecution of HIV non-disclosure cases.

The over-criminalization of HIV non-disclosure discourages many individuals from being tested and seeking treatment, and further stigmatizes those living with HIV or AIDS, she said. Just as treatment has progressed, the criminal justice system must adapt to better reflect the current scientific evidence on the realities of this disease.

She said this could include the development of official prosecutorial guidelines. A spokesperson for Ontarios Ministry of the Attorney General said the ministry is committed to working with the federal government to examine the law in this important area.

The ministry did not say whether Attorney General Yasir Naqvi would comply with a recent demand from the Ontario Working Group on Criminal Law and HIV Exposure to impose an immediate moratorium on all HIV non-disclosure prosecutions  unless there is alleged intentional transmission of HIV  until the development of prosecutorial guidelines.

Ontario did at one point have draft guidelines that were produced after Sheas practical manual, but HIV/AIDS advocates, including Richard Elliott, executive director of the Canadian HIV/AIDS Legal Network, had to sign a confidentiality order before viewing them.

Elliott, who is barred from discussing the draft guidelines content, said they were so bad that the ministry was told no guidelines would be better. While the draft guidelines were never adopted, its unclear if they have been seen by Crown attorneys.

They were consistent with what I think is a track record of bad faith on the part of Ministry of the Attorney General for years in discussing this issue, Elliott told the Star.

Frankly, what they proposed to adopt, by way of guidelines, would not only have failed to actually address the growing concerns of the over-extension of the criminal law; they in all likelihood would have made things worse by cementing the over-extension of the criminal law.

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Its so easy to forget yesterday, to be bowled over by the avalanche of compounded daily living.

And it seems like just yesterday the single word OBAMA splashed across the front pages of the world.

In five days hes gone.

So I had to return to my files from 2008 and the impossible and unavoidably arresting story of an African American winning the job as President of the United States of America.

The unanticipated ascendency of Barack Hussein Obama left the world agog. The republic that conceived of and orchestrated the unspeakable evil perpetrated against black people for hundreds of years did the unimaginable and elected one of these less than humans to its highest office.

Hope was everywhere.

But even then there was an undercurrent that a black president was a symbolic, feel-good, American-redemption experiment that could blow up in the faces of the hyper-ecstatic black folks everywhere and their progressive brown and white brothers and sisters.

But why haggle and quibble and spoil a good story?

In 2008, symbolism was enough because that particular hope was such a foreign concept. Today, as Obama leaves office, a dream Trumped by a nightmare named The Donald, that particular hope is such a foreign concept.

Only the hopelessly naive believed the post-racial nonsense constructed around Obamas victory. Post-racial was code for race erasure, a blind dismissal of every persistent, incontrovertible, destroying remnant of the racism cancer eating at Americas soul.

But vocal repudiation of that ludicrous idea was quieted, if not muted, by the audacity of the very idea that Obama, wife Michelle, and his little black kids could be frolicking in the White House.

One could be forgiven for thinking, after that inauguration eight years ago, that anything was possible. That we wouldnt need the righteous indignation of Black Lives Matter.

Walking to the National Mall that January day in 2009, on assignment for The Star, I struck up conversation with a white man who captured the moment this way: His first grade nephew would grow up in America and know nothing but a black president for all his elementary education.

We concluded: that alone must come to mean something in America, the House that stolen black labour built.

Eight years later you wonder, how much?

The black president was wiser, more tolerant, had a better temperament, earned America wider global respect, saved his capitalist nation from economic collapse, exuded grace and excellence and leaves the Oval Office untarnished by scandals of greed and personal corruption and vice.

In saving the corrupted, capitalist construct on which his country is built, Obama set in motion a backlash that few could have imagined or predicted. America gagged on the idea that her government bailed out the very rascals who destroyed the countrys finances  and rewarded the architects of the collapse with hefty paydays. All this while citizens lost their lifetime savings and jobs and houses  and faith in the system.

Obama was acceptable  always  because he was palatable: neither a fool nor a radical; Harvard-educated and liberal but nowhere near radical enough to burn down the barn and start from scratch.

Even his signature achievement, Obamacare, is a compromised version of whats needed  serving half the underclass at rates set too high because the damnable insurance industry had too much of his ear. And even then it is about to be eviscerated by the new Pharaoh.

Black people  his people  knew the score on Obama. In order to win the vote, the man couldnt even boldly say he was black. He tip-toed around matters of civil rights, except in soaring, lofty rhetorical flourishes buried in metaphors and wrapped in the strivings of all other Americans.

Black people swallowed all that. They understood the code. Too black and hed be shot back. They knew Obama wouldnt be president if his wife Michelle  brilliant, beautiful, exemplary in every way  had posed nude or if the candidate had been caught on tape bragging about groping women. Just the thought of a brother in the White House was enough  even if he wasnt dining on grits and chitterlings and dropping the latest slang.

But as months turned to years and they realized Obama had money for the right people who couldnt be allowed to fail, but little targeted to them who, as always, had little political capital to really matter, all that remained was pride. At least, there is the reassurance that, yes, a black man can be as capable as any white man can in maintaining the status quo. (Breaking News).

As Obama leaves office, Americas left-wing black intellectuals and thought leaders have been tough on him  for just cause.

Black America is mired at the bottom of the social and economic heap. Despair hangs where hope was pasted a few years back. The economic devastation is as stubborn as ever. Prisons overflow with blacks at rates way beyond the population data suggests. Unemployment rates are higher, more black students drop out of school . . .

And a black president  buffeted by historic economic problems, opposed at every turn by the Republicans, encumbered by a racial reality that interpreted every nod to black folk as reverse racism  was more politician than prophet, a ruler and not a liberator.

About a month before his election I interviewed a community worker from Obamas Chicago stomping ground where Obama organized the citys poor south side. His comments, prescient, cry out from the 2008 story:

African Americans stand to be disappointed with Obama before too long, Zakiyyah Muhammad said. On matters of great import to poor blacks  housing, health care not controlled by corporations, public education, decreased military spending  Obama is mainstream, not a reformer.

We love Barack. We just want Barack to love us back.

He did. Like teenagers on a date with mama. And the people who loved him then  including Canadians who wished to be American just once so they could vote Obama  still love him. The Prayer Groups of little old ladies still pray for the Obamas.

Obamas very existence is the revolution. Reforms will be longer and harder in coming.

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WASHINGTONProtesters gathered Saturday to support immigrant rights at rallies around the U.S., denouncing President-elect Donald Trump for his anti-immigrant rhetoric and his pledges to build a wall on the U.S.-Mexican border and to crack down on Muslims entering the country.

We are not going to allow Donald Trump to bury the Statue of Liberty, Sen. Chris Van Hollen, a Maryland Democrat, told a standing-room-only crowd at historic African-American church in downtown Washington during one of dozens of rallies around the nation.

We are a nation for all people, regardless of religion, regardless of background, regardless of who you love.

In Chicago, more than 1,000 people poured into a teachers union hall to support immigrant rights and implore one another to fight for those rights against what they fear will be a hostile Trump administration.

Ron Taylor, pastor of a Chicago area Disciples for Christ Church and executive director of the United Congress of Community and Religious Organizations, told the audience there, Regardless of what happens in the coming days we know that good will conquer evil and we want to say to each and every one of you, you are not alone.

The protests mark the latest chapter in a movement that has evolved since 2006, when more than a million people took to the streets to protest a Republican-backed immigration bill that would have made it a crime to be in the country illegally.

The crowds this weekend at rallies or cultural events in Washington, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose, California, and elsewhere, are expected to be nowhere near as big as then. Saturdays events took place as thousands were expected at a We Shall Not Be Moved march and rally in Washington ahead of Mondays Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday.

Yet the line to enter Metropolitan AME Church in Washington stretched nearly a city block. People attending included immigrants who lack permission to be in the country and their relatives and supporters. Also present were elected officials, clergy and representatives of labour and womens groups.

Participants carried signs with messages including Resist Trumps Hate and Tu, Yo, Todos Somos America, which translates to You, me, we all are America.

I stand here because I have nothing to apologize for. I am not ashamed of my status because it is a constant reminder to myself that I have something to fight for, said Max Kim, 19, who was brought to the U.S. from South Korea when he was 6 and lacks legal permission to stay in the country.

The Washington crowd urged Trump and the Republican-controlled Congress not to undo the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals program, aimed at helping people like Kim who were brought to the country as children.

Michael Takada of the Japanese American Service Committee urged the Chicago audience to disrupt the deportation machine that he and others fear will ramp up when under the new president. He also urged them to keep a close eye on their local police departments and speak out if they see those departments help ICE to deport our community members.

Dr. Bassam Osman, chair and co-founder of The Council of Islamic Organizations of Greater Chicago, elicited one of the loudest cheers from the crowd when he called out the president-elect by name in one of the opening prayers: Lord, this land is your land, it is not Trumps land.

While there was plenty of cheering, there was also uneasiness and fear of whats to come after Trump is sworn in.

Rehab Alkadi, a 31-year-old mother of a young son who came to the United States four years ago from war-torn Syria, said she doesnt believe she can be deported because there is a war in Syria, but who knows. Its so scary, what Trump says, she said. He said a lot of things bad about the Muslim people.

Former Illinois Gov. Pat Quinn attended the rally in a show of support for immigrants rights.

You see the fear in light of the rhetoric that Trump verbalized in the course of his campaign, he told a reporter. The idea of a registry for Muslim people is wrong and people want to stand up for that.

President Barack Obama in 2012 launched an executive effort to protect some young immigrants from deportation, after multiple proposals failed in Congress.

The creation of the DACA program was heralded as a good first step by advocates who hoped it would be a prelude toward overhauling immigration laws. But that didnt happen, and Republican-led states pushed back against Obamas plans to expand the program.

Now the focus is on the next administration. As a candidate, Trump promised his supporters stepped-up deportations and a Mexican-funded border wall, but it is unclear which plans the celebrity businessman will act on first, and when. And many immigrants are fearful of the campaign rhetoric but less motivated to protest in the absence of specific actions.

Many participants Saturday said they would keep the pressure on Trump and said they planned to participate in next Saturdays Womens March on Washington.

The threat of deportation is imminent for our communities, said Cristina Jimenez, executive director of United We Dream and one of the rallys organizers. We will keep fighting. Were not going back into the shadows.

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DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATESBahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked intense protests by opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.

Hundreds of demonstrators took to the streets in several predominantly Shiite communities to protest the executions.

The rallies at times turned violent as youth hurled projectiles and petrol bombs while police responded with birdshot and tear gas, witnesses said. The sound of gunfire could be heard into the night. The witnesses spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

Bahrains public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad. Photos shared by activists purporting to show the bodies of the men showed a tight grouping of multiple gunshot wounds to the heart.

The executions were the first in the U.S.-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men.

Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 2015 of killing two Bahraini policemen and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the countrys security forces in a bomb attack the previous year. A court upheld their death sentences last Monday.

Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the U.S. navys 5th Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to nearby Shiite powerhouse Iran.

Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face low-level unrest led by a majority Shiite population that feels marginalized by the Sunni monarchy.

Bahrain also maintains close ties to Britain, which is building a naval base of its own in the country. Over the past two and a half months, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have all paid visits to the island.

Johnson made a point of underscoring Britains opposition to the death penalty hours after the sentences were carried out.

The Bahraini authorities are fully aware of our position and I have raised the issue with the Bahraini government, he said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumours spread that their executions were imminent.

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust as he urged the kingdoms allies to publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings. Amnesty International deputy director Samah Hadid called the executions a deeply regressive step.

Protests and clashes continued Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shiite areas. Witnesses said shops were shuttered in Daih, where the 2014 bombing happened. Garbage bins were seen overturned and set alight in the streets.

One police officer was wounded when several people shot at a police patrol in Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, the Interior Ministry said. It gave no further details.

The Ashtar Brigade, a Shiite militant group that claimed the 2014 police attack and a number of other bombings in Bahrain, took responsibility for the attack on the police officer on social media. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the post, though it came in a forum often used by the group.

Iran, which supported the 2011 uprising but denies any role in the violence, condemned the executions.

The lack of transparency in the unfair trial of the three Bahraini citizens was confirmed by the international community, human rights and all popular bodies all around the world, Foreign Ministry spokesman Bahram Ghasemi said in remarks carried by state-run media.

Lebanons Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah also condemned the execution of the three men, calling it a crime and extrajudicial killing that would undermine any chance for a political solution in Bahrain.

The militant group, which has been critical of the Bahraini governments crackdown on the Shiite uprising, said international silence toward what takes place in Bahrain must be met with the largest solidarity campaign.

Al-Samea and Mushaima alleged they were subjected to electric shocks, beatings, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation and sexual assault while in custody, Amnesty International reported in 2015. Al-Singaces mother says her son was also tortured, according to British rights group Reprieve.

It is nothing short of an outrage  and a disgraceful breach of international law  that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions, Reprieve director Maya Foa said. The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on confessions extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham.

Government officials did not respond to a request for comment Sunday on the torture allegations. Bahraini officials have previously said the government is opposed to any kind of mistreatment and has safeguards in place to prevent it.

Bahrains last execution was of a Bangladeshi man in 2010. A number of death sentences have been issued since then.

The three put to death Sunday were the first who had held Bahraini citizenship executed since 1996, according to Reprieve, though they were technically stateless at the time of their deaths after being stripped of their citizenship when convicted.

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SALEM, ORE.Leaders of an armed occupation of a federal wildlife refuge in rural Oregon were driving to a public meeting a year ago when police shot and killed one of them at a roadblock.

Now, LaVoy Finicums widow and their children are planning to hold that meeting later this month in the same town, John Day, Ore. Speakers are slated to talk about the Constitution, property rights and other issues.

It is the anniversary of my husbands death. We want to continue with his mission, Jeanette Finicum told The Associated Press. The people within counties and states should decide how to use those properties, not the federal government.

LaVoy Finicum was the spokesman for several dozen occupiers during the 41-day takeover of the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and has become a martyr for the movement to transfer ownership of federal lands to local entities. The U.S. government owns nearly half of all land in the West, compared with 4 per cent in other states, according to the Congressional Overview of Federal Land Ownership.

Finicums cattle brand, an L connected to a V with a floating bar, adorns bumper stickers, black flags and T-shirts seen at conservative gatherings.

Jeanette Finicum has become something of a cause celebre in the year since her husbands death. She spoke at a rally on the steps of Utahs capitol. The Tri-State Livestock News, based in South Dakota, recently ran a story describing her dispute with the Bureau of Land Management over grazing fees. The agency administers 245 million acres of public lands and manages livestock grazing on 155 million acres of those lands.

Its been a horrific year, Jeanette Finicum said in a phone interview from her Cane Beds, Arizona, home. Theres been so much going on that most people dont have to deal with when they lose a loved one, like we did.

She met LaVoy at a barn dance. He told her he was a bad dancer.

He was right. He had no rhythm, Jeanette Finicum said with a laugh. They got married 14 days later.

There isnt anyone like him that I met in my lifetime, and I dont expect there will be anyone else who will measure up, she said, choking up with emotion.

She was a stay-at-home mom all 23 years they were married.

With him gone, all of the responsibilities have fallen to me, she said. I spent the year rounding up, branding and calving.

Oregon State Police shot LaVoy Finicum three times on Jan. 26, 2016, after he exited a vehicle at a police roadblock in the snowy Malheur National Forest, held up his hands and then reached toward his jacket.

Authorities concluded the officers were justified because they thought Finicum was going for his pistol. But at least one FBI Hostage Rescue Team operator fired two shots at Finicums vehicle  shots that were not disclosed during the investigation.

In March, the inspector general of the U.S. Justice Department began investigating possible FBI misconduct and whether there was a coverup. The inspector generals office declined to discuss the investigation last week. The U.S. attorneys office in Portland said it was ongoing.

Jeanette Finicum insists her husband was not a threat and that he was murdered. Her lawyer has said the family plans a wrongful-death lawsuit, and Finicum said she will release more details during the Jan. 28 meeting.

Its being held at the fairgrounds in Grant County, which neighbours the county containing the refuge.

Public lands make up 66 per cent of Grant Countys 4,529 square miles. Jeanette Finicum bristled when asked if those attending the meeting might be inspired to take over federal sites.

Thats a ridiculous question, she said. We will peacefully demonstrate, peacefully teach and stand for liberty.

Fairgrounds manager Mindy Winegar said local logger Tad Haupt rented a pavilion for the meeting that seats up to 500 people. Haupt, a vocal opponent of U.S. Forest Service management practices, is the one who invited the occupation leaders to speak in John Day, a town of about 1,700, on Jan. 26, 2016.

The FBI expressed no concern about the upcoming meeting.

Everyone has a constitutional right to assemble, and to free speech, spokeswoman Beth Anne Steele said.

Grant County Judge Scott Myers granted permission for the fairgrounds, a county facility, to be used for the event, saying rejecting the request could have had more repercussions than allowing it to happen.

Myers said he doubts it will pose a threat but then added, I have steadfastly tried to convince myself that over the past few months.

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The first of 531 child protection cases filed last year by the Yellowstone County Attorneys Office involved an 18-month-old whose parents were incarcerated. Both had histories of using meth. According to a case summary from the attorneys office, the toddler had suffered a broken leg and was attacked by a dog, all within two months.

The 531st child is a 1-year-old boy whose father was found passed out in a vehicle with large quantity of meth. The fathers probation officer called Child Protective Services.

In between those two cases, three deputy county attorneys reviewed more than 500 civil cases of reported abuse or neglect. Child Protective Services caseworkers investigated each case and made plans to keep children safe. Attorneys were appointed to represent parents who were indigent. Attorney guardians ad litem were appointed for the children. Each case was heard by one of Yellowstone Countys six district judges, and most cases were in court multiple times.

The vast majority of cases involved severe neglect rather than physical or sexual abuse. The most frequent primary factor was parental drug abuse. Including alcohol and other drugs, parental substance abuse was a problem in all but 13 of the 274 families whose children required child protection orders.

The number of child abuse and neglect reports to Montana CPS has exploded statewide in the past two years. A record high number of 3,300 Montana children were in foster care at years end.

According to data from the Montana Supreme Court administrator, the number of child protection cases filed statewide increased from 1,030 in 2010 to 2,321 in 2015 and 2,433 in 2016. The case numbers actually stabilized last year through most of the state. All of the continued growth was in Yellowstone County, which had 114 more cases in 2016 than in the year before. According to the statewide data, about 27 percent of all the child protection cases filed last year (new and re-opened) were filed in Yellowstone County.

The attorneys, courts, foster parents and child protection workers are overwhelmed. This column has argued repeatedly for urgent attention to this crisis. The problems are statewide, but the solution ought to start where the most children are at risk  right here in Yellowstone County.

First, CPS administrators in Helena must understand that what works in a small population county might not be the best process in a county with several hundred children in foster care. Yellowstone County has some very good people working for child protection, they need support to do the best job for kids. More workers are needed, in the courts and in the community to make reasonable efforts to safely reunify neglected kids with parents or other relatives.

Adequate state funding will be crucial, but collaboration and innovation will be equally important. Lets not argue about who to blame for this childrens crises. Instead, Montanans must focus on solutions.

The Yellowstone County cases, summarized by Deputy County Attorney Corbit Harrington with help from intern Michael Campbell, reflect the major factors in child abuse and neglect statewide.

Newborns who tested positive for meth at birth needed protection, such as the baby born prematurely to a homeless mother who admitted almost daily drug use. At three days old, her baby was in neonatal intensive care, hooked up to feeding tubes, and expected to go through withdrawal. The father told the caseworker he would have to think about whether or not he wanted to assume responsibility for the child.

Each child is considered a separate case, but many were in large sibling groups, such as the kids age 10, 8, 7 and 6 years old whose mothers boyfriend was reported to be frequently intoxicated, pointing handguns at children and mother. He allegedly had repeatedly assaulted the mother while the terrified children watched. The mother, who had mental health issues, filed a complaint against the boyfriend, but recanted. The children's father was incarcerated.

A review team in the Childrens Justice Bureau, an office in the Montana Department of Justice, recently recommended prioritizing partnerships between Child Protective Services, law enforcement, health care providers, county attorneys and victim advocates. Its clear from the heart-rending Yellowstone County cases that these problems cant be resolved by one person or even one agency. The Department of Corrections needs to be part of the solution, considering how many foster children have one or both parents in the corrections system.

Parents addicted to drugs often dont meet their childrens basic needs for food, shelter and safety. Drug addiction is a common factor among adults in Montanas jails and prisons. The majority of criminal offenders out on probation and parole are addicted  and many are parents. When a parent has a serious mental illness that isnt treated, the children may suffer, too. Making effective treatment accessible to all Montanans will help patients and families.

We call upon Gov. Steve Bullock and our lawmakers to work together to ensure that state policy and funding encourage cooperation to protect our children. Child neglect and abuse arent CPS problems, they are Montanas problem. All of us Montanans must be part of solutions to keep kids safe.
PARISSending a forceful message to Israels prime minister and the incoming Trump administration, dozens of countries called Sunday on Israel and the Palestinians to revive work toward long-elusive peace  including an independent Palestinian state.

The closing declaration at a Mideast peace conference in Paris urged both sides to officially restate their commitment to the two-state solution and disassociate from voices that reject this. It also warned them against taking one-sided actions that could hurt talks, an apparent reference to Israeli settlement building.

While the Palestinians welcomed Sundays declaration, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the conference rigged and cooked up behind Israels back to force it to accept conditions against national interests.

The French organizers argued the conference was necessary to keep hopes alive for a two-state solution between Israel and the Palestinians  the solution favoured by the international community for the past two decades.

Many members of Netanyahus coalition want to abandon the two-state solution and expand settlements, and some have even called for annexing parts of the West Bank. Trumps campaign platform made no mention of Palestinian independence.

In a nod to Israel, the final declaration of Sundays conference included criticism of incitement and terror, a reference to Palestinian attacks. And some of the pro-Palestinian language in an earlier draft was removed after diplomats huddled in Paris.

Secretary of State John Kerry, who has been increasingly critical of Netanyahu, represented the U.S. at the talks and defended the effort.

He rejected Israeli criticism of the conference, saying the concept of a two-state solution to the conflict is threatened and must be reinforced if it is ever to happen. The communique, he said, endorses that without imposing a resolution.

Given where things are going and what is happening, that is particularly important, he said.

He also warned that its too early to move the U.S. Embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to contested Jerusalem, as proposed by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump. This is not the right time, he said. We think its ill-advised.

Trumps administration did not take part in the meeting and didnt immediately comment on its final statement.

While Netanyahu has voiced support for a two-state solution, his critics, including Kerry, have said that continued settlement construction on occupied territories raises questions about his commitment to pursuing a peace deal.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon dismissed Sundays conference, tweeting that it was flat as a failed souffle.

A big show is no replacement for direct negotiations between the parties, he said.

French President Francois Hollande agreed on the need for direct talks. It is not a question of dictating to the parties . . . Only direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians can lead to peace. No one will do it in their place, he said.

The world cannot, should not resign itself to the status quo, Hollande told the gathered diplomats from across Europe, the Mideast and other regions, as well as from the United Nations, the Arab League and other international organizations.

Hollande said he was sounding an alert that peace talks should be revived before violent extremists and Israeli settlements destroy any hope of a two-state solution. Hollande urged the diplomats to support peace efforts by offering economic incentives to Israelis and Palestinians.

The chief Palestinian representative to France warned the Trump administration not to underestimate the message of peace sent by the conference, or the U.N. resolution last month condemning Israels construction of settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Salman Elherfi, speaking to The Associated Press, insisted the option of two states is not the dream of a single country, but it has become the concern of the whole world to protect it.

Palestinian officials hope the conference can lay out terms for eventual negotiations, notably on how to share Jerusalem and the need to stop Israeli settlements.

France and others expressed concern that the Trump administration could unleash new tensions in the region by condoning settlements on land claimed by the Palestinians and moving the U.S. Embassy. The embassy issue wasnt mentioned, however, in the final declaration.

Netanyahu declined an invitation to a special meeting after the conference, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was initially expected, but his visit to Paris was postponed.

The Israeli prime minister said the gathering would do little to promote peace and marked the last flutters of yesterdays world.

Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close, he said in apparent reference to Trumps incoming administration.

Israeli and Palestinian leaders have not negotiated even indirectly since a failed U.S.-led peace effort in 2014.

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MOSCOWWith eager anticipation, the Kremlin is counting the days to Donald Trumps inauguration and venting its anger at Barack Obamas outgoing administration, no holds barred.

Careful not to hurt chances for a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have deferred questions about their plans for future contacts with Trump and any agenda for those talks until he takes office on Friday.

Read more: Even in Trumpian terms, this is getting very far from normal: DiManno

Trumps open admiration of Putin has brought wide expectations of improved Moscow-Washington relations, but Trump has not articulated a clear Russia policy. His Cabinet nominees include both a retired general with a hawkish stance on Russia and an oil executive who has done extensive business in Russia.

At the same time, Russian officials are blasting the outgoing U.S. administration in distinctly undiplomatic language, dropping all decorum after Obama hit Moscow with more sanctions in his final weeks in office.

Moscow calls Obamas team a bunch of geopolitical losers engaged in a last-ditch effort to inflict the maximum possible damage to U.S.-Russia ties to make it more difficult for Trump to mend the rift.

In a clear effort to avoid risking a rapprochement with Trump, Putin showed remarkable restraint when the U.S. expelled 35 Russian diplomats over accusations of meddling in the U.S. election campaign. Instead of a usual tit-for-tat response, Putin invited U.S. diplomats children to a New Years party at the Kremlin.

Trumps national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russias ambassador to the U.S. were in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on Dec. 29, the day Obama hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for election-related hacking, according to a senior U.S. official.

Moscow similarly refrained from retaliation when the White House last week added five Russians, including the chief of Russias top state investigative agency, to the U.S. sanctions list.

On Sunday, Vice-President-elect Mike Pence insisted the Trump presidential campaign had no contacts with Russia and denied that the incoming national security adviser spoke with Russian officials in December about sanctions. He added that such questions were part of an effort to cast doubt on Trumps victory.

While Putin and his lieutenants hope Trump will open up to Russia, they know any attempt to fix ties will face massive obstacles, including possible strong resistance in the U.S. Congress.

Any future contacts will have to be prepared quite accurately and thoroughly, as they would follow a tense period, Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Fyodor Lukyanov, chair of the Council for Foreign and Defence Policies, a group of Russian foreign policy experts, said Syria is one area where a U.S.-Russian rapport is likely.

During the call with Flynn, the Russian ambassador invited U.S. officials to a conference on Syria in Kazakhstan later this month, according to a transition official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

In an interview Friday with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he might do away with Obamas sanctions if Russia works with the U.S. on battling terrorists and achieving other goals.

The Kremlin would be eager to embrace a U.S. offer of co-operation on Syria. Obamas administration had refused to co-ordinate action against the IS with Russia, saying Moscow was bent on shoring up Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The complexity of the conflict in Syria  where opposition groups backed by regional players are pitted against Assads troops and often fight each other  makes hopes for quick progress elusive.

Russia and the United States are important players (in Syria) but not the only ones, Lukyanov said.

He noted that nuclear arms control is another possible area where Moscow and Washington could try to find common ground. While new arms control treaties are unlikely, the two countries may try to find ways to increase global stability, Lukyanov said.

Putin has pushed for the U.S. to recognize Moscow as an equal global heavyweight and to acknowledge that Russias ex-Soviet neighbours are in its sphere of vital interests  demands rejected by the West. Many in Russia hope that Trump could be more inclined to strike a grand bargain with Putin, carving up spheres of influence and helping cement Russias role as a global power.

Alexander Lebedev, a multimillionaire Russian owner of Britains Evening Standard and Independent newspapers, believes that Putin wants a big deal that would envisage co-operation in Syria and possible co-operation in other spheres.

$1 trillion a year is stolen by global banks and companies and moved offshore, Lebedev said, adding that Russia and the U.S. could launch a worldwide crackdown on corrupt business practices.

U.S.-Russian relations have sunk to a post-Cold War low over Russias 2014 annexation of Ukraines Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. A 2015 peace deal helped end large-scale battles in eastern Ukraine, but clashes have continued. The U.S. and the European Union have slapped Russia with economic sanctions and made their lifting contingent on the Ukraine peace deals progress.

While the Kremlin counts on Trump to roll the sanctions back, many observers are skeptical.

In the current atmosphere, its very difficult to imagine how Trump could start cancelling the sanctions, Lukyanov said.

U.S. allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election top the list of irritants.

U.S. intelligence officials accusations that Russian hackers  acting on Putins orders  interfered into the vote to help Trump win have put the U.S. president-elect in a difficult position. Trump has grudgingly conceded that Russia was likely responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee, but emphasized there was no evidence that hacking affected the U.S. election results.

The Kremlin has rejected the hacking accusations and also hotly denied reports that it has collected compromising information about Trump.

Aware that an open show of support for Trump would only make it more difficult for him to restore ties, Russian officials have mostly focused on blasting Obamas administration.

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of foreign affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, described the White Houses decision to expel Russian diplomats as an agony of not even lame ducks, but political corpses.

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova went further.

If Russian hackers hacked anything in America, there were two things: Obamas brain, and, of course, the report about Russian hackers, she wrote on Facebook.

Zakharova charged that Obama and his illiterate foreign policy team have dealt a crushing blow to Americas prestige and leadership and described his administration as a bunch of geopolitical losers, enraged and short-sighted.

Obamas administration still has a few days left to destroy the world, Zakharova wrote.

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WARREN, MICH.Thousands of people showed up in freezing temperatures on Sunday in Michigan to hear Sen. Bernie Sanders denounce Republican efforts to repeal President Barack Obamas health care law, one of dozens of rallies Democrats staged across the country to highlight opposition.

Labour unions were a strong presence at the demonstration in a parking lot at Macomb Community College in the Detroit suburb of Warren, where some people carried signs saying Save our Health Care.

Read more: Republicans score early victory in Obamacare repeal as Congress approves budget

Lisa Bible, 55, of Bancroft, Michigan, said she has an autoimmune disease and high cholesterol. She said the existing law has been an answer to her and her husbands prayers, but she worries that if its repealed her family may get stuck with her medical bills.

Im going to get really sick and my life will be at risk, said Bible, an online antique dealer.

President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to overturn and replace the Affordable Care Act, and majority Republicans in Congress this week began the process of repealing it using a budget manoeuvr that requires a bare majority in the Senate.

This is the wealthiest country in the history of the world. It is time we got our national priorities right, Sanders told the Michigan rally.

The law has delivered health coverage to about 20 million people but is saddled with problems such as rapidly rising premiums and large co-payments.

Britt Waligorski, 31, a health care administrator for a dental practice, said she didnt get health insurance through work but has been covered through the health law for three years. While the premiums have gone up, she said she is concerned that services for women will be taken away if it is repealed.

Its done a lot for women for their annual checkups, for mammograms  womens health in general. If this gets repealed, were going to go back to the old days when thats not covered, she said.

At the rally in San Francisco, Silvia Pena, a 45-year-old nanny, said she had never had held insurance until she enrolled in the Affordable Care Act six years ago.

I dont have health issues, but you can need insurance any time. We should all have access to health services, said Pena, who held a sign that read Its our right and our body. Keep Planned Parenthood and Obamacare.

About 2,000 people cheered and held rainbow and American flags and signs that read Dont Make America Sick Again and Health Care For All at the rally. Patients who survived cancer, strokes and other health difficulties are sharing stories on how they benefited from the mandated health insurance.

In Los Angeles, organizers of the rally outside the LA County/USC Medical Center warned that a repeal of the law without a replacement will throw the states health care system into chaos and strip coverage from 5 million Californians.

Rallies in other cities in support of the health law also were well attended. Police estimated about 600 people showed up in Portland, Maine. Hundreds also attended events in Newark, New Jersey, Johnston, Rhode Island, Richmond, Virginia and Boston.

The health law has provided subsidies and Medicaid coverage for millions who dont get insurance at work. It has required insurers to cover certain services such as family planning and people who are already ill, and has placed limits on the amount that the sick and elderly can be billed for health care.

Republicans want to end the fines that enforce the requirement that many individuals buy coverage and that larger companies provide it to workers. But they face internal disagreements on how to pay for any replacement and how to protect consumers and insurers during a long phase-in of an alternative.

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BOSTONDonald Trumps election has propelled Sen. Elizabeth Warren into an even sharper partisan spotlight as she embraces her role as a top Democratic foil to the Republican president-elect.

In just the past few weeks, Warren has penned a scathing 16-page critique of Trumps nominee for education secretary, Betsy DeVos; grilled his pick for housing secretary, Ben Carson; co-sponsored legislation requiring the president and vice-president to disclose and divest any potential financial conflicts of interest; and signed onto legislation to block the creation of a federal religious registry.

The Massachusetts Democrat is leaning on every lever of power she has  from her fundraising prowess to her social media accounts  to position herself as a leading voice of a party in political exile.

My priorities havent changes since the day I got into office, Warren said in an interview with The Associated Press. I see my job as making sure the voices of ordinary people arent drowned out in Washington by those who have money and power.

Her list of grievances with Trump is long and growing longer.

But in a shift from the campaign, when Warren lobbed Twitter grenade after Twitter grenade to get under Trumps skin, she says her criticism is now more focused on her top priority: the economic well-being of middle- and working-class families.

She has excoriated Trumps pick for Treasury secretary, Steven Mnuchin, saying he profited from the foreclosure crisis; called out Trumps Department of Labor nominee, fast food entrepreneur Andrew Puzder, after hearing from workers who said they were underpaid, had their wages stolen, and were forced to work in unsafe conditions; and vowed to fight to protect President Barack Obamas health care law and preserve the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, which she helped create.

The Republicans have put us on the path to repealing the ACA (Affordable Care Act), and that will make a profound difference in the lives of millions of Americans, Warren told the AP. Im all for making the ACA better, but not for throwing it out. What the Republicans are doing is irresponsible and cruel.

Warren is taking the political long view.

She is an aggressive fundraiser, and through her political action committee  PAC for a Level Playing Field  she has doled out hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past two years to Democratic candidates and committees in the hope of strengthening the partys hand in future elections.

The Democrats agenda is the American peoples agenda, she said.

Warren wont say whether she is prepping for a possible 2020 run for president, although she has announced plans to run for re-election in 2018, making the case for a second term in part by again pointing to Donald Trump and his team of billionaires, bigots, and Wall Street bankers in an email to supporters.

Massachusetts Republicans have labelled Warren a hyperpartisan bully more interested in scoring political points than delivering actual results.

But among voters in her home state where she remains popular, the reaction to Warrens spikes-up approach is more nuanced.

Im just tired of all the fighting, said Tim James, 26, of Newton, who works in macroeconomics. I dont agree with a lot of the things that Trump had to say ... but weve had about eight years or so of gridlock in Washington, and I think that its important for us to try to put some of the more divisive rhetoric to the side.

Jay Fiset, a 30-year-old chef from Somerville, also said that while Trump and Warren may be political polar opposites, its time to ditch the campaign.

Theyre going to butt heads, he said. But I think that they should come together and try and figure out the problems rather than pinpointing whos doing what wrong.

Others see a reason to applaud every Warren missive.

She should definitely keep going hard after him because he hasnt admitted to anything yet. He hasnt apologized for anything, said Dencis Pena, 37, of Boston, who works in the insurance industry. Until he changes and shows he actually understands the facts, people should not let him off the hook.

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It has been, to use a shopworn cliche, beginning of a winter of discontent for Prime Minister Justin Trudeaus government.

As temperatures began to sink in late November, the Prime Ministers polling numbers  previously untouchable  also dipped. It seemed that the government was hit by news story after news story that threatened to damage the upbeat year that had been 2016.

Lets not make any mistake: the Liberals numbers have only moved from sky high to high. But the barrage of negative stories, coming as they did together, cannot have been good for Liberal morale.

A stop-and-start bid to reform our electoral system that had no plan and no message. A heartfelt eulogy for Cuban dictator Fidel Castro that went viral and was mocked on Twitter. The decision to approve two pipelines that earned the government the ire of environmentalists. A holiday visit to a private island that ended with calls for an investigation by the ethics commissioner.

It would have been a frustrating several months for any government, but was no doubt even more so for a government that had received little public pushback since its stunning election victory.

Looking to turn the page, the prime minister has shuffled his cabinet and is off on a listening tour, aimed at reaching Canadians who may have become disenchanted by the negative media attention. Make no mistake, the Liberals are determined to reset things for 2017.

It is certainly a serendipitous year for the government to regain a positive foothold: as Canada celebrates its 150th birthday, there will be no shortage of funding and photo opportunities.

The government also has policies in store that will continue its efforts to break from the Harper government years. Legislation legalizing marijuana, renewed health agreements with the provinces, and shovels in the ground on numerous infrastructure commitments, all promise to show the government is working hard on behalf of middle-class Canadians.

However, challenges await. We know of those posed by the change of administration in the United States, but there are a number on the domestic front, as well.

Trudeaus first year in government was defined by the remarkable compliance of provincial governments. The premiers, often happy to go to war with the federal government, were quite conciliatory toward the prime ministers activist government. On issues from environment to pensions to infrastructure, there was a harmony that has rarely been reached in the federal-provincial relationship.

This harmony, which previously had been punctured only by the occasional objections of Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall, promises to be disrupted in the next year.

Wall, who early in the Trudeau governments mandate was the only conservative premier left standing, has been joined by Manitoba Progressive Conservative Premier Brian Pallister, a former member of the Harper government. Pallister has joined Wall in criticizing the federal governments carbon pricing plan and has sharply criticized the governments approach on health funding.

The two premiers recently won mandates, and are all-but-guaranteed to stick around for the rest of the Liberals mandate.

A quick survey of upcoming provincial elections is not particularly promising for the federal government, either. British Columbia Premier Christy Clark, a hesitant ally of the federal government, currently trails the B.C. New Democrats, who have staked out ground as sharp critics of the federal governments position on pipelines and are advocates of increased federal health transfers.

The Liberal governments of Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and New Brunswick have been steadfast allies of the Trudeau government. But the implementation of carbon pricing has affected that support in provinces where energy costs are already among the highest in the country. The three governments, while relatively stable, have less reason today to be as sympathetic as they have been.

The premiers of Canadas two largest provinces find themselves under fire in the latter half of their mandates. Premier Kathleen Wynne of Ontario and Premier Phillippe Couillard of Quebec are polling either behind or tied with opposition parties as they try to extend the mandates of governments that have been in power for years.

Wynne and Couillard, once partners and allies of Trudeau, have little room to manoeuvre. On issues such as health-care transfers, they have little option but to push the government, lest they provide fodder to their opposition at home.

With 2017 comes opportunity for the federal Liberals to turn the page on the last few months. However, the road ahead is significantly rockier than it was when they were elected in October 2015, and the pastures along the way dont look to be getting any greener.

Jaime Watt is the executive chairman of Navigator Ltd. and a Conservative strategist.

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Its hard not to approach Justin Trudeaus westward road show with a touch of cynicism. In the wake of the prime ministers Christmas vacation on the Aga Khans private island and amid his ongoing trouble with cash-for-access fundraisers, his tour of church basements and coffee shops looks an awful lot like a political ploy, an attempt to prove hes not out of touch with ordinary Canadians.

Yet it would be churlish not to see some value in a leader checking in with his constituents, whatever the circumstances - especially when, in the process, he confronts real concerns and offers some clear commitments.

So it was on the first day of the prime ministers trip last week. Trudeau was refreshingly candid during a discussion at Kingstons city hall, taking blame for the disastrous transition to the Phoenix government payroll system, the slow movement on restoring lifelong pensions for disabled veterans, among other important issues. Particularly promising was an exchange he had on the subject of tax loopholes for the rich.

Asked about the link between growing inequality and loopholes in Canadas tax system that allow the very well-off to avoid paying their fair share, Trudeau agreed that this was a problem. The prime minister touted the governments $440-million investment in cracking down on tax cheats, but admitted there is more to do.

Indeed, there is. The Liberals came to power promising to put tax fairness at the centre of their agenda, but as Trudeau's questioner suggested, their record in government has been mixed at best.

Every year, Ottawa forgoes roughly $100 billion in so-called tax expenditures: exemptions, deductions and rebates, often offered as politically micro-targeted giveaways, which have proliferated in recent decades. The trouble, as Auditor General Michael Ferguson warned last year, is that no one knows exactly how much these measures cost or whether they achieve their goals. And what little we do know suggests that many are ineffective and unfair.

In the last federal budget, the Liberals did deep-six several wasteful Harper-era tax credits, but added a dubious one of their own for teachers. They promised on the campaign trail to end a costly tax break for executive stock options, but shamefully backtracked under industry pressure. And they vowed to find $3 billion in savings from a comprehensive review of Canadas sprawling tax code, but then more or less went silent on the issue.

Heartening, then, that in response to a question on the executive stock option loophole at the town hall, Trudeau suggested that Canadians can expect to see action on tax fairness in the upcoming budget. Closing that loophole would be a good down payment on the promised larger review. The tax break costs Ottawa around $1 billion per year, 99 per cent of which goes to the top 1 per cent of earners. If Trudeau wants to demonstrate his commitment to fairness, this would be a wise place to start.

On the first stops of the prime ministers tour, he has come face to face with the anger and frustration of a good number of Canadians who feel his government has failed to live up to many of its progressive promises, including on fair taxation. Trudeau claims he understands the risks of letting such resentments fester.

It is no doubt encouraging to hear the prime minister admit his mistakes and reiterate some of his hopeful promises. But if at least some of these sentiments are not reflected in concrete action, he may find the tour ultimately does as much damage as good.

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Re: GM moving production of SUV from Ontario to Mexico, Jan. 10

Re: Time for a new narrative on NAFTA, Opinion Jan. 9

GM moving production of SUV from Ontario to Mexico, Jan. 10

Back in 2009, the federal and Ontario governments gave GM $13.7 billion to save the company. GM then moved 1.000 jobs from Oshawa to Michigan because our leaders did not have the sense to include a jobs clause in the contract. We lost $3.5 billion on the deal once we sold the shares given to us by GM.

Now GM has announced it will move the Terrain production from Ontario to Mexico. So once again, we get the short end of the stick.

When will it dawn on our fearless leaders that these kind of decisions are exactly why people like Donald Trump, Kellie Leitch and Kevin OLeary will gain power if we do not smarten up?

If we tell these car companies they cannot sell any of their vehicles here unless they build them here, what will they do? Trump has already basically told them that is what he will do via tariffs.

I really fear, despite all the save the middle class talk we hear from our politicians, that those we have elected are not up to the task. I hope and pray I am wrong but over and over we see jobs disappear, despite we the taxpayer giving these companies billions of our tax dollars.

Gary Brigden, Toronto

Time for a new narrative on NAFTA, Opinion Jan. 9

Ill say its time. Every time the U.S. breaks the rules of the agreement, there is no consequence. And they break them consistently.

NAFTA has taken jobs away from Canadians. The only reason it came into existence at all was because, a Canadian prime minister, who had a majority in the House of Commons, was in love with an American president, the way Trump is in love with Putin.

It was the tool that began the dismemberment of the middle-class and began to create the mega-corporations. Nice job Brian.

Its true that a new deal might strengthen human rights and preserve collective bargaining rights. But do we really expect to see those issues given any consideration byTrump and his busload of billionaires when they come to renegotiate the deal?

James Aguanno, Bradford

The excellent article by Jerry Dias and Maude Barlow makes the case for the renegotiation of NAFTA. What remains to be seen is which political party will support their point of view. We know it wont be the Conservatives who like it the way it is. The Liberals and Chrystia Freeland so far have shown themselves to be on side with the Conservatives. It should naturally fall to the NDP, whose policy platform calls for the renegotiation of NAFTA.

In the recent U.S. election, the two political parties failed to deal with the issue and this gave rise to the popularity of two otherwise opposites, Bernie Sanders and Donald Trump. Will the NDP rise to the occasion so that we dont have any surprises here.

Irma Orchard, Toronto

Since the FTA in 1988 we have suffered plant closures and the loss of thousands of good manufacturing jobs. I commend the Prime Minister for attempting to revive the middle class, but with his focus on supporting free trade deals, he is at odds with his own policies.

Wayne Pietz, Brampton

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Updated from Jan. 13.

When Netflix (NFLX) announces fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday, Reed Hastings has the opportunity to celebrate the tenth birthday of the company's streaming video service.

First launched on Jan. 16, 2007, Netflix's streaming service has since become the primary way the company does business and upended the content business. It has spread now to more than 190 countries, and Wall Street expects Netflix to top 91 million global subscribers in the fourth quarter, and to exceed 100 million later this year.

Netflix's streaming offering is one of handful of massively disruptive products that launched in 2006 and 2007. Last week, Apple (AAPL) noted the 10th anniversary of the iPhone's announcement. Later this year, Alphabet's (GOOGL) Google will mark the 10th anniversary of the Android mobile platform announcement. And Amazon's (AMZN) Amazon Web Services cloud offering and the predecessor to Prime Video turned 10 last year.

Video streaming and smartphones were not exactly new concepts at the time. Back in 1998, for instance,

Nokia

(NOK)

introduced the

9000 Communicator

, a clunky phone that included a keyboard and computing power. However, the technology, network infrastructure and other factors finally converged about 10 years later to support transformative new services and devices.

"The timing finally worked for all of these things that had been percolating and talked about for over a decade," said Moody's Investors Service analyst Gerald Granovsky. "It finally started coming together in 2007 where you had a combination of tech was available to make that device portable and able to do everything that Steve Jobs envisioned."

The first iteration of the iPhone was not a runaway hit, Granovsky noted. But two improvements boosted the phone's capabilities and its popularity. AT&T (T) , then the phone's exclusive carrier, improved its network. And Apple also launched the App Store in July 2008, which drove the popularity of apps.

"The second iteration that had 3G capacity became the big hit," Granovsky said of the iPhone 3G, first released in July 2008.

Meanwhile, on Nov. 5, 2007, Google introduced Android, which it had acquired two years earlier.

In the industrial history of wireless communications, Gartner Research Director Werner Goertz said, Android made the important contribution of an open platform that would run on phones made by multiple manufacturers. "That further led to the proliferation of apps and mobile internet and that further led to the commoditization of apps as we know it and commoditization of the smart phones," Goertz said. "To the extent now that about two billion phones are being sold worldwide, we have basically penetrated pretty much all existing markets with smart phone devices."

The advances in smart phones also obviously improved the fortunes of social media companies.

"I don't think Facebook (FB) , Twitter (TWTR) , LinkedIn or name a social media platform would be nearly as popular if it weren't for the ubiquity of the wireless access and the capability of those devices," Granovsky said. "Can you imagine going back to the old days of texting and trying to do Twitter on a flip phone?"

Apple, Facebook, and Alphabet are holdings in Jim Cramer's Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio. Want to be alerted before Cramer buys or sells AAPL, FB and GOOGL? Action Alerts PLUS Charitable Trust Portfolio

Similarly, on Jan. 16, 2007, Netflix first launched its streaming service.

Back then, Netflix was a far cry from today's global media empire with an award-winning studio and a $56 billion market cap. When the DVD-by-mail company announced the streaming service, for instance, The New York Times ran a story about the streaming service that cautioned readers that predictions of "the impending death of the company" were premature.

Just as faster networks benefited the iPhone and its apps, higher broadband speeds enabled Netflix's streaming business to take off.

"At that time the average speed in the home was probably three Mbps," Granovsky said. That would be fine for carrying standard-definition movies, but high definition streaming takes 15 Mbps or more. "The Netflix streaming wouldn't be as successful unless the telecoms and cable guys upped the speeds."

Some other developments in cloud and video were recently underway when Netflix launched its streaming service. In 2006, Amazon debuted Amazon Unbox, a download service that predated Prime Video. Google acquired YouTube in Oct. 2006, which former PayPal employees Chad Hurley, Steve Chen, and Jawed Karim created in 2005.

Fiber deployments also supported the engineering and economics of cloud computing.

"Demand for remote computing (forerunner of the model cloud) has always been there, but the perfect ecosystem was not in place until recently," Granovsky said. "AWS would not work if you didn't have vast and cheap telecom networks."

As networks become faster, cheaper and more pervasive, companies are better able to access remote computing power. "So AWS, Google, etc., can have their hyperscale data centers in Washington State, Utah, etc., and still be able to serve customers all over the U.S. without a blink," Granovsky added.

While video, social media and other apps rule today's smart phones, Gartner Research Director Werner Goertz suggests that artificial intelligence and machine learning will define the next generation as virtual personal assistants like Apple's Siri, Microsoft's (MFST) Cortana, Alphabet's Google Assistant and Amazon's Alexa become more intuitive and advanced.

As with the previous evolution of iPhones and Android devices, changes to the ecosystem will aid the advances in virtual personal assistants. These voice-recognition engines operate in the cloud, but Goertz said that moving intelligence to devices themselves will reduce latency and network congestion and allow services to continue when someone is outside of network coverage.

Projects like Amazon Web Services and YouTube will contribute to AI efforts. "While all of these things may have started independently and coincidentally around that same time frame, it now is not coincidence that they are all converging and contributing now to the next big thing in consumer electronics, which is artificial intelligence and machine learning," Goertz said.

Amazon developed AWS to provide its in-house computing demand and later sold the service to outside clients. Amazon's Polly app, which allows developers to integrate speech into their apps, or Lex, which creates conversational chatbots that can recognize speech, have a role in AI.

Likewise, YouTube, which Google acquired to bring video to its ad-supported empire, has strategic value for the company's artificial intelligence efforts. Goertz describes YouTube as a trove of information about language and global communities that can inform artificial intelligence, much as an application might draw on stock prices or other data to automate financial analysis.

"Google has a tremendous asset a tremendous resource of cultural background and information at their disposal they are actively harvesting all of the information all of the context that comes out of that" he said.

Goertz says the future of mobile AI may resemble the 2013

Spike Jonze film Her

, in which Joaquin Phoenix plays a newly divorced man who falls in love with his virtual personal assistant Samantha, voiced by Scarlett Johansson, who speaks to him through an earpiece.

In the future, apparently, we can be even more absorbed by our phones.
President-elect Donald Trump's anti-China comments are raising the odds that Beijing regulators will try to stop Qualcomm (QCOM) from buying NXP Semiconductors (NXPI) for $39 billion -- which explains why NXPI shares are trading far below the deal's $110-a-share price, Jim Cramer says.

"I've done a number of checks, and all I keep coming back with is that when Trump makes noise about China, what can China do directly to cause problems?" Cramer said Wednesday during an exclusive conference call with members of his Action Alerts PLUS investors club. "Are [the Chinese] going to be able to say, 'Listen we don't want Caterpillar CAT, [or] 'We're going to kick out Apple AAPL?' Well, those things [would start a trade] war. No, what you would do is say: 'You know what? We're not happy with [the Qualcomm/NXPI] takeover. We want to block it.'"

Qualcomm cut a deal in October to buy NXP Semiconductors for $110 a share in cash, but NXPI shares only fetch around $98 these days. Cramer traced the disparity back to the possibility that Chinese regulators will block the deal as retaliation for Trump's harsh anti-Beijing rhetoric.

"If that's the case, then I think NXPI can go down five or six points and we'll buy more of it," he said. "But otherwise, we're holding out for $110. If we change our mind on this and I feel more strongly that this deal has no hope and that the company itself is not doing well, then we will take that very big profit that we have."

Clickhereto learn more about AAP club membership, which offers access to Cramer's future monthly conference calls, exclusive alerts every time he makes a trade and lots of other VIP material.

Action Alerts PLUS

, which Cramer co-manages as a charitable trust, is long NXPI.
General Mills, Inc. manufactures and markets branded consumer foods worldwide. The company operates in five segments: North America Retail; Convenience Stores & Foodservice; Europe & Australia; Asia & Latin America; and Pet. It offers ready-to-eat cereals, refrigerated yogurt, soup, meal kits, refrigerated and frozen dough products, dessert and baking mixes, bakery flour, frozen pizza and pizza snacks, snack bars, fruit and salty snacks, ice cream, nutrition bars, wellness beverages, and savory and grain snacks, as well as various organic products, including frozen and shelf-stable vegetables. It also supplies branded and unbranded food products to the North American foodservice and commercial baking industries; and manufactures and markets pet food products, including dog and cat food. The company markets its products under the Annie's, Betty Crocker, Bisquick, Blue Buffalo, Blue Basics, Blue Freedom, Bugles, Cascadian Farm, Cheerios, Chex, Cinnamon Toast Crunch, Cocoa Puffs, Cookie Crisp, EPIC, Fiber One, Food Should Taste Good, Fruit by the Foot, Fruit Gushers, Fruit Roll-Ups, Gardetto's, Go-Gurt, Gold Medal, Golden Grahams, Haagen-Dazs, Helpers, Jus-Rol, Kitano, Kix, Larabar, Latina, Liberte, Lucky Charms, Muir Glen, Nature Valley, Oatmeal Crisp, Old El Paso, Oui, Pillsbury, Progresso, Raisin Nut Bran, Total, Totino's, Trix, Wanchai Ferry, Wheaties, Wilderness, Yoki, and Yoplait trademarks. It sells its products directly, as well as through broker and distribution arrangements to grocery stores, mass merchandisers, membership stores, natural food chains, e-commerce retailers, commercial and noncommercial foodservice distributors and operators, restaurants, convenience stores, and pet specialty stores, as well as drug, dollar, and discount chains. The company operates 466 leased and 392 franchise ice cream parlors. General Mills, Inc. was founded in 1866 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
2 Cong MPs say will vote against amendments

Nepali Congress central member and lawmaker Chandra Bhandari has claimed that the constitution amendment bill tabled in Parliament would not be endorsed.
Graco Inc. designs, manufactures, and markets systems and equipment used to move, measure, control, dispense, and spray fluid and powder materials worldwide. The company's Industrial segment offers proportioning systems to spray polyurethane foam and polyurea coatings; equipment that pumps, meters, mixes and dispenses sealant, adhesive, and composite materials; and gel-coat equipment, chop and wet-out systems, resin transfer molding systems and applicators, and precision dispensing solutions. It also provides liquid finishing equipment; paint circulating and supply pumps; paint circulating advanced control systems; plural component coating proportioners; spare parts and accessories; and powder finishing products to coat powder finishing on metals under the Gema and SAT brands. The company's Process segment offers pumps to move and dispense chemicals, water, wastewater, petroleum, food, lubricants, and other fluids; pressure valves used in the oil and natural gas industry, other industrial processes, and research facilities; and chemical injection pumping solutions for injection of chemicals into producing oil wells and pipelines. It also supplies pumps, hose reels, meters, valves, and accessories for fast oil change facilities, service garages, fleet service centers, automobile dealerships, auto parts stores, truck builders, and heavy equipment service centers; and systems, components, and accessories for the automatic lubrication of bearings, gears, and generators in industrial and commercial equipment, compressors, turbines, and on- and off-road vehicles. The company's Contractor segment offers sprayers to apply paint to walls and other structures; and viscous coatings to roofs, as well as markings on roads, parking lots, athletic fields, and floors. It sells its products through distributors, original equipment manufacturers, and home center channels; and directly to end-users. The company was incorporated in 1926 and is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Tableau Software, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, provides business analytics software products. It offers Tableau Desktop, a self-service, powerful analytics product with data; Tableau Server, a business intelligence platform for organizations; Tableau Online, a hosted software-as-a-service version of Tableau Server; Tableau Prep, a data preparation product for combining, shaping, and cleaning data; and Tableau Public, a cloud-based platform for analyzing and sharing public data. In addition, it offers Visual Query Language (VizQL) for databases, which is a computer language for describing pictures of data, including graphs, charts, maps, time series, and tables of visualizations; Live Query Engine that interprets abstract queries generated by VizQL into syntax understandable by database systems; and Hyper, an in-memory data engine technology that helps customers to analyze a range of data sets by evaluating analytical queries directly in the transactional database. Further, the company provides support, maintenance, training, and professional services. It serves organizations in various industries, including business services, energy and telecommunications, financial services, life sciences and healthcare, manufacturing and technology, media and entertainment, public sector, and education, as well as retail, consumer, and distribution industries. The company sells its products directly, as well as through indirect sales channels, such as technology vendors, resellers, original equipment manufacturers, independent software vendor, and distributors in the United States, Canada, and internationally. Tableau Software, Inc. was founded in 2003 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.
Local restructuring: Agitating Kanda locals prevent police from entering village

The protesting locals of Kanda VDC in Bajhang district have prevented police reinforcement from entering the village.
Victor Lownes, a longtime Playboy executive who was instrumental in launching a worldwide network of clubs and casinos and who took credit for designing the bunny-tail costumes worn by the clubs waitresses, died Jan. 11 at a London hospital. He was 88.

He had a heart attack at a New Years party, his wife, Marilyn Cole Lownes, a former Playboy Playmate of the Year, told the Chicago Tribune.

Mr. Lownes met Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in 1954, when the magazine was in its infancy. Revolutionary in its boldness, Playboy featured female nudity alongside sophisticated articles and high production values.

Within a year, Mr. Lownes became Playboys marketing director, helping to guide its advertising toward an upscale, urbane image. He devised one of the magazines most effective promotional pitches: What Sort of Man Reads Playboy?

Designed to appeal to potential advertisers and to flatter the magazines readers, the long-running campaign invariably featured a well-dressed young man on the go, with an attractive woman or two gazing at him in admiration.

The ads described the typical Playboy reader as a young man destined to go far, an avid sportsman, equally at ease in blue waters, on putting greens or snow-white slopes, or as a man with a love of life and a lot of living to do.

In the view of many, Mr. Lownes was the embodiment of the Playboy beau ideal, even more than Hefner himself. He was knowledgeable about art, music and the theater and had graduated from the University of Chicago at 19. He had an air of sophistication and seemed irresistible to women.

At about 17, a college roommate recalled to the Chicago Maroon student newspaper in 2012, we thought he was a man of the world. . . . Wed look down on the street and wed see this convertible car . . . and Victor would get out and there would be girls running about kissing and saying Goodbye! and hugging.

Mr. Lownes married for the first time at 18, but within a few years was divorced and ready to explore what became known as the Playboy lifestyle.

In 1959, Playboy published a feature about a Chicago club with provocatively dressed waitresses. The magazine received thousands of letters from the sort of men who read Playboy, asking how they could join.

I thought we ought to start a club ourselves, so we started it in 1960, Mr. Lownes told The Washington Post in 1977. He also said he came up with the idea to dress the clubs waitresses, or bunnies, in revealing outfits that included bunny ears, a fluffy tail and a bow tie.

Hefner was against the bunny idea at first, Mr. Lownes told The Post. He wanted girls in shortie nightgowns.

Mr. Lowness vision prevailed, and a string of Playboy clubs began to pop up across the country. He moved to London, where he launched the first overseas outpost in 1966.

With the added attraction of a casino, the London Playboy Club flourished. Mr. Lownes opened other Playboy-owned casinos in England, plus clubs and hotels around the world. His division of the company produced twice as much cash for the bottom line as Playboy magazine, which once had as many as 7 million subscribers.

Privately, publicly and commercially, Mr. Lownes said, I think sex is good.

He became known as the highest-paid business executive in Britain and held more Playboy stock than anyone outside the Hefner family. He had a chauffeur-driven Rolls-Royce, took up fox hunting and owned a pet monkey.

He threw lavish, celebrity-studded parties at his London home and country estate. After one particularly rousing New Years Eve party, a neighbor complained, The swimming pool was alive to the cries of naked ladies. And they were not singing Auld Lang Syne. 

Mr. Lownes was Playboy personified. He supervised the training of the women who became bunnies  one odd job requirement was that they had to memorize the multiplication table through 17  and often ended up dating them.

I tried to avoid saying, I love you,  he said. I didnt want anybody to have any illusions.

In 1981, British authorities began to investigate irregularities at the London Playboy Club, such as illegal credit extended to gamblers. Mr. Lownes brushed off the charges as technicalities, but he was soon fired by Hefner, and Playboys British gambling licenses were revoked. The Playboy clubs and casinos closed, and Mr. Lownes and Hefner did not speak for years.

Victor Aubrey Lownes III was born April 17, 1928, in Buffalo. His family owned a company that made locks for bank vaults.

As an adolescent, Mr. Lownes was on a hunting trip in the Florida Everglades when he accidentally shot and killed a friend. He was sent to a military school in New Mexico, then entered the University of Chicago at 16. He graduated in 1947.

His marriage to a fellow student, Judith Downs, ended in divorce.

After college, Mr. Lownes joined a Chicago branch of the family business.

I was promoted to manager within a few months, he reportedly said, due solely to hard work, conscientiousness and the fact that my grandfather owned the company.

He soon grew bored and began to promote entertainers before joining Playboy.

In 1982, Mr. Lownes published an autobiography, Playboy Extraordinary. Two years later, he married his longtime girlfriend, Marilyn Cole, who was Playboys Playmate of the Year in 1973. (I did the first full frontal, she explained to The Post in 1977.)

In addition to his wife, survivors include two children from his first marriage; two grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Mr. Lownes helped found the Playboy Jazz Festival and over the years invested in various dramatic and film productions, including the play Other Peoples Money, by Jerry Sterner, the 1971 Monty Python film, And Now for Something Completely Different, and the 1990s theatrical spectacle Stomp.

Mr. Lownes accumulated one of the worlds largest collections of erotic art and is often cited for coining a phrase that has entered common parlance: A promiscuous person is someone who is getting more sex than you are.
The sunrise in Cancun, Mexico, as captured by the authors sister on the last day of their trip. (Kimberely Young)

Our readers share tales of their ramblings around the world.

Who: Margaret Paige-Bacon (author) of Princess Anne, Md., and her sister, Kimberely Young, of Owings Mills, Md.

Where, when, why: My younger sister and I share the same birthday month, May, and decided to take a birthday vacation to Cancun, Mexico. Since mine falls around Memorial Day weekend, we booked an all-inclusive, four-day package at the Excellence Riviera Cancun from May 28 to May 31.

The author, left, and her sister, Kimberely Young, after a celebratory birthday diner at the Lobster House, an on-site restaurant at their resort. (Courtesy of Margaret Paige-Bacon)

Highlights and high points: The beauty of the resort and its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico gave the place a majestic aura. The indigenous plants and flowers thrive in Cancuns climate, which is warm year-round. Our living quarters included a swim-up suite just beyond our patio that flowed directly from the gulf. Standing on the pier at the break of dawn, we photographed awe-inspiring Mexican sunrises.

Cultural connection or disconnect: I was detained while passing through customs upon our arrival in Mexico. I had purchased a banana in the United States and absent-mindedly placed it in my purse. Unfortunately, I failed to discard it before entering Mexico and brought it in  which is illegal. I was terrified when I was confronted by the customs officer and escorted to a holding area, but the banana was confiscated and I was allowed to enter the country. I love you, but not well enough to go to a Mexican jail, Kimberely joked.

Biggest laugh or cry: Our boat excursion to Xochimilco was phenomenal. When we arrived at the departure point we were greeted by a crowd of native performers in festive clothing who sang, played guitars and danced. We were assigned to one of 10 boats, which held 20 people each. Once on board, we ate local cuisine, played games (the losers had to drink shots of tequila) and held a dance competition to the beat of a live mariachi band. I even participated in a dance routine. I must admit, I was one of the better examples of the rap classic Shake Ya Tailfeather!

How unexpected: On my birthday, we arranged to dine at the Lobster House, an on-site restaurant. However, a few minutes after we sat down, I felt what seemed like an insect bite on the underside of my arm. About 90 minutes later, I began to experience muscle pain, which I dismissed as the result of overexerting myself. A few hours after that, I was awakened by excruciating pain in my right arm. The doctor was summoned and diagnosed an allergic reaction to a horsefly bite. I received a steroid shot in the buttocks and two prescriptions to ward off infection. What a culmination to my birthday celebration!

Fondest memento or memory: The greatest gift was the opportunity to have shared such an awesome vacation with my sister, as I am a recent widow. During my last visit to Cancun 26 years ago, I was half the age that I am today, but thanks to my sister I had the pleasure of experiencing it again with youthful eyes. It was exactly what I needed to rejuvenate my perspective on life moving forward.

To tell us about your own trip, go to washingtonpost.com/travel and fill out the What a Trip form with your fondest memories, finest moments and favorite photos.

More from Travel:

Spending Christmas Eve at an onsen in Japan

Walking Spains Camino de Santiago

In Portugal, a personal Age of Discovery
A new report card on school food in Maryland gave top marks to just one of the states school systems  in Howard County  while most others received middling grades. (Deb Lindsey/For The Washington Post)

A first-time report card on the state of school food in Maryland gives top marks to Howard County and finds that many districts fall short in providing salad bars, restricting sugar in meals and limiting vending machines to healthier items even after school hours.

Most of Marylands 24 school systems earned middling grades of C or C-plus in the report, including those in the Washington suburbs of Montgomery and Prince Georges counties.

More than anything, I hope it encourages school systems to pay attention to these areas and improve upon their work, said Lindsey Parsons, coordinator of Healthy School Food Maryland, a coalition of 20 groups promoting safe and nutritious eating in schools.

The group examined each of Marylands school systems based on 12 factors that organizers said are of concern to parents and public-health advocates. Results were released in a report in December, with plans for a webinar next month.

Howard earned the highest total score. Among categories in which it did well were offering salad bars, expressly allowing personal water bottles and posting information about snacks that are sold in cafeterias but that many parents dont know their children are buying.

[Howard County superintendent sues her school board for interference]

School officials in Howard said they appreciate the recognition, noting that they will continue to test and change their menu so that it includes healthy foods that students enjoy.

Howard conducts four or five tastings a year in middle schools and high schools so that students can sample potential new items, said Brian Ralph, director of food and nutrition services. The district has salad bars at all middle schools and high schools, and a pilot project at three elementary schools through a grant program. It has added more variety to its menu in recent years.

We are very conscious of the fact that there is a correlation between healthy eating and academic achievement, Ralph said.

Two other school systems rated grades of B-plus in the report, in Carroll and Frederick counties. The bottom of the list included systems in Allegany, Garrett and Worcester counties. The lowest-rated, Worcester, did not fully participate in the study.

Even low-scoring school systems met state and federal school food requirements, Parsons said.

The report credited nearly half of Maryland districts, including Montgomery and Prince Georges, for sourcing at least 25 percent of their food locally. It recognized five school systems for taking a stricter approach to sugar levels in food than federally required.

[Strawberry milk to be banished from school cafeterias in Montgomery]

Montgomery was lauded for being the states only school system with a policy limiting foods with certain dyes and chemicals. But Montgomery scored lower on easy access to drinking water at lunch, school-based salad bars and limiting vending machines to healthier items even after school hours end.

Marla Caplon, director of food and nutrition services in Montgomery, said the report card was too narrowly focused and not a fair reflection of the countys approach. Twenty-five schools have salad bars, she said, but middle schools and high schools offer an entree salad daily, and fresh fruits and vegetables are offered at all schools every day. She also said elementary students who get school lunches are offered free bottles of water.

The reality is, this report did not focus on the big picture, she said.

Montgomery seeks out whole grains, fresh produce and items that are low in fat, sodium and calories, Caplon said. About 20 percent of food is made from scratch, including soups, sauces, chili, taco meat, chicken and beef barbecue, and salad dressings, she said.

At the end of the day, we know we have students that cant learn if they are hungry, she said. We have to find items that meet the guidelines, that are healthy and that a student will accept.

Neighboring Prince Georges County received some of its highest marks for from-scratch cooking and menu variety. But it drew zeros on providing salad bars and offering transparency about food ingredients, nutrition facts and snacks offered in its cafeterias.

[School lunchrooms: Students may buy Cheetos, but some argue for healthier foods]

Prince Georges school officials said in a statement that menus are planned by child nutrition professionals and exceed minimum federal requirements. Lunch offerings include hot entrees, salad platters, sandwiches on whole-grain breads, fruits and vegetables, and nonfat milk, they said, while snack items comply with federal standards.

The report cards were mostly based on interviews with food service staff and an examination of food-related policy documents, menus and other materials, said Parsons, who four years ago co-founded the group Real Food for Kids  Montgomery.

The scoring was done on a bell curve. Without the grading curve, Parsons said, all of the states school systems would have failed.

In earlier years, the Healthy School Food Maryland coalition worked for change in food-related policies and practices at schools through legislative efforts in Annapolis. The report card is a way to spur change through incentives rather than mandates, Parsons said. The group plans to send recommendations to school systems.

Now that they know they will be graded, she said, we anticipate they will work toward these criteria.
When parents complained about a teacher, they say school administrators turned their backs on them. (Jeff Bergen/Getty Images/iStockphoto)

School administrators often say they like parents and benefit from their advice. But when mothers and fathers try to force them to make difficult decisions, such as reassigning a teacher, the educators too often act like teenagers told to clean their rooms.

I have seen this happen many times. The latest incident occurred at T.C. Williams High School in Alexandria. It is one of the best schools I know, full of talented educators, but irrational stubbornness can erupt anywhere.

When school began last year, a teacher who had previously taught in Fairfax County was given three sections of Advanced Placement World History. T.C. Williams has a long tradition of challenging students early, so many of those AP students were sophomores.

Several parents were startled to discover that the teacher was giving quizzes and tests on material she had not taught and was requiring an answer format she had not explained. These were strong students  that was why they were allowed to take an AP course as 10th graders  but some were getting Ds and Fs.

[States need to do better by their most talented students]

The parents found their childrens grades were averaging 20 percentage points below what students in AP World History sections taught by other teachers were getting. They complained to the administrator in charge of those classes and to the principal. We were pretty much brushed aside, one parent said.

A district official said the school was aware of the teachers difficulties early on and tried to help by adding an assistant teacher. ACPS always addresses issues brought to our attention as quickly and as efficiently as possible, school district spokeswoman Helen Lloyd said. The success of all our students is our highest priority.

The teacher had to take a maternity leave in October. The district moved an administrator who had been a skilled AP World History teacher into her classes. Parents were told the erratic grading would stop. Several students grades rose into the 90s.

[Why surging high school graduation rates might the a mirage]

Then, after Thanksgiving, the teacher returned from her leave. On her first reading quiz, she gave much lower grades than the other classes, including some Fs. Many parents felt betrayed. They went to the school board.

I have had three older children and four prior exchange students attend TC, Krys Filios said. This is by far the most difficult and disappointing year of all.

Parents say the school board members they contacted intervened and that administrators told them that shove from above was necessary to resolve the issue. A district official strongly denied that, but said district and school administrators by that point agreed that the teacher had to be assigned to other duties.

The parents loved the replacement, the former administrator who had filled in as a substitute, but wondered why their children had to endure so many weeks of bad teaching.

The teacher told me she worked just eight days with those students before her leave and 12 days afterward before she was reassigned, and she said she was never contacted by a parent with a complaint. She said that in previous years her students AP exam scores have always been well above the worldwide and district averages.

The parents say they can no longer trust the educators who seemed to ignore their pleas. A district official acknowledged that school officials could have done a better job communicating their determination to fix the problem.

Failure to tell parents what is going on is common in schools, both public and private. It stems from a professional tendency to resent advice from amateurs. Many of us instinctively defend the people we work with against complaints from outsiders, but parents are more than just customers and clients. They often know more about what is happening inside classrooms than school administrators do.

Educators who bridle at parents telling them how to do their jobs should ask themselves: What would they do if this were happening to their own sons and daughters?
MARYLAND

Life sentence for man in killing of counselor

A former Maryland physician who fatally stabbed his mental-health counselor 15 years ago was sentenced Friday to life in prison without parole in the killing of Nicole Castro.

Describing the attack as ferocious, Montgomery County Circuit Court Judge Ronald Rubin said the only way to keep the community safe was to have John Lutz, 78, spend the rest of his life in prison.

Lutz, who used a wheelchair at the hearing, was arrested in 2002. He was housed in a state hospital because doctors thought mental illness made him incompetent for trial. He will serve his sentence in the state prison system.

 Dan Morse

Pr. Georges police nd gunshot victim in car

A man was fatally shot in Glenarden early Saturday, a Prince Georges County police spokesman said.

The man was found about 12:10 a.m. in a parked car in the 2900 block of Mueserbush Court, police said.

His name was not immediately released.

 Michael E. Miller

VIRGINIA

Man at river was slain, Pr. William police say

A man whose body was found Thursday on Cherry Hill Road near the Potomac River in the Dumfries area was slain, Prince William County police said.

Police said an autopsy revealed that the man had suffered trauma to his body. The nature of the trauma was not disclosed.

The mans name was withheld until relatives could be notified.

 Victoria St. Martin

Court declines to halt execution

A federal appeals court has denied a stay of execution for a convicted killer scheduled to be put to death Wednesday.

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit in Richmond issued a one-sentence order on Friday denying a request from Ricky Grays attorneys to stay his execution. Gray was convicted of killing a couple and their daughters in 2006.

 Associated Press

The District

Gropings in Logan area last week lead to arrest

A suspect has been arrested in connection with three incidents of groping that occurred last week within a half mile of Logan Circle, D.C. police said Saturday.

Authorities said Michael Hilliard, 57, of no fixed address was charged with three misdemeanor sexual-abuse counts. One incident was at the circle on Wednesday.

 Martin Weil
Despite low temperatures and steady rain, hundreds of people turned out Saturday to the Mall for We Shall Not Be Moved, a march led by the Rev. Al Sharpton. The rally called for togetherness in weathering the Trump administration and protecting civil rights. (Marvin Joseph/The Washington Post)

In a steady light rain, thousands of demonstrators marched Saturday from the Washington Monument to the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial, seeking to bring attention to issues such as immigration, police brutality and affordable health care.

The rally, led by the Rev. Al Sharpton and his National Action Network, was sparked by concerns about President-elect Donald Trumps stance on civil rights issues. Holding umbrellas in 30-degree temperatures, marchers stretched three city blocks as they progressed down Independence Avenue as part of the Martin Luther King holiday weekend celebration. What do we want? Justice! When do we want it? Now! they shouted, along with chants of No justice, no peace!

Dozens of speakers rallied attendees to focus attention on issues affecting African Americans, who made up the majority of the demonstrators. Topics included protecting voting rights, supporting affordable health care and working against mass incarceration and police brutality. But other speakers  including various Hispanic elected leaders, white labor-union officials, and representatives of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community  also called for unity among the groups in pushing for more affordable housing and supporting immigrants, labor unions, gay rights and equal pay for women.

Holding the rally a week before Trumps Jan. 20 inauguration, organizers said, was intended to send a message to the incoming president and his administration, as well as to members of Congress, that the various groups plan to unify in the coming months and years to push for those causes.

We cant be divided. They are coming after all of these issues. We have to be as one, together, shouted the Rev. Shane Harris, founder of the San Diego chapter of the National Action Network.

The march was entitled We Shall Not Be Moved after the Negro spiritual that became a civil rights folk song during the 1960s. Before the march began, Sharpton stood on a stage at the base of the Washington Monument in the shadow of the Smithsonians new National Museum of African American History and Culture.

Sharpton said that given dreary weather forecasts, rally organizers initially thought about canceling the march but decided to press on. We are not fair-weather activists. We march in snow and the rain, he said.

Sharpton joked that the weather forced him to wear a hat that covered his trademark salt-and-pepper locks. I put on a hat and covered up my hair, something I havent done in a long time, he said as the crowd cheered.

Sharpton said the rally was the first of what he called House calls to members of Congress in the next several days and weeks, mentioning visits on Capitol Hill following confirmation hearings.

This is not a parade. This is a House call, Sharpton said. We come not to appeal to Donald Trump, because hes made it clear what his policies are and what his nominations are. We come to say to the Democrats in the Senate and in the House and to the moderate Republicans to Get some backbone. Get some guts. We didnt send you down here to be weak-kneed. 

One speaker elicited boos from the crowd during the rally, which lasted more than four hours. Lenora Fulani, who ran for president in 1988 and 1992 as a third-party candidate, told the crowd she did not vote in the presidential election out of disagreement with Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton.

More than a million African Americans chose not to vote this year because we remembered how the Clinton administration affected black households with mass incarceration and the decline of the middle class. So there was a significant drop in voting among African Americans, Fulani said.

Many in the crowd said they were angered by Fulanis comments. I am outraged. We are out here because so many people like her decided to stay home [on Election Day], said Mary C. Williams, 56, an attorney in the District.

Several marchers began shouting Black Lives Matter and I cant breathe as the stage was taken by Sybrina Fulton, mother of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed Florida teenager shot to death in 2012. She was joined by Gwen Carr, mother of Eric Garner, who died during a police arrest in 2014 in New York. The women called for police reform. When my child was shot down, it caused me to stand up. We need to look after young people, Fulton said.

D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D) told the crowd that the nation was looking to Washington as an example. She also used the rally to champion statehood. We are committed to justice and equality, she told the crowd.

Several speakers tried to encourage those upset by the Trump election to use their anger as motivation.

If youre in the bed and depressed over the election, get out of that bed and do something, said attorney Barbara Arnwine, founder of the Transformative Justice Coalition. We got to fight. In four years, we will have another president. The peoples president, not no Russian hacking.

Attendees from California, Arizona, New York and North Carolina flew, drove or came by bus. The only bright colors piercing the gray day were on umbrellas and hats  shades of blue, purple and pink marchers wore to represent their historically black fraternities and sororities.

The march was not the only demonstration to draw crowds to the nations capital Saturday. Thousands more gathered inside the historic Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church downtown for the separate We Are Here to Stay rally in support of undocumented immigrants.

About 2,500 people packed the church where Frederick Douglass once urged his audience to recognize that the rights of the humblest citizen are as worthy of protection as are those of the highest.

More than a century later, the scene was at once festive and fearful. A mix of immigrants, activists and union members chanted, waved signs and sang folk songs in English and Spanish. The Howard Gospel Choir of Howard University sang, and a Latin band accompanied dancers twirling batons.

Several undocumented immigrants took the stage and vowed to defy Trump, who, as a candidate, pledged to deport the more than 11 million people in the country illegally. Im undocumented, unapologetic, unafraid, and Im here to stay, said Max Kim, 19, a Korean immigrant from Annandale, Va.

We are not going to let Donald Trump or anyone else turn back the clock on social justice in the United States of America, said Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

Many in attendance, however, felt anxiety about the next four years.

My son is afraid his parents are going to be taken away from him, said Lourdes Ortega, 27, an undocumented immigrant from Ecuador who lives in Baltimore. Under Obama, Ortega came forward to apply for deferred action from deportation  something that now could be used against her by a Trump administration.

I dont believe he will deport all of us, she said of the president-elect. But he could.

Perry Stein contributed to this report.
Police on Friday arrested a 57-year-old who allegedly groped three separate women on streets around Logan Circle, authorities said.

Michael Hilliard allegedly forced himself on a woman on the 1900 block of 15th St. NW on Wednesday morning and again that evening in Logan Circle, police said. He approached another woman the following morning on the 1300 block of Massachusetts Ave, NW and fondled her, police said.

Police located Hilliard late Friday night. They said he has no permanent address. He was charged with three counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse.
One person is dead and two others sustained minor injuries in a single-car accident in Laurel, Md., early Monday.

Maryland State Police said they found a 2014 Jeep Grand Cherokee overturned in the woods off a ramp heading to I-95 north from Maryland Route 198 a little after 3 a.m. Sunday.

The driver, Howard Thompson III, 45, of Laurel, and an unnamed passenger were taken to Prince Georges Hospital Center for minor injuries. A second passenger, Arden Hall, 44, also of Laurel, was found dead at the scene.

The cause of the crash is still under investigation. No other vehicles appeared to be involved.
A construction worker helps build a stage to be used in the presidential inauguration festivities for incoming President-elect Donald Trump at the Lincoln Memorial. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

Security measures related to Fridays presidential inauguration are already visible, in the form of Jersey barriers placed on the streets near Lafayette Square. Parking restrictions will begin Wednesday. Streets will start closing Thursday.

By weeks end, the nations capital will have transformed into a virtual fortress of roadblocks, fences and armed police. Streets will be barricaded with trucks filled with sand. Five Metro stations will close Friday. Crossing Pennsylvania Avenue will be next to impossible.

The peaceful transfer of power is made possible by overlaying a tight security grid using 28,000 security officials over 100 square blocks of prime downtown real estate  from the White House to the Capitol and beyond, with a price tag in the tens of millions of dollars.

An estimated 700,000 to 900,000 people are expected to watch Donald Trump become president. Security officials said there are 63 demonstration groups, pro and con, expected on Jan. 20, and an additional 36 on other days. Those include groups with permits and others who have signaled participation through social media.

The presidential reviewing stand on Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House. (Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images)

To accomplish having a tranquil event amid worries of terrorist attacks and threats by some groups to disrupt the celebration requires bringing in 3,000 police officers from across the nation and 5,000 members of the National Guard, bolstering the already large law enforcement footprint imposed on everyday Washington. The numbers this year are the same as in years past.

Were constantly adapting, evolving and enhancing our protective methodology to protect against emerging threats, said Brian Ebert, the Secret Service special agent in charge of the Washington field office. We are monitoring our adversaries, paying close attention to their trends and tactics.

Authorities said it makes little difference whether the Secret Service is protecting Trump, who is known for unpredictable behavior, or someone more apt to follow established customs. They dismissed notions that protecting Trump might be more difficult given his unique personality and the variety of people and groups he has angered.

A lot of people think its different because of the individual, said Jonathan Wackrow, a retired Secret Service agent who worked on President Obamas inauguration in 2013 and now runs RANE, a security consulting group in New York. Its very much the threat level as a whole.

But Scott J. White, a professor and director of the cybersecurity program at George Washington University, said Trumps use of Twitter and the language he uses have spurned outrage that poses new risks.

There are elements of the president-elects behavior that may pose a slightly greater threat, White said. I think his use of social media has a tendency to inflame peoples attitude toward him. And I think this particular method of engaging the public has definitely resulted in a different kind of adversary.

For the most part, security experts said police say they will do what they always have done for such events: snipers on rooftops; boat restrictions in the Potomac and Anacostia rivers; manhole covers welded shut; light poles removed; trash cans and mailboxes hauled away; and multilevel perimeters established along the parade route and viewing areas at the Capitol Building, with metal detectors and bag checks.

The list of prohibited items is long and includes things one might expect  ammunition, weapons, explosives  but also balloons, selfie-sticks, and supports for placards and coolers.

Bring a little bit of patience, Ebert said. We have a lot of checkpoints and we have a lot of people.

Crowds are expected to be smaller than the 2 million people who attended President Obamas first inauguration, in 2009, and on par with the 1 million or so who came to his second swearing-in, in 2013. But more protesters are anticipated this year after a polarizing campaign, reflecting divisions evident across the nation.

One group, DisruptJ20, has plans for massive resistance with rallies and marches. The group plans a permitted, family-friendly gathering, as well as what it calls unpermitted anti-capitalist marches, some targeting as many as a dozen security checkpoints along the parade route and others crashing inaugural balls.

Yolanda Rondan, who works with a group that advises activist groups such as Black Lives Matter raised another concern while testifying Thursday at a D.C. Council public safety committee hearing: whether police are prepared to protect anti-Trump demonstrators from those who may oppose their views or their tactics.

Monica Hopkins-Maxwell, the executive director of the ACLU of the Nations Capital, said at the hearing that the First Amendment is rarely convenient and is rarely comfortable . . . especially during this inauguration and with this heightened emotion.

Hopkins-Maxwell said the police should make every effort to single out instigators in an otherwise orderly crowd and not use isolated incidents to disperse an entire group or start mass arrests.

Demonstration organizers have planned for housing and legal support, as well as transportation. The ACLU is distributing 10,000 pamphlets called know your rights guide to help demonstrators who may encounter law enforcement.

District officials said officers from local and federal agencies are prepared for any unrest and both the mayor and police chief have said they will allow people to express their views but wont allow violence from either Trump supporters or Trump critics. We expect people to exercise their rights peacefully, and we will be prepared for anybody who chooses not to, said D.C. Mayor Muriel E. Bowser (D).

Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said at a news conference Friday that demonstrators could reach the parade route by going through security checks and leaving prohibited items behind. Peaceful demonstrations are certainly permitted as long as they arent violent, he said. But Johnson stressed, Special precautions are being taken to ensure that the official event cannot be disrupted.

Authorities said police have been practicing for months with rehearsals and moving index cards symbolizing demonstrators around a giant map of the District. A team of Secret Service agents is monitoring social media.

The last time violence occurred at an inauguration was in 2005, when President George W. Bush began his second term. A melee at a checkpoint at 14th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue NW injured two officers, and riot police sprayed a group with pepper spray. Police reported being pelted with glass bottles. Fixtures from light poles were torn down.

At Bushs first swearing-in, in 2001, numerous protest groups roamed the District, some clashing with police, in what The Washington Post described as the largest inaugural demonstration since the Vietnam War. The paper reported than an egg, four green apples and a plastic water bottle were tossed in the direction of Bushs limousine as protesters along the parade route shouted, Hail to the thief.

Protests turned ugly in 1969 and 1973 for Richard M. Nixons inaugurations. Rocks were thrown at his limo during his second swearing-in.

It was a huge challenge for the Secret Service, said W. Ralph Basham, a retired director of the agency with 33 years of experience, who helped protect popes and presidents dating back to Nixon. Its critically important to make sure proper security measures are in place. We want to make sure that not only is the president and his family safe, but also the people who are there to witness this incredibly important Democratic event.

Authorities said that they are prepared for any potential acts of terrorism, though they say no specific threat has been received. One tactic receiving new attention is vehicles being turned into weapons, as they were during attacks in Europe last year. The District is planning to use sand-filled trucks and other barricades to address that possibility.

The parade route ends at one of the most protected buildings in the world, the White House, though the short trip from the swearing-in at the Capitol to the presidents new home is privately referred to as the two-mile nightmare.

It is where exuberant new leaders make the slow drive, and sometimes walk, typically where Pennsylvania Avenue bends a bit near the grandstands. Presidents sometimes greet the crowds, pausing to shake hands or chat. Theres a new wrinkle this year: The parade route goes by the Trump International Hotel at 1100 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

Ebert said its up to Trump if he wants to stop at the hotel. Were prepared to protect Mr. Trump in any environment, he said.

The Secret Service official noted that the hotel is within the security perimeter and that the restrictions are the same there as with hundreds of other private and public buildings along the parade route. Everybody, from guests to workers to residents, will be checked by agents and rechecked should they leave and return.

Basham said that the inauguration is pretty much controlled. Whether the president rides down Pennsylvania Avenue or he walks some portion of it, its all choreographed. Basically, there are no surprises. My understanding over the years is that the president understands the significance of his safety and his security and what it means to the world.

Aaron Davis, Jennifer Jenkins, Michael E. Ruane and Perry Stein contributed to this report.
At least 19 dead in India as boat capsizes in Ganges

At least 19 people have drowned after a boat capsized in the Ganges river in India's eastern state of Bihar on Saturday, a government official said.
A construction worker looks at scaffolding being put up Jan. 11, 2017, near the Lincoln Memorial in Washington as part of a stage to be used in the inauguration festivities for President-elect Donald Trump. (Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP/Getty Images)

For nearly a week in November, Jim Bamberger and his crew of six spent their days and some of their nights photographing every square inch of Dulles International Airport.

Runways. Restrooms. Stairwells. Click. Click. Click.

Within a month, the thousands of images they captured over 55 hours were stitched together to recreate a 360-degree virtual version of Dulles. It was another entry in a vast catalogue of important Washington-area sites that the Transportation Security Administration has put together to help officials with the massive security effort surrounding Inauguration Day.

The files offer officials a birds-eye view of landmarks such as Union Station, as well as all 91 Metrorail stations, enabling them to identify potential trouble spots and coordinate how they might respond to an incident. Some agencies also use the collection as a training tool for personnel who may not be familiar with particular buildings or rail stations.

[Tips for getting around during the inauguration]

Think of it as virtual reality that allows you to travel through any transportation asset as if you were there, said Bamberger, a risk specialist with the TSA, an agency of the Department of Homeland Security.

With as many as a million people expected to come to Washington for Donald Trumps inauguration Friday, and some 200,000 people expected to take part in the Womens March the following day, security will be tight.

Officials once used blueprints to identify potential vulnerabilities in a system, but Bamberger said IVIEW, which stands for Intermodal Virtual Imaging Enhancement Workshop, offers capabilities that go well beyond tools of the past.

Up close, IVIEW is like a souped-up version of Google Earth, which Bamberger called a good reference point. But IVIEW, he said, goes beyond letting people explore a place.

Its Google with a lot more tactical enhancements, Bamberger said.

Snapping open his laptop, he called up the interior of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport for a demonstration. Clicking on the side of his screen, he simulated an explosion inside the terminal. Toggling around the airports interior, he was able to speculate on where the smoke might float, examine the buildings ventilation systems and identify the best ways for rescuers to enter the building and perform evacuations.

Details matter  right down to where the hinges are on a door, which can affect where debris might fly in the event of an explosion or how a rescuer might move into a situation, Bamberger said. IVIEW offers users the ability to create scenarios and learn from them.

[Heres whats happening in and around D.C. during the inauguration]

It gives you more situational awareness, said Metro Transit Police Chief Ronald Pavlik in a YouTube video about the project. How to prepare, what kind of equipment you might need, the challenges you might face before you even get there. No matter what the event is, theres always going to be a need to use it.

The TSA began capturing sites in 2011, starting with airports, then moving to mass-transit and freight-rail systems.

Bamberger said another benefit of IVIEW is that it offers first responders unfamiliar with a site a quick way to get a read on a situation.

If Im in a firetruck and I have a fire on the tarmac, I can basically see on a computer in my vehicle how to come through the tarmac, what gates I can access from the field, the ability to find alternate routes into an incident [at a site] I may not be intimately familiar with, Bamberger said.

While the upcoming inauguration was at the top of the TSA teams minds as they recently moved slowly through Dulles, their work is far-reaching. The agencys library includes airports, train and rail stations across the country. It has been used by law enforcement officials from coast to coast. Officials in Philadelphia used TSA virtual models to help plan for Pope Franciss 2015 visit, as did officials in Cleveland to prepare for the Republican National Convention last year. In all, more than 1,000 mapped sites are stored in the TSAs library.

The work to capture the images is far from glamorous. Armed with cameras and tripods, Bambergers team, which includes William Welch, Esperanza Espinosa, Chase Carpenter, Emily Burggraf and Mark Rains, proceeded systematically through the airport.

It pays to have chemistry with these guys because youre spending an inordinate amount of time doing the same thing, moving in circles over the course of eight to 10 days, said Welch, a section chief for the IVIEW program.

But the payoff is real.

This is the greatest job in all of TSA, Welch said. This is one of the things that we do that we get a chance to see how its being applied. When we share it with our stakeholders, our operatives in the field, their faces when they get a new tool that is great to use, innovative, its amazing.
The transition team for President-elect Donald Trump asked the head of the D.C. National Guard to remain in command throughout Inauguration Day after media reports that he would leave in the middle of the ceremony created controversy, the Guard said.

Maj. Gen. Errol R. Schwartz told The Washington Post on Friday that he will be removed from his post immediately after Trump is sworn in as president. That irked at least one D.C. Council member because Schwartz will have to abandon his post during one of the Guards most important operations, helping maintain security and order during Washingtons highest-profile event.

As is customary for presidential appointees, Schwartz had offered his resignation after Trump was elected. In an interview Friday, Schwartz said he learned he would be replaced on Jan. 20. He said the transition team ultimately asked him to stay in the job for a few additional days, but only after the report of his departure had been published Friday on The Washington Post website.

[Head of D.C. National Guard to be removed from post in middle of inauguration]

Schwartz said he turned down the transition teams offer because, by then, he had begun packing up his office and notified his staff. He said he believes the offer came only as a result of the negative attention his departure attracted.

(Video: WUSA9)

He declined to comment further.

Transition officials for the new administration on Friday said the team asked Schwartz to stay on through the inauguration to maintain continuity. They did not immediately respond Saturday to questions about when and how that offer was extended.

Military officials on Saturday backtracked from earlier statements indicating that Schwartz had not been asked to stay on by the new administration. One said he learned he had been mistaken, and that additional paperwork that became available Saturday showed that the transition team had in fact asked Schwartz to maintain his command for several days into the new presidency. That official did not know when that offer was made.

Another senior military official said he believed the offer came before Friday.

Maj. Byron Coward, a spokesman for the D.C. National Guard, also said the offer from the transition team to Schwartz came Friday afternoon. He said Trump transition officials asked Schwartz to stay on an additional three days. Coward said that was the first time Schwartz had any notion that the transition team wanted him to stay in command throughout the inauguration.

On the morning of the inauguration, Schwartz will command not only members of the D.C. Guard but also 5,000 unarmed troops dispatched from across the country to help.

Brig. Gen. William J. Walker, who also has been involved with inauguration planning, has been named Schwartzs interim replacement. He will take command on Friday at 12:01 p.m.

502 Bad Gateway

That moment, when the new president is sworn in, is the standard time for many political appointees to step out of their jobs as a new administration takes over.

Unlike in states, where the governor appoints the National Guard commander, in the District that duty falls to the president.

Schwartz, who was appointed to head the Guard by President George W. Bush in 2008, maintained the position through President Obamas two terms.

Schwartz began his military career in 1976 by enlisting in the Guard, formally called the Militia of the District of Columbia National Guard. He also oversees the Air National Guard, which combined with the Army Guard has an authorized strength of 2,700. He has served in several leadership positions, notably commanding the 372nd Military Police Battalion.

Joe Heim and Aaron C. Davis contributed to this report.
Former Virginia congressman Tom Perriello speaks at a rally announcing his candidacy for the Democratic nomination for governor of Virginia in Charlottesville on Jan. 5. (Steve Helber/AP)

The crowd had gathered down the hill from the Virginia State Capitol building to cheer for Obamacare, but what they got was the first public glimpse of the race for the Democratic nomination for governor.

The event was one of several pro-Affordable Care Act rallies staged by Democrats around the country, this one featuring Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe and Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia.

Before the big names spoke, though, Democratic candidates got a chance to warm up the crowd. Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, who party leaders had hoped would glide unopposed to the nomination, shared the bill for the first time with his unexpected rival, former congressman Tom Perriello of Charlottesville, who announced his candidacy just 10 days ago.

[A surprise candidate shakes up Virginias governors race]

Northam was the hometown favorite  even though he hails from Virginias Eastern Shore, he has the support of McAuliffe and many Democrats in the General Assembly. Northam stickers werent hard to find in a crowd that organizers estimated at 1,000. Campaign staffers handed out blue Northam signs, and McAuliffe, when he spoke, mentioned the lieutenant governor several times.

Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, right, gestures during a news conference as his wife, Dorothy, and Lt. Gov. Ralph Northam, left, listen at the Capitol in Richmond on Jan. 10. At a pro-Obamacare rally in Richmond on Sunday, McAuliffe indicated his support for Northam in the states upcoming gubernatorial nomination race. (Steve Helber/AP)

There was no such visible support for the fledgling Perriello campaign.

To be fair, though, it wasnt hard to find people in the wildly partisan Democratic crowd who were unfamiliar with both men.

Northam spoke first, and he had put a white doctors coat over his dress shirt and tie.

Is he a dentist or a physician or something? Nancy Langston, 72, a retired health-care worker, said to her friend.

Northam is, in fact, a pediatric neurologist. Hes known for being good in one-on-one conversations but less energetic in public forums. In this case, with the crowd hungry for red meat, he did his best to deliver while also introducing himself.

As you know, I am the lieutenant governor of Virginia, but Im also a doctor, he said, then described his medical training. It wasnt quite what the crowd was looking for, but he built to a crescendo: There is no excuse in the wealthiest country in this world that there are folks in our country that dont have access to see a provider. That is unacceptable.

He went on to list benefits of the Affordable Care Act and put in a plug for expanding Medicaid in Virginia. I want you to know that I will continue to lead the fight to make sure that all Virginians have access to affordable and quality health care, and I hope that you will join me in the fight!

Perriello took the microphone next and quickly got a big cheer when he thanked the crowd for coming out and saying we will never go back to when insurance companies can say being a woman is a preexisting condition. He didnt spend much time introducing himself, but he highlighted the fact that during his brief time in Congress he was able to vote in favor of the Affordable Care Act.

He praised Northam as a great lieutenant governor and then got a huge response when he turned his attention to his Republican brothers and sisters in Congress. Sometimes it is worth doing the right thing even if there is a political price to pay for it, he said in a hushed voice.

Drawing shouts of approval from the crowd, Perriello said his father told him to remember one thing in politics: Election Day is not as important as Judgment Day. And what I can pass along to my Republican brothers and sisters today is, this is one of those chances to do whats right.

After both men spoke, some watchers said they were pleased to at least know who is running for their partys nomination.

Langston said she hasnt paid much attention to the race yet; before the speeches, she didnt recognize either candidate. Their performances were impressive, she said, but it didnt tell me who to vote for.

Jon Sheridan, 39, a professor from Richmond, said he was partial to Perriello because he had volunteered for Perriellos congressional campaign when he lived in Charlottesville. But he thought both men performed well at the rally and said a healthy primary contest this June would leave the party in better shape to take on Republicans in the fall.

Four candidates are vying for the Republican nomination: strategist Ed Gillespie, Prince William County Supervisor Corey Stewart, state Sen. Frank Wagner (Virginia Beach) and businessman Denver Riggleman.

Tracy Labin, 54, a financial analyst from Henrico County, said she was familiar with Northam but, like several others in the crowd after a long event that featured many politicians, couldnt quite recall which one had been Perriello.

I saw he just threw his hat in last week. I think I saw he said he was going to shake it up or something, she said. I dont know anything about him yet.




Drivers pass the roadside Veterans Memorial in downtown Anchorage. (Ash Adams/For The Washington Post)

Monday night was lasagna night inside the strip-mall storefront of VFW Post 9981. Clemson was still behind Alabama on the big screens as regulars trickled in. At the bar, Joe Federmann considered how Esteban Santiago fell through the social safety net Alaska has for veterans.

A young combat vet, Santiago lived for several years in this town of 300,000 before he boarded the plane that took him to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., where the FBI says he shot five strangers at the baggage claim. Santiago showed signs of serious mental illness and a propensity for violence the year before the trip, investigators say. Federmann wondered whether he had signed up to get mental health care from the Department of Veterans Affairs. There is good help available for vets, he said, but they have to take it.

The thing about it is, a lot of veterans dont feel they want to seek that help because they think they dont need it, Federmann said.

It has been more than 40 years since Federmann, 71, saw a man killed by a rocket in Vietnam, but the memory is still searing, he said. When he came back from the war, he and his family moved to Alaska. He found peace in the vast wild landscapes, the fishing and a community of veterans who understood him, he said. He also had good care at VA. When he dies, he would like his ashes spread over an Alaska mountain range, he said.

There are more vets per capita in Alaska than any other state. One out of every three people is either military or a dependent, according to Verdie Bowen, director of veterans affairs for the state. Alaska offers vets opportunities in oil fields, health care, mining, aviation, military contract work and the federal workforce. In a place where bears eat out of trash cans and moose rut in cul-de-sacs, nobody makes a big deal about owning guns. And Alaskans tend to value self-reliance and practicality, Bowen said.

A lot of the veterans come up here; they want to be on their own, he said. A lot of veterans are of an independent mind-set.



Woody Quackenbush, 72, is a veteran and volunteers with the Alaska Veterans Mental Health Wellness Council. Everybody who is on the council on the board is either a present or past consumer, he says. (Ash Adams/For The Washington Post)

Richard Crook was in the Navy for six years and is the chaplain for the American Legion Riders in Anchorage. These are the best people youd ever want to be associated with, he says. (Ash Adams/For The Washington Post)

That mind-set meshes well with Alaskas long legal tradition of respecting individual rights. The state constitution has an uncommon explicit privacy clause, stating the right of the people to privacy is recognized and shall not be infringed. A person can carry a gun  open or concealed  without a permit. The standard for committing someone to a mental health facility is high. But this culture of fierce independence may also be part of what kept Santiago from getting the help he needed, said Vanessa Meade, a social work professor at the University of Alaska at Anchorage, an advocate and Gulf War Army combat veteran.

Individual rights here are really held high, which can be a really good thing, she said. But if somebody does need assistance, it can make it hard for people to get access to it.

When Meade read Santiagos story, a flood of similar recent stories came to mind. There was veteran Micah Johnson, who killed five police officers in Dallas last year, and Gavin Long, who shot officers in Baton Rouge. Most veterans are doing just fine, but for those who are suffering, the system can do better, she said.

Alaska has expanded mental health programs and access to health care for veterans greatly over the past decade. The biggest obstacle for veterans in need of mental health care is getting them to sign up for VA services, Meade said. Thats a problem nationwide.

DOD and the VA dont communicate, she said. If a veteran doesnt sign up for services before they leave the military, it is really, really difficult for them to get in.

Roughly half of Alaskas 70,000 veterans are enrolled with VA, Bowen said.



Joe Federmann, 71, sits at the bar at VFW Post 9981 on football night. Federmann moved with his family to Alaska after he returned from serving in Vietnam. (Ash Adams/For The Washington Post)

Its unclear whether Santiago had enrolled with VA in November when he showed up at the FBI headquarters with his infant child and a gun, complaining his mind was being controlled by a U.S. intelligence agency. He was hospitalized for four days at a psychiatric facility and released. Police took his gun, but having no legal reason to keep it, gave it back a month later. When he arrived four hours early for his one-way flight to Florida on Jan. 6, checking only a firearm, he attracted no attention. Gun cases are a common sight at the airport.

Alaska has no laws that restrict gun ownership. It relies instead on federal law. To lose his gun under that, Santiago would have had to be involuntarily committed on a 30-day petition, said Mark Regan, legal director at Alaskas Disability Law Center.

In Alaska, a person must be proven to be an immediate danger to himself or someone else, or disabled in a way that he is unable to meet his own most basic needs. Alaskas civilian mental health system is not set up to institutionalize patients, and some clinicians say it is overburdened. People in crisis are evaluated, stabilized and sent home with referrals. But sometimes they dont follow through. Even if they are delusional, they are allowed to make that choice. This may be what happened with Santiago.

Thats what happens with a lot of people. They go into API [Alaska Psychiatric Institute], and they come out stabilized, Regan said. The way it works has less to do with how the statutes work and more to do with pressures on the system.

That is how some seriously mentally ill people end up on the street, which is particularly dangerous in Alaska because of the cold. Roughly a third of Anchorages homeless population is mentally ill. The largest mental health care provider in the state is the prison system.



Veteran Richard Crook displays two of his tattoos. his wife is on his right arm, and a bald eagle is on his left. (Ash Adams/For The Washington Post)

Jeffrey Venes, a former air crewman in the Marines, walked through the Anchorage airport just a day before Santiago on his way to attend community college in Oregon. Venes, 31, who is Yupik and Athabaskan, is from Bethel, one of the larger communities in Alaskas vast rural area. There, living off the land, hunting and fishing, is a matter of economic necessity because the cost of food is so high. Two of his brothers are in the military. His dad was in the Navy in Vietnam and his grandfather was in the Territorial Guard during World War II.

A lot of people do join the service from rural Alaska. Its a very prideful thing to do. Go out and see the world  thats one of the biggest things for me, he said.

Santiagos story stayed with Venes. They were in the same stage in life. He had even considered joining the Alaska Army National Guard, where Santiago served until he received a general discharge in August after what military officials said was unsatisfactory performance.

The difference was that Veness family and his village give him a support system, he said.

Bruce Lund, senior vice commander of the VFW Post, sat down the bar from Federmann. Hed recently retired from the Air Force after 26 years that included deployments during the Gulf War and recent Middle East conflicts. He crewed cargo airplanes that hauled troops, supplies, prisoners and sometimes the bodies of soldiers coming home.

A lot of people dont understand the military, you know? he said.

He wished that Esteban Santiago had found community in Anchorage that could have helped him. He hated the way that the crimes Santiago is alleged to have committed reinforced stereotypes about veterans and mental illness. For Lund, the military was a good experience, and VFW is a second family, he said. Coffee at the bar is free to any vet who comes in the door.

Military people are neat people to hang out with, he said. Plus, we all have something in common. Weve given up a lot.
Getting cancer is scary. Discovering that your health plan doesnt give you access to leading cancer centers may make the diagnosis even more daunting.

As insurers participating in the health marketplace shrink their provider networks and slash the number of plans that offer out-of-network coverage, some consumers with cancer are learning that their treatment options can sometimes be limited.

One reader wrote to Kaiser Health News last month saying that she was dismayed to learn that none of the plans offered on the New York marketplace provides access to Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, where she is a patient.

Memorial Sloan Kettering is a well-regarded cancer center that is affiliated with the National Comprehensive Cancer Network and the National Cancer Institute.It participates in New Yorks Essential Plan, which is available to lower-income people but not to people enrolling in plans with the familiar categories of bronze, silver, gold and platinum.

NCCN is an alliance of 27 cancer centers whose physicians and researchers develop clinical practice guidelines that are widely respected. The National Cancer Institutes 69 designated cancer centers, which are recognized for their scientific leadership and research, can offer patients access to cutting-edge treatments and clinical trials.

A 2015 survey found that three-quarters of NCI-designated cancer centers said they participated in at least some exchange plans, and 13 percent said they were included in all exchange plans in their state. Among centers that didnt participate in any exchanges, many were in states with large numbers of exchange enrollees, including Texas and New York.

Does it matter whether someone with a cancer diagnosis gets treatment at one of these centers rather than at a community hospital or some other site? Research suggests that it may.

A large study published in 2015 found that patients newly diagnosed with several types of cancer  breast, colorectal, lung, pancreatic, gastric and bile duct  were 20 to 50 percent more likely to die of it if they were initially treated somewhere other than at a NCI-designated comprehensive cancer center.

Researchers hypothesize that the cancer centers multidisciplinary approach to decision-making, supportive care and access to the latest treatment, among other things, contribute to the superior outcomes, said Julie Wolfson, a pediatric oncologist at the Institute for Cancer Outcomes and Survivorship at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, who co-authored the study.

Often, factors besides a hospitals survival rates contribute to decisions about where to go for care, said Robert Carlson, NCCNs chief executive. Those include a patients social and support systems and concerns about nonmedical costs such as housing and transportation.

Most patients, if offered the option to go to a major cancer center, especially if it involves traveling, will decline it, Carlson said.

Some cancer centers aim to give patients access to a variety of facilities. For example, City of Hope cancer centers main academic campus is in Duarte, Calif., in Los Angeles County. Thats the best site for patients when their cancers are rare or advanced, when optimal treatment isnt clear or when they could participate in a clinical trial, said Harlan Levine, the chief executive of the City of Hope Medical Foundation. But the cancer center also owns 14 community cancer clinics around southern California for patients who can be effectively treated in that setting.

City of Hope participates in two plans on Californias exchange, Blue Shield and Anthem, and its physicians are in network for the exchanges Oscar health plan. But most people dont check about cancer care when they shop for a plan.

Cancer is an infrequent purchase from a marketing point of view, Levine said. In many cases, patients dont realize their lack of access until after their diagnosis, when it may be too late.

Cancer centers may try to aid patients regardless of gaps in coverage. We understand that each patient has a unique financial situation and we work with our patients, especially those in active treatment, to ensure they receive the care needed and that their treatment is uninterrupted, said Ruth Lande, senior vice president for patient revenues at Memorial Sloan Kettering.

Patients who believe that its critical to be treated at a cancer center thats not in their insurance network have some recourse.

When people receive a cancer diagnosis, its overwhelming, said Anna Howard, a principal for policy development at the American Cancer Societys Cancer Action Network. You may not be aware of the fact that if your insurance plan says you dont have coverage at a cancer center, you can file an appeal.

This column is produced by Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service and a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation. To submit a question, go to kaiserhealthnews.org/

contact-insuring-your-health.
GERMANY

Merkel warns U.S. of risks of protectionism

German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Saturday urged the United States to stick to multilateral cooperation, saying that a trend toward protectionism is a risk to prosperity.

The United States is Germanys most important trading partner, and the protectionist rhetoric of President-elect Donald Trump has unnerved exporters in Europes biggest economy.

Germany holds the presidency of the Group of 20 leading economies this year, a platform Merkel wants to use to safeguard multilateral cooperation.

Speaking after a meeting of senior members of her center-right Christian Democratic Union party in the western German town of Perl-Nennig, Merkel said that all countries are better off if they work together rather than isolating themselves.

Asked when she would meet Trump for the first time, Merkel said a meeting is possible during a summit of the Group of Seven leading economic powers, which takes place in Sicily in May, and at the G-20 summit that Germany is hosting in July.

 Reuters

Bangladesh

Suspected plotter in July siege is arrested

Police arrested a suspected plotter of a deadly July attack on a restaurant in Bangladeshs capital as an anti-terrorism crackdown continues in the South Asian country.

Monirul Islam, head of the Counter Terrorism and Transnational Crime unit of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said Saturday that Jahangir Alam was arrested in a raid in Tangail district Friday night.

The July 1 siege at the Holey Artisan Bakery, a popular restaurant frequented by foreigners and wealthy Bangladeshis, left 20 hostages, including 17 foreigners, dead. Five young men belonging to the domestic militant group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh stormed the restaurant, sprayed bullets and threw grenades, and slaughtered the hostages.

Since the July assault, authorities have reinforced a crackdown to crush Islamist militants and have killed about 40 suspects, including others thought to be plotters of the restaurant attack.

No major attacks have been reported since July.

 Associated Press

At least 17 Hindu worshipers drown in India: At least 17 people drowned and 10 others were missing after their overcrowded boat capsized in a river in eastern India on Saturday, police said. Police said the incident took place as 40 people were returning after attending a Hindu religious festival in a village across the river near Patna, the state capital of Bihar. Thirteen people were retrieved from the water and hospitalized, while rescuers are continuing to search for more survivors. Officials say the boat was designed to hold 25 people.

Thousands protest Spains dispersion of ETA inmates: Tens of thousands of people demonstrated in the Basque city of Bilbao, calling for about 350 imprisoned members and sympathizers of the pro-Basque independence group ETA to be allowed to serve their sentences closer to home in northern Spain. Some relatives of ETA victims took part for the first time in the annual demonstration. All people here in the Basque country, we have fought a lot, we had to suffer a lot. The only thing we want is that peace comes and that peace is also given to these people, said Rosa Rodero, widow of a police sergeant assassinated by the ETA in 1993, who marched behind a banner reading Basque prisoners to the Basque Country.

Scores missing after migrant vessel capsizes: A migrant ship carrying at least 100 people capsized in the frigid waters off Libya on Saturday and only four survivors had been rescued after hours of searching, aid groups said. Eight bodies were recovered, but poor conditions were hampering the search taking place 30 miles off Libyas coast, Italys ANSA news agency reported. The vast majority of migrant ships set off from Libyas lawless coasts.

 From news services
Country fails to buck low capex trend again

If the governments spending pattern is anything to go by, capital expenditure (capex) will most likely bunch towards the final quarter this fiscal year as well, resulting in construction of sub-standard infrastructure projects.
Michael R. Bromwich served as Justice Department inspector general from 1994 to 1999.

The announcement by the Justice Departments inspector general that his office will look into FBI Director James B. Comeys handling of Hillary Clintons emails reopens painful questions about the 2016 election, but it is also welcome news. The country needs this  an objective, independent and thorough investigation of issues that have roiled the country for months and continue to stir heated debate.

The investigation will address allegations that Comey violated established Justice Department and FBI policies and procedures in his July 5, 2016, public announcement concerning the Hillary Clinton email investigation. And it will explore allegations that Comeys Oct. 28 and Nov. 6 letters to Congress, which jolted the presidential election  and may have changed its outcome  were improper.

The impact of Comeys actions can never be definitively known. But it is important, for the Justice Department and for the country, to obtain a detailed accounting of what happened and why; to assign blame where it is warranted; and to understand how similar situations can be prevented.

In addition to looking into the actions of the FBI director regarding the email investigation, the probe will look into whether the FBIs deputy director should have recused himself from the investigation because of his wifes political involvement; whether a high-ranking Justice Department official or others improperly disclosed non-public information to both the Clinton and Trump campaigns; and whether the timing of the FBIs election eve Freedom of Information Act disclosures relating to Bill Clintons 2001 pardon of Marc Rich was based on inappropriate considerations.

But the focus of the investigation  and the publics interest in it  will remain on what Comey did and why.

The inspector general will have an unparalleled ability to get to the bottom of things. The investigation will be able to unravel the set of events that began with Attorney General Loretta E. Lynchs June 2016 Phoenix airport tarmac meeting with Bill Clinton and that ended with the Nov. 6 letter.

The departure of department officials from government as part of the presidential transition should have little impact on access to important witnesses. Although the inspector general cannot compel the cooperation of personnel who will, as of next week, no longer be department employees, any failure to cooperate would be highlighted in a report and would most likely lead to congressional subpoenas.

No one questions that the inspector general has the authority to conduct such an investigation, but some wonder whether it is wise to step into matters so completely suffused with politics. These fears are understandable but misguided. Inspectors general occupy a unique institutional position. They have dual reporting responsibilities: to the agency in which they are embedded and to Congress. Members of Congress sometimes inappropriately leverage the power conferred by those reporting responsibilities, and the unique relationships that exist between inspectors general and Congress, by requesting investigations or other reviews that have partisan political motives.

Here, that is not an issue. The announcement made clear that this investigation has bipartisan support  it was requested by the chairman and ranking members of multiple congressional oversight committees. In the face of those requests, the better question is whether the inspector general could afford not to do it.

Some members of the public may wonder how a political appointee in an outgoing administration can launch an investigation such as this one. That misunderstands the role of federal inspectors general, who do not leave with the change of administrations. Inspectors general are the only political appointees whom the law requires be selected without regard to political affiliation and solely on the basis of integrity. They serve for indefinite periods and may be removed only for cause and with advance notice to Congress.

The only previous effort to replace inspectors general on a wholesale basis with the change of administrations was directed by Ronald Reagan in 1981. That did not end well  it provoked a firestorm of criticism, and Reagan ended up hiring back many of those he fired. At that time, inspectors general were in their infancy and their roles were not as fully appreciated by either Congress or the public.

The investigation conducted by Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz, an experienced and highly regarded law enforcement professional who has served in both Republican and Democratic administrations, will take many months. It will undoubtedly leave many people dissatisfied because it cannot change what happened. But in the end, the needs of the Justice Department and the country are better served by examining this episode, not ignoring it.
Who is John Lewis that Donald Trump should be mindful of him?

Lewis, by one definition, is a 76-year-old liberal politician with a disturbing habit of hyperbole. He questioned the validity of George W. Bushs presidential win. He once compared John McCain to George Wallace. Now he questions the legitimacy of Trumps presidential victory.

By another definition, Lewis was a consequential student leader of the civil rights movement. He led sit-ins to desegregate lunch counters; was one of the original Freedom Riders who integrated buses; experienced the hospitality of places such as Mississippis Parchman Penitentiary; and carried away the memento of a skull fracture from Selma.

It must be said that the whole business of questioning a presidents right to hold office is pernicious. It puts a hard stop on all civility and cooperation. The worst instance, of course, was the claim that Barack Obama was Kenyan-born and disqualified to be president  an argument based on partisan, conspiratorial and quasi-racist lies enthusiastically spread by Trump. When the president-elect calls out Lewis on this topic, it is a display of hypocrisy so large that it is visible from space.

A conservative friend tells me Im too concerned about Trumps manners. Probably. (Though it strikes me as odd for any conservative to dismiss the gestures of mutual respect that make democracy and human society possible.)

(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

The problem, however, runs deeper. Trump seems to have no feel for, no interest in, the American story he is about to enter. He will lead a nation that accommodated a cruel exception to its founding creed; that bled and nearly died to recover its ideals; and that was only fully redeemed by the courage and moral clarity of the very people it had oppressed. People like the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. People like John Lewis.

There are a lot of debunkers at work in American society. They point out that the priest is really a balding, middle-aged man with sweat stains at his armpits. They see the judge as an old woman who has the remnants of lunch caught between her teeth. They see John Lewis as just another career politician. But the priest holds the body of Christ, the judge embodies the rule of law, and Lewis once carried the full weight of Americas promise across the Edmund Pettus Bridge.

Were John Lewis to call me every name in the book, I would still honor him.

Trump often justifies his attacks as counterpunching. Even a glancing blow seems to merit a nuclear response. But this is the exact opposite of the ethical teaching of the Sermon on the Mount, and of the principled nonviolence of the civil rights movement. In these systems of thought, the true victory comes in absorbing a blow with dignity, even with love. It is the substance of Kings message. It is the essence of a cruciform faith.

This is not always easy to translate into politics. But a president-elect attacking a hero of the civil rights movement less than a week before he takes the oath of office is not normal. There is some strange inversion of values at work. Because Vladimir Putin praises him, Trump defends Putin. Because Lewis criticizes him, Trump attacks Lewis (as talk, talk, talk  no action or results). The only organizing principle is the degree of deference to Trump himself. It is the essence of narcissism.

A broader conception of the American story  a respect for the heroes and ghosts of our history  is absent in Trumps public voice. He seems to be in the thrall of an eternal now. To some, the whole idea of a historical imagination will sound nebulous. Abraham Lincoln called it the mystic chords of memory. He hung his hopes for unity on the existence of a shared national experience that transcended regional differences. Today our divisions are more along lines of class and culture, but we also need to hear our story as one people.

Not every citizen shares this sense of history. It is a minority of Americans who visit Antietam and feel oppressed by the immense weight of collective death; or go to the Lorraine Motel in Memphis and feel sickened by the scale of such a loss; or walk across that bridge in Selma and hear the echoes of snarling dogs and nightsticks against bone.

But we need a president who respects and evokes this story  or at least does not peevishly attack its heroes.

Read more from Michael Gersons archive, follow him on Twitter or subscribe to his updates on Facebook .
President-elect Donald Trump gestures to people gathered in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York after speaking to the news media there Friday. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Its literally impossible for Donald Trump to shake things up too much in Washington, in the eyes of those who backed him for president.

Thats my big takeaway from a post-election focus group of a dozen Trump backers convened in Cleveland by longtime Democratic pollster Peter Hart.

In a memo documenting the results of the gathering  a quadrennial exercise that Hart has done for each of the past several presidential elections  the pollster writes: Trumps voters are not about to let him forget these promises, and they fully expect the untraditional outsider to shake up a storm in Washington and make real, tangible improvements in the economy and in their day-to-day lives.

Lets take the first part of that sentence, um, first. Its saying that Trumps voters believe that Washington and the politicians who inhabit it are fundamentally corrupt and deaf to their concerns. They badly want tangible signs of change, the sort that official Washington not only rolls its eyes at but also gasps in horror at.

What that means is that many of the moves Trump has made or signaled during the transition  picking someone like Rex Tillerson to be his secretary of state, recalling all foreign ambassadors on the day of the inauguration, contemplating shifting the White House press corps out of the White House  are just the sorts of things that Trump supporters believe they voted for and will applaud.

And what it means going forward is that theres virtually nothing, as it relates to shaking up Washington, that will alarm people such as the 12 that Hart gathered in Cleveland last month. Trumps brashness and embrace of radical change  many of his backers dont view it as radical  is at the center of his appeal.

I think that he has the business mentality that he can make the change that needs to happen, and I dont think he is afraid to do so, one Trump voter told Hart.

(Nota bene: While all 12 of the people Hart interviewed voted for Trump, not all were longtime Republicans. Seven voted for either Barack Obama or Bill Clinton at least once; three had voted for Obama in 2012.)

The second part of that desire for change, however, is more problematic for Trump. Voters expect him to change things  and fast. That includes making the economy more vibrant, repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act and other things that are far more difficult to achieve, particularly in the near term.

After a long campaign of hard-charging rhetoric and ambitious promises, Trump voters have sky-high expectations for his presidency particularly on the economy, Hart wrote. If Trump can manage to turn these promises into positive accomplishments, he will remain in these voters good graces; if not, the stakes to deliver on other issues will grow steeper.

Working for Trump is his masterful sense of public relations. As has been demonstrated repeatedly during the presidential transition, Trump claims credit for any job announcements  with varying levels of accuracy  that have happened since Nov. 8. The questions are a) how much of Trumps boasting is borne out in reality? (and how much do his supporters care?) and b) whether Trumps promises to bring back thousands of jobs can actually be achieved in an increasingly globalized world in which any one president or any administrations policies can have only so much effect.

Its definitely time for a change. . . . [If] he doesnt make certain changes, youre going to have a lot of upset people, or hes not going to, you know, live up to his word, said one Cleveland focus-group participant.

The reason Trump will be inaugurated president later this week is very simple: He was change while Hillary Clinton was more of the same.

But, change, like hope, means very different things to different people. Trump was able to promise broad-scale change during the campaign because he wasnt actually the president. Delivering on that change once he is in the White House  and ensuring it is enough change  is far more difficult. Whats clear from this Cleveland focus group: The more Washington swoons at the changes Trump proposes, the stronger ground he will be on among those who elected him.
President-elect Donald Trump entered the week of his inauguration fending off questions about the legitimacy of his presidency even as he promised to unite the nation as its new leader.

Taking its cue from Trump, his administration-in-waiting came out swinging this weekend against criticism from all corners. His aides went on the attack against the Democratic Party and Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), the civil rights icon who questioned the legitimacy of Trumps claim to the White House. And a top aide issued a pointed warning to the head of the Office of Government Ethics to be careful after he publicly called for Trump to make a cleaner break with his business interests. Furthermore, Reince Priebus, the incoming White House chief of staff, piqued the news medias interest by acknowledging that there had been discussion about moving press briefings out of the White House to accommodate larger crowds.

[News conferences can be moved from White House, Priebus says]

Trumps top aides pushed back hard on the notion that Trumps presidency was somehow not legitimate  a charge that stems from the allegation that Russia meddled in the elections  with Priebus describing Lewiss charges as insanity and incredibly disappointing.

I think President Obama should step up, Priebus told ABCs This Week. I think the administration can do a lot of good by telling folks that are on the Republican side of the aisle, Look, we may have lost the election on the Democratic side, but its time to come together. 

(Bastien Inzaurralde/The Washington Post)

Vice President-elect Mike Pence asserted Trumps right to defend himself against the suggestion that he is not a legitimate president, even coming from an icon such as Lewis. And he criticized Lewis for refusing to attend Trumps inauguration.

To hear John Lewis, a man that I served with, that I respect, question the legitimacy of the election and to say that Donald Trump will not be a legitimate president is deeply disappointing to me. And also to hear that he was not going to attend the inauguration this Friday  I hope he reconsiders both statements, Pence said on CBSs Face the Nation.

The combative stance comes five days before Trump will take the oath of office and address a bitterly divided nation.

For many years our country has been divided, angry and untrusting. Many say it will never change, the hatred is too deep. IT WILL CHANGE!!!! Trump tweeted Sunday afternoon.

On Saturday, Trump was widely criticized for responding to Lewis with tweets that accused the congressman of being all talk and no action, no results. Lawmakers in both parties pointed to the arrests and physical beatings that Lewis withstood as a leader in the civil rights movement as evidence to the contrary.

The incident, which came at the start of the Martin Luther King Jr. Day holiday weekend, might serve only to deepen the distrust of Trump among African Americans. National exit polling from the election found that 91 percent of black voters viewed Trump unfavorably.

[Trumps latest feud echoes difficult relationship with African Americans]

Trump also poured salt on old wounds for Democrats who argue that his long history of doubting President Obamas citizenship was a racist effort to delegitimize the countrys first black president.

What [Democrats] are right about is to talk about the racist past of Donald Trump, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said Sunday on ABCs This Week.

Transition officials deflected questions about Trumps years-long refusal to accept that Obama is a natural-born American citizen, calling it old news.

Priebus said Sunday that questions about Obamas birth have been resolved for at least two years in Donald Trumps mind and distinguished between questioning Obamas citizenship and accepting the results of the election.

This Week host George Stephanopoulos corrected Priebus, noting that Trump continued to raise questions about Obamas eligibility well into his own presidential campaign.

Thats not the point. The point is not where Barack Obama was born, Priebus said.

Priebus took a similarly bellicose stance against Walter Shaub Jr., the director of the Office of Government Ethics.

[Trumps business ties prompt showdown between tiny ethics office and GOP]

Shaub has publicly criticized Trumps transition team for rushing his nominees ethics reviews, and he called on Trump to divest his business assets to avoid conflicts.

The comments prompted Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-Utah), chairman of the House Oversight Committee, to call for Shaub to testify before Congress.

Priebus said on ABC that Shaub ought to be careful because he was becoming extremely political. Priebus claimed the ethics chief supported Hillary Clinton during the campaign, and he cited concerns about tweets the ethics office directed at Trump last month. Im not so sure what this person at government ethics, what sort of standing he has anymore in giving these opinions, he said.

The comments and the prospect of a congressional investigation were taken as a thinly veiled threat to Shaub, a political appointee named by Obama in 2013 to a five-year term.

Why is Congressman Chaffetz investigating Walter Shaub for doing his job, George, for speaking so courageously? Norm Eisen, a former Obama ethics czar, said on ABC. Eisen on Twitter called Priebuss comments shocking, mafia-style THUGGERY.

Priebus also signaled that the news media may be seeing changes during the Trump administration. To allow for more press coverage from around the country, the incoming chief of staff told ABC that the initial press briefings may be moved from inside the White House to the nearby Eisenhower Executive Office Building. He did not mention evicting media members from their workspace inside the White House and near the offices of the president and vice president, despite reports to the contrary.

This is all a distraction, and its all part of a narrative to delegitimize the election, Pence said on Fox News Sunday. The American people see right through it.
This undated photo released by the Bahrain Center for Human Rights shows, from left, Sami Mushaima, Ali al-Singace and Abbas al-Samea, who were convicted in connection with a deadly police bombing and executed Sunday in Bahrain. (Associated Press)

Bahrains government said Sunday it had executed by firing squad three Shiite men convicted in connection with a fatal attack on police officers, despite allegations by human rights groups that the trial was unfair and that evidence against the men had been obtained using torture.

The executions were the first in Bahrain since the beginning of a pro-democracy movement in 2011 that unleashed years of unrest, violence and government repression and laid bare the disenfranchisement of the Shiite majority and its complaints of apartheidlike discrimination at the hands of Bahrains Sunni rulers.

There were fears Sunday that the executions of the men  who were associated with Bahrains antigovernment opposition and had asserted their innocence, according to rights advocates  could prompt a new round of turmoil. Protests were reported in Shiite neighborhoods near Manama, Bahrains capital.

The decision to carry out the sentences, despite the concerns about the trial, highlighted the gradual erosion of Western pressure on Bahrains government since the 2011 uprising, when the countrys rulers faced international condemnation, including from the United States, for heavy-handed tactics against the protesters. The U.S. Navys Fifth Fleet is headquartered in Bahrain.

After the uprising, Bahrains king, Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa, commissioned a much-lauded report by an independent commission that investigated the unrest, and he publicly promised to carry out reforms. Since then, though, Bahrain, once a relative beacon of civic life in the Persian Gulf, has become one of the regions most closed societies, with opposition political parties shuttered, dissidents routinely arrested or forced into exile and foreign journalists all but barred from visiting the country.

Reprieve, an international human rights group, said the executions were the first to take place in Bahrain since 2010 and the first of Bahraini citizens since 1996.

Bahrain executions unjust and inflammatory, Nicholas McGeehan, a Persian Gulf researcher at Human Rights Watch, wrote on Twitter on Sunday. Public, unequivocal condemnation imperative to prevent Bahrain killing more young men.

As politics have been eclipsed, Bahrains government has faced a rising tide of violence, including deadly attacks against the security forces.

On Sunday, Bahrains state news agency released a lengthy statement, describing a wide-ranging plot against the officers as well as the court deliberations that had preceded the executions. It said the men  identified by rights groups as Ali al-Singace, 21, Abbas al-Samea, 27, and Sami Mushaima, 42  had planted an explosive device in March 2014, then lured the policemen and detonated it, killing three and wounding 13 others.

A separate government statement characterized the evidence against the men as compelling and said it included witness accounts and telecommunications devices found on the men, as well as the confessions.

A report on the case by Amnesty International, citing statements by some of the men, said they had no access to families or lawyers during their initial, three-week-long interrogations.

Mushaima and Samea later told their families they were given electric shocks, beaten, burnt with cigarettes, deprived of sleep, and sexually assaulted, the report said.

Read more:

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Development regions as states

The possibility has been virtually lost during the political uncertainties of the past decade
In a diplomatic gambit that at times sounded as though the clock was about to run out, envoys from some 70 countries Sunday called on Israel and the Palestinians to recommit to the goal of two states for two peoples, before the possibility slips away.

But there was someone else they hoped to persuade, too: U.S. President-elect Donald Trump.

A two-page statement they issued was intended to send a message from the world powers, including Europe and the Arab states, to the incoming Trump administration that the international community wants to keep hope alive for a two-state solution to the long-running conflict in the Holy Land.

The diplomats gathered in Paris, including Secretary of State John F. Kerry, warned that continued acts of violence and the building of Jewish settlements in the West Bank must stop. Their joint statement aspires to establish a foundation for peace talks in the hope that they might resume sometime in the future.

Though Trump was not mentioned by name, there was widespread concern in Paris that the new administration, which will occupy the White House in five days, will be so pro-Israel that its policies could threaten the idea of two states living side by side in peace and security, with Jerusalem as their shared capital.

Diplomats from 70 countries pose at the Mideast peace conference in Paris on Sunday. (Bertrand Guay/Reuters)

The joint communique incorporated references to previous blueprints for peace talks, including last months U.N. Security Council resolution condemning Jewish settlement activity in the West Bank and incitement and terrorism that Palestinians have been accused of fomenting. It also commended Kerrys speech two weeks ago laying out principles for negotiations to resolve the seven-decade-old conflict.

U.S. officials believe the diplomatically worded welcome for these previous initiatives amounts to an implicit acknowledgment by the Arab nations that Israel will be a Jewish state and that a million or more Palestinians who have demanded the right of return to Israel will never come back. None of that was mentioned explicitly, so it is unclear whether the Arab governments will be able to speak to their publics about such emotional and deep-seated issues.

Kerry told reporters traveling with him that the communique issued by 70 countries showed that Arab states are ready to engage with Israel if the Palestinian issue is settled.

Its a first when you have international organizations  the Islamic Council and the Arab League and others  willing to try to shift the paradigm here, to point out that they are prepared to make peace with Israel, Kerry said after leaving the conference.

Kerry spoke by phone with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu earlier in the day. Israeli media reported that he assured Netanyahu that the United States had worked to soften several provisions in the communique deemed unfair to Israel and promised there would be no further action in the Security Council.

In his remarks to reporters, Kerry rejected that characterization, saying the United States has always vetoed resolutions that it considers unfair and delegitimizing of Israel. But he acknowledged that the United States had worked Sunday to ensure a balanced resolution.

We didnt soften something, he said. We did what was necessary to have a balanced resolution.

A Western diplomat, speaking on the condition of anonymity to discuss the sensitive negotiations more freely, said that both Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas were briefed on the language of the communique before it was issued and that neither raised any objections.

Saeb Erekat, a top Palestinian official and former peace negotiator, applauded the diplomatic effort. They have again created a momentum in rejection to the Israeli occupation and its settlement enterprise on the land of Palestine, he said. Its a message to Israel, the occupying power, to abide by international law and international humanitarian law.

The joint declaration urged both sides to disassociate from voices that reject the ultimate goal of creating two separate states for two peoples. Israels current coalition government is filled with ministers who are openly hostile to the two-state solution, including some leaders who want to annex 60 percent of the West Bank.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians attended the conference. Palestinians welcomed the meeting, while Netanyahu called the gathering rigged against Israel and futile.

Netanyahu instead said that the delegates to the Paris meeting should press Abbas to return to the negotiating table.

No representative of Trumps transition team was present, though his impending inauguration was in the background.

Frances foreign minister kicked off the conference Sunday by warning that moving the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem would have extremely serious consequences for the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians.

Characterizing it as a provocation, Jean-Marc Ayrault said he doubted that Trump would in the end actually fulfill his pledge to relocate the embassy in a city that Israelis have named as their capital and that Palestinians desire a part of to become the capital of a future Palestinian state.

When you are president of the United States . . . you cant have such an entrenched, unilateral position, he told France 3 television. You have to seek to contribute to creating the conditions for peace.

Britain, in what may have been an attempt to put itself in a favorable light with the president-elect, issued a statement pointedly saying it had not endorsed the communique, even though it attended only as an observer.

And Netanyahu signaled that he was looking forward to Trumps inauguration when he said the conference exemplified the final palpitations of yesterdays world. Tomorrow will look a lot different, and tomorrow is very close.

But Ayrault said the conference aspired to encourage Israelis and Palestinians to resume negotiations that would lead to a two-state solution that brings peace and security.

France has no other desire than to serve peace, and there is no time to lose, he said.

Also in the background was the Security Council resolution warning that Israels settlement enterprise in the West Bank and East Jerusalem was imperiling chances for a two-state solution. Israel was furious that the Obama administration decided not to veto it.

Israeli media reported that Netanyahu brought it up and told Kerry flatly that the damage was already done.

When asked about Netanyahus remark, Kerry pulled out a sheet of paper that apparently was a transcript of his phone call, and he read aloud a portion of it regarding the resolution, inviting reporters to quote in its entirety what he told Netanyahu:

Now, I want to stress this point: We fully respect Israels profound historic and religious ties to the city and to its holy sites. Weve never questioned that. This resolution in no manner prejudges the outcome of permanent status negotiations on East Jerusalem, which must, of course, reflect those historic ties and the realities on the ground. Thats our position. We still support it.

Booth reported from Jerusalem. Ruth Eglash in Jerusalem contributed to this report.

Read more

Back on the Mekong Delta, John Kerry meets a man who once tried to kill him

Palestinians call for Muslims to pray that Trump doesnt move U.S. Embassy

Iran nuclear deal is in the crosshairs

Todays coverage from Post correspondents around the world

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At a meeting of Democratic Party activists in Phoenix on Saturday, participants discussed how to keep the supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, pictured above in May 2016. (Matt McClain/The Washington Post)

The men and women who want to lead the Democratic National Committee agreed on a few things here Saturday. No one wanted to change the partys progressive 2016 platform. No one wanted to enrich the consultant class. And please, please, please: With Donald Trump about to take power, no one wanted to re-fight the 2016 primary.

This is a where were you? moment, said Thomas Perez, the outgoing labor secretary, kicking off the partys future forum, and referring to the challenge posed by a Trump presidency.

We need to unify, no matter who we supported in the primary, said Rep. Keith Ellison (D-Minn.), one of the highest-profile supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.).

We dont have time to re-litigate the 2016 primary, said Pete Buttigieg, the mayor of South Bend, Ind.

The Phoenix forum, attended by 55 of the DNCs 437 voting members, marked the official kickoff of a race that had already been roiling for two months. Ellison was endorsed right away by Sanders and by Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.), with the implicit hope that hed keep restive Sanders voters in the party. Perez, who entered the race in December, came with vocal support from swing-state governors and quiet support from the Obama administration.

What unfolded was neither a coronation nor an ideological feud. In addition to Buttigieg, who has pitched himself as the candidate of neither the Berniecrats or the partys establishment, the Democratic race includes Idaho Democratic executive director Sally Boynton Brown; Ray Buckley, the chairman of the New Hampshire Democratic Party; Jaime Harrison, South Carolinas chairman; and Jehmu Greene, a media strategist.

None has a commanding lead; all have heard DNC members tell them that they need to read their plans and have a few more conversations.

The media wants to treat this like a horse race [between Ellison and Perez], but Sally has more DNC member endorsements than Tom, said Buckley.

The Phoenix forum demonstrated just how much the rival candidates overlapped, with granular pitches to DNC members about how they would help the party rebuild. Every leading candidate proposed a new version of the 50-state strategy, deployed by former chair Howard Dean to build back party organizations in red states.

Perez, who called states like Texas and Arizona full-employment programs for his attorneys in the Department of Labor, promised a more robust voter-protection program that would file suits long before elections to unwind Republican-passed laws. Buckley proposed a halt to candidate-focused joint fundraising agreements in contested primaries  as 2020s primary will be  and start monthly victory grants to states.

Ellison, meanwhile leaned into his support from progressives, holding a Friday night rally where endorsers portrayed him as the races revolutionary. Members of National Nurses United, which spent millions on the Sanders campaign, cheered as Ellison denounced the white supremacy of Donald Trump and talked about spending more on young voter outreach.

You know what our budget is for College Democats? Zip, nada, said Ellison. Young people say, were gonna do it our way, and guess what? They might teach us something new.

While Ellison spoke, just 14 of the 55 members were listening. More were winding through candidate meetings and happy hours, getting pitched one-on-one.

Ellisons strong identification with Sanders is also no guarantee that he could bring all of the pro-SandersBerniecrats inside the party. In an interview with The Washington Post this week, Sanders said that his campaign donor list, which raised $209 million from more than 2 million people, would not automatically go to the DNC if Ellison won.

Thats a bridge well have to cross, but I am strongly supporting Keith, Sanders said. Everybody obviously wants the list. The people who supported me want progressive candidates. The list becomes corrupted, in a sense, if you start supporting candidates who are not progressive and not willing to take on the establishment.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas had a private audience with Pope Francis in Vatican City on Saturday. They met during the opening of the Palestinian Embassy at the Holy See. (Pool photo by Giuseppe Lami/European Pressphoto Agency)

The Vatican has long sought an internationally guaranteed status for Jerusalem that safeguards its sacred character.

At an event Saturday for the opening of the Palestinian Embassy to the Holy See, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met with Pope Francis. After the meeting, in its communique, the Vatican didnt refer to Jerusalem by name but said during the talks that emphasis was placed on the importance of safeguarding the sanctity of the holy places for believers of all three of the Abrahamic religions.

The meeting and statements came in the wake of news reports that President-elect Donald Trump plans to relocate the U.S. Embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, a move that Abbas warned could put prospects for peace in peril.

The Palestinians strongly oppose the embassy move, saying it would kill any hopes for negotiating an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement and rile the region by undercutting Muslim and Christian claims to the city.

We hope that this news is not true, because it is not encouraging and will disrupt and hinder the peace process, Abbas said Saturday. He urged Trump to open a dialogue with both Israelis and Palestinians.

Trump hasnt yet laid out a clear Middle East policy but has signaled that he will be more sympathetic to Israels hard-line right than previous U.S. administrations.

The Vatican, which keeps its embassy to Israel in Jaffa and backs a two-state solution, implicitly recognized a Palestinian state for years, but in 2015 made it official by signing a treaty with the Palestinians.

As he was leaving the popes study, Abbas said the opening of the new embassy to the Vatican was a sign that the pope loves the people of Palestine and loves peace.

In its statement, the Vatican called for a resumption of direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians to bring an end to the violence that causes unacceptable suffering to civilian populations, and to find a just and lasting solution.

It called for a climate that could lead to courageous decisions.

During the meeting, Abbas presented Francis with gifts recalling Christianitys birthplace in the Holy Land, including a stone from the Church of the Holy Sepulcher in Jerusalem and documentation about the ongoing restoration of the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem.

After the papal meeting, Abbas formally inaugurated the new embassy across the street from one of the main gates of Vatican City. He pulled back a curtain revealing a plaque and extended the Palestinian flag from a flagpole outside a window.

The embassy, which is in the same building as the embassies of Peru, Ecuador and Burkina Faso, comes after recent accords in which the Vatican formally recognized the State of Palestine.

This embassy is a place of pride for us, and we hope all of the countries of the world will recognize the state of Palestine, because this recognition will bring us closer to the peace process, he said.
Is Katy Perry trying to have more fun?

The star, 32, was spotted at her pal Sham Ibrahims art show Palm Springs, California, sporting a new blond bob, ditching her signature raven tresses.

At the art show, Perry wore wire-rimmed glasses and a black coat as she and the pop artist posed in front of a portrait of President-elect Donald Trump.

Later in the evening, Perry celebrated her boyfriend Orlando Blooms birthday with the actors friends and a surprise guest: his mom!

Bloom shared an adorable photo of the mother-son duo embracing after his mom made her surprise entrance to his birthday bash.

Best gift ever surprise visit from me mum, he captioned the post.

RELATED VIDEO: Story Behind the Story: Has Katy Perry Found Love With Orlando Bloom?

Perry snapped a clip of her main man blowing out the candles on his owl-inspired birthday cake. The star, 32, could be heard yelling, Wahhh! Go around, go around, go around! while Bloom circled his cake to extinguish all of the candles.

Blooms adorable post about his mom comes just weeks after the actor celebrated the holidays with Perrys family. After celebrating Thanksgiving together, Bloom also joined Perry and her family for some holiday fun, celebrating a white Christmas in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.

What do you think of Katy Perrys new tresses? Sound off below!




Photo: Sergio Azenha/Alamy Stock

A tight-knit fitness community in Northern California is in mourning after an avid SoulCycle fan died of meningitis late last week. Now, health officials are warning that the bacterial meningitis could have spread to hundreds of other cyclists who visited the studio.

According to media reports, Sevin Philips, a therapist who lived in San Rafael and worked in San Francisco, died Saturday from meningococcal meningitis, one of the most common forms of the infection. He was 48.

As many as 300 riders may have come in contact with Philips, ABC 7 reports. Theyve been notified by the manager at SoulCycle Marin, as well as the countys Department of Health and Human Services.

Bacterial meningitis is spread in a similar manner as a flu  through sneezing, coughing, and contact with some surfaces. But, as the CDC notes, because its caused by bacteria, not a virus, which is what spreads colds and flus, its not as contagious. Still, Dr. Matt Willis, the public health officer for Marin County, said the cyclers were contacted out of an abundance of caution and advised to go on a regimen of ciprofloxacin, an antibiotic.

The people most at risk of contracting meningitis are those who were in direct contact with someone who was infected.

Close contact is usually defined as several hours of very close contact, Willis told NBC Bay Area. Thats one of the reasons why we often see just one case without seeing subsequent transmission.

Meningitis is an infection that causes inflammation in the brain or spinal cord, and in extreme cases, can kill within hours. Symptoms include fever, headache, and a stiff neck, and could be accompanied by sensitivity to light and confusion. Doctors advise that anyone who may have been in contact with someone with the infection start a prophylactic regimen of antibiotics as soon as possible.

Vaccine schedules have also proven effective at preventing a meningitis infection, although the CDC notes that getting immunized isnt an entirely fail-safe option.

Story continues

SoulCycle issued a statement Friday, saying it was deeply saddened by the loss of Philips.

While the rider did not contract the infection at our studio, we have nonetheless been in constant communication with the department of health, which has emphasized that there is no evidence for any health risk to our riders.

Weve done a deep cleaning of our studio. Were incredibly confident in our team and our processes to deliver a clean and safe environment. We use cleaning products that are specifically designed for sterilizing our studios, bikes, and towels to stop the spread of any illnesses.

Lets keep in touch! Follow Yahoo Beauty on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest.
Gender pay gap

What we can learn from global practices to reduce inequality in our workforce
Imagine youre hanging out at Starbucks, surrounded by people sipping lattes while tapping away on their laptops, reading magazines, and catching up with friends. Now imagine that the majority of people around you are sipping green juices instead.

Sound a bit like heaven? Thats the exact vibe youd see IRL at Denmark-born juice bar-cum-cafe Joe & The Juice, which is majorly expanding in the US this year.

If theres a chain that could expand more people to drink down their greens (and their carrots, and their beets, and), it could be this one. After all, when Joe & The Juice first opened in Denmark in 2002, there were no juice bars to speak of in the Scandinavian country. Now, 40 percent of their sales in Northern Europe come from veggie-packed orders alone (more than double that of coffee).

As for that US invasion: Although currently in just New York City and San Francisco, Joe & The Juice has ambitious goals for 2017.(It helps that, in late 2016, US private equity firm Valedo acquired the brand, ensuring that expansion stateside remains a priority.

Could a Scandinavian chain finally offer up a healthy alternative to the coffee behemoth?

Keep reading for five things to know about Joe & The Juicebefore you start seeing it everywhere.

Joe & The Juice juice bar

1. It was started by Denmarks youngest black belt in karate

Founder Kasper Basse was, at the time Joe & The Juice opened, the youngest black belt in karate in Denmark. He was a professional athlete and really into nutrition, adds Kasper Garnell, one of the brands partners. After traveling to the States and Japan, Basse saw juices were totally a thing and brought the concept back home with himwith the twist of selling them in a Starbucks-esque setting.

2. Its already huge in Scandinavia

Step inside any one of the 161 stores scattered throughout 11 countries (the bulk are in Scandinavia, where Joe & The Juice is as recognizable as that green mermaid) and youll find a menu of coffee, juices, wellness shots, sandwiches, and even healthy milkshakes (think vanilla milk with avocado and banana), as well as plenty of couches and leather chairs to sink into after you order.

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Joe & The Juice seating area

3. Its way bigger than your typical juice shop

Not only is Joe & The Juice cozier, its also much more spacious than the standing-room-only setups youre probably used to. When the brand opened its first US location in New York City in 2015, they opted for a 2,200 square foot space on a coveted Soho street. According to Garnell, there were plenty of critics. People were like, Are you insane? All the other juice bars in that area were about one-tenth of the size, he says. But after we opened, everyone was like, I get it now! This is more of a place to hang out and chill.'

More than a year later, the Soho shop has shown to be fruitful enough that the brand is now expanding to Miami next month, Los Angeles in March, and more US cities to come. (Garnell says they plan on starting with the coastal cities and working their way inwardsaving the best for last, Midwest!)

3. Even though they sell coffee, juice is their thing

In the Soho store, 20 percent of sales come from coffee, 30 from juice, and the rest is from food, Garnell says of the split between coffee-lovers and juice-sippers. Finally, a neutral ground where everyone can peacefully coexist!

5. Staying a while is encouraged

We believe in the healthy things were providing, but were really focused on the in-store experience, Garnell explains. We want people to feel like theyre hanging out in someones living room, having fun, and just feeling an overall good vibe. Its something that doesnt really exist in the US in the juice space. For now, at least.

While youre waiting on Joe & The Juice to come to your city, check out these healthy drinks you can order at Starbucksit turns out theres a whole better-for-you secret menu. Plus, these are the inflammation-fighting seasonal beverages that are replacing pumpkins spice lattes and eggnog.
Less than one week after making his surprise appearance at the Golden Globes last Sunday, an upbeat Brad Pitt stepped out to a charity event.

On Saturday, the 53-year-old actor attended the Alex & Ani-hosted ROCK4EB! with Sting and Chris Cornell at EBMRF Benefit in Malibu, California. The event was emceed by Zach Galifianakis and put on to promote awareness about epidermolysis bullosa (EB), a rare and life-threatening skin disease.

Pitt wore a long black coat and seemed in good spirits as he took photos with fans during his time at the charity function, which included performances by Sting and Chris Cornell. He was spotted shaking hands and making people laugh at the event, whose other famous guests included Charlie Hunnam, Rami Malek, Garrett Hedlund, Kaley Cuoco, Aaron Taylor-Johnson, Scott Foley and David Spade.

Last Sunday, Pitt took the Golden Globes stage to loud applause from the crowd. He presented the film Moonlight, which his company produced, and the movie won the Globe for best drama.

One day later, he and his ex Angelina Jolie released a joint statement stating that they have reached an agreement to handle their divorce privately and keep details confidential.

According to the statement obtained by PEOPLE, The parties and their counsel have signed agreements to preserve the privacy rights of their children and family by keeping all court documents confidential and engaging a private judge to make any necessary legal decisions and to facilitate the expeditious resolution of any remaining issues.

The parents are committed to act as a united front to effectuate recovery and reunification.

Pitt and Jolie  who are parents to Maddox, 15, Pax, 13, Zahara, 11, Shiloh, 10, and twins Knox and Vivienne, both 8  currently have a voluntary temporary custody agreement in place that allows Pitt supervised visitation with the children.
Friends, family and fans are mourning the loss of WWE hall of famer Jimmy Superfly Snuka, who has died at the age of 73. His daughter Tamina Snuka, a WWE star in her own right, confirmed the news on social media on Sunday.

Snuka is best known by his nickname Superfly, derived from his signature move, the Superfly Splash. His high-flying offensive moves during the golden age of pro wrestling earned him a spot in the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.

In December 2016, Snukas lawyer told the New York Daily News that Snuka was in hospice care in Florida and had six months to live. In 2015, Snuka was accused of murdering his girlfriend Nancy Argentino in 1983 in Allentown, Pennsylvania, but wasnt arrested or charged until 30 years later, according to Rolling Stone. A judge ruled that he was unfit for trial due to his mental health and dismissed charges against him on Jan. 3, according to Lehigh Valley Live.

On Sunday, professional wrestler and actor Dwayne The Rock Johnson shared a tweet announcing Snukas death. Our family @TaminaSnuka asked me to share the sad news that her dad Jimmy Snuka has just passed away. Alofa atu i le aiga atoa. #RIPSuperfly, Johnson wrote.

The Samoan phrase in Johnsons tweet directly translates to love the whole family.

The Fiji-born pro wrestler was also remembered by his family. Tamina shared a touching Instagram post to announce her fathers death shortly before Johnsons tweet.

Tamina, one of Snukas four children, captioned a photo of herself holding hands with her father on a hospital bed, I LOVE YOU DAD #FOREVERMYDAD #RestWell #FamiliesAreForever #BestDad #SnukaLegacy.

Hulk Hogan also shared a message on Twitter, and wrote, RIP Superfly. Only love HH.

The WWE also tweeted out their condolences, writing, BREAKING: WWE is saddened to learn that WWE Hall of Famer Jimmy Superfly Snuka has passed away, with a photo of the wrestler in his heyday.




President Obama joins B.B. King singing Sweet Home Chicago at the White House for the Red, White and Blues concert in February 2012. Participants include, from left: Troy Trombone Shorty Andrews, Jeff Beck, Derek Trucks, B.B. King, and Gary Clark Jr. (Photo: Pete Souza/The White House via Getty Images)

Not since the early 90s, when Bill Clinton played saxophone on The Arsenio Hall Show and inspired R.E.M. and 10,000 Maniacs to perform at MTVs Inaugural Ball, have we had such a rockin president as Barack Obama. And his first lady rocked pretty hard too! Whether you loved or loathed the couples politics, you couldnt help but bob your head, pump your fist, or crack a smile when FLOTUS rode shotgun with James Corden or POTUS serenaded the nation with some sweet Al Green  proof that music truly unites us all.

Related: The 20 Greatest Presidential Inauguration Performances of All Time

So here, as a pre-inauguration swan song of sorts, we give you the Obamas most awesome musical moments of the past eight years.

13. A President Pays Tribute to Prince

When the Obamas celebrated Halloween at the White House last year, one little Prince received a special treat when an impressed Barack suddenly broke into a bit of Purple Rain. Lets go crazy and watch this cuteness again and again.





12. The President Praises Finlands Heavy Metal Scene

When greeting leaders from five Nordic nations for a 2016 summit at the White House, Barack gave shout-outs to ABBA, Avicii, and Spotify but the coolest moment of his speech came when he said, I do want to point out that Finland has perhaps the most heavy metal bands in the world per capita, and also ranks high on good governance. I dont know if theres any correlation there. If only hed mentioned Finlands finest musical export, Hanoi Rocks, this speech would have truly had us banging our heads.

11. Michelle Brings Girl Power  and Boyz II Men Nostalgia  to SXSW

Only FLOTUS could convince a packed ballroom of music-biz revelers to wake up at 8 a.m. (an absolutely ungodly hour by South by Southwest standards) to attend her 2016 morning keynote address. The fabulous first lady  accompanied by Queen Latifah, Missy Elliott, Sophia Bush, and Diane Warren (#squadgoals)  was in Austin, Texas, to promote her Let Girls Learn initiative and its Warren-penned all-star theme song, This Is for My Girls (featuring Missy Elliott, Janelle Monae, Kelly Rowland, Kelly Clarkson, Zendaya, and others). Michelles SXSW discussion touched on many serious topics, but there were moments of levity  like when she gushed about her love for Stevie Wonder, or when she sentimentally sang the title line of Boyz II Mens Its So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday when asked about her husbands presidency coming to an end.

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10. The Obamas Get Their Own Music & Arts Festival

No, it wasnt called Obamachella or Obamapalooza. Modeled after SXSW, South by South Lawn took place at the White House last October to bring together creators, innovators, and organizers who work day in and day out to improve the lives of their fellow Americans and people around the world. Performers included the Lumineers, the Dap-Kings, and Gallant. We wish this could be an annual fest!

9. So Michelle Obama Thinks She Can Dance

To promote her fitness-minded Lets Move! campaign, the first lady not only demonstrated The Evolution of Mom Dancing with Jimmy Fallon on The Tonight Show  twice!  but boogied with So You Think You Can Dance all-stars at the White House Easter Egg Roll last year. Michelles got some moves! (Bonus clip: Heres Barack doing some dad-dancing to Hotline Bling.)

8. Barack Obama, Jimmy Fallon & the Roots Slow-Jam the News

You know, lyrics about student loan rates never sounded so cool. Barack first slow-jammed with Fallon back in 2012, then gave an encore performance in 2016 and still sounded supersmoove.

7. Malia Obama Has a Supersweet 18

The younger first daughter, who was born on the 4th of July, must have been the envy of her peers when invited performers Kendrick Lamar and Janelle Monae, along with Americas coolest dad, sang Happy Birthday to her at the White Houses Independence Day celebration last year. Nothing could kill the vibe that day.

6. Barack Rocks the White House at Ray Charles Tribute

At PBSs 2016 special tribute to Ray Charles, POTUS called the late R&B/blues legend one of the most brilliant and influential musicians of our times before joining Usher, Sam Moore, Alabama Shakes Brittany Howard, Demi Lovato, Andra Day, Anthony Hamilton, Leon Bridges, Yolanda Adams, the Band Perry, and others for a rousing call-and-response singalong of Whatd I Say. We say this was awesome!





5. A President Joins Forces With a King

At Buddy Guys urging, President Obama belted a bit of Sweet Home Chicago at 2012s White House Blues Festival with B.B. King, Mick Jagger, Gary Clark Jr., and other rock n blues A-listers. Pretty sweet, indeed.

4. You Can Call Him Al

The country swooned when the prez crooned the good reverend Al Greens Lets Stay Together during a 2012 fundraising event at Harlems Apollo Theater. Dont worry, Rev  I cannot sing like you, but I just wanted to show my appreciation, Barack said good-naturedly. POTUS may not have Green-level pipes, but clearly this guy really loves to sing.

3. The President Sings Amazing Grace, and Its Amazing

President Obama certainly delivered a moving eulogy at the 2015 funeral for the Rev. Clementa Pinckney, a Democratic member of the South Carolina Senate who was gunned down by Dylann Roof at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church. But it was his surprise a cappella rendition of the traditional hymn, with mourners joining in, that really celebrated Pinckneys amazing, tragically truncated life.

2. Barack Obama Is the President of Playlists

When POTUS joined Spotify in 2012, he celebrated with a second-term playlist featuring everyone from Raphael Saadiq to Arcade Fire. But his summertime playlists really proved hes a man of great (and sometimes surprising!) musical taste. A few of his more unexpected selections have included Talib Kweli & Hi Tek, Nappy Roots, Okkervil River, Lianne La Havas, Mos Def, Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros, Leonard Cohen, and Courtney Barnett. More playlists followed, and Spotify even offered Barack a post-White House job as President of Playlists. Obama is certainly qualified for that gig, but we actually hope he gets his own 24-hour Sirius XM channel after his presidency ends.

1. FLOTUS Gets Her Freak On in Carpool Karaoke

Madonna, Mariah, Gaga, Britney, Sia, J.Lo, J.Hud, and even Adele have sat in James Cordens passenger seat, but the grandest Carpool Karaoke diva of all has to be Michelle Obama. Seeing the first lady make Lemonade jokes while belting some Beyonce, pay tribute to her all-time fave Stevie Wonder, and rap Missy Elliotts Get Ur Freak On  with the actual Missy riding in the backseat? Thats television history, right there. Someone hand this woman an Emmy, stat.

Follow Lyndsey on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Google+, Amazon, Tumblr, Spotify
Three prisoners were decapitated and seven others were killed at a prison in the northeastern Brazilian city of Natal, police said Sunday. The deaths were the result of a riot that broke out at the Alcacuz Penitentiary  the largest jail in Rio Grande do Norte state.

Police managed to regain control of the prison 14 hours after the riots started on Saturday afternoon. Security forces managed to enter the outer area of the prison but decided to wait for daylight hours before going in on Sunday morning. No prisoners were reported to have escaped.

We could see the heads ripped off of three inmates, Zemilton Silva, coordinator of the prison system, reportedly said.

The prison, which currently holds some 1,150 prisoners, houses about twice as many inmates as it was initially supposed to hold.

This is the fourth such riot in Brazilian jails since the start of this year. According to media reports, about 100 people have died in the states of Amazonas and Roraima over the past two weeks. Riots are a common scene in Brazils prisons, which are often overcrowded and largely controlled by powerful criminal gangs. However, the scale of the riots this year has put pressure on President Michel Temer to address the issue.

Related Articles
CARSON CITY, Nev. (AP)  Three Democratic congressional representatives are asking state lawmakers to act to remove a statue of former Nevada senator from the U.S. Capitol's Statuary Hall, alleging that he left a "legacy of racism, anti-Semitism, and xenophobia."

Nevada Reps. Dina Titus, Ruben Kihuen and Jacky Rosen raised their objections to the statue of former Sen. Patrick McCarran in a letter this week to Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval, state Senate Majority Leader Aaron Ford and Assembly Speaker-designate Jason Frierson.

"It is time to retire the McCarran statue to Nevada and choose a better suited individual to represent us in National Statuary Hall," the letter said.

The statue of McCarran, a Democrat in the Senate from 1933 until his death in 1954, was added to the hall in 1960, the Las Vegas Review-Journal reported (http://bit.ly/2j6nend).

The Reno native was a fervent anti-communist who advocated for severe immigration laws and was one of a few Democrats to oppose President Franklin Delano Roosevelt's New Deal program.

McCarran also was influential in promoting the advancement of aviation, and the busy international airport in Las Vegas is named after him.

But former Democratic U.S. Sen. Harry Reid campaigned to remove McCarran's name from the airport for his record of racism and anti-Semitism.

Even before his retirement after 34 years in Congress including 10 years as Democratic party leader, Reid's name has been floated for the airport.

To replace the statue in the U.S. Capitol, the state Legislature must pass a resolution identifying the statue to be replaced along with the name of a replacement, and several other requirements.

Each state is invited to place two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection. Nevada added its second honoree in 2005 with a statue of 19th century Northern Paiute author and educator Sarah Winnemucca.

___

Information from: Las Vegas Review-Journal, http://www.lvrj.com
Truth or Consequences, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

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TRUTH OR CONSEQUENCES, N.M.  It is known as the land of eccentrics  a small desert town where people of all types come to get lost, sometimes on vacation, sometimes permanently.

Artists, retirees, veterans, New Agers and people simply looking to escape life as usual have long descended on Truth or Consequences, a tiny sunbaked enclave about two hours south of Albuquerque that has a reputation for embracing the unusual.

For proof, look no further than the name, which was adopted on a dare from a popular game show 57 years ago in a bid to boost tourism and attract nationwide publicity. More recently, it has gambled on what some here believe might be another risky endeavor, reinventing itself as the gateway to outer space. Just 30 miles outside of town is Spaceport America, an expensive state-owned facility that was designed to be a major hub of commercial spaceflight for those willing to pay big bucks to soar above the earth. But so far, there have been no rocket ships to orbit, and some have begun to wonder if there ever will be.

Now theres one more thing this quirky town is known for: In the middle of this predominately Democratic and heavily Hispanic state, T or C, as the locals refer to it, is officially Trump country.

While Hillary Clinton won New Mexico by eight points in November, Donald Trump claimed significant pockets of support in rural counties in the central and eastern part of the state.

The New York billionaire carried towns like Roswell, the states fifth largest city and the purported site of a UFO crash in 1947. Weeks after Election Day, a large Trump sign still hung on Main Street alongside streetlights in the shape of aliens. Trump also won Portales, a dairy town teeming with college kids from Eastern New Mexico State University, where arriving visitors are greeted by a massive sign on the side of a building downtown declaring, We Dont Trust You Hillary.

Story continues

In Sierra County, home to T or C, Trump beat Clinton by 27 points  a surprise to some, considering that the towns population of about 6,200 includes a number of migrants from Los Angeles, New York and Washington. But although they are people who have come here to get lost, they are also people who have grown tired of being forgotten by the rest of the country, people who saw Trump as a change agent for good in a political system they are skeptical of.

Cynthia Brisbois and Mark Theall at Raymonds in Truth or Consequences, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

Among them, Mark Theall, a 53-year-old native of the Boston suburbs who, as a union hardhat, helped build nuclear power plants before he gave it up to become a nomad. He tried living in San Francisco, then Phoenix, before winding up in T or C, a town that used to be teeming with retirees like him who wandered through to experience the citys famous hot springs and ended up staying.

But the town Theall came to a decade or so ago is different than it used to be, ravaged in part by a drug and opioid epidemic that seems to grow worse by the day.

Sitting at Raymonds Lounge, a dive bar just outside downtown where the jukebox played sad songs about dead-end towns full of heartache and empty dreams, Theall spoke of a city that sometimes felt like a real-life episode of Breaking Bad. The local paper was dominated by reports of drug arrests and overdoses, mostly from meth and heroin. He saw young people everywhere ravaged by addiction. This used to be a retirement community, but the grandkids come here, the grandparents die off, and they take their money and invest in meth and drugs and this and that, he said. Thats what we are up against here.

Among the many reasons Theall backed Trump was his pledge to combat the drug epidemic, a proposal that dated back to the early days of his unlikely campaign. The real estate mogul and former reality television star made the pitch as part of his plan to build a big beautiful wall along the U.S. border with Mexico  something Theall and others here support. Not just because of illegals, but because of the cartels, Theall said. We are getting all the drugs and crime.

Truth or Consequences, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

But Trump also promised to make dealing with addiction a central plank of his presidency, something Theall expects him to deliver on. Among other things, the Republican candidate repeatedly pledged in the final weeks of his campaign to speed up FDA approval of abuse-deterring drugs and to offer new incentives to state and local officials to pursue what he described as a more humane response to addiction, including sentencing drug offenders to mandated treatment instead of simply throwing them in jail.

Beyond Trumps vague promises to create jobs and improve the economy, he also won support here for his relentless focus on veterans, including his pledge to improve VA hospitals and help those returning from wars overseas get better access to mental health services, education and employment. Even here, where the cost of living is cheaper than in other parts of the state, many vets have struggled to make ends meet. We should not have homeless veterans, said Cynthia Brisbois, a 63-year-old retiree originally from California who backed Trump, in part, because of his support for vets. She came from a military family. I really think (Trump) is going to do something about that. He has to.

Theall, as much as he likes Trump, is not giving the president-elect a honeymoon period. As soon as Trump is sworn into office, Theall expects the businessman to get to work and deliver on what he promised. Its all politics. Hes not gonna be able to follow through with everything, he allowed. But, I want to see positive results in the first year. I think he needs to follow through. And I hope it comes sooner rather than later.

Here in a town packed with people used to living off the beaten path, a little on the fringe of society, the folks at Raymonds heaped praise on Trump for being someone who couldnt be bought, for his bluntness in being willing to say and do things that other politicians wouldnt  and hoped that he would stay that way. A billionaire with a penchant for gold leaf and finer things, who would likely never cross the threshold of a darkened bar like this, had emerged to be viewed as their unlikely champion.

Vanessa Robinson, Truth or Consequences, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

I think he gives Americans like us hope, hope that we had lost, said Vanessa Robinson, a 42-year-old bartender who, by her telling, had never been political until Trump came along. She and her boyfriend twice made the two-hour drive to Albuquerque to hear Trump speak, including at a rally last May where anti-Trump protests turned violent. Trump, she said, was going to bring necessary change to Washington  though she also worried about the possibility that Washington might change him. I think, I hope hell be OK, she said.

A few feet away, Theall held up his drink and cheered the bar. Hope and change, he said of Trump. Hope and change.

Told that hope and change had been the way Americans had described Barack Obama as he prepared to take office eight years ago, Theall looked surprised. Was it? he said. I didnt know that.
Myron Lewis, Sandy Hook, Ky. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

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SANDY HOOK, Ky.It used to be known as the most reliably Democratic county in America.

In a state that had long ago gone deep red, Elliott County, located here in the winding forested hills of remote eastern Kentucky, was a true anomaly. Since 1872, three years after the county was founded, the majority of voters here had backed a Democrat for president every four years. It was the longest streak for any county in the nationand one that came to an abrupt end in November when Donald Trump overwhelmingly defeated Hillary Clinton by 44 points, his largest margin of victory in the state of Kentucky and one of the largest in the country.

To some, a Republican win seemed a long time coming. The population is predominately white and largely impoverishedworking class people who once toiled in nearby steel mills and coal mines but have struggled to make ends meet as those jobs have vanished. But politics, like the land, had been passed down through generations, and a majority of residents remained solidly Democrat, a loyalty dating back to their fathers and grandfathers who earned their first paychecks building roads and public infrastructure as part of Franklin Roosevelts New Deal.

(When you voted), it was either the Democrat, or it was the devil, said Myron Lewis, a convenience store owner and native of Sandy Hook, the county seat. Lewiss father worked in the mining industry.

Sandy Hook, Ky. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

But that loyalty has been tested in recent years. Hard hit by the recession, Elliott County didnt enjoy the recovery other parts of the country did. And in 2015, many more lost their jobs when AK Steel, one of the largest employers in the region, idled its plant in nearby Ashland. The unemployment rate in Elliott County now stands at 11 percent, more than double the national average and one of the highest in the country. Many here have to drive an hour or longer to their jobs.

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Let down by Barack Obama, who didnt usher in the recovery the region needed, and angry at Clintons suggestion at a CNN town hall last year that a lot of coal miners would lose their jobs in years to come, many here were intrigued by Trump who vowed create jobs and be a president for those who felt abandoned and overlooked by the rest of the country.

Appalachia is this forgotten area of folks within the country. And we wanna still be seen as viable. And thats not happening at all, Lewis said. But Trump seemed to be their unlikely champion, a New York billionaire who seemed to understand and care about the working people in a way that other candidates didnt.

Lewis, who is 41, had recently moved back to Sandy Hook after years away. He had traveled the country, working to develop fuel and truck stops. But, unlike many here who had graduated from the local high school and never looked back, Lewis believed in his hometown, and he returned with his wife and kids, looking for the quiet, small town life hed enjoyed as a child. He opened a gas station and convenience store right off state highway 7, the main drag through town.

Sitting down for lunch at the Frosty Freeze, one of the only restaurants in town, Lewis acknowledged it has been tougher than he expected. While other nearby counties enjoyed some rebound, Elliott County has been in endless struggle, playing second fiddle to counties closer to Interstate 64, 30 miles away, in the quest to lure industry and jobs. A private prison had opened just outside of town a few years earlier, bringing about 160 jobs, but the county needed more. Thats why, he said, so many Democrats had crossed party lines to back Trump. He promised jobs, he said.

Sandy Hook, Ky. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

The residents in Elliott County or anywhere in this region of Kentucky dont want a handout, he said. People just want a chance to work and take care of their own. The thing that folks dont understand is Appalachia doesnt want any more than what Appalachia can do for itself by and large. We were raised that way. You dont need a world to take care of this village. But this village doesnt need to be forgotten neither. You dont ask for a lot, but you dont wanna be forgotten at the same time.

While many voters here crossed party lines to back Trump, he didnt have coattails. Democrats won the rest of the ticket, perhaps confirming not only Trumps unique power to win cross-party votes but also his tenuous political position. Though residents were friendly to Trumps message, they are desperate to see results and are expecting him to deliver soon. Jobs are at the top of Lewiss list, though he acknowledged Trump will have a long row to hoe when it comes to restoring coal industry jobs. He is hoping a Trump administration might help attract more diversified industry to the region, including more jobs in manufacturing and health care.

And while he likes some of Trumps ideas about renegotiating trade deals, something that won him many votes here and throughout the Rust Belt, Lewis admits hes unsure about how far the new administration should go. He likes the idea of making countries like China pay more to access the U.S. market and for punishing partners who dump cheap goods taking away business from American companies, but hes wary of Trumps call of simply exiting existing trade deals if other partners wont play ball. Im not there, he said.

Perhaps more than anything, except for jobs, Lewis says he hopes Trump will truly try to work with both Republicans and Democrats to break through gridlock in Washington. I hope he surrounds himself with great minds to help him lead, Lewis said. And, he added, he hopes Trump curbs his addiction to Twitter.

Off the cuff Twitter remarks at 11:00 at night are not (helpful) Lets move on, he said. Its time he drops that pettiness.
Govt is not serious to announce election date: MK Nepal

CPN-UML leader and former Prime Minister Madhav Kumar Nepal has said that the government is not serious about announcing election dates.
The Daily Beast

Getty Images/TwitterJoshua Primo, the shunned NBA newcomer cut amid allegations he regularly exposed himself to a team therapist, said Thursday that his accuser was using ugly stereotypes and racially charged fears for her own financial gain.Primo made the bizarre claim just hours after Dr. Hillary Cauthen filed a lawsuit in Bexar County, Texas, against Primo and the San Antonio Spursa lawsuit in which she explicitly stated that shes not seeking monetary damages.Instead, Cauthen, a 40-year-o
LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP)  Every third Monday in January, Arkansas state offices are closed in observance of an unlikely holiday: the shared birthdays of slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

Only three states commemorate both men on the same day, a practice that critics say hurts Arkansas' reputation. Now the Republican governor is reviving an effort to remove Lee from the holiday, but he faces resistance from opponents who complain the move belittles the state's Confederate heritage and from black lawmakers worried about a plan to set aside another day to honor Lee.

"I think this provides our state an opportunity to bridge divides," said Gov. Asa Hutchinson, who has vowed since early last year to make the change, which is part of his agenda for the legislative session that began last week.

Arkansas has had a holiday in honor of Lee since 1947 and one for King since 1983. That year, agencies required state employees to choose which two holidays they wanted off: King's birthday on Jan. 15, Lee's birthday on Jan. 19 or the employee's birthday. In 1985, the Legislature voted to combine holidays.

Alabama and Mississippi also honor the men on the same day.

Hutchinson's idea is not new. Two years ago, a similar proposal repeatedly failed before a House committee.

The renewed debate comes amid a nationwide re-evaluation of monuments and symbols linked to the Civil War, the Confederacy and slavery.

After the 2015 fatal shooting of nine black church members by a white gunman who had posed with the Confederate flag in photos, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley called for the flag's removal from the Statehouse. In Alabama, Gov. Robert Bentley took down four Confederate flags on the Capitol grounds.

Arkansas Democrats last year announced they would remove Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson's names from the party's annual fundraising dinner, joining a growing number of states distancing themselves from the slave-owning presidents.

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As with the flag debate in other states, the King Day proposal has drawn the ire of groups that say removing Lee from the holiday is an affront to people whose ancestors served the Confederacy. In 2015, opponents regularly filled a House committee room to speak out against the idea.

"It's like telling our Hispanic neighbors that we're not going to do Cinco de Mayo. It's like telling the Irish we're not going to celebrate St. Patrick's Day," said Robert Edwards, commander of the Arkansas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. "I think it's just a racist bill."

The idea also raised complaints from lawmakers who question why any change is needed.

"We're looking for a solution to a problem we don't have," Republican Rep. Josh Miller said. "I haven't noticed any humongous Robert E. Lee parades that are taking place in conjunction with Martin Luther King Day."

Supporters of ending the dual holiday include the city of Little Rock and Pulaski County, which passed resolutions last year endorsing the move. Proponents previously argued that the current holiday hurts the state's efforts to attract businesses, an argument Hutchinson has not adopted. The 2015 bill was fueled in part by photos widely circulated on social media of a sign noting the shared King and Lee holiday.

"I think if Robert E. Lee were here today, he would say, 'Move my birthday and Dr. King deserves recognition,'" Hutchinson said.

The governor faces resistance from past supporters by simultaneously calling for a day in October to remember Lee, although it would not be an official state holiday. Democratic Rep. Fred Love, who sponsored one of the two previous bills, said he's unlikely to support Hutchinson's proposal if it includes a day for Lee.

The former chairwoman of the Legislative Black Caucus said a Lee Day would also give her pause. She suggested Hutchinson pursue that in a bill separate from the proposal giving King the holiday to himself.

"I don't think my constituents would understand having a day that celebrates the head of the Confederate army that enslaved black folks," Democratic Sen. Linda Chesterfield said. "But I think they truly will understand that it's important for Dr. King's day to be a stand-alone day."

___

Follow Andrew DeMillo on Twitter at www.twitter.com/ademillo .
Viet Cong veteran Vo Ban Tam remembers the first time he crossed paths with John Kerry on the banks on the Bay Hap river, a day that ended in bloodshed.

Almost a half-century later, the now 70-year-old Mekong Delta shrimp farmer locked eyes with the US Secretary of State on Saturday and they warmly grasped hands in mutual respect.

Kerry returned to the Vietnam waterway at the end of a visit to the Communist nation, less than a week before he was to leave office, searching for the spot where he won a Silver Star for bravery as a young US Navy lieutenant.

On February 28, 1969, as the skipper of Swift Boat PCF-94, Kerry was patrolling when Vo Ban Tam's unit launched an ambush.

The plan, the Vietnamese guerrilla told his former adversary on Saturday, was to use rifle and grenade fire to lure the heavily-armed American craft into range of a shoulder-held rocket launcher.

This tactic had paid off for the Viet Cong in the past but on this day Kerry made a dramatic decision, deliberately beaching his boat then storming ashore to pursue the operator.

Grabbing an M-16 rifle the then 26-year-old chased down the guerrilla and shot him dead, saving his crew from a counterattack.

Vo Ban Tam remembered the dead man, 24-year-old Ba Thanh, as a respected member of the Viet Cong's main force in Ca Mau province, trained to use the prized launcher.

"He was a good soldier," he recalled, speaking through an interpreter on the banks of same river, shortly after Kerry re-visited the scene of the ambush for the first time.

Kerry had never before learned the name of the man he shot. During his unsuccessful 2004 White House campaign, opponents tarnished his war record by claiming he killed a teenager.

But US officials preparing for Kerry's visit tracked down Vo Ban Tam and his account confirmed Kerry's memory that his slain adversary was an adult.

Vo Ban Tam admitted that thanks to Kerry's action the Viet Cong had not been victorious that day. But he recalled proudly how his comrades often had the upper hand.

Story continues

"We were guerrillas, we were never there where you were shooting," he boasted, telling Kerry they could hear his boat coming that day a kilometre off.

"Well, I'm glad we're both alive," Kerry said.

- To die for a mistake? -

Kerry returned from Vietnam later in 1969. Despite holding Silver and Bronze stars for valour and three Purple Hearts for being wounded in action, he became a prominent anti-war activist.

The tall, young, erudite Yale graduate stood out among veterans and his devastating testimony before a Senate committee in 1971 sealed his celebrity.

He forecast that Washington's search-and-destroy missions and brutal pacification measures would fail to overcome the Vietnamese determination to resist foreign occupation.

On behalf of his own American comrades in arms, he famously demanded: "How can you ask a man to be the last man to die for a mistake?"

Kerry went on to become a senator, a presidential candidate and finally secretary of state -- and he never forgot Vietnam, becoming a leader in the post-war reconciliation.

Now, with just days to go before the start of Donald Trump's presidency marks the end of his tenure at the State Department, Kerry plans more visits.

He wants to work on environmental problems with the Lower Mekong Initiative while he and fellow veterans are involved in plans to open a US-funded Fulbright University in Vietnam.

Pollution and climate change are now the biggest threat to the Mekong Delta with encroaching salination a huge issue -- father of 10 Vo Ban Tam saw his entire shrimp stock wiped out last year by pollution.

The United States is a huge market for Vietnamese shrimp, but measures to deepen trade ties are threatened by Trump's opposition to measures like the Trans-Pacific Partnership.

- Sleepless night -

Vietnam was the first stop on Kerry's last foreign trip as Washington's top diplomat, and he wanted to return there after meetings with senior officials.

Two days before he had been having a sleepless night in Hanoi's French colonial-era Hotel Metropole, an aide told AFP.

Could he find the site of the ambush? He started pouring over Google's online map, zooming in on the lazy curves of the Mekong Delta's waterways.

He also called his former turret gunner from his boat to compare memories of the fateful day and prepare the expedition.

On Saturday, sitting on the prow of a tourist boat with Dartmouth College historian and Vietnam War expert Ed Miller, Kerry spread a copy of a war-era map across his knees.

Using the chart, Miller's studies and his own memories he guided the vessel up the muddy creek.

Families came out of their homes to watch the small flotilla pass where decades before they might have fled for cover.

"This right here, where we are right now, was a very heavily Viet Cong controlled area," he told reporters, noting that insurgent activity in Ca Mau went back to French rule.

Leaders in Washington back then had not understood this, mistaking a fight against Vietnamese self-reliance and patriotism for a Cold War geopolitical struggle, he argued.

The lessons of US failure in Vietnam have stayed with him as he studied more recent crises.

"It impressed on me the notion that you really need to analyse and understand what lies underneath the slogans," Kerry told reporters on the boat.

And in a dig at George W. Bush, the president who defeated Kerry in 2004, he cited an example from the US war in Iraq: "It helps to know the difference between Sunni and Shia."

And how did he feel himself, back at the scene of his own day of battlefield success within a much greater American failure?

"It's weird. It's a little surreal," he said.
(DUBAI, United Arab Emirates)  Bahrain on Sunday carried out its first executions since an Arab Spring uprising rocked the country in 2011, putting to death three men found guilty of a deadly bomb attack on police.

The executions of the Shiite men drew swift condemnation from human rights groups and sparked outrage among opponents of the Sunni-ruled government, who see the charges as politically motivated. Activists allege that testimony used against the condemned men was obtained through torture.

Bahrains public prosecution said the death sentences were carried out by firing squad. Photos shared by activists purporting to show the bodies of the men showed a tight grouping of multiple gunshot wounds to the heart.

The executions were the first in the U.S.-allied nation since 2010 and followed a spike in protests in solidarity with the convicted men.

Abbas al-Samea, Sami Mushaima and Ali al-Singace were found guilty in 2015 of killing two Bahraini policemen and an Emirati officer deployed to bolster the countrys security forces in a bomb attack the previous year. A court upheld their death sentences last Monday.

Bahrain is a tiny island nation off the coast of Saudi Arabia that hosts the U.S. Navys 5th Fleet, which patrols the waters around the Arabian Peninsula and is the naval counterweight to nearby Shiite powerhouse Iran.

Government forces crushed the 2011 uprising with help from allies Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, but the country continues to face low-level unrest led by a majority Shiite population that feels marginalized by the Sunni monarchy.

Bahrain also maintains close ties to Britain, which is building a naval base of its own in the country. Over the past two and a half months, Prince Charles, Prime Minister Theresa May and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson have all paid visits to the island.

Johnson made a point of underscoring Britains opposition to the death penalty hours after the sentences were carried out.

Story continues

The Bahraini authorities are fully aware of our position and I have raised the issue with the Bahraini government, he said in a statement.

Hundreds of protesters took to the streets Saturday in solidarity with the condemned men as rumors spread that their executions were imminent. Images shared on social media showed activists blocking roads with burning debris and hurling petrol bombs in clashes with police.

Nicholas McGeehan, a researcher who monitors Bahrain for Human Rights Watch, called the executions inflammatory and unjust as he urged the kingdoms allies to publicly and unequivocally condemn these killings. Amnesty International deputy director Samah Hadid called the executions a deeply regressive step.

Protests and clashes continued Sunday despite a heavy presence of riot police deployed in predominantly Shiite areas. Witnesses said shops were shuttered in Daih, where the 2014 bombing happened. Garbage bins were seen overturned and set alight in the streets.

One police officer was wounded when several people shot at a police patrol in Bani Jamra, west of the capital Manama, the Interior Ministry said Sunday. It gave no further details.

The Ashtar Brigade, a Shiite militant group that claimed the 2014 police attack and a number of other bombings in Bahrain, took responsibility for the attack on the police officer on social media. The Associated Press could not immediately verify the post, though it came in a forum often used by the group.

Lebanons Iran-backed Shiite group Hezbollah condemned the execution of the three men, calling it a crime and extrajudicial killing that would undermine any chance for a political solution in Bahrain.

The militant group, which has been critical of the Bahraini governments crackdown on the Shiite uprising, said international silence toward what takes place in Bahrain must be met with the largest solidarity campaign.

Al-Samea and Mushaima alleged they were subjected to electric shocks, beatings, cigarette burns, sleep deprivation and sexual assault while in custody, Amnesty International reported in 2015. Al-Singaces mother says her son was also tortured, according to British rights group Reprieve.

It is nothing short of an outrage  and a disgraceful breach of international law  that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions, Reprieve director Maya Foa said. The death sentences handed to Ali, Sami and Abbas were based on confessions extracted through torture, and the trial an utter sham.

Government officials did not respond to a request for comment Sunday on the torture allegations. Bahraini officials have previously said the government is opposed to any kind of mistreatment and has safeguards in place to prevent it.

Bahrains last execution was of a Bangladeshi man in 2010. A number of death sentences have been issued since then.

The three put to death Sunday were the first who had held Bahraini citizenship executed since 1996, according to Reprieve, though they were technically stateless at the time of their deaths after being stripped of their citizenship when convicted.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell in Dubai and Sarah El Deeb in Beirut contributed to this report.
Dubai (AFP) - Bahrain on Sunday executed three men found guilty of killing three policemen, sparking violent protests and stoking tensions between the country's Shiite majority and its Sunni rulers.

The three Shiites faced the firing squad, six days after a court upheld their death sentences over a bomb attack in March 2014, the prosecutor's office said.

Bahrain, which has been ruled by the Al-Khalifa dynasty for more than two centuries, has a majority Shiite population which has long complained of marginalisation.

It has been rocked by sporadic unrest since March 2011 when security forces brutally crushed an Arab Spring-inspired uprising.

The executions triggered protests in Shiite villages.

Demonstrators blocked roads with burning tyres and police retaliated by firing tear gas, according to posts on social media.

Pictures shared online by activists showed relatives of those executed weeping.

Bahrain authorities do not permit international news agencies to cover events independently.

The executions came a day after demonstrations broke out following rumours they were going to be put to death.

The death sentences are the first in six years in the Gulf kingdom, according to London-based human rights group, Reprieve.

"It is nothing short of an outrage -- and a disgraceful breach of international law -- that Bahrain has gone ahead with these executions," Reprieve director Maya Foa said.

Reprieve said the executions went ahead "despite serious concerns that their convictions were based on evidence obtained under torture".

The European Union also condemned the sentences.

"This case is a serious drawback given that Bahrain had suspended executions for... (several) years, and concerns have been expressed about possible violations of the right to a fair process for the three convicted," an EU statement said.

- 'Black day' -

Sayed Ahmed Alwadaei, head of advocacy at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy, said: "This is a black day in Bahrain's history."

Story continues

Scores of men and women took to the streets on Saturday after the families of the three were summoned to meet them in prison, a measure that usually precedes the implementation of death sentences, witnesses said.

"No, no to execution," the protesters chanted.

Later on Saturday, a policeman was wounded when his patrol came under fire in the Shiite village of Bani Jamra, said the interior ministry.

Authorities have said that the trio and fellow defendants belonged to the same clandestine group which has claimed several bomb attacks in Bahrain.

The high court on Monday upheld the death sentences against the trio convicted in a bomb attack in March 2014, which killed three policemen, including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.

The executed men have been named by activists as Sami Mushaima, 42, Ali al-Singace, 21, and Abbas al-Samea, 27.

Seven other defendants received life terms.

The Emirati officer was part of a Saudi-led Gulf force which rolled into Bahrain in March 2011 to help put down a month of Shiite-led protests.

Bahrain is a strategic ally of the United States and home to the US Navy's Fifth Fleet.

Iran's foreign ministry on Sunday criticised the Bahraini authorities for what it called an "inconsiderate action".

Lebanon's Shiite movement Hezbollah, backed by Iran, slammed the executions of the "innocent" men as a "crime committed by the regime against the Bahraini people".

"It is clear that this execution will destroy every chance for a political exit out of Bahrain's crisis, and leads the country into an unknown future, threatening stability in Bahrain and the whole region," it said.

Brian Dooley, director of Human Rights Defenders at the Washington-based Human Rights First, urged the United States to use its influence.

"Washington should warn its Gulf ally that this would be a reckless, frightening level of repression to pursue, likely to spark rage and further violence in an already volatile region," he said on Saturday.

And Britain's Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson said Manama had been made "fully aware" of his country's opposition to the death penalty.

Since the 2011 uprising, Bahrain has arrested and put on trial hundreds of Shiites and cracked down hard on the opposition, despite repeated appeals by international rights groups.
PORTLAND, Maine (AP)  The eagle has landed  on chickens and rare birds, with talons at the ready.

The resurgence of the bald eagle is one of America's greatest conservation success stories. They have come back so strong that in some areas, they are interfering with efforts to preserve more jeopardized species, such as loons and cormorants, wildlife biologists say. And their proliferation is leading to encounters at livestock farms that sometimes end badly  and illegally  for the eagles.

Federal protections mean farmers can do little to keep them away, said Ken Klippen, a poultry scientist and former farmer who heads the National Association of Egg Farmers.

"It's a fully protected bird. If you have foxes, coyotes, raccoons, a farmer can do something about that," he said. "But if it's a bald eagle? His hands are tied."

The Pennsylvania Game Commission investigated a case in which an eagle was shot dead in the East Penn Township area in 2015. In Steuben County, New York, a sheep farmer and two other people were accused of poisoning sheep carcasses to kill eagles that threatened lambs. And authorities investigated suspicious deaths of 18 bald eagles in Maryland and Delaware last year.

Bald eagles were chosen as an American symbol in 1782 and underwent a steep decline in the early and middle 20th century, pushed to the brink of extinction by pesticides, habitat loss and indiscriminate hunting.

A 1930 issue of Popular Science stated that the birds had died off so much that it was possible they would soon "be seen only on coins and the coat of arms of the United States unless drastic action" saved them.

Such action came in the form of federal protections, including the 1940 Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, which prevents almost everyone from so much as disturbing the birds and still stands today. The eagles recovered so much that they were removed from the endangered species list in 2007.

Story continues

Today, Audubon Society bird counts show their numbers are climbing, and scientists with the society say they will probably continue to do so. Counters found about 30,000 of them in 2015, more than double the 1995 count. They live in every state but Hawaii.

In Maine, where the breeding population of great cormorants is small and efforts to save them are underway, the bald eagles are a problem, said Chris DeSorbo, director of the raptor program at the Biodiversity Research Institute in Portland.

Cormorants are seabirds that are widely distributed around the globe, but North America has only a few breeding colonies from Maine to Greenland, according to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. Common loons, decimated by hunting, also sometimes fall victim to eagles and are the subject of repopulation efforts in New England and elsewhere.

"Eagles are very opportunistic predators. They are going to try to take advantage of an easy meal wherever they can," DeSorbo said. "In this case, I think seabird colonies can represent a low risk food resource for them."

In other areas, the eagles are assuming a role they played centuries ago  agricultural pest. And it's not just chickens they're getting.

Lee Straw, a Maine farmer who raises sheep on an island, said his weaker lambs sometimes fall prey to eagles.

"There's nothing you can do," Straw said. "It's survival of the fittest anyway."

Such predation is to be expected because bald eagles are apex predators, said Mark McCollough, an endangered species biologist with the federal Fish and Wildlife Service. The service doesn't consider it a problem, but rather indicative of the species' success at rebuilding.

"Yes, eagles are having an effect on other species of wildlife," he said. "But that's natural. Predation like that probably occurred here hundreds of years ago."

The birds are continuing to come back because of protection of wetlands, the increase in water quality and reforestation of farmland, said Geoff LeBaron, a Massachusetts ornithologist and the director of the Audubon Society's annual Christmas bird count event. They haven't yet reached the point where overpopulation is a legitimate concern, he said.

"At some point it will reach carrying capacity," he said. "But I think there's plenty of room for more eagles."
Beijing (China) (AFP) - Beijing on Saturday warned the US that the One China policy was non-negotiable, after Donald Trump suggested he could abandon the decades-old diplomatic principle and boost ties with Taiwan.

"It is not up for negotiation," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang said in a statement.

"There is only one China in the world, Taiwan is an inalienable region of China, and the government of the People's Republic of China is the only legitimate government representing China."

Trump has threatened to get tough with what he sees as unfair Chinese trade practices, and suggested that the One China policy could become a bargaining chip.

"Everything is under negotiation, including One China," he told the Wall Street Journal in an interview published Friday.

Trump has already irked China by accepting a congratulatory phone call from Taiwan President Tsai Ing-Wen after he won the presidential election, upending decades of diplomatic precedent in which the White House has foregone direct communication with the leader of Taiwan.

Beijing considers the island to be a breakaway province to be brought back within its fold, by force if necessary.

"We urge the relevant party in the United States to realise the extreme sensitivity of the Taiwan issue and to respect commitments made by previous American governments (and) avoid undermining the healthy and stable development of bilateral relations," Lu Kang added.

Beijing first warned the US president elect on the issue in December, after the billionaire businessman said he did not see why Washington must "be bound by a One China policy unless we make a deal with China having to do with other things, including trade".

The Asian giant said it could back "forces hostile to the US" if Trump followed through with his threats.

Trump also defended his controversial call with President Tsai in his interview with the Journal.

"We sold them $2 billion of military equipment last year. We can sell them $2 billion of the latest and greatest military equipment but we're not allowed to accept a phone call" he said.
Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders called FBI Director James Comeys handling of Hillary Clintons emails during the 2016 outrageous and said it would not be a bad thing for the American people if he did step down, during an interview on ABCs This Week.

I think that Comey acted in an outrageous way during the campaign, he said. No one can say that this was the decisive and this was what elected [Donald] Trump, but clearly his behavior during the campaign in terms of what he said in the week or two before the election was unacceptable.

Sanders did not explicitly call for Comeys resignation, but said the FBI director should consider it. His comment comes as a growing number of Democrats have expressed anger over Comeys handling of Russian cyberattacks and Clintons email investigation. Comey now faces an internal investigation from the Justice Departments inspector general over whether he and the Justice Department followed established protocol in the email server case.

I think he should take a hard look at what he has done, Sanders said. And I think it would not be a bad thing for the American people if he did step down.
India FinMin pledges IC swap facility in Kathmandu soon

Indian Finance Minister Arun Jaitley has said the problems faced by the Nepalis after the demonetisation move in India would be resolved as soon as possible.
MADRID (Reuters) - Five migrants have been found dead off the southern Spanish coast this weekend, a Spanish police spokeswoman said on Sunday, after another at least eight were discovered off the coast of Libya on Saturday. The bodies of four men and one woman were discovered on beaches and floating just off the coast of Tarifa late on Friday and through the day on Saturday, though it was not clear where they had traveled from, the spokeswoman said. "Unless we find a survivor, we really don't know what happened or even if these people were traveling on the same raft," she said. At least eight migrants died when their boat capsized off the coast of Libya on Saturday. Spanish, Italian and French coastguards work together in rescue missions in the Mediterranean as thousands of migrants attempt the perilous sea crossing into Europe from Northern Africa and the Middle East on flimsy rafts and boats. Almost 5,000 deaths were recorded last year, the deadliest year on record, according to the International Organization of Migration. (Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Clelia Oziel)
DUBAI (Reuters) - Britain and the United Arab Emirates launched a joint military exercise dubbed "Sea Dagger 2017", Emirati state news agency WAM reported on Sunday. The exercise, which WAM said was aimed at "training on the planning, implementation and management of joint military operations", takes place as Gulf Arab and American rivalry with nearby Iran continues to simmer. Saudi Arabia and its smaller Gulf Arab neighbors accuse Iran of seeking to spread its power in the Arab world at their expense by backing Shi'ite Muslim militants in conflicts throughout the region, a charge Tehran denies. A U.S. Navy destroyer fired warning shots at four Iranian military vessels in the Strait of Hormuz last week. (Writing by Noah Browning; Editing by Catherine Evans)
By Estelle Shirbon and William James LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will use a major speech on Brexit next week to call on Britons to reject the acrimony of last year's referendum and unite around the vision of a Britain more open to the world, her office said on Sunday. May intends to kick off the formal process of negotiating the terms of Britain's exit from the European Union by the end of March, but has given little away about what deal she will be seeking, frustrating some investors, businesses and lawmakers. She is due to make a speech in London on Tuesday before an audience including foreign diplomats as well as Britain's own Brexit negotiating team and other senior officials, May's Downing Street office said in a statement. It said she would stress the need for Britons, who voted for Brexit by 52 to 48 percent in last June's referendum after a deeply divisive campaign, to unite around common goals such as protecting and enhancing workers' rights. "Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it  'Leaver' and 'Remainer' and all the accompanying insults  and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly global Britain," May is expected to say. Her comments came as finance minister Philip Hammond said Britain could change its economic model to regain competitiveness if it were to leave the EU without an agreement on market access. Those comments, from an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, were interpreted as a warning that Britain could use its corporate tax as a form of leverage in Brexit negotiations. "He appears to be making a sort of threat to the European community," said Jeremy Corbyn, leader of the opposition Labour Party. "It seems to me a recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe in the future." Nevertheless, Corbyn said he would not block the triggering of 'Article 50' - the legal process of leaving the EU. An upcoming legal ruling could insist that May gets parliamentary approval for her plan to trigger Article 50 by the end of March. "CLEAN AND HARD BREXIT"? The extracts of May's speech did not say whether she would reveal her stance on one of the key questions: whether she will try and keep Britain within the European single market or customs union or, if not, what level of access she will aim for. The Sunday Times and other newspapers said the speech would signal that Britain was seeking a "clean and hard" Brexit, which would involve leaving the single market and the customs union. The report cited an unnamed source in May's office who said her words were likely to cause a market correction. A spokesman from May's office told Reuters the reports were speculation and did not comment further. The problem for Britain is that the EU is likely to insist on freedom of movement for EU citizens in return for full access to the single market, while many of those who voted for Brexit did so precisely in order to be able to restrict immigration. May's speech will be closely watched by financial markets for information on which of these divergent goals she will prioritize. After she said in a TV interview a week ago that post-Brexit Britain would not be able to keep "bits" of its EU membership, the pound fell sharply as the comment was interpreted as signaling a clean break from the single market. In a separate Sunday Times article, Brexit minister David Davis wrote that Britain would consider ways to extend or smooth the exit process to provide certainty for businesses. "If it proves necessary, we have said we will consider time for implementation of new arrangements," he wrote. (Editing by Gareth Jones and Susan Fenton)
Barcelona (AFP) - Eight months before a controversial -- and still theoretical -- planned independence referendum, Catalan separatists launched a new seduction campaign Sunday to woo voters.

Spain's central government has angrily protested against Catalan President Carles Puigdemont's planned vote in September, claiming it would be illegal.

But nonetheless, the battle is on for minds rather than hearts, with the region's main independence association, the Catalan National Assembly (ANC), going after those hardest to convince.

Separatists in Catalonia have for years tried -- in vain -- to win approval from Spain's central government for an independence vote like Scotland's 2014 referendum.

Regional elections in September 2015 saw separatists in Catalonia earn 48 percent of the vote, but in the former industrial heartland of Sant Feliu de Llobregat, a Barcelona suburb, that figure was only 32 percent.

And that's where separatists have started their campaign.

"We're convinced that we'll get this majority thanks to information and reflection, not through feelings," ANC president Jordi Sanchez told AFP.

The aim is to convince people that Catalans will become richer, have better social services, improved infrastructure and less corruption if they split from Spain.

But 77-year-old pensioner Josep Antoni Ruiz is not convinced.

"No-one is guaranteeing us that things will improve," he said.

- Separatist poll boom -

Separatist sentiment boomed in Catalonia following the global financial crisis of 2008 and conservative Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy's election victory in 2011.

According to polls, both separatists and unionists count between 40 and 45 percent of support in Catalonia, with the remaining 10-15 percent undecided.

Central government in Madrid insists, as does Spain's constitutional court, that any referendum would have to be Spain-wide rather than confined to Catalonia.

Even so, Rajoy's party is also working to seduce the Catalan electorate.

Story continues

"We want to sit down and discuss to reach agreements that can resolve this situation," the government's Catalan prefect Enric Millo told AFP.

"Independence won't solve unemployment, no more than it will guarantee public services or pensions. Many people believe in this (separatist) discourse but it's not coherent."

The solution lies perhaps somewhere in the middle, according to Joan Botella, political science dean at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

Botella believes many separatists don't really want independence.

"In this group there are two parties: in one, the traditional and convinced supporters, and in the other, tactical supporters, recently converted, who hope and demand by calling for independence that they will achieve more modest objectives.

"This second group will be more susceptible to propositions coming from Madrid if they represent genuine change."

According to a November poll conducted by the university, 45 percent of Catalans simply want greater autonomy.

Only 37 percent said they wanted independence with 12 percent calling for an end to such a movement.

The latest Catalan separatist push comes amid continuing jitters across Europe fueled by Britain's shock vote last June to leave the 28-member European Union.

Pro-independence campaigners in Scotland, having failed to convince voters in 2014, are pushing for another referendum on the issue, after 62 percent of Scots favoured remaining part of the EU last June -- compared to 52 percent of Britons overall who backed splitting from the bloc.
Bakersfield, Calif. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found.

_____

BAKERSFIELD, Calif.  People often say Republicans are like an endangered species in California, but it doesnt feel like that here.

In this predominately blue state, where roughly two-thirds of voters backed Hillary Clinton last November, Kern County remained decidedly red, reaffirming its status as one of the last few Republican strongholds in increasingly liberal California. Its a place that feels more like Texas than a spot sandwiched in between Hollywood and Silicon Valley. Its landscape is dominated by sweeping oil fields and rich farmland that, along with neighboring counties in Californias Central Valley, provides much of the nations food supply.

Donald Trump defeated Clinton here by 16 points  a victory that surprised no one. But unlike other regions in the country where Trump supporters are eager for him to take office and begin implementing his campaign promises, some here admit they are still unsure about what a Trump administration might mean for them.

Overall, I am very hopeful, said Greg Wegis, a fourth generation farmer here in Kern County who voted for Trump. But there are things I am a little nervous about too.

Coming off the fifth straight year of a severe drought that has dried up rivers and drained reservoirs to historic lows, Wegis and other farmers see Trump as a potential ally in their efforts to roll back state and federal regulations they say have limited their access to what little water California does have.

The battle over Californias water is one that extends back decades, drawing battle lines between farmers and environmentalists and big cities versus small. (Whiskey is for drinkin, and water is for fightin, people here joke.) Its a complicated policy war that many national politicians have tried to avoid, including President Obama. During a 2013 trip to the region, Obama offered up disaster relief for the drought, but vowed to steer clear of the water debate. I want to get out alive, he declared.

Story continues

Bakersfield, Calif. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

But when Trump campaigned in nearby Fresno last summer, the New York billionaire dove into the water dispute headfirst. Calling the water problem so insane, Trump falsely declared there was no natural drought, but rather a lack of water primarily caused by overregulation and environmental laws. Farmers contend they are co-existing problems that have forced them to fallow millions of acres of land in recent years because they couldnt afford to water their crops.

It is so ridiculous, Trump said of the issue, vowing he would fix it. Believe me, were going to start opening up the water, so that you can have your farmers survive, he said. Were going to get it done quick. Dont even think about it. Thats an easy one.

Wegis, whose family farms several acres of almonds, dates and fruits in Kern County, is skeptical Trump alone can help solve the issue. But he feels more hope about him than elected officials who seemed unwilling to even engage in the issue because of the dicey politics involved.

But Wegis is less confident in how Trump might handle another big issue of concern here: immigration reform. The real estate mogul made a crackdown on illegal immigrants and building a big beautiful wall a central theme of his unlikely bid for the presidency. But farmers here rely heavily on migrant workers, many of them undocumented, to work the fields and harvest their crops.

Many here want a program that would allow migrant farm laborers to obtain work permits  though Trump has previously dismissed calls for such a program, insisting that all illegal immigrants should go back to their native country before reapplying to work in the United States.

Wegis suggested that would be disastrous for the agriculture industry in California, which relies heavily on migrant labor in part because Americans simply dont want those jobs. He suggested a system where laborers would register into a system and receive a card. If any had a criminal history, they wouldnt work or would be sent back to their native country.

One sign of hope for people here: Last fall, during a private fundraiser in nearby Tulare County, Trump spent part of the time quizzing farmers on how a permit system might work. I am hoping that because he is a businessman, he will be practical and see where we are coming from, Wegis said. We need these people.

Bakersfield, Calif. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Around town, others have more general wish lists for the incoming president, including hopes for tax cuts and the creation of new jobs. While they like Trumps ideas of restructuring trade deals to be more favorable the U.S., some worry that he could launch a trade war that could potentially damage the agriculture industry, which relies heavily on exporting food overseas, including almonds  one of the leading crops here.

At Mossmans, an old diner inside a bowling alley in downtown Bakersfield, a group of veterans in their 90s, who meet once a month for breakfast, initially waved off a reporter asking about Trump because theyd established a rule during the contentious election not to talk about politics out of fear it could strain their friendships.

But one man couldnt help himself: I wish hed stop popping off, and focus on the job.
Istanbul (AFP) - Turkey's parliament has passed in a first reading a controversial new draft constitution aimed at expanding the powers of the presidency under Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

If also passed in a second reading expected to start in the coming week, the constitution plan would then be put to a referendum likely in April and, if approved, would become law.

While critics say the move is part of a power grab by Erdogan for a one-man rule, supporters say it will simply put Turkey in line with France and the US and is needed for efficient government.

But what would change under the proposed 18-article draft constitution for the nation of 79 million?

- More powers for Erdogan -

Under the new constitution, the president would have strengthened executive powers to directly appoint top public officials including ministers.

The president would also be able to assign one or several vice presidents. The office and position of prime minister, currently held by Binali Yildirim, would be scrapped.

The current constitution, adopted in 1982 in the wake of the 1980 military coup, guarantees independence of the courts from an "organ, authority and office".

But the draft constitution would allow the president to directly intervene in the judiciary, which Erdogan has accused of being influenced by supporters of his ally-turned-foe, the Pennsylvania-based Islamic preacher Fethullah Gulen who is blamed for the July 15 failed coup.

The president and the parliament would together be able to choose four members of the Supreme Board of Judges and Prosecutors (HSYK), a key judicial council that appoints and removes personnel in the judiciary. The parliament would choose seven members on its own.

Military courts, which have convicted officers and even sentenced former prime minister Adnan Menderes to death following a 1960 coup, would in the future not be allowed.

- State of emergency -

Under the draft constitution, a state of emergency would be imposed in the event of an "uprising against the homeland" or "violent actions which put the nation in... danger of being divided," Anadolu Agency said.

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The president would decide whether or not impose a state of emergency and then present it to the parliament.

Turkey's parliament on January 4 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 Erdogan.

- More members of parliament -

The number of members of the Turkish parliament would rise from 550 to 600. The minimum age limit for MPs would also be lowered from 25 to 18.

Legislative elections would take place once every five years -- instead of four -- and on the same day as the presidential elections.

The parliament would still have power to enact, modify and remove legislation. It would retain supervisory powers to write enquiries with help from an investigative authority.

It would also be able to oversee the president's performance but the latter would have authority to issue a presidential decree on all matters related to his executive powers.

If the president were accused or suspected of a crime, then parliament could request an investigation.

- Longer Erdogan term? -

The draft constitution states that the next presidential and parliamentary elections are to be held simultaneously on November 3, 2019.

The president would have a five year term with a maximum of two mandates.

Erdogan was elected president in August 2014 after over a decade as prime minister, in the first ever direct elections for a Turkish head of state.

But there have been suggestions that the clock on his presidency will start from zero from 2019 as the new constitution creates a new presidential role.

If this is so, Erdogan would be able to stay in power until 2029, not 2024. The president has yet to make explicitly clear whether this is the case.
Chinese state media sharply criticized President-elect Donald Trump 's nominee for Secretary of State for his aggressive stance on the South China Sea.

During his confirmation hearing in the Senate on Wednesday, former Exxon Mobil Chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson compared China's controversial island-building in the South China Sea to Russia's annexation of Crimea from Ukraine.

Tillerson said that China's island-building in the South China Sea needed to end and the mainland's access to the area "is not going to be allowed."

State-owned China Daily responded with an editorial on Friday calling the remarks "intimidating, though he stopped short of elaborating how to achieve it."

The editorial noted that the remarks represented Tillerson's personal policy preferences as the nominee said he had yet to have an in-depth foreign policy discussion with Trump.

"Such remarks are not worth taking seriously because they are a mish-mash of naivety, short-sightedness, worn-out prejudices, and unrealistic political fantasies. Should he act on them in the real world, it would be disastrous," the editorial said.

"What he presented was based more on what prejudice and arms-spurred self-righteousness make him believe and hope rather than on real-world realities."

China has been building islands atop of shallow reefs in the South China Sea and outfitting them militarily, saying the region was historically its territory, although a panel at the Hague last year ruled against that claim. The area had also been claimed by a half-dozen other nations. The U.S. policy has been that the region is international waters, allowing open access.

Other state-owned media also took issue with Tillerson's remarks.

Chinese state-owned tabloid Global Times on Friday said Tillerson's statements were "the most radical from the U.S. side so far."

"China has enough determination and strength to make sure that his rabble rousing will not succeed. Unless Washington plans to wage a large-scale war in the South China Sea, any other approaches to prevent Chinese access to the islands will be foolish," it said. "If

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Trump's diplomatic team shapes future Sino-U.S. ties as it is doing now, the two sides had better prepare for a military clash."

That followed a Global Times editorial on Sunday, which said the mainland would "take revenge" if Trump ended the one-China policy with Taiwan.





By CNBC.Com's Leslie Shaffer; Follow her on Twitter @LeslieShaffer1



Follow CNBC International on Twitter and Facebook.


By Doina Chiacu WASHINGTON (Reuters) - CIA Director John Brennan on Sunday offered a stern parting message for Donald Trump days before the Republican U.S. president-elect takes office, cautioning him against loosening sanctions on Russia and warning him to watch what he says. Brennan rebuked Trump for comparing U.S. intelligence agencies to Nazi Germany in comments by the outgoing CIA chief that reflected the extraordinary friction between the incoming president and the 17 intelligence agencies he will begin to command once he takes office on Friday. In an interview with "Fox News Sunday," Brennan questioned the message sent to the world if the president-elect broadcasts that he does not have confidence in the United States' own intelligence agencies. "What I do find outrageous is equating the intelligence community with Nazi Germany. I do take great umbrage at that, and there is no basis for Mr. Trump to point fingers at the intelligence community for leaking information that was already available publicly," Brennan said. Brennan's criticism followed a tumultuous week of finger-pointing between Trump and intelligence agency leaders over an unsubstantiated report that Russia had collected compromising information about Trump. The unverified dossier was summarized in a U.S. intelligence report presented to Trump and outgoing President Barack Obama this month that concluded Russia tried to sway the outcome of the Nov. 8 election in Trump's favor by hacking and other means. The report did not make an assessment on whether Russia's attempts affected the election's outcome. Trump accused the intelligence community of leaking the dossier information, which its leaders denied. They said it was their responsibility to inform the president-elect that the allegations were being circulated. Later on Sunday, Trump took to Twitter again to berate "those intelligence chiefs" for presenting the dossier as part of their briefing. "When people make mistakes, they should APOLOGIZE," he wrote. Brennan also sounded an alarm on U.S. relations with Russia. Trump has vowed to improve relations with Moscow even as he faces criticism that he is too eager to make an ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump does not yet have a full understanding of Russia's actions, Brennan said, noting its seizure of Crimea from Ukraine, its support for President Bashar al-Assad in Syria's civil war and Moscow's aggressive activities in the cyber realm. "Mr. Trump has to understand that absolving Russia of various actions it has taken in the past number of years is a road that he, I think, needs to be very, very careful about moving down," Brennan said. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal published on Friday, Trump suggested he might do away with sanctions imposed by the Obama administration on Russia in late December in response to the cyber attacks if Moscow proves helpful in battling terrorists and reaching other U.S. goals. PROFOUND IMPLICATIONS Brennan also said Trump needs to be mindful about his off-the-cuff remarks once he assumes the presidency, alluding to Trump's penchant for making broad pronouncements on Twitter. "Spontaneity is not something that protects national security interests," Brennan said. "So therefore when he speaks or when he reacts, just make sure he understands that the implications and impact on the United States could be profound." "It's more than just about Mr. Trump. It's about the United States of America," Brennan said. Trump has picked Mike Pompeo, a Republican member of the House of Representatives and a former U.S. Army officer, to replace Brennan. Trump's comments about Putin and his reluctance to assign blame to Moscow for the hacking of Democratic political groups has opened him up to criticism that he will be too soft on Russia. For months, Trump had publicly expressed doubt about U.S. intelligence conclusions on the cyber attacks before acknowledging at a news conference on Wednesday that he thought Russia was behind the hacking. Vice President-elect Mike Pence told "Fox News Sunday,""What the president-elect is determined to do is to explore the possibility of better relations." Pence did not say whether Trump would undo some of the sanctions and diplomatic expulsions Obama had slapped on Moscow. Pence confirmed that Trump's incoming national security adviser, Michael Flynn, held conversations with the Russian ambassador to Washington around the time the sanctions were imposed, but said the talks "were not in any way related to the new U.S. sanctions against Russia or the expulsion of diplomats." However, Pence denied that Trump's team had any contact with Russian officials during the presidential campaign. "Of course not," he told Fox. Leaders of the Senate Intelligence Committee said on Friday they will investigate alleged Russian attempts to influence the election and links between Russia and the political campaigns. (Reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli and Will Dunham)
A mural on a factory in Erie, Pa. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

_____

ERIE, Pa.  Bill Rieger didnt believe in politicians. But last summer, after hearing Donald Trump speak here, he began to reconsider his political indifference.

At 57, he had watched for decades as Erie, his formerly vibrant hometown, painfully faded and shrunk. In what was once a beating heart of the nations manufacturing industry on the banks of Lake Erie in western Pennsylvania, factories had been boarded up, one by one, taking with them tens of thousands of jobs. A downtown that had been packed with stores and offices when Rieger was a kid was now just a shell.

Rieger had a closer view of the downturn than most. More than 20 years ago, the Army veteran had taken over as owner of Dominicks Eatery, a 50-year-old diner along 12th Street, the citys main industrial corridor, where his parents had been taking him since he was a kid. Open around the clock, the place used to be packed with line workers coming on and off their shifts at the plants that lined the street, but as the jobs were lost, the customers vanished too. And those who were left couldnt afford to eat out because their wages had been cut. Im struggling more than Ive ever in 20 years to keep my business going, he said.

Politicians had come and gone over the years in what had been considered a reliably Democratic stronghold, promising to help turn things around. But it never happened, and Rieger saw the unkept promises as proof that politicians were dishonest or didnt really care. No one, he thought, seemed to be in it for Erie, for working people like him and his customers. The last time he cast a ballot for president was for Ross Perot in 1992, a Texas billionaire he believed could lead the country in a new direction because he wasnt beholden to special interests. When Perot lost, Rieger said, I never played with politics again.

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Bill Rieger, owner of Dominicks Eatery in Erie, Pa. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

But then came Trump. On a whim, Rieger went with a few friends last August to hear the New York billionaire speak at the arena a few blocks from his diner. He was attracted by Trumps celebrity, but more important, he thought his message was just right for Erie. Once the third-largest city in Pennsylvania, the citys population had just slipped below 100,000 people for the first time in nearly a century. Its unemployment rate had risen to nearly 7 percent  up from 5.3 percent the year before  though many believed the real rate was higher because many laid-off workers had given up on finding jobs.

Speaking to 10,000 people in a county that Barack Obama won by double digits in the last two elections, Trump promised again and again that he would be the person who could turn things around. He name-checked Eries largest employer, GE Transportation, operator of a century-old locomotive plant that, like other local manufacturers, had been hit hard by a downturn in the mining industry. From a payroll that once topped 20,000, the GE plant had just laid off 1,500 of its remaining 4,500 workers, and many in town feared more losses amid rumors that GE would move more production to a newer, nonunion factory in Texas.

You know why theyre cutting back? One reason: Because we dont take care of our miners, and were not producing coal, and they dont need to make those big, big beautiful, you could call them locomotives, I guess, Trump told the crowd in Erie. Whatever the hell they are, theyre big and theyre powerful, and they dont need them like they used to, because we dont make our government work for us.

What were going to do, folks, is going to be so special, Trump continued. Were going to bring it back. Were going to bring back our jobs. Were going to bring back our companies.

The GE plant in Erie, Pa. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

As vague as Trumps promises were, there was something hopeful about his message that resonated with Rieger in a way that no other candidates in recent memory had. He liked that Trump didnt want to be in anybodys pocket and that he genuinely seemed to care about the countrys struggling working class.

By his own account, Rieger went insane, reading everything he could about Trump and the election. If he was going to vote, Rieger said, he wanted to make my decision based on what I knew, not just because I liked the candidate.

In November, for the first time in 24 years, Rieger voted, and he voted for Trump, helping him become the first Republican presidential candidate to win Erie County since 1984. Though Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton in Erie was narrow  a little over 2,100 votes, or just two percent  it was part of a larger wave of working-class support in industrial and rural parts of the state that helped him capture Pennsylvania, a state no Republican had won since 1988.

Speaking a few weeks after Election Day, Rieger admitted he didnt think Trump would win, but now that he has, hes expecting the businessman to try to deliver on his major promises, including creating new jobs and rebuilding Rust Belt cities like Erie. Erie is a business town, an industry town. If our industry flourishes, everything around it will flourish, he said.

But Rieger also describes himself as a realist. Many others have gone to Washington promising change, only to fail. Trump, he said, isnt a normal politician, but he will face critics in Washington who are likely to stand in his way. Hes facing more challenges than any president ever did because of such opposition, Rieger said.

As much as he likes Trump and is hopeful about his presidency, Rieger admits he worries that Trump could be changed by the very system that he ran against and expresses low expectations for what he might actually be able to accomplish.

A Trump sign in Erie, Pa. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Im not that optimistic that you can change the world in a day, so I would hope to see in 18 months to two years his policies implementing and really actually making changes, he said.

Trump will have to make some impact over the next four years, he added, and thats going to decide if hes going to have four more.

But for Rieger, that change wont come soon enough. The long hours and diminishing returns have taken a toll. In late December, he decided to sell Dominicks, handing control to two of his employees in the hope that they could keep the eatery going in a town he hopes survives too.
FORT YATES, N.D.  Sitting Bull College is paving the way for master's degree programs at tribal colleges in North Dakota.

Its latest program focuses on water quality studies. The college's two-year master's program began in fall 2014, and its first two students graduated this past spring.

SBC Agriculture Division Director Gary Halvorson said both the graduates have gotten good jobs and that he expects the master's program to continue growing as other students see it boost graduates' chances of being successful after graduation.

Bruz Van Dusen, a graduate of the program preparing to work for the Natural Resources Conservation Service, said the program opened his realm of learning. Dusen said the master's program "rounded me out for the job."

Halvorson said the college is hoping to diversify its master's offerings in upcoming years with a new subject area.

The college sought master's accreditation from the Higher Learning Commission in education, business and was approved in environmental science. The environmental science department has five instructors with doctoral degrees, which aided in the accreditation.

Halvorson said SBC is in talks with NASA about acquiring an air quality station so the agency can record measurements on climate change in the area.

SBC is the first tribal college to offer a master's program in the state and, according to Halvorson, the first in the nation to offer it in the sciences. United Tribes Technical College in Bismarck is also planning to offer a master's in education within the next three years.
Inspiration as we rebuild

Venturing into masonry will improve womens income and help them challenge traditional gender roles
By Ian Ransom MELBOURNE (Reuters) - Tommy Haas's body has been carved open by the surgeon's knife and pockmarked by pain-killing injections over the course of a 20-year career, but the 38-year-old German is still looking forward to putting himself through another punishing grand slam campaign. Haas will return to the court for the first time since October 2015 as a wildcard at the Australian Open after a long rehabilitation following surgery for a torn ligament on his right foot. The ligament repair last April was his ninth major surgery, having been under the knife for a litany of shoulder complaints and other problems with his elbows, hips and ankles. Haas's previous comeback from surgery on a troubled right shoulder was in mid-2015 but it lasted only four months before he was sidelined with the foot injury. Rather than feel his body might be telling him something, the aborted comeback only reinforced Haas's determination to bow out on what he called his "own terms". "I think it's very important for any athlete, it doesn't matter what sport you are in or whatever it is you may do, it's important to find that right time or that moment for you, when you feel it's over, to move on and do something else," he told reporters at Melbourne Park on Sunday. "It's very important just to be back on tour, back here at the Australian Open, it's been a while since I've played here. "I'm very excited about the chance to go out on the court one more time ... I've had great memories here. "As this year goes on ... I'm just very excited to see what's in store for me. "And then (later) know exactly the right time to say goodbye." Twice named the ATP Tour's 'Comeback Player of the Year,' in 2004 and 2012, Haas is a three-times semi-finalist at Melbourne Park, the last trip to the final four coming in 2007. He will kick off his latest return in tough conditions on Tuesday, with a scorcher forecast for his first round match against 47th-ranked Frenchman Benoit Paire. Named tournament director for Indian Wells last year, Haas has a comfortable retirement waiting but said he still dreamed of going deep at a tournament one more time. But as the oldest player in the men's draw, he could be forgiven the old cliche of taking it one match at a time at Melbourne Park. "Now it's really about playing point for point, game for game," he said. "I'm very stoked about the next opportunity." (Editing by Peter Rutherford)
By William Clowes KINSHASA (Reuters) - Armed fighters led by the military commander of former Congolese rebel group M23 have crossed the border into the Democratic Republic of Congo from Uganda, Congolese officials said on Sunday. The rebels had been in camps for demobilized fighters in Uganda following their defeat in 2013. Formerly, they were the largest of dozens of armed groups in the country and controlled huge swaths of the country's mining heartland in the east. Renewed violence would be a major challenge for President Joseph Kabila, who is trying to fend off mounting opposition over his decision to stay beyond his mandate which expired last month. Some observers fear tensions could spark a new civil war. "They made an incursion yesterday from Uganda at Ishasha in two columns and the Congolese armed forces have dealt with them for now," said government spokesman Lambert Mende, referring to a border crossing near Virunga National Park. He said rebel commander Sultani Makenga was among them, leading one of the two columns. Julien Paluku, governor of the North Kivu province, also confirmed the encroachment and condemned Uganda for allowing them to leave on U.N.-funded Radio Okapi. In a brief telephone conversation with Reuters, he denied that there had been fighting. Officials in Uganda were not available for comment. It was not clear where the fighters had gone. A letter from the ministry of defense sent to Reuters by a Congolese security official on Sunday requested an urgent investigation into allegations that 180 ex-M23 fighters had entered the country. At its peak, M23 controlled North Kivu's capital Goma but was driven out by U.N. and Congolese forces. Since then, the fighters have been scattered in camps in neighboring Uganda and Rwanda awaiting amnesties. Many other armed groups remain active. In the same province, armed fighters attempted to free prisoners from a facility in Beni overnight, according to a statement from local activist group The Centre of Study for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights (CEPADHO). Reinforcements drove them away and one of the attackers was killed, the group said. It said the fighters were likely "Mai Mai" self-defense groups - militias originally created to resist Rwandan invasions. (Reporting by William Clowes; Additional reporting by Elias Biryabarema; Writing by Emma Farge; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
Kinshasa (AFP) - Armed Congolese rebels crossed back overnight into the country from their longtime refuge in Uganda, prompting fears that a guerilla conflict put to rest in 2013 could be rekindled.

At least 200 former members of M23, an ethnic Tutsi group defeated by the Congolese army three years ago, arrived from Uganda and took over a village in North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo government spokesman Lambert Mende told AFP.

Mende said the Congolese army was fighting two battalions installed in Ishasha village "who were supposed to be in Uganda under the responsibility of that country's authorities".

"How could our Ugandan neighbours, with whom we are bound by very serious commitments, allow people who had been living in refugee camps to cross over -- armed -- into our territory?" he added.

Kinshasa said a former army general, Sultani Makenga, was leading one of the battalions.

No military spokesperson was available to confirm the clashes with M23. Omar Kavota, director of the Centre for the Promotion of Peace, Democracy and Human Rights said Sunday that sources in Ishasha had confirmed the M23 presence there but said "there hasn't been fighting or clashes yet".

- An 'old trick' -

Congo's resource-rich eastern provinces have suffered years of brutal conflict, with neighbouring states backing rebel groups in a civil war against Kinshasa's authority, and roaming armed militia triggering the mass flight of terrorised civilians.

After its November 2013 defeat at the hands of Congolese and UN forces, M23 agreed to a plan to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate its soldiers into DRC civilian life.

But the return of the former rebels has stalled, with fewer than 200 of the 1,900 sheltering in Uganda and only 13 out of hundreds left in Rwanda coming back.

During the civil war Congolese authorities denounced Rwanda and Uganda for allowing the rebel groups to use their territory as staging grounds for attacks. More recently, they have blamed the states for "bad faith" for allowing "criminals to circulate freely" instead of extraditing them to stand trial in DR Congo.

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Uganda Foreign Minister Henry Okello Oryem, reached by AFP in Kampala, strongly denied backing the M23 move across the border.

"The fact that Uganda would arm or authorise M23 rebels to be based here (in Uganda) and destabilise the DRC is the fruit of their imagination. Why would Uganda arm the M23?" he said.

Kinshasa's central government would do well to "focus on the problems of governing its own country", the minister added.

Congo is in political limbo, as President Joseph Kabila has refused to step down after his second and final mandate ended in December.

A New Year's Eve deal calls for the appointment of a new prime minister and a transitional body to pave the way to elections in December 2017 -- but not all opposition groups have signed on.

A member of the country's political opposition coalition suggested the return of the M23 could be Kabila up to his "old tricks", fomenting unrest to detract from the political crisis in Kinshasa.

"Every time President Kabila loses ground on the political front, he reactivates armed groups with the goal of taking us back to the old situation" of instability, the opposition member told AFP, requesting anonymity.
Beirut (AFP) - Heavy fighting gripped a flashpoint region near Syria's capital on Sunday, leaving nine civilians dead and threatening a nationwide truce designed to pave the way towards peace talks.

Further east, Syrian government troops lost ground to the Islamic State group near the key Deir Ezzor military airport.

The escalating violence augurs ill for peace negotiations in Kazakhstan later this month.

In the Wadi Barada region northwest of Damascus, fresh clashes broke out between rebel groups and advancing government forces, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Regime shelling of the Deir Qanun village killed nine civilians including at least three children, the Britain-based monitor said in an updated toll.

Another 20 people were wounded in the attack.

Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman said it was the "highest toll" there since the truce came into force on December 30.

Omar al-Shami, spokesman for the Wadi Barada Media Committee, gave a toll of 12 killed and said shells struck a temporary shelter where displaced women and children had been seeking refuge.

The activist group published gruesome pictures of what it said was the aftermath of the attack, including photographs of blood-stained floors and body parts wrapped in blankets.

Fighting has persisted for weeks in Wadi Barada, which is the main source of water for the capital.

Locals struck a truce with Syrian authorities on Friday to allow maintenance teams into Wadi Barada to restore water to Damascus, but the deal was called off after chief negotiator Ahmed al-Ghadban was killed Saturday.

- Deal 'null' -

Both sides accused each other of assassinating the retired army officer, who had only assumed his duties to restore the water supply that day.

"The agreement was considered null this morning after the regime's multiple violations and especially after the killing of the negotiations official," Shami said.

He told AFP the government's maintenance workers left Wadi Barada without completing the repairs, leaving 5.5 million people in Damascus and its suburbs without water.

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An official from the reconciliation ministry earlier said the truce in Wadi Barada "had not completely collapsed".

"We are communicating and pursuing new efforts in parallel with the ongoing military action," the official said.

Many battlefronts have quieted since the nationwide ceasefire brokered by regime backer Russia and opposition ally Turkey.

The deal excludes IS and its jihadist rival, the Fateh al-Sham Front -- formerly the Al-Qaeda-linked Al-Nusra Front.

On Sunday, IS fighters edged closer to Deir Ezzor military airport, despite heavy air strikes by government warplanes.

The Observatory said Sunday raids in Deir Ezzor and its outskirts killed nine civilians, including two women and two children.

"Clashes left 11 IS fighters dead and another three were killed in air strikes," Abdel Rahman said, without giving a toll for regime forces.

- US invited to Astana -

The second day of the jihadist group's brutal assault on regime-held territory around the city came despite more than 120 regime air strikes as well as heavy artillery fire, said Abdel Rahman.

A military source told AFP that Russian warplanes had carried out "a series of air strikes" around the airport and on several nearby hilltops.

IS unleashed a wave of tunnel bombs and suicide attacks against government forces on Saturday, leaving 12 government fighters dead.

Another 20 IS jihadists were killed in clashes.

The group has lost swathes of territory in northern Syria to Kurdish fighters as well as to a Turkish-backed rebel alliance, but it remains on the offensive in other parts of the country.

In addition to its push in Deir Ezzor, IS recently recaptured Palmyra in central Syria from government forces.

Syria's conflict began with protests against the rule of President Bashar al-Assad in 2011 but has since morphed into a multi-front war.

Although they support opposing sides in the war, Moscow and Ankara worked closely to negotiate the nationwide truce and are preparing talks in the Kazakh capital Astana set for January 23.

US president-elect Donald Trump's transition team has been invited to take part, but has not yet officially responded.
BELFAST (Reuters) - Britain's Northern Ireland minister is set to call an early election in the province on Monday, a week after the resignation of Deputy First Minister Martin McGuinness effectively toppled its devolved government. McGuinness stood down in protest at First Minister Arlene Foster's handling of a controversial green-energy scheme, risking political paralysis in the region as Britain plans its exit from the European Union. Secretary of State for Northern Ireland James Brokenshire will be obliged to dissolve the assembly if McGuinness' Sinn Fein party, which has already begun picking election candidates, fails to name a replacement for him by a 1700 GMT deadline. "Sinn Fein will not be nominating for the position of deputy First Minister and the agreements mean that the people must now have their say," Sinn Fein minister Michelle O'Neill said in a statement on Sunday. Irish nationalists Sinn Fein, once the political arm of the IRA, has governed with its pro-British rivals, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), for a decade. They were voted back into power as the two largest parties just eight months ago. McGuinness, who is to announce shortly whether he will lead Sinn Fein into the election after a break from some duties due to illness, has suggested the vote will be followed by lengthy renegotiations on the terms of the power-sharing government. Power-sharing formed a key part of the 1998 Good Friday peace agreement, which ended three decades of violence between mainly Catholic Irish nationalists seeking a united Ireland and Protestant pro-British unionists wanting to remain part of the United Kingdom. Some 3,600 people were killed in those years. Northern Ireland is widely seen as the part of the UK most exposed to Brexit because of the prospect of checkpoints being reinstated on its land border with the Irish Republic. Attempts to rebuild power-sharing will likely begin just as British Prime Minister Theresa May begins exit talks with the EU. A failure to form a new ruling executive after the elections also risks the first suspension of the province's political institutions in 15 years and the return of its 1.8 million people to direct rule from London. "What I'm focused on is that we maintain the institutions. This is really significant. To be absolutely straight ... I am not contemplating alternatives to devolved government in Northern Ireland," Brokenshire told the BBC on Sunday. (Writing by Padraic Halpin in Dublin, additional reporting by Will James in London; Editing by Tom Heneghan)
LITHONIA, Ga. (AP)  Eddie Long, the flamboyant megachurch pastor whose reputation was tarnished after former congregants accused him of sexual misconduct, has died. He was 63.

Long died Sunday after battling cancer, New Birth Missionary Baptist Church in Lithonia, Georgia, said in a statement to multiple media outlets.

His death came "after a gallant private fight with an aggressive form of cancer," the statement said.

Senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist since 1987, Long oversaw the church's explosive growth with membership swelling from a modest 300 to 25,000. The

Long has been senior pastor at New Birth Missionary Baptist since 1987. The church said it grew from 300 members to more than 25,000 under Long's leadership and became one of the nation's largest congregations.

The church operated television and international ministries, and built satellite churches in several cities, including Miami, Denver, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Long was a Christian author, a gospel singer and was also known for preaching and practicing a "prosperity gospel" in which the faithful would be rewarded with wealth.

Long was also known for his flamboyant lifestyle, as he flew around the world on a private jet, drove around metro Atlanta in a $350,000 Bentley and lived in a $1.4 million house with six bedrooms and nine bathrooms.

In 2006, the church hosted then-President George W. Bush and former presidents Bill Clinton, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush during the funeral of Coretta Scott King, the widow of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.

"As I reflect on his life, I am especially remembering Bishop Long's support during some of the most difficult times in my life. the passing of my mother in 2006, and the sudden and unexpected loss of my sister in 2007," King's daughter, Bernice King, said in a statement Sunday. "During these devastating moments in my life, he was there for me and my family in many ways and I will forever be grateful."

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Scandal erupted in 2010, when four young men filed lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct, bringing notoriety to his church that reached far beyond its 10,000-seat cathedral at its home base in Lithonia, Georgia, just east of Atlanta.

Long's lavish lifestyle was a focal point in the lawsuits, which accused him of seducing the young men into sexual relationships in exchange for trips, clothes and cars.

Related:

For more news videos visit Yahoo View, available now on iOS and Android.

Two of the men had accused Long of grooming them for sexual relationships through the church's LongFellows Youth Academy. The other two men, one of whom attended a satellite church in Charlotte, made similar allegations in the legal cases.

Eight months later, Long settled the cases out of court for an undisclosed amount and has never admitted any wrongdoing. After that, some congregation members changed their opinion of him, but many others continued to rally around the charismatic leader.

He's survived by his wife, Vanessa Long, four children and three grandchildren.

Funeral arrangements were not immediately announced.
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP)  Former Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic says he is running for Serbia's presidency in this year's election.

Jeremic formally announced the decision Sunday in Belgrade. It was not immediately clear if any key political parties are backing his candidacy.

The upcoming presidential vote is viewed as an important test of popular support for the current populist government, which formally seeks closer ties with the European Union but increasingly has been turning toward traditional ally Russia.

The election date has not been set. Current pro-Russia President Tomislav Nikolic has suggested he might seek a second term.

Jeremic was president of the United Nations General Assembly in 2012-13 and a candidate last year to replace Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
Joint effort must to implement charter: VP

Vice President Nanda Bahadur Pun has urged the political parties to bridge their differences for the sake of implementing the constitution.
SEOUL (Reuters) - Former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who is expected to run for president of South Korea, said on Sunday it is appropriate for the country to be the site of a U.S. anti-missile system that is due to be deployed later this year. "Since the reality is the Korean peninsula is in a quasi-war-like state, such action made by the government is appropriate," Ban was quoted by South Korea's Yonhap News Agency as saying. China objects strongly to the planned deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defence (THAAD) system as it worries its powerful radar can penetrate its territory. Ban said he "understands THAAD deployment is made as a defensive measure, as ultimately North Korea is developing nuclear missiles and accumulating ballistic missile technology," he was quoted as telling reporters at the memorial for the 2010 sinking of a navy ship that South Korea blames on the North. "There is the issue of relations with neighboring countries. This problem can be solved diplomatically," Ban said, according to Yonhap. Ban returned to South Korea on Thursday after his decade at the helm of the global body ended in December. He has yet to say whether or not he will run for president. (Reporting by Tony Munroe and Yun Hwan Chae; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
Paris (AFP) - Monaco climbed top of Ligue 1 after thrashing Marseille 4-1 away on Sunday as the free-scoring southerners took their goal haul to 60 from just 20 league games.

The result puts Monaco top on goal difference as Nice, who slugged out a 0-0 draw with bottom side Metz earlier in the day, also have 45 points. Champions Paris Saint Germain are third on 42 after a narrow win at Rennes on Saturday.

Lyon are eight points further back in fourth after being beaten 3-2 at Caen on Sunday.

A neat lob from a tight angle from Thomas Lemar on 16 minutes was followed by a slick Radamel Falcao run and shot as Monaco went 2-0 up.

The lead was against the run of play after Remy Cabella had gone close twice at the other end as a raucous Velodrome public seemed to lift the hosts.

A towering Rolando Jorge header gave the home side hope at 2-1 but livewire midfielder Bernardo Silva stormed past a sleepy defence just before half-time to bullet a header home.

He caught the defence napping again just ahead of the hour for a resounding 4-1 away win.

"We deserved the three points and the four goals, because Marseille were good today," said Portugal star Silva.

"We have to go on in this way and go for the title -- we're also going to go as far as we can in the Champions League," said Silva, whose rampaging runs will have caught the attention of Manchester City whom they play in the last-16.

PSG were delighted Saturday when new boy Julian Draxler produced a brilliant first-time finish to earn a 1-0 win at Rennes on his Ligue 1 debut.

Nice were playing without arguably their best players as Mario Balotelli was serving a ban and Younes Belhanda is out injured.

The club's top scorer Alassane Plea, with 10 Ligue 1 goals so far this campaign, had a poor afternoon and hit the post late on with the best chance of the match.

Midfield general Jean-Michael Seri is also away at the Africa Cup of Nations with Ivory Coast.

Despite these absences Metz looked to be a soft opponent and the visitors will be happy with an away point that nevertheless leaves them bottom on goal difference.
Ever since Henry Ford built the first mass produced car, the Model T, in 1908, the auto industry has followed one simple model: Design, build and sell. But the popularity of ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft, combined with the emergence of self-driving cars and the reluctance of millennials to purchase vehicles, is causing a fundamental shift in that model.

Slowly but surely, car companies are evolving, no longer seeing themselves as just purveyors of vehicles for individuals to buy and drive, but as mobility companies. Sure, theyre still producing cars to sell you. But theyre also building up other lines of business to cater to customers who arent interested in driving or having their own car.

Until recently, it was rare for an auto manufacturer to launch a startup that targets non-buyers of vehicles, but that's changing rapidly. Several auto manufacturers, for example, have recently launched programs to join the sharing economy. These types of initiatives were highlighted at this months Consumer Electronics Show and made headlines during the press preview of the North American International Auto Show, which opened to the public yesterday. A separate exhibit there, called AutoMobili-D, is focused just on future innovations in mobility.

Related: The 10 Biggest Hits From the 2017 Detroit Auto Show

"We expect to see changes in the way people use transportation. Auto manufacturers need to be able to address that change and see how it will impact their business model and not be left behind," said Stephanie Brinley, a senior analyst at IHS Automotive.

General Motors

GM launched a car-sharing serving service (which it calls a personal mobility brand), Maven, in January 2016; it's now in 15 major U.S. cities. Users merely download an app and register to become a member. Customers reserve a car through their smartphone, picking it up at a central location. The vehicles themselves are also locked and unlocked through a smartphone, while a push button starts the engine. So far, 20,000 rental customers have used the service.

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"We're pivoting to and building on this 100-year history of design, build and sell to now distributing vehicles to access them on demand," said Peter Kosak, executive director of global urban mobility for General Motors. "If this will be an alternative to vehicle ownership or a supplement, we have to be able to [provide] it," Kosak said. Offering mobility as a service is "just good business for us," Kosak said. The market for those who need a car but can't own one is bigger than the owner pool, he added.

Last year, GM also began deploying lightly used former rental vehicles and off lease vehicles to Lyft and Uber drivers who don't have or don't want to use a personal vehicle for driving passengers. The drivers can pay a weekly rental fee, or if they complete 65 or more rides a week, there's no charge to rent the vehicle.

Ford Motor Company

Ford last September acquired a ride-sharing startup in San Francisco called Chariot, which supplements or competes with public transportation options by offering commuters in cities on-demand Ford Transit shuttles. Ford CEO Mark Fields announced on Monday that the company, which currently operates in San Francisco, will expand to eight new cities this year.

Related: The Worst Cars at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show

Bill Ford was the first to say 'if we keep doing business as usual, we'll go out of business,'" said Alan Hall, a Ford spokesman. Designing and building cars and trucks will remain a strong market, he said, but "there are new opportunities for us to serve cities where people don't own cars." He said it's crucial to provide options for customers who aren't interested in buying a car but still need transportation. "It's a whole new business for us with new sources of revenue," he said. The involvement in ride-sharing also positions carmakers to take advantage of self-driving vehicles, which might ultimately be brought to market under a similar sharing model. Ford intends to produce a fully autonomous vehicle in 2021 that will provide ride-sharing and ride-hailing services in cities where residents are inclined to use those services.

Racing for Customers

At CES last week, Honda announced a concept ride-sharing vehicle, the Honda NeuV (New Electric Urban Vehicle). Its intended to be privately owned but also function as an automated ride-sharing vehicle, picking up and dropping off customers at local destinations when the owner isn't using the car.

Similarly, ReachNow, a wholly owned subsidiary of BMW launched in April 2016, allows customers to use an app to locate a nearby BMW vehicle and keep it for an unlimited time, paying for the time used. When finished, customers drop it at any BMW "Home Area." The program is offered in Seattle, Portland and Brooklyn, New York. ReachNow also has a pilot program underway in which a customer can use an app to summon a BMW 3 Series with a driver to get them to their destination. The company is also partnering with a residential building in Manhattan to allow apartment dwellers access to BMW cars. A pilot program in Seattle called Share allows MINI owners to rent their vehicles when they dont need them for at least two days to help offset the cost of car ownership. Steve Banfield, ReachNow's CEO, said the company will be continuing to expand these programs "to provide a complete ecosystem" so a ReachNow member (there are 40,000 to date) has a choice in how to get around based on their needs. "It's important for BMW to be at the forefront of offering these services," he said.

Audi

Audi's on demand service, available in San Francisco, is intended to provide a luxury rental experience. After you reserve a car through an app, it's personally delivered to your door by an Audi "concierge." "We see the evolution of the sharing economy as a big opportunity now and in the future, and we're gaining valuable insight on consumer behavior with the introduction of the Audi on demand service," said Maria Bittner, Audi Mobility's business manager.

Related: The 15 Best Cars of 2017

Another upside of the sharing economy is that if consumers have a positive experience with a manufacturer's car, they may consider buying that brand if they eventually do decide to purchase their own vehicle. Banfield said though ReachNow's goal isn't to sell more cars, providing broader exposure to BMW's aspirational brand has its benefits. He points to some ReachNow customers who drove an i3, then headed to their local dealership to lease or purchase one.

In addition to young people, Baby Boomers  more than 75 million of them  are another big potential market that carmakers could tap through ride sharing. As older people find driving more challenging, they will welcome the chance for a safe, easily accessible mode of transportation, said GMs Kosak. Plus, he said, unlike taxis, Uber is considered "cool."

But Ivan Drury, a senior analyst with Edmunds.com, points out that it's not yet clear whether this type of business will be successful for carmakers. "It may appeal to some, but we have yet to see a really good experiment or mass scale version of this," he said. The utilization rate is just a few hours a day and there aren't large numbers of owners willing to give up their car entirely, he said. Plus, wear and tear can become an issue when one vehicle is being driven so much, potentially resulting in more repair and maintenance expenses.

That doesn't seem to be dimming automaker enthusiasm. Now that more are entering the car-sharing space, "you have to go after it as fast as you can," Kosak said, since there are first-mover advantages. The goal for GM and other companies is to get consumers to download their app instead of a competitors. "It's a very high opportunity space," Kosak said, and that's why we're moving so quickly right now.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  Former pro wrestler Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka, who earlier this month was found not competent to stand trial in the 1983 death of his girlfriend, has died at his son-in-law's home in Florida. He was 73.

Attorney Robert Kirwan II said Snuka was taken Sunday to the home near Pompano Beach so that he could spend his last moments there. The family informed him shortly after 1 p.m. Sunday to say he had died, Kirwan said.

Lehigh County Judge Kelly Banach on Jan. 3 dismissed the murder case against the retired WWE star after the defense said he had dementia, was in hospice care in Florida and had six months to live.

Snuka's daughter, Tamina Snuka, also a WWE wrestler, tweeted Sunday afternoon: "I LOVE YOU DAD" with a hashtag #RestWell.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, also a WWE star, called it "sad news" in a post on his Twitter page.

Snuka was charged in 2015 with third-degree murder and involuntary manslaughter in the death of Nancy Argentino, whose body was found more than three decades earlier in their Whitehall Township hotel room. Prosecutors allege she was beaten, while Snuka maintained she died from a fall.

Authorities reopened the investigation after The Morning Call newspaper raised questions about the case in 2013.

Banach had first ruled last summer that Snuka was not competent to stand trial after his attorney argued the ex-athlete suffers from dementia, partly due to the head trauma sustained over a long career in the ring. Prosecutors countered that Snuka's brain shows normal signs of aging and suggested he might be feigning symptoms.

At a hearing last month to re-evaluate Snuka's mental fitness, Snuka's wife told the judge that the family struggles to keep him from leaving home during bouts of psychosis in which he thinks he's late for a wrestling match. Banach then took time to review Snuka's medical records before ruling.

Kirwan said Snuka died "due to complications from his ongoing medical problems."

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"The family is simply heartbroken. It's been a long journey," he said. "They are grateful to the judge for dismissing the charges against him."

Snuka wrote about Argentino's death in his 2012 autobiography, maintaining his innocence and saying the episode had ruined his life.

"Many terrible things have been written about me hurting Nancy and being responsible for her death, but they are not true," he wrote. "This has been very hard on me and very hard on my family. To this day, I get nasty notes and threats. It hurts. I never hit Nancy or threatened her."

Kirwan said that he believes his client's name will eventually be cleared.

Snuka, a native of Fiji who previously lived in Camden County, New Jersey, was known on the wrestling circuit for diving from the ropes and even the top of steel cages in a career that spanned decades. He was inducted into the WWE Hall of Fame in 1996.
Paris (AFP) - French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said Sunday that if US President-elect Donald Trump moves the American embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem it would have "extremely serious consequences".

Speaking as 70 countries gather in Paris to try to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts, Ayrault told French TV he believed Trump would find it "impossible" to fulfil the pledge he made during his campaign to transfer the embassy.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," Ayrault said.

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas warned Saturday that peace could be dealt a mortal blow if Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel, moves the embassy to Jerusalem.

Doing so would reverse decades of US policy that has until now maintained that the final status of Jerusalem -- whose eastern and largely Arab side has been occupied by Israel since 1967 -- should be determined in peace negotiations with the Palestinians.

The Paris meeting is mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as US president.
Paris (AFP) - Former French premier Manuel Valls came under fire Sunday for his cautious stance on taking in refugees during the migrant crisis, in a fraught second debate of leftwing candidates for the presidency.

Valls, who quit President Francois Hollande's government last month to stand as a candidate in the primary, was accused of only admitting a few thousand migrants during his time in office.

"I get the feeling that the French people were much more generous than their leaders," said Vincent Peillon, a former education minister who is considered an outsider in the contest.

Another candidate, Benoit Hamon, told Valls that France had a duty to "show its values, especially when it comes to migrants and refugees".

Valls hit back that "an open-ended policy (of accepting migrants) is not possible".

"I think France was right to follow this policy and history has proved us right," he added.

The influx of more than one million asylum seekers -- mostly from war-torn Syria -- into the European Union in 2015 triggered the worst refugee and migrant crisis on the continent since World War II.

France's EU heavyweight neighbour Germany opened its doors, bringing in 890,000 asylum seekers in that year alone and fueling debate about why other EU states could not take more.

- Socialists face battle -

The French political attacks showed once again that a week ahead of the first round of voting on January 22 followed by a runoff on January 29, Spanish-born Valls' campaign is struggling to take off.

A poll of TV viewers after the debate had Arnaud Montebourg, who served as economy minister in Hollande's government before quitting, as the most convincing of the seven candidates. He polled 29 percent, ahead of 26 percent for Valls.

With Hollande ruling out a bid to retain the presidency after a torrid five years in power dogged by unemployment and terror attacks, the Socialists are seeking a presidential candidate who can at least salvage some pride for the party.

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Current projections show the Socialist candidate, whoever it is, crashing out in the first round of the election, as voters across Europe lean to the right or opt for anti-establishment and anti-immigration parties like Marine Le Pen's National Front.

The majority of polls currently predict that conservative candidate Francois Fillon will face Le Pen in the decisive second round on May 7, although after Donald Trump's win in the United States and the victory of Brexit in Britain, no-one is taking anything for granted.

Looming large over the leftwing primary are Hollande's star former economy minister Emmanuel Macron and Communist-backed firebrand Jean-Luc Melenchon, both of whom are running for president outside of the primary system.

Macron, a 39-year-old former Rothschild banker who positions himself as "neither of the right or the left", drew a crowd of several thousand supporters when he held a rally in the northern city of Lille on Saturday.
By Emma Farge DAKAR (Reuters) - Gambia's President-elect Adama Barrow has left the country for neighbouring Senegal, a coalition member and local media said on Sunday, a day after West African leaders failed to persuade President Yahya Jammeh to step aside. Barrow, a former real estate agent, won a Dec. 1 election in the former British colony by a slim margin. Long-ruling Jammeh conceded defeat but then changed his mind, plunging one of West Africa's tourist hot spots into crisis and dimming hopes for democracy in a region accustomed to coups and autocratic rule. Barrow, backed by the West and the African Union, is due to be inaugurated on Jan. 19, although Jammeh is seeking to block this pending a Supreme Court ruling on his legal challenge to poll results. "He (Barrow) is in Dakar. He will be back for the inauguration and we are mobilising the whole country for that," said Isatou Toure, a member of Barrow's coalition. A spokesman for Senegal's government was not immediately able to confirm his arrival which was also reported by state-owned news agency APS. Toure did not say why Barrow had gone to Dakar, although other supporters said he felt vulnerable given a lack of security. The regional mediation mission to Banjul on Saturday, led by Nigeria's President Buhari Muhammadu Buhari and Liberia's President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, was seen as the last attempt at a diplomatic resolution to the political impasse. Talks with regional bloc ECOWAS in December had also failed. The bloc will seek formal approval to send troops if Jammeh continues to refuse to step aside, U.N. Special Representative for West Africa and the Sahel Mohammed Ibn Chambas said earlier this week. "His Excellency the President reiterated his position and that of The Gambia Government," said a statement for Gambia's President on the State House website after Saturday's meeting. Jammeh has cited irregularities in the polling process and is challenging the election results at Gambia's Supreme Court. But the court could not rule on his challenge this week because judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone did not show up. The Supreme Court has indicated it may not be able to sit again until May. (Additional reporting by Diadie Ba; Editing by Catherine Evans)
KUWAIT CITY (AP)  A Germany-bound Eurowings passenger flight from Oman landed in Kuwait on Sunday over a bomb threat but no explosives were found on board, authorities said.

The Airbus A330 from Salalah heading to Cologne, Eurowings flight 117, landed Sunday morning in Kuwait City after the captain received word of the threat, said Mansour al-Hashemi, a spokesman for Kuwait's civil aviation authority.

Security officials found no signs of explosives on the aircraft, al-Hashemi said. He declined to discuss how the threat was made against the aircraft.

Eurowings said there were 287 passengers and 10 crew members on board the plane, which was being flown by SunExpress on its behalf.

Eurowings said the flight was a charter for tour company FTI.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.

The airline added that the flight would take off at 1 a.m. Monday to head to Cologne as legal restrictions on maximum crew working time barred it from leaving Kuwait sooner. Passengers would be put up a hotel in the meantime, it said.

Eurowings is a subsidiary of German air carrier Lufthansa. It began offering direct flights from Cologne to Salalah in October.

Tal Muscal, a spokesman for Lufthansa, confirmed the flight was diverted and that no explosives were found on the plane.

"I do know there is nothing on board," he said.

___

Associated Press writers Jon Gambrell and Adam Schreck in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Geir Moulson in Berlin contributed to this report.
Lawmakers weigh three options on election date

The subcommittee of the State Affairs Committee of Parliament is discussing three options on fixing the election date.
Madrid (AFP) - Spain's Podemos was born in 2014 out of rage over austerity politics and buoyed by its promises of change, but the mood has darkened as infighting ravages the far-left party.

As it prepares to celebrate its third birthday and inches closer to a crux congress in February, supporters are watching in dismay -- and opponents with glee -- as Podemos chief Pablo Iglesias spars with his deputy Inigo Errejon over what strategy to take.

The dispute between the once-inseparable pair has forced party members into one faction or another, played out on social media and in the press, gaining such traction that an apologetic Iglesias warned it could "destroy" Podemos.

"It's one thing to have differences, another thing is this hugely exaggerated internal battle," says Gabriel Colome, politics professor at the Autonomous University of Barcelona.

"They are reproducing age-old behaviour patterns typical of other parties." He warned "they do this right, or this project is going to explode."

- Airing 'dirty laundry' -

After its emergence in January 2014, Podemos rose at meteoric speed to score big in elections just under two years later.

In those December 2015 polls, it became Spain's third political force, putting an end to the two-party system but also leaving no grouping with any absolute majority.

As coalition negotiations dragged on, rumours of a rift between the charismatic, pony-tailed Iglesias and his baby-faced number two started to emerge.

But it was only after repeat June elections saw a Podemos-led coalition lose votes that the rift between the combative Iglesias and more moderate Errejon leapt to the fore.

While the aim had always been to overtake the Socialists and become Spain's main left-wing force, exactly how to achieve this was a subject of much debate.

Should the party continue its struggle for change -- but from within institutions it now occupied such as parliament, and in a moderate way that would attract Socialist voters too, as Errejon advocated?

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Or should it also go back to the streets, keep resisting and shaking things up as a protest party, as Iglesias wanted?

These divergences broke out into the open in September in a war of tweets.

"We are already scaring the powerful, that's not the challenge. The challenge is to attract those people who suffer but still don't trust us," Errejon wrote.

"Yes comrade @ierrejon but we stopped attracting one million people in June. We seduce more by speaking clearly and being different," Iglesias retorted.

From then on, divisions played out publicly, continuing even as the Socialists (PSOE) imploded and the conservative Popular Party came back to power at the head of a minority government with little support -- all of which could have profited Podemos.

The situation left supporters in a state of distress.

Once an enthusiastic Podemos militant, Tristan Duanel has now stopped all activities for the party, as have others he knows.

"We have ended up really bitter," he says.

Such has been the dismay that Iglesias felt compelled to apologise last month.

"If the press and social media continue to be a stage for us to try and air our dirty laundry, we will destroy Podemos," he recognised.

- 'Two strategies' -

The issue will likely be set to rest at the party congress in February, when Podemos members will vote for a new leadership council, a process that may or may not unseat Iglesias, and for what direction to take.

With this in sight, Errejon's clan published a policy document on Friday acknowledging there were "two strategies" vying for power.

On the same day, Iglesias and his team published their own document, in which they warned that "only a united and strong Podemos will be able to rule."

To further complicate matters, a third movement which is neither behind Iglesias or Errejon has emerged as kingmaker.

The more radical anti-capitalists, as they call themselves, want to take to the streets again like Iglesias.

But they also feel that the party's power is currently in the hands of too few people, calling for decentralisation... like Errejon.

"They will be pivotal," says political analyst Pablo Simon.

He also struck a positive note, saying all was not lost for Podemos and now was the time to resolve their differences.

"The PSOE hasn't recovered and cannot challenge them much, and we're far from new elections," he said.
Republican Congressman Mike Coffman left a regularly scheduled meeting early on Saturday, leaving more than 100 frustrated constituents waiting at the Aurora Public Library in Colorado to talk about his partys plan to repeal the Affordable Care Act.

Coffman, who serves Colorados Sixth Congressional District, had scheduled a room a the library for 2 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., according to NBC affiliate 9News. Coffman on Friday joined two other Republican lawmakers to write an op-ed in the Denver Post urging for the repeal of the health-care law.

According to social-media posts from constituents who showed up to the meeting Coffman only allowed them in four people at a time.

The Representative didnt have a plan. They expected just a small handful of people to show up, Krondia Siebert told 9News. We were under the understanding it was a town-hall meeting and they were only allowing four people in at a time.

While waiting to meet with Coffman, the crowd outside the room and and chanted.

Crowd starts singing while trying to get in to see Congressman Mike Coffman in Aurora. He only agreed with people a couple at a time. #9News pic.twitter.com/bqZgj4FF6f  Nelson Garcia (@9NewsEducation) January 14, 2017

But many people didnt get a turn to voice their concerns over the repeal of the ACA. At about 3:24 p.m., Coffman left the event early, unbeknownst to those waiting.

While more than 100 people were waiting to meet with him, Mike Coffman sneaks out early from his own community event. #9News pic.twitter.com/NAZlXTKgQm  Nelson Garcia (@9NewsEducation) January 14, 2017

Coffman could not be immediately reached for comment. In a statement to 9News, Coffmans staffer Ben Stein said the congressman was able to meet with more than 70 constituents.

Unfortunately, we only reserved the room at the Aurora Central Library for 90 minutes, which is usually plenty of time to see everyone, he wrote. For those who were unable to see the Congressman today we apologize. These constituents are invited to attend upcoming meeting opportunities and we will block more time so that he can hear from more of his constituents.

Democrats held rallies throughout the country on Sunday in an attempt to push public momentum toward their goal of blocking Republican effort to repeal Obamacare. Among biggest rallies was in Warren, Mich., hosted by Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.
ONITSHA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Gunmen kidnapped five students and two staff, including a Turkish national, from an international school in Nigeria's southern state of Ogun, police said on Saturday. The kidnappers, who abducted the six Nigerians and Turkish staff member late on Friday, have not made contact with police or school authorities and no arrest has been made, Ogun police spokesman Abimbola Oyeyemi said. "We have deployed police operatives and are making serious efforts to release the victims unhurt and bring the culprits to book," he said. In September, Ogun state police rescued two kidnapped Chinese nationals who were working for a quarry company. (Reporting By Anamesere Igboeroteonwu, Writing by Paul Carsten, Editing by Angus MacSwan)
A former teacher in Texas was sentenced to 10-years in prison Friday after admitting to engaging in a consistent sexual relationship with a 13-year-old student. Alexandria Vera, 24, who was a teacher at an Aldine Independent School District middle school near Houston, had pleaded guilty to aggravated sexual assault of a child in November.

Initially, Vera was facing a 30-year sentence for having sex with the boy on charges of continuous sexual abuse of a child, who she first met as an eighth grader. The relationship reportedly ended in January 2016, according to KPRC.

Vera met the boy when he was in her eighth-grade summer school English class in 2015, authorities said. Their sexual relationship first started after the boy messaged Vera on Instagram. Vera reportedly communicated with the student again on the app at a later time, after which the student asked for her phone number and asked if they could hang out. During her investigation, Vera told an officer that she and the student kissed in the car during their first meeting, and the next day when the boys parents werent at home, they reportedly had sex. Officials believe their first sexual encounter was in September.

Vera met the boys parents at the schools open house in October, after which she told investigators she went to the students home and was introduced as his girlfriend. Vera told police that the students parents were very aware and accepting of her relationship with the boy and she had even been included in family gatherings.

Their relationship became so serious that the boy would spend the night with Vera and the two engaged in sex on a near-daily basis, according to court documents. Vera reportedly became pregnant with the boys baby in January 2016, and the teacher told authorities that the students family was supportive and excited about the baby. However, after Child Protective Services came to the school to question Vera and the student about their relationship, Vera reportedly got an abortion.

Story continues

After briefly being on the run, Vera reportedly turned herself into authorities during the summer of 2016. She was released on a $100,000 bail and ordered not to have any contact with the victim. She was also banned from using the internet, have her location tracked by GPS at all times and was put on house arrest between the hours of 8 p.m. and 7 a.m. She was also prohibited from interacting with any children or being near any schools.

Vera will be eligible for parole in five years. The boy has been placed in foster care.

Texas has seen a slew of teacher engaging in sexual relationships with students over the past year. There were 207 cases against teachers engaging in inappropriate behavior with students in 2016, according to the Texas Education Agency. The agencys director told KPRC in August that actual number could be even higher because schools have been known to making deals with teachers to keep incidents out of the press if teachers agree to resign.

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Gary Webster and Lynn Jackson at the Schultzen Club in Mingo Junction, Ohio. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

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MINGO JUNCTION, Ohio  When Donald Trump talked about running to represent the forgotten men and women that the American dream had left behind, he could very well have been talking about the residents of this tiny village at the foothills of the Appalachians, in the heart of the Ohio River Valley.

A little less than 40 years ago, a young Robert De Niro piloted a gleaming white Cadillac up Commercial Street here, filming a pivotal scene in the Vietnam War epic The Deer Hunter. But today, the street stands bleak and empty. Many of its buildings are boarded up and condemned, dark against the rusting iron husk of the vacant steel mill that rises tall above town like a haunted tombstone for the villages better days.

Thousands of people used to walk down the hill toward the river to jobs at the former Wheeling-Pittsburgh Steel mill before it closed permanently eight years ago after a series of ownership changes. The restaurants and shops that depended on the workers soon went away too  leaving just a handful of businesses, almost all of them bars, patronized by residents who struggle to keep their lives afloat in a town that sometimes doesnt have enough money to keep the streetlights lit.

Almost everybody here in this town of 3,300 people is a registered Democrat, a party affiliation that dates back to their parents and their parents parents. But during the past 20 years, as the mining and steel industries here have collapsed, the die-hard Democrats have become less die-hard, disillusioned by a party they feel has left the working class behind.

A closed steel mill in Mingo Junction, Ohio. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

In November, Trump easily captured Ohio, a victory fueled in part by winning over blue-collar workers in eastern arts of the state who had turned out in historic numbers for Barack Obama in the previous two elections. In Jefferson County, where Mingo Junction is located, Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by nearly 35 points, but despite his resounding victory, many here remain deeply divided over Trump and whether he will really deliver on his promises to revitalize Rust Belt towns like this.

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Weeks after the conclusion of what was widely considered one of the most divisive campaigns in recent memory, Trump was still a touchy subject in Mingo Junction. At Townhouse Bar, an old tavern on a now-deserted end of Commercial Street that used to be a hangout for steelworkers on break, a woman named Darla stopped the conversation when asked about the election. There is a rule here: Never, ever talk about politics in a bar, she warned, as other patrons on nearby stools nodded in agreement. Its nothing but trouble.

But a few minutes later, after playing a round of keno, Darla relented. I know where to take you to talk about this, she said, leading the way down the block to a members-only bar called the Schultzen Club, where Lynn Jackson, a 65-year-old retiree from nearby Steubenville who had been laid off from her job at a coal-fired power plant, sat with her friend Gary Webster, a 63-year-old retired teacher from Mingo Junction. Both had spent their lives in the region, raising families, only to see the city around them fade away as the industry died. We dont even have a gas station, Webster lamented.

They spoke with nostalgia of a time when the air was so dirty that birds barely flew in the sky. I called it boiling the stacks, Webster recalled of the soaring blast furnaces and smokestacks that now sit idle at the mill just outside the bars backdoor. When they were running, pollution floated in the air. It looked like glitter falling.

Even though the air was dirty, the town was booming. People didnt want for nothing really, Jackson recalled. Its not that everybody was rich, but you made a decent income that you could raise your family on. But those days are gone, replaced by a struggle that seems never-ending.

Mingo Junction, Ohio. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

After living here most of their lives, it was now mostly the older generation that was left. The kids who had grown up here had escaped, looking for better lives elsewhere. Not that their families blamed them. A town that had once held so much promise now seemed like something of a dead end.

There were appealing things about Trumps message, they acknowledged, including his pledge to bring back jobs and industry to struggling towns like this. But for all his promises, there was something that didnt ring true. Jackson, who said she started out giving Trump a chance even though she rarely votes Republican, was turned off by his litany of promises with few details and then by his propensity to shoot off his mouth. She felt uneasy about his temperament to be president and concerned that he was simply saying anything to win. I dont trust him, she said. Hes nothing but a mouth.

But Jackson acknowledged she was in the minority. A few feet away, on a billboard set up near a pool table, someone had hung images of Clinton, one from a newsstand tabloid depicting her with an Adolf Hitler mustache (World War 3, the headline warned) and another of her behind jail bars. She had an idea about who might have hung them there, but fearful of fights, people shied away from talking about whom they did or did not vote for. Oh, you dont talk about religion and politics in a bar, Jackson said, adding, I say, I do, if you ask me.

But down the block, at an old bar called the Parkview Inn, there was one Trump supporter willing to own up to his vote. Joe Mannarino, a 57-year-old steelworker who had bounced from plant to plant after losing his job at the mill out back years before, was a registered Democrat who crossed party lines to back Trump. It wasnt that he believed everything Trump said, he explained, but he saw him as a change candidate who would be more likely to help working-class people like him and towns like this.

The Schultzen Club in Mingo Junction, Ohio. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Residents here have a long memory, Mannarino said. They still recalled how Bill Clinton went to Weirton, W.Va., just across the river shortly after he won the Democratic nomination in 1992, where he visited a mill and pledged to stop foreign steel from being dumped at cheap prices. And then he turned around and passed NAFTA and all these trade deals that killed us, Mannarino said. How could anybody trust a Clinton after that?

Trump, he said, was hardly the perfect candidate, but he was the only person who seemed to speak to and care about people like him. On the trail, Trump vividly spoke of reviving the steel industry in order to rebuild the nations infrastructure and the inner cities. We will build the next generation of roads, bridges, railways, tunnels, seaports and airports that our country deserves, Trump declared in a line in his stump speech. American steel will send new skyscrapers soaring. We will put new American metal into the spine of this nation. 

Now that Trump is soon to be in the White House, Mannarino said he expects him to deliver on those promises to rebuild the country with American steel, as well as his pledge to renegotiate trade deals like NAFTA on more favorable terms to the United States. Can Trump actually follow through on all those promises? Mannarino said with a shrug. Im hopeful, he said. Im more hopeful than Ive been for a while.
Shane Jones, owner of a gun and barber shop in Harrison, Ark. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

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HARRISON, Ark.  Shane Jones simply did not believe a pair of journalists had wandered into his barber shop/gun store on a Wednesday afternoon a few weeks after Election Day to talk about Donald Trump.

No, no, no, Jones said with a sly grin that barely disguised his evident hostility. Sitting back in his barber chair, he shook his head and narrowed his eyes. Thats not why you are here. Youre here because of the billboards, because of the KKK. Thats why you are here.

In truth, that was how we had ended up here in this tiny town deep in the Ozarks. Harrison, a town of roughly 13,000 people in northwestern Arkansas near the Missouri border, had been in the news for years, making headlines as the home of the Knights Party, formerly known as the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, a prominent national offshoot of the KKK, founded in 1975 by David Duke.

More recently, the city, which is 96 percent white and, according to the 2010 census, home to just 34 black residents, had drawn renewed attention for a series of controversial white supremacist billboards that were erected beside the highways leading to the town, including one that read Anti-Racist is a Code Word for Anti-White.

When the controversial billboards were ripped down and defaced, they were replaced almost immediately. On state Highway 65 south of town, drivers are now greeted by two signs. One advertises White Pride Radio and Alt Right TV and the other reads Diversity is a code word for #whitegenocide.

Signs on the highway entering Harrison, Ark. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

People here had tried and failed to have the billboards removed, regarding them as an obstacle to their efforts to recast Harrison as a more welcoming place. That meant overcoming a dark past, including a series of riots in the early 1900s when residents were said to have run most of the citys black population out of town. Efforts to rebrand the city were further complicated by the arrival of the KKK, which relocated its national headquarters to Harrison in the early 1990s. Though Thomas Robb, who now heads up the group, lives about 10 miles outside of town, the organizations mailing address is in Harrison, and the town is also the base for its newspaper, the Crusader.

Story continues

And thats part of what had led us to Harrison. Last fall, local residents were alarmed to see copies of the Crusader dropped on doorsteps around town. Under the banner Make America Great Again, the issue featured a full, front-page endorsement of Trump, tying his campaign slogan to the newspapers promotion of white supremacy.

While Trump wants to make America great again, we have to ask ourselves, What made America great in the first place? the endorsement read, according to the Washington Post. The short answer to that is simple. America was great not because of what our forefathers did  but because of who our forefathers were. America was founded as a White Christian Republic. And as a White Christian Republic it became great.

The Trump campaign quickly disavowed the endorsement  perhaps mindful of the controversy the New York billionaire had generated when he did not immediately reject an endorsement from Duke, who had returned to the limelight as a candidate for a U.S. Senate seat in Louisiana.

Gun and barber shop in Harrison, Ark. (Business is next to a Metaphysics shop). (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In November, Trump easily won Boone County, where Harrison is located, defeating Hillary Clinton by nearly 60 percent. But a few weeks after the election, residents did not have much interest in talking to reporters about Trump and what they expected from him as he heads to the White House. Among them was Jones, who displayed a large handmade NOBAMA sign on the front door of his barber shop, where he recently also started selling guns in addition to giving haircuts.

Grilling the reporters who had wandered into his shop, Jones questioned why anyone would have an interest in why he backed Trump and the issues he cared about. On the mirror opposite his barber chair was a Trump/Pence bumper sticker, hung alongside a poster of a rifle-toting Clint Eastwood from one of Sergio Leones famed spaghetti Westerns. Asked what he expects of Trump as president, Jones said, I want him to restore and uphold the Constitution.

He declined to elaborate and signaled that the interview was over. Nobody is going to talk to you here, Jones said, as he waved the reporters out.

But that wasnt quite right. Outside, a woman walked out from the shop next door called the Cosmic Mama and introduced herself as Lisa Howard, a spiritual adviser who had just moved to town from North Dakota after falling in love with the rolling hills and woods of the Ozarks. She had no idea of the citys history or its racial tensions. Maybe, she said, smiling, they needed spiritual and life advice from someone like her.

Lisa Howard, owner of a metaphysical shop in Harrison, Ark. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

There was one thing the two shopkeepers could bond on. Howard, who described herself as a left-leaning liberal, did not like Hillary Clinton. But she also did not care for Trump. Although she followed the campaign closely, she said she didnt vote because she had long ago lost faith in a political system that she believed was corrupt, bought and paid for by special interests, and did not serve people like her. Unlike many, she was not swayed by Trumps outsider message and did not believe he would bring change to Washington.

I just dont believe in any of the system anymore, Howard said. Politics, she felt, gave people like her a false sense of being involved in something that we have no control over. She lamented that its all about money.

Though Trump had run against the establishment and cast himself as an anti-politician, she said she simply didnt believe it. Among other things, she pointed to the type of people he had started to appoint to his new administration, lobbyists and Wall Street types that he had denounced in his campaign. Its circus, Howard declared. And she didnt want any part of it.

As long as we continue to support the system, were feeding it, she said. And we need to change. It all needs to go.
BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi special forces swept through the campus of Mosul University on Sunday to clear it of any remaining Islamic State militants after taking full control of the area, a spokesman said. A military statement said troops had also taken another area along the eastern bank of the Tigris river, in gains that are bringing more of Islamic State's last major stronghold in the country under Iraqi forces' control. Counter-terrorism service (CTS) troops drove the jihadists back inside the strategically located university complex and seized clusters of buildings including colleges on Saturday, a crucial advance towards recapturing all areas of Mosul east of the river. "The university is completely liberated and forces are sweeping the complex for any hiding militants," CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told Reuters by phone on Sunday. "Most buildings are booby-trapped so we're being cautious." "We're not stopping," he added, saying the CTS was working to push into areas next to the university. Parts of the sprawling campus overlook neighboring districts in eastern Mosul and towards the river. Taking the entire east bank of the Tigris, which bisects Mosul from north to south, will allow Iraqi forces to begin assaults on the city's west, which Islamic State still holds. On Saturday elite rapid response units of Iraq's federal police recaptured large areas in the southeast, securing a stretch along the bank. Loss of Mosul could spell the end of the Iraqi side of IS's self-styled caliphate, which it declared from the city after sweeping through vast areas of Iraq and Syria. Iraqi forces say they are close to recapturing the entire eastern bank. They are backed by U.S.-led air power in an offensive launched in October to retake the city. The campaign involves a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi troops, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite militias. Forces have made rapid advances since the start of the year, aided by new tactics and improved coordination, military officials say. (Reporting by Saif Hameed and John Davison; Editing by Susan Fenton, Greg Mahlich)
By Isabel Coles and John Davison MOSUL, Iraq/BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraqi special forces drove back Islamic State militants in the Mosul University campus on Saturday, while elite police units took over large areas along the east bank of the Tigris river, military officials said. The head of Iraq's Counter Terrorism Service (CTS) said security forces were close to seizing the entire east bank of the Tigris, which bisects Mosul north to south. That gain will bring at least half of Islamic State's last major stronghold in Iraq back under government control. Iraqi forces have made rapid advances since the new year, as part of a nearly three-month, U.S.-backed offensive. For the ultra-hardline Islamic State, losing Mosul would probably spell the end of the Iraqi side of its self-styled caliphate, which it declared in 2014. The military will be able to begin attacks on western Mosul, which Islamic State still fully controls, once it has captured the eastern bank of the river. The militants have fought back fiercely with car bombs and snipers, and have used civilians as cover. An air raid during the week targeting a senior IS militant killed up to 30 people, residents said late on Friday. Islamic State has also carried out attacks in Baghdad where a string of explosions in the last two weeks has killed dozens of people. Another blast hit central Baghdad late on Saturday, killing at least one person, police sources said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Earlier on Saturday, CTS forces battled IS fighters at the university in Mosul, in a second day of clashes there. "We entered the university and cleared the technical institute, dentistry and antiquities departments," Lieutenant General Abdelwahab al-Saadi of the CTS told a Reuters reporter in the complex. "In the coming hours it will be liberated completely," he said. CTS troops had gathered in the university canteen. As they unfurled a map of the area, a suspected Islamic State drone flew overhead and they shot at it. The Iraqi forces also found chemical substances IS had used to try to make weapons, CTS commander Sami al-Aridhi said. The United Nations says the militants seized nuclear materials used for scientific research from the university when they overran Mosul and vast areas of northern Iraq and eastern Syria in 2014. IS has used chemical agents including mustard gas in a number of attacks in Iraq and Syria, U.S. officials, rights groups and residents say. POLICE RETAKE SOUTHEAST RIVERBANK Seizing the university would be a crucial strategic gain and allow Iraqi forces to advance more quickly towards the Tigris in the city's northeast, military officials have said. Parallel advances in the southeast of the city on Saturday, led by elite rapid response units, put Iraq's federal police in control of large areas along the river bank, a spokesman said. "The Yarimja area ... has been liberated, a large number of Daesh (Islamic State) elements were killed, and the rest fled to the right-hand side (western bank)," Lieutenant Colonel Abdel Amir al-Mohammedawi told Reuters. Forces had stopped suicide car bomb attacks by firing at them during their advance, and the federal police also captured a field hospital the militants had been using, he said. The federal police forces were backed by the Iraqi army's 9th armoured division and by U.S. coalition air support, Mohammedawi said. A separate military statement said the federal police in the area also captured a highway linking Mosul to the city of Kirkuk to the southeast. Improved coordination between different military branches, plus new tactics and better defences against the car bombs has helped them gain new momentum against Islamic State in Mosul since the turn of the year, U.S. and Iraqi military officials say. Lieutenant General Talib Shaghati told state television the entire eastern bank of the Tigris would soon be under Iraqi control. AIR RAID KILLS CIVILIANS Advances had slowed in late November and December as troops became bogged down in tough urban warfare after entering the city itself, and Islamic State fought from densely-populated residential areas. An air raid targeting a senior Islamic State militant on Thursday killed up to 30 people in a western Mosul district, residents said. It was not immediately clear if the strike was carried out by Iraqi forces or the U.S.-led coalition. Iraq Body Count (IBC), a group run by academics and peace activists that has been counting violent deaths in the country since 2003, said 21 to 25 civilians had died that day in a strike on that area. Reuters could not independently verify the reports. Iraqi forces have tried to avoid causing civilian casualties while Islamic State has deliberately shelled and shot at residents. The United Nations said recently the number of casualties being rushed to hospitals in nearby cities had increased. (Additional reporting by Stephen Kalin in Erbil and Saif Hameed in Baghdad; Editing by Andrew Bolton and Hugh Lawson)
JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israel said on Sunday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry had sought to reassure Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over a Middle East peace conference being held in Paris, which neither Israel nor the Palestinians are attending. Some 70 countries, including key European and Arab states as well as the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council, were in Paris for a meeting that Netanyahu has rejected as "futile". Netanyahu's office issued a statement on Sunday saying that "Kerry called Netanyahu to tell him about the moves the U.S. was taking at the conference to soften the wording of the Paris communique." It added that the Israeli leader had replied by saying that "Israel had already suffered damage after the U.S. did not veto a Security Council resolution (last month) and it should not be compounded." The statement said that Kerry committed to Netanyahu that there would be no resulting consequences to the conference, neither at the United Nations Security Council or at the conference itself and that "the U.S. would oppose any proposal that may be put forward to the Security Council." (Writing by Ori Lewis; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)
Note ban: Indian officials to visit Nepal soon

Officials of the Indian finance ministry and the central bank will soon visit Nepal to take stock of preparations made by Nepal to provide currency exchange facility to Nepalis holding banned Indian banknotes.
Japan's space agency Sunday aborted a mission to use a mini-rocket to send a satellite into orbit after the spacecraft stopped sending data to ground control shortly after liftoff.

The SS-520 rocket, which stands around the size of a power pole, lifted off at 8:33 am (2333 GMT) into a clear sky at the Uchinoura Space Centre in southern Kagoshima Prefecture.

The rocket, regarded as one of the smallest units in the world capable of sending satellites into the space, was carrying the three-kilogramme (6.6 pound) "TRICOM-1" observation satellite.

But officials aborted the mission within minutes of takeoff after the space agency stopped receiving data from the rocket after the launch.

Local media said data stopped arriving 20 seconds after liftoff.

"The first stage of the rocket's flight went as planned. However, we were unable to receive [data] from the unit as it continued the flight," the agency said in a statement.

The rocket later fell back to earth, landing within a designated safety area in waters off the coast of southeast Japan, according to officials.

The country's space agency is expected to provide a more detailed debrief about the nature of the mishap as more information becomes available.
By Harry Pearl SYDNEY (Reuters) - Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe met his Australian counterpart Malcolm Turnbull in Sydney on Saturday where the pair agreed to deepen defense ties and stressed the importance of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). Abe's visit comes amid heightened regional tension in the South China Sea and fears U.S. President-elect Donald Trump will push ahead with his pledge to kill the trade agreement once he takes office on Jan. 20. "We have confirmed our commitment to the rule of law, free trade and open markets in our region," Turnbull told reporters at a joint press conference. Abe said the increasingly uncertain geopolitical landscape made the relationship between Japan and Australia more important than ever. "It is important to guard and increase the robustness of the free, open and rules-based international order," Abe said. Both leaders spoke of their desire to see the TPP ratified, despite opposition from Trump. The 12-member pact aims to cut barriers in some of Asia's fastest-growing economies, but it does not include China. Without U.S. approval the agreement cannot come to fruition. Following bilateral talks, the two leaders announced the signing of an Acquisition and Cross-Servicing Agreement (ACSA), which will increase cooperation in combined military exercises, training and peace-keeping operations. The agreement is expected to be finalised by the end of 2017. The announcement comes nearly nine months after Australia chose a French bid over a Japanese design for a new fleet of submarines. The loss of the $40 billion contract was a major blow for Abe's ambitions to develop Japan's defense export capabilities as part of a more muscular security agenda. Japan, as well as Australia, is looking to protect its strategic and trade interests in the Asia-Pacific region, especially as China becomes increasingly assertive in the South and East China Seas. Both leaders also reaffirmed the importance of their respective security alliances with the United States. China's recent naval exercises in the South China Sea and the building of islands there, with military assets, have unnerved its neighbors and risk provoking a reaction from the United States. Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, has said China should be denied access to islands it has built in the South China Sea. China claims most of the resource-rich sea, through which about $5 trillion in ship-borne trade passes every year. Neighbors Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan and Vietnam also have claims. (Reporting by Harry Pearl; Editing by Christopher Cushing and James Dalgleish)
TOKYO (Reuters) - Japan's space agency said on Sunday it failed to launch a mini rocket carrying a satellite into space due to failure of the communications systems. The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) said in a statement it had fired the SS-520 rocket at 0833 JST on Sunday at its Uchinoura Space Center in southern Japan. JAXA said it was unable to receive data from the rocket, which has fallen back to earth in a spot it had expected. The rocket, about 10 metres (35 feet) long and 50 centimeters (20 inches) in diameter, was carrying a 3-kg (6.6 lb), 35-centimetre satellite to take images of the earth and gather other data. The first stage of the rocket launch was carried out but not the second, after communication problems were discovered, JAXA's spokeswoman told Reuters. The space agency had postponed the launch of the rocket on Jan. 11 due to strong wind. (Reporting by Junko Fujita; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
By Suleiman Al-Khalidi AMMAN (Reuters) - Jordan's King Abdullah reshuffled his cabinet but retained Hani Mulki as prime minister on Sunday, granting him more scope to tackle the threat of Islamist militants and to press ahead with unpopular IMF-mandated reforms to cut spiraling public debt. The reshuffle, the second since the business-friendly Mulki was appointed last May, comes at a time of sluggish economic growth, poor business sentiment and concerns over Jordan's political stability following a series of security lapses. Jordan has stepped up its role in the U.S.-led military campaign against Islamic State in the region and risks being drawn into a prolonged conflict with the militants. The five new ministers entering the cabinet include Ghaleb Zubi, a former police chief, as interior minister and Ayman Safadi, a long-time adviser to the royal family, as foreign minister, according to a palace statement. Safadi has strong ties to the Gulf states and has been critical of President Bashar al-Assad in neighbouring Syria. Safadi, whose appointment was a surprise, replaces Nasser Joudeh, who has served as Jordan's chief diplomat since 2009. The outgoing interior minister, Salamah Hamad, had narrowly avoided a vote of no-confidence in parliament over his handling of an Islamic State attack in the southern city of Karak last month in which at least nine people, including a Canadian tourist and members of the security forces, were killed. In another major security lapse, a Jordanian guard shot dead three members of the U.S. special forces at an airbase last November, an incident that tarnished the image of the country's security forces and shook the confidence of its Western backers in its ability to handle security threats. Diplomats say the security lapses raise concerns over the possible radicalisation of some members of Jordan's military and security apparatus. Jordan is among the closest allies of the United States in the Middle East region. In Sunday's reshuffle, Finance Minister Omar Malhas kept his job, in which he is overseeing a tough three-year programme agreed with the International Monetary Fund that aims to cut public debt to 77 percent of national output GDP by 2021 from 94 percent now. Politicians and economists say the tough fiscal consolidation plan, which includes raising taxes on basic food and fuel items in the coming months and cutting subsidies, will worsen the plight of poorer Jordanians. Removing subsidies has triggered civil unrest in the past. Jordan's economy is expected to have grown by 2.4 percent last year, below an IMF target of 2.8 percent. (Reporting by Suleiman Al-Khalidi; Editing by Gareth Jones)
chicago police double shooting bettie jones quintonio legrier

Chicago's police officers have routinely used excessive force in violation of the US Constitution, according to a scathing report released by the federal government Friday.

The 161-page document details a 13-month civil-rights investigation into the Chicago Police Department conducted by the Department of Justice.

The DOJ initiated the investigation after the Chicago police fatally shot 17-year-old Laquan McDonald in 2014, kicking off months of protests, a charge of first-degree murder for the offending officer, and the resignation of Chicago's police superintendent after video of the shooting emerged.

McDonald's death was widely viewed as a "tipping point" over longstanding concerns about the Chicago Police Department's conduct, as well as the city's mechanisms for "detecting and correcting" the unlawful use of force, the report said.

Here are some of the key points of the report:

The report found that Chicago police officers "engage in a pattern or practice of using force, including deadly force, that is unreasonable" and that the Chicago police "unnecessarily endanger themselves and others and result in unnecessary and avoidable shootings."

The report said the "unlawful" use of force "resulted from a collection of poor police practices," including exhibiting "poor discipline" when discharging weapons, engaging in "tactically unsound" foot pursuits, firing at vehicles "without justification," and failing to wait for backup before engaging suspects.

Among what the report called the most "egregious" that were investigated were instances of police officers shooting at unarmed suspects who "presented no immediate threat" and police officers using "unreasonable retaliatory force" against children. The report also detailed incidents in which teenagers were picked up by officers and dropped off in rival gang neighborhoods, which it said put the teenagers in "immediate jeopardy."

The report also found that many officers' accounts of "force incidents" were later discredited by video evidence, indicating that the "pattern of unreasonable force" is most likely more "widespread" than the report suggests.

Story continues

Chicago Police

The report concluded that the Chicago police had "engaged in a pattern" of practicing "unreasonable" force that it said was in clear violation of the Fourth Amendment. The report described "deficiencies" within the Chicago police system, including in regard to officer training, supervision, and accountability.

The report recommends that the Chicago police mandate the use of body cameras on all officers by the end of 2017 and develop "community policing" as a core component the department's strategy. Further, the report recommends that the Chicago police department focus on officer wellness, improve data collection and transparency across the city, and overhaul field training programs.

2016 was one of the deadliest years in Chicago history, with 762 homicides recorded. It was the highest spike in two decades and more homicides than Los Angeles and New York combined.

Reuters contributed to this report.

NOW WATCH: Delta says they removed the YouTube prankster for disrupting 'the cabin with provocative behavior'





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PARIS (AP)  U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry on Sunday urged the incoming Trump administration to accept an invitation from Russia to attend Syria peace talks next week.

Speaking to reporters after a Mideast peace conference in Paris, Kerry said he supports the meeting that Russia, Turkey and Iran are co-sponsoring in Kazakhstan on Jan. 23 and that it "would be good" for the U.S. to be represented there.

"My hope is the next administration will decide to go," he said. "I think it would be good for them to go."

He said he hoped the meeting would make some progress and lead to a resumption of the Geneva talks, which are aimed at producing a transitional government and an eventual election in Syria. Kerry said the discussions in Astana, Kazakhstan's capital, should not be a substitute for the process that got under way in Geneva in 2012.

After taking an active role in efforts to forge peace in Syria, the Obama administration has been watching latest developments largely from the sidelines, as Russia and Turkey have taken the lead. Kerry said he remained in touch with Russian, Turkish and other officials about the situation, but noted that his time as secretary of state was winding down with less than a week to go before the end of his term.

Russia conveyed an invitation to the meeting to Trump's choice for national security adviser, Michael Flynn, in a phone call in late December, according to the transition team.
Paris (AFP) - Secretary of State John Kerry said Sunday that the United States had negotiated at the Paris Middle East peace conference to prevent Israel being treated unfairly.

Kerry thanked France for hosting the international conference and welcomed its final statement in favour of a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

But he said the positive conclusion was arrived at only after US diplomats insisted on strong language condemning Palestinian incitement and attacks on Israelis.

"We came in here and where we thought it was unbalanced and where we thought it was not expressing the kind of unity that I talked about, we fought to address it," he said.

"We didn't soften it. We did what was necessary to have a balanced resolution. And if you look at it, it speaks in positive ways, rather than negative, to both sides."

Speaking to reporters after the talks, Kerry confirmed that he had spoken to Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during the Paris meeting to reassure him.

He noted that leading Arab nations had been present at the talks and had agreed to the language condemning incitement and had endorsed the US outline of a two-state solution.

This blueprint, unveiled by Kerry in a speech last month, insists on the need for two states, one of them Israel recognised as a Jewish state.

"It evidenced a constructive willingness to engage with Israel that has not been readily put on the table by people over the course of the past several years," he argued.

Israel's government was angered last month when the United States allowed the UN Security Council to pass a resolution condemning Israeli settlement building on occupied land.

But Kerry said he had told Netanyahu that, contrary to his government's complaints, this did not mean that Washington had turned its back on Israel's claim on Jerusalem.

Kerry said he had told Netanyahu: "We fully expect Israel's profound historic and religious ties to the city and to its holy sites. We've never questioned that.

"This resolution in no manner prejudges the outcome of permanent status negotiations for east Jerusalem which must reflect those historic ties and realities on the ground."
HONOLULU (AP)  Kevin Kisner came within a fraction on an inch of another 59 at the Sony Open.

Needing an eagle on the par-5 ninth hole Saturday, Kisner hit an 8-iron to 9 feet below the hole for his chance at the ninth sub-60 round in PGA Tour history, and the second this week. Justin Thomas shot 59 in the opening round with an eagle on the ninth hole.

Kisner narrowly missed the putt.

Jordan Spieth, who played with Thomas during his Thursday round of 59, had finished his round and came over to the ninth green to watch.

The last time there was a 59 and a 60 in the same tournament was the John Deere Classic by Paul Goydos and Steve Stricker  both in the first round.
MOSCOW (AP)  With eager anticipation, the Kremlin is counting the days to Donald Trump's inauguration and venting its anger at Barack Obama's outgoing administration, no holds barred.

Careful not to hurt chances for a thaw in U.S.-Russia relations, President Vladimir Putin and other Russian officials have deferred questions about their plans for future contacts with Trump and any agenda for those talks until he takes office on Friday.

Trump's open admiration of Putin has brought wide expectations of improved Moscow-Washington relations, but Trump has not articulated a clear Russia policy. His Cabinet nominees include both a retired general with a hawkish stance on Russia and an oil executive who has done extensive business in Russia.

At the same time, Russian officials are blasting the outgoing U.S. administration in distinctly undiplomatic language, dropping all decorum after Obama hit Moscow with more sanctions in his final weeks in office.

Moscow calls Obama's team a "bunch of geopolitical losers" engaged in a last-ditch effort to inflict the maximum possible damage to U.S.-Russia ties to make it more difficult for Trump to mend the rift.

In a clear effort to avoid risking a rapprochement with Trump, Putin showed remarkable restraint when the U.S. expelled 35 Russian diplomats over accusations of meddling in the U.S. election campaign. Instead of a usual tit-for-tat response, Putin invited U.S. diplomats' children to a New Year's party at the Kremlin.

Trump's national security adviser, Michael Flynn, and Russia's ambassador to the U.S. were in frequent contact in recent weeks, including on Dec. 29, the day Obama hit Moscow with sanctions in retaliation for election-related hacking, according to a senior U.S. official.

Moscow similarly refrained from retaliation when the White House last week added five Russians, including the chief of Russia's top state investigative agency, to the U.S. sanctions list.

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On Sunday, Vice President-elect Mike Pence insisted the Trump presidential campaign had no contacts with Russia and denied that the incoming national security adviser spoke with Russian officials in December about sanctions. He added that such questions were part of an effort to cast doubt on Trump's victory.

While Putin and his lieutenants hope Trump will open up to Russia, they know any attempt to fix ties will face massive obstacles, including possible strong resistance in the U.S. Congress.

"Any future contacts will have to be prepared quite accurately and thoroughly, as they would follow a tense period," Putin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told reporters.

Fyodor Lukyanov, chair of the Council for Foreign and Defense Policies, a group of Russian foreign policy experts, said Syria is one area where a U.S.-Russian rapport is likely.

During the call with Flynn, the Russian ambassador invited U.S. officials to a conference on Syria in Kazakhstan later this month, according to a transition official, who was not authorized to publicly discuss the matter.

In an interview Friday with The Wall Street Journal, Trump said he might do away with Obama's sanctions if Russia works with the U.S. on battling terrorists and achieving other goals.

The Kremlin would be eager to embrace a U.S. offer of cooperation on Syria. Obama's administration had refused to coordinate action against the IS with Russia, saying Moscow was bent on shoring up Syrian President Bashar Assad.

The complexity of the conflict in Syria  where opposition groups backed by regional players are pitted against Assad's troops and often fight each other  makes hopes for quick progress elusive.

"Russia and the United States are important players (in Syria) but not the only ones," Lukyanov said.

He noted that nuclear arms control is another possible area where Moscow and Washington could try to find common ground. While new arms control treaties are unlikely, the two countries may try to find ways to increase global stability, Lukyanov said.

Putin has pushed for the U.S. to recognize Moscow as an equal global heavyweight and to acknowledge that Russia's ex-Soviet neighbors are in its sphere of "vital interests"  demands rejected by the West. Many in Russia hope that Trump could be more inclined to strike a "grand bargain" with Putin, carving up spheres of influence and helping cement Russia's role as a global power.

Alexander Lebedev, a multimillionaire Russian owner of Britain's Evening Standard and Independent newspapers, believes that Putin wants a "big deal" that would envisage cooperation in Syria and possible cooperation in other spheres.

"$1 trillion a year is stolen by global banks and companies and moved offshore," Lebedev said, adding that Russia and the U.S. could launch a worldwide crackdown on corrupt business practices.

U.S.-Russian relations have sunk to a post-Cold War low over Russia's 2014 annexation of Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula and support for a pro-Russian insurgency in eastern Ukraine. A 2015 peace deal helped end large-scale battles in eastern Ukraine, but clashes have continued. The U.S. and the European Union have slapped Russia with economic sanctions and made their lifting contingent on the Ukraine peace deal's progress.

While the Kremlin counts on Trump to roll the sanctions back, many observers are skeptical.

"In the current atmosphere, it's very difficult to imagine how Trump could start canceling the sanctions," Lukyanov said.

U.S. allegations of Russian meddling in the U.S. election top the list of irritants.

U.S. intelligence officials' accusations that Russian hackers  acting on Putin's orders  interfered into the vote to help Trump win have put the U.S. president-elect in a difficult position. Trump has grudgingly conceded that Russia was likely responsible for hacking the Democratic National Committee, but emphasized there was no evidence that hacking affected the U.S. election results.

The Kremlin has rejected the hacking accusations and also hotly denied reports that it has collected compromising information about Trump.

Aware that an open show of support for Trump would only make it more difficult for him to restore ties, Russian officials have mostly focused on blasting Obama's administration.

Konstantin Kosachev, the head of foreign affairs committee in the upper house of parliament, described the White House's decision to expel Russian diplomats as an "agony of not even lame ducks, but political corpses."

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova went further.

"If 'Russian hackers' hacked anything in America, there were two things: Obama's brain, and, of course, the report about 'Russian hackers,'" she wrote on Facebook.

Zakharova charged that "Obama and his illiterate foreign policy team have dealt a crushing blow to America's prestige and leadership" and described his administration as "a bunch of geopolitical losers, enraged and shortsighted."

Obama's administration still has a few days left to "destroy the world," Zakharova wrote.

___

Associated Press writer Julie Pace in Washington, D.C., contributed to this story.
WASHINGTON (AP)  The Latest on President-elect Donald Trump (all times EST):

8:50 p.m.

President-elect Donald Trump says his plan to replace the nation's health care law will include "insurance for everybody."

Trump made the comment in an interview with the Washington Post published on Sunday.

The president-elect says: "We're going to have insurance for everybody. There was a philosophy in some circles that if you can't pay for it, you don't get it. That's not going to happen with us."

Trump declined to reveal any details.

An embrace of universal health care would mark a sharp break for most Republicans, as they plan to repeal and replace the current health care law.

A full repeal without an immediate replacement would strip health care insurance from millions of Americans.

Trump told the Post he expects Congress to address the issue in the coming weeks.

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8:45 p.m.

Donald Trump is lashing out at CIA chief John Brennan for saying the president-elect doesn't understand the threat posed by Russia.

Trump tweeted of Brennan, "Was this the leaker of Fake News?"

The Sunday night jab was a reference to a recent intelligence briefing that raised questions about Trump's connections to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

The CIA director said Sunday morning on Fox News that Trump lacks "full appreciation and understanding" of the implications of lifting sanctions on Russia.

Trump acknowledged Brennan's criticism and said he "couldn't do much worse" as president.

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6:30 p.m.

President-elect Donald Trump says Britain's decision to leave the European Union will "end up being a great thing." He's also predicting that the EU will continue to break apart.

The incoming president made the comments in an interview with The Times of London and Germany's Bild newspaper. Trump is set to take office on Friday.

He said Europeans are upset about an influx in immigrants and "want their own identity." He predicted that other countries would leave the European Union as well.

Story continues

He says: "I think it's gonna be very hard to keep it together because people are angry about it."

Trump indicated he doesn't care whether the EU stays together. His position marks a break from the Obama administration, which encouraged Britain to remain in the EU.

___

12:20 p.m.

The Trump team is taking a hard line on the ethics official who's questioned the president-elect's potential conflicts of interest.

Donald Trump aide Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) tells ABC's "This Week" that the independent watchdog "ought to be careful because that person is becoming extremely political."

"That person" is Walter Shaub Jr., director of the Office of Government Ethics.

Shaub has said the only way Trump could avoid a conflict of interest would be to divest from his business and place his assets in a blind trust.

Shaub has been summoned by the GOP chairman of the House Oversight Committee, Rep. Jason Chaffetz of Utah, to answer questions about his comments.

The committee's top Democrat, Rep. Elijah Cummings of Maryland, says Trump's team and Republicans are "engaged in a blatant, coordinated attack" against Shaub for doing his job.

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11:50 a.m.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence says it is "deeply disappointing" that civil rights icon John Lewis would question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's White House victory.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Pence said he respects "the sacrifice" the Georgia congressman made, but said that he is one of many people making "baseless assertions" that the president-elect's victory was illegitimate.

Trump tore into Lewis on Saturday, just days ahead of the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday.

Pence says that "Donald Trump has every right to defend himself."

He says the nation faces "deep challenges" and he hopes Lewis will reconsider his decision to boycott the inauguration and his remarks questioning Trump's victory.

___

11:15 a.m.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence says both he and Donald Trump welcome the oversight work by Congress into reports of Russian interference in the 2016 presidential election.

In an interview with CBS' "Face the Nation" on Sunday, Pence said the incoming administration believes there is "no evidence of impact on voting machines," adding that "Donald Trump won the election fair and square."

He said that "we certainly respect the right of Congress to provide oversight and make inquiries where they see appropriate," but he said that "the American people have spoken."

President-elect Trump has described reports questioning the legitimacy of his White House victory as a "witch hunt." Pence said Sunday that there are efforts by the national media to "demean and question the legitimacy of this incoming administration."

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11:10 a.m.

Vice President-elect Mike Pence is calling the timing of a conversation between Donald Trump's national security adviser and the Russian ambassador to the U.S. "strictly coincidental."

In an interview with CBS's "Face the Nation," Pence says retired Gen. Michael Flynn sent a text message to the Russian ambassador wishing him a Merry Christmas and offering his condolences for a recent Russian plane crash.

Pence says, "it was strictly coincidental that they had a conversation" as new sanctions were announced. He insists the discussion did not address a decision by the Obama administration to expel Russian diplomats or extend sanctions over recent allegations that the Russian government interfered with the U.S. presidential election.

Speaking on "Fox News Sunday," Pence also says the Trump presidential campaign had no contacts with the Russians ahead of the election.

___

10:55 a.m.

Sen. Rand Paul says that Rep. John Lewis' record as a civil rights icon shouldn't make him immune to criticism and debate.

In an interview Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union," the Kentucky Republican addressed President-elect Donald Trump's recent accusations that Lewis' district is "crime infested" and that he is "''All talk, talk, talk  no action or results," after Lewis questioned the legitimacy of Trump's White House victory.

Paul said he has a great deal of respect for Lewis, but "he's a partisan and I disagree with him on a great deal of issues."

He said, "I should be able to disagree with him and not to have it all come back to I have no appreciation for a civil rights icon because of this, and I think that's the part that I think is unfair."

___

10:35 a.m.

Sen. Bernie Sanders is so steamed about the FBI director that he thinks James Comey may want to find another job.

The Vermont senator  who ran against Hillary Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination  is among the lawmakers still angry about how Comey handled the election-year inquiry into Clinton's private email practices.

And now Comey is refusing to say whether the FBI is investigating possible links between President-elect Donald Trump's campaign and Russia.

Sanders tells ABC's "This Week" he thinks Comey "should take a hard look at what he has done. And I think it would not be a bad thing for the American people if he did step down."

The Justice Department's internal watchdog announced last week that he's investigating Comey and the department.

Some Democrats blame Comey's statements and actions in part for Clinton's loss to Donald Trump.

Trump's incoming White House chief of staff says the president-elect has confidence in Comey. Speaking on the same show, Reince Priebus describes Comey as "extremely competent" and says there are no plans to cut short his term as FBI director.

__

10:20 a.m.

CIA Director John Brennan says Donald Trump's "talking and tweeting" is not in the nation's interest and that the president-elect lacks a full understanding of the threat Russia poses to the U.S.

Brennan said Sunday the national security questions Trump will face after becoming president on Friday are not "about him." Brennan added that Trump needs to understand that "he's going to have an opportunity to do something for our national security as opposed to talking and tweeting." Such spontaneity, Brennan said, is not in the nation's national security interests.

Brennan said intelligence officials briefed Trump on a dossier of unverified but potentially damaging information Russia had on him because it was well known and they wanted the president-elect to be aware of it.

The CIA director spoke on "Fox News Sunday." Trump's choice to lead the agency is former Rep. Mike Pompeo.

___

10:10 a.m.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff says the president has sought an assessment on any interference in the 2016 election so that policymakers could address the issue.

Denis McDonough says it is "important for the president that we get a full assessment" to brief policymakers so they can "implement policies to make sure that doesn't happen again."

President-elect Donald Trump has lashed out at those who have suggested his win was aided by Russian involvement.

Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," McDonough said the intelligence community is "staffed by an unbelievably cadre of professionals" and he dismissed the notion that they would seek to undermine Trump's victory as Trump has suggested.

___

9:55 a.m.

Donald Trump's team is still plenty steamed after a leading House Democrat described Trump as an illegitimate president  and there are now calls for President Barack Obama to act.

Trump's incoming White House chief of staff says the congressman, civil rights leader John Lewis of Georgia, is being "irresponsible" and has started a "firestorm."

Reince Priebus (ryns PREE'-bus) tells NBC's "Meet the Press" that Obama should "step up" and "call it what it is  it's wrong what is happening, it's wrong how some of these Democrats are treating President-elect Trump."

Lewis had told NBC that he didn't see Trump "as a legitimate president," and believes that Russian meddling in the election helped put Trump in office.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff addressed Preibus' call in a separate interview. Speaking on CNN's "State of the Union," Denis McDonough said "the president is not going to get in the middle of this right now."

___

9:35 a.m.

President Barack Obama's chief of staff says Donald Trump should mend relations with civil rights legend Rep. John Lewis to send a message to the American people and the world.

The president-elect tore into Lewis on Saturday for questioning the legitimacy of his White House victory, intensifying a feud with the black congressman days before the national holiday honoring Martin Luther King Jr.

Obama's chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told CNN's "State of the Union" that Trump should address his differences with Lewis to "send a message to the American people not only that we are willing to work together, but to the Russians that we are united."

McDonough noted that Trump should recognize the role Lewis has played to advance civil rights policies, saying Lewis fought, bled and went to jail for the cause.

___

This story has been corrected in the 11:50 a.m. item to say Pence is vice president-elect, not president-elect. Also corrects reference to Britain, instead London, leaving the European Union and that Trump's interview was with the Times of London, not the Sunday Times.
Pilot stress blamed for Fishtail chopper crash

Pilot stress has been cited as the probable reason for the crash of a Fishtail Air helicopter in Nuwakot last August, an investigation report submitted to the Tourism Ministry on Sunday said.
Paris (AFP) - Domination of social media was a key weapon in Donald Trump's rise to the US presidency, and now France's far-right leader, Marine Le Pen, is looking to follow suit, analysts say.

Le Pen has more than a million followers on both Twitter and Facebook, giving her a bigger social media platform than any other candidate for the French presidency.

Her party, the National Front (FN), is a veteran presence on the internet -- it was the first political group in France to launch a website, back in 1996.

Now the party is trying to use the digital world to trump mainstream rivals and bypass the traditional media, "to speak directly to the public."

"The advantage of social media", says political communication expert Christian Delporte, "is that you don't have any opposition. You have your say, and you're not bothered by a journalist who may contradict you."

FN supporters are already highly active on Twitter, Facebook and other digital vectors, targeting especially the conservatives' champion, Francois Fillon.

One method is to undermine Fillion by alleging he has Islamist leanings -- a "fake news" tactic of a kind that was all too familiar in the US presidential campaign.

Two hashtags in this regard have been #LeVraiFillon ("#the real Fillon") and #FaridFillon.

They are campaigns where trolls try to tie the former prime minister -- who has written a book called "Beating Islamic Fundamentalism" -- to the Islamist cause.

The FN denied being behind the hashtags but when asked about it, Le Pen added fuel to the fire: "The real question is, what is Francois Fillon's relationship with Islamist fundamentalists?"

- 'Change the narrative'

Also in the far-right sights is former economy minister and centrist independent candidate Emmanuel Macron. He and Fillon are expected to be key challengers to Le Pen's hopes of winning the presidency in the April and May election rounds.

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"#Macron minister of the economy that's 400,000 more homeless," the FN's general secretary, Nicolas Bay, tweeted on Thursday.

Social media bombardment circumvents the mainstream media, thus avoiding negative or allegedly unfair treatment in that sphere.

Trump was largely vilified in the traditional press but used Twitter, where he has around 20 million followers, to share his message and attack his opponents.

"Trump had a way of taking to Twitter and could literally change the narrative because he had such a large following," digital analyst Alan Rosenblatt said after the November election.

"It became possible for him to construct an alternate narrative, I would say an alternate reality," said another commentator, Gabriel Kahn.

The FN's approach is somewhat different, firing out its message across several different social media accounts at the same time.

But, like Trump's, it seeks to craft the image of a movement that is supported by the majority and whose ideas are mainstream, not fringe.

It also skilfully taps into online support from hardline rightwingers by using "better-chosen words" to convey extremist views, said Dominique Albertini, author of a book called the "Fachosphere".

- Steamroller -

As election time looms, commentators expect the FN and its supporters to mount a crescendo of tweets and hashtags, creating "trending topics" intended to lure other users.

The barrage will polish Le Pen's image, denigrate her rivals and hound critics -- and make her appear to be the vanguard of an unstoppable movement.

The steamroller tactic is a hallmark of Trump's stunning political upset.

The FN revels in its digital strength, describing it as an ability to reach directly to hearts and minds.

"It's working like a dream, the others are really struggling to respond," said Le Pen's campaign director, David Rachline.

But dominating social media is no guarantee of success at the ballot box. Digital and political cultures vary, as Austria's presidential elections last month showed.

Far-right Freedom Party candidate Norbert Hofer was beaten by Alexander Van der Bellen of the Greens, even though Hofer flooded social media in the runup to the vote.
By Yimou Lee and Antoni Slodkowski YANGON (Reuters) - Myanmar's strongest ethnic armed group is set for its biggest leadership shake-up in a quarter century, senior sources told Reuters, raising the prospect of a period of instability in a group that is key to Aung San Suu Kyi's signature peace process. The United Wa State Army (UWSA) boasts some 30,000 soldiers who control a secretive, China-dominated statelet the size of Belgium in the remote hills on Myanmar's eastern border. This year the group's political wing, the United Wa State Party (UWSP), is holding elections for the first time since 1992, with at least some of the old guard who have led the statelet since its 1989 formation set to stand down, three senior Wa officials said. "The election will also include the chairman, but whether he will be replaced is unknown," said one of the sources. "Those who are sick or old would retire. The party is going to cultivate a new group of young talents," the person added, referring to the party's top decision-making Politburo. A second Wa official with direct knowledge of the matter described the vote as an "earth-shattering" event within the reclusive Wa State hierarchy. Reuters visited the self-proclaimed Wa State in October - a rare trip by a major international news organisation - where officials described for the first time its inner workings. The reshuffle could pose a new headache for Suu Kyi's nine-month-old civilian administration, already grappling with escalating clashes between government forces and other ethnic armed groups along the mountainous border with China and a military crackdown in the Muslim-majority northwest that has sent 65,000 people fleeing to neighboring Bangladesh. After sweeping to power following a November 2015 election, Nobel Peace Prize laureate Suu Kyi has made ending the ethnic conflicts that kept Myanmar in a state of perpetual civil war through decades of military rule a priority. As the biggest ethnic army, the UWSA will be crucial to the success of that goal, but the group has so far declined to actively participate in the peace process launched by Suu Kyi last year. "Suu Kyi's peace process is almost impossible without Wa's participation," said Yangon-based political analyst Soe Naing, a former member of the Central Committee of the UWSP. "Wa is a mediator between government and several ethnic armed groups who are still fighting against the Myanmar army." ROTATING LEADER The Wa State, which has not fought the Myanmar army in years but has declined to disarm, is currently led by UWSP Chairman Pao Yu Hsiang, a veteran of the Communist Party of Burma, which disintegrated and split into various ethnic factions in the late 1980s. Pao is in poor health that prevents him from traveling, but remains the ultimate decision-maker, three sources close to the leadership said. The UWSP operates on a rotating duty leader system. This means the four most senior leaders in the Politburo, Deputy Chairman Hsiao Ming Liang, Defence Minister Chao Chung Tan and two other top leaders, rotate on a monthly basis. Pao no longer participates due to his sickness, but makes key decisions. The party has about 15,000 members and closely resembles China's Communist Party leadership structure. There are nine standing members of the Politburo. Wei Hsueh Kang, who is wanted by the United States on drug trafficking charges, and his brother Wei Hseuh Yun run the southern part of the state and are counted as its eighth and ninth members, at the bottom of the hierarchy, according to the two sources close to the leadership. The second rung of decision-making is the Central Committee with up to 30 additional members, followed by a larger body of some 700 party representatives, who would take part in the rare leadership change vote in mid-2017. Anthony Davis, a Bangkok-based analyst for security consulting firm IHS-Jane's, said it was important to watch for potential rifts between different clans within the UWSP. One constant is likely to remain China's heavy influence in the Chinese-speaking Wa territory. "We should send the new generation of leaders to China for its comprehensive training of political economy," said one of the senior officials, who will stand down after the elections. "That would help them master their important job in the future." (Reporting by Antoni Slodkowski and Yimou Lee; Additional reporting by Shwe Yee Saw Myin and Wa Lone; Editing by Alex Richardson)
From January 18 to 22, the London Art Fair will showcase Modern British art in a program that includes curated sections devoted to emerging artists and photography in addition to its main event. On the program this year are an exhibition honoring the ten-year anniversary of the Lightbox gallery and a focus on photographic depictions of adolescence.

With its January spot on the calendar, the London Art Fair is said to launch the art world year with its program featuring more than 100 carefully selected galleries from the UK and worldwide.



For its 29th edition, the fair has partnered with the Lightbox gallery and museum in Woking, Surrey to present "Ten Years: A Century of Art," celebrating the venue's tenth anniversary with an exhibition in the London Art Fair's entrance pavilion.

On display will be significant works of painting, drawing and sculpture from the Ingram Collection, considered to be one of Europe's most significant collections of Modern British art. Key works by 20th-century artists including Henri Gaudier-Brzeska, Barbara Hepworth, Henry Moore, Ben Nicholson and Eric Ravilious will serve to tell the story of a century of British art.



Photo50, an annual guest-curated exhibition focusing on current photographic practice, will this year feature a group exhibition titled "Gravitas," highlighting photographers who explore the themes of children, adolescence and coming of age.



For Photo50 curator Christiane Monarchi, the topic is particularly worth examining "at a time when childhood itself comes under increasing pressure from society in many real and virtual arenas."



Art Projects, another curated section that is dedicated to cultivating emerging galleries and artists, will for the fourth year feature "Dialogues" -- five pairs of collaborations between galleries in different parts of the world. The Art Projects program, which will feature large-scale installations, solo shows and thematic group displays, is said to be the most international yet, with non-UK galleries making up two-fifths of exhibitors.



On the Art Projects program will be collaborations between the South African artist Beezy Bailey and composer Brian Eno, brought by Portugal's Perve Galeria, and "Lay of the Land (and other such Myths)," an exhibition by Victoria Lucas, 2016 winner of the Solo Award for contemporary art, from Chiara Williams Contemporary Art in London.



Find out more about the London Art Fair at www.londonartfair.co.uk.




Connie and Kris Mayhew, Madrid, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

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MADRID, N.M.  State Highway 14 south of Santa Fe is known as the Turquoise Trail, named for the vivid blue-green stone found sprinkled here in the rocky landscape of the Ortiz Mountains.

Though it is often brilliant in color, locals say turquoise can be hard to spot. One could make the same argument about Republicans here in Santa Fe County, one of the bluest regions in the country, where more than two-thirds of registered voters are Democrats. In November, Hillary Clinton trounced Donald Trump here by nearly 50 percent in one of her least surprising victories.

But just like that random spotting of turquoise, Trump supporters do, in fact, exist here, though not as openly as in other parts of the country. Along a winding canyon stretch of the highway is a former coal-mining ghost town turned artist enclave called Madrid (pronounced Mad-rid), where Connie Mayhew and her husband, Kris, broke with their neighbors to back the New York billionaire for president. It caused a little tension in this tiny town of fewer than 200 where almost everybody knows everybody and most people were backing Clinton.

We kinda have to walk on eggshells, Kris said, as Connie nodded.

We know who we can talk to, she added.

Its all like, you know, hand signals, Kris laughed.

Connies Photo Park, Madrid, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

But now that Trump is the president-elect, the couple is more open about their enthusiasm for the businessman and what they are expecting him to do in the White House. Originally from Texas, the Mayhews relocated to New Mexico full-time several years ago. They live off the grid on 45 acres outside of town, where they are building a house that will run on solar energy.

Story continues

In town, they own two other plots. On one, Connie, an artist, operates Connies Photo Park, a roadside attraction off the highway featuring more than a dozen hand-painted wooden stand-up figures where visitors can poke their head through a hole and appear as space aliens, monkeys, cowboys and even motorcycle buddies in a scene straight out of Easy Rider. Connie paints the scenes on lumber donated by friends and neighbors or purchased with donations from the many visitors who pull off the road here.

The couple tries to maintain as small a financial footprint as possible. They no longer use credit cards, and while they have mortgages for the land, they try to live off only what they make here, which isnt much. It wasnt always this way.

Kris, a former real estate broker, used to buy property around the state that the couple would rehab on their own and rent or sell, but when the recession hit, it became harder to make ends meet. They took on construction work at other properties and odd jobs to keep afloat. They didnt mind working hard, and they didnt need a lot, as Kris explained. But they became bitter when they would see neighbors who didnt have jobs and relied on welfare with better cars and lifestyles. Why were they working so hard and seeing so little in return?

They sold their properties, gathered their savings and moved to Madrid, where theyre tying to forge a simpler, cheaper life.

Connies Photo Park, Madrid, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

But they were energized by Trumps message and even more so by his victory. In him, they see someone who understands and cares about working people like them. The whole excitement for America, and bringing America back to where it should be, helping small businesspeople, all the things he talked about  it was just really exciting to me, Connie said.

Among other things, they are looking for Trump to deliver on tax cuts and incentives for small business. They also want to him to restructure Obamacare to do whatever he can to bring down premiums and make it more affordable  perhaps by loosening restrictions to allow more competition between insurance companies in different states. The couple currently pays cash for their medical visits because they couldnt afford to pay the premium, which was more than $500 a month combined. Fortunately, theres been nothing major, Kris said.

They want Trump to deliver on his promises to create jobs and to press companies to keep more of their operations in the U.S. instead of going overseas. More than anything, they are hopeful that Trump can bring economic recovery to New Mexico, which has not recovered as quickly as other parts of the country in the aftermath of the recession. The states unemployment rate is 6.7 percent, one of the highest in the country, in part due to losses in manufacturing and energy jobs. When Barack Obama and others talked about the nation being back on track, the Mayhews simply didnt feel that recovery.

Kris Mayhew in Madrid, N.M. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

But they are hopeful about Trump. Kris wants to renew his real estate license and get back to selling property, and the couple has dreams of opening up a little restaurant on the plot of land next to Connies Photo Park, grilling burgers and hot dogs for the folks who pass through here on Highway 14. Maybe this time next year, Kris said.

Were just excited, Connie said. Were just ready to keep going, moving forward and to keep it going.
Police seize 15kg gold, arrest jeep driver

Police seized 15 kilograms of gold worth Rs 70 million in the wee hours of Saturday from Balaju in the Capital. The gold biscuits were hidden in the bonnet of a Tata Sumo.
Restructuring report puts govt in dilemma

Just as the government continues to say the focus should be on holding elections, it fails to clear the confusion over the implementation of a report on local level restructuring, stoking uncertainty over polls.
Martin Luther King Jr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Georgia on Jan. 15, 1929. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and civil rights leader who practiced peaceful non-violent civil disobedience in protest to racial inequality. (AP Photo)

Martin Luther King Jr. was born in Atlanta, Ga., on Jan. 15, 1929. King was a Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and civil rights leader who practiced peaceful, nonviolent civil disobedience to protest racial inequality.

In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolent resistance. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year, he and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include opposition to poverty and the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled Beyond Vietnam.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, by James Earl Ray in Memphis, Tenn., while planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., for the Poor Peoples Campaign. Riots broke out in cities around the U.S. in response to Kings death. (AP)

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SEE MORE of our coverage of The King Assassination  50 Years Later >>>

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By William James and Estelle Shirbon LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Theresa May will call on Britons to reject the acrimony of the Brexit referendum in a speech this week that some newspapers have billed as setting the stage for a "hard" exit from the European Union. Investors will scrutinise May's speech on Tuesday for clues on whether she plans to prioritise immigration controls and bilateral trade deals in a "hard Brexit" that would see Britain leave the EU's single market and customs union. May intends to launch by the end of March the formal process of negotiating the terms of Britain's exit from the EU, but has so far given very little away about what deal she will be seeking, frustrating some investors, businesses and lawmakers. May's speech will stress the need for Britons, who voted for Brexit by 52 to 48 percent in last June's referendum, to unite around common goals such as protecting and enhancing workers' rights, her Downing Street office said in a statement. "Now we need to put an end to the division and the language associated with it  'Leaver' and 'Remainer' and all the accompanying insults  and unite to make a success of Brexit and build a truly global Britain," May is expected to say. The speech extracts cited in the statement did not say whether she would reveal her stance on the single market or immigration, but the Sunday Times quoted an unnamed source in May's office as saying her words were likely to cause a market correction. A spokesman told Reuters such reports were speculative and did not comment further. After May said in a TV interview last week that post-Brexit Britain would not be able to keep "bits" of its EU membership, the pound fell sharply as the comment was interpreted as signalling a clean break from the EU's single market - the biggest destination for British exports. In the Brexit negotiations, the EU is likely to insist on freedom of movement for its citizens in return for full access to the single market, but many of those who voted for Brexit did so precisely in order to be able to restrict immigration. EU TRADE WAR British finance minister Philip Hammond was quoted on Sunday as saying the country could change its economic model to regain competitiveness if it were to leave the EU without an agreement on access to the single market. His comments, from an interview with German newspaper Welt am Sonntag, were interpreted as a warning that Britain could use its corporate tax rate as a form of leverage in negotiations. "He appears to be making a sort of threat to the European community," said Jeremy Corbyn, leader of Britain's main opposition Labour Party. "It seems to me a recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe in the future." Nevertheless, Corbyn said he would not block the triggering of 'Article 50' - the legal process of leaving the EU. An upcoming legal ruling might insist that May gets parliamentary approval for her plan to trigger Article 50 by the end of March. In an article in the Sunday Times, Brexit minister David Davis wrote that Britain would consider ways to extend or smooth the exit process to provide certainty for businesses. "If it proves necessary, we have said we will consider time for implementation of new arrangements," he wrote. (Editing by Gareth Jones and Susan Fenton)
PHILADELPHIA (AP)  The mayor of Philadelphia is taking issue with a new rule banning people from sitting on walls in a park in a posh section of the city, saying his attitude is: "Sit where you want."

The group that manages the Rittenhouse Square park said the ban on sitting on walls near a fountain was imposed Thursday after neighbors complained that the practice led to pot smoking. Jackie Whyte, of Friends of Rittenhouse, a nonprofit group in partnership with the city, said the decision stemmed from "continuous vandalism and marijuana smoking."

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported that neighbors packed a meeting four months ago complaining about loitering, homeless people and pot smoking. The walls were specifically cited as attracting large groups who engaged in drug use.

The city decriminalized possession of small amounts of marijuana in 2014. The walls are popular places to sit at lunchtime, especially in warmer months as benches fill with office workers and area residents.

A Facebook group had organized a "Sittenhouse Lunch Time Sit-On" to perch on walls in protest of the ban. The group noted that following Mayor Jim Kenney's post on Twitter, they will celebrate their success by sitting on the wall during lunch Tuesday.

The Democratic Kenney said on Twitter Saturday night that he was among those "frustrated" about the issue, saying "the government is very large and at times things just get by you." But he concluded "Sit where you want"  a message accompanied with a "peace sign" emoji.

"Along with my liberal view of park use, please don't litter, or graffiti the walls or smoke weed so obviously that you scare olds my age," the mayor said in a second Twitter post that was accompanied by a smiley-face icon.
MEXICO CITY (AP)  Officials in a northern Mexico border state have signed an agreement with a group of Argentine forensic experts to cooperate in the search for and identification of missing people.

The Coahuila state prosecutor's office announced Saturday in a statement that it would work with the Argentine Forensic Anthropology Team to gain access to genetic databases in the region. Relatives in several countries have provided genetic samples with the hope of locating their loved ones.

Team member Mercedes Doretti says they hope to resolve and also to help to establish processes that can help state authorities in their searches.

Last year, Gov. Ruben Moreira promised families searching for relatives that the state would invest the necessary resources and seek expertise.
Miley Cyrus threw a weed party in celebration of the birthdays of some special people in her life. The bash, which was for Liam Hemsworth and Mileys younger sister Noah, featured goodie bags with marijuana. After the event, Miley took to social media to express how happy she was because of it.

Even though Miley did not show her fans that she bawled her eyes out following the party, she did post on Instagram a close-up snap of her right eye shut with her index finger with a teardrop tattoo placed just below it. The image artistically conveys that Miley was crying because of the weed party. Instead of captioning the photo with words, Cyrus also opted to use teardrop emojis and the hashtag #bestpartyever to express what she was feeling.

Many of Mileys fans quickly left sweet messages for the princess of pop on the photo-sharing platform. One wrote: Awww live I feel so glad to know that you is [sic] havin [sic] such a good time you properly deserve. Another chimed in: You always make me smile and now you are making me cry.

The party was not only held for Hemsworth and Noah, but also for Mileys good friend, Flaming Lips frontman Wayne Coyne. Noahs birthday was on Jan. 8, while Hemsworth and Coyne were both born on Jan. 13. On Friday, Miley greeted her boyfriend and dear friend by giving them shoutouts on Instagram.

For Hemsworth, Miley posted a selfie featuring her and her lover, and she wrote that she was very happy to celebrate the birthday of her favorite being EVER, who also happens to be her best friend. For Coyne, Miley uploaded a collage showing her gigs with him, and she recognized in the caption that LIFE IS A CELEBRATION.

During the weed party, Miley posed for the camera with Coyne and the latters girlfriend, Katy Weaver. The We Cant Stop hitmaker also uploaded a pic showing her standing in front of the weed bar at the event. In the post, she thanked Snoop Dogg and the rappers Merry Jane company for the goodie bags filled with marijuana.

Story continues

"The party was intimate, mostly close friends and family," an insider told Us Weekly. "It was very fun and everyone had a really relaxed time. Miley was socializing with all the guests and was super nice."

Miley Cyrus

Photo: Reuters/Gus Ruelas

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A number of districts in the western region are facing cooking gas shortage, as dealers have stopped sales since January 4 after bottling plants slashed the commission rate for retailers.
BAGHDAD (AP) -- U.S.-backed Iraqi government troops on Sunday fully liberated the sprawling complex of Mosul University, an Iraqi military spokesman said, a major step in the massive operation to retake the Islamic State group-held city of Mosul.

The spokesman for the Joint Military Command, Brig. Gen. Yahya Rasool, declared the campus was under the full control of Iraqi special forces, officially known as the Counter Terrorism Service, who raised the Iraqi flag over its buildings.

The troops searched campus buildings and removed bombs left by IS militants, Brig. Gen. Haider Fadhil of the special forces said. Fadhil added that the troops also entered the nearby Andalus neighborhood, which he expected would be fully retaken later in the day.

Iraqi forces had entered the university grounds Friday and managed to secure more than half of the campus the next day amid tough resistance from IS militants, who mainly deployed sniper and mortar fire to slow down the advancing troops.

Sunday's progress is the latest in a string of swift territorial gains in recent weeks by the U.S.-backed Iraqi military. Some 30,000 troops  a force that includes not only Iraq's conventional army but an array of other armed groups, including Shiite and Sunni paramilitary troops and Kurdish fighters  are taking part in the Mosul offensive which begun October 17.

The Islamic State group captured Mosul in 2014 along with nearly a third of Iraqi territory and large parts of neighboring Syria. Iraq's second-largest city, Mosul is the last major IS urban bastion in the country.
By Michael Holden LONDON (Reuters) - Rona Jeff loved her job as a PR consultant for an education charity in central London. But last month she quit. Her train commute had become so unbearable it was ruining her health. "It became untenable to try to go to work," said Jeff, whose journey into London from Brighton on England's south coast should have taken just over an hour, but was regularly taking 4 1/2 hours because of cancellations, slow-downs and strikes. She rarely saw her husband, gave up a photography class, repeatedly canceled plans with friends, missed a theater performance after saving up for tickets. Finally, the stress was wrecking her sleep: "It got to the point where I was ill." Southern Rail, one of more than a dozen privatized railways that bring commuters into London, has seen 25 days of strikes over 10 months. Even when staff are not officially striking, workers have been calling in sick en masse and refusing overtime, causing trains to be canceled and timetables cut. When trains do run, nearly 40 percent are late. For a labor dispute on a railway with just 4,000 employees, the costs have been colossal. Hundreds of thousands of people are regularly affected. A university study last month estimated the dispute had so far cost the economy 300 million pounds. Officially, the argument is over a seemingly small issue: who should open and close train doors. That task now sometimes falls to conductors who ride in train carriages; Southern says train drivers can do it themselves. The unions say that would be dangerous. Management says it is the practice on other lines and deemed safe by regulators. It would mean trains could sometimes run without a guard on board, although the company says it has no plans to reduce staff and will keep "supervisors" on trains to help passengers. Despite the narrow issue, both sides accuse their opponents of having far bigger aims, turning it into the most consequential industrial action in Britain for decades. Members of the ruling Conservative party say militant unions are deliberately fomenting commuter chaos for political reasons. Unions and the opposition Labour Party say the government is prolonging the feud to break the back of the labor movement. And it could get worse. Unions are threatening more strikes against other railways. Conservative politicians are calling for changes to laws to make such strikes more difficult, or even ban them, a step which would be seen as a broad attack on labor. Already the worst industrial dispute on Britain's railways since privatization, it lends Prime Minister Theresa May's new tenure an echo of the era of her hero Margaret Thatcher, who transformed and polarized Britain by crushing its coal miners. Since Thatcher left office in 1990, Britain has experienced nearly three decades of labor peace, with only a fraction of the thousands of days per year lost to strikes that were typical from the 1950s through the 1980s. http://tmsnrt.rs/2iA784k The left bemoans the loss of union power. The right considers it a triumph, now under threat from union militants. "Not for a generation has Britain faced industrial militancy intended to bring down an elected government," wrote London's right-leaning Times newspaper in an editorial. "It does so again now, not in the mining industry, as Margaret Thatchers administration faced in the 1980s, but in the transport sector." NO INCENTIVE Under Britain's complex 1990s rail privatization, tracks and train cars are still state-owned, but trains are run by private firms which in most cases keep the revenue from the tickets they sell, giving them an incentive to avert disruptive disputes. But Southern, run by Govia Thameslink Railway (GTR) - a joint venture owned by London-listed Go-Ahead and France's Keoli - works differently: the state collects ticket revenue and pays the firm to run the trains. That means when service is disrupted, the taxpayer loses money, not the company. "Govia have no incentive to settle because they are not being hit financially," said Roger Seifert, a professor of industrial relations at Wolverhampton Business School. "That is just a mess. If you go anywhere in the world you couldn't find a worse system of running a railway, it's laughable." So far, the government has refused to talk to the unions unless they first call off the strikes. Transport Secretary Chris Grayling echoes management's position that the unions are striking for no good reason. "Nobody is losing their job, nobody is losing any money," he said of the plan to let drivers operate the doors. "It is perfectly safe as judged by the independent rail inspectorate. There is no reason for this strike to be happening." Union supporters say the government has not only refused to help end the dispute, it has egged it on, saddling taxpayers with the cost and passengers with the misery. They point to a senior Department for Transport official who, before the strikes began last year, said "we have got to break" the unions. Workers "will have to decide if they want to give a good service or get the hell out of my industry," the official, Peter Wilkinson, was quoted as saying in the Croydon Advertiser, a local newspaper in a suburb served by Southern. If the government is hoping to win public backing for a hard line, it does not seem to be working. Research suggests that while passengers are angry at both sides, they blame the company more than the unions, said Professor Seifert. Even some Conservative members of parliament now say the government should step in to resolve the dispute, or strip Southern of its franchise. Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has offered to picket alongside striking workers. Southern and the unions show no sign of settling. The company says it will take ASLEF, the union representing its drivers, to the Supreme Court to try to halt further strikes this month. "We're not going to give in," Chief Operating Officer Nick Brown told BBC radio. ASLEF General Secretary Mike Whelan called the company "bullies" and also vowed not to concede. The RMT, a separate union which represents the guards, has threatened to hit other train companies, giving operators of two franchises in northern England until Jan. 26 to provide assurances over guard posts. Adam Marshall, Director General of the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said businesses across Britain were worried. "A wave of further rail strikes like the one in the south east would hit investment, job creation and confidence, and undermine the livelihoods of millions of people." For passengers like Jeff, who since quitting her London job now works freelance at a job she can reach in an hour by car, there are no good guys. "They are like children in the playground," she said. "I just would really like them to grow up and get round the table and sort this out." ($1 = 0.8261 pounds) (Editing by Guy Faulconbridge and Peter Graff)
An artists conception shows Moon Express lander extending its robotic arm to take a selfie of the spacecraft on the lunar surface with Earth in the background. (Credit: Moon Express)

An executive at Moon Express has been widely quoted as saying his company has reached its funding goal for this years planned commercial mission to the lunar surface, thanks to $20 million in new investment.

We now have all the resources in place to shoot for the moon, the Florida-based companys CEO, Bob Richards, said in a statement. Our goal is to expand Earths social and economic sphere to the moon, our largely unexplored eighth continent, and enable a new era of low-cost lunar exploration and development for students, scientists, space agencies and commercial interests.

Space News quoted Richards as saying that the latest round of investment includes contributions from new and existing investors, including the companys chairman and co-founder, Seattle-area tech entrepreneur Naveen Jain.

He not only participated at a significant financial level, but also gave other investors the confidence through his commitment that they should invest as well, Richards told Space News in an interview.

Jain declined to comment on Space News report, or several other reports that were published today.

In addition to Jain, the investors in Moon Express include Autodesk, Social Capital and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiels Founders Fund.

Moon Express has preliminary approval for its payload from the U.S. government. It has its spacecraft, and it has a verified contract for the launch of its lander. The one big-ticket item it doesnt have is a rocket thats been flight-tested.

Story continues

Moon Express contract calls on Los Angeles-based Rocket Lab to send its MX-1E lander into low Earth orbit atop a low-cost Electron rocket thats to be launched from New Zealand. The lander has to be launched this year to meet the deadline for the $30 million Google Lunar X Prize competition.

The contests $20 million top prize would go to the first team to put a spacecraft on the lunar surface, travel at least 500 meters (three-tenths of a mile) and send live video and pictures back to Earth. But if no team pulls off the feat by the end of 2017, the money goes unwon.

Rocket Lab has finished construction of its rocket complex on New Zealands Mahia Peninsula, and it has finished ground testing of the Electrons liquid-fueled Rutherford rocket engine. It still lacks the New Zealand governments authorization for launch, however, and thus has not yet conducted any flight tests.

Moon Express and Rocket Lab are counting on the schedule to come together in time for a moonshot by the end of the year. In the meantime, Moon Express is reportedly beefing up the propulsion system on its spacecraft to make sure the lander can bridge the gap between low Earth orbit and the lunar surface.

At least four other Google Lunar X Prize teams  SpaceIL, Synergy Moon, Team Indus and Team Hakuto  have secured verified contracts for launch. One additional team, PTScientists, has said its waiting for the contest organizers to verify its arrangements with Seattle-based Spaceflight.

This report has been updated after contacting Naveen Jain.

More from GeekWire:
Jerusalem (AFP) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday dismissed as "futile" an international conference in Paris seeking to revive the moribund Israeli-Palestinian peace process.

"The conference convening today in Paris is a futile conference," he told ministers at the start of a weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"It was coordinated between the French and the Palestinians with the aim of imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs," he said.

Netanyahu's government has bitterly opposed the conference, saying only direct talks with the Palestinians can end the long-running conflict.

The Palestinians have welcomed the multilateral approach, saying years of negotiations with the Israelis have not ended the occupation of the West Bank.

The conference is being held without either the Israelis or the Palestinians, but Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas will meet French President Francois Hollande in the coming weeks to be briefed on the outcome, French diplomats said.

Netanyahu declined a similar invitation, they said.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault formally opened the assembly of foreign ministers and representatives from around 70 countries and international organisations.

"We are here to reiterate strongly that the two-state solution is the only one possible," Ayrault said.

The conference comes just five days before the inauguration of US President-elect Donald Trump, who has vowed unstinting support for Israel.

Israel fears measures discussed at the conference could be taken to the UN Security Council before Trump takes office.

In a break with previous administrations, Trump has pledged to recognise Jerusalem as Israel's capital and relocate the US embassy there from Tel Aviv.

Abbas warned Saturday that such a move could "bury the hopes for a two-state solution".

The city's status is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict, which is why foreign embassies are currently based in Tel Aviv.

Story continues

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

Hard-line Israeli lawmakers, including some from Netanyahu's Likud party, have said Trump's win represents an opportunity to quash the chance of Palestinians obtaining an independent state.

Netanyahu, who says he still supports a two-state solution, appeared in his comments on Sunday to be looking forward to the impending change in the White House.

"This conference is among the last spasms of yesterday's world," he said. "Tomorrow will look different and tomorrow is very close."
The Florida newborn abducted from her family in the hospital in July 1998 has reunited with her family after 18 years.

Kamiyah Mobley, who was taken from the hospital when she was just a few hours old, reconnected with her biological parentsfather, Craig Aiken and mother, Shanara Mobleyin a 45-minute private reunion on Saturday at the Walterboro Police Department, CBS affiliate WCSC reported.

First meeting was beautiful, it was wonderful, couldnt went no better  she was glad to meet us, Aiken said.

Mobley was found living in Walterboro, South Carolina living under a false identity apparently created for her following her abduction, Jacksonville Sheriff Mike Williams said at a news conference on Friday.

Gloria Williams, the woman suspected to have kidnapped Mobley, was arrested Friday and charged with first-degree kidnapping and third-degree interference with custody, prosecutors said. According to reports, Mobley was taken by a woman posing as a healthcare worker; her family believed the woman was a nurse while the hospital thought she as a relative.

Mobleys family said they were not sure what their next steps will be.

Its a feeling that you cant explain it, its hard to put it in words right now its hard to deal with this here right now, Aiken said. We are just trying to process it, 18 years, its going to be hard to make that up.
Photo credit: Getty

From Cosmopolitan

Nutella has launched a large advertising campaign in response to a European Food Safety Authority study claiming palm oil, one of the spreads main ingredients, may contain a carcinogen, Reuters reports.



The study was particularly concerned with young peoples consumption of palm oil (Nutella is a popular part of breakfast for Italian children, Reuters notes), though the research showed there was reason to believe palm oil consumption held risk for adults as well: The Panel concluded that GE [glycidyl fatty acid esters, which are present in palm oil] is a potential health concern for all younger age groups with average exposures, and for consumers with high exposure in all age groups. They label the compound as genotoxic and carcinogenic and note more of the potentially harmful substance was found in palm oil which was refined for food processing (which the spread of course is).

Ferrero, the parent company of Nutella, which makes up one-fifth of its sales, points to the fact no official results or recommendations were borne of the study. Further research to fill data gaps and improve the knowledge on the toxicity of these substances needs to be done, the study concludes, though the EFSA has informed the organization that monitors EU food safety of their findings. Per Reuters, further guidance on palm oil consumption should be released later this year after the commission has time to review.

"Making Nutella without palm oil would produce an inferior substitute for the real product, it would be a step backward," Ferrero's purchasing manager Vincenzo Tapella explained to Reuters. The company does not plan on producing the product with rapeseed or sunflower oil - both are more expensive and would result in a less (1) delicious and (2) long-lasting product.

Stay tuned. Trust nothing.

Follow Tess on Twitter.

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Border wall on the California side near Yuma, Ariz. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

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YUMA, Ariz.  He once referred to it as The Great Wall of Trump.

Of all the promises Donald Trump made during his insurgent bid for the presidency, it was his pledge to build a a big beautiful wall along the U.S. border with Mexico that voters tend to remember the most. Not a fence, the president-elect scolded a reporter during his pre-inauguration press conference last week, with a wag of his finger. A wall.

In small towns and large, in border states and those closer to Canada than Mexico, the New York billionaire talked vividly at every single campaign stop during his 17-month quest for the White House about the wall. He deemed it vital to not only curtailing illegal immigration and the flow of drugs but to protecting the country from hardened criminals, terrorists and God knows who else  people he claimed were pouring over the southern border in droves, largely unchecked.

Though its height often varied, ranging from 10 feet to 20 feet and sometimes taller, depending on if hed seen someone criticizing it on cable news that day, Trump, never one to shy away from hyperbole, insisted the wall would be incredible and magnificent. It would be tough and strong and great, great, great. Nobody builds better walls than me, believe me, the real estate mogul frequently bragged. You are going to be so happy.

But here in Yuma, one of the few towns along the southern border where the New York businessman triumphed over Hillary Clinton last November, a man named Robert, who enthusiastically voted for Trump, offered just one criticism of the incoming Republican president  though, he allowed, it was a big one. The wall that Trump has vowed to build is bullshit, he bluntly declared. The wall is never gonna happen.

Story continues

And he has more expertise on this subject than most. Robert, who declined to use his full name because of sensitivity about his job, has worked on the border here for more than 10 years, dating back to an era before the existing fence was built, when it was, as he described it, a true frontera.

Border wall on the California side near Yuma, Ariz. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

Located about 15 miles from the heart of downtown Yuma, the stretch of border here is among the trickiest in the country to guard, running from deep in the rocky desert to the sweeping vistas of the Imperial Sand Dunes, where the wind transforms the landscape by the hour. Drug runners from the cartels used to freely smuggle their bounty across the border in dune buggies, through an area that was the setting for Jabba the Hutts sandy lair in The Return of the Jedi, as they made for nearby Interstate 8, which parallels the border all the way to San Diego.

A decade ago, President George W. Bush, after zooming around the area in a Border Patrol dune buggy, allocated money for a floating fence that some call the Sand Dragon, built of 16-foot-tall concrete-filled steel tubes that rise and fall with the dunes.

Completed in late 2008, the floating fence has been credited with dramatically decreasing the number of migrants trying to sneak across the border and is said to have slowed what used to be an open road for drug trafficking  though the cartels are still out in force, sneaking marijuana, cocaine and heroin into the U.S.

Workers are on the border here daily, using equipment to move and shift sand in a tedious effort to keep the fence clear for the Border Patrol, which monitors the area with agents in special four-wheel-drive trucks and dune buggies and by electronic surveillance, including tower-mounted cameras and sensors that detect movement in the dark.

Its a dangerous job for everyone, according to Robert. Even in broad daylight, people working the border have been shot at by the cartels, which have tried to breach the fence by burrowing underneath or by using welding torches to cut holes big enough to racecars through. A few years ago, in the middle of the night, someone tried to drive a Jeep Cherokee over the fence by hanging a makeshift ramp from the Mexico side into the U.S., but they took their bounty and ran when the vehicle got impaled on the fence.

Border wall on the California side near Yuma, Ariz. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Robert is the first to say they need more help here. Though the number of people trying to cross the border here has slowed, people still come  fewer Mexicans these days than people from Central America and points further south. Not long ago, he watched a visibly pregnant woman climb the fence and fall, breaking both of her ankles. And that was one of the less grisly injuries hes seen. He does not dispute Trumps assertion that anybody could sneak through, especially less fortified parts of the border further east toward New Mexico, where there are spots so insecure that that you can jump over barriers like youre stepping over your sawhorse in your garage.

Trump, Robert said, is just wrong when he uses the word wall to describe what needs to happen on the border. It cant be done. [Unmanned aerial vehicles], sensors, technology, that will be the wall. But you say wall to people, and they picture the Chinese or the Berlin wall. Or the Israeli wall. Now the Israeli wall, theres a wall, he said. But thats not gonna happen in America. We cannot do it. Wed have to kill half the environmentalists  and go against treaties. And then you have geographical issues.

Still, he voted for Trump because he believes he can help secure the border and invest in a project that he describes as being as important as the Statue of Liberty. Trumps direction is right, Robert said. But to use the word wall is misleading. We need exactly what hes talking about  But its not going to be a wall.

Border wall on the California side near Yuma, Ariz. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

That is the only criticism that Robert has of the incoming president. Though he thought Trump was unqualified at first, he came to like the New York businessman for his blunt talk and focus on job creation and border security. After eight years of mismanagement, he sees Trump as the prescription this country needs right now.

I hope he kicks ass, Robert said. I hope he kicks ass like no other. Is he going to be successful in every one of his braggadocious claims? Hellll nooo! But if he does 60 percent, thats the switch we need.

Slideshow: Along the U.S.-Mexico border >>>
QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)  A Pakistani official says a group of villagers attacked the convoy of a Qatari prince on a hunting trip, wounding four people.

Yasir Khan, deputy commissioner of the Musakhel district, near the Afghan border, says the mob was led by a local landowner who objected to the hunting of the houbara bustard, a rare bird prized by Gulf Arab elites.

Khan says nearly 30 villagers armed with guns sticks attacked the convoy on Sunday, forcing the royal to relocate to a safer area. He declined to identify the visiting prince.
An upcoming episode of the comedy series Urban Myths featuring the late Michael Jackson recently caused a controversy due to its casting choices. Avid fans of the king of pop even petitioned to boycott the made-for-television feature, while Jacksons daughter Paris and nephew Taj expressed their disappointment over the shows controversial casting.

Following the major backlash, British network Sky Arts decided to cancel the controversial Urban Myths episode that would have focused on Michaels alleged road trip with Elizabeth Taylor and Marlon Brando in the wake of the Sept. 11 attacks in 2001.

According to Just Jared, the controversy started when a white actor was chosen to play Michaels role in the said episode. MJ fans were quick to express their disgust on social media over the Urban Myths casting, but it was Paris and Tajs tweets that highlighted the issue. In a series of tweets, Paris expressed her dismay by saying the portrayal was shameful and insulting. Taj, on other hand, said their family was disrespected.

Fortunately, Sky Arts move to cancel the episode was appreciated by Michaels daughter Paris. Even though she was surprised by the networks decision, the 18-year-old daughter of the king of pop posted on Twitter that she appreciated the fact that their familys feelings were taken into consideration by the network.

Taj, on the other hand, expressed his gratitude to all the fans for their unwavering support, ABC News noted.

Meanwhile, Urban Myths, a comedy series that depicts the true-ish retelling of pop culture tales about celebrities, does not have a scheduled air date for the U.S. audience.

In other related reports, Rolling Stone revealed a Michael Jackson impersonator will portray the role of the late Thriller hitmaker in a Lifetime biopic. As per the publication, the announcement from the network came on the same day the Urban Myths episode was cancelled. Furthermore, the biopic was tentatively titled Searching for Neverland and will star self-proclaimed worlds greatest Michael Jackson impersonator Navi. It will reportedly depict Michaels final years based on the views of his two personal bodyguards, Javon Beard and Bill Whitfield.

Story continues

For a sneak peak of Navis performance, check out the video below. To share your thoughts on the Urban Myths cancellation, please sound off in the comments.

Paris Jackson And Family

Photo: REUTERS/Christinne Muschi

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Paris (AFP) - A conference for peace in the Middle East on Sunday warned Israel and the Palestinians against taking "unilateral steps" on Jerusalem and on borders that could imperil a negotiated solution to their seven-decade conflict.

Around 70 countries attending talks in Paris called on the two sides to avoid moves that "prejudge the outcome of negotiations on final status issues, including inter alia, Jerusalem, borders, security, refugees."

The participants in the conference "will not recognise" such steps, they warned in a statement.

They also agreed that the basis for the negotiations should be the 1967 borders, before Israel occupied the West Bank and east Jerusalem, French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault told a press conference.

France organised the gathering to reaffirm global support for a Palestinian state existing alongside an Israeli state -- a scenario the Palestinians fear could be jeopardised by Donald Trump's incoming US administration.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians attended the conference, which the Palestinians supported but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed as "futile".

US Secretary of State John Kerry, attending the talks on his farewell tour, said he had negotiated to prevent Israel being treated unfairly.

"We did what was necessary to have a balanced resolution," Kerry told reporters and confirmed he had spoken to Netanyahu during the meeting to reassure him.

Kerry noted that leading Arab nations had endorsed the US outline of a solution which insists on the need for two states, one of them Israel recognised as a Jewish state.

The Palestinians welcomed the closing statement, with Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) Secretary General Saeb Erekat saying it had "stressed the need to end the Israeli occupation".

Israel though said the conference, and others like it, made peace harder to find "since they encourage the Palestinians to continue to refuse direct talks with Israel".

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- 1967 borders -

Ayrault said the conference participants had set out the 1967 frontiers as the cornerstone of final-status negotiations.

"The basis is the 1967 borders and the major UN resolutions," he said.

The conference comes as Trump's campaign pledge to move the US embassy in Israel from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem sparks deep concerns for peace in the Middle East.

Ayrault said such a move, which would support Israel's claim that Jerusalem is its capital, would be a "provocation".

Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas has warned it would "destroy" peace efforts.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

The status of Jerusalem is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," Ayrault told French TV.

President Francois Hollande told the gathering that the prospect of two independent states coexisting side-by-side -- seen as increasingly elusive -- "remains the goal of the entire international community".

But Netanyahu, who insists only direct talks with the Palestinians can bring peace, said before the meeting it was "a last gasp of the past".

Abbas has accepted Hollande's offer to come to Paris to discuss the conclusions of the talks but Netanyahu has refused, French diplomats said.

- Trump pledge -

The conference was mainly symbolic, but came at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as president.

Trump has said "there's nobody more pro-Israeli than I am" and his choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a hardliner who says he looks forward to working from "Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem".

The conference came a month after a landmark UN Security Council resolution criticising Israeli settler activity that outraged Netanyahu.

The vote passed after the Obama administration -- in a parting shot at Netanyahu -- took the rare step of abstaining rather than using its veto to protect Israel.

EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the Paris conference's conclusions on Monday.

A European diplomat said it was uncertain whether they would issue a statement, with Britain and some central European countries reluctant to upset the Trump administration.

Britain only attended the Paris talks as an observer and so did not sign the statement.

Israeli-Palestinian efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Tensions have spiralled recently following a wave of Palestinian attacks and inflammatory rhetoric on both sides.

Israel's ongoing expansion of settlements on occupied Palestinian territory is also seen as a major obstacle to a resolution.

Abbas warned starkly on Saturday about the consequences of an embassy move.

"Any attempts at legitimising the illegal Israeli annexation of the city will destroy the prospects of any political process, bury the hopes for a two-state solution and fuel extremism, in our region, as well as worldwide," he said.
Washington (AFP) - A feud between Donald Trump and a prominent civil rights icon ramped up Sunday, as Vice President-elect Mike Pence jumped to his boss's defense while a growing number of Democrats vowed to skip the upcoming inauguration.

Pence said he was "deeply disappointed" in veteran Congressman John Lewis's decision to boycott Trump's inauguration.

The Georgia Democrat questioned the legitimacy of the 2016 election and became the highest-profile lawmaker among nearly two dozen members of the House of Representatives to pass on Friday's ceremony.

"I was deeply disappointed to see someone of his stature question the legitimacy of Donald Trump's election as president and say he's not attending the inauguration," Pence said on Fox News Sunday. "I hope he reconsiders both positions."

Lewis' declaration Friday moved the notoriously thin-skinned Trump to launch a Twitter blast at the lawmaker and the majority-black district he represents, a move that drew widespread criticism just ahead of the US holiday honoring slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.

In an interview with NBC's "Meet the Press," excerpts of which were released Friday and were airing in full on Sunday, Lewis, 76, said he does not "see this president-elect as a legitimate president."

"I think the Russians participated in helping this man get elected and they helped destroy the candidacy of Hillary Clinton," he said before vowing to skip the inauguration for the first time in his three decades in Congress.

"You cannot be at home with something that you feel that is wrong."

Trump fired back, tweeting that "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results."

"All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad!"

Story continues

- 'Twitter addiction' -

Senators have launched a bipartisan investigation into Russia's alleged meddling in the 2016 presidential race, after a report from the Director of National Intelligence said hackers working for Russia penetrated Democratic Party computers and accounts aiming to undermine Democrat Hillary Clinton's electability.

Pence asserted that Trump "has the right to defend himself" in light of Lewis's comments.

"I believe the inauguration ceremony itself and this moment in history would greatly benefit if we set aside these baseless assertions about the legitimacy of the election and we looked for ways to come together," the vice president-elect said later on CBS's Face the Nation.

The growing list of Democratic members of the House skipping the inauguration -- Lewis being the most prominent -- included Maxine Waters of California, who said she never planned to participate in any of the festivities.

"I wouldn't waste my time," she said on Twitter.

Congressman Mark Pocan of Wisconsin slammed Trump in a statement announcing his decision to skip the inauguration.

After "this weekend's offensive tweets about a national hero Rep. John Lewis, I am no longer attending the event," he said in the statement posted on Twitter, also citing reports alleging Russian interference in the presidential election as a reason for not going.

"At minimum, it's time for Donald Trump to start acting like President Trump, not an immature, undignified reality star with questionable friends and a Twitter addiction."

Known for his decades of work in the civil rights movement, Lewis marched with King at the August 1963 rally in Washington at which King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech.

The son of sharecroppers, Lewis also took part in the Freedom Rides -- challenges to segregated facilities at bus terminals in the South.

And he led a landmark march in Selma, Alabama in 1965 that prompted state troopers to attack the protesters during what later became known as "Bloody Sunday."
Brussels (AFP) - Belgian police have released three people held overnight following anti-terror raids late Saturday in Brussels, local prosecutors said.

Police mounted four raids in the Molenbeek district, which was home to several perpetrators of the jihadist attacks in Paris and Brussels, but found nothing, according to the Brussels prosecutor's office.

"Three men were arrested and questioned overnight... they were released afterwards," it said in a statement.

Media reports showed armed police setting up a security perimeter during the operation.

The gritty Molenbeek area has gained notoriety recently as the home of several of those who took part in the deadly Islamic State-claimed November 2015 attacks in Paris and the suicide bombings of Brussels airport and the metro in March 2016.

Belgian authorities stepped up security after the killings and there have been periodic police raids and arrests since then as the investigations have continued.

Belgian-born French national Salah Abdeslam, the only known jihadist to have survived the Paris massacres, hid in Molenbeek and was arrested there four months later, on March 18, 2016, four days before the attacks on the Belgian capital.

Some 20 people have been charged in Belgium in connection with the Paris attacks. Investigators say the Paris and Brussels attacks were carried out by the same cell.
Guidonia (Italy) (AFP) - Pope Francis admitted on Sunday to sometimes having "darkness" cloud his own faith, while warning against "Christian parrots" who pay lip service to the church without acting on its values.

"At certain times, I have also encountered moments of darkness in my faith and that faith decreased a lot, but with a little bit of time we rediscover it," the Pointiff told parishioners after saying mass in a village near Rome.

"Some days we can't see faith, everything is in darkness.

"Yesterday, for example, I christened 13 children in areas devastated by earthquakes and there was a father who had lost his wife, and we ask ourselves if this man can have faith.

"We understand that there is darkness, we must respect this darkness of the soul. We don't study to get faith, we receive it like a gift."

Francis also urged believers to spend more time talking to their family.

"If I say I'm Catholic and every Sunday I go to mass but then I don't talk to my parents, I don't help my grandparents, the poor, I don't visit the sick, then there's no point," said Francis.

"In that way, we're nothing but a Christian parrot: words, words, words."
Incoming White House chief-of-staff Reince Priebus Sunday said it was just not "responsible" for civil rights icon Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., to question the legitimacy of Donald Trumps election as president.

Priebus, in an appearance on NBCs Meet the Press, echoed his bosss tweetstorm responding to Lewis criticism and decision not to attend Fridays inauguration.

Lewis said in a Meet the Press interview he does not see Trump as a legitimate president in light of Russias attempts to meddle in the campaign.

"I don't see the president-elect as a legitimate president," Lewis said, adding it will be very difficult for him to forge any kind of working relationship with Trump, although he would not reject an overture from the president-elect.

Priebus called Lewis remarks just not responsible with five days to go before Trump assumes office.

Pushed on whether this is legitimate payback for Trumps insistence over the years that President Barack Obamas birth certificate was fake, Priebus pointed to the size of Trumps Electoral College margin to attempt to dispel any question of Trumps legitimacy, saying it was the largest for a Republican candidate since Ronald Reagan. He drew a distinction on ABC's "This Week" between the birther movement and whether Obama was legitimately elected, saying Republicans had not questioned whether Obama defeated Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., in 2008.

"We need folks like John Lewis and others who have been champions of voting rights to recognize" Trump will be president, Priebus said. Priebus noted Director of National Intelligence John Clapper said there is no evidence the Russian machinations actually had an impact on the election. He called on Obama to "get his people in line and tell them to grow up."

Vice President-elect Mike Pence told CBS Face the Nation said he hoped Lewis would change his mind and attend the inauguration, and stop questioning Trumps legitimacy.

Story continues

Donald Trump has every right to defend himself, Pence said of Trumps reaction to the congressman's remarks. When you have someone like John Lewis  for someone of his stature not only in the civil rights movement but in the voting rights movement to make the comment is deeply disappointing.

Trump reacted to Lewis remarks on Twitter:

When it apparently was pointed out to the president-elect that Lewis district is solidly middle-class with some pockets of wealthy constituents, he changed his approach.

Trump Sunday turned his attention to Democrats in general, saying theyre just miffed because he will be better at creating jobs.

trump

Photo: Shannon Stapleton/Reuters

Lewis' remarks followed release of intelligence agencies' assessments that Russia was responsible for hacking of the Democratic National Committee and the Gmail account of Clinton campaign chairman John Podesta that resulted in the publication of embarrassing emails. WikiLeaks, which published the hacked emails, has denied it obtained them from Russian operatives.

The intelligence agencies concluded Russia was actively trying to boost Trumps campaign.

The report was accompanied by a two-page summary of an alleged Russian dossier on Trump. Among the allegations in the dossier was that Trump was unable to land any major real estate deals in Russia and had to settle for the extensive sexual services there from local prostitutes rather than business success.

Trump has tried to deflect attention from the uncorroborated report, describing it as nothing but lies. He labeled BuzzFeed, which published the whole 35-page document earlier this week, as a failing pile of garbage during Wednesdays news conference at Trump Tower in New York and attempted to deflect the sexual allegations by reminding reporters hes a germaphobe.

Trump and his spokesmen also have denied other allegations in the report about contacts between his team and Russian authorities.

The report had been floating around Washington for months but was not made public until after intelligence officials prepared a two-page summary for Trump and President Barack Obama, which was given to them last week. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., said he turned over his copy to the FBI for investigation.

Related Articles
DAVOS, Switzerland (AP)  Police in the Swiss capital of Bern prevented a pro-Tibet protester from setting himself on fire Sunday on the sidelines of a demonstration against the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, officials said.

Bern police say 32 people were stopped for refusing identity checks and other disruptions as part of their deployment to secure Xi's visit. On the sidelines of a demonstration around midday, security officials prevented a man who had doused himself with a flammable liquid from setting it on fire.

Police spokesman Christoph Gnaegi said those taken in by police were later released. He said no disruptions were caused by peaceful protesters who took part in a morning protest, but that some people afterward had caused minor problems leading to the police action.

Xi on Sunday kicked off a four-day visit to Switzerland, the first this century by a Chinese leader. The visit includes stops to U.N. institutions in Geneva, the International Olympic Committee headquarters in Lausanne, and the World Economic Forum in Davos.

In a speech Sunday to members of the Swiss parliament in Bern, Xi said his visit was aimed to foster "peace and development."

"The world situation is undergoing profound and complicated changes, influenced by incalculable and destabilizing factors," he said. Xi said he hoped to "work out mutual solutions for important global problems and reach consent with all sides in order to send a positive message to the international community."

Swiss president Doris Leuthard hosted Xi and his wife, Peng Liyuan, and others in the Chinese delegation for a dinner in Bern.
As noted Russia expert Sarah Palin might ask of Vladimir Putin: Hows all that hackin workin for ya?

More than a week after chieftains of the American intelligence community much maligned by Donald Trump presented the president-elect with a high-confidence report that the little red menace of Moscow was behind a multi-pronged effort to disrupt the U.S. elections, deny Hillary Clinton the presidency, and tilt the outcome to the man in the high tower, the answer is probably Not that great.

Related: Amid Hacking Row, Pressure Builds on Trump to Soften Pro-Russia Rhetoric

Certainly, Russias wily president got one outcome he was after: Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th president in less than a week. However, there is no evidence yet that the Kremlins gremlins had any measurable effect on the outcome of the voting, as incoming Press Secretary Sean Spicer rightly told Fox News on Jan 2.

But after a week of the Senate questioning Trump Cabinet nominees, the unintended consequences of hacking into the Democratic National Committee, releasing embarrassing emails via WikiLeaks, promoting fake news and using the state-sponsored TV network Russia Today (RT) to disseminate pro-Trump and anti-Clinton content are becoming clearer.

(It should be noted that Julian Assange, the fugitive co-founder of WkiLeaks who can lately count Fox Newss Sean Hannity and failed vice-presidential candidate Palin as groupies, claims the source of the emails was not the Russian government and not a state party. And certainly, a man on the run from charges of rape and molestation would never shade the truth.)

In any case, Putin has invited retribution, which President Obama was happy to provide, putting a gaggle of spies on the first Aeroflot flight to Moscow and imposing sanctions on four Russian intelligence officials.

But more important, Putin has underlined the fact that Russia is an enemy of the American people, infuriated many members of Congress on both sides of the aisle and led the likely new leaders of the Defense Dept. and CIA to pledge that they will always have the Kremlin in their crosshairs.

Story continues

Related: Trump's Pentagon Pick Says U.S. Must Be Ready to Confront Russia

Former Marine General James Mattis, who will almost certainly be confirmed as Defense Secretary, told senators that Putin is trying to undermine the NATO alliance. Theres a decreasing number of areas where we can engage cooperatively and increasing numbers of areas where were going to have to confront Russia, he said.

Mike Pompeo, the Harvard-educated lawyer and Tea Party congressman from Kansas who is a shoo-in for director of the CIA, said at his hearing before the Senate Intelligence Committee that Russia is among the top threats to the U.S.

Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman John McCain, who has called Putin a thug, said at the Mattis hearing that he had watched three presidents commit themselves to a new relationship with the Russian leader and each effort was an abysmal failure. He asked the former general: Should we ignore the lessons of history in our relationship with Vladimir Putin?

Mattis said that since Yalta, the instances of constructive engagement with Russia have been few, adding: I think the most important thing is that we recognize the reality of what we deal with with Mr. Putin.

That reality could collide with the reality-TV presidents view of Putin and Russia, which during the campaign and right up until his briefing by the intelligence chiefs, has been a fawning and cloying spectacle.

Still, Congress seems to have grown impatient with the Donald and Vladi bromance.

Related: Questions About Russia Dominate Start of Tillerson Hearing

Rex Tillerson, who played footsie with Putin as CEO of ExxonMobil, took heat during his confirmation hearing to be Secretary of State because he was not sufficiently critical of the Russian leader, declining to label him a war criminal, as Republican Senator Marco Rubio of Florida demanded. That is unlikely to derail his confirmation, but Tillersons future dealings with Moscow will always be suspect.

Former CIA officer Will Hurd, a Republican representative from Texas, told The New York Times that Russian intelligence will look at efforts to disrupt the American election as its most successful covert action operation because it created a wedge, whether real or perceived, between the U.S. president, intelligence community and the American public.

That may be true. But once the spooks in Moscow are finished partying, they and their Kremlin control agent could be in for a long, ugly hangover.

Top Reads from The Fiscal Times:
Pasadena (United States) (AFP) - Reese Witherspoon, fed up with Hollywood gender bias, is calling for an end to the practice of handing excellent actresses only "thankless roles."

"I've just had enough. Things have to change," Witherspoon said Saturday during a press event in Pasadena, California.

"We have to start seeing women as they really are on film. We have to. And not just in movie theaters on a tiny budget."

The new HBO series "Big Little Lies", in which she stars alongside Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern, is directed by Canadian director Jean-Marc Vallee.

"We need to see real women's experience, whether it involves domestic violence, whether it involves sexual assault, whether it involves motherhood or romance or infidelity or divorce," said Witherspoon, 40.

Hollywood is regularly faulted for failing to give substantial roles to women, especially those older than 35.

In a 2016 report, the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) warned that women's place in the American film industry was slipping.

It said women were underrepresented, saw no employment gains in Hollywood compared to their male counterparts, and suffered losses in eight of 11 job arenas examined while struggling in the other three.

The highly anticipated "Big Little Lies," whose script based on Liane Moriarty's eponymous novel was written by David E. Kelley ("Ally McBeal" and "Goliath"), marks Witherspoon's first major role in a TV production. It airs starting February 19.

Witherspoon, winner of an Oscar for her role in Johnny Cash biopic "Walk the Line," is also a producer. She has focused on films with women in the lead role, such as "Gone Girl."

She recalled having often been the only woman on set for years.

"Its very rare to find five roles in one piece that we'd all jump at a chance to play," agreed Kidman.
Beirut (AFP) - Regime bombardment of a flashpoint region near Syria's capital on Sunday killed seven civilians, a monitor said, in the deadliest attack there since a nationwide truce came into force.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said government forces shelled Deir Qanun, a village in the Wadi Barada region, which is the main source of water for Damascus.

"This is the highest toll there since the beginning of the truce" on December 30, Observatory head Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.

At least 20 other people were wounded in the attack, some critically.

Activists from the Wadi Barada Media Committee said on Twitter that the shells struck a temporary shelter where displaced women and children had been seeking refuge.

Heavy clashes between regime and rebel forces have rocked Wadi Barada since overnight Saturday, after the official who negotiated a deal to restore water to Damascus was killed.

Ahmed al-Ghadban had been on his way to the main Ain al-Fijeh spring with government maintenance teams when he was killed.

Opposition fighters and government officials accused each other of killing the retired army officer, who had only assumed his duties on Saturday.

Under the agreement, Ghadban was to oversee teams working to repair the infrastructure that supplies the capital with water in exchange for a cessation of hostilities and the withdrawal of rebel fighters willing to do so.

Some 5.5 million in Damascus and its suburbs have been without water since December 22.

Fighting has persisted in Wadi Barada since the entry into force on December 30 of the ceasefire brokered by Russia and Turkey.

The ceasefire and planned talks are the latest effort to negotiate an end to a conflict that has killed more than 310,000 people since it began with anti-government protests in March 2011.
Representative John Lewis said he would not invite President-elect Donald Trump on a visit to Selma, Ala., with him, speaking in an interview with NBC News Chuck Todd.

Lewis, who was beaten on Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday in 1965, has frequently visited the city with politicians from both sides of the aisle over the years, including Vice President-elect Mike Pence, President Barack Obama and former Presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush.

Lewis said he would not prevent Trump from visiting Selma, and that the President-elect could stand to learn something from a trip there.

Maybe he would learn something. Maybe he would get religion, he said. However, he said, I would not invite him to come.

The comment came in the same interview in which Lewis also said Trump was not a legitimate President. The comment evoked an attack from Trump, who said the civil rights leader was all talk and no action.

Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results, Donald Trump wrote in tweets on Saturday morning. All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad!

Several Democrats have said they plan to boycott Trumps inauguration on Friday, a number that grew following Trumps comments about Lewis.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP)  Police in Brazil have entered two prisons in the country's northern state of Rio Grande do Norte where a riot left at least 10 inmates dead on Saturday, authorities said Sunday.

A statement released by the office in charge of state penitentiaries said the rebellion started Saturday afternoon in the Alcacuz and Rogerio Coutinho detention facilities, located next to each other outside the city of Natal.

Police entered the prisons on Sunday morning, according to the statement.

The riot erupted from fighting between rival gangs and was the latest in a series of massacres in the South America country's penitentiaries that have killed more than 100.

Authorities have said they expect the death toll from Saturday's rebellion to rise.

The Alcacuz facility has capacity for 620 inmates, but houses 1,083.

The last rebellion in Alcacuz prison was in November 2015, when a tunnel was discovered in one pavilion. The facility should house 620 inmates but has 1,083.

The recent outbreak of prison violence in Brazil began on Jan. 1-2, when 56 inmates were killed in the northern state of Amazonas. Authorities said the Family of the North gang targeted members of Brazil's most powerful criminal gang, First Command, in a clash over control of drug-trafficking routes in northern states. Many of the dead were beheaded and dismembered.

Then on Jan. 6, in the neighboring state of Roraima, 33 prisoners were killed, many with their hearts and intestines ripped out.

Experts say First Command, known by the Portuguese acronym PCC, is exploiting overcrowding and squalid conditions in the Brazil's penitentiaries to expand its reach across the national prison system. The gang runs drug-trafficking operations both inside and outside prisons even though many of its leaders are in maximum security penitentiaries in Sao Paulo state.
By Tarek Amara TUNIS (Reuters) - Hundreds of protesters demanding jobs clashed with police in several Tunisian towns on Saturday, blocking the route of visiting President Beji Caid Essebsi in one region, on the sixth anniversary of the country's revolution. Local residents said protests that erupted in the southern town of Ben Guerdane had spread over the weekend to several other areas such as Sidi Bouzid, Meknassi and Gafsa, where Essebsi visited to mark the 2011 uprising that ousted autocrat Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. Six years after that revolt, Tunisia is hailed as a model of democratic transition, but rural central and southern regions remain flashpoints for rioting in marginalised towns where many young Tunisians see little economic opportunity or progress. In Gafsa, angry youths protested against Essebsi's visit, throwing stones and blocking the road. Local media and residents said the president's convoy was forced to change its route before he left by air. In Sidi Bouzid, the cradle of the Tunisian revolution sparked by the death of a street vendor protesting against official corruption and abuses, hundreds demonstrated in front of the local governorate, making the same demands as six years ago. "We raised the same slogans as 2011 ... work is our right ... no fear, and the street belongs to the people," Attia Athmouni, a local resident told Reuters. In Meknassi, police arrested some protesters late on Friday. But the protests continued in Meknassi and Manzel Bouziane on Saturday. The presidency said that Essebsi announced development projects which will provide more job opportunities in Gafsa, the heart of the country's state-run phosphate business, whose exports have also been disrupted by protests over jobs. After a day of calm following a visit by a delegation of ministers to Ben Guerdane, near the Libyan border, protesters clashed again on Saturday with police, local residents said. Since the 2011 uprising, Tunisia has mostly avoided the political violence that has plagued much of the Arab world. The North African country emerged as a symbol of peaceful democratic change with free elections, a new constitution and compromise between Islamist and secular rivals. But economic progress, a central demand of many Tunisians, has failed to match the country's political advances. In rural southern and central regions, where farming remains one of the few sources of income, tensions often flare over the lack of jobs and economic opportunities. (Writing by Patrick Markey; Editing by Andrew Bolton)
Paris (AFP) - A French newspaper Sunday published Kim Kardashian's testimony to police of how a robber threatened her at gunpoint when she refused to hand over a ring worth millions of dollars.

In the account of the Paris robbery she described how she was bound and gagged and said one of the gang was wearing a jacket emblazoned with police insignia.

The Journal du Dimanche said it had exclusive access to the handwritten report based on Kardashian's account, in which she said that the robbers seemed "inexperienced".

The newspaper also said it had a transcript of a brief interview given to police after the masked men burst into Kardashian's luxury residence in October, taking jewellery worth nine million euros ($9.5 million).

Police last week made arrests in Paris and the south of France and 10 suspects have been charged, including the alleged ringleaders.

- 'Old Omar and Blue Eyes' -

Investigators say the gang's key members were Aomar Ait Khedache and Didier Dubreucq, men in their 60s with long criminal pasts nicknamed "Old Omar" and "Blue Eyes".

In the Journal du Dimanche report, for which the newspaper did not provide English quotes, Kardashian, 36, said she heard noises at the door after returning from dinner after midnight.

Her bodyguard was absent, guarding her sister Kourtney at a nightclub.

"I saw through the sliding door two people coming," Kardashian said in comments translated from the newspaper's French account, adding that one of the men was wearing "a jacket with 'police' written on it".

"He asked me with a strong French accent where my ring was. It was on the bedside table. (But) I replied that I didn't know and then he pulled out a gun and I showed him the ring," she told police, adding it was worth four million dollars.

Kardashian told police the men tied her up with plastic cables and adhesive tape "and they carried me to my bathroom" where they placed her in the bathtub.

Story continues

The gang also took a box containing jewellery including two Cartier diamond bracelets, a diamond-studded necklace, a yellow gold Rolex watch and a diamond-encrusted cross.

The wife of Kanye West said after the gang had put her in the bathroom that she heard the men talking to each other in French and had the impression they were saying they should leave.

Once they had fled, Kardashian managed to free herself -- she told police she could tell the men were "kind of inexperienced in the way they tied me up".

- 'Completely amateurish' -

The alleged mastermind, 60-year-old Khedache has been charged, along with nine others.

Investigators have told AFP that he had gone on the run six years ago while on trial for drug trafficking offences.

In September last year, an acquaintance gave him "a tipoff worth its weight in gold", according to one investigator -- that Kardashian and her entourage would be staying at a discreet apartment-hotel complex in Paris's chic Madeleine district to attend catwalk shows during fashion week.

He recruited Dubreucq, 61, who had previous convictions for robbery and drugs.

Khedache's lawyer Jean-Yves Lienard said the gang were "completely amateurish".

His own client left traces of his DNA on the plastic cable and the tape they used to tie up Kardashian.

Khedache "has admitted taking part in the robbery but has refused to speak about any accomplices and denies he was the mastermind", Lienard said.

He told Lienard that the jewellery was passed to another party. Khedache was seen in the Belgian city of Antwerp, one of the world centres of the diamond industry, with another suspect, 64-year-old Marceau Baum-Gartner, a few days after the robbery.

French police had placed other members of the gang under surveillance and spotted four of them meeting up at a Paris bar in December.

Investigators believe they were discussing how to divide up the spoils of the robbery. Around 250,000 euros was found in the police raids last week.
Paris (AFP) - Donald Trump has been crowing as companies including Ford renounce plans to move factories to Mexico. But the main beneficiaries of this shift back to the US aren't saying much by way of celebration -- industrial robots don't tend to speak.

While globalisation's detractors blame countries such as China and Mexico for stealing the factory jobs of the West, experts point to less obvious culprits which are harder to scapegoat and to overcome in an interconnected economy with complex supply chains.

Since US manufacturing employment peaked in the late 1970s, according to Michael Hicks of the Center for Business and Economic Research at Ball State University in Indiana, "95 percent of job losses were due to productivity improvements including automation and computer technology, rather than trade".

Indiana is one of the rust-belt states where Trump triumphed in November, and the president-elect has promised a punitive border tax against outsourcing companies as he bids to become "the greatest jobs producer that God ever created".

But while the US economy is pumping out manufactured goods in record volumes, it is achieving that feat with 7.3 million fewer factory hands than in 1979, government figures show.

Automation has transformed the productivity of manufacturing since industrial robots first started painting, cutting, welding and assembling in the 1960s.

And experts point to more recent innovations such as artificial intelligence, management apps and 3D printing as new threats to shop-floor workers as well as to white-collar staff.

- 'Political theatre' -

Hicks -- who has known former Indiana governor Mike Pence, Trump's incoming vice president, for years -- dismissed recent announcements by Ford, Indiana air-conditioning brand Carrier and others as "political theatre".

"The apparent change of heart of these American companies is due to the hard math of expected tax cuts and regulatory changes (under the Trump administration)," he told AFP in a phone interview, noting that under company projections, robots rather than wages will account for the bulk of planned investment that is being redirected from Mexico to the US.

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Vows to renegotiate trade pacts, or declare China a currency cheat, played well for Trump on the campaign trail but trends such as automation have already rendered much low-skilled US labour obsolete.

The total output of US manufacturing rose more than 250 percent from 1980 to 2015, but its workforce slumped by roughly 40 percent in that time, according to analysis by the Brookings Institution in Washington.

"These diverging lines -- which reflect the sector's improved productivity -- highlight a huge problem with Trump's promises to help workers by reshoring millions of manufacturing jobs," Brookings expert Mark Muro wrote in a blog post.

"America is already producing a lot. And in any event, the return of more manufacturing won't bring back many jobs because the labour is increasingly being done by robots."

Annual data from the International Federation of Robotics show an inexorable rise in the worldwide use of industrial robots. China is now the biggest market for them.

- 'Trade doesn't kill jobs' -

Even if jobs did return, Western consumers are likely to balk at paying the higher prices that companies would have to charge to reflect the higher input prices -- everything from wages to property leases and electricity tariffs -- of making those goods at home.

Take television manufacturing. Had that stayed in America, experts say, each set would cost hundreds of dollars more than they do now on average, limiting their affordability. Households would have stuck with one TV in the living room, instead of several dotted around the home.

"Trade doesn't kill jobs, it protects consumption," Hicks said, while also stressing that globalisation had created millions more jobs in Western nations' services and logistics sectors than it has destroyed in industry.

So if those manufacturing jobs are gone forever -- and new developments such as machine learning and nanotechnology portend a "Fourth Industrial Revolution" -- what can be done to assure the future of workers in the developed world?

Some ideas are in their policy infancy, such as a universal basic income, but others are well-known and perhaps more pressing than ever, including better education and re-training.

Such discussions will inform the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, coming up in the same week that sees Trump inaugurated as the 45th US president on January 20.

"We are at some kind of turning point in history," WEF founder Klaus Schwab said. "We need new concepts. We cannot have just populist solutions."
NEWPORT, R.I. (AP) -- In a secret telegram a century ago, Germany tried to get Mexico to join its side during World War I by offering it territory in the United States. Britain intercepted, deciphered and shared the "Zimmermann Telegram."

Historians, seeing parallels to today, say there's a lot to be learned.

They gathered at the U.S. Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, last week and discussed how a foreign government hacked a secret communication and used the information to sway American public opinion and policy. When it was released, there was a heated debate over whether it was real or what we now call "fake news."

The message's publication  and Germany's resumption of unrestricted submarine warfare  was the culmination of a series of events that drew the United States into the war.

Fast-forward a century. Today, the U.S. intelligence community says Russia hacked Democratic groups during the presidential campaign to help Republican Donald Trump defeat Democrat Hillary Clinton. President-elect Trump says the DNC was "totally open to be hacked" and praises his future chief of staff for ordering "hacking defense" at the Republican National Committee.

"The greatest strategic threat the U.S. faces is the general ignorance of the past and how the past is with us every day," said David Kohnen, interim executive director at the U.S. Naval War College Museum.

German foreign minister Arthur Zimmermann sent the telegram in January 1917 to the German representative in Mexico. Germany would resume sinking vessels without warning and Mexico could ally itself to reconquer Texas, New Mexico and Arizona, he wrote.

Germany wanted to keep the United States busy fighting Mexico so it couldn't send troops and supplies overseas.

The British waited to share the information to avoid compromising their intelligence-gathering methods. But once the "German plot" appeared in headlines, President Woodrow Wilson had few options, said Kohnen, the conference organizer. The United States declared war April 6, 1917.

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Retired Rear Adm. Samuel Cox, current director of the Naval History and Heritage Command, said he sees parallels with Russia's recent actions, but stressed that England wasn't trying to diminish U.S. influence in the world by discrediting its values and democracy.

Cox focused on how many people refused to accept the telegram's authenticity because it didn't fit with their preconceived notion of reality, which he said is a reminder of the importance of driving misinformation and rumor out of political debate.

"If you have an environment where the truth becomes optional, like we're kind of facing today, once you're in that environment it becomes difficult to break out of it," he said. "People refuse to believe the truth because they can't tell the difference."

Other historians pondered the consequences of the Germans' overconfidence in their abilities to encode messages. Cryptographers get too arrogant they think no one will get into "my system," said David Hatch, a National Security Agency historian.

"It was true in 1917 and it's certainly true today," he said at the conference.

Cox has sent a memo to naval leaders about the significance of the Zimmermann Telegram so the lessons learned could prove useful.
By Jane Lanhee Lee SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen, carving a careful diplomatic path on her stopovers in the United States, visited the headquarters of micro-messaging service Twitter Inc on Saturday and reactivated an old account. "Had a great visit to @Twitter HQ today. Thank you to @vijaya and team for showing us around! read her first tweet from her old account in over two years. Previously she tweeted in Chinese. There was conflicting information earlier over whether she was opening a new English account or reviving the old one. A source at the meeting said Tsai met with Twitter General Counsel Vijaya Gadde and that CEO and co-founder Jack Dorsey was not present. Pictures of the visit posted online showed the president reactivating her presence on the messaging service and posing in front of the famous photo that crashed Twitter - 2014 Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres' "selfie" with top Hollywood celebrities. Tsai was returning from a week-long visit to Central America. But it was her stopovers in the United States that raised more interest after President-elect Donald Trump said last month he would reconsider the long-standing "one China" policy, whereby the United States acknowledges the Chinese position that there is only one China and that Taiwan is part of China. He reiterated that possibility in an interview with the Wall Street Journal on Friday, a week before his inauguration. China responded that the "one China" principle was the non-negotiable political basis for China-U.S. relations. Trump took a congratulatory call from Tsai after his Nov. 8 victory, sparking outrage from China, which believes the Taiwanese leader wants to seek formal independence from the mainland. Tsai made a stopover in Houston on Jan. 7 and 8 before heading to Central America and arrived Friday night in San Francisco on her way back home. She did not appear to have met with any representatives of the Trump team during her short U.S. stays. But in Houston last Sunday, she met with Republican U.S. Senator Ted Cruz and Texas Governor Greg Abbott and sparked more ire in Beijing. China had asked the United States not to allow Tsai to enter or have formal government meetings under the one China policy. Cruz was pointed in his criticism of the Chinese, saying they needed to "understand that in America we make decisions about meeting with visitors for ourselves." Beijing considers self-governing Taiwan a renegade province ineligible for state-to-state relations. The subject is a sensitive one for China. More than a hundred people were gathered outside the Hyatt Regency near San Francisco International Airport, some to protest and some to support the president. Tsai wound up her trip with a lunch for 800 people from the Taiwanese community before her scheduled departure for Taiwan in the afternoon. (Writing by Mary Milliken; Editing by Matthew Lewis)
POLSON, Mont.  Lake County commissioners say the county can no longer afford to investigate and prosecute felony crimes on the Flathead Indian Reservation.

Commissioners voted unanimously Wednesday in support of a resolution to ask the state to consider withdrawing from an agreement that gives counties jurisdiction over felonies on reservations. They hope the move will prompt the federal government to help cover some of the $2 million annual cost.

Commissioner Dave Stipe says he thinks it would cost the federal government less to help the county than to have federal agents to do the work.

The Lake County sheriff's office wants to continue the agreement, saying a change won't save any money because deputies would still have to respond to reported crimes.

Tribal Police Chief Craig Couture said such a move would allow murders, rapes and drug cases to fall through the cracks.
JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's African National Congress (ANC) is not bound by tradition to elect its deputy as leader, President Jacob Zuma said in an interview broadcast on Sunday, dismissing labour unions' endorsement of Cyril Ramaphosa. The ANC, which last year suffered its worst election result since the end of white-minority rule in 1994, is set to choose a successor to the scandal-plagued Zuma by the end of this year. Ramaphosa and Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma, the African Union president once married to Zuma, have both been tapped by organisations in the governing alliance to become party leader, but neither has yet declared whether they intend to stand. Zuma, who was party deputy before being elected leader in 2007, made it clear that Ramaphosa was not an automatic choice. "People say it is a tradition that once you are the deputy president, you then become the president, that is not true," Zuma said in the interview with the South African Broadcasting Corporation. Analysts say a split has emerged in the ANC between those who want a successor loyal to Zuma, and a faction that wants a fresh start under Ramaphosa. Ramaphosa, who is Zuma's deputy both in the party and in government, told supporters on Sunday that the ANC was "under severe strain" and suffered from relentless competition for influence and control over resources. "We must acknowledge here that there are instances where internal ANC processes have been infiltrated by individuals and companies seeking preferential access to state business," Ramaphosa said. South Africa's anti-graft watchdog last year called for an investigation into influence peddling in Zuma's government, but the president has denied providing special favours for wealthy friends and wants the watchdog's report to be reviewed. The Congress of South African Trade Unions (Cosatu), which is part of the ruling political alliance and claims to represent 1.8 million workers, said in November that it would campaign for Ramaphosa. Dlamini-Zuma, who held several cabinet positions before becoming head of the African Union, was endorsed by the ANC Woman's League last week and is expected to have the backing of her former husband. (Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by Susan Fenton)
SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's special prosecutor's office said on Sunday it will decide whether to seek an arrest warrant against Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee on Monday. Spokesman for the special prosecutor Lee Kyu-chul told reporters during a briefing investigators will also decide whether to seek arrest warrants against other Samsung Group executives at the same time as when it makes a decision on Lee, named a suspect in an investigation into whether the country's top conglomerate paid bribes to pave the way for a 2015 merger of two affiliates. "We are considering all factors and will make a determination based on the law and principles," he told reporters. (Reporting by Ju-min Park and Se Young Lee; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
By Ju-min Park and Se Young Lee SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea's special prosecutor said on Sunday it will take into account the economic impact of whether to arrest Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee in connection with an influence-peddling investigation involving the president. The office also delayed by one day, until Monday, its decision on whether to seek the arrest of Lee, the third-generation leader of South Korea's largest conglomerate, or chaebol, citing the gravity of the case. The special prosecution had said it would make a decision on Lee by Sunday. But spokesman Lee Kyu-chul told reporters on Sunday investigators were deliberating all factors including the potential economic impact of the arrest of Jay Y. Lee. Prosecutors have been investigating whether Samsung provided 30 billion won ($25.46 million) to a business and foundations backed by President Park Geun-hye's friend, Choi Soon-sil, in exchange for the national pension fund's support for a 2015 merger of two Samsung affiliates. The Samsung chief denied bribery accusations during a parliamentary hearing in December. Taking into account the economic impact could prove beneficial to the 48-year-old Lee. The imposition of less severe punishment on erring business leaders to avoid negative economic consequences has precedent in South Korea. "Law and principle are the most important metric, and after also considering various factors mentioned previously, we will decide by law and principle," the prosecution spokesman Lee said, referring to economic impact, without elaborating. A Samsung Group spokeswoman declined to comment. Samsung's Lee was questioned for 22 hours before leaving the special prosecutors' office in Seoul on Friday morning as part of the investigation into a corruption scandal that has led to President Park's impeachment by parliament. Establishing a money-for-favour exchange between Samsung and Park or her surrogate is critical for the special prosecutor's investigation, analysts say. COURT DELIBERATING Park, the daughter of a military ruler, has denied wrongdoing, although she has apologised for exercising poor judgment. Her friend, Choi, who is in detention and facing her own trial, has also denied wrongdoing. The Constitutional Court is deciding whether to uphold or overturn the impeachment vote. If Park is forced to leave office, a presidential election would be held in 60 days. Among the expected contenders is former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. The chiefs of South Korean chaebol have over the years had prison sentences shortened or forgiven, or received pardons, with the economic impact of imprisonment cited as a factor. Jay Y. Lee's father Lee Kun-hee, who has been incapacitated since a 2014 heart attack, was handed a three-year suspended jail sentence in 2009 for tax evasion. He was later pardoned. Samsung has acknowledged making contributions to the two foundations as well as a consulting firm controlled by Choi but has repeatedly denied accusations of lobbying to push through the merger of Samsung C&T and Cheil Industries Inc. The world's biggest maker of smartphones, memory chips and flat-screen televisions has delayed its annual executive promotions, which typically take place in early December, amid the scandal. The special prosecution also said it plans to indict early next week National Pension Service chief Moon Hyung-pyo, who was arrested in December after acknowledging he pressured the fund to approve the merger while he was health minister. (Reporting by Ju-min Park, Se Young Lee; Editing by Robert Birsel and Tony Munroe)
By Irene Klotz REUTERS - A SpaceX Falcon rocket blasted off from California on Saturday, returning the company to flight for the first time since a fiery launchpad explosion in September. The 230-foot (70-meter) rocket launched from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 9:54 a.m. PST (1754 GMT) to deliver 10satellites into orbit for Iridium Communications Inc. "It's a clean sweep  10 for 10," SpaceX launch commentator John Insprucker said after the satellites were released.SpaceX founder and entrepreneur Elon Musk's ambitious flight plans had been grounded since the September 1 explosion during fueling ahead of a pre-flight test in Florida. About 10 minutes after Saturday's launch, the first stage ofthe rocket, which had separated from the rest of craft,successfully touched down on a platform in the Pacific Ocean, a feat previously accomplished by four other returning Falconrockets. SpaceX intends to reuse its rockets to cut costs. "Rocket is stable," Musk posted on Twitter. "Mission looks good." Two other returning Falcon boosters landed on the ground. The mission tested changes implemented by SpaceExploration Technologies Corp, known as SpaceX, since the launchpad explosion. Accident investigators determined that a canister of heliumburst inside the rocket's second-stage liquid oxygen tank,triggering the explosion. The canister is being redesigned, butuntil then SpaceX is addressing the issue by modifying itsfueling procedures. The explosion destroyed a $62 million SpaceX booster and a$200 million Israeli communications satellite that it was to puti The accident clouded the company's aggressive agenda, whichincludes beginning to ferry U.S. astronauts into space next year, when it also plans to make its first voyage to Mars. Saturday's flight begins to clear a logjam of more than 70 planned missions, worth more than $10 billion, involving SpaceX Falcon rockets, which last flew in August, SpaceX said. The launch is the first in a seven-flight contract with Iridium worth $468.1 million, company spokeswoman Diane Hockenberry said. SpaceX aims to launch 27 rockets in 2017, more than triplethe eight flights the privately held firm managed in 2016,according to a report on Friday in the Wall Street Journal. In addition to its dozens of commercial customers, SpaceX is one of two companies hired by NASA to fly cargo to the International Space Station. The company's 2017 agenda includes the debut launch of a heavy-lift booster, flying its first reused rocket and repairing the Florida launchpad damaged in the explosion. (Reporting by Irene Klotz; Editing by Daniel Trotta and Tom Brown)
MADRID (Reuters) - Spanish police have arrested three people accused of connections with Islamist militants, the Interior Ministry said on Friday, two in Spain's North African enclave of Ceuta and a third in the northern town of Figueras. The two detained had been through a long radicalisation process and formed part of a group which was thought to be at an advanced stage of preparation for potential attacks, it said. Police, searching six locations in relation to the arrests, found one gun and three non-firing weapons, the ministry said, though it did not elaborate. Separately, the ministry said later on Friday that police had detained a Moroccan man with Dutch papers accused of belonging to Islamic State and who may have returned to Spain from a conflict zone within the last couple of days. The man was arrested through cooperation with Dutch and other authorities that had monitored his movements as he travelled from Turkey to Spain, the ministry said. Spanish police have arrested 181 people accused of connections to Islamist militant groups since raising the country-wide security alert to one below the highest level in 2015. (Reporting by Paul Day; Editing by Toby Chopra and Hugh Lawson)
Riyadh (AFP) - Spain's King Felipe VI met Sunday with Saudi King Salman, official media said, during a visit coinciding with talks to sell Spanish warships.

Felipe, 48, was guest of honour at a lunch hosted by Salman, 81, who decorated him with the cordon of King Abdul Aziz, the highest Saudi honour for a foreigner, the Saudi Press Agency said.

Later they discussed relations between the two nations and how to further develop them "in various fields", it said.

They also reviewed the situation in the Middle East, before Felipe held separate talks with Saudi Finance Minister Mohammed Aljadaan and Minister of Commerce and Investment Majed al-Qasabi.

The Spanish king arrived late Saturday in Riyadh for a three-day stay.

Madrid's foreign ministry said its minister Alfonso Dastis, and Public Works Minister Inigo de la Serna, would accompany Felipe during the visit.

Spanish media have linked this trip to a much-anticipated deal to sell Avante 2200 frigates for an estimated two billion euros ($2.1 billion).

"We can only confirm that negotiations are very advanced to build five warships which would be sold to the Saudi navy," a spokesman for state-owned Spanish ship builder Navantia told AFP.

Spain is the seventh largest arms exporter in the world, and Saudi Arabia is one of the biggest buyers of military gear.

A Saudi-led coalition began air strikes over Yemen almost two years ago after Huthi rebels and their allies, troops loyal to ex-president Ali Abdullah Saleh, overran much of Yemen.

Riyadh feared the Huthis would seize all of Yemen and move it into the orbit of Shiite Iran, Sunni Saudi Arabia's regional rival.

But the air campaign has faced repeated criticism from rights groups over civilian casualties.

This year's budget allocates 191 billion riyals ($51 billion) for military spending including equipment and weaponry, down from 205 billion riyals spent in 2016.

A separate budget allocation of 97 billion riyals is to pay for new naval bases for the Border Guards, and other security projects.

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Rights groups have said any Spanish sale of warships to Saudi Arabia would be illegal under international law.

Felipe's father, Juan Carlos, who reigned from 1975 to 2014, has close ties to the Saudi royal family.

A Spanish consortium, Al-Shoula, is building a high-speed railway across the desert to link the holy cities of Mecca and Medina.

The project is behind schedule and is now set to open in 2018.

Spanish construction group FCC leads one of three consortia building a $22.5-billion rapid transit system in the Saudi capital.
KABUL (Reuters) - A Spanish employee of the International Committee of the Red Cross has been released less than a month after he was kidnapped by gunmen in northern Afghanistan, the aid group said on Sunday. The staff member, identified by the ICRC only as Juan Carlos, was traveling with three Afghan colleagues between Mazar-i-Sharif and Kunduz on Dec. 19, 2016, when gunmen stopped the vehicles. The other ICRC staff were immediately released, but Juan Carlos was held for nearly four weeks. The aid group thanked Afghan authorities and community members who helped secure the man's release, but would not identify the abductors and their motives, or provide any details on how the employee was freed. "We are relieved and grateful that Juan Carlos is now back with us, safe and sound," the head of the ICRC delegation in Afghanistan, Monica Zanarelli, said in a statement. "His abduction was a terrible ordeal for him, as well as for his family, friends and colleagues." (Reporting by Josh Smith; Editing by Gareth Jones)
THESSALONIKI, Greece (AP)  Greece's ambassador to Brazil, who was murdered there last month, has been buried with full military and civilian honors normally reserved for government ministers.

Kyriakos Amiridis, 59, went missing Dec. 26 in Nova Iguacu, a city near Rio de Janeiro where he had been vacationing with his wife. His charred body was found in a car three days later. Brazilian police say they believe he was killed by his wife's lover under her orders. Those two and a third person have been arrested.

Attending the funeral Sunday in the northern city of Thessaloniki were Amiridis' 95-year-old mother, lawmakers and colleagues.

Deputy Foreign Minister Yiannis Amanatidis recalled Amiridis' career, especially his role in evacuating Greek and other civilians from war-torn Libya in 2014, where he was ambassador before being posted to Brazil.
Geneva (AFP) - Swiss police on Sunday detained 32 people protesting conditions in Tibet as Chinese President Xi Jinping began a state visit in the wealthy Alpine nation.

A statement from police in the capital Bern said one protester had doused himself in flammable liquid but was stopped by security forces from setting himself alight before being taken into custody.

Xi is in Switzerland for two days of bilateral talks before heading to Davos where he will become the first Chinese president to address the World Economic Forum, an annual gathering of political, business and cultural elite.

There were an estimated 400 people, including Tibetan exiles and Swiss supporters, at the protest that had been authorised by police, the ATS news agency reported.

Some waved a banner saying "No Trade With Murderers" and demanded independence for Tibet, which Beijing says it "peacefully liberated" in 1951 and considers an inseparable part of China.

Bern police said the individuals were detained for protesting outside the agreed zone and resisted being relocated.

Xi was due to address a state dinner later Sunday alongside Swiss President Doris Leuthard.

Monday's talks will focus on topics including climate change and trade.

China is Switzerland's biggest commercial partner in Asia. In 2013, the countries inked a free-trade pact that helped boost trade volumes to 31 billion Swiss francs ($30.7 billion, 28.8 billion euros) in 2015.

But the centrepiece of Xi's visit will be his keynote address in Davos, where he is expected to preach the advent of a new world.

Donald Trump will be inaugurated as the 45th US president on the last day of the forum, a moment that many say will trigger fresh uncertainty about Washington's global leadership.

Xi's speech is expected to extol Beijing's efforts to negotiate new types of regional trade deals shorn of US influence.
Nancy Holten, 42, was born in the Netherlands. At the age of 8, however, she moved with her family to Switzerland, which Holten has called home for the past 34 years. Holten currently resides, with her three daughters, in the small village of Gipf-Oberfrick, in the far north of the country, within the canton of Aargau. She speaks fluent Swiss-German. Her daughters are Swiss citizens. She has been a member of the parents committee of their school.

And yet Holten was recently rejected for a Swiss passportwhich is also to say, effectively, for naturalized Swiss citizenship. For the second time.

The reason? In Switzerland, applications for naturalization are decided not at the federal level, but rather by the countrys cantons and municipalitiesand the applicants peers have a say in whether naturalization gets granted. And, unfortunately for Nancy Holten, her peers are not inclined to give her the gift of a passport. Because, despite all the ways she is Swiss, Holtena vegan who is extremely vocal about that life choicehas also stridently opposed one of the most beloved cultural traditions of Gipf-Oberfrick, and of Aargau, and of Switzerland itself: the practice of putting large bells around the necks of cows, for reasons both practical and ceremonial. Insert your preferred more cowbell joke here.

Holtens peers would not grant her citizenship, they said, if she annoys us and doesnt respect our traditions.

In 2015, Holtens application for naturalization was approved by local authorities but then rejected, in a vote, by 144 of 206 residents of Gipf-Oberfrick. In November of 2016, a similarly sized group gathered at a communal assembly to hear Holten's case. Some of the attendees booed her as the debates took place. For them, it seems, the matter wasnt so much that Holten was outspoken in her criticism of the bells (though Tanja Suter, the president of the local branch of the Swiss Peoples Party, did complain to reporters that Holten has a big mouth). The problem was rather that Holtens activism, they have said, displays a lack of respect for the villagesand the countryscultural traditions. The problem was also, more to the point, that Holten had demonstrated that disrespect so publicly.

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The reason why they have yet again clearly rejected the naturalization is that Nancy Holten very often expresses her personal opinion in the media, Urs Treier, a spokesman for the Gipf-Oberfrick administration, told The Local. He added that Holten also gathers media coverage for rebelling against traditional [Swiss] things within the village.

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Its an explanation that offers a lot to ruminate on. The villages reaction to Holtens media-savvy activism is reminiscent on the one hand of those common scold laws they used to have in Europe and, for a time, the United States. Sanded of its edges, after all, here is that most age-old of things: a woman speaking her mind, and being roundly condemned for it. And here is a woman speaking, too, for creatures that cannot speak for themselves. The animals carry around five kilograms around their neck, Holten explained of her cow-bell-related advocacy. It causes friction and burns to their skin. (Plus, she added: The sound that cow bells make is 100-decibel. ... We also would not want such a thing hanging close to our ears.)

Related Story

How Swimming Classes Became an Integration Issue in Switzerland

Holten also rejects the idea that her advocacy of animal rights doubles as an attack on Swiss culture. Many people think that I am attacking their traditions, she told The Local. But that was not what it was about, it was never about that. What primarily motivated me about the cowbells was the animals welfare.

Not helping Nancy Holten to defend herself against her peers charges of her general gadflyery, however, is the fact that she followed up her animal-rights-oriented effort with another campaignthis time, against the ringing of church bells early in the morning, another locally beloved element of the culture of Gipf-Oberfrick. Holtens efforts in this case won her the name, among her fellow villagers, Glockengegnerinroughly, the bell-fighter. They did not win her, however, any additional friends in the area. Nor did the other campaigns Holten has waged against local pastimes, among them hunting and pig racingthe latter of which the Swiss National Tourist Office highlights as one of the nations living traditions.

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Whether Holten is a hero or a menace or something in between, Swiss law itself is not necessarily on her side in all this. According to Switzerlands Federal Act on the Acquisition and Loss of Swiss Citizenship, established in 1952, Swiss citizenship may be obtained by a permanent resident who lived in Switzerland for at least 12 years  and lived in the country for 3 out of the last 5 years before applying for citizenship. The resident must speak, depending on the canton, at least one of Switzerlands primary languages: German (preferably Swiss German), French, Italian, or Romansch. But the resident must also demonstrate:

compliance with the Swiss rule of law;

no danger to Switzerland's internal or external security

integration into the Swiss way of life; and

familiarity with Swiss habits, customs and traditions.

Its those last two that have helped Holtens fellow villagers to transform casual ostracism into something decidedly more official. As Tanja Suter of the Swiss Peoples Party made clear: Holtens peers would not grant her citizenship if she annoys us and doesnt respect our traditions. That kind of thing, Urs Treier reiterated, can cause the community to not want such a person in their midst.

But that community, it turns out, will not have the final word in deciding Holtens fate. Her case has moved on, as some of Switzerlands more complicated naturalization applications will do, to the cantonal government, which is empowered to override the rejections administered by the locals of Gipf-Oberfrick. Holten may still be granted naturalization; she may be rejected once again. If things dont go her way for the third time, however, perhaps she should consider seeking residency instead in a country that rewards brashness, and idiosyncrasy, and above all media savvya country that makes a political virtue out of rankling ones peers. Holten, after all, who is Dutch by birth, Swiss by choice, but, it seems, very much American by temperament, is already at work on a book about herself and her bovine ordeal. It is tentatively titled Celle qui enerve, or, What Annoys.

Read more from The Atlantic:

This article was originally published on The Atlantic.
Kamiyah Mobley, whose name has since been changed to Alexis Manigo, finally had a joyful reunion with her biological parents  18 years after she was abducted from a Florida hospital just eight hours after birth.

Her parents, Shanara Mobley and Craig Aiken, hoped that they would one day find their daughter who police said was allegedly abducted by Gloria Williams, 51, after she posed as a nurse and walked out of Jacksonvilles University Medical Center on July 10, 1998.

Read: Baby Kidnapped From Florida Hospital in 1998 is Found Living in South Carolina With Alleged Abductor

Williams allegedly raised Manigo as her own child.

Manigo, 18, was identified earlier this week through a DNA test after two leads led police to South Carolina where she was living with Williams, according to police.

Though Manigo had a different name, detectives learned that her identity was established with fraudulent documents and they collected a DNA sample to be tested against the missing newborns DNA available at the hospital, according to reports.

Aiken told reporters that the meeting was the best day of his life.

It was a beautiful, beautiful day. We are so happy. I hope the world is rejoicing with us, Aiken said.

The reunion took place at the Walterboro, South Carolina, police station on Saturday. Williams is behind bars at the same station facing charges of kidnapping and waiting to be extradited back to Florida.

Aiken also said that they reunion wasnt spent discussing the details of the alleged kidnapping but getting to know Manigo.

'We laughed, we chatted, we didn't allow any negative thoughts. We didn't talk about the kidnapping,' Aiken told the DailyMail. 'It's going to be hard for her to turn this into a positive."

Read: Woman Who Kidnapped Newborn, Raised Her for Nearly 2 Decades, Gets 10 Years in Prison

The teen also had an emotional moment with her alleged abuctor on Friday in court.

Story continues

Williams reportedly blew a kiss to Manigo in court on Friday and the teen responded with I love you, Mom after the pair were allowed to spend a few moments together through a mesh screen in the Colleton County Jail in South Carolina, according to News4Jax.

"She's got very mixed emotions about the woman who raised her. But we are going to be there for her, this is just the start of a wonderful future," Aiken said.

Watch: Man Mistakenly Kidnapped By Biker Gang Still is Emotional 5 Years Later

Related Articles:
HONOLULU (AP)  Justin Thomas has turned the first full-field event of the year into a blowout.

With three birdies over the last five holes Saturday in the Sony Open  the last for another entry into the PGA Tour record book  Thomas played bogey-free and shot a 5-under 65 to stretch his lead to seven shots going into the final round at vulnerable Waialae Country Club.

No one has ever lost on the PGA Tour when leading by seven shots after 54 holes, which was brought to his attention.

"I'm more excited about the seven-shot lead than what you just said," Thomas replied.

Staked to a five-shot lead, Thomas wanted to avoid giving anything back on another peaceful afternoon, and he only had one close call. He wound up with a seven-shot lead, the largest at the Sony Open since Jack Nicklaus led by six in 1974.

That's not the record Thomas was thinking about when he reached the par-5 18th.

Each of the previous two rounds, he made eagle on his closing hole to get into the record book  a 59 on Thursday, and the PGA Tour's 36-hole scoring record Friday. No such luck Saturday after he clipped a palm frond with his second shot into the par-5 18th and came up well short in the fairway. Thomas pitched to just inside 15 feet below the cup and poured it in , just like he's been doing all week.

That put him at 22-under 188, tying the 54-hole record that Steve Stricker set in 2010 at the John Deere Classic with caddie Jimmy Johnson on his bag. Johnson now caddies for Thomas, though this performance surely stands out because no one is close to him.

Zach Johnson kept pace with a 65 and is leading the B-flight at 15-under 201.

"I've got to play the golf course," Johnson said. "That's my only competitor tomorrow."

Thomas repeated at the CIMB Classic in Malaysia last fall, and it picked up some serious steam last week at Kapalua when he overcame a late blunder with birdies on his last two holes for a three-shot victory in the SBS Tournament of Champions.

Story continues

He doesn't feel much different this week. He's not sure he's playing all that much differently, hard to measure given the extreme contrast in courses.

It was his 11th consecutive round in the 60s.

Along with tying Stricker's record, Thomas set the 54-hole scoring record at the Sony Open by five shots. Next on the horizon is a shot at the 72-hole scoring record that Tommy Armour III set in 2003 with a 254 at the Texas Open.

Thomas would need a 65 to break that mark.

Right now, his only thought is more of what he called the "smart aggressive" play that enabled him to play bogey-free and extend his lead. He is thinking birdie while trying to avoid a miss that could lead to bogey.

And all he wants is another lei around his neck and another trophy from paradise. Ernie Els in 2003 is the only other player to sweep Hawaii.

The course remained so vulnerable that Kevin Kisner nearly produced the second 59 of the week. Kisner made a 25-foot birdie putt on the eighth hole to reach 9 under for his round. Needing an eagle to shoot 59, he drilled his tee shot on the fast fairways of Waialae, hit 8-iron to 9 feet and thought he had made it. The putt stayed to the right and burned the edge of the cup, and Kisner had to settle for a 60.

It was the lowest round of his career  but only the second-lowest round this week.

"Can't be that upset," Kisner said.

He went from making the cut on the number to a tie for sixth, though hardly in contention. When someone started to suggest that his 60 got him back into the mix, Kisner laughed and said, "Justin might need to get food poisoning."

Even that might not be enough.

Only three players have lost a six-shot lead going into the final round, the most famous being Greg Norman at the Masters in 1996.

Thomas had only a few stressful moments, such as the par-3 seventh when his tee shot bounded down a steep still on the right into a fluffy lie. He hit a flop shot to about 12 feet and hit the putt so pure he started walking even before it dropped.

Thomas led by at least four shots the entire round. He made his first birdie with a two-putt on the par-5 ninth, drove into a greenside bunker on the par-4 10th and got another birdie and he was on his way.
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Three men detained for questioning late on Saturday after an anti-terror raid in the Brussels district of Molenbeek were released without charges, Belgian prosecutors said on Sunday. Prosecutors said on Saturday that several houses had been searched in relation to an anti-terror investigation but that nothing was found. They did not give any details about the case. Molenbeek gained international attention when locals with links to Syria took part in the November 2015 attacks that killed 130 people in Paris. (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; Editing by Catherine Evans)
BEIJING (AP)  President-elect Donald Trump "speaks like a rookie," China's state-run media said Monday, describing his suggested use of America's position on Taiwan as a bargaining chip as "despicable." The nationalist tabloid Global Times published an editorial blasting Trump's strategy and saying China would have a strong response to any reconsideration of the "one China" policy. Since recognizing Beijing in 1979, Washington has maintained only unofficial ties with Taiwan, the self-governing island that Beijing considers its territory  a status quo that Trump has repeatedly threatened to upend since winning the November election. "In the past, Trump infuriated us, but now we find him risible," said the newspaper, which is published by the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's mouthpiece.

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 developments in the South China Sea, home to several territorial conflicts that have raised tensions in the region. ___ BAD CHOICE OF WORDS? In comments that could raise the stakes in the South China Sea, Donald Trump's choice for secretary of state said the U.S.

KYEE KAN PYIN, Myanmar (AP)  Muslim villagers in western Myanmar's troubled Rakhine state said Sunday that they hope positive change will result from a U.N. envoy's visit to the region, where soldiers are accused of widespread abuses against minority Muslims, including murder, rape and the burning of thousands of homes. U.N. Special Rapporteur on Human Rights Yanghee Lee concluded a three-day visit Sunday to probe the situation in northern Rakhine, where an army crackdown has driven an estimated 65,000 Muslim ethnic Rohingya to flee across the border to Bangladesh in the past three months. "We really hope that her visit brings a positive change for Rohingya and we hope to gain our human rights," a displaced Rohingya man living temporarily in Kyee Kan Pyin village said on condition of anonymity due to security reasons.

Story continues

DAVOS, Switzerland (AP)  Police in the Swiss capital of Bern prevented a pro-Tibet protester from setting himself on fire Sunday on the sidelines of a demonstration against the visit of Chinese President Xi Jinping, officials said. Bern police say 32 people were stopped for refusing identity checks and other disruptions as part of their deployment to secure Xi's visit. On the sidelines of a demonstration around midday, security officials prevented a man who had doused himself with a flammable liquid from setting it on fire. Police spokesman Christoph Gnaegi said those taken in by police were later released. He said no disruptions were caused by peaceful protesters who took part in a morning protest, but that some people afterward had caused minor problems leading to the police action.

Former U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said last week that he would announce soon whether he will run for South Korea's presidency, as he returned home and strongly hinted at his political ambitions before hundreds of cheering supporters. Ban's return will likely heat up local politics as he's considered the only major conservative contender in a possible early election to replace impeached President Park Geun-hye. In other images from the Asia-Pacific region last week, U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry visited Vietnam during his last trip as the top U.S. diplomat. Kerry, a Vietnam War veteran, toured the Mekong Delta region, where he fought almost 50 years ago.

MANILA, Philippines (AP)  Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said he has ordered his troops to bomb extremists who flee with their captives in a bid to stop a wave of kidnappings at sea, calling the loss of civilian lives in such an attack "collateral damage." Duterte has previously stated that he had told his Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts their forces can blast away as they pursue militants who abduct sailors in waters where the three countries converge and bring their kidnap victims to the southern Philippines. He said in a speech late Saturday that he had given the same orders to Filipino forces.

JAKARTA, Indonesia (AP)  The waste from discarded electronic gadgets and electrical appliances has reached severe levels in East Asia, posing a growing threat to health and the environment unless safe disposal becomes the norm. China was the biggest culprit with its electronic waste more than doubling, according to a new study by the United Nations University. But nearly every country in the region had massive increases between 2010 and 2015, including those least equipped to deal with the growing mountain of discarded smartphones, computers, TVs, air conditioners and other goods. On average, electronic waste in the 12 countries in the study had increased by nearly two thirds in the five years, totaling 12.3 million tons in 2015 alone.

BOGOR, Indonesia (AP)  Japan and Indonesia on Sunday affirmed a deepening of economic and political ties during a visit by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who is using a four-nation tour of Asia to underscore his government's role in countering China's assertiveness in the South China Sea. After meeting with Abe, Indonesian President Joko "Jokowi" Widodo said the increase in Japanese investment in Indonesia, Southeast Asia's largest economy, has been "very significant," doubling to $4.5 billion in January-September of last year. He said the meeting was "warm, open and productive," and that the countries agreed that their defense and foreign ministers would meet in Indonesia this year under a new forum they established in 2015 to increase maritime cooperation.

BERLIN (AP)  The International Committee of the Red Cross says a staff member who was abducted in northern Afghanistan last month has been released. The ICRC's head of delegation in Afghanistan, Monica Zanarelli, said Sunday that the man is "safe and sound" and is now with its team in Kunduz. The agency said it wouldn't comment on the identity of the abductors or their motives or give any details of the release. The ICRC staffer, whose nationality wasn't specified, was snatched on Dec. 19 in the northern province of Kunduz as he was traveling to Mazar-i-Sharif. According to the Red Cross, three other colleagues were left unharmed.

QUETTA, Pakistan (AP)  A Pakistani official says a group of villagers attacked the convoy of a Qatari prince on a hunting trip, wounding four people. Yasir Khan, deputy commissioner of the Musakhel district, near the Afghan border, says the mob was led by a local landowner who objected to the hunting of the houbara bustard, a rare bird prized by Gulf Arab elites. Khan says nearly 30 villagers armed with guns sticks attacked the convoy on Sunday, forcing the royal to relocate to a safer area. He declined to identify the visiting prince.
LONDON (AP)  Britain's leaders on Sunday signaled their resolve to play hardball in talks with the European Union, suggesting they will look for partners elsewhere if the bloc restricts access to its huge market.

Under pressure to reveal her Brexit blueprint, British Prime Minister Theresa May's office said she will call for a "truly global Britain" that is more open to the world when she sets out plans for negotiations with the EU in a speech later this week. Treasury chief Philip Hammond told the German newspaper Welt am Sonntag that Britain is prepared to "do whatever we have to do," including turning away from Europe to other markets, to protect its economy.

"If Great Britain left the European Union without an agreement on market access, then we could at least in the short term suffer economic damage," Hammond was quoted as saying. "In this case, we could be forced to change our economic model."

Hammond also suggested that Britain could cut taxes to encourage companies to move to the U.K.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, meanwhile, suggested that May was prepared to trigger a full-scale "trade war" to get her way.

The comments come amid a standoff over migration into Britain. While Britain wants to curtail immigration from Europe, the EU says the U.K. must abide by rules guaranteeing the free movement of people if it wants to retain tariff-free access to the bloc's market of more than 500 million people.

British media interpreted the statements as a further sign that May is prepared to leave the EU without any form of privileged relationship, an option often described as "hard Brexit." Similar comments last week caused the pound currency to tumble to its lowest level against the dollar since October on concerns about damage to the British economy.

"May calls for clean hard Brexit," declared the Sunday Times. "May's big gamble on a clean Brexit," The Sunday Telegraph said.

Story continues

Writing in the Sunday Times, David Davis, the British secretary of state for exiting the EU, underscored the government's position by saying Britain would "respect the views of the British people" and demand control over immigration.

"We will bring back control over our laws and make our own decisions on immigration, we will aim to maintain cooperation on security as it is now, if not enhance it, and we will seek the most open possible market with the EU while furthering trade links with the rest of the world," he wrote.

May has said for months that she will invoke Article 50 of the EU's key treaty, formally beginning the process of negotiating Britain's departure, by March 31.

But she has refused to reveal details about Britain's goals or its negotiating strategy, arguing that to do so would weaken Britain's hand. That lack of clarity has fueled allegations that her Conservative government's plans are in disarray.

But Europe may also be feeling the heat. In testimony to lawmakers last week, Bank of England Governor Mark Carney said that Brexit poses a greater threat to financial stability in Europe than in the UK.

Any disruption in Britain's sprawling financial services sector could restrict the flow of capital to European businesses that rely on U.K.-based institutions for big-money transactions.

"I am not saying there are not financial stability risks in the UK. And there are economic risks to the UK. But there are greater short-term risks on the continent in the transition than there are in the UK," Carney said.

___

Associated Press Writer Geir Moulson contributed to this story.
Brussels (AFP) - EU heavyweights Germany and France led a sharp European response to US President-elect Donald Trump Monday after he branded NATO "obsolete" and said more countries would leave the EU after Britain.

In a hard-hitting interview with two European newspapers, Trump unleashed a volley of verbal attacks on Europe and criticised German Chancellor Angela Merkel's "catastrophic" decision to open Germany's borders to Syrian refugees.

With fears growing in Europe over Trump's commitment to the transatlantic alliance and signs he will pivot towards Russia, Merkel warned that the continent now had to take responsibility for itself.

"We Europeans have our fate in our own hands," Merkel told reporters in Berlin when asked about Trump's criticisms, adding that she will work towards getting the EU to strengthen the economy and fight terrorism.

French President Francois Hollande's response to Trump's intervention was more blunt, insisting that the European Union "has no need for outside advice" on its affairs.

- 'Astonishment and agitation' -

Trump's latest remarks have in particular caused further consternation among eastern European NATO countries nervous about Moscow, following Russia's annexation of Crimea and involvement in Ukraine.

"I said a long time ago that NATO had problems," Trump told The Times of London and Bild, Germany's biggest-selling daily, on Friday.

"Number one, it was obsolete, because it was designed many, many years ago," he said, referring to its Cold War, post-World War II origins. "Number two, the countries aren't paying what they're supposed to pay."

On the campaign trail, Trump said he would think twice about helping NATO allies if the United States was not "reasonably reimbursed" for the costs of defending them -- a common source of friction in the US-led 28-nation alliance.

Story continues

German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said Europe was stunned by Trump's remarks on NATO, just five days ahead of the billionaire businessman's inauguration as president.

"The interview statements of the American president-elect... caused, indeed here in Brussels, astonishment and agitation," Steinmeier said as he went from a meeting with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg to talks with EU counterparts.

Stoltenberg was "absolutely confident" in Trump's commitment to NATO, the alliance chief's spokeswoman Oana Lungescu said.

Criticism of Trump's comments also came from Washington.

Outgoing US Secretary of State John Kerry said Monday that the president-elect had been wrong to criticise "courageous" German leader Merkel.

- 'Catastrophic mistake' -

Trump however further extended a hand to Russia, which has been hit by a string of sanctions under Obama's outgoing administration over its involvement in Ukraine, the Syrian war and for suspected cyber attacks to influence the US election.

"Let's see if we can make some good deals with Russia," Trump said, suggesting in vague terms a deal in which nuclear arsenals would be reduced and sanctions against Moscow eased.

In another comment that alarmed the Europeans, Trump refused to say that he trusted Merkel more than Russian President Vladimir Putin, for whom the next US president has often expressed admiration.

"Well, I start off trusting both  but lets see how long that lasts. It may not last long at all," he said.

Trump also directly criticised Merkel for letting Germany admit undocumented migrants, insinuating that this posed a security risk following a wave of Islamic State jihadist attacks in Europe.

"I think she made one very catastrophic mistake and that was taking all of these illegals, you know taking all of the people from wherever they come from," Trump said, adding he had "great respect" for the chancellor.

Trump went on to threaten punitive 35 percent tariffs on German carmakers like BMW if they build cars in Mexico and not the United States.

- Brexit a 'great thing' -

In other remarks, Trump said Brexit "is going to end up as a great thing", and he backed a trade deal with post-EU Britain which would be "good for both sides".

"We're gonna work very hard to get it done quickly and done properly," said Trump, confirming he will meet British Prime Minister Theresa May soon after his inauguration on Friday.

The British pound took a hit Monday after Britain said it might undercut the EU economically if it cannot obtain both single market access and immigration controls, with British media warning of a so-called "hard Brexit".

"Other countries will leave" the EU in future, Trump predicted, largely due to the pressure the bloc was put under following a surge in arrivals of migrants and refugees fleeing war in Syria and elsewhere.

Mogherini however said it was "absolutely clear" that Britain could not start any trade talks with the United States until it leaves the bloc.burs-dk/bmm/pvh/mt
LONDON (Reuters) - U.S. President-elect Donald Trump said NATO was obsolete because it had not defended against terror attacks, but that the military alliance was still very important to him, The Times of London reported. I took such heat, when I said NATO was obsolete," Trump told the newspaper in an interview. "Its obsolete because it wasnt taking care of terror. I took a lot of heat for two days. And then they started saying Trump is right." Trump added that many NATO members were not paying their fair share for U.S. protection. A lot of these countries arent paying what theyre supposed to be paying, which I think is very unfair to the United States," Trump said. "With that being said, NATO is very important to me. Theres five countries that are paying what theyre supposed to. Five. Its not much." (Reporting by William James, editing by Guy Faulconbridge)
donald trump

President-elect Donald Trump seemed to offer more detail about his positions on Russia and China under his incoming administration.

Trump left open the possibility that the US could reconsider its adherence to the "One China" policy during an interview with The Wall Street Journal published Friday night.

The policy was established decades ago, in part to support diplomatic ties between China and the US.

Trump told The Journal any new developments between the US and China might hinge upon China's trade and currency practices, which the president-elect has characterized as unfair to the US.

Trump rattled Washington and China shortly after he won the election when he took a congratulatory call from Taiwan's President Tsai Ing-wen, the first direct communication between US and Taiwanese leadership in more than 30 years

US-Russia relations

On Russia, Trump told The Journal he would consider keeping in place new sanctions against Russia  which President Barack Obama announced late last year in response to Russia's election-related cyberattacks against the Democratic Party.

Trump said sanctions against the Kremlin could remain intact "for at least a period time" under his presidency. The new sanctions Obama outlined in December included the expulsion of 35 Russian diplomats from the US, who were promptly sent packing.

Trump suggested continued sanctions against Russia may not make sense under certain circumstances.

"If Russia is really helping us, why would anybody have sanctions if somebodys doing some really great things?," the president-elect asked the newspaper.

It was unclear what Trump meant by "really great things." The president-elect has repeatedly exalted Russia during and after the election, and applauded Russian President Vladimir Putin. The day after Obama announced the new sanctions against Russia, Trump praised Putin again, saying Putin's response to the sanctions  that Russia would not retaliate, in hopes of friendlier ties with the Trump administration  was a "great move."

Story continues

"I always knew he was very smart," Trump said of Putin.

Barack Obama

Condemning Russia

Trump's platitudes came against a backdrop of Republican and Democratic condemnation of Russia and Putin over the cyberattacks.

House Speaker Paul Ryan and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell issued statements slamming Russia, Sen. John McCain of Arizona said "every American should be alarmed by Russia's attack on our nation."

Sen, Lindsey Graham of South Carolina torched Putin and demanded "crippling sanctions" against the Kremlin. Obama called Russia's cyber activities against the US a "national emergency."

Putin has denied any wrongdoing.

Trump recently acknowledged that Russia was indeed behind the cyberattacks, but attempted to publicly dress down the US intelligence community as well, accusing the nation's top spy agencies of leaking info about the Russia hacking investigation to journalists.

The bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee announced Friday it would investigate Russian intelligence operations in the US.

Committee chairman Sen. Richard Burr, who is a Republican from North Carolina, and vice chairman Sen. Mark Warner, a Democrat from Virginia, said in a statement: "We believe that it is critical to have a full understanding of the scope of Russian intelligence activities impacting the United States."

The committee plans to interview senior officials of both the Trump and Obama administrations and may issue subpoenas, Reuters reported.

Donald Trump.

The Trump dossier

Trump's one-sided battle with the US intelligence community continued this week, with the publication of a file that contained unverified research on Trump, intended to draw links between Trump and Russian operatives.

During a long-awaited news conference on Wednesday, Trump and his advisers attempted to scold reporters they accused of spreading details about the dossier.

The incoming president revived his attacks Friday in a raging early morning tweetstorm:

"It now turns out that the phony allegations against me were put together by my political opponents and a failed spy afraid of being sued," Trump tweeted. "Totally made up facts by sleazebag political operatives, both Democrats and Republicans  FAKE NEWS!"

He continued: "Russia says nothing exists. Probably released by 'Intelligence' even knowing there is no proof, and never will be. My people will have a full report on hacking within 90 days!"

Trump is set to be inaugurated as the 45th US president on January 20.

NOW WATCH: 'I'm asking you a simple question': Fox News host confronts RNC chair over Trump's denial of Russia hacks





More From Business Insider


Trump speaks at a press conference in Trump Tower on Jan. 11, 2017. (Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

Residents of Rep. John Lewis Georgia congressional district are firing back over Donald Trumps assertion that it is crime-infested. Meanwhile, the incoming White House chief of staff defended the president-elects attack on Lewis, which came after the civil rights leader questioned the legitimacy of Trumps presidency.

Atlanta to Trump: Wrong blared the front-page headline published by the Atlanta Journal- Constitution on Sunday, a day after Trump tweeted that Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results.

Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017

mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk  no action or results. Sad!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 14, 2017

Congressman John Lewis should finally focus on the burning and crime infested inner-cities of the U.S. I can use all the help I can get!  Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 15, 2017

The paper pointed out that overall, crime is down in Atlanta, which ranked 14th in the nation for its rate of violent crime in 2015, according to statistics compiled by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

The cover of the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Jan. 15, 2017. (AJC)

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed was sharply critical of Trumps attack on Lewis.

John Lewis is an American hero & a national treasure. Period. Full stop, Reed tweeted. That PEOTUS Trump would attack Congressman Lewis on MLK Day weekend for all talk  no action when he bled to actually Make America Great is why far less than half the country supports him at the dawn of his presidency.

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.@RepJohnLewis is an American hero & a national treasure. Period. Full stop. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/SN9W4uY31c  Kasim Reed (@KasimReed) January 14, 2017

That PEOTUS Trump would attack Congressman Lewis on MLK Day weekend for "all talkno action" when he bled to actually "Make America Great"  Kasim Reed (@KasimReed) January 14, 2017

is why far less than half the country supports him at the dawn of his presidency. #HeStoodUpForUs #LetsStandForHim  Kasim Reed (@KasimReed) January 14, 2017

In an interview with NBCs Meet the Press last week, Lewis said that the Russian governments apparent interference with the U.S. election delegitimizes Trumps victory.

Its going to be very difficult, Lewis, who is boycotting Trumps inauguration, told moderator Chuck Todd. I dont see this president-elect as a legitimate president.

Reince Priebus, Trumps incoming chief of staff, called Lewis comments insane and wrong.

We need folks like John Lewis, and others, who I think have been champions of voter rights, to actually recognize the fact that Donald Trump was duly elected, Priebus said on ABCs This Week With George Stephanopoulos on Sunday. Hes going to put his hand on the Bible in five days. And I think its incredibly disappointing, and I think its irresponsible, for people like himself to question the legitimacy of the next United States president. I think putting the United States down across the world is not something that a responsible person does.

But President Obamas chief of staff, Denis McDonough, told CNNs State of the Union that he hopes that Trump is ready not only to reach out to Lewis but pursue some of the policies that Mr. Lewis has literally fought, bled and gone to jail for over the course of his remarkable life.

That would be the kind of thing that would not only send a message to the American people that were prepared to work together, but would also send a message to the Russians that we are united, McDonough said. Their efforts to divide us, to weaken us, to advance their own interests, at the expense of ours, are going to fail.

Sales on John Lewis' memoir are up 800,000 percent. https://t.co/ZQS3iPnsQN pic.twitter.com/w23BV9ifBQ  Hollywood Reporter (@THR) January 15, 2017

Trumps tweeted assault on Lewis has sent book sales of the civil rights leaders memoir soaring.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Walking With the Wind, Lewis 1998 memoir, sold out on Amazon.com in the wake of Trumps attack. Sales of March, a graphic novel trilogy of Lewis life, have also risen dramatically. And five of the six books that have gained the most sales in the last 24 hours on Amazon are by Lewis, the Hollywood Reporter said.

Read more from Yahoo News:
Oklahoma City, Okla. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

In the weeks leading up to the inauguration, Yahoo News visited towns and cities across the country, speaking to voters who had supported Donald Trump in the election. As the shape of his administration emerged, we asked voters if they were happy with their choice and optimistic about the future. Here is some of what we found:

_____

OKLAHOMA CITY  He had prayed. He had fasted. He had called on God to perform the most divine of miracles and help Donald Trump overcome his political opponents, a hostile media and even his own worst instincts to win the presidency. When Trump actually won, it was proof of the miracle of prayer.

But weeks after Election Day, this Oklahoma pastor, though thrilled about Trumps victory, didnt want to be quoted by name talking about the president-elect. After an election he described as one of the most important in his lifetime for people of faith, his congregation, split over whether good Christians should back Trump, hadnt quite gotten back to normal. Instead of talking to a reporter, the man of God thought it might be best to be on his knees praying for healing  not just for his church, but for the nation. Anything, he said, but talking about politics.

And so it goes here, deep in the heart of the Bible Belt, in the most Republican state in the nation, where a Trump victory was never in doubt. The state had voted for the Republican presidential nominee in every election since 1968 and did so again in November, when Trump defeated Hillary Clinton by 36 points. Oklahoma was one of only two states (the other was West Virginia) where Trump won every single county.

But it was how the New York businessman won that surprised even the most hardcore Trump supporters here. The thrice-married former reality television star who once routinely bragged about his sexual exploits as a frequent guest star on The Howard Stern Show and who, as a candidate, had displayed little knowledge of religion or the Bible became the chosen candidate for evangelical voters. Here and across the country, they turned out for Trump in historic numbers.

Story continues

Oral Roberts University, Tulsa, Okla. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

Slideshow: Scenes from the road in Donald Trumps America >>>

According to national exit polls, 80 percent of self-described evangelicals voted for Trump  exceeding the record-breaking 78 percent George W. Bush claimed in the 2004 elections. Trump had done what John McCain and Mitt Romney had failed to do in their losing bids for the presidency: He finally awakened what former Christian Coalition head Ralph Reed had long described as the sleeping giant of religiously motivated voters. Many, including some in Trump world, think its a major reason he won.

In Oklahoma, there was never any real chance of Clinton pulling an upset. The big question was whether Christian voters would turn out for Trump or not vote at all. He came in third during the states primary  trailing Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio  in part because evangelical voters said they didnt trust him on issues important to them, like abortion, and they questioned his character.

Right up until Election Day, some congregations were divided over whether Christians could, in good faith, back a man who they considered vulgar and untrustworthy. But in the end, a majority of Oklahomans, including faith voters, backed Trump. They were not only sold on pocketbook issues, like his pledge to create jobs and help boost oil and gas production, the leading industry here. They were also swayed by Trumps overt appeals to faith voters during the final weeks of the campaign, including his pledge to appoint strict conservatives to the Supreme Court. Do you really want to leave that up to Hillary? Trump asked.

Bob Moore, a retiree who supported Donald Trump, has a meal at Cattlemens Steakhouse in Oklahoma City on Dec. 1. (Photo: Eric Thayer for Yahoo News)

It was enough for Bob Moore, a retired postal worker, who said he backed Trump in spite of his flaws. Speaking at Cattlemens Steakhouse, an Oklahoma City institution that proudly notes on its menu the steak President George H.W. Bush ordered when he dropped by, Moore said he had originally backed Marco Rubio but shifted to Trump when the Florida senator dropped out.

Trump, he said, was hardly perfect, but voters knew whom they were supporting. Hes a womanizer, Moore said. He added, Most men are but me.

Hes a braggart. Hes a New York blowhard, he declared. But, he was a better alternative than Clinton, whom he said would have led the country into socialism.

Of Trump, he said, I think he will be good for the country.

Read more from Yahoo News:
By Lucia Mutikani WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's team could move the White House press briefing room from the West Wing to another location that accommodates more media from around the country, incoming White House Chief of Staff Reince Priebus said on Sunday. Esquire magazine reported on Saturday that the Trump administration planned to relocate White House reporters from the press room to the White House Conference Center or the Old Executive Office Building next door. Speaking on ABC's "This Week", Priebus said the team discussed moving news conferences out of the small West Wing briefing room to the Old Executive Office, which is part of the White House complex. He said no decision had been made. "I know that some of the folks in the press are uptight about this, and I understand," Priebus said. "The only thing that's been discussed is whether or not the initial press conferences are going to be in that small press ... the press room that people see on TV is very, very tiny." "So no one is moving out of the White House. That is the White House, where you can fit four times the number of people in the press conference, allowing more press, more coverage from all over the country ... That's what we're talking about." Such a move would mark a potential change in access for reporters as the current briefing room is only steps from the Oval Office. The White House Conference Center had been used as a temporary press room during the George W. Bush administration. The current press room has about 49 seats. Trump has long had contentious relations with what he refers to derisively as the "mainstream media," banning some news outlets during the presidential campaign and publicly criticizing individual reporters. Those tensions escalated last week after some news organizations reported unsubstantiated allegations that suggested the president-elect could be blackmailed by Russia. The White House Correspondents' Association objected in a statement to "any move that would shield the president and his advisers from the scrutiny of an on-site White House press corps," and said that it would fight to keep the briefing room and access to senior administration officials open. Jeff Mason, a Reuters White House correspondent, is president of the WHCA. On CBS' "Face the Nation," Vice President-elect Mike Pence said there was a "tremendous" amount of interest in the incoming administration. "The interest of the team is to make sure that we accommodate the broadest number of people who are interested and media from around the country and around the world," Pence said. The briefing room was built in 1970 by Richard Nixon over an old swimming pool installed by Franklin Roosevelt that was used regularly by John F. Kennedy but underutilized by later administrations. But the presence of reporters at the White House dates back even farther. In addition to theater-style seats where the White House press secretary conducts daily briefings, the press area of the White House includes workspace for television, radio, print and online news organizations that cover the administration on a daily basis. (This story has been refiled to add dropped reporting credit) (Reporting by Lucia Mutikani, additional reporting by Doina Chiacu; Editing by Caren Bohan and Meredith Mazzilli)
Kampala (AFP) - Uganda announced Sunday it had detected bird flu among migratory birds, without specifying whether it was the particularly virulent H5 strain detected this season in countries worldwide.

The agriculture ministry said bird flu had been detected in two spots, one near Entebbe, on the banks of Lake Victoria, and another in the Masaka distict about 120 kilometres (75 miles) west of Kampala.

Five domestic ducks and a hen in Masaka were also infected, leading authorities to call for all poultry to be kept inside to avoid further contagion from migratory birds, it said.

In a statement, Christopher Kibazanga, minister for agriculture, animals and fisheries, said local wildlife authorities on January 2 had reported the "mass death of wild birds, seen by fishermen at Lutembe beach at the shores of Lake Victoria near Entebbe".

Another report arrived on January 13 from the Masaka district, and in both cases the specimen tested positive for "the highly pathogenic avian influenza that affects both humans and animals and which causes a high number of deaths in both species", the statement added.

The ministry said the outbreak was a first for Uganda but did not specify which flu strain it was.

In 2016 51 countries declared the outbreak of one of the virulent H5 and H7 strains of bird flu, according to the World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE). These include H5N1, H5N2, H5N5, H5N6, H5N9, H7N1, H7N3, H7N7 et H7N8.

Europe is battling the spread of H5N1, culling millions of birds on farms and moving them indoors to avoid contagion from infected wildlife.

The strain can be transmitted to humans, and is held responsible for the deaths of several hundred people since 2003.
Paris (AFP) - Britain cited "reservations" over Sunday's Middle East peace conference and refused to sign a joint statement that called for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

A Foreign Office spokesman said the British had "particular reservations" about the meeting in Paris taking place without Israeli or Palestinian representatives, "just days before the transition to a new American president".

Britain had therefore attended the talks as an observer only, the spokesman said.

The British refusal to send a high-level delegation to Paris was widely viewed as a sign of London's determination to stay close to Donald Trump's incoming administration.

Most major EU countries sent their foreign minister to the conference, but Britain's Boris Johnson did not attend.

The Foreign Office spokesman said Britain "will... look forward to working with the parties, the new US administration and other countries represented in this conference to make progress in 2017 and beyond."

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned Sunday that if Trump carried out his campaign pledge to move the US embassy in Israel to the contested city of Jerusalem, it would have "extremely serious consequences".

The Palestinians have warned that such a move could seriously threaten their chances of obtaining an independent state.
London (AFP) - Britain warned Sunday it might undercut the EU economically if it cannot obtain both single market access and immigration controls, as Prime Minister Theresa May prepared her big Brexit strategy speech.

Britain would be forced to "change our economic model" in order to remain competitive if it is shut out from access to the single market, finance minister Philip Hammond said.

His intervention came as newspapers said May was planning a clean divorce from the European Union when she sets out her Brexit strategy in a major speech on Tuesday.

May aims to launch two years of EU departure negotiations when she triggers the Article 50 exit process by the end of March, although a legal challenge is still pending before the country's Supreme Court.

She has been under pressure to reveal her proposals for the talks that will establish the future relationship between Britain and the EU.

Matching reports in several weekly newspapers said she was prepared to accept a so-called "hard Brexit": pulling out of the single market, the European customs union and the European Court of Justice, in order to regain control of EU immigration.

- Red line on immigration -

Hammond, in an interview with Germany's Welt am Sonntag newspaper, said Britain could not compromise on the main message from the June referendum vote to leave the EU: stemming the flow of immigrants from the bloc.

EU citizens would be free to travel to Britain and do business there -- but the debate was over the right to work, settle and set up businesses, he said.

"Clearly we need people to come and work in our economy to keep it functioning," the chancellor of the Exchequer said.

But as for having no control, "that has to stop".

He hinted that London was ready to push through aggressive cuts to business taxes to ensure British-based firms remained competitive in the face of EU tariffs.

Hammond said he wanted Britain to remain a "recognisably European-style economy with European-style taxation systems, European-style regulation systems."

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However, London would have to change course "if we are forced", in order to "regain competitiveness".

"The British people are not going to lie down and say, too bad," he said, adding "we could be forced to change our economic model and we will have to change our model to regain competitiveness. And you can be sure we will do whatever we have to do".

Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn told BBC television that the government's plans seemed like an unwise "recipe for some kind of trade war with Europe".

- Stop the 'insults' plea -

In Tuesday's speech, May will call for Britain to unite and get behind Brexit, pleading for an end to the "insults" and rancour between Leavers and Remainers, Downing Street said.

The speech would call on Britain to "set aside old divisions, and unite to make a success of Brexit", said May's office.

May has revealed little so far on her negotiating position.

The Sunday Telegraph quoted a government source as saying: "She's gone for the full works. People will know when she said 'Brexit means Brexit', she really meant it."

Hammond said he was expecting to start "substantive negotiations" just weeks after Article 50 is triggered.

"We are ambitious to do this as quickly as possible," he said, and "move seamlessly" to the new arrangement in 2019, though there could be an "interim period" before it kicks in.

Bookmakers believe May will not trigger Article 50 by the end of March. The Supreme Court is considering an appeal against an earlier ruling that she cannot do so without the assent of parliament in London.

The EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned Saturday the bloc must be aware of the risk to financial stability during what are expected to be very tough talks with Britain.
Paris (AFP) - France warned of "serious consequences" on Sunday if Donald Trump recognises Jerusalem as Israel's capital as representatives from 70 countries met in Paris to try to revive stalled Israeli-Palestinian peace efforts.

Neither Israel nor the Palestinians are attending the conference, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has dismissed as "futile".

France called the gathering to reaffirm global support for a two-state solution to the seven-decade-old conflict, seen as increasingly reclusive.

The Palestinians have warned that Trump's campaign pledge to move the US embassy to the contested city of Jerusalem could torpedo their chances of obtaining an independent state.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault warned such a move would have "extremely serious consequences" and predicted the incoming US leader would find it impossible to implement.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a stubborn and such a unilateral view on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," he told France 3 TV.

The Palestinians regard Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem as the capital of their future state, while Israel proclaims the entire city as its capital.

The status of the city is one of the thorniest issues in the conflict.

President Francois Hollande told the gathering that the prospect of two independent states coexisting side-by-side was "not the dream of yesterday's system".

"It remains the goal of the entire international community for the future," Hollande said.

Netanyahu, who insists only direct talks with the Palestinians can bring peace, has dismissed the Paris meeting as "a last gasp of the past".

On Sunday he called it a "futile" exercise aimed at "imposing upon Israel conditions that are incompatible with our national needs".

Both Netanyahu and Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas have been invited to meet with Hollande to discuss the conclusions of the Paris talks.

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Abbas is expected to travel to Paris in the coming weeks but Netanyahu has rejected the offer, French diplomats said.

- 'No time to lose' -

The conference is mainly symbolic, but comes at a crucial juncture for the Middle East, five days before Trump is sworn in as US president.

Trump has said "there's nobody more pro-Israeli than I am" and his choice for ambassador to Israel, David Friedman, is a hardliner who says he looks forward to working from "Israel's eternal capital, Jerusalem".

Israel, which is still seething over a critical UN resolution last month, fears the Paris meeting could produce measures hastily put to the Security Council before Trump takes over.

The French have stressed they have no such plans.

But EU foreign ministers are set to discuss the conference's conclusions on Monday, EU sources said.

It was uncertain whether they would issue a statement, with Britain and some central European countries reluctant to upset the incoming Trump administration, a European diplomat said.

Israeli-Palestinian efforts have been at a standstill since a US-led initiative collapsed in April 2014.

Tensions have spiralled recently following a wave of Palestinian attacks and inflammatory rhetoric on both sides.

Israel's ongoing expansion of settlements on land the Palestinians want for their state is also seen as a major obstacle to a resolution.

Over 400,000 Israelis live in West Bank settlements considered illegal by the UN.

- 'Could destroy peace hopes' -

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who rebuked Israel recently over its settler activity, joined the Paris talks on his farewell tour, along with delegates from the UN, EU and Arab League.

A draft conference communique called on Israel and the Palestinians to reiterate their support for two states and to refrain from "unilateral steps that prejudge the outcome of final status negotiations".

Negotiations were underway on Sunday on whether to include a reference in the final statement to Jerusalem, French diplomats said.

On Saturday, Abbas warned tensions could boil over if the US embassy was relocated from Tel Aviv -- where all embassies are based -- to Jerusalem.

"Any attempts at legitimising the illegal Israeli annexation of the city will destroy the prospects of any political process, bury the hopes for a two-state solution, and fuel extremism in our region, as well as worldwide," he said during a visit to the Vatican.

The conference comes hot on the heels of a landmark December UN resolution criticising the expansion of Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

The vote passed after the Obama administration -- in a parting shot at Netanyahu after years of frustrated mediation efforts -- took the rare step of abstaining rather than using its veto to protect Israel.

Explaining the US abstention, Kerry said Israeli settlement policy was leading towards "one state", with "millions of Palestinians permanently living in segregated enclaves".
Tehran (AFP) - US "hostility" to Iran is growing day by day despite Tehran's nuclear deal, a senior Iranian official said Sunday, ahead of the first anniversary of the historic accord.

"The United States has done whatever it can to slow down Iran's progress" after the deal, said Deputy Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi, the chief Iranian negotiator in the agreement that took effect on January 16 last year.

"In the last 12 months, we have witnessed delays and the disrespecting of promises by the US and some countries. Their hostility increases by the day," Araghchi told reporters.

The agreement between Tehran and six world powers saw a range of international sanctions lifted in exchange for limits on Iran's nuclear programme.

Iran has seen a rise in oil exports and increased investment in manufacturing since it came into force.

But Iranian officials have accused Washington of failing to abide by the deal, including with a raft of other sanctions related to non-nuclear issues that have helped deter major Western banks from returning to Iran.

US President-elect Donald Trump vowed during last year's campaign to tear up the agreement, considered a key victory for President Barack Obama.

Araghchi said it made little difference who was in the White House as international law required Washington to implement the deal.

"Whether its Obama or Trump, the US president is committed to cancelling laws that are against it," Araghchi said, adding that there would be no further discussions with US officials.

"Our nuclear negotiations with the Americans are finalised and we have no other political talks with them," he said. "In our view, everything is over."
SALT LAKE CITY (AP)  Utah prisoners can read violence-laced literature such as "Games of Thrones" but are barred from accessing two guidebooks on manipulation.

Robert Greene's "The 48 Laws of Power" and "The Art of Seduction" are the only two books specifically banned at Utah State Prison's five libraries, the Salt Lake Tribune reported (http://bit.ly/2jnN7kA ). Prison officials were concerned they could instruct inmates how to negatively manipulate people, librarian Christie Jensen said.

Other states' prisons have far longer lists of banned books. For example, the Texas Department of Criminal Justice prohibits more than 15,000 titles, including a biography of Oprah Winfrey and a collection of Shakespeare's love sonnets, according to Texas Civil Rights Project report.

Anna Brower Thomas of the Utah American Civil Liberties Union called the prison's ban on the two titles arbitrary.

"People can learn how to manipulate other people through all sorts of different sources. What is it about these two books that is so dangerous?" she said.

Jensen acknowledged the reasoning could apply to other books, such as a well-known self-help book by Dale Carnegie.

"A case, I think, could be made for 'How to Win Friends and Influence People' that that book could be used for evil, as well," Jensen said. "But we have that because that book is for positive reasons: how to make friends, how to influence people for good."

Also banned are 46 magazines dubbed sexually explicit, including Playboy and Hustler. Sex offenders also are barred from other works, mostly short stories, that could clash with their rehabilitation.

All reading material is screened before reaching inmates, who can ask the library to stock certain books.

Prison policy allows officials to deny those requests for a range of reasons, including poor writing quality. Jensen said inmates have a right to appeal those decisions, but she's never seen it happen.

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"It's just because (inmates) know I'm not going to buy 'The Anarchist Cookbook,'" she said, "and they know I'm not going to buy a book on lock picking."

The prison's libraries have posted a list of books that are commonly banned at other facilities, such as Ken Kesey's "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest."

Jensen said inmates will often ask if those books are prohibited at the prison, and she tells them: "No, it's the opposite. Those are usually banned and we actually have them."

___

Information from: The Salt Lake Tribune, http://www.sltrib.com
Former Valeant CEO Michael Pearson (L-R), former CFO Howard Schiller and Pershing Square Capital Management CEO Bill Ackman testify about price spikes in pharmaceuticals before the Senate on, U.S. April 27, 2016. REUTERS/Jonathan Ernst

With Donald Trumps threats to rein in drug pricing, what would he make of the Syprine situation?

A drug called Syprine has played a starring role in the collapse of Valeant (VRX), the rogue pharmaceutical company that lost 90% of its value after revelations of price-gouging and other questionable tactics. Syprine is used to treat a rare condition, Wilsons disease, which results in the toxic accumulation of copper in the liver and can lead to death. Wilsons disease has been diagnosed in only about 2,000-3,000 people in the US, according to the National Organization for Rare Disorders.

Syprine is considered the gold standard for treating Wilsons, in part because it has relatively few side effects. But from 2011 to 2015, as Valeant hiked the price of Syprine from less than $1000 for 100 capsules to $21,266.80 for the same 100 capsules, according to documents Valeant provided the government, the drug came to have an inordinate impact on the companys profitsand far more importantly, on the lives of those who suffer from Wilsons disease. Syprine was featured prominently in the report about price gouging that was released last month by the Senate Special Committee on Aging.

Syprine drug price increases. Source: US Senate  Special Committee on Aging

All the negative press doesnt appear to have done much to change Valeants tactics. One patient just received her three-month supply of Syprine at a total cost of $72,338.58, or almost $300,000 a year. The Senate Committee on Aging says that current Valeant CEO Joseph Papa told them that the company had not reduced the price of Syprine and didnt plan to do so. (Valeant argued to me that it effectively has reduced the price of Syprine by creating patient assistance programs under which commercially insured patients will pay no more than $25 per month for their prescription, and those without insurance whose household income is below 500% of the federal poverty level will get free medication. That, of course, still leaves the insurance system, i.e. all of us, paying for Valeants profiteering.)

So it seems heartening that, on December 5, a small drug company called Kadmon filed an application with the FDA to make a generic version. Generic drugs are usually priced as much as 85% below brand names. Kadmons chairman is Sam Waksal, the infamous biotech entrepreneur whose actions in his previous company, ImClone, got himself and lifestyle legend Martha Stewart thrown into prison. Regardless of his past, in the matter of Syprine, Waksal looks like a savior.

A co-promotion deal and skyrocketing prices

Sam Waksal making a brief statement before starting his prison sentence. REUTERS/Tim Shaffer

But is he? It turns out that Kadmon and Valeant, far from being fierce competitors, have had a long and cooperative relationship. In fact, from 2014 until 2016, Kadmon had a deal with Valeant under which Kadmon was supposed to be paid a percentage of the profits on Syprine. Which means that as Valeant benefited from jacking up the price of Syprine, so, it appears, would have Kadmon. The question is why they made this arrangement. And thats where things get really interesting.

First, a little history. Maybe its not surprising that Waksal would be in the middle of this, because hes a complicated personality. An immunologist by training, he and his company ImClone were stars of the biotech bubble of the early 2000s. ImClones treatment for colorectal cancer, called Erbitux, generated so much excitement that, in 2001, ImClone got $1 billion in cash from Bristol Myers Squibb in exchange for a stake of around 20% in the company. During those glory days, Waksal moved in society circles in New York, throwing celebrity studded parties in his SoHo loft featuring the likes of Mick Jagger and MTVs Serena Altschul.

But then, his world came crashing down. In December 2001 the FDA sent a letter to ImClone casting doubt on whether Erbitux would be approved. On the actual news, the stock plunged, and it came out that Waksal, along with family and friends, including Martha Stewart, had sold their stock just before the news was public. Waksal ultimately spent 5 years in jail, while Stewart was given a five-month prison sentence and five months of home confinement.

While Waksal was still serving his prison sentence, in early 2008, a small drug company called Three Rivers acquired a drug called Infergen, which helped treat hepatitis C, from Valeant. As a result, Three Rivers owed Valeant $6.9 million. In 2010, Waksal got out of prison and began putting Kadmon together. As part of that, he acquired Three Rivers, along with the debt to Valeant. Were meant to use every single experience in our lives to move forward, he told The New York Times that year. Because there was that interregnum in my life, I have more of an emphasis to do it very well, without tarnishing, this go-around.

During that period, there was also a major change at Valeant. In 2008, the company hired Mike Pearson, a former McKinsey executive, to be its CEO. Part of Pearsons strategy was raising the prices on existing drugs to generate increased revenues and earnings for his shareholders.

In the fall of 2010, Valeant and Kadmon did another, similar deal, this one also involving drugs, now obsolete, to treat hepatitis C. Then came Syprine. In early 2014, Kadmon entered into the agreement with Valeant under which Valeant agreed to pay Kadmon 10% of Syprines gross profits above a certain level of sales in order to co-promote the drug. Half of the money Kadmon made had to be used to pay down the remaining money it owed Valeant. According to another filing Kadmon made, the agreement would be moot if Kadmon looked like it was going bankrupt  or if it launched a product that competed with Syprine.

By utilizing our commercial platform to raise awareness of Wilsons disease through increased education, promotion and distribution of Syprine, we believe we can better serve patients with this rare genetic disorder, Waksal said at the time. Better serve, indeed. The deal was signed on February 25, 2014 and on February 28  just three days later  the price of Syprine shot from $10,550.97 per 100 capsules (Valeant had already hiked it considerably) to $13,188.71 per 100 capsules, an increase of 25%. During the term of the deal, the price would again more than double. Another pharmaceutical CEO recalls visiting Kadmons offices to discuss a different deal, and being shocked as he listened to Kadmon employees talk about the huge price increases on Syprine.

But was co-promotion the only reason Valeant gave Kadmon some of its Syprine profits?

The Syprine deal is as tough a case as Ive seen

Harlan Waksal, (R) CEO of Clinical-stage biotech Kadmon Holdings LLC., rings a bell to celebrate his companys IPO on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York City, U.S., July 27, 2016. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

In recent years, the Federal Trade Commission has been increasingly aggressive about using antitrust laws to challenge deals between drug companies that may keep a lower-priced drug off the market. In 2013, the Supreme Court ruled, over howls of protest from drug companies, that these deals are subject to antitrust scrutiny. These business arrangements sometimes serve as a fig leaf to disguise harms to the market and price increases, says Michael Carrier, an expert on antitrust law at Rutgers Law. But not all such deals are unlawful. Carrier and others say that figuring out whether a deal is legally problematic is extremely complex, and often depends on nuances that arent readily apparent.

From what information is available publicly, Carrier says, the Syprine deal is as tough a case as Ive seen. Or as Dean Harvey, a plaintiffs lawyer who specializes in pharmaceutical antitrust issues at Lieff Cabraser, a San Francisco law firm, puts it, Theres both a somewhat benign view of this, and a not so benign view. In the benign view, Kadmon brought some value and expertise to Valeants Syprine sales efforts, perhaps via its existing distribution for its hepatitis C drug. (Both hepatitis C and Wilsons are liver diseases.) In that case, 10% of the gross profits might be reasonable, and it might explain Kadmons agreement not to launch a competing product.

The not-so-benign view is that Valeant gave Kadmon 10% of Syprines gross profits so that Kadmon wouldnt undercut Valeants pricing by launching its own competing drug. After all, as one lawyer says, Kadmon isnt Pfizer, meaning that a tiny company that was hemorrhaging money and didnt have a massive sales force doesnt seem like a choice partner. If I were still at the FTC, I would investigate, says a former FTC lawyer.

In early 2016 when Valeant was beginning its meltdown and the scandal was making headlines in the business press, and Kadmon was preparing in earnest for its IPO, the two companies called off the deal. As part of their agreement, they settled the pre-existing $3.9 million debt.

Both Kadmon and Valeant strongly refute the idea that there was any anticompetitive element to the deal. Valeant says that it did not have an internal sales force effort of its own that was engaged in promotion of Syprine at that time and that the co-promotion agreement did not contain a non-compete, was terminated prior to viable competition and as such did not in any knowable way preclude competition, and only provided for Valeant to terminate shared promotional activities should Kadmon launch a competing product.

For Kadmons part, it says the agreement with Valeant to co-promote Syprine was just a means of repaying the $3.9 million debt it owed. Kadmon co-promoted the drug for about 22 months, had no control over Syprine price adjustments and was not involved in any conversations or decisions with respect to the cost of Syprine to Wilsons disease patients, the company says. Kadmon also says that it did not begin work on a generic version of Syprine until late 2014, and did so in order to offer a lower cost option in the face of the price increases.

If Kadmons competitive threat didnt materialize until after the deal, then that certainly would weigh heavily in favor of the benign view, says Harvey.

There is another wrinkle. While it would seem that both companies would have benefitted financially from the astronomical rise in the price of Syprine, a source close to Kadmon says that things are not what they seem. After striking the deal, the two companies began to argue about the accuracy of the data used to determine whether or not Kadmon was exceeding the agreed-upon sales level. As a result, says the source at Kadmon, it never got any sales revenue from co-promoting Syprine. (Lawyers say evaluating whether an agreement is anti-competitive doesnt depend on whether it turned out to be profitable for the firms involved.)

Shortly after the deal with Valeant was struck, in August 2014, Waksal stepped down as CEO because the company started making plans to go public. Under an agreement with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Waksal is barred from serving as an officer of a publicly traded company. His brother Harlan Waksal took over as CEO.

Last summer, Kadmon sold stock to the public, at $12 a share. The share price has since plunged to less than $5 a share. Sales have fallen sharply, and the debt-ridden company is bleeding cash.

For nervous Wilsons disease patients, it remains to be seen whether or not help is forthcoming. The timing as to when generic Syprine will reach the market depends on the FDA, and the pricing depends on Kadmon. A true savior would price it at least in the vicinity of where it was before Valeant began jacking up the price. Whos optimistic?

Bethany McLean is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and bestselling author. Her recent book is Shaky Ground: The Strange Saga of the U.S. Mortgage Giants, published by Columbia Global Reports.

.
Vienna (AFP) - On a wintry afternoon, tourists huddle around their guide outside Vienna's central train station. But instead of exploring glitzy palaces, Barbara will take them around night shelters and soup kitchens as part of a new initiative aimed at helping homeless people like herself get back on their feet.

Vienna is ranked one of the world's most liveable cities with an excellent social security system, but thousands of people nonetheless fall through the cracks.

Official data shows around 4,300 end up on the street every year, but the actual number is thought to be much higher.

It's hard to imagine that tour guide Barbara, with her flowing locks and cream suit, is included in that grim statistic.

Diagnosed with breast cancer in 2014, the former gallery owner in her forties first lost her livelihood and then her flat while undergoing chemotherapy.

After several months sleeping rough, she managed to get a bed in a homeless shelter.

"I'm happy because my hair is long again and I'm totally healthy," Barbara told her tour group.

"I'm confident that I'll soon have my own place again, not least because of this," she added, referring to her new job at Shades Tours.

Launched last year, the social start-up is part of a growing European trend that sees the needy hired as city guides as a way to help them reintegrate.

While they show tourists in Paris around famous landmarks, the Vienna concept goes a step further to peel off the stigma attached to homelessness.

"I wanted (the tours) to be more educational," explained Shades Tours creator Perrine Schober, a 33-year-old tourism management graduate.

"We (see) homelessness on a daily basis but we have no idea what it is actually about, so I guess that's the reason people look away instead of trying to help," the French-Austrian told AFP.

- Unique insight -

Shades Tours was initially aimed at Austrians, drawing hundreds of school children, social workers and companies in 2016, with a selection of tours costing 15 euros ($16) that range from a couple of hours to all day.

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"Our guides are in a unique position to explain Vienna's complex social system and its challenges. They provide children with an emotional lesson they can't get in a classroom," said Schober.

During the visits, people have the chance to ask questions and the homeless are generally keen to share their stories.

"Ask anything you like, there is no taboo on the topic, we can speak frankly," Barbara told her group.

The organisation now employs three full-time guides, two of whom have already been able to move from their shelter into private housing.

Boosted by the success, Schober recently broadened the offering to include English-language tours for international tourists.

"I wanted to get an insight into the life of homeless people because we encounter them without understanding what it is like," said Bulgarian Steliana Kokonova, 29.

Barbara, who declined to give her surname, switches effortlessly from German to English and French as she explains why the central station is a "hotspot" for the homeless.

"It's warm, it's open 24 hours a day and you can be anonymous here," she tells the visitors after they enter the huge glass structure.

Multilingual social workers, recognisable by their red jackets, walk around the station handing out information to homeless people on where to get help.

"What's the worst part about being homeless?" asked one of the tour group.

The isolation, Barbara replied.

"Nobody from my former life knows where I am now and I have no family," she said.

- Magnet for foreign homeless -

Vienna, a city of 1.7 million, has a solid network of public institutions and not-for-profit organisations helping those in need.

Barbara and her group brave icy winds to head to the so-called "P7" building -- the government branch that runs Vienna's homeless registry and provides sleeping quarters.

In winter around 700 beds are added to the 300 available all year round to prevent people from freezing to death, particularly in the current cold snap gripping the continent.

But it's not enough to meet the high demand, made worse because Vienna also draws the homeless from other European cities like Budapest where conditions are even tougher.

For two euros a day, you can sleep, eat, shower, and use the internet at the men-only VinziPort shelter, the last leg of Barbara's tour.

"Everyone chips in. Food is provided by the kindergarten next door, hospitals and bakeries," says Schober.

At the end, participants thank Barbara for sharing her story, including Kokonova:

"One major thing that will stay with me is that we now have more information about how to direct homeless people towards useful institutions."
Alec Baldwin returned to play Donald Trump as Saturday Night Live mocked the President-elects first press conference in about six months.

The cold open sketch poked fun at Trumps plans to divest himself from his business, the lack of performers willing to sing at his inauguration and, of course, the unverified report that says Russia has compromising information about him.

Baldwins Trump refused to answer questions about report, saying only that it didnt happen and it wasnt as cool as it sounded.

Keener to talk about his business, Baldwin-as-Trump said he would hand over his company to his sons, Beavis and Butt-Head.

You can tell theyre good businessmen because of how slicked-back their hair is, he said.

When Sasheer Zamata, playing a reporter, asked how he planned to repeal and replace Obamacare, Trump said his replacement plan was called the Affordable Care Act. Zamata pointed out that taking away Obamacare meant millions of people could die.

Listen, sweetheart, Im about to be president. Were all going to die, Trump said.

Trump often slams the show on Twitter after sketches making fun of him  despite hosting SNL while running for president in 2015. He has not yet reacted to the latest skewering.

Watch the sketch above.
Everyone is moving forward in 2017including airplane manufacturers. Across the board, all major manufacturers are planning on unveiling new jets over the next 12 months.

Boeing will launch two new versions of the 737 this year, the 737 MAX 8 and MAX 9. The 8 is expected to be delivered to Southwest within the first half of the year. It features a longer fuselage and a capacity to carry 36 more passengers than the MAX 7. The MAX 9 will expand even more, with a range of 3,600 nautical miles and a capacity for an additional 16 passengers than the MAX 8. Although tests of the plane are scheduled to begin this year, it likely wont be delivered until 2018.

The first 787-10 is really taking shape-- moving into the wing to body join position at #Boeing South Carolina. #Dreamliner pic.twitter.com/aIP4oRULlG

 Boeing Airplanes (@BoeingAirplanes) December 19, 2016

Its likely that within the next few years Boeing will also launch two business jet variations.

The #A330neo with its nice dress on! This new player offers -14% fuel burn/seat as well as the #AirspaceByAirbus cabin for ultimate comfort. pic.twitter.com/DImHTYNO2O

 Airbus (@Airbus) December 23, 2016

Meanwhile at Airbus, everybody is focusing on the neo or new engine option. The A321neo will be shipping out this year alongside a brand-new A330neo. The latter is a wide-body plane, designed to compete with Boeings Dreamliner. And A350-1000, which made its first test flight a couple months ago, is set for delivery in late 2017. The jet is Airbuss longest edition of the A350XWB (extra wide body) to date and is capable of accommodating up 440 passengers.

The E195-E2 is taking shape  right on schedule. The first wing box is now in position on the assembly line: https://t.co/nRboVBQbHs pic.twitter.com/t9zSF9vNce

 Embraer (@embraer) November 18, 2016

And lastly, Embraer will introduce two new aircraft this year. The Brazilian manufacturer will roll out two planes from the new E2 series, the E190-E2 and the E195-E2. The E195 is the largest aircraft the manufacturer has ever produced, capable of carrying 132 passengers in one single-class cabin. Its expected to fly for the very first time at some point this year.
The unprecedented tech tax offensive by the EU comes on the heels of a bad-tempered trade row between Washington and Brussels (AFP Photo/Justin TALLIS) (AFP/File)

Frankfurt am Main (AFP) - Social media giant Facebook announced Sunday that it will introduce new measures to combat fake news in Germany, as Europe's largest economy and most populous nation enters an election year.

"It's important to us that the reports and news posted on Facebook are reliable," a blog post on the Silicon Valley firm's German website read.

German politicians have warned that populist parties and foreign nations could use fake news to try and influence parliamentary elections slated for September or October.

Facebook's new German initiative targets "unambiguously wrong reports" being shared on the social media platform.

The firm said it would offer a simpler reporting process for users to flag suspected fake news, display warnings next to statements identified as false by independent fact-checking organisations, and cut off advertising revenue to fake news sites presenting themselves as real news organisations.

Stories flagged with a fake news warning will not be eligible to be converted into an ad seen by other users or "promoted" into other users' feeds for a fee.

"We think that independent and transparent fact-checking can be a powerful instrument for journalism," Facebook said.

Nonprofit investigative journalism organisation Correctiv will be the first fact-checking partner in Germany, the firm added, saying that they are "confident" of adding other news organisations in future.

Facebook's latest measures come just days after it announced the creation of a "Journalism Project" aimed at boosting the credibility of the information it circulates.
Fans of PBS educational lineup for kids know full well that the networks hours of Wild Kratts and Daniel Tigers Neighborhood eventually fade into programming aimed for adults. Starting this week, more children will be able to tune into their favorite PBS programs around the clock.

On Monday, PBS PBS Kids channel will be made available through broadcast, cable and live-stream via 108 PBS licensees to 90% of U.S. TV households. PBS said 75 licensees  typically a PBS member station  will launch the channel January 16, with additional outlets coming online over the next several months. The TV channel will be made available for free on pbskids.org and the PBS Kids Video App for mobile devices and tablets.

The goal is to extend the reach of PBS Kids programming so that its more available to children when they are likely to want it  after school and in the evenings. The launch also helps the public broadcaster reach families watching the programs together. With the launch of the multi-platform 24/7 PBS KIDS channel, all of Americas children will be able to access our trusted educational content anywhere, anytime and through any device, said Paula Kerger, chief executive of PBS, in a prepared statement. The move means PBS Kids programming will also be more available to our nations most underserved, many of whom do not attend preschool and rely solely on over-the-air television for media content, she added.

PBS said it intended to launch later this year a new feature that will allow live-stream viewers to toggle back and forth between a show they are watching and a digital game or activity that is tied in to the educational goals of the specific program. PBS said it has done research showing kids who watch its shows learn more when they interact with both the program and games related to it.

Stations will provide the PBS Kids channel in addition to their current primary PBS channel, which will continue to feature a kids daypart. The schedule of childrens programming on the primary PBS channel will be different from the 24/7 channel. The new outlet will feature 21 different PBS Kids series, ranging from current favorites like Peg + Cat and Odd Squad to library programs such as Cailliou and Fetch! With Ruff Ruffman. Other series that will be included are Sesame Street, Nature Cat, Dinosaur Train, The Cat in the Hat Knows a Lot About That and Super Why! One PBS Kids perennial, Curious George is not part of the package. That shows producer, NBCUniversal, struck a deal in March of last year to make past and future seasons of the show available exclusively via Hulu.

Story continues

Beginning Friday, April 21, 2017, the new channel will debut PBS Kids Family Night, and will offer weekly family viewing events featuring movie specials or themed programming. These events will appear every Friday from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m., repeating on Saturday and Sunday evenings. Family Night will kick off with popular movie favorites such as Odd Squad: The Movie and Sesame Street: The Cookie Thief, and will also feature world premiere movie events such as Daniel Tigers Neighborhood: Tiger Family Trip, Wild Kratts: Alaska Adventure, Ready Jet Go!: Return to Bortron 7 and Arthur and the Haunted Treehouse.

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This was a big week for Biniam Adhanom and his family.

On Tuesday, the kids  Samrawit Gebrehawariat, age 9, and her brother Ermias, 7  started school in America. They climbed on the yellow bus that stops just outside their apartment on the Northside and rode out to Mount Jumbo School in East Missoula, the home of Lowell School this year.

On Wednesday, Helen Reda, Adhanoms wife, started English classes at the Lifelong Learning Center.

And on Thursday, Biniam took the written part of his drivers test at the Department of Motor Vehicles office. He passed with flying colors.

Up next: the road test, a drivers license and a job  maybe not in that order.

Im ready, Adhanom said with a beaming smile. I cannot determine what, but Im ready to work. And when I find myself working, Im sure I will grow.

All this was happening with a backdrop of the strange stuff we call "snow" that keeps stacking up outside. Theres no word for it in Tigrinya, the primary language of their native Eritrea.

We are dressing like what the winter season demands, Adhanom said. We have been given full orientation, how we have to dress during the winter season, and we are up to that.

One of the first things Samrawit and Ermias learned at school, he said, was what snowball fight means. Theyre anxious to try it out when the snow gets right.

Sunday marks one month to the day since Biniam, Helen and the kids touched down in Missoula, refugees who spent the past eight years in Ethiopia, Eritreas next-door enemy.

They were the last four of a dozen nationals from the obscure, oppressed country on the Horn of Africa to arrive under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee.

Few if any of the other 49 Congolese, Eritrean, Ethiopian, Iraqi and Syrian refugees whove landed in Missoula since August are better equipped for the new life than Adhanom.

He chatted affably Thursday afternoon in mostly understandable English, sitting on a couch in a sparse but comfortable living room. It was an early out day from school for the kids. Helen, who understands English but isn't sure about speaking it yet, played with the children in a back room while her husband and IRC case worker Jen Barile, visited with a reporter.

Polite and what their father called very disciplined, Samrawit and Ermias showed off their recorder skills to their mother between frequent outbursts of giggles. They were happy to don winter gear and go outside for a snow photo.

The 36-year-old Adhanom said his command of English is what he's most frequently asked about.

The explanation: He's earned degrees at two colleges  in education administration at the University of Asmara, in the capital of Eritrea, and in community development, with a minor in social work, at the Ethiopian Adventist College in Shashemene, 150 miles south of the capital of Addis Ababa. For the last 2 years he taught at the latter college.

Ermias was not yet born when the family fled Eritrea, where Adhanom said a dictatorial government mandates military service of an indeterminate length and personal freedom is a foreign concept.

You cannot express your feelings. If you dissent, youll be caught, youll be jailed, he said. Life is so hard there. Lots of things that are very, very hard to explain. Everyone is coming into Ethiopia.

A bloody border war broke out in 1998, matching two of the worlds poorest nations. It remains unresolved today.

Samrawit was 1 when her parents risked their lives and hers to flee the country on foot. They did it in daylight.

Most of the time people do it in the night time but if you have kids, thats very dangerous, Adhanom said. Youre coming through a forest at the border and you have hyenas, tigers, lions on the way. When the hyenas are barking, your kids may cry and youll be caught because, you see, troops are all over.

Al Jazeera English, the now-defunct news service, said last March that Ethiopia has the highest number of refugees in Africa  more than 700,000. At least 100,000 are from Eritrea. Most are confined to one of eight dry, barren camps where only the basics of food of food and water are available.

Its out of a town, so you have no electricity, Adhanom said. Your house you build yourself with bricks.

The family spent a year in one such camp, but Adhanom was one of the few lucky ones. He was offered a college scholarship by the United Nations High Commissioner of Refugees. That paid for his four years in Shashememe. The family spent a year back in Addis Ababa, where Adhanom did volunteer work with orphans.

If you work as a volunteer you can more easily get a job, he explained.

Adhanom taught back at the college in Shashememe, where the scholarship provided them living accommodations in a house in town. They applied and qualified for admission into the UN refugee program, destination America.

"That's a privilege, the United States," Adhanom said.

They were placed under the auspices of the International Rescue Committee, one of nine resettlement agencies contracted by the U.S. State Department and the one that opened an office in Missoula last summer.

***

You can find it on a couple of Facebook pages and now on the Missoulian website with this story.

Its a video in which the new Missoula families from Eritrea sing a Christmas song in their native language at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church.

A State Department report in 2011 said Eritrea is almost evenly divided between Christians and Muslims. Most of those in the high plateau region, including the capital of Asmara where Adhanom and Reda are from, are the former.

All those whove landed in Missoula so far practice the Orthodox Tewahedo faith. Theyve been welcomed here by the Annunciation church and have enjoyed two Christmases in the last few weeks  on Dec. 25 and on Jan. 7, their traditional celebration of the birth of Christ.

Those events have allowed the four Eritrean families to come together and become friends, Adhanom said.

They gathered last Saturday at the home of one of the other families on Missoulas southside, along with some of the mentor volunteers from Soft Landing Missoula theyve come to know and rely upon.

You have food, you have something to drink, you talk, you chat, Adhanom said. You feel like as if you are with your own family back there in your home country.

After just three days of school, Samrawit and Ermias are excited.

A lot of things they have seen are different, their dad said. They like that. Of course, they have a barrier with the language, but hopefully they will improve. Samrawit is now getting good. She's trying to speak it. She has a very, very kind and helping friend.

The winter weather has been frustrating, Adhanom said, but his family has lived in much worse conditions. Helen is anxious to learn to cook American-style, which features much more meat than the Eritrean culture is used to.

Five years from now theyll be eligible to apply for U.S. citizenship, but before that comes one of Montana's best features: summer.

I expect I will see myself in a different way that is better than this, Adhanom said. I see myself walking outside, getting money, becoming a little bit Missoula.

Hes seen pictures on the internet of Missoula in its summer glory.

A very pretty town, he said.

Adhanom knows Missoula is not the most diverse town. He and his family have friends from Africa who in the last five years have settled in California, Texas and Las Vegas, where a dark face isnt so out of place.

The Orthodox church has been the main source of contact with the rest of Missoula for Biniam and Helen, and he said the people there have been very, very kind.

We (hope) the whole community can be like this, Adhanom said. The community needs to know who we are.

The IRC stakes new refugees with expense money for the first 90 days. It seems inevitable that someday Adhanom will return to his chosen profession as a teacher. Until then hes anxious to get started in whatever job is out there.

I dont have a priority, he said. I only need to work and help my family. In the meantime you may find what is fitting to you, but thats up to you. The door must be opened, but then its up to you.
Thank you for reading!

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CASPER, Wyo.  A federal grand jury has indicted a former Wyoming doctor, his wife and a "patient" in a drug conspiracy case.

Prosecutors say Shakeel Kahn and his wife, Lyn Kahn, sold prescriptions for large amounts of opioids and anti-anxiety medication to people who did not need the drugs, but filled the prescriptions and sold the drugs on the street.

The Kahns had been arrested in December on a single charge of conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone, an opioid pain medication. They had been free on bond but were returned to jail Wednesday amid allegations that they had talked with witnesses in the case in violation of the terms of their release.

Shakeel Kahn was indicted late Thursday on 20 counts, including conspiracy to distribute Oxycodone and Alprazolam and one count of continuing criminal enterprise, which carries a potential life sentence. Lyn Kahn was indicted on eight counts and Paul Beland  who prosecutors say helped recruit customers for the Kahns in Maryland  was indicted on six counts.

The indictment seeks the forfeiture of cash, houses and vehicles that were allegedly bought with the profits of drug sales. The Kahns are scheduled to make an initial appearance on the new charges in U.S. District Court in Casper on Tuesday. Beland is to appear on Wednesday.

The Kahns also were scheduled to appear in court Thursday for a hearing on whether their bond should be revoked. They both asked for public defenders.

An investigation that began in March 2014 found the Kahns were selling 30-day prescriptions for narcotics for $500 to customers across the country and that he issued 632 prescriptions for Oxycodone in 2015. He reportedly wrote more than 2,000 prescriptions for pain medication in 2012 and 1,585 in 2013, court records said.

Shakeel Kahn required patients to sign a document stating that Kahn "is not now and has never been a 'drug dealer,'" court records said. The document also said the patients would have to pay the doctor $100,000 if he were ever investigated or charged with a crime because of something a patient did or said.

Medical boards in both Arizona and Wyoming suspended Kahn's medical licenses last year due to the amount of pain medication he was prescribing.
Actress Thi Hang Do / Courtesy of Vietnam Cinema Department



By Kim Jae-heun

Thi Hang Do, who stars as Yen in the award-winning Vietnamese film "Yen's Life" (2016), is straightforward and confident enough to say that she could never live the life of sacrifice of her character.

However, there was one scene that touched her. Yen climbed the mountain to look for her lost husband and it was so sad that she could not stop crying for almost two hours, she said.

"I guess I was very much involved in the character that I played and crew at the spot were worried that I may be unable to cry in the last scene because I cried so much in the scene shot at the mountain," Do said during a Korea Times interview at Lotte Cinema in Jamsil World Tower, eastern Seoul, Thursday.

"In Vietnam, there is a tradition in which you have to take care of the family and Yen is a person who does not know how to write or read and she barely speaks of her heart. She would not talk of her issues when she is hurt and she would bury them into her heart."

The actress said her personality is very different from Yen and so she would never understand her husband if he cheated on her.

Because Yen is such a quiet character, Do said it was difficult to portray Yen's emotions with the eyes.

"We shot many scenes at night and I had to only act with the eyes because Yen talked so little. Also, I had to play Yen when she was 13, 20 and 38 years old and I had to do a lot of research before acting the different Yen at different ages. It was very difficult."

The Vietnamese actress arrived in Seoul with director Tuan Vu Dinh a day before her official itinerary with Vietnam Film Day in Korea began last Wednesday. She lauded Korean staff for their professionalism and said it was honor for her to showcase the Vietnamese film.

"I hope Korean people remember me by Yen after watching this film," Do said.

Director Dinh shared how he came up with the idea for the movie.

He said he was only 27 when he met a student from a film school whose script about her grandmother impressed him so deeply that he decided to make it into a movie.

"She was only 26 years old and my colleague at my work gave me the script," Dinh said. "I was very surprised and touched by the story written by only a film school student."

The film tells the story of Yen who gets married at 13 and confronts various family issues but decides to embrace them for the sake of her family's happiness.

"In the scene, Yen's husband travels to the faraway capital city to earn a living for the family but Yen finds out he cheats on her," Dinh said. "However, Yen decided to hide the fact from the children because she wants the family to be happy and the children to respect their father. The movie contains themes of Vietnamese love for family and a Vietnamese woman's sacrifice for family."

The director said he has watched many Korean movies and is fan of Kim Ki-duk and Park Chan-wook's films such as "Pieta" (2012) and "Old Boy" (2003).

Dinh said Korean movies focus on delivering messages to society and have strong appeal with their ideas. Vietnamese films depict stories of family values and their characters' psychology because the movies' scale is comparatively smaller than that of other countries.

The young director picked Chinese filmmaker Zhang Yi Mou as his role model. Zhang produces well-known films dealing with people's psychology and family values.

Dinh said he is happy to introduce his film to Korea as part of Vietnam Film Day in Korea, which celebrates the 25th anniversary of diplomatic ties between the two countries.
By Andrew Hammond



Barack Obama gave his farewell address on Tuesday. In a powerful speech, coming only days before the January 20 inauguration of Donald Trump, the president set out an upbeat picture of the state-of-the-nation that focused not just on foreign policy as well as domestic politics.



Farewell addresses are a legacy-defining opportunity for presidents to set out their accomplishments and articulate a vision for the future. And Obama's speech was no exception with him lauding key achievements including US international climate change leadership; the Iranian nuclear deal; restoring diplomatic relations with Cuba; the hunting down of Osama bin Laden; and the progressive degradation of the so-called Islamic State terrorist group in Iraq and Syria.



In the current fluid, complex and high risk international political and economic landscape, the president has certainly achieved some significant accomplishments. One big positive, for instance, has been the US role in helping deliver the breakthrough climate change deal agreed in Paris in 2015 signed by over 170 countries.



While the agreement is not perfect, and has been attacked by Trump, it represents a welcome shot in the arm for attempts to tackle global warming and, crucially, a new post-Kyoto framework has been put in place. And the deal has been ratified in record speed for such a big international accord  coming into effect last November.



In a clear warning to Trump, who has threatened to walk away from the Paris deal, Obama asserted that without bolder action, our children won't have the time to debate the existence of climate change; they'll be busier dealing with its effects: environmental disasters, economics disruptions, and waves of climate refugees seeking sanctuary".



Another Obama success is the 2014 nuclear deal with Iran and six other powers  the United States, China, Russia, United Kingdom, France, and Germany. In his words, "this has shut down Iran's nuclear weapons programme without a firing a shot".



The agreement, which Trump has also slammed, could enhance global nuclear security and also constitute an important win for long-standing efforts to combat nuclear non-proliferation. Despite the president-elect's previous rhetoric, senior Republicans on Capitol Hill, including Chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Bob Corker, recognise the benefits the deal brings and have called for it be more strictly enforced, rather than scrapped.



Obama also highlighted landmarks in the campaign against terrorism such as the taking "out of tens of thousands of terrorists, including Osama bin Laden". Despite significant setbacks in Iraq and Syria over the last eight years, the president also laid out that "the global coalition we're leading against [so-called Islamic State] hastaken away half their territory[and] will be destroyed".



In a warning to Trump, who has appeared to advocate measures such as carpet bombing' in the campaign against terrorism, Obama warned that so-called Islamic State "cannot defeat America unless we betray our Constitution and our principles on the fight. The point of emphasis here is that the battle against terrorism is as much one of ideas (soft power) as military might.



Turning to the Americas, the president pointed to the "opening of a new chapter with the Cuban people", a geopolitical play which Trump has yet again threatened to reverse. In December 2014, the two countries announced they would restore diplomatic relations, and Obama became the first US president to visit the country in almost 90 years last March, announcing a new suite of measures that further eroded the bilateral sanctions regime introduced during the Cold War era.



Despite these achievements, however, and the fact that Obama leaves office on a seven year high approval rating of 56%, according to Gallup, his final speech comes at a time when there has been rising criticism of his administration after setbacks including Russia's successful intervention in Syria to shore up the Assad regime; and the unravelling of the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) which has caused angst with allies. To detractors, Washington has become significantly diminished on the world stage with weak presidential leadership accounting for this.



However, this is too simplified. For instance, while Obama has not advanced as fully as he hoped his pivot' to Asia-Pacific, it is actually Trump's opposition to TPP that looks to have signed the death-warrant to the trade deal, not the Obama team which has cultivated it for years. Meanwhile, while Obama has made multiple mistakes in the Middle East, his strategic decision to downscale US presence in the region was taken in the context of the mandate he perceived himself to have won in his big election victory in 2008 when a war-weary nation seemed to back his call that the Iraq conflict had been a costly mistake, and that the country was militarily overstretched overseas during the Bush presidency.



More generally, critiques of Obama's foreign policy often neglect that, while the United States remains the most powerful country in the world  certainly in a military sense  it is not, an all-powerful hegemonic power. And this core fact has been demonstrated repeatedly before and after his presidency, from Somalia in 1993, Iraq and Afghanistan since 9/11, and also most recently in Ukraine and Libya.



Current international political fault lines where there are no easy, quick-fix ways for the United States to enforce its policy preferences include tensions with China over the latter's territorial claims in the South China Sea; the nuclear stand-off in the Korean peninsula which may yet intensify in the context of the political tensions in South Korea where the president has been impeached; continuing instability in Iraq, Afghanistan and Libya; and the bleak prospects facing the Israeli-Palestinian peace process.



Taken overall, Obama's speech robustly defended his foreign policy record at a time of growing criticism. While he achieved significant accomplishments, however, he knows much of his legacy now risks being rolled back, at least partially, by the Trump team with its potentially very different agenda.



Andrew Hammond is an Associate at LSE IDEAS (the Centre for International Affairs, Diplomacy and Strategy) at the London School of Economics.




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ARCADIA  Its been more than 40 years since Glen Bawek moved from Stacyville, Iowa, to buy and operate an Arcadia shoe store.

Baweks Shoe Store at 119 W. Main St. in downtown Arcadia has remained in business for so long by offering high-quality footwear and service, said Glens son, Craig Bawek. But many other independent shoe stores have vanished over time.

Craig and his wife, Lynnelle, now own the Arcadia business, where Glen still works part time.

Craig, who is 56, has been selling shoes since the days when his father owned a shoe and clothing store in Stacyville. His family moved from that community to Arcadia in 1974 when Glen bought what had been Abts Shoe Store from two brothers who decided to retire.

By the late 1970s, Craig said, Baweks Shoe Store had outgrown its storefront at 115 W. Main St. So his father demolished a former grocery store building and built the current shoe store there. The current store is 1 times as large as the earlier one, Craig said.

Craig became part owner of the business when he was 22, and purchased his fathers interest four years ago.

Craig and Lynnelles three children also worked part time at the store during their high school years.

The store sells footwear for men, women and children, as well as 15 to 20 kinds of arch supports. It also sells belts, backpacks, socks and Arcadia High School caps and apparel. And it rents tuxedos, mostly for weddings and proms.

Some of the stores most popular footwear brands include Red Wing, Merrell, Carolina, Danner, ASICS, Brooks, Dansko and Alegria.

The store draws customers from more than 30 miles away, including some from La Crosse and Winona, Craig Bawek said.

Weve built a reputation for personally caring for people and personally measuring their feet to make sure they get the correct size, he said. Many customers have been referred to the store by chiropractors, podiatrists and other doctors.

Many foot, knee and lower back problems can be caused by the footwear that you are wearing, Bawek said. The shoes can be misfitted, overworn or might just not be giving you enough support.

Bawek said many shoes available in some other stores arent worth buying. Many have no support, no cushion and might be made with uppers that dont allow your feet to breathe, he said.

We try to sell only the quality shoes and brands that we truly believe in, Bawek said.

The same goes for arch supports, Bawek said, adding that some arent worth buying or are overpriced. His store has an arch machine that allows customers to see the stress points in their feet and helps determine the kind of arch support they might need.

The Baweks buys about 60 percent of the stores footwear from manufacturers at shoe conventions in St. Paul, and the rest from salesmen who call on the store.
Onalaska school board member Jake Speed says he has filed a complaint with the FBI, claiming he has received malicious emails from board President Ann Garrity.

But he has refused to release a copy of any complaint, and the Onalaska school district has countered that Speeds claims are false.

The district will cooperate fully with any FBI investigation in this matter and sincerely looks forward to the opportunity to have the FBI or other competent agency investigate Mr. Speeds claims, the statement said, including a full and complete investigation of Mr. Speeds own computer system.

The statement also told Speed not to delete any of the data on his personal computer system, and formally asked him to provide district administrators a copy of the complaint, which he has yet to do.

Speed says he has received emails from Garrity that contain viruses, and that her emails were automatically detected by his Yahoo! email account as spam.

Speed is the only member of Onalaskas school board who doesnt use a Google mail account, and board members have encouraged he open the emails on Google rather than Yahoo! to see if that fixes the problem. He hasnt yet.

Speed, a former member of the La Crosse Tea Party who runs a small graphic-design business in Onalaska, didnt say a word on the topic during Mondays school board meeting and denied comment afterward.

Garrity said the situation is unfortunate, and that she stands by the districts response.

The bigger picture for me is that it slows progress, Garrity said, We will deal with it. But its unfortunate that this isnt focusing any energy or direction on what the mission of the board is.

A malicious email would qualify as an Internet Crime Complaint and would go to the FBIs Internet Crime Complaint Center. The IC3, according to its website, deals with issues of intellectual property rights, computer intrusion, economic espionage, online extortion, and international money laundering.

Once a complaint is filed, the IC3 then determines if the complaint should be sent to local, state, or federal law enforcement agencies or regulatory bodies.

The FBI doesnt verify the status or existence of such information.

La Crosse County District Attorney Tim Gruenke said Speed contacted him within the last two weeks wondering how to go about filing a complaint. Gruenke said he then told Speed to write a formal complaint, but nothing had been filed by early this week.

Speed won election and was sworn in to Onalaskas school board in April 2016. He won after filing a complaint with the Government Accountability Board that kicked incumbents Garrity and Tim Smaby off the ballot for incomplete nomination papers, leaving only his name. With two open seats, Speed was the lead vote-getter, followed by Garrity, who ran a write-in campaign.
There are hidden California treasures nestled in Mendocinos Anderson Valley, where vineyards unfurl along the hillsides and the tiny town of Boonville offers a foodie paradise. Culinary inspiration is contagious in this hamlet, where everyone knows everyone, and we weekenders can dabble in all the deliciousness.

Sampling Table 128s paella, Pennyroyals goat-sheep laychee and Paysannes lemon cookie ice cream _ and the addictive Piment dVille chile peppers being grown on the outskirts of town  raises a critical question, one we keep coming back to all these weeks later.

Can we just stay here?

Much of this adorable town  and its social and culinary life  revolves around the Schmitt familys Boonville Hotel. Owner Johnny Schmitts parents, Don and Sally, opened Yountvilles French Laundry in 1978  reservations were hard to get then, too, even in the pre-Thomas Keller days. Today, many of the dishes served at the Boonville Hotels Table 128  named for the highway that runs through this hamlet  were created in Yountville.

The family and its friends also run the Apple Farm in Philo, one town up, and their projects are everywhere, from the cidery that produces Bite Hard cider to the Farmhouse Mercantile, an airy houseware and gift shop across from the hotel. There, you can pick up olive oil, jams  including the farms incredibly good blackberry jam, the best thing to happen to buttered toast since we dont know when  and small squat jars of crushed piment, which wed call gold dust, were it not so deeply crimson.

Also in town: An antique store next door, an ice cream shop _ Paysanne, where the ice cream is organic and the ceiling strewn with gold stars against a sky of dark blue _ and a couple of just-right-for-lunch cafes. Down the street lies Pennyroyal, Sarah Cahn Bennetts solar energy-powered goat farm that produces incredible cheese, thanks to a herd of 109 ridiculously cute goats, who crowd the fence, puppy style, to greet visitors.

On this particular weekend, we grab fresh-pressed juice and thick, fruity smoothies at the hotel juice bar, then head off to explore Bucket Ranch with Schmitts business partner, Roger Scommegna, who began growing those Basque chile peppers  Piment dEspelette  seven years ago. The dVille name is a nod to the peppers Boonville provenance.

Scommegna calls piment the secret sauce. Deep red, savory and sweet, piment is the magic weapon in chefs kitchens around the world, adding warmth and flavor without the high heat of other peppers. At the hotels Table 128, we were spending $100 per month on this pepper  and using it sparingly! Scommegna says. Johnny said, They can grow grapes here. They can grow pot. Why cant we grow peppers? 

So Scommegna and his foreman, Nacho Flores, got their hands on 10 seeds  from a seed bank, no smugglers involved  and planted them at Bucket Farm.

Scommegna is a marketing guy, a Milwaukee-born salesman, who moved to California to live my Wine Spectator dream. Flores is his farm whisperer, a foreman with a passion for anything that grows, from grapes and olives to an obscure Basque chile pepper beloved by chefs.

We grew 10 plants that first year, Scommegna says. A hundred the next and 1,000 the year after. We did 38,000 this year, which makes us 8 percent of the world market.

If you use Blue Apron, chances are high that youve tasted this pepper. The Richmond-based meal kit company practically cleaned out last years supply of Piment DVille  or rather, whatever remained after chefs from New York City to Seattle and San Francisco had nabbed theirs.

I call us your crack dealer, Scommegna says. You get addicted to it.

Plump, crimson peppers hang from the greenery, ready for plucking by the pepper ladies, who harvest and dry them on the racks in a quonset-shaped greenhouse. Its hot  in the low 90s  outdoors on this harvest afternoon. Inside the greenhouse, its hotter still. The pepper ladies often start their days at 4 a.m.

Once dried, the peppers go in a dehydrator, winding up potato chip crisp, Scommegna says. Theyre ground and packed, with the vintage displayed on the label. Then they wind up in dishes such as the enormous paella the Table 128 crew produces on Sunday evenings in the summer and early fall and other prix-fixe family-style feasts served year-round _ and, if youre lucky, on your plate at home, too. (Were now dusting pretty much everything  except cornflakes  with piment these days.)

Back in town, we take a farm tour at Pennyroyal and sample Pennyroyal estate wine  made at the familys Navarro Vineyards up Highway 128 _ as well as delicate Laychee, Bollies Mollies, Velvet Sister, Boont Corners and Boonters Blue cheeses in the farms airy new tasting room.

We stroll the shops, pop into Paysanne and, of course, stock up on piment at the Mercantile. Then head out to explore the rest of this glorious valley, where dozens of wineries and vineyards await.

We grew 10 (Basque chile peppers) plants that first year, a hundred the next and 1,000 the year after. We did 38,000 this year, which makes us 8 percent of the world market. Roger Scommegna
The Bismarck-Mandan Chamber of Commerce and the Young Professionals Network are bringing Lemonade Day to kids in the community.

Lemonade Day, founded in 2007 by Michael Holthouse, is a national program created to teach kids entrepreneurial skills by helping them start and operate a business  a lemonade stand. Lemonade Day teaches kids about business planning, savings and investment and giving back to the community. Once they pay their investor back, they keep all of the money they earn.

The free program is held in more than 60 cities in 23 states and three countries.

Lemonade Day Bismarck-Mandan will be June 17. Organizers are aiming to register 500 kids.

For more information, go online to www.bismarckmandan.lemonadeday.org.

Mandan center opening

Sanford Health and Missouri Valley Family YMCA's Family Wellness fitness center will celebrate its grand opening Tuesday.

The event begins at 5 a.m. Tours will be ongoing throughout the day at the facility, 2700 46th Ave. S.E., next to Raging Rivers.

Enrollment is open at Raging Rivers or at the YMCA. The center is offering a free community open house week, Jan. 23-27, for those who want to try it out before joining.

Family Wellness is equipped with weight and cardio equipment, group fitness spaces, a gym and overhead track, preschool and after school care, drop-in child watch, Sanford physical therapy and massage therapy.

Members will have access to Bismarck and Mandan YMCA locations.

Grizzlys closed

Grizzly's Restaurant & Bar in Kirkwood Mall has closed.

The restaurants last day was Dec. 31, when its lease was up.

Mall spokeswoman Sarah Kotelnicki said the mall is looking for a new tenant to fill the space, and while the spaces kitchen would make it easier for any food service tenants, all options, including service and retail, are being considered.

Kotelnicki said, if a restaurant tenant is not chosen, the addition of Luckys 13 restaurant being built in the southwest corner of the parking lot, near Scheels, would fill the void of restaurant service left by Grizzlys.

The Tribune was unable to reach a spokesperson with Grizzlys corporate office for comment.
Equal access to education is not enough to ensure every student succeeds. The pursuit of equity has become the primary strategy of Coulee Region educators addressing inequality and achievement gaps.

The University of Wisconsin-La Crosse has even adopted equity as one of the four pillars of a new strategic plan.

Educators speak of moving beyond the concept of simple equality. Instead, they focus on providing the resources and supports students need to be successful, recognizing the level of those supports might be different for students from different backgrounds.

Our job says it all in our mission statement, Onalaska School District superintendent Fran Finco said, to ensure learning for all by working together ... and that work is never done. We dont want to leave any student behind.

The Onalaska district has an equity curriculum committee, he said, and has daylong training sessions for teachers to learn equitable practices. At these sessions, they learn about how mental health issues can affect students or how to tailor their lessons for those who have grown up in different cultures or demographic groups.

Schools have also built in supports such as e-classes in which students can get a double dose of a subject they might be struggling with. Resources can be simple things some people take for granted, such as providing books for a home that might not have them or a time for students to rest during the day.

It is all about finding a way to get kids over that bar, he said.

Cultural competency is a big component of equity work at the Holmen School District. Director of instructional services Wendy Savaske said teachers and staff work on training activities that help them understand cultural differences and learn about cultural biases.

Culture is more than just race and ethnicity, she said, and includes things such as social or economic status. Students are exposed to cultural literacy activities, such as the Hmong cultural celebration in December at Holmen Middle School or the SEEDS program, in which high school students put on skits devoted to diversity topics and present them the districts elementary students. The district has multilingual staff members who are fluent in Spanish, Hmong, French, Russian, German and Portuguese.

If we understand our different cultures, we are able to meet students with what they need, Savaske said.

Equity can mean different things to different educators. In La Crosse superintendent Randy Nelsons view, the idea of equity is to ensure 100 percent of students are successful.

A district cant standardize its way to 100 percent success, he said, and thus equity is about personalizing learning. It is also not enough to provide equal opportunities to every student because that assumes every student has equal capacity to seize those opportunities.

Equality is having laptops and iPads for all students at a school, he said. But more than 12 percent of students in the district dont have a reliable connection to the internet, so the district has worked to provide mobile internet hot spots as an additional resource to those students who need it.

For years we have been riding the opportunity wave saying everyone has an opportunity, Nelson said. The district has achievement gaps. But behind each gap is an opportunity gap.

Equity issues continue into higher education, where Western Technical College, Viterbo University and the UW-La Crosse are all implementing equity efforts. At Western, the college is participating in Achieving the Dream, a national program to address diversity issues and improve the graduation rate at two-year colleges.

At Viterbo, new president Glena Temple said the university has a large first-generation student population of nearly half of incoming freshmen. The university is also trying to increase student diversity, with a strategic plan that focuses on increasing the enrollment of Hispanic students and providing resources and supports to help them stay at the university and graduate.

Providing access is not enough, she said. We also have to see them through to a successful graduation.

Equity work isnt new to education, with Finco and others including UW-L biology professor Roger Haro saying attention to the issue goes back to the late 1990s. But at UW-L, equity and diversity are getting a renewed focus this year as one of the four pillars of the universitys multi-year strategic plan.

If we are not taking equity as a primary pillar, we are not able to serve diverse populations, Haro said.

The strategic goals include increasing diversity at the university in terms of students and staff. Currently, the demographics of UW-L are comparable to the La Crosse County region, but Chancellor Joe Gow said the goal is to have the student body reflect the demographic makeup of Wisconsin as a whole.

Gow said his office also is pursuing the possibility of adding a full-time diversity officer to his cabinet to help lead these efforts. The other focus of the strategic plan is to increase inclusion efforts at the university, helping students from different backgrounds navigate the college environment.

Equity is a framework for placing the burden of inclusion on the university, not the student, College of Liberal Studies dean Julia Johnson said. She and Haro are leading first-year equity and diversity efforts as part of the strategic plan, and both said students from poverty or different cultures might not be fluent in how academic culture works.

A student whose parents never went to college might not know how to go about doing things such as asking a professor for a letter of reference. Others might never have written a resume before or have trouble navigating course selection and academic advising. Inclusion work addresses these gaps, making sure that bright students are as successful as their more connected peers.

It is a question of ethics and a question of justice, Johnson said. If we are not serving the complete range of students who come to this institution, we are continuing to perpetuate inequities.
The West Salem high school art department recognizes a young artist each month and displays their art in the Marie W. Heider Center lobby.

This month, however, the January Art Student of the Month isnt displaying her own art. Instead, senior Abby Tower is displaying artwork created by a class of 12-year-old Haitians who were asked to draw what they wanted most in life.

Towers display was part of her senior exit project. West Salem is among several schools in the state that require its seniors to complete a comprehensive project that promotes community or personal growth. These projects often range in scope from small background projects to major community service or activism.

Tower wanted to bring attention to a group of people whose home lies not far from our borders, but are often forgotten.

Towers connection to Haiti began when she was 7, when her parents sponsored a young Haitian boy in her name.

She spent the next 10 years writing to the boy, learning about his life, his challenges and his delights.

This fall, Tower got the opportunity shed been waiting for when she joined a mission trip to Haiti.

During her weeklong stay in Port-au-Prince, Tower discovered a country vastly different than the one shed been born into.

She said Haiti is not a colorful country, but its people are among the most colorful.

Everything is brown, she said of the landscape.

Tower said the only real source of color in the city of Port-au-Prince were the buildings themselves, which had been painted vibrant colors.

Tower said she was nervous when she arrived at the school in Haiti.

Her entire senior exit project depended on these students being cooperative.

I was kind of scared, she said. I didnt know what to expect.

It turned out there was nothing to be worried about.

She said as soon as she stepped out of the vehicle, the kids ran out to meet them smiling.

The kids gave us a ton of hugs and they were so happy, she said.

In the classroom, Tower gave the students a simple task: Draw what you wanted most in the world.

I like the purity of a childs heart, she said. In America, we are very fortunate.

Some students knew immediately what they wanted and set to work on their drawing.

Tower said one girl drew a picture of a house.

The girl said, I want a house because my family doesnt have one, Tower said.

For others, Towers task wasnt so simple.

She remembered one girl who was perplexed by her question.

The girl said, I dont know how to draw what I want because I want to be a miracle for my family, Tower said.

Tower said some students drew flowers because flowers are precious there and others dreamed bigger drawing cars or planes.

These drawings and picture of their authors are now on display in the Marie W. Heider Center lobby.

Tower said she hoped the drawings would draw attention to the less fortunate and show people they are no less human.

I want them to be inspired and to be aware of the people in need, she said.

During her reception Thursday, Jan. 12, she collected free-will donations to support the school and its students.

The kids are deeply in need, she said.

She said its not just about Haiti: There are people in La Crosse who need help, too.
The state of our state is strong.

More people were employed in Wisconsin last year than at any point in the history of our great state. Unemployment levels are the lowest in more than 15 years. And the percentage of people working in Wisconsin is one of the highest of any state in the country.

This begs the question, Are the people of Wisconsin better off than we were six years ago? The answer is a resounding yes.

It may seem hard to believe now, but during the four years before we took office, Wisconsin had lost more than 133,000 jobs and the unemployment rate peaked at 9.2 percent.

Today, weve more than recovered the jobs that departed during the recession, wages are up, and more than 50,000 new businesses have been created. In fact, our biggest challenge is not creating jobs, but finding people to fill them. We went from a focus on jobs, jobs, jobs to talking about workforce, workforce, workforce. This is my top priority for 2017 and beyond.

We are working and winning in Wisconsin.

In addition to a growing economy, I am pleased to note that our finances are stable. We finished the fiscal year, yet again, with a surplus. Our rainy day fund is 165 times bigger than it was when we first took office, and Wisconsin has the fourth lowest overall long-term debt obligation of any state in the country.

Getting our finances under control allows us to reduce the burden on the hard-working taxpayers. Since taking office, weve cut taxes by more than $4.7 billion. That means a cumulative income tax reduction of $1,159 for a typical family.

We also cut property taxes. Since December of 2010, the cumulative reduction is $426 for a median-valued home. In the decade before we took office, property taxes went up 27 percent. If that trend had continued, the difference is a savings of $1,700. Thats real money.

Just as I promised when running for re-election, property and income taxes will be lower in 2018 than they were in 2010.

Throughout the past year, I held listening sessions in every county to hear about where citizens would like the state to be in 20 years. Several major issues came out of these listening sessions. Student success, accountable government, and rewarding work were consistent themes. These areas will be the focus of our state budget.

As promised, we will provide a significant increase in funding for public education. We will also help rural schools that have unique challenges such as transportation costs, broadband access and declining enrollment.

College affordability was also a major issue at our listening sessions. Over the past four years, we froze in-state tuition for all undergraduates at University of Wisconsin campuses. Compared to the previous trend, a typical student saves more than $6,300 over four years. We will go even further as we will actually cut tuition. It will be paid for in the state budget and we will add more resources to the UW System.

Access to high speed and reliable internet service is something we hear about repeatedly throughout the state. Thats why I am proposing the state invest $35.5 million more to expand our broadband access grant program and for our efforts to help upgrade technology and train teachers from small and rural school districts. That would bring our total investment to $52 million to help connect everyone in the state.

On transportation, we will provide local governments with the largest increase in transportation aids since the 1990s. They can use these funds to fix roads and bridges and potholes in their communities. We will also provide more money for state highway rehabilitation than ever before.

We can do all of this without a gas tax or vehicle registration fee increase. I will keep the promise I made to the voters in the last election. Whether you agree with me or not, I hope you can respect that I will keep my word. We did not get elected by the people of Wisconsin to raise taxes.

As mentioned, more people are working than ever before in our state. Our schools continue to be some of the best in the country. The UW just went up in another ranking. Our improvement in the tax climate is one of the best in the nation. Health care systems in our state are ranked in the top three in the country. And our farmers continue to grow and produce some of the best food on the planet. Heck, we just won the gold medal for the best cheese in the world.

Lets face it. There is plenty to celebrate in Wisconsin.

The state of our state is strong. Wisconsins future is bright. But were not done yet. There is more work for us to do. Together, we can move Wisconsin forward.
In the rubble of Democrats disastrous 2016 election, U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin sees key lessons for her party as it contends with being on the outs in Washington  and tries to win back voters in swing states such as Wisconsin.

Baldwin and fellow U.S. Senate Democrats have little time to lick their wounds in 2017. With Republicans about to seize full control of federal lawmaking, Senate Democrats could be all that stands in the way of a GOP push for sweeping change  and a bid to erase much of the legacy of outgoing President Barack Obama.

Whats more, the first-term Baldwin faces whats likely to be a tough re-election fight in 2018. Wisconsin is one of 10 states in which a Senate Democrats term is ending in a state carried by GOP President-elect Donald Trump.

Baldwin, in an interview with the Wisconsin State Journal, said shes ready to face down Trump and congressional Republicans on health care, Trumps most controversial Cabinet picks and other contentious issues.

Even as Democrats gird for battle, Baldwin said they must sidestep distractions. During the campaign, Baldwin said Trumps social-media barrage caused some Democrats to lose sight of an agenda aimed at working families pocketbooks. Thats crucial to remember going forward, under a Trump presidency, she said.

There was so much focus on responding to his latest tweet that that overtook the core agenda of Democrats, which is to help working people get ahead, said Baldwin, D-Madison.

Some rural areas of Wisconsin that voted for Trump had voted for Obama and Baldwin in 2012, when she beat former GOP Gov. Tommy Thompson to earn her first Senate term.

Baldwin, a detail-oriented Democrat who chooses her words carefully, might seem to share little appeal with a bombastic, visceral Republican such as Trump. But Baldwin sees a common thread.

People know ... that I was going to stand up to powerful interests in Washington and fight for Wisconsins working class. And I think they heard, in different words, some of that with Donald Trump, Baldwin said.

Starting this year, Baldwin assumed a Senate Democratic leadership post as conference secretary under new Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer of New York. The post will give Baldwin greater influence over the agenda and message put forth by Senate Democrats.

It also could expose her to political attacks from Republicans eager to paint her as a Washington insider.

In a recent news release, a Republican Party of Wisconsin spokesman, Alec Zimmerman, said Baldwin has shown that shell side with the Washington establishment over getting results for Wisconsin families.

National Republicans have cast Baldwin as an ally of liberal coastal Democrats and hammered her for standing by Obamas health care law.

Meanwhile, Baldwin has begun 2017 with a flurry. She has not shied from publicly supporting the health care law, sponsoring a measure to hamper any effort to erase of one of its most popular provisions: its requirement that young people be allowed on their parents health plans until theyre 26.

Baldwin has called on Trumps Cabinet picks, many of whom are businessmen, to disclose any payouts from former employers, a measure she said would guard against those former employers receiving favorable treatment.

And with an eye toward Trumps possible business entanglements abroad, Baldwin introduced a bill that would require the president and vice president to divest personal financial conflicts of interest. Trump has said he will continue owning his businesses while president but surrender control of them to his two oldest sons.

Senate Democrats, having changed filibuster rules while they had the majority so the maneuver cannot be applied to most executive branch nominations, now find themselves powerless to halt Trumps Cabinet picks unless they can persuade Republicans to join them.

Baldwin supports Trumps pick of Elaine Chao as Transportation Secretary after Chao pledged support for a Buy American provision in transportation projects that Baldwin has championed.

Baldwin opposes Trumps nomination of Sen. Jeff Sessions as U.S. attorney general, saying in a statement that shes not convinced Sessions would use the position to halt discrimination or stand up for constitutional rights on voting and womens health issues.

The filibuster  which creates a 60-vote threshold to pass bills  could give Senate Democrats leverage on certain pieces of legislation. That could be vital as Trump and congressional Republicans ready whats likely to be a far-reaching legislative agenda.

Baldwin said she and her colleagues are up for the challenge. Im going to give this fight everything I have, Baldwin said.
MADISON  After Cheryl Stedman got on the waiting list for a kidney transplant at UW Hospital in 2015, she figured shed have to wait a year or two to get one. But nine months later, in May 2016, she received a kidney.

Im feeling great, said Stedman, 55, of Fort Atkinson, who has lupus, an autoimmune disease that attacked her kidneys. I didnt realize how bad I did feel until I started feeling better.

Stedman was among a record 313 people who got kidney transplants at UW Hospital last year. The number of liver transplants  105  also set a record at the hospital, where the organ transplant program started in 1966.

Overall, UW Hospital performed 529 organ transplants last year, the most of any year since 2005, a 16 percent increase from 2015 and the fourth most among centers nationwide.

We think this is the new norm, to be at this really high level, said Dr. Dixon Kaufman, the hospitals transplant chairman. It makes what we have a real marquee program, not only for our state but really for the U.S.

Nationally, 33,606 transplants were reported last year, a record high for the fourth year in a row, according to the United Network for Organ Sharing. Still, more than 119,000 people remain on the waiting list, including more than 2,200 in Wisconsin.

UW Hospitals kidney and liver transplant records came despite using fewer living donors for the transplants, meaning a higher proportion came from deceased donors.

Kaufman largely credited UWs organ bank, UW Organ and Tissue Donation, for the increase. The organization recovered organs from 150 deceased donors last year, a record high and up from 106 donors in 2015, said Mike Anderson, executive director of the organ bank.

There were more eligible donors last year, perhaps because of more deaths from stroke and trauma, and a higher percentage of families agreed to donate, Anderson said. The organ bank started working more closely with hospitals around the state in approaching families about organ donation, he said.

I think the community is better educated about donation, Anderson said.

Kaufman said Wisconsins online donor registry, which started in 2010, and satellite transplant clinics UW Health opened in Waukesha, Marshfield, Wausau, La Crosse and northern Illinois in recent years also helped boost the hospitals transplant volume last year.

In addition, UW doctors started doing liver transplants at Madisons Veterans Hospital in 2015.

A kidney transplant program likely will start at the VA hospital this year, Kaufman said.

Stephanie Powers, 47, of Madison, got a liver transplant at UW Hospital in August. Years of heavy drinking damaged her liver, and that caused her body to start shutting down, she said.

I dont think I would have had another month to live, said Powers, who said she has stopped drinking. Im glad they were there for me and able to save my life.

UW Hospital did 23 pancreas transplants last year, its most ever, and 42 kidney-pancreas transplants, its most since 2005. Both figures were the most of any center in the country last year.

The hospital performed 16 heart transplants and 28 lung transplants, similar to counts in recent years but down from earlier.

Wisconsin has three other transplant centers, all in the Milwaukee area. Froedtert Hospital did 148 transplants last year, Aurora St. Lukes Medical Center did 100 and Childrens Hospital of Wisconsin did 26.

With 529 transplants last year, UW Hospital was the fourth-busiest center nationwide, behind the University of California-Los Angeles, the University of California-San Francisco and Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami.

UW Hospital was the 10-busiest transplant center nationwide in 2015 and 11th-busiest in 2014.
Progress has been slow, but there are signs some of the key issues involved in the pipeline protests may be resolved.

Theres no longer anything to be gained by maintaining the main protest camp. The issue is in the hands of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and the courts.

Those at the Oceti Sakowin main encampment have been warned they are in a flood plain and theres danger of spring flooding. They have been asked to move and camp leaders indicate they are in the process of relocating to a different site on the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. It will take them time to clean up the present camp site, especially under the difficult winter conditions. There are an estimated 700 to 1,000 people still living in the camps.

Another issue that has had protesters and law enforcement on edge could come to an end soon.

The Backwater Bridge on N.D. Highway 1806 has been ruled structurally sound, but will remain closed until law enforcement is satisfied protests at the bridge have ended. The bridge has been closed since Oct. 27 when law enforcement pushed protesters from a northern camp atop the pipeline route. During the clash, vehicles were burned on the bridge, which is now blocked with concrete jersey barriers and concertina wire.

Officials say repairs to the guardrails and surface of the bridge are needed before it reopens. First, law enforcement officials say, protesters must leave the bridge alone. Protesters and tribal members complain the barricade causes economic damage to the tribe and prevents emergency services from reaching the camp and reservation. In this case the responsibility lies with the protesters. They need to leave the bridge alone, allow repairs and not hinder traffic. Law enforcement has announced the bridge wont be fully opened until these steps are taken.

The tribe has been taking a more aggressive approach to the protests. Tribal Chairman David Archambaults comments about the problems at the camp have become more blunt. He wants the main camp closed and cleaned up and he acknowledges the accusations of criminal activity surrounding the camp.

Last week, Gov. Doug Burgum along with state and Morton County officials met with more than 50 farmers, ranchers and other residents near St. Anthony to hear about problems with trespassers, vandalism and theft of hay. They also were told about missing or dead livestock and roads and access to fields blocked by protesters. The Tribune had reported earlier on the problems encountered by residents in southern Morton County.

Its clear that state, county and tribal officials have lost patience with the problems involving the protests. At the same time, some of the main protest groups are changing their tactics, shifting to a national campaign. Dallas Goldtooth, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network, told the Associated Press: "The fight isn't over  it's just the front line is transitioning to a new place, and that's a national campaign."

Protesters dropped a banner at a Minnesota Vikings game and appeared at the Rose Bowl Parade.

The Indigenous Environmental Network, Honor the Earth and the International Indigenous Youth Council have asked people to no longer come to the camp. They are now encouraging action in local communities.

While Archambault has been critical of the camp and actions by protesters, he remains opposed to the pipeline. He says hes still committed to stopping the pipeline.

The Tribune understands why theres opposition to the pipeline. We dont agree with them, but peaceful protests are OK. Its time to end the turmoil. The bridge and highway need to open, the camp should close, the harassment of local residents must end and the protests must be done in a civil manner.


The Chinese Communist Party has approved a new set of rules that will increase the partys control and supervision of corruption investigators.

The rules were passed last Sunday at the close of a meeting of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection, or CCDI.

The new regulations are meant to standardize corruption investigations. They also set guidance for the anti-corruption teams.

However, some observers question whether the regulations will uncover corrupt investigators. Instead, they say, the rules will ensure that party members are obedient to the partys leader, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Rules cover investigations and those who carry them out

The rules are said to offer guidance on how to deal with information on corruption and how to review cases. They reportedly explain what investigators should do with financial assets or other property gained through corrupt activities.

Investigators also will be advised to keep audio and video recordings of their questioning of suspects or witnesses. The investigators are to keep records of those who ask questions about or try to interfere with their cases.

A report on the new regulations was published last weekend on the commissions website.

A document about the meeting said, Trust (in disciplinary officials) cannot replace supervision.

This week, the deputy secretary of the CCDI spoke to the media. Wu Yuliang restated the desire of party leader Xi that officials continue their campaign against both tigers and flies. This means fighting corruption among powerful leaders and low-level officials.

Wu added that the partys fight against corruption has gained crushing momentum and has made huge progress.

Wu said the party punished 0.43 percent of its 88 million members in 2016, an increase from 0.18 percent of its members the year before.

He said that, in the past 4 years, 2,500 corrupt officials who fled overseas have been returned to China. He said $1.25 billion worth of stolen money and property had been returned.

Wu was asked if China would develop a supervisory system that would act independently of the Communist Party. He answered that such a system would be ill-suited to Chinas socialist system.

Jean-Pierre Cabestan is a political science professor at Hong Kong Baptist University. He says the new rules deal with concerns that anti-corruption investigators have become too powerful.

However, he says it remains to be seen if the rules will better control CCDI members.

Cabestan says such measures do help Xi Jinping increase his power.

The discipline inspection work is not only a kind of business to make party members and party leaders cleaner, but also (to) make them obedient to the current political leadership.

In another move, Xis former speechwriter, Li Shulei, was named head of Beijings anti-corruption commission. The appointment shows that the Chinese president is seeking to increase his control of the party, according to Cabestan.

Im Mario Ritter.

Joyce Huang reported this story for VOANews.com. Mario Ritter adapted her report for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

_____________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

standardize  v. to make a group of processes meet a standard, or a level that is considered acceptable

review  v. to carefully look over, to study or consider the qualities of something

momentum  n. the force with which something continues to move once it is set in motion

ill-suited  adj. not well matched

asset - n. a valuable person or thing; the property of a person, a group or business
FARGO -- Paul Laneys phone rang on a Saturday while he was relaxing as he watched televised coverage of the summer Olympics. Little did the Cass County sheriff know that his professional life was about to be upended.

The call was from a fellow sheriff asking for help in dealing with the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline in Morton County, just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

After he arrived two days later, Laney would spend the next 4 months confronting a massive influx of protesters trying to halt the $3.8 billion crude oil pipeline from crossing Lake Oahe on the Missouri River just upstream from the reservation.

Laney expected the altercation would last, at most, two weeks and he and his deputies would soon be back home. Instead, the pipelines contested river crossing would draw waves of protesters from around the nation, including hundreds of tribes, attracting worldwide attention.

Its like it became the mecca for every eco-terrorist, I call them, every eco-person out there, he said in an interview with The Forum Editorial Board last week. It was like 140 years of perceived Native American oppression came together there.

In almost three decades in law enforcement, as a Fargo police officer and as sheriff, Laney has faced armed standoffs, the fiery oil train derailment near Casselton and potentially devastating floods.

But he called his prolonged involvement along the protest barricades -- including a surreal Thanksgiving night huddled near concertina wire -- the most intense experience of his career, by far.

He prayed every night that nobody would be hurt. Once, on the eve of what he predicted would be an especially confrontational day, when officers would try to move back the protest line, he got up in the middle of the night and knelt beside his motel room bed and prayed.

I had protest dreams every night I was there, said Laney. It was tense, it was scary.

Because of his experience and training in incident response command, Laney quickly emerged as one of the leading, and most visible, law enforcement officers on the scene. It was not a role that he sought, but Laney said he felt a sense of obligation to stick with the job.

Quite simply, he said, the 33-member Morton County Sheriffs Department was being overwhelmed by sprawling protests that quickly mushroomed to include thousands of protesters.

How do we sit back and watch the sheriffs office and the cities of Bismarck-Mandan get overrun? Laney said. We had to help, just like they helped us in the flood.

Laney said he and his fellow officers were routinely thanked by Bismarck-Mandan residents who were grateful for their assistance.

We couldnt buy a meal, he said, adding officers had to explain they were on duty and had their expenses paid. We couldnt buy a cup of coffee.

Once home, Laney said the vast majority of his Cass County constituents supported the active role he and his office took in the protest response. The most notable exception, he said, was a talk radio host who criticized his role.

Echoing earlier comments by former Gov. Jack Dalrymple, Laney said that, despite criticism from protesters and sympathizers, and portrayals on social media, he believes officers acted with restraint in dealing with sometimes belligerent protesters.

Although most of the demonstrators were peaceful and prayerful, Laney said a sizeable number were bent on provoking police, forcing them to wear helmets with faceguards and to sometimes intervene physically.

We preached from day one -- restraint, restraint, restraint, restraint, Laney said. We tried to negotiate every day.

Laney was frustrated by a private security firm, hired by the pipeline company, that used guard dogs to protect the construction site. The dogs, which were not licensed in North Dakota, bit several protesters.

The decision to use dogs, he said, was dumb and damaged the image of police officers, whom he said were trying to provide public safety. That changed the whole thing, Laney added, making the police come across as jack-booted thugs.

It was frustrating to be accused of being the security force for the pipeline company, Laney said.

All we were trying to do was enforce the rule of law, he said, by arresting those who were trespassing or committing other crimes, including rioting.

But a leading activist involved in the pipeline protests maintains that police were not restrained, acted provocatively and fired rubber bullets, beanbag charges and used stun grenades -- allegations Laney and other law enforcement officials deny.

The police themselves have defiled sacred land, said Joye Braun, an organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network. They are in fact provoking the protectors.

Braun claimed to have photographic evidence of tear gas and concussion grenades used by police, and witnesses who can testify that a woman who received severe arm injuries was a victim of police action.

They have done some horrible things to our people while they are praying, Braun said.

But Laney believes law enforcement officers found themselves outflanked by the protesters savvy social media campaign, providing what he considers a skewed view of the protests. In time, with help from the National Sheriffs Association, the peace officers were able to counter with their own photographs, videos and messages, he said.

We had to let the public see the real story of what was happening, Laney said. If it stayed prayerful and peaceful we wouldnt have to be there.
Download Lesson 42

Speaking

Pronunciation

Conversation

Guy: We are talking with this woman.

Guy: She saw the crime during her lunch break. It looks like she hurt herself while she was trying to stop the crime.

Guy: Tell us your name.

Anna: Hi, Guy. I'm Anna.

Guy: Anna, what did you see and what happened to your arm?

Anna: Guy, I was minding my own business. See, I work over there.

Guy: Um-hum

Anna: I left work to get some lunch. Then suddenly, I heard a woman yelling. She was yelling like this ... Help! Help!

Guy: Um-hum

Anna: Two robbers were grabbing her bag like this. She was hitting them with her umbrella.

Guy: Is that when you hurt your arm?

Anna: No. At that time, I was not fighting the robbers.

Guy: Um-hum.

Anna: See. I was too far away and I didn't have my own umbrella.

Guy: So, what happened next?

Anna: They grabbed her bag and ran away! So, I grabbed her umbrella and ran after the robbers.

Guy: Then that is the time that you hurt your arm?

Anna: No. I was yelling, Stop, robbers! Stop! She was yelling, Hey, come back with my umbrella!

Guy: Were you afraid?

Anna: I had no time to be afraid, Guy. Well, I had time while I was resting on a bench. I had a lot of time.

Guy: Then what happened?

Anna: The robbers got on a bus. So, I ran after the bus.

A VO: While I was running, I tripped and fell.

Guy: And that is the time that you hurt your arm?

Anna: No. While I was lying on the ground, someone stepped on my arm!

Guy: Ouch. Thats too bad.

Anna: Yeah. And they didnt apologize. Well, then the robbers got themselves kicked off the bus.

Guy: Why?

Anna: They didnt pay. You've got to pay when you get on a bus. The police came and took them away.

Guy: And thats when you hurt your arm!

Anna: No.

Guy: Then, when did you hurt yourself?

Anna: Well, Guy, by this time, I was feeling very hungry. So, I went to my office to get a snack.

C: Anna, I'm calling for help right now.

C: (on the phone) Hello? Yes, please come right away. My co-worker is stuck in a vending machine.

Guy: You hurt your arm in a vending machine buying a bag of chips?

Anna: I was really hungry and the bag was stuck. I had to -

Guy: Thats all from News Channel XYZ. This is Guy Newsman saying goodbye.

Guy: Okay, we have to find ourselves another story, guys.

Anna: Until next time! Hi Mom!
Every part of the United States is known for some special kind of food.

Americans in Maine would say their state is best known for its seafood, especially lobster.

Texas and North and South Carolina argue about which state has the best barbecue.

And the same goes for New Yorkers and people from Chicago when it comes to which city has the best pizza.

But the city with possibly the richest food culture is New Orleans, Louisiana.

New Orleans, also known as the Big Easy, is almost 300 years old. It is home to almost 350,000 people and covers about 90,000 hectares. The city has a mix of French, Spanish and Caribbean influences. These influences can be seen in not just the food, but also the music and buildings.

Many people travel to New Orleans every year for any one of the citys many festivals. They come for wild parties, and rarely leave without a taste for southern cooking.

Restaurant critic Tom Fitzmorris operates a website called The New Orleans Menu. It lists about 1,550 restaurants in the city. So how does one chef separate their food from the food of the others?

Amarys Herndon and her husband Jordan try their best by cooking traditional New Orleans food in a special way: a Vietnamese way.

In 2007, the Herndons moved to the city from Texas to study cooking at Delgado Community College. But for Amarys Herndon, the love for making tasty food started much earlier.

"I always really liked cooking. My mom hated cooking. So as soon as I showed an interest in it, she just let me take over. I have 8 younger brothers and sisters ... Our financial situation was pretty tight. Soone of my tricks was making stuff look really pretty on the plate, so that theyd be excited to eat it even if it was the same thing that wed had for four meals in a row."

Herndon and her husband worked in famous New Orleans restaurants for several years. They learned how to make the traditional dishes, like gumbo and poboys.

And then they decided to launch their own eatery. They opened an independent company called The Old Portage, using the cooking areas of other businesses. They kept most of the traditional cooking they learned in restaurants the same.

But Herndon says they saw so many people cooking crawfish in the usual New Orleans way that they knew they had to make a change. They remembered seeing Vietnamese people living in the Houston, Texas, area cook crawfish in their own traditional way. Herndon says she loved the different spices and ingredients.

And so she and her husband started going to a bar called the Black Penny in the citys historic French Quarter. Now, they prepare a Vietnamese-style crawfish boil there several times a month.

New Orleans-style spicy crawfish often comes with corn and boiled potatoes. But the Herndons serve theirs with lemongrass butter and bread from Dong Phuong, a real Vietnamese bakery.

And it has become a great success.

A former employer once told Herndon that, in order to cook food in the style of another culture, one must show that culture respect. Herndon says several Vietnamese are often among the people enjoying her style of crawfish. And that makes her believe she is honoring both New Orleans and Vietnamese culture as best she can.

"Theres a story and a history to almost every dish here. You can see the ties to all the different cultures that have come through, which is one of my favorite things about the city Because you can see the way all these different cultures have affected New Orleans and our food here."

Nicholas Christian is another person that moved to New Orleans for the food. He works with several local coffee shops and has helped some restaurants choose the different kinds of food they will serve.

He says a crawfish boil is the perfect example of the culture of eating in the Big Easy. Friends and strangers come together at large tables eat to all the food as one group. A meal here is a time when people slow down and pay more attention to what they are doing and who they are with, Christian says.

"Food is a way of life and down here it definitely shows. The amount of high quality food you can get down here for the price is incredible. If you do go to a fine dining restaurant [and] you spend $60 on a steak, its going to be one of the best steaks youve ever had in your life."

New Orleans has its problems like any other city, Christian says. But he adds that love of food, music and life make it home to anyone that visits.

Im Pete Musto.

Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. Adam Brock shot the video and Pete Musto produced it. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Do chefs in your country often combines dishes from different cultures with their own? What city has the best food in your country?

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

lobster - n. an ocean animal that has a long body, a hard shell, and a pair of large, sharp, curved parts on the toes, and that is caught for food

barbecue - n. food that has been cooked on a flat metal frame over hot coals or an open fire

pizza - n. a food made from flat, usually round bread that is topped with usually a yellow or white solid food that is made from milk called cheese, as well as a thick liquid made from a round, soft, red fruit called a tomato

chef - n. a professional cook who usually is in charge of a restaurant

gumbo - n. a thick soup made in the southern U.S. with meat or seafood

poboys - n. two pieces of bread filled with seafood that is served in Louisiana

crawfish - n. an animal that looks like a small lobster and lives in rivers and streams

spice(s) - n. a substance that is used in cooking to add flavor to food and that comes from a dried plant and is usually a powder or seed

ingredient(s) - n. one of the things that are used to make a food or product

potato(es) - n. a round root of a plant that has brown, yellow, or red skin and white or yellow flesh and that is eaten as a vegetable

lemongrass - n. a type of grass that produces an oil that smells like lemon and is widely used in Asian cooking

butter - n. a solid yellow substance made from milk or cream that is spread on food or used in cooking

bakery - n. a place where bread, cakes, cookies, and other baked foods are made or sold

steak - n. a thick, flat piece of meat and especially beef
Researchers say part of a very large shelf of ice on Antarctica could soon break off  and become an iceberg.

A team of scientists is closely watching part of the Larsen Ice Shelf, off the coast of northwestern Antarctica. The area is connected to land, but floats on seawater instead of sitting on top of the continent.

The piece of ice, known as Larsen C Ice Shelf, caught the attention of researchers a few years ago. There are many cracks, or signs of weakness, in the ice. In 2010, the scientists found that one crack was getting bigger.

Martin OLeary is with Swansea University in Wales. He spoke with VOA about the work he does with Project MIDAS, the British group studying Antarctica.

We became concerned in 2014 when it started to become obvious that this crack was going to produce a particularly large iceberg, much larger than we had initially expected.

Icebergs are huge masses of ice that break off from glaciers in coastal areas. Glaciers begin as fallen snow. Over time, the weight of the snow creates large, thickened ice masses. When the ice becomes too heavy, pieces break off and float in the sea.

The crack on the Larsen C Ice Shelf has been growing quickly -- by an estimated 18 kilometers just in the second half of December.

And how large will this future iceberg be?

Martin OLeary thinks it will be between nine to 12 percent of the ice shelf, which is about the size of some countries.

The iceberg will be around 5,000 square kilometers, he says.

That would be about the size of Lebanon. Now, only 20 kilometers of ice still connects the iceberg to the shelf.

What is causing the break?

By nature, ice is brittle and can break easily. OLeary says the process that is opening the large crack is a natural one.

The crack is a natural phenomenon, the ice by its nature is quite brittle, it tends to crack quite a lot. What happens is that snow and bits of debris fall into the crack and that pushes the crack open even wider, so the force of that crack ratchets the crack open and thats what causes it to get longer and longer."

He adds that to the best of our knowledge, this break is not a product of climate change. Some studies have linked rising temperatures to human activities.

The new iceberg is not expected to change ocean levels around the world. That is because the iceberg is already sitting in the sea and it will not displace more water.

Once it breaks off, the iceberg will slowly move away. Over time, it will break into smaller pieces, which will move north, and eventually melt away.

What is the Larsen Ice Shelf?

The Larsen Ice Shelf is a series of shelves, all of which are linked together. They may be connected to the land, but float out over the sea. They grew out from the Antarctic mainland over tens of thousands of years. And over time, pieces have broken off.

Larsen A, the most northern and smallest part, broke free from the continent in 1995.

There was the larger Larsen B Ice Shelf. It was an estimated 3,200 square kilometers of ice, and about 220 meters thick. But it broke up into the sea in 2002.

Now, Larsen C is larger still, with ice thickness averaging 350 meters. This is where the piece is that is about to break off of the ice shelf.

OLeary says the honest answer is we dont know when the iceberg will break off. But scientists think it will probably be in the next few months.

While they call this a natural process, OLeary explains that this break could make the area more vulnerable to climate change in the future.

What were worried about is that this will put the ice shelf in a more unstable position, which will mean that the effects of climate change, such as melting of the ice, thinning of the ice, those can have a stronger effect now.

And that means there could be more events like this one, with large parts of the ice shelf falling into the sea. It could lead to the collapse of the whole shelf.

There is not enough information to predict if or when that might happen. But if it does, it is possible that the ice, which the Larsen shelf holds on the land, could start sliding into the sea.

Predictions suggest that could raise world sea levels by as much as 10 centimeters.

Im Anne Ball.

Kevin Enochs wrote this story for VOA News. Anne Ball reported this story for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.

We want to hear from you. Write to us in the Comments Section and visit us on our Facebook page.

_______________________________________________________________

Words in This Story

crack  n. a line in the surface of something that is broken but not separated into pieces

obvious  adj. easy to see or notice

initially  adv. occurring at the beginning of something

phenomenon  n. something that can be observed and studied that is unusual or difficult to understand or explain fully

ratchet  v. to increase or decrease something by a series of small amounts

vulnerable  adj. easily hurt or harmed physically, mentally or emotionally
DICKINSON  The Stark County States Attorneys Office is not pressing any criminal charges in the case of the use of padded rooms in Dickinson Public Schools.

In October, a parent whose child attended one of Dickinsons elementary schools went to the Dickinson Police Department and Stark County Social Services after she found out that the school had been allegedly putting her child into a padded quiet room without her consent.

When we look at the policies of the school district and the set up and the way things happened here, maybe there was a missed step of notification, but no harm came to any child or anyone else through these activities, said Tom Henning, the countys states attorney. They actually are within school district policy for those kinds of situations as we understand it, and the policy is pretty clear.

His office sent a letter to Officer Brian Eaton of the Dickinson Police Department this week with their determination on the case.

In that letter, James Hope, the countys assistant states attorney, wrote that it was the states attorneys offices duty to determine whether there were facts that warrant the filing of a criminal charge rather than to determine what are the best educational practices with respect to discipline or maintaining order in the classroom.

I have concluded that there are insufficient facts to support a criminal charge in this case, and accordingly decline to prosecute, Hope wrote in the letter.

He continues, noting that the quiet rooms were used as a space where a student could calm down and have quiet thoughts. The procedures when using the rooms were established and put into writing, and a significant amount of thought went into this process for dealing with children who are acting out and endangering the safety of the other children, Hope wrote in the letter.

In conclusion, whatever mistakes, if any, were made in this matter, they do not warrant a criminal charge, he wrote. The resolution of this matter does not belong in the criminal courts, but can be addressed by the school board or other appropriate policy makers within the school district.

Neither the parent nor the school district were available for comment before publication.
Dozens of residents showed up in Bradenton Saturday to protest Mosaics proposal to the county to expand phosphate mining operations at its Wingate East property on Saturday.

Planning commission approved Mosaic proposal last August

Matter to go before county commissioners January 26

Protesters expressed distrust of Mosaic

The commissioners just trust them and say oh yeah, theyre a great company, said protester Ed Hurley. I just dont trust Mosaic.



The protesters outside the building where the Manatee County Board of Commissioners meet held signs that read Mosaic gives me a sinking feeling and Commissioners: protect the water, wetland and wildlife. They also handed out informational fliers to drivers and chanted Mosaic has got to go.



This is my backyard, this is my home, said protester Debra Daneghy. I really hope that other people, when they get educated on this, will think of their grandchildren.



Last August, the planning commission approved Mosaics plans to mine 3,700 acres on the Wingate site. The matter is scheduled to go before Manatee County Commissioners on January 26.



Protesters said they want commissioners to vote against that proposed expansion.



Absolutely vote no, Hurley said. Then get Mosaic to come back with a better plan. If they think theyve got a plan at all.



Mosaic declined a request for an interview about the protest.



Resident Tracey Dang lives across the street from the Wingate site and wants to start an organic farm. Dang worries that her land will be tainted if a sinkhole, like the one that opened up in Mulberry last August, swallows hundreds of millions of gallons of acidic wastewater.



215 million gallons of slightly radioactive or slightly pregnant water goes into our Florida aquifer that we drink, said Dang. Its going to pass right through my property.



Mosaic has said that testing around their Mulberry property on the Hillsborough-Polk County line showed the wastewater did not make it into neighboring wells. Still, the protesters believe the expansion will ruin the environment in Manatee County.



Protesters plan to keep spreading awareness about the proposed phosphate mining expansion before the commission votes in less than two weeks.
GET OUR APP Our Spectrum News app is the most convenient way to get the stories that matter to you. Download it here.
BOISE  Mat Erpelding, the new Idaho House Democratic minority leader, is under no illusion about how he came to the role.

This position now is an accident  it was not a plan, he says, pausing before adding: I think its an exciting accident.

He certainly knows a little about excitement. The Denver native, now 42, first to came Idaho in 1993 to run track for Idaho State University in Pocatello. Two years in, he got involved in rock-climbing and mountaineering and took to it immediately. Among his mountaineering feats are five trips to Alaskas Denali, the highest peak in North America, with four successful summits.

I got good very quickly at climbing, he said. And I probably was, in addition to having a knack for it, a risk-taker. As Ive gotten older, Im still willing to do a lot in the mountains, but I think Im much more cognizant of the consequences of my actions in the mountains.

And his so-called accident? Erpelding, now starting his third term in the Legislature, became minority leader following Lewiston Rep. John Rusches loss in November. He leads a diminished group of House Democrats, who lost two other members besides Rusche. They are now outnumbered by Republicans 59-11.

Erpelding, who represents District 19 in Boises North End, saw the coming defeat for the Democrats last fall when he went to Lewiston to campaign with Rusche.

I was very concerned that he was in trouble just by the response of the people, he said this week in the minority leaders Capitol office, just off the House floor. And I also at that point became very concerned that Donald Trump was going to win, not just Idaho but the whole thing. These were folks who had a history of supporting Democratic ideas  wages, our economy  and they seemed frustrated with the entire process.

Erpelding said he thought he might one day serve as minority leader, but I had hoped it had been under different circumstances.

Outside the Legislature, Erpelding owns and runs a mountain guide service. With a masters degree in organizational learning and behavior, he also teaches at Boise State University and travels around the country for a firm that helps companies groom people for leadership. Hes had to adjust his professional life to accommodate his political one, working more or less as an independent contractor. A conversation with the Statesman touched on many political, social and personal topics.

On Idaho Democrats

These are difficult circumstances for Idaho Democrats. And I also know that my caucus has concerns about me. Thats reasonable and I totally respect that. I am a different leader from John (Rusche). I come from a different generation. There are a lot of members of the caucus who were in politics before I even got to college.

For me, the most important thing is that our caucus stays united, and that we do everything we can to insure that really rock solid Democrats (in rural parts of the state) have a voice thats heard and that our urban caucus fully recognizes that we need to be supportive of both causes. The survival of rural Idaho is essential to the quality of life of Boise.

On his leadership approach

I would say I am more comfortable with conflict than Rep. Rusche was. He was an incredible person for using his knowledge as a medical doctor to reach across at a time when we really needed a person with that type of knowledge. During the health care debates, nobody could have done a better job.

Times have changed. Weve gotten a little smaller and our needs now are focused on how we can be an active participant in the process, and how can we support where possible. How do we push back on ridiculous policies that would be defined any other place in the world as radical and extremist, how are we effective as a voice of opposition.

Erpelding mentions possible legislation from new Republican Sen. Dan Foreman of Moscow, who wants to classify all abortion as first-degree murder.

I think its imperative for us to drag that type of radical extremist views into the public light and point out that the other side, a lot of them actually agree with ideas like that, and thats a problem. We are not in a place where we should or will let stuff like that slip by.

On moderate Republicans

By the nature of the (House Speaker Scott) Bedke rule, which is a majority of the majority caucus has to vote for something before it will come to the floor, what you have is a naturally radicalized caucus. So even if there were moderates that might represent the majority, they would be more likely to move to the right (than) move to the middle.

On getting Democratic bills passed

Certainly that which is bipartisan will get through  its amazing what you can get done if nobody cares who gets credit, and there are a lot of bills that the Democrats fingerprints will be all over. But if its a purely Democratic ideal like something important and critical to our districts like (raising) the minimum wage or Add the Words (civil rights legislation for the LGBTQ community), it is very hard to see a path forward given the number of votes that we have. But we are going to represent our districts and the 300, 000 Idahoans that support us.

On losing his baby son

In November 2015, Erpelding and his wife, Elizabeth Perryman, were preparing for the birth of son, Owen, who died only days before his due date. The loss was devastating and the two were very public about what happened.

It was the most terrible thing that I think can happen to any parent  any loss of a child, whether it be right at birth or as an adult, I can now understand how it crushes parents.

I believe that as political figures we have a very public profile whether we recognize it not. So there were thousands that knew that Elizabeth and I were expecting. Because we know that people were following that  it was in our interest to also let people know it hadnt worked out and we had lost our son. ...

But the other thing is there is a life piece to everything we do in this (legislative) body. I think when you make the choice to go into public office, you expose yourself on every level and it is important that people understand that right, left, Republican, Democrat, urban, rural, that we live a human life just like everybody does.

The couple spent a month last summer hiking in and around the Alps in France, Italy and Switzerland.

We spent every single day together hiking, walking. That was what put us on a path to be able to really start to heal, because we were able to start to talk about Owen, how broken we were and what we needed to do to be a good couple to one another through that process.

On how he and Democrats will build their numbers

Since Ive been elected, Ive spent a lot of time traveling the state, hosting forums, meetings and discussing policy with other folks in other districts. We have a responsibility to insure that they have a voice, that they see a path forward, and also that they see that there is a future, that we are not going to allow our party to become so ideologically rigid that theres no room for diversity of thought.  As one of the leaders of the Democratic Party, I will push back on my own party members who believe in a purity test of any kind. We need to have an acceptance approach.

The position that I have right now is a real opportunity to grow the caucus, to insure that more Democrats are elected, and to protect and support communities that are currently not being represented well. My three ideas are to build relationships across the state, continue to be the most reasonable person in the room as an elected official, and to advocate for and do everything I can to support candidates moving forward.

On whether Idaho is moving to the right

In-migration to Idaho tends to be an older population fleeing another state, and so from an in-migration perspective it does appear to be becoming even more conservative. The interesting thing is the Idahoans that have been here for generations tend to be the moderates and tend to continue to find themselves being squeezed.

On responding to a more conservative electorate

I actually think that if we can get our workforce up to speed so that companies look around and say, Oh, theres a real workforce there, and we start to stall the out-migration of Gen X and Millennials, then we can stop this movement to the right (or) hold more middle ground where conversations that involve young families resonate with Idahoans.

But when many of the folk that are moving to Idaho maybe dont have families any more, have already raised their kids, and are looking for place where they are less tied to the infrastructure and the health of the state, their vote patterns will be different. We need to keep those young people in this state.
Sadly we lost 140 men and women in blue in 2016. I wish I could see them remembered the way we have remembered the famous people we lost in 2016 but any officer will tell you they did not get into law enforcement to be famous.

Q: What should I do if I find evidence that someone tried to break into our home? -Andee

A: The first and most obvious thing to do is call the police. I know this sounds simple but there are those out there (you know who you are) who think it would be a waste of time for the police to come investigate because nothing was taken. This would be a wrong answer of course.

The next step is not to move or touch anything you believe was involved in the attempted break-in. There could be evidence that could be collected that might help not only solve your case but could also tie in with any other crimes that might be related to yours.

If somebody did enter your house but you could not find anything missing, this would be a great time to start checking your credit. Sometimes a thief does not need to physically steal anything because they can simply steal using the information they might have obtained from your home (social security numbers, etc). This can lead to one big headache if it led to identity theft.

The other reason to report this crime to the police is that the criminal might have just been scoping out your home to see what they might need to bring to carry-off your valuables on a return trip. If the police are forewarned they could do extra patrols on your home so that they might be able to head-off any future attempts to steal your property.

Finally, this leads me to an idea that could help you, the police and your insurance company  photo-log the contents of your home. This allows a quicker and easier way to know if something is missing. What I mean by photo-logging your home simply take pictures of each item and serial number of the items you deem the most important. If there is no serial number, make a special mark and photograph that mark. If you want you can add the location of each item in the home on your storage file (external of course). The storage device also needs to be stored in an area where it is safe (preferably outside the home). The photo-log could also be used to identify and get your property back quicker if it is discovered in the future.

Officer down:

Please put this officer, killed in the line of duty, and his family in your prayers. He fought the good fight, now may he rest in peace. God bless this hero.

Detective Chad Parque, North Las Vegas Police, Nevada

Have a question for Policemandan? Email your question(s) to policemandan@yahoo.com or look for Ask Policemandan on Facebook and click the like button. Mail to: Box 147, Heyburn, Idaho 83336
GOODING  GREAT, INC. has been awarded a very generous $3,900 grant from the Curtis Turner Memorial Fund, Unrestricted Southwestern Region in the Idaho Community Foundation for the 2nd phase on the roof project to replace the metal siding above the stage front and back, metal material caps to go over the sides and the top of the parapet walls of the historic Schubert Theatre in Gooding and will include labor, and dump fees.

The replacement of the roof is critical before the inside restoration begins. We are very grateful to the ICF, the Curtis Turner Memorial Fund, and for an additional $750 from the Kings Stores Funds in the ICF. Funds received in 2016 from the Idaho Heritage Trust, the Union Pacific Railroad, NW Farm Credit, GoFundMe, and community support will also be used for this historic roof replacement project.

Plans for the restoration will be presented to the public by Meyers-Anderson Architects, Pocatello, and GREAT, INC. at a Community Vision Meeting January 19th 7 p.m. at the Gooding High School Multipurpose Room, 1050 7th Ave West  Gooding. All interested community members are invited to share their input!

The historic Schubert Theatre and was built in 1920 by Governor Frank R. Gooding for whom the county and city of Gooding is named as a wedding gift for his daughter and Adam Schubert, his former secretary, underwent remodeling in 1946 and 1983 to accommodate patrons in the changing times and changing decor, and was placed on the National Registry of Historic Places in 2004.

The interior has 6 murals painted by Hugo Clausen in the art deco style and a hand painted backdrop of Shoshone Falls signed by Ernest Miller dated 1920. There are also many signatures on basement door frames and doors dated back to the 1920s with the names of the plays that the actors were starred in.

Since 1988, ICF has been in Idaho working with generous people who want to give to trusted, deserving organizations. With local staff, three offices throughout the state (Boise, Coeur dAlene, and Idaho Falls), and grant opportunities for each of Idahos 44 counties, they know their communities.

For more information and donations: GREAT, INC., P.O. Box 433, Gooding, ID or call (208) 539-0202. Photos can be seen at www.facebook.com/Schubert Theater and for more information call (208) 539-0202. Learn more about the Idaho Community Foundation at http://www.idcomfdn.org
A lot has happened since my last blog post more than seven months ago. In the fall I made several trips - in October to Wyoming for the annual meeting of ...

3 years ago
Officers responded to an alarm call at the Orpheum Theatre, 146 Main Ave. N., about 6:30 a.m., and upon arrival, heard someone inside the building. Officers set up a perimeter, and the subject, Michael Eguilor, fled by foot on the rooftops of the 100 block of Main Ave North. Officers followed in pursuit, and Eguilor was eventually detained while attempting to hide behind an air conditioner unit. No additional suspects are believed to be involved.
TWIN FALLS COUNTY

FELONY SENTENCINGS

Frank Matthew Jack, 22, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, $563.99 restitution, $60 workmans comp. program fee, four years penitentiary, two determinate, two indeterminate, sentence suspended, three years supervised probation.

John Anthony Treadwell, 46, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, $500 public defender, $60 workmans comp. program fee, five years penitentiary, two determinate, three indeterminate, sentence suspended, two years supervised probation.

Anthony Thomas Baldwin, 29, Twin Falls; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $60 workmans comp. program fee, $604.97 restitution, five years determinate penitentiary, sentence suspended, three years supervised probation, problem solving court.

Kara Ruth Scott, AKA Haskin, 35, Jerome; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $60 workmans comp. program fee, four years supervised probation, two determinate, two indeterminate, sentence suspended, four years supervised probation.

Dwayne Allen Skidmore, 39, Jerome; possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or sell charge dismissed. possession of marijuana in an amount greater than three ounces in any prepared form, $285.50 costs, $60 workmans comp. program fee, five years determinate penitentiary, three years supervised probation. Unlawful possession of a weapon by a convicted felon, $285.50 costs, $60 workmans comp. program fee, $831.67 restitution, five years determinate penitentiary, three years supervised probation.

Jonathan Michael Leverich, 31, Buhl; possession of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $500 public defender, $100 DNA, seven years penitentiary, three determinate, four indeterminate, 365 days retained jurisdiction.

Macy Marie Moreno, 22, Twin Falls; grand theft, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, two determinate, eight indeterminate. Forgery, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, two determinate, eight indeterminate. Second charge forgery, $245.50 costs, 10 years penitentiary, two determinate, eight indeterminate. Burglary charge dismissed.

Macy Marie Moreno, 22, Twin Falls; Trafficking in herointwo grams to less than seven grams, $285.50 costs, $10,000 fine, $100 DNA, 10 years penitentiary, two determinate, eight indeterminate.

Kimberly Dawn Taylor, 31, Twin Falls; criminal possession of a financial transaction card, $245.50 costs, five years determinate penitentiary, sentence to run concurrent with two 2016 cases and the other charge here. Forgery charge dismissed.

Kimberly Dawn Taylor, 31, Twin Falls; delivery of a controlled substance, $285.50 costs, $100 DNA, 15 years penitentiary, seven determinate, eight indeterminate, sentence to run concurrent to two 2016 cases.

Kimberly Dawn Taylor, 31, Twin Falls; grand theft, $245.50 costs, fourteen years penitentiary, seven determinate, seven indeterminate, sentence to run concurrent with other two 2016 cases.

Vincent Ruben Soto, $285.50 costs, four years penitentiary, one determinate, three indeterminate, 43 days credited, sentence to run consecutively to 2013 Ada county case and Canyon county 2011, 2012 and 2014 cases.

DRIVING UNDER THE INFLUENCE SENTENCINGS

Samoa Joseph Allen, 21, Kimberly; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 90 days jail, 88 suspended, two days credited, guilty withheld sentence, 120 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six months to be supervised,attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Jason Thomas Mclemore, 35, Jerome; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, 90 days jail, 87 days suspended, three days credited, 120 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six months to be supervised, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Amy Jo Hardy, 37, Buhl; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, 90 days jail, 88 suspended, two days credited, 180 days restricted drivers license, 12 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Rolando Rafieal Torres, 25, Twin Falls; DUI second offense, $1,000 fine, $800 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, balance suspended, 23 days credited for time served, 365 days suspended drivers license, 24 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Patrick Gale Likes, 29, Twin Falls; DUI, $500 fine, $300 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 90 days jail, 88 suspended, one day credited, eight hours work detail, 90 days restricted drivers license, 12 months probation with six months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Theresa Elaine Rivera, 31, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $1,000 fine, $800 suspended, $202.50 costs, 90 days jail, 85 days suspended, two days credited, 365 days drivers license suspension starting October 5, 2016, 12 months supervised probation, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Joseph Frederic Lancaster, 62, Twin Falls; DUI second offense, $1,000 fine, $1000 suspended, $202.50 costs, 180 days jail, 175 suspended, one day credited, 365 days restricted drivers license, 24 months supervised probation, interlock device for one year, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

Joshua Lloyd Welker, 27, Twin Falls; DUI excessive, $1,000 fine, $1,000 suspended, $202.50 costs, $75 public defender, 180 days jail, 175 suspended, three days credited, guilty withheld judgment, 365 days restricted drivers license, 24 months supervised probation, interlock device for 365 days, attend victim impact panel and court alcohol school.

DIVORCE CIVIL PROCEEDINGS

Ali Matlab v. Ayat Abdulhadi

Stevie VanBiezen v. Kyle VanBiezen

Terry Archibald v. Camelia Archibald

Charles Reigh v. Xiaoling Reigh

Cara Ward v. Jeraldo Berrera

Ashley Cramer v. Shaun Cramer
Editors Note: Welcome back to our column by political reporter Nathan Brown. Each week during the legislative session hell recap what happened during the legislature and look forward to what is coming up in the next week. Follow updates from him throughout the week on Twitter @IdahoGovernment.

MONDAY was the day everything kicked off, when Gov. C.L. Butch Otter gave his State of the State speech and presented a 2018 budget that largely focused on continuing to increase education spending through a mix of more money for existing initiatives such as the career ladder (teacher pay) and spend on classroom technology, and new ideas including tens of millions in spending on higher education facilities, one of them being an agricultural research center in the Magic Valley that would be funded with a mix of state, university and agricultural industry money. Otter also indicated he would be reluctant to consider any tax cuts other than a reduction in the base tax rate for unemployment insurance.

Reactions to the speech, as expected for a speech containing so many proposals, were mixed. Some House Republicans, including prominent members of leadership, want to cut income taxes this year and said the plan to push for that. Others expressed concerns about how much new spending Otter is asking for. The Democrats liked Otters education emphasis but were disappointed by other aspects, such as the lack of money for early childhood education. Advocates for the uninsured were disappointed with the lack of a plan to help those in the Medicaid gap  Otter is advising the Legislature wait to see what Congress does, and so far, most Republican lawmakers here seem willing to go along with that.

TUESDAY the Joint Finance-Appropriations Committee, which sets the state budgets, held its first meeting of the year to go over the governors proposal. It will continue to meet nearly every morning until the states budgets are all set, a process that generally goes into March.

Also, the first bill of the session was introduced  language to define some language in the constitutional amendment HJR 5, which voters passed in November. The amendment codifies the Legislatures power to approve or reject rules proposed by state agencies and also lets lawmakers tweak them without the governors approval.

The Senate had a bit of an unusual day, kicking off the year by going through the depositions, exhibits and other documents that are part of Tom Katsilometess challenge to the election of Mark Nye as senator for District 29, in Pocatello. Nye beat Katsilometes by about 3 percent of the vote, but he is challenging the results.

WEDNESDAY the Lewiston Tribune reported on a few bills new Moscow Sen. Dan Foreman plans to introduce this year  including one to charge both women who get abortions and doctors who perform them with first-degree murder. The idea would seem to fly in the face of Roe v. Wade, the 1973 U.S. Supreme Court ruling legalizing abortion nationwide, and it remains to be seen whether the leadership will allow the bill to be introduced.

Most lawmakers spent the afternoon in an ethics training session in the Lincoln Auditorium. Before everyone went home for the day, though, several media outlets reported multiple witnesses had, during the Dec. 1 organizational session, seen Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, tell newly appointed Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Rep. Judy Boyle, R-Midvale, that women only get leadership positions if they spread their legs.

Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, sent a letter Wednesday to House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, alluding to this and also complaining of other unfriendly and sometimes paranoid behavior of Scotts  including damaging a fire sensor because she thought the leadership had bugged it  and saying some lawmakers, women especially, didnt feel safe working with her.

THURSDAY Bedke took the highly unusual step of stripping Scott of all three of her committee seats. Bedke himself has refused to comment on the reasons for the move. Scott was disciplined under a rule that forbids members from disparaging either colleagues or the body as a whole.

Committees are where most of the important work of debating and crafting legislation takes place, so Scott will be able to weigh in or vote now only when a bill that has already passed committee hits the House floor. Scott said in a Facebook post that she views the inaccurate and false accusations as an attempt by the House establishment to sidetrack her policy agenda  she and Rep. Ron Nate, R-Rexburg, with whom she is ideologically aligned, rolled out the website growingfreedomforidaho.com when the session started, outlining many issues where they hope to affect change.

Also Thursday, the Joint Economic Outlook and Revenue Assessment Committee voted to accept Otters estimate that state revenues will increase about 4.6 percent in the 2018 fiscal year.

And, the development news website Boise Dev reported Boise-area developer Tommy Ahlquist is seriously considering a run for governor as a Republican. He could be entering a crowded Republican primary field  so far, Lt. Gov. Brad Little and former state Sen. Russ Fulcher have already said they are going to run, and U.S. Rep. Raul Labrador is considering it as well.

FRIDAY a flurry of bills were introduced into House Health and Welfare, including one to require background checks for massage therapists, one to require review of the curricula of licensed massage schools, one to improve the prescription monitoring program, and one to make some currently prescription-only quit-smoking medications available without a prescription.

NEXT WEEK will likely have a busier feel than this one did, as people start to introduce bills and committees meet more often to consider them. After the initial flurry of activity on Monday, the rest of the week often felt slow, with most of the standing committees holding their organizational meetings but many not having too much business before them yet. The House and Senate floor sessions usually took just a few minutes because there are no bills before them yet.

Also next week, the Change in Employee Compensation Committee, which met several times this week, is scheduled to hold its last meeting on Tuesday and make its employee pay recommendations. Gov C.L. Butch Otter is asking for 3 percent raises for state employees.

Otter and his wife Lori Otter will be in Washington D.C. on Friday for the inauguration of President-elect Donald Trump. Otter had hoped for a position in the Trump administration. The only one in which he expressed interested and for which another pick hasnt been announced is Secretary of Agriculture. Otter said Monday, though, he doubts at this point he will get the job.

Also, the Senate State Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on Monday to decide on Katsilometes challenge to Nyes victory.
1976: Ketchum Mayor Jerry Seiffert goes to Boise to lobby lawmakers to support a local option sales tax for resort cities. Ketchum and Sun Valley want one to fund a bus system for tourists. Chairman of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee is Rep. Steve Antone, R-Rupert, whose district includes the Wood River Valley. Two attempts to pass a bill both fail.

1978: A local option sales tax bill passes, letting resort cities impose an additional tax on hotel stays and alcohol sales with the approval of 60 percent of voters. A resort city is defined as a city with fewer than 10,000 people where a major part of the economy is businesses catering to recreational needs and tourists. Soon after, voters in Sun Valley and Ketchum approve local option taxes.

1984: The law is amended to let resort cities tax other types of sales as well. Also in 1984, auditorium districts authority to tax lodging is upheld in the case Greater Boise Auditorium District v. Royal Inn of Boise.

1985: Idaho Supreme Court upholds a challenge to local option taxing authority in the case Sun Valley Co. v. City of Sun Valley.

2002: Idaho Supreme Court dismisses the case Young v. Ketchum, which challenged Ketchums use of local option tax money to pay for a professional services contract with the Sun Valley-Ketchum Chamber of Commerce.

2005: The Coalition for Regional Public Transportation is founded in the Boise area; the group of business organizations supports local funding options for regional public transportation.

2006: The city of Hailey passes a local option sales tax.

2007: A bill to allow a local option tax for public transportation gets a hearing in the House Revenue and Taxation Committee. The committee votes 11-7 to hold it.

2008: The Coalition for Regional Public Transportation expands its scope and rebrands itself as the Moving Idaho Forward coalition. A proposed constitutional amendment to allow expanded local option sales taxing authority passes the House but dies in the Senate. Local option tax backers are divided on the idea, with some supporting the amendment and others objecting to the idea of setting the rules in the state Constitution and to the amendments requirement of a two-thirds voter majority to approve a local option tax.

2009: Rep. Brandon Durst, D-Boise, introduces a bill to expand local option taxing authority. Then-House Speaker Lawerence Denney says he will allow the idea to move forward only as a constitutional amendment, not a bill  an approach opposed by many backers of expanding local option taxes.

2011: The Idaho Chambers Alliance, a coalition of local chambers of commerce throughout the state, makes expanding local option taxing authority one of its legislative priorities. There is also talk of pushing for a ballot initiative in 2012; this never happens, however.

2013: Gov. C.L. Butch Otter floats the idea of allowing more local option taxes in his State of the State address, to help replace revenue that would be lost if the personal property tax were to be fully repealed. No bill is introduced.

2014: Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, introduces a bill to allow municipalities to levy local option taxes for specific projects. The bill doesnt make it out of the House Revenue and Taxation Committee.

2017: Currently, 13 cities levy local option sales taxes: Donnelly, Driggs, Hailey, Ketchum, Lava Hot Springs, McCall, Ponderay, Riggins, Salmon, Sandpoint, Stanley, Sun Valley and Victor. The Boise, Idaho Falls and Pocatello auditorium districts levy local option taxes on lodging.
SALT LAKE CITY  Most states allow some sort of local sales taxing option, but Utah has a more extensive system than many.

The rules vary widely.

In some states, its fairly limited like it is in Idaho, where local sales taxation power is mostly limited to resort cities. Even Montana, which doesnt have a statewide general sales tax, still levies a 4 percent bed tax on hotel and campground stays and lets certain resort communities collect a tax of up to 3 percent on lodging, restaurant and drink sales, recreation facilities and luxury goods.

In Utah, every city and the unincorporated portion of every county levies a 1 percent local option sales tax; resort communities can levy an additional 1 percent. And in 2015, state lawmakers approved letting counties that choose to levy a tax of an additional one-quarter of 1 percent to fund transportation. Attempts to pass additional transportation taxes in 2015 and 2016 had mixed results, with some counties voters passing them and others rejecting them.

Utahs municipalities can use the money for anything they want.

In the Salt Lake City area, much goes to public transportation  71 percent of the Utah Transit Authoritys funding comes from local option sales tax. That 1 percent sales tax is the primary general fund revenue source for most cities in Utah, said Roger Tew, senior policy analyst with the Utah League of Cities and Towns.

In Idaho, that primary revenue source is the property tax, while in Utah property taxes are generally lower because cities get more of their money from sales tax. The owner of a $150,000 home, for example, would on average pay $1,032 a year in Utah property taxes, compared with $1,157 in Idaho, according to data compiled by the website SmartAsset.

Tew used to be a Utah State Tax Commissioner and was the lawyer for the commission before that, and he is well versed in the history of the states tax system. The Leagues website jokes he has been a player in the Utah tax arena for so many years that realistically some taxes could be named in his honor.

Utahs local option sales tax started in 1959 as a half-cent tax collected and kept by the municipality where the retailer was located, Tew said.

This, he said, led to controversy as smaller communities with fewer retailers clamored for a bigger cut, and in the early 1980s the Legislature changed the law to raise the tax but also put the extra money into a pool shared statewide among all municipalities on a population-based formula.

Tew said there has been talk at times of making various changes to the formula since then, but its a heavy lift.

Politically, its almost impossible to unless (you) put new money on the table, because any distribution change means youre picking winners and losers, he said.

One issue, he said, has been that competition for sales tax revenue encourages cities to chase retail, including poaching businesses from each other. There have been a few cases, he said, where a city tries to entice a business to move across the street so it can get the sales tax money.

There has been improper or inappropriate competition to chase sales tax dollars because of that, Tew said.

One change that expanded local taxing authority in Utah was in 2015, when lawmakers voted to let counties ask their voters to impose an additional .25 percent sales tax for transportation funding, as well as raising the gas tax and making some changes to it to increase the amount going to local governments for transportation funding. Tew said transportation funding had been a topic of debate for more than a decade, and this came after big lobbying efforts by cities, counties, business groups and the Utah Transit Authority.

Money raised from the additional tax is divided between municipalities, counties and, in areas that have them, local transportation authorities, and goes toward both roads and public transit. Eighty-six cities passed resolutions encouraging their counties to pass the new tax, according to the Deseret News, and 17 of Utahs 29 counties put the question on the ballot in November 2015. The tax passed in about half of the counties that proposed it. The UTA plans to expand its bus and rail service in those counties.

The surprise was it didnt pass in Salt Lake, which was the primary place that was pushing it, Tew said.
TWIN FALLS  If paying an extra penny on every dollar you spend shopping would help your city get a bus system or a convention center, would you vote yes or no?

It might mean an extra dollar on your $100 grocery bill. Or an extra $200 on that $20,000 truck you were eyeing. Is it worth it?

For years, some politicians and business leaders from cities like Boise and Twin Falls have hoped lawmakers would give them the same power to levy a local option sales tax, should voters approve it, that resort communities have now. Resort towns use the money to support their police and fire departments, for example, fix their roads or fund public transportation.

Most states give municipalities some power to levy sales taxes locally, although the laws vary widely. Montana, which doesnt have a statewide sales tax, lets resort communities tax some sales. In Utah, sales taxes are a primary source of local government revenue.

What should Idahos future look like? Advocates for expanding local option sales tax authority in Idaho argue that cities like Twin Falls incur expenses due to the many nonresidents who come in every day.

We know a lot of goods and services are procured within our citys borders, Twin Falls City Manager Travis Rothweiler said.

But theres no talk of a bill being introduced in the 2017 legislative session, and many of the lawmakers on the committee that would have to approve such a change are opposed. Much of this years talk in Boise is expected to be about potentially cutting taxes  not raising them  so theres little reason to think Idahos local option sales tax law will change anytime soon.

There have been no mumblings of local option, said Zachary Hauge, vice president of the Idaho Association of Commerce and Industry, which has opposed local option legislation in the past.

Hauge said his group isnt opposed to the concept, but any legislation would have to be limited to get IACIs support.

Local option with certain sideboards and done right is something we would consider, he said.

Rothweiler, who supports letting cities like Twin Falls levy a local option sales tax if voters approve it, also told the Times-News in November he isnt aware of anyone who plans to bring it up during the legislative session. When some Twin Falls-area lawmakers came to a City Council meeting in December, Rothweiler made a pitch for the idea of a local option sales tax, acknowledging that he doesnt expect anything in 2017 but expressing hope they would work with him on the idea in future years.

Rothweiler favors a version of local option sales tax similar to what Sen. Chuck Winder, R-Boise, proposed in 2014: Municipalities could, if voters approve the tax, use the money to pay for specific projects. Winders proposal was modeled on the approach used in Oklahoma City, where the money has been used for numerous infrastructure projects.

I havent heard that anybody is planning to introduce a bill on that, said Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls, who is leery of the idea of expanding local taxation powers. I cant speak for people, but Im on the (House Revenue and Taxation) Committee, and I havent heard thats something thats going to come forward.

If a bill does come forward, Hartgen doubts it would make it through the committee. I would guess no more than a third of them, maybe less, would vote for (it).

Id say it has zero chance of passing, agreed Sen. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls, whose district covers Jerome County and some rural parts of Twin Falls County.

Patricks constituents are mostly people who, if Twin Falls were to levy an additional sales tax, would pay it when they shop but wouldnt be able to vote on it. He opposes extending local option taxing authority unless the money were to be shared regionally and not all kept by the city levying it.

I see the desire and theres always a need for money, he said,  (but) I just dont think thats the best way.

The pros and cons

The major arguments for and against extending local option sales tax authority hinge on fairness. For supporters, its fairness to communities like Twin Falls, which provide services to the many people who come into town to work and shop.

We function a lot like a resort community does, Twin Falls Mayor Shawn Barigar said. Like a resort city, Twin Falls as a regional hub has a lot of expenses related to the people who come into town every day.

Barigar supports giving cities more local taxing authority both in his capacity as mayor and as head of the Twin Falls Area Chamber of Commerce.

The chamber has, for a long time, been advocates of allowing local option sales tax authority to be able to go ask the voters, Barigar said.

He said he wasnt sure if he would support passing such a tax were Twin Falls to have the authority, but he thinks cities should be able to ask their voters. He compared it to the situation with schools: The number of school districts collecting supplemental property tax levies shot up after the state cut education funding during the recession and has yet to go down.

Republican lawmakers in particular sometimes point to districts ability to ask their voters for more money as a positive example of local control.

They often tout the great option that local citizens have to tax themselves additionally to fund schools, Barigar said. And for me, its no different for a city or county to be able to ask the same question.

Rothweiler frequently points to the fact that just under half of the people who show up in Twin Falls police reports arent city residents as evidence that nonresidents are straining the citys property taxpayers. Talking to lawmakers in December, he noted that the citys population swells every day as people come in to work, shop, go to school or get medical treatment.

We need to build police forces to support a community of 75,000 people, and the transportation system to support that as well, he said.

How much money the tax could bring in is hard to know. Idaho tracks sales tax collections by the county the business is based in, so companies whose headquarters are in a different state or who have locations in multiple counties  and this category includes many of the biggest retailers in Twin Falls  dont show up in the county data.

One estimate, Barigar said, is that a 1 percent additional sales tax in Twin Falls County could bring in $7 million a year. That estimate takes the states numbers for the county and increases them about 20 percent, which, he said, is the increase over the states Kootenai County sales numbers that Kootenai County saw when it levied a local option tax to pay for a jail. (Current law does allow a county to levy a local option sales tax to expand a jail.)

For opponents of letting more cities charge a local option tax, though, its often a matter of fairness to the shoppers who dont live in the community and thus wouldnt be able to vote on the tax.

Just to tax somebody because they came to town, I dont think is fair, Patrick said. Theres a lot of demand for it  I know people in town say itll lower the property tax  but thats not really what its designed for in the cities that have it.

Debating fairness

Lawmakers who support giving localities more taxing authority are generally either Democrats or Republicans who represent the handful of cities, like Boise and Twin Falls, that would likely benefit.

I hope at some point we readdress it and make it happen, but I havent seen the political will so far, said Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum.

But even lawmakers from cities that would like to be able to levy a local option tax arent unanimous on the idea. In Twin Falls, for example, Rep. Lance Clow has been generally supportive of extending local option taxing authority, both as a legislator now and previously as mayor of Twin Falls, while Hartgen has been opposed.

Clow said in December he still supports the concept but knows lawmakers who represent areas other than the regional hub cities are reluctant to vote for it.

I like the idea  but I understand why its been a heavy lift, he said.

One idea that he said could get more traction, and that he worked on when he was on the Association of Idaho Cities board, would be to allow a local option tax but with some revenue sharing with the county or the immediately surrounding area.

That might have more play than just saying all the monies collected in the city stay in the city, Clow said.

I understand the city managers point about having enough revenue to support the services that the out-of-town people bring with them, particularly in the area of infrastructure and law enforcement and fire prevention and so forth, Hartgen said. But this idea has been floated a number of times over the years, and the arguments for it have not been persuasive. And  I dont think theres anything really new in the equation.

Hartgen said building more dependence on sales tax into a citys budgets could be dangerous, because sales tax revenue drops when the economy is bad. Also, he said, Twin Falls already benefits financially from having so many people shop here and paying the existing sales tax rate.

State sales tax revenue is shared with cities now according to a formula based on population and property values.

Raising taxes, Hartgen said, could drive shoppers elsewhere.

If I were in Jerome, I would love to see Twin Falls enact a local option tax, because that would drive traffic to South Lincoln, he said. Jerome County would benefit from that, and so might other counties up and down the interstate.

Sen. Kelly Anthon, R-Rupert, said he can understand why cities that get crowds of nonresidents coming in every day would be interested in levying a local option tax.

Theres just a part of me that says local control, giving a community the right to do that, is not a bad thing, he said.

Anthon, who is also Ruperts city administrator, said he would be inclined to vote for a state law allowing cities to levy a local option tax, though he doubts he would support passing one in his own city. If anything, he said, it would help Rupert if a neighboring community were to charge an extra tax Rupert didnt.

Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome, believes allowing more local option taxes would be unfair to her constituents.

I know what Twin Falls feels, that they feel its fair, that theyre kind of a destination for all the communities around and were kind of wearing out their infrastructure, and I understand what theyre saying, but I come from one of the other communities too, she said.

Her seatmate, Rep. Clark Kauffman, R-Filer, who is on House Revenue and Taxation, said he is torn on the issue and can see both sides. He said the discussion intrigues him.

I think the more points of view we get on that, the better decision we can make, he said.

Rep. Steve Miller, R-Fairfield, represents both resort cities in Blaine County that already levy a local option tax and small communities whose residents would likely pay a little more to shop in Twin Falls were the taxing authority to be extended. He also has mixed feelings. He isnt a fan of property tax in general because he doesnt view it as an equitable way to fund government.

A local option would be a possibility in a community, particularly in a destination community where people  come and buy whatever it is theyre buying, he said. But that doesnt work for little communities like Fairfield or Richfield, all those places  where people go to Twin Falls.

Miller said he is open to the idea, but it would depend on the specifics. He said any new tax should be something paid by most people in the community, not targeted toward particular sales or groups of people, and he would want to see a supermajority requirement to pass one.

Millers seatmate, Rep. Sally Toone, D-Gooding, said she is open to changing the law, viewing it as a local control issue similar to the desire state lawmakers often express to have greater autonomy from the federal government. She said having a local option sales tax has been helpful for the resort cities in her district.

Im relatively open to changing it, she said. If you look at my district, Ketchum already has a local option tax. And so, you know, every community should somewhat have that local control.
Im not supportive of it unless its region-wide and everybody would benefit.

Sen. Jim Patrick, R-Twin Falls

It doesnt seem fair they (residents of places without a local option tax) should have to pay a tax. Its the patchwork, I think, I dont like about a system.

Rep. Maxine Bell, R-Jerome

Ive always been agreeable to a local option tax and still am.

Sen. Michelle Stennett, D-Ketchum

Personally, I like the idea of allowing local communities to make some kind of determination, but its a difficult tax issue, because the people who (pay) the increased tax  include people from other communities who are shopping in your community.

Rep. Lance Clow, R-Twin Falls

My opinion is, Im kind of torn. If people want to tax themselves, thats fine, vote to tax themselves. But I would like it to be project-specific.  The other side of this is the discussion (we) always end up having (that) people who dont live in that municipality and dont have a vote on that tax  theyre paying and dont have any representation and dont have any say in it.

Rep. Clark Kauffman, R-Filer

Some of the property tax removal, (I) think, has left (cities and counties) at a disadvantage over long-term growth, because the replacement doesnt cover growth costs. That being said, I think we need to consider the most equitable way of a county or city taxing itself.

Rep. Steve Miller, R-Fairfield

The issue does come up in various forms, like it came up last week with the city manager, but I think the opinion of it is quite divided. Theres some who feel its a viable solution to local government revenues. And theres others who feel it would be a form of taxation without representation because it would fall not only on locals here in Twin.  They (people in other communities) would pay a tax they dont get to vote on. I kind of have a quip about that: The last time this happened, some tea went into the harbor.

Rep. Stephen Hartgen, R-Twin Falls

It seems to me that we expect to have state control from the federal; we need to extend that to our counties and cities likewise, and every city and county knows what they need and knows their communities.

Rep. Sally Toone, D-Gooding
TWIN FALLS  Need legal advice, but cant afford a lawyer? Idaho Legal Aid Services can help with its new interactive communication system.

Are you being evicted? Text the keyword eviction to 208-718-1502 on your cellphone and within seconds Legal Aid will text back a link to its website containing eviction information.

Want to know how child support is calculated? Text support and Legal Aid will text a link to a website with information, resources and child support worksheets.

Need a notary? Text notary and Legal Aid will tell you where to find one.

Idaho Legal Aid Services is a nonprofit law firm that provides free civil legal assistance to eligible low-income people throughout the state.

Legal Aid doesnt handle criminal cases, said Karen McCathy, a Legal Aid attorney in Twin Falls who covers all eight counties in the Fifth Judicial District. But we can intervene and negotiate in civil matters.

The new service focuses on basic information and doesnt overwhelm a client with too much information.

Even people who are familiar with the legal system can get overwhelmed and can use this messaging system for help.

I can type in a keyword and get an answer, then tell my client OK, this is where we go next, said Marisol Towell, a legal advocate with Voices Against Violence in Twin Falls. I think its a great tool.

McCarthy agreed.

Sometimes people just need to know how to do something, she said. For example, the service can help you write a demand letter for repairs without spending money on an attorney.

The information is written by Idaho attorneys and tailored for Idaho laws.

The 13 topics available through the system are based on the most common areas where self-representing people get stuck, said Steve Rapp, Idaho Legal Aid technology project developer in Boise.

The people we are trying to reach are our typical client base, Rapp said, low income and cant afford to pay for an attorney.

He expects the service to eventually expand into a more comprehensive and interactive tool. The service is free and there is no cellphone application to purchase or download.

Idaho Legal Aid is leading the country in technology, McCarthy said. I think anything that empowers people to exercise their own rights is good.
Dorrene Yost, 81, of Rupert, passed away Friday, January 13, 2017 at her home. Arrangements are under the care of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.

Jason Robert Rice, 39, of Hayfork, California and formerly of Twin Falls, Idaho passed away Tuesday, evening, January 10, 2017 in Hayfork, California. Arrangements are under the care of Reynolds Funeral Chapel, Twin Falls.

Margaret J. Pratt, 89, of Twin Falls, passed away on January 14, 2017 at Bridgeview Estates in Twin Falls. Funeral arrangements are under the direction of Reynolds Funeral Chapel.

Gail Clifford Donaldson, 58, of Buhl, passed away January 14, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley Hospital. Arrangements are under the direction of Farmer Funeral Chapel in Buhl.

Glenn Fulton, 73, of Rupert, died Monday, January 9, 2017 at his home in Rupert. In keeping with Glenns wishes, no formal services will be held. Cremation services are under the care of Morrison Funeral Home & Crematory.

Fred A. McCloud, 84, of Wendell, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls. Arrangements are under the direction of Demaray Funeral Service  Wendell Chapel.

Denise J. Barnett, 55, of Twin Falls, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley Medical Center in Twin Falls. Arrangements are under the direction of Demaray Funeral Service  Gooding Chapel.

Elizabeth Betty Jane Rixon, 92, of Gooding and formerly of California, passed away Saturday, January 14, 2017 at her home in Gooding. Arrangements are under the direction of Demaray Funeral Service  Gooding Chapel.

Craig L. Rousseau, 87, of Twin Falls, died Saturday, January 14, 2017 at home. Arrangements are pending Serenity Funeral Chapel Life Celebration Center & Cremation Services of Idaho, Twin Falls.

Leticia Guzman, 48, of Rupert, passed away Friday, January 13, 2017 at St. Lukes Magic Valley. Services are under the direction of Joel Heward Hansen Mortuary.
BOISE  Jim Jones, who just retired as chief justice of the Idaho Supreme Court, didnt expect that a ruling last fall in a medical malpractice suit would cause a big stir.

The high court upheld an $848,000 judgment after a jury found a Boise physician negligently and recklessly failed to diagnose hip dysplasia in a child.

As part of its decision, the Supreme Court awarded parents Randy and Gaylena Hoffer attorney fees, ruling that the appeal by the physician and other medical providers was frivolous. At the same time, the court announced that beginning March 1, judges could award such fees to prevailing parties in other civil cases when justice so requires, creating a new, uncertain standard.

Lawyers worried that the threat of paying the other sides attorneys might have a chilling effect on whether people file lawsuits. They complained loudly.

Even Justice Roger Burdick, who succeeded Jones as chief justice, had the same concern. He wrote in a dissent that judges had no standard or guidance to follow in determining when justice so requires.

I believe that the majoritys analysis will further inhibit access to justice and tilt the table even further toward moneyed interests in our courts, Burdick wrote in the case, which was decided in a 3-2 vote.

Jones, in a recent interview with the Idaho Statesman editorial board, said he envisioned the change having the opposite effect. He echoed the written decision in saying it was an attempt to undo a perceived overreach by the Supreme Court in 1979, when justices created the current practice  paying the winners fees only if a judge deems a case frivolous. The phrase when justice so requires comes from a 1987 statement of legislative intent, wording that is not state law but is intended to provide context for such law.

He also said the change will affect a relatively small percentage of cases, as lawsuits over a contract already tend to carry some sort of loser pays provision.

My take on it is that it gives a small party the standing, perhaps, to level the playing field, Jones said. There are so many issues where these big companies try to squash the little guy just by outmaneuvering and paying the lawyers to squash them.

Its precisely that little guy who will be harmed if the new rule goes into effect, said Sen. Grant Burgoyne, D-Boise.

The fact is that ordinary people are not going to be able to fight city hall or anybody else because theyre putting their house, their kids college education, their own retirement on the line for a case, said Burgoyne, an attorney for nearly 30 years who has represented both plaintiffs and defendants in civil cases. If we had a complete loser pay system, we lose the opportunity to have the courts be an engine of justice, where people can go to redress their grievances.

Burgoyne and other Idaho lawmakers interested in keeping the current standard plan to introduce bipartisan legislation to preserve it. Members of both the Senate and House have been talking about the issue since the Legislature convened earlier this week, said Senate Majority Leader Bart Davis, R-Idaho Falls.

Howard Belodoff is associate director of Idaho Legal Aid Services, which provides representation for low-income residents. He said hes pleased the Legislature is taking action.

Its really impossible for low-income people to get legal representation as it is. This will make it more unavailable and I dont think thats where the courts ought to be, Belodoff said.

Belodoff said he was baffled that the fees standard became an issue at all. According to court records and hearing audio, no one  not lawyers, not the justices  publicly discussed a new standard for attorney fees during the malpractice case.

Long a concern for Jones

The scheduled rule change is in line with the English rule, practiced throughout Europe, Canada and the state of Alaska. There, the losers in court actions pay the legal costs of the other side. Here each party generally pays its own attorney fees, except in cases such as the frivolous-suit standard.

Though apparently unrelated to the malpractice case, the fact that the justices announced the change in a court opinion means their discussions and notes are not public record, under an exemption protecting judicial decision-making. But Jones provided some context.

He grew up on a farm in Eden and said judges in the Magic Valley followed the law the way Jones interpreted it until the 1979 ruling that established the frivolous-case standard.

After Jones was elected Idaho attorney general in 1982, he tried to introduce a bill reversing that standard. Attorneys from all sides and even a representative from the Supreme Court all objected. I said, forget it.

During his 12 years on the Supreme Court, Jones said, the idea periodically came up for discussion. Finally, when the justices sat down to discuss the Hoffer malpractice case, Jones and Justices Joel Horton and Daniel Eismann voted to implement the rule. Burdick and Justice Warren Jones voted against the provision.

Will anyone defend the change?

Belodoff said he hasnt heard of anyone except for those three justices who favor the new rule. He wondered whether anyone will testify against a bill to keep the current standard after its introduced in the Legislature.

The insurance industry could potentially benefit if it doesnt have to cover attorney fees for large clients. But Burgoyne said he has spoken with industry representatives who arent interested in taking a persons home or forcing them into bankruptcy and likely still not recovering legal fees in the process.

Those fees, Belodoff said, are part of doing business and are included in the premiums insurance companies charge their clients.

One supporter of the change comes from a well-known libertarian think tank. Walter Olson, a senior fellow with the Cato Institute, for more than two decades has called on the United States to adopt the English rule, which satisfies a sense of fairness.

In loser pay countries, he said, theres no fear that cases with merit arent being filed because litigants are afraid of having to pay the winning side. He said insurance companies offer policies covering legal expenses for individuals on both ends of a lawsuit.

Critics of loser pay will say, look, this is a random and frightening element, people will be afraid, they wouldnt want to go forward with a legitimate case or legitimate defense because theyll be too scared of this, Olson said. The actual experience in other countries tends to be different. They say its America where people are constantly spinning their wheels with a bad case.
Director Derek Cianfrance excels at capturing tactile grief. His previous movies, Blue Valentine, and The Place Beyond the Pines, were each studies in different kinds of grief; the former about dealing with lost love, the latter about losing a loved one. His stories arent new, but they sure seem to get to the heart of the drama without coming across as silly or falsely sentimental.

The Light Between Oceans is an adaption of M.L. Stedmans novel of the same name. Its just after World War I and Tom Sherbourne (Michael Fassbender) has returned home. He spent the war fighting in the trenches, and his personality reflects that. Hes a stoic figure. He doesnt talk much. He seems to be fighting another war inside himself.

Tom is now a lighthouse keeper living off the coast of Australia when he falls madly in love with Isabel Graysmark (Alicia Vikander). They get married and move to the island where Tom mans the lighthouse. Its a lonely existence, which is made unbearable after Isabels two miscarriages.

Shes distraught, falling into madness. She doesnt understand why the babies keep coming early. Theres nothing they can do about it way out there on their island, alone. Then one day a boat washes up on shore. Inside: a dead man, and a crying healthy baby. Isabel takes it as a sign from God, Tom is much more worried about the impact on their family if they decide to pretend like the baby is theirs.

Cianfrance does what he does best, even though 'The Light Between Oceans' feels more like mainstream drama than his other films. He works well in those moments where observing grief becomes almost uncomfortable for the audience. It needs to be uncomfortable. The characters in this movie are faced with impossible decisions, and their anguish is paramount to the story.

As a parent, and a child of adoption, 'The Light Between Oceans' was especially hard to watch. On one hand I understand the yearning to be a parent, to care for a child, and to watch them grow up. On the other hand, I appreciate  all too well  the loss an adopted child feels, once their grown, knowing that somewhere out there are the birth parents, but theres no easy way of finding them.

I felt strongly for Isabels desire to become a mother at all costs. I felt equally as heartbroken for the young child, who grows up on the island, not knowing the truth about her origins. Finally, I felt the despair the childs birth mother (Rachel Weisz) felt, wondering what happened to her child.

This is a complicated drama. What Cianfrance does with this adaption is he allows the main characters room to develop. Each of their motives are different and its important we understand them. Even within the allotted feature-length film runtime, he makes the film feel like a novel. We grow to know these characters as intimately as we would if we followed them through 300 pages.

Perhaps the crowning achievement of Cianfrances adaption is that it so easily could venture into sappy territory, but it never does. He highlights the pain of these characters without diminishing it with any phony sentimentality. Yes, the tears you may end up shedding during The Light Between Oceans will be well-earned ones.

The Blu-ray: Vital Disc Stats

This is a single-disc 50GB Blu-ray with a code for the Digital Copy. The disc is contained in a standard keepcase and has a slipcover provided.
Rep. Heather Scott, R-Blanchard, took to the radio waves Friday to defend her actions and to tear into a fellow lawmaker she said has tarnished the House of Representatives.

Scott blamed gossip and Rep. Christy Perry, R-Nampa, for the fact that Scott lost her seats on three House committees.

On Thursday, House Speaker Scott Bedke, R-Oakley, removed Scott from the committees as punishment for Scotts comments overheard by other lawmakers that female legislators earn committee chairmanships only through sexual favors.

Scott spoke on the Nate Shelman Show on 670 KBOI Friday evening, saying allegations Perry made about Scott in a letter to Bedke are completely false if not slanderous. ... She is probably going to get a letter from my attorney.

In her letter, Perry said she had grave concerns about Scotts behavior patterns and asked the speaker to make necessary adjustments to secure a comfortable and safe work environment.

Perry also said Scott displayed paranoid and aggressive behavior, including damaging the Capitol in a search for bugs she was convinced were installed by leadership to spy on her.

But Scott said that when Perry broke Idahos adultery law by having an extramarital affair with Sen. Jim Guthrie, R-Inkom, Perry was promoted and not prosecuted. Perry was named chairman of the House Local Government Committee this session, but Scott didnt say why she thought the affair contributed to Perrys assignment. News of the affair became public when Guthries wife discussed it last summer.

When Scott was asked by Shelman whether she wants Bedke to reinstate her committee seats, Scott responded: I will take what I am given. Thats what you have to do when you have a top-down micromanager in charge of a body. You do what you are told.

Also on Friday, the Idaho Attorney Generals Office announced that it has decided not to file criminal charges after the office was asked to review accusations of possible voter intimidation and interference by Scotts team during campaigning for last Novembers election.

According to police reports, a Democratic campaign volunteer in late September was told he better watch his back by a man wearing a hat promoting the re-election campaign of Scott. The volunteer later found a group of people wearing Scott campaign hats and buttons taking pictures of his vehicle in a grocery store parking lot.
Despite over 40 years of Roe v. Wades influence on the nations reproductive rights laws, the abortion debate continues to rage in America. It waxes and wanes, sure, but its never settled in as a debate we used to have  a good sign to me that moral relativism is a flawed singular method of viewing the world. While other issues can get buried into irrelevance by time and context, I believe for the mindful, killing babies will persist as an atrocity no matter what sanitized labels we attach to it, and independent of high court opinions legalizing the practice.

Some future court will reverse the horror of Roe v. Wade and we will one day view it with the same disdain we now have for the Dred Scott decision. Ill temporarily hijack a term progressives use to silence conservatives, and say that the wrong side of history will be populated partly by the high priestesses of abortion  from Margaret Sanger to Cecile Richards. These past four decades have been witness to a slow-motion and silent systematic genocide. I despise abortion as both evidence and cause of moral decay.

Having said all of this, I found a news story this past week both fascinating and irritating. Freshman Idaho Sen. Dan Foreman is pushing a bill that would charge women who abort their babies, with first-degree murder. Perhaps a few of my fellow conservative pro-lifers raised their fists in a collective and approving Hell yeah! I just shook my head. How often are the best of intentions erased by the worst of political tactical skills? If his goal was to keep his powder dry, he blew it.

If someone could choose the most ridiculously foolish pathway to save unborn babies, charging their would-be mothers with first-degree murder ranks in the top two or three alongside bombing abortion clinics and murdering abortion doctors. Certainly Sen. Foreman must understand that his bill must first get a hearing, then a positive committee vote, then a vote in the state Senate, then a vote in the state House, then a signature from the governor. After that it would have to clear inevitable legal hurdles in an environment where a Supreme Court decision looms large against such a piece of legislation. Im not sure it makes it past step one, the easiest hurdle of all.

Sen. Foreman  if hes genuine about this and not just using the legislative process as a publicity stunt platform  is making the mistake of operating in the world he wants, rather than the world that is. He will be shut down, and getting shut down might give him the important talking points he needs to become both a folk hero and a martyr. But none of it will save a single baby. In fact, if his persona makes it more difficult for pro-life conservatives to be taken seriously, the reverse may be true.

I have believed for some time now that more babies will be saved by changing hearts than by changing laws, even though both will have to happen. Threatening reluctantly pregnant women with murder charges isnt going to help in either case.

What I do believe about the future of abortion in America, is that soon-to-be President Donald Trump may well appoint pro-life justices  up to three or four of them  to the Supreme Court. A case will filter up, and a decision well could overturn Roe v. Wade, either giving states more flexibility to pass abortion restrictions, or perhaps recognize a growing fetus as a Constitutionally-protected person. In either case, Roe v. Wade will take its appropriate place in the dumpster of history, and opinions will begin to shift back toward promoting a culture of life.

Good intentions, and legislative proposals that grab headlines may feed egos, but they dont save babies from the horrors of abortion.
This appeared in Saturday's Washington Post.

It has been widely observed that President-elect Donald Trump's national security nominees differed with his campaign positions during their confirmation hearings on a range of issues, from the threat of Russia and importance of NATO to the value of building a wall along the border with Mexico. To his credit, Trump seemed to approve of these departures, tweeting that "I want them to be themselves and express their own thoughts, not mine!" While it can be harmful for an administration to send conflicting messages to adversaries and allies, at this pre-inauguration stage, it is encouraging that the president-elect appears ready to hear the different policies outlined by appointees such as Defense Secretary nominee James Mattis and John Kelly, the prospective secretary of Homeland Security - particularly as they appear to be tugging the administration toward more rational and centrist positions.

Of these, none is more important than the stance on torture staked out by CIA Director-designate Mike Pompeo and Attorney General nominee Jeff Sessions. During the campaign Trump repeatedly promised to use tactics "worse than waterboarding" on terrorist suspects, even though Congress has outlawed all interrogation tactics outside the Army's interrogation manual, which conforms with international anti-torture conventions. As we pointed out at the time, Trump could try to get around the law by seeking a secret Justice Department legal ruling that it infringed on the president's constitutional authority and then ordering the CIA to use harsher methods.

It was therefore important then that when Pompeo was asked whether he would follow such an order, he responded "absolutely not," adding that he had voted for the 2015 law banning waterboarding as a member of Congress. Similarly, Sessions said that the law "makes it absolutely improper and illegal to use waterboarding or any other form of torture," both for the military and for the CIA. While he said he had opposed making an Army field manual the standard for all agencies, Sessions said, "it is a law, and it needs to be enforced, absolutely."

Sessions and Pompeo were not the first to line up behind the torture ban. By Trump's own account, Mattis made a strong pitch about the ineffectiveness of torture during one of their initial conversations. "I was very impressed by that answer," Trump told the New York Times, though he added, "I'm not saying it changed my mind."

Whether he has changed his view or not, Trump has ensured through his national security appointments that any move to reinstate torture techniques will be stiffly resisted inside his own Cabinet. The statements by the nominees suggested the heartening conclusion that, despite the continuing political debate about the use of waterboarding and other "enhanced" interrogation methods during the George W. Bush administration, the nation's military and intelligence establishments have learned the lesson from the enormous harm that resulted. The use of torture violated international law, badly tarnished the United States' international image, and gave dictators and terrorists around the world an excuse to employ the same methods, including on Americans. Meanwhile, an exhaustive 2014 report by the Senate Intelligence Committee found the harsh methods yielded no valuable information.

Trump did not live through those years as a commander, as Mattis did, and he has not had the exposure of Pompeo to the intelligence community. Having now appointed them to lead national security agencies, he will do well if he not only allows them to speak their minds, but also listens to them.
Back in October, when the release of a recording of Donald Trump boasting of groping women rocked the presidential campaign, Sen. Jeff Sessions minimized the severity of his candidates comments: I dont characterize that as sexual assault. I think thats a stretch. He advised the Republican leadership to take a deep breath.

Although he almost immediately softened those comments, he tried to put the matter to rest this way: This thing is overblown. Everybody knows that Trump likes women, Sessions said. This is not a disqualifying event.

Trump didnt pay much of a price for the scandal of the Access Hollywood tapes, but Sessions may not get off so easy. On Tuesday, at his confirmation hearings to be attorney general, the senator was the one breathing heavily. Is grabbing a woman by her genitals without consent, is that sexual assault? Sen. Patrick J. Leahy, D-Vermont, asked. Clearly, it would be, Sessions replied.

Clearly, like frankly, is a gratuitous modifier that most often suggests that what follows is anything but. Session was Trumps first and, for a long time, only supporter in the Senate, a stiff Methodist who was nonetheless comfortable with a candidate carrying significant baggage.

Standing by his man paid off for Sessions. Now, Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee needed assurance that as the lands chief law enforcement officer he would enforce the law of the land, a task that would force him to take a hard line against the kinds of behavior Trump once bragged about.

When Sessions proffered that Trump loved women, he was partly right, but only individually: Melania; his campaign manager, Kellyanne Conway, who dragged him across the finish line; and especially his daughter Ivanka. But as a group, theyre on their own. He has vowed to appoint a Supreme Court judge who wants to overturn Roe v. Wade. During the campaign, he said he wanted to punish any woman who got an abortion. His daughter is in favor of paid maternity leave, but he has yet to take it up. He chose as his vice president a governor who fought for the right of bakers in Indiana to refuse to put a groom and groom on top of a cake. His appointments to all the top spots are male.

And then there is Trumps treatment of women outside his immediate circle which, if his own words are to be believed, is abysmal. Looking at President Barack Obama as he praised his wife and daughters in his farewell address was to see a role model for every boy in America.

OK, Trump won the majority of white women in the election. Nonetheless, the womens war on Republicans is about to heat up again with a march on Washington the day after Trumps inauguration.

Sessions set out to give needed assurance to the Judiciary Committee that he didnt mean to countenance Trump back in October.

With the dispensation that all Trumps nominees have to say whatever gets them through their hearings, Sessions reversed his earlier rubber-stamp of the bosss behavior. Asked whether he would prosecute a sitting president accused of the behavior described in the tapes, Sessions said, The president is subject to certain lawful restrictions and they would be required to be applied by the appropriate law enforcement official if appropriate, yes.

Thats one too many appropriates, but it satisfied most of his colleagues, whod drawn a warm bath for him. But women shouldnt buy it. In many ways, Sessions may be the most troublesome of Trumps nominees when it comes to domestic issues, and not only because he was once deemed too racist to be a federal judge. Well before sidling up to Trump, he had a poor record on protecting women that made it all too easy for him to brush off Trumps boasting about conduct that would land many men in jail.

Sessions did not support an expansion of the federal hate crimes law to include sexual orientation and gender identity. He voted against reauthorizing the Violence Against Women Act in 2013, which was labeled by his party as a feminist attack on family values for its extension of protection to lesbians and gays. He changed his view at this weeks hearing so that VAWA now enjoys his broad support, whatever broad means. Hes against abortion rights, voting for restrictions every chance he got, but told the committee he would carry out current law, that is, until his boss appoints a Supreme Court justice to change it.

He voted against a bill to alter the handling of military sexual assaults. He surprised women senators when he arrived at an Armed Services Committee hearing on proposed legislation and changed the subject to the possible connection between the epidemic of sexual assaults and the ready availability of pornography on military bases.

Another Trump wingman, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, had to twist himself into the candidates world view, but couldnt see his way to defend him after the tapes. Hes back in Trenton now. Sessions arrived pre-shrunk. Like Trump, he believes those in power know best, even if it means not stretching to see that what the boss admitted to is the very definition of sexual assault. The rest of the males around Trump seem cut from the same bespoke suit.

Most of all, being in the room where the fawning takes place, Sessions knows that if you dont bow down to the boss, you will no longer be working for the boss and that means either enjoying, or letting pass, locker room banter, as Trump described his assertions on the tapes. Listen closely for clearly and appropriate. Its likely Sessions will be reversing himself again soon.
We now have not one but two secret dossiers on the Russian campaign to support Donald Trump. One of them is an unverified and probably unverifiable 35-page collection of rumors and gossip put together by a former British spy. Dumped on the Internet by BuzzFeed, the report is filled with small mistakes and some puzzles (for instance: how could salacious Russian kompromat, or compromising material, be used to blackmail someone as shameless as Trump?) and mixes the plausible with the implausible without giving real answers.

The other is the declassified version of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence report on Russias role in the U.S. election campaign. Carefully hedged and printed on official stationery, it sticks almost entirely to information that was already in public domain, including straight-faced analysis of programs broadcast on RT, the Russian state propaganda channel, which are available to anybody who owns a television.

Both of these reports are in the news because they contain secrets. But they add very little to what we already know about Trumps strange relationship with Russia. The MI6 dossier is tantalizing but cannot be proven; the DNI report is banal. Instead of wasting more time on these documents, maybe we ought instead to abandon our obsession with secrets and spies and look at what is sitting in front of us. Here, for the record, once again, are things we already know about Trump and Russia, and they arent remotely secret:

- Trumps real estate empire relies, though we dont know how much, on Russian money. Trump says he never invested in Russia or got loans from Russia. But he did get investment from Russia. In 2008, his son said that Russian investment was pouring in to Trump properties. Even before that, Trump had a whole series of partners and investors linked to post-Soviet oligarchs and even Russian organized crime. Has Trump concealed his tax returns for this reason?

- Paul Manafort, Trumps former campaign manager, spent many years working on behalf of the thuggish Russian-backed Ukrainian president, Viktor Yanukovych, who eventually fled his own country.Manafort maintains links to pro-Russian groups in Ukraine. His name appeared on a list of people who took large chunks of cash from Yanukovych. He hasnt gone awayin fact, he has lived in Trump Tower. There is no secret about his Russian connections. On the contrary, they define him.

- Last summer, Trump operatives at the convention changed the Republican Party platform to soften the language on Ukraine. There was no explanation for this change, one of the few substantive changes made to the entire party platform. Was this a signal, from Manafort or Trump, that the candidate was on Vladimir Putins side?

- Throughout the campaign, Trump repeated slogans and conspiracy theoriesObama invented ISIS, Hillary will start World War IIIlifted from Sputnik, the Russian propaganda website. Was this just Trump campaign chief Stephen Bannon borrowing ideas, or Manafort using tactics he perfected in Ukraine? Or was there deliberate linkage?

- Finally, and most important: Trump is willing to risk serious conflict with China, to destroy U.S. relations with Mexico, to dismiss Americas closest allies in Europe and to downgrade NATO, our most important military alliance. But he has repeated many times his admiration for Russia and its president. In 2013 he told MSNBC, I do have a relationship with Putin, who is probably very interested in what you and I are saying today and will be seeing it in some form. In 2014 he bragged that Putin had sent him a beautiful present and claimedapparently untruthfullyto have spoken to him as well. Nothing that Putin has done sinceinvade Ukraine, murder journalists, jail opponentshas induced Trump to change his mind.

To that list, we can now add the fact that Russia hacked material from the Clinton campaign, fed it to WikiLeaks and passed it on through their bot and troll network, which transformed it into hysterical slogans. Eventually, our intelligence agencies may learn more about that process, but at this point it doesnt matter.

Information doesnt have to be secret to be shocking. Trump doesnt have to be a Manchurian candidate who has been hypnotized or recruited by foreign intelligence. Its enough that he has direct and indirect links to a profoundly corrupt and violent foreign dictator, whose policies he admires, whose advisers he shares and whose slogans he uses. Thats kompromat enough for me.
Not often, but sometimes, the old line if you build it, they will come, actually does pan out.

It did at the College of Western Idaho. CWI became a reality over the objections of a significant number of skeptics.

Boise was, before then, either the largest or at least one of the largest metro areas in the United States without a community college. But then, people asked, why did it need one? It already had Boise State University, which had been growing at weed levels for a quarter-century. On the private side, the College of Idaho and Northwest Nazarene College (now University) were nearby.

What was missed was the large number of people who wanted a community college, who would attend if one were available. BSU and the private colleges have needed roles, but they are relatively expensive and, for people looking for occupational training rather than a full liberal arts education, a little forbidding. Theres a big chunk of the Idaho population that hasnt and wont make the direct transition from high school to college.

These people had no strong political voice; they werent much heard from in the halls of the Statehouse. But over time the business people who lacked a force of trained workers were heard. For decades the idea of a community college floated, bobbed along, but never reached shore.

About a decade ago sufficient gravitational mass in favor of it  financial, organizational, political  pushed it ahead. (The campaign in favor featured pictures of prospective students and used the advertising tag line, Give us a chance.) The vote to create a new taxing district to support the college needed a two-thirds vote, and it barely passed, even with help from influential people in the area including Gov. C.L. Butch Otter.

Back then, the thinking was that CWI would be a small institution, serving maybe a few thousand students. If it didnt flop. Initial enrollment in 2009 was 1,100. Last year, seven years later, it hit 24,265. Dont be surprised if that figure eventually doubles.

OK, thats the past. Cast your eyes now to Idaho Falls.

That eastern Idaho city does already have a college, Eastern Idaho Technical College. Its a useful institution too, with low costs, but limited in its size and scope. Its enrollment is fewer now than CWIs was when it opened. It needs the breadth a community college, like CWI or North Idaho College or the College of Southern Idaho, all of which have much larger enrollments (and in the latter two cases, in smaller cities), could bring.

The push to transition EITC to a community college (the College of Eastern Idaho, to round out the compass points) has been underway for a while. But now it may have gotten that added bit of momentum.

A governors statement that something ought to happen is by no means always enough, as any governor could tell you. But in this case it could be important. In his State of the State address last week, Otter linked the CWI experience to the push for an eastern community college in what could be a strong kickstart.

The Legislature already threw in $5 million in seed money (which it did in advance of CWI, too).

Then Otter added, Now the people of Bonneville County must decide at the polls in May whether to invest in their own future by advancing plans to provide better opportunities for students and families, for those looking to improve their career readiness, and for businesses looking to locate or expand. After seeing the difference that the College of Western Idaho has made here in the Treasure Valley, after seeing how quickly CWI has grown to meet pent-up demand for new educational opportunities, and after seeing the overwhelmingly positive response from employers, the College of Eastern Idaho campaign has my full and enthusiastic support.

That may help push some wary voters over the line.
It appears that few, if any, of our National Security Team members or media folks or congressmen or government leaders are computer literate. They want you to think that they can tell what the key top had printed on it when they were hacked. All a keyboard can do is send a little digital pulse to the computer keyboard driver program. The driver program decodes these pulses to be an A or B or a 5 or whatever key top the operator pressed.

Maybe they should be investigating why it is so easy to hack government computers instead of worrying about who may have done it. There are millions of hackers in the world. Hackers can steal your information, but they cant change your computer. Only viruses do that. You may not realize it but if a friend picks up your cell and looks at your emails, and they are not password protected, you have been hacked. It is almost impossible to know who actually hacked the government computers.

If you dont use secure passwords you are subject to hacking. College students who take internet technology courses learn to write programs in computer code and how to use them to search the internet for data. Our son works for a technology company that essentially is hacking the whole internet web 24/7 looking for websites that are stealing HBO movies. They find hundreds of sites every day and shut them down. And every day hundreds of new sites appear. There is no international law against hacking.

Russia probably has their share of hackers. But there is absolutely no proof or any way they can tell that the Russians could help Trump win or were responsible for Hillary losing the election. Show me the proof.

Gayle Fixsen

Twin Falls
The Idaho Legislature should reject any bill that calls for an Article V Constitutional Convention. It is too dangerous!

The EPA was created in 1970 by President Nixons executive order (not by an act of Congress). A 1988 "60 minutes" TV program presented a false attack on Alar, a non-toxic apple ripening hormone. The Natural Resources Defense Council along with spokespersons Meryl Streep, Eddie Albert and the mainstream media coordinated the false scare to citizens that Alar was a poison. Many apple growers suffered major income losses and some went bankrupt. Streep has been a radical, left-wing, socialist environmental extremist for decades. This conspiracy of lies against Alar was exposed and published by the Wall Street Journal.

Professor David Schoenbrod of the New York Law School confesses how this conspiratorial game plan is played in the March 1999 PERC Reports, entitled Legislation Ideals. He states, We felt entitled to remake society. We wanted new kinds of statutes that would force agencies to bend society to our timetable. The Clean Air Act was one of the first. EPA power grew in exchange for more time for cities and states to comply with EPA dictates. States and communities are forced to comply or be fined.

The EPA has become a Green Gestapo as it has been implementing the United Nations Agenda 21 which is to control all human activity on the planet. The global warming hoax is part of Agenda 21. Government regulations add 22 percent to the cost of American made products thus forcing companies overseas.

Dr. Schoenbrod realizes that environmental idealism is a cover for more ulterior motives. The point of this system is power not environmental quality, he states.

Hopefully, the new EPA director will bring sanity to the unscientific EPA. Congress should stop EPA funding and expose the global warming hoax.

Adrian Arp

Filer
Genres : Western

Starring : Gordon Oliver, Charley Grapewin

Director : Harold Young

Plot Synopsis

Wagon Tracks is a film brimming with adventure, romance and frontier justice, starring the king of the silent film westerns, William S. Hart (Wild Bill Hickok, Tumbleweeds).



Buckskin Hamilton (Hart) is out for justice and close on the heels of the outlaws that gunned down his younger brother in cold blood. Set in 1850, with the great Gold Rush as a backdrop, Wagon Tracks takes the viewer on an adventure across the wide open spaces of the untamed west.



In 1919, the year of its release, the Los Angeles Times said of Wagon Tracks, The great desert screen epic is with us at last, and called C. Gardner Sullivans screenplay a masterpiece. Now, future generations will have the opportunity to judge for themselves with this newly minted version which features an original score written and performed by Andrew Earle Simpson.
Oil posted the biggest weekly decline since November as traders await proof that Opec and other producers are following through on promises to cut production.

Futures declined 1.2 percent in New York on Friday and slid 3 percent this week. Saudi Arabia reduced output to less than 10 million barrels a day and will consider renewing its pledge to trim supply in six months, according to Energy Minister Khalid al-Falih.

Still, until monthly production data is released, these claims cannot be verified, according to Commerzbank AG. The UAE doesnt intend to reduce output more than was agreed upon with Opec in November and a tanker is said to sail to Libyas Zawiya port to load Sharara crude.

Oil has advanced since the deal among members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and 11 other nations to temper global supply. It has been unable to sustain its rally above $55 amid concern that rising prices will spur more production. While Middle East producers including Saudi Arabia have signaled theyre sticking to the pledged reductions, the US Tuesday raised this years output forecast.

Were seeing strong compliance from the usual suspects, the Saudis and their Gulf counterparts, John Kilduff, a partner at Again Capital LLC, a New York-based hedge fund that focuses on energy, said by telephone. But US output rose by 176,000 barrels a day last week and the exempted countries are going gangbusters in production and exports, he said.

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West Texas Intermediate for February delivery slid 64 cents to settle at $52.37 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Total volume traded was about 11 percent below the 100-day average.

Brent for March settlement dropped 56 cents to end the session at $55.45 on the London-based ICE Futures Europe exchange. The global benchmark was at a premium of $2.30 to March WTI.

Explorers reduced US rigs searching for oil for the first time since October, after expanding to the highest level in a year the previous week. The increase has helped fuel a rebound in US oil production, which rose to the highest level since April last week.

The Opec supply deal has only been in effect for two weeks, and the group will adopt compliance mechanisms at a meeting in Vienna on Jan. 22, Opec Secretary-General Mohammad Barkindo said in a Bloomberg Television interview in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

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IN just seven months, President Rodrigo Duterte has raised the biggest official development assistance in the history of Philippine presidents, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez said Saturday night.

From July 1st to now, the President has raised close to 1 trillion pesos in official development assistance. And Im only counting the amounts from China and from Japan Theres more ODA that we have received but havent counted in from various countries, he said.

ODA refers to outright grants and loans given by foreign governments to support developing countries by providing low-interest and long-term or concessional funds to finance their development efforts.

Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez

To date, the ODA from China and Japan totaled to $18 billion, at $9 billion each.

The ODA from Japan, as announced by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, is one trillion yen, which is equivalent to more or less $9 billion, Dominguez said.

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For the ODA from China, Dominguez said, the government has already submitted the list of projects to China last November, which include the rehabilitation of the Agus River project that would include irrigation projects in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and a seaport in Cebu.

Our team is going to China in the third week of January to discuss how to make progress in the projects that we have submitted to them, Dominguez said.

For the financial assistance from Japan, the Finance chief said, the administration will start lining up the projects on Monday, Jan. 16, to discuss in more detail the terms from Japan.

He said the foreign aid from China and Japan countries were not requested but voluntary offers from the two countries.

I think they [China and Japan] are collaborating to help our country move ahead. I think they see a lot of potential in the Philippine economy, potential for our growth and potential for them to do business here, Dominguez said, adding the administration will still welcome ODA from other countries as long as the offers match the governments priorities.

Communications Secretary Martin Andanar said the ODA from China and Japan as well as from other countries would offset the loss of the countrys allotment in the Millennium Fund from the United States, which was held back amid concerns over human rights abuses in the administrations war on drugs.

F. Pearl A. Gajunera

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Genres : Action, Drama, Thriller, War

Starring : Liam Neeson, Lee Jung-jae, and Lee Bum-su

Director : John H. Lee

Plot Synopsis

In this suspenseful, action-packed, military adventure based on death-defying, real-life events, U.S. Army General Douglas MacArthur (Liam Neeson, the Taken trilogy, The Dark Knight Rises, Star Wars: Episode I, Batman Begins, Schindleras List) is appointed head of the United Nations Command at the height of the Korean War and conducts a covert operation to infiltrate North Korean headquarters far behind enemy lines.



Led by Navy Lieutenant Jang Hak-soo (Lee Jung-jae, Assassination, New World, The Thieves, The Housemaid), the courageous X-Ray intelligence unit finds themselves pitted against not only ruthless North Korean commander Lim Gye-jin (Lee Bum-soo, The Divine Move, IRIS: New Generation, The City of Violence) and his men, but the Russian and Chinese troops supporting them.
DAVAO CITYPresident Rodrigo Duterte said Saturday night no one can stop him from declaring Martial Law to deal with a worsening drug problem and to protect the Filipino people.

I tell you now, if I have to declare Martial Law, I will declare it. Not about invasion, insurrection, not about danger. I will declare Martial Law to preserve my nation, period, he said in a speech before members of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

Not even the Supreme Court can stop him, he added, if the drug problem will deteriorate into something really virulent.

I have to preserve the Filipino people and the youth of this land. Thats why I said, Do not go into that thing because I will kill you, he said.

DRUG MENACE. President Rodrigo Duterte points to the list containing the names of illegal drug personalities in his speech during the 49th Installation of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. at Marco Polo Hotel in Davao City on Jan. 14, 2017. He stresses that the worsening drug problem may force him to declare Martial Law. RENE LUMAWAG

Duterte has hinted at declaring Martial Law before, then pulled back amid opposition, both from his critics and his allies.

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Most recently, he said he had no plans to declare Martial Law, since it did the country no good during the rule of the dictator Ferdinand Marcos.

But Duterte said Saturday that if there were a coup detat, he would allow it and swear the generals into office and let them bring order to the land.

Congress may have to impeach me, fine. But, let it not be said that I allowed this country [to be] placed in jeopardy, in peril because I did not know what I had to do, he said.

Duterte won elections in May last year on a pledge to wipe out illegal drugs, promising an unprecedented crackdown to stop the Philippines from becoming what he termed a narco state.

The crackdown has left at least 5,700 drug suspects dead in just over six months, raising concerns of a breakdown in the rule of law with security forces and vigilantes carrying out extrajudicial killings.

Duterte has reacted furiously to the international and local criticism and vowed to continue his war until illegal drugs are eradicated.

Saturdays comments were Dutertes most direct threat to impose martial law, which would allow him to use the military to enforce civilian law and detain people at length without charging them.

The country last endured martial law during the 20-year rule of the dictator Marcos, who was accused of plundering billions of dollars from state coffers and overseeing widespread human rights abuses.

Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, invoking the threats of crime and a communist insurgency, and lifted it in 1981.

His rule ended in 1986, when millions took to the streets in the largely bloodless military-backed People Power revolt. A new Constitution was drawn up in 1987 to avoid another dictatorship, saying that the President can impose martial rule for just 60 days, and only to stop an invasion or a rebellion.

Congress can revoke the measure within 48 hours while the Supreme Court can review its legality.

But Duterte, speaking to local businessmen in Davao City, warned he could ignore the 60-day limit.

The 60-day [limit] will be gone, he said.

The right to preserve ones life, and my nation, my country, transcends everything else, even the limitations, he said.

I will declare Martial Law to preserve my nation, period. I dont care about the Supreme Court, he added.

Duterte reiterated that illegal drugs are the biggest threat to Filipinos.

The leftist Bagong Alyansang Makabayan on Sunday warned Duterte not to override the Constitution.

We warn President Duterte that threats of martial law, along with attempts to override constitutional safeguards, will be met with resistance and will ultimately be defeated by the people. A declaration of martial law, even in the context of what the President describes as a virulent situation, will not save the nation and the people. Removing constitutional checks and balances will open the floodgates to more violations and to blatant authoritarianism. These abuses will doom rather than save the nation, said Renato Reyes Jr., the groups secretary general.

Reyes said if they go by the abuses already taking place in the war on drugs, expect these to multiply a hundred fold once Martial Law is declared.

The fascist implementors of martial rule, the state security forces, are most notorious for rights violations and corruption, said Reyes.

Reyes said Duterte should cease making threats or remarks on Martial Law and instead address the growing concern and indignation over the deaths arising from this war on drugs.

These gross violations provide the strongest arguments against any return to Martial Law, he said.

We can also anticipate that any move towards Martial Law will have dire consequences for the peace process with various groups, Reyes said, particularly talks with the communist rebels.

The only reference Duterte should be making in relation to Martial Law is one that recognizes past abuses along with the commitment that he will never allow the same to happen during his watch, Reyes said. With Rio N. Araja

Sandy Araneta

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Bible prophesies happening before our very eyes!





Psalms 83:1

"1(A Song or Psalm of Asaph.) Keep not thou silence, O God: hold not thy peace, and be not still, O God. 2 For, lo, thine enemies make a tumult: and they that hate thee have lifted up the head. 3 They have taken crafty counsel against thy people, and consulted against thy hidden ones. 4 They have said, Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Israel may be no more in remembrance."













Biblical Return of 70 Nations as Countries Gather in Paris to Condemn Israel





They have said: Come, and let us cut them off from being a nation; that the name of Yisrael may be no more in remembrance. For they have consulted together with one consent; against Thee do they make a covenant. Psalms 83:5-6 (The Israel Bible)

High ranking officials from 70 nations of the world gather in Paris on January 15th in an attempt to force Israel to accept a two-state solution with the Palestinian Authority. By so doing, they will be fulfilling a momentous Biblical prophecy foretold thousands of years ago.

When Israeli statesman Shimon Peres passed away in September, leaders and dignitaries from 70 nations gathered in Jerusalem to pay their last respects. The symbolism is no mere coincidence; the very same number of representatives will gather in Paris, but this time to deny the Jewish connection to the Land of Israel.





Everyone knows already what the purpose of the conference is: it will be used as another opportunity to try to impose a settlement on Israel and avoid direct negotiations between Israel and its neighbors, Rabbi Avraham Arieh Trugman , director of Ohr Chadash Torah Institute, told Breaking Israel News. Whats interesting is that it isnt just one or two enemies with a specific grudge, like the Arabs or the Nazis. It is 70 nations, which in Torah terms, means all of the nations, explained Rabbi Trugman.

Rabbi Shimon Apisdorf , a prominent Jewish educator and bestselling author, told Breaking Israel News that seeing 70 nations written in the headlines caught his attention.

There is no question that the aspect of specifically 70 nations gathering is significant, the point being Israel is not one of them, said Rabbi Apisdorf, citing the book of Numbers.

Lo, it is a people that shall dwell alone, and shall not be reckoned among the nations. Numbers 23:9

"We are fundamentally different," stated Rabbi Apisdorf. Ans as a light unto the nations, we are supposed to be separate and different."

Rabbi Trugman understood a different message in the gathering of the 70 countries.

There is no doubt this is a fulfillment of the prophecies that in the end of days, all the nations will come out against Israel, noted the rabbi. He quoted the commentary of Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki, an 11th century French commentator known by the acronym Rashi , on the first verse in the book of Genesis.

1,000 years ago, Rashi said that in the future, the nations of the world will come and say we stole the Land of Israel. This is precisely what we are seeing now, Rabbi Trugman said. The majority of the nations say we have no claim to Israel, and the rest say we only have a claim to a small section of Israel.

Rashi told us how to answer this claim, said Rabbi Trugman. We need to remind them that the same God who created the heaven and earth gave it to them, and then he took it from them and gave it to us.

The concept of 70 nations has its source in the 70 grandsons of Noah listed in the Bible.

These three were the sons of Noach, and of these was the whole earth overspread. Genesis 9:19

Read full article on BreakingIsraelNews




@SteveBousquet

Marion Hammers phone rang as news bulletins reported that five tourists were shot to death at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport.

The longtime Florida gun lobbyist said a friend told her that the Jan. 6 shootings probably ended any chance of the Legislatures passing a law to allow licensed gun owners to carry weapons in airport common areas.

But Hammer said the shooting helped her cause, proving that more guns in places like airports were needed.

That rationale will find a lot of support from Republican legislators in the 2017 session.

Hammer has a powerful ally in House Speaker Richard Corcoran, R-Land OLakes, who said gun-free zones that leave people defenseless are dangerous.

If law-abiding citizens could carry a gun to a baggage claim, Corcoran said, I think youre going to see gun violence rapidly decline. So why dont we do that for a change? The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result.

Full story here.

----------

RELATED COVERAGE:

-- What gun rights supporters want: Read here.

-- What gun safety advocates want: Read here.

-- What gun law changes are on the table this year: Read here.

Photo credit: Kristen M. Clark / Herald/Times Tallahassee bureau
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BONNER  Missoula Rural Fire District's Hellgate station was quiet Friday morning until a door opened and a wave of Hindi music flooded the building  the soundtrack to Capt. Tony Ballard's workout.

It was just Ballard and Lt. Eric Huleatt that morning, two of the fire district's 42 career firefighters. The district is made up of career, volunteer and resident firefighters. An effort to recruit volunteers last year was successful, but now they're lacking the resident piece of the puzzle.

Four of the 12 resident positions are vacant, with a couple of residents on their way out. It's a problem they've only dealt with in the past year or two.

"They're not showing up," Huleatt said. "We're having to go find them."

This specific shortage comes during a broader shortage of firefighters and emergency responders in Montana, and nationwide. The state Department of Natural Resources and Conservation addressed the shortage during an Environmental Quality Council meeting last fall.

Of the more than 1 million firefighters in the United States in 2014, 69 percent were volunteers, according to the National Fire Protection Association.

While the number of career firefighters nationwide has increased over the past three decades, the number of volunteer firefighters has been on a slow decline.

***

Resident firefighters are volunteer firefighters, but residents require more of a commitment. They have to stay at the station, working 12 hours every third night.

You have to be 18 to apply, have a driver's license and a high school diploma or equivalent. For more information or an application, go to mrfdfire.org. Applications can also be picked up at Missoula Rural Fire headquarters, 2521 South Ave. W.

While it's not a requirement, Huleatt said they recommend people with children don't apply because they'll be away from home every third night.

Residents are sometimes college students, as they get free housing and the district offers up to $3,000 tuition reimbursement a year. But really, the district is looking for "anyone who's willing to commit the time."

Residents are on for two years, with the opportunity to extend.

The position often appeals to people interested in gaining experience and training to then go on to career firefighting, EMS, wildland firefighting or medical school.

Volunteer firefighter Jason Berry, 24, started at Missoula Rural Fire as a resident, from 2012 to 2014.

"It's real-life experience," said Berry, who owns JB Contracting, a local landscaping and snow removal company. "You get to know what it would be like if you were a career fireman working full-time."

When he came on board, there was a six-month waiting list.

"It's the complete opposite now," Berry said.

***

Why?

"That's the million-dollar question," Berry said. "I think it's just tough to find people that are willing to volunteer their time and really their money now. It's a big time commitment. But it's more than just that. You have to have the right personality.

"There's a very common personality trait that I believe we all share, and that is a passion and a drive to serve others and to take care of other people."

Huleatt believes it's part of a broader decline in volunteerism.

"Life is busier now," he said. "Everyone's involved in a lot of different things and finding time to volunteer is hard, especially on a regular basis and not get paid. And we do ask a fair amount of our residents, which makes it a little more challenging to find guys."

After a two-year SAFER (Staffing for Adequate Fire and Emergency Response) grant ended  one that hired six career staff, including Huleatt  the district ran a mill levy to maintain the staff level, which passed.

In addition to the four vacant resident seats, the district would like to have a waiting list to fill positions faster as they open up.

Missoula Rural Fire places firefighters across Montana and nationwide, Ballard said. Residents have more opportunities to train than standard volunteers, including the district's contracts with the state and feds that send firefighters on paid wildland assignments in the summer.

"Especially for a small department, it's pretty amazing the success rate here," he said.

The goal is to have at least two career firefighters every shift. When one of them goes home at 7 p.m., that's when a resident firefighter takes over. When you lack residents, career staff often find themselves working alone.

"The nights we have one person here and there's a fire or EMS, that's a difficult situation," Huleatt said. "Other stations do everything they can to provide backup, but this doesn't allow us to work safely and efficiently."

Missoula Rural Fire covers more than 90 square miles. Huleatt said they rely heavily on Clinton and East Missoula for mutual aid.

"When I first got hired, it was not uncommon to run calls by yourself," Ballard said. "Someone has a heart attack, or structure fires, or there's a vehicle accident. You're just waiting for someone to get there to help out. It's a pretty helpless feeling.

"If you're by yourself and the bells go off, you think, 'Not me, not me, not me. Or if it's me, I hope it's not a structure fire.'"

A lone firefighter can get the engine and water there, Huleatt said, "but there's not much to do until mutual aid comes."
International refugee resettlement is at a crossroads in the United States and in Montana, at a time when the latter is just entering the movement.

President-elect Donald Trump said in the days before the November election that his administration wont admit any refugees without the support of local communities in which theyre placed, and his cabinet nominees and chief advisors come from a decidedly different world than his predecessors did.

A year ago there was a concerted attempt in Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Helena and Missoula to work with the Office of Refugee Resettlement in Denver to open local resettlement offices in Montana. As the election year heated up, only Missoula succeeded, with the support of elected city and county officials and a vigorous volunteer effort by Soft Landing Missoula.

Missoula has welcomed 50 refugees since August, from the Democratic Republic of Congo, Iraq, Eritrea, Ethiopia and  in early January  the first four Syrians. A family of three Ethiopians quickly left to join other relatives out of state.

Otherwise, despite a particularly cold and snowy winter, its been a successful and peaceful transition.

There has been no impact at the Missoula Police Department, from a criminal justice standpoint, Sgt. Travis Welsh said in an email. Though we are aware of news reports/stories about the topic, we have had no investigative concerns, to date.

Confidential immunization and communicable disease records have reliably arrived at the Missoula City-County Health department ahead of the refugee families, director Ellen Leahy said.

Comparing it to the old days, when you may or may not get them, and you may or may not get them in English, thats a big improvement, said Leahy, who was at the health department in the 1980s during the resettlement of Laotian Hmong.

Refugees who are tested for disease in their countries of departure are checked out and their immunizations updated by local health-care providers within a few days of arrival.

Whats going on is just what we expected, and its working well, Leahy said.

Like the other newcomers, the Syrian family with two children that arrived Jan. 5 is coming to grips with the Montana winter.

I expect that Missoula is going to be a warm and welcoming place for them, just as it has been to all the other families that have come from the different countries, said Patrick Duffy, a board member of Soft Landing Missoula and part of the mentor team assigned to help the Syrian family.

Still, opposition to refugee resettlement in general and to Syrians in particular is widespread as a Republican-heavy Legislature gets rolling.

One of the charges leveled during the gubernatorial campaign in 2016 by Republican challenger Greg Gianforte was that Democratic Gov. Steve Bullock supports bringing Syrian refugees into Montana. The mailer sent out in August promised Gianforte would stand up to dangerous refugee programs and refuse entry to unvetted refugees.

The American Civil Liberties Union of Montana, the Montana Association of Christians and Soft Landing Missoula are among those keeping an eye on legislation seeking to quell an onslaught of refugees in the state.

The Montana Human Rights Network says it has roughly 20 bills on its radar that could affect refugee and immigration.

Some of them won't be new, according to SK Rossi, director of advocacy and policy for the state ACLU.

Thereve been attempts to pass some general anti-immigration legislation in the past," Rossi said. "This will be the legislative session where theres been kind of concentrated effort to tinker with or bar refugee resettlement.

The titles of six requested bills refer specifically to revising laws related to refugee resettlement. Four are by Rep. Nancy Ballance, R-Hamilton, and one apiece by Sen. Bob Keenan, R-Bigfork, and Sen. Roger Webb, R-Billings.

Keenan, reached Friday on his way home from Helena, said he proposed his bill, which would lend support for local governments to deny resettlement offices, at the urging of constituents.

Its been on hold since the day it went in, he said. It wont be drafted. It wont be introduced.

At the end of the week, the texts of Ballances bills, all with the same titles, remained blank. Attempts to reach the Hamilton legislator for details were unsuccessful. That leaves those gearing up to fight them and other proposals guessing what theyll propose.

One possibility would require resettlement agencies to carry insurance that would defray the cost of prosecuting refugees who commit violent crimes. Another might provide Montana municipalities an avenue to request a moratorium on resettlements in their communities.

I anticipate theres going to be something like denying state services, which would make the refugees lives a lot harder the first three months, said Eamon Ormseth, organizer for the educational group SALAM (Standing Alongside America's Muslims) Missoula. Its a strategy that some other states have adopted. The federal government still has pretty broad authority to resettle refugees, but what states can do is not give them any state welfare.

At least one refugee-related bill is already in the pipeline. Senate Bill 97, sponsored by Sen. Keith Regier, R-Kalispell, would ban the application of foreign law when it violates a constitutional right. Dubbed an Islamaophobia bill by the Montana Human Rights Network, its a revival of a bill that died in committee in the 2015 session.

The 2017 version was introduced Monday and is due to come before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Jan. 24.

I cant tell you that were supporting or opposing any of them until we see them, said Jana Staton, who chairs the legislative committee of the Montana Association of Christians (formerly the Montana Association of Churches).

MAC, which has had a presence at the state Legislature for around 50 years, is organizing buses from five corners of the state to travel to Helena on Jan. 23, the day before Regier's bill is heard in committee, and talk with legislators on key issues, grounded in our shared values as people of faith, Staton said.

Humane immigration and refugee legislation is one of those issues, along with abolition of the death penalty; housing policies and support for those returning from incarceration; and childrens mental health, especially suicide prevention.

At least 10 members of Soft Landing Missoula are going to hop on the bus that day.

I think we can offer experience and information on the refugee topic, Soft Landing executive director Mary Poole said. Its pretty remarkable to have such a strong voice that is already a part of the legislative process acting on the behalf of refugees and immigrants. Were just really, really fortunate that MAC exists and that we can partner with them.

They have the right voice, the right tone. Its about social justices, but its a very passionate and kind voice. To me Soft Landing just fits right in with that.
Shortly before Christmas, men and women across Montana were notified that the road construction projects they were depending on to put presents under the tree this year would be canceled. The jobs they were depending on to provide for their families in 2017 would be lost. The construction of critical state highway projects would be delayed or defunded altogether.

Our highway fund is facing an unprecedented budget shortfall, and unfortunately, its just one small part of the budget crisis that Gov. Steve Bullock handed the 65th Legislature on Day One.

The timing of Bullocks announcement was not insignificant. While he was running a re-election campaign on job creation, infrastructure and sound fiscal management, he buried a looming crisis facing Montana workers, families and businesses.

Then, just weeks after winning a re-election campaign, the Montana Department of Transportation announced a severe budget shortfall that would delay or even cancel $144.5 million of highway projects across the state. Its also notable that this announcement came around the same time that DOT Director Mike Tooley assured his employees via email that his commitment to them remains a top priority, citing a multi-year trend of increasing hiring and assuring that pay raises and career advancement would remain in tact.

Meanwhile, they cut 30 approved highway infrastructure improvement projects that it had previous knowledge of. To complete these projects, Montana needs to supply $14.5 million to leverage a matching federal grant of $130 million. Montana can choose to leverage these federal funds or sit back and watch the money flow back to Washington, D.C., only to be transferred to other states to build their highways.

Action must be taken swiftly to move my bill  House Bill 203  to save these projects and the thousands of jobs that they create for the men and women who keep our highways safe.

Our Republican caucus is working hard to create more opportunities for all Montanans, with a focus on a long-term commitment to funding critical infrastructure projects across our state. By leveraging scarce state resources with matching federal funds, we can ensure that these important projects are completed and thousands of people can continue working in Montana.

Its no easy task finding $14.5 million in our states budget, but Republicans in the state legislature are committed to making sure that we dont lose these federal matching funds while our infrastructure needs pile up.

It is my hope that this bill moves swiftly through the legislature, on to the governors desk and is signed into law. I encourage the people of Montana to contact the governor and urge him to support these critical infrastructure projects across our state and the thousands of jobs they support.
Last week Montanans pulled two bright bits of news out of the cold, dark depths of an ominous situation.

First, temporary boating restrictions at two Montana reservoirs were lifted after it was determined that the water temperatures had dropped low enough to thwart any reproduction of invasive aquatic mussels.

Second, Montanas House Appropriations Committee agreed to give the state $1.9 million in additional spending authority so that Montana can fight the newly discovered invasive species, which were detected in the state for the first time last November.

Invasive aquatic mussel larvae was found in samples taken at Tiber Reservoir in north-central Montana, and subsequent testing showed the possible presence of larvae in the Missouri River and Canyon Ferry Reservoir near Helena, as well as downstream of Nelson Reservoir in northeastern Montana. These discoveries triggered a natural resource emergency declaration that called for an interagency rapid response team to assemble and begin testing additional bodies of water quickly.

The Montana Mussel Response Team immediately began searching for additional indications of quagga or zebra mussels, and so far have covered 182 bodies of water. While the testing is ongoing, results so far indicate the infestation is isolated to the Missouri River Basin.

In western Montana, samples taken from the Bitterroot River and from Como and Painted Rock lakes tested negative, and results are pending on the 117 samples taken from sites around Flathead Lake.

In the meantime, the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes also declared an official emergency and are lending their support to testing and preventive efforts. They too recognize the pressing need to stop the spread of invasive aquatic mussels.

Quagga and zebra mussels present a real and significant threat. Indigenous to the Ukrainian region, they reproduce rapidly, choking out native wildlife, forming huge clusters and causing heavy damage to boats, docks, even dams. They were first introduced to the Great Lakes around 1990, and the environmental and economic devastation they can cause has been well documented.

CSKT Natural Resources Department Head Rich Janssen estimates the local economic impact of an infestation at $90 million a year. Thats counting not only the harm done to the hydropower facilities on Flathead Lake, but to irrigation equipment many agriculture businesses depend on for their water, and fishing and tourism-related industries too. Imagine a once-inviting beach clogged with sharp-edged shells.

We do not want that devastation to happen in Montana. We cannot afford to scrimp on a response; Montanans of all interests must support an immediate, sweeping, sustained campaign to stamp out this threat.

It is heartening to see the states elected and tribal leadership agree. Now, during the cold winter months, is the time for Montana to marshal its resources and put together a plan for fighting the threat once the ice thaws and tourists being pouring in from out-of-state, many of them with their fishing gear.

An effective inspection program means more check stations, and here's where Montanans must set the example. Most people don't enjoy stopping at check stations and waiting in line for the go-ahead to hit the road again. Nevertheless, boaters should plan on making these important inspection stops, and try to have a little extra patience for the folks working at the check stations.

In addition to ongoing inspection, Montana must be ready to institute boating restrictions wherever necessary, for as long as necessary, with strong penalties for any violations. While none of us like to have our favorite water getaway closed for any length of time, its a small price to pay to prevent the spread of aquatic species. Montanans need to respect these restrictions ourselves, and report anyone who isnt.

Thats just one piece of an education campaign that needs to be taken up in every corner of Montana. Visitors and residents alike must make it a habit to wash their boats and equipment thoroughly after every outing, even if no mussels are visible. The larvae are quite tiny, and while the more mature mussels usually attach to hard surfaces, they will also attach to vegetation. A single adult female mussel can produce up to 1 million eggs each season. Once introduced to a new environment, they can quickly spread downstream.

And not just boaters, but all Montanans who spend any time in the rivers, lakes and streams, need to learn how to prevent the spread of invasive aquatic species. A good source of information is the Montana Mussel Response website, musselresponse.mt.gov, which includes links to additional resources that explain how to tell the difference between native and invasive mussels, how long they can survive outside water and other useful information.

For its part, the Montana Legislature must ensure the state has the necessary funding to perform testing, inspection, education and outreach until the threat has well and truly passed. It appears enough money is being appropriated but it's up to the full legislature to confirm this expenditure. We cant afford anything less.
Since its launch in 2009, Graduation Matters Montana has taken root in 58 communities and helped drive the states graduation rate to historically high levels over the last three years.

But its not clear yet whether the states new superintendent, Elsie Arntzen, will offer her support to the program, which gets most of its funding from the private sector.

In an interview Friday, Arntzen said no decision had been made on whether the program, created by her predecessor Denise Juneau, will continue in its current form.

Earlier in the week, her federal relations director, Dylan Klapmeier, said in an email with a new administration beginning, the Graduation Matters program is being phased out in a responsible manner.

Klapmeiers email said OPI employees were continuing to monitor the funds that had already been disbursed to ensure that they were used in a responsible manner. However, the email said, the program had very few strings or accountability measures tied to the money to begin with.

The program has been supported by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Since 2012, the foundation has granted $900,000 to the initiative that provides up to $10,000 in grants to communities interested in implementing the program.

Additional funding has come from the Steele Reese Foundation, State Farm Insurance, BNSF Foundation, Applied Materials, AT&T, DA Davidson, IBM, the Student Assistance Foundation and First Interstate Bank Foundation.

In total, $1.3 million has been invested in the program, according to an overview compiled by former OPI Senior Policy Advisor Deborah Halliday last December.

Since its inception, the states high school graduation rate has risen to an all-time high, from 80.2 percent in 2010 to 86 percent in 2015. The American Indian dropout rate was cut by 30 percent in that same time period, the overview said.

Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation Executive Director Mike Halligan said that his organization would be willing to work with Arntzen.

I respect the decision of the new Superintendent of Public Instruction to move forward with her own initiatives that encourage students to graduate from high school, Halligan said. Given the mutual goals of helping youth understand the importance of high school graduation, Im certain the existing Graduation Matters Montana program will complement any new initiatives introduced by the new superintendent and Ill begin the process of locating another educational entity that can help lead the GMM program as we move forward.

Arntzen said she plans to reach out to communities to get a better understanding of what they need to move forward. Her focus will be on developing programs that serve all of Montanas schools.

In particular, Arntzen pointed to the existing Early Warning System that all of the states schools can use to help ensure that students earn a high school diploma. While its probably too late to ask the Legislature for additional funding for that program, Arntzen said she does plan to seek advice from communities to see if that should be a priority.

School district officials will take note of how Arntzen chooses to proceed.

Missoula County Public School Superintendent Mark Thane said there has been an Early Warning Systems working group at OPI for some time. While its not a new initiative, Thane said how its messaged could change with the new administration.

Whether or not the new administration chooses to continue the messaging around Graduation Matters, I think there will still be an emphasis around whos at risk and how we can intervene meaningfully, Thane said. Ive had no direct contact from OPI with regard to any of those changes. Quite honestly, we dont know what the future is for initiatives like Graduation Matters given the transition at OPI.

Stevensville High School Principal Brian Gum said Graduation Matters has made a difference in that community.

Graduation Matters has been a phenomenal program for Stevi, Gum said. For us, over the past five years, weve obtained a decent amount of funding to improve our graduation rate, which has gone through the roof. In the 2009-2010 school year, we had a graduation rate of 77.8 percent and now we are at 94.74 percent. Weve done a lot of work and it has paid off.

Gum said there is a direct tie to the Graduation Matters program.

It is an awareness thats out there, the implementation of programs that weve been able to pull into our advisory programs. And weve attended summer training sessions, he said. At Stevensville schools, (Graduation Matters) is a K-12 program. Everyone is on board. It works at a lot of levels and has allowed us to do a lot of activities.

The program was recently implemented in Florence after school officials wrote a grant for funding to prevent students from failing core classes, improve attendance and create community awareness on the importance of high school graduation.

In its first program two weeks ago, high school students signed banners with a pledge to graduate. The banners will hang in the high school gym.

School counselor Sherry Williams said plans call for incorporating the program into all grades later this year.

We want to hold an event for the younger grades where the high school students play a major part in inspiring and mentoring the younger grades, Williams said. It seemed the Graduation Matters program was a new concept to many. We look forward to having it become an integral part of the Florence-Carlton culture.

Missoulian reporter Chelsea Davis contributed to this story.
RONAN  The largest of half a dozen job-training grants announced Monday by Gov. Steve Bullock will go to the Jore Corporation of Ronan.

The company, which manufactures power tool accessories, is adding more CNC (computer numerical control) machines to keep up with a growing demand for its products.

With them will come a 10 percent increase in jobs at Jore, which currently employs 200 people, according to human resources manager Tiffani Kinaman.

Headframe Spirits of Butte, a micro-distillery that makes vodka, gin, whiskey and bourbon, and also engineers and constructs continuous-flow distillation equipment, got a $40,000 to assist in the training for eight new jobs.

Two Missoula companies also received Primary Sector Workforce Training Grants from the state. Statewide, the grants are worth more than $411,000 and will fund training for 84 new jobs, according to Bullock.

Twenty-one of those jobs will be created at Jore, which uses traditional and non-traditional shifts to keep the CNC machines in its 300,000-square-foot plant operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

In addition to standard day, swing and graveyard shifts, Jore also employs machine operators who work three 12-hour days  either Friday through Sunday, Saturday through Monday or mid-week  to keep production running round-the-clock.

Were looking for hard workers who are interested in the opportunity to move up and make a good living, Kinaman said. CNC operators start at $11 an hour, receive excellent benefits including health care and paid time off, and pay increases with training and experience, she added.

Also receiving grants are Consumer Direct Care Network and Advanced Technology Group, both of Missoula.

Together, the grants will help train people for 25 new jobs in Missoula.

Consumer Direct Care Network, which provides services and support to older adults and people with disabilities that allow them to live independently, will add 17 positions according to the state. Its grant is worth $85,000.

President and CEO Ben Bledsoe said the company employs approximately 230 people in Missoula who provide support for 16,000 clients nationwide. Those clients, in turn, employ about 24,000 caregivers.

Bledsoe said the grant will actually help provide training support funding for 40 positions that have or will be created between September 2016 through August 2018. Already, he said, jobs have been created for customer service representatives, a process improvement analyst, a quality improvement supervisor, a systems analyst and in the payroll department.

Consumer Direct Care Network will move into a new corporate campus this spring, consolidating five offices spaces it now utilizes around Missoula.

Advanced Technology Group received a $40,000 job-training grant, and will add eight new jobs. ATG focuses on the integration and automated management of end-to-end business processes on the sell side, known as quote to cash.

Also receiving grants Monday:

Humanic Growth Solutions of Shelby, a global manufacturer and distributor of humic and fluvic acid products. It got $90,000 to assist with the training for 18 new jobs.

First Call Resolution of Great Falls, which provides an outsourced live agent contact center and business process solutions to sectors of the new economy, including high tech, startup, mobile commerce, wireless, telecom, finance and insurance. It will be training for a dozen new jobs, aided by a grant of $51,017.

Our economy is growing and businesses are expanding, Bullock said in announcing the grants. Im pleased that we can help these Montana businesses build the talented and trained workforce they need.

The deadline for applying for the next round of Primary Sector Workforce Training Grants is March 1. For more information, visit www.wtg.mt.gov or call section manager Annmarie Robinson at 841-2250.

The grants encourage the creation of jobs in primary sector businesses, defined as those having 50 percent or more of their sales outside Montana.

This funding provides an essential job-training incentive for new businesses to locate in Montana, and provides existing primary sector businesses with essential support to train employees in new jobs that allow the businesses to expand  without leaving the state, according to the Montana Office of Tourism and Business Development.

Qualifying businesses are eligible for up to $5,000 for each net new full-time job created, and $2,500 for each net new part-time job that pays at least 170 percent of the state minimum wage.

The funds are not provided to grant winners until the jobs have been created and the qualifying wage and eligible expenses have been incurred, according to the state website.
Our state's economy is rapidly evolving.

Over the last five years, whats been striking is that the Montanas economy has diversified, said Dan Lloyd, business development specialist at the Montana Governor's Office of Economic Development. We are a state rich in natural resources, but we are starting to see the shift.

One of the main goals of the Office of Economic Development is to provide the right tools for businesses to excel. Infrastructure is a primary driver of economic development, said Lloyd. If you were to start a restaurant, you need the infrastructure for water and electricity to get things rolling. Infrastructure also extends to connectivity, such as phone and broadband. Continued investments in infrastructure are something that Montanans agree on, Lloyd added.

Montana, and the U.S. for that matter, is shifting from a resources-based economy to a knowledge-based economy, which means communities may need to look for new ways to attract businesses.

In traditional resources economies, businesses locate where the resources are, said Lloyd. But in a knowledge economy, he continued, its based on the workforce.

We have a quality of life (and) people want to live here, said Lloyd. We are seeing the shift to a knowledge economy, a service economy," he added. "We are seeing companies conduct their businesses online. People arent just manufacturing widgets, they are sending bits and bytes out, its digital.

Last year, the Office of Economic Development recommended House Bill 14, which would have created a state matching fund for broadband infrastructure, said Lloyd. He said there are communities in Montana that are underserved due to their rural proximity. And in our modern age, connectivity in an interconnected business environment is just as important as traditional infrastructures like water or electricity.

In our knowledge-based economy, economic growth is really related to labor force. Continued investment in our education infrastructure ensures everything from K-12 to community colleges to 4 year universities to give people the skills they need in the 21st century, said Lloyd.

For Montana to continue its growth, we must make infrastructure investment a priority for the future of our state. Infrastructure isnt just limited to water, power, and connectivity, it also includes education which grants our citizens the skills to make an impact in the global economy.

For Montana to continue to grow, we have to have an educated and trained workforce available for employers, said Lloyd.
Nobody seems to know just how they went missing in the first place, but a lot of people are passionate about two copper and brass-clad doors that graced St. Mary's Church for decades.

A group of Butte Catholics with family ties to Irish neighborhoods that once surrounded St. Mary's  Muckerville, Corktown, and Dublin Gulch among them  desperately want the giant doors back as the main entrance to the old church at 440 N. Main St.

The church has been closed for years, but it's still dear to them, and so are those doors. They're more than 8 feet tall; 3 feet, 4 inches wide; and 2 inches thick of wood covered with copper and brass sheet metal with crosses on each.

Former Butte architect Mark Reavis and his wife, Nicole von Gaza Reavis, own the doors now and say they're worth $10,000. They're prepared to gift them back  if certain conditions are met.

They include promises to put the doors back, preserve them, and have a brass plaque affixed to the church acknowledging Reavis's 35 years of preservationist efforts in Butte.

"That is my last parting requirement for Butte," Reavis said this week from Silverton, Colorado, where he is now planning director.

His demands are not sitting well with some, but he says the doors were sold in cheap fashion years before he got them and he doesn't want anything like that happening again. He said he tried to keep the doors from being removed in the first place when he was the county's historic preservation officer years ago "and was basically given the finger."

"A lot of people in the Irish community say we're holding them for ransom, but we own the doors," he said. "The reason they left St. Mary's is they sold them at a yard sale."

The "they" he speaks of is the Our Lady of the Rockies Foundation, which bought the church in 1987 as a home for its office and souvenir shop to support the massive statue that sits atop the East Ridge.

Thirty years later, some of its members aren't sure when or how the doors left, but the organization still owns the church. It's been on the selling block for a few years now, however, and its fate is uncertain.

"We've had offers on it, but it has always been low-ball," said board member Jim Lynch, a past president of the foundation. "One lady wanted to make it a dance studio, one wanted to make it a concert hall, but nobody has ever come up with any money."

He'd like to see the county get it, perhaps in a trade, so the entire church is preserved.

The county is in the mix now, too, because the Butte-Silver Bow Archives agreed to take "temporary custody" of the doors in hopes an agreement about them is reached.

So for now, they're sitting in a storage room at the Archives at 17 W. Quartz St.

But Reavis is making it clear he still owns them, and if his conditions aren't met, he says he and his wife will hold onto them in perpetuity.

The last two lines of a two-page formal letter about the doors they submitted to Butte-Silver Bow commissioners and Chief Executive Dave Palmer say this:

"If compliance is not achieved the ownership of the doors will remain with the Reavis' (sic). Provisions for continued family ownership have been addressed in our wills."

THEIR LONG JOURNEY

St. Mary's was built in the early 1930s to replace a St. Mary's that burned down in August 1931. It is a towering building of red brick and stained glass on North Main Street just across from the Original Mine yard, which is now a performance venue.

St. Mary's is featured in many old photographs of Butte, including one that's the cover of "Butte's Irish Heart," a 2015 book about the Irish neighborhoods around it and the families who lived there.

The photograph shows hundreds of people outside the church when its cornerstone was put in, the crowd a testament to the focal point it was in the neighborhoods  religiously, educationally, and socially.

The doors were part of the building from the start, gracing the entrance under a giant arch of bricks, and were so tall and so solid it took five hinges on each to keep them affixed and swinging.

Although the church is still there, it was closed in 1985, long after most of the neighborhood houses had been carted away or demolished to make way for strip-mining.

"The doors are beautiful, and they belong on that historical building," said Debbie Bowman Shea, who helped organize a St. Mary's Committee and the first-ever reunion of the Irish neighborhoods held in September 2014.

The Lady of the Rockies Foundation bought the church in 1987 for its office and shop, but zoning laws and problems with electrical codes forced their closure not long afterward, and the office moved to the Butte Plaza Mall.

At some point the doors came off.

Reavis says it's his understanding the doors were sold at a yard sale by the Lady of the Rockies group and were transferred to other owners before he got them in a building purchase.

He said someone with the group also tried to sell some of the stained glass from the church when he was historic preservation officer, and though he didn't have legal authority to stop that move, his adamant objections helped prevent it.

"I said, 'If you sell this, you are selling something that a lot of people spent a lot of money in that community to get,'" Reavis said.

Mike Cerise, a foundation board member and one of the pioneers for the statue, says he recalls someone removing the doors and storing them only to have them go missing.

Shea says she had been told the doors were removed and replaced because they weren't heat efficient.

Tom Satterthwaite, a member of the St. Mary's Committee, said nobody seems to know for sure.

"It is one of those things that there are 15 different sides of the argument and the truth is probably in there somewhere, but I don't think it's necessarily in the middle," he said.

Reavis says the doors likely changed hands at least a couple of times, but regardless, they were in a building he and Nicole bought at 1 N. Montana St. as a home for their business, Urban Safari Tours, and its gift shop. They came with the purchase, he said.

The couple put one on vertical display, he said, and used the other as their gift shop counter where the cash register sat.

A lot of people remembered them, he said, and a developer from Big Sky once offered $10,000 for them. That's where he got that figure on their value, he said, but he wasn't selling.

WHAT NOW?

He's not interested in selling now, either, because he says he wants to see them back on the church. He has conditions, but given their recent past, said, "Why would I allow them to be put back without restrictions?"

His conditions include the following:

 The doors can only be reinstalled at the church and must be protected by specific restrictions spelled out in a property deed that carries forward with any future ownerships.

 The stained glass in the church must be protected by similar deed restrictions.

 The church as a whole must be protected with acknowledgements of that by the county's historic preservation officer and Council of Commissioners.

 A quality brass plaque must be commissioned and affixed to the church that acknowledges Mark Reavis's preservation efforts with the church and community for 35 years and that he and Nicole, as preservation advocates, have generously donated the doors to show their commitment to cultural resources.

Reavis says he's still willing to gift the doors back, despite recent grief he said he has taken and years of "getting beat up" for trying to preserve things in Butte.

"It's really an opportunity for the town to stop selling its history," he said.

Cerise said if Reavis cares only about the doors, he should simply give them back without demands for special recognition.

Lynch says the requirements seem fair and he would like to see the entire church preserved no matter what. Satterthwaite expressed similar sentiments.

"I guess he owns them as much as anybody," he said. "I don't know the legalities of the situation. I know it's complicated."

The St. Mary's group doesn't have much leverage over the doors' fate, he said, but it would be extremely gratifying "to see them back on the church where they belong."

Shea said getting the doors back on the church was the initial reason the St. Mary's group was formed. It branched into other efforts and projects, including the reunion and book, but its initial goal has not yet been achieved.

"I just want to see the doors back on there," she said. "If he needs to be validated with a plaque, so be it, but those doors do not belong anywhere but back on the front of that church."
Novelist speaking in Butte this week

Dr. Sid Gustafson, a renowned equine veterinarian and a novelist, will be in Butte this week as the Mining City Writing Projects second writer in residence.

The project, co-sponsored by The Montana Standard, The Root & The Bloom Collective, and the Butte-Silver Bow Public Archives, is partially funded by a grant from Humanities Montana.

Gustafson, now of Bozeman, was born and grew up in Conrad. He is the author of three novels, the most recent being "Swift Dam," published in 2016 by Open Books.

He will be at an author meet and greet event at Headframe Spirits, 21 S. Montana St., on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

On Wednesday at noon, he will present a brown bag lunch lecture about his work at the Archives, 17 W. Quartz St.

And on Saturday at 6 p.m., he will read from "Swift Dam" at The Clark Chateau, 321 W. Broadway. There is a $15 suggested donation, and "Swift Dam" will be for sale at the event.

Toastmasters list winners

Top O' The Mornin' Toastmasters winners this week included John Grill, best speaker, and Sherry Flammand, best evaluator and best topic respondent. The next meeting will be held at 6:30 a.m. Monday, Jan. 16, at Perkins.

American Legion dinner Wednesday

The American Legion Post #1 and Auxiliary will hold their monthly dinner Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Legion Hall on Motor View Dr. Beef stew, French rolls, salads, and desserts will be served. Cost for the dinner will be $6. Hall opens at 6 p.m.; dinner will be served at 6:30 p.m.

Car seat clinic is Wednesday

A childrens car seat clinic will be from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Wednesday, Jan. 18, at the Uptown Fire Station, Montana and Galena.

Car seats will be checked for correct installation, making sure the seat matches your childs weight and age, recall information, and more.

Details: Mary Jo Stosich, 406-497-5016.
Montana Tech professor Chad Okrusch said he felt like one of the Beatles on a recent faculty exchange to a college in China.

Part of an ongoing relationship-building initiative with Guangdong College of Business and Technology in Guangzhou, Okrusch is the latest Tech representative to immerse himself in the culture as a way to draw more students to finish their fourth year of school at Tech.

He crammed two short weeks into a nonstop itinerary of events, courses and concerts at the university and city of 11 million located in the southernmost Guangdong Province. One of only three English-speaking professors on a campus of 25,000 students, he weaved his music into lectures on English, education, business and translation classes.

To his surprise he learned that students most wanted to hear him play guitar and sing what he calls his Rocky Mountain or Butte, Americana style of music.

They treated me like one of the Beatles, laughed Okrusch. It was so humbling. I dont think it mattered so much who I am or what I do, so much; it just mattered that I was there. Whoever was there, they were excited to see.

A huge, exuberant crowd of students greeted him upon arrival by posing gleefully for a selfie he took in front of the packed classroom.

I think they were interested in a foreigner who was coming to their campus because most probably go to bigger campuses. Part of it was novelty. They knew I sang and played guitar; they didnt know about my music.

The biggest venue he played was Paifang Plaza during a city-wide Christmas celebration.

Among his selections: his original Big Hole River song translated into Mandarin. Classic country or Americana titles were heavy requests, too.

I never sang so much John Denver in my life, he said. The students knew all the words.

It was the third faculty exchange for Tech, but Okrusch first visited China in 2014 to videotape a documentary of Chinese bamboo fields for fly-fishing guru Glenn Brackett of Sweetgrass Rods in Twin Bridges.

Other Tech professors who visited China in the past year are Pat Munday and adjunct instructor Shihua Brazill, a Tech graduate and Guangzhou native. Munday is a science and technology studies professor.

Between Okruschs two trips, Tech Chancellor Donald Blackketter and former Butte-Silver Bow Chief Executive Matt Vincent visited China, including Shanghai, Zhuhai and Beijing and three colleges  the Zhuhai campus of Sun-Yat Sen University, Zhuhai City Polytechnic College and the China Mining and Technology University in Beijing.

Vicki Blackketter, Tech Vice President and Provost Doug Abbott and Vice Chancellor Beverly Hartline also made the trip as a way to establish strong recruiting ties with China.

Since then, Guangdong College administrators Han Zhiguo and Wei Shang Rong visited Tech to share their culture and learn about Techs well-regarded engineering and mining programs.

Han gave a humanities-based presentation on Guoxue  Chinese traditional culture  that included a traditional tea ceremony, a calligraphy lesson and a music lesson in November. Brazill serves as a translator for visitors.

Guangdong College is only a three-year school, so Tech aims to pick up students to complete their fourth year here.

While Okruschs second trip was one of three Tech faculty exchanges so far, the end objective inches closer as the relationship strengthens: to conduct a student exchange between Tech and Chinese universities.

Tech officials hope for either a short-term exchange mostly for cultural exposure or a longer exchange in which students spend up to a year abroad in China.

These are initial steps that we hope in a long relationship with China, said Okrusch, who shared with his hosts his own background as a first-generation college graduate-turned-professor who grew up in a household run by a single mother.

But his message was broader than that.

I wanted them to know what I am most proud of at Montana Tech: social mobility, return on investment (for degree earned), quality of education, faculty/student ratio. I wanted them to know that even though they had never heard of our school, it was a good place to land and to continue their education.

Recruiting message aside, the universal language helped him bond with the American-obsessed students.

By the end of it, the students put a music show together for me and they invited me up to play with a Chinese rock band, he said. It was music that unlocked the door.
GREAT FALLS  A Great Falls lawmaker has introduced a bill that would prevent local governments from placing bans on talking or texting on a cellphone while driving.

Republican Rep. Jeremy Trebas tells the Great Falls Tribune that studies have not shown such bans result in fewer crashes or insurance claims.

Russ Rader, a spokesman for the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, said hand-held cellphone and texting bans do change driver behavior, but the institute has not found any evidence there is a corresponding reduction in crashes in states that enact the restrictions.

Montana does not have a statewide ban, but 10 cities and towns do, including Billings, Bozeman, Butte, Great Falls, Helena and Missoula.

The House Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hear Trebas' bill on Tuesday.
Since its launch in 2009, Graduation Matters Montana has taken root in 58 communities and helped drive the state's graduation rate to historically high levels over the last three years.

But it's not clear yet whether the state's new superintendent, Elsie Arntzen, will offer her support to the program, which gets most of its funding from the private sector.

In an interview Friday, Arntzen said no decision had been made on whether the program, created by her predecessor Denise Juneau, will continue in its current form.

Earlier in the week, her federal relations director Dylan Klapmeier said in an email, "with a new administration beginning, the Graduation Matters program is being phased out in a responsible manner."

Klapmeier's email said OPI employees were continuing to monitor the funds that had already been disbursed to ensure that they were used in a responsible manner. "However," the email said, "the program had very few strings or accountability measures tied to the money to begin with."

The program has been supported by the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation. Since 2012, the foundation has granted $900,000 to the initiative that provides up to $10,000 in grants to communities interested in implementing the program.

Additional funding has come from the Steele Reese Foundation, State Farm Insurance, BNSF Foundation, Applied Materials, AT&T, DA Davidson, IBM, the Student Assistance Foundation and First Interstate Bank Foundation.

In total, $1.3 million has been invested in the program, according to an overview compiled by former OPI Senior Policy Advisor Deborah Halliday last December.

Since its inception, the state's high school graduation rate has risen to an all-time high, from 80.2 percent in 2010 to 86 percent in 2015. The American Indian dropout rate was cut by 30 percent in that same time period, the overview said.

Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation Executive Director Mike Halligan said that his organization would be willing to work with Arntzen.

"I respect the decision of the new Superintendent of Public Instruction to move forward with her own initiatives that encourage students to graduate from high school," Halligan said. "Given the mutual goals of helping youth understand the importance of high school graduation, I'm certain the existing Graduation Matters Montana program will complement any new initiatives introduced by the new superintendent and I'll begin the process of locating another educational entity that can help lead the GMM program as we move forward."

Arntzen said she plans to reach out to communities to get a better understanding of what they need to move forward. Her focus will be on developing programs that serve all of Montana's schools.

In particular, Arntzen pointed to the existing Early Warning System that all of the state's schools can use to help ensure that students earn a high school diploma. While it's probably too late to ask the Legislature for additional funding for that program, Arntzen said she does plan to seek advice from communities to see if that should be a priority.

School district officials will take note of how Arntzen chooses to proceed.

Missoula County Public School Superintendent Mark Thane said there has been an Early Warning Systems working group at OPI for some time. While it's not a new initiative, Thane said how it's messaged could change with the new administration.

"Whether or not the new administration chooses to continue the messaging around Graduation Matters, I think there will still be an emphasis around who's at risk and how we can intervene meaningfully," Thane said. "I've had no direct contact from OPI with regard to any of those changes. Quite honestly, we don't know what the future is for initiatives like Graduation Matters given the transition at OPI."

Stevensville High School Principal Brian Gum said Graduation Matters has made a difference in that community.

"Graduation Matters has been a phenomenal program for Stevi," Gum said. "For us, over the past five years, we've obtained a decent amount of funding to improve our graduation rate, which has gone through the roof. In the 2009-2010 school year, we had a graduation rate of 77.8 percent and now we are at 94.74 percent. We've done a lot of work and it has paid off.'

Gum said there is a direct tie to the Graduation Matters program.

"It is an awareness that's out there, the implementation of programs that we've been able to pull into our advisory programs. And we've attended summer training sessions," he said. "At Stevensville schools, (Graduation Matters) is a K-12 program. Everyone is on board. It works at a lot of levels and has allowed us to do a lot of activities."

The program was recently implemented in Florence after school officials wrote a grant for funding to prevent students from failing core classes, improve attendance and create community awareness on the importance of high school graduation.

In its first program two weeks ago, high school students signed banners with a pledge to graduate. The banners will hang in the high school gym.

School counselor Sherry Williams said plans call for incorporating the program into all grades later this year.

"We want to hold an event for the younger grades where the high school students play a major part in inspiring and mentoring the younger grades," Williams said. "It seemed the Graduation Matters program was a new concept to many. We look forward to having it become an integral part of the Florence-Carlton culture."
Les emplois a Rennes sont abondants et varies. Il y a quelque chose pour tout le monde. Que vous soyez a la recherche dun emploi []
Les blattes ou cafards (Blatta orientalis) sont des insectes qui appartiennent a la famille des Blattoptera. Ils se caracterisent par leur forme allongee, leurs ailes []
The Lifetime Income Security Solution

This book provides a straightforward methodology to achieve and protect your financial goals. It not only explains why an income-based investment strategy is superior to active management but also how to utilize certain deferred compensation strategies to better time income recognition. Finally, there is an overview of a simple and realistic asset protection methodology that relies less on hype and more on an honest appraisal of asset protections true capabilities. Concise and conversationally written, this book is a must for high net worth individuals and investment advisers.
J. L. BELL is a Massachusetts writer who specializes in (among other things) the start of the American Revolution in and around Boston. He is particularly interested in the experiences of children in 1765-75. He has published scholarly papers and popular articles for both children and adults. He was consultant for an episode of History Detectives, and contributed to a display at Minute Man National Historic Park.
JOHANNESBURG  The tiny nation of Gambia has West Africa on the brink of a military intervention, and thousands are fleeing the country. Longtime President Yahya Jammeh is refusing to step down after losing elections. On Thursday, President-elect Adama Barrow intends to go through with his inauguration, with the support of the international community. Heres a look at the crisis.

I CONCEDE ...

NO, I DONT

At first, Jammeh stunned Gambians by conceding his election loss on live television. A week later, he announced he had changed his mind, saying only Allah could deny him victory. After taking power more than 22 years ago in a bloodless coup, Jammeh has been accused of leading a government that detains, tortures and even kills opponents. He is no stranger to striking declarations: In late 2015, he abruptly announced Gambia to be an Islamic republic. In 2013, he decided to leave the Commonwealth.

A LEGAL CHALLENGE, BUT IS THERE A COURT?

Jammehs ruling party is challenging the Dec. 1 election results, saying there were irregularities in the vote, but the countrys Supreme Court says it could take months to act because it is short of judges. Jammeh has invited judges from Nigeria and Sierra Leone to complete the court, but that is not expected to happen until May. It is not clear what will happen if Barrow is inaugurated next week and the court later decides in Jammehs favor.

NEIGHBORS

PREPARE TROOPS

An attempt on Friday by West African leaders to persuade Jammeh to change his mind and step down failed. Though diplomatic efforts continue, the Economic Community of West African States has a standby military force ready to enter Gambia if Jammeh doesnt cede power when his mandate ends on Thursday. If the use of force is necessary, ECOWAS will seek the endorsement of the U.N. Security Council and the African Union Peace and Security Council to deploy the troops, the U.N. special representative for West Africa and the Sahel, Mohamed Ibn Chambas, said Friday.

Gambia, a nation of 1.9 million people, is estimated to have an army of just 900 troops.

A CONTINENT

SHIFTS AWAY

If Jammeh doesnt step down on Thursday, whether peacefully or not  he briefly sent troops to occupy the electoral commission office during the crisis  the African Union will cease to recognize him as Gambias legitimate leader, the AUs Peace and Security Council said Friday.
A new cat cafe and adoption center named Ellas Cathouse and Catnip Bar will open in Napa at months end.

Fifteen rescued cats will share the 1,100-square-foot downstairs space while their human caretakers, the office staff of Jameson Animal Rescue Ranch, will occupy the 600 square feet on the second floor at 1009 Caymus St. on the northern edge of downtown Napa.

Although the grand opening will be 11 a.m. Friday, Jan. 27, with an official ribbon cutting and tours through the facility, the 15 male and female cats are already enjoying their living room quarters, complete with couches. They get a month to get comfy and cozy before the humans start coming in to visit, said Monica Stevens, co-founder of JARR, St. Helena businesswoman and animal advocate.

Julia Orr, communications manager for JARR, liked creating a cat cafe in Napa, copying those she has visited in London and Los Angeles. People can come in and sit on the couch and play with the cats. Its cage-free, a very friendly environment. You can go in, play with the cats, sit on the couch and mingle.

She hopes that Ellas will become a destination point for people who are on a wine tour. They can drop in and get their cat fix and spread the word about us. The cat cafe has spread across the world. Theres one thats open in L.A., one in London, tons in Japan and one in Oakland.

Stevens said the cats are predominantly from the Napa County Animal Shelter and were surrendered either in Napa or Lake County. The one criterion for the cats to be a part of the cat cafe is they have to be healthy to prevent diseases from spreading through the cat population.

All are fixed, spayed and up to date on their vaccinations, flea and tick control, Stevens said. Our goal is to use this as a really exciting, joyful place to come and adopt a cat. Once the adoption happens, we can bring in another cat.

Do the 15 all get along? They tell each other who they allow in their immediate area but for the most part they all get along beautifully, Stevens said.

After the grand opening, Ellas Cathouse and Catnip Bar will be open to the public from noon to 6 p.m. four days a week (Fridays through Mondays), although only four visitors will be allowed in at one time and visitors will be limited to an hour.

Orr said, The last time I went to the cat cafe in L.A., there was a queue down the road for people waiting to get in to have a cup of tea or coffee and hang with the cats.

Ellas will not be serving coffee or tea, but Orr said many fun things are planned, including a kitty cam, where you can tune in to see what the cats are up to, yoga classes, book readings and Meow Hour, instead of Happy Hour.

She added, We have a small army of very dedicated volunteers, who come in daily and poop scoop and feed them and do deep cleaning.

Stevens interjected: And love them and kiss them. She said the 10 volunteers had completed their first week of training and will be caring for the cats seven days a week.

Beyond an opportunity to play with and/or adopt a cat and visit JARR staff, there is a bigger picture. Orr said Ellas Cathouse hopes to change the publics perception of rescue cats and cats in general.

Theyre not all these horrible animals that destroy wildlife, she said. They have such a bad reputation and were hoping to change that.

Beyond that, though, Stevens said cats arent disposable. When people decide to move or suffer a setback, the first thing to go is their cats, she said. We dont want people just opening their doors and letting their cats go, hoping they will make it on their own outdoors.

Unfortunately, there are a lot of cat surrenders, and Stevens said JARR can help. If you have to surrender your cat, or need resources to keep your cat, she said people should call JARR, 815-8153. We provide education and also a sanctuary.

Ellas Cathouse and Catnip Bar was named after Ella, a rescue cat who recently passed away, that Vanessa Conklin had for 15 years, Stevens said. Conklin has been the auction chairwoman for Wineapawlooza, an annual JARR fundraiser held in July for the past three years and has been instrumental in its success.

We thought it was very fitting to name our cathouse after her kitty cat because of her commitment and dedication to Jameson, Stevens said.
YOUNTVILLE  Families from across Napa County came out to the Napa Valley Museum on Saturday to make paper lanterns, Good Luck signs and Chinese dragon puppets in honor of the Chinese New Year.

The Free Family Fun Activity Day at the museum allowed parents and their children to make crafts together while learning all about the Chinese New Year, which falls on Jan. 28 this year, and about the Year of the Rooster while listening to traditional Chinese music.

Its great that they have Chinese activities, said Hing Ting Leung who brought her 6-year-old daughter Piper Lueng-Goltz to the event. Leung said that there arent many Chinese New Year activities in the Napa Valley, so the family usually celebrates by visiting family and friends and going into San Francisco for the parade.

Its kind of like Thanksgiving, she said. Everybody has to see each other.

At the same table Pipers classmate, 6-year-old Ella Sherer was busy making paper lanterns with her mother, Yvette, and younger sister Julia, 4.

Were just making them for each other, Ella said.

Yvette Sherer said that she was surprised that there arent more Chinese New Year themed events or shows in the area, but that it was good that the museum was doing something for families.

I think its great, she said. Its nice to have something wonderful to take the kids out to.

The activities at the museum are convenient since she only lives down the street in Yountville, she said, and are a good way to get the girls out of the house.

Free events are very fun to go to, said Patty Elliott, who was helping her 4-year-old son Brian cut up some paper. Elliott heard about the event on Facebook and decided to check it out. Its really cute.

Its definitely good for families, added her husband, John Elliott. The family said that they will plan on making the trip from American Canyon again to check out what else the museum has to offer.

Next months Free Family Fun Activity Day will be from 2 to 4 p.m. on Feb. 11 and will feature making cards and crafts for Valentines Day. The museum provides paper, ribbons, instructions and supplies.

For more information, visit napavalleymuseum.org.
I was very saddened to receive the news that Adelle Iverson-Payne had passed away. Only a short time before I had the joy of talking with her by phone. We talked about the nice article in the Napa Valley Register concerning her long term support for the Community Projects Fancy Fair. Adelle was truly an icon in Napa both in the schools and in the community.

Even though I now live in North Carolina near our daughter, Dr. Gayle Thomas, we have kept in touch. Whenever we visited Napa, we spent time with Adelle and her daughter, Karen Wendel, in her beautiful Browns Valley home.

I had the privilege of teaching with Adelle in many summer school programs where we took our students out to see historic places all over the Napa Valley. She was an inspiration and so full of ideas in the way she taught at on site locations, such as the Old Bale Mill, Schramsburg winery, and Napa Soda Springs, only to mention a few.

Her famous chocolate fudge made on site in a cast iron skillet over an open fire at Dillon Beach made learning an unforgettable experience.

Later on, at the request of teachers and parents, we taught classes in Napa Valley History through Sonoma State University. Sometimes the unexpected happened, like the time we had forty adult students at the Petrified Forest, and a huge rattle snake decided to crash the party. An unforgettable moment.

Thank you, Adelle, for sharing your life with us all those years. You left Napa a better place in which to live, and you brightened the lives of countless students. Thank you for being a true friend.

David Duddles

Chapel Hill, NC
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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

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Shareholders at a Chinese state-owned real estate company have rejected a proposal to establish a Communist party committee at the firm, in a rare move to thwart efforts to increase the party's influence at state firms.More than 36 percent of shareholders of Shanghai-listed Tianjin Realty Development rejected the proposal at a January 6 meeting in the city of Tianjin, according to a stock exchange filing published on January 7. The motion was proposed based on guidance from the Communist Party and according to requirements of the state assets supervisor.The motion needed two thirds of shareholders to vote in favour in order to pass, according to the filing.According to guidelines issued in 2015, state-owned firms should establish party committees to "integrate party leadership and corporate governance".China's President Xi Jinping has said that China will strengthen supervision of state-owned assets and improve the efficiency of state-owned enterprises.At a party work meeting on state-owned enterprises in October 2016, Xi called for party committees at all levels to step up anti-corruption work and crack down on problems such as state-owned asset embezzlement and influence peddling, state radio reported at the time.REUTERS PS RK1828 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1108626.Xml
Earlier forecast showed the population would hit 10 million around mid-February 2017, but now it looks like it will happen earlier since the population grew faster than expected last month, Xinhua news agency reported.

A spike in immigration to Sweden is the main contributing factor to the growing population, Tomas Johansson of Statistics Sweden said.

"Since the post-war era, immigration has become an important factor in the population growth," said Johansson.

He also said Sweden's population was growing fast among EU member states.

According to Statistics Sweden, the country's population stood at 9 million in 2004.

--IANS py/

( 132 Words)

2017-01-15-09:06:06 (IANS)
New Delhi [India], Jan. 15 (ANI-BusinessWireIndia): Policybazaar.com has launched a new television campaign, with the tagline 'Policybazaar.com par term insurance lena bhool kar bhi mat bhoolna'. The campaign aims to highlight the importance of having a term insurance plan. The new TV commercial will see actress Achint Kaur as a Seance medium. With this campaign, Policybazaar.com intends to give a push to the consumers' buying decisions, by focusing on the challenges that the family would have to face in their absence, including inability to sustain the current lifestyle. A month long campaign is designed by the in-house team of Policybazaar.com and executed by K Silent Productions. The TV campaign will go on air on January 15, 2017. Speaking on the new campaign, Naveen Kukreja, Group CMO, Policybazaar.com and CEO, PaisaBazaar.com said, "Term insurance with sufficient life cover is a must have product for a person with dependents. The main objective of a term insurance plan is to provide replacement of your income in your absence. But usually habitually procrastinating consumers defer their decision of purchasing a term plan. Our motto is to empower customers so that they can take right decisions at a right time to protect their loved ones. The new TVC is reinforcing our brand philosophy." Sai Narayan, Head of Marketing, Policybazaar.com added, "Through the campaign, we aim to re-emphasise the importance of financial protection and change consumers' mindset which tend to believe that they are invincible and won't die young. In our country, insurance has always been sold with a push factor and considered to be a tough and tedious task. The TV commercial also accentuates the ease of comparing and buying insurance policy. Though the commercial has entertaining and humorous quotient attached to it but surely leaves behind the strong message of securing financial future of the family." The TV commercial starts in a fancy background; a woman who has lost her husband meets a psychic in order to communicate with his spirit. As she laments about his loss, she asks the psychic to make her talk to husband once. The psychic touches the husband's photograph and becomes a medium to communicate with the dead husband's spirit. The widow asks for the term insurance's papers which the husband's spirit denies to have had at first place as he forgot to get buy the policy. To this the husband spirit squeakily replies that he didn't know that he will die. Now, the drama unfolds when the woman starts scolding her deceased husband for not remembering to buy a term insurance. She further reminds him about the term plan of Rs one crore they had decided to purchase on Policybazaar.com for a minimum premium of Rs 490 per month. The commercial consciously takes a humorous route to convey the message, which has been the tone of the brand, in an otherwise serious insurance category. (ANI-BusinessWireIndia)
The company in its board meeting held earlier on Friday decided to invest another Rs. 30,000 crore into its telecom unit and sell 600 crore preference shares to raise the amount. These preference shares will be sold through a rights issue and will be nine percent non-cumulative optionally convertible (OCPS) available at Rs. 50 each including a premium of Rs. 40.

RIL had already invested Rs. 1.71 lakh crore while setting up its telecom venture Jio Infocomm. Ever since its launch on September 5, 2016, Jio has amassed more than 70 million users, owing to its free voice calls and data plans. The subscriber addition rate is said to be one of the highest, thereby, raising Rs. 30,000 crore last year and rights issue in two tranches in January and September.

The telecom major, however, has been suffering from lack of network coverage and call drop, which it now looks to overcome with the new investment.

The company's board has forwarded a statement in this regard to the National Stock Exchange.

RIL is also expected to launch Jio's VoLTE feature phones with prices staring at Rs. 999. (ANI)
In a sigh of relief to the passengers stranded at the Lucknow Airport, the radar failure has been rectified and normal functioning has begun. Lucknow Airport director P. K. Srivastava informed that the damaged cards have been replaced adding that everything is functioning normally now. He also told that the no-term, which was issued earlier, has been withdrawn and the airlines along with the catering facility have been informed of the same. "Four cards were damaged in DVOR. We got them replaced and we checked their serviceability with the help of over flying aircrafts. We withdrew the no term once the aircrafts gave confirmation of cards serviceability. DVOR facility has been made available since 12.30 a.m. No term was issued and the catering facility, apart from the airlines has now been informed of its withdrawal. Everything is functioning normally now," Srivastava told ANI. "Jet Airways flight is to arrive at the airport at 7.30 a.m.," he added. All flight operations were suspended at the Lucknow Airport yesterday following the failure of the radar frequency system, which affected the landing and takeoff of all aircrafts. Almost 16 flights were affected due to the Radar DVOR failure which was reported at 4:30 p.m. yesterday. (ANI)
While praying for the peace of the departed souls, the Congress president hoped the government to provide adequate relief measures.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi also expressed grief on the loss of lives and extended his condolences to the bereaved families.

Meanwhile, expressing deep sorrow over the tragedy, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar announced an ex-gratia of Rs. four lakhs and directed the concerned departments to speed up the rescue and relief operation.

At least 20 people were killed after a boat turned turtle in the Ganges River in Patna, Bihar today, whereas eight people were rescued and 25 others swam to safety.

According to reports, the accident took place when the boat was about to reach the river bank.

The boat was returning from a kite festival on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. (ANI)
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Bulawayo City Council is ready to evict Prominent Harare self proclaimed prophet, Emmanuel Makandiwa who took over Textile Mills premises in the city and converted the factory shell into a church.The Makandiwa fronted United Family International Church and a host of Pentecostal churches have in recent years taken over factories taking advantage of several closures.Makandiwa's church took over Textile Mills factory along Josiah Chinamano Road and 15th Avenue in Belmont.Makandiwa took over the factory that was once a source of livelihood for hundreds of Textile Mills workers and their families and transformed it into a house of worship.Among those to be affected is Eagle Life led by Prophet Blessing Chiza.He is based at an industrial building near Ross Camp.Church organisations have converted company premises into halls of worship as efforts to revive the city's industry have clearly failedChurch groupings have been known for taking over cinema's in the city.According to Sunday reports, Bulawayo Town Clerk, Christopher Dube is quoted saying council was receiving dozens of investment inquiries against a few available industrial bases.He said the lease agreements that exist between property owners in the industrial areas and the council state that when need arises the premises must be made available for industrial purposes."There are quite a number of properties that were leased to churches. There is a clause in the lease agreement that specifies that these industrial firms must be made available when such a situation comes up" he said.
Prime Minister Modi was to address the MG Setu rehabilitation foundation stone laying program tomorrow via video conferencing.

The Prime Minister has also expressed grief over the loss of lives in the tragedy.

"PM expressed grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar. He extended condolences to the bereaved families," tweeted the Prime Minister Office (PMO).

At least 20 people were killed after a boat turned turtle in the Ganger River in Patna, Bihar today, whereas eight people were rescued and 25 others swam to safety.

According to reports, the accident took place when the boat was about to reach the river bank.

The boat was returning from a kite festival on the occasion of Makar Sankranti. (ANI)
Yoga gurus from reputed Yoga institutions of the country are not on the same page with remarks made by Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi in which he suggested that those who cannot perform Padmasana (lotus posture), cannot do yoga, a dig he directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The opinion of the yoga experts seem to be opposite to Mr Gandhi's theory and they were of the view that an individual can be a true yogi despite not being able to perform Padmasana perfectly. Padmasana or Lotus position is a cross-legged yoga posture which helps deepen meditation by calming the mind and alleviating various physical ailments. A regular practice of this posture, according yoga gurus, aids in overall blossoming of the practitioner, just like a lotus; and hence the name Padmasana. But the same lotus posture was used to mock Mr Modi by Mr Gandhi during Jan Vedna conference held here last week to highlight the plight of people in the wake of demonetisation and alleged anti-poor policies of the Union government. Taking a pot shot at the Prime Minister, Mr Gandhi fashioned around his love for yoga, saying that what Mr Modi did on World Yoga Day was no Padmasana. Questioning the Prime Minister's yoga proficiency, he said: "I did yoga for a while. I am no expert. But my yoga teacher told me whoever does yoga, can do the Padmasana, and those who can't do the Padmasana can't do yoga." "This is not true," said Dr Manmath Manohar Gharote, Director of The Lonavla Yoga Institute, one of the top yoga institutions in the country, based at Lonavla, Maharashtra. "It's not correct to say that people who cannot perform padmasana cannot achieve the ultimate through yoga," he said, explaining that ardh-padmasana, sukhasana, samasana and vajrasana are some of the optional asnas, which can be practiced for pranayama, a higher level in the yoga. The ideal posture may be padamasana for pranayama, said Dr Gharote, but he said "samamkaya shirogrivam (top of the body should be straight)" is correct posture for a yogi, who tries to push energy flow upward. "If somebody has broken leg, cannot he be a yogi?" Dr Gharote asked to counter the argument. On the other hand, Director of Morarji Desai National Institute of Yoga Dr Ishwar V Basavaraddi said this is not true that Mr Modi cannot practice Padmasana. "I have seen him in a perfect position of Padmasana," he said, adding that this posture is one of the postures for meditation. "In fact Siddhasana is best suited for meditation," he said. Moreover, Yogi Patanjali did not mention any asana in his sutras, he said. "Goal of yoga is to make you meditate. Patanjali has given the sutra that the back should be in triangular shape for meditation," said Dr Basavaraddi. "People, who limit yoga to body exercise, do greatest harm to yoga," said another yoga expert Om Dutt Bhardwaj, belonging to Delhi based Yog Vigyan Sansthan. "The ultimate aim of yoga is to immerse state of mind with parmatma, the God," he said. "On the highest level of yoga, a practitioner should try to dissolve his soul, the spiritual or immaterial part of human being with the God, making the body completely irrelevant," he said. UNI MK SV 1022 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0090-1107719.Xml
Confusion in the ranks of ruling Samajwadi Party in Uttar Pradesh might be removed tomorrow with likely announcement by the Election Commission of its order on which faction of the party would get the name and its symbol 'cycle' or the symbol would be frozen. The matter went to the Election Commission after Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav called the party's national convention at Lucknow on January 1 and declared himself as SP national president replacing his father and SP founder-leader Mulayam Singh Yadav following months or rather years of power struggle in the family. Mr Mulayam and his younger brother Shivpal Singh Yadav plus Mr Amar Singh were ranged on one side and Mr Akhilesh Yadav and the SP patriarch's cousin Ramgopal Yadav were in the other camp. Both camps had filed their claims before the Election Commission for getting the party's existing name and the symbol. Last week, Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav and Mr Ram Gopal Yadav, who is spearheading the Akhilesh faction, had submitted proof of support of majority legislators to the Election Commission to bolster their respective claims. The SP saga took an interesting turn when Mr Mulayam Singh Yadav declared that there was no rift in the party, but accused Prof Ram Gopal Yadav of misguiding his son. Other important political players in the state, including Bharatiya Janata Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and Congress, are keenly watching the developments in the ruling party of Uttar Pradesh and the EC verdict on the symbol. With the process for election to the Assembly polls already set in motion and just one month left for the first phase poll in Uttar Pradesh, the two camps have much at stake in the decision of the Election Commission as to which side party's name and symbol will go or whether it will be frozen. The EC had yesterday completed the hearing on the rival claims but had reserved its verdict, which is however likely to come tomorrow, or latest by 17th morning, the day when the process of filing of nominations would begin with the issue of the notification for the first phase of polling. The confusion over who would get the Samajwadi Party symbol of 'cycle' or whether it would be frozen for time being has delayed the announcement of a pre-poll pact between Congress and SP at least till Monday, a UNI report from Lucknow said. The two parties are ready with the blueprint and are likely to reveal their master plan for the coming Assembly polls once the Election Commission pronounces its decision on the SP symbol. Interestingly, this is the first time that Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is actively taking interest in UP politics and playing a key role in thrashing out an alliance for gaining power in the state. Sources confirmed that an understanding between the two parties has been reached as Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav's wife Dimple Yadav initiated talks on her husband's behalf. It is being said that both Priyanka and Dimple are set to play major roles in facilitating the alliance to get a majority in the UP Assembly. UNI NAZ/MB SV 0944 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1107920.Xml
After nine hours of closure which led to a major chaos among the passengers, Choudhury Charan Singh Amausi International Airport reopened early today after repair of the failed radar system. The engineers rectified the problem at around 0100 hrs and the airport has been reopened for normal traffic. The first flight to land this morning was of a Jet aircraft from New Delhi. More then 30 flights had been cancelled yesterday after the radar system installed at the Air Control stopped functioning at 1600 hrs. Engineers were rushed from Kanpur and Delhi and later, the radar was repaired after nine hours of work by changing all the four cards, a senior official here confirmed. Earlier, it was said that the repair would take at least 48 hours and the airport will be closed for two days. According to the reports, technical fault has been detected in the DVOR (Doppler Very High Frequency Omni-Range) radar. This system at the air traffic control gives the aircraft direction of landing and take off. Due to the cancellation of the flights yesterday, passengers created scenes demanding explanation from authorities. Additional security forces were rushed to the airport after some passengers clashed with the airlines' employees. There were no AAI authorities or Airlines officials available to pacify the irate passengers. Passengers were demanding refund of the fares but the airlines staff fled from the scene saying they have no such fund. The passengers also demanded alternative transportation and even food and lodging by the airlines. Some passengers, who could not go to Delhi, took shared taxi from the airport so that they can reach there by this morning. UNI MB SV 0851 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0431-1108068.Xml
Prime Minister Narendra Modi today expressed deep grief on the loss of lives caused by the boat tragedy in Bihar and announced relief for the affected people. He extended condolences to the bereaved families. The Prime Minister approved ex-gratia from Prime Minister's National Relief Fund of Rs 2 lakh for the next of kin of those deceased, and Rs 50,000 for those seriously injured. An overloaded boat had sunk in the Ganga yesterday. So far, 24 bodies have been recovered. Chief Minister Nitish Kumar has already ordered an investigation into the accident.UNI NAZ SV 1144 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1108149.Xml
"We salute the courage & invaluable service of the Indian Army," the Prime Minister said in a series of tweets.

He said, ''The Indian Army always leads from the front, be it in protecting the sovereignty of our nation or helping citizens during natural disasters.''

"We remember with great pride all the sacrifices made by our Army. They put their lives at risk so that 125 crore Indians live peacefully," he said.

The Defence Minister also extended his greetings and best wishes to all ranks of the Army and their families. A grand parade was held at Carippa parade ground here to commemorate the Army Day. It is celebrated on January 15 every year, in recognition of Lieutenant General K M Cariappa's taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from General Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander-in-Chief of India, on January 15,1949. UNI MK CJ SV 1154

-- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1108165.Xml
The Army Day was celebrated this day every year. The day was significant and in recognition of Lieutenant General (later Field Marshal) K M Cariappa's taking over as the first Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Army from Sir Francis Butcher, the last British Commander, in 1948.

A wreath laying ceremony was held at Victory War Memorial on the beach road to pay homage to the soldiers of all three services who made the supreme sacrifice for the Nation.

Lieutenant General R K Anand, General Officer Commanding, Dakshin Bharat area laid the wreath at the War Memorial alongwith veterans at the solemn function. Later, Military Band concert was organized in commemoration of the Army Day Celebration.

The audience was enthralled by the patriotic tunes played by the Band. UNI GV CS 1223

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The Naga Peoples Front (NPF) has taken note of the word use of "so called" in stating the designation and official role of Minister for National Highways, Mechanical and Elections Nuklutoshi Longkumer. In a release by Apong Pongener working president of the NPF party said that the president of the party Dr Shurhozelie Liezietsu, issued a letter yesterday noting the Ao Senden's resolution censuring said minister. "The first part of the resolved that Mr Nuklotoshi, the so called minister of the state and the last part of the resolution said Mr Nuklotoshi was debarred from entering Ao territory" the NPF president began. The release stated that the minister was elected from the 22-Arkakong Assembly Constituency in 2013 by securing 8,544 votes defeating his nearest rival by a margin of over 1,000 votes. "He was appointed as a cabinet minister by the Governor of Nagaland under the recommendation of the Chief Minister. The oaths of allegiance and secrecy was administered to him by the Governor of Nagaland on May 24, 2014 at Raj Bhavan, Kohima," the NPF stated. Since then, it said, he has been discharging his duties as a cabinet minister holding the portfolios of the NH and mechanical departments. All these steps were taken up strictly as per the provisions of Article 164 (1) of the Constitution of India, the NPF president stated. Therefore, the NPF stated, Nuklotoshi is a legally-appointed minister. "Any one calls him 'so-called Minister' is an expressing not only to disgrace minister Nuklotoshi, but the more serious is that it a challenges the validity of the Indian Constitution. As a result, the expression has become illegal," the release stated, adding that he was performing his duties as a minister the decision of the government to conduct the municipal and town elections. "If this is done intentionally, this will be viewed with all seriousness. But if this mistake is done emotionally, the best course for Ao (Senden) to withdraw the resolution. Because in a serious case of this nature, tendering apology is not sufficient to cover up the mistake," the release added. UNI AS AKM 1445 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0213-1108344.Xml
Leaders of Jammu and Kashmir Shiv Sena today demanded security cover alleging threat from Pakistan sponsored terrorists."We appeal to the State Government to provide police security cover to all leaders without any delay,'' Shiv Sena State General Secretary, Manish Sahni here told the mediapersons.He said that it is very unfortunate that the Government has not yet provided any security to Shiv Sena leaders despite the fact that their life is under threat by Pak sponsored militants. "The threat letters by militant organisations are received by Shiv Sena leaders who are nationalists and are fighting with these militants at all levels,'' Mr Sahni said adding that an FIR is also lodged in this regard at the concerned Police Station.The Shiv Sena leader said that after so many requests the state government has took a callous attitude towards their demand of providing them security. "If anything untoward will happen to any of the leader, the responsibility will lie upon the state government, who is encouraging the militants by giving them compensation worth lakhs,'' he added.UNI VBH JW SNU 1630 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1108455.Xml
A businessman was fatally attacked by unidentified men on his way home in Madhya Pradesh's Jhabua district, police said.Some businessmen from Petlawad had gone to 'haat bazaar' (weekly market) at Meghnagar yesterday. While returning, they were forced to stop their vehicle on the Jhosar-Matapada Road as the road was blocked by stones. As Suresh, one among them, alighted to remove the stones, he was assaulted by the miscreants. Suresh died in the attack. Other businessmen, who were in the vehicle, fled from the spot. Prima facie, loot appears to be the motive behind the incident. There is no breakthrough in the case so far, police said.UNI XC-PS JW SNU 1546 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0044-1108338.Xml
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) will only release the $5 bond notes into the market in March.RBZ injected $1 bond coins and $2 bond notes in November last year.Currently, $72, 9 million of bond notes are now in use.RBZ Governor John Mangudya said the $5 notes will be released at an appropriate time."The $5 notes will be unveiled when it comes at the appropriate time, normally those are issues of security, but they will be on the market during the first quarter around March" he is quoted saying.Mangudya said they will not flood the market.
The ruling Shiromani Akali Dal today suffered a setback with a senior party leader from Patiala joining the Congress.SAD leader Gian Chand Chano joined the Congress along with Surinder Arora, a close relative of senior Akali leader Bhagwan Dass Juneja, and more than three dozen of their supporters. They were welcomed into the party fold by Patiala MLA Preneet Kaur at Moti Bagh Palace.Talking to media persons, Ms Kaur said the days of the Akali Dal were numbered and there was a strong wave in favour of the Congress in Punjab. She said every section of Punjab's society was fed up of the Badals' anti-people policies, with even the Akali leaders and workers feeling suffocated under their leadership, as evidenced in the large number of SAD leaders joining the Congress in recent days.The Patiala MLA said the induction of sincere and hardworking leaders from other parties would further strengthen the Congress and expressed confidence that the party would form the next government in Punjab with a two-third majority.Gian Chand Chano was the Vice-president of the Patiala Unit of SAD Beopar Cell, while Surinder Arora is a close relative of Bhagwan Dass Juneja, who had unsuccessfully contested the last assembly election against Captain Amarinder Singh from Patiala. Both the leaders have pledged their unconditional support to Congress. UNI VJ AE SNU 1632 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0292-1108360.Xml
A woman and her three children drowned in Birma river, while crossing it with support of tyre's tube in Rath area of Hamirpur district of Uttar Pradesh, police sources said here today.Sunita was returning from Mela in Mavai village with her children Princi (8), Kapil (5) and Pratima (12) last night. Meanwhile when they were crossing the river Birma with support of a tube, all of them drowned due to fast flow in the river.A farmer working in a nearby field heard the voices when they were drowning but when he reached all of them were drowned.Sources said that local swimmers pulled out the bodies from river.UNI XC-JDM MB JW SNU 1742 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0364-1108528.Xml
Harsimrat told ANI, "Someone, who calls himself a 'fauji', will not run away from the battle like a coward at the sight of the first general in front of him."

"No wonder he left the fauj and came back to his palace."

"Lambi is a just a ploy to run away in order to avoid losing badly," she added.

Earlier on Saturday, Amarinder Singh declared that he will contest the upcoming state assembly elections from Lambi, which happens to be the home turf of the ruling Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, while also contesting from the home seat of Patiala.

It would be the first time in the history of Punjab that a former chief minister will take on a current one, that too in the latter's home constituency.

Captain Amarinder stated that he had sought the party high command's permission to contest from Badal's constituency Lambi to ensure the total defeat of the Akali leadership in Punjab responsible for destroying the state through drugs, mafia and 'goonda raj'.

Assembly elections in the state will be held on February 4, where people of Punjab will vote for 117 legislative seats. (ANI)
Union Minister for Information and Broadcasting M Venkaiah Naidu formally inaugurated the festival by lighting the traditional lamp in the presence of a large number of dance connoisseurs.

Union minister of state for labour Bandaru Dattatreya and Dr A Surya Prakash, Chairman of Prasar Bharati which hosted the festival in association with the Telangana government were among the dignitaries who graced the occasion.

Dancers from Maldives, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, Phillippines, Fiji, Azerbaijan, Malaysia, India and Indonesia displayed their dancing skills during the grand finale.

The festival was conceptualised to bring the cultural diversities from across the world into limelight by breaking cultural barriers.MORE UNI SMS CS 1810

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Nagaland Governor P B Acharya has appreciated the Indigo Airlines for their decision to carry dead bodies free of cost to the residents of North East region from Delhi. In a appreciation letter to the president and Whole Time Director of the Indigo Airlines Aditya Ghosh today, copy of which release to the press from the PRO of the Raj Bhavan of Kohima, Mr. Acharya said, "I appreciate and congratulate you for launching 'Akhiri Ahuti' a social service, in association with Delhi Police, under which Indigo Airlines would ferry free of cost the bodies of North East residents who die in Delhi to their homes in North East. I value your care for North East people. "We all are one." The letter said the "Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is in action a great relief from both financial and emotional point of view for North East people. I, on behalf of Government of Nagaland, people of Nagaland and on my own behalf convey our sincere thanks to Indigo Airlines," Mr Acharya said. UNI AS BM -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0214-1108888.Xml
The Lokayukta of the state Justice (Retd) M L Tahaliyani has issued an order to take action against the then directors of the Nanded District Central Cooperative Bank responsible for the alleged misappropriation of Rs 350 crore, recently. During the period of 2002 to 2005 the alleged misappropriation of Rs 350 crore of the bank was surfaced but the then minister of cooperation gave clean chit to the guilty directors. Now the former MLA and the president of the Nanded District Central Cooperative Bank Bachao Kriti Samiti (save action committee) Dr D R Deshmukh,with support of concrete proofs, lodged a complaint on January 12 at the Lokayukta. In the complaint Dr Deshmukh stated that the then directors of the bank, without having security from the state government and without having potential of refunding, issued a debt of Rs 1.33 crore to the Kalambar Cooperative Sugar Factory. Dr Deshmukh alleged that 14 directors were responsible for the misappropriation. He leveled 23 allegations against the directors including issuing debt of Rs 13 crore, despite having ban by the NABARD, for the non-agricultural purpose during the period 2002 to 2003; granting a debt of Rs 78 crore to the Godavari Manar Cooperative Sugar Factory which is still pending to be recovered, misappropriation in computer purchasing, in recruitment of employees, giving voluntary retirement to the 14 permanent employees causing a loss of Rs 3.77 crore, granting a bonus of Rs 1112 to each of the employees and others. The Lokayukta raised a question that despite having objection in the audit report of the bank against the directors why police action was not taken against the them. He says, that though clean chit was given to the directors by the Commissioner of Cooperation and then minister of cooperation, there should be no effects on inquiry to be made by the police. The Lokayukta has issued an order to inquire into the modus operandi of the then directors of the bank and draft a primary report. It is to be submitted before the Lokayukta at the next hearing scheduled on January 23. Future of the then directors depends upon the decision of the Lokayukta.UNI XR NP SHS SHK 2108 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0171-1108746.Xml
Prof Monica Martinez, Professor of Communication and Culture, University of Sorocaba, Brazil, compared the media practices in India and Brazil and said that the Brazilian media is still relevant in the age of digital technology. Prof Martinez was addressing an interaction session organized jointly by the Andhra University (AU) Department of Journalism and Mass Communication(JMC) and Linguistics Research Society (LRS) at Andhra University(AU) here today. She pointed out that still mass media particularly newspapers are referred for credibility of news instead of Internet and digital media and social media dissemination of news. Prof Monica said that internet still lags behind in Brazil where as mobile phones became the main technology of connectivity and dissemination of information. She also said that news is covered similarly in both the countries and mostly Brazilian media uses the native language Portuguese. She said that she is working on Brazilian media in the context of BRICS Media studies and added that private education in Brazil is very costly compared to public education. Prof Monica said that Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi commands huge popularity abroad particularly in Brazil also. Prof V Uma Maheswara Rao, AU Registrar, felicitated Prof Monica Martinez. He said that Andhra University would take up academic and research collaborations with Brazilian Universities. Prof D V R Murthy, Chairman, Board of Studies, Dr Challa Ramakrishna, Assistant Professor(JMC) were Participated.UNI BSR SHS SHK 2225 -- (UNI) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1108934.Xml
Atleast six pilgrims were killed and ten others injured today in a stampede at Kachuberia on the Sagar island. The devotees were returning to Kolkata after taking a holy dip at Gangasagar in West Bengal on the occasion of Makar Sankranti yesterday. The stampede occurred at around 1745 hours when there was a huge rush of pilgrims to board vessels at Kachuberia jetty to reach Kolkata, the police said adding all of them were middle aged and are yet to be identified. "Few devotees became unconscious due to suffocation at Kachuberia jetty and were rushed to a temporary health centre nearby, where six of them died due to heart attack," state Sundarbands Development Minister Manturam Pakhira said. "All six dead were middle aged women and three of them were from Uttar Pradesh," Mr Pakhira said. Describing the incident, West Bengal Public Health Engineering and Rural Development (PHE) Minister Subrata Mukherjee said, "A large number of people were in rush at Kachuberia jetty number 5 when a vessel arrived there and few persons fell senseless due to suffocation." According to witnesses, the pilgrims were said to be on their way back and started jostling to board a vessel at Kachuberia this evening. The vessel operations were on a halt due to high tides for a couple of hours. As a result of this delay, the crowd at Kachuberia jetty number 5 at South 24 Parganas district, about 120km from Kolkata, increased and the excessive pressure by the crowd led to a stampede. The injured were admitted to the nearby hospital. A search has been launched by naval divers to find out anybody who might have fallen into Buriganga river during the stampede, a senior police official said. The state government, however, has announced a compensation of 5 lakh each to the families of the deceased. Meanwhile, PHE minister Mr Mukherjee said a total 16 lakh pilgrims took their holy dip in two days on the occasion of Makar Sankranti at Ganga Sagar. UNI BM SHK 2153 -- (UNI) -- C-1-DL0214-1108921.Xml
The untoward incident took place when the picnic party pick up van returning from Bethuadahari also in Nadia district collided face to face with the truck, police said.

The deceased students have not been identified as yet. The injured were admitted to the nearby hospital.UNI XC-BM SHS SHK 2243

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The Narendra Modi government should show decisiveness of the kind that was on display over demonetisation to depoliticise and revamp regulatory bodies in higher education and research like the University Grants Commission (UGC), a noted scientist has said. P. Balaram, a celebrated biochemist and educator and former Director of the Indian Institute of Science (IISc), also dismissed as "meaningless" and "silly" the so-called efforts at the "saffronisation of science". "If you can do that (demonetise), I don't see any difficulty in (taking action) in higher education and research. The most important thing is to immediately do something about the regulatory bodies in higher education, the UGC, AICTE and NAAC," Balaram said. A complete revamp and depoliticisation of the three crucial bodies was a must as there "needs to be some level of professionalism in education", Balaram told IANS in an interview at the IISER-Kolkata campus here on the sidelines of the Advances in Life Sciences conference. The three-day event has been organised by the institute's Biological Sciences Department. (AICTE is the All-India Council for Technical Education; NAAC is the National Assessment and Accreditation Council.) "Education also comes with the problem that it has a very large private component and so you need to look at private and public institutions separately," suggested the 68-year-old scientist spent 43 years at IISc Bengaluru, including nine years helming the top-ranked institute. Balaram dismissed claims of "saffronisation of science" under the Modi regime, days after the 104th edition of the Indian Science Congress drew flak for equating science with spirituality. "I don't take all that seriously. It's good for the press. It's good for the fringe. You can't saffronise (science). It's not going to happen," he maintained. "It's meaningless. It is silly. After all, in the US there's a big lobby for what is called creation science, they are creationists. Let them say whatever they are saying. How does that matter?" Balaram averred. Observing the process of accreditation of institutions has become corrupt over the years, Balaram, a Distinguished Alumnus of IIT-Kanpur, blamed interference in the academic autonomy of establishments. "If you want to accredit institutions you can't have public and private institutions mixed together. The accreditation process over the years also has become very corrupt because of the mushrooming of colleges and this interference in academic autonomy of institutions," he said. Known for his incisive talks and writings, Balaram highlighted the differences in autonomy in administration and academics. "In administrative functioning, you are taking money from the government, so you must follow certain rules for spending it and you must pay your people certain salaries; one doesn't want autonomy in that at all. But academic autonomy is what courses you start, what courses have to be recognised and that I think the UGC interferes with," he noted. Batting for increasing the budget for higher education and research, the veteran scientist recommended the Department of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Human Resource Development work together. A former member of the now-defunct National Knowledge Commission, Balaram gave high marks to the National Democratic Alliance government of Atal Behari Vajpayee (1998-2004) and the first United Progressive Alliance regime of Manmohan Singh for support to expand research. "The period during which the maximum expansion took place was NDA1 and UPA1. From about 1998 till about 2008, that decade, I think, government was extremely positive. I would give both high marks for expansion as it is an important way for showing interest and showing it's an important activity," he said. Dubbing as "worrying" the inaction in implementing reforms in the higher education sector, Balaram, known for his penchant for peptides and proteins, said the Modi government appears to be "somewhat disinterested in the area of higher education and research. "It's not high on its priority. That's also understandable because the country has so many problems. But every country must have a certain emphasis on higher education and research and it's also done by an active interest of ministers," he emphasised. Balaram did his Ph.D from Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, and underwent post-doctoral training at the Department of Chemistry in Harvard. Likening the perception of rankings of institutions to a "beauty contest", Balaram said figures should be harnessed for introspection and improvement and not for lamenting or chest-thumping. As for the National Institutional Ranking Framework (launched by MHRD in 2015), he opined: "The national rankings could be used, if you have all your parameters correct, not to grade institutions but to decide the extent and kind of support. By support, I mean all kinds, not just financial but facilitatory and also boosting morale." (Sahana Ghosh can be contacted at sahana.g@ians.in) --IANS sgh/ssp/vm/tb/sac ( 792 Words) 2017-01-15-13:56:06 (IANS)
News / Local

by Staff Reporter

Only 22 refuse trucks are servicing the entire city of Harare with 27 being grounded, city mayor has said.This comes amid the outbreak of typhoid.According to reports, each truck is operating for an average of 18 hours every day causing frequent breakdowns.Harare Mayor Councillor Bernard Manyenyeni confirmed that the city is operating with a depleted fleet.Out of 47 vehicles, we only have 22 that are operational."We have our problems and sometimes we have no diesel, so we are exposing the city to risk' he is quoted saying by Sunday Mail.Council has attempted to ban on illegal food vending last week.However, vendors put up a strong resistance.
US President Barack Obama urged his countrymen to protect and safeguard democracy in his final weekly address to the nation before handing over power to President-elect Donald Trum. Obama reiterated the message he expressed in a farewell speech on Tuesday in Chicago, calling on Americans to remain involved in the work of citizenship and be "guardians" of democracy, Efe news reports. "Every day, I learned from you. You made me a better president and you made me a better man," the President said in the address, which went live on Saturday morning. "Over the course of these eight years, I have seen the goodness, the resilience, and the hope of the American people," Obama said. "I've seen neighbours looking out for each other as we rescued our economy from the worst crisis of our lifetimes. I've hugged cancer survivors who finally know the security of affordable health care. I've seen communities ... rebuild from disaster and cities like Boston show the world that no terrorist will ever break the American spirit," he said. Obama said it had been the honour of his lifetime to serve as US president and that he would work as a citizen for the American people for the rest of his days. Obama's second term in office will conclude on January 20, when Trump is inaugurated as the United States' 45th President. --IANS vgu/ ( 239 Words) 2017-01-15-05:48:06 (IANS)
The United States would be invited to Syrian peace talks due to be held on January 23 in Astana, Kazakhstan, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said. Officials from Turkey, Russia, and Iran met in Moscow on Friday in preparation for the summit, and decided to invite the US to the negotiations, Xinhua Agency reported. "We have agreed to invite the US to the talks. The US will be in Astana. We do not deny the contribution and role of the US," Cavusoglu said on Saturday. The Foreign Minister also stressed that Turkey opposed to the inclusion of the People's Protection Units (YPG) in the peace talks. "If you invite a terrorist group (YPG), then you should also invite Al-Nusra, the Islamic State. This is nonsense," he said, adding that Washington must end its cooperation with terrorist groups. "We clearly say that all weapons supplied by the US to the Democratic Union Party (PYD) ended up in the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) hands," the minister added. Turkey considers the PYD and its armed wing, the YPG, to be the Syrian offshoots of the PKK, yet Washington does not list the YPG as a terrorist group. Cavusoglu's comments came in the wake of US States Department spokesman Mark Toner's statements to the press on Tuesday. Toner said the PYD should be party to any Syrian peace talks, and sooner or later have a place at the negotiating table. Toner claimed the US supports any effort aimed at getting political negotiations back on track and solidifying the ceasefire in Syria. The Assad regime and the moderate opposition will be expected to meet for talks for the first time in nearly a year in Astana. --IANS vgu/ ( 295 Words) 2017-01-15-05:48:07 (IANS)
The company is already engaged in the construction of 'Orange Line Metro Train project' in Lahore, reports the Daily Times.

NORINCO International is a public listed company subordinate to China North Industries Corporation and its business scope covers projects in sectors of railway and urban rail transit systems besides several other domains such as highways and expressways.

A group of representatives from this company visited the head office of the civic body on Friday and delivered a presentation.

A brief comparison among Metro Train, Light Rail Transit (Tram) and Traditional Light Rail Transit was presented before the city managers.

The company representatives highlighted different merits and demerits of aforementioned three kinds of transport systems, but recommended the Light Rail Transit for Islamabad.

The proposed LRT for Islamabad will have the capacity to cater to around 8,000 to 20,000 passengers per hour while its each unit will have the capacity to occupy 350-700 passengers at a time.

The maximum speed of the proposed LRT is 80 kilometres per hour, but it operates on the speed of 20-35 kilometres per hour while the project can be implementable on both dedicated or partially dedicated right of the way.

"The tentative cost of this project would be around one billion rupees per kilometre, which is not so much expensive", an insider of the meeting commented on the condition of anonymity. (ANI)
A joint communique issued on Saturday said that both countries pledged to seek basic and long-term solutions that both sides can accept via negotiation, and discuss transitional solutions that will not affect each other's stance including the research of joint development, reports Xinhua.

The communique was issued as General Secretary of the Communist Party of Vietnam (CPV) Central Committee Nguyen Phu Trong paid a four-day official visit to China since Thursday.

China and Vietnam had "a candid exchange of views" on maritime issues, according to the communique.

It said that both sides agreed to fully and effectively implement the Declaration on the Conduct (DOC) of Parties in the South China Sea and strive for the early conclusion of a Code of Conduct (COC) on the basis of consensus in the framework of the DOC.

During Trong's four-day visit, he met with five of the seven members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee, including talks with President Xi Jinping, and separate meetings with Premier Li Keqiang, top legislator Zhang Dejiang, top political advisor Yu Zhengsheng and top graft-buster Wang Qishan.

Both sides also encouraged cooperation on economy and trade, defense, security and law enforcement, cultural, youth and local areas, the communique said.(ANI)
The global economy is in better shape than it's been in years. Stock markets are booming, oil prices are on the rise again and the risks of a rapid economic slowdown in China, a major source of concern a year ago, have eased.And yet, as political leaders, CEOs and top bankers make their annual trek up the Swiss Alps to the World Economic Forum in Davos, the mood is anything but celebratory.Beneath the veneer of optimism over the economic outlook lurks acute anxiety about an increasingly toxic political climate and a deep sense of uncertainty surrounding the U.S. presidency of Donald Trump, who will be inaugurated on the final day of the forum.Last year, the consensus here was that Trump had no chance of being elected. His victory, less than half a year after Britain voted to leave the European Union, was a slap at the principles that elites in Davos have long held dear, from globalisation and free trade to multilateralism.Trump is the poster child for a new strain of populism that is spreading across the developed world and threatening the post-war liberal democratic order. With elections looming in the Netherlands, France, Germany, and possibly Italy, this year, the nervousness among Davos attendees is palpable."Regardless of how you view Trump and his positions, his election has led to a deep, deep sense of uncertainty and that will cast a long shadow over Davos," said Jean-Marie Guehenno, CEO of International Crisis Group, a conflict resolution think-tank.Moises Naim of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was even more blunt: "There is a consensus that something huge is going on, global and in many respects unprecedented. But we don't know what the causes are, nor how to deal with it."The titles of the discussion panels at the WEF, which runs from Jan. 17-20, evoke the unsettling new landscape. Among them are "Squeezed and Angry: How to Fix the Middle Class Crisis", "Politics of Fear or Rebellion of the Forgotten?", "Tolerance at the Tipping Point?" and "The Post-EU Era".The list of leaders attending this year is also telling. The star attraction will be Xi Jinping, the first Chinese president ever to attend Davos. His presence is being seen as a sign of Beijing's growing weight in the world at a time when Trump is promising a more insular, "America first" approach and Europe is pre-occupied with its own troubles, from Brexit to terrorism.British Prime Minister Theresa May, who has the thorny task of taking her country out of the EU, will also be there. But Germany's Angela Merkel, a Davos regular whose reputation for steady, principled leadership would have fit well with the WEF's main theme of "Responsive and Responsible Leadership", will not.'REJOICING IN THE ELEVATORS'Perhaps the central question in Davos, a four-day affair of panel discussions, lunches and cocktail parties that delve into subjects as diverse as terrorism, artificial intelligence and wellness, is whether leaders can agree on the root causes of public anger and begin to articulate a response.A WEF report on global risks released before Davos highlighted "diminishing public trust in institutions" and noted that rebuilding faith in the political process and leaders would be a "difficult task".Guy Standing, the author of several books on the new "precariat", a class of people who lack job security and reliable earnings, believes more people are coming around to the idea that free-market capitalism needs to be overhauled, including those that have benefited most from it."The mainstream corporate types don't want Trump and far-right authoritarians," said Standing, who has been invited to Davos for the first time. "They want a sustainable global economy in which they can do business. More and more of them are sensible enough to realise that they have overreached."But Ian Bremmer, president of U.S.-based political risk consultancy Eurasia Group, is not so sure.He recounted a recent trip to Goldman Sachs headquarters in New York where he saw bankers "rejoicing in the elevators" at the surge in stock markets and the prospect of tax cuts and deregulation under Trump. Both Goldman CEO Lloyd Blankfein and his JP Morgan counterpart Jamie Dimon will be in Davos."If you want to find people who are going to rally together and say capitalism is fundamentally broken, Davos is not the place to go," Bremmer said.PACE OF CHANGESuma Chakrabarti, president of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), believes a "modern version of globalisation" is possible but acknowledges it will take time to emerge."It is going to be a long haul in persuading a lot of people that there is a different approach. But you don't have to throw the baby out with the bath water," he told Reuters.Still, some attendees worry that the pace of technological change and the integrated, complex nature of the global economy have made it more difficult for leaders to shape and control events, let alone reconfigure the global system.The global financial crisis of 2008/9 and the migrant crisis of 2015/16 exposed the impotence of politicians, deepening public disillusion and pushing people towards populists who offered simple explanations and solutions.The problem, says Ian Goldin, an expert on globalisation and development at the University of Oxford, is that on many of the most important issues, from climate change to financial regulation, only multilateral cooperation can deliver results. And this is precisely what the populists reject."The state of global politics is worse than it's been in a long time," said Goldin. "At a time when we need more coordination to tackle issues like climate change and other systemic risks, we are getting more and more insular."REUTERS CJ BL1256 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0400-1108231.Xml
Pakistan's Ambassador to the United States, Jalil Abbas Jilani, has suggested that the incoming Donald Trump administration should seriously consider revisiting the sale of F-16 fighter jets to Pakistan and also resolve issues with regard to the Coalition Support Fund (CSF). "Cooperation between Pakistan and the US in the fight against terrorism will be further strengthened by revisiting the sale of F-16s and CSF issues," Jilani told American print and electronic media correspondents at a reception for them at the Pakistan Embassy in Washington. He said Pakistan looks forward to closely working with the incoming administration of President-elect Donald Trump. In April last year, US lawmakers blocked a move by the Obama administration to subsidise Pakistan's purchase of eight F-16 fighter jets after accusing Islamabad of 'not doing enough' to crack down on militants. The Express Tribune quoted Jilani, as saying Pakistan and the United States had a historic relationship which spanned over seven decades. He said the interests of both countries converged on several issues and that this would help strengthen their bilateral ties in the future. (ANI)
The incoming administration of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump is likely to continue the 'carrot and stick policy' with Pakistan, say experts after analyzing the statements made by Defense Secretary-designate James 'Mad Dog" Mattis during two days of hearing before the Armed Services Committee of the U.S. Senate. Mattis, through his responses to specific questions related to Pakistan, on Thursday and Friday, indicated that while he would work to build bridges with Islamabad and try to restore the trust that has eroded between the two nations in recent years, he would also urge the latter to "neutralise" militant groups that allegedly operate within its borders. Diplomatic observers, according to the Dawn, are interpreting these statements as a glimpse of the Trump administration's military policy towards Pakistan, which indicate the continuation of the carrot-and-stick policy of the Obama administration. Mattis also used his confirmation hearing to caution the U.S. Congress that putting conditions on US security assistance to Pakistan has not always produced the desired results, but added that he would review all options if he was confirmed. He said that the incoming government and Congress needs to be particularly aware of any behaviour that supports Pakistan-based militant groups. Matti said he would consult the Senate Armed Services Committee before making any decision on attaching conditions to American security assistance to Pakistan. Last year, the U.S. Congress refused to release funds needed for selling the F-16s to Pakistan at a reduced price, which forced the Obama administration to cancel the offer. (ANI)
The ships were received in a formal ceremony at the port by Commander of the Pakistan Fleet Vice Admiral Arifullah Hussaini.

They have been named PNS (Pakistan Navy Ship) Hingol and PNS Basol and will be deployed for the security of the port, reports the Dawn.

Director General of the Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Rear Admiral Jamil Akhter, Commander West, Commodore Mohammad Waris and top naval and civilian officials were also present during the handing over ceremony on Saturday.

The Chinese government will provide two more ships namely PNS Dasht and PNS Zhob after they are constructed.

China is extending help and cooperation to Pakistan for security along the land and sea routes of the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

Pakistan has already raised a new division of the army to ensure security along the CPEC route and in and around the Gwadar port.

Security of Gwadar city has been handed over to the army.(ANI)
US President-elect Donald Trump harshly responded to civil rights icon John Lewis, calling him "all talk -- no action" after Lewis said Trump was not a "legitimate" President, CNN reported. "Congressman John Lewis should spend more time on fixing and helping his district, which is in horrible shape and falling apart (not to mention crime infested) rather than falsely complaining about the election results. All talk, talk, talk -- no action or results. Sad," Trump tweeted on Saturday. Trump made the remarks after Lewis told NBC in an interview that the Republican would take office as an illegitimate President, citing the US intelligence community's allegations that Russia interfered in the election to harm his Democratic Party rival, Hillary Clinton. The 76-year-old Lewis -- who spoke at the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King Jr. delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech -- said he would not attend the presidential inauguration for the first time in his 30 years in Congress. Cornell William Brooks, President of the National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People (NAACP), said Trump's remarks were disrespectful and called on him to apologise. "By disrespecting @repjohnlewis, @realDonaldTrump dishonoured Lewis' sacrifice & demeaned Americans & the rights, he nearly died 4. Apologize," Brooks tweeted, including an image of a bloodied Lewis taken during the Civil Rights Era. Donna Brazile, the interim head of the Democratic National Committee, denounced Trump's remarks and said at a DNC gathering in Phoenix that Lewis "took action". "He took action from marching from Selma to Montgomery. He took action in marching toward men wielding clubs across the Pettus Bridge. They fractured his skull because of the colour of his skin. But John Lewis never stopped marching for justice and equality," she said. Meanwhile, Democratic members of Congress, highlighting Lewis' contributions to the civil rights movement, swiftly condemned Trump. "Ahead of #MLKday2017, let us remember that many have tried to silence @repjohnlewis over the years. All have failed," tweeted House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi. California Senator Kamala Harris said Lewis doesn't deserve to be attacked by Trump. "John Lewis is an icon of the Civil Rights Movement who is fearless in the pursuit of justice and equality. He deserves better than this," she tweeted. Later, Lewis responded to Trump's comments by saying, "Today, Donald Trump attacked me on Twitter. He said that I'm 'all talk' and 'no action',". "I've been beaten bloody, tear-gassed, fighting for what's right for America... Sometimes that's what it takes to move our country in the right direction." He continued: "Some leaders reject decades of progress and want to return to the dark past, when the power of law was used to deny the freedoms protected by the Constitution, the Bill of Rights, and its Amendments." "It took massive, well-organised, non-violent dissent and criticism of this great nation and its laws to move towards a greater sense of equality in America." Lewis is one of an increasing number of Democratic lawmakers who are boycotting Trump's inauguration after learning more about Russia's role in the 2016 election. --IANS soni/vt ( 520 Words) 2017-01-15-14:18:06 (IANS)
News / National

by Stephen Jakes

Zanu PF controversial youthful member Energy Mutodi who recently made headlines after his photo and Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa holding 'I am the Boss' cup is at it again after he posted his picture and a statement about his meeting with the renegade war veterans leader Christopher Mutsvangwa.The politician and businessman Mutodi reportedly met Mutsvangwa on Friday in Harare."The two politicians discussed the future of Zimbabwean politics and the possibility of the Zimbabwean economy being revived post 2018. Mutsvangwa is a vocal former cabinet minister and politburo member who fought in the liberation struggle in the 1970s. He is a fierce critic of Higher and Tertiary Education Minister Professor Jonathan Moyo whom he accuses of capturing the Zanu PF leadership and alienating President Robert Mugabe from his traditional support base; particularly the war veterans who delivered the country's independence," Mutodi said."The two politicians (Mutodi and Mutsvangwa) met following a communique by some unelected Zanu PF members posing as the party provincial chairpersons that purportedly accused Mutodi of being too critical of President Mugabe.The communique that was authored by the duo of Professor Jonathan Moyo and Saviour Kasukuwere and given to the chairpersons for a read out has now been dubbed the "Tyson Declaration".He said it also accused Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa of hobnobbing with party renegades and expelled party members such as former Mashonaland West youth boss Vengai Musengi, former Manicaland provincial chairperson Mike Madiro among others in such manner as Jesus Christ did with sinners and outcasts; drawing fierce rebuke from hypocritical Pharisees and Sadducees."The Midlands godfather who is Mugabe's aid since war times is seen as the most likely successor to President Mugabe, Zimbabwe's sole ruler since the country's independence from Britain in 1980. However, Mnangagwa continues to face stiff resistance from a G-40 faction in the ruling party that is disguising as a support base bidding for First Lady Grace Mugabe to succeed her own husband when in fact it is a ploy to isolate Mugabe from his support base and render him weak enough to surrender power to either Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere or Phelekezela Mphoko," Mutodi said.He said the G-40 has tried in many ways to create a feud between Mnangagwa and Mugabe, with their latest attempt being an imagined correlation between his critiquing articles on the ruling party's leadership and Mnangagwa's perceived advances towards the presidency.Mutodi has written articles advising President Mugabe to either unite the party or face a humiliating defeat at the polls come 2018.The outspoken businessman has in the past written several articles in support of President Mugabe and even penned songs praising Mugabe, his wife Grace and Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.It is therefore crystal clear that his current critiquing of the president is a sign of bad times in the party and therefore should be viewed as a constructive piece of advise meant to serve the party from total implosion."Going into 2018, Zanu PF faces potential defeat by a possible coalition between a popular opposition party MDC-T and Zimbabwe People First (ZPF), a party composed of mainly disgruntled Zanu PF members who were fired from the party for siding with former deputy president Joice Mujuru and her faction whose main master-minder was Mugabe's long time friend Didymus Mutasa," he said."Mujuru wanted to overthrow Mugabe in a smart boardroom coup towards congress in 2014 but was stopped by Mugabe's highly alert intelligence service.Following her dethronement from both her party and government positions, it was thought there would be peace in the ruling party although it was in actual fact a beginning of an even more dramatic war."He said a G-40 faction whose kingpins became Jonathan Moyo, Saviour Kasukuwere and Mugabe's nephew Patrick Zhuwawo suddenly emerged and in order to steal limelight and Mugabe's favor, it proposed that Mugabe would be succeeded by his wife."The faction, while facing resistance from Mnangagwa's supporters who are calling themselves "Team Lacoste" successfully gained access to Mugabe and has since 2014 engaged in a desperate attempt to soil Mnangagwa's name and cause commotion in the party such that a president of its choice emerges as Mugabe's successor," Mutodi posted"At the centre of the succession war is Mugabe's old age and his refusal to openly name his choice for the country's top job has worsened the situation.The veteran president has always relied on internal party wars to claim a unifying role; thus, remaining the party and country's sole ruler for more than three decades."His post further state that in 2008, he lost an election for the first time to opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai but was resurrected back to power by Mnangagwa and the security forces who mounted a fierce second-round campaign that was boycotted by the opposition."However, the year 2018 looks harder for him because his party is now heavily divided while the war veterans who used to be his campaign soldiers are keen to see him pack his bags from State house as they accuse him of having been smuggled by a callous and politically barren G-40 faction that antagonizes the former freedom fighters," he said."While all this drama unfolds, Professor Jonathan Moyo, a well known flip flopper with strong links to Mugabe's liberation war rivals mainly Ndabaningi Sithole and Joshua Nkomo should be having victory dreams; realizing his mission to destroy Zanu PF from within is almost accomplished. An electoral defeat means a lot for Mugabe and his corrupt ministers who are desperate to keep him in office so as to remain protected from prosecution for various graft crimes. Life could also take an ugly turn for Grace herself as speculation continues to reverberate through social media that she has amassed properties and stashed huge financial reserves in friendly Asian countries at the expense of long suffering Zimbabweans."He said recently she was in the media for buying a US 1.3 million dollar diamond ring when millions of Zimbabweans are wallowing in poverty; living on less than a dollar per day. He said given these revelations that have made Zimbabweans an angry lot, anxious to see Mugabe's departure by whatever means possible, the risk of losing the 2018 elections is intolerable."When the Masvingo choir was singing, "kumagumo kune nyaya" (there is trouble at the end), it should have sounded in Mugabe's ears that they were warning him of the difficult times ahead. It is a sure case that a group of ten fake provincial chairpersons will not save the party from defeat. The time to unite the party and make bankable decisions is now," Mutodi said.
At least 299 passengers were evacuated as the Eurowings flight, from Salalah to Cologne, was diverted here, Xinhua news agency quoted a company statement as saying.

The flight was evacuated "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities", it said.

--IANS py/mr

( 72 Words)

2017-01-15-15:48:07 (IANS)
Russia plans to improve and expand its naval and air bases in Syria, Interfax news agency reported today, citing an unnamed source, as Moscow cements its presence in the Middle Eastern country, its only overseas military deployment.The source told Interfax that Russia will start repairing a second runway at Hmeimin air base near Latakia, while the Tartus naval base will be upgraded in order to handle bigger ships such as cruisers.President Vladimir Putin has announced a partial withdrawal of Russian forces from Syria, where they have been helping forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad. But Moscow wants to retain a permanent presence both in Hmeimin and Tartus.The source also told Interfax that Russia will still deploy S-300 surface-to-air defence systems and Bastion coastal missile launchers in Tartus. REUTERS PS AN1736 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0421-1108554.Xml
Iraqi special forces swept through the campus of Mosul University today to clear it of any remaining Islamic State militants after taking full control of the area, a spokesman said.A military statement said troops had also taken another area along the eastern bank of the Tigris river, in gains that are bringing more of Islamic State's last major stronghold in the country under Iraqi forces' control.Counter-terrorism service (CTS) troops drove the jihadists back inside the strategically located university complex and seized clusters of buildings including colleges on Saturday, a crucial advance towards recapturing all areas of Mosul east of the river."The university is completely liberated and forces are sweeping the complex for any hiding militants," CTS spokesman Sabah al-Numan told Reuters by phone on Sunday. "Most buildings are booby-trapped so we're being cautious.""We're not stopping," he added, saying the CTS was working to push into areas next to the university.Parts of the sprawling campus overlook neighbouring districts in eastern Mosul and towards the river. Taking the entire east bank of the Tigris, which bisects Mosul from north to south, will allow Iraqi forces to begin assaults on the city's west, which Islamic State still holds.On Saturday elite rapid response units of Iraq's federal police recaptured large areas in the southeast, securing a stretch along the bank.Loss of Mosul could spell the end of the Iraqi side of IS's self-styled caliphate, which it declared from the city after sweeping through vast areas of Iraq and Syria.Iraqi forces say they are close to recapturing the entire eastern bank. They are backed by US-led air power in an offensive launched in October to retake the city.The campaign involves a 100,000-strong force of Iraqi troops, Kurdish fighters and Shi'ite militias.Forces have made rapid advances since the start of the year, aided by new tactics and improved coordination, military officials say. REUTERS SHS RK2140 -- (Reuters) -- C-1-1-DL0329-1108897.Xml
"Unknown number of armed militants stormed security posts in Chabrima and Hortbalaqi localities on outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city last night. The Afghan Local Police (ALP) members fought back the attackers, killing four militants," Xinhua news agency quoted a security official as saying on Sunday.

One ALP police officer and four militants were also wounded during the exchange of fire lasting for hours, the source said, adding "the attack took place in the area, where security forces were constructing a permanent military base to ensure security there".

The government established the ALP, or community police in 2010 to protect villages and districts around the country where army and police have limited presence.

The Kunduz province, bordering Tajikistan and neighbouring Baghlan and Takhar provinces have been the scene of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the government forces in the once relatively peaceful region.

--IANS vgu/

( 192 Words)

2017-01-16-01:26:07 (IANS)
BRATISLAVA, Jan.14 (Xinhua) -- Heavy snowfall prompted local authorities in Kosice region, eastern Slovakia, to declare emergency in multiple locations on Saturday.

"The second-degree alert was put in place in Trebisov overnight. The first-degree alert was issued for the Kosice-surroundings district this morning," said Zoltan Bartos, head of the road maintenance administration of the Kosice region.

"All of our snow removal vehicles are clearing roads ... their passability is being maintained. There is a three- to five-centimetre layer of compacted snow on roads," added Bartos.

Trebisov mayor Marek Cizmar said that persistent snowfall necessitated a meeting of the town's crisis staff earlier on Saturday.

"Most importantly, we must ensure the passability of all roads that are crucial for emergency services before dealing with the other roads. The main road and its adjacent roads are all passable now," said Cizmar.

Snow-clearing work has continued on roads in neighbourhoods, pedestrian crossings and bus stops. The hardest-hit town overnight was Michalovce, where the first-degree alert was put in place.

Slovak Hydrometeorological Office forecast a snowfall of 30 to 50 centimeters in east Slovakia on Saturday.
KAMPALA, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Birdflu has broken out in the central part of Uganda, a senior ministry of agriculture official said on Saturday.

Connie Acayo, the spokesperson of the ministry told Xinhua by telephone that confirmatory test of dead birds on Lutembe beach on the shores of Lake Victoria and in Masaka district showed that the disease had broken out.

"It is a very serious disease and the minister of agriculture will be issuing out a statement on Sunday," she said.

She added that government is going to issue precautionary measures to prevent the disease from spreading further.

Uganda is among the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that face a high risk of a bird flu outbreak because it is crisscrossed by several routes for migratory birds, which are carriers of the virus.

Birdflu or avian influenza is an infectious disease of birds caused by type A strains of the influenza virus, according to World Health Organization.

The infection can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness, which may pass unnoticed, to a rapidly fatal disease that can cause severe epidemics.

According to the global health body, avian influenza viruses do not normally infect humans but there have been instances of certain highly pathogenic strains causing severe respiratory disease in humans.
WARSAW, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Polish authorities welcomed the deployment of U.S. troops in a ceremony held Saturday in the western town of Zagan.

The U.S. army deployed in Poland comprises 3,500 soldiers, 400 tracked vehicles and over 900 wheeled vehicles.

They started to move into Poland on Thursday, as part of one of the largest deployments of U.S. forces in Europe since the Cold War.

Such a massive deployment in Poland was seen by Russia as a "threat" to its security.
BAMAKO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The 27th Africa-France Summit closed Saturday in Bamako, Mali, with participants adopting a global plan on fight against terrorism and other forms of violence.

At the end of the summit, French President Francois Hollande and his Malian counterpart Ibrahim Boubacar Keita held a joint press conference during which they talked about the issues the 35 heads of state and government discussed during this one-day summit.

Hollande first congratulated "Mali for the success of this Africa-France summit," while during the summit, questions were raised about why Mali still faces severe terrorist threats in the north.

"The threat is global, that's why a global plan was adopted, which put every African country to face its own responsibilities," Hollande told the press, reiterating "the accompaniment of France to Africa to ensure its own security."

"For the emergence of Africa, development projects will be financed up to 23 billion euros by French Agency of Development (Agence Francaise de Developpement) in the coming 5 years," he said.

Asked about the presence of French anti-terrorist operation in northern Mali and in the Sahel, Hollande said "we are here in Mali in the framework of international cooperation" and "at the request of the Malian government and president at that time in 2013."

"We have nothing to hide, we just want to serve a cause. I will not allow any stain on the operation of France in Mali," Hollande stressed.

"The French force will stay in Mali and Africa as long as the countries decide it should," the French head of state said.

The 27th Summit Africa-France opened this Saturday morning with the theme "Partnership, Peace and Emergence."

For the Malian president, "(economic) growth is quite strong in Africa, but it is fragile."

The President of Mali hoped for "more sustained economic growth" and "welcomed the leadership of African youth and their spirit of partnership" to generate strong growth across the continent.

According to Hollande and Keita, Libya and The Gambia were also at the center of the discussions.

First held in France in 1973, the Africa-France Summit aims to maintain and boost relations between France and Africa. This is the last Africa-France Summit for Francois Hollande as French president.
SpaceX Falcon 9 lifts off from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, the U.S., Jan. 14, 2017. (Xinhua)

LOS ANGELES, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- SpaceX returns to launching rockets on Saturday, four months after an explosion on the launchpad that caused the company to suspend flights. The U.S. private space firm successfully delivered 10 satellites to low-Earth orbit and landed its Falcon 9 on a drone ship in the Pacific Ocean.

A Falcon 9 lifted off at approximately 9:54 am PST (12:54 p.m. EST) from Space Launch Complex 4E at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, carrying 10 Iridium-NEXT satellites into low-Earth orbit (LEO).

About two and a half minutes into flight, the first and second stages separate, and the second stage engine ignites to carry the 10 Iridium satellites to their destination.

Approximately 8 minutes after the initial lift-off, the first stage of Falcon 9 then landed on the drone ship "Just Read the Instructions," marking the first time the private company has landed a booster in the Pacific Ocean.

Cheers and applause took over the SpaceX control room, which was streamed live online. "Here we have the first ever successful landing on the 'Just Read the Instructions,' a West Coast drone ship," SpaceX's engineers said.

The feat brings the total number of recovered SpaceX rockets to seven, which were part of the company's effort to produce a fully and rapidly reusable rocket. The company believed it will dramatically reduce the cost of space transport.

"Congratulations @SpaceX on successful first stage landing," the official Iridium Twitter account tweeted just moments after the landing.

The satellites began deployment about an hour after launch. "successful deployment of 10 Iridium-NEXT satellites has been confirmed," SpaceX then tweeted.

The 10 satellites are the first of at least 70 satellites that SpaceX will be launching for Iridium's next generation global satellite constellation, Iridium NEXT.

According to Iridium, it is on track to fully replace the world's largest commercial satellite network of low-earth orbit satellites in what will be one of the largest "tech upgrades" in history.

The satellite communications company has partnered with Thales Alenia Space for the manufacturing, assembly and testing of 81 Iridium NEXT satellites. The process of replacing the satellites one-by-one in a constellation of this size and scale has never been completed before.

The next generation global satellite constellation will deploy a cross-linked Low-Earth Orbit (LEO) architecture, providing coverage over 100 percent of the earth's surface, including across oceans, airways and polar regions.

SpaceX had been grounded until Saturday since a launchpad explosion during preflight fueling on September 1, 2016 that destroyed a Falcon 9 and its payload, the 200 million U.S. dollars Amos-6 communications satellite.

A successful mission is critically important to the California-based company, which is founded in 2002 by billionaire Musk, has been the face of American commercial space industry.
by Christine Lagat

NAIROBI, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Rosemary Mackenzi's love for the Chinese language started after her employment as an immigration officer thanks to frequent interactions with Chinese nationals.

"My love for the Chinese language reached new heights when I started working at the airport as an immigration officer. I met very many Chinese visitors and the language barrier was an issue hence the desire to learn their language," Mackenzi told Xinhua on Thursday.

She enrolled for a two-month Chinese-language course at the University of Nairobi's Confucius Institute in June 2016 and has greatly improved her proficiency in a language she once regarded difficult.

"At first I thought the Chinese language was difficult but I later developed a passion to master it, aware of its many benefits in my current work station," said Mackenzi.

She said the language course had not only improved her understanding of the rich Chinese culture but also cemented her friendship with Chinese people.

"I am now more confident while handling visitors from China unlike previously when it was hard for me to communicate with them and often I sourced for an interpreter to iron out the language barrier," Mackenzi said.

Mackenzi visited China in July 2016 as part of an exchange program for overseas students studying Mandarin.

She aspires to advance training in the Chinese language in order to hasten career mobility while broadening her world views.

A growing army of Kenyan government workers have expressed interest in Mandarin against the backdrop of blossoming China-Kenya ties.

The Confucius Institute at the University of Nairobi has been offering Chinese-language courses to state officials as well as staff from a leading five-star hotel.

Xu Jing, a lecturer at the Confucius Institute, said basic Chinese-language skills among Kenyan customs, immigration, foreign service and hospitality industry professionals has been rewarding.

The Confucius Institute also offered a Chinese-language course for diplomats in November 2016.

Victor Musembi, a Foreign Ministry official in his mid-30s, has enrolled for the four-month course.

"China is a strategic partner of our country and since joining the foreign service, I have always desired to learn more about the country through its language," said Musembi.

Musembi's visit to Beijing for international conferences has inspired him to study the Chinese language.

He is optimistic that proficiency in the Chinese language will be a boon in his future endeavor to become an outstanding diplomat.

Paul Mwandembe, a colleague of Musembi's, is passionate about mastering the basic aspects of spoken and written Chinese language.

"My interest in Chinese language has been rekindled since enrolling for this course. The best part for me in this Chinese language course is drawing characters," said Mwandembe.
News / National

by Staff reporter

Former vice-president Joice Mujuru says she is willing to forgive President Robert Mugabe for alleged human rights violation for the sake of peace in Zimbabwe if she wins the 2018 elections.Mujuru, who is negotiating a coalition between her Zimbabwe People First (ZimPF) party and other opposition parties, including the Morgan Tsvangirai-led MDC-T, said an inclusive government was crucial to rebuild the country."We will forgive Mugabe the same way we forgave [late Rhodesian Prime minister] Ian Smith," Mujuru told SABC News Friday night.Mujuru, who was fired from Zanu-PF two years ago on allegations of plotting against Mugabe, said she will contest the 2018 elections and if she wins, will take cognisance of the fact that people needed peace and economic independence."Our people want a good life. Right now we have land, but what is coming out of it?" she said.The ZimPF leader said she was unable to curb Mugabe's excesses while she was in government as her background as a freedom fighter influenced her "non-combative attitude"."I wish it was that simple. There are two sides to a coin all the time. I am from the fighting forces where you go for training. As a youth, you look up to your seniors," Mujuru said.Mujuru said as a "freedom fighter, one remained with certain practices that will make you someone unable to challenge seniors.""Yes, people might say why did you keep quiet, but that is my other side. And here you are talking about Teurai Ropa who was below the age of 30," said Mujuru.The former vice-president said although she tried in her own way to highlight some of the issues, the "last word remained with the executive person [Mugabe].""You don't want to appear as if you are fighting your seniors but instead take those issues that demonstrate you are for the people," she said.Mujuru said her stance was "soft" but it doesn't mean she condoned Mugabe's actions."These things happened whilst Joice was part of the group, but I didn't want them to be so. I just did not want to ruffle any feathers," she said."I tried to ask in public why people were being beaten. The masses saw that."She also denied reports that she was corrupt."If people say Joice was fighting for money, they would have seen fat bank accounts and if it was about power, I would have done it long back," she charged.Mujuru said when she was the vice-president of the ruling party after being elected in 2004, she could have easily influenced the populace, but she chose not to do that.She said the 2013 elections were non-violent because she was leading the process."I did 43 rallies using the terrible Zimbabwean roads, but the president did only 12 using helicopters," she said.Mujuru also recalled how Mugabe fired her after accusing her of being a witch. She said the veteran ruler used seven Zanu-PF youths to fight her."He told them I was a witch, of loose morals but look, I am a widow but I do not have a boyfriend. I do not know where they got that from," she said."A character such as mine, why would I need a husband? If you had one before, why would you go around doing unbecoming things?She said despite the onslaught against her, she held no grudges against Mugabe."Especially Mugabe himself whom I respect as a father and a father figure to the nation, knowing exactly that he was lying, I kept quite," she said.Mujuru is yet to earn the trust of many Zimbabweans who fear that she would return to Zanu-PF if the ruling party extended a hand of reconciliation.Her pledge to forgive Mugabe would not go down well with victims of gross human rights violations, especially in Matabeleland and Midlands where over 20 000 supporters were killed in newly independent Zimbabwe.
CANBERRA, Jan 15. (Xinhua) -- Australia's MP expenses scandal has deepened on Sunday, with local media revealing the minister in charge of managing Parliamentary expenses, Mathias Cormann, has billed taxpayers more than 17,000 U.S. dollars for a number of weekend trips to beach town of Broome.

Cormann, also the nation's Finance Minister, had already come under fire for his involvement in the scandal.

Last week it was revealed he claimed flights to attend the AFL Grand Final in 2013, where he received complementary tickets and hospitality.

But on Sunday, Fairfax Media revealed Cormann claimed more than 17,000 U.S. dollars on five trips to the picturesque coastal West Australian town of Broome, including one family trip totaling more than 5,000 U.S. dollars in 2014.

A spokesperson for Cormann said, as a Senator for Western Australia, it was important for the minister to continually meet with and listen to constituents and business leaders from around the state.

The spokesperson said the trips were "undertaken within the applicable rules on work expenses and has at all times been appropriately declared".

"Senator Cormann's job as a senator for Western Australia necessarily involves travel across his very large electorate to attend functions and meet with constituents, business and community stakeholders," the spokesperson told Fairfax Media on Sunday.

The news comes two days after Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull dismissed Health Minister Sussan Ley for abusing the entitlements scheme. The minister used a taxpayer funded trip to purchase a luxury Gold Coast apartment worth more than 600,000 U.S. dollars.

Turnbull also took the opportunity to announce changes to the parliamentary entitlements scheme.

He said the government would be establishing a watchdog to oversee and approve MP travel and expense claims.
by Xinhua writer Chen Yao

BISHKEK, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Sherba Kalimovich, the bread winner of a big Kyrgyz family said he had a harvest several times better than before last year when he began to grow corn from high-tech seeds developed by China.

The cornfield has been the main source of income for Kalimovich's 16-member family. Two kilometers away from the field, the couple, their sons and daughter-in-laws share a big house in Iskra town in Chuy oblast.

Kalimovich, 47, began his career as a farmer in 1996. Being a Dungan whose ancestors had lived by farming when they immigrated to Kyrgyzstan from China's Gansu and Shaanxi provinces two centuries ago, he is a born expert in planting.

However, he found he was not able to earn enough from traditional farming to provide for his expanding family. Several of his children are still at school and all women are house wives following a widely observed Kyrgyz tradition.

In traditional farming, there are a lot of worries, such as not being able to determine the quality of the seeds, Kalimovich said. He added that sometimes even a good harvest could not guarantee a good income due to price fluctuations on the market.

When people from the Iskra Asia Agricultural Industry Cooperation Zone contacted him at the beginning of 2016 to offer him high-tech corn seeds developed by China, Kalimovich knew it was a good deal, for a good harvest comes not only from experience and hard work but also from technology.

Under the agreement between Kalimovich and Iskra Asia, the Kyrgyz farmer plants the Zheng 1002 and Zheng Huangnuo No. 2 corn seeds developed by China's Henan Academy of Agricultural Sciences and had been successfully bred in the industry cooperation zone.

After the harvest, Kalimovich could either sell the corns on the market or sell it to Iskra Asia at a protective price, the agreement said.

Kalimovich rented more lands and expanded his field from 10 hectares to 30 immediately after inking the document. He had made the right choice. "In 2016, my income from corn cultivation increased a lot," he said.

He said his cornfield used to produce 4 tons per hectare with the old seeds, and now it produces 10. He added that seed quality is no longer a problem.

The Kyrgyzstan Iskra Asia Agricultural Industry Cooperation Zone, located in Iskara town, was developed by China's Henan Guiyou Industrial Group in 2011 under the framework of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative. [ Iskra Asia was a integrated cooperation zone featuring industries such as breeding, rearing, flattening, slaughtering, and feed and food processing, a logistic center for frozen products and a center of international trade.

After five years, Iskra Asia has grown into one of the leading agricultural industry cooperation zones in Kyrgyzstan based on solid infrastructure, a complete industrial chain and the concept of green operations.

Besides cooperating with farmers, Iskra Asia also hires other locals to work in the cooperation zone. The employees learn a lot about large-scale farming and professional operations in the greenhouse.

In August last year, China's commerce and finance ministries named Iskra Asia as the country's foreign economic and trade cooperation zone. At the meantime, the Kyrgyz government pledged a wide range of preferential policies to the endeavor.

"Let's work side by side with the Chinese people," Kalimovich said. He said he hopes Iskra Asia develop better and welcomes more Chinese companies to invest in his oblast.

Depite being a busy farmer, Kalimovich had been to China four times. Mostly travelling around the country's western region, he said he wants to go to big cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai by high-speed railway next time.

The Kyrgyz farmer had given his sons 3,000 U.S. dollars to tour China. They went to Urumqi, capital city of China's Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region bordering Kyrgyzstan.

In January, it began to snow in Iskra town. Kalimovich drove his sons to their cornfield. Standing by the snow-covered field, the men discussed their farming plans for the next year.

"I want to talk to Iskra Asia about our future cooperation," Kalimovich said. "If the talk goes well, I would expand my land to 100 hectares."
QUITO, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- The Colombian government and the National Liberation Army (ELN) guerilla group are satisfied with their first meeting here Saturday, which aimed to lead to formal peace negotiations.

"Today we had a fruitful meeting with the ELN delegation in Ecuador,"

Colombian delegation head Juan Camilo Restrepo posted on Twitter. "We hope to make progress to open negotiations soon."

On its part, the ELN expressed its satisfaction on Twitter after the Saturday's session during which "logistical and technical aspects were worked on, an important progress for the (upcoming) meeting."

The talks' objective is to finalize a date for the opening of formal dialogue to end the armed conflict between the Colombian government and the guerrilla group.

The beginning of formal talks is subject to the release of former congressman Odin Sanchez, who was held captive by the ELN last April. Delays in his release have already delayed talks twice previously.

A peace agreement with the ELN would finish peacemaking in

Colombia, which has suffered an armed conflict for more than half a

century.

Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos has signed a final peace accord last November with the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), Colombia's largest rebel group.

The ELN, which took up arms in 1964, has around 1,500 fighters, according to government figures.
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Smog will hit some parts in north and central China starting from Sunday, China's national observatory warned, suggesting people in affected areas to make precautions.

The smog, which will hit Beijing, Tianjin, Hebei, Shanxi, Henan and Shaanxi, is expected to last until a cold front comes to the rescue around Thursday, the National Meteorological Center said.

People in the affected regions were asked to make precautions and choose public transport services to cut emissions and mitigate pollution.

Severe smog triggered red alerts in more than 20 cities at the beginning of 2017. When authorities issue red alerts, some manufacturers are required to cut production, and heavily polluting vehicles are banned from the roads.

China has a four-tier color-coded warning system for severe weather, with red being the most serious, followed by orange, yellow and blue.

In environment inspections last year, the Ministry of Environmental Protection said a total of 720 people were detained and 6,454 held accountable for environment-related wrongdoing.

In 2016, the government refused 11 high-pollution and high-energy consuming projects, involving total investment of 97 billion yuan (about 14 billion U.S. dollars).

Partly due to those efforts, Chinese cities reported less pollution in 2016, with the average density of PM 2.5 -- fine particles that pose health risks -- in 338 cities falling by 6 percent.

China is aiming for a 10-percent reduction in air emissions from 2012 levels by 2017 in cities at the prefecture level and above. Meanwhile, the PM 2.5 density in Beijing, Tianjin and Hebei Province should drop 25 percent.
by Xinhua writer Zhu Dongyang

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping's visit to Switzerland starting Sunday will further boost the two countries' unique partnership, a paragon of China's interaction with the West.

The trip, Xi's first abroad in 2017, is expected to build up Beijing's partnership with Bern, tap into the great potential for broader cooperation, update the bilateral free trade deal and expand consensus on safeguarding the global trade system.

Switzerland has recorded a trove of "firsts" in its participation in China's reform and opening up, and its sensible China policy has fostered substantial cooperation of mutual benefit.

To name a few, the Swiss Schindler Group opened the first Western industrial joint venture in the People's Republic of China in 1980, and Switzerland also pioneered on continental Europe in recognizing China's market economy status, signing a free trade agreement with China, and joining the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

On the political front, the two nations are committed to deepening mutual trust. Bern's farsightedness in welcoming China's rapid development and rising status helped incubate a paradigm of relations between countries of different sizes, with different social systems and at different development stages.

Now Switzerland, one of the first Western nations to establish diplomatic relations with China, has become the first and only country to set up a strategic partnership with China featuring innovation.

Xi's visit comes less than a year after then Swiss President Johann Schneider-Ammann's China tour in April. The crescendo of head-of-state diplomacy reveals the ardent aspiration of both sides for a more fruitful partnership.

Moreover, Switzerland, home to a group of multilateral events and organizations like the World Economic Forum, the UN Office at Geneva, the International Olympic Committee and the World Health Organization, offers a good platform for the Chinese leader to expound his prescriptions for various global woes.

It is painfully true that the international community is now struggling with a protracted global economic downbeat and a vociferous debate about the future of globalization, with anti-globalization sentiments on the rise in Europe and around the world.

Yet crises create opportunities. This trying time has prompted nations around the world to re-calibrate their current policies for development and the ways they work with each other, thus creating an unprecedented chance for cooperation in reshaping the global economic landscape.

Given such a backdrop, China and Switzerland need to issue an unambiguous rejection against ill-founded isolationism and protectionism, and help improve the current global governance system so that it could be more balanced and inclusive for all.

The two partners should also renew the pioneering spirit that has buttressed bilateral ties over the decades, and seize the moment to blaze new trails.
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Thousands of years ago, China envisaged a world where people live in perfect harmony and are as dear to one another as family. Today, President Xi Jinping has given the world a new name -- a community of common destiny.

Since Xi first proposed the concept in late 2012, it has gone on to shape China's approach to global governance, giving rise to proposals and measures to support growth for all.

There is the new type of international relations featuring win-win cooperation, and the Belt and Road Initiative set out to better connect the world. Xi has also come up with a new security concept that is designed to pool efforts to build universal, sustainable and comprehensive security.

"The concept of a community of common destiny transcends all sorts of differences in human society and targets greatest possible benefits for all," said Tang Qifang, a researcher with the China Institute of International Studies.

At the United Nations Office at Geneva on Jan. 18, Xi will deliver a keynote speech on building such a community, sending the message again that China is fully committed to creating "one home for all of mankind," as Xi called it in his 2017 New Year speech.

"This is a very advanced notion born out of changing world conditions, and an embodiment of the Chinese aspiration to share peace and development with the world," Tang said.

EQUAL PARTNERSHIPS

In his first diplomatic activity as China's top leader in late 2012, Xi shared his perception that "the world has increasingly grown into a community where one's destiny is interwoven with that of another." The concept came up time and again in his speeches over the years that followed.

According to Xi's vision, our future lies in the hands of all countries -- equally -- and all nations should pursue dialogue rather than confrontation with one another, and forge partnerships instead of alliances.

China is working to expand convergence of interests with more and more countries, such as Pakistan, Laos and Cambodia, and form communities of common destiny on a bilateral basis.

It has also approached nations in Southeast Asia, Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East to develop similar communities by pushing forward win-win cooperation.

In the course of pursuing equal partnerships, China has actively participated in reforming the global governance system by addressing unreasonable and unjust aspects of the system.

While addressing the Business 20 (B20) summit in Hangzhou last year, Xi highlighted equitable and efficient global financial governance, open and transparent global trade and investment governance, green and low-carbon global energy governance, as well as inclusive and interconnected global development governance, as priorities for global economic governance, showcasing China's commitment to contributing its wisdom to the world economic growth.

Also as part of its efforts in this regard, China champions better representation and say of developing countries in the international governance system, calling for the equal participation of all countries in making rules.

"China's vote in the United Nations will always belong to developing countries," Xi told the general debate of the 70th session of the UN General Assembly in September 2015.

He also advocated valuing both righteousness and interests in shaping international relations, saying that righteousness comes first.

This has become an important principle guiding China's cooperation with other developing nations, and the rationale for China's rush to the aid of other countries at times of difficulties.

China was there to help African countries during the Ebola outbreak, to help save lives after earthquakes in Nepal and Ecuador, and to alleviate the water shortage in the Maldives.

"In Xi Jinping, and messages he has delivered, the world sees a China that embraces its responsibilities, stands by developing countries through thick and thin, and participates in setting international rules and reforming the global governance system," said Tang Zhimin, director of China ASEAN studies at Thailand's Panyapiwat Institute of Management.

INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT

In the community of common destiny, the development of one country is closely intertwined with that of other countries.

"China will always work to contribute to global development," Xi said during the UN general debate, welcoming other countries to get on board China's express train of development. "Development for all is development for real."

The Belt and Road Initiative was proposed in this spirit, as was the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB), the South-South Cooperation Fund, and increased investment by China in the world's least developed countries.

The AIIB has allocated loans totaling 1.73 billion U.S. dollars in nine infrastructure projects across seven countries since it started operating in January 2016.

Connecting some 60 countries, the Belt and Road Initiative has been aligned with many national and regional development strategies, bringing forth more and more cooperative projects, including railways, roads and ports.

The Initiative will gain greater popularity because "in it, the interests of many parties converge and with it, the common development of mankind will be promoted," said Cui Hongjian, director of the department of European studies at the China Institute of International Studies.

In addition to these development efforts, China has placed great emphasis on creating a safer world to make sustainable development possible, evident in its proposed solutions to risks and conflicts, and increased support for UN peace efforts.

In 2015, Xi promoted a concept of common, comprehensive, cooperative and sustainable security to tackle challenges. "No country can single-handedly seek absolute security for itself, and neither can it gain stability from unrest in other countries," he said.

China does not pay lip service to the cause of peace. It takes action.

Currently, nearly 2,500 Chinese military personnel are involved in nine UN peacekeeping operations. From 2016 to 2018, China will account for 10.2 percent of the UN Peacekeeping assessed contributions.

In 26 years of involvement in peacekeeping missions, China has lost 13 soldiers.

With its constructive proposals and active participation in peacekeeping operations, China has contributed greatly to promoting world peace and multilateralism, said Zhu Shuai, a researcher at the China Center for Information Industry Development.

"China has shown to the world that as a responsible country, it will continue efforts toward the goal of achieving common development for mankind," Zhu said.

Related:

Spotlight: Xi's global vision -- a better world for all

BEIJING, Jan. 12 (Xinhua) -- Jojivini Vuna was lucky: The 90-year-old Fijian woman had moved into her son's concrete house just days before the strongest tropical cyclone to make landfall hit her country and flattened her wooden cottage early last year.
KUNDUZ, Afghanistan, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Four Taliban militants and one police personnel were killed after Taliban attacked security checkpoints in Afghanistan's northern Kunduz province Saturday night, a local official said on Sunday.

"Unknown number of armed militants stormed security posts in Chabrima and Hortbalaqi localities on outskirts of provincial capital Kunduz city last night. The Afghan Local Police (ALP) members fought back the attackers, killing four militants," a security official told Xinhua anonymously.

One ALP police officer and four militants were also wounded during the exchange of fire lasting for hours, the source said, adding "the attack took place in the area, where security forces were constructing a permanent military base to ensure security there."

The government established the ALP, or community police, in 2010 to protect villages and districts around the country where army and police have limited presence.

Taliban militants briefly captured major parts of Kunduz city in early October and were forced to retreat from the city, 250 km north of Afghan capital of Kabul.

The Kunduz province, bordering Tajikistan and neighboring Baghlan and Takhar provinces have been the scene of heavy clashes over the past couple of months as Taliban has been trying to challenge the government forces in the once relatively peaceful region.
by Juan Manuel Nieves

BUENOS AIRES, Jan. 14 (Xinhua) -- Ties between U.S. and Argentina are entering an uncertain phase with President-elect Donald Trump's entry into the White House.

Bilateral relations thawed in early 2016 as President Barack Obama visited Buenos Aires. But Argentinean economist, Maria Cecilia Peralta, believes that with Trump, "Argentina can expect greater restrictions on financial contributions and more protectionism."

According to Peralta, "there will be protectionist measures" which will hurt Argentinean exports.

The uncertainty about what measures Trump may take after his inauguration on Jan. 20 clashes with President Mauricio Macri's intention to bring Argentina "back to the world."

Estanislao Zawels, the director for Asia and Oceania at Argentina's Ministry of Foreign Affairs, told Xinhua that during 2016, Argentina "had taken action to reposition itself as a relevant member of the international community."

In this context, Obama's visit in March served to thaw ties that had been frozen in the last two Argentine leaders' tenure.

Buenos Aires kept its distance from the United States for 12 years during the governments of Nestor Kirchner (2003-2007) and Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner (2007-2015).

Historian Leandro Morgenfeld said that "the economic retreat that Trump is advocating unstables leaders who had explicitly sided with Clinton," he added.

Last year, during the U.S. presidential election, Macri supported Hillary Clinton but reacted after Trump's win, saying that "the entire world is surprised. The polls once again failed, as they gave her (Clinton) as a winner."

In a call with Macri after his win, Trump said that Argentina was a great country and promised a closer relationship than ever.

However, in recent years, the U.S. has become less important to the Argentinean economy, going from claiming 14 percent of exports in 2002 to 9 percent in 2015.

Dante Sica, founder of the ABECEB economic consultancy, told Xinhua that the new U.S. government "has a critical view of free trade in general," and "this potentially endangers one of our country's main export markets."

The specialist added that Trump could threaten certain recent advances, such as the exports of meat and lemons from Argentina, and to evaluate Argentina's inclusion into the U.S. Generalized System of Preferences (GSP).

International legal expert, Paola de Simone, summed up the situation and said "It remains to be known if, with Trump, the direction of ties will continue toward a thaw or will return to the cold.

"Should the relationship grow distant, the responsibility will not be on Argentina, but on American isolationism," the expert warned.
GENEVA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Switzerland, well-known as "a country of brands" in Europe, have much to share with China, which is dedicated to upgrading its manufacturing industry to intelligent manufacturing in China (imChina).

The two countries enjoy a long-running and steadily growing cooperation, and they forged a unique innovative strategic partnership in 2016.

During growing innovative cooperation between them, the synergy of "Swiss mades" and "imChina" will bring fresh vigor to the traditional manufacturing.

Swiss enterprises have a reputation for constantly striving for perfection and innovation. Therefore, products made in Switzerland, ranging from chocolate and cheese to watches and army knives, have become symbols of high quality.

Switzerland ranked the first for six consecutive years in the Global Innovation Index 2016, according to the World Intellectual Property Organization.

The key to innovation lies in qualified people. Switzerland's unique mechanism for training qualified people has produced generations of skillful craftsmen.

In the 1990s, the Swiss government conducted reforms on higher education, merging more than 60 vocational technical institutes nationwide into seven universities of applied sciences according to the regions where they were located.

These universities, including the prestigious Lausanne Hotel School, have introduced career-oriented institutes and majors which are closely linked with local economic and social development and stress applied research and development.

Nowadays, universities of this new type, with a status of growing importance in Switzerland's higher education system, have provided a lot of skilled talents in high-end technology for industrial development and become an important force in the Swiss system of state innovation.

Innovation and persistence give Swiss products high added value and strong competitiveness, as well as business opportunities and glory to Switzerland.

Currently, as a new round of scientific and industrial revolution surges around the world, the global manufacturing structure is undergoing profound changes. How to rejuvenate the traditional manufacturing sector and establish the core competitiveness of the high-end manufacturing business are challenges facing all countries.

The manufacturing industry is the foundation of a country, a means for a country's prosperity and a base to make a country strong.

The upgrading of "China mades" to "quality manufacturing" and "intelligent manufacturing" calls for a significant progress in such areas as craftsmanship and brand building, while carrying forward the spirit of craftsmanship and innovation is a necessity.

The "spirit of craftsmanship" and "innovation power" shown in Switzerland's development process highly fit China's development notions and needs.

The manufacturing industry is the main battlefield for innovation, while innovation brings such innovative surging power as new concepts, new designs and new technologies to the transformation and upgrading of the manufacturing industry.

Innovation leads the five development notions proposed in China's 13th Five-Year Plan, while China entered the list of the world's top 25 innovative economies in the Global Innovation Index for the first time.

China's determination to explore new power for economic development via reform and innovation has deeply impressed Jean-Jacques de Dardel, Swiss ambassador to China, who believed that Switzerland, the world's most innovative country, has a broad prospect of cooperation with China.

In as early as 1989, China and Switzerland signed an agreement on scientific and technological cooperation. In 2007, Switzerland was among the first European countries that recognized China's full market economy status. In 2013, it became the first European country to sign a free trade agreement with China.

In 2016, China and Switzerland established an innovative strategic partnership, the first such partnership China established with a foreign country.

The move to further enrich and deepen China-Switzerland ties with innovation came naturally. De Dardel said the unique innovative strategic partnership between the two countries will strengthen the docking of Switzerland's "Industry 4.0" with "Made in China 2025" to achieve a better win-win scenario.
News / National

by Staff reporter

During the run-up to the American elections, the president-elect of the United States, Donald Trump vowed to lock up President Robert Mugabe. The US President was quoted in Zimbabwean private media and it is yet to be seen if he will deliver on that promise."I want to reiterate here before America's greatest heroes that I will not condone any dictatorial tendencies exhibited by dictators around the world especially the two old men from Zimbabwe and Uganda."Mugabe and Museveni must be put on notice that their days are numbered and that I am going to arrest them and lock them in prison. If the past American administrations have failed to stop these two despots, I will personally do it," Trump told American war veterans.
by Jamila Najmuddin

COLOMBO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A mega port city project is set to change the face of Colombo, the Sri Lanka's capital city, in the coming years.

The 1.4-billion-U.S. dollar project, which is currently under construction near the Colombo Harbour, is Sri Lanka's largest foreign investment.

The project is an investment of China Communications Construction Company Limited (CCCC) and has to date employed hundreds of locals, a boon given the high rate of unemployment of the island country.

"I feel very proud to be contributing towards this project as a Sri Lankan. The project is going to create more than 80,000 jobs within the next 20 years, which will benefit Sri Lanka immensely," said Chiranthi Balapatabandi, Marketing Communications Executive of CHEC Port City Colombo, the project's contractor.

Balapatabandi said that the project would help promote Sri Lanka's economy by encouraging foreign direct investments and private sector growth.

Sri Lanka, taking advantage of its strategic location, is seeking strong role in China's Belt and Road Initiative.

The port city will be the first of its kind in the South Asian region and will transform Sri Lanka into an international financial and business hub in the Indian Ocean region.

"The Colombo port city will make Colombo a better place for Sri Lankan living overseas to return back to their motherland to work and live. I truly believe the project is going to help Colombo become a vibrant business hub in South Asia," Balapatabandi said.

The project, which initially began construction in September 2014 under the former government, was suspended in March 2015 by President Maithripala Sirisena's government due to environmental concerns.

However, in March 2016, the project was given the nod from the government after successful discussions between the two countries and with all environmental reports cleared.

Workers have now resumed work, taking shifts round the clock to construct the first phase of the project.

Employees said they also benefit immensely from the knowledge of Chinese professionals involved in the project.

"Our Chinese colleagues are very friendly and polite. I am really happy working for the Port City project and CHEC has given me a good opportunity with a good salary," said Jagath Kurathunga, who is employed as a driver of the CHEC Port City Colombo.

Kurathunga is a father of three children. Ever since being employed by the CHEC, his life has changed and his earning has enabled him to offer better life to his children.

Kurathunga said he hoped to see the port city completed soon.

"The CHEC has put the best resources and facilities into this project, for instance, the Asia's biggest dredger Jun Yang One is working for the project," said Chandana A. Gunawardana, Deputy Project Manager of Colombo Port City Development Project.

Gunawardana, who has been working for several projects under the CHEC during the past 10 years, said the project's one-year suspension has created temporary unemployment for many, but it was back in full swing now.

Gunawardana said the Colombo port city project is the largest project in his career, adding it would provide wide opportunities for Sri Lanka and its people.
KABUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Seven civilians were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Sunday, the Interior Ministry confirmed.
KHARTOUM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Sudanese government on Saturday said the U.S. lifting of some sanctions on Sudan is Sudan's natural right, not a reward, as Khartoum has not provided any concessions for it.

Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir described the U.S. decision as a "positive" development and reiterated that Sudan would press ahead with building natural ties with the United States.

During a meeting in Khartoum Saturday with the committee entrusted to have dialogue with the United States, al-Bashir said: "The sanctions lifting decision comes at a time when Sudan is completing the process of national dialogue and heading towards the formation of a national consensus government."

Sudan's Foreign Minister Ibrahim Ghandour, meanwhile, noted that "the government has not provided any concessions."

"The principle of counterterrorism is part of an international program and Sudan is committed to combating terrorism," said Ghandour.

Chief of Sudan's National Intelligence and Security Services Mohamed Atta al-Moula Abbas told reporters that "our religion and values necessitate us to combat terrorism and extremism."

"We used to complain about the U.S contradicting manner in its cooperation with the Sudanese bodies regarding combating terrorism and keeping Sudan on its list of countries harboring terrorism," he noted. ( On Friday, U.S. President Barack Obama decided to cancel two executive orders that impose economic sanctions on Sudan, citing recent "positive actions" by the Sudanese government.

The United States has had Sudan on its list of countries sponsoring terrorism since 1993 and has been imposing sanctions on Sudan since 1997.

Since then, Washington has been renewing its sanctions on Sudan due to the continuing war in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions besides a number of outstanding issues with South Sudan, including the disputed oil-rich area of Abyei.

According to economic reports, Sudan's losses due to the U.S. sanctions amounted to over 4 billion U.S. dollars annually.
KABUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Seven civilians were killed and two others wounded in a roadside bomb explosion in Afghanistan's eastern province of Nangarhar on Sunday, the Interior Ministry confirmed.

"A roadside bomb which was placed by enemies of peace and stability of Afghanistan hit a civilian vehicle in Bargholi village, Pachiragam district of Nangarhar province early Sunday morning. The blast resulted in martyrdom of seven civilians and wounding of two other civilians," the ministry said in a statement.

The Taliban militants and other insurgent groups have been using Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) to target security forces but the lethal weapons also inflict casualties on civilians, according to military officials.

The ministry condemned in the strongest terms the terrorist attack, according to the statement.

More than 2,560 civilians were killed and over 5,830 injured in the first nine months of the year in conflict-related incidents across Afghanistan, according to figures released by the UN mission in the country.

Ground engagements remained the largest cause of civilian casualties, followed by suicide attacks and IED explosions.
U.S. President-elect Donald Trump gestures during a news conference in New York, the United States, on Jan. 11, 2017. U.S. President-elect Donald Trump met the press Wednesday for the first news conference since the election. (Xinhua/Gary Hershorn)

WASHINGTON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The team of U.S. President-elect Donald Trump has raised a record 90 million U.S. dollars for the events related to his inauguration on Jan. 20, local media revealed.

Trump's inaugural committee set a 1-million-dollar limit for donations from corporations and no limit for individuals. The 90 million bankroll was far more than President Barack Obama's two inaugurations.

Obama's team had set stricter limits on donations for his inauguration, collecting 55 million in 2009 and 43 million in 2013.

Although Trump has raised more money for his inauguration than any U.S. president in history, his committee has refused to provide details on how the money would be spent.

"I can't imagine how they are going to spend that amount of money - and why they would even keep raising money," Steve Kerrigan, CEO for Obama's inaugural committee in 2013, was quoted by the AP as saying.

"We planned the two largest inauguration in the history of our country and we never spent anywhere near that," he added.

Trump is holding three inaugural balls. Obama had 10 balls at his first inaugural, according to the AP.
KHARTOUM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Sudanese politicians and economic analysts on Saturday expressed the belief that the U.S. decision to lift some economic sanctions on Sudan will improve Sudan's economy which has suffered from the U.S. embargo for 20 years.

"Lifting the U.S sanctions on Sudan was one of the great hopes upon which foreign and national investors build," Sudanese Investment Minister Mudathir Abdel-Ghani said here on Saturday.

According to him, due to the U.S. long-term economic sanctions, Sudan has had difficulties in cash transfers and direct equipment and investment movements in the past two decades.

"The U.S. decision came at an important phase coinciding with the economic reforms (of Sudan)," Abdel-Ghani said. "This move enables investors to carry out their banking transactions freely and facilitate the movement of capital to Sudan."

In Sudan, industry was one of the most affected sectors by U.S. sanctions, as the sector has been prevented from importing strategic commodities, equipment and spare parts.

"We were unable to import spare parts for the industrial sector," Sudanese Industry Minister Abdou Daoud said, "We used to get spare parts through mediators."

The easing of sanctions would help Sudan import industrial commodities more freely, he said.

The U.S. sanctions upon the African country have also caused a shortage of medicines and soaring prices. The easing of the sanctions would help increase medicines at the Sudanese market and lower the prices, the Sudanese National Medicines and Poisons Board said.

Sudanese economic analyst Abdul-Khaliq Mahjoub gave Xinhua a list of the direct positive effects of the easing of sanctions.

"The release of frozen assets is likely to improve the foreign exchange market and raise the value of the national currency," said Mahjoub.

"The exports will also witness a great flourishing as a result of the arrival of Sudanese products to American and European markets which were used to be closed," he noted.

After the easing of sanctions, Sudanese companies will be able to present their shares in New York Stock Exchange and in international stock exchanges to get funds to expand their business, the analyst added.

On Friday, outgoing U.S. President Barack Obama announced his decision to lift a 20-year-old trade embargo, unfreeze assets and remove financial sanctions against Sudan, as a response to Sudan's cooperation in fighting Islamic State and other terrorist groups.

However, the sanctions relief will be pending for 180 days for review, leaving the final decision to President-elect Donald Trump and his administration.

The United States has been imposing sanctions on Sudan since 1997. Since then, Washington has been renewing its sanctions on Sudan due to the continuing war in Darfur, Blue Nile and South Kordofan regions, along with a number of outstanding issues with South Sudan, including the disputed oil-rich area of Abyei.

However, last February, the United States announced its decision to loosen the sanctions on Sudan by allowing the export of personal communications hardware and software, including smart phones and laptops.

In October 2015, Washington also expressed its willingness to cooperate with Sudan in counter-terrorism and preventing the flow of terrorists to Sudan and other conflict areas.

According to economic reports, Sudan's annual loss from the U.S. sanctions amounts to over 4 billion U.S. dollars. It has also been suffering an escalating economic crisis since the secession of South Sudan in 2011.
CHANGSHA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Gold Cup Electric, a Chinese electrical wire and cable producer, will establish a joint venture with an Indonesian firm to offer products for the construction of Indonesia's national grid.

The Hunan-based Gold Cup Electric will contribute 55 percent of the total investment of 560 billion Indonesian rupiahs (42 million U.S. dollars), and the remaining 45 percent will come from PT Bukaka Teknik Utama Tbk, an Indonesian company engaged in engineering, procurement and construction, according to the Chinese company.

The factory will be built in Indonesia with technology exported from China, and the products will supply Indonesia's national electric power company.

Deng Shaokun, official with Gold Cup Electric, said the company has done research in Indonesia and gained ample knowledge about the country's electronic cable market.

If cooperation goes smoothly, Gold Cup Electric will increase its investment and extend its presence in Indonesia, he said.
KIGALI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- One of the challenges facing post-genocide Rwanda is unifying the country that had been deeply divided after the 1994 genocide.

The genocide, launched by extremist Hutus, claimed close to 1 million lives, mostly members of the minority Tutsi, and left many widowed and orphaned.

Claudette Mukamanzi, a resident in Bugesera district, was still haunted by the memory of the mass killing, in which all her family members were killed and she was hacked to near death.

But when the mother of four appeared at a gathering over two decades after the genocide, she hugged one of her family killers and decided to forgive him.

The event of reconciliation, attended by hundreds of people at Nyamata Catholic Parish last Sunday, was part of the nation's efforts to heal the trauma and reunite the people.

Testifying before a congregation, Mukamanzi's deep scars on her body told it all: She was 14 when a neighbor and another man attacked her family with machetes.

Apart from the army and militia, a number of Hutu civilians, incited by extremist propaganda, participated in the genocide, especially in the rural areas, where many Hutu villagers reportedly killed their Tutsi neighbors.

"I was hacked on seven separate occasions. I know them (attackers), I meet some and bitter memories are unbearable," Mukamanzi said.

"But I forgave you," Mukamanzi told one of her former attackers named Jean Claude Ntambara, and hugged him in front of the congregation.

The event saw 166 former genocide perpetrators reconciling with survivors after six-month of repentance and forgiveness course championed by Rwandan cleric Father Ubald Rugirangoga.

Under the initiative, perpetrators confessed and asked for forgiveness for their crimes.

Nyamata Parish's head priest Emmanuel Nsengiyumva said 252 former genocide convicts have registered for the healing courses, which demands expression of remorse and asking for forgiveness from survivors who were hurt or whose relatives were killed during the genocide.

Ntambara, a resident of the same district, was a police constable during the genocide. He confessed to have shot many people dead then.

"I killed many people and I hurt many. I asked forgiveness from those I remember," he said.

He was convicted of genocide and handed a 20-year jail term by the traditional Gacaca courts, did community works as part of punishment for seven years before he was set free.

"In the aftermath of the genocide I avoided those I hurt due to guilt but now, after reconciliation we even hug each other," said Ntambara.

"We have begun to co-exist again. People are capable of living normally," he added.

Like Ntambara, many former genocide perpetrators are now committed to living harmoniously with survivors and vowed never to commit such heinous crimes again.

John Rwikangura, an official with genocide survivors association (IBUKA) in the district, commended survivors for forgiving their former tormentors, describing it as an heroic act.

The district of Bugesera witnessed some of the most brutal killings during the genocide.

Nyamata church was turned into a memorial site, after an estimated 10,000 Tutsi were brutally killed inside. Remains of more than 45,000 victims are now buried there.

A new church stands about 50 meters from the old Nyamata Parish church.

Father Rugirangoga, who spearheads the confession and healing initiative, said forgiveness is a precious gift that former genocide perpetrators can receive from survivors.

Initiated in 2008 at Mushaka Parish in western Rwanda, this church-driven initiative tries to supplement the government's reconciliation efforts done through the National Unity and Reconciliation Commission.

The commission was created in 1999 by a parliamentary law to promote unity and reconciliation among Rwandans in the aftermath of the devastating event.

Its mandate is to fundamentally change the effects of bad governance based on discrimination and exclusion through various awareness campaigns.

Fidele Ndayisaba, executive secretary of the commission, on Sunday encouraged churches to embrace unity and reconciliation through truth telling.

The 2015 Rwanda Reconciliation Barometer conducted by the commission showed that up to 92.5 percent of Rwandans today feel there is unity and reconciliation in the country and that citizens live in harmony.

The survey sampled 12,000 respondents in 450 villages across the country's 30 districts.

However, it showed some 27.9 percent of Rwandans continued to view themselves through the ethnic lenses of Hutu, Tutsi, and Twa, while 25 percent of them still feel divisions and genocide ideology among their compatriots.
MANAMA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Three Bahraini men convicted of a deadly police bombing in which they planted improvised explosive devices were executed on Sunday.

The incident dates back to March 3, 2014 when the roadside bombing resulted in the death of three policemen including an officer from the United Arab Emirates.

Terror Crimes Prosecution advocate general Ahmed Al Hammadi said in a statement on Sunday all legal procedures were followed to carry out the death sentence.

According to court documents, the three men were the founding members of terror group called Saraya Al Ashtar recruited others to carry out attacks against police.
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China has handled more than 5 million legal assistance cases since 2013, providing legal advice to more than 28 million people, according to the Ministry of Justice on Sunday.

Stations offering legal service have been established in more than 2,000 detention houses, the ministry said.

"The ministry has made efforts to provide convenient legal assistance service to the public and stipulated a guideline to improve the service network," said Minister of Justice Wu Aiying.

In 2017, the ministry will urge lawyers to perform their criminal defense duties in accordance with the law and maintain the legitimate rights of citizens facing difficulties, Wu added.
News / National

by Staff reporter

As Zanu-PF's seemingly intractable tribal, factional and succession wars approach a deadly climax, worried allies of under fire Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa have warned that the VP now risks being "drowned" by his party enemies if he doesn't declare his ambitions soon and start "fighting fire with fire".This comes as the group of ruling party Young Turks who go by the moniker Generation 40 (G40), and who are rabidly opposed to the Midlands godfather succeeding President Robert Mugabe, have been cranking up the heat on the VP and his Team Lacoste faction ominously over the past few weeks.The warning also comes as many of Mnangagwa's allies, particularly a large cross-section of war veterans, have escalated their loud calls for Mugabe to retire and pave way for his long time aide to take over the reins at both party and government level.Among the vocal Mnangagwa supporters who spoke to the Daily News on Sunday yesterday was expelled former Mashonaland Central youth chairman, Godfrey Tsenengamu, who agitated for a mega fightback from the VP, saying bluntly it was time he "openly manned up or exited the political stage" as his followers were becoming impatient with his softly-softly strategy.Tsenengamu also warned that if Mnangagwa did not confront Mugabe and the succession issue now, he risked losing much of the support of his battle-weary followers and other Zimbabweans who were yearning for change."ED (Mnangagwa) is too loyal to Mugabe and we can't eat his loyalty to his leader. We are worried about our future as a younger generation and if what matters to him is his loyalty to Mugabe then they are going to go down together because we can't vote for Mugabe in 2018," Tsenengamu said emphatically."People need to understand that this is not about Mnangagwa but our future as a party and a nation. It is not Mnangagwa who is demanding that the succession issue be addressed now, but us as concerned citizens."ED came out recently distancing himself from us as expelled people and we don't care. That is his right and we continue with our struggle, for this is not about him," Tsenengamu, who was expelled from Zanu-PF in 2015 for backing Mnangagwa in his mooted presidential aspirations, said.Last week, highly-opinionated businessman-cum- politician, and an avowed Mnangagwa loyalist, Energy Mutodi, also vented along similar lines, imploring Zanu-PF to hold an extraordinary congress to choose Mugabe's successor.He claimed that Mugabe had become so unpopular in Zanu-PF that "99 percent" of the party's members now wanted him to resign before the eagerly-anticipated 2018 national elections, as there was allegedly no way that the nonagenarian could win elections against popular opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai."Mugabe must retire. What we must be discussing now is how we share power in Zanu-PF post-Mugabe," he said, adding that it would be very embarrassing for Mugabe if he stood for election again and lost."Mnangagwa is too loyal to Mugabe, to the extent that he cannot even express his own views for his boss to retire."It's up to Mugabe himself to be really thankful to his loyalists who have helped him to remain in power for this long and not the opportunists who praise him during the day and denigrate him during the night."This is what the man (Mnangagwa) is made of and he has shown total loyalty and obedience to the president," Mutodi told our sister paper, the Daily News then.Sacked former Cabinet minister and war veterans' leader, Christopher Mutsvangwa, together with his executive, have also since stepped up their efforts to force Mugabe to step down, accusing the increasingly frail nonagenarian of being at the centre of the country's rot.And like Tsenengamu, Mutodi and Mutsvangwa, former Zanu-PF chairman for Mashonalnd West province, Temba Mliswa, has also recently suggested that Mugabe should hand over power to Mnangagwa as the ruling party's succession wars burn ever hotter."Zanu-PF's solution to the current economic problems is for the president to step down and Mnangagwa, who is the most senior, to take over."Don't call me a Mnangagwa person, unless there is someone more senior in Zanu-PF than Mnangagwa, then you tell me."If Mnangagwa does take over, he is going to stop the bleeding in terms of people suffering. We must be cognisant of the fact that the people are suffering," Mliswa said at the end of last year.Mugabe, who turns a very mature 93 next month, has studiously refused to name a successor, arguing that his party should rather follow what he sees as a more democratic process, to manage his succession via a congress.But as the years and decades have gone by, this has appeared to stoke Zanu-PF's ugly infighting, which has escalated over the past two weeks as both the G40 and Team Lacoste have gone at each other hammer and tongs, particularly since the release of images showing Mnangagwa holding a coffee mug inscribed with the words "I am the Boss" during a festive season gathering at his Zvishavane rural home.Analysts also say that the troubled ruling party's tortured politics are "changing" again, with Mnangagwa and Team Lacoste now the ones on the back foot following the events of the past few weeks.On Wednesday last week, a G40-linked group, comprising provincial chairpersons and regional commissars met at the Zanu-PF headquarters in Harare, issuing a statement in which they called for a probe into Mnangagwa for hobnobbing with Mutsvangwa and Mutodi.But Tsenengamu said yesterday that there was "absolutely nothing" untoward about Mnangagwa meeting expelled or out-of-favour Zanu-PF members, as other senior party leaders such as its national political commissar, Saviour Kasukuwere, had also been pictured in the company of the likes of Mliswa who was expelled from the ruling party in 2014."Who is the saint in Zanu-PF on meeting either suspended or expelled cadres? I have met Kasukuwere thrice after my expulsion. I have also met (Zanu-PF youth chairperson Kudzanayi) Chipanga several times since my suspension and expulsion."In 2014, myself and Vengai Musengi were on suspension when we met ... Mugabe at State House after the youth conference the same year."President Mugabe did send his State residences principal director to invite me and (expelled Harare youth chairperson Godwin) Gomwe on the very day he went to officially open ZEGU (Zimbabwe Ezekiel Guti University) in Bindura."When Jonathan Moyo got expelled in 2004/5 he met serving and senior leaders of the party to facilitate his return to the party. So, what is new here?"And as I said, Kasukuwere has recently been meeting with Mliswa who was expelled from the party. He also had photos taken with him."Show me one senior leader in Zanu-PF who has not been meeting or interacting with either suspended or expelled people and then I will show you 10 virgin prostitutes," Tsenengamu said hyperbolically.
CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A bomb threat forces a Germany-bound passenger flight from Oman to land in Kuwait Sunday, The state-run KUNA news agency.

The plane from Salalah heading to Cologne was Eurowings flight No. EW117, an Airbus A330-203.

KUNA news agency of said 299 people on board were evacuated over the incident.

The plane was diverted to Kuwait "for security reasons and in consultation with the relevant authorities," Eurowings said in an emailed statement, without elaborating.
JALALABAD, Afghanistan, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Militants loyal to the Islamic State (IS) outfit abducted 13 religious scholars from a religious school in Haski Mina district of eastern Afghanistan's Nangarhar province on Sunday, said Attaullah Khogiani, spokesman for the provincial government.

"A group of Ulema (religious scholars) were busy in taking test from students of a Medresa (religious school) in Shapoli area of Haski Mina district today morning when IS rebels attacked and took 13 religious scholars to unknown location," Khogiani told reporters here.

Efforts are underway to ensure the safe release of the abductees, the official said. He said more than 200 boys are busy in getting religious subjects there in the religious school.

The IS outfit has yet to make comment on the subject.

Parts of Nangarhar province has been the scene of IS operations over the past two years.
An elephant eats at the Mole National Park in Ghana, Dec. 24, 2016. (Xinhua/Shi Song)

DAR ES SALAAM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Former Tanzanian President Benjamin Mkapa on Saturday commended China for banning ivory trade and urged other countries across the world to follow suit.

"The banning of ivory trade in other countries like what China has done will lead to ending poaching in Tanzania," said Mkapa who ruled Tanzania between 1995 and 2005.

Mkapa made the comment at the end of a special walk aimed at enhancing awareness on wildlife conservation and attracting more people to effectively participate in the fight against poaching.

"The most important step in putting poachers out of business would be shutting down the ivory industry in all trade hubs around the world," Mkapa said.

The 5-km walk from the Chinese Embassy to Sea Cliff Hotel which was organized by the Chinese Embassy in the east African nation, brought together around 600 people including top government officials, non-governmental organizations, conservationists and diplomats.

Mkapa said: "It is better for other countries across the world to emulate what China has done in order to save the lives of elephants that are disappearing in various parts of the world."

"China is not the only destination country for ivory trade, there is a number of other countries in Europe, America and the Far East, so our call is for the other destinations to ban the trade in their countries and that's where we can move on and succeed in our fight," he said.

Mkapa said more joint efforts were still needed to combat the illegal trade in ivory, which was threatening the survival of the African elephants.

Gaudence Milanzi, the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism, expressed the government's commitment to continue deploying new ways and techniques in fighting poaching.

Milanzi praised the government of China for the good move it has taken which proved to the international community that it was determined to end the business and protect the animal.

"Elephants are at the top of the 'wish list' for many tourists who come to this country. Elephants are a great asset to this country in many ways, and the government is determined to stop their killing," said Milanzi, a Major General for the Tanzania People's Defence Forces.

Lu Youqing, the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, said the fight against poaching should be taken as an international challenge, calling for every country to join the race and take action.

Lu said the international community was expected to provide more support and assistance to Tanzania for wildlife protection.

"Our embassy is will to continue providing support to help Tanzania, share successful experience of endangered species conservation and help to train more professional personnel," said the Chinese envoy.

German Ambassador to Tanzania Egon Kochanke, who also joined the walk, said what the Chinese ambassador has done improved the standing of China in Africa and everybody now knows that China is willing to stop the imports of ivory and protect the elephant here in the country.

In mid-2015, the government of Tanzania released an elephant population estimate from a country-wide aerial survey which showed that the elephant population has declined by 60 percent since 2009 from 109,051 to 43,521.
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte (L, front) unveils the commemorative stamp during the formal launching of the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN in Davao City, the Philippines, Jan. 15, 2017. Duterte on Sunday called on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and its dialogue partners including China, Japan and the United States to help strengthen the Southeast Asian community. (Xinhua/Stringer)

MANILA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday called on members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations(ASEAN) and its dialogue partners including China, Japan and the United States to help strengthen the Southeast Asian community.

Duterte made the appeal during the formal launching of the Philippine chairmanship of ASEAN in Davao City this afternoon. Diplomats and officials flew to Duterte's home city to attend the event.

As chair of the ASEAN meetings, Duterte said the Philippines "will be firm in its advocacy to promote cooperation between and among ASEAN neighbors and engage our dialogue partners to be more dynamic and vibrant stakeholders in the continued development of our region."

He said priorities of this year's meeting would be to ensure the well-being of the peoples in ASEAN and ensure peace and stability in the region.

"We will place our peoples at the core, work for regional peace and stability, pursue maritime security and cooperation, advance inclusive, innovation-led growth, strengthen ASEAN resiliency and promote ASEAN as a model of regionalism and as a global player," Duterte said.

"This is a tremendous task but one that is not unachievable."

He called on the 10-member states of ASEAN "to rededicate themselves and commit anew to the principles and purposes behind the establishment of our association adherence to the rule of law."

"Now, more than ever, it is ASEAN's spirit of community that will enable us to overcome challenges that we face as a region," he said.

Duterte also called on ASEAN dialogue partners "to be unwavering in your support for ASEAN's continued development and for its important role in the region's security, stability and growth."

"I also call on ASEAN dialogue partners to renew their dedication to the valued purposes and principles stated in the Treaty of Amity and Cooperation, including non-interference, in promoting regional peace and stability through abiding respect for the rule of law," he said.

"Now, more than ever, it is time for real change through constructive engagements," Duterte said. "We are in this journey together."

The Philippines' chairmanship of ASEAN this year happens to coincide with the 50th anniversary of ASEAN. The Philippines is one of the five founding members of ASEAN.

Philippine Foreign Secretary Perfecto Yasay said the Philippines will be hosting around 100 meetings this year, including the two leaders' level summits in April and November.

Member countries take turns every year to chair these meetings.

During the year-end meeting, the country chair also hosts the East Asia Summit, a forum attended by ASEAN and the leaders of China, India, Russia, the United States, Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.

During the annual ASEAN foreign ministers' meeting, foreign ministers from the bloc's dialogue partners also attend the ASEAN Regional Forum.

ASEAN groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.
Photo taken on Jan. 15, 2017 shows a section of the northern border with the Gaza Strip. Israel's army shelled a Hamas post in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after Israeli troops came under fire near the besieged Palestinian enclave. (Xinhua/Gil Cohen Magen)

JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel's army shelled a Hamas post in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after Israeli troops came under fire near the besieged Palestinian enclave.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that the post, near the fence between Israel and Gaza, was destroyed.

In the morning, shots were fired from Gaza at Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel who were "working near the southern Gaza fence," the spokesperson said. The shooting caused no injuries but a military vehicle was hit, the spokesperson added.

"In response to the shooting attack, targeting IDF forces, IDF tank targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip," the statement read.

Israel's last military campaign in Gaza ended in July 2014 after 51 days of war. Since then, frequent fire incidents occur on both sides of the border.
Local students dance in celebration of the opening of the China-built Jubek Model Secondary School, in Gudele, South Sudan. (photo by the Chinese embassy in South Sudan)

JUBA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- South Sudan's central state of Jubek have inaugurated Jubek Model Secondary School built with support from the Chinese government.

The new school located in the suburb of Gudele, west of the South Sudanese capital of Juba, is built using a grant of 8 million U.S. dollars provided by China to construct two schools in South Sudan.

The 2,200-square-meter facility comprises of 16 class rooms that can accommodate about 1000 students, running water and a 24-hour solar power.

Jubek State Governor Augustino Jadalla Wani said Friday the new school is going to fight congestion in public schools and also reduce the cost of traveling long distance by secondary school students.

He lauded Beijing's efforts to continue seeking lasting peace and stability in South Sudan, adding that China's support to South Sudan's oil, construction and education sectors would help shore up the young East African country into prosperity.

"Lack of public schools in the capital has been a major problem to our children because most schools are located east of Juba. I sincerely congratulate and thank the People's Republic of China for this great offer. I hope this school is going to be among the best schools in the whole country," Wani said.

Minister of Education Wani Sule advised the school management to maintain the modern facilities with proper, cautioning the local community against theft of solar panels and other property.

On his part, Zhang Yi, Economic and Commercial Counselor at the Chinese Embassy in South Sudan said the successful completion of the project signals China's good and sincere friendship with South Sudan.

Zhang revealed that China had contributed toward construction of two other Schools (Yapa and China Friendship Secondary schools) in Jubek state, totaling to three China-aided secondary schools.

In addition to building schools, the Chinese government will embark on capacity building for South Sudanese teachers, Zhang pledged.
KABUL, Jan. 15 (Xinhua)-- A total of 21 Taliban militants including a group commander have been killed across the conflict-hit country during series of operations over the past 24 hours, said a statement of Interior Ministry released here on Sunday.

The operations, according to the statement, have covered parts of Kapisa, Parwan, Oruzgan and Khost provinces, during which huge number of arms and ammunitions including explosive materials have been discovered and destroyed.

However, the statement didn't say if there were casualties on security personnel.

Anti-government groups including the Taliban and he Islamic State haven't commented on the report.
TIRANA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Albanian authorities released 731 inmates on Sunday under an amnesty initiated by the Ministry of Justice, local media reported.

Albanian parliament approved last December the amnesty, which was defined to be executed in mid-January.

The amnesty applies to convicts with up to two years jail term and those who have two years remaining to serve, according to the ministry.

Beneficiaries also include women over 55 years old, men over 60 and minors under 18, it informed.

But those convicted of serious crimes, such as terrorism, human and narcotics trafficking, sexual assaults, and public officials accused of office misuse, corruption are excluded.

Albanian government proposed the amnesty to release hundreds of people from crowded prisons and detention centers last year.

Justice Minister Ylli Manjani told reporters Sunday that the amnesty was intended to give another opportunity to the convicts while he pledged support to help the released inmates to re-integrate into the social life.
Protestors demonstrate during a rally in Paris on January 15, 2017 against the Paris Middle East peace conference taking place in the French capital. (Xinhua/AFP PHOTO)

JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel's army shelled a Hamas post in the Gaza Strip on Sunday after Israeli troops came under fire near the besieged Palestinian enclave.

A military spokesperson said in a statement that the post, near the fence between Israel and Gaza, was destroyed.

In the morning, shots were fired from Gaza at Israel Defense Forces (IDF) personnel who were "working near the southern Gaza fence," the spokesperson said. The shooting caused no injuries but a military vehicle was hit, the spokesperson added.

"In response to the shooting attack, targeting IDF forces, IDF tank targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip," the statement read.

Israel's last military campaign in Gaza ended in July 2014 after 51 days of war. Since then, frequent fire incidents occur on both sides of the border.
Chinese Premier Li Keqiang (back, C) presides over a symposium to solicit opinions from experts and entrepreneurs on the draft of an annual government work report in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 13, 2017. Chinese Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli attended the symposium. (Xinhua/Ma Zhancheng)

BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang has held a symposium to solicit opinions from experts and entrepreneurs on the draft of an annual government work report.

Experts and entrepreneurs shared their views and made suggestions on the government's work at the symposium held Friday, according to a statement issued Sunday.

The participants offered suggestions on a wide range of areas, including deepened reforms of the financial and taxation systems, boosting employment, and defusing financial risks, it said.

They also proposed creating a sound environment for the development of the real economy, speeding up supply-side structural reform in the agricultural sector, supporting technology for strategic emerging industries, and encouraging scientific and technological innovation.

Li exchanged ideas with the group and tallied last year's achievements in boosting employment, upgrading the economic structure and improving people's livelihood.

The premier said China's economy will face greater pressure and difficulties this year, citing the uncertainties and complexities of the international political structure and challenges to economic rules.

He added that the country will keep its economy running smoothly while continuously improving the quality and efficiency of economic growth.

The country will adhere to seeking progress while maintaining stability in general, implement the five development concepts of innovation, coordination, green development, opening up and sharing, and promote supply-side structural reform, the premier said.

Vice Premier Zhang Gaoli attended the symposium.
Opinion /

The growth of a nation must be measured by the degree at which it enlarge the capabilities and enrich the lives of all peoples. Consumption must be shared; it must strengthen social growth and facilitate human development. This growth must be sustained without mortgaging the choices of future generations. But inequalities have persisted between sexes, ethnic groups and many times geography choking back the measures that increase consumption and options. Buoyed inequality often leads to increased prevalence of human poverty. More disturbing is when communities are ignorant of the inequalities and have accepted them as part of life passed on generation to generation. The life and stories of former farm workers we met in Mash West's Kamwaza Township can effortlessly pass for that measure of inequality building a backlog of poverty that unremittingly steal opportunities designed to lead individuals into a healthy, decent and creative life.Rafingora is about 40 kilometers north of Banket Mashonaland West. Kamwaza is Rafingora's central business district. Established by Mr. Fox as Rafingora Estates, a consortium of farmers later established Aisha stores in and around places such as Katawa, Chinomwe. Kamwaza become the central business district through a tractor garage owned by Mr. Joe Kay, Aisha shops and the Agric airstrip. Kamwaza Township is home to a number of nationalities Malawians, Mozambicans and Zimbabweans who sought employment. Names such as Matafari the long time shop keeper, Mugonapanja, Kainga, Mugochanyuchi, Mwale, Bitizira, and Kamusori the prodigy and generous mechanic are part of the place's founding heroes. Despite their identity differences they formed a compound family held together by different belief systems but driven by shared hopes and dreams of a better life, the dreams of equality, equal access of opportunities of all that transcend gender, station of birth, religious foundation, political ideology or wealth and fortune for them and their children.Life has changed from the narratives of people walking from Doma area with all their belongings on head tops in search of a better life at the Estates, the stories of the first workers compound; makeshift houses known locally referred to as musakanene and how the Aisha Rural Council transformed lives by constructing model houses. As time passed on the houses were sold to their occupants and for many the dreams of home ownership were attained. For most of these migrants Kamwaza became their permanent home and today most of the houses are occupied by the children of initial owners. We were also told how Mr. Nico used to fill up the Chinhoi silos alone. We heard stories of the airstrip and how people wanted to be pilots inspired by the planes they saw land and fly at the airstrip. These are voices and memories of a community at different epochs, yet even as individuals or communities fail or succeed at given instances of time life as dictated by the flawless impulse of time goes on or must go on.For many of these workers the land reform was a life changing event and provokes mixed feelings. Yes it promoted many from being simple laborers into land owners but it was also a profanity to the farm workers who lost a source of income and failed to secure a piece of land. The story of these former farm workers who were left out of the program for various reasons can easily be forgotten. But the years of arrested development that have tumble-downed the infrastructure that used to be celebrated as the heart and soul of dreams at Kamwaza is a stubborn reminder of their story. The road from Banket once a tarred road is now rutted with a few patches of tar emerging here and there gives a chilling overview of what lays ahead. Growth has been arrested and very little construction has occurred over the past two decades. The infrastructure from the Rafingora garage, to the airstrip, have been run down or closed. ZINWA pipes broken or blocked and houses have no piped water. Even the public toilets at the bus station and vegetable market have been closed and passersby have to use the ablution facilities of the council beer hall.The houses built by Aisha Rural Council are a mixture of two roomed and three roomed dwellings but the passage of time and the years of growth in population have overrun these houses. A handful has managed to extend their houses to meet the demands of their huge families but the majority live crammed in these tiny red block dwellings. Unable to renovate or upgrade their houses we saw families live in dilapidated structures where plastics had to be used to cover a sleeping child from rains as roofs leak, the old brown blocks cracked, the metal doors rusted and toilets that used to flush cum bucket facilities. The state of the houses is appalling but the enduring smiles of their inhabitants speak of a person's holding on to his dreams despite years of arrested growth.Employment was largely in the farms but the land reform gave a new twist of both luck and doom. Despite spending a life time on the farms there are many who were knocked out of the fast track land redistribution exercise by connected and politically correct folks.Those who benefitted from the exercise even in areas such as Yomba near the great Hunyani river in charge of the means of production but lacking are engaged in the once a year farming and depend on the government farming inputs schemes year after year and yes some receive the inputs and immediately sell them. Labor from all ages including children drives production in most of these farms as households try to make ends meet. The C and S bakery now closed or operates at minimum, the few tuck-shops at Kamwaza township only offers prospects of employment to the shop owner's family and close relatives. With unemployment opportunities minimal poverty runs amok drug abuse and prostitution is so rife.Prostitution was so pronounced and almost legalized at "musakanene'. Here was the hub of prostitution. But as time passed on the musakanene collapsed as a structure but continued to exist in habits. Its legacy, the victims of HIV/AIDS and a visit to the cemetery which is just behind the houses tells it all. Polarization in pursuit of political correction generates unbearable tension in this area. Private newspapers are clandestinely read and publicly used as wrapper papers at the food market. Access to information is a casually regarded and viewed more as a luxury unaffordable to the majority.Arrested growth closes avenues meant to create a health creativity life, shuts down choices enlarging knowledge bases. Early marriages occur not only to girls but boys with equally very limited choices of life marry early too. Unplanned pregnancies leading to elopements, girls hoping to escape the poverty of their families and at times traditional practices are the major drivers of early marriages.Marriages started at very young ages and breaking up so fast creating so many single parent families. These girls cum parents with incomplete education become the faces of poverty and so does the boys cum parents often, unemployed alcohol and drug addicts. Reason exists in every person but because the values and expectations of a parent are a map printed in a child the success or failures of that child are innately linked to the personality of the parent. To this end failure to expand the capabilities of these youth is tantamount to bequeathing the burdens of today's youth to the next generation. These are stories of people whose dreams of an improved life are terminated not entirely by their youthful mistakes but largely by the despondent environment they live.For these people who whose lives became part and parcel of the farms some travelled across borders, the expectations of social expansion are not a misapprehension but the processes expected to enlarge choices that must invite improvement remain a dream. Their hopes effortlessly become delusions.Issued by Kudakwashe ChakabvaDirectorZimbabwe Dream Project+263 773 725 723/+263 718 017 235
Syrians wait to fill up their plastic bottles with water from a street water tanker in Damascus, capital of Syria, on Jan. 12, 2017. Damascenes have been struggling to secure their needs of drinking water since Dec. 23, 2016 as the main water supply in Barada Valley northwest of Damascus have been cut off due to the intensity of battles between the rebels and the government forces over the area. (Xinhua/Ammar Safarjalani)

DAMASCUS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Intense battles raged on Sunday in a water-rich valley northwest of Damascus, a day after a truce was breached by rebels' killing of a government envoy, a military source said on condition of anonymity.

The Syrian army backed by the Lebanese Hezbollah fighters reached the outskirts of Ain Fijeh spring in the Barada Valley near Damascus, as part of a wide-scale offensive to recapture the spring, the main water source feeding Damascus' over five million people, who have been struggling with the scarcity of water since the rebels shut off the spring on Dec. 22.

This comes a day after rebels with the al-Qaida-linked Nusra Front fired sniper shots at maintenance workers, who entered the area to fix the spring to restore the water flow to Damascus.

The rebels also shot dead retired Brig. Ahmad Ghadban, who was tasked by President Bashar al-Assad to supervise the truce and the reconciliation file in Barada.

The truce deal walked on thorny road till it was reached on Wednesday, as the Nusra Front was among the rebels who attempted to repeatedly thwart any understanding with the government.

Part of the deal also included the reconciliation with the rebels who accept the truce with the government, as such rebels will have their records cleared and will be tasked by the government to protect the Barada Valley.

As for those who refuse the truce, the plan was for their departure to the northwestern province of Idlib.

The deal also provides for the entry of government workers to fix Ain Fijeh, which sustained damage during the weeks-long battles.

The rebels accused the government forces' shelling of rendering the spring out of service, while the government said the Nusra militants cut off the water, using it as a weapon against the government.

Maintenance workers withdrew on Saturday after the Nusra militants fired sniper shots at them.

Last week, the UN has warned that the water crisis afflicting the Syrian capital may constitute a war crime, without identifying the party responsible for the water crisis.

"In Damascus itself, 5.5 million people have had their water supplies cut or minimized," the UN's humanitarian adviser to Syria, Jan Egeland, said.

The tension in Barada Valley has also threatened a Russian-Turkish brokered truce in Syria.

The truce, or the cessation of hostility agreement which went into effect in Syria on Dec. 30, was hailed by both the opposition and the government alike, each trusting his regional ally.

But as the truce was observed across the country, save for areas under the control of the Islamic State (IS) and Nusra Front, the Barada Valley couldn't enjoy the same respite as cutting the water from the capital seemed a redline to the government.

The government defended its offensive in that area, saying the Nusra Front is a main rebel power behind the water outage, and is excluded from the Russian-Turkish cease-fire deal.

With the heavy shelling on the area, several rebel groups reflected their frustration with the government offensive by announcing freezing their participation in talks on the upcoming negotiations in Astana, the first negotiations to include rebels and government officials in Syria.

The Astana talks are slated for Jan. 23, with no foreseeable solution to the crisis in Barada.
NANCHANG, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- An underwater archaeological mission concluded on Sunday in east China's Jiangxi Province, revealing more about a Buddha statue that has emerged from the water of a reservoir.

Archaeologists said the Buddha statue, originally spotted by local villagers, is 3.8 meters tall and carved onto a cliff face. The base of a hall was also found under the water, indicating that a temple existed there.

The head of the Buddha was spotted at Hongmen Reservoir in Nancheng County in the city of Fuzhou late last year when a hydropower gate renovation project lowered water levels in the reservoir by more than 10 meters.

Judging from the head's design, the statue was carved during the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), said Xu Changqing, head of the provincial research institute of archaeology.

The mission began earlier this month, carried out by the underwater cultural relic protection center under the State Administration of Cultural Heritage and Jiangxi Provincial Research Institute of Archaeology.

A path was found to the north of the statue, and an inscription with 30 characters was found to the south, according to Li Bin, researcher with the State Administration of Cultural Heritage. In front of the statue is the foundation of the hall, covering some 165 square meters, said Li.

Guan Zhiyong, head of Hongmen Township government, said the Buddha statue was built at the intersection of two rivers where boats easily overturned due to the rapid flow.

"According to folk tale, the ancient people built the statue to pray for safety," said Guan.

According to county records, the reservoir is located on the ruins of the ancient Xiaoshi Township, an important trade center and hub for water transportation between Jiangxi and Fujian provinces.

"The ruins of Xiaoshi town were not exposed by the lowered water levels, but the underwater team also explored the town," said Jin Huilin, curator of the museum of Nancheng County.

Hongmen Reservoir, also known as Zuixian Lake, was built in 1958. Many local villagers were relocated for the project. Hearing the news of the newly visible Buddha, some villagers went back to pay a visit.

Blacksmith Huang Keping, 82, used to live near the site.

"I went to the temple in 1952 and saw the Buddha statue for the first time. I remember the statue was gilded at that time," said Huang.

He recalled that there was a small temple at the foot of the Buddha statue and many of the villagers held Buddhist beliefs.

Jin Huilin said there was not yet a cultural relic protection department in the county when the reservoir was built, as the county museum was not established until 1983.

"There was also a lack of mature technology to protect cultural relics, and the statue could not be removed," he said.

Experts said the statue was well-preserved as the water prevented it from weathering and destruction by humans. Some historical heritage sites were destroyed during the Cultural Revolution between 1966 and 1976.

Archaeologists said they will conduct research to prepare for the protection of the reservoir's underwater relics.

"The water levels of the reservoir will rise when the spring flood arrives around March, and the head of the Buddha statue will be submerged again," said Shan Keke, official with the water authority of Nancheng.
LONDON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Just 48 hours before British Prime Minister Theresa May's widely anticipated speech on her Brexit plans, speculations by local media on Britain's quit from European single market are accumulating.

Most of Britain's national newspapers trailed details Sunday of what May is expected to outline in the her speech due on Tuesday.

The Sunday Express in London says May is to get tough with Brussels, saying Britain will quit the single market and customs union if the country can't take back control of its borders.

May, according to the report, will urge both leave and remain supporters to end their insults and divisions and unite behind her vision for a "truly global Britain."

Express is not the only media here making such a speculation.

The Sunday Times, on its front page, says May will finally lay her cards on the table, making it clear that Britain is set to pull out of the single market and European customs union.

And it says May will press Europe for preferential access to European markets for the motor and pharmaceutical industries as well as the finance sector.

The report quoted a Downing Street source admitting that May's stance could cause a market correction that could lead to a fresh fall in the value of the pound.

Sterling is currently trading at the rate of one pound to 1.22 U.S. dollars, making exports cheaper but imports more expensive. The business and finance world will eagerly await the opening of the markets Monday to see any reaction to May's words.

The Sunday Telegraph also carries a report headlined "May's big gamble on a clean Brexit." The newspaper tells its readers "She's gone for the full works. People will know that when she said Brexit means Brexit, she really meant it."

A source close to Downing Street is quoted by media as saying May on Tuesday will set out her definitive plan for Brexit.

Government officials often use the weekend media to give strong hints of what a senior figure, such as the prime minister, will say.

So the reports carried by several Sunday's newspapers are expected to cause dismay among pro-remain supporters who fear that Britain losing access to a ready market of more than 400 million European customers will badly dent the British economy.

Under European Union rules, continued British access to the single market is dependent on the free flow of EU citizens into Britain.

However, out-of-control immigration was one of the main reasons many people voted in last June's referendum to support Britain quitting the EU.

Some political commentators also speculated that May is making a gamble by saying that in the expected tough round of negotiations with Brussels, she would be prepared to pull out of the single market.

The quit will also cause concerns in some of the major EU member states, particularly France and Germany, which are highly dependent on exports of goods into Britain.

Writing in the Sunday Times, the Brexit Secretary David Davis says Britain does not want Europe to fail. He said Britain is seeking a new deal with Europe.

A poll published Sunday in the Observer newspaper indicates that by a margin of 30 percent, the British public trust May's Conservative government to deliver a successful Brexit deal compared with rival parties.

Ambassadors from the 27 EU member states have been invited to Lancaster House on Tuesday where May will deliver her speech.
RAMALLAH, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Ministry called Sunday for forming an international front to support the outcomes of the Paris peace conference.

The ministry said in an emailed press statement that the implementation of the conference outcomes requires a wide international front to support it.

The statement described the conference as an international demonstration to realize peace between Palestinians and Israelis, expressing it's anger from Israel's continued defiance of the obligations of peace and its violations that undermine the two state solution, mainly settlement activity.

It added that holding the conference is seen as a new achievement by Palestinian diplomacy led by President Mahmoud Abbas with the aim to relaunch serious and fruitful peace negotiations with Israel, in accordance with Arab and international peace references, within a predetermined time frame and under international supervision and follow up.

The ministry called on the incoming American Administration under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to back the outcomes of the Paris conference and build on it toward launching serious negotiations to implement the two state solution and end the conflict.

It also called on the Israeli society to look at the conference with positivity and value the opportunity to reach peace.

The international peace conference in Paris kicked off Sunday, attended by foreign ministers from nearly 70 countries and five international organizations, the European Union, United Nations, Arab League, Islamic Conference Organization and the African Union, but without representatives from Palestine or Israel.

Paris hosted an international ministerial meeting on June 3, attended by the foreign ministers of 25 countries, including four Arab countries, which debated the revival of the stalled peace process between Israel and Palestine.

The meeting was held based on an initiative launched by France a few months ago to hold an international conference to look into an international mechanism to end the Palestinian- Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution.

Israel declared it is against the French initiative and said it is committed to bilateral negotiations in order to realize peace without preconditions.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan walk out of the plane after arrival in Zurich, Switzerland, Jan. 15, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Sunday to pay a state visit to Switzerland and attend the 2017 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin)

ZURICH, Switzerland, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping arrived here Sunday to pay a state visit to Switzerland and attend the 2017 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

It is the first state visit to the Alpine country by a Chinese president in the 21st century. And meanwhile, Xi will become the first Chinese head of state to attend the Davos meeting.

The Swiss government rolled out the red carpet for the Chinese president and his wife Peng Liyuan at the airport in Zurich. The couple were greeted by Swiss President Doris Leuthard and her husband Roland Hausin.

Accompanied by Leuthard, Xi inspected the guard of honor with a military band playing the two countries' national anthems.

In a written speech delivered at the airport, the Chinese president briefly reviewed the friendly exchanges and cooperation between the two countries since they established diplomatic ties 67 years ago.

"I hope that, through my visit, we can deepen the traditional friendship between our two peoples, expand our practical cooperation in various areas, enrich the meaning of our innovative strategic partnership, push the bilateral ties to a new high, and jointly make positive contributions to promoting world economic recovery," he said.

After the welcome ceremony at the Zurich airport, Xi traveled to the Swiss capital of Bern by a special train of the Swiss government, where he is scheduled to have talks and meetings with Swiss leaders.

China and Switzerland have enjoyed long-term exchanges and cooperation. In 1950, Switzerland was one of the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the newly-founded People's Republic of China. At the start of this century, Switzerland was among the first European countries to recognize China as a full market economy. In recent years, Switzerland became the first European continental country to conclude and implement a free trade agreement with China.

Xi will later travel to the ski resort of Davos to attend the WEF annual meeting, which comes as economic globalization is being faced with headwinds and dented by rising populism and trade protectionism.

He will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony on Jan. 17 to share the views of the world's second largest economy on charting the course for globalization to make it more inclusive and beneficial to all and on revitalizing global economic growth.

During this first overseas trip by Xi in 2017, which lasts from Jan. 15 to 18, the president will also travel to Geneva and Lausanne to visit the headquarters of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the World Health Organization and the International Olympic Committee.

Xi will give a speech at the UNOG on Jan. 18 to expound on how to realize the vision of building a community of shared future for mankind.
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault welcomes US Secretary of State John Kerry as he arrives for the Mideast peace conferencein Paris, France, January 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

RAMALLAH, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Ministry called Sunday for forming an international front to support the outcomes of the Paris peace conference.

The ministry said in an emailed press statement that the implementation of the conference outcomes requires a wide international front to support it.

The statement described the conference as an international demonstration to realize peace between Palestinians and Israelis, expressing it's anger from Israel's continued defiance of the obligations of peace and its violations that undermine the two state solution, mainly settlement activity.

It added that holding the conference is seen as a new achievement by Palestinian diplomacy led by President Mahmoud Abbas with the aim to relaunch serious and fruitful peace negotiations with Israel, in accordance with Arab and international peace references, within a predetermined time frame and under international supervision and follow up.

The ministry called on the incoming American Administration under U.S. President-elect Donald Trump to back the outcomes of the Paris conference and build on it toward launching serious negotiations to implement the two state solution and end the conflict.

It also called on the Israeli society to look at the conference with positivity and value the opportunity to reach peace.

The international peace conference in Paris kicked off Sunday, attended by foreign ministers from nearly 70 countries and five international organizations, the European Union, United Nations, Arab League, Islamic Conference Organization and the African Union, but without representatives from Palestine or Israel.

Paris hosted an international ministerial meeting on June 3, attended by the foreign ministers of 25 countries, including four Arab countries, which debated the revival of the stalled peace process between Israel and Palestine.

The meeting was held based on an initiative launched by France a few months ago to hold an international conference to look into an international mechanism to end the Palestinian- Israeli conflict based on the two-state solution.

Israel declared it is against the French initiative and said it is committed to bilateral negotiations in order to realize peace without preconditions.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.
VIENTIANE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China has agreed to purchase 20,000 tons of organic rice a year from Laos, Lao Prime Minister Thongloun Sisoulith told local authorities in the southern Champassak province.

Laos will need to deliver 20,000 tons of genuine organic rice to China and the shipment must not contain non-organic rice, Thongloun was quoted by the state-run Vientiane Times on Sunday.

About 4,000 tons of sticky rice and non-glutinous rice had already been delivered to China following an earlier agreement to export 8,000 tons of Lao rice to China. China has approved an increase from 8,000 tons to 20,000 tons, said the newspaper.

The exported rice to China is being grown in Savannakhet province and Champassak province's Khong district. According to Lao Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry in October, only the IDP Rice Mill in Savannakhet province was able to produce quality rice meeting the standard required by Chinese buyers.

There are many rice mills in Laos but their product is of low quality. Based on a nationwide survey, only the IDP Rice Mill has been able to meet the Chinese standards.

China's Xuanye (Lao) Co., Ltd was approved by China's National Development and Reform Commission to be sole exporter of Lao rice to China with quota of 8,000 tons.

More than 778,000 hectares of wet season rice and over 126,600 hectares of dry season rice are grown annually in Laos. However, about 226,000 hectares of rice fields in flatland areas are totally dependent on rainfall because irrigation channels have not yet been built in those areas.

Since 2000, Laos has exported over 300,000 tons of rice annually to Vietnam, Thailand, China and other countries.

Laos is expected to produce about 5 million tons of rice by 2020 to ensure food security in the country. In the 2015-2016 fiscal year, Laos' rice production reached 4.12 million tons and is predicted to increase to 4.35 million tons in the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
PARIS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Middle East Peace Conference, an international meeting aiming to revive the stranded Middle East peace talks, was held in Paris on Sunday.

About 70 countries, including the UN Security Council permanent members, key European countries and major Arab states, are taking part in the meeting.

However, neither Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are represented in the meeting. Israelis called the meeting a "rigged conference" aiming to adopt additional anti-Israel stances.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who chairs Paris gathering, urged for a resumption of the talks.

"Peace cannot be found in hate. The aim of the conference is precisely to allow a resumption of dialogue," Ayrault told the gathering at the opening speech.

"There is no time to waste," because "we are not sheltered from an explosion of violence," said the minister.

But France affirmed that the meeting wouldn't impose conditions on the two rival camps to reach a lasting a peace accord.

France launched a diplomatic initiative to revive Middle East peace talks last June.

The last round of peace negotiations between Israel and Palestinian authorities broke down in April 2014 after the two sides failed to resolve their deep disputes on issues, such as Israeli settlements, Palestinian state borders and security.
TOKYO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- All 80,000 chickens were culled at a poultry farm in central Japan's Gifu prefecture, where the highly pathogenic H5 bird flu strain had been detected, local authorities said on Sunday.

Over 100 chickens were found dead at the farm in Yamagata city in the prefecture. Among seven of those carcasses sent for a preliminary test, six tested positive for bird flu.

The Local government started culling the chickens at the farm Saturday night following the H5 virus was confirmed in further tests.

Governor Gifu prefecture Hajime Furuta and Kenichi Hosoda, parliamentary vice minister for Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, met to discussed how to deal with the situation. Hosoda pledged to fully support the prefectural government.

Local authorities have ordered farms within 10 km of the affected poultry farms to stop transporting eggs and poultry out of the areas, while checking whether the virus has spread to neighboring farms.

Bird flu cases have been reported at farms in Japan's central Niigata prefecture, southwestern Miyazaki prefecture, northeastern Aomori prefecture and Hokkaido since November last year.
PARIS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault on Sunday called U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to move U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem a "provocation."

When answering a question from a French TV reporter about Trump's relocation pledge and his words about seeing Jerusalem as Israel's capital, the minister said "of course it's a provocation. I think he would not be able to do it."

"It would have extremely serious consequences," Ayrault warned on the sidelines of Middle East Peace Conference held in Paris.

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a clear-cut, unilateral position on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," he added.

France on Sunday convened an international meeting to seek ways to revive the stranded Middle East peace negotiations and to restate the "two-state solution."

The meeting brought together representatives from about 70 countries, including the U.N. Security Council permanent members, key European countries and major Arab states.

However, neither Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are represented in the meeting.
Opinion / Columnist

In the middle of exponential economic discontentment in Zimbabwe 2017, it's a good thing to admonish our children who are increasingly fleeing the country into Diaspora. Those who have a time to listen will go back to Zimbabwe wealthy one day. And, as most frequently, those who reject advice will add to current weekly statistics, of coffins and deportees repatriated back to Zimbabwe.In 1989 I left Zimbabwe, dreaming of coming back to a revived country after things would have settled. On visiting Zimbabwe bearing a new identity in 1993, I found out that my contract with Diaspora needed to be tightened more than the aspired loosening. As a young man of 23, I was feeling lost on issues of life like how I was going to have children on foreign lands? What kind of girl I would marry? Where I would build a house and how long it would take for Zimbabwe to become a happily habitable and rewarding country.Today after 27 years, three of my four children cannot say a sentence in my native language. I have become a fully licenced citizen of Diaspora. When I was busy collaborating for the destruction of Colonialism in the 70's, I was promised a rewarding country that would be free from unfair practices. That promise was not completely lost, it was fulfilled in the most bizarre and unexpected way. It was realised in Diaspora outside the walls of scenic Dzimbabwe.During the Liberation struggle in the 70's, I would pray nearly every second I blinked my eye, to ask God to make me survive until the end of the war where I would enjoy a fulfilling life. The God of promise did not give me a hint that he would fulfil my prayers but, in different countries called Diaspora.I learnt many years ago, in South Africa, that the beautiful white teeth that God implanted in me are my only best tool to survive in places where I have no relatives. I took time to brush my teeth every morning and wore a smile in public places. I would spend my day working hard and beaming my teeth to catch the appreciation of my hosts.A contrived smile grew to become the common habit of my mouth. I got the first favour, first preference and the first one to be noticed because of a naturally enduring and contagious smile. When the public smiled back in reciprocation to my smile, I found the whole World smiling in front of me. I got best jobs, best friends, best favours, best places in a country where people where killing each other violently and unemployment was rampant. The smile taught my habits to strive for perfection and I became perceived as a good man.When I moved to the United Kingdom in 2000, my white and experienced teeth translated into jobs, friends, a good social life and, of cause, inflated financial rewards.Diaspora taught me to be a nice person. Every time someone presents traces of injustice to me, I have taught my psyches to compare injustices in Britain with those in Zimbabwe. As a human being, I do, sometimes get angry, but, the small reminding voice of the magnitude of deprivation in Zimbabwe brings me back to my senses. I have become an expert in restraining and rationalising my emotions.If I work hard, and get recognised less, I always think about those in Zimbabwe who work so hard and never even get recognised. I think about those in Zimbabwe who, with or without money, cannot access good hospitals. I think about my patriotic fellow-countrymen with whom we were collaborators in the Liberation struggle and yet they die of hunger, poverty, anger, potholes, lawlessness, curable diseases and perpetual hopelessness. I regret my Diaspora children who can't even speak my language and yet, given the circumstances, I can never subject them to a country where they could end up ladies of the night in Harare.Every morning I pray to God to help me keep smiling for the good of my children. I avoid potential trouble; I do not allow myself to get angry. I have learnt to view anger as a natural response for anyone who has been wronged, but not for those who get wronged in other people's countries. No one has ever seen my anger in 27 years. I have seen Zimbabwean Heroes in Diaspora who get angry as if they were home, but, I have also stood as a witness to their abrupt demise.It is my advice to young Zimbabweans who are increasingly getting disgruntled by Zimbabwean life and opting to go to Diaspora, to prepare themselves to be nice citizens in countries they choose to go and settle. Temperance is a virtue, if you get lost, stop, think and choose "good" in a World so full of "bad". You will submerge victorious where you are expected to walk out in shame as a Zimbabwean immigrant.
VIENTIANE, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Laos is expected to expand its export markets of electricity to Malaysia and Singapore, according to the Lao Ministry of Energy and Mines.

The Lao government is launching the first phase of a pilot project to sell 100MW of electricity to Malaysia via Thailand's national grid by September 2017, Daovong Phonekeo, the ministry's office head was quoted by state-run Vientiane Times on Sunday.

In addition, Laos will also export another 100MW of power to Singapore via Thailand and Malaysia's network by 2020 as the second phase. Daovong said the ministry is preparing documents that would speed up talks with authorities of Thailand and Malaysia in March, to negotiate prices and the electricity transmission process.

The export of electricity to Malaysia was part of a pilot project, said the official, adding that Laos will assess its benefits and challenges with other members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) and looks forward to trading electricity collectively.

At present, Laos sells its electricity mainly to Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam. Thailand is the main market, requiring up to 10,000MW, while Vietnam buys 5,000MW.

The abundant resources of the Mekong River and its tributaries give Laos the potential to produce more than 25,000MW of electricity. Laos currently has 42 operational power plants with an installed capacity of 6,391MW, which generate about 33,822.4GWh annually.

The number of power plants will increase from 42 to 50 as the government and private energy developers try to complete the construction of new power plants which will generate electricity this year.

The 50 power plants will be able to generate about 30 billion kWh, of which 21.1 billion kWh will be exported and the rest will be supplied to the local grid.

Laos is aiming for a total installed capacity of about 12,000MW by 2025.
BOGOR, Indonesia, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Indonesian President Joko Widodo and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe agreed on Sunday to boost mutually beneficial cooperation between the two countries.

Abe is on the third stop of his four-nation tour since Thursday, which has already taken him to Australia and the Philippines. He will leave for Vietnam on Monday.

"Certainly the efforts to step up the cooperation must be always under the principal of mutual benefit," President Widodo told a joint press conference after their meeting in West Java province.

Japan's investment in Indonesia nearly tripled to 4.5 billion U.S. dollars in the first nine months last year from the same period in 2015, according to the president.

Japan has invested in major infrastructure projects in Indonesia under the public-private partnership scheme, including Patimban seaport in West Java province, Jakarta-East Java fast-train line and Masela gas block in Maluku province, Coordinating Minister for Maritime Luhut Binsar Pandjaitan said.

Prime Minister Abe confirmed that Japan would like to lift cooperation of the two countries to a higher level.

"I want to deepen cooperation in various sectors and share opinion on challenges to strengthen cooperation between Indonesia and Japan," he said.
TOKYO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Japan is suffering the strongest cold front this winter and at least three people were killed as heavy snow hit areas along the Sea of Japan coast on Sunday.

A man in his 80s was found dead in a collapsed greenhouse under the weight of snow in the western Kyoto prefecture, while at least 300 people were injured in snow-related accidents, according to local media.

The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) forecast that the snowfall will continue through Monday and warned people against heavy snow and blizzards.

Train services were delayed on the Tokaido and Sanyo Shinkansen lines, while at least 130 flights were canceled by airlines, including All Nippon Airways and Japan Airlines.

As of 8 p.m. local time Sunday (1100 GMT), over 170 cm of snow was recorded in the town of Tsunan in central Niigata prefecture, 142 cm in eastern Gunma prefecture, 86 cm in central Nagano prefecture and 48 cm in eastern Tochigi prefecture.

About 80 cm of snow was forecast for the 24-hour period through 6 p.m. Monday in Niigata prefecture and northern part of Kanto region, 70 cm in Nagano prefecture and Tohoku region in northeastern Japan, 50 cm in Hokkaido and the Tokai region in northern and central Japan, and 40 cm in the Chugoku and Kinki regions in western Japan, respectively.
NEW DELHI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were killed and more than 10 others injured in a stampede at one of the largest religious gatherings in India's eastern state of West Bengal on Sunday, a police official said.

"The incident took place late in the evening on a jetty in Gangasagar, a riverine island 129 kms from state capital Kolkata, when pilgrims tried to board a ferry to go to a temple of sage Kapil Muni to pray after taking a dip on a spot where the holy Ganges river meet the sea," he said.

While six people died on the spot, those injured have been rushed to a nearby hospital, the official said, adding that the death toll might go up as some of those injured are said to be in a serious condition.

Over a million pilgrims have gathered in Gangasagar this year to take a dip at the confluence of Ganges river and Bay of Bengal on the occasion of the Hindu festival of Makar Sankranti. The devout believe that a dip in the chilly waters in winter can wash off the sins of a lifetime.

Local TV channels reported that the stampede broke out despite the state government taking a slew of measures to avoid any untoward incident this year, including deploying around 9,000 cops and setting up 165 closed-circuit televisions cameras and a drone for surveillance across the area.

A probe has been ordered into the incident, the police official said. "Senior police and district administration officials are on the spot to oversee rescue operations and we will wait for the probe report to ascertain the exact cause of the mishap," he added.

This is the not the first stampede at Gangasagar. In 2014, seven pilgrims were killed and 20 others injured in a similar kind of mishap on the island.
ISLAMABAD, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani army chief General Qamar Javed Bajwa on Sunday spoke to Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and offered intelligence cooperation to curb terrorism together, the Pakistani Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said.

The offer came after a series of terrorist attacks in Afghanistan that killed dozens of people including five UAE diplomats in the southern city of Kandahar.

Bajwa also mourned the losses of lives in the attacks in Afghanistan and expressed sympathy with bereaved families, saying the tragic series of events have befallen people of both the brotherly countries over the last many years, the military media wing ISPR said in a statement.

"The COAS (Chief of the Army Staff) suggested a robust border management mechanism and intelligence cooperation to put a stop to and from movement of terrorists across the border," the statement said.

Bajwa seemed upset at the allegations by some Afghan officials against Pakistan and said the "elements inimical to peace in the region are strengthened by the blame game."

He reiterated Pakistan's cooperation with the Afghan government and people to eliminate the scourge of terrorism, which is affecting peace and stability of the whole region.

He also emphasized that Pakistan has come a long way in its fight against terrorism and has eliminated all safe havens in the process.

He stressed that both nations should rather focus on capitalizing on the gains of successful and major military operation codenamed "Zarb-e-Azb" in Pakistan.

"President Ashraf Ghani thanked General Qamar Javed Bajwa for his sentiments and reiterated that both nations must work together for peace and stability in the region," the Pakistan army said.
BEIJING, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- China will quadruple its new energy vehicle annual output to 2 million by 2020, a cabinet minister said.

Citing a government plan, Industry and Information Technology Minister Miao Wei said at a Beijing forum over the weekend that by 2025, at least one in every five cars sold in China will be a new energy model.

In 2016, China produced 517,000 new energy vehicles. The country has been the world's top seller of such environment-friendly cars since 2015. The cumulative sale has exceeded 1 million, according to the ministry.

New energy vehicles include battery electric cars, plug-in hybrids, and fuel-cell cars.

In 2016, top Chinese electric carmakers BYD, Geely, and BAIC sold their models in more than 30 countries and regions around the world.

Miao said the government will continue to improve policies, boost research and development, invest in charging infrastructure construction, and promote international cooperation to help the sector grow.

In terms of charging infrastructure, China built over 100,000 public charging poles in 2016, ten times the figure in 2015. A comprehensive charging grid has taken shape in big cities like Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen.

China witnessed a boom of electric vehicle investment in the past few years largely thanks to government's incentives.

Instead of maintaining a universal incentive system, Miao said, subsidies will vary and favor best performing carmakers before this financial assistance program ends in 2020. By then, a points-based system will be set up to guide the production of new energy vehicles.
BUJUMBURA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Unidentified gunmen Saturday night killed three people in an ambush at Muyira in Bujumbura Rural province, 12km east of the Burundian capital Bujumbura, a local administration official said Sunday.

"Gunmen ambushed three persons who were going home around 20:00 (18:00 GMT). The ambush took place at Muyira. During the attack, one person died on the spot and two others died later at the hospital where they had been rushed for urgent treatment," Gedeon Mpitabavuma, head of Muyira zone said.

According to him, the gunmen ran away after the ambush.

He indicated that the victims include two men and a ten-year-old child.

Burundi is facing a political turmoil that broke out since April 2015 following the announcement by Burundian President Pierre Nkurunziza that he would be seeking a third term.

His candidature, which was opposed by the opposition and civil society groups, resulted in a wave of protests, violence and even a failed coup on May 13, 2015.

Over 500 persons are reported to have been killed since then while over 300,000 citizens sought exile in neighboring countries.
Photo taken on Jan. 17, 2016 shows the stone monument in front of the headquarters building of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) in downtown Beijing, capital of China. (Xinhua/Li Xin)

by Peter Barker, Gui Tao

LONDON, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A leading British academic has called for a reordering of international institutions to more accurately reflect the changing economic and political dynamics of the 21st century.

Robin Niblett, the director of Chatham House in London, told Xinhua in a recent exclusive interview that a reform of these institutions was a benefit that should be pursued.

Several of the most important global economic institutions have their foundations in the post-Second World War settlement agreed by the victorious Western allies.

These institutions, such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank, are part of the collectively known Bretton Woods institutions, and hold key positions in the global economic order.

"The fact that the United States and Europe collectively hold 50 percent of IMF voting rights is an aberration that should be changed," said Niblett.

The IMF decided in 2010 upon significant reforms to reflect the fact that emerging market economies now represented far more of the global economy than they did even at the turn of the century.

At the turn of this century, then-Goldman Sachs economist Jim O'Neill presciently identified the BRIC nations (Brazil, Russia, India, China) as emerging economies whose growth would propel them into the front rank of nations and be the driver of global growth for the 21st century.

In an interview with Xinhua late last year, O'Neill said that the successful growth of those economies in the first 10 years of the century had surprised even him.

So, the IMF was reacting to changes which were already well underway, and at the beginning of 2016 it implemented the 2010 reform package.

Those reforms saw China become the third largest member country in the IMF, and there are now four emerging market dynamic economies (Brazil, China, India, and Russia) among the 10 largest shareholders in the fund.

A further round of reforms is under review.

"There needs to be a long-term path that is more active than it has been so far to re-balance voting in the IMF institutions towards the countries that now compose a much larger element of the global economy," said Niblett.

MULTILATERAL COOPERATION

A broadening of the composition of multilateral institutions can be beneficial for all concerned, Niblett believed.

China is implementing its Belt and Road initiative.

Under the initiative of the Chinese government, the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) has been set up as an international development bank.

Niblett welcomed such initiatives, and saw the foundation of the bank and its current and future operations as opportunities to enter into collaboration with other development banks and institutions to promote beneficial projects.

The head of the world-leading think tank said he was an advocate of a "decentralized form of multilateralism" that would see the AIIB work hand-in-hand with other banks.

Niblett said it would be good to see the "AIIB teaming up with the Asia Development Bank (ADB) and World Bank ... on Belt and Road, this would be an example of the kind of more open architecture I would advocate."

He said he was very comfortable with the idea of regional multilateral organizations coming together more deliberately and actively to try to promote growth in the respective regions.

"So, great for China or even AIIB to do something with the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development(EBRD) in North Africa, great for the EBRD or the ADB to team up with the World Bank or AIIB to do stuff in North East Asia," Niblett said.

With the Donald Trump United States presidency, Niblett saw little opportunity for reform of international bodies such as the United Nations, where the status quo of the five permanent members of the Security Council was likely to continue.

In addition, the Trump presidency seemed likely to herald a period of uncertainty in international affairs. The possibility of some catastrophic event -- such as a terrorist attack on the United States -- would place pressure on Trump to react.

"I think it could make America extremely unpredictable," said Niblett.

Against such a background of uncertainty and competition at state level, it is towards multilateral organizations that Niblett looks for examples of nations profiting through cooperation over the coming few years.
KIGALI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Hundreds of Rwandan leaders gathered in Kigali Sunday to thank God for last year's achievements as well as dedicate the year 2017 to Him.

The annual prayer is organized by the Rwanda Leaders Fellowship. It brings together top leaders to pray for the nation and its leaders.

Decades after its initiation, the national prayer breakfast was first held in September 1, 1995. Those who congregate include church leaders, public servants, the civil society and members of the private sector.

Dr. Antoine Rutayisire, chairperson of the Rwanda Leaders Fellowship, explained that the forum is derived from the conviction that leadership and specifically good leadership come from God, who molds the character of leadership.

Outlined among the important milestones last year, include some infrastructure projects that were either inaugurated or works launched as well as several international meetings and events that were successfully hosted in Rwanda.

Speaking at the event, Rwandan President Paul Kagame observed that 2016 was good year as far as Rwanda's development targets are concerned though much more needed to be done.

I wish to thank everyone and to thank God for accomplishments in 2016 as we look forward to doing more in 2017, Kagame said.

"Many great things were accomplished last year. I say this with hope that as we start 2017, we will be able to move forward with the same values that enabled us to accomplish those many things we managed to undertake in 2016."

He challenged Rwandans to believe in their capabilities, while ensuring team work for a common goal.

He also urged youth to explore their potential for the country to register bigger achievements in future.

"We must work with those around us (development partners) with whom we share values and challenges and do as much as we can to invest in transforming the lives of Rwandans. For us to be hopeful of better things after life, we must first fulfill our responsibilities in this life," said Kagame.

He stressed that leaders must care enough about the welfare of the people they serve in the quest for national development.

He underlined the notion of equality regardless of sex or race, saying God created people equal.

"We are all created equal in capacity. Africans, Rwanda, we must change the way we think, we must check our mindset, our values. The earlier we start doing something about this, the better."

"If we wait for others to do our part, what will our own capacities do? Staying in a position of being eternally grateful to others without graduating to doing things yourself has no excuse."
French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Marc Ayrault welcomes US Secretary of State John Kerry as he arrives for the Mideast peaceconference in Paris, France, January 15, 2017. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)

PARIS, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- France on Sunday held an international meeting to seek ways to revive the stranded Middle East peace negotiations and to push for the implementation of a two-state solution to restore security in the region after decades of conflict.

The Middle East Peace Conference held here brought together representatives from about 70 countries, including the UN Security Council permanent members, key European countries and major Arab states.

However, neither Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas nor Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are represented in the meeting. Israelis called the meeting a "rigged conference" aiming to adopt additional anti-Israel stances.

French President Francois Hollande addressed the gathering, saying the two-state solution is being threatened by multiple factors including Israeli settlements and increasing mistrust between the two sides.

He stressed that the solution of two states is still the objective of the international community for the future.

French Foreign Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault, who chairs the Paris gathering, also urged for a resumption of the peace talks at the opening speech.

"Peace cannot be found in hate. The aim of the conference is precisely to allow a resumption of dialogue," Ayrault said.

France affirmed that the meeting wouldn't impose conditions on the two rival camps to reach a lasting a peace accord.

U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's pledge to move U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem also was mentioned here on Sunday.

As uncertainty clouding the new U.S. administration's handling of the Middle East conflict, Hollande called on everyone to understand that "nothing can be improvised, or disrupted."

Despite international community objection, Trump pledged to relocate U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv, where it has been for more than six decades, to Jerusalem, a flashpoint in the long conflict between Israelis and the Palestinians.

On the sidelines of the conference, Ayrault called Trump's move a "provocation" and warned about "extremely serious consequences."

"When you are president of the United States, you cannot take such a clear-cut, unilateral position on this issue. You have to try to create the conditions for peace," he said.
DUBAI, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Dubai's Multi Commodities Center (DMCC), the largest free zone in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), is counting on rising UAE-China relations for further expansion.

"The DMCC's collaboration and partnerships with international entities such as the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone further underpin the DMCC's drive to boost commodity trade along the West to the East corridor - connecting directly with China's Belt and Road initiative," Krysta Fox, Executive Director of DMCC Free Zone, told Xinhua in an exclusive interview.

Located in the skyscraper district of Jumeirah Lake Towers, the DMCC is the UAE's largest and fastest growing Free Zone with over 12,900 member companies.

"There are over 150 thriving Chinese businesses in the DMCC today including Hisense (a multi-national white goods and electronics manufacturer), Sinopec (China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation) and CSCEC (China State Construction Engineering Corporation)," Fox said.

Earlier in October 2016, A high-level DMCC delegation visited the Shanghai Pilot Free Trade Zone "to explore how we can best collaborate to benefit both Shanghai and Dubai," Fox pointed out.

Several agreements were signed between the DMCC and Chinese entities in 2016, and the DMCC, the Free Zone where licensed firms enjoy a 50-year-tax-holiday and 100 percent capital repatriation, has high hopes regarding further expanding its footprint in 2017.

Also in 2016, The DMCC announced a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the China Silver Group, China's largest silver producer.

In addition, the Bank of China announced it became a settlement bank on the DGCX (Dubai's Gold & Commodities Exchange), the derivatives market for commodities and currencies within the DMCC.

During the Dubai promotional Week in China in October 2016, the DMCC signed three MoUs in Shanghai.

"Since the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the UAE in 1984, both countries have built and continue to deepen bilateral ties," said Fox.

"China is Dubai's top trading partner and with a strong representation of Chinese businesses in the DMCC already. We see how businesses thrive and grow in a Free Zone environment on a daily basis."

According to UAE Minister of Economy Sultan Al-Mansouri, the UAE's over 40 Free Zones account for over 30 percent of the country's non-oil trade and are instrumental in diversifying the national economy.

As a major oil supplier, the UAE is also the most diversified economy in the Arab world.
An Iraqi family walk on a street in eastern Mosul as they flee away from the ongoing military operation against Islamic State, Mosul, Iraq, on Jan. 15, 2017. Iraqi forces on Sunday continued fighting the Islamic State (IS) group on the eastern side of the city of Mosul and retook control of two neighborhoods, as the troops are pushing towards the eastern bank of Tigris River in the northern part of the city, the Iraqi military said. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)

MOSUL, Iraq, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Iraqi forces on Sunday continued fighting the Islamic State (IS) group on the eastern side of the city of Mosul and retook control of two neighborhoods, as the troops are pushing towards the eastern bank of Tigris River in the northern part of the city, the Iraqi military said.

On the northern front, the army soldiers, backed by the U.S.-led coalition aircraft, freed the neighborhood of al-Kafaat Second and raised the Iraqi flags on some of its buildings after intense fighting with IS militants, killing many of them and destroying two car bombs, the Joint Operations Command (JOC) said in a statement.

The latest advance on the front brought the troops closer to the site of the former presidential palaces on the bank of the Tigris, which are considered part of the main IS redoubts in eastern Mosul, the statement said.

On the eastern front, the commandos of the Counter-Terrorism Service (CTS) recaptured the neighborhood of Andulos after defeating the IS pockets in the adjacent sprawling complex of Mosul University, the statement said, adding that the troops killed many militants and destroyed two booby-trapped cars.

Recapturing Andulos has made Iraqi troops at the edge of Mosul's Park on the eastern bank of the Tigris, where one of Mosul's five bridges is located.

"The battle in the Park will be easier for the CTS troops, as there are no residential buildings, then the use of heavy weapons and airstrikes will be more possible," Captain Haider Ali from CTS forces told Xinhua by telephone.

"The recapture of the Park will make the troops in control of the 3rd Bridge which links the two banks of Mosul city," Haider said.

So far, security forces are in control of three of Mosul's five bridges on the Tigris River, which bisects the city.

On Saturday, Lieutenant General Abdul Amir Yarallah from the JOC said in a statement that the federal police and army soldiers completely had retaken control of the southern part of the eastern side of Mosul.

He said that the advance troops, which started from southeastern Mosul, have fulfilled their mission and are carrying out clearing operations in the freed areas to defuse booby traps and chase residual IS militants.

According to the JOC officers, the Iraqi forces have recaptured some 90 percent of the neighborhoods of the eastern side of Mosul.

On Dec. 29, the CTS commandos, army troops and federal police launched the second phase of a major offensive to free the eastern bank of Mosul.

Last month, battles in Mosul slowed down as extremist militants used civilians as human shields, resorted to suicide car bombs and made mortar and sniper attacks in stiff resistance.

On Oct. 17, Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi announced a major offensive to retake Mosul, the country's second largest city.

Since then, Iraqi security forces, backed by international coalition forces, have inched to the eastern fringes of Mosul and made progress on other routes around the city.

Mosul, some 400 km north of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad, has been under IS control since June 2014, when Iraqi government forces abandoned their weapons and fled, enabling IS militants to take control of parts of Iraq's northern and western regions.
MOGADISHU, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A joint military operation of the Somali National Army and African Union forces AMISOM has felled at least four militants from the Somali-based militant group Al-Shabaab in the country's southwest region, a local administrator has said.

Abshir Moalim Sharif, district deputy commissioner in Dinsoor district in Bakool region told the media on Sunday that the forces launched ambush at the militants in a village outside Dinsoor town killing four and inflicting injuries to several others.

"Somali forces and AMISOM this morning killed four Al-Shabaab fighters and injured several others in Rahoole village outside Dinsoor town. One officer sustained injuries but our forces now have full control of the area" said Sharif.

The allied forces have been hitting several Al-Shabaab hideouts in southwest and central Somalia as it reinforces its force to secure the ongoing parliamentary elections in Somalia.

Senatorial and Lower House elections for the breakaway region of Somaliland are still going on in Mogadishu.

Security has largely been beefed up in Mogadishu ahead of presidential poll expected to take place this month.
RAMALLAH, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday evening "the Paris conference has reaffirmed and reiterated all international legitimacy resolutions, including pillars of international law, rejecting any dictations, settlements and imposing realities on the ground, including Jerusalem."

Abbas expressed thanks to the French president and government for hosting this conference and exerting all necessary efforts for its success.

Palestinians welcomed the peace conference held in Paris Sunday, attended by 70 Foreign Ministers and five international organizations.

The conference concluding statement reaffirmed the importance of ending the Israeli occupation and the right of the Palestinian people to establish its independent state, living side by side with Israel under the two-state solution.

The outcomes of the Paris conference for Middle East peace echoed the UN Security Council resolution 2334, said Abbas, calling for implementing the UN resolution and the Paris conference statement.

The Palestinian president also called on states that haven't yet recognized the State of Palestine to do so, in order to safeguard the two-state solution and spread security and stability in the region.

So far 138 countries recognize Palestine as a state.

Secretary General of the Palestine Liberation Organization Saeb Erekat said that the concluding statement issued by more than 70 foreign ministers is a message to Israel that it can't achieve peace and security without ending its occupation first.

Erekat urged in an emailed statement France to recognize the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital immediately.

"We appreciate the participation of each and every country and their commitment to the right of our people to establish our independent sovereign state to live side by side in peace and security alongside Israel. They have again created a momentum in rejection to Israeli occupation and its settlement enterprise on the land of Palestine," said the statement.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the Paris peace conference statement came complementary to the the latest UN resolution against settlements and constitutes another diplomatic achievement for Palestinians.

Malki said the adopted statement reflects the international consensus rejecting the occupation.

The Paris conference for Middle East peace concluded its one day deliberations after France launched a peace initiative a year ago to revive peace negotiations between Palestinians and Israelis.

The peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014. The U.S.-sponsored talks that lasted for nine months achieved no tangible results.
JERUSALEM, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel said on Sunday that U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to "reassure" him of no follow-up steps following the Paris peace conference.

The international peace conference in Paris kicked off on Sunday, with foreign ministers from nearly 70 countries attending plus five international organizations, the European Union, the United Nations, the Arab League, the Islamic Conference Organization and the African Union.

However, no representatives from Palestine or Israel attended the conference.

The Israeli Prime Minister's Office released a statement saying that Kerry briefed Netanyahu during a phone call on "the moves the U.S. was taking to soften the wording of the Paris communique."

The statement added that Kerry promised Netanyahu that "there will be no resulting consequences to the conference, neither at the United Nations Security Council nor at the conference itself."

Kerry also assured Netanyahu that "the U.S. will oppose any proposal that may be put forward to the Security Council," according to the statement.

Netanyahu slammed the conference on Sunday as "useless."

"It is coordinated between the French and the Palestinians," he told his weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem.

"Its goal is to try and force terms upon Israel which conflict with our national needs... I must say that this conference is among the last twitches of yesterday's world. Tomorrow's world will be different - and it is very near," he added, in an apparent reference to the upcoming swearing-in ceremony of President-elect Donald Trump.

Palestinians, however, welcomed the conference as an international effort toward realizing peace between Palestinians and Israelis.

In an emailed press statement, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called for the formation of an international team supportive of the conference outcomes.

The ministry said implementing the conference outcomes requires a wide scale international effort to support it.

The ministry also expressed anger over Israel's continued violations undermining the two-state solution, particularly through expanding Jewish settlements in the West Bank, land which Israel occupied in 1976, together with the Gaza Strip.

The meeting was held based on an initiative launched by France a few months ago to hold an international conference to probe international systems toward ending the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, based on the two-state solution.

Israel declared it is against the French initiative, saying it is committed to bilateral negotiations to attain peace without preconditions.

Peace talks between Israel and Palestine have been stalled since April 2014, following the nine-months-long U.S.-sponsored talks which led to no tangible results.
by Mahmoud Fouly

CAIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The recently-concluded Paris international peace conference on the Palestinian-Israeli conflict provides "symbolic" and "moral" support to the Palestinian rights but it does not change the status quo, said Egyptian political experts.

On Sunday, diplomats from over 70 states gathered in the French capital city on Sunday, including about 40 foreign ministers and several renowned organizations, in an attempt to revive the stalemated Middle East peace process and push forward the two-state solution to put an end to the seven-decade conflict.

The final declaration urged both the Israelis and the Palestinians for commitment to the two-state solution, called for setting the pre-1967 war borders as basis for negotiations and warned both sides against any "unilateral steps that prejudge the outcomes of negotiations on final status issues."

"The conference is symbolically beneficial but it comes on borrowed time. It may bring more isolation and condemnation to Israel but it will not have strong influence on the ground," said Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University.

Held a few days before a new U.S. administration takes over the White House, the conference is not influential enough as it has not been attended by Israel, while the United States does not heavily support it, Nafaa said.

Paris peace summit came three weeks after the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) endorsed in late December a resolution demanding immediate and complete halt of Israeli settlement activities on occupied Palestinian territories.

"The summit is just like the UNSC anti-settlement resolution, which was allowed to pass by U.S. abstention. The resolution symbolically and spiritually supports the Palestinian rights but it does not stop Israel from building settlements," the professor told Xinhua.

Israel, which rejects the summit in the first place, relies on U.S. President-elect Donald Trump who promised the country ultimate support and even vowed to move the U.S. embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem, which France said would have "serious consequences."

Israel is blamed by the international community for the deadlock of the Middle East peace process due to its settlement expansion policy that is rejected even by its strongest ally the United States.

In early December, the Knesset, Israel's parliament, initially approved a couple of controversial pro-settlement bills that are meant to retroactively legalize about 4,000 settlement homes as well as unauthorized Israeli outposts and to allow expropriation of more Palestinian lands in the West Bank.

Over 400,000 Israeli settlers currently live in the West Bank and at least 200,000 others live in East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians see as the capital city of their future state.

"Paris summit will at least restore priority of the Palestinian cause regionally and internationally, particularly after the recent UNSC resolution against Israeli settlements," said Samir Ghattas, head of Middle East Forum for Strategic Studies and member of the Egyptian parliament.

Ghattas continued that the conference will certainly have "a positive effect" due to the massive international representation, arguing that France tries to find a compromise to observe the Israeli interests as well as the Palestinian rights.

"There have been massive Israeli and U.S. pressures ahead of the summit that led French President Francois Hollande to say it is not an alternative to direct Palestinian-Israel talks, which is the Israeli and U.S. point of view," the expert told Xinhua, noting that direct talks have always suffered "strategic defects" for over 20 years.

Supported by the United States, Russia, China, the European Union and many others, the two-state solution seeks to put an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict via the establishment of an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders.

"The summit is a spiritual political advantage to the Palestinian cause as it brings it back to light, yet we cannot pin much hope that it could practically advance the Middle East peace process," the political analyst and lawmaker told Xinhua.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- At least 32 prisoners are dead, several decapitated, and some 28 are on the lam following two separate incidents at Brazilian prisons, authorities reported on Sunday.

In the latest incident, two prisoners were killed after a group of inmates blasted their way through a wall early Sunday at the Piraquara State Penitentiary in Curitiba, capital of south Parana state.

The breakout occurred after a riot was presumably started to distract guards, the state prison management agency Depen said.

Following the explosion, prison wardens opened fire on the escapees, killing two.

Much of the recent violence within Brazil's prisons has been attributed to overcrowding, but the Depen said the facility designed to hold 647 inmates was holding 628.

After-dawn on Sunday, members of a "militarized police" anti-riot unit took control of the Alcacuz State Penitentiary in Nisa Floresta, a city in northern Rio Grande do Norte state, after a riot Saturday left potentially as many as 30 inmates dead, the G1 news website reported.

"The number of dead from the riot ... could surpass 30," G1 said, citing police sources.

The state's largest penitentiary, located some 30 km from the state capital Natal, was built to house 620 inmates, but holds 1,150.

However, in a statement, the state Secretariat of Public Security (Sesed) said the riot was "the outcome of a dispute between rival gangs."

In video footage making the rounds online of inside the prison, several decapitated bodies can be seen in the yard.

Already since the start of the year, more than 100 inmates have been killed in prison clashes, mainly at facilities in Brazil's poorer northern states, such as Amazonas and Roraima.
KAMPALA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Uganda has reactivated the National Task Force (NTF) to coordinate the fight against avian flu that has broken out in the east African country, minister of agriculture said Sunday.

Vincent Ssempijja told reporters that the NTF is composed of human and animal experts from government, and non governmental organizations.

"The NTF has experience and has competence to handle such outbreaks, and therefore the situation is under control," Ssempijja said.

He urged the public to report any cases of mass deaths of birds, animal, both domestic and wild to any nearest government authority.

He said bird owners must keep them indoors to avoid them interacting with wild birds and animals.

He said people must not touch or eat wild birds or other wild animals that are found dead, they should instead report to the nearest veterinary authority.

Uganda on Saturday said the avian flu had broken out in the central parts of the country.

Ssempijja said confirmatory tests from a mass death of birds at Lutembe beach on the shores of Lake Victoria turned out positive for avian flu. Other tests on dead birds in Masaka also turned out positive.

Avian flu is a highly pathogenic disease that affects both humans and animals and causes high number of deaths in both species, according to the ministry of agriculture.

Uganda is among the countries in sub-Saharan Africa that face a high risk of a bird flu outbreak because it is crisscrossed by several routes for migratory birds, which are carriers of the virus.

The infection can cause a wide spectrum of symptoms in birds, ranging from mild illness, which may pass unnoticed, to a rapidly fatal disease that can cause severe epidemics.

According to the World Health Organization, avian influenza viruses do not normally infect humans but there have been instances of certain highly pathogenic strains causing severe respiratory disease in humans.
RAMALLAH/GAZA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- The Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) welcomed the final statement of the Sunday's international peace conference in Paris, while Islamic Hamas movement said talks with Israel are just waste of time.

"We believe it is a very positive sign that the international community is willing to engage, and engage positively in order to rescue the world-backed two-state solution," Hanan Ashrawi, a member of the PLO executive committee, said in an emailed press statement.

The one-day peace conference in Paris, attended by representatives from about 70 countries as well as the European Union, the United Nations, the Arab League, and two other African and Islamic organizations, called for resuming the stalled peace process.

"Following the ministerial meeting held in Paris on June 3, 2016, the participants met in Paris on January 15, 2017 to reaffirm their support for a just, lasting and comprehensive resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict," said the Middle East peace conference joint declaration.

The declaration reaffirmed that "a negotiated solution with two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security, is the only way to achieve enduring peace."

It also called for taking urgent steps "to reverse the current negative trends on the ground, including continued acts of violence and ongoing settlement activity, and to start meaningful direct peace negotiations between the two sides."

Ashrawi hailed the declaration and expressed hope to see it implemented.

"We believe this French initiative is one ray of hope in a situation that is extremely bleak and very dangerous," he said.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said Sunday evening that "Paris conference has reaffirmed and reiterated all international legitimacy resolutions, including pillars of international law, rejecting any dictations, settlements ant imposing realities on the ground, including Jerusalem."

Abbas expressed thanks to the French President and government for hosting this conference and exerting all necessary efforts for its success.

"The outcomes of the conference echo the UN Security Council resolution 2334," said Abbas.

The Palestinian president also called on states that haven't yet recognized the State of Palestine to do so, in order to safeguard the two-state solution and spread security and stability in the region.

So far 138 countries have recognized Palestine as a state, including Vatican.

PLO Secretary General Saeb Erekat said that the concluding statement issued by more than 70 foreign ministers is a message to Israel that it can't achieve peace and security without ending its occupation first.

In an emailed statement, Erekat urged France to immediately recognize the Palestinian state on the borders of 1967 with East Jerusalem as its capital.

"We appreciate the participation of each and every country and their commitment to the right of our people to establish our independent sovereign state to live side by side in peace and security alongside Israel. They have again created a momentum in rejection to Israeli occupation and its settlement enterprise on the land of Palestine," said the statement.

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riad Malki said the Paris peace conference statement added to the latest UN resolution against Israeli settlements and constitutes another diplomatic achievement for Palestinians.

Malki said the adopted statement reflects the international consensus rejecting the occupation.

The Paris conference for the Middle East peace concluded its one-day deliberations after France launched a peace initiative a year ago to revive peace negotiations between the Palestinians and Israel.

Hamas, however, seemed to show no interest in the peace conference in Paris.

"Hamas doesn't count on international conferences, because the Israeli occupation has never shown any commitment to respect or implement the outcomes of these conferences," Abdulatif al-Qanooa, the new spokesman for Hamas, said in an emailed press statement.

"Hamas believes that any more peace negotiations with the Israeli occupation are just waste of time, therefore, we call on the Palestinian (National) Authority to make reconciliation and unite to confront the Israeli occupation," he added.

A statement of the PNA ministry of foreign affairs has earlier called for forming a large international coalition to "back the outcomes of the international peace conference in Paris."

The latest round of peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, brokered by the United States, lasted nine months and collapsed in April 2014 with no tangible results.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his wife Peng Liyuan enjoy tea and conversation with Swiss President Doris Leuthard and her husband Roland Hausin in a special train on their way to Bern, capital of Switzerland, Jan. 15, 2017. After the welcome ceremony at the Zurich airport, Xi traveled to the Swiss capital of Bern by a special train of the Swiss government. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BERN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping spoke highly of the China-Switzerland partnership here on Sunday, saying it has become a paradigm of relations between countries of different sizes.

Accompanied by his Swiss counterpart Doris Leuthard, Xi made the remarks during a tea chat on a special train of the Swiss government running from Zurich to Bern, during his ongoing visit to the European country.

Appreciating the years' commitment of Leuthard to deepening the two countries' cooperation in all areas, Xi said he is glad to visit Switzerland at the beginning of 2017 and attend the World Economic Forum (WEF).

As one of the first Western countries to recognize and establish diplomatic relations with the People' s Republic of China, Switzerland has taken the lead in developing cooperation with China, recording a trove of "firsts" in this process, Xi said.

He cited Switzerland's lead on the continental Europe to sign and implement a free trade agreement with China, and join the China-proposed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

In 2016, Switzerland became the first and only country to set up a strategic partnership with China featuring innovation.

"During this visit, I would like to engage in in-depth talks with President Leuthard and other Swiss leaders, to enrich our partnership, and boost our cooperation in all areas," Xi said.

He added that China, sharing similar views with Switzerland on many international issues, wishes to work with the European nation to enhance their coordination in international affairs.

Noting that China encourages more and more Chinese tourists to travel to Switzerland, Xi said China, which is to host the 2022 Winter Olympics, stands ready to promote cooperation with Switzerland on developing winter sports.

For her part, Leuthard thanked Xi for choosing her country as the destination of his first state visit in 2017, saying the decision represents the importance China has attached to Switzerland.

Switzerland stands ready to push forward cooperation with China on various fields, said Leuthard.

China is an influential country in the world, said Leuthard, adding that the international community looks forward to hearing Xi's exposition of China's policies at the WEF as the world is facing many uncertainties right now, said the Swiss leader.

Xi will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the WEF annual meeting on Tuesday to share the views of the world's second largest economy on charting the course for globalization.

During the chat, the two leaders also exchanged views on such issues as Belt and Road Initiative and green development. They agreed to propel the two countries' cooperation in science and technology, innovation, connectivity, infrastructure construction, clean energy and regional-level exchanges.
NICOSIA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Nine colonels of the Turkish army serving with the force occupying the northern part of Cyprus were arrested and taken to Ankara on suspicion of being involved in the July 15 failed coup, Turkish Cypriot media reported on Sunday.

They said the arrests were part of the continued drive against the movement of Fethullah Gulen, the Turkish preacher who lives in exile in the United States, who is accused of having orchestrated the coup, in which about 250 people died.

The nine generals are among top officers of a contingent of about 40,000 troops stationed in the northern part of Cyprus which Turkey occupied in 1974, reacting to a coup organized by the military rulers of Greece.

The Turkish media said the arrested colonels were transferred to Ankara prisons in two military helicopters.

Their offices and houses were searched by military investigators probing involvement in the coup.

They also searched the houses and offices of other officers, military camps and military facilities, the media said, looking for evidence connecting military personnel with the Fethullah Gulen movement.

Turkey's President Tayyip Erdogan has said that over 35,000 arrested up to now, of them 10,000 being army personnel, are followers of Gulen, having close ties with his movement.
Chinese President Xi Jinping (2nd L) and his wife Peng Liyuan (1st L) are received by Swiss President Doris Leuthard (2nd R) and her husband Roland Hausin at the Swiss Federal Council in Bern, Switzerland, Jan. 15, 2017. Chinese President Xi Jinping attended a welcome ceremony held by all members of the Swiss Federal Council in Bern on Sunday. (Xinhua/Lan Hongguang)

BERN, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President Xi Jinping said Sunday that he is looking forward to consolidating friendship and boosting cooperation between China and Switzerland at a welcome ceremony hosted by the seven members of the Swiss Federal Council.

Xi arrived in the Swiss financial hub of Zurich Sunday noon to pay a four-day state visit to the Alpine country, the first by a Chinese president in the 21st century.

Before traveling by train to the capital city of Bern, Xi and his wife Peng Liyuan were greeted by Swiss President Doris Leuthard and her husband Roland Hausin at the airport in Zurich. The two heads of state had a brief talk in the journey.

"My visit is aimed at consolidating our friendship, boosting our cooperation and promoting peace and development together with the Swiss side," the Chinese president told the seven Swiss Federal Councillors at the welcome ceremony held at the Federal Palace in the historical Old Town of Bern.

"I am looking forward to having talks with the Swiss side on deepening our practical cooperation in various areas and enriching the meaning of our innovative strategic partnership," Xi said.

During his Switzerland trip, the president is also scheduled to attend the 2017 annual meeting of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in the ski resort of Davos, and to visit the headquarters of the United Nations Office at Geneva (UNOG), the World Health Organization in Geneva and the International Olympic Committee in Lausanne.

Xi will deliver a keynote speech at the opening ceremony of the Davos meeting on Jan. 17 and another one at the UNOG on Jan. 18. The president will be the first Chinese head of state to attend the Davos meeting.

"I hope to, through attending the WEF annual meeting and visiting the international organizations, gather consensus with all sides on maintaining world peace, promoting common development and settling major global issues under the current situation, thus delivering positive energies to the international community," the president said.

Speaking at the welcome ceremony, Leuthard said Switzerland is a trustworthy partner for China.

She lauded the bilateral relations as being full of life, noting that the relations had reached the highest level in history last year when the two countries established an innovative strategic partnership.

Stressing that Xi's visit will deepen the bilateral relations, Leuthard said the Swiss side is willing to discuss cooperation with the Chinese side in promoting China's Belt and Road Initiative and other areas, and strengthening communication and coordination within the United Nations and other multilateral organizations.

The Swiss president also extended festival greetings to President Xi and the Chinese people on the approaching traditional Chinese Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which falls on Jan. 28 this year.

The two heads of state will hold an official talk on Monday.
NICOSIA, Jan. 15 (Xinhua) -- A working group of technocrats formed to prepare a report on security arrangements after a Cyprus reunification settlement is due to convene from January 18 to January 20, Cypriot government spokesman said on Sunday.

Nicos Christodoulides said in his Twitter account the technocrats will meet in Mont Peleren, Switzerland, to try to hammer out a report after which a conference will be convened.

The technocrats will come from the foreign ministries of guarantor powers Greece, Turkey and Britain, the European Commission, the United Nations secretariat and the two communities of Cyprus involved in the negotiations for the reunification of the eastern Mediterranean island.

The parties agreed to set up the group after an initial conference on January 12 in Geneva could not immediately agree on future security arrangements.

Greek and Turkish Cypriots, the parties immediately involved in the negotiations, have agreed that the security of one side must not consist a threat of the other side.

The group of experts has been mandated to pin point the issues involved and suggest modalities of a breakthrough.

After they complete their job a new summit of politicians, possibly at a level higher than the foreign ministers who met in January 12, will be convened to make a decision on security arrangements and the modification of the 1960 system of guarantees.

There are more pending issues between the two sides that have to be settled before an agreement is completed.

Most important among these are adjustment of internal boundaries and the return of tens of thousands Greek Cypriots displaced in the 1974 action.

The two sides submitted maps in Geneva but each one has said that it cannot accept the map of the other.

They are close to an agreement that the Turkish Cypriot side will control between 28 and 29 percent of the island's territory, but they disagree on which regions now under occupation will be returned to Greek Cypriots.
Iraqi special forces advance inside Mosul University during fighting against Islamic State militants in the eastern side of Mosul, Iraq, on Jan. 14, 2017. Iraqi government forces on Saturday retook control on the southern part of the eastern side of Mosul after intense fighting with Islamic State (IS) group, the Iraqi military said. (Xinhua/Khalil Dawood)
Woman, 3 men on robbery charge

The four suspects, who are between the ages of 25 and 30, were to be jointly charged last evening with robbery with violence. They were also expected to be charged with the possession of marijuana by Cpl Ramlal and PC Toney, both of the Fyzabad CID. Police reports state that at about 2.30 pm on Tuesday, officers of the South Oropouche Police Station received a tip-off about a robbery in progress at Singhs Mini-mart located on Massahood Junction.

Under the supervision of Sgt Gookool, a party of officers sprung into action and went to the location where they saw two of the males leaving the mini-mart.

The female suspect, of Corinth located on the outskirts of San Fernando, and another male, were seated nearby in a vehicle awaiting the others.

The officers arrested all four and recovered a quantity of cigarettes and cash (US, Canadian and TT currencies) stolen from the owners of the mini-mart. Police also recovered knives and cutlasses used to commit the crime as well as a quantity of marijuana. A fifth accomplice managed to evade police but yesterday investigators confirmed that an arrest is imminent.

Police investigators said that under the pretext of wanting to purchase a tank of LPG (cooking gas), the female suspect first went into the mini-mart.

The operators opened a door for her to enter but instead her accomplices entered and
Police probe Carmona housing allowance

In the letter dated January 3, 2017 from Acting Commissioner of Police Stephen Williams and addressed to Bharaths attorney Justin Phelps, Williams acknowledged receipt of her letter dated November 28.

Please be advised that the report made by Ms Bharath was forwarded to the office of the Senior Superintendent Anti-Corruption Investigations Bureau where it is being diligently investigated by a team of officers. On completion, you will be informed of the findings, Williams stated.

During a media conference in October last year Bharath reported that I caused my attorney to write the Commissioner of Police enclosing the advice of Queens Counsel (QC) and requesting than an investigation into the President, the relevant CPO (Chief Personnel Officer) and the relevant AO (administrative officer) be undertaken. She had revealed she had received a legal opinion from Cathryn Mc Gahey QC that a probe can be justified into the award of a housing allowance to the President.

Bharath had questioned the alleged payment of housing allowance between July 2013 to May 2015 whilst the President was in occupation of housing at the States expense.

In a brief interview yesterday Bharath told Sunday Newsday, I am relieved and now I am hopeful that the investigation will be open and transparent. Senior Counsel Martin Daly and former head of the Public Service Reginald Dumas have also publicly questioned the payment of the tax-free $28,000 housing allowance for President Carmona while living in State-provided accommodation.

In September last year, Bharath also questioned spending at the Office of the President and a $2 million discrepancy contained in the Auditor Generals report. One specific item of concern was wine procured from Italy which bore the seal of the Office of the President.
Doodnath: Im Independent

Doodnath had to settle for being SRC vice-chairman after Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh, a former UNC member of Parliament, was proposed by the party as its choice to serve as chairman in the election of the councils executive last December, following the November 28 local government elections.

Doodnaths declaration of independence was contained in a note to council members--- reference VC to CM 2-- -and dated January 14, 2017._ The Siparia East/ San Francique South councillor, who successfully contested three local government elections under the UNC, disclosed his disappointment with how he was informed that Ramadharsingh, who served as Minister of the People and Social Development in the Peoples Partnership administration before his firing over sexual misconduct allegations, was chosen to be chairman of the SRC.

Insisting he supports Ramadharsingh, Doodnath lamented learning that he was the partys choice for chairman one hour before the election process of the council on December 14, 2016.

Having been chosen by the political leader of the United National Congress, Dr Glenn Ramadharsingh has now been appointed as the chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation and I recognize him as such, Doodnath stated, adding, of course I am disappointed that I was not given the opportunity to continue with the plans and programmes and the vision I had for the region of Siparia, in that capacity as chairman of the corporation. And I asked myself, Is it because of me? The fact that I was chosen to contest the local government elections for a third time, coupled with the fact that I was chosen to be the vice chairman of the corporation for this new term, leads me to believe that most certainly, It isnt because of me, he added And I am very satisfied about that! The political leader has spoken.

I recognize that no one holds a deed to any political office. I am happy to serve as councillor and now as vice chairman, he stated, adding, Of course what I was peeved about was the communication process, or lack thereof. However, just as I was deemed to have been the most effective chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation ever (2010/2013 and 2013/2016), I now pledge to be the best ever vice chairman of the Siparia Regional Corporation, he stated.

In my new role as vice chairman, I pledge, just as I was doing when I was chairman, to look after the interest of all of the people of the region, without fear or favour, and in an independent manner as well, he stated.

Doodnath continued, Its noteworthy though, communication issues still abound within the council, amidst the corporation, and elsewhere, and so in the interest of all of the people of the region, regardless of political affiliation, I wish to declare that, in continuing to work towards an equitable and fair distribution of the corporations resources, I will be adopting an independent position on all issues that come before the council, and I will be guided by conscience and merit _in all of my deliberations. I am now declaring myself as an independent member of council, he stated.

Contacted for comment, Doodnath acknowledged he had sent a note to the council but declined to comment on its contents saying he had not sent a copy to the media.

UNC chairman David Lee also declined comment saying he was unaware of any correspondence between Doodnath and the SRC.
CEPEP workers find gun

Minister of Local Government Kazim Hosein spoke with radio station i95.5FM about the campaign which was launched at the Foreshore, Audrey Jeffers Highway and with the theme team up to clean up. We are going into Diego Martin.

We are going to clean all rivers, all drains, all empty lots. And speaking about empty lots while CEPEP was cleaning an empty lot (yesterday) morning they found a firearm among other things, he said. He reported that the firearm and some bags were to be delivered to the police. He further reported that they would be shredding all tyres and picking up all derelict vehicles that have been there for years and years and years and they would also be demolishing dilapidated buildings which have been a menace. Hosein later told Sunday Newsday, in a telephone interview, that the response to the campaign has been phenomenal and they had been moving derelict vehicles, cleaning open lots, picking up a lot of stoves, fridges and fallen trees and cleared a few dilapidated buildings.

He said the tyre shredder was expected to come out today He reported that close to $1 billion in equipment was out yesterday including excavators, dump trucks and backhoes and they were all in full use. He said that everything is volunteered by the business community and contracting community.

There were also a number of volunteers and NGOs assisting yesterday. He reported, however, they have experienced some obstacles and some people who did not want their place cleaned.

We come to clean up and we are going to clean up, he declared.

Hosein explained the plan is to clean the entire Diego Martin Regional Corporation from yesterday to Friday and then Saturday they will move into the Port-of-Spain City Corporation. The campaign will then go to the San Juan/Laventille Regional Corporation and then continuing throughout each of the other 11 remaining corporations.

Also attending the launch yesterday were National Security Minister Edmund Dillon, Works and Transport Minister Rohan Sinanan, Sport Minister Darryl Smith and Agriculture Minister Clarence Rambharat.
De Nu Pub: No alcohol, only soft drinks...for now

De Nu Pub was one of several establishments visited by customs officials on Friday night along the popular liming spot of Ariapita Avenue, Woodbrook.

Nu Pub licensee Roderick Ward informed Sunday Newsday in a telephone interview that the officials visited a little before 12 am and left about 1.30 am. He reported that to his surprise he was not able to produce the liquor licence and they were within their rights to remove the liquor.

They were quite professional and very courteous. They gave me time to find the document, he added.

Ward said De Nu Pub remained open this weekend but they would only be able to sell soft drinks. It is a major loss not being able to sell (alcohol), he pointed out.

He planned to search for the licence yesterday and to produce it on Monday. Ward said that customs officials searched the whole of the avenue on Friday night and he heard two other places were also discovered to be without liquor licences and banned from selling, though this could not be confirmed.

A nightclub manager, who asked not to be named, reported that customs officials visited his establishment at about 10pm but, unlike De Nu Pub, they were able to produce the requested documents.

They were very cooperative and understanding, he said. He reported that the officials began from the top of the Avenue and came all the way down and he had not seen such an inspection in his two years at the nightclub.

You need to keep your house in order when operating and you have rules and regulations to follow, he commented. He recalled that the Trinidad And Tobago Copyright Collection Organisation had done a similar exercise checking licences to play music
Schoolgirls murder saddens Dillon

Speaking following the launch of the National Clean-Up Campaign on the Foreshore, Audrey Jeffers Highway in Port-of-Spain yesterday morning, Dillon told reporters that as a father of two girls he feels the grief of the family and the nation was mourning with her family.

It saddens me, he said of Rachaels death.Chairman of the United National Congress (UNC) David Lee, in a statement, described the recent murder of the teenager as a further sign of the decay of our society and evolution of our twin-island Republic into a land of lawlessness where there is no respect for human life as yet another young girl has been robbed of a bright future and life of brilliant possibilities. He recalled the outrage last December of the murder of 20-yearold bank clerk Shannon who was found dead at the IAM store on Charlotte Street, Port-of-Spain.

It was only one month ago when the nation was shell shocked by the gruesome murder of Shannon Banfield who was found dead in a department store. So our nation has reached the point where are citizens are no longer safe in stores, public places, their own neighbourhoods, using public transportation and conducting the same day to day business they once did freely in the past, Lee said. He noted citizens had lost lose their peace of mind and continue to desperately clamour for some form of relief or solution to this national catastrophe while the ruling PNM administration continues to abandon the population in the fight against crime and all endeavours to protect their lives. Lee pointed out the Opposition party had attempted to raise the issue of crime in the Parliament but Government has used the standing orders to shut it down.
PoS Mayor: Littering, homeless a challenge

The homeless issue, however, will require talks with the line minister.

He was speaking to Sunday Newsday on the Brian Lara Promenade, Independence Square, Port-of- Spain. He pointed out that the Local Government Minister Kazim Hosein launched the National Clean Up Campaign yesterday at the Foreshore, Audrey Jeffers Highway.

He noted that Diego Martin Regional Corporation is this weekend and Portof- Spain City Corporation next weekend but we didnt wait for next weekend to start, we decided lets start now.

He said they started last week with the Promenade and there has been painting and power washing and we are trying to start the objective of keeping the city clean.

Martinez commented on two of the issues in keeping the city clean, namely littering and the socially displaced.

People are naturally litterers and we have put bins here for them. We going to encourage them to use the bins.

We going to have programs on the radio and television and through the media and as a matter of fact I would like the media to assist us in calling the population and asking the population to...utilise the bin to help us to keep the city clean and not just you eat something you drop it here because you feel you dont want to get up and walk to the bin.

The bins are provided for that, he said.

He reported that they have a lot of bins in the city and more to come and we want to encourage that.

On the litter wardens Martinez reported that the cadre is about 10 for the whole city which really and truly is not enough.

He said they want to increase the cadre so they can man the city a lot better and this will create employment.

He added that they plan to train the personnel so they can encourage and not be antagonistic.

Martinez pointed out that it is a ticketed offence and he noted the increase from $50 to $500 which occurred in 2013.

Hopefully that will add some traction and that will encourage people to be mindful that if you litter it will cost you just as much of a fine as if they wreck your car, he said.

He said the homeless is another issue and pointed out that he was chatting with the people who clean the Promenade and they were telling me basically how difficult it is for them to do it because they using the Promenade as a bathroom and...there is faeces all over the place and when you have to clean up. And that is a deterrent. He stressed the homeless has been a situation in the capital city for some time now.

What we are trying to do is find a way to resolve it, he added.

He reported that this week he would be meeting with Minister of Social Development Cherrie-Ann Crichlow- Cockburn to discuss the way forward.

It is all part of the clean up process and if we can find a way to humanely deal with the homeless in the streets that would be a plus for us and a plus for the nation, he said